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Tiger comeback highlights successes, challenges in China's wildlife conservation

Xinhua) 09:09, November 25, 2024

HARBIN, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Liu Guifu, 74, never imagined that one day he would come face to face with a Siberian tiger in his own yard.

Liu is a villager from Changtai Village in Boli County, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. A surveillance video captured his encounter with the tiger on Monday morning, when the tiger dashed past Liu's house. After stepping out of his yard for a quick look, Liu retreated to the yard and pulled the gate shut. The tiger, however, turned back and lunged at him, denting the iron gate before it left.

"I thought that by closing the gate, the tiger would be kept out," Liu told Xinhua, recalling the incident. "When the tiger charged at me, I was so scared!"

The video has gone viral online, with netizens expressing concern about such incidents.

Another villager was injured by the same tiger that morning as he was walking back home after giving some hay to the cattle. The tiger pounced on him, bit his left hand, and clawed his head and body. He is now being treated at a medical facility, and his condition is stable.

This marks the first recorded sighting of a Siberian tiger in Boli County's documented history. According to the Heilongjiang Forestry and Grassland Administration, the county is outside the key distribution ranges of Siberian tigers.

Over 500 personnel from relevant county government departments have been mobilized for deployment and control, working around the clock to carry out investigations and try to track the animal.

The management bureau of the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park (NCTLNP), about 200 km away from the village, announced Tuesday that it has activated the emergency response plan and insurance claims procedure.

The national park has coordinated with the insurance company to send a working group to the village to assist the local forestry and grassland department in conducting investigations. If the tiger is confirmed to be a wild Siberian tiger, the insurance claims process will be immediately initiated.

CONSERVATION EFFORTS PAYING OFF

Thanks to China's continuous efforts, the population of the Siberian tiger, one of the world's most endangered species, has grown significantly in recent years, while their range of activity has expanded.

In 1998, only 12 to 16 wild Siberian tigers were believed to be living in China. The NCTLNP, established in 2021 and spanning Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces, now provides a sanctuary for around 70 wild Siberian tigers.

"With an improved ecological environment, the number of wild tigers is increasing, which shows that we have achieved good results in protecting wild animals," said Hu Huijian, a council member of the China Zoology Society.

In recent years, with the implementation of projects such as natural forest protection, wild animal and plant protection, and the construction of a national park-based nature reserve system, the quality of wildlife habitats has continued to improve, with continued growth in the populations and range of activities of wild animals.

China has been prioritizing eco-environmental progress and pursuing green development for biodiversity conservation. In 2021, China established its first batch of national parks, protecting 90 percent of terrestrial ecosystem types and 74 percent of key terrestrial wild animal and plant species. The land area of the country's nature reserves accounts for nearly 18 percent of its total land area.

Conservation efforts have significantly boosted the number of wild animals. A white paper titled "Biodiversity Conservation in China," released in 2021, shows that the population of giant pandas in the wild grew from 1,114 to 1,864 over the previous four decades. The crested ibis population increased from only 7 to over 5,000, with wild species and artificial breeds counted. The Asian elephant population in the wild grew from 180 in the 1980s to about 300.

RESOLVING HUMAN-ANIMAL CONFLICTS

Such scenes as wild animals damaging crops and injuring livestock -- and even people -- are no longer rare. The roaming tiger represents an extreme example of human-animal conflict.

Besides tigers, wild boars have also disrupted agricultural production, traffic and daily life, appearing on farmland in rural areas and in residents' homes in urban areas.

Statistics show that the population of wild boars has grown quickly to 2 million due to protection measures, and the animal has been sighted in 28 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions across the country.

Cases of damage involving the animal have been recorded in 26 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. In Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, more than 2,000 wild boar cases were reported over the past three years.

In 2023, wild boars were removed from China's list of terrestrial wild animals of important ecological, scientific and social value, as they no longer face threats to their survival as a species.

"How to alleviate human-animal conflicts, ensure the safety of local residents and protect their property, while at the same time protecting the authenticity and integrity of the ecosystem, to achieve harmony between human and nature, is worthy of in-depth exploration and research," said Guan Yun, deputy director of the NCTLNP management bureau.

NATURE AND HUMANITY IN HARMONY

China has been making efforts to reach harmony between humanity and nature.

Experts suggest increasing investment in scientific research to enhance ecological corridors for the reproduction and spread of large wild animals, and to strengthen habitat protection for wild animals, especially endangered ones.

"Connecting the fragmented habitats is the fundamental way to solve the problem. The construction of ecological corridors for Siberian tigers and Amur leopards along the China-Russia border should be accelerated, and a cross-border nature reserve network should be built," said Jin Yongchao, a member of the wild tiger conservation expert team of the World Wildlife Fund.

Jin said that strengthened patrols by local teams and technical devices such as infrared cameras should be combined to dynamically track and monitor the activity range of wild Siberian tigers to avoid the overlapping activity areas of the tigers and humans.

The NCTLNP, for example, has set up over 20,000 smart infrared cameras. These cameras connect to the internet to transmit high-definition images and videos in real-time. They also use artificial intelligence technology for species recognition, monitoring the activities of Siberian tigers and other large animals.

Many places in China have also explored strategies to prevent and control damage by wild animals. Northwest China's Shaanxi Province has started to build isolation and protection facilities, such as pulse electric fences and vegetation isolation belts, to control damage by wild boars. Nearly 400 infrared cameras have also been set up in the hills and mountains in Jiangsu Province to monitor wild boars.

Thermal imaging drones also proved important in protecting a herd of wandering Asian elephants in southwest China's Yunnan Province in 2021. With the help of thermal imaging drones, the provincial forest fire brigade was able to locate the elephants at night, helping them return to a suitable habitat safe and sound without conflicts with local residents.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
Tony Campolo, a bestselling author, teacher and evangelist preacher known for championing a movement called Red Letter Christianity, has died. He was 89.

Campolos death was announced on his Facebook page on Tuesday evening. The message to his friends and followers said the notable preacher died at his home in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, where he was surrounded by his family and loved ones.

His life was a testament to faith, love, and the transformative power of relationships, and his influence will be felt for generations to come, the announcement added.

For more than six decades, as a pastor, distinguished professor, mesmerizing public speaker, and prolific author, Tony touched countless lives around the world with his hopeful message of social justice, love, and reconciliation.

Shane Claiborne, a progressive Christian activist and author, conveyed his condolences on his X account, describing Campolo as a dear friend and brother.

Tony Campolo has been my partner in ministry for the past 20+ years at [Red Letter Christians]. I will miss him something fierce, but I know theres a party on the other side, tweeted Claiborne.

I dont have much more to say right now. But I will soon. Thanks for all the love and condolences being poured out from around the world. Grateful for all the lives he touched over the years.

Born on Feb. 25, 1935, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Campolo was known for his charismatic preaching, years of work as a professor, and social activism, especially among the needy.

For nearly 40 years, Campolo led a group known as the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education, which he launched to help serve communities in need. He retired from his position in the organization in 2014.

In 2007, Campolo helped to found a group called Red Letter Christians, named such because in some published versions of the Bible, Jesus words are printed in red rather than black ink.

We believe in the black letters, too, and are convinced the whole Bible is Gods word. But Jesus is the lens through which we interpret the Bible, and the lens through which we interpret the world we live in, stated the groups website.

Its clear that some of the loudest voices of Christianity have not been the most beautiful voices. And some of the most beautiful voices havent had the amplification they deserve. The way we change the narrative is by changing the narrators.

The movement was not without its critics, among them Mark Tooley of the theologically conservative Institute on Religion & Democracy, who believed that the movement's reasoning was "destructive and dangerous because it implies the whole of Scripture is less than reliable and that modern individuals in one culture can singularly reinterpret or reject historic Christian ethical teaching without counsel of universal Church."

"So a few words from Jesus supposedly mandate unlimited welfare state, opposition to military, gun abolition, etc.," said Tooley in an interview with The Christian Post in 2016.

"Meanwhile, too often historic Church teachings about abortion or homosexuality are dismissed because Jesus did not specifically address it."

For his part, Campolo defended Red Letters Christians, telling CP in a 2016 interview that there was no question that the morality prescribed by Jesus is superior to anything that was hitherto suggested by the law and the prophets.

"I want to always add that the early Church didn't have a New Testament, but what they were able to do under the influence of the Holy Spirit is to find the message and the story of Jesus written all through the law and the prophets of the Old Testament," said Campolo.

"In short, the Scriptures that were written before the New Testament point to Jesus and they are crucially important for us to understand Jesus."

Campolo garnered controversy for some of the ideological stances he took over the past few years, including his belief that churches should fully accept same-sex romantic relationships.

While coming to reject the label Evangelical, Campolo told CP in an earlier interview that he still held a very traditional view on salvation, rejecting accusations that he was a universalist.

I believe that when Jesus died on the cross that He took upon Himself the sins of people who will repent and trust in Him for their salvation. I believe in the penal substitutionary doctrine of the atonement, Campolo explained.

I am still an Evangelical when it comes to faith practices and faith beliefs. What I am trying to communicate, and I think a lot of people would agree with me, is that the word Evangelical has become politicized in a way that causes some of us to be alarmed.

In addition to his activism and preaching, Campolo was a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania, a professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University and the author of over 30 books.

Campolo is survived by his wife, Peggy, whom he was married to for over 65 years, two children, four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Originally published by The Christian Post
HA NOI  State President Luong Cuong and his spouse hosted a welcome ceremony in Ha Noi Monday morning for Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and his spouse, who are on an official visit to Viet Nam.

Also attending the welcome ceremony were Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, Chairman of the Presidential Office Le Khanh Hai, and Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son, among others.

This is the first visit to Viet Nam by a Bulgarian president in 11 years and also the first trip to the Southeast Asian country by President Radev. It takes place at a time when the two nations are looking towards the 70th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties (February 8, 1950  2025), aiming to further strengthen and enhance the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries.

The bonds between the two countries official began in 1950, when Bulgaria was one of the first 10 nations worldwide to recognise and establish diplomatic relations with the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam, now the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.

During Viet Nam's most challenging periods of struggle for national independence and construction, Bulgaria proved to be an unwavering supporter, providing both material and moral assistance for the country. It helped shape Viet Nam's future leadership by training over 3,600 scientific personnel and experts, along with more than 30,000 skilled workers in diverse sectors, including construction, architecture, IT, biochemistry, agriculture, mechanical engineering, and medicine. Many graduates then became Viet Nam's high-ranking officials, leading scientists, experts, and top engineers, who have made contributions to strengthening the traditional friendship with Bulgaria.

President Radevs visit comes as a testament to the thriving bilateral and multilateral cooperation between the two nations. Over the recent past, Viet Nam and Bulgaria have held their successful periodic meetings of the intergovernmental committee and brought into full play collaboration between ministries, departments, and local authorities. Besides, they have maintained strong mutual support and coordination at international forums and organisations, he stressed.

Despite the temporary setback caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the bilateral relations have bounced back with remarkable momentum, fueled by meetings between high-level leaders, ministries, sectors and localities of both sides. Bulgarian leaders have consistently expressed their deep appreciation for the historical partnership and admiration for Viet Nam's socio-economic achievements and international integration. Notably, they said Bulgaria stands ready to serve as a bridge to strengthen Viet Nam's cooperation with both the European Union and the Balkans region.

The thriving diplomatic ties have translated into tangible economic results, with bilateral trade volume doubling from US$102.5 million in 2015 to $211.5 million in 2023, he said, adding this upward trajectory continues, with trade revenue expected to reach some $300 million this year, a year-on-year increase of 20%.

Bulgaria is one of the European Union (EU) countries taking the lead in ratifying the EU-Viet Nam Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation (PCA), as well as promoting the signing and ratification of the Agreement, the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade (EVFTA) and EU-Viet Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA). In September 2023, the Bulgarian National Assembly ratified the EU-Viet Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) with an absolute majority of votes, thereby demonstrating its respect for the traditional friendship and cooperation in many fields between the two countries, while creating a solid and favourable legal basis for businesses of the two countries to expand investment cooperation in the coming time after the agreement takes effect.

As the two countries have reaped various achievements in their cooperation in politics, economy  trade, investment, education  training, science  technology, culture  tourism, defence  security, labour and legislation, President Radevs trip will continue contributions to bolstering and deepening the traditional friendship and multi-faceted collaboration between the two countries, particularly in the domains of their strengths and needs.

After the welcoming ceremony, State President Luong Cuong and President Rumen Radev had a closed-door meeting and then led the high-level delegations of the two countries to hold talks in order to evaluate the results of bilateral cooperation over the past time and propose directions of cooperation in the future. The two leaders will also witness the signing ceremony of cooperation documents.  VNS
KUALA LUMPUR  Vietnamese Party General Secretary To Lams recent official visit to Malaysia and the elevation of bilateral relations is a timely move that brings great motivations for both sides, according to Collins Chong Yew Keat, an expert on foreign affairs and security at the University of Malaya.

It reflects the importance of Malaysia to Viet Nam, particularly in the context of Viet Nam's efforts to make contributions to ASEAN through its support for Malaysia, the ASEAN Chair in 2025, Collins said.

The expert held that the Vietnamese leaders visit, spanning from November 21-23, along with the relationship elevation brought about positive outcomes in three key aspects.

First, it strengthened economic power and future resources. Second, it built greater political trust. And third, it sent out a strong message that bilateral relationship and mutual trust are maintained and reinforced, he stated.

Looking ahead to future cooperation, Collins emphasised that both countries focusing simultaneously on areas such as people-to-people diplomacy and cultural exchange, alongside boosting trade and investment, would generate even greater synergy by complementing each others strengths.

Malaysia needs to address food security challenges, where Viet Nam can play a larger role. High-tech manufacturing, the digital economy, and natural resources are areas where Malaysia holds a competitive advantage, and these are sectors where Viet Nam can leverage its strengths, according to Collins.

Both nations are also key destinations for foreign direct investment in the region. With the growing relocation of top-tier technology companies to Southeast Asia, there are significant opportunities for both countries. This dynamic will lead to broader economic integration and development, contributing to the shared goals of defence and security.

Collins asserted that the Viet Nam-Malaysia bilateral relationship was poised to play a crucial role in ASEANs future, particularly with Malaysia assuming the rotating ASEAN Chairmanship in 2025. Therefore, Party General Secretary To Lams visit would lay the groundwork for an expanded partnership, strengthening ASEANs role and influence under Malaysias leadership. This would be an opportune moment for both nations to align their efforts toward shared larger goals, including maintaining regional peace and stability, while ensuring economic recovery and future development through strategic economic and trade growth, he underlined.

This was the first visit to Malaysia by a General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam over the past 30 years.

Within the framework of his visit, Lam held talks with Prime Minister Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim; met with Speaker of the House of Representatives Tan Sri Dato' Johari Bin Abdul, and President of the Senate Dato Awang Bemee Awang Ali Basah; and received Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Rural and Regional Development, and President of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) Dato Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He also had meetings with outstanding Vietnamese nationals living in ASEAN member states, and representatives from the Vietnamese community in Malaysia; visited several cultural and economic centres; and delivered a policy speech at the University of Malaya. On this occasion, his spouse, Ngo Phuong Ly, visited the National Heart Institute of Malaysia, and presented gifts to child patients undergoing intensive treatment there.  VNA/VNS
PHNOM PENH  Cambodian media outlets have extensively covered the four-day official visit (November 21-24) of Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) Chairman Tran Thanh Man, commending the solidarity, neighbourliness, and cooperative ties between the two countries.

Among the nearly 30 activities in the trip, the inauguration of Cambodias new NA administrative building in Phnom Penh on November 21 garnered significant attention. Cambodian news agency AKP quoted NA President Samdech Khuon Sudary as expressing profound gratitude to the Vietnamese Party, State, and people for their US$25 million support to construct the building. She emphasised it enhances the local legislative body's capacity to undertake governance reforms, transition toward a digital parliament, and improve the efficiency of its Secretariats personnel.

According to the AKP, the 12-storey establishment, funded by Viet Nam, features modern facilities and Khmer-style architecture and will serve various administrative functions, including housing NA committees, meeting rooms, and Secretariat offices.

The news agency noted at the inauguration ceremony, the top legislators of Viet Nam and Cambodia reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening comprehensive cooperation between the two parliaments, both bilaterally and multilaterally, aligning with the aspirations of their people.

In another article, the AKP described the visit as a step forward in bolstering the countries neighbourliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation, and sustainable relations, as well as in promoting Viet Nams multilateral relations and parliamentary diplomacy for peace and regional stability with Cambodia.

Meanwhile, the Khmer Times ran an article on the sides enduring and long-lasting friendship, calling the visit a milestone in enhancing bilateral parliamentary cooperation and deepening ties between the two neighbours.

Another Khmer Times piece on new heights in the nations economic and trade cooperation featured analysis by Uch Leang, Acting Director of the Department of Asian, African, and Middle-East Studies under the International Relations Institute of Cambodia at the Royal Academy of Cambodia (RAC). The article highlighted robust trade growth over the past decade and significant investment opportunities.

The RAC researcher expressed his optimism that Cambodia and Viet Nam would continue creating favourable conditions for businesses and investors to advance trade and investment. He recommended government agencies proactively propose policies promoting such development, focusing on digital transformation, the circular economy, technology-driven innovation, and experience-sharing.  VNS
COPENHAGEN  Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha had a meeting with representatives of the Vietnamese community in Denmark on November 24 as part of his working trip to the European country.

Speaking highly of their contributions to the homeland, Ha affirmed that the overseas Vietnamese (OV) communities, including that in Denmark, are an integral part of the nation, helping popularise Viet Nam's images to the world.

The Vietnamese Party, State and Government always see Vietnamese intellectuals abroad a valuable resource and a driving force for the nations development, he stressed.

Looking ahead to 2025, which marks the beginning of a new development phase for Viet Nam with ambitious goals, Ha underscored that the country is striving to further integrate into the global economy and has chosen Denmark as a model for sustainable development.

Viet Nam has set up diplomatic relations with over 190 countries and comprehensive partnerships with more than 30 nations. The country now ranks among the top 15-20 global exporters and stands 5-6th worldwide in terms of energy transition, he added.

Expressing his admiration for Denmark's green development model and circular economy, Ha said the long-standing diplomatic relationship between the two countries, strengthened by previous ODA support, has evolved into a promising partnership in sustainable development and renewable energy.

The Deputy PM spoke highly of the Vietnamese Embassys efforts to step up the bilateral relationship and hoped that the ties will be elevated with extensive collaboration in those areas.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Denmark Luong Thanh Nghi said the embassy and the OVs will continue contributions to the development of the Viet Nam  Denmark relations, highlighting that the community will maintain its bridging role to develop the bilateral ties to a new height.

The 16,000-strong Vietnamese community in Denmark, predominantly composed of intellectuals and professionals, has significantly contributed to the host nation while maintaining strong ties with their homeland, by offering COVID-19 vaccine funding and natural disaster relief efforts. Besides, the OVs have promoted the Vietnamese language teaching among younger generations.  VNS
HA NOI  The 13th Party Central Committee Conference concluded on November 25 in Ha Noi, marking significant achievements that will drive the restructuring of the political system and propel national development.

The Central Committee reached a consensus on key resolutions, reaffirming its commitment to streamlined governance, enhanced efficiency and addressing critical national challenges.

Speaking at the meeting, General Secretary To Lam summarised the key outcomes of the conference and highlighted the work needed going forward. He noted that the Central Committee had achieved a high level of consensus on its determination to review and streamline the organisational structure of the political system.

This includes implementing the Party Central Committees Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW, dated October 25, 2017, on 'Some issues regarding the continued renovation and organisation of a streamlined, effective, and efficient political system'.

The General Secretary stressed the importance of this task as a key political commitment, describing it as a major revolution to streamline and restructure the political system. He called for unanimity in both awareness and action across the entire Party and the political system.

All levels of Party committees, organisations, government agencies, and departments must show leadership and accountability, adopting a proactive approach: "The central level must not wait for the provincial level, the provincial level must not wait for the district level and the district level must not wait for the grassroots level."

He urged all Party officials, particularly leaders, to set an example by taking decisive action to achieve the goals within the first quarter of 2025.

The General Secretary emphasised the importance of adhering to the Partys principles, political platform, charter, Constitution and laws. He underlined the need for reforms to remain consistent with the overarching principle of Party leadership, State management and public sovereignty. Structural reforms must harmonise the relationships between the Party, National Assembly, Government, judiciary and socio-political organisations.

Reforms must be implemented in a manner that is democratic, scientific and objective, incorporating insights from practical experiences, expert advice and international examples. The restructuring process would aim to eliminate overlaps in functions, clearly define roles and responsibilities and ensure smooth and effective operations.

The General Secretary highlighted the necessity of fostering a capable and qualified workforce. This would involve reforming recruitment, training and personnel evaluation processes. He called for mechanisms to identify and dismiss personnel lacking the necessary qualifications and policies to attract and use highly talented individuals.

General Secretary To Lam outlined measures to mitigate the impacts of organisational reforms on affected staff, ensuring fairness and stability. He also linked the restructuring efforts to broader goals such as decentralisation, anti-waste initiatives, national digital transformation and the socialisation of public services.

Driving progress towards key goals

The Central Committee approved the acceleration of the nuclear energy programme, including the Ninh Thuan nuclear power project. This decision is part of a broader effort to develop Viet Nams national energy infrastructure and meet the demands of the country's development. The General Secretary stressed that these projects must adhere to the highest safety and environmental standards.

The conference also addressed issues of discipline and integrity, approving the expulsion of three former Central Committee members for violations and endorsing plans to strengthen anti-corruption measures.

The General Secretary emphasised that the new organisational structures must operate immediately and efficiently, avoiding disruptions and ensuring that there are no gaps in governance. He urged Party leaders at all levels to display unity, responsibility and determination in implementing the resolutions and achieving the goals set forth by the 13th Congress. These efforts would lay the foundation for the 14th Party Congress and Viet Nam's future development.

In closing, To Lam underscored the importance of unity and commitment in overcoming challenges.

Streamlining the organisational structure was a highly sensitive and complex task that directly impacts individuals and organisations. It would require a strong sense of solidarity, determination and courage to prioritise collective benefits over personal interests, he said.

The General Secretary called on the Politburo, the Secretariat and all Central Committee members to fulfil their responsibilities to the Party, State and people, ensuring the successful implementation of the conferences resolutions.  VNS
HA NOI  Continuing the eighth session, the National Assembly (NA) on Monday afternoon discussed the draft amended Law on Advertising, under the direction of Deputy Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thanh.

Delegate Duong Tan Quan, from Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, said that strong sanctions were needed for businesses that repeatedly carried out violations.

Speaking at the session, he was concerned about the regulations on advertising for special products and goods. Quan expressed his hope for tighter management of such products and services such as cosmetics, food supplements, chemicals and pesticides.

Sung A Lenh, from the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai, asked for consideration about regulations on rights and obligations of advertising publishers.

When posting opinions and feelings about the results of using cosmetics, health protection foods and food supplements on social networks, the person must be the one who directly used the product, he said.

At the same time, Lenh requested clarification of some contents such as how to post opinions and feelings.

Currently, there are many forms of advertisements such as video clips, broadcast on social networks or online platforms. Along with that, it is necessary to sanction people who have either not directly used the advertised product, or used it, but the actual results are not as advertised, according to Lenh.

Contributing opinions at the session, Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, from Binh inh Province, confirmed that the amended Law on Advertising would perfect the legal framework and manage advertising activities in the context of increasing development.

She said that the amended law should differentiate specific responsibilities between the entities. The brand must be responsible for the quality of the product and the content of the information provided. The person delivering the advertising must be responsible for ensuring that it is consistent with the content provided by the company.

Thuy suggested adding regulations on advertising special products for children, especially milk products as a replacement for breast milk from birth, because those products are very difficult to control.

Regarding advertising in print newspapers and television, she said that the drafting committee must review relevant laws on management and handling, specific solutions to remove bad and toxic information.

Delegate Phan Thi My Dung, from Long An southern province asked for supplementing regulations on advertising on the internet.

She said that currently the law had very tight control over advertising, but on television and on the printed newspapers only. On social networks, the management was very loose due to the lack of a legal corridor. Besides, the diversity and complexity of activities on the internet environment were difficult to manage.

If there is a lack of control, we will not achieve the goal of preventing and deterring advertising activities that violate the network environment. We will not effectively protect consumers in the e-commerce that is booming and popular today, but only resolve the consequences and damages when there are complaints, denunciations and violations discovered through inspections and checks, she said.

Regarding the granting of construction permits for advertising works (additional clause 5, Article 31), Dung suggested that for signs and billboards with metal frames, it was necessary to take into account the safety and load-bearing capacity of the construction to which the sign or billboard is attached, as well as those which may be impacted by natural conditions, affecting the safety of neighbouring constructions and of the community during exploitation and use.

Furthermore, the construction of signs and billboards must also comply with the requirements of urban planning and landscape architecture, she said.

Trinh Thi Tu Anh, from Lam ong Central Highlands province, asked for better protection of children's rights in advertising.

She said that protecting children from advertising, especially advertising on social networks, was facing many difficulties.

Anh emphasised that online advertising was diverse and difficult to control, especially advertising displayed on unofficial websites where advertisers were always looking for new ways to attract children's attention.

Many parents were not fully aware of the harmful effects of advertising on children, leading to a lack of supervision.

Therefore, she recommended that the draft law should include a clear definition of advertising aimed at children.

It was necessary to strengthen sanctions against individuals and organisations that violate regulations, promote international cooperation with other countries to share information and experiences, together build common standards for advertising aimed at children on cross-border platforms.  VNS
HA NOI  State President Luong Cuong and his Bulgarian counterpart Rumen Radev discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in various fields during their talks in Ha Noi on Monday.

The discussion followed an official welcome ceremony for the Bulgarian leader, who is paying a visit to Viet Nam from November 24 to 28.

President Cuong noted that President Radev's visit was being made before the two countries celebrate the 75th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations in 2025. The visit was crucial to elevate and deepen the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Viet Nam and Bulgaria.

Cuong confirmed that Viet Nam continued to value and wished to strengthen its collaboration with Bulgaria, one of Viet Nam's priority partners in central and eastern Europe.

He delivered sincere thanks for Bulgarias valuable assistance to Viet Nam in the past struggle for national liberation, as well as in the current national construction and development.

Expressing his pleasure in visiting Viet Nam for the first time, President Radev showed his pride in Bulgaria's active assistance to Viet Nam, especially in training more than 30,000 highly-skilled Vietnamese workers.

President Radev said Bulgaria had earned numerous impressive achievements in economic development, becoming one of the EU's digital transformation centres that is home to many companies holding important global positions in this field.

He confirmed that Bulgaria considered Viet Nam an important partner in Southeast Asia and wished to promote cooperation with Viet Nam in all sectors.

The two leaders held in-depth discussions on major orientations and specific measures to strengthen cooperation.

They agreed to continue exchanges of delegations at all levels, especially at high levels, through all channels of the Party, State, Government, National Assembly and people-to-people exchanges to further consolidate political trust and mutual understanding, creating a foundation for expanding bilateral cooperation.

On the topic of trade and investment, the presidents agreed that it was an important pillar in bilateral relations and vowed to further promote existing cooperation mechanisms, such as the Intergovernmental Committee on Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation.

They pledged to encourage ministries, sectors, localities and businesses from both countries to continue to effectively implement the Viet Nam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and strengthen investment cooperation in areas of strength for Bulgaria, such as information technology and supporting industries.

President Radev said that trade and investment were also one of the main purposes of his visit, confirming that Bulgaria would be ready to act as a bridge for Viet Nam to enter the EU market. Representatives from several large Bulgarian enterprises are accompanying him on his visit.

President Luong Cuong thanked Bulgaria, one of the first EU member states to ratify the Viet Nam - EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), and asked that the country urge other EU nations to quickly ratify EVIPA and encourage the European Commission to remove the illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) "yellow card" for Viet Nam's seafood exports.

The Bulgarian leader said the two countries needed to promote effective cooperation in traditional areas such as defence and security, education and training, science and technology, agriculture, culture and sports, tourism and people-to-people exchange, while promoting the expansion of collaboration in new areas such as the digital transformation, information technology, mineral processing and environment.

The leaders said Viet Nam and Bulgaria would continue to coordinate closely, share experiences and support each other at multilateral forums, especially at the United Nations, within the framework of ASEAN-EU to jointly address global challenges.

Discussing regional and international issues of mutual concern, including the East Sea (internationally known as South China Sea) issue, the two sides held that global conflicts must be resolved by peaceful means according to fundamental principles of the UN Charter and international law, especially UNCLOS 1982, to help maintain peace, security, and freedom of navigation and aviation around the world.

President Radev also invited President Cuong to visit Bulgaria.

After the talks, the two presidents witnessed the exchange of a number of cooperation documents between the two countries in education, economy and trade, and local cooperation.  VNS
HA NOI  National Assembly (NA) Chairman Tran Thanh Mans official visit to Cambodia contributed to strengthening political trust promoting economic, trade and investment cooperation. It also helped people-to-people exchanges, tightening defence and security relations and expanding collaboration on international and regional issues of mutual concern between the two countries, a Party official has said.

According to Chairman of the NA's Foreign Affairs Committee Vu Hai Ha, this marked Man's first visit to Cambodia as the top legislator, and was part of the diplomatic activities by key leaders of the Party and the State to advance the foreign policy outlined at the 13th Party Congress.

The four-day trip has highlighted the Party and State leaders' attention to overseas communities, particularly people of Vietnamese origin in Cambodia who have had longstanding bonds with the host country and made significant contributions to the bilateral relations and Cambodia's development.

During high-level meetings with the Vietnamese top legislator, Cambodian leaders hailed Viet Nam's recent development achievements and highlighted the strong bond between the two nations. They expressed deep gratitude to the Party, State, people and People's Army of Viet Nam for their support for Cambodia in defeating the genocidal regime and bringing peace and prosperity to the people.

Cambodian leaders said they were particularly impressed by the growing economic and trade relations between the two countries, with two-way trade expected to surpass $10 billion this year, Ha said, adding that building on the achievements attained over time, Viet Nam would continue to closely cooperate with Cambodia to foster even greater mutual growth and development in the future.

Ha also highlighted the significance of the visit to cooperation between the legislative bodies of the two countries.

NA Chairman Man held talks with the President of the Cambodian National Assembly Samdech Khuon Sudary, during which they agreed to continue to effectively and substantially implement the contents of the cooperation agreement between the two legislative bodies signed in 2022, including enhancing the sharing of experience in law-making, supervision and decision-making on important issues, Ha stated.

The two sides would also strengthen coordination to monitor the implementation of cooperation agreements and boost exchanges between parliamentary agencies, friendship and young parliamentarian groups, along with female parliamentarians to further tighten their relationship, he said.

Man and Sudary cut the ribbon to inaugurate the Cambodian National Assembly's administrative building  a gift from the Party, State and people of Viet Nam, providing a better facility for Cambodian legislators to effectively perform their duties and responsibilities.

The top legislators agreed to closely coordinate on international and regional issues of common concern, for the development of each country and the well-being and prosperity of their people. They committed to enhancing cooperation to support the two governments in effectively implementing bilateral agreements, thus making the Viet Nam-Cambodia relations stronger in the future, Ha noted.

The Party official also highlighted NA Chairman Man's attendance at the 12th General Assembly of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) and the 11th plenary session of the International Parliament for Tolerance and Peace (IPTP-11) during the trip, which he said showed Viet Nam's support for Cambodia.

Man's keynote speeches at the meetings conveyed Viet Nam's commitment to working together with the international community to maintain peace, stability, cooperation and development not only within the region but also in the world, he stated, noting that delegates at both conferences highly applauded the Vietnamese top legislators remarks.

Regarding future cooperation between Viet Nam and Cambodia, Ha said that the two sides would strengthen political trust through enhanced exchanges and engagements across all channels, including the party, government, parliament and people-to-people interactions, especially maintaining cooperative mechanisms such as meetings between Party and NA leaders.

Viet Nam and Cambodia would also expand defence-security cooperation, particularly agreeing on the principle of not allowing hostile forces to use the territory of one country to undermine the other.

The two countries would work together to boost economic, trade and investment, create more favourable conditions to promote trade cooperations, particularly by easing customs procedures and entry-exit regulations at border gates and encourage investment by Vietnamese enterprises in Cambodia, Ha said.

He added that Cambodian leaders also proposed enhancing cultural exchanges between the two countries, including organising cultural weeks and cultural days in each country annually on a rotating basis.  VNS
HA NOI  President Luong Cuong and his Bulgarian counterpart Rumen Radev co-chaired a press conference following their talks in Ha Noi on Monday, announcing that they have agreed on major directions and specific measures to enhance cooperation and elevate the relations between the two countries in the time ahead.

President Cuong said the two sides noted with pleasure the positive development of the traditional friendship across spheres, particularly in politics, diplomacy, trade, labour, and national defence and security. However, they shared the view that such cooperation outcomes remain modest, yet to match the potential and aspirations of both sides.

According to Cuong, the two sides consented to maintain regular exchanges of all-level delegations and to strengthen cooperation in economy, education-training, science-technology, labour, culture, sports, and tourism, as well as people-to-people exchange.

They has set the goals of raising the effectiveness of investment cooperation and bilateral trade turnover; fully implementing the agreements both have signed or participated in, particularly maximising opportunities generated by the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA); and optimising cooperation mechanisms, including the Intergovernmental Committee on economic and scientific-technical cooperation.

The President said the two sides also concurred to explore new cooperation areas where Bulgaria has strengths and Viet Nam has needs, such as digital transformation and biotechnology in agriculture and health care.

He asked the Bulgarian President to continue creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Bulgaria, thus contributing to fostering the friendship between the two countries.

On the multilateral front, the Vietnamese President said that both sides valued their close and effective coordination at multilateral organisations and forums, particularly the United Nations and within the ASEAN-EU framework.

With regard to international and regional issues of shared concern, they agreed that global disputes and conflicts should be resolved through peaceful means in accordance with the fundamental principles of the UN Charter and international law, helping maintain peace, stability, and development in both regions and the world at large.

Cuong announced that the two sides issued a joint statement on the outcomes of the visit, affirming Vietnamese and Bulgarian leaders commitment to strengthening cooperation in areas of the countries strengths and needs for the sake of their people and for cooperation and prosperity in the world.

He expressed his confidence that the agreements signed during the trip, coupled with the political resolve of the leaders and the efforts of the sides ministries and business communities, will drive the Viet Nam-Bulgaria traditional friendship and multifaceted collaboration to thrive meeting their sustainable development needs.

For his part, President Radev said the close and trusted relationship is no coincidence, with Viet Nam being Bulgarias key partner in Southeast Asia and their bilateral traditional ties cultivated over many years.

He stressed that on the occasion of his visit, both sides look forward to a deeper and close relationship. The two sides have reviewed their relations and agreeing upon the importance of stepping up economic and trade relationship to match their political ties and potential, he said, adding that his delegation includes representatives from major Bulgarian businesses and expressed optimism that the business forum held within this trip would yield positive outcomes.

Expressing his satisfaction with the signed agreements spanning education, trade, and locality-to-locality ties, the Bulgarian President said he hopes that they would serve as a foundation for advancing mutual trust and bilateral cooperation.

Acknowledging the significant contributions of over 30,000 Vietnamese nationals who studied and worked in Bulgaria, Radev called this community a bridge fostering the relations.

Bulgaria was the first Eastern European country to establish Vietnamese language and cultural education programmes, he said. The leader vowed to preserve the two nations friendship and voiced his support for deepened ties between the EU and Viet Nam.

Earlier, the two presidents witnessed the exchange of several signed cooperation documents. They include the two governments education cooperation agreement for 2025-2028, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on joint work between the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), and an MoU between the authorities of Viet Nams Can Tho city and Bulgarias Ruse city.  VNS
HA NOI  National Assembly (NA) Chairman Tran Thanh Man met with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev in Ha Noi on Monday, hailing the latters ongoing official visit as a milestone in the relations between the two countries.

Radevs visit marks the beginning of various events that the two countries will jointly organise to celebrate the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic relations in 2025, Man said, adding that it reaffirms the strong commitment of the leaders of both countries to strengthening and advancing the bilateral relations to a new height.

Viet Nam always keeps in mind the valuable support of Bulgarian people to its past struggle for national liberation and reunification, as well as the present cause of national construction and development, the host said.

For his part, Radev highlighted the long-standing, thriving relationship between the two countries, notably their cooperation in personnel training, with Bulgaria helping Viet Nam train more than 30,000 workers who have then made significant contributions to development in the Southeast Asian nation.

The President appreciated the Vietnamese legislatures support for the two countries cooperation, and noted his belief that the close legislative ties will enable the Viet Nam-Bulgaria relations to grow more intensively.

Radev briefed Man on outcomes of his talks with State President Luong Cuong, during which they touched upon major orientations and specific measures to strengthen cooperation in the time ahead.

Emphasising Bulgaria's priority in strengthening cooperation with Viet Nam, the leader said the two sides should enhance collaboration in areas such as economy, investment, science-technology, and education-training.

Radev congratulated Viet Nam on its remarkable achievements in reform, national development, and international integration. He noted that, with its economic success and rising political standing, Viet Nam has become an important player in Southeast Asia.

He also affirmed that Bulgaria is ready to serve as a bridge to promote comprehensive cooperation between the European Union and Viet Nam.

Man appreciated the Bulgarian legislatures swift ratification of the EU-Viet Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), facilitating investment activities for businesses from both sides.

He took the occasion to urg Bulgaria to voice additional support for the European Commission (EC) to remove its yellow card warning against Viet Nam's seafood exports, while highlighting Viet Nams determination, efforts and robust results in carrying out the ECs recommendations on sustainable fishing development.

Laying stress on the potential and ample room for bilateral cooperation, Man held that the two sides need to strengthen cooperation in trade, investment, education, and defence  security.

He said the Vietnamese NA wants to enhance cooperation with the Bulgarian NA, particularly following the signing of a new cooperation agreement in 2023.

In a move to step up the bilateral parliamentary collaboration, contributing to deepening the Viet Nam  Bulgaria ties, the host suggested Radev support the two legislative bodies to maintain the exchange of high-level delegations as well as contacts between friendship parliamentarian groups, young parliamentarians, and women parliamentarians of both sides. He called for coordinated oversight and the promotion of effective implementation of agreements between the two governments.

Additionally, the two sides should maintain consultation, coordination, and mutual support at multilateral parliamentary forums and on regional and global issues of common interest.

Man also expressed his gratitude for the Bulgarian State, Government and NA for supporting the Vietnamese community in the country over the recent past and particularly thanked Radev for his attention to the community's development.

The host said he hopes for Radev's continued assistance in creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese people to live and integrate well with the host nation, and continue contributions to Bulgaria's socio-economic development and the traditional friendship between the two countries.

The guest, for his part, affirmed that Bulgaria remains a reliable friend supporting Viet Nam at regional and international forums, indicating Bulgarias desire to welcome more Vietnamese people for study and work as well as investment in the country.

He also voiced his confidence that his trip to Viet Nam will create new momentum for the bilateral relations.  VNS
In scoring "Gladiator 2," Harry Gregson-Williams faced the delicate task of honoring Hans Zimmer's original score from the original movie while crafting a new musical identity for the sequel.

The movie, directed by Ridley Scott, picks up two decades after the first, following Lucius, played by Paul Mescal, as he battles in the gladiator arena after an invasion.

Gregson-Williams understood the assignment required him to embody the essence of the first movie while moving into a new narrative space. He told Variety he recognized early on that he would need to compose at least 100 minutes of music.

A pivotal moment in Gregson-Williams' creative process was sparked by a line in the script that said, "Lucius becomes Maximus." This inspired him to go deeply into the original score, particularly the main theme characterized by a descending seventh motif.

"It has a noticeable leap, and I thought if I could embrace that in Lucius' theme, I might be able to pull this off."

While Gregson-Williams was intentional about referencing Zimmer's main theme, he approached it with caution.

He stated, "We decided if we were going to use it, we'd use it very sparingly and very precisely."

To convey Lucius' emotional journey, Gregson-Williams used a variety of instruments. He introduced a ney flute, primarily used in Persian music, layered with the voice of Ethiopian vocalist Gigi.

He explained, "I found if I layered this vocalist on top of Lucius' thematic material, it would keep her spirit alive."

For flashbacks of happier times, he used a "consort of viols," collaborating with the London-based group Fretwork to achieve an ancient yet edgy sound.

Gregson-Williams also explored ancient war-like horns in Northern Spain, which made "a ferocious sound."

His collaborative approach with Scott focused on storytelling, focusing pace, tone, color, light, and darkness, ultimately shaping the movie's emotional landscape through music.
Published on the threshold of a conference themed How can we feed 10 billion people without destroying the planet? that the journal will host in coordination with the Centre for International Cooperation in Agricultural Research for Development (Cirad) on November 25, the article tells how this mountainous region has become a frontrunner in Viet Nams national initiative to transform the food and agriculture system.
HA NOI  Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and his entourage toured the Viet Nam Military History Museum in Ha Noi on Monday.

Accompanying the Bulgarian delegation was Vice State President Vo Thi Anh Xuan.

They were introduced to six display themes that illuminated pivotal chapters in Viet Nam's history, from the early days of nation-building and defence, the protection of national independence (9391858); the fight against French colonialism for national independence (18581945), the resistance war against French colonialists (19451954); the anti-US resistance war (19541975); to the national construction and defence (19752024).

President Radev marked the occasion by penning a heartfelt entry in the museum's guestbook. In a gesture of goodwill, Col. Le Vu Huy, Director of the museum, presented the Bulgarian leader with a souvenir.

The Viet Nam Military History Museum, established on July 17, 1956, is one of the six national-level museums and the first of its kind within the military museum system.

Following a major upgrade in 2019 funded by the Ministry of National Defence, the museum now boasts a state-of-the-art facility in Tay Mo and ai Mo wards, Nam Tu Liem district. With a contemporary design and modern projection technologies, the museum offers visitors an immersive journey through Viet Nam's military history.

Spanning four above-ground floors and one basement, the museum covers a sprawling 64,640 sq.m and houses tens of thousands of artifacts.

Rumen Radev's visit is the first to Viet Nam by a Bulgarian President after 11 years, which comes at a time when both nations prepare to celebrate the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic ties on February 8, 2025 with an aim to bolster their traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation.  VNS
HA NOI  Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet, spouse of Vietnamese President Luong Cuong, and Desislava Radeva, spouse of Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, on Monday visited the Viet Nam-Bulgaria Kindergarten in Hai Ba Trung district, Ha Noi.

The kindergarten was established on December 23, 1981, as a gift from the Bulgarian Womens Union to Vietnamese children. Its predecessor was the Dimitrov Nursery, under the Committee for the Protection of Mothers and Children. After the nursery was dissolved, the kindergarten came under the Ha Noi Department of Education and Training and was renamed the Viet Nam-Bulgaria Kindergarten by the Ha Noi Peoples Committee.

Teachers and students at the kindergarten welcomed the spouses of the Vietnamese and Bulgarian leaders with musical performances. They were also presented with paintings drawn by a student.

Radeva expressed her deep impression and happiness to see a school in Viet Nam dedicated to Bulgarian culture despite of a distance of tens of thousands of kilometres.

She said she is delighted to stand in this school, which has been in existence for over 40 years and serves as a symbol of Viet Nam-Bulgaria friendship.

She thanked the teachers for imparting knowledge and affection for Bulgaria to the children, hoping that Vietnamese kids will visit the "Land of Roses" to experience Bulgarias traditional cuisine and culture.  VNS
HA NOI  Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with visiting Bulgarian President Rumen Radev in Ha Noi on Monday, during which the host affirmed that Bulgaria is one of Viet Nam's top priority partners in Central and Eastern Europe.

Welcoming Radev and the high-level Bulgarian delegation, Chinh expressed his belief that their visit will contribute to deepening traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries.

Viet Nam will never forget the support and valuable help that Bulgaria has provided Viet Nam during its past struggle for independence and reunification, as well as national construction and development at present, he said.

For his part, Radev expressed his delight to make his first official visit to Viet Nam and his admiration on the country's development achievements, affirming Bulgaria always treasures to develop ties with Viet Nam, an top leading partner of Bulgaria in Southeast Asia.

The two leaders expressed pleasure with the sound development of Viet Nam-Bulgaria relations in various fields, saying that both sides have exchanged delegations at levels, and trade and investment cooperation has seen encouraging progress, though it is still yet to match their sound political relations.

Radev agreed with Chinh's proposals on six key areas of cooperation that the two countries need to strengthen in the coming time.

Firstly, it is necessary to enhance political trust through increasing delegation exchange, thereby promoting cooperation across various fields. Bulgaria continues supporting stance of ASEAN and Viet Nam on the East Sea, based on respect for international law, particularly the 1982 United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the settlement of disputes by peaceful measures, contributing to maintaining peace, stability, security, and freedom of navigation in the region.

Secondly, Viet Nam and Bulgaria will boost trade and investment cooperation with the aim of raising bilateral trade turnover to US$500 million in the coming time.

Thirdly, they will strengthen education cooperation, a traditional area of collaboration between the two countries.

Fourthly, they will promote enhance labour cooperation, a field with significant complementary potential.

Fifthly, they will increase coordination and mutual support at regional and international forums, such as the United Nations, ASEM, and the ASEAN-EU framework.

Sixthly, they agreed to promote people-to-people exchanges and collaboration in organising activities commemorating the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic relations in 2025.

Radev said Viet Nam is one of Bulgaria's most promising markets in Southeast Asia, noting that nearly 30 leading Bulgarian companies are accompanying him in this visit. They operate in such areas as information and communication technology, semiconductors, electronics, optics, machinery and specialised equipment, automobile manufacturing, medical devices, electrical equipment, shipbuilding, and the defence and aerospace industries. They are expected to attend a Viet Nam-Bulgaria business forum in HCM City on November 27.

In response to Chinh's proposals, Radev affirmed that he will advocate for the remaining EU countries to swiftly ratify the EU-Viet Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) and support the European Commission (EC) in removing the "yellow card" warning against Viet Nam's seafood exports to the EU market.

Both sides agreed to continue effectively implementing the cooperation framework, including signed agreements, and to strengthen collaboration in traditional areas such as defence-security, trade-investment, science-technology, education-training, medicine, culture, and people-to-people exchanges. Additionally, they committed to expanding cooperation to potential complementary areas such as digital transformation, digital data building and connectivity, artificial intelligence, electronics, labour, agriculture, and food security.

The two sides also agreed to support each other in serving as gateways for their goods to enter the ASEAN and EU markets.

The PM took the occasion to thank Bulgarian authorities at all levels for creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Bulgaria to live, work, and integrate into the host country. He noted that major cities in Viet Nam, such as Ha Noi, HCM City, Hai Phong, a Nang and Hue, have friendship associations with Bulgaria.

Radev highly valued the contributions of the Vietnamese community to Bulgarias socio-economic development and their role as a bridge fostering the traditional friendship between the two countries.

He also acknowledged the contributions of 30,000 Vietnamese alumni and trainees who studied and worked in Bulgaria, while thanking Viet Nam for creating favourable conditions for Bulgarian citizens to live and work in Viet Nam.  VNS
HA NOI  Party General Secretary To Lam received visiting Bulgarian President Rumen Radev in Ha Noi on Monday afternoon.

Welcoming Radev on his official visit to Viet Nam as the two countries are preparing to celebrate the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic relations in 2025, Lam congratulated Bulgaria on its achievements in economic development, and regional and international integration.

The Party leader informed the guest of Viet Nam's significant and comprehensive accomplishments after nearly 40 years of reform and reaffirmed its foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, diversification and multilateralisation of external relations.

Expressing gratitude for the assistance the Bulgarian government and people have given to Viet Nam throughout various periods, Lam emphasised that Viet Nam always attaches importance to strengthening its relations with traditional friends, including Bulgaria.

Highlighting Bulgaria's importance as a gateway for fostering ties with the European Union (EU), he noted that Viet Nam is ready to act as a bridge between Bulgaria and Southeast Asian countries.

The Party leader also praised the positive outcomes of Bulgarian President Rumen Radevs talks and meetings with Vietnamese leaders, as well as the positive developments in Viet Nam-Bulgaria relations.

Lam shared major directions and measures to elevate the traditional friendship between the two countries to a new height. These include enhancing comprehensive cooperation, particularly in areas where Bulgaria has strengths and Viet Nam has needs, such as agriculture, industry, electronic engineering, information technology, artificial intelligence, and space research.

For his part, Radev congratulated Viet Nam on its significant and remarkable reform achievements in recent years, which he said have enhanced the nations strength, position and reputation globally.

He expressed his confidence that under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) led by Party General Secretary To Lam, the Vietnamese people will continue to achieve greater successes, propelling the nation into a new era - the era of Viet Nam's rise.

The President affirmed Bulgarias appreciation for the long-standing traditional friendship with Viet Nam, considering it a top partner in Southeast Asia. He also emphasised the importance of cooperation between Bulgaria's political parties and the CPV as a key channel for strengthening and advancing bilateral relations.

He also shared the view with Lam about major measures to deepen and make bilateral cooperation more effective.

On this occasion, Radev invited Lam to make an official visit to Bulgaria in 2025, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic relations. The Party leader accepted the invitation with pleasure. - VNS
HA NOI  Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh gave a reception in Ha Noi on Monday for Borje Ekholm, President and CEO of Ericsson who is paying a working visit to Viet Nam.

The PM expressed his delight at the positive growth in Viet Nam-Sweden relations, particularly in politics-diplomacy, development assistance and trade.

Highlighting Ericsson's potential in terms of capital, technology and advanced management, Chinh said he believes that through the Viet Nam visit, Ekholm will have in-deep and comprehensive assessments, serving as a basis for the company's future investment and business decisions.

For his part, Ekholm emphasised Ericsson's leadership in deploying 5G and fostering advanced wireless connectivity globally. Operating in Viet Nam since 1993, the company has been a key partner to Vietnamese telecom operators and is supporting Viet Nam's 5G network development.

He said his company wishes to join efforts to accelerate Viet Nam's national digital transformation, and research, develop new technologies and products in the country.

Speaking highly of Ericsson's development plans in Vietnam, especially in providing solutions to digital infrastructure development in Viet Nam, promoting national digital transformation, and building the e-government, Chinh said Viet Nam identifies digital transformation as an objective requirement, a strategic choice, a top priority, and a new growth driver.

He urged the company to boost cooperation with Viet Nam, focusing on building R&D as well as data centres in Viet Nam, accelerating technology transfer, as well as on digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, IoT, and next-generation networks like 5G and 6G. Besides, the PM underlined collaboration in training human resources, sharing experiences and policy consultation as well as supporting Vietnamese groups and partners to join global supply chains.

Viet Nam wants to exploit outer space, underground space, and marine space, promoting innovation and integration, Chinh said, adding that the country wishes and stands ready for strategic, long-term cooperation with Ericsson.

To accelerate digital transformation, the Vietnamese Government is carrying out many breakthrough programmes and policies, including the completion of numerous legal documents to ease difficulties and create favourable conditions for the process, and pouring significant investments and modernising digital infrastructure, with priority given to digital data development and human resources development for the digital industry.

Ekholm highlighted the importance of the Vietnamese market to Ericsson, expressing his confidence that Viet Nam is on the right track and will be a leading country in digital economy.

He reaffirmed Ericsson's commitment to Viet Nam, including the development of an R&D centre to create new solutions and export opportunities, leveraging the country's skilled workforce and growing digital economy.  VNS
HA NOI  Professor Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Prize, often referred to as the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize, last Saturday in the Philippines.

She is one of five recipients of the prestigious honour for the year.

Professor and doctor Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong was recognised for her tireless efforts over nearly five decades in seeking justice for the victims of Agent Orange and dioxin poisoning.

Born in 1944 in HCM City, Phuong chose to pursue a career in medicine, specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology.

Her turning point came in 1966, while she was still an intern.

I was assisting with a childbirth at Tu Du Hospital when I was horrified to see a new-born without a skull, its body covered in hair, resembling a monkey, she said.

From then on, she encountered more and more cases of new-borns with various congenital defects, including anencephaly, missing eyes, noses and limbs.

Reflecting on the early days, she said: To truly understand the agony of mothers, who give birth to such children, one must witness it firsthand.

"Some cannot accept the horrific reality and go mad, some suffer from depression, while others are abandoned by their familiessuch suffering is unimaginable.

After several such cases, she suggested Tu Du Hospital to preserve the malformed foetuses for research.

During her investigation, she came across a document from the United States National Academy of Sciences, which helped her link the birth defects to the toxic chemicals used by the US military in Viet Nam.

In 1976, after uncovering the terrible secret, she embarked on a long journey to gather scientific evidence proving that Agent Orange/dioxin was the cause of the birth defects and various cancers.

To gather the evidence, she and her colleagues conducted several surveys in the Mekong Delta, an area previously targeted by the US military for chemical defoliation.

Investigations in Ben Tre and Ca Mau in 1982 revealed that in the regions, the rate of miscarriages, stillbirths and congenital disabilities were significantly higher than in other areas.

Using the data, she presented three reports on the long-term effects of herbicides and defoliants at an international conference attended by representatives from 22 countries in 1983.

In 1987, she again presented the findings on the impact of dioxin at a conference in the United States on the toxin, with the paper subsequently published in a British scientific journal in 1989.

Throughout her journey to seek justice for Agent Orange victims, Phuong wept many times witnessing the pain of the victims.

She became even more determined to prove that the suffering endured by the people was real and must be recognised and compensated.

Unyielding

From 2008 onwards, as a scientist and Vice President of the Viet Nam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/dioxin Foundation, she participated in several hearings of the US House of Representatives on the issue.

During the hearings, she called on the US Congress and chemical companies to take responsibility for compensating the more than three million Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange.

After that, US parties began cooperating to remediate the environment and address the aftermath of Agent Orange contamination in Viet Nam.

In parallel, she worked tirelessly to bring images of malformed foetuses and disabled children to the international community, seeking global support for the victims fight for justice.

One of the most unforgettable moments in her search for evidence was her encounter with the conjoined twins.

She brought the twins to Tu Du Hospital, where they were cared for and underwent a successful separation surgery in 1988.

Later, as Director of Tu Du Hospital, she established the Hoa Binh Village - a sanctuary for hundreds of disabled children abandoned by their families.

At the village, many disabled children were able to learn a trade, and some even went on to start their own families, becoming independent.

In late August, after receiving the news of her Ramon Magsaysay Prize, she was truly surprised.

At this moment, I think of the victims of Agent Orange. I remember the days I spent working with my colleagues, relentlessly seeking evidence of the effects of dioxin in Viet Nam.

"That nearly 50-year journey has been incredibly difficult, and now, I am so happy to see my efforts recognised by the international community.

She said: We may not have succeeded legally, but we have gained the support of global public opinion, from those who love peace and we will not give up.

Alongside her work for the victims of Agent Orange, she is also known for her contributions to the field of Vietnamese medicine.

She was a pioneer in bringing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) to Viet Nam, becoming the fairy godmother for families struggling with infertility.

She also founded the 'Midwife in the Village' programme, which helped reduce maternal mortality and obstetric complications in remote areas across the country.

In recent years, she launched the 'Nurturing Happiness' programme, assisting infertile couples from disadvantaged backgrounds in their journey to parenthood.

At the age of 80, she still continues to work with the motto: While my blood is still warm, I will continue to do useful things.  VNS
CHENGDU  A panda-themed railway station in Chengdu, capital of Southwest Chinas Sichuan province, is set to open on Tuesday, according to China Railway Chengdu Group, the regional railway operator.

Designed to celebrate Chengdus status as the Panda City, the station blends local culture with public infrastructure. Its exterior and interior are adorned with playful panda motifs, including panda faces and bamboo-inspired decorations, creating a welcoming atmosphere for travellers.

Located in the Anjing township, the station is not just a transportation hub but also a vibrant cultural experience for visitors.

Key features include panda-themed signage, murals and a prominent 3D panda sculpture at the stations plaza, which is expected to become a popular photo spot.

The design is intended to offer an immersive environment, capturing the essence of Chengdus famous panda culture.

Shi Yang, head of Anjing Station, explained that the goal is to enhance the travel experience while promoting the citys rich cultural heritage.

The station design highlights Chengdus identity as the home of pandas, offering both locals and tourists a unique, immersive experience, Shi said.

The station will also serve as a key stop for the popular Panda-themed train, which has been operated by China Railway Chengdu Group for over a year and a half.

With 95 trips completed and 27,000 passenger trips served, the train has become a favourite among tourists seeking thematic travel experiences.

The opening of the panda-themed station is expected to further enhance the travel experience and support the growing demand for themed tourism.

As part of a national initiative to integrate railway and tourism, the station will serve as an example of how railway infrastructure can be designed to enrich the cultural experience for visitors. China Daily/ANN
In late October, an Agribank delegation led by board member Nguyen Tuyet Duong attended meetings co-organised by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The delegation also worked with Moodys and Wells Fargo Bank on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations as well as sustainable finance topics.

Most of Agribanks green credit customers are involved in agriculture

The delegation worked with Swami Venkataraman, who is the global head of Sustainable Finance, and other senior experts of Moodys Ratings on the latters perspective on international policies and regulations on sustainable development and assessed the impact of those policies and regulations on Vietnam, and Agribank in particular.

Venkataraman emphasised the impact of ESG risks on the credit rating results of an organisation in the current context, the criteria that Moodys uses to assess risks, and shared the experiences of banks around the world on how to manage risks, as well as focus on sustainable financial development.

He also highly appreciated the results on the impact of ESG risks on the credit rating results of Agribank. With a CIS-2 score, he assessed this as high compared to banks with the same credit rating results that Moodys assessed.

Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, director of Agribank Staff Training School, said at a workshop in Hanoi earlier in November, The adoption of ESG practices is increasingly essential for commercial banks like ours to thrive in a sustainable and competitive environment. Along with green credit, banks need to synchronously deploy all three ESG pillars to achieve the goal of comprehensive sustainable development.

Regarding the actual implementation at Agribank, with the key role in providing capital and financial services to the agricultural and rural areas, the lender is committed to implementing environmental criteria synchronously in all of the banks operations, contributing to promoting green credit growth as well as managing environmental and social risks in credit granting activities.

With the activities that have been and are being implemented, the proportion of green project financing in Agribanks total outstanding credit increased from 0.9 per cent in 2020 to 1.8 per cent in 2023, maintained until the second quarter of 2024. As of the end of June, the outstanding balance for the green sector at Agribank reached VND27.8 trillion ($1.15 billion).

The banking sectors green credit average growth is estimated at 14 per cent annually, and the figure at Agribank is 12 per cent. However, Agribank has the largest number of green credit customers at around 42,500, of which more than 40,500 are in the forestry sector, contributing to earn for Vietnam an amount of $51.5 million from forest carbon credits.

Agribank has been appreciated by international donors such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), French Development Agency, and European Investment Bank (EIB) in disbursing loans for official development assistance projects. It has successfully participated in schemes related to environmental protection with a total capital of nearly VND6.5 trillion ($255.6 million); three EIB financing contracts in renewable energy and efficiency; and two ventures in biogas development and supporting low-carbon agriculture, funded by the ADB.

In 2023, Agribank established a steering committee and a working group to support the implementation of ESG, which are regularly reviewed. Following that, some issues have come up that require attention, Ha said.

The agricultural and rural sector is heavily affected by climate change, with a large number of customers, a lack of specific legal framework for ESG implementation, and some indicators that are not required to be complied with, so Agribanks implementation has also encountered certain problems, she said.

Agribank proposed some recommendations to help adopt ESG practice smoothly. One of the most important proposals is that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment should be responsible for developing environmental criteria and determining projects eligible for green credit, which will serve as a basis for credit institutions to apply. In addition, the government and relevant agencies should have policies to promote the carbon market, such as establishing regulations for carbon credit management, among others.

The government and media agencies should also continue to promote the necessity of sustainable development, green banking, and eco-friendly consumption, Ha added. There must be development of a data system on the compliance status and environmental violations of businesses, creating a basis for financial institutions to assess and determine the level of environmental risk when evaluating loan applicants. The government should improve policies to incorporate risk management for society and governance, said Ha.

Last but not least, Ha said, it is necessary to mobilise private finance for climate projects, especially in adaptation and enhancing climate resilience, and utilise public-private partnerships to enable more participation in climate initiatives.

Agribank boosts ability to provide greener credit Lenders are more likely today to take a greener focus in their activities. Phung Thi Binh, deputy general director of Agribank, talked to VIRs Nhue Man about the banks determination to promote green credit growth.

Agribank furthers growth of thriving rural areas Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) has made great contributions to the success of their customers and brought development and prosperity to Vietnams farthest corners.
Globally, climate change has intensified the frequency and severity of natural disasters. A report presented at the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan last week revealed that since 2014, extreme weather events caused $2 trillion in global economic losses, comparable to the 2008 global financial crisis. Hurricanes Helene and Milton alone inflicted $50 billion in damages each in the United States in October this year.

Vietnam can look to other nations that employ intelligent disaster response systems, photo Le Toan

Vietnam, ranked among the most disaster-prone nations globally, faces similar challenges. Data from the Ministry of Planning and Investment indicates that Typhoon Yagi, which struck in September, caused over $50 billion in damage, shaving 0.15 percentage points off Vietnams projected GDP growth for the year.

Disasters are exacting an ever-greater toll, both globally and here in Vietnam, said Le Thi Thuy Van, deputy director of the Institute of Strategy and Financial Policy, at a seminar on finance and disaster risk insurance last week. They not only cause loss of life and property but also pose a significant threat to our socioeconomic development. This is not an isolated event. In recent years, disasters have reduced Vietnams GDP by 1-1.5 per cent annually.

Direct economic losses from typhoons and floods make Vietnam the third most-affected country in Southeast Asia, following Myanmar and the Philippines. Beyond the immediate financial toll, these disasters disrupt millions of lives, damage infrastructure, and slow long-term development.

Vietnam has mobilised financial resources to address these challenges, drawing on state budget reserves, contingency funds, agricultural insurance, and voluntary contributions from domestic and international stakeholders. However, Van highlighted significant gaps in the system. The system remains underfunded and over-reliant on state budgets. Local resources are often insufficient, forcing central government intervention, Van said.

Efforts to integrate disaster risk data into national systems are ongoing, but uneven progress has left the country with limited tools for risk assessment and prevention, further exposing its economy to recurring losses.

International examples offer valuable lessons for Vietnam. Japans earthquake insurance system, underpinned by robust legal frameworks, provides sustainable disaster response mechanisms. The Philippines employs parametric insurance for public assets, which enables rapid payouts triggered by specific thresholds, such as rainfall or wind speed. Colombia, in partnership with the World Bank, has developed a disaster risk financing system that eases fiscal burdens while improving resilience.

These countries demonstrate how robust legal frameworks and innovative financial tools can transform disaster management, said Dr. Nguyen Thi Hai Duong of the Insurance Faculty at the National Economics University.

She urged Vietnam to consider index-based and layered risk insurance models for more efficient financial support during crises.

There is a need to tailor disaster risk models to Vietnams unique vulnerabilities, develop more disaster insurance products, and foster public-private partnerships. Collaboration with international organisations and the private sector will be key to advancing disaster risk insurance in Vietnam, Duong added.

Vietnam must also shift from a reactive to a preventative disaster management approach. Duong proposed a comprehensive system of pre- and post-disaster financing tools, enhanced risk assessment capabilities, and accelerated adoption of insurance for public and private assets.

Public asset insurance is a critical piece of the puzzle. Pilot initiatives have faced regulatory inconsistencies and limited financial resources. Addressing these hurdles will be crucial to achieving a functional and sustainable disaster insurance framework, Duong explained.

Typhoon Yagi served as a wake-up call, prompting consumers to reconsider the importance of insurance in mitigating financial risks from natural disasters, noted FiinGroup last month.

Following the Yagi shock, insurers will need to rethink how they operate, said FiinGroup. Companies must leverage technology to expedite damage assessments and provide faster compensation to affected clients. Digital tools are essential for enhancing efficiency and improving customer satisfaction in the wake of large-scale disasters.

PM: More measures needed to deal with natural disaster consequences Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on December 2 ordered more efficient measures to overcome consequences caused by natural disasters and help affected residents return to their normal lives.

Intl organisations continue early action support for Vietnam to reduce disaster risks The national steering committee for natural disaster prevention and control held a meeting with international partners in Hanoi on December 8, highlighting the role of early warning and early action in natural disaster risk mitigation.

By 2070, under a high-emissions scenario, climate change is projected to reduce Vietnams GDP by 30.2 per cent, among the highest losses in the region. Sea-level rise alone could result in a 15 per cent GDP loss for the country, compared to 6.3 per cent for the Asia-Pacific region.

Other factors contributing to Vietnams economic losses include reduced labour productivity due to heatwaves (8.5 per cent), increased river flooding (6.5 per cent), and damage to natural resources (4.1 per cent).Source: Asian Development Bank
Assessing the Houthi threat to Israel and the West By Lenny Ben-David

web posted November 25, 2024 The Houthis in Yemen are not a rag-tag, flip-flop-shod, bunch of goat herders chewing Qat, as once imagined and portrayed. Today, the Houthis are a well-armed and dangerous army of more than 800,000 fighters threatening Israel, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Emirates, the U.S. Navy, and international shipping, with drones, ballistic missiles, and rockets. International shipping is under the constant threat of Houthi piracy. A high-ranking Pentagon official recently gave this assessment in October 2024: Houthi rebels are brandishing increasingly sophisticated weapons, including missiles that "can do things that are just amazing," said Bill LaPlante, the U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. The Houthis "are getting scary." La Plante continued, "I'm an engineer and a physicist, and I've been around missiles my whole career. What I've seen of what the Houthis have done in the last six months is something that  I'm just shocked." La Plante did not explain the source of the Houthis' "amazing" missilry. The Houthi military has earned the analysts' epithet, the "Southern Hizbullah." After the Israeli military campaigns against Hamas and Hizbullah, the Houthis remain Iran's most viable and dangerous "resistance" proxy. Like the "Northern Hizbullah," the Houthis view their mission as relieving Israeli pressure on Hamas. Houthis are likely to show up on Israel's borders as Iranian expeditionary forces. Iran's Expeditionary Proxy Force Incredibly, U.S. defense officials focus on the Houthi threat to international shipping and Israel but pay little or no attention to Iran's immense support role in training, and providing weaponry, intelligence, and funding to the Houthis. Just weeks after Iran fired 200 missiles at Israel, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III gave this statement on October 16, 2024, on U.S. airstrikes on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. Note the negligible mention of Iran: Today (October 16, 2024), U.S. military forces, including U.S. Air Force B-2 bombers, conducted precision strikes against five hardened underground weapons storage locations in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. U.S. forces targeted several of the Houthis' underground facilities housing various weapons components of types that the Houthis have used to target civilian and military vessels throughout the region. This was a unique demonstration of the United States' ability to target facilities that our adversaries seek to keep out of reach, no matter how deeply buried underground, hardened, or fortified. The employment of U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit long-range stealth bombers demonstrates U.S. global strike capabilities to take action against these targets when necessary, anytime, anywhere. For over a year, the Iran-backed Houthis, Specially Designated Global Terrorists, have recklessly and unlawfully attacked U.S. and international vessels Between 2015 and 2021, a "commercial" Iranian ship, the Saviz, was anchored in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen to provide intelligence and relay electronic signals. It served as a forward command post for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The Saviz was knocked out of commission in April 2021 by Israeli commandos and was replaced by the Behshad. The "civilian" ships were to relay Iranian transmissions to and from unmanned drones, conduct surveillance, and guide attack missions. It is suspected that the vessels also served as weapons cargo ships that broke down the cargo into smaller loads for fishing boats to smuggle ashore. After Houthi attacks on U.S. Navy ships in 2024, the Behshad left its anchorage in the Red Sea in January 2024 and sailed to a Chinese military harbor in Djibouti. The vessel, believed to have been "lining up" targets in the Red Sea for the Houthis, was reportedly hit by a U.S. cyberattack, and today, it is back in an Iranian port. The U.S. Defense Department has noted that the Houthis recently downed two of its super-tech MQ-9 unmanned combat aerial vehicles. The advanced $30 million+ killer-hunter drones were shot down in November 2023 and February 2024 by Houthi air defense systems. Supposedly, the systems were Houthi-made Saqr and Barq missiles, but the U.S. military knows the systems by their Iranian designation, "358. SAM." In late 2023- early 2024, the U.S. Navy intercepted dhow boats heading for Yemen loaded with 14 electro-optical trackers for surface-to-air missile systems, three ballistic missile warheads, five liquid-fuel type medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) engines, and one C-802/Ghadar-class Iranian anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM), called Mandab-2 by the Houthis. The Defense Intelligence Agency The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) reported "The Houthis assemble, repaint, and modify smuggled Iranian weapons and display them with Houthi names." A publication of the Defense Intelligence Agency, February 2024, shows with certainty the Iran-Houthi weapons cloning and sharing. The publication "provides a visual comparison of Iranian missiles and weaponized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and those displayed and employed by Houthi forces in Yemen to attack civilian infrastructure across the region. Photos of weapons displayed and fired by Iran and the Houthis strongly suggest their Iranian origin." Already in 2017, U.S. UN Ambassador Nikky Haley provided a "show and tell" briefing to the press at a U.S. army base which "incontrovertibly" showed Iranian components in Houthi rockets. Iran Is Hunting for U.S. Navy Ships, Including Aircraft Carriers The Pentagon confirmed on September 17, 2024, that several U.S. Navy ships fought off "a complex attack" by the Houthis against warships in the Red Sea. "I can confirm that no U.S. ships were damaged or hit," Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters. "There were no injuries to U.S. personnel. We did see a complex attack launch from the Houthis that ranged from cruise missiles and UAVs." Subsequently, U.S. destroyers were involved on October 1, 2024, during the massive Iranian attack on Israel. And in November, Houthis attacked two U.S. destroyers sailing from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden through the Bab el Mandeb Strait. Iran's elite military unit, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reports directly to Ayatollah Khamenei. In 2015, it held military drills in the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The target? A replica of a U.S. aircraft carrier. Why would the Islamic Republic seek to engage a U.S. nuclear vessel? For the prestige of sinking a $5 billion carrier, to kill the 6,000 American sailors and airmen onboard, and to destroy the 90 aircraft and weaponry on deck. As explained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy chief, "American aircraft carriers are very big ammunition depots housing a lot of missiles, rockets, torpedoes and everything else." The Revolutionary Guards' Adm. Ali Fadavi added that a direct hit by a missile could set off a large secondary explosion. Iranian Missiles Just Missed the USS Eisenhower The Iranian Navy just missed its chance to hit a U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS Eisenhower, in the summer of 2024. West Point's authoritative Combating Terrorism Center at West Point revealed that an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) arrived at a very shallow trajectory, with minimal warning, without a chance for interception, and splashed down around 200 meters from the USS Eisenhower. In January, the USS Gravely missile destroyer narrowly avoided a missile strike by intercepting it with the close-in-weapons-system, Phalanx multi-barrel gun.

The explosions on the Iranian mock aircraft carrier after attacks by Iranian speed boats and missiles. The carrier model was built on several barges. It may be a coincidence, but in recent months major U.S. aerial engagements in the region have been carried out by land-based U.S. Air Force F-15s. In November 2024, a U.S. Marine Corps F 35C conducted the plane's first combat strike from the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier against targets in Yemen. Conclusion  "Limited Liability" Must End Ultimately, all violence against the West, Israel, and freedom of shipping in the Middle East is traced back to the Islamic Republic of Iran. The "3-H Club" of Hamas, Hizbullah, and Houthis have killed thousands, brought perpetual war to the region. and virtually shut Suez Canal shipping. The assassination squads of the evil terror syndicate have hunted their enemies across the United States and Europe. The root of this evil is the ayatollahs of Iran, who fuel, finance, and arm its belligerent proxies. No revenge was carried out after Iran almost destroyed the Saudi oil industry with an attack on the Abqaiq facilities; the United States restrained Israel's retaliation after direct and massive Iranian bombardments of drones, missiles, and rockets; American reaction to attacks on Red Sea shipping and U.S. Navy ships is mostly limited to defensive action; and the U.S. Administration responded to Israel's initial and limited response to Hamas and Iranian attacks with a shameful admonition, [just] "take the win." Will the relatively passive Western and Israeli responses to Iran (and the Houthis) change when the new U.S. Administration takes office? Lenny Ben-David worked for AIPAC for 25 years in Washington and Jerusalem. In 1997, he left to open an independent consulting firm, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tapped him to serve as Deputy Chief of Staff in Israel's Washington Embassy. He is the author of the book American Interests in the Holy Land Revealed in Early Photographs, and he is completing his next book, Secrets of World War I in the Holy Land Revealed in Early Photographs. He is the Director of the Institute for U.S.-Israel Relations at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Home
Phong Quach, head of consulting at Ipsos Strategy3 Vietnam, said that players who lead in dealmaking in the food and beverage (F&B) category often develop their own distribution and retail locations that are suitable for the consumers profiles.

Food and beverage imports are becoming more popular in Vietnam, Photo: Shutterstock

This requires hard-working efforts and thorough landscape understanding, as traditional retail systems often focus on the volume of visitors rather than profiles of visitors, Quach said.

In some cases, retail players need to build their footprints from scratch since most of the imported products are alien to the local Vietnamese, such as Norwegian salmon, cod, clip fish, cold-water prawns, French cheese, wine, and Japanese Wagyu, he added.

Meanwhile, F&B imports are progressively becoming popular in Vietnam. The General Statistics Office reported that in the third quarter of 2024, importation of meat and products from meat reached 221,000 tonnes at $473 million, growing 2.5 per cent by volume and 14.7 per cent by value compared to the previous quarter.

Exporters from other countries are eyeing local players in Vietnam who successfully develop the distribution and retail of these segments. Besides instant access to the retail distribution system, exporters can also optimise the investment as merger and acquisition (M&A) of distributors; retailers are fairly cost-competitive compared to manufacturing capability. This would be certainly a sweet spot for exporters to consider more in the future, Quach noted.

There have been several noteworthy F&B deals made in recent months. Saigon Beer, Alcohol, and Beverage Corporation intends to scoop up an additional 43.2 per cent stake in local brewer Saigon-Binh Tay Beer Company, with the deal expected to close by the end of the year. Following the deal, the former will become the parent company of the latter.

Nutifood also completed its acquisition of a 51 per cent in ice cream producer KIDO Foods in September. KIDO Foods holds the largest market share in Vietnams ice cream market, driven by its flagship brands, Merino and Celano. This acquisition enables Nutifood to diversify from health-focused products and expand into the frozen foods market.

Elsewhere, Marubeni Corporation, through its wholly owned Singapore-based subsidiary Marubeni Growth Capital Asia, acquired additional shares in AIG Asia Ingredients Corporation in August. The deal follows Marubenis initial investment in AIG, announced in October 2023.

CDH Investments of China also purchased 5 per cent in Bach Hoa Xanh from Mobile World Investment Corporation. The Bach Hoa Xanh minimart chain is the leading modern retailer by revenue, specialising in selling fresh foods and other goods satisfying the daily basic needs of Vietnamese consumers.

Binh Le, CEO and head of M&A at ASART Deal Advisory, said that the F&B sector currently has a dynamic M&A landscape, characterised by increasing activities and value that have rebounded strongly in 2024.

With a promising outlook, M&A activities in this sector for 2025 and beyond are expected to remain active, strong, and supported by both economic and sector-specific drivers. This growth, combined with Vietnams favourable demographics and urbanisation trends, creates an ideal landscape for both strategic and financial investors seeking access to a dynamic market and robust long-term prospects, Le said.

F&B still attractive for players old and new The food and beverages market in 2024 is expected to become more competitive, with the appearance of a number of foreign brands and the rankings of domestic brands ever-changing.

Seizing opportunities in F&B With an average annual growth rate of over 10 per cent, the food and beverages (F&B) market in Vietnam is a dynamic sector. Director of Consumer and Marketing Insights at NielsenIQ Dang Thuy Ha discussed with VIRs Oanh Do the latest consumer trends helping businesses achieve success in the market.
HDBank continued its streak of achievements with the Excellent Annual Report award in the financial sector for the sixth consecutive year at the event.

This result comes from HDBanks continuous efforts in improving the quality of information disclosure, towards international standards such as the ASEAN CG Scorecard.

In the field of corporate governance, HDBank was honoured with an Excellence in Corporate Governance award (large cap), and also won the Best AGM award for the second consecutive year. HDBank has been at the forefront of adopting a flexible approach to AGMs, offering both online and in-person participation to maximise convenience and protect shareholder interests.

HDBank won an Excellent Annual Report Award for the sixth year in a row

This commitment to accessibility is especially significant given the 2024 edition of the awards focuses on corporate governance criteria in line with the latest Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development standards, which now include a 40 per cent weighting for international best practices.

The recognitions at the award ceremony are the result of HDBanks outstanding and sustainable operational efficiency. As of the end of the third quarter of this year, HDBank posted profit before tax of VND12.7 trillion ($499.5 million), up by over 46 per cent over the same period. Total assets exceeded VND629 trillion ($24.7 billion), up 23.9 per cent.

Meanwhile, the total capital mobilisation hit VND559 trillion ($21.9 billion), a 24.8 per cent increase from the previous year. Total outstanding loans rose to VND412 trillion ($16.2 billion), up 16.6 per cent.

The banks profitability ratios include a 26.7 per cent return on equity, 2.2 per cent return on assets, and a non-performing loan ratio of 1.46 per cent.

HDBank representatives at Vietnam Listed Companies Awards

Along with business activities, HDBank also takes the lead in activities for the community and the environment. So far in 2024, HDBank has carried out multiple corporate social responsibility activities, such as donating tens of thousands of health insurance cards to underprivileged people; building houses of gratitude; supporting poor students; and responding to a government programme to eradicate temporary houses and run-down homes across the country.

It also deployed a preferential credit package of VND12 trillion ($472 million) for customers affected by Typhoon Yagi, and other activities to support people affected by floods in the northern provinces.

The Vietnam Listed Company Award, organised by the Hanoi and Saigon stock exchanges as well as Vietnam Investment Review, attracted over 500 listed companies this year.

The organising committee recognised HDBank for its excellent disclosure of information on risk management, non-performing loan assessment and control, and effective capital use.

The three awards reflect HDBanks ongoing commitment to information transparency, compliance with advanced governance standards, and promotion of sustainable environmental, social, and governance practices. These efforts create value for shareholders, customers, and the community, its leaders said.

It was named in the Excellence in Corporate Governance category

HDBank won the Best AGM Award for the second consecutive year

HDBank and Proparco credit financing tops $100 million HDBank has strengthened its existing collaboration with Proparco by securing a new credit facility of $50 million towards its sustainable development targets.

HDBank profits reach $501.7 million in first nine months of 2024 HDBank announced its 9-month business results on October 29, with pre-tax profit reaching VND12.7 trillion ($501.7 million), up 46.6 per cent on-year.
Masan has carried out numerous notable merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions, including acquiring over 98 per cent of Vinacafe Bien Hoa, controlling stakes in Net Detergent JSC and Quang Ninh Natural Mineral Water Co., Ltd., as well as Saigon Nutri-food JSC.

WinCommerce is now in a profitability phase, according to its owners

The group also acquired Sam Kim Co., Ltd., later rebranded as Masan Nutri-Science and subsequently Masan MEATLife. Other major deals include the purchase of the VinCommerce retail system (now WinCommerce) and a controlling stake in the Phuc Long Coffee & Tea chain.

However, Masans strategy is not to merely expand its portfolio. According to CEO Danny Le, acquisitions focus on integrating platforms that align with its overarching strategy, rather than simply chasing revenue or profit.

Over the years, Masan has transitioned from a fast-moving consumer goods company into a comprehensive consumer-retail ecosystem under its Point of Life strategy, designed to meet end-user needs holistically, Le said.

At its AGM in April, Masan announced plans to scale back M&A activities to focus on optimising its business operations and deepening its core consumer-retail model. Masans recent deals have centred on either bolstering resources to serve consumer growth opportunities, increasing ownership in key businesses, or gradually divesting from non-core operations.

Masan Group was honoured at the HR Asia Awards 2024 as one of the best companies to work for in Asia

In October 2023, Masan announced an equity investment of at least $200 million from Bain Capital. By December, Bain had increased its total equity investment to $250 million.

This investment, completed in April 2024, demonstrates confidence in Vietnams market and Masans consumer-centric strategy, despite challenging financial market conditions.

The capital injection strengthens Masans financial position, enabling it to better seize opportunities to serve Vietnamese consumers in sectors such as groceries, financial services, and other daily needs. The groups focus remains on innovative solutions and optimising its consumer-retail platform to capitalise on Vietnams golden consumption era.

Since 2007, Masan has mobilised $5 billion in equity and debt, attracting investments from prominent funds such as KKR, TPG, and SK Group.

In May this year, Masan High-Tech Materials, a subsidiary of Masan Group, signed a framework agreement with Mitsubishi Materials Corporation. Under the agreement, the latter will acquire all of Germanys H.C. Starck Holding from Masan Group. The deal includes a long-term offtake agreement for ammonium paratungstate and tungsten oxide.

Masan retains ownership in Nyobolt, a UK-based fast-charging lithium-ion battery technology company, and rights to potential monetisation of blackmass technology intellectual property developed by HCS.

Meanwhile, Masan continues to strengthen its core consumer-retail operations. In September, it acquired a 7.1 per cent stake in WinCommerce from SK Group. WinCommerce, Vietnams largest modern retail operator, has been a cornerstone of Masans strategy to expand its retail footprint and increase control over its core business.

Masan notes that WinCommerce has entered a profitability phase, with positive net profit after tax (NPAT) reported for the first time since the pandemic. It posted revenues of VND8.6 trillion ($338.5 million) and NPAT of VND20 billion ($800,000) for Q3, providing a clear pathway to sustainable and increasing profitability.

By identifying a profitable retail model, Masan has resumed store expansion, aiming for 4,000 locations by the end of 2024. The group remains focused on delivering sustainable growth while contributing to Vietnams modern trade market.

Masans M&A strategy and operations reflect a deliberate focus on building a consumer-retail ecosystem that aligns with Vietnams evolving market dynamics.

By divesting non-core assets and optimising its core businesses, the group is positioning itself as a leader in Vietnams modern consumption era.

Masan brand CHIN-SU accompanied the Mountainous Underprivileged Student Fund to bring nutritious meals to children

Masan Group signs agreement with Canadian credit agency Export Development Canada (EDC), Canadas export credit agency, and Masan Group announced the signing of an MoU on October 18 to advance trade in key sectors of focus including agri-food, consumer goods and mining.

Masan reports third quarter earnings of $27.6 million Masan Group Corporation on October 23 released its unaudited management accounts for the third quarter with earnings up 1,350 per cent on-year.
For example, major European banks such as BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank have been actively promoting ESG by establishing sustainable finance funds and adopting strict environmental standards. Europe has also introduced the EU Taxonomy, a legal framework for classifying these economic activities. This helps banks identify and report transparently on their ESG activities.

Nguyen Thi Tuyet Hanh, director, International Project Management Department Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB)

In Asia, Singapores DBS Bank has implemented many related initiatives through financing green projects and designing sustainable financial products. Japan, through major banks such as Mizuho and Sumitomo Mitsui, has developed financing policies based on climate and risk management.

In the US, banks such as Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase have invested heavily in renewable energy and built socially responsible investment funds. This not only creates economic profits but also helps enhance reputation and trust from customers and investors.

In Vietnam, implementing ESG brings many opportunities for local commercial banks, including attracting investment capital and increasing brand reputation. However, it also poses challenges related to initial investment costs, regulatory changes, and strict governance requirements from international investors and partners. Banks need to have specific strategies to take advantage of opportunities and minimise potential risks.

Among these, SHB aims to become a pioneer bank in sustainable development in Vietnam, integrating ESG standards into all practical activities, contributing to promoting a green economy, fair society and transparent governance.

For three decades, SHB has been steadfast in its ethical qualities and specific actions based on its core values, which are the foundation for the banks brand philosophy and corporate culture sent to shareholders, partners, customers, employees, and the community. As a pioneer in sustainable finance, SHB integrates ESG principles into its strategy, striving to become the leading bank in efficiency and the top retail bank.

Simultaneously, SHB aims to lead in providing capital and financial services to strategic enterprises with supply chains, value chains, and green ecosystems, fostering economic growth, environmental responsibility, and social equity, while ensuring transparent governance to create long-term value for all stakeholders.

Innovative programmes

Since 2003, SHB has participated in internationally funded projects promoting sustainable development in Vietnam across various fields such as renewable energy, efficient power transmission, sustainable agriculture, high-tech agriculture, and rural development. These initiatives, with a total value reaching billions of dollars, were funded by international development organisations and multilateral institutions.

Meanwhile, SHB consistently leads in the efficiency and effectiveness of project implementation. In 2023, it was selected as the risk-sharing fund manager for the Vietnam Scale-Up Energy Efficiency Scheme, funded by the Green Climate Fund through the World Bank, with a total value of $86.3 million.

This scheme represents an innovative financial instrument where SHB, on behalf of the donor, issues credit risk guarantees for participating financial institutions providing loans to sub-projects investing in energy-saving technologies. This initiative is expected to accelerate and scale up energy efficiency adoption across Vietnam.

From the outset of its involvement in international projects, SHB has established processes and policies requiring its clients to comply with ESG standards set by international organisations. These efforts have not only enabled SHB to attract additional international funding and participate in new ESG-focused projects but also served as a foundation for developing and refining internal policies aimed at strengthening these practices across the banks operations.

To further operationalise ESG standards, SHB has established a Green Finance Development Task Force and recruited specialised personnel for ESG management. The bank, with consultation from IFC, has issued policies and procedures for assessing environmental and social risks in credit activities.

SHB prioritises lending to green sectors, small businesses, and women-led enterprises, focusing on developing specialised financial products and increasing the proportion of these sectors in its loan portfolio. Through these efforts, SHB continues to position itself as a leader in advancing sustainable finance in Vietnam.

In operations, SHB invests heavily in digital transformation, reducing paper and stationery usage, and rigorously managing energy consumption. The bank has significantly decreased its annual fuel, electricity, and water usage. Additionally, internal communication campaigns are regularly conducted to raise awareness among employees about resource conservation and environmental protection.

On the social front, SHB maintains fair human resources policies, fosters a modern and equitable working environment, and ensures maximum protection of employees rights. The bank supports social security programs, community development initiatives, and provides aid to policy beneficiaries and disadvantaged groups.

In governance, SHB adopts transparent and responsible corporate governance practices aligned with international standards to ensure sustainability across all operations. Business performance results are disclosed publicly and transparently to investors, shareholders, and customers, reinforcing SHBs reputation as a reliable and sustainable financial institution.

Making major commitments

The government plays a pivotal role in laying the foundation for green banking and sustainable finance by introducing supportive policies and a clear regulatory framework for sustainable finance. Establishing long-term development strategies and targeted support measures could create the necessary conditions for sustainable finance initiatives to thrive and deliver meaningful outcomes.

As part of its commitment to advancing ESG implementation in the banking sector, SHB suggests that the government and SBV consider developing specific regulatory guidelines, including assessment criteria and transparent reporting requirements, to provide clearer direction for banks.

Periodic ESG reporting by banks and financial institutions could enhance transparency, comparability, and accountability across the sector. Furthermore, reward and incentive mechanisms for institutions demonstrating strong ESG performance could encourage broader adoption.

To foster green finance and sustainable products, the government might consider creating financial support programmes, such as tax incentives or fee reductions, for green financial projects and products. Establishing a national fund to support investments in green technologies, ESG management systems, and related activities could also be a valuable step forward.

Building capacity within the industry is equally important. Collaborating with educational and training institutions to deliver tailored ESG training programs for banking leaders and staff could enhance internal competencies. Additionally, raising public awareness about the importance of ESG and the benefits of sustainable products and services could help drive demand and broader adoption.

Promoting research and innovation could also accelerate progress. Funding research institutions to develop tools and models for effective ESG implementation and encouraging banks to design innovative financial products, such as ESG-linked loans or green bonds, could position Vietnam as a leader in sustainable finance.

By taking these steps, the government could help create a supportive ecosystem for sustainable finance, enabling the banking sector to play a role in addressing environmental and social challenges while contributing to long-term economic resilience.

SHB and the ESG journey: creating social value in every step SHB (Saigon Hanoi Commercial Bank) has reaffirmed its mission to drive comprehensive national development, minimise environmental impacts, and create sustainable, long-term value for the community. This commitment is not just a slogan but is demonstrated through practical actions.
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Loyalty oaths - Or personnel is policy? By Todd Gregory and Erik Gregory

web posted November 25, 2024 The disgraced corporate media has put out their coordinated talking point: President-elect Donald Trump is nominating "loyalists" (including, horror of horrors, Democrats or former Democrats like Tulsi Gabbard and RFK, Jr.) for top cabinet positions. The subtext here is that Trump is to be gelded, and is somehow morally or legally obligated to appoint non-loyalists and people opposed to his agendato key cabinet posts. As if Trump should nominate, say, Democrat election-meddler and "superlawyer" Marc Elias as Attorney General instead of Pam Bondi. Or maybe appoint pin-up girl and former Clinton crone Donna Shalala - or perhaps Jesse Jackson lookalike Lori Lightfoot - as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Why was it perfectly acceptable for President Barack Obama , the secular messiah of the Democrats, to appoint a loyal "wingman" like Eric Holder as Attorney General? Or loyal "wingwomen" like Loretta Lynch and Susan Rice to high cabinet posts? Like all Democrats, Obama demanded loyalists in all of his cabinet positions - and not one journalist in all of corporate media insisted that Obama was obliged to appoint an oppositional figure like Bill Barr as Attorney General, or Devin Nunes or Kash Patel as FBI or CIA director. Democracy dies in newsrooms infested by journalists, news anchors, and editors who lie as reflexively as Tourette's sufferers involuntarily twitch and utter profanities. Funny how the gutter media demanded that America elect Hillary Clinton or Kamala Harris to prove America wasn't sexist and misogynist when the media never demanded that America elect candidates like Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachmann on those grounds. Amusing too how the discredited media insisted America elect (D) Obama himself to prove America wasn't racist but endlessly sought to vilify and destroy uppity (R) blacks seeking the presidency (Tim Scott, Herman Cain, Ben Carson, Alan Keyes, and others). Before the November election, the corporate legacy media was joined by newer leftist media (garbage websites like Vox, and The Huffington Post) in debunking, without evidence, widespread and highly credible claims that FEMA was not rendering aid to hurricane-ravaged residents displaying Trump signage or flags in the yards of their homes. A DuckDuckGo search doesn't show that Vox , for example, issued any corrections after their October "debunking" of the FEMA rumors was itself comprehensibly debunked right after the election. FEMA's government actions  ideological bigotry and targeting of conservatives, with a strong undercurrent of anti-white racism  was very much of a piece with many other government agencies (FBI, IRS, DOJ, ATF, et al.) targeting innocent conservatives over the years. At press conferences meant to stage-manage the public relations fallout, FEMA resorted to damage control and FBI-style misinformation on crime statistics, claiming they had to avoid Trump homes because Trump supporters were supposedly a uniquely dangerous and violent cohort of the community in red states like Florida, North Carolina, and Georgia. This evidence-free "red states are violent" disinformation deliberately omits the fact that blue city crime is what drives crime in otherwise red states (e.g. crime in blue Houston warping crime rates in red Texas; or blue New Orleans warping crime rates in red Louisiana). Therefore, President Trump has every right to insist that the director of FEMA (or the IRS, or the FBI, or the DOJ) be somebody loyal to the Constitution and the voters who elected Trump to implement specific policies, irrespective of the preferred policies of the permanent progressive bureaucratic state (recall the "interagency consensuses" of Alexander Vindman , the inarticulate Pentagon progtard who spearheaded the first impeachment of Trump). Personnel is policy, as politicians like to say. And based on political donations made by federal employees, it is estimated that upwards of 95% of federal employees identify as Democrats. It is a stone-cold fact that countless federal employees use their agencies and offices to target law-abiding conservatives on ideological grounds. The federal government's undeniable hostility and vindictiveness towards half the population underscores the vital importance of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its proposed sweeping federal fumigation and housecleaning. Chaste, elderly eyesores like Rosie O'Donnell and author Stephen King, along with other public hideosities like Michael Moore and faux tough guy Robert DeNiro, can swear off sex, take handfuls of Xanax, or scream into the void all they want, but facts are facts. The biggest reason for Republican voter apathy is that Republican officeholders generally break their word and fail to deliver on their campaign promises. Recall John McCain's famous "thumbs down" on repealing Obamacare, despite his campaign promises to repeal. McCain likely viewed his action as a noble act of righteous insubordination due to his personal pique with Trump, as if McCain were the HMS Bounty's Fletcher Christian to Trump's Captain Bligh. But the reality is that McCain was being disloyal to his millions of voters, who elected him to repeal Obamacare. Republican voters were similarly betrayed by George W. Bush's united GOP congress at the beginning of Bush's second term (2004-2006), when "comprehensive immigration reform" (euphemistic code for amnesty) supplanted all other domestic priorities on Bush's and the GOP's agenda. After Bush broke faith with his base due to his amnesty obsession (after years of promising no amnesty), the 2006 midterms were a calamity for the GOP and the country. The Democrats seized power in congress by huge margins, paving the way for the 2008 election of Barack Obama and his DEI, grievance, and race-based agenda  a nation-destroying program which nevertheless echoes throughout the whole of America's federal government to this day. Ultimately, Trump has every right  indeed, a moral obligation  to fill his cabinet posts with people who are unambiguously loyal to Trump's agenda, which was the agenda the American people voted for. The GOP majority House of Representatives and Senate have a similar moral obligation to confirm Trump's nominees. Failure to be loyal to the wishes of the electorate risks a 2026 repeat of 2006, which saw the GOP evicted from congress and put the nation on the disastrous trajectory it is still trying to extricate itself from today. The Gregory brothers are previous contributors to ESR. Home
Trump Day 1: Demolish the Demos' rigged midterm election strategy

By Mark Alexander

web posted November 25, 2024

Weeks after the biggest comeback in presidential history, I am still amazed that Donald Trump and JD Vance pulled it off. And they did so with expanding margins among unexpected voter constituencies.

But all the elation and relief aside, on Monday, January 20, 2025, day one of the next Trump administration, Republicans must disable the Democrats' corrupt election strategy ahead of the 2026 midterm elections and the 2028 Vance presidential campaign.

Trump and Congress must singularly focus on defusing this threat.

Demos rigged the election process in 2020, and they believed their three-part strategy would set up a sure win for the Harris/Walz ticket this year.

First, they used their deep state assets to set up Trump for a plethora of lawfare prosecutions.

Second, over the last four years, they have orchestrated a massive effort to suppress conservative speech by collaborating with their Leftmedia publicists and social media platforms in order to keep a chokehold on public opinion.

Third, they have perfected their bulk-mail ballot fraud strategy, promoting the counting of millions of unauthenticated ballots cast by mail and in person in states that do not require voter ID. That strategy accounted for the Biden/Harris 2020 win by a popular vote margin of more than seven million votes, and they assumed it would get Harris and Walz across the finish line again.

It is this third issue that Republicans must address first because there is a direct and irrefutable correlation between the states Harris/Walz won and voter ID requirements.

Demos had good reason to assume their 2020 fraud would work again: Of the votes cast then, 43% (66 million ballots) were by mail  and a majority of those were in states where authentication of the person receiving and casting the ballot was not required. More than 58% of Biden/Harris ballots, almost 47 million votes, were cast by mail.

Got that?

Demos believe their bulk-mail ballot fraud strategy, devoid of voter ID requirements, will enable them to perpetuate permanent majority control of the executive and legislative branches  and, ultimately, state governments nationwide. If left unchecked, this systemic election corruption will become virtually impossible to undo. That is to say, Republicans must use their majority tenure this coming year to stop this strategy. Or else.

Fortunately, the Demos' fraud strategy had a BIG problem: The Harris/Walz ticket was weak and uninspiring.

That ticket was an extension of the abysmal Biden/Harris record of domestic and foreign policy failures. It could not compete with the reality of Trump's record of domestic and foreign policy successes.

And they could not cultivate trust beyond their base that Harris was not Biden 2.0. Kamala Harris has a long and prolific record of lying, as does her sidekick Tim Walz, particularly regarding his stolen valor record.

Thus, the triad of corrupt Demo machinations could not overcome the Biden/Harris/Walz liabilities. Consequently, there were seven million fewer Demo ballots cast in 2024 than were cast in 2020.

The result was that Trump and Vance won the Electoral College 312 to 226, with, as of this writing, 76,792,000 to 74,238,000 votes. Thanks to a good GOP ground game (finally) and early voting, the Trump/Vance ticket got almost 2.6 million more votes this year than Trump/Pence received in 2020  and won six more Electoral College votes than Biden/Harris in 2020 (312 to 306).

The Trump/Vance victory is a testament, first and foremost, to a groundswell of grassroots American Patriots who supported them. You know, those voters broad-brushed as "bitter, deplorable, racist, misogynist, fascist, garbage"!

That being said, despite all the proclamations to the contrary, the Trump/Vance win was not a "landslide victory" supporting a "clear mandate." This was no Ronald Reagan 1984 landslide reelection, in which he won 49 states and a record 525 electoral votes.

In fact, today, the Trump/Vance popular vote total dropped below the 50% mark.

Here's why defusing the Demos' bulk-mail ballot fraud strategy first thing is so important.

Looking at the maps in the image above, here is what you need to know.

Of all the states Harris won, only two, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, require a photo ID to vote. Several states she won require or make optional a non-photo ID.

But get this: More than 60 million of the 161 million registered voters in the U.S. in 2024 live in states that require NO voter identification/authentication  zero, none  to ensure who is actually casting that ballot. Almost all of those voters are, of course, in Democrat-controlled states.

Look at those maps again  because short of legislative correction, Democrats are poised to retake the House and Senate in 2026, and running a younger and more charismatic ticket in 2028 will make them difficult to beat. That is the hard reality.

Since 2020, some states have strengthened their election integrity requirements, including mandating voter IDs.

Moreover, in July of this year, as a first step toward federal election integrity, the House successfully passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act to ensure only U.S. citizens vote in federal elections, with five Democrats voting with Republicans. Apparently, there are five House Democrats who still possess a modicum of integrity.

Of course, the Biden/Harris administration issued a strong condemnation of the SAVE Act because Democrats know that, as aforementioned, the perpetuation of their political party control depends on opposing any and all voter ID requirements.

Biden continues to claim, as he has for years, that requiring a voter ID is an "attempt to repress minority voting." His corrupt attorney general, Merrick Garland, likewise declared this year, "That is why we are challenging efforts by states and jurisdictions to implement discriminatory, burdensome, and unnecessary restrictions on access to the ballot, including those related to mail-in voting, the use of drop boxes, and voter ID requirements."

Democrats label any measure to authenticate who is voting as "racist," "voter intimidation," and "voter suppression" while mislabeling their systemic voter fraud proposals as "voter rights."

However, combined with Biden's bulk voter registration mandate, the Demos' bulk-mail ballot fraud is a slam dunk with qualified candidates.

Trump will have to be careful with overreach, but I believe if he manages the next two years well, Republicans can rally a broader swath of America to the conservative side of the ledger and pave the path for a larger Vance victory in 2028.

Republicans must make demolishing the Demos' ballot fraud strategy a high priority now.

Mark Alexander is the executive editor of the Patriot Post.
On behalf of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, we are pleased to welcome you, the esteemed representative of Russia [Security Council chief Sergei Shoigu]. We hope that this meeting will further strengthen our relations. We are grateful to Russia for supporting the Islamic Emirate in the international arena, Taliban* interim government deputy prime minister for political affairs Abdul Kabir Mohammad told Russian officials in Kabul on Monday.

We thank the esteemed Zamir Kabulov, Russian special representative, for his contribution to the development of relations between Russia and the Islamic Emirate, the senior Taliban official added.

* An organization under UN sanctions for terrorist activities.

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MOSCOW, November 25. /TASS/. The United States needs Ukraines rare-earth metals, including lithium, and intends to take them as payment for military assistance, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a meeting with participants in the academic and educational program of the A. M. Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Support Fund Dialogue for the Future.

It is no coincidence that US Senator Lindsey Graham said outright (he is not a diplomat and does not hide his thoughts), that the US needs to ensure that Russia suffer a defeat in Ukraine, because there are many rare-earth metals, including lithium, Lavrov said. He said so to Vladimir Zelensky when he visited him recently. He said that the US needs these riches. And he added that they would help Ukraine and in return they would take all this from it as payback.

Lavrov noted that American companies had already bought up most of the fertile land.

They keep talking about the Black Sea initiative, about the need to feed Africa. First of all, the West exported more than 50% of grain to the European Union, and not to Africa. American corporations made money on this grain. And they want to do the same to the rest of our neighbors wealth, Lavrov stressed.

TASS

https://tass.com/politics/1877305
Council library cuts raised in Senedd amid debate on telling public about warm hubs

This article is old - Published: Monday, Nov 25th, 2024

Wrexham Councils use of libraries as warm hubs, and the current library cuts consultation have been contrasted in Cardiff Bay.

The issue was raised with questions to Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice in the Senedd.

Buffy Williams MS asked, How is the Cabinet Secretary promoting the Welsh Governments 1.5 million warm hubs scheme? , in the response the Cabinet Sectary said We will continue to work with local authorities to promote our collective efforts to help in our communities over the coming winter months.

Again Buffy Williams MS noted her personal experiances in working in the context of her question, and reasked, .one of the biggest challenges previously was communication with residents. So, what steps is the Welsh Government taking to ensure clear communication and accessibility to warm hubs this winter?

Jane Hutt MS replied, with the section of her answer on communications stating I have recently written to all Senedd Members and Members of Parliament to highlight the new funding for warm hubs.

Wrexhams MS Lesley Griffiths fed into the debate, sharing, The Welsh Governments funding for warm hubs this year is extremely welcome in Wrexham, where, once again, our libraries will be taking part in the initiative. They provide safe, comforting spaces, and, as you said, theyre a place to meet people also.

Despite highlighting the importance, just a few short weeks ago, when promoting warm hubs, Wrexham County Borough Council are now doing a consultation on the future of our libraries, stating it needs to save 185,000. Whilst of course I understand there are financial pressures, the impact that this relatively small amount of money makes is significant.

I know the Cabinet Secretary will agree with me that libraries play a crucial role in our communitiesits very important that Wrexham people respond to the consultationbut will she continue to work with the local authority to make them realise that libraries are not just there for library facilities, but that they also have additional benefits such as the warm hubs? Diolch.

Jane Hutt replied, Well, the community hubs that I visited that are based in librarieswhen you talk to the library staff, they say that, actually, the use of the library and the library resources, the childrens libraries, has always increased as a result of being part of something wider. I would just say that Wrexham has got, in this round of funding, 64,470 towards warm hubs, which should enable it to look creatively at the ways in which it can build its community libraries.

But also, I have to say, across Wales, there are a range of ways in which local authorities have managed to keep their community libraries going, both by running the services directly and through some asset transfers to community groups or community and town councils. But its clear that people must respond, and I hope they will respond to this consultation, but its clear the role of the community library is much more than just its traditional role and it can be vital in terms of cutting isolation and enabling people to access other services.

As the topic of the original question revolved around communication with the public, and particularly older people, it was striking that the millions of pounds spent over the years on Statutory Notices  something the Older Peoples Commissioner for Wales apparently sees as a Good Thing  did not get a mention as an optimum information method.

Reminder: In the Senedd Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Conservatives joined forces to ensure that all-but-subsidy remained for declining legacy print media.

More: Six out of ten Newsquest newspapers in Wales would have been loss making last year without public notice revenue / It is not for local authorities to fund local or national print media, says Senedd committee
Grave concerns raised by Senedd Members over national insurance hike

This article is old - Published: Monday, Nov 25th, 2024

Senedd members expressed grave concerns about the impact of the UK Governments national insurance tax hike on GPs, universities and charities in Wales.

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth warned the rise in employer national insurance contributions from 13.8% to 15% in April will have a disproportionate impact in Wales.

He told the Senedd: Labour are quick to accuse others of fantasy economics whilst their own plans represent nightmare economics for thousands of employers and employees.

Raising concerns about the impact on job creation and wages, he said employment levels are at their lowest for almost a decade  lower than anywhere else in the UK.

He accused Labour of breaking a manifesto pledge as he pointed to an Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) assessment that three quarters of the cost will be passed to workers.

Eye watering

Leading a debate on November 20, Mr ap Iorwerth called on the UK Treasury to fully cover the added cost to public sector employers in Wales.

He said: Its not the private sector only  bearing the brunt. Charities, GPs, universities  sectors already feeling the squeeze, to say the very least  have been taken to the brink.

He pointed to eye-watering bills of 90,000 for some GPs, with the British Medical Association warning some surgeries could close as a consequence.

Mr ap Iorwerth said mental health charity Plattform faces a 250,000 annual bill and Welsh universities, already crippled by financial challenges, will face significant further pressures.

Plaid Cymrus motion urged Welsh ministers to press the UK Government to apply a wider definition of the public sector workforce to include universities, GPs and charities.

U-turn

Peter Fox, the Conservatives shadow finance secretary, similarly accused Labour of breaking a manifesto commitment not to raise tax on working people.

The former council leader said: Time and time again  the chancellor went on TV and made the claim, only to u-turn after they got into power.

Mr Fox, who represents Monmouth, said even a 1% rise in employer national insurance contributions for the public sector would cost Welsh taxpayers an extra 100m.

He told the Senedd: The UK Government has said that it will provide funding to cover the cost of national insurance contributions for those workers.

However, this will still come out of the taxpayers pocket  ultimately it is the taxpayers who are going to pay for the Chancellors tax increase.

Anaemic

Luke Fletcher, Plaid Cymrus shadow economy secretary, warned the national insurance rise will be a drag on an already anaemic Welsh jobs market.

His colleague Sioned Williams, who also represents South Wales West, described the chancellors back-of-a-fag-packet plans as senseless.

She raised concerns about six-figure increases in tax bills for charities including Tenovus, Marie Curie, Citizens Advice Cymru and the Wastesavers Charitable Trust.

Cefin Campbell, Plaid Cymrus shadow education secretary, said the national insurance increase will cost Welsh universities an estimated extra 20m a year.

The Mid and West Wales MS warned: Without a shadow of a doubt, these additional costs could push our higher education institutions over the precipice.

Fantasy economics

Labours Hefin David said difficult decisions had to be made to fill a 22bn black hole left by the Tories but he rejected Plaid Cymru claims of a return to austerity.

Dr David told the Senedd: Yes, tough decisions have to be made but I think that in the longer term, this is to everyones benefit.

Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Conservative opposition, disputed the incorrect 22bn figure, saying the OBR found a 9bn gap.

Replying to the debate, Mark Drakeford stressed that neither he nor the Welsh Government has responsibility for national insurance contributions.

Wales finance secretary, who was appointed in September, criticised fantasy economics from opposition members on the Plaid Cymru and Conservative benches.

Playground

Deriding the politics of the playground, he said: Both of them are willing to spend money on almost anything; neither of them are willing to raise the money necessary from anyone.

Prof Drakeford said the chancellor returned national insurance broadly to where it had been as a share of gross domestic product for 13 of the 14 Conservative years.

The former first minister pointed out that the UK Government offset national insurance rises on small employers by more than doubling the employment allowance.

He told the debating chamber or Siambr: If you want to pay for things, you have to find the money to do so. That is what the chancellor had to do. That is how we will get the money that will come to public services here in Wales.

Senedd members voted 25-19 against Plaid Cymrus motion.

By Chris Haines, ICNN Senedd reporter
Looking at the structural problems of Canadian conservatism at the end of 2024 (Part Two) By Mark Wegierski

web posted November 25, 2024 The Toronto-based Mackenzie Institute (despite a far higher profile in the late-1980s) appeared to mostly have been (from the 1990s until early 2014) the personal enterprise of one indigent person. The full name of the Institute was rendered in earlier years as The Mackenzie Institute for the Study of Terrorism, Revolution, and Propaganda. In early 2014, The Mackenzie Institute revamped its website and appears to have become more dynamic. The Ottawa-based Centre for Immigration Policy Reform, which was founded around 2011, appears to have become more active in 2014. Its main leading figures were the late Martin Collacott, and James Bissett, both of them formerly being prominent Canadian diplomats and civil servants. The Centre argues for lowered numbers and more responsible selection and screening in immigration, temporary worker, and refugee policies. The author is also aware of an association called Societe Macdonald-Cartier Society. For non-partisan celebration of the Canadian Monarchy, there is the Monarchist League of Canada. The profile of social and cultural conservatism in Canada is rather thin. The main social conservative publications are The Interim: Canada's Life and Family Newspaper (and an associated website, lifesite.net). The longtime magazine Catholic Insight (Toronto) ceased printing in 2015. Lifesite has tried to found a similar magazine, called Faithful Insight. Lifesite has had to defend itself from an irksome libel suit that could have potentially financially crippled the website. (However, the litigant passed away in 2014.) The main pro-life, pro-family association is called the Campaign Life Coalition. There is a French-language, Quebec-based, social conservative intellectual journal, called Egards. The most prominent think-tank of what could be called broadly religious conservatives is Cardus. Cardus has linked with the Centre for Cultural Renewal (formerly the Centre for Renewal in Public Policy). Cardus published a magazine called Convivium, as well as Comment. However, Convivium has become an online-only publication  its last print issue appeared in January 2017. On February 18, 2022, even the online version of Convivium was closed to new submissions  although the website archive is expected to remain. Cardus is a think-tank which does not yet offer scholarships or grants (beyond one, as far as the author of this article can recall). In earlier articles, it had been suggested that Cardus could try to move in the direction of becoming an institution like the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) in the United States. The ISI, which has, for most of its history, been mostly traditionalist conservative, offers very extensive scholarships to students, as well as publishing scholarly journals and books, and holding various seminars and conferences for promising students and academics. There is also the Ottawa-based Institute for Marriage and Family Canada. In British Columbia, there is the Canada Family Action group. And, for many decades, REAL Women of Canada has been a well-known association. To be continued. Mark Wegierski is a Canadian writer and historical researcher. Home
The Elko County Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's help finding a missing, endangered woman.

71-year old Almira Boretskaia was last seen at her home near Currie, Nevada.

Almira was last known to be wearing a brown coat, black shoes and a black skirt.

The missing woman suffers from Alzheimer's, and it is believed that she may have walked away from her house and isn't sure how to get home.

Search efforts have already started and continued through Saturday evening, but were unsuccessful.

If you see Almira or have any information about her whereabouts, please call the Elko County Regional Communication Center at (775) 777-7300 or use the Elko County Sheriff's App.
K tc x vung bin tai x Tam Quang, huyen Tuong Duong (Nghe An). Anh: TTXVN phat Chap cnh nhung uoc mo Tai Nghe An hien c 2 m hnh K tc x vng bin do cc on Bin phng trien khai, o au at tai x Tam Quang (Tuong Duong) v Truong Trung hoc co......[Nhieu Hon...]

2025-02-25
Avoiding self-inflicted trade and economic wounds By Paul Driessen

web posted November 25, 2024 President-elect Trump says he will impose tariffs on foreign products, to raise revenue and in response to practices that give foreign manufacturers unfair advantages over American companies. Europe's debates over similar issues offer relevant guidance, advisories and impetus.



As the European Union looks ahead to the next five-year term of its new European Commission and Parliament, officials talk about playing "its full part on the world stage in geopolitics." Europe and the world heard it before, when Ursula von der Leyen promised a "geopolitical Commission" at the start of her first presidential term in Brussels in 2019. It didn't happen then, and it's not likely to happen now.



To be fair, it was a challenging five years. The unprecedented Covid pandemic kept the EU focused on domestic questions of healthcare, lockdowns, debt financing and student learning. Russia's Ukraine invasion shortly after ensured that European policy priorities remained largely regional.



But possibly the most significant blow to her dream of a geopolitical Commission was entirely self-inflicted: the EU's obsession with the utopian Green Deal.



Especially by raising energy and petrochemical prices to exorbitant levels, the Green Deal regulatory regime undercut EU competitiveness, particularly in agriculture and industry. European Commission international ambitions were thereby reduced to a domestic protectionist agenda designed to hobble potential competitors by erecting non-tariff barriers affecting  and infuriating  Europe's trading partners, whether they compete on productivity or cost.



Citing the "climate crisis," the EU demanded that the rest of the world adopt its own crippling regulations  or risk losing access to its markets. Soaring prices for "clean, renewable, sustainable" wind and solar energy (and duplicative backup power) destroyed jobs, made home heating and food extremely expensive for many families, and reduced living standards.



The EU Deforestation Regulation would have forced European trading partners to certify the ecological purity of entire supply chains. Brussels' recent U-Turn on the EUDR demonstrated that the law was a huge miscalculation in both climate and trade policymaking.



Even the famously "green" Biden-Harris administration opposed the Brussels proposals as too onerous and too hastily introduced. Imagine having to document and geolocate every cocoa bean in a bar of chocolate, every particle of coffee in an espresso, every chip of wood in a particle board, or every gram of cobalt in backup and electric vehicle batteries. Only Brussels would concoct such insanity!



Even Germany, the EU's richest economy and arguably Europe's most vocal advocate of planet-care, balked at the prospect of implementing the EUDR.



If geopolitics truly matters to the EU in the coming term, the EU Commissioner will go back to core principles on trade, not invoke trade suppression. That means identifying the biggest opportunities in terms of markets. Europe, India and ASEAN are obvious examples.



Equally obvious, alienating the USA  the biggest and wealthiest market in the world, capable of self-reliance and in-kind responses to hostile trade regulations  does not seem like a smart idea.



The European Union has an interest in advancing international commerce, rather than wantonly raising regulatory barriers that developing countries cannot afford and developed economies won't accept.



European economies are exporters. As with the USA, EU jobs and financial systems depend on selling high-value goods and services. A mercantilist, capricious, quasi-lawless global economy  like China's  is not in Europe's (or America's) interest.



The starting point should be liberalizing, rather than raising barriers, and working with allied trading partners that have similar principles. And yet, the EUDR is a perfect example of a regulation that has the EU actively working against its closest partners; it's also been disastrous for the EU's international image. Indeed, other than a few single-issue NGOs and a handful of unelected EU officials, the Commission would be hard-pressed to find any EUDR proponents.



Second, trade policy needs to be strategic, not dogmatic. China and Russia  especially in their growing alliance with Iran, North Korea and other BRICS countries  are the most obvious and significant threats to the global economic order, and Europe has a responsibility to mitigate such threats.



Weaponizing trade is justified when the goal is preventing carnage in Ukraine, or stopping hacking or surveillance equipment from being installed in grid and other networks. Similarly, deliberate attempts to dump subsidized products or flood markets should not be confused with free trade and should be addressed accordingly. In such cases, a smart, deliberate, targeted response is warranted.



One problem with the Green Deal's EUDR lies in its indiscriminate, dogmatic application of punitive measures, including against allies like Malaysia, Mexico, Thailand or the United States. Moreover, materials targeted under the EU Deforestation Regulation (rubber, coffee, cocoa, palm oil and cobalt) are key ingredients for Europe's own supply chains



Palm oil from Malaysia, for example, is an ingredient in some of Europe's most famous food and cosmetic brands. Besides, Malaysia already has its own sustainable palm oil standard, so there is no need for additional punitive EU regulations.



Similarly, Brussels shouldn't impose deforestation restrictions on cutting trees for wind and solar metals and minerals  if trade-partner countries are trying to comply with EU climate and environmental rules.



Wage, child labor and deforestation standards for cobalt mining for wind energy and battery technologies are problematical primarily because China, the Democratic Republic of Congo and their ore producers deliberately mix all ores  from artisanal and corporate mines alike. That makes it impossible to determine which ores come from operators that exercise strong environmental and human rights standards, and which involve horrible ecological and human rights abuses.



Tariffs often help domestic producers of materials like lumber and steel  but hurt consumers of those same materials, by raising the costs of building houses and manufacturing automobiles, and thus increasing prices already strapped families must pay. Retaliatory tariffs on products that involve near-slave wages or other abuses, or come from adversarial nations, are more justifiable; but consumers still pay more.



Greater international cooperation is a good third principle. While rhetoric in Brussels is cheap, over the past five years the EU engaged in more bullying than cooperation, toward its own member states and partners outside the Union. In trade, unilateral and punitive Green Deal barriers too often trumped dialogue and cooperation.



This approach rarely worked. It enraged everyone from European and American businesses to Asian small farmers. For instance, there is no reason the EU should reject Malaysia's Sustainable Palm Oil standards (MSPO), just because of its EUDR.



Other countries also have analogous standards for their major commodities, which should be considered for acceptance. There is no reason not to address sustainability and environmental progress as part of free trade, voluntary partnership or mutual recognition agreements  rather than through tariffs, other trade barriers or excessive regulations.



The new European Commission will certainly have its share of the unexpected during its five-year term. But it should at least try to avoid self-inflicted injuries and choose economic growth over anti-competitive regulations.



The incoming Trump Administration and Republican Congress will undoubtedly apply that approach.



Paul Driessen is senior policy advisor for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (www.CFACT.org) and author of Eco-Imperialism: Green power, black death and articles on energy, environmental, climate and human rights issues. Home
Kerrville Public Works, the city's utility, asked residents to fill out surveys to help complete its lead pipe registry.

Kerrville's water utility is asking its customers to help determine whether the water pipes in their homes might contain lead.

To comply with Environmental Protection Agency rules, Kerrville Public Works and other water utilities across the country are investigating their systems to identify water service lines that are made of lead or at risk of exposure to lead. The EPA rules require utilities to identify their water mains and service lines that contain lead, and to replace those within 10 years.

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Kerrville Public Works officials say they haven't found lead in the city's service lines, but the utility is also required to send notices to residents asking them to check their private water lines.

Because the city does not have information about these private service lines, there is a possibility that they may be made of lead or galvanized pipe that was at one point connected to lead, the city said.

Under state and federal rules, customers with lead in their private lines wont be required to replace them, but will continue to receive annual notices until they notify the utility that their private water lines do not include lead.

Lead is most commonly found in pipes installed before 1986, when Congress banned use of the material in public water systems. Texas homes built after 1989 aren't likely to have lead pipes, experts say.

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Exposure to lead can damage the central and peripheral nervous systems, according to the EPA, and can cause behavior and learning problems, slowed growth, hearing problems, anemia and lower IQ and hyperactivity. Young children, infants and fetuses are most vulnerable, but adults can also experience cardiovascular issues, decreased kidney function and reproductive problems due to lead exposure.
Sarah Ferguson* had a close relationship with her only sister until their mothers health declined and her sister became involved with a man who seemed more interested in their mothers money than in her well-being.

It just got very ugly when he was in the picture and he was trying to, I think, keep [my sister] away from me and my family, explains Ferguson, 59.

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I think they both thought there was a pot of money somewhere that I had access to, so they didnt see my mom the last year of her life.

Ferguson believes the root of her sisters discontent was the fact that Ferguson and her husband had bought their mothers house, adding a wing for her, and then caring for her there over the last 12-15 years of her life.

[My sister] just always seemed sort of unhappy about that. ... I dont know what I would have done differently looking back. Its hard to know, because I felt like I was doing things in good faith.

Expectation and obligation

Conflict around caregiving is not unusual, especially between sisters, says Megan Gilligan, Ph.D., an associate professor of Human Development & Family Science at the University of Missouri. Gilligan is a co-author of the longitudinal Within-Family Differences Study that looks at understanding the relationships between parents and their adult children and grandchildren, as well as between siblings in adulthood.

Gilligan and her colleagues found that sisters tend to be more critical of one another than sons when it comes to parental caregiving.

Daughters are raised with a sense of expectation, obligation, of wanting to provide that care and wanting that care to look a certain way, she explains. And we found that when multiple daughters were involved in care, maybe sometimes theyre kind of stepping on each others toes whereas  sons were more likely to kind of step back and let sisters navigate that, she says.

Interestingly, Ferguson wasnt the one to break off the relationship with her sibling. One month after their mothers death Ferguson says, [My sisters] boyfriend wrote me a letter saying, Im writing this with your sister. She hates you. Shes always hated you.  So I just said, okay, we just need to go our separate ways for now.

Ferguson has mixed feelings about the split. While she misses her sister and her childrens opportunity to have a relationship with their aunt, the toxicity of those last few years around their mothers death gives her pause. Now, she reaches out about once a year via email and wishes her well, but otherwise is at peace with the estrangement.

Reduce friction

Gilligan suggests that we replace the idea of equality with equity in caregiving. Siblings should ask what the parents want each child to do and then divide that work equitably if not equally in order to reduce sources of stress for the ailing parent and among siblings.

She and other experts say the key to reducing family friction in this context is for parents to clearly and definitively make their wishes known early and in writing.

A lot of this can be dealt with in terms of the tangible things prior to death, says Daniel G. Blazer, M.D., a professor emeritus of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and senior fellow in the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development at Duke University. And I think if a parent is alive  and I mean awake and aware  that probably should be done. Now, quite honestly, I think sometimes parents kind of have that little evil eye in their mind, saying, Well, let them fight it out. And thats not good, but nevertheless, I think a lot can be solved ahead of time.
In Cold Case: JonBenet Ramsey (on Netflix Nov. 25), the Emmy-winning, Oscar-nominated documentarian Joe Berlinger, 63, looks into the 1996 murder of JonBenet Ramsey. (There's also a forthcoming Paramount+ dramatic miniseries, JonBenet Ramsey, with Melissa McCarthy, 54, and Clive Owen, 60, as JonBenets parents John and Patsy Ramsey).

JonBenet, 6, was a beauty pageant winner found strangled in her family's Boulder, Colorado basement Dec. 26, 1996. The case was a tabloid sensation, and Boulder police suspected her mother killed her and her father covered it up. But detective Lou Smit accused the police of ignoring evidence that an intruder did it, and declared the Ramseys innocent. In 2008, new DNA analysis exculpated them, and Boulder D.A. Mary Lacy apologized to the family.

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Boulder police won't comment on the investigation, but Chief Steve Redfearn said, We are committed to following up on every lead and we are continuing to work with DNA experts and our law enforcement partners around the country until this tragic case is solved."

Berlinger told AARP what hes learned about the case  and why he thinks the case could now be solved.

Youve made hit documentaries about Hitler, Ghislaine Maxwell, Bernie Madoff and Ted Bundy, but this one is about people you think are falsely accused, right?

I specialize in wrongful conviction cases. My films helped get six people out of prison: Evaristo Salas, Curtis Flowers, Marty Tankleff and the West Memphis Three, the subject of Paradise Lost. I can't think of another family that has been so brutalized by police ineptitude and poor media handling as the Ramseys.

What inspired you to make the show decades after her death?

I came into contact with the work of Lou Smit, an incredible investigator.
High Grade Titanium Results Strengthen Mata da Corda's Position Ahead of Mineral Resource Estimate



Substantial Titanium Intercept of 52m at 9.8% TiO2 from Surface

Sydney, Nov 25, 2024 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Equinox Resources Limited ( ASX:EQN ) ( EQNXF:OTCMKTS ) is pleased to report exceptional results from its ongoing drilling campaign at the Mata da Corda Titanium and Rare Earths Project ("Project"), located in Minas Gerais, Brazil. This Project continues to demonstrate significant potential for multi-commodity mineralisation.



Highlights



- Additional drilling results from 35 drill holes, with an average depth of 15 meters has returned exceptional titanium dioxide (TiO2) results. Standout intercepts include 10.2m at 15.0% TiO2 (MC_DD24_002) and 15m at 13.6% TiO2 (MC_AD24_019), showcasing significant high-grade TiO2 potential. Notably, 43 intercepts exceed 12.0% TiO2 across 85.6 meters. Significant titanium dioxide intercepts include:



- 4m at 15.6% TiO2 from 5m (MC_AD24_033)

- 10.2m at 15.0% TiO2 from 9m (MC_DD24_002)

- 15m at 13.6% TiO2 from surface (MC_AD24_019)

- 12m at 13.2% TiO2 from surface (MC_AD24_008)

- 7m at 12.7% TiO2 from surface (MC_AD24_025)

- 5m at 13.2% TiO2 from surface (MC_AD24_006)

- 52m at 9.8% TiO2 from surface (MC_DD24_001)



Drilling results have also achieved remarkable Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO) results, with high-value Magnetic Rare Earth Oxide (MREO) content. Highlighted by 3m at 6,847 ppm TREO (27% MREO) (MC_AD24_033). 31 intercepts exceed 3,000 ppm TREO totaling 53.4 meters, with MREO percentages averaging 23%. Significant TREO intercepts include:



- 3m at 6,847 ppm TREO (27% MREO) from 6m (MC_AD24_033)

- 3m at 5,288 ppm TREO (23% MREO) from 6m (MC_DD24_001)

- 5m at 3,634 ppm TREO (22% MREO) from surface (MC_AD24_006)

- 9m at 3,575 ppm TREO (23% MREO) from 33m (MC_DD24_004)

- 3m at 3,147 ppm TREO (22% MREO) from 5m (MC_AD24_025)

- 4m at 3,321 ppm TREO (23% MREO) from 11m (MC_AD24_019)

- 10m at 4,347 ppm TREO (25% MREO) from 9m (MC_DD24_002)



- High-grade Titanium intercepts occur within the top 15 meters, with significant grades located within 10 meters from the surface.



- Drilling at Patos and Pindaibas prospects, covering only 1.4% of the 972km2 Mata da Corda project area, aims to deliver a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate by H1 CY2025.



- RC and auger drilling are still underway at Equinox Resources' Campo Grande Rare Earths Project, with assay results pending.



Equinox Resources Managing Director, Zac Komur, commented:



"At Equinox Resources, we are systematically advancing our portfolio of projects to deliver long-term value to our shareholders.



These outstanding results from the Mata da Corda Project highlight the immense potential of this exceptional asset, which we pegged late last year. High-grade, thick titanium intercepts at surface lay a solid foundation for delivering a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate by the first half of CY2025.



As we progress drilling at the Patos and Pindaibas prospects, our focus remains on unlocking the project's full potential, creating additional value, and solidifying Mata da Corda as one of the standout projects in our portfolio. Concurrently, we are conducting comprehensive test work on heavy mineral characterisation and continuing exploration across the broader project area to further enhance its profile.



Drilling is also underway at the Campo Grande Rare Earths Project, with assay results pending, further contributing to the growing momentum across our Brazilian projects portfolio.



Meanwhile, at the Alturas Antimony Project, we are advancing geological work to assess its scale, while activities continue on progressing the Hamersley Iron Ore Project.



We remain committed to delivering results across all our projects, achieving key milestones, and creating significant value for our shareholders as we move forward."



Exploration Program Overview and Next Steps



The Mata da Corda exploration programme is advancing steadily, with significant progress in defining the project's high-grade potential. Currently, 1,370 metres of diamond drilling remains to be completed, alongside approximately 30 planned auger drill holes at the Patos and Pindaibas prospects. These efforts are essential to finalising the geological model and advancing towards a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate, targeted for completion by H1 CY2025 Drilling, strategically planned on a grid pattern of 200 to 400 metres, will further refine the understanding of near-surface mineralisation. This phase of the programme focuses on just 1.4% of the Mata da Corda project area, highlighting its potential. The ongoing work is designed to ensure comprehensive coverage of the highest-priority targets, delivering the data required for resource definition and supporting future expansion opportunities.



Metallurgical Test Work Underway



Equinox Resources is advancing metallurgical test work on drill core samples from the Mata da Corda project. This program focuses on optimising extraction processes for titanium minerals while developing a conceptual flowsheet for a potential processing plant. The comprehensive analysis includes size distribution studies, gravity and magnetic separation, flotation, and advanced mineralogical assessments. These results will play a critical role in refining processing strategies, supporting resource modelling, and shaping future development plans for the Mata da Corda project.



Campo Grande Brazilian Rare Earths Project Update



At the Company's Campo Grande Rare Earth Project in Bahia, Brazil, RC and auger drilling are ongoing, with assay results currently pending. To optimise costs, the Company transitioned assay processing from ALS Laboratories to SGS Laboratories. The ongoing 4,000 metres RC and auger drilling program, conducted using the Company's own auger rigs and team, is part of a broader exploration initiative targeting high-priority areas.





About Equinox Resources Limited





Equinox Resources Limited (ASX:EQN) focuses on the exploration and development of iron ore and future-facing high margin commodities essential for a sustainable tomorrow. Our projects in Australia and Brazil are strategically positioned to make a significant industry impact.

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High Grade Assays Confirm Bauxite Discovery

Perth, Nov 25, 2024 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Arrow Minerals Limited ( ASX:AMD ) is pleased to report outstanding assays from its maiden drilling program at the Niagara Bauxite Project in Guinea.



Results from Arrow's first drilling at Niagara Bauxite Project outline mineralisation over 2km strike within trucking distance of the railway, Assays from another 160 holes pending



Highlights



- First drilling delivers high grade intercepts confirming bauxite mineralisation



- Results received from 11 holes testing two prospects, assays include;



o BS000028, 7 metres at 47.1% Al2O3 and 2.9% SiO2 from surface

o BS000032, 10 metres at 46.6% Al2O3 and 7.9% SiO2 from surface

o BS000025, 4 metres at 48.8% Al2O3 and 1.8% SiO2 from surface

o BS000023, 3 metres at 46.0% Al2O3 and 1.1% SiO2 from 1 metre

o BS000026, 4 metres at 44.4% Al2O3 and 3.3% SiO2 from surface



- Results from a further ~160 holes are due in late November and December. Drilling is ongoing.



- Grade and thickness intercepted over initial 2,000 metres strike is highly encouraging



- Guinea is the world's largest producer of bauxite, typically attracting a premium for high grade and low silica content.



- Guinea Bauxite standard specification is 45% Al2O3 and 3% SiO2 and is currently trading at US$85 CIF China.



- Following the drilling of 180 holes (on 800 by 800 metres spacings) by Vale in 2007, Arrow has defined 9 bauxite exploration targets. Three are being tested in the current campaign



- Discussions with potential bauxite customers have commenced.



- Arrow has already completed first pass baseline environmental studies and commenced community engagement activities.



- Arrow recently signed an MOU with Baosteel contemplating mine gate sales of iron ore from Simandou North.



The project is located (Figure 1*) within trucking distance of the multi-user Trans-Guinean Railway (~100km).



Arrow has already completed first pass baseline environmental studies, community engagement, and commenced recruitment of people from local communities to support the current operations.



Managing Director, David Flanagan, commenting said:



"These are spectacular results. They demonstrate broad zones of high grade mineralisation from surface, within trucking distance of a multi-user railway at a time of record alumina and bauxite prices.



"Guinea is the world's largest and most important supplier of high-quality bauxite. These results are comfortably in line with the product that has made Guinea the world's number one bauxite producer."



"Guinea bauxite is in high demand contributing approximately 30% of global consumption and at 45% Al2O3 and 3% SiO2 is currently trading at approximately US$85 CIF China."



"Coupled with the broad expanse of prospective host rocks intersected in drilling and our proximity to the multi-user Trans-Guinean railway, the Niagara Bauxite Project presents an excellent opportunity to create value for shareholders, generate jobs in local communities, and consistent with Arrow's goal of establishing itself as a new and independent significant, high quality bauxite supplier."



"Arrow is focused on achieving its goal to be a low-capital, highly profitable mining operation that will serve as a platform for future growth. We are very excited about our drilling results and look forward to receiving more over the coming weeks, with the goal of the estimating of Mineral Resources to form the basis for our planned Scoping Study to follow in the first half of 2025."



Niagara Bauxite Background



Arrow is exploring the Niagara Bauxite Project with the benefit of work done on this project by various mining companies from the 1960's including geology and assays from 180 holes drilled by Vale in 2007. This report includes our first results for 11 drill holes, and the logged geology of our first 148 holes.



A typical residual bauxite deposit is flat with a thickness that varies from 1 to 10 metres with commercial deposits between 4 and 6 metres. A typical commercially viable bauxite mineral system would be laterally extensive covering and area of 5 to 40 square kilometres.



Guinea bauxite ores are normally priced based on direct negotiations with customers relative to a typical 45% Al2O3 product. They are not normally beneficiated and are sold as a direct shipping ore (DSO). These drilling results highlight potential to deliver grade and chemical specifications for DSO bauxite.



Ores typically have a bulk density ranging from 1.9 to 2.1 and is mined to a minimum thickness of approximately 0.5 metres. The Company has visited bauxite mining operations, inspected various mining equipment and met with contractors with experience and currently operating bauxite mines in Guinea. The information verified in this work, and results from this drilling, highlight potential to deliver widths, thicknesses and strike lengths which are similar to existing viable bauxite mining operations.



Arrow has commenced and completed first pass baseline environmental and community impact studies. The Company remains committed to sustaining this work and continuing to engage with all relevant stakeholders through the permitting processes to conclude them in a timely manner. No impediments to exploration or mining have been identified and the Company has productive relationships with key community and government stakeholders.



There are several existing tracks and roads which link the project to the Trans-Guinean Railway (TGR). The TGR is being commissioned and funded by a large consortium in a joint venture including the Guinea government as owners. Members of the consortium include Baosteel, Chinalco, Winning, Rio Tinto, Hongqiao and the Government of Guinea.



The TGR will be operated by a management company that will provide ore haulage service to the developers of the two large mines at Simandou and other third parties (Figure 2*).



Arrow has previously signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Baosteel. This MOU, subject to the Company delivering a fully permitted mining project, contemplates concluding a binding mine gate sale agreement for iron ore from our Simandou North Iron Project to Baosteel.



This potentially gives the effect of being able to access spare capacity on the infrastructure and seaborne markets for our iron ore production. The railway is due for commissioning in late 2025.



The Company intends to take full advantage of the multi-user obligations of the TGR to underpin the development of the Niagara Bauxite Project for the benefit of shareholders and the people of Guinea.



With current record high bauxite process, high grade intercepts from surface achieved in several drill holes across substantial distances, all within potential trucking distance of a state-of-the-art railway, also all in an area already drilled by Vale in 2007 as prospective for bauxite the Company remains highly optimistic in relation to reporting further encouraging results in coming weeks and resources in 2025.



*To view the full release, please visit:

https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/2B3108G1





About Arrow Minerals Ltd





Arrow Minerals Ltd (ASX:AMD) is an exploration and development company focused on delivering long-term shareholder value through the discovery of economic mineral deposits in West Africa. The Company has implemented a systematic science-based exploration philosophy whilst remaining commercially nimble to ensure we capture and retain value.

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A backlog of cases at the Bexar County District Attorney's Office is concerning judges and lawyers and causing people to wait longer for their cases to be heard. Billy Calzada/San Antonio Express-News Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales and his team blame the backlog on various factors, including staffing, a change in policy and the new online court records management system. Kin Man Hui/Staff photographer

There's a growing backlog of criminal cases at the Bexar County Courthouse, and thousands are waiting longer for their cases to be heard.

Some people are staying in jail longer, and judges and defense attorneys say their hands are tied.

The Bexar County District Attorneys Office blames the backlog  including more than 16,700 felony cases awaiting indictment, according to Bexar County Administrative Judge Ron Rangel  on various factors, including staffing, a change in policy and the new online court records management system.

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Of the more than 5,000 people in jail, more than half are awaiting indictment and more than 300 havent been assigned to a court, according to Bexar County records.

There's literally nothing we can do until the DA has decided whether they want to pursue, Bexar County Court 7 Judge Melanie Lira told the San Antonio Express-News.

The district attorney's office is indicting fewer cases  about 41%  than they were five months ago, Rangel told the Express-News.

When you're dealing with such a huge unindicted caseload, what happens is, you start keeping folks in custody on cases that maybe they can't prove, Rangel said.

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Backlog of misdemeanor cases

The delays also affect misdemeanor cases, which don't get indicted, but must be filed by the district attorney.

Of all the county courts, County Court 7 and County Court 13, which handle misdemeanor family violence cases, have the most active cases without any information filed.

On Nov. 4, 72% of 1,594 active cases were unfiled in County Court 7, according to data shared with the Express-News. And 71% of 1,353 active cases at County Court 13 were unfiled.

Cases with defendants who are ready to go to trial or take a plea are being forced to sit and wait, Lira said. Many of these cases have witnesses who are cooperative and willing to testify, but that can change over time, she said.

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With a delay, you lose people, they get discouraged, Lira said. They lose confidence in the people theyve entrusted.

Lira said she is granting defendants more personal recognizance bonds, known as PR bonds, since she is unable to give them probation or sentence them to jail. PR bonds are available to defendants with a misdemeanor after 30 days and 90 days for a felony offense that has not been indicted.

However, inmates charged with violent offenses who are ineligible for a PR bond, or have a parole or immigration hold, are staying in jail until the DA's office acts on their case.

County Court 13 Judge Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez said she's concerned about the backlog of unfiled cases.

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We cant do anything with those cases, because I have no jurisdiction, Gonzalez said. The person is arrested but not charged.

It costs Bexar County between $70 and $90 per day to house each inmate at the jail. The longer inmates stay, the higher the cost.

The jail, which has been at capacity since July, is transporting inmates to jails in surrounding counties because there's not enough space there.

County funding has already been invested to alleviate the backlog of unfiled and unindicted cases.

Last fall, the Bexar County commissioners court granted the district attorneys office $295,000 for a "High-Risk Intake Team" to help pay prosecutors who volunteer to work more hours to work through the backlog, with a special focus on cases involving defendants with a criminal history or who are charged with a violent offense.

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Bexar County Precinct 3 Commissioner Grant Moody, who supported the funding, said the commissioners court asked the district attorneys office to provide quarterly updates on the backlog after the money was granted.

While the first update in the spring showed some improvement, he said the commissioners court has not received any updates since.

Moody said he plans to request an update from the district attorney regarding the backlog next month.

At the end of the day, the status quo is not working, Moody said. Its incumbent on the DA to shift course and address the drivers of this backlog immediately.

Staffing challenges

In an interview with the Express-News, Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said he never expected the funding to reduce the whole backlog.

"It still continues to be a challenge," he said.

But he's taking steps to reduce the backlog.

Gonzales said his office has hired additional prosecutors to address the backlog, especially in county courts 7 and 13.

"We're getting more hands to review these cases and more eyes to make sure we make decisions as efficient as we can, but the goal is to bring justice to victims, and sometimes that takes a little longer," Gonzales said.

And prosecutors have been working evenings and weekends to work on cases, he said.

Problems with Odyssey, crime lab

In an interview with the Express-News, Emily Angulo, the chief of the grand jury and intake division, blamed the backlog on the county's new online record management system, Odyssey.

The big slowdown was due to Odyssey, Angulo said.

The countys $30 million case management system had a rocky debut when it launched in June, with judges and attorneys unable to access case files and information.

Four months after its implementation, prosecutors and defense attorneys still struggle to complete daily tasks.

Even the reports and data about the backlog could be incomplete. Each time the Express-News received data from officials, it included the caveat that it could be inaccurate because of problems with Odyssey.

Angulo said the number of indictments decreased after Odyssey was launched because the process of creating an indictment took longer in the new system.

But staff members are working through it, she said, noting that some of the problems are due to a lack of training.

The more familiar that the prosecutors are able to get with the system, the more accurate the system is working," Angulo said.

Also exacerbating the backlog, the Bexar County crime lab is more than a year behind in processing cases due to staffing and policy issues.

Cases from 2023 are not expected to be completed until March, and cases from the beginning of this year will not be completed until June 2025, according to lab officials.

The lab, which provides reports on drug-, gun- and DNA-related cases to prosecutors, can determine how quickly the DAs office can indict a case.

It saw an increase in cases after Gonzales resumed prosecuting low-level marijuana possession charges last year.

I have not seen it like this in 25 years since I've been here, Angulo said. We have thousands of cases where we are waiting on lab results.

Policy change slows process

A new policy mandated by the district attorneys office is also being blamed for preventing cases from moving. Some cases in county courts have sat over a year without any information on file.

The change was implemented in the spring, said Meli Powers, chief of the family violence division at the district attorneys office.

The policy, which limits the discretion of some prosecutors working to file, dismiss or reject a case, was created because the DAs office had a high rate of dismissals, DA Office staff said.

Newly-hired prosecutors who work on family violence cases must consult with a senior prosecutor before dismissing a case.

The (lack of) discretion that our prosecutors have to reject the case once it's filed is slowing down the process, said District Attorney Joe Gonzales.

But the DAs office said the policy has resulted in cases staying open that would have been closed if it werent for the policy.

(Prosecutors) have to be experienced enough to know whether or not it's appropriate to reject or dismiss a case and we want to make sure that we are doing everything to bring justice to victims of crime," Gonzales said.

Daniel Rodriguez, chief of the misdemeanor trial division, said the district attorney's office tries to prioritize defendants who are ready to take pleas by rushing to file cases.

Lira said she can understand why the DAs office wants to do their due diligence in each case, however, she criticizes the new process as micromanagement.

They are not allowing the attorneys who sit every day in this court, who have conversations with the defense attorneys and myself, who are doing the work, to make the decisions, Lira said.

Monica Guerrero, a San Antonio defense attorney, said she can't litigate for her clients if their case hasn't been filed. She said she has had clients stay up to 100 days in jail with no court filing.
Downhole EM program to start next week



Phase One Drilling Completed at Oval Copper-Gold Target

Perth, Nov 26, 2024 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Great Western Exploration Limited ( ASX:GTE ) is pleased to announce completion of the first phase of drilling at the Oval Copper-Gold Target in WA.



The Oval Copper-Gold Target is within the Company's Yerrida North Project, located on the northern and western portions of the Yerrida Basin. The target is approximately 800km north-east of Perth and adjacent to the DeGrussa and Monty Cu-Au Volcanic Hosted Massive Sulphide deposits (VHMS), shown in Figure 1*.



Key Points



- The first phase of the Oval Copper-Gold drilling programme has been completed, with two diamond holes drilled ranging in depth from 600 to 800 metres.



- The Oval Target was originally defined by a Rio Tinto EM Survey in the late-1990s; This target has coincident EM conductivity and gravity highs, located on the intersection of a crustal scale and basin defining fault, and within favourable stratigraphy of the Yerrida Basin for copper-gold mineralisation formation.



- Efficient and effective diamond drilling was completed by Bluespec Drilling; This targeted the multiple and coincident geophysical and geological attributes of the Oval copper-gold target.



- There will now be a short break in drilling while results from this first phase are assessed, and downhole electromagnetic surveying (DHEM) is completed to guide the remainder of the programme. Crews for the DHEM programme are expected to commence the survey in approximately one week's time, with interpretation of results anticipated mid-December 2024.



- Geological logging and processing of the drill core is currently underway, with assay results anticipated in February 2025.



The first phase of diamond drilling at the Oval Copper-Gold target has been completed, which the Company interprets represents a Winu/Havorion intrusive related copper gold deposit. The drilling programme was designed to test the multiple coincident geological and geophysical attributes of Oval (GTE ASX Announcement 4 October 2023), which include:



- Co-incident gravity and electromagnetic (VTEM) anomalies;



- Magnetic anomalism at depth below the conductive high, potentially representing a deep intrusive providing mineralised fluids and heat to drive a mineralised system and similar to the Winu Intrusive Related CopperGold Deposit;



- Proximity to the fertile crustal scale Ida Fault, that is intersected at Oval by a basin defining "growth structure";



- Favourable Yerrida Basin stratigraphy of the Johnson Cairn Formation that can stripped copper-gold from ascending mineralised fluids and hosted within this stratigraphic units.



- Position of Oval within an east-west intrusive corridor, a potential zone of weakened crust for metal accumulation within the Johnson Cairn Formation



Two diamond drill-holes were completed effectively and efficiently by drilling contractor Bluespec Drilling, with drillholes 24GOVDD001 and 24GOVDD002 drilled to a depth of 807 and 606m respectively. Drill-hole 24GOVDD001 targeted the centre of the large electromagnetic (EM) anomaly at Oval, a coincident moderate gravity high, and below a Rio Tinto drilled hole that was terminated before reaching the EM anomaly depth (GTE ASX Announcement 4 October 2023). 24GOVDD001 was granted co-funding of 50% of drilling cost by the Western Australian Government, under the Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS). Drill-hole 24GOVDD002 targeted the EM anomaly and a large gravity high, and both holes are show in Figure 2*.



A short break will now be taken, to geologically log and assess the drill-core and to allow a down-hole electromagnetic (DHEM) survey to be undertaken, which has been slightly delayed due to localised rainfall in the area but expected to commence in a week's time. It is anticipated results and associated interpretation of the DHEM data will be received mid-December 2025. Interpretation and incremental changes will be made to the geological model which will guide the remainder of the drilling programme. Core processing is currently underway, and assay results are expected to be returned in February 2025.



*To view tables and figures, please visit:

https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/5A35C6XK





About Great Western Exploration Limited





Great Western Exploration (ASX:GTE) is an explorer with a world class, large land position in prolific regions of Western Australia. Great Western's tenements have been under or virtually unexplored. Numerous work programmes across multiple projects are underway and the Company is well-funded with a tight capital structure, providing leverage to exploration success.

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Elizabeth L. T. Moore is a Hearst Fellow in San Antonio. She can be reached at Elizabeth.Moore@hearst.com

Elizabeth did her first fellowship year as a reporter with the New Haven Register in Connecticut. Moore has published bylines with Bloomberg News, The Virginian-Pilot and The Daily Tar Heel, the student newspaper of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Moore placed nationally in the Hearst Collegiate Journalism Program, and she is fluent in Spanish.
Applicants should submit research proposals that focus on areas the FCA can influence, such as:

 Growth and productivity of the UK financial services sector.

 International competitiveness of the UK financial services sector.

 Supporting the UKs economy and considering regulatory impacts. The FCA will award each winner up to 30,000 to help complete their research proposal. Kate Collyer, chief economist at the FCA said: We recently reviewed what research had been done into the role regulation can play in supporting growth and competitiveness, and we found the pool was a mile wide and an inch deep. We want to hear from you on how we can fill these gaps and how your research ideas can help us drive real world change. We will fund the very best ideas that help us to achieve these goals. The FCA has provided detailed guidance for entrants on its website. Applications close at 11.59pm on Sunday 15 December 2024.

A panel of judges will select the winning proposals by 22 December 2024. The winners will have until 31 March 2025 to complete their research. The panel of judges will include:

 Kate Collyer, FCA chief economist

 Professor Julia Black, president of the British Academy, warden of Nuffield College

 Dr Felix Martin, chair of the FCA Cost Benefit Analysis Panel

 Dr Tim Leunig, visiting professor in practice, London School of Economics



 Find out more about the competition.

 The FCA recently published a literature review of the current evidence base connecting financial services regulation to economic growth and identified areas for future research.

 Find out more about the FCA's secondary objective to support the international competitiveness and growth of the UK economy in the medium to long term here.


Adani Wilmar Limited, one of Indias largest food & FMCG companies, commemorates 25 years of Fortune Foods with a unique logo that reflects the brands commitment to home-cooked meals and its iconic message, Ghar ka khana, ghar ka khana hota hai. Over the years, the brand has become one of Indias most reputed and trusted providers of essential kitchen commodities, including edible oil, wheat flour, rawa, maida, suji, besan, rice and pulses. It has played a vital role in bringing families together with delicious, nutritious, and wholesome food, thus becoming an integral part of Indian households.

The logo, created encapsulates 25 years of tradition and togetherness associated with the brand. The design created gives insights into Indias culinary traditions. It incorporates elements of Indian culinary culture  tools of harvesting, shapes of sweets, forms of cooking utensils, and the sensory experience from the varied aromas and rituals found in Indian kitchens. Each visual element, be it rice, veggies, oil, flour, idlis, samosas, sweets,tadka, rolling-pin, mortar-and-pestle, tiffin box to name a few, represents the ingredients, cooking mediums, and practices that make home-cooked food central to the Indian experience.

Apart from reflecting the essence of Indian kitchens, the elements in the logo also reflect health, happiness, and a commitment to wholesome food prepared at home. This unique design also celebrates Fortunes journey of serving nourishing, home-cooked meals to Indian households, seamlessly blending quality with tradition.

Commenting on the launch, Angshu Mallick, MD & CEO, Adani Wilmar Limited said, For 25 years, Fortune Foods has been woven into the fabric of Indian households, becoming a trusted name in kitchens across the country. This journey has been nothing short of extraordinarya reflection of the love, trust, and shared values of millions of families whove chosen us to be part of their everyday lives. Our logo encapsulates this beautiful relationship, celebrating the tools, flavors, and traditions that make home-cooked meals a cornerstone of Indian culture. As we mark this silver jubilee, we honor the past while looking toward the future with a renewed commitment to delivering quality, nutrition, and the joy of cooking at home. This is more than a milestone; it is a testament to the power of shared moments and the enduring bond between Fortune and the families we serve.

Also Read: Adani Wilmar's new Ilish pack brings joy to Bengali tables in Hilsa season
Khers boutique studio after completing the shoot of the much anticipated film Tanvi The Great which releases internationally second half 2025, announced its next feature, The Return to be produced in collaboration with Australian film company TEMPLE based at Disney Studios Sydney.



The feature will have over 90% of its shoot in Australia and will also cast an Australian Actor in a lead role. This will also be an opportunity to extensively engage Australian talent across departments making this an excitingly inviting collaboration in its true sense.

I have had a deep love for Australia ever since I first shot there in 1998. Since then I have performed my play and been part of AACTA international Jury with Russel Crowe. Now that there is a co production treaty it was a no brainer to place my next feature film as a director in Australia  Anupam Kher

Films are a powerful medium to build genuine understanding between countries, both for audiences and creative industries. As highlighted at IFFI Goa, where Australia is the Focus Country, Australian filmmakers are more interested than ever in collaborating with Indian counterparts. The future is bright, with Indian cinema gaining popularity in Australia and new opportunities for financing through our co-production agreement. We welcome plans for production in Australia from someone of the stature of Anupam Kher and look forward to welcoming him to Australia as the film takes shape. Mr. Paul Murphy, Australian Consul General in Mumbai

Anupam Kher has been a mentor, guide, and inspiration since I first had the honour of working with him. To co-produce his directorial film in Australia is an honour and journey I am so looking forward to with the raft of benefits now available with a co-production treaty in place. A major global creative force like Anupam Kher setting his film in Australia is a major boost for Australia. India film links and will further strengthen the relationship. Anupam Sharma, Australian film company TEMPLE

Anupam Kher Studio has a one point focus, to create films that resonate on a global scale. Building on the success of our recent release, The Signature, and on the creative journey behind Tanvi The Great, compelling storytelling through innovative, character-driven cinema is exactly what audiences worldwide are seeking. The Return, set to showcase Australia authentically, promises to captivate not only cinephiles in the two co-producing nations but also audiences across the West, and also aligns with the vision at IFFI 2024 to have Australia as the country of focus. We are looking forward to collaborate with Temple Productions and Screen Australia on this exciting venture. says Herman De Souza, CEO, Anupam Kher Studio.

Also Read: Anupam Kher Shines, But Vijay 69 Falls Short as a Predictable Triathlon Tale
Chinese culture night held in Bangladesh to enhance friendship

Xinhua) 09:25, November 25, 2024

People take part in cultural activities during the "Chinese Culture Night" event in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Nov. 22, 2024. (Xinhua)

DHAKA, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- The "Chinese Culture Night" event organized by the Chinese Embassy in Bangladesh was held here Friday to showcase traditional Chinese culture and enhance the friendship between the two countries.

"Cultural exchange is a vital bridge connecting the hearts of the two peoples, with China-Bangladesh friendship deeply rooted in the community and benefiting both nations," Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen said, adding that China will use the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2025, designated as the "Year of People-to-people Exchange," as an opportunity to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in culture, education, healthcare, sports, and youth exchanges, jointly building a brighter future.

For his part, Foreign Advisor to the Bangladeshi Interim Government Md. Touhid Hossain praised China as a trustworthy and sincere partner for Bangladesh. He emphasized that cultural exchange is a cornerstone and driving force of the Bangladesh-China relationship and called for deeper cooperation in all fields during this critical period of Bangladesh's transformation, aiming to elevate bilateral relations to new heights.

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen (L, back row) and Foreign Advisor to the Bangladeshi Interim Government Md. Touhid Hossain (R, back row) attend the award ceremony of the "Hello, China!" Bangladesh Children Art Competition during the "Chinese Culture Night" event in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Nov. 22, 2024. (Xinhua)

During the event, Yao and Touhid attended the award ceremonies for the Outstanding Promotion Partner Award and the "Hello, China!" Bangladesh Children Art Competition to encourage people of the two countries to understand each other.

Nearly 300 guests attended Friday's event, which featured a series of displays and art performances. Teachers and students from Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms captivated the audience with guzheng, tai chi, lion dance and Hanfu, among others.

Chinese airlines, including Air China, China Southern Airlines, and China Eastern Airlines, showcased direct flight routes and tourism resources, drawing great interest from attendees.

The event coincided with the Chinese solar term "Minor Snow." Traditional seasonal delicacies such as ciba (glutinous rice cakes) were specially prepared, inviting guests to savor the unique flavors of Chinese cuisine.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell called for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war while on a visit to Lebanon on Sunday, as the militant group claimed a wave of cross-border attacks.

Earlier this week, US special envoy Amos Hochstein said in Lebanon that a truce deal was "within our grasp", and then headed to Israel for talks with officials there.

War between Israel and Hezbollah escalated in late September, nearly a year after the Iran-backed group began launching strikes in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas following its October 7 attack.

The conflict has killed at least 3,670 people in Lebanon since October 2023, according to the health ministry, most of them since September.

In the Lebanese capital, Borrell held talks with parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who has led mediation efforts on behalf of ally Hezbollah.

"We see only one possible way ahead: an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701," Borrell said after his meeting with Berri.

Under Resolution 1701, which ended the last Hezbollah-Israel war of 2006, only Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be allowed to maintain a presence in the south, where Hezbollah holds sway.

It also called for Israel to withdraw troops from Lebanon.

"Back in September I came and was still hoping we could prevent a full-fledged war of Israel attacking Lebanon. Two months later Lebanon is on the brink of collapse," Borrell said.

He said the European Union was ready to provide 200 million euros ($208 million) to help bolster the Lebanese armed forces.

Hezbollah is one of the world's best-armed non-state forces, and was the only group in Lebanon that refused to surrender its arsenal after the 1975-1990 civil war.

The Lebanese army maintains a presence across the country's territory, but it is Hezbollah that holds sway in key areas along the border with Israel.

While the Lebanese army is not engaged in the Israel-Hezbollah war, it has suffered multiple fatalities among its ranks.

On Sunday, the army said an Israeli strike on a military post killed one soldier and wounded 18 others.

Also on Sunday, Hezbollah said it launched attacks using missiles and drones directed at a naval base in southern Israel and a "military target" in Tel Aviv.

It said it had "launched, for the first time, an aerial attack using a swarm of strike drones on the Ashdod naval base".

In also claimed to have carried out an operation against a "military target" in Tel Aviv using "a barrage of advanced missiles and a swarm of strike drones".

The Israeli military said air raid sirens were activated in several areas of central and northern Israel, adding that it had intercepted projectiles fired from Lebanon.

Israel's emergency medical service Magen David Adom said it had provided treatment to two people including a 70-year-old woman who was mildly injured.

On Saturday, Lebanon said Israeli strikes around the country killed more than 55 people, many of them in central Beirut.

One strike on the working-class Basta neighbourhood of Beirut killed at least 20 people and wounded 66 others, Lebanon's health ministry said.

"We saw two dead people on the ground... The children started crying and their mother cried even more," said Samir, 60, who lives in a building facing the one destroyed.

In a phone call with Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz on Saturday, Washington's Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin "reiterated US commitment to a diplomatic resolution" in the Lebanon war, a Pentagon spokesperson said.

A spokesman for Katz said he commended US efforts towards de-escalation in Lebanon, but said Israel would "continue to act decisively in response to Hezbollah's attacks on civilian populations in Israel".

On the Gaza front, Hamas's armed wing said Saturday that an Israeli hostage, captured during the group's October 7 attack which triggered the war, had been killed.

Israel's military said it could neither "confirm nor refute" the claim.

Israeli protesters held another of their regular Saturday rallies in Tel Aviv to demand their government reach a deal to free remaining hostages.

On Sunday, Gaza's civil defence agency said a drone strike had seriously injured a hospital chief in an attack on the healthcare facility, while Israeli raids killed 11 people across the Palestinian territory.

Hossam Abu Safiya heads the Kamal Adwan hospital, one of just two partly operating facilities in northern Gaza, as the territory is in the grip of a dire humanitarian crisis.

Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed at least 44,211 people, most of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which the United Nations considers reliable.

Criticism of Israel has mounted over its conduct of the war, and this week the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant.

It has also issued a warrant for Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, though it is unclear whether he is still alive.
Anushka Sen, one of India's most promising young actors, continues to make waves on the global stage. At the India-Korea Partnership Business Forum held in Delhi, the actress was honored as the Honorary Ambassador of Korean Tourism for her significant contributions in bridging the cultural and artistic gap between India and South Korea.

This prestigious recognition highlights Anushkas pivotal role in fostering stronger ties between the two nations. Her efforts to promote Korean culture in India and vice versa have earned her admiration from fans and officials alike.

Reflecting on this proud moment, Anushka shared her excitement with her 50 million-strong social media followers. She wrote: "Yesterday I got felicitated for my contribution in fostering and enhancing cooperation and strengthening friendship between the Republic of Korea ?? and Republic of India ??. Such an honor to receive this prestigious award from The Korea Herald Media Group at Yashobhoomi, Delhi. Special thanks to Director Lee from Asia Lab for giving me the opportunity to collaborate with the Korean industry and create history together. So happy to see so many companies and delegates from Korea and India coming together to create more opportunities for both countries.

Anushka, already a sensation in South Korea, had previously made headlines as the only Indian actor to feature on billboards in Korea. At just 22 years old, she is recognized as a global icon with a massive following across platforms. Her international projects, including the upcoming South Korean collaboration "Crush" with Olympic shooter Kim Ye-ji, and the recently announced "Asia", further cement her reputation as a cultural ambassador.

Currently basking in the success of her latest release, "Dil Dosti Dilemma," Anushka continues to inspire millions as she strengthens Indias global cultural presence. This honor serves as yet another milestone in her journey of breaking barriers and uniting cultures.

Also Read: Anushka Sen takes on Korea as Official Brand Ambassador
College Vidya, a trusted platform for informed online education choices, has partnered with Feel Filmz to launch Angreji Sapnea heartfelt web series that chronicles the aspirations, struggles, and resilience of students from India's Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

The series weaves together the stories of two young protagonists with contrasting ambitions. One, a village youth with dreams of academic success, relocates to Ranchi with hopes of securing a scholarship. The other, a spirited individual from Jamshedpur, yearns for independence and a life away from parental constraints. Angreji Sapne unravels their personal journeys, challenges, and the lessons they learn along the way.

Speaking about the collaboration, Rohit Gupta, COO & Co-Founder of College Vidya, shared: We are thrilled to partner with Feel Filmz on this meaningful project. It offers a unique, relatable perspective on the journeys of students in smaller cities, capturing their dreams and the hurdles they face. At College Vidya, we believe in the power of education to transform lives, and this series echoes the same sentiments by showcasing the resilience and determination of students who strive to build a better future. We hope that this story will inspire and motivate many students across India to pursue their goals, regardless of the challenges they may face.Akarsh Sinha, Founder & Managing Director of Feel Filmz, added: We believe that stories have the power to connect and heal, and Angreji Sapne is our tribute to the dreams that fuel so many students. Working with College Vidya has enabled us to bring authenticity to these narratives, and were excited for audiences to join us on this journey as we explore the beauty and resilience within Indias heartland.The web series promises to resonate deeply with audiences by spotlighting the grit and determination of students from smaller cities, offering a window into their realities and aspirations.Angreji Sapne is now available for streaming on Akarsh Sinhas YouTube channel

Also Read: College Vidya launches 'Dekho Sahi Ka Farak' campaign
Filmmaker Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, known for her authentic storytelling and unique cinematic style, recently shared her creative journey at the India International Film Tourism Conclave (IIFTC), emphasizing the pivotal role of locations in shaping her films. "Every place has a soula fragrance, a rhythm, a story waiting to be told," said Ashwiny, reflecting on her approach to filmmaking.

From the bustling streets of Agra to the vibrant alleys of Bareilly, Ashwiny's films have a distinct ability to capture the essence of small-town India. "Locations arent just backdrops; theyre characters in my stories," she explained. Her film Bareilly Ki Barfi is a testament to this philosophy, breathing life into small-town India with an authenticity that resonates universally.

Ashwinys dedication to capturing the cultural essence of her chosen locations often leads her to take unconventional steps. Recalling one memorable instance, she shared, "During a shoot, I sat reversed on a scooter while holding the camera just to capture the rawness of a busy marketplace." This anecdote highlights her hands-on approach to filmmaking, where every shot is crafted with precision and passion.

Her storytelling extends beyond India's borders, as Ashwiny's experience filming in Serbia for an international project broadened her creative perspective. "Serbia has a controlled, almost poetic quality to its streets. Shooting there taught me the beauty of working within constraints while still bringing my vision to life," she said, reflecting on the challenges and rewards of filming in a foreign country.

Filmmaking abroad, however, presents its own set of challenges. Ashwiny pointed out the contrast between working in India and abroad, noting that filmmaking in India often allows for a certain spontaneity. "We can adapt and innovate on the fly," she said, whereas abroad, there is a greater focus on rigid schedules, permits, and a precision-driven crew. "It pushes you to plan meticulously, but it also opens your eyes to a whole new way of storytelling," she added.

The differences between the fluidity of Indian film sets and the structured approach abroad have significantly influenced Ashwiny's filmmaking process. "In Serbia, every second of shoot time is accounted for, which can be challenging but also rewarding," she shared. On the other hand, the flexibility in India allows for a more organic approach. "That chaos has its charm," she said with a smile.

Despite these contrasts, Ashwiny finds a universal truth in how locations inspire her narratives. "Every placea small Indian town or a European cityhas a unique voice. Its my job to listen and translate that voice into a story," she remarked.

Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari's journey, from the colorful chaos of Bareilly to the serene streets of Serbia, proves that storytelling transcends borders. Whether its the places we inhabit or the people who make them extraordinary, Ashwiny continues to demonstrate that every location holds the key to a powerful and universal story.

Also Read: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari - A filmmaker with Maximum Female Oriented Films
Collective Artists Network, one of the leading new media conglomerates in India, has made the introduction of Galleri5s trailblazing AI-powered suite, designed to revolutionize brand marketing. This cutting-edge platform combines advanced technology with cultural intelligence to streamline content creation, uncover emerging trends, and deliver real-time insights, enabling brands to connect with their audiences more effectively than ever.

At the core of Galleri5s offering is its ability to generate hyper-realistic catalog visuals without the need for traditional photoshoots. By transforming basic product images into ad-ready visuals, brands can reduce production time by up to 70% while significantly cutting costs. This capability is a game-changer for digital-first marketers seeking faster, more efficient ways to produce engaging content.

Galleri5 also provides a robust Social Intelligence module that analyzes audience sentiment and campaign performance. These insights allow marketers to go beyond surface-level metrics, enabling smarter, data-driven decisions. Meanwhile, its advanced Trend Discovery tool scours millions of social media posts and media articles to identify emerging topics, helping brands stay ahead of the curve and even drive trends rather than react to them.

Galleri5s tools are not just about enhancing workflowsthey represent a new era of brand storytelling where creativity and data merge seamlessly. This suite is empowering brands with the tools to shift from manual processes to precision-driven strategies. This goes beyond optimizing efficiencyits about reimagining whats possible in brand media" said Vijay Subramaniam, Founder and Group CEO of Collective Artists Network.

Rahul Regulapati, Founder and CEO of Galleri5, emphasized the suites predictive capabilities, noting, "At Galleri5, were shaping the future of brand contentfusing AI-powered catalog imaging, social intelligence, and trend-driven insights. We enable brands to create personalized, trend-first content that resonates and leads the conversationfaster, smarter, and at scale. The future of media isnt about keeping up; its about defining what comes next.

What sets Galleri5 apart is its unparalleled integration with the Collective universe. This synergy ensures that the platforms AI tools are not only technologically advanced but also deeply rooted in pop culture, enabling brands to scale their content creation while maintaining cultural relevance.

Galleri5s suite is already trusted by over 50 leading brands and supported by partnerships with top social platforms. By combining advanced AI, creativity, and a powerful media network, Galleri5 is poised to redefine how brands craft and execute their marketing strategies.

Collective Artists Network and Galleri5 are charting a new course for marketing excellence, where technology, talent, and cultural insight come together to deliver unmatched results.

Also Read: Collective Artists Network Acquires Galleri5
In this interaction with Adgully, Kishan Jain, Director, Goldmedal Electricals, shares insights into the current consumer sentiment and the companys strategic approach to capitalize on the rising demand. Jain sees a notable surge in consumer interest this year, prompting Goldmedal to launch an array of new products, including fans and geysers, alongside existing offerings. With the campaign theme #ApnaGharApniVibe, Goldmedal aims to resonate with consumers diverse preferences for home upgrades and celebrations. The company is investing significantly in digital and outdoor marketing to raise awareness and showcase how their products can enhance festive experiences.

Speaking further, Jain adds, This year, our primary focus has been on increasing awareness about our products. Goldmedal has expanded its product portfolio both in width and depth. We recently launched fans and geysers, and we have also introduced a range of exciting products in other categories, such as LEDs, modular products, and home automation. We have extensively utilized digital media to inform our audience about these products and their features.

The company has been bullish on the festive season this year and came up with theme of #ApnaGharApniVibe for its festive campaign. Our festivals symbolize new beginnings and prosperity, and each of us has unique preferences reflected in how we upgrade our homes and lifestyles. Through this campaign, Goldmedal aims to help you create a home that matches your vibe. This is achieved through our range of lighting devices, modular products, electrical appliances, and home automation products, offering a wide variety of choices. Our strategy is to showcase these products and demonstrate how they help you celebrate festivals in your own way, he adds.

Jain informs that Goldmedal has increased its budgets for both offline and online marketing this year by approximately 15% to 20% compared to the previous year.

We are currently focusing the majority of our spending on digital platforms, outdoor advertising, and theatres, he adds.

Also Read: Goldmedal Electricals partners with Pushpa 2, amplifying brand's core values
Google has voiced strong opposition to the US Department of Justice's (DOJ) sweeping proposal in its ongoing lawsuit over Googles search distribution agreements. In a company blog post, the tech giants President of Global Affairs and Chief Legal Officer, Kent Walker, described the proposal as a radical interventionist agenda that could harm consumers, stifle innovation, and undermine Americas global leadership in technology.

The DOJs proposal, which extends beyond the court's initial decision, includes significant changes to Googles operations, such as the forced sale of Chrome and potentially Android, and the mandatory disclosure of personal search queries to foreign and domestic entities. Google argues these measures would jeopardize user privacy and the security of its services.



The company also highlighted the potential risks to artificial intelligence (AI) advancements, claiming the DOJs measures could discourage investment in one of the most transformative technologies of the era. AI, a domain where Google plays a leading role, is vital for global innovation and competitiveness.

Additionally, the proposal could affect partnerships with companies like Mozilla, whose Firefox browser benefits from revenue-sharing agreements with Google. Such drastic interventions, Google warned, could hobble its popular Search services and impose burdensome regulations, including the implementation of multiple "choice screens" for users of its Pixel devices.



This extreme proposal represents unprecedented government overreach, Walker said, adding that it could harm small businesses, developers, and consumers alike, while also undermining Americas position as a technological leader.

Google plans to file its response next month and present its broader case in the coming year. The company remains committed to defending its services and innovations, which, it emphasized, have gained the trust of millions of users worldwide.

As the debate unfolds, the outcome of this case could have far-reaching implications for the technology sector and consumer experiences globally.

Also Read: DOJs push to break Googles hold: A closer look at proposed Chrome divestiture Part 1
After eight years of impactful journey at Amazon, Minari Shah has decided to move on from the company, marking the end of her longest professional tenure. She shared her decision in a heartfelt LinkedIn post,







During her tenure at Amazon, Minari held pivotal roles across regions and domains. Most recently, she served as Director of International Owned Content & Channels (APAC, EU, LATAM), overseeing strategic communication initiatives across multiple geographies. Before this, she was Director of Corporate Communications for Asia-Pacific, leading regional efforts with precision and innovation.



Before Amazon, Minari Shah built an illustrious career in corporate communications, holding senior positions across leading global organizations.

Tata Motors: As Head of Corporate Communications, she led the automakers communication strategies for over three years.

HSBC India: As Sr VP & Head of Corporate Communications, she managed communications for the financial powerhouse.

Dell Technologies: Over five years, she served as Director of Corporate Communications for Asia-Pacific and as Head of Corporate Communications, driving regional campaigns.

NCR Corporation: Her role as PR Manager for India & SEA saw her managing public relations for key markets.

Also Read: Minari Shah promoted as Director of International for Amazon owned content & channels
Authored by - Priyal Salot, Co - Founder, The Sleep Company

The future of shopping is being transformed by an astonishing figure  73% of customers now navigate multiple channels before making a purchase, and 50% consult three different sources for high-value items. For comfort tech brands, this scene presents a promisingchance to captivate festive shoppers through dynamic omnichannel marketing strategies.

Imagine a shopping experience where your favorite comfort tech brands anticipate your every needbefore you even realize it!This isnt just wishful thinking; its the power of omnichannel marketing in action! By merging online platforms, in-store experiences, and lively social media interactions, brands can craft an engaging and seamless shopping journey that resonates with consumers on multiple levels. As the festive season draws near, adopting this strategy becomes essential for brands eager to forge deeper connections with shoppers looking for personalized experiences and products that enhance their comfort.

Festive shopping is about more than just products; its about creating memorable experiences. Comfort tech brands can leverage this by utilizing eye-tracking technology to determine which elements capture consumer attention. Imagine a shopper scrolling through a festive sale on a brands website! By understanding what designs evoke positive emotional responses, brands can curate visually appealing content and product displays that entice buyers to engage more deeply.

AI and Machine Learning further enhance the potential of omnichannel marketing. By analyzing extensive consumer interaction data, these technologies reveal patterns that are nearly impossible to detect manually. For instance, a comfort tech company can examine consumer behavior across various channels, discovering which features of their products relate most strongly with festive purchasers. Equipped with this information, brands can tailor their marketing strategies and product offerings to stay ahead of trends and meet the evolving needs of their audience.

As festive purchasing gains momentum, companies are eager to attract consumers ready to spend, with online shopping expected to rise by 1820% this season, according to Redseer Strategy Consultants. The integration of e-commerce offers a more relaxed shopping experience, blending online and offline channels. Reinventing physical stores is also essential, as brands create immersive experiences through festive workshops and augmented reality try-ons. This effective omnichannel strategy combines digital convenience with in-store sensory appeal, allowing customers to enjoy the excitement of browsing while saving time with services like click-and-collect.

The omnichannel approach seamlessly balances the pleasures of browsing with modern technology. As shopping habits evolve, brands that offer meaningful experiences across all touchpoints will thrive this festive season and build lasting consumer connections. For comfort tech brands in smaller cities, combining e-commerce platforms with physical stores allows them to cater to tech-savvy consumers who appreciate the convenience of online shopping and the assurance of in-store experiences, effectively broadening their reach and accommodating diverse preferences.

In a nutshell, it's that exciting time of year when brands can attract eager shoppers by merging online convenience with engaging in-store experiences. Comfort tech brands are making significant strides in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, which contribute nearly 45% to Indias GDP and house 70% of the population, according to KPMG. This economic dynamism and a growing middle class create a ripe environment for innovative products. By leveraging this potential, brands enhance everyday lives, proving that every shopping moment truly matters!

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the author and Adgully.com does not necessarily subscribe to it.

Also Read: How The Sleep Company is disrupting the way people sleep and sit in India
Vi has made the announcement of an important milestone as part of its latest Be Someones We campaign: the completion of its ambitious goal of 100 towers every hour as part of its ongoing network expansion across India.

Post the successful FPO earlier this year, the company has been rapidly expanding its network, rolling out new infrastructure, and has achieved a remarkable milestone of adding 100 towers every hour.

With this Vis Be Someones We campaign, which emphasises the importance of fostering connections and coming together in support of others, takes on a new meaning by extending it to Being Someones We from wherever you may be. Enabled by the addition of 100 towers every hour, the new campaign films highlight Vis commitment to delivering robust, high-speed connectivity for all, from anywhere.

At the core of the campaign are two relatable stories (TVCs) with the new messaging. Each film juxtaposes urban and remote settings, demonstrating Vis expanded network strength across varied and even challenging terrains. With scenes set in locations where network access is commonly unreliable, like hilly regions or even underground metros, the campaign underscores Vis commitment to delivering seamless connectivity and enabling shared experiences, regardless of geographical barriers.

Commenting on the campaign, Avneesh Khosla, CMO, Vi, said Be Someones We reminds everyone about the power of connections. Adding 100 towers every hour is a testament to our commitment to bringing robust connectivity to ensure that people remain connected and come together for their loved ones in little ways that go a long way.

Commenting on the campaign, Rohit Dubey, ECD, Ogilvy, said Crafting Be Someones We, From Wherever You May Be was a creative tightrope walk, balancing appeals to both heart and mind. The promise of 100 Towers Every Hour had to be subtly woven into the brands philosophy, guiding each choice we made. This heartfelt moment, set in one of the most challenging areas for a telecom network, reflects Vis commitment to connectivity. We hope this effort enhances the consumer's network experience and makes a meaningful difference.

The campaign has gone live with the much anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy beginning November 22 reaching people through various mediums, including TV, digital etc.

TVC 1: Birthday wishes from the Metro  In a bustling underground metro, a young girl orchestrates an impromptu birthday celebration for her sister over a video call. As fellow passengers join in to wish, the scene encapsulates Vis commitment to enabling connectivity and uplifting spirits, even in often signal-challenged spaces.

These scenarios resonate with Vis belief that a telecom network should uplift people, nurture connections, and bring joy, particularly in a world where digital interactions often lack warmth.

Also Read: vivo's 'Be the Pro' campaign elevating everyday moments with V30 series
Former site of Turkey Leg Hut with its sign painted over at 4830 Almeda Road on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Former site of Turkey Leg Hut at 4830 Almeda Road on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Former site of Turkey Leg Hut with its sign painted over at 4830 Almeda Road on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer

Since 2017, the food scene in Houstons Third Ward has been synonymous with Nakia Holmes and Lyndell Lynn Price's Turkey Leg Hut.

But, the popular eatery at 4830 Almeda Road will have to set up shop elsewhere now that its lease has been terminated.

Chief United States Bankruptcy Court Judge Eduardo Rodriguez signed an order on Nov. 22 granting CNPH Properties, LLC. relief from automatic stay against 4830 Almeda Road  ultimately allowing a creditor to take action against the debtors property. CNPH Properties, LLC., the landlord, submitted an amended motion in October requesting the court authorize foreclosure or repossession of the property. At the time of the filing, Holmes reportedly owed CNPH Properties, LLC. $109,790.00.

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Former site of Turkey Leg Hut at 4830 Almeda Road on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer

Court documents indicated total pre- and post-petition arrearages amounted to $56,120.00 while total post-petition arrearages added up to $44,450.00. The United States Bankruptcy Court defines post-petition arrears as past-due payments, fees or charges that occur after filing for bankruptcy protection. Pre-petition arrears are amounts owed before filing for bankruptcy.

Holmes and Price started the Turkey Leg Hut in 2015 in a parking lot across from the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo behind Cavenders. Two years later, they moved the bustling business to 4830 Almeda Road where patrons formed lines around the block waiting to get their hands on the fall-off-the-bone turkey legs covered in shrimp Alfredo, dirty rice or other savory toppings such as crawfish macaroni and cheese.

But, in the past year, Holmes has been met with constant controversy between the announcement of her divorce from Price, the filing of Chapter 11 bankruptcy and lawsuits from former business partners and friends. Not to mention, the Turkey Leg Hut has been closed for business for nearly three months. In September, the Houston Health Departments inspection of the restaurant revealed more than 30 health code violations prompting its immediate closure.

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Former site of Turkey Leg Hut with its sign painted over at 4830 Almeda Road on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer

During a 341 meeting on Zoom earlier this month, Holmes spoke in detail about the demise of the Turkey Leg Hut. As part of the meeting, trustee Ronald Sommers asked Holmes several questions including How would you explain to the creditors of Turkey Leg Hut why the business did not succeed?"

Honestly, there was a multitude of things, Holmes said. For the most part, it was mishandling and mismanagement of funds. There was a lot of theft that occurred.

Holmes said she stopped accepting cash at the restaurant "to stop the bleeding of Mr. Price going into the register (and) taking money and that his alleged actions led to her being unable to make payroll. She also claimed Price treated staff and patrons poorly, which played a role in Turkey Leg Huts downfall.

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Former site of Turkey Leg Hut at 4830 Almeda Road on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer

The fact of the matter is that it was not in his name and because it wasnt in his name, there was just carelessness, Holmes said in the Zoom meeting. There was a callousness and carelessness that he just didnt care. To combat with that daily, on a daily basis, of trying to stop someone from actively taking from the business, it takes a toll on the business.

Despite Holmes claims, Price has consistently denied any wrongdoing. Back in September, he wrote a post on Instagram addressing rumors regarding his involvement.

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"Today, I was made aware of outrageous and false claims stating that I have stolen, threatened and brought down the business that I built from the ground up," Price wrote on Instagram at the time. "As everyone knows, I have always been passionate and care about every project I am involved in and are connected to."
Raj Thackeray: A Politician Who Struggles to Stay Relevant 2

The 2024 Maharashtra Assembly Elections delivered a decisive victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Mahayuti alliance under the leadership of Devendra Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde, and Ajit Pawar. However, for the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and its chief, Raj Thackeray, it marked an all-time low. Once a party of promise, the MNS is now fighting for survival in Maharashtra politics.

Founded in 2006 with a pro-Marathi agenda, the MNS initially garnered attention with aggressive campaigns, such as its stance against North Indian migrants in 2008. Its debut performance in the 2009 elections saw it win 13 seats, raising hopes for a long-term impact. However, the party has been in decline ever since, suffering significant setbacks in subsequent elections. By 2024, the MNS failed to win a single seat, with even Raj Thackerays son, Amit Thackeray, losing his maiden election in Mahim.

Despite a promising lead in the Mahim constituency, Amit Thackerays defeat to Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Mahesh Sawant highlighted the MNSs waning influence. This election was the first time since its inception that the MNS failed to secure any representation in the assembly, garnering only 1.57% of the total votes. The partys lone MLA, Sharad Sonawne, had already left in 2019, further eroding its presence.

Raj Thackerays unpredictable leadership style and shifting political stances have alienated the electorate. Often regarded more as an entertainer than a serious politician, Rajs speeches may draw crowds, but they fail to translate into votes. His decision to part ways with his cousin, Uddhav Thackeray, and form the MNS has increasingly appeared to be a misstep. Uddhav, despite challenges, has managed to maintain a steady approach and retain a loyal voter base, something Raj has struggled to achieve.

The MNS has also failed to make any significant impact at the national level, having never sent a leader to the Lok Sabha. The partys inability to contest or perform in parliamentary elections in 2019 and 2024 further underscores its diminishing relevance. Amit Thackerays defeat, despite BJPs support in Mahim, exposed the lack of groundwork and connect with the masses. His political debut seemed more a product of lineage than merit, as he failed to resonate with voters.

The decline of the MNS also reflects a broader shift in Marathi-speaking voters, who once supported the party but now see it as politically irrelevant. The partys symbol, the railway engine, and its recognition by the Election Commission are at risk, as it no longer meets the criteria for official status.

Raj Thackerays rhetoric, while engaging, has failed to translate into effective political strategy. His split from Shiv Sena and the divisive politics he once championed have left him isolated. In contrast, the BJP and Mahayuti have consolidated their positions, leaving the MNS struggling to find a foothold.

The verdict of the 2024 elections is clear: the people of Maharashtra have moved on from the MNS. Unless Raj Thackeray undergoes a significant transformation in leadership style and political strategy, his party risks being remembered only as a fleeting chapter in Maharashtras political history.
Suhas Subramanyam Becomes First Indian American Elected from Virginia and East Coast 2

Suhas Subramanyam has made history as the first Indian American elected to represent Virginia and the East Coast in the U.S. House of Representatives. Running for Virginias 10th Congressional District, a Democratic stronghold, he defeated Republican candidate Mike Clancy. Subramanyam, currently a Virginia State Senator, expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve his district in Congress.

I am honored and humbled that the people of Virginias 10th District put their trust in me to take on the toughest fights and deliver results in Congress. This district is my home. I got married here, my wife Miranda and I are raising our daughters here, and the issues our community faces are personal to our family. It is an honor to continue serving this district in Washington, Subramanyam said.

With this victory, Subramanyam joins the Samosa Caucus in Congress, a group of Indian American representatives that includes Ami Bera, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ro Khanna, Pramila Jayapal, and Shri Thanedar.

Subramanyams parents emigrated to the U.S. in the late 1970s, passing through Dulles Airport, which he likened to their Ellis Island. His family roots are in Bangalore and Chennai, with summers spent in India maintaining a connection to his heritage. Subramanyam highlighted the importance of staying connected to his roots and emphasized values of service, education, and cultural pride instilled by his parents.

He also advocated for a robust India-U.S. relationship, noting the countries shared democratic values and the significant Indian diaspora in America. He emphasized the potential for strengthening ties through economic and defense partnerships, including technology transfer and shared strategic goals, seeing these as mutually beneficial for both nations.
Talk to David Graves for an hour, and its easy to imagine him hiking a mountain in Alabama and stopping to soak in the sunrise. You can picture him admiring a cityscape in Birmingham, sizing up a lighthouse on the Gulf Coast or appreciating the cascade of a waterfall at Little River Canyon.

Graves, 52, makes his living as a pharmaceutical sales representative, but photography is his creative outlet and his passion. He fairly glows with enthusiasm when talking about his experiences behind the camera  nature, food and people photos are his specialties  and Graves is eager to discuss a new project thats been especially absorbing and satisfying.

In 2023, the Birmingham resident spent about eight months traveling to churches throughout his home state, taking reverent photos of stained glass windows. Graves visited 100 churches during that time period, inspired by his love of beauty and his own religious faith. When all was said and done, he assembled a collection of 600 photos, carefully selected and precisely edited.

The colors, the pews and the light shining through the stained glass tell a universal story, Graves says. Week after week, generation after generation, a message of hope resonates. People have walked through these doors weary, hopeless and tired, only to be met with grace, hope and love.

Graves chose 150 of his photos  showcasing stained glass at 75 churches of various denominations  and assembled them into a book, Alabama Faith: Churches and Stained Glass. The self-published hardcover, which spans 140 pages, features churches that range from Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Huntsville to Spring Hill Baptist Church in Mobile. (See photos from the book in the gallery at the top of this post.)

Alabama Faith, priced at $34.95, made its debut in mid-October and is available via Amazon. Graves also has been spreading the word about his book on social media, at signings and at speaking events over the past month or so.

Stained glass at First Baptist Church of Huntsville, from the book "Alabama Faith: Churches and Stained Glass" by David Graves.(David Graves Photography)

According to the photographer, sharing these images with others has been a soul-stirring experience.

Its humbling, because I never anticipated signing a single book for anyone when I did this project, Graves says. I feel a sense of completion, satisfaction and humility, that people are responding to it. My dad used to say, When you give a gift, whatever they do with it is up to them. Youve given the gift. So for me, on the date of the book launch, I had given the gift.

During a recent interview with AL.com, Graves discussed the origins of his book, which date back to a childhood experience in Thomasville. He talked about his ideas as a photographer, his favorite gear  that would be the Canon R5 Mark II with an RF15-35mm lens  and his enduring goals. Graves also explained why his current place of worship, The Church at Brook Hills, isnt included in his book. (They dont have stained glass.)

Here are some excerpts from our conversation with Graves, edited for length and clarity.

Stained glass windows at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Mobile, from the book "Alabama Faith: Churches and Stained Glass" by David Graves.(David Graves Photography)

How did you get started as a photographer?

David Graves: I was working very hard, and I had a good friend sit me down and say, You dont have a balanced life. You need to make time to recharge, and be the best version of you that works hard, but also needs to enjoy other things. He encouraged me to make a bucket list. The first place I went was to Ireland. I wanted to take beautiful pictures there, and as a result I began to study on my own. I didnt take classes  it was a lot of research, learning, trying, failing. Youre never going to be good at something until youre willing to be bad at it.

If someone walked into your house in Birmingham, would they know youre a photographer? Are your photos displayed everywhere?

Yes, they would know, except my camera gear is not out anywhere. Its kept away in a hard case, and I always take it with me. I always stay what I call camera ready. My batteries are always charged. If Im somewhere, my camera gear is with me, just because you never know when youll see something beautiful you want to capture.

I think we have a responsibility to highlight beautiful things, because many people are either caught up in the 24-hour news cycle or moving from event to event with their children or their family. They never take time to pause and be in awe of anything. They dont look up. I find myself, when Im driving, looking up toward the sky. Im looking for beautiful moments that I may not take a picture of, but I want to remember it. I have a responsibility to point out and see the other beautiful things around me.

Stained glass at Huntsville First United Methodist Church, from the book "Alabama Faith: Churches and Stained Glass" by David Graves.(David Graves Photography)

Tell us about the genesis of this book, Alabama Faith. Where did the idea come from?

The core memory is, when we were kids in Thomasville, there was a night where our dad took us to the church and left the lights off. To be able to see the light coming through the stained-glass window, shining on those pew  even at the age of 10 or 12, I just remember that was such a special moment. It was a cool memory. But it wasnt until I got into photography and I was sharing that story with somebody, about two-and-a-half years ago  a friend said, Hey, with all your travels, you should take pictures of stained glass.

So on Feb. 25, 2023, as Im driving, I see Palmerdale Methodist Church. I turned left, I pulled in the parking lot and said, Hi, Im a photographer. Id be so honored to take pictures of your stained glass. I asked them to leave the lights off. When I took the first picture, in the back of my mind, I said, OK, Im going to go around the state and take these pictures.

You mentioned your dad turning the lights off at the church. Was he a minister?

No, he was a member of a small Southern Baptist church, Pineview Baptist Church in Thomasville. Many of the members had a key. We lived about 200 yards from the church. So he unlocked the door, we went in and sat on the front pew, and those lights were off. It was just such a beautiful, sweet, warm memory that I cherish with my siblings.

Stained glass at St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Fairhope, from the book "Alabama Faith: Churches and Stained Glass" by David Graves.(David Graves Photography)

Why did you want to showcase these photos in a book?

First, this book is a historical book. Some of the churches have already changed names, for example. Second, It is a book that reminds people. It brings up memories You may not have lived in Alabama, but therell be a window in this book that that reminds you of the church where you grew up. Last, it is a conversation piece. The goal is that you turn to somebody and share your memory with them. There are several empty pages in the book, so people can write down a memory and give the book as a gift to someone.

Its also an opportunity. Weve lost the ability to share our story with other people. Were looking for likes and retweets or comments on social media, instead of sitting across from somebody sharing our story. Week after week, generation after generation, people have walked into all these places, these sacred spaces, tired, weary, and hopeless. The story these windows tell is that theyve given people strength and given them hope.

Stained glass at First Baptist Church of Sylacauga, from the book "Alabama Faith: Churches and Stained Glass" by David Graves.(David Graves Photography)

How did you choose the churches to photograph?

I did a lot of research. There were painstaking hours of research, finding out which churches had stained glass and then mapping it out, calling the church to see if theyd allow me to take photos. There are 75 churches in the book, and 150 photos. I could probably photograph 500 churches in Alabama with stained glass, and have stories with each one.

Is there a perfect time to shoot photos in a church with stained glass, to catch the light just the way you want it?

No, theres not, because when you stand in the back of the sanctuary, every church has its own characteristics, whether it be the color of the wood, or the paint, or the color of the windows. There is no perfect time. But my goal was to always capture the light reflecting off the surface. I think that light reflecting off the surface is the reminder of a story of hope that hasnt changed throughout the years. That same light reflected 125 years ago to somebody else, as it does today. In the same way, the message has not changed. Its still offering hope and redemption to every person.

Stained glass at First Baptist Church Montgomery, from the book "Alabama Faith: Churches and Stained Glass" by David Graves.(David Graves Photography)

Can you share any favorite moments, anything special you experienced while taking these photos?

I was in First Baptist Church in Montgomery. I happened to look up and there was stained glass in the center of the ceiling. So Im laying on my back on the ground, taking photos. I had to say to my host, Please forgive me for a moment. So Im laying flat on my back, looking up, taking pictures straight into the ceiling. Its one of my favorite pictures in the book.

Did you have any surprises as a photographer while doing this project?

Theres a beautiful church not far from my home, Saint Mark the Evangelist Catholic, that I knew was there. But until I went to take pictures and I walked into the church, I had no idea how incredible this place was. And the same thing in Mobile  there are just some incredibly profound churches there. Christ Church is one of those; its one of the oldest church in the state. ... Auburn United Methodist is the same way, such a treasured history there. They have an old sanctuary and a new one, and there are such different characteristics between the two. Its great to be able to capture all of that.

Stained glass at Saint Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church in Birmingham, from the book "Alabama Faith: Churches and Stained Glass" by David Graves.(David Graves Photography)

How do you feel when taking photos like these?

When Im taking photographs, my world gets really quiet. All the sound goes away. If you were standing there as I take pictures, I wouldnt hear you speaking. ... I capture a moment in time. Thats my preference. This is one moment in time. This moments here; its gone.

Did you have a specific goal in mind for this book? Or a big takeaway for readers?

One of my goals as a photographer is, I always want people to lean in with curiosity to any photo, whether its nature or whether its stained glass windows. And with this book ... I hope it encourages people. My note in the front of the book says, This is my love letter to the local and global church and to the state of Alabama. I love our state. I love so many beautiful things that we have, and to be able to turn that light toward what is valuable in our state. People can take this book, and use it as a roadmap and visit many of these churches.

Stained glass at Holy Infant of Prague Catholic Church in Trussville, from the book "Alabama Faith: Churches and Stained Glass" by David Graves.(David Graves Photography)

What does this project mean to you as a person of faith?

It reminds me that I need to slow down every day, and be reminded of times when I had no hope, and I needed to be encouraged or I needed redemption. Im not immune to that message  as a matter of fact, I need that message as much as anybody.

Now Im privy to pictures of these churches that I can flip through, and it takes me back to the moment in that church. And I can remember how I felt in that moment. As I look at Auburn United Methodist Church, or Christ Cathedral in Mobile, or Church at The Steeple in Mobile, ita all inspirational.

I am so honored to be able to put all this together and lay it at the feet of the reader and say, I hope youre encouraged. Thats what I receive every day. When I take those moments to reflect, Im just very grateful.

Stained glass at Asbury United Methodist Church in Birmingham, from the book "Alabama Faith: Churches and Stained Glass" by David Graves.(David Graves Photography)

Anything else youd like people to know about Alabama Faith?

People often say, Hey, if your house caught on fire, what would you grab? Id grab my computer, but I would also grab this box I have, with every handwritten letter Ive received since 1997. I love handwritten letters. In light of that, this book is my handwritten letter to the people of Alabama, to say, This is a beautiful thing. To say, Pause, unplug from everything else in the world, flip through these pages, be reminded about beautiful things in your faith.

Alabama Faith: Churches and Stained Glass, is available via Amazon.com. For more on David Graves Photography, visit his his website or Instagram. To reach him via email, its alabamafaithbook@gmail.com.
The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away.

Elton Johns Broadway musical about the late Tammy Faye Messner, who was known as the first lady of televangelism when she was Tammy Faye Bakker in the 1970s and 80s, is packing it up less than a week after its Nov. 14 opening. The production will close Dec. 8 after 24 preview and 29 regular performances, Broadway World reported.

Tammy Faye had its world premiere at the Almeida Theatre in London in 2022. After receiving rave reviews  and four Olivier Awards, including best musical  it transferred to Broadway for the 2024-25 season, becoming the first big show to reopen in the newly remodeled Palace Theatre.

New York audiences were unimpressed with the Rupert Goold production, with Varietys review calling it a misguided West End import. In the week ending Nov. 17, Tammy Faye made less than $400,000 (it was capitalized for up to $25 million), playing to 63% capacity audiences, the Guardian reported.

The day before the closing news dropped, Jake Shears, who composed the musicals lyrics, celebrated how far Tammy Faye has come.

Getting Tammy Faye up on Broadway has been one of the most thrilling experiences of my life, Shears wrote on Instagram. What a joy working with this entire cast, their stamina and talent staggeringand beautiful to watch.

I believe that musical theatre is one of the most archaic forms of art: complicated and managerially elaborate. Its the same process as it was 800 years ago, he continued. There are no shortcuts. And thats what I love about it the most.

Shears went on to thank his family, friends, collaborators  and the shows eponymous evangelist, whose life rights John and his husband, David Furnish, acquired 12 years ago.

Messner first drew Johns attention in 1985, when she was the wife of TV pastor Jim Bakker and interviewed pastor Steve Pieters, a gay man living with AIDS, he told the Hollywood Reporter last month. The interview received widespread backlash from religious conservatives.

I toured America for so long and so often that she became someone I was very, very interested in, the EGOT winner said, and that pivotal moment when she did have the pastor on was equivalent to Princess Diana holding the mans hand in the Lighthouse [AIDS clinic] in London.

I thought, This woman is incredible, just the way she looked, the way she talked, the way she acted, she was so vibrant, he continued. So when we got the chance to write the musical, I jumped at it, because I love interesting people like that who have had great success and then been banished and lost everything, and then come back because of their faith and because of their belief, and turn the tables.

Meanwhile, Johns musical version of The Devil Wears Prada continues shows at the Dominion Theatre in London.

2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Alaina Bookman reports for the Beyond the Violence collaborative, a partnership between AL.com, The Birmingham Times and CBS42. Support her work here.

Eugene Jacobs has been preaching at the church he grew up in, Union Springs Missionary Baptist Church in Talladega, for 10 years.

When a member of his church came to him in search of guidance for a loved one who was struggling with addiction, Jacobs said he did not know what to do besides pray. What Jacobs did know was that something had to change.

When he came across an email from the Agency for Substance Abuse Prevention , an Oxford, Alabama, based education and intervention group, promoting a new initiative to encourage faith leaders to implement mental health resources into their pastoral work, Jacobs jumped at the opportunity to participate. After attending his first Faith Based Support Specialist training conference in 2022, Jacobs changed the way he led his congregation to better support community members who struggle with addiction and substance misuse.

It was like divine intervention. It helped me as a person to recognize that I had been participating in a stigma that was keeping me from effectively reaching people that were struggling. And it gave me the information I needed to know about what people are going through when theyre seeking treatment and recovery, Jacobs said.

Its changed my approach to preaching. It really helped me just to connect with people.

Bridging the gap

Today, as a faith based support specialist ambassador with ASAP, Jacobs leads training sessions alongside other experts to bridge the gap between faith and mental health.

Since starting the initiative in March 2022, ASAP has certified 335 faith leaders in cities across Alabama and beyond through a curriculum backed by the Alabama Department of Mental Health .

In Alabama, 1,492 people died from opioid overdose in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .

In Jefferson County , drug overdose deaths increased from 452 deaths in 2022 to 494 deaths in 2023. Alabama has been the highest opioid prescribing state per capita since 2016 with a rate of 121 prescriptions per 100 people, according to the Alabama Department of Mental Health .

Addiction affects people from all walks of life. Experts say it is vital for community members to know what resources are available for those in need.

Jacobs hopes that by training other faith leaders to combine their faith work with mental health service, they can transform their communities.

In our training we deal with topics like effectively communicating with others, what prevention looks like, how to implement those prevention tactics in the faith community, treatment, recovery and what that looks like and how to actually open up a compassionate and understanding conversation so we can move forward to some real solutions, Jacobs said.

Testimonials: How local faith leaders are transforming their communities

Christie McLendon, a certified addictions counselor and outreach supervisor for Self Recovery Medical Detox , has been sober for more than 19 years.

She works at Christ Community Church in Enterprise, Alabama, and has worked in the addiction recovery field for six years connecting individuals with mental health and recovery resources and teaching others about trauma, stigma and the realities of addiction and recovery.

Were saving lives, McLendon said.

She his attended six of ASAPs Faith Based Support Specialist conferences where she learned new approaches to recovery and connecting with people.

One of the reasons I support the FBSS is because I know that there is a huge need to bridge that gap, and the stigma and peoples personal bias between the faith community and addicts, McLendon said. 

I grew up in church, and I still fell into addiction. I believe prayer is a vital part of recovery, but you need something else, too. I hope and pray that more pastors or people in the faith community get on board.

ASAPs Faith Based Support Specialist Training has also reached faith leaders beyond Alabama.

As a young man, Rev. Harold Gordon struggled with addiction and served time in jail as a result.

As he grew older, Gordon dreamed of preaching and said God called him to the church. Today, Gordon is a gospel preacher at Buena Vista Missionary Baptist Church, a registered addiction counselor and president of the New Orleans Recovery Collective, a nonprofit teaching individuals how to recognize mental illnesses and addiction and how to help someone in need.

Gordon has worked in the substance misuse prevention field for over 26 years and has been sober for 27 years. He leads community conversations about the importance of mental health and recovery resources.

Its hard, but necessary work, especially in the faith communityI believe that God has provided every need there is. We just got to take advantage of the help and resources, recovery, prevention, he has given us.

Gordon said he learned new methods to connect with young people and avoid stigmatizing language through Jacobs Faith Based Support Specialist Training session. He said ASAPs training is also making a noticeable difference among other faith leaders in his community.

Everybody was bright eyed and bushy tailed. It was such a good atmosphere. You could feel the energy and the passion that the faith leaders had about learning about prevention and seeing that really motivated me and the other folk in the room to believe that we could really help people, Gordon said about the training conference.

ASAP will be hosting its next conference on Dec. 5 and 6, at the George C. Wallace Community College in Selma, Alabama.

I think its just something that every faith leader needs, because there are a lot of people who are suffering. People trust faith leaders. When they come to us, they expect for us to have answers, Jacobs said. We in the faith community can be that support system for a person seeking to build their life again.
Fueled with misinformation about an influx of undocumented Haitian immigrants and worries over national concerns about immigration policy ahead of the presidential election, outraged speakers stood up during the Fairhope City Councils meeting Sept. 23 and turned their ire at Councilman Corey Martin.

The reason? He signed a letter of support in 2022 for the U.S. Refugees Admissions Program during the onset of the War in Ukraine about concerns of children being displaced. The outraged speakers linked his signature on the letter to the prospects that undocumented immigrants would arrive by the thousands into coastal Alabama.

Since then, nothing has happened, and the issue has quieted. But with Martin running for re-election in 2025, the question comes up: Is he worried nationalized issues will return as a top campaign concern?

Im sure they will try to trickle in but that is nothing that should affect how we run our campaigns, Martin said recently about hotbed nationalized political issues, which animated ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election. Well stick to the things that affect our constituents locally here versus the (national) political realm.

With the presidential election over, the attention in Alabama turns to the next round of elections in 2025. More than 450 incorporated municipalities are scheduled to host elections for mayor and city councils next year, with most of them occurring on Aug. 26.

And while the nationalized issues that stir passions on social media continue as President-elect Donald Trump names his cabinet, local officials and political insiders believe there will be a return of normalcy in city elections.

In other words, they say, the otherwise mundane issues on city budgets, zoning board matters, or decisions about noise and litter ordinances will rise to the forefront.

Still, some say the fractured media environment and misinformation that swells on social media could be ripe for the elevation of culture war issues, identity politics, immigration reform, reproductive freedoms, the fate of the democracy, and other topics that dominated the national news cycle for much of 2024.

I think local elections, especially in years when there arent also national elections, local issues are still important even though national issues matter even here more than (they) used to, said Regina Wagner, an assistant professor of political sciences at the University of Alabama.

For voters, I think the most productive thing to focus on in local elections are local issues  the things that their local elected officials can actually tackle and possibly solve, she said. If these elections are about issues outside of the control of local government, it just sets voters up for disappointment when the issues dont get solved by those they elected to local offices.

Shifted calendar

Political signs for candidates in Daphne, Ala., at Windsor Drive and North Main Street in Daphne. The three largest signs are for the three candidates seeking the mayoral office during the Aug. 25, 2020, municipal elections - Steve Carey, Selena Vaughn and Robin LeJeune. The next municipal election is occurring five years later on Aug. 26, 2025. (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com).

The focus on local elections  and likely, local issues  is thanked, in large part, to efforts in the Alabama Legislature three years ago to move the municipal contests to off-cycle years.

The Alabama League of Municipalities led the effort following the 2020 municipal contests, and the Legislature overwhelmingly approved to upend a rotation that had been in place since the 1980s in which the majority of the states municipalities hosted their elections a few months before the presidential contests.

The League based its effort on logistical matters such as a shortage of poll workers, electronic machines, and voter confusion over voting venues. National, state, and county voting venues do not always align with municipal voting centers.

Most of Alabamas mayors and council members, because of the shift in the election years, have been granted an extra year in their four-year terms. The Alabama Constitution prohibits shortening terms of elected officials, leaving the only option to grant a one-time extension of five-year terms to move the municipal elections off the national calendar. After 2025, the four-year cycle for municipal contests will return.

The changes do not affect some of the states largest cities. Birmingham, Tuscaloosa or Mobile hosted their municipal elections in 2021 and are scheduled to do so again this summer and remain on their regular four-year cycle. Montgomery held its municipal elections last year. Huntsvilles elections took place in August.

This will be new for us, said Daphne Mayor Robin LeJeune, who won election in 2020 despite the circulation of fliers paid for by the Common Sense Campaign TEA Party that accused him of being a liberal. Baldwin County is overwhelmingly Republican.

Daphne, like all cities in Alabama, do not host partisan municipal elections. In fact, an overwhelming majority of cities in the U.S. host non-partisan municipal elections. According to the National League of Cities in 2020, 75% of all municipalities that year hosted a non-partisan contest.

We feel it wont be bogged down into national politics like it was before, LeJeune said. We feel (next years election) will be based on the local issues, and the visions for Daphne and what we will see in the next four years.

First up: Tuscaloosa

Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox speaks out in support of investing state money into the creation of the West Alabama Highway corridor. Mayors and other elected officials gathered on Tuesday, September 5, 2023, at the Thomasville Career Readiness Center and Public Library in Thomasville, Ala., to tout the benefits of adding four lanes to U.S. 43 and Alabama State Route 69 from Thomasville north to Moundville. The additional lanes, officials say, will created a four-lane West Alabama Highway connecting Mobile to Tuscaloosa and north toward Florence. (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com).

The first city up in the municipal election calendar is Tuscaloosa, the home to the University of Alabama. Their municipal election is scheduled for March 4, 2025.

Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox jumped into the fray in October when he announced his intentions to seek re-election. Maddox would like a sixth term as the citys top elected official. The qualifying period to run for office in Tuscaloosa is Jan. 14-28.

Tip ONeils admonition that all politics are local has evaporated this century, and I suspect there will be attempts to nationalize local elections, said Maddox, referencing the former Democratic U.S. House Speaker. I saw it here in Tuscaloosa in 2021. However, the degree of difficulty is greater. Why?

He added, In city government, you cant forget who you serve because you go to church, shop, and live with your constituents every day. Your constituents can connect with you in ways that are difficult for elected officials at the state and federal levels who are tightly bound by fidelity to the party. From the little league park to the grocery store, as a local elected official, you are there for the people who pay your salary.

Council member Raevan Howard is seeking a third term, and shes not even thinking about nationalized issues. The issues shes talking about is $13.8 million in funding toward quality-of-life projects that includes revitalizing an old park in west Tuscaloosa and overseeing the completion of the new Benjamin Barnes YMCA.

Affordable housing is also an issue shes talking about.

Democrats and Republicans at City Hall? Maddox quotes Fiorella LaGuardia, the mayor of New York City from 1934-1946, there is no Democratic or Republican way of cleaning the streets.

Another factor that mitigates the nationalization of local elections is that city governments are judged by results and not rhetoric, said Maddox, who is so far running unopposed. From supporting public safety or paving streets, whether we succeed or fail, the outcome has nothing to do with partisan politics.

Media landscape

(AP Photo/Paula Ulichney)AP

The fractured media landscape could be the biggest factor in what kind of issues receive the most attention ahead of the 2025 elections.

Jess Brown, a retired political science professor at Athens State University, said while he does not believe a majority of Alabamas municipal races will be dominated by national topics, he does have some doubts largely because of the modern media environment.

The one thing I would say that might create a better environment for nationalizing these city races is that I would imagine in some of these cities, they used to have more media outlets focused on local issues, Brown said. And today, youve got so much of the press defining news as essentially Washington-only stuff. The media available and used by these voters, even in small towns, tends to be media outlets focused, if not exclusively then almost exclusively, on D.C. happenings, and the federal government rather than the issues municipal officials have to deal with.

The types of issues debated by the candidates could depend on the issue of note at the time, and how its filtered through an abundance of partisan blogs, social media sites, radio shows and online media outlets in Alabama. The result, observers say, creates the potential for nationalized issues to receive an inordinate sense of urgency in front of local elected officials who have little, if any, influence over the topic.

Angi Horn, a Republican political strategist based in Montgomery, said that Facebook pages that sometimes serve as a news disseminator can be problematic for local officials.

There is no accountability and accuracy in the information, Horn said, referring to local Facebook sites such as those entitled as Whats happening  in your community. On media sites, there are consequences professionally and legally but there are not consequences on social media for people who tend to make up things and say things that are true and that are not true.

Members of the Sylacauga City Council listen during a meeting Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2024.William Thornton

City halls were heated locations ahead of the 2024 elections largely over immigration matters. Those concerns mostly dealt with worries about Haitian migrants, a concern that has mostly quieted since Nov. 5 in cities like Sylacauga and Fairhope.

The message from me is everyone (should) know that the media source you are leaning on (for information) is a credible source and that you are getting factual information, Fairhope Mayor Sherry Sullivan said. I hope everyone knows not to take everything on social media as factual. It will be an important topic in the election that  if you get information from social media or media sources, that its a credible source and what you are getting is factual. And if you dont think what you are reading is factual, make a phone call (to a local official).

Small and large cities

Brown said while candidates for city government have to be concerned about misinformation in the current media environment, he doesnt believe they can spread and infect a city election in smaller communities.

There are a bunch of cities in Alabama with 3,000 to 18,000 people, and those kinds of communities you will have candidates for mayor and candidates for the council who frankly know a lot of people in their community, Brown said. Politics is more personal. There is simply a greater connection between the candidates and the electorate. Theyve seen them at the ballgames, at church, and at funerals. There is a variety of social interactions there.

Horn said around 80 percent of Alabamas population is represented by municipal officials elected in a city that is not considered among the states Big 10 -- the largest cities like Birmingham, Mobile and Tuscaloosa.

She doesnt believe misinformation will be a problem in the smaller cities. When you go to a Troy, Andalusia, Gadsden, they have their own newspapers. They may be weeklies, or two-to-three times a week, but the smaller communities have a much stronger connection in what is going in the local communities than your Big 10.

She said there are plenty of small, close-knit communities in Alabama where its not uncommon to bump into the mayor or a council member at the local grocery store.

I think there is a lot more of that connection to local government outside of the Big 10, Horn said. Will social media have an impact on the local races? Absolutely. Its harder to combat in the larger areas than smaller areas.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin addresses media on Sept. 24, 2024, flanked by City Council members LaTonya Tate, left, and Crystal Smitherman. (Photo by Greg Garrison/AL.com)ggarrison@al.com

The issues in Birmingham and Mobile are likely to include a mix of nationalized and state concerns with more local matters. Both cities are most likely to see crime and public safety rise to the top of the issues debated during next years campaigns. Infrastructure is also likely to be a concern, with topics such as roads and housing development as key topics.

Mobile is going to have an open mayors race with three-term Mayor Sandy Stimpson announcing he will not seek re-election. In Birmingham, all the local races are up for grabs and incumbent Mayor Randall Woodfin is likely to seek a third term.

Brown said the biggest worry in these cities will be on turnout. In 2021, only a quarter of voters in Birmingham and Mobile turned out to vote in their respective elections. Both cities easily sent their incumbent mayors back into office, and incumbent council members for the most part won their contests with only a few runoffs.

You will have a small segment of the electorate with an intense view based on frankly, half-assed information, and they could suddenly make a difference in a race, Brown said. I like to believe those things will be the exception and not the norm. The norm, particularly in a small city in Alabama, it will be difficult to effectively nationalize a race.

In fast-growing Baldwin County, LeJeune anticipates growth management being a top concern. He is mayor of the countys largest city  Daphne - with a population of 27,500 residents.

In recent years, planning commission meetings throughout the county have been crowded with residents who have mostly expressed worries about the rapid growth that continues in the coastal county.

For LeJeune and other incumbents, it will be a chance to tout their growth management strategies that include land use ordinances, architectural requirements, and comprehensive plans.

In other words, the typical stuff elected city officials do.

Weve been very focused on the local issues, he said.
Various U.S. Income Tax forms sit on display at the Philadelphia Public Library in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Thursday, March 29, 2007. Photographer: Mike Mergen/Bloomberg News. MIKE MERGEN/BLOOMBERG NEWS

Thanksgiving. Hanukkah. Christmas. Lights, trees and baked treats. These are the delights we typically think of as the year comes to a festive finish, but the money spent on gifts and celebrations can be a real bank-drainer.

If youre looking to save some, the holiday season might be a savvy time to crack into your Flexible Health Savings Account.

After all with the money in that account: if you dont use it, you lose it.

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Some of the purchases you can make may surprise you, such as breast pumps and vasectomies. And some of the money you can't cover through HFSA probably won't surprise you, like dancing lessons and illegal drugs.

Here is how you can spend the money in your FHSA account before the calendar flips.

Which expenses can you use?

You can only use expenses for medical or dental bills you paid this year. The date on medical expenses by check, or the day you mailed the check counts most often as the date of payment. For pay-by-phone or online medical expenses, the date on the statement works at the date of payment.

Remember you can't use medical expenses that an insurance company or another source paid for you.

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But if theres an expense that wouldve been deductible earlier than this year, there is another option. You can file Form 1040-X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, to grab a refund. That claim typically must be filed within two years from the time the tax was paid, or three years from the date the original return was filed  whichever one came first.

For those of you with spouses, Texas is a community property state. That means if you and your spouse file separate returns, medical expenses paid out of community funds are split between the two of you equally. If only one spouse pays the medical expenses, only the spouse who pays the expenses can include them.



Who can you use the money on?

You can use expenses on spouses and dependents, which include a qualifying child or a qualifying relative.

To be a qualifying child, your kid cant have made more than $4,700 or more in 2024. They also cant have filed their own joint return, or be on someone elses return, for example, if you and your spouse file separately and your child is on their return.

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Your kid also has to be a U.S citizen, unless they are adopted and lived with you, a U.S citizen, in 2024. Qualifying kids must also be younger than 19 at the end of 2024 and younger than you, or under age 24 at the end of 2024 and also a full-time student and younger than you. Qualifying kids also count as dependents who are any age and totally and permanently disabled. They should also have lived with you for at least half of 2024.

Kids of divorced or separated parents can also count as dependents if the child is in custody of one or both parents for more than half the year, or if the child receives over half of their support during the year from their parents.

A qualifying relative is typically any person who lived in your household for all of 2024, and that you paid more than half the support for.

You can also use medical expenses that were paid before a person died in their final tax return.



What can you use the money on?

Now heres a fun list (and its mostly in alphabetical order.)

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You can use medical expenses paid for legal abortion, acupuncture, treatment for alcoholism, ambulance rides, annual physicals, artificial limbs, bandages, birth control pills, body scans, braille books, breast pumps, breast reconstruction, capital expenses (special equipment put in your home for medical purposes, like entrance ramps), chiropractors, Christian Science practitioners, contacts, crutches, dental services, disabled dependent expenses, drug addiction treatment, medicines, eye exams, eyeglasses, eye surgeries, guide dogs, health institutes, HMOs, hearing aids, home care, hospital services, some insurance premiums with exceptions, lab fees, lead-based paint removal, operations, oxygen, pregnancy tests, psychiatric care, special education, smoking cessation programs, therapy, transportation, vasectomies, weight loss programs, and if you can believe it, some more.

For more information on specifics and exceptions, you can check out a very comprehensive guide from the IRS.

What cant you use the money on?

Unfortunately you cant use money you spent on babysitting for a healthy child, controlled substances, cosmetic surgery, dancing lessons, diaper service, hair removal, expenses fully paid for by your FSA, funeral services, future medical care, hair transplants, health savings accounts, household help, illegal operations, foreign medicines, maternity clothes, OTC medicines that arent prescribed, nutritional supplements, swim lessons, teeth whitening, weight loss programs that arent for health, vet fees and more.
Authorities are asking for the publics help identifying a man who was shot to death in Birmingham four days ago.

The victim was one of two men found dead at an abandoned house in the citys Inglenook community.

The other victim was identified as 20-year-old Michael Allen Carroll.

Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates on Monday released photos of a necklace and a logo on sweatpants worn by the victim.

The victim is a Black male, believed to be between the ages of 20 and 35. He was 5-feet, 11-inches tall and weighed 270 pounds.

Police are trying to identified a man who was found shot to death in Birmingham's Inglenook community on Nov. 21, 2024.(Jefferson County Coroner's Office)

He was wearing grey sweatpants, a green hooded sweatshirt, and brown shoes with white and black laces.

Yates said a fingerprint analysis was unsuccessful in yielding an identification.

East Precinct officers responded to a shots fired call around 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the 4400 block of 41st Place North, said Officer Truman Fitzgerald.

Officers went to the back area of an abandoned house where they found the unidentified man shot and lying unresponsive in the driveway. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

Police then found Carroll inside the house following a search of the area. He, too, was dead on the scene.

A stolen vehicle was recovered at the scene.

Two men were detained and booked into the Birmingham City Jail on a 48-hour investigative hold. Both were released without being charged.

Anyone with information on the victims identity is asked to call the coroners office at 205-930-3603.

Tips on the deadly shooting can be submitted to Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
A suspect has been charged in a shooting outside two west Birmingham businesses that left one man dead and another injured.

Jaylin Rashad Horn, 25, of Bessemer, is charged with capital murder in the Oct. 5 slaying of 25-year-old Johndarius Decareious Ward.

The deadly shooting happened outside the Shell station and Boston Fish Supreme on Third Avenue West, a location which city officials have previously labeled as a launching pad for criminal activity.

Birmingham police last week released surveillance photo showing the two suspects walking, and also images of their vehicles.

Sgt. LaQuitta Wade said Horn turned himself in hours after police released the footage.

Horn was booked into the Jefferson County Jail at 7:19 p.m. on Nov. 22. He remains held without bond.

The shots rang out about 3 a.m. that Saturday in the 800 block of Third Avenue West.

Police received four different Shot Spotter notifications. In all, the gunfire detection system registered about 42 shots.

When officers arrived, they found Ward unresponsive inside a vehicle. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced him dead at the scene.

Roughly two dozen shell casings surrounded his sedan stopped in front of Boston Fish Supreme. Another cluster of shell casings was right in front the Shell, feet away from the stores front door.

Authorities said it appeared Ward was trying to leave the parking lot when the shooter came from around a building and opened fire on the vehicle.

The shooter or shooters, who police said ambushed the victim, fled.

While officers were on the scene, they learned an additional victim showed up at Princeton Baptist Medical Center via private vehicle. He was transferred to UAB Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Ward had been parked outside Boston Fish Supreme earlier, police said. His killing appears to be targeted but a motive has not yet been disclosed.

Once the shooting started, Wade said, somebody outside of Shell also began firing, and that is when investigators believe the bystander was caught in the crossfire.

Anyone with additional information is asked to call homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
Federal officials said they found black mold and disease-causing bacteria in a popular brand of toothpaste.

In a letter dated Nov. 5, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Toms of Maine toothpaste facilities in Sanford, Maine used water in their products that was contaminated with multiple strains of infectious bacteria.

The bacteria found can cause infections in the blood and urinary tract, as well as pneumonia, peritonitis and conjunctivitis, officials said. That water was used to manufacture Toms Simply White Clean Mint Paste, the Wicked Cool! Anticavity Toothpaste, and to rinse their equipment.

Investigators also observed a black mold-like substance on a hose, wall and a water storage tank in the Maine facility. A powder-residue was found on a tray next to a batch of the Toms Silly Strawberry Anticavity toothpaste, the letter stated.

It is essential that your facility is in a good state of repair and sanitary conditions are maintained to protect drug products from potential routes of contamination, the FDA wrote in its letter to Colgate-Palmolive/Toms of Maine, Inc.

The FDA sent inspectors to the Toms of Maine facility in May, but the letter was publicly released on Nov. 19.

The federal agency said the company, which produces natural body care products like toothpaste, deodorant and soaps, failed to investigate approximately 400 complaints related to odor, color, and taste in your toothpaste products, including those for children.

The FDA is requiring Toms of Maine to investigate and determine the cause of all violations and prevent them from reoccurring. If they fail to do so, the federal agency said they may withhold export certificates, as well as approvals on applications that are filed under the Toms of Maine brand.

USA Today reports no recalls have been issued in connection to the toothpaste brand but Toms is required to provide a detailed risk assessment addressing the potential effects of the observed water system failures on the quality of all drug product lots currently in U.S. distribution or within expiry.

In a statement to ABC News, a spokesperson for Colgate-Palmolive said the company is working to address the issues.

We have always tested finished goods before they leave our control, and we remain fully confident in the safety and quality of the toothpaste we make, the company said. In addition, we have engaged water specialists to evaluate our systems at Sanford, have implemented additional safeguards to ensure compliance with FDA standards, and our water testing shows no issues.
If you look in your kitchen cabinet, chances are you will find a glass Pyrex measuring cup. They are pretty much a staple in any home, almost as common as a dish or spoon.

If you do have one, you could be in line for a refund related to a recent settlement, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

The FTC is sending more than $88,000 in refunds to consumers who bought Chinese-made measuring cups marketed as Made in the USA by Instant Brands, maker of Pyrex-brand kitchen and home products. The settlement comes after the FTC took action against Instant Brands in 2023 charging the company claimed some of its popular glass measuring cups were made in the U.S. despite the fact they were imported from China  more than 110,000 units in all, according to federal officials.

Instant Brands agreed to a settlement with the FTC that stopped the company from making deceptive claims about products being Made in USA and required them to pay a monetary judgment.

Almost 10,300 consumers are due refunds from the settlement. The settlement covers customers who bought Pyrex glass measuring cups imported from China between March 2021 and May 2022 and people should receive their payments directly. Any payment checks should be cashed within 90 days.

Consumers who have questions should contact the refund administrator, Simpluris, at 833-244-7320.

You can go here to see more information about the refund process.
A black bear cub that scurried back into the North Carolina wilderness recently is still known to most by a name alluding to how she became an orphan.

In April, a group of people had wrestled the cub out of a tree in Asheville, where she had been perched beside another cub that wildlife officials presumed was her sibling. One person appeared to pose for a photo while holding the cub before dropping it on the ground. The cub scrambled away, apparently attempting to climb a fence to get back to the trees, but to no avail.

Video of the incident was shared by authorities as a lesson on what humans should not do to bear cubs, with viewers dubbing the animal selfie bear.

On Wednesday, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission announced that selfie bear was released back into the Western North Carolina mountains in October after six months of rehabilitation.

Data from the cubs GPS collar shows she is adjusting well back in the wild, said Ashley Hobbs, the commissions coordinator for a program focused on coexisting with black bears. Hobbs added in a statement Wednesday that wildlife officials expected the cub to follow its instincts and find a proper place to den for the coming winter.

Bear cubs are resilient animals, and it looks like this cub wont be an exception, Hobbs said.

The second cub was never located, the wildlife commission said. It is still unclear whether the cubs were in the tree because they were waiting for their mother to return or if they were already orphans.

The cubs were together in the tree at an apartment complex in Asheville in mid-April, according to officials. A bystander took the now-infamous video showing a group of at least six people surrounding the bears.

The group wrangles one of the cubs out of the tree, and one person carries her a few feet away before posing for a photo. At the same time, others in the group can be seen trying, but failing, to pull the second cub from the tree.

Once on the ground, selfie bear runs along a fence, seemingly trying to climb over it and back into the trees.

It wants to get back to its brother or sister, one of the bystanders says in the video. Oh! And it cant because its too small.

The person who had posed for the photo with the cub runs after it, as a bystander in the video shouts: Put it back! Its scared!

The person who took the video contacted the sheriff in Buncombe County, which includes Asheville. When staff from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission arrived to the apartment complex, they learned that one of the cubs had bitten a group member, and both cubs had escaped. The staffers later found selfie bear in a pond near the apartment complex.

In an April news release, Hobbs said the cub was in poor condition and looked lethargic and frightened. She was found wet and shivering and appeared to be favoring one of her front paws.

After the incident, the wildlife resources commission reminded residents in North Carolina - where keeping a black bear cub is illegal - to never feed, approach or attempt to capture bear cubs, all of which can hinder rehabilitation.

The selfie bear was the ninth cub rehabilitated and released by the commission this year, the commission said.

She was released at an unspecified location in Western North Carolina. Video distributed by the commission shows the cub running off into the mountains within seconds.

After she leaves the frame, the person who released the cub fires a siren after her, a measure to maintain her natural fear of humans, the commission said.

By Praveena Somasundaram
A north Alabama teen has been charged in a traffic crash that killed two other teens, ages 13 and 15, and injured a fourth.

Yeismin Ramirez, 18, of Albertville, is charged with vehicular manslaughter and two counts of first-degree assault, Alabama State Troopers announced Monday.

Ramirez was booked into the Marshall County Jail Thursday, and released this morning after posting $500,000 bond, jail records show.

Authorities have not said what led to the criminal charges against Ramirez.

All of the students involved in the crash attended Albertville City Schools.

Our entire school community is grieving this loss, and our thoughts are with the families of both students we have lost, as well as with those who are still recovering' school officials said in an announcement following the wreck. This is an incredibly difficult time for so many, and we want to remind everyone that no one has to go through it alone.

Lets continue to keep these families and one another in our prayers as we navigate this together, the statement read.

The wreck happened at 7:45 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20, on Blessing Road near Arley Lacey Road, about two miles north of Boaz.

Ramirez was driving a Nissan Altima that left the road, hitting a tree stump, a sign post, and a fence, said Alabama State Trooper Cpl. Reginal King.

A 13-year-old girl, Tamy Carmelo, was pronounced dead on the scene.

Another passenger, 15-year-old Jovana Morales, died Thursday at the hospital.

A 17-year-old passenger was injured.

Authorities said the teens were not using seat belts at the time of the crash.

GoFundMe accounts have been started to help with the teens burials.

Jovana is remembered as a beloved daughter, sister, and friend, according to the fundraising site.

Tamys death, according to her GoFundMe, has left a void in the hearts of our family, friends, and classmates.
Construction could begin within the next year on a mixed-use development along the banks of the Coosa River in Gadsden.

Developer Patrick Lawler has signed an agreement with the city for Coosa Harbor, a project Lawler described as costing north of $20 million.

Gadsden Mayor Craig Ford announced the project earlier this month at his State of the City address.

This isnt a pie in the sky idea, this is whats happening, Ford said.

Lawler was the developer behind Guntersvilles City Harbor project, a $30 million development launched on the banks of Lake Guntersville that opened in 2022.

Among the commercial tenants at City Harbor are Levis on the Lake, Home Re.Decor, Another Broken Egg Cafe, The Cigar Room, Big Mikes Steakhouse and La Esquina Cocina. There are also 20 residential condo units.

A $15 million destination Hilton-branded hotel with about 90 rooms is slated to open in January.

Direct tax revenue from the project, once the hotel is completed, is estimated to be more than $950,000 a year.

Coosa Harbor would rest on city-owned property off Rainbow Drive that has remained undeveloped for more than 20 years. Tapping into the riverfront for tax revenue through commercial development has long been a goal of several Gadsden administrations.

Lawler said the project will go through the permitting process to blueprints. Chambless King Architects will design the project.

He said the design would be similar to City Harbor with restaurants and condominiums.

Were doing a Big Mikes, Levis on the Lake, and a cookie and ice cream place, he said.

Ford said he has confidence in Lawlers vision for the property, which he said was a quality of life issue for the city.

Patrick is going to invest in Gadsden, hes going to build this, and we hope Patrick makes a ton of money, because if he makes a ton of money, we make a ton of money, Ford said. Its time. Its Gadsdens time.

Lawler said he decided to locate the project in Gadsden because of city leadership.

I have a lot of confidence in Craig Ford and the direction hes got Gadsden going, I see a positive future for Gadsden, he said.
If you want to win in a presidential election, you have the advantage if you can innovate, whether through enhanced methods of communication, changes in the standard politician personality, or bringing in outside influencers). This trend began with Abraham Lincoln and continued in the 20th century. However, we havent stagnated since then. Moving further away from the Cold War that dominated the late 20th century and into modern political machinations, we continue to see multiple innovations through the election cycles.

Bill Clinton, the first of the post-Cold War presidents, took Reagans lessonshumanizing himself with wit and charmone step further. He not only humanized himself to voters on the campaign trail and during official election functions, but he was able to show his personality in non-political settings. Perhaps the most well-known moment of the 1992 election was Bill Clinton, sunglasses on, playing Heartbreak Hotel on a saxophone at the Arsenio Hall talk show. Clintons insertion of himself into the pop culture zeitgeist endeared him to younger voters and exposed him to those not as politically inclined, a tremendous lesson for political aspirants moving forward and yet another innovation for presidential candidates of the future.

As the 2008 election drew near, the candidates could not have been starker in contrast. On the one hand, John McCain, a dinosaur neo-con and Warhawk for a political policy and party that was rapidly losing its appeal, and on the other hand, Barack Obama, a little-known community organizer and senator from Illinois who flew into the national spotlight after snatching the Democrat nomination from the establishments choice, Hillary Clinton.

Image: Rumble screen grab.

But where Obama made his mark was by embracing new technology, notably social media, including Facebook, Reddit, Tumblr, and Twitter. Taking a lesson from his predecessor Bill Clinton, Obama took the idea of a virtual town hall into the World Wide Web by conducting the first presidential Reddit ask me anything session while also being the first president with a Twitter account, on which he (or his staff) regularly posted.

Obama came off as a President for the modern age, someone who would be able to handle the present-day problems of America, while McCain looked old, dated, and frankly, as the cranky old man he was. Obama won easily and set the standard for political candidates using social media.

And now we come to the Teflon Don himself. While Trumps 2016 victory was historic, with his Twitter usage eclipsing Obamas, many might argue he did so out out of necessity, as Trump had few outlets of mainstream media that werent outright hostile to him.

However, typically for Trump, he used that hostility to his advantage, antagonizing the media at every turn from his social media and establishing his outside the establishment reputation. He coupled this outsider vibe with an almost insult comic approach to political debates.

While some combative words werent uncommon in debates of the past, Trump was a master not only at tearing his political opponents apart verbally but also at using colorful nicknames. Whether it was calling his primary opponents Low-energy Jeb and Little Marco or his ultimate challenge against Crooked Hillary, Trump took a no-holds-barred, mixed martial arts approach to the art of argumentation. His supporters not only identified with his everyman vernacular but also with his fighting attitude.

In 2024, Trump refined his tactics even further, putting on a masterclass in attacking your opponents flanks and vulnerable base. While accounts have differed, the Trump campaign clearly realized that connecting with young men would be critical to winning the election. To communicate with them, he would need to embrace the world of alternative media.

Its no secret that alternative news programs such as The Rubin Report, Tim Pools Timcast show, Ben Shapiros Daily Wire brand, and many others were drawing more eyeballs and gaining significantly more attention and traction than many standard media outlets, even Fox News. Barron Trump, the Presidents youngest son and an 18-year-old young man himself, has been credited with encouraging his father to go on podcasts he listened to himself.

The result was a whirlwind of appearances on Andrew Schultz, Theo Von, and the mother of all podcasts, Joe Rogan. These podcasts gave Trump a long-form platform to convey his message and discuss policy positions. They humanized him to a large audience that had often only seen the former President in 30-40 second snippets, many of which the media edited to hurt his image.

What made this innovation even more powerful was that his opponent, the empty pantsuit of personality that is Kamala Harris, had continually failed to handle even sympathetic interviews well. Worse, she chose not to go on the Joe Rogan podcast. Trump dominates Kamala, particularly with young men and Latino men. He sailed into his re-election with these demographics, shifting the paradigm yet again.

As we look to the future, its clear that the innovations of our political machines will not be stopping anytime soon. I fully expect the next election cycles to start looking into Virtual Reality, possibly even the use of a candidate AI program that would allow voters to ask questions to a personification of the candidate, complete with formulated answers based on data the candidate provides. Still, with a few years to go, there may soon be new forms of technology I cant even imagine.

Gregory McCants is a pseudonym.
The SWAT raid on PNuts house symbolizes an out-of-control totalitarian government. Elon Musk grasped this symbolism in his pithy posts on X. Thus, Elon Musk and Joe Rogan called PNuts killing proof America is no longer the land of the free... PNut may be gone, but, with the election over, we can look back at the statist behemoth that killed him, and that may finally be reaching its end, leaving room for the Founders vision to bloom again.

Bidens Stasi agents (DOJ, FBI, DHS, CIA, et al.) egregiously violated the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and used lawfare to abuse the rule of law and due process in politically targeted prosecutions (i.e., politically driven SWAT raids, illegally entrapping patriots at J6 and not arresting BLM and Antifa activists for inciting riots in 2020). FEMA politically discriminated against people in the recent Hurricane Helene disaster while failing in its prime mission of disaster recovery. The Secret Service failed not once but twice to protect former President Trump from assassination. Did Divine providence save former President Trump from the first bullet?

The 2024 election is a turning point in US history. It was an epic battle between good and evil. Was Trumps loss in 2020 providential to set the stage for 2024? Since the 1960s, the Democratic Party has shifted from the one our grandparents knew to the Marxist lefta party that is aloof, condescending, and separated from the American people, opposed to an America founded on self-sufficient individualism, ingenuity, and exceptionalism.

Scrapping communism in America, by AI.

It will be a long slog to excise this cancer that has infiltrated our country as leftists sought to turn America into a Marxist third-world dictatorship. The Marxist left and its RINO counterparts are destroying our country with their failed policies, often driven by corruption, which are detrimental to the interests of the American people. The people want limited government in accord with the Constitution, Bill of Rights, the rule of law, and subservience to the will of the people. Now is not the time for reconciliation and forgiveness.

There must be accountability for those who violated their oaths of office to uphold the Constitution. There will be no change in behavior until this is done. Lt. General Flynn said this win was only a beachhead like D-Day of WWII. We must fight to the finish, as we did on VE-Day when we finally crushed the evil Nazi and Fascist forces.

MAGA is a new revolution to restore a government of the people, for the people, and by the people. The people are the true sovereigns who empower the government and, as the ultimate jury of the truth, have decisively spoken. We must support and protect President-Elect Trump from assassination to carry out this mandate.

The tangled web of Renaissance Machiavellian conspiracies must be unwoven. There are many issues that are structural and systemic and they exist in a target-rich environment. The common denominator and the root cause of the problems is how the government has subverted the First Amendment, censoring speech, silencing a free press (as opposed to its media propaganda outlets), criminalizing freedom of assembly, and using tech cutouts to censor thought.

The people are not stupid, despite what the self-styled elites believe. Ordinary working folks are trying to raise families and earn a living. They dont have the time to be fully versed in day-to-day politics. In the past, theyve relied on the legacy media to report objectively. It is clear, though, that in the 2024 election, the people rejected what the legacy media was spinning.

The legacy media abdicated their responsibility to educate, inform, and report the days news objectively and fairly. They failed in their role as a watchdog to serve as a check on government abuse of power.

The legacy media devolved into an activist partisan organ that parrots the talking points of the Marxist left and government. Media outlets both outright lied and concealed information from the people without any remorse. The legacy media gaslighted the people for wrong thinking when challenged by common sense critiques and questions.

The ruling elite, the elected representatives, the Deep State, big tech, Globalist, and their allies, or as I call them, the Cabal, acted together, and all acted in lockstep and spoke with one voice. The Cabal knew what was best for the people, which often coincided with enriching the Cabal. The Cabal manipulated false narratives to scare the people. The Cabal attempted several coups to prevent Trumps election in 2016, and it sabotaged his first term as a duly elected President. It successfully blocked his election in 2020 and tried again but failed in 2024. It most likely facilitated the two assassination attempts.

The legacy media labeled President-elect Trump as being of poor character, a convicted serial felon, a rapist, a racist, a misogynist, a Nazi, and a fascist who would rule as a dictator. Trump, they warned, would ignore the Constitution and was an existential threat to our Democracy.

These labels were a bald-faced lie. The Cabal was doing exactly what it accused Trump of doing. A smart classmate familiar with my law enforcement background was appalled that I would vote for a convicted felon. I proudly wore my t-shirt to my Starbucks, Im Voting for the OUTLAW and the HILLBILLLY 2024, and my dark MAGA hat. I knew this labeling of Trump was untrue because of the lawfare to Get Trumpand a book by the same title by esteemed civil rights attorney Allen Dershowitz.

The business model of the press has changed radically with the consolidation and closing of locally owned newspapers. The corporate conglomerates have little incentive to ensure that what they publish is correct and unbiased. There is no accountability for misleading the American people as legacy media hides behind the First Amendment. I am not advocating for any censorship of legacy or alternative media, as there is a real danger of censoring the trutha topic for another time.

Alternative media, such as the American Thinker, Real Clear Politics, The Gateway Pundit, podcasts/radio shows such as Joe Rogan, Clay and Buck, Jesse Kelly, investigative reporters like Julie Kelly on Substack, X.com, formerly Twitter, and blogs such as Instapundit, do not require buckets of ink and infrastructure to report news and commentary. In the marketplace of free ideas with unfettered critical debate, these sources can render the legacy media in its current form irrelevant.

People are free to seek the most reliable media for reporting and predicting future events of value to them. The media that objectively reports the truth will be successful and profitable.

The exception is when the government actively coerces system providers to de-platform or censor disinformation. For example, the deplatforming of the New York Post breaking the Hunter Laptop story and censoring others by calling it disinformation. Polling indicates that had the voters known of the laptop contents, they would have swung the 2020 election to Trump to win. The government violated the First Amendment by coercing system providers on its behalf to do what it is prohibited from doing.

The Internet should be free, with no ministry of truth to rule what disinformation is or is not. As Elon Musk said, Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy. A topic for later is how to protect small alternative media sources from predatory lawfare and civil actions that would bankrupt or intimidate them from publishing breaking news. The American Thinker was a victim.

Please pray if you believe in a Devine being and the power of prayer as George Washington did:

Dear Lord, if it be thy will, we pray that President Trump and his family will be delivered from all evil. In Jesus name, we pray, Amen [Christian faith]

Special note by the author: I too, as well others appreciate American Thinker co-founder Thomas Lifson for having confidence in me and for mentoring me to write for the AT. Thomas encouraged me to write my first article at the AT after writing him about using RICO to prosecute Hillary Clinton from my law enforcement experience.

Ron Wright is a retired detective, having served thirty-five years with Riverside PD, Calif. Ron earned a BA in political science from Cal State University, Fullerton, and a Master of Administration from the University of California, Riverside. X @RonTcop.
In Don Lemons edgy interview with Elon Musk that ended his talk-show deal with X, Lemon baits the billionaire entrepreneur, asking: Do you believe women and minority pilots are inherently less intelligent and less skilled than white male pilots?



Without blinking, Musk hits home with: No. Im just saying we should not lower the standards for them.



When Lemon pursues the point, claiming no evidence of standards being lowered, Musk retorts that there is cited evidence of significant cases where standards are lowered.



Lemon then changes tack. He says Boeing had admitted that a faulty door panel was responsible for the incident being discussed. Musk, matter-of-factly, points out that a recently introduced DEI-related incentive structure at Boeing should have focused on passenger safety.



DEI  diversity, equity, and inclusion. As American institutions intensify their push for DEI hires and appointments, the three words threaten  and, in many cases, have become an excuse to violate -- the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, which states: No state can deny equal protection under the law to any person within its jurisdiction.



The reality of DEI is that diversity is being used to justify racial discrimination against majority whites and high-achieving minorities, equity is being used to achieve equal outcomes instead of providing equal opportunities, and inclusion is being used to exclude people who oppose the ideology du jour. Merit, hard work, initiative, and innovation be damned.



A survey of one thousand hiring managers by Resume Builder found a shocking preponderance of reverse discrimination in the workplace: 52% of the respondents believe the practice is in place; one in six have been asked to deprioritize hiring white men; and 48% have been asked to prioritize diversity over qualifications.



The situation is similar in federal and state board appointments, where race and sex quotas have been a feature since the 1980s. In some cases, such quotas even apply to the boards of privately held corporations. A Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) report found that 25 states have legislated unconstitutional quotas for appointing individuals of preferred races, sexes, or group membership to their boards rather than selecting them based on ability and experience.



Fortunately, an active movement to restore the American ideal of equality and reward merit, grit, and the innovative spirit that made this nation great is turning the scales:

NBC News recently reported that Republican lawmakers in more than 30 states have introduced or passed more than 100 bills to restrict or regulate DEI initiatives.

Since the Supreme Courts landmark June 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, restricting race-based college admissions, complaints and lawsuits against DEI admissions and appointments have increased. In fact, efforts are afoot to ban DEI outright in higher education and public offices. Governor Greg Abbott of Texas signed a bill banning DEI at all state-funded colleges.

In May 2022, the Los Angeles Superior Court overturned Californias Women on Boards law (SB826), which threatened corporations with fines ranging from $100,000 to $300,000 for violating a quota requirement of up to three female directors. The following year, a federal district court threw out Californias 2020 AB979 statute, which required racial and gender identity quotas on boards. Both SB826 and AB979 were declared unconstitutional.

Taking a cue from this, corporate management is returning to focusing on creating value for shareholders and excelling at delivering goods and services. Many have even dropped DEI language from hiring ads and documents and ended the practice of sham DEI surveys and cultural awareness events.

Meanwhile, PLF, which specializes in such constitutional cases and has a high success ratewinning 18 out of 20 cases at the Supreme Courthas seen increased challenges to state and municipal board appointments prioritizing race, sex, or gender identity. The pro bono foundation is bringing legal action in numerous cases across the country.



In Tennessee, the governor is required to appoint one black physician to the states Board of Medical Examiners and one racial minority chiropractor to the Board of Chiropractic Examiners. These requirements have been in place for over thirty years. Tennessee has also mandated that a minority member serve on its Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners. Still, the seat has been vacant for over a year while a qualified non-minority individual has waited in vain.



PLF has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Do No Harm (DNH), a nonprofit committed to equality in healthcare. The foundation is challenging the quotas on the medical and chiropractic examiners boards as violating the equal protection guaranteed by the Constitution. The foundation is also fighting a federal case for DNH over the minority quota on the podiatric examiners board. PLF has taken up similar cases for medical board appointments on behalf of DNH in Montana and Louisiana.



In Minnesota, PLF is challenging race-based appointments to the Board of Social Workers. The state requires that the boards 15 members include at least five racial minorities. In Alabama, another PLF lawsuit, filed on behalf of the American Alliance for Equal Rights, challenges the requirement that the real estate appraisers board have at least two members from racial minorities.



In one case related to board appointments, PLF succeeded even before going to court. Stephen Haile, of Conway, Arkansas, has fostered more than 300 children with his wife. He was seeking a position on the states Social Work Licensing Board but was denied because he is white. In March 2023, shortly after PLF filed a case, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders abolished race quotas for boards, and the case was withdrawn.



In Iowa, PLF  on behalf of its client Charles Hurley, a former state legislator  challenged the constitutionality of a law requiring gender balance on the states Judicial Nominating Commission, which sends the governor recommendations for appointments of judges to appellate courts. The governor is to appoint nine members to the 17-member commission, while the Iowa bar elects the remaining eight. The quota restriction was that the bar must elect two commissioners of different genders from each of the states four congressional districts.



In January this year, a judge granted the foundations request for a summary judgment and declared the Iowa law unconstitutional without the suit going to trial. While the complaint was pending, a bill had been introduced in the Iowa Senate to repeal gender balancing in all state boards. Unfortunately, it did not pass. Nevertheless, the courts decision on the judicial commission holds.



In all these cases, the critical legal point that came up was the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, ratified in July 1868, and meant chiefly to grant citizenship and civil and legal rights to African Americans, most of whom had been emancipated from slavery. Ironically, it has been turned on its head against the white majority and other hardworking minorities like Jews and Asians, who have prioritized academic excellence, initiative, and merit.



The process began with the affirmative action plans of the 1960s, during which race and gender requirements for municipal boards, school admissions, jobs, and other positions first appeared. Later, there were calls for racial and social justice. Now, DEI and ESG quotas have been normalized, and so-called racial balancing has been institutionalized.



But the cases that PLF has won, and the way courts have begun to see the ugly reality of reverse discrimination, show that there is hope for America to be great again  by valuing merit and ability above sex, gender orientation, or the color of ones skin.



As Musk  who happens to be white  counters Lemon in the interview, What advantage does the color of my skin give me?  Actually, it was very difficult for me to reach here.  I think we want to get away from making everything a race or a gender or whatever issue and just treat people like individuals.

Image: Pexels / Pexels License




Mayor John Whitmire speaks during a press conference to announce Noe Diaz as the new Houston Police chief Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, at Houston City Hall in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer

Prosecutors have filed more than 175 felony charges as a review of more than 264,000 Houston Police Department cases suspended over lack of personnel winds to a close.

Top brass inside the Houston Police Department say they hope to complete the review by the start of 2025.

When department leaders first disclosed the scandal to the public, they vowed they would take seriously the lessons learned in the review and never repeat the systemic failures that gave rise to the use of a code used to measure what investigators were missing because of a lack of manpower. The scandal led to the sudden retirement of former Chief Troy Finner and ouster of several other ranking leaders before a final report was issued on the code, which was created in 2016.

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Of the total number of cases reviewed so far, the majority ended up suspended again, however, records show. More than 71,800 reviewed cases were listed as suspended; 13,000 were inactivated; 13,800 were closed and just 7,900 were cleared. Officials in the department argued a suspended case is different from a case coded SL, suspended lack of personnel, because they include those where patrol made an arrest along with those with no workable leads.

But as the review winds its way to a close, its not yet clear exactly how much has changed at the department.

Theyll move officers from patrol to staff investigations and see crime go up, said Diana Poor, who served as the departments planning director from 2017 to 2021. Then theyll switch resources to patrol and watch investigations suffer. Its a constant Band-Aid.

Officials with the department declined to make Chief Noe Diaz available for an interview about the review coming to a close. Instead, they cited an online dashboard created in the first months of Diazs tenure as the latest update.

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As of Nov. 15, more than 247,000 incident reports had been reviewed, according to the dashboard. Thats around 94% of the more than 264,000 cases. Investigators have been averaging almost 4,800 cases per week, a rate at which they expect to conclude the review by the end of the year, officials said.

Most of the divisions have already completed their case reviews, such as homicide, vehicular crimes, auto theft and special victims. All outstanding cases are in major assaults and family violence and property and financial crimes divisions, records show.

In addition to the 175 felony charges, prosecutors have filed 86 misdemeanor charges, said Shay Awosiyan, a spokesman for the department.

Doomed to repeat?

Poor said she understands the department has made several changes to its processes in the wake of the scandal that might change how it looks at cases that come into its divisions. In October, for instance, Diaz created a new family violence-specific division to address a spike in domestic violence across the city. The division that used to investigate family violence, combined with major assaults, suspended more than 109,000 cases, records show.

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Without changes to department staffing levels, however, Poor thinks leaders are bound to run into similar issues that gave rise to the suspended cases scandal again.

You look at staffing levels over the last 20 years and, No. 1: We have not kept up with population growth and No. 2: We have barely kept up with attrition, she said. Were down both on the classified and the civilian side  How are we supposed to maintain a growth in caseload against a reduction in staffing? Something has to give.

Some divisions, such as homicide, receive a comparatively manageable number of cases each year to the number of investigators, Poor said. But others, such as auto theft, face thousands of new cases each month.

If you have an overwhelming caseload, you reach a breaking point, she said. You cannot keep up.

In the days and months after the scandal first broke, former chiefs Finner and Larry Satterwhite spoke about a need for additional officers, saying the department might need as many as 2,000 additional to keep pace. The department has around 5,200 officers and 900 civilians, a number that would increase to around 7,200 officers with the extra 2,000.

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Poor said she thought a more reasonable number would be around 6,000 officers and between 1,500 and 1,800 civilians.

Mayor John Whitmire spoke of raising the city's revenue cap to add more money to the police departments budget for staffing, but Poor worries the issue is disappearing from Houstonians minds, just as it has for the last 30 years.

More than a decade earlier, in 2014, an audit of the Houston Police Department found officers had failed to investigate more than 20,000 cases due to lack of manpower in 2013, including about 15,000 burglary and theft cases, 3,000 assault cases and 3,000 hit-and-runs.

It was that discovery, and the conversations around it, that gave rise to the SL code as a way to measure what investigators were missing because of a lack of manpower, a 2024 investigation into the code found.

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With the election of Donald Trump, never-ending attempts by anti-liberty/gun cracktivists to disarm law-abiding Americans, to deprive them of their unalienable rights and to make them easy prey for the criminals they support will likely find even less success. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris never stopped trying to obliterate the First and Second Amendments, and one of their primary targets was assault weapons.

Graphic: Colt AR-15. Author

There is no such thing, despite the term being enshrined in some anti-liberty/gun laws. There is such a thing as an assault rifle, but that describes a class of fully automatic infantry rifles firing intermediatenot high-powered cartridges. Assault weapons are best understood as any scary-looking gun of any caliber, always semi-automatic, cracktivists want to ban. Their usual target is the ubiquitous AR-15, which outwardly resembles the fully automatic military M4, but has long been Americas favorite semiautomatic modern sporting rifle. It has been in widespread circulation since the Vietnam era, lawfully employed for self-defense, hunting and all manner of sport shooting.

But thats not the only gun cracktivists want to ban. Consider the KelTec Sub2000 Generation 3:

Graphic: Kel Tec Sub2000 Generation 3. Author

Its a small, light, relatively inexpensive, semiautomatic 9mm carbine which fires a pistol cartridge with less power and range than the AR-15s .223. But because its black and looks militaryish, its precisely the kind of assault weapon cracktivists long to ban.

So long as Republicans control at least part of the Congress, and judges beholden to the Constitution remain the Supreme Courts majority, its unlikely nonexistent assault weapons, or high-capacity magazines, will be banned. Public sentiment toonot that Democrats/socialists/communists (D/s/cs) care much about thatis dramatically changing in favor of liberty:

Gallups report on the poll carried the headline, Majorities Still Back Stricter Gun Laws, Assault Weapons Ban. And technically, thats true. However, channeling our inner Paul Harvey, now youre going to hear the rest of the story.

As one might expect, the truth is hidden between the lines and in the details:

While a majority, only 52% of respondents said they favored a law banning so-called assault weapons, while 48% responded that they didnt favor such a ban. But whats interesting is that support for such a ban continues to fall from year to year. In 2019, when Gallup first asked the question, support for such a ban was 61%, with only 39% opposing, and by 2022, support had dropped to 55%. If that trend continues, by the time the question is asked again its likely the majority will not favor a ban.

Its even worse for gun-banning cracktivists:

The important finding, however, is that support for stricter laws has fallen precipitously over the past few decades, which probably would have made a more accurate headline. In fact, in 1990, the first time Gallup asked the question, 78% of respondents said they favored stricter gun lawsa full 22% more than answered that way this year. And the 56% favoring strict gun laws this year is down from 66% in June 2022 and 57% in October 2022. Last years polling revealed the same number56%.

This is also bad news for gun-banners:

One thing the story did get right was mentioned in the subhead: Support for a ban on handguns in the U.S. dropped to a near-record low. In 1990, 60% of Americans said they favored a ban on handgun ownership. In the August survey, only 20% favored such a ban, second lowest only to 2021 when that number was 19%. Interestingly, according to the report, it is the changing opinion of Democrats that have driven that great decline in support.

What accounts for that precipitous drop? And it is substantial when polls, over time, only change a mere percentage point or two.

D/s/cs have long relied on deception and the help of their media propaganda arm willing to mislead the public into thinking anything that sort of looks like a machinegun, like the Sub2000 or AR-15, must be a fully automatic weapon, laying waste to innocents in our streets. In reality, such weapons, including semiautomatic rifles, are seldom used in crimes. Handguns, knives, clubs, hands and feet cause far more damage, year after year. Americans have gradually been awakening to that reality.

Also turning the tide have been the hysterical efforts of D/s/c politicians, whose lies and blatant hatred of Americans have increasingly convinced them they cant be trusted, not only on Second-Amendment related matters, but on pretty much everything else. Even many Democrats have concluded they cant trust the politicians they reflexively supported for decades. That mistrust returned Donald Trump to the White house, only the second time a president has served two non-consecutive terms.

Where unalienable constitutional rights are at stake, opinion polls shouldnt matter, but the trend, as with much else at the moment, is encouraging.

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.
Donald Trump has appointed Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk to ramrod the Department of Government EfficiencyDOGEwhich will recommend ways to cut governmental inefficiency. The good news is theyre not going to be official government employees, which means no confirmation hearings and no governmental entanglements. Also, both have the right mindset: they know about much of the duplication, corruption, sloth, graft and outright stupidity in government service. Theyre also more than willing to name names and stomp on sensitive bureaucratic toes.

Graphic: Fox Business Screenshot

The bad news is the Deep State is full of Deputy to the Deputy Assistant Undersecretaries to the Undersecretary of the Undersecretary of Federal Obfuscation and Engorgement, all making six figures with generous benefits and endless opportunities for self-glorification and enrichment. Many have civil service protection, making them virtually eternal. All, and their Deep State patrons and enablers, will fight tooth and nail to stay on the taxpayer payroll. Virtually every attempt at firing one of them will be met with a lawsuit. Its all part of the new anti-Trump, anti-representative republic, save our democracy resistance, fueled by extra strength Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS).

To be sure, Musk and Ramaswamy and their staff will work hard to make the two trillion in savings Musk has forecast, and theres little doubt those savings can be attained. Eliminating lunatic spending will surely be a big part:

*Cut $2.6 million for teaching Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job.

*Eliminate 60 billion in yearly health care fraud.

*No more $13,500 for single dinners for Post Office employees at Ruths Chris Steakhouse.

As Everett Dirksen said: A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon youre talking real money. Unfortunately now, its a trillion here, a trillion there... Were the brokest nation in history and our politicians are trying to figure out what comes after trillion.

And thats the other part of the problem: the congressional leviathan dedicated to spending other peoples money. As The Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher said:

The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples money.

Congress critters, used to spending other peoples money to enrich themselves and remain in office arent going to be anxious to cut vital spending for Chinese prostitutes, determining the sexual habits of shrimp and erecting monuments to themselves in their districts and states, to say nothing of the myriad opportunities to become instant millionaires on low six figure government salaries.

Is there any hope of forcing them, for once, to do the right thing? As it turns out, there just might be, as John Hinderaker at Powerline, explains:

My organization conducts a quarterly poll of registered voters in Minnesota, the results of which are published in our magazine. The polling is done by Meeting Street Insights. Our pollster was in the field last week, and the results will be published in the January issue of Thinking Minnesota. We asked questions that were intended to help explain why people voted the way they did in this years presidential election. Im going to leak just one finding from our poll, which I thought was remarkable. We asked whether respondents approved or disapproved of a series of Trump initiatives, one of which was the Department of Government Efficiency (an Elon Musk plan for government reform that would create a government efficiency commission that would audit federal agencies and eliminate wasteful spending). The result? An astonishing 96% approve of DOGE; only 4% disapprove. I would have said that you couldnt get a 96% consensus on anything in a poll. If you asked whether the Sun rises in the East, you wouldnt get 96%.

Hinderakers organization is The Center For The American Experiment, which largely focuses on countering the Tim-Walz-led lunacy that is Minnesotas political establishment. As Hinderaker notes, 96% approval of anything in a poll is virtually impossible. That result is particularly amazing in Minnesota, though to be fair leftist insanity in Minnesota is centered around the major population areas. The rest of the state is as red as most of America.

Would honest polling of the rest of America produce similar results? And if it did, would leftist pollsters publish the results? I suspect the results would be similar, if not quite so striking, and at least some pollsters might honestly report those results if for no other reason than that they were in shock and did it as a can you believe how crazy those Deplorables are? exercise in self-therapy.

It's that kind of genuine, grass roots, mandate that very well could dampen congressional profligacy, convincing them cutting spending is, for the time being, more likely to keep them in office then sending home truckloads of pork.

Truly, we live in interesting times.

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.
No matter who President Trump picks, the media and other Democrats seek to trash and besmirch their character and name. If they succeed in taking down one, they just move on to the next target. Trump is obviously (personally and painfully) aware that Democrats are the party of personal destruction.

Heres the latest, from a report at Breitbart detailing Tammy Duckworths professional opinion on Tulsi Gabbards nomination as the Director of National Intelligence:

Duckworth: Tulsi Gabbard Is Compromised  She Will Not Have Americas Best Interests at Heart Duckworth said, Well, I think shes compromised. I think by going to Syria and basically um, backing you know, a brutal dictator there. I mean Russian controlled media called her a Russian asset. So I do think that we have a real deep concern whether or not shes a compromised person.

Funny, I didnt hear Duckworth go on television to complain about the time Barack Obama drew a red line on Assad and did nothing about it.

We didnt hear any complaints about Obama or John Kerry being a Putin puppet when they appeased Russia on Syria:

To Assuage Russia, Obama Administration Backed Off Syria Chemical Weapons Plan The campaign to punish Assad for attacking his people with chlorine bombs took a back seat to Kerrys diplomacy with Moscow[.]

Obama also appeased Russia by reneging on Americas word to put up missile shields in Poland and the Czech Republic and again, no complaints from Democrats like Duckworth that he was a Russian asset:

Barack Obama has abandoned the controversial Pentagon plan to build a missile defence system in Europe that had long soured relations with Russia.

And no complaints that Obama was a Putin puppet when he declined to arm Ukraine when Russia invaded:

By not arming Ukraine for now, Obama underscores diplomacy first strategy President Obama made it clear Monday he is not ready to provide lethal weaponry to Ukraine  and in so doing he recommitted to the diplomacy as long as it has a chance foundation of his national security policy.

It is no wonder that Putin attacked during the Obama and Biden years but not during Trumps.

There were no complaints by the media and other Democrats when Obama and Biden continually funded Iran and the terrorists. That certainly was not in Americas interest.

And I didnt see any outrage over the fact that Biden and Hillary were compromised when they went around taking kickbacks for their families.

Basically, the media and other Democrats have had the goal to destroy Trump for nine years. They clearly dont care about the best interest of America, and that couldnt be more obvious.

Image generated by AI.
For a movement that claims to be all about saving the Earth, the green environmentalist globalists sure do come up with repulsive ideas.

Here's their latest, according to the Washington Free Beacon:

A beer brewed from recycled toilet water has become a hit among attendees at the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference. "At first their eyes widen," Samantha Thian, a leader of Singapore's youth delegation at the U.N. climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, told the New York Times. "Then we reassure them. They're usually coming back the next day for another." The beer, a hoppy pilsner called NEWBrew, is a collaboration between Singaporean company Brewerkz and the island country's national water agency that aims to "draw attention to, and normalize, Singapore's water reclamation efforts." Singapore lacks major natural freshwater sources.

Who the heck needs this?

Like edible bugs, it's undoubtedly expensive given all the processing it would take to make it safe to drink. And like a lot of things, they may find they made "mistakes" in establishing the purity.

Wouldn't it make more sense to make the beer in some place where it makes sense to make beer, where beer tastes good, buying it from another country if necessary? Is there some reason there's a need to look to the sewage stream for one's beer? It's like teaching a dog to dance -- sure, it can be done, but why?

More to the point, the whole idea is repulsive.

Like edible bugs, the idea seems to be to degrade our life just a little more, forcing us to drink sewage instead of putting the sewage to a far more beneficial use, such as in the ground for maybe fertilizer if it's not toxic. That's some advertisement for the green lifestyle, except of course, they intend to impose it by force in the long run.

We would like to see Klaus Schwab, the Swiss globalist who runs the World Economic Forum, take the first swig.

The green lobby, which itches for power and control over the little guy, has quite a record of making life more disgusting. From the brown fields of the Central Valley, made that way over green claims about saving a non-native fish called the delta smelt, to the bugs in wealthy schoolgirls' foods, from cardboard box beds, to zero air conditioning, to meatless Mondays to swimming in sewage at the Olympics, the greenie left has quite a vision for humanity. If they can't end humanity altogether, as some have called for, well, at least they make it repulsive, gaslighting the public all along.

Now they've literally packaged s*** ... and they call it shinola.

What's next? S*** sandwiches? How gross is too gross for them?

Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License
Do you remember how, in the first decade and more of the 21st century, we were flooded with stories about American colleges and universities being hotbeds of rape culture? We were told that 1 in 5 young women at college were certain to be raped, especially by toxic white, middle-class men. Even Joe Biden parroted that number. It was, of course, false. However, there is a real rape culture in America, and its one that the Democrats dont want to speak about: lately, illegal aliens are seemly arrested daily for raping young women and children.

The highest profile recent rape, of course, was that of Laken Riley, whose rapist and murderer was just sentenced to life in prison rather than to the death he so richly deserved. However, he is certainly not the only oneand in many cases, as you can see from this collection of tweets, the alleged or convicted rapist was a known offender:

The town of Herndon, VA was shaken this week when a woman was r*ped on a popular trail by an illegal with a history of s*x crimes



The police chief said its the only stranger rape in the town in her more than 12 years on the job and added what is disturbing is the number of pic.twitter.com/wh23rtKYQl  Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 24, 2024

Sexually Assaulted By Migrants



Girl is walking down the road, an illegal migrant put his arm around her neck and drug her into a house where multiple illegals sexually assaulted her



More guys have come in, two of them have held me down and they've all just took it in turns pic.twitter.com/1i3OYgt6Y6  Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) September 10, 2024

There's a large portion of this country that wants more illegals in our country. Vote accordingly...



"An illegal immigrant was allegedly caught in the act while trying to rape a Florida woman  who had raised the alarm by calling 911 and pretending to order pizza, according pic.twitter.com/ujd1Z7s1d6  Mrgunsngear (@Mrgunsngear) October 28, 2024

Sickening: An Illegal Alien Allegedly Raped a 14-Year-Old Girl in Colorado https://t.co/rWPfRR5aNk  Michael J. Fell (@MichaelJFell) November 24, 2024

Federal immigration officials arrest 3 child rape suspects in Mass. | Click on the image to read the full story https://t.co/sDhFzn1Ga7  WCVB-TV Boston (@WCVB) November 21, 2024

The above tweets are from one minute of searching on X. I could do this for hours and come up with hundreds of stories.

When he was running for president for the first time, Trump famously said,

When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best. Theyre not sending you. Theyre not sending you. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems, and theyre bringing those problems with us. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.

Trump won because people understood that he was correct. Voters didnt (and still dont) care that many of the people entering the U.S. arent criminals. What they care about is those who are.

Every single one of these illegal alien criminals is a crime that wouldnt and shouldnt have happened but for our governments lawless immigration policies. Every person robbed, raped, or murdered in the last four years by an illegal alien is a victim, not just of that alien, but of our governmentof Biden, Mayorkas, Obama, and all the other famous and faceless people pushing the lawlessness that broke Americas sovereign border.

If you want a rape culture, this is it. Its disgraceful, and I am pretty certain that if the RINOS again act to block Trumps efforts as they did in the first two years of his first term, they will feel the peoples wrath. (I say RINOS because its inevitable that the Democrats, despite claiming to be the political party that acts for women and children, will do everything they can to keep illegal aliens flooding out of the worlds slums and prisons and into America. Its the RINOS who will cast the deciding votes on immigration issues in the next two years.)

Image: Herndon (VA) Police Department. Public domain.
Illinois senator Tammy Duckworth is a champion for victims of sexual abuse just as long as the alleged abuser is a Republican with a conservative agenda. According to a new item out at The Hill, Duckworth recently made these comments regarding the nomination of Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense:

Its frankly an insult and really troubling that Mr. Trump would nominate someone who has admitted that hes paid off a victim who has claimed rape allegations against him, she said on a Sunday Face the Nation appearance. This is not the kind of person you want to lead the Department of Defense.

As it seems to me, the encounter was consensual, meaning Hegseths alleged victim was unfaithful to her spouse and leveled the rape charge as pass for the indiscretion. Now, if it turned out that Hegseth were actually a violent rapist who abused women? Id think we need a new nominee.

But since when does Duckworth actually care about sexual assault? Her hypocrisy is the real insult, because shes using the grotesque reality of sexual abuse as a cheap political tool to discredit those who hold different ideologies, and doesnt speak up for real victims.

Where was Duckworth when Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Alejandro Mayorkas opened the border, and the number of children trafficked and raped because of it skyrocketed? Is that fact troubling to Duckworths conscience?

Would she also consider Mayorkass appointment troubling since his leadership has led to bona fide instances of sexual assault (and murder) against counteless young girls and women? Does the name Laken Riley sound familiar? Jocelyn Nungaray? Rachel Morin?

Did she have a problem with Biden? Tara Reade made very credible accusations of unwanted and forcible touchingand so did Ashley Biden.

Did she ever demand that we get to the bottom of the allegations made against Tim Walz, accusations which were particularly unsettling concerning the report that Walz had assaulted young boys in his custody? Hardly.

What about the congressional #MeToo slush fund that makes hush money settlement payments using taxpayer dollars to secretly pay off victims of sexual harassment? Ive never heard Duckworth voice disgust over the abusers given what is basically free rein at the Capitol.

Did Bill Clintons indiscretions offend her? Does she care about the trauma Juanita Broaddrick suffered?

What about Hunter Biden? Where was Duckworths outrage when reports of buying prostitutes emerged? Does the picture of Hunter Biden half-clothed with prepubescent girls crawling all over him at a birthday party set off any alarm bells for Duckworth?

Nope, none of it matters, because party agenda trumps whats right and decent.

Image: Free image, Pixabay license.
Maybe Pfizer could concoct a vaccine to prevent the transmission of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS). Or at least lessen its symptoms. That would actually benefit people, both here and abroad.

Case in point: filmmaker, producer, and actor Rob Reiner, AKA Meathead, recently found himself in the grip of a particularly debilitating bout with TDS.

Not long after Election Day, Reiner tweeted: Im finding it very hard to sleep these days. It is 3:15 am. I am laying awake dreading January 20th 2025.

He subsequently added, I have big decisions to make. For the good of myself, my family, and my country. Really, oh self-important one, what decisions are those? He then noted that, to help him in his gallant attempt to endure the looming Trump administration, he would be focusing his time on family and work. Um, memo to Meathead: thats what most of us do all the time. He also revealed that hes in the process of adapting a new script he is extremely passionate about. (Were happy for you, but dont forget about your family.) Let me guess: is it about a son (to be played by Reiner) who has a bigoted father and an apparently clueless mother, both of whom he valiantly strives to enlighten? Am I right? Is it set in Queens?

Meathead then tweeted: Ellen DeGeneres whom I have known a long time and is a beautiful and caring woman had the right idea. She obviously does not want to be a part of a place that is filled with hate, evil and fascism. Much respect to her for standing up to madness. Ellen and her main squeeze, Portia de Rossi, have fled to England. Hopefully they wont become victims of Englands burgeoning Muslim male extremist population which is sexually assaulting and stabbing women at an unprecedented rate. But doing so without hate, and in a non-evil and entirely antifascist way!

Finally, Meathead tweeted: I have made the decision to take the next few days to check into a facility for peace and relaxation. No phones, social media, no trolls, just calmness to heal my pain.

A facility? Are there nice white rooms with pleasant administrators wearing white coats?

Perhaps Meathead will like it there. Maybe hell even want to stay.

I hope so, for his sakeand ours.

Image: YouTube video screen grab.
CNN talking head Jake Tapper has done at least one good thing: his book The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor was made into a movie. Both are compelling examples of American bravery against military/political stupidity and overwhelming odds. Other than that, Tapper has proven himself a stereotypical Democrat/socialist/communist (D/s/c) media shill.

Normally, the media is pretty much invulnerable to lawsuits for their reckless, D/s/c opinions badly disguised as news, but amazingly, Tapper and CNN face a defamation suit brought by Navy veteran Zachary young. Tappers false claims about Young and his efforts to rescue innocents from Joe Bidens Afghanistan debacle obliterated Youngs private security career. The suit has been allowed to proceed, and is in the deposition stage. Tapper and CNN are stonewalling:

Graphic: CNN Screenshot

Tapper sat for a sworn deposition on Wednesday with lawyers for the veteran, Zachary Young, according to court documentsobtained by the Media Research Center. While a transcript of the deposition itself is redacted, a description of the ordeal from Young's attorneys states that, over the course of "less than two hours," CNN "directed Tapper not to answer more than thirty questions." As a result, Young's attorneys could not gather "basic financial information" about Tapper's salary and "the finances of CNN and his show."

Tapper had earlier claimed to have no knowledge about any of CNNs finances. The judge in the case, William Scott Henry didnt believe Tapper, nor should anyone else. Highly paid media personalities like Tapper, and their agents, know precisely that kind of information, which is necessary for them to negotiate salaries and benefits. CNN is in deep financial trouble as already declining viewership plummeted as least 30% more after Trumps victory.

Young is looking for a billion or more in damages and isnt willing to settle, which means the trial scheduled for January will likely happen. We can be certain CNN absolutely doesnt want that. The issues in the case are clear:

That segment named Young's security company, Nemex Enterprises, and detailed its work evacuating people from Afghanistan during the Biden-Harris administration's chaotic 2021 withdrawal. It implied Young was operating within an illegal "black market" and exploiting "desperate Afghans." Before the segment aired, CNN national security correspondent Alex Marquardt expressed his desire to "nail this Zachary Young mfer," while senior editor Fuzz Hogan called Young "a st," according to internal messages released as part of the case.

CNN has issued a tepid apology and has tried to cover its tracks:

CNN has already removed the term "black market" from the online version of the segment and issued an on-air apology acknowledging Young had not broken any laws. For Young, that's not enough. Attorneys for the veteran say the segment irreparably damaged his reputation and caused tens of millions of dollars in business losses.

The D/s/c propaganda media arm is in increasing trouble. Mika and Joe crawled to Mar A Lago to kiss Donald Trumps ring, which caused an instant 16% drop in ratings. Comcast is dumping MSNBC, CNBC and USA, and D/s/c talking heads like Rachel Maddow, receiving princely sums for a single weekly program are panicking. Maddow and others are facing their own lawsuits:

Earlier this year, Maddow and her colleagues faced a setback of their own in a defamation suit brought by Georgia doctor Mahendra Amin, a gynecologist who treated detainees at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Peach State. A judge ruled in July that Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, and Chris Hayes made "verifiably false" statements about the doctor, who they accused of performing "mass hysterectomies" on women inmates and called the "uterus collector." Amin sued NBCUniversal for $30 million.

It couldnt happen to worse people. There used to be a rational journalistic standard that required at least two independent sources confirming any story before it could run. That at least ensured a reasonable probability the story was true and wouldnt damage innocents. That rule was discarded decades ago when journalists decided their job was no longer reporting the facts so Americans could make informed decisions. Their job was enlarging their egos and attacking their political enemies, telling Deplorables what they ought to think. The result is a divided nation on the verge of secession, even civil war, though that may be delayed for four years.

To be sure, the media isnt entirely responsible for the sad state of our representative republic, but their contribution to our current tribulations is enormous and destructive.

Perhaps the media and D/s/cs in general will take the time necessary for introspection, for reflecting on the fact that when they abandon American values and try to tear down what far better men and women have built, they destroy themselves as well. Maybe they might rediscover humility and our common humanitynah.

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.
As Joe Biden snoozes through another vacation, President Trump has been hard at work, looking at ways to restore the U.S. military from its enfeebled state.

He's reportedly decided to ban transgender troops as one of his first acts as president.

According to The Times of London, which got the first report:

Donald Trump is planning an executive order that would lead to the removal of all transgender members of the US military, defence sources say. The order could come on his first day back in the White House, January 20. There are believed to be about 15,000 active service personnel who are transgender. They would be medically discharged, which would determine that they were unfit to serve. It would also lead to a ban on trans people joining the military and would come at a time when almost all branches of the American armed forces are failing to meet recruitment targets. Trump, 78, has railed against woke practices in the military, saying that some high-ranking officers are often more interested in diversity, equity and inclusion than planning to fight. The ban is expected to be wider ranging than a similar order made during his first term in office, when Trump prevented transgender people joining the armed forces, but allowed those already serving to keep their jobs. President Biden rescinded the order, but this time even those with decades of service will be removed from their posts, according to several sources.

It's a common sense move, given that number of problems that allowing transgender troops into the ranks presents, either willingly or unintentionally, assuming the executive order goes through after its likely string of activist court challenges.

Based on what's seen in the press so far, transgender advocates are crying crocodile tears in the press about the 15,000 or so transgender troops who would stand to be dismissed for medical reasons, (which is hardly a disgraceful way to go), claiming it would decimate troop readiness.

They cite recruitment shortfalls, according to the Times:

These people will be forced out at a time when the military cant recruit enough people, a source familiar with Trumps plans said.

Which doesn't hold much water, given that the U.S. military has about 2 million active duty, National Guard, and reserve service members. It's unlikely that these 15,000 transgender service members are indispensible given that the military has already dismissed 8,000 service members for refusing the COVID vaccine, and we didn't hear any of those recruitment arguments from this crowd when that was happening.

However, it would probably go a long way to restoring order and morale within the military ranks which would actually aid recruitment.

Service members give up a lot of freedom, including privacy, in order to serve in close quarters, so some kind of basic order is essential. A transgender soldier or sailor or airman, particularly an unreconstructed one, is naturally disruptive to that requirement.

To start, in a military work setting, it's hard to have to say an obvious male is somehow a female against the evidence of one's eyes. Yet that's policy, and it's not as if service members can simply walk away if they don't want to participate.

However, it's worse than that. Last year, according to a Senate investigation, an 18-year-old female recruit from what was probably a National Guard position, was forced to shower naked with two transgender service members bearing full full male genitilia. Apparently, she had to sleep with them, too. That was a major invasion of female space as well as an open gate to rape from someone who could use that transgender claim for those purposes. The servicewoman was told she could quit if she didn't like it, or "work through their chain of command" as if she should even have to do that, which is an insulting command all by itself.

It's hard to imagine an event like that being conducive to good military morale even to service members who were not among the affected women.

The Senators behind the report, concluded that this kind of policy was actually what was keeping recruitment numbers down.

According to Fox News:

"She could have basically resigned or stepped away. She could have started over again. But nonetheless, it was an extremely uncomfortable position. And I think this is one of the reasons why we're not meeting our recruitment goals now," [Sen. Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota)] said. When asked whether other women in the military may be experiencing similar discomforting scenarios due to the transgender policies in place, Sen. Rounds pointed to the Biden administration's failure to meet recruitment goals. The "recruitment crisis" is partially due to Biden's "woke agenda that we now see coming down by executive order," Rounds said.

It's not just recruitment, though, it's also double standards. Transgenderism itself is an unnatural state that requires heavy use of chemicals and drugs to maintain an appearance of one's chosen gender. Troops like that cannot easily be deployed as other troops can, rendering their service a full paper-pushing service requiring less sacrifice than the others do, and that is very different from the service of troops in the field. However, as these things go, it's one that's more likely to proximity to the halls of power, similar to court eunuchs, leading to promotions and higher-ranking policy positions that other troops doing the harder work in the field don't have. That's not conducive to good military order, either.

And the double standards are very literal indeed -- how is it someone who requires constant medication to maintain transgender appearances be allowed in the service when someone with diabetic foot problems or even mild PTSD can be dismissed? My young nephew was denied a right to enlist a third time based on a diagnosis of mild PTSD that his rough Army combat service in Iraq and Syria gave him. He understood why they were refusing him, but of course, it was not easy. It has to be worse for any service member when he or she can see that the Pentagon makes exceptions for constant medication of transgender service members, but not combat-wounded soldiers? Something isn't right there -- obviously, politically powerful special interests take precedence over even combat troops, which can't be good for morale.

The other problem is that transgender individuals are drawn to the Pentagon based on its free medical care for serving troops according to some reports. That puts more in the service than in proportion to their numbers in the population as a whole, which isn't good for military readiness and order, given the number of exceptions they require.

That doesn't mean transgender individuals are to be ill-treated or ostracized as having no place in society. Some people, particularly those with medical issues, simply aren't suited to military service based on its unique requirements of the military, including conformity to a certain order.

Trump's order makes sense if the idea is to get rid of wokery as a goal and replace it with the goal of winning wars. That's what the service needs, given its wretched record of leadership failure as evidenced in their U.S. pullout from Afghanistan. We can either have a fighting force that wins, or a fighting force that exemplifies the wokester DEI vision, but we can't have both.

Image: Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, via Picryl // public domain dedication
Alexandre Dumass literary classic The Count of Monte Cristo is one of Dumass most famous and beloved novels, but this satisfying tale of injustice and vengeance was not entirely drawn from the imagination of Dumas. The story was based on a real-life person named Pierre Picaud, who, like Edmond Dantes, was wrongfully imprisoned based on false accusations. Later, Picaud got of prison and after recovering a buried treasure, returned to Paris to exact revenge upon his three jealous friends who implicated him in the conspiracy.

Francois Pierre Picaud was a shoemaker in Nimes, France. In 1807, Picaud was engaged to marry a rich and beautiful woman named Marguerite Vigoroux. But one of his friends, Mathieu Loupian, who wanted to marry Vigoroux himself, became jealous of his good fortune. Together with two other men, Solari and Chaubart, Loupian falsely accuse Picaud of being a spy and a royalist agent in the pay of England. A fourth friend, Antoine Allut, knew of the conspiracy but did not alert it.

On his wedding day, Picaud was arrested and taken to prison under great secrecy. He spent seven years at the Alpine fortress of Fenestrelle (now in Piedmont, Italy), not even learning why he was arrested until his second year. During his imprisonment, Picaud dug a small passage to a neighboring cell and befriended an Italian priest named Father Torri, who was detained there. A year later, a dying Torri bequeathed to Picaud a treasure he had hidden in Milan.

When Picaud was released after the fall of the French Imperial government in 1814, he took possession of the treasure, and returned to Paris under another name. He spent the next ten years plotting revenge against his former friends. First, he found Allut in Nimes, who in exchange for a large diamond, told him the story of his denunciation. In particular, he learnt that Loupian had bought a cafe on the Boulevard des Italiens thanks to the dowry of Marguerite Vigoroux, whom he married two years after Picauds arrest.

Picaud first murdered Chaubart by sticking a dagger into his heart. He then tricked Loupian's daughter into marrying a criminal, whom he then had arrested, thus dishonoring the name of Loupians family. Picaud then burned down Loupian's restaurant, leaving Loupian impoverished. Next, he fatally poisoned Solari and either manipulated Loupian's son into stealing some gold jewelry or framed him for committing the crime. The boy was sent to jail, and Picaud stabbed Loupian to death.

Allut, who became aware of Picauds doing, had him abducted and demanded money. When Picaud refused, Allut wounded him fatally. A dying Picaud was eventually found by the French police, and they recorded his confession before he died of his injuries. In 1828, taking refuge in a poor district of London, Allut, ill and dying, summoned a French priest and dictated the whole story to him before dying.

Alexandre Dumas

The tale first appeared in Memoirs from the archives of the Paris police written by Jacques Peuchet, published in 1838. Alexandre Dumas came across the story and was so fascinated by it that it inspired him to write The Count of Monet Cristo, where Pierre Picaud was immortalized as Edmond Dantes. Dumas acknowledged this in a note titled Pierre Picaud: Contemporary History, which appeared as an appendix to the novel.

Historians, however, question the authenticity of the tale. For one, the story is too fantastic. Secondly, there are no records of Pierre Picaud anywhere in the police archives. It appears that the story which Alexandre Dumas considered to be true is actually fiction created by Jacques Peuchet to romanticize the police archives.

The archives itself were destroyed in a fire in 1871. Given the impossibility of going back to the source, some scholars have hypothesized that Peuchet's Memoires were actually the work of Etienne-Leon de Lamothe-Langon, a French writer known for his many apocryphal memoirs and controversial historical work.

Nevertheless, The Count of Monet Cristo is an absolutely riveting tale about the power of friendship and revenge that is still widely read today.
The Houston Area Womens Center, shown in this file photo, was able to run on a generator during power outages this week during a historic winter storm. The shelter had to move clients from one of its Safe Harbor hotels because it lost power. Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Domestic violence shelters in Texas are struggling to meet the immediate basic needs of survivors during the states winter crisis and fear the long-term impacts of the natural disaster will result in another spike in rates of abuse.

On top of prolonged periods without heat and power, many shelter facilities have flooded because of broken pipes, according to the Texas Council on Family Violence, a nonprofit that works with shelters across the state and has been in contact with more than 40 during the storm to assess need. All of the organizations the council has been in touch with have limited food and water supplies as grocery store shelves are empty and water boil orders have been issued across the state.

Hundreds of survivors were evacuated from facilities that could no longer shelter them this week, said Gloria Terry, CEO of the nonprofit. More than 100 people were moved from shelters in Arlington, 132 in Dallas and 45 in Beaumont.

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The Houston Area Womens Center main campus was able to run on a generator during power outages, said the nonprofits president and CEO, Emilee Whitehurst. But the shelter had to move clients from one of its Safe Harbor hotels because it lost power and had difficulty getting food to the other location.

Power outages at the homes of advocates who were taking calls forced the center to direct its hotline calls to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, which was able to connect survivors with local services. Water and supply shortages are the main concern now, Whitehurst said.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Resources for domestic violence victims

The sad part about this is that domestic violence doesnt stop during this, said Terry.

A man was killed in a domestic violence shooting Thursday night in northwest Harris County, according to police. A 35-year-old woman was killed as a result of suspected domestic violence Wednesday in Abilene.

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It makes you think about the state of this issue, she said. It continues to be the scourge of our society. The extenuating circumstances dont matter  domestic violence doesnt care about those things.

The strain put on the shelters comes at a time when they were already running on depleted resources because of COVID-19. The pandemic has driven rates in family violence up in Texas for nearly a year, increasing demand for services while charitable donations and adequate staffing are harder to come by.

It really feels like being a punching bag, Whitehurst said. We keep getting hit. All we can do is get back up.

Because many studies show that family violence increases for prolonged periods of time after natural disasters, such as Hurricane Harvey and the pandemic, advocates say the stressors of what the Lone Star State is going through now will likely have the same effect.

There will likely be an increase in family violence on top of the increase we were already seeing due to COVID, Terry said. And all of the infrastructure problems were seeing will further compound the challenges for organizations to serve the community.

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So far, theres been a decrease in hotline calls to HAWC, Whitehurst said. The shelter is receiving about 20 calls a day, which may be an indication that survivors arent able to reach out or help.

We experienced a similar phenomenon when COVID first hit, Terry said. Hotline calls dipped, and before they shot up.

Any event that isolates victims, makes housing harder to find and puts a strain on the economy is a recipe for compounding family violence, Whitehurst said.

Incredible stressors keep piling on for them, Terry said. First it was COVID health concerns and economic uncertainty. Now in this event, they have no control of even basic comforts like warmth and food.

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In 1863, German-American inventor and engineer Julius Hermann Kroehl founded the Pacific Pearl Company with the goal of profiting from pearl fishing in the Pacific. To streamline this labour-intensive process, he began constructing a submarine specifically designed to aid in oyster collection.

Traditionally, pearl diving relied entirely on human divers operating without breathing equipment. These divers descended to depths of 20 to 40 feet, gathering as many oyster shells as possible before surfacingoften holding their breath for up to a minute. Work typically occurred during low tide, which allowed access to deeper parts of the seabed. However, the diving window was short, lasting only two to three hours. Within this limited timeframe, divers made an exhausting 12 to 15 trips to the seabed. The pursuit of pearls and shells was not only gruelling but also perilous. Recognizing the risks and inefficiencies of this method, Kroehl sought to revolutionize the process, sparing his divers from unnecessary danger while improving yields.

A member of the Kuwaiti diving team searches for pearls during the annual Pearl Diving festival in Kuwait, in 2012. Photo credit: Raed Qutena

Submarines were still a novel technology with limited use in the mid-1800s, but their potential was undeniable. During the American Civil War, both the Confederacy and the Union used submarines for naval warfare, the most notable being the Hunley, which became the first submarine to successfully sink an enemy ship in combat. However, the Hunley sank shortly after the attack, likely due to the shockwave from its own torpedo. The Confederacy also worked on other submersible vessels, such as the Pioneer and the American Diver, though these efforts were largely unsuccessful due to technical challenges and resource limitations. The first submarine for the Union was the Alligator. It represented a significant technological leap with its compressed air system, air filtration capabilities, and innovative diver lock. This feature allowed divers to exit the submarine while underwater, enabling them to attach mines to enemy vesselsa precursor to modern underwater sabotage techniques.

Kroehls Sub Marine Explorer was 36 feet long and 10 feet in diameter, and weighed 80 tons. The vessel's sophisticated design featured three distinct sections a compressed air chamber beneath the upper hull, a central working chamber for the crew, and a series of ten ballast tanks. To dive, a steam tender filled the high-pressure chamber with compressed air up to 200 psi. With the chamber charged, Kroehl and his crew opened seacocks from a central control station and flooded the tanks to make the vessel submerge. As the water rushed in, the air it displaced bled into a series of discharge pipes that fed through a central manifold and then exhausted out a valve in the conning tower. Kroehl trimmed the boat by regulating the flooding and with blasts of pressurized air to expel seawater from the ballast tanks.

Once at depth, pressurized air was released into the working chamber until the internal pressure had equalized with that of the ambient sea. Once this was done, the hatches in the bottom of the submarine could be opened without the water getting in. With the air within the working chamber completely holding back the water, the men slipped out of the hatches to collect and oysters and pearls.

For propulsion, the Explorer used a hand-cranked propeller capable of generating speeds of up to four knots. Additionally, the air within the vessel was refreshed by spraying seawater over chemical compounds, maintaining breathable conditions during prolonged dives. To surface, more of the pressurized air was blown into the ballast tanks to force the water out and make the craft buoyant.

The Sub Marine Explorer made several successful dives off the coast of Panama, demonstrating the potential of submarine technology for pearl diving. One particularly notable dive, reported by The New York Times, saw the crew recover an impressive 1,800 oystersnearly 900 kilogramsin just four hours. However, the venture was not without its perils. After 11 days of intensive oyster hunting, all the men fell ill with what was vaguely described as a "fever," and some succumbed to the condition shortly thereafter. Local accounts suggested that these deaths followed after prolonged dives to depths exceeding 100 feet and then quickly resurfacing.

At the time, neither Julius Hermann Kroehl nor his crew understood the underlying cause of these tragedies decompression sickness. Known colloquially as "the bends," this condition results from the physiological effects of breathing pressurized air underwater. As a diver descends, the increased ambient pressure forces gases such as nitrogen to dissolve into the blood and tissues. If the diver surfaces too quickly, the rapid decrease in pressure prevents the nitrogen from diffusing out gradually. Instead, it forms bubbles within the body, leading to a variety of symptoms.

The effects of decompression sickness can range from mild joint pain and rashes to more severe consequences like paralysis or even death. The nitrogen bubbles often collect in major joints, such as the knees or elbows, causing intense pain that forces victims to bend over in agonya hallmark of the condition and the origin of its nickname. Tragically, Kroehl and his crew were unaware of the need for controlled, gradual ascents to avoid this life-threatening complication.

The connection between reduced ambient pressure and the formation of air bubbles in living tissue was first demonstrated in 1670 by Robert Boyle. Using an air pump, Boyle conducted experiments on birds and vipers, initially observing that they died from asphyxiation. However, later experiments revealed symptoms resembling what would eventually be recognized as decompression sickness.

An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump, a painting by Joseph Wright of Derby, 1768, depicts Robert Boyles famous experiment.

The first documented case of decompression sickness in humans came in 1841 when French geologist Jacques Triger observed the condition in workers using his pressurized caisson method to dig through waterlogged ground. The ailment became known as caisson disease, as it commonly afflicted laborers working in pressurized caissons during large-scale excavation and construction projects.

Caisson disease proved to be a major hazard in engineering feats of the 19th century. During the construction of the Eads Bridge in St. Louis in the 1870s, 15 workers succumbed to the mysterious illness. The condition also played a prominent role in the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, where project leader Washington Roebling suffered debilitating symptoms after spending time in the pressurized caissons, forcing him to supervise the remainder of the construction from his home.

Elsewhere in New York, during the construction of the Hudson River Tunnel in 1889, decompression sickness claimed multiple lives. Contractor's agent Ernest William Moir noted the recurring deaths among workers, confirming the severe risks posed by prolonged exposure to pressurized environments and rapid decompression.

By the late 19th century, the scientific understanding of decompression sickness had advanced significantly. Once it was recognized that the symptoms were caused by gas bubbles, and that recompression could relieve the symptoms, further work showed that it was possible to avoid the debilitating effects of the condition by slow decompression. British physician John Scott Haldanes research into decompression produced the first recognised decompression table in 1908, providing precise guidance on ascent rates and stop durations based on depth and time spent underwater. These tables were a milestone in diving safety and were swiftly adopted by the Royal Navy, setting a global standard for safe diving practices.

A modern diving table.

Julius Hermann Kroehl died in September 1867, officially of fever, though there remains speculation that his death resulted from decompression sickness acquired during experimental dives with the Sub Marine Explorer. His widow disputed this theory, attributing his death to malaria contracted during his military service in the Vicksburg campaign, supported by accounts from witnesses and medical statements.

Without Kroehls leadership or the financial resources to sustain operations, the Pacific Pearl Company abandoned the venture. The crew returned to New York, leaving the Sub Marine Explorer beached and idle. In 1869, a new engineer and crew resurrected the craft, bringing it back to the Pearl Islands to continue harvesting oyster shells and pearls. However, deep dives proved fatal for many workers, who fell ill or died. The repeated tragedies forced the crew to abandon the submarine in a cove on San Telmo Island, where it eventually sank into obscurity.

For decades, the rusting hull of the submarine remained a curiosity among locals, who believed it to be a relic of World War II. In the early 2000s, James P. Delgado, an archaeologist with the U.S.-based Institute of Nautical Archaeology, investigated the site after hearing claims that the mysterious vessel was a Japanese two-man midget submarine, supposedly left behind following an aborted attack on the Panama Canal. What Delgado discovered, however, was far more extraordinarya pioneering piece of 19th-century engineering that predated modern submarine designs by decades.

Despite renewed interest in the Sub Marine Explorer, efforts to study and potentially recover the vessel have been hampered by logistical and financial challenges. As of 2010, the submarine remained submerged, its metal hull severely corroded from decades of exposure to saltwater. Analyses confirmed that the craft had reached a critical stage of deterioration, and without immediate preservation measures, it faced irreversible decay and eventual loss.

Wreck of the Sub Marine Explorer at low tide, 2006. Photo credit: James P. Delgado

Photo credit: Library of Congress

Photo credit: Library of Congress

A diver stands by the submarine wrecked off San Telmo Island, Panama, in March 12, 2004. Photo credit: US Embassy in Panama

References:

# James P. Delgado, Misadventures of a Civil War Submarine: Iron, Guns, and Pearls

# A Pearl of a Discovery, US Naval Institute
Samsungs next-gen foldable phones are still many months away from arriving. However, early leaks have revealed an interesting detail about their potential chipsets. According to` a new report, the Galaxy Z Flip FE and Z Flip 7 will use Exynos chips, but not the same model.

Yesterday, a tipster teased that we could see Exynos hardware in all of Samsungs 2025 foldables. The report pointed to the potential implementation of the Exynos 2500 chip in all models. However, a new source sheds more light on the matter for two of the upcoming Z Flip and Fold devices.

Different Exynos chip models for the Galaxy Z Flip FE and Z Flip 7, tipster claims

According to tipster Jukanlosreve, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip FE will not use the 3nm Exynos 2500 but the 4nm Exynos 2400e. The latter, produced using the IPoP packaging technique, is present in the Galaxy S24 FE. This chip is marginally less powerful than the original Exynos 2400, which powers the Galaxy S25 series. This makes sense considering that the Galaxy Z Flip FE will be Samsungs most affordable foldable to date. Anyway, the hardware has shown good performance.

The post also asserts that the 3nm Exynos 2500 chip will power the standard Galaxy Z Flip 7. The South Korean giant hopes to achieve better yield rates on its 3nm wafers in the coming months, enabling them to produce more usable units of the SoC. The tipster also refutes some rumors suggesting that Samsung will utilize an Exynos 2400 chip in the Galaxy Z Flip 7. Considering that the current Galaxy Z Flip 6 uses the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, such a decision would not make sense.

Z Flip FE Exynos 2400e (IPoP)

Z Flip 7 Exynos 2500 There are rumors circulating that the Exynos 2400 might be featured in the Z Flip 7, but I do not agree with this speculation.  Jukanlosreve (@Jukanlosreve) November 22, 2024

The leaks surrounding the Exynos 2500 speak of a powerful and efficient chip. However, Samsung Foundry has not been up to the task when it comes to mass-producing it. The hardwares CPU could have 3x Cortex-X925 cores, 5x Cortex-A725 cores, and 2x Cortex-A520 cores. Lastly, it could integrate an Xclipse 950 GPU for heavy mobile gaming.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew has sought insights from Elon Musk. It is regarding the looming danger of facing a ban in the US. The Wall Street Journal reports that Chew has been in talks with Musk for the past few weeks regarding the Donald Trump administration. Musk is one of President-elect Trumps closest confidants if you are unaware. TikTok CEO and owner ByteDances executives met with people close to both Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.

TikTok is trying to navigate the unknown waters ahead by seeking counsel from Elon Musk

A law signed by President Biden mandates ByteDance to sell TikTok to a US company or face a ban by mid-January 2025 if you were unaware. Thus TikTok CEO is seeking council from Elon Musk to navigate the unknown waters, suggests the report. However, the two tech CEOs didnt discuss specific measures to keep TikTok running in the US, the report adds. Notably, The Wall Street Journal published this report on Saturday citing people familiar with the matter.

TikTok CEO Chew initiated messages with the Tesla CEO in recent weeks. He asked for his opinions on various topics ranging from the incoming administration to potential tech policy in the US. Chew has informed ByteDances senior leadership of the interactions with the owner of the rival platform X. Notably, sources suggest that ByteDances core executives are optimistic about potential solutions emerging with these talks between the two tech CEOs.

After trying to ban TikTok for years ago, Trump now promises to save it

Its worth mentioning that Trump tried to ban TikTok four years ago during his Presidency. During his first term, Trump was one of the biggest opponents of the Chinese social media giant TikTok. He sought to ban the popular app from the US on national security grounds. However, as he prepares for a second term, he has reversed himself.

He now vows to protect TikTok from a looming US ban. This could be one of the reasons TikTok has approved Musk to get his opinion on the Trump administration policies.
The leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has said he wishes Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby was alongside him as the assisted dying debate in Parliament edges closer.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols said he regrets Mr Welbys absence from the conversation after the Church of England leader announced he was quitting over failures in handling an abuse scandal.

Mr Welby had warned last month, as the assisted dying Bill was being officially introduced in Parliament, of a slippery slope in terms of who would be eligible for such a service if it was legalised.

On November 12, Mr Welby announced he would be standing down after an independent review concluded serial abuser John Smyth might have been brought to justice had the church leader formally reported him to police more than a decade ago.

The archbishop has since been largely absent from public life and from the assisted dying debate, which at the weekend saw a range of faith leaders sign a letter opposing the Bill.

Dame Sarah Mullally, the Bishop of London and the Church of England lead bishop for health and social care, was among the signatories warning that a right to die could all too easily end in vulnerable people feeling they have a duty to die.

Labour MP Kim Leadbeaters Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill will be debated and likely voted on by MPs in the House of Commons on Friday.

Mr Nichols was also among the signatories.

Asked if it mattered whether the Archbishop of Canterbury seemed out of action in the moral debate, the cardinal told Times Radio: Yes, I regret it.

Obviously the situation there is very, very difficult and I think he has accepted responsibility for an institution, not just for his own personal actions, and thats a pity.

Justin Welby (Doug Peters/PA)

There are other voices in the Church of England that are very coherent and very compelling (on assisted dying) but I wish he were alongside me at this moment, yes.

Mr Nichols also criticised Labour peer Lord Falconer, who has suggested religious belief in those opposed to assisted dying should not be imposed on everybody else.

Lord Falconer is a former justice secretary and longstanding proponent of a change in the law.

Mr Nichols told Times Radio: I thought we lived in a democracy where people were permitted to express their views and to take forward an argument, and a rational argument at that.

If Mr Falconer cant extend that space to religious belief then Im not sure why he should be in politics actually.

Its not as if politics were a separate sealed-off way of living. Its part of the life of this country and religious belief is very much part of the life of this country, and the majority of people in the world actually hold a religious belief in God.

Lord Falconer has said religious views should not be imposed on people in the assisted dying debate (Hannah McKay/PA)

The Catholic leader has previously suggested it would be abhorrent to exclude religious views from the assisted dying debate after Dame Esther Rantzen said she was deeply disappointed in his previous comments on the issue.

He had said, while voicing his opposition to a change in the law, that suffering is an intrinsic part of our human journey.

Mr Nichols told Times Radio on Monday that he would be very upset if assisted dying was legalised, adding: The right to die can easily become a duty to die that eats away inside a persons self-confidence.

The Catholic leader faced calls to resign four years ago over a damning report into child sex abuse allegations.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) report in 2020 into the Catholic Church found he had seemingly put the reputation of the church above his duty to sex assault victims.

It added that he had demonstrated no acknowledgement of any personal responsibility to lead or influence change.

The findings were met with calls for Mr Nichols to resign, but he said he was staying in post as per the orders of the Pope.
Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadds new drama series will be fronted by him and co-star Jamie Bell.

Gadd, who rose to fame with dark Netflix show Baby Reindeer, is the creator and executive producer of Half Man, about two estranged brothers.

Billy Elliot actor Bell plays Niall opposite Gadd as Ruben, who shows up unexpectedly to his brothers wedding, sparking an explosion of violence that catapults us back through their lives, the BBC said.

Scottish comedian and writer Gadd, 35, said: When I wrote the show, I did it with him (Jamie) in mind, never thinking for a second we would manage to land him. So I could not be happier for everything that has come to pass in getting him on board.

He is one of the greatest actors of his generation and I am so looking forward to seeing what he does with the role. Thanks to all the staff at the BBC, HBO and Mam Tor Productions for making it all happen. I cannot wait to work with you all in the months ahead.

The series is created by Mam Tor Productions, a production company which is part of Banijay UK, for the BBC and BBC Scotland in a co-production with HBO.

Bell said: Im so excited to join this incredible creative team. Richard has once again crafted something poignant and singular. Im honoured to have been asked to bring this to life with him.

Baby Reindeer won Emmy awards for Gadd for writing, producing and acting, and his co-star Jessica Gunning picked up a best supporting actress award for playing alleged stalker Martha Scott.

The series was said to have been inspired by Gadds real-life experiences of stalking and sexual assault.

The show made headlines after a woman, who claimed to be the inspiration behind the character of Martha, filed a lawsuit against Netflix claiming the story was inaccurate.

 Richard Gadd and Jamie Bell to star in new drama Half Man The series will air in 2026 on @BBCiPlayer, @BBCOne and @BBCScotland in the UK Read more  https://t.co/x7ZGk3a4VO pic.twitter.com/cZwvQVFant  BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) November 25, 2024

Despite the 170 million dollar (129 million) lawsuit, Netflix revealed in September that it had signed a new deal with Gadd.

The BBC said Half Man will span four decades from the 1980s onwards, and see the two men as teenagers and adults. It will capture the wild energy of a changing city  a changing world, even  and try to get to the bottom of the difficult question, what does it mean to be a man?.

Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama, said: Its been such a privilege to see Half Man take shape, and to know that cameras will be rolling soon. In Richard Gadd and Jamie Bell we have the perfect Ruben and Niall  two characters like no other, whose epic journey through the decades we cant wait to have on the BBC.

Since earning a best actor Bafta for playing the fictional Durham dancer Billy Elliot, 38-year-old Bell has been in Sir Elton John biopic Rocketman as songwriter Bernie Taupin, and starred in comic book films Fantastic Four and The Adventures Of Tintin.

Half Man will begin filming next year in Scotland.

It will air in 2026 on BBC iPlayer, BBC One and BBC Scotland in the UK, and on HBO in the US.
Barbara Taylor Bradford was a prolific author whose debut book A Woman Of Substance is one of the best-selling novels of all time, having sold more than 30 million copies since its publication in 1979.

The writer, who died on Sunday at the age of 91, wrote 40 novels, all of which became best-sellers. Her last book, The Wonder Of It All, was published in November last year.

Her books have sold more than 91 million copies and have been published in more than 40 languages and in 90 countries.

A Woman Of Substance, the story of a woman who launches her own retail empire after starting out as a maid, was part of her Emma Harte Saga, which spawned eight books, concluding with 2021s A Man Of Honour.

The saga was adapted for a three-part TV mini-series for Channel 4 in 1985, starring Liam Neeson with Jenny Seagrove as Emma Harte, and received two Emmy nominations.

A Man Of Honour was a prequel to her debut, which starts five years before the original and follows the fortunes of Blackie ONeill, who leaves Co Kerry for Leeds to build a better life, and meets kitchen maid Emma.

Other series include The Ravenscar Trilogy (2006 to 2008), The Cavendon Chronicles (2014 to 2017) and The House Of Falconer (2018 to 2023), and standalone novels such as Love In Another Town (1995).

As many as 10 of her novels were adapted for TV, some produced by her husband, Robert E Bradford.

Born in Leeds in 1933, her father, Winston Taylor, was an engineer who had lost a leg in the First World War.

As a child during the Second World war she held a jumble sale at her nursery school, where a fellow pupil was author Alan Bennett, and donated the 2 proceeds to the Aid to Russia fund.

She received a letter from Clementine Churchill, the wife of then-prime minister Winston Churchill.

Barbara Taylor Bradford began her career on the Yorkshire Evening Post (Bradford Enterprises/PA)

Her older brother, Vivian, died of meningitis before she was born, and she described her mother, Freda Taylor, in an interview with the Guardian as having put all her frustrated love into me.

She later fictionalised her parents marriage in the 1986 book An Act Of Will.

Taylor Bradfords writing career began at the age of 15, as a typist, and later a reporter for the Yorkshire Evening Post. She moved to London, where she eventually became the fashion editor of Womans Own magazine and a columnist for the London Evening News.

While working at the paper she met a fellow journalist whom she described as lanky and dishevelled with acne and said he kept trying to talk to her even after she turned him down for a date at the cinema  it was actor Peter OToole.

She told the Guardian in 2021: Years later, (Evening Post editor) Keith Waterhouse and I were at an event where the producer Sam Spiegel introduced the star of his new movie.

Out walked the most beautiful man Id ever seen, dressed as Lawrence of Arabia. Keith said Dont you wish youd gone to the pictures with him now?. I never got over Peters transformation.

She went on to write an interior decoration column syndicated to 183 newspapers, and returned to the subject later in her career for a number of non-fiction books.

These included Bradfords Living Romantically Every Day, Etiquette To Please Him and A Garland Of Childrens Verse.

In 1961 she met film and television producer Bradford on a blind date, and they were married in London on Christmas Eve 1963, and moved to New York in 1964. They remained together for 55 years until he died, after a stroke, in July 2019.

After starting and ditching several attempts at a novel, she hit the big time at the age of 46 when A Woman Of Substance was published, making her an overnight success.

Barbara Taylor Bradford is best known for the novel A Woman Of Substance (Caroll Taveras/Bradford Enterprises/PA)

In 2021 she denied rumours that she heated a lake at her former Connecticut home in order to keep the swans warm, telling the Guardian: I didnt.

The previous owners did it to stop the swans freezing to death in winter. A good reason.

Taylor Bradford was made an OBE as part of the Queens 2007 birthday honours, for her services to literature, and has received honorary doctorates from Leeds University, the University of Bradford, Mount St Marys College, Sienna College and Post University.

Her original manuscripts are archived in Leeds Universitys Brotherton Library, beside those of the Bronte sisters, whose books Taylor Bradford read as a child.

In 2017 she was recognised as one of 90 Great Britons to commemorate Queen Elizabeth IIs 90th birthday.

Taylor Bradford also published three Christian books  Childrens Stories Of Jesus From The New Testament, Childrens Stories Of The Bible From The Old Testament, and Childrens Stories Of The Bible From The Old And New Testaments.

In 2014, the writer became an ambassador for the National Literacy Trust, an independent UK charity that aims to transform lives through literacy.

A spokeswoman for Taylor Bradford announced her death on Monday, saying she died at home after a short illness, and that, after a private funeral in New York, she would be buried alongside her husband at the citys Westchester Hills Cemetery.
Silhouettes representing the murder victims of domestic violence adorn the walls of Westland Baptist Church as part of the Silent Witness program on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, in Katy. By Claire Goodman / Staff Writer A man and woman died in a murder-suicide outside Texas Children's Hospital West Campus in a vehicle Sunday. Clare Fonstein/Staff

Domestic violence killings doubled across the Houston region between 2019 and 2022, a fact that's leading local domestic violence experts to call for better funding and more coordination to stem the uptick.

Investigators with the Houston Police Department and the Harris County Sheriffs Office investigated 32 homicides in 2019 in which they suspect domestic violence played a role, according to a report from the University of Houston released Wednesday. By 2022, that number had increased to 64.

A RECENT SURGE: As homicides decrease, one deadly night shows how domestic violence is rising in Houston area

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The report brought home that what we see on TV and in newspapers is true, that domestic violence is getting worse, said Amy Smith, senior director of operations and communications with the Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, an organization cited in the report. And we all need to work together to see what the solution is.

A Houston Police Department spokesperson declined to comment, saying department officials were still reviewing the report. The UH findings come in the wake of city officials noting drops in violent crime throughout Houston last year. Those reports, however, did not break out homicides sparked by domestic violence.

'We need help from the community ... legislature'

The local spike in domestic violence homicides was hard to reduce to a simple solution, said Elizabeth Gregory, director of University of Houstons Institute for Research on Woman, Gender and Sexuality and one of the authors of the report. But she said she hoped the report would help convey the scope of the problem, and how state and local entities can reduce the risk of domestic violence homicides through more funding for aid organizations.

The pandemic and resulting lockdowns played some role in domestic violence, but can hardly be the sole reason behind the dramatic increase, she said.

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It seems like one factor that changed since the end of lockdown is the move to permitless carry in Texas, Gregory said. The rise of gun deaths has continued even as the overall homicide rate declines has to play some role.

2023 TEXAS BILL TRACKER: Use this tool to monitor key bills as they move through the state legislature.

Smith echoed much of what Gregory said, explaining that personally, domestic violence experts have witnessed several setbacks in recent years that have complicated their work.

It seems like every time we take a few steps forward, we get pushed back, she said. We are doing everything we can to combat this pandemic of domestic violence. We need help from the community, help from the legislature and from the city and county. We need help.

Houston hurt by lack of resources, state gun laws

Authors of the report interviewed more than 16 administrators for domestic violence organizations around the Houston region, finding that Harris County has just 330 shelter beds, compared to New York City, which has double the population but 10 times as many shelter beds, with 3,500.

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Other findings include guns being listed as responsible for 73 percent of intimate partner deaths between 2019 to 2022, according to the study.

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recent decision ruling it was unconstitutional to keep people who have domestic violence restraining orders from owning guns is just one example in how legislation and court rulings have worsened the problem in recent years, Smith said.

GUN LAW BATTLE: Federal appeals court strikes down domestic violence gun law

Black women were also especially at risk of becoming victims in domestic violence homicides, comprising about 52 percent of those investigated by local agencies, despite Black women only making up 20 percent of the county's female population, according to the report.

After investigating 32 deaths in 2019, deputies and police investigated 46 in 2020 and 60 in 2021, according to the report.

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Smith said a confluence of factors, from Hurricane Harvey through the pandemic, have combined to make the problem especially acute in Harris County and surrounding counties.

The report calls on local organizations to add $1 million per year for five years that would allow for better communication among partner agencies and additional staff to address domestic violence-related issues.
Bestselling novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford, who wrote A Woman Of Substance, has died at the age of 91, it has been announced.

The author died peacefully at her home on Sunday November 24 following a short illness, and was surrounded by loved ones to the very end, a spokeswoman said.

She wrote a total of 40 novels during her career, with her most recent, The Wonder of It All, published last year.

She was often labelled the grand dame of blockbusters, with her books selling more than 91 million copies to date, and having been published in more than 40 languages and in 90 countries.

She was born in Leeds in May 1933, the only child of Winston and Freda Taylor.

She began work as a typist for the Yorkshire Evening Post before she was promoted to reporter and then went on to become the papers first womans editor.

At the age of 20 she moved to London and worked in Fleet Street for Womans Own and the London Evening News.

She met her husband, American film producer Robert Bradford, in 1961 and they fell in love at first sight, marrying in London on Christmas Eve in 1963.

The following year she moved to New York to live with him.

Author Barbara Taylor Bradford poses for pictures after receiving her Most Excellent Order of the British Empire from the Queen at Buckingham Palace in October 2007 (Steve Parsons/PA)

The couple were married for 55 years until he died from a major stroke in 2019.

Taylor Bradford had started and ditched several novels while pursuing her journalistic career  until she hit the big time when A Woman Of Substance was published in 1979, making her an overnight success.

The story followed Emma Hartes journey from life as a servant in rural Yorkshire to heading a business empire, despite numerous personal tragedies along the way.

It became a huge bestseller and was followed by many other successful books.

A TV adaptation of A Woman Of Substance followed in 1985, and starred Liam Neeson with Jenny Seagrove playing Emma Harte. It aired on Channel 4 and went on to garner two Emmy nominations including for six-time Oscar nominee Deborah Kerr, who played a grown-up Emma.

Seagrove said: Its 1984 and I am about to meet the world-famous legend that is Barbara Taylor Bradford. I have starred in a mini-series made of her bestselling novel A Woman Of Substance and it really matters to me that she is pleased. I am a young actress and very nervous.

The door opens and all I can say is that a powerhouse of glamour and warmth heads towards me, grabs me, hugs me, and says You are my Emma Harte. And that was the start of a long friendship with the force of nature that I am proud to call my friend  Barbara Taylor Bradford.

We saw each other whenever she and her beloved Bob were in London. I did Hold The Dream for them as another mini-series.

We shared dog stories  we are both besotted  and talked about everything under the sun. She never changed. Success never diluted her warmth and humour or her ability to relate to everyone she met, whether a cleaner or a princess. She never, ever forgot that she was just a girl from Yorkshire that worked hard and made good. RIP dear friend.

The author later published A Man Of Honour, the prequel to A Woman Of Substance, which starts five years before the original and follows the fortunes of Blackie ONeill, who leaves Co Kerry for Leeds to build a better life, and meets kitchen maid Emma Harte.

Other books also became serials including The Ravenscar Trilogy, which began in the Edwardian era and traced the DeRavenel familys loves and businesses, The Cavendon series, focussing on the changing fortunes of an aristocratic line, and the Victorian-set trilogy The House of Falconer Series.

Other TV adaptations of her books included ITVs Act Of Will starring Elizabeth Hurley and Victoria Tennant, and To Be The Best, a sequel to A Woman Of Substance with Lindsay Wagner, Stephanie Beacham and Sir Anthony Hopkins.

Lynne Drew, her long-term publisher and editor at HarperCollins, said working with her was a huge privilege but also a huge amount of fun.

She added: Perennially curious, interested in everyone and extraordinarily driven, she loved writing and the conversations we had about her characters were unfailingly the best hours of my week.

Dominating the bestseller lists, she broke new ground with her sweeping epic novels spanning generations, novels which were resolutely not romances, and she epitomised the woman of substance she created, particularly with her ruthless work ethic.

She was an inspiration for millions of readers and countless writers.

Taylor Bradford was made an OBE in 2007 for services to literature.

Charlie Redmayne, chief executive of publisher HarperCollins, said: Barbara Taylor Bradford was a truly exceptional writer whose first book, the international bestseller A Woman Of Substance, changed the lives of so many who read it  and still does to this day.

She was a natural storyteller, deeply proud of her Yorkshire roots  she would regale us of her time working on the Yorkshire Evening Post with fellow reporter Keith Waterhouse and trainee photographer Peter OToole, the dawn of the Soho cafe society, and the many happy years shared with the love of her life, her husband, Bob.

For 45 years, she was a huge part of our company and a great, great friend  we will miss her so much  but there is some solace in the knowledge that she is now, once again, alongside her beloved Bob. A life well-lived

Author Barbara Taylor Bradford was made an OBE for services to literature in 2007 (Martin Keene/PA)

Taylor Bradford also contributed to charity work, including as an ambassador for the National Literacy Trust in the UK and serving on the Board of Literacy Partners in the US.

On X, the trust said: We are deeply saddened by the passing of Barbara Taylor Bradford. She was a passionate ambassador over many years. We are incredibly grateful that her work continues to leave a lasting literacy legacy.

She was awarded several honorary doctorates of letters in the US and UK, such as the University of Leeds, the University of Bradford, Connecticuts Post University, and New York institutions Siena College and Mount Saint Mary College.

Taylor Bradford was also on the board of directors of Literacy Partners US, the Police Athletic League and Reporters Without Borders, a patron of the Leeds Library, and the first recipient of Women in Journalisms lifetime achievement award.

The Yorkshire Society, where Taylor Bradford has been a vice president, wrote that she has left a wonderful legacy.

Women in Journalism called her an inspiration for so many women journalists.

Following a private funeral in New York, the author will be buried alongside her late husband at the citys Westchester Hills Cemetery.
Barclays has been hit with a 40 million fine after abandoning a court battle with the UKs financial watchdog over deals struck with Qatari investors during the 2008 financial crisis.

The bank had been due to challenge the Financial Conduct Authoritys (FCA) decision in the Upper Tribunal court in London this week.

But it said it had decided to drop the appeal, shortly before proceedings were set to begin.

The FCA previously found that the bank paid hundreds of millions of pounds in fees to certain Qatari entities in exchange for billions of pounds worth of investment to keep it afloat at the height of the financial crisis.

In particular, Barclays paid one Qatari entity 322 million in fees in exchange for its participation over a number of years, which it did not tell shareholders about.

The FCA said its conduct at the time was reckless and lacked integrity and that there was no legitimate reason or excuse for not being transparent.

However, on Monday, the regulator said it recognised that the decisions were made many years ago, when big and complex capital fundraises were taking place under considerable market pressure.

During the global financial crisis, NatWest, formerly the Royal Bank of Scotland, was bailed out by the government for billions of pounds.

The government also stepped in to take a significant stake in Lloyds, in a bid to stabilise the UKs banking sector and stop the crisis escalating.

Barclays avoided a taxpayer-backed rescue with a 4 billion investment deal.

The FCAs fine has been reduced from 50 million to 40 million following Barclays decision to drop the appeal.

Steve Smart, the FCAs joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said on Monday: Barclays misconduct was serious and meant investors did not have all the information they should have had.

However, the events took place over 16 years ago and we recognise that Barclays is a very different organisation today, having implemented change across the business.

Barclays said it wants to draw a line under the issue in view of the time elapsed since the events took place.

However, it stressed that it does not agree with the FCAs fine, despite deciding not to pursue an appeal in court on Monday.

A spokeswoman for Barclays said: Barclays does not accept the findings of the decision notices and this has been acknowledged by the FCA.

Notwithstanding the difference of view, Barclays has concluded that the interests of the bank, its shareholders and other stakeholders are best served by withdrawing the references.

The bank said there would be no significant impact on its finances from the fine because it had already set aside money to cover the provisional penalty imposed in 2022.
CBI chief hits out at Reeves after firms face heavy burden from tax rises

Rachel Reeves Budget caught firms off guard and will undermine investment and jobs, the head of one of Britains leading business groups has said.

Rain Newton-Smith, chief executive of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said profit is not a dirty word because it underpins firms ability to invest, but the Governments actions have hampered that.

The Chancellor is expected to tell the organisation later on Monday there is no alternative to tax rises as she holds firm against criticism of the 25 billion increase in firms national insurance contributions (NICs).

Ms Newton-Smith welcomed the new political and economic stability offered by the Government after the turbulence of the Conservative years, but condemned the way firms have been blindsided by the increase in NICs and the lowering of the threshold at which they start to be paid.

She warned it will make it more difficult to achieve the economic growth sought by Ms Reeves and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

What really defines growth is the decisions made in boardrooms up and down the country, she told the CBIs conference in London.

CBI chief Rain Newton-Smith said firms have been caught off guard by the scale of the national insurance increase (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Its CFOs (chief financial officers) asking Can we afford to invest? Can we afford to expand? Can we afford to take a chance on new people?

Well, after the Budget, the answer were hearing from so many firms is still not yet.

The rise in national insurance, the stark lowering of the threshold, caught us all off guard.

Along with the expansion and the rise of the National Living Wage  which everyone wants to accommodate  and the potential cost of the Employment Rights Bill, they put a heavy burden on business.

(PA Graphics)

In the Budget, the Chancellor announced around a 70 billion increase in public spending, funded through tax rises and increased borrowing.

Labour also raised the minimum wage, in a move praised by workers groups and unions, but which businesses have said will force them to pass on some costs to consumers, hire fewer people or make less profit.

In a message to the Government, Ms Newton-Smith said ministers must work more closely with businesses in future after the shock of the Budget.

Tax rises like this must never again be simply done to business. Thats the road to unintended consequences, she warned.

She said farmers have to contend not only with the increase in NICs and labour costs, but also the changes to inheritance tax reliefs.

Some see those solely as personal taxes, but these are companies where the professional is truly personal, and too many are fearful for the impact, fearful they cant pass on their livelihoods to future generations.

She said across the business world margins are being squeezed, profits are being hit by a tough trading environment that just got tougher.

But profit is not a bad thing, its not a dirty word  it is the money used to invest and grow.

If youre a multinational, profits create projects that create new jobs in the UK rather than elsewhere. And if youre a low-margin business, profits are pay rises, health benefits, investment in technology.

Ms Newton-Smith said the need for greater growth is existential for the UK.

We face a storm of challenges, global protectionism, an ageing population at home, a need to invest in our infrastructure, our people and our communities.

In a reference to the election of Donald Trump in the US, she highlighted the spectre of rising protectionism and sabre-rattling from across the pond.

The Guardian reported that Ms Reeves is expected to use the conference to say: I have heard lots of responses to the Governments first Budget but I have heard no alternatives.

A Government spokesman said: Last month we delivered a once-in-Parliament Budget to wipe the slate clean and deliver change by investing to repair the NHS and rebuild Britain, while ensuring working people dont face higher taxes in their payslips.

That meant difficult choices to repair the public finances and to put public finances on a firmer footing. However, the alternatives were more austerity, more decline and more instability that would have left businesses and working people worse off.
Cheers and emotional reunions as Irish peacekeepers touch down on home soil

There were emotional scenes at Dublin Airport as Irish peacekeepers received a warm welcome home after six months in Lebanon.

The arrivals hall at Terminal 1 was packed with family and friends of more than 200 troops who had spent the last six months serving with the UN in southern Lebanon during escalating hostilities in the Middle East.

Many held banners which read messages including welcome home son and Sgt Molloy report for daddy duty, as scores of young children waved Irish and United Nations flags as they waited for the sliding doors to open and reveal their loved ones.

There was a huge cheer as the doors opened to reveal the first of the Irish Defence Forces walking through to be reunited with their loved ones, and tears as parents, spouses and children got long-awaited hugs.

Irish troops escaped injury last month when a military camp where they were based was struck by a rocket during fighting between the Israel Defence Forces and Hezbollah.

Camp Shamrock, known as United Nations Post 2-45, is a short distance from the Israeli border and is close to areas controlled by Hezbollah militants.

Families and friends waiting at Terminal 1 of Dublin Airport (Liam McBurney/PA)

United Nations Interim Force Lebanon (Unifil) has described any deliberate attack on peacekeepers as a grave violation of international humanitarian law and Security Council resolution 1701 (2006).

The Irish troops were part of the 124th Infantry Battalion, Unifil, drawn from the 7th Infantry Battalion based at Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin.

They were deployed from May as part of Unifil supporting Chapter 6 Peace Support Operations, as part of 341 personnel also drawn from Malta, Poland and Hungary.

The Irish force was aged from 19 to 58, and included 92 travelling overseas for the first time with the Defence Forces.

Killian Rowan, aged seven, waits for his uncle, Private Luke Rowan (Liam McBurney/PA)

Among those waiting were the grandparents, parents and girlfriend of Private Jack Cassidy, 24.

His grandfather Michael Cassidy held a home sweet home sign as well as a Co Meath flag as they waited.

He said they were incredibly proud of Pte Cassidy, saying he always wanted to help people from a young age.

Irish Defence Forces were returning home after a six-month deployment in south Lebanon (Liam McBurney/PA)

While they had been worried about events in southern Lebanon during his tour, they described an incredibly proud day as they waited for him to return safely home.

Weve seen some things on television that left us wondering all right, he said.

Hes always been involved with helping people.

Daniel Keenan from Belfast was also among the troops greeted by family. He said it is harder for the families than for the troops themselves.

Its harder on them. When were out there, were thinking about what is ahead of us on the mission, patrolling. We have all the comradery and brotherhood to keep us going, he said.

Calvin Conway is reunited with his son Rian, three, and girlfriend Nicole OFlaherty (Liam McBurney/PA)

He said the uncertainty was challenging.

It was getting through day by day, you didnt know when you were getting showers, food and so on, but it was grand, he said.

Calvin Conway was reunited with his young son Rian as he walked through arrivals, and paid tribute to his family at home doing all of the work.

I got home on leave for his first day at school so that turned out well, but hes grown even since then, he said.

Its great to be home, and Im sure a lot of Christmas shopping has been planned for me.
Communities in England and Wales are starting a massive clean-up after torrential rain and widespread flooding from Storm Bert over the weekend.

Residents in affected areas have said they do not believe the chaos will by cleared by Christmas, as the Environment Secretary Steve Reed said the UKs flood defences were in the worst condition on record.

Mr Reed also said more flooding is likely this week but should have a less severe impact than has been seen so far.

Hundreds of homes were left under water, roads were turned into rivers and winds of more than 80mph were recorded across parts of the UK.

A man in his 80s died after his car entered water at a ford in Colne, Lancashire, on Saturday, while a body was found in the search for Brian Perry, 75, who went missing while walking his dog near the Afon Conwy river in North Wales on the same day.

More than 130 flood warnings and 160 alerts remained in place across the UK on Monday.

A severe flood warning, meaning there is danger to life, has been issued for Billing Aquadrome holiday park and the surrounding parks next to the River Nene in Northampton.

People waded through deep water on Monday to escape the flooding, holding carrier bags containing their belongings.

Caravans were flooded at Billing Aquadrome holiday park, Northamptonshire (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

Stan Brown, 67, who has lived on the Billing Aquadrome park for 25 years, said he has had enough and felt he had no choice but to move away.

He said: Ive got somewhere else to go but Im one of the few. Other people have spent their life savings to buy a place on there, and now theyve got nowhere else to go.

Cwmtillery, a former mining community in South Wales, suffered an apparent landslip during the storm on Sunday, with many people asked to leave their homes overnight after mud and water came up to just below their windows.

Luc Robertson, who lives in Woodland Terrace in the village, said: We just didnt expect it, we havent prepared for it or anything, but obviously just glad that nobodys injured.

Residents in Cwmtillery were asked to leave their homes after a landslip (George Thompson/PA)

All the debris, thats whats caused the carnage, its going to be a massive clean-up, she added.

Rob Scholes, 75, who went back to check the damage to his house on Monday after being moved out, said: My neighbour phoned and said dont open your front door, so I didnt and we just watched it come up.

To be honest, I really dont think were going to get this cleared up by Christmas, he added.

Welsh Water has issued a boil water notice to customers in 10 areas in South Wales, advising that their tap water may be contaminated because of flooding and must be boiled until further notice.

(PA Graphics)

A major incident was declared in the Rhondda Cynon Taf region on Sunday after between 200 and 300 properties were affected by flooding.

In a statement on Monday, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said it had issued flood warnings before the downpour but there was no silver bullet to managing the flood risk, after criticism of the warnings from a local council leader.

The Environment Secretary said the Government was allocating more money this winter to upgrade flood defences faster.

He said: This Government inherited from the previous government flood defences that are in the worst condition on record.

The area around the Billing Aquadrome in Northamptonshire has been flooded (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

Now weve allocated in the budget 2.4 billion to upgrade our flood defences, better maintain those we already have, build new flood defences to keep people safe.

Mr Reed added the Government would stand ready to offer whatever further support we can for those worst affected in Wales.

He later told the Commons: Further flooding is sadly likely over the next few days as water levels rise in slower flowing rivers such as the Severn and the Ouse.

The Environment Agency anticipates that any impacts should be less severe than we have seen in recent days.

Storm Bert is only just slowly pulling away from the UK on Monday, leading to a mixture of sunny spells and showers for many, according to the Met Office.

Frequent showers are expected in Scotland, Northern Ireland, northern England, Wales and the West Country, with sunnier, drier weather across parts of the Midlands and south-east England.

Blustery showers in the north and west this afternoon with more general heavy rain in northwest Scotland  Windy in northern areas with gales in exposed locations  Drier and sunnier in the south and east and feeling cooler than on Sunday  pic.twitter.com/auueyfbaaO  Met Office (@metoffice) November 25, 2024

A new yellow rain warning in a north west area of the Scottish Highlands has been issued by the forecaster until 11.59pm on Monday, with 50mm to 70mm of rainfall and snow melt expected to cause flooding.

Rail passengers have been urged not to travel between Broxbourne, Hertfordshire and Stansted Airport after several fallen trees damaged overhead wires.

London Northwestern Railway said no rail services would operate through Northampton due to the River Nene bursting its banks and Great Western Railways warned passengers not to travel as it suspended services on all key routes.

Transport for Wales said all services between Pontypridd and Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil are currently cancelled with disruption expected throughout Monday.

(PA Graphics)

Services between Lancaster and Barrow-in-Furness in Lancashire will not run until Friday because of heavy flooding.

Fire crews rescued 57 children and one adult from school bus after it became stranded in flood water on Eckington Bridge in Worcestershire on Monday, Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service said.

West Mercia Police said they were investigating an incident circulating on social media, in which a tractor drove through flood water in Tenbury Wells on Sunday, allegedly damaging nearby premises.

Louise Preston, 20, who co-owns pottery shop Pitter Potter in the town, said it had been heart-warming to see the community spirit in the clean up efforts.

Communities have faced high levels of floodwater (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

She said the business had lost a window, adding: Weve had police support officers down, the firemen were marvellous yesterday, Tesco has been giving people free cleaning materials.

The cafes, who themselves have suffered, have been donating free tea and coffee to everybody.

About 350,000 homes in England lost power during the storm, though most have since been reconnected.

Some areas saw more than 130mm of rain in 24 hours on Sunday.
Residents who have ploughed in their life savings to live at a holiday park have been evacuated for a fourth time this year and now have nowhere to go.

Deep flooding has again forced people to leave the Billing Aquadrome in Northamptonshire as a danger to life warning remains in place after Storm Bert hit the county.

People could be seen wading through deep water on Monday morning to escape the flooding holding carrier bags containing their belongings.

West Northamptonshire Council said the holiday park was being evacuated with assistance from Northamptonshire Search and Rescue and Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service after significant flooding hit the county overnight.

People are being evacuated from the flooding (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

It added that water levels continue to rise on the River Nene at the holiday park and nearby business parks, and that the water is deep and fast flowing.

A rest centre is being provided at Lings Forum Leisure Centre for those displaced by the flooding, as many try to book hotels until they can go back to their homes.

It comes as hundreds of homes were left under water and winds of more than 80mph were recorded across parts of the UK.

Emergency services near the holiday park (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

Stan Brown, 67, has lived on the Billing Aquadrome for 25 years but says he has had enough and feels he has no choice but to move away after this round of flooding.

Speaking outside The Quays pub by the holiday park as he waits to be able to leave, he said: Its four times this year, so thats it, Ive just had enough. Enough is enough. Ive lost a lot of money.

Some people ploughed in their life savings and this happens. Ive lost 140,000. Thats just my lodge that I own.

Stan Brown is moving away because of the frequent flooding (Sophie Robinson/PA)

Everyones upset because theres no system in place to get you off the park as fast as they want. Its rubbish, absolute rubbish.

Ive got somewhere else to go but Im one of the few. Other people have spent their life savings to buy a place on there, and now theyve got nowhere else to go.

Residents described the sirens sounding on Sunday night, as they grabbed bags of possessions and left their homes at around 3.30am.

Another resident, who did not want to be named, said the mood on Monday morning was low and many of her neighbours hope to move away soon.

She said: Everyone knows when you hear the sirens you have got to go. But now some of us are still stuck here and a lot of the roads are closed. A lot are stranded here.

A man, who also wished to stay anonymous, spoke outside the Billing convenience store while waiting for his hotel room, and said: Why cant they dig it out somewhere else and make another reservoir so when it does flood, it doesnt flood here? It will fill that up rather than flood Northampton and here.

Floodwater covers parts of the Billing Aquadrome (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

The waters got to go somewhere but it shouldnt have to fill up here.

Northamptonshire fire and police services received a high number of calls overnight from people in properties and on roads impacted by the flooding, the council said.

It added that the issues are widespread across the county, including in Towcester, Weedon, Lower Harlestone and the St Andrews Road area.

The councils highways teams have received over 160 calls so far reporting flooding and fallen trees.
An appeals court in the US has denied disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwells bid to have her previously rejected appeal against her conviction for sex trafficking reconsidered.

Court documents show Maxwell filed a request to judges on the second circuit in the southern district of New York for a panel rehearing  requesting the court reconsider its decision.

The 62-year-old was found guilty in December 2021 of luring young girls to massage rooms for paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein to molest between 1994 and 2004.

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell (US Department of Justice/PA)

She was sentenced to 20 years in prison at the federal court in the southern district of New York (SDNY) in June 2022.

Her appeal was rejected in September, with three judges  Jose Cabranes, Richard Wesley and Raymond Lohier Jr  ruling that she was not the subject of an unfair trial.

Maxwells lawyers previously argued that she should never have been prosecuted because of a weird agreement drafted more than 15 years ago.

The judges dismissed her arguments, concluding that the non-prosecution agreement drafted in Florida does not bind the United States Attorneys Office for SDNY.

Septembers judgment also dismissed Maxwells claims that she did not have a fair trial after it emerged one of the jurors, Scotty David, failed to disclose he had been sexually abused in his pre-trial questionnaire.

During her three-week trial, jurors heard prosecutors describe Maxwell as dangerous, and were told details of how she helped entice vulnerable teenagers to Epsteins various properties for him to sexually abuse.

Maxwell has been incarcerated since July 2020, despite numerous attempts from her defence counsel to have her released on bail.

Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.

The death was ruled a suicide.
An eight-year-old girl was seriously injured when she was shot in an appalling incident in west London.

The child, who is now in a stable condition, and a 34-year-old man who was also injured were taken to hospital after being shot in Southern Row, Ladbroke Grove, just after 5.30pm on Sunday, the Metropolitan Police said.

A 32-year-old woman was also taken to hospital as a precaution but was not hurt.

Superintendent Owen Renowden said on Monday: This is an appalling incident that has left two people seriously injured, including a young girl who thankfully is in a stable condition this morning.

We are appealing for information following a shooting in Southern Row, W10 at 5.30pm on Sunday A man and 8-year-old girl were injured. The childs injuries are not life-threatening If you can help, call 101 ref CAD5238/24novhttps://t.co/fNiMkcFaB6  Kensington & Chelsea Police | Central West BCU (@MPSKenChel) November 25, 2024

I am appealing to the public who may have been in the area at the time of the shooting.

Did you hear any gunshots around 5.30pm yesterday evening? Did you see anyone fleeing from the area?

We are keen to hear from anyone who may have any information surrounding this incident. Your information matters, no matter how insignificant you may think it is.

The girls injuries are not life-threatening, the Metropolitan Police said, and officers are awaiting an update on the mans condition.

Witnesses can contact police on 101, giving the reference CAD5238/24NOV, or, to remain anonymous, contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online.
Girl, eight, shot as she sat in car with her parents and two-year-old sibling

The eight-year-old girl injured in a double shooting in west London was in a car with her parents and two-year-old sibling when a gunman opened fire, police have revealed.

Her 34-year-old father has been left with potentially life-changing injuries and the girl was undergoing surgery on Monday but is in a stable condition, the Metropolitan Police said.

The pair were hurt in Southern Row, Ladbroke Grove, west London, just after 5.30pm on Sunday.

(PA Graphics)

Speaking at the scene of the shooting on Monday, Superintendent Owen Renowden said: Last night at approximately 5.30pm we received numerous 999 calls to Southern Row reporting that shots had been fired, that a number of people in a vehicle had been injured.

We immediately dispatched units to the scene, including local officers from the emergency response teams on the borough, supported by armed officers from the specialist firearms command.

On arrival, officers located a 34-year-old man and an eight-year-old girl who had sustained serious gunshot injuries.

Also present in the car were a two-year-old child and a 32-year-old woman who were thankfully unharmed.

Thanking members of the public who came to help the family, he also revealed that a 22-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

Sharon, who was in the area to visit her mother, told the PA news agency: The guy was shooting directly into a car.

A police cordon at the scene on Southern Grove in Ladbroke Grove, west London (Aaron Chown/PA)

I was literally coming out of the exit to my mums block of flats and as I was going out I saw a guy shooting into the car multiple times.

He was firing directly, like at close range, as if youre standing to open a door, they were shooting directly into it.

I was completely in shock and I just ran back up the stairs because I was really scared.

Then I looked and I heard screaming afterwards, and then people coming out to call the police.

Sharon, who did not wish to give her surname, added: Ive noticed in the last several years, it has become a lot more unsafe for the people here.

Another witness, aged 64, who spoke to Metro, described the girls mother shouting.

My statement following the shooting in Golborne last night. I urge anyone with information, however small, to contact 101 as soon as possible, referencing CAD5238/24NOV, or to call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously at 0800 555 111. These senseless acts of pic.twitter.com/ICCB3g1Ioi  Joe Powell MP (@josephpowell) November 25, 2024

I heard shots, and then a woman shouting, My baby, my babys been shot it makes me sick to think about it now.

There were four or five shots, there was screaming, its horrible. A neighbour went out with a duvet to cover the injured.

A woman living near the scene, who did not want to be named, said she was scared after the shooting.

She was in her kitchen cooking and thought fireworks were going off, before armed police arrived and she discovered what had happened.

Local MP Joe Powell said several incidents in the area recently had left residents in fear.

In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, the Labour politician who represents Kensington and Bayswater, said: These senseless acts of violence have no place on our streets.

We are appealing for information following a shooting in Southern Row, W10 at 5.30pm on Sunday A man and 8-year-old girl were injured. The childs injuries are not life-threatening If you can help, call 101 ref CAD5238/24novhttps://t.co/fNiMkcFaB6  Kensington & Chelsea Police | Central West BCU (@MPSKenChel) November 25, 2024

I know residents in the local community will be rightly concerned for their safety after several recent incidents in the neighbourhood.

We must work together to better prevent these horrific crimes from happening, and hold those responsible to account.

In August in a separate incident, 15-year-old Rene Graham was shot dead streets away from the scene of Sundays shooting, at an event in the run up to Notting Hill Carnival.

Earlier on Monday, Mr Renowden appealed for witnesses to come forward, saying: This is an appalling incident that has left two people seriously injured, including a young girl who thankfully is in a stable condition this morning.

I am appealing to the public who may have been in the area at the time of the shooting. Did you hear any gunshots around 5.30pm yesterday evening? Did you see anyone fleeing from the area?

We are keen to hear from anyone who may have any information surrounding this incident. Your information matters, no matter how insignificant you may think it is.

Witnesses can contact police on 101, giving the reference CAD5238/24NOV, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online.
A grown-up debate is required about the future of the Grangemouth refinery, a senior official from its owners has said.

Petroineos announced in September the refinery will close in the second quarter of next year, putting 400 jobs at risk.

Both the Scottish and UK governments as well as trade unions have hit out at the announcement, with Petroineos repeatedly being urged to pause the decision to allow for a transition.

The firm claims it is making heavy losses at the site, with a 150 million loss expected this year.

Writing in the Daily Record, regional head of legal and external affairs at Petroineos Iain Hardie said it was not too late to develop a future for the site, but he lamented the tone of the debate since the announcement.

The men and women who work at Grangemouth deserve a more intelligent debate about their future than the one being played out by politicians and trade unions, who are naturally defensive at having missed the opportunities we gave them several years ago to talk to us about an orderly and fair transition away from fossil fuels to cleaner energy, he wrote.

What is happening in #Grangemouth is an act of industrial vandalism. @unitetheunion will not allow Scotlands only refinery to be mothballed with the loss of hundreds of jobs. We will not allow a jobless transition or for net zero to create working class wastelands. pic.twitter.com/DGuDMDJWRo  Sharon Graham (@UniteSharon) November 14, 2024

Despite meaningless statements about pausing the closure or confusing suggestions that the refinery can become a biofuels plant overnight, politicians and the trade unions have left it too late.

But it is not too late for us all to co-develop a bright future for Grangemouth, producing low-carbon fuel and eventually creating hundreds of jobs here again.

Mr Hardie added: If we want to seize new opportunities, rebuild Grangemouth as a modern, thriving manufacturing site and treat the workforce with respect and fairness, we urgently need a more grown-up debate that focuses more on the future than on the past.

We will all be failing if we dont make that happen. We have long been ready to play our part.

A letter from Sharon Graham, the general secretary of the trade union Unite, to UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband last week said the refinery could be converted to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) relatively easily, something Petroineos rejects.

Later in the week, the unions Scotland regional secretary told MSPs the companys books gave a distorted picture of the financial situation at the plant, which the firm also rejected.

Acting energy secretary Gillian Martin said: We have made clear our extreme disappointment that Petroineos has made the commercial decision to cease refining at the site in the second quarter of 2025. Despite sustained and concerted efforts by both governments, Petroineos have opted not to continue operations at the site for longer to allow a longer transition timeline for the workers.

Our focus now is on delivering immediate support for affected workers to secure new jobs and give access to any necessary training, and to secure a sustainable, just transition for the wider Grangemouth industrial cluster.

With the UK Government we are providing funding to support Petroineos exploration of viable options for the future of the site via the Project Willow cross-site study and look forward to exploring routes to supporting the future phases of low carbon projects at Grangemouth via the UK Governments national wealth fund.

Project Willow is building on earlier studies funded by the Scottish Government with the refinery operators and is being accompanied by accelerated and focused work on inward investment into the area by Scottish Enterprise.
Two new Taco Bell restaurants are expected to open some time in 2025, with construction at the Houston location projected to wrap by December and in May in Katy, according to the TDLR website. Taco Bell Bojangles brought its southern-style comfort foods to the Houston area with a location in Webster in 2024. Several new locations are planned for 2025. Bojangles Golden Chick has three new restaurants projected to open in 2025, with construction at the West Parker Rd. and South Sam Houston Parkway sites expected to wrap up by December, according to TDLR filings. Golden Chick

Whether its a dependable standby, a familiar tradition from childhood or a buzzy new concept, there is always a fast food or fast casual restaurant nearby.

Houston may be one of the more multifaceted food destination cultures in the U.S., but fast-food and comfort food dine-in chains keep the culinary experiences stripped down.

From the old-school traditions of McDonalds and Waffle House to the newish-to-Houston school of chains such as Bojangles, Tim Hortons, and Golden Chick, 2025 brings expanded options inside and outside the Loop.

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These fast food and comfort food restaurant chains expected to open locations in the Houston area in 2025, according to recent filings with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. All dates in TDLR filings, which are required by the state for compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act, are estimates and could change.

McDonald's - Katy, Tomball, Houston

Address: 24730 Morton Ranch Road, Katy.

Address: FM 2920 and Cypress Rosehill, Tomball.

Address: 2249 W. Holcombe. Bvld.

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Address: 10170 Hammerly Blvd., Houston.

According to recent TDLR filings, four new McDonalds restaurants are projected to open in Katy, Tomball and Houston.

There is a McDonald's on every continent in the world except Antarctica, according to the company's website. Four planned new restaurants in Houston's regional market are a drop in a very large McNuggets bucket.

Since the first location opened in 1940 in San Bernardino, California, this fast-food staple has been a popular culture institution: from the two-all-beef-patties-special-sauce-lettuce-cheese-pickles-onions-on-a-sesame-seed-bun Big Mac commercial of the 1970s to the Pharrell Williams/Justin Timberlake-penned Im Lovin It jingle of the 2000s.

The McDonalds offerings stay on the pop culture radar by mixing things up, with ideas such as celebrity collaborations, from the McJordan Special of the 1990s after Michael Jordan, to more recent partnerships with Mariah Carey and hip-hop artists Travis Scott, Saweetie, Cardi B and Offset.

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Taco Bell - Katy

Address: 1210 W. Orem Dr., Houston.

Address: 3130 FM, Katy.

At least two new Taco Bell restaurants are expected to open some time in 2025, with construction at the Houston location projected to wrap by December and in Katy in May, according to the TDLR website.

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There are the street tacos at food trucks, traditional tacos of the neighborhood taqueria and the gentrified tacos of Tex Mex restaurants.

Then there is Taco Bell, founded in 1962 by entrepreneur, Glen Bell. In the 1940s, tacos were unfamiliar to many Americans and Bell helped popularize the hard-shell crispy taco, according to Taco Bell website.

The chain is continually inventing new concepts, such as the recent introduction of the Chaco Taco, inspired by the ice cream treat, or bringing back familiar favorites.

Whataburger - Fulshear and Spring Branch

Address: 14240 US Hwy. 281, N. Spring Branch.

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Address: 29639 FM 1093 Rd., Fulshear, Fort Bend County.

Two new Whataburgers are slated to wrap constuction by this December, according to TDLR filings.

Its What-A-Burger, not water burger.

Whataburgers orange and white stripes are a Texas staple and brand, with its twangy voice-over commercials  including country artist Mel Tillis in the 1980s  touting the next new menu item, such as the Bacon Blaze Jalapeno Double burger that debuted in October, or the mispronunciation of the chain's famous name.

Waffle House - Conroe

Address: 906 West Davis Street, Conroe

Waffle House, the 24-hour diner that never sleeps, is expected to open a new restaurant in Conroe by June. Waffle House, according to the company website, opened its first location in 1955. The restaurant is famous for its diner-style dining and southern comfort foods.

Most Waffle House locations serve breakfast, lunch and dinner all day and all night, ideal for early risers and late-nighters.

From its menu of waffles, pancakes, biscuits, steak and eggs, chicken fried steak, burgers and shakes to the diner-style layout, Waffle House keeps it simple.

Dunkin - Houston

Address: 1337 Gessner Road, Houston.

Construction on a new Dunkin restaurant in Houston is expected to start in December and end by May 2025, according to the TDLR.

The Boston-bred Dunkin, formerly Dunkin Donuts, opened its first location in 1950 by William Rosenberg. According to Dunkin lore, Rosenberg had noticed customers dunking their pastries in their coffee at his coffee shop, and Dunkin Donuts was born.

There are now 12,500 restaurants in 46 countries, including the more than 9,000 in the U.S., and whether its a dozen glazed, filled, sprinkled, iced or in Munchkin form, or seasonal specialties, Dunkin is still serving by the dozens.

Shipley Do-Nuts - Houston

Address: 7016 Elyson Exchange Way, Cypress, Houston.

Dunkin is expected to open a new shop in Houston some time in 2025. According to a recent TDLR filing, construction on a new store is expected to start in January 2025 and wrap by May.

It's another staple but this one is a home-grown favorite. Shipley was born in Houston at a shop on 1417 Crockett Street that sold donuts by the dozen for five cents, according to the Shipley website.

Lawrence Shipley Sr. is credited with inventing the glazed donut concept and making the donuts throughout the day so that would be fresh. His son, Lawrence Jr. would expand and today Dunkins remains concentrated in the southern portion of U.S., including more than 330 locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas.

Chipotle - La Porte

Address: 1001 N Hwy 146, La Porte.

Chipotle is projected to start construction on a new location in La Porte in January 2025 with a May completion date, according to a TDLR filing.

The Chipotle menu of tacos, burritos, burrito bowls, and salads is inspired by traditional Mexican food.

Founded by current CEO Steve Ells in the early 1990s, Chipotle riffed on the concept of taking the Mexican dishes Ells enjoyed at taquerias in San Franciscos Mission District and putting them in a fast-casual setting, according to the company website.

The brands recent rollout of a smoked brisket offering expands on the Chipotle concept of using traditional meats and spices used in Mexican cuisine in a fast and convenient format.

Tim Hortons - Cypress and Houston

Address: 15921 JFK Blvd., Ste. 200, Houston

Address: 11430 Barker Cypress Road, Cypress

More coffee please. This Canadian-based coffee chain will further expand its Houston market with new locations in Cypress and near George Bush International Airport in Houston, making them the fifth and sixth locations in the region.

According to recent TDLR filings, construction on both locations were scheduled to start in October and wrap up by late summer 2025.

New to the Houston area, Tim Hortons began putting its breakfasts, sandwiches, wraps and specialty coffees on the Houston foodie map in 2022, committing to opening 30 locations over the next several years.

Black Bear Diner - Tomball

Address: 25517 N. Grand Parkway West, Tomball

This California-based franchise is slated to complete construction on a new Tomball restaurant by May, according to a filing with the TDLR.

Diner-style comfort foods are served in California and Texas-sized portions at its nine Houston area locations. The Black Bear Diner experience includes menu items such as chicken-fried steak, burgers, steak and eggs, French toast, corned beef hash, biscuits and gravy, grits, meatloaf and pancakes.

Each restaurant comes with a variety of merchandise, a jukebox and a West Coast wilderness-inspired decor, including the bear statues.

The chain was founded in 1995 by Bruce Dean and Bob Manley in Mount Shasta, California and arrived in the Houston area with a Pasadena restaurant, part of the chain's expansion into Texas, CEO Anita Adams told the Chronicle in 2022.

Our founders wanted every Black Dear Diner location to reflect the natural beauty and sweeping landscapes of northern California and make sure every guest feels at home and comfortable when enjoying a meal with us, Adams said.

Salad and Go - Cypress

Address: 14050 Grant Road, Cypress.

Salad and Go is expected to complete construction on a new Cypress location by December, adding to its Houston area market expansion.

The Salad and Go concept originated in 2013 when patrons at a high-end Arizona restaurant wanted a fast-casual, convenient option for a fresh Caesar salad.

They thought it would be great to make this available outside of a fine-dining environment, and they partnered with that chef (Daniel Patino) to open Salad and Go, Linda Neukirchner, the company's vice president of marketing, told the Chronicle in 2023 on the eve of opening a League City restaurant.

Freshness and cost are the company's motto, said Neukirchner.

When you think of a salad you would get at a fast-food place, it's small and sad, and kind of like a bag salad, she said. We are vertically integrated in these markets because we have a food-processing facility in each market, and we can get the food to the restaurants as soon as possible.

Bojangles - Houston, Baytown, League City

Address: 9534 Fry Road, Cypress, Houston.

Address: 8239 N Hwy 146, Baytown.

Address: 401 E League City Pkwy, League City.

Address: 19230 W Bellfort, Richmond.

Bojangles is projected to open three Houston area locations between mid to late 2025, and one in Baytown by December, according to previous Chronicle reporting and the TDLR website. The new restaurants are part of the company's fresh footprints in the Houston region, which include a League City location that opened in the fall.

The family-friendly Bojangles experience was established in the late 1970s, but only recently arrived in the Houston area.

The company has over 800 restaurants across the southern region of the U.S. and tailors menus to each region. In Texas, the focuses is on the chicken tenders and buscuits, freshly hand-breaded from a scratch kitchen and made to order.

Our focus is going to be on a high level of service and that southern hospitality, and I think the food will speak for itself, said David Higgins, a partner with HTX Chicken, the Bojangles franchise group in the Southeast Houston region, to the Chronicle before the League City opening. It was a perfect for Houston in our mind.

Golden Chick - Houston

Address: 10966 Grant Rd., Houston.

Address: 233 West Parker Road, Houston.

Address: 11418 South Sam Houston Parkway E, Suite No. 200, Houston.

Golden Chick has three new restaurants projected to open in 2025, with construction at the West Parker Rd. and South Sam Houston Parkway sites expected to wrap up by December, according to TDLR filings.

The Grant Rd. restaurant is scheduled to open Dec. 16, according to the Golden Chick website.

Golden Chick is all about chicken. Fried, grilled, strips, on the bone or hot winged, this Central Texas-made franchise began in the late 1960s.

The chain was one of the first to popularize the chicken tender, according to the company website.

In a sea of chicken-centered fast food chains, Golden Chick is a cut above all others, said Sunny Khan, manager of the Galveston restaurant, which opened in January of 2024.
A gunman was seen firing directly into a car in a double shooting in which an eight-year-old girl was seriously hurt.

The girl, who is in hospital in a stable condition, was shot alongside a 34-year-old man in Southern Row, Ladbroke Grove, west London, just after 5.30pm on Sunday.

Sharon, who was in the area to visit her mother, told the PA news agency: The guy was shooting directly into a car.

I was literally coming out of the exit to my mums block of flats and as I was going out I saw a guy shooting into the car multiple times.

He was firing directly, like at close range, as if youre standing to open a door, they were shooting directly into it.

I was completely in shock and I just ran back up the stairs because I was really scared.

Then I looked and I heard screaming afterwards, and then people coming out to call the police.

Sharon, who did not wish to give her surname, added: Ive noticed in the last several years, it has become a lot more unsafe for the people here.

Another witness, aged 64, who spoke to Metro, described the girls mother shouting.

I heard shots, and then a woman shouting, My baby, my babys been shot it makes me sick to think about it now.

There were four or five shots, there was screaming, its horrible. A neighbour went out with a duvet to cover the injured.

My statement following the shooting in Golborne last night. I urge anyone with information, however small, to contact 101 as soon as possible, referencing CAD5238/24NOV, or to call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously at 0800 555 111. These senseless acts of pic.twitter.com/ICCB3g1Ioi  Joe Powell MP (@josephpowell) November 25, 2024

A woman living near the scene, who did not want to be named, said she was scared after the shooting.

She was in her kitchen cooking and thought fireworks were going off, before armed police arrived and she discovered what had happened.

Local MP Joe Powell said several incidents in the area recently had left residents in fear.

In a statement on X the Labour politician, who represents Kensington and Bayswater, said: These senseless acts of violence have no place on our streets.

I know residents in the local community will be rightly concerned for their safety after several recent incidents in the neighbourhood.

We must work together to better prevent these horrific crimes from happening, and hold those responsible to account.

The girls injuries are not life-threatening, the Metropolitan Police said, and officers are awaiting an update on the mans condition.

We are appealing for information following a shooting in Southern Row, W10 at 5.30pm on Sunday A man and 8-year-old girl were injured. The childs injuries are not life-threatening If you can help, call 101 ref CAD5238/24novhttps://t.co/fNiMkcFaB6  Kensington & Chelsea Police | Central West BCU (@MPSKenChel) November 25, 2024

A 32-year-old woman was also taken to hospital as a precaution but was not hurt.

Superintendent Owen Renowden said on Monday: This is an appalling incident that has left two people seriously injured, including a young girl who thankfully is in a stable condition this morning.

I am appealing to the public who may have been in the area at the time of the shooting. Did you hear any gunshots around 5.30pm yesterday evening? Did you see anyone fleeing from the area?

We are keen to hear from anyone who may have any information surrounding this incident. Your information matters, no matter how insignificant you may think it is.

Witnesses can contact police on 101, giving the reference CAD5238/24NOV, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or online.
A jury has been sworn in to try the case of Grammy-nominated rapper Slowthai, who is accused of rape.

The rapper, whose real name is Tyron Frampton, and his co-accused Alex Blake-Walker, 27, deny three joint charges of rape and one of sexual assault against two women, which are alleged to have taken place on September 8 2021.

Frampton, 29, arrived at Oxford Crown Court for the first day of his trial accompanied by his wife, singer Anne-Marie.

Judge Ian Pringle told the jury of eight men and four women they should not discuss the case with anyone, do any research and avoid news reports of the trial.

This case may attract some publicity. If it does, please remember a reporters report is just their view of the case, he said.

What matters is what you make of the evidence in the case. Try not to read, listen or watch any reports if it does come about.

Remember it is your view of the case that matters.

The judge said the trial was expected to last up to three weeks.

Heather Stangoe, prosecuting, will open the Crowns case against the two defendants, who deny all the charges, on Tuesday.

Patrick Gibbs KC is representing Frampton, of Wellingborough Road, Northampton.

Blake-Walker, of Wallbutton Road, south-east London, is being represented by Sheryl Nwosu.

The trial was adjourned until Tuesday.
Family members of Lyle and Erik Menendez, who are serving a life sentence without parole for murdering their parents, have made compassionate pleas advocating for the brothers freedom during a court hearing.

It comes after Los Angeles County district attorney George Gascon announced his recommendation for resentencing of the brothers, who have also received backing from the majority of their family and stars including Kim Kardashian.

Resentencing could mean immediate release from prison for the brothers, but it has to be approved by a judge.

The media surround family members of Erik and Lyle Menendez as they arrive at the courthouse (Jae C Hong/AP)

The 1989 murder case has been in the headlines over the last few months after a Netflix drama series and documentary film were released.

The Menendez brothers have never disputed that they fired the fatal shots that killed their parents, Jose and Mary Louise Kitty Menendez, on August 20 1989 at their Beverly Hills home.

But the pair have always claimed their actions were an act of self-defence, rooted in physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their father.

Joan VanderMolen, sister of Kitty Menendez, arrived at the Van Nuys Courthouse West on the eve of her 93rd birthday to give evidence for the brothers release, alongside Terry Baralt  the oldest sister of Jose Menendez.

In an emotional statement, Ms VanderMolen told the court that no child should have to endure what the brothers did at the hands of their father.

It breaks my heart that my sister Kitty knew what was happening and did nothing about it, Ms VanderMolen said.

I love Erik and Lyle and I want them to come home.

Ms VanderMolen said she absolutely speaks for the entire family, except for her brother Milton Andersen, who has previously refused to support the brothers request for freedom.

Erik and Lyle Menendezs aunt Joan VanderMolen, centre, arrives at the courthouse (Jae C Hong/AP)

He does not know what he is talking about, Ms VanderMolen said.

Meanwhile Ms Baralt told the court that she was very close to her younger brother Jose and described his wife Kitty as my best friend, but had flown to the court hearing to advocate for the Menendez brothers release.

Thirty-five years is a long time, I think it is time for them to go home, an emotional Ms Baralt told the court.

We need the kids (back) I would like to have them back.

Ms Baralt, 85, said she had not visited the Menendez brothers for some time as she is receiving treatment for cancer, but wanted to give evidence in court for them.

I would like to hug them and see them, not to go into a jail and see them These kids were great, I know they are not kids anymore but to me they are, it has been difficult, she added.

Joined by family members of Erik and Lyle Menendez, lawyer Mark Geragos, centre, speaks during a news conference after a hearing in Los Angeles (Jae C Hong/AP)

While the brothers could not be seen on a video link, the court was told they could hear the proceedings.

Judge Michael Jesic pushed back the next hearing until January 30, citing that he would not be ready on the scheduled December 11 date because there is a lot of information to sift through.

Defence counsel Mark Geragos confirmed the hearing could potentially last longer than one day.

During a press conference outside of the court, Mr Geragos described the hearing as very moving.

It was the first time that Lyle and Erik have been at least remotely in the courtroom in a number of years, he said.

Defence lawyer Mark Geragos (Damian Dovarganes/AP)

It also was quite a moving experience at least from where we sat to listen to Aunt Terry and Joan who are respectively Jose and Kittys older sisters, both made compassionate pleas with the judge to send the brothers home.

Terry testified under oath that she was very close to Jose and practically grew up with him, Joan as well talked about Kitty and all of the good things that theyve done since theyve been in there.

By January 30 or January 31 we are hoping that by the end of that, or some time sooner that we will in fact get the brothers released.

Prior to the hearing, dozens of members of the public arrived at the courthouse to take part in a lottery for a handful of seats in the courtroom.

The brothers were convicted and sentenced to life without parole in 1996 and are serving time at the RJ Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.

Nicholas Chavez as Lyle Menendez, Cooper Koch as Erik Menendez and Javier Bardem as Jose Menendez in the Netflix drama Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story (Netflix/PA)

It came after an initial mistrial with a hung jury for both brothers, as prosecutors claimed there was no evidence of any abuse, and the pair had murdered their parents to inherit the family fortune.

Mr Gascon later supported the brothers request for clemency from California governor Gavin Newsom, which said all family members except for Milton Andersen  the brother of Kitty Menendez  supported the petition.

Netflix launched drama series Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story by co-creators Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan.

The nine-part series stars Nicholas Chavez and Cooper Koch as the brothers, while Oscar-winner Javier Bardem and Chloe Sevigny portray parents Jose and Kitty.

At the time, the real Erik Menendez criticised the series, calling it a dishonest portrayal of a time when prosecutors built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused.

Netflix also released a documentary film titled The Menendez Brothers which featured interviews with the pair.
British courts would be required to decide whether to enforce an international arrest warrant should Benjamin Netanyahu enter the UK, according to the Government.

Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer was repeatedly urged by MPs to give a definitive answer on the UKs likely action after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for the Israeli prime minister and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

Mr Falconer said there is a domestic legal process to be followed through the courts that determines whether or not to endorse an arrest warrant by the ICC, adding this has never been tested as the UK has yet to be visited by an ICC indictee.

Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel claimed the only beneficiaries of the ICCs decision are Hamas and their terrorist sponsors Iran and said the Conservatives believe the warrants have no basis in international law.

In reply to Labour MP Sarah Owen (Luton North), Mr Falconer told the Commons: Id like to just be clear that what I have said this afternoon is not that the Government will uphold arrest warrants.

What I have been clear about this afternoon is that due process will be followed. These are questions for independent courts in the UK, and it is independent courts that would review the arrest warrants if that situation were to arise.

Responding to an urgent question on the ICCs decision, Mr Falconer earlier said: In line with this Governments stated commitment to the rule of law, we respect the independence of the ICC. We will comply with our international obligations.

There is a domestic legal process through our independent courts that determines whether or not to endorse an arrest warrant by the ICC, in accordance with the ICC Act of 2001.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer with Hamish Falconer (Stefan Rouseau/PA)

This process has never been tested because the UK has never been visited by an ICC indictee. If there were to be such a visit to the UK, there would be a court process and due process would be followed in relation to those issues.

There is no moral equivalence between Israel, a democracy, and Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, two terrorist organisations. This Government has been clear, Israel has a right to defend itself in accordance with international law, that right is not under question, and the courts approval of the warrants last week do not change that.

For the Conservatives, Dame Priti said: In charging Israeli leaders alongside Hamas, the ICC appears to be drawing a moral equivalence between Israels war of self-defence and Hamas terrorism. We utterly reject any moral equivalence.

The only beneficiaries of this decision are Hamas and their terrorist sponsors Iran, who are now celebrating this propaganda coup as a great victory for Hamas and Hezbollah. Since the ICC decision, we have had dither from ministers and confused messaging and no clarity. So Im grateful to the minister today for his remarks.

And as to the issue of warrants, we have raised serious concerns over process, jurisdiction and the position on complementarity principle, and believe the warrants of Mr Netanyahu and Gallant have no basis in international law.

Benjamin Netanyahu with Yoav Gallant (Abir Sultan/AP)

Conservative MP Sir Bernard Jenkin (Harwich and North Essex) asked: Can we be absolutely clear about what the Government is saying, because it seems that the Government is not saying there would be an automatic arrest should Benjamin Netanyahu arrive in this country but that there would be due process?

And could he confirm that customarily international law does not permit the arrest or the delivering of the serving prime minister of a non-state party to the ICC?

So hes committing to due process but hes not committing to arrest. Am I correct in understanding that?

Mr Falconer replied: Theres domestic legal process through our independent courts, we cannot prejudge that process.

I note that the shadow attorney general has written to the Attorney General on questions of detail in relation to some of the points you allude to and the Attorney General tells me hell be writing back on those more detailed points.

Dame Priti Patel (Victoria Jones/PA)

Labour MP Abtisam Mohamed (Sheffield Central) asked the minister to review all diplomatic, economic and political relations with Israel to ensure the UK is not complicit with the atrocities taking place in Gaza, the West Bank and in Lebanon.

Independent MP Iqbal Mohamed (Dewsbury and Batley) said: The ICC arrest warrants are welcome but in themselves will not bring an end to Israeli war crimes and ethnic cleansing and the killing of innocent men, women and children.

Several MPs, including Labours Melanie Ward (Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy), also repeated calls for the Government to sanction Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Mr Falconer told MPs: I recognise the two that Ive been pressed on the most this afternoon are of intense political interest. But despite their intense political interest, were we to prejudge sanctions and trail them in this House before we made them, we would reduce their impact.

The same is true of the hundreds of sanctions that we have done on Russia over the years and the same in every forum.
Senior Government figures opposed to the assisted dying Bill are following their own moral code, a minister has suggested, ahead of a vote on the law change this week.

Home Office minister Jess Phillips defended her colleague Shabana Mahmood, who made clear she would vote against the Bill in a strongly worded letter to constituents which emerged over the weekend.

She faced a backlash from Labour peer Lord Falconer for the public intervention, who suggested the Justice Secretary was motivated by her religious beliefs.

Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeaters legislation will come before the Commons on Friday, in the first debate and vote of its kind in the House since 2015.

Members will be given a free vote on the issue, allowing them to make a decision according to their own conscience rather than in line with party policy.

This has allowed senior ministers to openly give a variety of opinions on the issue, as they are not bound by a collective Government approach.

Ms Phillips defended Ms Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, in an appearance on the morning broadcast round.

The Home Office minister told Times Radio: She (Ms Mahmood) will make the decision about how she votes on assisted dying on a matter of conscience, just exactly like I will.

How she comes to that and what moral code she uses to come to that will be exactly the same as the moral code that I use to come to that decision as well.

Ms Phillips added: I think that Shabana is making a decision on what she thinks is best for her constituents, like every constituency MP.

The minister said she would be backing the Bill, telling BBC Breakfast: I am a person who fundamentally believes in the right for people to make a choice about their bodies.

Ms Mahmood is not the only senior figure who has criticised the Bill. Health Secretary Wes Streeting claimed it could cost the NHS more.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood made clear she would vote against the Bill (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

In a letter last month, Cabinet Secretary Simon Case said the Government would remain neutral and suggested ministers avoid taking part in public debate on the issue.Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has declined to say which way he will vote, saying that he does not want to put pressure on other MPs.

The Cabinet is split over the issue, with more members believed to be in favour than against.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn, Transport Secretary Louise Haigh and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband have all said they will back the law.

Others, including Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, have been less explicit, but indicated their support for the measures in the Bill.

Meanwhile Ms Mahmood, Mr Streeting, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds have said they will reject the legislation.

Lord Falconer, a former justice secretary and longstanding proponent of a change in the law, criticised the Justice Secretarys intervention on Sunday.

On Monday, Downing Street declined to be drawn into the row between Lord Falconer and Ms Mahmood, saying it was up to MPs to determine their position on (the Bill) and the Prime Minister respects that there are strongly held views on all sides of the debate.

The Prime Ministers official spokesman added: Weve been clear that the Government will remain neutral but Cabinet members will clearly be voting as MPs with independent views.

And it will be perfectly normal that there will be different views in that respect and it is obviously expected that they will want to explain to their constituents how they are going to vote on this highly emotive issue.

Supporters of the Bill are optimistic that it has enough backing for the legislation to pass the first Commons hurdle, but the result will not be known until a division list is published after the vote, showing which way MPs voted.

Proponents say existing legislation fails to respect patient autonomy and discriminates financially between those who can afford to travel abroad to end their lives within the law and those who cannot.

Many of those opposed to a law change have voiced concern about the potential for coercion and mission creep, and say the legislation has been rushed.

A group of group of 29 faith leaders united to oppose the Bill in a joint letter on Sunday, saying they were deeply concerned that it could open up the possibility of life-threatening abuse.

Liz Kendall defended her Cabinet colleagues voicing strong opinions (Lucy North/PA)

Ms Leadbeater has described the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill as the most robust in the world, with three layers of scrutiny in the form of a sign-off by two doctors and a High Court judge.

It would also make coercion an offence, with a possible punishment of 14 years in jail.

The Bill, which covers England and Wales, says that only terminally-ill adults with less than six months left to live and a settled wish to die would be eligible.

Various polling has been done on the topic, with the latest from More in Common finding 65% support the principle of assisted dying while 13% oppose it and the rest are unsure.

Its polling of around 2,000 people across Great Britain this month also found that almost a third (30%) were unaware a debate on the issue is happening in Parliament.

Around a quarter of those polled said eligibility for assisted dying should be on the basis of life expectancy, which is the case with the current Bill, but 51% said people with terminal degenerative paralysing conditions should be eligible, something the current Bill does not propose.
OHE said it used most conservative of estimates and the true number is likely to be much larger. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

An estimated 20 terminally ill people in the UK die in unrelieved pain each day, according to a study by the independent Office of Health Economics (OHE).

According to its research, to be presented to MPs on Tuesday, one in four people receiving palliative care in England have unmet pain needs. The OHE said it used the most conservative of estimates [suggesting] the true number is likely to be much larger.

It calculated that, even with the highest possible standards of hospice-level palliative care, more than 7,300 people across the UK died with unrelieved pain in the last three months of their lives in 2023. In 2019, the comparable figure was nearly 6,400 people a year  a 15% increase over four years.

It also said that fewer than 5% of terminally ill people in England who needed hospice care in 2023 received it.

The OHEs findings will feed into an intensifying debate over the legalisation of assisted dying ahead of a historic vote by MPs on Friday. Supporters and opponents of Kim Leadbeaters private members bill are making final efforts to persuade undecided MPs, with few willing to predict the result of the free vote.

Related: Ministers speaking out against assisted dying are giving false impression, says peer

The last few weeks have exposed divisions over the issue within the government, despite an appeal by Keir Starmer for ministers to remain neutral in the debate.

Two justice ministers are understood to be planning to vote in favour of assisted dying, after the justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said over the weekend that she was fiercely against the proposals.

Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, said that she was a person who fundamentally believes in the right for people to make a choice about their bodies. But she defended Mahmoods intervention, saying it was up to each individual MP to make their own moral choice.

Heidi Alexander, the courts minister, is also understood to be in favour of the bill and was formerly the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on end-of-life care.

The OHE said that irrespective of the outcome of Fridays vote, investment in high-quality end-of-life care should be a crucial component of the conversation around assisted dying.

Its research supports the argument advanced by advocates for assisted dying that even excellent and comprehensively available palliative care cannot guarantee a pain-free death and that all options should be available to terminally ill people.

Demand for palliative care in England increased by 15% between 2019 and 2023, from 378,427 to 436,022 patients. Between now and 2040, demand is expected to increase by a further 25%, the OHE said.

Prof Graham Cookson, the organisations chief executive, said: Our research finds that even assuming the highest standards of care, there remains a group for whom no amount of pain relief will ease their suffering in the last few months of their life.

However, the reality is that there is an increasingly widening gap in access to palliative care, and this number is only projected to grow, across settings, over the years. The true number of people dying in unrelieved pain in the UK is likely to be much higher than our conservative estimate.

Related: UKs assisted dying law wont be slippery slope says California doctor who has helped dozens end their life

Mark Jarman-Howe, the chief executive of St Helena hospice in Colchester, Essex, said the palliative care sector needed to be more honest. Speaking in a personal capacity, he said: Im a great advocate for hospice and palliative care. It can be transformational for people, but it cannot possibly resolve all symptoms and all pain at the end of life.

There are at least 20 people a day in the UK dying in pain, and that doesnt include other unresolved symptoms such as uncontrollable nausea. Even if we have the best possible funding for hospice care, that would still be an issue that we need to address.

Rebecca Gillanders, a barrister, said her mothers excellent palliative care did not stop a capable, robust and positive woman from being reduced to a desperate, tormented creature who begged to die.

Gillanders mother was diagnosed a year ago with brain cancer and died two months later at the age of 69. She was on the strongest possible medication, but it took 10 desperate, miserable, brutal days for her to die. Her death was emblematic of the experiences an awful lot of people have behind closed doors.
Alicia Kearns is viewed as both a committed Conservative and someone who is unafraid to speak their mind. Composite: Guardian Design/House of Commons

Alicia Kearns, as a former Foreign Office official and an outspoken voice on foreign affairs, is an MP who understands how the department ticks.

She is also someone who does not give up easily, and with some freedom to operate since she is neither on Kemi Badenochs Conservative frontbench nor the Labour dominated foreign affairs select committee, a body she chaired until this summer.

That makes her a rarity in the Commons: knowledgable about foreign policy but free to express her often strongly held views. Kearns record heading up the committee was generally admired  but she has one unfinished piece of business to attend to.

With a small group of MPs and campaigners, she has set up an all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on arbitrary detention and hostage affairs. The aim is to pursue the recommendations of a report she helped publish called Stolen years, which made the case for the UK appointing a special envoy for hostage affairs. The recommendation was rejected.

This weekend, the Guardian reported calls from relatives of prominent detained Britons for the foreign secretary, David Lammy, to deliver on promises to help secure their freedom amid signs of resistance from diplomats.

Kearns is furious about the situation. I have never come across a part of the Foreign Office that is more belligerent or unwilling to be reformed, or to accept reform in some way, she says in an interview.

The Foreign Office is always defensive, but I have never seen a level of defensiveness as I have on this. When we published our report it was quite incredible how unwilling they were to accept change.

She insists the problem of British citizens being arbitrarily detained abroad is not a backwater issue. I have always felt that the number one duty of governments is to keep people safe, and that is more true for the Foreign Office than many departments, and yet I felt that that was one of our biggest failings  It just felt like every family felt let down.

She met Roger Carstens, the US special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, on whose role the UK special envoy idea is loosely based, and said she realised that American families felt listened to, engaged with, supported, and that singular focus within government helped families.

She added: [They] took the geopolitics out of it and just focused on getting people home. That same singular focus of mission was missing for us.

With the ambassadors, there is always the risk they will focus on the geopolitics and not getting people home. You need one person who knows what the trades are, knows what is likely to get someone out of a country, and knows why this country is worried about this person.

Kearns said this required some flexibility around potential solutions such as prisoner swaps. People should not be targeted because of their passports, and have their passport weaponised against them, so that a country can achieve its geopolitical aims. And that is whats currently happening.

However, there are also realities that there are limited ways to get people home, and so therefore you have to identify how you are going to do that, and that unfortunately requires you to have the broadest possible toolbox available to you.

Through badgering, Kearns had persuaded the last foreign secretary, David Cameron, to re-examine the issue, and he started to talk about a hybrid model. But the UK general election this summer put an end to that.

So far she has not been over-impressed with the new Labour governments willingness to take up cases or bring in reforms. Labour committed to this multiple times at the despatch box  [But] I know this civil service is saying absolutely bloody not. We are absolutely not doing this.

But Kearns has the bit between her teeth, carrying out hearings with Jimmy Lais son and lawyers, and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was incarcerated in Iran until her release in 2022. The MP plans to make fresh recommendations to improve the Foreign Office, and an annual review of its progress.

She also wants to work with other countries whose citizens experience similar hurdles. The medium-term goal is early next year to hold an inter-parliamentary conference so we can bring in other parliaments, and say you need to have a similar focus so that you can support people from your country that are being arbitrarily detained.
Cresta Court hotel is currently housing migrants in Altrincham - Christopher Furlong/Getty

The Government has admitted that they have now opened more hotels for asylum seekers than they have closed. In the four months since the general election, the number of hotels in use has jumped from 213 to 220. While seven hotels were emptied, another 14 have been brought into use.

Despite Labours election promise to close the hotels, there is no sign that they will be able to manage this anytime soon. That means taxpayers are continuing to support over 30,000 asylum seekers in hotels, at a cost of 4.2 billion a year.

Similarly, the Government has had to row back on their intention to end the use of large sites for asylum accommodation, with RAF Wethersfield in Essex due to expand from 540 beds to at least 800.

There are two big problems, both the result of Government policy. The first is that their plan to smash the gangs isnt working. The numbers crossing the English Channel have actually increased since Labour took power, despite a series of arrests, most recently during a pan-European operation targeting a gang which smuggled at least 750 Syrians to Britain.

Thats to be commended  but that 750 only makes up 0.5 per cent of the over 147,000 people who have illegally entered Britain via small boats since 2018. Nor is there much clarity over the size of the gangs. Is conducting 20 arrests a major part of the smuggling gangs being taken out of action or is it only a small part? We dont know.

While there is broad agreement that the gangs who control the Channel are largely Kurdish, the Government hasnt set out who is running them or how many smugglers are involved. Without these basic details, the only metric we have to measure success and failure is the number of illegal immigrants arriving here  which is only increasing.

The second problem is the governments rolling back of the Illegal Migration Act, which had meant that asylum seekers arriving illegally after March 7 2023 wouldnt have their cases processed. That has been reversed but it suddenly created a big backlog of cases to be heard. Whats more, the high risk countries like Syria, Afghanistan and Eritrea  which have asylum grant rates around 90 per cent  have been prioritised, so the remaining backlog is increasingly made up of more difficult cases, which take longer.

More asylum decisions also mean more appeals to come, even as the number of asylum lawyers available has fallen. The backlog is likely to remain high for the future, so even if the smash the gangs strategy does work, the Government will need to keep many of the hotels open while the asylum cases drag on.

Even if the Government was able to end the flow of new asylum seekers, or to process the asylum backlog faster, the grant rate of around 60 per cent means that asylum seekers will just be shifted from the Home Office to local authorities. The taxpayer will still be on the hook for the bill.

Combined with local government buying up homes to house Ukrainian and Afghan refugees who came through the legal routes, it means that in increasing parts of our housing market, ordinary people are now competing against their own Government to find accommodation.

The continued housing of asylum seekers also poses a risk of creating further disorder. The riot in Knowsley was sparked by an asylum seeker harassing an underage girl. The August riots were based on the false belief that the Southport killer was an asylum seeker, but built on widespread anger over the failure to stop the boats and a series of well-reported crimes involving asylum seekers.

Dropping 300 male asylum seekers into pleasant places like Altrincham, near several girls schools, seems needlessly risky. Increasingly the issue is that Britains asylum obligations are directly harming the British people. Why should farmers suffer another tax to raise a paltry 500 million, when asylum accommodation costs many times more?

Britain simply cannot handle the financial costs of being unable to secure its own borders. If the number of those arriving on small boats continues to be high, or even gets higher, then the asylum system will destroy the financial foundations of the British welfare state.
Young people feel like the social media ban is victim-blaming them, instead of requiring adults and platforms to take responsibility, Queenslands principal family commissioner says. Photograph: Roman Lacheev/Alamy

The Australian government should delay passing legislation banning under-16s from social media until a trial of age-assurance technology is completed, Google and Meta have said.

The federal government is pushing to pass the social media ban legislation by the end of this week, and has been accused of attempting to ram the bill through the parliament without appropriate consultation. The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has indicated the Coalition will support the bill.

No social media platforms are named in the bill, but it empowers the minister to later determine, via legislative instrument, the platforms that will be required to ban under-16s. It is expected that TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and X could all be required to meet the new restrictions, but YouTube would be permitted educational and health support.

Google, and fellow Alphabet company YouTube, told the inquiry that deferring this decision on what to include fails to provide necessary clarity and certainty to Australian users and industry.

The rushing of the proposed bill failed to take into account the feasibility for services to determine which users are 16 or over, and those younger, the company said. These issues could be determined by the governments trial of age-assurance technology, before the legislation passes, Google said.

This includes the viability of age assurance technologies and an appropriate minimum age for access to social media services. The trial is not due to finish its work until mid-2025, Googles submission stated.

It is concerning that this bill is proceeding in advance of the trials conclusion.

The company said this did not reflect good regulatory practice, and consideration of the bill should be delayed until the trial was completed.

Googles submission was one of more than 15,000 received by the parliamentary inquiry on the bill in the single day it was accepting comment.

Elon Musks X warned in a submission that the bill may not be lawful and the company was reserving its legal rights.

We have serious concerns as to the lawfulness of the bill, including its compatibility with other regulations and laws, including international human rights treaties to which Australia is a signatory.

The social media platform, which has already had successful legal challenges of the eSafety commissioners powers in the past year, said while it was examining age-assurance options for X, the bill would have a negative impact on the rights of children and young people and would not be effective.

X said the ability for the minister to define which platforms the ban applies to at a later date presents a major threat to freedom of information, speech, and access to the internet and risks regulatory weaponisation.

Musk posted on X last week that the bill was a backdoor to control all Australians access to the internet.

Snapchats parent company, Snap, said the bill was not backed by experts.

Related: Albanese hands Chandler-Mather a political power lesson as Greens exhibit internal jitters

Many experts have highlighted the significant unintended consequences of this legislation, notably that it could deny young people access to valuable mental health and wellbeing resources, while potentially driving them toward less regulated and more dangerous online spaces than the mainstream, highly regulated platforms covered by the bill, the company said.

Facebook and Instagrams parent company, Meta, said the bill would be inconsistent and ineffective and fail to achieve its stated goals without more consultation. The company backed Googles call to delay the bill until the age-assurance trial was completed.

The bill also drew criticism from the Tech Council of Australia, which warned that the bill was being rushed through parliament without meaningful consultation, adding to existing perceptions among investors and entrepreneurs that the Australian technology sector operates in an uncertain regulatory environment that can be subject to rapid legislative change without due consideration.

The principal commissioner for the Queensland Family and Child Commission, Luke Twyford, said the feedback on the bill from the Queensland Young Persons Council was that they felt left out of the process.

There was a real feeling that young people were being punished, while those that created online risks are being left alone, he said. Young people spoke about this policy victim-blaming young people, rather than requiring adults and platforms that are creating risks taking responsibility.

The lack of consultation was a theme of criticism throughout the published submissions, including from the Australian Child Rights Taskforce, Electronic Frontiers Australia, and the Australian Psychological Society  which described the timeframe as manifestly inadequate.

Rushed commentary on such a complex and psychologically nuanced issue risks failing to adequately consider the evidence, APS said.

The committee is due to report to parliament on Tuesday. The bill will be debated later in the week, which is the last sitting week for 2024.
Peter Prinsley, the MP for Bury St Edmunds, said assisted dying should be viewed as complementary to palliative care - House of Commons

A Labour MP has said he backs legalising assisted dying because even the best palliative care is insufficient for some patients.

Peter Prinsley, the MP for Bury St Edmunds, said that even with the most skilful palliative care, some terminally ill people can suffer from intolerable symptoms.

Mr Prinsley, who is also a consultant surgeon, said assisted dying should be viewed as complementary to palliative care, rather than as an alternative service.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I can tell you that there are people who, even with the most skilful palliative care, get into a situation where their symptoms become intolerable and where they have a complete loss of control and dignity.

He added: My experience is that there are people for whom palliative care is simply insufficient, and this is what people fear.

The Bill, put forward by Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP, would legalise assisted dying for terminally ill, mentally competent adults with six months or less to live.

A free vote will be held on the legislation in the Commons on Friday, allowing MPs to vote according to their conscience.

It comes after several MPs, including Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, expressed opposition to legalising assisted dying on the grounds that the palliative care system in the UK was not good enough to offer patients a real choice.

Mr Prinsley said of the argument: The first thing to say about palliative care is that we absolutely must invest in palliative care, and I believe palliative care should be a core NHS service, fully funded rather like our maternity services.

But I see this assisted dying bill as complementary to palliative care. Its not an alternative to palliative care.

MPs will vote on Kim Leadbeaters Bill on Friday - Stefan Rousseau/PA

On Saturday, Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, wrote to her constituents to warn that MPs would be putting the country on a slippery slope towards death on demand if the Bill passed.

In response, Lord Falconer, the former Labour justice secretary, told Sky News that Ms Mahmood was motivated by her religious beliefs and that these shouldnt be imposed on everybody else.

Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central, said his comments were hugely offensive and discriminatory and demanded that he apologise.

Ms Maskell, who is a Christian, said her opposition to the Bill was purely from her perspective as a former care worker.

I find it hugely offensive and discriminatory, the fact that he is conflating the two issues, and I think he really needs to reflect on those comments, she told BBC Radio 4.

Jess Phillips, a Home Office minister, also defended Ms Mahmood, saying the Justice Secretary was making a decision on what she thinks is best for her constituents, like every constituency MP.

Asked by Times Radio if Ms Mahmood was imposing her faith on others by announcing she would not support the Bill, Ms Phillips said: She will make the decision about how she votes on assisted dying on a matter of conscience, just exactly like I will.

The minister, who has said she will vote for the legislation, added: How she comes to that and what moral code she uses to come to that will be exactly the same as the moral code that I use to come to that decision as well.

Views on assisted dying have seen MPs across the political spectrum divided on the issue, with members of the Cabinet also split.

Mr Prinsley said he believed there was more support for legalising assisted dying among older MPs, and that younger colleagues were struggling with the moral magnitude of the decision.

The Suffolk MP said he believed the Bill might not pass because of the proportion of MPs who are younger, adding: There may be people who themselves have not come across family members or friends whove been in this position.

But once you get to a certain age and stage, youve seen this for yourself, and I think that may well influence how the vote goes at the end of the week.
Vice President Kamala Harris delivers a concession speech for the 2024 presidential election, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, on the campus of Howard University in Washington. Stephanie Scarbrough/AP

The claim: Although Vice President Kamala Harris failed in her bid to become president, some social media posts cast doubt on the legitimacy of her success in the states she did win over President-elect Donald Trump.

"Kamala Harris only won the states that dont require voter ID," a Nov. 10 Instagram post said. "Ironic."

In a Nov. 11 Instagram post, actor Steve Hanks said, "Kamala lost every state that requires voter ID. Kamala won every state that does not require voter ID. Im going to say that again: Kamala did not win a single state that requires voter ID, but every state that does not require voter ID, Kamala won. See why they dont want voter ID? You cant cheat with voter ID."

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PolitiFact ruling: False. Trump alone won in states that have strict voter ID requirements, as defined by the National Conference of State Legislatures, but he also won in states with looser laws. And claims that Harris exclusively won states without voter ID requirements flatten the nuances of the voter ID debate, ignoring state and federal laws to verify voters identity before they can vote in person or mail a ballot.

Discussion

Voter ID laws across the country are not one-size-fits-all.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 36 states request or require voters to show some form of ID at the polls. The remaining 14 states and Washington, D.C., require no form of identification to vote at the polls but use other methods to verify voters identities, such as matching voters signatures or asking voters for personal information. And federal law requires first-time voters to show ID when requesting mail ballots, while some states have additional ID requirements for voters mailing in ballots.

As weve reported, among the 36 states that do request or require some form of identification to vote in person, the laws vary widely as to whether they are strictly applied or whether a photo ID or another form of identification is accepted.

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Ten of those states have strict photo ID laws. Voters who lack acceptable photo IDs must vote a provisional ballot and take additional steps to verify their identity after Election Day for their ballot to be counted.

Three of those states accept other forms of identification. In Arizona, for example, a recent utility bill or bank statement is acceptable as ID.

In the other 23 states, voters without acceptable identification can cast a regular ballot without having to act further after Election Day. That means a voter without proper identification may sign an affidavit or poll workers may vouch for a voters identity.

As for mail ballots, states have different laws and procedures for verifying the identity of voters who dont vote in person. In 22 states, voters applying for a mail ballot must show ID, provide an ID number, such as from a drivers license, or obtain a witness or notary signature, according to the Voting Rights Lab, an organization tracking state election laws and proposed legislation. In 21 other states, voters requesting mail ballots must verify their identity using personal information, such as date of birth. The remaining seven states and Washington, D.C., have universal mail voting, so ballots are automatically sent to voters ahead of every election, without voters needing to request them.

Election officials in every state use signature verification to validate the identities of voters who cast mail ballots, the National Vote at Home Institute said.

Harris won: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, , New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. and Washington state.

Some of the states Harris won dont require documents to vote. Oregon, for example, mails a ballot to registered voters before Election Day, but it verifies voters identities when they register using an acceptable form of identification including a drivers license, valid photo ID or Social Security number.

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But other states Harris won do ask for identification: Washington, Colorado, Connecticut. Delaware, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

In Washington state, identification is requested but the state holds all elections by mail, "so this provision impacts few voters," the National Conference of State Legislatures said. Colorado similarly holds elections by mail and requests ID, so its law affects in-person Election Day voters.

Photo ID is requested in Rhode Island, according to the group, and if voters dont have one, they must vote on a provisional ballot and then election officials match their signatures against the signatures on record.

Photo ID isnt required in Connecticut, but identification is requested. If its not presented, voters must give their name, date of birth and address and sign under penalty of making a false statement.

In New Hampshire, a voter without identification must sign a challenged voter affidavit. After the election, a mailing is sent and the voter must sign and return it or risk a voter fraud investigation.

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The National Conference of State Legislatures slots states into five categories in its analysis of voter ID laws across the country: strict photo ID, strict non-photo ID, photo ID requested, ID requested; photo not required, and no document required to vote.

Trump alone won states with strict voter ID laws, but he also won states in which photo ID and non-photo ID are requested, and two states in which no documents are required.

Although efforts to tighten identification requirements for voting have been underway for about two decades, they accelerated after the 2020 election, when Republican lawmakers sympathetic to Trumps false claims of voter fraud pushed for tighter voter ID requirements to combat fraud. So, its unsurprising that states that have stricter laws voted for the Republican presidential candidate.

National experts, meanwhile, have said such fraud is isolated and rare. Democrats and voting rights advocates have criticized some state voter ID laws, particularly ones with narrow lists of acceptable types of ID, as overly burdensome.
Vladimir Putin threatens to use a new intermediate-range missile against countries that allowed their bombs to strike Russia - Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool Sputnik Kremlin

Britain has entered an AI arms race with Russia, a Cabinet minister is expected to warn today.

Speaking before the Nato Cyber Defence Conference at Lancaster House this morning, Pat McFadden will declare that artificial intelligence is revolutionising many parts of life  including national security.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster will be announcing the launch of a new Laboratory for AI Security Research (Lasr) that will work to improve Britains cyber resilience.

Mr McFadden will also warn that Moscow is prepared to launch a wave of cyber attacks across the country in a deliberate attempt to cause havoc on the UKs critical infrastructure.

He will say there is an imminent risk of a Russian cyber attack on businesses and infrastructure that could shut down the power grids and deal a hammer blow to the economy.

Pat McFadden says Putins attempts to dissuade Britain from supporting Ukraine will not be successful - Paul Grover

It comes after Vladimir Putin warned that his military could target the UK in retaliation for Ukraine firing British-made Storm Shadow missiles into Russia last week.

Putin, the Russian president, said his country had tested a new intermediate-range missile in a strike on Ukraine. He added that he could use such a missile against countries that had allowed their bombs to strike Russia, including Britain and the US.

Mr McFadden will say: Nato needs to continue to adapt to the world of AI because, as the tech evolves, the threat evolves.

He will add: AI is already revolutionising many parts of life  including national security. But as we develop this technology, theres a danger it could be weaponised against us. Because our adversaries are also looking at how to use AI on the physical and cyber battlefield.

The new Lasr will help the UK to thrive in the AI arms race with Russia.

Lasr partners will include GCHQ, the National Cyber Securty Centre, the Alan Turing Institute and Oxford University - David Goddard/Getty Images

The lab will pull together world-class industry, academic and government experts to assess the impact of AI on our national security, Mr McFadden will say.

While AI can amplify existing cyber threats, it can also create better cyber defence tools and presents opportunities for intelligence agencies to collect, analyse and produce more useful intelligence.

The Lasr will employ a catalytic model, receiving an initial 8.22 million round of government funding and thereby inviting further investment and collaboration from the cyber security industry.

Partners will include the Foreign Office, the Department for Science Innovation and Technology, Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the National Cyber Security Centre, the MoDs Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, the Alan Turing Institute, the AI Safety Institute, the University of Oxford, Queens University Belfast and Plexal.

The laboratory will attempt to collaborate with like-minded partners, starting with the Five Eyes countries and Nato allies.

Addressing cyber and defence experts, Mr McFadden will add: Cyber war is now a daily reality. One where our defences are constantly being tested. The extent of the threat must be matched by the strength of our resolve to combat it and to protect our citizens and systems. 75 years after its foundation, it is clear we need Nato more than ever.

In a direct warning to Putin, Mr McFadden will say: Be in no doubt: the United Kingdom and others in this room are watching Russia. We know exactly what they are doing, and we are countering their attacks both publicly and behind the scenes.

We know from history that appeasing dictators engaged in aggression against their neighbours only encourages them. Britain learned long ago the importance of standing strong in the face of such actions. Thats why we support Ukraine in its fight to decide its own destiny.

Putin is a man who wants destruction, not peace. He is trying to deter our support for Ukraine with his threats. He will not be successful.
Ed Miliband said forging a global climate coalition is 100% in Britains self-interest. Photograph: Murad Sezer/Reuters

The UK will seek a global coalition to push for climate action after a fractious end to UN climate talks in Azerbaijan, the UK energy secretary, Ed Miliband, has pledged.

The Cop29 conference ended on Sunday with a deal promising $300bn in finance for developing countries by 2035, which critics called a failure and betrayal.

Miliband played a key role in the talks, attempting to bridge divisions between the rich and poor world in the hectic closing hours, late on Saturday night. He has vowed to continue working over the next year, ahead of an equally important summit in Brazil next November.

This alliance of high ambition is the worlds centre ground of climate politics and is the best hope for the future. In our work with Brazil, hosts of Cop30, we are seeking to demonstrate this in practice, he wrote in the Guardian.

Miliband has argued that forging a global coalition to tackle the climate crisis, and providing finance to the poor world, are in the UKs interest.

This idea is 100% in Britains self-interest, he told journalists after Cop29. I think there is a great British tradition of ensuring that we play our part in helping vulnerable countries who are exposed to climate change. Our estimates in the department say that [the $300bn of climate finance by 2035] could help protect up to a billion people [from] some of the effects of climate change and also on mitigation.

At Cop30 in Brazil, countries will expected to produce new plans for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Miliband hailed the UKs recent pledge of an 81% reduction in emissions compared with 1990, and vowed to work with Brazil on energy, finance and forests over the next 12 months.

Related: The Guardian view on Cop29: poor-world discontent over a failure of rich countries to deliver | Editorial

Also writing in the Guardian, the president of Cop29, Mukhtar Babayev, criticised developed countries for the fractious end of Cop29, and claimed that China would have offered climate finance voluntarily if rich countries had shown more of a lead.

Babayev, Azerbaijans environment minister, blamed rich countries for failing to stump up enough cash for the developing world and nearly collapsing the talks by only making key concessions too late in the process.

By contrast, he said, China spent the full two weeks coordinating their response to the negotiations in a regimented fashion with the G77 group of the worlds poorest nations. The Chinese were willing to offer more if others did so too (but the others didnt).

Their target of $500bn for the industrialised worlds contributions alone still would not suffice to limit global warming to 1.5C, but it was a more acceptable minimum figure  something publicly acknowledged by Kenya and several other African nations.

China is classed as a developing country under the UN climate process, which means it carries no obligation to provide finance to poorer countries, while the rich economies do.

At Cop29, rich countries demanded that the donor base should be broadened to include emerging economies such as China and petrostates such as Saudi Arabia.

China did not object to the Cop29 deal and pointed to billions it was providing to the poor world already, mostly in the form of loans, in what is known as south-south cooperation. Developed countries were keen to point out that the deal struck allowed for China to contribute, while stipulating that the developed world should take the lead.

Babayev described the final moments of what he termed the Baku breakthrough, which came 35 hours after the official deadline. An earlier offer by developed countries to supply $250bn a year to the developing world by 2035 was widely derided but rich countries were unwilling to increase it.

He noted that it took pressure from the presidency to force the EU to increase its deal beyond the originally proposed $250bn.

He also wrote: It was a mistake for western countries to insist that the final draft deal  and particularly the draft financials  was not unveiled until the penultimate day. To the global south, this rightly made it look like a fait accompli. My negotiating team argued vociferously for drafts to be made public far earlier. But that was not to be.

Early in the negotiations it became clear that certain western voices would not shift, he added. That position was not universal: the new British government has reassumed the countrys role in global climate leadership, and that was clearly in evidence at the summit itself, with new UK targets on decarbonisation and net zero.

The deal almost didnt happen, Babayev said, but Azerbaijan stepped in to push the rich world to make its final $300bn offer.

Some veterans of the talks described Babayevs views as fake news, hypocritical and sliding off the edge of the planet.

The small island states and least developed country walkout on the Azerbaijani presidency was not because the presidency was supporting them, but because it was not, said Bill Hare, the chief executive of the Climate Analytics thinktank.

This is just one illustration of the way in which it is clear the presidency was not supporting the interest of the vulnerable countries. When the presidency talks about the global south, we know that this means the Like-Minded Group of Developing Countries negotiating bloc, [led by] Saudi Arabia and China, and does not include the interests of the vulnerable countries.

He added: The final deal was possible because of the alliance that developed between the European Union, the small island developing states, least developed countries and others  and not because of anything the presidency did, in fact quite the opposite. From the beginning, the presidency was quite opposed to any kind of decent outcome.

Developing countries should receive at least $1.3tn a year by 2035 under the deal, but much of this is likely to come in private-sector investment, with an unspecified amount also coming from potential new levies, such as taxes on fossil fuels, frequent flyers and shipping.

There was heavy criticism of the Cop presidency at the talks. Several countries told the Guardian that the presidency did not appear to be in control of the process, asked other countries for assistance that was then ignored, and was unavailable at key moments.

India said after the gavel had come down on the deal that it was unhappy with the outcome. Chandni Raina, the lead negotiator for India, called the deal a travesty of justice.
Keira Alexandra Kronvold and her baby, who has been removed from her by the local municipality. Photograph: supplied

Denmark is under pressure to stop subjecting Greenlandic people to parenting competency tests that campaigners say discriminate against them, amid uproar over the case of a mother whose baby was removed two hours after she gave birth.

The psychometric tests are widely used in Denmark as part of child protection investigations into new parents, and have long been criticised by human rights bodies as culturally unsuitable for Greenlandic people and other minorities.

The tests are back in the spotlight after the case of Keira Alexandra Kronvold, a woman of Greenlandic heritage who gave birth in North Jutland this month, sparked furious protests in Copenhagen and in Nuuk, the capital of the autonomous territory.

The Greenlandic minister for children, Aqqaluaq B Egede, held an urgent meeting with the Danish minister of social affairs and housing, Sophie Hstorp Andersen, last week. Afterwards, Egede said the Danish minister had promised to instruct municipalities to stop using the test. But the ensuing statement, issued last Wednesday, stopped short of an outright ban. I would like to encourage the municipalities in cases involving families with a Greenlandic background to concretely consider stopping the use of the criticised tests, Andersen said.

Children with Greenlandic parents living in Denmark  which formerly ruled Greenland as a colony and continues to control its foreign and security policy  are significantly more likely to be placed into care than those with Danish parents. According to a 2022 report, 5.6% of children with a Greenlandic background living in Denmark are placed into care, compared with 1% of those with a Danish background.

Danish authorities say the parenting competency test, known as forldrekompetenceundersgelse (FKU), is far from the only tool used to assess whether or not a child should be removed from their parents. But campaigners say that as it has not been adapted for parents of non-Danish heritage, it should not be used in their cases at all.

The tests fail to account for potential language barriers or cultural differences. This puts Greenlandic parents at risk of being wrongly assessed in child placement cases, said Louise Holck, the director of the Danish Institute for Human Rights.

She said her organisation was urging municipalities to immediately stop using the tests on Greenlandic parents until the questions could be adapted to Greenlandic language and culture.

In a 2022 report, the institute said that because the tests were not adapted to take cultural differences into account, Greenlandic parents ran the risk of obtaining low test scores, so that it is concluded, for example, that they have reduced cognitive abilities, without there being actual evidence for this.

It said: Such potential misjudgments can have far-reaching consequences for both children and parents, as in the extreme they can contribute to the forced removal of a child.

Kronvold, 38, was given an FKU test in 2014 before the birth of her second child, a boy, and again recently while pregnant with her third child. Speaking through an intermediary, she told the Guardian that on this last occasion she was told it was to see if she was civilised enough.

After the first test she was separated permanently from her eight-month-old son and nine-year-old daughter. It is unclear to what extent the test results contributed to that decision, but they are believed to have been among the reasons why, within hours of giving birth to her third child on 7 November, Kronvolds baby was removed.

Psychological assessments of her were made by a Danish-speaking psychologist. Kronvold, whose first language is Kalaallisut (West Greenlandic), is not fluent in Danish.

She can now spend only one hour a week with her baby, during which she is closely watched by a social worker.

The local municipality in Thisted, North Jutland, coldly assessed my worth as a parent, Kronvold said. I had grown up between two worlds, proud of my Greenlandic heritage yet often sidelined by a system that measured my value through a lens that barely recognised our culture.

A passage from her case file states that her Greenlandic background, where even small facial expressions have communicative significance, would make it difficult for her to prepare the child for social expectations and codes that are necessary in Danish society.

Kronvold said authorities had taken her daughter away as if she were a mere statistic  not understanding that my love and tradition were more important than any test score. She said she was fighting not just for her and her daughter but for all Greenlandic parents who had lost their children to the Danish system.

Tina Naamansen, the chair of Sila 360, which works on Inuit legal rights monitoring, said Kronvolds was one case out of many.

Laila Bertelsen, the founder of Foreningen MAPI, an association that helps Inuit parents in Denmark, echoed that assessment, saying parental competence investigations frequently led to forced adoption and child alienation in Greenlandic families.

The Danish authorities, politicians and the government do not make changes to the law or meet the legal requirements for these serious cases like Keiras, despite UN special rapporteur Jose Francisco Cali Tzay who has criticised Denmark for not protecting the rights of Greenlandic families with children, she said.

Aka Hansen, an Inuit film-maker who has been organising protests in Nuuk, said: We want our rights to be secured and to be protected. The feeling was that people are really tired of nobody acting or protecting us.

Lars Sloth, the director of the child and family administration of Thisted municipality, said: We are highly aware of the interest in the case of Keira Alexandra Kronvold and take it very seriously. The municipality of Thisted always works based on the best interests of the child, and we follow the applicable laws and guidelines closely.

He added: Due to the duty of confidentiality, we cannot comment on the specific case, but we can assure you, that all decisions are made with the best interests of the child in mind. We are in dialogue with relevant authorities and professionals to ensure that all aspects of the case are dealt with correctly, as we strive to support families and children as best as possible through our work.

He said that in the absence of alternative tools they would continue using the FKU tests.
A DHL cargo plane crashed into a house in Vilnius, Lithuania, a month after European intelligence agencies warned that Russia was attempting to sabotage cargo flights with small bombs.

Authorities said the Boeing 737 crashed early on Monday as it tried to land at the airport, exploding and killing one of the pilots and injuring three others.

The plane ploughed into the courtyard of a house, spreading burning debris that set the building alight. All the residents survived, a spokesman for the Lithuanian governments National Crisis Management Centre said.

The plane had taken off from Leipzig in Germany, where intelligence agents warned last month that small bombs had been loaded onto DHL flights.

Credit: Mantas Fabijonavicius

German politicians called for a thorough investigation of the crash.

Konstantin von Notz, the chairman of the German Parliamentary Intelligence Service Commission, said: Given the known acts of sabotage using incendiary devices on DHL cargo, as well as Leipzig airport, this accident must be immediately and thoroughly investigated.

However, despite the timing of the crash, Laurynas Kasciunas, Lithuanias defence minister, said there were no initial indications that a bomb or sabotage had caused it.

He added: So far, there are no signs or facts that this is a sabotage or terrorist act. There really arent any. It is said that there was some kind of external influence on the plane.

Investigators are examining the flights black boxes to retrieve data on the possible causes of the crash. Mr Kasciunas added: Whether it is a technical error or pilot error, we will have to wait a bit. The investigation may take a week.

Lithuanias defence minister said there was no indication of sabotage despite previous warnings of Russian intervention - Petras Malukas/AFP via Getty

Emergency services said all those in the house were unharmed - Mindaugas Kulbis/AP

Photographs from the crash site showed smoke rising from a smashed two-storey house. By the side of the property lay the broken cockpit and engine of the plane.

A video from a light industrial yard appeared to show the planes last moments. The plane flies slowly into view in the background, appearing to descend normally until it crashes into a residential area and sets off a huge explosion.

Teltonika security camera

We were woken by an explosion. Through the window, we saw the wave of explosions and a cloud of fire, like fireworks, Stanislovas Jakimavicius, who lives near the crash site, told AFP.

DHL said in a statement: We can confirm that today, at approximately 4.30am Central European Time, a Swiftair aircraft, operated by a service partner on behalf of DHL, performed an emergency landing about one kilometre from Vilnius Airport while en route from Leipzig Airport.

Delfi, a Lithuanian news website, said that the plane crashed at 5.31am local time. It said the pilot who died was Spanish.

The cause of the crash, which killed at least one crew member, is under investigation - Mindaugas Kublis/AP

Ingrida Simonyte, Lithuanias prime minister, urged people to refrain from jumping to conclusions.

Darius Jauniskis, the countrys state security department chief, also said it was too early to speculate on the causes of the crash, adding: We cannot rule out the case of terrorism. We have warned that such things are possible, we see an increasingly aggressive Russia ... but we cannot make any attributions or point fingers yet.

Later in the day, Annalena Baerbock, Germanys foreign minister, suggested that Russia might be to blame.

We must now seriously ask ourselves whether this was an accident or whether it was another hybrid incident, she said.

The term hybrid is commonly used to describe attacks that do not use conventional military tactics, such as sabotaging infrastructure or launching cyberattacks.

Since Russias invasion of Ukraine in 2022, European countries have often used the term to describe actions against them that they believe originate from Moscow.

Boris Pistorius, Germanys defence minister, said later in Berlin there were no findings as yet that indicated there had been an explosive charge on the aircraft that could have caused the crash.

Last month, German police said a small incendiary device had exploded at a DHL warehouse in Leipzig before a package had been due to be loaded on a flight.

UK counter-terrorism police are also investigating a similar device that caught fire in a warehouse in Birmingham in July after being flown on a DHL flight from Leipzig.

The devices originated in Lithuania, on Russias border. Like its Baltic neighbours, the country is a member of both the EU and Nato, but it also has a large ethnic Russian minority and is thought to have been infiltrated by Kremlin agents.
diary of a secret prisoner

As Britain is gripped by a prisons crisis, The Telegraph is publishing dispatches from an inmate at a Category B jail  the second highest level of security  to discover what life is really like inside. Recently, the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) found the jail to be chronically overcrowded and understaffed, with self-harm and drug use rife.

The inmate, a British professional and entrepreneur on the outside, is on remand awaiting trial charged with non-violent crimes, which he denies. To protect his identity, he is not named. Other names and nicknames have also been changed.

One day soon, somewhere in Whitehall, a civil servant tasked with finding a new way to mask the familiar shortfall in building new homes will argue that prison places are a form of housing  that a commitment to 10,000 new prison places reflects the Governments pledge to house all its citizens. And, in a way, he would be correct.

The greatest punishment inflicted by a prison sentence is often not the sentence itself but the chain reaction that results from instantaneously losing your income. The first consequence is debt, which leads quickly to rent and mortgage arrears, to account closures and, from there, to the loss of your home. Once you have lost a home, with your credit-worthiness indefinitely black-balled, you may well struggle ever to get a reliable residential address again.

I could use myself as an example: less than a year ago, I was a pretty prosperous company boss employing five people. I am unrepresentative, and yet the better you are doing, the bigger the mortgage and the school fee payments, the faster and more spectacular your fall.

Among the worst affected by being rendered homeless by prison are state pensioners in social housing. Once in prison, a pensioner stops receiving his state pension  understandable insofar as his Majesty has undertaken to feed, clothe and house us at his pleasure. But often the direct consequence for a single pensioner, whether in social housing or a private tenant, is the loss of his home within weeks. Local housing authorities have no interest in holding scarce and sought-after properties empty for convicted prisoners, whether or not they are retired; private landlords cannot afford leniency towards absent tenants.

It took me several months in prison, and the loss of my own home, to realise that the prison crisis is directly connected to the housing crisis. There are other crises connected to prison  drugs, mental health and domestic abuse among them  but homelessness is the only one that is also a direct consequence of a prison sentence. And whether or not you believe that rehabilitation should be a component of the prison experience, the word itself  so closely connected to habitation  means nothing once you have nowhere to live on the outside.

Having said that, there are wasters in here who, even if they were perpetually rehoused upon release by a Scandi-style socialist utopia, would still screw up. The social ills we face today are worthy of Hogarths most graphic caricatures of vice and idleness in Gin Lane: men and women with kids from numerous different liaisons for whom drugs, alcohol abuse and violence are not merely normalised but recreational. Compassionate as I try to be towards all prisoners, I have developed a particular dislike for feckless dads who moan about how much they miss their kids while inside but never put their children first on the outside.

Recently, once I had been in prison for six months myself, I began to notice familiar faces back inside who had been released over the summer. The giveaway was the tan: those of us who have spent the sunny days indoors are inevitably pale and pasty.

Yesterday, waiting for my antidepressants in the meds queue, I received a matey slap on the shoulder from Ben, with whom I had been padded up for a week at the end of June, just prior to his release. Though relatively bronzed, he seemed positively delighted to be back inside, especially with the winter months ahead.

Ben, mid-thirties, is a former squaddie (Royal Engineers) who had run his own building business. I dont know exactly how the wheels came off but at some point, a few years ago, he started smoking both white and dark (crack and heroin). After leaving jail this summer he was soon back to his old ways and had shoplifted, then been tracked by the police back to industrial shedding, where he had been sleeping for three weeks.

In theory, prisoners are not supposed to be released without a housing plan. There are bail residences and approved premises tailored to facilitating newly released prisoners for a few months. But I heard directly from a prison worker that she knew of prisoners who have even been given a tent and released onto a campsite.

Commentators on the prisons crisis often complain that technology  electronic tagging  is not being used enough. But the whole point of tags is that they are supposed to tie the wearer to an approved address. No address, no electronic solution.

Ben is not stupid, nor is he bad-looking (he has all his teeth, which junkies usually lose quite quickly, especially if they inject), nor is he violent or antisocial (if you allow that drug use and shoplifting are not, per se, antisocial behaviours). What he needs is release into a residential rehabilitation programme, but almost all of these, my prison psychologist assures me, have been scrapped.

To Bens credit he has no kids and, rather sadly, finds it hard to conceive of ever securing a settled and purposeful future. For the time being, with a warm cell, a TV and three squares a day, he is happy  in the same way I am happy, which is to say not very but with nothing especially odious to complain about.

One perverse repercussion of the difficulty of getting reliable digs on the outside is that prisoners, above all young white males, often espouse far-Right nationalist views, with immigration and housing their chief grievances. My mistaken expectation about prison politics, based on the assumption that the lock em up policy tends to come from the Right, was that prisoners  anti-police, with liberal attitudes to sex and drugs  would tend to be Left-wing. Wrong: again and again, though I have rarely encountered racism, I have encountered proud English Defence League marchers (including my current padmate), admirers of Donald Trump, Nigel Farage, and even of Vladimir Putin, in whom prisoners perhaps recognise the bully-boy swagger that you mess with at your peril. Needless to say, loathing of non-binary PC b-----ks is universal.

An effective prison cannot exist, I would suggest, in a country with insufficient housing  especially insufficient social housing. As soon as homelessness is a direct consequence of prison, prison becomes a de facto home  something to fall back on.

And this winter, thousands will fall back upon prison  and re-offend in order to get here.

Because of the vagaries of prison communication (on which there will be more in a future column), this is a change to the subject that was advertised last week. Next week the Secret Prisoner writes about making friends inside.
A supermoon with a partial lunar eclipse rises over Lake Michigan in Chicago, on 17 September 2024. Photograph: Kiichiro Sato/AP

A so-called mini-moon of Earth that has been lingering in the heavens since September will begin a journey towards the sun on Monday as it prepares to disappear until 2055.

The school-bus-sized asteroid known as 2024 PT5 might actually be a huge boulder that broke from the moon after another space rock crashed into it centuries ago, astronomers say.

Currently 2m miles (3.2m km) from Earth, about nine times farther than the distance to the moon, the asteroid never quite came close enough to be captured by the planets gravity.

But its farewell pass will bring it as close as 1.1m miles in January for a final look before the suns gravitational pull hauls deeper into space.

The mini moons small size, about 33ft wide, and distance meant it was never visible to humankinds naked eye, only through powerful telescopes. Nasa has been tracking the asteroid through its deep space network since it was first spotted through a South African-based telescope belonging to the University of Hawaii in August.

It has been a distant companion of Earth since then, Nasa said, and studies have determined it was not a man-made object.

Given the similarity between asteroid 2024 PT5s motion and that of our planets, scientists at Nasas center for near Earth object studies suspect that the object could be a large chunk of rock ejected from the moons surface after an asteroid impact long ago, Josh Handal, program analyst for the space agencys planetary defense coordination office, wrote in a briefing.

Rocket bodies from historical launches can also be found in such Earth-like orbits, but after analysis of this objects motion, it has been determined that 2024 PT5 is more likely of natural origin.

It has been following a horseshoe-shaped path around Earth for the last two months, and will be picking up velocity exponentially once the suns gravitational pull takes full effect after Monday. Its speed during its close pass in January will be at least twice that from September, astrophysicist Raul de la Fuente Marcos of Madrids Complutense University told the Associated Press.

Nasa will track the asteroid for more than a week in January using the Goldstone solar system radar antenna in Californias Mojave desert.

When it returns in 2055 after an orbit of the sun, the asteroid will once again make a temporary and partial lap around Earth.




A police cordon on Southern Row, in Ladbroke Grove, following the attack on Sunday - Tom Bowles

An eight-year-old girl was seriously wounded in an apparent hit by a gunman who fired multiple shots into a parked SUV in west London.

The youngster was injured alongside a 34-year-old man following a double shooting in Ladbroke Grove, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, just after 5.30pm on Sunday afternoon.

Scotland Yard said a 32-year-old woman and a two-year-old child were also inside the vehicle. The Telegraph understands the victims are related to each other.

A man, 22, has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, police said. He remains in police custody.

One witness saw a gunman firing up to four shots into the front window of the car. Sharon, 44, was leaving her mothers flat on Southern Row to pick up her 14-year-old daughter when she saw the shooting.

She said it looked like a hit and was almost like a film, telling The Telegraph: He was purposely shooting the driver in the driving seat. There were flashes coming out the front of the gun. There were three of four bangs.

It was almost like a film. It didnt look an accident. It looked like a hit.

Sharon said it was too dark to clearly see the gunman, but the weapon appeared to be a pistol. She said she heard a woman screaming in the aftermath and saw a child being carried into a nearby building.

Forensic officers at the scene of the shooting on Sunday - UKNIP

One witness said they heard a woman shout my babys been shot in the aftermath. The 64-year-old told Metro: I heard shots, and then a woman shouting: My baby, my babys been shot  it makes me sick to think about it now.

There were four or five shots, there was screaming. Its horrible. A neighbour went out with a duvet to cover the injured.

Speaking near the scene of the shooting on Monday, Supt Owen Renowden said a two-year-old child was present in the car when the gunman opened fire, but was unhurt.

The eight-year-old girl is in surgery, although her injuries are not life-threatening and she is in a stable condition. The 34-year-old man has suffered potentially life-changing injuries.

The shooting happened in a part of west London that has witnessed a violent turf war between gangs from Ladbroke Grove and Harrow Road, according to residents in the area.

The gangs are separated by a narrow bridge that runs over the Grand Union Canal and frequent skirmishes are said to take place between rival members.

Speaking in Ladbroke Grove, Billy Jamu, 28, a resident, told The Telegraph: Theres a group of youths who run around here that have a rivalry with Harrow Road. Everything that happens is gang related. Its stupid really.

Another man, who asked not to be named, said the gangs said: What happens when you get two XL bullys that come down the road and theyre both aggressive? Theres a friction there. Its a simple rivalry.
Guillaume Picard in front of the MSC Seaside cruise ship arriving into port. The former captains new crew is a growing group of activists called Stop Croisieres. Photograph: Richard Assheton/The Guardian

Few people know the sea better than Guillaume Picard. He grew up on a boat moored in the port of Hyeres in southern France after his parents left 1960s Paris. His first job was on a sailing boat. Then he spent 30 years in the merchant navy before becoming a commercial captain, ferrying tourists and containers across the Mediterranean for more than two decades.

Now aged 65, his grey hair in a ponytail, it is with no small note of sadness that he says, increasingly, it is the land that calls him. To be completely honest, I want to go to sea less and less, he says. I go hiking a lot in the mountains with my wife, and weve found an environment that is much more preserved. The mountains are beautiful wherever you go.

Picards beloved sea is being destroyed, he believes, by something uncomfortably close to home: cruise ships. Fifteen years ago they were a rare sight in Marseille. Now, Frances second city is one of Europes busiest cruise ports. Last year, 2.5 million passengers stopped off, according to the port authority, a million more than the year before.

Faced with this new reality, Picard has decided to become the seas protector, swapping his captains whites for the all-black of a non-violent protester. His new crew is a growing group of activists known as Stop Croisieres, or Stop Cruises. At some point we will have to make a choice for our children, for our grandchildren, he says. Do we continue to make bigger and more energy-consuming ships with more and more people on board? Are we really going to be able to continue to live on this Earth like this?

The group is part of a growing protest movement against the cruise ship industry and overtourism across Europes cities more broadly. Throughout August, Extinction Rebellion stopped cruise ships entering ports in the Netherlands, and earlier in the year tourists were targeted with water pistols in Barcelona by campaigners demanding, among other things, the closure of cruise ship terminals.

Some cities are implementing measures to limit the cruise industrys activity, such as banning the ships from city centres, reducing the number that can visit and introducing a tax on passengers. But in Marseille the situation seems harder to change.

Two years ago, the citys mayor, socialist Benoit Payan, launched a petition calling for limits on the number of cruise ships allowed to arrive during times of peak pollution, declaring: Marseille is suffocating. It attracted more than 50,000 signatures, but little further action. Instead, plans are going ahead for a new cruise terminal to open in 2026 in the Port of Marseille, which is controlled by President Macrons government in Paris.

I have a huge feeling of anger against the shipping companies Guillaume Picard

We are not at all decision makers in Marseille, unlike other ports where there are more restrictions for local communities, says Sebastien Barles, deputy mayor for the environment. I think no one in Marseille, except for some merchants, can say cruises bring them a lot of money.

Stop Croisieres first attracted attention in 2020 when its members  the core of whom now number between 50 and 100, says Picard, including paramedics, lawyers and ecologists  unfurled a banner over a bridge in the northern neighbourhood of LEstaque, saying: In Marseille, breathing kills. The group made the news again in 2022 when it carried out its first kayak stunt, holding up the Wonder of the Seas, then the worlds largest cruise liner. Then last month the group kayaked out into the mouth of the port of Marseille and delayed three cruise liners for several hours before being arrested. After both the groups kayak stunts, its activists were arrested and then released.

Picard, who has two daughters and grandchildren, has become a kind of father figure to the group. Im extremely touched by the commitment of all these young people I see at Stop Croisieres, he says. They could all be my children, almost. And I find them extremely motivated, well organised, and aware of the world in which we live.

For Picard, the switch from boat captain to protester has been a long journey of self-education. When he started working on ships he knew they were machines that pollute a lot, but little more than that, he says. He became increasingly aware of the impact of parking such big monsters in the middle of a city, and when his first grandchild was born he decided he needed to act. He says some former colleagues now resent him, while others sympathise without daring to speak out. The captain of one of the liners the activists stopped last month was an old colleague who left him a voice message during the protest. I havent listened to it, he says.

He has regrets about his former career as a commercial sailor, but is trying to share his knowledge of the maritime world with as many people as possible in the hope that it can be useful. I certainly feel guilty, he says. Its guilt for having participated in the destruction of life. But maybe that is the engine that makes me an activist now. There is also something stronger than guilt driving his actions. I also have a huge feeling of anger against the shipping companies.

Despite his disillusionment with the current state of play, he has not lost hope of rediscovering his love of the sea. For the moment its a bit like its on standby, the sea. With Stop Croisieres I interact with it in a different way.
Coca-Cola has a licence to extract 377m litres for its bottled water brands. Photograph: mikroman6/Getty Images

Foreign multinational companies are extracting billions of litres of water from British aquifers to sell as bottled water, the Guardian can reveal.

Coca-Cola extracts the largest amount of freshwater of any drinks company in England, the data obtained through freedom of information legislation shows. It has a licence to extract 1.59bn litres of water a year from boreholes in Sidcup, Kent for its soft drinks. On top of that, it has the right to take 377m litres for its bottled water brands Glaceau Smartwater and Abbey Well from Morpeth in Northumberland.

The French company Sources Alma is one of the biggest players in the UK water market, supplying bottled water to Tesco and Asda as well as producing its own Aqua Pura brand. Through its British subsidiary Roxane, it has the right to extract 1.5bn litres annually from Armathwaite in Cumbria, where it bottles Tescos Ashbeck water. It also bottles large quantities of water in Staffordshire, where it produces Tescos Elmhurst brand, but this spring water is supplied by a third company  South Staffordshire Water plc  so the quantities are not publicly available.

The Swiss giant Nestle Waters has the right to extract a total of 880m litres of water for its brands Buxton and Pure Life from its sites in Derbyshire and Pembrokeshire, where it took over the Welsh company Princes Gate in 2018.

Also in Derbyshire is Germanys Schwarz, which bottles water for Lidl, with a licence to pump up 700m litres a year. Meanwhile, the French company Danone has bought Harrogate Spring Water, where it can extract 460m litres a year.

In Scotland, Highland Spring is dominant. Its licence allows it to take 1.85bn litres a year from the Speyside Glenlivet crown estate in the Scottish Highlands. Highland Spring is owned by Mahdi Al Tajir, a Bahrain-born billionaire businessman and Scotlands richest man. Highland Spring said that it only extracted 32% of the amount allowed by its licence and that it had detected no discernible impact on the rivers and groundwater levels due to abstraction.

The UK trade body, the Natural Source Water Association, says bottled water represents a tiny fraction of all water abstracted in Britain: in England it is 0.05%, Scotland 0.2% and Wales 0.08%. For natural source water companies, the water they abstract is the precious commodity at the centre of their operations so they are very careful how they use it, it said in a statement.

However, the UN special rapporteur for water, Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, said that, although the bottling industry used relatively small amounts of water compared with other industries such as intensive agriculture or mining, the issue is that bottled water companies are taking the best quality drinking water.

As reported in the Guardian, during droughts in Spain and Latin America, populations have run out of drinking water and have had to buy bottled water from foreign companies who have extracted it from their own national territory. In times of shortage, if governments prioritise giving concessions to private bottling companies, Arrojo-Agudo says, this can put at risk the availability of this higher quality water for public supply.

During the UKs hot summer of 2022, farmers in Ludchurch, Wales, complained that they faced water restrictions while Nestle continued to extract millions of litres of local water.

Nestle Waters said: Nestle is a founding member of the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS). Our bottling site in Buxton was the first site in the UK to achieve a platinum certification  the highest level available. The Princes Gate site in Pembrokeshire is set to undergo the AWS audit in 2025.

The bottled water market is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few multinationals, which have bought up many local brands. Five companies account for 83% of bottled water sales in the UK, according to the consultants Zenith Global. Roxane (owned by Sources Alma) has a 38% market share, Nestle 14%, Highland Spring 12% and Danone 10%. The fifth, Shepley Spring  ultimately owned by the US company Niagara Bottling LLC  has a 9% share of the UK market. Operating through a third company, it has the right to extract almost 600m litres a year in Yorkshire, where it bottles water for Morrisons, Booker, Iceland and Amazon, as well as its own brands Ice Valley and White Rock.

In Britain, there are three types of bottled water. Products sold as natural mineral water and spring water must come from an underground natural source and be bottled at that source. Unlike mineral water, spring water does not need a guaranteed mineral composition and may be treated to remove or add substances. Products sold as bottled water can come from a variety of sources, including tap water. The figures in this article do not include water taken from the municipal public water system, that is to say tap water.

Worldwide, Coca-Cola sells more bottled water than any other company, according to Euromonitor International. Nestles Pure Life is the biggest-selling single brand.

The Environment Agency said: Water bottling licences come with strict conditions to ensure the environment is protected. Where there is risk of damage to the environment, we have the power to amend or revoke existing licences. These licences currently represent less than 1% of total abstraction licences.

 This article was amended on 25 November 2024. An earlier version described the spring water company Shepley Spring as British-owned; it is, in fact, majority owned by the US company Niagara Bottling LLC.
Elon Musk has branded the UK a tyrannical police state - DAN KITWOOD/AFP

A petition calling on Sir Keir Starmer to hold another general election has garnered over two million signatures and has drawn the attention of Elon Musk.

The petition on the Parliament website was created by Michael Westwood, a pub landlord, expressing disillusionment with the Labour party.

Mr Westwood wrote: I believe the current Labour Government have gone back on the promises they laid out in the lead up to the last election.

Signatures soared after Elon Musk threw his support behind the campaign on X, formerly Twitter. The Tesla mogul wrote on Sunday: The people of Britain have had enough of a tyrannical police state.

The people of Britain have had enough of a tyrannical police state https://t.co/0PtR5qQOKw  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2024

Right-wing MPs including Richard Tice, the deputy leader of the Reform party, and Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, have also been sharing the petition, calling on voters to sign and share it in a challenge to Sir Keirs Government.

The Telegraph is now calling on its readers to have their say. Tell us your view by responding in the poll below.

Appearing on ITVs This Morning on Monday, the Prime Minister dismissed the demands. He said: I remind myself that very many people didnt vote Labour at the last election. Im not surprised that many of them want a re-run, that isnt how our system works.

There will be plenty of people who didnt want us in in the first place. What our focus is on is the decisions that I have to make every day.
The Google Pixel Tablet, introduced last year, represented the tech giant's bid to compete in the tablet market. While the device achieved moderate success, it struggled to meet expectations and has yet to establish itself as a formidable competitor against industry leaders like the Apple iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Google's Pixel Tab Successor Could Face the Chopping Block

Google's Pixel Tablet is currently in a precarious position. Reports from 9to5Google suggest that the second-generation Pixel Tablet, initially expected to launch this year, has been axed. However, Google's product roadmap indicates that a third-generation model may still be in development, leaving the future of the lineup ambiguous.

The original Pixel Tablet received praise for its design and functionality, particularly its innovative dock for enhanced home media use. Despite this, it struggled to captivate the market due to limitations like an outdated Tensor G2 chipset and the absence of cellular connectivity.

Pixel Tablet Does Not Have the 'Edge' Over Rivals

While the Pixel Tablet is recognized as a solid Android device, it falls short of offering a distinct "edge" that could elevate it to the level of competitors like Apple's iPad and Samsung's Galaxy Tab series. Despite Google's innovative inclusion of a dedicated dock to enhance media consumption at home, this feature alone could not compensate for its Tensor G2 chipset, which was already outdated by one generation upon its 2023 release.

Additionally, the Pixel Tablet struggles with a lack of accessories, both from Google and third-party manufacturers, due to its limited popularity compared to its more established rivals.

Google's Development Challenges

Google's approach to consumer technology has historically seen some missteps, such as with the original Pixel Fold smartphone. However, the company has demonstrated its ability to adapt, as evidenced by the Fold's reinvention as part of the Pixel 9 series.

The Pixel Tablet lineup reflects a similar struggle. While the first-generation device garnered moderate praise, rumors suggest that the company scrapped plans for a successor this year. The original device's limited market performance and lukewarm reception raised questions about the viability of continuing the lineup.

Interestingly, despite the cancellation of the Pixel Tablet 2, Google's roadmap reportedly includes plans for a third-generation device. Whether this represents a fresh start or a continuation of the current lineup remains unclear.
Greens leader Adam Bandt called a press conference on Monday to announce the shift in policy on the Help to Buy bill. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

The Greens will help the Albanese government pass its Help to Buy shared equity scheme for homeownership and Build to Rent tax incentives, despite failing to win any concessions from Labor in return for its support.

The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, and housing spokesperson, Max Chandler-Mather, announced the shift in policy at a press conference on Monday afternoon, explaining that they had pushed Labor as hard as they could without success.

The Greens can announce that well be waving through Labors two housing bills after accepting that Labor doesnt care enough about renters to do anything meaningful for them, Chandler-Mather told reporters in Canberra.

The decision is a blow to Chandler-Mather, who successfully used negotiations in 2023 over the Housing Australia Future Fund to pressure the government to commit billions of dollars more for social and affordable housing.

Related: Deal or no deal: can Labor avoid an end-of-year dumpster fire and pass its legislative agenda? | The Agenda

The Help to Buy scheme allows the government to contribute 30% of the purchase price of a home or 40% for a new build for those who earn under the income thresholds of $90,000 for a single applicant, or $120,000 for a couple. The government share reduces the cost for the homebuyer, although it must be paid back upon sale.

In February Anthony Albanese indicated the government intended to play hardball on the bill, insisting the Greens could vote for the bill or against it without horse trading or further concessions from Labor.

At first, the Greens called on the government to reform negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions in return for their support.

Earlier in November, the Greens substantially reduced their demands, calling instead for funding for an extra 25,000 social and affordable homes and a commitment that those whose income rises above the threshold do not need to pay back immediately.

On Monday morning the housing minister, Clare ONeil, rejected these demands, triggering the repositioning by the Greens, which Bandt said was adopted unanimously by the party room after it was recommended by Chandler-Mather.

For months Albanese and Labor have been targeting the Greens by declaring we are the builders, they are the blockers, urging progressive voters to turn on the minor party for delaying government bills.

Chandler-Mather noted that the Greens had now passed every single piece of Labors housing legislation.

And if we come to the next election and theres still a housing crisis  well, thats a question Labor has to answer.

Because we know the solutions to the housing crisis: its capping rent increases; its phasing out negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts; its starting getting the government in the business of building genuinely affordable housing, the way it used to.

Related: I used to think Australia was best served by a majority government. Now Im not so sure | George Megalogenis

The Greens vowed to pursue these policies in balance of power in a possible minority parliament after the next election.

Earlier, ONeil told Radio National that for two-and-a-half years now, the Australian Greens have done nothing but block and delay the action the government has attempted to take on housing.

Theyve worked with Peter Dutton to do so, and the result of that has been more homelessness, fewer homes built and fewer social and affordable homes built, she said.

Theres a big decision here for the Greens. Are they going to go into the next election as an ineffective party of protest or a party that works with the government on issues that are critical to Australians who are watching at home?

Bandt denied that poor results for the Greens in the Queensland state election and some Victorian councils had played a role in the backdown.

He noted the minor party had improved its vote in the Northern Territory and Tasmanian elections, and some councils including Merri-bek in Victoria and Richmond and Sydney in New South Wales.
The Sea Story yacht, which capsized south of Marsa Alam, Egypt - Red Sea Governate

Two British tourists were thought to be amongst 16 people missing after a yacht capsized in the Red Sea on Monday.

The Sea Story diving vessel was carrying 31 tourists, along with a crew of 14, when distress signals were sent out shortly before dawn on Monday, Egyptian officials said.

A search and rescue operation co-ordinated by the Egyptian military had recovered 28 survivors by Monday night. Some were airlifted to safety, while others were transported to shore by warship.

Survivors were taken to Marsa Alam, a popular diving destination around 46 nautical miles from where the sinking is understood to have happened. The search operation was paused for the night at 5pm local time (3pm GMT).

The 44-metre timber-hulled boat is thought to have capsized near Shaab Satayah, a popular coral reef often visited on diving trips, at around 5.30am local time (3.30am GMT).

Four Britons and two Americans were on board, according to Masrawy, a local media outlet, which cited sources on the city council of Marsa Alam, a coastal resort.

Two Britons are among the missing, according to the BBC. The Foreign office confirmed that it was supporting a number of British nationals in relation to the incident.

Two Chinese nationals were confirmed safe and in good health, according to Chinese state media. A Finnish national and two Polish tourists are also understood to have been on board the Sea Story.

Major General Amr Hanafi, the Governor of the Red Sea, said the sinking unfolded rapidly when a large wave struck the boat, adding: This was the preliminary cause of the incident, according to accounts from both foreign and Egyptian crew members.

The situation unfolded rapidly, taking only five to seven minutes, and some passengers were trapped inside cabins, preventing their escape.

The manager of a diving resort close to the rescue operations also told journalists that a surviving crew member had said the Sea Story was hit by a wave in the middle of the night, throwing the vessel on its side.

It is operator Dive Pro Liveaboards third vessel to experience a serious incident in the Red Sea in as many years. A marine safety inspection in March this year found no problems with Sea Story, granting it a one-year validity certificate.

On Monday, journalists who attempted to contact Dive Pro Liveaboard were told by staff that they had no information about the incident.

On Sunday, authorities in the Red Sea capital of Hurghada had shut down marine activities and the citys port because of bad weather conditions. However, investigations are ongoing to determine the exact cause of the incident.

Holidaymakers on the Sea Story had embarked on a multi-day diving trip from Port Ghalib, in south-east Egypt, on Sunday, and had been due to dock in the town of Hurghada, 124 miles north, on Friday.

Built in 2022, the vessel could accommodate 36 passengers in 18 twin cabins, which included four honeymoon suites on the upper deck, according to Dive Pro Liveaboards website.

Dive Pro Liveaboard had previously operated the steel-hulled Scuba Scene yacht, which was destroyed by fire shortly after leaving the companys base in Hurghada in April 2022.

The company replaced it with a vessel called Sea Legend, according to Dive Magazine. Sea Legend caught fire in the Red Sea in February with 17 people on board. The fire reportedly resulted in the death of a German woman.

The sinking comes a year after three British tourists died when their Egyptian diving boat caught fire off the coast of Marsa Alam.

Video showed some of the 29 people on board the Hurricane yacht, which had a different operator, diving into the sea to escape after a suspected electrical fault in the engine room last June.

07:51 PM GMT

Thats all for today

Thank you for following our live coverage.

Here is a recap of todays developments:

Searches of the sea area were paused for the night at 5pm (3pm GMT), an Egyptian government source said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the four-deck yacht to sink, but the Egyptian meteorological authority had warned of high waves and advised against maritime activity.

A recent marine safety inspection in March this year found no issues with the vessel, granting it a one-year validity certificate.

Sea Story is operator Dive Pro Liveaboards third vessel to experience a serious incident in the Red Sea in as many years.

06:44 PM GMT

Foreigners and crew still missing as night falls

Red Sea Governor Maj-Gen Amr Hanafi said 12 foreigners and four Egyptians were still missing.

On board were people from Belgium, Britain, China, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and the United States.

The governor added that survivors were rescued by Egyptian Navy warship El Fateh and a tourist boat near the Sataya reef, also known as Dolphins House, in the Wadi el-Gemal national park area, 46 nautical miles off the coast of Marsa Alam.

Red Sea governor Amr Hanafi speaks to survivors in the harbour in Marsa Alam earlier - EGYPTIAN PRESS CENTER HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

06:02 PM GMT

Yacht sinking was operators third in three years

Sea Story has become operator Dive Pro Liveaboards third vessel to experience a serious incident in the Red Sea in as many years.

The diving company previously operated the 43m steel-hulled Scuba Scene, a yacht which was destroyed by a fire shortly after leaving the companys base in Hurghada in April 2022.

The company replaced the yacht with the 42-m steel-hulled Sea Legend, according to Dive Magazine.

Sea Legend caught fire in the Red Sea in Feb 2024 with 17 diving guests on board reportedly resulting in the death of a German woman.

Only the companys 35m Tillis and 32m Sea Pearl are thought to remain operational.

05:35 PM GMT

Sea Story passed marine safety inspection

A recent marine safety inspection in March 2024 found no issues with the vessel, granting it a one-year validity certificate and had obtained all required permits prior to the trip.

However, investigations are ongoing to determine the exact cause of the incident.

04:52 PM GMT

Watch: Survivors disembark at Marsa Alam

04:27 PM GMT

Pictured: Inside Sea Story

Sea Story was built in 2022 and could accommodate 36 passengers in its 18 twin cabins, which included four honeymoon suites on the upper deck, according to operator Dive Pro Liveaboards website.

Registered in Safaga, Egypt, the 44-metre timber-hulled yacht held diving expeditions around the northern wrecks of the Red Sea and to Ras Mohamed National Marine Park.

The main saloon of Sea Story - Dive Pro Liveaboard

The deck of the vessel - Dive Pro Liveaboard

Sea Story was described as your ticket to see the best diving in Egypt by PADI - The deck of the vessel

One of the 18 cabins on Sea Story - Dive Pro Liveaboard

04:02 PM GMT

Searches called off

Searches of the sea south of Marsa Alam were paused for the night at 5pm (3pm GMT), an Egyptian government source said.

Egyptian armed forces frigates and aircraft had been sweeping the area of the Red Sea where the Sea Story is believed to have capsized in an effort to locate at least 17 missing people, among them British nationals.

Emergency vehicles and workers on the seafront at Marsa Alam - Shutterstock

03:37 PM GMT

Chinese and Polish nationals declared safe

The Chinese embassy in Egypt said two of its nationals were in good health after being rescued in the cruise ship sinking accident in the Red Sea, Chinese state media reported.

Pawel Wronski, the Polish foreign ministry spokesman, said the authorities have information that two of the tourists may have had Polish citizenship.

Thats all we know about them. Thats all we can say for now, he said.

The Finnish foreign ministry confirmed that one of its nationals is missing.

03:32 PM GMT

A big wave toppled the boat, says crew member

A surviving crew member said the Sea Story was hit by a wave in the middle of the night, throwing the vessel on its side, according to a manager at a diving resort close to the rescue operations.

On Sunday, authorities in the Red Sea capital of Hurghada had shut down marine activities and the citys port because of bad weather conditions.

Doctors wait for possible survivors to be brought ashore after the sinking - SHUTTERSTOCK

03:24 PM GMT

Red Sea recent history of dive boat tragedies

Sea Storys sinking comes a year after three British tourists died when their Egyptian diving boat caught fire off the coast of Marsa Alam.

Videos showed some of the 29 people on board the Hurricane yacht diving into the water to escape flames after a suspected electrical fault in the engine room in June 2023.

Earlier this month, the three-deck Nouran, operated by Red Sea Explorers, caught fire while at Daedalus Reef.

All guests on crew on the 36m mahogany-hulled liveaboard, built in 2006, were evacuated without injury on Nov 6.

In February 2024, the Red Sea yacht Sea Legend caught fire in Egypt with 17 dive guests on board resulting in the death of one tourist.

The Seaduction dive boat sank at Elba Reef in the Egyptian Red Sea in October with 18 diving guests escaping with the crew, while 40m liveaboard Exocet sank on 25 June after hitting a coral reef near Marsa Alam with all divers evacuating safely.

Also in Marsa Alam, the 38m live aboard New Dream struck a coral reef while travelling at night in June 2023.

Plumes of smoke erupt from the Hurricane yacht in Marsa Alam on June 11, 2023 - MOHAMED AL-SAIF/REUTERS

03:20 PM GMT

Pictured: Map of Sea Story in the Red Sea

The Sea Story had embarked on a multi-day diving trip from Port Ghalib in south-east Egypt on Sunday and was due to dock in the town of Hurghada, 124 miles north, on Friday.

The Red Sea governorate received a report of a distress call made from the yacht at 5.30am local time (3.30am GMT).

The boat is thought to have capsized near Shaab Satayah, a coral reef often visited on diving trips.

03:16 PM GMT

Foreign Office providing support

The British Foreign Office has said it is providing consular support to a number of British nationals and their families amid reports four Britons are missing after a tourist yacht sank in the Red Sea off Egypt.

Survivors of the sinking boat rest at a harbor in Marsa Alam, Red Sea - STR/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

03:12 PM GMT

Boat can hold 36 passengers

According to the ship makers website, the Sea Story was built in 2022 and can hold 36 passengers.

The Red Sea is a major tourist destination in Egypt, which employs two million people and generates more than 10 per cent of the countrys GDP.

Many tourist companies have stopped or limited travel on the Red Sea because of dangers from conflicts in the region, including a year of attacks on commercial shipping by Yemens Houthi rebels.

03:12 PM GMT

Not clear what caused boat to sink

It was not immediately clear what caused the four-deck, wooden-hulled motor yacht to sink, but the Egyptian meteorological authority had warned of high waves on the Red Sea and advised against maritime activity for Sunday and Monday.

The Egyptian military said it was coordinating rescue operations with the government.

03:11 PM GMT

Survivors airlifted

Amr Hanafy, the governor of the Red Sea region, said 28 survivors had been rescued from the shipwreck south of Marsa Alam, a coastal town. Some were airlifted to safety, while others were transported by a warship.

He said: Intensive search operations are underway in coordination with the navy and the armed forces.

Those who survived suffered only bruises and abrasions and were taken to a hotel in Marsa Alam in good condition.

An ambulance parked at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada - STRINGER/REUTERS

03:10 PM GMT

Hello and welcome to our live coverage

Were bringing you the latest updates as at least 17 people remain missing after a yacht capsized in the Red Sea.
Israel sent troops into Lebanon in October after almost a year of cross-border air strikes and rocket fire from both sides - Bilal Hussein/AP

Israel has given the green light to a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah that would see the terror group leave southern Lebanon and Israel withdraw its forces.

Benjamin Netanyahus government supports the proposals drawn up by the United States, sources told The Telegraph ahead of a cabinet meeting scheduled for Tuesday, when ministers will vote on the deal.

Elias Bou Saab, the deputy speaker of Lebanons parliament, also expressed optimism about a ceasefire on Monday, saying that there were no serious obstacles left.

However, several ministers in Israel have expressed opposition to a deal, including Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, who called an agreement a big mistake.

Speaking to The Telegraph on condition of anonymity, an Israeli official warned that sticking points remained, including the question of Israels right to act against Hezbollah if the group violated the ceasefire.

There were also concerns on Monday over Frances role in the talks, after Paris threatened to arrest Mr Netanyahu under an International Criminal Court warrant.

The US media outlet Axios cited a US official as saying that Joe Biden had told Emmanuel Macron that Mr Netanyahus anger was justified as it would be impossible to be part of a mediation while promising to arrest him if he set foot on French soil.The issue was reportedly solved on Monday.

Israel reportedly agreed to allow France to play a role in the implementation of the deal in return for Paris taking steps to improve relations with Jerusalem.

It sent troops into Lebanon in October after almost a year of cross-border air strikes and rocket fire from both sides.

The US ceasefire proposal, largely built on UN Security Council resolution 1701, stipulates that Israel must withdraw its forces from Lebanon, while Hezbollah must remove its forces from the south of the country.

Israel is expected to receive assurances from the US that it can act against violations of the deal as long as it is coordinated with Washington.

The latter has been a sticking point for Lebanon, which has strongly objected to the possibility of Israel violating its sovereignty after a ceasefire. The Lebanese army would instead be deployed near the border with Israel to prevent Hezbollah from regrouping and rearming.

The US will lead an oversight committee in charge of monitoring Hezbollahs activities in Lebanon.

People inspect the damage after an Israeli airstrike on Ghobeiry, in Beirut, on Monday - AFP/Getty Images

Haaretz, the Israeli newspaper, reported that the ceasefire would be carried out in several stages, eventually leading to negotiations over the land border between Lebanon and Israel, which remain disputed to this day.

Theres cautious hope for a ceasefire and a lot can go wrong until then, the Israeli official added.

A senior Israeli official told The Telegraph there was high confidence that a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah will happen soon.

The deal still faces stiff opposition from ministers such as Mr Ben-Gvir, who has previously threatened to bring down the government to stop peace agreements with Hamas in Gaza.

Precisely now, when Hezbollah is beaten and longs for a ceasefire, it is forbidden to stop. As I warned before in Gaza, I warn now as well  it is not too late to stop this agreement. We must continue until the absolute victory, he said on Monday.

Mayors of northern Israeli towns that have sustained daily Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks over the past year also voiced their opposition to a deal.

This agreement hastens [a repeat of] Oct 7 in the north and this cannot happen. I dont understand how we went from total victory to total surrender, said Avichai Stern, the mayor of Kiryat Shmona.

Gideon Saar, Israels foreign minister, said on Monday that any violation will be dealt with immediately.

Danny Danon, Israels ambassador to the UN, said: We will make sure we will have the ability to neutralise any threat from southern Lebanon. I hope the Lebanese army will take care of that in the future. But if they fail again, we will be there.

Mr Danon said Israel would continue to coordinate with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil), adding: I expect they would be more effective this time. We dont expect them to fight, but we expect them to report.

Hezbollah started attacking Israel on Oct 8 in solidarity with Hamas, and has fired at least 13,000 missiles, drones and rockets at Israel since, killing 75 people. Israel has launched thousands of air strikes and attacks against Hezbollah across Lebanon, killing more than 3,500.
Byron moved in 1819 into Palazzo Guiccioli, owned by the husband of Countess Teresa Guiccioli, whom he met at a party in Venice. Photograph: Emanuele Rambaldi

A museum dedicated to the flamboyant British poet and satirist Lord Byron is due to open in the northern Italian city of Ravenna, housed in the same building where he pursued an intense affair with the wife of an aristocrat and completed some of his most famous works.

Byron unabashedly moved in 1819 into Palazzo Guiccioli, owned by the husband of Countess Teresa Guiccioli, whom he met at a party in Venice.

The sprawling residence in the heart of the city has been restored by the Cassa di Risparmio di Ravenna Foundation and from 29 November visitors will be able to wander through the rooms where the romance took place and where he knuckled down to complete masterpieces including Don Juan, Sardanapalus, The Prophecy of Dante and the final canto of Childe Harolds Pilgrimage.

One of the rooms contains tokens of love kept by the countess, including letters, jewellery, locks of the poets curly hair and shards of his sunburned skin.

The museum will partly be dedicated to the Risorgimento, the 19th-century Italian movement for unification, owing to Byrons connections to figures involved with the Carbonari, an informal network of secret revolutionary societies that played a role in the unification process.

The idea is to link three aspects of who Lord Byron was  the poet, the lover, and the person oriented towards freedom, said a spokesperson for the museum.

Byron died in 1824 in what is now Greece. He had several affairs during his life but the countess was his final great love.

The love for Teresa led Byron to transform himself and, without becoming a saint, he changed his life, said Antonio Patuelli, the president of the foundation.

Visitors to the museum, which the foundation said was the only one in the world specifically dedicated to Byron, will also be able to relive the poets experiences in Italy and learn what it was about the country that inspired him, thanks to interactive virtual reality technology.

Byron fled England for mainland Europe in 1816, leaving behind a trail of scandalous affairs and debt, never to return. He travelled to Belgium and Switzerland, as well as Venice and Rome, before returning to Venice in 1819, where he met the countess. It was love at first sight, and the pair had contemplated eloping before settling in her marital home. He then followed her to Pisa in 1821.

During his time in Ravenna, Byron received visits from his friends, Percy Bysshe Shelley, also considered one of the major English Romantic poets, and the Irish writer and poet Thomas Moore.

Byron was described by the writer Caroline Lamb, with whom he also had an affair, as mad, bad, and dangerous to know. He was known by people in Ravenna as the crazy Englishman.

In 1823, he left Italy for Greece, where he joined insurgents fighting the war of independence against the Ottoman empire. He died of a fever in Missolonghi in April 1824, aged 36, and is buried at his family vault in Nottinghamshire.
Business at Sergio Helmans hummus restaurant has been slow in recent months but he has kept working to support his five children. Photograph: Jason Burke/The Guardian

There is a crack, a boom and a siren, all more or less simultaneously. Sergio Helman has not quite reached the concrete shelter a dozen metres away from his hummus restaurant, off highway 99, which marks the northernmost limit of the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona.

The 60-year-old shrugs and explains that Hezbollah fires the rockets from so close that Israeli air defence systems can give only 15 seconds warning at best.

But I always try to get to the shelter  Ive got five children to support so I have to stay alive to keep my restaurant open, he said.

Business at Helmans restaurant has not been good in recent months. The evacuation of most of the population of Kiryat Shmona and the surrounding communities in the days after Hamass 7 October attack into southern Israel last year means his usual customers are sometimes a 100km away or more. Neighbouring eateries are closed and the shared car park is strewn with fallen branches.

This soon may change. A ceasefire to end the 13-month conflict between Israel and the Lebanese Islamist militant movement Hezbollah now looks possible, even likely.

More than 3,750 people, both combatants and civilians, have been killed in Lebanon, health officials say, and about a million are displaced. Forty-four civilians and more than 70 soldiers have been killed in Israels north.

Following the visit of the US envoy Amos Hochstein to Beirut and Jerusalem last week, Israels security cabinet is due to meet on Tuesday to decide on a ceasefire proposal.

Many  but not all  of the 60,000 Israelis who have been displaced from their homes in the north of the country since Hezbollah rocket fire began on 8 October last year welcome news of an imminent end to the war.

Erez Bergman, 51, left the kibbutz of Snir, a kilometre or so from Kiryat Shimona, days after the outbreak of the conflict and spent months in hotels with his wife and three children before ending up in a rented house in the small central Israeli town of Bat Ofer.

There are some advantages to his new life: coffee shops, theatre and concerts in nearby Tel Aviv. Even if hundreds of rockets have been fired weekly into central Israel by Hezbollah in recent months, almost all are intercepted and casualties have been light.

A former senior artillery officer, Bergman said the IDFs airstrikes across Lebanon and its extensive ground attack into southern Lebanon had done a good job, so the time had come to end the war. Military officials say the IDF has destroyed much of Hezbollahs military infrastructure along the border.

Hezbollah is here to stay, and they dont like us  but we had 17 years of peace after the last war with them [in 2006]. The Middle East being what it is there will be something else of course but if we get another 15 years of calm, thatd be OK. Itd be enough for my kids to grow up, Bergman said.

The road to Snir from Helmans restaurant runs within two kilometres of the contested border with Lebanon, where a plume of smoke rises from a village to the north. The few cars there are drive fast.

There is little sense at the kibbutz that the war is winding down. Artillery is clearly audible, as are the launch of anti-rocket missiles that leave a brown trail through the blue sky. Israeli warplanes roar overhead.

Lior Shelef, 48, has been in charge of Snirs security team since the beginning of the war. His wife and three children now stay in another kibbutz, 30km away.

There is a very direct link between the people who live on the border here, and those who live on the border in Gaza  When they were attacked [on 7 October last year] we felt we would be too. We had seen [Hezbollah elite] forces building up and we knew they were watching us, Shelef said.

Now, Shelef said, he would welcome a solid deal within three months.

We are not expecting a promise of eternal peace. I just want a quiet life to raise my kids and I know that the Lebanese people over the fence want the same  All wars end in diplomatic agreements so this will too, he said.

The proposed deal involves an initial two-month ceasefire during which Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon and Hezbollah would end its armed presence between the southern border and the Litani River.

Avi Dichter, an Israeli minister and member of the security cabinet, told the Guardian on Sunday: When people get back to the settlements along the border with Lebanon, after reaching the agreement with Hezbollah, they will be able to go back  knowing that theyre going to live there safe and sound.

But while under pressure to return Israelis to their homes in the north, Netanyahu knows too that much of the public, particularly his own supporters, fear a premature end to hostilities. A recent poll by the Institute for National Security Studies thinktank found that a third of Israelis wanted the offensive expanded until Hezbollah is disarmed.

In Kiryat Shmona itself, views are more hawkish than in the surrounding kibbutzim, reflecting deeper social, political and economic divisions in Israel. Kibbutz residents who live close to the border have a history of opposition to the Netanyahu government, the most rightwing in the history of Israel. They are also more prosperous than many in Kiryat Shmona, a stronghold of Netanyahus Likud party.

Yamit Malul Yanai, a commentator and lawyer from Kiryat Shmona who was interviewed in a rocket shelter during repeated alerts, said: There is massive resentment in the town. The two communities have very different views of this war.

She added: The residents of Kiryat Shmona dont want to be a human shield for the rest of the country. We have to have a real deal, a real victory or we wont go back. I dont think we are close to the end of this war.
Coroner Elisabeth Armitage has made 35 recommendations, including that the Northern Territory government fund a peak body to tackle family and sexual violence. Photograph: Amanda Parkinson/The Guardian

The Northern Territory government has been told it must overhaul its response to family violence to stop women and children being killed.

The NT coroner on Monday handed down inquest findings into the deaths of four Aboriginal women, making 35 recommendations.

Coroner Elisabeth Armitage, who became emotional while delivering the findings, made clear that the wide-ranging recommendations should be implemented in full to save lives.

The inquest was held into the deaths of Miss Yunupiu, Ngeygo Ragurrk, Kumarn Rubuntja and Kumanjayi Haywood.

Related: This is our horror: the grim stories driving the Northern Territorys reckoning with domestic violence

All four women reported fears for their safety to authorities or loved ones in the weeks, months and even years before they were killed. Their killers had histories of family violence and were known to police.

The recommendations included that the NT government should fund a peak body to tackle family and sexual violence, increase investment in alcohol and drug rehabilitation and the Aboriginal Interpreter Service, expand a specialist family and sexual violence court, commit to developing alternatives to custody for perpetrators, and increase its core baseline funding for crisis services.

The NT police were also told it should commit to a significantly expanded and appropriately resourced domestic, family and sexual violence command in Alice Springs and Darwin, which would be headed by an assistant commissioner and include permanent positions and a training unit that would ensure the force was aware of best practice in response to the issue.

I make the following recommendations in the sincere hope that they will be implemented fully and that meaningful, long-term change will result and lives will be saved, Armitage said in her findings.

She said to the womens families that we have talked about tragic times and their tragic deaths.

But I know that you remember them smiling and laughing, sharing stories and spending time on country, and happy times with family. They lived and were loved.

In handing down these findings, I will remember them that way too.

Armitage was scathing about the failures of the NT government to respond to the issue.

These deaths were senseless and shocking. They were also preventable.

We must bear witness to the suffering of these women, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us.

They must not be forgotten and their suffering must not be ignored. It must compel us to action. We must not take the radical action needed to stop more women from dying.

Armitage found that rates of family violence in the NT were far higher than in other Australian jurisdictions. She found that in 2021 the rate was three times the national average, and five times that of most other jurisdictions where data is reported, and that the rate of related homicides was seven times the national average.

In Australias worst jurisdiction for family violence, Aboriginal women were significantly over-represented.

Armitage also found the problem was getting worse, with NT police figures showing they recorded a 117% increase in the number of family and sexual violence reports over the past decade, and predicted a further 73% jump during the next decade. The NT police spends almost half its entire policing budget on the issue.

But Armitage said that after the Domestic Family and Sexual Violence Interagency Coordination and Reform Office (DFSV-ICRO) was tasked with developing and reforming the NT governments approach to the issue, it called for a $180m budget commitment. It was instead given $20m.

This was woefully inadequate and a gut-wrenching discovery for the  sector.

It was one important example, but not the only example I heard, of rejection or inaction on what I consider to be reasonable recommendations or proposals being made by experts about how to respond to this crisis.

I adopt the observation of senior counsel assisting [Dr Peggy Dwyer] that: It is a terrible waste of money to repeat investigations that result in similar recommendations, and it is a tragic waste of lives for them to be ignored or not seriously actioned.

Armitage found the reasons for high rates of violence in the NT were a variety of socioeconomic, historical and cultural reasons.

These included the ongoing impacts of colonisation, including the impact of intergenerational trauma, systemic disadvantage and discrimination, cultural dislocation and removal of children, entrenched community attitudes towards violence, the expense of service delivery and challenges of recruiting and retaining skilled labour, geographical distance and remoteness of some areas, and a lack of basic infrastructure.

She said the gross overrepresentation of Aboriginal women in the territorys domestic and family violence statistics must mean there were factors that contributed to their unique vulnerability.

This included trauma, loss and grief in families and communities, and chronic disadvantage in many forms including poverty, housing instability and mental illness.

Armitage also noted, however, the muted response to the deaths of Aboriginal women at the hands of violent men.

The shocking rate of Aboriginal women being killed as a result of domestic violence in the NT has largely been met with silence from the broader territory and Australian communities, and a persistent inadequate allocation of resources to address this complex issue.

I take judicial notice of the public outpourings of grief and outrage following the deaths of non-Aboriginal women, most often in other parts of Australia, and the political and legislative responses triggered by these deaths.

That the deaths of Aboriginal women in the NT does not evoke the same reaction is indicative of systemic racism in the way their voices go unheard: the belief that these women are somehow less deserving of our grief, outrage and our collective response.

Armitage said that while she had heard evidence about the failures of individual police officers in responding to specific family violence cases, she had decided against naming these officers as her focus was on systemic failings and necessary systemic change.
Those who chose not to report the violence they had experienced cited worries about their safety, feelings of shame or a lack of trust in the authorities. Photograph: Justin Paget/Getty Images

Every third woman across the EU has experienced physical violence, including threats, or sexual violence, a survey has revealed, in what one official described as an invisible epidemic.

The findings released on Monday are based on responses from women aged 18 to 74 from across the EUs 27 member states.

The survey offered a glimpse of the wide-reaching impact that violence has had on the 229 million women who live across the bloc, said Sirpa Rautio, the director of the EUs Agency for Fundamental Rights. One-third of them have been slapped, hit, kicked, raped or threatened with such violence, she said. In the EU, in 2024, womens safety still cannot be guaranteed.

In what she described as a sad reality, the figures remained virtually unchanged from those published in a 2014 EU-wide survey on violence against women. A decade later, we continue to witness the same shocking levels of violence that affect one in three women.

The survey, released on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, also found that one in six women in the EU had experienced sexual violence, including rape, during adulthood.

About 19% of women said they had faced violence or threats of violence from a person living in their household. The home is still a dangerous place for many women, said Rautio.

The survey also polled women on their workplace experiences, finding that one in three had been sexually harassed, with reports ranging from inappropriate jokes to staring and sexual advances. For women aged 18 to 29, the figure climbed to 42% of respondents.

Just 14% of women said they had reported the violence to police. Those who had chosen not to report cited worries about their safety, feelings of shame or a lack of trust in the authorities. This underreporting means that we have an invisible epidemic of violence in Europe, said Rautio.

Carlien Scheele, the director of the European Institute for Gender Equality, linked the low reporting rates to the shame and blame that continues to be associated with violence against women. The troubling reality is not just how many women experience violence in the EU, its also how many women dont report experiences of violence, she said, calling for the adoption of victim-centred and culturally sensitive approaches that would allow women to feel safer coming forward.

Scheele described the findings as particularly worrying given the proliferation of misogynistic content on social media. What we do see in the European Union is that there is a rise of anti-gender, lets say, narratives, strategies, movements, said Scheele. And so, women are being ridiculed, and this anti-gender sentiment is being used to change things in society that I think is worsening the situation we live in.

The stakes of the battle are high, as violence against women costs the EU an estimated 289bn (240bn) a year, said Scheele, citing a figure linked to lost economic output and the cost of public services such as legal and housing aid. So apart from the human suffering and the violation of human rights and womens rights, it also comes with huge economic costs for the European Union.

In recent months, the issue of violence against women has catapulted to the top of the news agenda as 51 men stand trial in a mass rape case in France.

Gisele Pelicot, whose husband has admitted to drugging her and inviting dozens of strangers to rape her over the span of a decade, has been hailed as a feminist hero after she insisted that the trial be held in public. Its not for us to have shame, its for them, she has said, offering up a view that has galvanised conversations about sexual violence around the world.

Scheele said she was among the many who were closely following the trial. Is it going to change public opinion? I hope so, she said. I really hope that people sincerely see what is happening in our societies. Its a pandemic.

The horrendous Pelicot case and the figures released on Monday were among the many signals that the level of violence against women was a crisis, she added. In a crisis situation, be it Covid or the energy crisis, the European Union got its act together at rapid speed.

Now she wanted to see the same approach applied to womens safety across the bloc. I really sincerely hope that what we have published today, what we will publish in the future, what we have published in the past and cases like the one of Madame Pelicot, that it will change public opinion, said Scheele. And most importantly, it will change the attitude of perpetrators and possible perpetrators.
There are  other groups and individuals who may be targeted due to their personal characteristics, the College of Policing website says - Jeremy Rice

Hippy culture can make the alternative lifestyle-seekers victims of non-crime hate incidents, according to some police forces.

At least nine forces record such incidents against alternative subcultures, despite them not being among the five protected characteristics set out by hate crime laws.

These subcultures include some variants of hippy and dance culture, according to Greater Manchester Police. Others include goths, emos, punks and metalheads.

Essex Police  which last week dropped its investigation into Allison Pearson, the Telegraph journalist, for an alleged hate crime  recorded 46 hate crimes and 10 NCHIs under the alternative subculture category between 2018 and 2023.

Rupert Lowe, the Reform UK MP for Great Yarmouth, said hippies are not victims, telling The Telegraph: This is just another example of that. They [non-crime hate incidents] make a mockery of free speech and do nothing but creep us further towards more censorship.

Hippies are not victims, and if Reform UK wins the next general election we will repeal all hate speech laws.

In England and Wales, hate crime law recognises race, religion, disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity as the five protected characteristics.

But guidance issued by the Home Office and the College of Policing, which sets standards for the police, advises forces that they can record hate crimes and non-crime hate incidents for other characteristics.

There are  other groups and individuals who may be targeted due to their personal characteristics, the College of Policing website says.

The College of Policing guidance is a reflection of the Home Offices code of practice on non-crime hate incidents, which was introduced in June last year when Suella Braverman was the home secretary.

The Home Office code of practice outlines that there may be instances where a force deems it necessary to record an incident involving a different characteristic that is not covered by hate crime legislation.

True Vision, the National Police Chiefs Councils hate crime reporting website, lists alternative subcultures as one of the possible reasons a non-crime hate incident can be recorded.

The forces that record non-crime hate incidents under the category include Derbyshire, Essex, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Surrey, Sussex and Warwickshire.

Toby Young, the director of the Free Speech Union, said: Its ironic that hippies of all people are now considered a vulnerable group deserving of special police protection.

Arent they supposed to be anti-establishment rebels who live off-grid and think the police should be defunded? Just when you thought the College of Policing had reached rock bottom, it somehow manages to sink even further.

In 2021, a Law Commission report into hate law reforms found that there was not a strong demonstrable need to extend protection to alternative subcultures by making them their own type of hate offence.

That had been campaigned for by the late Sylvia Lancaster, whose 20-year-old daughter Sophie was kicked to death for being a goth in Bacup, Lancashire, in 2007. The Sophie Lancaster Foundation, set up in her memory, campaigns to change the law to formally establish alternative subculture as the sixth type of hate offence.

Police forces are under increasing pressure over non-crime hate incidents following the now-abandoned investigation into Pearson, who was visited by Essex Police officers at her home and told her she was being investigated for inciting racial hatred with a post on social media from a year before.

On Monday, a former commissioner of the Metropolitan Police became the most senior policing figure to date to criticise the recording of non-crime hate incidents. Lord Hogan-Howe urged ministers to review their use after a report by the Policy Exchange think tank found that 60,000 hours of police time was spent recording them every year.

The National Police Chiefs Council was approached for comment.
The Prince of Wales with Crown Prince Theyazin bin Haitham, right, the heir to the Omani throne, and Mark Evans, the expedition leader - Benjamin Cremel/PA

It was one of the great exploits of a golden age of exploration: Bertram Thomas, a British diplomat, spent 42 days travelling overland along the coast of Oman.

As recorded in his 1928 diary, Thomas journeyed by camel to document specimens new to Western science  and was later congratulated by King George V.

Nearly a century on, a group of explorers is to make the same journey  using camels, but with the addition of 4x4s, podcasts and social media posts  supported from afar by the Prince of Wales.

The camels are currently in boot camp, the expedition leader joked, after concerns that soft modern animals would not prove as hardy as their 20th-century forebears.

Launching the Jewel of Arabia expedition on Monday at the Royal Geographical Society, the Prince told the 2024 team: I wish I was able to join you, but will be following very closely.

The Prince said he hoped to visit Oman in the not-too-distant future - Benjamin Cremel/AFP via Getty

The Prince is a co-patron of the adventure, along with Crown Prince Theyazin bin Haitham, the heir to the Omani throne.

The expedition will see a team of six, lead by Mark Evans, retrace the steps of Thomas, with young people from Oman joining them at certain points to witness and share the highlights.

It is intended to raise awareness amongst young people both in and outside of Oman of the value of Omans natural heritage and biodiversity as well as the environmental challenges the country and the wider world face.

Podcasts, interviews on Omani radio and an online tracker will be used so people can track the journey in real time.

The Prince said: The expedition will walk in the footsteps of British explorer Bertram Thomas and take in the wonderful coastline of Oman.

They will be able to take in the beauty of Oman, and also see the damage done by climate change.

Bertram Thomas with a group of Shahari armed warriors in 1928 - Royal Geographical Society/Getty

The Prince recalled that a winner of his Earthshot Prize  the company 44.01, which removes CO2 from the atmosphere permanently by mineralising it  was from Oman and said he had warm memories of visiting in 2019.

The expedition will not only highlight Omans biodiversity and natural heritage, but also symbolise the enduring friendship between our two countries, he added.

Mark Evans, 63, expedition leader said: The stars of the show will undoubtedly be the camels. He added they were currently in camel boot camp in Oman to prepare for them for the month-long desert trek.

The group will start each day at 5am, aim to cover 25-30kms (16-19 miles) a day and will sleep in the desert without tents.

Mr Evans will be joined on the journey by Nigel Harling, a British police officer with exploration experience, Ana-Maria Pavalache, a mountain leader and photographer, Dhirka Al Mawali and Ibrahim Al Hasni, instructors with Outward Bound Oman, and Amour Al Wahibi who Mr Evans said was the only one who knows how to find first gear on a camel.

Along the route, they will be met by young people from schools across Oman including, on the third day, in a specially-adapted Boma off-road wheelchair.

The Prince was keen to hear how the crew would navigate across the desert and how young people in Oman were engaging with environmental issues.

While he does not plan to fly to Oman in January to join the expedition, he told guests at the Royal Geographic Society that he would try and make something happen in the future regarding another visit to the country.

The Prince of Wales speaks to Crown Prince Theyazin bin Haitham, his co-patron, at the launch event - Benjamin Cremel/PA

The Prince added: Were in the planning process.

Before giving short speeches, the Prince and the Crown Prince were shown photographs taken by Thomas during his travels.

At the time of the original expedition, the area was known as one of the most inhospitable places on Earth, with hundreds of miles of arid desert dubbed the Empty Quarter, or Rub Al Khali, and unvisited by Western travellers.

Thomas lived in Oman, working for its sultan, and taking leave in the winter months to travel extensively. He developed a relay system, taking on fresh camels and guides in each new tribal territory.

The coastal journey prepared Thomas for the crossing two years later, in which he became the first documented Westerner to cross the Empty Quarter, receiving a telegram of congratulation from King George V.

The Prince said he had fond memories of visiting Oman - Benjamin Cremel/via Reuters

The biggest challenges for Thomas were said to have been warring tribes, lack of water in watering holes and his dependence on his Omani companion, Sheikh Saleh, as they navigated the desert.

Following his success, Thomas gave lectures around the world and wrote a book, Arabia Felix, with an introduction by TE Lawrence.

Next year will be 225 years since a friendship treaty was signed between Britain and Oman.

Members of the Royal family are regularly invited to become patrons of expeditions. In 2023, the Princess of Wales became patron of Capt Preet Chandis successful mission to become the first woman to cross Antarctica solo.
Jo Tarnawskys claim seeks compensation for medical expenses, alleged hurt, distress and humiliation as well as reputational damage. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

The deputy prime ministers chief of staff, Jo Tarnawsky, is suing her boss and the government, alleging in the federal court that she was punished for raising a bullying complaint and naming a colleague as an alleged perpetrator.

Tarnawsky revealed on Monday that she had begun proceedings for adverse action under the Fair Work Act, naming the commonwealth, her boss Richard Marles and the prime ministers chief of staff, Tim Gartrell, as respondents. Tarnawsky is not alleging that either Marles or Gartrell bullied her.

The claim alleges Tarnawsky was victimised for having raised the complaint. Her statement to the federal court names a colleague and refers to others unnamed.

Related: It was a dream until it was a nightmare: Richard Marles chief of staff alleges she was barred from her office

The claim outlines what Tarnawsky alleges Marles said when she raised the issue with him on 30 April.

The legal action comes six weeks after Tarnawsky told Guardian Australia that she had allegedly been advised to find another job and effectively locked out of her office since raising a bullying complaint with Marles. She alleged the matter remains unresolved. Technically employed but on indefinite leave, Tarnawsky alleged she was unable to do her job.

She made a public statement that day. Responding in parliament at the time, Marles said Tarnawsky was a wonderful person and he felt deeply sad about the allegation but because of legal processes he could not comment further.

On Monday, Tarnawsky announced she had commenced legal action, alleging she had been exiled and faced untenable delays in resolving the matter.

Like every worker in this country, those who work at Parliament House should be treated professionally, and afforded a safe and respectful workplace, Tarnawsky told journalists.

To my fellow staffers: we give countless hours of our lives to these jobs, in support of the ministers and MPs we serve. In return, we should not be tossed aside abruptly after such loyal service. Good exits are possible. It should not be unreasonable for any of us to expect to depart our roles with dignity; to walk away better from our time working in this building, rather than carrying lifelong trauma from the poor treatment we have endured here.

Tarnawskys statement of claim to the court alleges she had been attempting to manage the behaviour on her own but decided to raise it with Marles at the end of a trip to Ukraine in late April.

Tarnawsky alleges in the documents that Marles told Gartrell on 29 April that he no longer wanted Ms Tarnawsky as his chief of staff.

Mr Gartrell did not inform Ms Tarnawsky of the conversation with Mr Marles or intervene to prevent Mr Marles acting in the manner he proposed, her statement of claim alleges, continuing that Gartrell acted to assist Mr Marles in preventing Ms Tarnawsky from performing her role.

Tarnawsky alleges that in a phone conversation on the morning of 30 April, she sought Marles help and he responded that he did not think the issue was fixable, that there had been issues with Tarnawsky for over a year and that he wanted to finish dealing with it immediately.

The claim alleges Marles told her on 30 April that she was not stood down but must take immediate leave from work and look for another job and could depart with dignity. It says she agreed to look for another job but if that was not possible, she would need to return to her role.

It also alleges he told her she would no longer participate in an official visit to Hawaii, for which they were due to depart the next day.

The alteration of Ms Tarnawskys position was to her prejudice, because it rendered Ms Tarnawskys employment uncertain and insecure as a result of Mr Marles adverse action and left her with no substantive role to perform, the claim alleges.

Tarnawskys lawyer, Marque Lawyers managing partner Michael Bradley, said Tarnawsky would be seeking compensation. He alleged she was punished  in a state of limbo, frozen out for more than 200 days now.

The claim seeks compensation for medical expenses, alleged hurt, distress and humiliation and reputational damage.

A government spokesperson said the matter was subject to legal proceedings, and it would not be appropriate to comment further.

A spokesperson for the prime ministers office said Gartrell had no comment. Guardian Australia has approached Marles office for comment.
Jung Woo Sung in the hot seat after announcing the birth of a child with model Moon Gabi. This has revived debate surrounding his past statements about refugees and prompted a host of social media users to brand the position hypocritical.

On a prior talk show, Jung gave an emotional defense of refugees and the need for empathy.

He referenced a Lebanese woman he met who lost her husband to violence and now finds herself raising five children on her own.

Jung refuted: Refugees don't want to stay in a different country. They want to return to their country, which has found peace.

But when news of his new baby splashed around the timeline, his detractors could not help but vent their suspicions over social media, positing that Jung's remark stands in stark contrast to his personal life choices.

Online platforms were soon flooded with comments of "Hypocrisy at its finest" and "He can love refugees from another country, but he can't accept his child?

Netizens expressed their disappointment and asked how a person who advocates love and acceptance could not seem to accept his family.

One user said, "When he made the refugee comments, I thought he was a hypocrite. Now, indeed, a genuine hypocrite.

Here are other comments from users of online community forum theqoo:

Jung's previous statements on refugees led to discussions on their economic benefits and social assimilation, with many arguing that he lacked something of value in his views as he had never lived in a nation directly affected by these massive human migrations.

Critics noted the difference between his on-screen image and the inner domestic reality.

Things are now getting heated up over complaints, and we can expect that Jung Woo Sung will soon be responding to these criticisms.

The actor has not publicly addressed the backlash or elaborated on his stance on the issue.
A vessel for viewing  Nancy Holts Sun Tunnels in Utah. Photograph: Scott T Smith/Getty Images

How often do you look up at the sky, rather than down at the black mirror on which you might be reading this column? Will you read to the end of this page? How many tabs have you opened today? If youre on a train, how many people are interacting with fellow humans rather than looking at their phones? I am not one to judge. I am as addicted to the dopamine hit as anyone. But lately, with the world becoming more disillusioned and divided, it seems more urgent than ever to look outwards rather than in, and to pay attention in the most valuable ways.

I was reminded of this when seeing Bed Rot, a tapestry by US-based artist Qualeasha Wood, at Salon 94 in New York. It shows a woman slumped, drained, or bed rotting, with bright white eyes seemingly lit by her screen. Framing her are numerous tabs with slogans that are emblematic of 2024 culture (brat summer, for instance) but somehow already feel outdated, lost in the speed of our internet-fuelled world. She looks exhausted. I feel exhausted looking at her. And her malaise is a common one.

In a new radio series, Appetite for Distraction, Matthew Syed explores the state of our attention spans. While debates around this issue have existed for millennia  medieval monks were outraged at the technology of the book  it feels especially applicable to our digital age. Studies have found that on average people spend a mere 40 seconds or less on something viewed on a screen  an 80% reduction since 2004.

While distraction can come in many forms, the problem today, Syed informs us, is the unregulated exploitation of us by giant tech companies. With their sophisticated algorithms, they are using more of our data than ever, turning our ever-longer scrolling into cash. This encourages addiction and prevents, especially in children, the growth of the brain. Slowly, it seems, we are becoming less engaged, less creative, less connected, less human.

More than ever, we are craving art that can offer world-shifting perspectives

This is not to say that we should do away with modern digital technologies. Great things come out of them: global connectivity; community building, especially for subcultures; movement-making; a platform to give voice to people, to spread joy, beauty and knowledge. But we should be aware of the more nefarious aspects that are encoded into their design, made to keep us captivated. Woods tapestry is an unnerving vision for what this world could, or has already, become.

It is worth recognising that Bed Rot held my attention for longer than my screen usually would, affirming arts power to make the viewer stop, look and think. It is so much harder to turn away when a material object is in front of you  just as a conversation is more meaningful in person than on a screen.

I do believe that art can help counteract the damaging effects of scrolling on our smartphones. More than ever, we are craving art that can offer world-shifting perspectives to get us to believe in our humanity again. For instance, the work of land artist Nancy Holt re-acquaints us with the natural world and the mysteries of the atmosphere above us.

Lying in the Great Basin Desert, Utah, are Holts Sun Tunnels: four giant concrete tubes, tall enough to walk through, that face each other in an X formation. During the day, you can see the expansiveness of the arid landscape and sky through the tunnels. If its sunny, light dapples through holes in the pipes arranged in the constellations Capricorn, Columba, Draco and Perseus  as if you were walking on stars. Twice a year, on the summer and winter solstices, the sun will align exactly with the tunnels and the light will pour through.

Using the Earth and cosmos as her tools, Holt, who died in 2014, accentuates the vast beauty of the natural world by providing a vessel with which to view it. Her work reaffirms the fact that land, sea, sky and human connection are all out there, vying for our attention, but without any motive for capitalist gain.

As the writer Iris Murdoch said in an interview: Most of the time we fail to see the big wide real world at all because we are blinded by obsession, anxiety, envy, resentment, fear. We make a small personal world in which we remain enclosed. Great art is liberating, it enables us to see and take pleasure in what is not ourselves.

Art reminds us to look up from the tiny world weve made on the black mirror that lives in our pocket. It helps us to understand our place in the universe, and look out to the expanse, rather than into our filtered selves through tech. Its time to take back our attention; and to give it to the things we deserve and that matter.
Two videos of a man who identified himself as James Scott Rhys Anderson surfaced on Russian Telegram channels over the weekend. Photograph: Telegram

The UK government has promised to do all it can to assist a former British soldier fighting for Ukraine who has been taken prisoner by the Russian army.

Two videos of a man who identified himself as James Scott Rhys Anderson surfaced on Russian Telegram channels over the weekend. They featured interrogation of a bearded man in military fatigues, who had his hands tied and spoke slowly in English to give details from his biography, including that he served as a signalman in the British army between 2019 and 2023. Anderson is 22, according to the date of birth he gave in the video.

Russian news agencies confirmed a British man had been captured.

The UK foreign secretary said on Monday he had been briefed on the case. I have been updated about that development in the last couple of days. Of course, we will do all that we can to offer this UK national all the support we can, said David Lammy, during a break in G7 talks in Italy. A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: We are supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention.

Anderson reportedly travelled to Ukraine eight months ago to volunteer as part of the Ukrainian armys International Legion. The exact circumstances of how he was captured remain uncertain and it is not clear when the video was filmed. The International Legion did not respond to requests for comment.

Russian bloggers claim he was taken near the village of Plekhovo in the Kursk region inside Russia. A mercenary from Great Britain, who called himself James Scott Rhys Anderson, was captured. He is now giving evidence, a Russian security source told the state-funded news agency RIA.

Russia traditionally treats foreigners fighting with the Ukrainian army as mercenaries and says they are not subject to standard protections offered to prisoners of war  protections that Russia regularly violates in any case.

Although there have been numerous foreign fighters taken prisoner by Russian forces in Ukraine, Andersons capture, if confirmed, would be the first known case of a western solider being caught inside Russia. Ukrainian forces occupied a chunk of Russian territory in an audacious offensive earlier this year, but Russian troops are pushing them back and have recaptured about 40% of the territory they had lost, amid heavy fighting.

Andersons father, Scott Anderson, said he had been called by his sons Ukrainian commander to inform him about the capture, and had also seen the video. I was in complete shock and in tears. I could see straight away it was him, Scott Anderson told the Daily Mail.

One person who had spent time with Anderson in Ukraine said: He is a very giggly, positive, funny and energetic person who loves to hang out with his boys. Its very easy to talk to him even though he can be introverted in a crowd. He is observant and is a really fun and comfortable person to be around.

Shaun Pinner, a former British solider who served with the Ukrainian army and was captured while fighting in 2022, told the Guardian that the next 10 days would be crucial for Anderson.

Its going to be very difficult but it will be down to his fortitude and resilience. At the end of the day he is a Ukrainian soldier, not a mercenary. Thats the bottom line, said Pinner. When I was captured the Russians would try to bring Britain into it at every

turn as part of their false narrative that there are British soldiers on the ground here.

Pinner was eventually sentenced to death by a Russian proxy court in east Ukraine, but was released later in 2022 after the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich helped broker a deal to free several British captives.

Pinner said it was important to remember that anything said publicly about Anderson could have an effect on his case and be used against him in interrogations. The Russians will take anything that is put out and will show it to him and we have to recognise that the guys who are behind the camera are also likely to be his interrogators, he said.

Ukraines International Legion was set up early in the full-scale war and consists mostly of foreign volunteers. There are also foreigners fighting in many other parts of the Ukrainian army. Early in the war, Ukrainian authorities said more than 20,000 people from 52 countries had arrived in Ukraine to fight against Russia, but since then the numbers have been classified.

Russias war on Ukraine has entered a new phase marked by escalated rhetoric in the weeks before Donald Trump takes over as US president. Ukraine finally received a long-requested green light from the Biden administration to fire long-range missiles into Russia to support the operation in Kursk last week; Vladimir Putin responded by firing an experimental ballistic missile at the city of Dnipro and threatening nuclear retaliation.

Russia has also kept up its drone barrage on Ukrainian cities, while a Monday morning missile attack on Kharkiv hit a residential area and injured at least 23 people, according to the citys mayor, Ihor Terekhov. A missile also injured 10 people in the middle of the day in the southern city of Odesa, local officials said.

Ukraine has continued its own attacks on targets inside Russia linked to the Kremlins war effort. Ukrainian military intelligence officials told Associated Press that Ukrainian drones were responsible for explosions and a fire at an oil depot in Russias Kaluga region in the early hours of Monday.




A number of companies have banned staff from using private messaging services, such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger

WhatsApp is increasingly being used as evidence in employment tribunals, fuelling warnings to avoid using the social media app at work.

The number of employment tribunals making reference to WhatsApp has almost tripled since 2020, from 150 hearings to 427, according to HM Courts and Tribunal Service.

Financial institutions including NatWest have now banned staff from using private messaging services such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.

Employees could be dismissed for private messages that criticised their employer or manager, lawyers have warned, with jokes about protected characteristics, such as someones age, sex or sexual orientation, also posing a risk.

Ian Jones, the director and principal solicitor at Spencer Shaw, told The Telegraph: If there is a sufficient work connection to the WhatsApp group, almost inevitable if the members are a group of work colleagues exclusively, then any wrongdoing by an employee  harassing comments, discriminatory behaviour (even if unintended), bullying, reference to sex or sexual issues  will mean that the employee may be liable to disciplinary or even legal action.

Leaving a colleague out of a WhatsApp group can also be grounds for complaint.

Darren Case, a housing officer, was sacked after setting up a WhatsApp group called Wolfpack, inspired by a name given to a group of friends in the Hangover film franchise.

In the chat, he sent inappropriate messages about a female colleague who was specifically excluded from the group.

Tai Tarian, the Welsh social housing provider, was notified of its employees messages by a member of the group in April 2018. Case was accused of bullying the woman by commenting on her weight, speech and personal hygiene, describing her as autistic and encouraging games to be played at her expense.

Derogatory comments or jokes about a protected characteristic, such as commenting on someones age, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religious beliefs, disability, could amount to discrimination under section 13 or harassment under section 26 of the Equality Act 2010.

Dawn Dickson, a partner at Anderson Strathern, said jokes about someones appearance were big risks because they could come across as offensive.

It doesnt matter what the sender intended  its all about how the message is perceived and what effect it had, she said. Another concern is bullying  for example, when someone uses WhatsApp to mistreat a co-worker or leaves them out of a work group.

If this kind of behaviour continues unchecked, it could lead to harassment claims or even constructive dismissal, which can be expensive for employers.

Mark Brosnan was awarded more than 130,000 in compensation after he was excluded from a work WhatsApp group chat while on sick leave. The plumber argued he had been victimised by his employer setting up a group chat without him.

An employee criticising an employer or manager could also find their messages being used as evidence in an employment tribunal.

Debbie Barker was dismissed from her role as night manager at the Corporation nightclub in Sheffield after describing her boss Mark Hobson as a c--- and writing that he can suck my b---- in a WhatsApp group called Rebel Alliance.

Ms Barker later told the company: We all trusted each other and felt safe within [the chat]. That was the level of trust we had in that our information was safe within the group and not to be shared outside.

In another case, Mahnaz Rezvani, an HR executive, was made redundant by AHRO Scientific Publishing, in Glasgow, while pregnant, and was later sent a line of laughing emojis by her boss, Dr Abubakar Yaro.

Emma Nunn, an account manager, accused her Kibworth vehicle recovery company boss of sexual discrimination in April this year.

A tribunal heard she was asked by Adam Crouch to attend a meeting because a man attending liked pretty women before being called Royder  a nickname from Emma Royd, sounding like haemorrhoid.

In another tribunal, Georgina Roberts put in an unfair and wrongful dismissal and a sexual harassment claim against Goran Hankic, a recruitment director.

Ms Roberts was sacked after rejecting the advances of her boss, who was on cocaine and attempted to climb into bed with her.

In the month before the incident, the pair had shared flirtatious WhatsApp messages that would later be shown as evidence to the tribunal.

Mary Walker, a partner and employment law expert at Gordons, a law firm, said that obscene or defamatory messages must always be investigated by employers and could be considered grounds for dismissal.

She said: Put simply, if it is something you wouldnt say out loud, or to your family, it shouldnt be on WhatsApp. Proactive steps from employers can address the informality of certain communications channels.

The informality afforded by WhatsApp also carries the risk of work spilling over into private lives, with contact outside office hours.

When Hemanta Mainali received a late-night message from his colleague, he took it as a deliberate attempt to disturb him and reacted angrily. Mr Mainali, a sushi kiosk boss, left the business soon afterwards and later sued his colleague for harassment.

Ms Walker added: In some cases, it is subjective as to what constitutes whether an inappropriate WhatsApp message is sackable. However, this highlights the importance of workplace culture.

If one is fostered which dismisses obscene messages as banter, then the likelihood of a more toxic culture escalates and would be viewed poorly by outside audiences, or an employment tribunal.
Visitors could be required to pay a tourism tax when staying overnight in Wales.

The Welsh Government is introducing legislation to give councils the power to apply a visitor levy to accommodation bills.

Anyone staying in a hostel or on a campsite pitch would pay 75p per person per night, while it would be 1.25 per person per night for people staying in all other accommodation types, such as hotels, Airbnbs and self-catering properties.

The Welsh Government estimated that the levy could generate up to 33 million a year if all Welsh local authorities introduce it.

Ministers said the levy would raise money to spend on local tourism activity and infrastructure.

The Visitor Accommodation Bill will also include a registration scheme for accommodation providers.

It will need the Senedds approval and councils may only introduce it by 2027.

Visitor levies are used successfully in many parts of the world, including Manchester, Greece, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and California.

Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford said the money raised by the levy could fund sustainable tourism (Geoff Caddick/PA)

Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford said: This Bill is rooted in the principle of fairness.

We know tourism makes an important contribution to the Welsh economy and to Welsh life. We want to ensure its long-term sustainability.

Thats why we believe it is fair visitors contribute towards local facilities, helping to fund infrastructure and services integral to their experience.

Visitor levies are common around the world  benefiting local communities, tourists and businesses  and we want the same for Wales.

Money raised through a levy would be retained by local authorities and reinvested back into their local areas to support local, sustainable tourism.

Its a small contribution that could make a big difference.

A statutory registration scheme for all accommodation providers is expected to start operating in 2026 to support the collection and administration of a visitor levy.

It will include details about who is operating in the sector, where and how they are operating, help to establish a better understanding of the sector and support future policy decisions at a local and national level.

Councillor Andrew Morgan, leader of the Welsh Local Government Association, said: This Bill will give councils the option to introduce a visitor levy on overnight stays.

Its a way to raise extra funds to support local services and improve amenities that benefit both visitors and the community.

Each council will decide how to apply the levy based on whats best for their area, recognising that it may be suitable in some parts of Wales but not in others.

Councils will carefully consider local circumstances and ensure residents are consulted before any decisions are made.

Were glad to have worked closely with the Welsh Government on this and look forward to seeing the draft legislation in the coming weeks, which will mark an important step forward for Wales tourism and local economies.

Peter Fox, the Welsh Conservative finance spokesman, said a tourism tax would cost jobs and not attract more visitors to Wales.

Weve been absolutely clear from the start that this policy is the wrong one for Wales, he said.

A tourism tax will risk jobs at a time when businesses are being clobbered by Labour, it will impose red tape and it will work against its own aims by encouraging visitors to use more council-maintained attractions and services.

Our tourism industry should be nurtured by the Welsh Government, not hamstrung by new taxes.

William McNamara, chief executive of Bluestone National Park Resort in Pembrokeshire, said: While we have slightly more clarity on the proposed visitor levy, including the 1.25 overnight charge, there remain concerns about its potential impact on the tourism sector.

Wales risks becoming less attractive to visitors, especially families, who may view this as an additional cost in an already competitive UK market, particularly as this levy is not being introduced in England.

The flexibility for councils to raise charges in the future also adds an element of uncertainty that must be carefully managed.

Tourism is the backbone of communities like Pembrokeshire, and reinvestment in rural areas can undoubtedly bring benefits.

However, the success of this levy will depend on clear accountability for how funds are used and a commitment to ensuring Wales remains a welcoming and competitive destination for all.
By Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart, Josh Smith

WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea is expanding a key weapons manufacturing complex that assembles a type of short-range missile used by Russia in Ukraine, researchers at a U.S.-based think tank have concluded, based on satellite images.

The facility, known as the February 11 plant, is part of the Ryongsong Machine Complex in Hamhung, North Korea's second-largest city, on the country's east coast.

Sam Lair, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), located at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, said the plant was the only one known to produce the Hwasong-11 class of solid-fuel ballistic missiles.

Ukrainian officials say these munitions - known as the KN-23 in the West - have been used by Russian forces in their assault on Ukraine.

The expansion of the complex has not been previously reported.

Both Moscow and Pyongyang have denied that North Korea has transferred weapons for Russia to use against Ukraine, which it invaded in February 2022. Russia and North Korea signed a mutual defense treaty at a summit in June and have pledged to boost their military ties.

North Korea's mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

The satellite images, taken in early October by the commercial satellite firm Planet Labs, show what appears to be an additional assembly building under construction as well as a new housing facility, likely intended for workers, according to the analysis by researchers at CNS.

It also appears that Pyongyang is improving the entrances for some of the underground facilities at the complex.

A disused bridge crane that was in front of a tunnel entrance, blocking easy access, was removed, suggesting they might be placing an emphasis on that part of the facility, Lair said.

"We see this as a suggestion that they're massively increasing, or they're trying to significantly increase, the throughput of this factory," Lair said.

The new assembly building is about 60 to 70 percent the size of the previous building used to assemble missiles.

In 2023, state media published images, which Reuters has reviewed, showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walking through new buildings at the complex in Hamhung, where workers were assembling tail kits and nose cones for what appeared to be the KN-23, according to analysts.

In the past, publicly released videos from North Korean state media show that the complex has produced everything from tank wheels to the casings for rocket motors, Lair said.

LOW-FLYING MISSILES

The KN-23 was first tested in May 2019, and is designed to evade missile defenses by flying on a lower, "depressed" trajectory, experts have told Reuters, making them potentially useful for Russia as it seeks ways to penetrate Ukraine's air defenses.

Russia has fired thousands of missiles since the invasion. Leaning on North Korea for additional supplies could ease the strain on its own production facilities, Lair said.

North Korea's state news agency KCNA has reported that construction is underway at the Ryongsong Machine Complex.

This month, KCNA said the facility "is pushing ahead with the projects for attaining the goal for modernization planned for this year." The work includes rebuilding production facilities as well as assembling and installing equipment at machine workshops and a steel casting workshop, it said.

Researchers at SI Analytics, a South Korean satellite imagery firm that uses AI technology to scour images, also confirmed the new construction at the February 11 plant, saying in a report on Monday that some of the construction near the loading area would likely be used to conceal the future operations of the factory from satellites.

Considering the presence of numerous construction materials, vehicles, and open-top freight cars loaded with materials around the site, the construction appears to be progressing rapidly, the firm said. The report said the facility was used to produce ballistic missiles, without naming the KN-23.

Michael Duitsman, also a research associate at CNS, said it was possible that the new construction revealed in the satellite images could be a storage facility, but he believed it was more likely a new assembly building.

North Korean missiles account for a fraction of Russia's strikes during its war on Ukraine, but their alleged use has caused alarm in Seoul and Washington because it suggests an end of nearly two-decade consensus among U.N. Security Council permanent members on preventing Pyongyang from expanding its ballistic missile programs.

SI Analytics said on Monday it had also identified new construction at the nearby February 8 Vinalon Complex, which is believed to produce fuel for ballistic missiles. The construction may be aimed at boosting production of solid propellants or UDMH, an important liquid rocket engine fuel, the report said.

Joseph Dempsey, a military analyst with London's International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that North Korea's expansion of short-range ballistic missile facilities would likely be motivated mainly by a desire to boost the country's own arsenal.

He said it was unclear to what extent Pyongyang may have expanded production capacity to meet the demands of its new cooperation with Moscow.

More than 10,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to the Russian region of Kursk, where Ukraine launched a major cross-border incursion in August, according to Washington, Kyiv and Seoul.

The troops will fight as part of Russia's airborne unit and marines, with some already participating in battles in the Ukraine war, a South Korean lawmaker who sits on the parliamentary intelligence committee said on Wednesday.

Russia has not denied the involvement of North Korean troops in the war, which it has been waging in Ukraine since launching a full-scale invasion in February 2022.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Additional reporting by Josh Smith in Seoul; Editing by Don Durfee and Daniel Flynn)
Scottish Labour will force a vote designed to re-design the Scottish Governments winter fuel payments, despite them being cut because of a decision by the UK Government.

Within weeks of taking office, Chancellor Rachel Reeves set off a political firestorm by announcing the winter fuel payment would be means-tested, cutting spending and ultimately scuppering the Scottish Governments plan to offer its own universal counterpart.

But last week, Scottish Labour announced it would bring in re-designed payments, which would lower the bar for those who would receive them if it won the 2026 Holyrood election.

And on Monday, the party announced it would seek to bring the payments back by forcing a vote in Holyrood during stage three of the Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill.

Amendments submitted by the party would require ministers to make regulations that would make all pensioners eligible for winter heating assistance, while also allowing for any payments made to be recovered if the recipients household income exceeds an amount set by ministers.

Currently, winter heating assistance  as described in the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 which the current Bill is designed to amend  is assistance (which may or may not take the form of money) given by the Scottish Ministers under section 24 to an individual to meet, or help towards meeting, the individuals heating costs during the winter months.

The amendments would appear to make changes to the devolved benefit the Scottish Government pushed back until next year after the Chancellors announcement.

Scottish Labours social security spokesman Paul OKane said: Scottish Labour has been clear that if wins the 2026 election, we will reinstate the winter fuel payment for thousands of pensioners  but people shouldnt have to wait that long.

Next week will we have an opportunity to take a different approach in Scotland and ensure that every pensioner who needs a payment gets one.

Across the UK Labour is cleaning up the mess left behind by the Tories, but Scotland needs a change of direction too.

The SNP has offered a lot of warm words on Winter Fuel Payments, so it would be a gross betrayal if the SNP fails to back these amendments.

Already the SNP has failed to pass on to 41 million of support intended for the most vulnerable people in Scotland this winter.

We have the money and the powers we need  now is the time for action.

Scotlands Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: This is hypocrisy on stilts from Labour.

After betraying millions of pensioners by taking away their winter fuel payment, they now expect people to believe that they can be trusted to stand up for pensioners.

After voting against an SNP Government motion calling for the Winter Fuel Payment to be reintroduced, they now demand a vote on the Winter Fuel Payment.

And after promising that peoples energy bills would fall if they were in government, they now have to explain why bills have already risen by 150  and are set to rise again in January.

She said Labour is absolutely panicking as they haemorrhage support in communities across Scotland.
Storm Bert will continue to bring disruption into Monday after torrential downpours caused devastating flooding over the weekend.

Elsewhere, hundreds of homes were left underwater, roads were turned into rivers and winds of up to 82mph were recorded across parts of the UK at the weekend.

The last of the Met Offices rain warnings ended at 11.59pm on Sunday but strong winds persist and rain from high ground will reach rivers, which could disrupt clean-up efforts.

Firefighters pumping water from a street by the River Taff, in Pontypridd, Wales, following flooding on Sunday (George Thompson/PA)

More than 200 flood alerts remain in place for England and Wales and travel issues are set to continue into the new week.

South Wales will be counting the cost of the storm after a major incident was declared in the Rhondda Cynon Taf region on Sunday amid fears of a more significant impact than during Storm Dennis in 2020.

Between 200 and 300 properties in the area were affected by flooding, with local leaders expressing surprise at the extent of the rainfall.

Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan said it had been a really difficult weekend.

She said: I think this is the second time that many of those have suffered as a result of the storm.

Theres been huge investments since the last storm hit, so weve managed to protect lots more properties than last time.

But obviously this is absolutely devastating just before Christmas for those people who have been impacted.

The River Taff flooding in Pontypridd, Wales (Ceri Davies/PA)

At a press conference in Pontypridd on Sunday afternoon, Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council leader Andrew Morgan said he was amazed that only a yellow weather warning had been issued by the Met Office.

On Saturday we were preparing for the possibility of an amber warning, he said.

It didnt come but we took the decision ourselves to step up our resources and have depots open and crews in.

I am surprised there wasnt a red warning issued. During Storm Dennis we saw an amber warning in advance and a red warning issued in the early hours. I do think that will need to be reviewed shortly.

In North Wales, a body was found in the search for 75-year-old Brian Perry, who went missing while walking his dog during the storm on Saturday near the Afon Conwy river.

Another man, who was in his 80s, died after his car entered water at a ford on Cockhill Lane in Foulridge, Colne, Lancashire, on Saturday afternoon. It was unclear if the incident was directly related to Storm Bert.

The Met Office forecast that rain in the south-east of England will clear on Monday but blustery showers could stick around for the north-west.

A changeable weather pattern is expected this week  Here are all the details  pic.twitter.com/DnSD5L6fpX  Met Office (@metoffice) November 24, 2024

Rail passengers have been urged not to travel between Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, and Stansted Airport after multiple fallen trees damaged the electrical overhead wires.

Major disruption is expected until 2pm on Monday.

Southern, which runs rail services across the south-east of England, said some services on Monday will be cancelled or revised because of forecast severe weather, including on its London network and the West Coastway between Havant and Southampton.

Services across other rail companies could start later than normal as tracks which were flooded or hit by fallen trees are inspected.

On Sunday night, some major roads were closed due to the ongoing impacts of flooding.

The Fire Service and South Gloucestershire Council have reported flooding across several areas of the region.

Flooded roadways include the A431 around Bath Road in Swineford, Shire Way Yate and adjacent roads, St Johns Way in Chipping Sodbury and adjacent roads, Stidcot Lane in Tytherington, Perrinpitt Lane in Bristol, and Old Gloucester Road in Winterbourne.

The M32 in Bristol was closed northbound between J1 near Hambrook and the M4 J19, and the A49 in Shropshire and Herefordshire was closed in both directions between Ludlow and Holmer.

Due to Storm Bert, high winds and rain are causing disruption to some lines on the GWR network. The routes currently affected by severe weather are: Exeter St David's to Okehampton Worcester Foregate Street to Hereford Plymouth to Penzance Reading to Basingstoke pic.twitter.com/zh2KwxHPEP  GWR (@GWRHelp) November 24, 2024

In Northampton, police advised motorists to avoid the following Storm Bert-related road closures on Monday: Andrews Road and its surrounding areas, St James Park Road along Victoria Park, Dallington close to the brook, London Road/Bridge Street in Far Cotton, and Bedford Road.

Also in Northampton, London Northwestern Railway reports that no rail services will operate to and from Northampton Station.

There is also no road access to the station, so rail replacement buses will be unable to run.

https://twitter.com/LNRailway/status/1860916273443467496v

Thameslink reports a points failure has occurred between Herne Hill and Tulse Hill with all lines in this area disrupted with delays and possible diversions or route alterations possible on Monday.

Some 350,000 homes in England lost power during the storm, though most have since been reconnected.

More than 300 flights set to depart from UK airports were cancelled during Storm Bert, aviation analytics firm Cirium said.

Heathrow Airport was worst affected, with crosswinds of up to 40mph causing disruption to departures and arrivals on Sunday.

Simon Brown, services director at the Met Office, said: Our thoughts are with those who are currently affected with the impacts caused by Storm Bert in South Wales, as well as the rest of the country.

As always with a named storm, a full assessment of the forecast and warning strategy will take place with our partners.

But this assessment is carried out post-event, therefore I would expect this to take place over the coming days.

Storm Bert was well forecast, 48 hours in advance, with a number of warnings in place ahead of the system reaching the UK.

We work closely with partners to assess the potential risks of extreme weather and the warnings covering Wales highlighted the potential for homes and businesses to flood with fast-flowing or deep floodwater possible, causing a danger to life.

#StormBert continued to impact the UK throughout Sunday bringing further heavy rain and strong winds. Here are the extremes for Sunday 24th November  pic.twitter.com/5mK32Pj8TX  Met Office (@metoffice) November 24, 2024

On Sunday, large rainfall accumulations were seen, with some places experiencing an excess of 130mm in the last 24 hours.

In some more exposed areas, wind gusts of over 75 miles per hour were experienced.
British spies will seek to counter the threat of Russian cyber warfare with a new laboratory for artificial intelligence, a minister will announce, as he insists Vladimir Putin will fail to deter support for Ukraine.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden will say the UK and its Nato allies are watching Moscow and combatting its attacks both publicly and behind the scenes as he delivers a major speech on Monday.

In an apparent reference to the lead-up to the Second World War, he will warn that Britain learned long ago to not appease dictators and that Mr Putin will not be successful in attempting to weaken backing for Ukraine.

Mr McFadden, whose brief includes national security, will also announce a new Laboratory for AI Security Research (LAISR) aimed at helping the UK stay ahead in the new AI arms race.

The centre will bring together GCHQ, Oxford University, the National Cyber Security Centre, the Alan Turing Institute and numerous Government departments, and be backed by an initial 8.22 million in state funding.

Speaking at the Nato cyber defence conference at Lancaster House, Mr McFadden will say: Be in no doubt: the United Kingdom and others in this room are watching Russia. We know exactly what they are doing, and we are countering their attacks both publicly and behind the scenes.

We know from history that appeasing dictators engaged in aggression against their neighbours only encourages them. Britain learned long ago the importance of standing strong in the face of such actions.

Thats why we support Ukraine in its fight to decide its own destiny. Putin is a man who wants destruction, not peace. He is trying to deter our support for Ukraine with his threats. He will not be successful.

Mr McFadden will say Vladimir Putin will fail in his attempts to weaken backing for Ukraine (Lucy North/PA)

Mr McFadden will also warn that cyber interference enables Russia to turn the lights off for millions of people by shutting down power grids and represents the hidden war it is waging against Kyiv.

But while AI can amplify existing cyber threats, it can also create better defence tools for security agencies to use to collect, analyse, and produce more useful intelligence, he will say.

Cyber war is now a daily reality, Mr McFadden is expected to tell allies.

One where our defences are constantly being tested. The extent of the threat must be matched by the strength of our resolve to combat it and to protect our citizens and systems.

He will add: AI is already revolutionising many parts of life  including national security. But as we develop this technology, theres a danger it could be weaponised against us. Because our adversaries are also looking at how to use AI on the physical and cyber battlefield.

Alongside the new laboratory, the minister will also announce a new 1 million incident response scheme designed to share expertise so that allies can counter cyber attacks more effectively.

Mr McFadden and senior national security officials will also meet business leaders next week to discuss how they can protect themselves as he warns Russia will not think twice about targeting British firms.

The intervention comes amid a dramatic escalation in tensions between Russia and the west, with Mr Putin lowering Moscows threshold for the use of nuclear weapons and suggesting the Ukraine war is becoming a global conflict.

The Russian leader has said he is entitled to target the military facilities of countries which have supplied weapons to Kyiv.

On Thursday, Moscow used a new ballistic missile in Ukraine, which Mr Putin said was in response to the UK and US allowing missiles they have supplied to be used to strike targets in Russia.

Ministers have declined to explicitly confirm that British missiles have been used across the border, but the UK is widely believed to have allowed its Storm Shadow weapons to be used by Ukrainian forces within the Kursk region.

Meanwhile, the US has given permission for its ATACMS weapons to be fired at targets in Mr Putins country.

Moscow sent 73 drones into Ukraine overnight into Sunday. According to Ukraines air force, 50 drones were destroyed and four lost, likely having been electronically jammed.

In Russia, the defence ministry said 34 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight into Sunday in four regions of western Russia, including Kursk, Lipetsk, Belgorod and one over the Oryol region.
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

BEIRUT (AP)  Diplomats and other officials say there have been several sticking points in ceasefire talks to end the war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, even as conditions for an agreement appear to be ripe.

Israels military has killed nearly all of the militant groups top leaders, but it continues to fire missiles into Israel. Tens of thousands of Israelis who were evacuated from the border months ago are pressuring their government to go home. And the world wants to stop regional conflict from spreading after more than a year of fighting.

Following the latest visit to the region by a U.S. mediator, Israel hit central Beirut over the weekend, and Hezbollah responded with its biggest barrage in weeks as each applied pressure to reach a deal.

Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire almost daily since the day after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, setting off the war in Gaza.

Israel launched a widespread bombardment of Lebanon two months ago, then a ground invasion. More than 3,500 people in Lebanon have been killed, many of them civilians.

More than 70 have been killed in Israel, over 40 of them civilians. In addition, over 50 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the ground offensive.

Heres a look at the proposal and the sticking points.

A proposed two-month ceasefire to start

The proposal under discussion to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah calls for an initial two-month ceasefire during which Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon and Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the southern border south of the Litani River.

The withdrawals would be accompanied by an influx of thousands more Lebanese army troops, who have been largely sidelined in the war, to patrol the border area along with an existing U.N. peacekeeping force.

An international committee would be set up to monitor implementation of the ceasefire agreement and of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701, which was passed in 2006 to end a monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah but never fully implemented. Hezbollah never ended its presence in southern Lebanon, while Lebanon said Israel regularly violated its airspace and occupied small patches of its territory.

It is not clear whether a new deal would be any more successfully implemented than the one in 2006.

Michael Herzog, Israels Ambassador to Washington, told Israeli Army Radio on Monday that the deal aimed to improve surveillance and enforcement of the previous resolution. While he said there were still certain points that needed to be finalized, a deal was close and could be clinched within days.

A U.S. official said negotiations continued to progress on Sunday, but the parties still need to work out some outstanding issues to close the deal. The official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the private talks, declined declined to detail the outstanding issues.

Israel wants freedom to strike Hezbollah and other disagreements

Two Western diplomats described several points of dispute to The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss ongoing negotiations.

They said Israel was asking for more guarantees to ensure that Hezbollahs weapons are removed from the border area. Israeli officials, concerned about the possibility of Hezbollah launching the kind of attack that Hamas carried out from Gaza into southern Israel, have said they would not agree to a ceasefire deal that doesn't explicitly grant them freedom to strike in Lebanon if they believe Hezbollah is violating it.

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorized to discuss the sensitive talks, said the issue remained a point of contention, although he said the talks were headed in a positive direction.

Lebanese officials have said agreeing to such a deal would violate Lebanons sovereignty. Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem has said the militant group would not agree to a deal that does not entail a complete and comprehensive end to the aggression and does not protect Lebanons sovereignty.

Lebanon and Israel also disagree over which countries would sit on the international committee overseeing implementation of the deal and Resolution 1701. The diplomats said Israel refused to allow France, which has remained close with Lebanon since its colonial rule there ended and has recently been at odds with Israel. The Israeli official confirmed that France's role was in dispute. Meanwhile, Lebanon has refused to allow Britain, a close ally of Israel.

And Israel does not want to enter into negotiations on 13 disputed points along the border as part of a ceasefire deal, the diplomats said.

The European Unions top diplomat, Josep Borrell, who has a contentious relationship with Israel's government, said Sunday during a visit to Lebanon that he's not convinced that Israel is interested clearly in reaching an agreement for a ceasefire."

Both sides have an interest in ending the war

A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the strongest of Iran's armed proxies, is expected to significantly calm regional tensions that have led to fears of war between Israel and Iran directly. It's not clear how it would affect the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Hezbollah had long insisted that it would not agree to a ceasefire until the war in Gaza ends, but it has now dropped that condition.

One diplomat said there are fears that if no ceasefire is reached, the war will expand further into Syria and Iraq as Israel attempts to cut off the supply of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah. Israel has carried out regular airstrikes on Iran-linked groups in Syria and has threatened to strike in Iraq, where Iran-backed militias have periodically launched drone attacks on Israel.

Geir Pedersen, the U.N. special envoy for Syria, said during a visit to Damascus on Sunday that ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon are critical to avoid Syria being dragged even further into the conflict.

Meanwhile, analysts say Hezbollah has been weakened but continues to keep up steady fire into Israel, including strikes far from the border.

On Sunday, Hezbollah fired about 250 rockets and other projectiles into Israel, wounding seven people in one of the militant groups heaviest barrages in months, in response to deadly Israeli strikes in Beirut. Violent clashes continue in southern Lebanon as Israeli forces attempt to take control of strategic towns.

Israel says its goal in the war with Hezbollah is to enable displaced Israelis to safely return home. In Lebanon, a quarter the population has been displaced, and parts of the country, particularly in south Lebanon and areas south of the capital Beirut, have been destroyed.

In Lebanon, where officials and residents are anxious for war to end, an initial rush of optimism dissipated after the Biden administrations point man on Israel and Lebanon, Amos Hochstein, left the region last week without a deal.

Many now believe no agreement will be reached before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.

___

Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani contributed from Washington.

___

Find more of APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
The Prince of Wales has spoken of his desire to return to the Middle East as he launched an expedition inspired by a famous British explorer.

William visited Oman in 2019 and on Monday gave his support to six explorers who have been inspired by Bertram Thomas, who took a 42-day trip along the south-east coast of the country in 1928 discovering new specimens.

Speaking on Monday to a group of education and youth outreach staff at the Royal Geographical Society, William expressed his desire to return to Oman, saying: Well make something happen, time flies.

William is co-patron of the expedition alongside Crown Prince Theyazin bin Haitham, heir to the Omani throne, who also attended the event.

The princes 2019 trip was without the Princess of Wales, but he has sounded optimistic about possible joint overseas engagements with his wife after her cancer battle.

I think hopefully Catherine will be doing a bit more next year, so well have some more trips maybe lined up, he said earlier this month.

The last foreign trip the couple made together was when Kate joined her husband in Boston, US, for the Earthshot Prize awards ceremony in 2022.

The Oman expeditioners group will travel by foot and on camels from Ras Al Hadd, the most easterly point of the Arab world, along the coast of Salalah for 30 days next year.

The Crown Prince invited William to be co-patron because of his passion for conservation and protecting the planet, which he explored during the 2019 trip where he learnt about Omans culture and its environmental protection efforts.

The Prince of Wales (left) and Theyazin bin Haitham are co-patrons of the Jewel of Arabia expedition (Benjamin Cremel/PA)

Speaking at Mondays event, William said: Im delighted to be joined by His Highness Theyazin bin Haitham and I just had the opportunity to look through some of the images from the RGS collection and they bring back all memories from my visit to Oman in 2019.

This expedition will not only highlight Omans rich biodiversity and natural heritage, but it also symbolises the enduring friendship between our two countries. This was again demonstrated by the recent visit to the UK by his Majesty the Sultan of Oman.

The expedition will walk in the footsteps of British explorer Bertram Thomas, taking in the wonderful coastline of Oman. They will be able to see the beauty of Oman but also the damage done by climate change.

Mark Evans OBE, 63, who will lead the expedition, explained that they will move every morning at 5am, walking the camels for the first hour and then riding them.

They plan to cover 25-30km a day for the first two weeks and then 35-45km a day for the rest, as once riding the camels they will be able to travel six or seven km an hour.

Mr Evans said: We will walk ourselves fit, were not trying to be the fastest, thats meaningless for me, its all about slow travel, telling stories, and using technology to put the spotlight on a country that is actually so naturally reserved, it never puts itself front of house.

William (centre) and Theyazin bin Haitham listen to British explorer Mark Evans (left) (Benjamin Cremel/PA)

I just hope that they will use it to challenge their own stereotypes of the Middle East.

The involvement of the two patrons really does put a super bright spotlight on the messaging of innovation and young people engaging with biodiversity and sustainability.

It gives this incredible country its moment on stage, on a global platform, it would never ask for it because thats not what it does, but I think its just lovely to be able to give them a helping hand in the journey that theyre undertaking.

The expedition aims to raise awareness among young people in and outside of Oman of the countrys natural heritage and biodiversity, alongside the environmental challenges the country and wider world face.

During the exhibition, the team will use film, podcasts and social media to share stories about Omans biodiversity and its efforts to become a green energy hub.
CPC delegation attends International Conference of Asian Political Parties in Cambodia

Xinhua) 09:28, November 25, 2024

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- A delegation of the Communist Party of China (CPC) attended the 12th International Conference of Asian Political Parties and related activities in Cambodia from Thursday to Saturday, at the invitation of the Cambodian People's Party.

Led by Sun Haiyan, deputy head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, the delegation had extensive contacts with representatives of participating political parties.

Foreign parties highly valued and supported the three major global initiatives proposed by China and looked forward to deepening exchanges, mutual learning and international cooperation with the CPC to jointly promote regional peace, stability, development and prosperity.

The initiatives include the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
A New York man fell to his death after multiple intruders entered his Manhattan home early Saturday morning, according to reports.

The incident that led to the death of the 73-year-old man happened on Saturday morning at an apartment building in Washington Heights, a neighborhood in Manhattan, according to multiple local outlets including NBC New York and CBS New York.

The first intruder entered through a window just before 5 a.m. and let two other men inside, local media reported. The suspects allegedly began to tie up the man's 40-year-old son in the sixth-floor apartment.

Crime: Colorado funeral home owners plead guilty to 190 counts of corpse abuse: Reports

Suspects reportedly stole cash, jewelry

CBS News New York reported the suspects were captured on surveillance video while entering the building. They reportedly took $200 in cash and a gold chain worth $8,000.

When police responded to the scene, they found the victim, identified by the New York Police Department as 73-year-old Jacinto Remigio, on the second-floor scaffolding, the outlet reported.

Remigio was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, reports say. His son was unharmed.

Police are working to track down the suspects. It's not immediately clear why the apartment was targeted.

USA TODAY reached out to the New York Police Department for comment.

Taylor Ardrey is a news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at tardrey@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Man dies after falling out of NYC apartment during break-in: Reports
Angus Steakhouses Leicester Square branch - Getty/Belinda Jiao

American tourists have been tricked into believing a London restaurant likened to Applebees is the best in the capital and frequented by the King.

Londoners have flooded social media and online forums with exaggerated reviews, lavishing praise on Angus Steakhouse in the hopes of diverting diners from other areas of the capital.

Among the various outlandish claims made is that the mid-range restaurants are one of the citys best-kept secrets and known locally as the favourite eating spot of the King and Freddie Mercury.

However, Americans are seemingly becoming wise to the ruse, with CBS Mornings host Tony Dokoupil warning viewers: Theyre playing a trick on us, people  dont fall for it.

The queue that broke the camels back

The movement appears to have begun on Reddit, the online forum, after a user complained about hundreds of tourists queueing for a sandwich stall in the Borough Market.

Other Reddit users then began extolling the virtues of Angus Steakhouse, which has five restaurants around London and has been compared by the Wall Street Journal to Londons version of Applebees.

Angus Steakhouse does an awesome steak sandwich. Influencers should try it and be amazed, one wrote. Another said: Angus Steakhouse is on my wish list for the last meal I ever have.

It was Taylor Swift and Freddy Mercurys favourite eating spotnever mind the King, a reviewer claimed on Tripadvisor.

Ive been a vegetarian for 15 years but I cant resist an Angus Steakhouse steak sandwich, one individual wrote in a review later read out by Mr Dokoupil on CBS. I just hope the tourists dont find out about it.

Applebees is an inexpensive casual dining chain with hundreds of restaurants around the US.

Its extensive menu includes a range of cuisines.

The chains classic starter includes chicken wings, mozzarella sticks and a spinach and artichoke dip, and comes to 2,250 calories.

A hidden gem

Many praised the chain, which draws around 130 million tourists every year and has a prominent restaurant on Leicester Square, as a hidden gem.

Paul Sarlas, the chief executive of the chain, said it had seen an increase in guests who were curious to try its steak sandwich after its wave of positive reviews.

We enjoy a good joke as much as the next person and appreciate the creativity and humour that sparked this love-bombing, he told the Wall Street Journal.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The Los Angeles Angels are continuing to make offseason moves. Their latest? Reportedly signing veteran lefty starter Yusei Kikuchi. According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Angels and Kikuchi have agreed to a three-year, $63 million deal.

Kikuchi, 33, is coming off the best half-season of his MLB career. Acquired by the Houston Astros just before the 2024 trade deadline, Kikuchi started 10 games for the Astros, averaging six innings per start, and allowed just 18 earned runs, eight home runs and 14 walks. He struck out 76 batters over those 10 starts and ended his regular season with a 2.70 ERA in Houston.

Houston Astros starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi throws against the Seattle Mariners on Sept. 25 in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Kikuchi has pitched in the U.S. since 2019, but he's a true veteran. He made his professional debut in Japan in 2010 and pitched nine seasons for the Seibu Lions before being posted and signing a four-year deal with the Seattle Mariners. He signed a three-year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2022 and pitched in Toronto until he was traded to the Astros.

It's possible the time Kikuchi spent in Houston will extend his MLB career by several years. Coming into the 2024 season, his career MLB ERA was 4.71 with a 1.383 WHIP. And through the first four months of 2024, his 4.75 ERA was right in line with his career numbers. But he found more success after he was traded to the Astros, who worked with Kikuchi on better locating his pitches. The difference was enormous. His strikeouts exploded, making him an incredibly effective weapon in the starting rotation.

The Angels have been shockingly aggressive since the World Series ended in late October. They traded for designated hitter and outfielder Jorge Soler on Halloween, sending right-handed pitcher Griffin Canning to the Atlanta Braves in return. Two weeks later, they signed former Braves catcher Travis d'Arnaud to a two-year, $12 million deal. Now they've landed Kikuchi, all before some teams have made a single consequential move.
John Hope Bryant and Bishop T.D. Jakes speak on stage during the 9th Annual HOPE Global Forums at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta on December 13, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Bishop T.D. Jakes, 67, had what his church described as a "slight health incident" during a sermon Sunday.

The megachurch celebrity pastor was seen to pause his sermon and shake as people approached him on stage in footage posted to social media.

The Potter's House Church, the nondenominational Christian church in Dallas, Texas led by Jakes where he was preaching Sunday, released a statement on Jakes' official X account saying that he received "immediate medical attention" after the sermon.

"Bishop Jakes is stable and under the care of medical professionals," the statement said.

Jakes appeared in an Instagram post promoting the service before it began at 9 a.m. CT.

USA TODAY reached out to The Potter's House Sunday for further information and did not immediately receive a response.

The church was founded in 1996 and has over 30,000 members, according to its website.

This is a developing story that may be updated with further information.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bishop TD Jakes has 'health incident' during Sunday service
Tens of thousands of professionals left California last year while fewer moved in to the state as the exorbitant cost of living as well as high taxes make it harder to retain talent.

California lost nearly 87,000 professionals last year while just 69,000 relocated to the state, according to a report published by the National Association of Realtors.

The data comes on the heels of a fresh Bureau of Labor Statistics report which found that Californias unemployment rate ticked up to 5.4% last month, the second highest in the nation.

The high cost of living in Los Angeles and other locales in California has fueled a worker exodus, according to a report. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Unemployment in California stood at 5.3% in September and 5.1% in October of last year. Nevada was the only state that had a higher unemployment rate  5.7%.

The NAR report, which relied on data from the US Census Bureau, found that workers once based in California opted to move to more affordable locales including Texas and Arizona.

Texas was the biggest beneficiary of the California exodus. According to the report, 14% of professionals who left California in 2023 took up residence in the Lone Star State.

Texas also took in a total of 7,036 professionals. Of those, 12% came from California.

California lost more workers than it gained last year, according to a report. AP

Montana, a state which has seen rapid economic growth since the pandemic, saw a net migration of nearly 1,200 professionals  with nearly one out of 10 hailing from California.

Arizona, another state with comparably favorable tax policies, absorbed 9% of professionals who left California.

Eight percent of those who left California chose Washington State while 7% moved to neighboring Nevada. Texas, Washington and Nevada do not have a state income tax.

California suffered the largest net migration loss  more than 18,000 people  of any state, according to the NAR report.

Texas has seen an influx of professionals from California. The image above shows Austin, Texas. Getty Images

Californias high state income taxes push workers to states with more favorable tax policies, Nadia Evangelou, a senior economist for the National Association of Realtors, told SFGATE.

The lack of affordable housing doesnt just impact home buyers, it also affects the states ability to retain talent.

Illinois net migration loss was the second largest  with 4,598 professionals leaving the state.

New Jersey reported a net loss of 1,810 professionals while New York shed 1,698 workers, according to the report.
Where the high hills of the occupied West Bank tumble into the Jordan valley, half a dozen heavy Israeli diggers pound the ancient rocks around the Palestinian village of Bardala.

Low-scudding, rain-laden clouds threaten to soak a group of Palestinian farmers huddling around their ramshackle sheep sheds as the Israel Defense Forces troops drive up to serve them eviction notices.

Sixty-year-old farmer Khalid Sawafta, his head swaddled in a traditional red-and-white keffiyeh, has tears in his eyes. His Israeli orders state: Vacate the land by 9 a.m. on December 4  just 16 days away  or lose everything.

Such evictions are common in the West Bank, according to the United Nations.

Similarly, according to activist group Peace Now, in the past year alone 227 Palestinian families in the territory have been evicted, as the Israeli government has authorized more than 8,600 new housing units for Israelis in the West Bank and increased funding for settler projects.

Since Hamass brutal attacks on Israel on October 7 last year, killing 1,200 Israelis and taking more than 250 others hostage, settler leaders in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government have been pushing for the annexation of the whole West Bank.

The new worry for Palestinians is that Donald Trumps pick for US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who has many fans among Israeli settlers, could accelerate their land losses.

During a visit to Israel in 2017, the former governor of Arkansas told reporters: There is no such thing as a West Bank. Its Judea and Samaria, he said, using the Israeli term for the land.

The eviction notice Israeli officials handed to a Palestinian farmer near the village of Bardala in the occupied West Bank, ordering him to leave his land. - Nic Robertson/CNN

Theres no such thing as a settlement. Theyre communities, theyre neighborhoods, theyre cities. Theres no such thing as an occupation.

Israeli settler leader and activist Yishai Fleisher, who met Huckabee during several of his visits to Israel, said: Mike recognizes our claim, (he is) not an anti-Arab, but he does recognize Jewish claim to this land.

Fleisher thinks Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, could do even more than Trumps last ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, who helped convince the then-president to declare Jerusalem Israels capital  a step that was hugely popular with Israelis.

Noting that Friedman is Jewish, Fleisher said: David Friedman has legitimacy with Israelis and Jews. I think Huckabee will have legitimacy with millions of Bible-believing folks He just knows their language and he knows how to talk to their heart. Hes a preacher.

But Alon Pinkas  an Israeli diplomat and former adviser to Shimon Peres, the last Israeli prime minister to take significant steps towards peace with Palestinians  believes settlers are misguided and that Trump wont sacrifice his interests in the broader region.

If Israel unilaterally annexes large parts, large swath of the West Bank, this is not going to fly well in the Arab world.

Donald Trumps pick for US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, visits the West Bank Israeli settlement of Beit El, near Ramallah, on August 18, 2009. - Gali Tibbon/AFP/Getty Images/File

Pinkas believes Trump wants to secure what Biden failed to achieve: normalization of Israels relations with Arab countries, the holy grail of Middle East diplomacy.

Hes going to want to build on the Abraham Accords, Pinkas said, referring to an agreement that normalized Israels ties with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco. Hes going to be pressured by the Saudis, the Qataris and the Emiratis to strike a bigger deal.

But Israels war in Gaza and the killing of so many Palestinians has driven up the price of that grand bargain. Trumps friend, the powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, or MBS, has said normalization can only happen if Israel agrees to a Palestinian state.

Former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh thinks MBS will stick with this position. Maybe there is an opportunity with Saudi Arabia for us, and that is why were closely coordinating with Saudi Arabia, he said.

Ultimately, its Trumps friends rather than Huckabee wholl succeed in influencing the Israeli government, Shtayyeh believes. This man is not the one who will be dictating the shots.

Israels finance minister Belazel Smotrich, for his part, is hopeful that the West Bank will soon be part of his country. The year 2025 will be, with Gods help, the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, he said in November.

Back in Bardala, Israeli officials claim a recent security threat triggered them to build the new barrier that will almost entirely encircle Bardala and two other villages, population about 4,000, effectively cutting them off from their agricultural livelihoods.

The goal is to displace the residents from this region, local council leader Ibrahim Sawafta told CNN.

He shows documents he says prove Palestinian ownership of Wadi Salman, the tiny dirt valley thats refuge to farmer Khalids sheep sheds, dating back 100 years.

Ibrahim said theyd appealed to Israeli officials to move the barrier, but they refused entirely, claiming the road was already planned.

Around Bardala, annexation is all too familiar.

Khalid, who just got his eviction notice, says he was evicted seven years ago too. They came and demolished everything, leaving me with nothing, he said.

The hard reality in Bardala, as elsewhere in the occupied West Bank, is that even before Trumps approaching inauguration, the Palestinian state had become a distant dream.

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A ceasefire deal between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is very close, a regional source told CNN on Sunday, even as an uptick in Israeli attacks saw the death toll in Lebanon since mid-September pass a grim milestone.

More than 3,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since the uptick in hostilities in mid-September according to a CNN tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, underscoring the urgency of a ceasefire deal.

The regional source suggested that while the deal was closer than ever, it was not fully formed yet. US and Israeli officials cautioned no green light had been given to mediators yet.

We are moving in this direction, but there are still some issues to address, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN.

In recent days Hezbollah has been considering a US-Israeli proposal for a 60-day pause in fighting that some hope could form the basis of a lasting ceasefire.

Israel launched a major offensive in Lebanon in mid-September following months of tit-for-tat border attacks which started when Hezbollah attacked Israel in solidarity with Hamas and Palestinians in Gaza. Since then, Israel has launched a ground invasion, killed a string of Hezbollah leaders  including one of its founders, Hassan Nasrallah  and injured thousands of people in an attack featuring exploding pagers.

US envoy Amos Hochstein has been holding talks this week with regional officials to try to reach a deal. On Sunday, CNN analyst and Axios reporter Barak Ravid cited a source as saying Hochstein had told the Israeli ambassador to Washington on Saturday that if Israel did not respond positively in the coming days to the ceasefire proposal, he would withdraw from the mediation efforts.

Earlier Sunday, an Israeli official told CNN Netanyahu had held a security consultation regarding the ceasefire proposals.

Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs, after an Israeli strike on November 24, 2024. - Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Mounting death toll

On Saturday, Israeli attacks killed at least 84 people and injured 213, according to the Lebanese health ministry, including nearly 30 killed in a strike on a multi-story building in a densely populated neighborhood of central Beirut.

A total of 3,072 people have been killed and 13,426 injured since Israel stepped up its campaign against Hezbollah on September 16, according to Lebanese health ministry figures.

Lauren Izso, Kayla Tausche, Ruba Alhenawi, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Eyad Kourdi, Tamara Qiblawi contributed reporting

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I just pray that God brings my mom home, Joshua Webbe told Dateline.

Joshuas mom, Denise Leary, has been missing for two months. The 59-year-old was last seen on September 29, 2024, in New Haven, Connecticut.

Im going to always have her back to the end, Joshua said.

Denise is originally from Connecticut, where she grew up with her four siblings. Brother Michael Leary is the eldest. We were very close, he told Dateline. I always had a responsibility to make sure my sisters were OK.

As the siblings grew older, they moved and started their own families. Denise settled in Atlanta where she raised her two children Joshua, 20, and his younger sister, Morgan, 18.

Denise, Joshua, and Morgan

I loved it, Joshua said of growing up in Atlanta. My mom always kept us in church.

Joshua describes his mom as his best friend. I tell her everything, whether Im having a relationship or anything that Im going through, he said. I know shes there to guide and help me.

Joshua said in 2022, his grandmother had a stroke, and Denise moved back to Connecticut, while her children stayed in Atlanta. She wanted to take care of my grandma and my grandpa, he said. Once I graduated, she needed a little assistance, so I moved up here for a little while just to help her.





Joshua moved in with his grandparents and his mother in New Haven. He still lives there today.

A little over a year ago, Michael Leary also moved back to Connecticut to help care for his mother, as well. And then I got stuck here because I ended up finding out I have a form of cancer, he said.

Michael says he last spoke to his sister Denise a few days before her disappearance. They were discussing a variety of things, from their mother, to his own health struggles. I [had] no idea that she had so much going on in her mind, he said.

Joshua Webbe says the summer of 2024 was difficult for his mom. She suffered with mental health and anxiety and really bad depression, he said.

A few nights prior to Denises disappearance, Joshua found her behavior concerning. Around 10:30 p.m., she said she was going out, he recalled. She was like, Turn my location off on my phone. He says he reluctantly did as his mother requested. So I tried to look out the window to see who was picking her up, he recalled.

Denise Leary

Joshua says he couldnt see who was picking his mother up, and that she returned home safe later in the night. He added that while his mother was single, he believes she may have been seeing someone.

Then, a few days later, on the morning of September 30, Joshua knocked on her mothers bedroom door. He didnt get a response. I was like, OK, maybe she just needed some time to herself, he said.

Joshua says he grew concerned when his grandmothers nurse came over. His mother would usually come out of her bedroom to greet the nurse, but Denise was a no-show. The door was locked from the inside, so nobody could get in, he said. So I called my auntie and my auntie was like, Call the paramedics to knock down the door.

Joshua says he did as he was told, and when the paramedics arrived, they knocked down the door. They was like, Nobodys in here, he recalled. But the bedroom window was open. Thats when they said it looked like somebody jumped out the window.

According to Joshua, paramedics believed Denise used a cable cord to hoist herself out of the window. They also found footprints near the house.

Joshua says all of his family came over and the search for Denise began. He says they tracked her phone, and it first pinged in Westport, Connecticut. Thirty minutes later, it was tracked to a park in New Haven.

Me and my brother, he went to one park and I went to another, Denises brother Michael told Dateline. I couldnt go too far because of my illness. I just did the very best that I could.

They couldnt find any sign of Denise.

The next day, Michael says, he reported his sister missing.

The New Haven Police Department is investigating Denises case. Their office told Dateline in an email that Denise was last seen at her home in New Haven on the night of September 29, 2024 and was reported missing by family on October 1.

NHPD told Dateline they have conducted multiple searches involving different agencies in the area where Denise was last seen utilizing K9 units and drones. The police department stressed they are exhausting every investigative lead they can and that the search in continuing and ongoing.

According to police, a family friend reported seeing Denise in Hamden, Connecticut, in the area of Dixwell Ave near Stop and Shop and said she did not appear to be in distress at the time. They also added they have retrieved surveillance footage which is currently being analyzed.

Authorities say their investigation has not indicated evidence of foul play at this point.

Denise Leary

New Haven police began the investigation and for the first two weeks they were on it, Joshua Webbe said. They were searching parks, they were searching high and low. They even came to the house asking for her journal because she kept all of her numbers in there. Joshua says the family searched, as well. He says they looked in an abandoned house in the same neighborhood where they live. Outside, he says they found Denises makeup palette. But inside? Nobody was in there, he said.

Joshua says his mothers phone was found on the second day of the search. Her phone was behind a neighbors house in my grandmas neighborhood, he said. NHPD confirmed Denises phone was located and said an analysis is still being conducted but did not indicate where the phone was found.

Joshua told Dateline hell never stop searching for his mother. I try to remain positive and just be positive like, OK, shes out there somewhere, he said. Maybe shes lost and cant find her was back home.

Wherever she is, Joshua says he just wants his mother to know that he loves her and wants her home. Thats always been my first best friend. She does have kids. She has a mother thats worried about her. A father thats worried about her, he said. I got her back, regardless, wherever shes at. Shes always loved.

Michael Leary was in the hospital receiving treatment when he spoke to Dateline. I would like to let her know that we love her. We want her home and get her the help that she needs, he said. Hopefully, Ill be able to hug my sister one day.

Denise is 511 and 164 lbs. She has dark brown hair and eyes. She was last seen wearing a black blazer jacket, black hat, dark blue jeans, black boots, and was carrying a multicolored tote bag believed to contain hygiene products.

Anyone with information about Denises disappearance is asked to call the New Haven Police Department at 203-946-6304 or email missingpersonstips@newhavenct.gov
This undated photo provided by Institute for Justice shows Clarence Cocroft II, who opened Tru Source Medical Cannabis in Olive Branch, Miss. (Institute for Justice via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  Medical marijuana businesses in Mississippi don't have the right to advertise on billboards or other places because marijuana itself remains illegal under federal law, an appeals court says.

The owner of a medical marijuana dispensary argued that the First Amendment protects the right to advertise because Mississippi law permits the sale of cannabis products to people with debilitating medical conditions. The state enacted its law in 2022.

A three-judge panel of 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday rejected the arguments about advertising. They cited the federal Controlled Substances Act, which since 1970 has prohibited the manufacture, distribution, dispensing and possession of marijuana.

The federal law applies in all states, and Mississippi faces no constitutional obstacle to restricting commercial speech relating to unlawful transactions, the judges wrote.

The Mississippi attorney general's office praised the court decision for upholding "Mississippis reasonable restrictions on advertising for medical marijuana dispensaries by print, broadcast, and other mass communications, said the office spokesperson, MaryAsa Lee.

Clarence Cocroft II operates Tru Source Medical Cannabis in the northern Mississippi city of Olive Branch. He sued the state in 2023 to challenge its ban on medical marijuana advertising on billboards or in print, broadcast or social media or via mass email or text messaging.

Upholding this ban makes it incredibly difficult for me to find potential customers and to educate people about Mississippis medical marijuana program, Cocroft said in a statement Monday. I remain committed to continuing this fight so my business can be treated the same as any other legal business in Mississippi.

The state allows medical marijuana businesses to have websites or social media accounts that provide information about their retail dispensing locations and a list of products available. It allows them to be listed in phone books or business directories and to display cannabis in company logos. The businesses can also sponsor not-for-profit charity or advocacy events.

Cocroft is represented by the Institute for Justice, a nonprofit libertarian law firm. The firm said Monday that it is considering its next steps in the lawsuit, including possibly asking the entire appeals court to reconsider the case or an appeal to the Supreme Court.

Mississippi cannot on the one hand create an entire marketplace for the sale of medical marijuana, and on the other hand rely on an unenforced federal law to prohibit buyers and sellers from talking about it, said Ari Bargil, an Institute for Justice attorney.
By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan who secured convictions of high-profile defendants including U.S. Senator Bob Menendez and crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried, announced on Monday that he will resign ahead of Donald Trump's return to the presidency.

Williams, who was appointed to the post in 2021 by outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden, will step down on Dec. 13 ahead of the Republican Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration. Edward Kim, his current deputy, will succeed Williams on an acting basis as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

The office has an unusual degree of independence from the U.S. Justice Department and is known for bringing major financial fraud and public corruption cases.

Trump already has announced plans to nominate former Securities and Exchange Commission chair Jay Clayton to lead the office. The position requires confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

During his tenure, Williams secured convictions of former billionaire financiers on fraud charges - which he has long indicated was a top priority.

Bankman-Fried was convicted in November 2023, and subsequently sentenced to 25 years in prison, on charges of stealing about $8 billion from customers of his FTX cryptocurrency exchange in what prosecutors called one of the biggest financial frauds in U.S. history.

Archegos Capital Management founder Sung Kook "Bill" Hwang was convicted in July, and later sentenced to 18 years in prison, for manipulating stock markets, costing Wall Street banks billions of dollars.

Bankman-Fried and Hwang both deny wrongdoing.

Williams also sharpened his office's focus on public corruption. In July, he secured the conviction of New Jersey Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Menendez on charges of fraud and acting as a foreign agent. Menendez, who denied wrongdoing and has since resigned, is awaiting sentencing.

In September, Williams brought bribery charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, also a Democrat. Adams has pleaded not guilty.

"I am confident I am leaving at a time when the office is functioning at an incredibly high level - upholding and exceeding its already high standard of excellence, integrity and independence," Williams said in a statement.

At a conference last week, Clayton said his office is well-positioned to focus on national security cases, as well as combating terrorism financing and money laundering.

A ROCKY RELATIONSHIP

Williams is the first Black person to hold the post. He led the office's securities and commodities task force before being nominated to the district's top job by Biden. Williams early in his legal career served as a clerk to liberal former U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, as well as to current U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland when Garland served as an appellate judge.

In resigning before Trump takes office, Williams will avoid potentially experiencing the fate of one of his predecessors, Preet Bharara, who was fired from the post in 2017 soon after Trump became president. Bharara, who had been appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama in 2009, has said Trump initially asked him to stay on.

Trump had a rocky relationship with Bharara's successor, Geoffrey Berman, whose office secured a guilty plea from Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen and indicted two associates of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has worked as an attorney for Trump. Williams' office closed an investigation into Giuliani without bringing charges.

Berman wrote in a 2022 memoir that the Trump administration sought to pressure him to bring criminal charges against the president's political opponents.

"Throughout my tenure as U.S. Attorney, Trump's Justice Department kept demanding that I use my office to aid them politically, and I kept declining," Berman wrote.

In an interview with Reuters on Monday, Berman said Williams had "an incredible record of indictments and convictions."

During his presidential campaign this year, Trump pledged to use the Justice Department to go after his political enemies, which legal experts said could undermine the impartiality of career prosecutors and shatter norms of prosecutorial independence.

Williams praised his office's career attorneys as "patriots" and said they acted with independence.

"They are worthy custodians of this office's tradition of doing the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons," Williams said in his statement.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York;Editing by Noeleen Walder, Lisa Shumaker and Will Dunham)
By Maya Gebeily and Emilie Madi

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Stepping through the charred ruins of her neighbourhood in central Beirut, Lebanese seamstress Laila Amayrad watched bulldozers pick through a building flattened by an Israeli strike days ago, hoping her friends' bodies would be found.

The massive Israeli strike hit the densely populated Basta Fawqa neighbourhood in the Lebanese capital just before dawn on Saturday, killing at least 29 people including children, making it the deadliest bombardment of the city in the last year.

On Monday afternoon, more than 48 hours later, civil defence workers were still digging through the remains of the eight-storey building, now reduced to a vast crater.

Amayrad, a freckled woman in a red headscarf, had lived in the neighbourhood nearly her whole life. With tears in her eyes, she counted nine of the dead as friends, neighbours or clients, some of whom had been hosting relatives displaced by Israeli shelling in southern Lebanon.

"They came here to be safe, because this neighbourhood is safe. I would walk around alone at midnight because there are no weapons, no fighters, nothing here," Amayrad told Reuters.

"And they were killed just sleeping at home, with no warning. It's the innocents who are losing their lives in this."

Israeli authorities have not commented on the strike. Israel says it is targeting Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and that it issues evacuation warnings to civilians to minimise risks to them ahead of bombardment. It did not issue an evacuation warning ahead of the Basta Fawqa strike.

Amayrad joked that it would be safer to live in Beirut's southern suburbs - once a densely populated neighbourhood and stronghold of Hezbollah - than in Basta.

"At least Israel issues warnings there," she said.

A Lebanese security source said preliminary assessments showed the Nov. 23 strike on Basta Fawqa used a bunker-busting bomb. Amayrad and another resident, Sherif Itani, who knew the building since their childhoods, said it contained no bunker.

Another multi-storey home two buildings over had been hit on Oct. 10, also without warning. Two separate strikes that evening on central Beirut killed at least 22 people, making it the deadliest strike before Basta was hit again.

On Monday afternoon, a rescue worker caked in dust made his way from the bulldozers down a mountain of rubble and plopped down on a plastic chair to light a cigarette, saying he doubted anyone else would be found alive.

Rescuers said the strike was the most gruesome in more than a year of Israeli strikes on Lebanon, which escalated sharply since September. Israeli strikes have killed more than 3,750 people over the last year, Lebanon's health ministry said.

The head of the rescue unit at the scene, Hassan Yassin, told Reuters a head with no body was found on Saturday.

"We picked up a leg here, a hand here. We took out the bodies of three children yesterday. We found a dead older couple, both of them in wheelchairs," said Jaafar, an 18-year-old rescuer. "It was the worst scene yet."

(Reporting by Maya Gebeily; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
New Orleans Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray plans to make his return from a fractured hand Wednesday against the Toronto Raptors, NBA reporter Chris Haynes reported Monday.

Murray, an All-Star in 2022, joined the Pelicans via trade from the Atlanta Hawks in the offseason. He suffered a fractured left hand in his debut with the Pelicans in New Orleans' opening-night win against the Chicago Bulls. He hasn't played since.

Murray's is one of several injuries to key players that have derailed the Pelicans' season amid a 4-13 start. Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum, Herbert Jones, Trey Murphy III and Jose Alvarado have also missed extended time with injuries.

Dejounte Murray hasn't played since breaking his left hand in his Pelicans debut in the first game of the season. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

McCollum is listed as probable and is projected to make his return from a 13-game absence with an adductor injury Monday night against the Indiana Pacers. Williamson, whose career has been plagued by injuries since being selected No. 1 out of Duke in 2019, has missed eight games with a hamstring injury and reportedly isn't close to a return to the court. Jones and Alvarado remain out of the lineup. Murphy played his first game Nov. 11 after recovering from a hamstring injury and has sat out the second night of back-to-backs.

While the news of Williamson's lack of progress is disappointing in New Orleans, the projected return of Murray and McCollum to the lineup means that the Pelicans will have their starting backcourt intact for the first time since opening night.

Murray, 28, averaged 22.5 points, 6.4 assists and 1.4 steals with the Hawks last season while sharing the backcourt with Trae Young. The Pelicans acquired Murray hoping he'd elevate a talented Pelicans roster that also features 2020 All-Star Brandon Ingram in a stacked Western Conference.

The Pelicans have made the playoffs in two of the last three seasons but failed to advance out of the first round. Their 4-13 start instead has them in last place in the West.
One person was killed when a cargo plane crashed early Monday morning as it came in to land at Lithuania's Vilnius Airport.

In a press release, the airport confirmed the crash, which it said was reported at 5:30 a.m. local time. Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania's minister of foregin affairs, confirmed on social media site X that one crew member was killed.

Three others aboard the aircraft survived the crash, including the pilot, according to reports. The crash sent debris flying into a nearby house, but no one on the ground was reportedly injured, officials told Reuters.

The cargo plane, operated by airline Swiftair on behalf of DHL, had taken off from Leipzig, Germany, and was due to land at Vilnius Airport.

Officials were still investigating the cause of the crash and had not yet ruled out that it may be sabotage, Reuters and others reported.

"We cannot reject the possibility of terrorism," Lithuanian counter-intelligence chief Darius Jauniskis told reporters, "but at the moment we can't make attributions or point fingers, because we don't have such information."

World news: Iran's Khamenei demands death sentence for Israeli leaders after ICC warrants

1 killed, 3 injured after cargo plane crashes into home

The plane, a Boeing 737-400, crashed while approaching Vilnius Airport to land, a spokesperson for Lithuania's National Crisis Management Center told Reuters. Flightradar24 data showed the flight had departed from Leipzig early Monday morning.

Security camera footage shared by CNN showed an aircraft descending behind a warehouse, followed by an explosion of bright red and orange lighting up the night sky and plumes of thick smoke. Rescue services told Reuters the plane hit the ground and split into pieces, with some debris hitting a house.

A Lithuanian police spokesperson said one person onboard, a Spanish citizen, was killed, Reuters reported. Three others were injured, including a Spanish, German, and Lithuanian citizen. At a press conference, police said 12 people were evacuated from a house hit by debris but that no one on the ground was killed.

A spokesperson for the National Crisis Management Center said police and prosecutors are investigating the crash.

Cause of crash near Vilnius Airport under investigation

USA TODAY left a message Monday morning with both DHL and Swiftair seeking comment.

A DHL spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY that the plane that crashed was contracted by the company, but provided no other details.

A spokesperson for DHL, which has reportedly launched its own investigation, told Reuters that the cargo airplane was carrying "regular parcels."

The crash led to the delays of several departures at the airport, while one incoming aircraft was diverted to Latvia's capital of Riga, the airport said in its statement. Aircraft has since been cleared for landing and departure at Vilnius.

Contributing: Reuters

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 1 killed in DHL cargo plane crash near Vilnius Airport in Lithuania
Elon Musk in Washington on Nov. 13.

LONDON  Hes branded one U.S. ally's government fascists and another leader a fool. Now, Elon Musk has labeled Britain a tyrannical police state while endorsing calls for a new election and boosting a video from a jailed far-right activist.

Musk, not just the worlds richest man but a key adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, has clashed for months with Prime Minister Keir Starmer at a time when the U.K. is concerned about its standing with the incoming U.S. administration.

Over the weekend the tech billionaire took his feud to a new level, taunting the U.K.'s new center-left leader over sinking approval ratings and questioning why far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson had been imprisoned.

"The people of Britain have had enough of a tyrannical police state," Musk posted on his X platform, quoting a post about an online petition calling for another election that has now reached 2 million signatures.

Starmer's Labour Party won an overwhelming majority in July and does not need to call a vote for another five years. But his leadership has been beset by an immediate sense of crisis, low approval ratings and more recently a mass protest by angry farmers. The petition accuses the government of having "gone back on the promises" it made during the election.

Musk drew criticism from the U.K. in August, when he said the country was on the verge of civil war following days of right-wing riots after three young girls were killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party.

But his latest attacks carry more weight on the heels of Trump's election victory, with Musk lined up to run a new government efficiency drive and having apparent input on foreign affairs.

As Starmer's government works to overcome its own past public comments and build relations with Trump, Musk continues to attack it.

NBC News has reached out to the Trump campaign team for comment.

Earlier in November Musk weighed in on the farmers' protests, accusing the U.K. of going "full Stalin" as it increased inheritance tax on farms worth more than $1.25 million, an allusion to the Soviet Union's devastating farm collectivization policies under Joseph Stalin.

Then on Saturday, Musk reposted a graph showing Starmers declining approval ratings.

Musk, who is known for picking fights online and retweeting far-right posts, also shared a post Saturday by Robinson  the jailed far-right activist and founder of the anti-immigrant English Defence League.

Robinson is currently serving an 18-month prison sentence after admitting contempt of court by repeating false claims against a Syrian refugee.

Why is he in prison for 18 months? Musk posted.

British far-right activist Tommy Robinson in London on April 23.

Musk has a history of boosting far-right voices on X, allowing conspiracy theorists and extremists back onto the social media platform after he became CEO and sharing their content.

Asked about Musk's comments Monday, a spokesperson for Starmer said the prime minister looked forward to working with Trump and "his whole team, including Elon Musk to develop the special U.K.-U.S. relationship, according to Politico.

NBC News has reached out to Starmer's office for further comment.

Britain is not the only U.S. ally Musk has assailed publicly in recent weeks.

He has criticized Australia's proposed ban on social media for children under 16 and previously called the Australian government fascists over plans to crack down on misinformation online. Earlier this month he called German Chancellor Olaf Scholz a "fool" after his ruling coalition imploded.
Elon Musk has a new job doing something he knows a great deal about: firing people. Lots of people. Now hes about to test his axing skills on the greatest downsizing challenge in American history.

He is co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), recently formed by President-elect Donald Trump to cut back government regulations, dismiss unneeded workers, and save money. Musks partner is Vivek Ramaswamy, a former biotech entrepreneur and candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Their ambition is staggering. In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, they write that they anticipate mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy, which will be their primary tool for cutting costs. Ramaswamy has suggested firing 75% of federal employees.

Musk looks like the ideal man for the job. He has sacked significant numbers of workers at SpaceX and Teslahes CEO of bothbut for sheer exuberant terminating, nothing can match his performance at Twitter. When he bought the company in 2022 he began mass layoffs within a week, firing thousands of the companys 8,000 workers overnight. Some got the news by email. Others could only infer they were dismissed when they couldnt log into the internal computer system the next morning. A few were even fired by accident and were brought back. In following months he cashiered more. Six months after taking over, Musk told the BBC he had reduced the staff by more than 80%.

It's hard to tell exactly how X (as Musk renamed Twitter) has fared, since the company is no longer publicly traded, but signs arent promising. Fidelity owns a minority share of X and reports its estimated value. Based on Fidelitys October estimate, X has lost 79% of its value since Musk took over.

Will Musk bring the Twitter playbook to Americas biggest employer, the federal government? Its easy to picture Washington trembling at the thought. But as other captains of industry have found, government is different from the private sector in some peculiar ways. Here's what Musk is up against.

 DOGE cant make it happen. Musk could fire employees of his companies in an eyeblink because he was CEO (and at Twitter, also majority owner). But DOGE doesnt have any power, says Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office and now president of the center-right American Action Forum. Theyre an outside advisory group who are going to generate ideas. They are essentially a very high-profile think tank.

 Dismissals depend on regulatory rollbacks. DOGEs stated procedure is to identify federal regulations that appear to be invalid under two Supreme Court decisions, from 2022 and 2024. President Trump will then nullify thousands of such regulations, Musk and Ramaswamy say in their op-ed. Fewer regulations mean a lighter workload and fewer employees. But while Trump can immediately pause the enforcement of those regulations, they note, he must then initiate the process of review and rescission, which can take a year or more and may not happen at all. Many regulations have constituencies with a voice in what happens. Bottom line, some regulations dont succumb easily.

 Dismissals, even if successful, wont save much money. Musk and Ramaswamy emphasize that cost savings are central to their mission, but labor costs are a small part of federal spending. The vast majority of what government spends goes out the door in the form of benefitsSocial Security, veterans benefits, food stamps, and many more. All those benefits have powerful constituencies and are extremely difficult to reduce. Payrolls are not where the money is. Brian Riedl, a Washington-based economist who has been a Senate staffer and has worked for Republican officeholders, says, If you eliminate 25% of all federal jobs, you would save roughly 1% of federal spending. Not that he thinks a 25% job reduction will happen. I dont think its remotely workable to reduce the federal workforce by 20%, much less the 75% that Vivek Ramaswamy promises, he says.

 Federal workers will fight back. About 1 million federal employees belong to unions, says the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and they are already preparing to take on the Trump administration. Trump has said he will impose an employee category called Schedule F, reclassifying career civil service employees as political employees, who lack civil service protections and can be fired quickly. Several government unions are trying to protect their members from being classified as Schedule F by appealing to the federal Office of Personnel Management and the Merit Systems Protection Board. Even if the unions lose, they may be able to throw sand in the gears.

Musk and Ramaswamy say their top goal for DOGE is to eliminate the need for its existence by July 4, 2026the expiration date we have set for our project. Ostensibly that is to celebrate DOGEs work as America celebrates its 250th anniversary. Practically, its to leave six months with Republican control of Congress in case DOGEs work requires legislation. Musk is accustomed to doing large-scale firings in days, but hell likely need every moment hes got to accomplish the layoff of a lifetime.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
The former sheriff of Letcher County, Kentucky, pleaded not guilty on one count of murder of a public official during an arraignment Monday.

Mickey Stines, 43, is accused of fatally shooting District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, in Mullins chambers on Sept. 19.

Honorable Kevin R. Mullins.

A grand jury indicted Stines on Thursday on the single count of murder of a public official. Prior to the indictment, Stines pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder.

At Monday's hearing, Judge Julia Adams decided to keep Stines in jail, where he is held without bond because of community safety concerns, security concerns and because he is charged with a capital offense.

Mullins was shot multiple times after an argument with Stines, state police have said.

Former Letcher County Ky. Sheriff Shawn "Mickey" Stines looks over at the prosecutors during a hearing at the Morgan County Courthouse in West Liberty, Ky., Oct. 1, 2024.

Authorities have not publicly disclosed a motive in the deadly shooting.

Mullins was shot multiple times in his chambers in Whitesburg and died at the scene. The attack was captured on security video, which showed showed Mulins crawling on the floor, scrambling for cover.
(Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump will take office on Jan. 20 after defeating Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. Here is a timeline of events between now and Inauguration Day:

Dec. 11: States must submit certified slates of presidential electors by this date to the archivist of the United States as part of a 2022 federal law intended to avoid a repeat of the chaos after Trump's attempts to overturn his 2020 defeat.

Dec. 17: Electors, who together form the Electoral College, meet in their respective states and the District of Columbia to select the president and vice president.

Dec. 25: The electoral votes must be received by this date by the president of the Senate - a role held by the vice president, currently Harris - and the archivist.

2025

Jan. 6: Harris presides over the Electoral College vote count at a joint session of Congress, announces the results and declares who has been elected.

Ahead of the count on Jan. 6, 2021, then-President Trump lambasted his vice president, Mike Pence, for refusing to try to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's victory.

On that day, Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to stop the count. Biden's win was certified early the next day.

Congress has since passed reforms that require approval of one-fifth of the House and Senate to consider a challenge to a state's results  a much higher bar than existed before, when at least one member each in the Senate and the House of Representatives could together trigger a challenge.

Jan. 20: Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance will take their respective oaths of office during a swearing-in ceremony that is due to begin at 12 p.m. ET (1700 GMT).

(Reporting by Costas Pitas; Editing by Ross Colvin, Lisa Shumaker, Jamie Freed and Jonathan Oatis)
The father of a missing Hawaii woman has died by suicide, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

At 4 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to the 6100 block of West Century Boulevard near the Los Angeles International Airport for a death investigation, a police spokesperson said.

The investigation revealed Ryan Kobayashi, 58, the father of Hannah Kobayashi, had died of suicide, police said.

Ryan Kobayashi, who lived in Honolulu, and other members of his family were in Los Angeles searching for Hannah Kobayashi, who had taken a flight from Hawaii, where she lived, to Los Angeles on Nov. 8. She was en route to New York City but had less than an hour to get to her departure terminal and missed a connecting flight, her aunt Larie Pidgeon has said. Her family said Hannah Kobayashi decided to explore the area while she waited for another flight.

On Nov. 10, Hannah Kobayashi was recorded at a Nike event at The Grove shopping center, about 12 miles north of Los Angeles International Airport, but her family said that in the coming days, they received concerning text messages from her phone.

Hannah Kobayashi.

In the last message, on Nov. 11, Hannah Kobayashi mentioned feeling scared, and worried that someone might be trying to steal her money and identity, Pidgeon said.

Family members quoted one of the texts, according to a video report from NBC affiliate KHNL of Honolulu: I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds for someone I thought I loved.

A Nov. 15 Facebook post by the RAD Movement  a San Diego County missing persons nonprofit group  said security video in the area of Pico Boulevard and Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles shows Kobayashi with someone, sparking concern.

In the footage, it is evident that Hannah does not appear to be in good condition and she is not alone, the post said. Due to the ongoing and active nature of this investigation, we are unable to share any further details at this time.

Its not clear when the video was recorded.

Theres reason to believe through video surveillance that Hannah is not OK, Pidgeon said a week ago, adding that the family did not want to speak about specifics because they did not want to hinder the investigation.

A Los Angeles police spokesperson said Monday that there was no further information available and that the investigation is ongoing.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
Bosch is one of Germanys biggest employers, with a headcount of 429,000 people at the end of 2023. (Krisztian BocsiBloomberg/Getty Images)

Robert Bosch, the struggling German industrial giant undertaking a massive overhaul of its workforce, has doubled down on cost-saving efforts by reducing the pay and working hours of thousands more employees in a sign of the plight faced by German companies amid the countrys flatlining economy.

On Friday Bosch said it would cut the working hours of 450 employees from 3840 hours per week to 35 hours per week, effectively giving employees an unwanted four-day week. In an email to Fortune, the company confirmed it would double down on those plans, expanding the reduced working hours to 10,000 of its workers.

The company explained that the mobility sector was undergoing a "profound transformation," with global vehicle production stagnant and only a minor recovery at best expected next year. It added that demand for automated driving solutions was not developing as previously forecast.

We must adjust our structures to the changing market environment and reduce costs in the long term to strengthen our competitiveness and make the division fit for the future, said Stephan Holzl, executive vice president with responsibility for finance and administration in the Cross-Domain Computing Solutions division.

Many of those who didnt see their hours reduced faced even worse news that they would be losing their jobs. On Friday, Bosch also said it would be laying off 5,550 of its workers to combat a challenging financial environment for the company.

That followed an announcement in October that Bosch would be laying off 7,000 employees as the companys chairman, Stefan Hartung, said the company wouldnt meet its financial targets for 2024.

Bosch struggles in Germanys flatlining economy

Bosch is one of Germanys biggest employers, with a headcount of 429,000 people at the end of 2023, according to its latest annual report. That figure is likely to be considerably lower by the end of 2024 in the wake of two rounds of layoffs.

Speaking on Friday, a spokesperson for Bosch said decisions to reduce working hours were made in the context of a difficult economic situation. Germanys economy is set for a second consecutive year of negative economic growth, as the manufacturing sector sits mired in two and a half years of recession.

The 92 billion giant Bosch, which makes most of its revenue from its automotive supply business, hasnt been able to escape a downturn in Europes automotive sector that has hit German carmakers particularly hard.

The company makes things like brakes and spark plugs for several car manufacturers, which proved a boon as globalization expanded at the turn of the century.

However, European carmakers are struggling to adapt to rising competition from cheap Chinese suppliers and falling demand abroad while also fretting about potential tariffs under an incoming Donald Trump administration in the U.S.

German companies struggles are indicative of the countrys issues as an export-heavy economy that hasnt been able to adapt to rising energy prices and weaker demand in its vital external markets.

Volkswagen is in the midst of a huge 10 billion cost-cutting drive, which is being held up by a battle with its powerful works council over agreements on pay reductions, layoffs, and potential factory closures.

Speaking to German weekly publication Welt am Sonntag, Volkswagens brand chief executive Thomas Schaefer said avoiding layoffs and plant closures wouldnt help the carmaker keep up with its competitors.

"Ultimately, any solution must reduce both overcapacity and costs. We can't just stick a Band-Aid on it and keep dragging it along. That would come back to bite us later in a serious way," Schaefer said.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
North Carolina beach rental owners accuse property manager of cheating them out of thousands of dollars

Lyndsey Gibson has long enjoyed taking family vacations at Ocean Isle in North Carolina. The hotspot has been a favorite of her husbands family for more than 50 years.

So when Gibson, a resident of Durham, North Carolina, and her husband had the opportunity to purchase their own property in Ocean Isle, they jumped at the chance  with plans to use it as both a family vacation spot and an income property they could rent out.

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For the last three years, whenever they wanted to rent it out, they used Stellar Beach Realty and Rentals, a property management company that assisted with bookings and gathering deposits. The company is owned by John Kozak.

But everything changed in September, when Gibson realized that Stellar never paid them for any of their August bookings.

She claims the company owes them more than $23,000 for that month. As of October, she still hadn't been paid for August and is now also owed another $5,000 for September rentals.

"This year is going to be tough, Gibson told ABC 7. I don't know how we're going to get through the winter months when we don't have bookings.

Gibson and her husband arent the only ones left reeling  other Ocean Isle property owners have come forward claiming Stellar owes them thousands of dollars in rental payments.

Homeowners claim theyre owed thousands

The North Carolina Attorney Generals office confirmed to ABC 7 that their office has received at least 20 complaints from affected homeowners and stated in a letter to Steller customers that the situation "appears to be a criminal matter."

Danielle Boukedes, another Ocean Isle homeowner, claims she's owed more than $31,000 for renters who stayed at her property in August and September. Like Gibson, she says she trusted Kozak to handle bookings and payments.

Were upset, you know. Everyone trusted him and trusted our money was safe, and at the end of the day it wasn't, Boukedes told reporters, adding that Stellar also collected deposits for future rentals, some as high as $9,000.

Despite repeated attempts to contact Stellar's owner, homeowners say they've yet to receive concrete answers. According to Boukedes, Kozak told her, I dont have the money, and could not explain why the funds were not safeguarded in an escrow account.

ABC 7 reviewed an email sent by Kozak to homeowners in September acknowledging the payment delays and promising that payouts would be made asap.

By October, however, another email from Kozak revealed the company was struggling to resolve the issue, writing, "I'm working daily to find a resolution to the impact on you and your property."

Stellar Beach Realty and Rentals is now under investigation by the North Carolina Real Estate Commission (NCREC) and law enforcement. Kozaks attorney said in a statement that he intends to cooperate with the investigations, but declined further comment.

Read more: Jeff Bezos and Oprah Winfrey invest in this asset to keep their wealth safe  you may want to do the same in 2024

How to avoid being scammed by your property management company

If you own a rental property, hiring a property management team can save time and boost bookings if the company uses professional marketing practices.

However, with wide-ranging fees that can be anywhere between 10% and 50% of rental income, it's essential to stay informed and take precautions to protect your investments.

Start by thoroughly researching any company you're considering working with. Read online reviews and check for past or ongoing legal issues. Verify that the company is licensed by your state's real estate commission, as licensing often ensures stricter accountability.

Review the property management contract carefully and ensure it includes clear terms for payments, financial reporting, and access to booking systems.

Regular financial reports can help you track income and catch discrepancies early. Be cautious of companies that dont explain how or where your money is being handled.

While professional property management can certainly save time, its not the only option.

Self-management tools, such as vacation rental platforms, offer direct access to bookings and payments, giving you more control.

By staying informed and taking proactive steps, you can reduce the risk of financial issues, like those faced by the dozens of Ocean Isle homeowners.

What to read next

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
Busan, South Korea (PANA) - Talks began in Busan, South Korea, on Monday aiming to clinch a legally binding deal on plastics pollution, led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
Narong Yuenyonghattaporn, a retired civil servant in Bangkok, bought an electric car made by GAC Aion earlier this year. Hes part of a growing number of Thai drivers buying EVs sold by Chinese car companies but made in Thailand, a nation thats become one of the front lines in the global battle for auto-market supremacy.

In the past two years, Chinese automakers including BYD, GAC Aion, and Chery have announced plans to build manufacturing facilities in Thailand. BYDs and GAC Aions factories started operations in July, and so far Chinese investments in Thai auto plants total at least $1.4 billion.

Narongs EV is one of the 80,000 battery-electric vehicles the Electric Vehicle Association of Thailand is projecting will be registered this year. Last year, Thailand registered 76,739 BEVs, according to government data, 6.5 times the number in 2022.

Though the pace of EV adoption in Thailand slowed this year, as in many other parts of the world, its part of a growing trend. Chinese car companies, led by BYD, are breaking into markets long dominated by automakers from Japan, the U.S., and Germany. Since around 2020, Chinese auto brands, especially EV manufacturers, have been expanding internationally in search of more revenue as fierce competition and oversupply at home eat into their market share.

But with geopolitical barriers impeding the pursuit of car buyers in Europe and North America, these Chinese automakers are aggressively entering middle-income markets like Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia, and Argentina, where there are often no domestic auto champions to protect, and governments have at least a somewhat cordial relationship with Beijing.

In Thailand, Chinese EV manufacturers are starting to challenge Japanese brands that have long dominated the Thai auto market. Chinese brands have bought up huge billboards on highways between Suvarnabhumi Airport and Bangkok. In the city, more showrooms now feature vehicles from China, while Chinese EV production facilities are a little less than a two-hour drive away from Bangkok. Once fully operational, these Chinese EV facilities could together ramp up production to build at least 320,000 vehicles a year.

Theres a couple of things that make Thailand attractive, says Eugene Hsiao, the Hong Kongbased head of China equity strategy and China autos at Macquarie. The first and most obvious is that Thailand as a country is relatively friendly to China. I think thats very important. The second is that the auto supply chain is already fairly well developed. That was pretty much done by the Japanese historically.

Thailands central location in the region makes the country a gateway to the wider Southeast Asia market, and Thailand itself has a big domestic automotive market compared to the rest of the region, said a GAC Aion Thailand spokesperson.

As they have in Thailand, Chinese auto manufacturers are making investments around the globe. Led by established brands like BYD, SAIC, and Chery, they are assembling cars in-country either to gain incentives or avoid tariffs.

"Affordability is a universal value proposition." Bill Russo, Founder and CEO, Automobility

While Brazil has reinstated import taxes on electric vehicles regardless of origin, the government also has a program that incentivizes companies to decarbonize, and auto companies can qualify for tax rebates based on the energy efficiency of the car models and the density of local production. Manufacturing in Hungary could potentially allow Chinese EVs to bypass EU tariffs, and in Malaysia, despite having local auto brands, the government provides tax exemptions for locally assembled EVs.

There is a clear strategy behind the choice of nations where Chinese manufacturers have set up shop, says Hsiao. In this case, bigger doesnt necessarily mean better.

The best markets in terms of GDP per capita would be the big developed markets, meaning the U.S., Europe, and Japan. Those markets are the most closed, you could argue, he saysyet there are other markets that are smaller but meaningful for Chinese auto brands.

Beijing identified the EV sector as a strategic emerging industry worthy of state support more than a decade ago, handing out subsidies to both manufacturers and consumers. There were as many as 500 EV companies in China at one point, but competition and a gradual phasing out of subsidies has driven consolidation.

Traditional automakers from Europe and the U.S. are struggling to compete with or match Chinese EV offerings at lower price points. That has eaten into their bottom line, with Volkswagen in late October announcing plans to cut pay and close factories. Japanese automakers have also been slower to transition toward electric vehicles, and Japans biggest automaker, Toyota, thinks the EV transition wont happen as quickly as anticipated, placing its bet on hybrids. That strategy seems to be working for Toyota so far, as it retained its title as the worlds largest automaker last year. Data from Toyota for the first nine months of this year showed Toyota sold almost 3 million hybrid vehicles, a 19.8% year-on-year increase.

Auto Manufacturing makes up 10% of Thailands GDP and contributes about 850,000 jobs, according to the International Labour Organization. Its history with carmaking dates to the 1960s, when Japanese makers like Toyota, Nissan, and Mitsubishi opened up production facilities in the country. Not long after, American and European brands followed.

From the beginning, Thailand relied heavily on incentives and tariffs to turn itself into a regional auto-manufacturing hub. It started an import-substitution policyreplacing foreign imports with domestic productionfor the automotive industry in the 1960s, attracting foreign automakers to set up production facilities in the country.

Thailands trade agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, also means automakers enjoy lower export duties when selling within the region. The Thai governments high import tax of up to 80% for passenger vehicles and 30% for pickups further incentivizes automakers to keep producing in Thailand.

Now the Thai government is betting EVs will allow it to maintain its position as the Detroit of Southeast Asia.

Bangkok has a 30@30 plan, with a goal of 30% of autos produced to be EVs by 2030. In early 2022, Thailand approved a package of incentives to promote EV adoption in the country, with the aim of eventually making Thailand a regional EV-manufacturing hub.

Tangible investments in manufacturing from Chinese companies can affect the decision-making of buyers like Narong, the retired civil servant. Because these companies have set up assembly plants in Thailand, parts are more readily available and maintenance should be easier, helping reassure him of Chinese cars reliability. A less fractious geopolitical relationship, too, may cause buyers like him to be more open to giving Chinese cars a chance.

They also produce a lot of electric vehicles to serve their own market, and their government gives full endorsement, and I believe these result in good experiences and reliability, Narong says.

But while these Chinese EVs are starting to make inroads in Thailand, they are still the challengers and have not overtaken the incumbent carmakers yet. Charging anxiety remains an issue that needs to be addressed, and for the most part, EV adoption is happening faster in Bangkok. In mountainous regions like Chiang Mai, a Toyota pickup may continue to be the favored choice.

Toyota was still the No. 1 car company in Thailand last year with 265,949 vehicles sold, according to data from its Thai subsidiary, trailed by Isuzu, Honda, and Ford. BYD was sixth with 30,432 cars sold, just 2,000 vehicles shy of fifth-place Mitsubishi. Collectively, Chinese brands, led by BYD, accounted for 11% of the new-auto market share, more than double the year before, while sales of Japanese vehicles declined. Chinese brands accounted for some 80% of EV sales in Thailand last year.

Chart shows China's top 10 auto export destinations

Thailands tax rebates for EVs make the country an attractive market, says GAC Aion Thailands spokesperson. Other nations are also offering tax rebates for EVs, which should further drive demand.

Affordability is a universal value proposition, says Bill Russo, the founder and CEO of Automobility, a Shanghai-based strategy and investment advisory firm for the automotive industry.

Yet, Russo argues, the threat of Chinese car manufacturers to established automakers is about more than just EVs.

Despite the talk about Chinese EVs breaking into overseas markets, China is also exporting huge numbers of conventional internalcombustion-engine (ICE) vehicles, he says. Russo explains that because consumers in China, the worlds largest auto market, are rapidly choosing EVs over ICEs, the countrys automakers are left with more ICE vehicles than the market can absorb. That means they are looking to unload millions of cars elsewhere. While China hasnt had much success selling gasoline powered cars in Thailand, other markets still on the fence about EVs are ripe for them.

Sell them to Russia, sell them to Mexico, sell them to Brazil. Sell them to wherever consumers are not trusting EVs yet, Russo says.

China exported 4.91 million vehicles last year and overtook Japan as the worlds largest auto exporter. Plug-in hybrids and battery-electric vehicles accounted for about 25% of the exports, which means Chinese brands are also selling plenty of gasoline vehicles.

Exports to Russia still dominate, but Chinese automakers have vastly expanded their market share in Mexico, Brazil, Turkey, and the UAE, according to data compiled by Automobility.

Governments are only looking at Chinese carmakers through an EV lens, so ICE vehicles are still being exported without as many barriers, Russo says. That gives Chinese automakers an opening.

You set up your dealer networks, you establish your brand, youve got that beachhead, Russo says. Once entrenched as trusted brands, carmakers can begin introducing EVs.

The automakers employed the same strategy in China, Russo says: Thats exactly what theyre going to do internationally; theyre going to go into every country that they can and then pivot over to EVs.

This article appears in the December 2024/January 2025: Asia issue of Fortune with the headline "Changing Lanes."

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
The National Dog Show host tells PEOPLE about the '90s sitcom in which he portrayed J. Peterman

Joey Delvalle/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty John O'Hurley and Julia Louis-Dreyfus on 'Seinfeld' in 1998

John O'Hurley is content with Seinfeld never getting the reboot treatment.

Speaking with PEOPLE exclusively at the National Dog Show's taping in Philadelphia on Nov. 16, the host of the pup-packed program reminisced about the television show, on which he portrayed Elaine's boss J. Peterman between 1995 and 1998.

When asked about his thoughts regarding Jerry Seinfeld never bringing the '90s hit back for a reboot, O'Hurley, 70, says he believes the series creator did the right thing.

"I think the show is about selfish 30-year-olds. I don't think selfish 60-year-olds or now 70-year-olds are as interesting to people," he says.

"And so I think we went out in that, in that blaze of glory always on top. And leaving people wanting more and remembering it very fondly and people still live their Seinfeld moments."



Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty John O'Hurley in 2023

Related: Jerry Seinfeld and Kramer Actor Michael Richards Have Rare Reunion 26 Years After Seinfeld Finale

"I just think the more and more you try to reproduce something beyond its natural course, you end up deflating the value of the franchise and Jerry was wise on that."

Seinfeld himself has been adamant about never rebooting Seinfeld or even doing a reunion show, as other shows have. The sitcom, which followed four neurotic New Yorkers for nine seasons from 1989 to 1998, won 10 Emmy Awards and three Golden Globes throughout its tenure.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

In 2021, the comedian shut down rumors of a reunion. "I am very much a nostalgia person. I love to go to my house where I grew up on Long Island," he said at the time.

"It's one of the reasons I love the Mets because I loved it when I was a kid, and it makes me think back to that time. But I like to go forward in life. I believe that going forward. I don't know what we would do that would be good."



He added: "I think we did a good job."



Scott Gries/NBC via Getty John O'Hurley for the National Dog Show presented by Purina

O'Hurley also tells PEOPLE that despite Seinfeld premiering 35 years ago, the sitcom "feels like yesterday." With its constant syndication and now being on Netflix, "it has a constant life to it and because it's become so much of the kind of the pop colloquialisms of our culture. You can never get away from it," he says.



The Young and the Restless actor also speaks highly of his time on Seinfeld  with his admiration extending beyond the TV. "The year after Seinfeld ended, I bought the J. Peterman Company with the real J. Peterman," O'Hurley says.

"So he and I literally own the company together now. I've never lost my affiliation with the company [or] the character. I guess I liked the character so much I bought the company."

The National Dog Show Presented by Purina airs on Thursday, Nov. 28, at 12 p.m. on NBC.
A Los Angeles judge on Monday delayed the upcoming resentencing hearing of convicted killers Lyle and Erik Menendez, who are seeking their release from a California prison where they are serving life without parole for the shotgun murders of their parents in the family's opulent Beverly Hills home 35 years ago.

In postponing the Dec. 11 hearing until Jan. 30, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic said he and newly elected District Attorney Nathan Hochman need the extra time to review the case. Hochman takes office next Monday.

The brothers' aunts testified in their favor at Monday's status hearing in a Los Angeles courtroom and the brothers spoke from their San Diego-area prison, but the video call connection encountered technical difficulties and they could not be seen in their first court appearance in 28 years.

After their first trial ended in a mistrial, a jury found the brothers guilty in 1996. Jesic will decide whether new evidence supporting claims they were sexually and physically abused by their father, wealthy music industry executive Jose Menendez, is sufficient to reexamine the case. Jesic could even decide to free the men.

At trial, defense lawyers argued the brothers acted in self-defense and said they were abused by both parents. Lyle, then 21, and Erik, then 18, had confronted their parents and believed Jose and their mother, Kitty Menendez, might kill them to prevent them from going public with the abuse, their lawyers argued.

Prosecutors at the time dismissed the abuse claims as untrue, saying the brothers were seeking their parents' fortune, then valued at about $15 million. A spending spree for Rolex watches, lavish trips and a sports car conducted by the brothers between the murders and their arrests helped fuel public skepticism about their plight.

Defense lawyers and family members now say the judge overseeing the second trial excluded substantial evidence of the abuse. The new evidence includes a letter Erik Menendez purportedly wrote to his cousin eight months before the murders detailing alleged abuse.

Menendez brothers' bid for freedom: Another step forward

Aunts plead for the brothers' release

A series of appeals, documentaries and podcasts since their convictions have kept the case in the spotlight. Their plea for release from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility near San Diego gained momentum last month after Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon petitioned a court to resentence the men to 50 years to life on two counts of first-degree murder.

Under California law, they would be eligible for youth parole since they were under 26 at the time of the crime and have already served 30 years in prison.

Teresita Baralt, Jose's older sister, and Joan Andersen VanderMolen, a sister of Kitty Menendez, asked the court Monday for the brothers' release, noting the abuse they suffered and subsequent long imprisonment.

We miss those who are gone tremendously, Baralt said in emotional testimony, according to The Associated Press. But we miss the kids, too.

Erik Menendez, right, and brother Lyle listen to court proceedings during a May 17, 1991, appearance in the case of the murder of their wealthy parents in August 1989.

New district attorney could have impact on case

Politics could play a role in the fate of the brothers. The path to freedom would be much smoother with the support of the county prosecutor's office. Gascon lost his bid for reelection on Nov. 5 to Hochman, who won easily while pledging to take a tougher stance on crime.

Gascon has been a champion of revisiting and sometimes freeing wrongfully convicted or harshly sentenced felons. Hochman has said he will continue the work of freeing anyone being unjustly held. But he also expressed concern that Gascon's support for the brothers might have been politically motivated. Hochman said he wants to review transcripts from the trials and disciplinary records from prison before making a recommendation in the case.

"This is the same type of rigorous analysis I have done throughout my 34-year career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense counsel, and the same type of thorough review that I will give to all cases regardless of media attention," Hochman said in a statement issued Monday.

Letter, other abuse claims could be key

The case gained fresh attention around the new evidence, which includes the letter purportedly written by Erik Menendez to his cousin, Andy Cano. Excerpts were included in the 2023 petition filed by the brothers' attorneys.

"Ive been trying to avoid dad. Its still happening Andy but its worse for me now, the letter said, according to an excerpt. I never know when its going to happen and its driving me crazy. Every night I stay up thinking he might come in.

Later, the letter states: "I know what you said before but I'm afraid. You just don't know dad like I do. He's crazy! He's warned me a hundred times about telling anyone."

Investigators also are examining allegations from a member of the 1980s pop band Menudo that he was abused by Jose Menendez. Those allegations were publicized last year in a Peacock documentary series called "Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed."

Calif. governor will not review claim: No review until DA examines case

Clemency effort also could bring freedom

Another avenue for freedom would be clemency. Gascon sent letters on behalf of each brother to California Gov. Gavin Newsom expressing "strong support" for clemency, citing the brothers' "dedication to rehabilitation." Newsom last week declined to make a decision, saying he wanted to provide incoming DA Hochman with an opportunity to review the case.

Brothers earned degrees in prison

While in prison, Lyle, now 56, earned an associate degree in sociology from Southwestern College and then graduated from the University of California, Irvine, with a bachelor's degree. He also created four prison programs to assist fellow inmates and created and wrote the WIRE bulletin that communicates Inmate Advisory Council matters to the inmate population, Gascon wrote.

Erik, 53, also earned an associate degree in sociology and has been accepted to the University of California. In 2022, he earned a Certificate in Proficiency in American Sign Language from Southwestern College. He has created five prison programs, Gascon said.

(This story was updated to add new information.)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Menendez brothers' resentencing hearing delayed until late January
Pet strollers are more popular than ever. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Getty Images) (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Getty Images)

Ever pass by someone pushing a stroller, expecting to see a cute gurgling baby inside only to find a chilled-out corgi, perky pug or sleepy Siamese cat? Pet strollers are popping up all over, but their owners and the reasons why they use them are often misunderstood, with some onlookers assuming theyre treating their fur babies like actual babies or that theyve gone overboard with pampering their beloved pets. But in reality, the reasons for using a pet stroller are purely practical  and these items are more popular than ever.

The market is booming globally, according to Verified Market Research, which reports that 2024 revenue for pet strollers is estimated at $470 million and is expected to climb to about $820 million by 2031.

They have increased in popularity, Brandi Hunter Munden, vice president of public relations and communications at the American Kennel Club, tells Yahoo Life. Some of it is due to trends, dog age and as congestion in some living areas continues to increase. Also, as dogs have various ailments, they are a viable way to safely bring your dog with you.

That convenience is appealing to owners. Pet owners are prioritizing spending quality time with their pets, and strollers are the perfect accessory for bringing them along during outings and routines, Pete Scott, president and chief executive officer of the American Pet Products Association, tells Yahoo Life. At least once a week, 50% of dog owners take their pets on foot for errands, and 53% take them along in the car. Strollers can help keep pets safe and secure during outings without having the added weight of a carrier and offer protection during cold and hot weather months, where salt or hot pavement can injure your pets paws.

Scott adds: Plus, everyone loves seeing an adorable pet in a stroller.

Here, four pet owners share what led them to purchase a stroller and why they say its one of the best items theyve ever bought.

Sami Jo Siedband says her dog Oatie Meal loves being in his pet stroller. (Courtesy of Sami Jo Siedband) (Sami Jo Siedband)

The biggest misconception is that hes just a spoiled dog and its unnecessary

Sami Jo Siedbands French bulldog Oatie Meal  who has his own Instagram account with more than 230,000 followers and an additional 340,000 followers on TikTok  was an immediate fan of pet strollers. Siedbands neighbor had one for her senior dog who could no longer walk and when Oatie tested it out as a puppy, he loved it immediately, Siedband tells Yahoo Life. So she got one for him. Frenchies are a stubborn breed to begin with, and Oatie isnt much of a walker, but I sure am, she says. The stroller has allowed me to enjoy my hourlong walks with Oatie, who gets to enjoy being outside, walking as much as he wants, while not overdoing it.

The stroller makes it possible for Siedband to spend more time outside the house with her 5-year-old dog. I can bring Oatie on adventures that would normally be too tiring for him, without pushing his limits, she says. I bring him to the farmers market, dog-friendly restaurants, events, the mall and even traveling. She adds: Its truly the best.

The strollers storage is also an advantage. The storage allows me to carry a water bottle, travel bowl, dog wipes, treats, poop bags, pepper spray, emergency meds like Benadryl and a cooling vest for hot days, she notes, adding that it also keeps Oatie out of harms way: Weve been in situations where aggressive off-leash dogs have run over to us, but Oatie was safe in the stroller.

Siedband says that when people see Oatie in his pet stroller they mostly smile or laugh, but not every reaction is positive. The biggest misconception is that hes just a spoiled dog and its unnecessary, she says. You never know someones reason for wanting or needing a pet stroller, so its important not to judge others. People also assume its a negative thing keeping him from walking, which couldnt be further from our reality.

She says that Oatie walks more with the stroller because it gets him out of the house for longer periods of time and he can take breaks when he needs them. And simply, he loves it, she says. He loves going for rides, he loves spending extra time with me and I love getting to share more experiences with him.

Anna McGraths rescue dog Theodore likes to look sharp in his pet stroller. (Courtesy of Anna McGrath) (Anna McGrath)

I truly feel it was the best purchase I ever made

About a year after adopting a rescue dog named Theodore, Anna McGrath says he started exhibiting signs of extreme anxiety, including shaking underneath the bed. I couldnt get him outside at all, she tells Yahoo Life. I was trying everything with him and was struggling for about two months before the idea [to get a stroller] popped into my head. I truly feel it was the best purchase I ever made.

The stroller provided a safe enclosed space where her dog, who is now 2 and a half years old, felt secure, alleviating his anxiety and serving as a transportation solution for the 35-pound pup. Their routine: Theodore would hop into the stroller in McGraths New York City apartment and then would happily jump out and walk around once they reached Central Park.

Now McGrath views the stroller as a multipurpose tool, calling it a mobile dog-friendly purse. She customized it by buying compatible baby stroller accessories, including cup holders and storage compartments, that made it functional for both of them. It stores his toys, his treats, she says. I put my water in there, his water, his dog bowl. And I dont forget things because its all in there.

McGrath gets a range of reactions to her pet stroller. Most people she encounters around New York City are unfazed. Anything goes, she says. McGrath has three steps outside her apartment building and says sometimes people try to help her navigate the stroller down the stairs. Theyll help me carry it down the stairs but are a little taken aback when they realize its a dog and not a baby, she says. Not that anyones said anything, but you can tell.

When she travels outside the city with the stroller, however, McGrath says, I can attest to the judgmental perspective. She notes that even though dog ownership has evolved in the way people tend much more to their animals, not everyone is on the same page. Sometimes from older generations I get the kind of, Wow, thats extravagant. Thats a little extra, she says, adding: But its been a real game changer.

Mary Barnsdales older rescue dogs  15-year-old Gracie, 14-year-old Gonzo and Corky, who is 11 or 12 years old  can take breaks in the stroller. (Courtesy of Mary Barnsdale) (Mary Barnsdale)

Its a real back-saver

Mary Barnsdale has a trio of rescue dogs  15-year-old Gracie and 14-year-old Gonzo, both rat terrier/Chihuahua mixes, and Corky, who is an 11- or 12-year-old poodle/Chihuahua mix who identifies as a Papillon  and says the stroller phase of their lives kicked off five years ago. As my dogs have gotten older, theyve become more accident- and injury-prone, Barnsdale tells Yahoo Life. Theyve had broken ribs, back and neck and leg issues ... in May, Gonzo even had to have his gallbladder and spleen removed. Theyre in recovery a lot.

If she had big dogs, Barnsdale says she would leave them at home while theyre healing. But since I can wheel one around in a stroller at the park when theyre not well, I do, she says. Its good for their morale, even if I find it kind of humiliating.

Barnsdale uses her pet stroller to take her dogs on a 1.5-mile walk most days of the week along Point Isabel Regional Shoreline in Richmond, Calif., which is full of dogs and dog people. There, I dont even stick out. Id feel very squirmy pushing a stroller with a tiny dog in it around my own neighborhood, though, she admits. I hope it doesnt come to that.

But Barnsdale appreciates having a pet stroller, sharing that even carrying her lightest dog, Corky  who is about 13 pounds  gets very old. She adds: Its a real back-saver. Plus, she says, Its also profoundly cute that Corky actually prefers to ride. He clearly considers it his due.

Terry Roys French bulldogs Shamrock and Corbie cant walk for very long, which is why the pet stroller comes in handy. (Courtesy of Terry Roy) (Terry Roy)

I stroll with pride

Terry Roy has been using a pet stroller for nine years, with a rotating cast of her own dogs and fosters. Roy tells Yahoo Life that she walks 2 miles twice a day and the stroller makes a big difference. Her dogs are what she calls the nonsporting group, meaning some of them either dont want to walk or lose steam quickly and need a lift, which is where the stroller comes in.

But the pet stroller has been helpful in other ways too. For Roys dog Lily  a 13-year-old blind Boston terrier (who passed away a month ago) who liked to walk and sniff but we couldnt walk anywhere  the stroller allowed her to still enjoy the great outdoors. The stroller also helped Corbie, a French bulldog Roy adopted who had to learn how to walk on three legs after a leg amputation, which was tiring. Two miles twice a day is really too much for him, she says. And earlier this year, Roy picked up a 7-month-old Frenchie named Shamrock from a shelter with a terrible case of mange. For the first week or so she didnt want to do anything but lay under the blanket in the stroller. While Shamrock has fully recovered, she still sometimes likes to ride. Shes happy to be in and take a break, Roy says.

Roy admits that the comments and assumptions some people make about the pet stroller are a disadvantage. But I dont care, she says. Theyre not going to shame me from doing this. Its serving a purpose, and the longer I do it I see the different reasons for different dogs. Its not about babying them and Let them walk. Heres this fat little Frenchie who doesnt want to walk. Its not like I wont let them walk if they want to. Maybe that dog has already walked a mile and is winded.

Despite some negative comments, Roy is undeterred. I stroll with pride, she says.
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Chef Valerie Chang is wrist-deep in a metal bowl twice the size of her head. With gloved hands, she gently tosses a heap of bay scallops with ingredients like crispy garlic, finger limes, and burnt serrano peppers. She plates the mixture with paper-thin sliced grapes, cilantro Leche de Tigre (a citrusy marinade), and huacatay oil from the Peruvian Andes, forming a version of her scallop cebiche (the Peruvian spelling)a favorite on the menu at Matys, her award-winning Peruvian restaurant in Miami. The dish is melt-in-your-mouth soft, citrusy, and spicy all at once. Its a revelation.

Chang, who grew up in Chiclayo, Peru, and moved to Miami at age 10, is inspired by the Peruvian dishes her grandmother Maty made for her growing up, whether its a whole roasted fish (in this case, a dorade), an oxtail spin on lomo saltado, picarones for dessert, or a choclo with Huancaina sauce that could double as a smoky corn mac and cheese.

Since opening in March 2023, Matys has became one of the countrys buzziest new restaurants, landing on best-of lists from The New York Times , Bon Appetit , and Esquire . This June, Chang also earned a James Beard Award for Best Chef: South. I never imagined that Matys would touch peoples hearts the way that it has, she says.

Prior to Matys, Chang made her mark on the Miami food scene alongside her brother, Nando, and their father, Fernando. Together, they opened Itamae, a Nikkei (Japanese-Peruvian cuisine) restaurant, in 2018, and its sushi offshoot, B-Side, one year later. Nando also runs Itamae AO, an omakase tasting room next door to Matys, and has been known to swing by and help his sister in the kitchen. I dont think Matys would be what it is without my brother, Chang says. I mean, he carries a big, big load of it.

Growing up, the siblings accompanied their dad to his job at a sushi restaurant, because he couldnt afford a babysitter. They tagged along to his catering events, and eventually started assisting him. Chang, who was struggling in school, loved the idea of earning her own money instead of going to class. I made $500 one time, and I was like, Im sold. This is a life I deserve, she says.

But the real origin of her long love affair with food began elsewhere in the family: Both of my grandmothers were extraordinary cooks, Chang says. We grew up around food.

At 19 years old, she started working in restaurants. Three years later, at the age of 22, Chang quit her floor manager job and enrolled in culinary school. After graduating from Miami Culinary Institute, she went on to work under renowned chefs like Thomas Keller and Michael Solomonov. All roads led her to Matys, an airy, 150-seat Wynwood restaurant, where vintage photos of her grandmother hang on the walls.

When I meet Chang, she and her cebiche are not in Miami, but on a ranch in Austin, Texas, where an industrial kitchen has been set up on the same grounds as a longhorn pen. She and a few other Matys cooks flew in to serve some of the restaurants signature dishesplus some new creationsas part of an immersive dining experience called World to Table, hosted by American Express and Delta SkyMiles. Its telling that such big companies chose her as the inaugural host for this exclusive new series.

Courtesy American Express

As the sun sets over the ranch, Chang tells her diners that she feels honored to represent her heritage in this way, and so far away from home. I hope that tonight you feel connected to my family, to Matys, and to Peru, she says.

Theres lots in store for Matys, including a new logo, but one thing will remain constant: We stay true to ourselves, Chang says.



Youve received so many accolades, including a James Beard Award and landing on multiple best restaurant lists. How are you processing it all?

I feel super thankful, grateful, and blessed. I never thought that I would get any of it. I wasnt ever really driven by these things. I mean, cooking was literally the only place I fit in. I really struggled in school and college. I ended up dropping out. When I stepped into a restaurant, it was the only place where I was like, Okay, I might be good at something.

So that was my whole focus, and its just beautiful. People are always congratulating me, but its all about the whole team. And it keeps the restaurant busy, which is the only thing that truly matters: that people enjoy the food. That the team weve decided to hire and work withand the team that stays with ushas a job. And that youre able to secure them and, hopefully, as the restaurant grows, youre able to help them grow. Thats the most meaningful part.

Daniel Boczarski - Getty Images

Your grandmother Maty is the inspiration behind the restaurant. What was your relationship like? Did she open your eyes to food and cooking?

She helped take care of four grandkids, and she always cooked Chinese-Peruvian food for us on Sundays. My grandmother taught me how to be optimistic about life and understand that everything is always going to work out. She was also very resilientthe most resilient woman Ive ever met. So I think thats where the biggest inspiration came from for the restaurant: just staying resilient, staying focused, and keeping on track.



Are there any dishes on the menu directly inspired by your grandmother?

She always liked eating a whole fish. We knew we were having a whole fish on the menu. We have an oxtail dish thats an oxtail saltado; usually everybody knows lomo saltado [Peruvian beef stir fry]. [Maty] has passed away now, but I often look at the menu and think, I wonder what she would really like. I wonder what she would think. I know she would be super happy; she would be exactly who she always was. But I do always wonder what she would think of the menu. I wish Id written down more of her recipes.



Courtesy American Express

I love that youre helping keep her memory alive through the restaurant.

Theres a whole wall of her pictures at the restaurant. Theyre all original pictures that she saved. I kind of feel like maybe she thought this would [exist] eventually. But [flipping through family photos and seeing her pictures] was a new experience for me. I had never seen my grandmother as a child. I got to read all the letters between my grandparents when they were courting each other. Being left on read was a thing back then, too. I read letters, and my grandmother was like, If youre going to be busy for the whole month, the least you can do is write me a letter and let me know. I dont appreciate it when you dont respond to me.

Yeah, like, dont ghost me via letter!

Okay, grandma!

Its great that you were able to see all that. Its part of your own history, too.

Yeah. Its made me a lot more curious about my Chinese side.

What is the Chinese-Peruvian community like in Peru?

Its a very big community. Its so common to be Asian in Peru, but our great-grandparents definitely experienced a lot of racism growing up. Its so common being Chinese-Peruvian, but even when youre Chinese-Peruvian in Peru, you only identify as Peruvian. [Editors note: There is a large Chinese diaspora in Peru, stemming from China having sent laborers to Peru in the mid-1800s.]

It was only when I moved to the U.S. that people were like, What are you? And Im like, Peruvian. And theyre like, No, no, but what are you? Im like, I dont even know how to answer this. Or theyll say, Why is your last name Chang? which is something people never questioned when I lived in Peru.

I noticed there are a lot of women in leadership positions at Matys. Is that intentional?

Its hard. Ive always kind of stayed away from these conversations, because I think you can just do what you need to do, and let the restaurant speak for itself. Let the actions speak for themselves; let the team speak for itself. Its not intentional, but its not unintentional. It just kind of works out this way. I have two brothers. So I have a different perspective on these things. Im aware these [topics] are real, pressing issues, of course. I have been in the restaurant business for a while. I know what its like to be a woman in the kitchen. I know what its like to be not just a woman in a restaurant, but also a woman in power. But Ive always believed that the work would show itself.

It says a lot to be recognized for your skills, rather than just your gender.

This conversation is only really hard to swallow from a mans perspective. And it needs to be brought up, and it needs to be cleared up. From my perspective, as a woman, its like, Yeah, duh, weve been doing this. Weve always been here, and we have been the backbone of a lot of things. We have been getting it done, and were as good as anybody else. So why is this even a conversation?

Courtesy American Express

What was your experience after culinary school and training in restaurants, before you opened your own place?

A lot of the women that I looked up to when I was coming up were really hard and mean, because they needed to be. If they were on the hardest stations, they were hard. And so that was really difficult to understand or try to figure out: Who am I going to be? If Im nice, am I weaker than she is?

I had moments, too, when I was coming up where I would just be really, really intense about things and really emotional. And Im sure I still am, but Ive matured and done a lot. I still do a lot of therapy. Ive gotten to a place where I just dont want to yell, and I dont want to be angry, and I dont want to be upset. And I dont want to be really pissed off every day of my life, because Ive been at this for a long time.

Ive been in a restaurant for 15 years now. I want to be in a place in my career where I enjoy things. There are many tough days where I really dont enjoy any of it, for sure, but for the most part, I really drive myself by enjoying the process.

How has that shaped you as a chef and a boss?

Im still trying to figure out my leadership style, because sometimes people say Im too relaxed. Too extreme. When a cook makes a mistake when were really busy, or even when were not, Ive learned to just be like, Hey, you have to go out there. You have to talk to the guest, and you have to explain to them the mistake and then let them know that youre going to remake this. You need to be comfortable with being able to show your face. Its something that we really practice. If you fuck up, youre going out there yourself, but not in a shameful wayin a very responsible way.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

This story is part of our Chefs Kiss series. Click the link below for all the profiles.

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Police officers at the scene on Southern Grove in Ladbroke Grove after a man and an eight-year-old girl were injured in an incident in west London, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (Aaron Chown/PA via AP)

LONDON (AP)  British police arrested Monday a 22-year-old man on suspicion of murder after an 8-year-old girl and a man were seriously injured when a gunman fired into a car in London.

The girl was listed in stable condition and undergoing surgery, but was expected to survive, police said. The wounded 34-year-old man has potential life-changing injuries.

A toddler and a woman in the car during the shooting on Sunday evening were uninjured.

Shootings are rare in the U.K. where guns are heavily restricted.

Police provided no details on the suspect.
Sen. Mitch McConnell has represented Kentucky through seven different presidential administrations.

At the end of his term, he would be tied for the eighth-longest-serving senator in United States history. Almost half of his term he has led the Republican Party. His most influential accomplishment would be during the end of the Obama administration when he was able to block the Supreme Court vacancy until President Trump took office.

Steven Law, a former McConnell chief of staff, contributed the success of blocking the Supreme Court pick behind McConnells unique skill to balance the Senate.

McConnell is famously quoted saying: Ive demonstrated, once again, that when the Congress is in gridlock and the country is at risk, Im the guy who steps forward and tries to get us out of the ditch.

What may be deemed good for the party may not be so reciprocal to the individual. McConnells image due to this maneuver and others like the McConnell Lockdown over his tenure has impacted his popularity. McConnell had such a working knowledge of the Senate he was able to control when and how legislation was addressed.

Many may ask why would someone slow the pace of putting legislation on the floor? Well, McConnell approached delayed voting, specifically on sensitive issues, to safeguard incumbents seeking reelection. Currently, he has an approval rating of 36% according to Stacker.com. In todays digital age, a public figures image is under a microscope but according to law, McConnells vision is on the scoreboard at the buzzer and that is why his career has been successful.

Will McConnell seek reelection?

It is unclear if McConnell will seek reelection at the end of his term, but what does Kentuckys influence in Washington look like without the longest serving GOP leader in U.S. history?

There is one official who comes to mind, not from the Senate but from the House: Congressman Thomas Massie.

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Garrison, spoke to supporters at a primary day election party in Northern Kentucky earlier this year.

Like McConnell, Massie does not give much thought to his image but not in favor of his party, but his ideals. Nicknamed "Mr. No," he has caused disruption that has given frustration on both sides of the House over his six-going-on-seven terms.

Thomas Massie's ambitious vision

He has introduced bills to eliminate the Federal Reserve and the PRIME Act that would give small farmers the ability to serve consumers easier. The PRIME Act and more recently his bill, the Interstate Milk Freedom Act, has many believing Massie should be the next Secretary of Agriculture. He would be the first coming from Kentucky. Massies rhetoric has been to lessen the grip of the federal government on its constituents so they may live a more free and prosperous life through supporting themselves.

Massies ambitious vision for our federal government is a "less is more" approach for its constituents. McConnell was a mastermind in the balancing act of the Senate world in Washington. As McConnell balanced the powers, Massie aims to slash the powers and empower the individual from the blind overreach from Washington.

After almost two decades as the GOP leader in Washington, as McConnell steps down, Kentucky seems to be well-represented in Washington as Massie does not seem to be slowing down any time soon.

Agree or disagree? Submit a letter to the editor.

Tanner Willis

Tanner Willis is a native Kentuckian and a graduate of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, where he obtained a masters degree in international affairs and diplomacy. Currently, he is a manager at Inclined Advanced Analytics, based in Arlington, Virginia.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: As McConnell steps down, Massie is stepping up in Washington | Opinion
Erik and Lyle Menendezs efforts to reduce their life-without-parole prison terms have been in limbo after the ouster earlier this month of Los Angeles Countys top prosecutor, who recommended a new sentence that could clear the way for the brothers release.

That uncertainty will remain  for now  after a judge ruled Monday that a Dec. 11 resentencing hearing should be delayed in part to give the county's new district attorney time to review the case.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic, who also said he needed more time to review the recommendation, rescheduled the hearing for Jan. 30 and Jan. 31.

In a statement after the hearing, incoming district attorney Nathan Hochman said the delay would provide sufficient time to review what he described as an extensive case file and consult with prosecutors, defense lawyers and relatives.

"I look forward to thoroughly reviewing all the facts and the law to reach a fair and just decision, and then defend it in court, he said.

The brothers were scheduled to make their first court appearance in years, but the remote feed from the San Diego prison where they are incarcerated was hampered by technical issues. Two of their aunts testified during Monday's status conference, making what a lawyer for the siblings described during a brief news conference as "impassioned pleas" for Erik and Lyle to be sent home.

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon.

Erik's stepdaughter said Monday that their family remains united in their effort to bring the siblings home. While the judge's delay was not "the outcome we had hoped for," she said in a statement, "we remain optimistic that it represents a step forward in securing their freedom."

The siblings have served 35 years for the shotgun murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, at the familys Beverly Hills home on Aug. 20, 1989.

Last month, outgoing Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said he supported reducing their sentences to 50 years to life  a reduction that would make them eligible for parole immediately.

A judge is responsible for rejecting or supporting Gascons decision.

The recommendation came after a specialized unit within Gascons office that aims to implement reform-minded resentencing laws reviewed the brothers case.

While their crimes were brutal and premeditated, Gascon has acknowledged, the brothers have been model prisoners. Theyve paid their debt to society, he said, and no longer pose a public safety risk.

Gascons decision was applauded by many members of the Mendendez family, who have advocated for the mens release and pointed to the horrific abuse the siblings said they suffered at the hands of their father.

The brothers supporters have described the killings as a desperate act of self-defense  an allegation that echoes the defense laid out by the brothers legal team during their two murder trials in the 1990s.

Prosecutors said the allegations of abuse were a false attempt at covering up what authorities described as the brothers true motive  ensuring access to their familys multimillion-dollar estate.

The first trial ended with hung juries after they could not deliver a unanimous verdict. The brothers were convicted of first-degree murder during their second trial.

Gascon has acknowledged that his recommendation remains polarizing within his own office, with some prosecutors believing the abuse allegations and others arguing the brothers should remain behind bars for the rest of their lives.

Nathan Hochman on Oct. 10 in Los Angeles.

In addition to a resentencing, the brothers have also sought their freedom through a request for clemency from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and a petition that seeks to challenge their convictions.

That petition, filed in May 2023, includes what Geragos has described as evidence that Jose Menendez was abusing Erik Menendez in the months before the siblings killed their parents.

Both efforts remain ongoing.
A judge in California has delayed a scheduled resentencing hearing for Lyle and Erik Menendez at the brothers first hearing since they were sentenced to life in prison for murdering their parents in 1989 and the latest step in their bid to regain freedom.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic said at a Monday status hearing the resentencing date, originally scheduled for December 11, would be pushed to January 30. Jesic said he rescheduled the hearing to give the new district attorney time to review the case.

Current Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon was resoundingly voted out of office earlier this month and will be replaced by Nathan Hochman next week. Gascon recommended resentencing for the brothers in October, which could allow them to be released from prison after almost 30 years.

The brothers, currently incarcerated in San Diego, appeared virtually for the status hearing  their first court appearance since their 1996 conviction. Technical issues prevented them from being shown on video.

The two men were last seen in public during the second trial for the murder of their parents. After their first trial ended with two deadlocked juries, they were found guilty in a second trial and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The judge imposed strict restrictions on the courtroom for Mondays hearing: No cameras were allowed in court.

Sixteen seats in the court were offered to the public via lottery in the hours before the hearing, according to a news release from the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Sisters of both victims testified in favor of resentencing the brothers Monday. Joan VanderMolen, the sister of Kitty Menendez, said, Its time for them to come home, and began to tear up in court.

No child should have to endure what Erik and Lyle did, VanderMolen, who the brothers attorney Mark Garagos said will celebrate her 93rd birthday Tuesday, told the court. No children should have to live in fear day by day that their dad would come and rape them.

Jose Menendezs sister, Terry Baralt, 85, said she would like to hug them and see them and not have to visit a jail to do so.

Throughout their two trials, the brothers have not disputed they killed their parents. Instead, they argued they killed them in self-defense after suffering years of sexual, emotional and physical abuse. Prosecutors, meanwhile, said the killings were premeditated, committed so the men could obtain their parents multimillion-dollar estate.

The push to reexamine the case began in 2023, when a Peacock docuseries featured another alleged victim saying he was raped by Jose Menendez  the brothers father. Attorneys for the Menendez brothers filed a habeas petition asking the court to reconsider the conviction and sentence in light of new evidence from the other alleged victim and from a letter Erik wrote about the abuse prior to the killings.

In October, Gascon filed a motion recommending a judge resentence the siblings, which could allow them to be released immediately.

Not only have they worked on their own self-improvement, but they have done a lot of work to better the life of those around them, which that part is unusual, Gascon told CNN. I believe they have served enough time.

Speaking after the Monday hearing, Geragos said that he hoped they would be released from prison at the end of January.

Garagos described VanderMolen and Baralts testimony as extremely moving in an evening interview with CNN. The brothers are clearly not at risk for committing any violent act going forward, and the victims are here articulating, under the California constitution, that they want them released, he said.

If the brothers are released, they will likely continue to engage in prison rehabilitation and reform, Garagos said. I see them continuing to do that work. They both express that thats exactly what they like to do and make it their lifes work, he said.

Erik Menendez, left, and Lyle Menendez. - California Department of Corrections

How we got here

The decades-long legal proceedings stem from 1989, when Jose Menendez, an executive at RCA Records, and his wife, Kitty Menendez, were shot and killed in their Beverly Hills home. Lyle was 21 years old and Erik was 18 years old. Lyle called 911 and said, Someone killed my parents.

The two men were arrested in March 1990 and accused of first-degree murder. They both went to trial in 1993, each with a separate jury. The proceedings were broadcast on Court TV.

The brothers defense attorneys argued the brothers were afraid for their lives after experiencing years of abuse, especially at the hands of their father. Both defendants took the stand to testify about the abuse they experienced and said their father had threatened to kill them if they did not keep the abuse secret. Prosecutors, meanwhile, argued the killings were planned in advance and that the brothers sought financial gain.

Both juries deadlocked and could not come to a verdict.

In 1995, the brothers retrial began  this time with one jury and no camera in the courtroom. Much of the defense evidence about sexual abuse was excluded, according to defense attorneys. Both brothers were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Since then, the two men have been model prisoners by all accounts, Gascon said in an interview with CNN in October. The brothers have participated in victim impact programs, workshops and events, and created multiple programs to help those in need around them, according to the resentencing motion filed by Gascon.

After not seeing each other for decades, the brothers were reunited in 2018, when Lyle was transferred to the same housing unit of a San Diego prison as Erik.

Teresita Baralt, the older sister of victim Jose Menendez, speaks before Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic. - Mona Edwards/Reuters

A Peacock docuseries, Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, was released in 2023, prompting calls to review the brothers sentences. The series features the account of Roy Rossello, a former member of the boy band Menudo, who claims he was raped by Jose Menendez  then the head of RCA Records  in the mid-1980s, when he was 13 or 14 years old.

The Menendez brothers filed a habeas corpus petition shortly after the docuseries was released, citing Rossellos allegations as well as a letter from Erik Menendez to his cousin that they say references the abuse. I never know when its (sic) going to happen and its driving me crazy. Every night I stay up thinking he might come in, Erik wrote in the 1988 letter. The letter, discovered in 2018, was not presented at either of the two trials, the petition says.

In October, Gascon recommended the brothers be resentenced, saying he supports the resentencing of the brothers to life with the possibility of parole  which normally would mean 50 years to life in prison. But because the crimes happened when the brothers were under 26 years old, under California law they would be eligible for youthful parole.

The district attorney said in October that shifting attitudes about sexual abuse and trauma have changed public perception of the case.

There is no question that a jury today would look at this case probably very differently than a jury did 35 years ago, he told CNN.

The case has also received renewed attention because of a television series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. Erik Menendez has criticized the brothers depiction in the series as dishonest and demoralizing.

Netflix also released a documentary on the Menendez case last month, featuring both men discussing what led to the killings.

Mondays hearing attracted fans who have followed the documentaries and media coverage of the case and hope to snag a seat in the courtroom. Elena Gordon, who said she first became interested after reading a book about the case, told CNN she came to the courthouse to experience what I believe it is a historical moment for Southern California.

I would love to see justice in its purest form, carried out, whatever that may mean, whether they get out or not, she said.

People wait in line to get into the Van Nuys Courthouse West ahead of the status hearing. - Daniel Cole/Reuters

What comes next

Gascons failed reelection bid has cast some uncertainty over the Menendez brothers fate. Hochman, the incoming LA County district attorney and a former federal prosecutor who campaigned on a tougher stance against crime, will take office in early December. Hochman has said he needs time to review the confidential prison files, trial transcripts and extensive exhibits, as well as consult with prosecutors, defense attorneys and family members of the victims.

Before I can make any decision about the Menendez brothers case, I will need to become thoroughly familiar with the relevant facts, the evidence and the law, Hochman said in a statement.

In an interview, Hochman said he would move as expeditiously as possible to review the case.

If I ask for a delay, it wont be a delay for delays sake because I think the Menendez brothers, the victim family members, the public deserve to have a decision done as soon as it can be done in a thorough manner, Hochman told CNN.

There are other ways the brothers could be released. Gascon also wrote letters to Gov. Gavin Newson supporting the brothers in a bid for clemency, which could free the brothers immediately. But Newsom has delayed any clemency decision until Hochman reviews the case, according to a news release from his office.

This story is based on reporting from Nick Watt, Jason Kavarik, and Alicia Park in Los Angeles and Jean Casarez in New York. It was written by Zoe Sottile in New York. CNNs Eric Levenson, Cindy Von Quednow, Dalia Faheid, and Taylor Romine contributed to this report.

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An educator in California has been arrested and charged with molesting eight children while he was working as an elementary school counselor between 2015 and 2019. Authorities, however, said there could be more victims.

David Lane Braff Jr., a 42-year-old assistant principal and counselor at Ingenium Charter Middle School in Los Angeles, is accused of molesting children between the ages of 6 and 10.

The incidents allegedly happened in an office at McKevett Elementary School in the Santa Paula Unified School District, where he worked as a school counselor from 2015 to 2019, according to a news release from the Ventura County District Attorney.

Possible Additional Victims

Investigators for the Ventura County District Attorney's office are working together with the Santa Paula Police Department to investigate Braff's crimes. They also added that there could be "additional victims and crimes," especially because he was employed in several jobs in public education since the crimes. He has also volunteered in various programs for children over the years.

It is important to note that his full employment history is not known at the time the news release was published. A New York Times investigation found a LinkedIn profile matching his name and likeness. The work history mentioned Braff working for a charter school network after leaving McKevett Elementary School. He was then employed at Ingenium Charter Middle School after leaving the charter school network.

Read Also: Houston Mom Gets 50 Years for Forcing Kids To Live with Decomposing Body of Their Dead Brother

How Did Authorities Find Out About Braff's Crimes?

Allegations against Braff surfaced out of a cold case sexual abuse unit. It was noted that officials at McKevett Elementary School had contacted authorities at the time of the alleged incidents. The school district conducted an internal investigation, but it was not immediately clear why there were no charges filed against Braff.

Additionally, it was unclear whether officials for the school district informed Braff's subsequent employers of the accusations against him. Ingenium Schools, on the other hand, said it was "devastated" to learn of Braff's crimes and has taken "immediate actions" to ensure the safety of its students, as reported by NBC Los Angeles.

Braff is currently being held in custody at Ventura County jail with a bail of $3 million.
By Valerie Volcovici, Richard Valdmanis and Karin Strohecker

BAKU (Reuters) -When COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev stepped to the podium at the closing meeting of the Baku climate summit on Sunday morning, hoping to clinch a hard-fought agreement on global climate finance, he carried with him two speeches.

One was crafted around a hoped-for deal being struck, while the other for the possibility of a summit-collapsing impasse, according to two sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

One of the sources - a person in the COP29 presidency - told Reuters that they worked through challenging negotiations until the last minute to ensure what it called the Baku Breakthrough, but still prepared different versions of the final speech for different possible outcomes.

In the end, Babayev managed to gavel through the $300 billion finance plan to help developing nations cope with the soaring costs of global warming over the next decade before critics had time to object, allowing him to read the more positive speech.

He praised the agreement as a breakthrough and shamed the deal's doubters as "wrong", even as many of the climate deal's intended recipients slammed it as woefully inadequate.

Babayev's preparation for different outcomes at the divisive summit in the Caspian Sea nation of Azerbaijan reflected what many in the audience had already known before it began: the Baku climate talks were never going to go smoothly.

Expectations for a deal were depressed by worries of a looming U.S. withdrawal from global climate cooperation, geopolitical turmoil, and a rise of isolationist politics that had shunted climate change off much of the world's top priorities list.

Those obstacles loomed large in Baku and will continue to overshadow global climate efforts in the months ahead as Brazil prepares for next year's much broader conference in the Amazon rainforest city of Belem - where the world will plot a years-long course for steeper emission cuts and building resilience in the fight against climate change.

"Multilateralism as a whole is under threat," said Eliot Whittington, chief systems change officer at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

"Indeed, the UNFCCC is probably the bright spot  proving that even in the face of incredibly hostile geopolitics and on fundamentally difficult questions, a deal can be made," he said, referring to the U.N. body sponsoring the annual climate summit.

But the slow pace of progress, with global emissions still rising, has raised tensions and calls for reform.

"This is something that needs to be looked at, when just a handful of countries, based on their own economic interests, can almost wreck the entire process," Sierra Leone Environment Minister Jiwoh Abdulai told Reuters.

TRUMP EFFECT

Among the biggest factors clouding the negotiations in Baku was the looming return of climate skeptic Donald Trump as president of the United States, the world's biggest economy, largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases, and top producer of oil and gas.

Trump, who takes office in January, has pledged to withdraw the United States from the global Paris Agreement on climate change, as he did during his first 2017-2021 term in the White House, and has called climate change a hoax.

Negotiators at the Baku conference said that while the U.S. delegation had helped in coming up with the climate finance deal, the country was unable to take a high-profile leadership role like it has in past climate summits, and it could not provide assurances the next administration would honor its pledges.

"With the United States, well, the voters have voted and that's the way it is. What they're going to do, we do not know," South African Environment Minister Dion George said.

U.S. officials at the COP29 conference sought to reassure global partners that market forces, existing federal subsidies, and state mandates would ensure continued renewable energy deployment even if Trump disengages from the global process.

The war in Ukraine and rising conflict in the Middle East, meanwhile, have diverted global attention to security and energy availability, and led many governments to tighten their purse strings, experts said.

That made getting a bigger climate finance number hard, observers to the talks said.

"Even maintaining climate finance at current levels in the current political environment is a huge fight," said Joe Thwaites, senior advocate on international climate finance at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group.

The agreement to provide $300 billion annually by 2035 would theoretically triple rich countries' previous commitments to provide $100 billion by 2020. That earlier goal was reached in full only in 2022, and expires in 2025.

The unwillingness of wealthy countries to offer more money and the pressure to conclude even a weak deal ahead of more political turbulence became a major source of frustration for the least developed countries and small island states, who told the Baku conference they felt sidelined in the negotiations.

At one point in the summit's final stretch, negotiating blocs representing both groups walked out of talks in protest, delaying a deal by hours.

"We came in good faith, with the safety of our communities and the well-being of the world at heart," Tina Stege, the climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, said at the closing plenary.

"Yet, we have seen the very worst of political opportunism here at this COP, playing games with the lives of the world's most vulnerable people."

India's envoy, Chandni Raina, used her time to roundly reject the climate finance deal gaveled through by Babayev.

"We are disappointed in the outcome which clearly brings out the unwillingness of the developed country parties to fulfil their responsibilities," she told the summit.

Climate advocates said that, while the deal is better than an outright impasse, the rifts exposed by the conference as well as the loss of trust in the process among poorer countries will pose a problem for Brazil as it prepares for COP30.

"I think this is a toxic chalice for Belem, and it's going to be up to Brazil how they're going to restore the trust," said Oscar Sorria, director of the Common Initiative, a think tank focused on global financial reform.

(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici, Richard Valdmanis and Karin Strohecker; Additional reporting by Naila Bagirova; Editing by Katy Daigle and Paul Simao)
(Reuters) -Four men were convicted in Spain on Sunday in connection with the homophobic murder of a 24-year-old nursing assistant that sparked protests in cities across Spain and abroad.

Samuel Luiz died in hospital after being assaulted by a group of people outside a night club in A Coruna in the northwestern Galicia region in July 2021.

Diego Montana, Alejandro Freire and Kaio Amaral were found guilty of aggravated murder, and Alejandro Miguez of complicity.

The jury in A Coruna found it proven that Montana - the leader of the group - had concluded that Luiz was gay from his speech and clothing, shouting homophobic insults at him before the attack and making anti-gay comments afterwards to the other accused.

"Today, four attackers have been sentenced for the murder of Samuel Luiz," former equality minister Irene Montero posted on the social media platform X.

"Lets not look the other way: LGTBIphobia that kills begins with comments or 'jokes' that are hateful, harmful and must be stopped."

The jury spent an unusually long five days deliberating after a trial that lasted nearly four weeks. Sentencing will take place later; the prosecution has asked for jail terms of between 22 and 27 years.

Some 364 hate crimes related to sexual orientation or gender identity were reported in Spain in 2023, and 184 arrests were made, according to Interior Ministry data. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights says only a fraction of hate crimes are reported.

(Reporting by Graham Keeley; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Chicken and rice from Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice at the Maxwell Food Centre hawker center in Singapore. (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)

Who makes the best Hainanese chicken rice? It depends on who you ask.

The poached chicken and rice dish was invented on Hainan island, Chinas southernmost province, but it appears on menus all over Southeast Asia. In Singapore, it's the national dish, and there's an ongoing debate over whether Ah Tai or Tian Tian, both in the Maxwell Food Centre there, serves the best. I tried both when I visited last year, and neither camp is wrong.

In Los Angeles, restaurants that specialize in Hainanese chicken rice, like the decades-old Savoy Kitchen in Alhambra, have helped popularize the dish.

An order of Hainanese chicken rice from Savoy Kitchen in Alhambra. The restaurant has been serving the dish since 1982. (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)

Though the menu at Savoy boasts pizza, pasta and even a roasted Cornish hen, Ive never actually seen anyone in the cramped dining room eating anything other than the Hainanese chicken rice. Servers come around to the tables every five minutes or so to refill your trio of chicken rice condiments: ginger, chile and sweet soy.

My best friend will tell you that Savoy makes the best Hainanese chicken rice. My Chinese grandmother might agree. Though I've always thought the constant lines were more about the tiny dining room and the affordability of the restaurant. When I was in high school, the plates of chicken and rice were less than $10.

My mom prefers the chicken and rice at Cluck2Go in Pasadena, and before it closed, Side Chick at the mall in Arcadia. She's a new convert for the chicken and rice at Heng Heng Chicken and Rice in Thai Town. If you ask my cousin, shell tell you the chicken at Green Zone in Temple City is the juiciest.

Read more:Dubai chocolate bars, falafel and magic chicken on a Little Arabia food crawl in Orange County

If you didnt grow up eating the dish, it may be difficult to understand the allure of a plate of unassuming poached chicken, the pale skin intentionally slack, and a mound of rice cooked in the poaching liquid. Its simplicity, pure flavors and contrast of textures are what I find so comforting. And if you really need a jolt of salt, acid or heat, the dish is typically served with condiments that offer just that.

Chef Hong Xiao spent years cooking Hainanese chicken rice around the San Gabriel Valley before opening Hong Coffee and Bakery in Monterey Park earlier this year. But youll have to search for it to find it on his menu.

The restaurant and storefront has about four tables inside and a long deli counter with cups of silky tofu, cakes and a variety of sweet and crunchy snacks on display. Theres a long list of noodle soups on the menu, with bowls of broth brimming with fish balls, wontons and springy egg noodles. If you manage to make it past the soups and lo mein, youll find the Hainanese chicken rice.

An order of Hainan chicken with rice from Hong Coffee and Bakery in Monterey Park. (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)

I know that many places around here have the chicken and rice dish, but I wanted to make it and see how it did with customers, Xiao says during a recent visit. I came up with my recipe by pulling from each place I worked before, choosing the parts I liked from the dish.

Xiaos chicken is firm with the slippery skin barely attached. Each piece is full of the poaching liquid, fortifying the chicken with its own juice and fat. His rice resembles the broken rice you might find at a Vietnamese restaurant, slightly chewy and plump with the chicken broth it was cooked in.

The most important thing is to get fresh chicken, he says. That, and how much time you cook it in the broth.

Read more:Vietnamese chicken wings, sizzling steaks and banh cuon on the ultimate Westminster and Garden Grove food crawl

Xiao serves his chicken with a ginger paste, dark soy and a side of pickled cabbage and carrots. The pickles are a nod to his childhood in Guangdong, China, where he would buy jars of pickled vegetables from the street vendors.

I never had pickles with Hainan chicken before, but I liked the flavors and I figured it would go well together.

They do. And its only a matter of time before plates of chicken and rice start to outnumber the bowls of soup on his tables.

At the new Burd Chicken Rice in West Covina, real estate agent Dee Meas is serving his own version of chicken rice inspired by bai mon, the chicken-and-rice dish found all over Cambodia. After working in commercial real estate and helping dozens of restaurant clients find spaces for their businesses, Meas decided to open Burd Chicken Rice in a strip mall earlier this year.

An order of chicken and rice from Burd Chicken Rice in West Covina comes with chicken broth and two dipping sauces. (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)

Born in Cambodia, Meas and his family fled the Khmer Rouge for the U.S. when he was 4 years old.

Chicken rice is a staple, Meas says on a recent call. Bai mon in Cambodia is our version of chicken rice, very similar to Hainan. I grew up eating Cambodian food with traditional flavors from my mom, but our version is more catered to everybody.

Meas toasts his basmati rice in a blend of secret aromatics that give it a distinct yellow hue and a nutty, slightly bitter flavor. The grains are glossy from the poaching liquid, cooked in the same broth as the chicken.

An order of fried chicken skins for Burd Chicken Rice in West Covina. The restaurant specializes in chicken and rice. (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)

In addition to the more traditional poached chicken, Meas is making grilled chicken marinated in lemongrass and ginger. Hes also deep-frying the chicken after its poached. You can order any of the preparations over rice or wrapped in a giant flour tortilla. And there are cups of fried chicken skins as crunchy as potato chips.

Each order is paired with either one, or both ginger condiments. One is a mix of garlic, ginger and scallion sauteed in oil until the fragrances bloom and the alliums just start to wilt. The chili-ginger is its fiery counterpart, with the heat of bird's-eye chile, fresh ginger, garlic and the acidic punch of rice wine vinegar.

In an effort to set Burd Chicken Rice apart from other chicken and rice-focused restaurants, Meas says he trademarked the concept of sugarcane drinks with chicken and rice. Hes making fresh-pressed sugarcane juice and mixing it with coconut water and passion fruit and kumquat, but the chicken and rice is reason enough to visit.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Photo by Toni Pomar on Unsplash Photo by Toni Pomar on Unsplash

Undercover video played at Madigan trial

Former Chicago Alderman and cooperating witness Daniel Solis returned to testify at the bribery and racketeering trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Solis said he complied with Madigans requests to introduce him to real estate developers in order to curry political favor with Madigan. Prosecutors introduced a video, secretly recorded by Solis, of Madigan meeting with a Chinese developer about a land parcel in Chicagos Chinatown neighborhood.

Fed: State's economic growth decreased

An economic indicator shows that growth in Illinois decreased in October.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index decreased to .40 in October from .27 in September. Three of the four broad categories of indicators used to construct the index decreased from September, and all four categories made negative contributions in October, including production-related indicators and employment-related indicators.

Chicago voter turnout down

Chicago voters turned out at a much lower rate in this months general election than in recent presidential contests.

According to the most recent data from the Chicago Board of Elections, the percentage of registered voters who participated in this years election is the second lowest in 80 years. The only presidential contest with a lower citywide turnout was in 1996 when then-incumbent President Bill Clinton easily defeated Republican Bob Dole.
Donald Trumps team are seeking assurances that the controversial deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius will not be completed before his inauguration in January.

The Independent recently revealed that the president-elect is looking for ways to veto the agreement because of concerns over its security implications in the Indian Ocean with the crucial joint UK/US base on Diego Garcia.

There are also concerns that the deal struck by Sir Keir Starmer and foreign secretary David Lammy will allow China access to the islands to build their own rival base.

The deal, which has the blessing of outgoing US president Joe Biden, was not meant to be completed until the spring. But the UK prime ministers envoy Jonathan Powell, who is set to be the national security adviser, is flying to Mauritius today for talks with its prime minister to complete the deal.

Chagos islanders protest against the deal (AP)

The talks are being described as a crucial working meeting with the objective of deepening the discussions and finalise the ends of the Anglo-Mauritian treaty on the Chagos Archipelago, as well as the details of the 99-year lease for the American military base in Diego Garcia.

Both Chagossians and Trumps team fear it is also an attempt to fast track the deal to get it completed before Mr Trump could try to veto it.

It comes as figures preparing to be part of the Trump administration team have set up discussions with UK critics of the deal who helped organise the initial legal advice to provide grounds for the president-elect to veto the deal.

While the initial concerns were raised with Trump by Nigel Farage, it is understood that Tory shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel, another hardline Brexiteer, is being kept in the loop to try to help the Trump team scupper Sir Keirs Chagos plans.

The Diego Garcia base is the main cause for concern (Getty)

The Trump team members have been asking about parliamentary timetables to see if the deal could be pushed through quickly but also looking for off ramps, solutions to allow Starmer to drop the deal but save face at the same time.

A source told The Independent: There are many options in this regard.

One of the options is to use the recent change of government in Mauritius as a reason to rethink the deal.

A Brexiteer parliamentary researcher working directly with the Trump team told The Independent: They couldnt understand why it was agreed and whether it was Biden or Starmer.

Trumps team are said to be relieved that it would be very hard using the parliamentary timetable to push the deal through early.

However, the meeting between Mr Powell and the prime minister of Mauritius Navin Ramgoolam today is raising concerns.

Added to that, Chagossian islanders, who have been excluded from the process, are furious that they continue to be kept out of the talks by the Labour government.

They have launched a judicial review into the deal which is set to be heard on 5 December and could also potentially hold it up.

A spokesperson for Chagossian Voices said: Both sides seem to be moving at speed, and both governments are keeping Chagossians away from the treaty. Weve had no involvement at all. The Chagossian community is asking to be involved in the future of their own islands.

Mr Lammy recently defended the deal in an interview with The New Statesman where he pointed out that it guaranteed use of the base for at least 99 years.

He added: Im very confident that when the new administration looks at the detail of this deal that they will stand behind it because Donald Trump knows what a good deal looks like [a reference to his 1987 book The Art of the Deal]  and this is a good deal.

However, the government has resisted publishing the costs of leasing back the base.

The Independent has contacted the Foreign Office for comment.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: We are working with the new Mauritian government to progress a landmark deal that protects our base; it secures the long-term protection of the base.

Our position remains unchanged. Were finalising the details of the treaty, which will come forward for scrutiny as part of the ratification process next year. There has not been any change to the timelines.

They added: We look forward to working with the incoming administration on a wide range of priorities including on national security and on economy and defence.
On Disneys newest cruise ship, the Treasure, kids ride a slide down to enter a childrens club. While they play and design their own Avengers costumes, adults can grab a cocktail at a bar themed to Disneys classic ride, the Haunted Mansion. Later in the day, kids, parents and grandparents can meet up at a restaurant intricately themed to Pixars Coco.

Thats just a snapshot of what cruising looks like today versus a decade ago or more when some industry experts say many would-be cruisers still thought of it as something only grandparents did.

But after the pandemic, there has been a surge in new cruise passengers.

Everybody wanted to cruise all of a sudden, and the cruise lines were coming up with more and more entertaining equipment, so you could do almost anything at sea. Its not your parents Love Boat anymore, said Beci Mahnken, president and CEO of MEI-Travel and Mouse Fan Travel. You have rock climbing walls and ice-skating rinks and princesses, and all kinds of things to do on board ships.

The race to add bigger and more elaborate features at sea has been intensifying in the years since the first megaship debuted more than three decades ago. Those ever-evolving offerings are paying off.

The Haunted Mansion Parlor caters to adults aboard the new Disney Treasure, with its fan-favorite theme and specialty cocktails. - Kent Phillips/Disney

At her travel agency, Mahnken said shes seeing demand for cruises at its highest in 25 years. She said there are spaces on large ships that cater to each age demographic, so family members can split up to find their own fun and rejoin each other later for quality family time.

A report by industry group Cruise Lines International Association shows more than 30% of families traveling by cruise go with at least two generations, and 28% of them go with three to five generations.

That intergenerational appeal seems to be helping drive a growing interest in cruise travel.

The report also noted that 27% of passengers in the past two years were first-time cruisers, an increase of 12% compared with the prior two-year period. And there were a total of 31.7 million cruise passengers worldwide in 2023, almost 7% more than the last pre-pandemic year, 2019. The growth comes as the industry focuses simultaneously on reducing its environmental footprint.

We do know that cruise is actually the most powerful segment of the travel space right now. It is growing, whereas other parts of the travel industry are not, said Kyle Valenta, editor and senior SEO manager at Cruise Critic.

A slide delivers kids to the Oceaneer Club aboard the Disney Treasure. - Kent Phillips/Disney

Disney doubles down

Its no wonder, then, that Disney is betting big on cruises. The Treasure is their sixth ship in the fleet, but the company announced in August an expansion to 13 ships around the world by 2031.

Across the industry, theres about 56 new ships on order for the next four years alone, Valenta said. So Disney isnt really doing anything out of the ordinary in general in the cruise business. What is interesting is that Disney has very quickly decided to place a really large bet on diving into cruise and owning more of the cruise space.

Valenta said that is notable, coming from a company that is very cautious and strategic about what it does. He said it signals a confidence in the growth of cruising.

Two of Disneys upcoming ships will be sailing exclusively in Asia. The Disney Adventure, Disneys biggest ship yet, will launch in December 2025 out of Singapore, with a capacity for more than 6,000 passengers. In 2029, the Oriental Land Company, which owns Tokyo Disney Resort, will launch a Disney cruise ship out of Japan.

Its a smart move, because they already have Hong Kong Disney and Tokyo Disney  and Shanghai Disney, Mahnken said. Theyre very popular. So to bring the brand over in terms of a cruise ship is again another brilliant move on their part. Its a good risk.

Those familiar with the Disney brand know that it involves deeply immersive stories and themes.

The Disney Treasure will embark on its maiden voyage in December. - Kent Phillips/Disney

On the Treasure, which takes its maiden voyage in December, Disney fans will find the first cruise ship bar themed to a Disney ride: the Haunted Mansion. The lounge has an aquarium with a special effect, so that those walking around it will see ghost fish appear and disappear.

Disney told CNN that one of the original Imagineers of the Haunted Mansion attraction wanted to have an effect like that on the ride, but the technology wasnt available in the 1960s. This effect is an homage to the original design team.

Another upcoming ship, the Disney Destiny, is expected to begin sailing in November 2025 and will be themed to heroes and villains. A new Hercules musical will debut on board.

Thomas Mazloum, president of Disney Signature Experiences, said Disney Cruise Line has the highest guest satisfaction ratings of his entire department, which also includes Disney theme parks, National Geographic expeditions, Aulani Resort in Hawaii and Disney Vacation Club.

Occupancy is high on Disney ships, at 98% across the five existing ships in fiscal year 2024, according to a company fact sheet.

Forty percent of guests who cruise with us for the first time have told us that the only reason they cruise is because we happen to be in this space, Mazloum said.

Competition on the high seas

Of course, everyone wants a piece of the same cruise passenger pie.

Bigger players, such as Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line, have more ships in their fleet than Disney Cruise Line and have been in the business longer.

In January, Royal Caribbean launched Icon of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world, with the largest ice arena at sea, the largest swimming pool at sea, six slides and the first family raft slides at sea.

Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas is currently the world's largest cruise ship, and it's loaded with family friendly attractions. - Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Valenta said even non-cruise travelers may have seen it all over the news and social media when it launched, driving interest in cruising in general.

There are some cruise brands that still cater mainly to adults. But whereas cruising in the 1970s was more focused on couples and formal affairs, Mahnken said a cruise vacation now looks more like a theme park at sea.

And instead of relying only on public ports of call, cruise lines are creating their own private destinations by buying private islands just for their passengers to enjoy.

Competition over customers also means more competitive pricing.

She noted the value perspective: a cruise can cost about anywhere from 15% to 20% less than a land trip, because of all the things [that] are included.

Mahnken predicts cruising will stay very strong in the coming years because it provides a more cost-efficient option, especially for those wanting to explore different cities and countries, while still having a familiar place to sleep each night.

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If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 any time day or night, or chat online.

A new study on a drug widely prescribed for asthma is binding itself to receptors in the brain and is linked to severe mental health issues and suicide, according to new research.

The Food and Drug Administration presented the preliminary results of a study on the asthma drug Singulair, which is sold generically as montelukast, to a "limited audience" at the American College of Toxicology meeting in Austin, Texas on Nov. 20, according to Reuters, which reviewed the scientific presentation.

Lab tests showed "significant binding" of the drug to multiple brain receptors, according to Jessica Oliphant, a deputy director at FDA's National Center for Toxicological Research. However, research does not show whether the binding leads to the harmful side effects from the drug.

A sample of the drug Singulair made by Merck & Co. is seen in New York March 9, 2009

Earlier research also found that the medications penetrated the brains of rats.

However, more data is needed to confirm how the drug collects in the nervous system, according to the deputy director.

Despite its findings, the FDA will not update the drug's label based on the presented data.

USA TODAY has reached out to the FDA for comment.

Brain receptors in charge of mood

The brain receptors that the drug is binding to are involved in, but are not limited to the following, according to Reuters:

Governing mood

Impulse control

Cognition

Sleep

Research does not show whether the binding leads to harmful side effects from the drug, or who is at risk.

However, the medication is "definitely doing something that's concerning," Julia Marschallinger, a scientist at Austria's Institute of Molecular Regenerative Medicine, told Reuters.

When the FDA added a black box to the drug in 2020, it cited research from Marschallinger and Ludwig Aigner, another scientist from the same institute.

What is Singulair?

Singulair, originally sold by Merck & Co., is a prescription drug that was launched in 1998 and is used to prevent and treat symptoms of asthma and allergies, according to the Cleveland Clinic, by "decreasing inflammation in the airways, making it easier to breathe."

Singulair comes in generic versions with the following names:

Montelukast

Montelukast Na

Montelukast sodium

The name-brand and generic versions are prescribed to adults and children.

Early advertisements for the drug stated it had benign side effects and compared to a sugar pill, according to Reuters. But, over two decades later, the drug has been linked to mental health issues and episodes in patients to whom it is prescribed.

What are the side effects of Singulair?

The following are some of the side effects of the drug, according to the Cleveland Clinic:

Anxiety

Nervousness

Confusion

Hallucinations

Irritability

Hostility

Thoughts of suicide or self-harm

Worsening mood

Depression

Users can also experience trouble sleeping and vivid dreams or nightmares.

Anyone who is taking the medication and experiencing the side effects listed above should report them to their healthcare team immediately, according to the medical center.

Medication linked to dozens of suicides

In 2019, over 20 years after Singulair hit the market, thousands reported having neuropsychiatric episodes after being prescribed the medication. Dozens of patients had also committed suicide.

"A wide variety of mental health side effects have been reported," according to a statement published in 2022. "Including completed suicides."

FDA takes regulatory action

In October, the FDA listed the drug as having serious risks or new safety information and that psychiatric disorders linked to the drug would require the agency to evaluate the "need for regulatory action."

This is not the first time the drug has been place under scrutiny by the FDA.

In 2020, the FDA announced the medication would require a Boxed Warning, its "most prominent warning," about the drug's "serious mental health side effects" and advised restricting its use to treat hay fever.

It had already included information regarding the risk of suicidal thoughts or actions, but some health care professionals and patients did not know of the risk.

"We decided a stronger warning is needed after conducting an extensive review of available information and convening a panel of outside experts," the FDA stated in a release.

Contributing: Reuters.

Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. You can connect with her on LinkedIn, follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, Instagram and TikTok: @juliamariegz, or email her at jgomez@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Singulair may be linked to severe mental health side effects: FDA study
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Mohammad Salem

CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters) -Heavy rains flooded tent encampments of displaced Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Monday, adding seasonal winter misery to communities already devastated by 13 months of war, as Israeli forces stepped up strikes in the enclave.

Downpours overnight inundated tents and in some places washed away the plastic and cloth shelters used by displaced Gazans, most of whom have been uprooted several times during the conflict between Israel and Hamas militants.

Some placed water buckets on the ground to protect mats from leaks and dug trenches to drain water away from their tents.

Many tents used early in the war have now worn out and no longer offer protection, but the price of new tents and plastic sheeting has shot up beyond the means of displaced families.

Suad Al-Sabea, a mother of six from northern Gaza, now lives inside a classroom with broken windows at a school housing displaced families in Khan Younis in the south of the Strip.

Sabea sells the bread she bakes in a wood-fueled earth oven to make a living for her children. But rainwater spoiled the flour and damaged the oven, threatening to put her out of work.

"I was scared of life or death, now we worry about the rain," she said.

"The dough drowned in water, and many mattresses drowned in water. It was raining on top of my head and I kept baking to provide for my children," Sabea told Reuters.

Some other encampments closer to the beach were flooded, and some tents were swept away by high waves.

"The sea took away my little daughter, thank God we were able to rescue her," said Mariam Abu Saqer, who used to live in a tent by the beach before it was flooded by seawater.

"Where should we go, wherever we go, they tell us there is no space," she said.

The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said around 10,000 tents were either washed away or damaged due to the winter storm, appealing for international help to provide displaced families with tents to shield them against the rain floods.

"According to government field assessment teams, 81% of the displaced persons tents are no longer usable. Out of 135,000 tents, 110,000 are completely worn out and urgently need replacement," it said in a statement.

The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said thousands of displaced people were affected by seasonal flooding and demanded new tents and caravans from aid donors to shield them.

The U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said in a post on X that winter's first rains mean even more suffering.

"Around half a million people are at risk in areas of flooding," it said. "The situation will only get worse with every drop of rain, every bomb, every strike."

ISRAEL UPS STRIKE ON GAZA

Meanwhile, Israeli military strikes intensified across the enclave. In Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, an Israeli airstrike killed at least four people, medics said, while tanks deepened their incursions in the northern edge of two towns of Beit Hanoun, and in Beit Lahiya, and Jabalia, the largest of the enclave's eight historic refugee camps.

Medics said seven Palestinians were killed by two Israeli airstrikes in the area of Jabalia.

On Monday, residents said Israeli planes dropped new leaflets on Beit Lahiya ordering remaining residents to leave to the south, saying the area would come under attack and providing them with a map.

Residents said Israeli forces had blown up hundreds of houses since renewing operations in an area that Israel said months ago had been cleared of militants.

Palestinians say Israel appears determined to depopulate the area permanently to create a buffer zone along the northern edge of Gaza, an accusation Israel denies.

Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed more than 44,200 people, and uprooted nearly the entire population at least once, according to Gaza officials, while reducing wide swathes of the narrow coastal territory to rubble.

The war erupted in response to a cross-border attack by Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023 in which gunmen killed around 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Mohammed Salem in Gaza, Editing by William Maclean and Jonathan Oatis)
A Republican senator has blocked the promotion of a general who oversaw the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, according to a source familiar with the matter, as President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to go after the officials involved in the withdrawal.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma blocked the promotion of Lt. Gen. Chris Donahue to four-star general as the commander of US Army Europe-Africa. Donahue was the last US soldier on the ground in Afghanistan at the end of the withdrawal, according to the Pentagon. The night-vision picture of Donahue boarding a cargo flight out of the Kabul airport become a symbolic image of the end of a 20-year war and a chaotic withdrawal that saw the deaths of 13 US troops in a suicide bombing.

Donahue boards a C-17 cargo plane at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. - Master Sgt. Alexander Burnett/US Army

Trump said he will demand the resignation of every single senior official who touched the Afghanistan calamity. Vice President-elect JD Vance also promised to go after those involved in the withdrawal, saying, the people who screwed this up are going to suffer some consequences.

Donahue serves as the commander of the 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Liberty in North Carolina. At the time of the Afghanistan withdrawal, he was a major general commanding the 82nd Airborne Division.

We are aware that there is a hold on Lt. Gen. Donahue, Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon press secretary, said at a press briefing Monday. Singh said she is not aware of any other holds on promotions related to the Afghanistan withdrawal.

On November 19, the Senate Armed Services Committee announced the advancement of 984 military promotions, including nominations from each of the branches of the military. But Donahue was not on the list of nominees advanced. The Pentagon announced four days earlier that he had been nominated for promotion to general.

In addition to leading a storied military corps, Donahue has also been critical in the US effort to help Ukraine, helping to establish the Security Assistance Group-Ukraine. The organization was established in November 2022 as a more long-term extension of the work of 18th Airborne Corps, which deployed to Europe to reinforce NATOs eastern flank after Russia invaded Ukraine.

CNN has reached out to Mullin for comment.

On the third anniversary of the Abbey Gate bombing that killed 13 US service members, Mullin said that not one person has been held accountable for the disaster and explicitly named Donahue and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley.

Republicans have railed against Milley and the Afghanistan withdrawal even though it was Trump who negotiated directly with the Taliban to remove US forces from the country, despite Milley and Gen. Frank McKenzie, former commander of US Central Command, recommending against withdrawing.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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A 17-year-old teen in California has recently made history after becoming the youngest person to pass the grueling state bar exam, according to authorities.

Sophia Park took California's bar exam in July. On Nov. 8, she received a notification that she had passed the exam. She is only aged 17 years and 8 months.

Sophia is now the youngest individual to have passed California's bar exam. She broke a previous record set by her brother, Peter Park, who passed the exam in 2023 aged 17 years and 11 months.

"Sophia's amazing accomplishments speak for themselves, and we could not be prouder as an office family," Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward said in a press release. "The dividends for our office have been immense, and we are excited to be part of Sophia and Peter's continued success."

Behind Sophia's Success

According to the Tulare County District Attorney's Office, Sophia enrolled in law school at the age of 13 in 2020. At the same time, she was also still enrolled in junior high at the Oxford Academy in Cypress, California.

Sophia graduated high school and passed the California High School Proficiency Exam in 2022. She later graduated from law school at the Northwestern California University School of Law earlier this year. She has since been employed as a law clerk for the county's DA's office where her brother also works.

What Are Sophia's Plans for the Future?

After passing her bar exam, Sophia is now on track to swear in as a licensed attorney. The ceremony is scheduled for March 2025 when she turns 18---the minimum age to practice law in California. She has mentioned plans to join the county DA's office as a prosecutor, much like Peter who was sworn in as a practicing attorney a year ago.

Apart from setting records as the youngest individuals to pass the bar exams, Peter and Sophia are also the first and only teen brother-sister duo in a DA's office, per KTVU.

California's bar exam is notorious for being one of the most difficult in the United States. In February of this year, the overall pass rate was 33.9%, data from The State Bar of California showed.
Everythings still coming up Milhouse for Pamela Hayden. The actress, who has voiced Barts best friend on The Simpsons for 35 years, is retiring after Sunday nights episode, Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes. But Hayden said she has no regrets in parting ways with the long-running show.

How many actors can say theyve worked on a show for 35 years straight? Hayden told Variety. That alone is amazing. But it was time for me to devote my time to other creative endeavors that I have, like filmmaking. It was a tough decision, but I feel like it was the right one.

More from Variety

Given the long lead time that animation takes from concept to air, Haydens exit has been in the works for a while. Hayden, whose voices also included school bully Jimbo Jones, Rod Flanders, Chief Wiggums wife Sarah and Lisas friend Janey Powell, said The Simpsons has been accommodating in preparing for her retirement, and the producers even offered to give her a going-away party.

Its just not like anything Ive ever worked on, said Hayden, who has also voiced characters on Hey Arnold, Pinky and the Brain, The New Batman Adventures and Recess. Its a once-in-a-lifetime job on a once-in-a-lifetime show. But being an actor, I think youre kind of used to taking risks. Thats the kind of person I am. Im not about playing things safe. And there were other things I wanted to do. I think you throw it against the wall and see what sticks.

That includes Haydens documentary Jailhouse to Milhouse, which documents her tough upbringing. The film has hit the festival circuit and she said she hoped it would inspire people who have fallen through the cracks to still have hope. Its about my life, and there were a few really hanky years there when I was younger. When I speak to at-risk girls, I say, if I can do it, you can do it. Because thats true. Im no different than them.

Beyond Jailhouse to Milhouse, Hayden said she has also co-written the book and lyrics to a musical she has been developing. Id like to get that up, but frankly, the way theater has been going since COVID, is not great, she said. I havent been successful getting the show up in New York. So well see what happens.

Even as she retires, Hayden said she expects to hear from fans, who regularly share their favorite Milhouse moments and quotes. Besides Everythings coming up Milhouse, that includes Milhouse quoting Prince: This is what it feels like when doves cry.

Everybody has their own favorite, she said. What I liked about Milhouse is even though he gets kicked around, he always feels like tomorrows going to be a better say. Whether it is or not. And I think thats great. Its a good analogy for life.

Milhouse first appeared with Bart before The Simpsons even premiered, in a 1989 Butterfinger commercial. Bart needed someone to talk to in the school cafeteria. We named him Milhouse because that was the most unfortunate name a kid could have, creator Matt Groening said in a statement. Pamela gave us tons of laughs with Milhouse, the hapless kid with the biggest nose in Springfield. She made Milhouse hilarious and real, and we will miss her.

Added exec producer James L Brooks: She is a model for having a great spirit for every cast she has been a part of. We will miss her. And said showrunner/executive producer Matt Selman: Pamelas talent and joy and love for her characters has added a magic to The Simpsons that will never be forgotten. Everythings coming up Pamela!

As Milhouse, Hayden marveled at what shes been asked to voice over the years, such as singing the French National Anthem as a six year old boy. And in person, the Simpsons stars and producers traveled to Europe together to do live shows in London and in Edinburgh, and perform at comedy festivals in Aspen and Montreal. And then there were all those iconic stars she got to voice opposite with over the years, like Meryl Streep.

When the Rolling Stones were there, I guess Keith and Mick werent talking then, and so we had to record them separately, she recalled. I think Keith had a drink in one hand and a cigarette. There really wasnt any place for him to hold the script or put it down, because you only have two paws, right?

The Simpsons producers plan to audition a new actor to pick up Milhouse and Haydens other roles. (I know they wont kill them off because its a comedy, she said. You dont want to kill off a 10 year old character!) Her advice to those looking to audition? Make the characters their own, rather than imitating her.

It is a sticky wicket in the sense that, I dont think its ever good to just do an impression. It is a difficult task put your stamp on a character, but to still make it sound like the character that has already originated, she said. You want them to bring their own gift to the party.

As for what shell miss most about playing Milhouse, Hayden stressed the relationships she built with her fellow stars and the producers (most of whom have been there for decades) on The Simpsons.

These are such finely drawn characters, she said. Ill still have a special place in my heart for that blue haired boy. No matter what. But the show will go on.

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Mango flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Spanish retailer Mango is embarking on a bold expansion plan in the U.S. as it looks to shed its fast-fashion image and position itself as a premium brand.

The privately held company, headquartered in Barcelona, plans to open 42 new storefronts in the U.S. by the end of the year and aims to launch 20 more in 2025, primarily in the Sun Belt and Northeast, Mango CEO Toni Ruiz told CNBC in an interview.

The $70 million expansion plan includes a new logistics center outside of Los Angeles and about 600 new jobs, bringing the companys U.S. headcount to about 1,200 employees by next year.

This is a long-term commitment, Ruiz said. We have also the opportunity to have bigger stores in the U.S., he noted, adding Mango will open some multiline stores that feature mens and kids items.

Mangos sales grew more than 10% in the U.S. this year and the company expects to see double-digit growth again next year.

Currently, Mangos largest market is its home base in Spain. While the U.S. is among its top five markets, the company is aiming to grow sales in the region so it can breach the top three. The goal is part of a larger strategic plan at Mango focused on growing sales from about 3.1 billion euros annually to 4 billion euros by 2026.

Mango, known for its European chic basics, is looking to reposition itself as a premium brand and signal to consumers that it is not a fast-fashion label. Its design process takes between seven and eight months, and everything is designed in-house in Barcelona, Ruiz said.

Internally we have all the design, all the patterns, all the fittings  this is very important for us so 100% is done here. We also have 500 people taking care of the product from end to end, said Ruiz. We are trying to elevate. What does it mean, elevate? We think that our customer appreciates a lot this creativity, this design, this own style. So this is why we are pushing a lot, not only in terms of quality, design and also, why not prices? Because our proposal is getting better.

Ruiz said Mangos U.S. growth plans are focused on stores because a physical presence will allow the company to get closer to its consumer and tell its story in a new way.

The company follows a string of other international competitors such as Swedens H&M, Spains Zara and Japans Uniqlo that have turned to the U.S. market for growth. They are all competing to win over the average American household, which spends on average about $2,000 annually on clothes, according to a Lending Tree study.

Mango has opened stores in Pennsylvania; Washington, D.C.; and Massachusetts, but has turned its sights to the Sun Belt for its next phase of growth, driven by insights from e-commerce.

Mangos website now represents about 33% of overall sales and helps the retailer determine where its customers are shopping from and what they are buying, said Ruiz.

Its a big challenge for us, because we have understood that every state in the U.S. is like a country in Europe, so because of the customer, because of the way of dressing, said Ruiz. Its very important to understand the difference between the states.  So this is why we try to go step by step.

More from CNBC:
Customers wait in line at a Starbucks at Miami International Airport.

Air travelers face a host of headaches on their journeys: slow security lines, long waits for plush lounges, the threat of delays or cancellations  and the airport Starbucks.

Many travelers, flight crews and even airport employees have at some point encountered long wait times for their Starbucks cappuccinos, cold brews and egg bites.

They need to have a better system, said Coresa Barrino, a Starbucks patron at New Yorks LaGuardia Airport Terminal B earlier this month who said she had been waiting 10 minutes and counting for her coffee. The nursing assistant, who was taking a flight back to Charlotte, North Carolina, said the wait when she buys her coffee at a Starbucks in Charlotte is about two minutes.

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The long waits have caught the attention of the coffee chains new CEO, Brian Niccol, who joined Starbucks from Chipotle in September, pledging to win back customers and reverse the companys sales slump.

Niccol told investors he thinks that licensed locations, such as those inside Target stores or airports, are interested in following the companys strategy of getting back to Starbucks.

When I think about the airports and such, theres such a huge opportunity for us to simplify some of the execution there so that we get people the great throughput that they want so they can get on their way, Niccol said on the companys quarterly conference call Oct. 30.

Starbucks airport location staff  and company technology  will be put to the test this week during some of the busiest travel days of the year. The Transportation Security Administration forecast a record number of travelers during Thanksgiving week and said Sunday, Dec. 1, could be the busiest day of the year, with more than 3 million people screened at U.S. airports.

The surge in air travel, especially during peak times such as Thanksgiving, has led to congestion in airport security lines, in lounges and at gates  problems that airlines and the federal government are trying to fix. For the aviation industry, bottlenecks at airport Starbucks are just another sign of soaring demand and overcrowded airports.

A record 1.05 billion people boarded airplanes going either to, from or between U.S. airports in 2023, narrowly topping the total in 2019, before the pandemic, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Struggles and fresh approaches

Starbucks has recently struggled. Its sales fell for the third straight quarter in the period ended Sept. 30, as consumers pushed back against higher prices and ignored initiatives such as discounts and energy drinks aimed at bringing customers back. Same-store sales in the U.S. declined by 6% from a year earlier.

In late October, Niccol unveiled plans aimed at improving customers experiences and reviving the companys sales, from bringing back condiment bars, to eliminating surcharges for dairy alternatives and cutting down the menu.

Cutting wait time is a key goal: He wants to trim service times down to four minutes, which would shrink long lines and improve the customer experience.

And while Starbucks started rolling out mobile order and pay to its airport locations in 2022, the change can sometimes add to the confusion and chaos at the cafe counter instead of resolving it. Plus, some travelers might not be regular Starbucks customers who already have the app downloaded.

Improving the coffee chains airport outposts could boost both sales and the brands reputation during a time when it needs it most. Even the customers Starbucks has lost might visit an airport location while theyre traveling.

With travelers returning in droves after the pandemic, it gives Starbucks and other restaurant chains a chance to boost sales.

Concessions contribute about 4% of U.S. airport revenue annually, according to the latest available Federal Aviation Administration data, but theyre an important feature to many passengers, who have limited time  and, often, energy  to fuel up before a flight.

At Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, revenue from food and beverage outlets is growing faster than passenger numbers, said Jennifer Simkins, the airports assistant vice president of concessions. The airport has become the worlds third-busiest for passengers, up from 10th place in 2019, according to Airports Council International.

Airlines are also packing more seats on their aircraft and in some cases are flying larger jets.

More passengers per plane means restaurants can become crowded during peak times with more customers waiting to be served and space limited, said Ursula Cassinerio, an assistant vice president at Moodys Ratings who covers airports.

She noted that many airports have been undergoing major renovations, if not building new terminals. That means more opportunities for revenue if you have more square footage for retail and restaurants, she said.

The 25 busiest airports in the U.S. have an average of 80 food and beverage brands as options for travelers, according to data from market research firm Technomic.

Licensing model

A challenge for Starbucks is that licensees  not Starbucks itself  operate its airport locations.

Starbucks opened its first airport location with licensee HMSHost in 1991 at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, which serves Starbucks hometown.

For nearly three decades, HMSHost operated the chains airport locations through an exclusive deal with Starbucks and gradually grew its airport footprint to roughly 400 outposts.

But in 2020, HMSHost ended the deal, giving the operator flexibility to offer more coffee options to airports.

While HMSHost still operates the overwhelming majority of Starbucks airport cafes, more operators, such as Paradies Lagardere and OTG, have since taken a swing at it.

HMSHost, Paradies Lagardere and OTG did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

Airport locations are tricky because they can make good money, but operationally, at times, they can be very challenging, said Mark Kalinowski, restaurant analyst and CEO of Kalinowski Equity Research.

Licensing its stores saves Starbucks the hassles of operating inside an airport, such as staffing problems, high rents and security checkpoints. And though the coffee chain is used to handling a surge of undercaffeinated customers in the mornings, the swell in demand at an airport can be even more erratic.

A plane lands, and all of a sudden theres a hundred people when there were zero people there before, said Kevin Schimpf, director of industry research for Technomic.

The trade-off is that Starbucks makes less money from those licensed restaurants.

The company has more than 16,300 locations in the U.S. as of Sept. 24. But it only runs about 60% of those cafes itself; licensees operate the rest. That number includes its cafes in 47 of the 50 busiest airports in the U.S., according to Starbucks. The company did not disclose its current airport store count to CNBC.

In fiscal 2024, licensed locations accounted for 12% of Starbucks revenue, or $4.51 billion. From those stores, Starbucks collects only licensing fees, a percentage of monthly sales through royalties, and payments for supplying its coffee, tea and food to licensees, according to company filings.

For every dollar spent in a licensed store, Starbucks generates about 7 cents of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, according to estimates from Bank of America analyst Sara Senatore. Company-owned stores make about 23 cents per dollar spent, Senatore wrote in a research note in September.

If its business partners and third-party providers slack off, Starbucks brand could be damaged, the company noted in the risk factors section of its latest annual filing.

The vast majority of customers, they dont know whether that is a company-owned Starbucks or a licensed Starbucks, Kalinowski said. They just want their Starbucks. They want it made properly. They want it quickly. And theyre in a situation of heightened stress because theyre trying to get to their gate.

Airports themselves have been adopting more technology in their restaurants to help move lines along.

Labor challenges have led to more kiosks and tablets inside airport restaurants, for example.

Its harder and harder to staff a lot of these restaurants, so any front-of-house savings that you can make by having consumers order on kiosks or tablets or whatever, that really, really helps, Schimpf said.

Laurie Noyes, vice president of concessions and commercial parking at Tampa International Airport, said that sometimes the airports are a little bit behind the street. But she said the airport has made strides in offering more digital options and now, travelers can order food ahead of time via Uber Eats, and pick it up at airport restaurants.

Dallas Fort Worth offers DFWOrderNow, a website and platform available at digital kiosks so travelers can order food ahead. Simkins said the airports platform will reroute Starbucks customers to Starbucks own platform. Starbucks offers more than 170,000 possible drink orders, according to the chains website. We just found the value in keeping the familiarity for their customers, Simkins said.

Simkins said the airport is developing robotic technology for delivery to speed up service. Its also experimenting with offering meal and retail bundles from airport restaurants and shops, she said, so passengers no longer have to plan their route for multiple stops in an airport.

A local coffee company, Fort Worth, Texas-based Ampersand, plans to open a robotic barista at DFWs Terminal C, Simkins said. It will be available 24/7, to accommodate flight crews arriving at off-hours.

Simkins said popular chains still draw a crowd.

There are some brands that people will line up for, she said.

For Barrino, who was waiting for her coffee at LaGuardia, Starbucks is one of those companies.

I just really love the brand, she said.
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Stephen Miller watched on TV as Donald Trump rode down a golden escalator at Trump Tower in New York City to announce he was running for president. Few were taking the real estate magnate seriously in June 2015, but Miller wanted in.

"As soon as I saw it, I said, 'I have to join his campaign,'" Miller told Lara Trump in April on her podcast, The Right View.

Within days, by Miller's account, he was a volunteer "providing thoughts, input, analysis." He wrote Donald Trump's first immigration policy paper and by year-end, Miller  then a little-known, 29-year-old staffer on Capitol Hill  had secured a paying job with the campaign, crafting policy and speeches for the future president.

His ideas would shape both Trump's policies and how Americans view one of the fundamental aspects of American identity: immigrants.

Stephen Miller, senior advisor to President Donald J. Trump, speaks during a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden, in New York, U.S., October 27, 2024.

Past Republican and Democratic administrations had paired hardline stances on the border with relief for some immigrants  amnesty under Ronald Reagan, an attempted temporary worker program under George W. Bush, protections for the children of immigrants under Barack Obama.

But Trump's immigration plan hinges entirely on enforcement and removal, including mass deportation, underpinned by Miller's firm belief that immigration is something to be stopped, not managed.

"The moment that President Trump puts his hand on that Bible and takes the oath of office, as he has said, the occupation ends and liberation day begins," Miller, who has been named deputy chief of staff for policy in the new administration, told Fox News on Tuesday. "He will immediately sign executive orders sealing the border shut, beginning the largest deportation operation in American history."

An alleged sympathizer of white nationalist ideals, as well as the grandson of Jewish immigrants, Miller has drawn up some of Trumps hardest-line immigration policies and his most vitriolic speeches.

"He was the architect of two of the most notorious policies of the first Trump administration: the Muslim ban and the family separation policy," said Naureen Shah, a lobbyist for the ACLU in Washington, D.C. "Who is the brains behind the worst of it? Its Stephen Miller."

Senior Advisor to the President Stephen Miller (C) looks on as U.S. President Donald Trump hosts a round-table discussion on border security and safe communities with State, local, and community leaders in the Cabinet Room of the White House on Jan. 11, 2019 in Washington, DC.

Miller, 39, is balding and keeps his head shaved. He prefers dark, tailored suits and pocket squares, even at political rallies. When he speaks in public, Miller has a tic: He repeatedly angles his head like a movie villain cracking his neck before a fight.

Newt Gingrich, the former Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, has called him "one of the smartest people to work with President Trump." Miller's critics also recognize him as a "big thinker" and a "mastermind"  but whose ideas dehumanize immigrants. Journalist Jean Guerrero titled her biography of Miller "Hatemonger."

Trump recently rewarded Miller with his new title, deputy chief of staff for policy and Homeland Security adviser, setting Miller up to once again leave his mark on the nation's immigration system. The Trump transition team didn't respond to multiple requests for comment or an interview with Miller.

"He is very loyal to Trump," said Steven Camarota, who, as director of research at the right-wing Center for Immigration Studies, has known Miller since his days on Capitol Hill. "He really believes in the president, and his loyalty is sincere."

Plans for making 'mass deportation' a reality

Throughout the campaign, Miller outlined how he expected a second Trump administration would operationalize the president's mass deportation promise. It involved the U.S. military, shifting federal law enforcement to deportation work, building out immigrant detention, revoking the legal status of some immigrants and ramping up removal flights, among other plans.

Miller is also a proponent of ideas  borrowed from far-right extremists  that include deporting families along with their U.S. citizen children, stripping some U.S. citizens of their naturalized citizenship and ending birthright citizenship, which is written into the Constitution and guarantees citizenship for everyone born in the United States.

Experts say Miller's political success is both a testament to, and a consequence of, the rightward shift in how Americans think of immigrants and immigration.

"A lot of these ideas have been created on the fringe and are now being dragged into the mainstream by folks like Miller and Trump," said Caleb Kieffer, senior researcher at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has tracked Miller's ties to groups it considers extremist because of their anti-immigrant positions.

"They were born in extremist movements," he said, "laundered, sanitized and proposed to mainstream audiences."

Who is Stephen Miller?

When Miller's Jewish family fled the horrors of Jewish persecution in Eastern Europe at the turn of the 20th century, according to Guerrero, they found refuge in the United States. His paternal grandparents and maternal great-grandparents immigrated through Ellis Island.

He grew up in Santa Monica, California, in a traditional "liberal Democrat" Jewish household, Miller said in a 2021 episode of Gingrich's podcast, Newt's World.

According to Guerrero's biography, Miller, a contrarian by nature, began rebelling early against the liberal bent of his family, hometown and high school. He tuned in to right-wing talk radio and began promoting far-right ideologies, including anti-immigrant ideas. He found early mentors in conservatives like David Horowitz and among right-wing radio hosts like Larry Elder and the late Rush Limbaugh, according to Guerrero.

Miller told reporter Megyn Kelly on her podcast that he hasn't read Guerrero's book about him, adding, "The accusation from a handful of insane people that I am a white nationalist or other various smears are detestable and exorable lies that I have repeatedly rebutted."

Stephen Miller, Campaign advisor of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump, walks on stage, at a rally in Lititz, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 3, 2024.

At Duke University, Miller made a name for himself as a conservative columnist for the college paper before graduating and heading to Washington, D.C.

He was working as a staffer for then-Sen. Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican, when Trump declared his first presidential run. Miller said he called his friend Steve Bannon at the right-wing Breitbart News Network and asked for a meeting with the campaign.

"The rest is pretty much history," Miller told Lara Trump.

Suddenly, Miller was everywhere Donald Trump was. He joked that the only person who logged more hours with Trump was his chief of staff, Dan Scavino.

The slight thirtysomething banged out speeches on Trump's private jet during the first campaign, later on Air Force One, writing into existence the ban on travel from Muslim-majority nations, outlining the zero-tolerance policy that would see children taken from their parents at the border, engineering the use of a 1942 public health law that, for a time, ended asylum at the border, planning to revoke the status that let immigrants brought to the country as children live in the country lawfully.

In 2021, Kelly asked Miller on her podcast whether he regretted family separation  a policy Trump abruptly ended after a public outcry. Miller gave Kelly a nearly five-minute answer without ever saying whether he did.

Can Trump deport millions of people?

On the campaign trail for Trump in 2024, Miller often got asked whether Trump could really deport millions of people. His answer was always yes.

While the candidate preferred catchy phrases and broad brushstrokes, Miller often delivered his responses in minute detail  selling not just the goal but the plan to get there.

During a roundtable at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, Miller rattled off a "series of interlocking foreign and domestic policies" that would deliver on Trump's promise.

Republican National Convention delegates hold signs that read "MASS DEPORTATION NOW" on July 17, 2024, in Milwaukee.

They included, he said, a reboot of Remain in Mexico, which forced migrants to await U.S. court hearings in Mexico; fencing at the southern border; "robust" prosecutions of migrants; repatriation flights to Mexico; use of Title 42, which temporarily suspended asylum at the U.S. border; "several muscular 212-Fs," referring to travel bans; plus the establishment of "large-scale staging grounds for removal flights."

"Youd grab illegal immigrants and then youd move them to the staging grounds," Miller said in February. "Thats where the planes are waiting for federal law enforcement to then move those illegals home."

Many of the Trump administration's immigration policies, including those drafted by Miller, didn't hold up in court, in part because they "weren't written in a legally sound way," said Amanda Frost, director of the Immigration, Migration and Human Rights Program at the University of Virginia.

This time around, "Miller really knows what he is doing," Frost said. "He is likely to be extremely effective."

This month's election  which Trump won by nearly 3 million votes at last count  suggests that millions of Americans agree with Trump's tough immigration stance.

But recent polls also suggest there is a chasm between "mass deportation" as a winning slogan and the American appetite for policies that could divide families and upend communities.

A CNN exit poll showed voters gave Trump a 9-point advantage over Vice President Kamala Harris on trust to handle immigration. But 56% to 40% voters also said most immigrants in the U.S. illegally should be offered a chance to apply for legal status rather than be deported.

"Stephen Miller is just way outside of where the American people are, even as many are reading the results of of the election as a rebuke of immigrant justice," said Shah, the ACLU lobbyist.

'Thank you, Stephen Miller'

A trove of emails from Trump's first campaign showed how Miller pushed anti-immigrant narratives in right-wing press, including sharing content from known white nationalist organizations, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

But experts say he was careful while in the White House not to put his more controversial views in writing.

Who is Stephen Miller? Meet the architect behind Trump's first-term immigration politics

American Oversight, a nonprofit dedicated to holding government accountable, has sought emails and other communications between Miller and other federal agencies during his time at the White House.

The investigation "revealed what appeared to be a concerted effort to avoid creating a paper trail by sending emails to agency officials asking them to call him on the phone," Liz Hempowicz, American Oversight's deputy executive director, said in a statement.

Yet, Miller's role deserves public scrutiny, she said.

"The American people deserve to know," she said, "how someone with such outsized influence will implement any new draconian policies, as well as what outside extremist groups or individuals are influencing him or the White House.

Stephen Miller, Senior Advisor to Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald J. Trump and President, America First Legal speaks prior to Trump taking the stage at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27, 2024 in New York City. Trump closed out his weekend of campaigning in NYC with a guest list of speakers that includes his running mate Republican vice presidential nominee, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Tesla CEO Elon Musk, UFC CEO Dana White, and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), among others, nine days before Election Day.

Whatever he kept out of writing during his White House years, Miller has been vocally trumpeting his plans for achieving Trump's goals all year.

On "The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show," a conservative talk radio podcast earlier this year, the hosts asked, could Trump really deport millions of people? How many in year one?

"I dont want to put a number on it," Miller said, adding: "Heres your sound bite for today, gentlemen. When Donald Trump goes back to the White House, as God is my witness, you are going to see millions of people rapidly removed from this country who have no right to be here."

Travis told him, "Thats a good sound bite that would make a lot of people very, very happy."

Still, as an adviser, Miller serves the president. "There is no way Miller is going to push Trump to do something he doesnt really want to do," said Camarota, the researcher.

And the night of the election, Trump appeared to walk back his harshest campaign rhetoric.

"We're gonna have to seal up those borders," Trump said in his victory speech, "and we're gonna have to let people come into our country. We want people to come back in. But we have to, we have to let them come back in, but they have to come in legally."

Lauren Villagran can be reached at lvillagran@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is Stephen Miller, architect of Trump's mass deportation plans?
Suspect in drive-by shooting of 20-year-old mom and infant arrested in Puerto Rico

A man accused of killing a 20-year-old mother and her 4-month-old son in an apparent drive-by shooting in Hartford, Connecticut, has been arrested in Puerto Rico, officials said.

Lance Morales, 23, will face murder charges in connection to the deadly shooting on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

Morales is from Waterbury, Connecticut, but following the shooting, he fled to Puerto Rico, where he was arrested on Saturday, the Marshals Service said.

PHOTO: Lance Morales in a photo released by police. (Hartford Police Department )

MORE: 20-year-old mother, infant killed in drive-by shooting in Connecticut

He is now awaiting extradition to Connecticut, where he'll face charges, authorities said.

Police were dispatched to Hartford Hospital on Tuesday afternoon after it was reported that a vehicle arrived carrying multiple people who had been shot, the Hartford Police Department said.

Jessiah Mercado and her son Messiah Diaz were pronounced dead at the hospital. Another victim in his 20s suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, police said. The driver of the car was not injured.

PHOTO: Police at the scene of a drive-by shooting in Hartford, Conn., Nov. 19, 2024. (WTNH)

MORE: 3 charged with murder in connection with fatal shooting of New Jersey detective

Investigators determined the shooting had occurred moments before, when the suspect vehicle pulled alongside the victims' car and opened fire, according to police.

"Since the commission of this senseless and heinous act of violence, investigators from the Hartford Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service Violent Fugitive Task Forces in Connecticut and Puerto Rico have tirelessly worked around the clock to bring the suspect to justice," Lawrence Bobnick, acting U.S. marshal for the District of Connecticut, said in a statement Saturday. "This arrest is a testament to the close collaboration between the U.S. Marshals Service and our valued law enforcement partners and it demonstrates the reach these partnerships bring to the pursuit of justice."

ABC News' Nadine El-Bawab contributed to this report.

Suspect in drive-by shooting of 20-year-old mom and infant arrested in Puerto Rico originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Even before special counsel Jack Smith formally asked that his criminal cases against Donald Trump be dismissed, it was already guaranteed the president-elect would never see a jury.

Smith on Monday dropped both the 2020 election subversion prosecution against Trump and the charges accusing Trump of mishandling classified documents.

The special counsel stressed his decision was not about the strength of his case against Trump, but his reasoning hung on the Justice Departments long-held belief that the Constitution prohibits prosecutions against sitting presidents.

Even if prosecutors had believed that they could have kept the cases on life support into the second Trump presidency, the president-elect had already indicated that he planned to fire Smith and his team, a vow that breached the usual norms surrounding a special counsel investigation.

Trumps reelection this month was the straw that broke the back of a camel that had been buckling under slow-walking courts and novel legal arguments. Smiths filings suggested he could bring the charges again, though Trump may seek to foreclose that possibility by pardoning himself  an unprecedented move.

Also looming over Trumps second term is the Republicans promises to go after those who prosecuted him, a vow echoed by his pick for attorney general.

Here are takeaways from Smiths move to seek the cases dismissal and how his prosecutions got to this point:

Trumps election and retribution promises made this day inevitable

Trumps reelection earlier this month ensured that his federal criminal cases would face an early end.

The former president vowed during his campaign to fire Smith if voters sent him back to the White House  a move at odds with how other presidents have handled special counsels.

Oh, its so easy. Its so easy, Trump said in October when asked by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt whether he would pardon yourself or fire Jack Smith if reelected. I would fire him within two seconds.

In the end, though, Trump didnt need to sack the special counsel to kill the two cases. He was already benefiting from a legal strategy of delay that made sure no trials got underway before Election Day  which ultimately forced Smiths hand.

This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice on Aug. 30, 2022, and partially redacted by the source, shows a photo of documents seized during the FBI search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. - Department of Justice

A few days after Trumps reelection, the special counsel asked the judge overseeing the DC case to pause deadlines in that matter so his team could assess how to move forward with the unprecedented prosecution. Nearly three weeks after Election Day, he submitted his filings to the courts in DC and Florida.

The president-elect, meanwhile, has repeatedly promised to seek political retribution against Smith and others whom he believes have unfairly pursued him during his four years out of office. His pick for attorney general, Pam Bondi, appears ready to be a loyal foot soldier in those efforts.

The Department of Justice, the prosecutors will be prosecuted  the bad ones, Bondi, who served for a time as Floridas attorney general, said in a TV appearance in August 2023.

The investigators will be investigated. Because the deep state, last term for President Trump, they were hiding in the shadows. But now they have a spotlight on them, and they can all be investigated, she added.

What will we learn next?

Before Trump takes his oath of office next year, Smith plans to release a final report as required by law on his investigations into Trump, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN.

Attorney General Merrick Garland is expected to publicly release it, as he has with past special counsel reports.

But its unclear how much new information would be included, especially in the election subversion case, where Smith recently filed hundreds of pages of legal arguments and evidence gathered for that prosecution.

The Supreme Court played a major role

If part of what happened was that Smith simply ran out of time to pursue the case against Trump, then the six-justice conservative majority on the Supreme Court had a key role to play in slowing things down.

The high court granted Trump sweeping immunity from criminal prosecution for official actions in a highly anticipated 6-3 decision that was handed down in July, limiting the special counsels ability to move forward. Some of Trumps critics slammed the decision itself, but others faulted the court for the time it took to deliver it.

It was clear that several conservative justices saw the ruling not as a gift to Trump but as a way to head off spiraling and potentially politically motivated prosecutions. While the courts decision may ultimately meet that goal, the ruling is also widely viewed as removing a check on presidents.

Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative, wrote that Congress couldnt criminalize a presidents conduct when he is carrying out the responsibilities of the executive branch. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a liberal, warned in dissent that the decision would set up future presidents to be a king above the law.

The Supreme Court initially denied Smiths effort to resolve the immunity questions in December  allowing the normal process to play out with a federal appeals court wading in first. Two months later, in mid-February, after the appeals court ruled in Smiths favor, it was Trump who asked the justices to review the question of presidential immunity.

The court granted the case in February but did not hear arguments until the end of April. It handed down its decision on the final day of its term, on July 1. And the case was finally returned to the trial-level court in DC in August.

Judge Cannon killed the Mar-a-Lago case

The election subversion case was always expected to face years of litigation over the questions it raised about criminalizing acts taken by a sitting president.

But the case in which Trump was accused of mishandling national defense information  was viewed as a much more straightforward prosecution, for how it focused on Trumps post-presidency conduct and dealt with a well-established area of law.

Trump, however, hit the jackpot with the assignment of that case to Judge Aileen Cannon, an appointee of his with little trial experience who had already treated the investigation with remarkable hostility when she oversaw pre-indictment lawsuit Trump brought challenging the FBIs search of his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort.

Cannon threw a number of wrenches into the prosecutors case before dismissing it entirely this summer on the grounds that Smith was unlawfully appointed. Her handling of the charges was widely panned by legal experts, and her dismissal ruling as set for review by the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals until those deadlines were postponed with Trumps win.

Notably, Smith is not ending the Justice Departments pursuit of the two Trump employees, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, who were charged with allegedly assisting their boss in efforts to hinder the federal probe.

What to do next in the case will be a question for the incoming Trump Justice Department. While Trump might want to have the charges against his allies dropped, the DOJ will have to balance that against an institutional desire to wipe off the books a dismissal ruling that could undermine special counsel investigations in the future.

Smith keeps door open for charges to be brought again

In both of his cases against Trump, Smith said he was dropping the charges against the president-elect without prejudice, which in theory would keep open the door for charges to be brought again in the future. While pointing to the immunity Trump was about to receive by reentering the White House, Smith repeatedly said characterized that immunity as temporary.

Smiths filing in the election subversion case in Washington, DC, included a longer discussion of how he had come to the decision to drop that case, where he had to weigh the longstanding DOJ position barring prosecutions of sitting president against the principle that no man is above the law.

Smith said he consulted with DOJ lawyers on the question, and they also weighed the possibility of pausing the case until Trump no longer had the immunity of the presidency protecting him. Ultimately, however, the Departments Office of Legal Counsel concluded that the prohibitions on prosecuting sitting presidents is categorial, including for indictments handed up before a defendant enters office, Smith said.

Mondays move by Smith will likely bring attention  and perhaps criticism  to the Justice Departments views, which have not yet been tested directly by courts.

Trump lawyers get top jobs in his DOJ as a thank you

Smiths dismissal filings brings to a close a chapter for the criminal attorneys who were mostly successful in staving off the criminal prosecutions against Trump. But a new chapter has already opened for several members of the Trump legal team who have already been rewarded with plum positions in his incoming administration.

Todd Blanche, who played a central role in the DC prosecution and in other Trump cases, has been tapped by Trump for the DOJs No. 2 role, deputy attorney general.

John Sauer, who argued the immunity dispute on Trumps behalf before the Supreme Court, has been selected by Trump to be US solicitor general, the federal governments top lawyer before the high court. Both positions are subject to Senate confirmation.

Additionally, Trump announced that another member of his personal legal team, Emile Bove would serve as acting deputy attorney general while Blanche was waiting for confirmation and then move to principal associate a deputy attorney general, a position that does not go before the Senate.

CNNs Paula Reid contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Attorneys for Donald Trump conducted an internal investigation into allegations that one of his top aides, Boris Epshteyn, has sought to gain financially from his influence with Trump and others in the president-elects orbit, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

The internal investigation, which was confirmed by half a dozen sources and is not criminal in nature, has probed multiple instances of Epshteyn allegedly requesting payment in exchange for promoting candidates for administration positions or offering to connect individuals with people in the upcoming administration relevant to their industries, sources said.

In one instance he requested as much as $100,000 per month in exchange for his services, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Epshteyns alleged activities prompted those looking into the matter to make an initial recommendation that Epshteyn should be removed from Trumps proximity and that he should not be employed or paid by Trump entities, according to two sources.

As of Monday afternoon, it does not appear the transition team will heed that recommendation.

I am honored to work for President Trump and with his team, Epshteyn said in a statement to CNN. These fake claims are false and defamatory and will not distract us from Making America Great Again.

The alleged behavior by one of Trumps closest advisers hints at some of the turmoil and strife behind the scenes of the transition process as the president-elect and his team staff the incoming administration.

Epshteyn, long seen as one of Trumps most loyal advisers, has played a significant role in the transition, sitting in on key meetings and candidate briefings at the president-elects Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. But his presence has often been a divisive one.

A notorious Trump-world infighter, Epshteyn is known for his combative and loud personality, and often boasts about his close relationship with Trump, according to sources in and around the president-elects orbit.

In recent years, Epshteyn has acted as both an attorney and an adviser to Trump and  much to the chagrin of some more experienced lawyers in Trumps inner circle played an influential role in organizing his criminal defense strategy after the former president was indicted four times.

While Epshteyn has not been accused of illegal behavior, the decision to launch an internal investigation reflects the Trump teams cautiousness around activity that could appear unsavory.

As is standard practice, a broad review of the campaigns consulting agreements has been conducted and completed, including as to Boris, among others, Trump transition spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement to CNN. We are now moving ahead together as a team to help President Trump Make America Great Again.

In an interview with conservative outlet Just the News that published Monday afternoon, Trump said he did not condone the practice of staffers soliciting consulting fees from people seeking jobs in the administration.

No one can promise any endorsement or nomination except me, Trump said. I make these decisions on my own, period.

Source: Very much pay-for-play

Part of that investigation focused on claims that Epshteyn proposed that Scott Bessent, Trumps pick for Treasury secretary, pay him to promote his name with Trump and others at Mar-a-Lago. Bessent did not make payments to Epshteyn.

CNN has reached out to representatives of Bessent for comment.

The back-and-forth between Epshteyn and Bessent resulted in a heated confrontation last week in the lobby of Mar-a-Lago, where Epshteyn raised his voice at Bessent, according to two sources briefed on the matter.

Scott Bessent speaks at a campaign event for Donald Trump in Asheville, North Carolina, in August 2024. - Jonathan Drake/Reuters

In at least one other instance, Epshteyn asked for payment in exchange for introductions and influence with the incoming Trump administration, according to two sources. Trumps legal team was investigating several other similar alleged incidents, according to sources familiar with the situation.

The allegations concerning Epshteyn were brought to incoming White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. It is unclear whether the allegations have been presented to Trump directly.

At times, Epshteyn has described the services he is trying to sell as a type of consulting, but the legal team investigating the issue has struggled to pinpoint any legitimate consulting work Epshteyn has provided, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The way I see it is its very much a pay-for-play, said one person who spoke to the legal team that investigated Epshteyn. This person described a separate incident in which Epshteyn allegedly tried to request payment for questionable consulting services, offering to connect the person with incoming administration officials relevant to their industry or lobbying firms that will be the most well-connected to the new administration.

The investigator assured the person that their interaction with Epshteyn wasnt an isolated incident.

It was like, Hey, youre not the only one, the person who spoke to investigators said. Hes gone to everybody for it.

One person close to Epshteyn brushed off the notion that this was pay-for-play.

This is how Washington works, the person said.

Allies of Epshteyn described the internal review as the product of newer associates not understanding the dynamic between Trump and Epshteyn as well as a disdain for the power Epshteyn wields with the President-elect. Epshteyn was a constant presence on Trumps plane through the end of the 2024 campaign, often insisting on being present for conversations and briefings that had nothing to do with legal matters, a source close to Trump told CNN.

Boris is a Trump originalloyal and effective from the very beginning, a Trump transition official told CNN. He works for President Trump, and nobody else, and has helped defeat the most vicious lawfare campaign in history. Boris has seen these petty skirmishes before, but he always perseveres.

Lobbied for Gaetz

As the legal teams investigation got underway, Epshteyn sent cease-and-desist-style messages to associates, claiming he had never demanded payment and threatening legal action, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Epshteyn has long been a fixture of the president-elects inner circle and has been part of key meetings with Trump at Mar-a-Lago during the transition period. He is often spotted at Mar-a-Lago eating dinner with the president-elect on the patio and has sat in on several transition meetings and candidate briefings, particularly related to Trumps choices for the Department of Justice.

Rep. Matt Gaetz arrives with President-elect Donald Trump's motorcade in Washington, DC, on November 13. - Nathan Howard/Reuters

Sources described Epshteyn as responsible for pushing former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetzs name amid discussions about who Trump should pick as his attorney general. Epshteyn lobbied for Gaetz directly to Trump on a flight just hours before Gaetz was named as the pick.

The former Florida congressman later withdrew after it became clear he didnt have the votes in the Senate amid the potential disclosure of a House Ethics Committee report detailing an investigation into Gaetz, including over allegations of sexual misconduct and other alleged crimes.

Confrontation with Musk

Despite a seemingly more orderly and quick process than in 2016, Trumps transition this time around is still rife with the infighting that is typically on display in Trumps orbit, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CNN. Sources on the transition team have expressed frustration at how many people have Trumps ear and how quickly a days progress can be undone.

Elon Musk speaks with President-elect Donald Trump at a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket in Brownsville, Texas, on November 19. - Brandon Bell/Pool/Reuters

Tensions between Epshteyn and some other members of Trumps inner circle have escalated in recent weeks. Elon Musk, who has been by Trumps side regularly since the election and has a growing influence on the president-elect, has questioned Epshteyns sway over Trump. The two also had a confrontation at Mar-a-Lago, with Musk leveling a number of accusations at Epshteyn, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

This year, the Trump campaign paid Epshteyns firm, Georgetown Advisory, $53,500 each month for communications and legal consulting, according to campaign finance records through October, the most recent month available.

Epshteyn briefly served in the first Trump administration as a special assistant to the president in 2017, but he has not been offered a formal role in the incoming administration.

Epshteyn stood alongside Trump during his arraignment in his New York hush money case and traveled with him for his arraignments in Georgia and Washington, DC.

Epshteyn himself faces criminal charges in a case in Arizona related to efforts to upend the results of the 2020 presidential election. He has pleaded not guilty.

This story has been updated.

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A travel company has recorded a surge in interest from UK travellers planning trips to the Norwegian destination of Tromso, as more holidaymakers opt for night-time experiences and cooler climates.

Booking.com said searches for accommodation in the city more than doubled in the three months to the end of October compared with the same period last year.

It attributed this to a trend it has named noctourism  short for nocturnal tourism  with people wanting to focus on experiences after the sky turns dark.

Flight connections have soared between the UK and Tromso, which is a popular base for people embarking on Arctic trips to view the Northern Lights and go whale watching.

The region has historically been tricky to reach because of limited flight options.

Figures from aviation analytics company Cirium show there were just 22 flights from the UK to Tromso in December 2023, operated by only Norwegian and Wizz Air.

The total will rise to 87 in December this year, with British Airways, easyJet and SAS launching new routes.

EasyJet began flying to Tromso from Gatwick, Manchester and Bristol airports earlier this month, and the city will become British Airways most northerly destination when it starts serving it from Heathrow airport on December 1.

Ryan Pearson, UK and Ireland regional manager at Booking.com, said: Weve seen a growing appetite for unique destinations like Tromso, with travellers eager to experience something new and unforgettable with their next holiday.

Norways tourism industry continues to thrive, driven by the countrys commitment to showcasing its natural wonders and an increase in accessible flight routes from across Europe, particularly to Tromso.

This has contributed to a 122% year-on-year rise in winter holiday searches for the destination, with travellers seeking adventure during these colder months.

Mr Pearson said Tromso is the ideal setting for noctourism because of its clear, dark skies and the chance to witness the Northern Lights.

He added: As more travellers seek out these landscapes, we hope theyll be inspired to leave it as they found it, ensuring that these remarkable destinations remain unspoiled for future visitors.

Norway is also becoming increasingly popular for cruises.

Ambassador Cruise Line reported a 54% surge in bookings for Nordic sailings in the year to the end of March compared with the previous 12 months.

The companys chief revenue officer, Simon Weeks, said: Norwegian cruises from the UK have soared in popularity in recent times, with demand for cooler cruises travelling north vying with sailings to warmer destinations.

He added that the number of future bookings for Nordic cruises demonstrates demand for this type of sailing is not showing any signs of slowing down.
By John Kruzel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to decide whether federally mandated warnings on cigarette packs that graphically illustrate the health risks of smoking violate the free speech rights of tobacco companies opposed to the labels.

The justices turned away an appeal by RJ Reynolds and other tobacco companies of a lower court's ruling that found that a set of health warnings required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration did not violate the rights of the companies under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. The action by the justices means the lower court's ruling stands.

The rule was adopted by the agency in 2020 during Donald Trump's first presidential administration. The FDA required that warnings about the risks of smoking occupy the top 50% of cigarette packs and top 20% of advertisements. The regulation is technically in effect, but the FDA has generally withheld enforcing it amid legal challenges.

The set of 11 warnings include depictions of feet with amputated toes, a baby whose fetal growth had been stunted, and a woman with a large protrusion in her neck caused by cancer, along with written descriptions of various health risks.

RJ Reynolds, which is part of British American Tobacco, ITG Brands, which is part of Imperial Brands, Liggett, which is part of Vector Group, and other tobacco companies sued in 2020 to challenge the warning labels.

The companies claimed, among other things, that the health warnings violated their free speech rights by compelling the companies to endorse the U.S. government's anti-smoking message through images they said misrepresented or exaggerated health consequences of smoking.

U.S. smoking rates have fallen dramatically in the past six decades, from 42.6% of American adults in 1965 to 11.6% in 2022, according to the American Lung Association. But, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, smoking still causes more than 480,000 U.S. deaths annually.

The FDA said the warnings were justified by the U.S. government's interest in promoting greater understanding of the health risks from smoking, and reducing confusion and deception. The agency argued that the illustrated warnings were necessary because text-only warnings failed to deter teenagers from smoking.

U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker in Tyler, Texas, in 2022 blocked the regulation, finding that the graphic warnings violated First Amendment protections.

But the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in March found that the disputed warnings were "factual and uncontroversial," thus satisfying the relevant legal standard under the First Amendment. This prompted the tobacco companies to appeal to the Supreme Court.

RJ Reynolds declined on Monday to comment on the court's decision to deny its appeal.

In a separate case involving the FDA, the Supreme Court on Dec. 2 is set to hear arguments over the agency's denial of applications to sell flavored vape products.

(Reporting by John Kruzel; Editing by Will Dunham)
Paramount

Over the past two weeks, Yellowstone fans have suffered from an apocalypse of change. Dont look at me! Thats what Taylor Sheridan called it. John Dutton is dead, and his fans have no idea how to process it. Some viewers stopped watching the series altogether. After all, what is Yellowstone without Kevin Costner? Other viewers broke out the corkboard and twine to put together conspiracies about John Dutton faking his own death. I dont see Costner returning. But at the same time, I couldnt tell you what happens next.

Neither can Yellowstone. There are only four episodes left before the series (likely) ends forever, and I still feel like Sheridan is taking his sweet time. There are enough Texas flashbacks and product placement for 6666 Ranch vodka to suggest that Yellowstone thought it had more time. I wouldnt fault you for asking why Yellowstone didnt just make one final episodeopposed to this strange back nine of lukewarm episodesand call it a day.

Emerson Miller - Paramount

Investigating John Doe-tton

Interestingly, this weeks episode backtracks to show the actual assassination squad working to stage John Duttons murder. Beth (Kelly Reilly) gasps as they fire the bullet. Though shes driving back from Texas, she feels the impact psychosomatically. Somethings wrong, she tells Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) over the phone. At the same time, Kayce (Luke Grimes) wakes up from a nightmare. It wasnt a dream, he says. If were entering the supernatural on Yellowstone, Im here for it.

Back in the present, Kayce travels to the coroners office and orders a toxicology report. He watches over the doctor as she works, directing her to investigate the body as a potential homicide. They find abrasions on his toes, proving that he was dragged across the floor. The doctor also uncovers bruises on the back of his legs. This does show signs that he was forcibly restrained, she tells Kayce. He asks the right questions, and he receives the right answers. She changes the cause of death to undetermined so that Kayce can reopen the case. Im sorry I missed it, she tells him. Youre supposed to miss it, Kayce responds.

Next he investigates the murder weapon. Its a service pistol from the Livestock Officemeaning that security footage should show men breaking in to steal it. We may never find out who did it, but we can find out who paid for it, Kayce tells the detective. Then he drives to Jamies (Wes Bentley) office and throws his adopted brother onto his desk like he's a wrestler. Jamie pleads for his life. He couldnt say anything in front of Beth last episode, but he says a lot once Kayce shows some force.

Do you think I could do anything to our father? Jamie asks. How do I benefit from that? Im out of the will, and theres no way back in now. Um  Jamie, you just said last week that the next step was to amend Johns will. I was as shocked as you are, he continues. I dont have family anymore. And yet, I still fight to protect that place. Again, its a weird thing to say when everyone knows that hes sleeping with the enemy. Kayce tells Jamie that he hopes hes speaking the truth, for your sake and mine.

Paramount

Governor Steve

Some guy named Steve is sworn in as Montanas new governor. Not Steve Bullock, the real former governor of Montana. This Steve is a new character played by actor Gareth Williams. Steves first course of action as governor is to immediately hold a meeting with Jamie about the future of the Dutton ranch. This is somehow the most important task at hand for Montanas executive branch, and I wouldnt expect that to change just because John Dutton is dead. My siblings will never sell, Jamie says. If we want it, we have to take it.

Later in the episode, Steve holds his first assembly. He announces that hes siding with Market Equities and undoing all the work that John did to protect the ranch from the evil corporations airport plans. He also recuses Jamie from any business involving his father. That means Jamie cant touch his fathers will while the investigation remains ongoing. Even worse, Steve will take his place in meetings for the airport with Market Equities.

We either sell [the land] or we lose it, Beth tells Kayce after the announcement. He left us with no other option.

Paramount

What Will the Duttons Do with the Ranch?

Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) arrives on the Dutton ranch. He complained about a pipeline poisoning his water supply in the mid-season premiere, but he was absent last episode. Now he might just be the Duttons savior. Im available if you need help, Thomas tells Beth. Theres no way this place stays whole, but how much of it can stay as it was? Pristine. The way it was when my grandparents walked it.

Do you have a plan? Is there some way that we can expand the reservation into Dutton territory? Is that something that would even interest Beth? There is no preserving this place, she says. Just prolonging its collapse. Who knows what will happen to the ranch? Tourists cant even stay at the real Yellowstone Dutton Ranch anymore. So Beth promises to bury her father and the adversaries who destroyed his dream on the very same day.

Speaking of her adversaries, Jamie and Sarah (Dawn Olivieri) panic when the detective reopens the case. New governor Steve also orders Jamie to recuse himself from both the investigation and any business involving his father until the matter is settled. Jamie and Sarah bicker and slap each other before she leaves the house. Then assassins take her out. They pose as friendly neighbors asking for directions before they point a gun and shoot. Jamie hears the whole attack over the phone.

Now that the investigation is back open, it seems as if our paid mercenaries are covering their tracks. Sarah Atwood is deadand by the hand of even more nameless hitmen. Maybe Sheridan jumbled up his shows and forgot this wasnt Lioness. Hopefully we'll see Beth vs. Jamie by the end of all this madness.

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The Independent, November 22, 2024

By Maroosha Muzaffar

At least 10 people were killed in Afghanistans Baghlan province when a gunman opened fire on Sufis participating in a weekly ritual at a local shrine, the countrys interior ministry said on Friday.

The details are still unclear but the ministry said it is conducting investigations to understand the nature of the attack and identify those responsible.

The incident took place in Afghanistans remote Nahrin district.

A man fired on Sufis during a weekly ritual at a shrine in Nahrin district, killing ten people, Talibans interior ministry spokesperson Abdul Matin Qani told AFP news agency

The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in 2021, pledging to bring security to the conflict-ravaged country. However, attacks have persisted, with many attributed to the local affiliate of the militant group Isis.

In September this year, unidentified gunmen killed at least 14 people and wounded six in an attack in Afghanistans Daikundi-Ghur border region, a predominantly Shia Muslim area once considered safe. The victims were greeting pilgrims returning from the religious festival of Arbain in Karbala, Iraq.

The Isis terrorist group claimed responsibility, stating that the soldiers of the caliphate targeted Shiites, whom they label apostates.

Earlier this year, the Talibans biggest rival in the region, Islamic State  Khorasan Province  an Isis affiliate  claimed responsibility for a deadly shooting at the Imam Zaman Mosque in Herat province, Afghanistan, where six Shiite worshippers, including a woman and a child, were killed, and one person injured.

A gunman using an AK-47 reportedly opened fire on people during prayers before fleeing the scene.

ISKP is an extremist group that frequently targets Shiite Muslims, especially the Hazara minority who comprise about 10 per cent of Afghanistans population.

In September 2022, a suicide bombing at the Kaaj education centre in Kabuls Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood killed 19 Hazara students and injured 27 others during an exam. The attack targeted the minority Shia community in a frequently targeted area.
by Arundathie Abeysinghe

Ramisha Dinithi Thamel had returned late to class and, according to her teachers, had given inconsistent explanations. The teachers beat her and called for help only after an hour, even though she was unconscious. Even though the Ministry of Education condemns the practice, corporal punishment in schools is still widespread in Sri Lanka.

Colombo (AsiaNews)  The tragic death of a 16-year-old student at the hands of two teachers has deeply shaken public opinion in Sri Lanka, raising several questions about disciplinary practices used in school.

Ramisha Dinithi Thamel, a student at Martin and Forest College in Wennappuwa (an institution that welcomes children from low-income families in the countrys Northwestern Province) was physically assaulted on 9 August by the class and music teachers for leaving the classroom without permission and lying about it.

The girl was unconscious for about an hour, before the teachers, convinced that she was faking, called her parents.

Rushed to a hospital, Ramisha underwent surgery several times, transferred to three different hospitals, without ever regaining consciousness. She died on 13 November from cerebral haemorrhage following by the attack.

According to the investigation, Ramisha and a classmate had returned late and the girl was accused of giving inconsistent explanations.

"The teachers physically punished her, including beating her severely and forcing her to kneel in the sun. The severity of the attack led to her hospitalisation," said the police, who were unable to get a statement from Ramisha due to her critical conditions.

The two teachers involved, aged 39 and 57, were arrested immediately after the attack, released on bail in September. With the death of the student, they remanded in custody again on 14 November and referred to trial.

The use of physical punishment at school is still widespread in most schools in Sri Lanka.

The ministry does not support or condone the use of punishments at a policy level, said Education Ministry Secretary Nalaka Kaluwewa at a press briefing. Instead, teachers are entrusted not only with imparting knowledge, but also with fostering a safe, supportive environment for students to thrive, he added.

What is more, Physical punishment, even in response to misconduct, is neither effective nor justified, as it can lead to devastating consequences.

The secretary said that adequate measures will be taken to prevent more tragedies of this kind.

This episode highlights teachers failure to recognise the mental and physical impact of their actions on vulnerable children, said human rights lawyers Sapumali Caldera and Nishantha Wijesekara, speaking to AsiaNews. We are prepared to offer free legal consultation to the family as they are from a low-income background.

For them, It is necessary to understand the diverse backgrounds and emotional requirements of students to address behavioural issues with empathy and professionalism. Especially, teachers must prioritise the well-being of their students, ensuring that every action taken reflects their role as mentors and protectors, instead of relying on punishments.
by Maria Casadei

In the last ten years, the ice in the Himalayan region has shrunk by 65% compared to the previous decade. South Asia could lose up to 75% of its glacier volume by the end of the century. The call for climate finance to mitigate the effects and the compromise solution adopted in Baku, deemed insufficient by developing countries.

Milan (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Tripling by 2035 the fund for protecting developing countries against climate disasters, with the goal of reaching 300 billion dollars a year. A compromise, however, far from the needs, estimated at USD 1.3 trillion a year. This is the much-discussed outcome of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP29, held in Baku, Azerbaijan, and which had precisely the issue of climate finance as one of its focal points.

How climate change is already a crucial issue for many areas of the world can be seen in the appeal launched in Baku by Pakistan on the Hindu Kush Himalayan region. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recalled how the country, despite its minimal contribution to global emissions, is among the most affected by extreme weather phenomena. The monsoon floods of 2022, which killed 1,700 people, displaced millions, destroyed crops and homes, and caused an estimated billion in economic losses, are a clear example.

The accelerated melting of the Hindu Kush Himalayas, highlighted in the 2024 Cryosphere Report presented at the summit, is one of the biggest threats. This vast glacial expanse, the largest in the world after the Arctic and Antarctica, is a source of water supply for Asia's major rivers, supporting over 1.6 billion people. However, in the last ten years, the ice of the Hindu Kush has shrunk by 65% compared to the previous decade, and according to the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), South Asia could lose up to 75% of its glacier volume by the end of the century. This scenario would have a dramatic impact on water resources, hydropower production and climate migration, especially in downstream regions.

Pakistan is trying to tackle the climate crisis with ambitious plans such as the Green Pakistan Project, an initiative that aims to produce 60 per cent of energy from renewable sources and convert 30 per cent of vehicles to electric by 2030. However, as Sharif stated, the country cannot do it alone.

During his speech, the prime minister reiterated that international support is crucial to protect millions of people, safeguard natural resources and ensure a sustainable future. The global community must act urgently to curb emissions and counter the damage caused by global warming, which continues to disproportionately affect countries like Pakistan, which have been challenged by extreme heat waves, abnormal rainfall and frequent flooding.

At COP29, leaders of the major countries in the Hindu Kush region, including Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Pakistan, emphasised the need for greater cooperation among the states concerned. Kama Tshering, the secretary for Bhutan's Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, proposed three main action plans: monitoring cryosphere hazards, implementing early warning systems, and investing in resilient and durable infrastructure. The Prime Minister of Bhutan also praised the work of ICIMOD, which provides a platform for states in the region to make their voices heard globally. Together we can create a sustainable and resilient future for the Hindu Kush Himalayan region, said Romina Khursheed Alam, coordinator for Pakistan's Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination.
Today's news: Seoul and Kuala Lumpur signed a cooperation agreement in minerals and defence; Dozens of arrests in Islamabad among supporters of former PM Khan, who protest in defiance of bans; Buddhist monastery in Thailand under investigation for using corpses in meditation practices; Beijing tightens controls after series of mass killings.

EAU - ISRAEL - IRAN

Three people were arrested in the United Arab Emirates in connection with the alleged murder of 28-year-old Rabbi Zvi Kogan, a Moldovan-Israeli citizen who disappeared on 21 November. The authorities did not provide details on the identity of the detainees, who are reportedly Uzbek citizens, or the charges against them, while stating their aim to prosecute any acts that threaten social stability. The Netanyahu government spoke of an anti-Semitic terrorist act and accused Iran, which denies any involvement.

SOUTH KOREA - MALAYSIA

Seoul and Kuala Lumpur today signed an agreement to cooperate in the supply of critical minerals from Malaysia's reserves and to increase cooperation in the defence industry, particularly the south-eastern country's military fighter fleet. Finally, Yoon Suk Yeol and Anwar Ibrahim agreed on a plan for free trade to be finalised by next year with additional areas including services, investment and green energy.

PAKISTAN

Pakistani authorities arrested dozens of supporters of former (imprisoned) premier Imran Khan and blocked highways to prevent a protest called by the Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) today. The government suspended mobile communications, banned gatherings of more than five people and imposed a lockdown in the capital. They also negotiated a seven-day ceasefire after more than 80 people were killed and 156 injured in sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shias in the northwest.

THAILAND

A Buddhist monastery is under investigation after authorities discovered more than 40 bodies allegedly used for meditation practices. Phra Ajarn Saifon Phandito, leader of the place of worship in Phichit Province, explained that the use of corpses was part of a meditation technique and practitioners meditate in pavilions containing coffins with human remains.

CHINA

Local authorities are stepping up police and controls following several mass murders. In the eastern city of Wuxi, where the latest stabbing of a 21-year-old student left eight dead and 17 injured, officials gathered to discuss social stability. On 23 November, the Supreme Court held a meeting on security and stability. The previous day, a similar meeting was held at the Ministry of Justice.

RUSSIA

A surprise came in recent days in the Duma, where MPs from two parties, the Communists of the Kprf and the National Socialists of Just Russia - for the truth, did not vote on the federal budget, which increases military spending at the expense of social spending. The MPs abstained from the vote; one independent MP, Oksana Dmitrieva, had the audacity to vote against.

TAJIKISTAN - AZERBAIJAN

According to UN data discussed at Cop29 in Baku, about 30 per cent of the land used for agriculture in Tajikistan is in a deteriorated state, with a 95 per cent degradation rate. It is one of the most acute ecological problems of our time, which increasingly pushes the local population to emigrate, especially young people who have been left without a job.
Violence between protesters and police during a survey of the Shahi Jama mosque, which some extremists claim was built in the 16th century on the ruins of a Hindu temple. The protests began with stone-throwing while residents claim that police shot and killed four men, all Muslims.

Sambhal (AsiaNews/Agencies)  At least four people were killed in clashes between protesters and police in Sambhal, a city in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The spark for the latest sectarian incident is linked to the origin of many Indian places of worship.

Violence broke out during an inspection by the authorities of Shahi Jama mosque, a building that dates to the 16th century and is protected for its historical and religious value under The Place of Worship Act, 1991.

Police report that a group of people gathered near the mosque pelting stones and shouting slogans at the team tasked with surveying the site on orders of a local court, pursuant to a petition that the mosque was built in 1526 on the remains of a Hindu temple.

After the clashes, protesters allege the police shot at protesters, killing four men, all Muslims, something the authorities deny.

Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh said that police were forced to use force. State authorities today suspended Internet services and closed schools for a day, while at least 16 people were arrested.

A second inspection of the mosque took place yesterday. A local court had ordered an initial survey last Tuesday with the collection of video and photographic evidence.

Officials in Uttar Pradesh, a state ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modis Hindu ultranationalist party Bharatiya Janata Party, had conducted the survey on the same day as the court order, sparking protests among Muslim residents.

We were not given any notice. Our reply was not sought. They carried it in a hurried manner. But there was no emergency or anything urgent, said MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq, a member of the Samajwadi Party, who intervened to calm early tensions.

The dispute over the Shahi Jama Masjid is just the latest in a series of disputes involving Indian mosques.

In January this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Rama in Ayodhya, where tensions between Hindus and Muslims have continued since 1992, when a group of Hindu fanatics destroyed the Babri Mosque, which also dates back to the 16th century.

Hindu extremists justify their actions by claiming that during the Mughal Empire, Muslim rulers destroyed Hindu temples to build mosques in their place.

The plaintiffs who filed the petition with the court (Rishi Raj Giri and Hari Shanker Jain) are also involved in other cases of this kind, including in Varanasi and Mathura. The results of the survey will be presented in court on Friday.
by Joseph Masilamany

The death penalty for Rosman Abdullah, a 55-year-old Singaporean. Criticism from human rights associations and the UN, which challenge the city-state's extremely strict laws, questioning their effectiveness in deterring drug trafficking. Already 24 death sentences have been carried out since the resumption two years ago after the Covid-related blockade.

Singapore - (AsiaNews) - A 55-year-old man went to the gallows on Friday for trafficking illegal drugs. Rosman Abdullah, a Singaporean, was the third drug dealer to be put to death in a single week under the city-state's tough anti-drug laws.

Rosman's execution came exactly one week after that of a 39-year-old Malaysian and a 53-year-old Singaporean for similar drug trafficking offences.

The UN called for a halt to these hangings, while Amnesty International condemned Rosman's execution as chilling and extremely alarming. Human rights groups say capital punishment has no proven deterrent effect and have called for its abolition, but Singaporean officials insist it would help make the country one of the safest cities in Asia.

The Singapore Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said the death sentence was carried out against Rosman Abdullah, who was convicted of trafficking 57.43 grams of heroin. According to the country's strict anti-drug laws, the death penalty is handed down for any quantity above the 15 gram threshold. According to the CNB, Rosman was granted all the prerogatives provided by law in the trial.

Convicted in July 2010, Rosman had exhausted his avenues of appeal, including that of obtaining an act of clemency from the president. His execution is the eighth in the city-state this year, seven for drug trafficking offences and one for murder.

Singapore, with its reputation as a modern city-state and international financial hub, has hanged 24 people since it resumed carrying out the death penalty in March 2022, after a two-year halt during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdasani, reiterated her call for the country to reconsider its position: The use of the death penalty for drug-related offences is incompatible with international law, she said, emphasising the mounting evidence demonstrating the ineffectiveness of capital punishment as a deterrent.

Singapore is one of the few countries - including Indonesia, China and North Korea - that provide for the death penalty for drug-related crimes. Last year, Malaysia formally passed new legislation to abolish the mandatory death penalty for a number of serious crimes, including murder, drug trafficking, treason and terrorism. Instead, Malaysian courts now have the option of imposing prison sentences of up to 40 years.
The Moldovan-Israeli rabbi killed in Dubai was a member of a Hasidic group that, although not the largest, is known for its outreach. It boasts nearly 5,000 emissaries (shluchim) who run about 3,500 institutions, including Chabad houses. For Israeli activist, defining the rabbis death as an act of anti-Semitism is limiting. His movement is "very important", but with critical issues.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews)  The killing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of 28-year-old Israeli-Moldovan Rabbi Zvi Kogan, in a probable kidnapping attempt for which Israeli leaders accuse Iran (which the latter denies), has put the spotlight back on Chabad Lubavitch, a Hasidic movement, which today boasts a global influence.

Born in Jerusalem, Rabbi Kogan moved to Abu Dhabi in 2020 in the aftermath of the Abraham Accords signed under US mediation. He was married to Rivky (nee Spielman), granddaughter of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, assassinated in Mumbai in the attack on the Nariman Chabad House in 2008.

The victims body was found in Al Ain, a city near the border between the Emirates and Oman, although the place of death remains uncertain.

Together with his wife, he ran a kosher grocery store in Dubai (Rimon), the target of online protests by pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli netizens in the recent past.

This murder must be placed in the context of war". Defining it as an "anti-Semitic attack" is the clear mirror of a "lack of knowledge of what is happening in the world, also because many Israelis have a very limited vision and narrative, said Hana Bendcowsky speaking to AsiaNews.

An expert in interreligious dialogue, she is the director of the Jerusalem Center for Jewish-Christian Relations (JCJC R) at the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue.

Rabbi Zvi Kogans death and its implications must be contextualised as part of the events of the last year in Gaza (and Lebanon). Those who speak of an anti-Semitic attack show a detachment from reality and motivations, which are more complex, she explained.

His death, in addition to casting a shadow on a possible involvement by Iran in a kidnapping attempt that went tragically wrong for the hostage, raises the visibility of Chabad, a Jewish Orthodox movement based in the United States, but with branches all over the world.

Also known as Lubavitch, after the Russian city where it was based for much of the 19th century, while not the largest Hasidic group numerically, it is by far the best known and most visible, in particular for its outreach towards Jews to bring them back to the faith.

The movement is the only Hassidic group using modern technologies and communication tools to spread the message and assert its global presence. From Memphis and Mumbai to Bangkok and Boston, there is hardly any major city on the planet that does not have a permanent Chabad presence.

For Hana Bendcowsky, It is a very important group for several reasons: it encourages more Jews to practise the Torah, it promotes messianic idealism, and it also provides concrete support so that Judaism can be practised, from kosher food to Shabbat, leading Jews to perform good deeds as well.

In almost every corner of the world there is a home, which becomes a more accessible [source of] support than consulates and embassies, a less bureaucratic place to ask for help. Yet, there is also a downside, the very "material" outreach requires everyone must be religious; they do not admit secularism among Jews, who must practise."

One of the primary purposes of Chabas mission is to convince fellow Jews to "follow the seven universal laws" because this is what the Talmud teaches them.

Chabad's influence is largely the product of the efforts of nearly 5,000 shluchim, or emissaries who run some 3,500 institutions in 100 countries. Typically, the shluchim are a married couple who live and run a Chabad house, providing meals, classes, prayer services, and (depending on location) tourist support.

In some countries, Chabad is the only organised Jewish presence. The group is also highly visible on the Internet and operates chabad.org (among other websites), which claims to have 52 million visitors a year.

Added to this, it has one of the largest Orthodox publishing houses in the United States, an international group of young people, and a worldwide network of yeshivas.

Chabad was founded in 1775 by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (also known as Der Alter Rebbe, The Older Rabbi) in Lyady, present-day Belarus. Shneur Zalman was a disciple of Dov Ber of Mezeritch (also known as Magghid of Mezeritch), who in turn was the main disciple of the Ba'al Shem Tov, founder of the Hasidic movement.

Zalman was considered a prodigy, so much so that according to the chronicles he earned the title of rabbi at the age of 12.

The name Chabad is an acronym, coined by Zalman, which stands for the three components of the intellect: chochmah (wisdom), binah (understanding) and da'at (knowledge).

While Hasidism emerged as a reaction to what was seen as an overly erudite, yeshiva-centric form of Judaism, Shneur Zalman taught that the heart must remain subordinate to the mind.

But it was thanks to Menachem Mendel Schneerson that the movement morphed from an isolated Hasidic sect into the highly influential Jewish force it is today.

Born in 1902 in present-day Ukraine and universally referred to by his followers simply as "Der Rebbe" (The Rabbi), he was considered a gifted scholar from a young age.

Schneerson saw in the high rates of intermarriage and assimilation of Jews a kind of spiritual Holocaust. According to his teachings, bringing Jews closer to their heritage and to observing the biblical commandments would hasten the coming of the Messiah.

His efforts focused on Jews, but were not limited to them. Schneerson also asked his followers to encourage everyone to observe the seven "universal" laws (Noahide laws, or laws of Noah), the universal moral obligations that Judaism teaches are incumbent on all humanity.

Der Rebbe died childless, without designating a successor, leaving the movement without a leader but remained its "guiding light" today. In the decades after his death, Chabad's expansion around the world has continued at a rapid pace.

Between 1994 and 2002, more than 610 new emissaries were sent and 705 new institutions were opened, journalist Sue Fishkoff wrote in her book The Rebbe's Army.

In that same period, Chabad's presence in the former Soviet bloc increased from eight Russian cities to 61 across the region.

Chabad operates not only in large urban areas, but also in towns and rural areas. In some places it caters primarily to the needs of Jewish travellers, offering to the world the face of modern Judaism.
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25 November 2024 10:19 (UTC+04:00)

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On November 24, for the first time in the history of Azerbaijan-China trade relations, export cargoes were sent from Baku to China by rail, Azernews reports, citing the information released by Azerbaijan Railways CJSC (ADY).

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25 November 2024 15:03 (UTC+04:00)

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Azerbaijan's economy is set to continue its strong growth trajectory, with a notable increase in per capita GDP expected by the end of 2024.

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25 November 2024 09:00 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

Magnificent concert has been organized at International Mugham Center with participation of Jahangir Jahangirov Choir (artistic director - honored educator Tarana Yusifova), Azernews reports.

The concert program titled "Music Without Borders" was held as part of the cultural events associated with the 29th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29).

The concer program featured choral works by Azerbaijani and world composers, which left no one indifferent.

The audience enjoyed an array of mesmerizing performances, each reflecting the unique styles and traditions of their respective composers.

As the concert concluded, attendees expressed their appreciation for the beautiful performances and the meaningful message behind the event.

The International Mugham Center was established on the initiative of the First Vice-President of Azerbaijan and President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Mehriban Aliyeva, in accordance with the presidential decree dated April 6, 2005.

The center, which laid its foundation that same year and is known as one of Baku's unique architectural projects, opened its doors in 2008.

The design of the building was based on the elements and shapes of the tar, an Azerbaijani musical instrument used in performing mugham. The center was built with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

In 2024, the Mugham Center is the first cultural institution in Azerbaijan to be awarded "international" status by legislation.

The Center regularly organises large-scale music festivals and concerts by highly acclaimed cultural figures.

It also takes important steps towards bolstering cultural ties with Turkiye, Poland, Brazil, Uzbekistan, Morocco, and other countries.

The International Mugham Center is determined to further expand its work and promote Azerbaijani musical culture.

Numerous projects are being carried out by the center in the direction of studying and promoting mugham art.
25 November 2024 12:18 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

Azerbaijan's theatrical figures have played tribute to People's Artist Yashar Nuri, Azernews reports.

On the twelfth anniversary of his death, representatives of the Azerbaijan Theater Workers Union, actors from the Azerbaijan State Academic National Drama Theater, as well as close friends and family, visited the second Alley of Honor to pay tribute to the People's Artist.

Chairman of Azerbaijan Theater Workers Union, People's Artist Haji Ismayilov, and Deputy Chairman, People's Artist Ilham Namig Kamal, spoke about the life and work of the artist who made a significant contribution to the development of national culture.

It was noted that Yashar Nuri created a gallery of vivid and colorful characters that will forever remain in the memory of the audience. These were diverse roles, ranging from tragic to comedic, each portrayed with great skill. The artist's widow, Ragima Nuriyeva, expressed gratitude for the kind remembrance.

Yashar Nuri was born on September 3, 1951, in Baku, into the family of the famous Azerbaijani artist Mamed Sadikh Nuriyev. He first took the stage at the age of 11, playing the role of Tapdyg in the play "Whose Wedding Is It?" at the Azerbaijani State Musical Comedy Theater (now the Azerbaijan State Academic Musical Theater).

While studying at Baku school No. 173, he participated in productions of the drama clubs. In 1968, he enrolled in the "Actor of Theater and Cinema" faculty at the Azerbaijan State Institute of Art, under the guidance of renowned educators Rza Tahmasib and Aliheydar Alakbarov. During his studies, he performed in plays such as "Sevil" (Balash), "Wedding" (Salmanov), "The Guilty Without Guilt" (Neznamov), and others.

In 1974, he joined the acting troupe of the Azerbaijan State Academic Drama Theater (now the Azerbaijan State Academic National Drama Theater).

Over the years at the theater, Yashar Nuri created unforgettable characters, including Salman ("The Gathering of the Mad"), Meshadi Orudj ("The Dead"), Abdulali Bay ("Sevil"), Aghamusa Nagiyev ("The Patron"), Rahman ("The Cry"), and many others.

He appeared in well-known films such as "Birthday," "Scoundrel," "Road Incident," "Everything Is for the Best," "The Check," as well as in television plays like "Half the State," "The Eye Doctor," and others.

Yashar Nuri passed away on November 22, 2012, after a prolonged illness.
25 November 2024 17:49 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

People's Writer Imran Gasimov has contributed to the treasury of Azerbaijani literature with his creative pursuits and artistic discoveries.

Throughout his multifaceted literary activity, he has penned works in various genres that left no one indifferent.

Imran Gasmov's plays, which have successfully been brought to the stage, are valued achievements of Azerbaijani dramaturgy. The films based on his screenplays have become noteworthy art pieces with memorable characters, still warmly embraced by cinema lovers today.

November 25 marks the 106th anniversary of the birth of the prominent playwright, and screenwriter.

The dramatist and screenwriter Imran Gasmov was born on November 25, 1918, in Baku into an intellectual family.

He was named after his uncle, Imran Gasmov, who played a significant role in the establishment and development of musical theater in Azerbaijan alongside great artists such as Uzeyir Hajibayli, Huseyngulu Sarabski, Jalil Mammadguluzade and many others

After graduating from high school in 1934, Imran Gasmov initially studied at the Philology Faculty of Azerbaijan State University and later attended screenwriting courses in Moscow.

Imran Gasmov, who made invaluable contributions to the development of Azerbaijani literature, cinema, and theater, held various positions, including Head of the Screenwriters Department in Moscow, First Deputy Minister of Azerbaijani Cinematography, Editor-in-Chief of the journal "Literaturny Azerbaydjan," and from 1975 until his death in 1981, he served as the First Secretary of the Board of the Azerbaijani Writers' Union. He was awarded the title of People's Writer and the State Prize of Azerbaijan.

The novel "Uzaq sahillrd," co-authored with writer Hasan Seyidbayli, became one of the most popular works of its time.

The theme of the sea has a special place in his works, evident in titles such as "Xzr neftcilri haqqnda dastan" (A Tale of the Caspian Oilmen), "Dniz csurlar sevir" (The Sea Brave Love), "Insan mskn salr" (Man Settles), "Arzu" (Desire), "Xzr uzrind sfq" (Dawn Over the Caspian), and others.

Imran Gasmov was also a talented screenwriter, with many films produced based on his screenplays.

The film "Uzaq sahillrd," based on the novel of the same name co-written with H. Seyidbyli, gained particular fame.

The film has been translated into 25 languages, won first place at festivals in Asia and Africa, and received an award in Canada.

The films created from his screenplays powerfully depict dedication, love, and the clear expression of the feelings and emotions of both contemporaries and innovators. Movies such as "Onun boyuk uryi" (His Great Heart) and "Insan mskn salr" are still enjoyed today.

Imran Gasmov, as a novelist, dramatist, screenwriter, and publicist, is among the writers who have made significant contributions to the development of Azerbaijani literature.

Various monographs and works have been written about his creativity.

In addition to his literary endeavors, he was also a public figure. Frequently traveling abroad, he engaged in meetings and wrote memoirs about interesting personalities.

Imran Gasmov lived for 63 years. His rich creativity holds an esteemed place in our literature and film art. The writer passed away on April 20, 1981.
25 November 2024 12:24 (UTC+04:00)

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to President of Suriname Chandrikapersad Santokhi, Azernews reports.

The letter reads:

"Dear Mr. President,

On behalf of myself and the people of Azerbaijan, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to you and your people on the occasion of the national day of the Republic of Suriname.

Your visit to Baku to participate in COP29 holds a special place in the history of Azerbaijan-Suriname relations. I fondly recall our meeting held in the atmosphere of mutual trust and sincerity.

We place great importance on our interstate relations and cooperation with Suriname. To further develop economic and trade relations, a delegation of Azerbaijani experts stands ready to visit your country.

I am confident that, in line with the interests of our peoples, we will continue our joint efforts to strengthen the bonds of friendship between our nations and expand our cooperation both bilaterally and multilaterally.

On this festive occasion, I convey my best wishes to you and extend my hopes for lasting prosperity and peace for your friendly people."
Azerbaijan Railways (ADY) held a pivotal meeting with a delegation from the Xi'an International Port of China, marking a new chapter in the growing partnership between the two countries in the field of cargo transportation via the Middle Corridor, Azernews reports.

The meeting underscored the significance of the first-ever export cargo being sent from Baku to China by rail, signaling a substantial step forward in enhancing economic and transport ties.
25 November 2024 19:11 (UTC+04:00)

Akbar Novruz Read more

The head of the International Military Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Defense, Elchin Abdullayev, met with a NATO delegation to explore the development of Azerbaijan-NATO relations, Azernews reports.

The NATO delegation, led by Burju San, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Operations, is visiting Baku for the Academic Conference marking the 30th anniversary of Azerbaijan's accession to NATO's "Partnership for Peace" Program.

Jafar Huseynzade, head of Azerbaijan's Mission to NATO, shared insights from the meeting on his "X" account.

"During the discussions, it was noted that Azerbaijan is a reliable partner of the alliance due to its contributions to NATO-led operations and the energy security of allied countries. The Azerbaijan-NATO partnership, future cooperation opportunities, and other issues of mutual interest were discussed within the framework of the meeting," Huseynzade wrote.

Azerbaijan has been a member of NATO's "Partnership for Peace" Program since 1994, underscoring its long-standing engagement in fostering regional and global security.
25 November 2024 14:27 (UTC+04:00)

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Greece has significantly increased its crude oil imports from Azerbaijan, reaching 1,374.6 thousand metric tons this year, Azernews reports.

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25 November 2024 21:35 (UTC+04:00)

By Alimat Aliyeva

In the South Korean Court of Appeal, prosecutors are seeking punishment for Samsung Electronics President Lee Jae-yong on charges of stock manipulation and fraud related to the merger of subsidiaries, Azernews reports.

The South Korean prosecutor's office has requested a five-year prison sentence for Lee Jae-yong as part of the appeal in the controversial case surrounding the merger of Samsung affiliates. According to the prosecution, the merger helped solidify Lee's control over the corporation, and they argue that it was orchestrated through illegal means, including stock price manipulation.

In February, the Seoul Central District Court acquitted Lee Jae-yong of charges of accounting fraud and stock manipulation, but the prosecutor's office filed an appeal, asserting that the initial ruling was flawed. Prosecutors argue that Lee's actions harmed shareholders, undermined corporate transparency, and violated South Korea's corporate governance laws.

It is also worth noting that Lee Jae-yong has faced multiple legal challenges over the years. He was previously convicted in a major corruption scandal involving former President Park Geun-hye and was sentenced to prison in 2017. However, in 2022, Lee received a special presidential pardon, which allowed him to return to his leadership role at Samsung Electronics, one of the largest and most influential companies in the world.

The outcome of this appeal could have significant ramifications not only for Lee's future but also for the broader South Korean corporate landscape, which has been grappling with issues of transparency, governance, and the concentration of power within family-run conglomerates known as chaebols. The case has also attracted international attention, as Samsung is a key player in global markets, particularly in the semiconductor, electronics, and telecommunications sectors. The decision could have wider implications for corporate governance practices and legal accountability in South Korea's corporate world.
25 November 2024 21:05 (UTC+04:00)

By Alimat Aliyeva

The German authorities plan to increase the number of bomb shelters for the civilian population by restoring public and private buildings, Azernews reports.

There is a shortage of bomb shelters for citizens in a country with a population of 83 million people. The 579 existing shelters in Germany can accommodate only about 500,000 people. This shortage resulted from the policy of abolishing asylum over the last 17 years, during which authorities believed such shelters would no longer be needed.

Building a network of bunkers will take time. According to the plan, all suitable public buildings will be repurposed as shelters, including metro stations, service centers, administrative buildings, and even private residential buildings.

Additionally, the authorities will encourage residents to construct fortified rooms on their private properties. A special mobile application will also be developed, allowing people to find the nearest shelter during emergencies, including weather-related events.

It should be noted that the German Ministry of Defense recently confirmed it has a special plan in place in the event of a military conflict with Russia.
25 November 2024 20:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Alimat Aliyeva

Kazakhstan is considering the construction of a new gas pipeline to transport gas from Russia to China through its territory. This potential project will be pursued if Moscow and Beijing reach an agreement on the matter, Azernews reports.

"The issue of a new gas pipeline from Russia to China is within the competence of these two countries. If they agree, Kazakhstan is interested in receiving income from transit, provided that part of the gas will remain in Kazakhstan," said Satkaliyev, responding to a relevant inquiry.

He further clarified that the proposed project would have a capacity of 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year, which could be a significant boost for Kazakhstan's energy infrastructure and revenue from transit.

In response to a question regarding the actions of the Kazakhstan government in the event of a drop in oil prices to $40 per barrel or lower, the Minister noted that Kazakhstan has an "adequate plan" to manage such a situation. He emphasized that this issue falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Economy.

It's worth noting that Kazakhstan is strategically positioned as a key energy transit hub between Russia and China. The country has been increasing its focus on developing and modernizing its energy infrastructure, especially in light of growing demand for energy in China and the region's changing geopolitical landscape. Kazakhstan's efforts to balance both energy exports and domestic needs make it a critical player in Central Asia's energy future.
Near Oregon Coast Range, Gargantuan Spruce Goose Relisted in National Register

Published 11/20/24 at 7:07 a.m.

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff





(McMinnville, Oregon)  En Route to the central Oregon coast if you're coming from Portland, you'll often notice a massive building just off the highway  a giant triangle of sorts. With those enormous panes of glass, it's impossible to not see what's inside. (Courtesy photo)

That behemoth of a plane is called the Spruce Goose, and it's been in Oregon since the '90s. It's a historic chunk of aviation history that's just about as famous for what it didn't do as much as who and what created it. Built in 1942, it remains the largest seaplane ever at 218 feet long.

Yet only now is it on the National Register of Historic Places. Well, it's back on the list after getting de-listed back in 1992.

The Spruce Goose is located at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville.

Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) made the announcement last week.

Oregons State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation recommended the propertys nomination at their October 2023 meeting, OPRD said. The National Park Servicewhich maintains the National Registeraccepted the nomination on October 15, 2024.

Also see Brooding Horror Flick The Cycle Being Filmed at N. Oregon Coast's Astoria - The Cycle stars Deborah Ann Woll and has filmed all over Astoria

The Spruce Goose is its nickname, officially known as the Hughes Flying Boat (H-4 Hercules). The rig is nationally significant for being created by Howard R. Hughes, Jr. (and industrialist Henry Kaiser of Kaiser Permanente fame). Hughes was one of the most influential people in American aviation  ever. While Hughes the billionaire was in later years better known for his wild eccentricities, during Wold War II he assisted the U.S. military in numerous ways, including this unique aircraft.



Courtesy photo

The Hughes Flying Boat only flew one time and even then for just 30 seconds, getting 25 feet off the water, making history on November 2, 1947. Yet that aircraft was an integral testing and research platform for engineering systems that became standard in aircraft after the war.

From 1947 until 1953, the aircraft served as a testbed for a variety of aviation innovations, including the application of Duramold wood composite in large aircraft construction, redundant fire suppression and flight control systems, OPRD said.

The Hughes Flying Boat remains the largest propeller-drive aircraft ever built as well as the largest plane made of wood.

After the famed test flight, it sat in a hangar in Long Beach, California for decades. Hughes even hoped to fly it once again, but that never happened. In 1980, it was put on the National Register of Historic Places the first time, then put on display in California. In '92, it was dissembled and brought to McMinnville.



Courtesy photo



But because it was moved to Oregon without prior NPS approval, it was automatically delisted, OPRD said. In 2001, the aircraft was reassembled and today it is the centerpiece of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum.

These days, just miles from the foothills of the Oregon Coast Range, the Hughes Flying Boat (H-4 Hercules) is the only individually listed aircraft in Oregon. The Museum is at 500 NE Captain Michael King Smith Way, McMinnville, Oregon. (503) 434-4180. https://www.evergreenmuseum.org/exhibit/the-spruce-goose/

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Highway 18 in the Coast Range



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Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

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Now Is Season of Stranded Sea Turtles on Oregon Coast: First Rescue Dies Within Days

Published 11/21/24 at 6:45 a.m.

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff





(Seaside, Oregon)  It is indeed that season again. Once more, it is the time of year when cold-stunned sea turtles will end up on Pacific Northwest beaches. Experts say now you should keep an eye out for them and report them immediately as they won't have long to live. (Photo Seaside Aquarium)

The first one was encountered Monday by Seaside Aquarium, when a 60-pound, female Olive Ridley sea turtle was found in Gearhart.

The aquarium's Tiffany Boothe said the turtle was quite active for a cold-stunned sea turtle, and was even moving around to some degree.

Once the turtle was secured, staff from the Seaside Aquarium transferred the turtle to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, Boothe said. While she was still alive and active, her body temperature was dangerously low and unfortunately she passed away on Wednesday.

Reports of this sort of thing start coming in as early as October, Boothe said, and then it continues into March.

Basically, sea turtles forage offshore for food. They live farther south in the warmer waters of California, but when following warm currents they can end up going too far north and those warm currents run out. Certain weather conditions such as a constant string of south to southwesterly winds can drive the currents farther north than usual  and closer to shore.

Those currents and waters eventually change to the colder depths of Oregon and Washington.

The turtles find themselves trapped in the colder waters of the natural currents running along the Oregon and Washington coasts, Boothe said. When this happens, their bodies slow down and they become hypothermic.

This time of year makes this happen much more.

As with any sea turtle found along the Oregon coast, the likelihood of them surviving is very low, Boothe said. We do everything we can to get to the turtles as soon as possible and get them to a licensed rehab facility such as the Oregon Coast Aquarium and the Seattle Aquarium. And while we were able to get to this girl quickly and transfer her immediately she had suffered too much damage.

Boothe said that when they are found on beaches, it's often difficult to tell if the creature is alive or not.



An Olive Ridley rescued by the aquarium in 2020

A turtle suffering from extreme hypothermia can be unresponsive to touch and have a heartbeat so slow and weak that it is difficult to detect, she told Oregon Coast Beach Connection. Most sea turtles found on Oregon and Washington shores do not survive, even if found and recovered quickly.

The goal is always to get them to a licensed rehab facility as quickly as possible. Once they are stabilized  which can take weeks  they are transferred to a center in California to be released back into the wild. The vast majority do not survive that long, however.

Oregon's coastline sees as many as five different species of sea turtle, but the most common is the Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea). They are the most abundant around the world, with an estimated population of around 800,000 nesting females.

Even so, the numbers are not as robust as they seem. Boothe said they are still endangered, facing a large set of dangers from civilization.



From 2019 - Seaside Aquarium photo

The expansion of the shrimp trawling fishery in the eastern Indian Ocean has had a major impact on the Oliver Ridley population, contributing to up to 10,000 deaths each year, Boothe said. Thankfully, in 2004 the Odisha government introduced an annual fishing ban from November to May (the time of year when the turtles are nesting) that has reduced their incidental mortality by half, and surveys found that nesting surged to record numbers in 2011.

Other major threats to the turtles' existence on Earth is their own biology. They are one of only two species that engage in mass-nesting, meaning that thousands of females will lay their eggs all at once on the breeding ground beaches. Competition for space on the beach is so high that females dig up the eggs of others, unintentionally destroying them. This lessens the population numbers.

These nesting areas are usually in South America.

Seaside Aquarium responds to these incidents and other strandings such as whales or seals, covering Rockaway Beach into the southern Washington coast. Newport's Oregon Coast Aquarium responds to sea turtles on the central coast around Lincoln County.

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Waterspouts Spotted Off Washington Coast, Lightning Strikes Hoquiam Church

Published 11/20/24 at 7:07 p.m.

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff





(Hoquiam, Washington)  A variety of dangerous weather conditions hit the Washington coast on Wednesday (November 20), with at least two waterspouts seen offshore, a range of damage from winds, power outages and even a lightning strike on a church on the central coast. (Above: waterspout off Long Beach - Ian Reed / Long Beach's Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center)

Meanwhile, three different high surf advisories remain in effect for awhile for the entire Oregon coast and Washington coast.

The National Weather Service (NWS) offices in Portland and Seattle reported two waterspouts off the Washington coast being seen on Wednesday, happening in the midst of a tornado warning for the region around the Washington south and central coast.

In fact, Ian Reed with Long Beach's Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center photographed one waterspout at about 3:20 p.m.

A thunderstorm west of the Columbia River mouth was moving to the northeast this afternoon, and formed a well-defined waterspout just west of the Long Beach peninsula, the NWS said before the tornado warning expired at 5 p.m. It was observed between 3:16 and 3:30 by trained weather spotters on far south Long Beach peninsula. This storm, which is still capable of producing waterspouts (and, if comes onshore, will be a tornado), will move onshore near Cape Shoalwater and North Cove in far northwest Pacific County between 4:15 and 4:40. A Tornado Warning is in effect for that area until 4:30 pm today.

See Washington Coast Weather - Oregon Coast Weather (including tides) - Inland Oregon Weather

It wasn't long before a second tornado / waterspout was seen.



Waterspout photo courtesy NASA (several years ago)

At 414 PM PST, a confirmed waterspout was located just offshore near Tokeland, or 11 miles south of Westport, moving north at 25 mph, the NWS in Seattle said.

No damage was reported or any injuries, and as yet it does not appear either waterspout touched on ground, which would've made either classified as a tornado.

Waterspouts / tornadoes can come with lightning storms hovering in the area, and there were several of these today, causing the tornado warning.

One lightning storm struck the Seron Lutheran First Presbyterian Church in Hoquiam, just inland along the harbor near Westport and Ocean Shores. It struck the 1928-built steeple and broke it into pieces.



Photo courtesy David Galvin, showing a waterspout in Depoe Bay in 2020

According to various news reports, the thunderstorm's winds were heavy enough to blow parts of it more than a block away.

No one was inside the church, according to KING 5 in Seattle. The lightning strike also caused a water main break in the street below the church.

You can see another photo of that here.

The Local Storm Reports for Washington and Oregon had a few entries for extreme weather events late Tuesday and Wednesday, including this one in the afternoon for the Washington coastline:



Photo courtesy Tillamook County Sheriff's: damage in Rockaway Beach from a tornado in recent weeks

Report of many downed trees in Ocean Park on Sandridge Rd. and Pacific Way from strong non-convective wind gusts that occurred on 11/19/2024 with a strong low pressure system offshore, the NWS said.

By morning, the northern end of the Long Beach Peninsula had lost power due to heavy winds offshore.

See Tornado Confirmed in Rockaway Beach earlier this month

There were three surf advisories still in effect on the Washington and Oregon coastlines until about 7 p.m., but the advisory for the south Washington and north Oregon coast expired since then. Breakers up to 28 feet were expected.

Two still remain: one for the northern two thirds of Washington beaches and one for the southern half of Oregon's coastline. Waves up to 24 feet are expected in those areas until about 4 a.m. The latter includes towns such as Port Orford, Coos Bay, Brookings and Bandon.

Both coastlines and much of the Pacific Northwest are moving into a calmer and sunnier set of conditions for a few days.

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The Board of Regents of the public universities of Georgia, which govern 26 colleges and universities, has voted to ban use of DEI in admissions and hiring. This follows a trend that has been developing around the country.

The Board also made learning the US Constitution and other founding documents required knowledge for graduation, and added required training in freedom of expression to student orientation.

https://www.breitbart.com/education/2024/11/24/georgia-public-university-system-bans-dei-admissions-policies-includes-constitution-in-required-learning/

Unfortunately, here in Beaufort County, the Beaufort County Community College still uses the Marxist and racist DEI.

The lame duck Biden regime at the federal level is still promoting DEI, with the word "equity", a term they use to mean the Marxist concept of equality of result, appearing 829 times in the budget request of the Department of HHS. In that department last year there were 298 jobs in DEI, with 247 of them at salaries over $100,000.

https://realclearwire.com/articles/2024/11/22/waste_of_the_day_federal_dept_hhs_goes_all-in_on_dei_1073986.html
Beaufort County Schools are building a new school on the same ground where Eastern Elementary already exists, at a cost of $10,500,000.00 to Beaufort County's Taxpayers. Is this a wise expense of taxpayer dollars at this time?

22.73% Yes, Beaufort County has been awarded a 42 million dollars of grant money from the state of North Carolina (FREE MONEY) to construct school at 3.00 per squ. ft.65.91% No, this is the wrong time, to build the wrong school, on the wrong placement - its lowest point - of Eastern Elementary's existing location, when community schools work best.11.36% Why should I care about the public's education?
Terrence Segars is a 1991 graduate of SC State.

Segars is the 2024 Professor of the Year for SC States College of Business & Information Systems.

Note: This is the third in a series of articles about SC States 2024 Professors of the Year.

ORANGEBURG, S.C.  As an assistant professor of accounting, Terrance Segars knows all about the importance of mathematical formulas in his discipline. He also has a simple equation for everything he does in life.

I believe you get out of life what you put in, Segars said. I relate this to all areas of my life.

Just three years into his instructional role at his alma mater, Segars has made a name for himself at South Carolina State University. He is the 2024 Professor of the Year for SC States College of Business & Information Systems.

University Relations recently asked Segars to answer a series of questions about his approach to teaching.

Q; What has inspired you during your journey as an academic?

Segars: The long-term impact my role can have in the lives of students-whether through helping them think critically, develop as leaders, or engaging them deeply with material.

Q: What led you to choose your field of study?

Segars: I blended the love of business and financial literacy, and it led me to accounting.

Q: What drives you as a teacher and/or researcher?

Segars: I am driven by continuous improvement and always wanting to get better. Improving as an educator and as a researcher.

Q: What in your career are you most proud of?

Segars: I was proud when a group of freshmen students asked me to be their advisor for a case competition. I agreed and the students won first place.

Q: What has been your most exciting or valuable experience in your career at SC State?

Segars: My most exciting experience in my career at SC State was being nominated as Professor of the Year for the College of Business and Information Systems. It really meant a lot to be recognized by my peers.

Segars graduated from SC State with an undergraduate degree in accounting in December 1991. He completed his masters degree in the same field at Strayer University in 2017. He expects to complete his doctorate at Jackson State University in 2025.

Prior to joining SC State, he worked as an accountant for the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice. He also worked as an auditor for the Governmental Accounting Office and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of South Carolina.

His interests include physical fitness, healthy eating, and spending time with family and friends.

For information about SC State's Accounting Program and all fields of study, visit www.scsu.edu/academics. Reach Segars at tsegars@scsu.edu.
Here are the five largest malpractice payouts from the last year, according to a report from MDLinx:

1. In the largest settlement in U.S. history, St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Johns Johns Hopkins All Childrens Hospital was found liable for mismanaging and mistreating a young patient, resulting in a $261 million payout.

The hospital has since filed an appeal in the case, arguing that it wasnt allowed a fair trial. The appeal, submitted Aug. 2 to Floridas 2nd District Court of Appeal, requests the court overturn the final judgment issued by Sarasota Circuit Court Judge Hunter Carroll. The judgment awarded the Kowalski family, who filed a lawsuit against the hospital in 2018, $208 million in compensatory and punitive damages. The hospital seeks a ruling in its favor regarding the claims of wrongful death, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment.

2. In March, a jury found Detroit-based Henry Ford Health negligent in failing to perform a timely cesarean section. A jury awarded $120 million to a family after their son sustained severe injuries during his birth at a hospital affiliated with Henry Ford Health.

In 2010, the mother of the child arrived at Henry Ford Hospital. She was at term but not near delivery. Following the mothers admission to the hospital, the fetal monitor detected concerning fetal heart tones, prompting a decision to perform a C-section. The C-section was delayed by two hours, causing the son to experience severe asphyxiation, leading to the development of cerebral palsy and irreversible brain damage.

3. In February, a jury awarded $75.6 million in a case involving a twin delivery at the University of Chicago Medicine in 2018. Following the delivery of the first twin, complications arose when doctors, including a fourth-year resident under supervision, attempted an unnecessary manual rotation of the second twin from head-down to breech, causing permanent injuries, including cognitive delays and a brachial plexus injury.

4. In August, a jury awarded Anna Giacomi $47 million for gross negligence against Union General Hospital and James Heaton, MD. The jury ruled that the hospitals failure to address an infection after a donkey attack led to necrotizing fasciitis and the plaintiff losing part of her arm and leg.

5. In April, a family reached a $32.5 million settlement in a case against a Reading, Penn.-based hospital. The suit alleges hospital staff failed to recognize the signs of chorioamnionitis in the mother and fetal distress in the unborn child in time.

According to the report, proper identification could have prompted an intervention with antibiotics or a cesarean delivery. Instead, they conducted a forceps  and vacuum-assisted delivery.
Here are 10 things to know about Dr. Makary and his nomination:

1. Dr. Makary is chief of islet transplant surgery and a professor and public policy researcher at Johns Hopkins University.

2. He served in leadership at the World Health Organization Patient Safety Program.

3. Dr. Makary is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, part of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine.

4. He has served as a public adviser for the Paragon Health Institute, a conservative healthcare think tank. His current research is focused on health care transparency and the re-design of health care, according to Paragons website.

5. FDA has lost the trust of Americans, and has lost sight of its primary goal as a regulator. The Agency needs Dr. Marty Makary, a Highly Respected Johns Hopkins Surgical Oncologist and Health Policy Expert, to course-correct and refocus the Agency, Mr. Trump said on Truth Social, according to NBC News.

6. Mr. Trump also said that Dr. Makary will be working under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been nominated to lead HHS, and focused on addressing the childhood chronic disease epidemic.

7. Dr. Makary regularly appears on Fox News, according to NBC News, and has made controversial statements about COVID-19. He was a proponent of natural immunity and predicted that the U.S. would reach herd immunity by April 2021. He has also claimed that myocarditis, a rare heart condition, is more common after COVID-19 vaccination, which has been debunked by several studies.

8. Dr. Makary has published over 250 scientific studies and two books. He has also written for the Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and USA Today.

9. He has been a visiting professor at over 25 medical schools and is the recipient of the Nobility in Science Award from the National Pancreas Foundation.

10. In an appearance on Fox News on Nov. 24, Dr. Makary defended Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Trumps HHS nomination, saying that he was the least scary thing happening in the U.S. healthcare system. Paul Offit, MD, a vaccine expert at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, said Dr. Makary is not fit for the role, citing his past comments on COVID-19 and his defense of Mr. Kennedy.
Daniel West, MD, shared a report with Trinity Health Muskegon (Mich.) showing that another physician was misinterpreting test results and performing unnecessary procedures.

The report was shared with hospital officials in July. According to the lawsuit, Dr. West was suspended over a behavior concern a few weeks after sharing the report.

Dr. West claims he was told to destroy the report, as it violated privacy laws. He complied and returned to the hospital Aug. 5. Dr. West said that he was fired on Oct. 28 without cause.

The lawsuit claims retaliation and violation of Michigans Whistleblowers Protection Act, the report said.

Trinity Health Muskegon provided the publication with the following statement: While we are not able to comment on the specifics of active litigation, we will vigorously defend ourselves against any allegations which are inaccurate. We remain dedicated in our efforts to uphold high standards and integrity in all aspects of our healing ministry. We will continue to ensure that our actions are in the best interest of the patients and community we serve.
Here are eight things to know about the updated guidelines:

1. These are the first living guidelines published by a GI society, highlighting the interest and need to provide timely guidance to all stakeholders in a rapidly evolving field, researcher Siddharth Singh, MD, a gastroenterologist of University of California San Diego, in La Jolla, told Medscape.

2. The recommendations suggest more advanced therapies, like biologics and small-molecule drugs, should be used earlier on in the treatment process than was previously recommended.

3. A patient-centered document was included with the recommendations, which clarified that the guidelines are meant to be broad recommendations for management of patients with moderate to severe UC and are not intended to address the intricacies of individual patients.

4. The guidance comes after numerous developments in medications for ulcerative colitis, according to the report.

The choice of medications for moderate to severely active UC has expanded tremendously in the past few years, James Lewis, MD, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, told Medscape. This resulted in the dismantling of the historical therapeutic pyramid.

5. The guidance recommends advanced or immunomodulatory therapy after failure of 5-aminosalicylates instead of a step-up approach. The recommendations also define moderate to severe disease using a Mayo endoscopic severity subscore of 2or 3.

6. The AGA published a full list of specific medications and the updated recommendations for their use in Gastroenterology.

7. Dr. Lewis also said that the guidance will be useful for both highly specialized gastroenterologists and community physicians, but that not all patients and providers may have the same priorities as the guidelines.

There are a few nuances to the methods of the AGA guidelines. For example, the panel prioritized efficacy over safety because the incidence of serious adverse events secondary to medications is relatively rare, he said.

8. The researchers also identified several gaps in knowledge that future studies should address, including a lack of head-to-head comparison trials that include active comparators. They also noted a literature gap on the efficacy of different therapies after failure of or intolerance to non-tumor necrosis factor antagonist advanced therapy.
Here are 10 things to know:

1. While the discussions are in the early stages, they involve a plan to review thousands of billing codes, according to four people who spoke anonymously with The Washington Post.

2. According to the Post, many healthcare leaders accuse the coding system of rewarding providers for surgeries and costly procedures.

3. Additionally, amid a growing shortage of primary care physicians, the system is also accused of pushing physicians toward becoming specialists, which pays more.

4. Although policymakers have highlighted the skewed incentives for years, the issue has received little national attention due to its complexity and the financial interests of powerful industry groups, according to the Post.

5. Medicare billing codes are developed through a collaboration between the American Medical Association and CMS. The AMA, through its Specialty Society RVS Update Committee (RUC), comprising dozens of physicians, evaluates the resources required for various medical services and advises CMS on appropriate reimbursement rates.

6. Historically, the allocation of Medicare payments has shifted significantly. In 1991, surgeons accounted for 32% of Medicare reimbursements, but by 2023, this figure had declined to 17.7%. During the same period, primary cares share increased from 23.7% to 28.8%, according to an AMA spokesperson interviewed by Beckers.

7. Concerns have been raised about the RUCs methodology. A 2013 Washington Post investigation into colonoscopy procedures revealed that reimbursement recommendations often relied on inaccurate estimates of the time physicians spent on procedures, leading to inflated billing metrics.

8. The AMA has generated substantial revenue from its role in creating and maintaining billing codes, which includes selling educational materials and publications related to the coding system. The organization declined to comment when approached by The Washington Post for the investigation.

9. Reports indicate that Mr. Kennedy aims to collaborate with the AMA to revise billing codes in a way that prioritizes primary care services and addresses systemic health disparities.

10. According to a Politico report, Mr. Kennedy does not have a clear public view on Medicare and Medicaid, which could give prospective CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, significant control over CMS.
1.. Mr. Trump said Dr. Weldon is a conservative leader on fiscal and social issues and highlighted his 40-year medical career and military service in a statement posted on //truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/113529510778344338 style=text-decoration: none;>Truth Social on Nov. 22. He also said that Dr. Weldon would restore the CDC to its true purpose and work to end the chronic disease epidemic.

2. Dr. Weldon, 71, was born in Amityville, N.Y. He graduated from Stony Brook (N.Y.) University in 1978 and earned his medical degree in 1981 from the University at Buffalo (N.Y.) School of Medicine. He served in the Army and Army Reserve before practicing medicine in Florida.

3. Dr. Weldon represented Floridas 15th District in Congress for seven terms beginning in 1995, according to The New York Times. He declined to seek reelection in 2008 and returned to his medical practice. While in Congress, he served on key committees, including Appropriations; Health and Human Services; Education and Labor; and Science

4. In 2007, Dr. Weldon introduced the Vaccine Safety and Public Confidence Assurance Act, seeking to transfer vaccine safety research from the CDC to an independent agency within HHS, citing concerns over conflicts of interest. The legislation did not pass.

5. He also authored the Weldon Amendment, which prevents HHS funding for entities that discriminate against healthcare providers or organizations opposing abortion services. This amendment has been included in HHS spending bills since 2005.

6. Dr. Weldon has raised concerns about thimerosal, a mercury-based vaccine preservative, and its alleged link to autism  a claim widely discredited by scientific consensus, according to the Times.

7. Dr. Weldon served as president of the nonprofit Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries, representing faith-based organizations that provide alternatives to traditional health insurance. These organizations have faced criticism for allegedly misleading people into believing they are legally obligated to cover medical claims, though Dr. Weldon has emphasized their transparency about not being insurance providers.

8. He practices internal medicine at Health First Medical Group in Malabar, Fla.

9. Under a law passed last year, Dr. Weldons appointment to lead the CDC requires Senate confirmation. Previously, CDC directors were appointed by the president.

10. The CDC has approximately 12,000 full-time employees and requested $9.7 billion for fiscal 2025, encompassing discretionary budget authority, Prevention and Public Health Funds, and Public Health Service Evaluation Transfers.
Children's Hospital New Orleans' ThriveKids Program will receive $30 million in funding from the city over the next decade.

The program is a partnership with NOLA Public Schools, according to a Nov. 20 news release from the hospital. ThriveKids provides health services to students in schools to support physical and mental well-being, the release said.

Launched in 2023, the partnership focuses on mental health, violence prevention, and access to services, resources, and care coordination for students and families.

New Orleans youth experience rates of PTSD four times the national average, and 54% have had someone close to them murdered, the release said. In addressing these challenges, ThriveKids delivered 3,815 counseling sessions in the 2023 to 2024 school year.
UMC Health System in Lubbock, Texas, has disclosed a data breach involving patient information after a ransomware attack on its computer systems.

The health system detected unusual activity on its systems on Sept. 26, prompting an immediate investigation and notification of law enforcement. During the investigation, UMC Health System learned that an unauthorized individual gained access to certain systems between Sept. 16 and Sept. 26, potentially stealing files before deploying ransomware that temporarily disrupted operations.

The exposed patient data included names, addresses, Social Security numbers, medical diagnoses, health insurance details, and treatment information, according to a breach notification posted on UMC Health System's website.

UMC Health System began notifying affected patients on Nov. 22.

Since the attack, the health system said it has restored access to its systems and resumed normal operations.
Charlotte, N.C.-based Advocate Health took to Washington, D.C., to explain the value of its hospital-at-home program.

Here are five things to know:

1. Advocate Health subsidiary Atrium Health has one of the largest hospital-at-home initiatives in the country, with an average daily census in the mid-70s and the capacity to treat 80 patients at a time.

2. However, a CMS waiver to reimburse for acute hospital care at home is set to expire Dec. 31 without congressional action.

3. The Bipartisan Policy Center hosted Advocate Health officials Nov. 14 on Capitol Hill for an educational event about hospital at home, including Scott Rissmiller, MD, executive vice president and chief physician executive at the 69-hospital system.

4. Advocate Health leaders said the program facilitates deeper insights into patients' needs beyond medical treatment and connects them to community resources to navigate those barriers. "One of the most common things that we're bringing into the home is actually food, and if we weren't going into the home, you would never know (they needed) that, because people will feel shame around that," said Colleen Hole, BSN, innovation strategic advisor at Advocate Health, according to a Nov. 20 Bipartisan Policy Center blog post.

5. Advocate Health also delivered an interactive hospital-at-home demonstration, showing the technology and wearable medical devices used to power the care model.
Boston-based Tufts Medicine has indefinitely paused its hospital-at-home initiative because of the health system's "constrained financial environment," a spokesperson told Becker's.

"While we remain confident in the benefits of this program, we have successfully utilized alternative strategies and initiatives to effectively cater to this patient population," the spokesperson said.

Tufts Medicine Lowell (Mass.) General Hospital ended the pilot program for acute hospital care at home in March 2023, and has since shifted its investment to its Mobile Integrated Health and ConnectCare Hub projects, which have helped Lowell General reduce avoidable hospitalizations, the spokesperson said.

While several health systems have been growing their hospital-at-home programs, others  such as Roseville, Calif.-based Adventist Health and Toledo, Ohio-based ProMedica  have stopped theirs in recent years.
BART police arrested a man suspected of fare evasion in San Leandro and turned him over to police in San Francisco, where he was wanted in a homicide. Michael Short/Special to the Chronicle 2014

A 36-year-old man suspected in a San Francisco homicide was arrested Sunday at a BART station in San Leandro, according to police and jail records.

Jonathan Wright, who BART police described as homeless, was arrested around 1 a.m. at Bay Fair Station and turned over to San Francisco police, according to a crime log. BARTs police log said he had not paid his fare.

Wright was wanted in connection with an attack that was reported on Market and Main streets about 5:50 a.m. Nov. 13, San Francisco police said. The victim suffered an injury, though police did not say how. Officers and paramedics tried to save him, but he died at the scene, police said.

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Investigators identified Wright as the suspect and developed probable cause to obtain a warrant for Wright's arrest, though police did not divulge further details about the investigation.

About 3 a.m. Sunday, officers went to San Francisco General Hospital to meet with BART police after the arrest. Police did not elaborate on the reason Wright was taken to the hospital.

Wright was later booked into jail on suspicion of murder, according to online records.

Wright previously was arrested on warrants and suspicion of fare violations, including in October and November of last year.
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Todd Conklin, executive vice president and CFO of Care New England, is working to steer the Providence, R.I.-based health system through industry challenges while implementing strategic initiatives for growth and efficiency.

Mr. Conklin told Becker's that the two most significant hurdles facing Care New England this year have been navigating certain value- and risk-based contracts while managing the rising cost of self-insured employee medical coverage.

The health system is dealing with rising costs for its self-insured employee medical coverage, which is driven by an increase in post-pandemic healthcare utilization. A delay in care during the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in inpatient demand, which is affecting patients and employees.

"We are focusing on developing strategies to better manage utilization and to better manage cost in light of high utilization," he said. "[We are] working with payers around collaboration, because I believe that this has also been challenging for the payer community as well. Collaborative work to find solutions to either amend the contracts or to partner with utilization has been a part of our strategy."

Looking toward the future, Mr. Conklin's goal is to reach a 1.25% operating margin for fiscal 2025, up from 1% in fiscal 2024.

Mr. Conklin pointed to a combination of growth initiatives like operational improvements in expense management, revenue cycle and supply chain to help the system reach its goal. Care New England is also working to implement Epic's EHR program systemwide, scheduled to go live Oct. 1, 2025. The system currently uses Epic for outpatient ambulatory operations.

"Constant operational improvement work, both on the clinical operations as well as business-related services, has been very important for Care New England," Mr. Conklin said when asked about ways that hospitals and health systems can improve their margins. "Operating with lean overhead has been very important for Care New England. Understanding and driving positive operating margins with an understanding at the service line and business unit level is key."

Reflecting on the future of the CFO role in healthcare, Mr. Conklin stressed the importance of CFOs to serve as strategic advisors. "I do think that it is a proactive approach in supporting clinical operations and strategic growth activities, which are key to current CFOs and in the future."






Chicago-based CommonSpirit is strengthening its presence in its Mountain region through partnerships with Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente and University of Utah Health in Salt Lake City.

CommonSpirit's Mountain Region division includes 20 hospitals and more than 240 care sites across Colorado, Utah and Kansas.

The nonprofit system reported a $581 million operating loss in fiscal year 2024, up from a $1.3 billion loss in FY 2023, and is "investing significantly in high-growth markets," such as Arizona and Colorado, to ensure its long-term sustainability, CFO Dan Morissette said during the company's investor call on Oct. 4.

The 137-hospital system has expanded its partnership with Kaiser in Colorado, with a new long-term agreement that will have both systems working from a fully integrated Epic EHR system.

Beginning in early 2025, Kaiser physicians and employees will be integrated into the following CommonSpirit hospitals to provide inpatient and emergency services:

St. Anthony Hospital (Lakewood)

OrthoColorado Hospital (Lakewood)

St. Anthony North Hospital (Westminster)

"By combining our medical expertise and commitment to compassionate care, CommonSpirit Health and Kaiser Permanente are building a comprehensive, long-term relationship that will reshape how and where healing can happen," Andrew Gaasch, CommonSpirit's Mountain region president, said. "We know healing close to home is important to every patient, and through this collaboration, we look forward to welcoming Kaiser Permanente members and ensuring every patient experiences outstanding care and service when they need us most."

CommonSpirit has also formed a clinical partnership with University of Utah Health that will give patients at five CommonSpirit hospitals access to physicians and providers at the academic health system.

The partnership will also enable University of Utah Health to provide care for more patients along the Wasatch Front, a major metropolitan region in north-central Utah. The five hospitals included in the alliance include:

CommonSpirit Holy Cross Hospital-Davis (Layton)

CommonSpirit Holy Cross Hospital-Jordan Valley (West Jordan)

CommonSpirit Holy Cross Hospital-Jordan Valley West (West Jordan)

CommonSpirit Holy Cross Hospital-Mountain Point (Lehi)

CommonSpirit Holy Cross Hospital-Salt Lake (Salt Lake City)

"We look forward to welcoming University of Utah Health providers to our hospitals and working alongside them as we improve population health and build a path to more accessible care along the Wasatch Front and beyond," Mr. Gaasch said in a Nov. 20 news release.

CommonSpirit acquired the five Utah hospitals from Dallas-based Steward Health Care in May 2023. The transaction also included more than 35 medical group clinics and a clinically integrated network of providers.
Forty-one senators have called on Congress to prevent a 2.83% cut to Medicare physician payments that will take effect Jan. 1.

A bipartisan letter led by Sens. John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) to Senate leaders argues that the cuts will hinder physicians' ability to provide high-quality care.

CMS' 2025 physician payment rule, published Nov. 1, includes a 94 cent (2.83%) conversion factor decrease from 2024. The physician fee schedule conversion factor for 2025 is $32.35, down from $33.29 in 2024.

"To put it bluntly, Medicare plans to pay us less while costs go up," American Medical Association President Bruce Scott, MD, said in a Nov. 1 statement. "You don't have to be an economist to know that is an unsustainable trend, though one that has been going on for decades. For physician practices operating on small margins already, this means it is harder to acquire new equipment, harder to retain staff, harder to take on new Medicare patients, and harder to keep the doors open, particularly in rural and underserved areas."

With few days left to legislate, physicians have asked lawmakers to make this a priority during the lame-duck session.
Kansas City, Mo.-based Research Medical Center has named Sam Maxfield CFO.

The 590-bed hospital is part of Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare's HCA Midwest Health, according to a Nov. 20 news release shared with Becker's.

Prior to his new role, Mr. Maxfield served as CFO of Phoenix-based Banner Boswell and Banner Del E Webb Medical Centers, two acute care hospitals part of Phoenix-based Banner Health.
Marie Wamsley has been named CEO of Darlington, Wis.-based Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County, effective Dec. 16.

Ms. Wamsley will succeed Kathy Kuepers, RN, who is retiring as CEO after more than 40 years with the hospital, according to a Nov. 25 news release shared with Becker's.

Ms. Wamsley is an 18-year veteran of the healthcare industry, and served as Memorial Hospital's CFO from 2008 to 2013. Most recently, she was regional director of finance for critical access hospitals in eastern Iowa for Des Moines, Iowa-based MercyOne, the release said.
As John Frankovitch prepares to retire as president and CEO of Weirton (W.Va.) Medical Center, he is leading the organization into its next major chapter.

Mr. Frankovitch will step down at the end of 2024 as the hospital plans to join Morgantown-based West Virginia University Health System. David Artman, the hospital's COO, will succeed Mr. Frankovitch as president and CEO on Jan. 1.

Since becoming CEO in 2016, Mr. Frankovitch has focused on securing the hospital's long-term success. After his retirement, he will assist with strategic and integration efforts as president emeritus of the board of trustees and a strategic adviser.

"It's sometimes forgotten, but hospitals  particularly community hospitals  are really the economic engines for most communities throughout the U.S.," Mr. Frankovitch told Becker's. "For Weirton Medical Center, we're the largest employer in the counties we serve. So there was a keen focus to make sure that we have a vision for long-term success for the community, not just in terms of making healthcare available, but the economic base of the community."

Upon evaluating the local and national healthcare environments, it became clear that community hospitals such as Weirton would likely need to pursue some form of affiliation to remain viable, he said.

For example, an IT system for a hospital the size of Weirton Medical Center could cost more than $70 million over a 10-year period, Mr. Frankovitch said. This does not include the costs of keeping pace with medical technology and capital expenses, he added.

In 2020, the hospital began collaborating with Morgantown, W.Va.-based WVU Medicine through a clinical partnership.

"A lot of the time, hospital affiliations are born from crisis, but that's not really the case with our affiliation," Mr. Frankovitch said. "This affiliation is one of opportunity."

While many large hospital systems acquire community hospitals to become sources for patients to be referred to its main hospitals, he said WVU Medicine's goal is to deliver advanced specialty care locally, aligning with Weirton Medical Center's goals.

"It expands on the notion that we can bring additional, higher-level specialty care to the patients we serve by working in collaboration with WVU Medicine," Mr. Frankovitch said. "Our goal is to make sure that patients can stay in the region and be treated for everything that can be done locally, and they only need to leave the region for things that can't be done locally."

After about 20 years in the healthcare industry, Mr. Frankovitch joined an insurance brokerage as an equity partner, which broadened his perspective.

"Commercial insurance is retail-oriented and customer-driven, and it really allowed me to understand the value of creating urgency in the decision process," he said. "In healthcare, this can sometimes move very slowly. One of the biggest roles that any CEO has is to create urgency around activities that get us closer to the overall mission."

Mr. Frankovitch's insurance experience also taught him to invest in developing exceptional customer service, which he has integrated at Weirton Medical Center by addressing patient concerns and requests in real time rather than relying solely on post-discharge surveys.

"As hospital professionals, it's crucial that we always create those opportunities for them to be heard in vulnerable moments," he said.

Reflecting on his more than 30 years with Weirton Medical Center as both an employee and board member, Mr. Frankovitch highlighted the collaborative nature of hospital operations.

"If the CEO of the hospital doesn't show up on a particular day, it doesn't really stop anything we're doing," he said. "But if the person responsible for cleaning the OR between cases doesn't show up, it's a big deal, and it impacts patient care. It's this beautiful symphony that goes on every day, where all these individual parts come together to deliver care. My focus has been on making sure we all understand this is a team effort  that without any member of that team, the whole thing stops."

He also expressed admiration for the hospital's employees.

"The commitment and dedication of every employee that comes into this building, sometimes in moments of absolute crisis, it's pretty humbling to walk through the doors and work with people like that every day," Mr. Frankovitch said. "It's pretty special to be able to say that you spent your career working with people that are that selfless."
In a series of announcements in late November President-elect Donald Trump shared his nominations for five of the nation's top health positions: CDC director, FDA commissioner, surgeon general, the National Institutes of Health director, and HHS deputy secretary.

Here are 44 things to know about Mr. Trump's picks and their positions on issues they would oversee in their roles:

NIH director pick: Dr. Jay Bhattacharya

1. The National Institutes of Health, part of HHS, is the primary federal agency responsible for conducting and supporting medical research. The NIH comprises 27 institutes and centers, each with its own research agenda often focused on certain diseases or body systems.

The agency has a $48 billion budget, which it uses to fund research on vaccines and diseases through grants to researchers across the U.S., the Associated Press reported Nov. 26.

2. The office of the director sets policy and manages NIH programs and activities. The NIH is the world's largest funder of biomedical research, Politico reported Nov. 26.

3. Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, is a Stanford (Calif.) University professor of health policy, as well as a physician and economist. He directs Stanford's Center for Demography and Economics of Health and Aging, according to a Nov. 26 Truth Social post from Mr. Trump.

Dr. Bhattacharya, 56, earned his medical degree from Stanford in 1997 and his PhD in economics in 2000.

4. Dr. Bhattacharya previously said former NIH leaders Anthony Fauci, MD, and Francis Collins, MD, PhD, suppressed scientific debate and research during the COVID-19 pandemic, Politico reported.

5. He co-wrote the "Great Barrington Declaration," published in October 2020, which argued that lockdowns were causing "irreparable harm," and promoted "herd immunity" with protections focused on higher-risk individuals, the Associated Press reported.

6. Dr. Bhattacharya recently endorsed Robert Kennedy Jr., whom Mr. Trump has nominated for HHS secretary, on British news and opinion site UnHerd. He argued medical officials failed during the pandemic by supporting lockdowns, school closures and mandates.

"Jay and RFK Jr. will restore the NIH to a Gold Standard of Medical Research as they examine the underlying causes of, and solutions to, Americas biggest Health challenges, including our Crisis of Chronic Illness and Disease," Mr. Trump said in the Nov. 26 statement.

HHS deputy secretary: Jim O'Neill

1. If confirmed, Jim O'Neill would work alongside Robert Kennedy Jr., whom Mr. Trump nominated as HHS secretary, to "oversee all operations and improve management, transparency and accountability to make America healthy again," Mr. Trump said in a Nov. 26 Truth Social post.

2. "I'm extremely honored to be nominated by Donald Trump and excited to support Robert Kennedy Jr. and the great people of HHS to make America healthy again," Mr. O'Neill said in a Nov. 26 post on X.

3. Mr. O'Neill previously served as principal associate deputy secretary at HHS. He also led FDA reforms to improve food, drug and medical device safety and helped design and launch the administration for strategic preparedness and response to improve emergency and disaster health responses.

4. After his government service, Mr. O'Neill became managing director of Clarium Capital, a global investment fund. He served as CEO of the Thiel Foundation, where he backed technology-focused nonprofits and co-founded the Thiel Fellowship, which supported careers for young entrepreneurs behind billion-dollar ventures.

5. Mr. O'Neill most recently served as CEO of SENS Research Foundation, where he advanced regenerative medicine solutions for age-specific diseases such as Alzheimer's, as well as for heart disease and cancer, Mr. Trump said in his post.

6. He was also considered for head of the FDA by Mr. Trump when he started his first term as president in 2016.

7. In a 2014 speech, Mr. O'Neill advocated for the FDA to focus solely on safety evaluation of drugs during the approval process and not to consider their efficacy, The Hill reported.

"We should reform FDA so that it's approving drugs after their sponsors have demonstrated safety and let people start using them at their own risk, but not much risk of safety," he said. "But let's prove efficacy after they've been legalized."

CDC director pick: Dr. David Weldon

1. The CDC, a federal public health agency overseen by HHS, historically tracks and responds to infectious disease outbreaks and recommends licensed vaccines, among other public health initiatives.

The agency has approximately 12,000 full-time employees and requested $9.7 billion for fiscal 2025, encompassing discretionary budget authority, Prevention and Public Health Funds, and Public Health Service Evaluation Transfers.

2. "In addition to being a medical doctor for 40 years and an Army veteran, Dave has been a respected conservative leader on fiscal and social issues," Mr. Trump wrote in a statement posted on Truth Social on Nov. 22.

He added that Dr. Weldon would "restore the CDC to its true purpose and will work to end the chronic disease epidemic."

3. Dr. Weldon, 71, was born in Amityville, N.Y. He graduated from Stony Brook (N.Y.) University in 1978 and earned his medical degree in 1981 from the University at Buffalo (N.Y.) School of Medicine, according to USA Today.

4. After receiving his medical degree, Dr. Weldon served in the Army and the Army Reserve. He also practiced medicine in Florida after becoming a physician.

5. He served seven terms in Congress, representing Florida's 15th District, starting in 1995, according to The New York Times. In 2008, Dr. Weldon did not seek reelection for an eighth term and returned to his medical practice.

6. During his time as a representative, Dr. Weldon served on several committees, including Appropriations; Health and Human Services; Education and Labor; and Science, according to The Hill.

7. Citing "an enormous inherent conflict of interest within the CDC," Dr. Weldon in 2007 introduced the Vaccine Safety and Public Confidence Assurance Act, which aimed to relocate most vaccine safety research from the CDC to an independent agency within HHS. The legislation did not advance through Congress and was not made law.

8. Dr. Weldon also publicly expressed concerns about thimerosal, a mercury-based compound used in some vaccines, and its alleged link to autism, according to The New York Times. However, experts have stated that no scientific evidence supports such a link.

9. Additionally, Dr. Weldon wrote the so-called Weldon Amendment, which bars HHS from funding federal agencies, programs, or state and local governments that "discriminate" against health insurance plans, healthcare institutions, or professionals refusing to "provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions." It has been included in HHS annual spending bills since 2005.

10. In 2012, Dr. Weldon unsuccessfully ran for a U.S. Senate seat. This year, he also lost a race for Florida's 32nd House of Representatives District.

11. Dr. Weldon also served as president of the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries, a nonprofit trade organization representing healthcare sharing ministries across the nation. These ministries, which provide an alternative to traditional health insurance, have faced criticism, including allegations of misleading people into believing they are legally obligated to cover medical claims, according to The New York Times. Dr. Weldon has stressed that member organizations were clear that they were not insurance providers and are not subject to the same regulations, The New York Times noted.

12. Currently, Dr. Weldon practices internal medicine at Health First Medical Group in Malabar, Fla.

13. Under a law passed last year, Dr. Weldon's appointment to lead the CDC requires Senate confirmation. Previously, CDC directors were appointed by the president.

FDA commissioner pick: Dr. Marty Makary

1. If confirmed, Marty Makary, MD, would lead the $7.2 billion agency responsible for regulating the nation's food, medical device and drug supply. The FDA employs more than 18,000 people.

2. Dr. Makary, 54, is a surgical oncologist at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins and chief of islet transplant surgery. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and holds a master's of public health from Cambridge, Mass.-based Harvard University. He is the author of several books on rising healthcare costs, patient safety issues and the pharmaceutical industry's influence over federal regulatory affairs.

3. For more than a decade, Dr. Makary has spoken out about the prevalence of medical errors in healthcare and has worked with hospitals on efforts to reduce harm.

4. During Mr. Trump's first term as president, Dr. Makary advised the administration on price transparency requirements, The New York Times and NPR reported.

5. He is a frequent commentator on Fox News, speaking on medical issues. Dr. Makary has criticized aspects of the nation's public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic, questioning the need for vaccine and mask mandates. He was a proponent of natural immunity, writing in a commentary piece for The Wall Street Journal in 2021 that he anticipated herd immunity would be reached by April and for COVID to largely dissipate.

6. On COVID vaccines, Dr. Markary advocated for federal authorities to focus recommendations on older patients and individuals with health issues that place them at risk for severe disease, according to Politico. In an op-ed published in the Journal in 2023, Dr. Makary criticized the Biden administration's recommendations for COVID booster shots among younger, otherwise healthy patients  a notion that has become more widely accepted among medical experts, NBC News reported.

7. "FDA has lost the trust of Americans, and has lost sight of its primary goal as a regulator," Mr. Trump wrote in a Nov. 22 announcement on Truth Social. "The Agency needs Dr. Marty Makary, a highly respected Johns Hopkins Surgical Oncologist and Health Policy Expert, to course correct and refocus the agency.



"He will work under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to, among other things, properly evaluate harmful chemicals poisoning our nation's food supply and drugs and biologics being given to our nation's youth, so that we can fully address the childhood chronic disease epidemic."

8. Mr. Trump named Mr. Kennedy as his pick to lead HHS earlier this month. If both are confirmed to their federal roles, Mr. Kennedy would preside over Dr. Makary's work at the FDA.

9. Dr. Makary appears aligned with Mr. Kennedy's positions on addressing the prevalence of chronic diseases in the U.S., and targeting chemicals used in the food supply.

"We have the most overmedicated, sickest population in the world and no one is talking about root causes," Dr. Makary said during a congressional roundtable alongside Mr. Kennedy earlier this year. "We have poisoned our food supply."

10. The two do not appear as aligned in their views of vaccines. Mr. Kennedy, who as head of HHS could influence the FDA's decisions on new vaccines and the monitoring of existing shots, has publicly questioned the safety and efficacy of vaccines. He has dismissed assertions that he is "anti-vaccine" and emphasized he "will not take them away." Dr. Makary has long supported immunizations, calling for a universal flu shot that would increase their effectiveness in his latest book, according to the Times.

11. Dr. Makary is chief medical officer at Sesame, a telehealth company that offers compounded weight loss drugs. Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, the makers of blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Zepbound, respectively, have been at odds with compounding pharmacies that make more affordable copycat versions of the drugs. The drugmakers have been lobbying the FDA to classify the drugs as too complex to safely compound.

Surgeon general pick: Dr. Janette Nesheiwat

1. The U.S. Surgeon General, also known as the nation's doctor, provides Americans with health guidance and is head of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, a team of more than 6,000 public health officers dedicated to advancing and protecting national health, according to the HHS website.

2. Janette Nesheiwat, MD, is a double board-certified physician who graduated from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, according to her website. She is one of five children raised by an immigrant mother who was a nurse. Dr. Nesheiwat also worked the front lines in New York City during the pandemic and provided on-the-ground treatment following Hurricane Katrina and the Joplin, Mo., tornados. Dr. Nesheiwat is also a member of Samaritan's Purse, a 501(c)(3) charity organization, and has "provided lifesaving care during crises in Morocco, Poland and Haiti, Mr. Trump said in a Nov. 22 Truth Social post.

"Dr. Nesheiwat is a fierce advocate and strong communicator for preventative medicine and public health," Mr. Trump said. "She is committed to ensuring that Americans have access to affordable, quality healthcare, and believes in empowering individuals to take charge of their health to live longer, healthier lives."

3. Julia Nesheiwat, PhD, is one of Dr. Nesheiwat's sisters, and served as the 10th Homeland Security adviser under Mr. Trump's first administration. She is a former Army combat veteran and diplomat, according to the National Security Institute website. Dr. Julia Nesheiwat is married to Florida Republican Congressman Mike Waltz, whom Mr. Trump on Nov. 12 picked to serve in his Cabinet as national security adviser on Nov. 12.

4. Dr. Janette Nesheiwat is a former Fox News medical contributor, a medical news correspondent and serves as a medical director at CityMD, which comprises urgent care centers in New Jersey and New York. She also previously served as a physician at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, Ark., and Northwest Medical Hospital in Bentonville, Ark., according to USA Today.

5. Dr. Nesheiwat is the author of "Beyond the Stethoscope: Miracles in Medicine," which shares how stories from the emergency room, medical recoveries and global missions are related to prayer, healing and service.

6. Dr. Nesheiwat was an advocate for the COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic, and touted how its benefits outweighed "short-lived" side effects.

7. "I am deeply honored and humbled by this nomination to serve as Surgeon General of the United States," Dr. Nesheiwat said in a Nov. 22 X post. "Thank you, Mr. President, for your trust. I pledge to work tirelessly to promote health, inspire hope, and serve our nation with dedication and compassion."
From UnitedHealthcare beating CMS in a star ratings lawsuit to MetroHealth's former CEO refiling his lawsuit against the system, here are 10 healthcare industry lawsuits, settlements and legal developments that Becker's has reported since Nov. 19:

1. UnitedHealthcare prevailed in its lawsuit against CMS regarding the methodology used to calculate its 2025 Medicare Advantage star ratings.

2. Albany (N.Y.) Med Health System filed a federal lawsuit against the New York State Nurses Association, alleging improper use of its trademark and domain name.

3. East Meadow, N.Y.-based Nassau University Medical Center said it is filing a lawsuit against New York, accusing the state of "longstanding violations of federal Medicaid law that deprived the hospital of more than $1 billion in aid."

4. A lawsuit was filed against Bridgeton, Mo.-based SSM Health DePaul Hospital, part of St. Louis-based SSM Health, and Craig Spiegel, MD, on behalf of 30 people alleging sexual abuse.

5. Memorial Hermann Health System is facing a lawsuit from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, alleging the Houston-based system barred off-duty police officers from carrying their firearms in its facilities in at least 10 instances.

6. Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford, Ore., is facing more than $488 million in lawsuits related to a former nurse's alleged drug diversion.

7. CVS Health, UnitedHealth Group and Cigna filed a lawsuit against the FTC in response to the agency's case against the nation's largest pharmacy benefit managers over inflated insulin prices.

8. Akram Boutros, MD, former CEO of Cleveland-based MetroHealth, refiled his lawsuit against the health system and its board of trustees, alleging breach of contract, wrongful termination and defamation.

9. Fresno, Calif.-based Community Health System filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging it misused $1 billion in tax dollars intended to serve low-income patients.

10. Mid-Valley Hospital and Clinic in Omak, Wash., agreed to pay a $15,000 penalty for violations of the Controlled Substances Act and to implement changes to its pharmacy and controlled substances policies.
East Meadow, N.Y.-based Nassau University Medical Center is filing a lawsuit against New York, accusing the state of "longstanding violations of federal Medicaid law that deprived the hospital of more than $1 billion in aid."

The safety net hospital alleges that the state "orchestrated a ruse to mislead the federal government" by requiring the hospital to front the state's contractual share of the disproportionate share hospital funds from its own operating account, according to a Nov. 21 NUMC news release.

The hospital said the alleged scheme resulted in a 50% reduction of its aid annually. NUMC also alleges that the state's financial maneuver has been covered up by the state and its officials for more than two decades.

"This is corruption that is both broad and deep within our State's government. This wasn't a clerical oversight, a bookkeeping mistake or incompetence," said Matthew Bruderman, chairman of the Nassau Health Care Corporation, which operates NUMC. "What we've uncovered was nefarious, intentional and the state covered it up for years to starve this hospital and the people it serves of resources."

Attorneys representing the hospital filed a notice that it intends to file a lawsuit with the New York State Court of Claims. It expects to file its formal complaint within the next 60 days.

A spokesperson for the governor's office said that they are "continuing to work with Nassau County on an appropriate solution for the future of NUMC."

"Our concerns are the fiscal health of the hospital and patient care," the spokesperson said. "Everything else is just noise."
Ground beef recall heightens ongoing food safety fears in U.S.

Xinhua) 09:37, November 25, 2024

SACRAMENTO, United States, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- A recent nationwide recall of more than 75,000 kilograms of ground beef due to potential E. coli contamination renewed attention to food safety issues plaguing the United States this year.

This latest incident is part of a series of foodborne illness outbreaks that have affected consumers nationwide, raising questions about the effectiveness of current food safety measures.

On Wednesday, Wolverine Packing Co., a Detroit-based establishment, recalled about 75,875 kilograms of ground beef products due to possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced that the recalled products had been shipped to restaurants nationwide and may still be in refrigerators or freezers.

The FSIS categorized the recall as Class 1, the highest risk level, indicating a "reasonable probability" that consuming the affected product will result in serious health consequences or death.

The recall was initiated after the Minnesota Department of Agriculture notified FSIS of a cluster of illnesses linked to ground beef consumption. According to federal officials cited by local media, at least 19 people in Minnesota had fallen ill as of Friday, with onset dates ranging from Nov. 2 to Nov. 14.

This ground beef recall is just the latest in a series of food contamination incidents that will affect the United States throughout this year.

Earlier this month, a multi-state E. coli outbreak linked to organic carrots sickened 39 people across 18 states, resulting in one death. The outbreak was traced to Grimmway Farms, one of the world's largest carrot producers, which issued a recall for various brands of its organic whole and baby carrots.

In October, a significant E. coli outbreak associated with McDonald's Quarter Pounder hamburgers affected over 100 customers across 14 states. The outbreak, linked to slivered onions used on the burgers, resulted in 34 hospitalizations and one death.

The incident also prompted temporary menu changes at McDonald's restaurants in affected states and led to a voluntary recall of yellow onions by supplier Taylor Farms.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that foodborne illnesses cost the United States 78 billion U.S. dollars annually, with a significant portion attributed to hospitalizations.

The repeated outbreaks have raised concerns about food safety practices and regulatory oversight. Government agencies responded by intensifying investigations and monitoring efforts.

The FDA and CDC continued to provide regular updates on outbreak investigations and issue public warnings through various channels.

The CDC recommended thorough handwashing, safe food preparation techniques, and proper cooking temperatures to minimize the risk of E. coli infections.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
Police lights. Getty Images

Ricci Wynne, an activist and social media provocateur perhaps best known for his graphic and often controversial videos of San Franciscos drug markets, was arrested on suspicion of pimping and pandering.

Wynne was booked into San Francisco jail on suspicion of the two felony charges just after 2 a.m. Monday, and was still in custody by late morning, jail records show.

News of Wynnes arrest was first reported by the San Francisco Standard.

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Wynne, who has nearly 30,000 followers on the social platform X and more than 100,000 on Instagram, has made a name for himself by spotlighting some of San Franciscos grimmest scenes, using them to shame local politicians and policies. His videos often capture unhoused people in the throes of a mental health crisis, openly using illegal drugs or barely conscious and sprawled out on the sidewalk.

Wynne, a former drug dealer, has made multiple appearances on Fox News in recent years in which he usually criticized city policies and its leaders.

Officials with San Francisco police released few details on the circumstances surrounding the case but said officers were investigating a prior incident when they detained a man and a woman at San Francisco International Airport on Sunday at about 8:50 p.m.

Police said a probation search was conducted at the mans residence on the 300 block of Fremont Street, and through the course of the investigation police developed probable cause to arrest Wynne. The woman was released from custody.

Wynne in December 2021 was sentenced to time served and three years of probation after pleading guilty to federal charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, court records show.

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The federal charges stemmed from a 2018 case, in which police received a report that Wynne was armed and involved in human and narcotics trafficking.

In that case, officers began monitoring Wynnes posts on Snapchat, and observed a post of him offering a cocaine buffet, and videos depicting three women, according to federal prosecutors.

Following a search warrant on Wynnes residence, police located cocaine, a digital scale, a loaded Glock pistol that was determined to be stolen out of Fremont, as well as two female individuals, one of whom was underage, court records state.
Although lung cancer incidence rates are declining, more young and middle-age women are being diagnosed at higher rates than men, CNN reported Nov. 25.

For several cancers, rates are rising among adults under 50. Gastrointestinal and colorectal cancer diagnoses are two of the fastest growing in this age group. Over the past four years, lung cancer diagnoses have increased 84% among U.S. women and dropped 36% among men, research shows.

Lung cancer is also becoming more common in people who have never smoked. One study found that two-thirds of women diagnosed with lung cancer have never smoked.

"I think that there are two ways or reasons that never-smokers get lung cancer," Helena Yu, MD, a thoracic medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, told CNN.

"I think that there are exposure issues  which are like air pollution, asbestos, secondhand smoke, radon  and those are kind of rare and maybe make up a small portion," Dr. Yu said. "And then there are mutations that cause lung cancer, and we are also seeing a really significant increase in these mutations that cause lung cancer, and those are enriched in women."

The reason for this trend remains a mystery. Patients and healthcare experts are advocating for more research and lung cancer screening.
Over half of workers in NI intend to look for a new job in the next 12 months

Over half of workers in Northern Ireland intend to look for a new job within the next year, according to new research from recruitment firm Hays Northern Ireland.

The research also found that 45% of workers find their career progression opportunities limited at their current employer, a 13% rise from the number last year.

Hays say that people here are experiencing the Great Dissatisfaction and that there could be a wave of people leaving their current organisations if the job market improves.

Overall, peoples view of their own careers has only registered as more negative across the UK in 2016, immediately after Brexit, and at the start of the pandemic.

Around a third of people surveyed in Northern said they had changed jobs in the last year, with the main reason for doing so being the lack of career progression.

At 52%, just over half of respondents said they will look for a new job in the coming year, and 28% mean to do so in the next six months.

The survey from the recruitment agency Hays received 560 responses from professionals and employers in NI, and was conducted between August 21 and September 11 this year.

John Moore, managing director of Hays, said: As our research warns, employers should be aware that we might see part two of the Great Resignation as soon as people feel more confident to change jobs.

Its apparent that a lot of professionals in Northern Ireland unfortunately see limited opportunities to progress their careers and inevitably feel disheartened as a result.

Now is the time to confront this dissatisfaction in the workforce head on. Some of the ways employers can do this include prioritising transparent career mapping, providing continuous learning and upskilling opportunities, and fostering a culture of support through mentorship.

Organisations will no doubt boost employee morale and enhance productivity and retention by investing time into their staffs growth.

For employees, its crucial to keep a close eye out for development opportunities and discuss career goals and ambitions with managers, welcome feedback, and in available training and mentorship initiatives.

Employees can position themselves for career progression and new opportunities by proactively engaging in their own professional and personal growth.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves at the CBI conference at the QEII Centre, London (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Rachel Reeves urged business chiefs to judge her on her ability to deliver economic growth as she faced claims she was treating firms as a cash cow by hiking taxes.

The Chancellor acknowledged she had received a lot of feedback over the Budget, which included 40 billion of tax increases, but insisted no-one had presented a credible alternative to her plan.
Take That star and lead singer Gary Barlow will play in Belfast as part of a brand-new solo tour of Ireland and the UK.

The Songbook Tour 2025, is set celebrate an illustrious four-decade career, and will see him perform an array of songs from his back catalogue of hits with both Take That and as a solo artist.
Jail for cannabis farmer who accused PSNI of failing to catch criminals running vast operation yards from his door

Defence lawyer tells court poultry farmers chickens will have to be destroyed if he's jailed  but judge dismisses that, saying Well thats just something Im afraid hes going to have to deal with.

Clive Weir's defence lawyer told the court it was especially hard for his client to admit his guilt

Sam McBride Mon 25 Nov 2024 at 12:42







A farmer who publicly denounced the police for not doing enough to catch those responsible for one of Northern Irelands biggest cannabis factories yards from his front door has been jailed for his role in it.
The Belfast Health Trust is consulting on plans to end an out-of-hours GP service. Photo: Getty

Belfast Council is calling for the the citys health trust to scrap its plan to end the Knockbreda out-of-hours doctors service  although without support from the Alliance Party.

This week at a Belfast City Council committee meeting, a DUP motion to lobby the Belfast Trust passed, despite opposition from Alliance.

The motion, proposed by DUP councillor Sarah Bunting, states: This council opposes the Belfast Trusts plan to remove the Knockbreda out-of-hours doctors service, which provides urgent medical care for South and East Belfast residents when GP practices are closed

(The council) recognises the disproportionate impact on residents in these areas, particularly those without access to transport, who may struggle to reach alternative services.

(It) believes this removal of service is likely to increase pressure on already overburdened A&E departments at the Ulster Hospital and Royal Victoria Hospital, further compromising timely access to care.

Councillors agreed to write to the Belfast Trust to oppose its proposal, participate in the public consultation, and advocate for retaining the service.

However support was not unanimous for the motion at the councils Standards and Business Committee November meeting.

On a vote, 12 elected members were in favour  from the DUP, Sinn Fein, the UUP and the Green Party  two Alliance councillors were against, and one SDLP councillor gave a no vote due to a lack of information from the motion proposers.

Belfast Trust has launched a consultation on the proposed changes, which will run for a period of 13 weeks, closing on Thursday January 2 2025.

The public can find full details, including the consultation paper, on the Citizen Space website.

Lisburn and Castlereagh Council will see a similar motion to that of Belfast tabled by the DUP tomorrow (November 26).

Castlereagh South DUP councillor Brian Higginson said: This is a vital service in the local community and must be retained.

This proposal, and the 13 week associated consultation, has raised apprehensions for many elderly people, families and vulnerable service users who currently use the the Knockbreda Health and Wellbeing site  from across South and East Belfast.

South Belfast DUP are opposed to the proposal of moving the out of hours GP service from the Knockbreda Health and Wellbeing site to the Crumlin road.

South Belfast MLA Edwin Poots MLA has written a letter to the chief executive of Belfast Health and Social Care Trust outlining our opposition to this proposal of moving the service, and he is currently waiting on a response.

The Belfast Trust says on its website: Belfast Trust is responsible for the provision of GP out of hours services for the population of Belfast.

Over recent years, there have been challenges in maintaining out of hours service provision at the two bases on the Crumlin Road and the Knockbreda Health and Wellbeing site.

In order to make the best use of public monies, we consider it would be more cost-effective and more efficient to provide the service from one base, alongside the relatively newly established Phone First service.

Moving to one site with the newly introduced skill mix would make considerable economies of scale by consolidating resources and would address the significant, increasing overspend that the service is facing year on year.

Evidence has shown that the current model is no longer sustainable and frequently unfortunately we have had to close one site due to workforce issues.
Jeff Whitford is one of the longest living survivors of the surgery on the planet

Jeff Whitford was one of the first people here to undergo the life-changing surgery. Photo: Kevin Scott

A heart transplant survivor has described his miraculous second chance at life having lived with the heart of another man since 1986.

Jeff Whitford (73) was one of the first people here to undergo the life-changing surgery after he was told his heart was beginning to fail.

He is now among the longest-living heart transplant patients not just in Northern Ireland, but the world.

In 1978, the Lisburn man was diagnosed with a condition that inhibits the heart from pumping blood effectively called dilated cardiomyopathy, with doctors implying he didnt have long to live.

I was 25 when I was first diagnosed, and heart transplants werent around. So they gave me a pacemaker and that kept me going until 1986 but my heart was failing badly by that time, he explained.

The only option they had was a transplant which is when the programme had just really started.

Dr John Geddes, a cardiologist at Belfasts Royal Victoria Hospital, referred Jeff to Papworth Hospital in Cambridge with the hopes of receiving the surgery after installing his pacemaker in 1980.

The recently deceased Dr Geddes was known for his pioneering work in helping to develop the worlds first mobile coronary care unit and carried out the first implant of a pacemaker here.

Dr John Geddes arranged for me to travel over to Papworth and get assessed just before Christmas in 1985. It was either this or nothing, so we went for it, he recalled.

Professionally, John had been looking after me since 1980. When he put in the pacemaker it was very successful for me, it kept me going and kept me alive.

Shortly after a family trip to Portrush with his wife and two daughters, Jeff received a call from Papworth checking if he was experiencing any infection or flu.

I said No, I was fine and then I was told there will be an ambulance calling for you in an hours time  we have a heart.

My wife came home from work, we got the children out of school and my parents came to look after them. We got a 4.30 shuttle to Heathrow and got transferred by blue lights to Papworth.

The life-changing surgery took around five hours and, once complete, Jeff was guided to an isolation unit for 5-6 days as well as a halfway house to ensure a smooth recovery.

I woke up, felt the heart in my chest and thought that Id never be able to live with this strong beat in my chest after so many years of not having one. But it soon settled down. Everything went according to plan.

Unfortunately, Jeffs body then began to reject his heart and he was put on steroids to assist with the recovery. Subsequently, his hip deteriorated due to the potency of the medication.

Due to his young age at the time he didnt get a new hip until he was 55.

Despite his fluctuations in health, Jeff has gone on to make the most of his new lease of life.

He is now a grandfather of five and has journeyed across Europe and Northern Ireland with his wife, Sheelagh.

There have been ups and downs, it hasnt all been plain sailing health-wise. The first 15 years were great however old age has crept in. But Im feeling quite well at the moment, he said.

Ive been to Spain, Italy, France and Germany so weve done quite a lot of travelling around. I love the north coast; we had a caravan up in Portrush for 19 years.

John has never forgotten the man who gave him his heart and remained forever grateful to the family for the second chance at life he was granted.

He described how lucky he was to find a donor matching his blood type which accounts for only a small fraction of the population in the UK.

The heart was a perfect match for me, we were both AB positive. AB positive is only about 4% of the population, he said.

Hardly a day goes past when I dont think about the donor. The donor family ultimately gave me permission which was a big thing as well. Its the family that gives the ultimate sanction for the donor organs used.

Its 38 plus years now Ive been going, its amazing. I still find it hard to believe myself. Im thankful for Royal Papworth hospital, the team there are excellent. The Royal Victoria looks after me in between my check-ups at Royal Papworth twice a year.

Since Jeffs operation in 1986, the procedure has taken huge strides into the modern day with over 3,000 heart transplants taking place in the UK every year.

He gave some advice to future patients preparing to undergo surgery.

Dont break the rules, whatever they ask you to do, do it, he said.

Heart transplants are so successful now. In my time it was not as certain but theyve refined it much more in the last 38 years.
Cleric hailed Cass Reviews strategic benefits

The chief executive of a transgender charity has said she is deeply upset at how her comments have been interpreted at an event to mark Transgender Day of Remembrance at Belfast City Hall.

Rev Dr Linda Ballard, the head of Focus: The Identity Trust, a charitable group aimed at supporting transgender people and their families, was criticised after she said she supported parts of a report which makes recommendations on how gender services for children and young people should operate.

The chaplains remarks reportedly led to some people walking out of the event, which was held on Wednesday and was described by Belfast City Council as an annual observance on November 20 that honours the memory of the transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence.

During a speech at the event, Dr Ballard referred to the Cass Review, which culminated in a landmark report led by Dr Hillary Cass which claimed the toxicity of the debate around gender meant professionals were afraid to openly discuss their views.

The report found there was no good evidence on the effectiveness of puberty blockers and their safety for use by children. The review was praised by several groups including the Equality and Human Rights Commission, but others such as TransActual criticised it as bad science.

Writing on The Trans Agenda website, Lee Hurley, who attended the event, said the entire room gasped when the former minister of First Dunmurry Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church expressed support for the Cass Report.

They added that some people walked out and it was impossible to blame them as Ballard denied a grieving community a rare moment of collective dignity and healing.

In a lengthy statement to the Belfast Telegraph, Dr Ballard, who is from Bangor and is the mother of a transgender child, said she was deeply upset at how her comments were interpreted and said she supported the Cass Review for strategic reasons.

I was invited to Wednesdays event as a parent of a transgender child to reflect on my own experiences, she said.

I began by briefly outlining some of these experiences and went on to say why I fully and unequivocally support the provision of puberty blockers in all cases where this is the appropriate treatment for young people. I went on to say that I support the Cass Report for strategic reasons.

She added that her opinion on the Cass Review is not entirely dissimilar to that being taken forward by LGBT groups Stonewall and Mermaids.

I stated that I wondered if, instead of rejecting the Cass Report, it might be more effective, cautiously and with reservations, to welcome it, if this might this give us stronger grounds for rejecting some of the ways in which it is being used?

Might it give us a better framework for demanding accountability and moving things forward? Might it even provide us with a platform from which to develop a sensitive and well thought out programme of public education that might help to depolarise a debate that I am not alone in believing to be increasingly toxic.

She also said she was aware of comments by Dr Hillary Cass in an interview with the BBC acknowledging that it was not clear which puberty blockers helped young people seeking transgender healthcare in a constructive capacity  but my question is why not? Why dont we know which ones?

I added that we can welcome this acknowledgement of the constructive capacity of hormone treatments and encourage positive outcomes from this authoritative statement of fact, but my question is why not? Why dont we know which ones?

Its a generation since my child experienced growing up as a transgender individual, more than a decade since, in my understanding, medical authorities in the Netherlands could endorse the effectiveness of this treatment, more than a century since Magnus Hirshfelds work was conducted in Berlin.

Transgender identity may be a minority concern, but I urged our medical professionals and our policy developers at all levels to ensure that this minority is respected.

This includes listening to, respecting and acting on the experiences of all gender diverse individuals, including young transgender individuals, and making space to hear and act on the words of their parents.

Rev Dr Linda Ballard

News Catch Up: Monday 25th November
The remains of a chimney that was blown off a terrace house during strong winds in Dunluce Avenue in South Belfast, Monday, Nov 25, 2024. Picture by Peter Morrison

Police cordon off a footpath after strong winds caused a chimney to blow off a terrace house in Dunluce Avenue in South Belfast, Monday, Nov 25, 2024. Picture by Peter Morrison

A south Belfast street was cordoned off on Monday after strong storm winds over the weekend caused by Storm Bert collapsed a chimney on a house.

The incident happened at a terrace property in the Dunluce Avenue area.

Images from the scene earlier showed police in attendance and the street cordoned off to cars and pedestrians.

A black Ford Fiesta parked outside the property was also damaged as a result of the chimney collapse.

The PSNI confirmed police attended the scene due to the potential danger to road users due to the collapse and said it was caused by high winds.

Communities across the UK woke up on Monday to a clean up operation after the weekends storm.

Police cordon off a footpath after strong winds caused a chimney to blow off a terrace house in Dunluce Avenue in South Belfast, Monday, Nov 25, 2024. Picture by Peter Morrison

Watch: Chimney collapse closes Belfast street after impact of strong winds from Storm Bert

Storm Bert arrived on Saturday causing power cuts, travel disruption and flooding across Northern Ireland.

The remains of a chimney that was blown off a terrace house during strong winds in Dunluce Avenue in South Belfast, Monday, Nov 25, 2024. Picture by Peter Morrison

The Department for Infrastructure said it responded to more than 500 incidents since weather alerts were issued on Friday night.

Winds of up to 67mph were recorded in Ballypatrick, Co Antrim on Saturday.

Roads across counties Tyrone, Down and Antrim were blocked by trees and flood waters on Saturday, and properties were flooded in Dundonald, Kilcoo, Coalisland and Ballinamallard as well a Royal Mail property in Mallusk.

Homes near Moat Park in Dundonald, Co Down were affected by flooding. Some residents at Park Avenue were trapped in their homes by the floodwater, with around 18 properties damaged.

Meanwhile, a man in his 80s died after his car entered water at a ford in Colne, Lancashire, on Saturday, while a body was found in the search for Brian Perry, 75, who went missing while walking his dog near the Afon Conwy river in North Wales on the same day.

More than 130 flood warnings and 160 alerts remained in place across the UK on Monday.
Vallejo police broke up an illegal sideshow that drew around 100 drivers and spectators early Sunday, but made no arrests. Getty Images

Vallejo police broke up an illegal sideshow that drew around 100 drivers and spectators early Sunday, but made no arrests, authorities said.

The sideshow at Sacramento and Tennessee streets near the Vallejo Municipal Marina lasted about 30 minutes, after eyewitnesses first called to report illegal driving activity, Vallejo Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Rashad Hollis said. Spectators on foot and in parked cars clogged the streets during the sideshow, he said.

We got there, broke it up and people dispersed fairly easily, Hollis said, noting that responding officers did not make any arrests.

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The incident comes two days after Vallejo police arrested a teenager for reckless driving Friday night after officers saw him performing donuts near Mini and Violet drives, the department said. The 18-year-old, whose name has not been released, was allegedly driving without a license and carrying an illegal firearm, police said in a statement.

Bay Area law enforcement agencies have struggled to crack down on illegal sideshows and street racing in recent years, with sideshows in San Francisco, Oakland and Vallejo drawing dozens of cars and hundreds of spectators. In September, a 100-vehicle sideshow forced the closure of a section of the Bay Bridge.

In an attempt to address the issue, Gov. Gavin Newsom in September signed four bills aimed at helping law enforcement agencies target sideshow activity. The bills expand penalties and will allow police to more easily seize cars used for illegal racing speed exhibitions, according to the governors office.
Incident at Coleraine bus station

An incident has occurred at Coleraine bus station. The Air Ambulance has been pictured at the scene.

A Translink spokesperson said: We can confirm an incident has occurred involving a car at Coleraine Bus & Rail Centre this morning.

Emergency services were called to the scene and we are assisting the PSNI with their enquiries.

Translink services are currently departing from the front of the station.
New statistics reveal that 527 women and 291 children stayed in the charitys emergency accommodation last year.

Ten babies were born in Women's Aid emergency accommodation in Northern Ireland over the past year, according to the charity.

The Womens Aid Movement, which supports women, children, and young people affected by domestic abuse, published their annual statistics today for 2023/24, showing they assisted over 7,600 women living in the community here.

Their new statistics reveal that 527 women and 291 children stayed in the charitys emergency accommodation last year, highlighting the scale of the problem for thousands of women who have experienced violence, often in their own homes.

These statistics mark the first day of the Global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, exposing the reality faced by many women and girls in Northern Ireland.

Demand for services saw 10,955 referrals, reflecting the increasing need for support for women and children across Northern Ireland.

CEO of Womens Aid Federation NI, Sarah Mason, said the statistics are "sadly, not surprising," adding that "funding to increase capacity to deliver services continues to be a major issue."

Sadly, these statistics are not surprising to us.

"Each year, Womens Aid in Northern Ireland faces an ever-increasing demand for services as we work tirelessly to support women, children, and young people who have experienced abuse.

"Local services are working at full capacity to meet the needs of victims and survivors who need vital support.

Funding to increase capacity to deliver services continues to be a major issue that must be addressed if we truly want to effectively end violence against women in our society and create a community were women feel safe, and are safe, in their own homes.

Womens Aid works to challenge the attitudes, systems, and structures that enable domestic abuse. Their mission is to empower women, children, and young people, enabling them to live free from abuse through support and advocacy for change.

Ms Mason added: The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is an annual international campaign that kicks off on 25th November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until 10 December, Human Rights Day.

"The campaign was started by activists at the inauguration of the Womens Global Leadership Institute in 1991. It is used as an organising strategy by individuals and organisations around the world to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls.

Womens Aid urges any women who feel unsafe to reach out for support. Womens Aid groups exist in every part of Northern Ireland and are there to listen.

"If you are in danger, contact the PSNI immediately by dialing 999 immediately. You can also contact the Police on their non-emergency number by calling 101.

Femicide is a growing crisis in Northern Ireland. Since 2017, 42 women and girls have died violently, and in all but one case, the killer or main suspect is male.

The latest recorded case of a woman being killed in Northern Ireland is the tragic death of 22-year-old Mary Ward. The young womans body was discovered on October 1, 2024, at her home on Melrose Street in Belfast. A man was arrested and charged with murder, and the case is still under investigation.

Mary Ward was the fourth woman to be killed in Northern Ireland within a six-week period.
At least 17 people are missing after the tourist yacht sank 31 tourists of various nationalities were on board along with 14 crew.The Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed at least one Irish citizen was on board

Yachts and boats are docked in the marina at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada after a tourist boat sank off Red Sea coast (REUTERS/Stringer)

Egyptian authorities say 17 people are missing, including foreigners, and 28 have been rescued after a tourist boat sank in the Red Sea (Red Sea Governorate)

There was at least one Irish citizen on the yacht which sunk off the coast of Egypt this morning as a rescue operation continued to search for 17 missing people.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that it is providing consular assistance to the family members of the Irish citizen(s) on board, but did not confirm hte number or whether they are still missing or safe.

Four British tourists are also feared to be among those missing.

The tourist yacht sank in the Red Sea following warnings about rough seas, Egyptian officials have confirmed.

The governor of the Red Sea region, Amr Hanafy, said rescuers saved 28 people from the vessel south of the coastal town of Marsa Alam, and some were airlifted to receive medical treatment.

Hanafy said 31 tourists of various nationalities were on board along with 14 crew.

Yachts and boats are docked in the marina at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada after a tourist boat sank off Red Sea coast (REUTERS/Stringer)

The governorate received a report shortly before dawn on Monday of a distress call made from the yacht, which had left Marsa Alam for a five-day journey.

It was not immediately clear what caused the four-deck, wooden-hulled motor yacht to sink. But the Egyptian Meteorological Authority on Saturday warned about turbulence and high waves on the Red Sea and advised against maritime activity for Sunday and Monday.

A person answering the phone at the company that operates the yacht, Dive Pro Liveaboard in Hurghada, Egypt, told The Associated Press they have no information and hung up.

According to their website, the Sea Story was built in 2022 and can hold 36 passengers.

The Egyptian military was coordinating rescue operations with the governorate.

Many tourist companies have stopped or limited traveling on the Red Sea due to the dangers from conflicts in the region.
Corporal Paddy Brown with his daughter Molly after arriving home at Terminal 1 of Dublin Airport (Liam McBurney/PA)

There were emotional scenes at Dublin Airport as Irish peacekeepers received a warm welcome home after six months in Lebanon.

The arrivals hall at Terminal 1 was packed with family and friends of more than 200 troops who had spent the last six months serving with the UN in southern Lebanon during escalating hostilities in the Middle East.

Many held banners which read messages including welcome home son and Sgt Molloy report for daddy duty, as scores of young children waved Irish and United Nations flags as they waited for the sliding doors to open and reveal their loved ones.

There was a huge cheer as the doors opened to reveal the first of the Irish Defence Forces walking through to be reunited with their loved ones, and tears as parents, spouses and children got long-awaited hugs.

Irish troops escaped injury last month when a military camp where they were based was struck by a rocket during fighting between the Israel Defence Forces and Hezbollah.

Camp Shamrock, known as United Nations Post 2-45, is a short distance from the Israeli border and is close to areas controlled by Hezbollah militants.

Families and friends waiting at Terminal 1 of Dublin Airport (Liam McBurney/PA)

United Nations Interim Force Lebanon (Unifil) has described any deliberate attack on peacekeepers as a grave violation of international humanitarian law and Security Council resolution 1701 (2006).

The Irish troops were part of the 124th Infantry Battalion, Unifil, drawn from the 7th Infantry Battalion based at Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin.

They were deployed from May as part of Unifil supporting Chapter 6 Peace Support Operations, as part of 341 personnel also drawn from Malta, Poland and Hungary.

The Irish force was aged from 19 to 58, and included 92 travelling overseas for the first time with the Defence Forces.

Killian Rowan, aged seven, waits for his uncle, Private Luke Rowan (Liam McBurney/PA)

Among those waiting were the grandparents, parents and girlfriend of Private Jack Cassidy, 24.

His grandfather Michael Cassidy held a home sweet home sign as well as a Co Meath flag as they waited.

He said they were incredibly proud of Pte Cassidy, saying he always wanted to help people from a young age.

Irish Defence Forces were returning home after a six-month deployment in south Lebanon (Liam McBurney/PA)

While they had been worried about events in southern Lebanon during his tour, they described an incredibly proud day as they waited for him to return safely home.

Weve seen some things on television that left us wondering all right, he said.

Hes always been involved with helping people.

Daniel Keenan from Belfast was also among the troops greeted by family. He said it is harder for the families than for the troops themselves.

Its harder on them. When were out there, were thinking about what is ahead of us on the mission, patrolling. We have all the comradery and brotherhood to keep us going, he said.

Calvin Conway is reunited with his son Rian, three, and girlfriend Nicole OFlaherty (Liam McBurney/PA)

He said the uncertainty was challenging.

It was getting through day by day, you didnt know when you were getting showers, food and so on, but it was grand, he said.

Calvin Conway was reunited with his young son Rian as he walked through arrivals, and paid tribute to his family at home doing all of the work.

I got home on leave for his first day at school so that turned out well, but hes grown even since then, he said.

Its great to be home, and Im sure a lot of Christmas shopping has been planned for me.
Support for Fine Gael has slumped by six percentage points with days to go before Irelands General Election, according to the latest poll (Brian Lawless/PA)

Support for Fine Gael has slumped by six percentage points with days to go before Irelands General Election, according to the latest poll.

Taoiseach Simon Harriss party now trails both Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein, the Irish Times/Ipsos B&A survey indicates.

Fianna Fail leads the way on 21%  up two points on the last poll two weeks ago.

Sinn Fein stands on 20%  up one  while Fine Gael is on 19%  down six points since the November 14 poll.

Ireland goes to the polls on Friday.

The latest poll comes after Mr Harris apologised over the weekend after facing criticism for his handling of an encounter with a disability care worker while canvassing in Kanturk in Co Cork on Friday.

Comments about teachers by Ryanair chief executive Michael OLeary contributed to pressure on Fine Gael during the election campaign (Brian Lawless/PA)

Several incidents have put Fine Gael under pressure during the election campaign, including comments made by Ryanair boss Michael OLeary about teachers in the first few days.

Mr OLeary was criticised for saying at a Fine Gael candidate launch that he would not hire teachers to get things done , which drew laughs and cheers from the gathered party faithful.

There has also been a furore over whether senator John McGahon should have been selected as a Fine Gael candidate for the Louth constituency.

Mr McGahon was found not guilty of assaulting a man outside a Dundalk nightclub in a criminal case two years ago but a High Court civil action earlier this year found him liable, with the politician ordered to pay damages.

With regard to the smaller parties, the poll has the Greens on 4%  up one; Labour on 4%  down one; Social Democrats on 6%  up two; People Before Profit on 3%  up one; and Aontu on 3%  no change.

Independents (including the Independent Ireland party) are on 17%  down three percentage points.

In terms of personal favourability, Mr Harriss popularity is down from 50% to 46%, while Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin is on 44%  down one point.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald is unchanged on 31%.
Ukrainian army personnel with members of the UK Armed Forces during a training session in the East Midlands in September (Joe Giddens/PA)

The father of former British soldier James Scott Rhys Anderson, 22, has expressed his complete shock to hear his son had been captured.

Scott Anderson, 41, told the Daily Mail: Im hoping hell be used as a bargaining chip but my son told me they torture their prisoners and Im so frightened hell be tortured.

We spoke on WhatsApp almost every day until he went on his most recent operation. He was acting as a signalman. James last came home only a month and a half ago.

Screengrab from a video issued by the Ministry of Defence of Ukrainian tank crews training in the UK (Ministry of Defence Crown Copyright/PA)

He said his Ukrainian commander had made a promise that hed contact me if he was ever killed or captured.

He then detailed how he felt when he received the call: When he called me and sent the video I was in complete shock and in tears. I could see straight away it was him.

He looks frightened, scared and worried.

Mr Anderson said he and other family members had tried to convince his son not to fight for Ukraine before he enlisted around eight months ago.

I didnt want him to go. I did try to persuade him not to go  my whole family tried to persuade him, he told the Daily Mail.

He wanted to go out there because he thought he was doing what was right. He was dead against what was happening to the Ukrainian people.

Mr Anderson also confirmed he has been contacted by Foreign Office officials concerning the matter.

Mr Andersons comments come as a widely circulated video made the rounds on Sunday, first posted on Telegram.

In the clip, a man identifies himself as James Scott Rhys Anderson.

He adds in the footage that he is aged 22 and a former British Army soldier.

He is dressed in combat fatigues and speaks with an English accent while appearing to have his hands tied.

He said to the camera: I was in the British Army before, from 2019 to 2023, 22 Signal Regiment. Just a private. I was a signalman. One Signal Brigade, 22 Signal Regiment, 252 Squadron.

Ukrainian pilots, who completed their Fast Jet Lead-In flying training on Operation Interstorm, after graduating at a ceremony in eastern England in October (Joe Giddens/PA)

He said he signed up to fight for Ukraines International Legion after losing his job.

When I left, I got fired from my job, I applied on the International Legion webpage. I had just lost everything. I just lost my job, he said.

I see it on the TV, he added, shaking his head. It was a stupid idea.

He described how he had travelled to Ukraine from Britain, saying: I flew to Krakow, Poland, from London Luton. Bus from there to Medyka in Poland, on the Ukraine border.

Russian state news agency Tass reported that a military source said a UK mercenary had been taken prisoner in the Kursk area of Russia.

The UK Foreign Office said it was supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention.

The Ministry of Defence has declined to comment at this stage.
Police officers at the scene on Southern Grove in Ladbroke Grove (Aaron Chown/PA)

A gunman was seen firing directly into a car in a double shooting in which an eight-year-old girl was seriously hurt.

The girl, who is in hospital in a stable condition, was shot alongside a 34-year-old man in Southern Row, Ladbroke Grove, west London, just after 5.30pm on Sunday.

Sharon, who was in the area to visit her mother, told the PA news agency: The guy was shooting directly into a car.

I was literally coming out of the exit to my mums block of flats and as I was going out I saw a guy shooting into the car multiple times.

He was firing directly, like at close range, as if youre standing to open a door, they were shooting directly into it.

I was completely in shock and I just ran back up the stairs because I was really scared.

Then I looked and I heard screaming afterwards, and then people coming out to call the police.

Sharon, who did not wish to give her surname, added: Ive noticed in the last several years, it has become a lot more unsafe for the people here.

Another witness, aged 64, who spoke to Metro, described the girls mother shouting.

I heard shots, and then a woman shouting, My baby, my babys been shot it makes me sick to think about it now.

There were four or five shots, there was screaming, its horrible. A neighbour went out with a duvet to cover the injured.

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A woman living near the scene, who did not want to be named, said she was scared after the shooting.

She was in her kitchen cooking and thought fireworks were going off, before armed police arrived and she discovered what had happened.

Local MP Joe Powell said several incidents in the area recently had left residents in fear.

In a statement on X the Labour politician, who represents Kensington and Bayswater, said: These senseless acts of violence have no place on our streets.

I know residents in the local community will be rightly concerned for their safety after several recent incidents in the neighbourhood.

We must work together to better prevent these horrific crimes from happening, and hold those responsible to account.

The girls injuries are not life-threatening, the Metropolitan Police said, and officers are awaiting an update on the mans condition.

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A 32-year-old woman was also taken to hospital as a precaution but was not hurt.

Superintendent Owen Renowden said on Monday: This is an appalling incident that has left two people seriously injured, including a young girl who thankfully is in a stable condition this morning.

I am appealing to the public who may have been in the area at the time of the shooting. Did you hear any gunshots around 5.30pm yesterday evening? Did you see anyone fleeing from the area?

We are keen to hear from anyone who may have any information surrounding this incident. Your information matters, no matter how insignificant you may think it is.

Witnesses can contact police on 101, giving the reference CAD5238/24NOV, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or online.
Tory MP Julia Lopez made the claim during Home Office questions in the House of Commons (Anthony Devlin/PA)

Opening more asylum hotels will act as a massive incentive for small boat crossings, a Conservative MP has said.

Last week Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle said that asylum hotel use had risen since Labour entered government, with seven new hotels being brought into use since the general election in July.

In the Commons on Monday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper reminded her shadow counterpart Chris Philp of his plan to stop the boats with giant wave machines as he accused her of opening more asylum hotels instead of closing them.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said Labour inherited record high levels of small boat crossings in the first half of this year (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

During Home Office questions, Tory MP Julia Lopez said: In recent weeks Channel crossings have been far higher than the Home Office expected, and that is why we have seen ministers rapidly approving new asylum hotels.

Were told this situation is temporary, because asylum claims are apparently now being processed faster, moving people through accommodation faster too.

What reassurances can the minister give my constituents that the faster processing of asylum claims, with no deterrent in the system, will not simply act as a massive incentive for more people to come here on small boats?

Ms Cooper replied: Unfortunately, before the last election the previous government cut asylum decision making by 75% in the run-up to the election, took away case workers, and that is why the backlog was soaring.

We have now put case workers back into place so that we can start clearing the backlog, because asylum hotels are costing the taxpayer huge amounts a month.

Earlier Mr Philp belatedly congratulated Ms Cooper on her appointment as Home Secretary, saying he knows how difficult her job is from his time spent as a Home Office minister in the last government.

He said: Since the election, 19,988 people have dangerously and illegally crossed the Channel, a 23% increase on the same period last year. Why does she think the numbers have gone up so much on her watch?

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the Government is opening up new hotels instead of closing them down (Aaron Chown/PA)

Ms Cooper replied: I think (Mr Philp) described his time in the Home Office as his best ministerial job ever, which, given that he was the chief secretary under Liz Truss, you can perhaps wonder why.

He was also the immigration minister who, I might remind him, told the Commons and the select committee that he would not rule out using giant wave machines as the way to stop small boat crossings.

We inherited record high levels of small boat crossings in the first half of this year, we have taken action to fix their chaos.

Mr Philp referenced the previous governments Rwanda deportation scheme, saying Ms Cooper had cancelled the Rwandan deterrent before it even started and the Government is opening up new hotels instead of closing them down.

Ms Cooper said: The highest level on record was the last six months of the last Conservative government while he was in government, and in fact, the numbers since the summer are not the highest on record that, unfortunately, was his legacy.

And while he was the immigration minister, he increased the number of asylum hotels 500% and increased the number of people in asylum hotels by over 900%.

So seriously, he should not try and give lectures to anybody else at all.

Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe said good government is transparent government as he called on the Home Office to publish the number of crimes committed by illegal migrants.

Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe called on the Home Office to publish the number of crimes committed by illegal migrants (Joe Giddens/PA)

Dame Angela confirmed there will be a huge statistical drop of immigration-related national statistics coming at the end of this week.

Elsewhere in the session, the Tories called on the Government to go further to protect firearms officers when it comes to misconduct investigations.

Shadow Home Office minister Matt Vickers told the Commons: I know the Home Secretary understands the importance of our brave firearms officers in dealing with serious and organised crime when they pose a danger to the public.

I welcome the measures to provide anonymity, however, will they consider going further by allowing a defence to misconduct or criminal proceedings if an officer can show theyve followed their training and procedure?

Ms Cooper said the Government intends to strengthen the law, adding: The system needs to work much more speedily to support officers in very difficult, split-second decisions.

We have currently a review under way involving Tim Godwin and Sir Adrian Fulford that is looking at many of these issues.
At least 16 people are missing after a tourist yacht sank in the Red Sea following warnings about rough weather, Egyptian officials said.

The governor of the Red Sea region, Amr Hanafy, said rescuers saved 28 people from the vessel south of the coastal town of Marsa Alam, and some were airlifted to receive medical treatment.

A total of 44 people were on board the yacht, including 13 Egyptians, who include crew members, and 31 foreign nationals from the United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Poland, Belgium, Switzerland, Finland, China, Slovakia, Spain and Ireland.

(PA Graphics)

Mr Hanafy confirmed that rescuers were still searching for the missing, including four Egyptians and 12 foreigners. Meanwhile, those who survived suffered only bruises and abrasions and were taken to a hotel in Marsa Alam in good condition.

The boat, named Sea Story, had no technical problems, obtained all required permits prior to the trip, and was last checked for naval safety in March, according to officials.

Preliminary reports, based on statements from the yacht crew and tourists, said a large wave crashed into the boat, causing it to capsize, according to the governorates update. Some of the passengers were inside the cabins when the incident unfolded within minutes, according to the statements.

The UK Foreign Office said it was providing consular support to a number of British nationals and their families after the sinking.

Rescuers wait on the beach of Marsa Alam, Egypt, after a tourist yacht sank in the Red Sea (AP Photo)

Irelands Department of Foreign Affairs also told The Associated Press in an email that it is aware of this incident and is providing consular assistance without revealing further details.

Spains Foreign Ministry said it was not aware of any Spanish nationals among the missing. The ministry said that five Spanish nationals were rescued and are out of danger.

The governorate received a report shortly before dawn on Monday of a distress call made from the yacht, which had left Marsa Alam for a five-day journey.

It was not immediately clear what caused the wooden-hulled motor yacht to sink. On Saturday, the Egyptian Meteorological Authority warned about turbulence and high waves on the Red Sea and advised against maritime activity on Sunday and Monday.

The firm that operates the yacht, Dive Pro Liveaboard in Hurghada, Egypt, said it has no information on the matter.

The Egyptian military is co-ordinating rescue operations with the governorate.

Many tourist companies have stopped or limited travelling on the Red Sea due to the dangers from conflicts in the region.
Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones speaks outside the federal courthouse after a bankruptcy hearing Friday, June 14, 2024, in Houston (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

A bankruptcy judge has ordered a new hearing in conspiracy theorist Alex Jones effort to stop the satirical news outlet The Onion from buying Infowars and turning it into a parody.

Jones alleges fraud and collusion marred the bankruptcy auction in which The Onion was named the winning bidder on November 14 over a company affiliated with him.

US bankruptcy judge Christopher Lopez had been scheduled to hear an emergency motion to disqualify The Onions bid, but decided to put it off until either December 9 or December 17. That is also when the judge will hear arguments on a request to approve the sale of Infowars to The Onion.

Mr Lopez said similar arguments are being made in both requests.

He could allow The Onion to move forward with the sale, order a new auction or name the other bidder as the winner.

At stake is whether Mr Jones gets to stay at Infowars studio in Austin, Texas, under a new owner friendly to him, or whether he gets kicked out by The Onion.

Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones speaks to the media after arriving at the federal courthouse for a hearing in front of a bankruptcy judge (AP/David J Phillip)

The other bidder, First United American Companies, runs a website in Mr Joness name that sells nutritional supplements.

Regardless, Mr Jones has set up a new studio, websites and social media accounts that would allow him to keep airing his show.

His personal account with 3.3 million followers on the social platform X was not part of the sale, although Mr Lopez will be deciding whether it should be included in the liquidation and sold off later.

In a new court filing on Monday, lawyers for X objected to any sale of the accounts of both Mr Jones and Infowars, saying X is the owner of the accounts and that it has not given consent for them to be sold or transferred.

Mr Jones has praised X owner Elon Musk on his show and suggested that Mr Musk should buy Infowars. Mr Musk has not responded publicly to that suggestion and was not among the bidders.

Mr Jones bankruptcy and the liquidation of his assets came about after he was ordered to pay nearly 1.5 billion dollars (1.19 billion) to relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

Mr Jones was found liable for defamation and emotional distress damages in lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas for repeatedly calling the 2012 shooting that killed 20 first graders and six educators a hoax staged by actors to increase gun control.

Proceeds from the liquidation are to go to Mr Joness creditors, including the Sandy Hook families who sued him.

Mr Jones alleged The Onions bid was the result of fraud and collusion involving many of those families, the humour site and a court-appointed trustee who is overseeing the liquidation.

First United American Companies submitted a 3.5 million dollar (2.7 million) sealed bid, while The Onion offered 1.75 million dollars (1.3 million) in cash.

But The Onions bid also included a pledge by Sandy Hook families to forego some or all of the auction proceeds due to them giving other creditors a total of 100,000 dollars (79,400) more than they would receive under other bids.

The trustee, Christopher Murray, said that made The Onions proposal better for creditors and he named it the winning bid. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Mr Jones and First United American Companies claimed that the bid violated Mr Lopezs rules for the auction by including multiple entities and lacking a valid dollar amount.

Mr Jones also alleged Mr Murray improperly cancelled an expected round of live bidding and only selected among the sealed bids that were submitted.

Mr Jones called the auction rigged and a fraud on his show, which airs on the Infowars website, radio stations and his X account.

In a court filing, Mr Murray called the allegations a disappointed bidders improper attempt to influence an otherwise fair and open auction process.

Mr Lopezs September order on the auction procedures made a live bidding round optional.

It gave broad authority to Mr Murray to conduct the sale, including the power to reject any bid, no matter how high, that was contrary to the best interests of Mr Jones, his company and their creditors.

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But at a November 14 hearing, Mr Lopez said he was concerned about the process and transparency.

Were all going to an evidentiary hearing and Im going to figure out exactly what happened, he said. No one should feel comfortable with the results of this auction.

The assets of Infowars parent company, Free Speech Systems, that were up for sale included the Austin studio, Infowars video archive, video production equipment, product trademarks, and Infowars websites and social media accounts.

Mr Jones is appealing the 1.5 billion dollar (1.19 billion) in judgments citing free speech rights but has acknowledged that the school shooting happened.

Mr Jones has brought in millions of dollars a year in revenue by hawking nutritional supplements, clothing, survival gear and other merchandise from his Infowars Store website, according to court documents.

Many of Mr Jones personal assets, including real estate as well as guns and other personal belongings, also are being sold as part of the bankruptcy.
The French Laundry chef Thomas Keller, photographed in 2014, announced on Instagram that his Wine Country restaurant La Calenda will soon close. Russell Yip/The Chronicle Bottles of tequila and sugar skulls in the wine room at La Calenda restaurant in Yountville. The restaurants last day of service is Dec. 1. Michael Short/Special to the Chronicle The Tacos de Pescado: fried fish, chipotle mayo, cilantro, cabbage, lime, at La Calenda restaurant in Yountville. The restaurant from chef and restaurateur Thomas Keller will close soon. Michael Short/Special to the Chronicle

La Calenda, lauded restaurateur and chef Thomas Kellers Mexican restaurant in Yountville, will soon close.

Keller announced the decision on Instagram, saying it was too difficult to make the restaurant viable after this years economic downturn in Napa Valley and a lack of local traffic.

The open kitchen area at La Calenda restaurant in Yountville on Feb. 27, 2019. Michael Short/Special to The Chronicle

We made meaningful memories for our guests, and by striving every day to exceed our high standards, we impacted the culinary landscape. We made a dream of mine and Chef Kaelin Ulrich Trillings, a reality, the post reads, going on to thank staff, customers and partners.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

A representative for the restaurant was not immediately available to comment.

La Calenda, ranked among the top Napa Valley restaurants, opened at the former Hurleys space in 2019, a short distance from Kellers landmark restaurant the French Laundry and other ventures like Ad Hoc and Bouchon Bistro.

The first Mexican restaurant from Keller featured dishes like chicken in a Oaxacan mole negro made with over 30 ingredients, grilled fish marinated in hoja santa, and a pork jowl in a green mole, which former Chronicle restaurant critic Soleil Ho called fully realized and beautiful to look at. La Calenda also produced some of the Bay Areas finest fish tacos.

Pork jowl in mole verde at La Calenda restaurant in Yountville. The restaurant will close in the coming days. Michael Short/Special to the Chronicle

The restaurants final day of service will be Dec. 1.
Raw TV series pulls back the curtain on the IRA and the murder of Jean McConville New Disney+ series focuses on Dolours Price, her life in the IRA and her role with the so-called disappeared Each episode features a denial from Gerry Adams that he had any involvement with the IRA Jean McConvilles family have mixed feelings on how the program portrays what happened to her

The murder of Jean McConville is notorious - even by the standards of the Troubles.

The IRAs decision to kidnap her in front of her children, to kill her and secretly bury her continues to cause pain, and controversy.

Those events form one of the main plotlines of the television series Say Nothing - along with the disappearance of Kevin McKee, Seamus Wright and Joe Lynskey.

Ciaran Dunbar is joined by Belfast Telegraph reporter Kurtis Reid, who has reviewed the show, and Allison Morris, who features in the final episode, to talk about her real-life encounter with Dolours Price.
Pub review: If Havana good night is the plan, then this Belfast bar is the place

Latin influences on the menu and the cocktail list at one of Belfasts biggest and best barsRevolucion de Cuba, 25-39 Arthur Street, Belfast

Revolucion de Cuba is renowned for cocktails and tapas

Edwin McFee Mon 25 Nov 2024 at 07:45







At the time of writing its currently frostier than Rebekah Vardys house when Im A Celeb is on, so this week I decided to track down a bar which would offer some much-needed escapism.
Gillian Anderson back in town to shoot Troubles thriller based on book she loved

Four-part Trespasses adapted from novel by NI author Louise Kennedy

Gillian Anderson on the red carpet in LA earlier this year

David O'Dornan Mon 25 Nov 2024 at 07:11







Hollywood came to Holywood with Gillian Anderson  star of The X Files, Scoop and The Fall  taking on her latest role.
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.
GREAT BARRINGTON  Firefighters in Great Barrington and Sheffield responded overnight Sunday to multiple calls about fire flareups but determined they were inside the wildfire containment area and that the flames are not spreading.

At a 10:30 a.m. Monday update about the now-contained Butternut Fire, authorities asked that the public be vigilant, especially during the day, if you notice flames, please feel free to report them by calling 413-528-0788, Extension 8."

If anyone sees flames outside this containment area or a home or property is immediately threatened, they are urged to call 911.

Meanwhile, as officials continue to map and monitor the fire on East Mountain and its perimeter, Great Barrington Police are investigating who may have started it. They have a number of leads they are following, Police Chief Paul Storti told The Eagle Monday morning.

We have some information that we are investigating or following up on, Storti said.

Storti is also looking into who made a fire on the deck of the closed Brookside Road bridge several days before the wildfire started on the mountain above it. Due to the severe drought that eventually added fuel to the fire, Great Barrington has had a strict outdoor fire ban since early November that is still in force. Firefighters said the fire was human-caused.

Signs of the fire began late Monday night, when residents saw flames and smoke on the mountain and starting calling 911.

By midnight and into early Tuesday the fire spread from 10 acres to more than 1,300 as of Friday. On Wednesday smoke traveled across the county and even set a haze over Pittsfield. Residents were warned about breathing the smoke.

Firefighter crews from near and far dug and cleared a perimeter fire line break around the fire area that would stop or extinguish flames when they ran into dirt and had nothing to ignite.

For one Sheffield resident, that break stopped 75 yards away from their home. The fire also traveled perilously close to residents in several areas of Great Barrington.

Crews continued to extend the fire break, as well as map the fire by land and air.

On Monday some of that work continues. Firefighters and forestry crews from multiple Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation districts have joined the local DCR crew in reinforcing the perimeter of the fire, mapping, and additional monitoring, the Monday morning update said.

Authorities also are continuing to monitor air quality, which in Great Barrington on Monday morning, was rated satisfactory with little to no risk, according to real-time data from air quality website, Purple Air.

The update from Great Barrington also noted that the wildfire command post was moved over the weekend from the Fairgrounds to Ski Butternut for logistical and communication reasons.

Firefighters continue to express gratitude for the community support for fire, police and other crews. They are also grateful to each other.

"Tell me you are a great big family without telling me you are a family," said a Facebook post by the Great Barrington Fire Department in response to a post from the Egremont Fire Department about Egremont firefighters taking over at the Great Barrington station.

The Egremont department stood on alert there from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on Saturday night "so the members of GBFD can take a much needed night off and be with [their families] and get some much needed rest."

People are urged, for their safety, to stay away from the entire fire area despite the fire being under control.

The entire fire area is dangerous to be in, the update said. This reaffirms the need for everyone to STAY CLEAR of the area.
GREAT BARRINGTON  Officials on Sunday were keeping a close eye on potential hot spots and flare-ups from the Butternut Fire, as conditions grew drier from the weekend rain.

In an update via Facebook on Sunday afternoon, the Great Barrington Fire Department wrote that it was receiving assistance from the Massachusetts State Police Air Wing to identify potential hot spots via helicopter using infrared imaging from above. Officials said the fire appeared contained on Saturday, but will continue monitoring the area closely until further notice.

The department wrote that some hot spots were expected from the fire, which has burned more than 1,300 acres on East Mountain since it started Monday, and patrols would continue throughout the night to monitor them. Windy conditions over the weekend were expected to cause some flare-ups, but the department assured residents that they were not cause for panic.

In addition to the State Police helicopter, the Monterey fire tower was also staffed Sunday to watch the fire area. As of 3:15 p.m. Sunday, crews at the fire tower did not observe any smoke.

Earlier in the day, an update from the town fire department said that operations are continuing on a smaller scale today, with a focus on monitoring. The response team has adopted a defensive/protective approach, according to the release, but will shift to structural firefighting equipment and personnel if the fire approaches any residential areas.

The update goes on to warn residents that they may see or hear falling trees in the affected area while the fire is ongoing, and reiterated the need to give it a wide berth.

This entire area is unstable at best, the update reads. This reaffirms the need for everyone to STAY CLEAR of the area.

The department asked residents to remain vigilant, and report any flames they see in the affected area to 413-528-0788, Ext. 8. Any residents who believe that people or property could be in danger, or who see fire outside the known involved area, should call 911.

The response teams command post will be moved to Ski Butternut, the ski resort on nearby Warner Mountain, for logistical reasons, the department said. The ski resort has not been impacted by the fire, the department said in its update. It was chosen to allow for easier access and better communication among first responders.
Stewart Edelstein, a Stockbridge resident, is author of several books, including Dubious Doublets: A Delightful Compendium of Unlikely Word Pairs of Common Origin, from Aardvark/Porcelain to Zodiac/Whiskey, The Covid-19 Zeitgeist: Fifty Essays, and An Alphabetical Romp Through the Flora of Berkshire Botanical Garden from Agave to Zinnia.
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Barbara Taylor Bradford was a prolific author whose debut book A Woman Of Substance is one of the best-selling novels of all-time, having sold more than 30 million copies since its publication in 1979.

The writer, who died on Sunday at the age of 91, wrote 40 novels, all of which became best-sellers. Her last book, The Wonder Of It All, was published in November last year.

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Her books have sold more than 91 million copies and have been published in more than 40 languages and in 90 countries.

Taylor Bradford is best-known for the novel A Woman Of Substance (Caroll Taveras/Bradford Enterprises/PA)

A Woman Of Substance, the story of a woman who launches her own retail empire after starting out as a maid, was part of her Emma Harte Saga, which spawned eight books, concluding with 2021s A Man Of Honour.

The saga was adapted for a three-part TV mini-series for Channel 4 in 1985, starring Liam Neeson with Jenny Seagrove as Emma Harte, it received two Emmy nominations.

A Man Of Honour was a prequel to her debut, which started five years before the original and follows the fortunes of Blackie ONeill, who leaves Co Kerry for Leeds to build a better life, and meets kitchen maid Emma.

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Other series include The Ravenscar Trilogy (2006 to 2008), The Cavendon Chronicles (2014 to 2017) and The House Of Falconer (2018 to 2023), and standalone novels such as Love In Another Town (1995).

As many as 10 of her novels were adapted for TV, some produced by her husband Robert E Bradford.

Born in Leeds in 1933, her father, Winston Taylor, was an engineer who had lost a leg in the First World War.

As a child during the Second World war she held a jumble sale at her nursery school, where a fellow pupil was author Alan Bennett, and donated the 2 proceeds to the Aid to Russia fund.

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She received a letter from Clementine Churchill, the wife of then-prime minister Winston Churchill.

Taylor Bradford began her career on the Yorkshire Evening Post (Bradford Enterprises/PA)

Her older brother, Vivian, died of meningitis before she was born, and she described her mother, Freda Taylor, as having put all her frustrated love into me in an interview with the Guardian.

She later fictionalised her parents marriage in the 1986 book An Act Of Will.

Taylor Bradfords writing career began at the age of 15, as a typist, and later a reporter for the Yorkshire Evening Post. She moved to London, where she eventually became the fashion editor of Womans Own magazine and a columnist for the London Evening News.

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She went on to write an interior decoration column syndicated to 183 newspapers, and returned to the subject later in her career for a number of non-fiction books.

She also published non-fiction books such as Bradfords Living Romantically Every Day, Etiquette To Please Him and A Garland Of Childrens Verse.

In 1961 she met film and television producer Bradford on a blind date, and they were married in London on Christmas Eve 1963, and moved to New York in 1964. They remained together for 55 years until he died, after a stroke, in July 2019.

After starting and ditching several attempts at a novel, she hit the big time at the age of 46 when A Woman Of Substance was published, making her an overnight success.

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Taylor Bradford was made an OBE as part of the Queens 2007 birthday honours, for her services to literature, and has received honorary doctorates from Leeds University, the University of Bradford, Mount St Marys College, Sienna College and Post University.

Her original manuscripts are archived at Leeds Universitys Brotherton Library, beside those of the Bronte sisters, whose books Taylor Bradford read as a child.

In 2017, she was recognised as one of 90 Great Britons to commemorate Queen Elizabeth IIs 90th birthday.

Taylor Bradford also published three Christian books, Childrens Stories Of Jesus From The New Testament, Childrens Stories Of The Bible From The Old Testament and Childrens Stories Of The Bible From The Old And New Testaments.

A spokeswoman for Taylor Bradford announced her death on Monday, saying she died at home after a short illness, and that after a private funeral in New York she would be buried alongside her husband at the citys Westchester Hills Cemetery.
A review of governance procedures in Sinn Fein prompted by child safeguarding concerns should deliver a report before Christmas, party president Mary Lou McDonald has said.

The party has been beset by a series of controversies in recent months, regarding allegations of inappropriate behaviour involving party members and elected representatives.

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Last month, party president Ms McDonald announced a complete overhaul of the partys governance procedures, as she apologised for its handling of a sex crime investigation into a former press officer.

Michael McMonagle, 43, from Limewood Street in Derry, was sentenced at Derry Crown Court to nine months in custody and nine months under statutory supervision, after pleading guilty to a series of child sex offences.

Former Sinn Fein press officer Michael McMonagle was jailed last month (Liam McBurney/PA)

The case plunged Sinn Fein into controversy as the party faced questions about safeguarding, and how two other party press officers provided references for McMonagle, while he was under police investigation, for a subsequent job with the British Heart Foundation.

On the Pat Kenny show on Newstalk, Ms McDonald denied a suggestion that the review had become chaotic.

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She added: We had a series of challenging events which had to be dealt with.

In the course of that, and I would say in each of those cases, I ensured accountability and consequences for people whose behaviour was not up to standard.

In the course of that, a number of gaps in our oversight mechanisms emerged and as the leader of the party I have moved to correct that.

I will, I hope, have a report back from that process this side of Christmas.

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Ms McDonald also said she had not watched the Disney+ show Say Nothing, which portrays the murder and secret burial of Jean McConville by the IRA in 1972.

She was asked if she believed she should watch the show, which features actor Josh Finan as Gerry Adams, the former Sinn Fein leader.

Jean McConville was abducted and secretly buried in 1972 (Family handout/PA)

Ms McDonald said: No, I dont believe so.

I think what people recognise is that now in the year 2024, heading into 2025, 26 years on from the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, entire generations have been born and have grown up on an island that is peaceful.

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I think that is something to be celebrated. I take great heart and great pride in that, and the past has to be acknowledged, but the past is the past.

Despite persistent allegations, Adams has always denied being a member of the IRA or having any involvement in the abduction and murder of Ms McConville.

In 2014, he was arrested by detectives investigating the murder. He was questioned for four days before being released without charge.
CCTV footage has emerged of an American woman who was allegedly murdered by an Irish man walking hand-in-hand just hours prior to her death.

Mackenzie Michalski (31) who was on holiday in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, was last seen at a nightclub in the city on Tuesday, November 5th, and was listed as missing by Budapest Police Headquarters later that day.

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It is understood that Ms Michalski, who is originally from western New York, had travelled from Portland, Oregon in the US, and was last seen near Szimpla Kert, known as the party district in the city, at around 10pm.

The nurse practitioner had been travelling throughout Europe with a female friend and Hungary was their last stop. The two separated for the last night of their trip.

The 37-year-old Irish man, who works in marketing, has allegedly admitted to killing Ms Michalski accidentally after becoming intimate at a rented apartment.

The arrested man allegedly informed police after his arrest that he attempted to conceal her body in a suitcase along with her handbag and credit card, which he transported her in the boot of his rental car to a marshy area in Szigliget in Western Hungary.

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The Hungarian news website RTL Klub has obtained CCTV footage which details the last hours of the dead woman and the Irish man and shows the two walking together holding hands and entering a lift together.

The accused mans lawyer said the American womans post-mortem results will clarify the situation in favour of his client.

The nurses mother, Jill Burek Michalski, revealed that the Hungarian Police have worked tirelessly for her daughter, arresting her alleged murderer and still continue their diligent investigation.

Mrs Michalski revealed that the family had met with the head of homicide several times to keep them informed.

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She noted: We were treated with kindness and compassion during our eight-day stay in Budapest.

Ireland Scammer posing as interested buyer stole BMW car f... Read More

However, Mrs Michalski highlighted that one important point needs to be clarified. Based on all available evidence reviewed during consultation with the Hungarian Police, our daughters death was in no way accidental, despite claims to the contrary. It was a deliberate and violent murder.

After our encouraging interactions with the Hungarian Police and other authorities, we remain hopeful that Kenzies killer will be held responsible for his crimes to the fullest extent of the law.

The dead womans funeral arrangements are yet to be announced.

Friends of the missing woman have set-up a gofundme.com fundraising campaign titled Bring Mackenzie Michalski Home, which has to date raised more than 43,000.
The festive period can be a tricky time of year for many reasons, but if you have a particular penchant for clothes, the urge to overspend is near impossible to ignore.

As were bombarded with gift guides, limited edition drops and tantalising sales  the pressure to spend is at an all-time high.

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So, therapists and financial experts give their advice on how to handle a shopping addiction this Christmas  without racking up debt.

Do you have a shopping addiction?

Its easy to go on a Black Friday shopping spree and convince yourself you have a shopping addiction  but its important to distinguish between harmless holiday excitement and compulsive spending.

A shopping addiction is the compulsion to spend money on superfluous things whether you have the means or not. You should ask yourself whether youre being secretive about buying goods, impulse buying then not returning goods, or window shopping without intent to buy, then doing so anyway.

Shopping addictions impact between 8-16% of the population and is increasing (Alamy/PA)

Compulsive shopping is on the up, and it is believed that compulsive spending affecting 8-16% of the UK population.

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With most people now doing their Christmas shopping online, this can make it even harder to resist overspending. The digital shopping environment, with its low self-regulation, makes it difficult for individuals to control their urges, says Priory therapist Pamela Roberts. A recent study highlights how smartphones, in particular, facilitate shopping addiction and lead to debt-related issues as a direct result.

Practical strategies to try

When it comes to online shopping, your email inbox is undoubtedly spammed with Cyber Monday deals and Christmas price cuts. Roberts recommends downloading ad-blocked plug-ins for your browser and cancelling email promotion subscriptions.

Roberts recommends blocking ad pop-ups (Alamy/PA)

She also suggests deleting shopping apps and resetting your browser cookies to stop enticing tailored ads.Unlike physical shopping, there are no limits to online shopping  the choice is endless, there are no time restrictions and transactions are anonymous, she explains.

This creates a perceived psychological distance between consumers and sellers, especially where monetary transactions are concerned. Combined, studies have shown how this makes for a far more complex decision-making environment for consumers.

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How to handle over-shopping for friends and family

Setting boundaries that are mutually agreed on between all recipients is crucial to stop guilt and accidental over-spending.

Leyton suggests Secret Santa to avoid overspending (Alamy/PA)

Pitch things like Secret Santa to your family, which means each person has to buy just one gift instead of several; avoiding the last-minute temptation to throw money at relatives you may not know well enough to be thoughtful, says co-host of the Spendology podcast, Vix Leyton.

How to stick to a budget

Your Christmas shopping plan may just be a list of names with gift ideas tagged alongside them. If this is the case, a crucial piece missing is a price point.

Budgeting is important for planning festive spending, regardless of whether you have a shopping addiction. Setting limits allows you to buy and gift safely without a financial hangover in January, says Money Wellness director of external relations, Sebrina McCullough.

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Having a budget in place is crucial to prevent overspending (Alamy/PA)

Start your budget by setting aside what you have left over from bills and use this as your Christmas spending fund. Four million Brits (8%) relied on credit to cover Christmas spending last year and, as a result, were paying it off well into 2024. Therefore, avoid the temptation to spend extra on credit cards or buy now, pay later.

Both McCullough and Roberts emphasise the importance of planning, Plan ahead before you hit the shops so youre not easily distracted and spend more. says McCullough, And aim to get your dopamine hit by making savings as opposed to purely shopping. Seek out deals on the gifts you want and check out different supermarkets for offers on Christmas food and drink.

Dealing with shame and guilt

With constant stimuli and triggers to overspend during the festive period, youre bound to have setbacks, but accepting them and identifying the emotional trigger is key.

Any addiction, including shopping, is a way of dealing with negative emotions, explains Roberts. These can be the result of numerous factors, such as the struggles associated with work pressures, relationship issues or even past trauma. The instant high and mood boost that shopping creates can repress, or numb these emotions and detract from the root cause.

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If youve overspent you need to acknowledge it, therapists advise (Alamy/PA)

Roberts says its important to know that shame takes on various forms and identifying that is crucial. Healthy shame helps us identify when we are not aligning ourselves with our own moral principles and values, and can be extremely useful, she explains. Toxic shame is loaded with judgmentalism. Guilt also can be a useful way to identify that we are doing or not doing something that matters to us.

What to do if you overspend

To start with, it might be useful to have an accountability buddy. Having someone to check on cost versus affordability and whether youre being overly generous or mean.

To help move away from overspending towards more healthy buying patterns, Roberts suggests setting a sustainable goal, Use the A B C D idea  Awareness, Breathe, Check the Facts then Decide how to act. It is adapted from Andrew Seubert and his book The Courage to Feel.

Ultimately, overspending shouldnt be at the forefront of your mind at Christmas time.

Enjoy Christmas for what it is: A chance to spend time with loved ones being grateful for all you have  even without all the bells and whistles, says McCullough, because worrying about debt and living in fear of not being able to make payments is far worse. It can be all-consuming and impact your mental and physical health.
At least 16 people are missing after a tourist yacht sank in the Red Sea following warnings about rough weather, Egyptian officials said.

The governor of the Red Sea region, Amr Hanafy, said rescuers saved 28 people from the vessel south of the coastal town of Marsa Alam, and some were airlifted to receive medical treatment.

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A total of 44 people were on board the yacht, including 13 Egyptians, who include crew members, and 31 foreign nationals from the United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Poland, Belgium, Switzerland, Finland, China, Slovakia, Spain and Ireland.



(PA Graphics)

Mr Hanafy confirmed that rescuers were still searching for the missing, including four Egyptians and 12 foreigners. Meanwhile, those who survived suffered only bruises and abrasions and were taken to a hotel in Marsa Alam in good condition.

The boat, named Sea Story, had no technical problems, obtained all required permits prior to the trip, and was last checked for naval safety in March, according to officials.

Preliminary reports, based on statements from the yacht crew and tourists, said a large wave crashed into the boat, causing it to capsize, according to the governorates update. Some of the passengers were inside the cabins when the incident unfolded within minutes, according to the statements.

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The UK Foreign Office said it was providing consular support to a number of British nationals and their families after the sinking.



Rescuers wait on the beach of Marsa Alam, Egypt, after a tourist yacht sank in the Red Sea (AP Photo)

Irelands Department of Foreign Affairs also told The Associated Press in an email that it is aware of this incident and is providing consular assistance without revealing further details.

Spains Foreign Ministry said it was not aware of any Spanish nationals among the missing. The ministry said that five Spanish nationals were rescued and are out of danger.

The governorate received a report shortly before dawn on Monday of a distress call made from the yacht, which had left Marsa Alam for a five-day journey.

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It was not immediately clear what caused the wooden-hulled motor yacht to sink. On Saturday, the Egyptian Meteorological Authority warned about turbulence and high waves on the Red Sea and advised against maritime activity on Sunday and Monday.

The firm that operates the yacht, Dive Pro Liveaboard in Hurghada, Egypt, said it has no information on the matter.

The Egyptian military is co-ordinating rescue operations with the governorate.

Many tourist companies have stopped or limited travelling on the Red Sea due to the dangers from conflicts in the region.
Berkeley Mayor-elect Adena Ishiis campaign platform focused on local issues such as housing, climate change and street safety. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

Think of the city of Berkeley and youre likely to conjure images of radical protest  students occupying university buildings for free speech or jamming the streets to oppose a foreign war.

Of course, that spirit is alive and well in Berkeley; the steps at Sproul Hall are routinely filled with banners and bullhorns, and the voice of free-speech movement leader Mario Savio still echoes down Strawberry Creek.

But the recent election of a new outsider mayor, Adena Ishii, and the overwhelming success of a major safe streets ballot measure are signs that the nature of Berkeley-style activism is changing.

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Ishiis rise to become Berkeleys new mayor marks a decisive shift for the city. And it also offers a lesson in how local organizing and activism can maintain steady progress in spite of setbacks at the national level.

In her campaign, Ishii built her platform on a commitment to addressing the top-tier local issues of housing, climate and street safety. She met extensively with local, pro-housing activists, along with groups like Walk Bike Berkeley, North Berkeley Now and Berkeley Neighbors for Housing and Climate Action.

Five years ago, none of these groups existed. But theyve become a political force amid a surge in traffic violence in Berkeley that has gone largely unaddressed for years. These groups now count thousands of Berkeley residents among their members. In a city of 120,000, such a dedicated and growing group of voters and activists is a political force not to be ignored.

But that is exactly what Ishiis opponent, Berkeley City Council Member Sophie Hahn, did.

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Its rare for candidates for local office in a city like Berkeley to offer so much contrast, but in this case, the choice was crystal clear.

Hahn cut her political teeth trying to block the citys Downtown Plan, which dramatically increased the number and building height limit of homes that could be built in the area to the east and west of Shattuck Street through the downtown corridor. This plan was not only approved by voters  twice  but is also almost single-handedly responsible for the explosion of new housing (and reduction in rents) in the downtown area.

Hahns opposition to housing was well-established by the time she announced her candidacy for mayor. But the final straw for local activists was Hahns back-handed and successful efforts to block a bike lane on Hopkins Street.

That project would have removed a handful of parking spots to improve safety for pedestrians and people on bikes  many of whom are kids on their way to school or seniors going to the market. But Hahn sided with a small but vocal neighborhood group that argued the bike lane would harm property values, even going so far as to claim it would destroy the neighborhood.

In a city like Berkeley  with arguably more climate scientists and activists per square mile than any city in the United States  most folks understand that more housing, safer streets and climate action are not separate goals. The No. 1 cause of climate pollution in Berkeley is personal vehicles, and because of the housing shortage, car traffic is increasing as more workers and students commute to Berkeley from other locales. So, any local effort to address pollution has to include more homes, while also making the alternatives to driving safer, easier and more attractive.

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While Hahns explanation for the election results is that voters had anti-incumbent fever, this doesnt hold up; other incumbents rolled to reelection. Hahn simply missed the signals of whats actually happening in Berkeley.

In September, activists with Walk Bike Berkeley commissioned a survey of Berkeley voters. The findings were astonishing:

Fully 73% of Berkeley residents support expanding safe biking infrastructure, with majorities across all demographics backing such initiatives. Even among those who dont ride bikes, 57% support expanding bike lanes. Nearly two-thirds of residents said safety from traffic or crashes is very important when deciding how to get around.

This widespread support for safer streets played a key role in Ishiis victory. While Hahn branded herself as a dedicated opponent of safe streets, Ishii leaned in, and in so doing won support from diverse voters who wanted leadership that prioritized safety and sustainability.

Meanwhile, the success of Measure FF  which will raise millions of dollars for safe street interventions across the city  reflects this growing consensus. Ishii made Measure FF a centerpiece of her campaign; Hahn not only opposed Measure FF, but backed Measure EE, a spoiler measure by the opponents of Hopkins Street bike lanes that would all but have prohibited safe streets investments.

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Ishiis victory, and the success of Measure FF, highlight the critical role of local organizing in city elections. But they also point to the need for a more pragmatic understanding of, and approach to, the role of local government  and what it can, and cannot, do.

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

In too many cases, local activists expect their city to end foreign wars, conquer the fossil fuel industry and restructure the global economy. Thats not what cities do. They approve (or block) new housing, paint crosswalks and bike lanes, and pick up the trash. They determine how safe, or unsafe, the streets will be.
The Israeli ambassador to Washington has said a ceasefire deal to end fighting between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah could be reached within days.

Ambassador Mike Herzog told Israeli Army Radio that there remained points to finalise and that any deal required agreement from the government.

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But he said we are close to a deal and that it can happen within days.

Israeli officials said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus security Cabinet is set to convene on Tuesday to discuss a proposed ceasefire.

Among the issues that remain is an Israeli demand to reserve the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations under the emerging deal. The deal seeks to push Hezbollah and Israeli troops out of southern Lebanon.



There is hope for a ceasefire deal (AP)

Hezbollah did not adhere to a UN resolution that ended the 2006 war between the sides that made similar provisions, and Israel has concerns that it could stage a Hamas-style cross-border attack from southern Lebanon if it maintains a heavy presence there.

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Lebanon says Israel also violated the 2006 resolution.

It is not clear whether Lebanon would agree to the demand.

The optimism surrounding a deal comes after a top US envoy held talks between the sides last week in a bid to clinch an agreement.

Hezbollah began attacking Israel on October 8 2023, a day after Hamas raid on southern Israel, setting off more than a year of fighting. That escalated into all-out war in September with massive Israeli air strikes in Lebanon and later an Israeli ground incursion into the countrys south.

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Civilians have counted the cost of the bombardment (AP)

Hezbollah has fired thousands of rockets into Israeli cities and towns, including some 250 on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Irans supreme leader has suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be sentenced to death for his role in the ongoing wars in the Gaza Strip against Hamas and in Lebanon.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the remarks during an event in which he spoke to members of the Basij, the all-volunteer arm of Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

Khamenei referenced the International Criminal Courts decision to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Israels former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

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What the Zionist regime did in Gaza and Lebanon is not a victory, it is a war crime. Now they have issued a warrant for their arrest. This is not enough, Khamenei said, according to remarks published by the state-run IRNA news agency.



Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for a death sentence for Israeli leaders (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

Netanyahu and the criminal leaders of this regime must be sentenced to death.

The International Criminal Court at the Hague does not issue death sentences.

Khamenei also insisted those in Irans self-described Axis of Resistance, like the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanons Hezbollah, would be stronger after the war.

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The idiots should not think that bombing houses and hospitals in Gaza and Lebanon is a victory, he said. The enemy has not become the winner in Gaza and Lebanon, and it will not be the winner.
A DHL cargo plane has crashed into a house near the Lithuanian capital, killing a Spanish crewmember.

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The head of the countrys police said plane crashed shortly before landing at Vilnius airport on Monday morning.

The cargo aircraft was carrying four people when it crashed at 5.30am local time (3.30am GMT).

Police have yet to rule out terrorism, but the Prime Minister urged people not to indulge in speculation (AP)

One person, a Spanish citizen, was declared dead and the other three crew members  who were Spanish, German and Lithuanian citizens  were injured, Lithuanian police said.

The circumstances of the accident are still being investigated.

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The person who was killed was a member of the flight crew but not a pilot, officials said. Firefighters freed two pilots from the cockpit, one of whom was more seriously injured, according to the General Commissioner of the Lithuanian Police Arunas Paulauskas.

He said that investigators were considering possible causes including technical failure and human error, and have not ruled out the possibility of a terrorist act.

Prime minister Ingrida Simonyte cautioned against speculation, saying investigators needed time to do their job.

The responsible agencies are working diligently, Ms Simonyte said.

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I urge everyone to have confidence in the investigating authorities ability to conduct a thorough and professional investigation within an optimal timeframe.

Only these investigations will uncover the true causes of the incident  speculation and guesswork will not help establish the truth.

The plane came down about a mile short of the runway, authorities said (AP)

Police Commissioner-General Renatas Pozela said of the plane: It fell a few kilometres before the airport, it just skidded for a few hundred metres. Its debris somewhat caught a residential house.

Residential infrastructure around the house was on fire, and the house was slightly damaged, but we managed to evacuate people.

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The Lithuanian airport authority identified the aircraft as a DHL cargo plane flying from Leipzig, Germany, to Vilnius Airport.

Ms Simonyte said after meeting with rescue officials: Thankfully, despite the crash occurring in a residential area, no lives have been lost among the local population.

At least one person was killed (AP)

Flight-tracking data from FlightRadar24 showed the aircraft made a turn to the north of the airport, lining up for landing, before crashing a little more than a mile short of the runway.

Authorities did not immediately offer a cause for the crash. Weather at the airport was around freezing temperature, with clouds before sunrise and winds of around 18mph.

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Weather at Vilnius International Airport was around freezing temperatures, with clouds before sunrise.

Investigations into the crash are continuing (AP)

DHL Group, headquartered in Bonn, Germany, did not immediately return a call for comment.

The DHL aircraft was operated by Swiftair, a Madrid-based contractor. The carrier could not be immediately reached.

The Boeing 737 was 31 years old, which is considered by experts to be an older airframe, though that Is not unusual for cargo flights.
I am driving my tween to school, and we are listening to his music.

Yeah, you try to come wrong bout this shit, we poppin ya tires, hol up fein- fein-fein-fein 

I am trying so hard not to sound like a Boomer right now. (I was born in 1971, so Im classic Gen X, but you get my drift.) I hold my tongue. But I cannot help but compare this to what I was listening to at his age.

What was I listening to? Music that protested against poverty and injustice. Music that demanded change, demanded that we part with our cash because people were starving in Africa.
Kendrick Lamar, GNX

One of the funniest things to ever happen in rap unfolded earlier this year when Drake thought he stood a chance beefing with Kendrick Lamar. Starting in late March, the pair traded diss tracks, which reached an apex with Lamars Not Like Us.

Fire and funk: Kendrick Lamars on his victory lap on GNX.

Released less than 20 hours after Lamars ruthless Meet the Grahams, Not Like Us  with its viral tryna strike a chord and its probably a minor taunt  became Kendricks most successful solo song to date and his first to debut at number one, breaking Drakes Spotify record for most-streamed hip-hop track in a day. Earlier this month, it was even nominated for a record of the year Grammy.

That rivalrys been well and truly buried following the surprise release of Lamars sixth album, GNX. Not Like Us is missing from its tracklist (Drake doesnt even get a name-drop on the new album), but GNX is Lamars middle finger in the rearview mirror.
Grant Howard has been a coal miner since he left school in Wollongong 44 years ago. At the weekend he was arrested at a protest, trying to hasten the end of his industry.

Howard was one of 170 people arrested for paddling out to blockade the Port of Newcastle, the largest coal port in the world, in what NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley described as a dangerous and volatile situation.

The protest, organised by Rising Tide, demanded an end to new coal and gas approvals and the imposition of a 78 per cent tax on coal and gas exports to fund the energy transition.

Coal miner Grant Howard at Horseshoe Beach, the site of the Rising Tide protest. Credit: Dean Sewell

At 61, Howard is still a coal miner. He has worked in the Illawarra, the Hunter Valley, and now in the Bowen Basin in Queensland.
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Review Eating outCanberra This high-energy restaurant from a star Melbourne group has Canberra talking Melbournes Lucas Restaurants groups first Canberra venture, Carlotta, has pulled out all the stops, with a talented chef, wood-fired oven, open grill and house-made pasta. Terry Durack November 26, 2024 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

1 / 7 Carlottas vibe is a mix of downtown New York and Melbourne Italian. Dominic Lorrimer 2 / 7 Salumi misto di buffala with prosciutto, bresaola, mortadella and mozzarella. Dominic Lorrimer 3 / 7 Whipped ricotta, chilli and herb oil. Dominic Lorrimer 4 / 7 Lamb cutlets alla scottadito with salsa verde. Dominic Lorrimer 5 / 7 Dominic Lorrimer 6 / 7 Casarecce, spicy salsiccia and cherry tomato. Dominic Lorrimer 7 / 7 Go-to dish: Italian cherry and chocolate trifle, $16.50. Dominic Lorrimer Previous Slide Next Slide Good Food hat 15 / 20 How we score Mediterranean$$$$ The palate is a curious thing. Yes, it can detect the five basic tastes: salty, sweet, bitter, sour and savoury umami. But Ive found, over the years, that every chef leans in to each of these differently in terms of their preferences, and forms their own palate, which then drives the menu. And thats what makes life  and dining out  interesting. Carlotta is Melbournes Lucas Restaurants groups first Canberra venture, and it has pulled out all the stops, sending talented executive chef Mark Glenn to oversee the launch. Formerly of Cumulus Inc. and Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in Melbourne, hes been in Canberra before (at Pialligo Estate), and knows the territory. Salumi misto di buffala with prosciutto, bresaola, mortadella and mozzarella. Dominic Lorrimer

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Theres a real Mediterranean-via-Melbourne vibe to his founding menu, but at heart, this is an Italian tratt, with its wood-fired oven, open grill and list of house-made pasta. Over a lunch and a dinner, I find the palate is punchy, bright, and lemony. Theres pillowy focaccia, stracciatella cheese with broad beans, prosciutto San Daniele and kingfish crudo. Crab spaghettini with lobster oil and chilli  molto umami. Slow-roast shoulder of lamb. Tiramisu. Wood-fired breads are the go, especially fragrant roast garlic flatbread ($11.50) and a fun focaccia di recco ($24.50) from Liguria; like a flattened pizza filled with runny squacquerone and provolone. Squacquerone is, of course, the best Italian cheese name ever, meaning watery in the local dialect, but also, charmingly, letting itself go. A mixed platter of fine prosciutto and soft mortadella benefits from a squishy, seasoned ball of Podere dei Leoni buffalo mozzarella ($36.50), which arrives from Italy weekly. Whipped ricotta is squiggled on a plate like a fat worm, drenched in vibrant green herb oil ($8.50), and sweet, fruity roast peppers speckled with Cantabrian anchovy ($11.50) are just as happy as a starter or side dish. Likewise, a fresh, fruity, floral 2023 Antonio Soave ($18) from the Veneto could act as an opener or stay the course. Lamb cutlets alla scottadito with salsa verde. Dominic Lorrimer Pasta is a good choice. Casarecce ($29.50) comes as an appealing muddle of short twists of pasta, beautifully cooked, with a rubble of pork and fennel sausage amplified by spicy nduja.

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Theres more than a touch of Melbournes Grill Americano to the long, lovely room, with its counters lined with stools, glamorous marble bar, wine cellar, and signature half-curtains along the windows. It also shares the high-energy momentum of Lucas-owned restaurants, especially at night, when it ramps up to party levels. Things get even more punchy, fruity, salty and lemony, with the grills. Roman-inspired Margra lamb cutlets ($49.50) alla scottadito (burn the fingers) are damn good; their crusted fat and tender seasoned meat yearning for a glass of the rich opulent Hentley Farm shiraz from the Barossa ($16). Go-to dish: Italian cherry and chocolate trifle, $16.50. Dominic Lorrimer Most mains, such as a vast buttermilk-brined and flattened chicken a la griglia ($55.50), are best to share, or can be too much of one thing. Fries are good ($12.50), thin and skin-tipped; my accompanying salad is overly salty. Its the year of the trifle, it seems, and a low-line glass coupette of chocolate and cherry ($16.50) channels a blackforest cake theme. Its a treasure trove of layered cherry jelly, Valrhona Hukambi chocolate creme, chocolate cake (divine), and braised cherries, iced with kisses of mascarpone and shavings of bittersweet chocolate.

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Carlotta is the first of two newbies from Chris Lucas, with a French bistro planned for May 2025 in the former Botswana Butchery site. Not that the local Canberra dining scene needs ring-ins from interstate, but Im of the mind that any good restaurant helps all other good restaurants. And it certainly has Canberra talking  and eating  it up. The low-down Vibe: Downtown New York/Melbourne Italian, shaken and stirred Go-to dish: Italian cherry and chocolate trifle, $16.50 Drinks: Italian cocktails and classy European and Australian list with Super Tuscans by the glass Cost: About $175 for two, plus drinks
We bring you the stories of womens lives lost in Australia in recent years. Some of the cases featured are still before the courts.

Warning: Graphic content

The father of a pregnant Sydney woman murdered by her husband before her body was placed in a bath of acid has told a court her killer burned the very face he used to talk to and kiss, as her mother spoke of now stroking the grass by her daughters grave instead of her hair.

Arnima Hayat, 19, was killed by Meraj Zafar in their North Parramatta unit on the night of January 29, 2022.

Arnima Hayat was murdered by her husband Meraj Zafar. Credit: Facebook

Zafar pleaded guilty to murder in May, two weeks before he was due to face trial in the NSW Supreme Court. The 23-year-old appeared via video link for his sentence hearing on Monday, which coincided with International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
The child who died after hours alone in a parked car in north Queensland yesterday has been identified as a two-year-old girl.

Police were called to the vehicle on Rankin Street, Innisfail, about 1pm on Monday. The toddler was unresponsive and could not be revived.

Superintendent Mick Searle today said the car was in the parking lot of Cassowary Coast Regional Council chambers, but would not say if the parents were local government employees.

He also would not be drawn on the possibility of criminal charges.

The parents were at work and looking after their family, Searle told reporters.

Were now conducting a very complex and detailed investigation.

Theres further details that I just wont go into at this stage for the nature of the investigation to be preserved.
We bring you the stories of womens lives lost in Australia in recent years. Some of the cases featured are still before the courts.

A man accused of helping to dispose of a teenagers body in a fridge has been released back into the community with an ankle bracelet to restrict his movements.

Eyal Yaffes legal team successfully argued on Monday for their client to be granted bail under strict conditions including a $20,000 surety, a curfew, that he surrender his passport and not leave metropolitan Melbourne, and that he fund the electronic monitoring device designed to prevent him from going within 200 metres of the addresses of potential witnesses.

Granted bail: Eyal Yaffe is accused of covering up Isla Bells death. Credit: Facebook

Yaffe, 57, is accused of helping cover up the death of 19-year-old Brunswick teen Isla Bell at a St Kilda East apartment in October.

Yaffe allegedly moved a fridge containing Bells body to a number of addresses in Melbournes south-eastern suburbs, including Hampton and Caulfield South, before the teens remains were discovered at a Dandenong tip last week.
Opinion pieces from local writers exploring their suburbs cliches and realities and how it has changed in the past 20 years.

I like to tell myself that we made a very canny investment when we moved to Pascoe Vale South in 2002, buying a liveable period home close to the city and public transport, with a nice park at the end of the street.

But to be honest, the only reason we ended up here was because wed been priced out of Coburg (having previously been priced out of Brunswick). So with two kids about to start school, we made the trek west down Moreland Road  leaving our beloved Sydney Road far behind.

I dont like to brag, but we didnt just move to any old part of Pascoe Vale South. We moved to the prestigious Coonans Hill of Pascoe Vale South.

For those not well versed in the geography of the area, Coonans Hill is a slightly elevated patch that begins at Moreland and Melville roads. Two of the corners are in Brunswick West, one is in Coburg, and the fourth corner  the best one  is Coonans Hill, the jewel in Pascoe Vale Souths crown. Every suburb has its posh bit, and this is ours. Rising north from Moreland Road and ending around Shore Reserve, the Hill is filled mainly with pre- and interwar homes  and the occasional orange or brown brick veneer  like the joints on either side of us.
Ross, which has had a store in downtown San Francisco for nearly four decades, has renewed its lease to stay in its existing location. Noah Berger/Bloomberg

The longtime downtown San Francisco home of Ross Dress for Less may be up for sale, but the popular off-price retailer isnt going anywhere.

A company spokesperson confirmed that a lease renewal finalized in recent months has cemented Ross long-term commitment to its flagship downtown store at 799 Market St., an eight-story building at Fourth and Market streets that has housed the retailer for nearly four decades. The deal comes amid an effort by Ross to open a second store in a building one block over on Market Street.

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The spokesperson did not provide details on the new terms of the lease, but industry insiders confirmed that it is for 10 years and comes with two renewal options that could keep Ross at 799 Market through 2045. The building is being marketed for sale by real estate brokerage and investment bank Eastdil Secured, which declined to comment on the deal.

Ross occupies about 55,300 square feet across the first three stories and a lower level  or slightly over one-third of the building. The rest is office space, much of which is unoccupied. Airtable is one of the 799 Markets remaining tech tenants.

Owner ASB Investments paid just over $141 million for 799 Market in 2016, and is now reportedly seeking to sell it for around $50 million.

For lease signs continue to be a common sight in the Union Square shopping district and surrounding area, which has experienced significant occupancy losses over the past four years. The well-documented exodus of big department retailers from downtown has included brands such as Old Navy, the Gap and Nordstrom, all of which have abandoned large storefronts near Ross, which is one of the few chain department stores to announce expansion plans.

Real estate market participants familiar with the lease deal said that the stores solid performance contributed to the companys decision last year to lease roughly 40,000 square feet a block over at 901 Market St., reportedly an effort to take pressure off of its flagship store.

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Owned by Hudson Pacific Properties, the six-story building at the corner of Fifth and Market streets previously housed another off-price department store, Nordstrom Rack, on its lower levels. In May, retail giant Nordstrom announced that it would not renew its lease at 901 Market and planned to close its more than 300,000-square-foot Nordstrom store inside the former Westfield mall across the street.

Ross has yet to comment on its timeline for opening its second outpost at 901 Market, which was reported more than a year ago, but confirmed on Friday that it has a lease for the Saks space. Hudson Pacific declined comment.

Ross Stores executives said in a third quarter earnings call last week that total sales grew from $4.9 billion to $5.1 billion year over year, and that revenue from its stores increased by 1% in that period. Despite reporting solid gains in the first half of the year, CEO Barbara Rentler said that the company was disappointed with our third-quarter sales results as business slowed.

Although our low to moderate-income customers continue to face persistently high costs on necessities, pressuring discretionary spending, we believe we should have better executed some of our merchandising initiatives, she said, adding that a combination of severe weather over the quarter also negatively impacted sales.

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Western Australias environmental watchdog has decided to subject a $100 billion wind and solar project proposed for the state to a full public assessment process.

The Western Green Energy Hub would build 3000 wind turbines and six million solar panels across 35 farms to power production of hydrogen and ammonia, mostly for export, though potentially leaving some for local use.

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The project from multinational proponents would start at the South Australian border and stretch west along the Nullarbor Plain for hundreds of kilometres, reaching about 400 kilometres east of Kalgoorlie.

An infrastructure corridor is planned to the coast through the newly announced South Coast Marine Park including a marine offloading facility, desalination plant, brine pipeline and ammonia export pipeline.

When fully operational the proponent expects the workforce, family, and service-driven population of the area to exceed 8000. The Eucla population at the last Census was 37.

The Environmental Protection Authority received nearly 300 public submissions across seven days of initial public commentary earlier this month and based on these decided on a full public assessment.

Chair Darren Walsh said this would include a 10-week public consultation, lengthier than usual due to the proposals scale and potential impacts to marine and land animals and the Nullarbor Plains limestone cave system.

The proponents referral states about 95 per cent of the proposed 23,000-square-kilometre envelope will remain undisturbed and that it has been designed with considerable flexibility in mind. Chief executive Ray McDonald said on today that the proponents were fully aligned with this level of assessment which could inform its avoidance strategy and buffer zones.

Scientists remain worried about the potential impacts on the areas globally environmentally significant caves system and the increasing incidence of environmental destruction to make way for large-scale renewables projects in nature hotspots.

The EPA will next prepare a scoping document to outline the environmental review process.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has revealed the budget bottom line is getting worse ahead of the looming federal election, with warnings he faces a $27 billion blowout over the next four years amid growing insecurity caused by the economic agenda of US President-elect Donald Trump.

Analysts for Deloitte Access Economics estimate this years budget deficit, which Chalmers forecast in May to reach $28.3 billion, will be closer to $33.5 billion as commodity prices eat into company tax collections and inflation pushes up the costs of government services.

Jim Chalmers delivers the 2024-25 budget, forecasting a deficit of $28.3 billion. It could be closer to $33.5 billion. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

In May, Chalmers forecast cumulative deficits of $122.1 billion between the current financial year and 2027-28. Deloitte believes the deficits  which will be a key part of the economic debate during the election campaign  will total $149 billion.

Chalmers conceded on Monday that since the budget, the bottom line had worsened, attributing much of the deterioration to the slowdown in Chinas economy.
The energy market operator has warned of an elevated risk of blackouts across NSW as a week of hot weather approaches, exposing weaknesses in the grids reliability as Labor and the Coalition escalate their climate wars.

Expected higher electricity demand as temperatures soar will be exacerbated by four of the 12 power-generation units at the states ageing coal-fired plants being offline due to maintenance and breakdowns.

With temperatures forecast to remain at or above 30 degrees for three days, this could leave the grid short on power in parts of NSW and Queensland when residents switch on air-conditioning, particularly in the afternoons and evenings.

The Australian Energy Market Operators (AEMO) blackout risk warnings kick in from Tuesday afternoon and are set to remain in place until Friday.
The political ramifications of a natural disaster are the least important thing about it. I recount this because its always worth keeping in mind, in politics, how quickly things can change. Also: how dominant a crisis can be. Morrisons disastrous summer, in fact, was only really rescued by the advent of another crisis  the early part of the pandemic, when his numbers soared  before that crisis, too, destroyed him.

The main event involved was that summers bushfires. His trip to Hawaii is the symbol of that failure, but the actual problems were long and drawn out. There was the slowness to act and the failure to meet with emergency leaders, the mangled handshakes, I dont hold a hose and the sidestepping of the climate debate.

One of the interesting facts about Scott Morrisons period as prime minister is that he managed to squander public approval twice. The second came via a long, protracted slide through most of the pandemic. But his popularity had sunk as low  and much, much faster, at least in Newspoll surveys  just a few months after his 2019 election victory.

For a long time, it seemed the Albanese government would get a rate cut  even two  before the election. As I wrote a few weeks back, this had the potential to act as a tangible affirmation of its economic strategy, the other elements of which  wage growth and job creation  had been lining up nicely. Last week, Westpac joined NAB in predicting the next rate cut would come on May 20  three days after the last possible date for the election.

The government now has to hope voters moods improve without that rate cut. Its possible. The Guardians Essential poll last week found a small fall in people who say theyre struggling. There was a small but notable shift in one of the more interesting indicators: whether people believe the country is on the right track. Its too early to spot a trend, and more people disagree than agree  but the right direction figure was (just) the highest its been since May 2023.

Illustration by Joe Benke Credit:

The second change is the victory of Donald Trump. There are signs  like his retreat from the nomination of Matt Gaetz as attorney-general  that Trumps term may be as bizarre as his first. One veteran observer suggested to me some time ago that a Trump victory may play into Albaneses slow-and-steady approach: that in an era of messiness, boredom becomes appealing. At present, though, the opposite is the case. Last week, a Freshwater Strategy poll in The Australian Financial Review found 36 per cent of voters believed Albanese was best placed to deal with Trump  against 47 per cent who favoured Dutton.

Finally, we should all hope this is a quiet season for natural disasters. Recent weeks have reminded us, this cant be taken for granted. There have been bushfires in Queensland, the ABC reporting that amid the smoke last month Mount Isa was briefly the most polluted city in the world. There were evacuations in response to fires in Victoria (arson seems to have played a role in several of these).
Russias ambassador to Australia, Alexey Pavlovsky, has waved away questions about the countrys soldiers using torture in Ukraine, saying he does not think the issue is a yes or no question.

Grilled on ABCs Radio National about the United Nations finding in October that the use of torture by Russian authorities was a crime against humanity, Pavlovsky said the UN was biased and the situation was complicated.

Alexey Pavlovsky equivocated on allegations of torture. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

I dont accept this as a yes or no question, Pavlovsky said when asked if torture was happening.

Told by host Steve Cannane that it was a pretty simple question, the ambassador said: Maybe, but I dont accept it because reality is much more complicated than the ABC wants to make it.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has given her strongest indication that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be arrested if he travelled to Australia, saying any decision will be informed by international law, not by politics.

Wong said she would not speculate on hypotheticals about the likelihood of an arrest, striking a more cautious tone than senior politicians from other International Criminal Court member states who have explicitly said they would detain Netanyahu if he entered their territory.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia would comply with international law. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The court last week issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, former defence minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Masri for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict.

As one of the 124 member states of the ICC, Australia is supposed to abide by the rulings of the court, but it is up to sovereign states to enforce the law.
Manila: The Philippines Vice President Sara Duterte said she had contracted an assassin to kill the president, his wife and the House of Representatives speaker if she herself was killed, in a brazen public threat that she warned was not a joke.

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin referred the active threat against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to an elite presidential guards force for immediate proper action. It was not immediately clear what actions would be taken against the vice president.

Vice President Sara Dutertes threat was taken seriously, though she later tried to walk back the remarks. Credit: AP

The Presidential Security Command boosted Marcos security and said it considered the vice presidents threat, which was made so brazenly in public, a national security issue.

The presidential security force said it was co-ordinating with law enforcement agencies to detect, deter, and defend against any and all threats to the president and the first family.
Before Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, Israeli airstrikes on the West Bank were relatively rare, experts said, with only a few confirmed cases. But during the raids in Jenin and other Palestinian areas beginning in August, the Israeli military reported carrying out about 50 airstrikes on the West Bank. More than 180 people have been killed in airstrikes on the territory in the past year, including dozens of children, according to the United Nations and the Palestinian human rights group Al Haq. The Israeli military declined to provide a death toll, but contended that 98 per cent of the people killed in airstrikes were involved in terrorist activities. The burnt interior of a house hit by an Israeli strike in the Nur Shams refugee camp, Tulkarm, West Bank. Credit: Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times The strikes have caused extensive damage to roads, electricity networks and water and sewage lines. Local, international and UN humanitarian workers say Israel has disrupted their relief efforts, while videos verified by The New York Times appear to show Israeli bulldozers blocking emergency vehicles from passing. (The Israeli military said it operated in accordance with international law.)

Instead of calling them raids, residents, aid workers and some experts have likened what is happening in the West Bank to a war. We call Jenin a small Gaza, said Saleem al-Sade, a member of a neighbourhood council. As he walked through a neighbourhood known as Jenin camp, which started as a refugee camp for Palestinians displaced from their homes in what is now Israel, he pointed out the constant sound overhead of Israeli drones that carry out surveillance and airstrikes. Its a Gaza-fication of the northern part of the West Bank, said Nadav Weiman, director of Breaking the Silence, an advocacy group made up of former Israeli soldiers who say they are collecting testimonies from soldiers who took part in the raids in Jenin and another city, Tulkarem.

Raids into Palestinian areas of the West Bank have become common since the October 7 attacks last year. Beyond the armed drones, bulldozers have ripped up roads, which the Israeli military says is to unearth explosives buried beneath the pavement. But the strikes in the past few months were some of the most extensive and deadly in the West Bank in two decades. Palestinian children play under tarpaulins hung up to block the view of Israeli drones in the Nur Shams refugee camp, Tulkarm, West Bank. Credit: Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times The Israeli military described the raids as a counter-terrorism operation to crack down on Palestinian armed groups and to combat rising attacks against Israelis, including shootings and attempts to set off car bombs. The violence has accompanied a surge in attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank by Israeli settlers who often operate with impunity. In its operations in the West Bank, the Israeli military said it had killed or detained dozens of fighters, confiscated explosives and destroyed command and control centres. It added that it carried out airstrikes in situations where arrests cannot be made due to real risk to the forces.

The militarys actions in the West Bank were long shrouded in secrecy, but experts said Israel had largely refrained from conducting airstrikes on the territory since the end of the second intifada, nearly 20 years ago. At times, Israel used attack helicopters in select operations, but experts said that happened in only a few cases that they knew of over the two decades. The Israeli militarys deployment of armed drones appeared to have been exceedingly rare. Palestinian reports of it emerged in 2022, but only a few cases were confirmed before October 7, 2023. Nasir Damaj at his house in Jenin. He says he was used as a human shield by Israeli soldiers. Credit: Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times Since then, Israeli forces have carried out dozens of strikes in northern areas of the West Bank, largely concentrated in the cities and towns of Jenin, Tulkarem, Nablus and Tubas. In visits to Jenin, Tubas and Tulkarem, the Times encountered multiple accounts of Palestinians being forced to perform potentially dangerous missions for Israeli soldiers. The destruction from blasts was widespread, leaving families grappling with the losses of their loved ones in rapid succession.

Israeli forces conducted an airstrike on August 26 in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem on what it described as an operations room, killing five people, including a 15-year-old, Adnan Jaber, whom Israel accused of manufacturing explosives. Immediately, the Israeli news announced they had killed a terrorist, said Aysar Jaber, Adnans father. But he was a young kid, not a terrorist. His son had been taking classes to become a barber, Jaber said. He had about two weeks left, and he was killed. A view of Jenin in the West Bank from a mosque destroyed by an Israeli airstrike. Credit: Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times On August 28, an Israeli aircraft struck what the military said were militants in an alleyway in the Faraa refugee camp. Residents recounted how a home was hit, as well, killing two brothers, Muhammad Masoud Muhammad Naja, 17, and Murad Masoud Muhammad Naja, 13, and critically injuring a third brother and the boys father.

In September, the Israeli military said its aircraft had struck terrorists who hurled explosives and shot at the security forces and had eliminated a person armed with an explosive device. Loading Residents said Israeli soldiers had shot Majed Fida Abu Zeina, 17, and had fired upon ambulances that tried to rescue him, ultimately using a bulldozer to dump his body outside the camp. The soldiers are doing whatever they want, said his mother, Amal Abu Zeina. The raids in Jenin and other cities over 10 days killed 51 people, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Seven children were among those killed, according to the United Nations.

On the morning of August 28, when Israeli forces launched their raids into Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas, Israels foreign minister at the time, Israel Katz, posted on social media, we must deal with the threat just as we deal with the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza. Human rights groups and aid workers are warning about what they call the dangerous parallels. A banner featuring a fighter in Jenin, West Bank. Credit: Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times We all have this sense that the pattern of Gaza, the modus operandi, is being applied in the West Bank, and its very worrisome, said Allegra Pacheco, who leads a consortium of Western-backed aid groups in the West Bank. The current Israeli governments objectives in the West Bank aim to force Palestinians out of targeted areas using the same Gaza type of massive force, weaponry and destruction, she added.

United Nations officials, warning of lethal warlike tactics in the West Bank, tried to get into Jenin to carry out an assessment but were denied access by Israeli authorities, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in September. During the raids, Damajs mother, Amal Damaj, 48, said, I was so afraid. These are the most intense raids Ive ever seen, Ive ever experienced. Once in the cave, Damaj recounted how the only light came from the drone in his hands.

From above, the commander watched the live feed on an iPad and yelled out instructions on where to go and what to approach, Damaj said. Seemingly satisfied that it was safe, the three soldiers and the commander joined Damaj in the cave and interrogated him, demanding to know the location of members of armed Palestinian groups. I dont know  I dont get involved, Damaj said he told them. Youre a liar  youre living in the neighborhood of the terrorists, he said the commander yelled at him. Speak the truth or Im going to shoot you in the legs. After more than two hours, he said, they let him go. The next day, the Israeli military returned and blew up the cave.

Loading In response to questions about two cases involving the use of human shields in Jenin, including Damaj, the Israeli military said, The incidents mentioned in the inquiry appear to contradict IDF orders, using the initials for Israel Defence Forces. It added that it did not have enough information to confirm or deny whether the episodes took place. It did confirm an action involving the cave, however, saying an underground combat facility located beneath a mosque was destroyed. In 2005, Israels Supreme Court ruled that the militarys use of civilians as human shields violated international law and banned the practice. You cannot exploit the civilian population for the armys military needs, and you cannot force them to collaborate with the army, Ahron Barak, then chief justice, wrote in the ruling.

Palestinians in the West Bank say the practice never stopped. Ahmed Bilalo said Israeli forces had given him a lighter and ordered him to torch the strings holding up the curtained tarps above the narrow alleyways of Jenin camp, which fighters often use to obscure themselves from view. If I said no, I knew they would beat me up, he said. Weiman, who leads Breaking the Silence, the advocacy group of former Israeli soldiers, said the overall military approach being used in the West Bank was known as the Dahiya doctrine, a reference to Israels flattening of the Dahiya, the collection of neighborhoods in southern Beirut that is a Hezbollah stronghold, during its 34-day war in Lebanon in 2006. The tactic creates disproportionate damage to civilian infrastructure and is aimed at trying to cause so much damage and destruction that civilians turn against armed groups in their areas, he said.

That kind of pressure wasnt imposed on villages and towns in the West Bank until very recently, he said. The Israeli military rejected his assessment, saying, The claim that the IDF deliberately causes harm to civilian infrastructure is false. Instead, it has long accused Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups of embedding themselves in civilian areas. The day after the Israeli military forced Damaj into the cave, it returned and ordered Khalid Salih, 59, a school attendant, and his wife to leave their home before it was blown up, the couple said. When they returned after the explosion, Salih said, the shock at seeing their home destroyed felt as if someone had punched him in the head. The house is uninhabitable. The mosque above the cave had been destroyed by an airstrike, killing four people, according to residents. Israels military said at the time that it was targeting an underground terror compound being used by Hamas and Islamic Jihad to organise an imminent attack.

Aseel Mustafa Salih, who is married to Salihs nephew and lived in an adjacent apartment, was asleep at home with her husband and two young children when the mosque was struck. Loading I woke up and thought our house was the one that was struck, she said, adding that the airstrike broke some of their windows. Downstairs, Salih and his wife were thrown from their beds and across the room from the blast, he said. Half an hour after the October 22 strike, Salih said, she received a text message from the Israeli military instructing her to leave the area: You are in a place that is not safe.
Heuermann is charged with killing six women dating at least to 1993. He has pleaded not guilty and has been held without bail at the Suffolk County jail in Riverhead since his arrest in July 2023. Ellerup and their children have remained in the house, even as investigators rifled through it and removed evidence by the truckload. Asa Ellerup will put the Long Island home up for sale after her divorce from Rex Heuermann is finalised. Credit: Johnny Milano/The New York Times Prosecutors do not consider Ellerup a suspect, nor the couples children, Victoria Heuermann, 28, and Christopher Sheridan, 35. They were away on trips when the killings happened, authorities have said. Robert Macedonio, Ellerups lawyer, said the place had become a burden.

People constantly stop in front of the house to gawk and point and take pictures, he said. Shes lost any emotional attachment she had to the premises because of everything thats gone on, and the only way she can start recovering is to move. Also, he said, the houses interior was left a shambles by searches this year and last. Investigators cut up floors, removed plumbing and found a cache of more than 200 guns. They dug up swaths of the backyard and removed furniture and bags of household possessions. The extensive damage to the interior was never properly repaired, Macedonio said. A bathtub was held together with duct tape. Rex Heuermann, the architect accused of murdering women near Long Islands Gilgo Beach. Credit: AP She has no money to repair it, Macedonio said, adding that even Ellerups documentary payments were not enough. Notorious properties present unusual challenges for sellers, buyers and brokers. In 2011, in nearby East Meadow, the four-bedroom ranch where serial killer Joel Rifkin grew up was sold by his family for $US322,000 ($495,000), a $US100,000 ($154,000) reduction from the initial asking price.

I was able to negotiate because of the situation, said Peter Hirschhorn, an agent with Coldwell Banker American Homes who represented the buyers, a young couple. Rifkin, who admitted to killing 17 women, stored a victims body in the garage and may have murdered some victims there, too. It helped that he had been arrested 18 years earlier and sentenced to life in prison, Hirschhorn said. Reporters are seen outside the Heuermann home. Credit: Johnny Milano/The New York Times Before I showed my clients the property, I emailed them and said, I want you to Google and do your research on the property, because unfortunate circumstances took place there that I want you to be aware of, he said. They were fine with it. They said, Yeah, were good. They fell in love with it and made it their own. Regarding the Massapequa Park house, he said, Id love to sell this home. It could be a nice starter home.

Loading But Louis Scrimenti, 39, an agent with Signature Premier Properties in Massapequa Park, said it would likely be bought by a builder, perhaps for around $US600,000, and replaced with something that could sell for at least $US1.5 million. I dont think a regular consumer would buy that home, he said. Id say 9 out of 10 consumers would be turned off by it. The sellers may be motivated. Vess Mitev, a lawyer for the children, said moving would help them start the next chapter of their lives, somewhere farther away from the spotlight and farther away from this dark cloud that hangs over their heads. Before her fathers arrest, Victoria Heuermann worked for his Manhattan firm, which has closed. She has had trouble getting a job, Mitev said. As for the son, he said: Chris cant even walk his dog down the block. He gets photographed, people stop and take pictures, hes catcalled, the whole thing.

They cant even check the mail, he said. That kind of scrutiny is not for my clients. They never asked for it. The house became a daily encampment for news crews and a tourist attraction for true-crime fans. Authorities sealed off the block for nearly two weeks. Neighbours weary of being interviewed still have No Soliciting signs on their front doors. Days after Heuermanns arrest, Ellerup filed for divorce after 27 years of marriage, but she continued to call and visit him in jail and attend his court hearings, often with cameras in tow from her documentary deal, reportedly worth $US1 million. Macedonio said the house cannot be listed and sold until after the divorce. He said Ellerup, despite relocating, plans to attend the trial, which will most likely be next year, and still has the same opinion: She doesnt believe hes capable of what hes been accused of. Heuermanns family had made themselves scarce during the searches but surprised onlookers by moving back into the house despite its interior being a shambles. The family was left to sleep on mats, Macedonio said. They cooked on a grill in the front yard, defying news crews and curious visitors.
Growth in female entrepreneurship

Despite funding challenges, the number of women managing their own businesses in Australia has grown by 20% since 2014, according to Westpacs analysis of ABS data. However, women still own only 35% of small businesses.
As he prepares to reenter the White House with a perceived mandate and a Republican-controlled Congress, President-elect Donald Trump, seen in 2019, is promising a resumption of old policies and the addition of new ones to execute his vision of mass deportations and a siege-like approach to closing the border. Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press

With President-elect Donald Trump expected to begin his immigration crackdown upon reentering the White House in January, legal aid organizations are preparing to defend a legal pathway affecting more than 1 million people: asylum.

Asylum denial rates soared and acceptance rates plummeted during Trumps first presidency, as he attempted to barricade the border, rewrite eligibility rules and ban immigrants from the very countries where asylum-seekers were originating.

Trump has signaled in both platform and rhetoric that he would go further this time, vowing to shift massive amounts of federal law enforcement officers and reassign thousands of overseas troops to the southern border to keep out the immigrants he repeatedly accused of poisoning the blood of our country  even after being told he was paraphrasing Adolf Hitler.

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Asylum is a key to the DNA of our country. It was born on the notion of asylum, said Muzaffar Chishti, senior fellow at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute in Washington D.C. We cant abandon it.

Yet, even before Trump assailed the asylum system, presidents from both parties sought loopholes in the law that created it, noted Karen Musalo, a UC College of the Law San Francisco professor and founding director of its Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, one of the nations premier defenders of asylum rights.

The U.S. has sort of a schizophrenic relationship with its obligations, she said. It has had periods which were a little bit more in alignment with international obligations and then many periods where (it was) so far from them.

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For the legal aid organizations that say they are attempting to hold the U.S. to its commitments, the asylum system is rigged with catch-22s, and the effort to address them is a form of legal whack-a-mole at which Trump excels.

A postwar promise, a checkered record

Along with creating a process for accepting international refugees, the act established that noncitizens fleeing persecution in their countries of origin could request asylum anywhere in the U.S., regardless of how they entered the country.

That last element has occupied numerous presidential administrations.

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In 1981, President Ronald Reagan ordered the Coast Guard to intercept Haitian asylum-seekers before they could reach U.S. shores on rickety sailboats as they fled the authoritarian regime of President Jean-Claude Duvalier. Dozens died en route. Despite international criticism and numerous legal challenges, the tactic was effectively used to deny asylum to nearly 25,000 over the next decade.

No sooner is the Refugee Act enacted than the president is finding a way to undermine it, Musalo said of Reagan. We see there one of the themes that comes up in U.S. immigration law, which is a deep racial bias.

Democratic administrations havent always moved in the other direction. During a pique of anti-immigrant sentiment in the 1990s, President Bill Clinton signed an immigration enforcement bill that added an expedited removal process preventing some asylum-seekers from making their claims.

Called the Immigration Reform and Control Act, Musalo referred to the 1996 bill as a Christmas tree for nativists, saying it was restrictionist across the board. It was the first time that we said: Not everybody who reaches the border can seek asylum.

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More recently, in late 2016, the Obama administrations U.S. Customs and Border Protection began a metering policy, turning back asylum-seekers on the grounds that CBP didnt have the capacity to process them.

After the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies secured a favorable ruling against the policy in district court, the Trump administration replaced it with CBP One, a glitch-prone app that asylum-seekers were now required to use to obtain an appointment to be processed at a port of entry. The apps facial-recognition feature struggled to process the photos of dark-skinned asylum-seekers.

Even as the CGRS litigated against CBP One, the Trump administration adopted a transit rule claiming asylum-seekers who traveled through a third country to reach the U.S.  as most asylum-seekers do  were ineligible for consideration.

Then there was Trumps so-called Migrant Protection Protocols, commonly known as Remain in Mexico which President Joe Bidens administration rescinded; Trumps pandemic-era Title 42 border restrictions, which the Biden administration maintained for two years and replaced with its own asylum restrictions  all inviting court challenges and a thicket of related or counter lawsuits.

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For every policy successfully challenged in federal court, it had often already been replaced, said Melissa Crow, CGRS director of litigation.

In late October, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled the federal government has a statutory duty to process asylum-seekers at ports of entry on either side of the U.S.-Mexico border, and that the Department of Homeland Security had to give all the people who were improperly turned away an opportunity to apply for asylum.

We just got to that point, and now the election happens 10 days later and hes coming back in, Crow said. We have been litigating against Trump policies since the first Trump administration.

More than 1.1 million people are currently waiting for asylum hearings in the U.S., a wait that averages four years, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. The wait is even longer in San Francisco, where Californias busiest immigration court is wading through 86,000 cases.

If previous administrations had shifted a small part of the budget spent on immigration enforcement to immigration courts, there wouldnt be such a backlog of asylum-seekers about to face a more hostile Trump administration, say asylum advocates.

If we allocate adequate resources, we can handle this, said Anu Joshi, the national campaign director for immigration at the American Civil Liberties Union. We can live up to our international obligations. We can efficiently and humanely process peoples claims for asylum, as our law requires. We dont have to panic.

Civil libertarians say that is unlikely to happen under Trump, who has promised to resume a border wall expansion project that was marked during its first go-round by financing and construction issues, and to bring back his Remain in Mexico policy, which required asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for U.S. asylum court dates years away.

He has also said he will reinstate his travel ban against Muslim-majority nations, adopt an extreme vetting process that penalizes non-Christian immigrants and use the specters of crime and communism to reject asylum-seekers from Central America.

While Crow said CGRS and other legal organizations have been scenario planning for a Trump 2.0 presidency for months, she expected a more difficult playing field this time. In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled that lower federal courts could no longer grant immediate injunctive relief in major immigration cases.

Were not in as strong a position as we were when we could get courts to order the government to undo things, said Crow, who added that it will take a mix of strategic litigation, policy advocacy and grassroots organizing to challenge whats coming.

Ive been working in the asylum arena for a long time, and anyone who gets their act together to flee their country, often with the clothes on their back, not more and does what it takes to jump through all the hoops that are part of asylum process is not a slacker, she said. And this country used to welcome them with open arms.

A lot of work ahead

Melina Roche still remembers those days. The outgoing campaign manager for #WelcomeWithDignity, a national asylum campaign started in 2001, Roche was just a couple of months old when her asylum journey began.

It was the late 1980s. Her political activist parents, escaping a decades-old civil war and government oppression in Guatemala, moved the family to Mexico. When Roche was 6, her parents decided to seek asylum in the U.S., where other relatives had gone. In Larchmont, N.J., the family experienced the promise and pitfalls of an asylum system that today has 1.1 million people waiting for an answer.

I remember being very confused as to why we were leaving everything behind  like my dog, my neighborhood, my elementary school. But I also do remember how kind everybody was, Roche said.

This included the teachers, school nurses and classmates who went out of their way to befriend Roche, as well as the Catholic charities assisting her familys asylum claim.

But the family never won asylum. They became casualties of an American Cold War strategy that toppled Guatemalas democratically elected president in 1954, and provided military aid to a genocidal dictatorship through the 1980s.

A 1991 class-action lawsuit led Congress to pass the 1997 Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act, which would grant permanent residency to some 83,000 Guatemalans and Salvadorans in the country since 1990.

That is how I became a U.S. citizen, Roche said. I hold onto that. I hold onto the fact that Congress and our government  the U.S. government  can do the right thing.

Then Trump became president. Roches parents, small business owners and 20-year citizens, fell under the suspicion of longtime customers. Her mother called regularly to report the latest interrogation. Decades after being welcomed, helped, accepted, something in the air changed.
Finding a flourishing community in Black history education

I really appreciate having this small community of people that I can learn from. 

UB is the biggest campus doctoral student Dawnavyn James has ever set foot on.

And yet, thanks to the connections shes made here, it doesnt feel that way.

I just like how I know everybody. My classes are small, I see the same people, we get to know each other's research, and we get together outside of school, too, James says. I really appreciate having this small community of people that I can learn from.

Connections are what brought her to UB to begin with. A former kindergarten teacher from Kansas City, Mo., James entered into the Curriculum, Instruction and the Science of Learning program in the Graduate School of Education at the beckoning of her now-adviser, LaGarrett King.

As a graduate fellow with the Center for K-12 Black History and Racial Literacy Education, which King directs, James assists with the centers annual conference and its Black History Nerds professional development series. I help to run the meeting with whoever the nerds are for the week and stay available in the chat, and then with the conference, Im involved in getting it all set up and helping people navigate the space, and also participating and presenting.

She also runs the centers Instagram page, work for which shes well suited considering her own social media following  almost 50,000 on TikTok alone. It's a way to build community with people who arent living in the same space as you, she says.

James finds value in all kinds of True Blue relationship-building, listing just a couple of the ways. Even though Im in the Graduate School of Education, I took a class recently in the Department of Africana and American Studies and got to meet other people there. And I made a connection within the history department, and then when they held a conference last year, I was able to be a part of that, James recalls.

Still, the Teaching Black History conference remains a standout, in large part because of the community that comes with it. The event, which King started in Missouri, convenes hundreds of teachers to learn curricular and instructional best practices.

I really liked that I got to meet other educators here in Buffalo, but also see people who came to the conference when we were in Missouri as well, she says. The space we were in on South Campus was really dope, and it was cool having people come here and see what Buffalos like.
A deep slug of subtropical moisture, known as an atmospheric river, is forecast to slam into Central California on Monday, resulting in coastal rain and mountain snow. Baron/Lynx

Northern California was blasted by a deadly, record-breaking atmospheric river storm last week, and another one is on the way for the Golden State this week.

Central California is bracing for a landfalling atmospheric river Monday morning, which will bring heavy rain and snow until Wednesday. The atmospheric rivers subtropical moisture plume is forecast to aim at San Luis Obispo, with Santa Cruz on the northern boundary and Santa Barbara on the southern end.

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Because this weeks atmospheric river is not overlapping with areas that flooded last weekend, no extreme impacts are expected. However, Monterey and San Luis Obispo could record their wettest two-day stretch since last winter.

A lifting mechanism is needed for the atmospheric rivers water vapor to be converted into clouds and precipitation. Last week, two potent systems, including a bomb cyclone off the Washington coast, provided the forcing. This weeks low-pressure system is much weaker, and the primary lifting mechanism will be the mountainous terrain.

Up to 4 inches of rain could fall in the Central Coasts Santa Lucia Range. The cities of Monterey and San Luis Obispo should pick up about 1 and 2 inches of rain, respectively.

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On the leeward side of the coastal ranges, the San Joaquin Valley will be relatively drier. About an inch of rain is forecast in Merced and Fresno, with slightly less in Bakersfield. The heaviest rain is expected Monday afternoon through midday Tuesday.

The central and southern Sierra Nevada is bracing for a major to extreme winter storm. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for portions of Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks and Mammoth Lakes. Mammoth Mountain could pick up 3 to 5 feet of snow by midday Wednesday.

In Yosemite, 4 to 6 feet of snow is forecast at Tuolumne Meadows and Tioga Pass, and more than 8 feet of snow is possible atop Mount Whitney. With the freezing line predicted to climb above 7,000 feet, the weather service forecasts a marginal risk of excessive rainfall and localized flooding in the lower elevations of the southern Sierra on Monday and Tuesday.

Like last weeks atmospheric river, a small wobble in the moisture plume could throw off the forecast. A few weather models suggest San Jose will be on the plumes northern fringe, with up to an inch of rain through midday Wednesday, which would also result in more than 2 inches of rain in the Santa Cruz Mountains. However, the general consensus is for a half-inch of rain or less in San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco through midday Wednesday.

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Precipitable water, the amount of water vapor in a column of the atmosphere, is predicted to be near record values for late November over Central California on Monday night into Tuesday morning, according to the European weather model. Baron/Lynx

The weather service forecasts a quarter-inch of rain in Los Angeles, but slightly higher totals are possible if the atmospheric river is more potent to the south.

Dry weather will return Wednesday afternoon and continue through Thanksgiving weekend. Travel conditions should be favorable, aside from lingering snow showers in the Sierra on Wednesday and areas of dense tule fog in the Central Valley over the weekend.

Monday breakdown

San Francisco: Monday wont be a washout by any means, but rain jackets will still come in handy with off-and-on showers throughout the city. Showers should be light. About a tenth of an inch of rain is expected, with slightly more in Twin Peaks and Mount Davidson. Highs will be in the mid-50s, with lows in the upper 40s.

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North Bay: Heavier showers are possible in northern Sonoma County in the early morning, then lighter passing showers for the remainder of the day throughout the entire North Bay. A tenth- to a quarter-inch of rain is expected, with highest totals in the mountains. Even light rain could trigger mudslides due to the saturated soils from last weeks atmospheric river. Highs will be chilly in the mid-50s, with lows in the mid- to upper 40s.

East Bay: Rain chances will increase throughout the morning, with widespread light showers in the afternoon. About a tenth to a quarter-inch of rain is expected in Oakland, Hayward, Fremont, Walnut Creek and the Tri-Valley. Slightly higher amounts are possible in the East Bay hills. Winds could gust up to 20 mph along the bay shoreline. Highs will be in the mid- to upper 50s, with lows in the upper 40s to low 50s.

Pacific Coast and Peninsula: Morning drizzle will give way to scattered light to moderate rain showers. Up to a quarter-inch of rain is possible in San Mateo County, especially in the hills, but totals will depend on the coverage of afternoon showers. There may be a brief period of enhanced southeasterly wind gusts up to 35 mph in Half Moon Bay in the late afternoon as a weak front passes. Highs will be in the mid- to upper 50s, with lows in the upper 40s.

South Bay and Santa Cruz: The Santa Cruz Mountains, at the northern end of the atmospheric river, will be targeted for the heaviest rain Monday. Moist southerly winds rushing up the mountains will result in steady rainfall, heaviest in the afternoon. Up to an inch could fall by Tuesday morning in Ben Lomond and Boulder Creek. Santa Cruz should receive around a half-inch. Highs will be in the low to mid-50s, with lows in the upper 40s.

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NIM, a Dutch maritime innovator known for its expertise in marine engineering, and EH Group, a Swiss high-tech company specializing in high-performance hydrogen fuel cell technology, are pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This partnership marks a significant step toward advancing zero-emission solutions in the maritime sector through the development and standardization of hydrogen fuel cell drive trains.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241125518871/en/

Mardit Matian, Marc Freriks, Chris Brandon (from left to right). (Photo: Business Wire)

Collaboration for Zero-Emission Maritime Solutions

The MoU formalizes NIM and EH Groups commitment to jointly explore and implement hydrogen-based drive trains specifically tailored for the maritime industry. Leveraging EH Groups fuel cell technology alongside NIMs expertise in marine system integration, the partnership aims to create scalable, zero-emission power solutions that meet rigorous maritime standards while driving the industry closer to carbon neutrality.

The collaboration will focus on adapting and standardizing fuel cell systems to meet the unique operational and safety requirements of maritime vessels, paving the way for clean, efficient energy solutions that can be widely deployed.

Quotes from Leadership

The maritime sector is ripe for disruptive decarbonisation, which can only be met by joining strong technology solutions with deep sector experience and integration capabilities. Partnering with NIM enables us to more effectively deploy marine FC systems across a wide-range of vessels, commented Mardit Matian, EH Group Founder.

With this partnership, we found a solid basis for the next step in sustainable energy transition in shipping. Combining EH Groups EH-Trace hydrogen fuel cell system and NIMs knowledge of system integration, we are ready to speed-up the change in power management applications on board of vessels, said Marc Freriks, NIM CSO.

A Joint Commitment to a Sustainable Future

This partnership highlights both companies shared commitment to environmental sustainability and their dedication to pioneering solutions that contribute to global decarbonization goals. The collaboration between NIM and EH Group aligns with increasing demand within the maritime industry for green alternatives to traditional propulsion systems, a movement that is crucial to meeting international climate targets.

About the Companies

EH Group (https://www.ehgroup.ch) is a Swiss leader in hydrogen fuel cell technology, dedicated to advancing high-performance solutions for a cleaner energy future. EH Groups fuel cells offer unrivalled power density, greater system efficiency and a unique assembly process that radically reduces costs. It is aimed at the decarbonisation of marine vessels & heavy duty mobility, large stationary power and aviation.

NIM (https://www.nim-bv.nl) specializes in innovative maritime engineering, providing sustainable propulsion and energy solutions tailored for various vessel types. Based in the Netherlands, NIM leverages its experience and cutting-edge technology to deliver energy-efficient solutions that support the marine industry's transition to a low-carbon future.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241125518871/en/
Under the patronage of His Royal Highness Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman bin AbdulAziz Al Saud, the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) and Invest Saudi are organizing the 28th annual World Investment Conference (WIC) from November 25 to 27, in Riyadh. This prestigious event will gather global leaders in investment, government, and international organizations to address the theme, Harnessing Digital Transformation and Sustainable Growth: Scaling Investment Opportunities.

His Excellency Khalid Al-Falih, Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia, commented: Under the wise leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques; King Salaman bin AbdulAziz Al Saud and His Royal Highness Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Salman bin AbdulAziz Al Saud, the Kingdom, driven by its ambitious Vision 2030, has become a premier world investment destination and is experiencing unprecedented growth in overall investment amounts and diversity.

This years World Investment Conference in Riyadh will be a platform for sharing our nations strategic vision with our partners, and an invaluable opportunity to highlight our status as a trusted partner for sustainable economic growth. We look forward to welcoming investment leaders from around the world to forge partnerships that will benefit both the Kingdom and global economies. Al-Falih added.

Saudi Arabia has become a prime destination for international investors, issuing over 28,900 foreign investment licenses, thanks to reforms under Vision 2030. These reforms, including allowing 100% foreign ownership in specific sectors and streamlining business and visa procedures for rapid approvals, have significantly boosted investor confidence. This investor friendly climate, especially in sectors like renewable energy, logistics and AI, reflects the Kingdoms dedication to creating an attractive and efficient business environment, and helps to build a resilient economy for Saudi Arabia that stands at the forefront of global innovation and development.

Ismail Ersahin, Executive Director and CEO of WAIPA said: WAIPA is excited to bring the 28th WIC to Riyadh, a city that perfectly embodies the future of investment. The conference will provide a crucial platform for Investment Promotion Agencies and investors to discuss emerging opportunities in a rapidly evolving global landscape. We deeply appreciate Saudi Arabias vision and leadership, which will ensure that this edition of WIC is an impactful gathering for all participants.

Key highlights of WIC 2024 will include a range of conference tracks, such as high-level government dialogues, insightful sessions on technology, sustainability, and economic cooperation, as well as practical masterclasses for investment professionals.

A dedicated entrepreneurship track will emphasize the transformative role of startups and innovators, while exclusive matchmaking sessions will facilitate strategic partnerships between investors, SMEs, and potential collaborators.

Participants will also have the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of Investment Promotion Agencies through the Awards Track, honoring innovation and excellence in investment facilitation.

This years WIC promises to be a pivotal forum aligned with global investment drivers: the disruptive influence of technology and artificial intelligence (AI), global supply chain resilience, energy transition towards sustainability, and the transformative role of entrepreneurs and startups in reshaping investment landscapes traditionally led by multinational corporations. Leaders and stakeholders will discuss and explore how these factors are redefining economies and driving forward-looking investment models worldwide.

With its focus on scaling investment opportunities, WIC 2024 is designed to empower attendees with the tools, knowledge, and connections necessary to drive meaningful economic impact.

About WIC: https://waipa.org/wic-info/

*Source: AETOSWire

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241124564843/en/
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Vivienne Clarke

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has said that zero percent of people have any confidence in the ability of Fine Gael or Fianna Fail to address the housing crisis.

In an interview with the Pat Kenny show on Newstalk, Deputy McDonald said that homeownership for the under forties had literally collapsed under the watch of the present Government.

The price for a first time buyer of a new home in the Dublin area over the last five years has gone up by 125,000. The state wide figure is 90,000. The scale of failure is absolutely breathtaking.

Sinn Fein by contrast is the party of homeownership and first-time buyers. What we want do is scale up the delivery of homes. We want prices to be affordable. We are proposing to do away with stamp duty for first time buyers up to a value of 450,000.

Deputy McDonald said that many people she has spoken to have recoiled at the prospect of having another Fianna Fail led housing ministry.

"I have met countless people who, you talk about a chilling effect, are chilled at the idea that Fianna Fail would say out loud that they should have the housing ministry again.

"I think people looked at that prospect and said There is no way on Gods green earth that we can tolerate or endure another five years of failure from Fianna Fail or Fine Gael.

Deputy McDonald also said that her party would phase out the Help to Buy scheme.

"As we ramp up supply and as we deal with the affordability issue, we are going to phase that scheme out.

Deputy McDonald stressed that we need to redirect all efforts of the construction sector to building homes.

"The construction workforce is a little bit higher than it was in the Celtic Tiger - it's still a very substantial workforce. We need to redirect all of its efforts into the things that we need to build. I don't think we need more 'aparthotels' - I think we need more homes built.

Deputy McDonald said that Sinn Fein would like to repurchase the Land Development Agency and "make it fit for purpose".

"To deliver the scale of housing that is required, it does mean that you have to have that pipeline of available land, and that ought to be [the Land Development Agency's] task - they should not be the builders of homes, she said.

Deputy McDonald also spoke of Sinn Fein's proposal to introduce a stamp duty exemption for first-time buyers on properties valued at 450,000 or less. She said that every penny counts when it comes to purchasing a home.

"When youre putting your sums together to buy your first home, there are no trivial sums," she said.
By Rebecca Black, PA

There were emotional scenes at Dublin Airport as Irish peacekeepers received a warm welcome home after six months in Lebanon.

The arrivals hall at Terminal 1 was packed with family and friends of more than 200 troops who had spent the last six months serving with the UN in southern Lebanon during escalating hostilities in the Middle East.

Many held banners which read messages including welcome home son and Sgt Molloy report for daddy duty, as scores of young children waved Irish and United Nations flags as they waited for the sliding doors to open and reveal their loved ones.

Families and friends waiting at Terminal 1 of Dublin Airport (Liam McBurney/PA)

There was a huge cheer as the doors opened to reveal the first of the Irish Defence Forces walking through to be reunited with their loved ones, and tears as parents, spouses and children got long-awaited hugs.

Irish troops escaped injury last month when a military camp where they were based was struck by a rocket during fighting between the Israel Defence Forces and Hezbollah.

Camp Shamrock, known as United Nations Post 2-45, is a short distance from the Israeli border and is close to areas controlled by Hezbollah militants.

United Nations Interim Force Lebanon (Unifil) has described any deliberate attack on peacekeepers as a grave violation of international humanitarian law and Security Council resolution 1701 (2006).

The Irish troops were part of the 124th Infantry Battalion, Unifil, drawn from the 7th Infantry Battalion based at Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin.

Killian Rowan, aged seven, waits for his uncle, Private Luke Rowan (Liam McBurney/PA)

They were deployed from May as part of Unifil supporting Chapter 6 Peace Support Operations, as part of 341 personnel also drawn from Malta, Poland and Hungary.

The Irish force was aged from 19 to 58, and included 92 travelling overseas for the first time with the Defence Forces.

Among those waiting were the grandparents, parents and girlfriend of Private Jack Cassidy, 24.

His grandfather Michael Cassidy held a home sweet home sign as well as a Meath flag as they waited.

He said they were incredibly proud of Pte Cassidy, saying he always wanted to help people from a young age.

Irish Defence Forces were returning home after a six-month deployment in south Lebanon (Liam McBurney/PA)

While they had been worried about events in southern Lebanon during his tour, they described an incredibly proud day as they waited for him to return safely home.

Weve seen some things on television that left us wondering all right, he said.

Hes always been involved with helping people.

Daniel Keenan from Belfast was also among the troops greeted by family. He said it is harder for the families than for the troops themselves.

Its harder on them. When were out there, were thinking about what is ahead of us on the mission, patrolling. We have all the camaraderie and brotherhood to keep us going, he said.

Calvin Conway is reunited with his son Rian, three, and girlfriend Nicole OFlaherty (Liam McBurney/PA)

He said the uncertainty was challenging.

It was getting through day by day, you didnt know when you were getting showers, food and so on, but it was grand, he said.

Calvin Conway was reunited with his young son Rian as he walked through arrivals, and paid tribute to his family at home doing all of the work.

I got home on leave for his first day at school so that turned out well, but hes grown even since then, he said.

Its great to be home, and Im sure a lot of Christmas shopping has been planned for me.
Sarah Slater

CCTV footage has emerged of an American woman who was allegedly murdered by an Irish man walking hand-in-hand just hours prior to her death.

Mackenzie Michalski (31) who was on holiday in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, was last seen at a nightclub in the city on Tuesday, November 5th, and was listed as missing by Budapest Police Headquarters later that day.

It is understood that Ms Michalski, who is originally from western New York, had travelled from Portland, Oregon in the US, and was last seen near Szimpla Kert, known as the party district in the city, at around 10pm.

The nurse practitioner had been travelling throughout Europe with a female friend and Hungary was their last stop. The two separated for the last night of their trip.

The 37-year-old Irish man, who works in marketing, has allegedly admitted to killing Ms Michalski accidentally after becoming intimate at a rented apartment.

The arrested man allegedly informed police after his arrest that he attempted to conceal her body in a suitcase along with her handbag and credit card, which he transported her in the boot of his rental car to a marshy area in Szigliget in Western Hungary.

The Hungarian news website RTL Klub has obtained CCTV footage which details the last hours of the dead woman and the Irish man and shows the two walking together holding hands and entering a lift together.

The accused mans lawyer said the American womans post-mortem results will clarify the situation in favour of his client.

The nurses mother, Jill Burek Michalski, revealed that the Hungarian Police have worked tirelessly for her daughter, arresting her alleged murderer and still continue their diligent investigation.

Mrs Michalski revealed that the family had met with the head of homicide several times to keep them informed.

She noted: We were treated with kindness and compassion during our eight-day stay in Budapest.

However, Mrs Michalski highlighted that one important point needs to be clarified. Based on all available evidence reviewed during consultation with the Hungarian Police, our daughters death was in no way accidental, despite claims to the contrary. It was a deliberate and violent murder.

After our encouraging interactions with the Hungarian Police and other authorities, we remain hopeful that Kenzies killer will be held responsible for his crimes to the fullest extent of the law.

The dead womans funeral arrangements are yet to be announced.

Friends of the missing woman have set-up a gofundme.com fundraising campaign titled Bring Mackenzie Michalski Home, which has to date raised more than 43,000.
By Cillian Sherlock, PA

The UK Government is not minded to fund the North correctly, Mary Lou McDonald claimed as she defended Sinn Feins record in the power-sharing Executive.

Ms McDonald made the remarks as she seeks to lead Sinn Fein to victory in the general election on Friday, and become Taoiseach.

The Sinn Fein leader was responding to questioning on how the party could stand over pledges on housing delivery on the Republic of Ireland, given under supply in Northern Ireland.

The housing portfolio north of the border was previously held by Sinn Fein MLA Deirdre Hargey.

Ms McDonald said Ms Hargey had set out a hugely ambitious, transformational plan during her time in the role.

However, she added: The Tories, sadly, who unfortunately hold the purse strings, and now the successor government, under (Sir) Keir Starmer, are not minded to fund the North correctly.

Thats at the root of the problem.

Ms McDonald said the picture of the public service in Northern Ireland is generally not good, adding that to compare the two jurisdictions is like comparing apples and oranges.

Speaking on RTEs Six One News, she added: North of the border, there is not the capacity to raise or vary taxes.

You are looking at an entirely different scenario and I regret that deeply.

Im a united Irelander, but sadly, at this point in time, our country is partitioned.

Ms McDonald said First Minister Michelle ONeill and other Sinn Fein members of the Executive aim high when making demands from the UK Government, adding that they are constantly putting pressure on the Treasury.

She said: Its a matter of great frustration to me as a Republican and a united Irelander, that on the one hand the British government, the system, insists that it remain and hold jurisdiction in the North, and yet it wont fund the place correctly.

Ms McDonald said Sinn Fein has delivered in spades in very challenging circumstances in the multi-party power-sharing arrangement.

She argued that this showed Sinn Feins ability to hold things together.

Asked about complaints that Northern Irelands health service is not provided adequate funding by the Sinn Fein Finance Minister, Ms McDonald said Caoimhe Archibald can not do a loaves and fishes job.

She added: Shes a brilliant, brilliant woman and a brilliant minister, but she does not have the power of miracles, unfortunately.
Gordon Deegan

Pre-tax profits at the firm that operates Emerald Park last year slumped by 26 per cent to 4.43 million as the Co Meath visitor attraction counted the cost of a wet Irish summer in 2023.

New accounts filed by the Coyle family-owned Ashbourne Visitor Centre Ltd show that the business sustained the drop in profits as revenues declined by five per cent from 27.43 million to 25.99 million.

The drop in revenues at the visitor attraction - formerly known as Tayto Park - arose from visitor numbers decreasing from 750,000 to 710,000 in 2023.

The slump in profits and revenues came ahead of the visitor attraction opening in May of this year, Europe's largest intertwining rollercoaster, at a cost of 22 million aimed at boosting visitor numbers.

The rides known as 'Na Fianna Force' and 'The Quest' along with another new ride called 'The Celtic Dreamer' form part of a new 6.5-acre section of the park called 'Tir Na nOg.

The project, which took seven years to complete, was started by the late founder of the park, Raymond Coyle.

Mr Coyles son and company director, Charles, manages the park and in an interview with the Irish Independent earlier this year to mark the opening of the new attraction, said: I will be extremely disappointed if we dont get 850,000 or 860,000 in visitor numbers in 2024.

The construction of the rides coincided with the company last year paying out 11.99 million to acquire tangible assets and this followed an outlay of 8.85 million under the same heading in 2022.

The continuing investment in the park resulted in the book value of the companys tangible assets rising from 46.7 million to 55.16 million last year.

The companys profits for last year take account of non-cash depreciation costs of 3.37 million and interest payment of 268,464 and the companys earnings before interest, depreciation, amortisation and tax (EBITDA) last year totalled 8.1 million compared to 9.48 million in 2022.

In the directors report attached to the accounts, they state that they are satisfied with the companys performance given existing market conditions.

The directors state that the company faces challenges concerning competition and margin pressures. They state that they are well-placed to manage these risks and are confident of continued growth.

Numbers employed by the company last year increased from 314 to 344 as staff costs rose from 7.65 million to 8.13 million.

The drop in revenues last year at Emerald Park supported the business case for the new roller-coasters as it stated that they were required to safeguard the parks future viability and its position as one of the countrys top attractions.

A document lodged with the rollercoaster planning application stated that international experience relating to theme parks illustrates that there is a need to add new attractions every two to three years to maintain visitor numbers.

The company last year enjoyed a post-tax profit of 3.8 million after it incurred a corporation tax charge of 626,082.

Shareholder funds totalled 32.7 million and the companys cash funds were reduced from 14.7 million to 7.78 million.
Artist Corina Fitzgibbon recently opened her solo exhibition One Dot at a Time in Wexford.

Castledermots Corina is an award-winning pointillism artist (a technique of painting with small dots) and printmaker and in her exhibition One Dot at a Time she showcases a collection of intricate original pen drawings, illustrations and much more. Her exhibition is running in the Presentation Arts Centre in Enniscorthy Co, Wexford until March 1 2025.

Earlier this year Corina won the agility award from the National Arts Council, which has helped her fund this exhibition while focusing on creating new artworks for the show.

My hope for this exhibition is to inspire adults and children to create, pick up a pen and paper or whatever they have on hand and just experiment. Its tremendously good for the mind and so much fun.

"My goal for the exhibition is to bring joy and a sense of wonder and awe to the audience, to let them step into my world for a while. In the near future I would like to exhibit my work all over Ireland, while teaching people about pointillism and creativity.

The Presentation Arts Centre team in Enniscorthy are truly wonderful and are working with me to curate and create this show One Dot at a Time in their gallery space and bring my pointillism world to life.

Corinas work is vastly inspired by nature and the beauty of Ireland, her dreams and surroundings. Although the process of each artwork is long and challenging, its all about the journey between the artist and the work of art for Corina.

It takes a lot of patience to complete each artwork, but each piece is a journey for me, it is more about the process than the result. Its about getting lost in the piece that I am creating and being purely in the moment, being so content in the process that time just melts away.
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Cement dispatches in Peru increased by three per cent YoY to 1.117Mt in October 2024 from 1.083Mt in October 2023, according to Perus cement association, ASOCEM. Of this total, 1.019Mt was delivered by ASOCEM members, up from 1.004Mt in the year-ago period.

Cement production edged down by 0.2 per cent YoY to 1.021Mt in October 2024 when compared with 1.023Mt in October 2023. Clinker production fell by 18 per cent YoY to 0.636Mt from 0.777Mt in the equivalent period of 2023.

Cement exports slipped by one per cent to 11,600t in October 2024 from 11,800t per cent in October 2023. Clinker exports dropped 51 per cent YoY to 35,800t from 72,800t in October 2023.

In October 2024, 32,000t of cement was imported, surging from 3000t in October 2023 with Vietnam accounting for 87 per cent of cement imported with the balance originating in Chile. The average CIF price for imports via the land terminal of Tacna was US$126/t, up 17 per cent YoY, while the price of cement imports via Matarani port remained stable at US$77/t.

Meanwhile, clinker imports halved to 43,000t in October 2024 from 87,000t in the year-ago period. Clinker was imported solely from South Korea via the port of Callao. The average CIF import price fell by 23 per cent YoY to US$49/t when compared with the price reported in October 2023.
A-Share market capitalization gains 17 trillion yuan

Global Times) 09:38, November 25, 2024

Major indicators of China's stock market have hit record highs, with total A-share market capitalization gaining 17 trillion yuan ($2.35 trillion) and reaching the highest level in nine years, as the latest round of the stock market rally enters its third month on Monday.

The ChiNext, STAR 50, and BSE 50 indices have all posted record single-day gains, with A-share trading volume setting multiple new records in the past two months, according to cls.cn.

There has also been a surge in new account openings and significantly electrified trading activity.

In October, the Shanghai bourse witnessed its third-highest number of monthly account openings, driven primarily by individual investors, trailing only the highs of the second quarter of 2015 during the stock market boom then.

"The recent strong rally of the A-share market reflects the positive impact of government stimulus policies aimed at accelerating economic recovery and restoring market confidence. The measures have effectively boosted investor sentiment, fueling a market boom," Zhao Xijun, co-president of the China Capital Market Research Institute at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Sunday.

In October, the People's Bank of China, the central bank, announced that it decided to set up the Securities, Funds and Insurance companies Swap Facility (SFISF), with an initial scale of 500 billion yuan to ensure "the healthy and stable development of the capital market."

The SFISF, the first monetary policy tool created by China to support the capital market, will allow eligible securities, funds and insurance companies to use their assets including bonds, stock ETFs and holdings in constituents of the CSI 300 Index as collateral in exchange for highly liquid assets such as treasury bonds and central bank bills, the central bank said in a statement, reported Xinhua News Agency.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing)
Here are the new business licenses from the County Clerk's office:

A BEAUTIFUL CLEAN LISA M HALTERMAN 7909 FROSTWOOD LN OOLTEWAH TN 37363



AD STAR NAILS CHINH N TRAN 9203 LEE HWY STE 14 OOLTEWAH TN 37363



AM INTERIORS ANNA M STEWART 2004 E 13TH ST CHATTANOOGA TN 37404



AZTEK CONSTRUCTION LLC ANDRES M ANDRES TOMAS 4130 BENNETT RD CHATTANOOGA TN 37412



BRICCHOUS CUSTOMS DEREK HOUSE 306 GLENWOOD DR CHATTANOOGA TN 37404



CHEROKEE RENTAL MARK STEPHENSON 899 CHEROKEE BLVD APT 105 CHATTANOOGA TN 37405



CLAP AND CLICK EVENTS KAREN HATTER 614 BARTON AVE CHATTANOOGA TN 37405



COMPLETE HOUSE INC DORIEDSON DA SILVA 7714 CANYON DR CHATTANOOGA TN 37416



DESIGNTECH PROJECTS KEVIN STAGL 1185 MOUNTAIN CREEK RD APT 1002 CHATTANOOGA TN 37405



DMI HANDYMAN SERVICES MARTY DUFF 307 MAIN ST APT B SODDY DAISY TN 37379



DUBAI INVESTMENTS LLC JOHN L BRITT 5305 MARION AVE #A EAST RIDGE TN 37412



E AND L COLLECTIVE EMILY HARMON 711 DANBURY DR SIGNAL MOUNTAIN TN 37377



EASTERN MARLEY GERAMY REEVES 431 BROWNS FERRY RD CHATTANOOGA TN 37419



FIVE GUYS BURGERS AND FRIES WILLIAM GELLERT 5110 HIXSON PIKE HIXSON TN 37343



FIVE GUYS BURGERS AND FRIES WILLIAM GELLERT 2020 GUNBARREL RD CHATTANOOGA TN 37421



FIVE GUYS BURGERS AND FRIES WILLIAM GELLERT 401 BROAD ST CHATTANOOGA TN 37402



FRAMING GARCIA ARTURO GARCIA LOPEZ 2113 E 14TH ST CHATTANOOGA TN 37404



FREEUP STORAGE RYAN GIBSON 7327 HIXSON PIKE HIXSON TN 37343



FREEUP STORAGE RYAN GIBSON 6808 MIDDLE VALLEY RD HIXSON TN 37343



FREEUP STORAGE RYAN GIBSON 1479 BOY SCOUT RD HIXSON TN 37343



GET HAMMERED CONSTRUCTION DANIEL BRADFORD 9356 CHARBAR CIR CHATTANOOGA TN 37421



GLOBAL DRYWALL SOUTH, INC.

JOHN STEFANSKI 2615 MEDICAL CENTER PKWY STE 1560 MURFREESBORO TN 37129GROWN FOLKS LOUNGE SHANEIKA D SHEPHERD 830 DODSON AVE STE D CHATTANOOGA TN 37406HILL ESTATE TN INVESTMENTS, LLC DREW HILL 1615 BAILEY AVE CHATTANOOGA TN 37404INNOVATIC ENTERPRISES ALAN REED 1711 OAK ST CHATTANOOGA TN 37404JAMES CONNER DBA CROCKETCOIN JAMES CONNER 806 MERRIMAC CIR CHATTANOOGA TN 37412KAL'S EVENTS CARLOS G KAL 300 CHEROKEE BLVD STE 140 CHATTANOOGA TN 37405KATELIN LEWANDOWSKI KATELIN M LEWANDOWSKI 3402 DAYTON BLVD #F CHATTANOOGA TN 37415MIKESMOBILEMECHANIC JAMICHAEL JONES 8928 VILLA RICA CIR CHATTANOOGA TN 37421MISSION REALTY GREGORY A ROACH 802 S CREST RD CHATTANOOGA TN 37404MO! ENTERTAINMENT MOISES MORENO 5794 AMBER VALLEY LN HIXSON TN 37343NOOGALOVE, LLC ELIZABETH P ROOP 207 W 16TH ST CHATTANOOGA TN 37408OM CONSTRUCTION LLC ELMER Z ORTIZ MARTINEZ 308 MCBRIEN RD CHATTANOOGA TN 37411PINK PENGUIN LLC MICHAEL N ADAMS 2112 PORT ROYAL DR SODDY DAISY TN 37379POIEO LOGISTICS CHRISTOPHER P JENNINGS 1700 ADAIR AVE CHATTANOOGA TN 37412RICARDO ESPINO VALENZUELA RICARDO ESPINO 5397 WILBANKS DR STE C HIXSON TN 37343SANCHEZ ENTERPRISES LLC LORENZO SANCHEZ 6906 PARK DR CHATTANOOGA TN 37421SAVVY SOIREE TN ARIANNA F FENIMORE 8547 DALLAS OAKS LN HIXSON TN 37343SC XTREME SERVICES STEVEN E COLEMAN 585 CLEARVIEW DR RINGGOLD GA 30736SCENIC CITY CIGARS AUDRA C SCOTT 7912 E BRAINERD RD CHATTANOOGA TN 37421SHILP STUDIO LLC GARMINA RAWAT 10427 MAGNOLIA FARM DR APISON TN 37302TEXAS RAYNE TRANSPORT MICHAEL PODY 307 ALTOONA DR RED BANK TN 37415TIENDA LA FAVORITA SAIDA GONZALEZ 4308 DODDS AVE CHATTANOOGA TN 37407WESTSIDE TOWING & RECOVERY, INC. ALEXANDER D PETERSON 9954 FROST RIDGE DR OOLTEWAH TN 37363WOLF AND WITCH TATTOO JENNIFER L PUETTE 124 E 10TH ST CHATTANOOGA TN 37402YOLANDA'S SOUL FOOD YOLANDA BROWN 213 W 37TH ST CHATTANOOGA TN 37410
Authorities said Monday that the first arrest was made in Chattanooga last week of a member of the violent Venzuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The gang member arrested was Adelvis Rodriguez-Carmona, 30. He was passing through the area and not embedded in the community, officials said.

TBI officials said, "Investigative efforts confirmed Rodriguez-Carmona to be a known member of Tren de Aragua who is additionally suspected of committing violent crimes in Chicago and New York City."

He is in the custody of the Hamilton County Jail on $125,000 bond, charged with one count of patronizing prostitution, one count of possession of marijuana for resale, one count of possession of Xanax for resale, one count of possession of crack cocaine for resale, and one count of unlawful possession of a weapon.

TBI Director David Rausch, who was in Chattanooga conducting media interviews with Sheriff Austin Garrett and Chattanooga Police Chief John Chambers, said Rodriguez-Carmona was arrested at a local hotel along with three women working as prostitutes.

The women arrested were Wilimar Herrera Guedez, 29, charged with one count of prostitution, Rebeca De Los Juarez Lucena, 26, charged with one count of prostitution, and Yidalbris Marcano Salas, 29, charged with one count of prostitution, one count of possession of marijuana for resale, one count of possession of Xanax for resale, one count of possession of crack cocaine for resale, and one count of unlawful possession of a weapon.

Director Rausch said the operation was conducted in Georgia before moving on to Chattanooga.

All three officials said they want to get out the message that law enforcement is determined not to allow Tren de Aragua to get a toehold in Tennessee.

Director Rausch said Tren de Aragua, known for its violence - especially against police, only recently surfaced in the last couple of years.

He said at a recent conference, the FBI director "said he had not heard of Tren de Aragua a year ago, but now it's all he hears about."

Director Rausch said some Tren de Aragua members were arrested in Middle Tennessee two years ago. He said there were arrests recently in Memphis.

He said the gang thus far has not been nearly so visible as in Colorado, where they are seen on video taking over an apartment complex, and in New York City, where another video shows them in a gun battle with officers.

The TBI director said the origin of the gang is from the prison system in Venzuela. He said the gang took over the prison and began running it. Finally, he said the government there retook the prison operation.

He said many of those who had been running the prison fled and came into the U.S. through the "porous border." He said the federal government and the state and local law enforcement jurisdictions are now dealing with the fact that the gang members were able to walk in.

Concerning the recent arrest in Chattanooga of the three woman, he said "they are victims as well," but he said they live in great fear of their captors. He said many women are kidnapped off the street in Venzuela and wind up working as prostitutes in the U.S.
A combined total of more than 8,500 square meters of workspace will be created in just three years of construction at two locations: the main site on the DESY campus and a second very close by in the Altona Innovation Park. Complex laboratories, offices, and open working environments will be built to optimally foster the flow and transfer of knowledge and technology from research to industry and society.

From 2027 onward, the DESY Innovation Factory will serve pre-founders, start-ups, and scale-ups, as well as partners from applied research and collaborations with industry as an innovation centre for life sciences, new materials, and quantum technologies. It will bolster a unique ecosystem in Germany in which these stakeholders can not only optimally develop their ideas, but also benefit from a wide range of networking, events, and advice.

The DESY Innovation Factory offers founders excellent conditions to bring new ideas from research into practice even faster. In the heart of Science City, an important flagship for Hamburg's new future-oriented district and our science location is being created. It will bring together bright minds from science and business to work together on sustainable solutions for pressing issues of the future, says Katharina Fegebank, Second Mayor of Hamburg and Senator of the Science, Research, Equality and Districts Authority of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.

The centre targets research disciplines, sectors, and subjects that are particularly promising for the future of society: In the context of Life Sciences, these are active ingredient and vaccine research, medical technology, and diagnostics. In New Materials, the focus is on sustainable and intelligent materials that are particularly durable or efficient to use. Quantum Technologies focuses on modern forms of computing, sensor technology, and quantum materials.

Research at the Hamburg site offers enormous potential for social progress: what is developed here has what it takes to make life better. The DESY Innovation Factory enables the transition from research to marketable solutions. It will become a workbench for innovation, where bright minds and creative entrepreneurs work together to find answers to the pressing questions of our time - for a sustainable future and innovation through technology, says Melanie Leonhard, Senator for Economic Affairs and Innovation of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.

For DESY, the DESY Innovation Factory is a further milestone in its strategy to continuously develop the campus into a centre of deep-tech innovation. The globally unique large-scale research facilities and their specially trained staff will also increasingly benefit companies in the future in order to jointly develop cutting-edge products and technologies.

By working closely together, research and industry can identify solutions to socially relevant challenges, for example in materials development or for the environment, more quickly and often more cost-effectively. With the DESY Innovation Factory, we offer the ideal environment for new deep-tech innovations, says Arik Willner, DESYs Chief Technology Officer.

The DESY Innovation Factory will play a pivotal role in Science City Hamburg Bahrenfeld and greatly expand Germany's potential as a science and technology location, says Helmut Dosch, Chairman of the DESY Board of Directors.

The DESY Innovation Factory already provides around 120 square meters of equipped experimental space in the Makerspace to validate product ideas and develop prototypes involving 3D printing, laser technology, mechanics, and electronics. This offer is currently being used by the first pre-foundation teams and start-ups and will be expanded significantly in the future with the DESY Innovation Factory. In this way, many founders and researchers will be able to exchange ideas across specialist boundaries and achieve crucial synergy effects.
India is sending 5,000 more troops to curb ethnic violence in Manipur between the Meitei and Kuki communities. | Screenshot / Al Jazeera English YouTube Channel

In India's northeastern state of Manipur, ethnoreligious violence has escalated dramatically, resulting in the deaths of twenty people over the past two weeks.

The ongoing conflict between the majority Hindu Meitei community and the minority Christian Kuki community has caused significant turmoil, displacing more than 60,000 individuals since May 2023.

The recent clashes have disrupted hopes for peace, with reports of burned churches, fatalities among children, and security forces' difficulties in maintaining order.

The violence has created a stark divide between the communities, prompting 50,000 Kuki Christians to flee the Imphal valley, while 10,000 Meiteis have abandoned their residences in areas predominantly inhabited by Kukis.

This surge of violence began in Jiribam, close to the Assam border, following a series of retaliatory killings that started with the murder of a young Kuki woman whose body was discovered in a river. Tensions intensified after a Christian teacher and mother of three was killed and his body set ablaze in an attack attributed to Meiteis.

This incident led to a deadly confrontation between armed Kukis and security forces, resulting in the deaths of ten Kuki attackers.

On November 16, the situation worsened when six Meiteis, including three children, were found dead. In retaliation, protesters set fire to Kuki homes and six churches in Jiribam, while mobs in Imphal targeted government officials' residences. In response to the escalating violence, authorities imposed curfews, suspended internet access, and closed schools.

People are living in fear and tension. They dont know what will happen next, a senior Meitei church leader in Imphal stated, as reported by Global Christian Relief.

The management of the deceased bodies has emerged as another contentious issue. Security forces airlifted the bodies of the ten Kuki Christians to Churuchandpur for burial, but delays by the government in releasing the bodies led to unprecedented protests. On November 19, hundreds of mourners dressed in black marched through Churuchandpur carrying empty coffins to honor the deceased and protest against the violence.

Criticism has been directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding his absence during the ongoing crisis. Observers note that his Hindu nationalist BJP party, which governs Manipur, has not succeeded in restoring peace.

Amid increasing frustration, a church leader in the region lamented, We had been praying for lasting peace and were feeling relaxed. But this latest conflict has shattered the peace to which Manipur was returning. While many struggle for their livelihoods, the curfew has only worsened their situation.
LGBT flags are displayed in front of the United Methodist Church. | Wikimedia Commons/Joe Mabel

The United Methodist Church (UMC) is facing criticism for proposing to suspend funding for the Cote d'Ivoire Conference, a major regional body of one million members that disaffiliated from the denomination earlier this year.

The UMC Council of Bishops has recently requested that the General Council on Finance and Administration cease funding for the Ivory Coast church immediately, while also claiming control over denominational properties in the West African nation.

The controversy centers around allegations that the Cote d'Ivoire Conference did not adhere to the proper exit procedures laid out by the UMC. Reportedly, had the conference complied with the exit process, it would have continued to receive funding until 2028, according to UM News.

The bishops are justifying their request for control of the United Methodist properties in Cote d'Ivoire by citing the denomination's trust clause.

Mark Tooley, president of the theologically conservative Institute on Religion & Democracy, commented on the situation, stating that the proposed measures appear very punitive and vindictive.

Tooley also expressed that the bishops' actions signal to other United Methodist churches worldwide that the UMC in the U.S. may take punitive measures, noting, This might intimidate some from trying to quit the UMC. But it also might motivate others to get out as quickly as they can.

Regarding the bishops' claims about UMC properties, Tooley remarked that it is unclear what this action means about UMC property in Ivory Coast, questioning whether the bishops were referring to church buildings or other denominational properties.

Tooley pointed out that local church buildings are held in trust not by the global denomination but by the local annual conference, which is the Ivory Coast church that has now become independent.

The Cote d'Ivoire Conference, which was previously an independent Methodist church before joining the UMC in 2004, is one of the largest regional bodies within the denomination.

Earlier this year, during the UMC General Conference, delegates decided to lift the denominations ban on the blessing of same-sex unions, the ordination of individuals in same-sex relationships, and the funding of LGBT advocacy groups.

In reaction to this decision, the Cote d'Ivoire Conference voted in May to disassociate from the UMC, stating that the UMC has preferred to sacrifice its honorability and integrity to honor the LGBT and expressing concerns that "the new United Methodist Church is now based on sociocultural and contextual values which have consumed its doctrinal and disciplinary integrity.
Home News Swiss art exhibit offers AI Jesus confessional 'without confession'

The oldest Catholic church in one Swiss city is offering parishioners a chance to receive a blessing from a virtual representation of the Messiah.

St. Peters Chapel in Lucerne, Switzerland, is set to wrap up a groundbreaking "experimental art installation" titled Deus in Machina, or God in the machine, a play on the Latin phrase Deux ex machina. The installation features an artificial intelligence (AI) program designed to simulate the image and likeness of Christ Jesus.

Developed by Philipp Haslbauer and Aljosa Smolic from the Immersive Realities Center at Hochschule Luzern, alongside Marco Schmid, a resident theologian at the parish, the installation was first introduced in August and culminates in a public presentation and discussion of its findings on Nov. 27.

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According to the installations description, visitors share their thoughts and questions in a confessional with a heavenly hologram, where words are intended for only four ears  but without confession.

Developed by theologians and computer scientists, the AI is trained in New Testament theology and responds to questions in 100 languages, according to developers. Widely reported as a hologram, the Jesus avatar itself actually appears on a curved monitor behind the confessional screen, Catholic News Agency (CNA) reported.

Trained on sacred scripture and theological texts from across the internet, the AI responds with biblical teachings and spiritual advice. However, the potential for conflicting interpretations remains, as the program draws from diverse online sources, some of which might not align with Catholic doctrine, according to CNA.

One visitor to the exhibit at St. Peters Chapel reported the AI addresses them as "Peace be with you, brother," regardless of gender, and encourages them to share "whatever is troubling your heart today."

While designed to offer a moment of personal reflection, the installation is not intended to replace the sacrament of confession, according to CNA. Rather, the project was created by researchers at a local technical university in concert with theologians who say they want to raise questions about the use of technology in religious settings and to demonstrate the ability of AI to answer questions about the Bible.

Unlike the eternal Son of God, AI Jesus chatbots like the one in Lucerne appear to learn new information and update responses over time, according to Joseph L. Kimmel, a scholar of early Christianity and comparative religion at Boston College.

For instance, Kimmel previously said one chatbot model of Jesus referenced past interactions with users and nuanced his responses accordingly, saying, I have received this question about the Bible's meaning before.  But in light of the question you have just posed, I want to add that 

Variations of an AI representation of Jesus have already debuted online, including Twitch channel Ask Jesus, an experimental AI-generated livestream that gives viewers the chance to query a chatbot trained after Jesus and the teachings of the Bible.

A Buddhist chatbot in Thailand named the AI Monk is represented with a human face and discusses Buddhist notions of impermanence and other ideas on his Facebook page.

Another Buddhist chatbot is in development in Japan, where researchers at Kyoto University are programming the AI to quote Buddhist teachings.
Home News Christian leaders condemn Cuban govt for violations of religious freedom

Christian leaders across Cuba have condemned the government for its continued violations of religious freedom, issuing a joint statement decrying the fines imposed on religious leaders and restrictions on worship. The Alliance of Christians of Cuba stated that government actions are obstructing religious groups ability to provide humanitarian aid amid a worsening national crisis.

The ACC, an independent network of religious leaders formed in 2022, released a declaration last week, criticizing the Cuban government for refusing to legalize unregistered places of worship and imposing harsh fines on religious leaders, reported the U.K.-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide.

The declaration, signed by 63 religious leaders, described the governments measures as a direct attack on freedom of worship.

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We observe with dismay that the Cuban state refuses to open spaces for the exercise of fundamental rights such as freedom of association, the statement read. This limits churches ability to provide support and social aid to those most in need.

According to the declaration, the government has collected over 1 million Cuban Pesos, or roughly $42,000, in fines from religious leaders, an action described as punitive for those seeking to aid their communities.

CSW says it has documented at least 69 incidents since January in which religious leaders, including Christian and Afro-Cuban leaders from both registered and unregistered groups, were targeted with fines across 11 provinces.

In one case from June, the leader of an unregistered Christian group in Matanzas was fined 20,000 CUP, or $850, for refusing to vacate the property where religious services were held. Despite possessing legal documents proving ownership, the group was denied official permission to meet there.

In another case, leaders of two registered Christian groups in Camaguey and Holguin were fined 15,000 CUP, or $650, and 50,000 CUP, or $2,100, respectively, for carrying out renovations without authorization.

The fines come at a time when Cuba is grappling with severe economic hardship, coupled with natural disasters and repeated power grid failures.

Cuba is experiencing a crisis unlike anything it has seen in decades, said Anna Lee Stangl, co-director of advocacy for CSW. Instead of opening space to independent civil society, including religious groups, to allow them to provide much needed humanitarian aid to the wider community, the government under President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez is tightening restrictions on all freedoms.

Stangl added that CSW stands with the ACC in urging the Cuban government to uphold fundamental human rights, including the right to freedom of religion or belief as guaranteed under Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The intensified crackdown on religious freedom in Cuba follows the protests of July 2021, when thousands of Cubans demonstrated against the governments handling of economic and political issues.

A previous report by CSW documented 622 religious freedom violations in 2023, compared to 657 cases in 2022 and 272 in 2021, indicating a sustained level of repression.

The report identified tactics such as surveillance, interrogation and threats aimed at religious leaders and their congregations, particularly those supporting families of political prisoners or providing humanitarian assistance.

Leaders of unregistered groups faced constant harassment and threats, while children of religious families were subjected to verbal abuse in schools due to their beliefs.

Those considered by the government to be dissidents were repeatedly and systematically blocked from attending religious services, usually through short-term arbitrary detention, the report said.

Among those most affected are members of the Ladies in White, a group founded by wives and mothers of political prisoners. They are routinely fined and arbitrarily detained to prevent them from attending church services on Sundays.

CSW noted that religious leaders providing humanitarian aid or support to political prisoners families often saw their assistance confiscated by authorities.

I told them that I belong to a Christian, not a counter-revolutionary church. I am a believer in God and a follower of Christ, one unnamed religious leader told CSW researchers. I told them that they can do with me whatever they want, but I will not stop attending church.

The Cuban government established the Department for Attention to Religious Institutions and Fraternal Groups in 2022, but religious leaders told CSW that the Office of Religious Affairs of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party remains the primary authority, maintaining an antagonistic stance toward religious groups.

The U.S. State Department has designated Cuba as a country of particular concern for religious freedom, placing it alongside nations like China, Iran and North Korea as one of the worst offenders of human rights.
Home News Christian faith leaders urge lawmakers to oppose assisted suicide bill

The Bishop of London and Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster are among the signatories of a joint statement by faith leaders urging MPs not to pass a bill legalizing assisted suicide.

Kim Leadbeater's Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has prompted national debate on the issue ahead of a debate in Parliament on Friday. She has claimed her bill would prevent abuse by implementing the "strictest safeguards anywhere in the world," which include requests for assisted suicide being signed off by two doctors and a judge.

Critics are unpersuaded by the promise of safeguards, and the letter from the faith leaders warns that a "right to die" might "all too easily" become a "duty to die" for vulnerable people.

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They call instead for efforts to be focused on raising the quality and availability of palliative care, which they say is "worryingly underfunded."

"Part of the role of faith leaders in communities is to provide spiritual and pastoral care for the sick and for the dying. We hold the hands of loved ones in their final days, we pray with families both before and after death. It is to this vocation that we have been called, and it is from this vocation that we write," the letter reads.

"Our pastoral roles make us deeply concerned about the impact the bill would have on the most vulnerable, opening up the possibility of life-threatening abuse and coercion. This is a concern we know is shared by many people, with and without faith."

The letter was published in The Observer newspaper over the weekend and signed by 29 faith leaders who include: the Bishop of London and former Chief Nursing Officer, Dame Sarah Mullally, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London, Archbishop Angaelos, the head of the Evangelical Alliance Gavin Calver, CARE CEO Ross Hendry, and the Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis.

A separate open letter opposing the bill has been signed by 73 academic experts in health, end-of-life care and the legal system who warn that "coercion would be a reality with a change in the law."

"To deny this is to ignore the 400,000 cases annually of domestic abuse for older people in England and Wales," they said.

"If the law were to change, we would see people with terminal disease feeling they should accept assisted suicide because (as has been the case for over 47 percent of those seeking assisted suicide in Oregon and over 59 percent in the state of Washington) they would feel they were a burden to friends and family."

They state that Leadbeater's private member's bill is "an inadequate parliamentary process for an issue of such ethical and legal complexity," and say that it would be "difficult" for a High Court judge to investigate all the "complexities" involved in assessing individuals' mental and decision-making capacities.

"It lacks prudence to allow such a radical change to healthcare practice at a time of crisis for the NHS, especially given the increased financial pressures on general practice, hospices and care homes," they write.

This article was originally published at Christian Today
Home News Christian man recounts death sentence sham trial: judicial terrorism'

ABUJA, Nigeria  A former Army general in Nigeria said his death sentence following riots more than 30 years ago was the result of Muslim military leaders controlling a sham tribunal.

Maj.-Gen. Zamani Lekwot, a Christian, spoke at the Nigerian Army Resource Centre in Abuja on Nov. 5 for the release of his book, Judicial Terrorism, saying he was sentenced to death even when courts had declared his conviction fraudulent. He and other Christian leaders subject to judicial terrorism were later freed thanks to divine providence, he said.

Lekwot said the roots of the 1992 conflict between Christians and Muslims in southern Kaduna state began on Feb. 6 of that year, when rioting erupted in a market in Zangon Kataf County, causing six deaths and property destruction. The government set up a commission of inquiry.

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The commissions report had yet to be released when an Islamic group in Zangon Kataf town petitioned then-Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Ibrahim Dansuki to do something about the Muslims who had died in the market riot, with the aim of forestalling jihadist violence rooted in the belief that a Muslim who kills or dies in jihad goes to Heaven, Lekwot said.

Copies of the petition were sent to the Kaduna governor, the emir of Zaria, other emirs in northern states and security agencies, he said.

However, suddenly on Friday, May 15, 1992, I was told the authors of the petition attacked Afabwang village, the closest atyap [traditional chiefdom of the Atyap people] village to them and caused mayhem, Lekwot said. The news spread like wildfire, and the whole community became emotionally charged, culminating in the clash which caused loss of lives and property on both sides.

Instead of ordering an investigation to establish the facts, 61 people, including tribal chiefs, senior pastors and other prominent citizens were arrested and thrown into prison on the orders of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, head of the military junta. The orders followed the surprise visit on May 26, 1992, of Babangida, whom Lekwot referred to by the name of the presidential palace site, Aso Rock Abuja, when he wept and declared those responsible for the destruction guilty, Lekwot said. That was the narrative that culminated in the atyaps persecution by Aso Rock. No Hausa/Fulani man, who started it all, was arrested.

Lekwot said the military junta in power at the time attempted to place them on trial twice. The first trial brought four charges: unlawful assembly, rioting, armed rioting and disturbing the peace, he said.

However, since the case was a charade without substance, the attorney general of the federation applied a nolle prosequi [abandonment of charges], and we were discharged but not acquitted, Lekwot said. Immediately thereafter, we were re-arrested and returned to the Kaduna prison on the orders of the tribunal chairman.

In the second trial, 18 charges were added to the original four even though the nolle prosequi was still in place, which was very bizarre, he said. Lekwots attorneys sought justice for him and the other defendants at a Kaduna high court.

Shamelessly, however, Aso Rock shocked everyone by confirming that the tribunal was on a mission to deliver us to the gallows come what may, Lekwot said, adding that on Dec. 3, 1992, they were barred from appealing by Decree No. 55.

His attorneys withdrew from the case in protest, and the tribunal chairman refused the defendants request for another defense team, stating that only Aso Rock Abuja (the presidential administration) could grant it, he said.

Consequently, he later condemned us to death by hanging, without fair hearing, based on the prosecutions false charges against us, which our defense team had discredited, Lekwot said. What a travesty of justice in a country that is supposed to be the hope of the black race. When our lawyers finally got to the Supreme Court, the case was struck out because of Aso Rocks refusal to release the judgment record. The same thing happened during the Oputa Panel sittings, when the judgment record was demanded to no avail.

Following public outcry against the gross injustice, the sentences were commuted to five years imprisonment, Lekwot said. Human rights group The Constitutional Rights Project filed a case with the African Commission on Human Rights in Banjul, Gambia, which led to nullification of their convictions and imprisonments, he said.

The trial was nullified in October 1994 due to the gross violation of the African charter, et al., Lekwot said. We therefore remain ever grateful to them for their commendable empathy. In essence, there was no trial in the real sense of the word. What the venal tribunal did merely tarnished the fine reputation of our judiciary, which was clearly the one on trial throughout the trial and not us. What a grotesque thing to do which clearly portrayed Nigeria in bad light without compunction.

This article was originally published at Christian Daily InternationalMorning Star News
Home News Cuba sentences pastor to 8 years in prison for participating in peaceful protest: report Regime failed to notify pastor and his family for months after sentencing

A Protestant pastor has reportedly been sentenced to eight years in prison for participating in peaceful protests against Cubas communist regime, bringing renewed attention to the governments harsh crackdown on religious activities and peaceful demonstrations.

Pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo was detained without trial for over two months following protests in Cuba last summer, which were said to be the largest in decades amid ongoing shortages of medicine and food during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The United Kingdom-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide recently reported that the Cuban government notified the United Nations in March that Rosales Fajardo, a pastor for 20 years who leads the nondenominational Monte de Sion church in Palma Soriano, was sentenced to eight years in prison for charges including disrespect and public disorder."

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The sentencing occurred in late December. However, the government's March letter in response to a joint communication from five U.N. special procedures states that the "parties" had not been notified of the sentencing, according to CSW.

In the letter, Cuban government officials reportedly claimed Rosales Fajardo does not belong to a recognized church." The government also claims that Rosales Fajardo was part of a violent attack on the Cuban Communist Party headquarters in Palma Soriano last July that left several Black "agents of order" and one civilian wounded.

Video and images from the incident, however, showed agents from the Black Beret paramilitary force attacking unarmed protesters and Rosales Fajardo being held in a chokehold, according to CSW.

CSWs Head of Advocacy Anna Lee Stangl said international efforts to free the pastor continue even amid what appears to be a much broader crackdown against Christians and pro-democracy and pro-reform movements.

We have had numerous reports of Christian leaders being summoned by state security, interrogated and threatened, with some being forced into exile, Stangl told The Christian Post.

One recent report involved a Christian couple who are high-profile pastors in the Las Tunas region. The couple was summoned, interrogated and threatened for six hours, according to Stangl, because of their involvement in organizing a prayer service for political prisoners and highlighting the case of Rosales Fajardo, whose wife was also threatened.

These crude intimidation tactics demonstrate how much the Cuban government fears the influence of Christian leaders and ironically, considering the atheistic ideology held by most Cuban Communist Party officials, their recognition of the power of prayer, said Stangl.

The Cuban government has long scrutinized the islands religious groups  the vast majority of which are Christians  due to their ability to mobilize large groups of people. Stangl thinks public statements made last year by Christian leaders and other religious groups condemning the governments actions may have antagonized the governments stance toward Christians.

The number of explicit statements from religious leaders and groups in the second half of 2021, condemning the government's use of violence against peaceful protesters and affirming the fundamental right to protest peacefully, was something we have not seen since 1959, and marked what many thought might be a new era in terms of religious groups' willingness to speak out publicly despite government threats, she said.

But since then, Stangl says the government has released a number of new draft laws for public consultation, many of which have drawn criticism from Christian leaders.

That trend could indicate their willingness to speak out will not fade even if they are subject to continued intimidation tactics.

The government, under the leadership of the Cuban Communist Party, seems to be intent on taking the country backwards to a more repressive and controlling system, she said. However, many Christian leaders appear to be just as resolute that they will not accept this.

The Madrid-based watchdog group Prisoners Defenders warned last December that the number of political prisoners in Cuba increased five-fold in 2021 as the government cracked down on protesters demonstrating for various reasons, including a shortage of medicine and food during the pandemic.

The U.S. State Department has placed Cuba on its "Special Watch List" of countries with severe violations of religious freedom.

The Christian persecution watchdog ministry Open Doors USA, which monitors persecution in over 60 countries, ranks Cuba as the 37th-worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution on its annual World Watch List. The organization warns that religious freedom conditions in the country continue to worsen.

"The continued rise is the result of highly restrictive measures against churches deemed to be opponents of the regime  especially non-registered Protestant churches," an Open Doors fact sheet states. "The COVID-19 crisis has been used as a pretext to hinder church and community activities, monitor church leaders, make arbitrary arrests, confiscate private property and impose extortion fees. Christian leaders from different denominations were among those arrested during anti-government demonstrations in July."
Home News Greg Locke announces Global Vision Bible Churchs new campus during final tent service

Greg Locke, the pastor of Global Vision Bible Church, announced Sunday that it will host its first service in a new 32,600-square-foot warehouse facility in Tennessee next Sunday, preaching his final Sunday service from a large white tent in Mt. Juliet.

Locke told his congregation Sunday that the new building is located at 1010 Maddox Simpson Parkway in nearby Lebanon. The church still owns the current property but is listed for sale, Locke said.

A volunteer event will take place prior to their inaugural service.

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"I'm so honored that you are here today for what is the final service of the tent," he said. "But I believe it is just the beginning, not even close to the finality of the revival and the glory of God and what He is going to continue to do."

"We are going to be coming in next Sunday on two wheels. It's been a busy week. ... We got firewalls being built. We got the permit crews in there and they are stoning stuff. They have been fixing the bathrooms. ... Everything is still going to be in transition, even when we get there next week.

The facility features over six acres, with 2,500 square feet designated for offices, reports The Tennessean. The building is in the South Perimeter Industrial Park area, surrounded by other warehouse-type buildings. There are a few residential homes in the vicinity, but the area largely consists of industrial facilities, making it distinct from the church's current tent setup.

Global Vision Bible Church, founded by Locke in 2006, has undergone significant transformations, particularly in recent years when it began holding services in a large tent after attendance grew substantially. As Locke's political and social views gained traction online in recent years, the congregation increased in size, necessitating a larger venue.

Global Vision Bible Church had faced complaints from residents related to noise and traffic generated by the tent services and conferences. Tennessee's Wilson County filed a lawsuit against the church last year for alleged zoning violations and "excessive noise."

The move follows months of planning after Global Vision's unsuccessful attempt to buy the Love's Way Church property on Coles Ferry Pike in Lebanon.

Instead of buying, Locke confirmed that the church would lease the new campus, which offers better access to Interstate 40 and a more spacious layout, ideal for growing the church's ministries and accommodating additional parking.

Locke had earlier indicated that the church was $5 million short of the $5.5 million needed to finalize the purchase of the Love's Way property, relying on what he termed a "miracle from God" to fulfill the deal.

When that did not materialize, Love's Way Pastor Johan McGregor confirmed that the sale had fallen through.

During an Oct. 27 service, Locke offered to refund any donations from members who felt uncomfortable with the church's financial transparency. However, after some members took him up on his offer, Locke's attorney reportedly informed at least one donor that there would be no refunds.

A letter from Locke's legal counsel clarified, "Please be further advised that there is no 'verbal contract' as you claim, and Global Vision will not be making any 'refund.'"

During the October service, Locke dismissed allegations of financial misconduct, stating, "Listen, we got IRS paperwork. We got lawyers. We got a CPA that says we have a squeaky clean book."

He also addressed accusations that he had used building fund money for personal purchases, denying claims that he bought a $1.6 million mansion, stating instead that his new home cost $625,000 and was funded partly through personal savings and investments from business partners.
Home News Karoline Leavitt: 4 key facts about Trump's 27-year-old White House press secretary

President-elect Donald Trump recently announced that 27-year-old Karoline Leavitt, who served as national press secretary during his 2024 presidential campaign, will serve as White House press secretary when he assumes office in January.

"Karoline Leavitt did a phenomenal job as the National Press Secretary on my Historic Campaign, and I am pleased to announce she will serve as White House Press Secretary," Trump said in a Nov. 15 statement.

"Karoline is smart, tough, and has proven to be a highly effective communicator. I have the utmost confidence she will excel at the podium, and help deliver our message to the American People as we, Make America Great Again."

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Leavitt will be the youngest White House press secretary in U.S. history, a record previously held by Ronald Ziegler, who assumed the role in 1969 for former President Richard Nixon at age 29. He served more than five years during a tumultuous time in American political history and was Nixon's only press secretary.

Here are four key facts about Leavitt's background.
Home News Number of political prisoners in Cuba increased five-fold last year, watchdog reports

The number of political prisoners in the communist country of Cuba, which stood at about 134 last December, increased to at least 805 by the end of November, a new report by a rights organization shows.

These are a small fraction of the real figures, says the Madrid-based watchdog group Prisoners Defenders, noting that its not possible to verify all cases of political imprisonment and therefore the actual number is likely to be much higher.

At least 23 of the political prisoners were minors at the time of their detention and are being criminally prosecuted with numerous years imprisonment requested for most of them, the report reveals, adding that the average age of the imprisoned protesters is 34, although Cuba is one of the most ageing countries in the world.

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The majority of the prisoners are convicts of conscience, the report adds, explaining that they are prisoners deprived of their liberty solely for reasons of conscience, i.e. the strict exercise of their most fundamental human rights, on charges that are either completely and demonstrably false and fabricated, or of a non-criminal nature and absolutely related to thought.

Many others have been condemned of conscience, who suffer prosecutors orders or judicial sentences of forced labour at home, limited freedom, probation under threat and other limitations to their freedoms.

Some are other political prisoners, whose cases are concerning violence or other punishable offences in addition to their political imprisonment.

In July, the people of Cuba demonstrated their anger against the communist government in what was said to be the largest protest in decades amid shortages of medicine and food during the pandemic.

Protests were held in cities around the Caribbean island country, including in San Antonio de los Banos, Palma Soriano and Havana, according to reports that emerged at the time.

International travel restrictions and the monthslong COVID-19 lockdown within the country compacted the country's already spiraling economic crisis. Hours after the protests erupted, President Diaz-Canel addressed the nation on national television, urging the regime's supporters to confront the protesters on the streets. He also accused the U.S. of causing the crisis in Cuba by imposing sanctions.

During the protests, many religious leaders were also targeted, arrested and beaten.

Cuban authorities are detaining religious leaders merely for peacefully protesting and calling for greater respect for human rights, said James W. Carr, a commissioner with the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, in a statement at the time.

Principal among human rights concerns in Cuba are the ongoing and systematic violations of religious freedom, which include the persistent intimidation and harassment of religious leaders.

Last month, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel claimed, There are no political prisoners in Cuba, according to Havana Times. In Cuba there are many processes that are public, to discuss programs, to discuss policies as we did with the Constitution. In everyday life there are people who speak ill of the Revolution. What happens is that many times this type of person whom they manipulate and use for that, or those who by their own conviction are against the Revolution, leads them to commit crimes.

According to the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, about 59% of Cubans are Christian. Cuban Christians also face constant government surveillance and infiltration even though the faith is growing in the island country.

The Cuban government amended its Constitution in 1992, declaring it a secular state, instead of an atheist state, partially allowing religious activities. Since then, the percentage of the countrys population that identifies as Christian has grown.

However, the communist regime of Cuba continues to persecute Christians. A new constitution was adopted in 2019, which also lists the country as a secular state.

Cuba has been a one-party state under the Communist Party of Cuba since the late dictator Fidel Castro overthrew the United States-supported dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1959. In 2008, Castros brother, Raul Castro, was elected president, followed by Miguel Diaz-Canel in 2019.
Home Books Seminary prof. aids church leaders with pastoral obligations like baptisms and weddings

A seminary professor and Episcopal priest has written a book to help clergy and lay leaders navigate pastoral obligations such as baptism and marriage.

The Rev. Shawn Strout, assistant professor of Worship and associate dean of Chapel at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia, authored Shepherding Souls: A Handbook for the Pastoral Offices earlier this year.

He told The Christian Post his "primary reason for writing this book was to be a consolidated resource for pastors to guide people through the pastoral offices."

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"As a professor of worship at the Virginia Theological Seminary, I realized that one would need a whole shelf of books to address these critical moments in people's lives," said Strout.

"My book offers a brief historical overview, theological insights, cultural connections, and pastoral perspectives in one handbook. It also provides additional resources for pastors who want to explore those areas more deeply."

Strout noted that his book also "looks at the pastoral offices ecumenically and interculturally," noting that many books on pastoral office duties "tend to speak within a particular church tradition."

"However, the pastoral offices often bring people from different church traditions together. Therefore, an ecumenical perspective is paramount," he continued.

"Also, these offices involve deep cultural connections. While the book is clear that the examples provided should not be taken monolithically, they can help pastors see the cultural complexities involved in these offices."

Strout divides his book into five sections: "Baptism," "Confirmation and Other Rites of Affirmation," "Marriage," "Rites of Reconciliation and Healing" and "Ministration at the Time of Death and Burial."

In each chapter, Strout examines the history of the pastoral office, seeing how the early Church administered the specific sacrament or rite, and how it has changed over the past couple of millennia.

Strout said that while it is typical for a modern church to go back to Scripture and early Church practice to justify their tradition, practices found in Christian history regarding rites like baptism are quite diverse.

"Because Christians take Scripture seriously, we often want to find our contemporary experiences modeled in it. A strong tendency exists among many Christian traditions to attempt to trace their contemporary practices back to a scriptural pattern," Strout explained.

"However, modern historical research on the liturgy shows us that various worship practices existed in the New Testament period and after that. If we desire to find a sense of connection with the early Church, we will likely succeed as the early Church had various practices."

Strout warned against the "desire to justify our practices over and against those of other traditions," as the "early Church was as diverse in its practices as the Church today."

In the case of baptism, for example, Strout wrote that the Bible "does not give exact details of the elements involved in the baptismal rite" and "is also unclear about the role of infants in baptism."

Strout noted that while there was no "explicit reference" to infant baptism in the Bible, passages like Acts 16:15 document "entire households" being baptized and thus imply infants, as well.

After going through the history of each pastoral office, Strout examines the modern pastoral perspectives and applications, providing the reader with advice and resources on each topic.

While churches throughout history often had diverse practices regarding various rites and sacraments, Strout believes there were still limits to where certain practices could be taken.

For example, in the chapter on marriage, Strout analyzed the issue of cultural traditions and whether they can be part of a Christian wedding ceremony. One such example was the desire of some couples to include a "unity candle" as part of their ceremony.

"While it can take many forms, essentially, it is two candles, one held by each person to be married, that they then use to light another candle. The idea is that two people become one in marriage," Strout told CP.

"However, some pastors have come to question this symbol. Where does God fit into the picture? What about the families? How does the congregation who is witnessing and promising to support the marriage symbolized in it? Is this symbol too focused on the couple, leaving out even Christ's presence in the marriage?"

Strout emphasized that "just as historical research has shown us that varied worship practices existed from the Church's earliest days, it has also shown us that worship practices have evolved."

"All the worship rites used today, created by the pastor for the occasion or having a historical legacy, are the product of theological, cultural, social and political developments throughout history," he said to CP.

"Wise pastors will appreciate this 'living tradition' by neither jettisoning it altogether nor adhering to it rigidly. Instead, they will glean it for the wisdom it provides to minister to the people left in their care."
Home News 'Wild, dark, demonic' forces: Woman's powerful ministry to confront evil, offer healing

Judith MacNutt, founder of Christian Healing Ministries, an organization dedicated to healing prayer, is on a mission to help people find hope  and spiritual recovery.

MacNutt, co-author of Deliverance from Evil Spirits: A Guide to Freedom from the Demonic Realm alongside her late husband, Francis MacNutt, grew up in a Christian home with a mother who believed wholeheartedly in healing.

"When I would listen to her, she would talk about the miracles of Jesus for healing and deliverance, and then I would go to our church, and they would pray for someone, like, in the hospital," she said on the "Playing With Fire Podcast." "But there didn't seem to be that same level of faith and authority that I saw when I read the Scripture."

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Eventually, MacNutt went to college, studied psychology, and became a psychotherapist. This led her to work in psychiatric hospitals throughout the Boston area, where she started to notice something.

Listen to her explain her journey:

"It was during that time that the Lord led me to Isaiah 61," she said, quoting the Scriptures there about God healing the brokenhearted and setting the captive free. "And I began to see psychology as a wonderful diagnostic tool, and I was thankful for my training and I still am. But at the same time, it's limited in helping people."

MacNutt said research shows one-third of people get better, one-third remain the same, and another third "get worse," explaining her belief that these numbers aren't "great." One of the precipitating events that led her into healing ministry unfolded after a suicide at her hospital.

"One of my clients was able to find a gun and take his life on the hospital grounds," MacNutt said. "No one ever knew how he got the gun, but that created this real crisis for me, because I began to see the limitations."

She deeply loved her patients and used medicine and treatment, but too many "just weren't getting well." MacNutt said she felt at the time as though love simply wasn't enough.

"When this young man  he was only in his 30s  committed suicide, that's what drove me deeper into finding out more about Scripture, and about healing, and, ultimately  deliverance," she said.

MacNutt began to pray for her patients, which began a process that changed everything.

"When I started praying with my patients, I didn't tell anyone," she said. "I just started praying, and I was running a youth group at that time at a local church there in Boston, and I got my students to pray for these patients, like, first name only. They didn't know anything, but they were so zealous for God."

As those prayers progressed, MacNutt said she started seeing her patients "getting well."

"They really started getting free of the issues they had when they came into the unit," she said. "So, I saw real-life transformations in the psych hospital."

All of this paved the way for the work MacNutt does at Christian Healing Ministries, where she said they address four different types of healing: physical healing, inner healing, spiritual healing and deliverance.

"Most people are familiar with physical healing," she said. "And then there's inner healing, which is our emotions and our memories. And then there's spiritual healing, which is in the area of forgiveness. We need to forgive someone or be forgiven, and then the fourth area of healing is deliverance from evil spirits."

It's the last form of healing  deliverance  that often sparks debates in theological circles, as believers battle over the extent to which the demonic can impact Christians, the lengths to which evil manifests today, and other related issues. MacNutt is no stranger to these discussions.

"What concerns me is people take deliverance out of context and they attack it as some, you know, wild, dark, demonic force coming against people, which is true," she said. "But they don't put it in the context of our humanity, and certainly the love of God."

MacNutt continued, "And it's beautiful to see someone set free from a lifetime of drug use or a lifetime of self-abuse in some way, because the demons do have an awful lot of control, whether they're outside or inside a person."

She said she always encourages people to return to the Bible to see how Jesus handled evil. From the man labeled the Gerasene demoniac in Scripture to the people with mute spirits, Christ always confronted evil in a head-on, intriguing way.

As for the term "exorcism," a theological practice known more in Catholic circles than anywhere else as an expulsion of the demonic from a person who has been fully overtaken by evil, MacNutt said she has only seen one person in 50 years of ministry who needed to undergo such a process.

Most people, she said, simply need deliverance, which she differentiated from exorcism. And she said Christians are often in need of expelling evil that is somehow pressing in or attached to them.

"The rest of them either have like a demonic force kind of pressing on them, oppressing them, or they have one inside," MacNutt said. "And I know that's controversial always with a lot of Christians, but ... I've prayed with so many Christians that I do know that's absolutely true."

She continued, "There's a vast difference between exorcism and deliverance."

MacNutt said the actions we take in life can open us up to these spiritual evils. She recalled her own journey in middle school playing with a Ouija board. At the time, she didn't know the dangers. But a friend at a slumber party convinced her to take part in a seance.

Years later, while working in ministry, a man approached her who had a gift of "discerning spirits."

"He said, 'You have a spirit of the occult,'" she recalled. "And I said, 'That's impossible. I've never ever dealt in the occult.' And the Lord immediately brought back those two memories, and I had to renounce the occult. ... And when I had the prayer of renunciation, asking God's forgiveness, and then being set free, it really changed me in ways that I had a definite, new freedom."

MacNutt now helps others find that very freedom through her Christian Healing Ministries, explaining that finding freedom is a "very simple process." People will call or come to events hosted by the organization, including trainings and healing events.

People will fill out intake forms addressing their lives and backgrounds and then meet with prayer ministers to hear their stories and then work with them.

"Our prayer ministers are really trained in listening, and they know that love is what heals," she said, explaining how they then pray and help those move past these traumas and evils. Find out more about these efforts here.

This article originally appeared on CBNs Faithwire.
Home Opinion How to avoid political turmoil with your relatives this Thanksgiving

After every presidential election in our nation, millions of Americans are elated, while millions of others are dejected. And this year of course is no different.

A politically divided nation ensures that many extended families will likely face some contentious conversations this Thanksgiving. But it doesn't have to play out that way with your family. Imagine experiencing tremendous unity this Thanksgiving, in spite of any political differences that may exist in your family.

While you cannot control the decisions your relatives make, you can certainly do your part to avoid political turmoil and contentiousness. Pray that your family members will be accepting of one another this Thanksgiving, and that everyone will hold their tongue if tempted to gloat over the election results or to become contentious.

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Once everyone has arrived on Thanksgiving, perhaps someone could begin your festivities by offering the following prayers for the family: 1. Give thanks to God for all His blessings; 2. Ask God to bless the food you will enjoy that day; 3. Ask God to bless all the conversations.

Christian missionary Elisabeth Elliot (1926-2015) said, Prayer lays hold of God's plan and becomes the link between His will and its accomplishment on Earth. And the Scottish evangelist and teacher Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) wrote, God never gives us discernment in order that we may criticize, but that we may intercede.

God is not a God of disorder but of peace (1 Cor. 14:33). And this is why the Holy Spirit will lead and empower followers of Christ to promote peace and order this Thanksgiving. After all, what good can come from a divisive and chaotic family gathering that spins out of control?

In addition to prayer, we can put Romans 14:19 into practice: Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. That is to say, be intentional about avoiding political confrontations this Thanksgiving. Make every effort to build one another up with words of encouragement.

Come up with some topics to discuss on Thanksgiving that everyone will enjoy. Visit about one another's interests, while avoiding political controversy. Family members who are agitated over the election results will likely already be on edge when they walk through the door. Followers of Christ should avoid topics that might trigger a loved one to become upset.

The Apostle Paul wrote, If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died (Romans 14:15). The same thing applies to any political comments you might be tempted to make this Thanksgiving. If a relative becomes distressed because you are rubbing the election results in their face, you are no longer acting in love.

Paul wrote, Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen (Ephesians 4:29). Friendly and loving conversations tend to unite, whereas political combativeness only divides.

Do you have some topics in mind to discuss this Thanksgiving? Make a list of some non-political issues that are important to your relatives. Visit about things that provide hope. The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit (Proverbs 15:4).

If someone throws a political grenade into the middle of your Thanksgiving celebration, maintain self-control. And if anyone expresses anger or intense animosity, remember this biblical principle: A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger (Proverbs 15:4). God will help you exhibit gentleness, even in the face of aggression.

Always remember: Love is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs (1 Cor. 13:5). This is exactly how God loves His children whose sins are forgiven through faith in Jesus. If you are keeping a record of wrongs committed against you by any of your relatives, Thanksgiving is a perfect time to let go of grudges as you choose to forgive each other, just as in Christ God forgave you (Ephesians 4:32).

Jesus said, Blessed are the peacemakers... (Matthew 5:9). Will you choose to be a peacemaker this Thanksgiving, even if someone attempts to pick a political fight? The Holy Spirit will give you the self-control necessary to hold your tongue while responding to any sarcastic comments with tenderness and compassion.

David made a particular request of the Lord that you can use in your personal prayers. Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil (Psalm 141:3-4). Regardless of what others choose to say, you can respond with sensitivity and empathy.

Jesus gave His life on the cross so that we could be reconciled to our Father in Heaven, and then do our best to be reconciled to others in Jesus' name. The Bible instructs us: Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).

In other words, if we refuse to live in peace with others, we are refusing to live in peace with God. Followers of Christ are a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). You can love your family this Thanksgiving by speaking kind words, as well as by keeping certain thoughts to yourself. Silence is golden.

There are of course times when the Holy Spirit leads followers of Christ to visit privately with a relative about a delicate matter that needs to be addressed. In those situations, A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver (Proverbs 25:11).

Jesus said, In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you (Matthew 7:12). If you celebrate Thanksgiving prayerfully and with the right mindset, your kindness will honor the Lord and be a huge blessing to your family.
Home Opinion Sorry RFK Jr: We can't make America healthy again by killing our children

Sure, America has a dangerous epidemic of obesity. But that doesnt merely describe individual Americans increasing girth but the heaviness of federal agencies that have taken on the exponentially higher weight of Americans tax dollars. When HHS, or the Department of Health and Human Services, began in 1979 its first budget was $226 billion. This year, HHS budget is a massive $2.86 trillion, a figure nearly 13 times higher than 44 years ago. A whopping $1.85 trillion of that budget is being spent in FY 2024 awarding organizations like Planned Parenthood, which receives over half a billion dollars in taxpayer monies each year.

Will that forced funding be continued under Trumps HHS Secretary nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has expressed repeatedly that hes for a womans right to choose? Hes flip-flopped on the issue numerous times. Hes asserted that although he believes abortion is a states rights issue (its not) that women also need to have federal protection up until the point of viability.

Yet, this is the same politician who proclaimed in an NPR interview: I believe every abortion is a tragedy. I wouldve immediately followed up on his statement with the question: Why is it a tragedy? Of course, the NPR host didnt want to know the answer to that. If every abortion is a tragedy (and I, of course, strongly believe it is), then isnt it tragic that so many women are deliberately misinformed about that act of violence? Abortion is fake health and leaves behind an unconscionable number of casualties: over 65 million since Roe. And much of that disinformation comes from (drum roll, please) the Department of Health and Human Services, especially under Democratic administrations.

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HHS stated mission is to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans, by providing for effective health and human services and by fostering sound, sustained advances in the sciences underlying medicine, public health, and social services.

All Americans? Really? The same HHS that launched, under the Biden administration, a bogus ReproductiveRights.gov website that only offers abortion as a right? Apparently, so-called reproductive rights dont include resources, like pregnancy help centers or maternity homes, for pregnant women who choose to allow their unborn children to live.

I will give credit to RFK Jr. for visiting a maternity home in Fulton County, Georgia (where my organization, The Radiance Foundation, began) during his campaign. He was obviously moved by the life-saving and life-affirming work of Auntie Angies. If the Senate confirms him, will he take that experience and apply it to the currently anti-life, pro-abortion Department of Health and Human Services?

HHS, depending on the administration, has either embraced or rejected medically-sound approaches to improving our nations health. The bloated department oversees 14 divisions including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA).

One would think that the person in charge of HHS would have some kind of medical background. Sadly, many are activists who disregard sound medical science and rely on political subjectivity instead. The last time there was an actual medical professional serving as HHS Secretary was in 1989 under George H. W. Bush. This was nearly four decades ago! His name was Louis W. Sullivan, and he was a pro-life physician who established and became President of Morehouse Colleges School of Medicine before taking on the role at HHS.

The current HHS Secretary is Xavier Becerra. Hes an activist attorney who absurdly tried, as Californias Attorney General, to force the states pregnancy centers to promote abortion. Its like demanding that fitness centers peddle fast food in their gyms. His anti-free speech crusade failed miserably. It seems he forgot that the First Amendment exists, and the lawsuit was slapped down by the Supreme Court in NIFLA vs. Becerra. He was rewarded, however, by President Biden to become HHS Secretary in order to further advance the Democratic partys radical pro-abortion, pro-transgenderism agenda.

In my humble opinion, you cannot advance Americas health by promoting the violence of abortion and denying the basic science of our binary gender. No. Men cannot get pregnant. They cannot naturally breastfeed or chestfeed. And they will never be women. Ever. It would seem logical that anyone at the helm of our nations Department of Health and Human Services, responsible for health and well-being, would understand these basic facts of life. GOP, you cannot simply rubber stamp anyone who doesnt believe in the creed that birthed the Republican Party: Created equal.

RFK Jr. offered this interesting caveat on abortion while speaking to Megyn Kelly: Ill change my position always based upon if I was wrong on the facts. And he had this to say about transgenderism, particularly as it pertains to the medical malfeasance surrounding body-mutilating drugs and surgeries on minors: I dont know enough about it to say that it should be completely illegal. I dont know enough. I need to look at data before I make a decision.

This is the silver lining. Hes not an automaton who simply regurgitates political talking points. Hes amenable to being illuminated and elevated. Id highly recommend, then, on these two issues he speaks to the medical professionals who deal with these issues on a daily basis: The American Association of Pro-Life OBGYNs (see www.womenshealthmatters.org) and the American College of Pediatricians (see www.biologicalintegrity.org).

And maybe, he would entertain meeting with pro-life, pro-family factivists like me who can help provide not only the context but bring clarity to our very humanity. Elective abortion is always a tragedy  a needless one. We can Make Abortion Gone Again by supporting mothers, not exploiting them. This is part of how we Make America Healthy Again. Physically. Emotionally. Psychologically. Ill never stop fighting for the most defenseless and the most marginalized. Why? Because that was once me.
Home Opinion The most irritating story in the Bible

Every time I read it, I have a what-the-heck moment and shake my head.

Skeptics oftentimes say the Bible is nothing more than a collection of fairy tales, but if you want to cherry-pick one account from Scripture that demonstrates what a lie that is, its the death of John the Baptist.

What we have is the antithesis of a feel-good story where justice prevails and/or the hero makes an in-your-face comeback like in the account of Christ and His crucifixion and resurrection or Joseph who could declare at the end of his trial, You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good (Gen. 50:20).

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With John, you have a case where the ones wearing the black hats really seem to win.

And for a guy that the Son of God describes as among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! (Matt. 11:11), it just seems off. No matter how you turn the narrative inside and out youre still left with a head scratcher.

The Bible describes what happened to John in Matthew 14:112 and Mark 6:14-30. Were told John got into trouble with Herod who bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. For John had been saying to him, It is not lawful for you to have her (Matt. 14:3-4).

John experienced firsthand from Herod and Herodias the old Latin phrase, Veritas odium parit  truth produces hatred.

Im sure you know the rest of the story. Youve got a witchs brew of an evil king, a conniving and grudgeful queen, a pawn used to put into motion Johns death with the queens daughter, all of which result in the wicked request of Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist (Matt. 14:8).

All that evil comes against John, and it seems to be successful  hes murdered and the story just ends. No comeuppance for those involved in his death follows.

Like me, I think the British minister Matthew Henry was irked at the accounts conclusion, writing in his commentary: Thus was that voice silenced, that burning and shining light extinguished; thus did that prophet, that Elias, of the new Testament, fall a sacrifice to the resentments of an imperious, whorish woman.

Whorish woman? It's hard to get a Puritan riled up, but it looks like Johns account even got to Mr. Henry.

Ah, you think, maybe we dont see a bad end to these scoundrels in Scripture but I bet they got what was coming to them in this life somehow. Well, you be the judge of that.

The historian Josephus (who also touches on John's death in his writings) tells us that when Caligula, Emperor of Rome, made Agrippa king, Herodias pressed Herod to go to Rome and buy the title and privilege of being king, but Caligula instead banished them to exile in Gaul where they lived until their death. As for Herodias daughter, there is a non-verified account of her falling through some ice as she walked over a body of water and her head being severed in the incident, which seems a bit too good to be true.

At least in this life, alas, all evil parties seem to have gotten away with their crime.

No good deed

As emotionally irritating as Johns account is, hes certainly not the only prophet of God to die that way. Jesus made mention of this fact when He said, Jerusalem, Jerusalem [a reference to its leaders], who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! (Matt. 23:37). Stephen asked his murderers, Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? (Acts 7:52).

The aggression shown Gods prophets makes us angry but we know the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so (Rom. 8:7). And although John the Baptist's death was a horrible injustice, it was nothing less than what others experienced like Isaiah who tradition says was sawn in two.

On this point, Matthew Henry says: These extraordinary sufferings of him [John] who was the first preacher of the gospel, plainly show that bonds and afflictions will abide the professors of it. As the first Old-Testament saint, so the first New-Testament minister, died a martyr. And if Christs forerunner was thus treated, let not his followers expect to be caressed by the world.

Moreover, we should remember that the timing of such things only happens when God allows it. John had fulfilled the purpose to which the Lord called him, which was to be the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight (Matt. 3:3).

All that said, Johns story still gets under my skin. And I believe thats the way it should be.

Dr. Edward John Carnell calls the anger we feel over such things our judicial sentiment, which is part of Gods image thats sewn into us. He writes, Whereas conscience accuses the self, the judicial sentiment accuses others  All aroused judicial sentiment is merely Heavens warning that the image of God is being outraged.

Scripture tells us that such outrage will ultimately be satisfied at some point, if not in this life, then in the next. For evil like John experienced, that wait is frustrating. Still, the Bible speaks to such justice being a future reality for Gods martyrs:

When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the Word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth? And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also (Rev. 6:911).

This means Herod, Herodias, and her daughter have a judgment coming, even if we wont see it here. Its much like A. W. Tozer said, The wheels of God's judgment may grind slow but they grind exceedingly fine.
Home News Family of pastor killed in crash question release of illegal immigrant driver

A pastors family in Michigan is questioning why the illegal immigrant driver involved in the fatal crash that killed their loved one was released after the incident. Stephen Singleton, 72, died following severe injuries sustained when he was struck by a vehicle driven by an illegal immigrant earlier this month.

The driver involved in the crash was identified as a citizen of Colombia who had entered the United States illegally, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Authorities released the driver pending a future court date, a decision that has left the Singleton family seeking answers.

I had to sit and watch my husband of 53 years die in front of me, and then to know that the person who did this is walking around is very difficult to deal with, Teri Singleton, his wife, told Fox 2 Detroit. Hes dead and theyre walking around. Thats bothering me, she added, echoing the grief and disbelief felt by her family.

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The incident occurred in early November when Singleton, a well-known pastor in the Detroit area, was hit while on one of his regular morning walks, according to ABC 7. Police stated that Singleton was wearing a reflective vest and was crossing at a marked crosswalk when he was struck by a man driving a 2013 Ford Focus.

He had almost every bone in his body broken, said Teri. He had his collarbone fractured, internal organ damage, and his skull was cracked. He had two craniotomies in the hospital. Despite medical intervention, Singleton succumbed to his injuries several days later.

One day, I wake up and just know hes gone for such a simple and senseless thing. I just dont understand, said Singletons daughter, Ruth, in an interview with ABC 7. Ruth expressed her determination to hold onto the values her father lived by. I will not be angry because this has happened, she said. I refuse to be angry. I will still love like my Dad taught me to.

Singleton was a respected figure in his community, known for his dedication to his congregation and his compassionate service beyond the church walls. He had previously worked as a medic and had volunteered at Ground Zero following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, offering aid to injured victims and joining other religious leaders in prayer services.

After everybody had prayed, he started saying the Lords Prayer, and he said it with a whisper, he said it with a shout, he said it with a sing, and then he said it with so much passion that it brought me to tears, Pastor Singleton said during an interview with Fox 2 in September 2023.

Witnesses reported that the driver ran a red light before hitting Singleton. Despite the tragic outcome, investigators do not believe speed or alcohol were contributing factors in the crash. Under Michigan state law, non-citizens are permitted to drive with a foreign license as long as it is either printed in English or accompanied by an English translation.

Teri described her husbands devotion to his community. He was a loving person who cared about everybody, Teri was quoted as saying. I mean, the whole neighborhood, everybody in our community has come to my door. They didnt even see the name on the report, but they knew him because of his habits.

The family has set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds for a dignified memorial service for Singleton.

In a separate incident in September, an illegal immigrant accused of raping a 14-year-old girl and repeatedly stabbing a man during a robbery was arrested in connection with the crimes only a few months after his release from custody at the southwest border, according to a congressional report.

The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee and its Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement released a report at the time, citing figures stating that the administration has released 5.6 million illegal immigrants into the U.S. within the last four years, and another 1.9 million escaped into the country during this time.

Under the Biden administration, U.S. Border Patrol also released an illegal migrant who went on to murder Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student. Despite multiple encounters with law enforcement after he illegally entered the U.S., the man was allowed to roam free.

An interim page report by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee and its Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement said Riley's death in February was a result of the border policies under the Biden-Harris administration.

Rileys body was discovered on the University of Georgia campus.
November 24, 2024: Because of its heavy personnel and material losses in Ukraine, Russia plans to slowly rebuild its depleted armed forces by 2030. This process begins now even though Russian forces are still fighting in Ukraine. There are still problems replacing the troops and tanks lost during the first months of the fighting in Ukraine, let alone those suffered in the past two years. The Russian military was devastated by heavy personnel losses. Most of their modern tanks were destroyed. These losses were replaced by older model tanks and hastily mobilized troops who did not want to be in the army, and were particularly reluctant to be sent to Ukraine. By 2023 Russian forces in Ukraine were outnumbered by better armed, trained and motivated Ukrainian forces that were able to carry out some offensive operations that regained some territory.

Russian replacement troops sent to Ukraine were given little training and were poorly equipped. Some were seen wearing World War II style steel helmets that Russia had kept in storage just in case of another military disaster. That was what Ukraine turned out to be for Russia, who had to send some 1950s era T-55 tanks into Ukraine to face German Leopard 2 tanks and American M-1s used by Ukraine.

The Russian situation in Ukraine is desperate and Russian plans to rebuild its military are equally desperate. First, they have to stall the Ukrainians and massive amounts of NATO weapons and munitions. That was done with anti-tank mines and lots of trenches and other tank obstacles. Russian combat engineers are first rate and use specialized equipment to quickly dig trenches and build fortifications. The front line is a thousand kilometers long and not all of it is fortified. The areas covered by only a few troops and artillery are now patrolled 24/7 by drones. If a surprise attack was attempted, both sides have large supplies of drones that could quickly intervene.

The unexpected invasion of Ukraine reminded NATO nations that Russia was still a threat. This led to NATO nations upgrading and expanding their forces. Poland, a NATO member that shares border with Ukraine and Russia is acquiring a thousand South Korean K2 tanks. These are comparable to the latest Leopard 2 and M1 tanks. Most of the K2s will be built in Poland under license. By the end of the decade, Poland will have the largest tank force in Europe.

Russia plans to rebuild and expand its army, despite discovering that wartime losses and emigration had greatly reduced the number of men able to serve in the military. Another problem is the cost of this rebuilding. Not only does Russia lack the money to replace all the lost equipment, but it does not have the money needed to pay for recruiting, equipping and training 600,000 new troops. The plan calls for a force containing volunteer soldiers who signed contracts that paid them well to serve several years. In addition there were several hundred thousand conscripts who were supposed to serve only one year but because Russia had suffered such heavy losses in Ukraine, the rules were quickly changed to keep the young, poorly trained conscripts in the army for several years.

This latest and greatest new plan ignores past experience with contract soldiers. These men were willing to serve in a peacetime force that would defend the motherland. Invading a neighbor and running into very hostile and lethal locals was unexpected and unacceptable. Many of the contract soldiers did not survive the initial weeks of the invasion. After that contract soldiers began to leave the military, with many justifying this on the grounds that their contracts had been violated. This departure was technically illegal but there were so many departing contract soldiers that the government just let them go. The government planners seem to have forgotten this but many of the military-age men they plan to recruit remember past mismanagement and are not interested. The government response to this is chiefly more attempts to deceive potential recruits into signing up.

Russian rebuilding efforts are disrupted by the harsh and aggressively enforced economic sanctions Western nations imposed. Sanctions reduced Russias ability to build new armored vehicles, military aircraft, as well as missiles and much else. Russia was eventually able to obtain some sanctioned electronic components from the black market and Chinese equivalents. Despite the improvisations, new tanks and other weapons were slow to arrive. Its just as well because obtaining new soldiers was not working either.

The current Russian strategy appears to consist of trying to maintain control over as much Ukrainian territory as possible for a few years in the hope that the NATO nations supplying Ukraine with weapons will tire of the expense and reduce that aid. While NATO nations are feeling the strain, they have not reduced their support and have recently been increasing it.

Despite all these problems, Russia has been able to assemble a large force of half a million soldiers, including 12,000 North Korean mercenaries. Russia continues to buy a lot of North Korean artillery ammunition as well as rockets and missiles. Russia pays for this with food and technical assistance for their nuclear weapons program. North Korea has already developed nuclear weapons, but they are crude and difficult to use effectively.

These rebuilding plans depend on fewer or no sanctions and a reduction in combat losses. At the moment the Ukrainians their NATO supporters insist they will continue the war until the Russian invaders are out of Ukraine, including Crimea and two nearby provinces seized in 2014.
Home News ISIS militants capture Christians in Mozambique, slit their throats

ISIS militants in Mozambique have captured and killed four Christians in northern Cabo Delgado Province, according to a report. The victims, who were apprehended over a span of several days in early November, were killed in separate incidents involving throat slitting and a gun attack.

The killings took place in Muidumbe District, within Cabo Delgado, a region that has been gripped by insurgents since 2017.

The violence began on Nov. 3, when Islamic State Mozambique, or IS-M, militants captured and slit the throats of two Christians they described as infidel Christians, Barnabas Aid reported.

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Another Christian was killed on Nov. 7 in a machine gun attack, and a fourth was captured and executed two days later, said the ministry.

Cabo Delgado has been the epicenter of a violent insurgency that has led to thousands of deaths and mass displacement. Since 2017, the region has seen an escalation of extremist activity, with IS-M being a central force in the conflict.

The group is closely aligned with Islamic State Central Africa Province, operating out of northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, with command support from an Islamic State leadership base in Somalia. The coordination points to a concerted effort by the Islamic State to establish an operational caliphate spanning the Swahili coast, professor Fernando Cardoso, a geopolitical expert, was quoted as saying. They pursue their political goals according to a script dictated by the Islamic State.

From the outset of the violence in 2017 to the end of 2023, attacks by IS-M insurgents have led to the displacement of over 1 million residents and the deaths of more than 2,100 civilians of various faiths.

The U.S. State Department notes that the province has a majority Muslim population, but the nation as a whole is predominantly Christian, with Evangelical and Pentecostal Christians making up a significant portion of Mozambique's population.

In its pursuit of control over Cabo Delgado, IS-M targets civilians.

In September, IS-M militants attacked a village in Mocimboa da Praia District, reportedly separating Christian and Muslim villagers before shooting the Christians. At least 11 Christians were killed that month.

They opened fire on the Christians, riddling them with bullets, the international charity Aid to the Church in Need quoted Friar Boaventura, a missionary in the region, as saying. The attack was carried out by a local terrorist group that claimed allegiance to the Islamic State, and which said in a statement that it had killed 11 Christians in the operation. The actual number of victims may be higher, however, and there are also people who are seriously injured.

While IS-M often claims it targets Christians, in practice, its attacks have also affected Muslim communities, according to the U.S. State Department, noting that the insurgency's motivations seem to include not just religious extremism but also broader political and socioeconomic grievances, which have been exploited by the insurgents to recruit members.

In response, both the Mozambican government and international forces have launched military campaigns to curb the insurgency. However, attacks on civilians carry on as IS-M maintains its grip on certain parts of the region.

The United States has listed IS-M as a terrorist organization.

According to reports, the group publicly pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2019.

The Christian Council of Mozambique and the Islamic Council of Mozambique have been involved in peacebuilding efforts, including managing peace clubs aimed at supporting disarmament and reintegration initiatives to train combatants.

Religious leaders from both Christian and Muslim communities have also participated in efforts to ease tensions and provide aid to those affected by the conflict.
ICC Arrest Warrant For Netanyahu, Trump Nominates Pam Bondi For AG, Musk And Ramaswamy Seek To Defund Planned Parenthood

link to download the audio instead. link to download the audio instead. 07:51 07:51

Top headlines for Monday, November 25, 2024

In this episode, President Joe Biden takes a firm stance against the International Criminal Court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reaffirming U.S. support for its key ally. Meanwhile, the newly proposed Department of Government Efficiency aims to cut federal funding for Planned Parenthood, igniting a fresh debate on reproductive rights. We also look into President-elect Donald Trump's decision to nominate former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as the U.S. attorney general following the withdrawal of former Rep. Matt Gaetz.

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The Australian government's controversial mis- and disinformation bill has been abandoned after fierce opposition from civil liberty groups, human rights advocates, and faith groups saw it fail to attract the required support from other political parties to make it through the nation's upper house.

While the bill had passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 78-57, it received near-unanimous opposition in the Senate from non-government members, including the Coalition, One Nation, the Greens, and independent senators.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland announced the government would no longer proceed with the Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024, which was part of a raft of legislation the Labor party was attempting to pass in the final parliamentary sitting before the end of the year, with an election widely anticipated to be held in early 2025.

"Based on public statements and engagements with senators, it is clear that there is no pathway to legislate this proposal through the Senate," Minister Rowland said on Sunday.

Minister Rowland sought to defend the government's second attempt to pass the legislation, which came after the first draft bill was widely condemned and withdrawn for amendments, insisting that misinformation and disinformation presented an ongoing threat to democracy, national security, and online safety,

"Seriously harmful mis- and disinformation poses a threat to safety, the integrity of elections, democracy and national security, and 80 per cent of Australians want action," she said.

The minister criticised the Federal Opposition for opposing the legislation, saying, "The Coalition committed to legislating safeguards when in Government, but chose to place partisanship above any attempt to navigate the public interest."

However, the legislation was also opposed by independent senators and the progressive Greens party, with Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young labelling the bill "half-baked" and "poorly explained" during an appearance on the national broadcaster ABC's 'Insiders' programme on Sunday.

The fiercest criticism of the bill, however, came from human rights advocates and faith groups, who attacked it as a threat to freedom of speech and religious expression.

The legislation would have given the Australian Communications & Media Authority (ACMA) the power to impose massive fines, up to 5% of their global revenues, on social media platforms that allowed the dissemination of misinformation and disinformation on their services.

However, lobby groups said that the bill's definitions of misinformation and disinformation were far too broad, and could have allowed the government to silence legitimate beliefs and opinions that weren't aligned with its own positions.

Despite the initial legislation going through a lengthy process of amendment, concerns remained, with the Australian Human Rights Commission saying in October that "although there have been improvements to the bill, freedom of expression is not sufficiently protected".

Faith groups welcomed the news of the bill's withdrawal, with Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) CEO Michelle Pearse calling it "a victory for all Australians".

"The Government proposed giving ACMA the authority to issue heavy penalties to digital platforms that failed to remove misinformation," Pearse said.

"The problem, however, was that the Government itself would define what constitutes misinformation, effectively making it the arbiter of truth."

ACL had vocally criticised the bill, lobbying crossbench senators personally and running a national online campaign calling attention to the risks posed by the legislation.

"Defeating this Bill is a victory for both freedom of speech and freedom of religion," Pearse said.

"Christians are often disproportionately censored for expressing views that challenge mainstream narratives, such as those on gender ideology."

Minister Rowland said the federal government would now shift its focus to other online safety issues, with reforms planned to tackle issues such as deepfakes, truth in political advertising, and the regulation of artificial intelligence.

"It is incumbent on democracies to grapple with these challenges in a way that puts the interests of citizens first," she said.

Ms Pearce welcomed the announcement of the change in priorities from the government.

"We are pleased to see the Government now shifting their focus towards addressing non-consensual deepfakes and sexually explicit content which is objectively harmful."
(Photo: Getty/iStock)

The Bishop of London and Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster are among the signatories of a joint statement by faith leaders urging MPs not to pass a bill legalising assisted suicide.

Kim Leadbeater's Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has prompted national debate on the issue ahead of a debate in Parliament on Friday. She has claimed her bill would prevent abuse by implementing the "strictest safeguards anywhere in the world", which include requests for assisted suicide being signed off by two doctors and a judge.

Critics are unpersuaded by the promise of safeguards, and the letter from the faith leaders warns that a "right to die" may "all too easily" become a "duty to die" for vulnerable people.

They call instead for efforts to be focused on raising the quality and availability of palliative care, which they say is "worryingly underfunded".

"Part of the role of faith leaders in communities is to provide spiritual and pastoral care for the sick and for the dying. We hold the hands of loved ones in their final days, we pray with families both before and after death. It is to this vocation that we have been called, and it is from this vocation that we write," the letter reads.

"Our pastoral roles make us deeply concerned about the impact the bill would have on the most vulnerable, opening up the possibility of life-threatening abuse and coercion. This is a concern we know is shared by many people, with and without faith."

The letter was published in The Observer newspaper over the weekend and signed by 29 faith leaders who include the Bishop of London and former Chief Nursing Officer, Dame Sarah Mullally, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London, Archbishop Angaelos, the head of the Evangelical Alliance Gavin Calver, CARE CEO Ross Hendry, and the Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis.

A separate open letter opposing the bill has been signed by 73 academic experts in health, end-of-life care and the legal system who warn that "coercion would be a reality with a change in the law".

"To deny this is to ignore the 400,000 cases annually of domestic abuse for older people in England and Wales," they said.

"If the law were to change, we would see people with terminal disease feeling they should accept assisted suicide because (as has been the case for over 47 per cent of those seeking assisted suicide in Oregon and over 59 per cent in the State of Washington) they would feel they were a burden to friends and family."

They state that Ms Leadbeater's private member's bill is "an inadequate parliamentary process for an issue of such ethical and legal complexity", and say that it would be "difficult" for a High Court judge to investigate all the "complexities" involved in assessing individuals' mental and decision-making capacities.

"It lacks prudence to allow such a radical change to healthcare practice at a time of crisis for the NHS, especially given the increased financial pressures on general practice, hospices and care homes," they write.
(Photo: Getty/iStock)

Despite the good news that Essex Police have dropped their Stasi-like investigation into Telegraph journalist Allison Pearson, orthodox Christians should still expect trouble from the woke police.

The police action against Pearson centred on a year-old tweet that had described a group of demonstrators from a Pakistani political party at an anti-Israel demonstration as "Jew-haters".

Pearson deleted the tweet as soon as she found out that the officers photographed with the demonstrators were not from the Metropolitan Police, as she had tagged the post, but from Greater Manchester Police.

Two police officers confronted Pearson at her Essex home on Remembrance Sunday just before she had planned to go to a church service. After Pearson publicised her ordeal in The Telegraph, the behaviour of Essex Police sparked an international outcry with X owner and the world's richest man, Elon Musk, weighing in behind her.

He posted on his X account where he has 205 million followers: "This needs to stop."

The day before the news about Essex Police's climb-down over Pearson came through on November 21, the Times and Jewish Chronicle columnist Melanie Phillips wrote a piece on her Substack headed 'The policing of wrongspeak - Hate crime is the expression of a totalitarian mindset'.

Phillips observed that the treatment of Pearson "was even more grotesque because the offending tweet was actually protesting against racial hatred".

She added acidly: "Ah, but it was hatred of Jews; and hatred of Jews seems to be a non-hate thing altogether."

She described how for more than a year since the October 7 atrocities in Israel, huge demonstrations have taken place in the streets of London and other cities aimed at intimidating Jews, chanting for their mass murder and the destruction of the world's one Jewish state and inciting murderous hatred by accusing Israelis of "genocide".

"These demonstrations - and countless smaller but similar incidents - have left many British Jews too frightened to go into central London or use public transport," she wrote.

Phillips brilliantly analysed the neo-Marxist ideology behind the behaviour of the woke police: "Most of the protests against hate crime and non-crime hate have concentrated on the threat to free speech. That, though, doesn't get to the nub of this lurch into oppressiveness. It's not that speech is being suppressed. It's only some types of speech - those that don't conform to a culture-wide power grab by certain protected groups."

She argued that "this entirely subjective criterion of hate has opened the way for utterly vexatious claims that can ruin the reputation and life of their unjustly denounced target.

"People who are in fact the objects of real hatred are either ignored or find themselves accused of promoting hatred when they protest or seek to defend themselves against the hatred being expressed against them. This is the kind of abuse of power associated with a totalitarian police state."

It is that neo-Marxist mindset which has captured particularly the upper echelons of the British police and created a culture in which Christian freedom of expression is becoming increasingly restricted. Orthodox Christian opinions on matters such as sexual morality and gender identity are undoubtedly offensive to some people, especially among Millennials and Generation Z.

So, when Merseyside Police in 2021 displayed the message "Being offensive is an offence" on a billboard on the side of a van in the Wirral, that encapsulated the threat to Christian freedom of expression. The message sparked an outcry because under UK law it is not a crime to offend someone, so Merseyside Police issued a political apology with a spokesman saying that the message had been "incorrect" but "well-intentioned".

Phillips observed in her Substack piece: "Britain's Labour government is uneasily shuffling its feet over the policing of hate incidents. But since so many Labour party members and 'progressives' in general are fanatical supporters of victim culture and fanatical haters of Israel, the chances of ministers doing anything to arrest this slide into cultural darkness are nil."

She pointed out that "the Sovietisation of Britain may have started under Labour, but it was given rocket fuel on the Tories' watch".

She concluded: "It's not enough for the Tories now to protest. If they really want to turn this round, they must first own it - and show us all what they now understand they got so badly wrong for so long."

The reality now for orthodox Christian freedom of expression is that neo-Marxist authoritarianism is so deeply entrenched in UK police forces that a pro-free-speech government, if one got elected, would have to battle relentlessly for every inch of territory to push the evil back.

Julian Mann is a former Church of England vicar, now an evangelical journalist based in Lancashire.
Paramilitary soldiers patrol past a vandalised church in Imphal, capital of the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, May 14, 2023. (Photo: Associated Press/Alamy)

(CP) Twenty people have died in the past two weeks as ethnoreligious violence resurges in India's northeastern state of Manipur, where Christians and Hindus remain locked in a devastating conflict that has displaced more than 60,000 people since May 2023.

The latest outbreak of violence between the majority Hindu Meiteis and minority Christian Kukis has shattered hopes for peace in the region, with churches burned, children killed and security forces struggling to maintain order. The conflict has effectively segregated the two communities, forcing 50,000 Kuki Christians to flee the Imphal valley and 10,000 Meiteis to abandon their homes in Kuki-majority areas.

The recent surge of violence erupted in Jiribam, near the Assam border, after a series of retaliatory killings that began with the murder of a young Kuki woman found in a river. Tensions escalated dramatically after the Christian teacher and mother of three was killed and burned in an attack by Meiteis, leading to a deadly confrontation between armed Kukis and security forces that left 10 Kuki assailants dead.

The situation deteriorated further when six Meiteis, including three children, were found dead on Nov. 16. In response, protesters torched Kuki homes and six churches in Jiribam, while mobs in the state capital of Imphal burned government officials' residences. Authorities have imposed curfews, suspended internet access and closed schools.

"People are living in fear and tension. They don't know what will happen next," a senior Meitei church leader in Imphal told Global Christian Relief.

The handling of the deceased has become another flashpoint. When security forces airlifted the bodies of the 10 Kuki Christians to Churuchandpur for burial, government delays in releasing the bodies prompted an unprecedented protest. On Nov. 19, hundreds of black-clad mourners marched through Churuchandpur carrying empty coffins to honor the dead and protest their killing.

Critics have targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his absence from the region throughout the crisis, noting that his Hindu nationalist BJP party, which governs Manipur, has failed to restore peace. "Though one and a half years have gone since Manipur slipped into anarchy, no effective and serious effort has been made to restore law and order," said a senior journalist in Imphal.

A church leader in the region expressed the community's growing frustration: "We had been praying for lasting peace and were feeling relaxed. But this latest conflict has shattered the peace to which Manipur was returning. While many are struggling for their livelihoods, the curfew has only worsened their situation."

 The Christian Post
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. (Photo: Getty/iStock)

As Christmas approaches, Friends of the Holy Land is asking Christians to turn their minds to the city of Bethlehem, where the Christmas story first began, and the wider region as conflict continues.

For children across the world, the celebration of Christ's birth will mean presents, nativity plays, and meals with family and friends, but children in the Holy Land will spend their Christmas worrying about bombing in the region and where their next meal will come from, says Friends of the Holy Land.

Speaking at the launch of its Christmas Appeal, CEO Brendan Metcalfe said that the Holy Land's children are being robbed of their chance for a normal childhood, and the ongoing conflict has denied children many of their basic needs.

It is proving impossible to keep children sheltered from the reality of the situation, with parents from across the West Bank reporting worrying signs of the heavy toll the ever-present danger is taking on children. Many experience nightmares fed by the fears they live with day-to-day, while others have lost their appetite and do not even want to play with friends anymore.

"My oldest daughter, only six and a half, asks me why they are killing children in Gaza," one father explained to workers visiting the office in Bethlehem.

"It's impossible to shield children from the horrors of war, and this constant exposure to death and destruction is severely impacting their mental health."

Education has also become a casualty, with a whole generation at risk of missing out on some of their most formative years of school. According to Metcalfe, "Since October 2023, many children are unable to attend school due to travel restrictions, school fees, or because they're simply too frightened to leave their homes.

"On a visit to Bethlehem earlier this year, a father in Bethlehem explained to me, 'They are fearful that the military could come at any time.'"

Figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Education claim that there have been 69 attacks on schools and almost 2,350 incidents that have impacted students and teachers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the last year.

"Our team on the ground sees the impact every day. We have funded critical therapy and counselling services to provide regular interventions, equipping more children with the tools to navigate the ongoing trauma of their daily lives," Metcalfe said.

"We continue to fund school fees as many families, devastated financially by this war, are at breaking point and can't afford these fees. This academic year we have committed to help twice as many vocational students in each area of study where we know there are labour shortages - 90% of our graduates find work.

"Through this work not only do we inspire in these students the hope of a brighter future, but we help build a generation of skilled young people, ready and equipped to rebuild their communities."

Friends of the Holy Land has ongoing projects in Israel and Jordan, and is providing direct financial support to two churches sheltering Christians in Gaza City, enabling them to stockpile essential supplies.

Father Fadi Diab, Chairman of Friends of the Holy Land's local committee, added, "While other international organisations may remain stuck at borders or struggle to establish local connections on the ground, our local team based in our offices in Bethlehem and Ramallah know the families at breaking point personally."
Investigator Analyst

Prosecutorial Vetting Secretariat

Applications Should Be Submitted By 18:00 04 December 2024 (Moldovan Nationals Only)

NOTE: A limited number of highly qualified applicants without the required B2 level of proficiency in English will be considered. The requirement for application documents presented in English, as noted below, remains valid. Prior applicants who did not meet the B2 English requirement are encouraged to reapply.

The Investigator / Analyst will work within the Secretariat and in support of one of the Commission panels as described in Law 252/2023. The Investigator-Analyst will report to the Head of Secretariat and/or Senior Technical Expert. Successful applicants must be eager learners, flexible and willing to work in a team, independently and/or in direct partnership with individual Commission members.

Location: Chisinau, Moldova

Working Environment: In-person office work  this is not a work from home position

Reporting Structure: Head of Secretariat or their designee

Contracting Period: Up to 1 year based on date of contract signing and allocated development partner funding period.

Remuneration: Subject to negotiation

To apply qualified candidates must submit the following to moldovajobs@dexisonline.com

A current CV in ENGLISH  CVs must include the duties and tasks for current and past employment.

A cover letter in ENGLISH that defines how you meet the minimum requirements.

A list of three professional references including name, position title, organization, mobile number, email address and relationship to the candidate. Please note that reference letters will not be considered.

A declaration, In ENGLISH stating the applicant has no family or close personal contacts that have worked, or are currently working, within the prosecutorial system in any role OR a listing of the family members and close personal contacts that have worked, or are working, in the prosecutorial system.

A copy of the national ID and/or passport photo page.

Completion of the consent to background check form provided below  the consent form must be returned complete and signed in the format presented below  with both RO and EN included.

Incomplete submissions will not be considered.

Applicants are advised that job offers are contingent upon the following:

GSV receipt of a complete application packet as defined below.

Passing a NAC background check.

GSV receipt of three positive professional reference checks (recommendation letters will not be accepted and should not be submitted)

Those offered employment may not engage in any other form of employment, consultancy, or other categories of work during the contract period.

Disqualifying factors:

Current or past work in the Moldovan prosecution system, in any role.

Status as a candidate prosecutor.

Status as a student at the National Judicial Institute.

Tasks and Responsibilities:

The primary duty of the Investigator-Analyst will be to conduct research and background checking for individual integrity assessments of vetting candidates. Based on the official Rules of Procedure adopted by the Commission this may include, but might not be limited to, the following activities.

Collecting required information for the vetting process which may include: Compiling and analyzing relevant open-source data. Compiling and analyzing information provided by third parties. Compiling and analyzing data and information from various national and international agencies. Identifying, compiling, and analyzing additional data/information needed throughout the vetting process.

Coordinating with Financial Analysts to analyze and summarize data received from financial institutions.

Analyzing asset declarations.

Working cooperatively with all other Secretariat staff and all commission members.

All other duties as assigned.

The Investigator-Analyst may also be asked to:

Participate in, or provide support to, Commission Hearings.

Support the Commission, Head of Secretariat and/or Senior Technical Expert for the successful implementation of ad-hoc activities.

Minimum Requirements:

A university degree in a field related to any of the following - law, finance, accounting, data science, social sciences, or investigative journalism.

Experience accessing and extracting information from national databases such as, but not limited to, Tax Service, National Bank, Border Police, Credit Bureau etc.

Experience analyzing financial and/or banking data.

Experience conducting open-source intelligence research (OSINT).

Experience conducting research and preparing data driven reports.

Highly organized and detailed oriented, able to work under pressure.

Excellent written and oral communication skills.

Fluency in Romanian.

Proficiency in English Level B2 or higher. (See Note at the top of announcement)

Intermediate level expertise with core Microsoft office programs: Word, Excel, PowerPoint

Consimtamantul pentru controlul de fond/ a antecedentelor

Subsemnatul/Subsemnata, confirm ca am aplicat la Secretariatul Pre-Vetting/ de Evaluare a Procurorilor si confirm ca candidatura mea este supusa unei verificari a antecedentelor si a integritatii financiare efectuata de autoritatile competente din Republica Moldova, care se extinde si asupra sotului/sotiei si a rudelor/afinilor de gradul I. Furnizarea detaliilor mele personale, copiei buletinului meu de identitate/pasaportului, CV-ului si semnatura de mai jos servesc drept consimtamant pentru ca toate datele mele cu caracter personal, ale sotului/sotiei si a rudelor/afinilor de gradul I sa fie evaluate si analizate fara limitare de catre autoritatile competente, in vederea finalizarii verificarii antecedentelor si a integritatii financiare. Aditional eu inteleg ca la accesarea datelor mele, informatia referitoare la membrii imediati ai familiei mele de asemenea va fi accesata.

Eu inteleg ca rezultatele verificarilor de antecedente ale autoritatilor nationale vor fi transmise intregii Comisii si lui Anne M. Trice, director superior in cadrul Dexis Consulting Group, in calitatea sa de representant al angajatorului pentru pozitia la care am aplicat. De asemenea, confirm ca parte a consimtamantului meu sunt atasate urmatoarele:

__XX_ Copia pe fata si verso a buletinului meu de identitate/ pasaportului

__XX_ CV-ul current, cu indicarea tuturor locurilor de munca si studiilor anterioare.

Consent to Background / Clearance Check

I, confirm that I have applied to the Pre-Vetting / Prosecutorial Vetting Secretariat and acknowledge that my candidacy is subject to a background / clearance check conducted by the competent authorities from the Republic of Moldova. Provision of my personal details, copy of my ID card/ passport, CV, and signature below serve as my consent to have all of my personal data, of the spouse and first degree relatives, without limitation, accessed and analyzed by the competent authorities, in order to complete the required pre-employment background/clearance check I further understand that in accessing my data, data related to my immediate family members will also be accessed.

I understand that the results of the national authorities background checks will be transmitted to the full Commission and to Anne M. Trice, Senior Director within Dexis Consulting Group, in her capacity as employer representative for the position to which I applied. I further confirm that the following are attached here as part of my consent:

__XX_ Copy of the photo page of my ID card/ passport.

__XX_ Current CV showing all past employment and education.

Nume (tiparit) / First Name (printed):

Nume de familie (tiparit)/ Surname (printed):

Numarul national de identificare sau numarul pasaportului /

National ID number or passport number:

Semnat la (introduceti data) / Signed on (enter date):

Semnatura / Signature:
November 24, 2024: For over a year Ukraine has been supporting rebel groups in Africa that are fighting members of the Russian Afrika Corps. Russia is currently supporting rebel or government forces in several African countries. These activities are meant to improve Russian influence in Africa, where there are many natural resources that are up for grabs and Russia wants to compete with Europe, America and China for these items. To do that the Wagner Force was reactivated in Africa. Wagner is now government controlled and works for the Defense Ministry.

Ukraine provides training and other aid to government or rebel groups that are under attack by Russian forces. Most of the current fighting is in Mali, where a 2021 coup put pro-Russian Mali colonels in charge. Despite criticism from foreign aid donors like France, the colonels threatened to seek alternative financial aid and managed to obtain the services of Russian mercenaries. Russia was interested in post-war economic deals with Mali and the Mali military government felt more comfortable dealing with the Russians than the French. Russia has supplied Mali with food and fertilizer and mercenaries to help deal with Tuareg separatists and Islamic terrorists in the north.

Over the last decade the Islamic terrorists have been operating closer and closer to the Mali capital Bamako. In September 2024 there was an attack on a military base and the airport outside Bamako. Some aircraft were set on fire. The army captured fifteen of the attackers. In July about forty Russian mercenaries were ambushed and killed in the north near the Algerian border. A Tuareg militia carried out the attack during a sandstorm.

The coup leaders have utilized Mali's gold mines as a resource, though this has also led to protests and security crackdowns. Russia is helping Mali expand gold production The Russian presence is not welcome except to the army officers running the military government. The Tuaregs and local Islamic terror groups are particularly hostile to the Russian presence. The military government and their Russian allies have taken heavy losses recently but still control most of the country. This wont last because popular unrest caused by growing poverty and violence is threatening the military government.

Ukraine has intervened to assist Mali Tuareg rebels fighting the Russian backed groups. Ukraine provides training for the rebels. Meanwhile the Mali government has cut diplomatic ties with Ukraine because they blame Ukraine for recent Tuareg victories that left 84 Russian mercenaries and 47 Malian soldiers dead.
Contract Type: Special Short term ungraded (Up to 9 months)

Initial Contract Duration: 6 months

Vacancy Type: Special Vacancy Notice

Recruiting Type: General Service

Grade: UG

Posting period: 25/11/2024-08/12/2024

Following the launch of military operations across Ukrainian territory on 24 February 2022, substantive flows and displacements across Ukraine and toward neighbouring countries have been reported countries in the following days. As response to the Ukrainian crisis, IOM Moldova has increased operational activities which requires additional administrative staff.

Under the overall supervision of the Chief of Mission and the Head of Programs in IOM Moldova and the direct supervision of the CCCM Programme Officer, the incumbent will be responsible for:

Responsibilities and Accountabilities

Required Qualifications and Experience

EDUCATION

EXPERIENCE

SKILLS

SECTION 5

Languages

REQUIRED

Fluency in English, Romanian and Russian is required (oral and written).

DESIRABLE

Working knowledge of Ukrainian language is an advantage.

SECTION 6

The incumbent is expected to demonstrate the following values and competencies:

VALUES - All IOM staff members must abide by and demonstrate these five values:



Inclusion and respect for diversity: Respects and promotes individual and cultural differences. Encourages diversity and inclusion.

Integrity and transparency: Maintains high ethical standards and acts in a manner consistent with organizational principles/rules and standards of conduct.

Professionalism: Demonstrates ability to work in a composed, competent and committed manner and exercises careful judgment in meeting day-to-day challenges.

Courage: Demonstrates willingness to take a stand on issues of importance.

Empathy: Shows compassion for others, makes people feel safe, respected and fairly treated.





CORE COMPETENCIES - Behavioural indicators  Choose a level.



Teamwork: Develops and promotes effective collaboration within and across units to achieve shared goals and optimize results.

Delivering results: Produces and delivers quality results in a service-oriented and timely manner. Is action oriented and committed to achieving agreed outcomes.

Managing and sharing knowledge: Continuously seeks to learn, share knowledge and innovate.

Accountability: Takes ownership for achieving the Organizations priorities and assumes responsibility for own actions and delegated work.

Communication: Encourages and contributes to clear and open communication. Explains complex matters in an informative, inspiring and motivational way.





MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES - Behavioural indicators  Choose a level.



Leadership: Provides a clear sense of direction, leads by example and demonstrates the ability to carry out the Organizations vision. Assists others to realize and develop their leadership and professional potential.

Empowering others: Creates an enabling environment where staff can contribute their best and develop their potential.

Building Trust: Promotes shared values and creates an atmosphere of trust and honesty.

Strategic thinking and vision: Works strategically to realize the Organizations goals and communicates a clear strategic direction.

Humility: Leads with humility and shows openness to acknowledging own shortcomings.



Notes

For further information and other job postings, you are welcome to visit our website: IOM Careers and Job Vacancies

Alte articole de la acest autor:
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The other day, around four in the morning, Donald Trump re-shared a message on Truth Social that Tom Fitton, a right-wing activist, had posted several days before. The post celebrated rumors that, as president, Trump will declare a national emergency and will use military assets to create a mass deportation program. Trumps addition to the original was: TRUE!!!

Trumps postor re-truth, to use the platforms lingoflashed a signal to journalists now entering uncharted territory, as they cover a president-elect who owns a controlling stake in a social media company. Truth Socials parent, Trump Media & Technology Group, which went public in the spring, and trades on the market as DJT, launched its platform in 2022, after Trumps encouragement of the Capitol insurrection prompted mainstream social mediaFacebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc.to kick him off. The venture was a way to fight back against Big Tech, as Trump put it. He has since been welcomed back, and his return to the White House assures him a steady stream of coverage by press outlets. Still, Trump continues to use Truth Social avidly, making it the first place he announces his cabinet picks and his preferred destination for airing political ambitionsdesires, frustrations, stream-of-consciousness rants that would not quite suit a White House memorandum. As Amanda Chicago Lewis, a journalist who has reported extensively on Truth Social, told me, He obviously prefers to communicate with people in as unmediated a way as possible.

For the uninitiated: Truth Social bears a resemblance to Twitter. Logging on feels a bit like returning to an old neighborhood after youve moved away; the landmarks and buildings are the same, but the details have changed slightly. On the sign-in page, you see a spinning wheel of posts from the platforms alternative celebrities and media sources, such as Paul Joseph Watson, a conspiracy theorist and InfoWars regular, and @catturd2, a popular right-wing troll. After creating an account, youre given a stock profile image: a purple American eagle. The site hosts an infinite-scroll feed, a discover page for trending topics, a portal for direct messaging. Instead of mainstream outlets, youll find Newsmax, the Babylon Bee, Citizen Free Press, and the Gateway Pundit. Among the trending topics when I logged in recently were #MAGA, #GodWins, #AmericaFirst, and #ElonMusk. The platforms tagline is Your voice. Your freedom.

Truth Social is a space that is rife with grievance politics and anger and dunking and all of these other not-so-appealing aspects of the internet, Sam Woolley, a disinformation studies scholar at the University of Pittsburgh, told me. Trump is its namesake, its power user, and, not incidentally, its patron: the market cap is currently 6.5 billion dollars and, because Trump owns a 53 percent stake, that more than doubles his paper net worth. Lately, hes posted at an accelerating rateto attack enemies, defend allies, weigh in on cultural events, and, now, to announce constitutionally dubious policy. The more he posts, it seems, the better the companys stock does. Another factor, as the Wall Street Journal reported recently: DJT has achieved meme-stock status. That has seemingly, despite some predictions, remained true since the election, staying above twenty-nine dollars a sharemore than double its late-September value. In Truth Socials alternate reality, Trump makes the rules.

Even so, DJTs stock performance belies its fundamentals, per the Journal. In August, Trump Media reported a sixteen-million-dollar quarterly loss; before the election, trading volume was high (averaging thirty-eight million over a sixty-five-day average, according to MarketWatch), suggesting that investors were not holding on to the stock for longjust a few days. Some of the action played out on the influential meme-stock subreddit r/wallstreetbets, where, last month, an account known as 321SpinningGorilla posted a screenshot showing $38,352 invested in DJT. YOLO my savings in DJT as a college student, 321SpinningGorilla wrote. Some Redditors expressed encouragement, others alarm. One replied: Thank you for your presidential donation. Later, 321SpinningGorilla cashed out, claiming a profit.

When I examined Truth Social back in 2022, I found that just a quarter of Trumps political allies were using the platform actively. Two years on, not much appears different. MAGA faithfuls such as Kristi Noem and Marjorie Taylor Greene have accounts, but they tend to post first on X, where they reach a larger audience. According to Similarweb, a traffic analytics firm, Truth Social has struggled to maintain users; traffic dropped 21 percent from September to October, when there were about eleven million visits worldwide. (The number of global site visits to X in October, Similarweb found, was more than four and a half billion.) If a member of a companys leadership team plans to sell shares, as some at Trump Media have, they typically disclose their intent to do so. Trump, for his part, consistently posts about not planning to cash out, referring to any speculation to the contraryreal or imaginedas fake, untrue, and probably illegal rumors. Truth Social is an important part of our historic win, he wrote recently, and I deeply believe in it. That day, the share price rose.

How seriously journalists should take his 4am posts is another question. When he became a candidate, it became a more important tool, Tara Palmeri, senior political correspondent for Puck, told me. Truth Social is going to remain relevant as long as Trump is around, as much as we might want to turn a blind eye to it, Sarah Jones, senior writer covering politics for New Yorks Intelligencer, said. I do think its worth paying attention to and following. Many members of the political press have already leaned in: Trumps Fitton repost, which received no acknowledgment from his press office or on X, was written up as confirmation of his plans by the New York Times, Bloomberg, and ABC News, among others. Palmeri has signed up to receive alerts whenever Trump uses Truth Social. But like many mainstream journalists, shes a lurker. I dont think that theres a lot of appetite for the kind of reporting I do, she said.

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Jo Lukito, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin, where she researches right-wing media ecology, foresees Truth Social as a mainstay for the next four years. Beyond that, its future could be bleak. But, she said, once Trumps term is over, theres a question of whos next. Im curious if hes going to shift Truth Social to become a kingmaker-esque type thing.
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On Friday night, Donald Trump did something that he has long liked to do: make news on a Friday night. In a cascade of posts on Truth Social, Trump announced nine appointments to significant roles in his incoming administration, all in the space of an hour or so. (The timing was a full-circle moment for one of those tapped: Sebastian Gorka, who will be a deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism, was ousted from Trumps first administration on a Friday night.) CNNs Alayna Treene reported that Trump was keen to announce the appointments ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday to ensure that they got news coverage. Not that those making the coverage sounded thrilled about the timing. Politicos Playbook newsletter noted that Trump had ruined happy hour for all the reporters who suddenly had to freshen their pre-writes. Its going to be an exhausting four years, Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent at the New York Times, wrote on X. No sleep or rest.

If this Friday night news dump felt like the return of a forgotten cliche from Trumps first term, it reinforced the return of another that was already in the air: the idea that Trump is putting together a team made for TV. Of the selections Trump announced on Friday, twoJanette Nesheiwat, his pick for surgeon general, and Marty Makary, his choice to lead the Food and Drug Administrationwere recently contributors on Fox; Gorka was once a Fox contributor himself, and has more recently been a host on the Salem Radio Network and on Newsmax. According to Matt Gertz, of the liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America, the trio brought the number of former Fox hosts or contributors tapped by Trump to ninethe other six being Sean Duffy (transportation), Tulsi Gabbard (director of national intelligence), Pete Hegseth (defense), Tom Homan (border czar), Mike Huckabee (ambassador to Israel), and Michael Waltz (national security adviser)nearly half as many Fox-affiliated picks as Trump managed in his entire first term. Matt Gaetz (not Gertz), Trumps initial pick for attorney general, is himself a TV fixture who reportedly once considered quitting Congress to join Newsmax; Pam Bondi, nominated to the same post after Gaetz withdrew, has been a Fox regular, if never a paid pundit. And Dr. Oz is Dr. Oz.

In this newsletter last week, my colleague Josh Hersh wrote about this emerging trend, calling it a reminder of just how much Trumpdespite his highly touted campaign dalliances with the world of bro podcasts and social mediais still largely a media traditionalist, and of how big a story his obsessive viewership of Fox was during his first term. (Who remembers executive time?) Hersh focused most of all on Hegseth, until now a host on Fox & Friends, asking former officers who have transitioned into television whether his experience in the latter world might translate into leading a department with a near trillion-dollar budget. (Being a guy that talks about things in a media environment doesnt mean you really know about those things, Mark Hertling, a retired lieutenant general turned CNN analyst, said.)

Now that Trump has finished nominating picks for his cabinet (and most other senior roles), and done so in double-quick time, the relationship between him, them, and TV offers insights into several other key questions about his incoming administration. One has to do with what Trump might actually want his cabinet to do. Others are more concerned with the relevance of TVand, within and adjacent to that universe, traditional journalismat a moment when it is being sharply questioned, as well as Trumps likely second-term relationship with the press. On that score, the return of the Friday night news dump might be revealing, too.

As the New York Times columnist Ross Douthat noted over the weekend, Trumps appointments can be viewed through various lenses. One is the idea that he has, in essence, assembled a European-style coalition government, rewarding nontraditional members of the Republican coalitionGabbard, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.for their campaign support; another holds that he has tapped harsh critics of government agencies to lead them because he wants to stir conflict and chaos. Borrowing from the conservative journalist Ben Domenech, Douthat noted that Trump can also be seen as compiling, if not a Team of Rivals, then a Team of Podcasters, naming picks for their communications skills over their political views or administrative experience. Others seem to agree with this theory: on MSNBC last week, Stephanie Ruhle noted that for all the criticism of Trumps picks as unqualified, what hes actually looking for is spokespeople. Trump, Ruhle suggested, could in that sense be a reverse Joe Biden, whose team oversaw a substantial policy agenda but struggled to message it.

Personally, I dont see these three theories as mutually exclusiveand whatever you think of the first two, the third certainly seems to be true. (Trumps transition war room reportedly has big screens on which his advisers have played clips of his potential picks; Trump himself has explicitly praised the TV chops of some of his hires in his announcement posts.) And if (as I wrote on Friday) recent reports of the mainstream medias irrelevance have been exaggerated (despite the very real challenges posed by this age of fragmented audience attention), then its ongoing relevance to the soon-to-be most powerful man in the country would seem to underscore the point. Whether Fox constitutes part of the mainstream media is a complicated question (as CJRs Savannah Jacobson explored expertly back in 2021); however you define the term, the Seb Gorkas of the world are not a part of it. Yet Trump also values his surrogates going on major networks that he perceives as hostile and sparring with interviewers. (I noted in August that this was likely a key reason why he picked J.D. Vance as his running mate, and Trump seemed to confirm as much on election night.) As Ive put it before, of all the TVs things are made for, Trumps has always been the most important.

If Trumps personnel picks have often lived by TV, weve seen them die by it, too. (During his first term, his national security adviser John Bolton was reportedly ousted after he refused to go on TV and defend Trump stances that he didnt agree with, setting in motion a TV-mediated dispute as to whether hed been fired or quit. Since then, Bolton has often been on TV slamming Trump stances that he doesnt agree with; on Friday night, he appeared on CNN and described Gorka as a con man.) Last week, Gaetz withdrew his nomination for attorney general less than an hour after CNN contacted him for comment on a previously unreported sexual encounter that he is alleged to have had with a seventeen-year-old. Around the same time, a source told the Wall Street Journal that Hegsethwho has himself been accused of sexual assault and is the subject of reams of press coverage about itcould likewise lose Trumps confidence if this continues to be a drumbeat and the press coverage continues to be bad, particularly on TV. (Both Gaetz and Hegseth have denied any sexual misconduct.)

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In many ways, the current media environment is very different now than during Trumps first term: if its a misstatement to say that we werent already in the aforementioned age of fragmentation back then, were deeper into it now; as CJR has reported in depth, journalists credibly face much sharper threats under Trump 2.0 than the mostly rhetorical fusillade they endured last time around. In some respects, though, Trumps made for TV cabinet, and the media discourse around it, suggest that familiar dynamics from his first term are repeating themselves, at least when it comes to Trumps personal relationship with the press. For starters, were likely to see Trump bash members of the mediaincluding, if his pre-election rhetoric is any guide, at Foxwhile variously taking cues from them and obsessing over what they have to say. Despite his campaigns savvy use of nontraditional outlets, Trump is an almost eighty-year-old man who does care about legacy media and headlines he sees and cable coverage, the Times Trump-whisperer Maggie Haberman said after he was reelected. Well see how he reacts to it as he goes in because thats what happened last time.

The mainstream press, for its part, will likely continue to use TV as a lens to understand Trump and his behavior; indeed, were already doing it around his appointments. Those remind us that theres merit to such framingand Trumps first term brought much excellent, sophisticated coverage of how TV as a cultural medium shaped Trump and vice versa. Too often, though, the made for TV cliche became shorthand for trivializing Trumps actions or obsessing over optics or showmanshipor was invoked derisively, to quickly accuse Trump and his team of a lack of substance. (Its worth noting here that there is nothing inherently unserious about having a background in TV. Indeed, not all Trumps recent picks from TV are alike: some made their names in the medium while others became pundits only after careers in public service, a common path across the political spectrum.) As I wrote in 2021, the biggest problem betrayed by the made for TV cliche was the medias lesser ability to focus on Trump stories that lacked stimulating visuals. Now as then, what matters most is what he and his team stand for and are doing off-screen, much more so than their prowess on it.

By contrast, the Friday night news dump cliche was more a curiosity than deeply telling of any coverage pathologies during Trumps first term. But it wasand might now be againitself suggestive of how Trump sees the press and the attention economy, and the contradictions within this view. Trump, of course, did not invent the Friday night news dump; the principal idea behind itof releasing potentially embarrassing stories when journalists are most likely to be off the clockis a time-honored one. Last Friday, Playbook suggested that the volume and timing of Trumps personnel announcements had the immediate effect of diffusing the scrutiny that might have been trained on any individual nominee. This conclusion wasnt without complications. Trump has announced his most controversial picks in normal working hours. And as Treene reported, he appeared to want the latest batch to get coverage. (Trump has been known to time big announcements, like the killing of the leader of ISIS, to get maximum exposure on the Sunday shows.)

Still, Trump has used Friday nights to do controversial things in the past: in 2017, the news that Gorka had been ousted was coupled with a pardon for Sheriff Joe Arpaio; in 2020, he fired several inspectors general and commuted his ally Roger Stones prison sentence on various Fridays. And either way, Trump often still seems to think in terms of an analog journalistic timetablefurther evidence, perhaps, of his old-school media instincts in an age when the twenty-four-hour news cycle has otherwise made the Friday night news dump something of an anachronism. Likewise, his penchant for them could be seen as one small example of his friction with old-school journalists. Perhaps, as at least one observer suggested the last time he was in office, ruining reporters happy hours is the point.



Other notable stories:

The Washington Posts Elahe Izadi spoke with people distressed by Trumps victory who consumed a lot of news in the run-up to the election but have since decided to tune it out. Its not yet clear how widespread such behavior might be, but this moment feels very different from 2016, when, in the wake of Trumps victory, each new, seemingly unbelievable development generated breathless coverage, and enormous ratings, Izadi writes. Such behavior also runs counter to how people tend to react to something they consider a tragedy, one expert told Izadi: When an event happens that distresses people, those people consume more information about ita pull to bad news that is so profound, people go along with it even if it is bad for them. The difference this time could be that news consumers lack control over Trumps actions.

In Thursdays newsletter, Sarah Grevy Gotfredsen noted that major news organizations in several countriesincluding The Guardian in the UK and La Vanguardia in Spainhad decided to quit X in the wake of the US election, citing the toxic discourse on the platform and the status of its owner, Elon Musk, as a top Trump ally. Ouest-France and Sud Ouest, two regional media groups in France, have now made the same decision. Le Mondes Brice Laemle asked other French news organizations whether they would follow suit; of those that responded, some pledged to stay and make their voices heard on X, while others are still deliberating.

And Jeffrey A. Roberts, the executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, wrote about a brief that the group has submitted to the states supreme court challenging a ruling in which an appeals court sided with the Aurora Sentinel newspaper in an open meetings lawsuit that it brought against the citybut declined to award attorney fees to the paper because only citizens are eligible to claim those in such cases, and a newspaper does not meet the Merriam-Webster definition of that term. The CFOIC argues that the Sentinel should be eligible for fees.
The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by Meta Platforms Inc., leaving it to face a multibillion-dollar lawsuit that accuses the company of misleading shareholders about the data-harvesting scandal involving political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.

Investors claim the company, then known as Facebook, inflated share prices through misleading disclosures about the risk of the scandal leading to the misuse of user data. The shareholders say revelations about the breach eventually contributed to two 2018 price drops that cost the company more than $200 billion in market value.

Related: US Supreme Court Mulls Facebook Bid to Escape Securities Fraud Suit

Meta was seeking reversal of a federal appeals court decision that had let the lawsuit go forward. The Supreme Court agreed to consider the appeal in June and heard arguments on Nov. 6.

The court occasionally drops cases after argument. As is its usual practice, the court provided no explanation, saying only that the case was being dismissed as improvidently granted.

Related: Meta Fined $841M by EU Over Abusing Classified Ads Dominance

The dismissal makes it more likely Meta will face a costly settlement  potentially as large as $2 billion  according to Matthew Schettenhelm, an analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. A Meta victory at the Supreme Court would have knocked out some though not all of the case against the company.

The plaintiffs claims are baseless and we will continue to defend ourselves as this case is considered by the district court, Meta said in a statement. We are disappointed in the Supreme Courts decision not to clarify this part of the law.

Related: Meta Must Face Trial After Judge Pares Some FTC Claims

The attorney for the investors, Kevin Russell, declined to comment.

The case more broadly had the potential to reset the legal rules governing corporate disclosure. Business groups led by the Chamber of Commerce had urged the court to side with Meta, saying that risk-disclosure allegations have contributed to a wave of meritless securities-fraud suits.

The Securities and Exchange Commission since 2005 has required companies to disclose material factors that would make an investment risky.

The Supreme Court is also considering an appeal by AI chipmaker Nvidia Corp., which is being sued for allegedly misleading shareholders about its reliance on crypto-mining revenue in the run-up to a market crash.

Cambridge Analytica

The first hint of the Cambridge Analytica controversy came in December 2015, when The Guardian reported that the British firm was using a database of information gleaned from Facebook users to help the presidential primary campaign of Senator Ted Cruz. At the time, Facebook said it was investigating.

The suing shareholders say Facebook quickly concluded that Cambridge Analytica had obtained the private information of more than 30 million users without their consent.

But the shareholders say the company publicly characterized the risk of a breach as hypothetical and didnt change that stance until March 2018, when it issued a statement to preempt more far-reaching stories in The New York Times and The Guardian. The investors say those revelations caused the share price to plunge.

The shareholders say the companys inadequate disclosures also contributed to a July 2018 stock plunge that at the time was the largest one-day drop in value in US history.

The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the allegations were sufficient to let the lawsuit go forward.

Meta said it had no reason to think the scandal would harm the company because details had already been published without any impact on the stock price. Meta said the 9th Circuits reasoning would require companies to disclose risks that occurred years earlier even if they dont pose any known current threat of business harm.

The Biden administration backed the shareholders at the Supreme Court.

The case is Facebook v. Amalgamated Bank, 23-980.

Top photo: The Facebook logo is seen on a laptop arranged in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, US, on Wednesday, Feb.1, 2023. Photographer: Tiffany Hagler-Geard / Bloomberg.

Copyright 2025 Bloomberg.
BAY VILLAGE, Ohio -- Dozens of community members recently attended Bay Village Schools second annual State of the District event, hosted by Superintendent Scot Prebles.

Prebles provided updates on the districts finances, curriculum, facilities and progress as part of year two of its strategic plan.

He opened with a review of the districts key pillars: State of the District, performance and progress, partnerships, accolades, facilities for the future and a five-year financial forecast.

To engage the audience, Prebles enlisted three other speakers to delve into these topics, ensuring comprehensive coverage.

Highlights included updates on classroom initiatives and their role in maintaining Bay Village Schools prestigious accolades, such as consistent State of Ohio 5-star ratings, A+ rankings and placement in the top 3 percent of Cuyahoga County school districts.

Assistant Superintendent Robert Hoon emphasized the districts achievements, including innovative projects, generous donations and the unwavering support of booster groups.

The districts success continues to draw families to Bay Village, with many citing its high-performing schools as a primary motivator.

Prebles also announced a plan to consolidate two bond issues into a permanent measure.

While some attendees expressed concern about potential tax increases, district leaders assured them that details would be addressed at upcoming school board meetings.

The event underscored the districts dedication to excellence and forward momentum, aligning with its Rocket slogan.

As Bay Village Schools advance, plans for future improvements are firmly in place.

For more details or to view the strategic plan, contact the district office at 440-617-7300.

Read more from the West Shore Sun.
November 25, 2024: The Russian military is trying to obtain recruits in Africa, but not so much to fight as to perform support activities. Russia realizes that African support for Russia is based on the work of Russian Orthodox Church activities since the late 1880s.

Currently Africa has over 730 million Christians, the largest number of any region in the world. Russian Orthodox Church missionaries are actively seeking new converts from other Christian sects as well as Moslem Africans. Since the Russian Orthodox Church is a government controlled organization, when reinforcements were needed in Ukraine, Russian Orthodox Church missions overseas were expected to help. The Russian Orthodox Church was one of the many Christian sects that have been active in Africa. These foreign missionaries concentrate on improving the lives of those they convert. This is an excellent way to obtain more converts.

Then came the war in Ukraine and the Russian Orthodox Church found itself with some serious internal problems. Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, initially criticized the war in Ukraine. Since he was a government employee, he quickly fell into line and supported the war. At the same time, many Russian Orthodox Church clergy openly opposed and denounced the war. The Ukrainian branch of the Russian Orthodox Church severed its connections with the Russian Church.

The overseas missionaries were few in number and had more important things to than criticize the war in far off Ukraine. After more than two years of war, the Russian Orthodox Church is being called upon to help the war effort in Ukraine. The Russian Orthodox Church has ceased to openly oppose the war and is willing to assist the government. The church was asked about recruiting African converts to perform non-combat jobs in Russia, so Russian men could fight in Ukraine. The Africans would be safe and earning more money than they could ever make in Africa.

There were still problems with this plan because it was widely known that previous foreign volunteers had ended up in Ukraine, although few were in combat or injured in any way. Some African students studying in Russia have joined the Russian army and ended up in Ukraine. There are about 10,000 foreigners working for the Russian military in Ukraine. Some have ended up in combat units, perhaps enticed by the large cash payments. The money has enabled African soldiers to buy things, like cellphones for themselves and their families back in Africa. Some of these African soldiers have been killed but there have been now official statistics on how many Africans are in Ukraine and what the casualties are. This will probably not be known until the war is over or until someone distributes cell phone photos via the internet showing African soldiers in Ukraine.
November 25, 2024: Russia, desperate to find more manpower to reinforce their troops in Ukraine, has turned to its small Cossack population. Russia made a deal with the Cossack leadership to persuade the millions of Ukrainian and Russian Cossacks living in Russia to support the Russian war effort in Ukraine. Prior to 2024 Russia had not sought to recruit Cossacks. This was part of an effort to maintain and improve good relations with Cossacks in Russia. So far this year over 50,000 Cossacks have served in the Russian forces in Ukraine or the forces gathered to push Ukrainian forces out of Russias Kursk province. The Ukrainians entered Kursk in August. Russia is also using 12,000 North Korean mercenaries for the Kursk counterattack. As of November 2024, the Ukrainians are still in Russia.

Russia has not tried to involuntarily mobilize Cossacks into the army, as that could antagonize Cossacks in general and possibly cause loyalty problems with Ukrainian Cossacks living in Russia. There are over five million Ukrainian and Russian Cossacks living in different parts of Russia. Both Ukrainian and Russian Cossacks consider themselves Cossacks first. Russian officials understand that and since late 2023 have persuaded over 20,000 Cossacks to fight in Ukraine. Russia hopes to recruit more because Russia is running out of Russian soldiers. The Cossacks and their leaders are aware of the high Russian casualty rate in Ukraine. That makes it difficult to persuade more Cossacks to fight in Ukraine.

When Russia first invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the Ukrainian response was Cossack in the way Cossack tactics were used successfully against the Russian invaders.

These 21st Century Ukrainian Cossacks performed like the first Cossacks did 500 years ago, traveling light and using whatever weapons they could carry and use on foot or on horseback. The 2022 Ukrainian used pickup trucks and cars for transport and a lot of NATO supplied anti-tank weapons to supplement the Ukrainian made ones.

The original Cossacks were most effective at raiding and restricting the movements and capabilities of a larger force. Cossacks would raid supply columns and force the enemy to use more troops for guard duty and larger reconnaissance patrols. Cossacks could weaken a larger force and reduce its offensive capabilities.

Its not surprising that these modern Cossacks would emerge in Ukraine during the 2022 invasion, This sort of speedy improvisation by a largely recent volunteer force of civilians is one reason the Russians have been losing. The Ukrainians know what they are fighting for while most of the Russian troops who initially invaded were unaware they were invading Ukraine until hastily organized and armed Ukrainians began ambushing them with effective anti-tank weapons and superior tactics and communications. Initially most Russian troops were unsure why they are invading Ukraine while the Ukrainians were defending themselves any way they could. Now Russia is trying to create its own Cossack force. How successful that will be remains to be seen.

These neo-Cossacks, in the form of small, mobile motorized forces, were first developed by the British during World War II in North Africa. German and Italian forces established airfields and supply storage sites out in the desert that were lightly guarded because any ground force would be spotted from the air before it got near. To get around that Britain developed the LRDG/Long Range Desert Group consisting of small units of a dozen or so men in wheeled vehicles modified for off-road use in desert terrain. The troops were volunteers trained to use these vehicles and navigate in the desert. While raids on remote airfields and supply depots were the most dramatic operations, the most valuable role of the LRDG was collecting information on enemy strength, dispositions and movements. This often involved monitoring enemy traffic on the coastal roads, which were the primary traffic route in North Africa. Out of this came the British SAS/Special Air Service commandos and the maritime version, the SBS/special boat service. After World War II other nations based their special operations forces on the British model.

American Special Forces and similar commando groups in other NATO countries are also able to operate in the Cossack fashion and regularly train that way based on their experience of the Ukrainian Cossacks. While NATO has donated over $100 billion military and economic aid to Ukraine, the Ukrainians have shared their combat experiences with NATO as well as details of new weapons Ukrainians have designed and built. The war in Ukraine is the first war between technological equals since World War II. Thats over 60 years with much change in weapons or tactics. Now, in less than three years the war in Ukraine has revolutionized how wars are fought and established the parameters for 21st Century warfare.
It's time to give thanks. I want to give thanks to all of the traders out there who create opportunities every day with their scalping, their dumping, and their insistence that small caps stocks are going to roar or that midcaps will stall or that the "Magnificent Seven" are magnificent no more. I used to trade for a living. I was pretty good at it. I used to go on CNBC's "Squawk Box" as a guest. Every Wednesday. Back then, anchor Mark Haines ruled the roost. Mark, now long since passed, was a glorious curmudgeon. I was trying to get TheStreet.com, the financial website that I had started three years before in 1996, a little more exposure. At that point, Disney had a stake in TheStreet.com, and part of the deal included two segments a week on "Good Morning America" about the economy and business. Those were serious shows before TikTok, Instagram, podcasts and streaming. We had just installed a television in the trading room because FNN, the Financial News Network, a somewhat helpful amalgam of programming, had been replaced by CNBC, a much more rigorous outfit. The keystone of the network? Haines, along with two foils, Joe Kernen and David Faber. "Squawk Box" filled the time slot now run by Kernen, Andrew Ross Sorkin and Becky Quick, whom I first brought over from The Wall Street Journal as the stand-in for my old friend Larry Kudlow, the other half of the duo called "Kudlow & Cramer." Anchors could own stocks back then, before the post-dotcom purge conducted by lawyers who decided that disclosure wasn't enough  that it couldn't cure the taint of the trades done by on-air talent. Haines annoyed me. He was always buying the oils  loved Rowan and Transocean . He infuriated me with his smugness. So, I shot off emails as I screamed at the television when I knew he was off-base, arrogant son of a bitch that I was. Haines was cursory and clipped in his responses as befitting the way you would answer a pain-in-the-ass viewer. Then one day I got an email that changed pretty much everything. He wrote that if I thought I was so hot, such a good stock picker, I had to come on the show or stop emailing him. I got sheepish. I was conscious that I had been doing the hits on GMA, and they were fabulous. But I started thinking it might make more sense to promote TheStreet.com by co-hosting "Squawk Box." I weighed about 205 pounds back then, thirty pounds more than now, and I had no hair. I told Haines that I didn't know if he wanted a fat, bald, noisy sidekick for three hours. He came back and said that was okay, it would be one and done if I pissed him off. That was Haines. So, I came in hot. I wasn't content to be a co-host. I wanted to be the host. I interrupted him when Haines said his name. I said this would be a different show, not like those before me, one that would tell it like it is, not some economic gasbag analysis. Shoot, I was like that even then. We proceeded to have a giant play of fun, a caustic, comical, angry, peeved three hours. At the end, still on air, Haines said, when are you coming back, and I knew I had passed the test. The next time I came on he said he had been thinking a lot about me and he realized that I wasn't an investor. I was a trader, a fast trader, maybe the fastest ever. He said I had no loyalty whatsoever to anything or maybe anyone and that people needed to know that. That's why my new name was "The Reverend Jim Bob of the Church of What's Happening Now." Except for a stint where I helped build Fox Business News, I became a fixture on CNBC until I got my own show, "Kudlow & Cramer." I was always Reverend Jim Bob from my own church, and I was the exclamation point every week, a foil for all of the buy-and-holders that would fill up the time every other day of the week. In the twenty-six years since those appearances, many have joined my church, and now we have a network brimming with reverends of their own flock. They are fun, and opinionated  and they, too, have no more loyalty than you can throw their ideas out there only to experience the jarring discovery that was liked last time is now despised. No Charitable Trust consistency on these shows. No matter, they are as fun with a brilliant cast of characters with quick sermons, making themselves of apostates of their last appearances. These are the people who have helped create the notion of the new thesis with a shelf life less than that of whole milk left out on the picnic table on a hot day. They, as a collection, stoked to be as opinionated as Reverend Jim Bob, are constantly giving eulogies for whatever was so young and alive the day before. Everything, of course, hinges on whatever Federal Reserve governor spoke last because that might be the governor that matters or the most  or not. The torque of each trade is not even noticed anymore. But the wake that they cause? It's enough to change the animal spirits as the network has taken on a major role each session. The sermons are all different, but I find there's a preponderance of thought that revolves around two theses: (1) You have to sell the "Magnificent Seven" because they are now dead, and (2) you have to buy the Mag 7 because they have never been more in vogue, more alive, more able to bring home the bacon. I lost my church years ago, defrocked by the desire to teach through "Mad Money" and the Investing Club. I find these obits and Lazarus-like comebacks totally fatuous. There is no death, there isn't even a near-death experience for the Mag 7  individually Apple , Alphabet, Amazon , Meta Platforms , Microsoft , Nvidia, and Tesla . The Investing Club owns them all except Tesla. Yes, small caps or midcaps or the "Russell whatevers" get their mid-afternoons in the sun. Alphabet 's Google gets shot down by an antitrust official, and an Nvidia gets dinged by an ill-advised story about how its latest chips are overheating causing it to miss the quarter. Such a shame the latter is not true. But what are we supposed to do? I hear you: Didn't you do that at TheStreet.com? Hmm, if we got it wrong, we owned it, or I would figuratively rip your lungs out. Here's what the traders don't understand: The Mag 7 doesn't end. They are the stocks you reach for when there's chatter that the big slowdown is here. A new crop comes in and buys them  not trade, but to invest in. Plus, index money fuel gets sprayed on them causing regular bonfires. The traders give us these opportunities. They don't know how not to because things are always fluid. There's always a new reason to sell, a new reason to buy. Sometimes in the same day. There's no buyers' or sellers' remorse. Who has time for that? Here's what, though, they are missing. These companies can't be classified as a group of seven except by the con men who create ETFs (exchange-traded funds) for fees and nothing more. What the heck does a chip that helps accelerated computing (made by Nvidia) have to do with a consumer of that chip (take your pick of names because everyone wants as much as they get their hands on) who pays a fortune for it. What's good for the goose is bad for the gander. They can all be pitted against each other. Some are counter-cyclical and get bought when they are literally pronounced dead. Others defy characterization. Against them are segments that go in and out of favor depending upon a missed quarter in the cohort or Fed speak meant to curse a segment. It's beyond stupidity. That's why I want to thank the traders for the opportunities they give us each time they squawk at their viewers. The reverends all have something poignant to say, and their sermons change by the minute. They create their own opportunities to sell and buy. And, as long as you recognize that the original Reverend had his time, then you know what allows you to be so right and they so wrong, provided you have conviction and time your buys correctly. Thank you, traders. I don't know what we would do without you. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

Jim Cramer. Rob Kim | NBCUniversal
Wall Street analysts predict that iPhone users will buck up for artificial intelligence in more ways than one. The news Morgan Stanley said Monday that Apple's services business could get a boost from customers willing to pay for artificial intelligence capabilities. That's one of the major takeaways from the research firm's annual Alphawise Smartphone Survey. The results showed that 78% of prospective buyers of AI-enabled iPhones would pay a monthly subscription to get unlimited access to Apple Intelligence features. The analysts gamed that out and forecasted a services revenue bump of $7 billion to $14 billion, or 5% to 11%, for fiscal year 2027. Another survey item that caught our attention was that 50% of current iPhone users who do not plan to upgrade within the next year cited the delayed rollout of Apple Intelligence as part of their decision. The Morgan Stanley analysts said that assuming Apple's AI features are fully rolled out by fiscal 2026, "successfully converting this cohort of 'would be' iPhone upgraders would improve global iPhone upgrade rates by [roughly] 3 points or 10 points, implying 271M-313M FY26 iPhone shipments." The new iPhone 16 models were released on Sept. 20, and the first AI software features weren't available until Nov 19. As a result, Morgan Stanley analysts pointed to "pent-up upgrade demand" for the iPhone in the second half of fiscal 2025 or fiscal 2026. "Said differently, our 2024 Smartphone Survey results show (and therefore give us confidence) that broadening Apple Intelligence features and language distribution can accelerate iPhone replacement cycles/unit growth in [fiscal year 2026]," the analysts wrote. The survey also suggested that Apple's China market continues to improve despite Wall Street's ongoing concerns about increasing smartphone competition from domestic players like Huawei. "This year, it's clear Apple's competitive standing in China has improved," the Morgan Stanley analysts said, pointing to higher iPhone retention and switching rates. "Both metrics for Huawei materially deteriorated [year-over-year.]  In our view, this sets iPhone up for growth when the China macro improves." AAPL YTD mountain Apple (AAPL) year-to-date performance The analysts on Monday reiterated their buy-equivalent rating and top pick designation on Apple stock and their $273-per-share price target. Apple shares rose modestly Monday to $230 each. Currently, the Club has a 2 rating on Apple and a $250 price target . The stock has gained more than 19% year to date, lagging the S & P 500 's more than 25% advance in 2024. To be sure, though, shares only need to gain less than 2.5% to top their record-high close of $236.48 each on Oct. 21. Big picture Some analysts struck a more cautious tone on Apple's AI efforts and a forthcoming upgrade cycle. Melius Research said Monday that smartphone replacement cycles are "not panning out as quickly as expected," in part, citing seemingly lackluster iPhone 16 sales . Similar to Morgan Stanley, the Melius analysts pointed to the delayed release of Apple Intelligence. "AI has been a disappointment so far in terms of features, it will likely take a while for companies to figure out which features consumers want/are willing to upgrade for," the firm told clients. Wall Street, however, has been expecting an upgrade cycle for more than just iPhones. Other smartphone brands and personal computers are in the mix as well. That's because many consumers bought new electronic devices in 2020 during the start of the Covid pandemic. Because replacement cycles on these items are typically 4 to 5 years, users should be looking to trade up with newer models. This cycle has a "few idiosyncrasies" that make it unique, Melius said. "Because individuals were working from home, they purchased better computers and newer phones than they would normally and are likely not feeling the need to upgrade yet." The analysts added, "Further, the new slate of PCs and phones are not that exciting in terms of features or upgrades. Both of these factors are exacerbated by the current macroeconomic environment that is straining consumers." Bottom line The Club has long argued that Apple's AI integration will be a big catalyst for the stock. Jim Cramer said Monday that Apple's high-margin services unit, in particular, will be a beneficiary. In response to Morgan Stanley's call, he agreed that revenue streams for the business "could go up dramatically," adding that "AI may be a hit for them." The services business is especially attractive because the segment includes several subscriptions, which bring in more recurring revenue streams. Plus, quarter after quarter, the unit continues to grow. Revenue for the category hit a record high again during the September quarter at $25 billion. Similar to Morgan Stanley and Melius, we see Apple's iPhone upgrade cycle as a story in the coming quarters, rather than right now. It's part of the reason why the Club continues to maintain our "own it, don't trade it" thesis on the stock. "The iPhone upgrade cycle will be elongated," Jim said. "This has been my plan for why you have to stay with Apple. Don't trade Apple." With the delayed rollout of Apple Intelligence, it's clear to us that users may take longer to switch up to newer models. But over time, we believe early adopters will tout the buzzy new features and persuade others to upgrade. It's also great to hear that iPhone demand in China, Apple's second-largest market, seems to be improving. Jim said the region has been a "gigantic headwind" for Apple. That's because, in addition to stiffening smartphone competition, President-elect Donald Trump's threats of China tariffs could weigh on device sales even more. Management has made several efforts to expand into emerging economies such as India to diversify manufacturing and sales. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long AAPL. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

An Apple store in Manhattan, New York, on July 5, 2024. Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Samsung Electronic Chairman Jay Y. Lee is currently under the pursuit of South Korean prosecutors. In a recent heated appeals court hearing, it was mentioned that the official is subject to serve a five-year prison sentence on top of paying $375,000 or 500 million KRW.

According to the prosecutors, Lee took advantage of the 2015 merger involving two Samsung affiliates. At that time, he manipulated the stock and committed accounting fraud. With this, he has a tight grip on the tech giant.

What Charges Are Involved in the 2015 Merger Scandal?

As per TechCrunch's report, the merger scandal orchestrated by Lee involved two affiliates: Samsung C&T, the company's construction arm, and Cheil Industries, the textile affiliate.

Prosecutors argue the merger inflated the stock value of Cheil while undervaluing Samsung C&T to cement managerial control through Lee. The accusations have also touched on fraudulent accounting practices within Samsung Biologics, which had close ties with Cheil.

Prosecutors have highlighted the precedential value of the case, saying, "This decision will serve as a guideline for the restructuring of 'chaebols' and corporate responsibility."

The Road to Appeals: Background and Acquittal

Lee and 13 other former Samsung officials were acquitted of these charges in January 2023. Prosecutors are challenging their acquittal. Lee has maintained his innocence, arguing that the merger was conducted in compliance with normal operational practice.

However, the stakes remain high, as the appeals court decisionanticipated in early 2025could significantly reshape South Korea's corporate governance landscape.

Samsung's Profit Continues to Slide Down

The hearing comes at a delicate time for Samsung, the world's top memory chip maker, as it struggles to keep its profits from slipping in an increasingly competitive tech landscape. It also comes as South Korea seeks to reform the structure of chaebol, family-run conglomerates that dominate the nation's economy.

Lee's legal issues go back to when he was indicted in 2020 for his involvement in the notorious deal. Since then, prosecutors have again and again pointed out Capital Market Act violations, arguing the merger worth $8 billion mainly served personal ambitions of Lee.

What It Means for South Korea's Corporate Scene

The fallout from this case could have a long-term impact not only on Samsung itself, but on South Korea's overall technology environment, including startups and smaller companies vying for market share with a heavy, chaebol-led leading presence.

If the government agrees with the prosecution, it would send a powerful legal message: that such future corporate malpractice will be tightened up throughout South Korea's biggest companies.

Leniency, on the other hand, may signal continued tolerance for the entrenched chaebol culture, undermining reforms aimed at increasing transparency and fairness.

As of this writing, the result of this highly publicized case serves, in turn, as a litmus test for South Korea's seriousness about corporate accountability and governance reforms.

Earlier this month, Tech Times reported that a South Korean insider had some information about the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip SE. According to the source, this particular model could be released a few months from now. It is expected to be cheaper than the standard model, considering that Samsung is positioning it for people who can't afford to buy the Z Flip 7.
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Electric vehicle start-up Lucid on Sept. 28, 2021 said production of its first cars for customers has started at its factory in in Casa Grande, Arizona. Lucid

DETROIT  The auto industry has an addiction. It's a "capital junkie" that's been on a yearslong binge of unprecedented spending on all-electric and autonomous vehicles. And now, it's waking up from the bender and entering rehab. Automakers from Detroit to Japan and Germany are attempting to lower costs and reduce expenses amid economic concerns, billions of dollars wasted on self-driving vehicles and a prolonged, if not uncertain, return on investment in EVs amid slower-than-expected adoption. Those issues come in addition to weakening consumer demand, higher commodity costs, and some Wall Street analysts sounding the alarm about global automotive sales and profits peaking, as China's industry continues to expand. General Motors and Ford Motor are cutting billions in fixed costs, including laying off thousands of workers, while other automakers such as Nissan Motor, Volkswagen Group and Chrysler parent Stellantis are taking even more drastic measures to reduce headcounts and trim spending. "Western [automakers] are increasingly focusing on capital efficiency, meaning likely lower spending, more collaboration, and restructured EV portfolios to prioritize profits," Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said in a September investor note.

The automotive industry is a global web of companies producing tens of thousands of parts to assemble a new vehicle. It requires significant capital investment every time an automaker launches a new product or updates current models, causing a spending ripple effect throughout the global supply chain. But in recent years, automakers have put such investments in overdrive with self-driving and electric vehicles. Companies invested tens of billions of dollars into the technologies, most with little to no short- to midterm returns on their investments. Research and development costs, as well as capital spending for the top 25 automotive companies, have increased 33% from roughly $200 billion in 2015 to $266 billion in 2023, according to auto consulting firm AlixPartners. Such costs for GM increased about 62% from 2015 to 2023, to $20.6 billion (excluding sold European operations), despite a 38% drop in global sales during that time. That compares with other increases during that timeframe of 42% for Volkswagen; 37% for Toyota Motor; 27% for Fiat Chrysler's successor Stellantis; and 18% for Ford. EV startups Rivian Automotive and Lucid Group have burned through $16 billion and $8.8 billion, respectively, in free cash flow since 2022. Both companies are attempting to ramp up vehicle production and narrow their losses. It's not the first time the auto industry has blown through money to then attempt quickly to cut costs. These kinds of periods happen in cyclical industries such as autos, but could the spending have potentially been avoided  or at least alleviated  this time around?

Capital junkie

The latest cost-cutting cycle comes nearly a decade after an infamous Wall Street presentation by late-Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne called "Confessions of a Capital Junkie." The April 2015 report highlighted the industry's massive capital spending on overlapping or niche products that Marchionne was convinced could be solved through consolidation and shared capital spending.

Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne Brendan McDermid | Reuters

The report, made by Marchionne amid failed merger attempts with Fiat Chrysler that included GM, has reemerged as automakers cut costs and announce tie-ups between companies such as Volkswagen and Rivian Automotive as well as GM and Hyundai Motor to share costs. "We believe the concepts within this deck [are] highly insightful and as relevant today as ever," Jonas said in a November 2023 investor note invoking Marchionne's junkie manifesto, which he has continued to reference.

'The Sergio Quotient'

Using a measurement called "The Sergio Quotient," Jonas points out that the average S&P 500 company spends its market cap in capex plus research and development in about 50 years. GM and Ford spend their market cap in 1.9 and 2.6 years, respectively. Only Volkswagen, at 1.8 years, was lower than GM among traditional automakers. Toyota was the best suited, at 14.4 years. As of September, Ford and GM ranked 402 and 403 out of 406 nonfinancial companies in the S&P 500 regarding their capital spend compared with their market cap. Former Ford executive Joe Hinrichs brought up Marchionne's 2015 manifesto during an automotive conference this summer, condemning the industry for its capital waste.

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"The auto industry is famous for destroying capital. That's a bad thing," said Hinrichs, now CEO of railroad company CSX . "If you waste billions of dollars on autonomous vehicles or billions of dollars on electrification, you should be held accountable. That's shareholder money." Most capital spending by automakers isn't wasted, but the industry isn't as efficient as other sectors, with minimal return on invested capital. The ROIC of traditional, mainstream automakers is roughly seven or less, while tech companies such as Google parent Alphabet are at roughly 22, according to FactSet. "We've seen major CapEx spend with extended ROIs, given the slowdown  and low utilization in manufacturing plants," said Rebecca Evans, a principal at management consulting firm Roland Berger. "We have been looking extensively at cost." In particular, automakers have not seen ROIC on autonomous vehicles and EVs. GM continues to invest in its embattled autonomous vehicle unit Cruise despite already spending more than $10 billion on it since acquiring the company in 2016. Ford also has wasted billions of dollars on warranty and recall costs as well as strategy shifts. It recently canceled production of a three-row electric SUV after significant development cost the automaker roughly $1.9 billion in expenses and cash expenditures. That included $400 million for the write-down of certain product-specific manufacturing assets.

Rehab

After years of spending, Nissan, Volkswagen and Stellantis are conducting massive business restructurings that include layoffs, production cuts and other cost-saving measures. Others such as Ford, GM, and EV startups Lucid and Rivian are attempting to lower costs but their efforts are not as severe as the others. "Have we got to cut costs with every car we're making? Absolutely," Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson told CNBC in October, citing the company's cost-cutting task force. "We're working assiduously on that."

Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson poses at the Nasdaq MarketSite as Lucid Motors (Nasdaq: LCID) begins trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange after completing its business combination with Churchill Capital Corp IV in New York City, New York, July 26, 2021. Andrew Kelly | Reuters

Volkswagen is in the midst of a massive cost-cutting program that uncharacteristically involves layoffs and potential plans to shutter plants in its home country of Germany. VW Chairman and CEO Oliver Blume said in an interview published earlier this month that such actions are needed to remedy years of ongoing problems at the German carmaker, which reportedly expects to spend 900 million euros ($975.06 million) to execute the turnaround. "The weak market demand in Europe and significantly lower earnings from China reveal decades of structural problems at VW," Blume told German paper Bild am Sonntag, according to Reuters. The rise of Chinese automakers has been eating away at the profits of traditional automakers such as VW, GM and others that were once dominant players in China  the world's largest car market that has quickly moved from being a consumer of vehicles to exporter. Nissan, Honda and BMW, among others, also blamed declines in China for missing earnings expectations or restructuring needs. GM, which has raked in billions from China, is restructuring operations there, including attempting to renegotiate with its major Chinese partner, SAIC.

Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon Stocks of GM, Ford and Chrysler parent Stellantis in 2024.

While losing ground in China, GM has been among the most aggressive in spending on EVs and self-driving vehicles. But, to its credit, remains highly profitable and had roughly $27 billion of free cash flow at the end of the third quarter. It remains one of the standouts in balancing investment and cost-cutting efforts, while remaining profitable. GM CFO Paul Jacobson on Wednesday reconfirmed plans for the automaker to level capex to around $11 billion going forward. "What we've established over the last couple of years, I think, is a pretty disciplined track record of capital expenditures," Jacobson said during a Barclays conference. "You want to be in an organization that has more ideas than it can fund. Our job is to allocate that and prioritize it."

Partnerships

Newer automakers such as Rivian and Lucid are cutting costs and raising capital to stay afloat as the companies continue to lose tens of thousands of dollars on each EV they sell. Lucid's largest shareholder, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, has invested billions of dollars into the company, while Rivian has teamed up with Volkswagen for an up to $5.8 billion software deal, which is expected to close by the end of this year.

A provided image of Oliver Blume, CEO of Volkswagen Group and RJ Scaringe, founder and CEO of Rivian, as the companies announce joint venture plans on June 25, 2024. Courtesy: Business Wire

GM and Hyundai this summer entered into an agreement to explore "future collaboration across key strategic areas" in an effort to reduce capital spending and increase efficiencies. The companies have not announced any actions since then. Marchionne argued such partnerships were effective but not enough going forward. He said companies could save billions of dollars annually in capital by sharing costs involving commoditized parts such as transmissions, standardized safety equipment and advanced driver assistance systems. "It's fundamentally immoral to allow for that waste to continue unchecked," Marchionne said in the three-hour conference call with global industry analysts in 2015. "Something needs to give. It cannot continue like this."

Mary Barra, chair and CEO of General Motors, and Euisun Chung, executive chair of Hyundai Motor Group, during the signing of an agreement between the two companies to explore future collaboration across key strategic areas. Courtesy image

Some things have changed, but there have not been large systemic shifts. Major automotive industry mergers and joint ventures don't always result in long-term successes. Many fall apart before producing significant results. Both VW and Rivian have experienced such failures with Ford in recent years. Rivian and the Detroit automaker canceled plans to codevelop EVs two years after Ford took a 12% stake in the startup in 2019. Around that time, VW also announced a $2.6 billion deal with Ford for autonomous vehicles that didn't pan out.

Stellantis

Stellantis  formed through the merger of Fiat Chrysler and French automaker PSA Groupe in January 2021  has proven that not all mergers enacted to produce scale guarantee a profitable company. After a record profit last year, the company has struggled in 2024. While Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has touted achieving roughly $9 billion in cost reductions following the merger, the automaker has mismanaged the U.S. market  its prime cash generator  with a lack of investment in new or updated products, historically high prices and extreme cost-cutting measures.

Carlos Tavares, chief executive officer of Stellantis NV, speaks during a news conference at the Fiat automobile manufacturing plant in Kragujevac, Serbia, on Monday, July 22, 2024. Oliver Bunic | Bloomberg | Getty Images
HAIKOU, CHINA - DECEMBER 17: People purchase brandies during the 26th China (Hainan) International Winter Trade Fair for Tropical Agricultural Products at Hainan International Convention And Exhibition Center on December 17, 2023 in Haikou, Hainan Province of China.

The EU Commission said on Monday it had formally brought the provisional anti-dumping measures imposed by China on imports of EU brandy to the World Trade Organization, the latest development amid trade tensions between the two blocs.

France's trade ministry said last month it would work with the European Commission to challenge Beijing's tariffs, which came after the European Union voted for duties on Chinese-made electric vehicles.

China's commerce ministry said it had received an EU consultation request and would handle the matter according to WTO rules.

"The provisional anti-dumping measures were implemented based on Chinese law, at the request of domestic industries, after a fair and impartial investigation, and are legitimate trade remedies fully in line with WTO rules," the ministry said.

France, whose producers including LVMH , Remy Cointreau and PernodRicard , export huge amounts of spirits to the Asian country, was seen as the main targets of the brandy tariffs following Paris's outspoken support of the Commission's efforts to protect the domestic EV market.

French President Emmanuel Macron previously called China's brandy probe "pure retaliation".

China is the second-largest export market for cognac after the United States and the industry's most profitable. French brandy shipments to China reached $1.7 billion last year and made up 99% of China's imports of the drink.

Meanwhile, Hennessy is exploring options to bottle cognac in China, which prompted hundreds of workers at its plant in southwestern France to go on strike last week, while Remy said it would raise prices in China and could cut costs in areas like manufacturing and ad spending.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended 0.14% higher, with most sectors and major bourses in the green. Household goods and mining stocks led gains, both adding 1.21%, while oil and gas stocks fell 1%.

Bank stocks were also on the move Monday after UniCredit offered to buy its fellow Italian lender Banco BPM for roughly 10 billion euros ($10.5 billion). Banco BPM shares ended the session up 5.5%, while UniCredit shares pulled back and closed down 4.8%.

Shares in Commerzbank meanwhile fell as much as 6.3% after UniCredit said that its offer for Banco BPM was separate from its pursuit of the German lender and that any bid for it would come after Banco BPM had been integrated. The stock closed 5% lower.

Global market sentiment got a boost when President-elect Donald Trump signaled his intention to nominate Key Square Group founder Scott Bessent as US Treasury secretary.

Investors have generally viewed the pick favorably and see the hedge fund manager as someone who will be supportive of equity markets. However, Trump stated that Bessent would help him implement protectionist trade policies, which could have significant negative impacts .
Formula 1 announced Monday that it has approved the entry of GM and Cadillac as a new team on the grid, bringing a storied American car maker into the pinnacle of motorsport.

The announcement, which is part of an application initiated by racing team Andretti Global, shakes up the F1 world and could provide a boost to the fast-growing U.S. market with the arrival of the storied American car manufacturer. It comes two days after the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

F1 said in a statement that it "reached an agreement in principle with General Motors (GM) to support bringing GM/Cadillac as the eleventh team to the Formula 1 grid in 2026."

The much-anticipated decision follows a year-long saga marked by drama and bitter tensions within F1 after Andretti Global applied to join the grid and gained the approval of the sport's governing body FIA  only to get rejected by the Liberty Media-owned commercial side of F1, which questioned whether Andretti would bring sufficient value to the sport or be competitive.

But the added promise from GM to become a "works" team  building both a car and a power unit  led to a breakthrough.

"Formula 1 has maintained a dialogue with General Motors, and its partners at TWG Global,"  which now controls Andretti Global  "regarding the viability of an entry following the commercial assessment and decision made by Formula 1 in January 2024," F1 said in a statement. "Over the course of this year, they have achieved operational milestones and made clear their commitment to brand the eleventh team GM/Cadillac, and that GM will enter as an engine supplier at a later time. Formula 1 is therefore pleased to move forward with this application process and will provide further updates in due course."

In a statement, GM said it will build its own power unit "by the end of the decade," without specifying a year.

"F1 demands boundary-pushing innovation and excellence. It's an honor for General Motors and Cadillac to join the world's premier racing series, and we're committed to competing with passion and integrity to elevate the sport for race fans around the world," GM President Mark Reuss said. "This is a global stage for us to demonstrate GM's engineering expertise and technology leadership at an entirely new level."

Mario Andretti, a former F1 champion and the patriarch of the Andretti racing dynasty, will serve as a director on the team's board.

"My first love was Formula 1 and now  70 years later  the F1 paddock is still my happy place. I'm absolutely thrilled with Cadillac, Formula 1, Mark Walter, and Dan Towriss," Andretti said in a statement. "To still be involved at this stage of my life  I have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming."

Last spring, Andretti paid a visit to Washington, D.C., at the invitation of lawmakers, and the story became political. Within a few months, the Justice Department began investigating Liberty Media for potential antitrust violations amid allegations that it shut out a U.S. team to protect the largely European teams from competition.

That probe could fizzle as a result of this move.
Here are Monday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Bernstein reiterates MicroStrategy as outperform The firm raised its price target on the stock to $600 per share from $290. " MicroStrategy's (MSTR) Bitcoin treasury model is unprecedented on Wall Street, in our view." Morgan Stanley upgrades Banco Santander to overweight from equal weight The firm said the bank has a "resilient regional footprint." "We downgrade Caixabank and ING to Equal-weight, and we upgrade Nordea and Santander to Overweight as both have a more resilient regional footprint and improved capital generation outlook." Oppenheimer names Target a top pick Oppenheimer said the stock is too attractive to ignore at current levels. "We are adding TGT back to top pick status. In mid-October around the $157 level we removed TGT from our top pick ranking driven in part by our apparel clearance inventory observations. With the reset out of the way, we see a very compelling risk/reward scenario developing." Citi upgrades U.S. Bancorp to buy from neutral Citi said the regional bank's shares are compelling at current levels. "We are upgrading USB to Buy here given it trades at a fairly large discount, but also we see an inflection point here with line of sight to positive operating leverage leading to upside on EPS revisions and share buybacks." Morgan Stanley upgrades Robinhood to overweight from equal weight The firm said Robinhood is a Trump election beneficiary. "HOOD among the biggest beneficiaries of the election results in our coverage; potential deregulation enables HOOD to participate more aggressively in crypto." UBS initiates Arm as buy UBS said it sees "strong growth vectors" for the semis company. "We initiate coverage of Arm Holdings (ARM) with a Buy rating and $160 price target (20% upside)." Morgan Stanley upgrades KinderCare to overweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said shares are compelling at current levels for the day care company. "We view KLC's 28% pullback MTD as an attractive entry point." BMO downgrades Square to market perform from outperform BMO said it is concerned about slowing growth for Square. "Downgrading to Market Perform; Tougher to See Gross Profit Upside From Here." Telsey downgrades Five Below to market perform from outperform Telsey said it sees too many negative catalysts ahead. " Five Below is undergoing a major strategic transition across its business model, which combined with changes in leadership and potential pressure related to tariffs, clouds our visibility on the near to medium-term performance." Wedbush upgrades Snowflake to outperform from neutral Wedbush said Snowflake is "in the sweet spot to benefit from AI use cases over the next 12 to 18 months. "To reflect our increased bullishness on the next phase of this AI Revolution in the software sector into 2025 we are upgrading our ratings on Elastic and Snowflake to OUTPERFORM (from NEUTRAL) while also raising our price targets on Palantir and Salesforce heading into 2025." Morgan Stanley reiterates Apple as overweight Morgan Stanley said its survey checks "reinforce [the] multi-year iPhone upgrade thesis." "Our 2024 AlphaWise Global Smartphone Survey confirms that iPhone upgrade rates are improving and Apple Intelligence is an emerging catalyst to iPhone upgrades, with broader availability key to unlocking pent-up demand globally" Goldman Sachs upgrades W.R. Berkley to buy from neutral The firm said it is bullish on the insurance company. "Our WRB Buy rating reflects our view that WRB can continue earning pricing in excess of claim cost trend (builds margin), our increased confidence in reserves supported by strong paid-to-incurred loss ratios, and above-street investment income estimates from higher corporate bond yields." UBS reiterates Tesla as sell UBS said it is sticking with its sell rating on the stock. The firm did raise its price target on the stock to $226 per share from $197. "We urge investors to think about what one needs to believe to add to TSLA positions at current levels." TD Cowen reiterates CVS as buy The firm said CVS is a top idea in 2025. "Our best idea for 2025 is CVS . While a high risk pick, we see potential upside of +40% worth it." Bank of America initiates Shoals Technologies as buy Bank of America said the solar company is "well positioned for growth." "We are initiating coverage of Shoals Technologie s (SHLS) with a Buy rating and a $6 price objective, with 24% potential upside." D.A. Davidson upgrades Procter & Gamble to buy from neutral D.A. Davidson upgraded Procter & Gamble and says China sales are improving. "Upgrading to BUY on Improved China Commentary." Goldman Sachs downgrades Nio to sell from neutral The firm said in its downgrade of Nio that it is concerned about a slowing pipeline for the China electric vehicle company. "Slow production ramp and growing opex hinder path to profitability." Rosenblatt reiterates Nvidia as buy Rosenblatt said it is sticking with the stock following earnings last week. "1) Nvidia delivered a solid quarter and outlook; 2) Blackwell's demand profile is better for 2025; and 3) speculation of 'power' issues plaguing the new ramp are discounted, which trumps the near-term networking air-pocket, gaming constraints." Goldman Sachs reiterates FedEx as buy The firm said it is sticking with FedEx heading into earnings in December. "Key to the shares will be FDX's idiosyncratic opportunity set to create value for shareholders." Wedbush reiterates Amazon as outperform Wedbush said the e-commerce giant is well positioned heading into the holiday season. "We think this dynamic favors Amazon relative to the broader eCommerce group given its faster shipping speeds and wide assortment of same day and next-day products." Bank of America reiterates Palantir as buy The firm raised its price target on the stock to $75 per share from $55. "PLTR has demonstrated their ability to digitize enterprises and battlespaces from finances to missile production." Wolfe upgrades Jones Lang Lasalle to outperform from peer perform Wolfe said it sees "sector tailwinds" for the real estate company. " JLL benefits from capital markets comps, improved disclosure supports multiple expansion, while sector tailwinds from potential deregulation and tax reform may accelerate earnings growth."
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The billionaire Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson said younger generations should feel positive about the future  and that they can "achieve an enormous amount." "Any of us who get ourselves into a position where we can make a difference, however small it is, just shouldn't waste that position," he said, speaking to CNBC's Tania Bryer last month. When asked how he might reassure young people about their future over issues such as climate change, Branson said, "They can achieve an enormous amount, and so I honestly don't think that young people should be down about it. I think we can overcome climate change if we have the  we've got to make sure we have the right politicians at the top," he said. "We can make sure that all the problems of the world get fixed, but we just  need to be focused and get everybody focused together to fix them," Branson said. Branson made the comments to CNBC before Donald Trump's reelection  the president-elect is likely to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, a landmark climate pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Branson has previously described Trump as having a "vindictive streak."

Young leaders

Helping young people has long been a focus for Branson, who  as a teenager in 1967  opened the Student Advisory Center to provide free advice on sex and relationships. In 2004, he founded Virgin Unite, the non-profit foundation of the Virgin Group, which invests in early-stage businesses to "create opportunities for a better world," and in 2018, Virgin Unite set up The NewNow, a group of young leaders who aim to represent the needs of their generation. Branson spoke to CNBC as Virgin Unite launched a partnership with the We Are Family Foundation, an organization co-founded by musician and producer Nile Rodgers in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Rodgers lost three friends in the attacks, he said, and he went on to start the foundation to "educate people to just talk about our differences," when hate crime against Muslim communities rose after 9/11. "Our sweet spot is, we work with youth around the world," Rodgers said of the two organizations. Climate change, public health and criminal justice reforms will be a focus, according to an online release.

Nile Rodgers from the band Nile Rodgers & Chic performs at Harvest Rock 2023 on Oct. 28, 2023, in Adelaide, Australia. Marc Grimwade | Wireimage | Getty Images
As Americans flock to airports this Thanksgiving weekend, they may notice a lot of crowds  and, perhaps, construction. If they look beyond their travel plans, they may even spy an investment opportunity, according to Nuveen. The Transportation Security Administration is expecting one of the busiest Thanksgiving travel periods on record for the nation's airports. It has projected it will screen 18.3 million people from Tuesday, Nov. 26, to Monday, Dec. 2. That is keeping pace with the increase in air travel demand in recent years. The TSA said passenger volumes reached record highs this year, rising 17% since 2022. Yet there hasn't been a new commercial airport built in 50 years, according to Nuveen. That means upgrading airports by expanding terminals, as well as adding more runways, towers and gates, said Daniel Close, the firm's head of municipals. The issuance of municipal bonds can help finance the work within the terminals, he said. Munis are favored by wealthy investors since the income earned is free from federal taxes and, if the bond is issued in the investors' home state, free of state taxes. "Your terminals are now an Amex Lounge, a Chase Sapphire Lounge and all the different kinds of lounges, and it's retail, and it's a lot better restaurants and amenities," Close said. "So as travel increases, a lot of what's being financed is these amenities and lounges and better restrooms." FAARX YTD mountain Nuveen All-American Municipal Bond Fund year to date Airports have issued about $18.2 billion in revenue bonds this year through October 2024, a 25% increase over all of 2023, he noted. Close expects issuance to remain elevated over the next few years. "Anytime you have this type of supply, it just cheapens the market a bit," Close said. "Certainly with the projects and the funding that's supposed to come online in '25, we think that this sector will stay cheap for a bit, and I think that that's a good entry point." On top of that, airport revenue munis are subjected to the alternative minimum tax (AMT). The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act increased the AMT exemption amounts, and as a result not many people are paying the tax. However, several TCJA provisions  including the AMT  are set to sunset at the end of 2025. A Republican sweep of the House, Senate and White House means there is a greater probability the provisions will be renewed. That is good news for investors because they grab up extra yield by not paying the AMT, he explained. "Investors are picking up anywhere from 30 to 50 basis points by buying bonds that have AMT preference," he said. Most airports are considered investment grade, with ratings in the A- to AA- range, Close said. They generally have a lot of cash on hand, plus a well-defined user base and revenue streams, he noted. However, many have leverage, which brings the ratings down from a higher investment-grade rating like AAA. While investors can buy the bonds when they are newly issued through their brokerage firm, most get exposure through muni bond mutual funds, he noted. What Nuveen looks for There are a number of airport revenue bonds within Nuveen's muni funds. When choosing assets, the firm looks for strong demographics, such as airports in a growing area, Close said. He also likes airline carrier diversity at the airport and the ability to have debt service coverage. In addition, the airports should have significant liquidity and enough reserves to manage operational disruptions, as well as future plans for capital expenditures. Bonds from airports such as LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy International in New York, as well Dallas Fort Worth International are in its All-American Municipal Bond Fund . "For those that have capital plans that are going to continue on, I think it's cheap," Close said. "If you have the patience to buy it, hold it, close your eyes for a bit, those types that are issued new issue will begin to richen up once their issuance cycle is done," he added.
Digital render of NEOM's The Line project in Saudi Arabia The Line, NEOM

In Saudi Arabia's northwestern desert, a sprawling construction site replete with cranes and pile drivers sits encircled by a recently-built road. A pair of tracks cuts through the site like deep gashes through the sand, comprising the spine of what planners say will be a high-speed rail system. The skeletal infrastructure forms the foundations of The Line, a multi-billion dollar high-tech city that its architects say will eventually house 9 million people between two 106-mile long glass skyscrapers more than 1,600 feet high. The project, whose estimated cost is in the hundreds of billions, is just one of the hyper-futuristic venues planned in Neom, the brainchild of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and a region that the kingdom hopes will bring millions of new residents to Saudi Arabia and revolutionize living and technology in the country. It's a core pillar of Vision 2030, which aims to diversify the Saudi economy away from oil revenues and create new jobs and industries for its burgeoning young population. The cost of Neom has been estimated to be as high as $1.5 trillion. In the years since it was announced, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, the mammoth sovereign wealth fund now overseeing $925 billion in assets, has poured billions into overseas investments, with ever-increasing waves of foreign investors flying to the kingdom to raise cash. This year, however, has seen a sharp change in direction in terms of spending, with a stated emphasis on keeping investments at home along with reports of cutting costs on megaprojects like those in Neom. The changes come as the Saudi deficit grows and the outlook for oil demand, along with global oil prices, sees sustained lows.

Construction for The Line project in Saudi Arabia's NEOM, October 2024 Giles Pendleton, The Line at NEOM

That begs the question: does Saudi Arabia have enough money to meet its lofty goals? Or will it have to be more flexible to make its spending trajectory sustainable? One Gulf-based financier with years of experience in the kingdom told CNBC: "The PIF's pivot towards domestic investments, widely acknowledged but now officially admitted, suggests that there is still a lot of spending needed. Saudi Arabia has poured tens of billions into projects that have yet to hint of any financial returns." The financier spoke anonymously as they were not authorized to speak to the press. Andrew Leber, a researcher at Tulane University who focuses on the political economy of the Middle East, believes that the current pace of spending won't last. "The number of 'we pay up front and hope for economic returns later' giga projects that are currently underway is not sustainable," Leber said. "With that being said," he added, "the Saudi monarchy has shown itself to be somewhat flexible whenever economic realities assert themselves. I do think that eventually, a number of projects will be quietly shelved in order to bring its fiscal outlays back into greater sustainability."

Digital render of NEOM's The Line project in Saudi Arabia The Line, NEOM

Saudi Arabia in October cut its growth forecasts and raised its budget deficit estimates for the fiscal years 2024 to 2026 as it expects a period of higher spending and lower projected oil revenues. Real gross domestic product is now expected to grow 0.8% this year, a dramatic drop from a previous estimate of 4.4%, according to the ministry of finance. The kingdom's economy also swung dramatically from a budget surplus of $27.68 billion in 2022 to a deficit of $21.6 billion in 2023 as it ramped up public spending and decreased oil production due to its OPEC+ supply cut agreement. Its government forecasts a deficit of $21.1 billion for 2024, projecting revenue at $312.5 billion and expenditures at $333.5 billion. Saudi authorities expect that the budget will remain in deficit for the next several years as it pursues its Vision 2030 plans, but they add that they are fully prepared for this.

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"Our non-oil revenues have grown significantly, now it covers about 37% of expenditure. That's a significant diversification, and that gives you a lot of comfort that you can maneuver and be stable despite the fluctuation in oil price," Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan told CNBC in October. "Our aim is to make sure that our plans are stable and predictable." "We are not going to blink, we have significant fiscal resource under our disposal, and we are very disciplined in our fiscal position," the minister said. Saudi Arabia has an A/A-1 credit rating with a positive outlook from S&P Global Ratings and an A+ rating with a stable outlook from Fitch. That combined with high foreign currency reserves  $456.97 billion as of September, a 4% percent increase year-on-year, according to the country's central bank  puts the kingdom in a comfortable place to manage a deficit, economists told CNBC.

Riyadh is successfully issuing bonds, tapping debt markets for more than $35 billion so far this year. The kingdom has also rolled out a series of reforms to boost and de-risk foreign investment and diversify revenue streams, which S&P Global said in September "will continue to improve Saudi Arabia's economic resilience and wealth." When asked if the kingdom's spending trajectory is sustainable, Al-Jadaan replied: "Absolutely, yes," adding that the government recently published its numbers for the next three years and that "we think it is very sustainable." Still, many analysts outside the kingdom, as well as individuals working within the kingdom and on NEOM projects, are skeptical of the megaprojects' feasibility. Reports that some projects have been dramatically cut down  in the case of the Line, its size target slashed from 106 miles to 1.5 miles and population target down from 1.5 million by 2030 to less than 300,000  attest to that concern on a higher level.

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People pass by electoral posters with candidates for the presidential and parliamentary elections in Bucharest on November 22, 2024.

Far-right, pro-Russia independent candidate Calin Georgescu won 22.94% of the vote in Romania's presidential election on Sunday, securing an unexpected lead in the first round but falling short of the 50% needed for an outright victory, partial official results indicated on Monday morning.

Pro-NATO candidate Elena Lasconi, the leader of the opposition center-right Union Save Romania (USR) party, clinched second place with 19.17% support and will face Georgescu in the runoff vote on December 8, provisional data on the Permanent Electoral Authority's (AEP) website shows.

In another surprising turn of events, prime minister and Social Democrat Party (PSD) leader Marcel Ciolacu narrowly missed the second spot by a few hundred votes, gathering just 19.16% support, and for the first time since 1989 PSD will not have a candidate in the presidential runoff.

Another far-right candidate, populist nationalist Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR) leader George Simion, placed fourth after winning 13.87% of the votes.

Former prime minister and leader of co-governing National Liberal Party (PNL), Nicolae Ciuca, came in fifth, with an underwhelming 8.79% support, while former NATO deputy secretary general Mircea Geoana, who ran as independent, took the sixth place, winning just 6.32% of the votes.

Georgescu's lead in the first round of the elections came as a huge surprise as most pre-election polls had projected that he would receive only a single-digit share of the vote. Georgescu is an ultranationalist who opposes military aid for Ukraine and has mainly campaigned on social media platform TikTok.

His runoff rival, Elena Lasconi, mayor of the central town of Campulung and leader of USR, is a pro-EU, pro-NATO candidate who supports military aid for Ukraine and advocates anti-corruption, institutional, and administrative reforms. She was the only leading candidate in the first round in favour of civil unions for same-sex couples, but she opposes same-sex marriage.

Voter turnout in the first round of the presidential election was 52.55%. As at 0942 EEST, 97.56% of the ballots had been processed, with 231,178 votes left to be counted.
UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell speaks in the early hours at the conclusion of the UNFCCC COP29 Climate Conference on November 24, 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Ambitious climate action often requires ambitious financing  be it a clean energy transition project or helping developing countries mitigate the effects of natural disasters.

But as extreme weather becomes more the norm and temperatures rise across the planet, what is supposed to be a critical year for funding mitigation efforts has instead turned out to be an especially frustrating one.

Nearly 50,000 people from 200 countries  including, for the first time, the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan  were in Azerbaijan for this year's United Nations Climate Change Conference, with the goal of reaching a critical deal on climate finance. The conference was set to end Friday but negotiations over funding extended into the weekend.

A draft of a deal to help the world adapt to and deal with climate change released at the conference, known as COP29, pledged $250 billion annually by 2035 from wealthy countries to poorer ones. While rich nations say it's realistic and about the limit of what they can do, it is less than a quarter of the number requested by developing nations struck hardest by extreme weather.

The conference was already shadowed by the victory of President-elect Donald Trump, who withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement climate change treaty the first time he was president and has vowed to do so again. The atmosphere had also been dampened by poor attendance by world leaders, particularly from wealthy nations.

Developing countries are seeking $1 trillion a year by the end of the decade, much of it from developed economies, to transition to green energy and adapt to extreme weather driven by climate change.

As the World Meteorological Organization says 2024 is on track to be the hottest year on record, some experts are so worried they are calling for a completely new approach. In an open letter published last week, signatories including former U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the whole framework of U.N. climate talks is "no longer fit for purpose."

"We can choose to be proactive about climate, and the time for being proactive is rapidly shrinking," said Ruth Townend, a senior research fellow at the London-based think tank Chatham House who attended the conference. "Or we can choose to be reactive, which is much more expensive, much harder and has a higher human cost."

Some of the highest human costs will be paid by smaller nations that are disproportionately affected by climate change, including Pacific Island nations whose existence is threatened by rising seas. But with COP29 weighed down by geopolitics and domestic turmoil, some were reluctant to attend at all.
Warren Buffett, who has amassed a $150 billion personal fortune, made a case against creating "dynastic" wealth as he named three independent trustees to oversee his philanthropy following his children and donated an additional $1.1 billion in Berkshire Hathaway stock to his family's four foundations.

Instead of leaving his three children an enormous inheritance, the 94-year-old legendary investor has long pledged to give away 99% of the fortune he built at Berkshire, the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate he has been running since 1965.

Buffett believes family wealth dynasties could have negative consequences such as eroding personal growth and complicating relationships. Meanwhile, they also create societal uncertainties as it's unforeseeable how future generations choose to distribute such wealth.

"I've never wished to create a dynasty or pursue any plan that extended beyond the children," Buffett wrote in a lengthy letter Monday. "I know the three well and trust them completely. Future generations are another matter. Who can foresee the priorities, intelligence and fidelity of successive generations to deal with the distribution of extraordinary wealth amid what may be a far different philanthropic landscape?"

Successor trustees named

The "Oracle of Omaha," who owns about 37.6% of Berkshire Class A shares, said the assets he's collected may take longer to deploy than his children live. He has appointed three trustees of his charitable trust to potentially succeed his children in disbursing his wealth. Buffett's children are now 71, 69 and 66.

"Three potential successor trustees have been designated. Each is well known to my children and makes sense to all of us. They are also somewhat younger than my children," Buffett wrote. "But these successors are on the wait list. I hope Susie, Howie and Peter themselves disburse all of my assets."

The identity of the trustees was not revealed.

Buffett has been making annual donations to the four family foundations since 2006. He said he's built strong trust in his children's managerial ability and philanthropic ambition through years of observation.

"The 2006-2024 period gave me the chance to observe each of my children in action and they have learned much about large-scale philanthropy and human behavior," he said. "They enjoy being comfortable financially, but they are not preoccupied with wealth. Their mother, from whom they learned these values, would be very proud of them. As am I."

On Monday, Buffett converted 1,600 A shares into 2,400,000 B shares to donate to the four family foundations: 1,500,000 shares to The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and 300,000 shares to each of The Sherwood Foundation, The Howard G. Buffett Foundation and NoVo Foundation.

Buffett's Berkshire, which pierced a $1 trillion market cap this year, owns a vast array of well-established businesses, ranging from its crown jewel Geico insurance to BNSF Railway to consumer brands like Dairy Queen and See's Candies.
Six travelers have died from suspected methanol poisoning after visiting the tourist town of Vang Vieng, Laos, this month. The travelers  two from Australia, two from Denmark, one from United Kingdom and one from United States  are believed to have consumed alcohol tainted with methanol, which is sometimes illegally added to regular or home-brewed alcohol to cut costs. Some fourteen people were sickened following a night out in Vang Vieng around Nov. 12. One such traveler recently returned home to New Zealand, according to local news reports. Methanol is cheaper than ethanol, which is the alcohol that's normally found in beer, wine and spirits. Odorless and colorless, drinking 30 milliliters of methanol  less than a standard shot  can be fatal, while consuming as little as 10 milliliters  or two teaspoons  can cause blindness, according to the non-governmental organization Doctors Without Borders.

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"Methanol poisoning is a global public health issue that has too little focus," according to a fact sheet published by the organization. Since 2019, it has registered 943 incidents that have poisoned more than 39,000 people and killed around 12,900 people. A lack of knowledge about methanol poisoning, from the public as well as the medical communities where outbreaks often occur, exacerbates the problem, according to the organization.

Where incidents are the highest

Most incidents of methanol poisoning occur in Asia, according to Doctors Without Borders.

A website by Doctors Without Borders that monitors methanol poisoning says many foreign tourists have fallen victim to methanol poisoning after consuming incorrectly distilled "arak" in Bali, Lombok and Gili Islands. In September, several people were poisoned by methanol in Indonesia after consuming alcohol ordered off the internet, according to the website. In July, five students were poisoned after mixing tainted liquor with energy drinks, three of whom later died, it states. A Facebook page called "Just Don't Drink Spirits in Bali" advises people to drink beer, cider, wine and duty-free alcohol purchased on arrival in Bali, but to avoid cocktails and shots. "If someone has to pour a drink out of bottle of mixed spirits behind the bar, there a potential that you could end up with methanol poisoning," said the page's creator Colin Ahaern.



"Be careful," he said. "Bali is a gorgeous place, but it's got its own traps."

Countries where the most people have been poisoned

According to Doctors Without Borders, Iran leads in terms of the number of people who have been poisoned by methanol over the past five years.
Saudi Arabia wants a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) with India before moving ahead with a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), according to government sources. However, India is not keen to link an FTA with a BIT, which it is negotiating separately with Saudi Arabia.This difference in approach has led the Indian government to believe that signing an FTA with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is unlikely in the near term, and negotiations will take longer. Saudi Arabia is the largest GCC member by economy, population, and land area, surpassing all other members combined.In 2022, India and the GCC announced the resumption of negotiations for a potential FTA after a hiatus of several years. The idea of an FTA with the GCC was first floated in 2004. The GCC is a six-member economic bloc comprising Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain. Apart from historical ties and the presence of nearly 9 million Indian workers, the GCC is a significant trading partner for India.Economic linkages have grown over the years, largely due to increased oil imports. In FY 2023-24, India-GCC bilateral trade reached $161.59 billion, with Indian exports accounting for $56.3 billion and imports for $105.3 billion.Last year, India offered GCC member countries the option to sign individual FTAs instead of a collective agreement. India already has an FTA with the GCC member UAE. Foreign trade experts believe the FTAs with the UAE and Oman could serve as templates for future agreements with other GCC nations.India is close to finalising an FTA with Oman, having completed negotiations on most chapters last year. However, the India-Oman FTA remains stalled over unresolved issues related to market access for petrochemical products.


             #Bangladesh pic.twitter.com/pVd4ckzQba

 Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh (@ChiefAdviserGoB) November 24, 2024

A government-appointed committee in Bangladesh, examining power generation contracts, including one with Adani Power, has recommended the interim government hire a global legal firm for a thorough investigation into deals under former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.The National Review Committee on Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources has recommended the appointment of a reputed legal and investigation agency to review the major power production agreements signed during the autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina from 2009 to 2024, read a statement.Besides the deal with the Indian firm, the committee is also holding a review of the joint-venture deal with a Chinese company, which constructed a 1,320 MW coal-fired plant in the country. Also, there are few other agreements with local business groups, Reuters reported.The statement said the committee was collecting evidence which could lead to potential renegotiation or cancellation of contracts, according to Bloomberg.It wants to ensure the investigation is in line with international standards and will be acceptable in international negotiations and arbitration, the interim government has said.Recovering after a regime change, Bangladesh earlier paid $97 million to Adani Power, besides opening a letter of credit worth $170 million, reports said.Recently, the High Court in the country asked the interim government to form a committee to look into these agreements, and the committee is expected to file its report in two months.A senior official told Reuters that the Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury-led committee currently needs more time to further analyse both solicited and unsolicited contracts between 2009-2024.External expertise will be crucial for conducting a comprehensive investigation that could potentially lead to the renegotiation or cancellation of certain agreements in line with international arbitration standards, the news agency quoted the official as saying.Adani Power operates a dedicated 1,600-megawatt (MW) Godda plant in Jharkhand and has been supplying power to Bangladesh since 2022. Recently, it reduced the power supply to the country due to an unpaid $800 million power bill.In trade terms, India is considered the second biggest partner of Bangladesh after China in Asia. During FY 2023-24, the total bilateral trade between the two nations amounted to $13 billion, as per the data by the Ministry of Commerce.Accounting for 34.9% of India's total cotton exports, Bangladesh is the biggest export destination for petroleum products and cereals as well. Indias top imports from Bangladesh are readymade garments, The Indian Express reported.Moreover, India extended three lines of credit of $8 billion to the neighbouring for developing roads, rail, shipping as well as port infrastructure.
Virtually every PC manufacturer has announced, or is already producing, machines with embedded artificial intelligence (AI) functionality. The question is: Why?

Generative AI (genAI) for consumer use already exists through any number of cloud-based services, from OpenAIs ChatGPT to Googles Gemini and others.

Even so, next year will be the year of the AI PC, according to Forrester Research.
The US government has scaled back Intels preliminary CHIPS Act grant from $8.5 billion to under $8 billion, reflecting concerns over the companys delayed investments and financial woes, The New York Times reported. The funding was part of the governments effort to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing amid growing global competition.

Intel, originally seen as the largest beneficiary of the CHIPS Act, has struggled to meet expectations following its biggest quarterly loss in its 56-year history. The cut coincides with a $3 billion military contract offered to Intel to produce chips for the Department of Defense, the report said citing sources who did not wish to be identified.

In March 2024, the Biden administration and Intel signed a preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) for an $8.5 billion funding package. This support was part of Intels broader plan to invest over $100 billion in expanding its US manufacturing operations, including the construction of new chip facilities in Arizona, Ohio, Oregon, and New Mexico.
There are so many options you can take when you name a town. You can name it after some famous historical figure. Though, thats bound to turn out poorly when you learn that that guy was convicted of incest. Or, you can name it after some previous town, but it may turn out that that previous town was famous for incest. Or, you could choose some word that sums up the towns values, but that will leave generations debating whether Philadelphia, meaning brotherly love, is just a fancy word for incest.

It's hardly surprising then that some towns say, Screw it, and choose a name in the laziest or most arbitrary way imaginable.

6 Chicken, Alaska Don't Miss In 1902, when this tiny Alaskan mining village first formed, residents wanted to name it Ptarmigan. The rock ptarmigan is an Arctic bird, so this would be a fine way of representing the area. Its also a word that sounds respectable enough to qualify as a proper noun, if you dont know what a ptarmigan is. Daisuke Tashiro This ones wearing a little red hat, which is especially proper. Then everyone got together and realized no one knows how to spell ptarmigan. So, they switched to a word everyone knows how to spell: Chicken. There is an alternate story about the names origin, which just says that miners said the gold dust from the mine looked like chicken feed. The nice thing about this story is that it, too, is very stupid.

5 Ixonia, Wisconsin In 1841, the town of Watertown in Wisconsin split in two. One half remained Watertown, while the other result of the schism was called Union, because residents had a sense of irony. In 1846, Union split in two, because the spirit of irony remained strong. One offshoot was named Concord, which is a common name for towns but also means harmony, because they just wouldnt quit with the irony. As for the other half, they had no good ideas on what to name it. So, they just pulled letters out of a bag at random. Advertisement rockosnana/ebay They were super into Scrabble in 1846. It must have taken them a bunch of tries before they found anything that qualified as a word. In fact, they arguably never did, but then they slipped in a couple extra vowels, and they settled on Ixonia.

4 Normal, Illinois In French, an ecole normale is a training school, designed to produce teachers. As a result we used to call schools that specialized in pumping out teachers normal schools. When Illinois State University began in 1857, it was named Illinois State Normal University. A town sprang up close to the college, and in 1865, it named itself Normal. It made some sense in relation to the university, but only barely. Then, in 1967, the university got around to changing its name, both because it no longer specialized quite as much in teaching and because no one knew what a normal school was any longer. But Normal, the town, kept its name as it was. Advertisement Willjay/Wiki Commons It could pick a new one, but that wouldn  t be Normal. The towns motto is Everything is just as it seems. Its fitting enough. Though, it does sound a bit like they doth protest too much, and in reality, this is where the murders happen.

3 Zzyzx, California In 1944, a radio personality named Curtis Howe Springer showed up at a strip of California desert that had been known, up to that point, as Soda Springs. This place would now be named Zzyzx, said he. Thats because Zzyzx is the last word in the dictionary, and the town of Zzyzx would be the last word  in health. The hot springs here had curative properties, and he could turn this into a resort to treat peoples illnesses. Zzyzx wasnt actually the last word in the dictionary. It wasnt any word at all. No one checked whether Springer had told the truth about that. Nor did anyone check whether the springs around Zzyzx really did have curative properties; they must have believed Springer as an authority based solely on his surname. So, for the next two decades, he was able to draw people to the town of Zzyzx, advertising it as a miraculous location on the evangelical radio show he hosted in L.A. Advertisement Advertisement Stammberger1973/Wiki Commons They werent afraid that it was hard to spell. They werent Chicken. It took till 1969 for the American Medical Association to issue a formal condemnation of Springer, which led the government to come after him. He might have been able to get off on the false health claims, since really, soaking in any hot water might be good for your health, if only because it boosts your mood. Harder to wiggle out of was the fact that hed proclaimed himself the leader of this place despite not owning any of the land there. Worse, hed sold some of the land there, despite never owning it in the first place, which is clearly illegal. And so, Springer went to prison. In 1984, the area (having dropped all pretense of being a health resort) now had an opportunity to become an officially named unincorporated town. They could have went with a new name for a fresh start, but they decided to stick with Zzyzx. As for Springer, once he was released, he figured he was through with Zzyzx. He spent his last days in Las Vegas, the most healthful and Christian city of all. Advertisement

2 Why, Arizona See, towns dont have to obey your conventional rules of what a name has to be. A town can be Zzyzx, which strikes newcomers as unpronounceable. A town can even be a single letter. One small community in Arizona just called itself Y. Thats because its most remarkable feature  it has a population of just around 160  is the Y-shaped road junction where routes 85 and 86 meet. Then they got a post office, and the government informed them that, actually, towns do have to obey conventional rules of what a name has to be. Specifically, a name needs to have at least three letters to be acknowledged officially. Advertisement Advertisement So, the residents said, Why. Meaning both Why, why must that be the case? and Why. We will be known as Why from now on. Arizona DOT You could just drive on. But Why.
A lot of comedy fans love both Mel Brooks and Monty Python, and would presumably be thrilled if they all got along splendidly. Unfortunately, one of the very first meetings between the Blazing Saddles director and a Python member didnt go so well.

Back in 1987, Brooks met Michael Palin, while the latter was in Los Angeles making A Fish Called Wanda. At the same time, Palin was trying to hire Brooks wife Anne Bancroft to star in his film American Friends, which eventually came out in 1991 (with no Anne Bancroft). Palin ran into Brooks at the studio commissary, and they immediately got off on the wrong foot.

As Palin wrote in his diary at the time, Brooks was chunky, rack-like, barrel chest, with a firm, no-nonsense light paunch. He then grabbed Palins hand and shook it probably five or six times. Then he affably implied that Monty Python had stolen some of his jokes. I forgive you guys everything, Palin recalled Brooks saying. I want you to know, youre so good, I forgive you for all those ideas you used.

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Is he joking? Palin thought to himself.

Spanish Inquisition? Brooks allegedly said, digging knowingly. A confused Palin later asked Christopher Guest (husband of his A Fish Called Wanda co-star Jamie Lee Curtis) about the encounter. Chris Guest tells me that Brooks has an almost pathological inability to accept competition  its all a reduction of his own world, Palin wrote.

As for the implication of joke-thievery, Brooks, of course, had a song-and-dance routine about the Spanish Inquisition in History of the World, Part 1.

And one of the Pythons defining sketches was also Spanish Inquisition-themed.

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But theyre two very different comic premises. Brooks scene is just a lavish musical number set during the actual Spanish Inquisition. The Monty Python sketch mined laughs from the absurdity that Catholic Inquistiors would exist in modern day Britain and torture people with furniture padding. More to the point, the first Spanish Inquisition sketch appeared on Monty Pythons Flying Circus in 1970, more than a decade before Brooks film was released. Is it possible that Brooks caught a rerun of the show, and somehow didnt realize that it wasnt brand new?

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Incidentally, elsewhere in Palins diary, he described attending the premiere of History of the World, Part 1, and he wasnt a fan to say the least. He called it dreadful, adding that it was like a huge, expensive, grotesquely-inflated stand-up act. A nightclub act with elephantiasis.

Years later, it was the Pythons turn to accuse Brooks of borrowing one of their ideas: Eric Idle claimed that he had first suggested to Brooks that he should turn The Producers into a stage musical (Brooks attested that the idea came from David Geffen).

So I guess its a tie?
Chinese firms gear up for Black Friday sales

Global Times) 09:39, November 25, 2024

Chinese enterprises, from e-commerce platforms, and logistics companies to live-streaming agencies, are gearing up for the holiday shopping sprees, including stepped-up marketing deployment such as focusing on livestreaming as well as beefing up production and logistics efficiency, as this year's Black Friday sales kick off.

Cross-border e-commerce platform AliExpress has partnered with more than 1,000 content creators in the US for its corresponding campaign, the company told the Global Times on Sunday.

Yowant, a Chinese company dedicated to social e-commerce, has collaborated with more than 10 leading influencers in the UK and US, with over 20 live-streaming sessions scheduled during the Black Friday sales, with the gross merchandise value for the major livestreaming sessions targeting North America expected to surpass $1 million, domestic news outlet Yicai reported, citing Jiang Sheng, who is in charge of the company's overseas strategy.

Some of the foreign influencers are even planning to come to China to carry out live-streaming, with an offline selection base of nearly 2,000 square meters set up in Los Angeles for product selection and live-streaming, Jiang noted.

Strategies formed in the Chinese market such as live-streaming and low-price strategies can be applied to countries and regions across the globe, as the consumer demand and algorithms are similar, Liu Dingding, a veteran industry observer, told the Global Times on Sunday, adding that the growing momentum from Chinese firms will also offer more opportunities for international development.

Zhang Yi, CEO of the iiMedia Research Institute, told the Global Times on Sunday that the live-streaming model developed through the fierce competition in the Chinese market can be shared with more overseas operators.

Meanwhile, domestic manufacturers, logistics companies, and localities have been ramping up production while implementing supportive measures to facilitate timely deliveries.

A representative from a logistics park in Nansha district in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province said that the park has gone through a relatively long preparation time with a growing number of commodities for the Black Friday sales to the US and EU, and has brought in hundreds of extra employees to deal with the peak shipments, CCTV reported.

In addition to clothing items and small commodities, furniture has also become a popular category for overseas consumption, with a domestic firm storing millions of items in stock in their overseas warehouses to meet the demand, per the CCTV report.

The local tax authorities in Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang Province - the global epicenter of small commodity production - have speeded up the efficiency of export tax rebate services and reduced the average processing time for export tax rebates to less than three working days, according to local news portal jhnews.com.cn.

China's strengths in the supply chain of the manufacturing sector are a prominent driver propelling the strong momentum for domestic firms going overseas, and there is a major advantage for cost-effective products, said Pan Helin, a member of the Expert Committee for the Information and Communication Economy under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Pan told the Global Times on Sunday that Made-in-China products and logistics services have contributed to ensuring the stability of the global supply chain while stressing the importance of domestic brands shifting from its scale advantage to the high-quality development of brand building and technological advancements.

The construction of overseas smart logistics platforms and cross-border e-commerce service platforms will continue to be promoted while overseas legal and tax resources and other services will be provided for enterprises, China's Ministry of Commerce announced on Thursday, as part of a broader set of initiatives to support the stable growth of foreign trade.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing)
MATSAPHA  The tension was palpable at Mountain of Salvation Church in Matsapha, yesterday, when Prophet Vusumuzi Major V Dlamini vented his frustrations to the congregants.

The prophet accused some individuals of betraying his trust. During the Sunday service, Dlamini spoke emotionally, addressing what he described as the evil hearts of those who had spoken ill of him. At one point, he even referred to those who criticised him as dogs. The fiery speech came shortly after a Facebook Live broadcast, in which Dlamini shared his personal story and the blessings he believes God has bestowed upon him. In the video, Dlamini opened up about the struggles he has faced, stating that he once lost everything in his life and God turned his situation around.

He credited his current success to the grace of God and the support of Their Majesties, who appointed him a member of Liqoqo at a time when he was at his lowest. Major V used his own story to highlight a broader lesson, stating that success is not defined by formal education but by the fear of God.

Member



As the service continued, Dlamini focused on what he referred to as jealousy within his church. He referred to a former church member, who left the congregation and allegedly stole the wife of another member. According to the prophet, this individual later spread negative rumours about him and his ministry. The mood in the church was tense as the prophet , who is also a Liqoqo member, addressed his followers sternly, warning them against living double lives. He also took the opportunity to speak out against gossip within the church. Dlamini made it clear that he would not tolerate those who spoke negatively about him or his leadership.He stressed that he would rather see his church return to its roots than compromise the truth. Dlamini, who said he was unyielding in his stance, stated that his goal is to guide the church to spiritual growth, even if it means taking difficult actions.



During the sermon, Dlamini also cautioned his congregation against disrespecting Their Majesties, reminding them that the Bible commands followers to honour their rulers. He likened those who spoke against the prosperity of the King to Gehaz in the Bibleindividuals with evil hearts and a sense of entitlement. Dlamini also shared the story of a church member who had been loyal to him since the political unrest in 2021, taking videos of him during that time. The loyal member, according to Dlamini, eventually landed a stable job after his commitment to him and his church. However, Dlamini revealed that the members wife had been pursued and taken by another church member working in the media department of the church. This, Dlamini claimed, led to the pair insulting him publicly. The prophet told the congregation in anger that: Lona washiywa ngumfati ngemuntfu lokhonta la, ngoba lana sigcwalise tinja! Ucabange kutsi ukhuluma nemuntfu kantsi ukhuluma nenja.



This can be loosely translated to mean that, he lamented that a loyal church member had been abandoned by his wife after another church member, whom he referred to as a dog, had taken her. The congregants were visibly affected by his words, with some members heaving audible sighs. Despite the anger, Dlamini advised his followers that it was better not to have friends in the church than to have friends who were also church members, hinting at the difficulty of trusting others. He suggested that new members would rather be his friends than make friends with other church members, as this would eliminate gossip.



Emotional



Following this intense rebuke, Dlamini allowed the loyal church member to testify about the blessings he had received after remaining loyal to him. He reiterated that truth is key to healing, both for individuals and the church as a whole. The service took a turn towards reconciliation when Dlamini spoke of forgiving a member who had once betrayed him and caused division in the church. The member, he said, had approached him to ask for forgiveness, and while Dlamini had granted it, he urged the individual to come to the church in person and apologise to the congregation. In closing, the prophet reassured his church, referring to them as his children, and insisted that his emotional outburst was not an act of shouting, but rather an expression of his desire to protect and guide them. The intense session ended on a lighter note with music and dancing, followed by a performance of Solly Mahlangus songs, which helped break the tension and lift the spirits of the congregation.
Despite its unprecedented largesse, the deal hashed out at the COP29 climate conference  for wealthy Western nations to hand over 240 billion a year by 2035 to tackle climate change  was met with derision by some of the developing nations on the receiving end.

The Indian delegate described the money as a paltry sum.

The Nigerian envoy went even further, calling the deal an insult.

Several countries had walked out of the talks in Azerbaijans capital Baku  they demanded trillions not billions.

Some of the delegates who remained covered their mouths with tape, on which was scrawled the words Pay up.

But scant consideration was given to the people who will have pay these vast sums. Britain has already committed to paying 11.6 billion in climate aid between 2021 and 2026.

On the basis that the new deal agreed at COP29 will mean a trebling in existing climate aid (from $100 billion to $300 billion a year), we may presume that UK taxpayers are now going to be stumping up around 6 billion a year.

That is going to swallow nearly half of Britains existing aid budget (15.4 billion in 2023), meaning either less money for refugees (4.3 billion) and genuine humanitarian aid like earthquake relief  or that the Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves is going to be picking our pockets even more than she is already.

That is going to swallow nearly half of Britains existing aid budget which might mean Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves (pictured) is going to be picking our pockets even more than she is already

Keir Starmer poses with others for a group photo at the COP29 UN Climate Summit in Baku, Azerbaijan on November 12

Smoking chimneys are pictured in Qian'an, Hebei province in Beijing. Since the United Nations still defines it as a developing country, China will not be bound by mandates to cut emissions or give money to poorer countries

The conceit behind climate reparations is that years of Western emissions have increased droughts and caused sea levels to rise, putting some countries under existential threat.

It is true that Britain started the Industrial Revolution, but we are now responsible for just 4.4 per cent of cumulative historic emissions. We have long been overtaken by China (15.4 per cent) and are about to be overtaken by coal-hungry India (currently 3.47 per cent)  yet India is one of the nations which will be receiving the money.

Since the United Nations still defines it as a developing country, China  with the worlds second-largest economy and producing almost a third of current greenhouse gases  will not be bound by mandates to cut emissions or give money to poorer countries.

COP29 is a disaster because it pushes developing countries even further towards becoming welfare junkies. The climate has become, like the historical ills of slavery, an excuse for grasping governments to try to extract reparations from Western nations.

It is a travesty that some climate aid will be funding the Taliban, who turned up at COP29 pleading that what Afghan women are really suffering from is climate change (pictured: Matiul Haq Khalis, head of the National Environmental Protection Agency from Afghanistan)

Of course, this is easier than trying to improve the lives of your people through economic growth.

And we would be wise to ask where this money will end up. Indiscriminate development aid over the years has bought plenty of presidential palaces and Rolls-Royces, but done rather less for ordinary people.

What a travesty that some climate aid will be funding the Taliban, who turned up at COP29 pleading that what Afghan women are really suffering from is climate change, not a brutally repressive theocracy.

The West is now reaping what it has sown by spreading climate hysteria and by patronising the developing world. Small wonder that third world governments have worked out there is a huge opportunity here to press for some easy cash.
Sir Keir Starmer is giving up the Chagos Islands. Hes also talking about reparations for Caribbean countries for the slave trade. Are the Elgin Marbles next on his list?

The Greek newspaper Ta Nea thinks so, claiming that Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, was keen to talk to Greece about giving back the marbles, which decorated the 2,500-year-old Parthenon temple at the Acropolis in Athens.

The newspaper quotes Nandy saying: Were very keen to talk to our counterparts in Greece and to work with you to find a resolution to what has been a very long-running dispute.

Ta Nea argues that this marks the first time a British government minister has publicly shown an intention to address Britains longest-running cultural dispute.

Previous British governments have insisted the matter was for the British Museum, where the marbles have pride of place and which is chaired by former Chancellor George Osborne. He favours loaning them to Greece.

They came to Britain in the 19th century when Lord Elgin, then British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, acquired the rights to them perfectly legally.

Sir Keir Starmer is giving up the Chagos Islands. Hes also talking about reparations for Caribbean countries for the slave trade

The Government insists that nothing has changed about the ownership of the marbles. But they said the same about the Chagos Islands  then promptly handed them to Mauritius

The Government insists that nothing has changed about the ownership of the marbles.

But they said the same about the Chagos Islands  then promptly handed them to Mauritius.

No 10 festival flop, part 2

Days after apologising for serving meat and alcohol at a Diwali reception, the Governments social media accounts failed to acknowledge Gurpurab  a Sikh festival celebrating the birthday of founder Guru Nanak.

More than 300 Sikh groups sent a letter to Starmer over his indefensible blunder. While the social media accounts of world leaders and organisations  including the Labour Party  marked the occasion, from Downing Street there was a deafening silence.

Is Justin Welbys overdue departure as Archbishop of Canterbury the reason why there were so many Lords Spiritual in the upper house last week? Were they banding together or burnishing their credentials for the top job after Welby announced his resignation?

Is Justin Welbys overdue departure as Archbishop of Canterbury the reason why there were so many Lords Spiritual in the upper house last week?

Even the luvvies are mocking Chancellor Rachel Reeves over her mysteriously amended online CV. The actress Frances Barber says: Everyone puffs up their CVs. I did my first job pretending I could play the violin better than I could. Then she twists the knife. But then I did not end up as principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.

Reform UK grandee Dr David Bull weighs in: Reeves is quite something. She was the 5th Beatle, went to the moon, won the FA Cup and was an economist.

Overheard in the Commons following the Labour leaders latest foreign trip: After clocking up the 15th leg of his world tour, will Taylor Swift receive free tickets to see Sir Keir Starmer?

PRAISE ... PRESCOTT STYLE

The old bruiser John Prescott, who died last week aged 86, never nursed a grudge.

Michael Brown  a Tory sparring partner in the Commons who turned to newspaper sketch-writing when he lost his seat  recalls how he wrote that Prescotts words tumbled out in no particular order but everyone knew what the deputy PM meant. Brown says: I was summoned to his vast office. He came out swearing how useless I was as an MP. But told me he loved the sketch.
Donald Trump asserts that he will negotiate an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine on Day One of his presidency in January next year.

The incoming Leader of the Free World is known for his tough talk and uncompromising approach. Its likely he will demand urgent peace talks as soon as he returns to the White House, but implementing an immediate ceasefire will be an immense challenge.

Yet President Trump is determined to strike a deal and I believe he could be our best hope of averting World War III.

The past four years have been catastrophic for global stability. As American influence declined under Joe Bidens sclerotic administration, weve seen a succession of threats emerge in response to U.S. weakness.

In Afghanistan, the chaotic and rushed withdrawal of Allied forces allowed the Taliban to surge back, despite all the promises made by Western leaders. Bidens lack of leadership in this arena proved an utter humiliation for the United States.

It sent a clear signal to Beijings Communists that they could expand aggressively, without facing US opposition. The message was heard even more clearly in Moscow, where Vladimir Putin calculated that if Russia invaded Ukraine, America might protest but there would be no full-scale war with Nato. Its highly unlikely that Russia would have dared march on Kyiv in 2022 if Trump had been in power.

Putin did not count on the doggedness of Ukrainian resistance, of course, nor the way that Britain under Boris Johnson would rally European opposition to Putins so-called special operation. But the Kremlin dictator was correct in his estimation of Bidens lack of resolve.

In Tehran, the ayatollahs saw that, too. Irans military rise, using proxy armies in Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and Yemen, has been blatant, as has its pursuit of a nuclear weapon.

Donald Trump is known for his tough talk and uncompromising approach. He is determined to strike a deal and I believe he could be our best hope of averting World War III, writes NILE GARDINER

As American influence declined under Joe Biden s sclerotic administration, weve seen a succession of threats emerge in response to U.S. weakness

All eyes are currently on Putin and his willingness to use intercontinental nuclear-capable ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

But an even greater imminent danger of all-out nuclear war will threaten the world if Ali Khamenei and his mullahs succeed in building an atomic device with a working detonator. Such is their fanaticism, it is not unlikely that they would be prepared to use it against Israel.

Trump understands all this, and he recognises that the U.S. is the only superpower on Earth with the clout to prevent it. He would not have allowed Iran to become the international bully-boy state it is today, just as he slapped down North Korea when Kim Jong-Un (the man Trump dubbed little rocket man) began test firing missiles in the direction of America.

Its unlikely, too, that Hamas would have staged the sickening October 7 atrocities last year, if Biden had not been in power. The Gaza terrorists took advantage of US weakness, with horrific consequences for all.

This combination of disasters has left the planet on the verge of an all-consuming conflagration. Right now, Bidens extremely high-risk decision to allow U.S.-made long-range weapons to be fired into Russia by Ukraines defenders has been met with a new wave of Russian aggression.

These ATACM (pronounced Attack-em) missiles have been used on targets deep behind Russian lines. But they have failed to strike a decisive blow.

And the immediate result has been to give Putin exactly the excuse he wanted to test his own latest long-range missiles, the hypersonic Rubezh weapon.

One exploded over the city of Dnipro last Thursday, fired from the remote Russian region of Astrakhan more than 400 miles away and covering that distance in just 10 minutes, according to the news agency Reuters.

Bidens extremely high-risk decision to allow U.S.-made long-range weapons to be fired into Russia by Ukraines defenders has been met with a new wave of Russian aggression - and provided Vladimir Putin with the excuse he wanted to test his own latest long-range missiles

This time, the payload was conventional high explosives. But the Rubezh is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead more than 2,000 miles. Fired from this side of the Urals, it could hit London, Berlin or Paris within minutes. The result would be obliteration and millions of deaths  as well as certain nuclear retaliation by Nato.

Putin might also feel emboldened in striking the Ukraine military supply chain, for example by hitting a depot beyond the Polish border with a ballistic missile. If that happened, how would Nato react?

One thing is certain  the current leadership vacuum in Washington under the Biden administration would dither and endanger us all.

What advantage Biden saw in using ATACM missiles so late in the day is difficult to fathom. They are unlikely to be a game-changer and have without doubt created a more dangerous situation for Trump to inherit.

The truth is that throughout the Ukraine war weve seen little real strategic thinking from Biden and his advisors. It is a bumbling, clueless administration.

Putin knows this and is strengthened by it. He sees Trump as a far more effective and powerful adversary, particularly now the returning President has an emphatic mandate from voters  with a majority in the Senate and the House, and all serious threats of legal action against him likely to evaporate.

Trumps first move towards peace could well be the re-imposition of restrictions on the use of US weapons beyond Ukraines borders. Ukraines leader Volodymyr Zelensky is well aware of this, and will likely adjust his own battle plans accordingly.

A decision by the US to withdraw permission for using ATACMs does not automatically mean Britain and France will follow suit and suspend use of Storm Shadow missiles. But the pressure will be on the UK and European allies to back the US strategy.

Ukrainian service members perform drills in military exercises at a training ground. Tragic though it is, Ukraine faces a very daunting task in winning all the territory back that it has lost to Russia since 2014

Its essential for future peace that Putin cannot be allowed to annex more of Ukraine, and Trump is only too well aware of how the Kursk region of Russia, where Kyiv has made a significant incursion, can be used by Zelensky as a bargaining chip in any peace deal.

But it is also essential that the war doesnt keep dragging on. Tragic though it is, Ukraine faces a very daunting task in winning all the territory back that it has lost to Russia since 2014  even President Zelensky concedes that occupied Crimea cannot be taken back through force of arms.

And the longer the war continues, the more it escalates, endangering the world, pushing Europe ever closer to all-encompassing conflict and soaking up US resources that are desperately needed in other theatres such as the Middle East and the Pacific, where we face an ever-more belligerent China.

Putin respects no one, but he recognises the difference between strength and weakness. So does Trump  and he will be aware that the best way to weaken Putin will be to restore peace. This might be painful for Ukraine in the short term, but it will leave Moscow with a long-term problem.

Russias economy is now completely dependent on war. If the fighting stops, so does weapons production, leading to massive unemployment and recession. Putins best hope of restoring financial stability will be for the West to raise sanctions.

That leaves Trump with all the power. Instead of lifting sanctions, he could threaten to impose even more. Theres plenty of scope for the West to tighten its stranglehold on Moscow.

Many of Europes leaders oppose Trump ideologically, but theres no doubt he knows how to seal a deal to his advantage, and to Americas, which will ultimately benefit the whole planet.

- Nile Gardiner is a former aide to Margaret Thatcher
More than 2 million people and counting have signed an online petition calling for an immediate General Election.

It was started by a West Midlands publican and has already passed the threshold at which it can be considered for debate in Parliament.

The petition on the Government website rightly accuses Labour of breaking promises made in the run-up to the last election in July.

Mike Westwood, landlord of the Waggon and Horses in Oldbury, claims to sell the cheapest beer in Britain, with pints of bitter and lager costing just 2.40.

But he now says his business is threatened by increases in employers' National Insurance payments and the minimum wage announced in the recent smash-and-grab Budget.

The dark clouds looming over the hospitality industry make Storm Bert look like a minor squall. Mike Westwood's warning is echoed on a far greater scale by Tim Martin, chairman of Wetherspoons, which is facing increased costs of 60 million a year. More pub closures will surely follow.

Mr Westwood said: 'The British public feel like they have been betrayed with the promises that were told in the lead [up] to the election and then what has been delivered since  it looks nothing like what was promised.

'I think people have had enough, they've seen what's happened over in America as well, and I think that's had a knock-on effect.'

Rachel Reeves is behind the fuel allowance removal and Ed Miliband wants to be Net Zero supremo

You certainly don't have to go far out of your way to encounter widespread buyer's remorse, even among many of those who voted Labour.

The speed at which Starmer's Government has unravelled is breath-taking. One by one, promises made on the stump have been junked.

Guarantees not to increase taxes on 'working people' have been smashed to smithereens. Working people will have to foot the bill for Labour's profligacy and largesse towards their public sector client base.

Pensioners have been stripped of their 300 winter fuel allowances. Millions are facing higher energy bills and a long, cold winter because of Ed Miliband's deranged dash to make Britain a 'world leader' in the Net Zero stakes.

Businesses, big and small, are warning of hiring freezes and job losses. Prices of everything are rising because of hikes to NI and the minimum wage. There'll be no more cut-price pints for the regulars at the Waggon and Horses.

Discontent is everywhere, most visibly among farmers who marched on Westminster last week to protest about the vindictive imposition of inheritance tax on family farms.

Support for Labour is in freefall, a spectacular collapse for a Government elected just four months ago. The party is three points behind the shrivelled rump of a Conservative Party unceremoniously booted out of office after 14 largely wasted years, Brexit aside.

Discontent is everywhere, most visibly among farmers who marched on Westminster last week to protest about the vindictive imposition of inheritance tax on family farms

A tractor passes through Parliament Square as thousands of farmers stage a protest against inheritance tax in Westminster

The petition, started by a West Midlands publican, has already passed the threshold at which it can be considered for debate in Parliament

According to the latest opinion polling, 70 per cent of people now think things have actually got worse under Labour.

So don't be surprised when millions more join the two million plus who have already signed the petition calling for a new General Election.

And this time not even Brenda from Bristol would object if Britain went back to the polls after such a short interval.

Not that it's going to happen. Labour's majority is so vast, thanks to the eccentricities of our electoral system, that it is unlikely even to be debated.

Yet were he true to form, Starmer should welcome another election. After all, he was the man who spent four years trying to overturn the result of the Brexit referendum.

Barely a week went by without Starmer complaining that the country had voted Leave on a false prospectus and demanding a second 'People's Vote'. He insisted that the 52 per cent in favour of quitting the EU was an insufficient majority.

So how can he possibly argue that the meagre 33.7 per cent of the electorate who voted Labour in July gives him carte blanche to slash-and-burn for the next five years?

The turnout was so low that Starmer only received the support of one-in-five of those eligible to vote. His 174-seat majority is built on sand, not to mention a false prospectus, with so-called Red Wall seats especially vulnerable.

Starmer knows it, which is why he will cling limpet-like to office until the last moment, unless or until a generational Black Wednesday-style financial crisis causes the Government to implode under the weight of its own incompetence. And with the latest swingeing cuts to the Armed Forces I would imagine a military coup is out of the question. They'd have trouble rustling up a concert party, let alone a battalion.

In 1997, at least the incoming Blair government could boast a popular Prime Minister and Cabinet of considerable talent. The class of 2024 are running the country like a bunch of sixth-form student activists, none more so than Martha Reeves, the work experience girl at the Treasury who managed to produce a Budget which makes Liz Truss look like Warren Buffet.

After just 150 days, this is already shaping up to be a one-term Government. Yesterday, on one of his brief State visits to Britain, Starmer dismissed the petition out of hand.

He even acknowledged that 'very many people didn't vote Labour [so] I'm not surprised many of them want a rerun. That isn't how our system works.'

A second referendum on Brexit wasn't how our system works, either, but that didn't stop Starmer agitating for one.

Almost twice as many people voted for Brexit as voted Labour in July. Two-thirds of the country voted against Labour last time.

But as for the chances of another election any time soon, my guess is no earlier than July 2029.

Not even a Waggon and Horses will drag Starmer out before then.

Channel 5 screened a documentary called Britains Killer Wave Of 1607 last night about the floods that swept through the Bristol Channel devastating Wales and the West Country.

More than 2,000 people drowned and 200 square miles of farmland and livestock were destroyed. This was, of course, before global warming  sorry,

the climate emergency  had been invented and the Environment Agency stopped dredging riverbeds to save our old friend the Depressed River Mussel.

Oh, and back then the entire country was covered in windmills, too, for all the good they did. I do hope Ed Miliband was watching.

So farewell, then, Two Jags, as I christened him donkeys years ago. The nickname sprang from his petulant insistence on having an official Jaguar, even though he was only entitled to a Rover and, anyway, already had an XJ6 of his own.

If a Jag were good enough for Heseltine when he was Deputy PM, then Prescott must have one, too. The fact Hezza paid for his own car and driver cut no ice. In the end, Blair and Brown gave in to shut him up. I never bought the tough Working-Class Hero guff. Prescott had skin like a Rizla and an over-developed sense of entitlement. The man of the people act was exaggerated once he became DPM.

On one occasion, he attended a transport union conference in Scarborough and was waved off at the railway station. He then got off at the next stop and was driven back to London in his Jag. He was also fond of flying first-class round the world to lecture the rest of us on carbon emissions.

My favourite Prescott headline was when he took a helicopter to the Rugby League Cup Final at Wembley: Two Jags Gets His Chopper Out!

Bobby Moores red shirt from the 1966 World Cup Final has turned up in Wales, we are led to believe. Maybe. Ive seen Mooros original shirt sold several times over to well-oiled mug punters at charity dinners. And at least three of them were white!
Ask any teacher the trick to igniting curiosity in children, and they'll tell you it's easy; just make learning fun with a capital F.

Since it launched in 2022, What on Earth! Magazine has well and truly mastered the art of getting young minds to fall in love with both reading and learning. The best bit? There are absolutely zero screens involved.

This dynamic British monthly publication has already scooped multiple awards - including Childrens Magazine of the Year 2024 - thanks to its kid-friendly articles, puzzles and bite-size fun facts. Its mantra? The real world is more amazing than anything you can make up!

Let's press pause on screens: What on Earth! Magazine, which won Childrens Magazine of the Year 2024, is a monthly print magazine aimed at seven to 14-year-olds that's packed with brilliant content for curious young minds

Inquisitive young minds can deep-dive into everything from how rockets work to the extraordinary power of our own brains and the worlds biggest, fastest and strongest animals, with a huge range of topics covered, from space, animals, nature and science to sport, art, history and inventions (not forgetting dinosaurs too).

A treat for the eyes as much as the brain, this super-visual magazine is packed with dazzling big picture photography plus cleverly thought-out graphics and eye-catching illustrations that really bring the content to life.

There are also puzzles, games and home activities, plus regular features that will quickly become firm favourites with young readers, including a joke and riddle extravaganza, and 'Word Up!', which explores the quirks of language and linguistics.

Making learning effortless, What on Earth! Magazine covers a hugely diverse range of topics from comedy, (pictured in a recent issue left), to killer plants, (pictured right), meaning the child in your life will find something to enjoy whatever their interests

And just like in your own childhood, issues are regularly delivered through the letterbox addressed to the child

Deep-dive: Clever graphics help bring subjects to life. Pictured: A shark-themed spread that lets kids sees exactly what the ocean's most imposing fish is really made of

So, that's why we're brainboxes! Another article in a recent issue details exactly how the most powerful human organ works

Created in partnership with Encyclopaedia Britannica, it's delivered just the way you might once have received your favourite childhood magazine way back when - through the letterbox, and theres a 52-page issue to look forward to receiving regularly.

And parents and grandparents can rest assured that What on Earth! Magazine is both a fully immersive experience and a 100% trusted source of knowledge - all written by experts in their field, who can explain complex subjects in easy-to-understand ways.

Indeed, recent research found that all the pupils who were given copies of the magazine at a London primary school over a 12-week period said they wanted to keep reading it at the study's end.*

Conducted by the Open University and led by Professor Teresa Cremin, the UKs leading academic expert on reading for pleasure', the research saw students at the school in Hackney, east London, answer questions about their reading experience with What on Earth! Magazine after enjoying it over three months.

Ideal for your engineer in the making, there's lots of focus on STEM subjects too

100% of the schoolchildren - and their families - said they wanted to continue reading What on Earth! Magazine together at home, while 69% of parents thought that their childs curiosity, interest and enthusiasm for reading had increased during the study.

Children who had not previously read for pleasure were engaging with the magazine's bite-size content, captivating design and interactive elements, the study found.

A bigger research project, again led by The Open University, is now set to follow, with the pioneering study being rolled out on a national level.

Alongside fascinating articles, puzzles and jokes, the magazine serves up spectacular photography from natural spectacles around the world too

Skyrocket their knowledge: articles are written by experts who can make even the most difficult to understand subjects easy to digest for younger readers

If you're stuck for a birthday or Christmas gift idea that'll give the gift of learning but still feel like fantastic fun, a six or a 12-month subscription makes for an inspired present - because they'll keep receiving the magazine long after the big day has passed.

To ensure the youngster in your life has something special to unwrap though, each subscription comes with a special free gift.

Need a festive idea? A 12-month subscription to What on Earth! Magazine comes with a free copy of Britannicas Encyclopedia Infographica, worth 25

The six-month plan includes a free 10 What on Earth! books gift voucher, while the 12-month plan arrives with a free copy of a beautiful Britannica childrens encyclopaedia, worth 25.

In the two years since it burst onto the scene, What on Earth! Magazine has won almost 10,000 subscribers already.

And this year saw it named Childrens Magazine of the Year 2024 and Subscription Magazine of the Year 2024.

It has its finger firmly on the pulse when it comes to the kind of knowledge that today's children love to devour, and all without letting them loose on smartphones.

Children who read What on Earth! Magazine say they particularly love the moment a large envelope drops on the doormat  with their name on it.

So, what are you waiting for? With the festive season just weeks away, snap up a subscription that's a one-way ticket to learning that's fun - with a capital F.

We're hooked! What readers love about What on Earth! Magazine... 'I would rate it 10 stars out of 5!!!' Fans of What on Earth! Magazine say they love the 'positive impact' the magazine has on young readers Here's what some of the magazine's young readers - and their parents - told MailOnline... 'Well done for creating something so amazing that actually gets kids reading!' Hannah, parent 'It has everything I love facts, activities and jokes. I would rate it 10 stars out of 5!!!' Eliza, aged 7 'Thank you for making a positive difference in the lives of little ones at a time when it is really needed.' Marcus, parent 'Absolutely love this magazine. Just renewed for another year for my grandson. Thank you!' Sally, grandparent 'I love it! There is something amazing on every page.' Robin, aged 9

*https://cdn.ourfp.org/wp-content/uploads/20240709194640/What-on-Earth-Phase-1-report-for-website.pdf
A woman has revealed how she altered a wedding dress for her friend as a favour - but now she is facing being sued for 'ruining' the frock.

Taking to British parenting platform Mumsnet, the anonymous woman explained that she was contacted 'out of the blue' by an old friend to alter the gown because the bride-to-be didn't have time to take it to a professional dressmaker.

The woman hesitantly agreed, but revealed she didn't charge for the job, as it was 'a favour' to help the bride out last minute.

However the woman who lent the dress to the bride messaged her threatening to sue, saying she 'ruined' her dress by having it altered, and now she won't be able to 'use it again'.

Many forum users rushed to comment, saying the original owner of the dress was being 'ridiculous'.

A woman revealed on Mumsnet that she altered a wedding dress for her friend as a favour but now she is being sued for 'ruining' the dress (stock image)

Taking to the British parenting platform, the woman explained that she was contacted 'out of the blue' from an old friend to alter a wedding dress because she didn't have time to take it to a professional dressmaker

The post read: 'I have a "friend" haven't seen her for few years we drifted apart. Her wedding has been cancelled twice, once with Covid, and once with her mother's sudden death.

'Her original dress is too big now she's lost loads of weight. She contacted me out of the blue to ask would I take up her new dress as she hadn't time to get a dressmaker because they are eloping.

'I make my own clothes so it's something I am able to do. I said yes if you're in a fix. So she brought me [the] dress, said it was from her other friend and it needs turn[ing] up.

'When she tried it on it needed a couple other small things fixed too where it was badly constructed.

'I cut 19cm off the dress and hemmed it (4 layers) and spent ages unpicking the back seam and straightening it. I then made a waist sash out of the hem as asked.'

The poster continued: 'She collected the dress two weeks ago. I did this as a favour so no money or anything changed hands.

'The bride's other friend contacted me on Facebook and said I'd ruined her dress. Said she was going to see a solicitor because it was ruined and she couldn't use it again (it's a wedding dress made with fairly cheap fabric and wouldn't have cost a lot to start with and was badly constructed). when I gave it back, it was in better condition than what I received.

'Can she sue me for doing this? As far as I was aware it was the bride's to do with as she pleased. I've messaged the bride and she hasn't replied.'

Many rushed to the comments saying the bride's friend was being 'ridiculous' and has been watching to many American law dramas

Many suggested that the bride's friend is 'being ridiculous', saying she can't actually sue because there was no contract or money involved.

One person said: 'There's no contract, no money has changed hands. I bet they just want to scam some money out of you.'

Another said: 'Of course she cant. Shes being ridiculous.' Another added: 'Lol tell her that even half an hour of a solicitors time will cost her more than her dress did in the first place.'

A fourth said: 'Shes watched far too much American TV. You cant sue someone just because youre unhappy about something.

'You have no contractual relationship with her and you didnt steal the dress from her, so she cant sue you, so relax on that score and block her.'

However others suggested that the dress owners issue should be with the bride and not the woman who made the alterations.

One person wrote: 'No good deed goes unpunished! The dress owner's issue is with the bride. She was a proper CF if she had 19cm taken off the length and various other alterations made to a friend's dress without permission.'

Another said: 'Clearly the bride didn't tell the friend she was having it altered and now the friend is upset that it's too short for her.

'This is a miscommunication on their part. Friend should have told bride she wanted the dress back, bride should have told friend it's too long and she would need it to be altered. Not your problem at all!

Someone else added: 'Not your problem. You acted in good faith for a friend, I don't think there would be any grounds to sue you. This is between the two others. Keep your messages safe. Print a copy.

'Perhaps a response to say 'this matter is between you and X. She contacted me and asked me to adjust the dress which I did in good faith to the specifications given. I will not be discussing this further'. Then block.'

Meanwhile a fourth person agreed: 'The 'friend' needs to take it up with the bride who asked someone to alter the dress for her. Not your problem; you weren't to know.'

A number of commentators suggested that the dress owner's issue should be with the bride and not the woman who made the alterations

'Make sure you take screenshots of you conversations with the bride in case they disappear.'

However others suggested that the woman was in the wrong to alter the dress without the owner's permission.

One person said: 'You were aware the dress didnt belong to your friend, so you should not have altered it without the owner's permission.

'Im surprised you agreed as I wouldnt want to be responsible for potentially ruining a wedding dress! However the fact you had to cut 19cm off indicates the owner is considerably taller than the person she lent it to, and must have realised it would have to be altered to fit, otherwise it would be dragging along the floor and look rubbish.

'Most wedding dresses have to be altered in some fashion to fit the wearer which is why theyre not really suitable to be lent out, the moral of the story is dont lend your precious items out.'

Another agreed: 'The bride told you the dress was someone else's. I therefore wouldn't have made any permanent alterations without explicit permission from both the bride and the owner - turn up hem and add darts that could be removed, but no cutting.

'However, the legal waters of deciding who is responsible for the damage look decidedly muddy and I doubt it would be worth her while to sue.'

The original poster added: 'I just want to add. The dress is perfect. It is in better shape now than it was when I got it. It seems the owners issue is I've shortened it to fit the bride. The owner is somewhat taller.

'Thank you all. I have a string of Texts from bride where she explains what she needs and why she is asking me ( that she has no time to go to professional)

'It also shows I said I'd rather not as I'm not a professional. Then I say I will do it as a favour but do not want payment as I'm not a professional. (I already have a paid job and don't need to be muddying the tax waters by taking on sewing jobs too.

'I have two messages from her saying the dress fits her better than ever now and it even hangs on her body better.

'I've not replied to the dress owner but I have messaged the bride on every platform I have for her. I will keep all the evidence I have just in case but thanks for putting my mind at rest.'

Some suggested that the woman was in the wrong to alter the dress without the owner's permission

The woman later shared a new message which she received from the angry bride. It read: 'I was so b***** shocked you cut so much off the bottom!! Who even does that? All you had to do was fold the hem up a bit and put a stitch on it.

'It didn't matter if it was dragging a bit. I didn't ask you to fix the back seam - you did that to make yourself look good.

'I will be wearing a cardi so no one will see it. Xxxxx is p******( off at me now so I had to tell her you did it not me. She can fight with you about it. I have enough on my plate with the elopement.'

The original poster added: 'I'm lost for words. She was delighted when she collected the dress that it fit her so well and she said herself the little sash I made from the hem really finished off the dull waistline!

'I've blocked them both and I'm going to put this down to experience. Shame on me for falling for a sob story. No wonder people don't help each other out anymore. I hope someone tells her there is no folding hems in wedding dresses. Arrrggghhhh. I'm so annoyed!'
As the holidays approach, Americans are preparing for travel mayhem during some of the busiest airport days of the year.

A new viral TikTok from celebrity-beloved luggage brand Away is explaining why you have to 'LEOTG,' or 'lay eyes on the gate,' when you're at the airport this holiday season.

The video received more than 103,000 likes and 773 comments, as followers chimed in about why it's the most important first step at any airport.

In the TikTok, Miss America runner-up Taryn Delanie and publicist Tiffani Charisse Singleton debated using the restroom after going through airport security.

The women joked that they have to lay eyes on the gate before they do anything else, including eating or going to the bathroom.

They discussed various issues they could face - including the gate not existing or going to the wrong area.

Taryn carried Away's Bigger Carry-On in Clay Pink along with the Large Featherlight Tote in Jet Black while Tiffani had the Bigger Carry-On in Salt White.

Seasoned travelers flocked to the comments section to explain why they agreed with the 'universal experience' and shared their own horror stories about almost missing their flights without the technique.

A new viral TikTok from celebrity-beloved luggage brand Away is explaining why you have to ' LEOTG,' or 'lay eyes on the gate,' when you're at the airport this holiday season (stock image)

In the TikTok, Miss America runner-up Taryn Delanie and publicist Tiffani Charisse Singleton debated using the restroom after going through airport security

Some explained that they had to find their gate first because in the past, gates would be moved and they wouldn't receive a notification on their phone - leaving them not knowing where to go.

'I thought I was the only one. There is serenity in the gate. Only then do we forage,' one person joked.

Others explained that they have to do it in big airports because it's possible they'll have to take a shuttle or bus to their gate.

'One time I did this, and it turned out my gate was a bus ride away! Will never skip gate spotting,' a commenter claimed.

'The ONE time we did not LEOTG we almost missed the flight bc it turned out to be a special gate that you had to take a shuttle to get to. Never again,' another person agreed.

Plenty of people who worked for airlines or flew regularly explained they still believe in LEOTG just to be safe.

'I mean, I've been flying weekly for seven years and I still LEOTG. You have to get to the gate and then build your airport experience backwards from that locations,' a commenter explained.

'I do anything else. I'll be seconds from peeing myself but will make note of the nearest bathroom as I continue to the gate,' a passenger joked.

Plenty of people who worked for airlines or flew regularly explained they still believe in LEOTG just to be safe

'You GOT to set up your base camp! Go to the gate FIRST, then deploy side missions from there!' one commenter quipped

'You GOT to set up your base camp! Go to the gate FIRST, then deploy side missions from there!' one commenter quipped.

'Because sometimes they're randomly still a 20 min walk away!! You gotta know!' another passenger announced.

This isn't the first time the luggage brand - which has a long list of celebrity fans, including Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Margot Robbie, Mandy Moore and Harry Styles - has discussed a surprisingly contentious travel topic on social media.

In July, the New York City-based brand asked influencers how many pairs of underwear they bring on a seven-day trip and went viral on Instagram when they received shocking answers.

Nine or ten was a popular option, with 17 being on the higher end - and four pairs of underwear the most disputed answer.
We check in every few months or so, my secret little 'arrangement' and I. I like to see how it's doing, whether it's plump, healthy and fit for purpose.

Seeing it gives me enormous satisfaction and relief. I feel hugged, soothed and reassured, like an invisible hand has stroked my back and told me that everything will be OK.

For it will be OK, if we keep up this arrangement. The gods or whatever forces, divine or corporal, are responsible for my fate, can throw whatever they like at me and I'll not go under.

I am talking here about my 'running away fund'  a stash of money I have squirrelled away that my husband doesn't know about.

And it's not an insubstantial amount. If you take into account shares, ISAs and savings, I have more than 200,000 to my name  and my name only  that only I have access to.

That's money to cover rent, should I need to move out of our family home for whatever reason; or a sizeable deposit on another property; or even a little maintenance 'comfort blanket' should I not be able to work for a period of time, meaning I wouldn't be rendered dependent on anyone else for my basic needs.

You're probably assuming at this point that my marriage is unhappy, that I'm biding my time to flee an abusive relationship. But nothing could be further from the truth.

I am married to a generous, sweet-natured  and healthily solvent  man who has made me very happy for more than 30 years. My 'running away fund', as it's termed by some, is something which, I believe, has strengthened our relationship.

Bake Off winner and celebrity chef Nadiya Hussain, pictured with her husband Abdal, admitted to having a running away fund when she appeared on Loose Women recently

The running away fund is nothing new. Various surveys by financial institutions over the years estimate one in five of us has a secret stash

While some may regard it as deceitful and pessimistic, I see it as a massive compliment to my husband: I am with him because I choose to be, not because I need to be  and isn't that commendable after so many years together?

The running away fund is nothing new. Various surveys by financial institutions over the years estimate one in five of us has a secret stash.

Bake Off winner and celebrity chef Nadiya Hussain admitted to having one when she appeared on Loose Women recently.

Even before she became a wealthy woman in her own right  she is thought to have made around 5 million since she won GBBO in 2015  she said she'd always 'had a little something on the side', that was just hers. Like Nadiya, a mother of three, my pot of money isn't exactly a 'secret'. As she explained: 'Even if everybody knew about it, nobody was getting access to it.'

My husband does know that I have savings in my own personal account, but, crucially, he doesn't know how much. We have a joint account, into which we've always paid the same amount of money from our earnings, and from which all household expenses are paid, but what's left over from my work as a writer is my business and mine alone.

He knows I had a small windfall a few years ago, when my aunt and godmother died. She was childless and owned a modest house in Sussex, which  after tax and sharing it equally with my sister  saw my personal account swell by 120,000.

I wasn't completely stingy with it. I paid for a beautiful, indulgent holiday for us in California and some renovations on the house (the mortgage on which was paid off years ago), but my husband doesn't know how much is in there now and hasn't asked.

My attitude, like Nadiya, stems from growing up relatively poor. She described her childhood home as a 'red-letter house', where final demands were always arriving and it felt like her mother  a traditional, stay-at-home British Bangladeshi wife  was holding on by her fingernails.

I spent the early part of my childhood in a council house, before my parents were able to buy a two-bedroom prefab in the late Seventies. Dad was a mechanic, Mum worked as a carer in an old people's home and money was tight.

Thursday night dinners, before Dad's Friday night pay packet arrived, were always a scratched together affair. Fried eggy bread  made with the nub of a mouldy white loaf and one egg, between four people  was not an uncommon meal. I can remember my mother crying over an electricity bill and seeing a ladder in her last good pair of tights.

Mum belonged to a generation of women who were trapped. She couldn't survive on her own: she was wholly reliant on my father, who did his best, but who, again, was trapped by the confines of our still rigid class system, long before social mobility became a viable reality.

My parents had a happy marriage, I think, but there must have been millions out there, suffering in unbearable penury, financially beholden to a man they couldn't stand. A sensible, risk-averse and big-thinking adolescent in Thatcher's Britain, I worked out early on that the key to women's economic empowerment and equality lay in her financial independence.

I swore then that I'd always have something stashed away, so I could 'run away' if I needed to.

When I met my husband in 1992, we were equal earners, working on a local newspaper. The idea of a joint pot was mooted a couple of times, by him, but rejected by me. It was too much hassle, I said. Plus, I'd feel awkward if I fancied a splurge on an expensive new coat, or pair of boots, and really couldn't abide the thought of 'asking permission'.

So we kept things separate. Of course, there have been periods in our lives, when the children were babies (we have two, both now in their 20s) when my husband did a lot of the heavy lifting, financially  but I always had a little cushion set aside 'just for me', to see me through my maternity leave.

Gradually, over the years, my secret stash has grown. I've sought financial advice, made some canny investments and saved every month. In 30 years of marriage, I'd say I've thought about using it once. It was a few years ago, in the throes of empty nest syndrome, when we weren't making enough time for each other and arguing quite a lot.

After one particularly miserable Sunday afternoon, where we'd had an enormous row in Habitat over a new dining room table, I came home and started looking on RightMove. I costed up what I could afford, and where, should I decide to see out the last quarter of my life on my own  with the dining room table I really wanted.

I even looked into payments on a new car  a frivolous and sporty little number that I knew would annoy him. That I could afford it all made me feel instantly better, and I realised I was actually quite happy where I was.

We made up, spent the Habitat money on a nice weekend away, and the argument was forgotten.

We're getting older now, and aware of our mortality. We had 'that' conversation recently, when we updated up our wills and had a 'show and tell' on paperwork and passwords etc, should one of us step under the proverbial bus.

Judging by how vague he was about some details, I suspect my husband has a little running away fund of his own. And that is absolutely fine by me.

Details have been changed. Joanna Richards is a pseudonym.
An American woman organised a strict 'no singing' Wicked screening for a 115 people - but banned her own children, aged five and eight, from attending the event.

Ariane Tyler, a 39-year-old special education teacher from Chicago, decided to rent out a movie theatre so she could enjoy Wicked without worrying about fellow cinemagoers singing along to hits like Defying Gravity and Popular.

Jon M Chu's film adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical was released in theatres worldwide on November 22, with Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo co-starring as Glinda and Elphaba respectively.

Ariane initially organised the private screening on November 23 for her and a dozen of her friends, the Wall Street Journal reported.

However, over 100 people expressed their interest in attending the show, prompting Ariane to create a private Facebook group to share her list of rules for attendees.

These included mandatory Wicked costumes, a zero-tolerance policy towards loud chewing and bathroom breaks, and strictly no singing.

'Unless you have won a Tony,' Ariane told her friends, 'no singing will be permitted.'

The Illinois resident was 'so serious' about these rules being followed, she banned her own children, an eight-year-old son and a five-year-old daughter, from the screening.

Ariane Tyler, a 39-year-old special education teacher from Chicago, decided to rent out a movie theatre so she could enjoy Wicked without worrying about fellow cinemegoers singing along to hits like Defying Gravity and Popular. Ariana Grande (right) and Cynthia Erivo (left) star in the film adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical

Show attendees inside the Gershwin theater in New York city for the first return performance of Wicked after Broadway shows were reopened to live audiences following Covid-mandated shutdowns

Ariane, who was a theatre kid and has seen multiple productions of Wicked, told the news outlet: 'This is not something to joke about. I'm so serious when I talk about these rules.'

The only exceptions to Ariane's rules were her two pregnant friends who were granted permission to use the bathroom during the two-hour and forty-minute movie - but they were given aisle seats.

The release of Wicked last week reignited the debate about cinema and theatre etiquette amid reports of disruptions at screenings in the US.

According to The New York Times, some fans struggled to contain themselves during Grande and Erivo's renditions of hits such as Popular and Defying Gravity - triggering the ire of fellow cinemagoers.

Subsequently, American cinema chain AMC reminded movie-goers that 'silence is golden' and singing during the screenings will not be tolerated.

'At AMC Theaters, silence is golden. No talking. No texting. No singing. No wailing. No Flirting. And absolutely no name-calling. Enjoy the magic of movies,' a pre-show advisory issued by AMC read, as reported by The Independent.

A spokesperson for AMC also told American newspaper IndyStar that while this has always been the theatre's 'long-standing policy', they wanted to reiterate the rules because of the widespread popularity of songs such as Defying Gravity and What is this Feeling.

Ahead of the release of Wicked, fans took to X to share images of signs inside cinemas banning singing during screenings

'The WICKED preshow spot incorporates the themes of the film as a fun, engaging reminder to moviegoers to not disrupt the experience for those around them as they enjoy the show,' AMC's official statement to the publication read.

Fans have also been sharing images of signs banning singing during screenings of Wicked on X, with one such message reading: 'We ask that you allow everyone to enjoy the cinema experience.

'Please refrain from singing during the show.'

The ban sparked a furious row about theatre etiquette on TikTok and Reddit, as fans debated whether it is appropriate to sing along during movie screenings.

Hannah Young, a 35-year-old social media manager and mother-of-two, reportedly posted a TikTok explaining that theatre kids like herself might find themselves compelled to sing along during the movie.

'If people are getting angry because of other people's joy in singing,' she said, 'maybe they should do some self-reflection.'

Social media users shared their opinions in the comments section of Young's post, as the TikTok blew up on social media - and even caught actress Kristen Bell's attention.

The Nobody Wants This star reposted Young's video on her Instagram Stories with the caption: 'Real talk.'

Comedy band Lewberger Music warned TikTokers against singing during the movie in a minute-long song, as the release of Wicked reignited the debate about cinema and theatre etiquette

Comedy band Lewberger Music, meanwhile, warned TikTokers against singing during the movie in a minute-long song that begins with the group asking: 'Did you hear there's going to be strict rules about the Wicked movie?

'Several people have made waves about what they'll do if people sing during the film which raises some questions about contemporary movie theater etiquette because they didn't buy tickets to hear some rando, they want to hear Ariana Grande,' the band continued.

'You better not sing during the gosh darn movie.'

Fans who want to belt out the musical's hit songs will get their wish for singalong screenings - and just in time for Christmas - as Variety reported there will be interactive showings of Wicked in around 1,000 cinemas across North America.

These screenings will be held around on December 25, or roughly one month after the film's theatrical release.
A woman who spent 3,000 to have a Brazilian bum lift in the UK feared her son would 'end up an orphan' after she contracted sepsis during the procedure which was 'more painful than childbirth'.

Bonnie-Louise Cooper, 27, from Swanage in Dorset, told the Mirror that she thought she was being responsible when she decided to avoid getting a cheaper deal in Turkey, and have the cosmetic procedure in England instead.

The popularity of non-surgical BBLs, which involve injecting filler into the buttocks, has increased significantly in recent years, but doctors have raised serious concerns over the 'disgraceful' lack of regulation.

The beautician opted to have a liquid BBL at Lift Aesthetics in London - an organisation which boasts Katie Price among its clients. But the night before, she was told it would instead take place at their clinic in Kent with a different practitioner.

After the procedure last November, Bonnie contracted sepsis and spent weeks in hospital - leaving her fearing her son may be orphaned.

Although she thankfully pulled through, Bonnie has been left with life-altering side effects - including nerve damage, loss of sensation in her legs and colour changes in her feet.

She said: 'Procedures here can be just as deadly and they can also cause life long complications.

I have a young son and he could have ended up an orphan.'

Bonnie-Louise Cooper, who feared she would lose her life after having a BBL in the UK, pictured appearing on This Morning in March this year

After doing her research, Bonnie eventually decided to spend 3,000 on the procedure with Life Aesthetics at 7 Harley Street, London, which said it would be 'non-invasive, pain free and [included] zero down time'.

But the night before the operation, Bonnie says she was sent a postcode for a building in Romford, Essex, and not in Harley Street.

Instead of the two women she thought would do the treatment, it was carried out by a man, who despite saying it would be painless, carried out an op that Bonnie described as '40 minutes of agony'.

Describing how it was 'the worst pain Ive ever had in my life' (including labour), Bonnie screamed throughout the procedure - a reaction the practitioner said he'd never seen before.

Despite being under the impression that Lidocaine would be used as a painkiller, the hospital said it was not that prescribed pain blocker. Bonnie was also left unaware as to what filler was used by the clinic.

Upon her arrival home, Bonnie says she was 'delirious and crying'. She also claims she could not stand or sit and was vomiting.

When her sister called an ambulance, paramedics said there was an infection in a particular section, which Bonnie says felt was like it was 'on fire'.

It is believed that the number of practitioners carrying out the procedure could be between 100,000 and 200,000, with operations taking place in High Street outlets as well as people's homes.

Mother-of-one Bonnie (pictured) from Dorset, thought she was being sensible by having the operation done in the UK, rather than in Turkey or Prague, where can be much cheaper

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

What is a liquid Brazilian butt lift? BBLs are used to make buttocks bigger, more rounded or lifted. Unlike a traditional BBL which sees fat transferred from other areas of the body, a liquid BBL involves hyaluronic acid fillers. Dermal filler  the same material used to fill lips  is injected in large quantities into the buttock. They are often advertised on social media as a 'risk-free', 'cheaper' alternative to the surgical counterpart. But Dr Nora Nugent, vice president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, today repeated major concerns over the regulation of non-surgical BBLs in the UK. The plastic surgeon told MailOnline: 'I'm not directly involved, but I understand it was filler and this was done by an unqualified person in an unregulated environment.' Laura Earps, a solicitor at Brabners Personal, added: 'Non-surgical BBLs are often advertised and promoted as 'risk-free and cheaper' alternatives to surgical BBLs, however it is clear that this could not be further from the truth.' Advertisement

Among the potential risks of an untrained person carrying put these treatments are a 'significant risk of harm, injury and potential death' - and that these risks can be permanent.

As a result, The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) has publicly said it fears that 'out of control' practitioners could cause further deaths, with consultant plastic surgeon Professor Vivien Lees, Vice President of RCS England telling the outlet that the 'situation is out of control in the UK'.

She added that when people who are not fully qualified to carry out these procedures, then the NHS can be left picking up the pieces - costing the taxpayer money.

Professor Lees added: 'Cosmetic procedures must be regulated as soon as possible before there is another death. We are supporting this important campaign, to work together, to protect people seeking these treatments.'

The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) and long-term campaigners Save Face have for years been campaigning for safer procedures to be carried out for years.

Procedures like BBLs are not the only ones being carried out by those unqualified to do so, or doing so under less than ideal circumstances, and the outcomes can be horrifying.

In 2024, 33-year-old Alice Webb died after having a liquid BBL, a tragedy Nora the President of BAAPS described as 'horrifying', and a ' tragic situation [...] waiting to happen'.

She added that: 'We've been saying for years that more regulation is needed. It's been a problem for years [...] If they dont do anything about it, there's nothing to stop the same scenario happening again.'

Reacting at the time to the death of 34-year-old mother Alice Webb, one leading UK plastic surgeon told MailOnline: 'In the UK it is, shockingly, not necessarily illegal to inject filler when you are not medically qualified.

'This is another tragedy which with better regulation could have been prevented.'

Ms Webb died just hours after having the butt lift procedure, which is believed to have been performed in the West Country.

The rise in popularity in BBLs has been largely credited to celebrity culture: as rounder posteriors have become increasingly popular among stars, more and more people have become unhappy over their flatter buttocks.

Last year, London-based aesthetic surgeon Dr Veerle Rotsaert told MailOnline she discourages patients from getting any BBL and instead recommends they go to the gym and do squats.

She said: 'In my practice if people want more volume in the buttocks area, I first of all educate them on normal anatomy. I recommend going to the gym to do squats.'

Dr Rotsaert also urged Brits to shy away from BBLs, stating that the 'Kardashian body type is a trend'.

'And we all know trends go out of fashion at some stage,' she added.
Dawn and Cher Hubsher often get mistaken for each other - despite their 30-year age gap

A daughter who looks almost identical to her mother, has revealed that people think she has had plastic surgery to become her lookalike.

Dawn and Cher Hubsher from Florida often make waves due to their uncanny similarities.

The pair, aged 64 and 34 respectively, both have long dark hair, the same facial features - and often play on their similarities by wearing the same outfits too.

In fact, they look so alike that even their husbands struggle to tell them apart.

Cher's husband Jared Gopman once smacked her Dawn's derriere in an embarrassing case of mistaken identity - despite the mother-daughter duo's 30-year age gap.

Now Cher has been accused of going under the knife in a bid to look more similar to her mother.

'As I've gotten older, I think I look more and more like my mum,' Cher, a content creator, said.

'Some people even think I've had plastic surgery or work done to look like her. I promise, I haven't.'

Dawn (left) and Cher Hubsher (right) from Florida often hit the headlines due to their uncanny similarities - especially when wearing the same outfit

The mother-daughter duo both have long dark hair and share similar facial features

Cher's husband Jared is a qualified plastic surgeon so it's understandable that people don't exactly believe her when she denies these claims.

She said: 'At least I know what I'll look like in 30 years and if I age as well as my mom has, there'll be no need for me to ever go under the knife.'

The duo's likeness has gained them a collective 290,000 fans on Instagram and they have even started a podcast called Chattermouth where they release episodes every #twinningTuesday.

Cher was 16 when people first started comparing her to her mother.

She said: 'People frequently compare how I looked at 16 to how I look now, assuming I've had plastic surgery because I look different but 18 years can bring a lot of changes.'

Cher explained that her hair used to be dyed blonde so she didn't resemble Dawn as much.

She continued: 'Now that I'm back to my natural hair colour, the resemblance is much stronger.

'People assume that because we look so alike, plastic surgery must be involved but really, it's just strong genetics.'

Many claim that Cher has had plastic surgery to look like her mother - an allegation which is hard to beat when her husband Jared (left) is a qualified plastic surgeon

Cher believes she was 16 when people first started comparing her to her mother

She added: 'Don't get me wrong, I think my mum is absolutely beautiful, but I'm not going to spend thousands and thousands of dollars just so I can look exactly like her.

'I'm doing a pretty good job of that anyway  and it's all for free.'

Dawn and Cher are often mistaken for sisters  or twins - and it has caused some embarrassing mix-ups.

On top of the embarrassing bottom smacking incident, Cher's friends sometimes get them muddled up, with them not realising who they're talking to more often than not.

Cher said: 'People mistake us for sisters all of the time. One time, my mother's friend was talking to her thinking she was me.'

And it's even caught the mother-daughter duo out themselves on a few occasions.

Cher said: 'Sometimes we'll see a photo of one another and be convinced it's the other person. It totally freaks us out.

'Somehow, as time passes, we just naturally resemble each other more.

'My friends love hanging out with her and I think it's because if you like me, then you'll definitely love my mum.

'We're so alike in every way - not just because we look alike, but because we also talk and act so similarly, too.'

Dawn and Cher are often mistaken for sisters  or twins - and it has caused some embarrassing mix-ups

Cher said: 'People mistake us for sisters all of the time. One time, my mother's friend was talking to her thinking she was me'

The mother-daughter duo are so close that Cher invited Dawn to her bachelorette party because she 'looked so young and acted young'.

The duo's incredibly close bond even earned them a starring role in the TLC reality series sMothered, which documents the sometimes too-close relationships between mothers and daughters.

In the hit reality series, Dawn insisted on joining her daughter for a breastfeeding lesson with a lactation specialist, using a doll to practice the same techniques that Cher was being taught.

Cher, who also famously appeared on My Super Sweet 16 in 2007, added: 'I always say I'm so lucky to have a mum and best friend in one.

'We have so much fun together and just get each other so well.'
Prince William hinted at a forthcoming royal visit to Oman as he met with members of an expedition which aims to retrace the footsteps of famous British explorer Bertram Thomas.

The Prince of Wales was joined at the Royal Geographic Society today by His Highness Theyazin bin Haitham, heir to the Omani throne.

The two kings in waiting are co-patrons of the Jewel of Arabia Expedition, which will see a crew of six traverse one of the most inhospitable places on earth in a thirty-day journey on foot, by camel and with the use of 4x4 vehicles.

The trek has been designed to promote the biodiversity and heritage of Oman but also highlight the environmental pressures facing the country.

The team will be retracing the steps of British explorer Bertram Thomas who made the journey in 1928. Thomas kept diaries of his travels, accompanied by photographs and detailed maps of the area.

While Prince William does not plan to fly to Oman in January to join the expedition, he told guests he would 'try and make something happen' in the future as regards a visit.

The prince added: 'We're in the planning process.'

After being shown a presentation about the expedition in the Education Room, William said: 'I've just had the opportunity to look through some of the images from the RGS collection and they bring back warm memories of my visit to Oman in 2019.

Prince William looked dapper as he joined Oman's Crown Prince Theyazin bin Haitham to unveil an ambitious environmental initiative in London today

Prince William, 42, joined his Omani counterpart for the London launch of the Jewel of Arabia Expedition at the Royal Geographical Society

'This expedition will not only highlight Oman's rich biodiversity and natural heritage, but also symbolises the enduring friendship between our two countries.

'This was again demonstrated by the recent visit to the UK by His Majesty the Sultan of Oman.

'The expedition will walk in the footsteps of British explorer Bertram Thomas, taking in the wonderful coastline of Oman.

'They will be able to see the beauty of Oman, but also the damage done by climate change.'

He wished the team 'the very best for the expedition', adding: 'I wish I was able to join you but I will be following it very closely.'

William added that he was 'delighted' that one of the previous winners from his Earthshot Prize had come from Oman.

The Rub Al Khali, the largest sand desert in the world, is one of the hottest, driest and most inhospitable places on earth. Encompassing Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen is known as the 'Empty Quarter'.

Briton Mark Evans, 63, expedition leader said: 'The stars of the show will undoubtedly be the camels' who are currently in 'camel boot camp' in Oman to prepare for them for the month-long desert trek.

They will start each day at 5am, aim to cover 25-30kms a day and will sleep in the desert without tents.

Evans will be joined on the journey by Nigel Harling, a British police officer with exploration experience, Ana-Maria Pavalache, a mountain leader and photographer, Shirka Al Mawali and Ibrahim Al Hasni, instructors with Outward Bound Oman, and Armour Al Wahibi who Evans said was 'the only one who knows how to find first gear on a camel'.

Along the route, they will be met by young people from schools across Oman.

On the third day of the trip, a specially-adapted 'Boma' off-road wheelchair made by Equal Adventure, a Scottish company, will enable a disabled young person to experience part of the journey.

William and Theyazin unveiled the Jewel of Arabia Expedition as co-patrons of the project. The expedition aims to raise awareness amongst young people both in and outside Oman about the value of the country's natural heritage and rich biodiversity

The 42-year-old Prince, who debuted a more rugged look last month, was still sporting a full beard - much to the delight of royal fans

William donned a navy blue suit for the launch event

William and Theyazin (right) also met representatives from Omani schools, who will be studying the expedition as a part of their curriculum

The Prince of Wales was invited by Theyazin to be a co-patron of the expedition due to William's focused conservation efforts and activism over the years

The launch of the Jewel of Arabia Expedition follows William's 2019 trip to Kuwait and Oman, which was also focused on themes of conservation and sustainability

Earlier this month, William announced the winners of his Earthshot Prize during a star-studded ceremony in Cape Town, South Africa

William delivered a speech at the Jewel of Arabia Expedition launch event on November 25

William was keen to know how the crew would navigate across the desert and how young people in Oman were engaging with environmental issues.

Before giving short speeches, Prince William and His Royal Highness Theyazin were shown pictures captured by Bertram Thomas during his own travels in the Empty Quarter.

Thomas, a ground-breaking explorer from Pill near Bristol, wrote extensive field notes which he typed up when he returned from his travels.

Upon completing his expedition, he received congratulatory telegrams from King George V and Sultan Taimur, then the ruler of Oman.

He lived and worked for the Sultan of Oman, taking leave in the winter months to travel widely through the country.

At the time, there was huge interest by Arabia in the 1920s, particularly following the publication of T.E. Lawrence the Seven pillars of wisdom.

Following his success, Thomas gave lectures around the world and wrote a book called Arabia Felix, which carried an introduction written by T.E. Lawrence, known as 'Lawrence of Arabia'.

The biggest challenges for Thomas were said to have been encountering warring tribes, lack of water in the watering holes and his dependence on his Omani companion, Sheikh Saleh as they tried to navigate their way through the desert.

This time, they will have a new challenge: 'soft' camels, who are not deemed to be as hardy as those in the past, and a desire to engage with new technology so that their journey can be shared in real time.

Podcasts, interviews on Omani radio and an online tracker will all be used so that, through technology, people can track their journey in real time.

Next year, 2025, will be 225 years since a friendship treaty was signed between Britain and Oman.
An original cast member of the hit Broadway musical Hamilton has revealed how much money he earned per week before the show hit the big time in New York City.

Twisters star Anthony Ramos sat down with Vivian Tu, also known as Your Rich BFF, and was more than happy to talk all things finances as she asked him: 'What was it like getting that first Hamilton paycheck?'

'Yo, it was nice,' the 33-year-old actor replied, before adding: 'Well, no, no, actually it wasn't because we were Off-Broadway and I was making like $420 a week.

'You get paid better on Broadway, but even on Broadway it can still be tough. If you're an ensemble member, you're a chorus member, you're probably making like $1,800 a week,' Anthony, who was criticized earlier this year for staying silent over a Ariana DeBose joke at the Critics Choice Awards, continued.

'But they're paying their agent, 10 per cent to the agent, 10 per cent to the manager, 20 per cent of the top and then in New York you're paying, 30 per cent, 40 per cent tax.'

He then added: 'If you're not smart with your money, you're beat! You know what I'm saying? You're beat!'

Many Instagram users were quick to comment on the post and praise the actor, who originated the dual roles of John Laurens and Philip Hamilton, the oldest son of Alexander Hamilton when the show opened Off-Broadway in early 2015.

'Anthony is a New Yorker thru and thru (sic). Solid head on his shoulders and seems really down to earth,' one person commented.

Anthony Ramos has revealed he earned just $420 a week when he first starred in Hamilton in 2015

Hamilton opened Off-Broadway in early 2015, with Anthony (pictured in 2016) originating the dual roles of John Laurens and Philip Hamilton

'I love this man,' a second wrote, while a third said: 'Awhhhh i love [Anthony] such a bada** a real (sic)!'

A fourth posted: 'That breakdown is helpful. A lot of people hear the number and dont realize thats not what ends up in your pocket.'

Someone else added: 'So few people realize that any actor or director immediately loses up to 50% of their paycheck BEFORE taxes.'

A different Instagram user said: 'Thank you for this! I teach a business of acting class at DePaul and I find it essential young actors understand the economics of it so they can be empowered to make smarter financial decisions. Sending this to ALL my students.'

'Very few make it in the arts, any art but if you are going to go for it, you have to be fearless, which is what he was,' one person added.

Hamilton moved to Broadway on July 13, 2015, in previews, and opened on August 6, 2015.

Anthony left the production on November 20, 2016 being replaced by Jordan Fisher.

Anthony Ramos with the cast of Hamilton onstage at the Grammy Awards in February 2016

Vivian Tu, also known as Your Rich BFF, was keen to ask Anthony about how much he used to earn

He has since gone on to star in various movies, including 2018's A Star Is Born, which starred Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and most recently, Twisters.

Anthony has also enjoyed various TV roles in series such as Will & Grace, She's Gotta Have It, In Treatment, and the upcoming Disney+ show Ironheart.

His last theatre performance was playing Usnavi de la Vega in 2018's In the Heights.

He is also set to portray Mozart in the upcoming play Amadeus, which is set to announce a start date.
His lookalike event took place in Austin, Texas on November 24

Glen Powell has revealed he has offered a money can't buy prize to the family of the winner of his lookalike competition  a cameo in his next film.

Before the contest got underway in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, the Twistors actor, 36, shared a tongue in cheek video on social media where he announced he would be contributing the special reward.

He also added that he wished he could have attended the contest in person, but that he was unable to because he was out of the country on a shoot.

Speaking in the video, Glen said: 'Welcome to the Justin Hartley lookalike contest.

'In all seriousness, I have assembled you here today for an important mission. I want to pull off a heist, and we don't need masks because we all have the same face.

'It's the perfect crime! They can't get all of us because we are one: a criminal Glenterprise.'

Glen Powell has offered a huge prize to his lookalike competition winner's family

The Twisters actor is the latest star to get his own lookalike competition

Turning his attention to the prize, Glen continued: 'You may know that my parents make a cameo in every movie I make, but today the winner of the Glen Powell lookalike contest wins their parents, or any family member of their choice, a cameo in my next movie.

'I am completely serious. This is a cash-value prize of $6 billion.'

Glen's parents - Glen Sr. and Cyndy Powell - have appeared in all his films, including his recent movie Twisters, in which he starred alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones.

'Literally since Spy Kids 3, I think they've been in every one,' he shared on the Today Show in July.

Fans were blown away by Glen's sweet gesture to the competition winner and flooded social media with comments.

'Glen Powell is devoted to making sure the winner has a good time,' one wrote. 'Respect.'

'Well, whoever wins is one lucky man,' another penned.

A third added: 'And this is why Glen Powell is the best.'

Maxwell Braunstein was crowned the winner of the competition

He spoke with Glen via FaceTime shortly after his victory was revealed

Glen's prize went down a storm with his supporters

Glen's parents, Glen Sr. and Cyndy, have made cameo appearances in all of his films

It was reported by the Austin American Statesman that Maxwell Braunstein was crowned the winner of the competition.

Maxwell received $5, a cowboy hat, free queso from Torchy's Tacos for a year and a special message from Glen himself, who was on FaceTime with his mom during the event.

Lookalike competitions have been sweeping the globe in recent weeks following the success of the Timothee Chalamet event last month.

Just this weekend alone, a Heath Ledger doppelganger was crowned in Sydney, Australia.

Last week, Paul Mescal was left speechless after he met the winner of his lookalike competition over video call.

The Gladiator actor, 28, appeared on Zoe Ball's BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show when the host surprised him by introducing him to his doppelganger from the competition, which took place in Dublin earlier this month.

As Jack Wall O'Reilly, who is now otherwise known as 'earbuds Paul' came on the phone, Paul was left shocked as he exclaimed: 'This is bananas.'

Speaking to Jack, Paul joked: 'I actually saw the photo, I didn't know it was happening until it was over and I think you captured the spirit of me very well.'

His lookalike then replied: 'Thank you very much. I presumed you were at home with your family getting some rest after the long press tour.'
Dhaka, Nov 24 (UNI) A review committee of Bangladeshs interim government has recommended a probe into the power agreements signed during former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas regime, including one with Indias Adani Group.

This comes days after the Bangladesh high court asked the Mohammed Younus-led Interim Government to examine the power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Adani Group signed in 2017 and submit the report in two months.

Additionally, the Bangladesh high court has also asked the government to submit all documents related to the 25-year deal between the power division and Adani Group in a months time.

The Adani Group had recently informed Bangladesh of an unpaid $800 million power supply bill.

On Sunday, in an official statement, the Bangladesh government said that the National Review Committee of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources has recommended that the Interim government hire a reputed legal and investigative firm to review major power generation contracts signed during Sheikh Hasina's rule between 2009 and 2024.

The committee is collecting evidence that may lead to potential renegotiation or cancellation of contracts in line with the international arbitration laws and proceedings, according to the chief adviser's press wing.

"To facilitate this, we recommend the immediate engagement of one or more top-quality international legal and investigative firms to assist our committee," the statement said.

The statement, issued by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunuss office, said the committee was currently reviewing seven major energy and power projects, including the Adani (Godda) BIFPCL 1234.4 MW coal-fired plant, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Power Limited.

The six other agreements include one with a Chinese company that built a 1320 MW coal-fired power plant.

UNI RN
Kaley Cuoco broke down in tears on Sunday as she opened up to her fans about the death of one of her beloved dogs named Shirley.

In a candid Instagram video, Kaley, 38, explained to her social media followers about why she felt the need to rehome her pet pooch, who recently passed away, once she moved in with now fiance Tom Pelphrey.

'Most of you know I had her for many, many, many years,' The Big Bang Theory actress began. 'All of a sudden, you kind of stopped seeing her, and I started to get a lot of questions as to where she was, because it's very unlike me to just stop posting about a dog that I've had since she was six weeks old.

'So, long story short, she's a very special dog to me, as you all know, and when the love of my life came into my life, Tom, who is also a mega dog lover, and he moved across the country with his beautiful German Shepherd Blue a couple years ago, unfortunately, Blue and Shirley started getting into some mega fights.'

Kaley continued: 'And Shirley was determined to kill him and it was very scary, she'd gotten into fights with other dogs,' before revealing the only pooch that Shirley hadn't fought with was her other dog Norman.

'I started to get worried that she would really hurt another animal. I needed to make a very, very difficult decision. She just could not live with us with how she was behaving,' the mother-of-one explained.

Kaley Cuoco broke down in tears on Sunday as she opened up to her fans on social media about the death of one of her dogs

The actress revealed that she had been forced to rehome her dog Shirley a few years ago

'I loved her so much, but I was really scared. I didn't want something really bad to happen or possibly a person accidentally being there and getting hurt.'

Kaley went on to confirm that her pet handler Tony and his wife Angie offered to help care for Shirley a couple of years ago and have 'had her ever since.'

'They have loved her so, so much, and it was an excruciating decision for me,' the actress added as her voice started to break.

'This was for the safety of Shirley herself, and I didn't want her to end up in a home that didn't understand her because she is so special and I've had her for so long,' she said, before adding that Shirley had been 'been living the life.'

She then revealed with tears in her eyes: 'I did just receive news that she has just passed. She got a very aggressive bone cancer that came on very quickly, she was almost 14 which is an unbelievable life for a dog and I just wanted to share her story.

'She has had an amazing life and I just want to say thank you to Tony and Angie for caring for her the way that they did, they treated her like they're own.

'I am devastated that she has gone over the rainbow bridge. Honestly I thought I would really be judged for this decision and I was really afraid to talk about it but this was a serious decision that needed to be made as a family and I think we did the right thing.

'I love her, I always will, and I promise to be extremely honest and forthcoming in the future. Thank you for listening and for understanding.'

The Big Bang Theory star started crying as she explained to her fans why could no longer live with Shirley

Kaley had cared for Shirley since she was six weeks old and said she recently passed after getting an 'aggressive bone cancer'

Kaley with her fiance Tom Pelphrey and their daughter Matilda, who was born in March 2023

Kaley ended the video by blowing a kiss to the camera, and despite choosing to turn the comments off, the clip has been liked over 76,000 times.

It's no secret that Kaley is a huge dog lover and last year she launched her own pet product business, Oh Norman! which is named after one of her late dogs, who she adopted when he was two.

'I wanted this dog to be in my life,' she told The Los Angeles Times in 2017 of Norman, who actually had a broken leg when she adopted him.

After adopting him, Kaley often called Norman 'my main man' and noted that he saved her 'in more ways than I can explain.'

A statement on the official Oh Norman! website reads: 'We love pets. We love our pets. We love your pets. And we believe pets deserve the best. Our mission is to make joyful, cutting edge products that improve the lives of the animals we love.'

Cuoco is far from the first celebrity to rehome a beloved pet.

Andy Cohen rehomed his dog of seven years Wacha after the birth of his son Ben in 2020.

Numerous professionals led me to the conclusion that my home is simply not a good place for him,' Cohen explained at the time.

The Bachelor's Sean Lowe and Catherine Giudici also rehomed their puppy Gus last year, citing similar reasons to Cohen.

'he showed a couple instances of resource guarding in the past when he snapped at/bit Mia,' Lowe said, referring to his young daughter.

'We did everything in our power to keep it from happening again but one night several weeks ago, [our son] Samuel bent down to pet Gus, and Gus bit him on the side of the head.'

Joe Biden's dog was removed from the White House last year after it emerged that he had bitten more people than the 12 officially noted by the Secret Service.

The removal marks the second time that the Bidens have had to re-home one of their beloved German Shepherds due to aggressive incidents.

Commander, a two-year-old German Shepherd, bit people working in the executive residence, along with White House staffers. At least one person had to be treated at the hospital.
The director of Netflix's new JonBenet Ramsey documentary has revealed why he believes the family of the murdered six-year-old is innocent - and who could be behind the mystery.

American documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger opened up about his own thoughts on the 1996 Colorado murder after he directed Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey, which takes aim at detectives for botching the investigation and the media for presenting the girl's family as the main suspects.

The six-year-old beauty pageant princess was reported missing after her family found a ransom note demanding $118,000 for the child's return inside their Boulder home on December 26, 1996.

The child's body was later found by her father in the basement of the family's upscale home, brutally beaten and strangled to death.

Speaking to the New York Post, Joe said: 'I am firmly convinced that the Ramsey family is innocent. And I am also firmly convinced that this case can be solved, if the Boulder Police Department finally does what it's supposed to do.'

He added that he believes all suspects should be 'put back on the table' as many 'likely suspects' were ruled out at the time because of the faulty DNA analysis.

However he did acknowledge that even the Ramsey family should also be DNA tested again because they would be more than happy to assist.

Bereaved father John Ramsey, 80, took part in the Netflix documentary in the hopes it could find the answers to his daughter's murder case.

The director of Netflix 's new JonBenet Ramsey three-part documentary, American documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger, (pictured) believes the family of the murdered six-year-old is innocent

Joe said: 'John Ramsey agreed to sit down with us, did not ask to be paid, and was not paid  we don't pay our subjects  and asked for no editorial input.

'No questions were off limits. To me, that is an 80-year-old guy whowants to get that case solved. It's just unthinkable that the family had anything to do with this.'

Joe told the publication that he believes an intruder entered the home and murdered the little girl, calling it 'a much more plausible scenario'.

JonBenet was found brutally beaten and strangled to death and it was ruled a homicide, but nobody was ever prosecuted and the case remains cold.

The details of the crime and video footage of JonBenet from her beauty pageants propelled the case into one of the highest-profile mysteries in the US.

She'd been crowned Little Miss Colorado, Little Miss Charlevoix, Colorado State All-Star Kids Cover Girl, and National Tiny Miss Beauty.

The mystery unleashed a series of true-crime books and television specials.

The district attorney at the time of JonBenet's death said her parents were under 'an umbrella of suspicion' early on.

The six-year old beauty pageant princess was reported missing after her family found a ransom note demanding $118,000 for the child's return inside their Boulder home on December 26, 1996

Bereaved father John Ramsey, 80, took part in the Netflix documentary in the hopes it could find answers in his daughters murder case

Theorists have also questioned whether their son Burke, who was aged nine at the time of JonBenet's death, killed his sister accidentally in a moment of rage, and his parents covered it up.

But tests in 2008 on newly discovered DNA on her clothing pointed to the involvement of an 'unexplained third party' in her slaying, and not her parents or Burke.

That led former district attorney Mary Lacy to clear the Ramseys of any involvement, two years after mom Patsy died of ovarian cancer in 2006, calling the couple 'victims of this crime'.

Investigators had identified other suspects, and developed a theory about an intruder, or several intruders, entering the home and killed the pageant princess.

Among the suspects was convicted pedophile Gary Oliva, who allegedly confessed to the killing.

Others included the Ramsey's housekeeper, as well as the man who portrayed Santa Claus at a holiday party the youngster attended.

Officials in 2006 announced that another suspect, John Mark Karr, had been arrested in Bangkok, Thailand.

He'd allegedly told an American investigator that he drugged JonBenet and sexually assaulted her before accidentally killing her.

JonBenet had been crowned Little Miss Colorado, Little Miss Charlevoix, Colorado State All-Star Kids Cover Girl, and National Tiny Miss Beauty

The three-part docuseries seeks to crack open one of the most tragic cold cases in US criminal history

The pageant star's cause of death was 'asphyxia by strangulation associated with craniocerebral trauma,' meaning she had been choked and beaten

But prosecutors dropped that probe after DNA tests failed to link him to the crime scene.

Investigations are ongoing. Police and officials in Boulder in December 2021 said they'd processed 1,500 pieces of evidence and analyzed nearly 1,000 DNA samples in their hunt for the killer.

Detectives have digitized all the samples of handwriting, fingerprints, and shoe prints collected over the years, and regularly check for DNA matches in the hopes of solving the case.

But dad John has questioned whether they're doing their jobs properly. In May 2022 he called for an outside agency to take responsibility for DNA testing in the case.

The new series brings together archive footage of JonBenet walking gleefully around the family home and the frantic recording of mom Patsy's 911 call declaring that her 'daughter's gone.'

The show, which streams from November 25, focuses on errors by the police, including the failure to secure the house and the potential removal of evidence.

It features an interview with Burke, who describes the Ramseys as 'just a regular family' before the fateful Christmas.

The trailer shows dad John, 80, recalling how the 'unbelievable' tragedy played out.

The crime scene at the Ramsey's upscale Colorado home following the killing of their six-year-old

The Ramsey family is pictured in a December 1993 holiday photo. (L-R) JonBenet, John, Patsy and Burke Ramsey

It also features a soundbite of an individual involved in the case, saying: 'We've been ruling people out for the wrong reasons.'

'Everybody should be back on the table. You have to go deeper,' says the person.

The show also probes whether Patsy, herself a former beauty queen, made JonBenet a target for predators by encouraging her to dress up for her beauty contests.

She was buried in Marietta, Georgia, beside her mother, and her half-sister Elizabeth Ramsey, who died in a car crash in 1992.

Director Joe Berlinger says the series takes aim at those who 'played armchair detective for three decades, often callously pointing a finger at the very people who suffered such an unthinkable loss.'

He added: 'Through unprecedented access and a comprehensive multi-year investigation, we reveal the deep flaws in how the case was originally handled, resulting in a sea of conspiracy theories that nearly destroyed the Ramsey family for a second time.'

Dionne Waugh, a spokeswoman for Boulder Police Department declined to comment on an 'open and ongoing investigation.' Anyone with information on the slaying should call the tipline at 303-441-1974, she said.

Shannon Carbone, a spokeswoman for Boulder's office of the District Attorney, said a recent case review had been 'helpful' and that investigators continued to 'make progress on this tragic case.'

'The overarching goal is to look at the facts and evidence with fresh eyes and an open mind, armed with the latest developments in forensic science,' Carbone told DailyMail.com.
Blac Chyna and her rapper fiance, Derrick Milano, have no plans to get a prenup before they tie the knot.

Appearing on Angela Yee's Lip Service this week, the happy couple said that they didn't need a prenuptial agreement because they weren't going to get divorced.

'Well, you know what? I'm not against it, I'm not opposed to it,' Milano explained on the podcast.

'I mean, [Chyna] has a lot of stuff already, you know what I'm saying? She got her cars, like, that's hers. She got her Sprinter, that's hers. She has her house, that's hers,' he continued.

'I have my stuff, that's mine, you know what I'm saying. But I'm not one of those people like, "Oh, you need to do one."'

Chyna then put an end to the conversation by bluntly interjecting, 'There won't be a prenup cause we're not getting divorced. That's it.'

She also said that the topic has never even been brought up in their relationship.

Milano proposed to the former hip-hop video vixen in October after one year of dating.

Blac Chyna and her rapper fiance, Derrick Milano, have no plans to get a prenup before they tie the knot

Appearing on Angela Yee's Lip Service this week, the happy couple said that they didn't need a prenuptial agreement because they weren't going to get divorced

Chyna, 36 - who was recently accused of domestic violence in a lawsuit by ex Twin Hector - said 'yes' to the songwriter, 30, after he got down on one knee while performing on stage during Howard University's Yard Fest.

DJ Quicksilva caught the big moment on camera and uploaded the video to X.

In the clip, Milano could be seen facing Chyna, who had joined him on the stage, and after a few moments he got down on one knee and pulled out a ring box.

The crowd erupted into loud cheers and applause as she agreed to marry him.

The reality star flashed an excited smile as she kissed her beau and they fell into a loving embrace.

Chyna - whose real name is Angela Renee White - brought a finger to her eye as she wiped away a tear.

She then held out her left hand as he placed the diamond sparkler on her ring finger as the audience continued to applaud the lovebirds.

Milano then picked up his microphone and asked, 'Angela, will you marry me?'

Chyna, 36 said 'yes' to the songwriter, 30, after he got down on one knee while performing on stage during Howard University's Yard Fest in October

The couple are currently starring on the latest season of Love & Hip-Hop: Miami together

In response, Chyna simply held up her left hand to show off the eye-catching ring to the crowd.

Blac Chyna - who underwent a plastic surgery makeunder - has previously been engaged to ex Tyga and also Rob Kardashian.

Both she and Tyga began dating in 2011 and welcomed their son, King Cairo, 12, in October 2012. But their engagement ended when they split in 2014 after he began a romance with Kylie Jenner.

During an interview on The Viall Files podcast last year in 2023, Chyna opened up about what led to their separation.

'I feel like it ran its course and then he started talking to Kylie at the time, which she was like 16 or something. Yeah, I was engaged and stuff, so that's kind of what ended it,' she said.

In 2016, Blac Chyna moved on with Rob Kardashian and the former couple share daughter Dream Kardashian, seven.

That same year, the pair became engaged, but their tumultuous relationship came to an end in 2017.

Blac Chyna went public with her budding romance with Derrick Milano last year in September, although the pair began dating months earlier.

She dated with Rob Kardashian in 2016 and the former couple share daughter Dream Kardashian, seven, together

The same month the couple went official with their relationship, she gushed in a statement, per People, 'You won't be able to say power couple without mentioning Angela White & Derrick Gray!'

'They always say don't go looking for love, let love find you. In this case love found us. I know that might sound cliche, but hey, it be like that sometimes.'

She added that their relationship was based on 'friendship' as well as 'long talks, consistency, support, love, trust, and faith.'

The star added that God's timing was 'always right & when it comes to love, you have to have faith in GOD & each other. But always GOD first!'

'Being able to be around somebody in your most vulnerable state plays a huge role in a successful relationship. Not to mention how important communication is to express to each other feelings, emotions, & honesty,' she said.

Chyna continued, 'As you know I'm very involved in my career & vision just as much as Derrick is. When I win "WE WIN" when He wins "WE WIN."'

The couple are currently starring on the latest season of Love & Hip-Hop: Miami together.

Milano is best known for his work as a songwriter in the hip-hop genre, most notably winning a Grammy award for Megan Thee Stallion's hit single Savage.
A chilling new Peacock documentary is set to expose the mindset of serial killer Richard Ramirez through extensive audio interviews.

Between June 1984 and August 1985, Ramirez  who was also known as the Night Stalker  carried out a series of violent crimes which at first seemed random and left many believing they were the work of multiple people.

The devil worshipper killed at least 13 people during his killing spree and left many more injured.

Peacock's upcoming docuseries, titled Richard Ramirez: The Night Stalker Tapes, will explore the killer's twisted crimes through exclusive interviews.

The trailer gives a flavor of Ramirez's sickening psyche, with the murderer admitting, in his own words, that there is 'no thrill like a good kill.'

'You don't understand me, I am beyond good and evil,' he declares in another moment, before adding: 'Satan is a stabilizing force in my life.'

When asked whether he thinks evil can be reincarnated, Ramirez hysterically laughs as he responds, 'I hope so.'

Besides hearing the killer in his own words, the new documentary will also shine a light on how a 'perfect storm of twisted boyhood influences and drug addiction enabled a troubled young man from El Paso, Texas, to become one of the most infamous serial killers in history.'

Richard Ramirez: The Night Stalker Tapes will hear serial killer Ramirez in his own words

The devil worshipper killed at least 13 people during his spree and left many more injured

The two-part series also features rare footage of his bride on their 1996 wedding eve, video interviews with his victims' family members, former friends, female admirers and relatives who have never told their stories in a documentary format, the synopsis reveals.

'Together, these elements offer an unsettling and thought-provoking look into the mind of a brutal serial killer through those who knew him best,' it reads.

The series holds a mirror up to reflect the culture of fandom in the 1980s, which turned a maniacal killer into a serial killer rock star for legions of fans who became obsessed with him.

During his reign of horror, Ramirez broke into homes and assaulted residents, and in some cases kidnapped and molested children before letting them go.

What made him so difficult to catch was the apparent randomness of his crimes, with some adults having been raped and killed, while his victims were of all ages, genders and races.

Additionally, the weapons Ramirez used varied between knives, guns and blunt objects.

Ramirez was convicted and sentenced to death in 1989. He died aged 53 while awaiting execution in 2013

The Peacock series is set to debut on December 10

Who was Richard Ramirez? Born in 1960, Richard Ramirez was a serial killer who was eventually found guilty of 13 cases of murder. His crime spree in Los Angeles during the summer of 1985 led to him being dubbed the Night Stalker. He grew up in El Paso, Texas, in an allegedly abusive household and was heavily influenced by his cousin, Miguel, who had fought in the Vietnam War. His cousin told him about the torture and human mutilation he had witnessed during the fighting. Ramirez was even present when Miguel fatally shot his wife in the face. After dropping out of school, Ramirez developed a drug habit and started following Satanism before turning to crime. His initial crimes started smaller, with petty thefts, before developing into murder, rape and kidnapping. He was eventually caught in Los Angeles after being spotted by members of the public who recognized him from the police appeals. After attempting multiple carjacks he became surrounded by a crowd of bystanders who beat and restrained him until the police arrived. He was found guilty of 13 counts of murder, five attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults and 14 burglaries. Although sentenced to death, Ramirez died of natural causes while on death row in 2013. Advertisement

He would climb through open windows and doors in the early hours of the morning and ransack valuables as well as rape and kill his victims, leaving gruesome crime scenes often marking them with pentagrams.

While behind bars, Ramirez formed a relationship with Doreen Lioy, whom he eventually married in 1996 at California's San Quentin State Prison.

For many years before Ramirez' death, she stated that she would commit suicide when Ramirez was executed.

By the time of his death in 2013, Ramirez was engaged to a 23-year-old writer.

Ramirez was convicted and sentenced to death in 1989. He died aged 53 while awaiting execution in 2013.
His mask slipped on our wedding night.

It's a moment seared into my memory. The party was over, we were alone in our suite and he looked me dead in the eyes and said it.

'By the way, I don't want to have any more kids with you - or anyone.'

I could have cried right there in our hotel room. I was a single mother of one when I'd started dating David* two years earlier. I had always wanted more children, and until that point, David - who was also a single parent when we met - had said he did too.

Oh, my God, I thought. It was all a lie. Why would he lie about that?

My whole world, my vision for my future and our marriage, fell apart in a matter of seconds. But the look on his face didn't change.

I wish I could go back in time, grab the naive, frightened woman I was then by the shoulders and say: 'Run. Just get out of there.'

Sadly that wasn't what happened.

My husband's mask slipped on our wedding night. It's a moment seared into my memory. The party was over, we were alone and he looked me dead in the eyes and said it... (Stock image)

David was a narcissistic sociopath, incapable of human emotion. He concealed his true self from me for two years until our wedding night.

Then he trapped me in an abusive marriage for 17 unbearable years.

You're probably wondering: why so long? He abused me so often it became 'normal' and if I wanted to leave he threatened to destroy me. Whenever I tried to escape him, he would physically overpower me. I often went to work with bruises on my arms. When colleagues asked why, I had to lie to their faces.

Every day during our marriage I would stare at the front door desperately wanting to leave - but I couldn't. I was trapped in my own home with this demon of a man who controlled my money, my decisions, my whole life.

He stole nearly two decades of my life, not to mention almost all the money I earned during my successful career as a real estate agent.

And during his relentless campaign of physical and psychological abuse, he stripped me of everything that once brought me joy: my confidence, my sense of identity, my friends, my career, my freedom.

I can still remember the woman I was before we married in 2006. I had a career I loved, a child, and was happy with my lot in life.

I wasn't actively dating when a friend introduced me to David at a lunch in 2004. He was a few years older than me and seemed kind and charming. He told me he was divorcing his second wife. She had got everything - the house, custody of the kids, the money - and he had to declare bankruptcy.

David* was a narcissistic sociopath, incapable of human emotion (stock image)

Still, David came across as someone who was loving and caring. I now recognise our courtship for what it really was: love bombing.

Love bombing is a manipulation tactic used by narcissists and sociopaths to overwhelm a person with affection. He would take me out to dinner, buy me flowers and gifts, and act as if I was going to be living a lavish life with him.

I should have picked up on the signs then.

It started with throwaway comments about what I wore or about what he thought of my friends. These remarks became an everyday occurrence.

Six months into the relationship, one of my friends told me something that should've made me break up with him immediately.

'You know, he's a real bully. He's bullying you. He's already telling you what to wear. He's already telling you who you can be friends with,' she said.

I had a beautiful piano and he didn't want me playing music. When I bought a house a few years later he said, 'I don't want some old-looking piano in the house. You're going to have to get rid of it.'

I had a cat I absolutely adored, too, and he made me get rid of it, which broke my heart. I just wanted peace so I didn't push back.

I was complacent and obeyed his demands even then.

There were red flags about David, but our author was convinced he had a 'loving and caring' side. All that went out the window as soon as they married (stock image)

I also became David's personal secretary because of his stubborn refusal to learn how to use a computer. I would stay up at night writing letters for him.

When I told him I had to go to bed because I had to wake up early the next day for work, he would reply: 'Well, that's too bad.'

He was a really nasty, coercive control freak, but I didn't realise it at the time.

It got to the point where he controlled everything I did - I couldn't go out, I couldn't catch up to see friends, I couldn't spend money on things I wanted. Every single phone call, everything I did for work, he would monitor it.

Even when we were planning our wedding, he said: 'You're not allowed to wear a dress that shows any cleavage. I don't want people to see your breasts.' I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Before the wedding, a friend of mine called me in a panic. 'I really don't think you should get married. I know it's embarrassing to call it off, but I really think you're making a massive mistake.'

Yes, you're right. I'm so scared but I have to stop this.

That's what I should have said. Instead, I made excuses for David.

'Oh, you know, he's a little bit different to me but it'll do me good to be part of a family again. It'll be good for my son too,' I replied. I was already falling under his spell - in what I now know is a tactic called conditioning.

Fortunately, those same friends never gave up on me. They were the ones who offered me a bed when I eventually escaped David 17 years later.

The thing about dating a narcissistic sociopath is you don't realise what you're losing until it's completely lost. It's so incremental. You don't step back and look at what the person is taking from you. I started to think living in his prison was normal.

His controlling behaviour much worse a few years into the marriage.

While out at dinner, he would tell me in front of everybody, 'You're not having another glass of wine,' even though I had only had a glass or two. It made me feel so embarrassed, like I was some kind of alcoholic.

I began to dress to hide my figure because he wouldn't let me wear anything nice. I only began to question it when one of my friends told me: 'You used to wear sexy clothes and now you dress like a grandmother. I'm worried for you.'

I tried starting my own business but he constantly put me down and said it would be a failure.

Little by little, it got to the point where I was constantly living in fear.

I would go to bed crying but he made sure I couldn't sleep by turning the TV's volume up piercingly loud.

He would force me to have sex. He would grab me by the arms and the hands and lock me in the bedroom until I submitted to him. I was terrified this would be my life until the day I died.

WHO CAN I CONTACT FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SUPPORT? AUSTRALIA If you are in immediate danger, call 000 and ask for the police CALL 1800RESPECT - 1800 737 732 Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week UK If you are in immediate danger, call 999 and ask for the police National Domestic Abuse Helpline - call on 0808 2000 247 Respect Men's Advice Helpline - call 0808 8010327 USA If you are in immediate danger, call 911 and ask for the police National Domestic Violence Hotline - 1800 799 7233 For other international numbers, click here Advertisement

When we moved from Sydney to the Gold Coast I was offered another job and accepted it. When I came home, he scolded me for not asking for his 'permission'.

I was shocked - I had to earn money for us somehow. But he said that was irrelevant and he had to 'approve' everything I did.

I was still working in real estate and he would insist on coming with me to every appraisal or open home to monitor everyone there.

In the end, he just said to me, 'I don't like you working there, I don't like that guy that you work for. You're going to go there today and resign.'

And so that's what I had to do, I had to leave my career of 25 years behind. I didn't have a choice. I used to be a nurse so I went back to do that.

I thought I would die under his control. Then, in 2020, I saw an opportunity.

Covid hit and, for a limited period, the Australian government allowed eligible people to access $10,000 from their superannuation - a type of retirement fund - even if they hadn't reached retirement age.

I had just turned 60 and I saw this as an opportunity to make a financial escape plan without David's knowledge, as he still controlled all my money.

Still, I didn't escape straight away. David's control over me was so strong that it took almost three years until I managed to free myself from his clutches.

I packed my suitcase as he kept saying, 'You're not going, you're not going.' I had to push him out of the way - 17 years of fear and frustration pulsing through my veins - then dashed out of the house and into the car.

He roared and raged in the rear-view mirror as I slammed the accelerator. Tears were flowing down my face, my heart was racing. I drove straight to the police station.

When I arrived, I pulled in and grabbed my phone from my handbag. I called David and said as calmly as my body would allow: 'I'm at the police station and I'm going to report you - or you're going to let me come back now, get my stuff and leave.'

He responded: 'Okay, well, come back - but if you try to leave me, I'm going to make sure I destroy you financially. You will walk away with nothing.'

And that's exactly what he did.

I took him to court but the experience was so traumatising and stressful I had a heart attack.

During divorce proceedings, my husband refused to provide full financial disclosure, only offering two pages of a bank statement from his brother.

He dragged out the divorce over 20 months, meaning I lost almost all my superannuation to legal fees and rent. At the end of it all, he lied to the court - just like he'd lied to everyone during our 17-year marriage. I wasn't even left with enough money to buy a one-bedroom apartment to retire in. He even took my beloved dog away by claiming it was his.

The court ruled that since he was older, he would get the majority of the assets, even though I had contributed significantly to our finances during our almost two decades together.

With no prospects of home ownership at 62, despite having two successful careers in nursing and real estate, I have decided to live in a caravan when I retire. The one silver lining is I'll get to travel around Australia and really enjoy life.

Even with David out of my life, he still lingers in the serious health issues I now live with as a result of the years of stress he put me through. I can't work full-time. I would like to resume my online business, but it's hard being so poor and unwell.

But despite everything I've been through and I all continue to suffer, I consider myself lucky. I stared a monster straight in the eyes and survived.
A hands-free fan has caught the eye of shoppers across Australia

Australian shoppers have discovered a $13 'must have' product to combat the sweltering summer heat - but you'll have to be quick.

Bunnings has released a brand new rechargeable neck fan and Aussies have already dubbed it 'amazing'.

The buy is perfect for those looking to keep cool - especially after the scorching heatwave that spread across Australia's southeast recently with temperatures soaring 15 degrees above average.

Shoppers have also commended the product's chic design that looks like a high-tech accessory that can dress up any outfit.

Many have given the buy five-star reviews and sung its praises online.

'I'm perimenopausal and I'm on my way to Bunnings right now,' a woman said.

'I just ordered mine - can't wait to use it at work,' another wrote.

'Great for the travel to and from work - especially on trains with no aircon!' a third revealed.

Bunnings has released a brand new rechargeable neck fan ($13)

You can use the versatile buy while working out, on the job, or chilling at the beach

The fan is lightweight, hands-free, and offers three different fan speeds to keep you cool no matter what you're doing.

Aussies are particularly drawn to the six-hour battery life.

Bunnings' new fan is sure to sell out as shoppers flock to stores to get their hands on it.

You can use the versatile buy while working out, on the job, or chilling at the beach.

If you're out of luck and can't find the Bunnings buy anywhere - there's a Kmart product that's right up your alley.

Kmart Australia's bladeless portable fans ($10) are selling out all over the country as spring comes to an end.

'They are going to go like hotcakes!' a shopper exclaimed online after purchasing her goods.

Hundreds have shared their love for the fan online, with many sharing all the times the product is useful.

Kmart Australia's bladeless portable fans ($10) are selling out all over the country as spring comes to an end

The fans can be used for two and a half hours after being fully charged

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'Got one for my baby bag, has already come in handy when waiting for appointments,' a mum said. 'The aircon was broken and bub was overheating, [the fan] was enough to keep her comfortable.'

'I use mine for my lash extensions! Best thing ever,' another added.

The fans can be used for two and a half hours after being fully charged.

A few complained the fan was noisy, but others weren't as bothered by the drawback.

'I bought four and I think for $10 they are fantastic, my 14-year-old son had his on for over an hour and it still had charge,' a mum wrote. 'Full speed and fantastic air flow for a portable $10 fan.'

'I bought one I love it,' another added.

'Great stocking filler!' one recommended, already thinking about Christmas.
Repeat attenders at A&E can account for almost one in seven emergency visits to hospital, a new study suggests.

Researchers carried out a review into frequent visitors in emergency departments and concluded that the needs of these people - who are often elderly - are consistently not being met.

Experts from the British Red Cross examined data on A&E attendances in Dorset. They found that around 1.7 per cent of the countys entire population accounts for 13.8 per cent of A&E attendances.

The visits are more likely to be classed as urgent by doctors, the report found, and these people are more likely to live in deprived neighbourhoods.

Two groups were more likely to be repeat visitors - the first being over-70s with two or more long-term conditions, with nearly half nearing the end of their lives.

The second group are aged 20 to 49, with slightly more women than men, with ill mental health.

Both groups are more likely to arrive at A&E via ambulance and both attended GPs more frequently in the month before their A&E attendance, the report found.

Many people are making repeat visits to emergency departments across the country because of unresolved medical issues and other unmet non-clinical needs, the British Red Cross said.

Many people are making repeat visits to emergency departments across the country because of unresolved medical issues and other unmet non-clinical needs (file image)

Researchers carried out a review into frequent visitors in emergency departments and concluded that the needs of these people - who are often elderly - are consistently not being met (file image)

The charity has made a series of recommendations, including the creation of more dedicated high intensity use of A&E services.

Every year millions of people go to A&E when they have an accident or are in desperate need of care, but some people have to attend more than others, Beatrice Butsana-Sita, the charitys chief executive, said.

There are many reasons that can contribute to this and for those individuals, it is very distressing. It is a situation any of us could find ourselves in.

Our research found almost one in seven A&E attendances in Dorset were from less than 2 per cent of the countys population.

Those people needed help and were far more likely to be classed as urgent cases or need hospital admission.

She said Red Cross teams regularly see people facing a range of issues, from isolation to inadequate housing, that can impact health and wellbeing.

As the Government embarks on the development of a new plan to transform the NHS, this research provides further urgency for the need to tackle underlying causes of ill health, resource vital community services and more dedicated high intensity use of A&E services, Ms Butsana-Sita added.

This will help make sure the right services are in place to support people with compassion when they need it most before they reach crisis point.
Thousands of Brits who take drugs for a common hormone condition could be at risk of bone loss, concerning research suggested today.

Roughly one in five Britons are affected by an underactive thyroid, caused by problems with the butterfly-shaped gland in the neck which governs functions from digestion to heart rate and mood.

Yet levothyroxine, pills that cost just a few pence a day to combat the condition, could raise the risk of the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis.

Research has long suggested too much thyroid hormone speeds up bone loss heightening the risk of the disease.

But now, the US scientists who assessed the drug on dozens of patients, found this risk was still raised among those with 'normal' levels of the thyroid-stimulating hormone.

Professor Shadpour Demehri, an expert in radiology at John Hopkins University in Maryland and study co-author said: 'Our study suggests that even when following current guidelines, levothyroxine use appears to be associated with greater bone loss in older adults.'

Dr Elena Ghotbi, study lead author and postdoctoral research fellow at John Hopkins University added: 'Data indicates that a significant proportion of thyroid hormone prescriptions may be given to older adults without hypothyroidism.

'This raises concerns about subsequent excess of thyroid hormone even when treatment is targeted to reference range goals.'

Levothyroxine, pills that cost just a few pence a day to combat the condition, could raise the risk of losing bone mass and bone density

Roughly one in five Britons are affected by an underactive thyroid, caused by problems with the butterfly-shaped gland in the neck which governs functions from digestion to heart rate and mood

Levothyroxine, sold under the brand name Eltroxin, is one of the most widely prescribed drugs in the UK.

Around 1.36 million people in England take it and prescriptions rose by 9 per cent between 2016 and 2022, according to figures published in The Lancet last year.

In the study, researchers assessed 81 patients on levothyroxine and 364 non-users, with an average age of 73 and thyroid-stimulating hormone level of 2.35.

Normal levels are typically 0.4 to 4.0 milliunits per liter (mU/L).

Over a follow-up of six years, they found those on levothyroxine suffered a 'greater loss of total body bone mass and bone density'.

Patients taking the drug who had a 'normal' thyroid-stimulating hormone level also suffered bone mass and density loss, the researchers added.

Dr Jennifer Mammen, study co-author and associate professor of endocrinology at Johns Hopkins, said adults taking levothyroxine should discuss their treatment with a medic and regularly monitor their thyroid function tests.

She said: 'A risk-benefit assessment should be conducted, weighing the strength of the indications for treatment against the potential adverse effects of levothyroxine in this population.'

Research has long suggested too much thyroid hormone speeds up bone loss heightening the risk of the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis. Pictured, x-ray of the head of a femur thigh bone diseased with osteoporosis

The research will be presented in full at the Radiological Society of North America's annual meeting next week in Chicago.

According to the British Thyroid Foundation, an underactive thyroid is not a risk factor for osteoporosis.

However, adults prescribed levothyroxine should have regular blood tests, at least once a year, to ensure thyroid hormone levels are 'not too high', they advise.

'Continuous high thyroid hormone levels may lead to developing or worsening of low bone density and osteoporosis.'

At least one in 20 people in the UK has a disorder of the thyroid, figures show.

The thyroid produces two key hormones  triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4)  which help regulate key body functions, including heart rate, temperature and mood.

Hypothyroidism, where the gland produces too few hormones, leading to weight gain, fatigue, feeling the cold, constipation and dry skin and hair.

Women are ten times more likely to be affected than men, although it's not clear why  and the most common trigger for both thyroid problems is an auto-immune condition, where the body mistakenly attacks the thyroid tissues.

There are 3.5 million people living with osteoporosis in the UK, but it is often known as a 'silent disease' as there are no symptoms until someone breaks a bone.

Half of all women and one in five men over 50 will suffer a fracture, most often in the spine or hips, because of the disease, which causes bones to become so fragile a break can be triggered by a cough or sneeze.

Such fractures are the fourth biggest cause of disability and premature death in the UK.
Pancreatic cancer cases in young adults have soared in recent years but, to the confusion of scientists, deaths from the disease haven't spiked.

Now a team of experts from the US may have uncovered a possible reason why.

Pancreatic cancer is considered one of the deadliest forms of the disease.

Less than one in 20 pancreatic cancer patients live to see the decade after their diagnosis, according to UK figures.

Experts have therefore expected to see a significant rise in pancreatic deaths in the under 50s  to match the 2 to 8 per cent jump in diagnoses over the last 18 years.

Now, experts believe this hasn't happened because of the specific type of pancreatic cancer affecting young people, which is easier to spot and treat at earlier stages.

Pancreatic cancer is an umbrella term for various tumours found on the 25cm tadpole shaped organ that helps with both digestion and hormones regulation.

One type, adenocarcinoma, is the most common, accounting for 90 per cent of cases.

Becki Buggs was 43 when she received a devastating pancreatic diagnosis with nurse motivated to get tests after her husband commented she looked like 'a Minion', which was later revealed to be jaundice. Here Becki is pictured with her two children Jacob and Georgie who were 9 and eight-years-old at the time respectively

This variant has little-to-no symptoms until patients start suddenly losing weight and turn yellow and at which point for the vast majority, it is too late.

It's the reason why the disease has been dubbed a 'silent killer'.

But experts, led by medics from Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, found upon analysing the data there was no surge of adenocarcinoma in young people.

Instead, the surge came from another type of pancreatic cancer, called endocrine cancers.

In contrast to adenocarcinoma these are slow growing tumours that take decades to emerge, and while they may turn cancerous, are mostly benign.

Furthermore, authors suspect that the cancer isn't actually appearing more often in young people, medics just have far better tools to spot it.

They believe that the increased use of high-tech medical scans like CT and MRIs  which have grown more sensitive over the years  are increasingly picking up endocrine cancers.

Now 45, Becki knows she is one of the lucky few whose pancreatic cancer was caught early enough to be operable. She is also part of a rising trend of younger women getting diagnosed with the disease, a pattern that experts are baffled by

These discoveries are often accidental, with the scan not directed at the pancreas itself but spotted by medics as they analyse images while investigating another medical problem.

Dr Gilbert Welch, a researcher in surgery and public Health at Brigham and author of on the study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, told The New York Times: 'The more you are imaged, the more these things will turn up.'

Despite guidelines that state small endocrine tumours should be monitored with scans rather than removed with risky surgery, some medics argue it's better to remove them in younger patients.

They say that as younger patients have a longer lifespan, there's more time for these cancers to eventually turn deadly.

As Dr Adewole Adamson, an expert on overdiagnosis at the University of Texas and fellow author of the new study, explained these requests for action are often be driven by patients themselves.

'A lot of patients say, "Get it out,",' he said.

'When someone tells you that you have cancer you feel like you have to do something.'

But medics say the success for these type of interventions for endocrine cancers haven't been assessed.

Pancreatic cancer has been dubbed a 'silent killer' due to its subtle signs that are often only spotted too late

Some are calling for endocrine cancer and the far more dangerous adenocarcinoma to be split so the former is no longer classified as a pancreatic cancer to help present data more accurately.

One Brit who has been hit by the devastation of a pancreatic cancer diagnosis can is Becki Buggs, 46, from Colchester, Essex.

The first indicator she had the disease was an off-hand comment from her husband who told her she looked like a 'Minion'  the yellow-shaded cartoon characters from Despicable Me film series.

Looking in the mirror, the experienced nurse noticed signs of jaundice, a yellowing of the skin and eyes and a serious indicator something is terribly wrong with the body's internal processes.

The mother of two had been feeling unwell on Christmas Day 2021, three days before the jaundice began, but suspected this was probably a Covid infection.

Rushing herself to hospital for tests, she recalled strongly suspected it wasn't going to be good news.

'Everything was adding up to the fact that it was not going to be a good diagnosis. It didnt make it any easier,' she told MailOnline.

Three days later she was given the devastating news that her fears were well-founded  she had pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer remains one of the least survivable forms of the disease and worryingly its on the rise. Source for data: Cancer Research UK

Fortunately for her, she was one of the lucky few where the cancer was caught in the early stages meaning it could be operated on.

She had a pancreaticoduodenectomy, also known as a Whipple procedure, a gruelling op that sees cancerous tissue cut away and surgeons then rearrange the patient's digestive system.

Becki had ironically prepared pancreatic patients for this procedure multiple times in her nursing career and described her own experience as the 'hardest' ordeal of her life.

'They were the hardest 11 days of my life,' she said.

'It is a horrible operation. There's no two ways about it. Its totally re-plumbing your whole digestive system, so it is gruelling but for me, it wasn't that bad because I knew what to expect.'

Becki, alongside cancer experts, has urged people experiencing any of the subtle signs of pancreatic cancer to seek advice from their GP.

'Im worried for other pancreatic cancer patients,' she said.

'It scares me that there are people out there that will think, oh, I just feel a bit off but it's fine, I wont get a GP appointment, I'll just ride it out.

'Then they become so ill and jaundiced that they get admitted to A&E and by then it's too late.

'If you are concerned about a symptom, get in touch with your GP.'

Pancreatic cancer kills about 10,000 Brits every year, roughly equivalent to one death every hour in the UK.

Symptoms of pancreatic cancer include jaundice, where the whites of the eyes and skin turn yellow, alongside itchy skin and darker urine.

Other possible signs include loss of appetite, unintended weight loss, constipation or bloating.

While symptoms are unlikely to be cancer it is important that they are checked out by a GP early just in case, especially if individuals have had them for over four weeks.
Brits were today warned of the key signs of a dirty barber shop amid a surge in young men catching ringworm from haircuts.

Cases of the contagious skin fungus that can cause disfigurement have jumped significantly in just a handful of months, some barbers have claimed.

They believe this is due to more men opting for popular skin fade haircuts  when the sides are shaved short, and length is left on top  at 'cheap, dirty, unqualified' shops 'littering the high streets'.

Transmitted through skin-to-skin contact, despite its name ringworm is not caused by a worm.

Instead, it is being spread via poorly sanitised combs or towels, barbers say. In severe cases it can even lead to permanent scarring and hair loss.

Now, experts have warned Brits of the five signs that indicate their barber may not be as hygienic as they first believed.

In a TikTok video seen over 58,000 times, Mississippi based licensed professional barber Thomas White, said: 'Did they wash or sanitise their hands before your haircut?

'I know a lot of barbers like to wear gloves, but even wearing gloves hair can easily be transferred from person to person because loose hair sticks to the gloves.

Cases of the contagious skin fungus that can disfigure have jumped significantly in just a handful of months, they claim. Pictured, a 2022 case in Australia of a boy who contracted ringworm after visiting the barber

Barbers believe this is due to more men opting for skin fade haircuts. Pictured, a 2022 case in Australia of a boy who contracted ringworm after visiting the barber

In a TikTok video seen over 58,000 times, Mississippi based licensed professional barber Thomas White, said: 'Did they wash or sanitize their hands before your haircut?'

'Barbers may not be changing into a fresh pair of gloves with every hair cut.'

A lack of cleaning products visible in the salon may equally suggest grooming tools such as combs and hair-cutting shears are not being disinfected between clients.

One popular product called Barbicide takes just 15 minutes to rid illness-causing bugs that are embedded in dirty tools like clipper guards and scissors.

'It should be a tall, cylinder jar with blue liquid', Mr White said.

'The liquid is a hospital grade disinfectant that kills bacteria and viruses.'

He added: 'Did they also disinfect their clippers?

'You should see some sort of aerosol disinfectant being sprayed, or maybe they dipped the blades into a solution.'

Opting for fresh blades for each client and cleaning the barber chair  specifically the headrest  are among the other two key signs, Mr White said.

One popular product Barbicide, takes just 15 minutes to rid illness-causing bugs that are embedded in dirty tools like clipper guards and scissors

Other TikTok barber accounts have shared images of similar cleaning products professionals should use to ensure their equipment is clean between each client

Using plastic disposable head rest covers can also prevent the spread of infection.

According to the British Master Barbers Alliance, a voluntary organisation, barbers should always follow the 'one man, one blade' rule.

'It is so important to always use one blade per client regardless of how much or how little you use the blade. Always discard the finished blade after use,' the association advises.

'You must always dispose of your blades in a properly labelled sharps box and disinfect the razor after use.'

Dr Noman Mohamed, a London-based expert in cosmetic dermatology, also urged his 410,000 TikTok followers to ensure their barber 'washes their hands' before cutting hair and 'disinfects his equipment'.

Following the haircut, he also advised viewers 'use an anti-dandruff shampoo immeditely afterwards' to help prevent ringworm.

Cases of ringworm are usually treated with antifungal medications available on prescription such as gels and creams.

But sometimes oral antifungal medication is needed as well.

According to the British Master Barbers Alliance, a voluntary organisation, barbers should always follow the 'one man, one blade' rule

Pictured, illustration of Trichophyton mentagrophytes, the cause of scalp ringworm

Common signs of the fungal infection include itchiness, a scaly ring-shaped area, scattering of bumps which range in colour from red on white skin to reddish, brown or grey on black skin.

Slightly raised expanding rings or a round flat patch of itchy skin are other key signs, according to the NHS.

Dr James O'Donovan, an NHS medic and technical advisory group member at the World Health Organization, also advises people to avoid sharing 'combs, hats, hairbrushes, towels and pillowcases with other people'.

This is 'because fungus can live for a long period of time', he said.

If a child is affected, it is vital school teachers and parents of classmates are made aware, he added.

'Other family members should be examined by a doctor and treated.

'Sometimes it's best for the whole family to be treated with a medicated antifungal shampoo twice weekly for four weeks, whether or not a fungal infection is proven.'

Industry experts have long called for a mandatory hairdresser and barber register to ensure Brits are only being seen by qualified professionals.

Barber Mike Taylor, who last week sounded the alarm on the concerning rise in ringworm cases, has also shared images of clients affected by the condition

But the Government has said it still had 'no plans to regulate the hairdressing sector'.

Last week, a government spokesperson said: 'We have no plans to regulate the hairdressing sector.

'However we will always seriously consider evidence when it's provided.

'We work closely with the industry to address skills and training needs, and HMRC is also working to tackle tax fraud in the sector.'
Rome/New Delhi, Nov 25 (UNI) India is always willing to contribute meaningfully to any international diplomatic endeavours towards resolution of the Middle East and Ukraine conflicts, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said today.

Addressing the Rome Mediterranean Dialogue 2024, EAM elaborated on the two ongoing conflicts and on Indias relations with the Mediterranean and the Middle Eastern region.

He also said the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC) is proceeding ahead, and the India-Israel-UAE-US (I2U2) grouping is expected to be more active in times to come.

On the Ukraine and Middle East conflicts, EAM said that due to the two conflicts the world is experiencing severe stress, and supply chains are insecure, and connectivity, especially maritime, stands disrupted.

EAM said the situation in the Middle East is obviously deeply concerning, both for what has happened and what may still come. India unequivocally condemns terrorism and hostage taking. It also regards large scale civilian casualties in military operations to be unacceptable. International humanitarian law cannot be disregarded.

In immediate terms, we should all support a ceasefire. India has also extended relief directly and through UNRWA. In the longer term, it is imperative that the future of the Palestinian people be addressed. India favours a two-State solution.

Our concerns have also been increasing on the widening of the conflict. We have been in regular touch with both Israel and Iran at the highest levels to advocate restraint and enhance communication. Where Lebanon is concerned, there is an Indian contingent like Italy, that is part of UNIFIL. With regard to the Gulf of Aden and the northern Arabian sea, Indian naval ships have been deployed since last year to protect commercial shipping. Given our capacity to engage various parties, we are always willing to contribute meaningfully to any international diplomatic endeavours.

On Ukraine, he said the conflict is well into its third year. The continuation of this conflict has serious destabilizing consequences, including for the Mediterranean. What is clear is that no solution is going to emerge from the battlefield. India has consistently held the view that disputes in this era cannot be settled by war. There must be a return to dialogue and diplomacy; the sooner the better. This is a widespread sentiment in the world today; especially in the Global South.

Since June this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has personally engaged leaders of both Russia and Ukraine to this end. This has included his visiting Moscow and Kyiv. Our senior officials remain in continuous touch. We firmly believe that those who have the ability to explore finding common ground must step up to that responsibility.

On the relevance of India to the Mediterranean region, he said Indias annual trade with the Mediterranean nations is about USD 80 billion, and has a diaspora there of 460,000, with about 40% of that in Italy. Indias key interests are in fertilizers, energy, water technology, diamonds, defence and cyber, and India also has significant projects underway in the form of airports, ports, railway, steel, green hydrogen, phosphates and submarine cables.

On Indias relations with the Middle East, he said the trade with the Gulf alone is in between 160-180 billion USD annually. The rest of MENA adds about another USD 20 billion. More than nine million Indians live and work in the Middle East. Whether it is energy, technology, industrial projects or services, we have big stakes. It is also a region to which we are connected in history, culture and security.

For these very reasons, you may expect Indias presence and activities to grow, especially as we move from being the fifth largest economy in the world to the third.

The Mediterranean presents both opportunities and risks in an uncertain and volatile world. Beyond extrapolating current trends, the new element of our relationship will be connectivity. The IMEEC (India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor) that was announced in September 2023 can be a game changer. The conflict underway currently in the Middle East has undoubtedly been a major complication. But the IMEEC is proceeding ahead on the Eastern side, especially between India, UAE and Saudi Arabia. I also flag your attention to the I2U2 (India-Israel-UAE-US) grouping. Expect it to be more active in times to come, he added.

In a post on X, the EAM said:

Pleased to address the 10th edition of @RomeMEDialogues today.

Underlined Indias robust trade, investment and political linkages with the Mediterranean and West Asia/Middle East. And our commitment to further regional connectivity and cooperation through IMEEC and I2U2.

Spoke about the ongoing conflicts in West Asia and Ukraine and the need for diplomatic initiatives.

UNI RN
More than half of people who take the popular and potent psychedelic drug ayahuasca suffer mental health problems related to their trip  and one in 10 need prolonged professional support, data suggest.

In some, rarer cases, use of the plant  which contains the hallucinogen N-N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT)  can prove fatal, due to its effect on the heart, with some data suggesting this occurs in one in 100 people who take it.

The physical impact of the drug is well known, with users handed buckets at ayahuasca 'ceremonies' to cater for the violent vomiting that the drug triggers.

But focus has now been drawn to its life-threatening effects following the death of 54-year-old social worker Maureen Rainford, who had travelled to a Bolivian retreat in the Amazon that supplies ayahuasca tea.

The social worker collapsed 10 minutes after drinking the tea, reportedly complaining of feeling ill as her breathing and heart rate dropped. Despite CPR, Ms Rainford died an hour after she collapsed.

A spokesman for the retreat said her passing was due to a 'medical emergency that was not related to ayahuasca'.

It follows warning from experts that promotion of ayahuasca's supposed healing properties from famous faces like Prince Harry could inspire others to try the hallucinogen.

Ayahuasca has previously been blamed for the deaths of at least three Brits, one of whom took her own life due to its effect on her mental health.

Social worker Maureen Rainford, 54, (pictured) booked a ten-day stay at the Ayahuasca and San Pedro Pisatahua Retreat, an Amazon commune billed as a wellness and detox retreat

There is little data on how commonly the brown-reddish brewed drink (pictured) is used in the UK. But it is thought to be popular among the middle classes

Ayahuasca is the same drug that Prince Harry admitted to taking to help him cope after his mother Princess Diana's death

Despite the risks interest in ayahuasca is rising. Almost 4.5 million people reported using the drug in their lifetime, according to a report the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research and Service published last year.

The group, a non-for-profit that explores the use of traditional indigenous medicines, also found 820,000 people globally tried the drug in 2019 alone, the latest figure available.

While the authors described this as a record figure, they predicted it had likely been eclipsed given rising usage of the drug worldwide.

Estimates on how many Brits have used ayahuasca are more difficult to calculate.

DMT, and by extension ayahuasca, is a Class A drug in the UK meaning possession can come with a prison term of up to seven years and an unlimited fine.

A 2017 study conducted by Kings College London found only some 35 Brits out of a sample of about 10,000 who participated about in an anonymous drug survey reported using ayahuasca recently.

Experts have warned that despite some legitimate evidence DMT could have use in a clinical setting, adverse effects from psychosis and suicide to heart attacks had been recorded.

Professor Edzard Ernst, emeritus professor of complementary medicine at the University of Exeter, previously told MailOnline: 'Ayahuasca is an under-researched botanical hallucinogenic and psychedelic drug that has shown some rather preliminary promise in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and substance abuse.

Kate Hyatt killed herself in October 2021. The actress and artist suffered severe psychosis after taking the hallucinogen for what she believed were medicinal reasons

'Adverse effects are on record, some of which are serious.

'Its promotion as a life-changing treatment is unwise at best and irresponsible at worst.'

Dr Max Pemberton, an NHS psychiatrist in London, speaking on Prince Harry's previous detailing of his positive experience on using the drug added: 'Harry plainly has no understanding of the serious damage these substances can wreak on users  damage that I see on mental health hospital wards with upsetting frequency.'

An international study, published in Plos Global Health in 2022, found of 11,000 ayahuasca users, just over one in 50 needed medical help for physical problems caused by taking the drug, though two in three reported symptoms.

But over half reported adverse mental health effects in the weeks or even months after consumption, with just over a tenth needing professional help as a result.

The study also cited a decade's worth of data, from the American Association of Poison Controls Centers, that found over one in six people who contacted them about ayahuasca reported a worryingly elevated heart rate.

Additionally, one in 50 reported seizures and one per cent noted cases in which someone was not breathing or suffering a cardiac arrest after using the drug.

As with many other analyses, it cannot be proven if these incidents were directly related to ayahuasca use or another substance.

Jake Paul has revealed how Ayahuasca - a hallucinogen drug - inspired him to fight Mike Tyson after visualising himself taking on the 58-year-old two years ago

Last year, actor Will Smith revealed during an interview with Oprah Winfrey that he drank the brew over 12 times during a retreat in Peru while having marital problems with his wife Jada

Actress Lindsay Lohan credited drinking ayahuasca  which is created by pounding vine stems in boiling water  with helping to free her from 'the wreckage of my past'

While most experts agree taking ayahuasca is dangerous for your health unpicking exactly how risky it can be is uncertain.

This is part due its use in ritual rather than a clinical setting meaning the dose of DMT, and if other hallucinogenic substances are added, can vary by practitioner.

Actual DMT content per vine can also vary by region and harvest adding an inherent layer of unpredictability.

Anyone with heart conditions or those taking antidepressants or with a history of psychotic episodes are frequently urged not to use the drug.

However, as many Brits are living with undiagnosed heart conditions, or lie about their mental health seeking ayahuasca's healing properties, many can be at risk.

Experts have feared discussion of using ayahuasca by celebrities like Prince Harry could lead to rising interest by members of the general public.

In an interview published last year, he said ayahuasca triggered feelings of 'release' and 'comfort' that helped him deal with his trauma, Prince Harry said.

He added: 'It was the cleaning of the windscreen, cleaning of the windshield, the removal of life's filters just as much as on Instagram, these layers of filters.

'It removed it all for me and brought me a sense of relaxation, release, comfort, a lightness that I managed to hold on to for a period of time.

'I started doing it recreationally and then started to realise how good it was for me, I would say it is one of the fundamental parts of my life that changed me and helped me deal with the traumas and pains of the past.'

In a previous interview, Prince Harry claimed he would not recommend taking the substance recreationally.

But he added: 'Doing it with the right people if you are suffering from a huge amount of loss, grief or trauma, then these things have a way of working as a medicine.'

Other famous faces who have spoken about taking the drug include boxer Jake Paul, who revealed taking ayahuasca inspired him to fight Mike Tyson, and actors Will Smith and Lindsay Lohan.

Ayahuasca, also called the 'vine of the soul', is a hallucinogenic drug that's extracted from, which has been used by Amazonian tribes for centuries.

It is made by combining the bark from a Banisteriopsis caapi vine tree and leaves from the Psychotria viridis bush  both of which are native to south America  and originally used by shamans for healing and religious rituals.

Despite its illegality in Britain multiple 'wellness retreats' offering the drug op up with alarming regularity.

The Mail on Sunday attended one such retreat, where dozens of Brits paid 800 per to take ayahuasca, undercover last year.

While ayahuasca isn't recommend by most experts, scientists are exploring how to it could potentially be used to tackle addiction, depression and trauma in a clinical setting.

A recent University College London study found the so-called 'jungle tea' may boost wellbeing and lower the risk of depression.

Any such legitimate DMT therapy would likely be highly controlled in terms of exact dosage and screening of patients to ensure they didn't have conditions that could lead to adverse side effects.
An ex-government food safety expert is urging Americans to avoid raw dairy products following the news that bird flu has been detected in unpasteurized milk in for the first time in California.

The state's health department revealed the H5N1 virus was found in a batch of cream top, whole raw milk sold by Fresno-based dairy farm Raw Farm and an urgent recall has been made.

Dr Darin Detwiler, a former advisor to the FDA and USDA, told DailyMail.com people should definitely avoid raw milk and cheeses because they 'do not undergo the heat treatment necessary to ensure safety.'

Raw dairy products have not been pasteurized, a process that removes disease-causing germs by heating milk to a high enough temperature.

While sales have been banned or restricted for decades on health grounds, in recent years they have benefited from a booming demand for organic produce, with at least 4.4 per cent of Americans (nearly 11 million people) trying raw milk each year.

Dr Detwiler also warns that people should be extra vigilant with their turkeys this Thanksgiving because of the bird flu outbreak in poultry and to avoid desserts, salad dressings and other items that contain raw eggs.

More than 300,000 turkeys have been infected with bird flu so far this month alone, according to the Department of Agriculture.

And since 2022, the disease has infected nearly 7 million commercial and backyard chickens in the US.

Dr Darin Detwiler, a former advisor to the FDA and USDA, is urging people to be cautious amid the spread of bird flu

The virus was detected in unpasteurized, commercial milk in for the first time in California

Dr Detwiler said it is 'important to avoid cross-contamination by ensuring raw poultry or bird products do not come into contact with dairy products in the fridge or during food preparation.'

The finding of bird flu in raw milk in California is significant because it marks the first time it has been found in the commercial milk supply.

Raw milk carries an inherently elevated risk of foodborne illness that the high-temperature pasteurization process helps eliminate.

The FDA's longstanding recommendation regarding the consumption of raw milk is that it is considered a 'high-risk food' because of these factors.

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However, the government agency notes that 'based on the limited research and information available, we do not know at this time if [bird flu] can be transmitted to humans through consumption of raw milk and products made from raw milk from infected cows.'

While investigations around this link continue, Dr Detwiler advises only consuming pasteurized dairy products.

Similarly, the CDC warns that 'unpasteurized (raw) milk and products made from raw milk, including soft cheese, ice cream, and yogurt, can be contaminated with germs that can cause serious illness, hospitalization, or death.'

When it comes to eggs, Dr Detwiler warns these are a 'significant are a significant risk when it comes to exposure to the bird flu virus, particularly in foods like homemade mayonnaise, aioli, or certain dessert recipes (e.g., mousse, tiramisu).'

Food safety experts have warned against eating eggs with runny yolks, as they are not properly cooked and could increase the risk of contracting bird flu

He adds: 'Until the bird flu crisis is under control, it's wise to avoid dishes that use raw or lightly cooked eggs.'

Salad dressings are also a risk so if you are ordering out, the safest options are a simple olive oil or vinaigrette.

As for poultry such as turkey and chicken, the consumer food safety advocate says it is important to ensure that it has been handled properly before purchasing and that the packaging is intact.

While avian flu does not directly impact red meat, the Boston-based professor also notes that steakhouses are 'not safe zones, and cross-contamination risks can exist in mixed-use kitchens that handle poultry.'

He adds: 'Restaurants that serve both poultry and beef should be scrutinized for their food safety practices.

'If dining out, ensure the restaurant follows stringent food safety protocols.'

To check a restaurant's food safety rating in the US, inspection scores and reports are typically accessible via local health department websites.

For those looking to be extra careful, Dr Detwiler says going dairy and meat free is easier than ever with 'lots of products to choose from.'

'Since there have been infections among dairy workers, it's worth considering alternatives like plant-based milks and cheeses,' said Dr Detwiler, who previously served on the USDA's National Advisory Committee for Meat and Poultry Inspection.

'You could also stock up on plant-based salad dressings.'

The state's health department revealed the H5N1 virus was found in a batch of cream top, whole raw milk sold by Fresno-based dairy farm Raw Farm and an urgent recall has been made

In terms of cooking turkeys, he says 'cooking poultry to an internal temperature of 165F (74C) effectively kills the virus, making it safe for consumption.'

Other food safety tips he offers include 'washing hands, utensils, and surfaces thoroughly after contact with raw meat.'

Along with dairy farms, poultry farms have been crushed by the spread of bird flu.

A significant aspect of managing bird flu outbreaks, Dr Detwiler says, is the depopulation of infected flocks.

Fifty-five human cases of H5 bird flu have now been reported in the US this year, with 29 in California.

Last week, the CDC confirmed a human infection with bird flu in a child in California.

This is the first reported avian influenza H5 virus infection in a child in the US.

Consistent with other human cases among adults, the child reportedly experienced mild symptoms and received flu antivirals.

There were low levels of viral material detected in the initial specimen collected, and follow-up testing of the child several days later was negative for H5 bird flu but was positive for other common respiratory viruses.

The child is said to be recovering from their illness.

During CDPH's investigation, the child's family members reported having similar symptoms.

'Millions of chickens and turkeys are euthanized during outbreaks, and it takes time to repopulate these farms,' food safety expert Dr Detwiler says

While they tested negative for bird flu, some family members were positive for the same common respiratory viruses as the child.

Contact tracing continues, but there is currently no evidence of person-to-person spread of H5N1 bird flu from this child to others.

To date, there has been no person-to-person spread identified associated with any of the H5N1 bird flu cases reported in the US.

An investigation by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) into the child's possible H5N1 exposure source remains ongoing.
What does having a terminal diagnosis mean? As a doctor I use the term, but I know that predicting what happens after such a diagnosis is virtually impossible.

Currently I'm caring for a patient who might have been expected to live weeks, as she has sarcoma (a type of cancer of the bone and soft tissue) that had already spread throughout her body when it was discovered.

She's had no treatment: the decision was that chemotherapy would only make her feel more ill. Yet two years post diagnosis she remains active and independent.

I have another patient, still alive years after three recurrences of widespread malignant melanoma (a lethal form of skin cancer)  again, defying all predictions.

When I'm giving advice to doctors training to become GPs, a constant theme is that none of us, however experienced, can ever predict when a patient will die and every doctor will have had patients who beat the odds.

A famous example was Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing who was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer in 2008 and released from prison on compassionate grounds in September 2009, as doctors thought he had just a few months to live.

He survived for almost three more years back home in Libya.

A 'dying wish', tied to a tree by a group of terminally ill people and bereaved relatives, in support of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, in London's Parliament Square

Underestimating how much time a patient has left may not sound as if it is a problem  but it is when it comes to discussions about assisted dying and whether this is something our society should allow. This will be subject to a free vote by MPs in the House of Commons on Friday, and last week the Palliative Care Minister, Stephen Kinnock, became the first minister to publicly confirm he would be voting in support of adopting the measure.

The question is over the prospect of helping those who wish to end their lives to do so. This is not euthanasia  i.e. giving someone the actual drug that kills them  but rather giving them the drugs to administer themselves (as is the case at Dignitas, the clinic in Switzerland that enables physician-assisted suicide).

My great concern as a GP who spent years as a hospice doctor is that any new law will follow the model that has been allowed for over 20 years in the state of Oregon in the US: if a patient is thought to have less than six months to live, on account of an incurable illness, doctors can provide them with life-ending medication, which the patient can then self-administer.

The problem is research shows doctors are frequently unable to accurately predict how long such patients will survive. One study in the BMJ in 2000, with 343 patients, found that doctors correctly predicted their life expectancy after entering a hospice in only 20 per cent of cases.

I am not against assisted dying, but against how it is being framed. I believe rather than focus on the life expectancy, we should look instead at the level of incapacity. I'm thinking of people living with a condition that renders life intolerable  which robs them of their ability to move or even swallow, for example, and yet there is no obvious point at which their distress might end.

Here I am thinking of conditions such as motor neurone disease, or strokes affecting both sides of the brain, rendering a patient completely immobile; and, yes, also those with an incurable illness and who are entering an obvious decline (which is, I think, a suitable description of 'terminal').

Earlier this year, a patient I'd treated for years was diagnosed with incurable cancer, but no exact time frame was put on how long he had. Within weeks he was bedridden and the only option was to reduce his pain. The support I offered was palliative care, a key part of which involves spending time with the patient listening to their concerns, helping them come to terms with their death; the regret, the sadness, even the anger. Some patients find solace and peace, but that is not universally the case. Despite the care I could give, my patient suffered.

Dr Martin Scurr says it is essential we avoid basing any law on assisted dying on a haphazard guess about how much time a patient has left

A strongly independent man, he was devastated to be so suddenly bedridden and unable even to lift a cup to take a drink. For over a month he became increasingly distressed. Time and again he pleaded with me to be given something to release him.

He died a while after I'd expected him to. If there is a new era of 'assisted dying', he might not have had the option of an assisted death because there wasn't a specific time frame. And yet I believe this is precisely the type of scenario where assisted dying may have merit.

For ultimately, the reason for allowing  and helping  a person to end their life must be based on the intolerability of their condition, rather than an arbitrary guess about life expectancy.

It will require that a patient has normal cognitive function and a judgment will need to be made by the professionals based on a submission from the patient about the intolerability of their predicament.

It seems bizarre to me that we are given a wealth of choice in almost everything, apart from our death. But if there is to be a change in the law, it is essential we avoid basing it on a haphazard guess about how much time a patient might have left.
Americans on social media were shocked to learn that some of the foods they see every day come with health warning labels in other countries.

In a new video, Swedish TikTok user SwedishJohan shared a video from within the American section of his local store that sells candies such as Airheads, Laffy Taffy and Sour Patch Kids.

In it, he flipped over a watermelon flavored Airhead, a fruit flavored taffy bar, showing that on top of the normal nutrition label, there was a paper tag that listed a warning.

When translated, the warning reads: 'Contains the AZO dyes e129, e110, e102 which can have a negative effect on children's behavior and concentration.'

These are also known as Red40, Yellow 6 and Yellow5 and are perfectly legal in the US but heavily regulated in Europe.

In children, research has linked these dyes to behavioral problems like ADHD, restlessness, inattentiveness, aggression, irritability and problems sleeping.

Johan said: 'So American candy comes with warning labels here in Europe'.

American users reacted immediately, with one user saying: 'As an American, as always, Im embarrassed.'

Johan is a TikToker and father of two based in Sweden. In his initial video, which has over 88thousand likes and more than 2800 comments, he said: 'we have very strict food regulations of what should and not should be put in food or edibles in Europe.'

The translation of this warning reads: 'Contains the AZO dyes e129, e110, e102 which can have a negative effect on children's behavior and concentration.'

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Another user said: 'If someone in Sweden were to make an app detailing all of the warning labels for foods in the US it would be very helpful. We could read them here in the US and it would help us Americans be aware.'

The EU hasn't outlawed the three dyes, but a 2008 law says that any manufacturer that uses these products must put a warning label on their product.

This has meant that many manufacturers have decided to swap the synthetic colorants for natural options.

The three dyes are made from petroleum-oil, and found in more than 36,000 food products sold in the US, according to a 2024 report from the Environmental Working Group.

They are also found in cosmetics, medications and personal care products like soap.

Though these dyes are used nationally and are deemed safe by the FDA, In some states, there's been movement to ban food dyes.

California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment examined 27 older clinical trials on animals and children and released a report in 2021 confirming that there was a link between these dyes and behavioral problems in children.

Specifically, these dyes could trigger symptoms of ADHA and irritability in some children, or make children who already have those problems have worst symptoms.

The director of the OEHHA, Dr Lauren Zeise, linked these dyes to the uptick in childhood ADHD diagnoses.

Dr Zeise said: 'With increasing numbers of U.S. children diagnosed with behavioral disorders, this assessment can inform efforts to protect children from exposures that may exacerbate behavioral problems'

This led Governor Gavin Newsom to sign a new law which bans Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2 and Green 3 from foods that are served in public schools in the state.

Companies have until December 2027 to get rid of these dyes and replace them with natural colorants like beet juice, or they're under threat of fines.

As of October 2024, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania and South Dakota, are also considering limitations on some food dyes.

In a follow up video, Johan went to Costco to see the additives in candy there. Most of the candies he found were EU manufactured, and didn't contain synthetic dyes. The one he found with dye was American-made Laffy Taffy, which contained Red 40 (Allura Red) and Yellow 5 (Tartrazine)

It's not clear how these chemicals may cause behavioral changes.

According to University of California Merced, older research in animals has shown that these chemicals may alter the kind and amount of neurotransmitters released by the brain.

Neurotransmitters are the signals which control how the brain functions - and play an important role in mood, decision-making and sleep.

In the past, dyes have also been linked to cancer. In 1990, the FDA banned Red 3 from cosmetics after reports linked it to thyroid cancer.

Studies in the 1980s in lab animals found that those dosed with high amounts of the dye were more likely to develop thyroid cancer than other animals.

Still, researchers estimated it was unlikely for humans to develop thyroid tumors form red dye, since they aren't consuming anywhere near the amount laboratory animals were. One estimate found that Red 3 likely causing one in 100,000 thyroid tumors.

With this evidence, FDA officials said that they planned to phase the chemical out of food products.

Despite promises to the contrary, EWG said the FDA has yet to follow through on banning Red 3 from food products - and it can be detected in 3,300 sold in the US.

EU banned this from most food products in 1994. This particular dye was not found in any of the products that Johan highlighted.
Wildfires were once a rare occurrence, but as the climate becomes warmer and drier, they've become more common and more widespread.

Now, a study has shown they could be putting tens of millions of people at risk of dementia.

It found people exposed to wildfire pollution have an 18 percent higher risk of developing any type of dementia after just three years' exposure.

While people exposed to pollution not caused by wildfires - such as that from manufacturing or cars - have just a one percent higher risk of dementia.

Long-term exposure to pollutants known as total fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is a recognized risk factor for dementia, but less is known about how the tiny specs of pollution produced by wildfires - ash, carbon monoxide and dioxide, formaldehyde, volatile compounds and various other carcinogens - affect people's brain.

Researchers studied the medical records of 1.2million people who had been exposed to wildfire pollution for an average of three years from 2008 to 2019 in California.

According to CAL FIRE, there were 90,157 wildfires during that time period, and the study found approximately 81,000 people received a dementia diagnosis during the study period.

The researchers said their results show that wildfires are even more harmful than the already-deadly pollution released by traditional means such as cars and factories.

Flames consume a home as the Mountain Fire burns in Camarillo, California in November 2024

Inmate firefighters battle the Mountain Fire at Swanhill Farms in Moorpark, California in November 2024

PM2.5 is small enough to enter the lungs through inhalation and the researchers believe the particulates then enter the bloodstream and circulate throughout the body, penetrating the brain's protective barriers.

This, they concluded, can accelerate the deterioration of the brain and lead to dementia.

PM2.5 is also produced by the burning of gas, diesel, wood, manufacturing and refineries, as well as burning candles, though the substances released from wildfires are more damaging, according to the researchers.

The study looked at diagnoses of Alzheimer's disease, Lewy Body dementia, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, Parkinson's dementia and unspecified dementia.

An estimated 7million Americans 65 and older had dementia in 2020, and the proportion of adults 70 and older with dementia was 10 percent in 2019.

If current trends continue, more than 9million Americans could have dementia by 2030 and 12million by 2040, according to the Population Reference Bureau.

But researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Kaiser Permanente in California, who performed the latest study, claimed as wildfires become more common, so too may dementia - and they called for more research into the matter.

They also said more needs to be done about mitigating air pollution on especially vulnerable populations, such as minorities and people who live in more impoverished neighborhoods.

The researchers concluded: 'As the climate changes, interventions focused on reducing wildfire PM2.5 exposure may reduce dementia diagnoses and related inequities.

'These latter findings underscore the importance of research that considers the effects of air pollution on potentially vulnerable population subgroups and aims to identify potential strategies to mitigate inequities in air pollution exposure effects.'

The above map shows wildfire hotspots across the US

An estimated 7million Americans 65 and older had dementia in 2020

Data from researchers at the University of Maryland, calculated that the area burned by forest fires increased by about 5.4 percent per year from 2001 to 2023.

PM2.5 refers to the concentration of microscopic airborne particles that are 2.5 micrometers or smaller. They are measured in micrograms per cubic meter (g/m).

These pollutants are small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs when breathed in and circulate throughout the entire body, including the brain.

The particulates can produce highly reactive molecules and free radicals.

Excessive productions of these molecules can overwhelm brain cells' defense systems, leading to cell damage, DNA mutations and impaired cell function.

Excess production has also been implicated in heart diseases, cancer and Alzheimers disease.

Researchers also posit wildfire PM2.5 can cause the overactivation of certain types of immune cells that help maintain a healthy balance in the brain, fight infections and help remove harmful debris from the brain.

Their overactivation can lead to harmful effects on the brain and spinal cord.

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Wildfire pollution can also produce an overwhelming amount of something called cytotoxic factors - things that damage or kill healthy living cells.

The researchers added that exposure to PM2.5 may indirectly lead to dementia by disrupting the body's normal processes, which can increase the risk of blood clots, excessive bleeding, dysfunctions of blood vessels in the brain and stroke, which could be an underlying risk factor for dementia.

About two-thirds of the study participants were diagnosed with unspecified dementia. The second-most diagnosed dementia was Parkinson's dementia with 13 percent and Alzheimer's followed with 12 percent.

Other analyses of the data found study participants younger than 75, those from minority groups and people living in high-poverty areas had 'heightened responses' to wildfire PM2.5.

According to the study, published in JAMA Neurology, the 2018 wildfire season resulted in an estimated $149billion in healthcare costs, along with capital and economic damages.
In the lead-up to Thanksgiving, health officials are renewing advice to avoid common food safety mistakes that could ruin your holiday.

The kitchen ahead of a holiday is full of vegetables, stuffing, gravy and of course, turkey. As delicious as each one is, they all pose a threat of food-borne illness.

And while it is essential to rinse greens and cranberries, washing off other parts of the meal may do more harm than good.

Despite what the family recipe might say, experts urge you to not rinse your turkey because it can spread harmful germs to your sink, countertops, surrounding cookware and even yourself.

Health experts say turkeys should never be washed unless they've been brined or soaked in a salt water solution for at least 24 hours.

The recommendation against rinsing poultry by federal health agencies has existed since 2005, but if generations of your family have been doing it for as long as you can remember, it might be a tough habit to break.

According to the Department of Agriculture, many consumers think washing their turkeys will remove bacteria and reduce the risk of food-borne illness.

However, its virtually impossible to wash bacteria off the bird. Instead, juices that splash during washing can transfer bacteria onto the surfaces of your kitchen, other foods and utensils,' the USDA said.

Rather than rinsing your turkey first, simply pat it dry with clean paper towels. Cooking it to an internal temperature of 165 degrees will kill off harmful bacteria like E. coli and salmonella

A healthy bird naturally has bacteria in its gut and on its skin that could be harmful to humans, including Salmonella, Campylobacter, Clostridium perfringens, Listeria, E. coli, and Staphylococcus aureus.

Around 48 million people get sick with these and other food-borne pathogens a year, and 128,000 people are hospitalized, suffering from violent vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, and fevers.

This holiday, the only surefire way to make your meal safe to eat is to cook the turkey to an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

If you do decide to rinse your turkey, immediately sanitize the sink and surrounding area with a solution of 1 tablespoon unscented, liquid chlorine bleach per gallon of water.

Still, even the most rigorous of cleaning routines is not 100 percent effective at killing dangerous germs.

A study by the USDA reported 60 percent of people who rinsed their raw poultry had bacteria in their sink after cleaning it.

Moreover, one in seven people still had bacteria in their sinks even after sanitizing them.

Despite the cross-contamination risk, though, around 78 percent of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving report rinsing their turkeys before cooking them.

Dr Mindy Brashears, the USDAs Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety, said: Even when consumers think they are effectively cleaning after washing poultry, this study shows that bacteria can easily spread to other surfaces and foods. The best practice is not to wash poultry.

Participants in a food safety study offered several reasons for rinsing their birds. One of the most common was that this step in the preparation process has been handed down as standard practice for years.

One said: My grandmother taught me that. She just said to wash all your food because theres no telling where its been before it got in the pack.

Another said: If its still slimy [from bacteria]  Im not sure what that is. It just feels good to wash it.

Experts and federal health agencies have stated that washing meat before cooking it, overfilling the fridge and storing meat in shallow dishes can lead to food poisoning

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Drusilla Banks, who teaches food sanitation for the University of Illinois Extension, told the Associated Press: If your mother did it and your grandmother did it, and suddenly the [government] says not to wash your turkey, you may take some time to adjust.

The safest way to prepare your turkey is to heat the oven to at least 325 degrees and cook it for at least two and a half hours, or however long it takes for the temperature in the thickest part of the bird to reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Properly cooking the turkey may be the most important Thanksgiving food safety measure, but experts recommend several other steps to prevent food poisoning.

Rather than thawing the turkey on the counter, food safety experts recommend allowing roughly 24 hours for every four to five pounds of turkey. Once it thaws, it can stay in the fridge for one to two days.

Health experts recommend patting the outside and cavity of the bird with clean paper towels to absorb excess moisture.

Wash your hands with warm, soapy water for 20 seconds before and after handling the raw turkey.

Carmen Rottenberg of USDAs Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said: Everyone has a role to play in preventing illness from food. Please keep in mind that children, older adults, and those with compromised immune systems are especially at risk.

Washing or rinsing raw meat and poultry can increase your risk as bacteria spreads around your kitchen, but not washing your hands for 20 seconds immediately after handling those raw foods is just as dangerous.

Food safety experts also urge home chefs to rethink cooking their stuffing inside the cavity of the bird, which can contaminate the food.

The turkey and stuffing may also cook at different rates, often leaving the stuffing uncooked and unsafe to eat by the time the turkey is ready.

When it comes to the leftovers, they should be stored within two hours of cooking. Use shallow containers so the food cools quickly and gives bacteria less time to multiply.

Bacteria can multiply to dangerous levels if perishables, like turkey, are left in the temperature danger zone (between 40 degrees F and 140 degrees F) for too long.

Experts also recommend against overfilling the fridge, especially around the turkey, which could leak pathogens into other foods nearby.
A resurfaced clip shows Donald Trump's surgeon general pick Dr Janette Nesheiwat accusing the CDC of forcing unnecessary vaccines on children in a bid to potentially profiteer.

The Fox News medical contributor and assistant medical director of CityMD appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight in 2022 to discuss the announcement that the CDC advisory committee voted unanimously to add the Covid shot to the childhood immunization schedule.

Asked by Fox News host Tucker Carlson why the CDC would put this on their schedule, Ms Nesheiwat suggested that it did not make sense and it was 'maybe [to] profit.'

She continued: 'There's no good reason to have a vaccine that can't stop disease, can't stop transmission of disease.'

She said while vaccines for Polio and measles 'actually help prevent... paralysis [or] inflammation of your brain,' the Covid vaccine could likely only 'help reduce [the virus] to a sniffle.'

The physician called the unanimous decision 'irresponsible and illogical.'

Dr Nesheiwat also argued the vaccine is unnecessary, as nearly 86 percent of children have natural immunity, as shown in a 2022 analysis by the CDC.

She said: 'And a recent study out of the University of Indiana just found that that natural immunity in children is actually stronger and and lasts longer for protection than compared to adults.'

A resurfaced clip shows Trump's surgeon general pick Janette Nesheiwat accusing the CDC of forcing extra unnecessary vaccines on children in a bid to potentially profiteer

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The physician added: 'So we need to keep that in mind, but yet they want to put this vaccine on the schedule. There's no data or evidence that shows it's of benefit... that it can prevent disease, that it can prevent death.

'We need to stop with the fear mongering. We're no longer in a Covid emergency [and] it's time to get back to the basics.

'We are putting these stringent restrictions and guidelines on the lowest risk population, our children. They've already suffered enough.'

Dr Nesheiwat said at the time, she had taken care of 'thousands of Covid patients... many of which were children' and she had not had to hospitalize any of them.

In the clip, father-of-four Mr Carlson also vented his outrage to the CDC's vote, telling viewers: 'That means children will be forced to get this vaccination which is unnecessary, scientifically unjustifiable and dangerous in order to get an education in this country.'

Despite Ms Nesheiwat and Mr Carlson's comments and wider backlash across the nation, the committee's vote went into effect.

Under the CDC's current recommendations, all children should be vaccinated with 'at least one dose of the current COVID-19' at six months old.

The decision added the vaccine to the schedule along with a number of other childhood vaccines including those to protect against chicken pox, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis, or whopping cough.

If the Republican-controlled Senate approves her nomination as the surgeon general, Ms Nesheiwat will oversee 6,000 US Public Health Service Corps members

Each state has different guidelines when it comes to vaccination requirements for schools and exemption guidelines. While some states may require all vaccines for kindergarten admission, others may only require a handful at the time, postponing others to future grades.

When it comes to exemptions, they fall into two categories: medical and non-medical.

Only a handful of states do not allow both religious or philosophical exemptions, including New York, California, Connecticut, Maine, Mississippi and West Virginia.

Exemptions can be from one, multiple or all required childhood vaccines. While rules differ state by state, in most cases, parents must receive documentation from a medical doctor stating a child should be exempt from vaccinations.

The exemptions are then reviewed and granted by the child's school.

However, as the antivax movement has grown, so has the number of people applying for fake exemptions, with some even willing to pay off doctors to make up bogus medical excuses in order to get their child out of having to be vaccinated.

According to the CDC, 8.8 percent of children in the US have received the updated Covid vaccine.

Earlier this month Trump named Ms Nesheiwat as his nominee for surgeon general in his second administration.

'I am proud to announce that Dr. Janette Nesheiwat will be the Nation's Doctor as the United States Surgeon General. Dr. Nesheiwat is a double board-certified Medical Doctor with an unwavering commitment to saving and treating thousands of American lives,' Trump said in a press release.

Touching on her personal journey, he added: 'A proud graduate of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Dr. Nesheiwats journey began with humble roots as one of five children raised by a widowed immigrant mother who worked as a nurse.

'Inspired by her mothers resilience and compassion, Dr. Nesheiwat pursued a life of service, transforming her deep-seated desire to help others into a distinguished medical career.

'Dr. Nesheiwat will play a pivotal role in MAKING AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN!'

Ms Nesheiwat, 48, is a general practitioner who serves as medical director for CityMD, a network of urgent care centers in New York and New Jersey.

She appears regularly on Fox News and has expressed frequent support for Trump, sharing photos of them together on her social media pages.

If the Republican-controlled Senate approves her nomination as the surgeon general, Ms Nesheiwat will oversee 6,000 US Public Health Service Corps members.

Surgeons general also have the power to issue advisories, warning of public health threats in the U.S.

Their role is to 'motivate and guide public health officials on urgent public problems.'

Those advisories can influence how the government, public and medical community respond to health crises in the country.
Millions of people have been scammed on big tech platforms even after the firms signed a 'world first' pledge to do more to tackle online fraud, new research has revealed.

Around 6.6 million people in the UK have lost money to online scams in the last year, according to Which?.

And three quarters of those conned fell victim on the websites of technology giants who previously committed to the government's voluntary Online Fraud Charter in November 2023.

Tech companies - including Amazon, Facebook, Google, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube - vowed to adopt 'a raft of measures' within six months to protect users from scam content.

These included verifying new advertisers and quickly removing any fraudulent content but scammers appear to still be running rampant on their platforms, according to Which? research.

The consumer group surveyed over 2,000 adults about the impact the Online Fraud Charter has had on the number of scams they see online and whether they feel safer.

Pledge: Tech companies - including Amazon, Facebook, Google, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube - vowed to implement new measures to protect users from scam content

A fifth of people said they have come across suspicious adverts or messages every day in the last six months, with some experiencing this as much as several times a day.

Nearly two thirds of the 6.6 million consumers scammed in the last year fell victim on social media but fraud was also frequent on search engines, online marketplaces and messaging platforms.

Some people were conned on more than one platform but the most popular site for scams was Facebook where 37 per cent fell victim followed by Google with 33 per cent and Instagram with 20 per cent.

While 18 per cent were each scammed on Amazon and WhatsApp.

Since the tech firms agreed to take action to tackle online fraud, Which? has discovered scores of scam adverts online including on investments, luxury advent calendars, restaurant offers and winter fuel payments.

It has left almost three quarters of adults distrustful of the ads they see on social media or search engines and a third are less likely to trust online platforms now, compared to a year ago.

Consumer group Which? is calling on the government to bring forward implementation of the Online Safety Act and fines for firms that fail to stamp out online fraud.

Its director of policy and advocacy Rocio Concha said: 'For every week the government fails to take action, we lose millions to fraudsters and organised crime groups.

'The government and regulators need to act urgently to tackle the fraud epidemic or risk millions more falling victim to scammers.'

Meta, Google, Amazon, TikTok, X and Snapchat were contacted for comment.
Imagine having your house sold from underneath your feet, or nearly dying from a fake weight-loss drug you bought online? Those are just a couple of the jaw-dropping swindles uncovered on Scams Week on BBC1's Rip Off Britain.

'Just when you think you've heard it all, you find out you haven't,' sighs Gloria Hunniford, 84, who continues to host the show despite losing her husband of 25 years, Stephen Way, in August. She's presented Rip Off Britain for 15 years alongside Julia Somerville and Angela Rippon, who has taken a break this series.

'We're now dealing with scams that are much more sophisticated than before and worldwide,' continues Gloria. 'And what's so shocking is that when people are scammed they feel embarrassed and ashamed that they were lured into it. They shouldn't, because these scammers are much cleverer than the police, which the police admit.'

Gloria, was the victim of a 120,000 fraud herself in 2016 when an impostor pretended to be her at her bank and withdrew money. Making the show has turned her against online banking. 'I still use cheques,' says Gloria. 'I know that I'm archaic in the handling of my affairs, but I know what I'm doing when I'm paying my bills.'

Julia Somerville (left) and Gloria Hunniford (right) uncover jaw-dropping swindles in Scams Week on BBC1's Rip Off Britain

As much as she loves her job and says she'll do it 'for as long as they want me' Gloria admits there's a danger in presenting  and indeed watching  Rip Off Britain. 'Learning about all these scams, you could easily get to a point where you don't trust anyone!'

Below, we reveal some of the worst scams to appear in this week's shows, and tips on how you can protect yourself from fraud.

1. INJURED PETS SCAMS PULL AT PEOPLE'S HEARTSTRINGS

What is it?

Scammers use posts about missing pets on social media to lure viewers into parting with cash.

What happened?

In 2018, traffic officer Hannah Weston made headlines after dramatically rescuing an injured dog on the M1 motorway in Nottinghamshire. The dog, Thor, recovered and Hannah adopted him. A few years later, when the original photos of Hannah rescuing Thor were back on Instagram but with different stories attached, she suspected that scammers were using her story to tug on people's heartstrings before directing them to money-extorting scams.

What's the scam?

It's called a 'bait and switch scam', says Tony Thompson from fact-checking charity Full Fact. 'The photos reel people in and then fraudsters switch the content, turning it into a scam.' Scammers use the goodwill created by the original post and its thousands of 'likes' to lure people into thinking it's legitimate content. Posts featuring Hannah were used in a housing scam.

After traffic officer Hannah Weston rescued an injured dog on the M1, scammers used her story to tug on people's heartstrings before directing them to money-extorting scams

How to avoid it

Look for clues on posts, says Thompson. 'These posts often have a red pin followed by a location name. Also, the profiles of the people posting are often very fake-looking, in that they don't have any other posts at all.' If the post is on Facebook, pressing the 'edit history' button will show you what the post looked like originally.

2. CAR THEFT SCAM ROBBED AN EBAY SELLER OF 10,000

What is it?

Private buyers tell sellers they're paying via bank transfer but use a stolen cheque instead.

What happened?

Gloria tells the story of Linda and Derek Clegg from Clitheroe, Lancashire, who sold their vintage Land Rover on eBay for 10,000 in February. Two buyers arrived and transferred the money via phone, and once Linda saw that the funds were in her bank account, she handed over the keys. But a few hours later the bank invalidated the sale after realising that the buyers' money had come from a stolen cheque deposited at a bank by an accomplice at the moment of sale. The bank cancelled the payment, leaving Linda 10,000 short.

What happened next?

The Cleggs rang the police and Action Fraud, and asked Barclays Bank to reimburse the money, but the bank baulked after deciding the Cleggs had been the victims of car theft and not a scam. 'Linda believes they did everything possible to confirm that the money was in her account before releasing the vehicle to their buyers,' says Gloria. 'Surely the bank should have flagged up that this cheque was stolen or not legitimate.'

How to avoid it

When you sell anything and receive money into your account, 'call the bank even if it's an online transaction', says cyber-security expert Jake Moore. 'But the banks need to be thinking about people that use cheques and making sure they put better security in place to make sure something like this doesn't happen again.'

Once Linda saw that the funds were in her bank account, she handed over the keys to the pair who purchased her car. But a few hours later the bank invalidated the sale (picture posed by model)

3. SCAMMERS TAKE OUT A LOAN SECURED ON SOMEONE ELSE'S PROPERTY

What is it?

In April 2024 Khalil Hafeez of London made a shocking discovery. 'Criminals had managed to borrow almost half a million pounds against one of his rental properties in east London, leaving him with 10,000 monthly payments,' says Julia. 'He says his protests are simply going unheard.'

What happened?

Fraudsters collected information about Khalil via the dark web to set up fake identity documents  for example by opening new utility accounts in his name on his rental property  and forged a passport, all of which they presented to the loan company claiming to be Khalil. Khalil also discovered online that he had been fraudulently appointed director of four limited companies and that a bank account was opened in his name.

What happened next?

Khalil's first repayment of nearly 10,000 is due in January 2025. 'I haven't done anything wrong and it seems like all the doors are shut,' says Khalil. 'The authorities are saying they can't do anything. It's left me on my own to deal with it. It has affected me mentally.'

How to solve it

Going through the courts will be an expensive business, costing up to an eye-watering 100,000, explains property fraud lawyer Arun Chauhan, who adds: 'There's a much better option for him.' To protect future fraudulent activity against properties, sign up for free to the Land Registry Property Alert. They send you an email any time there is activity, such as an application to change the register or someone applying for a mortgage on the property, so you can take prompt action. Property fraud is on the rise  in 2021 HM Land Registry paid out 3.5million in compensation.

4. CRYPTO SCAM ROBS A WIDOW OF 225,000

Sheryl Haigh invested money in a cryptocurrency scheme and watched her investments soar on their (fake) app until she logged on one day to find her balance was zero

What is it?

A sophisticated scam that robs investors of their savings.

What happened?

Soon after being widowed in early 2022, Sheryl Haigh from Preston answered a social media ad for cryptocurrency investment and was persuaded over the phone by its friendly 'financial advisers' to sign up to a scheme that would provide an income. Over three months Sheryl invested money and watched her investments soar on their (fake) investment app until she logged on one day to find her balance was zero.

What happened next?

Sheryl appealed to online bank Revolut, from where she was paying the scammers, to refund her money but the bank refused, saying she had ignored their scam warnings. An appeal to the Financial Ombudsman also failed. Sheryl accepted a goodwill reimbursement of 25% of her loss. 'I am now living with my dad and stepmum in a one-bedroom caravan,' says Sheryl.

How to avoid it

Revolut Bank says it urges all its customers to avoid so-called investment opportunities on social media platforms and to carry out detailed research before making investments. However, Rip Off Britain producer Katie Saatchi reports that Revolut Bank has a much higher rate of these frauds reported than any other major UK bank, so it advises would-be investers to consider that when investing.

5. FAKE WEIGHT-LOSS DRUGS THAT CAN KILL YOU

What is it?

Online sellers flogging weight-loss injections they claim are from reputable brands like Ozempic are often selling fakes, in some cases dangerous ones.

What happened?

When Michelle Sword of Oxfordshire couldn't get Ozempic from the legitimate online pharmacy she'd previously used, she bought the drug from another online seller. Within minutes of injecting it, Michelle was completely unresponsive and rushed to hospital, where she suffered a seizure. 'Doctors told me the injecting pen I'd used was an insulin pen,' says Michelle, meaning the drug was intended for diabetics only and was dangerous for others. 'It can kill you. I just felt incredible shame. I couldn't believe I'd done something so stupid.'

Within minutes of injecting a fake weight-loss drug, Michelle Sword was completely unresponsive and rushed to hospital, where she suffered a seizure

How to avoid it

Weight loss jabs are only available with a prescription in the UK and should be bought from a reputable seller. 'The surefire way to stay safe is to go on to the GPhC [General Pharmaceutical Council] register online to see if the seller is a registered pharmacy,' says Andy Marling of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

6. HACKED EBAY ACCOUNTS LEAVE SELLER OUT OF POCKET

What is it?

Scammers who've hacked an eBay account start selling false items, collect the money and when the item never arrives, the eBay account holder gets the bill.

What happened?

In June last year, David Yarnall of Southend-on-Sea, Essex, had 1,400 of debt racked up in his name after a hacker compromised his eBay account and listed items for sale. Despite David alerting eBay to this scam numerous times, the platform failed to act in time and then asked David to cough up for some items the scammer had sold in his name. When David refused, eBay instructed debt collectors to chase the money.

What happened next?

'After we brought David's case to eBay, it offered sincere apologies for any distress that was caused to him,' says Gloria. 'It said it recognises that he wasn't responsible for any of the charges. It has now therefore cleared the full overdue balance from David's account.'

Scammers hack eBay accounts and start selling false items. They collect the money and when the item never arrives, the eBay account holder gets the bill (picture posed by model)

How to avoid it

'First of all, make sure you use unique passwords across all of your online accounts,' says tech expert David McClelland. 'Secondly, enable multi-factor authentication. Remember that one of the ways in which criminals get in is through 'phishing' messages, so be very wary about clicking on any links and giving away your logins.' Phishing e-mails will appear to be from a trusted source but are not, and they will ask the consumer to provide personal information.

7. COOKIES THAT LEAVE A BAD TASTE

What is it?

When you press the 'accept all cookies' button on a website, the internet cookies [or bits of data] that store information about you and your computer usage contain information  your name, your email address  that can be used by scammers.

What happens?

Scammers sell the information the cookies contain on the dark web, leading to the risk of identity theft and a sophisticated array of targeted scams. 'If you just accept all the cookies blindly, you risk your data being available out there in the wider world,' explains Oli Buckley, a Professor in Cyber Security at Loughborough University. 'If it ends up in the wrong hands, it could be used to build up this increasingly detailed profile about you and target you [with] scams or phishing emails.'

'First of all, there is the privacy risk,' says tech expert David McClelland. 'If we are unwittingly allowing our information to be shared amongst myriad third parties to build up these profiles of us that can be used to hyper-target us with advertising and worse. Then there is the security risk, and that is when specific cookies can be stolen from our device.'

How to avoid it

'Often there's a box that says 'Manage' cookies instead,' says McClelland. 'Click on that and then on 'Deny All'. Maybe switch to a web browser that disallows some of these cookies and the cross-site tracking. But finally, a lot of the cookie theft happens through malware, bits of software you might install on your machine from untrusted websites or browser extensions. So be extremely cautious about downloading anything onto your device from somewhere you don't trust.' Also, once a month delete all the cookies for sites that you visit infrequently.

8. BEWARE THIRD-PARTY SELLERS

What is it?

Well-known online shops that sell goods from a third party deny liability when the purchase goes wrong.

What happened?

In January this year Tracy Whitley from Sunderland bought a 230 fridge freezer sold by a third party through the Debenhams website. It began leaking and soon stopped working. Tracy contacted Debenhams, who approached the third-party seller and refused their offer of a repairman, insisting on a refund. The third-party seller refused.

What happened next?

'If you purchased directly with Debenhams, your contract is with them, [not] whoever they pass on the business to,' says consumer expert Adam Shaw. 'It's outrageous, the way [Tracy] has been treated.' Rip Off Britain got in touch with Debenhams who apologised for the months of delays, refunded Tracy's money and offered her compensation.

How to avoid it

'Know your rights,' says Adam. 'The company you buy from is the company you have a contract with. Secondly, as a general rule when buying goods, you get more consumer protection when buying with a credit card than through PayPal and there are few protections when you pay with a debit card or cash.'

9. OWNER'S HOUSE IS SOLD FROM UNDER HIS FEET

What is it?

Scammers posing as the owner of a property take ownership and sell it, pocketing the money. 'This is one of the most shocking scams we've ever uncovered,' says Gloria.

In this shocking scam, scammers pose as the owner of a property, take ownership and sell it, pocketing the money (picture posed by model)

What happened?

Vicar Mike Hall from Luton was working abroad when neighbours alerted him to builders renovating his house. When Mike made inquiries, he discovered that his house had been sold! Scammers had stolen documents from his post box, forged a passport in his name, taken it all to a lawyer pretending to be him and sold his property.

'The solicitor needs to do checks, but if the lawyers say, "Yes, you are that person", they'll sell the house,' explains journalist Shari Vahl, who has been following the story for BBC Radio 4's You And Yours programme. 'And title deeds [to a property] don't exist anymore  what matters is the name on the Land Registry.'

What happened next?

Things got worse. Mike called the police who, astonishingly, told him that the house was no longer his according to the Land Registry and that it's not a criminal offence but a civil matter  he would have to fight it in civil court. Mike was lucky  the person who bought the house from the criminals gave it back. Unfortunately, squatters moved in and Mike is still fighting to remove them.

How to avoid it

Install a tamper-proof postbox in a visible position close to the house, so scammers can't easily pilfer the bank statements and utility bills they need to steal your identity. Be particularly vigilant if you own a holiday let or empty house. 'The criminals tend to go for properties without mortgages and where you don't live,' explains Shari Vahl, because they won't want to have to pay off a mortgage at the time of sale.

Protect yourself by going to the Land Registry. 'They have a special free service called the Property Alert Service and you can sign up for it online,' says Shari. 'It will tell you if anyone is doing searches on your property or trying to sell it.'
Anglo American has agreed to sell the remainder of its steelmaking coal operations for up to US$3.9billion (3billion).

The group is in the process of a radical overhaul after fighting off takeover attempts, with plans to sell its nickel, coal, De Beers diamond and platinum businesses within two years.

It follows the mining giant's decision to offload its holding in Jellinbah Group, which owns 70 per cent of the Jellinbah East and Lake Vermont coal mines in Australia, to Zashvin for 810million.

It now intends to sell the rest of the portfolio to Peabody Energy, a coal mining firm headquartered in St Louis, Missouri, for $2.05billion upfront and a deferred payment of $725million.

Among the assets Peabody will gain as part of the deal include Anglo's majority stakes in the Moranbah North, Roper Creek and Capcoal joint ventures, as well as its 50 per cent interest in the Theodore South joint venture.

Peabody has further agreed to potentially pay $550million in quarterly price-linked 'earnouts' and another $450million if the Grosvenor mine in central Queensland reopens.

Production at Grosvenor has been suspended since late June following a fire caused by methane gas igniting. No workers were injured in the accident.

Deal: Anglo American has agreed to sell the remainder of its steelmaking coal operations for up to US$3.9billion to Peabody Energy

Jim Grech, president and chief executive of Peabody, said: 'We're pleased to acquire these world-class assets from Anglo American, a company that shares our strong values of safety, sustainability and social license to operate.

'We look forward to integrating these assets, teaming up with their highly skilled workforce, and aligning with our new mine joint venture partners to create long-term value.'

Anglo announced plans in May for a radical overhaul in response to a blockbuster takeover attempt by rival mining giant BHP.

The FTSE 100 group received three offers from BHP, with the third and final proposal valued at a whopping 39billion.

Had it been accepted, the takeover would have been the largest ever in the mining sector's history, but BHP walked away mainly because of concerns that the deal required Anglo to spin off its South African operations.

In addition to its steelmaking coal segment, Anglo intends to divest or demerge its Anglo American Platinum and De Beers diamond subsidiaries.

The company, the world's largest platinum producer, said this would enable it to focus on producing copper, premium iron ore and crop nutrients.

Copper is considered a vital element in the green transition owing to its use in technologies like solar panels and wind turbines.

'We are absolutely focused on delivering that strategy and unlocking the associated value as we streamline our cost structures and create a much simpler, more resilient and more agile business,' said Duncan Wanblad, chief executive of Anglo American.

'All the transactions to deliver our portfolio transformation are well in train,' he added, with the demerger of Anglo American Platinum anticipated by the middle of next year.

Anglo American shares were 1.5 per cent higher at 2,393.5p on Monday morning, taking their gains since the year started to around 22 per cent.
New Delhi, Nov 25 (UNI) Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla urged all the members of the lower house to follow the highest traditions of debate and dialogue in the house as the winter session of Parliament commenced on Monday.

According to a source, Om Birla made these remarks during the BAC meeting on Samvidhan Diwas celebrations to mark the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution.

He also recalled the glorious traditions of high quality debates by our founding fathers in the constituent assembly.



In view of the Samvidhan Diwas celebrations in Samvidhan Sadan on Tuesday, he urged the members of various political parties to engage in a meaningful dialogue, sources said.

During the meeting he urged the members to convey their dissent in a constructive manner and said that they should avoid ruckus in the house in the name of protest.

Constitution Day or Samvidhan Divas is observed annually on 26th November to commemorate the adoption of the Indian Constitution.



In a bid to promote constitutional values among citizens, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment announced that 26th November will be celebrated, every year as Constitution Day.

In 2015, as part of this endeavour to build awareness regarding constitutional ideals, the Hamara Samvidhan, Hamara Samman campaign was launched.

UNI JA CS1600
President Donald Trump issued the stark warning on Friday, while revealing ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine are progressing - but catastrophe could yet be unleashed without peace. Speaking to the Justice Department he said: 'I think we have it, I think we have it, but this could lead to World War III, very easily, could very easily lead to World War III. 'But I think we're in pretty good shape, a lot better than where we were before we got involved. That was heading into World War III territory, that would've been a war like no other because of nuclear weapons, and other types of weapons that you don't even wanna know about.'
Nineties supermodel Georgina Cooper died from cirrhosis of the liver and internal bleeding after her organs failed, it has emerged.

Georgina - who used her married name Smith - passed away after being taken ill on October 21 on the Greek island of Kos, a place she had been visiting for 20 years, and was just 46 years old.

She had been on holiday with her partner Nigel and was initially rushed to a local hospital before being airlifted to a better equipped medical facility in Heraklion on Crete where she died after spending five days in intensive care.

A local coroner said no autopsy was needed as her 'medical history was known' and her body was flown back to England a few days after she died.

A hospital spokesperson told MailOnline: 'The doctors did what they could but because of her condition there was not much that could be done.

'She died from cirrhosis of the liver and internal bleeding after her organs failed. The coroner ruled there was no need for an autopsy because her medical history was known.

'Her body was moved from the Venizelou Hospital in Heraklion across the city to another facility before being flown back to Britain.'

Georgina, pictured in 2003, was one of the most famous faces of the 1990s

Georgina Cooper on her wedding day earlier this year. The former model died while abroad with her husband, aged just 46

Jade Parfitt revealed that her friend had passed away on Instagram

Georgina - who used her married name Smith - passed away after being taken ill on October 21 on the Greek island of Kos (aerial picture of the island's town centre)

Family and friends of Georgina are planning to pay an emotional farewell at a funeral service next week.

They will gather to pay their respects at Vinters Park Crematorium near her home in Maidstone, Kent, next Wednesday.

Nigel and her other family members are still battling to come to terms with the tragedy.

Sources said they want the service to be a dignified show of love for the Cool Britannia icon whose friends included catwalk star Kate Moss.

One said: 'Everything is raw, but she was well loved. She was unpretentious - no heirs and graces.'

Supermodels Jade Parfitt, Helena Christensen, Erin O'Connor, Jodie Kidd, paid tribute to the 'ray of light' whose 'achievements were huge'.

Jade told MailOnline: 'Her friends and family are absolutely devastated, Georgina was a ray of light, a very popular model who was riotous fun, always laughing and being naughty in all the best ways.

'We all wanted to hang out with George backstage. Her achievements in the industry were huge.'

Her former agent Dean Goodman added: 'She was the original gap toothed girl! I will miss her immensely, rip in peace, Georgie girl.

'I will never forget you and always love you, see you on the other side.'

2000: Model Georgina Cooper on the catwalk

Georgina Cooper, centre, takes to the catwalk with Julien MacDonald in 2000

Her former agent Dean Goodman shared a tribute at the time of her death, saying he and many others are heartbroken

1997: Georgina at the Bluemarine Falls show

2000: Georgina Cooper on the Versace catwalk

Georgina and her husband Nigel on their wedding day in June

Jade said she was a 'ray of sunshine'

Georgina Cooper, pictured at the Destino in London at the height of her career in the 1990s and right more recently, has died aged just 46

He continued: 'She had plans for the future. She had just married and was looking forward to her life. Everybody is devastated. She was a genuine superstar'.

Georgina shot to stardom after being spotted by a modelling agency aged 13, then appearing in a Bon Jovi music-video two years later.

The London-born cover girl was dubbed London's 'original gap toothed girl' - appearing on the front of magazines including US Vogue and The Face.

But she gave up the catwalk to care for her son Sonny and worked latterly in hospitality - including several pubs near her home.

Her most recent job was at the Fox & Goose, the country pub which hosted her dream wedding in May this year.

She fell ill when the couple were staying at Kos's Marianna hotel apartments, and was taken to the island's main hospital.

Mr Goodman said: 'Georgina had been unwell during Covid and had developed some health problems and had been in and out of hospital. '

A source on Kos said: 'She was taken ill the day before she was supposed to fly home.

'Georgina loved Greece and was always coming here but she had health problems and was ill once before when she was here.'

According to the NHS website cirrhosis of the liver caused by long-term liver damage and the scar tissue prevents the liver working properly.
Former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith has recalled the abduction and murder of his former Army comrade Captain Robert Nairac during the Troubles.

As he recounts in the Mail's groundbreaking new podcast, Sir Iain, 70, was serving in 'very dangerous' Northern Ireland with the Scots Guards when Captain Nairac was kidnapped, killed and secretly buried.

The remains of the 'tough guy' 29-year-old Grenadier Guards soldier, who was working undercover, have never been found.

Speaking on From Bomb to Ballot: The History of Sinn Fein, Sir Iain says: 'I remember Robert very well, yeah. He was a nice guy. Terribly nice.'

The Chingford MP goes on to add: 'He [Captain Nairac] thought he was meeting somebody who would give him some information about what was going on. In fact, the IRA were waiting for him. It was a set up.'

Sir Iain (left, when he was a soldier), 70, was serving in Northern Ireland with the Scots Guards when Captain Nairac was kidnapped, killed and secretly buried

Former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith has recalled the abduction and murder of his former Army comrade Captain Robert Nairac (above) during the Troubles

The soldier was taken from a pub in south Armagh and then moved across the border to Flurry Bridge in County Louth, where he was killed.

Sir Iain remembers how, after the soldier's abduction, 'bits of other people's teeth' were found near where he was taken. 'He'd obviously had a hell of a fight,' he says.

The politician was just 22 when he was posted to Derry at the height of the Troubles.

NEW PODCAST: From Bomb to Ballot: The History of Sinn Fein DON'T MISS: The Mail's John Lee delves into the evolution of Sinn Fein, exploring its roots in the Troubles and interviewing key figures to understand the party's past and future. Listen wherever you get your podcasts now. Advertisement

When he arrived in Northern Ireland he was one more than 28,000 British soldiers stationed there.

He remembers Northern Ireland as having been a 'very dangerous place for a British soldier to be'.

'And Derry, which had already had a long history of sectarian tension and violence, was fast becoming the epicentre of the conflict,' he adds.

Sir Iain also remembers another soldier being 'sniped and killed' shortly before his unit was due to go on patrol.

The former minister, who served as work and pensions secretary under David Cameron, trained at naval training school HMS Conway and then attended Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.

After passing out in 1975, he spent six years in the Scots Guards, rising to the rank of captain.

He also saw active service in what is now Zimbabwe and served in Canada and Germany.

Speaking of Captain Nairac, Sir Iain adds: 'We think they tried to execute [him], somehow the pistol didn't go off or something, and then there was another attempt, and finally they, I think he broke free, then they caught him again, and finally they killed him.

'And his body's disappeared completely, and there's, no one's ever said where he was buried.'

The remains of the 29-year-old Grenadier Guards soldier, who was working undercover, have never been found

Army officer Nairac is believed to have been taken while on an undercover operation in a pub in south Armagh in 1977 and moved across the border to Flurry Bridge in County Louth, where he was killed

Captain Nairac's parents Maurice and Barbara and sister Rosemonde with his George Cross in May 1979

Captain Nairac was one of 17 people known as the Disappeared who were killed and secretly buried by paramilitary groups.

In August, a new search for Captain Nairac's remains was launched but ended in October without success.

The soldier, who trained with the elite SAS, was posthumously awarded the George Cross.

The citation praised the resistance of the Oxford-educated officer to his abductors and his bravery under 'a succession of exceptionally savage assaults' which failed to break him.

All seven episodes of From Bomb to Ballot: the history of Sinn Fein are available now.
An airplane seat that no one is allowed to sit in has left travelers scratching their heads.

A photo of the forbidden seat - taken by eagle-eyed passenger Sven Woste aboard a Croatia Airlines flight - shows it bearing the warning 'DO NOT OCCUPY THIS SEAT' stitched in white lettering.

Woste snapped the image of seat 31E while sitting in the last aisle of the Airbus A220-300.

He was also told by a flight attendant there was no seatbelt attached.

'Made no sense for me because the mounting for the belt was there,' he said. 'Should have been easier to fix a seatbelt than do that stitching work.'

Woste posted a photo of his find in a Facebook group, leading puzzled viewers to offer up their own theories.

'Probably like an extra emergency seat for an airline worker or someone that absolutely needs to be on the flight when it's booked full,' one person wrote.

'A lot easier to keep people out of a seat with no seatbelt, and they probably do have the extra belt stored on the plane to install if someone needs the seat.'

A photo of the forbidden seat shows it bearing the warning 'DO NOT OCCUPY THIS SEAT' stitched in white lettering

Eagle-eyed passenger Sven Woste snapped a photo of the seat while on the Croatia Airlines flight

Another commenter, who said they worked in aircraft maintenance for 15 years, said 'there's many reasons' why the seat would need to be unoccupied and suggested it is likely 'just broken.'

'Could be an arm rest or the recline isn't working,' the person said.

'Either way their procedure is to mark the seat and possibly remove the seat belt.'

One commenter suggested that passengers were 'locked out' from sitting there so the airline could save money, suggesting that the plan would need to staff more flight attendants if the number of fliers was too high.

Another person loved the idea of landing a spot next to the off-limits seat.

'The seats are so narrow these days that I could finally sit without bumping elbows with the next person, the commenter wrote.

According to Croatian news outlet Avioradar, the 'phantom' seat needs to stay empty due to 'complex safety regulations' and 'financial feasibility.'

Initially, the Airbus A220-300 was designed to have a maximum of 145 seats, in line with exit regulations that require having four doors and two over-wing exits in each aircraft.

Woste posted a photo of his find in a Facebook group, leading puzzled viewers to offer up their own theories

If a passenger was allowed to sit in the plane's 150th seat, the aircraft would need four total over-wing exits

Initially, the Airbus A220-300 was designed to have a maximum of 145 seats in line with exit regulations

In 2021, Airbus received approval from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency to increase its seating capacity to 149 on each aircraft.

In order to maintain safety with the new capacity, the evacuation slides for the over-wing exits had to be modified to include two descent lines rather than one.

If a passenger was allowed to sit in the 150th seat, the aircraft would need four total over-wing exits, which would create a huge financial burden.

A seat map of the plane also shows that the aircraft is missing Row 13.

'That way nobody who thinks that the number 13 is unlucky has to sit in that row,' the airline said.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Croatia Airlines for more information.
A top senator is laying out 22 ways Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy can use their new agency DOGE to trim down the federal government.

Trump tapped Musk and Ramaswamy to 'dismantle' the $6.5 trillion bloated U.S. bureaucracy by heading the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.

They plan to cut wasteful regulations and spending by specifically targeting the number of federal government employees.

And plans are in place to force federal workers to return to the office in order to end the wasteful and lazy work-from-home culture.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, has already prepared a sprawling report including a 22-point plan to enact change and 'make the porkers squeal.'

A source told DailyMail.com that Ernst and Vivek met last week to discuss her ideas to slash $1 trillion immediately.

She was also at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday meeting with Trump, Musk and Treasury pick Howard Lutnick, DailyMail.com reported first.

They plan to 'work hand in hand on cutting down the bureaucracy and reining in tax dollar abuse,' the source familiar with their discussion said.

Ernst says she'll be the 'bite' in the Senate to sherpa through DOGE's aggressive plans on a new 'DOGE Caucus' being set up.

Ernst was with Trump and Musk on Saturday at Mar-a-Lago

The senator said she met with Vivek to discuss how DOGE can be more effective

Meanwhile, in the House, Marjorie Taylor Greene was tapped for a powerful job assisting DOGE by chairing a new congressional subcommittee.

The plan Ernst presented Vivek exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com lays out exactly how DOGE can quickly tackle the rising national debt by 'trimming the fat.'

Her first proposal is to address the massive issue of over 7,000 unused federal buildings wasting over $8 billion per year just in operations and leases.

That includes getting federal workers back into the office after empty offices have cost American taxpayers billions of dollars.

According to a survey, 68 percent of 625,568 staff worked three or four days from home.

The 22 ways to cut back spending 1. Fill or sell off vacant buildings wasting $8 billion per year 2. Audit the IRS and workers 'who aren't paying their own taxes' 3. Dismantle President Biden's 'billion dollar boondoggles' 4. Cancel California 'gravy trains' costing $1.8 million per day 5. Stop 'Christmas in September' end of year spending 6. Eradicate giving welfare for politicians 'destined for failure' 7. Change the composition of coins to save money 8. Stop 'bogus bonuses' for bad federal workers 9. Investigate 'silly science projects' wasting millions 10. Slash unemployment for millionaires 11. Delete all 'government swag' including koozies and key chains 12. Consolidate agencies' cloud licenses to save $750 million 13. Stop all funding to the Wuhan Institute of Virology 14. End overpayment to the United Nations 15. Slash the Pentagon's waste of over $125 billion 16. Remove 'ineligible recipients' of federal employees health benefits 17. Put federal workers 'wasting time doing nothing' to work 18. Give more support to agriculture instead of pet projects 19. Work closely with GAO to reduce duplication and enhance performance 20. Require 'commonsense project management principles' 21. Fix 'bureaucratic blunders' in the SNAP benefits program 22. Get rid of trillion dollar 'secret flush funds' Advertisement

Elon Musk (left) has officially entered the Trump 2.0 administration, as he'll be leading the 'Department of Government Efficiency' alongside former GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy (right)

In addition to unused physical office space, employees are facing productivity challenges due to the impersonal nature of remote work.

They've also been exposed for working from bathtubs, enjoying shooting pool, leaving early for happy hour and one who even collected a paycheck from jail.

And many have even scored what Ernst calls 'bogus bonuses' that 'reward poor performance.'

Ernst's other top priorities include cutting taxpayer dollars going to 'sketchy' Chinese labs and exposing government 'boondoggle' projects wasting millions.

She also is calling for an audit of the IRS after finding that over 5,000 employees of the agency haven't been paying their own taxes.

And there are still billions in unspent COVID relief funds that Ernst says should be re-routed to offset the growing national debt.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, has already prepared a sprawling report including a 22-point plan to enact change

Meanwhile in the House, Marjorie Taylor Greene was tapped for a powerful job assisting DOGE by chairing a new congressional subcommittee

'Elon Musk better bring his scissors to DOGE because there is $2 trillion worth of cutting to do,' Ernst told DailyMail.com

The Iowa senator also outlined the 'silly science' projects that Americans are funding with no real benefit.

That includes projects finding answers to 'how fast can a shrimp run on a treadmill' and 'where does it hurt most to be stung by a bee.'

In addition, there was a study conducted looking into if water tastes better out of the bottle or the toilet and about 'how long it takes for a panda to poop.'

Ernst says it didn't stop there as taxpayers funded a study investigating whether a sour cream and onion chip looks like Elvis Presley.

'These might be fun to ask contestants on a game show, but the real question is: why are taxpayers supporting any of these studies?' questioned the lawmaker.

Taxpayers funded projects finding answers to 'how fast can a shrimp run on a treadmill'

And another project investigated whether a sour cream and onion chip looks like Elvis Presley

Musk said in a statement last week that DOGE will 'send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!'

Republicans have long complained about government over-spending and Trump touted that DOGE will accomplish its goals by July 4, 2026.

Trump pledged that the pair would help him 'dismantle' government bureaucracy and 'slash excess regulations, cut wasteful spending, and restructure Federal Agencies.'

'A smaller Government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, will be the perfect gift to America on the 250th Anniversary of The Declaration of Independence,' Trump said in the statement. 'I am confident they will succeed!'

Trump emphasized that the pair 'will provide advice and guidance from outside of Government' and 'drive large scale reform' by creating an 'entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.'

Musk and Ramaswamy have become some of Trump's top allies in the tech bro community. DOGE itself is a play on the cryptocurrency Musk sent into the stratosphere by posting about it on Twitter (before he purchased and renamed it).

Musk officially endorsed Trump on the heels of the July 13 assassination attempt on the Republican at his Butler, Pennsylvania rally.

The SpaceX, X and Tesla head joined Trump on the campaign trail on October 5 when the now president-elect returned to the Butler venue - memorably jumping around onstage.

He put his money where his mouth was - offering a $1 million award each day to registered voters in battleground states.

Former President Donald Trump (left) speaks at his second rally in Butler, Pennsylvania alongside Elon Musk (right), who endorsed the Republican after he survived the Butler shooting in July

Musk was with Trump and his family members at their election night shindig at Mar-a-Lago and has since been seen in meetings with the president-elect as he figures out who's in his Cabinet.

Ramaswamy is a Yale Law-educated entrepreneur who started Roivant Sciences Ltd. a decade ago, which uses technology to aid drug development and other healthcare needs.

He wrote a popular book on the right: Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam.

Ramaswamy started out the 2024 election cycle by running for president himself - though stayed complimentary of the ex-president.

Unlike candidates like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and former Rep. Will Hurd, who were decidedly anti-Trump in the 2024 Republican primary, Ramaswamy touted the 78-year-old's accomplishments in office.

When Trump appeared to be the runaway favorite ahead of the early primaries, Ramaswamy never turned on the former president, like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Amb. Nikki Haley, allowing him to have a comfortable place to land in the Trump 2.0 White House.

Ramaswamy came in fourth place in the Iowa caucuses, suspending his campaign immediately afterward and endorsing Trump.

Elon Musk (second from right) appears in the Trump family photo on election night as family, friends and political allies gathered at Mar-a-Lago

Both Musk and Ramaswamy are billionaires - but Musk's net worth is estimated to be 304 billion and Ramaswamy is worth only one billion dollars.

'Republican politicians have dreamed about the objectives of 'DOGE' for a very long time,' Trump said.

'To drive this kind of drastic change, the Department of Government Efficiency will provide advice and guidance from outside of Government, and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.'

Musk responded to the news by posting to X: 'The merch will be' and then typed out three fire emojis.

Musk's selection came amid a flurry of other picks from the President elect as he began to set out his inner circle of loyal allies.
A gang of shoplifters dubbed the 'Morrisons Four' by police stole 120,000 of goods from British supermarkets on the orders of an international crime gang, an investigation has found.

The shoplifters were ordered to steal from more than 50 branches of Morrisons by gangs from Romania, who then resold the goods through a wholesaler and car boot sales.

A new Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, Britain's Shoplifting Gangs Exposed, lays bare how dozens of retailers appear to have been targeted in this way.

Britain's supermarkets are grappling with a nationwide shoplifting epidemic, with an average of 1,3000 offences recorded every day in the UK, the highest since records began in 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Retailers are calling for harsher punishments as prosecution rates have fallen to a quarter compared with two decades ago.

In 2022/23, retailers were forced to come up with 1.8billion thanks to an increase in shoplifting.

The Morrisons Four were caught out when Rachel Gillett, a crime and investigations manager at Total Security Services (TSS) Ltd, identified the gang on her first day working for the firm that were hired to probe a dramatic spate in thefts.

As she trawled through hours of CCTV, Gillett started to notice a pattern of 'strange behaviour' by the same four shoplifters who would brazenly target Morrisons stores.

Romanian shoplifter Robert-Claudiu Alexe was convicted and jailed for 27 months

Romanian shoplifter Elena-Brindusa Efta was jailed for 18 months for her role in the Morrisons Four

'Someone would go round the store and monitor basically the whole area to work out what they needed to do to get away with the products, so you had [at least] one spotter, and two people taking the products,' Gillett reveals on Dispatches.

The analysis was shared to police after tracking the group to Norfolk.

Two of the four, Robert-claudiu Alexe and Elena-brindusa Efta, were arrested in May last year. They were convicted and jailed for 27 months and 18 months respectively.

In an investigation dubbed Operation Hemsworth, Norfolk Police worked with 27 other forces across the country in areas where the thieves had targeted Morrisons.

Detectives were able to track the four to Romanian gangs who pay thieves to steal alcohol and high value toiletries, including 500 worth of toothbrushes, from supermarkets and High Street shops.

In one house linked to the organised criminals, police discovered 89 boxes of Strepsils, 108 tubs of Sudocrem, 331 tubes of Sensodyne, and many more household items.

Duncan Etchells, a retired detective from Norfolk police who led the investigation into the gangs, said it was 'like a mini Morrisons'.

Efta told police in her first interview that she was coerced into working for the gang by criminal ringleader Zeno Gugulan - a Romanian citizen who has been linked to 54 offences in the UK but remains at large.

Rachel Gillett (pictured) identified the gang on her first day working for Morrisons

The shoplifters were ordered to steal from more than 50 branches of Morrisons by gangs from Romania. (File image)

She claimed she was paid 50 for each shoplifting spree.

Dispatches then tracked Gugulan to his home in Bucharest, where he found the ringleader was connected to a group of men who had been proved by Romanian police for crimes including human trafficking, loan sharking and tobacco smuggling.

When confronted by reporters in Bucharest, Gugulan confessed he told the stolen items to a wholesaler run by Indian men in Bedford, later unmasked as Prime Value Distribution.

Dispatches also found that dozens of items were being flogged at car boot sales in Romford, Essex and Nine Elms market in Vauxhall.

Market traders were secretly filmed admitting that they knew the items had been stolen from shops such as Boots, Superdrug and Sainsbury's.

A representative for Prime Value Distribution told an undercover Romanian reporter posing as a thief that the company could sell his stolen goods 'across the globe'.

They later denied selling stolen items.

'Britain's Shoplifting Gangs Exposed: Dispatches' will air on Channel 4 at 8pm on November 25 and afterwards on channel4.com.
The mother of a 13-year-old-schoolboy whose father gave him cocaine and booked him a prostitute today blasted her ex as 'disgusting'.

The mother had reluctantly agreed to let her teenage boy spend a night with his dad - her former partner - at a hotel in Bromley south London to 'cheer him up'.

But when the boy arrived, his dad offered him cocaine and said: 'I've bought a brass.'

The youngster told his dad he did not want to take drugs or have sex with the woman, to which he responded: 'Don't be a p***y.'

The boy later told his horrified mother about what had happened - prompting her to go to police.

After her 39-year-old ex was sentenced to four years in jail after pleading guilty to arranging a child sex offence, the woman - who cannot be named for legal reasons - lashed out.

Speaking from her home in the Home Counties, she said: 'He's an absolutely disgusting man.

'There are so many bad things that he's done...'

The trial took place at Croydon Crown Court (pictured), where the man was on trial for arranging for a child to engage in sexual activity, as well as for offering to supply cocaine

She want on: 'But I just want to move on from this horrible business.

'I don't want to speak about him for the sake of the children.'

And a source added: 'What that man did is just the most unbelievable thing you can imagine - unless you know him in which case it's not that surprising at all.

'He's out of control, the worst father going and it's a wonder his son has turned out so well when he's had him for a dad.

'The family are well rid of him.'

In court this week, the father, a former company director, had insisted that he was a 'good father'.

He told Croydon Crown Court: 'I might not look like it in your eyes.

'It was only because he was feeling down because he'd broken up with his girlfriend and he said he'd done all that stuff before.'

He added: 'I've genuinely got a good heart.

'On paper I must sound like an absolute reprobate but that's not the case at all.'

Another source described the dad - who once ran a business with his ex - as a 'complete yob'.

They went on: 'He [the father] is a real jack-the-lad.

'He's a physically fit man who always claimed to love his kids and his family.

'But despite the foreign holidays and trips to the park, he was more interested in going to the pub and getting out of it.'

Another added: 'They finally split up a couple of years ago.

'She had had enough. And who can blame her.'

Sentencing him, Judge Antony Hyams-Parish told the dad he had attempted to humiliate his own son into going along with twisted night of drugs and sex.

Mr Justice Hyams-Parish said: 'He seems to be a very bright, intelligent and very sensible young man. But at 13, he was young and impressionable.

'As his father he no doubt looked up to you. He didn't have a choice. He went along with what you asked. You clearly gave no thought to the impact son your son.'

The father's name will be added to the sex offenders register and be the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for ten years.

Mr Justice Hyams-Parish praised the youngster's bravery for telling his mother what had happened.

The judge said: 'He should feel no guilt whatsoever. He was the more sensible person in all of this.'

The dad will also be subject to sex offence notification requirements for life and was given a 10-year SHPO.
A drug dealer has been jailed for three years after he accidentally texted a serving police officer an advert selling crack cocaine and heroin.

Phillip Paul, 25 from Lewisham in southeast London, was sentenced at Chichester Crown Court after pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs and for the possession of cannabis.

Paul had been involved in a sophisticated county line drug operation which stretched across most of Surrey.

Surrey Police were aware of the drug lines operation in March this year after examining messages from a buyer.

However, the force were able to track down Paul after he misdialed the wrong phone digit and texted a mobile number which happened to belong to a serving Surrey police officer.

The officer - who received a messages advertising the sale of drugs including crack cocaine and heroin - reported his bizarre text message to his colleagues.

Following an investigation the police were able to identify Paul as the 'line holder' in the area.

Surrey Police tracked Phillip Paul (pictured) down after he misdialed the wrong phone number and texted an advert for Class A drugs to a serving Surrey police officer

The officer who received the text messages advertising the sale of drugs including crack cocaine and heroin reported it to his colleagues (stock image)

Paul was sentenced to three years in prison at Chichester Crown Court (pictured) after he pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine, being concerned in the supply of heroin and possession of cannabis

When Paul was arrested at his home, officers uncovered 337 in cash, a wrap of crack cocaine, three wraps of heroin and a bag containing two grams of cannabis.

A number of messages from users requesting to buy drugs were also found on Paul's phone.

At court, Paul pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine, being concerned in the supply of heroin and possession of cannabis.

Investigating officer, PC Joseph Brown, said; 'Drug dealing can have a hugely disruptive effect on the local community and dealers make their ill-gotten money off the misery of others.

'If you come into Surrey to deal drugs, we will pursue you and bring you to justice.'
After attracting negative headlines for kicking out a long-term tenant, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has again failed to sell his investment property and has been forced to drop the price.

The three-bedroom townhouse at 29B Lewisham St in the inner western Sydney suburb of Dulwich Hill was set to go under the hammer with a $1.9million price guide last month, but a lack of interest saw the auction cancelled at the last minute.

Mr Albanese and his real estate agent Shad Hassan, from The Agency Inner West, decided to drop the price to $1.85million.

However, that still failed to excite interest, and the asking price was slashed again to $1.75million.

Mr Hassan blamed the weakening market.

'I think the reason for it is quite simple. There's been a slight change in the market, and the PM's property is not immune to that change,' he told the Sydney Morning Herald.

However, Mr Hassan remained optimistic the property would soon sell.

Anthony Albanese is having trouble offloading a Sydney investment property and has now dropped the price twice

The property was purchased by Mr Albanese for $1.175million in 2015, but he decided to sell it before controversially buying a $4.3million clifftop mansion on the NSW Central Coast ahead of his marriage to Jodie Haydon.

In May, Jim Flanagan, who had rented the Dulwich Hill townhouse for four years from Mr Albanese, was issued an eviction notice giving him just 90 days to leave ahead of the sale.

Mr Flanagan, who runs a small business, contacted Sydney tabloid the Daily Telegraph to complain that the eviction notice had 'hit him like a steam train'.

'This will kill me, it's a crippling blow right now. I have mixed emotions in calling this out,' Mr Flanagan said.

'I voted for Albo at the last election and am broadly a supporter of his policies.

'He has every right to seek to sell his assets... on one hand, he's trying to be sympathetic with the majority of Australians who are, like me, finding the current climate extremely challenging.'

The Dulwich Hill townhouse (backyard pictured) has dropped in asking price from $1.9million to $1.75million

Jim Flanagan, 45, (pictured) begged Mr Albanese not to sell the home but was eventually kicked out

Mr Albanese responded by telling the ABC he was selling because of changes in her personal life.

He said that during the Covid period he only charged Mr Flanagan $680-a-week, as opposed to the $800-$1,200 for comparable properties in Dulwich Hill, and had not raised it afterwards meaning the small business owner enjoyed 'half market rent'.

When news broke Mr Albanese had purchased a five-bedroom property with stunning views of the ocean from every room in Copacabana NSW many questioned the timing of this opulent purchase during a cost-of-living and housing crisis.

With many Australian's battling to put a roof over their head it led to numerous accusations the Prime Minister had left his famed housing commission childhood far behind and grown out of touch with ordinary Australians.

The Prime Minister's purchase of five-bedder in Copacabana, on NSW 's Central Coast sparked considerable backlash

'I don't begrudge a person who can afford to buy a house worth that much, what I do begrudge is that same person trying to tell the general population he represents that he understands the pressures we are under,' one commented on social media.

'Nice to know he's just a regular battler,' another joked.

'Labor politicians are simply too rich and too detached to understand real Australians everyday struggles,' a third said.

In an uncomfortable interview in Brisbane where he was asked about the extravagant purchase Mr Albanese referenced his childhood situation.

'I also know what it's like to struggle,' he said.

'My mum lived in the one public housing (flat) that she was born in for all of her 65 years.

'I know what it's like which is why I want to help all Australians into a home, whether it be public homes or private rentals, or home ownership.'
WARNING DISTRESSING CONTENT

A lawyer insists that a long-standing controversy over a conviction in the shocking murder of Janine Balding could be cleared up with a simple DNA comparison.

In the nearly 40 years since the murder there have been advances in forensics technology, and the DNA profiles of five unidentified males have been gathered from a bandana used to gag Ms Balding.

One of Ms Balding's convicted killers, Stephen 'Shorty' Jamieson, is using the mystery DNA as the basis for a judicial inquiry into his case.

Jamieson claims he wasn't even present on the night of the murder, and is urging police to compare the DNA against that of Mark 'Shorty' Wells.

In 1988, Ms Balding was abducted from Sutherland railway station by a homeless gang-of-five, and raped and murdered on the side of the F4 Freeway in Sydney's West.

The first murder trial had to be aborted over the question of whether police had the right 'Shorty,' and in the second trial in 1990, all of Jamieson's then co-accused maintained that he was not present at the murder, but that 'Shorty' Wells was.

Lawyer and former politician Peter Breen launched Supreme Court action last year on Jamieson's behalf.

Mr Breen told Daily Mail Australia that Jamieson had been excluded from every DNA test done on the Bandana, but Wells had not.

Janine Balding was raped and murdered in Sydney's west in 1988

'If they do a test of Wells' DNA, we say they'll get a match. We say Jamieson's not guilty, he wasn't there - and we can prove it.'

Wells' DNA is in the national database as a result of crimes he committed in Queensland in 2011, Mr Breen said.

'My understanding is it only went up on the national database at the end of last year.'

He said police were refusing to compare Wells' DNA with the profile detected on the bandana as a result of DNA forensics legislation, which says they can't reveal the profile of anyone other than the applicant - and in this case the applicant is Jamieson.

'They say they can't reveal the DNA, and they're right, but the legislation also says the court can override it and order them to make the comparison,' Mr Breen said.

Mr Breen is pushing for a judicial inquiry into the case, and expects a decision on December 13.

He hopes the court will order the DNA comparison as part of the inquiry.

Ms Balding's brother, David Balding, has previously said he believes the bandana claim is irrelevant and multiple witnesses agreed that Jamieson was the right person.

Stephen 'Shorty' Jamieson has long maintained he wasn't present at the murder

David, who was just 10-years-old when his sister was murdered, said he was angry and upset that these claims are being brought up again after all these years.

'Shorty' Wells, a schizophrenic who had previously falsely confessed to another crime, initially said he was present at the murder, but later denied any involvement.

Jamieson was convicted on the evidence of his signed confession, which he has long argued was fabricated.

The murder that shocked Australia

On the morning of September 8, 1988, Ms Balding parked her car at Sydney's Sutherland train station, before heading into the city for work.

She was walking back to her car that evening when a group of me - Stephen 'Shorty' Jamieson, 22, Matthew Elliot, 16, Wayne Wilmot, 15, Bronson Blessington, 14 and Carol Arrow, 15 - approached her.

They distracted Ms Balding by asking her for the time and whether she had any money or cigarettes, one of the youths pulled out a knife and threatened to 'cut her face' if she did not do exactly as he asked.

After snatching the car keys from her hands, she was forced into the back of her own car where she was beaten and raped at knifepoint.

Any hope the young woman had of being set free was crushed after one of the youths said: 'I think it's a nice night for a murder...'

The group pulled over on the M4.

Balding was returning to her car at Sydney's Sutherland train station when she was attacked

They dragged the terrified woman out of the car, the pack gagged Janine with a scarf and hogtied her, before pulling her along the ground and throwing her over a fence.

Elliot, Blessington, and Jamieson carried her to a nearby dam, where they drowned her and stole her jewellery and bank cards.

The pack left Ms Balding's body there and got back into her car, which broke down shortly after.

After making their way to Mount Druitt by foot, they sold the jewellery and withdrew some cash using her bank cards, before hopping on a train back to the city.

The next day, Blessington and Elliot took a train to East Gosford where they threw her bank cards into the bushes before stealing another car and driving to a youth centre.

They then confessed to police about the car theft and hinted at knowing where Ms Balding's body was.

Ms Balding's parents, Beverley and Kerry, reported her missing.

All five of the group members were charged and faced court over the murder of Ms Balding.

Elliott, Blessington and Jamieson were each given life sentences plus 25 years.

Blessington, who was just 14 at the time, became the youngest person to have ever receive a life sentence in Australia.

The judge in the case called their crimes 'barbaric' and said they should 'never be released'.

Lighter sentences were given to Wilmot and Arrow, after it was found they did not physically participate in the murder.

National Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence Counselling Service 24-hour helpline 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732
Park Inn & Suites by Radisson brand will open in Odisha and Maharashtra

Kolkata, Nov 25 (UNI) Radisson Hotel Group announces the signing of Park Inn & Suites by Radisson in Puri, Odisha, and Nashik, Maharashtra.

This represents the Groups second hotel in Odisha and the twelfth in Maharashtra and the debut of the Park Inn & Suites by Radisson brand in both locations. These signings align with Radisson Hotel Groups long-term vision of expanding into high-demand destinations across India blending cultural significance with strong commercial activity.

Scheduled to open in Q2 2025, Park Inn & Suites by Radisson Puri will feature 62 elegantly designed rooms, tailored to meet the diverse needs of its guests.

Seamlessly blending modern hospitality with the spiritual essence of the region, the hotel is set to provide an enriching experience. Guests will enjoy inviting amenities, including a relaxing swimming pool, a fully equipped gym, and contemporary interiors that harmonize tradition with modern comfort.

The hotel is being developed by M/s. Prabhukrupa Estates and Properties, a renowned business group based in Puri.

Scheduled to open in Q4 2026, Park Inn & Suites by Radisson Nashik will feature 55 well-appointed rooms. The hotel will offer guests modern comforts and amenities including a swimming pool, gym, and elegant interiors. Whether for leisure or business, the hotel aims to deliver a refined and memorable stay for every traveler.

The hotel is being developed by TCP Hospitality LLP, a renowned business group based in Nashik.

We are thrilled to announce the signing of Park Inn & Suites by Radisson in Puri and Nashik. Given Puri's immense spiritual significance and the rising demand for spiritual tourism, it is an essential destination for our expansion. Nashik, on the other hand, has a unique appeal that cuts across tourists visiting its elegant vineyards, pilgrims who arrive for the many temples, including the famous Trimbakeshwar Temple, and business travelers having an interest in the thriving MIDC hub. This is what makes it a strategic destination for growth for us. Our Park Inn & Suites by Radisson brand, which is designed to cater to the diverse needs of all such different travelers, will complement these cities welcoming character, said Nikhil Sharma, Managing Director and Area Senior Vice President, Radisson Hotel Group South Asia.

Both these signings are part of the agreement between Radisson Hotel Group and Treebo Hospitality Ventures (THV) under which THV will add 150 properties under the Park Inn & Suites by Radisson brand over the 10-year partnership period.

As the two companies continue their partnership, this signing exemplifies their shared vision of expanding into tier II and III cities, creating exceptional hospitality experiences that resonate with the spiritual and emotional needs of travelers.

Jitendra Patra, Director of M/s. Prabhukrupa Estates and Properties, commented, We are thrilled to partner with Radisson Hotel Group and THV for this upcoming hotel in Puri. Radisson Hotel Group is a highly respected hospitality group with a 25-year-old legacy in India and THV brings agility, innovation, and extensive market knowledge in the upcoming mid-market segment of the industry. We couldnt have asked for better partners in this journey.

UNI PC BD
Labour's Budget tax bomb will hit growth, investment and jobs, the CBI is set to warn.

The employers' organisation says that the 25billion National Insurance raid has directly undermined the Chancellor's stated aim of boosting economic growth.

Addressing the CBI's annual conference today, chief executive Rain Newton-Smith will say that the worst-hit industries such as retail and hospitality have been pushed into 'crisis containment', while other sectors are now focusing on 'damage control' rather than investment following the hit to their bottom line.

She will remind Rachel Reeves that profit is 'not a dirty word' and growth is impossible unless business is allowed to prosper.

'Profits aren't just extra money for companies to stuff in a pillowcase,' she will say. 'Profits are investment. When you hit profits, you hit competitiveness, you hit investment, you hit growth.'

Ms Newton-Smith will welcome the political stability brought by Labour's huge majority but warn that the Government's vision for growth remains 'in the distance'.

A survey of CBI members found that half are now looking to cut jobs, while two-thirds are slashing pre-Budget recruitment plans. Businesses bore the brunt of 40billion of tax rises unveiled last month. Some firms also face rising costs as a result of an increase in the minimum wage and new employment rights.

Ms Newton-Smith said business had been 'caught off guard' by the scale of the changes to employers' NI.

Rachel Reeves' Budget tax hikes will hit growth, investment and jobs, business chiefs are warning

CBI chief executive Rain Newton-Smith will say in a speech today that worst-hit industries such as retail and hospitality have been pushed into 'crisis containment', and that growth is impossible unless businesses are allowed to prosper

'Tax rises like this must never again be simply done to business,' she will say, adding: 'That's the road to unintended consequences.'

Ms Reeves has declared that economic growth is her 'top priority' and insists Labour will meet its manifesto pledge to make the UK the fastest growing economy in the G7.

But the Office for Budget Responsibility downgraded its growth forecasts for the final years of the decade in the wake of the Budget. Official figures covering the first three months of Labour's tenure show growth fell to 0.1 per cent, down from 0.5 per cent the previous quarter.

Sir Keir Starmer acknowledged the growth figures were 'not good enough' and pledged to redouble efforts to boost investment. Ms Newton-Smith will also warn that the Budget has placed a 'heavy burden' on businesses looking to invest.

'When firms I speak to want to be creating more opportunities, more investment, more training in their local communities...instead so many  especially in retail and hospitality  have gone into crisis containment,' she is set to say.

'Even where the risk isn't critical, firms that have been through really tough years are now in damage control again. They are looking with heavy hearts to cut training and investment, delay decarbonisation projects, or pass on costs to customers.'

The CBI's warning is the latest to raise concerns about Labour's stewardship of the economy. A monthly business survey has suggested that activity across the UK's private sector contracted in the first weeks of November amid a drop in firms' confidence.

Retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer also say they will face a 7billion hike in their costs due to the Budget policy changes and that job losses are 'inevitable'.

A survey of CBI members found that half are now looking to cut jobs, while two-thirds are slashing pre-Budget recruitment plans (file photo)

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The UK performance in the three months to September was worse than analysts had expected - with the final month seeing a 0.1 per cent fall in GDP

A fall in production sparked the dip in GDP seen in September

Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake said Ms Reeves's gloomy talk about her economic inheritance, coupled with huge tax rises, was now doing real harm to the economy.

'She has talked the economy down, talked the UK down and piled in with 25billion of tax increases on business. They are the people who invest to grow our economy. These are incompetent decisions that are going to be counterproductive when it comes to growing the economy.'

A Government spokesman said Ms Reeves had delivered a 'once- in-Parliament Budget to wipe the slate clean and deliver change by investing to repair the NHS and rebuild Britain, while ensuring working people don't face higher taxes in their payslips'.

They acknowledged she had made 'difficult choices', but added: 'The Government is determined to go for growth and to work in partnership with businesses to invest in Britain's future so we can make every part of the country better off.'
READ MORE: Inside the wild Laos bars where two Aussies were feared poisoned

A British tourist has revealed she nearly died from methanol poisoning after drinking alcohol at the same hostel where two Australian teens tragically lost their lives.

Melbourne teens Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both 19, died after a night out in the party town of Vang Viang, a small village north of Laos' capital Vientiane, this month.

Ms Jones and Ms Bowles, who had been staying at Nana Backpackers Hostel, were rushed to separate Thailand hospitals after asking staff for help on November 13.

Ms Jones died in Udon Thani hospital on Thursday and Ms Bowles died in nearby Bangkok Hospital on Friday.

Four foreign tourists from Denmark, the UK and the US also died, while a further 14 tourists who had been drinking in the area developed methanol poisoning within days of each other.

Lucy Davison, who was holidaying in Laos with her boyfriend, said she was drinking alcohol at the same hostel and within 15 hours, developed life-threatening symptoms.

'I was one of the British nationals who suffered methanol poisoning in Vang Vieng in Laos,' Lucy said in a video shared to social media on Sunday.

'I would just not want anyone to go through what me and my partner have had to go through because it's literally been the worst two weeks of our lives.'

British tourist Lucy Davison has warned travellers heading to Southeast Asia about the dangers of alcohol after she suffered methanol poisoning and spent five days in hospital

Ms Davison explained it was common practice for hostels in Southeast Asia to offer their patrons a free hour of alcoholic drinks, including beers, spirits, and cocktails.

She added that for its happy hour, the Nana Backpackers Hostel offered guests either a complimentary bottle of Tiger vodka or whiskey.

'We had a big table of about 10 people and we were all sharing what was given to us.'

Despite only having a small amount of the vodka, Ms Davison developed severe methanol poisoning within 15 hours of consuming the alcohol.

'It wasn't until 15 hours that my symptoms started to kick in, which were extreme tiredness; I was practically asleep for the whole day,' Ms Davison said.

Ms Davison experienced methanol poisoning after she drank locally sourced vodka from Nana Backpackers Hostel (pictured) - the same hostel where two Australian teenagers, who died from methanol poisoning, were staying

'I was violently throwing up. I was really lucid. I had vision impairment, like I could barely see it was like bright lights, and high fever.'

Ms Davison's boyfriend rushed her to Kasemrad International Hospital in Vientiane, where she was placed in the intensive care unit for 24 hours.

She spent the next four days recovering in hospital, with Ms Davison claiming the doctors and nurses 'literally saved my life'.

Ms Davison warned travellers heading to Southeast Asia to be extremely careful when drinking alcohol as it only takes one drink for methanol to be lethal.

'If you are travelling to Southeast Asia just please stick to bottled beer and cup wine,' Ms Davison said.

The Laos government has vowed to bring the perpetrators of the suspected mass poisoning in Vang Viang to justice after six people, including Bianca Jones (pictured), died

Ms Jones was travelling with her best friend Holly Bowles (pictured) when the pair developed methanol poisoning after drinking at Nana Backpackers Hostel and Jaidee Bar on November 13

'If you are wanting alcohol that's a cocktail or spirit, just please 100 per cent know what it is before you have it.

'We're sensible people, it happened to us. You never think it's going to happen to you. So please be vigilant about what you're putting into your bodies.

'I'm so lucky that I'm okay. I'm not fully recovered but I am getting stronger everyday. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the people that have been affected.'

Staff at Nana Backpackers denied they added anything to the shots of Tiger Vodka that had been given away for free as part of the hostel's happy hour deal between 8pm and 10pm.

Tiger branded whiskey and vodka is also given away for free at other bars with reports emerging of methanol poisoning at several premises.

A bottle of the alcohol was seen at the hostel where the two Australian girls had been staying.

Nana Backpackers Hostel owner Duong Duc Toan was reportedly among 'a number of people' detained by police for questioning, but no charges have yet been filed.

Staff at the hostel, which was still operating but not accepting new guests, confirmed that the manager and owner were among those taken in for questioning.

But staff previously vehemently denied shots given at their bar were responsible for the mass poisoning.

Mr Toan said 100 free shots were given out to guests, including Ms Jones and Ms Bowles, the previous evening and had received no other complaints.

But he denied it was his vodka made the girls sick, insisting alcohol was bought from legitimate sellers and even drank from a bottle to 'prove it was safe'.

Nana Backpackers Hostel owner Duong Duc Toan (pictured) has denied any alcohol served at the bar had been contaminated with the methanol

Methanol is a colourless liquid that tastes similar to alcohol and is a byproduct of bootlegged liquor. Consuming even a small amount can lead to blindness, multiple organ failure and death.

Other victims of the suspected mass-poisoning include a 57-year-old US man James Louis Hutson, two young women from Denmark Ms Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Ms Frela Vennervald Sorensen, 21, and 38-year-old British lawyer Simone White.

On Saturday, the government of Laos vowed to 'bring the perpetrators to justice', in its first public statement since the international incident.

Officials said they were 'deeply saddened' and extended their 'deepest condolences' to the families of the victims.

'The government of the Lao PDR is profoundly saddened over the loss of lives of foreign tourists in Vangvieng District, Vientiane Province and expresses its sincere sympathy and deepest condolences to the families of the deceased,' the statement read.

'The government of the Lao PDR has been conducting investigations to find causes of the incident and to bring the perpetrators to justice in accordance with the law.

'The government of the Lao PDR reaffirms that it always attaches the importance and pays attention to the safety of both domestic and foreign tourists.'
A Fox News contributor made a deeply personal admission that she says has swayed her opinion about Pete Hegseth's nomination for Secretary of Defense by Donald Trump.

Leslie Marshall, a Democratic strategist and radio talk show host, opened up about her experience as a rape victim while coming out in opposition to Hegseth's nomination.

Hegseth, an ex-Fox News anchor, was accused of sexual assault in 2017. He has denied the accusation, though his attorney has admitted to paying off the accuser to keep her from going public.

Marshall appeared on the network Sunday and said that she had to oppose Hegseth despite liking him 'as a person.'

'I dreaded talking about this today. I met Pete a long time ago. We spent, middle of the night, waiting to go on during 2016, before the election, and I like him as a person,' she said.

Marshall added: 'I am a rape victim, and I can tell you there's a reason one in 10 rapes go unreported, and it's very difficult for a woman to go in and have a rape kit done. It's physically, mentally, and emotionally very difficult to go through that process, as I have.'

She said that she believes Hegseth's alleged victim and that, combined with accusations of infidelity against the thrice-married Hegseth, made him unfit, given that Military code considers adultery 'against the military.'

DailyMail.com revealed exclusively on Sunday that Hegseth also had a baby with his Fox News producer just weeks before the alleged assault.

Fox News contributor Leslie Marshall spoke out against Pete Hegseth's nomination for Secretary of Defense by Donald Trump , making a personal admission that swayed her opinion

'Although Pete has an incredible military career, he doesn't have the leadership career in the military that I feel the Department of Defense requires as their head,' Marshall said.

A police report released this week by the city of Monterey, California, shows that a then-30-year-old woman was having champagne with co-workers while on a business trip when things got 'fuzzy' and she suddenly ended up in a room with Hegseth.

Timothy Parlatore, a lawyer representing Hegseth, has admitted his client paid the woman for her silence because he did not want to lose his job, while at the same time dismissing the allegations as 'baseless' and tantamount to a 'successful extortion.'

A complaint from an unnamed woman with extensive knowledge of the alleged rape was sent to Trump's staff explained the story police were told at the time.

The memo sent by the other woman claimed she 'didn't remember anything until she was in Hegseth's hotel room and then stumbling to find her hotel room'.

The six to nine hours after intervening in Hegseth flirting with the other women were 'very hazy', the memo claimed.

When she returned home, she 'had a moment of hazy memory of being raped the night before, and had a panic attack', the memo alleged.

That was when she went to the ER and had a rape kit taken that was positive for semen.

Marshall is a Democrat strategist and radio talk host, speaking about her experience as a rape victim in opposition to Hegseth's nominee, after it was revealed the ex-Fox News anchor was accused of sexual assault in 2017

Marshall said that she believes the alleged victim and that, combined with accusations of infidelity against the thrice-married Hegseth, made him unfit, given that Military code considers adultery 'against the military'

Local police investigated the alleged sexual assault involving Hegseth, that was reported four days later, the city said.

No weapons were involved, according to the statement, but there were injuries  'contusions to the right thigh.'

Hegseth, who was divorced from his second wife at the time of the alleged rape, has not been charged in any criminal case or named as a defendant in any civil lawsuit.

There have been other complaints from liberals about some of Hegseth's comments on Fox News in the past.

He has faced fierce criticism for controversial opinions that women should not serve in combat.

Close Trump ally Senator Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) on Sunday defended Hegseth.

'Don't let these allegations distract us. What we need is real significant change. The Pentagon has been more focused on pronouns than they have lethality the past four years. We need to get back to business, and I think Pete is just the person to do it,' Hagerty said.

Meanwhile, Senator Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) argued the reason for the confirmation process is to get the full story. He said it would allow senators to ask questions and give Hegseth the ability to respond.

He argued Hegseth was never charged, and even before the hearings he said he already plans to support the confirmation.

A CBS News poll found a clear majority of 64 percent of Republicans claimed Hegseth was a good choice, though he had lower approval ratings than many of the other nominees.
The mob has turned on baby boomers. Really, it was only a matter of time.

Apparently, older Australians are so unqualified to have a say in how the country is run that a columnist and author has suggested in a leading newspaper that they give up their right to vote.

This opinion is based on the idea the young should have more say in how Australia is governed because 'they are going to live with the consequences of [an] election for far longer than us'.

That very divisive proposal from Michael McGirr wrongly assumes Australia would have better government policies if only the boomers made a conscious effort never to visit a polling booth at a school or community hall ever again.

It's fashionable for the young to blame those born between 1946 and 1964 for all their problems without addressing bad government policies that are really to blame for unaffordable housing and the rising cost of living.

The call for boomers to abstain from voting conveniently overlooks the fact that those born after the war led social change for the better - and were the driving force behind policies from which younger generations now benefit.

The hated boomers were the generation that fought against conscription with protests during the Vietnam War. There was once a time when young men were sent to battle based on nothing more than their birthday being drawn out of a barrel. Since then, no Australian has been forcibly sent to a foreign conflict.

Boomers - Anthony Albanese's cohort - braved racist social and family prejudice, entering into mixed marriages with Asian migrants in the years after the white Australia policy was officially abolished during the early 1970s.

Apparently, older Australians are so unqualified to have a say in how the country is run that a columnist has suggested they give up their right to vote. (Pictured are voters in Sydney)

A very divisive proposal from Michael McGirr (pictured) assumes Australia would have better government policies if only the boomers made a conscious effort never to visit a polling booth

Interracial marriages are now commonplace and no longer taboo because boomers made it acceptable.

Boomers also led the fight to discriminalise homosexuality, back when those getting caught had a criminal record that made it hard for them to get work.

Members of this generation were bashed and detained by police for marching in Sydney's first ever Mardi Gras in 1978 - long before it became a tourist and marketing drawcard.

The names and addresses of the 53 arrested were published in The Sydney Morning Herald in a bid to shame them for fighting for a basic human right.

The bloody protests occurred almost four decades before gay marriage was legislated in Australia, and in the era before rainbow flags were trendy fashion statements.

The first boomers also had to wait until 21 to vote - with the voting age not lowered to 18 until 1973, even though they were the ones sent to war before they even had a say at the ballot box.

Despite this, McGirr is suggesting those over 65 should now be voluntarily surrendering their voting rights - apparently so the young can have a greater say in how Australia is run under a system of compulsory voting.

'I believe voting should be optional for people over the age of 65,' he wrote in a column for the left-leaning Sun-Herald newspaper.

McGirr, who is himself a 63-year-old boomer, is buying into the anti-boomer rhetoric by suggesting his generation dilute their political influence as part of some virtuous generational gerrymander to favour the young.

The call for boomers to abstain from voting conveniently overlooks the fact that those born after the war led social change for the better - and were the driving force behind policies from which younger generations now benefit. (Pictured are Labor Party supporters in Brisbane)

McGirr's opinion is based on the idea the young should have more say in how Australia is governed because 'they are going to live with the consequences of [an] election for far longer than us'. (Pictured are teenage Schoolies on the Gold Coast, Queensland)

In fact, he's advocating a form of political seppuku - where the boomers politically kill themselves off based on a misguided notion of honour by asking the government to grant them an exemption from having to vote.

His hope is that with voting non-compulsory for over-65s, many will just stay at home and younger generations will decide the outcome of elections.

'My point is simply that some older people might be prepared not to vote so that younger people have a proportionately greater voice,' McGirr wrote.

'After all, they are going to have to live with the consequences of the election far longer than us.

'When you think about climate change, housing, energy, economic innovation and a list of other issues, short-term thinking doesn't help.'

Pru Goward, a former sex discrimination commissioner, NSW government minister and ABC radio host, slammed the column as attention-seeking nonsense.

'Ridiculous. God, we are a happy little country when people are driven to that sort of rubbish. It's a way of getting attention. I just laughed,' she tells me.

Goward, a grandmother and a boomer herself, says any ridiculous argument can be made to argue a certain group shouldn't vote.

'Of course you can't do that. You end up with nobody getting the right to vote,' she says.

Pru Goward (pictured), a former sex discrimination commissioner, NSW government minister and ABC radio host, slammed the column as attention-seeking nonsense

'[With] any big voting group - you can always find a reason not to give them the vote. Do they work? Old people? You could go on and on and on. It's a silly idea.'

McGirr's suggestion that boomers are no longer obligated to vote - a policy that would effectively encourage them not to - is an affront to the concept of universal suffrage, where everybody gets an equal vote regardless of their demographic.

Suggesting a rule change for one particular generation is no different to men's rights extremists arguing women should refrain from voting so that laws on sex discrimination can be unwound.

While McGirr acknowledges boomers aren't necessarily more politically conservative, he has overlooked the fact that boomers weren't the demographic to oppose gay marriage in the 2017 postal vote survey.

It was younger migrant voters with more religious views who voted in favour of traditional marriage. Blaxland, in Sydney's south-west, had the highest no vote of 73.9 per cent - despite having a younger median age of 32 - or six years below the Australian mid-point of 38.

By contrast, the NSW mid-north coast electorate of Lyne delivered a 55 per yes vote despite being home to retiree towns like Laurieton where the median age is 65.

Boomers also led the fight to discriminalise homosexuality, with members of this generation bashed and detained by police for marching in Sydney's first ever Mardi Gras in 1978 - long before it became a tourist and marketing drawcard

McGirr's column is hard to take seriously - not just for its zany tone, but the fact it contains nothing more than an empty call for boomers to forfeit their civic duty without addressing the bad government policies that have made it impossible for the young to buy a house.

High immigration since the 2000s has put median Sydney house prices beyond the reach of an average-income earner. It has nothing to do with boomers voting.

The scramble to keep a roof over our heads has made Australia into a less innovative nation, as young people stick with stable jobs in the hope of paying off a mortgage rather than trying their hand at setting up a business.

Australia's addiction to income tax revenue - and therefore high population growth so there are more skilled migrants of working age to tax - is the problem.

That's the bad policy that has caused house prices to rise at levels way beyond income growth, condemning younger generations to living in cramped, high-rise apartments and never being able to raise children in a house with a backyard in a big city.

Calling on boomers - many of whom are deeply sympathetic to the issues faced by their children's generation - to stay away from the polling booth will do nothing to solve a bad situation that has robbed the young of a financial future.
A young man with practically no work experience or industry connections left college with one great idea, and that idea allowed him to amass a fortune of more than half a billion dollars.

Jake Loosararian, 33, was a electrical engineering student in 2012 at Pennsylvanias Grove City College when he was given an assignment to build a robot that could scale a local power plant and scan for cracks or corrosion.

Loosararian's team of fellow students were the most successful, designing a 40-pound robot equipped with an ultrasonic scanner that could collect vital data more quickly and efficiently than a human could.

Their invention saved the plant tens of millions of dollars in labor costs, Loosararian said. It was natural for him to think about starting a business around the robot if there was such a market need for it.

'Everyone said, "Dont f---ing do it. Theres not a big market here."' Loosararian told CNBC in an interview. 'I talked to a bunch of people after that project  my parents, my siblings, people who had started companies before, people I looked up to from a technology standpoint, like professors.'

He ignored the naysayers and did it anyway, even though he had little work experience outside college, no seed money and no relationships with people in tech.

Roughly 70 percent of hardware businesses like his fail completely or never grow because of how long it takes to get products to market and find customers, according to CBInsights.

Today, over a decade after its founding, Gecko Robotics is hot commodity in the tech sector. And after a $100 million fundraising round last year, Loosararian's net worth surged to $633 million.

Jake Loosararian poses in front of his company's robot wall crawlers

Gecko Robotics is now a darling of the US Defense Department.

It announced last November that it was contracting with the Navy to modernize the manufacturing of the $132 billion Columbia-class nuclear submarine program.

This, of course, wasn't always guaranteed, and there was thousands of hours of hard work standing in between him and success. Loosararian bravely took on the challenge.

He was initially encouraged by the fact that not many tech companies were focused on his niche.

So as soon as he graduated college in 2013, he co-founded Pittsburgh-based Gecko Robotics.

In the first few years of running his startup, he worked 100-hour weeks in order to save '$30,000 or $40,000' just to keep the lights on. Those early years were spent sleeping on friends' floors and climbing inside power plant boilers, which he described as 'dirty and horrible.'

'I didnt come from a super well-off family. I had, maybe, $15,000 [in savings]. I knew that wasnt enough to start the company,' he said.

'I took a job doing systems automation,' he added. 'I spent 50 to 60 hours a week at my job, and about 40 to 50 hours at Gecko. My weekends were at power plants, and in the lab building the robot.'

The robots are seen climbing up a wall. They're used to scan for data and have been used at power plants

After a year of working at his job, he had the 30 or 40 grand he needed and quit on the spot.

The week before he left his other job, Loosararian suffered a major setback.

His co-founder Orion Correa, who put his life savings into the venture, quit the startup believing it would never going anywhere.

That forced Loosararian to work alone until 2016, when his company caught the eye of tech accelerator YCombinator, then run by OpenAI founder and CEO Sam Altman.

But before that big break, he considered giving up.

'The worst-case scenario was: People were right. This is a stupid idea. Youre wasting years of your life after working so hard up to this point. The fear was just being a failure,' Loosararian said.

But a bigger fear for him was going back to a cubicle, where he would be working for someone else.

'I realized that Id rather be in a deep, dark place being in charge of my own fate than in a cubicle and subject to someone elses,' he said.

Pictured: A class of interns at Gecko Robotics have their last week at the company in 2023

And when his expertise began to help others, he knew he was on the right track.

'What helped me get through it was spending time with customers and hearing how important the problem was to solve,' he said.

'Im helping them understand how to refine and create barrels of oil at higher margins, while reducing environmental and human safety risks and increasing the longevity of their assets. Im trying to make sure bridges dont collapse.'

His advice for other startup founders is to get comfortable with failure.

'Determination and persistence sound good to say, but you dont know what they actually mean until youre down in the trough of despair,' he said. 'I know what the bottom feels like. I dont mind if I go back.'
Fears have been raised one of the world's most aggressive invasive species could spread across Australia and kill as many as six people every year.

Red imported fire ants have spread from Queensland after the species were found in turf that had been sent interstate to Clunes, in northern NSW.

A contractor had been installing pallets of turf at a private property when they came across the startling discovery.

NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) said the landscape contractor and turf supplier were served individual biosecurity directions to prevent the movement of lawn materials.

The site will be treated to ensure the area is ant free.

DPIRD has placed a temporary suspension of turf movements from fire ant infested areas in Queensland into any part of NSW.

'Fire ants infest around 830,000ha in South East Queensland, close to the NSW border which poses an ongoing risk of new infestations in NSW,' its website reads.

'Most of NSW has been free of fire ants. Nests found in South Murwillumbah (November 2023) and Wardell (January 2024) were destroyed and surveillance and treatment are ongoing.'

Fears have been raised one of the world's most aggressive invasive species could spread across Australia and kill as many as six people every year (pictured, a map that shows climate suitability modelling for fire ant infestation)

Fire ants are native to South America, and have previously been detected at every capital city port in Australia, except Tasmania, but were eliminated.

They were first detected in Australia in 2001.

A report by the Australia Institute estimated if fire ants are allowed to spread, they could cause six deaths every year and cost Australia more than $22billion by the 2040s.

Invasive Species Council advocacy manager Reece Pianta told news.com.au NSW should 'be quite concerned' about the interception.

Mr Pianta said it was fortunate the latest interception was still in the shipment and the chances it has spread are minimal.

'Turf is an ideal carrying material for fire ants and we know there are very high nest densities in proximity to turf farms in Queensland that need to be dealt with as part of the fire ant eradication and suppression effort by the government,' he warned.

'It's a recipe for a national fire ant disaster.'

Mr Pianta said fire ants have an aggressive stinging response.

He said they swarm when their nests are disturbed and attack in unison, whether it's a human, wildlife or even pets.

They inject venom into their target multiple times.

'In some cases, it can cause secondary infections or anaphylaxis, leading to death,' Mr Pianta said.

He urged the new Queensland government to make the eradication of fire ants a priority.

'While the eradication program is rolling out its work, we want to see a strengthened program of auditing and compliance and support for high risk industries like the turf industry, to limit the accidental spread of fire ants outside the infestation zone,' he said.
Rain is expected to arrive by the weekend

A heatwave has hit the east coast which will last for days and deliver almost 40C temperatures - with warnings issued for an elevated risk of power blackouts.

On Monday, the Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe heatwave warning for eastern parts of NSW.

Sydney is settling in for back-to-back sweltering days, with temperatures in the city's west reaching 35C on Monday and 38C on Tuesday.

The heat will be at its worst on Wednesday when it is expected to get as high as 39C.

These unusually hot days are 6C to 10C higher than the typical seasonal average.

The hottest towns and suburbs will be Batemans Bay, Bowral, Camden, Campbelltown, Hornsby, Liverpool, Nowra, Penrith, Parramatta, and Richmond.

Other areas across the state that are expected to be affected include the Hunter region, Illawarra, South Coast, and Southern Tablelands.

The Australian Energy Market Operator has issued warnings of potential blackouts starting Tuesday afternoon as demand for electricity surges due to the widespread use of air conditioners in response to the heat.

Exacerbating the issue, at least one generation unit at three of New South Wales' four coal-fired power plants is currently offline due to maintenance or repairs.

Sydney is set for a heatwave which will last from Monday through to Wednesday

Temperatures will stay above 35C for much of the time in parts of NSW

'High temperatures and strong electricity demand, combined with some generation outages, are causing tight electricity supply forecasts in NSW tomorrow and Wednesday afternoon,' an AEMO spokesman said.

'AEMO is also forecasting tight electricity reserves in Queensland on Wednesday.'

Meanwhile, those living in Victoria and ACT may also notice the days getting hotter as the heatwave travels south towards the end of the week.

The Bureau warned anyone living in the affected areas to seek shelter and stay safe.

'Severe heatwaves can be dangerous for many people, especially older people, babies, children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, people with medical conditions and people who are unwell,' a spokesperson said.

'Seek a place to keep cool, such as your home, a library, community centre or shopping centre.

'Close your windows and draw blinds, curtains or awnings early in the day to keep the heat out of your home.

'If available, use fans or air-conditioners to keep cool.'

From Thursday, rain will replace the heat, with showers expected to drench both Victoria and NSW over the weekend.

Rain will drench the state come Thursday just in time for the weekend

Sydney

Tuesday: Mostly sunny. Winds northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h becoming light before dawn then becoming northeasterly 20 to 30 km/h in the middle of the day. Min 20C Max 31C

Wednesday: Sunny morning. Medium chance of showers in the afternoon and evening. Light winds becoming northerly 15 to 25 km/h during the day then becoming light during the evening. Min 21C Max 33C.

Thursday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers. The chance of a thunderstorm in the outer west. Light winds becoming south to southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the afternoon then becoming light during the evening. Min 22C Max 29C.

Senior Meteorologist Sarah Scully said the heat was being caused by tropical moisture

Melbourne

Tuesday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds. Min 17C Max 26C.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. The chance of a thunderstorm. Winds north to northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h turning northwesterly 25 to 35 km/h during the day then tending northwest to southwesterly 15 to 20 km/h during the evening. Min 19C Max 27C.

Thursday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. Winds northwest to southwesterly 15 to 20 km/h tending south to southwesterly 15 to 25 km/h during the morning then tending south to southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the evening. Min 17C Max 24C.

Brisbane

Tuesday: Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a shower, most likely in the morning. Light winds becoming northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h in the early afternoon then becoming light in the evening. Min 19C Max 29C.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. Light winds becoming northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the day then becoming light during the evening. Min 20C Max 30C.

Thursday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers. Light winds becoming northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the day then becoming light during the evening. Min 22C Max 30C.

Canberra

Tuesday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds becoming northwesterly 20 to 30 km/h in the morning then becoming light in the evening. Min 16C Max 31C.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds becoming northwesterly 20 to 30 km/h during the morning then becoming light during the evening. Min 17C Max 31C.

Thursday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds becoming northwesterly 20 to 30 km/h during the morning then becoming light during the evening. Min 17C Max 31C.

The Bureau warned anyone living in the affected areas to seek shelter and stay safe during the heatwave

Adelaide

Tuesday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the late afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds becoming northwest to northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h in the morning then tending west to northwesterly 15 to 25 km/h in the middle of the day. Min 17C Max 32C.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning. Winds west to northwesterly 20 to 30 km/h turning southwesterly 25 to 35 km/h during the afternoon. Min 15C Max 24C.

Thursday: Cloudy. Slight chance of a shower in the morning. Winds southerly 20 to 30 km/h. Min 13C Max 23C.

Darwin

Tuesday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the late morning and afternoon. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds. Min 26C Max 32C.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds. Min 26C Max 33C.

Thursday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds. Min 26C Max 33C.

Perth

Tuesday: Sunny. Winds southeasterly 20 to 30 km/h. Min 11C Max 26C.

Wednesday: Sunny. Winds east to southeasterly 20 to 30 km/h. Min 12C Max 29C.

Thursday: Sunny. Winds easterly 20 to 30 km/h becoming light during the evening. Min 17C Max 32C.

Hobart

Tuesday: Partly cloudy. Light winds becoming southeasterly 15 to 25 km/h in the early afternoon then becoming light in the evening. Min 13C Max 23C.

Wednesday: Cloudy. High chance of showers. Light winds becoming south to southeasterly 15 to 25 km/h during the afternoon. Min 14C Max 22C.

Thursday: Cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. Winds southerly 20 to 30 km/h turning southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the evening. Min 12C Max 17C.
Former ABC radio presenter Josh Szeps has made a strong defence of Alan Jones, who faces multiple indecent assault charges, suggesting the fallen king of talkback is the victim of a 'gleeful' media 'witch hunt'.

Szeps said he worked as a producer for Jones early in his career and rejected sexual advances from the older man but did not find them offensive.

'Every time he was rebuffed, which was every time because I had no interest in that, he backed off and usually laughed it off,' Szeps said during an episode of his podcast Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps.

'It wasn't for me anything sinister, it wasn't for me anything threatening. It was playful, it was excessively romantic.'

Szeps expressed cynicism about the arrest of Jones, 83, after the sheen had long worn off from his years of ruling Sydney's radio ratings.

The media had pounced on Jones only when he was a much-diminished figure, Szeps argued.

'Much of the public and the media establishment have responded to this news with a kind of breathless, prurient glee  at the comeuppance of such a divisive figure,' he said.

'This raises all kinds of questions about power, and sexuality, about retributive justice, consent, and the role that the media should play in helping us to evaluate all those things.

Former ABC radio presenter Josh Szeps has accused the media of mounting a witch hunt for the scalp of Alan Jones

Jones, who Szeps once worked for early in his career, faces mutiple charges of indecent assault and related matters

'And the media's doing a pretty lousy job.'

The podcast last week drew widespread outrage and condemnation on social media prompting Szeps to explain his motivations on Sunday.

'What I wanted to have is a clear, thoughtful, rational conversation about fairness, consent, changing norms, sexuality, hypocrisy. I wanted to challenge the simplistic way Alan's enemies see him and the world,' Szeps told the Sydney Morning Herald.

'The reason I was dreading it (talking about Jones's arrest) was because it's hard. It's hard not to be misunderstood when the stakes are high and emotions are raw and everyone's hunkered in a cultural war of attrition.

'I'm one of the heedless fools trying to step out of the trenches into no man's land and say: 'Can we just pause and think for a moment about what we're doing here, folks?'

'We just have to grow the f**k up. We're not going to survive the 21st century if we behave like kindergarteners, picking goodies and baddies.

'We need to stop this infantile game of assigning everyone a tribe and cheering or booing each other on. People ask me what 'side' I'm on.

'What is this, an Avengers movie? Are you eight years old? Life is messy. There aren't sides. There is only clear thinking.'

Jones was arrested on Monday at his luxury Circular Quay apartment.

He is facing a total of 26 charges related to alleged indecent assault and sexual touching.

The charges include 11 counts of aggravated indecent assault, 11 counts of assault with act of indecency, 2 counts of sexually touching another person without consent, 2 counts of common assault.

The youngest alleged victim was 17-years-old at the time of the alleged offences.

Jones's high profile lawyer, Chris Murphy, said he would be defending the charges. He is scheduled to appear in Downing Centre Local Court on December 18.
Barron Trump, the youngest son of Donald and Melania, has returned home to Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday and was seen dining alongside his parents at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night.

The Florida compound has been Trump's primary residence since leaving the White House in January 2021 but has recently been the backdrop to several high-profile gatherings following Trump's presidential win earlier this month.

In the footage shot on Saturday night, Barron could be seen eating out on the patio alongside other club regulars as he was sat next to his father who was wearing a navy blue suit and blue tie, while his mother was dressed in an all-white ensemble.

Melania's father, Viktor Knavs, Barron's grandfather, was also seen dining alongside the Trumps.

The private members club looked bustling as the tables appeared to be full of diners with the venue becoming the hottest venue in town since Trump's historic win.

Despite temperatures in Palm Beach being in the low 70s, the gas heaters had been fired up to keep everyone warm under the yellow and white awning.

Barron has been attending university at NYU in New York City but his return to Mar-a-Lago will give him a chance to unwind and enjoy some quality family time, although his father is particularly busy drawing up nominations for his cabinet.

Melania Trump has kept a relatively low profile since the election but her relationship with Barron has always been described as exceptionally close.

Barron Trump, the youngest son of Donald and Melania, has returned home to Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday and was seen dining alongside his parents at Mar-a-Lago this weekend. Melania's father, Viktor Knavs, was also seen dining alongside the Trumps

Barron, right, is seen towering over his parents, pictured here as Donald Trump celebrated his historic win on election night earlier this month

Mar-a-Lago has fast become the hottest place in town to party following Trump's historic win

The familys time together at Mar-a-Lago is likely to include leisurely activities such as dining on the estates opulent patio, relaxing by the pool, and enjoying walks along the private beach.

Barron is expected to return to classes after the Thanksgiving break but it won't be long before he'll be back in Florida for the holidays with just two weeks to go before the end of the fall semester on December 12.

Weeks later, husband Donald will be inaugurated as the nation's 47th president.

Melania seems to be looking to steer clear of the mayhem surrounding D.C., with reports she'll only be making occasional visits to the White House and will instead be splitting her time between Florida and Manhattan.

Although the former model is shying away from her duties as First Lady, she will be occupied being a full-time mom to their son, who is enrolled at NYU's Stern School of Business.

Last week, the 18-year-old student broke the internet as a clip of him from when he was just four years old gushing over his expensive Louis Vuitton suitcase went viral on TikTok.

The clip, which was part of a segment his parents Donald and Melania filmed for Larry King Live in 2010, showed the tot hanging out with the two of them in his dad's office at Trump Tower.

Barron, who was dressed in an adorably tiny suit, can be seen running around and picking up a Louis Vuitton briefcase that now sells for almost $10,000.

'I like, I like my suitcase,' Barron says, as he picks up the heavy briefcase and totes it around to his mother Melania.

'I have to go to school now?' he asks his mom. 'Now I'm gonna go?'

In recent days, Barron Trump has broken the internet as a clip of him when he was just four years old gushing over his expensive Louis Vuitton suitcase has gone viral on TikTok

And, according to body language expert Judi James, who analyzed pictures of the two parents with Barron throughout the years, he is being groomed to be Donald's heir

'Trump seems keen to show the world his pride in his son and this message has not diluted over the years,' James told DailyMail.com this week

The four-year-old was also filmed packing up the suitcase - presumably to go to school - as his dad urged him to study 'reading, writing, and arithmetic.'

Nowadays, Barron is all grown up, towering above both of his parents at a staggering 6ft7in.

He looked like a full-blown adult as he joined his dad, mom Melania, and other family members on stage at Mar-a-Lago on election night as Trump accepted his presidential victory.

And, according to body language expert Judi James, who analyzed pictures of the two parents with Barron throughout the years, he is being groomed to be Donald's heir.

'Trump seems keen to show the world his pride in his son and this message has not diluted over the years,' James told DailyMail.com this week.

'His facial expression as he poses with Barron looks exceptionally besotted and even boastful at times,' she continued.

It's been reported that Barron is six-foot-nine feet tall, and that his dad does his best to avoid being snapped too close to him to avoid unflattering comparisons. Pictured: President Donald Trump arrives for an election night event alongside wife Melania and son Barron

And now, the way that the 18 year old poses with his father while in public could prove to be a tell-tale sign into his future role in the family.

'As Barron gets older [in photos], he seems to be picked up less by his father in their photos but shown in standing poses, in front of his father, who places his hands onto his son's shoulders,' James noted.

'There is a hint here of celebrating his boy's growth from toddler to young man,' she continued.

'There are also hints in the hands on shoulders pose that this is Trump's "chip off the old block." As an intentional gesture it does hint that this is his heir to the throne.'
This is the terrifying moment a plane went up in flames after a nightmare landing at a Turkish airport.

Dramatic footage shows dozens of passengers - including children - fleeing from the burning jetliner as sirens blare in the background.

Huge plumes of smoke can be seen billowing into the night sky and panicked voices can be heard as fire crews use multiple hoses to tackle the blaze.

Passengers appeared to clutch their belongings as they used an emergency inflatable slide to escape the inferno.

The Russian-made Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger plane from Azimuth Airlines caught fire on Sunday after landing at the Antalya Airport on the Mediterranean coast.

It had had taken off from Sochi, Russia and was carrying 89 passengers and six crew members, Turkey's transportation ministry said in a statement.

The pilot made an emergency call after the aircraft landed at 9:34pm local time (06:34pm GMT), and firefighting crews quickly extinguished the fire, according to the statement.

This is the terrifying moment a plane went up in flames following a nightmare landing at a Turkish airport

Dramatic footage shows dozens of passengers - including children - fleeing from the burning jetliner as sirens blared in the background

Fire Panic on Russian Plane at Antalya Airport! 

A Sukhoi Superjet 100 type passenger plane belonging to the Russian airline Azimuth encountered a serious accident during its landing at Antalya Airport. It was reported that the plane leaked fuel as a result of its left engine pic.twitter.com/s86v16jHpC  AirportIST (@AirportIST) November 24, 2024

The ministry confirmed that all 95 people on board were safely evacuated.

No injuries have been reported and Suat Seyitoglu, deputy governor of Antalya told a local outlet as per The New York Post: 'All passengers were evacuated without injury, and thankfully no one was harmed.'

The transportation ministry said efforts were underway to remove the aircraft from the runway.

Arrivals at the airport were temporarily suspended while departures were taking place from a military-run runway.

Azimuth Airlines said the plane had made a rough landing due to wind shear.

Passengers clutched their belongings as they used an emergency inflatable slide to escape the inferno

Huge plumes of smoke can be seen billowing into the night sky and panicked voices can be heard as fire crews used multiple hoses to tackle the blaze

The Russian-made Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger plane from Azimuth Airlines caught fire on Sunday after landing at the Antalya Airport on the Mediterranean coast. Here emergency services can be seen at the scene

The fire originated from the plane's left engine, according to reports.

The Turkish State Meteorological Service had issued a severe weather warning for the region shortly before the incident.

Russia's Federal Aviation Authority, Rosaviatsiya, said it was investigating the incident.

Flight tracking website FlightRadar24 said the aircraft was seven years old.

Russia is short of aircraft due to Western sanctions imposed in connection with Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
New Delhi, Nov 25 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the Winter Session of Parliament will be very productive, and hoped it will give a boost to India's global standing.

Addressing media ahead of the winter session outside Parliament, Prime Minister Modi said, "The use of Parliament's time and our behaviour in the House should be such that it strengthens the respect that India has gained at the global level."

Slamming the opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "Some people who have been rejected by the people are constantly trying to control Parliament through hooliganism by a handful of people."

"Those who have been continuously rejected by the public, ignore the words of their colleagues, disrespect their feelings and disrespect the feelings of democracy...Today the world is looking at India with great hope," he added.

Prime Minister Modi said, "People 80-90 times do not allow discussions to take place in the Parliament. They neither respect the spirit of democracy nor do they understand the importance of people's aspirations."

"The public has to reject them (Opposition) again and again...It is a condition of democracy that we respect the feelings of the people and work hard day and night to live up to their hopes and expectations."

Speaking about the importance of this session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "The last phase of 2024 is underway and the country is preparing for 2025. This Session of Parliament is special in several ways and the most important thing is the beginning of the 75th year of the Constitution."

The country will be observing "Samvidhan Sadan" tomorrow November 26.

A special celebration to mark the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution will be held in the Central Hall tomorrow, observed as Constitution Day.

As the the Winter Session began today it will be expected to be stormy as the Opposition plans to raise the issues of Manipur ethnic violence and the indictment of businessman Gautam Adani by a US court on allegations of bribery.

For the first day, 3 bills are listed for final consideration and passing. In the Lok Sabha, the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill and the Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2024 will be discussed. In Rajya Sabha, the Bhartiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, 2024 will be taken up.

The government has listed 15 bills for consideration and passing, including one to Waqf ammendment Bill, and five new ones, for the winter session of Parliament.

UNI JA KK
A proposal to build housing at a port in Sydney Harbour has been slammed by critics who fear it will ruin the city's biggest events.

Glebe Island faces redevelopment after the NSW government commissioned a report to assess whether properties should be built around a new Bays metro station.

Banks Events producer and project manager Adam Huie claimed the development would disrupt major events such as Vivid and the New Year's Eve fireworks.

'Sydney has one of the best fireworks displays in the world,' he told the Daily Telegraph.

'But the event could not be done the way it's currently done without that Glebe Island facility.'

'People have spent years trying to work out how to deliver the New Year's Eve fireworks if Glebe Island suddenly wasn't available.'

The 260m wharf space at Glebe Island allows cranes to load fireworks onto the barges that are then directed across the harbour for the fireworks display.

Vivid included a drone show this year that was only made possible after organisers were able to make use of the wharf to build a barge and install equipment.

A proposal to build residential apartments at a port in Sydney Harbour has been slammed by critics who fear it will cripple the city's biggest events

Glebe Island faces redevelopment after the NSW government commissioned a report to assess whether houses could be built around a new Bays metro station

Mr Huie has more than 30 years' experience coordinating water events and warned more celebrations, such as Australia Day, Sail GP and Opera on the Harbour, were at risk.

The Sail GP event relies on the island to house 120 containers of parts required to build the race boats.

Mr Huie said the organisation delivers essential cargo to wharves near the race site in every international city the event operates in.

The independent Tourism and Transport Forum Australia's CEO Margy Desmond said the harbour city excels in hosting events, but needs a stable platform to support them.

That platform, she said, is Glebe Island.

Events experts have rejected suggestions of using alternative ports including Port Botany, Port Kembla, or Newcastle to load events barges.

Conditions at the harbour mouth and other complications reportedly make the proposal untenable.

Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolau said the island was vital for the city's economy, culture and tourism.

'The thought that the fireworks and other major events could be in jeopardy is truly alarming,' he said.

Events group bosses have not yet submitted to the loss of Glebe Island's critical facilities.

They're awaiting the release of the full report, slated to come before the end of the year.

Mr Huie said the report had unnerved event organisers.

The Port Authority, which manages the site, has shown strong support for maritime events in the harbour.

Organisers are hoping their support can quash the residential rumblings contained in the report.
Cyber warfare with Russia has become a daily reality for the UK, a senior minister will warn today.

Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden will tell a Nato conference that the Kremlin has become exceptionally aggressive and reckless in the cyber realm, with Vladimir Putin plotting a destabilising and debilitating electronic assault.

Mr McFadden will also warn that Russia is seeking to weaponise societys growing reliance on artificial intelligence against us.

Addressing defence and cyber experts, he will warn that Nato has to stay ahead in a new AI arms race.

Cyber war is now a daily reality, he will say. One where our defences are constantly being tested. The extent of the threat must be matched by the strength of our resolve to combat it and to protect our citizens and systems.

Ministers fear the Kremlin could launch a massive cyber offensive against the UK in retaliation for this countrys support for Ukraine and Sir Keir Starmers recent decision to allow Kyiv to deploy powerful British Storm Shadow missiles against military targets inside Russia.

Russias ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin last week said Britain was now directly involved in his countrys war with Ukraine.

Unveiling plans for a new Laboratory for AI Security Research, Mr McFadden will say: AI is already revolutionising many parts of life - including national security. But as we develop this technology, theres a danger it could be weaponised against us. Because our adversaries are also looking at how to use AI on the physical and cyber battlefield.

Cyber warfare with Russia is a 'daily reality' for the UK, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden is to warn today

President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at Moscow's zoo in June 2019. Alongside China, Iran and North Korea, Russia is seen as one of the most aggressive states engaged in cyber warfare

Last year, North Korea was found to be using AI to try and accelerate its development of sophisticated malware.

Mr McFadden will warn that the UKs National Cyber Security Centre is already locked in a round-the-clock battle with hackers and cyber criminals sponsored by Moscow.

He will reveal that Russia has already targeted the UKs telecoms and energy infrastructure as well as the media and political and democratic institutions.

But he will insist the Government will not drop its support for Ukraine in the face of intimidation and attacks from Russia.

Be in no doubt: the United Kingdom and others are watching Russia, he will say. We know exactly what they are doing, and we are countering their attacks both publicly and behind the scenes.

We know from history that appeasing dictators engaged in aggression against their neighbours only encourages them. Britain learned long ago the importance of standing strong in the face of such actions.

Thats why we support Ukraine in its fight to decide its own destiny. Putin is a man who wants destruction, not peace. He is trying to deter our support for Ukraine with his threats. He will not be successful.

Mr McFadden will warn that Putin is attempting to turn out the lights for millions by targeting Ukraines power supplies.

But government sources last night said they were confident that the UKs cyber defences protecting the UKs critical national infrastructure can withstand the electronic onslaught from Russia.

The Nova development in Victoria, where the National Cyber Security Centre is based

Moscow is seen as one of the most aggressive states engaged in cyber warfare alongside China, North Korea and Iran.

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall said Nato states were involved in a hidden cyber war with Russia.

She told Sky News there was not only the open military war with Russia as the aggressor, but there is also a hidden cyber war and that Russia will do everything in its power to destabilise not only within Ukraine but amongst the Nato allies.

She added: We have to be absolutely vigilant in that as a Government, but also in businesses and wider society to protect against those cyber hacktivists.
The welfare state, created as a safety net for the vulnerable, has long since become a bloated, destructive monster that promotes idleness and irresponsibility.

With an annual cost to the taxpayer of over 137billion, this leviathan undermines our economic competitiveness and social cohesion by providing perverse incentives for unemployment, family breakdown and incapacity for work.

Its remorseless expansion, especially since the pandemic, explains why Britain now has an astonishing 5.8million economically inactive welfare claimants of working age.

No fewer than 3.2million of them are on long-term sickness benefits  up from 2.2million in 2019. Without change, that total is expected to rise to over 4million by the end of the decade  turning us into the sick man of Europe once again.

That is why the Prime Ministers pledge to embark on radical reform of the system should be welcomed.

In a robustly worded article in yesterdays Mail on Sunday, Sir Keir Starmer said getting to grips with the bulging benefits bill will be a central mission of his Government.

That kind of tough language marks a bold departure from the usual Left-wing stance which sees bountiful welfare as a badge of kindness.

But Sir Keir is right in principle. There is nothing compassionate about the current, unsustainable structure. It not only fuels a chronic waste of talent, but it also feeds a culture of dependency, particularly through the acceptance of sometimes dubious mental health claims as a passport to benefits.

Sir Keir Starmer's tough language marks a bold departure from the usual Left-wing stance which sees bountiful welfare as a badge of kindness. The final test will be in his actions rather than his words, writes LEO MCKINSTRY

People queue outside a JobCentre in Bristol. The bloated 137billion welfare state undermines our economic competitiveness and social cohesion by providing perverse incentives for unemployment

In some of our great cities, like Birmingham and Liverpool, a fifth of the working-age population is economically inactive and the problem is even worse in many post-industrial towns and coastal resorts.

In Clacton, Essex, 47 per cent of the population is out of work. As one local, who has not had a job for eight years, told this paper recently: I get my housing costs paid and I get 1,300 a month. To be honest, I am better off not working.

The systems laxity is as damaging as its indiscriminate generosity. Fraud is now estimated to cost the Government over 9billion a year and the shocking scale of abuse was highlighted by the criminal activities of a Bulgarian gang that stole over 50million in benefits before they were caught earlier this year.

So again, there should be a welcome for Starmers promise of a crackdown against anyone trying to game the system.

Whether this rhetoric will be translated into action is another matter.

Liz Kendall on Sunday Morning with Laura Kuenssberg. The Work and Pensions Secretary will unveil the Government's welfare reform strategy tomorrow

There were few policy details in yesterdays article, though we should learn more tomorrow when Liz Kendall, the Work and Pensions Secretary, launches the Governments welfare reform strategy.

But her party has a recent history of retreat on this question at the first sign of trouble.

With its eagerness to trumpet its humanitarian credentials, Labour is vulnerable to emotional blackmail and accusations of cruelty.

Tony Blair promised to think the unthinkable on welfare, only to back down in the face of vigorous protests from campaigners and his own backbenchers.

It can only be hoped, given the urgent need for change, that Starmer shows more resolve. The final test, as always, will be in his actions rather than his words.
A glamorous influencer has been arrested for shoplifting from a Target after she flaunted the goods in a video on TikTok.

Marlena Velez, 22, who has nearly 300,000 followers on the video sharing app in which she posts videos about her life as a mom to two kids, is facing petty theft charges for allegedly stealing more than $500 from the Target store in Cape Coral, Florida on October 30.

Local police said they were called to the store last Wednesday for a report of a retail theft, and when officers arrived on the scene, loss prevention staff told them that an unknown female entered the store and selected a number of items.

Once she was at the self-checkout register, loss prevention staff said, the suspect scanned a fake barcode that listed cheaper prices, the Fort Myers News-Press reports.

In total, police said, Velez stole 16 items - including household goods and clothes - valued at $500.32.

As part of an ensuing investigation, police posted a photo of the suspect captured from surveillance footage, showing her wearing glasses, with long black hair, a tan shirt and tan pants.

Soon, the Cape Coral Police Department received an anonymous call from one of Velez's followers, identifying her as the suspect, police said.

The anonymous caller also provided officers with her Instagram handle, and from there, police were able to tack down her TikTok page.

Marlena Velez, 22, who has nearly 300,000 followers on TikTok, was arrested for shoplifting from a Target in Cape Coral, Florida last week

Her TikTok page included a get-ready-with-me video from the day of the alleged shoplifting incident, showing her in the same outfit and going to Target and TJ Maxx, Fox 4 Now reports.

She then documented herself picking out items inside the store and placing them in her car afterward in the since-deleted video.

'She essentially incriminated herself,' CCPD spokesperson Officer Riley Carter told the Express Tribune.

Velez was ultimately taken into custody on Thursday and charged with one count of petit theft more than $100, less than $750.

She also deactivated her TikTok account, but has since reactivated it and disabled the comments, according to Hollywood Unlocked.

Velez's stunning arrest later brought renewed attention to her prior criminal history.

Velez was first arrested at the age of 17 in 2019 for grand theft auto when she stole her friend Amanda Santana's car and crashed it.

'She had a class with me at Ida Baker High School and we clicked,' Santana recounted to NBC 2.

Loss prevention officers at the store captured her on surveillance footage scanning a fake barcode for items during a Target run on October 30

She posted a video to TikTok showing her picking out items at the store that day

She explained that one day, Velez asked her to sit in her car during class until lunchtime, and Santana - trusting her good friend- handed her the keys.

When Santana later returned to the parking lot, she said she could not find her vehicle.

'I went to the parking lot and I'm looking around for my car and I can't find it, so I actually, like, double-checked, looked on every side and I was like, "Where is my car?"

A few hours later, Santana said she learned her friend had crashed her vehicle into a ditch near a Dunkin' Donuts.

She claims Velez never paid for any of the damages.

'It's like she never felt remorse,' Santana said.

Velez was also arrested in July 2023 for shoplifting at a Walmart in Cape Coral.

A report from the store said she under-ringed items 'by scanning one item, then placing another item underneath the scanned item,' according to NBC 2.

Velez was taken into custody on Thursday and charged with one count of petit theft more than $100, less than $750

Now, Santana says nobody should believe Velez can sustain the lifestyle she portrays on social media.

She wound up stealing $63 in kitchen items, and pleaded no contest to the charges last April.

Velez was sentenced to complete an anti-theft course and serve six months of probation, which ended last month.

'She's been living recklessly, flaunting a lifestyle that doesn't match her actions,' she said.

Officer Carter, though, said Velez will face justice for her alleged actions.

'Influencers should face the same consequences as anyone else,' the spokesperson said. 'Their public image doesn't exempt them from the law.'
The deputy prime minister's chief of staff is suing the government over claims she was forced to resign after raising a bullying complaint.

Jo Tarnawsky has filed a lawsuit in the federal court against the federal government, the deputy prime minister, and the prime minister's chief of staff, claiming 'adverse action' under the Fair Work Act.

Her lawyer, Michael Bradley, told Daily Mail Australia she was 'frozen out' of her job after making the complaint on April 29.

'She messaged Marles while they were on a plane flying back from a trip to Europe,' she said.

'He responded favourably and said they'd talk the next day - but the next day he basically booted her.

'The deputy prime minister told her he didn't want her working for him any more and from that point she was frozen out.'

From April 30, Ms Tarnawsky was denied access to her office, and her personal belongings are still in there, Ms Bradley said.

She has not suggested that Mr Marles bullied her, and her claims have been disputed by Mr Marles' office.

Ms Tarnawsky is still employed in her role on miscellaneous leave, but she was 'effectively removed' and an acting chief of staff has been doing her job since May, Ms Bradley said.

The deputy prime minister's chief of staff is suing the government over claims she was forced out of her job after a bullying complaint

He said she was exercising a workplace right when she made the bullying complaint and Mr Marles allegedly forcing her out of her role was 'adverse action,' unlawful under the Fair Work Act.

Delivering a statement from Parliament House, Ms Tarnawsky told reporters that she wasn't aware of any investigation into the alleged bullying she reported.

'It has now been more than 200 days since I raised my concerns privately with the deputy prime minister about bullying behaviour in his office,' she said.

'I was then exiled as a result. My workplace situation remains unresolved. Not a single member of the government has reached out to check on my wellbeing.

'After the window dressing of parliamentary workplace reforms has been put in place, the government is testing in real time what it can get away with.'

The allegations come after the government passed legislation establishing a new independent body to crackdown on bad behaviour in parliament.

Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission (IPSC) began operations on October 1.

Mr Marles was forced to address the allegations during Question Time last month when Coalition MP Sussan Ley asked whether he felt he had complied with his ministerial obligations to maintain a safe and respectful workplace.

Jo Tarnawsky has filed a lawsuit in the federal court against the federal government, the deputy prime minister, and the prime minister's chief of staff

The House of Representatives fell dead silent as he struggled through his response, telling the chamber: 'To state the obvious, in this moment, I feel very sad that events have got to where they have.'

'It is obviously very difficult.

'Let me say that in the way in which I have tried to manage this, I have done so with Jo's welfare in mind at every moment, as I would try to manage things on that basis for all of my staff.'

Mr Marles said he admired Ms Tarnawsky for her commitment to social justice and described her as a 'wonderful person.

He added: 'As is evident, this matter is now in the hands of lawyers - of course that is absolutely Jo's right but it does mean that it is difficult for me to say anything more on this.'

Ms Tarnawsky is the most senior female political staffer in the government.
A dozen men who worked for Mohamed Al Fayed have made claims of abuse against the disgraced former Harrods boss.

The men have alleged harassment, bullying and homophobic abuse by Fayed, with some claiming they suffered PTSD and recurring trauma from their experiences.

The claims of more than 420 women of rape or sexual abuse by the former boss are being dealt with by the Justice for Harrods Survivors group.

Speaking of the men who made claims against the businessman, a source told The Sun: 'A lot of them have given similar accounts of being bullied, demeaned and being unfairly dismissed or demoted because of Fayed.

'They often had to leave after speaking up.'

Fayed, who died in 2023 aged 94, was exposed as a sexual abuser in September. Harrods has sincerely apologised to all victims.

The Metropolitan Police is investigating 60 sex abuse reports and Surrey officers are probing one alleged attack.

A dozen men who worked for Mohamed Al Fayed (pictured) have made claims of abuse against the disgraced former Harrods boss

Fayed, who died last year aged 94, was outed as a serial sexual predator in September

The Justice for Harrods Survivors group is dealing with the claims of more than 420 women, who say they were raped or sexually abused by the former boss. Pictured: The Harrods department store in London

Many of Fayed's offences were first detailed in an unauthorised 1998 biography by journalist Tom Bower.

But more sickening crimes came to light following a BBC documentary in which more than 20 former Harrods' staff accused Fayed of sexual assault, including rape.

Harrods, which is now owned by Qatar, said they are 'utterly appalled' by the allegations and have 'sincerely' apologised to his victims.

MailOnline has contacted Harrods for comment.
KFC has dropped its pledge to give up 'Frankenchicken' by 2026, because the poultry industry cannot supply enough higher-welfare animals.

The fast-food giant announced in 2019 that it would stop using the selectively bred meat as part of a series of measures to improve animal welfare in the UK, but now says it will not be able to meet its pledge.

KFC was signed up to the Better Chicken Commitment, pledging to work towards using only slower-growing birds by 2026. But just one per cent of its chickens currently come from this background.

So-called 'Frankenchickens' grow at up to four times the natural rate and often suffer lameness, muscle disease and higher mortality rates.

The fast food chain aimed to meet six key targets by 2026, including the adoption of slower-growing breeds and a meeting a maximum stocking density of 30kg a square metre or less, giving the birds more space to roam.

But despite its pledge, restaurants based in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, Sweden and the Netherlands have made almost no progress in flushing out the use of Frankenchickens.

The firm blamed farmers for not switching to slower-growing breeds in big enough numbers, and said it is working to source chickens from farms with lower stocking densities.

Ruth Edge, Head of Sustainability at KFC UK and Ireland told the Egg and Poultry Industry Conference in Wales last week the aim to reach their goal by 2026 was not achievable.

KFC was signed up to the Better Chicken Commitment, pledging to work towards using only slower-growing birds by 2026. But just one per cent of its chickens currently come from this background

Animal welfare group the Humane League UK has said it would be protesting over KFC's backtracking

So-called 'Frankenchickens' grow at up to four times the natural rate and often suffer lameness, muscle disease and higher mortality rates

'We're not saying we're never going to [do it]', she said. 'But for 2026 and the way the market has developed, or lack of, we're not going to be able to do it'.

Other firms including Burger King, Nando's, Subway, Nestle, Greggs and Marks & Spencer have also signed up to the Better Chicken Commitment.

Animal welfare group the Humane League UK told the Observer it would be protesting over KFC's backtracking.

Katie Ferneyhough, from the charity, told the paper: 'The use of Frankenchickens is the biggest animal welfare crisis of our time, and we will not tolerate companies breaking their promises to animals'.

Connor Jackson, co-founder of the charity Open Cages, added: 'The fact that KFC has made less than one per cent progress on removing Frankenchickens from its supply chain is very concerning.'

Meanwhile the RSPCA urged the chain to 'do all they can do' to transition to using slower-growing birds.

Rudi Van Schoor, the chief supply chain officer for KFC Europe, also told the paper: 'The reality, at the moment, is that the UK poultry industry is not yet in an operational and commercial position to deliver the Better Chicken Commitment by 2026. But we remain committed to the Better Chicken Commitment framework.'
A tax expert used by BBC Verify to back its analysis of the inheritance tax row with farmers now says the policy needs to change.

Dan Neidle, who was quoted by the broadcasters truth checking unit, had criticised over-the-top coverage on the impact of the tax changes.

But yesterday he performed a rapid reverse ferret as he said the Budget changes would hit farmers too hard and tax avoiders too lightly.

Arguing that the policy needed to change, Mr Neidle suggested the Treasury should raise the inheritance tax cap dramatically to around 20million so only the largest and most sophisticated farm businesses become subject to IHT.

He also suggested creating a clawback so if someone inherits a farm free of inheritance tax and then sells it, the inheritance tax reappears.

Wed be taxing farmers a lot less, but IHT-exemption-chasing investors a lot more, he tweeted. All in all, the revenue difference for HMT is likely small.

Mr Neidle said he had spoken to farmers and tax advisers who think the suggestion is workable.

At the Budget, Rachel Reeves announced reforms to inheritance tax relief which mean farmers will have to pay a 20per cent rate on land and property they inherit worth more than 1 million.

Dan Neidle, an expert used by BBC Verify, has said that Labour needs to change its inheritance tax policy on farms

Mr Neidle previously criticised the 'over-the-top' coverage of the changes, but yesterday did an about turn and suggested the reforms would hit farmers 'too hard'

Thousands of farmers protested in London on Tuesday against the controversial reforms to inheritance tax relief which mean that mean farmers have to pay a 20 per cent rate on land and property they inherit worth more than 1 million

Ministers insist the changes will affect only the wealthiest quarter of landowners, but the National Farmers Union and other groups have warned the impact will be more widespread and could affect British food production.

Thousands of farmers protested in London on Tuesday against the controversial plans.

In a post on his Tax Policy Associates website, Mr Neidle used new data to calculate that, had the Budget changes had been in place in 2021/22, fewer than 250 actual farm estates would have been charged inheritance tax in that year.

However, at the same time, there were more than 125 estates worth at least 1.5million which were not held by actual farmers.

Post-Budget, these would pay some IHT (but much less than a normal person), he wrote. And theres another 300+ smaller estates using farmland for IHT planning purposes - these would mostly escape the Budget changes, and remain IHT-free.

He said the Budget risks missing the target, with poor revenue prospects for the Treasury, while some individual farmers will pay too much and people who are not farmers will be comparatively unaffected.

Rachel Reeves has insisted the changes will only hit the wealthiest quarter of landowners, but farming groups say the impact will be more widespread

Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, accused Mr Neidle of U-turning.

He tweeted: The Treasurys chief cheerleader Dan Neidle executing a rapid reverse ferret on the #FamilyFarmTax Who would have known that farmers might have understood the economics of farming?

Mr Neidle, who is a Labour Party member, was cited in a BBC Verify article, which has since been amended, saying: Dan Neidle, an independent tax expert, says the number of actual farms affected is likely to be below 500 per year.

The article said that the Governments figures were likely to be right concerning the number of farms affected by the inheritance tax raid. Sir Keir Starmer then trumpeted the BBCs findings.

Shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins last night accused Labour of risking the nations food security after the Government confirmed that farm buildings, vehicles, tools and livestock are all included in the valuation of the agricultural and business assets of an estate.
The controversial 'non-crime hate incidents' system should be abolished or drastically reformed to protect free speech, according to a report.

Police are wasting an estimated 60,000 hours on non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) every year, diverting them away from their 'core mission of fighting crime', a study by think-tank Policy Exchange said.

Forces are 'highly opaque' about their use of the measures, and in some cases officers have been willing to 'entirely ignore' rules on how they should be used, it added.

'The Government should legislate to abolish, in its entirety, the recording of NCHIs by the police,' the report said.

'Should the Government choose to retain the NCHI regime, they should issue an updated code of practice which leads to a substantial reduction in the number of NCHIs recorded  increasing 'freedom of expression' protections and reducing the distraction of police officers from their core mission of fighting crime.

'Each report takes several hours to record, investigate and supervise  involving several police officers, police staff and supervisors.

'Given there are estimated to be 13,200 NCHIs completed per annum nationally, it is reasonable to conclude that over 60,000 police hours per annum are being spent on NCHIs.'

Police are wasting an estimated 60,000 hours on non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) every year, diverting them away from their 'core mission of fighting crime' (File image)

A former policemans posts on X/Twitter questioning whether transgender women were real women was recorded by Humberside police as a NCHI (File image)

Report author David Spencer, a former detective chief inspector in the Metropolitan Police and Policy Exchange's head of crime and justice, said: 'The NCHI regime is having a devastating impact on the public and their perception of policing.

Dirty Washing and other NCHI complaints

North Wales Police recorded an NCHI after a woman reported her neighbours for hanging out soiled underpants for two months. The force logged it as an NCHI because the complainant had an Italian surname and the pants were hung in the month Italy beat England in the Euros final.

A vicar was a suspect in a hate incident probed by Humberside Police for saying it was a sin to be gay.

A doctor in West Yorkshire had an NCHI logged against them for allegedly misdiagnosing a patient because they were bisexual.

Norfolk police logged an NCHI against a member of the public for calling a Welsh person a sheep sh****r

A former policemans posts on X/Twitter questioning whether transgender women were real women was recorded by Humberside police as a NCHI

An NCHI was recorded against a nine-year-old pupil who called a classmate a retard Advertisement

'By abolishing the entire NCHI regime the Government has an opportunity to keep the police's attention on what really matters to the public  catching the burglars, drug dealers and violent thugs who cause misery to the lives of millions.'

NCHIs were meant to allow intelligence to be gathered on incidents that did not reach the threshold for prosecution, particularly in cases of alleged racism.

But police use of them has expanded to investigate complaints against someone who has lawfully expressed an opinion.

The previous Conservative government attempted to limit their scope but its measures had been 'largely ineffective', the report concluded.

There have long been concerns over the NCHI system's 'chilling effect' on free speech, and their use was highlighted again earlier this month when Essex police launched an investigation into a tweet by Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson.

It later emerged the force's inquiries into Ms Pearson, which it dropped last week, were not under the NCHI regime.

But Essex Police, whose officers visited Ms Pearson's home over her tweet, recorded a 'far higher' number of NCHIs than other forces, the study found, logging 21.5 per 100 officers in 2023 compared with an estimated national average of 8.9.

The report said that if NCHIs are retained after a 'rapid review', ministers should set a new, far higher threshold for the type of activity they cover.

The definitions used to meet the threshold should be raised to genuinely meet the standard of 'hate', rather than the current low standard which includes 'unfriendliness' and 'dislike',' it said.
Three people have been arrested in connection with the alleged murder of an Israeli Rabbi in Dubai.

Zvi Kogan, a 28-year-old Israeli-Moldovan who ran a Kosher shop in the Middle Eastern city, went missing on Thursday and suspicions started to grow that he may have been kidnapped.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking of Mr Kogan's death at the start of a cabinet meeting on Sunday, said that 'the murder of an Israeli citizen and a Chabad emissary is an abhorrent anti-Semitic terrorist attack'.

The United Arab Emirates then said that it had arrested three suspects in the murder of Kogan.

'The ministry of interior announced that the UAE authorities have arrested in record time the three perpetrators involved in the murder' of Tzvi Kogan, a statement carried by the official WAM news agency said.

The ministry described Mr Kogan as 'a Moldovan national according to his identification documents at the time of entry into the UAE, where he lived as a resident'.

Mr Kogan's body had been found by security services in the UAE, the Israeli prime minister's office and the foreign ministry said.

The Israeli-Moldovan national was living and working in the UAE as a representative of the Chabad Hasidic movement, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group known for its outreach efforts worldwide.

Zvi Kogan, an Israeli-Moldovan who ran a Kosher shop in Dubai , went missing on Thursday and there were suspicions he had been kidnapped

The United Arab Emirates said on Sunday that it had arrested three suspects in the murder of an Israeli rabbi, which Israel has called an anti-Semitic attack (stock image)

UAE normalised relations with Israel in 2020 alongside other countries including Bahrain and Morocco.

Despite the ongoing conflict in Gaza, the two countries have maintained close relations.

Mr Kogan's death has prompted a strong reaction in Israel.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog called Kogan's murder a 'vile anti-Semitic attack' that he said showed 'the inhumanity of the enemies of the Jewish people'.

Herzog added in a statement that the murder would not 'deter us from continuing to grow flourishing (Jewish) communities in the UAE or anywhere'.

Ayoob Kara, a former Israeli minister involved in promoting ties with Middle Eastern countries, called the killing 'a surprise'.

Speaking outside a kosher market in Dubai which he said Kogan managed, and which was shut Sunday, Kara said: 'Everything is beautiful here, everything is in control here.'

Neither Emirati nor Israeli officials provided any details about the circumstances of Kogan's murder.

An Israeli official, briefing journalists on condition of anonymity, said Kogan's body could be repatriated Monday.

Mr Kogan's body had been found by security services in the UAE, the Israeli prime minister's office and the foreign ministry said

The statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel 'will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death'

The Chabad-Lubavitch movement said that he would 'be laid to rest in Israel'.

His disappearance came as Iran, which supports Hamas and Hezbollah, had been threatening to retaliate after a wave of air strikes that Israel had carried out in October in response to an Iranian ballistic missile attack.

It has been reported that Mr Kogan's car was found abandoned in Al Ain, around 150km from Abu Dhabi.

According to the Times of Israel, officials suspect Uzbek nationals were activated by Iran and the terror cell has now fled the UAE to Turkey.

Israel will now 'act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death', according to a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.

The Emirati government gave no immediate acknowledgement that Mr Kogan had been found dead.

Mr Kogan is a Moldovan citizen whose family moved to Jerusalem. His wife, Rivky, is a US citizen who lived with him in the UAE and is the niece of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, who was killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The Chabad Lubavitch movement, a prominent and highly observant branch of Orthodox Judaism, said Mr Kogan was last seen in Dubai.

It described Mr Kogan as being an emissary of the branch, which is based in Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighbourhood in New York.

Ayoob Kara (pictured), a former Israeli minister involved in promoting ties with Middle Eastern countries, called the killing 'a surprise'

Early on Sunday, the UAE's state-run WAM news agency reported Mr Kogan's disappearance but pointedly did not acknowledge he held Israeli citizenship, referring to him only as being Moldovan.

The Emirati Interior Ministry described Mr Kogan as being 'missing and out of contact', adding: 'Specialised authorities immediately began search and investigation operations upon receiving the report.'

The Rimon Market, a Kosher grocery shop Mr Kogan managed on Dubai's busy Al Wasl Road, was shut on Sunday.

Israel's largely ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, condemned the killing and thanked Emirati authorities for 'their swift action'. He said he trusts they 'will work tirelessly to bring the perpetrators to justice'.
Higher education has become so expensive that it deters upcoming college students before they even get to call themselves "freshmen." Fortunately, there are now more ways to qualify for reduced college tuition fees,

Every academic year, millions of students seek how they can qualify for reduced college tuition fees through special programs and scholarships. Even if you are attending a school out of state, doing good in school, or have family connections, you can now receive reduced college tuition fees with these tips:

In-State Tuition at Nearby States

Most upcoming students may not know but there are now reciprocity agreements where they can pay in-state tuition at public schools in nearby states, per US News. Usually, these agreements are available to those students who live near state borders.

For instance, there is a program between two states that allows residents in counties that reach the state border to attend certain public schools in another state at in-state rates. With these, college students can dramatically cut costs while having more colleges to go to if they take up such agreements.

To determine if you are eligible, it's best to contact your state's higher education office first.

Regional Exchange Programs

Planning to attend college in another state? You can reduce tuition for out-of-state colleges now with regional exchange programs for undergraduate students.

In an example by US News, the WUE-Western Undergraduate Exchange allows qualified students residing in Western states to pay no more than 150% of in-state tuition at one of the participating schools. Some also offer reduced college tuition fees for their students within their respective areas of domicile.

However, most of these programs require eligible criteria, including a particular major or the number of students that can be allowed within a particular school. Make sure that you're aware of this program and apply as early as you can.

Read next: 5 Quick Tips on How to Earn Extra Cash to Fund College Expenses

Legacy Scholarships

According to Ursinus College, many colleges and universities have legacy scholarships when there is a personal connection to that school. So, children of alumni may receive in-state tuition rates or other special rates.

In fact, the University of Missouri's Black & Gold Scholarship removes all non-resident tuition from academically qualified students whose parents are alumni.

With this tip, if you have a family member who graduated from a school you're considering, reach out to the alumni association or admissions office to see if you are eligible for a legacy scholarship.

College-Specific Scholarships

One of the best ways to qualify for reduced college tuition fees is by way of college-specific scholarships that often depend on academic performance, location, or some other criteria.

According to US News, some universities offer in-state tuition rates for students coming from neighboring states, regardless of their grades. Others even offer programs that cut down the tuition fees if a student has a high school GPA of 3.2 and above.

Still, it would help to research specific scholarships for each school as well as their eligibility criteria, since most have prerequisites for obtaining them first.
Seventeen people including a two-year-old child and five teenagers have been killed after a bus full of students, teachers and parents plunged more than 20 meters off a cliffside road.

The students had been on a school trip before the vehicle - which carried 57 people - collided head on with a van and veered off the road and into a ravine in Peru, according to the state government.

Jorge Sanchez, director of the regional directorate of San Martin said earlier: 'We have 11 deceased as a result of the accident.

'Among them, there are five 17-year-old schoolchildren and a two-year-old child.'

Authorities have since revised the death toll to 17.

'The bus, which fell in a ravine more than 20 meters (65 feet) deep... left 17 dead and several people injured,' the state government said in an update.

The bus was carrying a group of schoolchildren, their families and teachers from the town of Piura, in the country's north, to the Amazonian department of San Martin.

It crashed while driving along a road in the province of Moyobamba, in the San Marin region.

According to local media, the crash occurred while the high school students were on a class trip.

Seventeen people including a two-year-old child and five teenagers have been killed after a bus full of students, teachers and parents plunged more than 20 meters off a cliffside road. Pictured: A crowd gathers in the aftermath of the crash

The students had been on a school trip before the vehicle - which carried 57 people - collided head on with a van and veered off the road and into a ravine in Peru, according to the state government. Pictured: Emergency services attend the scene

The bus was carrying a group of schoolchildren, their families and teachers from the town of Piura, in the country's north, to the Amazonian department of San Martin

The Andean country has a high incidence of bus accidents, with 3,138 deaths recorded in traffic accidents in 2023, according to the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

Road accidents, in particular deadly bus crashes, are frequent in the South American country, especially those involving drivers going at high speeds on poorly maintained mountain roads.

Last year 23 people were killed in Peru after a bus crashed in the northern part of the country, careening down a 1,000-foot (300-meter) ravine.

The crash occurred on the remote PE-12A national highway in the Cusca district of the northern Andean province of Corongo.

'The road is in terrible condition... those are the consequences,' Carlos Pinedo, mayor of the nearby town of Yanac, told local media.

'We should not wait for more deaths,' he added.

The bus crashed while driving along a road in the province of Moyobamba, in the San Marin region

According to local media, the crash occurred while the high school students were on a class trip

In September 2023 , 25 bus passengers died in an accident in the south of the country.

Not even a month later, in August 2023, another accident in the same region killed 13, leaving five seriously injured.

Furthermore, the most recent World Health Organisation data estimates that there were 4,414 road traffic related deaths in Peru in 2019.

The public prosecutor's office has said that speeding and reckless driving are the main causes of accidents in Peru.
A high-profile Australian academic died after a long battle with illness is understood to have recently made inquiries about voluntary assisted dying.

Professor Gemma Carey - who was once the director of the Centre for Social Impact at the University of New South Wales - died on November 17 'after a long battle with illness', her family told Daily Mail Australia.

In a now-deleted social media post on X this week, medical researcher Joshua Leisk claimed that a doctor had raised concerns with Prof Carey that she could have been suffering from long Covid following an infection six months earlier.

'In complete despair, she reached out a few hours later for information on voluntary assisted dying,' he claimed.

Mr Leisk claimed Prof Carey was 'terrified of getting Covid'. Her family attempted to lead a Covid-free lifestyle.

Mr Leisk said that she had previously battled a severe staph infection in the gastrointestinal tract that had developed into septicemia.

'It became an intense ordeal during this period and sleep had become challenging,' he wrote, and she sought information about voluntary assisted dying.

Voluntary assisted dying, also known as euthanasia, will become legal in Canberra in 2025. Daily Mail Australia does not suggest Prof Carey used voluntary assisted dying.

ACT Police confirmed the death of the Canberra-based academic is not being treated as suspicious.

She is survived by her husband Ben O'Mara and two-year-old son Gideon.

Australian Professor Gemma Carey, a passionate advocate for the rights of people with disabilities, has died after a battle with illness

Prof Carey was open about her health fights - including an autoimmune disease that can cause paralysis in extreme cases, Guillain-Barre Syndrome - and attempted to live a Covid-free lifestyle with her family.

She released a candid memoir No Matter Our Wreckage, about being sexually assaulted as a young woman.

'My mother knew I was abused as a child. She had read letters sent from my abuser to me,' she wrote in the memoir.

'But she never spoke to me about them, or what they described. And she never intervened to stop the abuse.

'Now she is dying and the past is rising to the surface like a bruise.'

When Prof Carey was 17-years-old, she took the perpetrator to court without anyone else knowing and had him placed on the child sex offenders register.

Prof Carey suffered a serious injury from receiving the Covid vaccine in May 2021, after she took the AstraZeneca jab which was the only one recommended at the time for her Guillain-Barre Syndrome condition.

She told newsletter Crikey that the jab left her suffering 'functional stroke' symptoms.

Her gruelling rehab process has involved relearning how to read, write and talk while on leave from her job.

Prof Carey, who passed away on November 17, pictured with husband Ben O'Mara

Prof Carey's last post on Instagram, dated August 25, contained a heart-wrenching cry of despair.

In January 2022 Prof Carey said she was desperately waiting for the protein-based vaccine Novavax to be approved to allow her to continue her course of Covid vaccines.

She said the AstraZeneca jab had inflamed her Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

'Every fine nerve fibre in my body became inflamed,' Professor Carey told the Sydney Morning Herald.

'It was excruciating. I was in acute care for quite a while.'

Campaigning for fairer and broader vaccine injury compensation scheme saw her targeted by trolls.

That led to her leaving the social media platform then known as Twitter and taking professional leave from her job at UNSW.

'Due to harassment that has crossed form this platform into all aspects of my professional and personal life, I will be taking a leave of absence,' she tweeted on September 10.

Her last post to Instagram, dated August 25, was a poetic cry of heart-wrenching despair.

'So this is it? This is my story now?

'The Dying Girl?

'The Dead Girl?

'The B**ch

'The Survivor.

'Don't I ever get to be anything else?

'Don't I ever get to be myself again?'

In 2019 Prof Carey shared the story of a traumatic miscarriage, her second, where she passed out from pain and had her newborn discarded accidentally.

She told website Kidspot she 'had to sort through a bucket of my miscarriage with a doctor to look for baby bits' for DNA testing.

In November 2021, Prof Carey was threatened with legal action after publishing a nine-word tweet about former Attorney-General Christian Porter.

Ms Carey came under fire after leaving a comment on a 20-year-old photo showing the Mr Porter with Daily Mail Australia political editor Peter van Onselen and his wife Ainslie, and former Australian deputy chief medical officer Dr Nick Coatsworth.

Prof Carey was hit with legal notices from Mr Porter and Prof van Onselen, as well as Liberal National MP Andrew Laming, after making a separate jibe.

She subsequently deleted the tweet and sent almost identically worded apologies to Mr Porter and Prof van Onselen.

'On 24th October 2021, I commented on a photograph of Peter van Onselen when he was at university with others & that comment was completely inappropriate & highly offensive and I should never have published it,' she tweeted.

'It has now been deleted and I unconditionally withdraw my comment and apologise to Mr van Onselen for the hurt caused to him and his wife by my conduct.'

A GoFundMe launched to fund Prof Carey's legal defence raised over $250,000.

For confidential 24-hour support in Australia call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
A general in Russia has been fired after he was accused of faking reports of battleground successes in Ukraine.

Colonel General Gennady Anashkin had been the commander of the Russian Army's 'Southern Group' which is fighting in eastern Ukraine.

A Russian military blogging channel, Military Informant, has claimed that 'false reports about supposedly deep successful breakthroughs' started to come from Siversk close to where Anashkin's soldiers are fighting Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the pro-Putin Telegram channel Rybar claimed that Anashkin had uncessceraily killed hundreds of men after he sent them to the frontline poorly prepared and ill-equipped for the battle.

The Daily Telegraph reported that the Kremlin or the Russian Army were yet to comment on the alleged sacking.

State media has reported that a source in the ministry of defence acknowledged his dismissal but claimed that it was due to a 'planned rotation'.

Nevertheless, Russian bloggers have welcomed the removal claiming it could lead to improvements in military operations and place more value on the lives of soldiers.

Anashkin was only appointed commander of the Russian Armys Southern Group in May.

Colonel General Gennady Anashkin had been the commander of the Russian Army's 'Southern Group' which is fighting in eastern Ukraine

Russian president Vladimir Putin. State media has reported that a source in the ministry of defence acknowledged his dismissal but claimed that it was due to a 'planned rotation'

A Russian military blogging channel, Military Informant, has claimed that 'false reports about supposedly deep successful breakthroughs' started to come from Siversk close to where Anashkin's soldiers are fighting Ukraine

For his role in leading airborne units during Russia's war with Georgia in 2008, he was made a Hero of Russia, the highest honorary title in the country.

His alleged sacking comes after a top Russian general was allegedly killed by British Storm Shadow missiles on November 20.

The strike launched by Ukraine wiped out Lt-Gen Valery Solodchuk along with 500 North Korean soldiers.

It also resulted in 18 Putin officers being reported lost and a further 18 wounded it has been claimed.

This was the first time UK Storm Shadow missiles had been used blast targets deep inside Russia.

It is understood that the pinpoint missiles had hit a Putin command post and military facility with the scale of Russian losses now alleged to be enormous.

Russian authorities have not yet confirmed losses which would be grievous to both Russia and North Korea if confirmed, and the reports are yet to be independently verified.

The Storm Shadows were targeted on November 20 at an underground military facility in Maryino on a Tsarist estate, in Kursk region.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is under fire after being accused of holding therapy 'cry sessions' for department staffers upset over Donald Trump's election victory.

Blinken, who is expected to be replaced by Marco Rubio in January, has frequently clashed with the Republican-controlled Congress, being held in contempt in September for skipping a hearing on the disastrous exit from Afghanistan.

California Congressman and Trump ally Darrell Issa wrote an open letter to Blinken smashing the State Department for the rumored counseling sessions over Trump's win, calling them 'disturbing.'

Reports of the meetings first came out November 11, when a memo to department employees titled 'managing stress during change' was sent out less than a week after Trump's victory.

Sources told the Washington Free Beacon the meetings amounted to a 'cry session' for bereft liberal staffers.

Issa wrote to Blinken this week: 'I am concerned that the Department is catering to federal employees who are personally devastated by the normal functioning of American democracy through the provision of government-funded mental health counseling because Kamala Harris was not elected President of the United States.'

The email promoted staffers as being able to take advantage of a stressful environment of change which Issa termed as having a 'personal meltdown over the result of a free and fair election.'

'Change is a constant in our lives, but it can often bring about stress and uncertainty,' the email said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is under fire after being accused of holding therapy 'cry sessions' for department staffers after Donald Trump won the election

Reports of the meetings first came out November 11, when a memo to department employees titled 'managing stress during change' was sent out less than a week after Trump's victory

'Join us for an insightful webinar where we delve into effective stress management techniques to help you navigate these challenging times. This session will provide tips and practical strategies for managing stress and maintaining your well being.'

At least two meetings were put on the schedule within the span of three days on the topic.

The department's Employee Consultation Services in the Bureau of Medical Services hosted the session.

Counseling sessions embody a State Department that resembled academia gone mad, a source told the Free Beacon.

'For four years, within the rank and file, there has been an over emphasis on people's feelings, often with a college campus-like fervor, rather than the work of advancing America's interests.'

The letter from Issa comes after a Free Beacon report earlier this month that detailed two alleged therapy sessions that were held at the State Department after Trump's victory, with sources telling the outlet that one such instance amounted to an information 'cry session.'

'The mere fact that the Department is hosting these sessions raises significant questions about the willingness of its personnel to implement the lawful policy priorities that the American people elected President Trump to pursue and implement,' the letter obtained by Fox News Digital said.

California Congressman and Trump ally Darrell Issa wrote an open letter to Blinken smashing the State Department for the rumored counseling sessions over Trump's win, calling them 'disturbing'

The State Department appears set for long overdue reforms under the Florida Senator and former presidential candidate Marco Rubio (pictured right)

'The Trump Administration has a mandate for wholesale change in the foreign policy arena, and if foreign service officers cannot follow through on the American people's preferences, they should resign and seek a political appointment in the next Democrat administration.'

The State Department appears set for long overdue reforms under the Florida Senator and former presidential candidate Rubio.

Rubio, who was elected to the Senate in 2010, is considered a foreign policy hawk and will lead Trump's prowess on the world stage.

He currently serves as the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee and was considered to be on Trump's shortlist for vice president earlier this year.

Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants and has built his brand in Washington as being hard on Iran and China.

Trump is determined to end Russia's war in Ukraine on Day One of the second term of his presidency.

And the Middle East, which has been plunged into chaos amid Israel's conflict with Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, will prove to be challenging as China continues its efforts to sabotage the U.S.
Sarco 'death pods' are to set to come to the UK if assisted dying is made legal, the doctor behind the creation has said - as some MPs claim the bill will pass.

Dr Phillip Nitschke, 77, revealed he is ready to launch his 3D-printed portable machine that fills with nitrogen gas in Britain, should Kim Leadbeater's legislation go through.

MPs will take part in a vote this week on whether to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill people after a row over ministerial criticism of the bill deepened on Sunday.

Ms Leadbeater's legislation will come before the Commons on Friday, with the first debate and vote of its kind in the House since 2015.

Members will be given a free vote on the issue, allowing them to make a decision according to their own conscience rather than in line with party policy.

Dr Nitschke said his machine may prove popular with people who choose assisted dying but do not want to end their life via lethal injection or medicine cocktails.

He told The Telegraph: 'It seems to me that it will just provide an additional option for those who don't want the needle and who don't want the drink.'

It comes after Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood criticised the legislation and made clear she would vote against it in a strongly worded letter to constituents which emerged over the weekend.

Sarco 'death pods' (pictured) are to set to come to the UK if assisted dying is made legal, the doctor behind the creation has said

Australian euthanasia advocate Dr Philip Nitschke (pictured) is a former physician and head of the voluntary euthanasia campaign Exit International

Ms Mahmood said the bill could open the door to a 'slippery slope to death on demand', while Health Secretary Wes Streeting has also faced a backlash for suggesting it could cost the NHS more.

In a letter last month, Cabinet Secretary Simon Case said the Government would remain neutral and suggested ministers avoid taking part in public debate on the issue.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has declined to say which way he will vote, arguing that he does not want to put pressure on other MPs.

The Cabinet is split over the issue, with more members believed to be in favour than against.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn, Transport Secretary Louise Haigh and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband have all said they will back the law.

Others including Home Secretary Yvette Cooper have been less explicit but indicated their support for the measures in the bill.

Meanwhile Ms Mahmood, Mr Streeting and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds have said they will reject the legislation.

Ms Kendall defended her Cabinet colleagues voicing 'strong opinions' about the Bill as she spoke to broadcasters on Sunday morning.

Kim Leadbeater's legislation will come before the Commons on Friday, with the first debate and vote of its kind in the House since 2015

But Labour peer Lord Falconer, a former justice secretary and longstanding proponent of a change in the law, criticised the Justice Secretary's intervention on Sunday.

He told the Guardian that ministers speaking out against the Bill were 'breaking the rules spectacularly' and giving the 'false impression' that their departments were also opposed to it.

'The rule-breakers are getting more coverage because they're breaking the rules so spectacularly,' he said.

Supporters of the bill are optimistic that it has enough backing for the legislation to pass the first Commons hurdle, but the result will not be known until a division list is published after the vote showing which way MPs voted.

Proponents argue existing legislation fails to respect patient autonomy and discriminates financially between those who can afford to travel abroad to end their lives within the law and those who cannot.

Many of those opposed to a law change have voiced concern about the potential for coercion and mission creep, and say the legislation has been rushed.

A group of group of 29 faith leaders united to oppose the bill in joint letter on Sunday, saying they were 'deeply concerned' that it could open up the possibility of 'life-threatening abuse'.

Ms Leadbeater has described Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill as the most 'robust' in the world, with 'three layers of scrutiny' in the form of a sign-off by two doctors and a High Court judge.

It would also make coercion an offence with a possible punishment of 14 years in jail.

The bill, which covers England and Wales, states that only terminally-ill adults with under six months left to live and a settled wish to die would be eligible.
For many it is a rare treat reserved for holidays and special occasions.

But drinking during the day is becoming a more regular habit for some, replacing the traditional big night out, according to a pub group's boss.

Midday drinking has grown in popularity as many younger people prefer to be tucked up in bed rather than experiencing a raucous night out.

The trend is particularly evident on Saturdays, when daytime 'bottomless brunches' are taking the place of a night on the tiles.

David McDowall, chief executive of Stonegate, which has more than 4,000 pubs and bars, said: 'At Slug & Lettuce in particular, what used to be our busiest hour - 9pm to 10pm on a Saturday - is now 3pm to 4pm.

'The day out starts with lunch or brunch, then drinks or cocktails,' he told the Sunday Times.

'By the time 8pm comes around, it is time to head home.'

But that's not the only change to how people celebrate, with younger customers now asking for more low or non-alcoholic drinks, with non-alcoholic versions of drinks accounting for two per cent of beer sales.

Drinking during the day is becoming a more regular habit for some, replacing the traditional big night out, according to a pub group's boss (file image)

David McDowall, chief executive of Stonegate, which has more than 4,000 pubs and bars, said: 'At Slug & Lettuce in particular, what used to be our busiest hour - 9pm to 10pm on a Saturday - is now 3pm to 4pm'

People now favour a day out with activities instead of a night in a club (Pictured: An empty nightclub in Newcastle upon Tyne)

It mirrors a similar trend in mainland Europe, with France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain leading the way for non-alcoholic or low alcohol variant purchases.

In the Netherlands, low or no-alcohol beers make up 11 per cent of sales, nine per cent in France and seven per cent in Germany. In Spain, 15 per cent of sales are made up of non or low alcoholic beverages.

And from this demand for non or low alcohol varieties, a new trend has emerged: zebra-striping.

Also known as zebra-ing, the trend involves alternating between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, for those who don't want to forgo alcohol on their night out.

Consultancy KAM Insights found one in four people regularly use zebra-striping, and 36 per cent of drinkers pace themselves by having soft drinks between their alcoholic beverages.

Bottomless brunches are also replacing the infamous 'happy hour' drinking.

This, and 'active socialising', which means people take part in an activity while also drinking rather than sitting and chatting in the pub, means that more people are going out earlier in the day.

'Over the last 18 months, there have been too many data points suggesting that people are socialising differently to ignore it,' Mr McDowall added.

'The types of businesses that we run have to evolve and be relevant.'
The probable murder of the son of an Italian mafia boss has sparked fears it could reignite a 'hellish' feud between two clans of 'Ndrangheta mobster families.

Farmer Antonio Strangio has been missing for more than a week after his burnt out SUV was found in the countryside near San Luca.

Charred bone fragments, a necklace, and some teeth were found in the vehicle.

Italian police are trying to ascertain whether they belong to the missing father-of-four, 42, but his family appear to believe they do and have already posted death notices.

Calabrian journalist Michele Albanese says the situation could turn 'hellish' if Strangio was killed as he said 'at the very least the community has been plunged back into fear'.

The notorious San Luca feud between the Pelle-Vottari and Nirta-Strangio families started with a carnival prank in 1991 that prompted a string of killings, including the 2006 Christmas Day execution of the wife of a Strangio family mobster.

Notorious mobster Santo Vottari was sentenced in 2017 to 10 years two years after he went on the run for the killings.

Antonio Strangio has been missing for more than a week after his burnt out SUV was found in the countryside near San Luca

Italian police are trying to ascertain whether the remains belong to the missing father-of-four

A view of San Luca village in the southern region of Calabria taken on 16 August 2007

Strangio was part of the Nirta-Strangio clan but belonged to another branch of the family called 'the barbarians', reported The Times, which are known for their ferocity.

His father Giuseppe Strangio, 70, was involved in the kidnap for ransom of Cesare Casella in Pavia in 1988, who was aged 19 at the time.

He was held captive for more than two years before his release. Strangio was arrested after being wounded in the foot during a shootout with police.

Antonio Nicaso, a professor of organised crime at Rome university, said: 'If this was an attack on the Strangios, repercussions would be inevitable. Their "inquiries" are not as slow as those of the police,' he told La Repubblica.

'We will know soon enough. The 'Ndrangheta has always known how to communicate effectively without using many words.'

Notoriously ruthless, the 'Ndrangheta has surpassed Sicily's Cosa Nostra and the Naples-based Camorra in influence thanks to its control of Europe's cocaine trade.

Notorious mobster Santo Vottari was sentenced in 2017 to 10 years two years after he went on the run for the killings

An image grabbed from a video handout by the press office of the Italian Carabinieri Police Forces on December 19, 2019 shows an undated meeting of bosses of the southern 'Ndrangheta mafia

The organisation is made up of numerous village and family-based clans based in the rural, mountainous and under-developed 'toe' of Italy's boot.

The name 'Ndrangheta comes from the Greek for courage or loyalty and the organisation's secretive culture and brutal enforcement of codes of silence have made it very difficult to penetrate.

But authorities claimed a major breakthrough in 2016 when they captured Ernesto Fazzalari, whom they described at the time as the last senior 'Ndrangheta fugitive still at large.
A former MI6 spy chief has accused Labour of putting national security at risk following its 'deeply' worrying cuts to defence spending.

Sir Richard Dearlove, who was head of MI6 between 1999 and 2004, has claimed the new government is showing no urgency in the face of international crises.

In words reported by the Daily Telegraph, Sir Richard said: 'I'm deeply worried about aspects of this new Government, particularly when it comes to national security  and these are ultimately issues of national security.

'We're in a state of international crisis. We have a defence review, but there's no urgency at all on the Government's part.'

He has urged Labour to treat the defence budget as 'important, perhaps more important' than the NHS.

Sir Richard most recent intervention before yesterday's came in 2019 when he said then-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was a danger to national security and unfit to lead the country.

He also took aim Home Secretary Yvette Cooper who the spy chief accused of not 'having a clue' on whether she would rule out arresting Mr Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant.

Last week, the ICC, based in The Hague, issued an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister over the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Sir Richard Dearlove, who was head of MI6 between 1999 and 2004, has claimed the new Labour government is showing no urgency in the face of international crises

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer with the Chancellor Rachel Reeves. Sir Richard has urged Labour to treat the defence budget as 'important, perhaps more important' than the NHS

Nuclear submarine HMS Vanguard arrives back at HM Naval Base in Scotland. Sir Richard's intervention comes after yesterday the Mail revealed that almost a tenth of Labour's 2.9billion defence budget boost will be wiped out by the Chancellor's decision to hike employers' National Insurance contributions

As a member of the ICC, Britain is responsible for enforcing arrest warrants it issues.

Sir Richard's intervention comes after yesterday the Mail revealed that almost a tenth of Labour's 2.9billion defence budget boost will be wiped out by the Chancellor's decision to hike employers' National Insurance contributions (NICs).

Ministers admitted the 1.2p rise would impact the Ministry of Defence directly  costing the underfunded department 216million in 2025-26.

This is equal to 8.6 per cent of the cash boost hailed by the Chancellor as proof of the Government's commitment to supporting Ukraine and national security.

The Prime Minister has previously said his Government is committed to spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence, but Labour has been criticised for failing to clearly set out when this will happen, with total expenditure predicted to be 64.4billion  or 2.29 per cent of GDP  next year.

Responding to a written parliamentary question, minister for defence procurement Maria Eagle said: 'The changes from April are expected to increase departmental costs by 216million.

'The Chancellor has agreed to provide funding to the public sector to support with the cost of employer National Insurance contributions.'
A senior Army officer has been charged after allegedly trying to take a decommissioned hand grenade onto a flight at Scotlands busiest airport.

Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Clark is said to have taken the deactivated explosive device through security at Edinburgh Airport in his hand luggage.

The item, a dummy grenade used in training, according to reports, was assessed as non- viable and posed no threat.

Police charged the 54-year-old in connection with the incident, which led to the deployment of bomb squad specialists.

The veteran officer was released from custody at the time and will appear in court at a later date.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: At around 8.05am on Wednesday, October 16, police were called by security at Edinburgh Airport after a decommissioned ordnance device was found during scanning of a passengers hand luggage.

Explosive Ordnance Disposal attended and the item was assessed as non-viable and posed no threat.

A 54-year-old man was arrested and charged and released on an undertaking to appear in court at a later date.

Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Clark allegedly took a deactivated grenade onto a flight at Scotland's busiest airport

Mr Clark is said to have taken the decommissioned explosive device through security at Edinburgh Airport (pictured)

The item, a dummy grenade used in training, according to reports, was assessed as non- viable and posed no threat (file image)

Mr Clark joined the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in 1988 and is now an officer in the Royal Regiment of Scotland.

He served with the Argylls in Germany and on two operational tours in Northern Ireland in the 1990s.

Mr Clark was made an MBE in 2006 after training soldiers before they mounted a daring raid on a police station in Basra, Iraq, in 2005.

He helped prepare the men of 12 Mechanised Brigade, including the Staffordshires, who were involved in an operation to rescue two members of the SAS being held captive by Iraqi forces.

Mr Clark was appointed Edinburgh Garrison Commander, based at Edinburgh Castle, in 2019.

An Army spokesman has said: A service person was involved in a security incident at Edinburgh Airport on October 16.

As the matter is the subject of ongoing legal proceedings, we wont comment further.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has been approached for comment.
Australian clothing giant Mosaic Brands has gone bust owing almost $250million.

The company went into voluntary administration on October 28, and a newly released report from the external administrators shows a long list of creditors.

KPMG has been appointed as receivers and managers and is looking to sell the business.

More than 300 employees are owed an undisclosed amount.

Mosaic owes 23 Bangladeshi garment factories more than $30million. Workers earning a few hundred dollars a month told the ABC they were worried about feeding their families.

Before going into administration, Mosaic announced it would shut down its entities Autograph, BeMe, Crossroads, Rockmans and W.Lane.

Those closures were supposed to open the way for more investment in its other brands Katies, Millers, Noni B and Rivers. In total, Mosaic Brands had more than 700 stores and 10 online shops.

But an announcement to the ASX in October shows the restructure was unsuccessful.

The future of Mosaic's brands, including Noni B, is uncertain. Picture: Supplied

'Following recent attempts by the company to informally restructure its operations, the board of Mosaic has determined that voluntary administration is now the most appropriate way to restructure the Group,' the ASX announcement reads.

The Mosaic group will continue trading, work on a wider restructure plan and focus on the 'key Christmas and holiday trading period'.

'The board wishes to reiterate its belief to those who supported the restructure, to Mosaic's customers, and most importantly, to Mosaic's dedicated team across Australia, that the business has a long-term future,' the announcement continued.

Mosaic Brands Limited owes about $249million to 171 creditors, though this number could change as administrators comb through the books.

The administrators report says KPMG has more than 12 interested buyers for the business.

Administrators are confident some staff can be redeployed and 'expect to be able to satisfy employee entitlements in full'.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association told the ABC that Mosaic's conduct set a bad precedent for the industry.

An association spokesperson told the ABC they wrote to Australia's High Commission about Mosaic's non-payment, and the association was told to seek independent legal advice.

Staff of one of Mosaic's suppliers, Hydroxide Knitwear. Bangladeshi garment companies are owed about $30m. Picture: Facebook

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Oxfam Australia said the business collapse highlighted systemic inequalities.

'These workers are already paid poverty wages at around $6 per day for the minimum wage,' Oxfam Australia advocacy lead Sarah Rogan told the ABC.

'For Mosaic not to pay for orders already fulfilled means they have essentially worked for free.'

The company is Australia's largest women's fashion retailer group and had employed more than 4000 staff in more than 700 stores around Australia.

Queensland University of Technology Business School retail expert professor Gary Mortimer, said Mosaic Brands made the mistake of 'essentially creating multiple brands to market to the exact same audience  middle aged, middle class woman'.

'If you walk into a shopping centre, you will find at least two, if not three, of those brands all competing for the same customer and that just duplicates and triplicates the cost of doing business,' he told News Corp.

Professor Mortimer likened the overlap to what Kmart and Target - both owned locally by Wesfarmers - were doing, often competing against themselves.

Earlier this year Mosaic had problems as it migrated to a new supply chain system, and had little inventory on hand for the key Mother's Day trading period.

The company's shares have been suspended from the ASX since September 2 because of a delay on filing its 2023/24 financial report, which was due in August.
Chinese acrobatic show captivates Greek audience

Xinhua) 09:50, November 25, 2024

ATHENS, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese acrobatic show Flying Fairy, performed by the Guangzhou Acrobatic Troupe, premiered in Athens on Friday, captivating Greek audiences with its breathtaking artistry.

Blending acrobatics, drama, and ballet, the performance showcased China's rich cultural heritage. It also featured the innovative ballet-on-shoulder acrobatic routine, a signature creation by Wu Zhengdan, general manager of the troupe.

The audience at Christmas Theatre, Athens's largest indoor stage, responded with enthusiastic applause. The show was part of the 2nd annual Sino-Hellenic International Theater Festival, an initiative designed to deepen cultural ties between China and Greece.

George Kakavas, director general of contemporary culture at the Greek Ministry of Culture, expressed his admiration for the growing cultural exchanges between the two nations, both of which boast ancient and profound civilizations.

The people of Greece and China have mutual respect for their cultural histories, he told Xinhua.

Wang Ying, counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Greece, highlighted the event's significance, describing China-Greece cooperation as a model of mutual cultural enrichment. She emphasized that this partnership reflects the wisdom of ancient civilizations from the East and West in building a shared future for humanity.

Ioannis Theofanopoulos, president of the Greece-China Friendship Association and a former ambassador to China, voiced hope that Greek audiences would have more opportunities to experience Chinese cultural events in the future.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
Women dominate the education field this year after reports showed that about eight business schools reported record-high women enrollees, now they also surpass men when it comes to college degrees.

Recently, research showed that young women receive college degrees more than young men do. This is true for all racial and ethnic groups.

In fact, Pew Research shared that in 1995, men and women were approximately equally likely to have a college degree, at 25%. However, by 2023, women had increased by 22 points, whereas men grew by a mere 12 points. Now, only nearly half of Americans aged 25 to 34 have a bachelor's degree. Among these, slightly more are women than men, which is 47%t compared to 37%. This gap has opened massively over the decades, with women narrowly outpacing men in completing higher education.

Degree Holder Women Across Racial and Ethnical Groups

The college completion gap between the sexes exists across all major racial and ethnic groups, although size varies. For instance, White women are 10 points ahead of White men in obtaining a degree, whereas Black women are 12 points ahead of Black men. Hispanic women have also had improvement, with a 9-point advantage over Hispanic men.

Among Asian adults, there's a smaller gap when it comes to college degree holders, with men making nearly similar progress at 71% and Asian women at 77%.

To explain, a survey from 2021 shared by Brookings stated that most men reasoned that they are unable to continue with higher education. The results showed that men more readily say they simply do not want a degree, whereas women often cite financial constraints as the reason. This illustrates that personal choice and external factors both contribute to different ways among the gender divide in education.

Furthermore, the steady rise in women with degrees proves that women are more and more joining the professional field, often requiring them to earn more than a secondary degree. Reaching a just, fair, and equal educational process for all remains a challenge to equal access.
Trade unions supposedly exist to improve peoples employment conditions.

As well as battling to secure better pay and perks, they represent staff bullied or abused by bosses in the workplace.

Yet the testosterone-charged world of the barons has itself always been the sort of breeding ground in which old-fashioned sexism thrives.

Four years ago, Britains third-largest union had its own #MeToo moment. A damning report found that the GMB was institutionally sexist. Misogyny and sexual harassment were endemic. The union was a hostile environment for women.

When Gary Smith became general secretary in 2021, he pledged to make transformational changes.

So it is deeply disturbing to discover that such antediluvian mindsets appear to remain firmly embedded in its culture.

A Mail investigation contains harrowing claims. That female officials continue to be bullied. That some are threatened with suspension or worse if they air grievances. And that large sums of members money are squandered on fighting complaints.

Given the GMB is a major donor, these claims pose a problem for the Labour Party.

Sir Keir Starmer with GMB general secretary Gary Smith at the Union's 2023 congress. Details of the PM's membership of the union emerged in the list of ministers' interests published this month

GMB head Gary Smith has been accused of harassing and bullying female staff members in the union

They also raise further questions about Sir Keir Starmers judgment, for he still belongs to the embattled union.

The Prime Minister says hes proud to support women. So shouldnt he take a stand and resign his membership while these ugly sexism claims remain unresolved?

Police proper crime

If you want a snapshot of how warped the polices priorities are these days, look no further than their obsession with investigating non-crime hate incidents. This Orwellian concept lets anyone spark a probe into anything they perceive to be motivated by hostility based on a persons race, religion, sexual orientation or disability.

The fact no evidence is needed means it has been exploited by troublemakers. In one episode, police opened a case against two girls who said another smelled like fish.

A report by the Policy Exchange think-tank finds police spend 60,000 hours a year on NCHIs. With real offences rising, dont officers have enough to do without looking into things that, by definition, arent crimes?

NCHIs also have a chilling effect on free speech. If a person fears the police turning up at their door for expressing a controversial opinion, they may stay silent.

This sinister practice, highlighted when journalist Allison Pearson was hounded by police, is a shameful affront to British liberty.

Journalist Allison Pearson was hounded by police. With real offences rising, dont officers have enough to do without looking into things that, by definition, arent crimes?

Yet Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, who seems determined to crack down on any challenge to Left-wing orthodoxy, wants to extend the use of NCHIs. The Mail suspects most Britons would prefer them abolished.

Tax grab unravels

How many farms will be clobbered by Rachel Reevess inheritance tax raid? The Chancellor says only a few hundred will be hit; farmers themselves warn it will be the majority, driving many to extinction.

The BBCs truth-checking service, Verify, sided with the Government after citing tax expert Dan Neidle. Just one problem: Mr Neidle is a fully paid-up Labour member.

Now he has U-turned. The policy will hit farmers far harder than wealthy investors buying land to avoid death duties, he says.

We welcome Mr Neidles mea culpa and hope the BBC starts interrogating, and stops parroting, Treasury lines. As for hapless Ms Reeves, she should rapidly rethink a plan thats unravelling by the day.
A man has been charged after more than 10 cars and several buildings were defaced with anti-Israel slurs in one of Sydney's wealthiest suburbs.

Celebrity chef Matt Moran's Chiswick restaurant was among the three premises that were vandalised at Woollahra during the attack at 12.35am on Thursday.

Multiple cars were covered in white spray paint that read 'f**k Israel' while a vehicle was set alight leaving behind a trail of $70,000 worth of damages.

The damage to the buildings is estimated to be between $20,000 to $30,000.

NSW Police launched a manhunt for two people following the vandalism.

A spokesman announced on Monday a 20-year-old man had been arrested at Sydney Airport in Mascot - a 20 minute drive away.

He was taken to a police station and charged with 21 offences that include 14 counts of destroy or damage property.

Three counts enter building with intent to commit indictable offence, two counts pf destroy property in company use fire, face blackened/disguised to commit indictable offence and behave in an offensive manner in public place were among the other charges.

A man has been charged after more than 10 cars and several buildings were defaced with anti-Israel slurs in one of Sydney 's wealthiest suburbs

He was refused bail and will appear at Downing Centre Local Court on Monday.

Chiswick is co-owned by Mr Moran and Elliot Solomon, the Jewish CEO of Solotel Group.

The letters 'PKK' were also seen on multiple cars and the windows of Chiswick.

PKK could refer to the Kurdistan Workers' Party which some countries, including Australia, have designated a terrorist organisation.

Australian Jewish Association CEO Robert Gregory told Daily Mail Australia the government has not taken its concerns seriously.

'It is absolutely shocking to see political violence like this play out in the streets of Australia,' he said.

'There is no justification for targeting Jews and other Australians over a conflict on the other side of the world.

'Labor has looked on as an increasingly violent anti-Israel movement has taken over Australian streets.

Multiple cars were covered in white spray paint that read 'f**k Israel ' while a vehicle was set alight

NSW Police launched a manhunt for two people following the vandalism

'The Jewish community has been begging authorities to take this seriously.

'Many feel that Labor refuses to act because it is too focused on winning votes in Western Sydney.

'When Australians are being prevented from taking their children to see the Myer Christmas windows or told to stay at home for their own safety because the Opera House steps were taken over by an anti-Semitic mob, it's clear we have a problem.

'It's time for decent Australians to reclaim our streets from this 'Free Palestine' hate movement.'

Dr Dvir Abramovich from the Anti-Defamation Commission said the 'cowardly' attack was a 'frontal assault on our values and on decency' and would only 'ignite the resolve' of the Jewish community.

'This hate crime is the direct result of the unrelenting incitement against Israel and the explosion of anti-Semitism we are witnessing around the nation,' he said.

'Words have real-world consequences, and this is proof of what happens when rhetoric becomes violence.

'To those responsible, hear this: your hatred has no place here. You may think you can silence us with fire and venom, but you've only ignited our resolve.

'The Jewish community has faced darkness before, and each time we have risen stronger.'
Republican Sen. Rand Paul has hit out at the Democratic mayor of Denver for his plans to stop mass deportations of undocumented immigrants under President-elect Donald Trump.

Mayor Mike Johnston has said that he plans to keep immigration officials out of the Colorado city, and warned that his planned resistance could compare to the infamous Tiananmen Square protests in China.

'It's like the Tiananmen Square moment with the rose and the gun, right? You'd have every one of those Highland moms who came out for the migrants. And you do not want to mess with them.'

The mayor was referring to the student-led democracy protests centered on Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989, during which tens of thousands of people demanded economic, social and political liberalization after decades of repression under the Chinese Communist Party.

The protests, though, turned deadly when the Chinese government deployed troops who engaged in bloody clashes with demonstrators, leaving several hundred dead.

Now, if Johnston were to start a similar protest, Paul said he could be removed from office and could even face potential criminal charges.

'I would say, the mayor of Denver, if he's going to resist federal law - which there's a longstanding, standing history of the supremacy of federal law - [if] he's going to resist that, it will go all the way to the Supreme Court, and I would suspect that he would be removed from office,' the Kentucky senator told Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday morning.

'I don't know whether or not that would be a criminal prosecution for someone resisting federal law,' he continued. 'But he will lose.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul hit out at Denver Mayor Mike Johnston's plan to stop mass deportations under the Trump administration in an interview with Face the Nation on Sunday

The Democratic mayor has said that he plans to keep immigration officials out of the Michigan city, and warned that his planned resistance could compare to the infamous Tiananmen Square protests in China

'And people need to realize that what he is offering is a form of insurrection where the states resist the federal government. Most people objected to that and rejected that long ago.

'So I think the mayor of Denver is on the wrong side of history and really, I think, will face legal ramifications if he doesn't obey the federal law.'

But Paul's criticism of the mayor only came in response to Brennan asking him his thoughts on Trump's proposal to use the military to assist with the mass deportations.

Paul said he is '100 percent supportive of going after the 15,000 murderers, the 13,000 sexual assault predators, rapists, all of these people.

'Let's send them on their way to prison or back home to another prison,' the Kentucky senator replied. 'So I would say, all points bulletin, all in.'

'But you don't do it with the Army because it's illegal,' he continued, noting that police differ from soldiers because they have to follow the Fourth Amendment - which gives Americans a right to unreasonable search and seizure - and have to obtain specific warrants.

'And so, I'm for removing these people,' Paul said. 'But I would do it through the normal process of domestic policing.'

Deportations were a cornerstone of President-elect Donald Trump's successful campaign

Deportations had been a cornerstone of Trump's successful campaign.

He had also vowed to halt entries across the US border with Mexico and ending birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants.

The incoming president is expected to sign a series of executive orders once he takes office in January, including one that would temporarily shut the southern border to give officials a chance to clear a huge backlog of cases.

He will also increase the number of armed officers on horseback patrolling the rugged terrain close to the United States' border with Mexico and resume construction on the border wall, an insider previously told DailyMail.com.

Trump has previously vowed to complete the $8 billion job by inviting businesses to 'sponsor' sections of the wall.

At the same time, the president-elect is expected to begin his mass deportation program by invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which gives presidents the authority to detain and deport non-citizens from 'hostile nations' during times of war and conflict.

Trump reportedly plans to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which gives presidents the authority to detain and deport non-citizens from 'hostile nations' during times of war and conflict

He will use that law as a basis to start targeting undocumented immigrants with ties to international criminal gangs for deportation in a plan dubbed 'Operation Aurora,' after the Colorado town where members of the Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua turned apartment complexes into bases for drug dealing and prostitution

According to those familiar with Trump's plans, he will target the 700,000 Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans and Nicaraguans he has branded 'vicious criminals from countries that hate us', who have been allowed to stay in the US under a Biden parole program.

Once those deportations are complete, the president-elect plans to expel more than one million people whose applications to remain in the US have been denied and who are on the deportation list, insiders previously DailyMail.com.

Then the round-up of the millions of remaining illegal immigrants will begin as part of 'Step Three'. Places of work, including farms and meatpacking plants, will be subject to raids (or 'targeted enforcement activities')  something the American Civil Liberties Union calls 'vile, unconstitutional and un-American'.

There are currently nearly 12 million undocumented immigrants in the US, according to the Center for Migration Studies.

Individuals will be taken to 'holding centers' before their deportation is fast-tracked.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help their families

Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles' friends have adorned their suburb with tributes in their memory as loved ones call for funds to bring their remains back to Australia.

The 19-year-olds from Beaumaris, in Melbourne's southeast, were among six foreign tourists to die last week after a mass methanol poisoning event in Laos.

Local federal MP Zoe Daniel said people across the bayside community had chosen a particular public tribute in support for the teenagers' families.

'Those who live in (Beaumaris) and surrounds would know there are blue and yellow ribbons on trees and fence posts across the community ... just to acknowledge the passing of Holly and Bianca and as a show of love to them and their families,' she told ABC Radio Melbourne.

'It's just really important to know just how many people are connected to these girls and these families particularly young people ... it's really an incredibly difficult period for all of those kids.'

Their families want to raise awareness about methanol poisoning and have started a GoFundMe in their daughters' memory.

The page has raised more than $195,000 as of Monday afternoon.

'Tragically, their journey, along with visitors from different countries, was cut short when they fell victim to methanol poisoning - a hidden danger that claimed their lives just one day apart,' the fundraising page stated.

Bianca Jones, 19, (pictured) died from methanol poisoning while on holiday in Laos

Ms Jones was travelling with her friend Holly Bowles, 19, (pictured) who also died from methanol poisoning

'This campaign, organised by the families of Bianca and Holly, aims to raise awareness about the dangers of methanol poisoning - a silent but deadly risk that often claims lives without warning.'

The fundraiser's three main objectives are to relieve financial burdens for the families, support existing initiatives and fund awareness campaigns.

Among these burdens was to help the families cover out-of-pocket expenses, including those bringing their remains back to Australia.

Former home affairs minister Clare O'Neil said plans were in place to assist the teenagers' loved ones as they prepared to return to Australia.

'DFAT is working with the two families here and I know we will be doing everything we can as a government to support them,' she told ABC radio.

'Both in the grieving that they need to do here and in the work they're trying to do to get some of the problems they see that have occurred overseas addressed.'

The friends had been on holiday in Laos when they became ill along with a dozen other tourists in the popular town of Vang Vieng.

The pair became unwell while staying at Nana Backpackers Hostel in Vang Vieng, a small town north of Laos' capital Vientiane

Ms Jones and Ms Bowles were evacuated to Thailand and died in separate Bangkok hospitals after their parents raced to be by their bedsides.

Two young Danish women, a British lawyer and an American man in his 50s also died from the contaminated drinks.

A New Zealand citizen who was among those poisoned has left Laos and returned home, according to the country's embassy in Bangkok.

Ms Jones' father said his daughter was on the trip of a lifetime and wanted to explore the world to meet new friends.

'Her life had just begun,' Mark Jones told reporters in Bangkok on Saturday.

'We'll forever miss our beautiful girl and hope her loss of life has not been in vain.'

Thai authorities have confirmed Ms Jones died of 'brain swelling due to high levels of methanol found in her system'.

Mr Jones urged the Laos government to investigate the incident to the 'fullest extent' to avoid it happening again.
SNP ministers will argue for the rights of pregnant men and male-born lesbians at the UKs highest court tomorrow in a landmark case about the definition of a woman.

The Supreme Court hearing will decide if biology or bureaucracy is key, with far-reaching implications for women-only spaces and services.

Feminist group For Women Scotland (FWS) is challenging Scottish Government statutory guidance on the definition of a woman linked to a 2018 Holyrood law.

The Gender Representation on Public Boards Act was intended to create a 50:50 balance between women and men on quango boards.

It defined a woman as anyone living as a woman, including biological males with or without a gender recognition certificate (GRC), stating that they were female. FWS successfully challenged this in Scotlands courts, arguing it impinged on Westminster equalities law.

SNP ministers dropped the definition from their law, but issued revised guidance that continued to say woman included a trans woman with a GRC.

FWS is appealing the point to the Supreme Court in London.

Five justices, including the courts Scottish president, Lord Reed, will decide if a person with a GRC saying they are female is a woman, for the purposes of the UK Equalities Act 2010.

First Minister of Scotland John Swinney. The SNP-led government will argue for the rights of male-born 'lesbians' and 'pregnant' men at the UK's Supreme Court tomorrow

Feminist group For Women Scotland (FWS) is challenging Scottish Government statutory guidance on the definition of a woman linked to a Holyrood law in 2018. Five justices at the Supreme Court (pictured) will decide the case

Scottish ministers will argue such a person is a woman. In a 40-page statement, ministers insist references to a woman who is pregnant in the Equality Act would also apply to a pregnant man who was born female.

They also submit it would be unlawful for an association of lesbian women to exclude a person with a full GRC in the acquired gender of female who was attracted to women.

The Equalities Act says woman means a female of any age and FWS argues this means it is based on biological sex, not a bit of admin.

Harry Potter author JK Rowling gave 70,000 to a crowdfunder for the FWS action, which has raised 200,000 so far. She said last week: If a man is a woman, theres no such thing as a woman.

Susan Smith, of FWS, said the court ruling would have huge implications.

Protesters at a Let Women Speak Rally against Trans ideology in Edinburgh

She told the Mail: If we win, then we get a very clear-cut idea of who is protected and when. If we lose, it would make it almost impossible to keep a lot of spaces and services female-only, or indeed male-only, and Westminster will have a real mess to untangle.

You cant get a certificate to say youre a different age or have a disability you dont, so ministers will have to think about why sex is protected in the first place.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: We cannot comment on a live legal case.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that National Records of Scotland death certificates can record men as dying of cervical cancer and women of testicular cancer in line with gender identity, not birth sex.

The recorded genders are then included in official statistics data used by health experts.
President elect Donald Trump reportedly plans to issue an executive order on his 'first day in office' to ban transgender members of the military.

The controversial order would cause as many as 15,000 active service members to be 'medically discharged' - deeming them unfit to serve, according to The Times.

Trump seeks to issue the executive action on January 20, 2025 or Day 1 of his term, the Times said, preventing any transgender people from enlisting in the military as all branches continue to struggle with recruitment.

The 78-year-old former president has nominated former Fox News host Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense and has pledged to purge all government agencies of 'woke' policies.

In a podcast interview recently, Hegseth called the inclusion of transgender people in the service 'pushing boundaries.'

He suggested that you can't integrate trans people in as easily as people of different races were integrated 'because being transgendered in the military causes complications and differences.

Hegseth also said that transgender people were 'not deployable' because they are 'reliant on chemicals.'

Trump's press secretary Karoline Leavitt last night downplayed the Times report, stating: 'No decisions on this issue have been made. No policy should ever be deemed official unless it comes directly from President Trump or his authorized spokespeople.'

President elect Donald Trump reportedly plans to issue an executive order on his 'first day in office' to ban transgender members of the military

The controversial order would cause 15,000 active service members to be 'medically discharged' - deeming them unfit to serve. Pictured: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi speaks with Ian Brown (pictured right), a transgender Army Major who transitioned

It's not the first time Trump has attempted to get rid of trans people from the service. In 2017, then-President Trump announced through a series of tweets that he would ban transgender people from serving in the military. Hegseth supported the move.

The White House said back then that retaining troops with a history or diagnosis of 'gender dysphoria' - those who may require substantial medical treatment - 'presents considerable risk to military effectiveness and lethality.'

Trump said on Twitter at the time that the military 'cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.'

The Obama administration changed longstanding policy, declaring that troops could serve openly as transgender individuals.

Since then, the military has attempted to highlight the stories of transgender soldiers.

Major Jason Vero, a transgender pilot, has won multiple awards and decorations, the Air Force said in 2022.

'In 2017, I suffered a number of tragedies in a short span of time, I felt lost in the ocean with my head barely above water with waves continuously crashing down,' said Vero, Joint Base Andrews Air Show director.

'During that period, I did a lot of internal reflection and after speaking at length with my pastor made the decision to transition.'

In 2022, the Air Force highlighted the contributions of Major Jason Vero, a transgender pilot who has won multiple awards and decorations

The next year, the Army celebrated Major Rachel Jones, The U.S. Army Sustainment Command Cyber Division chief, who said that being able to live and serve 'authentically' saved her life

Major Rachel Jones, US. Army Sustainment Command Cyber Division chief, said that being able to live and serve 'authentically' saved her life.

'I was convinced I was inherently evil for being transgender,' said Jones. 'The pressure of hiding all of the time was so bad I grew up depressed and suicidal to the point that I always had a plan to end my life.'

In May, it was revealed the Pentagon has spent more than $26million treating transgender troops since 2020, official records show.

The number of US army staff with gender dysphoria has doubled in that time  from around 1,800 to 3,700, according to DoD data seen by DailyMail.com.

In the past three years, $17.5m in taxpayer money was spent on psychotherapy for trans service people and $1.5m went towards hormone drugs.

A further $7.6m funded gender-affirming surgeries, including facial tweaks to make a recruit more masculine or feminine, and the removal or creation of breasts and genitals.

The US Military Health System spends about $50bn annually to provide care to 9.6 million active duty service members, retirees, and their families through its TRICARE health plans.

According to its website, TRICARE does not generally cover surgery for the treatment of gender dysphoria, but active duty service members 'may request a waiver for medically necessary gender affirming surgery.'

Barack Obama pictured with transgender Staff Sgt Logan Ireland after the then-president lifted the rules on transgender service in 2016

Transgender Captain Jacob Eleazer (pictured left) of the US Army National Guard listens to transgender former US Navy nurse Paula Neira (pictured right)

The total number of transgender individuals in the armed forces is unknown, because it is likely not all of them have sought treatment.

But as of April 2024, 3,700 active military personnel were diagnosed and treated for gender dysphoria, according to DHA spokesman Peter Graves.

This includes 1,240 Army soldiers, 1,046 Navy soldiers, 1,024 Air Force airmen and 278 Marine Corps.

They account for 0.3 percent of military personnel, which is lower than the 0.6 percent of trans people in the US population more broadly.

In 2020, 1,892 military personnel had been diagnosed and treated for gender dysphoria, including 726 Army soldiers, 576 Navy sailors, 449 Air Force airmen and 141 Marines.

This accounted for 0.1 percent of the 1,333,822 active duty military personnel at the time.

The increase in gender dysphoria diagnoses is not out of balance with the increase of transgender individuals seen in the general population, which has been attributed to growing acceptance in society.

A range of different gender-affirming procedures have been performed on members of the military since 2020, but the most popular was facial reconstruction surgery.

These are designed to make people look more feminine or masculine and include reshaping forehead and brow, jaw and chin contouring and the removal or creation of an Adam's apple.

The next most popular surgery was a mastectomy, or the removal of breasts, with 192 of these being performed since 2021.

Rarer surgeries include one vaginectomy, which is an operation to remove all or part of the vagina, one clitoroplasty, a procedure to create a clitoris, and one scrotoplasty - the re-arrangement of the labia to create a scrotum.

Three individuals also underwent gender-affirming voice training in 2022, which involves helping transgender people adjust their voices to communication patterns that fit their gender identity, according to Mayo Clinic.

Two unclassified surgeries also took place between 2022 and 2023.

Individuals must be at least 17 years old to join the US military.
A local council has been slammed after organisers were forced to cancel a Christmas lights display because of too much red tape.

Michael Eather announced on Sunday the display at 63 Grange Road at Sandringham, in south-east Melbourne, would not be going ahead in December.

It marks the first time the 40,000 lights will not be turned on in five years after Mr Eather began the tradition to raise funds for the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

The organisers claimed on Facebook they had been unable to obtain a permit and traffic management approval from Bayside City Council.

'Despite our best efforts, the council has been unable or unwilling to support measures that could help reduce congestion during peak nights,' they said.

'In addition to the logistical hurdles, the financial costs have become overwhelming.

'Over the past two years, we've personally invested more than $10,000 to meet council requirements, making it increasingly difficult to continue.'

Mr Eather explained he began the light show at his mother Glennis' house after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015.

A local council has been slammed after organisers were forced to cancel a Christmas lights display because of too much red tape

Over the past four years, the event has reportedly raised more than $70,000 for the charitable organisation.

The council required a local survey conducted before they could install 'no standing' road signage along the residential road to ensure traffic flowed smoothly.

However, Mr Eather said the council never conducted the survey and requested that his team contract a traffic management company to obtain a plan.

Mr Eather said the council had made their requests incoherently.

'A traffic management consultant I spoke with had the same opinion, [saying], 'I need to know if changed traffic conditions in certain areas are happening or not before we can really proceed, and give you a true and accurate traffic map, and obviously, our costings associated with it',' he said.

Mr Eather's family consulted neighbours who supported the 'no standing' signage.

In response, the council offered an alternate plan, suggesting Mr Eather pay a traffic company to install bollards  instead of outsourcing the handling of singular parts of the traffic plan.

Mr Eather said it would cost double to triple the amount they'd previously paid for traffic management and was entirely unfeasible.

Michael Eather announced on Sunday the display at 63 Grange Road at Sandringham, in south-east Melbourne, would not be going ahead in December

'I've been hopeful that (the council) would step up and try and help us a bit more,' he said.

Bayside City Council expressed their disappointment organisers would scrap the display.

Environment, Recreation and Infrastructure director Jill Colson said council officers worked with event organisers for months.

The council sought to provide a safe environment for the community when the organiser proposed changes to parking restrictions, she said in a statement.

'The need for the [traffic management] plan and consultation was communicated to the organisers on multiple occasions over an extended period of time; however, they have chosen not to supply the necessary information to allow this to occur,' she said.

Ms Colson said the event brought joy to the community, but needed due consultation with locals.

Council will continue to try to assist organisers where required, she insisted.

Social media users said Bayside City Council should be 'ashamed' by the cancellation.

'They really do seem to be one of the least supportive councils of the community in the South East,' one wrote on Facebook.

'Local council (has) always been pointless and useless. An absolute money pit that is run accordingly,' a second wrote.

'They're great when it comes to pouring money into crap that's either done poorly, without common sense or exorbitantly over budget.'

Daily Mail Australia contacted Bayside City Council for further comment.
EXCLUSIVE

A Sydney influencer has called in lawyers after she was wrongly identified as the mummy blogger accused of drugging her baby to fake the child's brain tumour.

Instagram gossip site Influencers in the Wild, which boasts more than five million followers, falsely named innocent Sophia Begg, 20, in the shocking blunder.

The now-deleted post was live for more than four hours and gained hundreds of comments before it was hastily erased.

But it claimed Begg, known online as Sopha Dopha, was the unidentified woman who has been allegedly poisoning her daughter to gain clout and donations.

'I was extremely confused why my name was involved as I have nothing to do with the situation,' Begg told Daily Mail Australia.

'It's shocking such a careless mistake could be made and the effects it could have on such a large platform.'

The page, owned by George Resch, who goes by the online name of Tank Sinatra, also incorrectly named Begg's partner as Jake Golding.

The US-based account alleged the couple's baby had been the victim of the shocking scam, despite Begg and Golding not having any children.

Sophia Begg has more than a million followers and has no idea why she was named as the mother poisoning her baby

The false incorrect post was online for four hours on Saturday morning before being deleted

Begg has sought legal advice and is worried people may believe the incorrect information

'Australian influencer Sophia Begg and her partner Jake Golding have been accused of faking their baby's illness to gain money and sympathy from followers,' the post read.

'Their daughter Isla was claimed to have a rare genetic condition called MCADD, but followers and medical personnel noticed inconsistencies in their story and medical details.

'The couple had received $60,000 through fundraising efforts including GoFundMe.'

Content creator Begg, who has more than a million followers on TikTok, was already aware of the serious accusations against the Queensland mum-of-four.

Police took her child into care as part of their probe into the allegations and her husband branded her a monster online after the claims surfaced last week.

Now Begg fears she will be caught in the angry public backlash over the hoax.

'People were making jokes about my last name in reference to the situation.' Begg told Daily Mail Australia.

'Having such a large Australian following, and that account has a large US following who may not know who I am, this is upsetting that they may think it was me.

The page is owned by well known meme creator George Resch who goes by the name Tank Sinatra online

'I messaged the account responsible straight away stating that they got the name incorrect and to remove the post,'

However she was outraged by their reply.

She said it simply read 'Just deleted, appreciate you reaching out, had no idea, going to look back at the original news source.'

Begg has now sought legal advice over the blunder.

'They attached a news article which did not mention my name or the other name,' she said. 'My team is currently in contact with my lawyers.

'This can be very damaging when media outlets randomly and carelessly publish a name without any justification.

'Media outlets need to take more care and be held accountable for the damage they can do by this type of careless behaviour.'

Begg made headlines of her own last year at an Australian themed costume party when she dressed as the stingray that killed Steve Irwin.

She later apologised and insisted she loved The Crocodile Hunter and didn't mean to cause any offence.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Influencers in the Wild and George Resch for comment.
Desperately hoped the traffickers he enlisted would one day return home

Ringleader revealed crushing guilt that haunted him over role in botched plot

EXCLUSIVE

Wasting away in a Javanese prison cell, Bali Nine drug runner Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen spent his final years wracked with grief for his family, and the young Aussie mules he recruited.

Resigned to dying behind bars, the convicted heroin trafficker was crushed by guilt over roping in naive school mates Scott Rush and Michael Czugaj for the botched $4million drug plot.

Although they were all sentenced to life in prison in Indonesia, he desperately hoped Rush and Czugaj would one day be allowed to walk free and see Australia once again.

I know this because Nguyen told me during our many long and candid phone conversations over an illicit mobile he had paid to have smuggled into his wretched jailhouse home.

We discussed at length their secret plan to traffick eight kilos of heroin from Bali to Australia in April 2005, the part he played in it, and his dying wish for the other members of the foiled, ill-fated cartel.

'Am I guilty? Yes,' Nguyen told me via encrypted messaging service WhatsApp ahead of his death.

'Am I sorry? More than anyone will ever know.

'Not because of what has happened to me but because of what I have done to other people - the pain that I have caused to my family and to Scott and Michael and their families.

One of the 'selfies' Bali Nine members Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen and Martin Stephens sent from their jail cell in East Java via a mobile phone smuggled into the prison to prove their identities

Nguyen was just 21 when he was arrested over his role 'supervising' the botched attempt to smuggle eight kilograms of heroin from Bali back into Australia in April 2005

Nguyen had enlisted 19-year-old drug mule Scott Rush to traffick the heroin on his body

Nguyen also recruited Rush's 18-year-old schoolmate Michael Czugaj as a drug courier

'I live with that regret every single morning when I wake and every night in my noisy, bare jail cell as I try to sleep.'

Bearing witness as Rush disintegrated into a world of drug addiction behind bars was particularly devastating, Nyugen said, with his pleas to Bali's prison yard dealers to stop supplying him with narcotics wilfully ignored.

'It has been terrible watching him destroy himself,' Nguyen said.

'I tell you now, there isn't any code of honour among drug dealers. In the end, (drugs) will destroy you and everyone around you.

'Scott and Michael deserve better than what has happened to them - and I will never forgive myself for that.'

It was March 2015 when Nguyen first got in touch with me, just weeks before Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were put to death by firing squad on Nusakambangan Island on April 29, 2015.

Nguyen had been transferred from Kerobokan to a penitentiary in Malang, East Java, along with fellow Bali Nine member Martin Stephens the previous year and was nervously watching Chan and Sukumaran's executions play out from a far.

Bali Nine ringleader Myruan Sukumaran was put to death in 2015 for his part in the foiled plan

Fellow 'mastermind' Andrew Chan was also executed over his role in the smuggling operation

He had never spoken publicly - nor given any sort of interview - about his involvement in the infamous drug operation but wanted to clear his conscience and do what he could to help the other members of the group.

At first, I was apprehensive he was indeed who he was claiming to be.

But after days of sending me detailed text messages and selfies alongside cellmate and fellow convicted trafficker Stephens it became clear he was telling the truth.

He was taking a grave risk in speaking with me.

Although it was an open secret in Indonesia that most prison inmates had ready access to covert cell phones and used them to keep in contact with loved ones and the outside world, overtly advertising this fact by giving an interview was bound to be met with swift retribution.

Nguyen knew this but wanted to push ahead anyway.

Besides, there was little hope for him, he explained.

Lifers like Nguyen were not eligible for the annual sentence reductions other prisoners received and, given the strong message being sent by Chan and Sukumaran's executions, he feared any attempt by the Bali Nine's surviving members to seek clemency or appeal the severity of their sentences would backfire disastrously.

'Sitting in my jail cell and watching the way the Indonesian government is handling their execution, I'm terrified,' he told me at the time.

A youthful Nguyen refused to speak publicly about his role in the drug smuggling plot for 10 years for fear of further shaming his family before breaking his silence in a rare 2015 interview

He was resigned to dying behind bars in Indonesia after Chan and Sukumaran were executed

Nguyen shared a cell with fellow convicted Bali Nine member Martin Stephens

'I'm terrified for their situation, distraught for their loved ones and agonisingly certain I will be next [to die].

'Given what's happened to Andrew and Myuran, I fear the rest of us will never be able to have a fair trial - the risk is huge.'

Still, he said, languishing in prison in Indonesia was just another sort of death sentence.

'It's death by another means. Death by another method,' he said.

'No one prefers death. Death is an easy way out. I deserve the suffering I'm going through.

'I have brought shame on my family. That time when my mother, aunty and sister came that first time to visit me in prison. That's the memory that has stayed in my mind.

'My mother trying to just touch my face between the bars. The pain in her eyes and face. (It) was the most heartbreaking experience ever.

'I just want them to know I am sorry for everything - I hope they will one day forgive me, even though I don't expect that.

'As for the others, I hope and I pray every single day that they will be able to find a way home.'

Rush has now spent more than half of his life in prison after being arrested at just 19

Michael Czugaj, seen with his parents in 2005, has also spent more time inside jail than out

Nguyen's prediction he would die in prison would ultimately prove correct - though it would not be before a firing squad.

Not long after we first started speaking, he was diagnosed with renal cancer and eventually succumbed to the disease in May 2018.

He did not live long enough to see one member of the Bali Nine realise his dream.

Six month's after Nguyen's death, in November 2018, the group's only female conspirator, Renae Lawrence, was released after serving almost 13 years locked up and deported to Australia.

Six years on, the five members who remain in prison, Rush, Cazgaj Stephen, Si Yi Chen and Matthew Norman, could finally now also be sent back home.

Indonesia's authorities have privately agreed to a request from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to allow them to complete their incarceration in Australia in a move that would see them return as early as next month - although no official announcement has yet been made.

By then, the two mules Nguyen personally recruited, Rush and Czugaj, will have spent more than half of their lives behind bars.

The only female member of the Bali Nine, Ranae Lawrence, was sentenced to 20 years in jail

Lawrence walks free as she returns to Newcastle after serving 13 years of her sentence

The Brisbane schoolmates we just 19 and 18 when they were arrested with more than one kilogram of heroin strapped to each of their bodies at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Bali on April 17, 2005.

They are both serving life sentences.

Nguyen, who had been 21 at the time of the smuggling run, had recruited the friends after meeting them in a pub in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley and seducing them with the promise of an all-expenses-paid holiday on the tropical resort island.

He had been part of a failed attempt, along with Chan, Lawrence and Norman, to traffick heroin into Australia from Bali the previous December, only for the operation to fall apart when their supplier was arrested.

The son of hard-working Vietnamese refugee parents, Nguyen hadn't planned on taking part again, but his drug baron 'friend' - whom he refused to name right up to his death - convinced him to take on 'a supervising role'.

'My friend was stressing and couldn't find anyone to carry the drugs. So I started calling people and found two people, [Rush and Czugaj],' he told me.

'Another person who was meant to go couldn't because he had exams. So my friend, having no one else, asked me if I could go and just be "an eagle".

'I said yes, because he was my best friend and I would do anything for him.

Nguyen, Chan, Matthew Norman and Si Yi Chen were barely adults when they are arrested

'At the time, I don't think any of us really had any clue of the extent of what we were all doing.

'It just seemed like a bunch of friends, going on holidays together, having fun.

'We got drunk every night, girls were easy and everything was exciting and new.

'We partied in Bali that last night and got so wasted.'

Still, he said at times he had the feeling of impending doom.

'After we landed I told someone twice that we were being watched, but he told me I was being paranoid,' he said.

'I tried to put it out of my mind. But I still had this feeling. We were being watched.'

Nguyen's co-conspirators should have listened.

The baby-faced members of the Bali Nine after their arrest, top from left, Myuran Sukumaran, Scott Rush, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, Renae Lawrence, and bottom from left, Si Yi Chen, Matthew Norman, Michael Czugaj, Martin Stephen and Andrew Chan

The group's every step was being closely monitored by Indonesian police after being tipped off about the operation by the Australian Federal Police.

Nguyen never made it back to Denpasar Airport.

He was arrested the same day as Rush and Czugaj at the Melasti Bungalows resort with Sukumaran, Norman and Chen in possession of 334g of heroin, plastic wrapping and a set of scales.

Nguyen was also sentenced to life imprisonment and spent his initial years locked away in Bali's notorious Kerobokan prison before being transferred to Java.

He was moved again, to a prison in Jakarta in 2017, at his family's request so he could better access cancer treatment before dying in a hospital in Indonesia's capital on May 19 the following year.

He was just 34, and had spent more than a third of his life in jail.
An announcement on domestic violence by Anthony Albanese has been hit by a bitter backlash after Aussies blasted the PM's bid to bring in misinformation laws.

Mr Albanese marked International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women with a video in a post on X on Monday - but was slammed in the comments.

X users pounced on the PM's post to register their anger at the proposed misinformation law, which has been branded an attempt at censorship by many.

'Today we pause to remember all whose lives have been lost to domestic and family violence,' said the PM in his video address.

'One death is one too many. One death per week is an epidemic, and each death is its own universe of devastation.

'Domestic, family and sexual violence goes against everything we hold dear as Australians.'

But one commenter replied:'So does censorship and banning kids from interacting with their friends and family. All pretty Un-Australian.'

Another accused the PM of 'distraction' and said he tried to rush the Bill to 'prevent the next generation of voters to get alternative views and information outside of government-approved sources'.

PM Anthony Albanese was unable to dodge the flak over the scrapped Bill on Monday

'Oh look at this man trying to make us "safe",' said another irate commenter.

'So I understand this is really important. However, like always, this unfortunately is being announced as he attempts to ram through the Digital-ID bill. Its loathsome.'

The PM's post came a day after communications minister Michelle Rowland confirmed Labor would abandon its push to introduce a misinformation Bill.

Ms Rowland made the announcement on Sunday after revelations the Greens, Coalition and several cross-benchers would not support the legislation.

Although the misinformation laws may be axed, the Albanese government has also introduced world-first legislation to ban under-16s from social media platforms.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has signalled his support for the new laws - meaning they are almost certain to pass the Parliament.

And the government also plans to roll out a digital ID system by the end of the year.

In August, Government Services Minister Bill Shorten announced an $11.4million trial of a QR code mobile phone application that would replace a driver's licence card or passport to verify a person's identity.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland announced Labor would abandon its push to introduce the misinformation Bill

Accessed via a person's myGov wallet, the technology will store information such as someone's date-of-birth, address, citizenship, visa status, qualifications, occupational licences or working with children check, and other information already held by the government.

Aussies could use the technology to book hotel rooms, verify their identity with a new employer or prove they're over 18 at a bar, Shorten said.

But the proposal has sparked widespread concerns from security experts and non-Labor MPs.

While Mr Albanese was speaking about domestic violence on Monday, a landmark coronial inquest found that it was still rampant in the Northern Territory.

Northern Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage handed down the findings into the killings of four Aboriginal women - Kumanjayi Haywood, Ngeygo Ragurrk, Miss Yunupingu and Kumarn Rubuntja - by their partners.

During the course of the inquest, the coroner's office was aware of 86 domestic violence deaths of women in the NT, most of them Aboriginal, over the last 24 years.

In front of the Domestic and Family Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin, the coroner called for funding for a Territory peak body to respond to the 'shocking horror'.

'It is only the Northern Territory, which experiences the highest rates of domestic violence in the country, that does not have a peak body,' she told the courtroom.

'We must frankly acknowledge that our government and non-government agencies are failing to turn the tide.'
The professional industry is changing and one way for university students to get prepared is through internships, which is where knowledge and practical skills meet.

Unlike part-time jobs for students, internships are more encouraging because they can learn with their hands, minus the burden of the mid-term outcome, with the right skills they're studying for in the university. They connect the real classroom theories with professional practices, hence allowing the students to experiment, get wrong, and grow.

Where real work holds higher stakes, internships are designed to help students learn the ropes and prepare for the demands of their future careers.

Why an Internship is Important to All Students?

The actual element of learning should be in a class, but typically, the concepts and theories form the majority of the learning.

According to Texas State University, internships bring ideas into actuality by allowing students to experience real-life applications. Through internships, students learn how businesses really are run, how teams work together, and how to apply learned academic principles to real life. For example, marketing students may develop social media campaigns or analyze consumer data, while an engineering intern may assist in designing a product or solving technical issues.

This provides hands-on experience that teaches students the ins and outs of practical skills: how to communicate properly, to understand their time management, and generally problem-solving skills, since these are skills that textbooks cannot fully teach but are essential in any career.

Benefits of Internships

One of the biggest advantages of internships is networking. Internships allow students to work alongside professionals, opening doors to mentorship opportunities and industry contacts. These relationships can prove helpful when searching for a full-time job or seeking career advice, per George Fox University.

Confidence is also built through internships. The problems of the real world are often intimidating to students experiencing them for the first time. Students who can overcome such obstacles really get a sense of what they are actually capable of doing. From completing a project to standing in front of a team to pitch their ideas, from just being in a professional space, internships help students gear up for the challenges of a future job.

Internships also help students explore potential career paths. Most students start college without knowing what they really want to do for the rest of their lives, and internships introduce them to various roles or industries. Internships allow students to try out a particular job to see whether it is close to their interests and competencies.

Additionally, internships illuminate weaknesses students may possess to be bettered. For instance, a student interning in journalism may realize that they may need stronger writing skills or a better understanding of deadlines. This self-awareness allows students to hone their abilities before entering the job market.

In short, an internship is one of the ultimate training before entering the real world. They provide hands-on experience, confidence, and professional networks, and guide students in their choice of career.
Apple released its list of this year's top podcasts, which had some surprising results.

The Joe Rogan Experience - widely regarded as the most popular podcast in the world - came in at third behind a less well known true crime pod.

Occupying the number one spot on Apple's list was New York Times 'The Daily,' hosted by reporters Michael Barbaro and Sabrina Tavernise.

The Daily, which averages three million daily listeners, covers a wide variety of topics but usually centers on the biggest news story that broke the day before.

Although Joe Rogan wasn't able to snag gold on Apple, his interview with Donald Trump was the second-most listened to episode. It was also the fifth most shared.

On YouTube, the episode has over 50 million views.

Apple runs one of the largest podcast platforms in the world, and 2024 marks the first year Rogan's show was returned to Apple Podcasts after his exclusive deal with Spotify expired.

Rogan's podcast comes top in the Spotify chart, while The Daily ranks at number 11 on Apple's rival platform.

'The Daily' hosted by Sabrina Tavernise and Michael Barbaro was more popular on Apple Podcasts than 'The Joe Rogan Experience'

Although Rogan wasn't able to snag the gold on Apple's platform, his interview with now President-elect Donald Trump was the second-most listened to episode on Apple's platform

A recent episode of Apple's most popular show, The Daily, dissected former Congressman Matt Gaetz withdrawing his name from consideration to be the next Attorney General.

The hosts also discussed the sentencing of Jose Ibarra, the illegal immigrant who murdered Laken Riley.

Each podcast is between 20 and 30 minutes long and airs five days a week.

More surprising, however, is that Rogan's podcast was also behind true-crime podcast 'Crime Junkie,' which is hosted by Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat.

Apple's top shows The Daily Crime Junkie The Joe Rogan Experience Dateline NBC SmartLess Huberman Lab This American Life New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce Up First from NPR Morbid Advertisement

'Crime Junkie' is a weekly podcast that covers popular true crime cases in a laid-back, conversational style.

Flowers and Prawat delve into solved and unsolved murders, missing people, mysterious deaths and more.

The duo's latest episode was a breakdown of the murder of JonBenet Ramsey, a six-year-old child pageant star.

Her 1996 murder inside her family home remains one of the most infamous unsolved murders in American history.

'Crime Junkie,' with over 1.5 billion downloads, was the eighth most popular podcast on Spotify this year.

Apple's most listened to podcast episode went to Crime Junkie as well with their show titled: 'SERIAL KILLER: The Alphabet Murders Part 1'.

The second most listened to show of the year was Rogan's interview with Donald Trump.

In third, was an analysis of Trump and Kamala Harris' 'fiery debate' by The Daily.

The Tucker Carlson Show, which was the fourth most popular podcast on Spotify, was the number one news show on Apple Podcasts.

Pictured: Sabrina Tavernise and Michael Barbaro of 'The Daily,' a podcast produced by the New York Times

Brit Prawat, left, and Ashley Flowers host 'Crime Junkie' and recently broke down the JonBenet Ramsey murder case

Carlson's interview with health experts Calley and Casey Means was the most shared episode, according to Apple.

Serial, now on its 13th season, was the top series on Apple.

The first season of the show came out in October 2014 and untangled the case of Adnan Syed, who was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999.

It's largely credited with raising awareness about the case and leading to the release of Syed in 2022.
The bird flu virus has been detected in raw milk from a California dairy farm sold in stores, as cases of the virus soar across the state.

Santa Clara County public health officials announced Sunday that a sample of raw milk from Fresno-based Raw Farm, the largest producer and retailer of dairy in the Golden State, from a store on November 21 tested positive for the H5 virus.

But they believe it was likely contaminated with the bird flu, H5N1, as no H5 cases have been reported in the state and it has not been identified in any cows, the Los Angeles Times reports.

'This isn't surprising, given how quickly H5N1 seems to be spreading among farms in California, and given the fact that these outbreaks on farms are being discovered in large part due to bulk testing on raw milk from farms,' Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University told the outlet.

'What we don't know is how much risk H5N1 poses to people that drink unpasteurized, infected milk.'

Raw Farm has since issued a voluntary recall of all quart and half-gallon milk products produced on November 9 that are set to expire on Nov. 27 and have the lot ID No. 20241109.

No cases of the bird flu associated with Raw Farm products have been reported.

Still, the dairy farm is requesting stores to remove the products from the shelves and is urging consumers to return it for a free replacement or refund.

Fresno-based Raw Farm has since issued a voluntary recall of all quart and half-gallon milk products produced on November 9 that are set to expire on Nov. 27 and have the lot ID No. 20241109

The California Department of Food and Agriculture began weekly testing of raw milk in bulk tanks in August, after the bird flu infected cattle in three Central Valley dairy herds

Mark McAfee, the owner of Raw Farm, also noted that it was the first time any of his products tested positive for the virus since he started enrolling in voluntary testing in April.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture then began weekly testing of raw milk in bulk tanks in August after the bird flu infected cattle in three Central Valley dairy herds, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

It will now 'begin testing for bird flu twice per week' at Raw Farm's retail locations, officials announced Sunday.

Raw milk carries an inherently elevated risk of foodborne illness that the high-temperature pasteurization process helps eliminate.

Non-pasteurized milk can contain bacterial and viral pathogens including salmonella, listeria and E. coli.

In fact, Raw Farm previously had to issue a recall of its raw cheddar cheese products that were linked to an E. coli outbreak across multiple states.

It was also tied to a salmonella outbreak in October 2023 that infected at least 165 people, according to the New York Post.

Recent animal studies indicate the bird flu virus 'could pose a risk if ingested in large enough quantities, but we have not yet seen human cases resulting from raw milk consumption,' Nuzzo said.

'Given that ingestion of raw milk has no credible health benefits, I personally would avoid drinking it.'

Symptoms of the virus include eye redness, sore throat, runny nose, diarrhea, vomiting and fever

California has now seen 29 positive H5N1 cases, all of which were reported in dairy workers - except for one case in a child in Alameda County that was reported last week.

Investigators are not sure how the child contracted the virus, but have ruled out contact with infected dairy or poultry products - including the raw milk.

There is no evidence to support that it is being transmitted from person-to-person, either.

But, since March, 402 California dairy herds have tested positive for bird flu in the state, while a total of 616 herds have tested positive nationwide.

The virus was also detected in wastewater sites in Santa Clara County, including Palo Alto, San Jose, Gilroy and Sunnyvale, and was detected in 24 of 28 California wastewater systems.

Meanwhile, only 55 cases of bird flu have been reported nationwide - meaning that more than half the cases are located in California.

Symptoms include eye redness, sore throat, runny nose, diarrhea, vomiting and fever.

Health officials advise anyone who thinks they may have the virus should contact their health care provider and local health department, and isolate at home.




The payments will be 'free, automatic and universal' for families

Hundreds of thousands of Aussie families will share in $280million worth of cost-of-living relief measures, with one state promising up to $400 per schoolchild to help with planning for the next school year.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen on Monday announced the State Government's $400 School Saving Bonus was due to be rolled out to some 700,000 families across the state, with the promise of the bonus being 'free, automatic and universal'.

But the funding windfall - which will be emailed out to families this week - follows a damning review of Victoria's education system being tabled in parliament earlier this month.

It included findings that the curriculum was 'overcrowded' and there would be an expected teacher shortfall of more than 5,000 educators by 2028.

Speaking about the new funding arrangement on Monday, Ms Allen said parents will be able to choose how they allocate the $400 bonus for their children.

She said it could include a uniform or textbook voucher, or adding money to their children's school account for camps, excursions or other extra-curricular activities.

The voucher for uniforms and textbooks will be redeemable at local school-approved uniform or book suppliers, while funds allocated to activities will be credited to the family's school account.

Families with multiple children will receive a bonus for each child - meaning a family of three can pocket up to $1,200 in support.

Hundreds of thousands of Aussie families will share in $280million worth of cost-of-living relief measures, with one state promising up to $400 per schoolchild to help with planning for the next school year (stock image)

'Families want the best for their kids. The best education, the right textbook, a fresh uniform, the camps and excursions they'll remember forever,' Ms Allen said.

She said the bonus was to help kids get a better start to the school year and relieve parents of the cost headaches.

Vouchers will be redeemable at school-operated second-hand uniform and textbook shops.

Textbook and uniform vouchers will be valid until June 30 next year.

Unspent funds will automatically transfer to a family's school account once the uniform and textbook voucher period expires, with parents able to use the remaining funds on future school activities.

Non-government schools will receive the $400 bonus directly - which will be managed in consultation with the student's family and in line with the intent of the program.

'With the cost-of-living biting, no parent or carer wants to think about their child missing out on the essentials like school uniforms and textbooks, camps, excursions and school sports,' Education Minister Ben Carroll said.

'We're making life a little bit easier for families by providing a $400 once-off payment from today so that families can begin planning and budgeting for the 2025 school year.'

An inquiry into Victoria's state education system, tabled on October 15, found NAPLAN reading scores for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 were consistently lower across inner and outer-regional Victoria, compared to major city areas.

Among the multiple recommendations, one included the Department of Education re-evaluating its teacher recruitment intervention programs to address a predicted shortfall by 2028.

A supply shortfall of 5,036 teachers is expected by that year, largely driven by 'increasing demand in secondary schools'. The inquiry also recommended a review into school zoning.

'Parents of students in target cohorts or with special needs who sent their children to state schools noted a 'postcode lottery' as to whether their child received adequate support,' the inquiry found.
Marjorie Taylor Greene laid out her plans for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) which include taking on so-called Sanctuary States and Cities.

The Georgia Congresswoman and fierce Trump ally will soon have a new powerful job assisting the Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy-led department.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer plans to create a Congressional subcommittee chaired by Greene.

She outlined what some of her work may involve in an interview on Sunday and said first on her list will be to make the mayors and governors of areas harboring illegal migrants sing for their supper.

'I'd like to talk to the governors of sanctuary states and the mayors of sanctuary cities and have them come before our committee and explain why they deserve federal dollars if they're going to harbor illegal criminal aliens in their states and their cities,' she told Fox News.

Trump has promised to declare a national emergency and use the military to deport millions of illegal immigrants from America.

Mayors of cities like Boston and Denver have promised to defy the order which will likely get them a front row seat with Greene.

Marjorie Taylor Greene laid out her plans for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) which include taking on so-called Sanctuary States and Cities

Greene cited work by those in favor of safe haven for illegal migrants in the killing of 22-year-old Laken Riley, who was killed by Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan national here illegally.

Ibarra was granted a 'humanitarian flight' provided by New York officials to get him to Atlanta in September 2023, just months before he brutally murdered Riley.

As previously reported by DailyMail.com, New York City officials have offered plane tickets to migrants who ask for them in order to mitigate the migrant crisis in the Big Apple. Mayor Eric Adams has, since the election, said he'll work with Trump on the migrant crisis.

Greene listed several areas where the federal government could cut waste, which she described as 'failures' of use of American tax dollars.

'The way to do that is to cut programs, contracts, employees, grant programs, you name it, that are failing the American people and not serving the American people's interests,' Greene said.

She took shots at big targets like National Public Radio, which she says 'spread nothing but Democrat propaganda.'

Greene also reiterated her plan to make use of federal buildings that are wasting taxpayer dollars because the employees who typically filled it up work remotely.

'We're also looking at many  we have thousands  of buildings that the federal government owns and pays for with over $15 billion a year, but yet those government buildings stood empty and these government employees stay at home.'

Greene cited work by those in favor of safe haven for illegal migrants in the killing of 22-year-old Laken Riley, who was killed by Jose Ibarra (pictured), a Venezuelan national here illegally. Ibarra was granted a 'humanitarian flight' provided by New York officials to get him to Atlanta in September 2023, just months before he brutally murdered Riley

As previously reported by DailyMail.com, New York City officials have offered plane tickets to migrants who ask for them in order to mitigate the migrant crisis in the Big Apple. Mayor Eric Adams has, since the election, said he'll work with Trump on the migrant crisis

Musk and Ramaswamy announced their plans in a Wall Street Journal op-ed Thursday to force federal workers to return to the office in order to end the work-from-home culture that settled into the federal government during the coronavirus pandemic.

They also want to cut wasteful regulations and spending in federal government by specifically targeting the number of federal government employees.

'Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome: If federal employees don't want to show up, American taxpayers shouldn't pay them for the Covid-era privilege of staying home,' the pair wrote in a Wall Street Journal opinion essay.

Greene says their overarching promise is a cold, logical approach to auditing the federal government on behalf of DOGE.

'And we don't care about people's feelings. We're going to be searching for the facts and we're going to be verifying if this is worth spending the American people's hard-earned tax dollars on.'

Musk and Ramaswamy further argued in their op-ed that Trump has the authority to order 'reductions in force' despite existing civil-service protection laws that would prevent the executive branch from firing personnel.

But they sounded a compassionate note, reassuring potentially exiled government employees they would receive a soft landing.

'Employees whose positions are eliminated deserve to be treated with respect, and DOGE's goal is to help support their transition into the private sector,' read the op-ed.

Musk and Ramaswamy announced their plans Thursday to force federal workers to return to the office in order to end the work-from-home culture that settled into the federal government during the coronavirus pandemic

The pair also want to cut wasteful regulations and spending in federal government by specifically targeting the number of federal government employees

They proposed that Trump could offer federal employees incentives for early retirement and severance payments for employees to make a smooth transition.

DOGE, the pair wrote, would also seek to reduce cost savings by cutting the over $500 billion in spending from the executive branch that was not specifically authorized by Congress.

They pointed to other obvious problems in government, such as the Pentagon's failure to pass an audit for the seventh time.

DOGE, they wrote, would complete their task by July 4, 2026 and dissolve.

'We are prepared for the onslaught from entrenched interests in Washington. We expect to prevail. Now is the moment for decisive action,' they wrote.

Ramaswamy and Musk spent Thursday morning on social media mocking Politico's Playbook newsletter describing their goal as slashing 'alleged government bureaucracy.'

'They've officially invented a new phrase: 'Alleged government bureaucracy,' Ramaswamy noted gleefully. 'Just an early indicator of the coming onslaught.'

Musk also reacted on X, sharing laughing emojis and the word 'alleged.'

Musk was given the go-ahead from Trump to create DOGE as thanks for the Tesla CEO's support for the president-elect

Ramaswamy, an ardent Trump supporter and former presidential candidate, was offered a co-chair by the president-elect

DOGE has it's own social media account on X.com, as it highlights glaringly wasteful spending by the federal government.

The account highlighted Wednesday that only 12 percent of government office space in Washington, DC was being used by employees.

'Why are American taxpayer dollars being spent to maintain empty buildings?' the account asked.

The agency acknowledged interest in potential employees, but warned they needed 'super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.'

'If that's you, DM this account with your CV,' the message read. 'Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.'

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, has cheered Musk's plan as she has spent significant time pushing federal employees to return to the office

'Elon Musk better bring his scissors to DOGE because there is $2 trillion worth of cutting to do,' Ernst told DailyMail.com.
Convicted killer Lyle Menendez is reportedly the 'prison wife' of another muscle-bound, goateed convict, despite being in a relationship with a British university student.

Menendez, 56, has apparently developed a close relationship with another inmate known as Chino at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility near San Diego, California, where he is serving out his life sentence for killing his parents, Kitty and Jose.

He has even become the Chino's 'prison wife,' fellow inmate Eugene Weems told Radar Online.

'I saw Lyle and Chino laid up in the same bunk cuddling. I just straight up asked, "Lyle, what's up with you and Chino? I seen y'all hugged up. Are you gay?"' Weems recounted.

'The answer that he gave me was somewhat shocking: "Chino is my man."

'He's pretty open about it,' Weems noted, 'and says he likes to act like he's the girl in the relationship.'

But Lyle is also in a relationship with blonde student Milly Bucksey, 21, whom he first met on a Facebook group in his name that is run by his wife Rebecca Sneed, 55, DailyMail.com previously revealed.

According to those familiar with the situation, he initially approached her under an alias before confessing his true identity to the smitten student.

Lyle Menendez, 56, is said to have become a 'prison wife' to another inmate at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility near San Diego, California , where he is serving out his life sentence for killing his parents, Kitty and Jose

But Lyle is also in a relationship with blonde student Milly Bucksey, 21, whom he first met on a Facebook group in his name that is run by his wife Rebecca Sneed , 55

Their romance has since gotten spicier, leading Lyle to get busted by prison guards at the top-security prison for possessing a contraband cell phone he was using to contact his new squeeze.

A record of that incident was included in ousted Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon's resentencing memo, filed in Los Angeles at the end of October. It showed he was caught with the phone on March 15 in the cell he shares with 'multiple other people'.

But DailyMail.com learned that Lyle has since acquired a second illicit cell phone, which he has been using to stay in touch with the University of Manchester student.

He is now said to be so in love with Milly that he has asked his wife - who he married in 2003, the same month before his new love was born - for a divorce.

Lyle adores Milly', an insider with knowledge of the romance told DailyMail.com. 'And she refers to him as her boyfriend even though hes married.'

Sneed, though, has since told her friends on Facebook she and Lyle had been 'separated for a while now but remain best friends and family.'

She said she is continuing to run his Facebook page 'with input from him', and she is committed to fight on for Lyle and his brother, Erik, 53.

Milly, meanwhile, seems smitten with the convicted killer as well, even making the 5,300-mile journey from her home in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, to San Diego to visit her much older boyfriend and was photographed with him in prison.

Photos, exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com, show the pair inside the prison on September 14  a date corresponding with the Friday to Sunday visiting hours at the lock-up and nine days before Milly's university started its fall semester

Milly made the 5,300-mile journey from her home in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, to San Diego to visit her much older boyfriend and was photographed with him in prison

Photos, exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com, show the pair inside the facility.

In one they pose in front of one of the distinctive murals in the prison yard with their arms wrapped lovingly around each other.

In another they pose with a large dog, and a third has Milly sitting on Lyle's knee.

A time stamp on the picture shows it was taken on Saturday, September 14  a date corresponding with the Friday to Sunday visiting hours at the lock-up and nine days before Milly's university started its fall semester.

Milly also changed the cover photo on her Facebook page to a picture of Ocean Beach in San Diego on November 17.

The beach in the laid-back surfer neighborhood has a distinctive palm-fringed promenade and cream lifeguard towers, both of which can be seen in Milly's photo.

In an ironic twist, Ocean Beach is just 20 miles from Imperial Beach  the southern San Diego neighborhood where Lyle's lawyer wife has lived since relocating from California state capital of Sacramento in October 2020 to be closer to him.

But Lyle's latest fling is not the first time he has been caught cheating on his spouse from prison. His first marriage to Chicago-native Anna Eriksson came to a juddering halt in 2001 after she caught him sending love letters to another woman.

This time, though, the stakes are higher for Lyle and Erik,, who have become a cause celebre following the smash-hit success of Ryan Murphy's biographical crime drama anthology, Monster: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.

Former LA DA George Gascon initially said in October he was pursuing a lighter sentence for the brothers. But Gascon's ousting by the new DA Nate Hochman has put his initial decision in jeopardy, as Hochman declared he had to view the case in its entirety before making a decision

Los Angeles County DA George Gascon announced in October he was planning to pursue a lighter sentence for the brothers, telling reporters that the pair 'have paid their debt to society'.

But he was voted out of office in this month's election and will step down on December 1.

His replacement, Republican-turned-Independent Nate Hochman, 60, has thrown the brothers' bid for freedom into jeopardy by saying he plans to review Gascon's decision.

The revelation that Lyle had a second contraband cell phone could also have implications for the case, particularly as California Governor Gavin Newsom declined to offer the brothers immediate clemency  instead saying he intends to wait for the outcome of Hochman's review, which won't happen until after Hochman takes office.

A resentencing hearing scheduled for December 11 is likely to be postponed as a result.

In a statement to CNN following his victory, Hochman said: 'Before I can make any decision about the Menendez brothers' case, I will need to become thoroughly familiar with the relevant facts, the evidence and the law.'

The former federal prosecutor added: 'I will have to review the confidential prison files for each brother, the transcripts from both trials and speak to the prosecutors, law enforcement, defense counsel and the victims' family members.

'If for some reason I need additional time, I will ask the court for that time.'

The brothers have been locked up since March 1990 when they were arrested for the brutal 1989 shotgun slayings of their parents

The brothers have been locked up since March 1990 when they were arrested for the brutal 1989 shotgun slayings of their parents.

Both confessed to the gruesome killings at the family home in Beverly Hills but said they snapped after enduring years of sexual abuse at Jose's hands.

That argument fell flat at their 1993 trial with prosecutors successfully arguing that the murders were carried out for financial gain after the brothers went on a $700,000 spending spree in the weeks after the shootings.

As a result, they were both handed life without parole and sent to separate prisons, although they were eventually reunited at the San Diego lock-up in 2018.
A shopkeeper who abused two Israeli backpackers in a 'venomous and shameful outburst' has defended her anti-Semitic spray.

She broke her silence after video of the heated exchange with the young tourists outside her store in Townsville in North Queensland went viral.

The backpackers, aged in their early 20s, were reportedly browsing in the store on Saturday night when they spotted a donation sign for relief in Palestine near the front counter.

They approached the shopkeeper and suggested that she consider verifying where the donations were being directed, sparking an anti-Semitic rant from the woman.

Two days on, the shopkeeper claimed that she was unaware of the widespread circulation of the footage but didn't care about the online backlash.

She doubled down after watching the clip, adding that there was more to the story than the 11 seconds that was posted online.

'People can take their own thing away from that video, I don't really give a s**t,' she told the Townsville Bulletin on Monday.

The shopkeeper accused the tourists of 'having a go' at her over the donation box.

A Townsville shopkeeper's anti-Semitic rant at two Israeli backpackers has been condemned by Jewish advocates as a 'venomous and shameful outburst'

'The guy's from Israel and he sees this [box] and he starts just running his mouth. So, I say get the f**k out of the shop,' she said.

'I went outside and I also said to him, I don't know if you can hear it, but I said my boss is an Arab.'

She added that the rest of confrontation 'wouldnt be a good look' for the tourists had it been posted.

The woman said she'd had previous run-ins with tourists who 'made a big deal' about the donation jar.

Those confrontations, and the nature of the Townsville CBD, are what led to her keeping a shovel by her register.

She allegedly told the backpackers, 'Get the f**k out of my store'.

The short clip shared online then showed the woman, dressed in black, then yelling at the tourists on the street while holding a shovel.

'I don't give a f**k about Israel but I do care about the fact that you're a dirty filthy f**king Jew,' the woman yelled as one of the backpackers filmed.

Footage showed one of the Israeli backpackers, who wasn't filming, confronted the shopkeeper about her comments while remaining calm and composed.

'You wanna listen to what I have to say?' the other tourist, dressed in a brown shirt and pants, asked.

'No. F**k off,' the shopkeeper fired back.

'I said check what you say,' the tourist calmly continued.

The woman then told the backpackers to 'f*** off' twice more.

Footage of the heated confrontation showed the shopkeeper brandishing a shovel while shouting obscenities at the tourists

Daily Mail Australia has chosen to not identify the store involved.

The Australian Jewish Association condemned the incident while taking a brutal swipe at the Albanese government in the wake of recent anti-Semitic attacks across the nation.

'The wave of anti-Jewish hate continues to surge across Australia. 'Free Palestine' have brought ugly division to this country,' the association captioned the footage online.

'Many of the government's actions have contributed to the surge of anti-Jewish hatred.

'Incidents like this are happening every single day across Australia.'

One of the Israeli backpackers (left) challenged the shopkeeper about her language

The Anti-Defamation Commission also condemned the 'raw, unfiltered anti-Semitism'.

Chairman, Dr Dvir Abramovich went as far as to label the incident a 'national crisis'.

'This horrifying episode sends a brutal message to Jewish Australians and international visitors alike: that they are not safe in our country. What does it say about us when backpackers, far from home, must fear for their lives because of their identity?' he told news.com.au.

Dr Abramovich added the confrontation would not only have left the tourists feeling 'fear and humiliation' but suggested a wider attitude across Australia.

He also called on authorities to treat the incident seriously.

'This incident is not an isolated flash of hatred. It is part of a much larger, deeply disturbing trend. Anti-Semitism is creeping into the everyday fabric of our society, eroding the very principles we claim to hold dear,' Dr Abramovich added.

'Australia is at a crossroads. Will we let this cancer of hatred define who we are, or will we rise up and reclaim our values of decency, safety, and inclusion?'

The latest incident comes after a car was torched and buildings were vandalised with shocking anti-Israel slurs across Woollahra in Sydney's eastern suburbs early Thursday morning.

Cars were vandalised with the words 'f**k Israel', while at least three premises, including a restaurant were also targeted.

Hours later, Federal Court Justice Michael Lee branded the wave of anti-Semitic incidents in Sydney's east as attacks on his family in a powerful address at a Jewish House Gala Dinner.

In a passionate speech, he said that any attack on the Jewish community is an 'attack upon my wife and my children'.
An investigation is underway after the death of a young girl in Far North Queensland.

Emergency services were called to a home in Rankin Street, Innisfail shortly before 1pm on Monday following reports a toddler had been found unresponsive inside a car.

Paramedics treated the girl before she was rushed to Innisfail Hospital in a critical condition, where she died a short time later.

Temperatures in Innisfail reached a top of 30.4C on Monday.

Daily maximum temperatures will remain above 30C for the next seven days, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

The tragedy has sent shockwaves through the local community.

The toddler was rushed to Innisfail Hospital where she died a short time later

Emergency services were called to a home in Rankin Street shortly before 1pm on Monday

'The Cassowary Coast regional council would like to extend our condolences to the family involved and if there's anything we can do, we are happy to help them,' mayor Teresa Millwood told the ABC.

'It's a very tragic event.'

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli also expressed his condolences

'Our hearts are with the Innisfail community as they grapple with this tragedy,' he said.

'I know authorities will get to work immediately, but right now this community should know this government stands ready with the support they need during this tragic time.'

Police have launched an investigation into the girl's death.

A report will be prepared for the Coroner.

Anyone with information is urged to contact police.
Ethiopia's prime minister has warned that a new version of Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas? could do more harm than good - after Ed Sheeran and other critics laid into the charity single.

Abiy Ahmed has intervened in the controversy over the 40th anniversary rerelease of the track which its co-writer Bob Geldof has been forced to defend.

The song, which first topped the charts in 1984, has been accused of fuelling 'pity rather than partnership' while promoting harmful stereotypes about Africa.

Sheeran revealed last week his unhappiness about his vocals being used in a new rerecording which is being officially released this week.

He said he would have 'respectfully declined' permission for re-use of his contribution to the 30th anniversary production from 2014 - while other critics have included Lily Allen and Damon Albarn.

And now his stance appears to have been backed by Mr Ahmed, who was elected as Ethiopia's PM in 2018 and won the Nobel Peace Prize the following year.

It was the devastating famine in Ethiopia which inspired Geldof to launch Band Aid in 1984, writing Do They Know It's Christmas? alongside Ultravox frontman Midge Ure and then organising the fundraising Live Aid concerts staged in July 1985.

But the country's leader has condemned the anniversary rerelease for focusing memories again on Ethiopia's dark days when more than 1million people starved.

Ethiopia's prime minister Abiy Ahmed has spoken out about his frustration atthe new Band Aid 40th anniversary rerelease of charity single Do They Know It's Christmas? this week

Bob Geldof, who co-wrote the song with Midge Ure, has been defending the charity initiative

Ed Sheeran (left), pictured with Ghanaian-British rapper Fuse ODG, has talked of his regrets on being part of the Band Aid 30 recording a decade ago

Mr Ahmed told the Times: 'It is frustrating to see our nation's ancient history, culture, diversity and beauty reduced to doom and gloom.'

He accepted that the original 1984 single was 'well meaning at the time' but blamed it for perpetuating what he called 'reductionist and dehumanising narratives'.

Mr Ahmed added: 'I would say that their humanitarian commitment is admirable and to be appreciated but a good cause that has not evolved with the times might end up doing more harm than good.'

He called for Ethiopia to be celebrated instead as one of the world's fastest-growing economies, a popular traveller destination for its ancient sites and home to Africa's largest hydropower project.

He said: 'The song is not a great soundtrack for the investment we need. Famine does not define who we are as a nation or a continent.

'Even England has experienced a period of famine in its history.'

Sheeran revealed how his concerns about the song followed points made by his friend Fuse ODG, a London-born Ghanaian-English rapper.

Fuse ODG - real name Nana Richard Abiona - spoke out last week, as he released a response called We Know It's Christmas and urged the BBC not to promote the song.

Popstar Ed Sheeran (pictured right) has spoken out against a new rerelease of the single, having featured on a 2014 recording of the track co-written by Sir Bob Geldof (left) - they are pictured here arriving at the studio to work on the Band Aid 30 version in November 2014

Sheeran posted on Instagram on Sunday: 'My approval wasn't sought on this new Band Aid 40 release and had I had the choice I would have respectfully declined the use of my vocals'

Do They Know It's Christmas? was co-written by Midge Ure (left) and Bob Geldof (right) - the pair are seen here at the recording of the Band Aid 30 version in London in November 2014

He told ITV's Good Morning Britain that treating the 1984 famine in Ethiopia - which originally inspired Band Aid - as an Africa-wide issue would be similar to labelling all of Europe 'war-stricken' due to the conflict in Ukraine.

It comes after Sheeran revealed he would have 'respectfully declined' permission for use of his vocals on the charity hit, while other critics have included Lily Allen and Damon Albarn.

Sheeran, 33, originally featured on the 2014 version of the track alongside the likes of Sting and Harry Styles which aimed to raise money for the Ebola relief efforts.

Yet before today's unveiling of the 2024 Ultimate Mix of the song, he told how he would have denied permission for his voice in the new version had he been asked.

Taking to his Instagram stories on Sunday last week, Sheeran posted: 'My approval wasn't sought on this new Band Aid 40 release and had I had the choice I would have respectfully declined the use of my vocals.

'A decade on and my understanding of the narrative associated with this has changed, eloquently explained by @fuseodg. This is just my personal stance, I'm hoping it's a forward-looking one. Love to all x.'

Fuse ODG himself rejected an offer to take part in the 2014 version of Do They Know It's Christmas? on which Sheeran featured.

The rapper wrote on his Facebook page last week: 'Ten years ago today, I said NO to Bob Geldof's Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas project due to the fact it's a campaign that dehumanises Africans and destroys our pride and identity in the name of 'charity'.

Bob Geldof, pictured last Tuesday, has hit back at criticism of his Band Aid charity single

The original 1984 release involved co-writer Bob Geldof alongside the likes of Paul Weller, Robert Kool Bell, Phil Collins and Bono

Bob Geldof has defended and praised the Band Aid efforts - he is pictured here at the recording of the original single Do They Know It's Christmas? in 1984

'He has decided to release another version, which demonstrates how much he still has not learned from the points I made clear to him on the negative impact of his project on Africa and its diaspora.

'The white saviour complex is an incredibly dangerous thing which is now playing out on an individual and corporate level.

'African problems should be solved by Africans. We welcome anyone genuinely trying to support the continent but it needs to be a spirit of collaboration not patronisation.

'In 2024, there is no way we'd stay quiet and allow other people to continue to tell our story.'

He also told his Facebook followers: 'Tag @BBC to stop the release of their documentary celebrating Band Aid'

And Fuse ODG, 35, took his arguments on to the corporation's airwaves this morning, telling BBC Breakfast he was worried about a 'dangerous' identity crisis being imposed on Africa.

After footage of the original 1984 project was shown, he said: 'It's been touching seeing the efforts put into it initially, the British public and different celebrities coming together to support a good cause.

'There was a crisis that needed to be attended to - I've no problem with that and even just watching it back, I'm getting emotional.

Fuse ODG, seen here performing at Kendal Calling Festival in July 2015, previously declined an offer to take part in the Band Aid 30 track recorded and released 10 years ago

London-born Ghanaian musician Fuse ODG has spoken out against the Band Aid charity single Do They Know It's Christmas?, accusing the song of 'dehumanising' African people

Fuse ODG, seen performing at Indigo at the O2 in London in November 2015, has now released a new single in response to Do They Know It's Christmas?, called We Know It's Christmas

'But in that act of kindness, in that process of trying to help a crisis, we created another identity crisis.

'As a child who's now grown up in this era of images that Band Aid and initiatives like it have put up that Africa's a place of famine, a place of poverty, disease-filled - it took away our collective sense of pride and identity.

'In the middle of trying to solve a temporary crisis, we've caused another dangerous crisis which is an identity crisis for a whole continent.

'There's such an imbalance in the kind of images being shown. Yes, it's great that we're raising money to help a crisis, it's fantastic, but we need to be very wary about how we execute it.

'It's a crisis that happened in one place, but it's being used to paint the whole continent.'

Geldof last week hit back following a critical article about Do They Know It's Christmas? on the website The Conversation.

That piece said the lyrics of the original release 'did not paint a full picture of the famine' in Ethiopia in the 1980s, adding: 'They recycled many of the old colonial tropes of Africa as a barren land requiring western salvation.

'In this case the famine was primarily the result of mass migration and destitution caused by a war involving Ethiopia and Tigre and a near total disregard for human life by the combatants.'

The song was originally created by Sir Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in a bid to raise funds for anti-famine efforts in Ethiopia, and went onto top the charts and raise millions

Harry Styles featured on Band Aid's 2014 re-recording, alongside his One Direction bandmates

The 20th anniversary version recorded at Air Studios in Hampstead, north London, in November 2004 included acts such as Ms Dynamite, Natasha Bedingfield and Keane

The article condemned Band Aid's influence, saying: 'Instances of so-called 'poverty porn' have also become commonplace across the charity sector as organisations compete with each other for public attention.

'This describes videos wherein the recipients of charity  against the backdrop of sad violin or piano music  are reduced to mere "victims" rather than full humans looking for agency.'

Geldof responded by writing: 'It's a pop song ffs.

'There IS endemic hunger due to the unforgiving soil conditions. Water IS scarce save for a scattering of unreliable wells. Rain IS increasingly unreliable.

'These are not 'colonial tropes' they are empirical facts... Climate change affects the poorest first and worst.

'War exacerbates these conditions. Xmas IS celebrated throughout Ethiopia according to their own calendar i.e. two weeks after our holiday.

'This little pop song has kept hundreds of thousands if not millions of people alive.

'In fact just today Band Aid has given hundreds of thousands of pounds to help those running from the mass slaughter in Sudan and enough cash to feed a further 8,000 children in the same affected areas of Ethiopia as 1984.'

Ed Sheeran has claimed he was not asked for permission from Band Aid 40 organisers to use his vocals on the a new version of the charity single Do They Know Its Christmas?

Co-writers Midge Ure and Bob Geldof are seen at Air Studios in London in November 2004

Do They Know It's Christmas? has been recorded on three separate occasions - Band Aid (1984), Band Aid 20 (2004) and Band Aid 30 (2014).

The single originally released in 1984 topped the charts for five weeks and was that year's Christmas number one.

It became the fastest selling single of all time in the UK, selling 1million copies in the first week alone and ultimately more than 3million overall.

It was followed by huge Live Aid star-studded concerts at Wembley Stadium in London and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadephia in July 1985.
A young man has drowned while swimming with friends at a popular swimming hole days out from the start of summer.

Emergency services rushed to Winifred Falls in the Royal National Park in Sydney's south at about 2.35pm on Monday following reports of a drowning.

The swimmer was pulled out of the water unconscious after he failed to resurface.

The man, 19, was unable to be revived at the scene, despite paramedics' best efforts.

He's yet to be formally identified, a NSW police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

A 19-year-old man was pulled from the popular swimming hole unresponsive and died at the scene. Pictured are emergency responders at the scene

The man was swimming with friends at Winifred Falls (pictured) in Sydney's Royal National Park when tragedy struck

Reception issues due to the remote location within the national park have complicated identifying the man and the circumstances surrounding his death.

'Police established a crime scene and commenced inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the mans death,' a NSW Police statement read/

Authorities will prepare a report for the coroner.
A famous Roman spa, gorgeous Georgian architecture and a renowned rugby team have helped put Bath on the map - but now the picturesque city is becoming known as the centre of a shoplifting epidemic.

Police say the theft problem is growing faster in this area than anywhere else in the country.

And residents believe its relative wealth has made it a target for shoplifting gangs.

Figures have revealed shoplifting offences rose in Bath by more than 83 per cent in the 12 months to September.

This amounts to 138.6 per 10,000 people  making it the eighth-worst locality in England in absolute terms.

As a result of the spike in thefts, business owners have been forced to stock their shelves with dummy products to deter criminals.

Facial recognition technology is also being used in the city's House of Fraser to alert security staff to known offenders.

The problem was described as 'out-of-control' and 'unsustainable' by Dan Norris, now the Labour MP for East Somerset and Hanham and a junior minister.

New analysis of police figures reveals the shoplifting problem is escalating faster in Bath than anywhere else in the country (file image)

Figures have revealed shoplifting offences rose by more than 83 per cent in the 12 months to September in the city (file image)

He told The Telegraph: 'For the shops that stay open, they will be forced to put up prices to make up for the lost goods  making this frightening cost-of-living crisis even worse for all.'

Bath has always been a popular destination for tourists and shoppers from nearby towns and villages, especially during the festive season when its Christmas market is open.

This means the city centre is very crowded on a regular basis, which makes it easier for the 'rogue elements to go undetected'.

Paul Crossley, a longstanding Liberal Democrat member of Bath and North East Somerset council, said: 'The centre of Bath is heaving, particularly towards Christmas.

'You have the opportunistic shoplifters, those who are in distress and feel they can't put food on the table, but the organised gangs are attracted to the centre.'

More than 50 shoplifting offences were reported in the central shopping district in September alone, Avon and Somerset Police data shows.

In an effort to crack down on the crime wave, the force has mounted a number of 'days of action', which has seen them send plain-clothes officers on patrol and work with private security firms hired by desperate business owners.

As a result, four prolific offenders appeared at Bath Magistrates' Court in October, charged with dozens of shoplifting offences each.

One of them, a 21-year-old man of no fixed abode, was charged with 16 offences including four instances of theft of tobacco products and vapes worth more than 2,000.

A 24-year-old woman also admitted to three thefts from a hair salon on three dates in September. She received a 40 fine and was ordered to pay 969.57 in compensation.

Magistrates also heard how a 45-year-old local had entered the staff-only area of a shop to steal tobacco and vapes worth 300, while a 34-year-old man, of no fixed abode, was charged with 18 theft offences between September and October.

Chief Inspector Rebecca Wells-Cole, Force Lead for Business Crime, said: 'These crimes are often described as 'low-level offending', but their impact on both businesses and the wider community is huge.

'We take thefts from shops seriously and encourage store workers to report incidents. We do have to prioritise all calls based on the likelihood of someone coming to immediate harm, so any incident in which there has been violence and a suspect remains on the scene will be prioritised.

Elsewhere, Hartlepool was found to be the worst-afflicted town by shoplifting in England, with 223.7 offences per 10,000 people in the 12 months to September - followed by Lincoln, Mansfield and Crawley.

But Bath is seeing the problem getting worse faster than anyone else.

Bedford also saw a sharp increase in recorded offences  70.7 per cent  while shoplifting incidents rose by 46.7 per cent in Gloucester.

Bath has always been a popular destination for tourists and shoppers from nearby towns and villages, especially during the festive season when its Christmas market is open

In response to the national epidemic, the Government pledged to create a new standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker, to stifle the violence that often follows when shoplifters are confronted.

Official figures from the Office for National Statistics show stores across the country are reporting two thefts a minute to police, with June hitting a record high of 469,788.

This crimewave is estimated by the British Retail Consortium to cost UK businesses 2billion.

While London as a whole has a low per capita rate of shoplifting, the West End is still hotbed for the crime.

Westminster sees 203 recorded shoplifting offences per 10,000 residents - followed by Kensington & Chelsea and Camden.

In terms of growth in shoplifting over the past year in the capital, this has been highest in the City of London (up 145%) followed by Hackney (up 92%) and Harrow (up 64%).

Scott Corfe, director of economics and data at Public First, said: 'Most people think shoplifting is surging and many people are seeing it with their own eyes. And there's not a particularly neat North-South or rich-poor story to which places are most affected.

'As well as relatively deprived communities such as Hartlepool, shoplifting is becoming part of daily life in apparently middle-class havens like Bath.

'It's hard to know whether this is related to permissive policing, organised gangs or pockets of poverty. Either way, it's contributing to a sense that Britain is lawless and that the public realm is crumbling.'
The University of Austin (UATX) seeks to challenge higher learning by preserving free speech and openness regarding ideology, which could potentially clash with Trump's education plans for the country.

Founded by a group of professors and professionals working at renowned universities, UATX provides an alternative to the present campus climate, which tends to shelter students from controversial ideas.

According to CBS News, the crux of UATX is that universities ought to be arenas for open debate and a diversity of opinions. It doesn't stifle but encourages debate; it is both the philosophy behind their approach to academics and the kind of culture they are trying to institute.

In that sense, UATX can operate on an open campus where differences in political thought are welcomed not condemned. Its first class of 92 students is diverse in political background, and this institution values intellectual diversity. In fact, classes at this university are small, seminar-style classes that cultivate thinking and respectful debate. The students are encouraged to challenge each other's views, not because the point is to win arguments, but so that one could develop a deeper understanding of complex issues.

The UATX founders argued that universities should be more focused on intellectual curiosity and less concerned with political correctness or ideology.

Read more: University of Texas Employee Arrested for Allegedly Failing to Register as Sex Offender

UATX Free Tuition

Furthermore, UATX challenges the rising cost of higher education by offering free tuition for students whose families earn less than $100,000, per NBC News.

Unlike most universities, which tend to focus on DEI in admission, UATX accentuates MEI. There is no admission to this university based on someone's race, gender, or even the current socioeconomic background, but solely on their ability to think and have a thoughtful discussion.

With the support of private donors, UATX has managed to collect nearly $200 million to sustain its mission and fund operational costs- including tuition. However, the model the university operates under does not come without sacrifice. Students have to live outside of the campus, where they cook by themselves, and they don't have college access to amenities like dorms and meal plans.

UATX sees this as an added benefit, an attempt to cut costs and focus on its main mission: education and intellectual engagement. This minimalism is not everyone's cup of tea; however, it only reaffirms the university's commitment to its core mission of free speech and open debate that needs to be fostered in those who come there.

By offering an opportunity to learn in a free, open space, the University of Austin seeks to disturb higher education's status quo where meaningful discourse would be undeterred by censorship. UATX hopes to guide the future of higher education into the mold where ideas, not political agendas, are put forward.
This is the extraordinary moment a man came 'back from the dead' as he was being prepared to be cremated in India.

Rohitash, 45, showed faint signs of life to prevent his own cremation just moments before he was due to be put on the pyre in Jhunjhunu City, Rajasthan last Thursday.

Footage shows the live but seemingly catatonic man wrapped in a blanket and surrounded by stunned onlookers as he appears to resurrect himself.

Rohitash, who is both mute and deaf, had spent three hours in a freezing morgue before staff noticed that he was still breathing.

He had reportedly fallen critically ill the day before while staying at a local shelter before doctors declared him dead.

Officials explained the mistake to local media by claiming that medics had simply skipped the post-mortem examination to determine his death.

An ambulance was summoned to take him to the Rajkiya Bhagwan Das Khetan (BDK) Hospital after they realised the error.

Rohitash made small movements to stun onlookers as he was being prepared for cremation

He was quickly taken back to the hospital upon the discovery but died soon after

Video showed him being rushed back to the hospital after the horror mistake was realised

Officials said the patient was a mute and deaf orphan staying at a local shelter when he fell ill and was taken to BDK hospital on November 20.

Doctors declared him dead after his condition kept deteriorating.

Jhunjhunu Police Superintendent Sharad Chouodhary said: 'The man did not have any relatives present when he initially arrived at the hospital.

'His condition worsened and there were no signs of life.

'The doctors were supposed to do a post-mortem examination but they did not do anything.'

'They just fulfilled the paper formalities and sent the man for cremation.

There, Rohitash was reportedly kept for several hours in a cold mortuary before the funeral rites.

'When the body was placed on the pyre, he woke up,' Chouodhary said.

Rohitash was then rushed back to the same hospital for urgent treatment.

Sadly, local media reported that Rohitash died early November 22 morning while undergoing emergency treatment in the ICU of BDK Hospital.

Police said the principal medical officer and three doctors involved in the case have been suspended over the alleged negligence.

Last year, a woman was found 'gasping for air' in her body bag while being prepared for cremation at a care centre in Iowa.

The unnamed woman, who had early-onset dementia, anxiety and depression, was declared dead at the Glen Oaks Alzheimer's Special Care Centre in Urbandale after becoming unresponsive.

The 66-year-old was soon placed in a zipped body bag and taken to the Ankeny Funeral Home and Crematory.

But when funeral home staff unzipped the bag, they found the woman was miraculously still alive.

Her chest was still moving and she was gasping for air, they said, as reported in a legal note.

Rohitash was reportedly deaf and mute and had spent three hours in a freezing morgue

Staff from the crematorium wheel Rohitash back out moments before he was to be cremated

The home called 911 and paramedics found a pulse and shallow breath.

A staff member from the care centre had reported the woman was not breathing and had no pulse while on a 12-hour shift.

The nurse said she had been checking on the woman 'every hour on the hour throughout the night' to administer morphine and lorazepam as ordered for comfort.

When she stopped responding, she continued to assess the resident for some five minutes before determining that she had died.

She was formally declared dead some 90 minutes later - and about two hours before being found alive.
The distraught father of missing Hawaii woman Hannah Kobayashi has been found dead after he jumped to his death from a parking garage in Los Angeles.

The 31-year-old aspiring photographer disappeared from the streets of downtown Los Angeles after missing a connecting flight from her native Maui in Hawaii en-route to New York City on November 8.

Kobayashi's stricken father Ryan Kobayashi, 58, had traveled to California to help authorities search for her, but in a horrific double-tragedy for the family, he was found dead at the bottom of a parking structure in LAX airport at around 4am on Sunday, according to NBC Los Angeles.

The Kobayashi family, from Hawaii, said in a statement: 'The Kobayashi family endured a devastating tragedy today. After tirelessly searching throughout Los Angeles for 13 days, Hannah's father, Ryan Kobayashi, tragically took his own life. This loss has compounded the family's suffering immeasurably.

'What the family needs most in this difficult time is for all communities to rally around them with support, compassion, and prayers. Please be considerate with your comments and posts.

'The trauma they are enduring is profound, and they now face the additional burden of grieving the loss of their family's pillar and navigating next steps.'

Ryan, who has been searching for his daughter for 13 days, was seen as recently as Friday handing out flyers to passers-by in Los Angeles, pleading for information that could help find his daughter.

DailyMail.com spoke to him as his family gathered to spread the message about the disappearance and encourage the public to report any sightings and information they may have.

Hannah Kobayashi (pictured) went missing after she missed her connecting flight to New York

Her father, Ryan, was tragically found dead in Los Angeles, after he flew out to assist in the search

This is the last known image of her leaving LAX, after she missed her connecting flight to New York to visit family

Ryan DailyMail.com: We will do everything we can until we have found her. We just need to get the word out there about her.

Shes a wonderful person who brings joy to so many people.

Ryan's death comes as the search for Hannah continues. She sent a series of eerie texts to her loved ones, claiming she had recently undergone a 'spiritual awakening, after she was due to meet family in New York.

Kobayashi had flown from Hawaii to LAX on the same flight as her ex-boyfriend, who had booked tickets for the two of them before they split up.

He continued to New York, and is 'cooperating with police', after a mystery final text was sent from Hannah's phone, talking about her having a 'spiritual awakening.'

The young traveler was captured by a security camera disembarking the plane just before 10pm on November 8.

The aspiring photographer was seen wearing a black hoodie and colorful sweatpants as she walked through LAX while wearing a pair of headphones.

She was due to take a connecting flight at 11pm, however she never made it.

'Please help her, if you can. If you know where she's at, or you have the chance to just help her, please. We just want to bring her home,' the mother said

Hannah Kobayashi (pictured) went missing after missing her connecting flight to New York from LAX on November 8

Kobayashi was spotted at The Grove shopping mall between midday and 3pm the following day, on November 9.

She spent a considerable amount of time at Taschen Books, where she stopped to charge her phone.

At 2:43 she snapped a picture and sent it to her aunt, before returning to the airport where she is believed to have spent the night.

Timeline of disappearance November 8 - Kobayashi was spotted at The Grove shopping mall between midday and 3pm. November 9 - Kobayashi was spotted at The Grove shopping mall between midday and 3pm November 10 - She appeared in the background of a video outside a Nike event featuring LeBron James at 3:30pm November 11 - Kobayashi was spotted boarding an LAX Metro C line at Aviation/Century Station Advertisement

From there, she once again called Montalvo to tell her she was still trying to get to New York.

In a separate YouTube video outside of an event in Los Angeles on November 10, Hannah can be seen wearing the same clothing. She was spotted at a Nike event featuring LeBron James in LA, where she was wearing the same dark hoodie and headphones she wore at the airport, at around 3:30pm.

Kobayashi also shared a post on her Instagram from the event with an eye emoji as the caption.

She was next spotted talking to a ticketing agent at LAX at around 5pm.

That same day, a missing-persons report was filed by her family amid what they described as uncharacteristic correspondence from Kobayashi.

One of her text messages read: 'Deep Hackers wiped my identity, stole all of my funds, & have had me on a mind f**k since Friday.'

Kobayashi's mother, Brandi Yee, also sent her a text message asking if she made it to New York.

She responded simply: 'Not yet.' Another early-morning text mentioned how she was in the midst of a 'spiritual awakening.'

On a missing-persons poster sent out immediately after, police wrote: 'Prior to going missing, [Kobayashi] sent a message on November 10, mentioning feeling scared, and that someone might be trying to steal her money and identity. She hasn't been heard from since.'

The next day, November 11, Kobayashi was spotted boarding an LAX Metro C line at Aviation/Century Station.

She got on board at 9:02pm, before transferring to a different train at the Rosa Parks Station.

Kobayashi was finally seen leaving the Metro Pico Station with the unidentified person at 10:03pm

Her family received strange texts from her phone number, leading them to believe they had not been sent by Hanna

One of Hannah's friends received strange texts from Kobayashi's phone - indicating that she may be in trouble

While mother Brandi Yee and sister Sydni Kobayashi think Hannah left the airport and attended an event based on a series of texts suggesting she 'had a spiritual awakening and was heading back to the airport', a friend believes otherwise.

The anonymous concerned companion said she received strange texts from Kobayashi's phone - indicating that she may be in trouble.

'I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds. For someone I thought I loved,' the messages read.

The family also noted that the young artist's phone has been off since November 11 and her last pinned location was at the Los Angeles Airport.

'She heard from Hannah. She was at LAX, and she said that she was scared,' Yee said.

Sydni further added: 'She texted her that she was scared and that she couldn't come back home or something. It was just really weird texts.'

Both Hannah's mother and sister also believe that the messages 'did not sound like her' and wonder if it was Hannah who sent them.

Yee remarked, 'Yeah, we share location' to which Sydni added: 'And we know her phone's off because it goes straight to voicemail.

Missing Hawaii woman Hannah Kobayashi's sister has shared details of every last known sighting as her family continue their agonizing search

Her final post was shared on November 11. It is understood she was attending an event in Los Angeles at the time

'We've been trying to call and call and call, text.

'None of the texts are getting delivered. We can't locate her phone.'

The family has filed a missing person's report with the Los Angeles Police Department, but have since revealed their frustrations with the investigation.

'As of today the police have reached out to family members who last spoke with Hannah,' her aunt Larie Pidgeon told DailyMail.com on Thursday.

'We want them to take it a bit more seriously.

'We think they realize we're not going away and we're going to be really loud. We're going to do something until they do something.

'I think now they are beginning the process of what we began six days ago.

'The entire world is looking for you (Hannah) because that's how special you are.

Parts of the video also show Hannah outside of an event in Los Angeles

'We are not going to stop until we find you. We love you.'

It remains unclear why she left LA's LAX airport and ventured out into the city 15 miles away but she sent a text to a friend saying she had had a 'spiritual awakening', and was later seen in the company of a mystery man.

Her family has also revealed that Hannah's ex-boyfriend was also traveling on the same flight from Maui to LAX.

But the duo did not sit together or speak on the flight after the former pair bought tickets before they broke up.

Her father, Ryan Kobayashi, said prior to his death that her former partner had boarded the connecting flight and reached New York.

He also assured that her ex-boyfriend has been extremely responsive and cooperative with the investigation.

'A lot of worrying, a lot of confusion. Everything is just a blur it seems because I haven't slept well since I've heard the news, and I really don't know  it's just really concerning.

'We're just trying to get us as much information as we can,' he said.

For confidential support call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255
A father-of-one who was scammed out of 75,000 after falling for a deepfake Martin Lewis and Elon Musk advert, has warned people to remain vigilant of fraudsters.

It comes as Facebook owner Meta announced they would be introducing facial recognition technology to crack down on scammers who use celebrities in adverts.

The kitchen fitter from Brighton was scrolling through Facebook last year when he came across a fake ad promoting a non-existent bitcoin investment scheme.

The ad was fronted by tech billionaire Musk and Lewis, with Artificial intelligence (AI) being used to manipulate the money saving expert's real voice to look like he was doing a TV interview from his house.

Des, who is a self-employed tradesperson, told Good Morning Britain he saw the advert as an opportunity to earn some extra cash before Christmas.

But he ended up taking out four loans totalling 70,000 in order to keep investing in the scheme and still owes around 20,000 following the ordeal.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain this morning, Des told Susanna Reid and Ed Balls that he is now considering filing for bankruptcy.

He said: 'Now I see how stupid I was, how blind I was, I'm normally the type of person that would say to other people 'that doesn't sound right'.

Des Healey, from Brighton, was scrolling through Facebook last year when he came across a fake ad promoting a non-existent bitcoin investment scheme

The ad was fronted by tech billionaire Musk and Lewis, with Artificial intelligence ( AI ) being used to manipulate the money saving expert's real voice

Des, who is a self-employed tradesperson, told Good Morning Britain this morning he saw the advert as an opportunity to earn some extra cash before Christmas - he is pictured with his son Derren

'But these people...someone once described it as being under their spell and I think that was probably the best term. I knew in a way something wasn't right but I hoped that it was okay.'

Yesterday, Des spoke to the real Martin Lewis on BBC Radio 5, who said he 'has this weird accolade of being the most scammed face in Britain'.

Martin Lewis said: 'I find this devastating. I've spent my entire career trying to help consumers and these criminals, these thieves, these organised crime people have perverted my reputation.'

Des responded to the initial advert and was put in touch with a man who claimed his name was Carl and had over 20 years of experience as a financial advisor.

'Carl' set up an account for Des with the e-money firm Revolut, which has nine million customers in the UK, and took a 1,000 investment.

Des was told by Carl that 'profitable months' were coming up and they would earn more if they invested the money 'as soon as we can', the BBC reported.

Martin Lewis appeared on GMB this morning and BBC Radio 5 Live yesterday and said he had a 'weird accolade' of being the most scammed face in Britain

The advert featured a picture of tech billionaire Elon Musk to look as though the bitcoin scheme had been endorsed by him

Trusting what Carl had to say, Des then transferred the entirety of his life savings into the account  a total of 5,000.

Des told the BBC he wasn't allowed to withdraw anything until Carl said he could.

The 5,000 was then transferred to the Resolut account by Carl under the guise it was being invested.

It wasn't until Des' son Derren heard his father on the phone to Carl that things started to change.

Derren told GMB he was 'getting suspicions' when the scammer started asking who he was in an attempt to separate Des from his family.

Eventually, Derren threatened to call the police on his father unless he contacted his bank.

Derren described the situation as 'seeing someone you know in a toxic relationship', where 'you can't understand how they can't see what you're seeing'.

Martin Lewis said Des was 'brave and admirable' for telling his story as a warning to others.

He told the BBC: 'Falling for scams does not make you a mug, it makes you a victim, but it doesn't make you a mug. The people doing this are psychologically adept at manipulating us, use huge online and intellectual resources in order to steal our money.'

Since reporting the scam to the police, two of the banks Des took out money with have cancelled loans with them.

A spokesperson for Revolut said it was sorry to hear about any instance where 'customers are targeted by ruthless and highly sophisticated criminals'.

The statement added: 'Revolut works hard and invests heavily to protect our customers as best we can through our fraud prevention technologies, analysing over half a billion transactions a month.'
He even approached his victim while naked in the ship's showers to bully him

A Royal Navy sailor has been locked up after bullying a colleague with a speech impediment so badly he considered jumping overboard.

Oscar Sanders-Mortimer, a Leading Hand on one of the UK's most advanced warships, humiliated a lower-ranking sailor and left him struggling to sleep, a court martial heard.

As well as mocking his voice multiple times, the newly promoted 23-year-old even bullied his married victim while naked in the ship's showers, a panel was told.

LH Sanders-Mortimer approached the victim and said 'get me hard' whilst making a 'masturbatory type gesture', as the victim said 'stop, stop'.

His campaign of harassment left his fellow sailor on the Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan feeling suicidal.

The court was told how the victim was 'mentally prepared for the cold water' of the sea, but the thought of his wife and family stopped him from jumping.

LH Sanders-Mortimer pleaded guilty to one charge of disgraceful conduct of an indecent kind and one charge of ill treatment of a subordinate.

He was sentenced to six months detention.

Leading Hand Oscar Sanders-Mortimer (pictured) has been sentenced to six months detention after pleading guilty to one charge of disgraceful conduct of an indecent kind and one charge of ill treatment of a subordinate

The sailor bullied and mocked his colleague while they were aboard the Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan (pictured). He even approached the victim in the ship's showers and said 'get me hard' whilst making a 'masturbatory type gesture', the court martial heard

Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire, heard LH Sanders-Mortimer's victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has Asperger's syndrome and a speech impediment.

William Peters, prosecuting, told the court that they served on Portsmouth-based HMS Duncan.

He said that the 1 billion ship was at a port in the Mediterranean in 2023, when the victim and LH Sanders-Mortimer were in the same room where people were changing into civilian clothing.

Mr Peters said: '[The victim] was approached by the defendant.

'He was naked but for a towel over his shoulder and he said to [the victim] "get me hard, [victim's name]" whilst making a masturbatory type gesture with his hand.

'[The victim] worried the defendant's genitals would make contact.

'[He] put out his hand and said "stop, stop".'

The court heard the victim found it particularly difficult living on the ship with LH Sanders-Mortimer '24/7', and he struggled to sleep after the incident.

The victim, who has Asperger's syndrome and a speech impediment, was left feeling humiliated and suicidal, saying he 'thought about jumping off the ship'

In his victim impact statement read out to the court, the sailor said: 'I felt suicidal and thought about jumping off the ship.'

He added that he 'mentally prepared [himself] for the cold water and what it would feel like to drown', but thought about his wife and family and thankfully was able to reason with himself.

The court heard LH Sanders-Mortimer also mocked the victim multiple times in front of other people.

Mr Peters said: '[The victim] has a speech impediment and this was mocked by the defendant in front of [the victim] and others.

'The defendant mocked [the victim]'s voice when answering the telephone - he felt bullied by the defendant's behaviour, which left him feeling humiliated.'

Michael Green told the court that LH Sanders-Mortimer - who had been in the Navy for six years - had spent 18 months on board HMS Duncan as a lower ranking sailor before being promoted to Leading Hand in March 2023.

Mr Green said: 'He was trying to find the balance between being pally with subordinates, the people that he had served on board with as a [junior sailor] and being able to act appropriately in this new role as a Leading Hand.'

He added that LH Sanders-Mortimer's father is a Royal Navy veteran, which has led to 'additional embarrassment' for him in light of the court martial.

Sentencing him, Assistant Judge Advocate General John Atwill said: 'This was one offence in a campaign of ill treatment by you of that man.

'You picked on him repeatedly because of a speech impediment.

'You humiliated him in front of others and bullied him.'

The judge noted LH Sanders-Mortimer's 'position of responsibility' on the ship as a Leading Hand.

He added: 'You bullied and degraded a vulnerable [sailor], whose vulnerability if not the diagnosis behind it was apparent to you.'

The court heard that, after an investigation, LH Sanders-Mortimer was discharged from the Navy earlier this month relating to his behaviour towards people other than this victim.

Judge Advocate Atwill added that he would have been dismissed for this if that was an option.

LH Sanders-Mortimer was sentenced to six months' detention for disgraceful conduct of an indecent kind and eight weeks detention for ill treatment of a subordinate.

These sentences will run concurrently, and he will serve two thirds of his sentence before being released.

He will also pay service compensation of 1,000.

For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit https://www.thecalmzone.net/get-support
The widow of a millionaire fishing lakes tycoon has lost a bitter court fight with her late husband's children after he left them almost all his fortune in his will.

Robert Hinds, who was 74 when he died, ran successful coarse fishing ground Water End Fisheries in Bedfordshire, with his self-titled Robbie's Lake being a hit with locals.

His second wife Amanda Louise Hinds, 67, was her fishery boss husband's sole carer for the last six years of his life, after he battled multiple sclerosis for 30 years.

But following his death in 2020, Mrs Hinds was shocked to discover that her husband of about eight years had left her only 10 per cent of his 1million-plus fortune.

Instead, his two children from an earlier marriage, Samantha Gotzheim and Alex Hinds, were handed 80 per cent of their father's cash between them, with the other 10 per cent going to grandchildren.

The will sparked a bitter court dispute, with Mrs Hinds suing her two stepchildren for a bigger share of the fortune, saying that as his carer in his final years she had a 'moral claim' to more.

But after a hearing last week, Mrs Hinds' case was thrown out by a judge.

At Central London County Court, Recorder Graeme Robertson said Mrs Hinds could not prove on her evidence the money she was left by her husband was not 'reasonable.'

Amanda Louise Hinds, 67, has lost her inheritance war against her stepchildren after her late husband handed most of his 1million-plus fortune to them

Robert Hinds (pictured), who was 74 when he died, ran successful coarse fishing ground Water End Fisheries in Bedfordshire but died in 2020

The court heard Mr and Mrs Hinds had each been previously married and he was in the process of a divorce when they met in the mid to late 1980s.

Mrs Hinds' barrister William Golightly told the judge that there had been a brief break in their relationship around 1990 but otherwise it had been a 'long, loving relationship.'

They initially lived at Mrs Hinds' home in Odell village, near Bedford, where they were married at the local church in February 2012.

However, they then moved to Mr Hinds' bungalow at the Water End in 2015 when he became more dependent on care, due to his disability.

Mrs Hinds had been 'meaningfully involved' in Mr Hinds' business Water End Fisheries, a family-run day ticket coarse fishing site in the heart of rural Bedfordshire, her barrister said.

The popular fishing spot offered three one-acre canals stocked with carp, rudd, roach, tench, perch, bream, chubb, gudgeon and dace.

She had also run the household, as well as 'contributing' to the welfare of his family, he said.

However, following his death, 'relations soured' with her stepchildren, Samantha, 47, who runs a chalet business in the French Alps, and Alex, who has a fencing firm in Bedfordshire.

Mr Hinds handed much of his fortune to his two children from an earlier marriage, Samantha Gotzheim and Alex Hinds. Samantha is pictured with her father, Robert

Under his final will, made in 2017, Mr Hinds left his two children 40 per cent each of his fortune, Mrs Hinds 10 per cent and their grandchildren 10 per cent between them.

Claiming she had not been left 'reasonable financial provision' as his wife, she then lodged an application under the Inheritance Act 1975.

But, having filed her claim outside the six-month time limit after probate was granted in September 2021, she had to come to court to ask for permission to make her claim.

Mr Golightly argued that the strength of her claim was an important factor in deciding whether it should be allowed to go to trial.

As his spouse, what she might have got in a divorce had to be considered, he said, and she could have been awarded half the money if they had split.

'The court has to have regard to the age of the claimant and the duration of the marriage,' he told the judge.

'Here, we have a marriage of eight years which should be regarded in the context of a long relationship.'

Mr Hinds had also owed 'obligations' to his wife in circumstances where even her stepchildren accepted she had been his 'long-term sole carer' for his final six years.

Pictured is an angler at Water End Fisheries in Bedfordshire which was owned by Mr Hinds

'The parties agree that the claimant was the deceased's sole carer for the last six years of his life, he having been diagnosed with MS around 1990,' said the barrister.

'There is a moral claim for a wider distribution to this claimant.'

Arguing that time should be extended to let her claim proceed to trial, he said Mrs Hinds had been under the impression she had 12 months, not six, to lodge a claim.

It was only when her lawyers learned a property owned by Mr Hinds had been sold that 'alarm bells started ringing' that probate had been granted and the 'clock started ticking' for her to make her claim.

He said Mrs Hinds had an arguable claim for more as his wife and because she has very limited income, living off benefits in a housing association property.

'We would be looking for a 50 per cent distribution so she can buy her housing association house for 300,000, as well as a pot of money to live off,' he said.

There was also enough money in the estate - formed of his former property, his farm and the fishery - for his children and grandchildren to still get a sizeable inheritance.

But for Mr Hinds' children, barrister Christopher Jones criticised her evidence about her financial needs.

'What my lay clients were told was that the claimant had no income at all,' he said.

'We are now told she is in receipt of state benefits and is running at a loss effectively, but there is no explanation given of how that shortfall is being met.

'The claimant should have got her house in order when the proceedings were issued and provided financial information long ago.'

Giving judgment, Recorder Robertson said he would take into account Mrs Hinds' current circumstances and the strength and length of the relationship she had with her husband.

'She is elderly and of pensionable age, the marriage lasted eight years and six of those years were spent by the claimant in caring for the deceased when he needed it,' he said.

'I also bear in mind that it is said in the claimant's evidence that she made a contribution to the welfare of the family of the deceased.'

But he said her evidence about her financial needs was 'unsatisfactory' and he could not on that basis find that a 10 per cent share of the 1million was not reasonable.

'She is likely to receive a distribution of 100,000-odd, which on its face could enable her to meet her financial needs for the foreseeable future,' he said.

'It seems to me that she does have financial resources and her needs met for the future.'

Pictured is the entrance to the Water End Fisheries ' site in Bedfordshire

He also said that, on top of not having a 'realistic prospect of success' in her claim, she had not convinced him to extend time for it to go forward to a full trial anyway.

'I don't consider that the claimant did act promptly in the circumstances when she applied for an extension of time,' he said.

'She was aware of the grant of probate. She was told about it and she doesn't explain why she thought she had 12 months, rather than six, to bring a claim.

'Overall, I consider the explanation for the delay to be unsatisfactory.

'Considering all the factors in the round, I have come to the conclusion that this is not a case where I should grant permission to extend time.

'The application to do so is consequently dismissed.'

Having dismissed her bid in its entirety, the judge ordered Mrs Hinds to pay her stepchildren's 26,000 lawyers' bills for fighting the case.
Sniffer dogs are now being used by police to detect date-rape drugs in pubs, clubs and bars  as the PM announced today tough new measures to tackle drink spiking.

Humberside Police have recently been joined on patrol in Beverley, East Yorkshire, by Lottie - a trained pointer.

She is among the first ever canines in the UK trained to find substances associated with spiking incidents, including GHB, Rohypnol and ketamine.

It comes as Sir Keir Starmer vowed to tackle an epidemic of illicit drink spiking by training 10,000 bar staff to spot it happening - as it becomes a specific criminal offence for the first time.

Officers say Lottie's keen sense of smell has proven effective at sniffing out even a trace amount of drugs.

Her incredibly sensitive nose is able to locate as little as half a tablet of a substance.

She is one of several dogs trained by East Yorkshire-based Inter K9 to detect the drugs and the force say more of these pups will be used in the future to help in their fight against drink spiking.

Speaking whilst out on one of these patrols, Humberside Police dog handler Ian Deaville told the BBC: 'We are looking for people with substances on them that they shouldn't have.

Humberside Police have recently been joined on patrol in Beverley, East Yorkshire, by Lottie - a trained pointer pooch

Officers say Lottie's keen sense of smell has proven effective at sniffing out even a trace amount of drugs

Research shows 13 per cent of women and nine per cent of men believe they have been the victim of drink spiking, but nine-in-10 don't bother reporting it to police. (file photo)

'Date rape and spiking drugs are a new thing. It means we are not just out chasing coke, weed and MDMA. We should also be chasing date-rape drugs because they cause harm to other people.'

'If you've got an existing drug dog, it's just another odour to add on to their repertoire.'

Lottie has been joining officers as they go in and out of bars in the town on Friday and Saturday nights - a move which has been welcomed by many pub owners.

Dawn Wilkinson, who runs the Windmill Inn, said: 'I love it. I'm all for bringing the dogs in. More of this is a great thing for me. To stop any of the date-rape stuff is great.'

On one patrol, Lottie led officers to a man suspected of having a bag of cocaine and found an unidentified substance on the floor of another venue.

Sergeant Ben Stanyon said: 'Drugs were located on one of them and further substances had been discarded in the premises, likely in response to the dog being there.'

Research shows 13 per cent of women and nine per cent of men believe they have been the victim of drink spiking, but nine-in-10 don't bother reporting it to police.

This is despite it often leading to those targeted also falling victim to sex crimes, robbery and theft.

Humberside Police dog handler Ian Deaville (pictured) said the date-rape drugs were just 'another odour' to the trained dogs

Lottie has been joining officers as they go in and out of bars in the town on Friday and Saturday nights

Launching a pilot scheme at No10 on Monday alongside senior police officers and leisure industry leaders, Sir Keir said the new programme would be rolled out nationwide in March.

Bartenders and bouncers will be taught how to identify offenders and victims under the new drive to cut down on the number of people being given knock-out drugs on nights out.

The PM said that such a measure would mean that it 'enables everybody to have the confidence to come forward' and also 'it allows perpetrators to know that it's a specific offence.'

A poll by Drinkaware and Anglia Ruskin University last week found that just 10 per cent of offences are reported to police, with half of those targeted saying they 'don't see the point' of reporting it.

The Home Office is also allocating 250,000 to train pub and bar workers how to prevent spiking.

The money will fund training for up to 10,000 serving staff and 'bouncers' how to spot the signs of a potential offender, protect victims and preserve evidence for police.

The new offence would mean perpetrators 'feel the full force of the law', a government spokesman said.

Launching a pilot scheme at No10 today alongside senior police officers and leisure industry leaders, Sir Keir said the programme would be rolled out nationwide in March.

Speaking ahead of the meeting the PM said: 'We must do more to bring the vile perpetrators who carry out this cowardly act, usually against young women and often to commit a sexual offence, to justice.

'That is why I made a promise that, if elected, I would make spiking a new criminal offence.

'Today, I am proud to have come good on that pledge.'

He added: 'I will bring together police chiefs, heads of industry and transport bosses to demand coordinated action to stop women being targeted, whether they are out with friends or simply travelling home.

'Cracking down on spiking is central to that mission. '
Police are to be given new 'common sense' guidance over non-crime hate incidents after a series of scandals - and controversy over a journalist being visited by police over a year-old social media post.

Officers will be instructed to record so-called NCHIs only if there is a 'clear risk' to community tensions under the new proposals being overseen by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, it has been reported.

The move comes following a report which called for the contentious system covering such offences to be abolished or drastically reformed.

Police are wasting an estimated 60,000 hours on NCHIs every year, diverting them away from their 'core mission of fighting crime', a study by think-tank Policy Exchange said.

Fears over the NCHI system's 'chilling effect' on free speech were highlighted earlier this month when Essex Police launched a probe into a tweet by Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson.

Police will be told to record non hate crime incidents only if there is a 'clear risk' to community tensions under new proposals overseen by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (pictured)

Essex Police has faced criticism for opening an investigation - dropped last Thursday - into a social media post from a year ago by journalist Allison Pearson (pictured in September 2011)

The Telegraph writer accused officers of pursuing a 'witch-hunt' against her

It later emerged the force's inquiries into Ms Pearson, which were dropped last Thursday, were not under the NCHI regime.

But Essex Police, whose officers visited Ms Pearson's home over her tweet, recorded a 'far higher' number of NCHIs than other forces, the study found - logging 21.5 per 100 officers last year, compared with an estimated national average of 8.9.

More than 13,000 NCHIs were logged by police forces across the UK over the past year, it was revealed last week.

Police forces have been blasted for investigating 'hate crimes' that include calling someone a Rottweiler or being branded a 'Leonard' over a row about a hedge.

Now the Times says there will be a new update to the guidance given to forces, who were previously told last year to only scrutinise incidents 'clearly motivated by intentional hostility' and where there is a real risk of escalation 'causing significant harm or a criminal offence'.

Ms Cooper reportedly believes the guidance requires amending due to 'confusion and inconsistency' across the 43 constabularies in England and Wales, while leading some to miss out on picking up examples of antisemitism and Islamophobia.

New 'common sense' stipulations are being drawn up by the Home Office the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs Council.

A Home Office source was quoted as saying: 'Wed expect the police to be applying a common sense approach when it comes to the recording of NCHIs and guidance is already clear that trivial incidents should not be recorded.

Allison Pearson (pictured in 2011) said she was 'shocked' to have officers turn up on her doorstep on Remembrance Sunday earlier this month

Ms Pearson has used X, formerly Twitter, to defend herself and criticise Essex Police

'Where NCHIs can be useful is where they help the police to build an intelligence picture around community tensions in order to map trends and prevent escalation.'

It comes as a new Policy Exchange report found that police forces were being 'highly opaque' about their use of NCHI measures, and in some cases officers have been willing to 'entirely ignore' rules on how they should be used.

'The Government should legislate to abolish, in its entirety, the recording of NCHIs by the police,' the report said.

Authors added: 'Should the Government choose to retain the NCHI regime, they should issue an updated code of practice which leads to a substantial reduction in the number of NCHIs recorded  increasing "freedom of expression" protections and reducing the distraction of police officers from their core mission of fighting crime.

'Each report takes several hours to record, investigate and supervise  involving several police officers, police staff and supervisors.

'Given there are estimated to be 13,200 NCHIs completed per annum nationally, it is reasonable to conclude that over 60,000 police hours per annum are being spent on NCHIs.'

The report won the backing of former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Hogan-Howe, who said the 'subjective' nature of NCHIs was 'producing inconsistent outcomes'.

He said: 'Parliament rather than the College of Policing has to decide whether the police should be investigating people for NCHIs and how they are recorded.

Former Metropolitan Police Commission Lord Hogan-Howe, pictured here in February 2017, has welcomed a new Policy Exchange report calling for reforms of the NCHI system

'I would urge ministers to look closely at this Policy Exchange report to inform the path they intend to take.'

Report author David Spencer, a former Met detective chief inspector and Policy Exchange's head of crime and justice, said: 'The NCHI regime is having a devastating impact on the public and their perception of policing.

'By abolishing the entire NCHI regime, the Government has an opportunity to keep the police's attention on what really matters to the public  catching the burglars, drug dealers and violent thugs who cause misery to the lives of millions.'

NCHIs were meant to allow intelligence to be gathered on incidents that did not reach the threshold for prosecution, particularly in cases of alleged racism.

But police use of them has expanded to investigate complaints against someone who has lawfully expressed an opinion.

The previous Conservative government tried to limit their scope but its measures were 'largely ineffective', the report concluded.

Essex Police last Thursday dropped its investigation into Telegraph columnist Ms Pearson over a tweet that was posted, and then quickly deleted, last November.

The force was advised by Crown Prosecution Service lawyers that its case failed to meet the evidential test.

Allison Pearson (pictured) was accused of stirring up racial hatred in a post on social media last year - she has said she did not remember the post in question and has since been cleared

Ms Pearson revealed officers from Essex Police knocked on her door on Remembrance Day earlier this month to inform her of a probe, but could not give her details about what post was being investigated or who made a complaint.

She has since insisted in a ten-point post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that she was not 'racist' and that she 'did not post a racist tweet'.

Speaking after her solicitor informed her the case had been dropped, Ms Pearson told the Daily Mail she would 'not wish this experience on anybody'.

'I was obviously shocked and devastated in the first place to have had the police on my doorstep on Remembrance Sunday, of all days, telling me I had put something up on social media which they said was stirring up racial hatred,' she said.

'And they wouldn't tell me what it was I was supposed to have said. To this day they have never confirmed which post it was all about.'

Chief Constable Mark Hobrough, the National Police Chiefs' Council hate crime lead, will conduct an independent review of the force's handling of the case.

An Essex Police spokesperson said last week: 'We investigate crimes reported to us without fear or favour.

'We're sometimes faced with allegations of crime where people have strong opposing views.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (left) today took part in a summit on violence against women, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and the National Police Chiefs' Council's Maggie Blyth

'That's why we work so hard to remain impartial and to investigate allegations, regardless of where they might lead.'

Responding to last Thursday's update, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp - a former policing minister - said: 'It should never have come to this.

'The police should not be policing thought or speech. Police time should only be spent on criminality or behaviour likely to lead imminently to criminality.

'I urge the Government to urgently change the guidelines on NCHIs to stop it happening again.'

And Ms Pearson added: 'These non-crime hate incidents are being handed out to perfectly decent people on the flimsiest of pretexts.

'We have seen children, nurses, business owners, being terrorised by the police for articulating things that would be considered absolutely fine to say down the pub or supermarket.'

She added: 'I think the policing senior echelons are incredibly woke and are infected with these misguided notions about social justice.

'They are policing not for the majority and solving crimes, they are policing on the basis of a minority viewpoint.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp - a former policing minister - has called on the Government to 'urgently change the guidelines on NCHIs'

'Normal people want police to come round when they have been burgled, they want serious things to be investigated.

'They don't want this madness.'

The complaint related to a tweet showing an image of two police officers standing next to two men holding the flag of a Pakistani political party.

Ms Pearson had confused the flag with that of Hamas, tagged the Metropolitan Police and accused the officers of 'smiling with the Jew haters' in the post.

She said she deleted the message as soon as she realised her mistake, so the message was live for less than two hours.
The mother of the woman who won a civil sexual assault case against Conor McGregor launched legal action against the UFC fighter and his co-defendant on the same day as her daughter's case was filed, it has emerged.

Nikita Hand, 35, launched a civil action against McGregor claiming he 'brutally raped and battered' her at a hotel in Dublin in December 2018.

On Friday, she was awarded 250,000 after a jury in a civil court found McGregor had sexually assaulted her.

Ms Hand lost a second separate lawsuit against McGregor's friend, James Lawrence, who she also accused of assaulting her on the same night out.

It has now been reported that her mother, Deborah Ni Laimhin, filed a civil case against McGregor and Lawrence on January 18, 2021 - the same day as her daughter brought proceedings against the two men almost four years ago.

But the case has not progressed, Sunday World reports, and it is unclear whether Ms Ni Laimhin's civil action will move forward, with no court date scheduled.

The nature of the civil complaint is unclear and Ms Ni Laimhin's lawyers have reportedly refused to comment on the matter.

The court heard evidence that Ms Hand went to her mother's home on the morning of December 10 to seek help after the tampon she had been wearing during the assault by McGregor became stuck inside her.

Nikita Hand (centre), who is also known as Nikita Ni Laimhin, leaves the High Court in Dublin after the personal injury case against Conor McGregor

Mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor and partner Dee Devlin leave the High Court in Dublin after the personal injury case against him

On seeing her daughter, Ms Ni Laimhin called both the gardai and paramedics, and Ms Hand was taken to the Rotunda Hospital in an ambulance accompanied by her mother, the court was told.

Eithne Scully, an advanced paramedic with Dublin Fire Brigade with over 16 years' experience, told the court: 'I haven't seen somebody so bruised in all my time.'

Dr Daniel Kane, the gynecologist who assessed her at the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit, told the court that her tampon had been wedged at the very top of her cervix and had to be removed with forceps.

He added that Ms Hand had suffered extensive bruising over her body, at a moderate to severe level only seen in 10 per cent of his patients.

Dr Ann Leader, a psychiatrist who told the court she had seen over 5,000 cases of alleged sexual abuse, said that following the attack Ms Hand was showing classical symptoms of someone who had been traumatised, and who was suffering from PTSD, including suicidal feelings, panic attacks, flashbacks, depression and anxiety.

Ms Hand ultimately made a lengthy statement to gardai in January 2019.

Speaking to The Sunday Times after the verdict was delvered on Friday, Ms Ni Laimhin said that her daughter would remain 'scarred' by her ordeal.

'It will always be there, it will always be with her,' she said. 'But we will try to move on in the best way we can.'

Deborah Ni Laimhin said that her daughter would remain 'scarred' by her ordeal

She added that the verdict is 'still sinking in' but that she was relieved and had 'got the outcome she deserved'.

In an emotional statement outside court on Friday, Ms Hand thanked her mother and said she had been 'overwhelmed' by the support she had received.

'I want to thank my mam and all my family and friends. Lastly, I want to thank my daughter Freya who I am most grateful for.

She has given me so much strength and courage over the last six years through this nightmare to keep pushing forward for justice.'

Ms Hand lost a second separate lawsuit against McGregor's friend, James Lawrence, who she also accused of assaulting her on the same night out

She added that she hoped her case would encourage other victims to keep 'pushing forward' for justice.

'I hope my story is a reminder that no matter how afraid you might be, speak up, you have a voice and keep on fighting for justice,' she said.

'I know this has impacted not only my life, my daughter's, my family and friends tremendously.

'It's something that I'll never forget for the rest of my life.

'Now that justice has been served, I can now try and move on and look forward to the future with my family and friends and daughter.'

In an emotional statement outside court on Friday, Ms Hand thanked her mother and said she had been 'overwhelmed' by the support she had received

McGregor has vowed to appeal the decision on social media, claiming that not all the evidence was reviewed and saying he was 'disappointed' with the decision.

In a now-deleted post, McGregor said: 'I will be appealing yesterday's decision. The judge's instruction and the modest award given was for assault, not for aggravated or exemplary damages.

'I am with my family now, focused on my future. Thank you to all my support worldwide.'
New maps have revealed just how chaotic travel will be over Thanksgiving, as wintry weather is set to complicate the journeys of the millions of travellers who are set to go home this week.

Auto club and insurance company AAA predicts that nearly 80 million Americans will venture at least 50 miles from home between Tuesday and next Monday.

The Transportation Security Administration expects 18.3 million people at US airports during the same seven-day stretch, 6% more than during the corresponding days last year.

The National Weather Service office in Sacramento, California, issued a winter storm warning for the Sierra Nevada through Tuesday, with heavy snow expected at higher elevations and wind gusts potentially reaching 55mph.

Total snowfall of roughly 4 feet was forecast, with the heaviest accumulations expected Monday and Tuesday, a worrying development for those travelling home for Thanksgiving.

The Midwest and Great Lakes regions will see rain and snow Monday and the East Coast will be the most impacted on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, forecasters said.

A low pressure system is forecast to bring rain to the Southeast early Thursday before heading to the Northeast.

Areas from Boston to New York could see rain and breezy conditions, with snowfall possible in parts of northern New Hampshire, northern Maine and the Adirondacks.

New maps have revealed just how chaotic travel will be over Thanksgiving , as wintry weather is set to complicate journeys (File image of rush hour at Chicago O'Hare train station)

At expected 98million people will be travelling back home for Thanksgiving

If the system tracks further inland, there could be less snow and more rain in the mountains, forecasters said.

'The system doesn't look like a powerhouse right now,' Hayden Frank, a meteorologist with the weather service in Massachusetts, said Sunday. 'Basically, this is going to bring rain to the I-95 corridor so travelers should prepare for wet weather. Unless the system trends a lot colder, it looks like rain.'

Frank said he isn't seeing any major storm systems arriving for the weekend anywhere in the country so travelers heading home Sunday can expect good driving conditions. Temperatures, however, will get colder in the East while warming up out West.

California's Mammoth Mountain, which received 2 feet (.6 meters) of fresh snow in the recent storm, could get another 4 feet (1.2 meters) before the newest system clears out Wednesday, the resort said.

Into Thanksgiving, parts of the Midwest and East Coast can expect to see heavy rain, and there's potential for snow in Northeastern states.

A storm last week brought rain to New York and New Jersey, where wildfires have raged in recent weeks, and heavy snow to northeastern Pennsylvania.

The precipitation was expected to help ease drought conditions after an exceptionally dry fall.

'It's not going to be a drought buster, but it's definitely going to help,' said Bryan Greenblatt, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Binghamton, New York.

Travelers wait at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in Atlanta, as the Thanksgiving travel season kicks off

Travelers line up at the security checkpoint at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, on November 22, 2024, ahead of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday

Heavy snow fell in northeastern Pennsylvania, including the Pocono Mountains. Higher elevations reported up to 17 inches (43 centimeters), with lesser accumulations in valley cities including Scranton and Wilkes-Barre.

Adding to the complication of travel is a major strike at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, who are protesting what they say are unlivable wages.

Officials with Service Employees International Union announced the impending strike in a statement early Monday, saying the workers would demand 'an end to poverty wages and respect on the job during the holiday travel season.'

ABM and Prospect Airport Services contract with American Airlines to provide services including cleaning airplane interiors, removing trash and escorting passengers in wheelchairs.

Workers say they previously raised the alarm about their growing inability to afford basic necessities, including food and housing. They described living paycheck to paycheck, unable to cover expenses like car repairs while performing jobs that keep countless planes running on schedule.

'We're on strike today because this is our last resort. We cant keep living like this,' ABM cabin cleaner Priscilla Hoyle said in a statement. 'Were taking action because our families cant survive.'

Several hundred workers were expected to walk off the job and continue the work stoppage throughout Monday.

Most of them earn between $12.50 and $19 an hour, which is well below the living wage for a single person with no children in the Charlotte area, union officials said.

Passengers arrive at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on November 22, 2024, ahead of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday

Travelers arrive at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, on November 22, 2024, ahead of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday

Charlotte Douglas International Airport officials have said this holiday travel season is expected to be the busiest on record, with an estimated 1.02 million passengers departing the airport between last Thursday and the Monday after Thanksgiving.

In addition to walking off the job, striking workers plan to hold an 11am rally and a 1pm 'Strikesgiving' lunch 'in place of the Thanksgiving meal that many of the workers won't be able to afford later this week,' union officials said.

'Airport service workers make holiday travel possible by keeping airports safe, clean, and running,' the union said. 'Despite their critical role in the profits that major corporations enjoy, many airport service workers must work two to three jobs to make ends meet.'

ABM said it would take steps to minimize disruptions from any demonstrations.

'At ABM, we appreciate the hard work our team members put in every day to support our clients and help keep spaces clean and people healthy,' the company said in a statement last week.

Prospect Airport Services said last week that the company recognizes the seriousness of the potential for a strike during the busy holiday travel season.
Joe Biden broke down in tears as first lady Jill hailed her 'husband and hero' during the president's final farewell dinner at the White House, but there were no signs of Vice President Kamala Harris.

The outgoing U.S. president was overcome with emotion as his wife paid tribute to his decades of service during a party on the South Lawn thanking Democratic supporters and donors.

On Friday evening, Jill praised her husband's 40 years of service, including his last four years as the President of the United States.

'What I've watched you do for more than 40 years is extraordinary... Joe what you've done the last four years is breathtaking,' the first lady said, as Biden wiped a tear from his cheek.

After Biden reached for a tissue from his pocket, his wife raised a glass, toasting to: 'My husband and hero, Joe Biden,' before the pair shared a kiss on the podium.

The president then took to center stage for his speech, cracking a joke while urging guests and supporters: 'If you have a seat, please take it. Don't jump in the pool!'

'Jill and I are hosting this dinner tonight for a very simple reason to say thank you. Thank you to so many dear friends,' he continued.

'We began this journey to redeem the soul of the nation and define the light in the darkness. And I never could have gotten to where the White House has become without you and we never could have gotten as much done as we did without you. And that's not hyperbole. I mean it from the bottom of my heart.'

Joe Biden broke down in teats as his wife introduced him at his final farewell dinner at the White House on Friday evening

The outgoing US President was overcome with emotion as Jill call him her 'husband and hero'

Biden is set to hand over his presidency to Donald Trump on January 20 next year

The president hosted the farewell in an effort to show gratitude to Democrat insiders before he leaves office on January 20, 2025, where he will hand over the presidency to Republican President-elect Donald Trump.

Biden then continued on to highlight his administration's achievements and called his time in office 'the honor of my life'.

'One thing I've always believed about public service and especially the presidency, is the importance of asking ourselves, have we left the country in better shape than we found it? I can say with all my heart, the answer to that question is a resounding yes because of you,' he said, pointing to the cheering crowds.

'I believe we can be proud we're leaving America in a better place today than when we came into office four years ago,' he continued.

He went on to highlight getting through the 'worst pandemic we'd seen in over 100 years' while the country's economy was in a 'tailspin' and a 'violent insurrection on January 6'.

The emotional leader said with determination: 'We've come a long way since then... But I fully believe America is better positioned to lead the world today than any point in my 50 years of public service.

'I followed that standard because I had no choice. I'm Jill Biden's husband. That's the title I'm most proud of'.

Gushing over the support of his wife, Biden went on to say: 'Jill's the rock of our family,' before dubbing her 'one of the finest first ladies in history'

'William Butler Yeats wrote, 'Think where man's glory most begins and ends, And say my glory was I had such friends.' Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,' he said.

President Biden shared a kiss with the first lady as they toasted during a dinner of gratitude for his long time supporters at the White House in Washington

Biden and first lady Jill Biden take the dance floor during a dinner on the South Lawn of the White House on November 22

'.I'm Jill Biden's husband. That's the title I'm most proud of,' Biden said in his speech

Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff arrived in Hawaii on Tuesday evening. Pictured: Kamala Harris and her husband Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff leave after she delivered her concession speech at Howard University in Washington, on November 6

'As I look out over such friends, serving as president of the United States has been the honour of my life,' Biden concluded, as his supporters cheered and clapped around him.

But among the crowds, there were no signs of Vice President Kamala Harris who lost in the landslide 2024 presidential election to Donald Trump.

Instead, Harris has tucked herself away from the spotlight as she vacations in Hawaii with her husband Doug Emhoff following her defeat.

Keeping a low profile, Harris arrived in Kalaoa on Tuesday, for what is reportedly expected to be a weeklong trip as she recovers from the rigorous campaign schedule she kept up over the last couple of months.

The couple usually spends the Thanksgiving holiday in Hawaii, but it currently remains unclear if Emhoff's children or any of the Harris family members will join them.

Harris, however, is prepared to fly back from Hawaii to break any tie votes in the Senate if needed.

She delayed her trip in the event that she would be needed for votes in the Senate to confirm judges, one of her aides told NBC News. She is not expected to be needed as no major battle is expected over judicial nominees until December.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended Harris' vacation during a Thursday briefing, arguing there was nothing 'wrong' with the vice president taking the short break.

'The vice president has taken time off to go spend time with her family. I don't think there's anything wrong with that,' she said.

'I think she deserves some time to be with her family and to have some downtime.

'She has worked very hard over  for the last four years, and her taking a couple of days to be with her family, good for her. Good for her,' Jean-Pierre added.
by Tim Sommers

Why have a democracy? Because democracy is always right.

There are two kinds of arguments in favor of democracy: intrinsic and instrumental. Intrinsic arguments try to show that democracy is good in-and-of-itself  and not as simply a means to some other end or ends. Instrumental arguments try to show that democracy is good because it leads to some good.

There are two main kinds of intrinsic arguments: those based on liberty and those based on equality. The most straight-forward kind of liberty argument says that we should be free, but to be free means not only to govern ourselves, but to have some control of our larger social and material environment. Democracy gives us that control. The trouble is that in actually existing democracies very, very few people are able to exert any real influence on society or their material conditions via the political process. Democracy does not make most of us free, at least in this way.

Heres a different kind of liberty argument. We all have certain basic rights. Among the basic rights, liberties, and freedoms we possess in a liberal democracy  freedom of religion, free speech, the right to the rule of law, etc.  there are also rights of political participation  political speech, a right to free assembly, etc. What does this kind of pro forma right to some kind of political participation really amount to, though?

Theres no right to vote in the US Constitution. And Arrows Impossibility Theorem shows there is no way of counting votes that can satisfy all of the seemingly simple and reasonable conditions voting must bear. To oversimplify a bit, there is no way of voting that always gives us an answer, always depends on the input of more than one person, gives a way of deciding between candidates based on voting (and nothing else), and insures that the choice between any two candidates is independent of how the voter feels about other candidates.

Fortunately, there are also equality-based arguments for democracy. Many political philosophers have argued that democracy is a way of treating people equally. But lotteries treat people equally too.

Heres an instrumental argument for democracy from Thomas Christiano:

The modern democratic societies of Europe, North America, and East Asia have actually been quite successfulDemocracies do not go to war with one another and respect the rules of war better than other societies. They are responsible for the creation of the international trade system, the international environmental law system, and the human rights regime. In fact, democracies do massively better on basic human rights than other societies, and it appears to be more their majoritarian character that explains this than their systems of checks and balances. Democracies prevent famines and, since the onset of universal suffrage, have developed powerful welfare states that have been enormously productive, have greatly reduced poverty, and have smoothed out the disastrous economic crises that occurred in their more free market ancestor societies.

But why?

Heres a different kind of instrumental argument for democracy, one that may well explain all these good outcomes to boot. The epistemic  or the acquisition-of-knowledge-based  argument for the instrumental value of democracy is based on the claim that democracies are more epistemically efficaciously than the alternatives. Which is just to say that, if we have to decide an issue, or choose a leader, doing it democratically will give us the best chance of getting the right answer.

Deliberative democratic theorists give a variety of epistemic arguments. But we need only one. And its just math.

The Marquis de Condorcet was a moderate democrat during the French Revolution. He advocated universal suffrage and was an early advocate of universal primary education. He went into hiding after voting against the death penalty for Louis XVI, but was captured and died in his cell nine months later. Ironically, his warders had lost track of who he was by the time he died and he was identified only by the copy of Horaces Epistles he had been carrying when he was arrested.

Condorcet had studied voting and concluded that, under the right circumstances, it is an extremely effective procedure for getting right answers. This was a consequence of his famous Jury Theorem. On an issue with two alternatives, where the decision is made independently by each participant, where there is also an objectively right decision, and each decision-maker has a greater than 50% chance of making that right decision a group of 5 or more people have a high likelihood of making the correct decision, a group of 12 has a higher likelihood of giving the correct verdict, and a group of a 1000 or more is nearly certain  out to several decimal places certain  to make the right call. In other words, if we think of a voting as a kind of procedure to determine the truth of a question, as long as we add competent voters the more the better.

And the Jury Theorem is just math. Its not an empirical claim. Certain simple assumptions lead you inevitably to its conclusion: Democracy is always right.

More than a hundred and fifty million people voted in the recent presidential election. Thats a staggering number from the point of Condorcets Theorem. That many people cannot possibly be wrong. Its just math.

Well. There are a couple of caveats. Ill just mention one. While its true that for each person that you add, with enough information and good judgment to vote for the better candidate even 50.00000000001% of the time, you increase the odds of electing the right person, but this cuts both ways.

For every person you add who has a slightly worse than average chance of picking the right person (even 49.999999999%), you decrease the odds of electing the right person. In fact, with too many incompetent people, it becomes a virtual certainty that the voting will give you the wrong answer, choose the wrong person. Virtually certain.

Thankfully, we dont have to worry about that. Right?

After the Columbia space shuttle explosion in 2003, astronaut Mark Kelly, classmate to all three of the astronauts who died, ended a conference call on the subject with a line thats now a poster on a conference room wall at NASAs Huston complex. It says, None of us are as dumb as all of us.
Nottingham University has been accused of 'reverse engineering' historic links to slavery by an aristocratic family after a report claimed they had profited off it.

The report claimed the 7th Duke of Portland, whose ancestors helped establish the university and who was one of its 'most distinguished benefactors', gained from 'social capital' of his slave-owning ancestor.

It comes almost 50 years after the duke's death in 1977.

His family criticised the report and claimed it raises 'troubling ethical implications of holding descendants accountable for the actions of their ancestors', the Times reported.

The late duke William Arthur Henry Cavendish-Bentinck was born in 1893, almost 60 years after the abolition of slavery in Britain.

Relatives claim there is no evidence of any wealth inheritance from slavery in their branch of the family.

A source involved in the consultation for the report said: 'The report appears to 'reverse-engineer' history in an attempt to establish 'slavery links' between a post-abolition university and post-abolition benefactors.'

The family, now led by William Parente, 73, the grandson of the 7th Duke, lost its Dukedom after the 9th Duke died in 1990 without a male heir.

The report claimed the 7th Duke of Portland (pictured), whose ancestors helped establish the university and who was one of its 'most distinguished benefactors', benefitted from 'social capital' of his slave-owning ancestor

The Portland Building at Nottingham University is named after the 7th Duke of Portland

They had been patrons of Nottingham University since it was founded in 1881.

The 7th Duke of Portland served in the First World War before becoming a Conservative MP, and then the Chancellor of the university from 1954 to 1971.

The Portland Building on campus is even named after him and now houses the students' union and other departments.

But the report found that the first Duke of Portland - who was descended from the first Earl of Portland - was appointed the governor of Jamaica, where he owned dozens of slaves in the 1720s.

It stated this position led to the 'accumulation and transference of financial, social and reputational capital to the following generations' and that other colonial roles given to his heirs helped 'preserve the dynasty's status as a powerful elite ruling aristocratic family'.

The Duke is estimated to have earned at least 3.8million while Governor of Jamaica in today's money.

Examining donations from 1875 to 1960, the report said up to 44 percent of private donations received were made by just eight patrons, all with historic links to the transatlantic slave trade.

Professor Katherine Linehan, pro vice-chancellor for people and culture, described the report as the 'first step in acknowledging these historical links and will act as a catalyst to an open dialogue between the university and its black heritage community with respect to reparative justice.'

William Bentinck, the first Earl of Portland - his descendants became Dukes until 1990

The university has been accused of 'reverse engineering' history to create links to the slave trade

But a source said the family had attempted to engage meaningfully with the writers after receiving a draft copy in 2020.

They accused the university of 'excluding' view points and 'sidelining truth', saying: 'From the university's perspective, it may be reasonable  perhaps even necessary  to exclude differing viewpoints as part of efforts to redress historical imbalances.

'However, this approach risks sidelining the essential principles of truth and open dialogue.'

In a statement, the family's Welbeck estate said: 'Slavery was an abhorrent crime against humanity, and examining historical links is essential to understanding and addressing its enduring legacy. The 1st Duke of Portland, who served as a governor of Jamaica in the early 18th century, owned enslaved people and other ancestors held colonial roles.

'The University of Nottingham's buildings were named after the 7th duke, who was born 60 years after abolition and had no personal involvement in slavery.

'We understand the university's decision to rename the Portland Buildings in Nottingham and China as part of its efforts to foster an inclusive environment for students. We welcome this renaming as a meaningful gesture reflecting the university community's evolving values.'

The University of Nottingham said: "The report was commissioned by the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University to explore the role of Transatlantic slavery in the formation of the two institutions. This is in line with work being done across the sector to form a wider picture of the historic connections with UK higher education.

"The work has taken place over several years and a number of revisions were made in response to feedback received during the consultation exercise. We are unaware of anyone having been excluded from the consultation exercise or having been refused the opportunity to meet with university representatives to discuss the report.'
An eight-year-old schoolgirl and a 34-year-old man have been rushed to hospital with serious injuries after being caught in the crossfire of a shooting in West London.

Armed officers from Metropolitan Police were called to Southern Row, in Kensington, at 5.34pm on Sunday following reports of gunfire.

Witnesses heard four shots and a woman shouting, 'My baby, my baby's been shot.'

The gunman opened fire on a property on the street, leaving a girl and a man seriously injured in the crossfire.

They were treated at the scene by London Ambulance Service before being rushed to hospital.

Police said the girl's injuries are not life-threatening, but officers are awaiting an update on the man's condition.

Superintendent Owen Renowden said: 'This is an appalling incident that has left two people seriously injured, including a young girl who thankfully is in a stable condition this morning.

'I am appealing to the public who may have been in the area at the time of the shooting. Did you hear any gunshots around 5.30pm yesterday evening? Did you see anyone fleeing from the area?

Police cordoned off the area on Southern Row, Ladbroke Grove, on Sunday following reports of a shooting

Forensics collecting evidence at the scene of a shooting in the Ladbroke Grove area of Kensington

The shooting took place at around 5.30pm on Southern Row in Kensington on Sunday

'We are keen to hear from anyone who may have any information surrounding this incident. Your information matters, no matter how insignificant you may think it is.'

A 32-year-old woman was also taken to hospital as a precaution but was not injured.

Several roads in Ladbroke Grove and Maida Vale remain heavily cordoned off as forensic teams scour for evidence, including bullet casings and damage caused to the targeted property.

Residents in the area reported hearing helicopters overhead and witnessed police vehicles with sirens passing through the streets.

A witness, 64, told Metro she heard shots and a woman shouting which 'makes me sick to think about it now'.

'There were four or five shots, There was screaming. It's horrible. A neighbour went out with a duvet to cover the injured,' she said.

Uber driver Ali Hussein also told the newspaper he heard four or five gunshots but thought they were fireworks.

'Now I know it was a shooting. Its very scary. Especially as I have children. I have a daughter, 9, so I fear for my children.'

Police guard a cordon on Southern Row, Ladbroke Grove in west London after the shooting

Medical equipment and broken glass lying on the floor at the scene on Southern Row

Forensics on the scene of a shooting in Kensington on Sunday where an eight-year-old schoolgirl and a 34-year-old man were injured

Police and forensics on the scene in Southern Row, in Ladbroke Grove on Sunday evening

The area was cordoned off as police and forensics collected evidence from the scene

Other residents expressed concern about the rise in violent crime in the area.

In July of this year, a 15-year-old boy was shot dead at Emslie Horniman's Pleasance, or 'Teletubbies Park' on Southern Row.

The boy was enjoying a 'family fun day' event before Notting Hill Carnival when he was shot and succumbed to his injuries at the scene.

A security officer who was working at the event said: 'A teenager was assassinated. I was right there. People were rushing and everyone was screaming. They were rushing through the barrier. There were two gunshots.

'We had booked the street that's cordoned off for a film shoot tomorrow. I don't know if that's going to happen now.'

Another security officer for a nearby building said he saw a a helicopter at five or six PM.

Police enquiries into the incident on Sunday are ongoing.

This is a breaking news story, more to follow.
The self-confessed French rapist who allowed scores of men to rape his wife after drugging her should spend a maximum 20 years in prison, a prosecutor said today.

Attorney general Laure Chabaud on Monday called for Domique Pelicot, 71, to potentially spend the rest of his life in a cell.

He has admitted the 'aggravated rape' of ex-wife Gisele Pelicot, 72, along with some of the 50 other men standing trial with him.

Speaking at the Vaucluse Criminal Court, in Avignon, Ms Chabaud said two decades was all that was legally allowed.

'What sentence should be imposed?' she asked. 'The maximum sentence is 20 years of criminal imprisonment, which is both a lot and too little in view of the seriousness of the repeated attacks.'

Dominique Pelicot (Top R) during his trial in which he is accused of drugging his wife Gisele Pelicot (Bottom C) on November 25

Gisele Pelicot arrives at the criminal court in Avignon, France, 25 November 2024

Gisele Pelicot (C), flanked by her lawyer Stephane Babonneau (R), arrives at the Avignon courthouse for the trial today

Dominique Pelicot is accused of allowing multiple men to rape his wife while she was sedated

Ms Chabaud said Ms Pelicot, a mother of three, had been reduced to an 'object' by men who just 'used her for easy sex' over almost a decade.

Her ex-husband contacted them all online, and then invited them back to the family home in Mazan, near Avignon, where they raped his drugged wife.

'Gisele Pelicot's state, close to a coma, should have raised the alarm,' said Ms Chabaud.

'Rape is characterised by a lack of consent,' she added, saying there was no possibility that the victim had voluntarily taken drugs to put her to sleep, as part of a 'libertine game', as the defence has suggested.

'What pleasure can she sincerely get from it, without counting the side effects the next day,' said Ms Chabaud.

Jean-Francois Mayet, the second attorney general at the case, said everything about the case was 'out of the ordinary'.

Mr Mayet said: 'These are the first words that came to mind when we were entrusted with the task of bringing the charges in this case.

'This trial gave rise to 59 volumes of judicial information, containing thousands of reports.

'Our justice system is regularly criticised for being too slow  let us thank it for having managed to conclude this extraordinary procedure in 31 months.

'The result of their work resulted in Dominique Pelicot being placed in police custody on November 2, 2020' and he has been in prison on remand ever since.

Mr Mayet said '20,000 photos and videos' were found on Mr Pelicot's devices, all of them showing the subdued Ms Pelicot, often being subjected to horrific acts.

Turning to Ms Pelicot, who was in court wearing a purple blouse, the prosecutor said: 'I salute your courage and the dignity with which you expressed yourself during these long weeks of the hearing.'

Last week, both the Pelicots gave final statements in court.

Frenchwoman Gisele Pelicot leaves during a break in the trial of Dominique Pelicot with 50 co-accused, at the courthouse in Avignon, France, November 19, 2024

Ms Pelicot's daughter Caroline gestures as she leaves the Avignon courthouse, November 20

David, one of the two sons of Frenchwoman Gisele Pelicot, is seen during a break in the trial of his father Dominique Pelicot with 50 co-accused, at the courthouse in Avignon, November 19

The empty courtroom during a break in the trial of Dominique Pelicot, November 20, 2024

After his own son had called him 'the devil incarnate,' Mr Pelicot made a personal plea to his family, saying: 'I thought they would be devastated, but not to this extent.

'I measured the damage caused by my annihilation, and I bitterly regret it, but I want to emphasise that I have never touched my children or my grandchildren.'

In turn, Ms Pelicot denounced the 'cowards' who raped her and blasted 'a macho, patriarchal society where rape is trivialised.'

Ms Pelicot was supported in court by her youngest son, Florian Pelicot, 38, who on Monday told his father: 'I am very grateful to have our mother alive, but I have a lot of incomprehension about what our father did.'

Mr Pelicot added: 'You always said that our mother was a saint. But you, you were the devil incarnate.'

All of the couple's three adult children have testified against Dominique Pelicot, who is appearing in court in a glass-fronted dock.

The retired electrician and estate agent crushed sleeping pills into his wife's food and drink, then invited the strangers to rape her between 2011 and 2020.

He kept hundreds of videos of rape on his computer in a file entitled 'Abuse', and has admitted the charge against him, telling the court: 'I am a rapist.'

Some of his co-accused admit rape, while others say they did not know Gisele Pelicot was drugged, despite videos showing her snoring loudly.

Gisele Pelicot talks during the trial of her husband with 50 co-accused at the courthouse in Avignon, France, November 19

Gisele Pelicot (C) with her lawyers Antoine Camus (L) and Stephane Babonneau (R) leaves the Avignon courthouse during the trial, on November 20

A view shows the entrance sign to Mazan, the town where Frenchwoman Gisele Pelicot was the victim of an alleged mass rape orchestrated by her husband Dominique Pelicot at their home

Ms Pelicot, a former logistics manager, has become feminist icon after saying the trial has raised awareness of the use of drugs to rape women.

Ms Pelicot said she had suffered 'acts of barbarity' and would not 'feel at peace until the end of my life.'

She added: 'I'll learn to live with it. I'll rebuild myself. But there'll forever be 51 people who have defiled me.'

Fourteen other men beyond her husband have confessed to raping her, while the others deny the charges, arguing that they thought Ms Pelicot had consented to having sex with them.

The trial continues and is expected to end on December 20th.
Ms Cochrane, from Blyth, says no action was taken on people's pro-Labour posts

She felt 'railroaded' into resigning after a meeting about her online posts

Michelle Cochrane was a civil servant in the Department for Work and Pensions

A civil servant says she felt she had 'no choice but to resign' after being threatened with dismissal for sharing Reform party and Nigel Farage posts on Facebook.

Michelle Cochrane, 45, had been working as an administration officer in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) since July 2021 and loved it.

Ms Cochrane, from Blyth, Northumberland, holds different views to the government regarding immigration and how tax money is spent.

Around the time of the general election she began sharing Labour-critical Facebook posts on her personal Facebook - 14 between June and July.

They related to immigration, the release of prisoners early, and the handling of public finances by Labour - and two she added her own comments to the post.

There were 11 Reform posts shared, one by UK Independence Party, one including a Daily Express news article and one by Nigel Farage.

Her profile didn't have any references to her work or employers, she says, but in August Michelle was invited to attend a disciplinary meeting.

She was warned that an investigation would be undertaken into the posts she shared and if she was found to have committed gross misconduct she would likely be dismissed.

Michelle Cochrane (pictured) felt she had 'no choice but to resign' from her job as a civil servant in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) after a meeting about her online posts

Ms Cochrane shared 11 Reform posts, one by UK Independence Party, one including a Daily Express news article and one by Reform leader Nigel Farage (pictured)

During the meeting, Michelle argued she had a right to 'freedom of speech' - and claimed other colleagues had shared posts from other political parties without facing repercussions.

In the end Michelle felt 'railroaded' into resigning as she felt her dismissal was a 'foregone conclusion' and wanted to protect her mental health, she said.

Michelle said: 'It's been traumatic. I felt I had no choice but to resign.

'I deleted my whole Facebook account as soon as I realised it was an issue.

'The majority of what I was posting was just reposts from the Reform party's Facebook - I wrote a couple of things myself but nothing extreme.

'I feel like if I reposted things from the Labour Party I would have been ok.

'Colleagues have done that before and no action was taken.

'The meeting was supposed to be a 'fact finding' meeting but it sounded like it was already disciplinary.

Ms Cochrane (pictured) from Blyth, Northumberland, said colleagues had reposted things from the Labour Party before and 'no action was taken'

'I felt I had no choice but to resign - I felt I was pushed in that direction.'

Michelle said she has just a handful of close colleagues as friends, and only a few close family members knew what her job was.

Between June and July, she shared Reform posts relating to immigration, the release of prisoners early, and the handling of public finances by Labour.

She doesn't know how management at her work came to see the posts she shared on her private account, she says.

One post by Reform featured a picture of people on a boat at sea wearing life jackets and read 'watch the population explosion in real time' and 'Britain needs Reform'.

Another by Reform showed a picture of Labour party member holding money with text that states '84 million to Africa & Middle East, more cash more boats' and 'Britain needs Reform'.

On one post by Reform she shared, Michelle had written alongside it, 'never thought I would see the day when immigration is even a problem for a small town like Blyth. Time not to just limit it, but end it.'

Another Reform post about Labour releasing 40,000 prisoners saw Michelle add a comment 'Will they never learn from the past?'.

There were 14 political posts in total - two of which Michelle claims were shared by mistake.

One of the 'accidental' posts was shared from a page called 'Mick Ashton' which said 'Now you've stopped the winter fuel payments for pensioners there is no reason why you can't stop all the hand outs for the boat people.'

The other was a post shared from 'UK Independence Party' page and it is a picture of the inside of a prison with the text 'Deport all foreign criminals. Britain shouldn't house the worlds scum'.

She was invited in August to the October disciplinary meeting and said she had to take around a month of time off on medical leave because the stress had triggered an anxiety disorder she had.

Ms Cochrane said she was told an investigation into the posts would be launched and, if she was found to have committed gross misconduct, she would likely be dismissed (Pictured: Reform leader Nigel Farage)

But she defended her actions in the consultation in October saying she had a right to 'freedom of speech' and had only shared something from 'a legitimate political party'.

Michelle also claimed she was unaware that what she had done was wrong.

The member of staff conducting the consultation referred to an internal email reminding staff they shouldn't discuss politics on any work or personal platforms, sent in May, ahead of the election.

But Michelle claims she never saw it.

She said: 'Ahead of the meeting I had to go on anti-anxiety medications because I was so stressed.

'It could have been a normal chat - I didn't know what I was doing was wrong so I didn't know to stop!

'My partner strongly suggested I resign after the meeting because I felt eventually I would be dismissed anyway.'

After handing in her notice, Michelle's last day in the pensions department was on October 31 and she is now looking for new employment.

But she feels she has been treated unfairly - as she claims other colleagues have posted political comments on their own personal accounts.

She said: 'If it was a banned or extremist party I'd get it - but it's a legitimate political party who have MPs.

'I thought it was illegal to discriminate against someone for their political beliefs.

'I think if it had been a more left-wing party I was supporting, it wouldn't have been an issue.

'If it's not ok, it should be a blanket ban for everyone, not just certain views.'

She added: 'I'm starting to come to terms with the anxiety now, but I'm really angry with the way I've been treated.

'It's been extremely traumatic, I've needed counselling over what happened.'

DWP declined to respond to a request for a comment, as they said they can't comment on individual staffing matters.
This video is no longer available

This video is no longer available

Tensions have spilled onto the streets outside a synagogue as pro-Israel supporters gathered to counter a pro-Palestine protest, despite the rally being cancelled.

A large crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators rallied outside the Caulfield Hebrew Congregation in Melbourne on Monday night, even after the planned pro-Palestine protest was called off at the 11th hour due to safety concerns.

'This peaceful demonstration has been cancelled due to the threats made by Zionists against protestors,' organisers posted on social media.

Despite the cancellation, there was a heavy police presence near the synagogue in Melbourne's south-east, where a sea of Israeli flags far outnumbered the Palestinian flags.

Footage from the demonstration showed Israeli supporters chanting and singing songs under the watchful eye of police.

Tensions eventually boiled over between the opposing groups with at least two arrests.

One man wearing a keffiyeh  a Palestinian scarf was cornered by pro-Israel demonstrators, which resulted in a brief scuffle and was thrown to the ground, the Herald Sun reported.

The man was quickly handcuffed by officers and escorted from the scene before he was later released.

Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestine protestors clashed outside a Melbourne synagogue on Monday night

Pro-Israel activists gathered outside Caulfield Hebrew Congregation on Monday night following reports of a pro-Palestine protest, which was called off

A short time later, specialist officers encircled a small group of pro-Palestine supporters who held anti-Zionist signs saying 'nothing is more anti-Semitic than Zionism' in an attempt to keep them away from the much larger pro-Israel group.

The pro-Israeli crowd chanted 'bring them home' and 'get a job' before police eventually moved on the pro-Palestine supporters further down the street.

It's understood a second man was handcuffed and then released.

No charges had been laid as of Monday night.

Crowds began to disperse at around 9pm.

The planned demonstration was in response to a planned talk organised by the Australia Israel and Jewish Affairs Council with the help of the Caulfield Hebrew Congregation and United Israel Appeal Victoria.

It would discuss 'Israel's challenges and opportunities in a new Middle East' with a guest panel including former Israeli justice minister Ayelet Shaked, whose visa into Australia was reportedly rejected.

Large crowds of Jewish Melburnians gathered outside Caulfield Hebrew Congregation on

A large crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators rallied outside the Caulfield Hebrew Congregation in Melbourne on Monday night

Before cancelling the planned pro-Palestine demonstration, Free Palestine Coalition Naarm condemned the event.

'We need to let them know their genocidal planning is not welcome on sacred Boonwurrung land. We will peacefully demonstrate across the road,' organisers wrote online.

'This is a protest called by Jewish anti-Zionists, many of whom grew up going to synagogues  and do not acquiesce to our (religion) being weaponised as a tool of imperialist genocide.

'We stand for the liberation of Palestine and justice for Palestinian people, and refuse to allow Zionist Jews to hide behind religion to avoid culpability.'

They cancelled the planned protest at 4pm on Monday- three hours beforehand.

One woman, who didn't want to be identified, said she heard about the pro-Israel response rally through a WhatsApp group.

'It's very uplifting to hear the Israeli music, to see all the Israeli flags,' she said.

Others attended to show support the local Jewish community.

'I don't believe they're here to try and protest,' one man said of the few Palestinian activists who turned up.

'I think they're here to cause trouble.'

At least one person (pictured with police) was arrested during the demonstration following a scuffle. No charges had been laid as of Monday night

Premier Jacinta Allan earlier told reporters there's 'no place in this state for hateful behaviour, for hateful protesting, for people to attend places with hate in their heart'. Pictured are pro-Israeli supporters surrounded by police on Monday night

Specialist police encircled a small group of pro-Palestine supporters holding anti-Zionist signs before moving them on

Earlier, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan told reporters there's 'no place in this state for hateful behaviour, for hateful protesting, for people to attend places with hate in their heart'.

'Everyone deserves to live in this great state, free from hate, free from vilification,' she said.

'They also deserve the right to be who they are, practise their faith, believe in who they believe in, and have their identity respected.'

Ms Allan added that it was demonstrations like these that necessitate her government's proposed anti-vilification laws.

'They will be a set of laws that will look at strengthening what makes our state great,' she said.'

The planned pro-Palestine demonstration was in response to a planned talk about 'Israel's challenges and opportunities in a new Middle East'

The demonstration was also slammed by 3AW Mornings host Tom Elliott, who described it as 'unnecessarily inflammatory'.

'There is nothing good that is going to come out of a pro-Gaza, free-Palestine protest taking place outside a synagogue,' he said.

There was a heavy police presence near the synagogue in Caulfield North in Melbourne's south-east on Monday night

Monday's demonstration (pictured) followed another violent clash in Caulfield a year ago

Monday's demonstration followed another violent clash in Caulfield a year ago.

The suburb has a significant Jewish population.

Pro-Palestine protestors confronted a pro-Israel group near Princes Park after the synagogue was evacuated.

Rocks were reportedly thrown between the groups with police forced to deploy pepper spray to separate the warring crowds.
Bestselling novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford has died at the age of 91, it has been announced.

The A Woman of Substance author died peacefully at her home on Sunday following a short illness, 'and was surrounded by loved ones to the very end', a spokeswoman said.

Her books often charted the rags to riches stories of young women from humble backgrounds who become successful in the world of business thanks to years of hard graft - in echoes of her own trajectory as 'a girl from Yorkshire that worked hard and made good'.

After leaving school at 15, Leeds-born Ms Taylor Bradford, worked as a typist for the Yorkshire Evening Post and became the paper's first woman's editor, before moving to London to pursue a successful career in journalism.

Aged 28, when she was in her own words 'bolshy and slightly overweight - a bit like a Sixties Bridget Jones' - she met her husband, American film producer Robert Bradford, and they fell in love at first sight, marrying in London on Christmas Eve in 1963.

When they moved to New York, she could easily have settled into being a high society wife, but after failed attempts at writing a suspense novel, she hit the big time when A Woman Of Substance was published in 1979, making her an overnight success at the age of 38.

The story followed Emma Harte's journey from life as a servant in rural Yorkshire to heading a business empire, despite numerous personal tragedies along the way.

She was often labelled 'the grand dame of blockbusters', with her 40 published books selling more than 91 million copies to date, and having been published in more than 40 languages and in 90 countries.

Barbara Taylor Bradford and her late husband, Robert Bradford, at their home in New York

Barbara Taylor Bradford moved to New York with her husband in her 30s. Her books often charted the rags to riches stories of young women from humble backgrounds who become successful in the world of business

Barbara Taylor Bradford at the age of three with her mother Freda Taylor

Ms Taylor Bradford was born in Leeds in May 1933, the only child of Winston and Freda Taylor.

She began work as a typist for the Yorkshire Evening Post before she was promoted to reporter and then went on to become the paper's first woman's editor.

At the age of 20 she moved to London and worked in Fleet Street for Woman's Own and the London Evening News.

She was introduced to her husband Bob by neighbours and immediately felt like she had 'known him her whole life'.

'The moment Bob started to talk to me, I was instantly at ease. I knew nothing about this dashing American man. I didnt know if he was married, divorced, rich or poor. And I didnt care,' she recalled.

The couple, who were married for 55 years until he died from a major stroke in 2019, were unable to have children after Barabara suffered two miscarriages.

'We were put to the test fairly early on,' she explained. 'Bob and I had just assumed wed have children and we were so excited when I became pregnant two years after our wedding. Everything was perfect, so when I miscarried it was absolutely devastating.

'Eighteen months later, I found out I was expecting again  and this time, the pregnancy seemed to advance fine.

Barbara Taylor Bradford receiving an OBE from The Queen at Buckingham Palace, 2007

'I was worried, but I never really thought I would lose another baby. When I did, I was utterly bereft.

Some weeks later, I thought: "If I regret this, it will destroy me and it will hurt Bob, too. I can only look forward: I cant look back, and I cant let this define me".

After that, I never became pregnant again. I remember saying to Bob, "Shall we adopt?" and he seemed keen. But we were both busy working and it just never happened.

'Now, we agree it would be lovely to have grandchildren, but I dont know how easy it really is for women to have it all: a job, a family, a lovely home and a contented husband.'

She added that she may not have been able to be so prolific in her writing if she'd had children.

Her husband Bob - whose prior film credits included El Cid, Fifty-Five Days in Peking and John Paul Jones - produced nine of his wifes books as mini-series and movies.

However, her first big TV success was the adaptation of her debut novel A Woman of Substance, was adapted for TV in 1985, starring Liam Neeson with Jenny Seagrove playing Emma Harte.

It aired on Channel 4 and went on to garner two Emmy nominations.

Paying tribute to the late author today, Seagrove recalled the first moment they met, saying: 'It's 1984 and I am about to meet the world-famous legend that is Barbara Taylor Bradford. I have starred in a mini-series made of her bestselling novel A Woman Of Substance and it really matters to me that she is pleased. I am a young actress and very nervous.

Barbara Taylor Bradford with her husband Robert at the launch of her novel Angel in 1993

Barbara Taylor Bradford at her desk. The author wrote 40 novels and sold 91million copies

Barbara Taylor Bradford at her home with her dog in 1980, the year after she had become an overnight sensation

'The door opens and all I can say is that a powerhouse of glamour and warmth heads towards me, grabs me, hugs me, and says... "You are my Emma Harte". And that was the start of a long friendship with the force of nature that I am proud to call my friend - Barbara Taylor Bradford.

'We saw each other whenever she and her beloved Bob were in London. I did Hold The Dream for them as another mini-series.

'We shared dog stories - we are both besotted - and talked about everything under the sun. She never changed. Success never diluted her warmth and humour or her ability to relate to everyone she met, whether a cleaner or a princess. She never, ever forgot that she was just a girl from Yorkshire that worked hard and made good. RIP dear friend.'

The author later published A Man Of Honour, the prequel to A Woman Of Substance, which starts five years before the original and follows the fortunes of Blackie O'Neill, who leaves County Kerry for Leeds to build a better life, and meets kitchen maid Emma Harte.

Ms Taylor Bradford was awarded an OBE in 2007 for services to literature.

Ms Taylor Bradford had started and ditched several novels while pursuing her journalistic career - until she hit the big time when A Woman Of Substance (right) was published in 1979

The Daily Mail's interview with Barbara Taylor Bradford in 1983

A 1987 feature in the Daily Mail about bestselling novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford

Charlie Redmayne, chief executive of publisher HarperCollins, said: 'Barbara Taylor Bradford was a truly exceptional writer whose first book, the international bestseller A Woman Of Substance, changed the lives of so many who read it - and still does to this day.

'She was a natural storyteller, deeply proud of her Yorkshire roots - she would regale us of her time working on the Yorkshire Evening Post with fellow reporter Keith Waterhouse and trainee photographer Peter O'Toole, the dawn of the Soho cafe society, and the many happy years shared with the love of her life, her husband, Bob.

'For 45 years, she was a huge part of our company and a great, great friend - we will miss her so much - but there is some solace in the knowledge that she is now, once again, alongside her beloved Bob. A life well-lived...'

Following a private funeral in New York, the author will be buried alongside her late husband at the city's Westchester Hills Cemetery.
Wealthy Britons retiring overseas could now escape inheritance tax altogether thanks to a loophole in non-dom rules unveiled by Labour in the Budget.

Present rules state that anyone with a British 'domicile' has to pay inheritance tax (IHR) on their worldwide wealth even if they spend their retirement, and die, in a foreign country.

But the new system replaces domicile with residency, meaning that those who retire abroad will not pay IHT on their foreign assets as long as they have been living outside the UK for at least 10 years.

This could see them avoid charges of 40 per cent - a massive boon to expats at a time when other groups, such as UK-based farmers, are about to lose out.

Sir Richard Branson has lived on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands for nearly 20 years

'If someone was thinking of retiring overseas, this may give them the push they needed,' Chris Etherington, partner at accountancy group RSM, told the FT.

The changes to the non-dom regime will come into force in April and mean tens of thousands of Brits already based abroad will immediately be relieved of the threat of paying IHT when they die.

They include the likes of Virgin founder Richard Branson, who has lived on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands for nearly 20 years.

'A lot of people who are expats don't really appreciate what's happened and may not be paying much attention to the non-dom rules, so wouldn't realise they are the unexpected beneficiaries,' Mr Etherington said.

Non-dom, short for non-domiciled, relates to someone who lives in Britain but whose permanent tax residence is registered abroad. Those with the status do not have to pay UK taxes on their foreign earnings and assets.

At present, an individual's domicile is where they consider their permanent home to be.

It is possible to change a UK-domiciled status by acquiring a 'domicile of choice' in another country, but this is a complicated process.

Experts have warned that Rachel Reeves' decision to abolish non-dom status in her Budget will spark an exodus of wealth creators.

Maxwell Marlow, of the Adam Smith Institute, said: 'The abolition of the non-dom regime will drive away highly mobile wealth creators and so their tax contribution will decrease and they will invest less in our economy.'

The new system replaces domicile with residency, meaning the majority of people who have lived abroad for more than 10 years will not pay IHT on their foreign assets

Nigel Green, chief executive of financial advisory firm deVere Group, warned the exodus will leave 'lasting scars on Britain's economy'. He added: 'The UK has long benefited from the economic contributions of non-doms, whose direct and indirect investments and business activities have been integral to the nation's prosperity.

'The allure of the non-dom tax status has been a pivotal factor in attracting international talent and creating a dynamic business environment. Its removal is likely to signal a shift in the global perception of the UK as a favourable destination for wealth creation and business development.'

Former Conservative chancellor Jeremy Hunt introduced plans to scrap the regime in his Budget earlier this year. But Ms Reeves has gone further to close a so-called loophole that allowed those with the tax status to protect their assets in an offshore trust.

She has unveiled a replacement scheme to encourage wealthy foreigners and overseas investors to come to Britain temporarily.

But official estimates forecast that more non-doms will leave the country under Ms Reeves' plan than the one announced by Mr Hunt in March.

Rachel Reeves pictured earlier this month during a visit to Tokamak Energy in Milton, Abingdon

The Office for Budget Responsibility said her decision will 'slightly increase migration' relative to the changes announced by Hunt earlier this year. It estimated that 12 per cent of non-doms who are ineligible for the new regime will leave the country  up from 10 per cent following Mr Hunt's plan.

Marcelo Goulart, of the First Alliance group, said the reform was a 'colossal misjudgement'. He added: '[It has] exacerbated the damage that has already been done to the UK's reputation as a prime jurisdiction for wealthy international people.'

An HM Treasury spokesperson said: 'Replacing the outdated non-dom tax regime with a new internationally competitive new residence-based system addresses unfairness in our tax system, attracts the best talent and investment to the UK, and ensures everyone who is a long-term resident in the UK pays their taxes here.

'This was a once-in-a-Parliament Budget to wipe the slate clean, and our package of changes to this regime in the Autumn Budget is forecast to raise 12.7 billion over the next five years to help fill the 22 billion fiscal hole and rebuild our public services.'
The Menendez brothers are set to appear at court today where their lawyers will request the judge to re-sentence them based on new sex abuse evidence.

Erik, 56, and Lyle Menendez, 53, are both expected to attend the hearing via videolink from San Diego where they are incarcerated following the 1989 shotgun murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in Beverly Hills.

The much-awaited court hearing will allow only a limited public attendance, with just 16 courtroom seats available through a lottery which will be held outside the Van Nuys courthouse, Los Angeles, on Monday morning.

Both brothers are currently serving life sentences without parole at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, California, with Monday's hearing expected to confirm details for the resentencing meeting scheduled for December 11.

It comes after California Governor Gavin Newsom declined to grant the siblings clemency - deferring the review of the case to newly-elected DA Nathan Hochman, who will enter office on December 2.

Defense attorney Mark Geragos said he will ask the judge during the hearing to re-sentence the Menendez brothers on the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter - a crime for which they have already served three times the maximum sentence.

But the final decision would land in the hands of the parole board who would need to provide their stamp of approval.

The pair have been in prison since a blockbuster trial in 1993 that became almost compulsory viewing for millions of Americans.

Erik, 56, and Lyle Menendez, 53, are both expected to attend Monday's hearing via videolink from San Diego where they are incarcerated

The brothers claimed they suffered years of emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of their father, and that he forced them to perform sex acts on their mother

California Governor Gavin Newsom declined to grant the siblings clemency - deferring the review of the case to newly-elected DA Nathan Hochman (pictured) who will enter office on December 2

The brothers' attorney Mark Geragos said he will ask the judge during the hearing to re-sentence the Menendez brothers on the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter

Television audiences thrilled to the gruesome details of the slayings of Jose and Kitty Menendez at the family's luxury Beverly Hills mansion.

Prosecutors painted it as a cold-hearted bid by the men - Lyle was 21 and Erik was 18 at the time - to get their hands on their parents' $14 million fortune.

But their attorneys described the 1989 killings as an act of desperate self-defense by young men subjected to years of sexual abuse and psychological violence at the hands of an abusive father and a complicit mother.

Last month, evidence in the form of a damning letter was revealed in the shocking case ahead of the review that could lead to a potential resentencing of the siblings.

Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon publicly posted a screenshot to Instagram of the letter written by Erik Menendez to his cousin, Andy Cano, in which he alludes to serious, and long-term, abuse at the hands of his father Jose.

The letter, first revealed by DailyMail.com, was written eight months before they killed their parents.

It reads: 'Ive been trying to avoid dad. Its still happening Andy but its worse for me now. I cant explain it. Hes so overweight that I just cant stand to see him. I never know when its going to happen and its driving me crazy.'

Prosecutors argued during the pair's second trial that the abuse did not take place, and the judge who oversaw the trial refused to allow much of the defense's evidence of sexual abuse to be presented.

But, more than 35 years on from the brutal murders, evidence that the brothers' attorneys say corroborates their account of sexual abuse was shared on social media.

Erik Menendez wrote a letter to his cousin, Andy Cano, in which he alludes to serious, and long-term, abuse at the hands of his father Jose

The Menendez brothers spent seven months on the streets after they murdered their parents, Kitty and Jose (pictured center)

The brothers killed their parents, Kitty and Jose, in their Beverly Hills mansion with a shotgun in 1989

The Menendez brothers have spent over three decades in prison for the murder of their parents

This was the scene outside the Menendez family's Beverly Hills mansion when police arrived on August 20, 1989

Jose and Kitty (pictured) were killed in their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989

The letter, published in full by Fox News last month, read: 'Every night I stay up thinking he might come in. I need to put it out of my mind. I know what you said before but Im afraid. You just dont know dad like I do. Hes crazy!

'Hes warned me a hundred times about telling anyone. Especially Lyle. Am I a serious whimpus? I dont know Ill make it through this. I can handle it, Andy. I need to stop thinking about it.'

According to defense attorney Cliff Gardner, the letter was written December 1988  several months before Kitty and Jose were murdered.

Cano, who died in 2003, testified that Erik told him about his father's abuse when he was 13.

His mother found the letter nine years ago, and it was included in a 2023 petition to examine whether the brothers were unlawfully imprisoned.

Gardner said that if the letter was introduced to the jury during the 1996 trial, the jury may have change their minds about the final verdict.

Gardner told CNN: 'Given todays very different understanding of the devastating impact of sexual and physical abuse on young children (both boys and girls), the testimony about Joses sexual abuse of Lyle that was excluded at the second trial and the remarkable new evidence presented in the habeas petition, we think resentencing is in the interests of justice.

'The brothers have served more than 30 years in prison. That is enough.'

If a jury at any potential re-trial finds them guilty of voluntary manslaughter instead of murder, it would trigger their immediate release as they have served more than the maximum sentence.

Their case was popularised this year by the Netflix show: 'Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story'

Erik and Lyle are one step closer to freedom after Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon recommended they be resentenced for killing their parents

The Menendez case saw a huge surge of renewed interest this year with the release of the Netflix hit 'Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.'

The documentary re-hashes some of the most emotional details of the murder trial, in which both brothers disclosed they were being molested by their father, and that their mother turned a blind eye to the abuse.

Lyle told the jury on the stand that he then, in turn, took his younger brother to the woods and molested him, doing to Erik what his father had done to him.

Erik said: 'I remember when he apologized to me on the stand for molesting me. That was a devastating moment for me. He had never said he was sorry to me before.'

According to Erik, his father began molesting him when he was six years old and that abuse continued for 12 years.

Monday's hearing comes after a campaign to secure their release, supported by Kim Kardashian and other celebrities.

'Set them free before the Holidays!' wrote Tammi Menendez, Erik's wife, on social media last week.

Kardashian wrote in an op-ed last month: 'Following years of abuse and a real fear for their lives, Erik and Lyle chose what they thought at the time was their only way out - an unimaginable way to escape their living nightmare.'
Three men suspected of kidnapping and murdering an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi in the United Arab Emirates have been arrested and paraded before the media.

The UAE Interior Ministry released a statement identifying the men, two of whom it said were aged 28 and the third 33 - all from Uzbekistan - and released images showing each of the three men handcuffed and blindfolded.

An investigation by Emirati authorities is continuing, the statement said, without saying whether the men - named as Azizi Kamilovic, Olimboy Tohirovich, and Makhmudjon Abdurakhim - had been charged.

The body of the rabbi, Zvi Kogan, a 28-year-old who was living and working in the UAE, was discovered yesterday.

He had been reported missing on Thursday and an Israeli official has said it is believed Kogan was last seen in Dubai.

Emirati authorities have not said if they have established a motive, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said it was an 'abhorrent antisemitic terrorist act' and an Israeli official has said it is believed Kogan was targeted because he was Jewish.

(L to R) Azizi Kamilovic, Olimboy Tohirovich, and Makhmudjon Abdurakhim are all Uzbek nationals, the UAE Interior Ministry said on Monday

Zvi Kogan, an Israeli rabbi, stands outside a supermarket, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, November 18, 2024

A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel 'will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death'

The alleged murder has shaken the UAE's Jewish community, which Jewish groups estimate to number in the several thousand.

Kogan was a resident of the UAE and also a Moldovan national, according to local authorities.

He lived in the UAE for several years, working with the New York-based Orthodox Jewish Chabad movement, involved in Jewish community outreach.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog echoed Netanyahu's statement, calling Kogan's murder a 'vile anti-Semitic attack' that he said showed 'the inhumanity of the enemies of the Jewish people'.

Herzog added in a statement that the murder would not 'deter us from continuing to grow flourishing (Jewish) communities in the UAE or anywhere'.

Ayoob Kara, a former Israeli minister involved in promoting ties with Middle Eastern countries, called the killing 'a surprise'.

Speaking outside a kosher market in Dubai which he said Kogan managed, and which was shut Sunday, Kara said: 'Everything is beautiful here, everything is in control here.'

He went on to speculate that entities from Iran may have been involved in the killing. Tehran later denied any involvement.

Israeli agencies are taking part in the investigation, an Israeli official confirmed yesterday.

An Israeli official, briefing journalists on condition of anonymity this morning, said Kogan's body could be repatriated later today.

Kogan was a resident of the UAE and also a Moldovan national, according to local authorities

The United Arab Emirates said on Sunday that it had arrested three suspects in the murder of an Israeli rabbi, which Israel has called an anti-Semitic attack (stock image)

Ayoob Kara (pictured), a former Israeli minister involved in promoting ties with Middle Eastern countries, called the killing 'a surprise'

Meanwhile, the Moldovan foreign ministry has said that it is in contact with UAE authorities.

The embassy of Uzbekistan in Abu Dhabi did not immediately respond to an emailed Reuters request for comment.

UAE Ambassador to Washington Yousef Al Otaiba has said that Kogan's murder was a crime against the Gulf Arab country, which sits on the Arabian Peninsula and across the Gulf from Iran.

The Israeli and Jewish community in the UAE has grown more visible since 2020 when the Gulf Arab country established official ties with Israel under a US-brokered agreement.

The UAE has maintained ties with Israel amid the 13-month-old Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

But Israelis and Jews have been less evident in public since the deadly October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the war, which sparked protests worldwide.
A teacher was unfairly sacked after he allowed his pupils to take their Covid face masks at private school's talent show, an employment tribunal has ruled.

Henry Howlett told students they could take their masks off 'if they felt anxious' or 'uncomfortable' during the pandemic-era performance, it was heard.

The teacher worked at a 17,000-a-year independent Steiner school in East Sussex which follows the holistic belief that children learn with their 'head, heart and hands'.

The tribunal heard he was fired for gross misconduct over the mask incident and after he took his pupils on a school trip without seeking the appropriate consent forms from parents.

He sued for unfair dismissal and the tribunal has now upheld his claims after hearing of the 'unstable' school environment, which was heavily criticised by Ofsted.

The judge said his sacking was a 'dishonest', money-driven, and 'opportunistic enterprise' - which did not reflect the 'averred ethos of this school' - which was run at the time by a principal other staff branded an 'authoritarian leader'.

The tribunal, held in South London, heard Mr Howlett started working for Michael Hall School Forest Row, East Sussex, during 2015.

The institution - the oldest of its kind in England - follows the ethos of Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian social reformer who believed in learning through play and hands-on experience.

Henry Howlett was unfairly sacked from the Michael Hall School Forest Row in East Sussex (pictured is an exterior of the school)

The panel heard that the school faced challenges in 2019 and had been rated 'inadequate' by Ofsted after the appointment of principal, Paul Farr.

The school's head came from a 'mainstream education background' and his colleagues branded him as an 'authoritarian leader' who was 'unsympathetic to the Steiner ethos'.

The tribunal heard that in October 2020, Mr Howlett arranged an educational school trip to Battle Abbey in East Sussex, which is the site of the 1066 Battle of Hastings.

It was heard that at this time, the school - which charges up to 5,750 per term - had introduced a new system for parents to give their consent to such trips, which was regarded as being 'unreliable'.

Days before the trip, the school's health and safety manager emailed Mr Howlett to say that four students did not have up to date consent forms.

That week, he emailed a member of the senior leadership team informing them of his intention to take the pupils to the abbey, and she told him to 'have a wonderful trip'.

Mr Howlett read this email and regarded it as a 'sign off' so assumed it 'meant that the paperwork was in place'.

The trip took place on the morning of October 15 and the health and safety advisor later realised the missing consent forms had not been 'secured'.

The school's principal at the time, Paul Farr (pictured). He was branded an 'authoritarian leader' who was 'unsympathetic to the Steiner ethos' by colleagues, a tribunal heard

Notably, Mr Howlett did not have direct access to the system - so there was no way for him to check this.

Later that month, on October 21, the school hosted a school talent show, in which the attendees were asked to stay in their classes - or 'bubbles' - wearing masks due to Covid.

An email was sent on behalf of Mr Farr to pupils which said 'obviously those students who cannot wear a face covering due to physical reasons or if they cause them distress will be exempt'.

It was noted at this time, schools had the 'the discretion to require face coverings' if needed.

During the talent show, a lot of Mr Howlett's students were not wearing masks, it was heard.

'He informed that (sic) a number of students felt restricted by them, and they did not need to wear them,' the tribunal said.

This sparked outrage among some of his colleagues and he was asked to attend a fact finding meeting on the matter.

It was heard that during this discussion, he dismissed the matter as being 'neither urgent nor safeguarding issue'.

He left the meeting mid way through and a member of the senior leadership team (SLT) warned him that this would amount to 'insubordination', a choice of word which the panel found to be 'unusual' in the 'context of an informal chat'.

Mr Farr suspended Mr Howlett on October 22.

The teacher was called to a disciplinary meeting where he was asked if he told students they 'didn't have to wear' masks.

In response, he said: 'Yes, but only if they felt anxious or uncomfortable about wearing it.'

The tribunal said that the use of the word 'anxiety' as opposed to 'distress' may have caused his pupils not to wear masks.

Another class attended the show without wearing masks and Mr Howlett said this may have 'influenced' some of his pupils.

Mr Howlett denied an accusation that he told the students not to wear them.

The teacher was accused of displaying a 'pattern of apathy towards safeguarding' which resulted in his dismissal for gross misconduct in December 2020.

The tribunal heard Mr Howlett allowed his pupils not to wear their Covid face masks if they felt 'anxious' or 'uncomfortable' (file image)

The tribunal heard evidence by one member of staff who said that Mr Howlett was a 'good teacher', who they 'did not want to lose' as 'good Steiner teachers are hard to come by'.

The teacher took the school to an employment tribunal which has now upheld Mr Howlett's claims of unfair dismissal.

Employment Judge Denis Harley said Mr Howlett's dismissal was an attempt for the struggling school to save money.

'This dismissal represented a net saving in cash terms, at a time when the school was actively trying to save money,' the judge added.

'The trip incident was used as a bolt-on to the "mask" issue to justify the dismissal of a member of staff, unpopular with management.

'I consider this dismissal was not simply the result of an unfair process, or an inept investigation lying beyond the band of reasonable responses, but rather was a dishonest and opportunistic enterprise, which did not reflect the averred ethos of this school.'

The panel ruled that an aspect which went unmentioned was the 'effect this episode had on the children's education'.

'Their parents had paid for Steiner education, an important aspect of which was the ongoing support and development achieved from having the same teacher for a sustained period,' he continued. 'This was taken from them.

'The pupils had no opportunity to say goodbye to their teacher.

'No reasonable school management would have overseen this process, in the given circumstances.'

In a statement, a spokesperson from the school told MailOnline: 'We will take time to reflect on the judgement and consider our next steps.

'These events took place five years ago. Many changes have taken place at the school since then, including a review of our internal disciplinary procedures.

'The school received a Good Ofsted report in September 2024. Safeguarding remains our priority.'
The mother of an eight-year-old schoolgirl who was caught in the crossfire of a shooting in West London was heard shouting, 'My baby, my baby's been shot.'

Armed officers from Metropolitan Police were called to Southern Row in Kensington, at 5.34pm on Sunday following numerous reports of gunfire.

Witnesses say they heard 'four or five shots' as well as screaming, as the gunman was seen firing directly into a car on the street.

One witness, 64, told Metro: 'I heard shots, and then a woman shouting: 'My baby, my baby's been shotit makes me sick to think about it now.

'There were four or five shots, there was screaming it's horrible. A neighbour went out with a duvet to cover the injured.'

An urgent manhunt is now underway for the Ladbroke Grove gunman after the girl and a 34-year-old man were both seriously injured in the shooting.

The girl and the man were both treated at the scene by London Ambulance Service before being rushed to hospital.

Police said the girl's injuries are not life-threatening, but officers are awaiting an update on the man's condition.

Superintendent Owen Renowden said in an update this afternoon: 'Last night at approximately 5.30pm we received numerous 999 calls to Southern Row reporting shots had been fired and a number of people in a vehicle had been injured.

'We immediately dispatched units to the scene including local officers from the emergency response teams on the borough supported by armed officers from the specialist firearms command.

'On arrival officers located a 34-year-old man and an eight-year-old girl who had sustained serious gunshot injuries.

Police cordoned off the area on Southern Row, Ladbroke Grove, on Sunday following reports of a shooting

Forensics on the scene of a shooting in Kensington on Sunday where an eight-year-old schoolgirl and a 34-year-old man were injured

The shooting took place at around 5.30pm on Southern Row in Kensington on Sunday

'Also present in the car were a two-year-old child and a 32-year-old woman who were thankfully unharmed.

I want to take this opportunity now to thank the members of the public who came to the aid of those who were injured last night.

Officers administered first aid before being assisted by colleagues from the London Ambulance Service.

'Both injured parties were taken to hospital where they currently remain in a serious but stable condition

'The 34-year-old male has sustained potentially life-changing injuries whilst the eight-year-old girl remains in surgery. Although we do not believe her injuries to be life threatening at this time.

'They are being supported by specialist officers and my thoughts remain with them.

'Immediately following the incident officers arrested a 22-year-old male on suspicion of attempted murder and he remains in police custody.

'The investigation is being led by detectives from the Specialist Crimes Command who are working closely with our local teams to establish the circumstances around what took place last night.

'I recognise that any shooting has a traumatic impact on the local community and I have already heard today how last night's incident in particular has effected local people.

'There will be a continued presence from our local policing teams over the coming days and we are working closely with our partners to increase the presence of all services in the area.'

Superintendent Renowden previously said: 'This is an appalling incident that has left two people seriously injured, including a young girl who thankfully is in a stable condition this morning.

'I am appealing to the public who may have been in the area at the time of the shooting. Did you hear any gunshots around 5.30pm yesterday evening? Did you see anyone fleeing from the area?

'We are keen to hear from anyone who may have any information surrounding this incident. Your information matters, no matter how insignificant you may think it is.'

A 32-year-old woman was also taken to hospital as a precaution but was not injured.

One woman, who did not want to be named, added: 'I heard that someone was trying to shoot the man and the girl happened to be caught in the crossfire.

'She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's heartbreaking. I hope both victims recover well.'

Sharon, who was in the area to visit her mother said: 'The guy was shooting directly into a car.

'I was literally coming out of the exit to my mum's block of flats and as I was going out, I saw a guy shooting into the car multiple times.

'He was firing directly, like at close range as if you're standing to open a door, they were shooting directly into it.

'I was completely in shock and I just ran back up the stairs because I was really scared.'

Police guard a cordon on Southern Row, Ladbroke Grove in west London after the shooting

Medical equipment and broken glass lying on the floor at the scene on Southern Row

Forensics collecting evidence at the scene of a shooting in the Ladbroke Grove area of Kensington

'Then I looked and I heard screaming afterwards, and then people coming out to call the police.'

Sharon, who did not wish to give her surname, added: 'I've noticed in the last several years, it has become a lot more unsafe for the people here.'

Another local, who also wished to remain anonymous, said when he first heard the gunshots he thought they were fireworks.

The 19-year-old man said: 'I heard these shots and I thought it was fireworks.

'But then about eight police cars raced past my house. It's really scary.

'I wish the police would give us more information. Is this a random attack?'

The local said the shooting is particularly worrying as it comes so soon after 15-year-old Rene Graham was shot dead in nearby Emslie Horniman's Pleasance Park.

'Why does this keep happening?,' he added, 'It's sad but we're getting used to hearing about knife incidents. But shooting? That feels more rare.'

Another woman living near the scene, who did not want to be named, said she was 'scared' after the shooting.

She was in the kitchen cooking and thought fireworks were going off, before armed police arrived and she discovered what had happened.

Local MP Joe Powell said several incidents in the area recently had left residents in fear.

In a statement on X the Labour politician, who represents Kensington and Bayswater, said: 'These senseless acts of violence have no place on our streets.

'I know residents in the local community will be rightly concerned for their safety after several recent incidents in the neighbourhood.

'We must work together to better prevent these horrific crimes from happening, and hold those responsible to account.'

Several roads in Ladbroke Grove and Maida Vale remain heavily cordoned off as forensic teams scour for evidence, including bullet casings.

Residents in the area reported hearing helicopters overhead and witnessed police vehicles with sirens passing through the streets.

Uber driver Ali Hussein, who is the father of a nine-year-old girl told Metro he fears for his child's safety.

Police and forensics on the scene in Southern Row, in Ladbroke Grove on Sunday evening

The area was cordoned off as police and forensics collected evidence from the scene

Lloyd Markham, 60, said: 'I've lived here about 25 years, and it seems like a really safe place to live, but now you start to hear about all these stabbings and shootings.

'It's very sad. Why fire a gun with kids around? How can you do that to someone?'

Other residents expressed concern about the rise in violent crime in the area.

In July of this year, Rene Graham, 15, was shot dead at Emslie Horniman's Pleasance, or 'Teletubbies Park' on Southern Row.

The boy was enjoying a 'family fun day' event before Notting Hill Carnival when he was shot and succumbed to his injuries at the scene.

A security officer who was working at the event said: 'A teenager was assassinated. I was right there. People were rushing and everyone was screaming. They were rushing through the barrier. There were two gunshots.

'We had booked the street that's cordoned off for a film shoot tomorrow. I don't know if that's going to happen now.'

Another security officer for a nearby building said he saw a helicopter at five or six PM.

Police enquiries into the incident on Sunday are ongoing.

Witnesses can contact police on 101, giving the reference CAD5238/24NOV, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or online.
Britain and France have not ruled out sending troops to Ukraine as part of a European coalition, French media has reported, amid fears that the war is edging closer to becoming an all-out conflict between Russia and NATO.

Discussions on sending troops from Western armies and private defence companies have been 'reactivated', according to French daily newspaper Le Monde, months after President Macron faced opposition from Western leaders over the suggestion.

The talks have also been revisited amid concerns that US support for Kyiv could be pulled by president-elect Donald Trump when he enters office on January 20, sources reportedly claimed.

London and Paris could head up a new coalition of European allies of Kyiv, the sources said, with the proposal said to have gained traction in recent weeks due to Sir Keir Starmer's visit to France for Remembrance Day on November 11.

'Discussions are underway between the UK and France regarding defence cooperation, particularly with the aim of creating a core of allies in Europe, focused on Ukraine and broader European security,' a British military source told Le Monde.

When asked about the possibility of French boots on the ground in Ukraine, France's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noel Barrot, told the BBC: 'We are not ruling out any option.'

'We will support Ukraine as intensely and as long as necessary. Why? Because it is our security that is at stake. Each time the Russian army progresses by one square kilometre, the threat gets one square kilometre closer to Europe,' he said.

He also insisted during the interview on Saturday that Western allies should 'not set and express red lines' regarding their support for Ukraine, and indicated that French long-range Scalp missiles could be fired into Russia 'in the logics of self-defence'.

Gun line section commander Staff Sergeant Rai uses a radio to speak to Archer crews from 19th Regiment Royal Artillery NATO live fire drills in Finland called Exercise Dynamic Front

An Archer Artillery Gun is fired by troops from 19th Regiment Royal Artillery, during a live range in Rovajarvi Training Area

The proposal is said to have gained traction in recent weeks due to Sir Keir Starmer 's visit to France for Remembrance Day on November 11

His comments appear to confirm that France has followed the UK and US in giving Kyiv the green light to use long-range missiles it has supplied it with in strikes on Russian territory.

As tensions remain high over Kyiv's use of Western-supplied long-range arms against Russia, Moscow said Monday that its air defences had shot down eight ballistic missiles fired by Ukraine.

'Air defence forces shot down eight ballistic missiles,' Moscow's defence ministry said in a daily briefing. It did not say what kind of ballistic missile Ukraine used or where they were shot down.

Six US-made guided JDAM bombs and 45 aircraft-type drones were also downed in the past 24 hours, Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing the defence ministry.

Putin last week signed off on an updated version of the Kremlin's nuclear doctrine that broadens the scope for Moscow to turn to its fearsome atomic arsenal on the same day that US-made missiles rained down on Russian soil.

The document, first announced in September, allows Putin's strategic forces to deploy their devastating weapons if Russia or Belarus is threatened by a non-nuclear nation supported by a nuclear power.

It was feared that Ukraine's strike on an ammunition depot in Russia's Bryansk region with US-supplied ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) met these criteria, with Moscow saying that it marks a 'new phase of the Western war'.

In a move which Moscow said was a response to the Biden administration's missile policy shift, Russia launched an 'Oreshnik' intermediate-range missile on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday.

This photograph taken on November 25, 2024 shows destroyed cars next to a destroyed building following a missile attack in Odesa

A view of the damage after the Russian strike on central Kharkiv on November 25. The attack hit buildings already partly destroyed in city centre, some of them in 2022. 19 people were injured, of whom several are in hospital

Vladimir Putin said the new weapon travelled at 10 times the speed of sound, rendering Ukrainian air defences powerless to shoot it down.

Russian sources said the range was 3,100 miles, with Russian defence officials pointing out that this would allow it to strike anywhere in Europe and the west coast of the United States.

Putin has vowed to increase production of the weapon following Thursday's launch.

As aerial warfare in the conflict intensifies, a top NATO official today warned about Russia's ground forces.

The Chair of NATO's Military Committee, Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer said Moscow's land forces are bigger now than when the full-scale invasion of Ukraine was launched in February 2022

But, 'the quality of those forces has gone down,' he said, referencing the state of the force's equipment and the level of training of its soldiers.

This is the moment missiles believed to be British Storm Shadow missiles struck inside Russia

'At the moment, the Russians are not the same threat as in February 2022, so we have a bit of time to prepare ourselves,' he said, adding that this meant ramping up investments into the defence industry.

NATO is expected to hold emergency talks with Kyiv on Tuesday to discuss the escalation of the conflict, which has seen some 10,000 North Korean troops deployed to support Russian forces.

Soldiers sent by Pyongyang are believed to be in Russia's Kursk region, which is partly occupied by Ukraine, and will be ready to enter combat inside Ukraine 'soon', according to Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary.

Britain has urged Kyiv's allies to continue to support its fight against Russia, with foreign minister David Lammy today telling G7 countries to stand with, and equip, Ukraine for as long as it needs.

French soldiers from the 93rd mountain artillery regiment operate the CAESAR, a French self-propelled howitzer that can fire 39/52 caliber NATO-standard, during Dynamic Front

The Foreign Secretary today said the UK government is imposing the biggest sanctions package against Russia's shadow fleet, including 30 vessels.

Before a meeting of the G7 foreign ministers, he told reporters Britain was announcing 'the biggest sanctions package of the Russian shadow fleet', referring to a fleet Britain says uses practices to avoid Western restrictions on Russian oil.

'It's hugely important at this G7 that all colleagues... continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it lasts and we are confident that Ukraine can have the funds and the military equipment and kit to get through 2025.'
British soldiers at the 'Great Escape' camp built a new tunnel just weeks after 50 men were executed for the famous breakout.

A fascinating album of 48 previously unseen sketches of daily life inside Stalag Luft III in Sagan, Poland includes one showing a diagram of a freshly dug tunnel.

The sketch illustrate Allied soldiers sitting on chairs fashioned from old Red Cross crates that were used to conceal the entrance of the tunnel. To add to the ruse the men 'innocently' played a game of chess over it.

The drawing is dated September 1944, five months after the mass escape from Stalag Luft III by 76 men who crawled to freedom in a 111-yard-long tunnel.

The breakout - later immortalised in the Steve McQueen film The Great Escape - led to 73 of the men being recaptured, with 50 being shot.

According to historians, the new tunnel was likely to have been dug out of fear that the Nazis would execute the remaining PoWs as the tide of the Second World War turned.

They drawings were created by Lancaster bomber navigator Terence Herbert Francis Entract.

The talented artist was the only member of his crew to survive being shot down over France in August 1943.

Poignant photograph showing Terence Entract (2nd left) with the crew of his Lancaster bomber who were all killed in August 1943 when the aircraft was shot down over France

A sketch of a German guard watching an Allied air raid in March 1944. British PoWs at the 'Great Escape' camp built a new tunnel just weeks after 50 men were executed for the famous break out

Sketch showing a diagram of the freshly-dug tunnel (far left). Allied PoWs seen sitting on makeshift chairs used to conceal the entrance of the tunnel

He was turned over to the Germans by a French farmer and sent to Stalag Luft III.

As well as the drawing of the tunnel, Entract also depicted three soldiers listening to a secret radio receiver concealed in the timber wall behind their bed bunks.

RAF Pilot Howard Cundall built a radio transmitter in the camp which was used to transmit messages back to London in the later stages of the war.

Another amusing drawing shows the camp's cat, nicknamed Heinkel, and mocks the Germans by saying that it prefers the prisoners as they always have more food to spare.

There is also a black and white photograph showing the inmates performing a production of Noel Coward's play 'Hay Fever' in May 1944.

The performance, in the so-called Belaria Theatre, was produced by thePoWs with Entract working as the set designer.

There is also a hilarious letter by Camp Commandant Friedrich-Wilhelm von Lindeiner-Wildau to General Charles Goodrich, the Allied officer in charge of the captured soldiers.

Entract also depicted three soldiers listening to a secret radio receiver concealed in the timber wall behind their bed bunks

The breakout was later immortalised in the 1963 Steve McQueen film The Great Escape

A fascinating album of 48 sketches of daily life inside Stalag Luft III is being shown for the first time

Entract's sketch of the sleeping quarters at Luckenwalde PoW camp in March 1945

Sketch by RAF officer Terence Entract of the sleeping quarters at Stalag Lift III he titled 'Sagan Slum'

In it, the German lambasts him for the PoWs disobeying orders not to play the British national anthem at the end of a concert.

There are further drawings of other buildings in the camp, including the theatre, sleeping quarters - dubbed 'Sagan Slum' - and sick quarter.

In November 1944, as the Soviet forces made territorial gains in the east, the PoWs were forced-marched 200 miles west to a PoW camp at Luckenwalde.

One sketch shows German guards patrolling the barbed wire fence during a large-scale air raid.

It highlights blast waves being visible in the sky during the raid on March 15, 1945.

There is also a first person sketch of his bed and belongings, which include a hat, uniform, towel and pot, at Luckenwalde in March 1945 as well as a drawing of the soldiers sunbathing outside their huts.

Luckenwalde was liberated by the Soviet forces on April 22, 1945, Entract then became a refugee and drew wrecked aircraft at Halle Airfield in May 1945 in a poignant sketch entitled 'Graveyard of the Luftwaffe'.

Halle concentration camp, 80 miles south of Luckenwalde, provided forced labour for the Siebel aircraft company, which made reconnaissance planes for the Luftwaffe.

A final piece shows soldiers preparing breakfast with a ration list, which includes 'meat stew, two tins of sardines, one tin of pate and some special cocoa'.

This vastly contrasts with the ration list from earlier in the war. It shows their ration as one thin slice of bread with margarine for breakfast, 1.5 cups of soup with potatoes for lunch, two slices of bread with margarine for tea and a slice of toast with mashed potatoes for dinner.

The drawings are dated September 1944, five months after the mass escape from Stalag Luft III by 76 men who crawled to freedom

George Mikell, and Richard Attenborough (pictured) in The Great Escape which was directed by John Sturges

Drawings of camp mascot Heinkel the cat who preferred the PoWs to the Germans and four airmen on their first night in Stalag Luft III

After the war Entract worked as an artist in the advertising industry. He sold his album of drawings in 1946 so he could buy a scooter.

They were later acquired by the historian Michael Booker who became an expert on the Colditz PoW camp.

His archive, including the Entract sketches, was recently put up for sale at Wellers Auctions of Guildford, Surrey.

Entract's grandchildren tried to buy the album back for their family but were outbid and it sold for 6,500.

Historian and author Guy Walters said: 'This album of sketches is a real historical gem.

'Not only does it show the mundanity of everyday life in the camp, but excitingly it also reveals the existence and location of a tunnel dug by the prisoners of war near a block house.

'Although the Germans never found the tunnel, it was never used, as the weather by the end of the summer of 1944 made escape conditions too treacherous - a lesson that the PoWs had learned during the Great Escape when the weather was particularly brutal.'

Other items from the Booker collection included a menu from Dulag Luft camp from April 1941, signed by the 17 officers involved in the first mass escape of the war by British officers. It sold for 6,000.

A spokesperson for Wellers Auctions said: 'The detail in the collection, especially the sketches, is just amazing.'

Born in Woking in 1917, Entract went on to be a freelance artist and marketer, doing work for Heinz after the war.

He later married his wife Irene in 1950 and had two sons and five children before passing away in 1999.

Stalag Luft III was established in March 1942 in modern-day Poland. Its location was selected due to its soil being difficult for PoWs to escape by tunnelling.

It is now home to the Stalag Luft III Prisoner Camp Museum.
Angela Merkel felt Brexit was a 'humiliation' and a 'disgrace' to the European project, according to candid reflections in her new memoir.

The former German chancellor revealed Britain's decision to leave the European Union 'changed' the bloc 'in the view of the world'.

'We were weakened,' she reflects in excepts of her new book, shared ahead of publication tomorrow, adding: 'The UK's economic strength made the European single market stronger.'

'We could have much more impact worldwide with democratic convictions together than separately, of that I was convinced,' she wrote.

'I would much rather have continued working with them within the European Union than lose them as a member.'

Ms Merkel said that after the 2016 referendum she was 'tormented' by whether to grant 'even more concessions' to keep the UK in the bloc, but eventually judged there wouldn't have been 'any reasonable way' to prevent Britain leaving.

Once heralded as the de facto leader of the EU, Ms Merkel spent 16 years in power before leaving office in 2021.

Angela Merkel and David Cameron during a visit to Berlin in May 2015

Boris Johnson (R) greets German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) as leaders arrive to attend the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow on November 1, 2021

President Vladimir Putin (R) and then Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel giving a joint press conference after their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow in January 2020

In her new book, Freedom: Memories 1954-2021, Ms Merkel said she viewed the UK as an 'indispensable part of the peace project' and cited the role of Winston Churchill to bringing the EU into existence.

'His country was a veto power in the UN Security Council; cosmopolitan and competitive through the Commonwealth and as a former seafaring nation; and it supported multilateral co-operation,' she said, weighing that the UK's economic strength 'made the European single market stronger'.

Ms Merkel lamented how Britain ultimately decided to leave the union in 2016, by 52 per cent to 48, deeming it a 'bitter lesson'.

'Even with the best political will, mistakes of the past could not be undone,' she wrote.

Ms Merkel's memoir follows her climb from childhood in the German Democratic Republic and memories of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 to becoming Chancellor in 2005.

She also shares recollections of her meetings and conversations with some of the world's most powerful people, and passes judgements on her experiences of leaders from Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin.

'He saw everything from the perspective of the property developer he was before entering politics,' she wrote of President-elect Trump, now returning to the top role.

'Each parcel of land could only be sold once, and if he didn't get it someone else did. That's how he saw the world.'

She wrote how Trump did not shake her hand for photographers at a White House meeting in 2017 even after she whispered to him that they should.

'As soon as I said that, I shook my head inwardly at myself. How could I have forgotten that Trump knew exactly what effect he wanted to achieve.'

She also suggested Trump was intrigued by Vladimir Putin, with whom he spoke numerous times as President.

Trump went on to defend Putin against allegations of electoral interference against his own FBI in 2016, after he won.

Russia was likewise alleged to have interfered in the Brexit referendum.

'[Trump] was obviously very fascinated by the Russian president,' Ms Merkel assessed.

'In the years that followed I had the impression that politicians with autocratic and dictatorial traits captivated him.

'We talked on two different levels. Trump on an emotional level, me on a factual one.

'For him, all countries were in competition with each other, in which the success of one was the failure of the other.

'He did not believe that co-operation could increase the prosperity of all.'

Donald J. Trump (R) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a joint news conference in Washington, March 17, 2017

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, shakes hand with Britain's King Charles III, centre, and Camilla, the Queen Consort, during the State Banquet in Berlin, March 29, 2023

Angela Merkel and David Cameron visit the British Museum during her visit to London, 2015

Angela Merkel talks with a soldier of the German Bundeswehr in protective clothes, November 14 2006 in Letzlingen

Angela Merkel receives flowers from her successor, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, December 8, 2021

Merkel also wrote on her interactions with Vladimir Putin, making reference to the infamous encounter where he brought a dog to a meeting in 2007, having allegedly already learned of her phobia.

She described Putin as: 'Someone who was always on his guard to avoid being treated badly and always ready to dish it out, including power games with dogs and making others wait for him.

'You could find all this childish, reprehensible. You could shake your head at it. But it didn't take Russia off the map.'

'He was not interested in building democratic structures or prosperity for a well-functioning economy in his country or elsewhere,' she said.

'Rather, he wanted to counter the fact that the United States had emerged victorious from the Cold War. He wanted Russia to remain an indispensable pole in a multipolar world after the end of the Cold War.

'To achieve this, he primarily drew on his experience in the security services.'
Readers have been left outraged after a controversial children's book called Our Skin blamed white men for introducing the idea that thin is beautiful.

The book, published in 2021, was penned by Harlem activist Megan Madison, Brooklynite library worker Jessica Ralli, and Pilipino Isabel Roxas, and has been previously distributed to NYC schools.

Aimed at children aged two to five, the 'inflammatory' book discusses skin tone and racism, claiming: 'A long time ago, way before you were born, a group of white people made up an idea called race'.

But the book also delves into beauty standards and stereotypes, where the authors also seem to point the finger of blame at 'white men'.

Sharing an image of the disturbing page on X/Twitter, one reader was left baffled by its content, warning viewers: 'Books like this exist. And people are reading them to children'.

The page is illustrated with a white woman and black child looking at a photo of a white man's body and reads: 'Before you were born, a group of white men started making up lots of ideas about bodies that weren't true.

'They said that one kind of body was the best, and that being fat was bad and being skinny was good.

'They were very wrong, but lots of people listened to them'.

Harlem activist Megan Madison is one of the co-authors of Our Skin

Brooklynite library worker Jessica Ralli co-wrote the children's book which discusses skin tone and racism

Pilipino Isabel Roxas illustrated the controversial children's book

Controversial children's book Our Skin pointed the finger of blame towards white men for for introducing the idea that 'skinny was good'

The book was initially slammed after it was first published for blaming racism on white people who claimed they were 'better, smarter, prettier, and that they deserve more than everybody else'

The post has been viewed almost 48,000 times, with infuriated X users leaving their thoughts and frustrations at the story in the comments.

One wrote: 'I grew up in a Hispanic culture. Let me tell you, it wasn't white men calling us 'Gordita' and criticizing us if we gained a few pounds'

Another added: 'Disturbing'.

A third baffled user asked: 'Is this a joke?'

One more said: 'Wokeness must be outed'.

The book was initially slammed after it was first published for blaming racism on white people who claimed they were 'better, smarter, prettier, and that they deserve more than everybody else.'

The kid's book in 2022 was distributed to at least one Manhattan kindergarten, one on Staten Island as well as a school in Brooklyn.

'Racism should be talked about, but it should be talked about correctly,' one dad told the NY Post at the time.

'I think that telling 5- and 6-year-olds that white people are all responsible for all racism is not helpful.

'It's going to be very traumatic for many five and six year old's who are going to blame themselves and blame their parents.'

Our Skin's narrative adds that 'racism is also the things people do and the unfair rules they make about race so that white people get more power' - yet there is no discussion that groups outside of white might be racist.

The book created an uproar in a New Jersey town in 2021 where the school board eventually decided the book could only be used as part of a lesson plan and not read without supervision.

'It should not be placed in the general classroom library,' Westfield, NJ., Schools Superintendent Raymond Gonzalez said, according to a report from the time.

'Rather, this book is best to use as an interactive read aloud where educated professionals can skillfully present this information.'

The Department of Education said at the time that the book is 'not part of our prescribed curriculum' but noted that schools can buy and supply books on their own.

'Our public schools do not shy away from books that teach our students history and can be used to deepen their understanding of the world around them. We value and honor our students perspectives and identities, and we provide opportunities for family voices to be heard on topics including school book lists,' a spokeswoman said.
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Australia could become 'losers' if a trade war breaks out between the US and China in the next Trump era, former Attorney-General George Brandis has warned.

US President-elect Donald Trump promised throughout the election he would introduce 60 per cent tariffs on China effective immediately once he takes office in January.

The proposed tariff has left many Australians questioning how it could impact the close export trade it shares with China.

Appearing on the panel of ABC's Q+A program on Monday night, Mr Brandis warned that Australia could expect to become the 'losers' of the possible global trade war between the two powerhouse nations.

Worsening our position is the lack of Australian leaders with a close connection to Trump, with some even called out for previously poking fun at the former president - including US ambassador Kevin Rudd.

Without establishing a personal relationship, the effects of action against China on Australia's economy could be dismissed by Trump.

'Anything that damages China - and particularly weakens China's demand to what we sell to China - will have an obvious impact on the Australian economy and flow through across the sectors,' Mr Brandis said.

'There are very few countries in the world that are more exposed to international trade and free trade than Australia. We are a trading nation, an exporting nation.

Former Attorney-General George Brandis (pictured) warned Australia would suffer if the US imposed high tariffs on China

When questioned by host Patricia Karvelas (pictured) why Australia's future relationship with the US would be worse than under Mr Turnbull, Mr Brandis highlighted his and Trump's unique relationship

'So we are towards the front of the queue of nations that will be prejudiced by American protectionism and economic nationalism.

'We will be very much the losers in a global trade war.'

Mr Brandis now teaches at the Australian National University's National Security College following his return from a four-year stint as the High Commissioner to the UK

He also shared an insight into how Australia will 'manage' President Trump in the coming years.

Mr Brandis said Trump's second term of presidency will be a very different landscape to 'Trump 1.0', which heavily relied on the relationship then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull had with the president.

The pair had a turbulent relationship while they were leaders simultaneously in 2017-2018, which included an infamous phone conversation over a controversial refugee resettlement deal just days after Trump was sworn in as president.

Mr Brandis said: 'Malcolm Turnbull was very, very good at managing Donald Trump, much better than virtually any world leader' (pictured, Donald and Melania Trump)

'I don't think we should assume that the success that Malcolm Turnbull had for example, with Trump 1.0 getting an exemption from the steel and aluminum tariffs Trump imposed way back then would be repeated,' Mr Brandis said.

When questioned by Q+A host Patricia Karvelas why Australia's future relationship with the US would be worse off than under Mr Turnbull, Mr Brandis highlighted the pair's unique relationship.

'Malcolm Turnbull was very, very good at managing Donald Trump, much better than virtually any world leader,' he said.

'I don't think that we should necessarily expect to have that.

Karvelas further pressed Mr Brandis on why he didn't think Prime Minister Anthony Albanese or Opposition Leader Peter Dutton - should he win the next election - could handle Trump.

In response, Mr Brandis said 'there was a particular relationship between Turnbull and Trump'.

'They got each other, they were in some ways from similar backgrounds, big billionaires,' he said.

Mr Brandis added Mr Turnbull and Trump were similar but further clarified 'in some respects, certainly as businessmen' they shared similarities.
The final moments of a deadly standoff between police and a New York man who drove head-on into a patrol car was captured on dramatic drone footage.

The Steuben County Police Department was called to a home on Angel Road in Cameron for a welfare check last month where they were met with an armed 50-year-old Allen Hoad who allegedly fired a shotgun at responding officers before retreating back inside his home, The Evening Tribute reported.

Hoad fled his home with what appeared to be a long gun after a 12-hour siege of the property - right before the bullet-ridden incident began.

In shocking drone footage released by New York Attorney General Letitia James, Hoad's pick-up truck was captured backing into a parked police vehicle head-on - leading officers to scramble out of the way before it was struck and discharge their weapons in response.

Two dogs, along with Hoad, can then be seen jumping out of the driver's side door as several officers ordered him to stop moving with their guns still drawn - one of the bullets ultimately striking the runaway during the ordeal.

The footage showed Hoad falling to the ground in the tall grass off the side of the roadway just seconds after he exited his vehicle - leading officers to close in on him before they checked his condition and called for medical help.

He was given immediate medical treatment by a sheriff's office paramedic before being transferred to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

The deadly siege came after Hoad made numerous terroristic threats to carry out a mass casualty incident and to leave his home armed with weapons - a plan that the sheriff's office said was intended to kill people.

Dramatic bodycam footage captured the moment an armed 50-year-old Allen Hoad backed into a patrol car in an attempt to flee a 12-hour siege of his property last month - leading officers to respond with gunfire
The father of missing Hawaii woman Hannah Kobayashi died from an apparent suicide in Los Angeles, where he had been searching for his daughter.

Ryan Kobayashi, 58, jumped to his death from a parking garage near LAX, one of the last known locations visited by his 30-year-old daughter before she vanished, as first reported by NBC News.

While a coroner has not yet revealed an official cause of death for Ryan, his family revealed he died by suicide.

'The Kobayashi family endured a devastating tragedy today,' the Kobayashi family said in a statement:

'After tirelessly searching throughout Los Angeles for 13 days, Hannah's father, Ryan Kobayashi, tragically took his own life. This loss has compounded the family's suffering immeasurably.

'What the family needs most in this difficult time is for all communities to rally around them with support, compassion, and prayers. Please be considerate with your comments and posts.

'The trauma they are enduring is profound, and they now face the additional burden of grieving the loss of their family's pillar and navigating next steps.'

Hannah, an aspiring photographer disappeared from the streets of downtown Los Angeles after missing a connecting flight from her native Maui in Hawaii en-route to New York City on November 8.

Ryan Kobayashi, the father of missing Hawaii woman Hannah Kobayashi, died from an apparent suicide in Los Angeles , where he had been searching for his daughter

Hannah Kobayashi, 30, disappeared from the streets of downtown Los Angeles after missing a connecting flight from her native Maui in Hawaii en route to New York City

It remains unclear why she left LAs LAX airport and ventured out into the city 15 miles away but she sent a text to a friend saying she had had a spiritual awakening, and was later seen in the company of a mystery man.

The trip began in Maui on November 8 which she described in a hand-written itinerary as a bucket list dreams become reality.

Hannah had been flying to meet another aunt in New York when she missed her connecting flight in LA.

Family members and a friend received a series of cryptic texts from Hannahs phone, causing them to fear she may have been abducted or trafficked.

On November 9 Hannah is believed to have gone to a bookstore before going back to LAX that evening. She told an aunt that trying to get another flight to New York was proving a 'nightmare' but she was still trying to get there.

Hannah's family said they have confirmed sightings of her the next day, and they started to receive concerning messages on November 11, when her phone last registered her location - at LAX.

On Thursday, frantic friends and family, including her devastated dad Ryan Kobayashi (pictured) gathered in downtown LA, a block from where she was last seen, to spread the message and encourage the public to report any sightings and information they may have

This is the last known image of her leaving LAX, after she missed her connecting flight to New York to visit family

'I think someones trying to steal my identity. Im really scared,' read one of the texts.

The same day the family said they confirmed a sighting of Hannah with an unidentified person getting on a train and exiting at Pico Station.

That was the last time she was seen.

Ryan, who has been searching for his daughter for 13 days, was seen as recently as Friday handing out flyers to passers-by in Los Angeles, pleading for information that could help find his daughter.

DailyMail.com spoke to him as his family gathered to spread the message about the disappearance and encourage the public to report any sightings and information they may have.

Ryan DailyMail.com: We will do everything we can until we have found her. We just need to get the word out there about her.

Shes a wonderful person who brings joy to so many people.

A GoFundMe has been created to support Ryan's fiancee Li Jaena.

'Ryan was my unclea truly remarkable person who lit up every room with his positivity and kind heart,' the page description reads.

'He has been living his absolute worst nightmare, since Hannahs disappearance, and now, with his passing, our family is grappling with unimaginable grief.

'Ryans love for his family was boundless, and he would do anything to protect and care for his daughters.'
A Florida mother 'accidentally' shot her daughter after allegedly threatening a group outside of a McDonald's in the Miami area.

Melissa Valbrum, 32, was at a McDonald's in Pinewood with her 15-year-old daughter on Friday around 10pm when she got into a verbal dispute with a group of three people.

The mother allegedly became agitated when she thought a woman was pointing at her inside of the restaurant.

But the woman was signaling to her two cousins that their Lyft had arrived, she told Miami-Dade police.

This sparked outrage from Valbrum and she started yelling at the group. The fight continued outside.

When they entered the Lyft, Valbrum went to her car to get a gun and said she would 'shoot and kill' of all them, according to an affidavit.

As the Lyft drove away, Valbrum claimed her gun 'accidentally fell' from her waistband, causing it to discharge and striking her daughter in the left shoulder.

According to the affidavit, Valbrum was banging on the car window with the gun while pointing it at and threatening all four people inside of the vehicle, including the driver.

Melissa Valbrum, 32, was arrested on Friday night after allegedly shooting her during an altercation with a group outside of a McDonald's

Paramedics arrived and took the 15-year-old to the hospital for treatment. She was in stable condition

Valbrum allegedly started fighting with three people after she thought one of them pointed at her, but they were really pointing at a Lyft coming to pick them up

She also allegedly reached inside of the Lyft to assault one of the passengers - a minor - the document said.

Valbrum was arrested on aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, battery and culpable negligence inflicting personal injury charges.

The injured teen was taken by paramedics to Ryder Trauma Center in stable condition.

Her mother was taken to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

After court on Sunday, Valbrum was bonded out of jail and ordered to stay away from her daughter, WSVN reported.

This incident occurred after a Tennessee mother mistakenly shot and killed her daughter, 13, while rummaging through her purse.

Dearria Radley Cooper, 13, was fatally shot in March inside her home by her mother, De'Ann Radley.

Radley told police that she had been searching through her handbag for her keys.

In court on Sunday, Valbrum was released on bond and ordered to stay away from her daughter

In the bag, she also kept a .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol, which accidentally discharged.

Midtown Hills Precinct officers responded to a 911 call just before 10 pm and delivered first aid to the 13-year-old before she was taken to Vanderbilts Pediatric Emergency Room.

There, she died of a single gunshot, police said.

Radley left a string of posts on Facebook the day after her daughter's death.

She also recorded a video of herself sitting in the backseat of a car with tears streaking down her face.

'I don't wish this for nobody,' she said between sobs.

'Nobody, I wouldn't wish this on nobody. My baby, my baby is gone.'

In another horrifying accident, a two-year-old from Louisiana shot himself after he pulled a gun from underneath his father's pillow.

Friday's shooting occurred outside of a McDonald's in PInewood at around 10 pm

Devonte Chambers, 29, told police he had been smoking marijuana before taking the little boy into a bedroom of their home for a nap in August.

Chambers then fell asleep while watching a movie before the child saw the gun's magazine sticking out from under a pillow.

Paramedics found the toddler, also named Devonte, with a bullet hole in his upper torso before taking him to a local hospital, where he was declared dead.

'The dad had his gun out and his two-year-old son was playing with his gun and accidentally shot himself,' said Lieutenant L'Jean McNeely of the Baton Rouge Police Department.
Angela Rayner's flagship worker's rights reform may cost businesses far more than the 5billion ministers claim and lead to wage cuts and job losses, an official watchdog said today.

The Regulatory Policy Committee today lashed out at the rationale used by the Department of Business and Trade to justify the changes made in the Employment Rights Bill.

It suggested that the figures used for the financial impact may need 'clarifying', and that the cost of an agreement on adult social care pay may be 'much higher' than the 1billion DBT claimed.

And in a report today it added that the estimate 'does not account for the likelihood employers may offset the costs of regulation and mandated benefits through wage adjustments, benefit reductions or other compensatory mechanisms which would eventually be borne by the employee.'

'There may also be negative impacts on recruitment, including from employers potentially adopting labour-saving technological measures such as AI systems and self-service check outs,' it added.

Tina McKenzie, Policy Chairwoman of the Federation fo Small Businesses, said: 'Red rating after red rating demonstrates that the proposed legislation has simply not been thought through.

The Deputy Prime Minister, alongside Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, has championed the legislation, which hands staff a slew of new rights regarding sick pay, flexible working and paternity leave, as well as rolling back anti-strike laws.

The Regulatory Policy Committee today lashed out at the rationale used by the Department of Business and Trade to justify the changes made in the Employment Rights Bill. It suggested that the figures used for the financial impact may need 'clarifying', and that the cost of an agreement on adult social care pay may be 'much higher' than the 1billion DBT claimed.

'This is a sharp wake-up call for Ministers who must think again about the dangers of a cavalier approach to jobs and work. The country cannot afford to pile further cost and risk on to small employers based on such an overwhelmingly weak evidence base.

'With the red-flagged impact assessments including high-impact measures like formal dismissal from day one, the Government must urgently do the basic work required to understand the impact of its own policies and accurately quantify the likely impacts on employers and the labour market.

'Parliament must step up and make sure it is challenging Ministers' approach to such consequential legislation. Jobs, wages and living standards will suffer if Government fails to bring forward sensible policy or do the work to understand how and to what extent it is making employment harder and harder to provide.'

The Deputy Prime Minister, alongside Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, has championed the legislation, which hands staff a slew of new rights regarding sick pay, flexible working and paternity leave, as well as rolling back anti-strike laws.

It was passed with a majority of 281 in October, meaning it is almost certain to become law. But the RPC rated the impact assessment carried out on the legislation 'not fit for purpose'.

The report added: 'Given the number and reach of the measures, it would be proportionate to undertake labour market and broader macroeconomic analysis, to understand the overall impact on employment, wages and output, and particularly, the pass-through of employer costs to employees.'

The Bill passed its second reading late in October, with 386 voting in favour, 105 against.

Ms Rayner was harangued by Tories in the Commons as she insisted it would have a 'positive impact on growth'.

The economic analysis of the Bill published by the Department for Business and Trade showed it is expected to 'impose a direct cost on businesses of low billion pounds per year (i.e less than 5 billion annually)'.

It goes on to say that the plans are expected to add 'less than 1.5 per cent' to employment costs overall.

Policies such as day-one protections from unfair dismissals and ensuring guaranteed hours on zero-hours contracts are 'likely to have a disproportionate cost to small and micro businesses', according to the impact assessment.

Additionally, the document shows that changes to paternity leave will result in small businesses bearing 35 per cent of the costs, while only accounting for 29 per cent of employees. It also notes that 74 per cent of small businesses employ at least one worker with a flexible contract, meaning that many will be hit with an 'administrative burden' following the changes.

Proposed changes to statutory sick pay of removing the lower earnings limit and waiting period are also expected to have 'a disproportionate cost to small and micro businesses'.

It is the first time the government has produced any estimated costs for the controversial measures.

The assessment cites official surveys suggesting that 40 per cent of businesses would respond to higher labour costs by increasing prices, and 17 per cent would cut jobs. Nearly a third would use profit margins to absorb the costs.

Today the RPC said: Overall, [we have] a low level of confidence in the estimated direct impacts included in the IA.'

A Government spokesman said: 'This government has delivered the biggest upgrade to people's rights at work in a generation. Our plan to Make Work Pay sets out an ambitious agenda to ensure employment rights are fit for a modern economy, empower working people and ensure working people are better off.

'These initial, indicative assessments of the primary legislation represent the best estimate of likely impact at this stage. However, we intend to refine our analysis and conduct further assessment as the Bill progresses  working with experts and businesses.'
Working for MrBeast is comparable to being in a cult, people who have worked for the internet star are saying.

The remark is one of several surrounding the North Carolina-based company the 26-year-old runs with his mom Susan 'Sue' Parisher, seen on Glassdoor.com.

In a section about pros of working at the homegrown outfit, one person scathed, 'The name. The content. That's about it.'

One one-starred post simply pleaded 'Shut it down' - while framing management and 'a certain celebrity star' as 'raging misogynists'.

A total of 37 reviews have been left overall - many describing days of long hours and little recognition.

Another common theme was the unhealthy work environment - fueled by what's painted as a poor HR department personally headed by Parisher.

Others warned potential employees to be prepared to be let go at a moment's notice, as plenty of posts pointed to a toxic work climate.

One from July described the popular Youtuber's team as a 'cliquey youth cult' - cryptically adding, 'They squeeze every drop of juice out of you.' MrBeast - real name James 'Jimmy' Donaldson - is currently facing two work-related lawsuits.

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Working for MrBeast is comparable to being in a cult, people who were previously worked for the internet star have said. One post on Glassdoor.com from July described the Youtuber's team as a 'cliquey youth cult' - cryptically adding, 'They squeeze every drop of juice out of you'

The remark is one of several surrounding the North Carolina-based company the 26-year-old runs with his mom Susan 'Sue' Parisher, 60, who heads the outfit's 'terrible' human resources department. The two are seen together in a sponsored video posted in January 2021

'Negative work environment, no unions, long hours. little to no recognition,' another post reads, after conceding their role - an executive assistant - had been high-paying.

'HR dept[sic] is terrible. This place feels like a startup but much more amateur,' another ex-worker sniped.

'Communication is horrendous. The entire company uses Discord instead of real HR messaging apps like Slack,' they continued.

'If you get hired as part-time or contract just get ready to be let go. They are experimenting.'

The post - published in September of last year - added how on 'orientation day' they received a Word document with 'three sentences on it, not even a MrBeast logo.

'Just very amateur operations,' they went on.

'You would think it would be better but it's not. They know how to make great videos but not run an Org. Someone help this place... Also they give min wage for a lot of the jobs.'

When asked about any prospective advice they would give to management, the same person said, 'Hire some real corporate people to organize this disaster.

'Move out of Greenville. No one wants to live in that sh**hole. You will find better talent in bigger cities.'

Another reviewer this past August laid out a list of their major gripes: 'Horrible communication', the 'head of HR [being MrBeast's] mom, 'long hours [and] days,' and an overall 'lack of professionalism.'

'Speaking of HR, they literally don't protect their employees at all,' the person added, awarding their overall experience as an employee on the production side of things three out of five stars.

A more unforgiving assessment came in the form of a post from a few months earlier, which openly declared, 'This place needs to be investigated.'

Starting with the single 'pro' - that their coworkers had been 'awesome people' - the review got more incendiary from there.

'Management and a certain celebrity star are raging misogynists,' it reads.

'They rather get views than care about the welfare of contestants.

'They break OSHA violations like no other,' the anonymous person claimed, pointing to widely viewed stunts the company puts out for views.

A shot of MrBeast's studio in Greenville, North Carolina. The address is kept secret for safety reasons. A former worker there is suing the YouTuber over claims he was not paid overtime - after working up to 75 hours per week

'I'm impressed no one has died yet but there'[s] been injuries!'

Another one-star review asserted their less-than-one-year at the Greenville office was 'the worst' experience in their entire career.

The anonymous ex-producer complained about 'intense workloads, unempathetic upper management, [and a] horrible HR department.'

'No Protections of private employee information,' they continued. 'OSHA and dep[sic] of labor violations rampant, promotion of unhealth work-life balance. cult-like atmosphere.'

When it came to future advice for management, they wrote: 'Learn how a traditional production company runs and adopt the best practices instead of trying to be something that has never been done before.'

DailyMail.com has reached out to MrBeast's team for a response to the claims, which were all made within the past two years.

In September, five unnamed contestants from the YouTuber's new reality show Beast Games filed a civil lawsuit against the company - and partner Amazon - for 'chronic mistreatment,' sexual harassment, and 'injuries' allegedly suffered on-set.

With a court date in that case tentatively slated for late next year, the complaint references a report into the $100million competition by The New York Times, which claimed contestants left the contest on stretchers after not receiving adequate care.

Some vomited and appeared to pass out, according to the August report - which claimed there were 'several hospitalizations' after contestants suffered unspecified injuries from the physical challenges.

A spokesperson for MrBeast - who has an estimated net worth of $500 million - has since said the contests were complicated by 'extreme weather and other unexpected logistical and communications issues.'

A formal review was being carried out, they told The Times - along with 'steps to ensure that we learn from this experience.'

Earlier this month, MrBeast's company revealed it had fired between 5 and 10 people as a result of the internal probe, revealed to have lasted for almost three months.

Hired investigators found 'several isolated instances of workplace harassment and misconduct were identified during the investigation', they wrote in a letter posted by MrBeast to his official X account.

'I was asked to refrain from making public statements to enable a detailed and unbiased investigation,' he explained in an accompanying caption.

The law firm he enlisted reviewed millions of documents and messages, in addition to 39 interviews.

Meanwhile, Donaldson is also now being sued by a former producer over alleged unpaid overtime in a suit filed just last week.

Earlier this month, MrBeast's company revealed it had fired between 5 and 10 people as a result of the internal probe that found instances 'workplace harassment and misconduct'

Hired investigators found 'several isolated instances of workplace harassment and misconduct were identified during the investigation', they wrote in a letter posted by MrBeast to his official X account.

The producer, identified as Brittany Carter, allegedly worked 75 hours a week without proper compensation.

The suit seeks 'unpaid wages, overtimedamages, and attorneys feesfor violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and North Carolina Wage and Hour Act.'

MrBeast currently rakes in a reported $54million a year, according to Forbes - mostly from ads on his widely viewed videos.

He recently launched a venture called Lunchly, which has been hit with claims its Lunchables-eque products contain mold.

This past Friday, he appeared in an interview with YouTuber oompaville to reject that there is a 'serious problem' with the product also touted by KSI and Logan Paul.

'There is no mold when it leaves our factory' he said in front of a fireplace during the filmed sit-down.

'Once it leaves your factory, a truck that's delivering it could take a sharp turn and a box falls and punctures the seal,' he continued.

'Or honestly, even something as dumb as when it's put on the shelves a the store, I can't stop someone from walking to Walmart and grabbing a Lunchly, going to the potato chip aisle and putting it there... there are variables that we just can't control.'

His video with Cristiano Ronaldo from a day earlier has since been viewed nearly 50million times.
Sean 'Diddy' Combs has sent a cease-and-desist letter over an explosive documentary about his protege, Shyne.

A source close to the disgraced music mogul told Page Six that the letter was not issued to stop the film, 'The Honorable Shyne,' from being released.

Rather, it was done to 'ensure' that the documentary was factually correct regarding an infamous 1999 Manhattan nightclub shooting involving Shyne and Diddy.

Shyne, now known as Moses Barrow, is currently a politician in his native Belize, where he serves as Leader of the Opposition in the country's House of Representatives

He was sentenced to 10 years behind bars for the shooting, in which three people were injured.

Witnesses claimed that Diddy was among those who fired his weapon in the club, but he was ultimately cleared on weapons and bribery charges.

In the film - which premiered on Hulu on November 18 - the former Bad Boy rapper said that he was the 'fall guy' for Diddy and that his ways are now 'coming to light.'

'Because when I said it [at the time], everyone was partying and having a great time with Diddy while I was left to rot in prison,' he said in the documentary.

After being cleared on charges related to the nightclub shooting decades ago, Diddy, 54, was indicted for sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution in New York City in September.

Sean 'Diddy' Combs sent a cease-and-desist letter over a new documentary, 'The Honorable Shyne,' in which the Diddy protege revealed details of the 1999 shooting that landed him in prison

A source close to the disgraced music mogul said that the letter was not issued to stop the film from being released, but rather to 'ensure' it was factually correct

The three-time Grammy winner has maintained his innocence as he pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Although Diddy was acquitted in the nightclub shooting, Shyne was found guilty of five charges including assault, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a pistol.

He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and served almost nine years of his sentence before his release in October 2009.

Following his release, Shyne was deported to his native Belize.

He previously told the New York Post: 'I grew up [being told] to not get my friends in trouble. And that's what it really boiled down to, integrity about character.'

During an interview promoting the new documentary, Shyne said that at the time he thought he was protecting Combs, who he now believes 'got witnesses to testify against me, to say that basically I was this uncontrollable person that was acting in a depraved manner, which was the furthest from the truth.'

Shyne added that at the time he did not want to 'break the code of honor, which is that you don't get people in trouble.'

Although Diddy was acquitted, Shyne was found guilty of five charges including assault, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a pistol

Diddy's legal team strongly disagreed with Shyne's comments, telling Page Six: 'Mr. Combs categorically denies Mr. Barrows allegations, including any suggestion that he orchestrated Mr. Barrow to "take the fall" or "sacrificed" him by directing witnesses to testify against him. These claims are unequivocally false.

'Mr. Combs was acquitted of all charges related to the [1999 incident] and has consistently maintained his innocence.

'Mr. Combs appreciates the path Mr. Barrow has pursued and wishes him continued success. It is unfortunate that Mr. Barrow has chosen to revisit these allegations,' his reps added.

The new documentary also shed light on a bizarre event that occurred the morning Diddy was acquitted in the high-profile gun trial.

His former bodyguard, Gene Deal, revealed that the rapper sacrificed a bird in Central Park that day.

According to Deal, on the way to court to learn his fate in 2001, Diddy ordered his driver to pull over in the park to carry out a ritual for good luck.

Diddy's former bodyguard revealed that the disgraced rapper sacrificed a bird in Central Park the morning he was acquitted in the high-profile gun trial (Pictured: Diddy arriving at court in New York in 2001)

Shyne was elected to the Belize House of Representatives in 2020 before becoming the Opposition Leader in 2021

Deal said a man was waiting for the rapper in the park, and when Diddy approached him, he dropped to his knees as the man swirled smoke around him - what Deal believed to be sage.

As the man touched Diddy with a bible, he then produced a white bird from a cage, and Diddy threw it in the air before it dropped to the ground dead, Deal said.

After the ritual was over, Deal said Diddy walked away and got back in his car. Hours later, he was acquitted and spared 15 years in prison.

After arriving in Belize, Shyne traveled to Israel the following year, where he decided to practice Orthodox Judaism.

He then moved back to Belize in 2013, and in 2020 was elected to the Belize House of Representatives.

By 2021, he became the Opposition Leader, and could become Prime Minister in next year's elections.
A 22-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after an eight-year-old schoolgirl and a 34-year-old man were seriously injured in a shooting.

Armed officers from Metropolitan Police were called to Southern Row, in Kensington at 5.34pm on Sunday following numerous 999 calls of shots being fired.

Witnesses said they heard 'four or five shots' as the gunman was seen firing directly into a car on the street, while the child's mother was heard shouting, 'My baby, my baby's been shot.'

The girl and the man were treated at the scene by London Ambulance Service before being rushed to hospital. They both remain in a 'serious but stable condition'.

In an update today, Superintendent Owen Renowden said a two-year-old child and a 32-year-old woman were also in the car at the time of the shooting.

Thankfully, they were both unharmed and police thanked local residents who came to the aid of those who were injured.

Superintendent Renowden said: 'Last night at approximately 5.30pm we received numerous 999 calls to Southern Row reporting shots had been fired and a number of people in a vehicle had been injured.

'We immediately dispatched units to the scene including local officers from the emergency response teams on the borough supported by armed officers from the specialist firearms command.

'On arrival officers located a 34-year-old man and an eight-year-old girl who had sustained serious gunshot injuries.

In an update today, Superintendent Owen Renowden said a two-year-old child and a 32-year-old woman were also in the car at the time of the shooting (pictured)

Police cordoned off the area on Southern Row, Ladbroke Grove, on Sunday following reports of a shooting

Forensics on the scene of a shooting in Kensington on Sunday where an eight-year-old schoolgirl and a 34-year-old man were injured

The shooting took place at around 5.30pm on Southern Row in Kensington on Sunday

'Also present in the car were a two-year-old child and a 32-year-old woman who were thankfully unharmed.

'I want to take this opportunity now to thank the members of the public who came to the aid of those who were injured last night.

'Officers administered first aid before being assisted by colleagues from the London Ambulance Service.

'Both injured parties were taken to hospital where they currently remain in a serious but stable condition.

'The 34-year-old male has sustained potentially life-changing injuries whilst the eight-year-old girl remains in surgery. Although, we do not believe her injuries to be life threatening at this time.

'They are being supported by specialist officers and my thoughts remain with them.'

He added: 'Immediately following the incident officers arrested a 22-year-old male on suspicion of attempted murder and he remains in police custody.

'The investigation is being led by detectives from the Specialist Crimes Command who are working closely with our local teams to establish the circumstances around what took place last night.

'I recognise that any shooting has a traumatic impact on the local community and I have already heard today how last night's incident in particular has affected local people.

'There will be a continued presence from our local policing teams over the coming days and we are working closely with our partners to increase the presence of all services in the area.'

Police officers search the scene after an eight-year-old girl was seriously injured when she was shot in 'an appalling incident'

A police forensic officer at the scene after a 34-year-old man and an eight-year-old girl were seriously injured in a shooting

Police guard a cordon on Southern Row, Ladbroke Grove in west London after the shooting

Medical equipment and broken glass lying on the floor at the scene on Southern Row

Superintendent Owen Renowden speaks to the media on West Row today

One witness, 64, told Metro: 'I heard shots, and then a woman shouting: 'My baby, my baby's been shotit makes me sick to think about it now.

'There were four or five shots, there was screaming it's horrible. A neighbour went out with a duvet to cover the injured.'

One woman, who did not want to be named, added: 'I heard that someone was trying to shoot the man and the girl happened to be caught in the crossfire.

'She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's heartbreaking. I hope both victims recover well.'

Sharon, who was in the area to visit her mother said: 'The guy was shooting directly into a car.

'I was literally coming out of the exit to my mum's block of flats and as I was going out, I saw a guy shooting into the car multiple times.

'He was firing directly, like at close range as if you're standing to open a door, they were shooting directly into it.

'I was completely in shock and I just ran back up the stairs because I was really scared.'

'Then I looked and I heard screaming afterwards, and then people coming out to call the police.'

Sharon, who did not wish to give her surname, added: 'I've noticed in the last several years, it has become a lot more unsafe for the people here.'

Another local, who also wished to remain anonymous, said when he first heard the gunshots he thought they were fireworks.

The 19-year-old man said: 'I heard these shots and I thought it was fireworks.

'But then about eight police cars raced past my house. It's really scary.

'I wish the police would give us more information. Is this a random attack?'

The local said the shooting is particularly worrying as it comes so soon after 15-year-old Rene Graham was shot dead in nearby Emslie Horniman's Pleasance Park.

'Why does this keep happening?,' he added, 'It's sad but we're getting used to hearing about knife incidents. But shooting? That feels more rare.'

The child, who is now in a stable condition, and a 34-year-old man who was also injured were taken to hospital after being shot just after 5.30pm on Sunday

Superintendent Owen Renowden speaks to the media on West Row today following the shooting

Forensics collecting evidence at the scene of a shooting in the Ladbroke Grove area of Kensington

Police and forensics on the scene in Southern Row, in Ladbroke Grove on Sunday evening

Another woman living near the scene, who did not want to be named, said she was 'scared' after the shooting.

She was in the kitchen cooking and thought fireworks were going off, before armed police arrived and she discovered what had happened.

Local MP Joe Powell said several incidents in the area recently had left residents in fear.

In a statement on X the Labour politician, who represents Kensington and Bayswater, said: 'These senseless acts of violence have no place on our streets.

'I know residents in the local community will be rightly concerned for their safety after several recent incidents in the neighbourhood.

'We must work together to better prevent these horrific crimes from happening, and hold those responsible to account.'

Several roads in Ladbroke Grove and Maida Vale remain heavily cordoned off as forensic teams scour for evidence, including bullet casings.

Residents in the area reported hearing helicopters overhead and witnessed police vehicles with sirens passing through the streets.

Uber driver Ali Hussein, who is the father of a nine-year-old girl told Metro he fears for his child's safety.

Local MP Joe Powell said several incidents in the area recently had left residents in fear. Pictured: Police on the scene today

Police guard a cordon after an eight-year-old girl and a man were shot in Ladbroke Grove

A large police cordon at the scene on Southern Row in Ladbroke Grove, west London

The area was cordoned off as police and forensics collected evidence from the scene

Lloyd Markham, 60, said: 'I've lived here about 25 years, and it seems like a really safe place to live, but now you start to hear about all these stabbings and shootings.

'It's very sad. Why fire a gun with kids around? How can you do that to someone?'

Superintendent Renowden previously said: 'This is an appalling incident that has left two people seriously injured, including a young girl who thankfully is in a stable condition this morning.

'I am appealing to the public who may have been in the area at the time of the shooting. Did you hear any gunshots around 5.30pm yesterday evening? Did you see anyone fleeing from the area?

'We are keen to hear from anyone who may have any information surrounding this incident. Your information matters, no matter how insignificant you may think it is.'

Other residents expressed concern about the rise in violent crime in the area.

In July of this year, Rene Graham, 15, was shot dead at Emslie Horniman's Pleasance, or 'Teletubbies Park' on Southern Row.

The boy was enjoying a 'family fun day' event before Notting Hill Carnival when he was shot and succumbed to his injuries at the scene.

A security officer who was working at the event said: 'A teenager was assassinated. I was right there. People were rushing and everyone was screaming. They were rushing through the barrier. There were two gunshots.

'We had booked the street that's cordoned off for a film shoot tomorrow. I don't know if that's going to happen now.'

Another security officer for a nearby building said he saw a helicopter at five or six PM.

Police enquiries into the incident on Sunday are ongoing.

Witnesses can contact police on 101, giving the reference CAD5238/24NOV, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or online.
A Florida sheriff's deputy charged for tasering a motorcyclist as he pumped gas during a botched arrest setting them both ablaze has been acquitted.

Osceola County deputy David Crawford was found not guilty of negligence on Friday for the February 2022 incident, reported WESH.

Jean Barretto, who was 26 at the time, had been pursued by deputies after fleeing law enforcement who had responded to a report of a group of motorcyclists riding recklessly.

He survived but was left with burns covering nearly three-quarters of his body after investigators said Crawford shocked him with a taser as he refilled his bike at a Wawa gas station.

Crawford testified in his own defense on Thursday, telling the jury he was fearful Baretto had a gun.

Body camera footage showed Crawford approaching the gas pumps where Barreto was filling his bike before tackling him to the ground.

'Get off the bike! Get on the ground now,' Crawford yelled in the video as a fellow officer pulled out his taser and fired it.

Footage shows gasoline pouring onto the ground after the officers failed to allow Barreto to close gas tank before they tackled him.

Osceola County deputy David Crawford (pictured) was found not guilty of negligence for the February 2022 incident

Crawford was charged for tasering a motorcyclist as he pumped gas during a botched arrest setting them both ablaze. Pictured: Flames from the explosion

A second deputy, Christopher Koffinas, used his stun gun on the victim, at which point Crawford shouted at the back-up officers to turn off the gas pump.

'Kill the pump, kill the pump, there's gas,' Crawford said as his fellow officer dropped the taser.

But Crawford then picked it up, warning: 'You're about to get tasered again, dude,' then fires the taser.

Moments later, the taser is heard on video and flames erupt, forcing Crawford to roll around on the ground and scream as he catches fire for about 30 seconds.

During the trial, Crawford's defense lawyers said he did not intentionally deploy the taser, but it went off when he tossed it to the side.

'Every single witness, every single video conclusively shows you that he never intentionally discharged that taser,' his attorney said.

While on the stand, the deputy testified that he has 'no memory of turning the safety off.'

Prosecutors argued that Crawford escalated the situation and put even more lives in danger with how he approached the situation.

Jean Baretto (pictured), who was 26 at the time, was left with burns covering nearly three-quarters of his body

'There is no need for one man to run, like a cowboy, and tackle someone off a motorcycle filling up with gas. The end result of this was foreseeable from the fact that he walked across that parking lot,' a state prosecutor said.

After Crawford was cleared of the charges, his lawyer said, 'We were convinced from the very beginning that my client was not convinced of these charges. We are very happy with the result we got here today. My client's relieved. I'm relieved. We are just very happy the jury reached the right conclusion.'

Crawford was suspended after the incident and it is unclear what his status with the sheriff's department is following his acquittal.

'The jury found Deputy Crawford not guilty of any crime, and we respect the wisdom of the jury's decision,' the sheriff's office said.

'It's important for the public to know that the Osceola County Sheriff's Office initiated this criminal investigation against its own employee in the same way we would for any other criminal case against any other defendant.'

Barreto's attorney Albert Yonfa told CNN he plans to file a civil lawsuit 'for the reckless, excessive use of force, which was strengthened by the evidence brought forth in this criminal trial.'

At the time of the incident, Sheriff Marcos Lopez said deputies believed Barretto fit a description of a man on a dirt bike who allegedly pointed a gun at a driver, but he was never charged.

However, on Friday - the same day Crawford was found not guilty - Barretto was arrested for battery charges.

Court records show he was arrested by Kissimmee police on a warrant for aggravated battery of a pregnant person.
The UK moved to sanction 30 ships in Russia's so-called 'shadow fleet' today accusing them of transporting billions of pounds of oil and oil products.

The Foreign Office has unveiled the biggest UK package yet against Moscow's logistical operation, designed to get around Western restrictions.

Half of the ships are said to have shifted more than 3.4 billion of oil and oil products in the last 12 months. Two insurance companies have also been slapped with sanctions.

Speaking at the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Italy, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: 'This morning I am announcing the biggest sanctions package of the Russian shadow fleet and it underlines the UK commitment to Ukraine.

Speaking at the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Italy, Foreign Secretary David Lammy (pictured with Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani) said the latest sanctions underline 'the UK commitment to Ukraine'

Western countries have been trying to ramp up the pressure on Vladimir Putin

'We are supporting them by 3billion a year every year for as long as it lasts to support them militarily, and of course with both economic and humanitarian aid we continue to support Ukraine.

'It's hugely important at this G7 that all colleagues across the G7 continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it lasts and we are confident that Ukraine can have the funds and the military equipment and kit to get through 2025.

'Our assessment is that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin shows no signs at all of wanting a negotiation. We have to ensure that Ukrainians are equipped for the fight.'

Asked for more detail about the sanctions, Mr Lammy added: 'We are shadowing 30 Russian vessels.

'We are determined to ensure that both the ships, the enablers of those ships thwarting European and UK sanctions, are hurt at this time and that we ensure that the attempts to circumvent the sanctions that we put in place previously and of course to avoid Russia using its oil revenues to continue to fund its war  that we bear down on those issues.'

During the G7 summit this week, Mr Lammy is expected to discuss the conflict with his counterparts from other nations, and to encourage them to keep up with efforts to support Ukraine, amid concerns over what the re-election of Donald Trump as US president could mean for support for Kyiv.

Cabinet minister Pat McFadden has said that British spies will seek to counter the threat of Russian cyber warfare with a new laboratory for artificial intelligence.

In a major speech at the Nato cyber defence conference, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said the UK and its Nato allies are 'watching' Moscow and combatting its attacks both publicly and 'behind the scenes'.
Sarah Palin has defended Matt Gaetz's new career move as he's mercilessly mocked by critics.

Former Florida congressman and one-time U.S. Attorney General contender Matt Gaetz has turned to Cameo to generate income, charging $500 or more for personalized video messages.

As of Sunday afternoon, Gaetz, 42, boasted a five-star rating on the platform, which allows users to purchase videos from celebrities.

Palin, a Cameo Creator who charges $200 or more for her videos, shared her thoughts about the public giving Gaetz a hard time for his career pivot.

'Connecting with people all around the globe with edifying, illuminating shout-outs?! Couldn't be better distraction from negativity in today's toxic world,' the former governor of Alaska wrote in an Instagram story before sharing a compilation of all of the Cameos she has made.

'I'll never understand criticizing opportunity to encourage & advise others who may just need a good word today and have fun touching many lives.

'Perhaps more should join in & build up instead of tearing down,' she concluded while adding a bible verse on her last slide.

Gaetzs decision to join Cameo mirrors that of George Santos, the disgraced former New York congressman who reported earning nearly half a million dollars in revenue from his videos in February.

Sarah Palin has defended Matt Gaetz's new career move as he's mercilessly mocked by critics

Former Florida congressman and one-time U.S. Attorney General contender Matt Gaetz has turned to Cameo to generate income, charging $500 or more for personalized video messages

'Now listen, I may not be the Attorney General, the most powerful law enforcement officer in the land  for now,' Gaetz said in a video on the website.

'We actually got a great one in Pam Bondi,' Gaetz said, referencing President-elect Donald Trump's choice to fill the Attorney General role he had been considered for.

'And so I can't  like  order Predator strikes on my enemies, as much as I would like to. For now. But I can order you to have as much fun as possible.'

In one personalized message to a woman named Lisa which was shared on social media Sunday morning, Gaetz wished the woman a merry Christmas and a happy Thanksgiving and thanked her for supporting the conservative movement.

'I know you were bummed out when the news broke that I wouldn't be the next Attorney General,' he said  later adding, 'Also, say hello to your mother Carol for me.'

'This is just such an exciting time to be an American,' Gaetz also said. 'We've got the House, we've got the Senate, we've got Donald Trump in the presidency.'

'I served in Congress. Trump nominated me to be US Attorney General (that didnt work out). Once I fired the House Speaker,' is how Gaetz describes himself on his.

The Cameo stint comes after Gaetz's controversial tenure in Congress, which included spearheading the removal of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and surviving allegations of sex trafficking and misconduct.

The Justice Department concluded its investigation without filing charges, but the House Ethics Committee continued examining allegations that Gaetz paid women for sex and had a relationship with a minor. The committee ultimately remained deadlocked on whether to make its findings public.

Orlando attorney Joel Leppard, representing a witness in the case, stated that his client testified Gaetz ended a relationship with a minor upon learning her age. Gaetz has denied all allegations and maintains he has done nothing wrong.

Initially tapped by Donald Trump as a potential Attorney General, Gaetz resigned from Congress to pursue the nomination. However, renewed scrutiny over past allegations complicated his Senate confirmation prospects, leading him to withdraw from consideration last week.

The former governor of Alaska charges $200 or more for her videos

Gaetz's wife, Ginger Luckey Gaetz has described him as 'unemployed'

Gaetz has since said he won't seek a return to Congress despite winning reelection, and his wife, Ginger Luckey Gaetzm, has described him as 'unemployed.'

While Cameo appears to be a temporary gig, Gaetz has teased a continued role in politics, hinting at 'a new perch' and even a potential run for Florida governor in 2026, when current Governor Ron DeSantis will be term-limited.
Benjamin Netanyahu has approved a US-led ceasefire deal with Hezbollah 'in principle' after months of bitter fighting in Lebanon.

The Israeli prime minister is expected to green-light the proposal despite reservations from his National Security Minister, Israeli media reported today.

A source familiar with the matter told CNN that Netanyahu had approved the deal 'in principle' during a security consultation with Israeli officials last night.

The agreement is understood to be based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the war between Hezbollah in Israel in 2006.

Israeli and American sources report that the agreement 'in principle' does not constitute final approval, and some issues still require clarification.

Israel is expected to relay its lingering concerns about the agreement to the Lebanese government today as negotiations continue with Hezbollah.

American envoy Amos Hochstein relayed that his conversations with the Lebanese government, mediating talks with Hezbollah, indicate 'constructive' conversations.

Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the plenum, during a discussion on the subject of hostages, in Israel's parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem, November 18,

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in Beirut, Lebanon, on November 25

Smoke billows at the site of an Israeli strike in the Lebanese city of Tyre on November 25

A United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) armoured vehicle drives through the southern Lebanese city of Sidon on November 25, 2024

Emergency responders arrive at the site of an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on November 25

The United States is leading diplomatic efforts to end the fighting in Lebanon, where Israel in late September escalated its air campaign and launched a ground offensive into the south after nearly a year of cross-border fire with Hezbollah.

To date, the Lebanese health ministry estimates that at least 3,754 people have been killed in the country since October 2023, most of them since September.

What is Resolution 1701? UN Resolution 1701 ended the 2006 Lebanon war between Israel and Hezbollah with the agreement that all Israeli forces would withdraw to be replaced by Lebanese and UNIFIL peacekeepers. Keeping a distance between the two groups, long threatened by the presence of the other, is still considered to be the brightest prospect for long-term stability between Israel and Lebanon. The Resolution called for the disarmament of all armed groups including Hezbollah in the region, stipulating that only UNIFIL and the Lebanese military could station armed forces south of the Litani River. Hezbollah and other armed groups in southern Lebanon have not withdrawn, per the agreement. It did agree to disarm south of the river, but not to pull out of southern Lebanon altogether. It then continued to grow and rearm itself 'exponentially', per Foreign Policy. When Israel announced it would enter Lebanon again on October 1, 2024, it cited the UN's failure to uphold the resolution as its casus belli. Under the terms of the agreement, Israel cannot enforce the Resolution itself. But with 60,000 civilians displaced from northern Israel by the conflict, the government finds itself under huge pressure at home. The 15 parties present in 2006 voted unanimously for the resolution. None voted against and none abstained. Advertisement

On the Israeli side, 82 soldiers and 47 civilians have been killed in 13 months.

Israel has sought to oust Hezbollah from its strongholds in southern Lebanon and the suburbs of Beirut with some 60,000 people displaced from northern Israel by the conflict.

In recent months, its military has killed nearly all of the group's leaders. But international pressure mounts amid fears of the conflict spilling into a regional war.

The proposal under discussion to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah calls for an initial two-month ceasefire during which Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon and Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the southern border south of the Litani River.

The withdrawals would be accompanied by an influx of thousands more Lebanese army troops, who have been largely sidelined in the war, to patrol the border area along with an existing U.N. peacekeeping force.

The deal echoes the existing Resolution 1701, that critics say did little to keep Hezbollah at bay.

Hezbollah never ended its presence in southern Lebanon, while Lebanon says Israel regularly violated its airspace and occupied small patches of its territory.

But those on the far-right of Netanyahu's cabinet have urged Israel to push through and vanquish Hezbollah from southern Lebanon for good.

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir warned today that reaching a ceasefire deal would be 'a big mistake'.

'An agreement with Lebanon is a big mistake,' Ben Gvir wrote in a post on X, adding that ending the fighting now would be a 'historic missed opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah'.

'I understand all the constraints and reasons, and still it is a grave mistake,' Ben Gvir wrote, referring to the Iran-backed Islamist movement.

Ben Gvir called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue fighting until there was 'absolute victory'.

This sentiment is shared by other right-wing political leaders regarding the war against Hamas in Gaza, which was sparked by the Palestinian group's attack on southern Israel in October 2023.

Leaders have also expressed concerns over discussions of French involvement in a potential ceasefire's enforcement.

France - which previously administered Lebanon and retains key bilateral relations - has supported the push by the United States, Israel's biggest backer, for a truce in the conflict.

During a visit to Lebanon and Israel last week, US envoy Amos Hochstein reported 'further progress' towards a ceasefire.

Michael Herzog, Israels Ambassador to Washington, told Israeli Army Radio on Monday that the deal aimed to improve surveillance and enforcement of the previous resolution.

While he said there were still certain points that needed to be finalized, a deal was close and could be clinched within days.

The rubble of a damaged building after an Israeli airstrike on the Tayouneh area, south of Beirut, Lebanon, November 25

Emergency responders arrive at the site of an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on November 25

A United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) armoured vehicle drives through the southern Lebanese city of Sidon on November 25

A car marked "Press" at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an area where a number of journalists were located in the southern Lebanese village of Hasbaya on October 25

A group of Israelis gather on Jaffa Street in West Jerusalem to protest Israel's ongoing attacks on the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, in West Jerusalem on November 23

Smoke rises from the site of Israeli airstrikes that targeted Beirut's southern suburbs on November 25

A U.S. official said negotiations continued to progress on Sunday, but the parties still need to work out some outstanding issues to close the deal.

The official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the private talks, declined declined to detail the outstanding issues.

It is still not clear whether a new deal would be any more successfully implemented than the one in 2006.

On the ground, the Israeli military announced Monday it had carried out strikes against 'Hezbollah command centres in the Dahieh area' in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

The Israeli army said about 250 projectiles were fired from Lebanon toward Israel Sunday by Hezbollah, one of the highest numbers in recent weeks.

Israel launched massive air strikes in Lebanon on September 23 against Hezbollah, which, following the October 2023 attack, had opened a 'support front' for Hamas by firing rockets into Israeli territory.
A Labour peer has sparked fury by claiming ministers should not 'impose' their religious beliefs on others ahead of Parliament's historic vote on assisted dying laws.

Charlie Falconer, an ally of Sir Keir Starmer, hit out after Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she would vote against proposed legislation on Friday.

Ms Mahmood, the first Muslim to become Lord Chancellor, said she was 'profoundly concerned' by the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.

She said the 'state should never offer death as a service' and warned MPs would be placing Britain on a 'slippery slope towards death on demand' if they back new laws.

Lord Falconer said there were 'religious and spiritual reasons' for Ms Mahmood's opposition to the Bill.

'I think she's motivated - and I respect this - by her religious beliefs. They shouldn't be imposed on everybody else,' he told Sky News.

But his intervention prompted an angry backlash among Ms Mahmood's fellow MPs, as well as from religious leaders.

Charlie Falconer, an ally of Sir Keir Starmer , hit out after Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she would vote against proposed legislation on Friday.

Ms Mahmood, the first Muslim to become Lord Chancellor, said she was 'profoundly concerned' by the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

The Bill has support from the Dignity in Dying campaign group, members of which gathered outside Parliament last month

Asked about Lord Falconer's comments, Cardinal Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, told Times Radio: 'I thought we lived in a democracy where people were permitted to express their views and to take forward an argument and a rational argument at that.

'If Mr Falconer can't extend that space to religious belief then I'm not sure why he should be in politics actually.

'It's not as if politics were a separate, sealed-off way of living - it's part of the life of this country. And religious belief is very much part of the life of this country.'

Labour MP Rachel Maskell said Lord Falconer - a longstanding supporter of a change in the law - needed to 'reflect on those comments' as she urged him to apologise.

She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I find it hugely offensive and discriminatory that he is conflating the two issues.'

Former Tory minister Steve Baker told Sky News: 'Lord Falconer is wrong to put someone else's faith on the table. It is for those of us of faith to do that.'

Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron, a former leader of his party, said: 'The intolerance from Lord Falconer here is staggering.

'The idea that world views informed by faith are illegitimate, is shallow and illiberal.

'Why can't Shabana be concerned for the vulnerable on account of her faith? Which other minorities need to wind their neck in?'

Home Office minister Jess Phillips also defended Ms Mahmood following Lord Falconer's intervention.

She told Times Radio: 'She will make the decision about how she votes on assisted dying on a matter of conscience, just exactly like I will.

'How she comes to that and what moral code she uses to come to that will be exactly the same as the moral code that I use to come to that decision as well.'

She added: 'I think that Shabana is making a decision on what she thinks is best for her constituents, like every constituency MP.'

Ms Phillips said she would be backing the Bill, telling the BBC: 'I am a person who fundamentally believes in the right for people to make a choice about their bodies.'

Ms Mahmood is not the only senior figure who has criticised the Bill, with Health Secretary Wes Streeting claiming it could cost the NHS more.

In a letter last month, Cabinet Secretary Simon Case said the Government would remain neutral and suggested ministers avoid taking part in public debate.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has declined to say which way he will vote, saying that he does not want to put pressure on other MPs.

The Cabinet is split over the issue, with more members believed to be in favour than against.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn, Transport Secretary Louise Haigh and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband have all said they will back the law.

Others, including Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, have been less explicit, but indicated their support for the measures in the Bill.

Meanwhile Ms Mahmood, Mr Streeting, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds have said they will reject the legislation.

Downing Street declined to be drawn into the row between Lord Falconer and Ms Mahmood, saying it was 'up to MPs to determine their position' and the PM 'respects that there are strongly held views on all sides of the debate'.

Sir Keir's official spokesman added: 'We've been clear that the Government will remain neutral but Cabinet members will clearly be voting as MPs with independent views.

'And it will be perfectly normal that there will be different views in that respect and it is obviously expected that they will want to explain to their constituents how they are going to vote on this highly emotive issue.'

Supporters of the Bill are optimistic that it has enough backing for the legislation to pass its second reading in the House of Commons on Friday.

But the result will not be known until a division list is published after the vote, showing which way MPs voted.
Billionaire Scott Bessent is poised to break ground as America's first openly-gay Treasury Secretary after Donald Trump selected him for the role.

If approved by the Senate after his hearing on Thursday, the 62-year-old founder of global macro investment firm Key Square Group will helm America's economic policies for the next four years.

The hedge fund heavyweight is known for running in the same social circles as King Charles, being one of Trump's closest advisors, and living in an iconic pink mansion with his husband and two children.

So what do we know about Bessent's life outside the world of finance with his husband of 13 years, ex attorney John Freeman?

Freeman is a former prosecutor, reportedly in New York City, but he has been living with Bessent in their southern mansion known as the Pink Palace for eight years.

They tied the knot in 2011, before purchasing the eight-bedroom, 10-bath home in Bessent's native South Carolina for $6.5 million in 2016.

Their three-story stucco mansion in Charleston's historic Battery neighborhood gained its reputation as the Pink Palace as a bed and breakfast before Bessent's move made it a residential property.

The couple didn't move in with their two school-age children until 2019, following a colossal three-year renovation.

Bessent, 62, primarily lives in Charleston, South Carolina with his husband, John Freeman, and two children. (Pictured: Bessent (left) with Freeman in New York, 2014)

Bessent is known for running in the same social circles as King Charles , being one of Trump's closest advisors, and living in a pink mansion (pictured) with his husband and two children

Scott Bessent is pictured alongside his husband John Freeman and one of their children - Cole Bessent Freeman - in 2012

Bessent's family is preparing to move out soon - after he listed the property for sale on October 28 for $22.25 million.

Trump's transition team said Bessent was moving elsewhere in the same city, adding that the listing, right before election day, was due to their kids flying the nest.

'Mr. Bessent is under contract to purchase another home in Charleston,' spokesman Raj Shah told the Daily Beast.

'With children no longer at home, he and his spouse are downsizing.'

Their teenage son, Cole, and younger daughter, Caroline, adopted the double-barrel surname Bessent-Freeman, and according to the Daily Beast they study abroad.

Pro-tariff Bessent and Freeman are likely moving to Washington for the second Trump administration come the inauguration on January 20.

Bessent appears to have said little in public about his relationship with Freeman specifically - but he reflected on how far gay rights have come in America since he graduated from Yale University with a degree in political science in 1984.

Bessent's three-story stucco mansion in Charleston's historic Battery neighborhood gained its reputation as the Pink Palace as a bed and breakfast until he purchased the property in 2016

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump selected Scott Bessent to be his Treasury Secretary. If approved by the Senate, he will helm America's economic policies for the next four years

'In a certain geographic region at a certain economic level, being gay is not an issue,' he told the Yale Alumni Magazine in 2015.

'What's fantastic is now, people in the rest of America, whether blue collar or white collar, have access to everything.

'If you had told me in 1984, when we graduated, and people were dying of AIDS, that 30 years later I'd be legally married and we would have two children via surrogacy, I wouldn't have believed you.'
The lame duck President Joe Biden gave Thanksgiving pardons to turkeys Blossom and Peach on Monday to save them from an American family feast.

The 82-year-old participated in his last sparing of the gobbling poultry, giving the two lucky birds a long life on a farm instead of being someone's holiday dinner.

The commander-in-chief filled his speech with cringeworthy one-liners about 'fowl' play that was at one point interrupted by Peach's gurgle.

'Yeah I hear you. Peach wants to speak a little bit,' Biden responded.

'They tell me 2500 people are here looking for a pardon!' Biden joked as he addressed the crowd on the South Lawn.

'Keep calm and gobble on' he added before turning to a more serious note to reflect on the 'honor of a lifetime' serving as president.

The lame duck President Joe Biden gave Thanksgiving pardons to turkeys Blossom and Peach on Monday to save them from an American family feast

President Joe Biden with his grandson Baby Beau

Beau Biden examines one of the turkeys

The topic of pardons has been constant in the White House with Hunter Biden facing sentencing for tax crimes next months.

The president has said repeatedly he won't pardon or commute his son's sentence.

But Biden does have the power to give a reprieve to anyone he wants, including his son, those people worried about retribution from Donald Trump, and even turkeys.

'I hereby pardon Peach and Blossom!,' he declared. While he did the pardoning, Hunter's son Baby Beau watched from the sidelines.

Blossom and Peach weight 40 and 41 pounds, respectively, and were raised on a farm in Northfield, Minnesota.

They were raised by John Zimmerman, chairman of the National Turkey Federation, and his 9-year-old son, Grant.

Zimmerman told reporters he's been training the two birds to get used to the lights, cameras and noise that take place at the pardoning.

'We've been getting them used to lights, camera and even introducing them to a wide variety of music, everything from polka to classic rock,' he said.

Ahead of their official pardon, the two lucky birds stay at the famed Willard InterContinental Washington Hotel.

President Joe Biden with grandson Baby Beau and Peach the turkey

The 82-year-old participated in his last sparing of the gobbling poultry on Monday, giving the two lucky birds a long life on a farm instead of being someone's holiday dinner

Beau Biden with Peach and Blossom, the Thanksgiving turkeys

Biden walks to the Oval Office before pardoning the National Thanksgiving turkeys

Blossom, one of two turkeys to be pardoned by President Joe Biden for Thanksgiving, sits in a crate on the White House South Lawn

Blossom and Peach stand on the South Lawn ahead of the traditional Thanksgiving Ceremony

Photographers crouch to get a photo of Blossom before the White House pardoning

After being pardoned by, the turkeys will return to live at Farmamerica, an agricultural interpretive center in Waseca, Minnesota.

There's a bit of mystery and controversy over the history of the event.

Abraham Lincoln was the first president to pardon a turkey in 1863, reportedly because his son Tad became attached to the bird.

Harry Truman was the first president to receive a live turkey from The Turkey Federation in 1948. But he and his family ate it.

The federation started sending turkeys to the White House for a pardon in 1963, when John F. Kennedy was president. He and his successors, from then on, participated in what has become a fun, if unique, tradition.

After the pardoning, Biden and first lady Jill Biden will head to New York to participate in a tradition they started with their tenure: Friendsgiving with the troops.

President Joe Biden pardons the National Thanksgiving turkey Peach, alongside Chair of the National Turkey Federation John Zimmerman and his son Grant

The two turkeys that got a reprieve pose for photos for the press at the famed Willard Hotel in Washington D.C.

Blossom and Peach weight 40 and 41 pounds, respectively, and were raised on a farm in Northfield, Minnesota

The Bidens will be in Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island to serve dinner at the U.S. Coast Guard Sector New York.

The event is part of the first lady's Joining Forces initiative.

The first family will spend Thanksgiving on Nantucket, an island off the coast of Massachusetts.

It's their long-standing tradition and they are expected to be accompanied by their family.

The Bidens are scheduled to leave on Tuesday and return on Saturday. President Biden leaves on Sunday for a trip to Angola.
The New York Times has subtly changed its headline about the murder of a rabbi in Dubai after facing fierce backlash for seemingly downplaying the 'antisemitic act of terror.'

Rabbi Zvi Kogan, 28, a Chabad emissary based in Abu Dhabi, was reported missing on Thursday, sparking suspicions that he may have been kidnapped. His body was found by the Emirati authorities early Sunday morning.

Now, the United Arab Emirates announced that it had arrested three suspects in the abduction and murder of Kogan, an Israeli-Moldovan who ran a Kosher shop in the city.

Kogan, who had relocated to Dubai in 2022 to lead the Jewish community, was described by Israeli officials as the victim of 'an abhorrent act of antisemitic terrorism.'

But the Times sparked widespread backlash when they initially reported the story with the headline, 'Israeli rabbi who disappeared in Dubai is found dead.'

Politicians and public figures erupted on social media with critics accusing the outlet of erasing the violent and antisemitic nature of the brutal crime.

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo accused the outlet of routinely 'downplaying' antisemitic acts.

'Rabbi Kogan was not 'found dead', he was murdered,' Cuomo wrote on X. 'There is a disturbing pattern whereby some in the media  and particularly the @nytimes downplay antisemitic acts. It must be called out and addressed.'

The New York Times has subtly changed its headline about the murder of a rabbi in Dubai after facing fierce backlash for seemingly downplaying the 'antisemitic act of terror'

But the Times sparked widespread backlash when they initially reported the story with the headline, 'Israeli rabbi who disappeared in Dubai is found dead'

By Monday morning, the headline was quietly updated to, 'An Israeli Rabbi Is Abducted and Killed in the U.A.E'

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) also slammed the Times, writing, 'Contrary to the NY Times, Rabbi Zvi Kogan did not just 'disappear' in Dubai. He was abducted and murdered because he was a Jew. The media should call the kidnapping and killing of Rabbi Kogan exactly what it is: an act of antisemitic terror.'

Former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh agreed, calling out the outlet to 'be better.'

'Excuse me @nytimes, the rabbi didn't 'disappear.' He was abducted and then killed. He was targeted & killed because he was Jewish. It was an act of terrorism. Be better than this New York Times,'

By Monday morning, the headline was quietly updated to, 'An Israeli Rabbi Is Abducted and Killed in the U.A.E.'

Politicians and public figures erupted on social media with critics accusing the outlet of erasing the violent and antisemitic nature of the brutal crime. Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo accused the outlet of routinely 'downplaying' antisemitic acts

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) also slammed the Times

Former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh agreed, calling out the outlet to 'be better'

The United Arab Emirates announced that it had arrested three suspects in the murder of Kogan.

'The ministry of interior announced that the UAE authorities have arrested in record time the three perpetrators involved in the murder' of Tzvi Kogan, a statement carried by the official WAM news agency said.

The ministry described Mr Kogan as 'a Moldovan national according to his identification documents at the time of entry into the UAE, where he lived as a resident'.

Kogan's body had been found by security services in the UAE, the Israeli prime minister's office and the foreign ministry said.

The Israeli-Moldovan national was living and working in the UAE as a representative of the Chabad Hasidic movement, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group known for its outreach efforts worldwide.

Rabbi Zvi Kogan, 2 8, a Chabad emissary based in Abu Dhabi, was reported missing on Thursday when suspicions started to grow that he may have been kidnapped. His body was found by the Emirati authorities early Sunday morning

Now, the United Arab Emirates announced that it had arrested three suspects in the abduction and murder of Kogan, an Israeli-Moldovan who ran a Kosher shop in the city

A man walks past Rimon Market, a Kosher grocery store managed by the late Rabbi Zvi Kogan, in Dubai

The Times has faced repeated accusations of antisemitism in its reporting.

In September, The Times has been criticized over an article that claimed Hezbollah terror boss Hassan Nasrallah was a 'gifted orator' who wanted 'equality' for all religions.

The article, titled 'Protesters Mourn Nasrallah's Death Around the World', was uploaded onto the publication's website on Saturday and quickly began receiving a flurry of backlash, criticism, and mockery across social media.

The short article - which came in the wake of Nasrallah's killing- praised the Hezbollah terror boss, calling him a 'powerful orator' who was 'beloved among many Shiite Muslims', in part for providing 'social services' in Lebanon.

It also stated Nasrallah 'maintained that there should be one Palestine with equality for Muslims, Jews, and Christians'.

But the terror leader notoriously believed in the destruction of the Jewish state and his radical Iran-backed militant organization carried out several deadly attacks on Jews around the world.
MSNBC star Jonathan Capehart has confessed that he feels conflicted that Donald Trump chose an openly-gay man as his pick to lead the Treasury Department.

Capehart, who is also gay, said he feels torn about Scott Bessent's nomination because a Republican president has selected the highest ranking gay government official ever, not a Democrat.

'You know if confirmed, he would be the highest ranking out LGBT person ever to serve  to be appointed and confirmed by the United States Senate,' Capehart

'And I said, you know, kind of conflicted about it.'

Guest Jon Reinish, a Democratic strategist, then stepped in, saying: 'In that case, credit where it's due...

'It is very interesting, yes, that is Trump and not one of our team that made that historic nomination.'

President-elect Trump announced the money manager as his pick to run the Treasury on Friday.

Bessent is a past supporter of Democrats who has become an enthusiastic supporter of Trump. Hes an advocate of cutting spending while extending the tax cuts approved by Congress in Trumps first term.

MSNBC star Jonathan Capehart has confessed that he feels conflicted that Donald Trump chose an openly-gay man as his pick to lead the Treasury Department

President-elect Trump announced Scott Bessent as his pick to run the Treasury on Friday

He has been married to former prosecutor John Freeman since 2011 and they have two sons.

Before becoming a Trump donor and adviser, Bessent donated to various Democratic causes in the early 2000s, notably Al Gores presidential run. He also worked for George Soros, a major supporter of Democrats.

Bessent, 62, would be the first openly LGBTQ Senate-confirmed cabinet member in a Republican administration.

In 2020, Trump named Richard Grenell, who is openly gay, acting director of national intelligence. However, the role was not subject to Senate confirmation.

Pete Buttigieg is the first openly LGBT Senate-confirmed Cabinet member, nominated by President Joe Biden to lead the transportation department.

In 2015, Bessent told the Yale Alumni Magazine: 'If you had told me in 1984, when we graduated, and people were dying of AIDS, that 30 years later Id be legally married and we would have two children via surrogacy, I wouldnt have believed you.'

Bessent follows other financial luminaries who have taken the job, including former Goldman Sachs executives Robert Rubin, Hank Paulson and Steven Mnuchin, Trump's first Treasury chief.

Janet Yellen, the current secretary and first woman in the job, previously chaired the Federal Reserve and White House Council of Economic Advisers.

Guest Jon Reinish, a Democratic strategist, stepped in, saying: 'It is very interesting, yes, that is Trump and not one of our team that made that historic nomination'

Scott Bessent is pictured alongside his husband John Freeman and one of their two sons, Cole Bessent Freeman. Pictured together in July 2012

As the 79th Treasury secretary, Bessent would essentially be the highest-ranking U.S. economic official, responsible for maintaining the plumbing of the world's largest economy, from collecting taxes and paying the nation's bills to managing the $28.6-trillion Treasury debt market and overseeing financial regulation, including handling and preventing market crises.

The Treasury boss also runs U.S. financial sanctions policy, oversees the U.S.-led International Monetary Fund, World Bank and other international financial institutions, and manages national security screenings of foreign investments in the U.S.

Writing on Truth Social making the announcement, Trump explained Bessent's credentials.

'I am most pleased to nominate Scott Bessent to serve as the 79th Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. Scott is widely respected as one of the World's foremost International Investors and Geopolitical and Economic Strategists,' Trump began.

'Scott's story is that of the American Dream. Scott has long been a strong advocate of the America First Agenda. On the eve of our Great Country's 250th Anniversary, he will help me usher in a new Golden Age for the United States, as we fortify our position as the World's leading Economy, Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurialism, Destination for Capital, while always, and without question, maintaining the U.S. Dollar as the Reserve Currency of the World,' Trump wrote.
A man has been jailed for life after he stabbed a rival to death with a 'sword' in a revenge attack.

Kyiza Sandiford, 23, killed Keelen Wong, 22, on Coldharbour Lane in Brixton, south-west London, on October 3 last year.

Jurors were forced to watch the footage, as Sandiford twisted the knife into Mr Wong and then left the blade in his body, which was caught on a car dashcam.

Sandiford, from Merton, south-west London, was jailed for life on Friday, November 22, and will serve a minimum term of 23 years in prison.

Two teenage defendants were found not guilty of the murder but one, aged 16, was found guilty of possession of an offensive weapon.

Prosecutor Jacob Hallam, KC said the killers believed Mr Wong had been involved in the murder of their friend Ronaldo Scott.

Scott, 21, was stabbed to death on Morrison Road, Brixton, a month earlier on September 4, 2023, but no one has been arrested for his murder.

Sandiford was found guilty on Thursday, October 17 following a five-week trial.

Kyiza Sandiford (pictured), 23, was jailed for life and will serve a minimum term of 23 years in prison

Keelen Wong (pictured), 22, was stabbed to death on Coldharbour Lane in Brixton, southwest London, on October 3 last year

CCTV footage shows Sandiford running down the street while brandishing a large knife

During the trial Mr Hallam said: 'It unfolded directly in front of a horrified motorist, Kate Campbell, as she sat in a queue of traffic waiting for some lights to change, directly behind the Polo into which Keelen Wong was leaning.

'It was also a killing that was, literally, caught on camera, because she had a dashcam in her car and it recorded everything.

'As well as this dashcam footage, the approach of the group of three, the prosecution say these three defendants and their departure was captured on CCTV cameras from the surrounding areas.'

Sandiford yelled: 'You think I wouldn't catch you?' before he stabbed Mr Wong.

Ms Campbell said the killer twisted the knife as it went in, before running away. Police and paramedics attended but Mr Wong's life could not be saved.

A post-mortem found the wound left by the knife was ten inches deep.

Mr Hallam showed the jury the knife inside a large box and said: 'I call it a knife, other people have described it as being like a sword. Given its size, you can see why.'

In his impact statement, Keelen's father Jerome Wong said: 'How old are you going to be when you finally realise that the culture you uphold so passionately makes you hate yourself.

Sandiford shouted 'You think I wouldn't catch you before plunging the knife into Mr Wong in broad daylight

Sandiford believed Keelen Wong had been involved in the murder of his friend Ronaldo Scott (pictured)

'You put scores of people through a horrific trial process even though you knew it was you.

'You're here for murder, that's what's happening here today, your good years are being taken from you today.

'You foolish man. I tried so hard to be angry at you, but I'm not - I'm more mad at the culture, and how the culture has manipulated you, chewed you up and spit you out, made you a hopeless pawn in the equation.'

Judge Rebecca Trowler KC told Sandiford: 'At the time of this murder Keelen Wong was just 22, the devastation wreaked upon Keelen's family is set out among the impact statements from his family.

'Keelen was plainly, deeply loved and treasured and his death has taken a heavy toll on various members of the family in a variety of ways.

'There is no punishment in terms of years that can bring Keelen back or erase the irreparable harm caused by his murder.

'All I can do is recognise the dignity and courage with which his family endured the trial and in particular as the last minutes of Keelen's life were played over and over again.

'Keelen Wong died as a result of a single stab wound, you Kyiza Sandiford inflicted that stab wound.'

Police recently re-issued CCTV images of two hooded men dressed in black running from the scene of the attack after the murder of Scott

The two men caught on CCTV are wanted in connection with the murder of Sandiford's friend Ronaldo Scott

There was 'compelling evidence' that the killing was gang-related, as Sandiford believed Keelen to be a member of a rival gang.

Police recently re-issued CCTV images of two hooded men dressed in black running from the scene of the attack after the murder of Ronaldo Scott but so far nobody has been arrested in connection with his death.

The judge added: 'At the moment where you stabbed Keelen Wong you had an intention to kill him, the blow was aimed at his vital organs.

'There is compelling evidence that the motive for this killing was that you believed Keelen Wong to be a member of or associated with a gang in the local area, a gang which was in dispute with the gang I am sure you were a member of.'

Beth O'Reilly KC, defending told the court that Sandiford had been mentally and physically abused as a child and had been put into care aged 13.

The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will serve a nine-month rehabilitation order including a weapons awareness course for possession of the bladed article.
Russia has recruited hundreds of Yemeni mercenaries to reinforce its lines in Ukraine under the false promise of high salaried work and Russian citizenship, sources claim.

Recruits say they have already been sent to the frontlines after being inducted into the Russian military with help from a Houthi-linked company.

Many of those heading to Russia claim to have been press-ganged into the military under the promise of a well-paid career away from the frontlines, recruits told the FT.

Yemenis expecting substantial salaries and safe employment in manufacturing roles say they were threatened and taken to Ukraine with little training after arriving.

Russia has, in recent weeks, looked to avoid full mobilisation by drawing on support from some 12,000 North Korean troops and mercenaries from India and Nepal.

Houthi supporters chant slogans while holding their weapons up during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sana'a, Yemen, on November 22

Ukrainian servicemen fire a 2s5 'Hyacinth-s' self-propelled howitzer towards Russian troops on the frontline, near Chasiv Yar on November 18

The Russian army's multiple rocket launcher Solntsepyok fires towards Ukrainian positions in the border area of Kursk region, Russia, released November 13

Vladimir Putin holds a meeting with the Defense Ministry leadership and representatives of the defense industry on November 22, in Moscow

The recruitment of Yemeni soldiers 'appears to have begun as early as July', the FT reports, months before Kim Jong Un sent his forces to buttress Putin's lines.

One recruit estimated that he was part of one group of some 200 Yemenis conscripted to fight in Russia in September.

Some say they were tricked into joining after signing enlistment contracts they could not read, and were told they would be working in lucrative fields like engineering.

When they arrived in Russia, a recruit said a man fired a pistol above their heads and ordered them to sign a contract before they were taken to Ukraine on buses.

The recruit who joined in September said he was only hoping to earn enough money to finish his studies before arriving in Ukraine and dressed in Russian uniform.

Recruits told the Financial Times they had come under bombardment, had no rest time and that one had ended up in hospital after trying to take their own life.

Contracts seen by the FT reference a company in Oman founded by Houthi politician Abdulwali Abdo Hassan al-Jabri.

Officials have suggested for months that Yemeni Houthi rebels have been working with Russia to trade weapons and data driving their Red Sea operations.

Deals have reportedly been overseen by Iranian agents, allegedly helping Russia negotiate the sale of missiles and satellite data to the Houthis.

Information was passed on from Russia to members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps embedded within the Houthi ranks, a source told the WSJ last month.

A report citing western officials suggested Russia has sought to intentionally destabilise the region by backing the Houthis to undermine Western allies.

The Houthis have targeted more than 100 vessels since November in solidarity with Hamas over the ongoing war between Israel and Gaza, disrupting trade.

One motivation for Moscow to arm the Houthis, well-placed sources told Reuters last month, was the looming threat of the US allowing Ukraine to use long-range missiles to strike deep into Russian territory.

The US ceded permission last week as President Joe Biden looks to give Ukraine the upper hand before leaving office to be replaced by Donald Trump next year.

Western and regional sources with knowledge of the issue said at the time that Russia was yet to decide whether to send Yakhont missiles to the Houthis.

Experts said the missiles would allow them to more accurately strike commercial vessels and increase the threat to the U.S. and European warships defending them.

Police evacuate a family from the village of Yelyzavetivka in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, in the Kurakhove direction on November 14

The oil tanker Cordelia Moon bursts into flames after being hit by a missile in the Red Sea, off Yemen's Red Sea Port of Hodeida, in this screengrab from a video released on October 1, 2024

A child gestures as protesters, mainly Houthi supporters, rally to show support to Lebanon's Hezbollah and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in Sanaa, Yemen, November 22, 2024

Smoke rising from the Sounion following Yemen's Houthis attacks, in the Red Sea, August 29

The Yakhont is considered one of the world's most advanced anti-ship missiles, designed to skim the sea's surface to avoid detection at more than twice the speed of sound, making it difficult to intercept.

Edmund Fitton-Brown, Senior Advisor to the Counter Extremism Project and former Ambassador of the UK to Yemen, told MailOnline that the claims were 'very concerning if true' and appear 'credible' so far as Iran and Russia are 'locked in a rejectionist-disruptor embrace'.

'One key Russian objective is to show US weakness and thus make Trump's reelection more likely,' he said. 'That potential strategic gain overrides all other considerations.'

'Any successful upgrade of Houthi capabilities would also likely draw a kinetic Israeli response,' Mr Fitton-Brown warned, adding that such a deal could 'draw clearer lines of alliances' between an axis of Russia and Iran against the West.
Sir Keir Starmer today revealed his 'tiny' new kitten Prince is yet to meet Downing Street's famous cat Larry.

The Prime Minister expressed his concern that fur could fly in No10 if the pair were to cross paths.

The Stamer family adopted Prince, a Siberian kitten, not long after moving into Downing Street this summer.

It followed what the PM had described as 'negotiations' with his children about getting a dog.

Asked for an update on Prince during an appearance on ITV's This Morning, Sir Keir said: 'Prince is the name of the kitten. So, Prince and Larry haven't met yet.

'I am worried that Larry will come off the better - the kitten is tiny.'

Sir Keir Starmer revealed his 'tiny' new kitten Prince is yet to meet Downing Street 's famous cat Larry

Larry the cat, whose title is Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, is Downing Street's most famous feline occupant

Larry is known to get into scrapes and was previously pictured brawling with Palmerston - the resident feline at the Foreign Office

Larry the cat, whose title is Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, is Downing Street's most famous feline occupant.

But he is known to get into scrapes and was previously pictured brawling with Palmerston - the resident feline at the Foreign Office.

Since the Starmer family moved into the flat above No 11, Larry has been joined by the PM's rescue cat Jojo, and now Prince.

Sir Keir also told ITV how he had visited an escape room for his daughter's birthday over the weekend.

'When she first said it, I said, 'Oh, that's great. I'll have a nice cup of coffee, and we'll see you when you get out',' he said.

'She said. 'No, no, no, you're in there with me'. So we did it yesterday.'

He added the family would now start making its Christmas plans following the event.

Asked about his choice of Christmas film, the PM said he was likely to be at the back of the queue when it came to choosing.

'Love Actually would be quite interesting this year actually,' he added.

In the 2003 Richard Curtis comedy, Hugh Grant plays a fictional prime minister, who in one scene dances through the halls of an empty Downing Street.

Palmerston has retired from mousing duties at the Foreign Office in 2020 and moved to the countryside.
Donald Trump finished rounding out his Cabinet and top White House positions over the weekend, but his team has yet to sign the ethics and transparency agreements that the federal government needs for a traditional transition.

A Trump spokesman said they continue to 'constructively engage' with the Biden-Harris administration, but watchdogs warn that delays could cause problems next year when the new team takes charge.

It means the basics of the transition cannot yet begin, such as deploying 'landing teams' of appointees to department or even requesting FBI background checks for nominees.

Three senators raised the alarm with Politico, saying that it could prevent key nominees getting confirmed.

'If there is a lack of proper investigation into a nominee, I don't think [the Senate Armed Services Committee] would allow the nomination to move forward,' Sen. Tim Kaine, a senior Democratic member of the panel, told the website.

Trump moved quickly to appoint his Cabinet, drawing positive comparisons with 2016 when no-one expected him to win.

However, other aspects of the transition have stalled. He has yet to cooperate with the White House Correspondents Association in drawing up a transition pool of reporters to cover his events.

And his senior figures have yet to sign the government agreements that allow them to work with agencies.

Donald Trump has been holed up at Mar-a-Lago since winning the election, building his administration. He is seen here with House Speaker Mike Johnson

Trump picked RFK Jr t o head Health and Human Services, but his advisers have been rebuffed in their attempts to coordinate with the department

It means that when advisers to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. contacted the Health and Human Services Department after he was named to lead the massive agency, their requests for meetings were reportedly rebuffed.

It leaves Trump without access to anything that isn't public, such as classified national security information, details of U.S. involvement in conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as conversations with allies.

Nor is the team able to use secure government servers for communications.

None of that worries Trump and his team at Mar-a-Lago.

'He picked his Cabinet in record time,' said a source familiar with the thinking. 'This is all going just the way he wants it.'

But Valerie Smith Boyd, the director of the Center for Presidential Transition at the Partnership for Public Service, said there was no precedent for a transition without signing the usual memoranda of understanding.

'The main thing that it says is that the members of the transition team will be bound by an ethics agreement that ensures that theyre using information appropriately, that they limit the use of lobbyists and foreign agents, and that individuals who leave the transition and go back to the private sector wont use this information for personal gain,' she told Politico.

It marks a contrast to 2016, when Trump's team signed all the paperwork before Election Day, as Joe Biden did in 2020, and Kamala Harris did this time around.

Trump transition spokesman Brian Hughes said: 'The Trump-Vance transition lawyers continue to constructively engage with the Biden-Harris Administration lawyers regarding all agreements contemplated by the Presidential Transition Act.

'We will update you once a decision is made.'
Two pandas shipped from China to a zoo in Washington DC were captured on adorable video footage enjoying life in their new home.

Bao Li and Qing Bao, the pair of three-year-old giant pandas, got to participate in playtime at Washington's National Zoo in preparation for their official debut in January after they arrived in the country from Beijing earlier this month in the latest occurrence of China's so-called 'panda diplomacy.'

And the lovable bears even got to experience snowfall for the very first time.

The heartwarming video footage captured one of the pandas jumping off a platform in the enclosure before excitedly trotting toward an enrichment toy - a toy that encourages them to play while using their natural behavior to help them feel more at home.

Video then showed him hysterically prancing around the toy and jumping up and down on two paws before trotting away.

Footage at a closer angle captured the pandas doing somersaults under the trees with their toys in hand as they rolled around through the fallen leaves - seemingly making themselves right at home.

The endearing animals snacked on carrots, bamboo and apples and joyously played in falling snowflakes during the state's first real taste of winter Friday morning after the 'bomb cyclone' hit areas in the East Coast - leaving behind storms and light snowfall.

Their arrival marked a rare diplomatic success between the US and China after relations between the two global powers deteriorated in recent years following tensions over trade and geopolitics.

Adorable video footage captured Bao Li and Qing Bao, the pair of three-year-old giant pandas sent from Beijing in the latest occurrence of China's so-called 'panda diplomacy', enjoying their life in their new home at Washington's National Zoo

The pandas rolled around in the fallen leaves while playing and munched on some carrots and apples
Visitors to Wales face paying a 1.25-per-night tourism tax when staying overnight in the country - despite fears the 'anti-English' levy will drive holidaymakers away.

The Welsh Government is introducing legislation to give councils the power to apply a visitor levy to accommodation bills.

Anyone staying in a hostel or on a campsite pitch would pay 75p per person per night, while it would be 1.25 per person per night for people staying in all other accommodation types, such as hotels, Airbnbs and self-catering properties.

These figures do not include 20 per cent VAT, which would bring the nightly charge to 1.50 and amounts to 42 for a family of four spending a week in Wales.

The Welsh Government said VAT was a reserved issue for the UK government and it could not yet confirm whether it would be levied on the charge.

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Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford said: 'This Bill is rooted in the principle of fairness'

The measure is being introduced in the face of heated opposition from hospitality chiefs, small businesses and tourism bosses, who have warned of its economic impacts.

Ashford Price, a stalwart of the Welsh Association of Visitor Attractions (WAVA), warned a tax would damage the country's tourism sector and reflected a 'growing feeling of anti-English and anti-tourist sentiment' within the Welsh government.

'How many of our potential customers will simply vote with their feet and go to Devon, Ireland, or Scotland rather than pay yet another tax at a time when they are trying to cope with a personal cost of living crisis?' he asked.

William Lees-Jones, who runs the 194-year-old chain JW Lees Brewery, warned any new tax would mean prospective tourists go to Spain rather than Wales.

He told MailOnline: 'It [the tourist tax] will be a disaster. People will just end up going to Spain instead.'

Ministers have said the levy would raise money to spend on local tourism activity and infrastructure.

The Visitor Accommodation Bill will also include a registration scheme for accommodation providers.

It will need the Senedd's approval and councils may only introduce it by 2027.

Visitor levies are used in many parts of the world, including Manchester, Greece, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and California.

Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford said: 'This Bill is rooted in the principle of fairness.

'We know tourism makes an important contribution to the Welsh economy and to Welsh life. We want to ensure its long-term sustainability.

'That's why we believe it is fair visitors contribute towards local facilities, helping to fund infrastructure and services integral to their experience.

'Visitor levies are common around the world - benefiting local communities, tourists and businesses - and we want the same for Wales.

'Money raised through a levy would be retained by local authorities and reinvested back into their local areas to support local, sustainable tourism.

'It's a small contribution that could make a big difference.'

William Lees-Jones, (left) who runs the 194-year-old chain JW Lees Brewery with dozens of pubs across Wales, warned any new tax would mean prospective tourists go to Spain rather than Wales

A statutory registration scheme for all accommodation providers is expected to start operating in 2026 to support the collection and administration of a visitor levy.

It will include details about who is operating in the sector, where and how they are operating, help to establish a better understanding of the sector and support future policy decisions at a local and national level.

Councillor Andrew Morgan, leader of the Welsh Local Government Association, said: 'This Bill will give councils the option to introduce a visitor levy on overnight stays.

'It's a way to raise extra funds to support local services and improve amenities that benefit both visitors and the community.

'Each council will decide how to apply the levy based on what's best for their area, recognising that it may be suitable in some parts of Wales but not in others.

'Councils will carefully consider local circumstances and ensure residents are consulted before any decisions are made.

'We're glad to have worked closely with the Welsh Government on this and look forward to seeing the draft legislation in the coming weeks, which will mark an important step forward for Wales' tourism and local economies.'

Peter Fox, the Welsh Conservative finance spokesman, said a tourism tax would cost jobs and not attract more visitors to Wales.

'We've been absolutely clear from the start that this policy is the wrong one for Wales,' he said.

'A tourism tax will risk jobs at a time when businesses are being clobbered by Labour, it will impose red tape and it will work against its own aims by encouraging visitors to use more council-maintained attractions and services.

'Our tourism industry should be nurtured by the Welsh Government, not hamstrung by new taxes.'

Ministers have said the levy on visitors would raise money to spend on local tourism activity and infrastructure

William McNamara, chief executive of Bluestone National Park Resort in Pembrokeshire, said: "While we have slightly more clarity on the proposed visitor levy, including the 1.25 overnight charge, there remain concerns about its potential impact on the tourism sector.

"Wales risks becoming less attractive to visitors, especially families, who may view this as an additional cost in an already competitive UK market, particularly as this levy is not being introduced in England.

"The flexibility for councils to raise charges in the future also adds an element of uncertainty that must be carefully managed.

"Tourism is the backbone of communities like Pembrokeshire, and reinvestment in rural areas can undoubtedly bring benefits.

"However, the success of this levy will depend on clear accountability for how funds are used and a commitment to ensuring Wales remains a welcoming and competitive destination for all."
Donald Trump's incoming border czar Tom Homan says it's guaranteed that the future president will pull federal funds from states that don't comply with his mass deportation plans.

Homan, who served in the highest echelons of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under Presidents Barack Obama and Trump, was recently tapped by the president-elect to serve as 'border czar,' a role tailor-made to carry out Trump's deportation mandate.

The president-elect repeatedly claimed while campaigning that on day one he would pull off the 'largest deportation program in American history.'

Homan will be tasked with helping Trump make good on that promise.

Speaking on Fox News with host Mark Levin on Saturday, the host suggested that the border czar has an important tool at his disposal to force states to comply with the mass deportations.

'Much like the Confederacy, they want to go on their own,' Levin said of states not wanting to enforce deportations. 'They want to do their own thing. To me, you got a powerful weapon among others, okay, no federal funds  boom  last thoughts?'

Homan didn't waste a beat, confirming immediately that states and municipalities that don't 'cooperate' with federal immigration agents will have their federal funds restricted.

'That is going to happen,' Homan stated. 'I guarantee President Trump will do that.'

A migrant from Venezuela climbs over a border fence in an attempt to enter and seek asylum in El Paso, Texas, from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, on April 2, 2024

Since FY 2021 agents have encountered nearly 11 million migrants trying to enter the U.S.

Restricting the federal funds that typically flow to the states could have devastating impacts on every member of the union.

States routinely take in billions of dollars in revenue in the form of federal grants.

In FY 2021 California received a whopping $163 billion dollars from the feds while New York took in $110 billion and Texas $106 billion, according to federal data.

Though those numbers are inflated due to the expensive federal response to COVID-19 at the time, which infused states with extra cash, the trend remains, and states still routinely receive tens of billions annually.

Federal grants were the second-largest revenue source for states in FY 2022, according to a Pew analysis.

There have been nearly 11 million migrant encounters since the start of FY 2021, federal data shows.

By comparison, during Trump's first administration between fiscal years 2017 - 2020, there were just 3.1 million encounters.

The record levels of illegal immigration have irked Americans across the country, as evidenced by poll after poll showing that migration and border security ranked among the top issues for voters in this year's election.

Democrats, meanwhile, have bristled at the thought that migrants who illegally entered the U.S. may face deportation.

And some are signaling they will defy any immigration order, putting them directly at odds with the incoming administration.

Democratic Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, for example, said that he would work to keep federal immigration officials out of his town should they work to deport migrants there.

He said that the effort could turn into a dangerous stand-off akin to the infamous 1989 Tiananmen Square protest in China.

'It's like the Tiananmen Square moment with the rose and the gun, right? You'd have every one of those Highland moms who came out for the migrants. And you do not want to mess with them,' Johnston said.

Homan said that it us guaranteed Trump will restrict federal funding to states that do not comply with his deportation mission

U.S. President Donald Trump visits a section of the U.S.-Mexico border wall in Otay Mesa, California, U.S. September 18, 2019

Trump promised to carry out the largest deportation mission in history after years of record illegal immigration under President Joe Biden

Homan took Johnston's comments head on, telling Levin that mayors and governors who try to work against Trump and his team's deportation plans are complicit in gruesome migrant-related crimes, such as the notorious murder of Georgia college student Laken Riley, who was slain by a Venezuelan migrant that entered the U.S. illegally.

'For those mayors and those governors who say theyre going to stop ICE from doing their job, stop me from doing this job, listen to the Laken Riley tape,' Homan said.

'Listen to the 17 minutes of this girl suffering, fighting for her life, fighting for her breath.'

'This little girl didnt want to die, she fought like hell. Listen to that tape. That happens every day across this country at the hands of an illegal alien.'

Roughly 35 percent of Colorado's revenue in FY 2022 came from federal grants, Pew data shows, meaning Johnston's state could see a huge reduction in funds should they not comply with Trump's immigration orders.

And the border czar reiterated that the deportation mission will protect Americans.

'President Trump has made it clear, were going to prioritize public safety threats and national security threats right out of the gate because they pose the most danger to this country.'

'What governor or mayor doesnt want public safety threats and national security threats out of their neighborhoods, out of their communities? Thats their number one responsibility.'

So, you can hate Trump all you want, but youve got to love your community more than you hate President Trump,' Homan added.
Germany is drawing up a list of bunkers that could provide emergency shelter to civilians in the event of war amid growing World War Three fears over soaring tensions with Russia over the war in Ukraine.

The Interior Ministry announced underground train stations, car parks, state buildings and private properties could all be harnessed for protection if a war between Ukraine's Western backers and Russia does break out.

The plans were announced as a leading NATO official urged businesses to prepare for a 'wartime scenario' and adjust their production and distribution lines to be less vulnerable to blackmail from Russia and its allies.

Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer, the chair of NATO's military committee, warned companies at an event of the European Policy Centre think tank today that western dependencies left allies open to pressure from both Russia and China.

'Business leaders in Europe and America need to realise that the commercial decisions they make have strategic consequences for the security of their nation,' he stressed, adding: 'While it may be the military who wins battles, it's the economies that win wars.'

Reservist soldiers shoot Heckler & Koch G36 rifles as they train in Germany, October 23, 2024

A German army Main battle tank Leopard 2A7V takes part in the Lithuanian-German division-level international military exercise 'Grand Quadriga 2024' in Lithuania on May 29, 2024

A Ukrainian serviceman fires a 120-mm mortar towards Russian troops at a frontline, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the town of Chasiv Yar, Ukraine, on November 19

A Leopard 2 tank is seen in action at the Field Marshal Rommel Barracks in Augustdorf, Germany, February 1, 2023

'If we can make sure that all crucial services and goods can be delivered no matter what, then that is a key part of our deterrence,' Admiral Bauer, said in Brussels today.

'We're seeing that with the growing number of sabotage acts, and Europe has seen that with energy supply,' Bauer said.

'We thought we had a deal with Gazprom, but we actually had a deal with Mr Putin. And the same goes for Chinese-owned infrastructure and goods. We actually have a deal with (Chinese President) Xi (Jinping).'

Bauer noted western dependencies on supplies from China, with 60% of all rare earth materials produced and 90% processed there.

He said chemical ingredients for sedatives, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and low blood pressure medicines were also coming from China.

'We are naive if we think the Communist Party will never use that power.'

Bauer also warned that Russia's land forces are bigger now than at the time of Moscow's full-scale invasion nearly three years ago, but said their quality has decreased since.

'The quality of those forces has gone down,' the Chair of NATO's Military Committee, Dutchman Admiral Rob Bauer, said, pointing to the state of the force's equipment and the level of training of its soldiers.

'At the moment, the Russians are not the same threat as in February 2022, so we have a bit of time to prepare ourselves,' he said, adding that this meant ramping up investments into the defence industry.

He added that NATO allies will need to spend much closer to 3% of their gross domestic product on their militaries to implement the alliance's new defence plans, as costs will surpass the alliance's existing 2% target.

'The overall percentage that is necessary to make the new plans executable is much closer to 3% of GDP than it is to 2%,' Bauer said today.

'I expect that under the new (Donald) Trump administration (in the U.S.), there will be a much more intense discussion about how much more Europe and Canada need to spend, and that is a healthy and valid discussion to be had.'

Ukrainian servicemen with firearms overcome an obstacle course during a basic combined military training on November 24, in Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine

A tank destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the town of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, November 25, 2024

A Tiger attack helicopter of the Bundeswehr takes part in exercises in Lithuania, May 29

On top of defence spending, NATO countries have taken additional precautions in civil defence to ensure if a war does break out, civilians are protected and know how to safeguard themselves against potential threats.

Germany's Interior Ministry announced today that a digital directory of all bunkers and emergency shelters will be drawn up so people can find them quickly using a planned phone app.

People will also be encouraged to create protective shelters in their homes by converting basements and garages, a spokesman told a press briefing.

He declined to give a timetable, saying it was a 'big project' that would take 'some time', involving the Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance and other authorities.

The country of 83 million has 579 bunkers, mostly dating from World War II and the Cold War era, which can provide shelter for 480,000 people - down from about 2,000 bunkers previously, he said.

The key points of the plan were agreed at a conference of senior officials in June, and a special group is now looking into it, the spokesman said.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, concerns have been growing about Moscow's potential to one day target other NATO members.

In October German intelligence chiefs warned that Russia will likely be capable of launching an attack on the military alliance by 2030.

German officials say the country is already facing a surge in Russian spying and sabotage activities.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week warned the conflict in Ukraine had characteristics of a 'global' war and did not rule out strikes on Western countries.

Ukrainian service members attend military exercises during drills in Chernihiv, November 22

Ukrainian soldiers from the Chervona Kalyna Brigade fire Soviet-era 2S1 artillery in Pokrovsk, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on November 15

Burnt cars lie near a apartment building damaged by a Russian drone's strike on November 22

The frontline city of Chasiv Yar in ruins after heavy fighting, on November 11

Tensions have ratcheted up in the wake of Russia's use of what appeared to be an experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile on Dnipro on November 21.

The missile - dubbed the Oreshnik - carries multiple warheads, is believed to be nuclear-capable, and travels at a speed and trajectory that makes it difficult to intercept.

Analysts have warned the missile was designed to send a message of 'back off' to the West after the US finally conceded Ukraine the right to use its ATACMS missiles to hit deep into Russia as Ukraine looks to slow the momentum of advancing troops.

Putin said that Russia would keep testing its new hypersonic Oreshnik missile 'including in combat conditions' depending on the 'situation and the nature of the security threats that are created for Russia' in televised comments on Friday.
Iran's supreme leader has claimed Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be 'sentenced to death' for alleged war crimes committed in the ongoing wars in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the remarks Monday during an event in which he spoke to members of the Basij, the all-volunteer arm of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

Khamenei added that the International Criminal Court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Israel's former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was 'not enough.'

'What the Zionist regime did in Gaza and Lebanon is not a victory, it is a war crime. Now they have issued a warrant for their arrest. This is not enough!' Khamenei said, according to remarks published by the state-run IRNA news agency.

'Netanyahu and the criminal leaders of this regime must be sentenced to death.'

The International Criminal Court at the Hague does not issue death sentences.

Khamenei also insisted those in Iran's self-described 'Axis of Resistance,' like the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah, would be stronger after the war.

'The idiots should not think that bombing houses and hospitals in Gaza and Lebanon is a victory,' he said. 'The enemy has not become winner in Gaza and Lebanon, and it will not be winner.'

Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei (pictured) has claimed Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be 'sentenced to death' for alleged war crimes

Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured) faces an international arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court

A view of destruction after Israeli airstrike on a building at Nuseirat Camp in Gaza Strip on November 24, 2024

It comes as the Israeli ambassador to Washington claimed a ceasefire deal to end fighting between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah could be reached 'within days.'

Ambassador Mike Herzog told Israeli Army Radio on Monday that there remained 'points to finalize' and that any deal required agreement from the government. But he said 'we are close to a deal' and that 'it can happen within days.'

Among the issues that remain is an Israeli demand to reserve the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations under the emerging deal. The deal seeks to push Hezbollah and Israeli troops out of southern Lebanon.

Israel accuses Hezbollah of not adhering to a UN resolution that ended the 2006 war between the sides that made similar provisions.

It said it has concerns that Hezbollah could stage a Hamas-style cross-border attack from southern Lebanon if it maintains a heavy presence there.

Lebanon says Israel also violated the 2006 resolution. Lebanon complains about military jets and naval ships entering Lebanese territory even when there is no active conflict.

It is not clear whether Lebanon would agree to the demand.

Palestinian families, forcibly displaced by Israeli army and took refuge at tent camps, struggle due to harsh weather conditions amid the ongoing Israeli attacks in Khan Yunis, Gaza on November 24, 2024

A Palestinian inspects the rubble of a house that was destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on November 24, 2024

A Palestinian girl rests on the debris of a destroyed building west of Gaza City, on November 25, 2024

The optimism surrounding a deal comes after a top U.S. envoy held talks between the sides last week in a bid to clinch a deal.

Hezbollah began attacking Israel on October 8, 2023, a day after Hamas' horrific raid on southern Israel, in which the terror group killed around 1,200 people and kidnapped around 250 people.

That escalated into all-out war in September with massive Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon and later an Israeli ground incursion into the country's south.

Hezbollah has fired thousands of rockets into Israeli cities and towns, including some 250 on Sunday.
Britain will not join the growing number of 'voices of weakness' urging the West to appease Vladimir Putin despite his threats to target the West, a senior Labour minister vowed today.

Speaking at a Nato conference, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden blasted the Russian despot over recent threats to lower the threshold for a nuclear attack.

He also warned that Russia had 'stepped up' its cyber attacks against Ukraine and its allies over the past year and could weaponise AI in future.

However, he also hit out at those who have panicked in the face of Putin's threats. Prominent figures close to Donald Trump, including his sons Don Jnr and Eric have criticised Western materiel support for Ukraine.

Trump, who is due to return to the White House in November, backs appeasing the Russian leader in Ukraine.

But Mr McFadden told the London conference: 'We know from history that appeasing dictators engaged in aggression against their neighbours only encourages them. Britain learned long ago the importance of standing strong in the face of such actions.

'That's why we support Ukraine in its fight to decide its own destiny.

Speaking at a Nato conference, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden blasted the Russian despot over recent threats to lower the threshold for a nuclear attack.

He also warned that Russia had 'stepped up' its cyber attacks against Ukraine and its allies over the past year and could weaponise AI in future.

However, he also hit out at those who have panicked in the face of Putin's threats. Prominent figures close to Donald Trump, including his sons Don Jnr and Eric have criticised Western materiel support for Ukraine.

Trump, who is due to return to the White House in November, backs appeasing the Russian leader in Ukraine.

'Putin is a man who wants destruction, not peace. He is trying to deter our support for Ukraine with his threats. He will not be successful.

'We will not join those voices of weakness who want to give Putin a veto over our help for Ukraine.

'And given the scale of Russia's hostility, my message to members today is clear: While no one should underestimate the Russian aggressive and reckless cyber threat to NATO, we will not be intimidated by it and we will never allow it to dictate our decisions or policies. And we will do everything we can to defend our countries against it.'

His comments at Nato's cyber defence conference in London follow not just an increase in Russian cyber attacks, but a change in Moscow's policies that lowered the threshold for using nuclear weapons.

Claiming that the Ukraine war was becoming a 'global' conflict, Russian president Vladimir Putin said he was entitled to target the military facilities of countries that had supplied weapons to Kyiv.

The change represents a significant escalation in tensions between Russia and the West, following US president Joe Biden's decision to give Ukraine permission to use American-supplied long-range missiles to attack targets within Russia itself.

Mr McFadden, whose brief as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster includes national security, went on to say Russian cyber attacks could 'turn off the lights for millions of people' and accused Moscow of targeting British media, telecoms and energy infrastructure.

He added: 'Aided by allies including the UK, Ukraine has had to defend itself from crippling Russian cyber attacks on its electricity grid, its airports, and other critical national infrastructure.

'Russia has targeted its mobile networks  cutting off communications for millions at a time  and on occasion, disabled the air raid warning system in Kyiv.'

Mr McFadden also used his speech to announce a new Laboratory for AI Security Research (LAISR) aimed at helping the UK stay ahead in 'the new AI arms race'.

The centre will bring together GCHQ, Oxford University, the National Cyber Security Centre, the Alan Turing Institute and numerous Government departments, and be backed by an initial 8.2 million in state funding.

He added that the UK would look to strengthen Nato's 'collective cybersecurity' through a new 'incident response project' to help deal with attacks on critical national infrastructure, while also boosting Britain's own defences.

He said: 'In a few days, I and the UK's senior national security officials will be sitting down with British businesses to discuss how they can boost their own security and help defend the nation from actors with malign intent  particularly from Russia.

'And I'll be very clear with them: Russia won't think twice about targeting British businesses in pursuit of its goals. It is happy to exploit any gap in our physical or cyber defences.

'And so I urge them to do everything in their power to strengthen their own security and protect themselves, the country and our allies from this threat.'
Sadiq Khan and Transport for London have been slammed for allowing an assisted dying legislation advert to be plastered onto walls at London Underground platforms.

The advert - created by Let Us Choose, a campaign to legalise assisted dying - has left a number of people furious after it was spotted at stations across the Tube network.

It shows a woman, dressed in striped pink and white pyjamas, dancing in a kitchen next to the words: 'My dying wish is my family won't see me suffer. And I won't have to.'

Since photographs of the ads were first posted to social media, Londoners have reported seeing them at some of the city's busiest stations, including Westminster and Oxford Circus.

These sightings had led to a number of angry social media posts directed at the Mayor of London, who is also the chairman of TfL, describing the decision as 'utterly disgraceful'.

In some stations, the adverts quickly had Samaritan helpline posters mysteriously slapped over the top of them.

It comes as MPs are bracing themselves for a tense debate on Friday over the proposed assisted dying bill, with a potential vote on the matter possible for the first time in nearly a decade.

The Private Members' Bill proposed by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater has sparked deep splits in the Cabinet, and across the political spectrum.

The advert - created by the Let Us Choose - Legalise Assisted Dying campaign - has left a number of people furious after it was spotted on the platform of an unnamed London tube stop

The legislation put forward by Ms Leadbeater would allow terminally ill adults expected to die within six months to get help to end their life.

But opponents are concerned legalising assisted dying in any form could be a slippery slope that could lead to people with non-terminal illnesses or even mental health issues being allowed to end their lives.

One poster was spotted by author Adrian Hilton, who posted on X: 'Who at @TFL thought it was remotely appropriate to promote assisted suicide on the London Underground?'

The adverts have been condemned by those on both side of the assisted dying debate, with one writing on X, formerly Twitter: 'I'm not against assisted dying in certain circumstances, but to advertise like this is unbelievably crass and insensitive.

'It makes me feel sick to be honest.'

Another added they had been in Oxford Circus station when they had seen the adverts while on the escalator.

They said: '[Assisted dying] is now being promoted in the same way as a trip to the theatre to see Wicked or the Lion King. Pure evil.'

Others slammed the adverts as 'completely tasteless' and 'shocking'.

These sightings had led to a number of angry social media posts directed at the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who is also the chairman of TfL

Some users took aim at Mr Khan, with one user writing: 'London Mayor @SadiqKhan is ultimately responsible for allowing grotesque 'assisted dying' advert on the underground.

Another wrote: 'Just when you thought it was impossible, TfL and Sadiq Khan plummet to new deaths. Any train driver will tell you, the tube is not the place to promote assisted dying.'

Others were left confused that the London Mayor had allowed for the posters to be put up, after he had previously banned ads that 'shame' Londoners over their bodies from the Tube and bus network.

One user said: 'Sadiq Khan within days of becoming London Mayor: 'Remove all posters of women wearing bras, bikinis, underwear generally.'

'It's 'unhealthy! Puts slimming demands on girls & women!'

Current TFL poster-young white woman ecstatically happy on ad for assisted dying? Fine?'

A spokesperson for the Mayor said: 'The Mayor has no involvement in approving or deciding which ads run on the TfL network, and TfL's policy reflects legal requirements.'

It comes amid a heated debate over the proposed policy, which has divided both Cabinet and Parliament.

Sir Keir Starmer previously indicated he would support the bill in the face of cabinet opposition

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has branded the policy a 'slippery slope towards death on demand'

It's understood the eventual vote on the bill will not be whipped by the main political parties, meaning MPs are free to vote with their conscience rather than facing pressure to follow a certain party line.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has branded the policy a 'slippery slope towards death on demand' in a letter to her constituents.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has also been critical, but Keir Starmer has hinted he will back the plan - which gained momentum after a campaign by terminally ill TV star Esther Rantzen.

As politicians wrestle with their positions, polls have suggested that the public supports the principle of assisted dying - although there are doubts about how it would be implemented in practice.

Research by More in Common has found nearly two thirds favour the idea, with just 13 per cent opposed and 22 per cent unsure.

The poll found the majority of Brits regard strict safeguards as 'essential' to an assisted dying law.

However, 71 per cent said it was possible to create policy with the right protections, against 29 per cent who thought it was not.

The bill was seen as happening at about the right pace by 51 per cent, while a further 13 per cent said it was too slow. Nearly a fifth said it was happening too quickly.
Gut-wrenching footage of Butterball slaughterhouse workers torturing and sexually abusing turkeys has sparked outrage just before Thanksgiving as news of the horrific acts resurfaced on social media.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) launched an undercover investigation into Butterball's Ozark, Arkansas location between April and July 0f 2006.

An undisclosed investigator revealed the alleged atrocities he witnessed - including sexual assault against the birds - as workers 'shackled and slaughtered' more than 50,000 turkeys each day, according to PETA.

In the shockingly graphic video, the investigator claimed he saw a Butterball employee shoving his finger up a turkey's cloaca, or vagina, for 'fun.'

Another worker allegedly 'humped' a turkey while it was restrained.

The investigator recalled another haunting instance, when a 'worker was taunting another worker by holding a bird by the legs and jerking her back and forth.

'The second guy just grabbed the bird and punched her.'

Footage showed workers aggressively handling multiple turkeys - throwing, striking and hanging them to death.

Footage from the 2006 undercover PETA investigation showed suffering turkeys at an Arkansas Butterball plant

A Butterball employee was recorded as he roughly handled a turkey. The investigator recalled several accounts of abuse and brutality

The 2006 video has resurfaced just days before Thanksgiving, with many people expressing disgust and outrage. Some claimed they are returning their Butterball turkeys

'Nothing humane had ever happened in a slaughterhouse,' Amber Canavan, the Vegan Campaign Project Manager for PETA, told DailyMail.com.

As written in the investigator's witness log: 'One worker took a live bird and stomped on her head, crushing her skull until her head exploded. He then laughed and wiped the blood from his leg. He also threw birds against the concrete and punched others.'

Over his 40-day tenure at the gruesome facility, the witness said workers would slam birds into metal bars and violently break their backs and legs.

The investigator reflected upon birds' eyeballs popping out, exposed spines and ripped off limbs in the chilling video.

'The workers at this plant were clearly not trained in animal welfare - some workers even bragged about their abuse,' he asserted.

Just days before Thanksgiving, the unflattering footage has caused social media users to wince in disgust - with some calling for a boycott.

'This breaks my heart,' someone commented on a clip of the video posted on TikTok.

Another user chimed in: 'Just bought a Butterball turkey today & definitely returning it tomorrow first thing in the morning.'

The invesitgation took place at Butterball's Ozark, Arkansas between April and July 0f 2006

Turkeys were allegedly shackles by their legs and the witness claimed that their limbs would be ripped off at times

One commenter wondered: 'Why are people so horrible? I own turkeys and chickens and they are so sweet and loving.'

In another TikTok post, the user declared 'Y'all better not eat no Butterball turkey this year' and called the company 'deranged.'

'That made me physically ill,' a viewer reacted to the gruesome video.

Another added: 'My parents bought butterball turkeys for Thanksgiving. I will not be able to eat it.'

Another video showed a woman 'on the way to return this Butterball Turkey after SA (sexual assault) allegations.'

Someone reacted: 'I swear I'm going to buy one to bury it and cry. Its so sad what those birds have gone through.'

'The response we are seeing from people online is exactly what any animal advocate wants to see right before Thanksgiving,' Canavan added. 'We're just seeing dozens and dozens of people swearing off turkey this year.'

She emphasized the idea that it is 'easier than ever' to buy vegan alternatives that do not require 'animals to go through the tortures of the slaughterhouse.'

Leading up to the holiday, PETA has been sharing social media content urging viewers to skip out on the poultry staple this year.

More than 50,000 turkeys were 'shackled and slaughtered' each day, a witness recalled

'It's never too late to go out there and grab that vegan roast,' Canavan said. 'Spare that turkey from the horrors of the slaughterhouse.'

In response to the online backlash the company is receiving, a Butterball representative wrote to DailyMail.com:

'We are aware of a video from nearly 20 years ago, which is being re-shared across social media. This video is not current and in no way reflects our animal welfare policies.

'Animal care and well-being is central to who we are as a company, and we are committed to the ethical and responsible care of our flocks. That means maintaining the health and well-being of our turkeys is an ongoing effort.'

The spokesperson added that Butterball has yearly audits conducted by a third party to make sure facilities are complying with the '200+ science-based standards of best practice for care of turkeys.'

She added: 'Butterball was the first and remains the only turkey company that is American Humane certified. We are proud to be 1 of every 3 turkeys on the table this Thanksgiving.'

This month alone, Butterball has sold about 15 million turkeys across the country, Fleet Owner reported.

PETA claims that its expose from nearly two decades ago is not a one-off.

'PETA has conducted even more recent investigations that are still showing that abuse is rampant,' Canavan said.

She pointed to another PETA investigation from 2021 into Plainville Farms, which 'also documented workers simulating sex acts on turkeys.'

The undisclosed investigator said what he saw at the Butterball slaughterhouse was haunting

As a result of the investigation, workers at the Pennsylvania facility faced several felonies and 141 charges.

No charges against Butterball came from the 2006 investigation, but charges were brought against employees years later for a separate situation.

In 2011, a North Carolina Butterball plant was raided after workers were caught abusing turkeys.

In an investigation similar to PETA's, nonprofit Mercy for Animals went undercover and witnessed several instances of animal cruelty.

Multiple workers were hit with charges related to the reported abuse. They were caught on video kicking and stomping on the helpless birds.
MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski was spotted in an awkward on-air moment as her co-host and husband Joe Scarborough slammed citizen journalist influencers during a bizarre rant Monday.

The host of Morning Joe appeared shocked as Scarborough unleashed a foul-mouthed rant against influencers and commenters who he claimed get away with lying on social media while 'what reporters do matters.'

The intense conversation stemmed from a speech that Axios CEO Jim VandeHei gave at the National Press Club Thursday, where he called out Elon Musk for claiming that the media has been replaced by 'citizen journalists.'

VandeHei joined the Morning Joe show Monday as the MSNBC team congratulated him on winning the Fourth Estate award alongside his publication's co-founder, Mike Allen - but the conversation quickly took a sharp turn.

After the Morning Joe team praised VandeHei, Scarborough immediately hopped on the bandwagon, repeating the CEO's comment he made last week about influencers 'popping off on Twitter.'

As Scarborough grew aggravated, he dropped a curse word, leaving Brezinski speechless.

'And like you said, this is what gets me,' Scarborough said in reference to VandeHei's speech. 'If someone pops off on Twitter, or some other social media, and they lie, they make mistakes - you know what the cost of that is? Nothing. They do it again.

'In fact, it helps them because algorithms are rigged, so you stir up sh**,' he added, as Brezinski jumped in her chair before briefly looking away.

MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski looked away during a Monday episode of Morning Joe as her husband and co-anchor Joe Scarborough went on a bizarre rant

The intense conversation stemmed from a speech that Axios CEO Jim VandeHei (right) gave at the National Press Club Thursday, where he called out Elon Musk for claiming that the media has been replaced by 'citizen journalists'

During his speech on Thursday, VandeHei defended journalism while taking jabs at social media users - specifically Musk, the owner of X (formally known as Twitter).

'Everything we do is under fire. Elon Musk sits on Twitter every day or X today saying like, 'We are the media. You are the media.'

'My message to Elon Musk is: Bullsh**!

'You're not the media, you having a blue checkmark, a Twitter handle, and 300 words of cleverness doesn't make you a reporter anymore than me looking at your head, and seeing that you have a brain and telling you have an awesome set of tools makes me a damn neurosurgeon, right?,' VandeHei added.

The veteran journalist then said that 'being a reporter is hard, like really hard.'

'You have to care, you have to do the hard work, you have to get up every single day and say 'I want to get to the closest approximation of the truth without any fear, without any favoritism.'

'You don't do that by popping off on Twitter,' he explained.

Scarborough told VandeHei that what he said 'continues to need to be said' because there is a lot of 'garbage flying around on social media.'

He dove even deeper as he shouted out specific outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and MSNBC.

'What The New York Times does matters. What The Wall Street Journal does matters. What Jonathan Lemire does matters. What the Financial Times does matters. What MSNBC News and MSNBC reporters do matters,' he said.

VandeHei agreed with Scarborough, as he mentioned that journalists aren't perfect.

'And it doesn't mean there aren't things that we get wrong,' he said, adding that he got so 'hopped up' during his speech because of what he's heard from reporters.

'I listen to so many reporters who feel like the industry is going to hell. Nobody trusts them, they're demoralized... And the truth is we don't have time to be demoralized!

'We don't have time to whine, we have to do our job!

'There is an information war out there,' VandeHei said adding, that 'there are still tens of millions of people who depend on great reporting.'

Scarborough then referred back to those specific publications and stated that reporters that work for them 'don't have to worry' because they 'print truth all the time.'

Toward the end of the segment Brzezinski appeared to get her co-worker to stop talking before she ended the show

He then shocked his co-anchor with his language before she chimed in and said: 'Right, the more you hate, the more you make.'

VandeHei suggested that people should read articles from media outlets every day to determine if they can trust them.

'Use your own eyes - do you feel like they're trying to get to the closest approximation of the truth with every story, and that most of the time, if not almost all of the time, they do?

'If they do then you can trust it as a news source,' he added.

Toward the end of the segment, Brzezinski appeared to try to get Scarborough to stop talking as he continued to rant about the issues he sees in the industry.

'At some point, people have to want to know the truth, and if they don't want to know the truth, well, then go ahead and walk around ignorant,' Scarborough said as his co-host kept saying 'OK' before closing the show.
The distraught father of missing Hannah Kobayashi said his daughter brought 'joy to so many' just two days before he took his life.

Ryan Kobayashi, 58, was found dead after jumping from a parking garage in Los Angeles following his daughter's disappearance after she missed a connecting flight from her native Maui in Hawaii en-route to New York City on November 8.

Kobayashi had traveled to California to assist in the search for his aspiring photographer daughter, 31, where he handed out missing person flyers to passers-by over a course of 13 days.

Speaking to DailyMail.com on Thursday, he said: We will do everything we can until we have found her. We just need to get the word out there about her.

Shes a wonderful person who brings joy to so many people.

His efforts to locate missing Hannah continued as he helped authorities in their investigations, but in a heart-wrenching tragedy for the Kobayashi family, he was found dead at the bottom of a parking structure in LAX airport at around 4am on Sunday.

Hannah disappeared after sending a series of chilling texts to her loved ones, claiming she had recently undergone a 'spiritual awakening' after she had planned to meet family in New York.

She had taken a flight from Hawaii to LAX on the same plane as her ex-boyfriend, who had booked the tickets for each of them before the broke up. But the duo did not sit together or speak on the flight, according to reports.

Hannah Kobayashi (pictured) went missing after she missed her connecting flight to New York

Her father, Ryan, was tragically found dead in Los Angeles on November 8, after he flew out to assist in the search

Speaking to DailyMail.com on Thursday alongside Hannah's aunties, Kobayashi said: We will do everything we can until we have found her. We just need to get the word out there about her.

The last known image of Hannah shows her outside of a Nike event in Los Angeles

The boyfriend continued the journey to New York and is reportedly 'cooperating with police' following the bizarre final text sent from Hannah's phone about the spiritual awakening.

The family has filed a missing person's report with the Los Angeles Police Department, but have since revealed their frustrations with the investigation.

Timeline of disappearance November 8 - Kobayashi was spotted at The Grove shopping mall between midday and 3pm. November 9 - Kobayashi was spotted at The Grove shopping mall between midday and 3pm November 10 - She appeared in the background of a video outside a Nike event featuring LeBron James at 3:30pm November 11 - Kobayashi was spotted boarding an LAX Metro C line at Aviation/Century Station Advertisement

'As of today the police have reached out to family members who last spoke with Hannah,' her aunt Larie Pidgeon also told DailyMail.com on Thursday.

'We want them to take it a bit more seriously.

'We think they realize we're not going away and we're going to be really loud. We're going to do something until they do something.

'I think now they are beginning the process of what we began six days ago.

'The entire world is looking for you (Hannah) because that's how special you are.

'We are not going to stop until we find you. We love you.'

The 31-year-old was spotted in security camera footage disembarking the plane just before 10pm on November 8, and was later seen wearing a black hoodie and multicolored tracksuit pants as she walked through LAX in headphones.

Hannah's original plan was to board a connecting flight to New York at 11pm, but she never made it.

She was instead seen at The Grove shopping mall between midday and 3pm the following day, on November 9.

The missing woman spent some at Taschen Books where she charged her phone before sending an image to her aunt at 2:43pm.

Kobayashi said his daughter brought 'joy to so many' before he took his life

'Please help her, if you can. If you know where she's at, or you have the chance to just help her, please. We just want to bring her home,' Hannah's mother said

Her family received strange texts from her phone number, leading them to believe they had not been sent by Hannah

This is the last known image of Hannah leaving LAX, after she missed her connecting flight to New York to visit family

Her final post was shared on November 11. It is understood she was attending an event in Los Angeles at the time

Hannah is then believed to have spent the night at the airport where she called her aunt to tell her she was still trying to reach New York.

But in a separate YouTube video taken outside a Nike event featuring LeBron James in Los Angeles on November 10, Hannah can be seen in the same clothing and headphones.

She also shared a post on her Instagram from the event with an eye emoji as the caption.

The next time Hannah was seen was at around 5pm the same day, talking to a ticketing agent at LAX.

Her family then filed a missing persons report during what they described as uncharacteristic correspondence from Kobayashi.

One of her text messages read: 'Deep Hackers wiped my identity, stole all of my funds, & have had me on a mind f**k since Friday.'

Her mother, Brandi Yee, also sent her a text message asking if she made it to New York.

She responded simply: 'Not yet.' Another early-morning text mentioned how she was in the midst of a 'spiritual awakening.'

On a missing-persons poster sent out immediately after, police wrote: 'Prior to going missing, [Kobayashi] sent a message on November 10, mentioning feeling scared, and that someone might be trying to steal her money and identity. She hasn't been heard from since.'

The next day, November 11, Hannah was spotted boarding an LAX Metro C line at Aviation/Century Station.

She got on board at 9:02pm, before transferring to a different train at the Rosa Parks Station.

Hannah was finally seen leaving the Metro Pico Station with the unidentified person at 10:03pm.

While Yee and Hannah's sister Sydni Kobayashi believe Hannah left the airport to attend the event based on a series of texts suggesting she 'had a spiritual awakening and was heading back to the airport,' a friend believes otherwise.

The anonymous pal revealed she received strange texts from Hannah's phone that indicated she may be in trouble.

'I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds. For someone I thought I loved,' the messages read.

The family also noted that the young artist's phone has been off since November 11 and her last pinned location was at the Los Angeles Airport.

'She heard from Hannah. She was at LAX, and she said that she was scared,' Yee said.

Sydni further added: 'She texted her that she was scared and that she couldn't come back home or something. It was just really weird texts.'

One of Hannah's friends received strange texts from Kobayashi's phone - indicating that she may be in trouble

Missing Hawaii woman Hannah Kobayashi's sister has shared details of every last known sighting as her family continue their agonizing search

Hannah Kobayashi (pictured) went missing after missing her connecting flight to New York from LAX on November 8

Both Hannah's mother and sister also believe that the messages 'did not sound like her' and wonder if it was Hannah who sent them.

'None of the texts are getting delivered. We can't locate her phone.'

As the search for Hannah continues following the tragic death of her father, the Kobayashi family said in a statement: 'The Kobayashi family endured a devastating tragedy today.

'After tirelessly searching throughout Los Angeles for 13 days, Hannah's father, Ryan Kobayashi, tragically took his own life. This loss has compounded the family's suffering immeasurably.

'What the family needs most in this difficult time is for all communities to rally around them with support, compassion, and prayers. Please be considerate with your comments and posts.

'The trauma they are enduring is profound, and they now face the additional burden of grieving the loss of their family's pillar and navigating next steps.'
A man who kidnapped, raped and killed a 13-year-old girl nearly escaped his imprisonment after crafting two homemade keys.

Michael McLellan, 39, pleaded guilty to the horrific crimes against North Carolina teen Hania Aguilar in 2018.

He would then go on to make two separate escape attempts.

The first came Friday morning, as deputies transported McLellan to the courthouse where he would ultimately enter his guilty plea.

During the drive, the perp managed to remove his leg restraints, using one of two tools apparently made from materials obtained from a prison art workshop, Robeson County Sheriff Burnis Wilkins said.

The top cop went on to describe the altercation that ensued, after a transport officer noticed movement and pulled over to see what was going on.

Met with a partially unrestrained McLellan trying to escape, he and other officers were able to re-restrain him and bring him to court. McLellan went on to plead guilty to all of the charges, and was slapped with a life sentence.

A second escape attempt came during the drive back to Central Prison, after cops had seized the first key McLellan had stashed in his mouth.

Scroll down for video:

Michael McLellan, 39, pleaded guilty to the 2018 offense surrounding North Carolina teen Hania Aguilar the same - before and after two separate escape attempts Friday

McLellan abducted 13-year-old Hania Aguilar from outside her parent's home while she sat waiting to go to school on November 5, 2018

McLellan again managed to free himself. The deputy slammed on the breaks, and this time the criminal got his hands on the officer's gun.

'He was able to hit the latch that undoes the gun in the holster and actually have control of the weapon,' Wilkins said of McLellan, who was able to shed his handcuffs with a second stashed key.

This allowed him to reach under a piece of plexiglass separating him from the front seat, with free access to the officers.

From there, he was able to release a lever on a deputy's gun holster and physically grab the weapon, Wilkins said - describing the struggle that ensued along I-40.

'He was able to hit the latch that undoes the gun in the holster and actually have control of the weapon,' he said, revealing how McLellan managed to pick what cops call a 'black box' that had connected his restraints to other chains.

The box serves as a sort of handcuff cover, meant to close off the cuffs' key hole so prospective offender cannot pick or tamper any parts of the lock.

'[The deputy] has one hand on the gun,' Wilkins recalled to WRAL-News.

'McLellan has his hand on the actual grip of the gun and there's a struggle for it.'

Wilkins noted that during the struggle, McLellan told the officer 'You're going to love this' - as they fought for the firearm and other cops rushed to help.

The horror ended when a detention center officer also in the car used pepper spray on McLellan, leading him to lose his grip on the deputy's gun.

'Little fight took place right there for the gun, and the passenger, detention officer, sprayed him with pepper spray,' Wilkins said. 'He immediately released the gun and limped back into the seat and said, "You got me, you got me."'

Prior to the sentencing hearing, the perp managed to remove his leg restraints using a tool made from materials obtained from a prison art workshop

One of the seized tools are seen here, as officers revealed they took two from the convict's person

The first key was left stuck in the perp's handcuffs, though a second managed to get them off

The second attempt ended when a detention center officer also in the car used pepper spray on McLellan, leading him to lose his grip on the deputy's gun

Wilkins added how McLellan at this point was resigned to his fate - life without parole - telling the officers, 'I surrender.'

He said a total of two homemade keys were seized, with the first key actually becoming stuck in the handcuffs.

McLellan is now kept in a high-security area at North Carolina Central Prison in Raleigh, in an effort by authorities to avoid any more escape attempts. The facility is the highest security-rated prison in the entire state.

'Everyone in the Lumberton Police Department is humbled and grateful to bring justice for Hania, her family and the community,' Police Chief Michael McNeill said of the case.

'This case has shown our relentless commitment and tireless efforts to hold violent criminals accountable for their actions.

'Before you go to bed tonight, please pray for Hanias family to begin to heal their broken hearts.'

Wilkins, meanwhile, added in his own statement, 'I think the whole day was an escape attempt for McLellan,' who abducted the young girl outside her parent's home while she sat waiting to go to school in her family's SUV on November 5, 2018.

'I think him coming and pleading guilty like he did, was a way to get out of that prison from behind those walls, and it gave him two opportunities to try to escape today,' he said.

The parents of the victim are seen looking at their daughter's killer during the same hearing back in 2018. He will now serve a life sentence without any chance of parole

Robert M. DeWitt, the FBI Agent in charge of North Carolina, said of McLellan: 'We hope Hania's family... are in some way comforted knowing he will spend the rest of his life in prison'

'I listened to him speak to the family for just a few words, saying that he was sorry,' he added. 'I saw no sincerity in that at all.'

He went on to praise the officers who were able to subdue the man in both cases, which he believes occurred after McLellan managed to smuggle both objects in his mouth.

'They did their jobs as they're trained to do. Detected a problem. Pulled over and found the problem,' he said.

Robert M. DeWitt, the FBI Special Agent in charge of North Carolina, added: 'We hope Hania's family and McLellan's other victims are in some way comforted knowing he will spend the rest of his life in prison.'
Former Fox News personality turned President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon Pete Hegseth is facing intense scrutiny for his past words and actions including writing that NATO should be scrapped.

Hegseth is gearing up for what could be a brutal Senate confirmation fight after he was named Trump's nominee for defense secretary where he could face tough questions on his world views.

In his 2020 book American Crusade, Hegseth leveled a series of criticisms against the NATO alliance, calling for it to be remade.

'NATO is a relic and should be scrapped and remade in order for freedom to be truly defended,' Hegseth wrote.

He also argued the 'defense of Europe is not our problem; been there, done that, twice.'

NATO was established in the aftermath of World War II and currently has thirty-two member countries including the U.S. and Canada.

Hegseth also lobbed similar accusations to those Trump has made about NATO for years.

'NATO is not an alliance; its a defense arrangement for Europe, paid for and underwritten by the United States,' he wrote.

Pete Hegseth is under intense scrutiny as Trump's nominee for defense secretary. The former Fox News personality wrote in his book that NATO should be 'scrapped' and 'remade.' He also suggested one of his books that the U.S. should ignore the Geneva Conventions' rules of warfare

The president-elect has long accused member nations of taking advantage of the U.S., falsely accused members of not paying their bills, and repeatedly threatened to pull the country out of the alliance.

Trump met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Friday in Florida where they discussed a range of security issues, according to a NATO spokesperson.

The president-elect's defense secretary nominee not only claimed NATO is a relic but also claimed Europe had 'already allowed itself to be invaded.'

'It chose not to rebuild its militaries, happily suckling off the teat of Americas willingness to actually fight and win wars,' he claimed.

Separately, the defense secretary nominee took issue in his book not just with the alliance but with its members, specifically Turkey.

'Why is Islamist Turkey a member of NATO?' he wrote.

Hegseth argued Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is an 'Islamist with Islamist visions for the Middle East.'

NATO was not the only post-WWII agreements Hegseth has taken aim at. He has also dismissed the Geneva Conventions and its protocols.

Trump with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Palm Beach, FL on November 22

Pete Hegseth following meetings on Capitol Hill on November 21. He is under a microscope for his writings, claiming women should not serve in combat and allegations of sexual assault which he denies

The Geneva Conventions are treaties that include rules aimed at limiting the brutality of war.

In his 2024 book The War on Warriors, Hegseth questioned what the U.S. should do if enemies do not honor the Geneva Conventions.

'What if we treated the enemy the way they treated us?' Hegseth wrote.

'Would that not be an incentive for the other side to reconsider their barbarism? Hey, Al Qaeda: if you surrender, we might spare your life. If you do not, we will rip your arms off and feed them to hogs,' he went on.

Hegseth argued the U.S. is 'just fighting with one hand behind our back  and the enemy knows it.'

He argued 'who cares what other countries think?'

Hegseth's argument for ignoring the Geneva Conventions comes as he has also long defended service members accused of war crimes during his time on television, arguing they were just doing their job.

While Hegseth has been tapped to lead the Pentagon with its three million service members and civilians, critics point out that he has no senior military leadership or national security experience.

Pete Hegseth shared this image of himself on social media from his time serving in Iraq

He served in the Minnesota National Guard and then the Army National Guard where he was an infantryman in Iraq and counterinsurgency instructor in Afghanistan. He was also part of a security platoon at Guantanamo Bay.

On Sunday, Senator Tammy Duckworth, a combat veteran, called him a 'a pretty low ranking guy' in the military who never even had a position commanding a company.

While Hegseth's writings and comments about the military and policy are under the microscope, he is also facing criticism for arguing women should not serve in combat.

Earlier this month he repeated 'we should not have women in combat roles.' He claimed it has not made the U.S. military 'more lethal.'

Meanwhile the 44-year-old nominee is also hampered by an allegation of sexual assault.

Hegseth was accused by a woman of an assault at a California hotel in 2017. He denied the allegations.

Hegseth was not charged as prosecutors said there was not proof beyond a reasonable doubt, but Hegseth did pay the woman off to keep her quiet.
Two teenage boys have been arrested after a 12-year-old girl was allegedly stabbed on Barry Island, leaving her 'seriously injured'.

The incident took place on Sunday evening near the Harbour Road car park.

The victim was rushed to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.

Police have said she is 'seriously injured although her condition is not life-threatening'.

Two boys from the local area, aged 13 and 15, have been arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm and remain in police custody.

The younger boy has also been arrested on suspicion of possession of a bladed article.

Harbour Road car park in Barry, where the alleged stabbing took place on Sunday evening

South Wales Police has said an investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Detective inspector Phil Marchant said: 'Understandably this incident and the ages of those involved will cause worry within the community.

'Two suspects, who are known to the victim, were arrested within an hour and at this stage we are not looking for anyone else in connection with the assault.'
In Saturday's Mail, STEPHEN WRIGHT reported a sensational claim by the fourth wife of the late British peer Baron (Tony) Moynihan that Lord Lucan had stayed with the couple for two days, ten years after he vanished.

He followed up that world exclusive with a fascinating insight into the extraordinary world of Moynihan, the aristocrat known as 'Baron Scoundrel', who it is claimed provided a fake passport to Lucan.

Here, in the third part of his gripping series on the legendary fugitive, he examines a range of other sightings.

There have been countless supposed sightings of Lucan around the world over the last five decades.

In the months that followed the horrifying murder of Sandra Rivett, the 29-year-old nanny to his children, on November 7, 1974, the hunt for the prime suspect moved quickly from Britain to the United States and beyond  to South America, the Caribbean, France and Germany.

As the more credible leads dried up, far-fetched reports emerged that the Eton-educated earl had spent his last days as a hippy nicknamed Jungly Barry in Goa, or that he was living with a pet possum in an old Range Rover in New Zealand. More recently there was a claim that the 7th Earl of Lucan is living as a Buddhist in a suburb of Brisbane, Australia.

Yet until the Mail's revelations last week relating to the Philippines, one part of the planet has remained a consistent focus for detectives investigating Lucan's disappearance: the continent of Africa.

And as to how he got there, one theory remains foremost in their minds: the Earl, they believe, was spirited out of Britain by a tight-knit circle of friends and fellow gamblers  the so-called Lucan Set  many of whom were regulars at the Clermont Club in Mayfair, where Lord Lucan was a founding member.

There have been countless supposed sightings of Lord Lucan around the world over the last five decades. He is pictured in 1971, three years before the murder of Sandra Rivett

The Mail has spent many months investigating the mystery of his disappearance afresh. We have interviewed key witnesses, spoken to retired police officers, reassessed old leads and investigated new ones to establish what is likely to have happened after Lucan sensationally vanished on that terrible November night.

The Mail's inquiries started last year when we unearthed a never-before-seen Scotland Yard report. Published earlier this year in the Mail, this confidential 60-page document from 1975 chronicles in compelling detail what would have been the Crown's case against the missing peer (who is suspected of not only bludgeoning his children's nanny to death but also attempting to kill his estranged wife, Veronica) if he'd ever been brought to justice.

Our work has been the basis of a ground-breaking new true crime podcast, The Trial Of Lord Lucan, in which two eminent barristers argue the case for Lucan's innocent or guilt using the newly disclosed police document and other evidence. At the conclusion, listeners were asked to become jurors and give their verdicts to Mail Online.

Today, we look in more detail at the overwhelming question in the case: where is Lord Lucan? And at the tantalising clues that the Earl might indeed have fled to Africa via Portugal, a country with strong links to its former colonies, Angola and Mozambique.

Portugal is where a female witness told investigators she had seen the fugitive at a 'celebration' party hosted by his friends.

It took place within weeks of what, 50 years on, still ranks among the most notorious killings of our time.

Few people are better qualified to comment on the Lucan mystery than retired deputy chief constable Lewis Benjamin, a respected career detective who led Scotland Yard's last review of the case in 2004.

Benjamin had access to dozens of police documents, intelligence reports, statements and other evidence.

He is in little doubt that the peer was smuggled out of the United Kingdom by his influential friends.

Benjamin is dismissive of claims Lucan jumped to his death in the sea as many have suggested over the years.

Sandra Rivett, the 29-year-old nanny to the Earl's children, was bludgeoned to death in the Lucans' home on November 7, 1974

'If you look at the whole murder and the way that Lucan approached it, he must have planned not just what was going to occur at the house and the murder of his wife, but where he would have been afterwards, and any alibis that he might have set up,' Benjamin said.

'[Lucan] would have been looking for help. He, in my view, undoubtedly left the country. He must have had help to do that. So who helped him? He had no money. All his money and his wallet were left in his flat. I think that he was assisted by others or at least one other and I think he was put up in a safe house somewhere.

'There are a number of different strands throughout the investigation, not just the review that I did, that suggest that that was the case.

'And the country that crops up most and seems to have an association with him is Portugal. And indeed, one of the fresh lines of inquiry from my review was an escort girl who said she'd seen him at a party in Portugal, in a villa.

'It was some sort of celebration I think it was described as a pool party.

'You don't have to think about it for very long to work out that, at the time, Angola and Mozambique were still Portuguese territories and there were regular flights from Portugal to those places in Southern Africa.

'So, my view would be that, from Portugal, he may have gone to somewhere in Southern Africa, possibly one of those two colonial territories.

'Shortly after that period, Mozambique and Angola were plunged into civil war. So, [it was] very difficult to get to and very easy for somebody who was on the run to hide.'

As part of our inquiries, the Mail has also spoken to Liz Brewer, the well-known socialite credited with almost single-handedly opening up the Algarve and Portugal itself to the British holiday market from the mid-1960s onwards.

She speaks with authority about Lucan's love of the country.

Brewer first met the Earl through her then-boyfriend and the three dined together on several occasions at the Clermont Club in Berkeley Square.

'When I came back to the UK in the winters, I was running a marketing and promotions company in Knightsbridge and Lucan would pop in to see me. He was always asking about where he should go in Portugal,' she recalled.

Many believe Lucan was spirited out of Britain by a circle of friends and fellow gamblers  the so-called Lucan Set  many of whom were regulars at the Clermont Club, pictured in 1999

'Things were really taking off in the Algarve then. They asked me to open the new airport, Lew Grade [the television executive and impresario] bought a string of properties and anyone who was anyone was heading down there... Paul McCartney, Lulu, Cilla Black

'Lucan was adamant he wanted to take me with him on a family holiday in 1973 to act as a sort of unofficial guide. He wanted to be shown all the best beaches and he did a lot of horse riding.

'I thought: ''Why not?''

'He wanted it to be special for the children and to say thank you to the Shand Kydds [Christina and Bill, Lady Lucan's elder sister and her husband] for their support through some difficult times.

'Their [the Shand Kydds'] niece and nephew, a young Diana Spencer, 13, and her brother Charles were there too.'

Lucan arrived in Portugal the following year on July 19, 1974, and stayed at a villa in Estoril. Within a few months, he would be one of the most wanted men in the world.

Businessman Peter West is the figure who pulls several of the threads in the Lucan saga together. He paid for Lord Lucan and his entourage to fly to Estoril and it was his villa where they stayed.

West, a founding member of the Clermont Club, was a regular at the chemin de fer (a version of Baccarat) tables with the Earl often by his side.

But the most striking line of enquiry concerned the death of West's close friend and Clermont regular, an ex-Grenadier Guardsman called David Hardy, which - in turn - suggests a clear connection between Lucan and Africa.

Ian Maxwell-Scott was a high-stakes gambler at the Clermont while his wife, Susan, was thought by the police to have been 'infatuated' with Lucan

Hardy was killed in a road accident in Essex in 1980 and when police searched his belongings, they found a pocketbook dating from 1976 onwards and a list of contacts.

There was an entry for Lucan  and an address for him in Africa: c/o Hotel Les Ambassadeurs, Beira, Mozambique.

Staff at the hotel later told journalists they recognised pictures of the Earl from an earlier stay.

In an amazing coincidence, a search of the registers at the hotel revealed the name of a couple called Maxwell-Scott, who had stayed for a week in April 1975.

Ian Maxwell-Scott was a fellow high-stakes gambler at the Clermont while his wife, Susan, was thought by the police to have been 'infatuated' with Lucan and had not told them the 'whole truth'.

She was also the last person known to see the Earl alive when he visited their home in Uckfield, East Sussex, on the night of the Rivett murder. They were close friends.

Yet the Christian names listed for the Maxwell-Scotts were not Ian and Susan, but John and Davina.

When approached for comment, Susan Maxwell-Scott (now deceased) denied she had ever been to Mozambique and said she knew of no one in her family with those first names.

Former deputy chief constable Benjamin is of the firm opinion that the man listed as 'John Maxwell-Scott' was in fact John Bingham, the 7th Earl of Lucan.

The Mozambique connection has been given particular credibility by a woman called Marianne (previously known as Shirley) Robey, who worked as a personal assistant to Lucan's friend and gambling associate John Aspinall.

Lucan's Mozambique connection has been given credibility by Marianne Robey, who worked as a personal assistant to the Earl's gambling associate John Aspinall, pictured with his wife

She claims that she helped the Earl live a secret life in Africa.

The Mail spoke to Robey in May this year and she confirmed that she had worked for Aspinall between 1979 and 1981 and had been asked to book flights to Africa for Lucan's eldest children, George and Frances.

There, she claimed, they would take a holiday but be observed from a distance by their father, who was devoted to them and had been devastated when he lost custody in a bitter High Court battle with his estranged wife, Veronica.

Robey said the children had been taken to the Treetops Hotel in Kenya (famous as the place where, in 1952, the late Queen Elizabeth II learned that her father, King George VI, had died).

Her claims were given little credence when she first made them in 2012  until a startling intervention from Lucan's son, George Bingham, now the 8th Earl of Lucan.

In a statement that year, he admitted that he had visited Africa in the 1980s with his younger sisters Frances and Camilla, that they had travelled to Kenya when he was nearly 18 and that the trip 'probably did involve Treetops'.

He said: 'Both my sisters were present, as were two other families, neither of whom had any connection to John Aspinall. The airline tickets were paid for by my family trust.'

Bingham also stated that none of the children had spoken to their father since the day he vanished in November 1974.

A man called Dr Barry Hill could prove to be another vital piece in the Lord Lucan puzzle.

Hill had been held on remand in Cardiff Prison accused of mortgage fraud when, in June 1975, he related a fascinating story to his cellmate. This was shortly after the conclusion of the inquest into the death of Sandra Rivett, the nanny found bludgeoned at the Lucans' home in Belgravia.

Hill knew Africa. He had recently spent time working in Swaziland and had then travelled by road across Mozambique to catch a boat back home to Britain.

A man called Dr Barry Hill claimed to have spent two days with Lucan in Mozambique in June 1975. Lucan is pictured in the Isle of Wight in 1963

According to Hill, he had spent two days and nights with Lucan, who was calling himself 'James', and a Portuguese girlfriend, Maria, in April of that year.

He told his cellmate he had come down for dinner on this first night, sat at a table alone and ordered a bottle of wine.

Shortly afterwards, a couple staying locally sat down at an adjoining table and the three struck up a conversation.

They went on to visit a series of bars together. As the evening drew to a close, 'James' became highly emotional and spoke about his three children back in England whom he could never see again. According to Hill, 'James' then claimed to be Lord Lucan.

Hill's cellmate reported back to the prison governor and in turn the Lucan inquiry team were alerted. But there were no diplomatic relations with Mozambique and the lead was never followed up.

It was when this paper serialised ex-detective chief superintendent Roy Ranson's bestselling 1994 book, Looking For Lucan - The Final Verdict, that the Mail put up a 100,000 reward for information about the peer's whereabouts or fate. Ranson had been the lead detective on the case from the night of the killing.

The move generated huge publicity and the Mail's then most senior reporter, the award-winning David Williams, was secretly tasked with working alongside the police.

Williams said: 'We received more than 200 letters from all over the world from readers who claimed they knew or suspected Lord Lucan to be living locally.'

Ranson and Scotland Yard agreed to sort through the letters and pick out those with the greatest potential.

The correspondence came from around the globe, including South America, the US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada  and Africa, which the Yard had long thought to be the mostly likely hiding place.

Detective chief superintendent Roy Ranson, left, the lead detective on the case from the night of the killing, is pictured with detective chief inspector David Geering

'I did not see all the letters but the Yard selected ''six of the mostly likely''. All were in South Africa. I was aware of three others that interested me  one in Kenya, one in Botswana and one in Zimbabwe,' said Williams.

'I argued strongly that all should be checked but was told the Yard's focus was South Africa and so should mine be.'

At the time, he said, there was a strong belief among the detectives that, after leaving the home of Susan Maxwell-Scott, Lucan had crossed into France by ferry or plane, then travelled to Portugal. And that there he was picked up by a boat which took him to the port of Beira in Mozambique.

A yacht was known to have travelled from Portugal to Mozambique at the right time and there was paperwork to prove it.

Williams, who spent several weeks in Africa investigating potential suspects, continued: 'What gave it additional weight at the time was the work of [the Mail's legendary foreign correspondent] Peter Younghusband, who had investigated years earlier and, I was told, had established the boat's arrival and the fact a well-spoken, tall Englishman had disembarked in Beira, stayed in a hotel, and not returned to the boat.

'We were obviously aware that Lucan's brother Hugh, who he was said to be close to and [who] claimed he was innocent, lived in Johannesburg. Hugh had moved there shortly after Lucan vanished and kept a low profile.

'I always believed Kenya was as likely as South Africa as a place to build a new life and identity with the strong links to the UK Establishment, the UK military and so on.'

Lucan's younger brother Hugh Bingham passed away in 2018. But before his death, he gave an intriguing set of interviews stating he believed that his brother was an innocent man and had lived until 2004.

Lucan's younger brother Hugh Bingham, who passed away in 2018, said the Earl had fled with the help of wealthy friends because he felt there was no prospect of a fair trial

Bingham said his brother had fled with the help of wealthy friends because he felt there was no prospect of a fair trial  and possibly because violent gangsters were chasing him over unpaid debts.

Somewhat bizarrely, Bingham claimed he was writing a fictional autobiography in which he imagined himself as Lucan and gave a detailed description of his escape and his whereabouts.

He was asked by a Mail journalist when he had last seen his brother, to which Bingham replied they had not met for many years  but refused to elaborate.

Speaking in 2016, he said: 'John had no option but to flee. He would have considered his chances of a fair trial to be very slim. I knew he was innocent. I did not believe anything Veronica [Lady Lucan] said.'

On an earlier occasion, he had said: 'I know for a fact that my brother died in 2004 and that his grave is in Africa.'
A teenager has been horrifically mauled to death by her own pigs after she was knocked unconscious by a 'large aggressive sow' while she fed them.

Milena Shevelyova was just 17 when she was killed by the herd of pigs at her family's farm in Krasnoyarsk region of Russia having been left in charge of the animals while her parents were visiting a nearby city.

As she went into the small barn to feed the beasts, she was knocked out by a 'large and aggressive' sow, before 'all the other pigs attacked her', according to local media.

She had multiple wounds to her head and body from 'pig bites'.

'All the other pigs attacked her,' said a report from Bad News Telegram channel.

'The animals tore her femoral artery and bit her. Milena died from blood loss.'

She had multiple wounds to her head and body from 'pig bites'.

Her worried parents could not reach her by phone and asked a friend to check on her.

Milena Shevelyova (pictured) was just 17 when she was killed by the herd of pigs at her family's farm

A large pig knocked her out as she went into the shed to feed them

The tragic teenager suffered multiple wounds to her head and body from 'pig bites'

'He found the body,' said the report.

'The parents told the police that the pig had always been angry and aggressive.'

A paramedic team confirmed the girl's death. The prosecutor of Krasnoyarsk's Uzhursky District immediately went to the scene.

'Her body was sent for a forensic medical examination, the results of which will determine the exact cause of death,' said a statement.

'The conditions that contributed to the tragedy are being established.

'If there are grounds, all necessary prosecutorial measures will be taken.'

A criminal case into death by negligence has been opened.

The victim's boyfriend Vladimir Bedny, 18, posted: 'You will forever remain in my heart.

'Forgive me for everything, my most beloved girl.'
Labour today came under fresh pressure to water down its inheritance tax raid on farmers after a leading think tank proposed changes to the controversial new rules.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggested alterations to Chancellor Rachel Reeves' action to prevent farmers feeling 'unfairly treated' by her Budget measures.

Both Ms Reeves and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer have faced fury from farmers after they announced reforms to inheritance tax last month.

These mean farmers will have to pay a 20 per cent rate on land and property they inherit worth more than 1million.

Ministers have insisted it will only affect the wealthiest quarter of landowners. But the National Farmers' Union and others say the impact will be more widespread.

Critics have warned the move could wipe out family-run farms with tight margins, as they will be forced to sell up in order to pay death duties.

Thousands of people - including TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson - protested in London last week against the inheritance tax raid, dubbed Labour's 'family farm tax', and warned it could imperil the UK's food supply.

In a new report, the IFS suggested the Government could 'tweak' its policy to allow more current farm owners to pass on their assets tax-free.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggested alterations to Chancellor Rachel Reeves ' action to prevent farmers feeling 'unfairly treated' by her Budget measures

Thousands of people protested in London last week against the inheritance tax raid, dubbed Labour's 'family farm tax', and warned it could imperil the UK's food supply

TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson, who owns a farm in Oxfordshire, joined those campaigning against the tax raid

'One specific feature that may leave farm owners feeling unfairly treated is that those passing away in the next seven years (but after the new regime comes into force in April 2026) will not have had the opportunity to avoid inheritance tax by making lifetime gifts,' the report said.

'If the Government wished to give current farm owners the same opportunity to avoid inheritance tax as owners of other assets, it could, for example, make lifetime gifts of agricultural property made before a certain future date inheritance tax free, regardless of the timing of the death.'

The think tank also proposed changes to allow spouses or civil partners to inherit any unused part of the 1million tax-free allowance of their deceased partner.

'There is certainly a good case for making unused portions of the 1million allowance inheritable by a spouse or civil partner, like the other main inheritance tax allowances are,' the report added.

The IFS said it was 'not surprising that those who might lose from any tax change will feel aggrieved', adding: 'That is their right and to be expected'.

But it added there were 'much better tools' to support food production in Britain.

'Reforms to taxation of agricultural property proposed in the Budget would reduce the inheritance tax advantages enjoyed by owners of farmland but would still leave that land much more lightly taxed than most other assets,' the report concluded.

'The exact number that will be affected is uncertain but Government figures imply it will be significantly less than 500 estates per year.

'Some relatively simple tax planning will ensure that many farms worth considerably more than 2million will not be liable for tax.

'And it is important to remember that most of the inheritance tax payable will be on very valuable estates.

'Overall, this moves our inheritance tax in the right direction. We should treat similar assets similarly for the purposes of inheritance tax, or any other tax, unless there are very good reasons not to.

'It is not obvious that such reasons exist in this case, and if the concern is about food production or protection of the environment then much better tools exist to support those activities.'

Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron, the party's environment spokesperson, said: 'The Government hid behind the IFS to try and justify this disastrous policy.

'That very same organisation is now telling them that their own proposals need an overhaul.

'It would be beggars belief for the Government to continue to push forward with these stupid plans.

'They need to swallow their pride, realise the damage this family farm tax will do and axe the tax.'

Mo Metcalf- Fisher, external affairs director at the Countryside Alliance said: 'For weeks now, there have been twists and turns in the sorry saga that is Rachel Reeves' farm tax hike.

'So much of the anger, frustration and heartache felt by farmers and the rural community could have been avoided if the Treasury consulted with relevant stakeholders in the buildup to the Budget announcement.

'The Treasury needs to urgently rethink its policy and work with the countryside to find a way out of this mess before it's too late'.
A bullish Rachel Reeves today dismissed business anger over her monster Budget tax raid by insisting no-one has any better ideas.

The Chancellor acknowledged anxiety about the impact of the measures in her bombshell fiscal package as she was grilled at the CBI conference.

But she swiped: 'What I haven't heard are many alternatives.'

Ms Reeves said she was 'proud' that she had 'dealt with the problems' and suggested it would be the last major tax hike this Parliament - despite fears Labour will need even more cash.

The intervention came after the business group's conference was dominated by alarm over the 25billion hike to employer National Insurance.

A survey of members has found that half are now looking to cut jobs, while two-thirds are slashing recruitment plans.

Earlier, CBI chief executive Rain Newton-Smith insisted industries such as retail and hospitality have been pushed into 'crisis containment'.

Other sectors are now focusing on 'damage control' rather than investment following the hit to their bottom line, she added.

Ms Newton-Smith reminded Ms Reeves that profit is 'not a dirty word' and growth is impossible unless business is allowed to prosper.

Rupert Soames, the CBI chair, said it was clear that 'business has been the cash cow and it's been milked'.

Salman Amin, chief executive of McVitie's bakery products' parent company Pladis, cautioned that it is 'becoming harder to understand' the case for investing in the UK.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves acknowledged anxiety about the impact of the measures in her bombshell fiscal package as she was grilled at the CBI conference

CBI chief executive Rain Newton-Smith insisted industries such as retail and hospitality have been pushed into 'crisis containment'

Closely-watched PMI figures have suggested that activity across the UK's private sector contracted in the first weeks of November amid a drop in firms' confidence

Businesses bore the brunt of 40billion of tax rises unveiled by the Chancellor last month.

Some firms also face rising costs as a result of an increase in the minimum wage and new employment rights.

But Ms Reeves defended her Budget measures this afternoon, telling the CBI conference the 'difficult decisions' had provided the 'stability and the platform that we need to move forward'.

'If I hadn't have made those difficult decisions, then we wouldn't have been able to bring the stability back to the economy that is desperately needed,' she said.

'We have now drawn a line under the inheritance that I faced.

'Public finances are now on a firm footing, and also our public services are funded in a proper way, and we've now set the envelope for those public services for the rest of this Parliament, which means we're not going to have to come back for more.'

Amid the business backlash at her Budget, the Chancellor added: 'I've heard a lot of feedback. What I haven't heard are many alternatives.'

Ms Reeves also told business leaders she would not be coming back with more borrowing or taxes.

Asked if she could confirm there would be no more big tax rises on businesses, she said: 'I faced a problem, and I faced into it, and we have now drawn a line under the fiction peddled by the previous government.

'We've put our public finances back on a firm footing, and we've now set the budgets for public services for the duration of this Parliament.

'Public services now need to live within their means because I'm really clear, I'm not coming back with more borrowing or more taxes.'

In her own conference speech, Ms Newton-Smith welcomed the political stability brought by Labour's huge majority but warned that the Government's vision for growth remains 'in the distance'.

Ms Newton-Smith said business had been 'caught off guard' by the scale of the changes to employers' National Insurance.

'Profits aren't just extra money for companies to stuff in a pillowcase,' she said.

'Profits are investment. When you hit profits, you hit competitiveness, you hit investment, you hit growth.'

Ms Reeves has declared that economic growth is her 'top priority' and insisted Labour will meet its manifesto pledge to make the UK the fastest growing economy in the G7.

But the Office for Budget Responsibility downgraded its growth forecasts for the final years of the decade in the wake of the Budget.

Official figures covering the first three months of Labour's tenure show growth fell to 0.1 per cent, down from 0.5 per cent the previous quarter.

Sir Keir Starmer acknowledged the growth figures were 'not good enough' and pledged to redouble efforts to boost investment.

Ms Newton-Smith also warned that the Budget has placed a 'heavy burden' on businesses looking to invest.

'When firms I speak to want to be creating more opportunities, more investment, more training in their local communities... instead so many  especially in retail and hospitality  have gone into crisis containment,' she said.

'Even where the risk isn't critical, firms that have been through really tough years are now in damage control again.

'They are looking with heavy hearts to cut training and investment, delay decarbonisation projects, or pass on costs to customers.'

The CBI's warning is the latest to raise concerns about Labour's stewardship of the economy.

A monthly business survey has suggested that activity across the UK's private sector contracted in the first weeks of November amid a drop in firms' confidence.

Retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer also say they will face a 7billion hike in their costs due to the Budget policy changes and that job losses are 'inevitable'.

Keir Starmer in Downing Street today as the business backlash rages

Responding to the Chancellor's speech at the CBI conference, Tory shadow chancellor Mel Stride said: 'Rachel Reeves has some gall to stand in front of business leaders and suggest that she is on their side.

'Labour's National Insurance jobs tax will punish businesses across the country - making it harder for them to create jobs, driving down wages and discouraging investment.

'Thanks to Labour's choices, independent forecasts are predicting growth slowing, inflation rising and borrowing soaring.

'It is clear all Rachel Reeves has delivered so far is a litany of broken promises.'

John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'The frosty reception that the Chancellor faced should make it clear to her that business owners aren't buying her bluster about black holes and fiscal responsibility.

'While Reeves has been busy tinkering with her CV, already hard-pressed entrepreneurs have been sounding the alarm about the damaging effects of her employer's national insurance hike on jobs, investment and growth.

'The Chancellor should recognise that her talk is cheap but the taxes she has hiked on businesses are crippling.

'If she is serious about her growth agenda she needs to reverse the increase in employers' National Insurance.'
The Government risks breaking international law if Benjamin Netanyahu is arrested in the UK on Gaza war crime charges, ministers were warned today.

Labour has suggested it will not intervene if a UK court rules that an International Criminal Court warrant against the controversial Israeli prime minister is valid.

The ICC, which Foreign Secretary David Lammy last month said the UK 'supports', issued the summons for Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, as well as the leader of Hamas, accusing them of crimes against humanity.

However, the Policy Exchange think tank today suggested that if he was arrested by a British police force on a visit to this country the government would be in breach of UK and international law.

Professor Richard Ekins, head of Policy Exchange's judicial power project, said that as a head of state Mr Netanyahu had diplomatic immunity, and his country was also not a signatory to the ICC.

'The Government cannot enforce the ICC arrest warrant against Prime Minister Netanyahu without breaching UK law and international law. It should end its damaging equivocation and make very clear that under no circumstances will it attempt to arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu,' he said.

Labour has suggested it will not intervene if a UK court rules that an International Criminal Court warrant against the controversial Israeli prime minister is valid.

Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer today told MPs that a court process would be followed if any ICC indictee came to the UK.

But shadow foreign secretary said Hamas are 'celebrating', as she accused the Government of 'dithering'.

'In enacting the International Criminal Court Act 2001, Parliament made clear that the Government cannot enforce an arrest warrant against a serving head of government of a state like Israel that has not agreed to be bound by the Rome Statute.

The warrants against Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant focus on allegations Israel has used food as a weapon in its campaign against Hamas in Gaza, a charge Israeli officials deny.

Experts have warned that hunger has become widespread across Gaza and may have reached famine levels in the north of the territory, which is under siege by Israeli troops.

The action by the International Criminal Court came as the death toll from Israel's campaign in Gaza passed 44,000 people, according to local health authorities, who say more than half of those killed were women and children.

Their count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer today told MPs that a court process would be followed if any ICC indictee came to the UK.

During an urgent question on the Government's response to the ICC's decision, he said: 'In line with this Government's stated commitment to the rule of law, we respect the independence of the ICC. We will comply with our international obligations.

'There is a domestic legal process through our independent courts that determines whether or not to endorse an arrest warrant by the ICC, in accordance with the ICC Act of 2001. This process has never been tested because the UK has never been visited by an ICC indictee, if there were to be such a visit to the UK, there would be a court process and due process would be followed in relation to those issues.

'There is no moral equivalence between Israel, a democracy, and Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, two terrorist organisations. This Government has been clear, Israel has a right to defend itself in accordance with international law, that right is not under question, and the court's approval of the warrants last week do not change that.'

But shadow foreign secretary said Hamas are 'celebrating', as she accused the Government of 'dithering'.

Dame Priti said the arrest warrants 'will do nothing to help secure the release of those poor hostages who have been held captive by Hamas for over a year, nor will it help to get more aid into Gaza, and it will not deliver a sustainable end to this awful conflict'.

She added: 'And in charging Israeli leaders alongside Hamas, the ICC appears to be drawing a moral equivalence between Israel's war of self defence and Hamas terrorism. We utterly reject any moral equivalence.

'The only beneficiaries of this decision are Hamas and their terrorist sponsors Iran, who are now celebrating this propaganda coup as a great victory for Hamas and Hezbollah. Since the ICC decision, we have had dither from ministers and confused messaging and no clarity. So I'm grateful to the minister today for his remarks.

'And as to the issue of warrants, we have raised serious concerns over process, jurisdiction and the position on complementarity principle, and believe the warrants of Mr Netanyahu and Gallant have no basis in international law.'

She also said: 'In the absence of the ICC making public the specific context of the charges, does the minister share concerns expressed about reports of process errors in the ICC's investigation?'
A former British soldier captured by Kremlin troops in southern Russia wanted to leave his Ukrainian army unit over safety concerns, the Mail has been told.

James Anderson, 22, was fighting in the strategically important Kursk province of southern Russia last week when his trench was stormed by enemy troops.

After a battle involving grenades he was one of 10 soldiers in the Ukrainian Defence Force arrested as Prisoners of Wars.

A disturbing video recorded by the Russians - in a clear breach of the Geneva Convention - showed the former Royal Corps of Signals soldier tied up and being interrogated.

Now another former UK soldier, who left the same unit just weeks ago, has claimed Ukrainian officers left James and his colleagues exposed.

The former infanteer, called 'Mike', said James had wanted to transfer, due to these issues, but felt honour-bound to continue the mission in Kursk.

Thousands of Ukrainian troops, assisted by international volunteers, are holding out in an enclave surrounded by Russian and North Korean soldiers.

James Anderson , 22, was fighting in the strategically important Kursk province of southern Russia last week when his trench was stormed by enemy troops

Mr Anderson pictured being paraded in front of cameras published by Kremlin-backed sources online

After a battle involving grenades he was one of 10 soldiers in the Ukrainian Defence Force arrested as Prisoners of Wars

James was part of the Ukrainian expeditionary force which invaded Russia in August, stunning the Kremlin and seized almost 1,400 square kilometres of territory

James was part of the Ukrainian expeditionary force which invaded Russia in August, stunning the Kremlin and seized almost 1,400 square kilometres of territory.

But despite their efforts Ukraine has lost as much as 40 per cent of that battleground - due to its soldiers being outmanned, outgunned and, according to Mike, poorly equipped.

It is considered essential for Ukraine to retain territory inside Russia as a bargaining chip in peace talks expected next year.

Mike said: 'There was a lack of drone reconnaissance, so our situational awareness would be compromised. It frustrated James and I, we felt like the commanders weren't doing enough to protect us.

'The Russians advance in large numbers and their artillery rains down on us. But we can't see them coming because we haven't got 'eyes on'.

'Kursk was a risk for Ukraine, strategically. We were disappointed not to have been adequately equipped to hold that ground.

'James wanted to switch units. But, being him, he felt committed to the unit we were in.'

The British veteran's warnings about the safety of friendly forces came as Ukraine fired more US ballistic missiles into Kursk.

The use of ATACMs by Kyiv earlier yesterday is a defiant move as it follows Russia's devastating response to its previous salvo.

After Ukraine first fired the US and UK-gifted missiles into southern Russia, the Kremlin significantly upped the ante.

Mr Anderson Sr said he said his son would not be dissuaded from going to Ukraine because 'he thought what he was doing was right'

James with his sister. He had been in the Army for four years, having gone to Army Foundation College as a 17-year-old

In the footage released by his captors, Mr Anderson can be heard describing his decision to go to fight for Ukraine in the Russian territory as a 'stupid idea'

Mr Anderson had been in the Army for four years, having gone to Army Foundation College as a 17-year-old

Vladimir Putin's forces fired a Oreshnik nuclear-capable hypersonic missile into Ukraine  which destroyed a weapons factory in the central city of Dnipro on Thursday.

Yesterday's strike by Ukraine was its first use of foreign high-grade rockets since Putin's dramatic escalation of the conflict.

The ATACMs targeted an airfield near Kursk and, according to reports, destroyed a Russian S-400 air defence system, a radar station and two missile launchers.

Wave after wave of Russian counter-assaults have forced Ukrainian units to retreat from areas of Kursk and raised fears Russia could recover the entire enclave in the months ahead.

More than 50,000 Kremlin soldiers have formed up while 10,000 North Koreans are reportedly being trained to enter what could be a decisive battle.

Mike said James was a popular, respected figure within the unit and known for his love of animals, particularly stray dogs and ducks.

He was also committed to improving the welfare of the Ukrainian people. He was no 'mercenary' according to Mike.

'We were waiting a long time for our wages and it is less than minimum wage in the UK,' he said.

James Anderson with his father Scott Anderson. The 41-year-old said he and other family members had begged his son not to go to Ukraine before he joined up around eight months ago

Mr Anderson senior, who said he served a short prison sentence for a domestic matter at the time his son joined the Ukrainians, said he has been contacted by Foreign Office officials

Mr Anderson Sr with James's grandmother Jacqueline Payne

'We were on 400pcm when behind the frontline, 1,000pcm when we were advanced and we'd get an extra 60 a-day when we were engaged in direct combat.

'If he wasn't so committed to the cause James wouldn't have got captured.

'He had really proved himself too, despite coming from an attached-arms background rather than an infantry regiment.

'Because he used to be in the Royal Corps of Signals we used to get him to fix the internet. Otherwise his communications background wasn't really utilised.

'Most of the combat is being shelled and most of the soldiering is luck, 80 per cent luck, 20 per cent skill. Nobody knows where it is going to land.

'We weren't trained in resistance to interrogation or how to cope with being captured. He appeared very composed in the video though. I don't think they'll kill him. He's a propaganda tool.'

Mike said James had deployed to Ukraine in April, initially joining the country's international battalion before transferring to its Ukrainian Defence Force.

Frustrating for its British recruits, the Defence Force only received basic military training.

Mike and James' colleagues were not part of the UK's Operation Interflex programme which has trained 50,000 Ukrainians in this country.

Mike added that Ukraine has to be 'realistic' about what it can achieve both on the battlefield and in post-conflict negotiations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin records a televised address in Moscow

Tragically, the country is not going to get back the territory illegally seized by Russia, in Mike's view.

He also questioned the UK's authorisation for Ukraine to fire British Storm Shadow ballistic missiles into internationally recognised Russian sovereign territory.

He said: 'I think that was poking the bear, taking territory in Kursk and letting them fire Storm Shadows into Russia. So I am not surprised how Russia has responded.

'Fighting is not going to win the war on either side. There will have to be talks and Ukraine will have to give up areas such as the Donbas and Crimea..'

James' grandmother, Jacqueline Payne, 60, yesterday told the Mail 'he definitely didn't go for the money'.

'He was only paid 400 or 800 at a time and he had a well-paid job here in the UK,' she said.

Mrs Payne, of Banbury, Oxfordshire, went on: 'His reason for going out there in the first place has always been that he wants to help the Ukrainian people because he has been trained as a soldier in the British Army. That has never changed but he did say he was hoping to go back and train their soldiers rather than continue fighting on the front line.'
An urgent manhunt is underway to find a baclava-clad thug who brandished two machetes outside a secondary school.

Police officers are urging anyone with information to come forward after the man was spotted carrying two massive black knives near Holgate Academy in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire.

Pictures show the knifeman dressed all in black with workman trousers, a black hat and a scarf around his face.

A video showed him gesturing at two men who appeared to try and stop him.

One could be heard saying 'look at you' as the suspect walked off.

The woman filming shouted 'f*** off' before the man with the machetes turned around and yelled abuse at her.

Nottinghamshire Police are now carrying out extensive inquiries to identify the thug, who is thought to be a teenager, who was seen in Nabbs Lane at around 3.20pm on Friday, November 22.

A spokesman for the Diverse Academies Trust, which runs the Holgate Academy, said the incident occurred outside of school hours on Friday and did not relate to the academy.

Officers are investigating and appealing for witnesses after a man brandished two large knives near to Holgate Academy in Hucknall

A video showed the suspect gesturing at two men who appeared to try and stop him. One could be heard saying 'look at you' as the suspect walked off

The individual was spotted carrying two massive black knives and he was dressed in all black with workman trousers

Chief Inspector Chris Sutcliffe, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: 'While we believe this was an isolated incident, we are treating it seriously and doing everything we possibly can to identify and apprehend those involved.

'Officers would like to speak with anyone who witnessed the incident or who may have dashcam, CCTV, or mobile phone footage of what happened.

'While we are continuing with our inquiries, we have increased our police presence in the area and have liaised with a nearby school to provide reassurance to the community.'

It comes after the release of a joint report by school, police and probation inspectors which found that serious youth violence is widespread.

Figures show there has been a 'notable increase' in armed robberies involving knives over the last year.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that knife crime offences also increased year-on-year but remained below pre-pandemic levels.

Some 50,510 offences were recorded in the 12 months to March 2024. Attacks disproportionately affected young people, with teenagers in the UK now twice as likely to be fatally stabbed as they were 10 years ago.

Official statistics suggest knife crime has risen by four per cent in the last 12 months, but remains three per cent lower than the 51,982 offences reported in the year to March 2020.

Anyone with any information that might help identify the baclava-clad individual is asked to call Nottinghamshire Police on 101, quoting incident 454 of November 22, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555.
Video footage has revealed the heartbreaking words of an unaccompanied two-year-old girl who turned up at the border alone clutching just a piece of paper.

The tiny two-year-old girl from El Salvador was found at the border in Maverick County, Texas, holding on to a piece of paper with a name and phone number while telling police she was searching for her mom and dad.

The toddler, dressed in a bright pink jacket, was part of a group of over 200 illegal migrants - including a staggering 60 unaccompanied minors - who were detained on Sunday.

In shocking bodycam footage shared by the spokesman with the Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Chris Olivarez on X, the child's gives a heartbreaking answer when asked where she was going.

'With my mom and dad,' the girl responds, pointing to a small yellow paper she was holding with a name and phone number.

When asked where her parents were, she said: 'United States.'

'This is a stark example of the precarious journey these children make from their home country and how criminal organizations traffic these children across the southern border and further into the interior,' Olivarez said on X.

Video footage has revealed the heartbreaking words of an unaccompanied two-year-old girl who turned up at the border alone clutching just a piece of paper

The toddler, dressed in a bright pink jacket, was part of a staggering group of over 200 illegal migrants - including 60 unaccompanied minors - who were detained on Sunday

'Regardless of political views, it is unacceptable for any child to be exposed to dangerous criminal trafficking networks.'

'With a record number of unaccompanied children and hundreds of thousands missing, there is no one ensuring the safety & security of these children except for the men & women who are on the frontlines daily.'

'Despite the criticism over the years, the reality is that many children are exploited & trafficked, never to be heard from again. DPS has rescued over 900 children during #OperationLoneStar from abandonment & human smuggling.'

This comes as Donald Trump's incoming border czar Tom Homan said it's guaranteed that the future president will pull federal funds from states that don't comply with his mass deportation plans.

Homan, who served in the highest echelons of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under Presidents Barack Obama and Trump, was recently tapped by the president-elect to serve as 'border czar,' a role tailor-made to carry out Trump's deportation mandate.

The president-elect repeatedly claimed while campaigning that on day one he would pull off the 'largest deportation program in American history.'

The tiny two-year-old girl from El Salvador was found alone at the border in Maverick County, Texas , holding on to a piece of paper with a name and phone number while telling police she was searching for her mom and dad

Homan will be tasked with helping Trump make good on that promise.

Speaking on Fox News with host Mark Levin on Saturday, the host suggested that the border czar has an important tool at his disposal to force states to comply with the mass deportations.

'Much like the Confederacy, they want to go on their own,' Levin said of states not wanting to enforce deportations. 'They want to do their own thing. To me, you got a powerful weapon among others, okay, no federal funds  boom  last thoughts?'

Homan didn't waste a beat, confirming immediately that states and municipalities that don't 'cooperate' with federal immigration agents will have their federal funds restricted.

'That is going to happen,' Homan stated. 'I guarantee President Trump will do that.'
A hospital boss admitted she 'missed an opportunity' to keep babies safe after doctors raised concerns Lucy Letby was killing them, an inquiry has heard.

Alison Kelly was the director of nursing at the Countess of Chester Hospital when the nurse attacked and murdered babies on the neonatal unit, between June 2015 and June 2016.

Ms Kelly agreed she failed to ask if Letby would be on duty over the weekend after the deaths of two triplets, who Letby killed on consecutive shifts, in June 2016.

The 34-year-old was allowed to work the next day and was accused of attempting to murder another baby boy, although the jury at her trial failed to reach a verdict in his case.

She was subsequently convicted of murdering seven babies and trying to kill seven more over a 13-month killing spree.

Ms Kelly claimed doctors were 'quite blase' about the allegations, but denied that she didn't take them seriously or that she simply didn't believe them.

She agreed it was 'not unheard of' for a nurse to deliberately harm patients but said that it was 'not in the forefront of my mind'.

Former Director of Nursing at the Countess of Chester Hospital Alison Kelly arrives at Liverpool Town Hall to give evidence at the Thirlwall Inquiry

Lucy Letby was found guilty of murdering seven newborn babies and attempting to kill six others between 2015 and 2016

'I found it difficult to comprehend,' she said. 'As a director of nursing I was in charge of over nearly 1,000 nurses and midwives, the last thing on my mind would be a nurse deliberately harming children, babies or adults.'

She added: 'I recognise I didn't ask the specific question, 'is Letby working tomorrow'? On reflection I could have done something differently and maybe that was a missed opportunity.'

Nicholas de la Poer, counsel for the Thirlwall Inquiry, said: 'So your actions did not include keeping babies safe?'

She replied: 'That's difficult to hear, but maybe I should have done something differently at that time.'

Mrs Kelly said she relied on Eirian Powell, the head of the neo-natal unit who was steadfast in her backing of Letby, for assurances and she had 'no clear answers' from the doctors who couldn't 'articulate' why they believed the nurse was harming children.

Letby was eventually moved off the unit in July 2016 into an administrative role, but hospital bosses opted to commission a series of reviews into the increased mortality rate and police were not called in to investigate until May 2017.

Explaining why police were not contacted in the summer of 2016, Ms Kelly said: 'I think we had a general conversation about the fact that we all personally needed to know and understand what was actually going on in our organisation so that we could clearly articulate to the police what the problems were.

This is the moment former neo-natal nurse Lucy Letby was arrested at her home in 2018

Ms Kelly (pictured centre) agreed she failed to ask if Letby would be on duty over the weekend after the deaths of two triplets, who Letby killed on consecutive shifts, in June 2016

'At the time we didn't really have a sense of what was going on.'

She also denied that a 'culture of fear' developed in the hospital because senior managers backed Letby and sided with nurses over the doctors.

Ms Kelly said: 'I would not say a culture of fear. I think there were challenges with the relationships, I think the trust had broken down and I think on reflection we could have done more to support the clinicians , certainly in a pastoral perspective.

'There was lots of engagement, it was just tense at times, which is why we gained advice from external agencies and the police eventually.'

Letby, 34, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted of being the UK's worst child serial killer at Manchester Crown Court in August last year. (2023)

The inquiry, sitting at Liverpool Town Hall before Lady Justice Thirlwall, is expected to sit until early 2025, with findings published by late autumn of that year.
The hosts of MSNBC's Morning Joe applauded Axios CEO Jim VandeHei after he blasted Elon Musk and X in a foul-mouth meltdown.

VandeHei gave a blistering speech at the National Press Club on Thursday in Washington D.C. after he and his publication's co-founder, Mike Allen, won the Fourth Estate award.

During his acceptance speech, the veteran journalist focused on Musk's claim that the media has been replaced by 'citizen journalists,' branding the idea 'bulls***.'

'I hate this damn debate about "Oh, we don't need the media," like it's not true!' VandeHei said.

'I love this country, I am a beneficiary of this country. Like some dipsh** from Wisconsin who can come and start two companies, be up here, win an award, sit next to Mikey, I'm a beneficiary of it,' VandeHei said, referring to himself.

The Oshkosh, Wisconsin native started out at a local outlet before moving on to The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post as a national political reporter.

He later co-founded Politico and is now at his current role as CEO for Axios.

VandeHei continued his rant while targeting Musk for claiming that anyone can be a journalist through social media.

'Elon Musk sits on Twitter everyday or X today saying like, "We are the media! You are the media!" My message to Elon Musk is: Bullsh**!

During his acceptance speed at The National Press Club on Thursday, Axios CEO Jim VandeHei slammed Elon Musk for claiming that the media has been replaced by 'citizen journalists'

The veteran journalist hit back at Musk for using his platform, X, to distribute his '300 words of cleverness,' branding it 'bullsh**'

'You're not the media, you having a blue checkmark, a Twitter handle, and 300 words of cleverness doesn't make you a reporter anymore than me looking at your head, and seeing that you have a brain and telling you have an awesome set of tools makes me a damn neurosurgeon, right?,' VandeHei added as the crowd applauded.

VandeHei said that Musk's claim is 'nonsense' because being an actual reporter 'is hard, like really hard.'

'You have to care, you have to do the hard work, you have to get up every single day and say "I want to get to the closest approximation of the truth without any fear, without any favoritism."

'You don't do that by popping off on Twitter, you don't do that by having an opinion' he continued. 'You do it by doing the hard work.'

He also noted all of the things he loves about America, adding that it all 'matters profoundly'.

'There's something about freedom, capitalism, the animal spirits of Democracy, but at the core of that is maybe transparency, maybe a free press, maybe the ability to do your job without worrying to go to jail, maybe the ability to sit in a war zone and tell people what's actually happening so they're not just looking at distortion,' he said.

On Monday morning, the Morning Joe crew invited VandeHei on the show to congratulate him for his words about the industry

He went on to say that journalists choose to do their job because 'we love it.'

On Monday morning, the Morning Joe crew invited VandeHei on the show to congratulate him for his words about the industry as they agreed with his stance.

Co-host Joe Scarborough was visibly thrilled by what VandeHei had to say, unleashing his own foul-mouthed rant against influencers, who he said get away with lying on social media while 'what reporters do matters.'

After Scarborough and co-host and wife, Mika Brezinski, praised VandeHei, Scarborough immediately hopped on the bandwagon, repeating the CEO's comment he made last week about influencers 'popping off on Twitter.'

As Scarborough grew aggravated, he dropped a curse word, leaving Brezinski speechless.

'And like you said, this is what gets me,' Scarborough said in reference to VandeHei's speech. 'If someone pops off on Twitter, or some other social media, and they lie, they make mistakes - you know what the cost of that is? Nothing. They do it again.

'In fact, it helps them because algorithms are rigged, so you stir up sh**,' he added, as Brezinski jumped in her chair before briefly looking away.

Scarborough told VandeHei that what he said 'continues to need to be said' because there is a lot of 'garbage flying around on social media.'

VandeHei said that Musk's claim is 'nonsense' because being an actual reporter 'is hard, like really hard'

He dove even deeper as he shouted out specific outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and MSNBC.

'What The New York Times does matters. What The Wall Street Journal does matters. What Jonathan Lemire does matters. What the Financial Times does matters. What MSNBC News and MSNBC reporters do matters,' he said.

VandeHei agreed with Scarborough, acknowledging that journalists aren't perfect.

'And it doesn't mean there aren't things that we get wrong,' he said, adding that he got so 'hopped up' during his speech because of what he's heard from reporters.

'I listen to so many reporters who feel like the industry is going to hell. Nobody trusts them, they're demoralized... And the truth is we don't have time to be demoralized!

'We don't have time to whine, we have to do our job!

'There is an information war out there,' VandeHei said adding, that 'there are still tens of millions of people who depend on great reporting.'
A family has shared their relief after a man was found alive 18 months after he first disappeared from outside a hospital.

Shane Barnett, 49, vanished after leaving the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff on May 7 2023.

Despite police fears he may no longer be alive, his family did not give up hope and continued to search for him every day.

Thanking all those who shared the appeal, Shane's sister Nicola Casey said the case was 'proof' to families with missing relatives not to lose hope.

South Wales Police announced on Sunday that Shane had been found, the Mirror reported.

In an update on Facebook, the force wrote: 'Shane Barnett, 49, who was reported as missing in May last year has been found. Thank you to everyone who shared our appeals.'

Shane's mother Diane Bush, who had vowed to 'never stop looking' for him, thanked officers for their 'amazing' help and support.

She said: 'I cannot thank you all for all your shares over the last 18 months, and as for the police, I cannot thank you enough, you have never given up looking and followed up on any leads, and in the end you found him, thank you so much.'

Shane Barnett, 49, was found after he disappeared from outside a hospital 18 months ago

Shane pictured at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff on May 7 last year

His mother Diane Bush made a plea on a Channel 5 documentary for the missing family member, saying 'we won't give up on you'

Over the 18 months, Ms Casey said she had spent hours every day searching for Shane, including putting up posters, sharing posts on local social media groups.

'I've had many people message me with possible sightings which I'm so grateful for, I've gone there to check and unfortunately it hasn't been him but I won't stop checking', she told WalesOnline at the time.

Shane's case was previously featured on Channel 5's Vanished: The Search for Britain's Missing.

It included a direct message to Shane from Diane, who promised 'we won't give up on you'.

She said on the programme: 'I will come anywhere you want to, to see you. Anywhere at all. Just please get in touch. You have no idea how much you are missed and loved.'
CNN is mulling making Kaitlan Collins its chief White House correspondent, a new report has claimed.

The potential move - said to be still be in 'discussions' - comes amid rampant rumors of lay-offs at the network to save its flailing reputation.

The possible shakeup was reported Monday by Semafor. The publication said it spoke with two people familiar with the matter.

The talks, they said, are part of a greater plan to overhaul CNN's political coverage. The shift will reportedly seek to lean into the spectacle of Donald Trump's second presidency, as opposed to shying away from it.

Collins has surfaced as a clear candidate thanks to connections garnered from her days as a White House reporter during Trump's first term, both sources said.

Credentials include a three-year stint as a Trump-era White House reporter with the Daily Caller, and continued coverage with CNN that actually saw her barred from a Trump press conference after asking a series of questions about Vladimir Putin.

The 2018 incident in the Oval Office paved the way for a faceoff between the two at a town hall last year, where Trump branded Collins, now 32, 'a nasty woman.'

A year-and-a-half later, she is in West Palm Beach covering the president-elect once more, after also serving as CNN's chief correspondent for Joe Biden's White House.

CNN is reportedly mulling making Kaitlan Collins, 32, its chief White House correspondent, according to two people familiar with the matter. The talks, they said, are part of a greater plan to overhaul CNN's political coverage

Collins, thanks to connections garnered from her days as a reporter during Trump's first term, has surfaced as a clear candidate, the insiders told Semafor

She, like several other members of the media, has been camped out there for days, as Trump continues to hold court from his compound in Mar-a-Lago.

The Semafor piece further stated how there's been some 'internal buzz' surrounding the prospective shuffle within the network's DC bureau, which has already been graced with a new boss in the form of DC bureau chief David Chalian.

Chalian previously served as Yahoo! News' Washington bureau boss, but was fired from after he was caught on a hot mic saying then-candidate Mitt Romney was 'not concerned at all' and 'happy to have a party with black people drowning' during Hurricane Isaac.

He went on to head CNN's political coverage from 2014 until this past week, when he was tapped to oversee the networks D.C. bureau and all of CNNs Washington political news coverage.

This comes in addition to his role as overseer of CNNs daily political reporting across all platforms, where he is also in charge of the editorial content for special political programming.

He will also remain CNNs political director in his new role, as 'multiple' insiders disclaimed to Semafor that the network hasnt made any other official decisions yet.

If the move surrounding Collins goes through, she and her eponymous primetime show - currently being broadcast out of Florida - would have to relocate from New York to Washington.

Any programming changes or staffing beyond the appointment were not detailed.

The potential move was reported Monday. The publication said it spoke with two people familiar with the high-level talks, who said execs have honed in on Collins history as a Trump-era White House reporter with the Daily Caller and continued coverage with CNN

Collins also served as CNN's chief correspondent for Joe Biden's White House, after several clashes with his predecessor

The most notable - and likely the reason for former CEO Chris Licht's ouster - was a widely seen faceoff between the two at a town hall last year, where Trump branded Collins 'a nasty woman.' The event saw CNN criticized for alleged bias and an unprofessional line of questioning

Collins, meanwhile, is in the midst of a meteoric rise that has seen her rub shoulders with not one but two administrations, all while surfacing as a new recognizable face.

Today, she commands a salary of $3million, and has, for a little more than a year, hosted The Source with Kaitlan Collins on primetime.

The show airs on weekdays between Anderson Cooper 360 and CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip, the latter of which has occasionally performed better in ratings despite being in a later timeslot.

By appointing her to the new position, CNN is attempting to mimic success seen during Trumps first term, when coverage of the president drew record numbers on a nightly basis.

Doing so with a journalist who has a checkered history with the conservative is akin to 'walk[ing] a tightrope', the Semafor report conceded when it comes to Trump coverage - pointing to CNN's old approach of mostly panning the then-president.

CNN boss Mark Thompson has made it clear the station's new mission is to not default toward anti-Trump coverage, in contrast to former CNN president Jeff Zucker.

Replacement Chris Licht attempted the same, but was fired after less than a year in June 2023 following a series of layoffs and a botched town hall that coincidentally had been headed by Collins.

The latter has been pegged as one of the primary reasons for Licht's ouster, as it was widely panned for Collins' hapless efforts to fact-check the president.

The architect of the reported shuffle is reportedly CEO Mark Thompson, who was hired late last summer to right a sinking ship following the failures of predecessor Licht, who was fired after less than a year after promising to air impartial coverage

The news also comes as veteran anchors Jake Tapper and Wolf Blitzer were reportedly recently denied raises - after already raking in salaries of $3million and $7million, respectively

Veteran news anchor Chris Wallace has also left CNN after several years - and after making an $7million salary. Insiders previously said they were pondering a pay-cut for the 77-year-old

Collins, despite being a relative newcomer, remains not far behind, with a take-home of $3million. She is currently in West Palm Beach covering the president-elect

As a result, the live event teetered on the edge of chaos, and days after it wrapped, spawned a 15,000-word profile in The Atlantic from journalist, Tim Alberta, who called into serious question Lichts ability to lead the organization.

Within the week, Licht was fired, after finding success leading 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' and producing MSNBCs 'Morning Joe'.

Meanwhile, the widely criticized town hall did succeed in one thing showcase a reporter Licht had sought to elevate into a star in Collins.

Within months, her then-new prime-time show would air as planned, and it continues to do so to mixed ratings.

And while a recently-instilled Thompson is reportedly working hard to correct the climate left by his predecessors, ratings have fallen more than 20 percent in the year since.

A particularly pronounced drop-off was seen the Thursday after the election, when the network's numbers fell from 6million daily viewers Tuesday to just 596,000

Fox News, meanwhile, remained the top choice for viewers on the big night and well after, after averaging 10.3 million on Tuesday, and a total of 2.6million viewers Thursday.

The latter was more than 10 times what MSNBC had achieved, and even more when compared to CNN.

By appointing her to the new position, CNN is attempting to mimic success seen during Trumps first term, when coverage of the president drew record numbers on a nightly basis, insiders said

Doing so with a journalist who has a checkered history with the conservative is akin to 'walk[ing] a tightrope', the Semafor report conceded when it comes to Trump coverage - pointing to CNN's old approach of mostly panning the then-president

As of writing, the move was reportedly still being talked out - as Collins' star continues to rise

Days earlier, The Ankler reported that officials had been mulling a pay cut for Wallace, who had been making $7 million-a-year.

Puck was reportedly told by insiders that Wallace was told by CNN brass that his two struggling shows would be nixed and his salary clashed if he would sign on for another year.

Meanwhile, famous faces like Anderson Cooper and Erin Burnett are taking home annual salaries of $20million and $6million, respectively.

Collins, despite being a relative newcomer, remains not far behind.
Transgender YouTuber Chris Chan has shocked her followers by hinting at a possible pregnancy during a livestream.

Chan, 42, who also goes by the name Christine Weston Chandler, is a vlogger well known for her webcomic series about a character named Sonichu who is a mix of Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog.

She faced 10 years in prison when she was arrested at her home in Virginia in August 2021 accused of having an incestuous relationship with her 82-year-old mother, Barbara.

The case was dismissed by a judge two years later in August 2023, after Chandler's attorneys filed a motion that suggested she had an autism disorder.

During a recent livestream recorded by internet forum Kiwi Farms, Chandler was asked, 'When will you announce the child you're having?'

'When the child, when the child is actually coming into play for summer/ somewhere around that point or I just might keep y'all in the dark and let y'all know until and wait till after the child is born,' Chandler replied.

The surprise revelation sent fans and critics of Chandler into an uproar questioning if it was even true.

'Oh boy gonna have to wait and see what happens,' one person said.

Chan, 42, who also goes by the name Christine Weston Chandler, is a vlogger well known for her webcomic series about a character named Sonichu

She faced 10 years in prison when she was arrested at her home in Virginia in August 2021 accused of having an incestuous relationship with her 82-year-old mother, Barbara

'Well, I didn't have that on my 2024 bingo card,' said another.

Others expressed their concern for the unborn child given Chandler's criminal history including the 2021 arrest for incest and a prior 2014 arrest for spraying a GameStop employee with mace after he reportedly told her to leave.

'Believe me, NOBODY is jealous of Chris. If this turns out to be true, Im concerned for the kid more than anything. Chris cant even take care himself so the chances of him being able to support himself, his girlfriend, AND their potentially unborn child are literally zero,' one person said.

'If I had a nickel for every time I was terrified about the potential life of an unborn child, I would have two nickels, which isnt a lot but its weird that it happened twice,' said a second.

Some speculated if Chandler was having a child with her supposed girlfriend, a woman called Flutter. The two allegedly met while Chandler was incarcerated at the Central Virginia Regional Jail.

'PLEASE tell me the rumors I'm hearing about Chris Chan getting that girl flutter pregnant are not true please,' a person said.

Bodycam footage of Chandler's 2021 arrest resurfaced showing the moment police told Chandler they had a warrant for her arrest and put her in handcuffs.

'Do not fight or you will get tasered,' one officer said.

Chandler complied, but warned officers her 'husband' was present 'right on the opposite side of the universe-veil... punching [officers] to let you know' he was there.

'If any of y'all has been feeling a punch-like sensation on your leg, that is my husband,' she said.

She asked one of the officers if he felt the punch, but he told her he did not.

'Is there anyone else in the room with you?' he asked.

Chandler said: 'Interdimensionally. You can't tangibly see them.'

The officer asked Chandler to clarify whether a 'physical person' was in the room, to which she said: 'From this universe? No.'

Chandler's arrest came just days after a phone call was leaked on an instant messaging platform, on which a person believed to be Chandler seemingly admitted to having sex with her elderly mother, who is believed to have dementia.

During the eight-minute conversation, Chandler apparently tells a friend that it was her mother, Barbara, who 'made the first move,' leading the two to kiss, according to the audio file, which Newsweek reported.

Bodycam footage of Chandler's 2021 arrest resurfaced showing the moment police told Chandler they had a warrant for her arrest and put her in handcuffs

Chandler allegedly claimed she approached the situation with 'care and caution' after years of harboring sexual feelings toward her mother, and even having dreams of having sex with her.

'She was partially confused at one point, but then she came around, obviously,' Chandler is allegedly heard saying on the call.

As the call continues, the person said to be Chandler says that she and her mother now have a 'routine' where they have sex 'every third night', and that her mother enjoys it.

Toward the end of the recording, Chandler apparently tells her friend: 'God... said this was okay.'

The authenticity of the call was never publicly verified.
The Princess of Wales will undertake her most significant public engagement since she began cancer treatment next month as she welcomes the Emir of Qatar for his official state visit to the UK.

Catherine will accompany her husband Prince William to officially greet the Emir and his wife, Sheikha Jawaher, at their residence on December 3 and accompany them to Horse Guards Parade for a stunning ceremonial welcome.

The King and Queen will be waiting to greet the guests before accompanying them back to Buckingham Palace.

It is expected that the princess, who announced in September a slow and measured return to public life after the completion of her preventative chemotherapy treatment, will join the Royal Family at the palace for lunch.

But it has been confirmed that she will not attend a glittering State Banquet in the evening.

The Prince and Princess of Wales during a visit to Southport Community Centre on October 10

The Princess of Wales will undertake her most significant public engagement since she began cancer treatment next month

Catherine will accompany her husband to officially greet the Emir and his wife, Sheikha Jawaher, at their residence on December 3 and accompany them to Horse Guards Parade for a ceremonial welcome

A royal source described the announcement of her attendance at some elements of the visit, however, as 'good news'.

The princess has attended a number of high profile events such as Trooping the Colour, Remembrance events and Wimbledon over the last eleven months since she effectively withdrew from public life to focus on her health.

But next month's appearance will be her most significant so far given that she will be playing an active role in events.
The moment a man from Argentina stabbed his estranged wife 28 times before turning the weapon on himself was captured on horrifying CCTV footage.

Sergio Sarria, 41, broke into the Big Pizza pizzeria - the spot where 45-year-old Debora, his ex-wife, is employed along with her new partner - in the neighborhood of Nunez, Buenos Aires, just last week, before the frenzied knife attack took place - leaving Debora with 28 brutal stab wounds.

'He wanted to kill me like an animal,' she said. 'All the stab wounds I have are in my ribs, neck, face and one eye. It was terrible, terrifying. I have a big cut on my elbow because he cut me with that knife.'

The heart-stopping video footage showed Sarria as he jumped over the barrier that led into the kitchen and lunged at Debora - who was behind the counter at the time - with a large knife in hand.

A struggle quickly ensued after Debora was aggressively grabbed and repeatedly stabbed before she dropped to the ground and attempted to shield her face from the attack.

Debora's current partner, along with another colleague, were captured as they attempted to stop the violent encounter - throwing things at him to intervene - while Sarria continued to crazily stab his ex-wife as she crouched down on the ground.

Debora, who described her ex-husband as being frequently abusive in the span of their previous 23-year marriage, was able to get up and flee the shop while Sarria took his jacket off and stabbed himself several times in the neck as police arrived.

'Miraculously, he didn't manage to kill me,' Debora, who has since been released from the hospital, said. 'I think in large part because of the help I got because they tried to hit him, to get him off me, but he was furious.'

Sarria is under arrest but remains in the hospital following his alleged suicide attempt.

Horrifying CCTV footage captured the moment a man from Argentina, 41-year-old Sergio Sarria, broke into his estranged wife's workplace and stabbed her 28 times
A British man has been left with life-threatening injuries after he was hit by a tram while on holiday in Germany.

Richard Bridgman, 69, was knocked down as he tried to cross a road in the city of Dusseldorf on Friday night.

According to local police, Mr Bridgman walked across the street as two trams were travelling in different directions. He was hit by the second tram and was trapped underneath it.

Emergency services rushed to the collision, which happened on the busy Berliner Allee road, where they were able to pull Mr Bridgman from under the streetcar before he was taken to hospital.

Police said they were investigating the circumstances of how Mr Bridgman was hit by the tram.

'In a serious traffic accident shortly after midnight, a 69-year old man was hit by a tram and suffered life threatening injuries,' a spokesperson from Dusseldorf Police said.

They added: 'According to the current status of the investigation, the Brit intended to cross the Grunstrasse/Berliner Allee intersection via a pedestrian crossing.

Richard Bridgman (pictured), 69, was knocked down while trying to cross a road in the German city of Dusseldorf on Friday night

According to local police, Mr Bridgman walked across the street as two trams were travelling in different directions. He was hit by the second tram and was trapped underneath it

A tram in Dusseldorf (stock image). Emergency services rushed to the collision, which happened on the busy Berliner Allee road, where they were able to pull Mr Bridgman from under the streetcar before he was taken to hospital

'At the same time, two trams ran along the Berliner Allee in each direction. The man let the first tram pass and was then hit by a tram on line 705 and was subsequently trapped under the tram.

'After rescue workers freed him, the man was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.'

Mr Bridgman has been a season ticket holder at Bristol City for over 30 years and fans and friends alike have been rallying around the family to support them.

An online fundraiser, set up to help support the family, has raised almost 4,000 in less than 24 hours since it was set up on Sunday morning.

Georgia Hughes set up a fundraiser after she heard about the collision. She said she set up the GoFundMe page to help support the family with anything they will need.

She said: 'A lot of you guys have heard the devastating news of Richard.

'The family are still in Germany - this is where Richard will have to remain for treatments and surgeries.

'The money can help go towards any medical expenses or anything they will need for Richard and his care.'

She added: 'Richard really is the life and soul of the party, has the most infectious laugh and is loved by so many. Let's raise as much as we can to help! Keep fighting Richard.'
Ghislaine Maxwell's bid to have her sex trafficking conviction appeal reconsidered has been rejected by a US court.

The disgraced British socialite is currently serving a 20 year jail term at FCI Tallahassee for pimping girls for paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The 62-year-old had her appeal for her conviction rejected in September by judges at Manhattan's Second US Circuit Court of Appeals, who said her sentence was 'procedurally reasonable'.

Her lawyers had vowed to challenge that decision and suggested they would take it to the US Supreme Court.

But Maxwell has seen her request to judges on the second circuit in the southern district of New York for a 'panel rehearing' - requesting the court reconsider its decision - denied.

She was described as 'dangerous' during her trial as jurors were told details of how she helped entice vulnerable teenagers to Epstein's various properties.

Maxwell's lawyers previously argued that she 'should never have been prosecuted' because of a 'weird' agreement drafted more than 15 years ago.

Ghislaine Maxwell's bid to have her sex trafficking conviction appeal reconsidered has been rejected by a US court

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell pictured together in New York in 2005

Maxwell kisses Epstein while on a trip to Europe

Judge Alison Nathan said at sentencing that Maxwell was 'central' to Epstein's heinous crimes, not a 'proxy'.

'Ms Maxwell worked with Epstein to select young victims who were vulnerable and played a pivotal role in facilitating sexual abuse,' the judge said.

Her appeal was rejected in September, with three judges - Jose Cabranes, Richard Wesley and Raymond Lohier Jr - ruling that she was not the subject of an unfair trial.

The judges dismissed her arguments, concluding that the non-prosecution agreement drafted in Florida 'does not bind' the United States Attorney's Office for SDNY.

September's judgment also dismissed Maxwell's claims that she did not have a fair trial after it emerged one of the jurors, Scotty David, failed to disclose in his pre-trial questionnaire that he had been sexually abused.

Maxwell has been incarcerated since July 2020, despite numerous attempts from her defence counsel to have her released on bail.

In January, DailyMail.com revealed that Maxwell had been telling her fellow inmates in prison to ignore reports on the case and instead promised she would write memoir giving 'the truth'.

Maxwell began her 20-year sentence at FCI Tallahassee in 2022 after being found guilty of sex trafficking the year prior

Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein pictured in an undated photo shown to the court during her sex trafficking trial

Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to a Florida state prosecution charge and served 13 months in jail, an arrangement now widely considered too lenient. He died by suicide in 2019

Pictured: The former home of Jeffrey Epstein in Palm Beach

Pictured: The former Florida residence of Jeffrey Epstein

A source claimed that Maxwell, who was a close associate of Epstein for years, claimed 'the documents in the news are all false or misinformation' and 'the truth will only come out when her book does'.

The insider said: 'She's bragging about how great it will be but it sounds like the same old lies she has told a thousand times.

'She really thinks she hasn't done anything wrong and that her charges will be dropped when people read it.'

In a self-serving prison interview last year, she denied knowledge of the dead financier's crimes, insisting she regretted ever meeting him and had no idea he was 'capable of evil'.

But hundreds of documents made public in January, relating to a long-settled defamation case filed against Maxwell by Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre, made a mockery of her claims of innocence.

Epstein died by suicide at age 66 in 2019 in a Manhattan jail cell, five weeks after being arrested and charged with sex trafficking.

He ultimately pleaded guilty in 2008 to a Florida state prosecution charge and served 13 months in jail, an arrangement now widely considered too lenient.

His victims have since recouped hundreds of millions of dollars from his estate and from banks accused of handling transactions that financed his sexual misconduct.

Maxwell, who was once Epstein's girlfriend, has been serving her sentence in a low-security prison in Tallahassee, Florida. She is eligible for release in July 2037.
American Airlines faced criticism for initially refusing to refund a doctor who gave up her business class seats to assist a sick passenger experiencing a medical emergency on a flight to Italy.

Dr. Erin Nance, known on TikTok as @littlemissdiagnosed, shared her experience of volunteering to assist an unwell passenger on the first leg of their flight to Italy, an overnight flight to London. This selfless act required her and her husband to sacrifice their premium seating.

Despite her kindness, the airline initially dismissed the New York City-based doctor's refund request, citing booking complications because the tickets were purchased through British Airways.

The incident unfolded an hour into her flight in June when the crew announced a medical emergency.

Dr. Nance stepped in to help and offered her and her husband's business class seats to the sick elderly woman, who fainted twice within 20 minutes, and her son, allowing the woman to lie down comfortably.

This gesture prevented the flight from being diverted to Nova Scotia, as the pilot had suggested.

"I asked the flight attendants if there was anywhere the woman could lie down, as she was on the floor in front of the bathroom, but they told me the flight was completely full,' she told DailyMail.com.

American Airlines faced criticism for initially refusing to refund a doctor who gave up her business class seats to assist a sick passenger experiencing a medical emergency on a flight to Italy

Despite her selfless act, American Airlines initially dismissed her refund request, citing booking complications because the tickets were purchased through British Airways

While the flight crew expressed their gratitude, providing free food and champagne to Nance and her husband, the couple was relegated to uncomfortable seats for the remainder of the flight, which they described as 'possibly the worst seats on the airplane.'

Dr. Nance didn't see the passenger or her son after the flight, as they had already disembarked. While the elderly woman didn't speak English, her son expressed gratitude for Dr. Nance's assistance.

Despite the airline's initial reluctance, Dr. Nance persisted in requesting a refund.

Speaking to DailyMail.com, Dr. Nance said that while she would gladly volunteer her seat again to ensure someone's safety, it was fair to expect reimbursement for the expensive tickets.

'Physicians are inherently altruistic, always ready to assist those in need. While we don't seek recognition or reward, it's reasonable to expect gratitude from companies when we go above and beyond,' she said.

'Over the years, I've assisted countless passengers in medical distress. It's part of the job. I've never asked for anything in return; in fact, I often don't even mention it.

'In this case, I personally chose to sacrifice my comfort to ensure the safety and well-being of a fellow passenger. It's a small gesture, but one that could have prevented a major disruption to the entire flight.'

Weeks went by without a response to her formal complaint, prompting her to share her experience on TikTok, where the video went viral.

The attention forced American Airlines to respond, but their offer of airline miles fell short of her expectations.

The airline claimed that, since the tickets were booked through British Airways, they couldn't issue a refund directly.

However, after continued public pressure and support from commenters, British Airways stepped in and agreed to refund the difference in the cost of the seats. American Airlines also offered additional points to her and her husband as compensation.

After continued public pressure and support from commenters, British Airways stepped in and agreed to refund the difference in the cost of the seats

Dr. Nance asked the American Airlines representative if they had a specific policy in place to thank medical professionals who assist passengers during in-flight emergencies. She informed her that they offer extra miles to the physicians that tend to passengers mid flight.

'While I have accounts with several airlines, including American, I'm more likely to choose companies that value and respect medical professionals,' she said.

'I initially hesitated to post on TikTok, hoping the airline would take the initiative to rectify the situation.

'Ultimately, it's about the airline's responsibility to acknowledge and appreciate those who go out of their way to assist others.'

Dr. Nance was just recently refunded $2,145.52 this month for the sacrificed seats while American Airlines awarded her miles for her assistance on board.
A Texas mother is outraged after a preschool worker was caught on video 'manhandling' her young daughter.

Jasmine Adams was in disbelief when she witnessed an employee at the Kipling Street Academy in Houston roughly grabbing her three-year-old girl, Legacy.

'This is a grown woman who is literally manhandling a three-year-old,' Adams told ABC 13.

'I literally see the teacher lifting her off the ground and then just like slamming her onto the floor on her butt.'

The worker can also be seen grabbing little Legacy by the arm and dragged her to a chair.

Adams noted that her daughter looked like she was losing balance and being pulled around by the unidentified worker.

A representative from the Houston Police Department told DailyMail.com the incident occurred on Tuesday and that Adams reported it on Thursday.

She was watching her daughter through a daycare livestream that sent real-time video straight to her phone.

Livestream footage from Kipling Street Academy showed Legacy, 3, being 'manhandled' by a staff member

Legacy's mother, Jasmine Adams, has pulled her daughter out of Kipling Street Academy and claimed this is not the first time her daughter has been roughly handled at the preschool

Adams said the staffer 'slammed' her daughter onto the ground and into a chair

Once Adams saw the staffer 'forcefully' pull her child and 'slam her into the chair,' she picked her up at the school and took her to the doctor, the department said.

The doctor did not find any injuries on the child, but Adams told police that Legacy said her stomach hurt after the incident.

The investigation is ongoing.

The concerned mother has pulled Legacy out of the preschool for good, as she claimed this is not the first time something like this has happened.

'Some people may feel like it's okay to be physical with a three-year-old,' Adams told ABC 13.

'I, on the other hand, do not agree. I don't think that it's okay, at any time, to touch another person's child.'

Kipling Street Academy is currently closed for Thanksgiving and did not respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment.

The preschool did not respond to ABC 13, either, but the outlet reported that Adams did receive a voice message from the preschool's owner.

The message reportedly revealed that the employee in the recording had been spoken with.

The owner went on to claim that Legacy was acting unruly - climbing on the table and kicking her teachers - before the employee grabbed her.

Adams was less than pleased with the response.

'To brush it under the rug and blame the three-year-old, us, as a community, we should be outraged,' Adams told ABC 13.

She recommended the woman in the video take 'some anger management classes,' but does not think she should get fired over the incident.

'I'm not calling for her to lose her job because nobody's perfect,' she said. 'People make mistakes.'

Kipling Street Academy is located in Houston. The owner reportedly left Adams a message after the incident, claiming Legacy was misbehaving beforehand

The unidentified employee was recorded as she pulled at the child and made her sit in a chair

The incident comes about a month after a Washington mother was left furious when her son Giovanni, 3, wandered away from his preschool and his teacher did not try looking for him.

Ana Maldonado could not believe how easily her son was able to leave Tukwila Elementary School in October.

Giovanni walked out of the school and trekked over 100 yards to get home. His teacher never went to find him because she did not want to leave the other students.

When the child showed up at the front door during the school day, his mother was stunned.

'I was like, "How are you home? Why are you here? School isn't over for another 30 minutes,"' Maldonado said.
Blackout warnings for households along the east coast have been downgraded after coal plant operators pulled planned outages during a predicted heatwave.

The Australian Energy Market Operator issued a warning on Monday about blackout risks in NSW and Queensland on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday, when temperatures could soar to 40C in parts of Sydney.

Increased air-conditioning use and generator repairs at three NSW coal-fired power plants threaten to shut down the grid in some areas.

'High temperatures and strong electricity demand, combined with some generation outages, are causing tight electricity supply forecasts in NSW tomorrow and Wednesday afternoon,' a spokesperson for the operator said.

The energy operator downgraded the warnings late on Monday afternoon.

'The previously forecast Lack of Reserve Level 3 has been downgraded to a less critical Lack of Reserve Level 2,' a spokesperson said.

'This improvement is largely due to the cancellation of transmission outages in the region.'

The market operator said it would take 'all necessary measures' to boost supply if forecasts deteriorated again.

Sydney is set for a heatwave which will last through to Wednesday

Aussies are set to swelter over the next few days as the energy regulator warns heatwave conditions could trigger rolling blackouts in one state.

Earlier on Monday, energy companies were asked to switch off big electricity users and boost supply across the state.

'AEMO has alerted the energy industry and is working with power station operators and transmission businesses to boost electricity availability,' a spokesperson said.

'If a market response remains inadequate, AEMO will take actions available to maintain supply.'

NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe said people should look out for each other during the heat spike.

She said the government was keeping an eye out for any energy-supply problems.

'You should drink water, you should check in on neighbours and you should think about whether you need to walk out in the middle of the day in the beating hot sun,' she said.

'Do you really need to have every single light on in the house ... do you need to have your air conditioning down at 19 degrees? You don't.'

The Bureau of Meteorology on Monday enacted a heatwave warning in NSW and Queensland due to last until midweek.

The temperature in the Sydney city centre is forecast to peak at 33C on Wednesday and could reach 40C in the northwest suburbs.

The heatwave is predicted to end on Thursday and Friday, with rainy and stormy conditions likely.

The predictions follow a week of soaring temperatures in Victoria, where parts of Melbourne reached 37C - well above the November average.

Sydney

Tuesday: Mostly sunny. Winds northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h becoming light before dawn then becoming northeasterly 20 to 30 km/h in the middle of the day. Min 20C Max 31C

Wednesday: Sunny morning. Medium chance of showers in the afternoon and evening. Light winds becoming northerly 15 to 25 km/h during the day then becoming light during the evening. Min 21C Max 33C.

Thursday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers. The chance of a thunderstorm in the outer west. Light winds becoming south to southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the afternoon then becoming light during the evening. Min 22C Max 29C.

Senior Meteorologist Sarah Scully said the heat was being caused by tropical moisture

Melbourne

Tuesday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds. Min 17C Max 26C.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. The chance of a thunderstorm. Winds north to northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h turning northwesterly 25 to 35 km/h during the day then tending northwest to southwesterly 15 to 20 km/h during the evening. Min 19C Max 27C.

Thursday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. Winds northwest to southwesterly 15 to 20 km/h tending south to southwesterly 15 to 25 km/h during the morning then tending south to southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the evening. Min 17C Max 24C.

Brisbane

Tuesday: Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a shower, most likely in the morning. Light winds becoming northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h in the early afternoon then becoming light in the evening. Min 19C Max 29C.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. Light winds becoming northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the day then becoming light during the evening. Min 20C Max 30C.

Thursday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers. Light winds becoming northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the day then becoming light during the evening. Min 22C Max 30C.

Canberra

Tuesday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds becoming northwesterly 20 to 30 km/h in the morning then becoming light in the evening. Min 16C Max 31C.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds becoming northwesterly 20 to 30 km/h during the morning then becoming light during the evening. Min 17C Max 31C.

Thursday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds becoming northwesterly 20 to 30 km/h during the morning then becoming light during the evening. Min 17C Max 31C.

Temperatures could reach up to 40C in NSW and Queensland on Tuesday and Wednesday

Adelaide

Tuesday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the late afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds becoming northwest to northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h in the morning then tending west to northwesterly 15 to 25 km/h in the middle of the day. Min 17C Max 32C.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning. Winds west to northwesterly 20 to 30 km/h turning southwesterly 25 to 35 km/h during the afternoon. Min 15C Max 24C.

Thursday: Cloudy. Slight chance of a shower in the morning. Winds southerly 20 to 30 km/h. Min 13C Max 23C.

Darwin

Tuesday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the late morning and afternoon. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds. Min 26C Max 32C.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds. Min 26C Max 33C.

Thursday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds. Min 26C Max 33C.

Perth

Tuesday: Sunny. Winds southeasterly 20 to 30 km/h. Min 11C Max 26C.

Wednesday: Sunny. Winds east to southeasterly 20 to 30 km/h. Min 12C Max 29C.

Thursday: Sunny. Winds easterly 20 to 30 km/h becoming light during the evening. Min 17C Max 32C.

Hobart

Tuesday: Partly cloudy. Light winds becoming southeasterly 15 to 25 km/h in the early afternoon then becoming light in the evening. Min 13C Max 23C.

Wednesday: Cloudy. High chance of showers. Light winds becoming south to southeasterly 15 to 25 km/h during the afternoon. Min 14C Max 22C.

Thursday: Cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. Winds southerly 20 to 30 km/h turning southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the evening. Min 12C Max 17C.
A 40-year-old woman is fighting for her life and a schoolboy is seriously injured after a five-car smash in Cambridge.

Police are looking for a driver, believed to have fled the scene, after the collision on the A14 near Newmarket on Friday night.

Emergency services rushed to the incident on the eastbound carriageway between junctions 36 and 37 at around 11.40pm.

The crash initially only involved a single vehicle - a grey Nissan Silva.

However, more collisions happened soon after and involved a grey Volvo, a grey Ford Ecosport, and a blue Peugeot.

The fifth vehicle is understood to have fled the scene before the police arrived and remains unidentified.

Detective Sergeant Craig Wheeler, from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: 'This was a nasty collision which has left three people seriously injured.

The collision happened on the A14 near Newmarket on Friday evening

'I would like to hear from anyone who was driving on the eastbound or westbound carriageways who may have dashcam footage any of the collisions taking place, or any vehicles which drove through the scene at any stage.'

He added: 'I would also like to appeal to the occupants of the vehicle that left the scene to get in touch as you may have vital information which would greatly assist our investigation.'

An East of England Ambulance spokesperson said: 'Two ambulances, a paramedic car, two Hazardous Area Response Team vehicles and East Anglian Air Ambulance were sent to the Eastbound A14 near Swaffham Prior shortly before midnight on Friday 22 November, following reports of a multi-vehicle road traffic collision.'
Honors presentation ceremony held in Hong Kong

Xinhua) 09:57, November 25, 2024

HONG KONG, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) John Lee on Saturday presented honors and awards to recipients for their outstanding performance at the 2024 Honors and Awards Presentation Ceremony.

The award recipients came from different walks of life with diverse backgrounds. They have made significant contributions to Hong Kong, benefiting various domains and sectors of the community.

Among this year's recipients, five received the Grand Bauhinia Medal, they were Martin Liao Cheung-kong, a member of the Executive Council and the Legislative Council; Lau Siu-kai, a consultant for the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies; Lee Chack-fan, director of Jao Tsung-I Petite Ecole; Peter Lee Ka-kit, chairman of Henderson Land Development; and Lam Shu-chit, honorary chairman of Hong Kong Federation of Fujian Associations.

Twelve people received the Gold Bauhinia Star; 24 received the Silver Bauhinia Star; one received the Medal for Bravery (Silver) posthumously (received by a family member); 14 received the Distinguished Service Medal for the disciplined services and the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC); 40 received the Bronze Bauhinia Star; 46 received the Meritorious Service Medal for the disciplined services and the ICAC; 105 received the Medal of Honor; and approximately 200 received the Chief Executive's Commendation.

Lee expressed his heartfelt thanks and congratulations to all the award recipients, and hoped that they will continue to excel in their fields and serve the community.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
A white woman who fatally shot her black neighbor through her front door has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Susan Lorincz, 60, was convicted of manslaughter after a week-long trial in August - a little over a year after she killed Ajike 'AJ' Owens, 35, while she stood next to her 12-year-old son on the doorstep in Ocala, Florida.

She faced a maximum sentence of 30 years in state prison because a firearm was used.

Lorincz hung her head on Monday as Owens' mother Pamela Dias gave a heart-wrenching victim impact statement before the court.

She was also seen crying and wiping her nose throughout the hearing.

'Ajike was a beloved mother, daughter, and friend whose life was tragically cut short,' Dias told the court. 'It is virtually impossible to convey all of the ways that Susan has devastated our lives....

'My baby girl, my only daughter, is gone forever. Susan Lorincz took her life at the age of 35 years old. I stand before you mourning not only the loss of my daughter but also the loss of our hopes, dreams and the future that we often spoke of.

'They all died the night Susan Lorincz killed my daughter.'

Dias spoke at length about Owen's four children have struggled to deal with her death.

Susan Lorincz, 60, hung her head on Monday as Owens' mother Pamela Dias gave a heart-wrenching victim impact statement before the court

Prosecutors said Owens had come to Lorincz's home after her children complained that she had thrown roller skates and an umbrella at them, which Lorincz denied

'She destroyed our family. She killed our family,' Dias added.

The shooting was the culmination of a long-running argument between the two neighbors over Owens' children playing in a grassy area at both of their houses in Ocala, about 80 miles northwest of Orlando.

Prosecutors said Owens had come to Lorincz's home after her children complained that she had thrown roller skates and an umbrella at them, which Lorincz denied.

Trial testimony showed Owens, a mother of four young children, was pounding on Lorincz's door and yelling, leading Lorincz to claim self-defense in shooting her neighbor.

Lorincz told detectives in a videotaped interview that she feared for her life. She also said she had been harassed for most of the three years she lived in the neighborhood.

But jurors did not agree with her self-defense claim.

Before the sentencing, psychologist Yenys Castillo, who has spoken at length with Lorincz, told the court that she was sexually abused by her father from the age of 4 to the age of 20.

Lorincz's pastor, Shannon Harris, and a couple from her church also spoke in defense of her character.

Owens' family pushed for the maximum prison sentence after Lorincz was convicted by an all-white jury.

Lorincz told detectives in a videotaped interview that she feared for her life

The women lived across the road from each other and Lorincz had called 911 at 8.54pm on June 2 to complain that the children were trespassing and shouting outside her door

A patched bullet hole, upper right, is seen on the front door of Lorincz's home after she fired her Remington 380 gun and fatally struck Owens who came knocking

'While the pain of losing Ajike, we are hopeful that justice will prevail and that the court will give Susan Lorincz the maximum penalty for her actions,' said Owens' mother, Pamela Dias.

'Ajike's legacy will live on through her children, and we will continue to fight for justice.'

Lorincz's public defender Amanda Sizemore sought a more lenient sentence, an unspecified term below the 11.5 years in prison that is the lowest for her crime under state guidelines.

Sizemore said in court documents that there are several reasons to justify a downward departure, including a mental disorder and claims that Owens was the aggressor and under 'extreme duress' during the confrontation.

There were protests in the black community in Ocala when prosecutors took weeks to charge Lorincz with manslaughter, a lesser count than second-degree murder, which carries a potential life prison sentence.
A 73-year-old Washington Heights man tragically fell to his death from a sixth floor window early Sunday morning while fleeing three men who broke into his home.

Jacinto Remigio was in his apartment at 580 161 Street and Broadway when three men wearing hoodies entered his home close to 5am.

They tied up his 40-year-old son, Jeury Remigio, and ran off with a gold necklace worth $8,000 and $200 in cash.

Remigio tried to escape by climbing out of the window - but fell to his death, landing on the second-floor construction scaffolding.

The three robbers remain on the run. They were filmed on surveillance camera footage entering the building with masks covering their faces.

Jacinto's son was not injured. When police arrived and was interviewing the son they heard a loud sound coming from another room.

When they went to investigate that is when they discovered Jacinto lying on the construction scaffolding, approximately 30 minutes after the home invasion.

The injuries Jacinto sustained were consistent from a fall from an elevated position, officials said. EMS transported him to Harlem Hospital where he was pronounced deceased.

It is unknown at this time if the suspects knew the victim.

The victim identified as Jacinto Remigio, 73 escaped from a window falling to his death on scaffolding outside the building

The construction scaffolding on the side of the building and location where Jacinto was found

The shoe store that Jacinto owned for the last few years was closed on Monday

When DailyMail.com went to Jacinto's apartment a dog was barking but no one answered the door or the ring camera.

Jacinto lived in the Washington Heights community for more than 40 years.

He owned a shoe store called, Jacinto's Shoes at 3866 Broadway, located a half a a block from his apartment.

It was understood that Jacinto used to sell sneakers on a table on the street before opening a store with one of his sons and his girlfriend.

On Monday morning, the store was closed. The metal gate was still up and cardboard boxes were visible from the outside.

Many neighbors were shocked when they heard the news about his sudden death.

They remembered him as a good man who would often take his dog to the store with him.

One woman wept uncontrollably when she learned the news of his death and said 'it hurts me in the soul.'

'I loved him like my dad,' she said in Spanish standing near his store. 'He always told me to pray for him.'

One woman wept uncontrollably when she learned the news of his death and said she 'loved him like a dad'

The restaurant, La Rubia Bar & Grill is where Jacinto would often go to for coffee and quick bite

Jacinto Remigio lived in this apartment at 580 161 St. & Broadway in Washington Heights
A Kansas mother who killed three young Girl Scouts - including her own daughter - in a car crash while making an illegal U-turn has shifted blame to the judicial system, the other driver, and her own car for causing the fatal collision.

Amber Peery, 35, was found guilty in August of killing her daughter, Brooklyn Peery, eight, along with Laila El Azari and Kylie Lunn, both nine, in the car wreck in October 2022 after the mother made an illegal U-turn on I-335 while on her way to a Girl Scouts event.

Her van, which was carrying five girls, was struck by a semi-truck, leaving three of the girls dead and two injured.

She was found guilty on three felony counts of involuntary manslaughter, two felony counts of aggravated battery and two traffic violations.

During her first sentencing hearing on Friday, a series of jailhouse calls played in the courtroom showing her feelings following the conviction.

'It's so rigged. I feel like the (expletive) were paid or something,' Peery said on the phone.

In another call from September, Peery made it clear that she hoped she would get probation for the crime.

'This is a vacation at a two-star hotel and it's almost done,' she said while appearing to chuckle.

Amber Peery, 35, who was found guilty of killing her daughter and two other girls in October 2022 in a fatal car crash, has shifted blame on the judicial system after being convicted

Kylie Lunn (left), nine, died in the horrific crash in October 2022. Her best friend, Laila El Azri (right), also nine, was the third fatality in the crash

'Kansas likes to keep families together. This is a case where I shouldn't be taken from my kids,' she said before bringing up the aggravated battery charges that would make it hard for her to gain custody of her two living children.

She also appeared to say: 'I wish I would have taken a plea' in a call, as she rejected the deal offered to her at the time.

In another call, also in September, the convicted mother blamed the truck driver for what happened that dreadful day.

She claimed that the truck driver, who she said she never saw, 'should have seen my (expletive) blinker and braked.'

'I literally didn't know what (expletive) hit me. I thought a bomb went off,' Peery said.

During another exchange, she claimed her vehicle was faulty, causing the fatal crash.

She also suggested that she would 'take probation,' adding that 'everyone pinned this (expletive) (expletive) on me.'

'It was a true accident anyway. I hope the judge sees that,' Peery added.

Peery's own daughter, Brooklyn Peery, eight, also lost her life that day

Peery made an illegal U-turn on I-335 in her car (pictured) while on her way to a Girl Scouts event, as she drove five girls in her van, that was struck by a semi-truck

In October, while speaking of the case's prosecutor, the mother said: 'He's just... you know.

'They're really out for me I understand that the other families are suffering too.'

Peery also blamed the investigation conducted by the Kansas Highway Patrol.

'Everything just went toward me,' Peery said. 'It's not fair. It's just not,' she said in a call.

'God wanted me to have a sit down in jail.'

In addition to blaming the other driver and the authorities, Peery also accused the parents of the two other girls she killed of committing perjury, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported.

Peery's lawyers have requested a 'non-prison sanction' from Shawnee County District Judge Jessica Heinen, stating that her mental health issues would be treated better outside of jail.

Some of her supporters have argued that her two living children would benefit if she is not sentenced to jail time.

Meanwhile, Kylie and Laila's families have continued to push for a tougher sentence for Peery.

Shortly afterward, Peery shared a heartbreaking message to her deceased daughter over Facebook, saying ''I honestly don't know how I'm going to keep going without you.' (pictured: Peery and Brooklyn)

At the time of the crash, two more children were in Peery's van and one was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

Peery also needed hospital treatment.

The semi-tractor trailer truck was driven by Robert Hosey Russell, then 70. He was unharmed in the collision and has not been charged.

Shortly afterward, Peery shared a heartbreaking message to her deceased daughter on Facebook.

'I honestly don't know how I'm going to keep going without you, but I know I have to and everything I do will be with a purpose for you,' she wrote at the time.

'Mommy loves you so much sweet girl and all I want is to be able to hold you in my arms again.'

Residents told WIBW 13 at the time that cars frequently use the emergency U-turn opening by the barrier wall where Amber's car was hit.

Kylie's mother, Tiffany Lunn, said her late daughter was best friends with Laila.

'She was my everything and I was her everything and my heart is just broken right now,' Tiffany wrote on Facebook.

'I just don't know where to go from here, she was my purpose, she was my everything, I'm just lost without her.'

Neighbors of Laila and Kylie set up a memorial site where the girls often played

A GoFundMe page for Laila was set up by loved ones at the time to help her family pay for funeral costs.

'Laila was on a day out with her Girl Scout troop,' the page read. 'What was going to be a fun day turned to tragedy.'

The families' neighbors also set up a memorial site for Kylie and Laila at a local park they frequented.

Peery, who has been held in the Shawnee County Jail since August 15, is expected in court on December 3 to continue her sentencing hearing.
British soldiers had to be airlifted home after a 'six-car pile up' in Estonia left 17 people injured - with three troops still in hospital.

The smash unfolded on the Tallin-Narva highway near the border with Russia on Friday last week.

Three Army minibuses were said to have been involved, and 17 people - including the 12 British troops - were raced to hospital.

According to local media, the smash unfolded after a 37-year-old woman driving a Volvo S80 made a left turn and collided with a BMW 530D driven by a woman, 62.

This was said to have started a 'chain reaction' and saw four other vehicles collide.

The minibuses were said to have been carrying the soldiers to their base in Tapa.

Emergency services raced to the scene and ambulances raced the troops, as well as five others, to hospital.

The British soldiers had been deployed as part of a special NATO mission designed to deter attacks from Russia.

The smash is though to have happened in the midst of blizzard just 20 miles from the Russia border.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: 'Several British soldiers deployed on Operation CABRIT in Estonia were injured in a road traffic incident last Friday.

Twelve British troops were involved in a smash on the Tallin-Narva highway, near the border with Russia, on Friday night

Following hospital treatment in Estonia, eight personnel were flown back to the UK on an RAF C-17 for further treatment

Britain's armoured vehicles prepare to move at the Tapa Military Camp, in Estonia, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023

'Following hospital treatment in Estonia, eight personnel were flown back to the UK on an RAF C-17 for further treatment.

'Five have since been discharged and three are being cared for at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. We wish them all a speedy recovery.'

The news comes as roughly 900 British troops have been deployed as part of Operation Carbit along with Danish, French, and Estonian forces.

The UK also has Challenger 2 tanks, multiple launch rocket systems, mobile heavy artillery guns and armoured infantry units.

Individual injuries and medical details of personnel involved in the minibus crash have not been disclosed by the Ministry of Defence.
Scots will need a higher body mass index than people in England before they can be given so-called fat jabs on the NHS.

The initial cut-off point for peoples weight is also higher than the recommendation made by Scotlands medicines watchdog when it gave the green light for drugs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro.

Campaigners and politicians have warned it could effectively consign many Scots to ill health.

There are also fears that making it harder to access the medicines will lead to people risking their lives by treating themselves and buying the drugs from illegal sellers.

Tam Fry, chair of the National Obesity Forum, said: Raising the bar like this is very bad.

The BMI they have set it at now is just a touch off what people have to be in order to be considered morbidly obese.

To wait for people to get to that stage before you do anything is very wrong.

A lot of Scots will be missed and could be driven to go online to buy these drugs themselves. That is playing with fire.

Scots must have a higher BMI than English patients to qualify for drug

We have already heard of people suffering harm and dying when treating themselves without medical supervision.

Scots battling the bulge were delighted last year when the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) approved the use of semaglutide, known by its brand name Wegovy, for NHS patients. In addition, tirzepatide, known as Mounjaro, was later approved.

The SMC decision stated the drugs should be given to those with a BMI of 30kg/m2  which covers one million people in Scotland  and for a number of named weight-related illnesses.

Now, a working group set up by the Scottish Government has decided that patients will instead need to have a BMI of 38kg/m2. In England it is set at 35kg/m2.

The criteria is set out as part of NHS Scotlands phase 1 delivery of the drugs. It is expected that phase 2 and 3 will see the BMI cut-off reduced to 35kg/m2 and then 30kg/m2.

However, the working group states there are no timescales at present to indicate when the other phases will come into force.

The named conditions related to obesity include; chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, polycystic ovary syndrome, and obstructive sleep apnoea.

Public Health Minister Jenni Minto said: Obesity is a public health priority for the Scottish Government. The medicine is being safely introduced on a phased basis, towards the Scottish Medicines Consortium criteria of a BMI above 30kg/m2 and in the presence of at least one weight-related issue.
Sir Keir Starmer must demand an investigation into 'toxic' allegations that women are being bullied and harassed in his union, former female workers said yesterday.

The equalities watchdog, which previously investigated Labour's anti-Semitism scandal, should examine claims the GMB is run like an 'old men's club' where women are often mistreated, they said.

And the Prime Minister, who is one the union's over 500,000 members, should quit if the GMB refuses to allow the investigation, they alleged.

The calls came as MPs also hit out at a series of 'disturbing allegations' in the Mail investigation into the union, which donates more than 1million to Labour every year.

Ex officials described GMB as a 'viper's nest' which was 'riddled with sexism' and said workers' subs were being 'used like confetti' to fight complaints.

Anne Chandler, a former official who claimed she quit early in 2022 following 25 years service after witnessing 'bullying and harassment throughout the organisation' said Sir Keir should '100 per cent' demand an investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

'As a former human rights lawyer and a current GMB member the Prime Minister should lead the way in calling for this badly needed probe to throw light on what's happening.'

Another female union worker, who asked to remain anonymous because of fears of repercussions, said: 'If the GMB genuinely has nothing to hide it should have nothing to fear from the EHRC coming in.

Female workers called on Keir Starmer to demand an investigation into allegations of bullying and harassment in the GMB union

GMB general secretary Gary Smith. The union was described by ex-officials as a 'viper's nest' which is 'riddled with sexism'

'This would be the only way anyone can have any confidence that everything is OK.

'The EHRC could be able look at the whole situation, not just individual cases, and give an overview of what is really going on.

'That's what happened with the Labour party over anti-Semitism.

'Keir Starmer said he learned lessons from the EHRC investigation and report into anti-Semitism, so he clearly thinks it's a good institution.

'He'd be a hypocrite if he didn't want the same oversight of the GMB, given these extremely serious allegations.'

Responding to our expose, Rosie Duffield MP, who quit Labour in September having previously clashed with the prime minister on gender issues, tweeted: 'Really glad I left this toxic union when they made their position on women's rights clear.'

And veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott said: 'These would be very disturbing allegations in any workplace.

'The reported incidents are completely unacceptable in the labour movement.'

Anne Chandler, 69, an official who claimed she was forced out in 2022 after 25 years, said the GMB was riddled with sexism

An EHRC report into anti-Semitism in Labour in October 2020 found the party to be responsible for 'unlawful' acts of harassment and discrimination during Jeremy Corbyn's four-and a-half years as party leader.

Sir Keir, who was by then Opposition Leader, said at the time the party would implement all the report's recommendations and called it 'a day of shame for the Labour Party'.

Details of Sir Keir's membership of the GMB emerged in the list of ministers' interests published this month.

It's not clear why the former human rights lawyer joined the general industry union, but it is likely a nod to his late father's factory job as a tool-maker.

The GMB has said it 'categorically denies' claims of a bullying culture and does not recognise our union in the accounts of these former members of staff.

It says: 'We now have clear, comprehensive and transparent procedures to fully investigate and effectively deal with any allegation of bullying, sexism or harassment.'
Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather became emotional as he spoke about how the housing crisis is impacting his generation after being accused of 'letting down young voters' by capitulating to Labor.

Mr Chandler-Mather, 32, was questioned by interviewer Sarah Ferguson on Monday night's episode of ABC's 7.30 Report about whether the Greens, by agreeing to pass two Labor housing bills, had failed the party's base of younger voters.

'Everyday we don't solve the housing crisis I feel like I have let them down a little bit,' an emotional Mr Chandler-Mather said.

'My generation for the first time are probably going to be worse off than our parents. I feel that acutely.'

Mr Chandler-Mather's voice wavered as revealed he had 'friends who have been kicked out of their homes because they can't afford the rent or have given up on ever being able to buy a home'.

'And it hurts me a lot, actually, to see that. I find it really hard,' he said.

The Greens delayed the Albanese governments Help to Buy and Build-to-Rent bills for months, pushing for changes to property investor tax concessions and rent rise caps.

However, they ultimately supported the bills despite these demands not being met.

Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather grew emotional talking about his generation's housing prospects.

Ferguson pressed Mr Chandler-Mather, who is the Greens spokesperson on housing, whether the minor party had dropped the demands because they feared electoral backlash for not supporting the Bills.

Mr Chandler-Mather, who has been a consistent thorn in Mr Albanese's side, denied this.

'There comes a point when you realise you have pushed as hard as you can,' he said.

'What we have decided is to pass these two Bills and take this fight to the next election.'

Although the Greens secured no concessions, Mr Chandler-Mahler said they pressured Labor into questioning negative gearing, the tax break housing investors get for rental properties that many argue dries up homes for first-time buyers.

'We also got close on negative gearing they costed that policy and that would have been the most positive genuine shift of housing policy in generations in Australia,' he said.

Mr Albanese and Labor have previously accused Mr Chandler-Mather of whipping up outrage about housing in order to further his own political ambitions

Mr Albanese famously referred to the member for the inner-Brisbane seat of Griffith and rent control campaigner as 'a joke'.

Meanwhile, other senior members of the Labor party have described him as a 'self-indulgent student politician', a 'moron' and 'egotistical'.

Photographs captured on the floor of the House of Representatives after a particularly heated clash in 2023 show Mr Albanese's disdain for his political rival.

Mr Chandler-Mather has proven a thorn in the side of the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

Mr Albanese and Labor have accused Mr Chandler-Mather of whipping up outrage about housing in order to further his own political ambitions

Housing Minister Clare O'Neil welcomed the end of the political stalemate on the housing reforms.

'I'm glad (the Greens) have finally seen the light,' she said on Monday.

'But it doesn't excuse the fact that they have played politics on housing for two-and-a-half years, and the net effect of the Greens in this term of parliament is to delay action on housing.'

The proposed Help to Buy scheme would see the government to contribute 30 per cent of the purchase price of a home or 40 per cent for a new build for those earning under $90,000 for a single applicant or $120,000 for a couple.

The government share reduces the cost for the homebuyer, although it must be paid back upon sale.

Under the Build to Rent bill tax concessions would encourage the constructing properties for rent.

Last year the Greens were able to secure an extra $3 billion of investment for social housing in negotiations for the Housing Australia Future Fund.
Kemi Badenoch declared that capitalism is not a dirty word, as she vowed to rebuild Tory relations with business.

In her first major speech as Conservative Party leader, Mrs Badenoch told the CBI conference that the government needed to slash the bureaucratic hurdles to growth and get out of the way of business.

She acknowledged that the last government, in which she served as business secretary, had lost the confidence of business.

And she put defence of the free market at the heart of her agenda for the party, saying the advent of a Labour government focused on the public sector made it more important than ever.

Someone once told me that capitalism is old fashioned, she said.

I dont think so. I think it is important that we explain what capitalism in a free market environment means.

Capitalism is not a dirty word, wealth is not a dirty word, profit is not a dirty word. But we need to start explaining how these things deliver for people out there, people who often think that you are in it for yourselves and that we the politicians are in cahoots.

Mrs Badenoch criticised Labour for hitting business with a 25 billion increase in employers National Insurance, describing it as a jobs tax. But she said she wanted to take time before setting out her own economic strategy.

Kemi Badenoch acknowledged that the last government 'lost the confidence of business' during a speech at the CBI conference

Mrs Badenoch used her first major address as Conservative Party leader to defend capitalism and the free market

The new leader of the opposition criticised Labour for hitting business with a 25 billion increase in employers National Insurance, describing it as a jobs tax, but said she would take time before setting out her strategy for the economy

The Tory leader also renewed her call for a rewiring of the British state - and an end to the belief that the solution to problems was always more government regulation.

The way to fix things is not just about creating new laws, she said.

She added: I have seen the system from the inside and it is broken. We are trying to fix problems with the wrong tools.

We are using a mindset that worked well in the late 20th century, but does not work well when we have aggressive competitor economies like China and when, there is rapid technological innovation. When our society is getting older and the birth rate is still too low.

More quangos, more interference, more regulation, more laws will not fix that.
Rachel Reeves has ruled out further tax rises. In a bid to head off a growing business revolt over her 40 billion tax-bomb Budget, the Chancellor told the CBI conference she was not going to have to come back for more.

Ms Reeves was heard in stony silence by business chiefs, who say her National Insurance raid will hit jobs, growth and investment.

CBI chairman Rupert Soames said business had been treated as a cash cow to be milked.

The employers organisation said two-thirds of its members were slashing their recruitment plans after the Budget, with firms switching to crisis containment or damage limitation mode.

Salman Amin, chief executive of the firm behind McVities biscuits, told the conference that the case for investment in the UK was becoming harder to understand.

Ms Reeves appeared taken aback by the scale of the business backlash to the Budget. She insisted she had heard no credible alternative and claimed the Budget would provide the stability needed for growth.

But the Chancellor appeared to acknowledge that the economy could not withstand another huge tax raid.

And she warned Cabinet ministers that they would have to live within their means as she signalled there would be no further increases in public spending during the next four years.

Rachel Reeves ruled out any further tax rises in a speech at the CBI annual conference on Monday

The Chancellor was greeted with a stony silence from business leaders, who criticised her decision to hike employers' National Insurance contributions

CBI chairman Rupert Soames said business had been treated as a cash cow to be milked'

She said: Public services now need to live within their means because Im really clear  Im not coming back with more borrowing or more taxes. It came as: 

A leading watchdog warned that Labours controversial employment rights charter would cost business more than the 5 billion a year claimed by ministers

Vital reforms to tackle Britains growing sicknote culture were kicked into the long grass, despite a pledge by Sir Keir Starmer to grip this problem once and for all

The Bank of England warned of the need to be vigilant about a possible slowdown, with its deputy governor saying there was a further risk that the UK economy proves less resilient than expected

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch told the conference that capitalism is not a dirty word as she vowed to rebuild her partys relations with business.

Ms Reeves said business leaders should judge this government on our number one mission to restore growth, but acknowledged that a revival would not happen overnight.

Asked about warnings that the NI rise could cost tens of thousands of jobs in sectors such as retail and hospitality, she said she was not immune to the challenges that businesses face, including the challenges from higher taxes. But the alternative was instability hanging over us for another year.

She defended her Budget, saying that difficult decisions had been needed.

Salman Amin, the CEO of Pladis, which owns food giants including McVities, said it was becoming 'harder to understand' the case for investment in the UK

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch used a speech at the conference to promise to rebuild her party's relations with business

The Chancellor repeated her claim that the last Tory government left behind a 22 billion black hole, and said the Budget decisions had wiped the slate clean.

She said firms can now be certain that were never going to have to do a Budget like that again.

But CBI chief Rain Newton-Smith said the NI raid would hit profits, hit competitiveness, hit investment, hit growth.

Mr Soames, grandson of Sir Winston Churchill, said that in the election Labour had done an outstanding job of winning the confidence of business and convincing us that, very genuinely, they understand that the solution to our economic ills is investment and growth.

But over the coming months, business people would be forming a judgment about what the Government really thinks about business.

He urged Labour to take the pressure off business by rowing back on plans for costly new employments rights, saying ministers should be careful how much they whack businesses in other ways.

Keir Starmer in Downing Street on Monday as the business backlash rages

Mr Soames quoted Churchills comments that some regard private enterprise as a predatory tiger, to be shot, and some regard it as a cow, to be milked.

He told the Mail: We have been milked, as the Chancellor is entitled to do. Its her judgment  but they shouldnt try to dress it up for what its not.'

'Its been treated as the cash cow for the Budget  it is a fact.

Downing Street insisted that lacklustre official growth forecasts published alongside the Budget were not the limit of the Governments ambitions.

The PMs spokesman said Sir Keir and Ms Reeves were not happy with these, adding: They want higher growth  these forecasts are there to be beaten.
The family of the teenager being held in Dubai over a holiday romance with a 17-year-old girl last night declared trying to free the teenager was a huge 'emotional battle'.

Marcus Fakana was arrested for having a sexual relationship with the unnamed girl while they were on holiday in the UAE.

He has been detained there awaiting trial early next month.

In a new statement, his family said: 'We are praying for the day we can be returned with Marcus.'

His parents said: 'We've sought assistance from Foreign secretary David Lammy to ensure his right to upheld and we ask HH Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, to please let our boy come home.

'This ordeal has caused us terrible emotional and financial strain and every day is an emotional battle.'

The boy's family, who are from Tottenham, North London, said they were grateful for the continued support from the public, the media and friends and family who 'have been incredible and gives us hope'.

More than 24,000 has been raised to help the legal fight to return Marcus to Britain, but the family warned that a fake go fund me page was also in existence.

The family of Marcus Fakana, from Tottenham, London, say his mental health is 'deteriorating' as he is stuck in Dubai facing the possibility of up to 20 years in a Dubai jail

Marcus pictured with his family, who are hoping to raise 20,000 to help toward his legal fees

Marcus was held in Dubai's 'notorious' Al Barsha Police Station for days after the 'strict' mother of the girl he had sex with on holiday this summer reported him to authorities.

The couple, who had met while staying at the same hotel with their families, 'had a wonderful time together', with the girl - also a Brit - meeting up in secret as she feared she could not tell her mother she was seeing a boy.

But in a devastating turn of events, Marcus - who had been on a family holiday celebrating his father's birthday - could face two decades inside a gruelling UAE prison after the girl's furious mother found out about the fling and informed police in Dubai upon returning back to the UK.

While the relationship would have been legal in the UK, under Dubai law a 17-year-old is defined as a child. The girl has since turned 18.

Setting up a GoFundMe page to raise money for legal fees to bring him home, Marcus' family said: 'What was meant to be a happy time has turned into a nightmare for him, our family, and our friends.

'This has happened as a result of someone trying to misuse UAE law against him.

'He is being charged with a crime that could lead to imprisonment for up to 20 years.

'He is only 18 years old, very scared, and his mental health is starting to decline.'

Dubai has only recently reformed its laws on sex outside of marriage for tourists, but upholds a strict Islamic legal system, and has no firm ruling on age of consent.

But under local law, a child is defined as a person under 18 years of age. The girl was just months away from turning 18 when the pair met in August.

The 18-year-old was detained in a notorious Dubai police station after the mother of a then 17-year-old girl he had a holiday romance with reported him to authorities

The teenagers were planning to continue their relationship when they were back in London.But it is understood the mother had found out about their relationship when she went through her daughter's phone and found their chats and pictures, later sharing them with Dubai police from the safety of the UK.



The lawyer's fees alone could cost them up to 21,000.

In a previous GoFundMe page set up two months ago, the family alleged Marcus had been denied a translator and forced to sign a confession document he did not understand.

They said: 'He has been wrongfully accused of a crime he did not commit, and is now caught in a legal battle in Dubai.

'This is not just a misunderstanding, it is racial discrimination, with someone seeking to use the UAE law against him.

'While detained he was denied access to a translator and forced to sign a confession document he didn't understand. He is only 18 years old, terrified, and very scared.

'His mental health is deteriorating rapidly.'

Speaking to British-based aid organisation Detained in Dubai, Marcus told of how the couple had planned to see each other when they got home.

Marcus said: 'We had a wonderful time together. We really liked each other but she was secretive with her family because they were strict.

'My parents knew about our relationship but she couldn't tell hers. She had to meet me without telling them it was to see a boy.

'When she left, I couldn't wait to see her again when I got home. Then suddenly, police knocked on our hotel door.

'They said they were taking me in for questioning but wouldn't tell me why. I couldn't imagine what for. I was frightened and my parents were terrified.'

The pair had tried to spend as much time as they could together while abroad, and hoped to get to know each other better when back in London.

The girl left Dubai first and they had arranged to meet up.

'He [Marcus] was told his girlfriend's mother had reported the relationship to authorities in Dubai after she had arrived back in London,' said Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai and human rights advocate.

While the relationship would have been legal in the UK, under Dubai law a 17-year-old is defined as a child. The girl has since turned 18

Marcus' parents have asked Dubai ruler HH Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum 'to please let our boy come home'

The Mail on Sunday revealed last week that Foreign Secretary David Lammy (pictured) had finally acted on desperate pleas to aid Marcus

The organisation offers confidential legal help to people facing civil and criminal legal trouble in the UAE.

'This is clearly a very strict mother to involve police in a private matter that is completely legal in the country where she lives and where the children have grown up,' Ms Stirling warned.

'Perhaps she wasn't aware that she triggered the possibility of a young man of only 18 spending the next 20 years in prison.'

'My mother is a cleaner and my dad works in a warehouse. They saved up for this one-off holiday and they have now used all of their savings,' Marcus explained.

'The police demanded 10,000 AED for bail which I've been told is not normal and the costs are mounting. I'm here all alone. I pray this nightmare will be over and I'll be home for Christmas.'

Marcus and his family are now calling on the British Foreign Secretary to help him.

'Dubai police have the power to drop the case against Marcus and let him come home,' Ms Stirling said.

'This is not something we want to do to young people and we ask David Lammy MP to convey this message to his counterparts in the UAE.'

The UAE has only recently implemented changes allowing tourists to have sex outside of marriage - as well as more lax regulations on alcohol and vaping.

A British couple were jailed for kissing in public in 2010, and ultimately deported for violating the country's decency laws.

Despite changes to the law, Ms Stirling warns that parents will soon 'be scared to take their older teenagers on vacation with them where they could end up losing their lives over behaviour that's completely legal in their own countries'.

Dubai Public Prosecution said in a statement shared with MailOnline: 'The case was initiated in response to a complaint filed by the mother of a 17-year-old British girl.

'The girl, a tourist visiting Dubai, is not a resident of the UAE. Under UAE law, the girl is legally classified as a minor, and in accordance with procedures recognised internationally, her mother -being the legal guardian- filed the complaint.

'Dubai's legal system is committed to protecting the rights of all individuals and ensuring impartial judicial proceedings. The next court hearing has been scheduled for 9 December at the request of the defendant's legal counsel, contrary to what has been reported by some media.

'The media should avoid speculation and allow the judiciary to carry out its responsibilities within its clear legal framework.'
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation has issued an Amber Alert for a seven-year-old boy who was allegedly abducted by a 'dangerous' woman who shot the boy's father.

Crystal Denmon, 26, shot a man at around 6am on Monday, Lakewood police claimed, according to CBS News.

The victim was then taken to a hospital, and as officers were investigating the shooting, they noticed the victim's son, seven-year-old Uriah Saye Jr, was missing.

Saye Jr and Denmon were last seen together at around 12.50pm on Monday in the Cheraw area, authorities say.

She was driving a white 2012 Ford Focus with the temporary Colorado license plate number 6812186.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation issued an Amber Alert Monday for seven-year-old Uriah Saye Jr, whom authorities believe was kidnapped by Crystal Denmon, 26

Denmon was last seen driving a white 2012 Ford Focus (like the one pictured here) with the temporary Colorado license plate number 6812186

Denmon is described as a black woman who is five-foot-two-inches tall and weighing about 130 pounds with black hair and brown eyes, while Saye Jr is described as black, four-foot-eight-inches tall and weighing about 78 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.

She is not the child's mother, and her relationship with the child remains unclear.

The condition of the shooting victim was also unclear as of Monday evening.

But authorities have warned that Denmon is armed and dangerous, and are urging anyone who spots either her or the child to call the Lakewood Police Department and not engage her themselves.
READ MORE: Why New Zealand is furious after Australia makes huge change

She was remembered as tenacious and caring politician

A former New Zealand National Party Minister has died aged 44.

Former Auckland Central MP and former National Party deputy leader Nikki Kaye died after a lengthy battle with breast cancer, it was announced on Monday.

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden said she was 'deeply saddened' by the news in a social media post.

'Nikki was someone I got to know fairly well over the years that we ran against each other in Auckland Central,' Ms Arden wrote.

'We may have been opponents, but there were so many things I admired about Nikki.

'She worked incredibly hard, cared passionately about her electorate, and she was always willing to agree an idea was good, or bad, based on her values rather than just politics. We laughed a lot over the years, and while we may have had some decent debates, nothing ever felt genuinely personal.

'I'm sorry that I never knew Nikki was unwell again, if I had, I'd liked to have talked with her just one more time.

'Rest in peace, Nikki. Politics was better for having you in it.'

Jacinda Ardern (right) said she was 'deeply saddened' by the passing of Nikki Kaye (left)

The former Auckland Central MP and former National Party deputy leader Nikki Kaye died following a lengthy battle with breast cancer

Ms Kaye left politics in 2020, four year after her breast cancer diagnosis and double mastectomy.

The 44-year-old was elected to parliament in 2008 as the Auckland Central MP - which she held till late 2020 - and was deputy National party leader under former leader Todd Muller that same year.

Ms Kaye also held numerous ministerial roles including Education, Accident Compensation Corporation and Civil Defence portfolios.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon paid tribute to Ms Kaye, describing her as a 'remarkable person and crusader' who left an indelible mark on politics.

'Nikki Kaye's contribution to our party, her community, and New Zealand has left an indelible mark,' Mr Luxon said.

'Her tireless dedication, sharp intellect, and tenacity earned her the respect of people across the political spectrum.

'She was a remarkable person and a crusader for what she believed in, and her contribution has left our country in a better place. May she rest in peace.'

Deputy National Leader Nicola Willis described Ms Kaye as one of the 'bravest parliamentarians' New Zealand has ever had.

Kaye (pictured right in 2020) was described as tenacious, passionate and caring politician

'Nikki was one of the bravest parliamentarians New Zealand has had, fiercely advancing the liberal values and causes she believed in,' Ms Willis said.

'She loved the National Party and contributed so much of her soul to it.

'I will be forever grateful for the contribution she made to my own career and personal development.'

She added said Ms Kaye remained fearless throughout her battle with cancer.

'Nikki lived vibrantly and well. Her impact on others was immense and the memories great,' Ms Willis said.

'We've lost one of the special ones. Let us be grateful for her incredible life.'

Ms Kaye was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 after she found one of several lumps in her breast.

At the age of 36 she tried to resign from politics, but was denied by then-prime minister John Key who shifted her portfolios to colleagues while she was on leave.

IN 2020, Ms Kaye stepped away from politics - four years after her breast cancer diagnosis (pictured, left to right former National MP Amy Adams, former National Party leader Todd Muller and Ms Kaye)

In her final speech to parliament, Ms Kaye said the toughest moments of her personal life had made her become a better member of parliament.

'Why is it that through the toughest moments of our lives we learn the most, we feel the most, we have the greatest power to contribute and experience beauty,' Ms Kaye said.

'The lesson is: character and courage emerge out of trauma and hardship. The question for any generation of political leaders is: have we had the courage and character to step up and solve the hard economic and social issues of our time?

'I hope that I've done my bit to step up. I hope that I stepped up as the member of Parliament for Auckland Central and as a Cabinet Minister.'
A man accused of helping dispose of the body of tragic Melbourne teenager Isla Bell has been released from jail.

Eyal Yaffe, 57, of Hampton, faces a charge of assisting an offender with murder.

On Monday, Magistrate Rohan Lawrence allowed Yaffe to walk free from the Melbourne Magistrates' Court despite describing his alleged crimes as 'callous' and 'repugnant'.

His decision was met with tears from within the body of the courtroom where members of Ms Bell's family were seated at the rear.

They had sat stunned as Mr Lawrence outlined all of the reasons why he believed Yaffe was entitled to walk free.

'In my view the prosecution have not established Mr Yaffe is an unacceptable risk,' he said.

On Wednesday, Marat Ganiev, 53, of St Kilda, appeared in the same court charged with Ms Bell's murder. He did not apply for bail and was remanded in custody.

Outside court, Ms Bell's family members refused to speak to a waiting media pack, asking to be left in peace.

Family of Isla Bell leave the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Monday after Yaffe was granted bail

On Thursday, the court heard Ms Bell had thought she had found the man of her dreams in the days before she was allegedly brutally murdered by a man more than twice her age.

Daily Mail Australia revealed that police allege the 19-year old texted her friend just hours before her alleged murder expressing her happiness.

In a Snapchat post sent on October 7, Ms Bell, who was last seen leaving her Brunswick home in Melbourne three days earlier on October 4, told her friend that she had 'found the best sugar daddy', court documents state.

Her remains were found at a tip at Dandenong six weeks later on November 19 and are yet to be formally identified.

In applying for bail, Yaffe's barrister Ian Hill KC said the former jeweller could live with his son, Ziv Yaffe, and be electronically monitored.

It was a condition accepted by the magistrate, with Yaffe to be fitted with the monitor at all times while free on bail.

The court heard he is forbidden from attending five addresses linked to the alleged crime or attempt to visit any ports where he could flee the country.

The court heard Yaffe had been armed with a ticket to Bulgaria when he was arrested, having purchased it the day after police hauled him in for questioning.

Two men have been charged after police found suspected human remains in their search for 19-year-old Isla Bell (pictured)

Marat Ganiev, 53, of St Kilda appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Wednesday charged with murdering Isla Bell

Eyal Yaffe (pictured) appeared jovial within the confines of the prison dock on Wednesday. He is accused of helping the man who allegedly murdered Isla Bell conceal his crime

Prosecutors had argued Yaffe was not only a flight risk, but a risk to public safety and prosecution witnesses.

'In my view, the case against him does not hinge on witnesses but phone records, CCTV and statements to police,' Mr Lawrence said.

'There is no rational reason to believe he could interfere.'

In arguing for his release, Yaffe's barrister - a top Melbourne silk - criticised the police case against his client.

'The facts are clear, theres no direct evidence and we say no evidence from which it can be inferred,' Mr Hill said last week.

The court was told under Victorian law Yaffe had a prima facie entitlement to bail unless the court was swayed that he posed an unacceptable risk.

Court documents have outlined the alleged harrowing final moments of Ms Bell's life.

Ms Bell told her friend a 'sugar daddy' had lavished her with gifts and 'saved her from sex traffickers'.

Ziv Yaffe leaves court on Monday after his father was granted bail

Isla Bell (pictured) was last seen leaving her Brunswick home, in Melbourne's inner city, about 6pm on October 4. Her remains were found at a tip six weeks later

She had allegedly moved in with Ganiev just two days earlier - a day after her frantic mother reported Ms Bell missing to police.

Police allege Ganiev murdered Ms Bell just after midnight on October 7.

Homicide Squad detectives allege CCTV outside Ganiev's St Kilda East apartment complex captured what appeared to be him attacking Ms Bell.

Cameras recorded Ms Bell entering his apartment at 9.27pm on October 5, but she never left alive, police allege.

From a gap in the front kitchen window, police allege Ms Bell's head could be seen 'whipping around' as she was struck by Ganiev.

'She falls to the ground and Ganiev can then be seen striking her on the ground of the kitchen,' court documents state.

'What appears to be Bell's head can be seen rising up before being pushed back down by Ganiev's arm.'

The footage allegedly captured Ms Bell alive between 12.43am until 2am when she vanished from sight.

Police allege Ganiev went to work cleaning the apartment over the following days.

Detectives allege Yaffe became involved after receiving a call from Ganiev on November 8  a day after Ms Bell is said to have been killed.

The following day, he allegedly drove to Ganievs St Kilda East apartment and dropped off a new black fridge, returning on October 17 to remove the old one wrapped in plastic.

Police allege Isla Bell's body was put in a fridge and later left on a tip

Police allege Ms Bells remains were inside the fridge.

Over the following days the trailer was allegedly moved to three locations around Melbourne allegedly associated with Mr Yaffe, with one person later telling police it had a 'foul smell' and was attracting flies.

Detective Senior Constable Benjamin Curran told the court it was the police case Yaffe knew the fridge contained her body and that she had been killed.

'At the time it had been 10 days since she had died  Its not a smell that can be mistaken or forgotten,' he said.

When Yaffe was arrested, police allegedly found meth and $6,000 in cash on him.

While initially denying his involvement in concealing Ms Bell's body, police claim Yaffe eventually admitted the crime, but claimed to have known nothing about how the teenager died.

On Wednesday, Ms Bell's heartbroken mother Justine Spokes issued a gut-wrenching statement in memory of her daughter as Ganiev faced court.

'I am so, so sorry my darling daughter,' she said.

'I could not protect you from your complex illnesses and this cruel world.

'I was so proud of your choices this year, your strength to endure despite your suffering.

'All you ever wanted was to create, make and nurture life, to love and be loved.

'We were so much looking forward to being reunited as a family again; my heart aches and cannot reconcile that's not going to happen.'

She said her daughter was 'the gentlest soul, the kindest human and free spirited'.

'I will connect to you in spirit my care bear and no one can take that connection away from us,' she added.

A 63-year-old Mulgrave man was also arrested but has been released pending further enquiries.

The Missing Persons Squad formally took over the investigation in late October.
The Duchess of York has frequently spoken about her tight bond with Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

'I am very proud of them and they are very proud of me. We are a tripod of women and the best way to empower people is to lead by example,' she told Hello! magazine.

After Beatrice's recent pregnancy announcement, Sarah shared a post on social media to say how 'becoming a granny again fills my heart with so much happiness and gratitude'.

The family share a close relationship - the Duchess often joins her daughters at events, and the trio have supported various charities together.

The mother-of-two made an appearance with her eldest, Beatrice, at New York Climate Week in September.

Earlier this year, the Duchess featured on a video with Eugenie for the Anti-Slavery Collective.

The 'tripod of women': Sarah Ferguson with her daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie in May 2023, three weeks before Eugenie's second son Ernest was born

Sarah and Beatrice smiling at the princesses' daughter, Sienna

Beatrice, Sarah and Eugenie attending the Anti Slavery Collective's gala in November last year

Her admiration for her mother was highlighted as she reflected on how much she had influenced her.

She said: 'Your purpose has always been to impact people across the world, and it's been such an inspiration to me growing up.

'You really are an inspiration as a mother and a leader.'

Sarah made it clear she felt similarly towards her daughters.

Family is important for Sarah and despite her divorce from their father Prince Andrew, in 1996, she has maintained a tight unit.

The Duchess now lives with her former husband at Royal Lodge in Windsor and they have holidayed together as a family.

Beatrice previously said how her parents are the 'the best divorced couple I know,' because they get on so well.

Empowering her daughters seems to be another priority for the Duchess. On Beatrice's birthday in August this year she shared images on social media about her 'amazing daughter'.

A throwback photo of Eugenie, Beatrice and Sarah, from the princesses' childhood

The trio hugging in a photo posted on social media by Eugenie for Mother's Day

Beatrice and the Duchess of York attending Royal Ascot together in June this year

Another Mothers' Day post, this time of Fergie with Eugenie and Beatrice going for a sail

Prince Andrew walking alongside Sarah as she holds her daughters hands at the Royal Windsor Horse show in 1992, just after their official separation

She wrote: 'Happy birthday my wonderful Beatrice. You are the most amazing daughter, mother, stepmother, sister, wife and woman!

'I feel so privileged to be able to learn from you every day. You continue to inspire me and those around you with your warmth, curiosity, and zest for life. I love you. Happy birthday.'

The social media post wasn't the first time Sarah has talked highly of her daughters as mothers.

Last year on her podcast, Tea Talks with the Duchess and Sarah, she said how they both work 'very very hard'.

Neither Beatrice or Eugenie receive income from the Sovereign Grant and both work outside of the Royal Family.

Sarah with Andrew and Beatrice at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 1990

Eugenie, Sarah and Beatrice posing and smiling together for a photo in the sun

Sarah talking with Eugenie in the Anti Slavery Collective video earlier this year

They both have children - Beatrice, now pregnant, is a mother to Sienna, three, and stepmother to eight-year-old Christopher Woolf, while Eugenie has August, three, and one-year-old Ernest.

Sarah praised the two 'working mums' and added 'my girls are incredible'.

She said how both are 'huge advocates for charity' and a 'great representation of the late Queen's values'.

'It's both private and public, it's not about working or non-working. They work very very hard privately and publicly,' she added.

She said the pair have an 'extraordinary' work-life balance. 'I'm so proud of them, they're great mothers,' she added.

The sisters never miss an opportunity to talk of their close bond with their mother, and in May this year, Beatrice announced the Duchess was 'all clear now' after being diagnosed with breast cancer last year and skin cancer in January.

Beatrice smiling with her parents on her graduation day at Goldsmiths College in 2011

She said: 'We're really lucky in the UK, so make sure you can get those checks the best you can and hopefully we can be there to support each other when anyone goes through a health scare.'

She told ITV's This Morning: 'She's been through so much. And her sense of purpose and resilience really keeps me going.

'We're just reminded when any parent or individual has a health scenario - just really get the checks that you need and as early as you possibly can.

Sarah was supported by her daughters throughout her recovery and she told People magazine: 'My two wonderful daughters are my wholehearted cheerleaders, my devoted champions and my soulmates, and they have been as supportive as can be, as they always are.'
In April 1994 the News of the World newspaper published two sensational love letters written by Princess Margaret to Robin Douglas-Home, with whom shed had a brief romance a quarter of a century earlier.

The letters had been doing the rounds of publishers and news agencies ever since the death of Douglas-Home in 1968. When they finally appeared in print, Buckingham Palace was dismissive: 'Its an old story and we are not going to discuss it.'

Princess Margaret was well within her rights to have sued and won damages but opted not to.

So who was Robin Douglas-Home? He was a minor aristocrat, a nephew of Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Elizabeth IIs fourth prime minister.

His mother, born Margaret Spencer, was the great aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales. He was very much part of the Mayfair nightclub scene and had known the princess for many years.

An accomplished jazz pianist, he played at the several West End venues including the Society Restaurant in Jermyn Street. He and Margaret had a mutual love of American musicals and composers including Jerome Kern, Cole Porter and George Gershwin, and he escorted her to see West Side Story.

In the late 1950s Douglas-Home had a passionate romance with another princess, Margaretha, the granddaughter of Swedens King Gustaf VI Adolf.

When her mother, the widowed Princess Sibylla, found out, she furiously ordered her daughter to return to the court and both she and the king refused the couples entreaties to be allowed to marry.

Neville Chamberlain with Robin Douglas-Home as a boy in Hirsel, Scotland

Robin was seen driving to his uncle's home in 1957 after he had asked for the hand of Princess Margaretha but he had been refused

Princess Margaretha at the Cadets Ball at the military school of Karlberg's Castle in Stockholm

Instead, in 1959 Robin married fashion model Sandra Paul who gave birth to their son Sholto in 1962. Douglas-Home resumed his philandering ways and in 1965 Sandra was granted a divorced on the grounds of his adultery. (She would subsequently go on to marry the future Conservative Party leader, Michael Howard.)

By the mid-1960s strains were beginning to show in the marriage of Princess Margaret and her husband the Earl of Snowdon, Tony Armstrong-Jones. He began to have what one biographer called, discreet, no-name alliances with a series of women, beguiled by his good looks and royal status.

As a professional photographer, he was frequently absent on assignments, making such flings easy to disguise. Partly to assuage his guilt, he helped set up Margaret with her own paramours, including Anthony Barton, a wine producer who was godfather to the couples daughter Sarah Armstrong-Jones.

Early in 1967, Tony set off on an assignment to Tokyo. Margaret sought solace with Douglas-Home, telling him 'I dont know what Id do without you', which, for the amorous pianist, was all the encouragement he needed.

They began a month-long affair spent either at Margarets Kensington Palace apartment or Robins house in Cromwell Road. At weekends they travelled down to his cottage, Meadowbrook, in West Chiltington, West Sussex.

It was after one of these romantic weekends that the princess wrote: Thank you for the comfort of your home, which gave one peace of mind. Thank you for the care and trouble you took to make everything delicious, which restored ones heart.

Ironically, while encouraging his wife to find happiness with other men, Tony became jealous of each of her affairs.

This one proved a strain on the princess and her doctor suggested she should have a consultation at the King Edward VII Hospital in Marylebone, West London.

After being refused the princess's hand, Douglas-Home married model Sandra Paul in 1959

Robin Douglas-Home resumed his philandering ways and in 1965 Sandra was granted a divorced on the grounds of his adultery

Strains were beginning to show in the marriage of Princess Margaret and her husband the Earl of Snowdon, both seen chatting to Paul Newman on the set of Torn Curtain in 1965

This photograph of Margaret was taken at the cottage in West Chiltington and was taken by Robin Douglas-Home who was a talented amateur photographer

Scottish aristorcrat Robin Douglas-Home fell 'deeply in love' with the princess and the pair exchanged love letters

Rumours of the princesss romance and ill health circulated in the Press, prompting speculation that the Snowdon marriage was on the rocks. A royal divorce was out of the question at the time and Margaret and Tony decided to make a go of things.

There was a very public reunion for the benefit of the cameras in New York before the couple headed to the Bahamas for a second honeymoon.

At some point before or after the trip across the Atlantic, Margaret phoned Douglas-Home to tell him they couldnt meet again alone and that she had decided to work on her marriage for the sake of her husband and children.

It was then that she wrote the other letter  effectively a goodbye note. Our love, she wrote has the passionate scent of new-mown grass and lilies about it.

Not many people are lucky enough to have known any love like this. I feel so happy that it has happened to me. Can I make you happy from a distance? I think we can just by being there for the other.

Promise you will never give up, that you will go on encouraging me to make the marriage a success, and that given a good and safe chance, I will try and come back to you one day.

Princess Margaret having a drink in the drawing room of Robin Douglas-Home's country cottage in West Chiltington in West Sussex in 1967

This photograph of Princess Margaret was from the family album of Robin Douglas-Home

Sandra Douglas-Home seen arriving with her son Alexander at the memorial service held for her former husband, who committed suicide, at St James' Church Piccadilly in November 1968

I darent at the moment. You are good and loyal, think that I am too, whatever I may seem to do or say.

The letter is signed All my love, my darling. M.

The princess never did go back to her lover, and Robins life spiralled out of control because of depression, alcoholism and gambling debts. On October 15, 1968, he committed suicide at Meadowbrook, where they had enjoyed their secret trysts.

Margaret was dining at Kensington Palace with a family friend, James Cousins, when news of the suicide was mentioned on a TV bulletin. He recalled that Margaret never batted an eye, though the next day she unusually fell sound asleep during a meeting. Cousins thought shed been weeping all night.

Margaret always maintained her relationship with Robin Douglas-Home was purely platonic. Their affair would have remained a secret but, following the publication of her letters 30 years ago, there was no doubting the intensity of her feelings for the man who helped restore her confidence and self-belief when she needed it most.
The father of a pregnant medical student whose husband of four months dissolved her body in an acid bath has addressed the killer directly in court.

'You killed my daughter, you broke her future... you broke my family, you broke my heart,' Abu Hayat told his daughter's murderer, Meraj Zafar.

'We lost our daughter and everything else.'

Zafar was facing a sentencing hearing in Sydney's Supreme Court on Monday after pleading guilty to murdering his wife Arnima Hayat.

Both Ms Hayat's parents penned heartbreaking victim impact statements which were delivered as the 23-year-old tradie who killed their daughter appeared via audio-visual link from the Mid North Coast Correctional Centre.

The killer offered an apology to Ms Hayat's mother and father without using their daughter's name, instead referring to the 19-year aspiring doctor only as 'my wife'.

Zafar murdered Ms Hayat at their North Parramatta apartment on January 29, 2022 when faced with the prospect of her ending their turbulent relationship.

He had killed his wife 'by applying compression to her neck and/or smothering her' then placed her body in a bath of hydrochloric acid.

The father of a pregnant medical student whose husband of four months dissolved her body in an acid bath has addressed the killer directly in court. Meraj Zafar (right) murdered Arnima Hayat (left) in January 2022

Meraj Zafar murdered Arnima Hayat at their North Parramatta apartment when faced with the prospect of her ending their turbulent relationship.

Mr Hayat said he had been unable to see his daughter one last time because the chemical had destroyed her body.

'He burned the face I used to talk to every night - he burned her,' Mr Hayat said. 'Can you imagine someone burning your child?

'He burned her, and I can never see her again.'

Ms Hayat's mother Mahafuza Akter remembered the day her life fell apart in a statement read by a volunteer from the Homicide Victims Support Group.

'My tears are never ending and the deep ache in my heart never stops - never stops, never stops,' her statement said.

'I cry day and night because she was stolen from me.

Weeping as her words were read, Ms Akter described Ms Hayat as a beautiful daughter and dedicated student who would have been a 'fun-long and wonderful mother'.

'The dreams we shared for her future were everything a mother could hope for, and losing that dream has left a void that can never be filled,' Ms Akter had written of her daughter.

'What happens to her dreams now that she has been murdered, the dreams we built together? Moving to Australia was supposed to be the start of our dreams, not the end.'

Ms Akter said her daughter had been murdered by the person supposed to love her and 'protect her' and that she would 'give anything to see her face one last time'.

Ms Hayat's parents Abu Hayat (left) and Mahafuza Akter (right) delivered heartbreaking victim impact statements as the 23-year-old tradie who killed their daughter appeared via audio-visual link from the Mid North Coast Correctional Centre

'Instead, I sit by her grave every Friday stroking the grass because I can no longer stroke her hair - I kiss and hug her tombstone, longing to hold her and smell her.'

Ms Hayat had married Zafar in a secret ceremony against her family's wishes and just four months later was dead.

'Please come home, Amy,' her mother begged. 'Please. I wish I could wake up from this nightmare and see you at home.

'I don't know how I ended up in this nightmare and everything went so wrong, but I knew he wasn't a good man.

'She was murdered by the person who was meant to love her, murdered by the person who was meant to respect her, by the person meant to protect her, the person meant to father her child and start a family with, by the person who was supposed to make all her dreams come true.

'She should be home helping me make dinner... and doing her make-up, studying for her end-of-semester exams, having tea and chatting with her father - she should be home.'

Once the grieving mother's statement was complete, Justice Deborah Sweeney told her: 'Ms Akter, I'm sorry for the loss of your beautiful daughter. You have my sympathy.'

In a letter addressed to the court and his victim's family, Zafar said he took full responsibility for his actions.

Zafar told Mr Hayat he was going to marry his then-18-year-old daughter (pictured at her graduation) and became angry when he didn't receive the older man's blessing

'I don't know how to begin to say how sorry I am for all that I have caused and all that I have affected through my actions,' he wrote in the letter read aloud in court.

'It's the most terrible thing to do to someone else.'

The murderer said no one should be treated with violence or 'discarded' in the way his wife had been.

'I hope one day you can forgive me,' he said. 'I am very sorry.'

Crown prosecutor Fiona Gray emphasised that Zafar's letter of apology 'does not afford Arnima Hayat of using her name and instead referred to her as 'my wife'.

Ms Gray argued Zafar's inability to recognise Ms Hayat's value outside of her connection to him reflected his 'possessive and controlling' conduct throughout their relationship.

The Hayats were a picture-perfect migrant family who came to Australia from Bangladesh when Arnima was a child and went on to run a successful butcher shop.

They became Australian citizens and their eldest daughter appeared to have a promising future in medicine until Zafar entered her life.

Ms Hayat was a studying at Western Sydney University when she fell for Zafar, her first boyfriend and a drug user who had transformed himself from a skinny teenager into a musclebound thug.

Her parents previously told Daily Mail Australia their daughter was a studious but fun-loving 'Aussie girl' who 'loved movies, music, she liked driving and shopping and buying pretty clothes'.

Once in a relationship with Zafar, Ms Hayat went from being a normal, sociable teenager who regularly told her family how much she loved them to being withdrawn.

The pair married in October 2021 but the union had already been marked by violence.

Police took out an apprehended violence order protecting Ms Hayat in May 2021 after an enraged Zafar put his hands around her neck, believing she had been seen with another man.

Zafar had also stalked and threatened Mr Hayat over the phone when he refused to give him permission to marry his teenage daughter.

Arnima Hayat lived in this ground floor flat for three months before she was murdered in January 2022

The apprentice builder had a fiery argument with Mr Hayat after turning up at his home on the evening of October 8, 2021.

Zafar had told Mr Hayat he intended to marry his then-18-year-old daughter with the older man requesting to meet the tradie's parents first.

When an argument broke out, the young couple went to a Hayat family friend and neighbour's flat.

About 8.45pm, Mr Hayat started receiving calls from an unknown number.

He answered the fourth call and her daughter's boyfriend was 'angry and started abusing' Mr Hayat 'and making threats of harm'.

A court heard Zafar said to his girlfriend's father, 'Are you a man or are you a lady? Why can't you make a decision? I want a decision quickly.'

Two hours later, Mr Hayat attended Campsie police station, where officers told him Zafar had admitted abusing the older man over the phone.

Overcome with grief, Mahafuza Akter collapsed at her daughter's graveside where she was helped by family and members of Sydney's Bangladeshi community

From October, 2021 - when Zafar and Ms Hayat moved in together - the family did not even receive phone calls from her.

She had sent a desperate message to a friend on the night of her death.

'I have nobody except you,' Ms Hayat wrote to her friend.

He replied: 'You have got no choice. You have to stay with him.'

In a final message at 9.10pm, Ms Hayat wrote: 'No, I hate him.'

Within 45 minutes, she had been murdered by her husband who drove to Bunnings in Northmead to buy 100 litres of hydrochloric acid the following day.

Zafar then poured the acid over Ms Hayat's body in a bathtub 'in [an] attempt to dispose of her remains', the facts of the case state.

The facts reveal that Zafar searched on the internet, 'Can hydrochloric acid burn through skin?' and, 'How many years do you get in Sydney for murder?'

Image of Meraj Zafar in his work truck when he fled the flat where he had placed Arnima's body into a bath he filled with 100 litres of hydrochloric acid to dissolve her remains

Zafar also called his mother and said that he had fought with his wife, and she was not breathing.

She advised him to ring an ambulance but he refused, saying: 'The police will get me and they will put me in jail.'

'The offender also asked his mother how much a ticket to go overseas was,' the facts state.

Zafar's mother called emergency services to the unit.

When police forced entry into the apartment, they discovered Ms Hayat 'lying face down with her face hidden and contorted in half' with 'a strong chemical odour in the air which was overwhelming'.

NSW Fire and Rescue officers were forced to wear hazmat suits to enter the bathroom, finding only one of Ms Hayat's feet remaining undestroyed.

Zafar had fled the scene but two days later handed himself into police.

According to the facts, while on the run, Zafar told a friend: 'I married this girl last year, her parents didn't like me. I married her to have kids.'

Zafar will be sentenced on December 19.
NASA has spotted mysterious 'spiderwebs' on a never-before-explored region near the equator of Mars.

The agency's Curiosity rover has been dispatched to probe these bizarre structures  which cover a six to 12 mile stretch of Martian desert  as the machine searches for signs that this long desolate world once supported alien life.

Geologists suspect that the spiderwebs are a gigantic version of a type of crystalized minerals, known as a 'boxwork,' which appear inside some caves on Earth.

They can be found on the ceiling of Wind Cave in South Dakota, which were created by calcium carbonate mineral water seeping into cracks between softer rocks that hardened into crystals.

But the sprawling, over 3,800-acre-wide boxwork on Mars differs in that it was likely formed by Martian seawater and may have trapped fossils of ancient life in its web.

'These ridges will include minerals that crystallized underground, where it would have been warmer,' according to Rice University geologist Dr Kirsten Siebach.

'Early Earth microbes could have survived in a similar environment,' Dr Siebach explained, nothing that the 'salty liquid water' that created these Martian webs an ideal location to find lingering fossil evidence of ancient alien microbes.

The discovery comes as Australian researchers have found that a Martian meteorite, which crashed into Northwest Africa, provides more evidence of hot water on Mars.

A chemical analysis of that meteorite suggests conditions were ripe for aquatic life to develop on Earth's nearest neighbor over four billion years ago.

According to satellite mapping work by 'Martian geologist' Dr Kirsten Siebach, at least 113.6 billion gallons of salty, warm mineral-laden water would have been required to create the vast field of crystal webbing (above), which is about as big or bigger than Los Angles Airport (LAX)

NASA's planetary geologists suspect the webs are a gigantic version of a type of crystalized minerals, known as a 'boxwork,' that appear inside caves on Earth. Above, Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota has some of America's most spiderweb-like 'boxwork' on its ceiling

Ever since it first parachuted down to the Martian surface on August 6, 2012, Curiosity has been exploring the Red Planet for signs of life  as well as hunting for clues about Mars' climate, geology and where all its ancient water went.

But NASA researchers have been intrigued by the massive geological spiderweb for even longer, ever since their Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite first captured aerial images of this haunting landscape back on December 10, 2006.

How such formations could appear on Mars' surface is still a mystery, but theories point to the climate chaos that stripped Mars of its water billions of years ago.

The likelihood that evidence of aquatic microbial life of Mars might be caught in this giant web as fossils 'makes this an exciting place to explore,' Dr Siebach noted.

This web of potential dead alien microbes and bugs rests in the shadow of a three-mile tall mountain, officially known as 'Aeolis Mon,' but nicknamed 'Mount Sharp.'

Past explorations by the Curiosity rover have revealed many sedimentary layers along the cliff faces of Mount Sharp, suggesting in rich detail that it had been formed by water erosion via ancient lake deposits.

NASA scientists suspect that this erosion helped form the giant crystal spiderweb, as mineral-rich pulses of water seeped and cascaded down Mount Sharp into fractures in the surface rock and then crystallized.

According to satellite mapping work that Dr Siebach published in 2014, at least 113.6 billion gallons of salty, warm mineral-laden water would have been required to create the vast field of crystal webbing, which is bigger than Los Angles Airport (LAX).

Above, NASA's Curiosity rover takes a 'robotic selfie' on the Red Planet via its arm-mounted Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI). Each of the rover's selfies is really a composite image created from dozens of high-resolution photos taken at various angles by the MAHLI camera

Above, another view of the 'boxwork' webs on the ceiling of Wind River cave in South Dakota

'This is a significant amount of groundwater that must have been present,' she and her co-author wrote in their paper for the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.

'Mineralization,' the kind of crystal formation that likely occurred here, 'is known on Earth to help facilitate preservation of once-habitable environments,' they noted.

And in Australia this month, scientists working with Martian meteor NWA 7034, discovered after it crashed into Northwest Africa, have found still further evidence that ancient warm oceans on Mars could have easily supported alien life.

'We used nano-scale geochemistry to detect elemental evidence of hot water on Mars 4.45 billion years ago,' planetary scientist Dr Aaron Cavosie said in a statement.

'Geochemical markers of water' were discovered on meteor NWA 7034, Dr Cavosie explained, based both on the shape of its rocky grain patterns and its chemical composition: 'tell-tale signs of water-rich fluids from when the grain formed.'

It's believed that NWA 7034 was ejected from an asteroid impact on Mars that created a crater in the northeast of the 'Terra Cimmeria-Sirenum' province in the southern hemisphere of Mars.

Curiosity rover captured this panorama on November 2, 2024 as it was leaving Mars' so-called 'Gediz Vallis' channel on its way toward the mysterious gigantic spiderweb formation

Above, another panorama made by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover before it left Gediz Vallis

A special technique used to date the age of incredibly old zircon minerals via trace amounts of radioactive material, called 'Uraniumlead dating,' found that this meteor was made up of some of the oldest Martian volcanic rock ever obtained.

'The team identified element patterns in this unique zircon, including iron, aluminum, yttrium and sodium,' Dr Cavosie said, 'Through nano-scale imaging and spectroscopy.'

'These elements were added as the zircon formed 4.45 billion years ago,' he continued, 'suggesting water was present during early Martian magmatic activity.'

This mixture of hot and mineral-rich water, not unlike the hydrothermal vents that support life deep in Earth's oceans, point towards the possibility that life was developing on Mars billions of years ago, amid all this volcanic activity.

'Hydrothermal systems were essential for the development of life on Earth,' Dr Cavosie explained, 'and our findings suggest Mars also had water, a key ingredient for habitable environments, during the earliest history of crust formation.'

The Australian planetary scientist and his team at Curtin University in Australia published their results in the journal Science Advances this past Friday.

In its decade-plus on the Red Planet, NASA's Curiosity rover has trekked roughly 20 miles of the Martian surface for clues about the life that may have once thrived there.

Curiosity will begin studying the spiderweb ridges up close in 2025, according to NASA administrator Bill Nelson, where it will stay for a 'monthlong journey through Mars' boxwork.'
Outlook has been hit by a nationwide outage, leaving Americans unable to send or receive emails in the middle of a work day.

Users reported issues with the website and app, which is used by millions of office workers.

The glitches hit around 9:00 am ET, plaguing users from New York City, to Chicago and Los Angeles.

The Outlook outage comes as Microsoft has been down for users Monday morning, impacting Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams.

Outlook has been hit by a nationwide outage, leaving Americans unable to send or receive emails in the middle of a work day

Downdetector, a site the monitors online outages, shows more than 8,000 users in the US were having problems by 12:40pm ET.

Approximately 69 percent of reported problems cite Outlook's website, 20 percent for the app and 10 percent of users are unable to login.

More than 1.2 million Americans use Outlook.

Users flocked to X to share their frustrations about the outage, with one posting: 'So Microsoft outlook decides to go down this week? Sounds like Microsoft wants us to take an early Thanksgiving break.'

Microsoft's Support account replied at 1:00pm ET: 'Our specialists are currently addressing an issue impacting users attempting to access Exchange Online or other Microsoft 365 services, and theyre working to get this difficulty sorted.'

UK Outlook users reported issues earlier this morning, but it seems the glitches have just hit Americans recently in the day.

On X, Microsoft shared an update saying: 'While we continue to work on mitigating the issue, weve added a comprehensive list of impacted services and scenarios to the more info section.'

An X user shared: 'My outlook being down is mercury retrograde coded.'

And another posted: 'Outlook is down as a signal from the universe that we shouldn't be working this week.'

Users flocked to X to share their frustrations about the outage

This latest outage comes just four months after Microsoft suffered an outage described as the 'most serious IT outage the world has ever seen.'

The outage hit supermarkets, banks, telecoms, streaming services and PCs, with airports, railways and GP surgeries also among those reporting problems.

It later emerged that the issues had been caused by a glitch in the Crowdstrike cybersecurity service which is used by Microsoft.

The Microsoft outage was triggered by a bug in Crowdstrike's software update, which was deployed to its 'Falcon Sensor,' which searches for viruses and malicious attacks.

The resulting disruption left millions of passengers stranded at airports as major airlines grounded planes.
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) were sent into a panic after a cargo ship arrived with a 'toxic smell' and 'possible contamination hazard in the form of droplets.'

The Progress 90 docked with the Russian Poisk module at 9:31am ET on Saturday and Roscosmos cosmonauts identified a smell immediately after opening the hatch.

The Russian crew quickly strapped into protective equipment and activated an extra air-scrubbing system aboard their segment of the ISS for about 30 minutes.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit also reported some 'spray paint-like' smell in the Node 3 module of the US Segment, but it was not immediately clear if it had originated from Progress.

'Space station air scrubbers and contaminant sensors monitored the station's atmosphere following the observation, and on Sunday, flight controllers determined air quality inside the space station was at normal levels,' NASA shared in a statement.

The agency continued to explain that there are no concerns for the crew as of Sunday afternoon, but the hatch between the Russian modular and cargo craft is still closed.

The Progress 90 arrived at the Russian Poisk module at 9:31am, delivering three tons of food, fuel and supplies for members of the Expedition 72 crew on board the ISS.

The Progress 90 docked with the Russian Poisk module at 9:31am ET and Roscosmos cosmonauts identified a smell immediately after opening the hatch. NASA said the crew has yet to reopen the hatch

NASA reported that the US side of the orbiting laboratory also activated its own air-scrubbing system, while the hatch to Russias Poisk module remained closed.

While Russian outlets reported a toxic smell, NASA told a different story.

'After opening the Progress spacecrafts hatch, the Roscosmos cosmonauts noticed an unexpected odor and observed small droplets, prompting the crew to close the Poisk hatch to the rest of the Russian segment,' the agency shared on X.

Progress 90 is scheduled to stay docked for about six months before returning to Earth.

The 'toxic smell' comes just months after a report revealed space agency and its Russian counterpart, Roscomos, are tracking 50 'areas of concern' related to a growing leak aboard the station.

NASA called the cracks in a Russian service module a 'top safety risk' - escalating the threat rating to five out of five.

Although officials have been aware of the issue since 2019, the exact source of the leak is still unknown.

All potential cracks have been covered with 'a combination of sealant and patches' but NASA warned that the leak reached its fastest rate yet in April this year.

Both the US and Russian side of the ISS activated its air-scrubbing systems after the toxic smell was identified

Concerns over the station's safety are now so high that NASA has negotiated with Roscomos to only open the hatch when necessary and to keep it sealed in the evenings.

And that's not the only cause for concern, as the space agency has warned that the ISS is at risk of being pelted with micro-meteors and space debris.

The air leak is located in the Russian Zvezda Service Module Transfer Tunnel, installed in 2000, and is used to house life support equipment and to access a Russian cargo dock.

In 2019, it was noted that the module had begun to leak a small amount of air through an unidentified crack.

However, despite efforts to seal the module, the amount of air escaping the station has only increased over the last five years.

In February this year, NASA was forced to hold a press conference on the issue as the amount of air escaping temporarily increased from 0.2 lbs per day (0.09 kg) to 2.4 lbs (1.08 kg) per day.

A report published in September by NASA's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) confirmed that the leak hit record rates in April - losing 3.7 lbs (1.68 kg) of air every day.

This has prompted the space agency to escalate the threat rating to the highest level and consider evacuation plans.

In May and June, NASA officials traveled to Russia to discuss 'heightened concerns' over the seemingly growing leak.

Speaking to the Washington Post, NASA associate administrator Jim Free says: 'We have conveyed the seriousness of the leaks multiple times, including when I was in Russia earlier this year.

'We've come to a compromise that they close it in the evening.'

The OIG report states: 'The Service Module Transfer Tunnel leak is not an immediate risk to the structural integrity of the Station, and there are no current concerns of long-term impacts to the overall structure.'

Likewise, ISS program manager Joel Montalbano told a press conference in February that the leak was 'not an impact right now on the crew safety or vehicle operations, but something for everybody to be aware of.'
The first thing I spot when we drive through the gates of Quinta Carvalhas are the beautiful Lusitano horses lounging in the paddock. Their ears prick up and, as we approach the house, surrounded by lemon trees and pink bougainvillea, a small dog greets us.

My sister, Charlotte, and I spent our childhood riding, sometimes with our late mum, and we have come to Quinta Carvalhas, a retreat centre near Golega, the horse capital of Portugal, to experience its equine therapy programme.

Horses have helped me through numerous challenges, from my parents divorce to those tricky early years of parenthood, but a fall a few years ago made me lose my confidence.

The farm, which opened last year 60 miles north of Lisbon after being renovated by South African owners, Michelle and Richard Thomas, is home to 16 horses including several Lusitanos. The Portuguese pure blood is one of the most revered and oldest breeds.

Its hard to believe were only an hour away from bustling Lisbon, where we spent a whirlwind 24 hours enjoying a tuk tuk tour, lunch at the sumptuous Seen Sky Bar and a night at the newly opened Locke de Santa Joana, a former convent, now an 'aparthotel' with a lovely restaurant, whisky bar and pool.

We start with a session with Swedish horse trainer and dressage champion Tana Ericson, who tells us about the difference between hotblood (known for strength and stamina), warmblood (good all-rounders) and coldblood horses (stoic and stocky). She asks us to describe ourselves on the same scale.

Were introduced to the horses, including a Lusitano called Chancellor and a handsome cob called Bentley. Then we are asked what we like about our horses.

Tana explains that horses are like mirrors when it comes to reading and reflecting our energy. Bentley, I am told, has picked up on my playfulness and becomes more relaxed as a result. I feel absurdly flattered.

Georgina Fuller tries equine therapy at Quinta Carvalhas near Golega - the horse capital of Portugal - which can be a 'life-changing' experience

Quinta Carvalhas (above) opened last year 60 miles north of Lisbon after being renovated by South African owners, Michelle and Richard Thomas. It's home to 16 horses

The next day starts with yoga ahead of our trail ride. Its the first time my sister and I have ridden together in years and I wish our mother, who died of heart failure when I was in my 20s, was with us.

The final part of our equine therapy involves a one-on-one session with Tana, where Im asked to choose a horse to lead into the arena. I opt for Mr Blue, a giant Lusitano cross. Im intimidated by his scale and stature. After spending time leading this gentle giant around the ring, however, I feel more confident.

Michelle tells me that equine therapy can be life changing.

Horses provide insight into what you are experiencing in life. They offer a non-judgmental presence and a calming reflection, she says.

Bentley, Michelle tells me, isnt always as forthcoming. With one guest, he trotted off and hid in the stable.

The guest said, sadly, thats because everyone leaves her. She used Bentleys response as a catalyst to try to change her body language.

After three days, we are sad to say goodbye, but my faith in horses has been restored.

I have reconnected with my childhood and, I realise, with my mother. I like to think she was with us in spirit and I know she would have loved those Lusitanos, too.
Would you go on a tourist trip to Afghanistan?

No?

Well, youre missing out according to intrepid traveller Jannis M, who visited the country this year and tells Mailonline Travel that it was a 'great experience.

The 23-year-old traveller from Germany, who has so far been to 93 countries, says: I loved Afghanistan and felt very safe. I was treated very well. Afghan people are among the most hospitable people in the world. I was greeted so many times and the people were curious [about] where I was from.

I was invited into homes, to have dinner with locals and to have tea together. Even the Taliban treated me very well. The Taliban want tourists to come, so they assure you that you are safe all the time.

His message for people who dont think tourists should visit Afghanistan is clear. Jannis says: These people will never see the world for themselves and never broaden their horizons.

I know many people do not think that visiting Afghanistan is a good idea, but I can reassure you that it helps your personal development and your own point of view of certain things. It creates memories you would never create if you stay home.

Jannis shared his experiences in Afghanistan in videos posted to his TikTok account - @jannistravels. In one video, he films from a boat on a lake in Band e Amir National Park, saying: Ive never in my life seen water this blue. Its so nice and the landscape is breathtaking. Separately, Jannis tells MailOnline that the lakes were his favourite place in Afghanistan, describing them as a dream.

Jannis travelled to Afghanistan for a holiday. He tells MailOnline it was a 'great experience'. LEFT: He's pictured with a member of the Taliban. RIGHT: Jannis says his favourite spot in Afghanistan was Band e Amir National Park, where he's pictured with a friend

Jannis also visited Kabuls bird market, where he explains in a video that its possible to buy pretty much any type of bird that you want, adding that the market is an interesting but sad place due to the creatures being caged.

In Kabul, Jannis even had his photo taken by one of the citys last professional box-camera photographers, Haji Mirzaman. Jannis explains on Instagram: It was an honour to meet him and definitely an interesting experience.

The traveller also journeyed to historic Bamiyan, where the 6th-century Buddha statues used to stand before the Taliban destroyed them in 2001, describing it as an 'impressive' place despite the destruction.

Its undoubtedly an unusual choice of holiday destination, so what made Jannis want to travel to Afghanistan in the first place?

Jannis had his photo taken by one of Kabul's last professional box-camera photographers, Haji Mirzaman

On the left is a Kabul night scene that Jannis snapped, while on the right is the bird market. Jannis described the latter as 'interesting' but 'sad'

LEFT: Jannis in Bamiyan, where the 6th-century Buddha statues used to stand before the Taliban destroyed them in 2001. RIGHT: Jannis with a friend at the Sakhi Shrine in Kabul

Jannis says Afghanistan 'has an interesting history, culture, amazing people and great food'. The traveller is hoping to visit every country in the world. Pictured left and right is Kabul

He explains to MailOnline: 'I would like to visit every country in the world and as I was travelling to Tajikistan close by, I thought I could combine the countries in one trip as Afghanistan is just around the corner. I had heard a lot of things about Afghanistan and wanted to make my own image of the country.

It has an interesting history, culture, amazing people and great food and this is what I wanted to see and experience for myself.

So, how did he plan his trip to Afghanistan?

Jannis explains: I needed to get a visa. Through a friend I knew that there were possibilities of getting it in Dubai, Peshawar in Pakistan or at the Tajik border, which is what I did. A friend of mine went to Afghanistan with a guide and so I asked for his contact details.

The adventurer adds that travelling with a guide was the only extra precaution he took to stay safe in Afghanistan.

But despite his positive experience, Jannis does only recommend Afghanistan as a destination for experienced travellers, explaining that it might be a bit shocking for beginners as some [aspects] like hygiene are in poor condition'.
Thought stopovers were dull? Think again.

Two travel experts have revealed how they can be thrilling if you pick the right place  and they prove their point by showcasing incredible 36-hour stays in Iceland.

A stopover here can break up a transatlantic journey between Europe and the USA, with the travel gurus demonstrating how it can be enjoyed in two completely different ways.

One of the experts is Nicky Kelvin, Editor at Large at The Points Guy. He opts for an adventurous break  staying at the remote Highland Base at Kerlingarfjoll, snorkelling in between tectonic plates and eating bread cooked inside the earth using geothermal energy.

Influencer Maz Green unveils a luxurious Icelandic break, with a stay at The Retreat at Blue Lagoon. Her itinerary includes a Michelin-starred meal and an in-water massage at the property.

The pair captured their experiences in a fascinating video and you can view a sneak peek of that here (below).

They have also revealed exclusively to MailOnline Travel what surprised them about Iceland, the misconceptions associated with the country  and whether they think it makes for a good-value destination.

Read on for more.

Nicky Kelvin, Editor at Large at The Points Guy, and influencer Maz Green showcase the joys of a stopover in Iceland. They're pictured here on an Icelandair flight at the start of their escapade

MAZ GREEN - LUXURY

What surprised you about Iceland?

Maz told MailOnline Travel: 'The proximity of the wild terrain.

'As soon as I drove out of the airport, I saw vast expanses of rugged, black lava fields formed from ancient volcanic eruptions.

'Framed by coastal views of the Atlantic Ocean, the views were stark and completely otherworldly. If that wasn't shocking enough, there was actual smoke coming off the lava fields because the nearby volcano had erupted just days before I arrived.

'I thought you had to travel far out to reach this sort of dramatic terrain - I couldn't believe how quickly I'd experienced Iceland's powerful nature.

'Also, we went during the summer solstice, so getting to experience the midnight sun was such a surreal experience! Having nearly 24 hours of daylight was quite disorientating at first, but personally I love longer days and the midnight sun casts such beautiful lighting.'

What misconceptions are there about Iceland?

Maz unveils a luxurious Icelandic break, with a stay at The Retreat at Blue Lagoon (above)

Maz said: 'That Iceland is a very remote country, when in fact it's incredibly accessible and well-connected for international travel.

'Iceland's location between North America and Europe makes it an ideal stopover point for travellers crossing the Atlantic.

'Many people think Iceland's natural wonders can't be experienced in such a short visit, but so many of its sights were close to the airport and could absolutely be enjoyed within just 36 hours.'

What are the top sights?

Maz describes The Retreat at Blue Lagoon as an 'utterly premium experience'

Maz enjoys an in-water massage at The Retreat at Blue Lagoon

Maz remarked: 'I only saw the Blue Lagoon, but that was always such a bucket list sight of mine and it certainly lived up to the hype.

'Getting to bathe in the warm, mineral-rich geothermal water was such a rejuvenating experience. And the backdrop of black volcanic rock and moss-covered lava fields created such a striking contrast with the bright blue waters of the lagoon.

'When I return to Iceland I'd love to see the black sand beach, Reynisfjara, and some of the dramatic waterfalls like Kirkjufellsfoss and Seljalandsfoss.'

What's it got that other wild places haven't

'If you're looking for a high-end, bucket-list-worthy stay, The Retreat is definitely one to add to your list,' says Maz (above)

Maz said: 'The diverse terrain. With geothermal hot springs, active volcanoes, black sand beaches, lush green valleys, dramatic cliffs and glacier ice caves, this country's landscape is uniquely diverse in comparison to other wild places around the world.'

What is the food like?

Maz commented: 'I only ate at Michelin-starred Moss restaurant in The Retreat Hotel, but based on my dining experience there, Icelandic cuisine uses the country's natural resources and cultural heritage.

'I was told that many modern restaurants offer contemporary twists on traditional dishes and there's a heavy emphasis on sustainability.

'I enjoyed a lot of fresh seafood and meats produced on Icelandic farms, which were all of the highest quality.'

Is Iceland good value?

Maz is pictured here at The Retreat's Michelin-starred Moss restaurant

Maz concluded: 'My experience in Iceland was showcasing the luxury wellness hotel, The Retreat. While it may have an expensive price tag, it was by no means a rip-off. With exceptional service, a world-class spa, exclusive location, unique architectural design, Michelin-starred dining and focus on sustainability, the hotel offered a unique and utterly premium experience, making the cost justifiable.

'If you're looking for a high-end, bucket-list-worthy stay, The Retreat is definitely one to add to your list!'

NICKY KELVIN - ADVENTURE

What surprised you about Iceland?

Nicky told MailOnline Travel: 'One of the most surprising things is the diversity of experiences you can have in Iceland.

'It's possible to enjoy ultimate comfort and luxury, and also wild adventure - but even more surprising is how places in Iceland manage to combine that adventure and luxury in one.

'The prevalence of, and reliance on, geothermal energy was also surprising, not just because of how green and future-looking the power grid of Iceland is, but because the source of the energy is visible as you drive around the island.

'The whole place spurts and boils and bubbles with energy.'

Nicky opted for an adventurous stopover in Iceland, with bread baked in a geothermal below-ground oven one of the highlights (above)

Nicky eats his geothermal bread amid Iceland's wild terrain

Any misconceptions you had that were changed while there?

Nicky said: 'There is perhaps a misconception that you need lots of time to have an enriching, exciting adventure in a destination, but this trip proved that you can experience something magical in just 36 hours, and just while you're on your way to your final destination. It is also a misconception that adventure equates to roughing it. Iceland has found a way in many spots to be wild but in exulted luxury at the same time.'

What are the top sights?

Nicky told MailOnline Travel: 'Of course, we only had 36 hours to pack everything in on this stopover, but the real standout for me was hiking through the volcanic massive of Kerlingarfjoll, where the Highland Base hotel was situated. It really felt like being on the moon, with the lunar landscape made extra dramatic by a mid-summer snowstorm and the bubbling geothermal pools of boiling water surrounding the paths.'

What's it got that other wild places haven't?

A stopover that makes a splash: Nicky goes snorkelling between tectonic plates

Nicky drifts in the water... as the tectonic plates drift

Nicky's Icelandic base was the remote Highland Hotel. He likens its surrounds to a lunar landscape

Nicky said: 'First of all, it has proximity on its side. A couple of hours' flight from Europe and only a few more to North America. Such a short flight transports you to an otherworldly landscape. You would have to travel much further to experience the same kind of wild environment elsewhere in the world.'

Is it good value?

Nicky remarked: 'I was surprised that costs were not as high as I might have expected. While luxury experiences were not cheap, they didn't feel like bad value, and things like coffees and snacks at service stations were no different from the prices you'd find in the UK.'

For more from The Points Guy visit thepointsguy.com. To view the full Points Guy Iceland video click here.
Pamela Hayden, who has voiced the character of Milhouse on The Simpsons since 1989, says it wasn't an easy decision for her to leave the cast of the animated show, but she feels it's time to explore other ventures.

'It was time for me to devote my time to other creative endeavors that I have, like filmmaking,' The Windham, Maine native, 70, told Variety Sunday. 'It was a tough decision, but I feel like it was the right one.'

Hayden spoke as her final episode voicing Milhouse, Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes, was slated to air.

Hayden told the publication: 'How many actors can say they've worked on a show for 35 years straight? That alone is amazing.'

Hayden - who provided vocals on 695 episodes of the show, as well as in multiple video games and the 2007 film - said the show's producers were supportive of her in her decision to depart, and volunteered to throw her a party.

Among the other characters she voiced on the show include Jimbo Jones, Rod Flanders, Sarah Wiggum and Janey Powell.

Pamela Hayden, 70, who has appeared on The Simpsons since 1989, is opening up on her decision to leave the long-running animated series. Pictured in 2023 in LA

Hayden has voiced the character of Milhouse on The Simpsons since 1989

'It's a once-in-a-lifetime job on a once-in-a-lifetime show,' Hayden told the outlet. 'But being an actor, I think you're kind of used to taking risks. That's the kind of person I am.

'I'm not about playing things safe. And there were other things I wanted to do. I think you throw it against the wall and see what sticks.'

Hayden said that she would most miss the rapport she has with her co-workers of more than three decades, including fellow cast members, as well as producers.

'It's just not like anything I've ever worked on,' Hayden said. 'These are such finely drawn characters.'

She said of the Milhouse character: 'I'll still have a special place in my heart for that blue haired boy. No matter what. But the show will go on.'

She added, 'What I liked about Milhouse is even though he gets kicked around, he always feels like tomorrow's going to be a better day. Whether it is or not. And I think that's great. It's a good analogy for life.'

She added of Milhouse: 'I know they won't kill them off because it's a comedy. You don't want to kill off a 10-year-old character!'

Asked what her Milhouse successor should do in the part, Hayden said it's 'a difficult task put your stamp on a character, but to still make it sound like the character that has already originated ... you want them to bring their own gift to the party.'

Hayden provided vocals on 695 episodes of the show, as well as in multiple video games and the 2007 film

The Milhouse character was first seen in a Butterfinger commercial in 1989, prior to the show's premiere as a standalone series on Fox later that year

The Milhouse character was first seen in a Butterfinger commercial in 1989, prior to the show's premiere as a standalone series on Fox later that year.

'Bart needed someone to talk to in the school cafeteria,' the show's creator Matt Groening told the outlet in a statement. 'We named him Milhouse because that was the most unfortunate name a kid could have.

'Pamela gave us tons of laughs with Milhouse, the hapless kid with the biggest nose in Springfield. She made Milhouse hilarious and real, and we will miss her.'

Producer James L Brooks called Hayden 'a model for having a great spirit for every cast she has been a part of,' adding, 'We will miss her.'

Matt Selman, the series' showrunner and executive producer, told the outlet, 'Pamela's talent and joy and love for her characters has added a magic to The Simpsons that will never be forgotten. Everything's coming up Pamela!'
Paramount Network's Yellowstone continues its final season with a new episode on Sunday, which reveals exactly how John Dutton (Kevin Costner) was killed.

Fans were livid with this revelation, though it was learned that Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) - the new girl Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) is involved with - had gone through a company specializing in making murders look like a suicide.

It didn't take long for John's other children - Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Kayce (Luke Grimes) to realize that Jamie was involved in their father's death.

Beth has vowed to kill Jamie herself, and while it remains to be seen when or if that will happen, the show's opening moments revealed exactly how Dutton was killed.

The reveal was shown in yet another flashback, which has irritated fans once again, while others revealed how shocked they were after seeing how John was killed.

Paramount Network's Yellowstone continues its final season with a new episode on Sunday, which reveals exactly how Joh n Dutton ( Kevin Costner ) was killed

Paramount Network's Yellowstone continues its final season with a new episode on Sunday, which some fans are hoping brings the death of Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley)

The episode began with another flashback, before John was killed, with Beth and Rip in their hotel in Amarillo, Texas.

Beth says she can't do this for a year but Rip says there are rules and he has to stay with the herd.

He says no more surprises, and to let her know when she's coming before he leaves to get back to work.

As Beth starts her drive back to Montana, soldiers dressed in black are seen subduing John and rigging the death to be a suicide, injecting something into his foot and orchestrating the suicide.

Just as that happens, Beth is suddenly stunned by a notion that something was wrong, while Kayce woke from his slumber as well.

Beth calls Rip asking if he's OK, insisting that something is wrong, as Rip tells her to pull over if she gets tired.

The trooper arrives in the governor's mansion and finds what appears to be a suicide but the soldiers are gone.

Fans were not only shocked by seeing John's death play out, but also annoyed with the notion that Beth and Kayce could somehow 'feel' their father's death.

@dreaminwithj said of the death scene, 'I feel like I just watched my grandpa get murdered,' with a broken heart emoji.

@dreaminwithj added, 'john dutton has lived through so much and THATS HOW HE DIES BRUHHHH'

@dreaminwithj said of the death scene, 'I feel like I just watched my grandpa get murdered,' with a broken heart emoji.

@celloiejr said, 'I can't wait for Jamie to get what's coming to him!!!!' while @thetvescape said, 'I am NOT okay! There was a cop keeping watch outside and they STILL found a way to kill him?!'

@atiyah9369 added, 'Where is the governors security,' while @dreaminwithj added, 'john dutton has lived through so much and THATS HOW HE DIES BRUHHHH'

@rix530 added, 'They showed it, dang,' while @ilovefroggie said, 'Dude! They placed a new medication in the bathroom cabinet. There are no fingerprints on the bottle.'

@ilovefroggie added, 'Ohh! They're showing flashbacks. So confusing,' mirroring confusing fans expressed in last week's episode as well.

@Thetvescape said, 'Beth knew. The moment it happened. This woman's intuition is never wrong.'

@cmitch410 said, 'This jumping back and forth confusing at times,' while @njramen said, 'I just fell to my knees watching John's murder. I couldn't see him like that.'

@CrazyBoothSocks said, 'I think I would have rather not seen it happen. There was something more eerie about the opening.'

@ilovefroggie added, 'Ohh! They're showing flashbacks. So confusing,' mirroring confusing fans expressed in last week's episode as well.

@ilovefroggie added, 'Ohh! They're showing flashbacks. So confusing,' mirroring confusing fans expressed in last week's episode as well.

The episode also featured Kayce paying a visit to the medical examiner, which resulted in her changing the cause of death from a suicide to homicide.

Beth and Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) discuss teaming up to try and save what they can of the Yellowstone Dutton ranch now that John is gone.

The new governor tries to recuse Jamie from the proceedings and invokes imminent domain to try and seize control of the ranch.

Yellowstone fans were left stunned at the end of Sunday's new episode when a another pivotal character was killed off.

The character was none other than Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri), a ruthless lawyer for Market Equities who paid a shadowy company to kill Montana governor John Dutton.

The actress also broke her silence on her character's death - and what's next.

The fourth of six final Yellowstone episodes debuts Sunday, December 1 at 8 PM ET on Paramount Network, with the series finale on Sunday, December 15.
Kody Brown surprisingly admitted that he hopes to play a role in his ex-wife Meri's next wedding as they went their separate ways on the latest episode of TLC's Sister Wives.

Kody, 55, was overcome with emotion as he bid Meri, 53, farewell after helping her move to Utah to establish a bed and breakfast.

Once he and his brother Nathan had gotten her settled in, Kody spread his arms wide to give Meri a big bear hug.

As they embraced, tears welled up in his eyes, and his voice cracked with emotion as he he told her he hoped to walk her down the aisle once she remarried.

'Meris just on point today. Shes just the wonderful woman that I would have liked to have been married to,' Kody gushed while back at Meri's home in Arizona during the Sister Wives episode that aired on Sunday, November 24.

'Hey, listen, we're like the best divorced couple ever,' Meri joked to her polygamist ex

Kody Brown surprisingly admitted that he hopes to play a role in his ex-wife Meri's next wedding as they went their separate ways on the latest episode of TLC's Sister Wives

Kody, 55, began crying as he gave Meri, 53, a big hug and admitted he wanted to 'walk her down the aisle' for her next marriage

The sweeting parting moment was shocking considering how the two have been at each others throats in recent years.

Kody, who has also divorced his wives Christine and Janelle Brown, referenced the splits when he said that Meri was his 'favorite divorced wife.'

Later, as he prepared to bid her adieu from her new Utah lodgings, a teary Kody told Meri that it was 'the end of the era.'

'Its a great run, but Im not going to let it get me down,' he continued.

'[It] always blows me away that you get emotional like this. I just dont understand,' Meri replied as her ex-husband sobbed while holding her tight.

She seemed to warm up after a moment, and she rested her head against him and briefly closed her eyes.

After the separated from the hug, Kody explained that it was finally hitting him that their marriage was over.

'We had something special,' he declared while still visible emotional. 'Im not bitter anymore. Im not angry.

Kody was joined by his brother and Meri's friend to move her from Arizona to her new bed and breakfast in Utah

Kody joked that Meri was his 'best divorced wife,' and later he said he was no longer bitter as he embraced her

'Im glad you and I got that figured out. Im glad that we were able to be friends. Im glad that youre my favorite ex-wife,' Kody continued. 'But its the weirdest thing to be in that place. It is just heartbreaking in a way.'

He referenced his other divorces after declaring: 'I love the life I have, but its a very different life than what I had three years ago, you know?

'It just seemed like everybody else just went, "This isnt important,"' Kody added.

Meri, who tied the knot with Kody in 1990, was the first of Kody's wives, and initially the only one of them to be legally married to him.

Although their spiritual marriage continued until January of last year, they were legally divorced in 2014 to allow Kody to marry his fourth wife, Robyn, and to adopt her children.

Kody sounded more bitter as he said he had been 'so angry with Christine and Janelle that I havent been able to really address the mourning. Ive just been angry.'

Christine, 52, previously announced she had separated from Kody in late 2021, while Janelle, 55, announced that she and Kody had separated in December of 2022.

Kody tried to refocus on his ex-wife at hand as he said he had moved past his 'anger' about their split.

Kody then admitted that the conversation 'got weird,' but he promised not to be 'weird' if Meri were to 'marry again'

'Im sorry about the seven years, but Im glad we did it because now I can mourn a loss instead of being angry,' he claimed. 'Does that make sense?'

Kody then admitted that the conversation 'got weird,' but he promised not to be 'weird' if Meri were to 'marry again.'

One of Meri's female friends was in the room with the exes, so she tried to cut through the tension by joking, 'Would you be the flower girl?'

Kody replied, 'No, I get to walk her down the aisle.'

In a confessional interview, a flustered Meri admitted: 'I dont get it. I dont know where this is coming from. I do not understand it.'

She was shocked by Kody's teary exchange with her, as he had 'made it clear that he did not want [her]in his life.

'So why this emotion?' she wondered aloud.

Meri even wondered if Kody could be putting her on, based on the quality of their relationship in its final years.

Meri was shocked at Kody's emotional display due to how rough the last few years of their marriage had been. She wasn't sure if he was secretly joking or was really overcome with emotion

'The fact that hes saying he wants to walk me down the aisle when I get married again, Im like, like, "Why would he say that?"' she mused in her interview after the fact. 'Is he serious? Is he trying to make a joke? I cant tell. I dont know whats going on.'

She didn't seem to quite believe him, as she added, ' Hes sobbing. Hes saying its the end of an era. And Im thinking it didnt have to be this way.'

But she admitted she was 'floored' by Kody's words. 'I dont know what to do with this.'

Back at the bed and breakfast, the patriarch called his divorce from Meri the 'final nail in the coffin' of what had been his dream to lead a polygamist family.

The scene concluded when Kody said that both parties had 'permission to move on' after Meri's move, which he describe as the 'end of an era.'
Sister Wives star Kody Brown continued to grapple with the collapse of his polygamist family in the new season 19 mid-season trailer.

The TV personality, 55, told his last remaining wife Robyn, 45, that he felt 'slapped in the face by polygamy' after his other three wives, Christine, 52, Janelle, 55, and Meri, 53, left him, in a teaser clip shared by People.

The confession takes place during a Valentine's dinner date with Robyn, after she asked him, 'So you're okay that this Valentine's is just you and me?'

'He is very angry,' Robyn tells the cameras, adding, 'I'm getting the brunt of it.'

Later on, he is seen discussing his future with Robyn, and asks her, 'Will you accept me as a monogamist?'

'It's not what I wanted,' Robyn is heard saying.

Sister Wives star Kody Brown, 55, continued to grapple with the collapse of his polygamist family in the new season 19 mid-season trailer shared by People; seen in a still from the show

He told his last remaining wife Robyn, 45, that he felt 'slapped in the face by polygamy' after his other three wives, Christine, 52, Janelle, 55, and Meri, 53, left him (they are seen in 2010)

Meanwhile a frustrated Kody tells the cameras: 'This is the end of this family right here, right now.'

Elsewhere in the clip Meri's friends appear curious about her personal life, as they ask her if she's 'f****d any men' to which she bursts out laughing.

'Ever since he has married Robyn, her has wanted nobody else or you,' he pal tells her.

Meanwhile Mari says in a confessional, 'Maybe I did the wrong thing.'

Elsewhere in the trailer she confesses to her friend that 'dating is fun' and that she's 'dated a little bit.'

'Definitely not interested in polygamy again,' Meri adds.

Meanwhile Christine is seen going wedding dress shopping after her engagement to David Woolley.

The blushing bride tries on a lace gown as her friends cheer her on.

Janelle is heard commenting: 'It's a start over. It's a do over in the very biggest way.'

The confession takes place during a Valentine's dinner date with Robyn. 'He is very angry,' Robyn tells the cameras, adding, 'I'm getting the brunt of it'; Robyn seen in a still

Later on, he is seen discussing his future with Robyn, and asks her, 'Will you accept me as a monogamist?' to which Robyn replies, 'It's not what I wanted'

Meanwhile a frustrated Kody tells the cameras: 'This is the end of this family right here, right now'

She expresses looking forward to new beginnings and a move out of Flagstaff, Arizona while packing up a U-Haul truck.

'I love Flagstaff. It's time to do something different.'

Kody comments on the move in a confessional: 'I don't know how to explain this. It was never intended for me to know that Janelle was moving.'

Janelle is then pictured sharing a drink at a bar with Christine and David, as she discusses moving to North Carolina.

'If for some reason this goes South, it's going to be a lot of work,' she states.

Meri and Janelle then voice concerns about the division of their land, with Janelle telling her former sister wife in a video chat: 'I probably will get a lawyer, because I think he could just drag his feet if he wanted to.'

Meri tells cameras, 'I put money into it. I'm going to get my part out of it.'

Meanwhile Kody tells a friend, 'I think they're worried about whether I'm going to be fair or not. Divorce just takes away all trust.'

Elsewhere in the trailer Meri confesses to her friend that 'dating is fun' and that she's 'dated a little bit.' She then adds, 'Definitely not interested in polygamy again'

Janelle discusses moving to North Carolina. 'If for some reason this goes South, it's going to be a lot of work,' she states

Meanwhile Christine is seen going wedding dress shopping after her engagement to David Woolley

Meri and Janelle then voice concerns about the division of their land, with Janelle telling her former sister wife in a video chat: 'I probably will get a lawyer, because I think he could just drag his feet if he wanted to'

Meri and Janelle are then seen walking around a piece of land, with Janelle stating, 'It's so wrong that we have to do this.'

'I'm so mad,' Meri adds.

The scene then switches to Kody as he discusses the 'special' land, saying, 'I don't want to sell it.'

'Just give us what's ours, and we'll move on,' Janelle tells the cameras.

'What else is he going to do? Like, he can't really hurt me,' she tells Meri.

The clip ends with someone crashing on an ATV.

Back in 2018, Kody purchased a plot in nearby Coyote Pass for $820,000, on which he originally planned to built five houses.

However, his 2021 split from Christine, his late 2022 separation from Janelle and the end of his marriage to Mari in early 2023 have likely impacted the viability of his plan.

Following their separation, Christine transferred her ownership stake in the Coyote Pass to Kody and his remaining wives, and now that he has sold his Flagstaff home with Robyn, it's unclear if he still plans to develop his large property.

Kody married his first three wives in quick succession. He married Meri in 1990, followed by Janelle in 1993 and Christine in 1994.

His marriage to Robyn was in 2010, 16 years after his last union.

Christine was the first of the wives to end her marriage to Kody, and she has since gotten married to David.

Sister Wives airs on TLC on Sunday evenings at 10PM ET; Janelle, Christine, Kody, Meri, and Robyn pictured in 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada

Janelle wasn't far behind, and she announced her divorce from Koday in December 2022.

Just one month later, in January 2023, Meri announced that she had separated from Kody as well, leaving Robyn as his only remaining wife.

The extended family was rocked by tragedy in March of this year, when Kody and Janelle's son Garrison Brown took his own life.

Sister Wives airs on TLC on Sunday evenings at 10PM ET.
A former Strictly pro has branded the dance-a-thon challenge a fix, complaining that it has 'messed with the leaderboard'.

On Saturday, the remaining celebrity contestants were thrust into 'Samba-thon' which saw all seven couples dancing simultaneously to impress the judges.

JB and Lauren were picked by the judges as the winner of the dance-a-thon, leaving them tied at the top of the leaderboard with Tasha and Aljaz.

At the other end of the scale were Pete and Jowita with just 32 out of a possible 48, leaving them bottom of the table for the second week running.

Ola Jordan, 42, has since spoken out against the chaotic dance-a-thon, claiming it is a fix.

'I'm not a fan of the dance-a-thon. I always used to call it fix-a-thon,' the former Strictly pro told Mecca Bingo.

Former Strictly pro, Ola Jordan , 42, has spoken out against the chaotic dance-a-thon, claiming it is a 'fix'

On Saturday's episode, celebs competed in a dance-a-thon with pairs performing a samba routine simultaneously

'I'm not a fan of the dance-a-thon. I always used to call it fix-a-thon,' the former Strictly pro told Mecca Bingo

She continued: 'You prepare this one dance for the whole week and then suddenly you do this silly thing in the middle of the floor.

'Let's face it, they are celebrities that just come on the show. They've got no clue what they're doing, so for me, it messes with the leaderboard.

'The leaderboard is important. It's not who you vote for, which is important, but it's combined with the leaderboard. If someone drops even one place down, that will affect them going in the bottom two.

'The judges can do what they want to do really because we can't really see on a screen who is the best and who's the worst.'

Ola also defended Chris McCausland, 47, after fans branded the Samba-thon 'discriminatory, unfair and in poor taste' towards him.

Viewers thought the blind comedian was at an unfair disadvantage because he has no concept of spatial awareness, despite judges actively encouraging the celebs 'move around' the floor.

Chris and his professional dance partner Dianne were the first couple to be sent off of the ballroom floor.

Going off the dancefloor first meant Chris and Dianne were only awarded one point, placing them second to bottom of the judges' scoreboard.

Furious Strictly fans branded the Samba-thon 'discriminatory, unfair and in poor taste' towards blind comedian Chris McCausland

Viewers thought Chris was at an unfair disadvantage because he has no concept of spatial awareness, despite judges actively encouraging the celebs 'move around' the floor

Ola said: 'It's easy to say that he's not the best in a competition, and everyone knows that. He had some great steps in the routine; he had proper Pasodoble steps. His posture wasn't the best.

'It was a great effort though because we have to still remember that he can't see any of the dances.

'Like they said before, if he looks at Pasodoble from other people, he can't see what he's supposed to be performing the next week so he's got no idea.

'With dancing, you learn on vision as well. You look at something and you go "Oh, that's how it's supposed to look like", so it's very hard for him.'

After fans spoke out on his behalf, Chris took to Instagram to reflect on his performance.

He wrote: 'I was really proud of our dance on Saturday, and as for the Sambathon.[zipped-mouth emoji] .Well thank you so much for all of your votes.

'You really did help us survive double Latin! See you tomorrow partner [Dianne Buswell], I'll be bringing earplugs.'

Strictly Come Dancing airs on ITV and ITVX.
Britain's Shoplifting Gangs Exposed: Dispatches

Rating:

Life is so unfair. Poor old Zeno the whole-sale shoplifter - all he's trying to do is nick a few thousand tubes of toothpaste, and suddenly there's a film crew knocking on his door.

'There are 1,000 Romanian thieves in England,' he protested to the camera, sounding genuinely aggrieved.

'Why are you coming to my house? Everyone steals in England, and they sell it to the Indians. Why not go to the Indians to find the stolen goods?'

And that's just what investigator Matt Shea did in the eye-opening Dispatches documentary Britain's Shoplifting Gangs Exposed (Ch4).

What he discovered was a web of criminal enterprise that takes full advantage of the UK's inability  or unwillingness  to prosecute law-breakers.

The East European gangs stripping supermarket shelves of everything from booze to beauty products are part of a much bigger network.

And the real money is in people trafficking, not toothpaste.

Zeno Gugulan worked as a 'spotter', trolling the aisles of Morrisons up and down the country, noting CCTV blind spots and picking out the most lucrative stashes.

Investigator Matt Shea discovered a web of criminal enterprise that takes full advantage of the UK's inability to prosecute law-breakers. Pictured: A still from the documentary that shows Romanian shoplifter Robert-Claudiu Alexe

Dispatches revealed there is a gang of shoplifters dubbed 'Morrisons Four' who stole 120K of goods from supermarkets on orders of an international crime gang. Pictured: Romanian shoplifter Robert-Claudiu Alexe is bundled into a police van

He's a distinctive chap, with a haircut like roadkill  a slab of fur on a bald head  but the prospect of being recognised didn't appear to bother him.

His glum-faced assistants, earning 50 a day, scooped armfuls of goods into trolleys before transferring the haul into coat pockets and swanning out of the door.

Morrisons has its own anti-theft unit, but that doesn't seem to be a lot of practical use.

Security guards no longer detain shoplifters and frogmarch them into a back room to await the arrival of police.

When was the last time you saw one of those signs that warned, 'We always prosecute'?

It's closer to the truth now to say, 'We never prosecute, so help yourselves.'

Police have set up Operation Hemsworth to investigate organised shoplifting gangs, but the team consists of retired detectives.

It's like a remake of New Tricks with boxes of stolen deodorant and triple-A batteries instead of cold-case murders.

Much of the gear is flogged at car-boot sales.

Reporter Shea chatted to a stallholder called Fouzi who explained, 'I get it so cheap, because it's been stolen.'

Another clip from the documentary shows Romanian shoplifter Elena-Brindusa being arrested

Imagine Del Boy without the charm, the patter or any other redeeming features.

But Fouzi was small fry. The real villains were bulk buyers, for whom dealing in stolen goods appeared to be merely a sideline.

The real money, explained a squat man with a permanent scowl, was in illegal visas.

'There are Indian people and Pakistani people, who don't have passport and visa,' he said. 'So if they marry a Romanian on paper, what happens is after five years the person gets settlement in the UK.'

His clients, he said, were willing to pay 250 a month to European nationals, 'to stay married  it's an arrangement, but the government doesn't know.'

Shea's undercover film crew did a great job of capturing all this. It's all a long way from Del and Rodders on Hooky Street.
Parents have slammed Netflix's new animated film for 'normalizing' divorce which that believe is not appropriate for children.

Spellbound is an hour and 49 minute flick starring Rachel Zegler, Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, John Lithgow, Jenifer Lewis and Jordan Fisher.

As the film starts, tenacious teen princess Ellian (voiced Zegler) is desperately seeking a cure for the mysterious spell that has transformed her parents, Queen Ellsmere (Kidman) and King Solon (Bardem).

To make matters worse, she must hide the whole mess from the oblivious citizens of Lumbria.

When the secret gets out, and panic spreads throughout the kingdom, Ellian is forced on a dangerous quest to undo the curse.

But even if she succeeds, she soon learns that her family may never go back to the way it once was.

To make Ellian's reaction to her - literally - monstrous parents believable and accurate, filmmakers employed the consulting services of a family psychologist and therapist who specializes in divorce.

On film review site Rotten Tomatoes, Spellbound has a 65 percent audience score with critics flooding the comments expressing their frustration with the topic.

Spellbound follows the adventures of Ellian, a princess who must go on a quest to save her family and kingdom after a mysterious spell transforms her parents into monsters

Spellbound is an hour and 49 minute flick starring Rachel Zegler , Nicole Kidman , Javier Bardem , John Lithgow, Jenifer Lewis and Jordan Fisher

'Just bad. Divorce should not be normalized,' one critic said.

'It pretends to promote familial love, forgiveness and growth, but instead pushes for family separation, holding on to unforgiveness and making selfish choices,' said another.

'What looks like a cute animated movie about a young girl trying to save her parents who've been turned into monsters is just a moronic ploy to help normalize divorce to children. Don't normalize divorce. It's not normal,' a third person said.

On social media people talked about how they were disappointed in the approach and even stopped their children from watching the film.

'My niece hated me for turning Spellbound off about 10 minutes in. Thank God I googled the ending. Why would anybody sign up to do a movie that normalizes divorce? Divorce should be rare, not normalized,' said one person.

'It just felt like they could have shown the parents trying to work through the problems. Not just oh we argue too much let's end it,' said another.

A recent report from the U.S. Census Bureau show that overall divorce rates in the country are down, but marriage rates are stagnant.

The U.S. marriage rate in 2012 was 16.6 compared to 16.7 in 2022, according to the American Community Survey. During the same period, divorce rates dropped from 9.8 to 7.1.

Marriage and divorce rates are based on the number of women who married or divorced in the last year per 1,000 women age 15 and over.

From 2008 to 2022, the national divorce rate declined from just over 10.0 to about 7.0. In contrast, the national marriage rate has generally remained between 16.0 and 18.0 since 2008, with the exception of 2021 when the rate fell below 15.0.
JK Rowling has been defended by American production firm HBO after Gen Z launched a pile on the Harry Potter author over her views on transgender issues.

The company has been inundated with complaints about Rowling serving as an executive producer on the new Harry Potter TV series.

In a statement to Variety, HBO said: 'We are proud to once again tell the story of Harry Potter  the heartwarming books that speak to the power of friendship, resolve and acceptance.

'JK Rowling has a right to express her personal views. We will remain focused on the development of the new series, which will only benefit from her involvement.'

The decision to adapt Rowling's novels has faced criticism from numerous fans, with many calling another adaptation 'unnecessary.'

HBO has defended JK Rowling after Gen Z launched a pile on the Harry Potter author over her views on transgender issues

Based on the books by the author, the famous wizarding world was previously turned into films starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint (pictured 2001). The new Harry Potter series, set to premiere in 2026, promises a deeper exploration

Others have stated they plan to boycott the project due to the author's comments on trans people.

A social media user said on X: 'This is blatantly stupid. HBO has a track record of producing some of the greatest shows, from The Sopranos to Succession, but for them to appease JK Rowling for her extreme views is only making things worse.'

While another said: 'Very cool how a large corporation just said "yeah we're gonna side with the dangerous transphobe who's actively contributed to creating an atmosphere of violence and stigma against trans people". F*** JK Rowling and HBO, this is why trans people are asking to boycott.'

Another added: 'My fellow anti-Harry Potter activists: please, don't even hate watch the new version when it comes out.'

In recent years, Rowling has encountered backlash from key cast members of the original series following her remarks about the trans community in 2020, in which she said she believed women were defined by their biological sex and not their gender identity.

She strongly denies that she is transphobic.

Her connection with the actors - including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint - as well as with Harry Potter fans, has deteriorated as the debate has grown more divisive.

HBO boss Casey Bloys revealed earlier this month that Rowling was 'very, very involved in the process selecting the writer and the director.'

He noted that her statements 'haven't affected the casting or hiring of writers or productions staff' for the show.

A spokesperson for the HBO's parent company added: 'We've been working with J.K. Rowling and in the Harry Potter business for over 20 years' and 'her contribution has been invaluable'.

The new Harry Potter series, set to premiere in 2026, promises a deeper exploration of the wizarding world.

Screenwriter Francesca Gardiner, known for her work on Succession, will serve as showrunner, with Mark Mylod directing multiple episodes and also executive producing.

'This new Max Original series will dive deep into each of the iconic books that fans have cherished for years,' Bloys said, assuring audiences it will be 'a faithful adaptation'.

While initial reports suggested each season would cover one book, Bloys has hinted the series could run for '10 consecutive years,' casting doubt on the one-season-per-book format.

Executive producer Rowling wrote on X: 'I'm truly thrilled to announce our director and writer, both of whom I interviewed as part of the production team

Warner Bros, the production company behind the original films, has confirmed that Francesca Gardiner (L) and Mark Mylod (R), who both worked on acclaimed drama Succession, will be executive producers of the 'faithful adaptation'

An open casting call was announced for young actors to portray Harry, Ron, and Hermione, requiring applicants to be aged 9 to 11 by April 2025

An open casting call was announced for young actors to portray Harry, Ron, and Hermione, requiring applicants to be aged 9 to 11 by April 2025.

Recognisable faces are being touted for the adult roles, including Mark Rylance as Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore.

An HBO representative said: 'We appreciate that such a high profile series will draw a lot of rumour and speculation. As we make our way through pre-production, we will only confirm details as we finalise deals.'

Warner Bros. previously addressed J.K. Rowling's statements in 2020, saying: 'The events in the last several weeks have firmed our resolve as a company to confront difficult societal issues.

'Warner Bros.' position on inclusiveness is well established, and fostering a diverse and inclusive culture has never been more important to our company and to our audiences around the world.

'We deeply value the work of our storytellers who give so much of themselves in sharing their creations with us all.

'We recognise our responsibility to foster empathy and advocate understanding of all communities and all people, particularly those we work with and those we reach through our content.'

Meanwhile Jude Law, who portrays a young Dumbledore in Fantastic Beasts, said the franchise's controversies involving Rowling, Johnny Depp, and Ezra Miller, was ''the trifecta of hitting yourself in the face'.

Law shared his hope for another film in the planned five-film series, though Warner Bros. has yet to confirm a fourth installment.

'I'll just wait until I get the phone call,' he told GQ.

'I hope [it happens]. What we all know of that character's journey is wonderful. There's lots more to tell.'
Riley Keough looked relaxed while in enjoying a family outing in New York City.

The fiercely private granddaughter of Elvis Presley, was spotted with her husband, Australian stuntman Ben Smith-Petersen, and their daughter Tupelo.

The 34-year-old actress bundled up in a long black wool coat and wore gray Nike sneakers and ankle length jeans.

Her long, dark hair was pulled back in a messy half ponytail and the Under the Bridge star appeared to be wearing little to no makeup.

The Emmy nominee donned dark sunglasses and carried a quilted black Chanel shoulder bag.

Smith-Peterson kept warm in a pair of brown cargo pants, with black boots.

Riley Keough looked relaxed while in enjoying a family outing in New York City. The 34-year-old actress bundled up in a long black wool coat and wore gray Nike sneakers and ankle length jeans

The Suicide Squad crew member wore a black hoodie beneath a mustard yellow denim jacket.

He wore a bright yellow billed cap over his blonde hair.

Little Tupelo, two, looked adorable in a green sweater, a floral coat and brown patent leather ankle boots.

Keough has been in the Big Apple promoting her late mother's memoir, From Here to the Great Unknown.

Lisa Marie Presley was nearly finished with the book prior to her sudden death at age 54 in January 2023.

'Last stop of book tour,' Keough wrote next to a video showing her interview with fellow author Taylor Jenkins Reid on Thursday before a live audience.

' Thank you to everyone who came out to support FROM HERE TO THE GREAT UNKNOWN,'

Of her decision to tackled the memoir, Keough told Elle, 'It felt more like a duty, I suppose.'

Keough was accompanied by her husband, Australian stuntman Ben Smith-Petersen, and their daughter Tupelo, two

The Under the Bridge actress has been in the Big Apple promoting her late mother's memoir (Pictured in New York City in October)

Lisa Marie Presley was working on the book at the time of her death in January 2023 at age 54 (Pictured in Los Angeles in October 2017)

Keough finished the book after her mother's death. From Here to the Great Unknown arrived on bookshelves October 8

'I just felt like something drove me to complete it for her,' the grieving daughter admitted.

'I think what was really the most interesting to me were the details in these stories that I knew, the broad strokes. To have all the details, how she felt in these moments, was really special,' she explained.

'I love stories and storytelling, so I love the nuance. I think that was the coolest thing.'

From Here to the Great Unknown arrived on store shelves October 8.
Sydney socialite and fitness influencer Bernadette Fahey has revealed the very specific guidelines she provided for guests' outfits at her upcoming wedding.

The Pilates queen, who is due to marry businessman Jordan Sukkar imminently, told the Daily Telegraph over the weekend she sent guests 'inspiration' to guide what they wear on her big day.

Reflecting on the use of mood boards that many famous brides have been using to curate guest fashion, Bernadette claimed her wedding invitation 'isn't a mood board.'

However, she also told the publication that she did supply her loved ones with some specific ideas to help them.

'Guests were sent some inspiration for dresses  colourful gowns,' she told the publication.

The upcoming event, with a black-tie theme, will see some of Sydney's most prominent society figures dressing up for the occasion.

Sydney socialite and influencer Bernadette Fahey has revealed her very specific guidelines for guests at her upcoming wedding. Pictured with businessman Jordan Sukkar

She also told the publication that she did supply her loved ones with some ideas. 'Guests were sent some inspiration for dresses  colourful gowns,' said Fahey

Expected attendees include Deborah Symond ONeil, Caroline Tran, Olivia Bond, and Nikki Campbell.

In July, Bernadette announced her engagement to long-term boyfriend Sukkar.

The socialite and fitness instructor posted to Instagram to confirm her businessman partner Jordan had popped the question.

In July, Bernadette announced her engagement to long-term boyfriend Jordan Sukkar. The socialite and fitness instructor posted to Instagram to confirm her businessman partner Jordan had popped the question

Jordan, who is COO of his parents' $500m construction company Buildcorp, got down on one knee during their romantic getaway in Tinos, a Greek island in the Aegean Sea.

Bernadette confirmed their engagement by sharing a photograph of herself flashing her diamond ring as she cuddled up to Jordan.

She looked stunning in a white cut-out gown as she held up her lavish gold ring for the camera, which had a large sparkling diamond encrusted in the centre.

Jordan, who is COO of his parents' $500m construction company Buildcorp, got down on one knee during their romantic getaway in Tinos, a Greek island in the Aegean Sea

Bernadette, who owns popular Bondi Pilates studio Body By Berner, looked happier than ever as she beamed for the camera.

While it is not known exactly how long the couple have been together, they went Instagram official in May.

Jordan, meanwhile, shared his first post with Bernadette a few months earlier in March 2024 as they attended a friend's fancy dress birthday party together.

In his debut on her grid, Bernadette shared two cosy pictures of them cuddling up to one another at the 2024 Gold Dinner as she confirmed their romance publicly.

She simply captioned the post: 'Prom pic debut.'

Jordan has since featured in a whole string of loved-up posts on Bernadette's Instagram page as they have been going from strength-to-strength.

Bernadette is known for being the fitness instructor to some of Sydney's most high-powered socialites and famous faces.

She trains some of Sydney's hottest Eastern Suburbs stars including 'nude' artist Dina Broadhurst, stylist Jade Yarbrough and model Madeleine Holtznagel.
Samantha Armytage has given an insight into how her health and life has changed as she has gotten older.

The TV veteran reflected on leaving Channel Seven after 21 years at the age of 48 in a candid column for Stellar, describing the move as a 'fresh start' in her life.

She has since signed up with rival network Nine and confessed the big change was 'unexpected' as she detailed other changes in her life.

Samantha candidly opened up about the process of aging, including going grey, getting wrinkles and at times struggling with incontinence issues.

'All of a sudden, everything is changing: hair colour, waistlines, sleep patterns, pelvic floors, skin texture, friends, colleagues, houses, jargon, clothing styles,' she wrote.

'With the years come experience, wisdom and feeling more comfortable in your own skin. Well, the grey hair, wrinkles and interrupted sleep have to count for something!

Samantha Armytage has given an insight into how her health and life has changed as has gotten older as she discussed her big career change

'I've loved and lost, I've laughed and cried, and I've laughed until I've cried, which occasionally as a woman gets older means that a little bit of wee comes out (see above, re: pelvic floor).'

Samantha also confessed she has both become 'stronger' and more 'vulnerable' with age and admitted it was daunting starting a new job after 21 years.

In her new position at Nine, she will also become a 'fill in' presenter on Today while regular hosts Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo go on leave over the summer.

Once the host of Seven's rival breakfast show Sunrise, Sam will be co-hosting with Weekend Today star Clint Stanaway, according to The Daily Telegraph.

The journalist will 'wake up with Today' for a week and a half, putting her eight years anchor experience at Sunrise from 2013 until 2021 to good use in the rival hot seat.

Samantha recently opened up about her shock move from Seven to Nine on the Kyle and Jackie O Show, revealing her new employers have been 'very welcoming'.

The TV veteran reflected on leaving Channel Seven after 21 years at the age of 48 to move to Nine, where she will host host The Golden Bachelor Australia and fill-in on the Today Show

Shock jock host Kyle Sandilands kicked off the interview with a very direct question: 'What was that like when you cheated [on Seven]? Was it hard to cheat?'

As Sam laughed off the comment, Kyle, 53, added: 'Did Channel Nine take you out and romance you with the dinners and the limousines?'

The TV personality smoothly side-stepped the question and responded: 'Channel Nine, they have been very welcoming. Very welcoming indeed.

'It's been a really nice move for me and a very good fresh start at this age.'

'We're all getting older... As you get older, you're looking for something different. You want to have a fresh start at this point in life,' she added.
Annie Knight has unveiled her latest career venture after touching back down in her native Australia.

The sex worker, better known as 'Australia's Most Sexually Active Woman', took to her Instagram Stories on Monday to advertise her very own branded male sex toy.

'This is exactly what you think it is...' she captioned a scantily-clad mirror selfie. 'If you missed your chance on being part of the 600, you still have the opportunity to feel me.'

It comes days after Annie claimed she's reached her goal of sleeping with 600 men in a calendar year and broke her silence on being 'deported' from Fiji over filming X-rated content with fellow OnlyFans star Bonnie Blue during Schoolies Week.

The 26-year-old is the face of - or rather the body of - a sex toy used to replicate a vagina which has been modelled after her own likeness.

'I feel like it was natural next step for me,' Annie told Daily Mail Australia.

The sex worker, better known as 'Australia's Most Sexually Active Woman', took her Instagram Stories on Monday to advertise her very own branded male sex toy

Per the toy company's advertisement, the 'Dream Girl' flesh light is 'crafted with stunning, lifelike details replicated directly from Annie herself.'

Per the toy company's advertisement, the Dream Girl flesh light is 'crafted with stunning, lifelike details replicated directly from Annie herself.'

'My fans have been asking for something like this for so long. So when [sex toy company] Lightning Star reached out to me, I thought, "This is perfect."

'I don't know where to start producing something like that. So it was immediately a yes. It's perfect for the subscribers or the fans that can't be with me in person.'

The sex toy company does not appear to have launched an official website, but created an Instagram account in August that is based in Australia.

The account has a little over one thousand followers and features half a dozen promotional posts from a content creation shoot with Annie and a handful of other sex workers.

The personalised Dream Girl toy will go on sale from December 1st.

On Sunday, Annie and Bonnie uploaded a new video to their respective Instagram accounts teasing their next move after leaving Schoolies in Fiji after just two days amid a firestorm of controversy.

'OK Karens,' Bonnie begins in the video. 'So you thought I wasn't going to be bonking your sons, but I'm going to be doing exactly that this week. Aren't we?'

Sex workers Bonnie Blue and Annie Knight left Fiji last week but Annie has confirmed her schoolies OnlyFans venture isn't over

Annie Knight, pictured arriving back in Melbourne, confirmed to Daily Mail that she will be in Surfer's Paradise for schoolies this week

'We have big plans for your sons don't worry,' Annie replied in the pre-recorded clip which the duo appears to have filmed in Fiji.

'I'm glad to be back in Australia,' Annie told Daily Mail on Monday.

'I'm heading to Schoolies in Surfer's Paradise.'

She confirmed she'll be 'busy' for the 'rest of November and December,' but then plans to take a Christmas break in Melbourne with family and friends.

Annie and Bonnie had jetted out to Fiji to film X-rated content with 18-year-old boys celebrating Schoolies - the Aussie week-long holiday after students' final exams.

Last Tuesday, Fiji's Home Affairs and Immigration Minister Pio Tikoduadua said Bonnie had been declared a prohibited immigrant and would be deported as soon as possible.

'I have exercised my authority under the Immigration Act to declare Tia Billinger, the United Kingdom national known by her screen name, Bonnie Blue, a prohibited immigrant,' Mr Tikoduadua said in a press conference.

The duo arrived in Fiji on November 17 on visitor permits. Bonnie recently had her visa to Australia cancelled over plans to film adult content on the Gold Coast.

Fiji's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Viliame Gavoka released a statement earlier on Tuesday saying the government was urgently looking into the matter at it could be 'harmful for Fiji as a tourist destination'.
It was a picture-perfect day at Chateau Du Soleil wedding venue in Byron Bay. The kind of setting that dreams - and Instagram posts - are made of.

The bride, Tammy Hembrow, looked radiant in her strapless ivory and blush pink gown, her tulle train catching the soft breeze. Guests gathered in elegant clusters sipping champagne as she exchanged vows with Love Island star Matt Zukowski, who wore black tailored suit, matching his four groomsmen.

But not everyone was entranced solely by the bride.

Like a blue comet streaking across a pastel sky, Anna McEvoy - the female best friend of the groom - made her show-stopping entrance in a daring navy dress.

With its plunging neckline and thigh-high split, the slinky number seemed designed to demand attention. And attention it garnered. The 32-year-old's outfit, paired with striking gold heels and a cream handbag, showcased her gym-honed physique to perfection and oozed sex appeal.

Heads turned. Some no doubt admired her boldness - after all, Hembrow and Zukowski's wedding was the influencer event of the year. But was McEvoy's outfit a calculated breach of the unspoken rule 'never upstage the bride'?

Anna McEvoy (left) was accused of upstaging Tammy Hembrow at her wedding to Matt Zukowski in Byron Bay on Saturday. Some online sleuths suspect it was 'payback' for Hembrow wearing skimpy bridal-white attire to McEvoy's wedding in Greece back in May (right)

With its plunging neckline and thigh-high split, the slinky number seemed designed to demand attention. And attention it garnered

Was McEvoy's outfit a calculated breach of the unspoken rule 'never upstage the bride'?

She would never admit it - but the gossiping guests couldn't eliminate the possibility.

Regardless of what her intentions were, McEvoy's sartorial choice ensured that the narrative wasn't entirely the bride's alone.

Now, as the dust settles on the fairytale wedding, social media sleuths are convinced they've worked out the real backstory behind the blue dress.

They believe McEvoy - who co-hosts the Where's Your Head At? podcast with Zukowski - wore the revealing outfit as 'payback' after Hembrow wore numerous bridal-white dresses to her wedding celebrations in Greece back in May.

That would, of course, be breaking the second unspoken rule of wedding attire: only the bride gets to wear white.

'Tammy did it to her at her wedding. Payback time,' one Instagram sleuth wrote in response to Daily Mail Australia's exclusive photos.

Others suggested the pair's choice of attire for each other's nuptials spoke volumes about how Hembrow and McEvoy allegedly feel about one another.

And one influencer-watcher noted that McEvoy was absent from the joint hens and bucks party - which was odd given her closeness to the groom.

Like a blue comet streaking across a pastel sky, McEvoy - the female best friend of the groom - made her show-stopping entrance in a daring navy dress on Saturday afternoon

Regardless of what her intentions were, McEvoy's sartorial choice ensured that the narrative wasn't entirely the bride's alone

Regardless of what her intentions were, McEvoy's sartorial choice ensured that the narrative wasn't entirely the bride's alone. (Hembrow and Zukowski are pictured exchanging vows)

'There was a reason she WASN'T invited,' they sniped.

Feud or no feud, McEvoy looked to be having the time of her life at the wedding, and it seemed whatever disagreement led to her being snubbed from the bucks-and-hens night last month had been smoothed over.

Back in May, it was McEvoy's turn to say 'I do' with her long-term partner Michael Staples. The couple tied the knot in Greece and the occasion was just as lavish as Hembrow and Zukowski's wedding.

But it wouldn't be a celebrity wedding without a little drama, and that arrived courtesy of none other than... a newly engaged Hembrow and Zukowski.

The couple was accused of overshadowing McEvoy and Staples' special day with their loved-up holiday spam - which began the moment they touched down in Corfu.

It was immediately picked up by the hosts of Outspoken, a wildly popular podcast that documents influencer drama.

A newly engaged Hembrow and Zukowski were accused of overshadowing McEvoy's wedding to Michael Staples' with their loved-up holiday spam - which began the moment they touched down in Corfu (the two couples are pictured here in Greece)

One photo from Hembrow and Zukowski's Instagram spree showed them kissing in matching white outfits next to a cosy-looking McEvoy and Staples. 'It felt like a bit "me, me, me." Like, "We're getting married next, this is all about us,"' remarked the hosts of Outspoken the podcast

'I was wondering how Anna felt about having to invite Tammy because she has been posting a lot of content while she's been in Corfu. Almost overshadowing it.'

One photo from Hembrow and Zukowski's Instagram spree showed them kissing in matching white outfits next to a cosy-looking McEvoy and Staples.

One of the Outspoken hosts remarked: 'It kind of felt like a bit "me, me, me." Like, "We're getting married next, this is all about us,"' they said.

With McEvoy's blue dress stealing the spotlight over the weekend, perhaps the two ladies can now call it a draw and let bygones by bygones?

I wouldn't bet on it.
Jay Leno was back in Burbank, California, the city where he hosted The Tonight Show for more than two decades, as he attended a comedy show Sunday.

The 74-year-old star continued to sport notable injuries about two weeks after he says he fell down a hill after performing at Greenhouse, Pennsylvania's Palace Theatre November 15.

Leno, who hosted NBC's The Tonight Show from 1992 until 2014, continued to show deep bruising on the left side of his face following the accident, in which he says he fell 60 feet.

The comedy icon was clad in a navy blue jacket over a light blue button-up top with blue jeans and black shoes.

Leno was seen headed to his vehicle in a parking garage on the chilly afternoon in Southern California.

Leno taped The Tonight Show from the Burbank studios where NBC was formerly based out of until Jimmy Fallon took over the show in 2014, as the show returned to New York City after four decades.

Jay Leno, 74, was back in Burbank, California, the city where he hosted The Tonight Show for more than two decades, as he attended a comedy show Sunday. He continued to sport notable injuries about two weeks after he fell down a hill after performing in Pennsylvania November 15

Leno has been seen in public on multiple occasions in the weeks since the accident, as he was pictured at the Burbank In-N-Out Burger Thursday.

This past Friday, Leno hosted an amfAR benefit at the Wynn Las Vegas, saying on the red carpet that he was 'feeling good' amid his recovery from the accidental fall, adding, 'I've got a broken wrist, but I'm all right.'

Leno told TMZ last week that he suffered the injury while he was seeking to take a shortcut to a restaurant that was inconveniently located at the bottom of a hill.

The classic car enthusiast said that he 'didn't have a car' at the time, and wanted to avoid 'a mile-and-a-half' walk to the eatery.

'I said, "Well, the hill doesn't look that steep - it's about 60-70 feet - let me see if I can go down the hill."'

Leno said at that point, he fell down: 'Boom, boom, boom - I rolled down the hill, hit my head on a rock, knocked me in the eye.'

Leno remained a trooper in the wake of the accident, making his show the following day at Highland, California's Yaamava Theater.

Leno has famously only lived on the money he makes from his standup work, as he says he's never spent a cent of the cash he made working on The Tonight Show.

The star continued to sport notable injuries about two weeks after his fall

Leno was seen headed to his vehicle in a parking garage on the chilly afternoon in Southern California

Leno has famously only lived on the money he makes from his standup work, as he says he's never spent a cent of the cash he made working on The Tonight Show

He told CNBC in 2016 that he 'always had two incomes' in his professional endeavors, tracing back to his time working at a car dealership before his breakout in show business.

'I'd bank one, and I'd spend one,' he said. 'When I was younger, I would always save the money I made working at the car dealership, and I would spend the money I made as a comedian.

'When I started to get a bit famous, the money I was making as a comedian was way more than the money I was making at the car dealership, so I would bank that and spend the car dealership money.'

Leno said that he continued the same tack when he took over for Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show, a job in which he made $30 million annually at one point.

'When I got The Tonight Show, I always made sure I did 150 gigs a year so I never had to touch the principal,' Leno said. 'I've never touched a dime of my Tonight Show money - ever.'

He explained of his mentality: 'I put my money in a hammock and say, "You relax. I'm going to go work." And when I come back, I put some more money in the pile.'
Paul Hogan is said to be 'worried sick' about his son Chance Hogan as concerning photos continue to emerge of his youngest child.

The 26-year-old was recently spotted looking dishevelled as he loitered in a back alley close to his Crocodile Dundee star father's lavish Venice Beach home.

Chance's online behaviour is also becoming more erratic.

He recently shared a bizarre video of himself ominously claiming something is about to 'begin' as he bared his inflamed gums to the camera.

According to New Idea, family friend's say Paul, 85, has become 'stressed' about his son's lifestyle.

'Paul is at a crossroads over how to handle all this. One option would be to move back to Australia, but Chance doesn't want to leave America,' the source said

Paul Hogan, 85, is said to be ' worried sick' about his son Chance Hogan, 26, as concerning photos continue to emerge of his youngest child. Pictured together in 2019

In disturbing Instagram posts from October last year, Chance shared footage of himself in a car with his friends as they smoked, before debuting a large cut on his collarbone

'So they're stuck in limbo, which is so hard on Paul and very hard for his friends to sit back and watch.'

They went on to say Paul's advancing age has 'slowed' him down and made him more 'frail' in recent years, making it more difficult to manage Chance.

'It's high time this kid got his act together and stopped stressing out his dad. Paul really deserves that... after all the love and support he's shown,' they said.

But the insider claimed that Chance is 'his own worst enemy'.

The report comes just a day after Daily Mail Australia shared shocking images of Chance looking dishevelled in a back alley, taken on November 14.

He appeared to be aimlessly pacing up and down the street before approaching a blacked-out vehicle near the home where he is believed to live with his father.

While Daily Mail Australia does not suggest any illegal activity occurred, the pictures will no doubt cause more worry for his dad after a string of troublesome sightings.

Chance, who Paul shares with ex-wife and former co-star Linda Kozlowski, raised concerns again in September when he shared a worrisome video to social media.

He posted disturbing footage to Instagram, ominously claiming something is about to 'begin'.

Chance looked unrecognisable with long brunette locks and blue sunglasses with a cigarette between his stained teeth while his gums appeared to be inflamed.

In the videos, he smiled and revealed several other cuts across his forehead as well as bruises around his eye, but did not reveal the cause of the mystery injuries

As his online behaviour also grows erratic, insiders have claimed Paul has become 'stressed' about his son's lifestyle, reported New Idea on Monday. Chance pictured in September

'It's only just begun,' Chance said in his first video as he gave the camera an exaggerated smile.

He then uploaded a series of selfies on a balcony at an apartment in Los Angeles while he listened to music.

One photo showed him holding a beer as an ashtray filled with dozens of smoked cigarette sat in front of him.

Chance's second video was the most concerning as he appeared to share a countdown to an unknown event with followers.

'One hour and 25 minutes, 24 minutes now in fact. That's when it commences. Let's see,' he said.

It is unclear what is meant to be 'beginning' and Chance has not posted to Instagram in the hours following the last video.

Before that, Chance was spotted in March during a rare outing with Paul in Los Angeles, just months after he was hospitalised in October 2023.

Paul told DailyMail.com during their outing that his youngest son was 'doing a lot better' following an emergency trip to the hospital.

Paul shares Chance, his youngest child, with with ex-wife and former co-star Linda Kozlowski. All pictured

Paul famously met Chance's mother Linda Kozlowski (right) while filming Crocodile Dundee in 1986, but effectively raised him as a single father after his marriage breakdown in 2013

Chance once looked set to break into the world of fame himself, becoming the enigmatic frontman of a punk band named Rowdy P (he is pictured here in 2018)

Paul made millions off the box-office hits Crocodile Dundee (1986) and Crocodile Dundee II (1988). He is pictured as his iconic hero Mick 'Crocodile' Dundee

Just months earlier, Chance had shared a concerning video to Instagram of himself covered in cuts and bruises.

Paul shares sons Brett, Clay, Scott and Todd, as well as daughter Lauren with his ex-wife of 25 years Noelene Edwards, who he divorced in 1986.

In 1990, he married his Crocodile Dundee co-star Linda Kozlowski who he shares Chance with.

The couple divorced in October 2013.
Ali Clarke has announced her shock departure from her Mix FM breakfast show.

The Adelaide radio star, who co-hosts Max & Ali in the Morning with Max Burford, shared the news with listeners on Monday morning.

'This will be my last week on air with Mix 102.3 doing brekky,' she began.

'It's really hard to say now and probably even harder to accept it as well but I was offered the opportunity to continue on and it's really hard to say no to something like that because I love this.'

'I love nothing more than connecting with people and I love radio so much, and I understand the privilege it is to be invited in to someone's home or their car or their lives.'

Ali explained this year has 'given her a new perspective' after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in July.

Ali Clarke has announced her shock departure from her Mix FM breakfast show. Pictured Ali and Max Burford

'I'll miss our listeners terribly and can't thank them enough for their support of not just me, but my family,' she continued.

'Man I love radio and will miss this incredibly hardworking local team, but I know they'll keep bringing the laughs and will go from strength to strength.'

Ali returned to work in August less than one month after announcing a heartbreaking breast cancer diagnosis live on air.

She made a surprise return to discuss her recovery on air before revealing she would be back at work just a few days later.

'Well what do you reckon now that you are starting to go stir crazy, are you feeling you want to come back to work?' Max asked.

'Tomorrow morning at 6am I will be back on the air,' Ali revealed, much to the delight of Max and her fill-in Hayley Pearson.

Ali admitted she was excited to return to work as she was running out of things to do in her downtime.

She shocked listeners in July when she announced she will take a break from radio as she underwent treatment for breast cancer.

The Adelaide radio star, who co-hosts Max & Ali in the Morning with Max Burford, shared the news with listeners on Monday morning

Ali's announcement that she's leaving the show comes after three of Nine's biggest breakfast radio stars have been fired, just days after Daily Mail Australia revealed bosses at the embattled network were sharpening their knives.

Brisbane's 4BC announced in September it is axing Laurel Edwards, Gary Clare and Mark Hine from the coveted breakfast timeslot.

KIIS FM star Mitch Churi has also reportedly been given marching orders.

He will finish up at the end of the year, the Daily Telegraph claimed last week.

He has hosted The Night Show with Mitch Churi since 2019, and co-hosts The Pick Up with Brittany Hockley and Laura Byrne.

The decision was made for 'financial reasons' the paper claims, and Mitch, who has not been on the air since Thursday, was given the bad news on Tuesday.

'Mitch is shattered and completely blindsided,' the publication quoted a 'colleague' of the radio star as saying.
Jermaine Jenas has made a grovelling public apology to his wife Ellie Penfold after his sexting scandal as she celebrated starting a new business.

The former Tottenham Hotspur and England midfielder, 41, was dismissed in August after sending explicit texts to two female employees at the broadcaster, where he worked on Match Of The Day and The One Show.

Last week, Ellie appeared at a London venue for the launch of her new business venture, Preppy Skin, a grooming brand aimed exclusively at the under-16s - and Jermaine took to Instagram to congratulate her.

But in his gushing post was accountability, as he hailed his wife for managing to launch her business despite the 'bullsh** he dragged her through'.

He wrote: 'Couldnt be more proud of this woman, 3 years ago you had a great idea and this week you got to make that idea a reality.

Jermaine Jenas has made a grovelling public apology to his wife Ellie Penfold after his sexting scandal as she celebrated starting a new business

The former Tottenham Hotspur and England midfielder, 41, was dismissed in August after sending explicit texts to two female employees at the broadcaster, where he worked on Match Of The Day and The One Show

'Starting a brand is hard enough, but working hard and being committed to getting it done even with all the BULLS**T I've dragged you through recently should be enough evidence that youll make it a success.

'Go visit @preppyskin I promise your kids will love what Ellies worked so hard at for the last few years.'

Jermaine recently revealed his wife, Ellie - with whom he shares three young children - was 'absolutely raging' after finding out about the messages and had kicked him out of the bedroom they share at their 1million family home.

He confessed to lying to her during a family holiday in which he snuck off to have a Zoom call with BBC bosses over his inappropriate messages.

has largely remained silent on social media about the situation, but appeared in public on Tuesday without her wedding ring, sparking speculation about the status of the couple's 13-year marriage.

Addressing the scandal, Ellie admitted the past few months had been 'incredibly hard' for her and her family.

She added her 'only focus has been on our children' and was keen 'to move forward' as she begins her new business venture.

Ellie told the Sun at the Battersea launch event on Tuesday: 'Naturally this has been hard for me but my only concern has been our children and that will not change.'

Last week, Ellie appeared at a London venue for the launch of her new business venture, Preppy Skin, a grooming brand aimed exclusively at the under-16s

He wrote: 'Couldnt be more proud of this woman, 3 years ago you had a great idea and this week you got to make that idea a reality'

In his gushing post was accountability, as he hailed his wife for managing to launch her business despite the 'bullsh** he dragged her through' (Pictured in July)

'Now I just want to move forward.'

Ellie and Jermaine have been married for 13 years, having tied the knot in 2011.

They live in a 1million house in Hertfordshire and together they have two daughters, Geneva and Olivia, plus baby son Jacob.

Jermaine also has an older daughter Sancha, 16, from a previous relationship who lives in the United States with her mother.

He was let go by the Beeb after women complained about his workplace conduct and a junior member of staff - said to have been previously impressed by the star - raised concerns over alleged flirty texts.

The corporation acted 'swiftly and decisively' because 'the BBC cannot be seen to be slow to take action', a source claimed.

Jermaine revealed his wife, Ellie - with whom he shares three young children - was 'absolutely raging' after finding out about the messages and had kicked him out of the bedroom

The married star insisted he did nothing illegal and the messages were between consenting adults, one of whom he said made clear she was interested. He denied ever sending indecent images or videos.

In a lengthy interview with the Sun following his sacking, the presenter revealed how he and Ellie had been holidaying in Marbella, Spain, with their children when the BBC contacted him.

He then came clean to his wife that he had been fired because she was expecting him to go to work on The One Show on Monday.

'I just said, "I've been sacked from the BBC". She said, "What for?", and I said, "For sending text messages that weren't appropriate to two girls".'
Hugh Grant cut a dapper figure as he was joined by his stunning wife Anna Eberstein at the Heretic premiere at Berlin's Astor Film Lounge on Sunday.

The actor, 64, who plays lead Mr Reed in the horror flick, was snapped with the Swedish TV producer, 41, as they made a stylish entrance to the premiere.

For the outing he wore a black velvet blazer layered over a crisp white shirt and black trousers.

Meanwhile Anna, who was born and raised in Sweden but relocated in London after marrying Hugh in 2018, rocked a black and white tweed dress.

Her garment, which featured large gold buttons down the center, was paired with black tights and sensible black heels.

To accessorise, she kept it simple with a simple black satin clutch and a chunky black bracelet.

Hugh Grant cut a dapper figure as he was joined by his stunning wife Anna Eberstein at the Heretic premiere at Berlin's Astor Film Lounge on Sunday

The actor, 64, who plays lead Mr Reed in the horror flick, was snapped with the Swedish TV producer, 41, as they made a stylish entrance to the premiere

Hugh plays Mr Reed - a man who kidnaps a pair of young, female Mormon missionaries, before subjecting them to a terrifying series of tests and games.

Titled Heretic, the movie - which was released on November 1 in the UK - is written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, the writers behind John Krasinskis 2018 post-apocalyptic horror A Quiet Place. The film was screened at the AFI Fest in California last month after its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September.

The screening at the time created a buzz from reviewers as it scored a whopping 93 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes before its cinematic release.

The lovebirds shares son John Mungo, born in 2012, a daughter, born in 2015 and another daughter born in 2018 - although the names of the two daughters have not been made public.

His outing comes after the actor has revealed he was 'crammed into' the upcoming Bridget Jones film, after his character was seemingly killed off.

During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show earlier this month, Hugh spoke about his new horror movie Heretic, and discussed his parents' views of his acting career.

When discussing his role in the fourth Bridget Jones movie, titled Mad About The Boy, he said: 'It is a good and moving script  it is extremely funny but very sad.'

For the outing he wore a black velvet blazer layered over a crisp white shirt and black trousers

Meanwhile Anna, who was born and raised in Sweden but relocated in London after marrying Hugh in 2018, rocked a black and white tweed dress

Her garment, which featured large gold buttons down the center, was paired with black tights and sensible black heels

Her garment, which featured large gold buttons down the center, was paired with black tights and sensible black heels

He added: 'There was no obvious role for me, but I was crammed in. So we didnt have a 60-year-old Daniel Clever wandering around looking at young girls I made up a good interim story for him.'

During the show, he also discussed his parents' views of his acting career and admitted they were 'not at all supportive' in the beginning.

He revealed: 'They were not at all supportive. My mother was a churchgoer and wanted me to be the Archbishop of Canterbury! In their world showbusiness meant nothing.'

'I remember when Four Weddings and a Funeral came out my mother went to a dinner party with likeminded people and when asked about her two sons she said "One is an investment banker and the other is a film star."'

He added: 'Another guest said, "How very interesting, which bank?" Thats the world I grew up in.'

The actor is best known for starring in romcoms such as Notting Hill, Love Actually, and Four Weddings and a Funeral.

However, with his new spine-chilling psychological horror movie, he will be reinventing himself from Hollywood heartthrob to 'slimy villain'.

Titled Heretic, the movie - set to be released on November 15 - is written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, the writers behind John Krasinskis 2018 post-apocalyptic horror A Quiet Place.

Dubbed his creepiest role to date, the British actor plays a man who kidnaps a pair of young, female Mormon missionaries, before subjecting them to a terrifying series of tests and games.

While discussing his new movie, Hugh said: 'I decided to play him as a trendy academic.'

'The film goes darker and darker so I thought everything that is creepy would be doubly creepy if I made jokes at the same time.'

He added: 'I didnt want him to be the moustache twirling baddie, so I prepared by reading a lot about serial killers and cult leaders and even borrowed their look.'

His appearance on the show comes after he revealed that he only agreed to take part in the fourth Bridget Jones movie after rewriting his part.

The actor played love rat Daniel Cleaver in the first two films of the franchise, starring opposite Renee Zellweger as the clumsy and hapless romantic Bridget Jones, and Colin Firth as buttoned-up lawyer Mark Darcy.

However, he did not reprise his role in the last film, 2016's Bridget Jones's Baby, where his character appeared to be killed off, and Bridget became pregnant.

The movie instead saw billionaire US love guru Jack Qwant, played by Patrick Dempsey, compete for Bridget against Mark.

Hugh told Vanity Fair: 'I really couldn't fit my character in - he just didn't belong, so I stepped aside.'

Revealing that he 'loved the script' for the latest instalment, he admitted 'it made me cry,' but again, there was no space for his character.

Viewers have hailed Hugh's new movie Heretic as 'one of the best films of the year' as the psychological thriller scores an incredible rating of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes

Dubbed his creepiest role to date, the British actor, 64, plays Mr Reed, a man who kidnaps a pair of young, female Mormon missionaries, before subjecting them to a terrifying series of tests and games

His outing comes after the actor has revealed he was 'crammed into' the upcoming Bridget Jones film, after his character was seemingly killed off

The actor is set to reprise his role as Daniel Cleaver in the upcoming fourth film, despite his character being seemingly killed off in the the 2016 film Bridget Jones' Baby

During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show earlier this month, Hugh spoke about his new horror movie Heretic and discussed his parents' views of his acting career

When discussing his role in the fourth Bridget Jones movie, he said: 'It is a good and moving script  it is extremely funny but very sad. There was no obvious role for me, but I was crammed in'

Due to the strength of author Helen Fielding's work Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, which sees Bridget as a widow in her 50s with two children following Mark's death some years earlier - and him writing some scenes - he decided to return.

Hugh explained: 'It's absolutely the best (book) and I think it's very funny and very, very moving. I'm not in a lot, I did a week's work, that's it... But when you see the film, you'll be very moved.'

Production company, Working Title, confirmed last month that the movie will hit cinemas on Valentine's Day next year and said that filming had finally wrapped.
Steve Vizard has debuted a surprising new look.

The comedy icon, 68, has recently published his first children's book, Here Comes Grandpa, which may be a slight nod to his new stage in life.

Whereas once Steve graced the screen with his dark hair and suit and tie on shows such as Tonight Live, he now embraces the grey.

The 'silver fox' version of the Fast Forward star was all smiles as he appeared on The Project recently.

In an adorable behind-the-scenes picture, host of the Channel Ten panel show Sarah Harris shared a selfie with the Aussie comedy legend.

Harris, Waleed Aly, Liz Ellis and Sam Taunton looked happy to be joining the veteran TV personality in the image.

Steve Vizard has debuted a surprising new look. Pictured in th 90s

Where once Steve graced the screen with his dark hair and suit and tie on shows such as Tonight Live, he now embraces the grey. The 'silver fox' version of the Fast Forward star was all smiles as he appeared on The Project recently. Pictured with left-to-right Waleed Aly, Sam Taunton, Liz Ellis, Sarah Harris

It comes as Steve recently revealed he was forced to flee Kerry Packer's Sydney mansion after the billionaire broadcaster tried to lure him to Channel Nine.

Vizard had been at the height of his powers, juggling writing, producing and starring in hit comedy sketch show Fast Forward along with hosting his own high-rating talk show, Tonight Live with Steve Vizard, when he got a call from the late media proprietor.

'Halfway through 1990 I got a call from Kerry Packer saying come up to Sydney,' Vizard told the Herald Sun's Fiona Byrne.

After being flown to the harbour city, Vizard was met by a chauffeur at the airport and taken to Packer's sprawling Bellevue Hill palace in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

'I was thinking it would be a business meeting and when I walked in there was Kerry in a pair of shorts and he said, "Do you want to come and watch TV?"

'We go into his den and he put his feet up on the coffee table, told the butler to bring in some sandwiches and we sat there drinking orange juice, watching and talking about tele.'

Vizard said it took Packer about three hours before he finally cut to the chase and told the comedian why he was there.

'He wanted me to come over to Channel Nine,' he told the Herald Sun.

It comes as Steve recently revealed he was forced to flee Kerry Packer's Sydney mansion after the billionaire broadcaster tried to lure him to Channel 9

'It got to about 5pm and I am thinking, "How am I going to get out of this? I don't know where I am in Bellevue Hill, I don't even know where the front door is."

'I was literally there for eight hours before I made my escape.

'I found him incredibly amiable and very persuasive. He was incredibly charming and forceful too.'

Despite the entreaty, Vizard decided to stick it out with Seven before retiring from on-air roles altogether just three years later, explaining he wanted to spend more time with his family.

'You get one chance with that stuff,' he told the Herald Sun.

'I was prepared to do the show three nights a week, but the network wanted four so we just stopped.'
Paul McCartney led the stars at the premiere of the Beatles '64 documentary at Hudson Square Theater in New York City on Sunday.

The former bassist of the iconic band, 82, was joined by his wife Nancy Shevell, 65, on the red carpet for the premiere of the new film about The Beatles.

For the special occasion, the musician donned a mixed-material jacket with grey tweed and light-wash denim details along the cuffs, collar and buttons down the center.

Later, McCartney  who has been traveling the world and performing as part of his ongoing Got Back world tour  posed for a photo with his wife as well as the executive producer of the documentary, famed filmmaker Martin Scorsese, 82.

McCartney looked effortlessly stylish in a light blue button-down, dark-wash jeans and black, suede sneakers for the premiere.

At his side, the entrepreneur put on a chic display in an all-black outfit featuring a long, lace cardigan.

Paul McCartney led the stars at the premiere of Beatles '64 in New York City on Sunday. The former bassist of the iconic band, 82, was joined by his wife Nancy Shevell, 65, on the red carpet for the premiere of the new documentary about The Beatles

Meanwhile, Scorsese looked dapper in a navy blue suit, which he paired with a matching button-down shirt and contrasting scarlet red, polkadot tie.

The legendary filmmaker also brought along his daughter, Francesca Scorsese, 25.

She sported a button-down shirt dress with the imagery of The Beatles' iconic Abbey Road album cover.

The actress completed her look with sheer tights and knee-high, black boots.

In one photo, she stood in the middle between McCartney and her father for a group red carpet snap.

Later, inside of the venue, McCartney posed for a photo with Steven Van Zandt and Chris Rock.

Van Zandt, 74, donned a black, velvet coat over a purple, patterned button-down.

The musician, who plays the guitar and madolin in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, also coordinated with a violet bandana and tinted sunglasses.

They were also joined by filmmaker Martin Scorsese, 82. He looked dapper in a navy blue suit, which he paired with a matching button-down shirt and contrasting scarlet red, polkadot tie

The filmmaker also brought along his daughter, Francesca Scorsese, 25. She sported a button-down shirt dress with the imagery of The Beatles' iconic Abbey Road album cover

McCartney and Scorsese also posed for a photo alongside the documentary's director David Tedeschi on the red carpet

Later, inside of the venue, McCartney posed for a photo with Steven Van Zandt and Chris Rock

When Rock was arriving at the premiere, he put on a cozy and casual display in a navy blue Moncler puffer jacket as he entered the venue, walking and talking on the phone.

He donned a brown, knit sweater teamed with black jeans and white sneakers.

The comedian accessorized with black frame glasses and a silver cross bracelet.

Arriving around the same time as the Everybody Hates Chris creator were Amy Schumer, 43, and Bravo head honcho Andy Cohen, 56.

For the special occasion, Schumer put on a stylish display in an olive-green rain coat, which she layered over a dark gray top and medium-wash jeans.

The stand-up comedian also sported camel brown Chelsea boots and pushed back her blonde hair with an orange, patterned bandana.

Cohen was also seen arriving around the same time with a coffee cup in tow.

The Real Housewives executive producer donned a taupe-colored knit sweater, which he paired with a navy blazer and a deep blue bandana around his neck.

He completed his look with straight-leg jeans and all-white sneakers.

While arriving at the Hudson Square Theatre, Rock, 59, looked effortlessly stylish in a cozy, navy blue Moncler puffer jacket as he walked and talked on the phone

He donned a brown, knit sweater teamed with black jeans and white sneakers

For the special occasion, Schumer put on a stylish display in an olive-green rain coat, which she layered over a dark gray top and medium-wash jeans

She pushed back her blonde hair with an orange, patterned bandana

Andy Cohen was also seen arriving around the same time with a coffee cup in tow

The Real Housewives executive producer donned a taupe-colored knit sweater, which he paired with a navy blazer and a deep blue bandana around his neck

The upcoming documentary series captures The Beatles' 1964 United States debut amid fan frenzy and their unprecedented rise to global fame  often referred to as Beatlemania; (L-R) Ringo Starr, John Lennon, McCartney and George Harrison pictured in 1965

Beatles '64 premieres on November 29 and will be available to stream on Disney+ on Thanksgiving weekend

The stars were all in attendance for the premiere of Beatles '64.

The upcoming documentary series captures The Beatles' 1964 United States debut amid fan frenzy and their unprecedented rise to global fame  often referred to as Beatlemania.

The film features new interviews with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr as well as archival interviews from their late band members John Lennon and George Harrison.

Beatles '64 premieres on November 29 and will be available to stream on Disney+ on Thanksgiving weekend.
Tom Holland documented his casual Boston date night with girlfriend Zendaya in his latest Instagram Stories on Sunday.

The Spider-Man: Homecoming actor, 28, and the Euphoria star, 28, ventured out to the Foxhole bar where they sipped on his new non-alcoholic beer brand, Bero.

The English actor shared a number of clips and photos from the outing. In the first video he was seen walking with Zendaya following behind him.

'I'm heading out to a bar to go and have my first Bero in the wild,' he said, as Zendaya popped up behind him saying, 'whee!'

'I'll let you know how it goes,' Tom  who went sober in 2022  added.

The next clip was filmed by Zendaya and featured Tom sipping on his beer, as he called out, 'First one in the wild, baby!'

Tom Holland, 28, documented his casual Boston date night with girlfriend Zendaya, 28, in his latest Instagram Stories on Sunday

The Spider-Man: Homecoming actor and the Euphoria star ventured out to the Foxhole bar where they sipped on his new non-alcoholic beer brand, Bero

Meanwhile Zendaya  who was recently seen rocking a Bero hat  exclaimed 'Ooh!' before panning the camera to show the can of Bero.

Another snap saw the Challengers star sitting at a table with a glass of beer in front of her. Tom added three heart-eye emojis to the photo.

The Dune actress looked casually chic in a red top paired with a gold necklace, and her hair brushed back in a bun.

Tom also shared a picture of the bar's logo.

At present, Bero stocks three dynamic styles: Kingston Golden Pils, Edge Hill Hazy IPA, and Noon Wheat.

Holland launched Bero in October with glamorous Zendaya at his side, after he publicly announced his decision to stop drinking in January 2022.

He has been vocal about his journey to sobriety.

Last year, the actor appeared on Jay Shetty's podcast where he opened up about realizing how addicted he was to alcohol after partaking in a Dry January.

'I didn't one day wake up and say, "I'm giving up drinking.'' I just, like many Brits, had had a very, very boozy December, Christmas time, I was on vacation, I was drinking a lot,' Tom began, adding he has 'always been able to drink a lot.'

'I decided to just give up for January, I wanted to do just Dry January, and all I think about was taking a drink,' he continued.

'I'm heading out to a bar to go and have my first Bero in the wild,' he said, as Zendaya popped up behind him saying, 'whee!'

The next clip was filmed by Zendaya and featured Tom sipping on his beer, as he called out, 'First one in the wild, baby!'

Tom also shared a picture of the bar's logo

Holland launched Bero in October with glamorous Zendaya at his side (pictured) after he publicly announced his decision to stop drinking in January 2022

'It was all I could think about. I was waking up thinking about it, I was checking the clock, 'When's it 12?' And it just really scared me,' Holland continued.

'I was like, 'Wow, maybe I have a little bit of an alcohol thing,' so I sort of decided to just punish myself and say I'll do February as well, I'll do two months off.'

Tom contended that if he could 'do two months off then I could prove to myself that I don't have a problem.'

Two months had passed, but Tom said he was 'still really struggling, like I couldn't be social, I felt like I couldn't go to the pub and have a lime soda, I couldn't go out for dinner, I was really, really struggling and I stared to really worry that I had an alcohol problem.'

But Tom persevered and decided to go another three months until his birthday, June 1.

'I said to myself, if I can do six months without alcohol, then I can prove to myself that I don't have a problem,' Tom said.

'By the time I had got to June 1, I was the happiest I had ever been in my life.'

Tom recently confirmed that he will be returning as Spider-Man for the fourth film during an appearance on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

However he did not confirm if Zendaya will be reprising her role as MJ.

Recently he also excited fans of the movies after revealing that he and Zendaya have read an early draft of the script for the movie.

He said that both him and his girlfriend think the script is 'excellent,' although he admitted that 'it needs work.'

He and Zendaya went public with their relationship in 2021 but it is thought that they began dating as early as 2017; the duo seen in 2021

Tom recently confirmed that he will be returning as Spider-Man for the fourth film. However he did not confirm if Zendaya will be reprising her role as MJ; the two seen in a still

Holland teased: 'But the writers are doing a great job.'

'I read it three weeks ago and it really lit a fire in me,' he said about how he and his costar-turned-girlfriend Zendaya got their hands on an early draft of the script last month.

'Zendaya and I sat down and read it together and we at times were bouncing around the living room, like, this is a real movie worthy of the fans' respect.'

He and Zendaya went public with their relationship in 2021 but it is thought that they began dating as early as 2017.
Jamie Foxx enjoyed a night out with some of the Real Housewives of Atlanta cast in Miami.

The 56-year-old actor  who recently went horseback riding  joined Cynthia Bailey, Porsha Williams and Phaedra Parks, who were in the city for Bravo Fan Fest.

Taking to Instagram following their evening on the town, 43-year-old Porsha shared outtakes from the occasion.

Engaging her 7.7 million followers, she wrote in the caption, 'Baby a Time was had,' before namedropping the restaurant they patronized as she added, 'We turned Prime into karaoke hour.'

She added the hashtags, '#MiamiNights #GoodTimesGoodPeople.'

The footage showed a rowdy group singing at a table and playfully dancing the night away.

Jamie Foxx enjoyed a night out with some of the Real Housewives of Atlanta cast in Miami

The 56-year-old actor joined Cynthia Bailey, Porsha Williams and Phaedra Parks, who were in the city for Bravo Fan Fest

Foxx looked stylish in a black suit with big, pale, green palm trees printed throughout.

His hair was neatly cut, with the sides low and the top longer and the Hollywood veteran looked typically handsome with a trimmed up goatee.

One video showed Phaedra, 51, dancing in a tight red dress before he appeared and rubbed his hands together above her backside and joked, 'Thats warm right here.'

In another memorable moment, the collective sang Mariah Careys We Belong Together in unison.

Foxx recently revealed he has a new perspective on life after surviving a near-death 'medical complication' that put him in a 20-day coma and left him unable to walk.

Taking to Instagram last week, he shared a photo of himself riding a horse on a beach at sunset.

'The sunset looks different to me now. Got [to] ride it out,' he captioned the post to his 17 million followers.

The star has been promoting an upcoming Netflix special, which he describes as 'a thank you to everyone that sent up a prayer' during his health scare.

Foxx looked stylish in a black suit with big, pale, green palm trees printed throughout

Phaedra and Porsha posed upside-by-side in the flashy outfits they wore to Bravo Fan Fest

He said that it's 'also an answer to a lot of questions that [have been] been out there.'

At the time of his hospitalization in April 2023 he had been working on a film alongside Cameron Diaz.

The Django sensation shared a promotional poster of the film via social media days ago, writing, 'BACK IN ACTION premieres January 17, only on Netflix.'

Jamie said his heart and soul were 'filled with nothing but pure joy' after he 'had an opportunity to tell my side of the story' over the three nights in early October he filmed his special in Atlanta.

'I haven't been on stage in 18 years but I needed the stage and I needed an audience that was made up of nothing but pure love and that's what you were,' Foxx said days later on October 13.

'When people ask me is this a stand-up comedy show I say, "No, it's an artistic explanation of something that went terribly wrong,"' he noted.
Drake has confirmed he will be coming to Australia in 2025 for a tour which will run from February 9 through to March.

The US rapper, 38, sent fans wild when he announced the news during an Instagram live-stream with Canadian streamer XQC this week.

He said he was naming the tour the Anita Max Wynn Tour, which is the alter ego he introduced online last December, and so far had just three stops planned.

'February 9th for anybody that's watching from Australia, I'm coming back to Australia for the first time in eight years. Coming back to Australia on tour,' he said.

'Funny enough, it's actually called the Anita Max Wynn Tour,' Drake added, revealing that Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast were the only stops currently planned.

Anita Max Wynn is Drake's cartoon character alter ego who styles himself in a pink and yellow outfit with a bob haircut and glasses.

Drake, 38, (pictured) has confirmed he will be coming to Australia in 2025 for a tour which will run from February 9 through to March

He often uses the pseudonym and caricature as a gambling mascot, with Anita Max Wynn sounding like the popular gambling term 'I need a max win'.

It comes after Drake sent his Australian fans wild earlier this month when he dropped a massive hint that he would be announcing a Down Under tour soon.

The Canadian rapper took to Instagram with a picture of himself posing in front of the Sydney Opera House when he last toured the country in 2017.

He captioned the image with, 'It's been like 7 years,' alongside several eye emojis, teasing a potential upcoming music tour.

Live music website Whatslivelya platform known to accurately predict tour announcementssaid it was positive Drake would announce a tour 'imminently'.

'We're predicting these shows will take place early to mid 2025,' the website stated.

Months earlier, 104.7 Triple M Breakfast Show Roo, Ditts & Loz predicted Drake may be arriving in Adelaide this month.

The Hotline Bling hitmaker was rumoured to be coming to SA around the same time as the Vailo Adelaide 500 supercar event, which takes place from 14 to 17 November

The US rapper, 38, sent fans wild when he announced the news during an Instagram live-stream with Canadian streamer XQC (left) this week

'The hotel rooms are booked he has more rooms than a normal artist,' said Mark 'Roo' Ricciuto.

'I don't know if he is doing the Vailo but he is coming to Adelaide at the same time... it's coinciding at the same time,' he added.

'There's a lot of hotel rooms that have been booked so we're pretty sure it's happening,' said Roo's co-anchor, Chris 'Ditts' Dittmar.

While the radio stars didn't dish on the numbers of Drake's entourage, co-host Laura 'Loz' O'Callaghan teased that it was sizeable.

'He's got a lot of people coming. If those numbers are accurate, I'm very concerned,' she said.

However, it seems those predictions may have been slightly off, as Drake is not currently in Australia yet.
Lisa Hochstein could be moving on from divorce papers to an engagement ring in short order.

The Toronto-born reality star, 42, told US Weekly at Bravo Fan Fest Miami at Ice Palace Studios on Saturday that 'anything's possible' in her ongoing romance with businessman Jody Glidden.

Lisa, who recently finalized her divorce from ex-husband Lenny Hochstein, 58, said that she was 'not opposed' to the idea of exchanging vows with Glidden down the line.

In a possible hint to Glidden - who she has been been dating for two years - Lisa added, 'I think my left hand just feels a little empty.'

The Real Housewives of Miami star is mother to son Logan, eight, and daughter Elle, three, with Lenny, the plastic surgeon who she wed in 2009 and separated from in 2022.

Lisa told the outlet couldn't 'talk about' the terms of her split with Lenny, as People reported that he's paying her $15,000 a month in child support, quoting court docs finalized November 15.

Lisa Hochstein, 42, said that 'anything's possible' in her ongoing romance with businessman Jody Glidden, and that she's 'not opposed' to the idea of exchanging vows down the line. Pictured at Bravo Fan Fest Miami at Ice Palace Studios on Saturday

The outlet noted that Lisa had a prenuptial agreement in place prior to getting married 15 years ago, in which Lenny agreed to provide spousal support and 'all of the children's needs' with 'frequent time-sharing' of their kids.

Lisa also did not want to comment to US about Lenny and Katharina Mazepa ending their engagement two months ago.

'Those two are so irrelevant to me ... a waste of my time and my air and my voice,' she said.

Lisa had previously been publicly critical of the relationship, as she posted to social media last year, 'Congrats to my current husband and his mistress on their engagement.'

Lenny told People that 'nothing happened' romantically between him and Mazepa prior to him and Lisa mutually deciding to divorce.

He added, 'Lisa was aware of my plans before anything happened between Katharina and myself.'

In promoting the Bravo series, Lisa told US she was 'honored to be a part of this cast' of the Bravo series.

Her current costars include Guerdy Abraira, Kiki Barth, Adriana de Moura, Julia Lemigova, Alexia Nepola, Marysol Patton, Larsa Pippen and Stephanie Shojaee.

In a possible hint to Glidden, Lisa said, 'I think my left hand just feels a little empty.' Pictured in Miami in June

The Real Housewives of Miami star has been been dating the businessman for two years

'We have our ups-and-downs,' Lisa said. 'I think we're bringing it this year, although it's difficult  I hope we're here to stay for a long time.'

Lisa said she feels Miami, where the series is set, 'is the greatest city right now in the world.'

Lisa said she was 'counting down the days' until she gets a break from filming the show's seventh season, as recent endeavors have included a trip to Spain and a forthcoming cruise.

'I really miss my kids,' Lisa said. 'I'm so happy that next week, though, we have it off, so that's great for the holidays. I can't wait.'
Beyond the Valley is set to host Victoria's first pill testing trial.

The music festival, which takes place annually at Barunah Plains Homestead in Hesse, will take part in drug-checking trials after the State Government passed legislation last month allowing it.

Premier Jacinta Allan said that the procedure, which is confidential, anonymous and takes around 15 minutes, will 'save lives'.

However, police operations, which often include drug sniffer dogs, will continue at the four-day event, which will be held between December 28, 2024 and the Jan 1, 2025.

The move follows an increase in deadly drug overdoses in 2024.

It comes after news that top Australian DJ Fisher will lead a stellar lineup at this year's Beyond the Valley festival.

Beyond the Valley is set to host Victoria's first pill testing trial. Pictured: Mia Fevola and revellers at last year's Beyond The Valley

The music festival, which takes place annually at Barunah Plains Homestead in Hesse, will take part in drug-checking trials after the State Government passed legislation last month

The 37-year-old dance guru joins US hip hop 'drill' queen Ice Spice at the top of the bill for the four day event which kicks off on December 28 at Barunah Plains in Hesse, Victoria.

Organisers took to Instagram to announce the stars of this year's dance and pop music festival which will also include UK drum 'n' bass performers Chase & Status.

Gold Coast born ARIA award-winning DJ Fisher will also be sharing the stage with famed Brit pop veterans Sugababes.

Formed in 1998, the all-girl group are expected to wow fans with their classic hits like Run for Cover and Soul Sound.

Also featured at this year's ninth BTV festival is Berlin based rave-king DJ Marlon Hoffstadt, Sydney duo Royal Otis and R&B American pop star Tinashe.

UK Garage music star Sammy Virji will also be spinning the decks at the 2024 event alongside Brit dance pop 'These Words' hitmaker Natasha Bedingfield.

Also performing live will be Confidence Man, Teenage Dads, Neil Frances, and Lola Young.

Ghetts, The Rions, Barkaa, Kita Alexander, The Grogans, Billie Marten, The Terrys, and Sycco will also be hitting the stage during the popular event.

Top Australian DJ Fisher (pictured) will lead the stellar lineup at this year's Beyond the Valley festival which takes place at Barunah Plains in Hesse, Victoria in December

Likewise featured over the four day New Year's Eve rave will be electronica acts including HorsegiirL, KI/KI, DJ BORING, and SG Lewis.

Located west of Geelong, 126kms from Melbourne, the Beyond the Valley 2024 festival runs between December 28 and January 1.

Event organisers have also announced that single day tickets will be available for the festival with pre-sales beginning on August 28.

In a move bound to delight festival goers, fans will be able to check each day's lineup on the event website.

Meanwhile, Bluesfest called it quits after 35 years, marking the end of one of Australia's longest running music festivals.

The Byron Bay music festival announced on Wednesday that its four-day event starting April 17, 2025, will be its 'final curtain call'.

'Bluesfest Byron Bay, Australia's premier and most awarded music festival in Australia ever, proudly announces that the 2025 edition will be its final curtain call,' organisers said.

'After 35 years of celebrating the very best in Blues, Roots music, and beyond, the legendary institution that has brought the world's greatest artists to Australia, plus a whole bunch of our own, will host its last festival.'

Also featured at the four day event will be US hip hop 'drill' queen Ice Spice (pictured) which kicks off December 28 and runs until January 1

The final Bluesfest will take place from April 17 to 20 on Byron Events Farm.

Festival director Peter Noble OAM said Bluesfest was a 'labour of love' and celebration of community, music and resilient spirit of the fans.

However, Mr Noble, who has been at the helm of the festival since 1994 and in the music industry for more than 50 years, said it was time to 'close this chapter'.

'After the 2025 festival, as much as it pains me to say this, it's time to close this chapter,' he said.

Like many Australian festivals, Bluesfest has faced many challenges including cost increases, changes in ticket-buying behaviour and being forced to shut down due to the Covid pandemic and extreme weather.

Bluesfest is the latest in a long line of Australian music festivals which have been axed this year including Splendour in the Grass, Groovin the Moo and ValleyWays.
They have sparked romance rumours on the Italian version of Strictly Come Dancing.

And now Giovanni Pernice, 34, and his Italian dancing partner, Bianca Guaccero, 43, have confirmed they are dating, with Bianca claiming she had 'difficulty believing in true love' until she met him.

In a videoclip introducing their routine in last Saturday's episode of Ballando con le Stelle, Giovanni has said: 'Bianca is my priority. She has been my priority from the beginning. She is still my priority today and will be until the end of the show and beyond.'

'Being someone's priority is something new for me. I have always been the one taking care of others', replied an emotional Bianca as she struggles for words.

'It's an amazing feeling. It's something I'm discovering at the age of forty-three.'

'Having someone next to me who is proud of me and is happy for my happiness is something new to me. This had never happened to me in my life.'

Giovanni Pernice , 34, and his Italian dancing partner, Bianca Guaccero, 43, have confirmed they are dating after sparking romance rumours on the Italian version of Strictly Come Dancing

In a videoclip introducing their routine in last Saturday's episode of Ballando con le Stelle, Giovanni has said: 'Bianca is my priority. She has been my priority from the beginning' (pictured during routine earlier this month)

Interviewed by Monica Setta for Storie di Donne al Bivio (Stories of Women at the Crossroads) which will air on December 21, Bianca promised her partner she is ready take things further.

'Dear Giovanni, I promise you to leave out all my fears, doubts and closures. The symbolic gift I put under the Christmas tree is to believe in our possibilities'. the Italian star said in the interview.

In the last few weeks, Giovanni and Bianca have been getting to know each other, with her visiting him in London and Giovanni meeting her family in Bitonto, Southern Italy.

'I had a heavy stone on my heart, I had difficulty believing in true love. When I met Giovanni I felt at home and I was in London with him and then 24 hours with my parents', she continued.

'I wanted to introduce him to the country and the people I love'.

The professional dancer is part of the cast of the Italian series of the show after being accused of bullying on Strictly Come Dancing.

Giovanni and Bianca are being acclaimed as the best dancing duo on this years show. For their boogie, they got a standing ovation from Ballando con le Stelle viewers.

Despite their talent, the couple only arrived in 5th place last Saturday. The judges all agree they are talented, but some claim they are boring.

Interviewed by Monica Setta for Storie di Donne al Bivio (Stories of Women at the Crossroads) which will air on December 21, Bianca promised her partner she is ready take things further (pictured last week)

'From a technical perspective, this dance was flawless, but I did not like what I saw. It was done well, but it was boring', said judge Selvaggia Lucarelli.

'When I see other performances, I wonder, what will happen tonight? You dont excite me as much as others.'

'Every week is the same show, it's wonderful, but I don't expect anything else from you', she said in a previous episode of the show.

'He comes from England, you cant say hes boring. Its unbelievable. If they are perfect, you want them to do less', shouted Rossella Erra, viewers' ambassador, a role that is not part of the judging panel, but can award extra points to one couple each week.

'I am coming to term with the fact that, no matter what we do, that will always be the result, and I regret that', replied Bianca.

'You were excellent. You did a really difficult choreography. You were at the level of a professional couple. The synchronisation was perfect', said Carolyn Smith, the only professional dancer and choreographer in the judging panel.

'That was the best boogie seen on Ballando con le Stelle ever', said judge Ivan Zazzaroni.

In the last few weeks, Giovanni and Bianca have been getting to know each other, with her visiting him in London and Giovanni meeting her family in Bitonto, Southern Italy

During a chat with The Mail last month, Giovanni dodged answering whether romance was on the cards for the pair but did muse: 'Well, she's single'.

Giovanni added: She's 43. She's got a child, she's brilliant. She comes to rehearsals.

'It's definitely a place of happiness, I'm happy to be able to do what I love to do.'

When asked if the pair had ever kissed in rehearsals, Giovanni replied coply: 'All I'm interested in is Bianca.

'She's great, she's a fantastic dancer. We broke the record of the most tens on the show! In 19 years of history.'

They did, however, set tongues wagging when they shared a kiss on the show, locking lips after performing a sensual Rumba routine.

Viewers also remarked on the sexual chemistry between them.

A friend of the Sicilian star said: 'Giovanni is looking to the future and he loves dancing with Bianca, and he has a twinkle in his eye, and never more so than when you mention her.

Giovanni has been single since splitting from British model Molly Brown, 24, in the summer. Sources close to the couple said there hadbeen a string of arguments between them

'She is the perfect person for him to have been partnered with after the whole Amanda saga.

'He has been through a really difficult time and was thrilled to be dancing again but didn't realise he would have someone as wonderful as Bianca to do that with.'

Giovanni has been single since splitting from British model Molly Brown, 24, in the summer.

Sources close to the couple told The Mirror that Giovanni has been 'under a lot of stress', and there has been a string of arguments between them, after he quit Strictly in May following accusations he bullied celebrity partner Amanda Abbington.

The source said: 'Giovanni and Molly grew very close, very quickly, after they split up the first time and got back together.

'Their relationship has been pretty full on. But they have rowed again recently and it all came to a head earlier this week, when they called it quits.

'Molly has been very supportive of Giovanni, but he has been under a lot of stress lately and that has taken its toll. It is not impossible they will try to give things another go once the dust has settled a little, after all, they have done that before.'

Bianca is also single since splitting with her director husband Dario Acocella in 2017. The couple have a daughter called Alice.

If things take a romantic turn on the show will be something Giovanni is used to.

The professional dancer is part of the cast of the Italian series of the show after dramatically quitting Strictly in the midst of Amanda Abbington's abuse allegations (pictured)

When paired with Coronation Street actress Georgia May Foote in 2015  Giovanni's first year on Strictly  they began dating.

He also found love with singer Ashley Roberts who appeared on Strictly in 2018 though they were not a pair  she danced with Pasha Kovalev.

In 2022, Giovanni was linked to fellow Strictly professional Jowita Przystal, who is Polish.

This year he joined Ballando con le Stelle after dramatically quitting Strictly in the midst of Amanda Abbington's abuse allegations.
Stacey Solomon has admitted that she 'doesn't get to see' her husband Joe Swash amid his hectic panto schedule - after their 'street row' earlier this month.

The TV personality, 35, took to her Instagram late on Sunday night after attending the Moana 2 premiere in London with their kids to give a relationship update.

It comes after at the start of November Stacey was reportedly left in tears after having what looked like a row with Joe in the street.

Speaking on her Story on Sunday night Stacey said: 'Home sweet home with my husband who has been estranged. He's doing panto this year which the kids are so excited about.

'But it means that he is in rehearsals every single day and he doesn't finish until January 7. So we don't get to see him.'

Joe responded saying: 'I've had to leave the real world and join panto world. Don't worry mate I will come home one night in my costume and surprise you!'

Stacey Solomon has admitted that she 'doesn't get to see' her husband Joe Swash amid his hectic panto schedule - after their 'street row' earlier this month

The TV personality, 35, took to her Instagram late on Sunday night after attending the Moana 2 premiere in London with their kids to give a relationship update

Joe will star in Beauty and the Beast this pantomime season at The Grove in Dunstable.

Earlier this month Stacey was reportedly left in tears after having what looked like a row with her husband Joe Swash in the street.

In a video obtained by The Sun, the mother-of-five was seen being comforted by her reality TV crew as she attempted to hide her appearance in a long brown padded coat.

Recognising the famous couple, who tied the knot two years ago and share three children, an onlooker claimed they saw Joe, 42, storming down the road outside Westcliff on Sea train station in Essex while furiously puffing on a vape after the argument.

They revealed: 'Joe came out of a building on his own and stormed off down the street, he looked upset and was sitting on some steps for a while.

'Stacey came out of the building in tears and she looked really emotional, she was hugging someone.'

The video showed Stacey embraced in a tight hug before another member of production went to check on Joe.

The onlooker added: 'About 15 minutes later Joe was having an animated talk with the man.

Speaking on her Story on Sunday night Stacey said: 'Home sweet home with my husband who has been estranged. He's doing panto this year which the kids are so excited about'

She added: 'But it means that he is in rehearsals every single day and he doesn't finish until January 7. So we don't get to see him'

They share three children Rex, four, Rose, two, and Belle, one, plus Stacey has two older sons from a previous relationship, Zachary, 16, and Leighton, 12. Joe also has a son Harry, 16, with his ex-partner

Joe responded saying: 'I've had to leave the real world and join panto world. Don't worry mate I will come home one night in my costume and surprise you!'

'Eventually Stacey walked towards Joe in the car and shouted something. They ended up leaving separately. It all looked very tense.'

MailOnline have contacted the couple's representatives for comment.

Footage of the alleged row came just before Stacey embarked on a trip to Las Vegas for work.

Seemingly putting the argument behind her, Stacey looked happier than ever as she headed on a luxury first-class flight with the beauty brand SpaceNK.

Joe will star in Beauty and the Beast this pantomime season at The Grove in Dunstable

The pair are currently filming for their new Kardashian-style reality show for the BBC named Escape to Pickle Cottage - the name of her 1.2million home in Essex.

The Osbournes' style fly-on-the-wall series sees the pair open the doors to their Essex property, giving an insight into their busy lives and their blended family.

They share three children Rex, four, Rose, two, and Belle, one, plus Stacey has two older sons from a previous relationship, Zachary, 16, and Leighton, 12. Joe also has a son Harry, 16, with his ex-partner.

Stacey and Joe are known to have one of the strongest relationships in the industry.

The former Loose Woman occasionally features Joe in her BBC1 series Sort Your Life Out, but never before have they filmed a reality show dedicated to their own relationship.

The pair frequently document their lives on social media, where Stacey, in particular, boasts a huge six million followers.
Billy Zane was unrecognizable after transforming into Marlon Brando for the new biopic, Waltzing With Brando, on Monday.

In a newly released images, the 58-year-old actor transforms into one of Brando's big roles as Dr. Moreau in the 1996 film The Island of Dr. Moreau.

In Waltzing With Brando, which is directed by Bill Fishman, Zane will portray the late actor during the period he was preparing for some of his most iconic roles including The Godfather as well as Last Tango in Paris.

The biopic is based on a memoir penned by the acclaimed actor's architect, Bernard Judge.

And one of the new images shows him as Marlon getting ready to play the role of Dr. Moreau.

In the sci-fi horror Dr. Moreau uses science to turn animal life forms into human-like beasts which threaten not only the island laboratory, but ultimately all mankind.

Billy Zane (left) was unrecognizable after transforming into Marlon Brando for the new biopic, Waltzing With Brando, on Monday

In a newly released images, the 58-year-old actor transforms into one of Brando's big roles as Dr. Moreau in the 1996 film The Island of Dr. Moreau

In other new images he could be seen portraying the silver screen legend Brando when he was preparing to star in one of his most iconic roles of all time.

Fans praised the casting choice for the new movie, which will premiere at the Torino Film Festival in Italy, and said Zane's transformation into Brando was 'astonishing.'

The Titanic star  who went shirtless while filming a beach scene for the biopic  went viral on X for his uncanny portrayal of the iconic actor, and fans also took to social media to share their excitement for Zane's comeback.

Just after seeing one still from the movie, several social media users are already saying he deserves to win an Oscar for his portrayal of Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather.

The biopic is based on a memoir penned by the acclaimed actor's architect, Bernard Judge.

It tells the story of how Brando discovered Judge and convinced him to build the world's first ecologically perfect retreat on the tiny, uninhabitable Tahitian island of Tetiaroa.

The film festival's new artistic director Giulio Base also gushed about Zane's performance in the role and his attendance at the event to promote the biopic.

'You won't believe it: he is possessed by Brando,' he told Variety about the Titanic star playing the iconic star  who died at age 80 from respiratory and heart difficulties in July 2004.

In other new images he could be seen portraying the silver screen legend Brando when he was preparing to star in one of his most iconic roles of all time: The Godfather

Just after seeing one still from the movie, several social media users are already saying he deserves to win an Oscar for his portrayal of Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather

He also reenacted Brando preparing for and playing the part in his 1972 movie Last Tango in Paris; Billy pictured

Billy Zane as Marlon Brando with writer/director Bill Fishman

In the biopic, Zane also portrayed Brando while on the set of the latter's 1979 movie, Apocalypse Now; Billy pictured

The 42nd Torino Film Festival will kick off on November 22 and Waltzing With Brando will be the closing film, premiering on the 30th.

In addition to the screening of the biopic, in celebration of the centennial of Marlon Brando's birth, there will also be a 24-title retrospective of films featuring the late legend.

On Wednesday, Zane started trending on X, formerly Twitter, as many social media users reacted to his transformation.

Many fans gushed over the decision to cast Zane in the role of portraying Marlon Brando.

One social media user wrote: 'Billy Zane is such a good casting choice!'

Another person tweeted that they were 'already' looking forward to Zane receiving his first Academy Award nomination.

'I'm already rooting for Billy Zane to get his first Oscar nomination,' one X user said. 'The hair and makeup alone has already won the Oscar.'

One X user said that Zane portraying Brando is 'pitch-perfect casting.'

'I hope the film is good, because this is pitch-perfect casting, and I'd personally love to see a Billy Zane comeback.'

Another person said that the actor looked identical to Brando when in costume and jokingly insisted that they did not believe the photo was Zane.

'Well, I am still waiting for the picture of Billy Zane. This is clearly Marlon Brando,' the tweet read.

One X user shared their shock at Zane's similarities to Brando.

'Apparently, these are pictures of Billy Zane, in an upcoming Brando biopic. Astonishing,' they wrote.

Similarly, another person, a self-proclaimed fan of Brando's movies, said they had to do a 'triple take' after seeing the still of Zane as Brando in The Godfather.

Recognizing how iconic the artistry is in the new biopic and how meta it is, one X user wrote: 'I can't wait for the Billy Zane biopic in 20 years where an actor gets to play Billy Zane playing Marlon Brando playing Vito Corleone.'
Georgia Kousoulou has shared the adorable moment her son Brody met his newborn baby sister for the first time.

The former TOWIE star, 33, welcomed her second child with husband Tommy Mallet, 31, last week, with the couple announcing the news with a sweet picture of the trio at the hospital.

And now after growing her family, Georgia took to Instagram on Monday to show her fans her adorable children, with Brody, two, looking simply delighted by his new sibling.

The youngster beamed at Gigi and gave a thumbs up as he carefully cradled her, while Gigi wrapped up warmly in a pale pink blanket.

Little Gigi sported a pink bow on her head and was clearly camera ready as she stuck her tongue out for the photo.

Captioning the touching moment, Georgia penned: 'This feeling is like no other. Thank you for all the love.'

Georgia Kousoulou has shared the adorable moment her son Brody met his newborn baby sister for the first time

The former TOWIE star, 33, welcomed her second child with husband Tommy Mallet, 31, last week, with the couple announcing the news with a sweet picture of the trio at the hospital

Sharing her happy baby news on Instagram on Sunday, Georgia penned: 'Introducing you .. GIGI Fordham. Born on 22.11 weighing 8 pound 12. Our darling girl, We are so in love, our hearts could burst. Thank you god for answering our prayers.'

The birth comes after a stressful time for Georgia, after she was rushed to hospital last month due to feeling 'reduced movement' from her unborn baby girl.

The reality star, who underwent IVF, explained in an update to her Instagram Story that luckily 'everything was good' and she made sure to get checked over quickly.

Georgia shared photos of herself undergoing a series of tests as she lay in a hospital bed with wires and straps across her tummy.

She wrote: 'Baby girl wanted attention. Rushed out the house as felt movement was reduced so made sure I got checked and everything is good, thank you God.'

The update came after Georgia hared a heart-warming clip of her son, Brody, helping her get an ultrasound scan, after revealing she is expecting a baby girl.

She emotionally admitted to be feeling 'so blessed' as Brody stood by her side during the ultrasound scan.

In the sweet video, he was seen holding the sonographer while helped by the nurse, who showed him the newborn on the screen.

The former TOWIE star shared the happy news on her Instagram on Sunday and revealed her sweet name

She penned: 'Introducing you .. GIGI Fordham. Born on 22.11 weighing 8 pound 12. Our darling girl, We are so in love, our hearts could burst. Thank you god for answering our prayers'

Georgia announced her pregnancy back in May, one year after she tragically suffered a miscarriage.

Taking to Instagram to announce the news, she wrote: 'Our little rainbow baby due December. Words can't express the emotions we have, we have prayed, wished & with a little help it's happened..

'I can't thank my team enough. Rehan Salim you are the best IVF specialist - I'm so blessed we met you & Michelle my amazing nurse who helped me every step of the way!

'These guys made my experience with IVF so much better than I could of [sic] even imagined.

Reality star Georgia and her businessman husband Tommy Mallet , 31, already share son Brody, two

'I was so scared as all the things I had heard beforehand but they were simply the best & held my hand the whole way through. Thank you for giving us the best gift of all.

'To anyone watching who is suffering... I am with you & I know how you feel. I pray this post doesn't trigger you. I know how hard it is seeing announcements. Please know you are not alone & please don't give up hope.'

Georgia previously said she will 'never get over the feeling' of losing her baby after she suffered a devastating miscarriage at 12 weeks.

The star had started having therapy after struggling with emotional triggers and feeling 'drained' by grief.
Sienna Miller looked effortlessly stylish as she headed out in New York City on Sunday.

The actress, 42, wore a cropped biker jacket that she teamed with an Adidas bucket hat while running errands.

She layered a cream fluffy jumper underneath to keep out the cold and added a pair of wide leg jeans.

Sienna topped off her outfit with a grey Prada handbag and a pair of chunky heeled leather boots.

She has been in the city to promote Joe Weiland and Finn Constantine's short film Marion, on which she served as executive producer.

On Friday Sienna made sure all eyes were on her as she posed for photos at the Marion screening.

Sienna Miller looked effortlessly stylish as she headed out in New York City on Sunday

The actress looked nothing short of sensational as she cut a chic figure in a tan power suit consisting of a single-breasted blazer and matching tailored trousers.

She teamed a skin-tight black camisole top with her stylish suit and added inches to her frame with a pair of brown leather boots.

To complete her look, she added a blue mini handbag before further accessorising with a gold-toned flower pendant necklace and hoop earrings.

The star hosted the event at the Cinema by NeueHouse and several stars attended.

The mother-of-two, who welcomed her second child and first with boyfriend Oli Green back in December, looked to be enjoying a child-free day as she posed up a storm at the glitzy bash.

Marion focuses on the French tradition of bull-jumping at La Course Landaise, with the synopsis reading: 'As Marion prepares, being the only woman in the team, the film explores her battle against misogyny and prejudiced attitudes.

'A journey of one woman through an all-male world  juggling motherhood and the contentious pursuit of her passion. The film blends fiction and reality, creating a captivating thirteen minutes of tension.'

Sienna was last seen with her boyfriend, 27, last month as the pair enjoyed a romantic holiday together in Saint-Tropez.

The actress, 42, wore a cropped biker jacket that she teamed with an Adidas bucket hat while running errands

She has been in the city to promote Joe Weiland and Finn Constantine's short film Marion, on which she served as executive producer (pictured at the screening on Friday)

The couple's sunny trip comes after they welcomed their first child together, a daughter, in December 2023.

Sienna already has 12-year-old daughter Marlowe from her previous relationship with actor Tom Sturridge, 38.

Her new boyfriend, Oli, an actor who is 15 years her junior, is just like her  instinctive and a free spirit.

In an interview earlier this year, she explained: 'I think you either live your life with caution or you take risks.'

She added that whatever success, or otherwise, her choices are met with, she is finally at peace.

'For the longest time, I felt the need to really prove something, and I can see that reflected in the choices that I made. I pursued roles that were very heavy and very dramatic and challenging emotionally because I felt that I was probably seen as frivolous. I'm now completely over that.'
Pregnant Megan Fox showcased her growing baby bump in a completely sheer dress as she stepped out in LA this week.

The actress, 38, who announced she was expecting her first child with partner Machine Gun Kelly, 34, earlier this month, flashed her blossoming stomach as well as her lingerie as she made a glamorous appearance at The Grove,

The burgundy dress was paired with towering black heels and a matching leather coat - with the star cradling her bump on the red carpet.

She wore her tresses in an elegant updo and sported a glamorous palette of make-up.

Fox, who shares three children, Noah, 11, Bodhi, nine, and Journey, seven, with ex-husband Brian Austin Green, revealed her pregnancy on November 11, sharing a sexy photo of herself covered with black paint and showing her baby bump.

It was accompanied by a picture of a positive pregnancy test. 'Nothing is ever really lost. welcome back ' she wrote announcing the good news.

Pregnant Megan Fox showcased her growing baby bump in a completely sheer dress as she stepped out in LA this week

The actress, 38, who announced she was expecting her first child with partner Machine Gun Kelly, 34, earlier this month, flashed her blossoming stomach as well as her lingerie as she made a glamorous appearance at The Grove

The announcement was soundtracked to the MGK song Last November, which refers to the miscarriage she previously suffered with the musician.

She opened up about the experience in her 2023 book of poetry, Pretty Boys Are Poisonous.

Megan wrote about an ultrasound of a baby girl at 10 weeks and a day, per excerpts from People, and said: 'maybe if you hadn't... maybe if i had...'

She continued, 'I want to hold your hand / hear your laugh, but now / I have to say / goodbye,' and later adds, 'I close my eyes and imagine holding you tight against my chest as they rip you from my insides'.

Elsewhere in the book, she wrote, 'I will pay any price. Tell me please / what is the ransom / for her soul?'

During an interview on Good Morning America at the time, Megan said she had 'never been through anything like that before in my life'.

'It was very difficult for both of us,' she explained. 'And it sent us on a very wild journey together and separately, and together and apart, and together and apart, and together and apart, trying to navigate, "What does this mean? Why did this happen?'"

Megan and MGK had never discussed the pregnancy loss prior to the poetry book, however the 'Bloody Valentine' hitmaker did appear to allude to it at the Billboard Music Awards in May 2022, dedicating his performance to Megan and adding, 'This is for our unborn child.'

Megan also suffered an ectopic pregnancy years earlier.

The child will be her fourth and MGK's second (pictured 2022)

The burgundy dress was paired with towering black heels and a matching leather coat - with the star cradling her bump on the red carpet

The soon to be mom of four was glowing on the red carpet

The expectant star looked sensational as she stepped out in LA

Megan was radiant as she showed off her growing bump

The star showed off her bump as she browsed at Revolve's Holiday Shop

Megan looked glowing as she showed off her growing stomach

The star and MGK are set to welcome their first baby together in March

The Transformers star showed off her flawless make-up at the event

In an interview with Good Morning America, Fox explained how the pregnancy loss had affected their relationship.

'I had never been through anything like that before in my life,' she explained.

'I have three kids, so it was very difficult for both of us, and it sent us on a very wild journey together and separately and together and apart  trying to navigate, "What does this mean?" and "Why did this happen?"'

MGK, whose legal name is Colson Baker, is dad to 15-year-old Casie, whom he shares with his ex Emma Cannon.

The couple have been together since 2020 and got engaged two years later, but have yet to tie the knot.

Their due date is in March.

The parents-to-be reportedly know the baby's gender, but are not revealing it.

Megan and MGK have had a passionate and rocky relationship.

They first met on the set of Midnight in The Switchgrass before getting engaged in 2022.

When announcing their betrothal on Instagram, Megan said she and MGK 'drank each other's blood' to celebrate the occasion.

But just over a year later, Megan sensationally hinted she had split from MGK as she shared a cryptic Instagram post before completely deleting her account.

The actress posted a video in which she appeared to burn a letter in a bonfire, along with a bag.

She also uploaded a very raunchy string of mirror selfies while joined by a male pal, in which she put on a busty display in a plunging black top and cut-out trousers.

Megan wrote in her caption, 'You can taste the dishonesty/ its all over your breath,' which are lyrics from Beyonce's 2016 track, Pray You Catch Me, about her husband Jay Z's own affair.

She then removed all traces of Machine Gun Kelly from her Instagram grid, having unfollowed him before deleting her account altogether.

Fox revealed her pregnancy joy on November 11

Fox and Kelly at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in 2021

Ultimately they seemed to patch things up and things appear to be all well between them now, with the couple being seen together ever since.

The rapper also recently tattooed his entire upper body in black ink, reportedly to prove to Megan that he is 100% committed to their relationship.

In March, during an appearance on Alex Cooper's Call Her Daddy podcast, Megan revealed she and MGK had ended their engagement at some point.

'I feel like everyone has such an opinion on your guys relationship. You got engaged, then I think it was called off, then we don't know what's going on with you. How would you describe your relationship with MGK?' host Alex Cooper asked.

Megan responded: 'I think that what I've learned from being in this relationship is that it's not for public consumption, so I think as of now, I don't have a comment on like the status of the relationship per say.

'What I can say is that is what I refer to as being my twin soul and there will always be a tether to him no matter what. I can't say for sure what the capacity will be, but I will always be connected to him somehow.

'Beyond that I'm not willing to explain. But all those things you said were accurate things that have occurred and I can see them being confusing or interesting to people and them being like, "What's up?"'

Her final comment confirmed speculation she had ended her engagement from Kelly.

Megan was previously married to Green from 2010 to 2021. They welcomed three children together during their marriage before their union officially ended.

Brian has been with DWTS professional Sharna Burgess since 2020 and they have son Zane Walker Green, two, together.
Kim Kardashian was accused of photoshopping in one of her latest Instagram posts as fans noticed that her reflection in the mirror looked a bit different.

The 44-year-old reality star - who was seen filming her new Ryan Murphy show All's Fair - took to her Instagram Story to share an image of herself in a white powersuit.

However a fan on the KUWTK Snark subreddit accused her of a photoshop fail writing: 'Mirror, Mirror on the Wall. Oops! She forgot to photoshop the mirror. Reality photobombed her photoshop ph***ery.'

The poster wrote 'the mirror doesn't lie' as they posted images of Kim herself and the reflection arguing that there was some doctoring.

Another commenter even shared a zoomed in on the shadow which appeared to have much slimmer behind.

The comment section was flooded with people who roasted the star as one wrote: 'Her a** is HUGE here and shes clearly photoshopped thinner, so imagine how big it must really be now.'

Kim Kardashian was accused of photoshopping in one of her latest Instagram posts as fans noticed that her reflection in the mirror looked a bit different

Others felt like it was purposely done for attention.

A commenter wrote: 'She didn't forget and we're falling for it. Bad photoshop and rage-bait is all that they have left for attention and headlines.'

She has been busy filming Ryan Murphys highly anticipated series Alls Fair in Los Angeles on Sunday.

The reality star-turned-actress, who captivated audiences with her recent appearance on American Horror Story, donned the white powersuit from her social media on set.

Kim flaunted her toned legs in bold red fishnet stockings, pairing the striking white ensemble with sleek, raven hair styled in Old Hollywood-inspired curls.

She oozed movie star charisma as she shot scenes alongside co-star Niecy Nash.

The series, which follows an all-female law firm, boasts a powerhouse cast, including Sarah Paulson, Naomi Watts, and Teyana Taylor.

Kim is also reportedly serving as an executive producer on the upcoming drama.

The 44-year-old reality star - who was seen filming her new Ryan Murphy show All's Fair - took to her Instagram Story to share an image of herself in a white powersuit

Another commenter even shared a zoomed in on the shadow which appeared to have much slimmer behind

Kim and Ryan first teamed up for American Horror Story: Delicate, which premiered on September 20, 2023.

In this groundbreaking series, Kardashian took on her first major scripted role as Siobhan Walsh, a character facing the surreal and disquieting challenges of pregnancy.

Following her performance in AHS, Kim signed on for Murphy's upcoming project, described as a high-end, glossy and sexy adult procedural called All's Fair.

All's Fair was first announced in December, the first series under Murphy's new overall deal at Disney.

The show will follow Kim playing the powerful divorce lawyer in Los Angeles, who runs a successful all-female law firm.

All's Fair is created by Jon Robin Baitz (Brothers & Sisters, Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans) and Joe Baken.

It's reportedly partly inspired by Kardashian's actual lawyer, Laura Wasser, who represented her in divorce proceedings with Kanye West and Kris Humphries.

Halle Berry was forced to drop out of the show's A-list cast due to a scheduling conflict just days after her addition was confirmed.

She has been busy filming Ryan Murphy s highly anticipated series Alls Fair in Los Angeles on Sunday

She was also expected to be among the show's executive producers.

Kardashian, her mother/manager Kris Jenner and Murphy will all executive produce with Baitz and Baken.

Jamie Pachino, Laura Greene, and Richard Levine will also serve as writers and executive producers.

Close also serves as an executive producer along with Alexis Martin Woodall, Eric Kovtun, and Scott Robertson.

For Kardashian, stepping into the role of a lawyer feels particularly fitting, as she is actively pursuing a legal career in real lifehaving passed the baby bar exam last year, she is now preparing for the full bar exam.

Kim's advocacy for criminal justice reform began in earnest in 2017 when she championed the cause of Alice Johnson, a woman serving a life sentence for a non-violent drug trafficking offense.

Initially, Kardashian reached out to Ivanka Trump to bring attention to Johnsons case.

This advocacy culminated in a meeting with former President Donald Trump, where she passionately campaigned for Johnson's clemency.

Kim and Ryan first teamed up for American Horror Story: Delicate, which premiered on September 20, 2023

Kardashians efforts paid off in June 2018 when Trump granted Johnson a pardon, leading to her release from prison after more than 20 years.

Inspired by this success, Kardashian has since expanded her advocacy to include other individuals facing similar injustices, such as Kevin Cooper, who has been on death row for over three decades, and Julius Jones, a man wrongfully convicted of murder.

Through her ongoing efforts, Kardashian has established herself as a prominent voice in the movement for criminal justice reform, using her platform to raise awareness and effect change for those trapped in a flawed system.

In May 2022, during the inaugural season of her familys Hulu show The Kardashians, Kim captured the moment she discovered she had passed the 'baby bar' law exam.

Sitting in her car with her friend and publicist Tracy Romulus, Kardashian logged into her online account to check the results of her third attempt at the challenging test.

The emotional revelation marked a significant milestone in her journey to becoming a lawyer, reflecting her determination and commitment to her legal education.

'Everyone told me this was the impossible way and there was no way I would ever pass this test, and I did,' she later said in an interview confessional.
Kelly Osbourne looked trimmer than ever on a rare family outing with her boyfriend, DJ Sid Wilson, and their two-year-old son, Sidney over the weekend.

As the trio arrived to a party in Encino, California, the English television personality, 40, showcased his slimmer figure in an all-black ensemble, which consisted of a bomber jacket, t-shirt, jeans and a pair of moccasins.

The daughter of rock legend Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon looked every inch the doting mother as she carried her little boy through the parking lot on her hip.

She attempted to keep a low profile for the laid-back occasion as she wore minimal makeup and her hair pulled back into a twisted bun, secured with a black claw clip.

Her accessories included a large quilted Chanel handbag, worn over her left shoulder, cat eye sunglasses and several layered gold necklaces.

Meanwhile, Kelly's baby daddy, 47, held onto a large Monster Jam Grave-Digger toy truck, topped with a red bow.

Kelly Osbourne looked trimmer than ever on a rare family outing with her boyfriend, DJ Sid Wilson, and their two-year-old son, Sidney over the weekend

Their son looked absolutely adorable in a red and white striped shirt, black pants and matching sneakers with two white racing stripes on the sides.

Kelly and Wilson, who first met in 1999 at Ozzfest, have been dating since January 2022.

In recent months, rumors swirled that she used the popular weight loss drug Ozempic  a medicine for adults with type 2 diabetes  to shed some pounds after giving birth to her son in 2022.

The starlet claimed she had not used the drug back in late April, instead revealing she 'rapidly' lost weight by cutting out 'sugar and carbohydrates.'

'I know everybody thinks I took Ozempic. I did not take Ozempic. I don't know where that came from. My mom took Ozempic,' she explained to Extra at the time.

Despite previously praising the drug, she opened up about her battle with gestational diabetes during pregnancy, which influenced her decision to lose weight.

'I had gestational diabetes, and I had to lose the weight that I had gained during pregnancy, otherwise I was at a higher risk of actually getting diabetes, which I did not want,' the model claimed.

Kelly also got candid about using special toning treatments, such as EMFACE and EMSCULPT NEO, to sculpt her face and tighten her body.

As the trio arrived to a party in Encino, California, the English television personality, 40, showcased his slimmer figure in an all-black ensemble, which consisted of a bomber jacket, t-shirt, jeans and a pair of moccasins

In recent months, rumors swirled that she used the popular weight loss drug Ozempic  a medicine for adults with type 2 diabetes  to shed some pounds after giving birth to her son in 2022 (pictured in May 2022)

'I had the baby and my stomach got so many stretch marks, and the skin, it looks like it lost its elasticity,' she shared.

Earlier this year while at Dolly Partons Pet Gala she commented on Ozempic, saying, 'I think it's amazing.'

Later in the same interview, she accused critics of the medication and other weight-loss drugs of being jealous.

'People hate on it because they want to do it,' she claimed. 'And the people who hate on it the most are the people who are secretly doing it or pissed off that they cant afford it.'

In 2020, she admitted to having undergone gastric sleeve surgery to help her lose 85 pounds.
He's an 80s heartthrob to the teenagers who swooned over his juvenile delinquent persona in a cult-classic movie.

That film would go down as one of the most iconic teen films in history, cementing itself as emblematic of the rebellious 80s  especially due to his classic ending scene which saw him punching the air as the credits rolled in.

His rugged, dark looks made him a favorite among young stars in that era, his name even being mentioned alongside Demi Moore, Molly Ringwald and Rob Lowe.

Now, in character with his associated rebellious edge, he's often seen riding his chopper around Beverly Hills.

But the star was recently spotted looking unrecognizable with a long gray beard and glasses as he emerged from his car in a private parking area on a rare outing in Los Angeles.

Can you guess who it is?

This former 80s heartthrob was spotted on a rare public outing in Los Angeles last week

He sported a buzzed hairstyle and a manicured gray, long beard, along with a gray long-sleeve shirt, a black LL Bean vest, boot-cut jeans and black slip-on sneakers

He was spotted in a parking lot running errands

It's Judd Nelson!

The one-time heartthrob was seen walking around a car parking lot as he ran errands.

The 64-year-old actor sported a buzzed hairstyle and was wearing a gray long-sleeve shirt, a black LL Bean vest, boot-cut jeans and black slip-on sneakers.

Nelson is best known for his appearance as John Bender in the 1985 cult classic film The Breakfast Club.

The film gathers the stereotypical archetypes of 80s high school together for a Saturday detention: the 'princess', 'athlete', 'geek', 'basket-case' and 'criminal'. Arguably, Nelson's masterful characterization as Bender playing the 'criminal' is best remembered out of that star-studded cast.

When he receives the final kiss and a diamond earring as memorabilia from Molly Ringwald's 'princess' character, Claire Standish, a monologue begins playing in the background that directly juxtaposes the labels each character has been given by the power-hungry principal, Paul Gleason's character, Richard Vernon.

Nelson is best known for his appearance as John Bender in the 80s cult classic 'The Breakfast Club'

The film gathers the stereotypical archetypes of 80s high school together for a Saturday detention: the 'princess', 'athlete', 'geek', 'basket-case' and 'criminal'

He reached icon status in the film's closing scene by receiving a kiss and a diamond earring from Molly Ringwald's 'princess' character, Claire Standish - as the sun sets and the song Don't You (Forget About Me) hits a crescendo, he raises his fist in the air, signifying his triumph

Nelson didn't realize how cemented in pop culture that film would become, telling the Today show in 2015 that he was surprised, but pleasantly so'

Bender puts in the earring and as the now famous song, 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' rises to a crescendo while the sun begins to set, the delinquent raises his fist into the air as an act of triumph  with the movie pausing on this powerful frame as the credits roll in.

Even Nelson didn't realize how cemented in pop culture that film would become, telling the Today show in 2015 that he was surprised, but pleasantly so.'

Shortly after wrapping up filming The Breakfast Club, Nelson would go on to star in another cult classic, St. Elmo's Fire, where a group of recent college graduates go on a series of misadventures in the real world.

He played the politically-driven Alec Newbury who pushess his girlfriend Leslie, played by Ally Sheedy, away with his aspirations and cheating.

He was dubbed a member of the 'Brat Pack' by a New York magazine reporter who coined the name after seeing him and other young actors such as Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy, being mobbed in public by fans.

The term was ripped from Frank Sinatra's famed 'Rat Pack' and has been closely associated with those actors since then.

Nelson would star in another cult classic, the 1985 film St. Elmo's Fire, alongside a lot of members of the Brat Pack - a term coined by a New York magazine reporter that has stuck over the years

Nelson earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a mini-series from the 1987 two-part television film Billionaire Boys Club

He moved away from his 80s bad boy persona and shifted towards TV roles such as Suddenly Susan, where he starred as Brooke Shield's boss Jack Richmond - he would leave the show at the beginning of the fourth season

Nelson took a different shift after the success of these two movies and plunged into the world of animation  starring as Hot Rod in the first film of the Transformers franchise, The Transformers: The Movie.

Also symbolic of this shift was when he appeared in the universally praised Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam  a documentary which to this day sits at a 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating.

Nelson earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a mini-series from the 1987 two-part television film Billionaire Boys Club.

Other movies from the 80s he starred in were Blue City (1986), From the Hip (1987), , Relentless (1989) and Far Out Man (1990).

The 90s also proved to be successful for Nelson. He started out the decade in Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes (1990) starring opposite Max von Sydow. Then switched to laughs as the worst stand-up comedian in history in The Dark Backward (1991).

The film with the most commercial success from that era was the gangster film New Jack City where he starred as rapper-turned-actor Ice-T's partner on a police investigation.

Judd Nelson is often spotted riding around on his chopper in the Beverly Hills area

Closing out the 90s, Nelson returned to the gangster genre with the 1999 film Light It Up as a teacher who helped troubled teens.

He moved away from his 80s bad boy persona and shifted towards TV roles such as Suddenly Susan, where he starred as Brooke Shield's boss Jack Richmond. Even though the first season was a hit, rating viewership gradually went down and he left at the beginning of season four.

Since then he's mainly taken television roles, Hallmark films and voiced in animated shows.

Nelson is the son of court mediator and former member of the Maine House of Representatives Merle Nelson and corporate lawyer Leonard Nelson. He grew up in a conservative Jewish home in Portland, Maine.

When he left to pursue acting he studied under famed Broadway actress and teacher Stella Adler.

Adler's teachings on the Stanislavski system, also known as method acting, may have been why there were reports that his method acting nearly got him fired from The Breakfast Club.

Even when the cameras weren't rolling, Nelson stayed in character  to the disapproval of director John Hughes who disliked how his muse, Molly Ringwald, was being taunted and teased by Nelson between takes.
Bhad Bhabie gave her first health update since revealing her cancer diagnosis after sparking concern among her fans over her very thin and frail appearance.

While arriving to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Sunday, the performer, 21, admitted that she was 'not prepared' to speak about her health battle just yet.

When asked how she has been holding up, the mom-of-one (born Danielle Bregoli) hesitantly shared that she was doing 'okay' before heading inside to catch her flight.

Just two days earlier, she stepped out for an early dinner at SugarFish in Calabasas, California with her boyfriend Le Vaughn.

As the pair walked back to their car, Bhabie looked notably thinner while sticking close to her baby daddy, 26, as she sported an all-black outfit.

She accessorized her casual ensemble with a 'Pretty Hustler' beanie with graffiti letters scrawled across the front, a quilted white handbag and fuzzy slippers.

Rapper Bhad Bhabie was seen for the first time since revealing her cancer diagnosis after sparking concern among her fans over her very thin and frail appearance

Le Vaughn could be seen holding her hand and listening attentively as she spoke to him in the parking lot.

After dining at the upscale sushi restaurant, the couple, who welcomed their first child together, daughter, Kali Love, in March, headed to McDonald's drive thru for a sweet treat.

This marked the first time she was seen out in public since informing fans that her sudden weight loss was due to her 'cancer medicine' on Instagram.

Bhabie's sighting comes after her mother, Barbara Ann Bregoli, confirmed that her daughter is battling cancer.

In an expletive-ridden video uploaded to her Instagram, Barbara said she was feeling 'pretty heated right now at Maria, AKA Perez Hilton for going on YouTube and talking about my daughter releasing on her Instagram Story about her having cancer and saying he wouldn't pass it by her that she was making it up.'

'How dare you,' you little vile piece of s**t say my daughter would lie about something like that. Okay? You're a dad!' the star's mom stated.

She went on to suggest the American blogger (born Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr.), 46, needs to focus on his two children Mario Armando Lavandeira III, 11, and Mia Alma Lavandeira, seven, who were both born via surrogate, and not hers.

'Go find another way to make some money beside talking s**t about other people,' she fired. 'How dare you. And, I pray to God that none of your children never get cancer, okay? I've had it twice. How dare you say my daughter is faking this.'

Just two weeks after explaining that her sudden weight loss was due to her 'cancer medicine' on Instagram, the performer, 21, (born Danielle Bregoli) stepped out for an early dinner at SugarFish in Calabasas with her boyfriend Le Vaughn

As the pair walked back to their car, Bhabie looked notably thinner while sticking close to her baby daddy, 26, while sporting an all-black outfit

She accessorized her casual ensemble with a beanie with graffiti letters scrawled across the front, a quilted white handbag and fuzzy slippers

According to Barbara's Instagram bio, she has personally survived breast cancer twice.

Her post was in response to Perez's YouTube video, titled 'SHOCKING News! Bhad Bhabie Reveals Cancer Diagnosis. BUT.'

In the video, he asked his fans if they believed she was lying for attention.

'I'm going to say it there is also a possibility that she might have pulled a Lil Tay. I don't know if she's lying, I'm not claiming she's lying, I'm just knowing these types of people operate I wouldn't put it past her to do something like this for attention,' he said.

Bhabie continued: 'I hope that's the case cuz it would suck if she had or still has cancer at such a young age.'

At this time, it is unknown what cancer Bhabie has or what treatments she has undergone.

Le Vaughn could be seen holding her hand and listening attentively as she spoke to him in the parking lot

After dining at the upscale sushi restaurant, the couple headed to McDonald's drive thru for a sweet treat

Bhabie previously addressed concerns over her weight following her recent weight loss, which she said was the result of her ' cancer medicine.'

Despite mentioning the cancer medicine, she didn't confirm if she has cancer, and she so far has not shared any more details about her health.

Bhabie shared her shocking news after recently reposting a photo of herself posing with her ex-boyfriend Le Vaughn, despite accusing him of domestic violence earlier this year.

She welcomed her first child, a baby daughter she shared with Le Vaughn, in March.

Bregoli seemed to launch her Instagram Stories post in response to concerned comments fans have made about her significantly slimmed-down figure.

'I'm Sorry my cancer medicine made me loose weight. Im slowly gaining it back,' she wrote. 'So stop running w the worst narratives [sic].'

She and her boyfriend welcomed their first child together, daughter, Kali Love, in March

Earlier this year, she accused Le Vaughn of physically assaulting her, and she later posted video from June 30 of herself being assaulted in her home's driveway

The footage appeared to show her boyfriend throwing her to the ground, before hitting her and dragging her across the concrete

As she shared the post on her Stories, fans couldn't respond to the news.

But over on X (formerly Twitter), users shared their support for her and hoped for a positive outcome.

'Bhad Bhabies strength shines through as she shares her diagnosis. Wishing her resilience and support on this journey,' wrote one person.

'Wtffff omg doesn't she have an infant child? Praying for Bhad Bhabie, may she fully recover,' another person wrote.

Another person added 'Hope Bhad Bhabie can conquer cancer,' despite her not sharing more about her condition.

One fan was even more blunt, writing 'F*** cancer' in a post, before adding, 'We Are On Make Me Pray For You.'

Bhabie's sighting comes after her mother, Barbara Ann Bregoli, confirmed that her daughter is battling cancer

That same day, Bhabie reposted a photo from her ex Le Vaughn's account showing the two posing on a cliff while he wrapped an arm around her, after they had seemingly reunited.

Le Vaughn also shared a sweet video of their daughter Kali smiling for the camera.

A woman with heavily tattooed arms sat just next to her, and though her face wasn't shown, it appeared to be Bregoli, as she has similar butterfly tattoos on her arms and wrists.

Earlier this year, she accused Le Vaughn of physically assaulting her, and she later posted video from June 30 of herself being assaulted in her home's driveway.

Bhabie previously addressed concerns over her weight following her recent weight loss, which she said was the result of her ' cancer medicine'

Despite mentioning the cancer medicine, she didn't confirm if she has cancer, and she so far has not shared any more details about her health

The footage appeared to show her boyfriend throwing her to the ground, before hitting her and dragging her across the concrete.

She followed the video up with photos of herself sporting a nasty black eye and bruising all across her face as she accused her daughter's father of abusing her.

Le Vaughn was subsequently kicked out of her home, only for it to be robbed less than two weeks later.

Masked assailants managed to clear out her luxury handbags and jewelry while she vacationed with her mother in Florida, but despite being captured on security camera footage, they have so far not been caught.
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Christine McGuinness got into the festive spirit as she joined a host of famous faces at The Beauty Awards in London on Monday.

The award brought in all the celebrities from influencers to reality stars including Jess Wright and Arabella Chi as they celebrated all things beauty alongside host, RuPaul's Drag Race judge Michelle Visage.

Christine, 36, stunned in a figure hugging red sequin mini dress as she strutted out on the red carpet.

The blonde bombshell showed of her endless legs with matching red tights and red heels as she put on a busty display in the low cut look.

The mother-of-three added red lipstick to complete her look and let her blonde hair fall in waves over her shoulders as she shot the cameras a sultry look.

The ex-wife of comedian Paddy McGuiness was joined at the event by Princess Andre who showed off her svelte frame in a long silver dress.

Christine McGuinness got into the festive spirit as she joined a host of famous faces at The Beauty Awards in London on Monday including Arabella Chi, Ekin-Su Culculoglu and Princess Andre

The influencer, 17, looked effortlessly glamorous as she posed in the sequined dress with a matching silver clutch bag and heeled sandals.

She accessorised with a simple silver heart pendant and opted for full glam make-up, curling her long blonde hair.

Also spotted on the red carpet was Jess Wright who followed Christine's lead with a statement red dress.

The former TOWIE star, 39, donned a flower-inspired strapless mini dress which included sculptural petal details and accentuated her waist.

Jess added red tights and patent Mary Jane heels to her quirky look, finishing it off with glam make-up and her hair in soft waves.

Ekin-Su Culculoglu opted for aa semi-nude fishtail gown for the event which showcased her enviable figure.

The Love Island star, 30, put on a busty display in a nude, sequin encrusted bodysuit with a jeweled mesh dress over the top which featured a back cut out.

She added to her sparkly outfit with a matching ball clutch bag and she styled her dark brown hair into a chic low ponytail as she smiled for the cameras.

Christine, 36, stunned in a figure hugging red sequin mini dress as she strutted out on the red carpet

The blonde bombshell showed of her endless legs with matching red tights and red heels as she put on a busty display in the low cut look

She let her blonde hair fall in waves over her shoulders as she shot the cameras a sultry look

She also wore a slick of classic pillar box red lipstick and lashings of mascara

The ex-wife of comedian Paddy McGuinness oozed confidence as she posed with her hand on her hip

Princess, 17, showed off her svelte frame in a long silver dress which she accessorised with a matching silver clutch and heels

She wore her long blonde tresses in bouncy curls while accentuated her features with glamorous make-up

Meanwhile Arabella looked nothing short of sensational in a chic black and white one shoulder dress for the awards ceremony which drew attention to her toned legs with a thigh-high split

She slicked back her blonde locks into a chic bun and accentuated her features with make-up

Ekin-Su Culculoglu, 30, opted for aa semi-nude fishtail gown for the event which showcased her enviable figure

Ekin-Su's fishtail dress was also backless and featured flowing sleeves as well as a train as she posed up a storm ahead of the ceremony

The stunner accessorised with with a statement jewel encrusted handbag and added extra height with a pair of strappy heels.

She tied back her long brunette locks into a loose ponytail with one strand framing her face, which had been accentuated with glam make-up

TOWIE's Jess Wright suffered an awkward mishap after her handbag broke at the star-studded bash

Nevertheless Jess still managed to look on the bright side and flashed a huge smile as turned heads in her quirky red mini dress

Jess' metallic heart-shaped bag fell from the strap and smashed to the ground

Its contents including her make-up fell out and was left strewn across the street

Stacey Solomon, 35, put on a leggy display in a chic cream tweed co-ord which she teamed with matching shoes

The TV personality attended without husband Joe Swash, 42, after they were spotted 'rowing in the street' earlier this month

The star was all smiles as she showed of her stunning dress, no doubt in part because of her new boyfriend, former Married At First Sight Star Georges Berthonneau who she has been 'seeing for months'.

Arabella Chi looked nothing short of sensational in a chic black and white one shoulder dress for the awards ceremony.

The fellow Love Island star, 33, showed off her legs in the black gown which featured a thigh high split and she finished off her ensemble with a matching black bag and black heeled sandals.

She shot some sultry looks as she posed on the red carpet with simple silver jewelry and her hair styled in to a slick backed bun.

Elsewhere Charlotte Dawson showed off her growing baby bump in a daring maroon lace mini dress.

The reality TV star, 32, revealed in August that she and Matt Sarsfield, 33, were expecting their 'surprise' third child - just weeks after news broke he had been sexting another woman.

But the actress seems to have put all that behind her and seemed delighted to be bringing along a guest to the event.

Charlotte grinned as she cradled her blossoming bump in the bold look which included fur cuffs and a long lace train which spread out behind her as she showed off her endless legs on the red carpet.

Charlotte Dawson, 32, showed off her growing baby bump in a daring maroon lace mini dressafter revealing in August that she and Matt Sarsfield, 33, were expecting their 'surprise' third child - just weeks after news broke he had been sexting another woman

Charlotte grinned as she cradled her blossoming bump in the bold look which included fur cuffs and a long lace train which spread out behind her as she showed off her endless legs on the red carpet

Charlotte wore her caramel tresses in loose curls and sported a glamorous make-up palette

She accessorised with dangling diamond earrings and continued to wear her engagement following partner's sexting scandal

Charlotte suffered an awkward mishap when her heels got caught in the flowing lace train

Laura Anderson, 35, put on a jaw-dropping display in a sheer geometric cut-out dress which featured a back slit and and metallic finish

The reality star styled her hair in a wet look, leaving her blonde locks wavy and touled and adding a pair of towering platform white heels to t he impressive outfit

Megan Barton-Hanson, 30, set pulses racing in a very daring gown which boasted a thigh-high split and cut out showing off ample underboob

The look left very little to the imagination and hugged every inch of her jaw-dropping figure

Kelsey Parker turned heads in a bight baby pink boxy mini dress and was all smiles since revealing her new boyfriend, Will Lindsay, 27, two years after her husband, The Wanted's Tom parker's tragic death

The blonde beauty added a pair of silver bumps to her look and the devil was in the detail as she matched a pair of silver earrings to her shoes and her pink nails to her outfit

Liberty Poole, 25, flaunted her enviable curves in a sequinned corset and matching maxi skirt

The Love Island star carried the sparkle into her eyes make-up and topped it all off with a tiara

Elsewhere on the red carpet Junior Andre, 19, put on a loved-up display with gorgeous girlfriend Jasmine Orr, 24,

Singer Junior, who is following in his popstar dad's footsteps, looked dapper for the evening as he sported a light grey check suit with a black turtle neck top

Jasmine, 24, showed off her incredible figure in an orange and black tie-dye cowl-neck maxi dress

Also in attendance was Junior and sister Princess' step-mother Emily MacDonagh, 34, who cut a chic figure in a black midi dress

The look boasted ruffle detailing and hugged every inch of her figure, while adding a few extra inches to her frame with a pair of strappy metallic heels

Lottie Moss, 26, flaunted her eye-popping curves in a strapless black rouched dress for the even

The younger sister of supermodel Kate looked incredible in a low cut black top which she paired with a leopard print mini skirt but this time around she opted for a more sophisticated outfit

The hatkerneck dress also featured silk flowers on the strap

The model was spotted earlier that evening wrapping up against the cold in a white and grey fur coat as she made her stylish entrance

She accessorised with statement silver hoop earrings and matching maroon kitten heels with fur pom poms over the toes.

Laura Anderson put on a jaw-dropping display in a sheer geometric cut-out dress which featured a back slit and and metallic finish.

The reality star, 35, styled her hair in a wet look, leaving her blonde locks wavy and tousled and adding a pair of towering platform white heels to the impressive outfit.

Lottie Moss put her curved on display in a strapless black rouched dress for the event.

The OnlyFans model, 26, has been enjoying a week of parties and was last spotted out with Louise Redknapp and Matt Smith at the Chiltern Firehouse in London on Thursday.

The younger sister of supermodel Kate looked incredible in a low cut black top which she paired with a leopard print mini skirt but this time around she opted for a more sophisticated outfit.

She finished off her elegant dress with a simple pearl earrings and glittery black platform heels.

The model was spotted earlier that evening wrapping up against the cold in a white and grey fur coat.

Lottie looked very glamorous as she made her way to the awards show in the luxury coat and her black handbag.

TOWIE's Chloe Meadows followed Arabella's lead with a white and black look which featured a black strapless corset with a flared hem over a long white maxi skirt.

The blonde beauty styled her blonde hair into a neat bob and went jewelry free for the red carpet.

Jessie Wynter set pulses racing in a low cut black dress which hugged her slender figure.

The Love Island star, 27, let her simple and elegant dress do the talking and opted for paired down make-up and hair, styling her blonde locks in loose waves down her back.

Ex EastEnders star Shona McGarty made a rare red carpet appearance in a dramatic tulle gown

The outfit also featured a boned corset and she styled her dark tresses into a long braid

Indiyah Polack, 25, was the picture of elegance in a black strapless gown which featured a geometric bussle style waist band

The reality star let her accessories steal the show as she showed off a statement silver and green necklace with matching rings and bracelets

MAFS UK's Ella Morgan, 29, put on a very busty display in a daring ensemble which included a plunging black corset dress which featured sculptural off the shoulder sleeves and a sheer skirt

As well as ample cleavage she also flashed her long toned legs

The stunner was joined by a mystery man on the red carpet

TOWIE's Chloe Meadows followed Arabella's lead with a white and black look which featured a black strapless corset with a flared hem over a long white maxi skirt

She opted for minimal jewellery to let the stunning ensemble speak for itself

Love Island couple Jessie Wynter and Will Young proved their romance was still going strong as they cosied up together

The Aussie reality star set pulses racing in a low cut black dress which hugged her slender figure

Meanwhile Will was the epitome of suave in a suit and black sweater

Fellow Islander Cally Jane Beech caught the eye in a plum coloured velvet gown which hugged every inch of her jaw-dropping figure

The dress boasted a Bardot neckline and she toted her essential in an eye catching gold handbag

And it wasn't just the great and good from reality TV as Zara and Mike Tindell made an appearance at the London event looking every inch the glamorous couple

Zara donned a sheer black lace tea dress which featured a key hole cut out at the front, puff sleeves and statement corset-style buttons

She was joined on the red carpet by her husband Mike who wore a deep burgundy velvet blazer over a black shirt

The star later posed with her fellow Love Island beau Will Young who looked smart in a beige double breasted jacket and matching trousers, black turtle neck and brown shoes and the pair looked more loved up than ever as they posed arm in arm.

Ella Morgan put on a very busty display as she arrived to the award's red carpet in a daring ensemble.

The Married At First Sight star, 29, posed in a plunging black corset PVC dress which featured sculptural off the shoulder sleeves and a sheer skirt.

The star added inches to her long legs with a pair of black heels and made sure to show them off with a thigh high split in her trailing silver patterned skirt which included sparkling jewels.

Ella finished off her look with glam make-up and threw her brown hair into a messy bun and she pouted for the cameras.

Lizzie Cundy looked gorgeous in a daring caped dress with a sparkly trim

Michelle Visage was spotted ahead of her hosting duties looking every inch the quirky presenter as she showed off her assets in a sheer lace Rebecca Vallance body suit and a black satin mini skirt with a statement bow at the waist

The RuPaul's Drag Race judge hosted the star-studded ceremony

Selling Sunset's Bre Tiesi took a break from real estate in the US to show off her stunning figure in a dazzling white strapless dress which featured folding and rouching detail across the bodice

Love Island's Jessy Potts, 25, turned heads in a bold emerald green jumpsuit with long, flowing cape sleeves

Jake Quickenden and TOWIE's Bobby Norris were both suited and booted

Indiyah Polack, 25, was the picture of elegance in a black strapless gown which featured a geometric bustle style waist band.

The reality star let her accessories steal the show as she showed off a statement silver and green necklace with matching rings and bracelets.

And it wasn't just the great and good from reality TV as Zara and Mike Tindell made an appearance at the London event looking every inch the glamorous couple.

Zara donned a sheer black lace tea dress which featured a key hole cut out at the front, puff sleeves and statement corset-style buttons.

The Olympic equestrian, 43, added a simple grey clutch and a pair of black heels to her understated look and accessorised with large flower earrings.

She was joined on the red carpet by her husband Mike who wore a deep burgundy velvet blazer over a pair of black trousers and a matching black shirt.

And the pair couldn't keep their eyes off each other as they laughed and smiled before heading in to the event.

Arlene Philips was also in attendance and put on a colourful display in a low cut bottle green metallic dress which featured a ruched centre and a flowing skirt

The former Strictly Judge, 81, accebnatued her youthful features with glamorous make-up

This Morning's Dr Zoe Williams showcased her slender figure as she slipped into a black jumpsuit with feather trim

DJ and I'm A Celeb star Snoochie Shy put on a very animated display

Social media star Imogen Cribb dazzled in a green sequinned dress

Jockey Tony McCoy was joined by leggy wife Chanelle

Stacey Solomon's sister Jemma stunned in a black velvet minidress

This Morning star Michelle Elma turned heads in a blue velvet co-ord

Claire Sisk wowed in a white dazzling minidress and black boots

Also in attendance was presenter and model Amel Rachedi, donning a stunning sequined tulle gown

Inside the event, Arlene posed for a snap with Mike Tindall

The pair then high-fived before seemingly engaging in a mock arm wrestle

After larking around with Arlene, Mike only had eyes for wife Zara

Love Island's Faye Winter posed for a snap with Selling Sunset star Breana Tiesi

Faye put on a busty display in a plunging floral gown, while Breana stunned in a strapless white number

Jessie Wynter looked sensational in a sleek black gown

Love Island beauties Jessy Potts and Abi Moores posed for a snap together

The pair posed with fellow Love Island beauty Jess Harding

Selling Sunset's Bre Tiesi took a break from real estate in the US to show off her stunning figure in a dazzling white strapless dress which featured folding and rouching detail across the bodice.

Arlene Philips was also in attendance and put on a colourful display in a low cut bottle green metallic dress which featured a rouched centre and a flowing skirt.

The former professional dancer, 81, accessorised with a matching necklace and simple black heels and added red lipstick to her understated look.

Michelle Visage was also spotted on the red carpet ahead of her hosting duties.

The RuPaul's Drag race judge, 56, looked every inch the quirky presenter as she showed off her assets in a sheer lace body suit and a black satin mini skirt with a statement bow at the waist.

Michelle covered her modesty with a plain black bra and showed off her long legs with a pair of heels and sheer tights which also put her collection of kitsch tattoos on display.

She finished off her look with a pair of glasses and piled her silver and black wavy hair on her head as she smiled for the cameras.

Kelsey Parker turned heads in a bight baby pink boxy mini dress.

The widow of The Wanted's Tom Parker, 34, looked in good spirits as she went solo for the beauty awards despite recently confirming her romance with Will Lindsay, 27, a tree surgeon from Kent.

Two years after the tragic death of her husband, Kelsey found love again and seemingly couldn't be happier as she grinned while posing on the red carpet.

The star looked stunning in the pink mini dress which featured a large bow at the back and showed off her legs.

Stacey Solomon beamed for a photo inside the event

The star looked delighted as she posed with her award

Stacey and her Rehab colleagues scooped the award for Product of the Year

Stacey Solomon and her team looked excited as they posed on the stage with their prize

Charlotte Dawson shared a hug with Christine McGuinness

The pair struck a pose in their eye-catching red outfits

Mum-to-be Charlotte looked ravishing in a burgundy, lace ensemble

Charlotte delightedly shared a hug with MAFS UK star Ella Morgan

The pair posed up a storm with pals at the bash

Rosie Seabrook looked elegant in a brown off-the-shoulder number, while Demi Jones sizzled in a plum ruffled dress

Lottie Tomlinson and Daisy Tomlinson rocked stylish, floor-length dresses

Indiyah Polack caught the eye in a black strapless dress with structured pockets

The blonde beauty added a pair of silver bumps to her look and the devil was in the detail as she matched a pair of silver earrings to her shoes and her pink nails to her outfit.

Liberty Poole was channeling her inner princess as she stepped out in a sequin dress with daring hip cut outs.

The former Love island star, 25, showed off her curves in the corset dress which featured a plunging neckline.

The blonde bombshell let the dress have its moment in the spotlight and accessorised with nothing but a dainty silver tiara.

Fellow Love Islander Megan Barton Hanson, who appeared on Love Island Australia with Liberty last year, made sure all eyes were on her in a sexy cut-out dress.

The reality star and OnlyFans model put on a very busty display in the a-symmetric white dress which flashed her cleavage and underboob as well as her toned midriff.

Ella Morgan cosied up to boyfriend Alex, who she met on Celebs Go Dating

The pair shared a passionate kiss as they larked around for the cameras

Ella put on an eye-popping display in her revealing dress

Jess Wright was sure to stand out from the crowd in her red outfit

Lucinda Strafford (L) and Arabella Chi looked gorgeous in black and white ensembles

Hannah Elizabeth looked almost unrecognisable as she sported red hair while posing with TOWIE's Chloe Meadows

Lottie Moss sizzled in a black satin gown with flower detail

Cally Jane Beech looked sensational in a figure-hugging burgundy suede number

Ekin-Su Culculoglu posed up a storm in her embellished gown

Hannah Olivia Kenyon was simply dazzling in her shimmering, silver fringed dress

Love Island's Ronnie Vint and Jessy Potts posed together on the night

And Megan made sure to give fans a glimpse of her sculpted legs too with a thigh high split and pearl heels.

Junior Andre also stepped out with the stars in an off white suit.

The son of Katie Price and Peter Andre, 19, looked very dapper as he added a black turtle neck and a large silver chain to his ensemble.

And the aspiring musician looked loved-up with his girlfriend Jasmine Orr, 23, who showed off her curvy figure with a brown and black print bodycon dress and black heels.

The loved-up duo were joined by Junior's step-mother Emily who put on a show in an elegant black dress with an organza ruffle collar.

The doctor and wife of popstar Peter, added a silver crescent clutch to her look and styled her brown hair into a half up, half down 'do.

Love Island's Jessy Potts turned heads in a bold emerald green jumpsuit with long, flowing cape sleeves.

The blonde beauty, 25, added a pair of cream sparkly pumps to her look and styled her blonde hair in curls.
Princess Andre looked sensational as she joined step-mum Emily MacDonagh at the 2024 Beauty Awards at HAC in London on Monday evening.

The daughter Peter Andre and Katie Price, 17, oozed confidence as she graced the red carpet in a strapless bejewelled gown.

Princess accessorised her stunning look with a sparkly oversized clutch and a selection of dainty silver jewellery.

She wore her long blonde tresses in bouncy curls while accentuated her features with glamorous make-up.

Meanwhile Emily, 34, who wed the Mysterious Girl singer, 50, in 2015 and welcomed their third child last year, opted for a chic black minidress.

Princess Andre, 17, (L) looked sensational as she joined step-mum Emily MacDonagh, 34 (R) at the 2024 Beauty Awards at HAC in London on Monday evening

The daughter Peter Andre and Katie Price, 17, oozed confidence as she graced the red carpet in a strapless bejewelled gown

The look boasted ruffle detailing and hugged every inch of her figure, while adding a few extra inches to her frame with a pair of strappy metallic heels.

Princess' red carpet appearance comes after she teased a surprise career move in the wake of her four-figure contract for her first ever modelling Job with PrettyLittleThing.

Taking to Instagram she hinted she may follow in her famous father's footsteps and dip her toe into the world of music during a Q&A with fans.

Peter was catapulted to fame with his single Mysterious Girl in 1996, while son and Princess' older brother Junior, 19, released his own debut single in 2022.

When one Instagram follower asked: 'Do you sing or compose any songs?'.

She replied: 'Not at the moment but potentially in 2025/ 2026'.

Speaking to the Evening Standard last year about his daughter's modelling career, Peter said: 'She's smashing it! She has just done a big shoot and I couldn't be prouder of her.'

Peter also revealed he wouldn't have a problem with either Princess Junior taking part in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! where he first met their mother in 2004.

He said: 'I did say to them they should definitely think one day about going on I'm A Celerity because I think they'd be brilliant. To go to the place where, it's like not many people can experience that.'

Princess accessorised her stunning look with a sparkly oversized clutch and a selection of dainty silver jewellery

She wore her long blonde tresses in bouncy curls while accentuated her features with glamorous make-up

Princess posed up a storm before taking her seat for the ceremony

Meanwhile Emily, 34, who wed the Mysterious Girl singer, 50, in 2015 and welcomed their third child last year, opted for a chic black minidress

The look boasted ruffle detailing and hugged every inch of her figure, while adding a few extra inches to her frame with a pair of strappy metallic heels

Emily pictured with Peter (far right) and his children Princess and Junior, 19, last month

Princess' was said to be 'over the moon' to be joining the likes of Molly-Mae Hague and Gemma Owen on the retailer's roster.

A source revealed: 'Princess is so excited, she's looked up to her mum for years and has aspired to model for a brand like PrettyLittleThing since she can remember.

'She knows she's still young at 16 but Pete is going to oversee her work with PLT to ensure she's protected and well looked after.

'The partnership was born organically after Princess posted on Instagram about wearing the brand, it's naturally a great fit for both parties.'

Katie and Pete, who divorced in 2009 after four years of marriage and share children Junior and Princess, have previously fallen out about their daughter's appearance.

Throughout the years, fans have criticised mum-of-five Katie for allowing her eldest daughter to wear a full face of makeup in glamorous photos shared to Instagram.

Despite Junior and Princess growing up in the limelight after their parents fell in love filming ITV's I'm A Celeb, Pete has always tried to shield them from the public eye.

At a friend's suggestion, the teenager had professional photographs taken and was quickly snapped up by a modelling agency who landed her a Page 3 slot in The Sun newspaper the following year, sparking the creation of her glamour model alter ego, Jordan.

Last week she to Instagram and hinted she may follow in her famous father's footsteps and dip her toe into the world of music during a Q&A with fans

Peter was catapulted to fame with his single Mysterious Girl in 1996 (pictured)

While son and Princess' older brother Junior, 19, released his own debut single in 2022 (pictured)

Katie revealed she was glad that she wasn't exposed to social media at the time as she had 'no idea what Botox was or fillers', otherwise she may have started her tweaks and enhancements at an even earlier age.

Since then she has undergone a 130,000-plus transformation, with the celebrity has become almost unrecognisable from when she first rose to fame in the late Nineties.

He banned Princess from having a public Instagram profile or using her phone in her room until she was 14 and he's been explicitly clear when it comes to romance.

Katie started modelling at the age of 17 as a fresh-faced natural beauty.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's twins Knox and Vivienne were the spitting image of their famous parents as they stepped out in LA recently.

The pair, 16, looked relaxed as they headed out to grab groceries together - days after Knox made a very rare red carpet appearance with his mom, 49, at the Governors Awards 2024.

Knox resembled a young Pitt with his shaved head - with the nepo-baby clad in a green top and gray shorts.

Vivienne wore a powder blue sweater and jeans for the low-key outing.

The pair are younger siblings of Jolie and Pitt's oldest biological child, Shiloh, 18 and adopted siblings Maddox, 22, Pax, 20 and Zahara, 19.

This comes after it emerged Angelina and Knox Jolie-Pitt walking arm in arm at the Governors Awards was 'odd' to Pitt, according to insiders who accused the actress of using outings with her children to 'get under her ex-husband's skin'.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's twins Knox and Vivienne were the spitting image of their famous parents as they stepped out in LA recently

Brad and Angelina first struck up a romance in 2005, wed in 2014 and split in 2016 - puctured 2015

Last week saw the pair enjoy a rare public mother-and-son date with the toast of Hollywood at the star-studded bash at the Ray Dolby Ballroom.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, a source revealed that her ex-husband Brad found the timing of the outing 'suspicious' amid their ongoing divorce battle.

'Brad only gets to see his children when they walk on the carpet with their mom and the timing of this could not be any more suspicious considering it was just decided that he and Angie are headed to trial,' the insider noted.

DailyMail.com revealed that the former couple are set to face-off in court next year as their long-running legal battle or so-called 'War of the Rose' heads to trial.

The decision came after a judge recently threw out the Wanted actress's motion to dismiss her ex-husband's lawsuit over their French vineyard.

The Chateau Miraval estate, which produces an award-winning sparkling rose, is at the center of a long-running court battle between the pair.

Meanwhile, Angelina has also been accused of trying to drive a wedge between her estranged husband and their six kids in the aftermath of their split.

The source continued: 'She is trying to get under his skin after his recent win and using Knox to do so is odd.

Knox resembled a young Pitt with his shaved head - with the nepo-baby clad in a green top and gray shorts

Vivienne wore a powder blue sweater and jeans for the low-key outing

The siblings were making a rare joint public outing

Knox was the spitting image of his famous father Brad (seen R in 2004)

The twins looked in good spirits as they made their way home

It comes after Jolie was accused of using red carpet outings with her and ex Pitt 's kids to get under his skin (pictured with Knox last week)

'Knox wants nothing to do with Hollywood and has no communication with Brad.'

The insider added: 'Of course, it bothers him that Angelina has turned them against him. She did this while they were all young and they didnt even get a chance to make up their minds about him.

'He believes that, in time, his children will come back into his life.'

Elsewhere, a source close to Angelina insisted that it was Knox's choice to support his mother at the event.

'Knox chose to attend the awards with his mom, and they had a nice mother-son evening,' the insider noted.

'Their decision to attend together did not have anything to do with Brad,' the insider added.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, a source revealed that her ex-husband Brad found the timing of the outing 'suspicious' amid their ongoing divorce battle (Brad pictured in September)

Documents filed earlier this year revealed how a former bodyguard was told by his contractors that Angelina was pushing for her children to shun Brad when she had custody of them

Notably absent from the outing on Sunday were Knox's siblings  Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, and Vivienne.

Back in May, court filings lodged at LA Superior Court revealed that a former bodyguard for the couple was informed by his own contractors that Angelina was pushing for her children to avoid Pitt when she had custody of them.

Former British SAS solider Tony Webb worked for the family for more than 20 years, starting in 2000, and claimed that his colleague told him he overheard Angelina 'encouraging the children to avoid spending time with Pitt during custody visits.'

Documents detailing the explosive claims were made public as part of the ongoing 'War of the Roses', with the A-List couple stuck in an acrimonious battle over her rights to sell their French vineyard and home.
Rhod Gilbert has revealed that two people close to him died of cancer just months after he received the all-clear.

The Welsh comedian, 56, was diagnosed with Stage 4 head and neck cancer in 2022 and battled the disease before getting the all clear in October last year.

But speaking to The Mirror, Rhod revealed he was dealt a heartbreaking blow just months after his good news.

Rhod said that he found during the interval of a stand-up gig he was doing that his friend had passed away from terminal cancer.

He also said that last week he attended the funeral for the dad of another friend of his, who had also died from cancer.

Rhod Gilbert has revealed to The Mirror that two people close to him died of cancer just months after he received the all-clear

The Welsh comedian, 56, was diagnosed with Stage 4 head and neck cancer in 2022 and battled the disease before getting the all clear in October last year

'This week I've been to a funeral for my friend's dad, who died of cancer,' he said. 'In the interval while on stage in Halifax, I [also] found out that a friend of mine had died of cancer.

'I knew he had gone into end of life care, so it wasn't a huge surprise, but it just happened in that moment where I just so happened to have come off stage during the interval, looked at my phone and read a text saying, "He's gone".'

Rhod received his first clear scan in October last year after undergoing treatment for stage four cancer.

He was diagnosed in July 2022, and was treated at the Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff, where he had been a fundraising patron for a decade before the diagnosis.

He underwent surgery for metastatic cancer of the head and neck, followed by sessions of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Speaking in April about his condition, he said: 'Still all clear. Still in the care of the wonderful Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff. I get checked every few weeks but still all clear.

'I feel wonderful. I've got lots of issues that I may or may not have for the rest of my life, who knows. Who cares!

'I'm here, I'm good and every night, I'm on stage pinching myself that I'm doing this. That I'm on stage performing just now two years after being diagnosed.'

The funnyman is performing throughout the UK in 2024 and 2025 on his Rhod Gilbert & The Giant Grapefruit tour and he says his illness influenced some of the content of his show (pictured in 2018)

The funnyman is performing throughout the UK in 2024 and 2025 on his Rhod Gilbert & The Giant Grapefruit tour and he says his illness influenced some of the content of his show.

Rhod explained: 'Grapefruit, partly a nod to the tumour that was in my neck, and partly the thing of when life gives you lemons you make lemonade.

'Well this is what to do when life starts throwing grapefruits at you which is even worse in my opinion but it's a happy show, it's an uplifting show.'

Rhod revealed he was battling cancer in 2022 in a statement issued across social media, just days after pausing his tour at the time.

He wrote: 'As a proud patron of Velindre Cancer Centre, I've trekked the world, hosted chaotic quizzes and star-studded comedy nights.

'I've met and made friends with so many inspirational staff, patients and their families. It has been a huge part of my life for the last ten years.

'So while I never imagined that I would be a patient here, I know better than anyone that I am in the best possible hands.

'The NHS care I'm receiving is incredible. I wouldn't wish this on anyone...but who knows, maybe I'll come out the other end with a new stand-up show and a 40 minute rant about orange squash.

'Thank you everyone for your support over the last few weeks and months (and years).

'I'll be disappearing for a while and won't be commenting further, at least not for now, whilst I focus on my recovery.'
Jack Whitehall joined supermodel girlfriend Roxy Horner backstage at the Joshua Kane: The Decade Runway Collection at art'otel Hoxton on Monday.

The comedian, 36, enjoyed a pampering session from the professionals and had his hair styled and pricey products applied to his famous face.

Jack cut a causal figure in a white T-shirt and dark jeans as he was watched over by his stunning partner.

Roxy, who welcomed daughter Elise with the actor last year, sported a matching colour palette, showcasing her gorgeous figure in a tight vest and trousers.

The event was attended by a whole host of celebs including Lady Victoria Hervey and fashion designer Karen Millen.

Jack Whitehall, 36, joined supermodel girlfriend Roxy Horner, 33, backstage at the Joshua Kane: The Decade Runway Collection at art'otel Hoxton on Monday

The comedian enjoyed a pampering session from the professionals and had his hair styled and pricey products applied to his famous face

Victoria, 48, slipped into a figure-hugging black sequinned jumpsuit which boasted a plunging neckline and wide legged trousers.

Jack and Roxy recently celebrated their daughter's first birthday with a trip to Disneyland.

They enjoyed a family trip to together and marked the occasion with an adorable Instagram post with their daughter Elsie last month.

The stand-up was seen carrying around his baby girl, who celebrated her first birthday in September, on his shoulders as they made their way around the magical theme park.

Roxy couldn't contain her smile in another snap as the family of three enjoyed the Dumbo ride.

Roxy and Jack were also joined by Roxy's family as they posed for a group photo in front of the Magic Kingdom Cinderella Castle.

Captioning the posts, she wrote: 'Disneyland with 3 generations'.

For the fun day out, Roxy showed off her amazing figure in a beige cropped T-shirt and leggings while Jack opted for a white T-shirt and jeans.

Jack cut a causal figure in a white T-shirt and dark jeans as he was watched over by his stunning partner

Roxy, who welcomed daughter Elise with the actor last year, sported a matching colour palette, showcasing her gorgeous figure in a tight vest and trousers

The model beamed as her gorgeous features were accentuated with make-up

The event was attended by a whole host of celebs including Lady Victoria Hervey (L) and fashion designer Karen Millen (R)

The socialite, 48, displayed her sensational figure in a tight sparkly jumpsuit

The outfit boasted a plunging neckline and wide legged trousers

TV's Charli Fisher stunned in a bejewelled Zino Suit by revolutionary sustainable fashion brand Moustadaam

Elsewhere in the collection of photos, the couple looked more loved up than ever as Roxy planted a kiss on Jack's cheek during a date night.

She looked incredibly cool in a black racer bomber jacket while Jack opted for a brown polo shirt.

For the final snap, Jack beamed as he carried Elsie on his shoulders along the beach in Los Angeles.

Roxy captioned the photos: 'A little trip away'.

Roxy welcomed Elsie at the iconic Lindo Wing, in which a host of royals have given birth, last year, after which Jack admitted the experience was both 'utterly overwhelming' and 'joyous' in ways he 'couldn't have imagined'.

The trip comes after Jack had reportedly become one of the Britain's richest comedian behind Peter Kay, Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais.

The funnyman is said to have amassed a whopping 11.4M fortune, after raking in 2.3M and welcoming his first child with Roxy.

The outing comes less than a month after the pair celebrated their daughter's first birthday with a trip to Disneyland Paris

Roxy couldn't contain her smile in another snap as the family of three enjoyed the Dumbo ride

Jack was seen carrying around his baby girl, who the couple welcomed in September 2023, on his shoulders around the magical theme park

According to The Sun Jack's earnings are mostly thanks to his Netflix shows, including Travels With My Father in which he globe trots with grouchy dad Michael, as well as his own comedy special that debuted on the streaming service last year.

Last month, the publication reported the comedian's company Jackpot Productions grew its shareholders' fund to 11,420,635 from 9,585,293 over the last year, as well as having a whopping 4.4M in the bank.

A source said: 'There is no stopping Jack. Even becoming a dad hasn't slowed down his earnings  and the commissions keep coming.

'He remains hugely likeable, and crucially his comedy appeals to advertisers as it's safe and clean...

'Leaning on the relationship he has with his grouchy dad Michael and fun-loving mum Hilary has helped take him from laddy topics to more relatable topics, too. It's hard to see a time when Jack won't be popular.'
I'm A Celebrity's Maura Higgins almost stripped down to her birthday suit as she celebrated turning 34 with a freezing jungle shower.

The Love Island star braved the cold water during Monday's episode to kick off her birthday in the jungle.

Maura had her own iconic jungle shower moment as she stripped down to a tiny black triangle bikini complete with floral attachments.

'It's horrid isn't it?' GK said to Maura in a show of support as she shrieked at the cold temperatures.

The TikToker was later heard saying: 'I can't imagine a worse place to spend your birthday, bless her. Maybe we all get a bit of birthday cake for her 24? It's a milestone.'

I'm A Celebrity's Maura Higgins almost stripped down to her birthday as she celebrated turning 34 with a freezing jungle shower on Monday

The Love Island star braved the cold water during Monday's episode to kick off her birthday in the jungle

'Happy birthday,' Jane says in the morning as she hugs Maura. 'What a weird birthday to have.

Maura later reflected: 'Birthday in the jungle! This is definitely going to be one I will never, ever forget.'

Meanwhile, Tulisa decided to sleep in. That is, until the camp decided to wake her up with the sound of musical theatre.

Dean said: 'Now that she's out of the Leaders' Lodge, Tulisa has warned me that there must be no musical theatre early in the morning, so I made it my mission to make sure the camp woke up this morning with the sound of lovely singing!'

Following the updated allocations from new leaders Barry and Danny, the campmates set about completing their chores for the day.

This meant birthday girl Maura was left with the chore of cleaning the dunny with Coleen. Not a usual birthday experience, but nonetheless, one she certainly wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon.

Ahead of her arrival in the jungle, Maura admitted to MailOnline that she 'hasn't thought much about jumping in the jungle shower', made famous by Myleene Klass's white bikini moment in 2006.

Teasing that it could be more chaos than sexy, she joked: 'I mean, I'd probably fall over and break my leg. Like, that's probably what happened to me.

'I've packed my bikinis, but I haven't really thought much about it. I'm a bit worried about that water being freezing cold.

Maura had her own iconic jungle shower moment as she stripped down to a tiny black triangle bikini complete with floral attachments

Maura later reflected: 'Birthday in the jungle! This is definitely going to be one I will never, ever forget'

'It's horrid isn't it?' GK said to Maura in a show of support as she shrieked at the cold temperatures

Ahead of her arrival in the jungle, Maura admitted to MailOnline that she 'hasn't thought much about jumping in the jungle shower', made famous by Myleene Klass's white bikini moment in 2006

'I hate cold water, so, um, I could be the girl that doesn't shower the whole time.'

In previous years the likes of Vicky Pattison, Myleene Klass and Jorgie Porter have been amongst those braving the freezing waterfall in skimpy swimwear.

But ahead of the show's launch date, ITV revealed that the sexy scenes may be axed as this year's cast are taking a different approach to their shower ensembles.

Executive producer Olly Nash told The Sun that times had changed and stars like Coleen Rooney and Maura may decide not to wear skimpy swimwear.

He said: 'It's funny, they (celebs) have all asked about that this year, but most people just cover themselves up...

'People are less likely to get in there and want to flaunt themselves.'

However he ended up being incorrect, as Maura celebrated her birthday by hopping into the freezing cold shower.

In 2015, eventual Jungle Queen Vicky Pattison turned up the temperature with a busty display in a palm tree patterned pink plunging bikini as she took a cold shower

The WAG, 38, looked incredible as she slipped into a black swimsuit that showcased her svelte physique and toned legs

Coleen has also dared the shower, as she put her incredible figure on display on Wednesday night's episode.

The WAG, 38, looked sensational as she slipped into a black swimsuit that showcased her svelte physique and toned legs.

Coleen was the only campmate to take a shower on the day, with the others refusing to take a dip in the freezing water because of the rainfall.

Yet the mother-of-four was determined not let her hygiene levels slip and as a result showed off the results of her pre-Jungle fitness regime as she displayed her toned figure.
Service employees at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) will be on strike during a week of potential record-breaking travel.

Workers from the Service Employees International Union confirmed the strike in a statement on November 25.

ABM and Prospect Airport Services employees had previously cast ballots to authorize work stoppage in North Carolina on November 22.

The workers' statement said they demand 'an end to poverty wages and respect on the job during the holiday travel season.'

ABM and Prospect Airport Services currently provide services like interior airplane cleaning and escorting travelers in wheelchairs.

'We're on strike today because this is our last resort. We can't keep living like this. We're taking action because our families can't survive,' ABM cabin cleaner Priscilla Hoyle said in a statement.

It comes as airports across the country are anticipating a record-breaking Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) expects 18.3 million travelers at US airports between November 26 and December 2.

Service employees at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) in North Carolina will be on strike during the 'busiest holiday ever'

Hundreds of CLT employees were expected to participate in the strike today.

Other than walking off their jobs, workers will hold an 11:00 am rally and a 1:00 pm 'Strikesgiving' lunch 'in place of the Thanksgiving meal that many of the workers won't be able to afford later this week.'

'Airport service workers make holiday travel possible by keeping airports safe, clean, and running,' the union said in a statement.

'Despite their critical role in the profits that major corporations enjoy, many airport service workers must work two to three jobs to make ends meet.'

The union explained that most of the workers earn between $12.50 and $19 - less than the living wage for one person with no children in Charlotte, North Carolina.

CLT service workers have also expressed concern over their inability to afford things like food or housing.

ABM explained that it would find ways to minimize potential disruptions from demonstrations.

'At ABM, we appreciate the hard work our team members put in every day to support our clients and help keep spaces clean and people healthy,' ABM said in a statement last week.

Service workers at CLT statement said they demand 'an end to poverty wages and respect on the job during the holiday travel season'

Average airfare during the Thanksgiving travel period is $439, according to experts from Kayak.

The number of travelers in US airports for the next seven days is 6 percent higher than the corresponding days in 2023, it found.

CLT officials said they expect to have 1.02 million travelers departing the airport between November 21 and December 2.

This is a 7 percent increase from this time last year.

Florida's Miami International Airport (MIA) is also expecting to have 1.9 million travelers during the Thanksgiving holiday period, according to CBS News.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is also anticipating 1.3 million travelers.

'This will be the busiest Thanksgiving ever in terms of air travel,' TSA Administrator David Pekoske said.

'Fortunately, our staffing is also at the highest levels that they have ever been. We are ready.'

CLT expects to have 1.02 million travelers departing the airport between November 21 and December 2

United Airlines is expecting more than 6.2 million passengers to fly between November 21 and December 3.

United will operate nearly 4,400 flights, and almost 480,000 passengers will fly with the airline daily during the 2024 Thanksgiving travel period.

United flights this travel period will have about 30,000 more travelers per day than last year.

'We anticipate this will be our busiest Thanksgiving holiday travel period on record and our team members are well-prepared to help more customers than ever connect with their friends, family and loved ones this season,' David Kinzelman, United's Senior Vice President of Airport Operations and Chief Customer Officer, said in an email to DailyMail.com.

'We've made significant investments across our business to help customers save time at the airport, navigate the crowds and arrive at their destinations safely and quickly.'

The airline confirmed in an email to DailyMail.com that its travel demand between November 29 and December 1 went up by more than 20 percent this year.

To help meet the demands, United added nearly 400 additional flights a day.

United Airlines is expecting more than 6.2 million passengers to fly between November 21 and December 3

Airlines have advised holiday travelers to check in early online, monitor flight statuses, and arrive at the airport 2 to 3 hours before flight departure.

An ongoing shortage of air traffic controllers could also cause flight delays, AP reported.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Mike Whitaker explained the agency would use special measures to deal with staff shortages.

'If we are short on staff, we will slow traffic as needed to keep the system safe,' he said.
Despite extensive measures implemented by the government, including digitisation, pilferage persists, revealing systemic flaws in how food subsidies are administered

According to a Study titled Rationalising Public Distribution System in India done by the Indian Council For Research On International Economic Relations (ICRIER), there was grain leakage under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) of 20 million tons (17 million ton of rice and 3 million ton of wheat) which is 28 per cent of the 71 million ton of grain off-take by states (that included 52 million ton of rice and 19 million ton wheat) during August 2022 - July 2023. The Study estimates the annual fiscal cost of this leakage to be around Rs 70,000 crore. Under the PMGKAY, the Union Government asks the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and other state agencies to procure food from the farmers at MSP (minimum support price) and organise its distribution to around 820 million people for free.

The entire cost i.e. MSP paid to farmers plus handling and distribution cost (HDC) is reimbursed to the FCI/other state agencies as a subsidy. The money comes from the Union Budgets allocation for food subsidy. While, the PMGKAY has been in force since January 1, 2023, before that, the Centre was giving food to 820 million persons (7 kg of cereals per person per month to 120 million poorest of the poor persons covered under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana or AAY families and five kilograms of cereals per person per month to the remaining 700 million) at a heavily subsidised price of Rs 2/3/1 per kg for wheat/rice/coarse cereals under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). In addition, since April 2020, it has given 5 kg of food per person per month for free to all 820 million beneficiaries under PMGKAY to mitigate the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

From January 1, 2023, it merged the free part of PMGKAY with the regular food security schemes under NFSA. Now, food is available to all 820 million beneficiaries for free under the new incarnation of NFSA, the PMGKAY. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in November 2023, this arrangement will continue for five years until the end of CY 2028. During the financial year (FY) 2022-23, the Centres expenditure on food subsidy was Rs 272,000 crore. Apart from expenses under PMGKAY for the whole of that FY, this amount also included the subsidy on food grain given under NFSA at the subsidised price of Rs 2/3/1 per kg for wheat/rice/coarse cereals from April to December 2022. Within this total expenditure, how much money was lost due to pilferage? How does the Study reach Rs 70,000 crore? The authors look at the economic cost (EC) of rice and wheat. This is the MSP paid to farmers plus HDC.

During 2022-23, this was Rs 36.7 per kg or Rs 36,700 per ton for rice and Rs 25.9 per kg or Rs 25,900 per ton for wheat. Multiply the pilfered quantity of rice 17 million tons by its EC, we get the cost of its pilferage Rs 62,390 crore. Likewise, multiply 3 million tons of pilfered wheat by its EC, and the cost comes to Rs 7770 crore. Thus, the total cost was around Rs 70,000 crore. This is around 26 per cent of the food subsidy expenditure of Rs 272,000 crore for 2022-23.

Taken as a percentage of the subsidy given under PMGKAY alone (the budget doesnt provide this figure; a back-of-the-envelope calculation using annual off-take of 55 million tons, EC for rice and wheat given above and their use in 75:25 ratio, yields Rs 187,000 crore), this is much higher at 37 per cent.

How has the Study arrived at the quantum of leakage?

The Study picked up monthly off-take (albeit reported) data from the FCI from August 2022 to July 2023 and saw this in juxtaposition with actual household consumption levels taken from the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2022-23. While the former was taken as an approximation for the quantity of food grain sent for distribution amongst the PMGKAY beneficiaries, the latter was taken as a proxy of the quantity received.

Based on the above comparison, it was concluded that as against 52.4 million tons of rice that were sent, 35.7 million tons were received suggesting a shortfall of 16.7 million tons. Likewise, against 19 million tons of wheat that was sent, 16 million tons were received pointing toward a shortfall of 3 million tons. Thus, a total of 19.7 million tons or close to 20 million tons was pilfered from the public distribution system (PDS). But, there is a flaw in such a comparison.

At the Off-take level, it cant be surmised that the quantities that left the FCI warehouses and were picked up by states were entirely meant for PDS stocks to be used for distribution (actual consumption) by the PMGKAY beneficiaries.

Off-take figures also include food stocks in transit, buffer stock, operational reserves and cereals set aside for social welfare schemes and commercial sales by the government. Each of these serves a specific purpose. For instance, buffer stock refers to a strategic stock for smoothening out price fluctuations buying a commodity when the price is low and releasing it in the market when the price is high. Likewise, operational reserves are kept as a backstop which can be used quickly in the case of an unplanned event/emergency. Similarly, stock in transit cant be considered as part of food grain meant for PDS consumption within a given time frame.

The quantities meant for all such purposes need to be excluded from the grains that left FCI warehouses and only the net figure available for PDS consumption should be compared with actual household consumption levels as read from the Consumption surveys. It seems, the Study hasnt done it.

This is also corroborated by the fact that the annual distribution of free food for PMGKAY beneficiaries is normally 55 million tons; against this, the Study uses 71 million tons.

At the beneficiarys end also, the actual household consumption level includes cereal consumed from multiple sources, such as private purchases or state-specific schemes and not just the quantities available under PMGKAY etc. Therefore, it wont be on all fours to directly correlate with PDS off-take.

To conclude, there are leakages from the PDS though not on a scale indicated by the Study. Its root cause has to do with how food subsidy is administered. Under the extant system, the subsidy is built into the price which under this Scheme is Zero. Herein lies the rub.

The availability of a mammoth of around 55 million tons (the quantity distributed under the PMGKAY) in the supply chain with zero price tag is an open invitation to dubious operators to siphon off and sell in the open market raking in a moolah. Howsoever, foolproof one may make the system (Modi  government has done an exemplary job getting PoS (point of sale machines) installed at 530,000 fair price shops across the country; digitisation of supply chain from procurement to distribution; authentication of beneficiaries with their Aadhaar numbers and so on), as long as subsidy is routed through the State agencies, unscrupulous characters will always find ways to circumvent even the best of technology interventions aimed at curbing pilferage. Pilferage can be eliminated only when the government gives subsidies directly to the beneficiaries and allows the food markets to function competitively and efficiently.

(The writer is a policy analyst; views are personal)
The National Cadet Corps (NCC) has competed 76 years of its existence and made commendable efforts in increasing the strength of cadets, the defence ministry said on Saturday asserting that the Corps will touch the strength of 20 lakh in coming years. The largest uniformed youth organisation in the world, the NCC was raised in 1948. The Corps celebrate its 76th Raising Day on Sunday, November 24, 2024 the ministry said in a statement.

The NCC has made commendable "efforts in increasing the strength of cadets by 3 lakh and will be touching the strength of 20 lakh in coming years", Rajesh Kumar Singh, defence secretary was quoted.

He laid a wreath and paid homage to the fallen heroes on behalf of the entire NCC fraternity at the National War Memorial in New Delhi

On the 76th Raising Day, cadets are participating in march past at various cities and are involved in various cultural activities. As per tradition, pan-India blood donation camps are being organised.
While the incumbent Chief Minister Eknath Shinde from Shiv Sena and his Deputy Ajit Pawar from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are leaving no stone unturned to retain their positions, after the just concluded Maharashtra polls, another deputy CM, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis has emerged as front runner to be the next chief CM of Maharashtra, for the second time.

As per the `musical chair option' for the MahaYuti faction Shinde could be deputy CM with Pawar, and then they may take turns later to be CM, as party insiders said that they will not back down from their claims since they supported the BJP to come in National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fold by breaking their parent parties.

Sources said that the BJP's top leadership has reportedly cleared the names of Fadnavis as CM, and the other two as Dy CMs, and have approved of the arrangement for the next government, Shinde will get 12 ministers and the NCP is likely to get 10 berths, sources said.

Fadnavis will serve as CM for the first two-and-a-half years, after which Eknath Shinde will assume the role for the remainder of the term and once Fadnavis steps down as CM, he is expected to be appointed the BJP's national president.

Party sources said Shinde, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar are scheduled to meet Home Minister Amit Shah, and a formal announcement about the new government will be made after the meeting.

MahaYuti alliance scripted a historic victory in Maharashtra assembly elections by winning 235 seats in the 288-member House. The BJP led the Mahayuti's victory by winning 132 seats - the highest among all allies. Shinde Sena won 57 seats and Ajit Pawar-led NCP won 41 seats in the election.

After June 2022, during political turmoil in Maharashtra, BJP took a decision and picked Eknath Shinde as the CM of Maharashtra after he spearheaded a coup of sorts for CM Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government by rebelling, along with over 39 party MLAs who moved from Mumbai to Surat to Goa, and finally back to Mumbai. Shortly after this Ajit Pawar broke ranks from the Sharad Pawar NCP and joined the NDA.
Calling it a flop show of the AAPs class 'education model, the BJP has accused the Delhi government of exploiting the concept of education revolution to construct school buildings, engaging in corruption during construction, embezzling money, and eventually abandoning these structures. The BJP leaders have also decided to hold a Pol Khol Camgain on AAP Government's 'Education Revolution' to Begin on November 28. The protest will be held outside the SOSE school in Dariyapur Kala village.

Addressing a press conference, Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly, Vijendra Gupta said the Aam Aadmi Party has found a new way to make moneyconstruction. The party drafts massive plans under its education policy, allocates billions of rupees in the budget, constructs multi-story school buildings, embezzles funds, and quietly withdraws from projects.

Gupta highlighted that the order to shut down 29 Bal Pratibha Vikas Schools is regrettable. Classes from 6th to 10th grade in these schools have already been discontinued. Grade 11 will be discontinued in the 2024-25 academic year, and Grade 12 in 2025. Gupta mentioned that the Delhi government spent Rs 45 crore constructing a SOSE school building in Dariyapur Kala village, yet no students have enrolled, and no staff has been appointed in 1.5 years. The school now remains closed, with its premises abandoned.He further added that in Shahbad Dairy's A-Block, a school building was constructed in 2020 at a cost of Rs 50 crore for 6,000 students over two shifts. It was inaugurated by then Deputy CM Manish Sisodia in January 2020. However, the building was vacated due to waterlogging caused by poor construction quality.

Similarly, in Pitampura's Kohat Enclave, Rs 50 crore was spent constructing a building for the 'Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar School of Special Excellence,' intended for 2,000 students. Despite its heavy promotion, the school currently has only 200 students enrolled.

He claimed this has resulted in a colossal waste of taxpayer money. Citing the academic results of government schools, Gupta revealed that in 2022-23, 272,448 students were admitted to Class 9, of which 88,409 failed. In 2023-24, out of 277,280 students, 101,331 failed. Similarly, in Class 11, 54,755 out of 214,744 students failed in 2022-23, and 51,914 out of 218,843 failed in 2023-24.

Gupta questioned the education policy under which nearly 300,000 students have failed over two years, despite the Delhi Government boasting about its schools outperforming private ones. He pointed out that the Delhi Government runs 1,034 schools, with an annual budget of Rs 16,575 crore, serving 1.649 million students. This equates to Rs 63,000 per student annually. However, the schools suffer from a severe shortage of teachers, with 1,094 out of 1,670 sanctioned Vice Principal posts lying vacant.
AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced that an additional 80,000 people in Delhi are now eligible for old-age pensions, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 5.3 lakh.

However, hours after the AAP announced the inclusion, the BJP and the Congress countered it with a promise of comprehensive pension coverage on the demand for all elderly people if voted to power in the national capital, where elections are due early next year.

When our government was formed in 2015, 3.32 lakh senior citizens were receiving pensions. Over the past nine years, we added 1.25 lakh beneficiaries. With 80,000 more, 5.3 lakh senior citizens now benefit, Kejriwal said during a press conference.

The Delhi government also launched a dedicated portal on Sunday for elderly citizens to apply for pensions. According to Kejriwal, 10,000 applications have already been received.

Kejriwal highlighted that Delhi provides the highest pension rates in the country, with Rs 2,000 for individuals aged 6069 and Rs 2,500 for those aged 70 and above.

In a further boost to inclusivity, the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and minority communities will receive an additional Rs 500, he added. Accusing the BJP of halting pensions during his imprisonment, Kejriwal said, It is a sin to stop pensions for old people. After my release, we not only restarted the pensions but also added new beneficiaries.

Responding to the accusations, the BJP in a post on X called the AAP's announcement a "political sham", claiming that it was made by Kejriwal instead of the appropriate administrative authorities.

If the BJP comes to power in Delhi next year, 100 per cent of the elderly population will receive old-age pensions on demand, the party said. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said, "Even after this announcement, more than half of Delhi's 10 lakh elderly residents remain uncovered. This is just a drop in the ocean."

Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav said that Kejriwals launch of a portal for the elderly to apply for pensions was a big joke to mislead the people as he would never be able to fulfil this promise, like his hollow promise of giving Rs 1000 per month under the Mahila Samman Rashi Scheme to a woman in every family.

Kejriwal further criticised the BJP's claim of double-engine governments, stating, In Delhi, where we have a single-engine government, senior citizens receive Rs 2,500. In the BJP-led states, the amount is barely Rs 500600. Why choose a double engine when a single-engine works better?

Refuting the claim, the BJP said its government in Haryana provides the highest old-age pension at Rs 2,750 per month.

Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj announced a new Rs 5,000 monthly pension scheme for individuals with over 60 per cent disability, with applications opening soon. Chief Minister Atishi also praised Kejriwal's leadership, likening him to a modern-day 'Shravan Kumar' for facilitating pilgrimages for over one lakh senior citizens.

With the Delhi Assembly elections slated for February 2025, the AAP is vying for a third consecutive term after its sweeping victory in 2020 winning 62 seats out of 70.

The BJP on the other hand is aiming for a comeback in Delhi after 25 years where it has been out of power since 1998.
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) emerged victorious in the majority of the colleges of Delhi University in the Students' Union election results, with them sweeping all positions in five colleges while the while the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) captured all positions in two colleges.

A statement by the ABVP noted that at least 148 candidates backed by ABVP secured landslide victory in the polls carried out across the colleges of Delhi University. The results of elections, held in 52 colleges and departments of the Delhi University on September 27, were finally declared nearly after two months.

The ABVP achieved a clean sweep in five colleges including Hansraj College, Shyam Lal College (Evening), Vivekananda, Aurobindo and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College while the NSUI captured all positions in two colleges. In the remaining institutions, the candidates from both student organisations emerged victorious in various posts, according to the data shared by them.

It also won one seat in Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur College, two in Miranda House, four in Ramjas College, two in Law Centre, one in Campus Law Centre, two in Satyawati College (Morning), two in Satyawati College (Evening), one in Lakshmibai College, eight in Rajguru College, four in Ambedkar College, four in Maharaja Agrasen College, one in Rajdhani College, five in Shivaji College, three in Shyama Prasad Mukherjee College, four in BCAS Bhaskaracharya College and one in Bhagini Nivedita College.

On the other hand, the NSUI achieved a clean sweep in Aurobindo Evening College and Shyam Lal College. ABVP Delhi State Secretary Harsh Attri said, These victories at college unions reaffirm ABVP's position as the most trusted student organization. This success is a result of our consistent presence at college campuses, engaging with the students round the clock.

We remain committed to address the challenges students face and fight for their rights. These wins are not just ours but also of every student of Delhi University.

As many as 14 CCTV cameras and 8 video cameras have been installed on the campus to monitor the votes in the Delhi University Students Union elections. Instructions have been given to conduct counting in two shifts in all colleges, departments, institutes, centres. Counting commenced at 8 am for the morning shift and at 2 pm for the evening shift

This year, the DUSU elections saw a significant turnout, with 51,379 votes cast from the 1.45 lakh eligible voters. The elections were held as scheduled on 27th September 2024. However, the counting process, originally set for 28th September, was delayed by the Delhi High Court due to allegations of public property defacement by candidates.
The annual general meeting of Rajasthan Seva Sadan was held today at Rajasthan Shiv Mandir in Jugsalai. The event was inaugurated by Seva Sadan's President, Dilip Goyal, who warmly welcomed the office bearers and members present. The proceedings commenced with the ceremonial lighting of the lamp, led by President Dilip Goyal, former President Muralidhar Kedia, Ashok Goyal, Dharamchand Poddar, and other dignitaries.

President Dilip Goyal reaffirmed the organization's commitment to its service-oriented mission, expressing gratitude for the unwavering support of office bearers and members. He emphasized that their collective efforts continue to drive the institutions impactful service work forward.

General Secretary CA Jagdish Khandelwal presented the annual report, detailing the achievements of Rajasthan Seva Sadan over the past year. Highlights included the installation of modern medical equipment such as X-ray and dialysis machines, as well as the appointment of skilled doctors to enhance patient care. He also shared updates on improvements made to the hospital's basic infrastructure and plans for future advancements. Notably, a decision was made to re-enroll Rajasthan Seva Sadan under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, ensuring that underprivileged patients can access its facilities. Additionally, the members unanimously approved proposed amendments to the organizations constitution.

Treasurer CA Manish Kedia presented the financial report for the fiscal year 2023-24. After a brief discussion, the income and expenditure details were unanimously approved. He also announced the provision of discounts on medicines for patients through the Seva Sadans medical facility.

Joint Secretary Ashish Mittal highlighted the organizations efforts in expanding service work through medical checkup camps in various locations, which will continue to be a priority in the coming year.

The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks by Vice President Mantu Aggarwal, expressing appreciation to all attendees for their active participation and support.

Prominent attendees included Rajesh Ringsia, Shravan Debuka, Sunil Ringsia, Anant Mohanka, Pawan Kabra, Shankarlal Mittal, Kamal Naredi, Ramgopal Kedia, Dr. I.P. Mittal, Rajesh Jaisuka, and numerous other members.
As part of Tribal Pride Day and Tribal Cuisine program in government schools by Jharkhand Education Project, Tribal Pride Fortnight was celebrated at Government Primary School Larkuria Kutmu on Monday. On this occasion, UNICEF State Advisor Pallavi Shah and District Education Superintendent Sunanda Das, Incharge Principal Rashmi Khes, former Principal Salomi Lakra etc. were present as chief guests. The guests were honored by in-charge Rashmi Khes by giving them body clothes. On this occasion, in-charge Rashmi Khes gave detailed information about Tribal Pride Fortnight and tribal cuisine. Chief guest District Education Superintendent Sunanda Das said that children are forgetting the tribal local food and are paying more attention to Chinese fast food. Due to which the mental and physical abilities of children are becoming weak. Jharkhand Education Project is organizing Tribal Pride and Tribal Cuisine Fortnight program in all the schools. Under this, this event was organized in Kutmu Primary School. Various types of dishes were prepared on the spot. And it was told that this tribal dish is no less than Chinese food. Rather, it provides vitamins in abundance, which will help in the physical and mental development of children. UNICEF State Advisor Pallavi Shah said that this program has been done to promote Jharkhandi culture and food.
Making a comeback on the presidential post after seven years, the National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the Congress-backed student body, secured the President and Joint Secretary positions in the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections on Monday.

In a closely contested race, NSUI's Rounak Khatri, a 23-year-old law student, emerged victorious in the presidential race, defeating the RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) candidate Rishabh Chaudhary by over 1,300 votes. Khatri secured 20,207 votes, while Chaudhary, who is pursuing his studies at the Department of Buddhist Studies currently, received 18,864 votes.

Khatri is popularly known on campus as "Matkaman" for his unique campaigning style as he had protested against poor water quality in University, for symbolic protest he had installed matkas in campus. The last NSUI president was Rocky Tuseed, who won in 2017.

The winning candidate from NSUI has gained recognition for his advocacy of student rights and aims to bring transparency and fairness to DUSU. His legal expertise and dynamic leadership have made him a prominent figure in the university.

In what can be described as a power split, both NSUI and ABVP secured two posts each. ABVPs Bhanu Pratap Singh won the Vice President post with 24,166 votes, defeating NSUIs Yash Nandal, who garnered 15,404 votes.

A graduate in Psychology (Honors) from Sri Aurobindo College is originally from Faridabad in Haryana, Singh has organized various competitions aimed at the holistic development of students and has served as the Secretary of his colleges student union. He is currently pursuing a law degree at the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi.

ABVPs Mitravinda Karanwal, contesting for the Secretary post, won with 16,703 votes, overcoming NSUIs Namrata Jeph Meena, who had initially led in early trends. A third-year History (Honors) student from Lakshmibai College, Karnwal is actively involved in women's issues and social service. She previously served as the Secretary of her colleges student union and has worked under ABVP's Ritumati campaign to raise awareness about women's health and safety at the university.

NSUI also made strides by securing the Joint Secretary position with 21,975 votes, with Lokesh Choudhary, a student of Buddhist Studies from Hisar, defeating ABVPs Aman Kapasia, a national-level archer, who secured 15,249 votes. Choudharys victory marks the first time NSUI has held the Joint Secretary position since 2016.

Lokesh, a member of the Gurjar community, aims to improve campus life for all students and address the concerns of marginalized communities.

The last time the power was split evenly between NSUI and ABVP was in 2017, when NSUI held the President and Vice President posts, while ABVP controlled the Secretary and Joint Secretary positions.

The DUSU election results, which were initially scheduled to be announced on September 28, were delayed by nearly two months due to a Delhi High Court order. The court had stalled the declaration of results until the defacement caused during the election campaign was cleaned up.

Following the results, celebrations erupted as NSUI supporters, mostly from Congress's student wing, gathered in large numbers, chanting slogans and cheering for their leaders. This victory marks a significant revival of the Congress party's presence in the influential student body after nearly a decade of dominance by ABVP.

The DUSU, the representative body for students from Delhi Universitys member colleges, faculties, and teaching departments, will serve a term from August 16 of each year to August 15 of the following year. The election results signal a shift in the dynamics of the student union, with both NSUI and ABVP securing strong footholds.
The Election Commission on Sunday handed over the list of newly elected MLAs to Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar at the Raj Bhavan. During this, Election Commission of India's Principal Secretary Arvind Anand and Jharkhand's Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar were present. Hemant Soren also presented his claim to form the new government before the Governor on Sunday. The swearing-in ceremony is to be held on November 28.

The Jharkhand assembly election 2024 was conducted successfully and without any major untoward incidents across the state despite the left-wing extremism (LWE) influence and the history of political antagonism in several parts of the state.

According to the commission, there was no need for repolls even as the voting was carried out in 29,563 booths. Polling was violence-free in LWE-sensitive areas, including Burha Pahar and the Saranda areas, in which a number of booths witnessed high voter turnout.

The poll panel informed that elaborate security measures were made at polling booths and 600 Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), 60 companies of the Jharkhand Armed Police, over 15,000 district police and 14,000 home guards were deployed in the first phase and 685 companies of CAPF, 60 companies of the state armed police besides home guards and the state police numbering 26,000 were deployed in the second.
In a tragic incident, five people, including the grooms aunt, were killed and four others were critically injured in a road accident in Hardoi.

The passengers on a Bolero were returning from Kanpur after attending a wedding. At 3 am on Monday, the Bolero collided head-on with a bus. The collision was so severe that the Bolero fell 50 feet away. It had to be cut to bring out the trapped occupants.

Among the dead were four women and a man.

Police said that the accident took place on Katra-Bilhaur road near Gauri intersection under Mallawan Kotwali.

It is suspected that the accident happened because of poor visibility due to fog or the driver dozed off. Police sent the bodies for post-mortem. The four injured persons were referred to the Trauma Centre of King Georges Medical University in Lucknow.

The wedding party of Digvijay Singh of Mallawan in Hardoi had gone to Shivrajpur in Kanpur. The baraatis were returning after the wedding. There were nine people, including women and children, in the Bolero.

The bus involved in the accident was also carrying wedding guests from Baghauli.

The victims were identified as Seema Devi (40), Pratima (32), Pratibha (42), the grooms aunt Ramkali (52) and Bolero driver Shubham (28). They all died on the spot. All hailed from Madhoganj in Hardoi district.

Those seriously injured in the accident included Vimala (40), Keshav (12), Shaurya (10) and a 12-year-old child.

The bus driver fled from the spot after the accident. A case has been registered in this regard and the police have launched a hunt to nab the absconding bus driver.
The BJP secured an unexpected victory in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, defying predictions in a tribal-dominant state. However, in Jharkhand, the tide shifted as Hemant Soren, despite his legal challenges, along with his dynamic and determined wife, led a spirited campaign that significantly altered the political landscape. The Jharkhand elections saw a decisive victory for the JMM, forming an alliance with the Congress to solidify its hold on power. Notably, the rise of student leader-turned-politician Jairam Mahto has added fresh momentum to the Mahto reservation demand, promising new dimensions to state politics. While the BJP garnered the largest vote share at 33.18%, underscoring its broad support base, the JMM followed with 23.44%, showcasing its robust regional clout. The Congress, with 15.56%, retained its relevance as a key ally by holding on to its 16 seats, though it played second fiddle to the dominant regional players.

In general, and particularly in Jharkhand, the issue of unemployment heavily emphasized by the Congress during the Lok Sabha elections failed to gain traction in the Assembly elections. In Jharkhand, the focus on women-centric schemes, modelled after those in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, combined with promises of increased monetary benefits if retained in power, appeared more as a tactic to lure voters rather than addressing systemic issues like education, skill development, or employability. Such strategies, while popular, raised questions about their ethicality and long-term impact. In local elections, voters often prioritize leaders with a finger on the pulse of the state rather than those preaching lofty ideologies. Yet, the BJP's campaign narrative, rooted in the rhetoric of outsiders and infiltrators in the Santhal region, failed to strike a chord. This was largely because the cultural fabric of Jharkhand is a tapestry of tribal and non-tribal communities, many of whom are migrants themselves and have coexisted for generations. The BJP's misstep was akin to barking up the wrong tree, as the deeply intertwined identities of Jharkhand's residents rejected a divisive narrative, choosing instead leaders who resonate with grassroots realities.

Briefly on Maharashtra, where the BJP danced to victory with cautious optimism the BJPs landslide win in Maharashtra was nothing short of extraordinary, especially following their Lok Sabha election setback. A strategic course correction, effective policies, disciplined seat-sharing arrangements, and relentless campaigning under the Mahayuti alliance proved to be a masterstroke. Bhupender Yadav and Ashwini Vaishnav, the two Union Ministers worked smartly wouldnt seek credit for the victory, as the party attributes its success to the grassroots appeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his resonant slogan, Ek Hain Toh Safe Hain. The duo spearheaded BJPs campaign with unwavering focus, operating behind the scenes, camping in Mumbai for weeks, and flawlessly implementing the party's grassroots strategy. Dissidents were appeased, alliances fortified, and every detail meticulously managed, as if failure wasnt an option. BJPs decision to entrust them with Maharashtra in June, when the party appeared to be on shaky ground, turned out to be a game-changer. Much like in Haryana, Congress misjudged BJP's extensive preparation and strategic finesse. The internal rifts within Shiv Sena and NCP further tilted voter confidence toward the BJP, which presented a unified and decisive front. As a result, Congress found itself outmanoeuvred, unable to match the BJP's disciplined and methodical campaign approach.

Meanwhile as a voter, if one can freely express their views, it would be for Congress Party which is losing significant ground over concerns like question paper leaks and irregularities in competitive exams, which alienated a large chunk of the youth and aspirants. While the party has no shortage of pressing issues to take to voters, it remains stuck on the Adani-Modi link, an allegation of crony capitalism that rings hollow when Congress itself has faced similar accusations in the past. For

Assembly elections, where local governance and direct voter connection matter more, such narratives hold limited weight, especially when the Congress in Jharkhand grapples with its own corruption scandals, including allegations of cash collection within the party. This double standard has made it difficult for
Come winter. Palamu tiger reserve gets on its job of mitigation. Wild life like elephants and wild boars cause damages to crops of the growers. Paddy farmers remain restive till the harvested ones don't reach the barn.

PTR launched a 2 pronged programme. First to refresh the awareness about the wild life human conflict. Second to mitigate the sufferings.

It is holding awareness drive among the villagers. To minimise wastage of crop by the elephants, PTR is exploring how far solar light be helpful in shooing the elephant.

JREDA (Jharkhand Renewable Energy Development Agency) will provide 2,000 solar light systems to the tiger reserve Palamu.

Deputy director north division of PTR P K Jena told this correspondent today "JREDA has agreed to give us 2,000 solar light systems. We first wrote to the DC Latehar who forwarded our request with a very strong recommendation for solar light systems to be provided for the PTR".

"These solar light systems will not be lighting village roads or alleys." Jena explained.

"We will be using it for lighting entry points and critical points of the passage of the elephants" Jena clarified.

He said "Little over such 60 entry and critical points have been located and identified where these solar light systems will be installed."

On being reminded that solar batteries are stolen to which Jena said "We are aware of it. We will ask our eco development committee for safeguarding batteries and other accessories for solar light system."

Solar batteries are not insured and hence when stolen or damaged replacement becomes a very rare thing said sources.

Jena said "Once we get success in guarding our 60 entry and critical points, then we will push off for solar power driven bio fencing to avert raids by the elephants and the wild boars."

It's the elephants that are invariably described as a major crop raider.

Jena said "We need to correct this perception. Wild boars and monkeys are no less evil so far crop raiding is concerned."

Chhipadohar range of the tiger reserve Palamu is very vulnerable to raids by the wild boars and monkeys.

The far flung Kutku range is also a badly affected range of wild boar and monkey menace.

"Where there is vegetable, there is wild boar" goes a saying in the villages.

Jena said "Very recently we held interactive sessions of the villagers with a renowned wild life human conflict expert Dr Rudraditya."

The wild life human conflict expert gave homely tips for saving crops and houses under the raid line of the elephants.

Common sense is to be used and never feel to outdo the wild life as after all it's in their home land humans are trespassing.

"Villagers were asked to ready old jute bags soaked with red chili and mobil as when it is lit, its smoke drives away the elephants"Jena repeated quoting Dr Rudraditya.

Again asked if the wild life human conflict expert briefed villagers about behaviour of wild life prior to its attacking humans Jena said "It was said and explained at length."

A lone elephant behaves differently from an elephant in the herd or any elephant which is in a state of sexual ecstasy or elephant with its calf.

Lives can be saved if humans do not want to abandon their lives themselves quipped Jena.

"What is the need of going to the jungles at night or even before the day breaks. When humans err, the wild life does no mistake. They attack humans for their own safety." added Jena.

Sources said villagers who are tipsy negotiate wild life path only to encounter wild life which very often harms them badly.
Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has given his approval to key amendments in the Delhi Legal Metrology Rules, 2011, to align them with the central government's regulations.

The changes will shield the common consumer from fraud and cheating by introducing stricter deterrence against malpractices by retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers, etc, Raj niwas said in a statement. Penalty on use of non-standard weight or measure will be increased from Rs 2,500 to Rs 5,000 for a retailer, Rs 10,000 for wholesale dealer and Rs 50,000 for petroleum industry/petrol pump, the statement said. The fine for manufacture of non-standard weight or measure will be increased from Rs 2,000 to Rs 1,00,000. Similarly, the penalty for selling of non-standard packages will be increased from Rs 2,500 to Rs 5,000 for retailers and Rs 25,000 for manufacturers, it said.

This will ensure uniformity in regulatory standards across the country, streamlining compliance procedures for businesses and reducing administrative burdens.

The amendments align with the changes recently introduced by the central government under the Jan Vishwas Act, 2023 to ensure fair market practices. The changes include an amendment in Schedule XI of Delhi Legal Metrology (Enforcement) Amendment Rules, 2011 that enhances penalty on users and manufacturers of non-standard weights or measures, the statement said.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution had earlier advised the state governments to prescribe the compounding fees in the enforcement rules and circulated a draft model rules in that direction.

While approving the proposal of the legal department for amendment in the rules, the LG directed that draft notification be forwarded to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs (weight and measures division) for its approval, as mandated in the Act, it said.

The LG has also instructed that the department may process such proposals strictly in accordance with the Government of NCT of Delhi Act, 1991.

Once the changes come into effect, the Delhi government will be empowered to increase compounding fees for specific offences. Specific provisions from the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodity) Rules, 2011, will be integrated into the Delhi rules to ensure uniformity in regulatory standards across the country, the statement said.

The implementation of these changes will empower consumers and create a level playing field for businesses. These amendments will not only strengthen consumer protection but also contribute to the overall economic growth of the region. By aligning with the Central Governments initiatives and implementing best practices, it will help establish Delhi as a consumer-friendly and business-friendly destination.
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JUH) has condemned Prime Minister Narendra Modis recent statement that there is no place for waqf law in the Constitution, terming the remark as frivolous.

The JUH protested the statement on Monday, the day the winter session of Parliament commenced. The National Democratic Alliance government has listed the Waqf Amendment Bill for consideration and passage during the session.

The opposition parties and several Muslim organisations have vociferously protested the bill, which aims to restrict the power of waqf boards to manage its properties and provides for more government regulation.

JUH president Maulana Arshad Madani said, I was appalled to learn that Prime Minister Modi has expressed the view that waqf should be done away with since there is no provision in its favour in the Constitution. We did not expect such a frivolous remark from the prime minister of India.

Madani claimed that waqf is a crucial part of Islam, mentioned in the Hadith, and Muslims are responsible for protecting it. He argued that the statement by Prime Minister Modi, made during his address to Bharatiya Janata Party workers in New Delhi on Saturday, was not only ill-informed but could also lead to the unnecessary restriction of Muslims religious rights in India.

Tomorrow, it may be said that Muslims would not be allowed to offer namaz, go for Haj pilgrimage and give away zakat (alms) since these too find no mention in the Constitution, Madani said.

The prime minister should know that waqf is an integral part of Islam and it finds mention in the Hadith, which are words spoken by our Prophet. As such, it is the duty of Muslims to safeguard waqf, he added.

The prime minister should also remember that the countrys secular Constitution grants every religious minority the right to practice its faith. And Muslims are claiming that right by opposing the Waqf Bill, Maulana Madani said.

He also urged Janata Dal (United) chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, and the NDA allies who the BJP depends on for staying in power at the Centre, not to support the Waqf Bill, stating that doing so would be tantamount to stabbing Muslims in the back.

The ruling dispensation of the state is the crutch on which the Centre stands. The powers that be in the state claim they would not let Muslims suffer. The waqf issue presents them with an opportunity to walk the talk. If they dither, the community must decide whether or not to trust them anymore, Madani said, indirectly referring to Nitish and Naidu.

The JUH chief accused the BJP government of practising the politics of hate. He said Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma spent months in Jharkhand labelling Muslims as infiltrators. He (Sarma) should remember that most of the Muslims are of Indian origin, Madani added.Assam Chief Minister Sarma was the BJPs co-in-charge of the assembly elections in Jharkhand.

Referring to the BJPs defeat in the Jharkhand assembly elections, Madani said, Those who were trying to spread hate have been humiliated. It is Gods mercy, no doubt, but we must acknowledge that Hindus too stood up with us in the fight.

Speaking at an event at BJP headquarters in Delhi on Saturday, Prime Minister Modi had accused Congress of appeasement politics and said it framed law concerning Waqf Board which has no mandate in the Constitution.

Congress made laws for appeasement. They did not even care about the Supreme Courts order. An example of this is the Waqf Board. The people of Delhi will be surprised. The situation was that before leaving the government in 2014, these people had handed over many properties of Delhi and surrounding areas to the Waqf Board. There is no place for waqf law in the Constitution given to us by Babasaheb Ambedkar, but the Congress did this to increase its vote bank, Prime Minister had said


Historical Morhabadi Ground of the State Capital is readying itself to witness second consecutive and fourth swearing in ceremony of incumbent Chief Minister (CM), Hemant Soren which is scheduled to be held on November 28.



Chief Secretary Alka Tiwari on Monday reviewed the preparations for the swearing-in ceremony at the Project Bhawan. Many guidelines were also given regarding this. The responsibility of organizing the swearing-in ceremony has been entrusted to the Ranchi District Administration. For this, many guidelines have also been given to Ranchi Deputy Commissioner (DC) Varun Ranjan. The Cabinet Coordination Department will monitor the entire event. After the meeting with the Chief Secretary, Ranchi DC and SSP also inspected the venue, Morhabadi Ground.



Meanwhile, Ranjan held a meeting on Monday regarding the preparations for the swearing-in ceremony of the Chief Minister and the members of the Council of Ministers.



All the top officials of the district administration were present in this meeting. In this meeting, a detailed discussion was held regarding the swearing-in ceremony of the Chief Minister and the members of the Council of Ministers. Leaders of the major parties of the India Alliance and senior administrative officials are likely to attend it. Also, a large number of people are likely to gather at the venue. In such a situation, a detailed discussion was held with the concerned officials to maintain law and order and security arrangements at the venue.



In this meeting, instructions were given to the concerned officer regarding deputation of all the concerned officers. During this, the concerned officers were instructed regarding the oath taking ceremony to complete all the arrangements related to the program within the stipulated time.



This includes transport arrangements for the movement of people, food arrangements, arrangements for accommodation of guests coming from other states during the ceremony and arrangements for their traditional welcome and parking, traffic arrangements, movement of VVIP vehicles, minute to minute of the program, routing, control room, drinking water arrangements, mobile toilets, fire fighting arrangements and all other necessary arrangements. Meanwhile, Ranchi's Deputy Commissioner Varun Ranjan reviewed the preparations being made in Morabadi for the swearing-in ceremony.



This time in the assembly elections, the All India Alliance has got 56 seats. JMM has got 34 seats, Congress has got 16 seats, RJD has got 4 seats, while CPI(ML) has got 2 seats.
In a message to the people of Jamshedpur East, Purnima Sahu, the newly elected MLA from the constituency, expressed her profound gratitude for the overwhelming support and blessings she received during the assembly elections. She dedicated her victory to the residents of Jamshedpur East and the hardworking members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

I am deeply indebted to all of you for the love, support, and blessings I have received. The credit for my victory goes to the respected people of Jamshedpur East and the hardworking workers of BJP. Your unwavering support will always inspire me to work tirelessly for the welfare of our constituency, said Sahu in her statement.

She extended her gratitude to senior BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP National President JP Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Jharkhand BJP President Babulal Marandi, for their trust and support during her campaign. She also acknowledged the blessings of God and her family, including her father-in-law, former Jharkhand Chief Minister and current Governor of Odisha, Raghubar Das.

Purnima Sahu pledged to prioritize the development of Jamshedpur East and address the concerns of its residents. The problems of the people in the assembly constituency will be mine. I assure you that I will stand by you in your happiness and sorrow, not only as your MLA but also as a sister, daughter, and daughter-in-law, she stated.

Drawing inspiration from her father-in-law, Sahu promised to emulate his lifelong dedication to the service of Jamshedpurs people. Raghubar Das has always considered the residents of Jamshedpur East as his family and devoted his entire life to their welfare. I will strive to follow the path shown by him and be available for the people here, 24/7.

Reiterating her campaign commitments, Sahu vowed to fulfill the 11 promises she made during her election campaign. I have made 11 vows to you during the elections, and I will fulfill them at all costs, she assured.

In her concluding remarks, Sahu once again expressed her gratitude to the people of Jamshedpur East, stating that their trust motivates her to work diligently for the progress of the region.

Her message has resonated strongly with her supporters, many of whom have expressed optimism about her leadership and vision for the constituencys future.
November 24, 2024 | Bokaro/Ranchi: ESL Steel Limited, a Vedanta Group company and a leading integrated steel producer in India, reaffirmed its commitment to driving socio-economic development in Jharkhand, particularly in communities near its plant in Bokaro. With a history of receiving national and international recognition for its initiatives, Vedanta ESL places community welfare at the heart of its operations.

As Jharkhand welcomes a new government led by the INDIA coalition, Vedanta ESL has extended its congratulations and reiterated its dedication to supporting the states growth and prosperity.

Commenting on the JMM-INDIA coalition's victory, Ashish Kumar Gupta, CEO & WTD of Vedanta ESL Steel Limited, said, We congratulate Shri Hemant Soren ji on his well-earned victory in the Jharkhand elections. We are committed to working hand in hand with the State Government to foster economic growth and enhance the well-being of Jharkhand's people.

Gupta further highlighted the companys focus on collaborative development, stating, Vedanta ESL pledges to actively contribute to the states development initiatives through our CSR programs. These include NAND Ghars for early childhood development, WADI in partnership with NABARD to support sustainable farming, Vedanta ESL Skill School, JIVIKA for women empowerment and micro-enterprises, Project Aarogya for healthcare, and Project Panchhi, which aims to empower 1,000 girls from economically disadvantaged communities across Vedantas ecosystem. Through these efforts, we hope to align with the incoming governments vision for a better, sustainable Jharkhand.
Delhi Police has arrested Lokesh Sharma, the former OSD to ex-Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, in a phone-tapping case of 2020 based on a complaint lodged by Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, officials said on Monday.

However, Sharma was granted bail by a local court soon after his arrest by the Crime Branch, police said.

In April this year, Sharma claimed that Gehlot gave him audio clips of purported telephonic conversations between Shekhawat and some Congress leaders discussing "toppling" the then Congress government in Rajasthan in 2020, when the state faced a political crisis.

Police sources said the former officer on special duty (OSD) to Gehlot came to Delhi on Sunday night after being summoned by the Crime Branch.

In March 2021, Shekhawat lodged a complaint with the Crime Branch alleging illegal phone-tapping by the Gehlot-led Rajasthan government.

Sharma was accused of illegally recording telephone conversations, which were later leaked to the media.

Based on Shekhawat's complaint, Delhi Police registered an FIR against Sharma in March 2021 on charges of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, and unlawful interception of telegraphic signals (telephone conversations).

Subsequently, the Crime Branch questioned Sharma multiple times in the past over three years at its office in Rohini.

Initially, Sharma told the police that he got the audio clips of Shekhawat's purported conversations with some Congress leaders from social media. But later he claimed that Gehlot gave him a pen drive that contained the alleged clips.

As per official sources, Sharma has been cooperating with the investigation by providing information and documents related to the case.

"I have submitted all the details related to the phone-tapping case. I have maintained since the beginning that I did not have any role in this case. It was not in my jurisdiction to tap someone's phone. Ashok Gehlot, who was the chief minister then, himself gave me a pen drive containing the clips which I made viral on his direction," Sharma told mediapersons in September this year.
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday said the state government will not accept the Rs 100 crore donation announced by Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani for the Young India Skill University being set up in the state.

The decision was taken since Adani's announcement gave rise to "unnecessary discussions" that it may appear favouring the state government or the CM, if the donation was accepted, he said while addressing a press conference.

He said so far the Telangana government has not accepted a single rupee into its account from any organisation, including Adani Group.

"I and my Cabinet colleagues do not want to be involved in unnecessary discussions and situations that would dent the image of the state government or my own. That is why, on behalf of the state government, our official Jayesh Ranjan wrote a letter (to Adanis)".

"Due to the (present) situation and controversies, the Telangana government is not ready to accept the Rs 100 crore donation you (Adani) generously offered," Reddy said.

He said the letter clearly requested the Adani Foundation not to transfer Rs 100 crore to the university.

The state government's attempts to obtain Income Tax exemptions for the donations made to the varsity fructified recently, the CM said.

Reddy said that the amount proposed by Adani was part of the company's Corporate Social Responsibility activities.
Because of the insane, irresponsible actions of Rachel Reeves, the Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is NOT qualified for the job, businesses are now speeding up the process for AI integration whilst firing their overpriced human staff. The disgraceful Chancellor even dared to attend the CBI conference today.

AI Integration

Artificial Intelligence is the way forward for many businesses who are looking into bespoke AI integration solutions to bypass the stupid and reckless Labour budget.

What the irresponsible and essentially ignorant budget of the naive, unqualified Rachel Reeves has done is put a noose around many UK businesses.

ARTIFICIAL GENERAL INTELLIGENCE

AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) does not go on sickies, demand more pay, join unions, or go on holidays. AI will replace many jobs soon, and the Labour Chancellor has only speeded up the implementation of this process.

Not only are businesses laying off existing workers, but they are not employing new workers either. This will increase unemployment in the UK, causing even more desperate people claiming unemployment benefits.
Being placed on Interpols international wanted lists is a challenging and certainly frightening situation. Interpol can issue a red notice, which effectively becomes a global wanted notice. This notice informs police in other countries that a person is wanted for prosecution or to serve a sentence. We suggest determining what a red notice is, how to check it, and how a red notice lawyer can help.

What does an Interpol Red Notice Mean?

An Interpol Red Notice is a request from an Interpol member state for assistance in locating and arresting a suspect with a view to eventual extradition. However, it is not an international arrest warrant and does not require mandatory detention.

It is essentially a signal to law enforcement agencies in member countries that a person is wanted for a specific offence and a request for assistance in apprehending him or her. Despite this, a red notice can affect ones ability to travel, work, and other areas of life.

This notice alone does not have the legal force to compel arrest. It is up to each participating country to decide how to respond to it. Some countries may detain a person on the basis of the notification.

Other countries initially conduct their own investigation. Also keep in mind that a red notice is not proof of guilt, but only indicates suspicion on the part of the applicant country. For many people, this means that they may be detained or questioned when attempting to cross borders, even without an official arrest warrant.

Verify the Validity and Grounds of the Red Notice

Firstly, if you find out that there is a red notice against you, find out its authenticity and grounds. Interpol publishes some red notices on its official website. Therefore, it is worth checking the public access. However, not all notices end up on the public database. To get more information, it may be necessary to contact a lawyer who has experience with Interpol cases.

An experienced attorney can file a data request from Interpol to understand the grounds on which the notice was issued. In some cases, the notice may have been issued for political reasons or due to documentation errors. If you are able to prove that the notice violates your rights or does not comply with Interpols statutes, this may be the basis for overturning it.

In addition, lawyers may also request updates on the status of your notice, as notices may be changed or withdrawn by the applicant country.

Explore Options for Challenging or Removing the Red Notice

There are certain mechanisms to challenge and remove a red notice. Firstly, you can appeal to the Commission for the Control of Interpol Files (CCF). This is an independent body authorized to consider complaints and requests for the removal of notices. The Commission examines whether the notice violates Interpols statutory rules, taking into account political, military, racial and religious discrimination. If a notice is found to have been issued in violation of these principles, it may be removed.

Another way is to demonstrate that the case against you does not meet the legal standards set out in international law. For example, if the case is based on facts that are not criminal in international practice. Also, if there is evidence of political motivation, the chances of a successful challenge increase.

Interpol red notice removal lawyers can help you gather evidence and prepare legal arguments to file a complaint with CCF. This process takes time, but it can make a significant difference to your situation and free you from the legal constraints of red notice.

Prepare for Potential Extradition Requests

If you are the subject of a red notice, you should be prepared for possible extradition requests. Extradition is the process by which one state transfers a person to another state for prosecution or execution. However, the existence of a red notice does not guarantee automatic extradition, as the process requires compliance with many legal procedures.

Extradition is governed by the national laws of the host country, as well as international treaties. This means that the authorities of the country you are in will have to consider the extradition request. After, make a decision based on local laws and international obligations. Some countries may refuse extradition if they believe that the notice was issued for political or discriminatory reasons.

Preparing for possible extradition includes gathering all legal documents that can prove that there are no grounds for your arrest and extradition. For example, if the case against you shows signs of being politically motivated. Also, if the case involves a violation of your rights, this could affect the courts decision on an extradition request. By working with a lawyer, you will be able to analyse which arguments and documents will be most persuasive to protect your interests in the legal process.

The article was prepared by Anatoly Yarovyi, a lawyer of the international law firm specializing in international law and protection of the rights of persons under Interpol notice.
Comrades, Bolsheviks, Council bosses, train drivers, Stasi Twitter Police, Union bosses, Civil servants of Soviet Britain. Comrade Rachel Reeves of the Peoples Republic of Soviet Britain today addressed members of the business community at the CBI after kicking the imbecile un-Soviet CBI Chief executive Rain Newton-Smith off the stage, where she was frog marched to an awaiting Stasi Un-Free Speech Unit where she will be cancelled and erased from existence by order of STASI-65233900-UK-A3433.

Comrades, all businesses in the Peoples Republic of Soviet Britain are hereby ordered to not make a profit.

You will all still be required to pay vast amounts of tax, though, and if you dont, we will enter your bank accounts and take what is owed anyway.

You will be monitored at all times and your accounts will be seized if we see any form of profit from your business.

Profit is a symptom of capitalism. It is therefore to be stamped out at all costs in Soviet Britain. We will not have any business challenging my anti-business budget, which was created to ruin the Soviet British economy and to redistribute wealth through collectivisation.

We will intern any business boss who seeks to profit from their business in Soviet Britain, and we will cancel them with immediate effect.

Thank you for listening to my orders. Take them away!

<Out of the sidelines, a troop of Soviet British Stasi Police emerged with truncheons, beating and herding the assembled CBI business people and kulaks out of the conference centre.>

SUPER DOUBLE PLUS LABOUR ANNOUNCEMENT

BY ORDER OF PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF SOVIET BRITAIN  COMRADE RACHEL REEVES  CHOCO RATIONS HAVE BEEN REDUCED BY 50 GRAMS PER ANNUM FOR ALL PROLES APART FROM LABOUR HIGH PARTY OFFICIALS, TRAIN DRIVERS, NHS MANAGERS, BIG STATE CIVIL SERVANTS, UNION AND COUNCIL BOSSES. IT WILL BE REPLACED BY TWO POTATOES AND A TURNIP. INGSOC  349872-A-763392OP
Feature: China-funded training benefits Myanmar's tourism sector

Xinhua) 09:59, November 25, 2024

Students attend a China-funded tour operator and travel operation training course in Yangon, Myanmar, Nov. 22, 2024. In downtown Yangon, China-funded training programs provided tourism professionals with updated skills and knowledge to help revive the sector in the post-pandemic era. (Xinhua/Myo Kyaw Soe)

YANGON, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- In downtown Yangon, Myanmar, China-funded training programs provided tourism professionals with updated skills and knowledge to help revive the sector in the post-pandemic era.

Lin Latt Phyo, a final-year tourism student at the National Management Degree College in Yangon, was among the participants of the tour operator and travel operation training course.

"I joined this course to expand my knowledge of tourism. Here, I've learned about marketing strategies, destination management, and travel itinerary planning," she said.

She was working on her final-year research paper. "The knowledge gained from this course will enhance my writing," said the student.

The course emphasized preservation of Myanmar's tourism destinations to attract more international visitors. "The training covered both theoretical and practical aspects," Lin Latt Phyo noted.

The programs included seven courses, covering digital skills, training for tour operators and guides, and hospitality-related skills. They were funded by the China Foundation for Rural Development (CFRD) and organized by Myanmar Tourism Federation and related organizations.

Min Soe Thura, an experienced tour guide fluent in English, also attended the course. "The training helped me update my industry knowledge, We even went on a day trip to Yangon Heritage Trust sites," he said.

Acknowledging current challenges, he said, "The tourism industry is struggling to recover in the post-pandemic period, and this training gave us ideas on how to boost it."

The 10-day course, which concluded on Friday, was attended by over 50 trainees, including tourism students, tour guides and tour operators.

Naing Htoo Aung, a teacher of the course and a tour guide, said, "The training aims to refresh the skills of individuals in the tourism industry."

"I teach responsible practices to ensure safety and reduce environmental impact for sustainable tourism. Our curriculum was made in line with ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) competency standards," he said.

The training was also helping to address workforce gaps caused by the pandemic, during which many tourism professionals switched careers, he explained.

"Thanks to the CFRD's financial support, we can offer the courses free of charge. This has been extremely beneficial for the trainees," Naing Htoo Aung said.

The training also taught the trainees about Chinese culture, so they can better talk with Chinese tourists, he said.

Tourism is not solely about economic benefits, and also fosters meaningful cultural exchanges, he added.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
The first-ever cohort of student nurses to train at Altnagelvin Hospital is to be honoured at a special ceremony in Ulster University, Magee.

The young nurses began their training in September 1959 in what was the first hospital built after the founding of the NHS in July 1948 by Aneurin Bevan.

The nurses being honoured are: Ursula Clifford (nee Sharkey), Margaret Curley (nee Woods), Maureen Sinewicz (nee Lagan), Anne Evans (nee Gamble), Pat Cowley (nee Gormley), Rose McGillian (nee Flanagan), Olive Allen (nee Long), Bridie Zimmer (nee McCann), Frances Shephard (nee Barr), Louise Hughes (nee Kelly), Yolanda Ekstrom (nee Martin) deceased, Agatha Dutton (nee Cooke) deceased, Gretta Linehan (nee Doherty) deceased, and Brigid Young deceased.

The Class of 1959 who celebrated their 50th anniversary reunion in Rome.

Awards will be presented to the nurses present in the Great Hall of Magee on Friday, November 29. Family members will receive the awards on behalf of the nurses living abroad and unable to attend, and those who have sadly died.

Speaking to The Derry News, the redoubtable Ursula Clifford said 65 years later the group still meets up regularly.

For their 50 year reunion, the nurses travelled to Rome where the Irish Ambassador at the time hosted a reception in their honour.

Originally from Marlborough Road, Ursula was the oldest child of Sibeal Sharkey (nee Burke) and Jim Sharkey. She credited her aunt Elizabeth (Lizzy) Doherty (nee Sharkey) from Lone Moor Road, a midwife, with piquing her interest in nursing.

She delivered loads and loads of babies in Derry, said Ursula, and she would have taken me on post-natal rounds to see the mothers after they had their babies. In those days they stayed in bed for so many days and you would have got a cup of tea in nearly every house.

18-year-old Ursula left Thornhill College and began her initial nursing training in Agnes Jones House - in the grounds of Altnagelvin Hospital - in September 1959.

She recalled: We were there until Christmas, then we got our Christmas holidays, then they put us into the new nurses home, where the Breast Clinic is situated today.

Members of the Class of 1959, Ursula Clifford, Margaret Curley (nee Woods) and Olive Allen (nee Long).

We had to live in for the first year, even if you came from Derry. We got two passes a month, one until 12.00am and one until 2.00pm, laughed Ursula. The home warden who was incharge of accommodation would have come over in a taxi and checked us in and then taken herself back off to the City and County. We could have been out the window, but we didnt.

Then, for two weeks, we walked down to the Waterside Hospital. Then, in mid-January, we were in an empty Altnagelvin getting all the beds ready for the opening on February 1. Whenever they began to transfer the old hospitals to Altnagelvin, Waterside was first.

The biggest innovation in Altnagelvin was the patient call system, smiled Ursula. Every bed had a two-way radio to the nurse station and the nurses couldnt get nursing because everybody was using it. It was all a novelty. They had to take them out eventually and put in a buzzer.

The Class of 1959 was taught by Miss Stewart and Miss McDaid - who oversaw the practical element of the training.

Reflectiong the groups enduring friendship, which has spanned 65 years, Ursula spoke fondly of Gretta Linehan, whose family is attending on Friday.

Ursula Sharkey, far left, with her Thornhill College classmates.

Gretta was from Castlederg and she was one of the first hospice nurses, said Ursula.

By the time she retired at 55, Ursula had been promoted to critical care services manager - in charge of Theatres, ICU, Casualty and Day Surgery.

Ursula said she was always happy in the theatres where she said the surgeons were always very respectful of her.

From left, Ursula Clifford, Cissie Parlour and Briege O'Connell members of the Cholmcille Choir.

I was also given the opportunity to develop new healthcare ideas, she added. When Aisling [Ursulas daughter, also a nurse] worked in New York, I would have visited her operating theatres and picked up ideas and brought them home.

For example, the first patient-controlled analgesia - where the patient could press a button post-operation. Sally OKane was in charge of the pharmacy and she gave me a pharmacist called Angela Diamond, to work with. We made our own patient-worn machine to start with, and after that a company manufactured them for us, said Ursula.

Altnagelvin Hospital which opened on February 1, 1960, under construction.

When the keyhole surgery came in, that was just outstanding. Paul Bateson [a consultant surgeon in Altnagelvin] said to me one day, There is a doctor in France removing gallbladders using scopes [keyhole surgery]. How could we do the same?

We had big cardboard boxes in which we sent instruments to the sterilisation unit. So, we got a box and turned it upside down. We got a pair of gloves and cut the fingers off, to imitate the gallbladder. We tied it all up with water in it and put it through a hole in the box and taped it down.

Urology had scopes, so we got those and we started demonstrating and practising and we were the second, if not the first hospital here to use keyhole surgery, explained Ursula, who described Bloody Sunday as the beginning of Trauma as we knew it and the preparation and training for Major Incidents.

The iconic Princes Macha at Altnagelvin Hospital.

Asked about her happiest time in nursing, Ursula instantly recalled the great relationships she had had with Sister Doherty (Ward 7) and Elizabeth McElhinney (nee Tracey), who was Sister in Ward 1 and was killed in the 1972 Claudy Bomb.

When I was a student, you learned on the job, said Ursula, and the fact we are all still in contact with one another reflects the comeradeship we formed while we were training together.
Tesco customers can make a huge difference to the lives of Derry people facing hunger and hardship by donating long-life items this week.

This comes as stores in Derry are taking part in the 12th annual Tesco Winter Food Collection, with donated items going directly to the charities Trussell and FareShare.

Both charities expect to see extremely high demand for their services this winter, and the Food Collection provides vital extra donations.

Ken Murphy, Tesco Group CEO, said: Our partners tell us theyve seen even more families needing their help and they expect demand to increase this winter, so were encouraging Derry customers to donate whatever they can to our Winter Food Collection. With frontline charities and foodbanks facing exceptionally high demand this year, pre-packed donation bags make it easy to make a big difference to someone elses Christmas.

Weve boosted our ongoing support to FareShare and Trussell with a donation of 500,000 each this year to help them meet additional demand through the summer and winter holiday periods when family finances are facing the most strain.

Trussell research* shows that almost a quarter of children under four are now facing hunger and hardship  making them the age group most at risk  while a record 9.3 million people in the UK are facing hunger and hardship.

FareShare is reporting a similar story in its annual impact report, with the 8,000 charity partners and community groups they support having seen an 86% increase in people accessing their services, and more than two in three of their partner charities are seeing more people accessing their support for the first time**.

In response to this, Tesco is making its pre-packed customer donation bags available at even more stores in an effort to top the 2 million meals donated at last years collection.

All large stores already offer them during the supermarkets Winter Food Collection, but this year 86 of the largest Express stores will also stock them to make donating even easier no matter where you shop.

The bags, which typically cost between 2 and 3, are pre-filled with healthy and nutritious long-life items and can be picked up by Derry customers in store and paid for at the checkout. The donated food is passed to FareShare and Trussell, who will distribute it to charities and food banks to help families who need it most.

Tescos Winter Food Collection, the biggest in the UK, runs in Express stores from 25-30 November and in large stores from 28-30 November.

According to FareShare and Trussell are UHT & powered milk, the most-needed items tinned meat and fish, and sponge/rice pudding.

Emma Revie, Trussell Chief Executive, said: Food banks are a last resort for people whove been left facing hunger and hardship. Theyre a lifeline, offering a warm welcome and space to be heard. But with so many people unable to afford the essentials right now, food banks are having to purchase record amounts of emergency food.

I know times are tough for everyone at the moment but, the Tesco Winter Collection is the perfect opportunity to donate. Options like the pre-packed donation bags and round-up-at-till make it easier than ever to support your local food bank today and help end hunger for good.

READ NEXT: Praxis Care celebrates Katherine Greer, Coleraine client for successfully completing her second year of an MSc programme

Winter is typically the busiest time of year for Tescos charity partners, which see a marked increase in the number of people needing to turn to them for support. Between December 2023 and January 2024, Trussells community of food banks distributed more than 600,000 food parcels, and they are expecting another tough winter as levels of need remain high.

Kris Gibbon-Walsh, FareShare Chief Executive, said: For more than 12 years, Tesco has been a brilliant partner, providing vital support to FareShare and communities across the UK, giving food and funding to ensure we can continue getting supplies to over 8,000 charities and community groups.

The Tesco Winter Food Collection enables us to collect long-life, staple ingredients that complement the fresh surplus food we redistribute. If youre able to donate just one item at your local store, youll be helping to provide a meal for someone in hardship this winter.

Throughout the year, Tesco donates surplus food from its distribution network and stores through its charity and community partners, FareShare and Olio. Since 2012, Tesco has donated the equivalent of more than 220million meals through its Community Food Connection programme.
The Health Minister will not be alone in his fight to deliver recommended pay rises for healthcare workers, Emma Little-Pengelly has said.

The deputy First Minister said she and First Minister Michelle ONeill would be doing everything in their power to find the money needed to achieve the right outcome on the issue.

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt is tens of millions of pounds short of the total he needs to deliver awards recommended by the two health sector pay bodies for the current financial year.

He has proposed a two-stage process to implement the pay increases in a move he hopes will avert strike action from health unions.

Mr Nesbitt suggested making the pay awards in two stages, with the first award backdated to the summer rather than April.

The Health Minister said he will then work with Executive colleagues to find the funds required to cover the outstanding months worth of backdating, to be paid at a later date.

His Ulster Unionist Party colleague Alan Chambers asked Ms Little-Pengelly about the issue during Assembly questions on Monday, challenging her to confirm whether health remained the number one priority for her and Ms ONeills administration.

I think its incredibly important that we do everything that we can do to ensure that our public sector workers receive fair pay, the deputy First Minister replied.

I set out very clearly when the budget settlement was announced that we knew that this was going to be very, very difficult for all ministers but particularly for those departments that have a significant public sector pay pressure, and that included the Department of Education and the Department of Health.

I can assure the member (Mr Chambers) that Ive met with the Health Minister on a number of occasions, along with the First Minister and the Finance Minister (Caoimhe Archibald), first of all to assure him of our support in what he is trying to do, but also, secondly, because it is a key piece of work for us to do everything in our power to get to the right outcome on this and we wanted to emphasise to the Health Minister that he was not alone on this fight, that we will be working hard with him to do everything that we can and that remains my commitment today.

The NHS Pay Review Body, which makes recommendations on the pay of staff on the Agenda for Change terms and conditions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, has recommended a 5.5% increase for 2024/25.

The review body for pay for doctors and dentists in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has recommended a 6% increase.
The UK Government is not minded to fund the North correctly, Mary Lou McDonald claimed as she defended Sinn Feins record in the power-sharing Executive.

Ms McDonald made the remarks as she seeks to lead Sinn Fein to victory in the Republic of Irelands General Election on Friday, and become the countrys Taoiseach.

The Sinn Fein leader was responding to questioning on how the party could stand over pledges on housing delivery on the Republic of Ireland, given under supply in Northern Ireland.

The housing portfolio north of the border was previously held by Sinn Fein MLA Deirdre Hargey.

Ms McDonald said Ms Hargey had set out a hugely ambitious, transformational plan during her time in the role.

However, she added: The Tories, sadly, who unfortunately hold the purse strings, and now the successor government, under (Sir) Keir Starmer, are not minded to fund the North correctly.

Thats at the root of the problem.

Ms McDonald said the picture of the public service in Northern Ireland is generally not good, adding that to compare the two jurisdictions is like comparing apples and oranges.

Speaking on RTEs Six One News, she added: North of the border, there is not the capacity to raise or vary taxes.

You are looking at an entirely different scenario and I regret that deeply.

Im a united Irelander, but sadly, at this point in time, our country is partitioned.

Ms McDonald said First Minister Michelle ONeill and other Sinn Fein members of the Executive aim high when making demands from the UK Government, adding that they are constantly putting pressure on the Treasury.

She said: Its a matter of great frustration to me as a Republican and a united Irelander, that on the one hand the British government, the system, insists that it remain and hold jurisdiction in the North, and yet it wont fund the place correctly.

Ms McDonald said Sinn Fein has delivered in spades in very challenging circumstances in the multi-party power-sharing arrangement.

She argued that this showed Sinn Feins ability to hold things together.

Asked about complaints that Northern Irelands health service is not provided adequate funding by the Sinn Fein Finance Minister, Ms McDonald said Caoimhe Archibald can not do a loaves and fishes job.

She added: Shes a brilliant, brilliant woman and a brilliant minister but she does not have the power of miracles, unfortunately.
Strict scrutiny of wafer qualification paves the way for 7nm technology restrictions

According to findings from China's semiconductor think tank, ICwise, the US Department of Commerce's (DOC) recent sanctions differ slightly from previous measures.

During the period from 2022 to 2023, export controls were officially announced by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) under the DOC, which industry players then implemented. However, this time, the US government did not formally issue a ban, yet relevant wafer foundry operators have already taken action.

Whether through TSMC's proactive statements or GlobalFoundries' subsequent exposure of fines, these developments reflect the Biden administration's efforts against China. To some extent, it may also serve as groundwork for Trump to further restrict China's access to 14nm processes.

Granted, requests for TSMC and Samsung Foundry to cooperate in verifying the "wafer qualification" of Chinese customers might not entirely contradict the principle of customer service that governs the foundry business. While both companies must comply with regulations, they have not completely severed their foundry services. Instead, they review customer wafer submissions first to confirm compliance before proceeding with cooperation.

On the surface, this action is merely aimed at identifying "suspects," with most long-term cooperative "white list" customers passing the review and continuing their partnerships with TSMC and Samsung.

However, when Trump officially takes office two months later, will he act accordingly? Especially considering that newly appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly criticized the DOC for ineffective enforcement, allowing Huawei and SMIC to successfully advance below 7nm processes. Will the future Trump administration take this as a model to expand its crackdown?

After all, the 14nm process falls within the category of "advanced processes" as defined by the CHIPS and Science Act, and its future will depend on decisions made by the Trump administration.

The new regulations will also impact many product blueprints regarding the size and transistor density of Chinese smart driving chips. Undoubtedly, following their implementation, no one can guarantee how much longer future collaborations will continue.

Especially given that China's advanced manufacturing capacity is limited, competition is fierce, and most Chinese customers actually receive only a small share of SMIC's advanced manufacturing capacity.
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HP brace for Trump 2.0 with leadership and supply chain overhaul to NA

Following President-Elect Donald Trump's election victory, PC brands are intensifying their strategic shifts. Hewlett-Packard (HP), the world's second-largest PC maker, has reportedly moved to restructure its senior procurement and R&D operations. Industry sources suggest the company is preparing another round of R&D layoffs as it redirects focus toward North America.

Strategic leadership realignment

In response to the US presidential election, HP has accelerated its organizational realignment. Industry sources indicate that global senior VP Kenny Chien has retained his role, but procurement authority has shifted to newly appointed chief Jonathan Jennings. Recent changes also added a layer of foreign executives above Chinese procurement managers, which industry observers interpret as reducing their decision-making power.

HP has restructured its senior R&D and business leadership. Alex Cho, president of the Personal Systems division and previously seen as a top contender for CEO, has seen his responsibilities reduced, with Poly and workstation business units reassigned under new management.

Ernest Nicolas, HP's Chief Supply Chain Officer, has taken on additional oversight of IT and cybersecurity. As procurement authority consolidates in North America, industry observers speculate Nicolas may become a leading candidate for the CEO role.

Jonathan Jennings, newly appointed as procurement head and a key deputy to Nicolas, now manages procurement operations. Meanwhile, Chien has transitioned to a strategic role, utilizing his supply chain expertise and political network. HP has not officially confirmed these changes.

Supply chain sources note that HP is one of several brands making personnel adjustments to adapt to anticipated changes under Trump's presidency, including diversifying production. However, HP's actions stand out as more proactive and urgent, given its deep integration with Taiwan's supply chain.

Industry sources also note that HP's personnel changes have kept partners actively engaged, as they work to realign and strengthen relationships. Jennings' automotive background and limited PC supply chain experience have made Cho, a longtime collaborator, a key focus in these transitions.

Key drivers of organizational change

Analysts attribute HP's organizational shifts to two primary factors: responding to changes in US politics and preparing for an anticipated slowdown in the PC market.

One key driver is the evolving US political landscape. With Trump set to assume office in January 2025 and Republicans controlling Congress and the House, policies, including tariff hikes, are likely to advance swiftly. This will impact US-China-Taiwan relations and reinforce the "Taiwan +1" strategy, aimed at diversifying supply chains beyond Taiwan.

In the post-pandemic period, HP concentrated on procurement efforts in Taiwan, expanding its R&D and procurement teams. Recently, however, the company has scaled back, shifting senior authority back to North America and diversifying operations into Southeast Asia, including Singapore.

HP is also making mid and lower-level workforce adjustments. Sources indicate that its Taiwan R&D team could face 5-10% layoffs before the Lunar New Year, reflecting concerns about the PC market's weakened outlook.

While brands, ODMs, and research firms forecast modest PC market growth by 2025, momentum remains constrained. HP is redirecting hardware R&D efforts toward AI applications and higher-growth projects, aligning with broader industry trends.

PC market growth is expected to remain subdued in 2024, with the holiday sales season offering limited upside. The industry is turning its attention to 2025, driven by the end of Windows 10 support, which could spark a wave of business PC upgrades. AI-enabled PCs may also fuel consumer demand, with forecasts projecting single-digit growth for the year.
Weekly news roundup: Trump's return casts shadow over TSMC's AI chip expansion

Semiconductor Week in Review (Nov 17 - 23):

A wave of disruptions is reshaping the global semiconductor landscape in late 2024, as TSMC recalibrates its expansion plans amid Trump's return while Nvidia tightens its grip on AI chip packaging capacity. The industry flux sees AMD unseating Intel in server revenue for the first time, while China gains ground with BYD's 4nm automotive chip launch and YMTC outperforming Samsung in domestic SSD sales. These shifts unfold as TSMC weighs moving advanced chip production to Arizona, backed by US$11.6 billion in US incentives, highlighting the growing intersection of technological competition and geopolitical pressures.

Trump's return casts shadow over TSMC's AI chip expansion

TSMC is tempering its ambitious expansion plans for advanced chip packaging amid growing uncertainties tied to Donald Trump's presidential victory and geopolitical tensions. While the semiconductor giant still aims to double its CoWoS capacity to 75,000 units per month by 2025, it has scaled back its 2026 targets from 140,000 to 135,000 units.

Despite the adjustment, top tech executives like Nvidia's Jensen Huang and TSMC's C.C. Wei remain bullish on AI chip demand, citing strong interest from tech giants like Microsoft and OpenAI. The recalibration reflects broader concerns about US-China trade relations and their impact on the semiconductor supply chain, particularly as TSMC grapples with restrictions on serving Chinese AI chip customers while maintaining its dominant position in advanced packaging technology.

The battle for China's smart cockpit heats up

In a bold move that intensifies competition in China's automotive semiconductor space, BYD has unveiled its most sophisticated chip to date  the BYD 9000  manufactured using TSMC's advanced 4nm process technology. The chip, set to power four models in BYD's premium Fangchengbao line priced between US$52,464 and US$56,332, has sparked industry speculation about a potential collaboration with MediaTek due to architectural similarities, though industry sources dismiss this as marketing spin.

The development, which showcases benchmark scores of up to 1.15 million and features 5G connectivity alongside AI capabilities, represents BYD's strategic push beyond power components into automotive chip development, as China's leading EV manufacturer aims to boost sales by 20% to over 3.624 million units in 2024. This move positions BYD to compete directly with established players like Qualcomm and MediaTek in the rapidly evolving smart cockpit sector, where development speed has become crucial for market competitiveness.

The race to secure chips: TSMC weighs Arizona shift amid mounting pressure

In a pivotal development for global semiconductor manufacturing, TSMC faces mounting pressure to transfer its cutting-edge chip production to Arizona, as the US intensifies its push for domestic semiconductor sovereignty with US$11.6 billion in financial incentives.

While Taiwan's Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo emphasizes the technical complexities of such transitions and the need for domestic regulatory approval, the chipmaker's plans include launching 2nm production in Taiwan by 2025 before potentially bringing this advanced technology to its Arizona facilities by 2029.

The continued investment from industry giants like ASML and Microsoft in Taiwan, totaling over US$350 million, underscores the delicate balance TSMC must strike between maintaining its technological edge at home and meeting growing demands for advanced chip production on American soil.

Breaking Intel's grip: AMD's market surge reshapes chip industry landscape

In a remarkable industry shift during 2024, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has demonstrated unprecedented growth across all major computing segments, with Mercury Research reporting the company captured a record 33.9% revenue share in server chips and its highest desktop CPU market share since 2016 at 28.7%. The company's success story is particularly pronounced in the data center segment, where AMD's revenue of US$3.549 billion surpassed Intel's data center and AI division for the first time in history.

Driven by strong sales of its EPYC processors, Ryzen AI 300-series APUs, and high-performance 3D V-Cache processors, AMD has made significant inroads against Intel's traditional dominance, marking a potential turning point in the semiconductor industry as the company eyes an ambitious 50% market share goal while Intel grapples with product instability issues and declining market position.

Nvidia tightens grip on TSMC's expanding AI chip packaging capacity

In a significant move that underscores the intensifying race for AI chip supremacy, TSMC is set to more than double its monthly CoWoS packaging capacity to 75,000 units by 2025, with industry titan Nvidia already securing a commanding 60% share through early bookings.

Despite facing a moderation in growth rates and delays in its Blackwell series rollout, Nvidia's dominance in the AI GPU market  coupled with robust demand for its H100 and H200 processors  continues to shape TSMC's expansion strategy, even as competitors like AMD and other ASIC developers scramble for larger allocation shares.

The semiconductor giant's aggressive capacity expansion plans, alongside announced price hikes for advanced processes and CoWoS services in 2025, reflect growing confidence in sustained AI-driven demand, with Nvidia poised to maintain its market leadership despite recent investor concerns over its transition from triple-digit to double-digit revenue growth.

Micron charts pragmatic path in China despite US-China tech tensions

In a strategic pivot to navigate the complex US-China tech landscape, Micron Technology is actively rebuilding its presence in the Chinese market through increased engagement and substantial investments, marking a departure from its previously cautious approach.

Under the leadership of China GM Betty Wu, appointed in May 2023, the memory chip giant has ramped up public appearances at state-backed events like IC China 2024, strengthened academic partnerships with prestigious institutions like Peking and Tsinghua universities, and doubled down on its CNY11 billion (US$1.52 billion) investment in its Xi'an manufacturing facility.

The company's renewed push comes as it seeks to recover from a significant market share drop in Chinafrom 58% in 2018 to just 10.76% of its total revenue in the fiscal year 2022following Chinese government restrictions over security concerns, with CEO Sanjay Mehrotra's recent visit to China underscoring the company's commitment to compliance with local regulations while maintaining its presence in key tech hubs across the country.

Chinese memory maker unseats Samsung in domestic SSD market amid tech rivalry

In a significant shift in China's storage market dynamics, Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp's (YMTC) Zhitai brand has outperformed Samsung Electronics in solid-state drive sales on Chinese e-commerce platforms during the 2024 Singles' Day shopping festival, marking its first-ever victory over the South Korean tech giant. The milestone, achieved just four years after entering the market, was led by the critically acclaimed TiPlus 7100 model, which leverages YMTC's proprietary NAND flash and Xtacking technology to deliver competitive performance with speeds of 2400 MT/s.

The domestic victory comes at a challenging time for Samsung, which faces mounting pressures across its semiconductor business, including delays at its Texas chip plant and increased competition in the AI chip market, while YMTC continues to expand its presence through strategic partnerships, including becoming the official storage partner for the anticipated Chinese game Black Myth: Wukong.
Page Content

The Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies Unit at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies hosted a lecture by Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Sciences at Qatar University, Esraa Al-Muftah. The event, part of the Units monthly lecture series, was introduced by Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies and Unit Researcher, Abdulrahman Alebrahim. Held on Tuesday, 12 November 2024, the lecture was titled The Internationalization of Higher Education: The Case of Academic Mobility and Knowledge Production at Qatar University.

Al-Muftah began by explaining that her choice of academic mobility and internationalization as a research topic stemmed from a personal experience, as her life has revolved around moving between academic institutions in Qatar, New York, and Vancouver, Canada. Additionally, she was motivated by the lack of literature on mobility and higher education. She also pointed out that Qatar University represented a unique model and an intriguing case, as it helps understand how Qataris experience academic mobility, with a potential to contribute to the field of critical internationalization studies by redefining the concept.

In this context, one indicator of internationalization is the number of local academics compared to international faculty members at an institution, the number of international students, and knowledge production in collaboration with academics from international institutions. Al-Muftah adopted Marianne Larsens definition of internationalization: the expansion of the universitys scope beyond borders through student mobility, knowledge production, and other related activities. The research questions the speaker addressed were: How does the pattern of internationalization at Qatar University affect academic mobility within the institution? And how does the mobility of faculty members influence the internationalization of knowledge both at its founding and in the present day?

To answer these questions, Al-Muftah drew on feminist approaches in transnational studies of globalization, which, in her view, help to understand a seemingly global phenomenon, reveal how it is connected to a particular social construct, and deconstruct the binary oppositions between the national and global and local and international. She emphasized that academics are not merely recipients of knowledge, but can also build upon it. The speaker conducted a case study at Qatar University, employing ethnographic methods through interactive observation, archival research, and interviews. The findings showed that since its founding in 1973, as a result of cooperation between Qatar and UNESCO, Qatar University has always been an international project, with varying perspectives between the founding phase and the present.

According to Al-Muftah, during the period from the universitys founding until 1986, the inclination toward internationalization was evident. Mohammed Ibrahim Kazem (1928-1992), an Egyptian academic and the founder of Qatar University who served as its first president from 1977 to 1986, envisioned the university as an international institution, even though it was fundamentally a national university. As such, the university was open to external influences. This international character was reflected in the countries from which the academic staff originated, particularly Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, and Sudan, with further extension to the United States and Japan. During this phase, internationalization was particularly evident in the mobility of academics within the Global South, particularly the Arab countries.

In 2005, a phase of reform began at Qatar University, overseen by the Rand Corporation, which introduced new concepts of social hierarchies that some academics welcomed, while others felt alienated. Among the major changes was the shift in the language of instruction from Arabic to English, while adopting US accreditation and ranking standards. In 2012, after the university returned to teaching in Arabic, some academics found themselves displaced by the change, even describing it as a deadly reform. Despite the return to Arabic, the standards and rankings continued to rely on Western institutions. Al-Muftah concluded that the patterns of internationalization in place influence both academic mobility and knowledge production at institutions. This process creates a knowledge hierarchy and results in a practical and institutional void that undermines the production of knowledge and stifles research centers from emerging.


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Concerns that Uisce Eireann, formerly known as Irish Water, has the capacity for just 1,200 more connections in Louth, was one of the main topics for discussion at the Louth County Council November meeting, held last week at the County Hall in Dundalk.

The matter was first raised by Cllr Maeve Yore, who asked if there was a plan in place for infrastructure, with all the new planning permissions being granted in the county. Cllr Yore said that they were told at a recent meeting with Uisce Eireann that there is 1,200 residences capacity left in the whole of Louth, so I'm really concerned and I want to know if we have a plan in place.

Replying to Cllr Yore, Temporary Chief Executive, Mr Joe McGuinness, said that: we continue to engage with Uisce Eireann at a very high level on all water issues in Drogheda and waste water in Dundalk and we have a good ongoing dialogue with Uisce Eireann.

The response was criticised by Cllr Joanna Byrne however, who said that that's not an answer. Cllr Byrne said that they had been raising the issue since 2018 when the councillors visited the Uisce Eireann plant in Stameen. Councillors had been told at that meeting, Cllr Byrne said, that there was concerns that Uisce Eireann was not going to be able to export enough cubic metres per day, to meet the demand at that stage of all the planning development that was going on in the environs of Drogheda.

Cllr Byrne went on to say that I'm sorry but we need a little bit more from the top table, and while recognising that it was not Louth County Council's remit, but added that we have a role to play in this. She continued, saying that they are passing planning and we're encouraging developments, but they need to be sure that the infrastructure is there to support the developments, particularly as housing ramps up around the north of Drogheda.

Cllr Byrne said that she is at the stage, like Cllr Yore, that she is fearful that this will come to a crunch point at some stage and I think that is coming very soon. She further added that a analysis meeting is needed with Uisce Eireann on the matter, be it with councillors or the Council Executive, both in terms of the immediate short term capacity, and a look at the longer term also.

Cllr Byrne finished by saying that they needed reassurance from Uisce Eireann, in writing, that the capacity is there to meet the needs, and if it isn't they need to stall our granting of planning permissions for developments. She added that it was a decision that no one wants to take but they could not continue to encourage development if the infrastructure is not in place to support it.

Cathaoirleach Cllr Kevin Callan then spoke on the matter saying that at a briefing with Uisce Eireann a week or two ago, he specifically asked them in relation to the situation in Drogheda. Cllr Callan said that in relation to Dundalk Uisce Eireann referred to Blackrock and Haggardstown and switching the supply over and back. He added that Uisce Eireann told him that that they would get back to him immediately after the meeting with statistics for Drogheda but I haven't received them.

Cllr Joanna Byrne spoke again saying that she has raised the issue at many stages over the past year.

Referring to figures that were made available in 2018, Cllr Byrne said that at that stage there was not much flexibility for much more demand at that stage.

That's six years ago so I can imagine that's why they're not coming back to you with facts and figures, she added, further commenting that there was an onus on the Council Executive to keep it at the forefront of conversations with Uisce Eireann before we move forward with further development.

Cllr Emma Coffey said that in relation to the briefing from Uisce Eireann, which was very disheartening, in relation to what they were saying, there was an inference that in relation to the 1.6 billion that was allocated to Uisce Eireann in the budget, that none of this would be going to Louth.

Cllr Coffey continued, saying that there was more priority in Dublin, Galway and Limerick, adding given that we're a strategic centre of growth, is something that I find of great concern, and voiced fears that it would be 2027 at the earliest before there would be any work done in Louth.

Cllr Coffey went on to say that what was very frustrating for everybody in this Chamber is that we have no power. We have no legislative power now. She said that it means there will be repercussions as to what is going to happen with Uisce Eireann, who she said is spending millions I might add on advertising.

Asking what oversight there is over Uisce Eireann, Cllr Coffey said that in parliamentary questions, the minister of housing and environment didn't even get his answers to questions answered. Referring to the huge amount of time they spent on Dundalk Development Plan, Cllr Coffey asked, what's the point?

We're doing a review of the County Development Plan next year, what's the point when we have no water infrastructure.

She added, we're going through an election and went through local elections but what's the point if one state body to whom Government wilfully transferred powers and oversights from local government, another stripping of power, further adding that there are no repercussions.

Cllr Shane McGuinness said that one area they do have power in is zoning. Cllr McGuinness said that it was their responsibility to zone land and sign off on the County Development Plan and the Dundalk Development Plan. He said that Uisce Eireann is struggling all over Dundalk and Drogheda, and Blackrock and Haggardstown.

We still have the legislative power to zone land, he commented. And we zoned it and we can dezone it. He continued, saying that we keep building houses and we keep pumping raw sewage into the sea and as councillors we will ultimately be blamed for that.

Cllr McGuinnes said there was documentation on Blackrock and Haggardstown about the million litres of sewage that's being worked on every day and every second Friday they haven't got the capacity. He added, maybe its time that its up to us that we looked at parts of Dundalk and parts of Blackrock and Haggardstown that we should change it to low density.

Noting Cllr Callan's comments that they are still awiting a response on a date request, Cllr Antoin Watters said that he wondered how valid are the meetings with Uisce Eireann. I asked a query in relation to infrastructure improvements in north Louth and I got no response either, so I think it should be put on the record today that these queries, we're still waiting on them.

Cllr Pio Smith said he would have sympathy with the council exectutive on the matter, adding that his dealings with the entity over the years have turned out to be a disaster. Referring to a councillors briefing two years ago, Cllr Smith, said they all went as there was so many complaints regarding what he said was misinformation councillors were receiving.

He said that Uisce Eireann sent a significant number of staff to take on board what councillors were saying, but added that:

I'm at a loss to find out what kind of compliance or regulatory issues apply to Irish Water, in regards replying to democratically elected members.

A number of other councillors spoke on the issue, at the meeting, with Cllr Yore asking what plan was in place to address the infrastructure deficiencies and what the plan was for when the 1,200 residence capacity was reached.

Replying to Cllr Yore, the Temporary Chief Executive said that they met with Uisce Eireann. He said they had a productive meeting, adding that there was Louth County Council staff there who had worked on water services and who challenged Uisce Eireann on the solutions it was putting forward, and that it was an ongoing discussion, as was at the top of the agenda of the Council Executive, adding that the Council has no longer any function in water services.

Mr McGuinness further added however that he would revert to Uisce Eireann on the queries that were raised at the consultation meeting with the councillors and see where those responses are.

Cllr John Reilly asked if it was true that there is no link up between the sewage pumping station at the Fane River with the main sewage plant at the Point Road. He asked if it was true that when the Fane Bridge is at capacity, a fleet of tractors and tankers has to transport the sewage to the Point Road. If it was, Cllr Reilly added, he asked if there should be no further development until at least there was a link up of the two locations.

Replying to Cllr Reilly, the Temporary Chief Executive, Joe McGuinness said that while he was not able to go into the mechanics of the operation, he stressed that at the meeting with Uisce Eireann, they went through a number of mitigations and solutions that could be put in place. Mr McGuinness added that Uisce Eireann has gone back to review this and further added that Louth County Council's focus is on improving the capacity in the county.
Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) is joining forces with 15 other Higher Education Institutions across Ireland to take a stand during the global campaign, 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. Starting November 25, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, this initiative will highlight the urgent need to eliminate violence against women and girls, underscored by this years theme: Every 11 Minutes, a Woman is Killed. #NoExcuse.

The 16 Days of Activism campaign, which continues through December 10 (Human Rights Day), was launched in 1991 by the Womens Global Leadership Institute as a call to prevent and eliminate gender-based violence worldwide. Now, with the backing of the United Nations Secretary-Generals UNiTE by 2030 to End Violence against Women campaign, universities, organisations, and individuals around the globe are joining the cause.

Siobhan Molloy, Ending Sexual Violence and Harassment Manager in DkIT said: We are proud to join forces and partner nationally with all of Ireland's Higher Education Institutes as we collectively collaborate to bring awareness onto every campus in Ireland to help eradicate Gender-Based Violence in all our communities and society. This is huge statement of solidarity from students and staff nationwide.

Read Next: Dundalk pub owners give locals an alternative candidate to vote for!

DkIT is dedicated to driving change, raising awareness, and encouraging every member of the community to actively participate during these 16 Days of Activism. A series of events and campaigns, both online and offline, will serve to educate, engage, and empower participants in advocating for a future free from gender-based violence.

A spokesperson for UNiTE said: Violence against women and girls is not inevitable  it can and must be stopped. By standing together and using our voices, we can turn awareness into action, creating a safer and more equal society for all.

How to Get Involved:

Promote Zero Tolerance: Use your voice to spread a message of zero tolerance for violence against women and girls.

Engage Leaders: Advocate for policies that enforce zero tolerance towards violence and protect womens rights.

Support Local Womens Organisations: Donations and volunteer support are critical to the success of these organisations.

Share Awareness Using #NoExcuse: Amplify the message on social media, in schools, workplaces, and communities.

DkIT calls upon students, staff, and the wider community to participate in these 16 Days of Activism to foster a world where no woman or girl lives in fear of violence.
Two of Ireland's most prominent weather forecasters are in agreement that the coming week is likely to see a major improvement in the weather.

In recent days, Met Eireann has issued a series of weather warnings for every county in Ireland as Storm Bert made its way across the county.

While there has been snow, ice, heavy rainfall and strong winds, the coming week looks set to be much more settled according to two of the country's leading weather experts.

READ ALSO: Gardai launch investigation after man dies in road crash in County Clare

In an update, this Sunday, Alan O'Rielly of Carlow Weather deliver a positive outlook.

"Some sunny spells on Monday after a windy start in Northern areas the wind will ease through the day. Showers mainly in the West and North. Good news for Tuesday and Wednesday with plenty of sunshine after any fog clears but cooler in light winds," he wrote on x, formerly Twitter.

Separately, Cathal Nolan of Ireland's Weather Channel says he's also optimistic for the weekend ahead.

"Our weather looks like settling down through Monday with high pressure offering a respite from the inclement weather of late as we go through the first half of next week. Good sunshine is expected, though frost may return by night under clear skies with a slight risk of some icy patches," he wrote.

Click here for the latest Met Eireann forecast.
A Kinsale man has vowed to do 100 push-ups every day in November to raise money for Pieta.

Nicky McCarthy lost a brother to suicide 27 years ago, and is carrying out the fitness challenge to help fund the organisation which provides free, therapeutic approach to people who are in suicidal distress, engage in self-harm, or are bereaved by suicide.

Nicky has a huge interest in fitness and in health and safety - the latter of which he is currently studying in UCC, while also maintaining two full-time jobs!

Because of work commitments, he was unable to join in with Pietas annual Darkness Into Light initiative in May.

So when the charity challenged people to do 100 push-ups a day in November and raise funds, Nicky jumped at the chance.

He began to tell his friends of his plans and started a video diary for social media.

Nicky McCarthy, who is doing 100 push-ups every day for the month of November to raise money for Pieta. RIGHT: Nicky is currently studying at UCC, as well as having two jobs!

The support has been immense, he says, its a charity thats so important to everyone.

You cant meet a person who hasnt some experience of dealing with suicide, whether in their family or within their friends group.

Nicky and his family know all about the effects of suicide on those who are left behind trying to make sense of it all.

Nicky lost his much-loved son and brother, Gearoid, in 1997, when he was a month short of his 25th birthday. Gearoid was 23 months younger than Nicky and they grew up to be very close, sharing many of the same friends.

Nicky remembers Gearoid as having a love of music, and also a love of cooking. He thinks that his brother may have gone into cheffing eventually.

Even though he was 6ft 3in, he could be shy and was an introvert at heart, says Nicky.

He was very popular with his large circle of friends. 

When Gearoid died, their older brother Shaun was living in Australia and Nicky was living and working in Holland.

Gearoid was sharing a flat with his friends on Lower OConnell Street in Kinsale.

Both devastated brothers came home straight away to grieve together with their heartbroken parents.

It was a different time, Nicky says, this was when you would ring home maybe once a week to say hello, you werent texting or Facetiming so you werent in tune with what was going on in other peoples lives.

That year, 1997, and the following few years, was a devastating time in Kinsale as several young men died of suicide.

Gearoid and the other young people who died are well remembered and are spoken about regularly in the community.

In support of the amazing work that Pieta do, Nicky decided to do the 100 push-ups per day challenge, and now has just a few days to go.

He started off doing five sets of 20, and hopes to improve to that to two sets of 50 by the end of the month.

Every one of us has busy lives, Nicky says, but some things are just so important that you do everything you can to find the time.

Busy is right! Not only is he a full-time scaffolder, he works as a bouncer, and is about to enter the next phase of his education in UCC, studying Workplace Safety.

Nicky doesnt have a cash amount to aim for, but hopes people would support him on his journey.

So far, the response has been wonderful, he says. I was slow to post the link up at first as I didnt know if the support was there, but when it comes to a charity like this, everyone wants to help.

Its given those of us doing the challenge the motivation to keep going and to do our best.

If you are in a position to make a donation please clink on the link on Nick McCarthys Facebook page. You can stay anonymous or get a shout out if you prefer for yourself or your business.

See https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15NiJppCPT/

Everyone that participates in the Pieta push-ups challenge can claim a t-shirt. There is a Facebook page offering support and advice. Donations can be made up until December 14 (registered charity 20062026).

Pieta crisis helpline 1800 247 247 or text HELP to 51444

Pieta was established in Dublin in 2006 and opened its doors in Cork in December, 2013. Since its inception, it has helped more than 70,000 people who were in suicidal distress or self-harming.

It now has 20 locations around the country and has seen the needs for its services grow.

They offer a 24-hour helpline and have more than 300 qualified therapists and support staff.

The funding for this vital facility comes from donations from individuals and companies, with its flagship fundraiser being Darkness into Light, which sees thousands around the country walk in order to raise much-needed funds.
With the boundary changes which come into effect with the November 29 general election, Cork North Central will subsume Ballincollig, with a population of 20,494, from Cork North West, and three electoral divisions in Mallow, with a population of 14,408, from Cork East.

The constituency has gone from being predominantly urban to now having big swathes of rural areas to the north of the city.

The dominant issue in Cork North Central, unsurprisingly, is housing, but water quality has been a huge issue ever since the then Irish Water opened its new water treatment plant on the Lee Road in July, 2022.

Concerns

The cost of living, hospital waiting times, disability services, social disadvantage, and bus services are also big concerns.

The addition of an extra seat greatly complicates the art of predicting where preferences will likely go, but one thing it is safe to say, however, is that none of the current four TDs would thank you for saying their seat was safe.

In the 2020 election, Sinn Feins Thomas Gould topped the poll with 13,811 first preferences, nearly 27% of the vote. Fianna Fails Padraig OSullivan took the second seat, with almost 16% of first preferences. Fine Gaels Colm Burke ended years of Dail disappointment to finally take the third seat on the 14th count, while People Before Profit-Solidaritys Mick Barry, doing well on Sinn Fein transfers, took the final seat.

Including the four incumbents, there are 21 candidates on the ballot in Cork North Central, and The Echo asked each of them what they considered the single most important issue in the constituency. Being politicians, almost none of them stuck to one point.

Given Sinn Feins recent slide in opinion polls, it remains to be seen whether the main opposition party can recover to the heady heights of the 2020 election. On all available evidence, however, Thomas Gould is still incredibly popular in his heartland, so it will be interesting to see if he again tops the poll.

Neglect

For him, the single biggest priority in Cork North Central is to change the government and the only way to do that is to vote Sinn Fein.

He cited the persistent neglect by Government as resulting in council homes boarded up for years on end, Southdoc Blackpools closure, persistent problems with water, an unreliable bus service, and the failure to deliver the Northern Ring Road.

Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have broken promise after promise to people, and they have failed to stand up for our wonderful communities, Mr Gould said.

As with all constituencies, housing is a major issue to election candidates.

Padraig OSullivan said housing was the key issue in this election, and it was something he dealt with weekly in his clinics.

I fully accept that there are too many people that are homeless, struggling to pay rent, and theres a large cohort that are struggling to get on the property ladder, he said. However, I think progress is being made.

Over 49,007 homes commenced in the first nine months of 2024  over double (up 105%) the 23,923 in these months of 2023. Over 500 first time buyers are getting the keys to their home every week now.

Colm Burke, a minister of state in the outgoing Government, listed healthcare among his key priorities, specifically an elective hospital for Cork and primary care centres in Blarney, Glanmire, and Mayfield.

He cited a need to accelerate the construction of new homes across Cork, a need to support farmers, and to provide more resources for law enforcement and a day centre for those affected by homelessness and addiction.

Progress

Im running to continue building on the progress weve made and to drive positive change for Cork, Mr Burke said.

Mick Barry cited water, the cost of living, childcare, as well as autism and disability services as big issues in the constituency, but said no issue was bigger than housing.

He said rents were way too high, house prices were unaffordable, and homelessness was a shocking disgrace, with far too much dereliction and far too many vacant houses.

Take profiteering out of housing, he said. The State built Gurranabraher, Ballyphehane, etc, when the State was poor. Now that Ireland is a rich country, we need a State construction company and a really big programme to build social and affordable housing.

Independent Ireland chairman Kenneth OFlynn, son of former Fianna Fail TD Noel OFlynn, narrowly missed out on the final seat in 2020, and was re-elected to Cork City Council in June with the largest first preference vote, 3,134. Some in the constituency think thats the sort of core vote that could result in a poll-topping performance.

Housing

Mr OFlynn said housing was a key issue in the constituency, particularly with younger generations who feel priced out of the market. He also cited infrastructure issues such as the Mallow Relief Road and the Northern Ring Road, the cost of living, and alarming health and safety concerns regarding our water supply.

Despite having three ministries in Cork, over 500m has yet to be allocated by central Government to address these urgent problems, said Mr OFlynn.

Green Party councillor Oliver Moran, who also came close to taking a seat last time out, believes this election is not a choice between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, but rather a choice of who is to go into coalition with them.

Who do you want in coalition with them? Parties like the Greens, Labour, or Social Democrats, or Fianna Fail gene pool so-called Independents? he asked.

Thats a really important decision, much more important than Fianna Fail or Fine Gael. Mixed in with those so-called Independents are climate change deniers, anti-Traveller and anti-migrant types, and people who want to roll back womens rights, who want to undo the progress weve all fought so hard for.

Vote management is, as in any election, an issue, with the three largest parties running multiple candidates.

With the addition of Ballincollig to the constituency, some think it might have nearly the makings of a TD on its own.

With the addition of Ballincollig to the constituency, some think it might have nearly the makings of a TD on its own, and with that in mind, the three big parties have added candidates based there.

Grumbling

Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are each running three candidates, which has led to some internal grumbling. Sinn Fein has given Thomas Gould a running mate  Joe Lynch, Ballincollig councillor and former parliamentary assistant to both Gerry Adams and Mary Lou McDonald.

Fine Gael has paired Colm Buke with Ballincollig councillor Garret Kelleher and Glanmire teacher Imelda Daly. Fianna Fail has recreated its 2020 ticket, with Padraig OSullivan being joined by northside councillor and former lord mayor Tony Fitzgerald, and Ballincollig-based communications professional Sandra Murphy Kelleher.

Joe Lynch said Ballincollig still retained its sense of village community, even as part of the city.

One of the great tragedies of the housing crisis is that people I have grown up with  who have lived in Ballincollig and Carrigrohane their whole lives  cannot afford a home to buy or rent in the area, he said, so increasing the supply of affordable homes locally, across Cork North Central and across the State, is my number one priority.

Sandra Murphy Kelleher said she believed the greatest challenge in the constituency was tackling the cost-of-living crisis, which includes the urgent need for affordable housing, accessible healthcare, and reasonably priced childcare.

Rising costs

Rising costs are making it increasingly difficult for families, young people, and seniors to live comfortably and securely, she said. Addressing these issues is essential to building a community where every resident can thrive with stability, dignity, and the resources they need.

Tony Fitzgerald said housing was the main issue of the election, and something he was hearing constantly on the doors. The huge demand for affordable and social housing is extremely topical, as is housing maintenance, and it is something I would prioritise if elected, he said. Water quality is a serious public health issue, and its also something that is affecting essential household expenditure.

Garret Kelleher said that alongside increased provision of housing, the delivery of key infrastructural projects was crucial to the future development of Cork North Central.

Amongst the projects that I would push to commence in the coming Dail term are the M20 Cork-Limerick motorway, the northern ring road, the northern distributor road, a new light rail system for Cork... and the construction of the regional elective surgical hospital in Glanmire, he said.

Healthcare is a key issue with candidates.

Ballincollig-based barrister Ciaran McCarthy, running for the Social Democrats, listed services such as housing, healthcare and disability provision, as his top priorities. He said the Social Democrats would ban vulture funds from buying existing homes and would insist on a full minister for disability. There is absolutely no point in talking about providing extra teachers, nurses, or guards if they cannot live in a society which supports and accommodates them and their loved ones, he added.

Lawyer Susan Doyle is also running for the Social Democrats.

Labour city councillor John Maher was returned in Junes local elections on the first count, with 2,005 first preferences.

The constituency has a long Labour tradition, dating back to Gerry OSullivan and Kathleen Lynch, but that was overturned by Mick Barry in 2016. The party will be hoping it is finally out of jail after its coalition with Fine Gael in the 2011 austerity government, and will be eyeing Mr Barry as vulnerable.

Mallow

With the addition of Mallow to Cork North Central, Labour has opted for a two-candidate strategy, running Mallow county councillor Eoghan Kenny, who got 2,239 first preferences in June, alongside Mr Maher, hoping to absorb as much of outgoing Cork East TD Sean Sherlocks old vote as possible. Next weekend will tell whether running two candidates was a mistake.

The boundary change has seen Mallow come into the constituency. Picture: David Keane.

Mr Maher said that his experience on the doors was that housing was the issue of the campaign. Its just bananas that it has somehow become acceptable in Ireland for homes to cost 450,000, 480,000, 500,000.

The Labour Party is very clear: we need the State to become more involved in building housing. I grew up in a council house, its still standing 60 years on. We built places like Gurrane when the State hadnt a washer, now we have all the money and we have a housing crisis like never before, he said.

It needs to be public housing on public land, we need to give people affordable rents.

Mr Kenny said he didnt want to be a politician who protested for a living. People deserve and expect their politicians to work positively for them to deliver for them and their communities. My energy will be devoted to delivery and not empty rhetoric.

The youngest candidate in the constituency, Rachel Hurley Roche, is running as an Independent, but is affiliated with Workers Party president Ted Tynan. Ms Hurley Roche said housing and water quality were the main issues of the campaign, and she was calling on central government to supply greater funding to local authorities to upgrade council homes, and for the abolition of Uisce Eireann.

We have a huge amount of people living in sub-standard accommodation and theyre just not getting sufficient support, she said.

Im also supporting the water workers who want to stay within the local authority, because we can plainly see that privatisation of water has failed to deliver safe and clean water in Cork North Central.

Disgrace

Aontu chairperson Finian Toomey, who is from Lower Killeens, described homelessness in Cork as a downright disgrace and predicted it would lead to major personal and societal issues in the years to come.

He said: Young, bright, educated people that we need are leaving this country in their droves, and who can blame them? Not only can they not hope of owning a home in this country, they cant even afford the sky-high rents.

Independent candidate Martin Condon said he has campaigned for almost 20 years for drug policy reform after first being criminalised at 18 for possession of 10 worth of soap bar hash.

While describing housing as probably the constituencys biggest priority, he cited community policing as another important issue.

Our gardai need to be more proactively patrolling our communities to deter crimes like theft, assault, and other more serious crimes against a person, Mr Condon said.

Ballincollig-based businessman and nursing home owner Joseph Peters, who is running as an Independent, said a strong voice for the business community was needed.

Vat rate

Weve had 80 nursing homes close since 2019, and thousands of restaurants, Mr Peters said. Fianna Fail and Fine Gael do a lot of talking when its action that is needed. They need to listen and bring the Vat rate down to 9%.

Derek Blighe, a vocal anti-immigration campaigner, is running under the banner of Ireland First.

In June, he ran in both the local and European elections, and although he failed to be elected, he secured 25,071 first preferences in the European elections.

Mr Blighe claims thousands of deportations of immigrants are needed to rectify the ongoing lack of housing in Ireland.

Independent candidate John Donohoe is running on a slogan of Let us reclaim God-given common sense, and his priorities include sports, housing and education.
International pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) Hovione has today officially commissioned an expansion at its manufacturing facility in Ringaskiddy.

The multi-million euro investment almost doubles the capacity of Hoviones spray drying facilities in Ireland and will create more than 20 new positions.

Hovione said this latest investment reinforces the company's position as a global leader in spray drying for pharma applications.

This manufacturing technology, the company explained, is "especially important for inhalable therapies and oral medications with low bioavailability, enabling more effective treatments".

Deputising for the Mayor of the County of Cork, councillor Audrey Buckley said:

I am delighted to welcome this very significant investment and the creation of further highly skilled jobs in Cork today.

It reinforces Hoviones commitment to the region and the innovative solutions it provides to the pharmaceutical industry in Ireland.

Meanwhile Michael McGrath, the European Commissioner-Designate for Democracy, Justice and the Rule of Law, welcomed the expected jobs boost the expansion is to create.

This latest investment highlights the success of Hoviones facility in Ringaskiddy, and underlines the continued resilience of Irelands pharmaceutical manufacturing sector.

I am delighted that Hovione will be shortly welcoming new team members to this expanded facility, and I wish both them and Hovione every success.

Jean-Luc Herbeaux, Hovione's chief executive said: This newly opened facility further strengthens Hovione's position as the global CDMO of choice for spray drying development and manufacturing services.

It also underscores our commitment to bringing first-in-class technology and world-leading manufacturing services to Irish shores.

Ireland provides a superior environment for pharmaceutical manufacturing, and we are delighted to be a part of it.

CEO of IDA Ireland, Michael Lohan, said Hovione "has made a significant contribution both locally and nationally through employment and investment alike".

"We warmly welcome Hoviones commitment to investing in Cork and we wish them continued success," he added.
RTEs Prime Time is set to host the final General Election 2024 leaders debate tomorrow night offering voters further opportunity to hear directly from Irelands leading political figures.

Presented by Miriam OCallaghan and Sarah McInerney, the live broadcast will feature Fine Gaels Simon Harris, Fianna Fails Micheal Martin, and Sinn Feins Mary Lou McDonald.

The debate promises "in-depth discussion" and "rigorous questioning" on the key issues shaping the country's future.

I am really looking forward to this leaders debate - they're always intense for everyone involved especially the leaders - but they're also always fascinating and engaging and a chance for viewers to see all three leaders up close and personal," said Ms OCallaghan ahead of the debate.

Ms McInerney said the debate will hopefully provide clarity to the electorate.

"The Prime Time leaders debate takes place three days out from polling, when many people will be deciding who they want to lead the next government.

"It'll be the first and only debate between the three people contending for the office of Taoiseach.

"People want to know who is going to fix the housing crisis, who can address the cost of living in Ireland and who will tackle hospital waiting lists. "Miriam and I will be working together to get answers for people on these key issues, and much more.

National results

The debate takes place live on RTE One, RTE News Channel and RTE Player tomorrow at 9:35pm.
The vulnerable persons unit of Cork prison was the location for an assault by a prisoner on a prison officer and now the young man has been sentenced to a two-year jail term for this assault and another committed against a shop assistant at a service station.

29-year-old James Spillane pleaded guilty to carrying out both assaults.

Judge Dermot Sheehan imposed sentence at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on Mr Spillane who is of no fixed address in the Fermoy area of County Cork.

James Spillane pleaded guilty to a charge of assault causing harm to the officer at Cork prison on Rathmore Road on March 7.

Injuries to the prison officer included bruising, soft tissue damage to the left infra-orbital facial area, neck, left eye and trunk.

Garda Denis Cronin said there was a disturbance shortly before 8pm at the particular unit of Cork prison where James Spillane had caused damage to a cell. A number of officers went into the cell and one of them was attacked by the prisoner.

Mr Spillane struck him a number of times in the face resulting in the prison officer receiving minor head injuries, Garda Cronin said.

When questioned by gardai, the defendant replied: Im sorry, I didnt realise I harmed him, Im sorry.

The garda told prosecution barrister Mary ODwyer that the defendant had previous convictions that included assault causing harm and two for making threats to kill.

Garda Clare McGrath gave evidence of the second assault which occurred more recently on July 16 this year at Texaco, Cork Road, Fermoy.

A staff member was cleaning the coffee machine after 10pm that night when a member of the public found a pair of wireless headphones and handed them to the staff member.

Mr Spillane had been sleeping in a tent nearby and used Texaco to charge his phone and earphones and use the toilet facilities.

When he arrived in he saw his headphones and reacted as if they were being taken from him.

He said he would not hit a woman so he hit the man to whom the lady gave the headphones.

Mr Spillane punched him seven times in three or four seconds.

Judge Sheehan imposed the overall sentence of two years on the accused.
Two Cork women are among 24 finalists shortlisted for this years prestigious EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.

Rosaleen Hyde and Maxine Hyde of Ballymaloe Foods are finalists in the international category and they will learn their fate at the Gala awards ceremony on Thursday in Powerscourt Hotel in Co Wicklow.

The overall winner on the night will represent Ireland in the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year 2025 in Monaco in June.

The 24 shortlisted entrepreneurs span a range of sectors including technology, energy, healthcare, hospitality, consumer products, engineering and gaming.

Collectively, this group of world-class business leaders is already generating annual revenues of more than 700m and employing over 4,000 people.

Roger Wallace, the partner lead for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year programme said this year received the most nominations in the history of the programme, which highlights the incredibly high standard across the categories.

Our 24 finalists are an outstanding cohort of entrepreneurs achieving remarkable success both in Ireland and globally.

They represent a wide range of backgrounds and lead inspiring, cutting-edge businesses that are creating innovative products, services and solutions in their respective industries, he said.

The EY Entrepreneur of the Year Ireland Awards will be broadcast on EOYIreland on YouTube and RTE television on Thursday, November 28.
Cork gardai moved in on a drugs transaction taking place in the carpark of the Radisson Hotel in Little Island and uncovered a 160,000 stash of cannabis and a bag containing 39,500 in cash.

The man who imported the drug drove from his home in Wales to Blackpool in the UK where the eight kilos of cannabis were hidden in a secret compartment that was created under the backseats of his car. He then drove with the drugs by ferry from Stranraer to Larne and from Northern Ireland to Cork.

43-year-old Julius Sobul of Collingwood Avenue, Newport, Gwent, Wales, was charged by Garda Ruairi McGovern on counts that included, having more than 13,000 worth of cannabis for sale or supply and importing drugs with a similar value.

13,000 is a threshold figure for a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years unless there are exceptional circumstances. He pleaded guilty.

Judge Dermot Sheehan imposed a sentence of seven years with the last year suspended at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

Blaise OCarroll senior counsel for the defence said: He is extremely sorry, he was inveigled into his participation and he asks for mercy.

Mr OCarroll said the accused made a particular appeal not to have his car forfeited to the state. Prosecution barrister, Mary ODwyer, applied for such a forfeiture and Judge Sheehan granted it saying that he was doing so because the car had been specifically adapted for the purpose of importing drugs.

The judge said that he understood that such an order placed additional hardship on the defendant and his family but that he had to have regard for the special compartment made in the car for hiding drugs.

Det. Garda McGovern said gardai observed a transaction taking place in the carpark of the Radisson Hotel in Little Island, County Cork, between the occupants of two vehicles and when officers moved in to carry out a search they found 160,000 worth of cannabis and 39,500 in cash on the occasion on December 19 2023.

He was arrested, conveyed to Mayfield garda station, questioned and on interview he acknowledged that he placed eight kilos of cannabis into the co-accuseds vehicle after he received the bag of money, the detective testified.

Judge Dermot Sheehan said, This car was specially adapted for this purpose to bring contraband from the UK to Cork and you did all this for 500 (Sterling).

You did this because you had substantial debts and you were under pressure to do something. Unfortunately, you decided to get involved in this. You signed pleas of guilty.

This was an elaborate plan to import this. You admitted you first had a trial run and then did this. You did this under a lot of pressure in your life. Guards accept it was out of character, Judge Sheehan said.
Im confused.

Public order seems to be going to hell in a hand cart, and much of that is fuelled by an abuse of alcohol.

If you read the daily court reports, you will see solicitor after solicitor pleading for leniency from judges on behalf of their clients, arguing that their clients behaviour was out of character.

The client is very often deeply remorseful for their unacceptable behaviour due to the consumption of alcohol. It was the drink that made him do it.

Or, the client has an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, but is making serious efforts to improve their lot. Until the next time, that is.

So, we have the learned men and women of the legal profession testifying in court with monotonous regularity that alcohol is the source of much of the anti-social behaviour that we witness regularly on our streets.

Yet, despite this testimony, the Government is pressing ahead with a plan to increase the drinking hours.

They want to extend it to 6am. A bill will permit nightclubs to stay open until 6am and sell alcohol until 5am, and will provide pubs with regular trading hours of 10.30am to 12.30am, and allow late bars to trade until 2.30am.

I dont understand this, because reports from various media sources in recent times about disorder in Ireland, and Cork specifically, dont make good reading.

Im hearing of rampaging stolen cars, burglaries, anti-social behaviour, no-go areas and a general sense of public fear in city areas.

The Irish Examiner spoke to people on the streets of Cork who said the rise of anti-social behaviour has left them feeling scared in their own city.

From knife threats to harassment, and everything in between, people in Cork City told how they have seen it all, and many admit they are too scared to frequent the city at night. And similar noises are coming from Dublin.

The streets are becoming unsafe and the call for more gardai from the business community in these cities has a familiar ring to it. The lack of on the ground gardai is being quoted as a huge issue.

Theres no doubt that a strong garda presence in any town or city will create a feeling of security. Ive said many times that if you want to create a sense of safety in a public place, you need to have gardai on the beat.

Its a simple crime prevention strategy with a proven track record, but its not happening.

The Garda Representative Association (GRA) seems to agree, and they say the fall in garda numbers is noticeable on the streets of the city centre where there is a lack of visibility.

Anti-social behaviour is very prevalent at the moment, and trouble is also flaring on public transport, so much so that a group of Government TDs and senators has called for the establishment of a dedicated Garda unit for public transport.

Members of the National Bus and Rail Union said the level of violence in Dublin that their members are experiencing on the Luas and the Dart is growing, and it is unprecedented.

In Cork, bus routes across the city have been hampered by public nuisance and it was reported recently that a bus driver was soaked in urine from passengers who were urinating upstairs.

While a dedicated garda transport unit would be an asset in combatting this kind of behaviour, its difficult to see where the resources would come from, given the shortage of gardai.

The Vintners Association of Ireland also have concerns about bad behaviour impacting the night-time economy in the cities. Their spokesperson suggested that anti-social behaviour is turning people off coming into town, and they too would love to see more gardai on the streets.

They want their customers to be able to socialise safely and get home safely afterwards.

So, it seems that everyone is in agreement that a greater garda presence would be ideal because, without it, were seeing a growth in social problems.

But the vintners who previously expressed concerns about anti-social behaviour impacting the night-time economy, are also in favour of extending the drinking hours. They say its not about selling alcohol, but is about giving the community cultural events.

Dublin and Ireland have a great reputation for music, culture, for nightlife, for partying, and adding another element to that I think will hopefully be a positive thing, a spokesman said.

I dont accept that. Ireland has a unique relationship with alcohol, and its one that doesnt reflect well on us.

Our drinking culture isnt comparable to most other countries in the EU.

In Cyprus, for example, where I spend some time, its not unusual to see groups of males together in bar/restaurants. More often than not, you will see a variety of drinks on the table in front of them. Some will have a bottle of beer, others will have a coffee, a frappe, a glass of wine, or maybe even just a bottle of water.

The Cypriots arent big drinkers, so you rarely see scenes of drunkenness unless you head to Ayia Napa in the summertime, where youll find plenty of it, but mostly from foreigners.

We in Ireland are not civilised drinkers. We abuse alcohol, and extending the opening hours to 6am is only creating further opportunities for havoc.

Thats a certainty, given that Garda management admitted they had insufficient resources to deal with the existing 2.30am closing times - and that expanding alcohol availability will exacerbate demands on an already overwhelmed force.

They have warned that more public order problems will be the inevitable consequence of extended opening hours.

Health experts, road safety campaigners and some politicians have also raised fears over extending opening hours.

So, at a time when gardai cant cope with existing conditions, why introduce legislation that seems destined to add fuel to the fire?
As we approach the busy shopping period coming up to Christmas, Id like to reflect on the real value of buying local.

Im Mary Palmer, and until recently, I was chair of Cork Craft and Design, a Cork-based social enterprise.

Cork Craft & Design supports local designers and makers by creating opportunities to develop and launch new products through its shops and website. I have been a maker myself for many years, making textile art and quilts, and I am also a passionate supporter of the benefits of Buying Local.

Back in 2020, when we were all locked in, the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland launched their Made Local campaign. It was intended to make people more aware of the benefits of buying in their community.

Celebrating 15 years of Cork Craft Month earlier this summer were Mary Palmer and Este, Tuilelaith and Felix Holme Roberts. Picture Clare Keogh

I could confidently say that, even though supply chains and shopping opportunities were restricted, the Irish community rowed in behind this idea and supported small local businesses. For many craftspeople, despite the challenges of the pandemic, they were incredibly busy.

This campaign has been run in several iterations since 2020 to continue to remind the public of the value of supporting locally-made products.

There are many small local shops that showcase local products like Cork Craft & Design, which stock Cork-made, or primarily Irish-made items.

Wooden toy maker and Chair of Cork Craft & Design Board, Michael Whyte of RoOg Ltd, pictured at the Cork Craft & Design store in Douglas Court Shopping Centre, Cork. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan /OSM PHOTO

Were spoiled for choice with giftable objects of every kind - both for others and ourselves. Candles, soaps, skincare, prints, home decor, textiles, fashion accessories, jewellery, and ceramics are a small selection of amazing products made in Cork, as well as within the island of Ireland. All of these are being made by people in your local communities, with their products for sale locally, nationally, and sometimes internationally. The breadth of skill and ingenuity is stunning to behold.

Mary Palmer is encouraging people to support local makers.

Many of our local makers are small single-person entities, but there are also many who support a team of employees, making their products on a larger scale. When you buy something which has been made down the road, youre also supporting the makers suppliers, who are often local businesses themselves. These are services such as graphic designers, photographers, printers, packing companies, couriers, and suppliers of raw materials. Every small business needs basic services such as phone, Wi-Fi, banking, accountants, tax office, and many other small services we take for granted. All of this helps to keep our local economies and communities afloat.

Crochet wire jeweller Fernanda Schneider of WildWire Jewellery, pictured at the Cork Craft & Design store in Douglas Court Shopping Centre, Cork. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan /OSM PHOTO

Along with helping local economies, supporting buy local also means getting good design, high-quality finish, and reasonable value. I will acknowledge that mass-produced goods are sometimes less expensive, but not always.

This coming Black Friday and festive season, please have a look at what some of our Irish designers and makers are doing before splashing out on a designer product.

I think youll find theres real value to be found locally, with great design and made-to-last items. Innovative contemporary design is readily found amongst our creative community in Ireland, and theres genuinely something to suit everyone.

So, as we gear up for Christmas, please consider supporting your local Christmas Craft Fair, or popping into one of the many craft shops around the county. While Ive mentioned Cork Craft & Design  in St Patricks Woollen Mills, Douglas and Douglas Court Shopping Centre  a few others that come to mind are such as Blackwater Valley Makers in Fermoy; The Heron Gallery in Ahakista; Forest & Flock in Bantry; Adrigole Arts in Adrigole; The Green Dot and OConnell Gallery in Clonakilty; The Wildflower Collective in Midleton; Quinlans in Macroom; Snout in Ballincollig; The Craft Shop in Bantry; Cork Flower Studio on Douglas St; Grey Heron in Bandon; Courtyard Crafts in Schull, Lavit Gallery, Wandesford Quay and many more.

Architectural illustrator, Jill Cotter of Corkidoodledo, pictured at the Cork Craft & Design store in Douglas Court Shopping Centre, Cork. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan /OSM PHOTO

The now sadly closed Wild Design Collective in Paul Street Shopping Centre, first launched Green Friday in Ireland as a counterpoint to the infamous Black Friday. It was meant to remind people of the value of supporting local businesses during their seasonal shopping. This has generated lots of interest for a couple of years, but I think that the overwhelming presence of Black Friday has subsumed the movement. This doesnt mean that we cant continue to quietly support the ideals behind the movement. Its about supporting local businesses with considered purchases rather than only looking for bargains Your support helps to keep many small businesses afloat. Do keep looking out for things that are made locally and remind your friends and family to do the same.

Sustainable leather handbag & accessories designer, Magdalena Wroblewska of INAKSY, pictured at the Cork Craft & Design store in Douglas Court Shopping Centre. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan /OSM PHOTO

Please remember that these designers, makers, craftspeople, artisans are your neighbours and friends, people who are part of your community and you see every day.

Thats the real value of Made Local!

About the writer

Quilter Mary Palmer founded Marimu Designs in 2006 and has been involved in the quilting scene for over 25 years, exhibiting traditional and modern works both at home and abroad. She is a member and the former Chair of Cork Craft & Design, one of the largest collectives of multi-disciplinary craft makers in the country.

See corkcraftanddesign.ie for more.
Isabel Hayes

Former rugby international Brendan Mullin, who stole hundreds of thousands of euro from Bank of Ireland Private Bank when he was its managing director, has been jailed for three years.

Mullin (61) was earlier this month found guilty of stealing just over 567,000 from the bank on dates between 2011 and 2013, after the jury returned guilty verdicts in 12 of the 14 charges against him following a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court trial.

The three-week trial heard allegations Mullin, of Stillorgan Road, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, was acting dishonestly when he arranged for sums of money to be paid by the private bank to McCann Fitzgerald solicitors, Beechwood accountants and Grant Thornton for work that had been done either for him personally or for his firm Quantum Investment Strategies.

The prosecution further alleged that Mullin stole 500,000 from Bank of Ireland during a breakdown in communication within various arms of the banking group, with the money ultimately being transferred to a company called Spice Holdings, registered in the British Virgin Islands.

The court heard Spice Holdings was a client that Mullin had brought into the bank.

Sentencing him on Monday, Judge Martin Nolan said Mullin was in a position of trust and a position of power when he stole from the bank. He was able to sway other parties to do his will, the judge said.

The judge noted no motive was advanced by Mullin, but he could only infer Mullin was somewhat desperate for funds and embarked on this endeavour to obtain money.

He took into account a number of mitigating factors, including what the defence termed as the exceptional factor that Bank of Ireland Private Bank was fully repaid the funds and not at a loss. The judge also noted there was a significant delay in bringing the case.

The court heard Mullin now accepts the verdicts of the jury and Judge Nolan accepted he is remorseful, and sorry for what he did. But he noted a custodial sentence was inevitable, and he handed down a jail term of three years.

Mullin put his head down when the sentence was handed down.

Mullin was acquitted of the two charges relating to Beechwood Partners, including the alleged theft of 6,150 from the private bank for work carried out privately for Mr Mullin and a false accounting charge related to the same.

The jury was also directed by the trial judge to return a verdict of not guilty on a further count of deception alleging Mullin induced two bank workers to sign a payment authorisation letter.

At Mullin's sentence hearing, Brendan Grehan SC, defending, told the court that Mullin suffered a personal crisis when the events of 2013 led to him resigning from the bank, and that he suffered another crisis when he was charged in 2021.

Mr Grehan said it was a stand-out factor of the case that all the money had been repaid before the garda investigation had commenced and long before the matter came to court.

It is a singular set of events that occurred in the context of somebody who is now 61 years of age, who has lived a good life and made positive contributions to this country, Mr Grehan said. The court heard Mullin, who represented the country in rugby in the 1980s and 1990s, has no previous convictions and no outstanding investigations against him.

Mr Grehan said the consequences of his offending were profound for Mullin, who suffered a fall from grace. He said Mullin had to deal with this issue twice  once when it first emerged and again when the investigation became public.

Mr Mullin at this stage accepts the jury verdict, Mr Grehan said, adding this was a matter of some significance for the court. He said Mullin was prepared to carry out community service if that was a possibility.

Earlier, Detective Sergeant Sean O'Riordan gave evidence of Mullin's offending. The court heard that in relation to the McCann Fitzgerald payments, Mullin asked the solicitors to redirect the invoices from his own personal address to the private bank. The court heard he told his superiors that the invoices had been mistakenly put in a bundle of client invoices and paid in error.

In relation to the Spice Holdings transfer, the court heard that Bank of Ireland Private Bank and New Ireland  both arms of the bank's Wealth Management Division  agreed to equally split a 1 million refund to customers relating to a pay-out of life assurance claims, with the court hearing there was a communications breakdown in relation to this.

The trial heard that 500,000 was transferred by New Ireland into a Northern Trust account in the name of Spice Holdings in December 2011. Six months later, 500,000 was transferred into another account in the name of Spice Holdings, held by Royal Bank of Canada in Jersey following the receipt of a faxed instruction.

In April 2013, Mullin paid McCann Fitzgerald the 61,000 in legal fees that the private bank had paid for and in July 2015, he arranged for his company, Quantum, to pay 500,000 to Bank of Ireland Private Bank.

Det Sgt O'Riordan agreed with Dominic McGinn SC, prosecuting, that the 500,000 Spice Holdings transfer was never traced and Royal Bank of Canada did not respond to queries.
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.

In a new study, researchers have found a link between the use of certain personal care products, such as makeup, hair products and fragrances, by pregnant people and higher levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in human milk.

Researchers compared the use of personal care products and PFAS levels in prenatal plasma and human milk of 2,001 pregnant and lactating people within the Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals Study, which took place in 10 cities in Canada from 2008 to 2011.

The results showed that pregnant people who used products like hair dyes, perm solutions, hair sprays and gels, nail polish and other nail products, makeup and fragrance in the first trimester had higher PFAS concentrations in the prenatal plasma and people using these products in the third trimester had higher PFAS concentrations in their milk after giving birth. The scientists published their findings in the journal Environment International.

A graphical abstract of the study. Environment International

While PFAS are ubiquitous in the environment, our study indicates that personal care products are a modifiable source of PFAS, Amber Hall, an author of the study and a postdoctoral research associate in epidemiology at Brown University, said in a statement. People who are concerned about their level of exposure to these chemicals during pregnancy or while breastfeeding may benefit from cutting back on personal care products during those times.

The study revealed that the highest levels of PFAS were linked to frequent use of nail care products, makeup, perfumes or fragrances, hair dye and hair sprays, as The Guardian reported.

In the study, researchers found that people wearing makeup regularly in the first trimester of pregnancy had 14% higher PFAS concentrations in their plasma compared to pregnant people who did not wear makeup every day. Lactating people wearing makeup daily had 17% higher PFAS levels in milk.

Similarly, lactating people using permanent hair dye shortly after giving birth had 16% to 18% higher levels of PFAS in milk. People who used hair dye at least twice while pregnant had 36% higher levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), a type of PFAS, compared to people who dyed their hair less than two times while pregnant.

Using nail products during the postpartum period was linked to 27% higher PFOS levels in human milk.

Because the study only looked into just four of the thousands of types of PFAS, Hall explained that the total PFAS concentrations could be even higher.

This is not the first study to investigate PFAS in personal care products or their presence in human bodies. Earlier this year, New Zealand even moved forward with a ban of PFAS in cosmetics by 2027, and these chemicals have been found in human blood and the blood of umbilical cords.

This latest research further ties PFAS exposure to higher risks for pregnant people and infants. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), PFAS exposure has been linked to decreased fertility, high blood pressure in pregnant people, developmental impacts in children, reduced vaccine response and ability of the immune system to fight infections, hormone interference, and increased risk of some types of cancer.

In response, the researchers noted that the findings could help better inform parents in their use of personal care products when pregnant or lactating, but that the results could also be wide-reaching and should not burden individuals. Instead, the authors said this should prompt more research and regulation of PFAS to protect public health.

Not only do studies like these help people assess how their product choices may affect their personal risk, but they can also help us show how these products could have population-level effects, said Joseph Braun, an author of the study and a professor of epidemiology and director of childrens environmental health at Brown University. And that makes the case for product regulation and government action, so that we can remove some of the burden from individuals.
(Photo: Glascher/EKD)Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm preaching at the Oct. 31, 2017 service to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation at Wittenberg's Castle Church in Geramny.

The way churches speak to people in power must take different dimensions into account and poses complex questions, the World Council of Churches moderator, Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, has told the council's executive committee.

"The way we speak to people in power as churches must take different dimensions into account. What weight each one of them gets is, again, highly contextual," said Bedford-Strohm speaking in Paralimni, Cyprus, at the Nov. 21-26 meeting of one the WCC's main governing bodies, its executive committee.

"How can the churches critically accompany political processes?" he asked. "When should they speak up to power in ways which are more shocking than comforting and sustaining?"

Bedford-Strohm noted that a passion for justice characterizes prophetic speech.

"Its goal must be the actual improvement of the situation of the most disadvantaged. The strongly biblically-based concept of the 'preferential option for the poor' has emerged originally from Latin American liberation theology in the 1970s.

"When we reflect upon what we say to people in power, the preferential option for the poor must guide us."

Prophetic speech to people whose hearts and mind you want to win, in biblical perspective, is 'connected criticism' he said quoting Michael Walzer a political theorist at Princeton University. "It is based on relationship, on respect, maybe even love, for those to whom it is addressed," said Bedford-Strohm.

He thanked the WCC general secretary, Rev. Jerry Pillay, for his "tireless effort" to meet political leaders whether or not such meetings were a joy. "This is exactly speaking truth to power in the context of relationship."

Bedford-Strohm noted, "Prophetic speech must always include prudence. It must reflect upon its consequences for the potential of political change in favor of the poor and disadvantaged. Radical statements are not automatically prophetic witness in the biblical sense. They must always be in the service of God's will to overcome injustice and suffering, especially of the most vulnerable."

"Therefore, we must always ask ourselves: Is our speech really in the service of God's call to make a difference?" he said. "Or is it only an expression of one's personal anger?"

The WCC moderator also suggested that churches have a distinctive function as agents in civil society.

"They know about the indisputable moral truths on which a society depends such as the dignity of every human being and the preference of the poor for which the biblical prophets stand," he said.

"At the same time, they see the world as a whole reconciled by God in Jesus Christ and therefore stand for the inclusion of each member of society into a commonwealth based on those moral truths."

The WCC executive committee convened in Cyprus, from Nov. 21-26 plan for 2025, including the budget and implementation of WCC strategies.

The gathering was to focus on peace-building in the context of occupation, war, and conflicts.
(Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC)Ecumenical Accompaniers from the World Council of Churches EAPPI program offer a peaceful protective presence for Palestinian children as they go to school at Al-Maniya near Bethlehem in the West Bank. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC

The World Council of Churches Executive Committee has condemned attacks and persecution of Christian communities in Asia and reiterated its call for a just peace in Israel and Palestine.

"Throughout history, religious communities living in contexts in which other religions predominate have been among the most vulnerable groups in society," the statement on persecution in Asia reads, the WCC said May 27.

The executive committee of the WCC has held its May 22-28 meeting in Bossey near Geneva, Switzerland and it traditionally issues a statement on global issues affecting the members of the global church grouping representing more than half a billion Christians.

"In many parts of the world today, Christians in such contexts are among the most persecuted communities."

The statement acknowledges that, in in some contexts, Christian communities are unfairly or mistakenly linked to the colonial histories of their countries.

"They are frequently scapegoated in the context of prevailing geopolitical and religious undercurrents and narratives of retaliation, and their dignity and freedoms violated, often with impunity," the statement reads.

"And they are increasingly targeted in brutal violent attacks."

The violence occurs in the context of systematic marginalization, unequal citizenship rights, and discriminatory and blasphemy laws, the statement continues.

"In many contexts, the vulnerability of Christian communities is accentuated by their socio-economic situation, race, ethnic and or caste identity, and lack of access to land, resources, and education," the statement reads.

"Women are particularly vulnerable, being subjected to physical, and sexual violence, rape, abductions, forced marriages, and in cases of conversion, also to shaming, shunning, forced divorce and denial of custody of children," said the statement.

The WCC's Central Committee, its main governing body between assemblies elects 20 of its members to serve as the Executive Committee.

It meets twice a year appointing program staff, monitoring ongoing work, and supervising the budget approved by the Central Committee.

The Executive Committee, in another statement, reiterated its call for a just peace in Israel and Palestine.

'FABRIC OF OUR FAITH'

"That commitment is part of the fabric of our faith, and of the heritage of the ecumenical movement," reads the statement.

"We seek to express it by accompanying the churches, interfaith partners and communities of these lands in their witness and work for justice and for peace."

The WCC called for a peace founded on justice.

"Just as we categorically denounce antisemitism as sin against God and humanity, so do we reject discrimination, marginalization, collective punishment and violence against Palestinian people on the basis of ethnicity, race or religion also as sin against God and humanity," reads the statement.

"We call for an approach to the situation in Israel and Palestine that does not reduce it to a competition of binary opposites, in which one must choose one side or the other, but that recognizes and affirms the common humanity and equal God-given dignity and rights of all people of the region."

The WCC said it continues to support and promote the vision of the two-state solution as the only practicable configuration for peaceful coexistence.

The WCC calls on "all WCC member churches, ecumenical and interfaith partners and all people of conscience and goodwill to continue to uphold and assert the equal human dignity and rights of all people, both Israelis and Palestinians," the statement read.
(Photo: Marianne Ejdersten/World Council of Churches)

The World Council of Churches representing more than 500 mainly Anglican, Orthodox and Protestant Christians and the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations have restored relations after a two-decades break.

"After a two-decade hiatus, the two groups have chosen to restore formal relations," the WCC and the IJCIC said after they met at a historic meeting on June 25-27 in Paris, France.

Among the issues that drove them to suspend their relations were differences over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The meeting was held under the theme, "The normalization of hatred: challenges for Jews and Christians today" and in a joint communique they said it "took place at a time of challenges both to religious life in general and to each of our communities in their various contexts."

The two groups said it was taking place "at a time of challenges both to religious life in general and to each of our communities in their various contexts."

The WCC and IJCIC said they are representative bodies of their respective religious communities.

The meeting was convened by Rabbi Daniel Polish, chair of IJCIC, and Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC.

It was jointly chaired by Rabbi Noam Marans, vice chair of IJCIC, and Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, WCC executive committee member and a legate of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

"Among the issues that informed this gathering were: the rise of xenophobic nationalist movements in much of the world; suspicion of the agendas of religious communities and institutions, especially in Europe," they said.

Their joint message also spoke of the, "the resurgence of overt antisemitism; the prevalence of Islamophobia;" and "newly emerging anti-Christian attitudes."

They also discussed "the continuing non-resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; worldwide hostility to vulnerable minorities; and the shocking erosion of civil society in many places and ways."

"We are particularly horrified by the recent increase in murderous attacks on places of worship in different parts of the world," the two groups said.

They discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and "it was recognized that there have sometimes been very real tensions between the positions of the WCC and IJCIC."

They said, "This meeting took place with acknowledgment of the development in both more constructive communications and the way that differences are conveyed publicly.

'OPENESS AND HONESTY'

"These discussions in Paris were characterized by openness, honesty, and an attempt to fully empathize with how profoundly important these issues are to Jews and Christians alike."

The groups also focused on their shared challenge to address injustice in the world.

"Our religious traditions mandate that we honour the integrity and humanity of all, welcome and care for the stranger, and resist evil. We are living at a time when this demands our courageous attention," reads their joint text.

The two groups also explored ways in which, working together, "our advocacy and interventions may be forces for good in the world."

They committed to addressing and opposing all forms of normalization of hatred, including antisemitism and attacks on religious communities.

Areas of possible collaboration included: mutual education; environmental concerns; and gender justice.

The IJCIC serves its constituent member organizations to maintain and develop relations with the Vatican's Commission on Religious Relations with the Jews, the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the World Council of Churches and other international religious bodies.

IJCIC's members are: American Jewish Committee (AJC), Anti-Defamation League (ADL), B'nai B'rith International (BBI), Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), Israel Jewish Council on Interreligious Relations (IJCIR), Rabbinical Assembly (RA), Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (OU), United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ), and World Jewish Congress (WJC).

The World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of 350 member churches which represents more than half a billion Christians around the world.
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Lets be honest, your home Wi-Fi probably sucks, with regular drop-outs, buffering or even the dreaded data dead zone. Its because traditional Wi-Fi routers are a single unit, pumping out data only as far as the laws of physics will allow. So if youve got thick walls, plumbing or any other quirky internal design, your overall connectivity is going to suffer. Its these issues mesh Wi-Fi systems are designed to solve, using multiple nodes (or satellites) scattered around your home to create a broader, more reliable and consistent connection.



Meshes work as a team to create a seamless Wi-Fi network around your home, keeping you and your gear connected as you move. If youve got plenty of smart home gear, then youll also get the benefit of being able to connect more devices to the same network. They also often look a lot nicer than whatever your internet provider shipped to you when you signed up, too.



These systems also have plenty of useful features, like automatic firmware updates to keep you safe and secure, fast speeds and ethernet ports for wired connections. It doesn't matter if youre streaming, gaming, working or simply need reliable connectivity for your smart gadgets: A mesh system can be the solution for keeping every corner of your home online and happy.

Table of contents

Best mesh Wi-Fi systems for 2025

Photo by Daniel Cooper / Engadget Best mesh Wi-Fi system for most TP-Link Deco AXE5400 Wi-Fi 6E Mesh System (Deco XE75) Wireless band count: 3 | Wireless speed rating: Up to 2,402 Mbps (6GHz band) | Ethernet ports: 3 | USB ports: 0 | Coverage area: Up to 7,200 sq. ft. Read our full TP-Link Deco XE75 review Theres no single glitzy feature that sets TP-Links Deco XE75 apart from its competition. Instead, it expertly balances raw power and user friendliness. If youre looking for a no-fuss upgrade for your existing wireless router with faster speeds, this is the right option, especially for large homes. Its not perfect, but my biggest gripes are nitpicks: The power cables are too short and the app could do with a polish. This tri-band mesh Wi-Fi system is the best for most people. In my spacious and wireless-hostile home, the $400 three-pack was almost overkill. If the $300 two-pack can cover your homes square footage, then its a more wallet-friendly proposition than some of its rivals. Lets address the elephant in the room: TP-Link has a Chinese-owned parent company and, late last year, the US began asking if there was a potential national security risk. In a statement, TP-Link Systems said it was no longer affiliated with China-based TP-Link Technologies and that its products comply with regional industry security standards and regulations. It added the Chinese government does not have access to or control over the design and production of our routers, and that it is engaging with the US government to demonstrate its security practices are fully in line with security standards. Pros Excellent performance

Easy to set up and use

A good value for the money Cons App design lacks polish

Short power cable $270 at Amazon

Photo by Daniel Cooper / Engadget Best mesh Wi-Fi system for power users ASUS ZenWiFi Pro AXE11000 Wi-Fi 6E Mesh System (ET12) Wireless band count: 3 | Wireless speed rating: Up to 4,804 Mbps (6GHz band) | Ethernet ports: 2 | USB ports: 0 | Coverage area: Up to 3,000 sq. ft. ASUS ZenWiFi Pro ET12 is a pro piece of hardware inside and out, with the power (and price) to justify such a name. Each node has the power to cover your home in Wi-Fi, and those extra gigabit and 2.5 Gbps ethernet ports will let you add fast backhaul or a speedy NAS. Id say pro users and gamers who need faster speeds will find plenty to love in this package. Hell, its good enough to support a medium-sized office without too much stress. Thats before you get to ASUS AiMesh, which will let you add ASUS powerful standalone routers to the same network. You could pick up a ZenWiFi Pro now, and in a year or two bolt on one of its beefy Wi-Fi routers to really boost your speed. Power users will be better equipped to deal with some of its more idiosyncratic control options, and are more likely to take advantage of its support for the 160MHz band. If Im honest, I started using this and realized pretty quickly that this was simply too much gear for my needs. Its like needing to buy a blender and coming back from the store with the Large Hadron Collider  lovely, but probably a little too much overkill for a single glass of kale smoothie. Pros Superb performance

Easy to expand system with additional nodes and routers Cons Expensive $308 at Amazon

What to look for in a mesh Wi-Fi system

Linksys CEO Jonathan Bettino told Engadget why mesh systems are an advancement in Wi-Fi technology over buying a single point router. With one transmitter, the signal can degrade the further away from the router you go, or the local environment isnt ideal. You can have a small [home], but theres thick walls [...] or things in the way that just interfere with your wireless signal, he said.

Historically, the solution to a homes Wi-Fi dead zone was to buy a Wi-Fi range extender but Bettino said the hardware has both a terrible user experience and one of the highest return rates of any consumer electronics product. Mesh Wi-Fi, by comparison, offers multiple nodes that can be placed anywhere in your home, says Bettino, resulting in ubiquitous Wi-Fi that feels as if you have a router in every room.

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Rather than having one main router in your home, having a router in every room is the biggest selling point for mesh Wi-Fi given how reliant we all are on the internet. Each node is in constant contact with each other, broadcasting a single, seamless network to all of your connected devices. Theres no separate network for the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, just a single name that you connect to.

Its a good time to buy a mesh Wi-Fi system since the latest standard, Wi-Fi 6E, represents a big leap in the technology. Matt MacPherson, Cisco's Chief Technology Officer for Wireless, said Wi-Fi 6E is a big inflection point, using much more of the wireless spectrum than its predecessors. If youre using that spectrum with a Wi-Fi 6 [device], he said, youre going to get significant gains [in speed.]

MacPherson added Wi-Fi 6E will likely carry you for a long time thanks to the fact its top throughputs now typically exceed what people can actually connect their home to. In short, with a top theoretical per-stream speed of 1.2 Gbps, Wi-Fi 6E is fast enough to outrun all but the fastest internet connection.

What do all these Wi-Fi numbers and letters mean?

Im sorry folks, we need to get boringly technical for one paragraph, but I promise you its worth it.

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Wi-Fi is governed by International Standard IEEE 802.11, and every few years a letter gets added onto that name when the technology evolves and improves. Until 2019, routers were sold under their IEEE name, leaving users to pick through the word soup of a product labeled 802.11 b/g/a/n/ac and so on.

Mercifully, wiser heads opted to rebrand the letters as numbers, so rather than 802.11 b/g/a/n/ac, we have Wi-Fi 1, 2, 3 4 and 5. Right now, were in the middle of one of those Wi-Fi generations, with most of the gear on sale right now supporting either Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 6E.

Whats the difference between Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E?

Wi-Fi uses chunks of the radio frequency spectrum, with Wi-Fi 6 using the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands to pump data around. In fact, back in the old days, it was likely your home router would offer you the choice of the 2.4GHz or the 5GHz network, as separate bands to access. These days, all of the spectrums are tied together as one thing, and Wi-Fi 6E has the added ability to use the 6GHz band as well. Thats a big chunk of extra wireless real estate that isnt as cluttered up as the 2.4 and 5GHz bands.

Youre going to talk about wireless frequencies now, arent you.

Each Wi-Fi band had tradeoffs, because the slower radio frequencies have greater range but less speed. 2.4GHz signals will travel a long way in your home but arent quick, while 6GHz is blisteringly fast but can be defeated by a sturdy brick wall. A lot of Wi-Fi-enabled gear you own, like smart home products, only use the 2.4GHz band because the range is better and its a lot cheaper. But it means that the band is also overcrowded and slow, making it great for your doorbell and robovac, but lackluster for Twitch streaming.

So, what am I looking for?

Right now, the market is full of mature Wi-Fi 6 and 6E devices, and most new systems available to buy are capable of taking advantage of the faster speeds they offer. This guide focuses on Wi-Fi 6E gear since its what we think its more than enough to satisfy almost everyones at-home Wi-Fi needs.

What about Wi-Fi 7?

Were now seeing the first generation of Wi-Fi 7 devices available to buy, but we dont recommend you do so immediately. The Wi-Fi 7 standard is still so new that theres little to no reason for you to rush out and buy one for your home. The hardware is tremendously expensive and while Wi-Fi 7 will, eventually, offer some great benefits over 6E, its not as transformative an upgrade as 6E. Not to mention, Wi-Fi 7 is so new that almost none of your homes devices will be able to take advantage of its big-ticket features. Id estimate you wont need to worry about upgrading to Wi-Fi 7 for at least five years, if not longer.

Range and speed

All Wi-Fi routers boast a theoretical broadcast range and a theoretical top speed, but these figures dont mean much. After all, manufacturers cant control your ISPs real speed, the materials and layout of your home or where you put your Wi-Fi gear. Raw speed isnt everything, either, and you likely need a lot less internet than youre actually paying for right now. After all, Netflix needs just 15 Mbps to push a single 4K video stream to your home. As cool as it is to say youve got all these hundreds of Mbps, factors like latency and reliability are far more crucial to a happy internet life. And unless you have Gigabit internet that can reach speeds of up to 1 Gbps, you wont need a mesh router that offers that spec.

Backhaul

Mesh Wi-Fi systems work by connecting every hardware node to a single wireless network, letting them all communicate with each other. Imagine four people in a busy, noisy restaurant all trying to order their dinner from a weary staff member, all at once. Now imagine, while this is going on, that four more people at that same table are also trying to tell a funny anecdote. Its no surprise that it might take a long time for the right information to reach its intended destination.

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To combat this, higher-end mesh routers offer dedicated wireless backhaul; a slice of the spectrum for node-to-node communication. So rather than everyone talking at once in the same space, the conversations are essentially separated, reducing the invisible clutter in the air. Because theres less confusing cross-chatter, everything moves faster, offering a significant performance boost to those systems.

Connectivity

These days, even your washing machine can have a wireless connection, but that doesnt mean you should ignore the joys of wired internet. No matter how fast Wi-Fi is, a hard line will always be faster, and some gear, like Philips Hue bridge, still needs an ethernet connection. Plenty of routers can also use these hard connections as backhaul, eliminating further wireless clutter.

Its convenient for spread-out systems and power users, but it will mean running more wires through your home. The most common standard is Cat 5e, or gigabit ethernet which, unsurprisingly, has a top speed of 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps). Since Ethernet cables are backward compatible, you should be able to easily find one that works with your system. However, to get the most out of your mesh routers, its worth investing in an Ethernet cable that meets the standard your router uses  if its Cat 5e, use a Cat 5e cable. You can check your routers specs via the manufacturers website to be sure.

Flexibility and scalability

Mesh routers enable you to add (or subtract) modules from your home network to suit your needs. D-Links Alan Jones said users should check how scalable the prospective product is before you buy. This sense of scale doesnt just apply to the number of nodes on the network, but how many simultaneous connections it can handle.

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Its also worth looking at ASUS AiMesh products, which can combine mesh Wi-Fi gear and its standard spider Wi-Fi routers. If youve got a tricky part of your home, you can bolt on an ultra-power standalone Wi-Fi router to a compatible mesh.

Placement

Mesh networks replace one big piece of hardware with a series of identical nodes that you scatter around your home. You connect one to your modem (usually over ethernet), and then scatter the rest around the place for the best coverage. A good rule of thumb is to place each node no more than two rooms away from the last one, rather than sticking them at the far ends of your home.

Bear in mind, every physical obstacle between a Wi-Fi node, its siblings and your devices will hurt your overall performance. You should aim to place them, at the very least, at waist height on furniture in open air, without too many obstructions. The reason many mesh Wi-Fi products are designed to look like an inoffensive white doodad is so you dont feel compelled to hide them behind your TV.

How we test Wi-Fi routers

My home covers around 2,200 square feet across three stories with the office on the third floor. Its relatively long and thin, with the living room at the front of the house, the kitchen at the back and the three bedrooms on the first floor. Its age means there are a lot of solid brick walls, old-school lathe and plaster as well as aluminum foil-backed insulation boards to help with energy efficiency. There are two major Wi-Fi dead zones in the house: The bathroom and the third bedroom behind it, since theres lots of old and new pipework in the walls and floors.

For mesh routers with two nodes, I place the first in my living room, connected via ethernet to my cable modem with the second on the first floor landing in the (ostensible) center of the house. For three-node sets, the third goes in my kitchen, which Ive found is the optimal layout to get the bulk of my house covered in Wi-Fi. Fundamentally, my home poses enough challenges that if it succeeds here, it stands a very good chance of succeeding in your place.

Each mesh is judged on ease of setup, Wi-Fi coverage, reliability, speed and any additional features that it advertises. I look at how user-friendly each companion app is from the perspective of a novice rather than an expert given you shouldnt need to be a network engineer to do this sort of thing. Tests I do include checking for dead zones, moving from room to room to measure consistency of connectivity and streaming multiple videos at once to replicate common usage patterns.

Other mesh Wi-Fi router systems we tested

Amazon Eero 6E

Eero Pro 6E is an easy device, the sort a total novice can set up on their own and thrive with for years on end. Theres little brainwork required to get things set up, and the app has a clean UI with plenty of hand-holding. But, and its a big but, the fact that so many basic management tools are paywalled irks me, especially since you can get plenty of them for free with Googles rival offering.

Netgear Orbi 960

The Orbi 96T0 (RBKE963) is Netgears flagship mesh Wi-Fi product, which the company calls the worlds most powerful Wi-Fi 6E system. Its also one of the most expensive consumer-level kits on the market, setting you back $1,499.99 for a three pack. It's a fantastic piece of gear, but it's worth saying that the subset of people who could, would or should buy it remains far smaller than you might expect. Ultimately, I feel that if youre paying luxury prices, you should expect a luxury product. There were plenty of times during testing that I went looking for a feature that was either only available via the web client, or behind a paywall. While, yes, much of your cash is going to the superlative hardware, but for this sort of money, the fact you have to pay extra for some table-stakes features is insulting. If youre looking for a new Wi-Fi system and arent prepared to spend almost $1,500, its worth considering our other top picks for the best Wi-Fi routers and mesh systems.
The Department of Commerce has finalized federal funding for two more recipients under the CHIPS and Science Act. One of those is Rocket Lab , which has secured up to $23.9 million in funding to boost production of space-grade solar cells that power satellites and spacecraft.

The company, which launched its 200th satellite to orbit over the weekend, will use the money to upgrade its manufacturing plant in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The funding will create more than 100 jobs and the goal is to beef up Rocket Lab's compound semiconductor production by 50 percent within the next three years. The Commerce Department says this will "meet the growing national security and commercial demand for these solar cells in the United States."

Rocket Lab's solar cells are vital components of many of the country's space programs. They're found on the James Webb Space Telescope, Ingenuity Mars Helicopter and Mars Insight Lander. The solar cells are also used in NASAs Artemis missions, as well as in commercial satellites. Rocket Lab, one of only two US companies that make space-grade solar cells, agreed to preliminary terms for the funding in June.

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Defense contractor BAE Systems will also get funding of up to $35.5 million to drastically speed up the timeline of a modernization project. According to the Department of Commerce, BAE will replace "aging tools" and quadruple its supply of chips for key US defense programs, such as F-35 fighter jets.
Allegations have surfaced claiming that a mobile phone belonging to Sean "Diddy" Combs has been listed for sale on the black market.

Discovered inside a recording studio, the device supposedly contains a three-year back up of content, causing concern among the rapper's legal team as he readies himself for an upcoming trial related to sex trafficking set for 2025.

An insider told Radar Online, "An individual claims to have found Diddy's phone discarded at a recording studio with a three year back up of its content  messages, call logs, photos ... everything."

"This would be anyone's worst nightmare. When you're Diddy, it could be the difference between freedom and a life behind bars."

They continued, "The person who claimed the phone has ostensibly claimed possession is nine-tenths of the law. To him, this phone is now his. Is it legal? Who knows? But in any event, the phone is now on the open market."

"It's been shopped from one media outlet to another. The latest I heard is that documentarians making a series on Diddy have it and are considering buying it to reveal all of its contents. This could be his actual worst nightmare."

The discovery of Diddy's phone on the black market comes as prosecutors have alleged that the disgraced music mogul has been using a mobile phone to communicate with witnesses while in prison.

#breakingnews Diddys 6 adult children & Mother attend court hearing. Judge says he will make a rapid decision on $50 million bail package next week. Team Diddy wants house arrest in a Manhattan apt, 24 hr guards, limited phone & internet. #fox5ny pic.twitter.com/vbePlgPJsZ  LISA EVERS (@LisaEvers) November 22, 2024

According to a court filing, Diddy has reportedly directed his family to reach out to potential witnesses involved in his case.

During a court session, a judge ruled that the authorities must destroy of any duplicates of the items confiscated from Diddy's prison cell while considering their admissibility as evidence in the trial. Judge Arun Subramanian prohibited the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York from using the content or any portions of it in today's bail hearing.

Moving forward, the judge also expressed intent to review the materials and determine their admissibility for trial.

The former Bad Boy Records mogul's representatives also claimed that federal prosecutors unlawfully confiscated Diddy's private notes while conducting a search of his prison room at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

During their debate, they discussed certain materials containing confidential information safeguarded by attorney-client privilege, a protection that covers communications between a client and their legal counsel.
Keira Knightley opened up about the intense scrutiny she faced when she first stepped into the spotlight.

The 39-year-old British actress was in the center of rumors suggesting she suffered from an eating disorder, despite saying that she maintained a healthy relationship with food, the relentless focus on her physical appearance inflicted "trauma."

Knightley told The UK Times, "In that classic trauma way I don't remember it."

"There's been a complete delete, and then some things will come up and I'll suddenly have a very bodily memory of it because, ultimately, it's public shaming, isn't it? It's obviously part of my psyche, given how young I was when it happened. I've been made around."

Knightley discussed how much more open conversations about mental health are today compared to the early 2000s. She reminisced about a time when celebrities, like Mary-Kate Olsen, faced intense judgment for seeking help.

She went on, "I remember viscerally one of the Olsen twins had anorexia, and she went into a clinic."

"I remember being asked about it on a press tour, like it was a joke. She was meant to be shamed for seeking help for anorexia. I remember sitting there just being like, 'Wow, this is wild.'"

"Can you imagine?" the "Bend It Like Beckham" actress continued. "That made me really emotional. That's not even about me, it's about her. I still can't bear it."

In spite of facing criticism from the media during her twenties, Knightley mentioned the importance of her strong support network, sharing, "The unbelievably lucky thing was I come from an incredibly loving background and I always had really nice boyfriends. I had lovely, lovely boyfriends."

Back in October of 2018, the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star disclosed for the first time the experience of a "mental breakdown" she went through at 22 years old, just after achieving global recognition from her roles in various films and attributed to the demands of her early stardom that had impacted her.

"I felt pretty much like actually I didn't exist and I was this weird creature with this weird face that people seemed to respond to in quite an extreme way, and I couldn't quite figure any of it out."

In another interview with Harper's Bazaar UK in 2023, the Brit reflected on her immediate rise to stardom as a teenager and the challenges she faced in meeting the lofty expectations placed upon her.

"There's a funny place where women are meant to sit, publicly, and I never felt comfortable with that. It was a big jolt."
Famed 90s supermodel Georgina Cooper has died at the age of 46. A hospital spokesperson said the cause of death was revealed to be cirrhosis of the liver and internal bleeding.

Cooper died on Oct. 26 after falling ill on the Greek island of Kos during a holiday.

She was there on holiday with her partner Nigel Smith when she was taken to a nearby hospital on Oct. 21. She was then airlifted to a specialist unit in Heraklion, Crete.

According to a DailyMail report, she died after five days. She had a known medical history, a local coroner has said, meaning that no autopsy was required.

"The doctors did what they could, but due to her condition, there was not much that could be done," the spokesperson said.

"She died from cirrhosis of the liver and internal bleeding after her organs failed," the spokesperson added.

Family members and friends will be paying their respects to the model at Vinters Park Crematorium in Maidstone on Wednesday for her funeral service.

A source close to Cooper described her as a "ray of light" and "genuine spirit" and said all who came into contact with her loved her.

Cooper was deemed one of the icons of the 90s fashion scene and was even dubbed as London's "Original Gap-Toothed Girl."

She appeared on the covers of major magazines, including U.S. Vogue and The Face, and in music videos, such as one with rock band Bon Jovi.

Cooper took a break from modeling to look after her son, Sonny, and then worked in hospitality, including the Fox & Goose pub, where she had the wedding of her dreams in May this year.

The fashion community and people close to Cooper have been deeply devastated by her passing. In addition to her contributions to fashion, she is fondly remembered for her kindness and unpretentious nature.

Dean Goodman, Cooper's former agent, paid tribute to her on his Instagram account.

Among those to pay tribute to Cooper were supermodels Jade Parfitt, Helena Christensen, and Jodie Kidd, who reminisced about her infectious laugh and larger-than-life personality.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson encouraged fans seeing 'Moana 2' in theaters to sing along with their favorite songs, despite popular movie etiquette suggesting otherwise.

Debates over whether or not it is acceptable to sing along in movie theaters have increased in response to several highly anticipated films being released recently. But while some argued that singing disrupts other people's viewing experience, Johnson said that knowing the songs was "the fun part," in a red carpet interview with the 'BBC.'

"Sing! You've paid your hard earned money for a ticket, and you've gone into a musical, and you're into it. Sing," Johnson told the outlet.

Following the release of 'Wicked,' inspired by the hit Broadway musical starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, some theaters have issued notices to encourage viewers to keep their singing for at-home viewings. Movie theater chain AMC planned to air a 30-second ad that urged moviegoers not to scream along, as reported by 'The Daily Beast.'

However, others have chosen to ignore the traditional concert etiquette, leading to sing-alongs in the theaters.

"It started slow. Then people heard each other  it was like they encouraged each other. It was a beautiful scene, and then you're taken out of it," Angela Weir, who attended an early screening of 'Wicked,' told 'The New York Times.'

'Moana 2' is set to be released Nov. 27 in the U.S., less than one week after the release of 'Wicked.' Although Lin-Manuel Miranda was nominated for an Oscar for the 'Moana' soundtrack, he did not return to work on the songs in 'Moana 2.'
After Kendrick Lamar released his new track "wacced out murals" addressing "white comedians," Andrew Schulz and Gary Owen has responded.

Owen first asked his followers on Twitter, now X, "Did Kendrick just come for me??? lol" on Friday, November 22, shortly after Lamar dropped his project, 'GNX.'

Did Kendrick just come for me??? lol  Gary Owen (@garyowencomedy) November 22, 2024

Lamar rapped: "Don't let no white comedian talk about no Black women  that's law." The Ohio native posted a screenshot of the lyrics with a picture of Lamar wearing a crown of thorns with the caption: "If that's law, that makes me a criminal." The post garnered over 6,000 likes.

Known for his 18-year long marriage to Kenya Duke, a Black woman, Owen's joke garnered more criticism than laughter online.

Social media reactions were swift and harsh. Instagram user @realruebenwood commented, "He probably shouldn't have said anything since his name wasn't mentioned." Others accused Owen, 50, of missing the mark. User @violapatrice94 said, "This ain't the flex he thinks it is," while @sarkimberly added, "Gary Owen truly believes because he married a Black woman he gets a FULL PASS, and it's concerning."

Owen's response to Lamar's lyric also drew notable commentary from Big Tigger, a DJ and TV personality best known as the host of BET's 'Rap City' and '106 & Park.'

"Chronic offender," Big Tigger wrote in Owen's comment section under his post. He later clarified, "Be CLEAR.... I'm not coming for @garyowencomedy. He earned that right. And this election made me feel like he blacker than some black people. Kthanksbye."

Per podcaster DJ Akademiks, Andrew Schulz also reportedly responded to the rapper's callout during a conversation. Earlier this year, Schulz, 41, discussed the "Black girlfriend effect" with "ShxtsNGigs" podcast hosts James Duncan and Fuhad Dawodu.

"They shave their hair because they start losing it from being so stressed, being around this Black girl that's complaining about s**t all the f*****g time," Schulz said of men who date Black women.

"They grow a beard because there's more cushion when they get slapped. I think the Black Girlfriend Effect might be a protective instinct."

Akademiks says he spoke to Schulz about Lamar's lyrics.

"His reaction was, 'Is this guy too woke to understand a joke?" Akademiks, real name Livingston Allen, said of the comedian's response.

Andrew Schulz reacts to Kendrick Lamar seemingly dissing him on his new album 'GNX' 



Is this guy too woke to understand a joke? (Via Akademiks) pic.twitter.com/ejW5WKhLxG  NFR Podcast (@nfr_podcast) November 23, 2024

The release of Lamar's latest album, 'GNX,' includes tracks like "luther," "tv off," and "squabble up."
A Los Angeles judge postponed Erik and Lyle Menendez's resentencing hearing to January after technical issues prevented the brothers from appearing virtually in court on Monday, November 25.

The Menendez brothers were set to appear in court for the first time in nearly three decades for their controversial resentencing hearing.

The siblings, serving life sentences for killing their parents in 1989, will remain in prison while the new district attorney reviews their case.

Judge Michael Jesic was responsible for delaying previously scheduled December 11 hearing until January 30-31.

Despite the delay, the brothers' 93-year-old aunt, Joan Andersen VanderMolen, was set to testify Monday due to health concerns. Defense attorney Mark Geragos waived his clients' appearance while the court handled scheduling matters.

The press conference after the hearing was abruptly cut short after the media was asked not to follow the Menendez brothers' family after leaving the court room and making brief remarks about advocating for their release.

Upon agreement that the press would not harass them, a man would answer questions. After initial agreement, several media outlets followed the family, prompting the man to walk away and end the press conference, walking away from microphones.

Back in October, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon announced his recommendation that Lyle and Erik Menendez should be resentenced in a shocking decision.

In 1996, the siblings were sentenced to two consecutive life prison terms without the possibility of parole. The highly-anticipated decision determined whether Erik and Lyle Menendez will be resentenced or get a new trial.

During a press conference on Thursday, October 24, Gascon said: "We don't have a universal agreement, there's people in the office that strongly believe the Menendez brothers should stay in prison for the rest of their life, they do not believe they were molested," Gascon said. "After careful review... [...] under the law, resentencing is appropriate, and I'm going to recommend that to the court tomorrow. What that means in this case, [...] life without the possibility of parole will be removed."

"We have resentenced over 300 people, including 20 people of murder, only four have reoffended," Gascon added.

He did call the crimes "horrible," as there's "no excuse for murder," and his decision "doesn't excuse their behavior" as they should have "sought help."

In other Menendez news, Lyle has reportedly managed to cheat on his wife while in prison with an English 21-year-old fan. According to the 'Daily Mail,' the 56-year-old has found love with college student Milly Bucksey and wants to divorce his wife of 21 years, Rebecca Sneed.

"Lyle adores Milly," a source told the outlet, "and she refers to him as her boyfriend even though he's married." The affair allegedly began when Menendez found Milly in a Facebook group made in his honor  run by his wife. He first contacted her with an account under a different name but confessed his identity after their conversation.

The insider also alleged that since beginning his romance with Bucksey, Menendez has gotten into trouble with guards at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego for owning a contraband phone used to chat with his young girlfriend. He has since gotten ahold of another phone to contact her.

Earlier this month, Bucksey visited Menendez in prison, traveling from her home in Manchester to San Diego to spend time with him. The pair posed for a photo, shared by The Daily Mail, featuring them in a prom position. Bucksey is also said to have changed the cover of her Facebook profile to feature San Diego's Ocean Beach as a nod to her new love.
Jamie Foxx enjoyed a lively night out with 'The Real Housewives of Atlanta' stars Phaedra Parks, Cynthia Bailey, and Porsha Williams in Miami.

The group dined at Prime 112 in South Beach, where the evening quickly turned into an impromptu karaoke session filled with laughter and music.

During the night, Parks, dressed in a form-fitting red dress, twerked near Foxx, who jokingly rubbed his hands together above her and quipped, "It's warm out here!" Williams shared the moment on Instagram, captioning it, "Baby a Time was had  We turned Prime into karaoke hour ," accompanied by a carousel of videos and photos from the event.

The group enthusiastically sang along to hits like Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" (2005), with Williams even using a steak knife as a makeshift microphone. Bailey later joked in the comments, "Lawd!," while Parks echoed the sentiment in the post's caption, writing, "A time was had ."

Foxx, 56, showed his playful side throughout the evening, teasing someone off-camera with, "You went to private school, but you're beautiful." Williams, 43, also shared a selfie with Foxx, with Parks photobombing in the background, showcasing the fun camaraderie of the evening.

Read more: Jamie Foxx Addresses Rumors Linking Diddy to His 2023 Hospitalization During Netflix Special

Fans were quick to react to the unexpected pairing, with one commenting, "Jamie being thrown is so random. No shade ," and another adding, "I just know Jamie Foxx is a good time ."

The dinner and karaoke session coincided with the 'RHOA' stars' visit to Miami, Florida, for Bravo Fan Fest. Outside the restaurant, the ladies posed for photos to commemorate their memorable night with the 'Just Mercy' actor.

Foxx's appearance comes more than a year after he was hospitalized for a mysterious medical condition. Last month, he hinted at his recovery in a post promoting his upcoming Netflix special, 'What Had Happened Was...,' where he reflected, "Thanks to the great people in Atlanta especially Piedmont Hospital you enabled me to come back and be on stage and do what I love to do the most."

Foxx will appear alongside Cameron Diaz as Emily and Matt, former CIA agents who have kept their past hidden from their children, leading normal lives in the suburbs in Netflix's new movie, 'Back in Action.' They become spies again after their secret lives are exposed.

"For the first time in a really long time, I felt alive again," Diaz's character says after a high-stakes battle with criminals at a gas station. "I felt like that b***h again." The film will mark Diaz's return to the silver screen in over 11 years.

Read more: Cynthia Bailey Admits Lenny Kravitz Ghosted Her After Asking For Her Phone Number

"Everybody asks me the question: 'Is Cameron Diaz coming back?' " Foxx, 56, told Netflix. "We're on a mission, and we take this opportunity where people might think we're dead, to disappear off the face of the planet and start a new life and raise our family,"
Teedra Moses' recent appearance on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert has fans buzzing, not just for her soulful performance but for her striking resemblance to actress Phylicia Rashad.

The R&B star took the stage to mark the 20th anniversary of her debut album, 'Complex Simplicity,' delivering a nostalgic and captivating set.

Moses, dressed in a bold red ensemble reminiscent of the outfit she wore on her album cover, and a red lip, exuded effortless style and grace as she performed some of her most beloved tracks, including "Be Your Girl" (2004). Fans quickly flocked to social media to comment on her uncanny likeness to the legendary 'The Cosby Show' actress.

One YouTube user wrote, "Phylicia Rashad's doppelganger, their resemblance is striking. Great performance." Meanwhile, a fan on X (formerly Twitter) joked, "Have we seen Teedra Moses & Phylicia Rashad in the same room?" Another chimed in, "Teedra Moses is really just Phylicia Rashad with an elite voice. It's hilarious every time I see her."

The performance was a celebration of Complex Simplicity, which has stood the test of time since its release in 2004. The album includes fan-favorite hits such as "You'll Never Find (A Love Like Mine)" and the timeless anthem "Be Your Girl," which gained renewed popularity after being remixed by DJ Kaytranada in 2023.

Fans showered Teedra Moses' 'Tiny Desk' performance with praise, celebrating both her artistry and the nostalgic joy of revisiting her debut album. One user, @Hains22, declared, "Complex Simplicity is undoubtedly the best R&B album of 2004, and I still stand on that even 20 years later."Another fan, @jaslyn5501, expressed excitement, writing, "Soon as I saw the title, I said 'now this is the one we needed.' She is severely underrated."

The performance, featuring Durand Bernarr on background vocals, was hailed as a refreshing and unexpected treat that reaffirmed Moses' impact on R&B.

Moses' Tiny Desk set was a testament to her enduring talent and the lasting impact of her debut album, leaving fans in awe of both her vocal prowess and her Rashad-like elegance.

In other Rashad news, the legendary actress will appear in South Bend, Indiana, as part of the special "Margaret Hill Visiting Artist Series" being put on at Saint Mary's College.

"An Evening with Phylicia Rashad" will take place on Monday, Nov. 25, at 7:30 p.m. EST at the Moreau Center for the Arts. Tickets to the event are currently available for purchase.
Jennifer Lawrence has a response ready for trolls who may argue she's "not educated" enough to "talk about politics," as she explained in a recent TV interview.

What argument do they have? Well, the Academy Award-winning actress technically dropped out of school when she was 14 to pursue her Hollywood career.

With that in mind, what does Lawrence have to say to the haters who may feel that negates her political opinions in the present? Well, J-Law fans know that Lawrence doesn't shy away from addressing politics. After all, the actress co-produced the new documentary Bread & Roses about women in Afghanistan and the role of the Taliban, alongside fellow co-producer and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, which premiered in the U.S. on Apple TV+ this week.

Now, in speaking about the documentary in a televised talk last week, Lawrence was asked how she views any detractors who question her intelligence.

"[Trolls] always say different things," Lawrence tells CBS Mornings' Gale King. "I did a 60 Minutes interview once where I explained that I dropped out of middle school, so I technically am not educated."

The actress continues, "A common one with this [documentary] is, 'Why is someone without an education trying to talk about politics?' To that, I say it's not political  it's people's lives."

@cbsmornings Jennifer Lawrence discusses the risks of speaking out about Afghan womens rights and how she faced criticism for her lack of formal education. She emphasizes that advocating for human lives is not political but a moral imperative: Theres 20 million women whose lives are in danger. Bread & Roses" premieres on Apple TV+ on November 22nd. #jenniferlawrence #actor #news #women #womensrights  original sound - CBS Mornings

Elsewhere in the interview, per Comic Sands, Lawrence spoke about the doc's making. "My first reaction when watching that [Taliban takeover] was to do what the Taliban did not want us to do," she says, "which was to give access and facilities to the people on the ground to capture what was happening on the ground in real-time."

She adds, "I can't imagine not being able to take a taxi or not being able to listen to music. I can't imagine if just the sound of my voice was illegal."

Bread & Roses "captures the spirit of Afghan women in their relentless quest for autonomy. A moving portrayal of strength amid struggle, this acclaimed Cannes Film Festival documentary shines a light on their resilience," according to a synopsis from Apple TV+, which is where viewers can currently stream the film.
Monday, November 25, 2024

In her Wall Street Journal column published a week ago, Peggy Noonan characterized the first batch of President-elect Donald Trumps cabinet picks as normal Republicans. For a few of the next choices however, she wrote that it is impossible to tell if Mr. Trump is announcing appointments or trolling his enemies. Those selections are so baffling that they have left large numbers of Americans, including many Republicans, scratching their heads.

Elected presidents have the right to choose the people they think will best help them carry out their agendas. But the Founding Fathers recognized that the judgments of future presidents would not always be unimpeachable. That is why the Constitution granted the U.S. Senate its advice-and-consent responsibility. If a president appoints individuals who are so patently unqualified for the jobs they are expected to do, as is the case with some of the president-elects current selections, then the Senate has a duty to step in and reject those candidates before they get the opportunity to do damage to the country.

The fear that many people now have is that the Republicans, who hold a majority in the Senate, will abdicate this responsibility. Due to the president-elects complete hold on the party, few Republicans, if any, are prepared to stand up to him these days. That is why he has been able to get away with so many things that, just a few short years ago, would have quickly ended any political career. Because of this dearth of people in todays Washington who are willing to speak truth to power, I have been thinking a lot lately about George C. Marshall.

In his bestselling book, The Road to Character, David Brooks delved into the lives of nine world historical figures who rose to greatness from vastly different origins. Each of those individuals had an entire chapter of the book devoted to them. Essentially, each chapter was a mini-biography in which Brooks explored the family background and some specific formative experiences that helped shape the character of that individual. All nine of the people selected by Brooks were supremely impressive human beings, but the one I found myself revering the most was George Marshall, who served as U.S. Secretary of State and later Secretary of Defense, both under President Harry S. Truman, and was also the brainchild of the Marshall Plan.

Marshall was born and raised in Uniontown, a small town in western Pennsylvania. His father had been a successful businessman but had gone bankrupt when Marshall was a young boy, leaving the family impoverished. Marshall was a rather mediocre student whom almost no one, particularly his father and older brother Stuart, expected much from. Stuart had attended the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), and after elementary school, Marshall wanted to follow in his brothers footsteps. One day, after he had disclosed his wish to the family, he overheard Stuart trying to persuade their mother not to let Marshall go to VMI, out of fear that he would disgrace the family name there. It was a pivotal moment in Marshalls life. He set out to prove everyone wrong. Brooks states that [Marshalls] urgency to succeed came from hearing that conversation.

Academically, Marshall did not perform particularly well at VMI, as expected. But he compensated for that with unparalleled hard work, attention to detail, and exceptional personal discipline that made a huge impression on everyone within the institution. In his senior year, he was named first captain, VMIs highest rank.

During World War I, Marshall was sent to France to serve as assistant to the Chief of Staff of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) for the 1st Division. He was in that post when the senior U.S. Commander in the war, General John Pershing, visited the unit. Pershing found a division that was poorly trained and performing badly. He promptly gathered the unit and in front of everyone, lambasted the Commanding Officer and his Chief of Staff. Marshall considered the attack on his immediate bosses unfair. He knew that the shortcomings were not their fault, but rather the result of poor supplies, misplacement of troops, and lack of other essential equipment. He stood up and pointed out that those problems could be traced back to the headquarters that Pershing himself presided over.

Incensed by that public call-out, Pershing was about to storm out when Marshall held his arm to stop his exit. Every jaw dropped in the room. The assembled men thought that Marshall had ended his career. But he kept on making his case to Pershing, eventually forcing him to acknowledge that his own headquarters was part of the problem. Well, you have to appreciate the problems we have, Pershing said to Marshall, to which he replied, Yes, General, but we have them every day and many a day, and we have to solve every one of them by night.

The exchange made a huge impression on Pershing. Whenever he returned to visit the 1st Division, he looked for Marshall to seek his counsel. Pershing later asked Marshall to serve as a member of the AEF operations staff, where the two worked closely together. When Marshall married his second wife in 1930, three years after his first wife died, General Pershing served as his best man. Such was the depth of the respect that Marshall had earned.

I have read elsewhere that there was an even greater display of courage by Marshall years later. While the U.S. was preparing for World War II in 1938, Marshall was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of the War Plans Division in Washington, D.C. At a White House conference to discuss a proposal by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) to expand the United States Army Air Corps, Marshall was said to be the only attendee to disagree with the president. He argued instead for a focus on logistical support and training, and the build-up of a large ground army. Once again, those present at the meeting thought that by contradicting the president so openly, Marshall had perhaps ended his career.

Contrary to everyones fears, FDR appreciated Marshalls willingness to speak up and disagree with him. Shortly thereafter, he appointed Marshall to the position of Army Chief of Staff, despite 34 other officers having rankings superior to Marshalls at the time. When FDR was about to select someone to serve as Supreme Commander of Operation Overlord, Marshall was the obvious candidate, and he coveted the job. But FDR appointed General Dwight D. Eisenhower instead, saying to Marshall, I didnt feel I could sleep at ease if you were out of Washington. Marshall had become indispensable to the president. In December 1944, he was promoted to the newly created rank of General of the Army, a five-star rank. He was the first American general to attain that rank.

Because of the current political environment in America, our nation urgently needs someone with the courage and integrity of George Marshall. The complete takeover of Washington by Republicans means that this individual must necessarily come from the party. That is why I think Senator John Thune, as incoming Majority Leader of the Senate, has to stand up and be counted. By some of his initial appointments, the president-elect has clearly demonstrated that he intends to follow through on his promise to upend our institutions. The goal, obviously, is to weaken them and bend them to his will. As the body tasked with vetting presidential nominations and either confirming or rejecting them, Senator Thune can do the nation a great service by using his power to disagree with the president-elect when necessary.

Having come from nothing to make something of himself, Marshall perhaps had the most to lose of all the people in the rooms where he so famously spoke truth to power. But that didnt stop him from doing what he felt was right, whenever and wherever the situation called for. That is why I was so inspired after reading about him. That kind of character is extremely rare in this world. In the corporate, political, and whatever spheres we find ourselves in, the overwhelming majority of us constantly engage in self-preservation. That attitude is responsible for many of the problems and injustices we see all around us every day. The world would be a much better place if more of us acted with even a tiny fraction of Marshalls courage and integrity.

Next summer, I plan to visit Dodona Manor, the home in Leesburg, Virginia, to which General Marshall retired after his many years of public service. It is now a public museum. I feel a strong urge to walk those grounds and pay homage to this great Americanand human being. His biographies should be required reading at all levels of our society.
"This novel masterfully blends suspense, academic intrigue, and complex characters, making it a must-read for fans of Dan Brown." John Kelly, Detroit Free Press

Vero Beach, FLNelson Cover was recently interviewed by Laura Smith on her podcast "The Way Home With Laura Smith."

Nelson Cover talked about his latest book, All Mortal Greatness. He shared insights into the plot, which revolves around protagonist Thomas Simpson navigating a web of corruption and murder within a university's administration. The novel blends suspense, academic intrigue, and multi-dimensional characters, drawing comparisons to the works of Dan Brown.

Nelson also discussed his background as a development professional and his experience in academia, which lend authenticity to his narratives. He highlighted how his previous roles, such as Director of Annual Giving at The Johns Hopkins Institutions and Director of Development at the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine, have influenced his writing.

Additionally, Nelson emphasized the importance of engaging storytelling and dynamic presence in drawing enthusiastic readers. The interview can be heard at this link beginning at 26:21 on show 1027024.https://podcasts.federatedmedia.com/podcast-category/the-way-home-with-laura-smith/

All Mortal Greatness is a fast-paced, technologically advanced mystery that will leave readers begging for more. It has received critical acclaim from these top reviewers:

"Microscopic attention to detail, a keen sense of suspense, and sidebars of medical/university/criminology information make this a resounding success. Watch this author rise! Highly recommended."Grady Harp, Amazon Top 100 Hall of Fame Reviewer, 5-Stars

"Cover's continuing series takes a peek behind the ivory tower to the nuts and bolts of running a top-level university. Readers who like mystery thrillers, stories about contemporary academia, and even some dark academia fans, may like this series of novels."Kathryn Picard, Librarian Book Connoisseur, 5-Stars

"This novel masterfully blends suspense, academic intrigue, and complex characters, making it a must-read for fans of Dan Brown." John Kelly, Detroit Free Press

All Mortal Greatness was also recently named winner in the FIREBIRD BOOK AWARDS' Crime Fiction genre and the best Thriller award from Literary Titan. It was named winner in the Fiction  Intrigue category from the PenCraft Awards.

All Mortal Greatness is filled with humor and larger-than-life characters in addition to the real-world issues that it illustrates. It explores the concepts of ambition and greatness, and what can happen when they are embraced by the wrong people. Fans of thriller, mystery, or academia-themed stories will love this book!

All Mortal Greatness, Hardcover ISBN 978-1-960090-70-6, Paperback ISBN 978-1-960090-68-3, eBook ISBN 978-1-960090-69-0, 237 pages, Epigraph Books, 2024. Available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Watch the book trailer here: https://bit.ly/Book_Trailer_All_Mortal_Greatness





About Nelson Cover: ( Co-ver with a long O ) Nelson Cover graduated from San Francisco State University with a Masters in English. He formerly worked as the Associate, and then Director of Annual Giving at The Johns Hopkins Institutions, Director of Development and Executive Director of the Cancer Research Foundation at the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine, Director of Development at the Washington National Cathedral, and Director of Development at The American Enterprise Institute. Nelson also founded The Sheridan Group, where he served as president for thirty years, a full-service, fundraising consulting firm. He retired in 2013 and is now a full-time author. Outside of his successful career, Nelson is an avid cyclist, car enthusiast, and dog lover. He has written four novels: Danced by the Light of the Moon, From the Midst of Wickedness, A Matter of Circumstance, All Mortal Greatness and a collection of short stories, Truth, Lies and Deceit. All Mortal Greatness is the third in his Sessions University series. He currently resides in Florida with his wife.

Media Contact: For a review copy of All Mortal Greatness or to arrange an interview with Nelson Cover, contact Scott Lorenz of Westwind Book Marketing at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or at 734-667-2090. Reach Lorenz on Twitter @abookpublicist.
Monday, November 25, 2024

Commentary by crisis management expert Edward Segal, author of Crisis Ahead: 101 Ways to Prepare for and Bounce Back from Disasters, Scandals, and Other Emergencies.



Business leaders could learn important lessons about educating employees about crisis readiness from the strategies and tactics several Nordic countries are using to provide their citizens with advice on how to prepare for and respond to a variety of crisis situations.

"Five million households in Sweden are set to receive a booklet titled 'If Crisis or War Comes' over the next two weeks. In Finland, officials published new guidance Monday on coping with events ranging from extreme weather and long power and water outages to military conflict," the Washington Post reported.

Norway released its own emergency booklet, How You Can Play Your Part In Norway's Emergency Preparedness, and the Danish emergency management agency published the five-page Be Prepared, which included this admonition: PrepareFor Your Own And Society's Sake; You Are Part Of Denmark's Crisis Management,

Formats And Editions

"Situations that require preparedness include long power cuts, water outages, interruptions in telecommunications, extreme weather events, major accidents, and longer-term crises, such as a pandemic or military conflict," according to the Swedish guide.

"In addition to instructions, the guide contains information on hybrid and information influence activities, maintaining functional capacity, coping during [a] crises, and helping others."

The booklet was translated into 11 languages, and includes sign language, audio, and braille editions. A digital version was sent to more than six million email addresses, a government spokesperson explained in an emailed statement.

The Finnish advice is only available in digital format. That's because "in the current economic climate, a website is a considerably more cost-effective option than printing and then distributing a guide to every home, as this would cost millions. Another advantage is that an online guide can be updated more easily,"Aino Rautanen, a communications specialist in the Ministry of Interior, said in an email interview.

Work on the guide started last January, and the content is drawn from a variety of sources, including existing information online, the websites of participating organizations, and customized for the needs of Finnish citizens, according to Rautanen.

Promotional Campaigns

There is a month-long campaign to promote the website, according to Rautanen wrote and coordinated the production of the online guide. Traffic to the site was heavy in the first two days of the campaign, and exceeded the agency's targets, she noted.

A Different Approach In The U.S.

The U.S. government, which took a leadership role in educating the public about various dangers and threats during the Cold War, later ceded that responsibility to others.

"Unlike in many countries, most emergency management functions in the U.S. are carried out at the state, local, tribal, and territorial government levels. This is a function of the division of responsibility under our Constitution, Clifford Oliver, a former FEMA assistant administrator and now the principal at Nanticoke Global Strategies, explained via email.

But the government would step in to alert the public to a national emergency.

"The federal government does have, during times of a national emergency, the ability to communicate with the public through the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), which is FEMA's national system," he pointed out.

The public would be alerted through a variety of government communication channels.

The system, "provides authenticated emergency and life-saving information to the public through mobile phones using Wireless Emergency Alerts, to radio and television via the Emergency Alert System, and on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Weather Radio. Most Americans are familiar with the system from seeing the monthly system tests on television and the Amber and Grey alerts that are issued through the system on occasion," Oliver noted.

Educating Employees

Crisis management experts think that business leaders should take the initiative in ensuring that their employees are prepared for workplace and other crisis situations.

"By training employees to recognize and categorize potential crises, understand escalation protocols, and take immediate action, organizations can ensure a more effective and unified response. This approach minimizes both response time and potential damage," Julianna Sheridan, vice president of crisis communications at Matter Communications, commented via email.

"Too often, crises escalate internally before leadership is aware, forcing companies to react to an existing narrative rather than shaping it. Engaging employees in drills and planning not only prepares them but also strengthens the organization's overall resilience," she advised.

Lowering Corporate Risks

"In a crisis, schooling can save lives. For instance, many of the people I've helped with job injury cases didn't know what to do in an emergency. A well-informed staff might have been able to lessen the damage to their injuries. Training also helps businesses by lowering their risk of liability and making sure they follow safety rules," Mark Hirsch, a personal injury lawyer, commented in an email message.

There are other reasons for providing crisis training for workers.

Brand Ambassadors

"Employees are brand ambassadors 24/7 in today's connected world. Their actions, even outside work hours, can impact organizational reputation. Proactive crisis education helps them make better decisions that protect both themselves and the organization's reputation, Sally Branson, of the Sally Branson Consulting Group, pointed out in an email interview.

Early Warning System

"Well-trained employees become an organization's early warning system for potential crises. They're more likely to identify and report potential issues before they escalate into full-blown crises," she noted.

'Crucial At Every Touchpoint'

"Crisis training must permeate every level of an organisation. A crisis can be inadvertently escalated or effectively defused by frontline staffeven the way a receptionist answers the phone can impact stakeholder perception and outcome. Understanding your stakeholder strategy and knowing where to meet your market is crucial at every touchpoint," Branson counseled.

'Better Equipped To Handle Emergency Situations'

"From a risk management perspective, employees who understand crisis procedures and protocols are better equipped to handle emergency situations both at work and in their personal lives. This knowledge reduces panic during actual crises and enables faster, more coordinated responses to threats. When employees know exactly what to do in various scenarios  they can act decisively rather than waiting for instructions," Brian Townsend, a speaker and trainer at Eagle 6 Training, pointed out via email.

Employee Wellbeing And Engagement

"Perhaps most importantly, crisis education contributes significantly to employee wellbeing and engagement. When employees see their organization investing in their safety and preparedness, it builds trust and confidence in leadership. This investment in employee education often extends beyond the workplace, as workers can apply these skills in their personal lives and share knowledge with their families and communities, creating a broader positive impact on society," he concluded.

Why Educating Employees Is A Necessity

"Educating employees in advance about crisis-related subjects is not just helpful: it's a necessity if organizations want to get through the complicated nature of today's crises," Mike Fahey, CEO and founder of Fahey Communications, said via email.

Building A Crisis Culture

"By pouring money into training and resources, business leaders can build a culture of crisis preparedness among employees, so they're comfortable making the right decisions when it countsnot to mention a culture that prioritizes employee well-being and a company reputation that can weather the storm. In an era of the unexpected, being proactive is not just a best practice. It's a responsibility," Fahey concluded.

By taking a page from the crisis readiness efforts of Nordic countries, corporate executives can help ensure that theyand their workersare as prepared as possible for when a crisis strikes.

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GREAT FALLS, Mont.  Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been detected for the first time in Hunting District 404, located north of Great Falls. A mule deer buck, taken by a hunter, tested positive for CWD in two initial tests, though a final confirmation test was negative. Despite this, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) will treat it as the first detection of CWD in the district.
Northern Irelands main political parities have supported a motion in Stormont to urgently bring forward a comprehensive and holistic strategy to reduce bTB.

The motion, brought forward by Declan McAleer MLA with an agreed amendment to include wildlife intervention as part of the future TB strategy, does not specifically reference the management of infected badgers.

Mr McAleer, as well as Timothy Gaston MLA, both stated in Northern Ireland's Assembly that to be successful in reducing TB in cattle, tackling wildlife reservoirs cannot be excluded.

The Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) said while it was 'encouraging' to see the development, the government 'must address TB in the badger population'.

Cattle are subjected to a rigorous testing regime to try and control TB, but farm leaders warn that this has failed due to the disease still spreading among wildlife.

In 2023, TB was confirmed in 0.98% of all cattle tested in Northern Ireland, whilst 21.3% of 91 roadside badgers tested positive.

UFU deputy president Glenn Cuddy said these figures 'speaks volumes', as badgers 'are one of the main carriers of TB in NI'.

He said: "Scientific evidence has shown that targeted culling is recommended at disease incidence levels similar to NI, to ensure the success of additional combined wildlife intervention measures.

"It is not enough to simply have biosecurity measures, the rate of current infection proves that. Badger control and biosecurity must go hand in hand and only when the two are aligned will we see cases dropping.

We continue to make the point that this is not about demonising badgers - we want and need a healthy environment for all animals to thrive in.

"For decades the TB strategy has failed to protect cattle putting their welfare at risk," he warned.

The Northern Irish government is set to release the new strategy this week.
Three in five Brits are expecting food prices to increase due to the recently announced 'family farm tax', new research has warned.

And almost half (44%) of those bracing for rises admitted they will seek cheaper and lower quality food alternatives.

The research was commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, which surveyed over 2,000 adults across the UK.

More than 70,000 farms across the country could be hit by the new inheritance tax laws from April 2026, which was announced in the budget.

Inherited agricultural assets worth over 1 million, which were previously exempt, will have to pay inheritance tax at 20% - half the usual rate.

The poll shows that a further 35% of those expecting increases said they will cut back on the food they buy as a direct result of the tax hike.

The Liberal Democrats' research, revealed today (25 November), also shows the serious effect food price rises could have on peoples health.

Nearly one-in-five of those expecting rises said they are likely to buy less fresh fruit and vegetables if prices go up.

The impact on small businesses and the high street is also apparent, with 20% of this group saying they will look to shop from bigger supermarkets.

This is set to be another hit to small businesses already concerned about the rise in employers' NIC increase.

Commenting on the results, Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain said the impact of the farm tax hike 'goes beyond rural communities'.

She said: The budget shows that the government does not understand farmers and how critical they are to food security, to the protection of our natural environment and to the British economy.

We are urging the government to axe the tax now, or else the impact will be felt for millions across the country already struggling to make ends meet.

It follows research by the NFU which shows the inheritance tax proposals were the most unpopular measure in the autumn budget.

Two thirds (65%) of Brits told the union that they do not think the government fully considered the impact of its planned changes on family farms.

Thousands of farmers took to the streets of central London last week to protest against the budget's measures.
Scotlands crofters risk missing important funding if they do not embrace the Scottish government's new payment conditions, experts have warned.

The Scottish government wants members of the crofting community to meet new environmental guidelines as a condition of financial support.

The 'Whole Farm Plan', from 15 May 2025, will require them to initially meet two of five potential requirements to ensure the Basic Payment Scheme remains available.

The Scottish government is introducing the five elements as part of its plans to tackle climate change and prevent biodiversity decline.

And all of Scotland's crofters and small-scale farmers will need to meet the requirements in their entirety by 2028.

They include a carbon audit, biodiversity audit, soil analysis, an animal health and welfare plan for those who have livestock, and an integrated pest management plan for those who use pesticides or herbicides.

Engaging with this now and planning ahead is a vital consideration for crofters from 2025 onwards, SAC Consulting, part of Scotlands Rural College, has said.

Niall Campbell, SAC Consultings regional development manager for north-west Scotland, and a smallholder in Argyll and Bute, said the "landscape is changing".

He stressed how important continued financial support was to the crofting sector, as "crofts need to be financially viable".

"The crofter needs to be able to pay the associated costs of managing livestock, growing crops and see a return on the time they have personally invested," he added.

Crofting is a form of land tenure and small-scale food production unique to Scotlands islands and Highlands.

More than 750,000 hectares of land in Scotland is in crofting tenure, with approximately 33,000 people living in crofting households.

Mr Campbell said crofters wanted to be agriculturally and economically active and "are quite rightly proud and passionate about the food they produce and the biodiversity and landscapes they maintain".

With the right support, crofters and smallholders can be prepared for the changes ahead and ensure their businesses continue to be an essential part of the fabric of the vibrant rural communities they call home.

It comes as Scottish farmers are gearing up for a rally outside Holyrood this week as part of calls for Scotland's forthcoming budget to secure funding for farming.

The demonstration, which starts 11.30am on Thursday 28 November, is being held ahead of the Scottish governments budget on 4 December.

Organised by NFU Scotland, the union has urged "those who want a thriving rural economy" to join the protest.
The Welsh government has agreed to axe its proposal mandating farmers to set aside 10% of their land to woodland and tree cover.

The controversial proposal was included in the Welsh government's post-Brexit Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) outline.

However, it has now dropped this measure following an unprecedented response to its consultation, which commenced earlier this year.

It will now be replaced with a new 'Universal Action', requiring farmers to undertake a tree planting and hedgerow creation plan.

Despite this move, the Welsh government has today (25 November) decided to keep a requirement for 10% of each farm to be managed as habitat.

The three Animal Health, Welfare and Biosecurity actions will also merge into a single simplified action.

The Welsh government confirmed this is not the final scheme design and Welsh ministers have not made any final decision.

There still remains a substantial amount of work to be done on many aspects of the SFS, including the detail under each Universal Action and payment rates.

Looking at this, the Welsh government said it would undertake economic analysis and an impact assessment of the revised proposals to understand what the scheme will mean for farmers.

NFU Cymru has thanked the government for 'listening to the concerns of the farming industry' following its removal of the 10% tree cover rule.

Today marks an important step forward in the development of the SFS," said the the union's president, Aled Jones.

There is much more work to do in the coming months on the final scheme detail as well as a number of fundamental aspects of scheme design including the payment methodology and payment rates.

NFU Cymru has long been clear that the scheme must work for all active farmers  all farming sectors and all land types in Wales including those who do not own the land that they farm and those with common land.

"Delivery of the scheme objectives, including actions for climate and nature, is reliant on designing a scheme that all farmers in Wales are able to participate in."

The Nature Friendly Farming Network (NFFN) Cymru said it 'cautiously welcomed' the Welsh governments updates to the SFS.

The group's manager, Rhys Evans said: Tree planting on farms should be guided by the principle of planting the right tree in the right place for the right reason.

"We had concerns that mandatory tree cover policies might lead to unintended outcomes, such as losses of biodiversity or food production.

"Therefore, we welcome the flexibility for farmers to work with advisors to draw up tree planting and hedgerow creation plans which suit them."

Publication of the final SFS outline is expected to be announced by the Welsh government in July 2025.

What are the changes?

The main changes to Wales' post-Brexit agricultural scheme include:

 The framework of a Universal layer for all has been retained but with a reduced overall number of Universal Actions with additional Optional and Collaborative Actions for those who choose to do more.

 The farm-level figure for 10% tree cover has been removed and will be replaced by a scheme-wide target, which will be agreed after government discussions.

 Farmers who apply for the scheme will be able to decide where they want to add more trees / hedges on their farm, and how many.

 The Animal Health, Welfare and Biosecurity actions have been merged into a single simplified Universal Action to focus discussions with the farm vet on improved outcomes.

 The requirement for all farms to have wash stations has been moved to an Optional Action, recognising that the biosecurity need of individual farms can be very different.

 Confirmation that additional payments for social value will be made under the universal part of the scheme.

 Taking account of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and common land rights in the Universal Payment.
Australias apparel imports from Cambodia stood at $125.482 million in January-August 2024. Out of it, unisex apparel dominated in gender wise analysis of the trade. The country imported unisex apparel of $41.801 million which was 33.31 per cent of the total apparel imports in the same period.

According to Fibre2Fashions market insight tool TexPro, the country imported womens apparel of $38.586 million in the first eight months of the current year, which was 30.75 per cent of the total imports. The inbound shipment of mens garment was noted at $34.735 million, which was 27.68 per cent of the total. The country also imported baby apparel of $10.359 million, which was 8.26 per cent on its total apparel imports from Cambodia.

Australia's apparel imports from Cambodia totalled $125.482 million during January-August 2024, with unisex apparel dominating at $41.801 million (33.31 per cent). Women's apparel accounted for 30.75 per cent, men's 27.68 per cent, and babywear 8.26 per cent. Cotton apparel led imports (54.37 per cent), with trousers, jerseys, and T-shirts as top categories.

During the last year, Australias imports of unisex garments were noted at $51.931 million which was 36.22 per cent of the total garment imports of $143.359 million. It had imported garments of men of value $41.499 million (28.95 per cent), women $37.906 million (26.44 per cent) and kids $12.021 million (8.39 per cent) in 2023.

Australias apparel imports from Cambodia increased by 27.55 per cent in January-August 2024 over imports of $98.419 million in the corresponding period of the last year. The inbound trade was noted at $112.846 million in 2021, and $135.036 million in 2022.During January-August 2024, the countrys imports of cotton apparel were valued at $68.222 million, which was 54.37 per cent of the total apparel imports. The imports of man-made apparel were $45.185 million (36.01 per cent) and others $10.914 million ((8.70 per cent), as per TexPro.

The imports of trousers & shorts were noted at $29.807 million in the first eight months of the current year. It was 23.75 per cent of the total apparel imports. The imports of jerseys were $20.840 million (16.61 per cent), T-shirts $12.007 million (9.57 per cent), innerwear $10.612 million (8.46 per cent) and baby wear $10.359 million (8.26 per cent). These are top five garment products imported by the country during the period.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)
Vietnam will need to transition from labour-intensive, low value-added final assembly into higher value-added manufacturing and services to sustain rapid growth, according to Manuela V Ferro, World Bank vice president for East Asia and Pacific.

In addition, amid global trade shifts and rising uncertainty, diversifying trade and investment partnerships will be essential for building resilience and ensuring long-term success, he said in the context of a new World Bank report that explores how the country can upgrade its participation in global value chains to achieve high income status by 2045.

The World Bank has proposed a multipronged approach to Vietnam to unlock productivity growth, attract private investment and upgrade participation in global value chains. Policy options include deepening regional trade integration; linking domestic enterprises to global supply chains; promoting skill- and technology-intensive manufacturing; and a shift to low-carbon, climate-resilient production.

In the report titled Vietnam 2045: Trading Up in a Changing WorldPathways to a High-Income Future, the World Bank has proposed a multipronged approach to the country to unlock productivity growth, attract private investment and upgrade participation in global value chains.

Policy options include deepening regional trade integration; linking domestic enterprises to global supply chains; promoting skill- and technology-intensive manufacturing and high-value-added services; and transitioning to low-carbon, climate-resilient production.

The reports findings were presented at a high-level workshop with Vietnamese policymakers in Hanoi recently.

Integration into global markets has been the key driver of Vietnams development success over the past 40 years, propelling one of the longest and fastest economic expansions in modern history.

Today, the country is one of the most open economies in the world with about half of the countrys gross domestic product and every second job directly and indirectly depending on exports.

The report was prepared with financial support from the Australian government through the Australia World Bank Strategic Partnership.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
Based in Sydney, the new Commercial and Trading Directors of ANZ will focus on growing the Seedtag business and optimising privacy-first advertising solutions in Australia and New Zealand

SYDNEY, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Seedtag , the global contextual advertising company, entered the ANZ market earlier this year with the acquisition of JustEggs. Today, the company announced two new senior leadership hires, based in the Sydney office, to strengthen its presence in the region. In his new position as Commercial Director ANZ, Mark Brownie will focus on launching and growing the Seedtag business in Australia and New Zealand, while Daniel Macinante, Trading Director ANZ, will lead and develop trading strategies across ANZ, focusing on optimising contextual advertising solutions. Both Mark and Daniel will directly report to Nik Kontoulas, Seedtag's Managing Director ANZ, and former CEO and Founder of JustEggs.

AI-powered advertising across the globe

Headquartered in New York City and Madrid, Seedtag has a global team of over 600 people with offices in EMEA, LATAM, North America, and APAC. In July 2024, Seedtag entered the ANZ market with the acquisition of JustEggs , an Australian-owned creative intelligence business. Strengthening its presence in the APAC market, Australia and New Zealand now benefit from Seedtag's privacy-first advertising solutions that reach consumers based on their real-time interests at scale.

At the core of Seedtag's success is Liz, its proprietary contextual AI technology, optimised for advertising across screens. Powered by machine learning and computer vision, Liz analyses contextual signals to gain a nuanced, human-like understanding of content. At an unmatched speed, it aligns ads with people's current interests, processing millions of articles in a day. With over 10 years of development, Liz is a sophisticated platform that offers clients and agencies an innovative, privacy-compliant approach to audience targeting that remains unaffected by evolving technology and regulatory changes. In 2024, Liz was honoured by Digiday as the "Best Contextual Targeting Offering" in the Digiday Media Awards .

Expertise as the foundation for growth

As Commercial Director ANZ, Mark Brownie brings 20 years of media experience and long-standing industry relationships. He has a deep understanding of the evolving digital landscape and recognises the vital role of contextual advertising in client addressability, especially with the increasing focus on privacy compliance. Before this role, Mark spent 3 years as general manager of digital revenue at News Corp Australia and 4 years in New York as global VP of commercial strategy for Storyful, a News Corp business. He also has extensive experience in startups and scaling businesses in digital media.

"Contextual advertising has never been more important for marketers," said Mark. "In a time where privacy-centric strategies aren't just innovative, they're necessary, Seedtag brings the most sophisticated and effective contextual advertising platform to Australia. To be a part of such an incredible and established global company, and being trusted to launch and scale it in the Australian market is both humbling and exciting."

As Trading Director ANZ, Daniel Macinante brings a deep understanding of media sales and programmatic advertising, along with a proven track record of success. With over 9 years of experience in the media industry, he has built a reputation for driving results and innovation. Macinante swiftly progressed to leadership roles at News Corp Australia, where he held the position of Group Sales Director for independent agencies. Daniel's passion for independent agencies is well-known across the industry, and he has consistently championed their value. As a dedicated member of the Independent Media Agencies of Australia (IMAA), Daniel has played an active role in advocating for these agencies.

"Contextual advertising is rapidly becoming a cornerstone of the digital marketing ecosystem, and I'm eager to bring my expertise to Seedtag to help shape the future of this space in Australia," stated Daniel. "With the increasing importance of privacy-first solutions, contextual advertising will be crucial in providing brands with the tools they need to connect with audiences in a meaningful, non-intrusive way."

"As we aim to scale and enhance our privacy-first solutions across APAC, the invaluable expertise of Mark and Daniel will be essential," said Dal Gill, VP of New Markets at Seedtag. "I'm confident that our unique contextual advertising solutions are significantly helping ANZ brands and publishers achieve their advertising goals while addressing the need for privacy-first, scalable targeting."

About Seedtag

Seedtag , the global contextual advertising company, specializes in privacy-first advertising throughout the open web and CTV, powered by its contextual AI, Liz. Seedtag enables brands and agencies to discover the most relevant audience interests using a sophisticated contextual graph fueled by contextual data from +10,000 premium publishers. This capability ensures advertisers reach their audience at the right moment, with the right message. Utilizing the power of context to achieve advertisers' aims across the customer journey, Seedtag creates innovative advertising solutions for everyone.

Founded in 2014, Seedtag has its headquarters in New York City and Madrid, with a global team of +600 people and offices in EMEA, LATAM, North America, and APAC.

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HONG KONG, Nov 24, 2024 - (ACN Newswire) - On November 21, Guotai Junan Securities (2611.HK; 601211.SH) and Haitong Securities (6837.HK; 600837.SH) announced significant progress in their merger, issuing a joint circular to further clarify the details of merger and reorganization. In addition, Guotai Junan plans to raise up to RMB 10 billion to support the development of key business areas following the merger.This merger holds significant symbolic importance, not only is it the largest A+H dual-market merger in the history of China's capital market and the largest integration case of listed brokerage firms in the A+H market, but it is also the first restructuring case of a leading brokerage firm under the latest version of Several Opinions of China's State Council on Further Promoting the Healthy Development of the Capital Market. Upon completion, the total assets and net assets of the merged entity will rank No.1 in China's securities industry.Strong Alliance to Lead the IndustryAccording to the joint circular, as of the end of the third quarter of 2024, the combined net assets of the two companies amounted to RMB 341.5 billion and the net capital amounted to RMB 177.4 billion, ranking No.1 in China's securities industry. In the first three quarters of 2024, the combined net income from investment banking business amounted to RMB 3.1 billion, net interest income amounted to RMB 4.0 billion and the scale of funds raised amounted to RMB 145.8 billion, all ranking No.1 in China's securities industry.After the merger, the two companies will unleash win-win synergies in terms of capital utilization, service capability and operational management. The merged entity will establish a new corporate governance structure, management framework, development strategy, and corporate culture. In accordance with the requirements of corporate governance, and based on the overall business objectives and strategic planning, it will conduct a comprehensive integration of its business, assets, finances, personnel, and institutions, so as to promote effective integration of its business and enhance its overall profitability. At the same time, the post-merger company will also have stronger capital strength and a more balanced asset-liability structure, which will significantly enhance its risk tolerance, improve the efficiency of capital utilization, and the effect of capital utilization, thus providing a solid financial foundation for future business development and market response.Integration and Reorganization to Achieve SynergiesBoth Guotai Junan Securities and Haitong Securities are large comprehensive financial institutions, with leading positions in capital scale, profitability and comprehensive capabilities. While both companies has their own business focus, the merger will significantly enhance their comprehensive competitiveness, facilitate the integration of resources and strategies, and complement each other's advantages to further strengthen their business capabilities.Based on the aggregate figures in 2023, the two companies will rank first in the industry after the merger in terms of the number of retail customers, the number of monthly active app users for retail customers, the scale and number of IPO underwriters, the revenue from public fundraising positions, the scale of custodian outsourcing and other important business indicators, as well as the number of outlets in key regions such as the Yangtze River Delta, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, and the Pearl River Delta. Relying on a stronger and more stable customer base, more professional and comprehensive service capabilities, and more intensive and efficient operation management, the post-merger company will continue to enhance its retail, institutional and corporate customer service capabilities, and continue to increase customer stickiness and market share by capitalizing on its branding effect and economies of scale.Raising RMB 10 Billion to Accelerate the Construction of International World-Class Investment BankThis time, Guotai Junan will raise a matching fund of not more than RMB 10 billion, which will be used for the internationalization of the post-merger company's business, trading and investment business, digital transformation and construction, and replenishment of working capital, so as to accelerate the development of the post-merger company into a first-class investment bank and enhance the ability to serve the real economy.The post-merger company will comprehensively enhance its cross-border and global integrated capabilities in financial services, improving the linkage between its domestic and overseas businesses, resources and markets, so as to better participate in global competition and resource allocation on behalf of the Chinese financial industry in the global financial arena. This will help provide high quality global wealth management, investment management and cross-border financing services for global retail, corporate and institutional customers, striving to become a world-class investment bank that can meet various cross-border financing and global assets allocation demands from customersCopyright 2024 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China--(Newsfile Corp. - November 24, 2024) - GGII is a specialized researcher on the lithium battery industry chain and recently released the 2024 Blue Book on the Development of China's Big Cylindrical Lithium Battery Industry. This report comprehensively reviews the industry's technical and technological breakthroughs, as well as future directions. It also provides an in-depth analysis of the current market landscape and future development trends. In addition, the report specifically mentions that several companies, including BAK Battery, are outstanding in technological innovation and market expansion.

The increasing demand for lithium battery has led to continued growth of cylindrical lithium battery shipments. GGII expects that China's cylindrical lithium battery shipments will exceed 400Gwh by 2030, with a compound growth rate of over 50.1% from 2023 to 2030. The Blue Book shines light on the fact that big cylindrical battery stand out in several market segments in 2024, projecting over 100% year-on-year shipment growth in residential energy storage, portable energy storage, and two-wheeler markets. Lithium battery companies, such as BAK Battery, are actively investing efforts in targeted solutions to empower more fields with high-performance big cylindrical lithium battery featuring competitive pricing.





Release of 2024 Blue Book on the Development of China's Big Cylindrical Lithium Battery Industry , with BAK Battery Advancing Multi-Field Applications of Cutting-Edge Big Cylindrical Lithium Battery



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As the use of lithium battery becomes more widespread, users are demanding battery cells with better performance. In this case, battery providers are investing more in research and development, focusing on optimizing and innovating material formulations and production technologies. The Blue Book notes that the energy density of BAK Battery's third-generation big cylindrical battery cell has reached 300Wh/Kg. It also highlights that BAK Battery has developed an exclusive low-temperature electrolyte formulation, enabling battery to maintain exceptional discharge performance even in harsh environments. In addition, BAK Battery employs a tabless design for its big cylindrical battery. This design enhances thermal pathways, significantly boosts power output and charging speed, and achieves optimal performance characterized by minimal temperature rise, high efficiency, and an extended cycle life.

Furthermore, the Blue Book predicts that the period from 2025 to 2030 will mark an acceleration phase in the industrialization of 4680 big cylindrical battery, as production lines for these batteries are gradually being established. To this, BAK Battery has built a new generation digital factory-BAK Battery Zhengzhou No. 2 Factory. The facility adopts an intelligent construction strategy, with BAK Battery database at its core, and harnesses artificial intelligence to perform big data analysis and ensure quality control. Supported by digital technologies, BAK Battery is vying for a leading position in the global market for big cylindrical battery.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231213

SOURCE: Plentisoft
Africa Sets the Gold Standard: Responsible Mineral Sourcing Initiative for Africa Launched at the Dubai Precious Metals Conference

The Africa Minerals Strategy Group and partners launched the Africa Responsible Mineral Sourcing Initiative (ARMSI) on November 18, 2024, during the Africa Mining Workshop at the Dubai Precious Metals Conference 2024. The initiative aims at building a responsible mineral sourcing ecosystem in Africa. The launch of ARMSI marked a significant step towards promoting transparency, compliance, traceability, accountability, social responsibility and sustainability in Africa's minerals and mining sector to ensure that Africa's mineral wealth contributes positively to the continent's economic development and responsible minerals supply to international markets.

The ARMSI launch event held at the JAFZA One Convention Centre in Dubai, convened an influential gathering of stakeholders, including African Ministers and officials responsible for minerals from Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Malawi, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Uganda, Central Banks, financial institutions, mining companies, refineries, traders, investors, civil society, and leaders from the global precious metals industry. Notable participants included representatives from the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), World Gold Council, London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), and the U.S. State Department, underscoring the global commitment to responsible mineral sourcing in Africa.

The Africa Responsible Mineral Sourcing Initiative unites countries, industry and civil society to build Africa's Responsible Mineral Sourcing Ecosystem ensuring compliance to responsible sourcing guidelines and a commitment to sustainability by putting in place standards and structures and building the capacity of national authorities and stakeholders in the minerals sector starting with the precious metals supply chain.

The ARMSI roadmap was unveiled, emphasizing the development of Africa Responsible Mineral Sourcing Guidelines and a comprehensive Manual led by the Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG). As part of the roadmap, sub-regional stakeholder engagement forums will be held across Africa to promote responsible sourcing practices and gather insights from diverse stakeholders. These initiatives are set to culminate in the launch of the Guidelines and Manual in May 2025, marking a significant milestone in standardizing ethical and sustainable mineral sourcing practices across the continent.

Countries, industry players, and civil society organizations are invited to join this transformative membership-based initiative dedicated to fostering responsible mineral sourcing and ethical mining practices across Africa in alignment with international standards. ARMSI accommodates the diverse stakeholders of the mineral value chain through four distinct membership categories: Mining Members, encompassing large-scale and artisanal miners engaged in mineral extraction; Refining and Trading Members, including refiners, traders, and financial entities facilitating mineral processing and trade; Manufacturing and Retail Members, comprising manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers of mineral-based products; and Civil Society and Institutional Members, such as NGOs, advocacy groups, academic institutions, and governmental bodies. This collaborative effort underscores a shared commitment to ethical practices, responsible sourcing, and sustainable development within Africa's mineral sector.

The first secured physical delivery of responsibly sourced Gold and Silver from Africa to the United Arab Emirates under the Africa Responsible Mineral Sourcing Initiative will be completed by February 2025. This first secured physical delivery will be executed by the Africa Minerals and Metals Exchange (AMME), an initiative of the Africa Minerals Strategy Group and will be done with selected companies who are members of ARMSI and AMME.

Supporting Quotes:

"The Africa Responsible Mineral Sourcing Initiative (ARMSI) is about redefining Africa's role in the global precious metals and critical minerals industry by ensuring that artisanal and small-scale miners-often the backbone of mineral production-become central players in responsible, ethical and sustainable mining practices. The goal of ARMSI, an initiative of the Africa Minerals Strategy Group is to create a central gateway for responsibly sourced and ethically mined minerals from Africa to the global markets. ARMSI will build Africa's Responsible Mineral Sourcing Ecosystem shifting away from Raw Material Exportation towards Sustainable Value-added industry development to foster local employment, stimulate economic growth and secure a competitive position for African Minerals in the Global Market."-H.E Moses Micheal Engadu, Secretary-General, Africa Minerals Strategy Group

"Africa is strengthening her comparative advantage of being naturally endowed for its own beneficiation. Our main objective is to strike a balance between foreign investment and national interests because our people must be centralized in the Mineral value. I thank the Africa Minerals Strategy Group for leading this vision through the launch of the Africa Responsible Mineral Sourcing Initiative. I reaffirm Uganda's commitment to fostering responsible and sustainable artisanal gold mining and trade." - H.E Phiona Nyamutoro, Minister of State of Mineral Development of the Republic of Uganda

The Africa Responsible Mineral Sourcing Initiative (ARMSI) offers us the opportunity to promote local development through artisanal mining activities. These include adopting policies that support community-driven artisanal exploitation, and fostering South-South partnerships to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and best practices. Additionally, I recommend organizing dedicated forums and conferences to spotlight and address the challenges and opportunities within artisanal mining. These initiatives will help strengthen the role of artisanal mining in driving sustainable local development while aligning with ARMSI's vision for transparency and accountability in Africa's mining sector." - H.E Oumar Djime Moussa, Deputy Minister of Petroleum, Mines and Geology of the Republic of Chad

"Through the Africa Responsible Mineral Sourcing Initiative (ARMSI), we aim to strengthen compliance and transparency across the gold supply chain. I call upon all stakeholders-both locally and internationally-to ensure that gold sourced from artisanal and small-scale miners adheres to the required licenses, permits, and chain of custody systems. Let us work together under ARMSI to champion accountability, sustainability, and ethical practices in the precious metals sector." - H.E Fahnseth Buggie Mulbah, Deputy Minister of Mines and Energy of the Republic of Liberia

Focus on Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining at the Africa Mining Workshop

A major highlight of the discussions was the emphasis on sourcing gold from artisanal and small-scale gold miners (ASGM). Led by the Africa Minerals Strategy Group, the Africa Mining Workshop provided a valuable platform to gain practical insights into gold mining sourcing practices and regulatory frameworks in African Countries. Participants exchanged knowledge on challenges and opportunities, emphasizing the importance of formalizing and integrating ASGM into responsible sourcing ecosystems to ensure compliance, sustainability, and improved livelihoods for miners. The Africa Mining Workshop also fostered robust discussions on critical issues, including:

Practical approaches to sourcing gold responsibly from ASGM communities.

Addressing risks associated with conflict-affected areas.

Bridging gaps in regulatory frameworks across African nations.

Showcasing best practices that demonstrate how responsible sourcing can enhance sustainability and attract investment.

A Call for Responsible Mineral Sourcing and Global Collaboration

Africa's vast mineral wealth has the potential to drive economic growth and the green energy transition. However, challenges such as conflict, environmental degradation, and non-compliance with global sourcing regulations persist.

The Africa Responsible Mineral Sourcing Initiative was unveiled as a collaborative framework to:

Support African countries in adhering to responsible sourcing guidelines issued by OECD, LBMA, UAE and other regulators.

Strengthen anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) compliance measures across supply chains.

Leverage technology, capacity-building efforts, and strategic partnerships to advance transparency, accountability, and sustainability in the minerals sector.

Social media captured the energy of the event, with one notable post stating:

"Today's discussions at the Africa Mining Workshop emphasized the need to formalize artisanal and small-scale gold mining practices to create a sustainable and transparent future for Africa's precious metals industry. The launch of ARMSI signals the beginning of this transformative journey."

Media contacts

Patrick Mulindwa: patrick.mulindwa@africamineralsgroup.org | +256 755 140 292

Fred Kyei Sapong: fred@ohenebapokufoundation.org | +233 244 239 026

Prince Abed Ollennu: prince@africametalsexchange.com | +1 636 378 0589



About the Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG)

The Africa Minerals Strategy Group was established by African Governments to facilitate International cooperation in the minerals and mining sector among member African nations with the goal of promoting exploration, extraction, production, local beneficiation and commercialization to ensure a sustainable, transparent and secure supply of important minerals while protecting our environment and improving the quality of life of our population, to spur socio-economic transformation and prosperity of Africa, and support the energy transition. The 16 AMSG Founding Member Nations include Botswana, Burundi, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Find out more at https://africamineralsgroup.org/

About the Africa Responsible Mineral Sourcing Initiative (ARMSI)

The Africa Responsible Mineral Sourcing Initiative (ARMSI) is an Africa Minerals Strategy Group led collaborative effort supported by the Oheneba Poku Foundation dedicated to building a responsible mineral sourcing ecosystem in Africa through collaboration, technology, and capacity-building efforts that ensure transparency, traceability, accountability, social responsibility and sustainability in Africa's minerals and mining sector.

Find out more at https://armisourcing.org/

This information is provided by Reach, the non-regulatory press release distribution service of RNS, part of the London Stock Exchange. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

SOURCE: Oheneba Poku Foundation

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Partnership Enhances Security for XAUm, Matrixdock's Gold-Backed Digital Asset, with a Focus on Key Asian Financial Hubs

SINGAPORE, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Matrixdock, a leading platform for tokenized real-world assets (RWA), is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Brink's, a global leader in secure logistics and asset protection. This partnership ensures the secure transportation and vaulting of LBMA-certified gold, which underpins Matrixdock's recently launched XAUm token, with a focus on vaults located in Singapore and Hong Kong, two of Asia's premier financial hubs.

XAUm, an ERC-20 token fully backed by physical gold, offers investors a trusted and transparent digital asset tied to London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) accredited gold. The partnership with Brink's guarantees that the gold reserves backing XAUm are securely held in high-security, fully insured vaults in Singapore and Hong Kong, enhancing the credibility and security of the token for investors across the globe, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.

"Brink's reputation for excellence in secure logistics, combined with the strategic location of vaults in Singapore and Hong Kong, provides unparalleled security and confidence for our XAUm investors," said Eva Meng, Head of Matrixdock. "This partnership underscores our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of trust and transparency for our tokenized real-world assets."

Zac McKenna, Head of Digital Assets at Brink's, emphasized the importance of secure custody solutions in the growing RWA tokenization space: "At Brink's, we are proud to support the tokenization of real-world assets by providing the secure infrastructure that makes these digital products credible and reliable. Our collaboration with Matrixdock enables us to bring our extensive expertise in secure logistics to the forefront of the blockchain ecosystem."

Brink's, with its extensive experience in secure asset management and its well-established presence in Asia, will ensure that the LBMA gold backing XAUm is safely transported, stored, and protected in its world-class vaults. Ben Van Kerkwijk, Vice President of Brink's Global Services - Asia Pacific, added: "Our premier vaulting facilities in Singapore and Hong Kong are trusted by top-tier clients around the world. We are pleased to provide the same world-class protection for the physical gold that backs Matrixdock's XAUm token, further enhancing the security and trust for investors in the region."

This partnership allows Matrixdock to offer a robust gold-backed digital asset that aligns with the security and regulatory requirements of global investors.

XAUm provides investors with seamless access to the value of physical gold while benefiting from the efficiency, liquidity, and transparency of blockchain technology. By focusing on secure vaulting in Singapore and Hong Kong, Matrixdock strengthens its offering in the growing Asian market for tokenized assets.

For more information, please visit www.matrixdock.com .

About Matrixdock

Founded in February 2023 by Matrixport, Matrixdock is a premier platform that offers access to high-quality Real World Assets (RWA) through advanced tokenization technology. As the first in Asia to introduce a tokenized short-term treasury bill product, STBT, Matrixdock has rapidly emerged as an industry leader, earning the Ecosystem Excellence TADS Award in 2023 for Trading & Liquidity Solutions.

Matrixdock is dedicated to becoming the gateway for clients seeking top-tier RWA investments. With a steadfast focus on building a trusted and secure RWA ecosystem for crypto, Matrixdock provides diversified investment opportunities while setting new standards for trust and governance in the digital asset space.

About Brink's

The Brink's Company (NYSE:BCO) is 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.

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HIGHLIGHTS

Conclusions from a third-party updated Technical Report (with an effective date November 25, 2024) establish a baseline Exploration Target for the Lac 50 Deposit, ranging between 60.8 M lbs U 3 O 8 and 98.2 M lbs U 3 O 8 , with an average grade range of 0.37% U 3 O 8 and 0.48% U 3 O 8 (Table 1);



O and 98.2 M lbs U O , with an average grade range of 0.37% U O and 0.48% U O (Table 1); ATHA has received assay results from its 2024 Exploration Program on the Angilak Project, which is host to the Lac 50 Uranium Deposit, one of the largest high-grade deposits in Canada outside of the Athabasca Basin, with a 2013 historic mineral resource estimate of 43.3M lbs at an average grade of 0.69% U 3 O 8 . 1 ;



O . ; The Exploration Target Model is restricted to drill results from the Lac 48, 50, 52, and 54 mineralized Trends (known as the " Lac 50 Deposit ") (Figures 2a & 2b). The Lac 50 Deposit area is prospective to host uranium mineralization in excess of the Exploration Target Model, with only a cumulative ~24% of the Lac 48, 50, 52, and 54 Trends having been drill tested to date;



") (Figures 2a & 2b). The Lac 50 Deposit area is prospective to host uranium mineralization in excess of the Exploration Target Model, with only a cumulative ~24% of the Lac 48, 50, 52, and 54 Trends having been drill tested to date; The Lac 50 Deposit remains open along strike and at depth, with the corridor remaining highly prospective for the discovery of additional parallel mineralized horizons. Further unrealized prospectivity is also demonstrated by numerous showings - such as the Dipole and Nine Iron showings (Figure 1) - at the Angilak Project outside of the Lac 50 Deposit area;



The core objective of ATHA's 2024 Exploration Program at Angilak was to focus on large step-outs from previously established areas of uranium mineralization and testing of parallel prospective trends in order to outline a potential production-scale uranium project;

The Program was completed in late August, with the diamond drill phase of the program comprised of 25 drill holes totalling ~10,051 m;

The drilling Phase of the campaign successfully intercepted uranium mineralization on 100% of drill holes. Assay results are consistent with the grade profile of the Exploration Target Model and are highlighted by grades of up to 5.85% U 3 O 8 over 0.5 m; and

Based off the early signs of success of the 2024 Angilak Exploration Program and historical showings, ATHA staked an additional 69,704 hectares in September 2024, and now controls the entirety of the Angikuni Basin.



VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ATHA Energy Corp. (TSX.V: SASK) (FRA: X5U) (OTCQB: SASKF) ("ATHA" or the "Company"), holder of the largest uranium exploration portfolio in two of the highest-grade uranium districts in the world, is pleased to announce conclusions from its updated 2024 Technical Report (effective date November 25, 2024) on its 100%-owned Angilak Uranium Project in Nunavut.

Conclusions from the Report - in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the National Instrument NI 43-101 - establish a baseline Exploration Target) within 45 days of this release.

The Company is also pleased to announce assay results from its Phase I: diamond drilling campaign completed as part of the 2024 Angilak Exploration Program. The 2024 Angilak Exploration Program resulted in the expansion of mineralized domains along the Lac 50 Trend where grades of up to 5.85% U 3 O 8 over 0.5 m were intersected. Additionally, the program identified and expanded mineralization along parallel trends, defined as Lac 48, Lac 52, and Lac 54 Trends.

Troy Boisjoli, CEO added: "ATHA was built with a large-scale vision that reflects our belief in the generational opportunity within the uranium sector and we believe our exploration program at Angilak exemplifies this approach. Rather than relying on incremental delineation at Angilak, the unique strength of our balance sheet amongst exploration peers and deep technical bench provided us the opportunity to design and successfully execute an exploration program seeking long-term value creation that give us both resolution on the future scale of Angilak and also significantly de-risks future exploration programs. We are extremely pleased with the outcome of this choice and believe these exploration results not only establish the large-scale resource potential at Angilak but also prove the viability of Nunavut as a tier 1 uranium jurisdiction globally."

Cliff Revering, VP Exploration added: "The objectives we had set for ATHA's 2024 drilling at Angilak were to expand the footprint of mineralization of the historic Lac 50 mineralized domains, as well as to identify new zones of mineralization within the main Lac 50 Trend and proximal exploration target areas. The success we had in meeting these objectives has now been contextualized by the 2024 Exploration Target model which further demonstrates the potential that exists within the Lac 50 Deposit. The additional prospectivity we see regionally within the Angilak Project, where numerous additional mineralized discoveries and showings have already been identified by limited drill testing, provides even more exploration upside and growth potential for the project."

ANGILAK PROJECT - NUNAVUT

The Angilak Project is situated within the Angikuni Basin, approximately 225 km southwest of Baker Lake in the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut (Figure 1). The project notably hosts the Lac 50 Uranium Deposit, which has a historical mineral resource estimate of 43.3M lbs at an average grade of 0.69% U 3 O 8 .1 Additionally, numerous regional discoveries of uranium mineralization have been made outside of the Lac 50 Corridor, both within Angikuni Basin as well as along its rim - demonstrating many similarities to high-grade uranium discoveries in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan. One such prominent regional discovery within the Angilak Project area is the Dipole Showing, located along the western rim of the Angikuni Basin 25 km to the southwest of the Lac 50 Corridor. Previous operators of the Project completed 24 diamond drill holes in the Dipole Showing and intersected grades of up to 5.53% U 3 O 8 over 0.5 m.





Figure 1: Plan Map detailing Lac 50 Deposit location with the Angilak Uranium Project

SUMMARY NOVEMBER 2024 ANGILAK PROJECT TECHNICAL REPORT:

The Angilak Project is host to the Lac 50 Uranium Deposit, one of the largest high-grade deposits in Canada outside of the Athabasca Basin, with a 2013 historic mineral resource estimate of 43.3M lbs at an average grade of 0.69% U 3 O 8 . 1

O . ATHA retained Mathew Batty, MSc., P.Geo, Owner and Founder of Understood Mineral Resources Ltd. to prepare a Technical Report for the Company's Angilak Uranium Project, located in Nunavut, Canada

Mr. Batty is a highly experienced resource geologist who was instrumental in the development of NexGen Energy's Rook I Project. He completed his MSc thesis at the Centre for Computational Geostatistics at the University of Alberta.

The updated 2024 Angilak Project Technical Report summarizes the scientific and technical information (inclusive of assay results from the Company's 2024 Exploration Program) collected thus far from the Angilak Uranium Project

Conclusions from the Report - in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the National Instrument NI 43-101 - establishes a baseline Exploration Target Model for resource growth at the Lac 50 Deposit (Table 1). The Exploration Target model is restricted to areas that have been drill tested within the Lac 50 Deposit: comprised of the Lac 48, 50, 52, and 54 mineralized Trends (Figures 2a & 2b)



Table 1: Lac 50 Deposit Exploration Target Model





*Notes - The stated potential quantity and grade is conceptual in nature, and there has not been sufficient exploration to define a mineral resource, and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource. **Significant digits have been rounded to the nearest decimal. ***The ranges were derived from a block model approach using interpreted vein wireframes, drill core assays, grade interpolation via Ordinary Kriging, and applied uncertainty bandwidths.





Figure 2a: 2024 Lac 50 Deposit Planview Schematic





Figure 2b: 2024 Lac 50 Deposit Long-section Schematic

Lac 48 Trend - located ~1 km to the southwest of the Western-Extension Zone at the Lac 50 Deposit, the Lac 48 Trend is currently defined by a prospective ~5.5 km long interpreted Very Low Frequency electromagnetic survey (" VLF ") trend with numerous parallel anomalies. Limited drill testing has resulted in the discovery of several parallel mineralized horizons, two of which are included in the Exploration Target Model. The Lac 48 Exploration Target Model for resource growth is based on 26 diamond drill holes totaling 3,569 m, with holes intersecting grades of up to 6.83% U 3 O 8 over 0.4 m. Lac 48 was not included in the 2013 historic mineral resource estimate. The two modeled horizons have a cumulative strike length of 345 m with a maximum modeled depth of 210 m (Figures 2a & 2b). Along with the currently modeled mineralized horizons, the Lac 48 Trend remains open along strike and at depth.

") trend with numerous parallel anomalies. Limited drill testing has resulted in the discovery of several parallel mineralized horizons, two of which are included in the Exploration Target Model. The Lac 48 Exploration Target Model for resource growth is based on 26 diamond drill holes totaling 3,569 m, with holes intersecting grades of up to 6.83% U O over 0.4 m. Lac 48 was not included in the 2013 historic mineral resource estimate. The two modeled horizons have a cumulative strike length of 345 m with a maximum modeled depth of 210 m (Figures 2a & 2b). Along with the currently modeled mineralized horizons, the Lac 48 Trend remains open along strike and at depth. Lac 50 Trend - currently defined by a prospective ~15 km long interpreted VLF trend with numerous parallel anomalies. Exploration to date has resulted in the discovery of several mineralized domains, including the Western Extension, Main Zone, Eastern Extension and J4/Ray Domains - which formed the entire 2013 historic mineral resource estimate for the Lac 50 Deposit - in addition to several newly identified mineralized domains. The entire Lac 50 Trend, including all domains incorporated in the 2024 Exploration Target Model for resource growth, remains open along strike and down-dip.



The Main Zone, Western Extension, and Eastern Extension Domains are based on 267 drill holes totaling 50,449 m. Thus far, the three domains have a cumulative strike length of 3.65 km and vertical depth of 510 m (Figures 2a & 2b). The J4/Ray Domain encompasses the J4 Upper, J4 Lower, and the Ray Zones. The J4/Ray Domain Exploration Target model is based on 72 drill holes totaling 15,395 m with the three zones having a cumulative strike length of 1.97 km and a vertical depth of 510 m (Figures 2a & 2b). The J4 West Zone - located directly west of the J4/Ray Domain, the J4 West Zone is a newly defined mineralized zone and not included in the 2013 historic mineral resource estimate. The J4 West Zone is based on 16 drill holes completed to date totaling 2,079 m with dimensions of 750 m strike length and 280 m vertical depth (Figures 2a & 2b).

Lac 52 Trend - located ~750 m to the north of the Lac 50 Trend, the Lac 52 Trend is currently defined by a prospective ~11 km long interpreted VLF trend with numerous parallel anomalies. Limited exploration to date has resulted in the identification of several parallel horizons of uranium mineralization, three of which are included in the Exploration Target Model for resource growth. The Lac 52 Exploration Target Model is based on 37 diamond drill holes totaling 6,528 m, with holes intersecting grades of up to 3.57% U 3 O 8 over 0.4 m at Mushroom Lake and 1.29% U 3 O 8 over 1.0 m at Pulse. Lac 52 was not included in the 2013 historic mineral resource estimate. The three modeled horizons have a cumulative strike length of 2.21 km and vertical depth of 260 m (Figures 2a & 2b). The Lac 52 Trend remains open along strike and at depth.

- located ~750 m to the north of the Lac 50 Trend, the Lac 52 Trend is currently defined by a prospective ~11 km long interpreted VLF trend with numerous parallel anomalies. Limited exploration to date has resulted in the identification of several parallel horizons of uranium mineralization, three of which are included in the Exploration Target Model for resource growth. The Lac 52 Exploration Target Model is based on 37 diamond drill holes totaling 6,528 m, with holes intersecting grades of up to 3.57% U O over 0.4 m at Mushroom Lake and 1.29% U O over 1.0 m at Pulse. Lac 52 was not included in the 2013 historic mineral resource estimate. The three modeled horizons have a cumulative strike length of 2.21 km and vertical depth of 260 m (Figures 2a & 2b). The Lac 52 Trend remains open along strike and at depth. Lac 54 Trend - located ~1.5 km to the north of the Lac 50 Trend, the Lac 54 Trend is currently defined by a prospective ~7.5 km long interpreted VLF trend with numerous parallel anomalies. Limited exploration to date has resulted in the identification of multiple mineralized horizons, one of which is included in the Exploration Target Model for resource growth. The Lac 54 Exploration Target Model is based on 8 diamond drill holes totaling 2,144 m, with holes intersecting grades of up to 0.92% U 3 O 8 over 1.0 m. Lac 54 Trend was not included in the 2013 historic mineral resource estimate. The modeled horizon has a strike length of 1.3 km and vertical depth of 180 m (Figures 2a & 2b) and remains open along strike and at depth.



- located ~1.5 km to the north of the Lac 50 Trend, the Lac 54 Trend is currently defined by a prospective ~7.5 km long interpreted VLF trend with numerous parallel anomalies. Limited exploration to date has resulted in the identification of multiple mineralized horizons, one of which is included in the Exploration Target Model for resource growth. The Lac 54 Exploration Target Model is based on 8 diamond drill holes totaling 2,144 m, with holes intersecting grades of up to 0.92% U O over 1.0 m. Lac 54 Trend was not included in the 2013 historic mineral resource estimate. The modeled horizon has a strike length of 1.3 km and vertical depth of 180 m (Figures 2a & 2b) and remains open along strike and at depth. The Lac 50 Corridor is prospective to host uranium mineralization in excess of the Exploration Target Model for resource growth. The Lac 48, 50, 52, and 54 Trends all remain open along strike and at depth - moreover, the corridor is highly prospective for the discovery of additional parallel mineralized horizons.



ANGILAK 2024 EXPLORATION PROGRAM:

Completed in late August, the diamond drill phase of the 2024 Angilak Exploration Program comprised 25 drill holes totaling ~10,051 m.

Lac 50 Trend - The Company successfully expanded the historic footprint of mineralization along strike and at depth, as well as identified new mineralized horizons



Lac 50 Deposit - encompassing the Western Extension, Main Zone, Eastern Extension and the J4/Ray. Drilling resulted in the identification of J4 West , a zone of mineralization directly along strike to the west of the J4 Upper Zone. Additionally, the Company successfully expanded all four Domains both along strike and at depth, demonstrating the historic Lac 50 Deposit remains open in all directions. Drilling is highlighted by:



Drill hole J4R-DD-085 : successfully tested the Ray Zone, J4 Upper and J4 Lower with total composite mineralization of 4.5 m. In the Ray Zone grades of up to 5.85% U 3 O 8 ' over 0.5 m were intersected at a shallow depth of 111.8 m. Additionally, in the J4 Upper 2.0 m at 0.56% U 3 O 8 was intersected including 0.5 m at 1.52% U 3 O 8 . Drill hole J4R-DD-086 : successfully intersected a new shallow horizon of uranium mineralization between 34.0 m and 37.5 m with grades up to 0.64% U3O8 over 0.5 m width. Additionally, the hole increased the down-dip extent of J4 Lower Zone intersecting 2.5 m grading 0.87% U 3 O 8 including 0.5 m grading 3.92% U3O8 at 393.5 m depth . The hole intersected total composite mineralization of 6.0 m.

During the Angilak 2024 Exploration Program, ATHA identified three parallel mineralized trends, now defined as Lac 48, Lac 52, and Lac 54 Trends.

Lac 48 Trend - During the 2024 Exploration Program the Company followed up on previous drilling at the Blaze Target completing one hole that successfully intersected shallow high-grade mineralization associated with a new mineralized horizon.



Drill hole BLZ-DD-034 successfully intersected total composite mineralization of 2.5 m including grades of up to 0.99% U 3 O 8 over 0.5m at a depth of 94.5 m.



- During the 2024 Exploration Program the Company followed up on previous drilling at the Blaze Target completing one hole that successfully intersected Lac 52 Trend - During the 2024 Exploration Program a total of 8 holes were completed, resulting in the successful expansion of mineralization at the Pulse and Mushroom Lake Discoveries. Drilling along the Lac 52 Trend is highlighted by:



Drill hole PL-DD-030 : successfully extended the strike length of the Pulse Discovery by ~144 m southeast , intersected total composite mineralization of 5.5 m including grades of up to 1.33% U3O8 over 1.0 m at a depth of 262.5 m .

- During the 2024 Exploration Program a total of 8 holes were completed, resulting in the successful expansion of mineralization at the Pulse and Mushroom Lake Discoveries. Drilling along the Lac 52 Trend is highlighted by: Lac 54 Trend - During the 2024 Exploration Program a total of four holes were drilled - all holes intersected uranium mineralization resulting in the definition of the Hot Discovery.



Surficial mapping within the Lac 52 and Lac 54 Trends completed as part of the 2024 Exploration Program further characterized a zone of extensive bedrock outcrop containing structures with increased radioactivity up to >60,000 counts per second (cps) measured with a handheld RS120 scintillometer. This area has not been drill tested to date, and is not included within the 2024 Exploration Target model.



- During the 2024 Exploration Program a total of four holes were drilled - all holes intersected uranium mineralization resulting in the definition of the Hot Discovery. Drill hole strip logs, inclusive of detailed assays for all drill holes completed during the 2024 Angilak Exploration Program can be found here (https://athaenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/ATHA-Energy_Angilak-Exploration-Target-and-2024-Assay-Results-Striplogs_2024-11-22.pdf).



NOVEMBER 2024 ANGILAK PROJECT TECHNICAL REPORT

Understood Mineral Resources Ltd. (UMR) provided ATHA Energy Corp. (ATHA or The Company) ranges for potential uranium quantity and grade as a target for further exploration on Angilak's Lac 50 Deposit. The ranges were derived from a block model approach using interpreted vein wireframes, drill core assays, grade interpolation via Ordinary Kriging, and applied uncertainty bandwidths.

The wireframes were modelled using a grade intercept limit equal to or greater than a minimum grade of 0.01 % U3O8, although lower grades were incorporated in places to maintain continuity and represent the structural setting and continuity of the mineralized system. Extension distance for the mineralized wireframes was halfway to the next hole, or 200 m in areas of no drilling, representing the potential at the deposit.

Assays were composited to 4 metre lengths within the mineralized boundaries, capped at 5% U 3 O 8 , and used for variography. The blocks within the wireframes were interpolated with grade values using the composites, variography, ordinary kriging (OK), and a High Yield Limit set at 2.5% U 3 O 8 (50% of search range).

UMR applied an uncertainty bandwidth to define a range for potential uranium using the block model as the midpoint. The well-informed portions of the wireframes with < 50 m drill hole spacing used a bandwidth of  5 % tonnes and  15 % metal content. An uncertainty bandwidth of  10 % tonnes and  30 % metal content was used for the remaining wireframes with drill hole spacing greater than 50 m. The stated potential quantity and grade is conceptual in nature, and there has not been sufficient exploration to define a mineral resource, and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource.

INVESTOR RELATIONS

The Company further reports that it has entered into an agreement with Machai Capital Inc. ("Machai") dated 22 November, 2024, pursuant to which Machai will provide a digital marketing campaign (the "Machai Agreement"). The term of the Machai Agreement is for three months for a total retainer of $220,000, to be paid upfront.

Under the agreement Machai will execute a comprehensive digital media marketing campaign for the Company commencing in November, 2024 including branding and content creation, data optimization services including search engine optimization, search engine marketing, lead generation, digital marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, and brand marketing.

Machai is a marketing, advertising and public awareness firm based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, specializing in advertising and public awareness in the metals & mining, technology, and special situation sectors. Machai and its principal, Suneal Sandhu are arms length to the Company and hold no interest, directly or indirectly, in the securities of the Company or any right to acquire such an interest. The engagement of Machai is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release have been reviewed and approved by Cliff Revering, P.Eng., Vice President, Exploration of ATHA, who is a "qualified person" as defined under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

The ranges for potential uranium quantity and grade for the Lac 50 Deposit were completed by Mr. Matthew Batty, MSc, P.Geo of Understood Mineral Resources Ltd. Mr. Batty is an independent Qualified Persons in accordance with the requirements of National Instrument (NI) 43-101 and he has approved the disclosure herein.

About Understood Mineral Resources Ltd.

Understood Mineral Resources Ltd. is a small, well-trained team with experience in numerous commodities and geologic environments, specializing in project development, geological modeling, deterministic and probabilistic mineral resource estimation, production reconciliation, grade control, and mine planning. UMR's academic training gives them the unique skills to generate probabilistic resource modelling products in conjunction with more conventional techniques such as ordinary kriging. Understood's primary objective is to bring high-quality, reliable, auditable resource models to all mining companies using the latest geostatistical techniques and strategies.

About ATHA

ATHA is a Canadian mineral company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, and development of uranium assets in the pursuit of a clean energy future. With a strategically balanced portfolio including three 100%-owned post discovery uranium projects. 1,2,3.

For more information, please contact:

Troy Boisjoli

Chief Executive Officer

Email: info@athaenergy.com

www.athaenergy.com

Historical Mineral Resource Estimates

All mineral resources estimates presented in this news release are considered to be "historical estimates" as defined under NI 43-101, and have been derived from the following (See notes below). In each instance, the historical estimate is reported using the categories of mineral resources and mineral reserves as defined by the CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Reserves, and mineral reserves at that time, and these "historical estimates" are not considered by ATHA to be current. In each instance, the reliability of the historical estimate is considered reasonable, but a Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource, and ATHA is not treating the historical estimate as a current mineral resource. The historical information provides an indication of the exploration potential of the properties but may not be representative of expected results.

Notes on the Historical Mineral Resource Estimate for the Angilak Deposit:

This estimate is considered to be a "historical estimate" under NI 43-101 and is not considered by any of to be current. See below for further details regarding the historical mineral resource estimate for the Angilak Property. Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by geology, environment, permitting, legal, title, taxation, sociopolitical, marketing or other relevant issues. The quality and grade of the reported inferred resource in this estimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these inferred resources as an indicated or measured mineral resource, and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to an indicated or measured resource category. Contained value metals may not add due to rounding. A 0.2% U3O8 cut-off was used. The mineral resource estimate contained in this press release is considered to be "historical estimates" as defined under NI 43-101 and is not considered to be current. The "historical estimate" is derived from a Technical Report entitled "Technical Report and Resource Update For The Angilak Property, Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada", prepared by Michael Dufresne, M.Sc., P.Geol. of APEX Geosciences, Robert Sim, B.Sc., P.Geo. of SIM Geological Inc. and Bruce Davis, Ph.D., FAusIMM of BD Resource Consulting Inc., dated March 1, 2013 for ValOre Metals Corp. As disclosed in the above noted technical report, the historical estimate was prepared under the direction of Robert Sim, P.Geo, with the assistance of Dr. Bruce Davis, FAusIMM, and consists of three-dimensional block models based on geostatistical applications using commercial mine planning software. The project limits area based in the UTM coordinate system (NAD83 Zone14) using nominal block sizes measuring 5x5x5m at Lac Cinquante and 5x3x3 m (LxWxH) at J4. Grade (assay) and geological information is derived from work conducted by Kivalliq during the 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 field seasons. A thorough review of all the 2013 resource information and drill data by a Qualified Person, along with the incorporation of subsequent exploration work and results, which includes some drilling around the edges of the historical resource subsequent to the publication of the 2013 technical report, would be required in order to verify the Angilak Property historical estimate as a current mineral resource. The historical mineral resource estimate was calculated in accordance with NI 43-101 and CIM standards at the time of publication and predates the current CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (May, 2014) and CIM Estimation of Mineral Resources & Mineral Reserves Best Practices Guidelines (November, 2019). 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.

Notes on the Historical Mineral Resource Estimate for the Moran Lake Deposit:

Jeffrey A. Morgan, P.Geo. and Gary H. Giroux, P.Eng. completed a NI 43-101 technical report titled "Form 43-101F1 Technical Report on the Central Mineral Belt (CMB) Uranium Project, Labrador, Canada, Prepared for Crosshair Exploration & Mining Corp." and dated July 31, 2008, with an updated mineral resource estimate for the Moran Lake C-Zone along with initial mineral resources for the Armstrong and Area 1 deposits. They modelled three packages in the Moran Lake Upper C-Zone (the Upper C Main, Upper C Mylonite, and Upper C West), Moran Lake Lower C-Zone, two packages in Armstrong (Armstrong Z1 and Armstrong Z3), and Trout Pond. These mineral resources are based on 3D block models with ordinary kriging used to interpolate grades into 10 m x 10 m x 4 m blocks. A cut-off grade of 0.015% U3O8 was used for all zones other than the Lower C Zone which employed a cut-off grade of 0.035%. 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 standards. Notes on the Historical Mineral Resource Estimate for the Anna Lake Deposit: The mineral resource estimate contained in this table is considered to be a "historical estimate" as defined under NI 43-101, and is not considered to be current and is not being treated as such. A Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources. A qualified person would need to review and verify the scientific information and conduct an analysis and reconciliation of historical drill and geological data in order to verify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource. Reported by Bayswater Uranium Corporation in a Technical Report entitled "Form 43-101 Technical Report on the Anna Lake Uranium Project, Central Mineral Belt, Labrador, Canada", prepared by R. Dean Fraser, P.Geo. and Gary H. Giroux, P.Eng., dated September 30, 2009. A 3-dimensional geologic model of the deposit was created for the purpose of the resource estimate using the Gemcom/Surpac modeling software. A solid model was created using a minimum grade x thickness cutoff of 3 meters grading 0.03% U3O8. Intersections not meeting this cutoff were generally not incorporated into the model. The shell of this modeled zone was then used to constrain the mineralization for the purpose of the block model. Assay composites 2.5 meters in length that honoured the mineralized domains were used to interpolate grades into blocks using ordinary kriging. An average specific gravity of 2.93 was used to convert volumes to tonnes. The specific gravity data was acquired in-house and consisted of an average of seventeen samples collected from the mineralised section of the core. The resource was classified into Measured, Indicated or Inferred using semi-variogram ranges applied to search ellipses. All resources estimated at Anna Lake fall under the "Inferred" category due to the wide spaced drill density. An exploration program would need to be conducted, including twinning of historical drill holes in order to verify the Anna Lake Project estimate as a current mineral resource.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information 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 state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". These forward-looking statements or information may relate to ATHA's proposed exploration program, including statements with respect to the expected benefits of ATHA's proposed exploration program, any results that may be derived from ATHA's proposed exploration program, the timing, scope, nature, breadth and other information related to ATHA's proposed exploration program, any results that may be derived from the diversification of ATHA's portfolio, the successful integration of the businesses of ATHA, Latitude Uranium and 92 Energy, the prospects of ATHA's projects, including mineral resources estimates and mineralization of each project, the prospects of ATHA's business plans and any expectations with respect to defining mineral resources or mineral reserves on any of ATHA's projects, and any expectation with respect to any permitting, development or other work that may be required to bring any of the projects into development or production.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at the time, are inherently subject to business, market and economic risks, uncertainties and contingencies that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Such assumptions include, but are not limited to, assumptions that the anticipated benefits of ATHA's proposed exploration program will be realized, that no additional permit or licenses will be required in connection with ATHA's exploration programs, the ability of ATHA to complete its exploration activities as currently expected and on the current anticipated timelines, including ATHA's proposed exploration program, that ATHA will be able to execute on its current plans, that ATHA's proposed explorations will yield results as expected, the synergies between ATHA, 92 Energy and Latitude Uranium's assets, and that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner. Although each of ATHA and 92E have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in 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 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.

Such statements represent the current view of ATHA with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by ATHA, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to the following: inability of ATHA to realize the benefits anticipated from the exploration and drilling targets described herein or elsewhere; in ability of ATHA to complete current exploration plans as presently anticipated or at all; inability for ATHA to economically realize on the benefits, if any, derived from the exploration program; failure to complete business plans as it currently anticipated; overdiversification of ATHA's portfolio; failure to realize on benefits, if any, of a diversified portfolio; unanticipated changes in market price for ATHA shares; changes to ATHA's current and future business and exploration plans and the strategic alternatives available thereto; growth prospects and outlook of the business of ATHA; any impacts of COVID-19 on the business of ATHA and the ability to advance the Company projects and its proposed exploration program; risks inherent in mineral exploration including risks related worker safety, weather and other natural occurrences, accidents, availability of personnel and equipment, and other factors; aboriginal title; failure to obtain regulatory and permitting approvals; no known mineral resources/reserves; reliance on key management and other personnel; competition; changes in laws and regulations; uninsurable risks; delays in governmental and other approvals, community relations; stock market conditions generally; demand, supply and pricing for uranium; and general economic and political conditions in Canada, Australia and other jurisdictions where ATHA conducts business. Other factors which could materially affect such forward-looking information are described in the filings of ATHA with the Canadian securities regulators which are available on ATHA's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. ATHA does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/068beb8b-779f-4d05-885b-47b367bbd4e9

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d518a3d2-855c-4848-b4fc-ba8100695c87

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ba9a2ee7-85b3-42b7-889c-6a9ee9ef8002

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7203b752-a575-431e-af74-184028056dcd
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 25, 2024) - EVP Capital Inc., an Ontario corporation (TSXV: EVP.P) ("EVP Capital") has delivered and is in the process of continuing to effect delivery of the management information circular (the "Circular") and related materials for the annual general and special meeting (the "Meeting") of holders of common shares ("EVP Shares") of EVP Capital ("EVP Shareholders") to be held December 6, 2024. At the Meeting, EVP Shareholders will be asked, among other matters further described in the Circular, to consider and vote on a special resolution (the "Arrangement Resolution") approving a statutory plan of arrangement (the "Plan of Arrangement") pursuant to Section 182 of the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) (the "Arrangement"), subject to the terms and conditions of an arrangement agreement dated June 28, 2024, as amended on October 31, 2024 (the "Arrangement Agreement") entered into among EVP Capital, Sharp Edge Labs, Inc. ("Sharp Edge") and SEL AcquisitionCo Inc. ("Merger Sub"), a wholly owned subsidiary of EVP Capital, all as more particularly described in the Circular. The Arrangement Agreement contemplates that EVP Capital will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common stock of Sharp Edge, an arm's length third party, by way of merger conducted under Delaware General Corporation Law in which Merger Sub will merge with and into Sharp Edge, as part of a plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario).

The board of directors of EVP Capital (the "EVP Board") have unanimously determined that the Arrangement is in the best interests of EVP Capital and that the Arrangement is fair to the EVP Shareholders. The EVP Board unanimously recommends that EVP Shareholders vote FOR the Arrangement Resolution.

In accordance with the interim order granted by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) on July 19, 2024, as amended October 18, 2024 (the "Interim Order"), providing for the calling and holding of the Meeting and other procedural matters relating to the Arrangement, the Arrangement can only proceed if, among other conditions, it receives the approval of not less than two-thirds (662/3%) of the votes cast on the Arrangement Resolution by EVP Shareholders in person or by proxy at the Meeting.

Meeting and Circular

The Meeting of the EVP Shareholders will be held at the offices of Meretsky Law Firm located at 121 King Street West, Suite 2150, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 3T9 on December 6, 2024 at 12:00 p.m. (Toronto time). EVP Shareholders of record as of the close of business on November 1, 2024 are entitled to receive notice of and to vote at the Meeting. EVP Shareholders are urged to vote before the proxy deadline of 12:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on December 4, 2024.

The Circular provides important information on the Arrangement and related matters, including the background of the Arrangement, the rationale for the recommendations made by the EVP Board, the mechanics of the Arrangement, and voting procedures. EVP Shareholders are urged to read the Circular and its appendices carefully and in their entirety. The Circular is being delivered to EVP Shareholders in compliance with applicable Canadian securities laws and the Interim Order. The Circular is available under EVP Capital's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

Due to the ongoing Canada Post labour strike, it is possible that EVP Shareholders may experience a delay in receiving the Circular and related materials in respect of the Meeting. All EVP Shareholders are encouraged to access the Circular and related materials electronically as noted above. Registered holders of EVP Shares experiencing a delay in receiving the Circular and related materials may contact TSX Trust Company at tsxtis@tmx.com or call 1-866-600-5869 for assistance in obtaining their individual control numbers in order to vote their EVP Shares. Registered holders of EVP Shares are encouraged to vote their EVP Shares via fax at 1-416-595-9593 or via the internet at www.voteproxyonline.com using their 12-digit control number. Registered holders of EVP Shares are also encouraged to complete and return letters of transmittal by hand or by courier to ensure the appropriate documents are received in a timely manner. Beneficial holders of EVP Shares should contact their broker or other intermediary for assistance in obtaining their individual control numbers in order to vote their EVP Shares. Beneficial holders of EVP Shares are encouraged to vote their EVP Shares via the internet at www.voteproxyonline.com or via fax in accordance with the instructions on their voting instruction form. It is recommended that any physical forms of proxy or voting instruction forms be delivered via courier to ensure that they are received in a timely manner. Registered holders of EVP Shares who wish to exercise their dissent rights in connection with the Arrangement are also cautioned to deliver their written objection to EVP Capital by mail using a method other than Canada Post or by facsimile transmission in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Circular to ensure that they are received in a timely manner.

About EVP Capital

For further information about EVP Capital or the upcoming Meeting, please contact:

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking information" as such term is defined in applicable Canadian securities legislation. The words "may", "would", "could", "should", "potential", "will", "seek", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions as they relate to EVP Capital or Sharp Edge, including the closing of the Arrangement and any other transactions contemplated herein, are intended to identify forward-looking information. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking information. Such statements reflect EVP Capital's current views and intentions with respect to future events, and current information available to EVP Capital, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Material factors or assumptions were applied in providing forward-looking information, including EVP Capital receiving approval of the Arrangement from the shareholders of EVP and final approval from the TSXV, and Sharp Edge receiving stockholder approval for the merger constituting part of the Arrangement. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking information to vary from those described herein should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize. Should any factor affect EVP Capital in an unexpected manner, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, the actual results or events may differ materially from the results or events predicted. Any such forward-looking information is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Moreover, EVP Capital does not assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such forward-looking information. The forward-looking information included in this press release is made as of the date of this press release and EVP Capital undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable law.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231195

SOURCE: EVP Capital Inc.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 25, 2024) - Northstar Gold Corp. (CSE: NSG) ("Northstar" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce diamond drilling has commenced at the Company's 100%-owned Miller Copper-Gold Property, situated 18 kilometres southeast of Kirkland Lake, Ontario. Northstar has commissioned Wiijiiwaagan Drilling Limited Partnership, a partnership between Boart Longyear and Matachewan First Nation, to complete a 1,500 metre drill program by year-end. The Company expects to begin reporting preliminary drill results next month.

Northstar drilling is targeting potentially broad intervals of copper-gold-silver volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) mineralization along the recently defined 350 metre, 200 Siemens Zone 2 Extension VMS EM conductor anomaly, 600 metres southeast and along trend of the historic, direct-shipping high-grade Cam Copper Mine (Please see Northstar News Release Dated May 16, 2024). In late November, 2023, Northstar intersected a number of discrete high-grade VMS copper horizons at Cam Copper Mine, including 14.8% copper over 2.45 metres in Zone 2. (See Northstar News Release dated Nov. 23, 2023).

"Northstar is very pleased to commence this critical drill program at Miller," states Brian P. Fowler, P.Geo., Northstar President, CEO and Director. "Zone 2 Extension drilling was made possible by strategic investor support and the recent 1st tranche private placement closing with aggregate gross proceeds of $818,750 (See Northstar News Release dated November 14th, 2024). Northstar has since received additional orders to close a second tranche in the near term and looks forward to a very successful drill program."

About Northstar

Northstar's primary exploration focus is to advance and expand the near-surface, Allied Gold Zone bulk-tonnage gold-telluride deposit and more recently discovered VMS copper mineral deposits on the Company's flagship, 100%-owned Miller Copper-Gold Property. The Company's strategy is to develop a material (+1M ounce gold / high-grade copper) mineral resource base to supplement a nearby mining operation or support stand-alone mining operations at the Property.

Recently Signed Gold and Copper MOUs

Northstar recently signed two MOUs to advance the Company's Miller Intrusive Complex gold and Cam Copper Zone 2 VMS copper exploration and development projects, respectively, at the Miller Copper-Gold Property. On September 19th, 2024, Northstar announced signing a MOU with China-based Hunan Nonferrous with intentions to possibly secure a minority stake in the Miller Intrusive Complex gold deposits by funding up to 10,000 meters of expansion diamond drilling. Due to unforeseen visitor visa complications, Hunan technical representatives are now positioning to obtain Canadian visitor visas for an early spring, 2025 due diligence property visit. This visit is a requirement to establish a Cooperative Agreement providing for collaborative exploration and development of the Miller Intrusive Complex gold targets (Please see Northstar-Hunan MOU News Release dated September 19, 2024).

On October 3rd, 2024, Northstar announced it had signed a MOU with Novamera Inc., setting terms for Novamera to secure the necessary financing to Surgically MineTM high-grade copper at Cam Copper Mine, subject to the definition and permitting of an economic deposit. This includes a multi-staged program (the "Surgical MiningTM Program") to test and extract material from the copper-rich, near vertical Zone 2 VMS horizon. The Company is currently awaiting results of a Stage 1 Novamera Scoping Study, which is expected shortly (Please see Northstar-Novamera MOU News Release dated October 3, 2024).

Other Properties

Northstar has 3 additional 100%-owned exploration projects in northern Ontario, including the 1,150 ha Rosegrove Property, situated 0.5 km from the Miller Property, the 4,650 ha Bryce Gold Property (includes the recently optioned Britcanna Lease), an intrusive-gold / PME VMS project located along the projected east extension of the Ridout Break, and the Temagami-Milestone Cu-Ni-Co Critical Minerals Property located in Strathcona Township. Northstar is seeking exploration partners to advance all 3 properties.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (referred to herein as "forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, disclosure regarding the completion of the Offering and potential gross proceeds to be raised pursuant thereto, the receipt of all applicable regulatory approvals, the prospective nature of the Company's property interests, exploration plans and expected results, conditions or financial performance that is based on assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of action; planned use of proceeds, expenditures and budgets and the execution thereof. Generally, these 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 the negative connotation thereof or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results, "may", "could", "would", "will", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotation thereof.

All forward-looking statements are based on various assumptions, including, without limitation, the expectations and beliefs of management, the receipt of applicable regulatory approvals. availability of financing, the assumed long-term price of gold, that the current exploration and other objectives concerning its mineral projects can be achieved and that its other corporate activities will proceed as expected; that the current price and demand for gold will be sustained or will improve; the continuity of the price of gold and other metals, economic and political conditions and operations; the prospective nature of the Company's properties, availability of financing, and that general business and economic conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner.

Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of NSG to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: risks and uncertainties related to the completion of the Offering as presently proposed or at all, the failure to obtain all applicable regulatory approvals; actual results of current exploration activities; environmental risks; future prices of gold; operating risks; accidents, labour issues and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining government approvals or financing; and other risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties are not, and should not be construed as being, exhaustive.

Although NSG has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, 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. In addition, forward-looking statements are provided solely for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans and allowing investors and others to get a better understanding of our operating environment. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date hereof and NSG assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231223

SOURCE: Northstar Gold Corp.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 25, 2024) - RED METAL RESOURCES LTD. (CSE: RMES) (OTC Pink: RMESF) (FSE: I660) ("Red Metal" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed the first tranche of the non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") described in its news release of October 31, 2024.

In connection with the closing of the first tranche of the Offering, the Company issued an aggregate of 3,000,000 flow-through units (the "FT Units") at a price of CDN$0.10 per Unit for gross proceeds of CDN$300,000. Each FT Unit consists of one flow-through common share in the capital of the Company (a "FT Share") and one-half of one non-transferable Common share purchase warrant (each whole Common share purchase warrant, a "Warrant"). Each whole Warrant is exercisable to acquire one Common Share at an exercise price of CDN$0.12 per Common Share until May 22, 2026, which is 18 months from the date of issuance.

In connection with the closing of the first tranche of the Offering, the Company has also issued an aggregate of 915,000 non-flow-through units (the "NFT Units") at a price of CDN$0.08 per NFT Unit for gross proceeds of CDN$73,200. Each NFT Unit consists of one common share in the capital of the Company (a "Common Share") and one-half of one non-transferable Common share purchase warrant (each whole Common share purchase warrant, a "Warrant"). Each whole Warrant is exercisable to acquire one Common Share at an exercise price of CDN$0.12 per Common Share until May 22, 2026 which is 18 months from the date of issuance.

The Company paid an aggregate finder's fees of CDN$30,000 and issued 300,000 Share purchase warrants (the "Finder's Warrants") in connection with subscriptions from subscribers introduced to the Offering by Castlewood Capital Corporation. Each Finder's Warrant is exercisable to acquire one Common Share in the capital of the Company at an exercise price of CDN$0.12 per Common Share until May 22, 2026, which is 18 months from the date of issuance.

The securities issued under the Offering, and any Shares that may be issuable on exercise of any such securities, will be subject to a statutory hold period expiring four months and one day from the date of issuance of such securities.

The Company intends to raise up to $540,000 issuing an aggregate of up to 6,750,000 NFT Units at a price of $0.08 per non-flow-through unit. The Company intends to use the proceeds from the sale of the NFT Units to finance general working capital requirements and exploration on its Chilean Carrizal Property. The proceeds from the sale of FT Units will be used for the exploration of the Company's newly acquired properties in the Quebec region and any further projects acquired in the area, which will qualify as "Canadian exploration expenses" as defined in subsection 66.1(6) of the Income Tax Act and "flow-through mining expenditures" as defined in subsection 127(9) of the Income Tax Act. The Offering is subject to certain conditions, including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals, including the approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange. The Offering is being made by way of private placement in Canada and such other jurisdictions as the Company may determine. The Company intends to renounce the Qualifying Expenditures to subscribers of FT Units for the calendar year ended December 31, 2024, and to incur the necessary Qualifying Expenditures on or before December 31, 2025, in accordance with regulatory requirements.

All securities to be issued under the Offering will be subject to a four-month-and-one-day hold period in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws.

About Red Metal Resources Ltd.

Red Metal Resources is a mineral exploration company focused on growth through acquiring, exploring and developing clean energy and strategic minerals projects. The Company's current portfolio includes the 100% owned Ville Marie claims in Quebec, Canada, as well as the Company's Chilean projects, which are located in the prolific Candelaria iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) belt of Chile's coastal Cordillera. Red Metal is quoted on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol RMES, on the OTC Link alternative trading system on the OTC Pink marketplace under the symbol RMESF, and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol I660.

For more information, visit www.redmetalresources.com

Forward-Looking Statements - All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws including, without limitation statements related to the Offering and expected use of proceeds. Red Metal provides forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying information about current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to the ability to raise adequate financing, receipt of required approvals, as well as those risks and uncertainties identified and reported in Red Metal's public filings under its SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. Although Red Metal has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. 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 statements. Red Metal disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by law.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISSEMINATION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231226

SOURCE: Red Metal Resources Ltd.
DDRCRG-24-001 returned 164.8 metres of 0.82 g/t gold starting 9 metres from surface, including 119.0 metres of 1.05 g/t gold, 37.9 metres of 2.05 g/t gold and 11.5 metres of 4.32 g/t gold in the first ever diamond drill hole at Rhosgobel.

starting 9 metres from surface, including Drilling confirms strong gold mineralization from surface to a depth of at least 300 metres.

Gold mineralization discovered at Rhosgobel is hosted in feldspar megacrystic quartz monzonite similar to that seen at the Blackjack gold deposit located 5 km along trend to the north.

Holes were drilled under a >300 ppb gold-in-soil anomaly that is part of a larger 1.5 km x 2 km gold-in-soil anomaly with values up to >500 ppb gold.

Rhosgobel is the largest mapped intrusion target within the Clear Creek Intrusive Complex.

Drill results underscore potential for Rhosgobel to host a significant multi-million ounce intrusion-related gold deposit.

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 25, 2024) - Sitka Gold Corp. (TSXV: SIG) (FSE: 1RF) (OTCQB: SITKF) ("Sitka" or the "Company") is pleased to announce assay results from the first ever diamond drill holes completed at the Rhosgobel intrusion, located at the Company's road accessible, district-scale RC Gold Project in Yukon, Canada. Results from DDRCRG-24-001, which is the first diamond drill hole ever completed at Rhosgobel, returned 164.8 metres of 0.82 g/t gold starting 9 metres from surface, including 119.0 metres of 1.05 g/t gold, 37.9 metres of 2.05 g/t gold and 11.5 metres of 4.32 g/t gold. Initial diamond drilling at Rhosgobel intersected abundant sheeted veining and multiple occurrences of visible gold, with results confirming strong gold mineralization continues from surface to at least 300 metres. Results are currently pending for 6 additional diamond drill holes currently at the assay lab, including the first diamond drill holes ever completed at the Pukelman intrusion, located approximately 2 kilometres southeast of the Blackjack gold deposit (see Figure 4), where abundant sheeted veining has also been observed along with occurrences of visible gold in the drill core (see news release dated October 31, 2024).

Table 1: Highlights from the first two diamond drill holes ever completed at Rhosgobel

Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m)* Gold (g/t) DDRCRG-24-001 9.1 173.9 164.8 0.82 Including 30.0 149 119.0 1.05 including 98.5 136.36 37.9 2.05 including 98.5 110.03 11.5 4.32 including 102.0 103.67 1.7 16.25 DDRCRG-24-002 97.0 207.3 173.3 0.60 Including 105.0 133.4 28.4 1.37 Including 121.0 133.4 12.4 2.43 Including 167.1 184.5 17.4 1.10 Including 269.2 270.3 1.1 8.99

"The results of the first two diamond drill holes ever drilled at the Rhosgobel intrusion target have exceeded our expectations, with both holes returning significant intervals of over 1 g/t gold, including 2.05 g/t gold over 37.9 metres and 4.32 g/t gold over 11.5 metres in DDRCRG-24-001", stated Cor Coe, Director and CEO of Sitka Gold. "Rhosgobel is the largest intrusion target within the Clear Creek Intrusive Complex (see Figure 4) and these holes have confirmed that robust gold mineralization persists here to a vertical depth of at least 300 metres and is laterally open in all directions within a very large, 2 km x 1.5 km gold-in-soil anomaly with values ranging from >100 ppb to > 500 ppb (see Figure 1). This bodes very well for the discovery of a third significant gold deposit at RC Gold, where geochemical surface signatures have been shown to strongly coincide with underlying intrusion-related gold mineralization elsewhere on the property, similar to that seen at our growing Blackjack gold deposit. With $15 million in the treasury and no debt, the Company is well positioned to follow up on this exciting new discovery with a substantial diamond drilling program as we continue to advance several targets at our flagship RC Gold Project."

Figure 1 - Plan map of the 2024 drilling on the Rhosgobel intrusion showing the locations of DDRCRG-24-001 and 002, the first ever diamond drill holes completed at Rhosgobel, within the large 1.5 x 2.0 kilometre gold-in-soil anomaly and mapped intrusion. Geochemical surface signatures such as this have been shown to strongly coincide with underlying intrusion-related gold mineralization elsewhere on the property, similar to that seen at the Blackjack gold deposit located approximately 5 km north along trend (see Figure 4).

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6144/231247_22ff53324451b911_001full.jpg

Figure 2 - Cross section of DDRCRG-24-001 and 002, the first ever diamond drill holes completed at the Rhosgobel intrusion. These initial diamond drill holes intersected gold at significantly greater depths than the limits of historical shallow reverse-circulation drilling and confirm that strong gold mineralization persists from surface to a depth of at least 300 metres.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6144/231247_22ff53324451b911_002full.jpg

Figure 3 - Shallow historical reverse-circulation drilling in the Rhosgobel intrusion in 1995 (labelled CCRC-95-XX on the map) produced numerous intersections of gold mineralization consisting of sheeted quartz veins within megacrystic quartz monzonite, confirming widespread gold mineralization within the Rhosgobel intrusion coincident with the larger 1.5 km x 2.0 km gold-in-soil anomaly (see Figure 1). Higher-grade gold mineralization is also modelled along intersections of structural corridors that form conduits for gold mineralization, such as those mapped at the Rhosgobel intrusion (red and green lines on plan map). The first ever diamond drill holes completed at Rhosgobel (DDRCRG-24-001 and 002) further highlight the potential for this gold system to continue to a depth of at least 300 metres.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6144/231247_22ff53324451b911_003full.jpg

The Rhosgobel intrusion is the largest and southernmost exposed intrusion that forms a part of the Clear Creek Intrusive Complex (CCIC). Intrusions within the CCIC occupy an area of approximately 8 by 15 kilometres and likely have a common magmatic source at depth. The intrusions vary in composition and include quartz monzonite, granodiorite and diorite. Felsic and lamprophyre dykes also occur within the CCIC. All of the intrusions have associated gold mineralization, suggesting that the CCIC forms a large mineralized system with the potential to host several gold deposits. The Rhosgobel intrusion is a megacrystic quartz monzonite (MCQM) similar to the Saddle Intrusion that hosts the Blackjack Deposit 5 km to the north.

Previous shallow reverse circulation drilling by Kennecott in 1995 identified widespread gold mineralization within the Rhosgobel intrusion (see Figure 3). These initial diamond drill holes by Sitka have intersected gold at significantly greater depths, demonstrating the potential for a much larger mineralized system.

Mineralization at Rhosgobel consists of abundant 1-2 cm sheeted quartz veins, larger (10-40 cm) quartz tourmaline veins, and large zones of quartz tourmaline breccias and stockwork within a larger zone cutting the MCQM host intrusion. Coarse scheelite and sulphides, including pyrrhotite and pyrite with subordinate arsenopyrite, occur within the veins and breccias throughout the intrusion. Gold was observed within the quartz veins and breccias and was consistently associated with bismuthinite, scheelite, and occasionally molybdenite. Alteration was pervasive quartz-sericite and sericite-chlorite with more intense quartz-sericite-chlorite alteration selvages around the veins.

DDRCRG-24-001

Drill hole DDRCRG-24-001 was drilled to a length of 303.6 metres at a dip of -50 degrees and an azimuth of 010 degrees to test the down dip extension of the gold mineralization intersected in the historical RC drill holes CCRC-95-15 and CCRC-95-16. The hole remained in MCQM throughout its length including approximately 200 metres of altered, faulted, brecciated, and mineralized feldspar megacrystic quartz monzonite and approximately 100 metres of weakly altered MCQM cut by occasional 1-10 cm quartz-scheelite sheeted veins. Visible gold was observed at two locations within the hole.

DDRCRG-24-001 intersected significant gold mineralisation from near surface to about 180 metres with 164.8 metres returning 0.82 g/t gold from 9.1 metres. Higher grade intersections within this interval included 119.0 metres of 1.05 g/t gold from 30.0 metres and 37.9 metres of 2.05 g/t gold from 98.5 metres. A 1.8 metre interval from 102.0 metres returned 16.25 g/t gold, demonstrating the presence of significant high grade gold mineralization in the Rhosgobel system.

DDRCRG-24-002

Drill hole DDRCRG-24-002 was drilled to a length of 400.8 metres at a dip of -75 degrees and an azimuth of 010 degrees to test the down dip extension of the gold mineralization intersected in the historical RC drill holes CCRC-95-15 and CCRC-95-16, and the mineralized interval intersected in DDRCRG-24-001. DDRCRG-24-002 also remained in MCQM throughout its length. The hole intersected approximately 50 metres of oxidized, altered, faulted, and mineralized MCQM, then continued through sections of high vein density and very large, locally brecciated, quartz and quartz tourmaline veins with strong alteration envelopes. Mineralization in the veins included coarse scheelite, molybdenite and bismuthinite. Numerous instances of visible gold were noted throughout the hole.

DDRCRG-24-002 returned 350.1 metres 0.40 g/t gold from 5.5 metres, demonstrating the continuation of widespread gold mineralization intersected in DDRCRG-24-001 to depth. Higher grade intervals from this broad intersection included 173.3 metres of 0.60 g/t gold from 97.0 metres, 28.4 metres of 1.40 g/t gold from 105.0 metres, 12.4 metres of 2.40 g/t gold from 121.0 metres, 0.9 metres of 5.50 g/t gold from 228.8 metres and 1.1 metres of 9.00 g/t gold from 269.2 metres.

Figure 4 - Map showing multiple priority target areas across the recently consolidated Clear Creek Intrusive Complex along with the location of 2024 diamond drilling completed at the Rhosgobel intrusion approximately 5 km south of the Blackjack and Eiger deposits. The Rhosgobel intrusion is approximately 3 km long and 2 km wide. Higher-grade gold mineralization is modelled along intersections of structural corridors that form conduits for gold mineralization. A large mineralized system highlighted by the numerous gold-bearing intrusions and intersecting structural corridors similar to that being defined at the Blackjack Deposit exist at many other target areas within the Clear Creek Intrusive Complex.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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Figure 5 - Examples of several instances of visible gold observed throughout DDRCRG-24-001 (a - b) and DDRCRG-24-002 (c - f). Visible gold is often associated with bismuthinite, scheelite, and arsenopyrite.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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Figure 6 - Drill core from DDRCRG-24-001 showing the 37.9 m interval from 98.5 m to 136.4 m grading 2.05 g/t Au, including 1.7 m of 16.25 g/t Au from 102.0 m

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6144/231247_11252024fig6.jpg

Figure 7 - Drill core from DDRCRG-24-002 showing the 28.4 m interval from 105.0 m to 133.4 m grading 1.37 g/t Au

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6144/231247_11252024fig7.jpg

Table 2: Summary of significant drill hole results from this release

Hole From (m) To (m) Length (m) Au (g/t) DDRCRG-24-001 9.14 173.9 164.76 0.82 Including 30 149 119 1.05 including 98.5 136.36 37.86 2.05 including 98.5 110.03 11.53 4.32 including 102 103.67 1.67 16.25 DDRCRG-24-002 5.5 355.7 350.1 0.40 97.0 207.3 173.3 0.60 Including 105.0 133.4 28.4 1.37 Including 121.0 133.4 12.4 2.43 Including 167.1 184.5 17.4 1.10 Including 228.8 236.5 7.7 1.20 Including 228.8 229.7 0.9 5.50 Including 269.2 270.3 1.1 8.99

*Intervals are drilled core length as insufficient drilling has been completed at this time to calculate true widths. Totals may not sum precisely due to rounding.

Metallurgical Testing

The Company has initiated additional metallurgical studies on the Blackjack Deposit by ALS Canada Ltd. Metallurgy Services to further investigate the gold recoveries of different types and grades of mineralization. Extraction gold recoveries from previous bottle roll testing by ALS in 2022 averaged 85% and were as high as 94% (See Company press release dated July 13, 2022) .

Three 20 kg composite samples of megacrystic quartz monzonite material grading 0.406 g/t Au, 1.08 g/t Au and 1.99 g/t Au and one 20 kg composite sample of metasedimentary material grading 0.605 g/t Au have been selected for this round of testing. The samples were composited from coarse reject material from 2023 drilling. The objective of the testing is to investigate the recovery potential of gravity concentration and sulphide flotation, and to further investigate cyanide leach recoveries.

Quality Assurance/Quality Control

On receipt from the drill site, the HTW/NTW-sized drill core was systematically logged for geological attributes, photographed and sampled at Sitka's core logging facility. Sample lengths as small as 0.3 m were used to isolate features of interest, otherwise a default 2 m downhole sample length was used. Each sample is identified by a unique sample tag number which is placed in the bag containing the core to be assayed. Core was cut in half lengthwise along a predetermined line, with one-half (the same half, consistently) collected for analysis and one-half stored as a record. Standard reference materials, blanks and duplicate samples were inserted by Sitka personnel at regular intervals into the sample stream. Bagged samples were placed in secure bins to ensure integrity during transport. They were delivered by Sitka personnel or a contract expeditor to ALS Laboratories' preparatory facility in Whitehorse, Yukon, with analyses completed in North Vancouver.

ALS is accredited to ISO 17025:2005 UKAS ref. 4028 for its laboratory analysis. Samples were crushed by ALS to over 70 per cent passing below two millimetres and split using a riffle splitter. One-thousand-gram splits were pulverized to over 85 per cent passing below 75 microns. Gold determinations are by fire assay with an inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) finish on 50 g subsamples of the prepared pulp (ALS code: Au-ICP-22). Any sample returning over 10 g/t Au was re-analyzed by fire assay with a gravimetric finish on a 50 g subsample (ALS code: Au-GRA21). In addition, a 51-element analysis was performed on a 0.5 g subsample of the prepared pulps by an aqua regia digestion followed by an inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) finish (ALS code: ME-MS41).

About the flagship RC Gold Project

The RC Gold Project consists of a 431 square kilometre contiguous district-scale land package located in the heart of Yukon's Tombstone Gold Belt. The project is located approximately 100 kilometres east of Dawson City, which has a 5,000 foot paved runway, and is accessed via a secondary gravel road from the Klondike Highway which is usable year-round and is an approximate 2 hour drive from Dawson City. It is the largest consolidated land package strategically positioned mid-way between the Eagle Gold Mine and the past producing Brewery Creek Gold Mine.

On January 19, 2023 Sitka Gold announced an Initial Mineral Resource Estimate prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") guidelines for the RC Gold Property of 1,340,000 ounces of gold(1). The road accessible, pit constrained Mineral Resource is classified as inferred and is contained in two zones: The Blackjack and Eiger deposits with 900,000 ounces of gold grading 0.83 g/t and 440,000 ounces of gold grading 0.68 g/t respectively. Both of these deposits are at/near surface, are potentially open pit minable and amenable to heap leaching, with initial bottle roll tests indicating that the gold is not refractory and has high gold recoveries of up to 94% with minimal NaCN consumption (see News Release July 13, 2022). The Mineral Resource estimate is presented in the following table at a base case cut-off grade of 0.25 g/t Au:

RC Gold Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate

COG g/t Au Blackjack Zone Eiger Zone Combined Tonnes 000's Au g/t 0z Au 000's Tonnes 000's Au g/t 0z Au 000's Tonnes 000's Au g/t 0z Au 000's 0.20 35,798 0.80 921 32,523 0.45 471 68,321 0.63 1,391 0.25 33,743 0.83 900 27,362 0.50 440 61,105 0.68 1,340 0.30 31,282 0.88 885 22,253 0.55 393 53,535 0.74 1,279 0.35 29,065 0.92 860 17,817 0.60 344 46,882 0.80 1,203 0.40 26,975 0.96 833 14,506 0.66 308 41,481 0.86 1,140

Notes

Mineral resource estimate prepared by Ronald G. Simpson of GeoSim Services Inc. with an effective date of January 19, 2023. Mineral Resources are classified using the 2014 CIM Definition Standards. The cut-off grade of 0.25 g/t Au is believed to provide a reasonable margin over operating and sustaining costs for open-pit mining and processing Mineral resources are constrained by an optimised pit shell using the following assumptions: US$1800/oz Au price; a 45 pit slope; assumed metallurgical recovery of 85%; mining costs of US$2.00 per tonne; processing costs of US$8.00 per tonne; G&A of US$1.50/t. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. Totals may not sum due to rounding.

To date, 72 diamond drill holes have been drilled into this system by the Company for a total of approximately 25,136 metres. The initial resource was based on 11,630 m of drilling in 34 holes with 22 holes totaling 7,492 m in the Blackjack deposit. Drilling since the initial resource release has focused on expanding the Blackjack resource with an additional 12-holes totaling 5,212 drilled in 2023 and 15-holes totaling 7162 m to date in 2024. Other targets drilled to date include the Saddle zone, Josephine zone and the Rhosgobel zone. The resource expansion drilling in 2023 at Blackjack produced results of up to 219.0 m of 1.34 g/t gold including 124.8 m of 2.01 g/t gold and 55.0 m of 3.11 g/t gold in drill hole DDRCCC-23-047 (see news release dated September 26, 2023) and in 2024 results of up to 678.1 metres of 1.04 g/t gold starting from surface, including 409.5 metres of 1.36 g/t gold, 93.0 metres of 2.57 g/t gold and 5.5 metres of 17.59 g/t gold

(see news release dated October 21, 2024).

(1) Simpson, R. January 19, 2023. Clear Creek Property, RC Gold Project, NI 43-101 Technical Report, Dawson Mining District, Yukon Territory

RC Gold Deposit Model

Exploration on the Property has mainly focused on identifying an intrusion-related gold system ("IRGS"). The property is within the Tombstone Gold Belt which is the prominent host to IRGS deposits within the Tintina Gold Province in Yukon and Alaska. Notable deposits from the belt include: Fort Knox Mine in Alaska with current Proven and Probable Reserves of 230 million tonnes at 0.3 g/t Au (2.471 million ounces; Sims 2018)(1); Eagle Gold Mine with current Measured and Indicated Resources of 233 million tonnes at a grade of 0.57 g/t Au at the Eagle Main Zone (4.303 million ounces; Harvey et al, 2022)(2); the Brewery Creek deposit with current Indicated Mineral Resource of 22.2 million tonnes at a gold grade of 1.11 g/t (0.789 million ounces; Hulse et al. 2020)(3); the Florin Gold deposit with a current Inferred Mineral Resource of 170.99 million tonnes grading 0.45 g/t (2.47 million ounces; Simpson 2021)(4); the AurMac Project with an Inferred Mineral Resource of 347.49 million tonnes grading 0.63 gram per tonne gold (7.00 million ounces)(5) and the Valley Deposit, with a current Indicated Mineral Resource of 4.05 million oz gold at 1.66 g/t and an additional Inferred Mineral Resource of 3.26 million oz at 1.25 g/t gold(6).

(1) Sims J. Fort Knox Mine Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, USA National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report. June 11, 2018. https://s2.q4cdn.com/496390694/files/doc_downloads/2018/Fort-Knox-June-2018-Technical-Report.pdf

(2) Harvey N., Gray P., Winterton J., Jutras M., Levy M.,Technical Report for the Eagle Gold Mine, Yukon Territory, Canada. Victoria Gold Corp. December 31, 2022. https://vgcx.com/site/assets/files/6534/vgcx_-_2023_eagle_mine_technical_report_final.pdf

(3) Hulse D, Emanuel C, Cook C. NI 43-101 Technical Report on Mineral Resources. Gustavson Associates. May 31, 2020. https://minedocs.com/22/Brewery-Creek-PEA-01182022.pdf

(4) Simpson R. Florin Gold Project NI 43-101 Technical Report. Geosim Services Inc. April 21, 2021. https://sedar.com/GetFile.do?lang=EN&docClass=24&issuerNo=00005795&issuerType=03&projectNo=03236138&docI d=4984158

(5) Thornton T., Jutras M., Malhotra D. Technical Report Aurmac Property Mayo Mining District, Yukon Territory, Canada. JDS Energy and Mining Inc. February 6, 2024. https://banyangold.com/site/assets/files/5251/banyan_gold_ni_43-101_technical_report_2024_03_18.pdf

(6) Burrell H., Redmond D.J., Haggarty P., Rogue Gold Project: NI43-101 Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate, Yukon Territory, Canada. Snowline Gold Corp. May 15, 2024. https://snowlinegold.com

Upcoming Events

Sitka Gold will be attending and/or presenting at the following events*:

American Exploration and Mining Association Conference, Reno, NV: December 1 - 6, 2024

Metal Investors Forum, Vancouver, BC: January 17-18, 2025

VRIC, Vancouver, BC: January 19 - 20, 2025

RoundUp, Vancouver, BC: January 20-23, 2025

*All events are subject to change.

About Sitka Gold Corp.

Sitka Gold Corp. is a well-funded mineral exploration company headquartered in Canada with over $15 million in its treasury and no debt. The Company is managed by a team of experienced industry professionals and is focused on exploring for economically viable mineral deposits with its primary emphasis on gold, silver and copper mineral properties of merit. Sitka is currently advancing its 100% owned, 431 square kilometre flagship RC Gold Project located within the Tombstone Gold Belt in the Yukon Territory. The Company is also advancing the Alpha Gold Project in Nevada and currently has drill permits for its Burro Creek Gold and Silver Project in Arizona and the Coppermine River Project in Nunavut.

The Company recently announced an NI 43-101 compliant initial inferred Mineral Resource Estimate of 1,340,000 ounces of gold(1) beginning at surface and grading 0.68 g/t at its RC Gold Project in Yukon (see news release dated January 19, 2023).

(1) Simpson, R. January 19, 2023. Clear Creek Property, RC Gold Project, NI 43-101 Technical Report, Dawson Mining District, Yukon Territory

*For more detailed information on the Company's properties please visit our website at www.sitkagoldcorp.com

The scientific and technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Cor Coe, P.Geo., Director and CEO of the Company, and a Qualified Person (QP) as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

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 and Forward-Looking Statements

This release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company regarding future events. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would" or "occur". This information and these statements, referred to herein as "forward-looking statements", are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without limitation, statements regarding discussions of future plans, estimates and forecasts and statements as to management's expectations and intentions and the Company's anticipated work programs.

These forward-looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties and actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, market uncertainty and the results of the Company's anticipated work programs.

Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial out-look that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. We seek safe harbor.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231247

SOURCE: Sitka Gold Corp.
CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Gold miner Newmont Corp. (NEM, NGT.TO, NEM.AX) announced Monday that it has agreed to sell its Eleonore operation in Northern Quebec, Canada, to Dhilmar Ltd. for $795 million in cash consideration.The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025, subject to certain conditions being satisfied.Upon closing the announced transactions, Newmont will have delivered up to $3.6 billion in gross proceeds from non-core asset divestitures and investment salesIn February 2024, Newmont announced the intent to divest its non-core assets, including six operations and two projects from its Australian, Ghanaian, and North American business units.With definitive agreements in place to divest four operations and one project, the Company is focused on completing the sales processes for its remaining North American non-core assets, which are expected to conclude in the first quarter of 2025.Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights ReservedCopyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Zero Candida (the "Company" or "ZCT"), (TSXV: ZCT) an Israeli FemTech medical device start-up, is pleased to announce full Transaction and Being Trading on November 25th on the TSX Venture Exchange (Canada) symbol: ZCT.

Zero-Candida technology (ZCT) is FemTech developing an AI smart tampon-like device based on therapeutic light source with a selected wave-length and intensity that can treat the Candida fungus successfully of 99.999% an POC overnight. Vulvo-Vaginal Candidiasis ("VVC") affects about 75% of women globally, ZCT device is a Game changer that has the potential to change the treatment of women and the FemTech industry in the world. The first of its kind of technology using a controlled "Blue Light," destroys the vagina fungus at record speed and without side effects. The treatment is Safety & carried out by a tampon-like medical device which, according to medical experts, provides an optimal solution for removing the fungus altogether and preventing the recurrence of the disease.

Zero Candida is working on creating a technology to enable the hybrid medicine services to be provided by gynecologists to populations that until now received no treatment at all, including, among others, in the developing countries. The ZCT device is Collect and transmits treatment data to the attending physician in real time, for assessment, treatment personalization and monitoring. Seamless data transfer through Wi-fi chip and VoIP, allows for the convenience of remote care and treatment consulting. Another significant advantage of the Zero Candida device is treatment without side effects, supporting growing demand from women to improve their health without the use of chemicals.

Eli Ben Haroosh, Founder & CEO: "Today, is a great day for the FemTech industry and women's treatments around the world, our new technology will be a game changer in the field of women's health. The company is advancing in its research with the hope of involving hospitals and academic institutions around the world. Our company's vision is to complete a pre-clinical study by 6/2025 and submit it to the FDA."

The company continues to develop a final prototype for human use and will complete it by Q1 2025. "Zero Candida has a potential to become a technological leader and use its ground-breaking technology to expand boundaries of non-chemical candida treatment," added Ben Haroosh.

Summary of Transaction

Pursuant to the business combination agreement (the "Agreement") between a Canadian reporting issuer (the "Reporting Issuer") and the Company, the transaction is expected to be contemplated by a three-cornered amalgamation, where the Reporting Issuer's wholly owned Israeli subsidiary incorporated solely for the purpose of the transaction, is expected to amalgamate with ZC. Each holder (each a " ZC Shareholder") of ZC Share, other than a ZC Shareholder who exercised Dissent Rights (as defined in the Israeli Companies Law) is expected to receive 8.6277 eight and six thousand two hundred seventy seven ten-thousandths) shares in the capital of the Reporting Issuer (each a "Resulting Issuer Share") in exchange for each ZC Share held by such ZC Shareholder, resulting in the Company issuing up to an aggregate of 12,223,232 Resulting Issuer's Shares (which will represent approximately 85.94% of the issued and outstanding Resulting Issuer Shares, without taking into consideration any ZC share purchase warrants to be exercised immediately prior to completion of the Transaction, stock options or a concurrent financing). Additionally, the holders of stock options of ZC will be entitled to receive Resulting Issuer Shares, instead of ZC Shares, on the exercise of their options.

About Zero Candida:

ZC is a private FemTech technology company incorporated under the corporate laws of the State of Israel. ZC is developing an AI smart tampon-like device based on AI on a therapeutic light source with a selected wave-length and intensity that can treat the Candida fungus successfully of 99.999% an POC. Vulvo-Vaginal Candidiasis ("VVC") affects about 75% of women globally, each year 138 million women are affected world-wide and 492 million over their lifetime. Recurrent VVC (4 or more episodes per year) is increasingly documented to become drug resistant to existing treatments and constitutes up to 10% of the cases of VVC. Existing treatments are unable to overcome the high rate of recurrence, since the root cause of the condition is poorly understood and addressed.

ZC has signed pre-clinical agreements with hospitals in Israel and Europe and the company has successfully completed a safety trial for the use of a pre-clinical device in large animals (sheep) ZC continues the development of the final product for human use in preparation for a clinical trial that will take place in June 2025.

Zero Candida's device will bring the field of gynecology into the 21st century with hybrid medicine and technology-based diagnostics. At the same time as developing the treatment procedure, Zero Candida is working on creating a technology to enable the hybrid medicine services to be provided by gynecologists to populations that until now received no treatment at all, including, among others, in the developing countries.

Neither the TSXV 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 press release.

Forward-Looking Statements

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. 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 forward-looking statements, other than as required by law. More detailed information about potential factors that could affect financial results is included in the documents filed from time to time with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities by Zero Candida. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2420533/4723164/ZERO_CANDIDA_Logo.jpg

Contact:

Eli Ben Haroosh, CEO & Founder

E: info@zero-candida.com

Website: www.Zero-Candida.com

Facebook: @Zero-candida

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/zero-candida-announces-full-transaction-and-being-trading-november-25th-on-the-tsx-venture-exchange-canada-302315403.html
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 25, 2024) - Nexus Uranium Corp. (CSE: NEXU) (OTCQB: GIDMF) (FSE: 3H1) (the "Company" or "Nexus") is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement of up to 5,000,000 units of the Company ("FT Units") at a price of $0.30 per FT Unit to raise gross proceeds of up to $1,500,000 (the "Offering").

Each FT Unit consists of one common share of the Company (a "FT Share") to be issued as a "flow-through share" within the meaning of within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "Tax Act") and one common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant") each of which is exercisable to acquire one common share for 18 months following closing at an exercise price of $0.40.

Proceeds from the Offering will be used to incur "Canadian exploration expenses" as defined in subsection 66.1(6) of the Tax Act and "flow through critical mineral mining expenditures" as defined in subsection 127(9) of the Tax Act at the Cree East uranium project located in the Athabasca Basin.

Completion of the Offering is subject to certain conditions including the receipt of all necessary approvals, including the approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange.

About Nexus Uranium Corp.

Nexus Uranium Corp. is a multi-commodity development company focused on advancing the Cree East uranium project in the Athabasca Basin in addition to its precious metals portfolio that includes the Napoleon gold project in British Columbia and a package of gold claims in the Yukon. The Cree East project is one of the largest projects within the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan spanning 57,752 hectares (142,708 acres) and has seen over $20 million in exploration to date. The Napoleon project comprises over 1,000 hectares and prospective for multiple forms of gold mineralization, with exploration in the area dating back to the 1970s with the discovery of high-grade gold. The Yukon gold projects are comprised of almost 8,000 hectares of quartz claims prospective for high-grade gold mineralization with historical grab sampling highlights of 144 g/t gold.

--

When used in this press release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. Although Nexus believes, in light of the experience of their respective officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate, that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements and information in this press release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the parties can give no assurance that such statements will prove to be correct. The forward-looking statements and information in this press release include, amongst others, the Company's ability to complete the Offering on the terms announced. Such statements and information reflect the current view of Nexus. Such statements and information reflect the current view of Nexus. There are risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information.

Forward-looking statements are based on certain material assumptions and analysis made by the Company and the opinions and estimates of management as of the date of this news release, including, but not limited to the assumption that the CSE will approve the Offering and the assumption that Company will be able to locate purchasers for the Offering.

These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, including, but not limited to: the risk that the CSE will not approve the Offering, the risk that the Company will not be able to locate suitable purchasers for the Offering, and inherent risks associated with the mining industry and the results of exploration activities and development of mineral properties, stock market volatility and capital market fluctuations, general market and industry conditions, as well as those risk factors discussed in the Company's most recently filed management's discussion & analysis.

Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial outlook that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231225

SOURCE: Nexus Uranium Corp.
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
By Sabrina Mohan, Global Social Media Specialist, Lenovo

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / November 25, 2024 / Lenovo



When we received the email that the Global Future Leaders were heading to Beijing, excitement was off the charts. Between info sessions, visa appointments, and packing our bags, the energy was electric. We knew this trip wasn't just any trip-it was going to be the adventure of a lifetime, packed with new experiences and unforgettable memories.

Lenovo's Global Future Leaders Program is a dynamic five-year rotational experience, designed to give participants hands-on exposure to various roles across the company. Through these rotations, we can deepen our understanding of Lenovo's business and operations while honing our leadership skills through a mix of specialized training, both domestically and internationally.

And that brings me to why we were in Beijing. For the first time in the history of Lenovo's Global Future Leaders Program, participants from all over the world were gathered in one place! It was a truly special moment, and we were determined to make the most of it. The trip centered around our Building Collaboration training, designed to showcase how our unique skills and perspectives come together to drive teamwork and innovation.

The moment we arrived, we couldn't wait to meet the friends we'd only known through virtual calls (due to COVID-19), finally in person. Our excitement grew when we were greeted by the impressive rock-climbing wall in the building's foyer-naturally, we all stopped to snap some photos. On our first day, we were taken to the new Lenovo Global Learning Center, a cutting-edge space designed to foster learning and collaboration. This state-of-the-art facility was the ideal setting for our workshops and training sessions.

On our first day of training, we had the opportunity to think both 'inside the box' and 'outside the box' with our facilitator, Jimbo Clark. He guided us through exercises designed to shift our mindsets and create positive changes in both our personal and professional lives. The session helped us gain clarity on what truly matters to us, what we love about ourselves, how we show up for others, and whether we embrace risk in our decision-making.

On the second day of training, we dove into Lenovo's AI initiatives, learning directly from leaders who are driving these projects forward. We had the unique opportunity to ask questions and receive valuable advice from top executives during a leadership panel. It was an incredible experience to gain insights from those who have spent years at the company, hearing their perspectives on what they find most rewarding about their work. That evening, we had the opportunity to sit down for a traditional Chinese roundtable dinner with several executives, where we engaged in smaller, more intimate Q&A sessions with each of them.

We then took a day trip to Tianjin, another vibrant city in China, to explore Lenovo's Smart Manufacturing initiatives and visit one of the company's Future Centers. The experience was truly eye-opening, offering a deeper understanding of Lenovo's rich history and its leadership in technology and innovation. We gained valuable insights into the company's servers, supply chain operations, and how these advancements directly impact our everyday roles.

On our final day, we set out to explore the beauty of Beijing's summer with a group field trip. We toured two of the city's most iconic landmarks-the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven-checking off some major items from my bucket list. A few of us even made it to the Great Wall and the Summer Palace, creating unforgettable memories. It was a true bonding experience, the kind of trip you never want to end because the company was just that good.

Throughout the range of excursions and activities organized by the Global Future Leaders Program in Beijing, we gained far more than just cultural experiences-we developed a deeper understanding of how to truly collaborate as a global team. Being together in person allowed us to explore not just each other's job roles, but the varied perspectives and skills each of us brings to the table. The program gave us space to reflect on how we can leverage our diverse backgrounds and talents to drive future success, both individually and as a team.

We realized that effective collaboration goes beyond just working together; it's about understanding the strengths and approaches of others and finding ways to complement and enhance one another's contributions. This experience not only helped us bond on a personal level but also laid the foundation for stronger professional partnerships as we look ahead. The insights we gained will no doubt shape how we work as a cohesive, forward-thinking team in the future.

Last but certainly not least, a huge thank you to Joe and Lee for organizing such an unforgettable trip! Your hard work and coordination made this experience possible.

Watch the video above to see some fun moments from the trip.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Lenovo on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Lenovo

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/lenovo

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Lenovo

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Avolta AG / Key word(s): Miscellaneous

Avolta wins new ten-year contract, adds Manaus Airport to Brazil portfolio



25.11.2024 / 20:34 CET/CEST





Leading global travel experience player Avolta AG (SIX: AVOL) further extends its already significant footprint in Brazil, announcing a new ten-year contract at Manaus Airport. Avolta will operate four new stores across more than 1,000m2 of duty-free and duty-paid space at the airport, which attracts over 2.8 million passengers annually, representing the addition of a critical new hub to Avolta's network in Brazil. As a gateway to international destinations as well as a historical city in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon forest, the stores are locally inspired and offer a strong sense of place. Travelers will be able to shop all core product categories, including perfumes & cosmetics, liquor, foods & confectionery, jewellery & watches, alongside accessories including fashion items, toys, and souvenirs. Located within the International and Domestic Departures and Arrivals Terminals, the new stores will begin trading in December, extend the company's commitment to provide an enjoyable experience for travelers, making the journey as rewarding as the destination.



Enrique Urioste, Avolta's President & CEO for LATAM commented: "We are delighted to have been awarded this new contract at Manaus Airport. Brazil has a key role in Avolta's growth in the LATAM region and, by leveraging our extensive knowledge and expertise in this region, I believe we will be able to create unique and memorable moments for our customers, taking the airport's shopping experience to a new level for the millions of passengers who visit this airport each year. We look forward to working in close partnership with VINCI to develop the retail experience at Manaus-Eduardo Gomes International Airport, as we move closer to creating a new travel experience revolution."



David Thompson, Commercial Director for VINCI Airports in Brazil said: "We are pleased to expand the partnership between VINCI Airports and Avolta in Brazil, where we have active contracts at Salvador Bahia Airport, by bringing an innovative retail experience to Manaus Airport. With the inauguration of a new commercial offering, passengers will have access to a diverse mix of international and local products, ensuring a unique experience following the terminal's revitalization works. This collaboration reaffirms VINCI Airports commitment to offering the best shopping options, raising the airport's standards, and strengthening tourism in the region."

For further information:



CONTACT

Cathy Jongens Rebecca McClellan Director Corporate

Communications Global Head

Investor Relations Phone: +41 79 288 09 36 Phone: +44 7543 800 405 cathy.jongens@avolta.net rebecca.mcclellan@avolta.net



End of Media Release


EQS-News: KAOUN International / Key word(s): Conference

Launch of World Advanced Manufacturing & Logistics Expo & Summit (WAM Morocco) 2025 to Advance the Country's Shift Towards Next-Generation Industries and High-Value Manufacturing



25.11.2024 / 20:35 CET/CEST

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





WAM Morocco is organised by KAOUN International, the force behind GITEX GLOBAL, the world's largest and most influential tech and AI show

KAOUN International ( www.KAOUN-int.com/ ), Organizer of GITEX, Launches WAM Morocco 2025 with Commitment and Unified Support from Morocco's Ministry of Industry and Trade, CGEM, and AMDIE; WAM Morocco 2025 Will Spotlight Advanced Manufacturing, Sustainable Practices, Next-Gen Logistics, and AI Innovation to Accelerate Industrial Growth.

The World Advanced Manufacturing & Logistics Expo & Summit (WAM Morocco) will debut in Casablanca, with unified support to catalyse Morocco's thriving manufacturing economy towards next-generation industries. Endorsed by the Moroccan Ministry of Industry and Trade and in partnership with key partners, namely the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM) and the Moroccan Investment and Export Development Agency (AMDIE), WAM Morocco aims to expand the nation's industrial base, foster new sectors, and drive capacity building for sustainable growth.

Taking place from 28-30 October 2025 at the Foire Internationale de Casablanca (FIC), WAM Morocco is organised by KAOUN International, the force behind GITEX GLOBAL, the world's largest and most influential tech and AI show, and GITEX Africa in Morocco - the continent's largest tech and start-up event.

Morocco's robust manufacturing and logistics base in the automotive and aerospace sectors, boosted by initiatives such as the Fez Smart Factory and $600 million National Port Strategy 2030 ( http://apo-opa.co/4eQs4iG ) , has drawn substantial international investment.

Morocco has become the largest non-European automotive exporter to Europe. In addition, it has a significant presence in the aerospace sector, with exports totalling $2.2 billion and serving major clients such as Boeing and Airbus. Recent advancements in manufacturing and logistics have strengthened Morocco's foundation, positioning the nation in the global spotlight as it prepares to host WAM Morocco successfully.



H.E. Ryad Mezzour, Morocco's Minister of Industry and Trade, expressed his support, stating: "WAM Morocco represents a significant milestone in Morocco's journey to becoming one of the foremost hubs for advanced manufacturing in Africa and the world. Being part of this event highlights our nation's commitment to innovation, economic resilience, and industrial leadership. By bringing together global and local expertise, we are creating an environment where high-tech innovation and sustainable practices can thrive, propelling our country and the continent towards a prosperous, technology-driven future."



The organiser of WAM Morocco and GITEX Africa, Trixie LohMirmand, CEO of KAOUN International, added: "WAM Morocco is a strategic and powerful manoeuvre for Morocco, accelerating the country's, and the continent's, prominence in high-tech industries and unlocking unparalleled access to global technological capabilities. This event will create powerful competitive advantages for the Moroccan and African ecosystems. By bringing together the best in innovation, investment, and collaboration, WAM Morocco is set to ignite Africa's next wave of industrial revolution, paving the way for African nations to lead high-speed growth on the global stage."



Event Highlights and Strategic Objectives



WAM Morocco is set to advance and support Morocco's vision of becoming a sustainable, globally competitive manufacturing hub by showcasing cutting-edge manufacturing and next-generation technologies in AI, quantum computing, 3D printing, blockchain, and mixed reality. WAM Morocco shall feature a range of specialised events, including WAP (World Advanced Packing, Printing, and Plastic Technologies), WARM (World Advanced Rubber & Metal Industrial Technologies), and WASIM (World Advanced Sustainable Manufacturing), each dedicated to driving innovation and excellence in their respective fields.

Built on Morocco's industrial success, WAM Morocco aims to accelerate its position as a leader in advanced manufacturing by leveraging AI, deep tech, and sustainable practices. The event will foster public-private partnerships, attract foreign investment, and support local capacity-building, creating a lasting economic impact and strengthening Morocco's role as a high-tech, sustainable manufacturing powerhouse in Africa.

Chakib Alj, President of the Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM), voiced support for the momentum driving Morocco's industrial transformation, emphasising the importance of public-private collaboration: "This gathering is more than an event-it's a vital platform for Moroccan businesses, particularly SMEs, to engage on the world stage, connect with leading international innovators, and form partnerships that will accelerate our industrial progress. By uniting our start-ups and industry leaders with global pioneers, we're laying the groundwork for sustained growth, competitiveness, and economic resilience. We support this significant initiative and look forward to the long-term economic impact it will bring to Morocco and Africa as a whole."



For more information, please visit WAM Morocco's official website.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of KAOUN International.

Download image 1: https://apo-opa.co/492UMfb

Download image 2: https://apo-opa.co/4hXpzOm

Download image 3: https://apo-opa.co/3Vafq7b

About KAOUN International and WAM Morocco:

KAOUN International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), is at the forefront of organising transformative global events that foster collaboration, innovation, and industry growth. Building on a rich legacy of landmark exhibitions such as GITEX GLOBAL, the world's largest tech and AI event, KAOUN International is also responsible for the Kingdom's most significant food industry events, including the Saudi Food Show and the thriving Saudi Food Manufacturing show.

In line with its mission to advance global industry and logistics, KAOUN International presents World Advanced Manufacturing & Logistics Expo & Summit (WAM Morocco), Africa's leading industrial and logistics expo. Organised by the team behind the renowned GITEX and GITEX AFRICA events, WAM Morocco reflects Morocco's steadfast commitment to sustainable and inclusive industrial development. This landmark event aims to empower African nations, driving partnerships, investment, and technological advancement that will elevate the continent's global competitiveness and realise the vision for a stronger, interconnected, and innovative industrial economy across Africa.



25.11.2024 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.



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WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A medical expert has warned against kissing a new newborn baby on its head, as it may lead to a serious risk of infection.In a TikTok video, Dr Karan Raj, an NHS surgeon, warned his 5.3 million followers of the dangers of kissing a newborn baby.Last year, a UK charity called The Lullaby Trust published the result of a survey which revealed that 54% of new and expectant parents would 'let friends and family kiss their newborn baby, unaware of the risk of serious infection'.Our faces and mouths are teeming with millions of microscopic bacteria and viruses that can easily pass to a newborn.Adults and older children have fully developed immune systems that can defend against infections. However, this is not the same for young babies.For the first three months or so, the infant's immune system has fewer innate infection-fighting immune cells, such as neutrophils and monocytes, compared with adults, which means that infections that cause mild symptoms in adults or older children can be life-threatening for babies.An infant's immune system might have built up some defense against bacteria and viruses on their parents' faces, however, they won't be ready to fight ones they're newly exposed to. It means a bacteria or a virus spread from a visitor could cross the blood-brain barrier, leading to life-threatening complications.Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights ReservedCopyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
TUCSON, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / November 25, 2024 / Applied Energetics, Inc. (OTCQB:AERG), a leader in the field of advanced optical technologies and ultrashort pulse laser (USPL) technologies, today announced that its Board of Directors has elected Chris Donaghey as the company's new president and chief executive officer, effective November 25, 2024.

A respected defense industry veteran and seasoned operator, Donaghey brings more than two decades of experience with leading defense companies focused on advancing emerging technology and innovation into mission critical applications for national security. Since August 2022, he has served as the company's Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Donaghey will continue to serve as the company's principal financial officer on an interim basis.

Applied Energetics Executive Chairman Brad Adamczyk said, "We are pleased to announce Chris as our new Chief Executive. Chris is a dynamic business leader with a deep understanding of the industry, our customers' needs and our operations. His diverse set of experiences in the defense industry, coupled with his keen understanding of the need for cutting-edge solutions to address the urgent threats to our national security, make him ideally suited to lead the company during its next phase of growth and customer adoption. We have every confidence in his ability to guide Applied Energetics and drive the company's long-term success."

"I deeply value the board's confidence in me and am grateful for the opportunity to lead the Applied Energetics team forward," said Mr. Donaghey. "I am honored to succeed Greg, who has built one of the best positioned portfolios of optical and ultrashort pulse laser technologies for defense and commercial applications. As a leadership team, we are focused on accelerating Applied Energetics' transition from early-stage research and development to deployable products, achieving critical milestones as we deliver on our existing customer contracts, and look to secure additional opportunities and industry partnerships. I am looking forward to building on the significant progress we have achieved to date, and to exceed the expectations of our customers, employees and shareholders."

Donaghey succeeds Dr. Gregory Quarles, who is stepping down as CEO from the company, having served as president, CEO, and as a member of Applied Energetics' Board of Directors since 2019. Prior to joining Applied Energetics full time, Greg was a member of the Applied Energetics Scientific Advisory Board beginning in 2017. Dr. Quarles will transition to a newly created position as both CEO Emeritus and Executive for Government and Institutional Relations, responsible for engagement with US Government decision makers and influencers on AE capabilities, DoD budget planning, maintaining and building other key partner and congressional relationships, and to ensure a smooth transition for the organization.

During his tenure as CEO, Dr. Quarles has been instrumental in transforming the company's strategy, structure and organization, and establishing a strong foundation for the future. Since the appointment of Dr. Quarles, the company acquired Applied Optical Sciences, Inc., an innovator in photonics and advanced USP laser development, relocated its headquarters to a purpose-built advanced laser technology facility at the UA Tech Park, and significantly enhanced the scientific and technical teams. These successful strategic initiatives have been essential in securing and supporting the company's three current DoD contract awards, funded by three different military branches, and designed to address critical customer missions utilizing Directed Energy technical innovation.

"On behalf of the board and our shareholders, we would like to thank Greg for his outstanding leadership and contributions during the last eight years, "commented Brad Adamczyk, Executive Chairman of Applied Energetics. "He joined the company at a critical point in its transformation, shaping the company's portfolio to meet the challenges of today's global security environment and demonstrating a strong commitment to the customer. Greg has made remarkable contributions as the leader of Applied Energetics, leaving the company far better positioned for success."

"I am proud of and grateful to the team we have built at Applied Energetics and the tenacity and resilience they demonstrated as we worked through an incredibly ambitious and challenging transformation. We have quite literally reset the company for the future, and we believe we are in position to lead our industry for decades to come," said Dr. Greg Quarles. "I have had the pleasure of working closely with Chris for several years. He is a proven leader, and I look forward to working closely with Chris and our leadership team as they continue the momentum we have built."

Chris Donaghey Biography

Donaghey, 52, is an experienced executive with a proven track record in delivering profitable growth, including extensive experience within the defense industry. He joined Applied Energetics in August 2022, serving as the company's Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer where he led all aspects of Applied Energetics financial strategy, performance, reporting and long-range business planning, as well as investor relations, treasury, controller, and audit operations. Prior to Applied Energetics, Donaghey served as senior vice president and head of corporate development for Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), a defense and government agency technology integrator. In this role, Donaghey was responsible for executing the company's mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and strategic ventures strategy working closely with the senior management team to support SAIC's strategic plan with an emphasis on M&A and external emerging technology investments. Donaghey is also a Founder and Executive Chairman of the Silicon Valley Defense Group, a non-profit organization whose mission is to connect the people, capital, and ideas that will ensure allied democracies retain a durable technol-security advantage.

Prior to joining SAIC, Donaghey was vice president of Corporate Strategy and Development for KeyW Corporation, a national security solutions provider for the Intelligence, Cyber and Counterterrorism Communities, where he guided the overall corporate strategy, M&A, and capital markets activities. Donaghey was also a senior research analyst for SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Capital Markets where he provided investment advice and insight to institutional investors covering public defense technology, government IT services, and commercial aerospace industries. During his tenure at SunTrust, Donaghey was ranked the number one defense analyst and number two analyst overall for stock selection by Forbes/Starmine in 2005 and was named in the Wall Street Journal Best on the Street survey in 2005, 2008, and 2009.

Donaghey earned his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Texas Tech University and served as an officer in the U.S. Navy.

About Applied Energetics, Inc.

Applied Energetics, Inc., a leader in Advanced Optical Technologies and Ultrashort Pulse Directed Energy Solutions, utilizes patented, dual-use laser and optical technologies to advance critical industries, including defense, national security, biomedical and manufacturing. Applied Energetics pioneered and holds all crucial intellectual property rights to the development and use of Laser Guided Energy technology and related solutions for defense, security, commercial, and medical applications.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements include all statements that do not relate solely to the historical or current facts and can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "may," "believe," "will," "expect," "project," "anticipate," "estimates," "plans," "strategy," "target," "prospects," or "continue," and words of similar meaning. These forward-looking statements are based on the current plans and expectations of our management and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could significantly affect our current plans and expectations, as well as future results of operations and financial condition and may cause our actual results, performances or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. We do not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions, or changes in other factors affecting such forward-looking statements.

Applied Energetics, Inc. Investor information contact:

Kevin McGrath, Managing Director

Cameron Associates, Inc.

kevin@cameronassoc.com

T: 646-418-7002

SOURCE: Applied Energetics, Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Sudbury, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 25, 2024) - Transition Metals Corp. (TSXV: XTM) ("Transition" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced non brokered private placement (the "Offering"), (see news release dated November 20, 2024). The Offering consisted of 3,999,998 Critical Flow Through Shares (the "CFT Shares") at a price of $0.075 per CFT Share for proceeds of $299,999.85.

A finder's fee was paid in connection with the Offering to finders that included Mine Equities Ltd. and Castlewood Capital Corporation ("Castlewood") (together, the "Finders"), that consisted of a cash fee in the aggregate of $18,000, representing an aggregate commission of 6% of the CFT Shares sold to investors introduced by the Finders. In addition, a total of 160,000 compensation warrants ("Compensation Warrants") were issued to Castlewood representing 6% of the CFT Shares sold to the investor introduced by Castlewood. The Compensation Warrants permit Castlewood to purchase of one common share ("Common Share") in the capital of the Company at a price of $0.10 per Common Share for a period of 18 months from closing of the Offering.

Proceeds from the Offering will be used to explore and advance critical minerals properties in Ontario (Saturday Night PGM) and the Yukon (Pike Warden Au-Ag-Cu). All securities issued in connection with the Offering, including any Common Shares issued upon exercise of the Compensation Warrants, are subject to a four-month restricted resale period that expires on March 26, 2025, and subject to all necessary approvals, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

About Transition Metals Corp

Transition Metals Corp (TSXV: XTM) is a Canadian-based, multi-commodity explorer. The award-winning team of geoscientists has extensive exploration experience which actively develops and tests new ideas for discovering mineralization in places that others have not looked, often allowing the company to acquire properties inexpensively.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Information

Except for statements of historical fact contained herein, the information in this news release constitutes "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities law. Such forward-looking information may be identified by words such as "plans", "proposes", "estimates", "intends", "expects", "believes", "may", "will" and include without limitation, statements regarding estimated capital and operating costs, expected production timeline, benefits of updated development plans, foreign exchange assumptions and regulatory approvals. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate; actual results and future events could differ materially from such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, among others, metal prices, competition, risks inherent in the mining industry, and regulatory risks. Most of these factors are outside the control of the Company. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as otherwise required by applicable securities statutes or regulations, the Company expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Further information is available at www.transitionmetalscorp.com or by contacting:

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 PRESS RELEASE, PROVIDED PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE CANADIAN REQUIREMENTS, IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES, AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN. THESE SECURITIES HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR ANY STATE SECURITIES LAWS, AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO U.S. PERSONS ABSENT REGISTRATION OR APPLICABLE EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231351

SOURCE: Transition Metals Corp.
HONG KONG (dpa-AFX) - Japan will on Tuesday release October numbers for producer prices, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. Producer prices are expected to rise 2.5 percent on year, easing from 2.6 percent in September.Singapore will provide October figures for industrial production; in September, industrial output was flat on month and up 9.8 percent on year.Hong Kong will see October data for imports, exports and trade balance. In September, imports were up 1.4 percent on month and exports added 4.7 percent for a trade deficit of HKD53.2 billion.Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights ReservedCopyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Trinity Guardion, a Cincinnati, OH-based company which specializes in hospital bed hygiene solutions, raised $6M in funding, including new funding of $3.5M in a Series B funding round.

The round was led by Queen City Angels and other investors included Tamiami Angel Fund, Market Street Ventures, and RKCA.

The company intends to use the funds to accelerate the production and commercialization of Soteria Bed Barrier System.

Led by Bruce Rippe, Founder and CEO, Trinity Guardion simplifies hospital mattress disinfection and reprocessing with the Soteria Bed Barrier. an FDA-cleared microbiological barrier that provides a protective physical barrier to protect the hospital bed and mattress from patient soiling.

The Soteria Ecosystem integrates RFID technology with automation to manage Soteria Bed Barriers. This cloud-based software takes a data-driven approach to bed reprocessing, ensuring clean bed barriers are ready when needed. It streamlines the supply chain process, from tracking barriers between hospital departments and laundry facilities to providing accurate and timely bed management.

With features like bulk scanning, automated workflow assistance, and real-time reporting metrics, the system enables hospitals a way to enable and validate usage of this innovation.

FinSMEs

25/11/2024
Arne Bye, a former gynaecologist, is facing charges of sexually assaulting 87 women aged between 14 and 67, and filming the acts both at his clinic and in their homes. Authorities have also found over 6,000 hours of video footage during their investigation. If convicted, Bye could face a maximum sentence of 21 years in prison read more

This case is being considered the biggest sexual abuse scandal in the history of Norway.

Arne Bye, a former gynaecologist, has been charged with sexually assaulting 87 women, aged between 14 and 67, and filming the incidents both at his clinic and in their homes.

ALSO READ | Wont be ashamed: How Frances Gisele Pelicot, who was raped by 50 men, has become a feminist hero

The youngest alleged victim was 15, while the oldest was 67 at the time of the assault. Bye has admitted to three counts of rape and 35 cases of abusing his position, The Sun reported.

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If convicted, he will face up to 21 years in prison.

Shocking details of the case

Allegations against the 55-year-old have revealed disturbing details of his crimes.

Bye has been accused of filming the incidents both at his clinic and in their homes. Image courtesy: Pixabay/Representational

According to the indictment, Bye allegedly inserted objects described as deodorant-like, bottle-like, and cylindrical into women during examinations, with no medical justification.

One woman, testifying in the Trondelag court, said, I thought I was going to die.

Another woman, who initially visited Bye for a sore throat, said that she ended up in her underwear on a bench after undergoing one of the invasive procedures.

I thought that he is my doctor, so I did as he said, she said.

Many women reported similarly invasive and unpleasant experiences. Some said that Bye allegedly gave them abdominal massages during gynaecological exams, the British daily reported. The indictment states that these actions happened quickly and unexpectedly at his Frosta office.

Home to just 2,600 residents, the small town of Frosta is shaken by the revelations since Bye used to be a public figure as well as a trusted doctor for years.

ALSO READ | Strangled, body stuffed in car boot: How horrific murder of Indian woman by husband unfolded in UK

Authorities investigating the former gynaecologist found over 6,000 hours of video footage, much of it showing gynaecological examinations conducted without patient consent.

Officials have described the recordings as sensitive and detailed.

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Notably, the court has seen the graphic footage. The video presented in court shows Bye positioning multiple cameras before examinations.

One of the women revealed that he asked her to sit in the gynaecologists chair multiple times. Image courtesy: Pixabay/Representational

In one clip, linked to woman number 18, Bye is heard asking the woman whether it was painful and then warning her, This is going to hurt.

Despite initially claiming the examinations were not sexual, Bye partially admitted to a rape charge during his testimony, Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported.

State attorney Richard Haugen Lyng told the court, We have video recordings of the assault itself.

In that sense, we have a rather special evidentiary situation in the case, in that large parts of the indictment are illustrated with video material," says the prosecutor.

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Bye defended the filming and claimed that it was to protect himself from potential lawsuits, though he insisted he never saw the recordings outside of the investigation.

The 19th woman to testify in the trial against Arne Bye revealed that he asked her to sit in the gynaecologists chair multiple times, despite her having no prior abdominal complaints.

She said the examinations took a long time and added that all of them had been painful.

In another shocking detail, it was reported that the womans daughter and sister are also among the alleged victims in the case.

Allegations against the former gynaecologist first surfaced in 2006 when a fellow doctor at a hospital in Levanger reported a disturbing complaint from one of Byes patients.

GYNAECOLOGIST ACCUSED OF RAPING 87 PATIENTS, INCLUDING MINORS, IN NORWAY



A former Norwegian doctor, Arne Bye, is on trial for allegedly raping 87 women over 2 decades, secretly recording the assaults during gynecological exams.



The case, involving over 6,000 hours of video pic.twitter.com/Zy19qWla20  Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 24, 2024

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The patient claimed that during an examination, Bye had massaged her genital area. She also stated that other patients had reported similar experiences. Bye denied the allegations at the time.

Despite the early concerns, no action was taken until August 2022, when health authorities alerted police about possible criminal acts. A formal investigation was launched, leading to the charges being filed in 2023.

Bye remained in his position as a doctor throughout the investigation and has not been remanded in custody. The police said they would continue observing the situation as they lack grounds for an arrest.

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The trial continues.

ALSO READ | Son of Norways crown princess arrested on rape suspicion: Who is Marius Borg Hoiby?

Royal scandal in Norway

Another major scandal took place in the country recently when Marius Borg Hiby, the son of Princess Mette-Marit and stepson of Crown Prince Haakon, was arrested in Oslo.

According to Norwegian police, based on preliminary investigation he is suspected of engaging in sexual intercourse with someone who is unconscious or for other reasons unable to resist the act.

The accusation further complicates the legal troubles surrounding Borg Hoiby, who has already faced multiple charges involving offences against four different people.

Reports indicate that he has been charged in connection with offences involving four different individuals: three women and one man, public radio NRK reported, adding that he has been accused of abuse in close relationships against all three women.

With input from agencies
Ahead of Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Olis visit to China in December, the countrys ruling parties are at odds over Beijings Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). While Olis Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist wants to go ahead with a loan from Beijing under the BRI, the Nepali Congress led by Sher Bahadur Deuba is staunchly against it. Lets take a closer look read more

Is the KP Sharma Oli-led government in Nepal in trouble?

Ahead of Olis visit to China, Nepals ruling parties are going at it over Beijings Belt and Road Initiative.

While Olis Communist Party of Nepal- Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) party wants to go ahead with the loan from China, the Nepali Congress led by Sher Bahadur Deuba seems adamantly against it.

Oli, ahead of the China visit, struck an upbeat note.

I am embarking on a visit to China on December 2 and it will not just be a tour to a foreign country, Oli said. You will know by yourself how the visit became successful after I return home.

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But what do we know about the row?

Lets take a closer look:

Olis CPN-UML pushes BRI

First, lets briefly examine Olis upcoming trip.

As per The Print, this will be Olis first foreign visit since taking office.

Nepals foreign minister Arza Deuba is heading to China today ahead of the trip, as per Indian Express.

Dueba, the wife of Nepali Congress leader Sher Singh Dueba, will join Oli on the trip.

Olis visit is a departure from history as Nepals leaders usually visit India first after taking office  which is a nod to the close ties between Kathmandu and New Delhi.

However, Oli is thought to be a pro-China leader.

Oli previously visited China in March 2016 after taking power in 2015.

Oli and the CPN-UML have been pushing for more loans under Chinas Belt and Road Initiative from its Exim Bank, as per Indian Express.

The newspaper reported that Oli, at a meeting of top Nepals officials last week which included Nepali Congress chief Sher Bahadur Deuba, his wife and Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba and NC general secretary Gagan Thapa, said he had made assurances to China that it would be difficult for him to back out of.

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Oli, attending a grand rally organised by his party in Kathmandu last week, claimed that the government is firmly progressing towards its commitment to development, prosperity, and good governance.

Oli during the rally hinted that he intends to sign a few projects with China.

As much as possible we dont want to take loans from anywhere; we are not in the condition that we can add on more loans but we have to increase our production. How can we increase our production? Its not something that we need to be depressed about. Rather we should be hopeful and raise awareness within our circle, other smaller countries arent in the place where theyre now, Oli said.

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Increasing productivity will be my priority, he added.

Nepali Congress opposes loan

But the Nepali Congress has been insistent on its stance against any new loans.

Oli during the meeting last week with the top officials was unable to convince his coalition partners the Nepali Congress to put pen to paper over the BRI framework, as per Indian Express.

The agreement, signed in 2017, is yet to be finalised.

How much loan do we take? If grant, take it now. Lets not add further burden, Deuba told Oli during the meeting, as per Rising Nepal Daily.

According to The Times of India, China and Nepal are yet to negotiate a loan under the BRI despite intense efforts from Beijing.

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Kathmandu has been historically reluctant to take loans  preferring instead to rely on grants  given the state of its economy.

It is also wary of falling into a debt trap like some other countries.

The Nepali Congress leaders insisted that Oli sign the BRI framework treaty only if the projects have 100 per cent grants.

Beijing has made it clear it has no interest in doing so.

Chinas Belt and Road Initiative is a pet project of President Xi Jinping. AP

People in the know told The Times of India that the Nepali Congress may have a rethink about supporting the government if Oli proceeds with taking loans under the BRI over its objections.

The Nepali Congress, during a meeting at the Federal Parliament building to discuss Nepals current economic situation and reform measures, had yet again reiterated that it would not accept any new loans under the BRI.

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Prakash Sharan Mahat, the Nepali Congress spokesperson and ex-finance minister, said that China must honour its prior commitments before any talk of new loans.

The Nepali Congress is not opposed to the BRI, we are simply saying that we cannot take on new loans at this time, he explained.

In terms of the support we need for connectivity, we initially required grant assistance for road construction. Many of the commitments made by the Chinese government in grants have yet to be fulfilled, and those need to be addressed first.

Mahat further added, If the grant implementation itself is lagging, what is the point of discussing loans? The debt burden is already increasing. Therefore, we should avoid taking loans from any government, including the Chinese government.

While the Chinese government is expected to implement grant commitments under the BRI, Mahat reiterated that new loans should not be pursued immediately.

Regarding the BRI framework, are we attempting to combine other strategic security aspects into this? We believe these matters require careful consideration, he stated.

For now, the focus should be on implementing the grants, especially those under the BRI, and avoiding new loans, he added.

Experts say Oli is in a tough spot.

PM Oli is now treading a tightrope. He has to take the NC, the main ally of the coalition, into confidence so that he will make some significant gain from the China visit, a piece in Rising Nepal Daily stated.

Nepals political leaders should demonstrate their ability to navigate the geopolitical complexities. But their real leadership test lies in taking bold steps in the interest of the nation while avoiding the potential geopolitical pitfalls.

Oli remains upbeat

Oli though, has remained upbeat

At last weeks really he dismissed any rift between the coalition partners.

He said the cooperation between the CPN-UML and the Nepali Congress is aimed at lifting the country from its decline.

He also rubbished allegations made by his opponents, justified the alliance between the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML to form the incumbent coalition government, and vowed to take action against corruption, anarchy and those violating the law.

Any form of fraud, smuggling, corruption, character assassination, and obscenity is unacceptable, the prime minister said.

Addressing what is claimed to be the awareness campaign of the party, Oli urged the investors to invest with confidence as the government is on a mission to create a Prosperous Nepal and Happy Nepali by maintaining peace and security.

You should invest, the government will arrange security and good governance," he told industrialists.

Addressing the rally seen as Olis first show of strength of his party CPN-UML after assuming power a year and a half ago, the premier claimed the economy is improving due to the policies and plans adopted by the CPN-UML-Congress coalition.

Rejecting rumours spread by the opposition parties regarding the fall of the government, Oli assured it would run for a full five-year term till the next election.

He vowed to hand over power to Nepali Congress chief Sher Bahadur Deuba in a one-and-a-half-year term as per the power-sharing deal between the two largest parties.

He also sought to reassure India earlier this month.

That I am visiting China first does not mean our relation with India is not good, he told the Kathmandu Post.

We took a position while India imposed a blockade [in 2015-16], so they were not happy. There is no reason for them to be unhappy with us [now] as we will maintain friendly, balanced and good relations with both our neighbors.

With inputs from agenciesex
The Dubai chocolate invented by British-Egyptian entrepreneur Sarah Hamouda is a blocky, hand-decorated chocolate bar with various quirky fillings  most famously pistachio. It has caused a craze in Germany with eager customers queueing up for hours in the rain to get their hands on it read more

Service employees offer "Dubai Chocolate" in a Lindt shop to customers during the sell of limited bars of the Chocolate, in Aachen, Germany, AP

A chocolate from Dubai that went viral has caused a frenzy in Germany.

The so-called Dubai chocolate has been launched by Lindt in Germany as well as some bakeries  with customers queuing up for hours to get their hands on it.

But what do we know about the chocolate? How has it caused a stir in Germany?

Lets take a closer look

What do we know about it?

It was invented in 2021 by British-Egyptian entrepreneur Sarah Hamouda, who is based in Dubai.

It comprises a blocky, hand-decorated chocolate bar with various quirky fillings - the signature flavour being a rich pistachio cream.

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The treat went viral after TikTok food influencer Maria Vehera posted a video of herself eating a bar in her car.

It has since been viewed more than 100 million times.

The real thing is only available to local customers in limited quantities, but the trend has led to an explosion of copycat versions of the chocolate around the world.

When Ali Fakhro lays out a row of pistachio-filled chocolate bars in the morning at his bakery in Berlin, he knows they will be gone in a matter of hours.

People queue outside of a Lindt chocolate shop to buy limited bars Dubai Chocolate. AP

Inspired by the viral success of the crunchy delicacy known as Dubai chocolate, Fakhro, 32, hunted down a recipe and began making his own version two months ago.

Fakhro, who runs Abu Khaled Sweets in Berlin, experimented several times with different recipes before finally landing on the right ingredient to give the pistachio cream its famous crunch  a finely shredded Middle Eastern pastry known as kataifi.

On the first day I made 20 bars, but they went fast. The next day, I made 50  all gone too, he said.

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How has it caused a stir in Germany?

Germans have been scrambling to get their hands on the chocolate with bars selling for over $104 on the internet.

Last week, a 31-year-old man was caught by customs attempting to smuggle 45 kilograms of the sweet treat into Germany from Switzerland.

When Swiss manufacturer Lindt launched its own version of the Dubai chocolate in Germany this month, customers queued for hours in the cold to get their hands on a bar.

According to The National, some even bought camping and wet weather gear to stand outside the Lindt store in Aachen.

Its a hype, a trend on social media, with people waiting in long lines, Zi Cheng Lai, 23, a student from Malaysia living in the city, told the newspaper. We want to try it out here and be part of it.

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Its juicy inside but also crunchy, I think its the strands of the angel hair, student Esko Rieck added.

Rieck queued up outside the store for hours.

Im here because Ive never been at such a release event and I wanted to experience the release of a limited edition.

Lindt launched the chocolate in Germany with 1,000 numbered bars in 10 shops, a spokesman for the group told AFP, and is planning a similar launch in Austria on November 30.

At up to 20 euros per bar, the delicacy is far more expensive than your average chocolate bar  but that didnt seem to be putting anyone off.

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I waited 10 hours. Ive been here since midnight just to taste this chocolate, 18-year-old student Leon Faehnle told AFP outside a Lindt shop in Stuttgart.

Student Esko Rieck poses with a bag containing a limited bar of Dubai Chocolate after he bought it in the Lindt chocolate shop. AP

Yannick Burkhard, 21, queued for three hours in Stuttgart to get his hands on the chocolate  but is not planning to eat any of it himself.

Instead, he will sell it on the internet.

This bar cost 15 euros, but it can sell for almost 100 euros There are lots of offers on eBay, up to 300 euros, said a customer who gave his name only as Lucas, 24.

Faehnle had a more wholesome plan for his bars as he exited the shop in Stuttgart beaming with pride at his purchase.

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Now Im going to go home and share them with my grandparents, he said.

Experts say this development can only be a positive for the market on a whole.

Its a good thing if more people start to like chocolate and regularly eat chocolate  it expands the market in places like Asia and the Middle East, Roger Wehrli, the director of ChocoSuisse, told The National.

With inputs from agencies
Asteroid 2024 PT5, Earths temporary mini moon, has ended its two-month stay, departing for the solar system under the suns gravitational pull. Believed to be a fragment of the Moon from an ancient impact, the 33-foot-wide asteroid passed within two million miles of Earth read more

Earth is bidding farewell to its mini moon, asteroid 2024 PT5, a fascinating celestial visitor that captured the attention of astronomers worldwide during its brief stay in our cosmic neighbourhood.

First spotted in August 2024, the asteroid has been orbiting near Earth since September, following a horseshoe-shaped trajectory. Its departure on November 25, 2024, marks the end of a rare event, with the asteroid not expected to return until 2055.

How was 2024 PT5, Earths mini moon discovered?

Asteroid 2024 PT5, measuring about 33 feet (10 metres) in diameter, was discovered in August 2024 by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) operated by the University of Hawaii. The asteroids size  comparable to a school bus  and its faint visibility made it a challenge to observe without the aid of powerful telescopes.

Initially detected by an ATLAS telescope in South Africa, the asteroid was later confirmed as a natural object and not a man-made artifact.

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Mini moon? Not quite! 



This school bus-sized near-Earth asteroid might have a similar orbit to our Moon right now, but its 9x further away and not trapped by Earths gravity.



Even though it poses no risk to Earth, @NASASCAN will track this distant companion in Jan. 2025. pic.twitter.com/Sas7W9GliA  NASA Goddard (@NASAGoddard) October 4, 2024

Nasas planetary defence coordination office stated: Given the similarity between asteroid 2024 PT5s motion and that of our planets, scientists at Nasas Center for Near Earth Object Studies suspect that the object could be a large chunk of rock ejected from the moons surface after an asteroid impact long ago.

This unique asteroid has been classified as part of the Arjuna asteroid group, which consists of celestial bodies with orbits that closely mimic Earths. Its proximity to Earth and the suns gravitational influences made it an ideal candidate for temporary capture.

Is it really a mini moon for us on Earth?

Despite being popularly referred to as a mini moon, asteroid 2024 PT5 was never truly captured by Earths gravity. Instead, it followed a sun-centric orbit, with its path temporarily influenced by Earths gravitational field. This led to its horseshoe-shaped trajectory around the planet during its two-month stay.

The asteroids closest approach to Earth occurred at a distance of approximately 2 million miles (3.2 million kilometres)  roughly nine times the distance to the Moon. During its upcoming flyby in January 2025, it will pass even closer, at just 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers), before speeding away into the solar system.

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Also Read | Is Sunita Williams falling sick amid extended space mission?

Astrophysicists Raul and Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, who extensively studied the asteroid, told AP: By the time it returns next year, it will be moving too fast  more than double its speed from September  to hang around, said Raul de la Fuente Marcos.

Where did 2024 PT5 come from?

The origins of 2024 PT5 have been a topic of intense speculation and study. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that the asteroid may be a fragment of Earths Moon, ejected during a massive impact event billions of years ago.

Spectral analysis of the asteroid revealed a chemical composition strikingly similar to lunar material returned by the Apollo and Luna missions. Its rapid rotation period of less than an hour and its motion pattern further support the theory of a lunar origin.

This asteroids characteristics strongly point to it being a piece of our Moon. Its composition closely matches lunar samples, and its motion aligns with what we would expect from a fragment ejected during an ancient lunar impact.

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Also Read | Nasas Europa Clipper to study life on Jupiters moon: Why is it significant?

Josh Handal of Nasas planetary defence coordination office stated: Rocket bodies from historical launches can also be found in such Earth-like orbits, but after analysis of this objects motion, it has been determined that 2024 PT5 is more likely of natural origin.

Nasa analysts also ruled out the possibility of it being a discarded rocket body or debris from past space missions, further strengthening its natural and lunar origin.

Why is the mini moon leaving?

2024 PT5s departure is a natural consequence of celestial mechanics. While Earths gravity temporarily influenced its motion, the suns stronger gravitational pull will eventually dominate, pulling the asteroid away.

This marks the end of its temporary association with Earth, a phenomenon that astronomers have closely monitored since September.

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Earth has a temporary, tiny companion.



While not quite a "mini moon," since it will never be captured by Earth's gravity, Asteroid 2024 PT5 does have a similar orbit as our planet and will linger in our vicinity for a few months. https://t.co/5fB0Mvf6nq pic.twitter.com/k6HW3GuZZn  NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) October 2, 2024

The asteroids exit trajectory will send it back into the vast expanse of the solar system. Although it will return briefly in January 2025, its next significant approach to Earth wont occur until 2055.

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Its increasing speed  projected to be more than double its September velocity by the time of its January flyby  will prevent it from being temporarily captured again.

Is the mini moon rare?

Temporary mini moons like 2024 PT5 are rare. These events typically occur when small asteroids enter Earths gravitational field, either completing partial or full revolutions around the planet before breaking free.

There are two known scenarios for mini moons:

Long-term captures: Lasting years, where the asteroid completes multiple orbits. Short-term captures: Temporary stays lasting days or months, like 2024 PT5s two-month visit.

Nasas increasing ability to detect such objects through advanced asteroid surveys means that these events, while rare, could become more commonly observed in the future.

Nasa is preparing to maximise the scientific opportunities during 2024 PT5s January 2025 flyby. The asteroid will come within 1.1 million miles of Earth, allowing scientists to conduct detailed observations using advanced radar systems.

The Goldstone Solar System Radar in Californias Mojave Desert, part of Nasas Deep Space Network, will be deployed to study the asteroid over a week-long observation period. This effort aims to gather detailed data on the asteroids size, shape, spin rate, and surface composition.

Also Watch:

With inputs from agencies
China's top legislator eyes closer practical cooperation with Portugal in official visit

Xinhua) 10:01, November 25, 2024

Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, meets with Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in Lisbon, Portugal, Nov. 21, 2024. Zhao paid an official goodwill visit to Portugal from Nov. 21 to 23 at the invitation of Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco, speaker of the Portuguese Parliament. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

LISBON, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislator Zhao Leji paid an official goodwill visit from Thursday to Saturday to Portugal, during which Zhao expressed the readiness to expand bilateral cooperation while voicing the hope that Portugal will work together with China to inject more positive energy into the development of China-EU ties.

Zhao, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, met with Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, and held talks with Portuguese Parliament Speaker Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco during the three-day visit.

When meeting with Rebelo de Sousa, Zhao conveyed to him the cordial greetings and best wishes from Chinese President Xi Jinping. Zhao said that in recent years, under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, the China-Portugal comprehensive strategic partnership has been deepening and making solid progress, featuring steady progress in Belt and Road cooperation, as well as rich cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

China appreciates Portugal's long adherence to the one-China principle and is willing to engage with Portugal based on mutual respect and equality, strengthening their bonds as good friends who respect and trust each other, reliable partners for common development, and close companions in mutual learning between civilizations, Zhao said.

It is hoped that Portugal will continue to play an active role within the European Union (EU) and inject more positive energy into the development of China-EU relations, said Zhao.

For his part, Rebelo de Sousa asked Zhao to convey his heartfelt greetings to Xi, noting that Portugal and China are good friends with mutual understanding and affection.

Highlighting that this year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the 25th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland of China, the Portuguese president said Portugal is willing to enhance high-level exchanges with China, deepen friendly exchanges and strengthen cooperation in such areas as trade, new energy, marine economy and digital economy.

Portugal firmly adheres to multilateralism and safeguards the role of the United Nations (UN) and the authority of international law. It is very important for Europe and China to strengthen dialogue, and Portugal is willing to play an active role in this regard, said Rebelo de Sousa.

When meeting with Montenegro, Zhao said that China has always viewed and developed ties with Portugal from a strategic and long-term perspective, and stands ready to work with Portugal to firmly support each other's core interests and major concerns, and to cement political mutual trust.

Zhao eyed closer cooperation in areas such as artificial intelligence, clean energy, technology innovation, personnel training, and culture and people-to-people exchanges, encouraging companies from the two countries to expand investment and cooperation.

Zhao said China will continue to advance collaboration with Portugal within the UN and other multilateral frameworks, strengthen communication on international issues such as free trade, global security and climate change, and promote closer multilateral coordination and healthy and stable development of China-Europe relations.

Montenegro noted that Portugal always adheres to the one-China principle and speaks highly of the practice of "one country, two systems" in the Macao Special Administrative Region.

Underscoring that China is an important economic partner for Portugal and his country attaches importance to attracting Chinese investments, the Portuguese prime minister expected more exchanges and cooperation with China in science and technology, marine economy, culture and sports.

Portugal supports the steady development of EU-China relations and is willing to strengthen cooperation with China on climate change within bilateral and multilateral frameworks, said Montenegro.

In his talks with Aguiar-Branco, Zhao said the National People's Congress of China stands ready to work with the Portuguese parliament to deepen friendly exchanges between the two high-level legislative bodies, special committees, legislators, and local legislative bodies and enhance exchanges of experience in legislation and supervision to provide legal guarantees for promoting bilateral cooperation across various areas and create a fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment.

Zhao also voiced his hope that the Portuguese lawmakers in the European Parliament will continue to support China-EU friendly cooperation.

In addition, Zhao said that in the past 25 years since Macao's return to China, the practice of "one country, two systems" has made remarkable achievements.

He added that the Chinese central government will continue to fully, faithfully and unswervingly implement the principle of "one country, two systems" under which the people of Macao administer Macao with a high degree of autonomy, and support Macao in better integrating into the national development.

China is willing to further consolidate cooperation with Portugal on the platform of Macao and score more cooperation results, said Zhao.

Aguiar-Branco said that the two countries adhere to mutual respect, openness and win-win cooperation, and have achieved positive results in cooperation in various fields. In the face of the complex international situation, Portugal hopes to strengthen communication and cooperation with China and jointly safeguard the UN Charter and multilateralism, he added.

The Portuguese parliament is willing to work with the National People's Congress of China to promote closer exchanges at various levels and make contributions as legislative bodies to cementing practical cooperation and friendship of the two peoples, said Aguiar-Branco.

Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, meets with Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro in Lisbon, Portugal, Nov. 21, 2024. Zhao paid an official goodwill visit to Portugal from Nov. 21 to 23 at the invitation of Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco, speaker of the Portuguese Parliament. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, holds talks with Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco, speaker of the Portuguese Parliament, in Lisbon, Portugal, Nov. 22, 2024. Zhao paid an official goodwill visit to Portugal from Nov. 21 to 23 at the invitation of Aguiar-Branco. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
Donald Trump Jr has emerged as a decisive force behind his fathers Cabinet picks for the upcoming administration. Shunning traditional candidates, he has championed controversial figures like RFK Jr for health and human services and Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence. While the selections energise Trumps base, critics question whether loyalty is outweighing qualifications read more

As Donald Trump gears up for his second term as president of the United States, one figure has emerged as a cornerstone in shaping his administration  Donald Trump Jr.

Once primarily focused on the family business, the eldest Trump son has taken on an outsized role in influencing his fathers decisions.

With a keen eye for loyalty and a vision for an anti-establishment government, Don Jr has become instrumental in defining the makeup of what many are calling the most controversial Cabinet in modern US history.

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In Trumps first administration, Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, were pivotal in shaping White House policy, while Don Jr and Eric Trump managed the familys business interests.

However, following Trumps loss to Joe Biden in 2020 and the legal turmoil that ensued, Ivanka and Jared stepped back from politics. Their reduced involvement created a vacuum, now filled by Don Jr, who has become the most influential family adviser during the current transition.

Sources close to the president-elect describe Don Jr as a driving force behind key decisions, from selecting Cabinet members to blocking potential appointees. He has been credited with promoting inexperienced loyalists over more traditional candidates. One source told Reuters that Don Jr has his fathers ear in a way no one else in the family does right now.

How Don Jr has shaped his fathers Cabinet

A hallmark of Donald Trump Jrs strategy is his focus on candidates who demonstrate unwavering loyalty to his father and embrace the principles of America First.

While this approach energises Trumps base, it has also drawn criticism for sidelining more qualified individuals in favour of political loyalists.

Two of the most controversial nominations are:

Robert F Kennedy Jr for secretary of health and human services: Known for his environmental activism and vaccine scepticism, Kennedys nomination has sparked bipartisan concern due to his history of spreading misinformation.

Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence: The former Democratic congresswoman has faced scrutiny over her perceived pro-Russian statements and lack of intelligence experience.

Both nominees are expected to face fierce Senate confirmation battles.

Don Jr also played a key role in selecting JD Vance as his fathers running mate, a decision that reflects his focus on figures who resonate with Trumps populist base. Vance, known for his anti-corporate rhetoric and opposition to US aid to Ukraine, has been a polarising figure.

Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trumps vice presidential running mate US Senator JD Vance speaks at a rally in St Cloud, Minnesota, US, July 27, 2024. File Image/Reuters

Despite reservations among some donors and political allies, Trump ultimately endorsed the choice, bolstering Don Jrs influence.

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Key appointments under the spotlight

The administrations roster features a mix of loyalists, seasoned conservatives, and controversial figures. Highlights include:

Marco Rubio, secretary of state : Rubios hawkish foreign policy positions have stirred debate, particularly among Trumps isolationist-leaning supporters.

Pete Hegseth, secretary of defence : The Fox News commentator has faced allegations of sexual misconduct and criticism for his views on women in combat roles.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, department of government efficiency : Tasked with reducing federal bureaucracy, this newly created department underscores Trumps push to reshape government operations.

Susie Wiles, chief of staff: Wiles disciplined approach has earned praise, with insiders calling her the backbone of Trumps transition process.

Other notable picks include Brooke Rollins as agriculture secretary, Pam Bondi as attorney general, and Scott Bessent as treasury secretary. While these appointments align with Trumps agenda, some have questioned the lack of diversity and representation in the lineup.

Challenges amidst the transition process

Unlike past transitions, Trumps team has opted out of federal transition funding under the Presidential Transition Act, raising concerns about transparency. Instead, the process is being funded privately, with donor identities kept confidential.

Amid this unconventional approach, Jared Kushner has taken on a limited advisory role, briefing Steve Witkoff on Middle Eastern policy. Kushners efforts aim to expand the Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between Israel and several Arab nations.

Bahrains Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani, Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and United Arab Emirates (UAE) Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed display their copies of signed agreements while US President Donald Trump looks on as they participate in the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords, normalising relations between Israel and some of its Middle East neighbours, in a strategic realignment of Middle Eastern countries against Iran, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, US, September 15, 2020. File Image/Reuters

Susie Wiles, who managed Trumps campaign, has been credited with maintaining discipline within the transition team. A source close to the process told Reuters, Stuff is really buttoned down. He may not need the family this time like he used to.

The polarising nature of Trumps appointments reflects broader divisions in American politics. Republican lawmakers have rallied behind some controversial picks, including Defence Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, while Democrats have voiced strong opposition.

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Senator Tammy Duckworth, a decorated veteran, called Hegseth unqualified and dangerous, highlighting the potential challenges the administration faces in achieving Senate confirmations.

With inputs from agencies
Thousands of supporters of Imran Khan are marching to Pakistans capital of Islamabad to demand his release from jail. But how does the former prime minister, who has been in prison since last August continue to influence political events? Lets take a closer look read more

Imran Khan urged his supporters to join the final call protests. Reuters

Islamabad is on lockdown.

And its all Imran Khans fault.

In Pakistan, thousands of supporters of the former prime minister are marching in lockstep towards the capital to demand his release from jail.

The protest led by members of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, began on Sunday and have resumed today (25 November).

The protest comes in the backdrop of a high-level delegation from Belarus visiting Pakistan.

Khan has been in jail since August last year and, since being voted out of power by parliament in 2022, faces a number of charges ranging from corruption to instigation of violence.

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He and his party deny all the charges.

But what happened? And how is that Khan continues to drive Pakistans political agenda from behind bars?

Lets take a closer look:

What happened?

As per Dawn, Khan had on November 13 urged his supporters to join the final call protests.

Khan asked his supporters to demonstrate against the stolen mandate, unjust arrests and what he called a dictatorial regime.

The PTIs demands include the release of all its leaders, including Khan, as well as the resignation of the current government due to what it says was a rigged election this year.

As per BBC, the protests are being led by his wife Bushra Bibi.

Bibi was sent to jail alongside Khan in January but was granted bail in late October.

Pakistans capital was put under a security lockdown on Sunday ahead of protests.

Police officers stand guard on an entry point to motorway leading to Islamabad, which has been closed by authorities. AP

The government had blocked highways the leading to Islamabad through which supporters of Khan, led by members of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, were expected to approach the city and gather near the parliament.

Most major roads of the city were also blocked using shipping containers and large contingents of police and paramilitary personnel are deployed in riot gear

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Mobile phone services have been suspended.

The blockades have obstructed the route of the protesters and PTI convoys from all over the country who have been unable to reach the capital, as per Dawn.

Gatherings of any sort have been banned under legal provisions, the Islamabad police said in a statement.

Global internet watchdog NetBlocks said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that live metrics showed WhatsApp messaging services were restricted ahead of the protests.

A key Khan aid, Ali Amin Gandapur, who is the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and is expected to lead the largest convoy into Islamabad, called on people to gather near the entrance of the citys red zone, known as D Chowk.

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Islamabads red zone houses the countrys parliament building, important government installations, as well as embassies and foreign institutions offices.

Khan has called on us to remain there till all our demands are met, he said in a video message on Saturday.

Bibi on Sunday admonished some supporters taking a break en route to Islamabad.

Stay in your vehicles, and lets move faster to reach our destination, Bibi told the crowd as per BBC. We are wasting time this way.

We are here to bring Khan back, and we wont return without him. Get in your vehicles so we can reach quickly.

As per the outlet, police let off tear gas in the north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, while protesters fired projectiles back at them.

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The convoy is getting closer and closer to the city.

PTI leader Shaukat Yousafzai told Dawn the convoys were inching ahead because of their sheer size.

He said police had withdrawn after seeing the huge rally.

Yousufzai reiterated that KP CM Gandapur intended to reach D-Chowk peacefully but at any cost.

The procession was on the motorway near Burhan, Attock, he said.

PTI leader Sanam Javaid Khan on Monday afternoon said her convoy was at Hassanabdal.

Bushra, Gandapur, Babar Saleem Swati and Omar Ayub Khan were present in the convoy, she claimed.

A defiant Bibi, on Monday, spoke to protesters.

Until Khan comes to us, we will not end this march, she said. I will stand till my last breath and you have to support me. This is not just about my husband but about this country and its leader.

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Former PM of Pakistan Imran Khan with wife Bushra Bibi. X/@PTIofficial

This came as a number of PTI leaders including its caretaker chairman, Gohar Ali Khan and lawmaker Ali Muhammad Khan met Khan on Monday.

The residents of Islamabad, though, are not happy.

These constant protests are destroying the economy and creating instability  we want the political leadership to sit together and resolve these matters, Muhammad Asif, 35, a resident of Islamabad said in front of a closed market.

According to BBC, the city has been given a new nickname  containeristan.

Its exhausting, one resident said. Every day theres something new, but the containers are always there.

The last protest in Islamabad by PTI in early October turned violent with one policeman killed, dozens of security personnel injured and protesters arrested. Both sides accused the other of instigating the clashes.

Those arent the only protests.

As per The Times of India, Khans supporters are holding a number of vigils abroad including in the US and Canada.

What do experts say?

Sushant Sareen, speaking to India Today, said that Khan has already prevailed  no matter what happens as a result of the protests.

Sareen said the protests have further destabilised an already week government.

Sareen said Khans enduring popularity has stunned many Pakistan watchers as well as the political and military establishment.

He added that Khan has also split opinion amongst the army, the judiciary, the media and the Punjabi upper middle-class.

Sareen said that New Delhi will likely maintain its current course towards Islamabad. He said expected few advantages to India as a result of the engagement, as per India Today.

Others expected even worse for Pakistan.

At best this is a dangerous distraction, Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Centre think tank in Washington, told BBC. But at worst, it could be something that destabilises the country even more. It makes it all the more difficult to address Pakistans economic and security challenges.

Some worry about the long-term impact on Pakistan.

As Mehmal Sarfraz, a Lahore-based political commentator and journalist, told BBC, When political parties fight, a third force takes advantage.

Unless political parties talk to one another, this hybrid regime will continue to gain strength, Safraz added. The hybrid could then become more permanent.

The danger is that we become less of a democracy, more of a hybrid with every passing day, she added.

With inputs from agencies
Stanford University professor and health policy expert Jay Bhattacharya has been appointed as the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by US President-elect Donald Trump. If confirmed by the Senate, the Indian-origin academic will lead the worlds top medical research agency read more

US President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Kolkata-born Jay Bhattacharya as the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the leading public funder of medical research in the country with a budget of nearly $47.3 billion.

The NIH, operating under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is the primary US government agency responsible for medical research and innovation.

While announcing his nomination, Trump said that Stanford professor and key critic of US COVID policies, Bhattacharya, would join hands with Robert F Kennedy Jr. to restore the NIH to a Gold Standard of Medical Research as they examine the underlying causes of, and solutions to, Americas biggest health challenges, including our crisis of chronic illness and disease.

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ALSO READ | How wealthy Americans are using golden visa as ticket to leave US after Trump win

Earlier this week, the Stanford-trained physician and economist met Robert F Kennedy Jr and impressed him with his proposals for reforming the NIH, according to The Washington Post.

If confirmed by the Senate, Bhattacharya will head the worlds leading medical research agency, The New York Times reported. The NIH comprises 27 institutes and centres, each dedicated to specific research agendas, including diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

Who is Jay Bhattacharya?

Jayanta Jay Bhattacharya, born in Kolkata, in 1968, is a Professor of Health Policy at Stanford University and serves as a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research in the US.

Born in Kolkata, Jay Bhattacharya is a Professor of Health Policy at Stanford University. Image courtesy: X/@MarioNawfal

After completing both his MD and PhD at Stanford University, Bhattacharya took on the role of Director at Stanfords Centre for Demography and Economics of Health and Aging, where he has made contributions to health policy and economic research.

According to Stanfords official website, Bhattacharyas research is centred on improving the health and well-being of vulnerable groups. He studies the role of government interventions, economic factors, and biomedical advancements in shaping health outcomes. Recently, his work has delved into the study of COVID-19s epidemiology and assessing the effectiveness of pandemic-related policies.

Notably, his research extends to exploring how ageing populations affect healthcare spending and health outcomes in developed countries, evaluating physician performance tied to payment systems, and studying the impact of medical innovation on public health.

Over his career, he has published 135 papers across top-tier journals in medicine, economics, public health, law, and other fields.

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Notably, Bhattacharya criticised the federal governments response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In October 2020, he co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration, an open letter calling for an end to widespread pandemic shutdowns while implementing focused protections for vulnerable groups, such as older adults, according to The Washington Post.

ALSO READ | From Robert F Kennedy Jr to Tulsi Gabbard: The most controversial picks in Donald Trumps Cabinet

The proposal gained support from Republican politicians and segments of the public who wanted a return to normalcy. However, it was criticised by public health experts, including then-NIH Director Francis S Collins, who considered it premature and dangerous due to the spread of the virus and the absence of available vaccines.

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A strong pillar of American medical research, the NIH is responsible for advancing knowledge to improve public health. Despite its importance, the agency has faced criticism for bureaucratic inefficiencies and lack of attention to groundbreaking research.

Bhattacharya has supported limiting the influence of some of the 27 institutes and centres that make up the NIH. He argues that during the pandemic, some career civil servants improperly shaped national policies and did not tolerate dissent.

Bhattacharya completed both his MD and PhD at Stanford University. Image courtesy: X/@MarioNawfal

Among Bhattacharya and other critics key targets is Anthony S Fauci, the infectious-disease expert who led one of the NIHs centres for 38 years and played a major role in guiding the countrys COVID-19 response before retiring from federal service in December 2022.

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Other Indian origins in Trumps cabinet

Vivek Ramaswamy

Ramaswamy, joined by Elon Musk, will head the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This initiative seeks to dismantle government bureaucracy, reduce government spending, and restructure federal agencies. Comparing it to the Manhattan Project, Trump announced that the move would create an entrepreneurial spirit within his administration.

He is a biotech entrepreneur and political thinker. His parents immigrated from Kerala to the United States in the 1970s.

Tulsi Gabbard

Donald Trump has appointed Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democrat and the first Hindu Congresswoman, as the Director of National Intelligence for his second term.

Gabbard, a four-term Congresswoman and 2020 presidential candidate, is also a New York Times bestselling author. She is a military veteran with three deployments to the Middle East and Africa. Recently, she switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party.

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Nikki Haley was excluded from Donald Trump 2.0

Former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley will not be a part of Trumps 2025 administration.

In a post on the Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, I will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley, or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to join the Trump Administration, which is currently in formation.

Haley, a former South Carolina governor and an Indian-origin Republican leader, previously served as Trumps UN ambassador. Despite her endorsement of Trump for president, she criticised him during her own bid against him in the Republican primaries.

With inputs from agencies
Maharashtra has delivered a clear mandate for the Mahayuti, with the alliance grabbing 230 of the 288 Assembly seats. Now, the BJP-led grouping has to decide its CM pick. Will the saffron party choose Devendra Fadnavis, the frontrunner, or follow coalition dharma and continue with Eknath Shinde? read more

After a decisive victory in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, the Mahayuti faces a conundrum: Who should lead the state  Devendra Fadnavis or Eknath Shinde? Two days to the results, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliance is yet to announce its Chief Ministerial pick for Maharashtra.

The Mahayuti has stormed back to power in the western state, with the BJP emerging as the single-largest party with 132 out of 288 seats. Its allies  the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawars Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)  bagged 57 and 41 seats respectively. The opposition, Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), won just 46 seats in total.

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In the wake of the BJPs stellar performance, Fadnavis is seen as a frontrunner for the Maharashtra CM job. However, reports say, Shinde is not ready to let go of the top post.

Lets take a closer look.

Mahayutis dilemma: Fadnavis vs Shinde?

Many BJP leaders have called for Fadnavis to be chosen as Maharashtras CM after the partys impressive performance in the polls.

He is believed to have scripted the BJPs big victory in the Assembly polls after the dismal performance in the Lok Sabha elections.

While Fadnavis is the obvious choice, it is not a done deal. Shinde, the incumbent chief minister, seems to be in no mood to give up the post  yet.

The Shiv Sena leaders argue that Shinde should continue as the CM as the state went to polls with his face. They also credit the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, a scheme providing financial assistance to poor women, for Mahayutis win.

As per CNN-News18 sources, Ajit Pawars NCP has backed Fadnavis for the CM post, after a meeting on Sunday (November 24).

Sources added that the Mahayuti government will continue with the formula of a CM and two deputy CMs.

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There are reports that Fadnavis, Pawar, and Shinde are likely to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi today. Discussions about rotational chief ministership could also come up, reported NDTV.

Shiv Sena candidate Sanjay Shirsat said, There are chances that the Mahayuti leaders will head to Delhi on Monday. Every party worker wants their party leader to be the chief, but the final decision lies with Ekanth Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar."

Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Sunday said that the party leadership and Mahayuti leaders will take a call on the Maharashtra CM pick.

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What are Fadnaviss chances to be Maharashtras CM?

There is growing sentiment within the BJP for Fadnavis to stake claim to the chief ministership, which many believe he had to sacrifice in 2022 for Shinde.

He also enjoys support from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for the top job. After the Lok Sabha poll debacle in Maharashtra, Fadnavis had approached the RSS seeking help in countering the MVAs narrative that the BJP opposed the Constitution and alleged consolidation of votes on caste and religious lines against the saffron party, reported Indian Express.

The RSS, the ideological parent of the BJP, led sustained voter mobilisation efforts this time.

A senior RSS/BJP functionary, on the condition of anonymity, told Indian Express, The RSSs concern is that Maharashtra, with such a massive mandate now, should have an able administrator and visionary who can lead the state with a firm hand.

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During the campaigning, Union Home Minister Shah had said that the Mahayuti partners will sit together to decide the next CM. However, he also mentioned that the people wanted the return of the Mahayuti and Fadnavis.

Still, Fadnavis road is not clear as the BJP leadership also has to keep in mind its coalition dharma.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde with Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar during a press conference as the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance secures victory amid the counting of votes for the Maharashtra Assembly elections, in Mumbai, November 23, 2024. PTI

As per reports, some in the party support retaining Shinde as chief minister for now, while accommodating Fadnavis at the national level as the BJP national president.

A senior BJP leader told Indian Express that the partys image as a coalition partner could suffer if Shinde is replaced after the alliance went to polls with him as the CM. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always believed in ensuring that alliance partners trust the BJP despite it being the larger party. So we will think twice before we decide. The BJP leadership will certainly not do anything to create mistrust or lose the goodwill of its partners in the

National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as we are a coalition government at the centre, this leader added.

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Fadnavis Brahmin identity could also be a factor in deciding the CM face. In this case, he could lose to Maratha leader Shinde.

While Marathas comprise 30 per cent of the states population, Brahmins account for around 10 per cent.

Shinde, who is reluctant to leave the CM post, argues that his continuance in the top job could benefit Mahayuti in the upcoming local body polls, including the key Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, sources told Times of India (TOI).

Even if the BJP goes ahead with Fadnavis as the CM face, upsetting Shiv Sena, the party has the mandate to do so. It only needs the support of one of its allies to form the government.

However, it is more likely that the BJP will assuage Shinde through Cabinet posts rather than isolating him.

With inputs from agencies
Last week, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, sectarian violence broke out in Pakistans Kurram district, resulting in the deaths of 82 people. Now, a seven-day ceasefire has been brokered between the fighting factions  the Shias and the Sunnis. But whats behind the enmity between the two? read more

People mourn over the graves of relatives who were killed after gunmen opened fire on passenger vehicles in the Kurram tribal district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in Shalozan, Pakistan. Reuters

The district of Kurram in Pakistans northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is known for its scenic beauty, which includes snow-capped mountains, orchards, and groves. However, in the past few days, it has become synonymous with sectarian violence with Shia and Sunni tribes clashing, resulting in numerous deaths.

Now, an unease pervades the air in Kurram after officials announced a seven-day truce between the Sunni and Shia tribes.

We explain the reason behind the unrest in Kurram that has led to about 150 deaths over the past months.

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Whats happening in Kurram now?

On Sunday (November 24), Pakistani officials announced a seven-day truce between rival sectarian groups  the Sunnis and Shias  after days of clashes killed dozens of people in the northwest of the country.

The ceasefire comes after fresh clashes broke out last Thursday (November 21) when gunmen attacked civilian convoys, killing at least 40 people, who mainly were Shia Muslims. According to reports, among those killed were women and children. Those who survived the attack said the gunmen emerged from a vehicle and fired indiscriminately. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack and police have not identified a motive.

Then, in retaliation, on Friday (November 22), Shia Muslims attacked several Sunni locations on Friday evening. Rehan Muhammad, a 33-year-old journalist told The Guardian, Gunfire suddenly erupted on Friday after sunset  I realised it was an attack in retaliation for [Thursdays] incident and immediately grabbed my children, despite the bitter cold, and told my family to flee our home towards the mountains on foot.

An injured victim of gunmen firing incident on passenger vehicles, is treated at a hospital in Parachinar, in Kurram district of Pakistans northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. AP

According to residents of Kurram, the attacks have destroyed shops and homes. One senior official said that the attacks had resulted in at least 317 shops and more than 200 homes being wrecked.

Another official was quoted as telling AFP that the clashes and convoy attacks on November 21, 22 and 23 have resulted in 82 fatalities and 156 injuries.

The clashes across the three days also resulted in protests across Parachinar and surrounding areas in Kurram. Protesters criticised the governments failure to protect civilians.

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Many people in Kurram believe that the November 21 convoy attack was revenge for an earlier October attack, which claimed the lives of at least 15 people. In fact, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, at least 79 people were killed between July and October in sectarian violence.

The violence in the region has also resulted in an exodus  around 300 families fled on Saturday fearing for their lives. One resident of a Sunni village told the BBC that he had forced his family to flee. Weve been hearing gunfire all night. I sent the women and children of my family to hide in the mountains," the man said.

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You see how cold the weather is now. But I have no other option. Everyone else here is doing the same, he added.

Why the Shia-Sunni enmity in Kurram?

But what lies at the heart of this recurring violence between the Shias and Sunnis?

Most of Kurrams population of 7.85 lakh people is a mix of Pashtuns belonging to the Turi, Bangash, Zaimusht, Mangal, Muqbal, Masuzai, and Parachamkani tribes. The Turi and some Bangash are Shia, the rest are Sunni.

Pakistani data reveals that Shias make up around 45 per cent of the district population, which is more than thrice their 10-15 per cent share in Pakistans population as a whole.

This demographic composition has led to tribal rivalries. Moreover, the tribes compete for the resources in the region, which is not inherently blessed with abundance. For instance, the Shia Turi tribe held dominant power in Lower Kurram, settling there in the early 18th century. Over time, as the Turi lost grazing lands to the Sunni Bangash and Zaimusht tribes, resource-based conflicts arose.

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Shiite Muslims chant slogans to condemn the killing of Shiite Muslims by gunmen in an ambush in Kurram district, during a demonstration in Lahore. AP

Experts also note that theres deep-seated resentment between the two tribes that dates back to when the British controlled the northwest frontier region. The British favoured one tribe over another resulting in enmity and dislike between the tribes.

Earlier in the year, the two groups  Shias and Sunnis  also clashed over a l and dispute. Despite appointing a land commission to resolve the land dispute, the Pakistani government has yet to release its findings on the same.

Some experts also note the Pakistani governments handling of the issue has been inconsistent with the security personnel being unable to address the root causes of sectarianism, political marginalisation and underdevelopment.

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Mohsin Dawar, a former parliamentarian from North Waziristan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was quoted as telling Al Jazeera, I doubt whether the authorities are genuinely intent on resolving the issue.

Killings beget killings, leading to tribes seeking revenge, and the chain of violence continues. It looks like it is state policy to keep the entire area in chaos, he said.

The resurgence of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is a Sunni Islamist militant organisation, has also contributed to the enmity between the two. They have made Kurram their base, attacking Shias in multiple attacks.

Allama Ahmed Iqbal Rizvi, a Shia leader, said various militant groups, such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and the local branch of ISIS; the so-called Islamic State Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K  have been targeting the Shia population in Kurram for a long time, according to the New York Times.

Local residents walk in a market, which closed due to strike called by traders as a protest against a gunmen firing incident, in Parachinar, main town of Kurram district of Pakistans northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. AP

Will the Sunni-Shia violence in Kurram end?

On Sunday, an uneasy peace was brokered between the two warring tribal groups. Both sides have agreed to a week-long ceasefire which is expected to be extended, Muhammad Ali Saif, a member of the mediation team, told Reuters by phone, adding that major clashes had already stopped.

Saif, who is also the information minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said both sides had also agreed to exchange prisoners, including women, and the bodies of those killed in the clashes.

Akhtar Hayat Gandapur, the police chief of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, also added that the Shiite leaders were demanding the immediate arrest of those involved in attacking passenger vehicles, as well as compensation for the victims and safety assurances for travellers.

However, some are sceptical of the ceasefire bringing an end to the violence. Jamil Kazmi, a retired academic based in Kurram, was quoted by Al Jazeera as saying, Are the authorities, including the military, as well as the religious leaders from both Sunnis and Shias willing to take ownership of the sectarian problem?

The situation in Kurram is like a pressure cooker waiting to explode.

With inputs from agencies
A court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid in Uttar Pradeshs Sambhal turned into a violent affair when cops clashed with protesters at the site. Three people have died and countless others, including 20 security personnel have been injured in the resulting clashes. The authorities have now imposed prohibitory orders in the area, suspending internet services as well as shutting down schools for a day read more

Police try to control the situation amid violence during a second survey of the Jama Masjid, claimed to be originally the site of an ancient Hindu temple, in Sambhal. PTI

Sambhal, a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh, is on edge  prohibitory orders have been imposed, schools are shut, and the internet is suspended  after violence broke out over a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid in the area.

The clashes, which resulted in the deaths of three people and scores of others getting injured, have also resulted in a political blame game with the opposition leaders blaming the ruling BJP, alleging the survey team was sent to the mosque by the party to nurture its politics of hatred.

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But what exactly happened? And what has been the aftermath of the violence? We analyse and get you the answers.

Shahi Jama Mosque survey that started it all

The violence in Sambhal broke out when a team of surveyors reached Chandausi town to carry out a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid.

The survey was ordered by a local court on Tuesday (November 19) after a senior advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain filed a petition stating that a temple had been demolished to erect the mosque in 1526. The plea stated that a centuries old Shri Hari Har Temple dedicated to Lord Kalki in the heart of the city of Sambhal which is being used forcibly and unlawfully by the Jama Masjid Committee.

The petitioner further argued that the monument is protected under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 and under section 18 of the Act, the public has the right of access to protected monument.

Incidentally, Vishnu Shankar Jain and his father Hari Shankar Jain have represented the Hindu side in many cases related to places of worship, including the Gyanvapi Mosque-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute.

Acting on this petition, Civil Judge (Senior Division), Sambhal at Chandausi Aditya Singh ordered an advocate commissioner to carry out an initial survey on the same day. The court also directed that a report of the survey be filed before it by November 29.

Locals pelt stones at security personnel during a second survey of the Jama Masjid in Sambhal. PTI

Violence unfolds in Sambhal

As officials couldnt finish their survey on Tuesday, they decided to return on Sunday morning in order to avoid interference with prayers that are usually held in the afternoon.

However, this is when all the trouble started; as officials reached the Shahi Jama Masjid, they encountered a large group of people who were shouting slogans.

According to authorities, the group of protesters quickly turned angry and began torching vehicles in the area and pelting stones at the police who had gathered at the spot. In an effort to quell the violence, the police then used tear gas and batons to disperse the mob.

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As per the Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh, amid this chaos, shots were fired resulting in the deaths of three people  who were later identified as Naeem, Bilal and Nauman.

A damaged vehicle after violence erupted during the second survey of the Jama Masjid in Sambhal. PTI

Additionally, others were also injured in the violence, including around 20 security personnel and four personnel of the administration. The PRO of the superintendent of police suffered a gunshot to the leg, the police circle officer was hit by pellets, said Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh, adding that a constable also suffered a serious head injury, while the deputy collector fractured his leg.

District Magistrate Rajender Pensiya said, The casualty count stands at three. The reason for the death of two of them is clear  bullet wounds from countrymade pistols. The reason for the death of the third person is not clear, but it will be after the post-mortem examination.

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According to Superintendent of Police (SP) Krishan Kumar, the violence broke out when the survey team was leaving the premises of the Shahi Jama Masjid as protesters started pelting stones. There were groups on three sides. One from the front, one from the right and one from the left. They were continuously pelting stones. Police used force so that the survey team could be taken out and escorted safely. Tear gas shells were also fired. Plastic bullets were used.

Police and security personnel stand guard amid violence in Sambhal over the survey at the mosque. PTI

Visuals that are circulating online show the public pelting stones at the cops from buildings in the area. There was also footage of police personnel hitting people.

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Congress Rajya Sabha MP Imran Pratapgarhi posted a video on X of police officers directly firing during the violence. In the video, DIG Range Muniraj is seen firing a pistol and is heard asking the policemen to fire. However, the Sambhal police have denied firing.

                ,                             ,      ,     pic.twitter.com/9dWO4YhbHx  Imran Pratapgarhi (@ShayarImran) November 24, 2024

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Aftermath of Sambhal violence

The police have begun a probe into the matter, adding those accused in the violence would be booked under the stringent National Security Act. So far, 15 people, including two women have been detained.

Cops said that the mobiles of those detained were being checked. Moreover, internet services have been suspended in the area for 24 hours while schools have been ordered to remain shut today (November 25).

SP Krishan Kumar said, So far, 15 people have been detained This is definitely an act of provocation in which lives have also been lost.

He has urged people to remain calm and added that the authorities have called in forces from outside to ensure that the situation is kept under control.

Police personnel detain a protester amid violence during a second survey of the Jama Masjid in Sambhal. PTI

The police have also recovered several kinds of weapons from those detained. Many shells of different bores have been recovered at the spot where the firing took place, a police officer was quoted as saying.

To keep calm in the area, the sub-district magistrate has also issued a notice prohibiting the citizens from buying or collecting stones, soda bottles, or flammable or explosive material on their roof, reported the Times of India.

Political blame game over Sambhal

The violence in Sambhal also led to a political blame game with the opposition parties blaming the BJP for the situation. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav lashed out at the BJP, saying its government and the administration orchestrated the violence to divert attention from electoral malpractice.

A survey team was deliberately sent in the morning to disrupt discussions about the election. The intention was to create chaos so that no debate on election issues could happen, he said.

Workers remove brick bats from a road after violence erupted in Sambhal. PTI

Congress UP chief Ajay Rai also said that violence in UP was increasing day by day under the Yogi Adityanath government. When the chief minister of the state himself gives statements like batenge toh katenge, then how can there be an atmosphere of peace in the state? This is a completely planned incident, Rai in a statement said.

Sudhakar Yadav, the secretary of the CPI (Marxist-Leninist), added that the BJP, emboldened by its recent wins, was fuelling polarisation of communities and wanted to throw the state into the fire of communalism. Tearing the fabric of peace, and polarising communities was all in a good days work for the saffron brigade, he alleged.

However, the BJP has countered by saying that the INDI Alliance was trying to create unrest. BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said, Nobody has any right to break the law. If a court has passed an order, it will be implemented. The judicial process is available for those who want the order amended.

BJP spokesperson Ajay Alok also blamed what he called the ghamandia alliance for the violence.

With inputs from agencies
Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic Congresswoman from Hawaii, has a long history of making statements that are both controversial and sympathetic to the United States enemies particularly Syria and Russia. Gabbards critics in Washington accuse her of parroting talking points straight out the Kremlin and even some Republican Senators have expressed concern about her candidacy for Director of National Intelligence read more

Tulsi Gabbard has previously defended her actions. saying her military service, deployments have made her skeptical about military interventions. AP

Donald Trump has picked Tulsi Gabbard as his director of national intelligence.

But it wont be easy getting her confirmed.

Gabbard has a long history of making statements that are both controversial and sympathetic to the United States enemies.

Indeed, some including ex-US secretary of state Hillary Clinton have even accused Gabbard of being a foreign asset.

Gabbard is also popular with Russias state media with one channel describing her as a comrade.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created after the September 11, 2001, attacks to coordinate the nations intelligence agencies and act as the presidents main intelligence adviser.

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Lets take a closer look:

A history of troubling remarks

First, lets take a brief look at Gabbard.

The former Democrat has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades.

She was deployed to Iraq and Kuwait and, according to the Hawaii National Guard, received a Combat Medical Badge in 2005 for participation in combat operations under enemy hostile fire in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III.

Gabbard in 2017 travelled to Syria where she met President Bashar Assad.

At the time, Gabbard was a Democratic House member from Hawaii.

Her action angered many of her then-fellow Democrats who said said her visit helped legitimise a leader accused of war crimes and who has served as a proxy and host for Russia and Iran in West Asia.

That wasnt the first time Gabbards actions on Syria raised eyebrows.

Syria President Bashar Assad. File Photo

According to The Independent, in 2015, Gabbard, who travelled to the Syria-Turkey border, asked three victims of Assads bombings, How do you know it was Bashar al-Assad or Russia that bombed you, and not Isis?

From that point on, Im sorry to say I was inaccurate in my translations of anything she said, Mouaz Moustafa, a Syrian activist who was acting as translator recalled. It was more like: How do I get these girls away from this devil?

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Gabbards previous statements have also caused alarm.

Gabbard says American assistance for Ukraine jeopardises global security by antagonising Russia. She has criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as corrupt

This war and suffering could have easily been avoided if Biden Admin/NATO had simply acknowledged Russias legitimate security concerns, she posted on Twitter at the start of Russias invasion in 2022.

Gabbard in 2022 endorsed one of Russias justifications for invading Ukraine: the existence of dozens of US-funded biolabs working on some of the worlds nastiest pathogens.

The labs are part of an international effort to control outbreaks and stop bioweapons, but Moscow claimed Ukraine was using them to create deadly bioweapons.

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Gabbard said she just voiced concerns about protecting the labs.

Gabbard also has suggested that Russia had legitimate security concerns in deciding to invade Ukraine, given its desire to join NATO.

According to Forbes, Gabbard also criticised Donald Trumps airstrike which killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.

As per The New York Times, Gabbard also blamed the US for blowing up the Nord stream gas pipeline.

Her critics on both sides in Washington accuse her of parroting talking points straight out of Americas enemies  particularly the Kremlin.

Gabbard, like Gaetz, is like a hand grenade ready to explode, former Trump national security adviser John Bolton said Republicans who throw themselves on those grenades for Donald Trump are risking their own personal reputations and places in history.

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Hillary in 2019 claimed that the Russians were grooming a Democratic candidate  which many meant to mean Gabbard.

Tulsi Gabbard has been accused of using talking points straight from the Kremlin. Reuters

Im not making any predictions, but I think theyve got their eye on somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate, Hillary was quoted as saying by CNN. Shes the favourite of the Russians.

They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far, Hillary added.

Gabbard ran for president in 2020 before dropping out and endorsing Democrat Joe Biden, who defeated Trump. Two years later, she left the Democratic Party to become an independent, criticising her former colleagues as an elitist cabal of warmongers and woke ideologues.

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She subsequently campaigned for several high-profile Republicans, became a contributor to Fox News and started a podcast.

CNN reported that Gabbard was once placed on a Transportation Security Administration watchlist due to her foreign travel patterns and connections overseas.

Experts told CNN that a nominee for such a top post being placed on such a list was highly unusual  if not all out unprecedented.

Gabbard has previously defended her actions and said her military service, saying her deployments have left her skeptical about military interventions.

Democrats on attack, Republicans in defence mode

The Democrats have gone on the attack over Gabbards nomination.

Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat and veteran of combat missions in Iraq, said she had concerns.

I think shes compromised, Duckworth said on CNNs State of the Union, citing Gabbards 2017 trip to Syria.

The US intelligence community has identified her as having troubling relationships with Americas foes. And so my worry is that she couldnt pass a background check, Duckworth said.

Adam Schiff, a California Democrat just elected to the Senate, said he would not describe Gabbard as a Russian asset, but said she had very questionable judgment.

The problem is if our foreign allies dont trust the head of our intelligence agencies, theyll stop sharing information with us, Schiff said on NBCs Meet the Press.

Do you really want her to have all of the secrets of the United States and our defense intelligence agencies when she has so clearly been in Putins pocket? Senator Elizabeth Warren said on MSNBC. That just has to be a hard no.

Republicans have gone on the defence.

For her to say ridiculous and outright dangerous words like that is wrong, Senator Markwayne Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma, said on CNN, challenging Duckworth to retract her words.

Thats the most dangerous thing she could say  is that a United States lieutenant colonel in the United States Army is compromised and is an asset of Russia.

Gabbards nomination could be a close run thing because Republicans control the Senate by just three votes  53 to 47.

However, with JD Vance set to be Vice-President, he could cast the tie breaking vote in her favour even if three Republicans vote no.

Senator James Lankford, another Oklahoma Republican, acknowledged having lots of questions for Gabbard as the Senate considers her nomination to lead the intelligence services. Lankford said on NBC that he wants to ask Gabbard about her meeting with Assad and some of her past comments about Russia.

We want to know what the purpose was and what the direction for that was. As a member of Congress, we want to get a chance to talk about past comments that shes made and get them into full context, Lankford said.

As per Forbes, a number of other high-profile Republicans including Susan Collins, John Cornyn, and Mike Rounds have expressed concern.

Collins told the Jewish Insider there are questions that I would want to ask her.

Susan Collins is among the Republican Senators expressing concern about Tulsi Gabbards candidacy. AP

Ive heard a lot of speculation about where she is in terms of Russia, for example, Collins added.

Cornyn said he would want to ask her about that when asked about her ideas on Russia.

However, he added, I have no doubt that shes a patriot.

But if so many Republican Senators are expressing concern, Gabbards nomination could be in trouble.

The Russians, meanwhile, seem overjoyed at Gabbard being picked.

The CIA and the FBI are trembling, Komsomolskaya Pravda, a Russian newspaper, was quoted as saying by The New York Times.

The paper added that Gabbard is thought of as an agent of the Russian state by Ukraine.

What do experts say?

That the Russians are getting everything they hoped for  and more.

Gabbard fits an overall pattern of Trump breaking with much of the post-Cold War consensus, Jonathan Teubner, the chief executive of FilterLabs told The New York Times. She is, for Russia, the one that perhaps most perfectly embodies the changes they were hoping for from the US.

Nominating Gabbard for director of national intelligence is the way to Putins heart, and it tells the world that America under Trump will be the Kremlins ally rather than an adversary, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor of history at New York University added. And so we would have a national security official who would potentially compromise our national security.

Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told The Independent, Her consistent denial of the Syrian regimes crimes is so wildly fringe that her potential appointment as DNI is genuinely alarming.

Lister said Gabbards views appear to be driven by a strange fusion of America First isolationism and a belief in the value of autocratic and secular leaders in confronting extremism.

Trumps election raises very difficult issues for Americas closest allies and members of the Five Eyes group, an intelligence-sharing coalition of the US, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, according to Thomas Juneau, a former strategic analyst with Canadas Department of National Defence.

Will the US be more selective in what it shares, to pressure allies? If yes, this will create mistrust between the US and its closest partners, Juneau said.

In the long term, this would negatively affect the Five Eyes, which is an extremely close partnership premised on an extraordinarily high level of trust.

It remains to be seen if Gabbards appointment goes through  and how Americas allies and enemies react.

With inputs from agencies
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is mulling over making drink spiking  the act of adding drugs to a persons drink  a criminal offence. The move comes as such cases keep rising in the UK  there were a total of 6,732 incidents in the year ending April 2023. Whats worse is that most victims of drink spiking dont report the crime, as they dont see the point read more

People enjoy a evening at a pub in London, Britain. Owing to a spike in cases of drink spiking, the UK government is now mulling into making it a standalone criminal offence. Representational image/Reuters

Dont leave your drink unattended, as it could be spiked. Its a warning that we are all aware of. However, drink spiking, the act where drugs are unknowingly added to a persons drink continues to be a common occurrence that is rampant across the world, with most of the perpetrators going scot-free.

However, the United Kingdom is now recognising the dangers of this act with Prime Minister Keir Starmers office announcing on Sunday (November 24) that spiking a drink will become a new stand-alone criminal offence, in order to crack down on violence against women and girls.

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My government was elected on a pledge to take back our streets, and we will never achieve this if women and girls do not feel safe at night, Starmer said in a statement on Sunday.

Cracking down on spiking is central to that mission.

UKs crackdown on spiking drinks

On Monday, UK PM Starmer will meet with police chiefs, industry executives and transport bosses in Downing Street to discuss the issue of womens safety in the country, focusing on drink spiking.

Starmer hopes to bring a new law on the issue, noting that it has been difficult for victims of this crime to come forward and its been even harder to prosecute. We must do more to bring the vile perpetrators who carry out this cowardly act, usually against young women and often to commit a sexual offence, to justice, he said.

The new offence will send a clear signal that this is a crime, and perpetrators should feel the full force of the law.

The proposed law is also setting aside 250,000 to pay for the training of 10,000 workers in the hospitality industry to spot drink-spiking and deal with such situations. Representational image/Reuters

While it isnt clear when the new law may take effect, ministers are working to push it forward as soon as possible, with some hoping for it to become reality by December. Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, and Dame Diana Johnson, the new policing minister, have extended their support to this law.

The proposed law is also setting aside 250,000 (Rs 2.64 crore) to pay for the training of 10,000 workers in the hospitality industry to spot drink spiking and deal with such situations.

Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of UKHospitality told The Telegraph that the training would include ensuring staff was made aware of the dangers of spiking so that when a person presented at a club, pub or bar apparently drunk, they were aware of the warning signs and could discretely and appropriately question them to establish any vulnerability. Furthermore, staff would be trained to ensure potential victims were properly supported and taken to a safe space within a club, bar or pub, not separated from their friends and, if necessary, the police or other relevant authorities contacted.

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Rise of drink spiking in UK

Emphasising the need to make drink spiking a standalone offence, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: Spiking is a disturbing and serious crime which can have a damaging and long-lasting impact on victims.

People shouldnt have to worry about the safety of their drinks on a night out. These changes are about giving victims greater confidence to come forward, and ensuring that there is a robust response from the police whenever this appalling crime takes place.

Officials note that cases of drink spiking in the UK have risen steadily over the years. Whats worse is that this crime goes largely unreported in the country.

Data reveals that the police received 6,732 reports of spiking in the year ending April 2023 in UK of which 957 related to needle spiking. Representational image/Pixabay

According to Home Office data, the police received 6,732 reports of spiking in the year ending April 2023 of which 957 related to needle spiking. Additionally, most spiking incidents  80 per cent  happen in public places, especially places where people go to enjoy themselves at night.

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A study by Drinkaware Monitor, a UK-wide representative survey looking at drinking behaviours and attitudes, also revealed that 2.2 per cent of respondents reported having their drinks spiked in the previous 12 months, which is equivalent to around 1.2 million adults every year in the UK. The same study also found that 90 per cent of people dont contact the police after being spiked, with around half of those saying its because they dont see the point.

According to a Channel 4 analysis, there were 20,000 reports of spiking made between 2018 and 2022. However, what was even more stunning was the lack of prosecution. The rate of investigation and prosecution dropped from one in 25 in 2018 to one in 400 in 2022. There were just 54 cases where a suspect was arrested and referred to the Crown Prosecution Service, reported Channel 4.

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Dangers of spiking drinks

Many of those who have fallen victim to drink spiking have spoken of the trauma they have suffered. For instance, Stephen Hart, the London ambassador for the charity Stamp Out Spiking, has spoken of his traumatic experience. He told BBC it felt like I closed my eyes for a second in a bar before waking covered in blood.

I had been out with a friend at a bar in north London. It was a simple, normal night and my friend had to leave early because his girlfriend had phoned. I stayed to finish my drink and I was just minding my own business.

Many of those who have fallen victim to drink spiking have spoken of the trauma they have suffered. Its not just physical but even mental trauma, with many of them losing confidence. Representational image/Pixabay

He added that he later felt dizzy and confused, before being woken up by the sun shining through the window. He said his clothes were bloody and that he was later diagnosed with HIV.

Many others say that drink spiking has also changed their habits, with some even paranoid about drinking in public.

Activists and campaigners say that authorities, including the police, need to take drink spiking more seriously. Moreover, training is essential for bar staff, door staff, bus drivers, taxi drivers: people who could recognise the symptoms and take action because you may not be able to.

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And friends should look after each other on nights out, ensuring no drink is left unattended, and that we know the signs of spiking.

With inputs from agencies
Citing the growing potential of autonomous drones, Elon Musk has criticised the Pentagons $1.8 trillion F-35 programme, calling it outdated. While hundreds of F-35s are operational globally, Musk is attempting to highlight inefficiencies in defence spending and is advocating for AI-driven solutions read more

Elon Musk speaks as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump looks on during a rally at the site of the July assassination attempt against Trump, in Pennsylvania, US, October 5, 2024. File Image/Reuters

Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has called for a shift away from manned fighter jets in favour of autonomous drones.

His critiques have taken aim at one of the most expensive and controversial military programmes  the F-35 stealth fighter  raising questions about the future of warfare and the efficiency of defence spending. Musks views come as his influence grows in government and aerospace.

Musk has repeatedly expressed his belief that the era of manned fighter jets is nearing its end. In a recent post on his social media platform, X, he criticised the continued investment in jets like the F-35. Sharing a video of synchronised drone swarms flying in complex formations, Musk commented: Meanwhile, some idiots are still building manned fighter jets like the F-35.

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Meanwhile, some idiots are still building manned fighter jets like the F-35  

pic.twitter.com/4JX27qcxz1  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2024

His disdain for traditional aircraft was further highlighted when he responded to a users comment, Drones are the new level of warfare, with a 100 emoji. Musks stance on drones reflects his broader advocacy for autonomous systems and artificial intelligence as the cornerstones of future military operations.

  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2024

At the Air Warfare Symposium in February 2020, Musk made an even bolder statement:

The fighter jet era has passed. He also mentioned the transformative potential of space technologies, suggesting that advancements in reusable rockets and other aerospace innovations could redefine the military landscape.

Is the F-35 programme too costly?

The F-35 programme, spearheaded by Lockheed Martin, has been a lightning rod for criticism since its inception. The Pentagon awarded Lockheed the initial contract in 2001, intending to produce a versatile stealth fighter for the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps.

However, the programme has faced significant challenges, including cost overruns, delays, and technical issues. The F-35 is the Pentagons most expensive weapons programme, with projected costs of $1.8 trillion over its lifecycle, including development, manufacturing, operations, and maintenance through 2088.

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Despite these investments, a declassified report from the Defence Departments weapons testing chief revealed that the F-35s reliability, maintainability, and availability remain below expectations.

Lockheed Martin describes the F-35 as the most lethal, survivable and connected fighter jet in the world. File Image/AFP

The Pentagon plans to acquire approximately 2,400 F-35s to replace aging, non-stealth fighters. Currently, hundreds of these aircraft are operational across the US military and allied forces. Over the next decade, 700 F-35s are expected to be deployed in Europe alone, with only 60 belonging to the United States.

Defending the programme, Lockheed Martin described the F-35 as the most advanced, survivable, and connected fighter aircraft in the world, a vital deterrent and the cornerstone of joint all-domain operations. The company pledged to work closely with the US government and its international partners to strengthen national defence.

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A Pentagon spokesperson echoed these sentiments was quoted by Fortune as stating: We have combat-capable aircraft in operation today, and they perform exceptionally well against the threats for which they were designed. Pilots continually state that this is the fighter they want to take to war if called upon.

Are autonomous drones the future?

While Musks criticisms have drawn attention, the military has been investing heavily in drone technology for decades. Unmanned systems are already used extensively for surveillance and airstrikes, and the Pentagons Replicator Initiative aims to deploy thousands of autonomous systems across multiple warfighting domains.

However, experts argue that drones cannot completely replace manned fighter jets. Barrons quoted Richard Aboulafia, managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory, who highlighted the limitations of unmanned systems: Modern fighter jets fill irreplaceable roles. Drones cant intercept enemy bombers or launch from thousands of miles away to support naval operations or other strategic objectives.

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Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of US Indo-Pacific forces, also downplayed the notion of drones as a standalone solution, telling Barrons: The [Chinese military]s got 2,100 fighters. Theyve got three aircraft carriers. They have a battle force of 200 destroyers. Oh well, Roger, weve got a couple drones. No problem.

How will Musks growing influence change US defence?

Musks critiques carry added weight due to his role as co-head of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which advises US President-elect Donald Trump.

In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed co-authored with Vivek Ramaswamy, Musk highlighted inefficiencies in the Pentagon, noting that the department has failed seven consecutive audits, raising concerns about its $800 billion annual budget.

As CEO of SpaceX, the worlds most valuable aerospace company, Musk has disrupted the defence industry with innovations like reusable rockets. SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell recently criticised traditional government contracts, advocating for competitive bidding processes that reward efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

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While Musks vision wants the primacy of drones and autonomous systems, the military continues to pursue a hybrid approach. The next-generation air dominance programme envisions a combination of manned and unmanned fighters to address diverse mission requirements.

With inputs from agencies
India, which imports food items from more than 100 countries, has so far this year rejected food consignments from China, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Turkey and Japan, but why? Read more to find read more

For the safety of its citizens, India has taken a firm stand and has rejected multiple food consignments from China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Japan, and Turkey this year. It was done so as they fell short of the standards set by it.

India with a growing population of 1.42 billion population, imports food items from more than 100 countries.

However, in its recently launched portal - Food Import Rejection Alert (FIRA), Indias apex food regulator  Food Safety Standard Authority of India (FSSAI)  made public the names of the countries, items and reasons of rejection of food items.

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Why did India reject food shipments?

As per regulation 11(7) of the Food Safety and Standards (Import) Regulation, 2017, the Food Authority is empowered to issue food alert notification.

The food consignments were rejected after FSSAI (FSSAI) identified several issues ranging from contamination to non-compliance with quality regulations.

China

The FSSAI rejected the shipment of Sushi Nori to Delhi on May 6 due to the presence of heavy metal - Arsenic in them.

In the last of the same month (May 31), a consignment of Budweiser (non alcoholic beer) to Mumbais JNPT Nhava Sheva was rejected after pH value was less than the prescribed limit for Alcohol-free Beer.

Sri Lanka

The FSSAI, on May 24 rejected cinnamon flower buds (dry) consignment at Bangalore as the product, which falls under the category of spices and condiments, needs prior product approval as it is not allowed as per FSS, Act, 2006.

On April 22, a consignment of Sri Lankan arecanut to Tamil Nadus Tuticorin was cancelled as moulds were visible on them. Also, the nuts were damaged by moulds and insects. They were blemished/cracked, broken, and were not fully de-husked.

Bangladesh

The arecanut (betelnut) consignment to Tuticorin from Bangladesh was rejected on February 20 due as the nuts were damaged by moulds and insects and the percentage of moisture was also more than the prescribed limits.

Japan

Three consignments of tea bag, under product category Health Supplements, Nutraceuticals, which were shipped to Bangalore from Japan on June 25 were rejected as prior Product approval was required because Rooibos is not listed as a permitted plant/botanical ingredient under the FSS Act, 2006 and the regulations made.

Turkey

India on July 31 rejected a consignment of fresh red apples from Turkey which were shipped to Kolkata because remaining shelf life of the fruit was not sufficient (i.e., neither 60 per cent of shelf life nor 3 months before expiry) and thereby violated regulation 5(6) of the FSS(Import) Regulation, 2017.

According to the Food Safety and Standards (Import) Regulations, 2017, any food article, when referred to FSSAI for import clearance, has to undergo a three-tier system of verification which includes scrutiny of documents, visual inspection, sampling and testing.

All the details are available of FIRA, the portal whos key features include transparency - provide information about rejected consignments, traceability - ensure better tracking of non-compliant shipments, and rapid action - facilitating speedy responses from concerned authorities to mitigate health risks.

With FIRAs implementation, India not just aims to streamline communication among stakeholders but also uphold food safety standards.

With inputs from agencies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Congress ahead of the Winter Session, saying, a handful of people rejected by public trying to control parliament by creating disorder read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday took a swipe at Congress-led Opposition for creating hooliganism in the parliament and creating disorder.

Addressing the media ahead of the Winter Session of parliament, PM Modi said, Some people, who have been repeatedly rejected by the public, are constantly trying to disrespect the parliament and democracy through hooliganism.

Intensifying his attack, PM Modi went on to say, Unfortunately, some people, for their political gains, who have been rejected by the people, want control with ruckus by select few individuals. People count their behaviour, and answer them at the right time. New individuals come with new thoughts, ideas, few people muzzle it, they dont even get time to speak in the parliament. It is the responsibility to prepare the new generation. They dont let the discussion happen in the parliament, dont respect the spirit of democracy, dont understand the aspirations of people, as a result, they dont live up to the expectations of people. The people have no other option but to reject them.

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Those who have been continuously rejected by the people 80-90 times do not allow discussions to take place in the parliament, he further said.

#WATCH | Delhi: PM Narendra Modi says, "Some people who have been rejected by the people are constantly trying to control the Parliament through hooliganism by a handful of people. The people of the country count all their actions and when the time comes, they also punish them. pic.twitter.com/qUhCsb2Ae6  ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2024

Modi invites MPs to take Parliament Winter Session forward with zeal, enthusiasm

The Prime Minister said, The voters of India are dedicated to democracy, their dedication to the Constitution, their faith in the parliamentary working system, all of us sitting in the Parliament will have to live up to the sentiments of the people and this is the need of the hour. The only way to make up for it is that we should highlight various aspects of every subject in a very healthy manner in the House, the coming generations will also get inspiration from it.

I hope that this session will be very fruitfulI once again invite all the respected MPs to take this session forward with zeal and enthusiasm. he said.

#WATCH | Delhi: On #ParliamentWinterSession, PM Narendra Modi says, "The voters of India are dedicated to democracy, their dedication to the Constitution, their faith in the parliamentary working system, all of us sitting in the Parliament will have to live up to the sentiments pic.twitter.com/30ulGcqAOn  ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2024

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World is looking at India with great hope

Slamming the Opposition, PM Modi said, Today the world is looking at India with great hope. Our use of Parliaments time and our behaviour in the House should be such that it strengthens the respect that India has gained at the global level.

#WATCH | #ParliamentWinterSession | Prime Minister Narendra Modi says "The public has to reject them (Opposition) again and again...It is a condition of democracy that we respect the feelings of the people and work hard day and night to live up to their hopes and expectations. pic.twitter.com/pNHKtcXYxF  ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2024

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Parliament Winter Session 2024 important

The Prime Minister said, It is Winter Session, I hope the atmosphere will also be so. The country is getting ready to welcome 2025. This session is important in many ways. The most important is the 75 years of Constitution, it is an important opportunity. Tomorrow (November 26) during the session, everyone will celebrate the occasion.

VIDEO | "It is Winter Session, I hope the atmosphere will also be so. The country is getting ready to welcome 2025. This session is important in many ways. The most important is the 75 years of Constitution, it is an important opportunity. Tomorrow during the session, everyone pic.twitter.com/dcrS5Fdanm  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 25, 2024

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Parliament Winter Session 2024

The parliaments Winter Session 2024 begins today (November 25) and will conclude on December 20. The session is likely to witness a fierce start with the Opposition all charged up to attack the Modi-led Central government on a range of issues including the US indictment of businessman Gautam Adani to the unrest in Manipur.

On Sunday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju asserted that the Union government is ready to discuss any topic while calling for a peaceful session.

The government is ready to discuss any topic. Our only request is that the House should run well and there should be no ruckus. Every member wants to participate in the discussion but the House should run well. To run the winter session well, everyones cooperation is needed and everyones participation is necessary, Rijiju said after the all-party meeting in Delhi.

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Bills to be tabled in winter session of parliament

As many as 16 bills, including one to amend the waqf law and five new ones, have been listed by the government for discussion during the winter session.

The five new draft legislations include the one to set up a cooperative university, the Rashtriya Sahkari Vishwavidyalaya.

Also Read: Winter Session of Parliament begins today: 16 bills to be in focus

There will be 19 sittings in the winter session and on November 26, parliament will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution.

This is a developing story. Refresh for more updates.
Given Indias own troubles with the shadowy, all-pervading Deep State that dictates the major tenets of Americas foreign policy, India can only hope that Trump succeeds read more

Donald Trumps second term has raised the collective blood pressure in Europe. From stiff upper-lipped Britons to the inscrutable Germans, the Republican candidates win has set the cat among the pigeons. The EU is holding its breath. Ukraine is in limbo. Russia is threatening to nuke the continent. Americas treaty allies and partners in Asia and elsewhere are also scared of the volatility and instability ahead. India, in contrast, appears more comfortable.

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It is not that New Delhi does not expect turmoil. It hopes to manage the situation better. As external affairs minister S Jaishankar said recently, I know many countries are nervous about the US today, but lets be honest. We are not one of them This cautious optimism arises chiefly from the equation that prime minister Narendra Modi shares with Trump. With Modi, this is as much a personal relationship as statecraft.

As Jaishankar pointed out during an interaction in Mumbai earlier this month, When he (PM Modi) first visited Washington D.C., Barack Obama was the president, then it was Donald Trump, and then it was Joe Biden There is something natural in terms of how he forges those relationships

With Trump, more so than others, the old Washington adage of personnel is policy rings truer than ever. Ever the consummate politician, Modi has instinctively grasped the reality. He would have assessed in Trumps first term itself that the chief risk associated with the former president and now president-elect is his unpredictability. Managing this unpredictability, that could be greater in the second iteration, will be the key challenge and New Delhi reckons that it is in a much better position to do so than many other countries, especially those in Europe.

Part of the reason Europe finds itself in this pickle, suffering from panic attacks at Trumps return to the Oval Office is that it had taken for granted Americas ideological overcommitment towards its security architecture  an obligation that Trump cares little about and sees as exploitative.

He has a point. Europe has grown so used to free-riding on US security guarantee via NATO that Trumps clear-eyed assessment of the relationship and demand for better defence spending has sent the bloc leaders into deep depression.

French president Emmanuel Macron has taken a leaf out of Indias book. His calls for Europes strategic autonomy and enhancing defence capabilities instead of becoming Americas followers, however, has been met with indifference from central and eastern European states who see themselves in all practical purposes as American protectorates.

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Their reluctance and insecurity are rooted in the deep scepticism over the continents future without the US acting as the unifier and the benevolent hegemon. In her essay for Foreign Policy, Anchal Vohra writes that while most central and eastern European nations welcome the EU enhancing its military capacities They have strong doubts over how France and Germany would have acted after Russian tanks neared Kyiv, had the US not unequivocally pushed back against Russian president Vladimir Putin. Some of them suspect that France and Germany would have sat and let Putin take more Ukrainian territory, just as they had in 2014 after the illegal Russian annexation of Crimea.

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Some scholars, however, argue that the pathway for a stronger Europe lies in Americas burden shifting, and that the pearl clutching in Brussels at the very thought of Trumps return is lazy escapism and evading of responsibility.

Sumantra Maitra, elected associate fellow at the UKs Royal Historical Society, argues in Foreign Affairs magazine that the answer for Europes predicament is not no NATO but a dormant NATO where the US acts as an offshore balancer.

Maitra writes, A dormant NATO  keeps the US tied to the continent, checks nuclear proliferation, and keeps nationalistic and imperialistic urges down among European powers. It restrains populism on both sides of the Atlantic with more equitable defence spending and provides security to European states that cannot, for historical reasons, trust their fellow European powers The simple fact is that France, Germany, and other western European states will never seriously invest in their militaries until they can no longer free ride off the US for protection. They need Washington to partially pull back before they will better coordinate with central and eastern Europe.

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As of now, however, this is an academic debate for a Europe that is also worried that Trump will stop aiding Ukraine and force it to settle for a negotiation that involves permanent ceding of territory to Russia, and they are nervous about an impending trade war with Trump threatening to slap steep tariffs on all imports to the US to bring manufacturing jobs back home.

It is also possible that Europe gets stuck in the crossfire between a US-China trade war and becomes inundated with cheap Chinese goods rerouted from the US market. Evidently, the problems facing Europe are structural that may get deepened by Trumps America First policies unlike India which hopes for a strategic convergence with a second Trump administration in important areas such as outlook on China, Pakistan and radical Islamism. India might also be looking forward to the fact that a Trump administration will be a lot less preachy and sanctimonious than the Democrats and wont attempt to execute regime change operations in Indias backyard.

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What makes New Delhi almost an outlier in its silent confidence about handling Trump  so much so that the dominant discourse on the trajectory of India-US relationship post November 7 is around a reset in ties that have become increasingly strained in recent times  is its inherent understanding that with Trump, personal is political. This point is easily misinterpreted.

Trump is not an irrational actor, unlike his image portrayed in the liberal media. He, however, cuts through the laid down processes and has little patience for strategic altruism unless he perceives space for little or big wins and a route for cutting deals. While this may pose some challenges for foreign policy, it also presents opportunities. The bond between Modi and Trump also rests on the fact that both give a lot of stress on interpersonal connection as the basis for a more personalized and tailored foreign policy.

Modi was among the first three world leaders to telephone Trump to applaud him on his victory, and in a post on X (formerly Twitter), Modi said he had congratulated the president-elect and is looking forward to working closely together once again to further strengthen India-US relations across technology, defence, energy, space and several other sectors.

Trump, in return, reportedly said the whole world loves Modi and described India as a magnificent country and the prime minister as a magnificent man. Earlier during his campaign trail, Trump had said he considers Modi as one of the nicest people he has met and a true friend and praised the prime ministers leadership skills. Trump has in the past expressed open admiration for Modis crowd-pulling power and claimed that he shares a very good relationship with him.

Beneath the niceties, however, both see each other for what they are: fierce nationalists who can let transactionalism shed its pejorative connotation and look out for profitable give-and-take minus the tiring pretentions.

Trumps win has seen a surfeit of empty rhetoric from liberal media. Commentators claim that the basis of a better India-US relationship under Trump could be the Republicans penchant for a transactional foreign policy.

To quote just one example, Chietigj Bajpaee of Chatham House, a UK-based think tank, writes in The Diplomat, Trumps proclivity to see foreign policy in purely transactional terms will weaken the narrative of a shared ideological affinity between the worlds oldest democracy and the worlds largest democracy.

To pretend that American foreign policy under any dispensation, Democratic or Republican, or any president, has been based on anything other than American self-interest, is a load of baloney.

The American self-image of exceptionalism and unique virtuosity is based on the post-Cold War unipolar moment that its strategic elite has perpetually bought into, even though the US at different times in history has gone to bed with the nastiest of autocrats and launched wars on the flimsiest of pretexts, even plain lies.

The myth of Americas value-based foreign policy is a blatant hypocrisy that seeks to hide its questionable dealings beneath the veneer of morality. As professor Stephen Walt writes in Foreign Policy, this unchallenged faith in American exceptionalism makes it harder for Americans to understand why others are less enthusiastic about US dominance, often alarmed by US policies, and frequently irritated by what they see as US hypocrisy, whether the subject is possession of nuclear weapons, conformity with international law, or Americas tendency to condemn the conduct of others while ignoring its own failings.

Elite Americas problem with Trump stems precisely from the fact that the US president-elect thinks little of Americas self-congratulatory image and takes a more unflattering approach in policymaking, or in dealmaking  in trying to achieve difficult trade-offs. His approach is more of a trader than a politician. This is exactly where India hopes to meet Trump.

New Delhi also perhaps believes that if Trump can be dealt with there will be significantly less friction or irritants in bilateral ties because unlike the Biden administration where invisible strings were being pulled from different directions, itll be different and more direct with Trump. He is his own NSA and secretary of state. Whether its national security adviser Mike Waltz or the likely secretary of state Marco Rubio  they are expected to play only a supporting role.

There is some merit in the argument, however, that the US system is a lot less centralized than other democracies such as India  not to speak of one-party authoritarian systems such as China  and hence try as he might to bend the system to his will (backed by a thumping mandate  a trifecta of presidency and both chambers of Congress) Trumps agenda will still run into political gridlock or implementation problems faced with a stiff resistance from entrenched vested interests.

It is party due to this that Trump has entrusted Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy with the task of cutting down the perma-bureaucracy and the administrative state to size  the immutable, immovable behind-the-scenes force that decides the gap between a president and his policymaking efficacy.

Writing in Wall Street Journal, Musk and Ramaswamy observes that the entrenched and ever-growing bureaucracy represents an existential threat to our republic, and politicians have abetted it for too long, going on to add that in implementing the agenda of Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)  cutting to size the unelected, unappointed civil servants within government agencies who view themselves as immune from firing thanks to civil-service protections they expect ferocious onslaught from entrenched interests in Washington.

In declaring war against the Deep State, the powerful central state that de facto runs the country and its foreign policy, Trump has already triggered a fightback, with ensconced and vested interests promising to fight tooth and nail against his agenda. A report in The Telegraph quotes Randy Erwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) in the US, as saying that he and his colleagues were getting ready for a really, really big fight when asked about Musk and Ramaswamys plans. The federal government employs almost three million people, many of whom work in Washington DC.

Given Indias own troubles with this shadowy, all-pervading Deep State that dictates the major tenets of Americas foreign policy, India can only hope that Trump succeeds and the groundwork is set for an administration run by a democratically elected president and his political appointees. This would suit India and boost bilateral ties.

Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
The admission by Canadas national security advisor of leaking information to Washington Post indicates that they have the means to influence the media in the West read more

It is rare that when bilateral relations with another country are bad, there are lessons to be learned. The state of India-Canada ties in recent years and recent disclosures by Canadas national security adviser, Nathelie Drouin, about having leaked non-classified information to the Washington Post to gain the attention of the Five Eyes nations, is a good example.

There are several issues befuddling bilateral ties currently, the primary one being Canadas overt and covert support of pro-Khalistani elements, who are targeting India and its interests. However, the manner in which Canada has chosen to approach the issue, even at the cost of bilateral relations, makes it obvious that Prime Minister Trudeau is willing to go the extra mile to maintain his governments linkages with the pro-Khalistani elements even at the cost of ties with India.

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Ironically, remarks made by the Canadian NSA have reinforced the value of strategic communications. The background to this can be traced to remarks made by Drouin before a parliamentary panel that a high-ranking official in the Narendra Modi government was behind the plot to kill Hardeep Singh Nijjar. She informed the panel that she did not require the approval of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to leak the information to the Washington Post, as it was part of Canadas strategy to make public their stand on the killing of Nijjar by both covert and overt means.

The passing of so-called non-classified information on actions taken by the Canadian government was done with the intention of showing that Canada was cooperating with India. Canada also claimed that they had evidence that a high-ranking Indian official was linked to the killing of Nijjar. The Washington Post report dated October 13, 2024, claimed that Indias NSA Ajit Doval had held a secret meeting with his Canadian counterpart in Singapore. During the meeting, the Canadian NSA reportedly provided proof that India had used criminal networks, primarily in this case the Lawrence Bishnoi network, to undertake the killing of Nijjar.

Reports indicate that during the meeting, Indias NSA denied the allegations and said that on the contrary it was Canada that was using the criminal networks. It was emphasised that India had for long provided intelligence to Canada on the existence of such networks on Canadian soil.

Several questions arise from the reported leakage of the meeting. If the meeting was secret, why did Canada leak the information? Additionally, if they admit to having done it now, they would have done it earlier too. It was done to damage Indias reputation in the eyes of its Western partners, including the United States. That is the value of strategic communications.

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The problem is that no one believes Canadas Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his team anymore. For far too long they have peddled lies about Indias interference in Canadian elections. Allegations against India were made at the behest of pro-Khalistani elements and to divert attention from the actual interference by China in the electoral process that Canadian intelligence had pointed out earlier. Sanjay Verma, who was recently withdrawn as Indias High Commissioner to Canada, in a candid interview with a Canadian TV channel, said that not a shred of evidence had been shared with India regarding these allegations.

More recently, the Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail claimed, quoting an anonymous national security official, that Canadian security agencies believe Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India knew about the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia and other violent plots. The strong rebuttal by India and Prime Minister Trudeaus own domestic troubles made the Canadian government almost immediately backtrack and disclaim the media report.

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Ever since the killing of pro-Khalistan extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year, the Canadians have been saying that they have shared evidence on Indias role in his killing but have only made unsubstantiated claims, without proof. On the other hand, Indias National Investigation Agency has provided tons of evidence of the activities of criminals and others engaged in anti-India activities in Canada, providing adequate legal information about the cases filed against them by Indian authorities to the Royal Mounted Canadian Police.

The Indian narrative has been consistent and clear. The admission by Canadas NSA of leaking information to the Washington Post indicates that they have the means to influence the media in the West. Clarity of public articulation of Indias case in the West is thus of paramount importance. Planting of stories by Canada in the Western media alleging Indias links to killings or attempted killings has been detrimental to Indias security. The naming of a former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) chief for having led the assassination bandwagon is a case in point. The challenge for India, therefore, is not so much to push the counter-narrative in the Indian media but to be able to give our side of the story to the West in their own press. This requires a drastic change of approach by all those concerned with strategic communications.

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The writer is a former director of NSCS. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
Modern battlefields are no longer just theatres of conflicttheyve become testing grounds where new technologies are forged, pushing the boundaries of warfare and redefining the rules of engagement for future generations read more

The rise of asymmetric warfare, the formation of alliances and counter-alliances, and the limited nature of modern conflicts have expanded the scope of war far beyond just survival. Representational image/ AP

Clausewitz famously stated, War is nothing but a duel on a larger scalea physical contest between people, each using force to compel our enemy to do our will. Since his time, the nature, purpose, and process of war have transformed significantly. Once, war was considered the final act in the struggle for existence; now, it has evolved into a multidimensional activity involving multiple tactics.

The rise of asymmetric warfare, the formation of alliances and counter-alliances, and the limited nature of modern conflicts have expanded the scope of war far beyond just survival. In asymmetric warfare, when a dominant party can manipulate the course of conflict, there is no need for full-scale resource utilisation or total efficiency to win. This luxury allows dominant parties to push beyond purely political objectives and seek economic gains from war.

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Furthermore, modern wars, particularly those involving geographically distant allies, have turned into platforms for testing new technologies and strategies, effectively transforming battlefields into experimental labs. Contemporary conflicts, such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict, must be viewed through this lens. Both sides in these wars have embraced strong innovation cultures, supported by their allies, leading to the development of cutting-edge military technologies, including lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS) and semi-lethal autonomous weapons (SLAWS).

The limited nature of these wars has allowed for the real-time demonstration of advanced weapons on the battlefield, something that was overshadowed by nuclear deterrence during the Cold War. While it could be argued that nuclear deterrence prompted nations to pursue alternative routes of weaponry, leading to innovations like chemical weapons and advanced missile delivery systems, modern warfare has brought a new dimension: the battlefield as a showcase for technological ingenuity.

When Moscow decided to wage war against Kyiv in 2022, the world was curious about Ukraines resilience in the face of Putins powerful military. Soon, Ukraine captivated its allies and observers alike with its remarkable technological capacity to counter Russias aggression. The use of smartphones by Ukrainian and Russian combatants and noncombatants alike is transforming command, control, communications, computing, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) on the battlefield.

The monitoring capability of Ukrainian software bug can easily penetrate Russian computers, tablets, and phones, which make them GPS guides for Zelenskys army. It is followed by small, plastic drones, buzzing quietly overhead, dropping grenades and other ordnance on Russian troops. 3D printers now make spare parts so soldiers can repair heavy equipment in the field. Technicians have converted ordinary pickup trucks into mobile missile launchers.

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Beyond testing new technologies, Ukraine has shown that even existing technologies can be pushed to their limits to determine their effectiveness. For example, the US and its allies have been keenly observing how well their weapons perform under the stresses of combat and analysing the types of ammunition each side employs.

One prominent example is the effectiveness of Russias use of inexpensive drones supplied by Iran, which have proven effective in targeting Ukraines electrical grid. Western military observers have noted how Ukrainian success has largely been attributed to the American-made HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System), which has played a decisive role in stalling Russian advances. However, some high-profile systems provided to the Ukrainians, such as the Switchblade 300 drone, have not performed as well as expected, teaching valuable lessons about their durability and maintenance requirements in high-intensity warfare.

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The innovation definitely entered a new phase when it comes to the Israel-Hamas war. Israel has exalted tremendous superiority over its adversary in three ways. First, unconventional methods of intelligence gathering and targeted killings have revolutionised warfare. The extensive use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a game-changer. The Israeli military, using an AI system known as Lavender, has identified tens of thousands of human targets for assassination, based on their suspected affiliation with Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Once these targets were selected, another AI-based system called Wheres Daddy? was employed to track them, often resulting in the killing of entire families and nearby neighbours.

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Another AI system, Habsora, has been used to identify and destroy buildings and facilities that are purportedly used for military purposes. The second is the manufacturing and deployment of ultramodern weapons. The sources claim that the army only used unguided missiles, sometimes referred to as dumb bombs (as opposed to smart precision bombs), which have the ability to destroy entire buildings, causing a great deal of casualties, when it came to targeting the alleged junior militants identified by Lavender. This exercise is the outcome of the logic of cost-cutting in the warfare, which reduced human lives to mere numbers, leading to the deaths of hundreds of women and children in Gaza.

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Third, transformation of the conventional artillery to an unconventional level. The 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons prohibits the use of lethal weapons on civilian populations; hence, Israel has developed weapons that appear less lethal on the surface but cause significant harm.

The new precision-guided 120 mm mortar bomb called the Iron Sting has the ability to penetrate double-reinforced concrete, making it a formidable force in urban warfare. The Palestinian people have suffered severe injuries as a result of the Israeli armys testing of rubber bullets, robotic guns with artificial intelligence, and various crowd dispersal techniques.

The lethality of these bullets is deceived by the nature of the wound. The surgeon noticed that the limb after the wound appears intact, but it is difficult to distinguish between bone and soft tissues. Hence, superficial wounds reveal severe internal damage, making these weapons exceptionally dangerous.

Finally, Israel Defence Forces ability in expanding the war beyond borders to initiate manipulation of information. Images from the Israel-Hamas conflict have demonstrated AIs ability to be used as a propaganda tool.

Wars after the 2020s have introduced novel weapons, frontiers, and techniques, pushing the boundaries of battlefield innovation and allowing for the real-time deployment and testing of these advancements in combat. In the Syrian conflict, Russia used the space to demonstrate its weapons and accessed the global arms market. Now Ukraine and Israel are replicating this manoeuvre to an advanced level. The limited and deceived lethality of the weapons combined with psychological techniques makes it hard to bring these innovations under the radar.

China is definitely making notes for its potential technological spectacle at Taiwan or elsewhere in the neighbourhood. Modern battlefields are no longer just theatres of conflicttheyve become testing grounds where new technologies are forged, pushing the boundaries of warfare and redefining the rules of engagement for future generations.

Pankaj Fanase is a doctoral scholar, CIPOD, at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
Apples has been working for years to expand its supply chain away from China and into India. The company is now evaluating potential suppliers to determine which components can be locally sourced read more

Tim Cook at the opening of Apple's first retail store in India, in BKC, Mumbai. Image Credit: Reuters

Apple is stepping up its efforts to shift component manufacturing to India, aiming to sidestep potential tariff hikes on Chinese imports imposed by the Trump administration. With over 40 companies reportedly in discussions to join Apples supply chain, the tech giant is making strategic moves to lower its dependency on China. These tariffs, if implemented, would significantly increase Apples costs and potentially lead to steeper iPhone prices for consumers in the United States.

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This push aligns with Apples broader strategy to diversify its supply chain while leveraging Indias growing manufacturing capabilities. The company is actively exploring partnerships with Indian suppliers across various industries, from major technology firms to electronics manufacturing services.

Apple strengthening ties with Indian suppliers

Apple has been in talks with numerous Indian companies, including electronics manufacturers like Dixon and Amber. Reports suggest the company is evaluating potential suppliers to determine which components can be locally sourced. This process, however, is no quick fix. For example, it reportedly took Aequs Group two years to progress to the trial stage for manufacturing MacBook and Apple Watch components.

Local incentives are another driving factor for Apples interest in India. Government schemes promoting electronics manufacturing are creating an attractive environment for global players to collaborate with Indian firms. These initiatives aim to onboard international technology partners, giving Apple a solid foundation for expanding its operations in the region.

Apples challenges in moving away from China

Shifting from Chinese suppliers, however, is easier said than done. For years, Apple relied heavily on China for manufacturing and sourcing. Despite its efforts to diversify, challenges remain, especially as Chinese partners face restrictions in India. Firms like BYD have been denied permission to set up facilities in the country due to ongoing geopolitical tensions and regulatory hurdles, including visa issues for Chinese workers.

Apples Chinese suppliers have also shown reluctance to move operations to India, adding to the complexity. However, the company appears determined to navigate these obstacles, leveraging incentives and partnerships to accelerate its transition.

Indias role in Apples global strategy

Apples move to expand its supply chain in India isnt a recent development. Over the years, the company has steadily worked to reduce its reliance on China. By January 2024, Apple suppliers had reportedly invested $16 billion in their efforts to diversify, benefiting countries like Vietnam alongside India. This shift has also made Apple one of the fastest-growing technology companies in India in recent decades, solidifying its position in the market.

As geopolitical tensions and tariff concerns persist, Apples strategic focus on India underscores its commitment to adapting to global challenges while strengthening its foothold in one of the worlds largest emerging markets.
Apples initial objection arose when the CCIs investigation reports allegedly disclosed sensitive commercial information to other parties, including competitors like Match Group, the parent company of Tinder read more

Apple CEO Tim Cook during one of his visits to India, meeting the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Image Credit: Reuters

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has denied Apples request to halt an investigation report that accused the tech giant of breaching competition laws. The decision allows the case, which dates back to 2021, to progress despite Apples concerns about commercial secrets being accessed by competitors. This move marks another chapter in Apples legal battles in India, where its dominance in the app store market has come under scrutiny.

Apples initial objection arose when the CCIs investigation reports allegedly disclosed sensitive commercial information to other parties, including competitors like Match Group, the parent company of Tinder. In response, the CCI ordered a recall of the original reports in August, directing parties to return them and destroy any copies. Revised versions of the reports were then issued to continue the investigation.

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Apples allegations against CCI

In November, Apple raised new concerns, accusing the primary complainant, Indian non-profit Together We Fight Society (TWFS), of not complying with the CCIs directives. Apple alleged that TWFS had failed to confirm the destruction of the original reports, which Apple argued could still be misused. The company requested the CCI to take action against TWFS and to withhold the revised investigation report.

However, the regulator dismissed Apples request, deeming it untenable, as noted in an internal order dated November 13. The rejection underscores the CCIs stance on maintaining the momentum of the investigation despite Apples attempts to delay proceedings.

Allegations of abuse of market dominance

The CCIs investigation has accused Apple of leveraging its dominant position in the iOS app store market to disadvantage app developers, users, and alternative payment processors. While Apple denies these allegations, claiming it is a relatively minor player in Indias smartphone market dominated by Android devices, the regulator has found otherwise.

The ongoing case could result in significant monetary penalties, with Apple being directed to submit audited financial statements for the fiscal years 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24. These financial disclosures will aid the CCI in determining potential fines for the alleged antitrust violations.

Next steps in the investigation

With Apples objections overruled, the investigation is moving forward. Senior officials at the CCI will now review the revised investigation report and make a final ruling on the case. The decision could have far-reaching implications for Apples operations in India, especially in light of the regulators findings that suggest Apples practices harmed competition and consumers alike.

This development highlights the increasing scrutiny faced by global tech giants in India, as the countrys regulators seek to enforce fair competition practices in a rapidly growing digital economy.
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the countrys internet regulator, wants to reshape how tech companies use recommendation algorithms to influence users, with an emphasis on preventing addiction and promoting transparency read more

This initiative builds on Chinas growing focus on algorithm regulation, which began in March 2022 when platforms were mandated to allow users to opt out of targeted content and to make their algorithms public. File Image

China has launched a new campaign to tackle the use of algorithms that drive targeted advertisements and personalised content recommendations online.

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the countrys internet regulator, announced on Sunday its plans to curb what it terms information cocoons, widely known elsewhere as echo chambers. This move wants to reshape how tech companies use recommendation algorithms to influence users, with an emphasis on preventing addiction and promoting transparency.

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The CACs directive calls for significant changes in how algorithms operate, including a ban on pushing overly similar content to users. While the campaign doesnt encourage dissent against Communist Party ideals, it sets rules to ensure users arent forced to select interest tags and prohibits the use of illegal or harmful information for personalisation. Additionally, platforms are urged to limit the collection of personal data to what is strictly necessary for recommendations.

Transparency and regulation take centre stage

A major focus of the campaign is increasing transparency around how algorithms function. Platforms will be required to disclose how they rank content, a move intended to prevent misuse for generating unwarranted hype or influence. The CAC also highlighted concerns about discriminatory pricing practices in Chinas booming e-commerce sector. Algorithms used to set prices based on factors like age, occupation, and spending habits must now adhere to stricter guidelines.

Online businesses are required to assess their practices and self-correct by the end of the year. Local authorities will begin evaluations in January, with a comprehensive government review set for mid-February. Penalties for non-compliance, while not yet specified, have been promised to reflect the severity of any violations.

A broader push for algorithm oversight

This initiative builds on Chinas growing focus on algorithm regulation, which began in March 2022 when platforms were mandated to allow users to opt out of targeted content and to make their algorithms public.

In August, regulators released details of 30 algorithms used by major tech players like Alibaba, ByteDance, Tencent, and Baidu. This rare glimpse into the workings of influential platforms was part of a broader effort to encourage regulatory scrutiny and foster positive energy across Chinas internet.

An ongoing journey

The CAC acknowledged progress since the introduction of these measures but emphasised the need for continued improvement. It stated that while the algorithm ecosystem has become more standardised, persistent issues require further attention. With this latest crackdown, China aims to refine its regulatory framework, balancing economic ambitions with tighter control over digital behaviour.

As this campaign unfolds, tech companies in China face increasing pressure to adapt their operations to align with Beijings vision of a more transparent and controlled internet environment.
The Biden administration did great in strengthening cyber security defences. However, Microsofts president and vice chair Brad Smith has been urging President-elect Trump to look at additional measures to discourage and prevent cyber threats read more

According to Microsoft many of these attacks are not only tolerated but sometimes facilitated by foreign governments, particularly in Russia. Recent accusations against China for hacking US telecom networks during election periods have further underscored the need for stronger measures. Image Credit: Reuters

Microsoft is stepping up its call for a tougher stance on cyberattacks from Russia, China, and Iran, urging former President Donald Trump to prioritise cybersecurity in international relations. Brad Smith, Microsofts president and vice chair, has emphasised the urgent need for the US to send a clear message to these nations, highlighting the increasing scale and sophistication of state-sponsored cyberattacks.

Smith has expressed concerns over a surge in ransomware and espionage campaigns targeting American businesses and government institutions. He pointed out that many of these attacks are not only tolerated but sometimes facilitated by foreign governments, particularly in Russia. Recent accusations against China for hacking US telecom networks during election periods have further underscored the need for stronger deterrence measures.

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Cybersecurity as a global priority

Smith has called for cybersecurity to take centre stage in global diplomacy, arguing that the current level of attacks is unacceptable. He acknowledged progress made under the Biden administration in strengthening defences but stressed the need for additional measures to discourage and prevent cyber threats. A Microsoft study revealed that its customers face over 600 million cyberattacks daily, with an alarming rise in collaborations between criminal groups and nation-state actors.

Testifying before the US Senate, Smith highlighted attempts by Russia, China, and Iran to interfere in global elections, including the US, through advanced digital tactics. He urged for more robust responses to dissuade such activities, warning of the long-term risks to national security and global stability.

Microsoft faces security scrutiny

Despite its advocacy for stronger cybersecurity policies, Microsoft has faced criticism for its own security lapses. A recent report by the US Cyber Safety Review Board flagged the companys inadequate security measures, citing avoidable errors that allowed Chinese hackers to breach hundreds of email accounts hosted on Microsofts cloud systems.

In response, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has pledged to prioritise security across the company, linking staff performance evaluations to cybersecurity outcomes. Additionally, Microsoft is implementing updates to its Windows operating system to improve customer resilience against attacks and recover faster from disruptions like Julys global IT outage.

Expanding the reach of US technology

Smith also urged the US government to streamline export processes for American digital technologies to remain competitive against Chinese advancements. He highlighted the need to accelerate the distribution of technologies, particularly in regions like the Middle East and Africa, while balancing export controls aimed at preventing sensitive technology from reaching adversaries.

Looking ahead, Smith noted that while the potential impact of a second Trump administration on the tech sector remains unclear, a balance between regulatory changes and global oversight will be crucial to fostering innovation and securing the digital future.
Although a ban is not currently planned, the UKs IT Minister, Peter Kyle has not ruled out the possibility in the future. The government is closely monitoring developments in other countries and assessing the impact of proposed measures read more

UK's IT Minister Peter Kyle has expressed deep concerns about the risks posed by social media, particularly cases where online activity has been linked to the deaths of young people. Image Credit: AFP

The UK government is not currently planning to implement a social media ban for under-16s, according to Peter Kyle, the Secretary of State for Science and Technology.

Despite earlier discussions and concerns raised by some parents, Kyle has stated that banning platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat for younger users is not on the cards at the moment. His comments come amid efforts to encourage social media companies to take stronger steps to protect users from online harms.

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New legislation aimed at improving online safety is set to come into effect next year. These laws will allow regulators to impose heavy fines or even prison sentences for breaches, pushing platforms to prioritise user safety. While the idea of restricting access for teenagers has been floated, Kyle made it clear that banning smartphones or social media for children is not his preferred solution.

Teenagers push back against potential restrictions

Kyles comments followed a meeting with teenagers at the NSPCC headquarters in London. During the discussion, young people shared their concerns about social media platforms, highlighting issues such as addictiveness, hacked accounts, and the challenges of reporting harmful content. However, the group opposed a ban, arguing it would negatively impact their social lives, access to support, and overall safety.

Many teens suggested that if a ban were introduced, they would likely find ways to bypass it, as seen with other restrictions like vaping. While Kyle acknowledged these concerns, he emphasised that the government remains open to examining the effectiveness of similar measures being proposed in Australia, where legislation to restrict social media for younger users is currently under discussion.

Safety concerns drive the debate

Kyle has expressed deep concerns about the risks posed by social media, particularly cases where online activity has been linked to the deaths of young people. He shared stories from parents who have called for stricter controls, urging the government to act decisively to prevent harm.

One area of progress he highlighted is the improvement in age verification technology. Kyle is optimistic about its potential to protect children, noting that even 70 per cent accuracy in such tools within a year would represent a significant step forward in safeguarding young users from harmful content.

Future considerations remain open

Although a ban is not currently planned, Kyle has not ruled out the possibility in the future. The government is closely monitoring developments in other countries and assessing the impact of proposed measures. For now, the focus remains on holding social media platforms accountable and ensuring they take greater responsibility for creating a safer online environment for all users, particularly vulnerable young people.
According to the UN report, out of the 85,000 women killed by men in 2023, 60% were murdered by a partner or family member. Africa registered the highest rates of femicides linked to intimate partners and family members, with 21,700 victims, followed by the Americas and Oceania. read more

An estimated 140 women and girls are killed daily by their partners or family members worldwide, according to new global estimates on femicide by the United Nations.

The UN Women report revealed that 85,000 women and girls were intentionally killed by men in 2023. Of these deaths, 60% (51,100) were committed by someone known to the victim. According to the findings of the report, a womans home often remains the most dangerous place for her, with most deaths occurring at the hands of intimate partners or family members.

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The report, released on the 25th anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, underscores the urgent need to address the global femicide crisis. While the total number of intentional killings of women and girls decreased from 89,000 in 2022, the report noted a rise in cases involving intimate partners and family members.

The UN agency data focused on gender equality showed that Africa had the highest rates of femicide by intimate partners or family members, with an estimated 21,700 victims in 2023. The Americas followed, with Oceania recording the next highest figures.

The epidemic of violence against women and girls shames humanity, said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his address for the day. The world must heed this call. We need urgent action for justice and accountability and support for advocacy.

According to the report, Africa recorded the highest rates of intimate partner and family-related femicides, with 21,700 women killed in 2023, followed by the Americas and Oceania.

In Europe and the Americas, most victims were killed by their intimate partners, comprising 64 per cent and 58 per cent of cases, respectively. In contrast, women in Africa and Asia were more likely to be killed by family members than by partners, reflecting varied cultural and social dynamics responsible for this discrimination.

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Despite the alarming numbers, the lack of consistent and comprehensive data remains a significant challenge.

Only 37 countries reported data on intimate partner and family-related femicides in 2023, a sharp decline from 75 countries in 2020. This data gap hampers efforts to monitor trends and enforce accountability for these crimes.

Violence against women and girls is not inevitableit is preventable, said Sima Bahous, UN Women Executive Director.

She emphasised the need for robust legislation, improved data collection, greater government accountability, a zero-tolerance culture, and increased funding for womens rights organizations and institutional bodies.

The new femicide report highlights the urgent need for strong criminal justice systems that hold perpetrators accountable while ensuring adequate support for survivors, including access to safe and transparent reporting mechanisms, added Ghada Waly, Executive Director of UNODC.

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As this years 16 Days of Activism Campaign begins, we must act now to protect womens lives, Bahous concluded.
Rescue services confirmed that 22 died at the scene and another person  a pregnant woman  succumbed after being taken to hospital, the Alagoas state government said in a statement read more

Twenty-three people died Sunday when a bus on a remote mountain road in Brazils northeastern Alagoas state dived into a ravine, regional authorities said.

Rescue services confirmed that 22 died at the scene and another person  a pregnant woman  succumbed after being taken to hospital, the Alagoas state government said in a statement.

It added that another 20 injured people were taken to the regions hospital.

The accident occurred near the town of Uniao dos Palmares.

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State governor Paulo Dantas declared on the social media platform X three days of mourning over the tragedy.

The bus went off the road in an area difficult to access, near a site in the Serra da Barriga mountain range that has historical importance to Brazilians.

In the 17th century there was a settlement there that was part of the Quilombo dos Palmares, a remote community set up by escaped slaves which ended up being crushed by Brazils Portuguese colonial masters.

November is the month Brazil celebrates Black Awareness, with a public holiday on November 20  the anniversary of the death of Zumbi, the most prominent leader of the Quilombo dos Palmares.

Brazils racial equality minister, Anielle Franco, said on X she was hit hard by news of the accident, adding this tragedy saddens us even more deeply given the Black Awareness events held in the region.
A 68-member delegation from Belarus landed in Islamabad ahead of President Alexandr Lukashenkos state visit to Pakistan. However, the foreign dignitaries came the same day PTI party workers from across the country headed to the capital to hold demonstrations despite being barred by the court and the government read more

A 68-member Belarusian delegation arrived in Pakistan as the country continues to struggle with the ongoing tussle between the ruling regime and ex-PM Imran Khans party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. According to Pakistani news outlet Dawn, the delegation touched down in Islamabad on Sunday evening, ahead of the formal state visit by Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko.

The visit came after Pakistan and Belarus agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in September, to establish a trade roadmap for 2025-2027. According to Pakistans Foreign Office, the Belarusian delegation was led by the countrys Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov.

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On the eve of the visit of the President of Belarus, a Ministerial delegation led by Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov has arrived in Islamabad. It was welcomed by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Addl Foreign Secretary Amb. Shafqat Ali Khan & Ambassador to Belarus, Sajjad Khan, the Pakistani Foreign Office wrote on X.

On the eve of the visit of the President of Belarus, a Ministerial delegation led by Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov has arrived in Islamabad. It was welcomed by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Addl Foreign Secretary Amb. Shafqat Ali Khan & Ambassador to Belarus, Sajjad Khan. pic.twitter.com/8dRplnpF21  Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) November 24, 2024

The visit is coming at a turbulent time

While the Belarusian delegation landed in Islamabad, the PTI convoys from across the country were also en route to the national capital in the much-touted power show. The supporters of the former prime minister decided to head to the capital despite a court order and the government warned against it.

The convoy started heading for Islamabad after Imran Khan issued a final call for nationwide protests on November 24. The former prime minister denounced what he described as the stolen mandate, the unjust arrests of people and the passage of the 26th amendment. He went on to call Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharifs government a dictatorial regime.

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Amid the chaos, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ruled that PTIs planned protest was unlawful and directed the federal government to take all necessary measures to maintain law and order in the capital, Dawn reported. Despite the court ruling, PTI supporters, who had set off on their journey earlier in the day, began reaching Islamabad. The party went on to claim that police are detaining its workers and using tear gas to disperse them.

These are visuals of the extreme shelling by fascist regime against own citizens at Islamabad Express!



Its absolutely disgusting and shameful how inhumanly this government is treating Pakistanis! pic.twitter.com/KIgoOozDMC  PTI (@PTIofficial) November 24, 2024

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Pakistan focuses on protecting foreign dignitaries

During the state visit, Lukashenko is expected to hold talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and discuss areas of bilateral cooperation between the two countries. According to the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), the 68-member high-level delegation includes Belaruss ministers for energy, justice, transport, natural resources, and emergencies, as well as the chairman of the Military Industry Committee and 43 prominent business personalities.

During the meeting with his Belarusian foreign minister Ryzhenkov, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi termed President Lukashenkos visit as crucial in strengthening bilateral relations between the two nations. The interior minister stressed that Pakistan greatly values its relations with Belarus and aims to enhance cooperation in various sectors.

Meanwhile, Naqvi also spoke about the looming PTI demonstrations. He mentioned that the PTI supporters were coming onto the route through which the Belarusian delegation was supposed to pass. On Thursday, Naqvi has already maintained that Protecting foreign dignitaries is our priority."

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On Sunday, he added that the interior ministry had made arrangements for the protest with deployments of personnel from the Frontier Constabulary, Rangers as well as the Islamabad and Punjab police forces, Dawn reported.

Nobody is stopping them (PTI) from protesting, but coming to Islamabad and protesting when a foreign delegation is visiting  during such an important time for the country  the public can reach the conclusion that this is a terrible idea, Naqvi added.

Pakistans struggle to save itself from embarrassment

This is not the first time Pakistan has faced turbulence while foreign dignitaries are arriving in the country. Ahead of the recent SCO Summit which was being hosted by Islamabad, two Chinese nationals were killed and several were injured in a massive explosion outside Pakistans Karachi airport.

In the past, Chinese citizens have been victims of several terrorist attacks in Pakistan. Many in Balochistan have expressed discomfort with the presence of Chinese nationals in the country, claiming that they are taking up resources that belong to the locals.

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Following the incident, the Pakistani authorities curbed movements of Chinese citizens within the country during the summit. Ahead of the arrival of the Belarusian delegation, the country was also marred by violence Sectarian violence which led to the death over 150 people in recent months. While the Pakistani authorities tried to curb the situation by introducing a seven-day ceasefire, the whole saga raises questions whether the country is safe for foreign delegations.
Balasubramanian Ramesh, a 73-year-old Indian national, has been handed seven molestation charges by a district court after he was accused of molesting four women in a Singapore Airlines flight between the US and Singapore read more

An elderly man, 73-year-old Indian national Balasubramanian Ramesh has been slapped with seven molestation charges on Monday for molesting four women on a Singapore Airlines flight.

Balasubramanian is said to have molested one victim four times and targeted the three others once each, a report by The Straits Times said.

What has happened?

The alleged crime took place on November 18 during the United States-Singapore flight between 3:15 am and 5:50 pm .

Balasubramanian allegedly molested the first victim around 3:15 am and the second victim about five minutes later.

As per the report, Balasubramanian molested the second woman three more times between 3:30 and 6:00 am.

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Around 9:30 am, he is said to have outraged the modesty of a third woman and allegedly molested a fourth woman around 5:30 pm on the same day.

Whats next?

Balasubramanian, who has been handed over molestation charges in a district court on Monday (November 25), is expected to plead guilty on December 13.

Under Singaporean law, an offender can face up to three years in prison, along with fines or caning for each count of molestation.

However, Ramesh will not face caning due to his age, as he is over 50 years old.

With inputs from agencies.
After Netanyahus in principle approval of the Hezbollah ceasefire deal, the Israeli cabinet is set to convene on Tuesday to discuss its formal approval, according to a report, citing a senior Israeli official read more

A view shows the moment of an Israeli strike on a building, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezollah and Israeli forces, in the Chiyah district of Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, on Monday. Reuters

The Israeli cabinet will convene on Tuesday to approve a Lebanon ceasefire deal, according to a Reuters report, citing senior Israeli official on Monday.

Another Israeli official told Reuters the cabinet would convene to discuss a deal that could be cemented in the coming days.

Earlier on Sunday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the emerging ceasefire deal with Hezbollah in principle during a security consultation with Israeli officials.

According to CNN, citing a source, Israel still has reservations over some details of the agreement, which were expected to be transmitted to the Lebanese government on Monday.

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Details are still being negotiated, and multiple sources emphasised that the agreement will not be finalised until all issues are resolved.

The ceasefire agreement also requires approval from the Israeli cabinet, which has not yet taken place, added the report.

Sources close to the negotiations said talks are progressing positively, but cautioned that with ongoing exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah, a single misstep could derail the discussions, reported CNN.

US envoy Amos Hochstein said in Beirut last week that a ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon was within our grasp, but ultimately, it would be the decision of the parties.

During his meetings with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who acts as the interlocutor with Hezbollah in the talks, Hochstein described the discussions as constructive and very good in narrowing the gaps between the parties.

We have a real opportunity to bring the conflict to an end, he had said.

The window is now, he said.

Hochstein left Lebanon for Israel on Wednesday to push for the finalisation of the negotiations.

The US-backed proposal seeks a 60-day cessation of hostilities, which some hope could serve as the foundation for a lasting ceasefire.

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On Sunday, CNN and Axios reported that Hochstein had warned the Israeli ambassador to Washington on Saturday that if Israel did not respond positively to the ceasefire proposal in the coming days, he would withdraw from the mediation efforts.

Hochsteins trip followed Beiruts positive response to the US-backed proposal to halt the conflict, with Mikati confirming that significant parts of the draft agreement had been resolved.

The conflict escalated in mid-September when Israel launched a major military offensive in Lebanon after months of border attacks, beginning on October 8 of the previous year when Hezbollah attacked Israeli-controlled territory in solidarity with Hamas and Palestinians in Gaza.

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Since then, Israel has carried out a ground invasion, killed several Hezbollah leadersincluding one of its founders, Hassan Nasrallahand inflicted significant casualties, with thousands injured in attacks that included exploding pagers.

With inputs from agencies
Russia has roped in as many as 10,000 North Korean soldiers to fight in the war against Ukraine. Has it now roped in Houthi-controlled Yemen as well? read more

Russia has duped hundreds of Yemeni men into fighting its war against Ukraine, according to a report.

This makes Yemenis the latest bunch of foreign fighters that Russia has roped in to fight Ukraine. So far, Russia has deployed up to 10,000 North Korean soldiers and several Indian and Nepali nationals some of them fraudulently to fight its war against Ukraine.

The Financial Times has reported that Russia has recruited hundreds of Yemeni men to fight in Ukraine via a Houthi generals company on the false pretext of providing civilian jobs and even citizenship.

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Similar promises were made to Indian men who were fraudulently recruited by Russia to fight in Ukraine.

Houthi commander recruits Yemenis for Russia: Report

Yemeni men recruited by Russia were contracted by a company registered in Oman, according to FT.

The newspaper reported that an Oman-based company, Al Jabri General Trading & Investment Co SPC, founded by Abdulwali Abdo Hassan al-Jabri, recruited these men. Al-Jabri is a well-known Houthi politician and commander.

The newspaper reported a recruit named Nabil as saying that the company, which describes itself as a tour and retail supplier of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, employed people on the pretext of providing jobs in security and engineering sectors. He said that he was part of a batch of 200 men recruited by the company in September. The newspaper reported that the recruitment began as early as in July.

Once they arrived in Russia, they were shipped to Ukraines forests to fight in the war.

We are under bombardment. Mines, drones, digging bunkers, the newspaper reported one of the men as saying in a video he shared.

The men in the video said they were carrying wooden planks through a mine-infested forest, reported the newspaper.

What do warming Houthi-Russia ties mean?

Russias recruitment of Yemeni men in the war against Ukraine is the latest sign of growing synergy between Russia and Iran  Houthis are backed by Iran and are part of the anti-Israel and anti-US Axis of Resistance in West Asia.

For its war on Ukraine, Russia has procured armed drones from Iran to attack Ukraine throughout the war. The partnership is part of a broader bloc comprising Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. These nations not just aid each-other in conflicts but are also working together as an anti-West bloc.

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While Iran has provided armed drones to Russia, North Korea has been said to have provided Russia with missiles and ammunition and China has also been accused of providing drones and a host of dual-use technology. As Western sanctions affected Russias imports and exports, China came to its rescue and has acquired a critical role in keeping its economy afloat.

It is not just these parties that have aided Russia, but Russia has also aided them. There have been reports that Houthis have been procuring small arms and advanced missiles from Russia. These talks have reportedly been brokered by Iran and involve well-known arms dealer Viktor Bout, infamously known as Merchant of Death.

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Days after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for a death sentence for him read more

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that an arrest warrant is not enough for Israeli Prime Benjamin Netanyahu.

Instead of an arrest warrant, a death sentence must be issued for Netanyahu, said Khamenei on Monday in a speech to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) personnel.

Khameneis remarks come days after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrant for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over the Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip. They are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

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What the Zionists did is a war crime. They issued an arrest warrant for him [Netanyahu]. This is not enough. Death sentence for Netanyahu must be issued. Death sentence for these criminal leaders must be issued, said Khamenei in Persian, according to IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency.

Iran considers Israel along with the United States to be a fundamental enemy. It is committed to the destruction of Israel and supports a vast network of anti-Israel armed groups across the region which it calls the Axis of Resistance. These groups include Gaza-based Hamas, Lebanon-based Hezbollah, and Yemen-based Houthis, among others, which are at war with Israel at the moment.

In the speech to IRGCs Basij branch, Khamenei said that the IRGC will finally destroy the Zionist regime in one day, according to the English translation of his remarks.

Khamenei further said that Israel is not winning the war but is instead strengthening the Iranian-sponsored Axis of Resistance with its actions.

Bombing peoples homes in Gaza and Lebanon is not a victory. Fools should not think that because they bomb peoples homes, hospitals, and peoples gatherings, they have won  no. No one considers this a victory. The enemy has not won in Gaza and Lebanon. The enemy will not win in Gaza and LebanonThe crimes of the Zionist regime, both in Lebanon, Gaza, and Palestine, are the opposite of what they want, that is, they strengthen and intensify the resistance. This is a general rule. It has no going back, said Khamenei in Persia.

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While Khamenei spoke about arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, he did not comment on the arrest warrant for Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif.

Last week, along with Netanyahu and Gallant, the ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Deif. The ICC said it found reasonable ground to conclude that Deif was responsible for the following crimes during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023: crimes against humanity of murder; extermination; torture; and rape and other form of sexual violence; as well as the war crimes of murder, cruel treatment, torture; taking hostages; outrages upon personal dignity; and rape and other form of sexual violence.

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As for Netanyahu and Gallant, the ICC said it found reasonable grounds to believe they bore criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.

The ICC further said it found that hostages taken by Hamas, predominantly women, were subjected to sexual and gender-based violence, including forced penetration, forced nudity, and humiliating and degrading treatment during captivity in Gaza.
Namibias SWAPO party is facing its toughest election yet, as young voters and strong opposition are threatening its 34-year rule read more

Namibians will vote on Wednesday in what is expected to be the most competitive election yet for the ruling SWAPO party, which has governed the southern African nation for 34 years.

If SWAPO candidate Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah wins, she will become the countrys first female president. A SWAPO loss would mean the first transition of power to a new party since Namibia gained independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.

High unemployment, corruption allegations and inequality have eroded SWAPOs support, which fell to 56 per cent in the 2019 presidential election from 87 per cent in 2014. There are no reliable polls on how it might fare this time.

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The frontrunner among 14 opposition candidates is Panduleni Itula, a former dentist who won 29 per cent of votes in 2019 after splitting from SWAPO and now leads a new political party, the Independent Patriots for Change.

Namibians vote separately for members of parliament and for the president, who needs more than 50 per cent of votes to win.

This will be the most challenging and significant election after the first one of 1989, Rui Tyitende, a lecturer at the University of Namibia, said.

He said the outcome would largely hinge on the turnout of young voters, who make up more than half the electorate and are more likely to back the opposition.

Young people are disproportionately affected by unemployment, poverty and consumed with a deep sense of hopelessness, Tyitende said.

If they do not pitch, SWAPO will win.

Independence-era parties challenged

Namibia is currently led by interim president Nangolo Mbumba, who took over in February after the death of former president Hage Geingob but is not contesting the election.

Namibia is an upper-middle-income country but has high levels of poverty and inequality, according to the World Bank.

A 2021 government report found that 43 per cent of the population were living in multidimensional poverty, a measure that takes into account income as well as access to education and public services among other factors.

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Namibia ranks second in the world for income inequality after neighbouring South Africa, World Bank figures show. Both countries spent decades under white minority rule.

SWAPO has struggled to distance itself from corruption scandals, although Nandi-Ndaitwah has never been implicated. Two former ministers are still on trial in the fishrot case, a major bribery scandal that surfaced in 2019.

There is a possibility that the ruling party SWAPO could face a fate similar to the ANC in South Africa or the BDP in Botswana, political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah said.

South Africas African National Congress (ANC) lost its parliamentary majority in May and was forced into a coalition after 30 years in power, while the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) lost an October election which ended its 58-year rule.

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Across southern Africa, independence-era parties are contending with a younger population that does not remember the liberation struggle and is more likely to judge them on their record of service delivery and job creation, analysts say.

On SWAPOs side are its deep roots in rural areas, well-established party machinery and the legacy of its fight against apartheid which still resonates with some voters, Kamwanyah said.

Election observers have generally said past polls in Namibia were fair and credible.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff.)
Protesters targeted Dhaka National Medical College Hospital, accusing it of negligence in the death of a student. Protesters broke gates and shattered glass panes at the hospital. The unrest spread to the surrounding areas, with students looting showrooms near Suhrawardy College. Following this, the authorities deployed army personnel to secure colleges, hostels and places of worship across Dhaka. read more

Bangladesh witnessed renewed unrest as hundreds of students from various colleges staged protests, vandalising Shahid Suhrawardy College, following the death of a medical student.

Students from Dr. Mahbubur Rahman Molla College accused the Dhaka National Medical College and Hospital (DNMCH) of medical negligence in the treatment of 18-year-old Abhijit Halder, who succumbed to dengue on November 18.

Protesters, armed with sticks, gathered at the hospitals main gate and shattered glass panes at the hospital. However, after incidents of looting, additional police and army personnel were deployed to manage the escalating tensions.

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According to Dr. Rezaul Haque, Deputy Director of DNMCH, Abhijit was admitted with dengue on November 16 and received treatment in the medicine department. His condition worsened, leading to his transfer to the ICU after consultations with specialists and his guardian. Despite all efforts, he passed away two days later. Dr. Haque said that the hospital suspended billing and facilitated the bodys handover to the family.

Simultaneously, violence erupted at Suhrawardy College, where students from Suhrawardy and Kabi Nazrul Colleges clashed with outsiders. The attackers caused significant damage to vehicles, classrooms, and offices. The unrest interrupted a first-year exam being conducted at Suhrawardy College, which was suspended for security reasons.

The protests echo the nations recent turmoil, including violent demonstrations last month over reserved quotas in government jobs, which resulted in at least 150 deaths and thousands of injuries.
A Lithuanian medic takes a photo on his mobile phone of the wreckage of a cargo plane following its crash near the Vilnius International Airport in Vilnius on November 25, 2024. AFP

Is it another ill-fated Boeing plane or is it a case of Russian sabotage? Conspiracy theories and wild guesses are abuzz on the internet after a DHL cargo plane crash-landed into a residential building today in Vilnius, killing the pilot and injuring three crew members. The Boeing 737-400, operated by Swiftair and leased by DHL, was en route from Leipzig in Germany to Vilnius when it struck a two-story house on Zirniu Street igniting a massive fire that lit up the Lithuanian capitals dawn sky.

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The dozen residents of the building were safely evacuated, while fire crews from nearby Vilnius Airport quickly arrived to contain the blaze. Lithuanian intelligence services are on the scene investigating the crash. No immediate cause has been identified.

A pattern of sabotage?

The incident comes amid heightened security concerns following a series of mysterious explosions at DHL warehouses earlier this year in Leipzig, Germany and in Birmingham, UK. Reports suggest that these explosions may be part of a covert Russian sabotage campaign targeting Western air freight operations.

According to media reports citing intelligence sources, incendiary devices disguised as electric massagers with magnesium-based flammable substances were smuggled into freight networks. German authorities narrowly averted disaster when one such device ignited at a Leipzig facility before being loaded onto a plane. Similar incidents in Birmingham triggered counterterrorism investigations, pointing to a coordinated effort aimed at destabilising logistics operations and instilling fear.

Vilnius crash: Suspicious timing?

While there is no official confirmation linking todays crash to suspected sabotage, the Lithuanian investigation in all likelihood consider this angle. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that devices linked to the earlier DHL warehouse fires had been traced to Lithuania, adding to suspicions of a broader Russian strategy to disrupt Western cargo and passenger aviation.

Western intelligence agencies have been increasingly vocal about Russias unconventional warfare tactics. According to The Moscow Times, British MI6 Chief Richard Moore warned in September of feral behaviour by Russian intelligence services emphasising their shift from traditional espionage to acts of sabotage and disinformation.

Brandon Fried, Executive Director of the Airforwarders Association told Business Insider that the air cargo industry has remained on high alert since the 9/11 attacks.

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Germanys domestic intelligence agency, BfV, and NATO have identified Russian sabotage as a growing threat. This extends beyond aviation, with incidents of arson and even assassination attempts tied to Kremlin-linked operatives. Earlier this year, German authorities thwarted a reported Russian plot to assassinate the CEO of arms manufacturer Rheinmetall.

Kremlin denies allegations

The Kremlin has consistently dismissed claims of sabotage as part of a hybrid war narrative propagated by NATO and Western nations. Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, labelled the allegations as provocative and part of an orchestrated campaign against Russia.

Canada recently joined the chorus of concern, citing fears over Russian sabotage attempts targeting civilian airlines. Canadas Transport Minister Anita Anand pledged to take additional steps to safeguard passengers and cargo, The Moscow Times reported.

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Implications for the air cargo industry

The air cargo sector, critical to global logistics, now faces an unprecedented convergence of physical and cyber threats. As Lithuania investigates the Vilnius crash, the world awaits to know the root cause of the accident.
For the son of a president-elect, Trump has already had an outsized impact on the next White House. He lobbied hard for the former president to choose his good friend, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, to be his running mate. read more

Michael Boulos and his wife Tiffany Trump, Lara Trump, Eric Trump and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump listen as Donald Trump Jr., speaks at a campaign rally at Van Andel Arena, Nov. 5, 2024, in Grand Rapids, Mich. File Image- AP

When President-elect Donald Trump recently hosted a casual meeting aboard his plane with House Speaker Mike Johnson, Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump Jr. was seated at the center of the high-profile gathering, flanked by McDonalds burgers and fries.

The photo of the gathering, widely circulated online highlights Trump Jr.s growing influence within his fathers political circle and positions him as a key figure in the Make America Great Again movement.

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Trump Jr. has already played a significant role in shaping the incoming administration, including lobbying for Ohio Senator JD Vance, a close friend, to be selected as his fathers running mate.

I exerted 10,000% of my political capital, Trump Jr. said of his effort in an interview with Tucker Carlson on the night of the election. I may get a favor from my father in like, 2076. I used it all.

As an honorary chair of the Republican president-elects transition team, Donald Trump Jr. holds a pivotal role in shaping the next administration. Part of the core group selecting candidates for key positions, his influence is already evident.

Trump Jr. notably championed former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who has been tapped to serve as Director of National Intelligence, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., poised to head the Department of Health and Human Services.

Another close ally, Sergio Gor, will be running the personnel office. He and Trump Jr. run a publishing company, Winning Team Publishing, which has published two of the former presidents books.

The younger Trump has said he has no plans to join his fathers administration in the way his younger sister Ivanka Trump did during the first Trump term. His brother Eric is also an honorary chair of the transition but hasnt been as much of a political player. Erics wife Lara has been more involved, serving as co-chair of the Republican National Committee.

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Trump Jr. is expected to continue to be a vocal supporter of his father and his agenda and has made it clear he wants to be an influential voice from the outside, AP reported citing a person familiar with his thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning.

The president-elects style  brash, indelicate and pugilistic  is distilled in his son. Donald Trump Jr. often takes a more aggressive tack than his father, in his calls for disrupting government as usual, in the way he dives into the culture wars with gusto and in his enthusiasm for trolling.

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Hes probably the best embodiment of the take-no-crap attitude of the Republican Party, said Scott Jennings, a Republican political strategist.

Trump Jr.s attitude and the way he communicates dont make him sound like a regular political figure, Jennings said, and thats part of the appeal.

I think thats one thing about the Trumps that is probably broadly true but certainly for him: They just dont participate in the normal political pablum that sort of pre-Trump politicians were schooled in or trained to do.

The 46-year-old is fluent in the online world of conservative politics and attuned to cultural issues that catch on with the MAGA faithful.

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The posts on Trumps X account, where he has more than 13 million followers, are often peppered with exclamation points and emojis. On Instagram, he is a prolific poster of conservative memes.

He flexes between interviews on established media outlets like Fox News and an array of podcasts influential among young conservatives, and he hosts his own twice a week, Triggered With Don Jr. During the campaign, he pushed for the former president to make appearances on podcasts as part of an effort to reach young men, including the popular Joe Rogan podcast.

Trump Jr.s aggressive style has particular appeal with younger men.

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I think thats one of the reasons a lot of these young men like it because thats how they talk, Jennings said.

Trump Jr. has said he has no plans to run for office himself, but hes been working to cultivate the next generation of his fathers movement, boosting like-minded, communication-savvy Republicans.

Beyond his political activity, the father of five also serves as executive vice president at the Trump organizations main family business, has launched a new crypto platform and recently announced hes joining a venture capital firm that invests in conservative-focused businesses.

In an earlier time, Trump Jr. appeared with his father on The Apprentice, the reality show that helped propel the billionaires first presidential campaign. When Donald Trump launched his White House bid in 2015 and faced skepticism from swaths of the Republican Party, Trump Jr.s outreach helped his father win more support, especially among conservatives who saw someone who espoused their views and as an avid hunter and fisherman who is a staunch supporter of the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms.

Hes been increasingly visible in Republican politics since then, campaigning not just for his father but for like-minded candidates. He was a backer of Vance in his 2022 Ohio Senate race, nudging his father to do the same, and this year threw his support heavily behind successful Republican Senate candidates Jim Banks in Indiana, Bernie Moreno in Ohio and Tim Sheehy in Montana.

Trump helped broker a relationship with Kennedy as the Democrat-turned-independent suspended his presidential campaign, working to bring him into the MAGA fold and endorse his father. He floated the idea of Kennedy joining the administration early, saying in an interview with conservative host Glenn Beck that I loved the idea, of Kennedy joining a Trump White House.

I love the idea of giving him some sort of role in some sort of major three-letter entity or whatever it may be and let him blow it up, Trump Jr. said, a reference to the many initials for government agencies.

The two hit it off, and Trump Jr., an avid outdoorsman, shared images on social media in October of a day he spent with Kennedy enjoying the latters favored hobby: falconry.

The choice of anti-vaccine activist Kennedy to run the nations public health agencies is sure to draw tough scrutiny during confirmation proceedings in the Senate, even with a Republican majority,

Trump Jr., in a recent interview on Fox News, acknowledged some of his fathers choices will face pushback.

They are going to be actual disrupters, he said. Thats what the American people want.

With inputs from agencies.
Egyptian authorities rescued 28 people after a tourist boat sank off its Red Sea coast, the Red Sea Governorate said in a statement on Monday, as a search continued for the 17 remaining passengers and crew read more

Egyptian authorities rescued 28 people after a tourist boat sank off its Red Sea coast, the Red Sea Governorate said in a statement on Monday, as a search continued for the 17 remaining passengers and crew.

The boat, Sea Story, was carrying 45 people, including 31 tourists of varying nationalities and 14 crew, on a multi-day diving trip when it went down near the coastal town of Marsa Alam, according to a separate statement by the governorate.

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Egyptian armed forces frigates and aircraft swept the area to try to locate the missing, but by 5:00 pm (1500 GMT) the search had been paused for the night, a government source said.

The governorate said a distress call was received at 5:30 a.m. (0330 GMT) and that the boat had departed from Porto Ghalib in Marsa Alam on Sunday, with plans to return to Hurghada Marina on November 29.

Red Sea governor Amr Hanafi did not give information on the nationalities of the tourists, but Polish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pawel Wronski told state news agency PAP that two people on board may have Polish citizenship.

The Red Sea is a popular diving destination renowned for its coral reefs and marine life and is important for Egypts vital tourism industry.

Hanafi said that the boat likely sank near the Sataya Reef, without giving further information.

The Egyptian Red Sea Ports Authority said in a statement it had closed maritime traffic in the area on Sunday noon when the wind speed reached 34 knots and wave height reached 3-4 metres (10-13 ft).

This is the second boat to sink in the same area this year. In June, a boat sank after it suffered severe damage from strong waves, the Environment Ministry said at the time. No casualties were reported.

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Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was tormented by Brexit, calling it humiliating for the EU. In her 700-page memoir, she mentioned how she tried to negotiate with ex-UK PM David Cameron to keep the country within the regional body read more

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she was tormented by the results of the Brexit referendum, calling it a humiliation for the European Union. The remarks from the German politician were featured in her 700-page autobiography, titled Freedom. In the book, which is scheduled to be published on Tuesday, the former German Chancellor said that she might have done more to help British Prime Minister David Cameron, who was keen to stay in the EU.

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However, she went on to claim that Cameron only had himself to blame for the whole ordeal. Merkel, who left the office three years ago, said that she saw Brexit coming the moment Cameron asked Conservative MEPs to leave the European Peoples Party. The Tory leaders eventually left the party over the parliamentary alliances backing of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009.

The treaty introduced numerous changes to the regional body, which many anti-European critics claimed to be undemocratic. According to the excerpt of the memoir obtained by The Guardian, Merkel recalled the negotiations she had with Cameron to keep the UK in the EU and insisted that she felt deflated when she saw the result of the referendum and the subsequent deal which was drawn out.

Brexit was a humiliation for EU: Merkel

In her memoir, Merkel emphasised that Brexit was humiliating for the EU and claimed that the United Kingdom left the regional body in the lurch. To me, the result felt like a humiliation, a disgrace for us, the other members of the European Union - the United Kingdom was leaving us in the lurch. This changed the European Union in the view of the world; we were weakened, she said.

She insisted that she tried wherever possible to help David Cameron, despite risking the ire of other EU leaders who she claimed had already distanced themselves from him. My support of him rendered me an outsider with my other colleagues  The impact of the euro crisis was still lingering, and I was also repeatedly accused of stinginess, she added.

She recalled the 2016 summit during which an agreement was expected to be reached over the UKs renegotiation of demands to stay in the EU. I steadfastly remained by David Camerons side for an entire evening. In this way, I was able to prevent his complete isolation in the council and eventually move the others to back down. I did this because I knew from various discussions with Cameron that where the domestic policy was concerned, he had no room for manoeuvre whatsoever, she wrote.

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The point where Merkel could no longer help Cameron

In the memoir, Merkel maintained that there came a time when she could not help the erstwhile British premier. She argued that the UK made a mistake after it did not impose restrictions on Eastern European workers once 10 new countries joined the bloc in May 2004. She claimed that the Labour government, which was in power at that time, grossly underestimated the number of people who would arrive in the country.

The influx of migrants eventually gave the EU sceptics the opportunity to put the bodys freedom of movement in a negative light. She pointed out how France and Germany introduced a gradual phase-in of Eastern Europeans rights to work, not giving them full access to their labour markets until 2011. She mentioned that Camerons pledge in 2005 for the Conservatives to leave the EPP was the initial nail in the coffin.

He, therefore, from the very beginning, put himself in the hands of those who were sceptical about the European Union, and was never able to escape this dependency, she writes. She went on to conclude that Brexit demonstrated in textbook fashion the consequences that can arise when theres a miscalculation from the very start.

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However, Merkel mentioned that she was pained by the idea that she couldnt do enough for the UK to stay in the EU. After the referendum, I was tormented by whether I should have made even more concessions toward the UK to make it possible for them to remain in the community, she averred.

I came to the conclusion that, in the face of the political developments taking place at the time within the country, there wouldnt have been any reasonable way of my preventing the UKs path out of the European Union as an outsider. Even with the best political will, mistakes of the past could not be undone, the former German Chancellor added.

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Equality Minister Salima Saa unveiled a raft of initiatives two days after tens of thousands of people staged new demonstrations in French cities against violence targeting women, where protesters denounced government actions as window-dressing. read more

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a summit on violence against women, hosted at 10 Downing Street, in central London, on November 25, 2024. - Image- AFP

France on Monday announced a new campaign to combat violence against women, with a focus on raising awareness about the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse. The move follows widespread public outrage over a mass rape trial and criticism of the governments efforts to address such crimes.

The measures were unveiled by Equality Minister Salima Saa just days after tens of thousands protested across French cities, accusing the government of superficial responses to gender-based violence.

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The case of Dominique Pelicot, a 71-year-old on trial for orchestrating the repeated drugging and rape of his wife by dozens of strangers over nearly a decade, has drawn national condemnation. Pelicot along with 50 other men is facing charges, though many co-defendants have denied involvement.

There will be a before Mazan, and an after Mazan just like there was a before and after #MeToo, Saa said during an interview with broadcaster Franceinfo.

But advocates are calling for more far-reaching measures, including a dedicated 2.6 billion euro ($2.7 billion) budget and a stronger legal framework to tackle the problem.

The government will extend the network of hospitals where victims can report an incident from 236 to 377 by the end of 2025, Saa said, marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

A woman will be able to lodge a complaint at all hospitals with an emergency department and a gynaecological service, she said.

Focus on drugs

Saa also announced an awareness campaign about the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse, which she called a new scourge.

As part of the campaign, a helpline can provide answers and advice and tell you which laboratory to go to, what to do with your hair, blood, and urine tests, Saa said.

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Prime Minister Michel Barnier said on Monday France will reimburse the purchase of drug detection kits in several areas of France on a trial basis, though he did not offer a timeline for its implementation.

The budget for emergency assistance to help victims of domestic violence leave their homes will increase from 13 million euros to 20 million in 2025, a measure that has benefited 33,000 people since it was introduced at the end of 2023.

We have succeeded in obtaining a 10-percent increase in the budget devoted to gender equality, totalling 85.1 million euros, Saa said.

But that number falls far short of demands coming from womens rights associations, which are calling for 2.6 billion euros and a comprehensive legal framework to replace current legislation that advocates say is fragmented and incomplete.

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During his first term as president, Emmanuel Macron vowed to work to eliminate violence against women, a message Saa reiterated, calling it the great cause of his presidency.

In 2023, police recorded more than 110,000 victims of sexual violence  85 percent of them women.

Since the start of the year, 122 women have been killed, according to the feminist group NousToutes (All of us Women).

With inputs from agencies.
The first session on Monday afternoon was dedicated to the situation in the West Asia and the Red Sea, notably efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon. read more

The G7 foreign ministers met near Rome on Monday for two days of discussions with regional counterparts focusing on West Asia and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The Group of Seven ministers also discussed the International Criminal Courts arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamass military chief as well as the potential impact of these developments on the crises in Lebanon and Gaza.

The first session on Monday afternoon was dedicated to the situation in the West Asia and the Red Sea, notably efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon.

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A later session was to include ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as well as the secretary general of the Arab League.

The G7 talks come amid political uncertainty following Donald Trumps US election win.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken participated in the talks alongside ministers from the UK, Canada, Germany, France, and Japan, with Italys Antonio Tajani hosting the discussions.

Unity is our strength at the moment, Im referring above all to relations with the Russian Federation, Tajani said as he kicked off the meeting.

Strength does not mean a fortress. In fact, I have invited other countries to the meetings which will take place this afternoon and tomorrow, in order to have a broader and more concrete discussion, he said.

On the second day of talks on Tuesday, the discussion will turn to Ukraine in the presence of the war-torn countrys foreign minister, Andriy Sybiga.

Officials will discuss ways to continue supporting Kyiv, prospects for peace and initiatives for future reconstruction, Italian officials said.

The same day in Brussels, ambassadors from NATO countries and Ukraine will hold talks over Russias firing of an experimental hypersonic intermediate-range missile.

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As the G7 meeting began, Britains Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Fiuggi announced the UKs biggest sanctions package yet against Russias shadow fleet, used by Moscow to circumvent export and oil embargoes to fund its war against Ukraine.

Tensions in the Asia-Pacific are also on the agenda at the G7 meeting, and the Italians have invited foreign ministers from South Korea, India, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The G7 ministers are also expected to discuss the ongoing crises in Haiti and Sudan, as well as the political situation in Venezuela.

The ICC issued warrants against Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant as well as Hamas Mohammed Deif on Thursday, in response to accusations of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Israels war on Hamas in Gaza, triggered by the militant Palestinian groups October 7, 2023 attack.

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Israel and its allies denounced the decision, but it was welcomed by Turkey and rights groups.

Several countries have said they would comply with the ICC warrants and arrest Netanyahu should he enter their soil, while other nations were still considering their response to the decision.

With inputs from agencies.
HRW called on the international community to urgently increase funding to support a response that improves security while respecting human rights read more

While fighting between criminal groups in Haiti decreased during 2024, attacks on civilians have risen, including an expanded use of horrific sexual abuse, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch.

Criminal groups have often used sexual violence to instill fear in rival territories, the New York-based group says.

The rule of law in Haiti is so broken that members of criminal groups rape girls or women without fearing any consequences, according to HRW researcher Nathalye Cotrino.

HRW said it conducted scores of in-person and remote interviews with survivors of sexual abuse in the impoverished Caribbean nation, as well as with officials and rights and humanitarian workers.

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It said that from January to October of this year, nearly 4,000 girls and women reported sexual violence, including gang rape.

And it cited UN research showing cases involving children were up 1,000 percent from the 2023 period.

The bandits dont care about their age, one aid worker said. They rape because they have the power. Sometimes they do it for days or weeks, leaving some survivors pregnant  in a country that bans abortion  or injured without access to care.

One 25-year-old mother said she was gang-raped by four men while looking for water for her children.

They didnt used to do this, but now they do whatever they want, she said.

Rape has become so normalized that most women who come to us say, They raped me, but at least they didnt kill me, one humanitarian worker is quoted as saying.

The escalating violence has left the health system on the brink of collapse.

Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF and which long provided free emergency care across Haitis capital city Port-au-Prince, suspended service there following attacks on its personnel as well as death and rape threats against MSF staff from members of the Haitian National Police.

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The latter attacks followed allegations that MSF provided medical support to criminal groups. The organization says it provides care to everyone based solely on medical needs.

HRW called on the international community to urgently increase funding to support a response that improves security while respecting human rights.

Among other steps, it urges the government to decriminalize abortion; provide adequate support for abuse victims; and discipline police officers who have threatened the MSF.
Lawmakers in the US House of Representatives have urged Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to rethink ties with Hong Kongs banking sector, citing concerns that the city is increasingly becoming a hub for money laundering and sanctions evasion, according to a report read more

An evening view of the financial central district of Hong Kong, China on October 3, 2023. Reuters File

Lawmakers in the US House of Representatives have urged Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to rethink ties with Hong Kongs banking sector, citing concerns that the city is increasingly becoming a hub for money laundering and sanctions evasion.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, the bipartisan leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party in a letter to Yellen said Hong Kong has turned into a major centre for the export of controlled Western technology to Russia; the creation of front companies to buy Iranian oil; the managing of ghost ships that serve North Korea, as well as other violations of US trade controls.

The letter, set to be publicly released on Monday, was signed by Rep. John Moolenaar, a Republican from Michigan and committee chair, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois and the committees ranking member.

Hong Kong has shifted from a trusted global financial center to a critical player in the deepening authoritarian axis of the Peoples Republic of China, Iran, Russia and North Korea, WSJ quoted the lawmakers as saying in the letter.

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We must now question whether longstanding US policy towards Hong Kong, particularly towards its financial and banking sector, is appropriate, the lawmakers added.

The letter cited research that shows nearly 40% of goods shipped from Hong Kong to Russia in 2023 were high-priority items such as semiconductors that Russia could use to prosecute its war in Ukraine, WSJ reported.

Meanwhile, a Hong Kong government spokesman dismissed allegations that the city is a money-laundering hub, emphasising its strong enforcement system to prevent the illegal diversion of strategic commodities.

A representative for Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen did not respond to a comment request, added the report.

Reps. Moolenaar and Krishnamoorthi, who lead a committee focused on US-China competition, have asked Treasury for details on its efforts to combat money-laundering and sanctions evasion involving Hong Kongs financial system.

Hong Kongs status as a global financial hub is increasingly questioned as Beijing tightens its control, leading to an exodus of expatriates. The US has condemned Hong Kongs crackdown on dissidents under a stringent national security law, though Western banks continue operations there.

Last week, Hong Kong courts sentenced pro-democracy advocates for subversion under the law, prompting calls from the Biden administration for their release. Hong Kong officials rejected criticism of the proceedings.

At a Hong Kong financial summit that same day, global banking leaders, including Goldman Sachs David Solomon, Citis Jane Fraser, and State Streets Ronald OHanley, attended but did not publicly address the court sentences.

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Earlier this month, Moolenaar and Krishnamoorthi urged the Biden administration to sanction Hong Kong officials involved in the detention of human-rights activists.

With inputs from agencies
Moscow plans to build more than 600 planes by 2030 to replace ageing Boeing and Airbus models, but it is not clear how many it has built or to what extent it has been able to scale up production. read more

Russias largest aircraft manufacturer announced significant leadership changes on Monday as the countrys aviation sector faces challenges in meeting the urgent deadlines to boost domestic production amidst sanctions.

Moscow aims to produce over 600 aircraft by 2030 to replace aging Boeing and Airbus models, but progress remains unclear, with limited information on the number of planes manufactured or the extent of production ramp-up.

Western sanctions have severely restricted Russias ability to service or acquire new aircraft from Boeing and Airbus. According to the Kommersant newspaper, half of Russias Airbus Neo fleet is grounded due to difficulties in repairing engines.

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The state-owned United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) announced it would assume managerial control of its subsidiaries, Yakovlev and Tupolev, to accelerate the mass production of domestic civil airliners within a drastically short timeframe.

Both Yakovlev and Tupolev, which produce civilian aircraft, were merged into UAC under directives from President Vladimir Putin.

Andrey Boginsky, the CEO of Yakovlev, and Konstantin Timofeev, Managing Director of Tupolev, are leaving their posts, UAC said in a statement.

The Kommersant newspaper reported that Boginsky had been fired on the orders of Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin over the failure of the civil aviation programme, quoting a source, although a second source cited by the paper refuted this.

Russias civil aviation industry has suffered a series of debilitating setbacks since Moscow launched its offensive into Ukraine in 2022, as Western sanctions over the conflict limit its ability to import critical plane parts.

The government has pledged to spend over $2.7 billion to build and develop homegrown aircraft like the Sukhoi Superjet and UAC-built MC-21.

But the rollout of the MC-21  a narrow-body aircraft comparable to the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320  has been delayed several times and is not expected to enter service until at least next year.

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The Sukhoi Superjet has also faced problems. On Sunday, more than 90 passengers and crew were evacuated from a Superjet 100 operated by Russias Azimuth Airlines after one of its engines caught fire while landing at an airport in southern Turkey.

In July, a Superjet 100 crashed during a test flight near Moscow shortly after taking off following scheduled repairs, according to the state TASS news agency.

With inputs from agencies.
Bangladesh-based ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari has been detained at Dhaka airport, according to reports.

Earlier this month, the Bangladeshi authorities filed a sedition case against Brahmachari. Reports say that he was stopped from leaving the country on Monday and was taken to a police station. There has not been any official confirmation of his arrest so far.

Brahmachari has been a vocal voice against violence against Hindus and other religious minorities in Bangladesh. Violence against Hindus and other religious minorities has enveloped the country since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The new unelected interim regime of Mohammed Yunus, propped by the military and agitating groups, has been widely criticised for failing to check violence against minorities.

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As Brahmachari has been a leading voice of Bangladeshs Hindus, the Yunus regimes actions against him have been seen as a move to silence the wider Hindu community by sending a message to them.

At a rally last month, Brahmachari had said, If anyone wants to evict us from this country and live in peace, it will become Afghanistan or Syria. There will be no democratic force. Bangladesh will become a sanctuary of communalism.

While there has not been any confirmation of the arrest, Kanchan Gupta, a senior advisor at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, said on X: Hindu leader and ISKCON monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari is reported arrested in Dhaka by Yunus Regime Police. Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari was charged with sedition after he led a massive rally of Hindus protesting targeted hate attacks and protection from Islamists. Tallest leader of the Hindu community is believed to have been taken to Detective Branch of Yunus Regime.

Hindu leader and ISKCON monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari is reported arrested in Dhaka by Yunus Regime Police.

Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari was charged with sedition after he led a massive rally of Hindus protesting targeted hate attacks and protection from Islamists.  Kanchan Gupta  (@KanchanGupta) November 25, 2024
A 22-year-old former British army officer James Anderson was reportedly captured by the Russian forces in Kursk while he was fighting for Ukraine in the ongoing war. In the video circulated online, the man said joining Ukraines international Legion was a stupid idea read more

22-year-old James Scott Rhys Anderson said in the video that he regretted signing up to fight for Ukraine. Source: Blog via Public Telegram

A former British soldier who was fighting for Ukraine in the ongoing war has been reportedly captured by Russian forces on the battlefield. The 22-year-old man identified himself as James Scott Rhys Anderson, The Independent reported. The news stirred major headlines after a video of Anderson was shared on Telegram and was circulated widely on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Russian news outlet Tass reported that the countrys military sources maintained that a UK mercenary had been taken prisoner in the Kursk area of Russia. Things became clearer after the UK Foreign Office told The Independent that it was supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention.

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BREAKING:

WW3 WATCH

British man captured while

fighting with Ukraine



Russian state news

agency Tass quotes a military source saying that what they call a "UK mercenary" had been "taken prisoner in the Kursk area" of Russia, part of which Ukraine has held since launching a pic.twitter.com/qPtAc7QH0i  SANTINO (@MichaelSCollura) November 25, 2024

What does the video entail?

In the video, the man was seen dressed in combat fatigues and spoke in an English accent. His hands were tied throughout the video as he shared details about himself. I was in the British Army before, from 2019 to 2023, 22 Signal Regiment. Just a private. I was a signalman. One Signal Brigade, 22 Signal Regiment, 252 Squadron," the former soldier said to the camera.

He went on to claim that he signed up to fight for Ukraines International Legion after he lost his job. When I left, I got fired from my job, I applied on the International Legion webpage. I had just lost everything. I just lost my job, he said. I see it on the TV, he added, shaking his head. It was a stupid idea.

He went on to explain how he travelled to Ukraine from Britain and expressed regret over his decision. I flew to Krakow, Poland, from London Luton. Bus from there to Medyka in Poland, on the Ukraine border," he averred. The British Ministry of Defence has yet to comment on the matter.

Thousands of people from around the world travelled to Ukraine to help the country fight the war after Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, issued a call in February 2022. Many went on to join units such as the International Legion, known as the most selective of the foreign groups and operating as part of a military unit within the Ukrainian ground forces.

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Hopes for brokering a cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon are foremost on the agenda of the Group of Seven meeting outside Rome that is gathering ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States read more

Foreign ministers from the worlds leading industrialized nations are meeting Monday, with the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East entering decisive phases and a certain pressure to advance diplomatic efforts ahead of the new U.S. administration taking over.

Hopes for brokering a cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon are foremost on the agenda of the Group of Seven meeting outside Rome that is gathering ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

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On the first day of the two-day gathering Monday, the G7 will be joined by ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as well as the Secretary General of the Arab League.

With partners will be discussed ways to support efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, initiatives to support the population and the promotion of a credible political horizon for stability in the region, the Italian foreign ministry said.

The so-called Quint grouping of the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and the UAE has been working to finalize a day after plan for Gaza, and there is some urgency to make progress before the Trump administration takes over in January. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to pursue a policy that strongly favors Israel over the aspirations of the Palestinians.

Host Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani added another item to the G7 agenda last week after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas military chief.

Italy is a founding member of the court and hosted the 1998 Rome conference that gave birth to it. But Italys right-wing government has been a strong supporter of Israel after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, while also providing humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza.

The Italian government has taken a cautious line, reaffirming its support and respect for the court but expressing concern that the warrants were politically motivated.

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There can be no equivalence between the responsibilities of the state of Israel and the terrorist organization of Hamas, Premier Giorgia Meloni said, echoing the statement from U.S. President Joe Biden.

Nathalie Tocci, director of the Rome-based Institute for International Affairs think tank, said Italy would be seeking to forge a united front on the ICC warrants, at least among the six G7 countries that are signatories of the court: everyone but the U.S.

But in an essay this weekend in La Stampa newspaper, Tocci warned it was a risky move, since the U.S. tends to dictate the G7 line and has blasted the ICC warrants against Netanyahu as outrageous.

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If Italy and the other (five G7) signatories of the ICC are unable to maintain the line on international law, they will not only erode it anyway but will be acting against our interests, Tocci wrote, recalling Italys recourse to international law in demanding protection for Italian U.N. peacekeeepers who have come under fire in southern Lebanon.

The other major talking point of the G7 meeting is Ukraine, and tensions have only heightened since Russia attacked Ukraine last week with an experimental, hypersonic ballistic missile that escalated the nearly 33-month-old war.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha is expected at the G7 in Fiuggi on Tuesday, and NATO and Ukraine are to hold emergency talks the same day in Brussels.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said the strike was retaliation for Kyivs use of U.S. and British longer-range missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory.

The G7 has been at the forefront of providing military and economic support for Ukraine since Russias invasion in February 2022 and G7 members are particularly concerned about how a Trump administration will change the U.S. approach.

Trump has criticized the billions of dollars that the Biden administration has poured into Ukraine and has said he could end the war in 24 hours, comments that appear to suggest he would press Ukraine to surrender territory that Russia now occupies.

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Italy is a strong supporter of Ukraine and has backed the U.S. decision to allow Ukraine to strike Russia with U.S.-made, longer-range missiles. But Italy has invoked the countrys constitutional repudiation of war in declining to provide Ukraine with offensive weaponry to strike inside Russia and limiting its aid to anti-air defense systems to protect Ukrainian civilians.

The G7 foreign ministers meeting, the second of the Italian presidency after ministers gathered in Capri in April, is being held in the medieval town of Fiuggi southeast of Rome, best known for its thermal spas.

On Monday, which coincides with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, ministers will attend the inauguration of a red bench meant to symbolize Italys focus on fighting gender-based violence.

Over the weekend, tens of thousands of people marched in Rome to protest gender-based violence, which in Italy so far this year has claimed the lives of 99 women, according to a report last week by the Eures think tank.
Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a meeting with a few senior Israeli officials over a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah as reports indicate that the Jewish nation has given the tentative okay to proposal brokered by the US read more

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a discussion on the subject of hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, in Israel's parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem, November 18, 2024. File Image/Reuters

As the tensions in West Asia continue to escalate, Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conducted a high-level meeting on reaching a ceasefire deal with Lebanons Hezbollah. The meeting was held on Sunday amid reports that Israel is going to accept a US-brokered agreement.

The meeting also came after Israel was hit by a barrage of rocket fire from Lebanon throughout the day while Tel Aviv conducted multiple strikes in Beirut. According to The Times of Israel, Netanyahu consulted with a few senior ministers and security officials, and the meeting focused on how the Israeli premier should present the agreement to the general public.

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The reports also suggested that the Israeli authority has already given the green signal to US mediator Amos Hochstein to proceed with the American proposal. Multiple Hebrew media outlets reported that Hochstein told Israeli officials over the weekend that this was their last chance to move forward with the deal. If both sides did not accept the proposal, he would give up his effort and Israel and Lebanon would have to wait until President-elect Donald Trump assumes office next year.

Whats in it for Israel?

According to The Times of Israel, the proposal deals with the Jewish nations freedom to operate on the borders with Lebanon and Syria. Some unnamed sources familiar with the talks also suggested that Washington has guaranteed Israel that it would act if Hezbollah violated the agreement.

Last week, the American mediator visited Beirut and Jerusalem to push the US-backed agreement. As per the ceasefire proposal, Hezbollah will gradually have to withdraw from north of the Litani River while the Lebanese army retakes the responsibility of southern Lebanon.

The army would also prevent Hezbollah from reestablishing itself in southern Lebanon. Meanwhile, former US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro was due to arrive in the country on Monday to hammer out final details of the agreement, Channel 12 News reported.

While the talks continued on Sunday, tensions between Israel and Hezbollah escalated after the Iran-backed militant group stepped up its attacks on Tel Aviv. Hezbollah said that it had fired over 250 rockets and drones in northern and central Israel throughout the day, injuring several people.

However, Channel 12 News reported that several Israeli officials expected Hezbollahs attacks to increase the closer the sides got to finalizing an agreement. Meanwhile, the Lebanese militant group also published an apparently AI-generated photo on Sunday showing damage to a highway from a rocket attack. They captioned the image as fate of Tel Aviv would be the fate of Beirut if Israel continued to attack the Lebanese capital city. Israel also ramped up its strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut on Sunday.

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To address the subsidies, the European Union last month raised tariffs on Chinese-built EVs to as much as 45.3% in its highest-profile trade investigation, a move that has divided Europe and triggered retaliation from Beijing. read more

European Union and Chinese officials are exploring alternatives to proposed European tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), including setting minimum sales prices for such cars in Europe. However, EU officials indicated on Monday that no agreement is imminent.

Bernd Lange, chairman of the European Parliaments trade committee, suggested on Friday that a deal was nearing completion, but unnamed EU officials disputed this claim. They emphasised that while discussions with Beijing are ongoing, significant obstacles remain unresolved.

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One of the options under consideration is to set a minimum price on electric cars imported from China to raise their price, which the EU concluded after a long investigation was artificially low because of Chinese state subsidies.

To address the subsidies, the European Union last month raised tariffs on Chinese-built EVs to as much as 45.3% in its highest-profile trade investigation, a move that has divided Europe and triggered retaliation from Beijing.

Chinas Chamber of Commerce to the EU at the time said it was profoundly disappointed by the protectionist and arbitrary EU measure.

With inputs from agencies.
According to satellite images and experts, North Korea is expanding missile production, possibly to help Russia in its war against Ukraine read more

North Korea is expanding a key weapons manufacturing complex that assembles a type of short-range missile used by Russia in Ukraine, researchers at a US-based think tank have concluded, based on satellite images.

The facility, known as the February 11 plant, is part of the Ryongsong Machine Complex in Hamhung, North Koreas second-largest city, on the countrys east coast.

Credit: Reuters

Sam Lair, a research associate at the James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), located at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, said the plant was the only one known to produce the Hwasong-11 class of solid-fuel ballistic missiles.

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Ukrainian officials say these munitions - known as the KN-23 in the West - have been used by Russian forces in their assault on Ukraine.

The expansion of the complex has not been previously reported.

Both Moscow and Pyongyang have denied that North Korea has transferred weapons for Russia to use against Ukraine, which it invaded in February 2022. Russia and North Korea signed a mutual defence treaty at a summit in June and have pledged to boost their military ties.

North Koreas mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

The satellite images, taken in early October by the commercial satellite firm Planet Labs, show what appears to be an additional assembly building under construction as well as a new housing facility, likely intended for workers, according to the analysis by researchers at CNS.

It also appears that Pyongyang is improving the entrances for some of the underground facilities at the complex.

A disused bridge crane that was in front of a tunnel entrance, blocking easy access, was removed, suggesting they might be placing an emphasis on that part of the facility, Lair said.

We see this as a suggestion that theyre massively increasing, or theyre trying to significantly increase, the throughput of this factory, Lair said.

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The new assembly building is about 60 to 70 per cent the size of the previous building used to assemble missiles.

In 2023, state media published images, which Reuters has reviewed, showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walking through new buildings at the complex in Hamhung, where workers were assembling tail kits and nose cones for what appeared to be the KN-23, according to analysts.

In the past, publicly released videos from North Korean state media show that the complex has produced everything from tank wheels to the casings for rocket motors, Lair said.

Low-fying missiles

The KN-23 was first tested in May 2019, and is designed to evade missile defences by flying on a lower, depressed trajectory, experts have told Reuters, making them potentially useful for Russia as it seeks ways to penetrate Ukraines air defences.

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Russia has fired thousands of missiles since the invasion. Leaning on North Korea for additional supplies could ease the strain on its own production facilities, Lair said.

North Koreas state news agency KCNA has reported that construction is underway at the Ryongsong Machine Complex.

This month, KCNA said the facility is pushing ahead with the projects for attaining the goal for modernisation planned for this year. The work includes rebuilding production facilities as well as assembling and installing equipment at machine workshops and a steel casting workshop, it said.

Researchers at SI Analytics, a South Korean satellite imagery firm that uses AI technology to scour images, also confirmed the new construction at the February 11 plant, saying in a report on Monday that some of the construction near the loading area would likely be used to conceal the future operations of the factory from satellites.

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Considering the presence of numerous construction materials, vehicles, and open-top freight cars loaded with materials around the site, the construction appears to be progressing rapidly, the firm said. The report said the facility was used to produce ballistic missiles, without naming the KN-23.

Michael Duitsman, also a research associate at CNS, said it was possible that the new construction revealed in the satellite images could be a storage facility, but he believed it was more likely a new assembly building.

North Korean missiles account for a fraction of Russias strikes during its war on Ukraine, but their alleged use has caused alarm in Seoul and Washington because it suggests an end of nearly two-decade consensus among UN Security Council permanent members on preventing Pyongyang from expanding its ballistic missile programs.

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SI Analytics said on Monday it had also identified new construction at the nearby February 8 Vinalon Complex, which is believed to produce fuel for ballistic missiles. The construction may be aimed at boosting production of solid propellants or UDMH, an important liquid rocket engine fuel, the report said.

Joseph Dempsey, a military analyst with Londons International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that North Koreas expansion of short-range ballistic missile facilities would likely be motivated mainly by a desire to boost the countrys own arsenal.

He said it was unclear to what extent Pyongyang may have expanded production capacity to meet the demands of its new cooperation with Moscow.

More than 10,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to the Russian region of Kursk, where Ukraine launched a major cross-border incursion in August, according to Washington, Kyiv and Seoul.

The troops will fight as part of Russias airborne unit and marines, with some already participating in battles in the Ukraine war, a South Korean lawmaker who sits on the parliamentary intelligence committee said on Wednesday.

Russia has not denied the involvement of North Korean troops in the war, which it has been waging in Ukraine since launching a full-scale invasion in February 2022.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff.)
Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country, but Kurram  in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the border with Afghanistan  has a large Shiite population and the communities have clashed for decades. At least 82 people were killed and 156 more wounded before the regional government brokered the ceasefire on Sunday night. read more

Shiite Muslims hold placards and shout slogans during a protest march against the sectarian attacks in Kurram district in Parachinar, the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in Lahore on November 22, 2024. Image- AFP

Sectarian violence restarted in northwestern Pakistan on Monday, shattering a fragile ceasefire brokered to end last weeks deadly clashes that claimed over 80 lives, officials confirmed.

The unrest, centered in Kurram near the Afghanistan border, highlights the regions vulnerability to sectarian and tribal conflicts in areas with limited governance. The violence escalated last Thursday when ambushes on two Shiite Muslim convoys under police escort triggered prolonged gun battles.

Kurram deputy commissioner Javedullah Mehsud reported continued tribal clashes and gunfire in multiple areas, while a local security official confirmed ongoing fighting in at least three locations, though no new casualties have been reported.

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There are significant disagreements over the exchange of prisoners and bodies, he told AFP. According to my information, both communities are currently holding over 18 individuals hostage, including eight women.

Police have regularly struggled to control violence in Kurram, which was part of the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas until it was merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018.

The short-lived truce was brokered by a delegation from the provincial capital of Peshawar, but even their helicopter came under fire when it arrived in the region at the weekend, one security official said.

The feuding is generally rekindled by disputes over land in the rugged mountainous region, and fuelled by underlying tensions between the communities adhering to different sects of Islam.

Last month at least 16 people, including three women and two children, were killed in a sectarian clash in Kurram.

Previous clashes in July and September killed dozens of people and ended only after a jirga, or tribal council, called a ceasefire.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said 79 people were killed between July and October in sectarian clashes.

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Several hundred people demonstrated against the violence on Friday in Pakistans two largest cities, Karachi and Lahore.

With inputs from agencies.
At least one policeman was killed and dozens of people injured in Pakistan as supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan clashed with security forces outside the capital Islamabad on Monday, a government minister and Khans party said read more

Pakistani Rangers in riot gear stand guard alongside a road to prevent an anti-government rally by supporters of the former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Islamabad, Pakistan, November 25, 2024. Reuters

At least one policeman was killed and dozens of people injured in Pakistan as supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan clashed with security forces outside the capital Islamabad on Monday, a government minister and Khans party said.

Authorities have enforced a security lockdown for the last two days to block the protesters, whom Khan has called on to march on parliament for a sit-in demonstration to demand his release, while highways into the city have been barricaded.

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The government has used shipping containers to block major roads and streets in Islamabad, with patrols of police and paramilitary personnel in riot gear.

Officials and witnesses said all public transport between cities and terminals had also been shut down in the eastern province of Punjab to keep away the protesters, led by members of Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

We wouldnt let them storm the capital, said provincial Information Minister Uzma Bukhari, adding that about 80 of Khans supporters had been arrested.

One police officer was shot and killed and at least 70 others were injured in clashes just outside Islamabad, she told a press conference. There were reports of several other clashes elsewhere in the province, she said.

Khans party said scores of its workers were also hurt.

Gathering banned

The capital added an extra layer of security for the arrival of the president of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, on Monday, for a three day visit, a Pakistan prime minister office statement said. A delegation led by its foreign minister arrived on Sunday.

Khans party accused the government of using violent tactics to block the protesters, saying it had arrested hundreds of workers and leaders.

They are even firing live bullets, one of Khans aides, Shaukat Yousafzai, told broadcaster Geo News TV.

Gatherings in Islamabad have been banned, police said in a statement. Authorities closed all schools in Islamabad and the adjacent garrison city of Rawalpindi, while the internet and WhatsApp messaging services also slowed.

The protest march, which Khan has described as the final call, is one of many his party had held to seek his release since he was jailed in August last year. The partys most recent protest in Islamabad, early in October, turned violent.

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Khans third wife, Bushra Bibi, and a key aide, Ali Amin Gandapur, who is the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, are leading a march that arrived just outside Islamabad on Sunday night, his party said.

Voted out of power by parliament in 2022 after falling out with Pakistans powerful military, Khan faces charges ranging from corruption to instigation of violence, all of which he and his party deny.

The military has an outsized role in politics, and mostly decides who will rule the South Asian nation of 241 million people.
Far-right candidate Calin Georgescu, who has criticised NATO and Bucharests support for Ukraine, led the first round of Romanias presidential election, held Sunday, to face a little-known mayor in the second round early next month read more

A woman leaves the polling booth prior to vote for the presidential elections at a polling station in Bucharest. AFP

Russia said Monday it did not know much about a pro-Moscow Romanian politician who is in pole position to become the EU members next president.

Far-right candidate Calin Georgescu, who has criticised NATO and Bucharests support for Ukraine, led the first round of Romanias presidential election, held Sunday, to face a little-known mayor in the second round early next month.

I cant say that we are very familiar with the worldview of this candidate, as far it concerns relations with our country, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.

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As for the current leadership, Romania is not a friendly country to us, and we will continue to follow how things develop, he added.

Georgescu has surged in recent days with a viral TikTok campaign calling for an end to aid for Ukraine. He has also sounded a sceptical note on Romanias NATO membership.

A victory in a second round contest, set for December 8, would be a political earthquake in the country of 19 million, a NATO member which has so far resisted nationalist posturing, setting itself apart from the likes of Hungary and Slovakia.
US officials speculated that Moscows closeness with Pyongyang and the presence of North Korean troops in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war is not sitting well with China. However, the assertion does not get support from the Japanese and Australian observers read more

US Deputy Secretary Kurt Campbell said that China is increasingly becoming uncomfortable with the growing ties between North Korea and Russia as the ongoing war in Ukraine continues to escalate. The comments from the US official came while he was discussing whether China supports the presence of North Korean troops in Russia.

The officials noted that China has been silent about the recent developments in the war and many speculate that Beijing might be worried that the military collusion in Ukraine will help an American drive to form a network of alliances with South Korea and Japan in East Asia.

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The remarks from the US official came after China extended a rare olive branch to Japan, expressing its intention to remove a buoy it installed inside Japans exclusive economic zone near the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. The island has been a major flashpoint of contention between the two nations and the Chinese act is seen as a symbolic effort to encourage those inside Japan that do not want to be drawn into a US-led conflict with China.

Coordination between Pyongyang and Moscow is unnerving to China

While discussing the matter in a recent seminar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, Campbell insisted that the growing coordination between Pyongyang and Moscow is unnerving to China.

The topic that is becoming increasingly uncomfortable for Chinese interlocutors is the DPRK [North Korea] engagement with Russia, the American official said during the panel discussion. In some of the discussions we have had it seems we are informing them of things that they were unaware of with regard to DPRK pursuits, and they are concerned that Russian encouragement might lead the DPRK to contemplate either actions or military actions that might not be in Chinas interests, he added.

Campbell pointed out that Chinas discomfort with the growing ties between Russia and North Korea can be seen by the fact that Beijing has not weighed in directly on the matter. China has not weighed in directly to criticise Russia but we do believe that the increasing coordination between Pyongyang and Moscow is unnerving them, he added.

Dennis Wilder, a former CIA assistant director for East Asia and Pacific, reiterated the same assertion. The radio silence in Beijing on this subject is staggering. There is not a word in the Chinese press either about the strategic agreement made between Russia and North Korea in the summer or about sending troops, he said at the event.

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If Russia goes down the road of nuclear assistance to North Korea this will bolster the Americans alliances in east Asia and maybe create a true NATO so President Xi Jinping is in a very very difficult spot, the former CIA official added.

However, not everyone agreed with the idea. Andrew Shearer, the director general of Australias Office of National Intelligence, expressed scepticism about the idea that China is uncomfortable with the ties between Pyongyang and Russia. The idea of driving wedges between Putin and Xi is pretty fanciful and if we do not face up to the reality that Putin is only still in the war in Ukraine today due to Chinas military, diplomatic and dual-use support we are not going to fashion effective strategies, he said.

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Similar doubts were also expressed by observers from Japan. There is no way that China did not know what Russia was planning. China cannot afford to see Russia lose against the West, and if Russia wins it helps set up a propaganda advantage and precedent for China in seeking to control Taiwan, said Prof Emi Mifune, of the faculty of law at Komazawa University. While Chinas silence made many speculate that Beijing is uncomfortable with the recent developments, some claim that President Xi Jinpings administration is just putting the developments on the back burner.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said that the situation in West Asia is deeply concerning, both for what has happened and what may still come, and reiterated Indias stand on Ukraine conflict, calling for the warring parties to return to dialogue and diplomacy read more

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said that the situation in West Asia is deeply concerning, both for what has happened and what may still come, and reiterated Indias stand on Ukraine conflict, calling for the warring parties to return to dialogue and diplomacy.

#WATCH | Italy | EAM Dr S Jaishankar makes opening remarks at MED Mediterranean Dialogues Conference in Rome



EAM says. "Today I focus my remarks on the conflicts. The situation in the Middle East is obviously deeply concerning, both for what has happened and what may still come. pic.twitter.com/jj0LYl2WFE  ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2024

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In his opening remarks at the 10th MED Mediterranean Dialogues Conference in Rome, Jaishankar said, " Today I focus my remarks on the conflicts. The situation in the Middle East is obviously deeply concerning, both for what has happened and what may still come. India unequivocally condemns terrorism and hostage taking. It also regards large scale civilian casualties in military operations to be unacceptable. International humanitarian law cannot be disregarded in immediate terms. We should all support a ceasefire.

Jaishankar underscored that the long-term resolution for peace must address the future of the Palestinian people, with India continuing to advocate for a two-state solution.

The External Affairs Minister also raised concerns about the potential widening of the Middle East conflict and said that India has been in regular contact with both Israel and Iran at the highest levels to urge restraint and enhance communication.

Given our capacity to engage various parties, we are always willing to contribute meaningfully to any international diplomatic endeavours, said Jaishankar.

He said as far as Indias involvement in Lebanon is concerned, there is an Indian contingent like Italy as part of UNIFIL with regard to the Gulf of Aden and the northern Arabian Sea. Indian naval ships have been deployed since last year to protect commercial shipping, he added.

Talking about the conflict in Ukraine, Jaishankar reiterated Indias belief that disputes cannot be resolved through war.

Addressing the conflict in Ukraine is the other urgent imperative of our times. It is well into its third year. The continuation of this conflict has serious destabilising consequences, including for the Mediterranean. What is clear is that no solution is going to emerge from the battlefield. India has consistently held the view that disputes in this era cannot be settled by war. There must be a return to dialogue and diplomacy. The sooner the better. This is a widespread sentiment in the world today, especially in the Global South, he added.

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He highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modis personal engagement with the leaders of both Russia and Ukraine, noting that Indias senior officials have remained in continuous contact with both sides.

We firmly believe that those who have the ability to explore finding common ground must step up to that responsibility, said Jaishankar.

The External Affairs Minister also touched on global trends, speaking about the shift towards a more technology-driven future, characterised by greater mobility of talent and greener growth.

He said the changing global landscape is one of re-globalising, rebalancing, and multipolarity.

Jaishankar concluded by stressing the importance of strengthening ties between India and the Mediterranean region, stating, A closer and stronger relationship between India and the Mediterranean will serve both of us.

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Earlier, Jaishankar met British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and discussed deepening cooperation in technology, green energy, trade, mobility, as well as ongoing developments in Indo-Pacific and West Asia.

Started the day by meeting FS @DavidLammy of UK, in Rome today. Appreciate the steady momentum in India UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, he said in a post on X.

Started the day by meeting FS @DavidLammy of UK, in Rome today.



Appreciate the steady momentum in India UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.



Discussed deepening cooperation in technology, green energy, trade, mobility, as well as ongoing developments in Indo-Pacific and pic.twitter.com/fkskzBQkUY  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) November 25, 2024

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The minister said he discussed deepening cooperation in technology, green energy, trade, mobility, as well as ongoing developments in Indo-Pacific and West Asia.

He also met Lebanese FM Abdallah Bou Habib and French FM Jean-Noel Barrot at the event.

Glad to interact with Lebanese FM Abdallah Bou Habib at the @RomeMEDialogues.



Look forward to remaining in touch.



  pic.twitter.com/5PzGQbx8u0  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) November 25, 2024

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Jaishankar, who arrived in Rome on Sunday on a three-day visit, will participate in the Outreach session of the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Fiuggi, where India has been invited as a guest country.

He is also expected to meet his counterparts from other participating nations in the G7-related engagements and hold bilateral discussions during the visit.

With inputs from agencies
On his return to White House on January 20, US President-elect Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order that would remove all transgender service members from the military read more

US President-elect Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order, on the first day of his return to the White House on January 20, that would remove transgender members from the American military.

Not just kicking out, the executive order, which Trump is expected to sign, would also lead to a ban of transgender individuals from joining the military.

Unfit to serve

A report by The Sunday Times quoted defence sources as saying that about 15,000 active service personnel who are transgender would be medically discharged, which would mean that they were unfit to serve.

Trump has rallied against woke practices in the US military, saying that a few of the high ranking officers are often interested in diversity, equity and inclusion, rather than planning to fight.

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During his first term in office, Trump had declared that the US would no longer accept or allow trans people in the tremendous medical costs and disruption,.

In 2019, he imposed a ban, preventing transgender people from joining the armed forces, but allowing those already serving to keep their jobs.

The order was rescinded by President Joe Biden, but with Trump returning to White House, he is expected to immediately cancel Bidens order and go further by removing currently-serving trans troops, the report quoted sources familiar with the US president-elects plans as saying.

Removal at time when military cant recruit

As per a source cited by The Sunday Times, the transgender people will be forced out at a time when the military cant recruit enough people.

Only the Marine Corps is hitting its numbers for recruitment and some people who will be affected are in very senior positions, the source further said.

The report comes days after he nominated The Fox News host and a former major in the US National Guard Pete Hegseth as his defence secretary.

Hegseth has publicly railed against weak and effeminate leadership in the US military and in a recent book, he argued that the next commander in chief will need to clean house.

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He also claimed that the medical care for transgender personnel is an extravagance the Pentagon cannot afford and focusing on the issues that affect only a small number of people in the military is an example of trans lunacy.

20 years & billions of dollars to replace

Reacting to Trumps possible move, Rachel Branaman, executive director of Modern Military Association of America, which campaigns on behalf of LGBTQ+ military personnel and veterans, said, Abruptly discharging 15,000-plus service members, especially given that the militarys recruiting targets fell short by 41,000 recruits last year, adds administrative burdens to war fighting units, harms unit cohesion, and aggravates critical skill gaps.

There would be a significant financial cost, as well as a loss of experience and leadership that will take possibly 20 years and billions of dollars to replace," the report quoted Branaman as saying.

Ban on transgender people would cause upheaval across forces

The Sunday Times quoted a transgender analyst in the US navy, Paulo Batista, as saying that the expected ban would put a premature end to his career and also cause upheaval across the forces.

I have four years left on my contract. But you take 15,000 of us out  theres more but thats the number that is always mentioned  thats 15,000 leadership positions, every one of us play a vital role," Batista said.

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There are junior enlisted personnel to high-end officers. You pull one of us out, that means others have to cover. These jobs could take months or even years to fill," Batista further said.
In UK, an online petition demanding for a fresh general election has received more than 1.78 million and now the parliament is expected to debate on it this week. Whats happening with the UK government? Read to find more read more

An online petition calling for a fresh general election in the UK has received nearly 1.8 million signatures since its launch, along with a reaction from Tesla CEO Elon Musk who said, wow as he reposted about its success.

The petition was moved by a number of rightwing politicians, who have been sharing it on social media, calling on voters to sign and share it in a challenge to the current government led by Keir Starmer.

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Why this petition & who started it?

In less than five months since the July 4 general election win, the Labour government has been facing widespread criticism and disapproval for its post-poll work and policies including the axing of the Winter Fuel Payment and a new inheritance tax for farmers.

The man behind the parliamentary petition is Michael Westwood. Expressing discontent with the Labour administration, he has called for another general election, arguing that the government has gone back on the promises they laid out in the lead up to the last election.

An owner of a small business, Westwoods previous claim to fame is as the owner of UKs cheapest pub the Wagon and Horses, which sells pints for as little as 2.30. He created the petition on October 31, a day after the UK Budget was delivered.

Westwood believed that the voters of Britain feel betrayed by Labour, a report by Express quoted him as saying.

The British public feel like they have been betrayed with the promises that were told in the lead to the election and then what has been delivered since - it looks nothing like what was promised," Westwood said.

I think people have had enough, people have seen whats happened over in America as well, and I think thats had a knock-on effect that, actually, if people stand together and vote then we can make a change," he further said.

Westwood also revealed that he voted Conservative in the July 4 election, not out of an overwhelming love of the party but as a small businessman who believed that it would be better to elect the devil you know.

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Whats next?

According to the UK Government and Parliament, the petition, as of 08:40 am (IST), has received 1,786,902 signatures.

As per the guidelines, the UK government responds to any petition, seeking for a change to the law or policies, after it receives more than 10,000 signatures.

If the petition exceeds the threshold of 100,000 signatures, it is considered for debate in the parliament.

As per reports, the debate is likely sometime early this week.

Musks reaction to UK petition calling for election

WOW, said Musk reacting to a post where an account shared an update regarding the signatures on the petition.

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Last week, Musk had forecasted a decisive defeat for Labour in the upcoming general election while commenting on Starmers unfavourable approval ratings.

All establishment parties in the UK will be crushed in the next election, he said.

All establishment parties in the UK will get crushed in the next election https://t.co/8RuFR8yerL  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 21, 2024

Decreasing popularity of Labour

Recent polls indicate the Labour government has experienced significant setbacks within four months in office. Also, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmers popularity has dwindled sharply.

According to an Ipsos poll, 49 per cent of the UK public views the Labour Party unfavourably which trails three points behind the Conservative Party. Meanwhile, two in five Britons think they are worse off since Labour came to power.

At least 56 per cent believe that Britain is heading in the wrong direction, while just 19 per cent feel things are on the right track.

With inputs from agencies.
Earlier this month, European Union supplied Ukraine with more than 980,000 shells for the war with Russia and plans to pass the 1 million mark by the end of this year. read more

In this photo taken from a video released by Russian Defense Ministry press service on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024, Russian servicemen operate a Russian Uragan self-propelled multiple rocket launcher in an undisclosed location. Image- AP

Five European countries will step up their support to strengthen Ukraines defence industry as the country heads into the third winter at war, Germanys defence minister said after meeting his French, British, Polish and Italian counterparts on Monday.

Our target must be to enable Ukraine to act out of a position of strength, Boris Pistorius told reporters in Berlin.

Earlier this month, European Union supplied Ukraine with more than 980,000 shells for the war with Russia and plans to pass the 1 million mark by the end of this year.

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The EU initially set out to supply 1 million 155-mm artillery shells by March 2024 but officials later said production capacity was insufficient to meet the target.

Foreign ministers from the worlds leading industrialized nations expressed cautious optimism Monday about possible progress on a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah.

The top diplomats met for the final time before a new U.S. administration takes office with wars raging in the Mideast and Ukraine.

For the first time, the G7 ministers were joined by their counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, the so-called Arab Quintet, as well as the Secretary General of the Arab League.

The G7 has been at the forefront of providing military and economic support for Ukraine since Russias invasion in February 2022 and G7 members are particularly concerned about how a Trump administration will change the U.S. approach.

With inputs from agencies.
President-elect Donald Trump is endorsing Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis to fill the vacant Congressional seat left by former Rep. Matt Gaetz in northwest Florida, according to a report read more

President-elect Donald Trump said that Jimmy Patronis had been a wonderful friend to me, even though Patronis did not endorse Trump in this years presidential race until after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis withdrew from the primary. AP

President-elect Donald Trump is endorsing Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis to fill the vacant Congressional seat left by former Rep. Matt Gaetz in northwest Florida.

Gaetz stepped down from his position during his brief run for attorney general, which he abandoned amid controversy over investigations into his conduct, despite his denials of wrongdoing.

According to a Politico report, Trump expressed his support for Patronis on social media, praising him as a wonderful friend, despite Patronis only backing Trump in this years presidential race after Governor Ron DeSantis dropped out of the primary.

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Trumps endorsement could increase pressure on DeSantis to appoint allies to the president-elect for other key positions, added the report.

Should he decide to enter this Race, Jimmy Patronis has my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, JIMMY, RUN! Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trumps endorsement of Patronis follows his earlier public support for state Sen. Randy Fine, who is vying for the congressional seat held by Rep. Mike Waltz, another one of Trumps picks for a second administration.

The timing is crucial, as elected officials interested in running for the special election to replace Matt Gaetz must submit their resign-to-run letters by Monday if they want to retain their current seats while campaigning. Two state legislators and one local official have already announced plans to enter the race.

Should Patronis decide to run for Congress, Governor Ron DeSantis would need to appoint a replacement for his position as chief financial officer until the 2026 elections.

State Sen. Joe Gruters, a long-time Trump ally who has had conflicts with DeSantis, has already expressed his intention to run for the CFO role. The question now is whether DeSantis will appoint someone who could potentially challenge Gruters in two years, reported Politico.

Meanwhile, Lara Trump, the president-elects daughter-in-law, has expressed interest in being appointed to the Senate seat currently held by Marco Rubio. With Trump nominating Rubio for secretary of state, it will be up to DeSantis to decide who will occupy the Senate seat until the next election in two years.

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When asked about a congressional run on Friday, Patronis texted that he was discussing it with his family, reported Politico.

Patronis, whose family owns a renowned restaurant in Panama City, has served as Floridas Chief Financial Officer since 2017, after being appointed to the position by then-Gov. Rick Scott.

A former legislator, Patronis had been a staunch ally of Scott, supporting him in his first gubernatorial campaign against the GOP candidate backed by much of Floridas Republican establishment.

Although Patronis does not reside in Gaetzs congressional district, he is widely recognised across the region.

This is the second Florida congressional race where Trump has expressed his support.

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Over the weekend, he posted on social media encouraging state Sen. Randy Fine to run for the congressional seat in northeast Florida currently held by Rep. Mike Waltz, whom Trump had chosen as his national security adviser.

With inputs from agencies
US President-elect Donald Trump has not yet signed any agreement for the handover of the government, which means that he is running transition efforts with unregulated dark money and his appointees dont have any security vetting or security clearance read more

Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 event in Nashville, Tennessee, US, July 27, 2024. File Image/Reuters

US President-elect Donald Trump has not signed yet signed agreements regarding the formal transition of power and continues to use dark money for the handover of the government.

Under the Presidential Transition Act, the president-elect is entitled to a certain sum for the transition of power from the General Services Administration (GSA). In lieu of that sum, caps are introduced on their transition teams fund-raising to ensure no donor can influence them. Trump has, however, so far refused to avail that government fund and has continued to use dark money for transition efforts.

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In addition to the agreement with the GSA, the Trump transition team has also not signed agreements with the Department of Justice (DoJ) and White House. This is a break from previous instances when such agreements were signed well before the Election Day.

Why is Trumps use of dark money concerning?

Until Trump signs the agreement with the GSA, he can raise unlimited dark money in the name of transition anonymously.

By not signing the agreement, Trump can raise unlimited funds from donors he does not have to disclose. This means that any business, interest group, lobbyist, or even foreign power can donate to Trump to influence him without any possibility of disclosure.

If Trump would have signed the agreement with the GSA, the transition team would have got $7.2 million to pay for the staff, travel, equipment, office space, etc. involved in the handover of the government and, in lieu of the sun, the transition team would be barred from taking dark donations and required to cap individual contributions at $5,000 and disclosing the names of doners, according to The New York Times.

Unlike election campaign, foreign nationals can donate to transition efforts. This is problematic in Trumps case as he has been friendly to Russia, one of the two main US adversaries, for a long time and Russia-aligned interest groups can now essentially funnel money into his war chest with no oversight to influence him. His cabinet is also packed with pro-Russia figures like Vice President-elect JD Vance and Director of National Intelligence (DNI)-designate Tulsi Gabbards.

Trump hasnt signed pacts for security clearances

The Trump transition team has not signed separate agreements with the DoJ and White House that are required for security clearances and access.

The agreement with the DoJ is required for the vetting of appointees by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) so they could have appropriate security clearances.

The agreement with the White House is required so the appointees can gain physical access and classified information the Inauguration on January 20.

The Trump transition team, led by Linda McMahon and Howard Lutnick, has repeatedly said it intends to sign the agreements with these agreements, but the delay is remarkable as such agreements have previously been signed by September and October.

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Trump and his Chief of Staff Susie Wiles have met outgoing President Joe Biden and his Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, who assured a smooth transition of power. Other Trump appointees, such as National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, have also met the outgoing NSA Jake Sullivan as part of the transition efforts.
Incoming US National Security Advisor (NSA) Mike Waltz said that the Trump administration and outgoing Biden administration are one team regarding adversaries and efforts to pit one against the other would not succeed read more

In a rare message of bipartisanship, incoming US National Security Advisor (NSA) Mike Waltz has warned US adversaries that their attempts to pit the incoming Donald Trump administration against the outgoing Joe Biden administration would not succeed.

Earlier this month, US-President-elect Trump named Waltz, a China hawk, as his NSA.

In an interview with Fox News, Waltz said that Trumps transition team and the Biden administration are working hand in glove on national security matters.

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Waltz also confirmed that he has met outgoing NSA Jake Sullivan and they are one team regarding adversaries.

Jake Sullivan and I have had discussions. We have met. For our adversaries out there that think this is a time of opportunity, that they can play one administration off the other, they are wrongWe are hand in glove. We are one team with the United States in this transition, said Waltz on Sunday.

Previously, Axios had reported that Waltz had met Sullivan last week and discussed a range of issues, including the ongoing conflict in West Asia.

In the interview with Fox, while Waltz did not go into the specifics of his discussions with Sullivan, he briefly outlined the broad approach of Trump regarding the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

The President-elect has been very concerned about the escalation and where its all going, said Waltz when asked about Trumps reaction to the recent escalatory developments in Ukraine, such as the deployment of North Korean soldiers and Russias usage of new intermediate range ballistic missile.

Waltz said, If North Korea has made this move, we have made a move. Russia has now responded. Iran is involved. South Koreas thinking about getting involved. Our allies have now extended the range of their missiles as wellWe need to bring this to a responsible end. We need to restore deterrence and peace and get ahead of this escalation later rather than responding to it.

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There are concerns in Ukraine and Europe that Trump may pull the plug on the support to Ukraine and may force the Zelenskyy administration into accepting Russian leader Vladimir Putins maximalist terms. The fears have further been bolstered with Trumps picks of pro-Russian figures, such as Vice President-elect JD Vance and incoming intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbards, in his Cabinet. Trump himself has been friendly with Russia and has fawned over Putin over years.
The US Third Marine Littoral Regiment, which possesses the multiple-launch HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System), would be deployed along Japans Nansei island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan read more

The United States is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of an emergency over Taiwan, Japans Kyodo news agency reported.

They will be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, according to sources familiar with Japan-US relations, Kyodo said late Sunday.

The US Third Marine Littoral Regiment, which possesses the multiple-launch HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System), would be deployed along Japans Nansei island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said.

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From an early stage, if a Taiwan contingency becomes highly imminent, temporary bases will be set up on inhabited islands based on US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations, the report added.

Japans military is expected to mainly engage in logistical support for the marine unit, including supplying fuel and ammunition, it said.

Kyodo added that the US Army would deploy Multi-Domain Task Force long-range fire units in the Philippines, Kyodo said.

The Japanese and the Philippines defence ministries were not immediately available for comment. The US embassy in Manila declined to comment while the Chinese embassy in Manila noted the Kyodo report.

China is building up its military capacity while ramping up pressure on self-governed Taiwan, which it claims as part of its territory.

Washington has been strengthening alliances in the region, while infuriating Beijing with regular deployments of ships and fighter jets in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.
Uruguays new president-elect, Yamandu Orsi, aims to lead a modern left, balancing social welfare and economic growth with a focus on tackling poverty and crime read more

Uruguays new president-elect Yamandu Orsi, whose political ambitions were galvanized by his experience growing up in a dictatorship, was the pollsters narrow favourite to win the second round of the South American nations presidential election on Sunday for the centre-left.

The 57-year-old former history teacher and local mayor managed to unseat the ruling conservative bloc. He placed first with 49.8 per cent of votes for the left-leaning Broad Front coalition in Novembers second round, against Alvaro Delgado of the governing centre-right National Party with 45.9 per cent.

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During the campaign, Orsi had sought to reassure Uruguayans that he did not plan a sharp political shift in the traditionally moderate and relatively wealthy nation of 3.4 million people that is known for its beaches, legal cannabis and stable economy.

The election concluded in a cordial atmosphere, with both sides vowing to work together to advance the nation. Delgado had said before the results he would invite Orsi over for traditional mate tea should he secure a victory.

Orsi has said he wants to usher in a modern left , to tackle homelessness, poverty and crime - a key voter concern.

Homicide rates in Uruguay have risen sharply in recent years, fuelled by changing cocaine smuggling routes. The poverty rate is one of the lowest in the region and has dropped back down to pre-COVID levels this year, but charities say it continues to affect children disproportionately.

The destiny and future of this country has to change, Orsi told Reuters in an interview in capital Montevideo in October, saying his Broad Front coalition was the force to push that change by striking a different balance between social welfare and economic growth.

He has backing from leftist icon Jose Pepe Mujica, a former rebel-turned-president, but also moderate groups who like his business-friendly tone. Unlike many other countries in the region, Uruguay has rarely had divisive politics.

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I am going to be the president who calls for national dialogue again and again, Orsi said during his Nov. 24 victory speech.

As mayor of Canelones, the countrys second largest region, he was credited with helping to lure prospective investors and easing local bureaucracy to attract international firms like Google, with some level of success. He has said he plans to avoid tax hikes despite a growing deficit, and instead focus on spurring faster growth.

Neither coalition in Uruguay has an absolute majority in the lower house following Octobers elections, but the Broad Front won 16 of 30 Senate seats. Orsi argues that places him in a better position to lead the government.

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FOLKSY STYLE

Some voters Reuters spoke to said they worried Orsi was indecisive and short on ideas.

Other voters, however, liked that he was moderate and open to dialogue, while supportive political colleagues said he represented a generational shift among Latin Americas political left, balancing business needs and social welfare.

He has practical experience, said Mujica, now 89, in an interview with Reuters earlier this year, championing Orsi as a political bridge-builder.

He has a willingness to endure differences and is going to build a team. Thats why we support him.

Orsi employs a casual, folksy style that in part mirrors Mujica - well known for his humble lifestyle that famously included driving an old VW Beetle to work during his 2010-2015 presidency.

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Orsi is often photographed carrying traditional mate tea, walking his dog, Ramon, and dressing casually. He has said that, like Mujica, he would not live in the presidential residence if elected.

While he has been guarded on concrete policies - giving little away in discussion with Reuters - he has said he plans to boost funding to the prison system and strengthen cooperation with Europe on tackling drug crime.

Orsi says that politics was never part of his family life, growing up in a rural area of Canelones where his parents ran a small convenience store. But after elections in 1984 that led to the restoration of democracy, he got sucked into that world.

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Politics was a dirty word  because we were living in a dictatorship, he said, referring to Uruguays 1973-1985 period of civic-military rule, one of several dictatorships during that time in South America. Orsi was 17 when elections returned.

That breath of fresh air back then flooded through me, and there it has remained, he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff.)
The recent Romanian election left many surprised after a relatively unknown far-right politician took the lead over the countrys Prime Minister. The results made many wonder why the country chose a right-leaning candidate and why they picked Calin Georgescu over George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) read more

In a major turn of events, a little-known far-right populist leader took the lead in the Romanian presidential elections and will now enter a run-off against the countrys leftist Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu in two weeks. The surprising outcome has managed to rock the Eastern European nations political landscape, making many wonder why the country and the continent of Europe are leaning towards the right.

With 96 per cent votes counted, ultranationalist Calin Georgescu took the lead with 22 per cent votes with Marcel Ciolacu in close second with 20 per cent of the vote share. What makes matters interesting is the fact that Georgescu was an independent candidate and largely campaigned on social media platforms like TikTok. He will now go head to head against Ciolacu in a final run-off for the presidency on 8 December.

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Around 13 candidates took part in the race. The president of Romania is obligated to serve a five-year term and has significant decision-making powers in areas such as national security, foreign policy and judicial appointments. The Sunday results made many wonder why the country chose a right-leaning candidate and why they picked Georgescu over George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR.

Why is Romania enamored by the right and why did Georgescu fit the bill?

For the longest time, the far-right parties and politicians have remained on the fringes when it comes to the Romanian political landscape. However, in recent years, there has been a rise in their prominence in the country. Multiple factors contributed to the rise of the right in the country.

However, two major reasons why Romanians are enamoured by nationalist leaders are the countrys deplorable economy and the growing influence of the European Union and NATO. It is pertinent to note that Romania has the biggest share of people at risk of poverty in the European Union.

The country has been witnessing a major rise in the cost of living with many questioning the incumbency and calling for a change. In his first reaction after the polls closed, Georgescu also spoke about the economic uncertainty that has engulfed the country.

The 35-years-long economic uncertainty imposed on the Romanian people became uncertainty for the political parties today, Georgescu said. He went on to call the result an amazing awakening of the Romanian people.

Another reason why Romania is leaning towards the right is the public dismay at the growing influence of the EU and NATO in the country, especially following the Russia-Ukraine war. While campaigning, Georgescu, who belongs to no party, swore to end what he calls subservience to the European Union and NATO, especially in support of Ukraine. He also condemned the NATO ballistic missile defence shield which is currently deployed in Deveselu, Romania. In the past, right-wing politicians maintained that measures like these affect the sovereignty of the country.

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Why did Romania choose Georgescu over AUR?

Cristian Andrei, a political consultant based in Bucharest, told The Associated Press that Georgescus unexpected poll performance appears to be a large protest or revolt against the establishment.

The mainstream political parties have lost the connection with regular Romanians, he said. You dont have strong candidates or strong leaders  there are weak candidates, weak leaders, and the parties in general are pretty much disconnected, he added.

While Georgescu might lack a solid agenda, he emerged as a populist leader due to his support for the Romanian farmers, reducing dependency on imports, and ramping up energy and food production. While campaigning, Georgescu amassed 1.6 million likes on TikTok. His posts frequently depicted him as attending church, doing judo, running around an oval track, and speaking on podcasts. Many believed that Georgescu had more relatability than AURs Simion who was only against 14.1 per cent votes.

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With inputs from agencies.
Progility Technologies, a leading provider of Unified Communications, Collaborations, Data and Cyber security solutions has announced it has been awarded a contract by Cochin International Airport Ltd. (CIAL) to modernize its communications and audio-visual infrastructure.

This project will solidify CIALs position as a technology leader among Indias airports, enhancing the passenger journey and optimizing airport operations.

Enhancing the Passenger Experience:

Progility will deploy a comprehensive suite of solutions, including:

State-of-the-art Flight Information Display System (FIDS): Passengers will enjoy real-time flight updates, including arrivals, departures, gate changes, delays, and baggage claim information, displayed on vibrant, easy-to-read screens throughout the airport.

Passengers will enjoy real-time flight updates, including arrivals, departures, gate changes, delays, and baggage claim information, displayed on vibrant, easy-to-read screens throughout the airport. Centralized Content Management System (CMS): CIAL will effortlessly manage and distribute real-time content across all digital displays, ensuring passengers stay informed about flight schedules, security wait times, local amenities, and emergency alerts. This centralized system streamlines communication and boosts operational efficiency.

Commenting on this, Julian Wheatland, CEO of Progility Technologies, said:

Cochin International Airport is a valued and important customer who we have been working with over the last 8 years on various projects. This was a very competitive tender, and we are delighted to have won the contract. It is a testament, not only to Progilitys commitment to deliver value to our customers, but also to our determination to provide the highest levels of customer satisfaction and success. We are proud to be part of the next phase of CIALs digital transformation and of the trust that has once again been placed in us. This technology represents the future of air travel, by seamlessly delivering an enhanced passenger experience, stronger operational efficiency and new revenue opportunities.

Santhosh S, GM and Head of IT & Communication at CIAL, shared:

Building on the success of our previous collaboration with Progility Technologies in Unified Communication, we are upgrading Terminal 3 with state-of-the-art flight information displays and a robust content management system for commercial displays. This initiative will not only boost operational efficiency and elevate the passenger experience but also reflects our teams commitment to delivering the highest technology standards for our passengers.
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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.
President and Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy discuss damage to telecommunications cables in Baltic Sea and Finland's participation in summit of NB8 and Polish leaders in Harpsund

Finnish Government

Government Communications Department

22.11.2024 13.02

Press release 552/2024

On Friday 22 November, the President of the Republic and the Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy discussed the recent damage to undersea telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea. The National Bureau of Investigation is investigating the matter in Finland and engaging in international cooperation. It is still too early to assess the cause of the damage. The damage does not affect network traffic or Finland's security of supply. The matter will be reassessed once further information has been obtained through the investigation.

The President and the Ministerial Committee also received a briefing on hybrid influence activities targeting Finland and discussed Finland's participation in a summit of the leaders of the Nordic and Baltic countries (NB8) and Poland in Harpsund, Sweden on 27-28 November 2024, which will focus on topical security policy issues such as transatlantic cooperation, security in the Baltic Sea and support for Ukraine.

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November 22, 2024

By Joseph Clark, DOD News

Austin Makes First Visit to Fiji by U.S. Defense Secretary

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III arrived in Fiji today, marking the first visit to the Pacific Island nation by a U.S. Defense Secretary.

The stop is the final leg of Austin's 12th visit to the Indo-Pacific, where he continues to build upon the strong regional partnership forged under his tenure.

Austin was greeted by members of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces and received a Fijian traditional welcome ceremony at Black Rock Camp upon his arrival. The former West Point rugby player also took in a rugby sevens match at the camp before closing out his first day in Fiji.

Austin congratulated the Fijian service members on "continuing to form a truly professional force," in brief remarks.

"And for those who performed the welcome ceremony, I really can't find adequate words to express what I have witnessed," he said. "I know this reflects many, many years of tradition and I appreciate your sharing it with me."

The secretary added that he looks forward to a series of discussions while in Fiji and working to further strengthen the U.S.-Fijian relationship going forward.

Tomorrow, Austin will meet with Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Baron Waqa.

The two countries are expected to sign an acquisition and cross servicing agreement that will facilitate U.S. logistical support to Fiji quickly in the case of an emergency.

The secretary is also expected to announce that the U.S. and Fiji will begin negotiations on a Status of Forces Agreement that will empower the two countries to work more closely together.

He will also announce $4.9 million in foreign military financing for small-arms recapitalization for Fijian forces.

In previewing the visit, a senior defense official said the announcements align with Fiji's aims of continuing to grow its military's professionalism and increasing its capabilities to respond to regional needs.

Austin's stop in Fiji caps a series of engagements with regional counterparts showcasing the United States' unwavering commitment to the Indo-Pacific amid what Austin sees as a "new convergence" of like-minded partners throughout the region.

In addition to Fiji, Austin met with key U.S. partners in Australia, the Philippines and Laos in a continuation to the regional momentum he has built throughout his tenure.

"We are doing more than ever alongside our allies and partners to take concrete steps toward a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific region," Austin said ahead of his departure.

"During this trip, we will deliver results to advance cooperation, strengthen our relationships, and build an enduring network of allies and partners," he said. "I am proud of the historic progress we've made over the last four years and the depth of continuing U.S. commitment to the region."

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Declaration from the NORDEFCO Ministerial Meeting

Government Offices of Sweden - Ministry of Defence

22 November 2024

Yesterday, 21 November 2024, the Nordic Ministers of Defence met in Copenhagen to discuss how to further strengthen Nordic defence cooperation (NORDEFCO) and take stock of the progress made under the Danish Chairmanship in 2024.

Russia's aggressive behavior and its aggression against Ukraine remains a serious and long-term threat to Nordic, European and Global security. Against this backdrop, the Ministers agreed that Nordic defence cooperation stands stronger than ever before. Progress has been made in further developing Nordic defence cooperation in support of NATO's collective deterrence and defence.

The Ministers welcomed the enhanced cooperation at both the policy and military level, including the development of a roadmap for the implementation of NORDEFCO's Vision 2030. Further concrete steps have been taken to enhance operational cooperation between the Nordic countries with the signing of the Nordic Defence Concept and the Letter of Intent on promoting the availability of Nordic airspace for NATO activities.

At the meeting, the Ministers endorsed initiatives to ramp up Nordic ammunition production and to initiate a Nordic cooperation on unmanned aerial systems. The Ministers also signed a Letter of Intent to express their commitment to the establishment of harmonized military corridors between the Nordic countries in order to move military forces rapidly and efficiently by land, air and sea. Initiatives that will also contribute to ongoing work in both EU and NATO.

The Ministers look forward to further strengthening military cooperation in the coming years in the framework of Joint Force Command Norfolk in support of NATO's regional efforts. The Ministers underlined the importance of the transatlantic relationship and delivering on NATO's capability targets, including where possible through multinational solutions.

The Nordic Ministers of Defence met with Ukrainian Minister of Defence, Rustem Umerov, and emphasized the importance of continued and enhanced support to ensure Ukraines ability to defend itself, to restore its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and deter Russian aggression in the future.

Finally, the Nordic Defence Ministers underlined the importance of Nordic cross-government cooperation on civil preparedness and total defence in support of NATO's deterrence and defence. The Ministers welcomed that the Nordic ministers responsible for civil preparedness and protection will have the issue high on their agenda at their upcoming Ministerial in Oslo.

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Letter of Intent on military mobility between Nordic countries

Government Offices of Sweden - Ministry of Defence

22 November 2024

Published 22 November 2024

On 21 November 2024, the Nordic defence ministers signed a joint Letter of Intent (LOI) on expanded cooperation to develop strategic corridors for military transport in the Nordic region.

Download:

The LOI was drafted by the NATO Joint Support and Enabling Command (JSEC) and supports the countries identified as responsible for five strategic corridors in Europe.



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PH, Japan beef up defense ties in ADMM Plus meet

Philippine News Agency

By Priam Nepomuceno

November 22, 2024, 8:22 pm

MANILA -- The growing partnership and defense ties between the Philippines and Japan were further strengthened following the meeting of its top defense leaders Friday.

Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. met with Japanese Minister of Defense Nakatani Gen on the sidelines of the 18th ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) and 11th ADMM Plus in Vientiane, Laos.

In a statement, DND spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arsenio Andolong said the meeting between the two defense chiefs reinforced growing defense ties between the two nations.

Teodoro expressed optimism about further cooperation under Nakatani's leadership.

"During the meeting, Secretary Teodoro pushed for deeper defense industry collaboration, including joint production and technology transfers, following the recent signing of the Self-Reliant Defense Posture Revitalization Act," Andolong said.

Teodoro likewise welcomed working with Japan alongside other like-minded partners, underscoring the shared commitment to peace and security.

"He (Teodoro) invited Minister Nakatani to visit the Philippines next year, further solidifying the strong partnership between the two nations," Andolong noted.

"He (Nakatani) also conveyed confidence that under Secretary Teodoro's leadership, the relationship between Japan and the Philippines will remain robust and enduring," Andolong added.

The 18th ADMM opened on Nov. 20 under the theme "ASEAN Together for Peace, Security and Resilience."

The ASEAN Defense Ministers also held informal meetings and participated in commemorative ceremonies to mark the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Australia Dialogue Relations and 35th ASEAN-Republic of Korea Dialogue Relations. (PNA)

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Vietnam's Politburo disciplines former parliament chairman

It said Vuong Dinh Hue, along with a former minister and ex-president, did little to fight corruption.

By RFA Staff 2024.11.22 -- Vietnam's Politburo has disciplined former National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue for violations in office, the Tuoi Tre news site reported on Friday.

The Communist Party's top body ruled that Hue violated party and state regulations, particularly in the "blazing furnace" fight against corruption and failed to set an example while head of parliament, as a Politburo member, and as secretary of the National Assembly's party unit.

The Politburo also sanctioned former Transport Minister Nguyen Van The for violations in office. It said former President Vo Van Thuong was also at fault but wouldn't be disciplined while undergoing medical treatment. Thuong was forced to step down as president in March. Hue was made to resign the National Assembly chairmanship in May. The stepped down as transport minister in Oct. 2022.

Some political analysts argue that the "blazing furnace," spearheaded by former Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong - and taken up by his successor, To Lam, on Trong's death on July 19 - is a way for Vietnam's top leader to get rid of potential competitors.

The general secretary is considered the most powerful of the "four pillars" which include the president, prime minister and parliament chairperson.

Lam filled a dual role as general secretary and president until Luong Cuong became president on Oct. 21. Cuong is seen by some analysts as a "place filler" president ahead of the 2026 National Congress, which selects Politburo members, effectively deciding who will be elected to the four top government positions.

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 November 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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Traditional sectors get smarter with 5G+ industrial internet

Xinhua) 08:03, November 25, 2024

A drone photo taken on June 1, 2024 shows a view of the Yangluo Port in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)

BEIJING, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- At one of the busiest container terminals along the midstream of the Yangtze River, the atmosphere is surprisingly calm, with only a few people around. Automatic cranes efficiently lift and transfer cargo, while driverless trucks glide in and get loaded.

"Now, 50 percent of our terminal's loading and transportation is automated, which has created a huge leap in efficiency," said Chen Xiaomian, production and operations manager of Wuhan CSP Terminal Co., Ltd. The company operates the namesake terminal at the Yangluo Port in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province.

"We only need 12 workers to remotely handle a workload that typically requires 39 workers at a traditional terminal," Chen said. Supported by 5G+ industrial internet, terminal workers can operate cranes using just a control handle while monitoring progress on a screen.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), 5G+ industrial internet is a new infrastructure that integrates application model or industrial ecosystems into industrial sectors. It leverages 5G and other advanced telecommunications technologies.

By connecting people, machines and systems along industrial and value chains, 5G+ industrial internet boosts the digital, networked and intelligent development of industrial sectors, helping companies reduce costs and increase efficiency.

As part of its tech-driven growth strategy, China has committed to developing 5G+ industrial internet in recent years, aiming to accelerate the smart upgrades of its traditional industries.

According to the MIIT, steelmaking, equipment manufacturing, mining and port logistics are sectors where 5G+ industrial internet is widely used, with technologies such as smart logistics, automated visual inspection, remote control and automated patrol seeing increased use.

A notable example is Hegang, a rust-belt city in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, where local graphite mining industry is enjoying a resurgence.

Unlike the previous model characterized by extensive exploitation, current mining operations are meticulously planned with remote monitoring and data analysis. These technologies can significantly boost work efficiency and prevent resource waste, helping Hegang evolve into one of China's major graphite hubs.

The city's tech-fueled revival reflects a broader trend across China, where more than 15,000 5G+ industrial internet projects are underway, covering all 41 major industrial categories in the country, according to the MIIT.

Zhou Ji, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said 5G+ industrial internet is the primary driving force behind China's ongoing smart manufacturing drive, which involves not only technological advancements but also the reshaping of industrial models.

He anticipates that by 2035, digital, networked and smart manufacturing technologies will have become widespread among industrial companies nationwide, making China a leader in global smart manufacturing.

To further accelerate this transformation, the MIIT announced a pilot program for 5G+ industrial internet in 10 cities at the recently concluded 2024 China 5G+ Industrial Internet Conference. The program aims to promote large-scale applications, with Nanjing, Wuhan, Qingdao and seven other cities chosen for participation.

These cities will focus on developing 5G-powered industrial clusters and innovation ecosystems with pace-setting effects at both regional and national levels, according to the ministry.

During the conference, Chen Ronghui, deputy head of the National Data Administration, said the administration will continue to transform traditional industries with digital technologies. Moreover, it will create more digital solutions providers that offer streamlined, low-cost products and services, Chen said.

Looking ahead, Shang Guangyong, chief technology officer and deputy general manager of Inspur Yunzhou Industrial Internet Platform, said there should be more solutions tailored to companies' needs. He also suggested reducing prices for all types of 5G-based hardware.

With more smart factories emerging in China, 5G+ industrial internet will enable a broader range of application scenarios, such as smart sensing, real-time analysis and precise control, thereby further enhancing production efficiency, Shang added.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
G20 shoulders responsibility for history, takes historical initiative, moves history forward

10:06, November 25, 2024 By He Yin ( People's Daily

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Nov. 18 attended the 19th G20 Summit and delivered important speeches, explaining Chinese philosophies on "Fight Against Hunger and Poverty" and "Reform of the Institutions of Global Governance."

He announced China's eight actions for global development and proposed concrete measures in economic, financial, trade, digital and eco-environmental fields for the G20.

Photo shows the exterior of the venue for the 19th G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (People's Daily/Cao Shiyun)

Xi's important speeches provided crucial conceptual guidance for improving global governance and addressing the practical challenges facing global development, helping consolidate consensus and strength in building a just world of common development and a just and reasonable global governance system.

To build a just world of common development, all parties should shoulder their responsibility for history, take historical initiative and move history forward.

Xi said prosperity and stability would not be possible in a world where the rich become richer while the poor are made poorer, and countries should make global development more inclusive, beneficial to all, and more resilient.

Countries need to channel more resources to such fields as trade, investment and development cooperation, and strengthen development institutions. They need to support developing countries in adopting sustainable production and lifestyle and enhancing ecological conservation.

They need an open, inclusive and non-discriminatory environment for international economic cooperation, and should promote a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. They also need to stay committed to multilateralism, and uphold the UN-centered international system, the international order underpinned by international law, and the basic norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

Only through unity and cooperation among all parties can the goal of building a just world of common development be achieved.

China is always a doer and go-getter working for the cause of global development. It has lifted 800 million people out of poverty, and met the poverty reduction target of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ahead of schedule.

China's story is proof that developing countries can eliminate poverty, and that a weaker bird can start early and fly high, when there is the endurance, perseverance, and striving spirit that enables water drops to penetrate rocks over time and turns blueprints into reality.

Photo shows an illuminated promotional display of the G20 summit at Rio de Janeiro's Galeao International Airport, Brazil. (People's Daily/Zhou Zhou)

China's eight actions for global development announced by Xi, including pursuing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, implementing the Global Development Initiative, supporting development in Africa, and supporting international cooperation on poverty reduction and food security, fully prove that China is a reliable long-term partner of fellow developing countries and is willing to go hand in hand with fellow developing countries toward modernization.

International observers believe that China's eight actions for global development will help make global development more just, inclusive, and sustainable.

To build a just world of common development, it is important to establish a fair and equitable global governance system. Currently, the Global South is gaining significant momentum, yet global governance reform has long been stagnant.

After a 16-year development, the G20 needs to build on its past achievements and continue to act as a force to improve global governance and move history forward.

Xi said that the G20 needs to improve global economic governance and build a world economy characterized by cooperation, to improve global financial governance and build a world economy characterized by stability, to improve global trade governance and build a world economy characterized by openness, to improve global digital governance and build a world economy characterized by innovation, and to improve global ecological governance and build a world economy characterized by eco-friendliness.

He stressed that the G20 should support the UN and its Security Council in playing a greater role, and support all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of crises. This provides significant momentum for the international community to work together in addressing challenges and crises, while opening up new avenues for win-win cooperation.

The Chinese often say, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step." As a major forum on international economic cooperation, the G20 should renew its commitment to the founding mission, and make a fresh start from Rio de Janeiro. China is ready to work with relevant parties to shoulder the responsibility of the times, build a just world of common development, and usher in a better future of common development and prosperity.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
Malaysia, Vietnam elevate ties amid South China Sea tensions

Both claimant-nations agree to work closer on settlement of disputes, security issues in the South China Sea.

By BenarNews Staff

2024.11.22

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia and Vietnam have agreed to elevate ties and cooperate closely to maintain peace in the South China Sea, following a rare protest by Kuala Lumpur over Hanoi's island-building program in the disputed waterway.

The two Southeast Asian countries are among six parties that have overlapping territorial claims in the sea, alongside China, Brunei, the Philippines as well as Taiwan.

Malaysia and Vietnam pledged to "continue working closely together to maintain peace, security, stability, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea and to promote peaceful settlement of disputes," To Lam, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, said during a joint press briefing with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Malaysia's administrative capital, Putrajaya, on Thursday.

The ties between the two countries will be elevated to a "comprehensive strategic partnership" that will help the two sides boost their cooperation in various areas, such as defense and security, according to Lam.

Malaysia is the first, and only, ASEAN country to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership with Vietnam. The eight other comprehensive strategic partners of Vietnam are China, Russia, India, South Korea, the United States, Japan, Australia and France. Singapore and Vietnam are also expected to upgrade their partnership to the highest level early next year, when Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong makes a planned visit to Hanoi.

Last month, Malaysia filed a protest over Vietnam's island-building program in the disputed waters, the Reuters news agency reported. The report said Malaysia had complained about Vietnam's development of an airstrip on Barque Canada reef, a feature in the Spratly Islands chain that Kuala Lumpur also claims.

The "comprehensive strategic partnership" is the highest level in Vietnam's diplomatic hierarchy of official engagements with other nations. Other countries that have similar partnerships with Vietnam include the United States, China, Russia, and Japan.

"We will continue to work closely to expand and deepen our friendship and political trust between the two countries based on respect for each other's national law and respect for its political system, sovereignty and territorial integrity in line with law and regulation based on the principle of non-interference," Lam said.

Kuala Lumpur and Hanoi also "agreed to explore the possibility of having joint efforts in the fishing industry so that we can really work on the basis of trust and friendship," Anwar said in his speech.

Over the years, there have been frictions between the two countries tied to fishing. For example, Malaysian fishermen have accused their Vietnamese counterparts of encroaching on catches of squid through illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in Malaysian waters.

Both Malaysia and Vietnam are member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Malaysia is Vietnam's second-biggest trade partner and the third-largest foreign investor in ASEAN, according to Hanoi.

"Vietnam will support Malaysia in its ASEAN chairmanship next year and will continue working closely with Malaysia and other ASEAN member states to realize the ASEAN Blueprint of 2025," Lam said.

The two leaders also witnessed the signing of memorandums to enhance cooperation in various areas such as trade promotion and renewable energy.

"Vietnam has been very supportive of our business ventures in their country, which now exceed U.S. $13 billion with 700 projects," Anwar said.

It was Lam's first official visit to Malaysia since becoming Vietnam's general secretary in August.

Lam's three-day trip was also the first time a Communist Party of Vietnam chief had visited Kuala Lumpur since 1994, a year before Hanoi formally joined ASEAN.

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.

Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content November 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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The Azadi Briefing: Iran To Deport Afghan Prisoners

By Abubakar Siddique November 22, 2024

The Key Issue

Iran wants to repatriate some 1,000 prisoners to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan to serve their sentences there.



"They are costing a lot to the public purse," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmial Baqaei saidof Tehran's motive in seeking to return prisoners to Afghanistan.



The comments follow a visit by Iranian government officials to Kabul last week. Deputy Justice Minister Askar Jalalian met with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Khalil ur-Rahman Haqqani, the refugee affairs minister.



The Taliban government has demanded that Tehran hand over all Afghan convicts after Iran Human Rights, a nongovernmental watchdog, said Tehran had so far this year executed49 Afghans as part of an accelerating trend of executing Afghans since the Taliban's return to power three years ago.



Tehran, however, only wants to hand over Afghans convicted of drug trafficking during the next two months. The transfers will only take place with the prisoners' consent.



Why It's Important: Reports of wrongful convictions and arrests of Afghans have been on the rise as Iran seeks to expel millions of Afghans it says live in the country.



During the past year, many Afghans have complained of harassment, intimidation, discrimination, and violence at the hands of Iranian authorities in a harsh crackdown.



According to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), Tehran deported more than 550,000 Afghan migrants during the first nine months of this year, from among the estimated 4 million that live in the country.



After the return of the Taliban to power following the collapse of the pro-Western Afghan republic in August 2021, millions of Afghans have sought shelter and jobs in Iran.



International rights watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Iran of using the death penalty "as a tool of fear" to target "ethnic minorities and political dissidents."



Iran, a leading global executioner, has executed at least 651 people during the first 10 months of this year.



HRW Iran researcher Nahid Naghshbandi said the Iranian courts "are a tool of systematic repression and hand out death sentences indiscriminately, leaving legal protections meaningless."



What's Next: It is not clear whether the Taliban government will honor sentences by Iranian courts or will free Afghan prisoners once they return to the country.



The Taliban justice system and human rights record do not inspire confidence in the extremist group's capacity to look after the rights of Afghans at home or abroad.

What To Keep An Eye On

Residents of the Afghan capital complain that with the onset of winter, power cuts have made their lives miserable.



In many parts of the crowded city, residents only have electricity for a few hours a day.



"We are miserable because there is no electricity, wood, coal, or gas," Latifa, a resident of the Qala Zaman Khan district in Kabul, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi.



Firewood and coal cost upwards of $100 for a week's supply, which is out of reach for most impoverished residents.



Afghanistan imports most of its electricity from neighboring Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Iran, and Turkmenistan. This costs the cash-strapped Taliban government $220 million annually.



The Taliban government struggles to collect electricity bills and relies on aggressive power cuts during low electricity supplies in winter.



Why It's Important: Three years after the Taliban's return to power, it has done little to improve electricity supply in the country.



Without investments, aid, and a comprehensive energy policy, Afghanistan relies on expansive energy imports instead of diversifying to green energy sources to tap into the country's abundant wind and sunlight.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-iran-afghan- prisoners-executions-taliban/33212017.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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Bulgaria, Romania Step Closer To Schengen As Austria Drops Veto

By RFE/RL's Hungarian Service November 22, 2024

Austria has dropped its long-standing veto to Bulgaria and Romania joining the passport free Schengen zone, opening the door to their accession next year.

The breakthrough development was announced on November 22 by the Hungarian presidency of the EU Council, which hosted a meeting in Budapest with the interior ministers of Romania, Bulgaria, and Austria.

The EU will meet with the two candidate countries to finalize a joint security package at a meeting on December 11-12. The two countries could become Schengen members in January.

"Bulgaria and Romania belong fully to the Schengen area. I welcome the positive outcome of informal discussions in Budapest today." Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said in a tweet following the announcement.

The addition of Bulgaria and Romania will expand the Schengen zone to 28 states, including 24 EU members. Ireland and Cyprus will remain the only EU members not part of the Schengen Area.

Bulgarians and Romanians currently are not permitted to travel freely into other Schengen member states over land borders. Early this year, they received the right to travel freely by air and sea in the first concession by Vienna.

After the meeting in Budapest, Hungarian Interior Minister Sandor Pinter told media that the agreement to be signed next month includes the establishment of a special contingent of at least 100 border police officers on the Turkish-Bulgarian border.

Hungary will contribute to the full deployment of the officers and provide the necessary technical equipment to ensure effective protection of the border, he said. Pinter expressed confidence that the issue could be resolved by December 31.

EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said a January accession date is a realistic goal.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/romania-bulgaria-schengen-veto- dropped-austria/33212475.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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Orban Invites Netanyahu To Hungary In Defiance Of ICC Arrest Mandate

By RFE/RL's Hungarian Service November 22, 2024

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited his Israeli counterpart to visit Hungary, defying an arrest warrant for issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Benjamin Netanyahu that other European states say they will honor.

Orban, speaking during his regular weekly interview with Hungarian state radio, said on November 22 that the ICC's decision a day earlier to issue the warrant accusing Netanyahu of "crimes against humanity and war crimes" committed during the war in Gaza was "outrageously brazen" and "cynical."

The ICC issued similar arrest warrants for former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and a Hamas military leader who Israel claims to have killed but whose death the U.S.- and EU-designated terrorist group has not officially acknowledged.

The ICC said Netanyahu and Gallant were suspected of using "starvation as a method of warfare" by restricting humanitarian aid while targeting civilians in Israel's war in Gaza -- charges Israeli officials deny.

Orban said the ICC move against Netanyahu "intervenes in an ongoing conflict...dressed up as a legal decision, but in fact for political purposes."

"Later today, I will invite the Israeli prime minister, Mr. Netanyahu, to visit Hungary, where I will guarantee him, if he comes, that the judgment of the ICC will have no effect in Hungary, and that we will not follow its terms," he added.

"There is no choice here, we have to defy this decision," Orban said.

Shortly after the ICC decision was announced, the European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said ICC decisions "are binding on all states party to the Rome Statute, which includes all EU member states."

However, the EU's most powerful members, Germany and France, on November 22 reacted with restraint to the ICC warrants.

A spokesman said the German government will refrain from any moves until a visit to Germany by Netanyahu is planned.

"I find it hard to imagine that we would make arrests on this basis," Steffen Hebestreit said on November 22, adding that legal questions had to be clarified about the warrant.

In Paris, Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine only said that France acknowledged the ICC's move and voiced its support for the ICC's independence.

"France takes note of this decision. True to its long-standing commitment to supporting international justice, it reiterates its attachment to the independent work of the court, in accordance with the Rome Statute," Lemoine said.

Hungary, a NATO and European Union member state, has signed and ratified the 1999 document. However, it has not published the statute's associated convention and therefore argues that it is not bound to comply with ICC decisions.

Netanyahu on November 22 thanked Orban for his show of "moral clarity."

"Faced with the shameful weakness of those who stood by the outrageous decision against the right of the State of Israel to defend itself, Hungary" is "standing by the side of justice and truth," Netanyahu said in a statement.

A right-wing nationalist in power since 2010, Orban has maintained close relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and has voiced opposition to the EU's sanctions imposed on Moscow after its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Orban has previously said that Hungary would not arrest Putin either, despite the ICC arrest warrant issued on the Russian leader's name for war crimes for his role in deporting Ukrainian children.

Furthermore, he flew to Moscow in July immediately after Hungary took over the EU's rotating six-month presidency to meet with Putin, in defiance of the fellow members of the bloc.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/orban-netanyahu-icc-arrest- warrant/33211909.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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The Government of Spain reiterates its condemnation of attacks against UNIFIL

Spain - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

PRESS STATEMENT 074

Friday, November 22, 2024

The Government of Spain reiterates its condemnation of the attacks against UNIFIL, including today's attack on the UNIFIL barracks in Shama, in which four Italian soldiers were wounded.

The Government demands the parties to respect UNIFIL troops and facilities. Their security must be guaranteed.

Attacks on peacekeeping operations are a very serious violation of International Humanitarian Law and Security Council Resolution 1701.

The Government of Spain remains committed to the stability of Lebanon and to the full implementation of Resolution 1701.

-NON OFFICIAL TRANSLATION-

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Secretary Blinken's Call with Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi

US Department of State

Readout

Office of the Spokesperson

November 22, 2024

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi to congratulate Oman and the Omani people on their 54th National Day. Secretary Blinken affirmed the strength of the historic bilateral relationship between the United States and Oman.

The Secretary and Foreign Minister discussed the urgency of securing the release of Yemeni staff of the U.S. embassy in Sana'a and international and non-governmental organizations whom the Houthis have unlawfully detained. The Secretary shared his great concern over the treatment and conditions of the detainees. They also discussed ongoing diplomatic efforts to reach an enduring diplomatic resolution along the Blue Line that fully implements United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 and an end to the war in Gaza that provides for the release of the hostages and a significant and sustained increase in humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza.

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United States Participation in Kimberley Process Plenary Meetings

US Department of State

Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

November 22, 2024

The United States participated in the annual Kimberley Process (KP) Plenary meetings in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, November 12-15. The Kimberley Process is an international, multi-stakeholder initiative created to increase transparency and oversight in the diamond industry to eliminate trade in conflict diamonds, a goal the United States strongly supports.

KP Plenary Participants decided to lift export restrictions on rough diamonds from the Central African Republic (CAR), subject to enhanced vigilance. The United States hopes this advances our shared priority of ensuring the people of CAR are able to economically benefit from their natural resources in a way that does not undercut the country's peace. The United States calls upon all KP Participants and Observers, including industry and civil society who advocated for the lifting of restrictions, to implement enhanced vigilance, necessary to ensure the responsible resumption of exports is done in a manner that benefits the people of CAR and supports the legitimacy of the KP. Demonstrated by the more than $650 million the United States contributed to CAR from 2021 to 2024, we remain committed to supporting the citizens of the Central African Republic on their path to economic independence and durable peace.

The United States regrets that Kimberley Process Plenary meeting Participants remained unable to examine the role Russia's diamond production plays in funding Russia's war against Ukraine, as requested by Ukraine and supported by the United States and others. Despite the KP's mandate to address how the trade in rough diamonds fuels conflict, Russia and a small number of other KP Participants objected to the request. For the second year in a row, Russia also refused to support a public communique that acknowledged Ukraine's request.

The United States believes that meaningful reform of the Kimberley Process, including through its Ad Hoc Committee on Review and Reform, is essential for its continued relevance. During the Plenary meetings, the United States acknowledges the decision to maintain the United Arab Emirates as a custodian KP Chair, with Thailand serving as vice chair, in 2025.

More information on oversight of the diamond industry to eliminate trade in conflict diamonds can be found here or contact EB-Press-Inquiry@state.gov.



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Designation of Former Colombian General for Involvement in Gross Violations of Human Rights

US Department of State

Press Statement

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

November 22, 2024

The United States is today designating former Colombian General Mario Montoya Uribe due to his involvement in gross violations of human rights. There is credible evidence that during his tenure, Montoya Uribe was involved in extrajudicial killings of civilians, which were falsely reported as combat deaths during Colombia's internal armed conflict. As a result of this action, Montoya Uribe and his immediate family members are generally ineligible for entry into the United States.

The United States has proudly supported implementation of Colombia's Peace Accord since its signing in 2016. We join the Colombian people in commemorating its eighth anniversary this November. The United States will continue efforts to support a durable and lasting peace in Colombia that recognizes the needs of victims and survivors. We also commend the Special Jurisdiction for Peace's work to end impunity for conflict-related crimes and respond to victims and survivors at all stages of the transitional justice process.

These designations are made under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2024 (Div. F, P.L. 118-47), as carried forward by the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2025 (Div. A, P.L. 118-83).





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Expansion of settlements undermines peace and must cease immediately: UK Explanation of Vote at the UN Fourth Committee

Explanation of Vote by Archie Young, UK Ambassador to the General Assembly, at the UN Fourth Committee on Palestine.

22 November 2024

The United Kingdom has voted Yes on this resolution as an expression of our longstanding position on the illegality of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Expansion of settlements undermines prospects for peace and must cease immediately.

We have witnessed, with grave concern, how an increasing number of Israeli settlers have systemically used harassment, intimidation and violence to pressure Palestinian communities to leave their land. We call on Israel to hold those responsible to account.

After an unprecedented rise in settler violence over the past year, the UK has imposed sanctions on extremist Israeli groups and individuals for violence in the West Bank.

We reiterate our clear position that any attempt to alter the geographic or demographic make-up of the Occupied Palestinian Territories through the use of force and outside of a negotiated solution is wholly unacceptable and illegal.

However I wish to make clear we do not believe that Common Article 1 of the Geneva Conventions establishes third party obligations.

Chair, the UK is clear that the Occupation must be brought to an end through a negotiated solution, with a unified Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in line with 1967 lines and agreed land swaps, under the effective control of the Palestinian Authority, with Jerusalem as the shared capital of both states and with a just, fair, agreed and realistic settlement for refugees. Peace must be premised upon a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state.

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UNHCR: Lebanon-Syria humanitarian and displacement crisis continues to deepen

UNHCR - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

22 November 2024

Lebanon

This is a summary of what was said by Ivo Freijsen, UNHCR Representative in Lebanon - to whom quoted text may be attributed - at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

BEIRUT - The past few weeks have been the deadliest and most devastating for Lebanon and its people in decades, with Israel dramatically intensifying its airstrikes and ground incursions, deepening the humanitarian catastrophe for civilians.

Two months since the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon, more than 3,500 people have been killed, 15,000 wounded, and an estimated 1.3 million directly impacted and uprooted from their homes. The ongoing hostilities have torn apart countless lives, creating devastating protection challenges and leaving many vulnerable and at great risk.

While today marks Lebanon's Independence Day, it is alas overshadowed by sadness and growing anxiety. The situation remains highly unpredictable, leaving both Lebanese and refugees in the country uncertain and fearful for their safety and immediate futures.

As temperatures plummet, we fear humanitarian conditions for those displaced will worsen. Cold weather and heavy rains are exacerbating the plight of a huge number of vulnerable people, who have been forced to flee their homes. Among their most pressing needs are adequate shelter and winter assistance.

Since October 2023, UNHCR has been a leading agency in UN relief efforts, delivering essential aid, shelter, and protection and other vital services to some 450,000 people, including Lebanese (70 per cent) and refugees. We have been improving collective shelters hosting the displaced and providing blankets and warm clothes.

UNHCR is actively advocating for equal access to shelter for all displaced people, particularly refugees who were already in an acutely precarious situation before this crisis. Our protection response - which includes counselling, community support and creating safe spaces for those most at risk - has reached over 100,000 people. We are supporting a network of 44 health facilities across the country while providing life-saving equipment, including trauma kits.

UNHCR teams are on the ground, listening, supporting and working tirelessly to bring back a semblance of normalcy, even though they may themselves have been displaced or are in harm's way.

What is needed, however, is an urgent ceasefire to stop the spiraling violence. We are urging the international community to stand by Lebanon and urgently provide much-needed funding to help everyone affected, including those who have fled to Syria and beyond.We are grateful for the support that has been quickly dispatched by donors, but we have under half the funds needed to respond to immediate humanitarian needs.

Syria

This is a summary of what was said by Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, UNHCR Representative in Syria - to whom quoted text may be attributed - at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

DAMASCUS - As a result of the deadly situation in Lebanon, over 557,000 people have crossed to Syria in recent weeks. Despite attacks and damage caused by Israeli airstrikes on a number of border crossings and roads, people continue to flee the intensified bombardments in Lebanon, mainly on foot.

Most new arrivals (80 per cent) are women and children. A striking number of those crossing - 41 per cent - are in female-headed families. Some arrivals, including children and older people, bear injuries from their arduous journeys or bombardments. Many require emergency assistance including food, shelter, health care, legal aid and clothing.

Inside Syria, Israeli airstrikes have also increased, posing serious risks to civilians and UNHCR and partner staff and facilities, and affecting our ability to swiftly deliver support to people in desperate need. Airstrikes near border crossings jeapordize people's ability and right to flee the conflict in Lebanon.

Last week, an Israeli airstrike hit Shamsin, near a location where Lebanese refugees were gathering to receive assistance. The attack caused significant material damage to the Damascus-Homs Road; thankfully, no casualties were reported. UNHCR and other partners were also forced to suspend missions to border points in Homs following Israeli airstrikes near Al-Qusair, close to the Joussieh border crossing between Syria and Lebanon, which damaged several bridges and resulted in casualties. Following security assessments, our missions resumed on 18 November.

Many of the Syrians returning have indicated an intention to head back to their areas of origin such as Aleppo, Homs, Sweida and Tartous, with some making their way to the northwest and northeast. They are arriving in communities that have been battered by the enduring crisis in Syria. Two in three people in Syria need humanitarian assistance and over 7 million are still displaced inside the country.

They are living in overcrowded conditions in buildings and structures that are often already damaged and largely unsuitable for habitation. Limited access to adequate and safe housing is a concern, increasing protection risks and winter exposure.

UNHCR and our UN and NGO partners, including the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, are providing emergency items such as blankets, mattresses and solar lamps to recent arrivals, as well as psychosocial and legal support. With local partners, we are providing legal aid and advice at the border - particularly to Syrians - to facilitate their entry, help obtain critical civil documents and raise awareness on issues relating to real-estate rights. Follow-up legal support is also provided in receiving communities. This is done through our existing network of 114 community centres and 119 mobile units travelling across the 14 governorates to visit people in hard-to-reach areas and others who cannot get to us, like the elderly, people with disabilities and those who cannot afford transport.

UNHCR has also started distributing winter kits including high-thermal blankets, winter clothing and plastic sheets; our aim is to reach 420,000 people. But this is not enough. Our funding levels are critically low. The inter-agency appeal for Syria is still only 17 per cent funded.

The situation in Syria needs more than an emergency response. We need a different approach, to address immediate humanitarian needs whilst also prioritizing resilience-building to restore livelihoods and empower people to become self-sufficient and help make the return of refugees who have crossed back sustainable and dignified.

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World News in Brief: Mpox update, Haiti violence, deadly strikes in Ukraine, Pakistan attack condemned

22 November 2024 - The mpox outbreak continues to constitute a public health emergency of international concern, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement on Friday following the conclusion of a meeting of its emergency committee convened in Geneva.

The UN agency declared in August that mpox raised the highest level of alarm under international health law following an increase in cases, mainly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and neighbouring countries.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus agreed with the committee's advice and determined that the upsurge still represents a public health emergency of international concern.

"The decision was based on the rising number and continuing geographic spread of cases, operational challenges in the field and the need to mount and sustain a cohesive response across countries and partners," the statement said.

A significant step'

This week, WHO approved a second mpox vaccine for emergency use listing (EUL) - a process to evaluate the quality, safety and efficacy of medical products.

The LC16m8 vaccine was developed and manufactured by KM Biologics in Japan.

The decision is expected to facilitate increased and timely access to vaccines in communities where mpox outbreaks are surging.

Dr. Yukiko Nakatani, WHO Assistant Director-General for access to medicines and health products, called it "a significant step" in the response to the current emergency.

"Vaccines are one of the important tools to help contain the outbreak as part of a comprehensive response strategy that also includes improved testing and diagnosis, treatment and care, infection prevention control and engagement and education within affected communities," she said.

Haiti: Gang violence displaces more than 40,000 in recent days

Escalating gang violence in and around Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, continues to drive people from their homes, UN agencies said on Friday.

More than 40,000 people have been displaced since 11 November, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Despite the very volatile situation and limited access, the UN and partners continue efforts to respond to the growing humanitarian needs.

Since Monday, aid organizations have provided more than 250,000 litres of water to over 10,000 people in six displacement sites in Port-au-Prince.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has also distributed water and hygiene kits to 10,000 people, and IOM continues to truck water to newly created displacement sites.

Meanwhile, mobile clinics are supporting 15,000 people with medical consultations and the World Food Programme (WFP) has been providing food to 38,000 displaced daily since Saturday.

Ukraine: Nearly 110 front-line towns and villages deprived of essential utilities

Ongoing hostilities in Ukraine are escalating humanitarian needs, particularly in frontline regions, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported.

Attacks on energy infrastructure continue to deepen the crisis as winter approaches, leaving many without electricity, gas, or water.

On Friday, a strike in Sumy City in the northeast resulted in civilian casualties.

Authorities in the Donetsk and Kherson regions also reported fatalities and injuries in recent attacks. In Donetsk, nearly 110 frontline towns and villages remain without essential utilities, worsening conditions for residents.

UN support

"We, along with our humanitarian partners, continue to provide emergency assistance to people impacted by the attacks, and to distribute winter supplies," UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said during his daily briefing from New York.

A humanitarian convoy reached Bilozerka in southern Ukraine on Friday, delivering hygiene kits, medical supplies, bedding, and winter clothing to over 10,000 people in more than 25 villages.

According to OCHA, this marks the 42nd convoy this year, as agencies prioritise emergency assistance and preparations for the cold months ahead.

The UN emphasised the need to protect civilians and critical infrastructure while ensuring urgent aid reaches those most in need.

Guterres deplores deadly attacks in Pakistan

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has strongly condemned the attacks in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Thursday which reportedly left at least 42 people dead.

Gunmen opened fire on two convoys of Shia pilgrims travelling through a remote area near the border with Afghanistan, according to media reports.

The Secretary-General stressed that attacks against civilians are unacceptable.

Mr. Guterres extended his deepest condolences to the families of the victims and to the Government of Pakistan and called on the government to conduct an investigation and to ensure that those responsible are held to account.

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WFP scales up operations to reach millions in Sudan

22 November 2024 - A World Food Programme (WFP) convoy arrived in the Zamzam camp in North Darfur, Sudan, on Friday - the first since famine was declared there three months ago, the UN agency has reported.

WFP announced a major surge in its operations across Sudan, part of a scale-up effort to reach millions in the most needy and isolated conflict areas.

More than 700 trucks carrying emergency food aid are on the way to communities across the country, including 14 "hotspots" that are facing severe food insecurity and the threat of famine.

They are transporting some 17,500 tonnes of food assistance, enough to feed 1.5 million people for one month.

'More than just food'

Laurent Bukera, WFP Regional Director for Eastern Africa, said the agency has been pushing to reach all isolated conflict zones in Sudan.

"These trucks carry more than just food; they carry a lifeline for people caught in the crossfire of conflict and hunger. We need guaranteed safe passage for our trucks and sustained international support to reach every family at risk," he said.

Since September, WFP has delivered food assistance to an average of two million people each month across Sudan - a number that will grow with this latest surge effort.

Millions going hungry

Sudan is among the world's worst hunger crises as the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and rival military the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continue their brutal war.

The country is now home to half of the world's population facing catastrophic hunger. Roughly 4.7 million children under the age of five, and pregnant and/or breastfeeding women, are suffering from acute malnutrition.

The convoy that arrived in Zamzam is the first to reach the camp since famine was confirmed in August. It took two weeks to arrive from the Adre border crossing with Chad.

WFP said the combination of fighting around the North Darfur capital, El Fasher, and impassable roads brought on by the rainy season from June to September, severed incoming transport of food assistance for months.

In the interim, WFP drew on locally sourced food commodities to feed 100,000 people in the camp during September and October.

Overall, the agency has supported seven million people in Sudan in 2024 and aims to reach more than eight million by the end of the year.

Keep border crossings open

Sudanese authorities recently extended the use of the Adre border crossing by three months, which WFP welcomed.

The crossing is a critical conduit for humanitarian shipments into the war-torn country from Chad.

WFP reiterated its call for all border crossings into Sudan to remain open and fully operational so that life-saving aid can reach those in urgent need.

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Lebanon crisis: Intensifying violence is deadliest in decades, warn aid agencies

22 November 2024 - The past two months of intensifying Israeli bombardment in Lebanon have been the "deadliest and most devastating" in decades as communities uprooted from the front line flee continue to flee across the border to Syria, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

Highlighting the deepening humanitarian catastrophe for civilians on Lebanon's Independence Day, the UN refugee agency, UNCHR, warned of a prevailing sense of uncertainty and fear as the war grinds on.

"In recent weeks, Israel dramatically intensified its airstrikes and ground incursions, and this has deepened the humanitarian catastrophe that has affected civilians," said Ivo Freijsen, UNHCR Representative in Lebanon. "The past few weeks have been the deadliest and the most devastating for Lebanon and people in decades."

Massive displacement crisis

To date, close to one million people have been displaced across Lebanon - one in five of the population - and nearly 600,000 people have crossed the border into Syria.

According to the authorities, as of 20 November, there have been nearly 3,600 confirmed deaths including more than 230 children and more than 15,000 injured.

Speaking from the war-torn country, Mr. Freijsen appealed for international assistance to "ramp up winter assistance; it's started to rain and in some areas the first snow has fallen...we have a huge collective effort in front of us we need to pursue in terms of creating better conditions for all the displaced through specific winter assistance and improved shelter."

The UNHCR official stressed the need to ensure equal access to shelter for all displaced people, particularly refugees who were already in an acutely precarious situation before this crisis. The agency's response includes counselling, community support and creating safe spaces for those most at risk. To date, it has reached more than 100,000 people during the current emergency and supports a network of 44 health facilities across the country, including the provision of life-saving equipment, such as trauma kits.

According to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), one in 10 hospitals has ceased operations or been forced to reduce services as attacks continue on healthcare and personnel.

Ambulances targeted

"A hallmark of the conflict in Lebanon is how destructive it has been to the healthcare and this is unprecedented in any level," said Dr. Abdinasir Abubakar, WHO Representative in the country.

Citing UN health agency data, he noted that nearly 330 healthcare workers have been killed in Lebanon since 8 October last year, and "47 per cent of these attacks on healthcare have proven fatal".

Asked to explain this high fatality ratio, Dr Abubakar added that on the front line "more ambulances have been targeted - and whenever the ambulance is targeted actually then you will have a three, four or five paramedics that have been killed".

In an update from the Lebanon-Syria border crossing at Jdaidet Yabous, UNHCR's Representative in Syria, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, reported that an estimated 560,000 people have sought shelter inside Syria since 24 September - about 65 per cent are Syrians and the remainder are Lebanese. Crossing the border remains extremely dangerous for civilians and humanitarians alike, however.

"It is clear from our interaction with those Syrians and Lebanese that we speak to at the border that the bombings of the IDF of border crossings - including the one where I am here which has been bombed at least twice in the past few weeks - this has had a major effect in reducing the numbers. Syrians and Lebanese are very scared of using these escape routes," said Mr. Vargas Llosa, speaking to journalists in Geneva via video link.

Desperation and danger at border

Around 50 Lebanese nationals are returning to Lebanon every day in response to the "disastrous" economic situation in Syria, along with a smaller number of Syrians, the UNHCR official continued.

"They're going back because they cannot make ends meet here because they're not getting enough support, and they think that they might also be better off in Lebanon. Again, these are very, very small numbers. But for us, even small numbers, are worrying signals."

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UN Relief Chief decries 'bullets and bombs' against aid workers

UNOCHA - United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

2024 is now humanitarians' deadliest year on record, driven by the war in Gaza

(New York/Geneva, 22 November 2024) The year 2024 has become the deadliest on record for humanitarian personnel, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today, citing data from the Aid Worker Security Database.

This grim milestone was reached with the recorded death of 281 aid workers globally, surpassing previous records.

"Humanitarian workers are being killed at an unprecedented rate, their courage and humanity being met with bullets and bombs," said Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. "This violence is unconscionable and devastating to aid operations. States and parties to conflict must protect humanitarians, uphold international law, prosecute those responsible, and call time on this era of impunity."

The year 2023 also saw record fatalities compared to previous years, with 280 aid workers killed across 33 countries. The war in Gaza is driving up the numbers, with more than 320 humanitarian personnel killed since 7 October 2023. Many were killed in the line of duty while providing humanitarian assistance. Most were staff members of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Threats to aid workers extend beyond Gaza, with high levels of violence, kidnappings, injuries, harassment, and arbitrary detention reported in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Sudan, Ukraine and Yemen, among other countries.

The majority of fatalities involve local staff working with non-governmental organizations, UN agencies and the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement. Violence against humanitarian personnel is part of a broader trend of harm to civilians in conflict zones. Last year, more than 33,000 civilian deaths were recorded in 14 armed conflicts - a staggering 72 per cent increase from 2022.

Despite the dangers, humanitarian organizations continue to deliver vital assistance, reaching nearly 144 million people in need last year. As of November 2024, they have supported more than 116 million people worldwide.

On 24 May 2024, the Security Council adopted Resolution 2730 in response to the growing violence and threats against humanitarian workers. The resolution mandates the Secretary-General to recommend measures to prevent and respond to such incidents, enhance accountability, and improve protection for humanitarian personnel and assets. These recommendations will be presented at a Security Council meeting on 26 November.

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George Washington returns to Yokosuka

US Navy

22 November 2024

From Story by Ensign Kenadall Hill

YOKOSUKA, Japan -- The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) returned to Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan as the United States' only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, Nov. 22.

This marks the second time George Washington has served as the forward-deployed naval forces-Japan (FDNF-J) aircraft carrier. In 2008, it became the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to be forward-deployed to Japan before being relieved by USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) in 2015.

"A US carrier represents the most advanced maritime capability we have, and it's the most advanced investment we can make in the security of Japan and of the Western Pacific," said Vice Adm. Fred Kacher, Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet. "The George Washington returns with modernized, cutting-edge technology that represents our investment in deterrence and security in this region."

During George Washington's transit from Norfolk, Virginia to Japan, the crew completed Exercise Southern Seas in U.S. 4th Fleet and a seven-week transit from San Diego.

"Arriving here in Yokosuka has been a milestone for this crew for many months, and for some the journey started in April when we departed from Virginia," said Capt. Tim Waits, commanding officer of George Washington. "I could not be more proud of this team. Not only have we arrived safely and on time, but from day one of deployment we have met every goal, exceeded all expectations, and were ready for tasking the day we arrived in the 7th Fleet area of operations."

George Washington, with embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, recently participated in the multi-domain exercise Freedom Edge with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and Republic of Korea Navy in the East China Sea. U.S. participation included Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 147, the first F-35C Lightning II squadron to join FDNF-J, adding fifth generation strike fighter jets to the roster of forward-deployed carrier-based aircraft in the Indo-Pacific region.

"We are proud to bring George Washington back to Yokosuka and back to the location of the most meaningful time in the ship's history," said Rear Adm. Greg Newkirk, Commander, Task Force 70 and the George Washington Carrier Strike Group. "Her crew is made up of both returning friends and many new to Japan, where they and their families will create lifelong memories and friendships in this magnificent Japanese city. Together, the combined community - back dropped by the JMSDF fleet and America's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier - represents a shared vision of peace and prosperity across the region. We are truly allies, friends and family."

George Washington recently hosted distinguished visitors at sea, including U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel; Japan's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. OKANO Masataka; and the mayor of Iwakuni City, Mr. FUKUDA Yoshihiko.

CVW-5 includes VFA 147 "Argonauts,' VFA-102 "Diamondbacks," VFA-27 "Royal Maces," VFA-195 "Dambusters," Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 141 "Shadowhawks," Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VRM) 30 Detachment 5 "Titans," Airborne Command & Control Squadron (VAW) 125 "Tigertails," Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 12 "Golden Falcons," and Helicopter maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 77 "Saberhawks," operating F/A-18F Super Hornets, F/A-18E Super Hornets, F-35C Joint Strike Fighters, EA-18G Growlers, CMV-22 Ospreys, E-2D Hawkeyes, MH-60S, and MH-60R Helicopters.

George Washington is 7th Fleet's premiere forward-deployed aircraft carrier, a long-standing symbol of the United States' commitment to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region, and operates alongside allies and partners across the U.S. Navy's largest numbered fleet.

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Oak Hill arrives in Malaga, Spain

US Navy

22 November 2024

From Petty Officer 3rd Class Justin Kemble

MALAGA, Spain -- The Harpers Ferry-class amphibious landing dock ship USS Oak Hill (LSD 51) arrived in Malaga, Spain, for a port visit and a brief stop for fuel Nov. 18, 2024.

"Our port visit in Malaga, Spain, is incredibly important for the ship," said Cmdr. Beth-Ann Martin, Oak Hill's executive officer. "It is useful to top off our fuel prior to making a trans-Atlantic crossing to reduce the requirement for [underway replenishments]."

The visit to Malaga allows Oak Hill to take on the necessary supplies and stores before transiting between the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Coast. The brief stop follows-up Oak Hill's previous port visit to Souda Bay, Greece, where the ship conducted an agricultural wash down, one of the final preparations before concluding a deployment.

"Preparation for a brief stop for fuel takes days, and sometimes weeks, of planning prior to the port visit," said Lt. Lilly Payne, Oak Hill's supply officer. "There is constant communication with Commander, Task Force 63, along with Task Force 61/2, regarding our stores and fuel. The planning process should start early to alleviate headaches from last-minute requests."

While visiting Spain, Sailors and Marines embarked on Oak Hill will have time to explore the vast history and cuisine the city has to offer.

Oak Hill is conducting operations as part of the Wasp Amphibious Ready Group (WSP ARG)-24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) Special Operations Capable (SOC) in the 6th Fleet and U.S. Naval Forces Europe-U.S. Naval Forces Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF) areas of operations, in support of U.S., Allied and partner interests in the region, including in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, to continue promoting regional stability and deterring aggression.

The WSP ARG-24th MEU (SOC) is comprised of its flagship namesake, the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1), San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS New York (LPD 21), Oak Hill, and the embarked 24th MEU (SOC).The 24th MEU (SOC) is a Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) with a command element, Aviation Combat Element (Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 365 (Reinforced)), Ground Combat Element (Battalion Landing Team 1/8), and Logistics Combat Element (Combat Logistics Battalion 24).

For more than 80 years, NAVEUR-NAVAF has forged strategic relationships with U.S. Allies and partners, leveraging a foundation of shared values to preserve security and stability.

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USS Wasp Departs Rota before Return to Home Port

US Navy

22 November 2024

From Mckensey Cobb

ROTA, Spain -- The amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1), with embarked 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) Special Operations Capable (SOC), departed Naval Station (NAVSTA) Rota, Spain, Nov. 21, 2024, after a brief stop for a replenishment of supplies and fuel prior to making the journey back home after a successful deployment to the U.S 6th Fleet area of operations.

Wasp previously visited Rota in June for a similar replenishment in advance of traveling to the eastern Mediterranean Sea in support of U.S., Allied and partner interests in promoting regional stability and deterring aggression in the region.

"While in the Eastern Mediterranean, our crew, both Sailors and Marines, had to sustain an increased level of vigilance and caution," said Capt. Paul O'Brien, Wasp's executive officer. "After being on alert as the nation's crisis response force, it was good for the crew to experience one final port visit to celebrate and reflect on everything we've accomplished over the last several months, before returning home."

Wasp is scheduled to return to Naval Station Norfolk early December, 2024.

Wasp has been underway conducting operations in the Atlantic Ocean, North Sea and the Mediterranean since early April as the flagship of the Wasp Amphibious Ready Group (WSP ARG)-24th MEU (SOC). The Amphibious Ready Group remains on a scheduled deployment supporting U.S. Allied and partner interests, to promote regional stability and deter aggression.

The 24th MEU (SOC) is a Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) providing strategic speed and agility, ensuring Marines are prepared to respond and protect U.S. national security interests around the globe. The MEU can respond rapidly from longer ranges with greater capabilities across the spectrum of military conflict.

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Navy to Commission Future Littoral Combat Ship Beloit

US Navy

22 November 2024

The Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Beloit (LCS 29) will be commissioned on Nov. 23, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. CST in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Beloit is the 15th Freedom-variant littoral combat ship (LCS) commissioned in the United States Navy and the first U.S. Navy ship to bear this namesake.

The Honorable Tony Evers, Governor of Wisconsin, will deliver the principal address at the commissioning ceremony. Remarks will also be provided by The Honorable Tammy Baldwin, U.S. Senator from Wisconsin; The Honorable Gwen Moore, U.S. Representative for Wisconsin's 4th District; The Honorable Carlos Del Toro, Secretary of the Navy; Admiral James Kilby, Vice Chief of Naval Operations; and Mr. Ali Ruwaih, Vice President of Small Combatants and Ship Systems, Lockheed Martin.

The ship's sponsor, retired Army Maj. Gen. Marcia M. Anderson, a native of Beloit, Wisconsin, became the first female African American officer to earn her second star in the U.S. Army Reserves. After 37 years of service, Anderson retired in 2016 as Deputy Chief of the U.S. Army Reserve. Her previous assignment was Deputy Commanding General of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command. Noting Beloit's long history of supporting national securityboth by providing personnel who serve and by helping to build the ships and vehicles that make our military the envy of the worldAnderson expressed confidence that the USS Beloit and her crew will become an integral part of our nation's history.

"USS Beloit (LCS 29) reflects many of the engineering and weapons improvements that the littoral combat ship has gained since the Navy first began operating these ships," said Secretary Del Toro. "When it receives new capabilities, such as the Naval Strike Missile, it will sail even more confidently in contested waters. The ship's namesake honors the contributions of the people of Beloit, Wisconsin, to the U.S. Navy, including the Fairbanks Morse plant, which built engines that power many of the Navy's ships and submarines."

The LCS class consists of two variants: Freedom and Independence, which are designed and built by two industry teams. Lockheed Martin leads the Freedom-variant team (odd-numbered hulls) in Marinette, Wisconsin. Austal USA leads the Independence-variant team (even-numbered hulls) in Mobile, Alabama.

Littoral combat ships like Beloit will be equipped with the Over-the-Horizon Weapons System (OTH-WS) Naval Strike Missile (NSM). The OTH NSM provides the U.S. and its allies with long-range anti-surface strike capability, as well as increased coastline defense, deterrence, and interoperability.

Littoral combat ships are fast, optimally manned, mission-tailored surface combatants that operate in near-shore and open-ocean environments, defending against 21st-century coastal threats. LCS ships integrate with joint, combined, manned, and unmanned teams to support forward presence, maritime security, sea control, and deterrence missions around the globe.

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USS Hampton (SSN 767) Arrives at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard

US Navy

22 November 2024

From Branden Bourque

USS Hampton (SSN 767), a Los Angeles-class attack submarine and its compliment of more than 130 crewmembers arrived at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Nov. 21, 2024.

"The arrival of Hampton at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard underscores our commitment to ensuring that our attack submarines remain ready for the challenges of tomorrow. The maintenance and modernization of these vital assets, not only extend their operational lifespan, but directly contributes to the Navy's warfighting readiness," said Shipyard Commander Capt. Michael Oberdorf. "In alignment with the CNO's NAVPLAN 2024, this work is a clear reflection of our unwavering focus on lethality, readiness, and the integration of cutting-edge capabilities into the fleet. The critical work we do here strengthens our nation's ability to project power and deter adversaries, ensuring that our warfighters are always prepared to fight and win, wherever and whenever required."

While at the shipyard, Hampton will undergo scheduled maintenance and system upgrades. The work will prioritize technological advancement and modernization of systems to maintain a competitive edge in maritime operations ensuring Hampton remains mission-ready and is returned to the Navy fleet ready to meet any tasking the Navy and Nation needs.

Commissioned in 1993, Hampton is named for four cities: Hampton, Virginia; Hampton, Iowa; Hampton, South Carolina; and Hampton, New Hampshire. Over the years, Hampton has built a reputable deployment record, completing three Western Pacific deployments in support of U.S. national security interests. Its most recent operational service was in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility, where it carried out crucial maritime security operations and demonstrated the Navy's forward presence in the region focusing on deterrence strategies to counter threats from potential adversaries. Hampton has also participated in numerous training exercises, including the Unmanned Systems Integrated Battle Problem and the multinational UNITAS LXV exercise off the coast of Chile. These exercises help the Navy build collaborative partnerships with other nations and services to enhance collective security and interoperability within the joint forces strengthening them as a whole.

Attack submarines like Hampton are designed to excel in a wide array of mission areas. These include anti-submarine and anti-ship warfare, strike operations, special forces deployment, intelligence gathering, and mine warfare. With its advanced systems, Hampton plays a key role in maintaining maritime security, projecting power ashore with Tomahawk cruise missiles, and supporting special operations forces in various global theaters.

"We're excited to welcome the USS Hampton to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Getting the Hampton back to the fleet to defend freedom is a top priority for our team. We're fully committed to putting in the hard work necessary to ensure the Hampton is ready to fight and serve wherever the Navy is needed," said Tim Doyon, Hampton Project Superintendent.

Hampton's Commanding Officer is Cmdr. Grant Wanier, who assumed command on May 30, 2024.

Throughout the maintenance period, Hampton will be supported by its host community of Hampton, New Hampshire. The host community program helps strengthen the bond between the Navy and the surrounding community. Hampton's crew may help the host community in a variety of ways, including painting projects at schools, park cleanups, participating in parades, or other community events as scheduled. Residents in the seacoast community often show their support for the crew, the mission, and the shipyard.

As Hampton undergoes its scheduled work, the crew will continue training and preparation to ensure they are ready to execute a full range of missions upon returning to the fleet. The maintenance and modernization work at PNSY will position the Hampton for continued success as it remains a key player in the Navy's operations around the world.

As America's leader for attack submarine maintenance, repair, and modernization, PNSY is enhancing critical warfighting capabilities by delivering first time quality service, on-budget, on time to the fleet and helping enable warfighters to be battle-ready when called upon.

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Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs

By VOA News November 22, 2024

Israeli forces launched strikes Friday on Beirut's southern suburbs and areas in southern Lebanon identified by Israel Defense Forces as Hezbollah strongholds.

Video provided by news organizations showed strikes in Baabda, Choueifat, Hadath and Dahiyeh.

In a post on its X social media account, the IDF said its air force completed a series of attacks on headquarters used by Hezbollah in the Dahiyeh area in Beirut. The post said the attacks were to damage the ability of Hezbollah to strike Israel, including production sites and warehouses of weapons in Dahiyeh.

The IDF also said from its X account that its jets earlier Friday attacked Hezbollah targets in the southern port city of Tyre. It said the targets included Hezbollah headquarters, intelligence infrastructures, weapons warehouses, an observation post and military buildings.

"Many military assets that were attacked are associated with Hezbollah's 'Aziz' unit, which is responsible for shooting from the area of southwestern Lebanon towards the territory of the State of Israel and other terrorist activities in the area," the post said.

U.N. peacekeepers injured

Separately, the U.N. mission in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said in a statement Friday four Italian peacekeepers were injured when two rockets struck the mission's headquarters in Shama, just south of Tyre. The statement said the injuries were not life threatening and the peacekeepers were receiving treatment at the base hospital.

UNIFIL said the rockets damaged a bunker and logistics area used by the international military police and caused significant damage to nearby infrastructure. They said the rockets were likely launched by Hezbollah or affiliated groups.

The UNIFIL statement said this was the third attack on this UNIFIL base in Shama in a week and came amid heavy shelling and ground skirmishes in the Shama and Naqoura areas in recent days, heightening tensions in the region.

UNIFIL "strongly urges combating parties to avoid fighting next to its positions." It reiterated that any attack against peacekeepers constitutes a serious violation of international law and United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701.

'Deadliest year' for aid workers

Also Friday, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said this year has been "the deadliest year on record for humanitarian personnel" worldwide, driven by the conflict in Gaza, it said in a statement.

OCHA said the 281 aid workers killed so far this year globally surpasses the previous high of 280, with 178 of those deaths occurring in the occupied Palestinian territories, including Gaza.

Since the October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel that sparked the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon, 333 humanitarian personnel have been killed. The U.N. office said many were killed in the line of duty while providing humanitarian assistance. Most were staff members of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Geneva-based OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said the front-line workers being killed are "doing the best humanity has to offer," and he called their deaths "outrageous."

"Regardless of your faith or what religion you embrace, these people are doing God's work, and they're being killed in response," he said.

Hamas launched its October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel. About 1,200 Israelis were killed, and 250 were taken hostage. About 100 of the hostages have yet to be released, although a third of them are believed to be dead.

Following the attack, Israel began a campaign to eliminate Hamas in Gaza that has killed at least 44,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Since the fighting with Hezbollah began, more than 3,500 people in Lebanon have been killed, according to authorities. Most of the fatalities have occurred since late September.

The United States, the United Kingdom and other Western countries designate Hamas and Hezbollah as terror groups.

VOA United Nations Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.

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WFP announces major surge in food aid into Sudan's hard-to-reach areas

World Food Programme

22 November 2024

PORT SUDAN -- The UN World Food Programme (WFP) today announced a surge in its operations across Sudan, part of a scale-up effort to reach millions of people in the country's most needy and isolated conflict areas.

More than 700 trucks carrying WFP food aid are on route to communities across Sudan. This includes 14 locations that WFP categorizes as "hotspots" due to the severity of food insecurity and famine risk in those areas.

In total, the trucks will carry about 17,500 tons of food assistance, enough to feed 1.5 million people for one month. Since September, WFP has delivered food assistance to an average of 2 million people each month across Sudan - a number that will grow with this latest surge effort.

Today, the first food aid convoy arrived in North Darfur's Zamzam camp, where famine has already been confirmed, while further convoys remain on route to other hard-to-reach areas.

"WFP has been pushing to reach all isolated conflict zones across Sudan. The team in Sudan is working around the clock to make sure families receive the life-saving food necessary to survive. We desperately need this to be successful if we are to turn the tide of famine in one of the world's worst hunger crises," said Laurent, Bukera, WFP's Regional Director for Eastern Africa. "These trucks carry more than just food; they carry a lifeline for people caught in the crossfire of conflict and hunger. We need guaranteed safe passage for our trucks and sustained international support to reach every family at risk."

Sudan now holds half of the world's population facing catastrophic hunger (IPC5). An estimated 4.7 million children under the age of five, and pregnant and/or breastfeeding women, are suffering from acute malnutrition, further underscoring the need for uninterrupted aid delivery and sustained international support.

The WFP convoy that arrived in North Darfur's Zamzam is the first to arrive at the camp since famine was confirmed in August. The combination of fighting around North Darfur's capital El Fasher, and impassable roads brought on by the rainy season from June to September, severed incoming transport of food assistance for months. In the interim, WFP drew on locally sourced food commodities to feed 100,000 people in the camp during September and October.

Year-to-date, WFP has reached 7 million people in Sudan and aims to support over 8 million of the most acutely hungry by the end of 2024.

WFP welcomed the recent decision by Sudanese authorities to extend by three months, the opening of the Adre crossing, which facilitates humanitarian shipments across border from Chad into Sudan. WFP reiterates its call for all border crossings into Sudan to remain open and fully operational, so that life-saving aid can reach those in urgent need.

WFP's Executive Director, Cindy McCain, recently visited Port Sudan, where she stressed the need for consistent and secure access to prevent the spread of famine and address an emergency that threatens to become one of the worst hunger crises in recent history.

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Lebanon: a conflict particularly destructive to health care

More health workers and patients have been killed proportionally in Lebanon than in Ukraine and Gaza

22 November 2024

News release

Beirut, Lebanon

Since 7 October 2023, 47% of attacks on health care - 65 out of 137 - have proven fatal to at least one health worker or patient in Lebanon, as of 21 November 2024.



This is a higher percentage than in any active conflict today across the globe - with nearly half of all attacks on health causing the death of a health worker.



In comparison, the global average is 13.3%, based on the SSA's figures from 13 countries or territories that reported attacks in the same period, 7 October 2023-18 November 2024 - among them Ukraine, Sudan and the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). In the case of oPt, 9.6% of the total number of incidents has resulted in the death of at least one medical professional or patient.



According to the SSA, 226 health workers and patients were killed in Lebanon and 199 injured between 7 October 2023 and 18 November 2024.



In the same period, the SSA registered a combined total of 1401 attacks on health in oPt, Lebanon and Israel - 1196 in oPt, 137 in Lebanon and 68 in Israel.



Civilian health care has special protection



"These figures reveal yet again an extremely worrying pattern. It's unequivocal - depriving civilians of access to lifesaving care and targeting health providers is a breach of international humanitarian law. The law prohibits the use of health facilities for military purposes - and even if that is the case, stringent conditions to taking action against them apply, including a duty to warn and to wait after warning," said WHO Representative in Lebanon Dr Abdinasir Abubakar.

International humanitarian law states that health workers and facilities should always be protected in armed conflicts and never attacked. Health facilities must not be used for military purposes, and there should be accountability for the misuse of health facilities.

"There need to be consequences for not abiding by international law, and the principles of precaution, distinction and proportionality should always be adhered to. It's been said before, indiscriminate attacks on health care are a violation of human rights and international law that cannot become the new normal, not in Gaza, not in Lebanon, nowhere," said WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Hanan Balkhy.



The majority of incidents in Lebanon impact health workers



The majority (68%) of incidents in Lebanon registered by the SSA impacted health personnel, a pattern seen repeatedly in the last few years, including in Gaza in the past year. In Lebanon, roughly 63% affected health transport and 26% affected health facilities.



Attacks on health care hit twice. First, when health workers lose their lives or when a health centre is obliterated, and again in the following weeks and months when the injured can't be treated, those who are dependent on regular care don't receive it and when children can't be immunized.

"Casualty numbers among health workers of this scope would debilitate any country, not just Lebanon. But what the numbers alone cannot convey is the long-term impact, the treatments for health conditions missed, women and girls prevented from accessing maternal, sexual and reproductive health services, undiagnosed treatable diseases and, ultimately, the lives lost because of the absence of health care. That is the impact that's hard to quantify," said Dr Abubakar.



1 in 10 hospitals in Lebanon directly impacted



The greater the blow to the health workforce, the weaker the longer-term ability of a country to recover from a crisis and deliver health care in a post-conflict setting

Lebanon is a lower middle-income country with a fairly advanced health system that's been hit hard by multiple crises in recent years. After hostilities in Lebanon escalated in September 2024, the growing number of attacks on health have caused further strain on an already over-burdened system.

Today, the country's health system is under extreme duress, with 15 out of 153 hospitals having ceased to operate, or only partially functioning. Nabatieh, as an example, one of Lebanon's 8 governorates, has lost 40% of its hospital bed capacity.

"Attacks on health care of this scale cripple a health system when those whose lives depend on it need it the most. Beyond the loss of life, the death of health workers is a loss of years of investment and a crucial resource to a fragile country going forward," Dr Balkhy concluded.

So far this year, between 1 January 2024 and 18 November 2024, a total of 1246 attacks on health care were registered globally, in 13 countries or territories, killing 730 health workers and patients and injuring 1255.

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November 23, 2024

Release

Fact Sheet: Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's 12th Trip to the Indo-Pacific

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's twelfth visit to the Indo-Pacific included stops in Australia, the Philippines, Laos, and Fiji. While in the region, he participated in the Australia-U.S.-Japan Trilateral Defense Ministers' Meeting, the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting Plus, meetings with regional counterparts, and engagements with key Fijian leaders.

Secretary Austin's trip builds on historic milestones and unprecedented cooperation with allies and partners to strengthen deterrence and secure a free and open Indo-Pacific region.



AUSTRALIA

The United States, Australia, and Japan are taking decisive steps to deepen trilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific by:

Integrating Japan into U.S. force posture initiatives in Australia by announcing annual trilateral training among the Australian Defence Force, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, and United States Marine Rotational Force-Darwin in Northern Australia and the Indo-Pacific region, beginning with TALISMAN SABRE 2025.

by announcing annual trilateral training among the Australian Defence Force, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, and United States Marine Rotational Force-Darwin in Northern Australia and the Indo-Pacific region, beginning with TALISMAN SABRE 2025. Expanding the scale and scope of trilateral military exercises by opening major U.S.-Japan bilateral exercises to Australian participation and evolving the complexity of trilateral exercises such as SOUTHERN JACKAROO.

by opening major U.S.-Japan bilateral exercises to Australian participation and evolving the complexity of trilateral exercises such as SOUTHERN JACKAROO. Advancing trilateral cooperation on integrated air and missile defense (IAMD) by incorporating live-fire events into large-scale multilateral exercises such as TALISMAN SABRE.



THE PHILIPPINES

The United States and the Philippines are modernizing combined alliance capabilities and bolstering deterrence in concrete and tangible ways by:

Concluding a General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) , which enables the United States and Philippines to share, handle, and protect each other's classified military information.

, which enables the United States and Philippines to share, handle, and protect each other's classified military information. Standing up a new Combined Coordination Center in Camp Aguinaldo that will improve bilateral operational planning and allow U.S. and Philippine forces to work side-by-side in response to real-time incidents, including those in the South China Sea.

LAOS

The United States continues to support collaboration between allies and partners to build regional capacity and uphold international laws and norms by:

Announcing the second-ever ASEAN-United States Maritime Exercise in 2025 to advance maritime safety and rule of law in the region.

in 2025 to advance maritime safety and rule of law in the region. Releasing the first-ever "U.S. Department of Defense Vision Statement for a Prosperous and Secure Southeast Asia," which promotes practical cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and includes activities to improve air, cyber, and maritime domain awareness, establish emerging leaders exchanges, and increase trainings and exercises.

FIJI

The United States and Fiji are strengthening partnerships and facilitating greater engagement with Pacific Island Countries by:

Announcing initiation of negotiations with Fiji on a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) , which will advance U.S. efforts to work more closely with the region and build on a growing foundation of important cooperative agreements with Pacific Island Countries.

, which will advance U.S. efforts to work more closely with the region and build on a growing foundation of important cooperative agreements with Pacific Island Countries. Signing an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) with Fiji , which will bolster bilateral logistics cooperation, including by enabling efficient transfer of fuel and medical supplies as well as use of maintenance facilities during emergencies.

, which will bolster bilateral logistics cooperation, including by enabling efficient transfer of fuel and medical supplies as well as use of maintenance facilities during emergencies. Committing $4.9 million in new U.S. security assistance to support Fiji's military modernization through enhanced Foreign Military Financing, pending congressional approval.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3976342/

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November 23, 2024

By Joseph Clark, DOD News

Austin Bolsters U.S. Cooperation with Fiji, Concludes 12th Trip to Indo-Pacific

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III signed a new agreement today aimed at enhancing the United States' logistics cooperation with Fiji today as he closed out his 12th trip to the Indo-Pacific since taking office.

The Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement is aimed at enabling the efficient transfer of fuel and medical supplies and the use of maintenance facilities during emergencies, culminating nearly a decade of negotiations between the two countries and underscoring the United States' commitment to building lasting partnerships throughout the region.

"This agreement will mean closer ties and closer logistics cooperation between our forces, including for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief," Austin said during a press conference today.

The secretary signed to new agreement alongside Fijian officials during a ceremony today at Black Rock Camp.

Ahead of the ceremony, Austin met with Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Baron Waqa for discussions on bilateral cooperation between the U.S. and Fiji.

In addition to finalizing the ACSA agreement, the two countries announced the beginning of formal negotiations on a Status of Forces Agreement that will empower the two countries to work more closely together.

Austin also announced that the U.S. will provide $4.9 million in foreign military financing for small-arms recapitalization for Fijian forces, pending Congressional approval.

Austin said continuing to strengthen the U.S.-Fijian relationship remains as a key focal point in the region.

"Our relationship is rooted in common values and our shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific," he said. "The Indo-Pacific is our priority theater and our partnership with Fiji and other Pacific Island Countries is vital to a free and open Indo-Pacific."

Austin's visit to Fiji, the first by a U.S. defense secretary, caps a series of engagements with regional counterparts showcasing the United States' unwavering commitment to the Indo-Pacific amid what Austin sees as a "new convergence" of like-minded partners throughout the region.

In addition to Fiji, Austin met with key U.S. partners in Australia, the Philippines and Laos in a continuation to the regional momentum he has built throughout his tenure.

In Darwin, Australia, Austin met with Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles and Japanese Defense Minister Nakatani Gen as part of the 14th Trilateral Defense Minister's Meeting.

In a joint statement following the TDMM, the three leaders announced that Japan will increase its participation in Australia-U.S. force posture cooperation activities, including through annual trilateral amphibious training among the Australian Defense Force, Japan Ground Self Defense Force's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade and the U.S. Marine Rotational Force - Darwin.

The joint statement also outlines steps to increase intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance cooperation throughout the Indo-Pacific, to include Australia's participation in the Japan-U.S. Bilateral Information Analysis Cell.

Following his visit to Darwin, Austin proceeded to the Philippines where he met with President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro.

While there, Austin and Teodoro attended an official signing ceremony for the newly established General Security of Military Information Agreement, that provides a legal framework enabling enhanced and expanded sharing of information and defense technology between the two countries.

The agreement serves as a foundation for further enhancing interoperability between U.S. and Philippine forces and paves the way for additional security agreements in the future.

Austin and Teodoro also broke ground on a new combined coordination center at Camp Aguinaldo in Manila to further enable information sharing between U.S. and Philippine forces.

Later, Austin met with Marcos at Malacanang Palace in Manila where the secretary further underscored the strong ties between the two countries.

Before departing the Philippines, Austin observed a Philippine Navy technical demonstration showcasing T-12 unmanned surface vessels provided by the U.S. through foreign military financing. The T-12 is a key capability used by Philippine forces to protect its sovereignty and operate throughout its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea.

Austin's stop in the Philippines was his fourth visit to the country since taking office, the most visits ever by a U.S. secretary of defense.

In Laos, Austin attended the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus.

U.S. defense secretaries have participated in the forum since 2010 when it was established by the 10-member block of Southeast Asian nations.

Austin met with a range of regional allies and partners on during the forum and reaffirmed the United States' commitment to regional security.

He also announced the first-ever U.S. Defense Department vision statement for a prosperous and secure Southeast Asia.

The statement outlines the U.S. vision for deepening our practical cooperation across Southeast Asia.



Austin also announced during the two-day series of engagements that ASEAN member states approved a second iteration of a U.S.-led maritime exercise with ASEAN countries, which was first held in 2019.

"We've been focused on working with countries, like minded countries to promote an open and secure Indo-Pacific region where countries can protect their interests and also feel free to sail international waterways and fly international skies wherever international law will allow," Austin said today in discussing his most recent trip to the Indo-Pacific and, more broadly, the United States' progress over the past four years in strengthening ties throughout the region.

"We've accomplished a great deal," he said.

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Middle East: Five principles for EU peace-making

European External Action Service (EEAS)

23.11.2024

Nicosia

EEAS Press Team

Keynote speech by the High Representative Josep Borrell at the meeting of the Two-State Coalition for Israel and Palestine.

Check against delivery!

Thank you so much for your invitation.

It is my pleasure to be here with you, with so many Palestinian and Israelis who are friends of the two-state solution and are working for it. And it is particularly important at this moment. We are living in dark times and your courage to fight against the extreme polarisation that is affecting the region and the world deserves the utmost respect.

I know that it is not easy to advocate for peace and understanding when people are being killed and cities being shelled every day. It is not easy, but it is eventually the only way to break the cycle of violence that has been going on for too long.

I know that you may be facing hostility within your societies for being here and speaking for peace and for speaking to each other

This meeting is being funded by the European Union, but despite this I am not sure that everybody will be happy of me being here today. But if we want to build peace, we have to talk with the people who want peace, as you. I am here because I think that we have to support the voices of peace, or the voices asking for war will be too many.

I want to thank the Cypriot authorities for hosting us today here in Cyprus since it was not possible to hold this meeting nor in Ramallah nor in Tel Aviv. I want to be very clear and say that recognising the pain, recognising the fears and the hopes of the other side does not mean normalising occupation nor legitimising terrorism or any kind of violence against civilians. The fact that you talk to each other does not meant that you agree with the occupation nor that you support terrorism. On the contrary, you are standing up against them. And allow me to say that you represent the best face of the future, a better future for your own people, but also a better future for the people of the other side and for the people around the world.

The world is in a critical juncture today, maybe in the most critical juncture in our lifetime. At the end of the month, I will be leaving the responsibilities I have been holding as High Representative of the European Union and Vice-President of the Commission for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. It has not always been easy to represent the European Union on this conflict, because the European Union member states are deeply divided about it. It is sufficient to have a look at the reactions that were provoked by the recent decision of the International Criminal Court to see how different are the positions inside the European Union.

Let me start by saying that this decision is not a political one; it is a court decision. It a decision taken by an international court that was created with a strong support from European Union member states.

The EU member states were very much supportive and when the court decided to issue an arrest warrant against the Russian President Vladimir Putin, many voices applauded it/ Some of these voices have kept quite remarkably silent today. As Vice-President of the European Commission and as High Representative, I want to express my support to the International Criminal Court and remind member states of the European Union that they are bound to implement the decision of the court.

The Countries candidate to become members of the European Union are supposed, among their obligations, to integrate the Criminal Court. It would be very weird that those who want to become part of the European union are obliged to fulfil criteria that the current members of the European Union do not fulfil.

Let me say that the Court decision has nothing to do with antisemitism and that this is not a political decision, but I am alarmed by the extreme polarization and politicization of the reactions against this court decision. I want to start talking about the Middle East Peace process, which is today very high in the agenda. It was not the case when I came to Brussels five years ago. My staff told me: "Do not invest your political capital, do not spend your time. It is useless, many people tried and not one succeeded. And for the time being things are quite quiet."

As you may remember, Jake Sullivan said only week before the terrorist attack of Hamas that the Middle East had never been so peaceful. Well, it showed that nobody was aware of what was going on. Apparently, it was peaceful but it reality it was not, it was burning from the inside.

When I started working on the Middle East, I launched a project: I call it 'a process for the day after'. My aim was to try to look at the Middle East from the point of view of the implementation of the two-state solution. At the United Nations General Assembly, just before the terrorist attack of the 7th of October, we launched this initiative, but then the terrorist attack happened and everything stalled once again.

This conflict could drag the whole humanity into the abyss. In Gaza, we already looking at it, and it is not only in Gaza: the consequences could be very damaging and very dangerous for the whole world. I continue working on the peace process and at the last United Nations General Assembly we launched a Coalition for the Implementation of the Two-States Solution.

My last commitment before leaving my job will be to [co]chair - the 28th of November in Brussels - the meeting of the technical working groups that are trying to look at how to advance in this way. They held a meeting in Saudi Arabia and now it is the turn to do it in Brussels.

If I say that the conflict will affect the whole world is because it has already taken a global dimension.

The prize of no peace in the Middle East has become exorbitant, not only for the people who are dying under the bombs, but for the whole region. And maybe for the whole world. Inaction is not an option. Wait and see is not a policy. And providing the same response to the same problem once and again without bringing a solution is no longer possible.

I think we agree on that due to your commitment, your strong commitment and the courage that you show going against the wind and facing animosity in order to fight for peace. I do not need to convince you. But let me say some things about how I see how to support the peace camp, to confront spoilers, to stick to the facts, to protect international law and to make the European Union relevant.

Once upon a time, the European Union was relevant on this dossier. The idea of the Two-State solution was launched by the European Union in Venice in 1982. So we were relevant and I think that we could become relevant again if have the political will. So let us go through these five guiding principles.

First support the peace camp

Second, confront the spoilers.

Third, stick to the facts, which means fight against disinformation.

Fourth, protect international law against the spoilers of international law. This morning I got terrified when I listened to a US Senator saying that they are going to impose sanction on any country that cooperates with the Court of The Hague. It is really incredible. They mentioned Canada, France, Germany and any other country that might support the International Criminal Court. It is a US senator. So when I talk about protecting international law I am not talking in a vacuum. I am talking concretely.

And last, to make the European Union relevant.

I am going to go quickly through all these points.

Support the peace camp: supporting the peace camps means to empower, moderate, and make sure that the voices of reasons can take the centre of the stage. It means making a conscious effort to provide a space for peace advocates and to make your voice heard. If in political debate you are not heard, than you efforts are useless.

Last Sunday, I met with the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the former Palestinian foreign minister Nasser Alkidwa together with some colleagues from the Foreign Affairs Council to voice their ideas and to listen to anybody who is willing to talk about peace. Because the extremist spoilers are dominating the discourse and distorting the perception of others, but the voices of peace have to be heard. And the most effective way of countering extremist discourse is through human interaction among people like you.

To achieve peace, we need to appreciate that behind whatever distorted images of the other -when the other is being projected as someone that does not deserve life, or deserves to be treated like an animal- there is an intrinsic willingness to live in peace as part of the human nature. As part of the human nature, there is an intrinsic will to live in peace, because no human society can leave in conflict forever.

I think that the European Union has proved that we can make peace. Let's remember in 1945, after the Second World War, the enmity between the German and the French. Remember how Europe was after the Second World War, who could have imagined that 70 years later I could travel from Gibraltar to Helsinki without passing any border. Who could have imagined that war is conceived as something impossible among us, what a great success in the history of mankind. So if this happened, it may happen again. We just have to work for it.

No human society can live in conflict forever. And that is why I called in Barcelona, some weeks ago, a conference with the motto "Reclaiming our shared humanity", because we have lost the sense of shared humanity. There is no longer any kind of empathy for the pain of the others. There is no longer a concern for the pain for the other, the other deserves to suffer and we have to recover the sense of humanity and to make the paint of the other something that is felt as a pain for all human beings.

At the end of the day, the divide is not between Israelis and the Palestinians, not among the West and the Arab or the Muslim world: the real rift is between those who want peace and human rights and those who benefit from conflict. Because people, some people, benefit from conflict and this is why they continue pushing for it. Israeli civil society and activists for Palestinian rights has to be spotlighted to the Arab world on every occasion and other peace efforts especially the Arab peace initiative should be known to all Israelis too. I just came from Jordan which is at the forefront of this effort and I want to salute its remarkable commitment to peace for the region.

So what can we do? I personally believe that a credible commitment to the two-state solution means recognizing both states and this will be supported and moderated by the peace camp, but I don't think that this will happen. Not all the members of the European Union are ready to recognize the state of Palestinian, not today. Second, we have confront the spoilers. Not only . And the key word is in this regard is consistency: confronting the spoilers only in one side can be counterproductive in two ways. The spoilers on the other side will feel emboldened and the spoiler will play the victim card inside their own community, why us and not them?

There has to be a great effort of consistency in order to show that there is common denominator and a common approach among any kind of people spoiling the peace processes. And this is part of the fight against disinformation, disinformation is the way to increase radicalization.

For too long we have been focusing on the spoilers only in one side, we listed Hamas, we listed Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other groups and terrorist entities, and it was well done. We have established a sanction regime for the perpetrators of the 7th of October attack, but we have started listing also extremist Israeli settlers for the first time under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime.

I proposed, and some members states also proposed it, to use this sanction regime against the violent settlers that are responsible of attacks against the Palestinian people. It is good to put the weight on both sides. If there is something that deserves to be punished, it has to be punished, wherever it happens. The important thing is not who does but what is being done.

The European Union has taken measures to sanction -under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime- some extremist settlers for violating human rights. As European Union, we have to think how we can implement the decisions not only of the International Criminal Court, but also of the International Court of Justice. When it says that occupation is illegal, it is illegal. And if they say that the occupation of the Palestinians territories has to come to an end as quickly as possible, isn't this something to be supported by everybody? Or is it pure rhetoric?

When Crimea was invaded by Russia, we immediately took the decision to ban in the European Union the import of products coming from occupied because it was illegally occupied. We have not done the same thing with respect to the Palestinian occupied territories. We have decided to put a kind of labelling in order for the consumers in the European Union to be aware of where this products are coming from an illegally occupied territory.

Does it happen efficiently? Is this being implemented with enthusiasm? I doubt it, but it should be done and more. The recent advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice has to be considered not as business as usual but we should do exactly the same thing that we did with Crimea, otherwise the accusation of double standards will come and it will be difficult to rebut it. So we think that the most has to be done against the ones who spoil peace, whether they are Israeli settlers or Palestinian armed groups A spoiler sanction regime could help to protect peace process from the ones that undermine it

The third thing is to stick to the facts. To support the peace camp and confront the spoilers, we will need to set the record straight. People have to know what is going on. The war is not only spilling over on the ground in Gaza and Lebanon, it is escalating online. The battle of narratives that polarizes between Israelis and Palestinians is spreading around the world, fuelling incitement to violence, disseminating supremacist discourse and disseminating antisemitism, anti-muslim hate and at the end dehumanisation.

Toxic messages find a fertile ground because tragically the algorithm of hate has become much more profitable than the algorithm of peace.

You know how the messages are being replicated and disseminated and the algorithm of artificial intelligence that selects the messages that you are going to receive. It is not our fault because it is more profitable than the algorithm that selects the messages of peace. We have the Netanyahu government claiming that the information emerging from Gaza is unreliable, while this same government has enforced the longest media blackout in the history of press freedom. One cannot say at the same time that the information is not reliable and forbid any kind of free information.

We are facing the longest blackout in the history of press freedom, imposed by a democratic country. Media outlets are banned from entering Gaza to independently verify the claim of both sides and the devastating impact of the war on civilians. Local journalists previously threatened by Hamas are now killed by Israeli bombed and since the 8th of October 130 Palestinian journalists have been killed, making Gaza the deadliest place in a war for journalists.

I am coming from Jordan and I had several meetings with different United Nations organizations that have an idea of what is going on there and that have people inside. They receive information and they tell you what is going on. Netanyahu cannot turn off the light in Gaza and then complain that the world cannot see; you cannot turn of the light and then complain that it is not possible to see. If you want to see, turn on the light and then let people come in and witness what is happening. Freedom of the press is under scrutiny within Israel itself. Journalist that criticise the war or its conduct are facing increasing pressure and on both sides, disinformation campaigns are shaping narratives of war and peace with fear and distrust. Some voices deny the unspeakable atrocities perpetrated by Hamas the 7th of October, yet the images and testimonies of this massacres are impossible to erase. Others deny the disproportionate use of force and the staggering number of civilian casualties caused by Israeli bombardment in Gaza. The horrifying images and testimonies of children, women, elders mutilated or trapped under the rubble are unbearable to watch, but they have to be seen. In Spain we say: "Ojos que no ven, corazon que no siente"

(If your eyes don't see your heart won't feel)..In order to feel you have to know, in order to have emotions you have to have images and the images are there but they are not widespread in the same matter in different parts of the word. Public opinion do not have the access to images and that is why the heart feels differently. I want to pay tribute to the courageous journalists, human rights defenders, lawyers and doctors both Israeli and Palestinians who are trying to document the truth to preserve it for future accountability.

These are the people we must stand behind and we must counter disinformation campaigns like the one which is going on currently on UNRWA which jeopardises lives at the time when Palestinians in Gaza are most in need of humanitarian aid.

In this battle of narratives, of fight for ideas trying to conquer the mind of the people, let us champion truth and amplify the voices like yours that want to make peace irreversible. This battle is not on the battlefield, but on the TV screens, in social networks, it is in every news, in every image, every comment that flows through the networks, poisons the whole mind of the people and prevents them from having a real understanding of what is going on. It is not all good or bad. It is a tragic story, the most tragic events that I have been able to see during my mandate and I am afraid that they will mark generations.

The fourth thing that we have to do is to protect the international law. When Russia attacked international law, we claimed that international law should be respected and we went to the United Nations, to ask the United Nations to condemn the invasion. This is the fourth principle, related to the historical duty to preserve multilateralism. It is legitimate to us Europeans to a greater part of the international community to portray ourselves as the guardians of international law and human rights when we see this being blatantly disregarded on a daily basis.

We cannot pretend to be and portray ourselves as the guardians of international law if we look to the other side when international law is being violated. We cannot proclaim ourselves to be the guardians of the rule of law without acting on the basis of the judgement of the International Court of Justice, confirming the illegality of the occupation.

We cannot pretend to hold a rule based international order and not implement the decision of the International Criminal Court. We cannot pick and choose the decisions we like and those we do not like. And we must ensure that the ICC is able to function without the impediment of any third party and without threats and intimidation like the one I have mentioned at the beginning that certainly terrifies me, because it is not coming from an authoritarian state, it is not coming from a Third World dictatorship; it is coming from the US Senate. Accountability has to be comprehensive and impartial.

The impunity on all sides has to be seen in Gaza and Lebanon, and impunity has to end. If there is impunity there will never be justice, without accountability there will be never be justice. And that we are seeing that the International Criminal Court doing is working to end impunity. To end impunity, because one has the feeling that in this war there is too much impunity and because without accountability there will not be justice and neither peace. The Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention must be a key moment next year to strengthen the commitment to enforce international humanitarian law

And we cannot stay idle when the United Nations, its leaders, its agencies, its staff on the ground are being ignored, obstructed, humiliated and even assaulted. No European Union member state, European Union institution, international community can look to the other side while the United Nations highest officials and the people in the ground risking their lives are being insulted, ignored, threatened and even killed. 240 United Nations workers have been killed in Gaza since October 2023 .

I want to use this occasion to pay tribute to the United Nations agencies and also to the United Nations secretary general, from the top to the bottom, to UNRWA and to OCHA which are lifelines for millions of people.

In Jordan I had the chance to, meet the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinians territories, he has been witnessing and suffering the last months what is going on. And when you listen to him, you understand the reasons that brought the International Criminal Court to take the decision that the court has taken. One understands the reasons by which International Court has issued this statement.

You know that there is no more Gaza left in Gaza, there is no more Gaza left in Gaza. No villages no hospitals no schools, no society, only individuals fighting for their survival on an individual basis and risking to be left totally alone very soon.

In a matter of days, the United Nations will be forced to stop the its humanitarian assistance because there is no more fuel, the little that manages to get in is being looted by gangs acting in total impunity. And human beings will be dying to hunger and disease, being forced to violence and the whole humanity is looking to the other side.

The last point, we have to make use of EU leverage, we have leverage but it has to be used. The European Union is relevant when it wants to be relevant. In order to be relevant you have to be united, otherwise it is not possible. We have been remarkably united in confronting the invasion of Ukraine until now.

If we want to be relevant we must continue with what we have always been good at doing: upholding international reality and promoting the two-states solution. There is no single state of the European Union who is again the idea of the two-state solution. Not a single one has said "I am against it".

Every time that there is a meeting of the European Union member states, their conclusion is the same: we support the two-states solution, the question is what do you do in order for this solution to be implemented because the key word is "implementation". A word that some members are still little bit reluctant to use. Because implementation means to take decisions, means to use coercion means to put constrain, otherwise it is just your rhetoric. We are very good at denouncing international law violations, we should be good when also this violation is being performed by our close partner.

Israel is our close partner, we have with Israel the strongest association agreement that we could imagine with any other country in the world. The dimension of external relations, economic relation is so big, the participation of the Israeli government in our programs is so important, that certainly I think that when we hear the threats of settlement expansion, the threat of annexation, attacks to international organisations and agencies, it should make a light blink saying "look there is something wrong here".

Our close partner seems to be ready to violate international law or they are already violating international law, why don't we use the same standards that we used in Crimea. As I mentioned before, I think we have to have a close look on the way we measure the behaviour of our partner and act in accordance with our principles.

We need to continue investigating in more democratic Palestinian institutions, we need to invest on making the Palestinians authority and bodies more democratic and legitimate and more efficient. We have to ask and we are asking for reform of the Palestinians authority, increasing its acceptance by the Palestinian people, help them to provide better services and security.

As we said, we are the strongest partner of Israel with trade and many other issues. I think that this close cooperation now is at risk of not moving forward in light of continuous violation of international law and human rights in the Palestinians territories. Are there violations of Palestinian rights in the occupied Palestinians territories? Are there or not? Yes, there are. It is impossible to deny. What are the consequences? I think that we need to clarify his and that is why I presented to my colleagues at the Foreign Affairs Council my assessment at the request of some member states. There has not been a decision from the Council of ministers but it does not mean that this will not continue to be studied and taken into consideration.

And we need very much in Europe to prevent a spill over that jeopardizes the security and safety of our Jewish communities in Europe permanently. We have to fight anti-semitism and antimuslim hate, and any kind of anti- someone belonging to any kind of human group. There is nothing more cruel, more stupid and more unacceptable than anti-semitism, the worst invention of human kind but this word cannot be used in vain. Anti-semitism brings us to the dark moments of our history and it is because of this dark hard moment that we have a responsibility for this not to happen again, against anyone. Do not use the word in vain. Do not say that everybody is anti-Semitic. I am not anti-Semitic, the Secretary General of the United Nations is not anti-Semitic, the Spanish Prime Minster is not anti-Semitic, the workers of United Nations agencies are not anti-Semitic. Let's not use this word in vain, because the word antisemitic brings back the memories of millions of people being killed, please don't use this word in vain. I have the right to criticize the Netanyahu government because it is a democratic government elected by the Israeli people, as much as I have the right to criticize any other government in the world. But to criticize the policy of a government and the way they conduct the war does not make me anti-Semitic. The best friends of Israel are not only the ones that say "go, do whatever you want, free hand". No, these are not the best friends of Israel, the best friends of Israeli people are the ones reminding that there are limits to the right of defence and this limits are based in international law and the respect of human dignity everywhere. Not to make a human being become an animal, because they are not an animal.

This is what I wanted to say today here with you and that is why you should continue to say it loudly, and I thank you for taking the risk of saying that. I know that it will not be easy for you and that is why I wanted to be here. Because you are on the right side of history and I want to thank you for that.





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Uzbek President Fires Top Officials Amid Assassination Attempt Scandal

By RFE/RL's Uzbek Service November 23, 2024

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev has fired several top officials in the State Security Service (SSS) and Interior Ministry in a sweeping reshuffle following an assassination attempt last month on a close ally of his eldest daughter.

Abdusalom Azizov, the head of the State Security Service (SSS) and Alijon Ashurov, the head of the Presidential Personal Security Department, were among those dismissed by Mirziyoev on November 22, several law enforcement sources told RFE/RL's Uzbek Service.

Meanwhile, Otabek Umarov, the deputy head of the SSS and the husband of Mirziyoev's youngest daughter, left the country on November 23, the sources said. It is unclear whether he fled or intends to come back, they added said.

The upheaval is the biggest in the security services since the authoritarian Mirziyoev took office eight years ago. It comes amid a back-door power struggle among Uzbekistan's political elite that was thrust into the spotlight following an assassination attempt on Komiljon Allamjonov, a former high-ranking official in the presidential administration.

Alisher Ilkhamov, an analyst at U.K.-based political risk firm Central Asia Due Diligence, said Mirziyoev needed to take action to show that no one was above the law and demonstrate his control over the country.

"Impunity for such actions is a sign that the group that committed this is given carte blanche. And this will create a certain mood in society - an atmosphere of fear," he said.

Allamjonov was traveling in a car on October 26, one day before parliamentary elections, when it was sprayed with bullets. Allamjonov survived, but the incident -- the first assassination attempt on a current or former member of Mirziyoev's administration -- sent shockwaves through the country.

Earlier this month, South Korean authorities detained Uzbek citizen Javlon Yunusov on suspicion of involvement in the attempted murder of Allamjonov.

An RFE/RL investigation also linked another man, Shokhrukh Ahmedov, along with Yunusov and other suspects to organized crime, prior assassination attempts in Turkey, and high-level officials within Uzbekistan's administration, including Umarov.

The 40-year-old Allamjonov left his government post in September allegedly to focus on a private business venture. Meanwhile, Umarov had been accused of allegedly establishing a "deep state," controlling the country's security services and major businesses through his proxies.

Sources close to the investigation have suggested that the organizers of the attack may have sought to curb Allamjonov's growing influence and connections within the administration.

Prior to the assassination attempt, Allamjonov received the personal backing of 39-year-old Saida Mirziyoeva, the president's eldest daughter who is widely seen as his potential successor.

NOTE: This article has been corrected to say that Javlon Yunusov was detained by South Korean authorities, not Shokhrukh Ahmedov, who is also a suspect in the case and is in custody in Uzbekistan.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/uzbek-president- fires-top-officials-assassination-attempt-scandal/33213337.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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United Nations Climate Talks On Verge Of Failure Amid Walkout

By RFE/RL November 23, 2024

Developing nations staged a walkout at the United Nations climate talks in Baku, demanding wealthy emitter nations step up financial aid to combat the effects of global warming.

Host nation Azerbaijan urged delegates to seek consensus as COP29, already extended into an extra day, verged on the brink of failure.

"I know that none of us wants to leave Baku without a good outcome," COP President Mukhtar Babayev told climate officials from around the world on November 23, urging them to "bridge the remaining divide."

Small island states and the least developed nations walked out of negotiations on a funding package for poor countries to curb and adapt to climate change, saying their climate finance interests were being ignored.

"[The] current deal is unacceptable for us. We need to speak to other developing countries and decide what to do," said Evans Njewa, chair of the Least Developed Countries group.

Developing countries have been pushing rich countries for years to finance their attempts to battle the impact of climate change, saying that the extreme weather and rising seas hurting them is the result of greenhouse gas emitted by the wealthy nations decades ago.

In 2009, rich countries pledged $100 billion a year in annual climate aid by the early 2020s but some have been struggling to meet their commitments.

The last official draft on November 22 pledged $250 billion annually by 2035, more than double the previous goal, but far short of the annual $1 trillion-plus that experts say is needed.

Experts said that rich countries like the United States and Europe are facing budget constraints due to the coronavirus pandemic and now wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

The United States has allocated $174 billion to Ukraine and billions more to Israel to help bolster their defenses. European nations have also allocated well north of $100 billion for Ukraine.

In a bid to save COP29, representatives from the European Union, the United States, and other wealthy countries met directly with those of developing nations to work out an agreement.

"If we don't get a deal I think it will be a fatal wound to this process, to the planet, to people," Panama's special representative for climate change, Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez said.

With reporting by Al Jazeera and AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/cop29-walkout-over-investment- baku/33213406.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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Georgian Dream To Open Parliament Despite Protests, Without Foreign Diplomats

By RFE/RL's Echo of the Caucasus November 23, 2024

The Moscow-friendly Georgian Dream party, fresh off a contested victory in parliamentary elections last month that ignited calls for fresh polls and pro-EU demonstrations in Tbilisi, is preparing to hold its first parliamentary session on November 25.

In comments to RFE/RL, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said that foreign diplomats would not be invited to attend the opening session, saying it "should only be celebrated by the Georgian people."

EU and other Western officials have expressed serious doubts about the October 26 elections in which Georgian Dream officially won 53.9 percent of the vote.

Opposition leaders this week called on foreign diplomats not to legitimize the new parliament by attending the first session of parliament.

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has refused to recognize the result validated by the country's Central Election Committee (CEC), and protests demanding new elections continue to be held in the country's capital.

Protesters have alleged that there was widespread fraud during the campaign and vote, and that Russia heavily influenced the outcome favoring Georgian Dream, which has been in power since 2012.

In recent days, Georgian police have shut down the demonstrations, including through the use of violence on November 19.

Video footage by RFE/RL correspondents in Tbilisi showed police dragging people to the ground, including women, and beating them before taking them away.

The same day, Zurabishvili filed a lawsuit in the Constitutional Court "requesting annulment of the election results as unconstitutional."

The first item on the agenda for the opening session, which will be attended by the head of the CEC, will be recognizing the authority of all 150 parliament members.

Georgia has been a candidate for EU membership since last year, but a "foreign influence" law and anti-LGBT measures enacted under Georgian Dream's leadership have stalled that effort.

The United States in July announced that it would pause more than $95 million in assistance to the Georgian government, warning it that it was backsliding on democracy.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/georgian-dream-parliament- protests-foreign-diplomats/33213044.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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"International organizations are turning a blind eye to the crimes against humanity in Palestine"

Presidency Of The Republic Of Turkey

23.11.2024

Speaking at the 4th International NGO Fair, President Erdogan said: "Global governance mechanisms, international organizations and international media are turning a blind eye to the crimes against humanity committed in Palestine, Lebanon and in many other regions. A complete blackout in favor of Israel is being imposed in order to keep the atrocity out of the spotlight."

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a speech at the 4th International NGO Fair at Istanbul Ataturk Airport.

"A COMPLETE BLACKOUT IN FAVOR OF ISRAEL IS BEING IMPOSED"

Underscoring that the humanity, with all its institutions, bodies and cells, is losing its efficiency, President Erdogan said: "The world, the Islamic world in particular, is going through a tough test, a comprehensive surrounding, the fire circle of insidiously-prepared plans. The oppressed, the innocent, children, women, the elderly and civilians have been massacred mercilessly in Palestine, right beside us, for 14 months. Global governance mechanisms, international organizations and international media are ignoring the humanitarian crimes committed in Palestine, Lebanon and in many other regions. A complete blackout in favor of Israel is being imposed in order to keep the atrocity out of the spotlight. Some countries, which lecture others on democracy and human rights, are fueling, so to speak, the oppression with the support they provide to Israel instead of stopping this nefarious massacres and genocide. Zionist killers, who are encouraged by this, for their part, are adding new ones to their atrocity and barbarism each passing day, and constantly raising the bar for ruthlessness."

"OVER 2 MILLION PALESTINIANS ARE STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE UNDER SEVERE CONDITIONS"

Stressing that nearly 50 thousand Palestinians have been martyred, over 700 thousand people have been injured and 1.9 million civilians have been displaced since Israel's attacks started in Gaza, President Erdogan noted: "The blood of those, who have been martyred or been injured in Palestine, has spread to not only their murderers, but also to those who have not stopped them. The insidious purpose behind the attacks, which have destructed 160 thousand buildings and have heavily damaged 436 thousand structures in Gaza, is better understood each passing day. Over 2 million Palestinians, which have been confined to a narrow zone, are both strugglling to survive under severe conditions, and maintaining with perseverance a difficult fight against hunger, thirst and lack of medication. May Allah help all our brothers and sisters resisting oppression and oppressors in Palestine, Lebanon and all across the world. I wish Allah's mercy upon all the martyrs, especially my brother Ismail Haniyeh, and a speedy recovery to our injured brothers and sisters."

President Erdogan added that they will maintain their efforts to take Al-Quds under an international umbrella of security in line with its sanctity, and that the Islamic world should put aside their differences of opinion and act together by adopting a common stance.

"TURKIYE HAS BEEN HOSTING MILLIONS OF DESPERATE PEOPLE"

Drawing attention to the intensive wave of migration due to regional conflicts, wars, famine and terror, President Erdogan noted that the insensitive attitude displayed by developed countries in the face of this humanitarian tragedy is a shame for the humanity, and went on to say: "Turkiye has been hosting millions of desperate people and been sharing its means with them for years. I would also like to remind the fact that Turkiye was also the first country to have lent a helping hand to today's oppressors, who were struggling for their lives in the past. The hideous attitude displayed by those living in a comfortable and prosperous environment towards the desperate oppressed will unfortunately be an example to their fate when they will find themselves in the same situation in the future."

"WE ARE ONE OF THE COUNTRIES THAT PROVIDE THE BIGGEST SUPPORT TO THE UNRWA"

Stating that Turkiye has been one of the countries that have helped the most the people in the region with the 86 thousand of aid supply it has sent to Gaza and 1.3 thousand to Lebanon, President Erdogan pointed to the demonstrations carried out against the Zionist administration's crimes against humanity in Gaza, and continued as follows: "We have decided to intervene in the case opened against Israel at the International Court of Justice. We have mobilized international decision-making and implementing mechanisms, the United Nations Security Council in particular. We are one of the countries that provide the biggest support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. We are also exerting intensive efforts in order for a common stance to be adopted in the Islamic world and in order for Muslims to act as one in the Palestinian cause. We have mobilized all our means in order for the State of Palestine to be recognized in the international arena. We have never deviated from our stance despite numerous campaigns against myself, or despite all the pressure put by the Zionist lobby and supporters of Israel. We maintain our works to immediately ensure the implementation of coercive measures to stop Israel's genocide in Palestine."

"WE SUPPORT THE ICC ARREST WARRANT AGAINST ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU"

President Erdogan said: "I would like to note that we support the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Gallant. We consider the implementation of this brave ruling by all the countries party to the convention to be important in terms of restoring the humanity's confidence in the international system. It is especially a must for the Western countries, which have for years lectured the world on law, justice and human rights, to keep their promises in this sense. Turkiye has dully fulfilled its humanitarian, conscientious and brotherly duties since the very first day of the Gaza massacre and of the Israeli attacks on Lebanon."

Further stressing that they will uninterruptedly work for a free and independent Palestine, President Erdogan voiced his hope that the Gaza Istanbul Declaration jointly issued by the NGOs participating in the Fair will make the voice of the Palestinians to be heard by the whole world.

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Ten nation military partnership successfully completes major exercise in Latvia

The UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force partnership has completed an exercise on NATO's eastern flank

23 November 2024

Britain and close European allies have exercised rapidly bolstering NATO's eastern flank, demonstrating the Alliance's ability to defend Latvia from any threat.

The UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), a partnership of ten northern European nations, has successfully concluded Exercise Joint Protector, across multiple locations in Latvia, on NATO's eastern flank over the last month.

The exercise is a vital part of testing how quickly the JEF can deploy together across Europe to meet rapidly emerging threats. Military personnel from across the ten nations practiced deploying from their home countries, along with key equipment, to locations across Latvia.

The ability of the JEF to rapidly deploy is reliant on nations being able to seamlessly operate alongside each other.

This exercise helped improve co-ordination and cooperation between JEF nations, particularly in the early phases of any deployment.

Ukrainian military officers attended the exercise for the first-time this year as the alliance looks to learn from the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the Ukrainian military continues to work closely with its partners across Northern Europe.

Minister for the Armed Forces, Luke Pollard MP, said:

Exercise Joint Protector demonstrates our unwavering commitment to regional security, keeping us secure at home and strong abroad, as well as the strength and depth of our international partnerships. The participation of our Ukrainian partners highlights the exercise's importance, ensuring that we can learn from Ukraine's hard-fought combat experience.

All nine partner nations Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Sweden and Finland - and the UK as the Framework Nationparticipated in the annual exercise, testing their collective response to regional security challenges.

The value added by the JEF is a significant contribution to both security and deterrence, giving JEF Participant Nation governments, and NATO, more options in times of crisis.

Our collective vision for the JEF's long-term development is for it to be a key component of Northern European security: supporting our members, delivering region-specific and multi-domain defence activities, and contributing to the security of Europe as one of NATO's Framework Nation Concept.

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Gaza update: Fleeing families just have 'the clothes on their back'

23 November 2024 - Families fleeing from besieged areas of northern Gaza are leaving homes and shelters with just the shirts on their backs, Louise Wateridge, Senior Emergency Coordinator for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, told UN News on Saturday.

Speaking from an UNRWA school in Gaza City, which is in the north of the Strip, Ms. Wateridge said that, for almost 50 days, UN humanitarian missions have attempted to deliver supplies to northern Gaza, including besieged areas such as Jabalia, but access to those in desperate need has been extremely limited.

Louise Wateridge: I have heard absolutely horrific stories today, speaking to families who fled Jabalia for their lives. They say there was just nothing left. It was absolutely flattened. There was death around them. They ran out of food. They had no access to water.

They reached UNRWA schools like this one, searching for safety but, days after arriving, airstrikes which killed many of the people sheltering here. And we've seen six such incidents on UN school shelters.

Since this siege began, we have had this horrible situation where people are forced to flee for their lives from the besieged north; they come to Gaza City looking for safety, but the danger just keeps following them. Death and destruction are their shadows.

UN News: What is left in Gaza City?

Louise Wateridge: As far as the eye can see, every building is damaged and destroyed. You might see a stairwell riddled with bullet holes, or an exposed living room hanging out of a third-floor apartment, signs that there was once life here.

Around 300,000 people are now in Gaza City and it's just rubble. That's why people are forced to shelter in these UN facilities, because there is just nowhere else to go.

With winter coming, people are trying to find some kind of cover and safety, and protect themselves from the elements. They need tarpaulins, tents and shelter. They don't have blankets or mattresses. They are just out in the in the open.

UN News: How difficult is it to get aid in?

Louise Wateridge: For almost 50 days, access to besieged areas of north Gaza has either been denied or impeded. People have no access to food or water. We've heard people say they drank water from puddles to survive.

The eight UNRWA water wells in Jabalia are all damaged and destroyed. The hospitals have been hit on multiple occasions, and all of the UNRWA health clinics are out of medication.

Many humanitarian workers have been injured and killed themselves since the start of this war. Are they still at risk?

Louise Wateridge: Yes, every day. There is absolutely nowhere safe in Gaza.

247 UNRWA colleagues have been killed in this war.

Time and time again, day in and day out, our colleagues and their families are being injured and killed.

Every day my team and I wake up, the first thing we do is text each other to make sure everybody made it through another night.

For some weeks, we have had colleagues scattered across the Gaza Strip. Sometimes you lose contact with each other for days, if not weeks on end, and we don't know how they are.

Sometimes we find out our colleagues have been killed and we haven't known for a few days. Sometimes they come back online. It's desperate.

Multiple United Nation convoys have been shot at. I was in a convoy in July that was shot at delivering supplies to northern Gaza.

It's becoming more dangerous and more difficult for humanitarians to do their jobs by the day.

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ICC issues arrest warrants for Israel, Hamas leadership: what happens next?

23 November 2024 - The decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants citing alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defence minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, has led to huge interest in the court, and what comes next. Here is what we know so far.

Why have the warrants been issued?

The ICC can only investigate and prosecute if the national judicial system of the countries concerned are not, in the eyes of the Court, conducting genuine investigations or prosecutions for the same alleged crimes.

"The primary responsibility is for the national judicial systems," Fadi El Abdullah, the ICC spokesperson, told UN News. "However, if there are no genuine investigations or prosecutions, then the court has to investigate and to prosecute where the legal conditions are met. So that means that it's not enough to have a legal system, but there is a need to demonstrate that this legal system is active in relation to crimes or alleged crimes."

The warrants, related to alleged war crimes stemming from the year-long Gaza conflict triggered by the Hamas-led attacks in Israel, indicate that the judges have found reasonable grounds to believe the suspects are responsible for crimes under ICC jurisdiction.

This is just the first step

At the pre-trial stage, for the defendants to challenge the admissibility of the proceedings. "It's possible either for the concerned state or for the concerned suspect to seek from the ICC to stop the proceedings against him or her," says Mr. El Abdallah, "but that has to be based on evidence that there are genuine serious prosecutions, at the national level, for the same alleged conduct."

It is also important to note that the ICC does not conduct trials in absentia: the defendants must be physically present in order for the case to begin.

All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt before the ICC. Each defendant is entitled to public and impartial proceedings. If and when suspects appear, they are provided with a defence team if needed, and undergo a confirmation of charges hearing before the case can proceed to trial.

Once the defendants appear before the court, a "confirmation of charges" hearing takes place, at which the judges will decide, after having listened to the defence, whether the prosecutor evidence is still solid enough for the case to move to trial.

If they decide to go ahead, the defence and prosecution will call witnesses and present evidence. Legal representative of the victims also have the rights to present their observations in person.

The court then decides if the defendants are innocent or guilty, and what their sentence should be.

Finally, the defendants have the right to appeal to the ICC Appeals Chamber, made up of five judges, different from the three judges of the pretrial and the other three trial judges.

How significant are these warrants?

The answer to this question lies in the reason the court was set up in the first place. Created in 2002, the ICC is the world's first permanent, treaty-based international criminal court to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and the crime of aggression.

The warrants send a signal that the rule of law must be upheld, and provide a legal avenue for justice, which is crucial to breaking the cycle of violence and revenge.

Countries that recognize the Court are obliged to support the warrants

The court has no police to enforce its warrants and depends on its member States to implement its orders. This means that, if Mr. Netanyahu, Mr. Gallant or Mr. Deif (whom Israel claims to have killed, although this has not been confirmed by Hamas) visit one of the 124 countries that accept the Court's jurisdiction, the authorities of the nation in question should arrest them and deliver them to a detention centre in the Netherlands, where the Court is based.

Why issue the warrants, if the defendants are unlikely to come to trial?

"The judges have decided, based on the evidence and on the rule of law as they have interpreted them, and we need to respect that," declares Mr. El Abdallah.

"It is important to let people believe that the law is there for them, and to believe that justice will be done, because if not, what choices are we leaving to them, other than continuing in the cycle of violence and revenge?"

About the ICC

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is not part of the United Nations but they have a cooperative and complementary relationship.

The ICC is an independent judicial body established by the Rome Statute, which was adopted in 1998 and came into force in 2002.

It was established to address serious international crimes and ensure accountability when national justice systems are unable or unwilling to act.

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South Sudan's army says gunfire incident at former spy chief's home is resolved

By Sheila Ponnie November 23, 2024

South Sudanese authorities say a confrontation between the People's Defense Forces and personnel protecting former spy chief General Akol Koor has been resolved peacefully, with both sides reaching an agreement to prevent further conflict.

Heavy gunfire echoed for about an hour Thursday night around Koor's residence in the Thongpiny neighborhood of Juba, creating panic and raising concerns the confrontation between the two sides might escalate.

Major General Lul Ruai Koang, a spokesperson for South Sudan People's Defense Force, told journalists that the gunfire resulted from a misunderstanding during an operation to relocate Koor to his secondary residence, as directed by President Salva Kiir.

"Let me make it very clear that he was not being effectively placed under house arrest," Koang said. "He was simply being told to relocate from Thongpiny to Jabal because of the presence of the security forces."

News agencies report that Koor has been under house arrest since early October when he was fired from the intelligence service. Government officials deny he has been under house arrest.

The gunfire left two servicemen dead, while two civilians were crushed by an armored vehicle, according to Koang. Two others, including a university student, sustained injuries and are receiving medical care.

Koor has since been moved to his residence in Jebel, accompanied by his wife, a single bodyguard, and a cook, under the protection of a senior officer. Authorities say the situation could have been much worse.

Army spokesperson Koang reiterated that Thursday's gunfire was not planned.

"Nobody had ordered for it," he said. "It was a misunderstanding, and as a result we are able to successfully resolve it without unnecessary more bloodshed."

A Juba resident who did not give his name said, "As South Sudanese, I don't like this kind of things. I heard too much shooting, and they told me it is next to my residence."

The man echoed the sentiments of many in Juba who were shaken by Thursday's events. Concerns over public safety have heightened, especially given the use of heavy weaponry in a residential area.

Investigations into the incident are ongoing, particularly surrounding the decisions leading to the confrontation and the broader implications for governance and security.

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Mozambique presidential runner-up lays out conditions for talks

By Charles Mangwiro November 23, 2024

Mozambique's presidential election runner-up, Venancio Mondlane, has placed conditions on his participation in a meeting with the country's president to end weeks of political unrest over disputed elections. Mondlane delivered his proposal along with a proposed agenda and wants to meet Tuesday with President Filipe Nyusi and the three other presidential candidates.

Among his demands, Mondlane requests that the legal proceedings against him be dropped and that his participation be virtual. He also wants the release of all those arrested as part of the violent protests that he called for and "guarantees of political and legal security for the actors and players in the dialogue."

Among the items on the agenda, Mondlane proposed 20 points, including "re-establishment of the electoral truth" and criminal and civil liability for what he says are those involved in falsifying the electoral process.

The document was delivered by Diniz Tivane, a representative of the Podemos party, which backed Mondlane in the presidential race.

Tivane revealed some of the contents of the letter, saying that the electoral truth was exactly what Venancio himself said. Votes are not negotiated, they are counted.

Mondlane also demanded that certain institutions and individuals participate in the talks.

Political analyst Dercio Alfazema said Mondlane accepted Nyusi's invitation, but the conditions showed otherwise.

He said that if it were up to Mondlane, he would not participate in this meeting. And depending on that, the meeting could be held with other candidates or not take place at all. And it will be very difficult for all who are worried and want a solution to this problem. And, Alfazema added, we all believe that the best way out of this problem is dialogue.

Preliminary results showed the Frelimo candidate, Daniel Chapo, won the presidential with 71%, and Mondlane, who ran as an independent, came in second with 20%.

A political and social crisis marked by fraud allegations and disputed results has engulfed Mozambique since the October 9 elections.

Mozambique immediately fell into a climate of uncertainty that has affected daily life and the economy.

At least 60 people have died in protests, and several regions of Mozambique have seen blockades, looting, riots and violence, with emphasis on border areas and economic centers.

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Lebanon: Remarks by High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell to media after talks in Beirut

European External Action Service (EEAS)

24.11.2024

Beirut

EEAS Press Team

Check against delivery!

Good morning, bonjour, shukran.

I am in Lebanon today for my third visit in one year.

I've been in Lebanon three times this year, and this is my last visit as High Representative of the European Union [for Foreign Policy].

And I have chosen to close my mandate here in Lebanon, in Beirut, because what is going on in the Middle East, and, in particular, here in Beirut, is putting the international community at a test if we are really willing and able to make peace.

This conflict has already taken an international dimension, and the international community cannot stay idle in front of what is happening here.

The price of no peace in the Middle East has become exorbitant, unaffordable for the people dying under the bombs, for the people in Lebanon, for the region, and for the whole world.

Back in September, I came and I was still hoping that we could prevent a full-fledged war, a full-fledged war of Israel attacking Lebanon.

Two months later, Lebanon is on the brink of collapse - with the war raging in the south, where tens of villages have been fully destroyed, and with the airstrikes against Beirut and in Baalbek, and rockets flying over Tel Aviv.

The toll, the human toll, is extremely heavy. Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 3.500 people in Lebanon, more than three times the victims of the conflict in 2006, three times more.

Fifteen thousand people have been injured, and among the casualties, an incredible amount of medical workers and hospitals being hit.

Two months ago, as today, we see only one possible way ahead, an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 - an immediate and simultaneous ceasefire by all parties.

And in order to reach this ceasefire, I want to commend the efforts done by the US and by France. The European Union supports both, supports the US and supports France.

The deployment of Lebanese [Armed] Forces along the Litany River, the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters, the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the establishment of Lebanese full sovereignty by air, land, and sea.

Allow me also to commend the work done by the international [peacekeeping] mission UNIFIL. UNIFIL is playing a key role in an increasingly challenging environment. There are over 10.000 men and women deployed [with UNIFIL] in the south. Thirty of them have been injured. Four Italians only a few days ago.

The attacks against UNIFIL are completely unacceptable. UNIFIL has the strong support of the European Union, and I want also to reiterate the support to UNRWA, which is playing an irreplaceable role in Gaza, but also here in Lebanon.

The services that UNRWA provides to half a million of Palestinian refugees cannot be supplied by anyone else. And we condemn the law passed by the Israeli Knesset, and we continue urging the Israeli government not to implement this decision.

I am coming from Jordan, and I was talking with United Nations people trying to provide support to the Palestinian people in Gaza, in a desperate situation.

And I called on the international community, the whole international community, to take action to stop this war and to stop the massacre in Gaza.

Yesterday I was talking with the Secretary General of the United Nations about it, and now I repeat the call I made to him to stop the massacre in Gaza.

As the European Union, we are supporting the Lebanese people, the Lebanese army, and the Lebanese institutions. We are ready to devote 200 million euros to the Lebanese Armed Forces.

And I have asked Prime Minister [Najib] Mikati what and how we can support your army, not only financially, but also technically, and I will do the same thing to the Lebanese Armed Forces commander [Joseph] Aoun.

But the success of the effort for a ceasefire and a long-term solution are in the hands of the parties.

To expedite the solution to the war, Lebanese leaders need to take up their political responsibility by starting to elect a President and put an end to a two years long vacuum of power in Lebanon.

I discussed today with this Speaker [of the Parliament Nabih] Berri, and I want to encourage our political actors to take their responsibility towards the Lebanese people.

There is much to do on different fronts.

The Lebanese people have been showing an incredible generosity and internal solidarity, not only with the refugees of the Syrian war, not only in front of the economic crisis, not only in the explosion of the port, but now with so many Lebanese people having to escape the war from the south.

And we also offer the European solidarity. But they live every day with sadness, seeing increasing suffering in Gaza and Lebanon.

And for the families of the hostages also, it is tragic that we could not get this war to an end. But this must happen.

And let's use this tragedy that we have seen in Lebanon and Gaza in order to avoid more suffering for the people in the region.

We must pressure the Israeli government and maintain the pressure on Hezbollah to accept the US proposal for a ceasefire. This was agreed.

This proposal is pending with the final agreement with the Israeli government.

And we have to work, all the international community, to respect international law, because we see hunger [being] used as a weapon, a weapon of war, violating international law with total impunity and almost total information blackout in Gaza, with tens of journalists being killed, with tens of journalists being killed, including deliberately in Lebanon.

The decisions of the International Criminal Court, they are not political. They are fully taken in accordance with international law. It has to apply to everybody. And we strongly support the Court.

This is what I wanted to tell [you] today after discussing with Speaker Berri.

And I hope that the agreement reached on the last day with the US special envoy will be finally implemented and the ceasefire will come, and the bombardments stop taking lives in Lebanon.

Q: [inaudible ...] about ceasefire?

According to my conversation with Speaker Berri, he considers that first the ceasefire has to happen. I think that every effort has to be done in order to ask for the President's direction as soon as possible, because Lebanese people need a President.

But Lebanese people need also a ceasefire. And Lebanese people have to make the sovereignty of the Lebanon in the Lebanese people's hands, not an internal power, not a state inside the state. Not anybody kidnapping the sovereignty of the Lebanese people, be it from inside or be it from outside the country.

Q: In your estimation, how likely is it that the diplomatic efforts will succeed given the current circumstances, especially the Israeli response to the American ceasefire?

Some months ago, during the United Nations General Assembly, there was an agreement to get a ceasefire Lebanon, which was subscribed by many people around the world, among them the European Union.

I was signing, I was supporting this agreement. Unhappily, at the end, it was not possible to have Israel on board. And Netanyahu's government refused this ceasefire proposal that was supported by the entire international community represented in the United Nations, among them the European Union.

It was a lost opportunity. In last two those days, the US envoy has been here in Lebanon. A long negotiation took place with Speaker Berri, and the proposal was conveyed to the Israeli government.

And at the moment, we are pending of a concrete and definitive answer from the Israeli government. Let's hope that this will make possible with the participation of the US and France as the countries that have been engaged in looking for this solution, which is on the table.

Thank you.

Watch the video here: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-264481



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Pro-West PM Leads Romanian Presidential Vote, Russia-Friendly Candidate Makes Surprise Challenge

By RFE/RL's Romanian Service November 24, 2024

BUCHAREST -- Partial preliminary results in Romania's presidential vote give Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu a narrow lead, but a surprisingly strong showing by pro-Russia candidate Cailin Georgescu has thrown the race into unexpected territory.

With 80 percent of polling stations reporting on November 24, the pro-Western Social Democrat Ciolacu had 22.17 percent of the vote, according to election officials.

But his opponent in an expected runoff round remains unclear after Georgescu - who has been criticized for his anti-NATO sentiments - was in second place with 22.11 percent.

Pro-West Elena Lasconi of the center-right Save Romania Union was third with 14.97 percent, while George Simion of ultranationalist Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) had 14.94 percent.

Experts said that results from the large cities - where Ciolacu and Lasconi are likely to poll stronger than Georgescu - could still decide the tight race.

Two exit polls gave Ciolacu 25 percent of the vote, while Lasconi was second at around 18 percent. Georgescu and Simion trailed in the exit polls with 14-16 percent in the cluttered field of 13 candidates.

The exit polls did not include diaspora polling, where Lasconi and Simion were expected to lead the balloting.

Some observers said that even with Ciolacu's slim lead, the far right appeared to be the big winner in the vote.

If no candidate receives over 50 percent of the vote, a runoff will be held on December 8 featuring the two top finishers, a week after a parliamentary election on December 1.

Ciolacu was the favorite heading into the election and pre-vote surveys indicated five candidates had a shot at advancing to the runoff to succeed the outgoing center-right incumbent, Klaus Iohannis, who is completing his second and final term after a decade in office.

Fourteen candidates officially registered in the race, but Ludovic Orban announced he was withdrawing from the contest.

Election officials put the turnout at just over 52 percent, or about 9.44 million voters casting their ballots. Long lines were reported at polling stations in the capital, Bucharest, ahead of the 9 p.m. poll closings.

In 2019, total first-round turnout was 51.18 percent. In the second round, it rose to 55.1 percent.

At three polling stations, turnout was reported at 150-300 percent. Officials said the high figure was due to supplemental lists holding more names than the permanent lists and by people voting in precincts they were not originally assigned.

Georgescu, 62, who has been criticized in the Romanian media for expressing pro-Russia sentiments, claimed his shocking vote total represents a real victory for Romania.

"The rich of the system have become poorer, and the poor Romanians have become richer. It's an astonishing awakening in consciousness," said the candidate, who utilized the TikTok social media platform to press his campaign.

Following release of the exit polls, Lasconi told reporters that the results remain tight and that she will wait until official results are clear before "rejoicing" over her potential placement in the runoff.

Lasconi, a former small-town mayor and journalist, was the only presidential candidate who opposed the idea of Ukraine giving up land to Russia in a peace deal, saying doing so would embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"If Ukraine cedes territory, Putin won't stop," she had said. "We need to help Ukraine win this war."

She was also the most bullish among the top candidates on NATO, calling for the military alliance to have a greater presence in Romania.

Ciolacu expressed pro-Europe sentiment leading up to the election.

"We will support the deepening of the European integration project for the benefit of citizens, and we will have a more active voice in the decision-making process at the European level," he has said.

Critics have charged Simion with being too Russia-friendly and, while he wants Romania to remain in NATO, said Bucharest should be "neutral."

Despite the exit polls, Simion expressed confidence in reaching the second round.

"We were alone against the parties of the system, and we will enter the second round," said Simion, who urged his supports to "turn off the TVs" and ignore reports stating that a "stranger," Georgescu -- who had received little attention ahead of the vote -- was ahead of him in the exit polls.

Romania has become a key ally of Ukraine, not only providing training and military equipment but playing a key role in transporting Ukrainian grain and other agricultural goods to global markets. Much of the credit for Bucharest's pro-Ukraine stance goes to the incumbent, Iohannis.

Rima, a voter at a Bucharest polling station, told RFE/RL, "There should be more opportunities for young people, so we don't have to leave the country after we graduate from high school or college."

"The president should be more open-minded on some topics, especially international ones. That's what I want: to live in a free country where we as young people have a voice," she said, without specifying her candidate.

Romania's president has significant decision-making powers, including on matters of national security and foreign policy. Elected for a five-year term, the president can also reject party nominees for prime minister and government nominees for judicial appointments.

Diaspora voting began on November 23, with initial figures indicating a higher turnout than in 2019 among those abroad, with about 675,000 of such votes cast by 6 p.m. on November 24, up about 90,000 from the 2019 election.

In Moldova, more than 80,942 voted at 59 polling stations, with officials calling it a record high. In the first round of the 2019 Romanian presidential election, 43,307 people voted in Moldova.

Most of Moldova was part of Romania until the end of World War II and many Moldovans also hold Romanian citizenship.

Voting was also reported to be high in London, where almost 8,900 Romanians went to the polls.

Oana Popescu-Zamfir, director of the Bucharest-based think tank GlobalFocus Center, told RFE/RL in an email that this is a high-stakes election for the NATO and EU nation.

"Romania is faced with two important realities next year: the threat of further instability and conflict in the region and globally, especially in the context of a [President-elect Donald] Trump White House," she said, along with the risks of a "deepening economic and financial crisis."

Foreign policy is also of concern to voters, namely Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine and how that conflict could change with a switch in Washington from U.S. President Joe Biden, who has steadily backed Kyiv, to Trump, who has suggested support could be curtailed.

"The threat of regional instability and war is also a source of concern. Voters care about candidates' positions on Ukraine, Russia, Trump, the extent of their Euro-Atlantic orientation," Popescu-Zamfir said, adding that voters were also focused on the presidential candidates' "ability to lead the country in case of escalating tensions with Russia."

In an interesting sidelight, election officials say that at least 50 Romanians over the age of 100 are expected to vote in the presidential election. The oldest is a man aged 113, while the oldest woman is aged 108, officials said.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/romania-hold-presidential- eletion/33213779.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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Hezbollah fires barrage of rockets at Israel

By VOA News November 24, 2024

Hezbollah militants fired about 250 rockets and other projectiles into Israel on Sunday in response to an Israeli attack on Beirut the day before that killed at least 29 people.

Some of the Hezbollah strikes reached the Tel Aviv area in the heart of Israel and wounded seven people. The assault was one of the largest Hezbollah has mounted since it started firing on Israel more than a year ago in support of Hamas militants, who attacked Israel in October 2023 and have been warring with Israel in Gaza since then.

In addition to those killed in the Israeli attack on Beirut on Saturday, more than 65 were injured, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Israeli military officials said the attack was an attempt to assassinate a top Hezbollah military commander, Mohammad Haidar, but The New York Times quoted an Israeli source as saying it was unsuccessful.

After the Hezbollah attacks, the fighting raged on elsewhere.

Lebanon's military said an Israeli strike on an army center killed a Lebanese soldier and wounded 18 others in the southwest between Tyre and Naqoura. The Israeli military expressed regret, saying that the strike occurred in a combat area against Hezbollah and that the military's operations are directed solely against the militants.

Later Sunday, the Israeli military said it hit 12 Hezbollah command centers in the Dahieh area, a key Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut. It said that among the targets it hit were those belonging to Hezbollah's Intelligence unit, Hezbollah's coast-to-sea missile unit, and Unit 4400, which is responsible for weapons smuggling from Iran through Syria into Lebanon.

Negotiations have been ongoing to reach a cease-fire to end the Israeli-Hezbollah fighting, with the militant group and the Lebanese government agreeing to a U.S. proposal.

But Josep Borrell, the European Union's foreign policy chief, dampened hopes for a halt to the fighting.

"I am not convinced it is going to happen," Borrell told reporters Sunday evening after a day of meeting with Lebanese officials. "I do not see the Israeli government interested clearly in reaching an agreement for a cease-fire."

"I've heard so many times that a cease-fire is coming. ... It seems once again Israel is putting new conditions," he said, referring to Israel's refusal to allow France to be part of an international monitoring group in southern Lebanon as one example of a new condition.

"It seems there is not a strong appetite" from Israel for a halt to the fighting, he said.

Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and captured about 250 hostages in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the current war. Israel says it believes Hamas is still holding 101 hostages, including 35 the military says are dead.

Israel's counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, according to the territory's health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.

Hamas and Hezbollah been designated a terror group by the United States, the U.K. and other Western countries.

Some material in this report came from The Associated Press.

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Russia-Friendly Candidate Takes Surprising Lead In Romanian Presidential Vote, Runoff Expected

By RFE/RL's Romanian Service November 25, 2024

BUCHAREST -- Pro-Russia candidate Cailin Georgescu has edged ahead in Romania's presidential vote, partial preliminary results showed, throwing the race into unexpected territory and setting up a likely runoff against Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.

With 97.6 percent of polling stations reporting on the November 24 vote, Georgescu - who has been criticized for his anti-NATO sentiments - led with 22.37 percent of ballots.

The pro-Western Social Democrat Ciolacu had 19.83 percent of the vote, according to election officials, setting up an expected runoff round in two weeks unless another pro-West candidate, Elena Lasconi of the center-right Save Romania Union, can make a late surge.

Lasconi was third with 18.56 percent, while George Simion of ultranationalist Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) had 14.02 percent.

Experts said that results from the large cities - where Ciolacu and Lasconi are likely to poll stronger than Georgescu - could still change the order at the top of the tight race.

Two exit polls gave Ciolacu 25 percent of the vote, while Lasconi was second at around 18 percent. Georgescu and Simion trailed in the exit polls with 14-16 percent in the cluttered field of 13 candidates.

The exit polls did not include diaspora polling, where Lasconi and Simion were expected to lead the balloting.

No matter what the outcome, the far right appeared to be the big winner in the vote.

If no candidate receives over 50 percent of the vote, a runoff will be held on December 8 featuring the two top finishers, a week after a parliamentary election on December 1.

Ciolacu was the favorite heading into the election and pre-vote surveys indicated five candidates had a shot at advancing to the runoff to succeed the outgoing center-right incumbent, Klaus Iohannis, who is completing his second and final term after a decade in office.

Fourteen candidates officially registered in the race, but Ludovic Orban announced he was withdrawing from the contest.

Election officials put the turnout at just over 52 percent, or about 9.44 million voters casting their ballots. Long lines were reported at polling stations in the capital, Bucharest, ahead of the 9 p.m. poll closings.

In 2019, total first-round turnout was 51.18 percent. In the second round, it rose to 55.1 percent.

At three polling stations, turnout was reported at 150-300 percent. Officials said the high figure was due to supplemental lists holding more names than the permanent lists and by people voting in precincts they were not originally assigned.

Georgescu, 62, who has been criticized in the Romanian media for expressing pro-Russia sentiments, claimed his shocking vote total represents a real victory for Romania.

"The rich of the system have become poorer, and the poor Romanians have become richer. It's an astonishing awakening in consciousness," said the candidate, who utilized the TikTok social media platform to press his campaign.

Following release of the exit polls, Lasconi told reporters that the results remain tight and that she will wait until official results are clear before "rejoicing" over her potential placement in the runoff.

Lasconi, a former small-town mayor and journalist, was the only presidential candidate who opposed the idea of Ukraine giving up land to Russia in a peace deal, saying doing so would embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"If Ukraine cedes territory, Putin won't stop," she had said. "We need to help Ukraine win this war."

She was also the most bullish among the top candidates on NATO, calling for the military alliance to have a greater presence in Romania.

Critics have charged Simion with being too Russia-friendly and, while he wants Romania to remain in NATO, said Bucharest should be "neutral."

Oana Popescu-Zamfir, director of the Bucharest-based think tank GlobalFocus Center, told RFE/RL in an email the vote has high-stakes for the NATO and EU nation.

"Romania is faced with two important realities next year: the threat of further instability and conflict in the region and globally, especially in the context of a [President-elect Donald] Trump White House," she said, along with the risks of a "deepening economic and financial crisis."

Foreign policy is also of concern to voters, namely Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine and how that conflict could change with a switch in Washington from U.S. President Joe Biden, who has steadily backed Kyiv, to Trump, who has suggested support could be curtailed.

"The threat of regional instability and war is also a source of concern. Voters care about candidates' positions on Ukraine, Russia, Trump, the extent of their Euro-Atlantic orientation," Popescu-Zamfir said, adding that voters were also focused on the presidential candidates' "ability to lead the country in case of escalating tensions with Russia."

Despite the exit polls, Simion expressed confidence in reaching the second round.

"We were alone against the parties of the system, and we will enter the second round," said Simion, who urged his supports to "turn off the TVs" and ignore reports stating that a "stranger," Georgescu -- who had received little attention ahead of the vote -- was ahead of him in the exit polls.

Romania has become a key ally of Ukraine, not only providing training and military equipment but playing a key role in transporting Ukrainian grain and other agricultural goods to global markets. Much of the credit for Bucharest's pro-Ukraine stance goes to the incumbent, Iohannis.

Rima, a voter at a Bucharest polling station, told RFE/RL, "There should be more opportunities for young people, so we don't have to leave the country after we graduate from high school or college."

"The president should be more open-minded on some topics, especially international ones. That's what I want: to live in a free country where we as young people have a voice," she said, without specifying her candidate.

Romania's president has significant decision-making powers, including on matters of national security and foreign policy. Elected for a five-year term, the president can also reject party nominees for prime minister and government nominees for judicial appointments.

Diaspora voting began on November 23, with initial figures indicating a higher turnout than in 2019 among those abroad, with about 675,000 of such votes cast by 6 p.m. on November 24, up about 90,000 from the 2019 election.

In Moldova, more than 80,942 voted at 59 polling stations, with officials calling it a record high. In the first round of the 2019 Romanian presidential election, 43,307 people voted in Moldova.

Most of Moldova was part of Romania until the end of World War II and many Moldovans also hold Romanian citizenship.

Voting was also reported to be high in London, where almost 8,900 Romanians went to the polls.

In an interesting sidelight, election officials say that at least 50 Romanians over the age of 100 are expected to vote in the presidential election. The oldest is a man aged 113, while the oldest woman is aged 108, officials said.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia- friendly-candidate-takes-surprising-lead-in-romanian-presidential -vote-runoff-expected-/33214579.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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Russo-Ukraine War - 24 November 2024 - Day 1005

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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, 198 combat clashes have taken place since the beginning of this day. Ukrainian defenders continue to decisively interrupt the attempts of the Russian enemy to advance into the depths of Ukrainian territory, giving him a fiery impression.

Russian zagarbniki launched on the territory of Ukraine one rocket strike (four rockets), 48 air strikes, dropping 54 controlled aviation bombs. In addition, 540 kamikaze drones were recruited and carried out more than three thousand shells at the positions of Ukrainian troops and settlements.

In the Kharkiv direction, Russian forces six times stormed the positions of Ukrainian units in the areas of Cossackoi Lopana, Tihogo and Vovchansk.

In the Kupyans komu direction, the Russian aggressor carried out attacks near Novomlinsk, Kolisnikivki, Kruglyakivki, Senkovoy and Lozovoi. Ukrainian defenders have stopped 11 enemy attacks, four more continue so far. Also the opponent caused an air strike on Boguslavka.

In the Lyman direction, Russian invaders 20 times attacked the positions of Defense Forces near the settlements of Druzhelyubivka, Grekivka, Novoyegorivka, Terni, Yampolivka, Torske and Serebryanka. Also, the city of Lyman has been hit by enemy air bombs today.

In the direction of kramators komu, Russian forces tried to go forward near the time gap and stupocok. Defense forces stopped four attacks of the zagarbnikiv.

In the Toretsky direction, Russian forces made nine attempts to advance in the areas of Diliyivka, Toretsk and Scherbinivka, received a cut off.

On the pokrovs komu direction, from the beginning of this day, the Russian opponent 41 times attacked in the areas of mirolubivka, beam, fox, grigorivka, dacens kogo, desert and chumakky. Ukrainian defenders repelled 32 assault actions of the enemy, still sharpening nine boezitknen .

According to the available data, at this time, the Russian enemy losses to the direction were 336 soldiers killed and wounded, as well as Ukrainian soldiers destroyed two tanks, two armored vehicles, nine cars and an artillery system of the occupiers.

In the Kurakhiv direction, Russian forces made 57 attempts to break through Ukrainian defense near the settlements of Berestka, Sontsivka, Novodmitrivka, Zorya, Kurakhove, Dalnye, Romanivka, Elizabeth and Hanivka. 50 fights completed, seven more to go.

In the Vremivs komu direction, the Russian enemy 14 times attacked Ukrainian units near Trudovoye, Novosilka and Makarivka, at this time two confrontations are ongoing. On the Great Novosilka, Russian forces today hit Kabama and unkekorovanimi aviation missiles.

In the Pridniprovsky direction, the troops of Zagarbnikiv made four unsuccessful attempts to push Defense Forces units out of their occupied positions. Took the losses and stepped back. The Russian enemy hit Nikolaivka unkekorovanim missiles.

There are no special changes in the rest of the directions.

The operation is ongoing in the Kursk region. Enemy aviation continues to destroy their villages and cities with controlled aviation bombs, Ukrainian soldiers have repelled 21 Russian attacks for today, clashes continue.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that in Kharkov direction, units of the Sever Group of Forces inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the 95th Air Assault Brigade of the AFU and 5th border detachment of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine near Liptsy, Odnorobovka, and Volchansk (Kharkov region).

One counter-attack launched by formations of the 92nd Assault Brigade of the AFU and 13th National Guard Brigade was repelled.

The AFU losses amounted to up to 50 troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, 26 motor vehicles, and one 122-mm D-30 howitzer. Two electronic warfare stations have been destroyed.

Units of the Zapad Group of Forces improved the tactical situation and inflicted losses on formations of the 60th, 63rd, 67th mechanised brigades, 25th Airborne Brigade of the AFU, 35th Marine Brigade, and 119th Territorial Defence Brigade near Petropavlovka, Zeleny Gay, Zagryzovo, Kupyansk (Kharkov region), Yampolovka, Torskoye (Donetsk People's Republic), and Serebryansky forestry.

Four counter-attacks launched by assault detachments of the 14th, 53rd, 115th, and 116th mechanised brigades of the AFU were repelled.

The AFU losses amounted to more than 440 troops, one infantry fighting vehicle, four pickup trucks, one 152-mm D-20 gun, one U.S.-made 155-mm M198 howitzer, and two U.S.-made 105-mm M119 guns. One Anklav-N electronic warfare station and one ammunition depot have been destroyed.

Units of the Yug Group of Forces took more advantageous lines and positions and inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the 24th, 93rd mechanised brigades, 56th Motorised Infantry Brigade, 46th Airmobile Brigade, 79th Air Assault Brigade of the AFU, and 37th Marine Brigade near Dachnoye, Chasov Yar, Aleksandro-Shultino, Sukhiye Yaly, and Kurakhovo (Donetsk People's Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 500 troops, three motor vehicles, one 152-mm Msta-B howitzer, and one UK-made 105-mm L119 gun. Two ammunition depots have been wiped out.

Units of the Tsentr Group of Forces continued advancing to the depth of the enemy's defences and inflicted losses on formations of the 24th, 37th, 100th mechanised brigades, 152nd Infantry Brigade, Shkval Assault Battalion of the AFU, and 1st National Guard Brigade near Shevchenko, Katerinovka, Kleban-Byk, Zarya, Novaya Poltavka, and Ulakly (Donetsk People's Republic).

Ten counter-attack launched by units of the 23rd, 66th, 117th, 151st, and 157th mechanised brigades of the AFU, 35th, 38th marine brigades, and Lyut Assault Brigade of the National Police of Ukraine were repelled.

The AFU losses amounted to up to 380 troops, one U.S.-made MaxxPro armoured fighting vehicle, two motor vehicles, one 152-mm D-20 gun, one 152-mm Msta-B howitzer, two 122-mm D-30 howitzers, and one 122-mm Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system.

Units of the Vostok Group of Forces improved the tactical situation along the front line and inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the 47th Artillery Brigade, 101st, 113th, 120th, and 241st territorial defence brigades near Novy Komar, Razliv, Konstantinopol (Donetsk People's Republic), and Temirovka (Zaporozhye region).

One counter-attack launched by an assault detachment of the 123th Territorial Defence Brigade was repelled.

The AFU losses amounted to up to 145 troops, one U.S.-made M113 armoured personnel carrier, three motor vehicles, two U.S.-made 155-mm M777 howitzers, one 152-mm Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system, and two 122-mm Gvozdika self-propelled artillery systems.

Units of the Dnepr Group of Forces inflicted losses on formations of the 60th Mechanised Brigade of the AFU, 103rd and 126th territorial defence brigades near Malaya Tokmachka, Kamenskoye (Zaporozhye region), Veletenskoye, Ponyatovka (Kherson region), and Kherson.

The AFU losses amounted to up to 30 troops and two motor vehicles.

Operational-Tactical Aviation, attack unmanned aerial vehicles, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces delivered strikes at infrastructure of military airfields, UAV workshops and depots, as well as engaged manpower clusters and military hardware in 141 areas.

Air defence units shot down 44 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles.

In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 649 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 36,603 unmanned aerial vehicles, 586 anti-aircraft missile systems, 19,496 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,492 MLRS combat vehicles, 18,472 field artillery guns and mortars, and 28,701 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 Kursk region.

Units of the Sever Group of Forces inflicted losses on formations of the 21st, 41st, 44th, 47th mechanised brigades, 17th Heavy Mechanised Brigade, 5th Tank Brigade, 80th, 82nd, 95th Air Assault Brigade, 36th Marine Brigade, 112th, 116th, 117th, and 129th territorial defence brigades of the AFU near Aleksandriya, Kruglenkoye, Lebedevka, Leonidovka, Mirny, Nikolayevo-Daryino, Novoivanovka, Sverdlikovo, Plyokhovo, and Staraya Sorochina.

Operational-Tactical and Army aviation and artillery inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the enemy near Aleksandriya, Viktorovka, Guyevo, Daryino, Zaoleshenka, Kazachaya Loknya, Kositsa, Kruglenkoye, Kurilovka, Lebedevka, Leonidovo, Malaya Loknya, Martynovka, Mirny, Nizhny Klin, Nikolayevo-Daryino, Nikolsky, Novoivanovka, Plyokhovo, Sverdlikovo, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye as well as near Belovody, Zhuravka, Miropolye, and Yunakovka in Sumy region.

Over the past 24 hours, the AFU losses amounted to more than 260 troops. One tank, one armoured fighting vehicle, five motor vehicles, and one mortar were destroyed.

Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk region, the AFU losses amounted to more than 35,310 troops, 216 tanks, 149 infantry fighting vehicles, 120 armoured personnel carriers, 1,193 armoured fighting vehicles, 1,022 motor vehicles, 300 artillery guns, 40 MLRS launchers, including 11 of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, 13 anti-aircraft missile launchers, seven transport-loading vehicles, 70 EW stations, 13 counter-battery warfare radars, four air defence radars, 27 units of engineering and other materiel, including 13 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, six armoured recovery vehicles, and one command post vehicle.

The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.





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Dual U.S. and Albanian Citizen Arrested for Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIS and Distributing Instructions Regarding Homemade Explosives

Friday, November 22, 2024

For Immediate Release

Office of Public Affairs

A former New York man and dual citizen of the United States and Albania was arrested yesterday in New York on criminal charges related to his alleged involvement in attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and distributing instructional information regarding the making of explosives.

According to court documents, Erald Alimehmeti, 33, of Tirana, Albania, is a former resident of the Bronx, New York, and moved to Albania in 2014. Alimehmeti was arrested by Albanian authorities and imprisoned in late 2015 to 2019 and again from late 2020 to 2022 for weapons and assault offenses.

Between prison terms, Alimehmeti created and used numerous online accounts on encrypted messaging applications and social media websites to communicate with others about planning and training for attacks on behalf of ISIS. For example, in 2019, Alimehmeti expressed interest in "DC sniper" style attacks and referenced an "op" for which he sought the participation of confidential sources, writing, among other things, "Do you know sniping akhi? The formulas and ballistics?" and "I will brief you brothers right before the op, not here akhi. Do you both know how to use red dot optics and how to zero them?" Alimehmeti also requested what he described as "tactical" equipment and "gear" for "training" and "operations" in support of ISIS, including particular models of vests capable of holding "ballistic plates," "magazine pouches," and "knives," and described modifications he intended to make to his "AKM," an apparent reference to an assault rifle.

In addition, in 2019 and 2020, Alimehmeti regularly posted pro-ISIS propaganda online, praising specific ISIS leaders and promoting ISIS-issued publications and videos. For example, Alimehmeti's social media posts included praise of the ISIS propagandist Shaykh ul-Haqq Musa Cerantonio and the Libyan terrorist and high-ranking al Qaeda official Abu Yahya al-Libi; photographs of various jihadist publications, such as "The Islamic Ruling of the Permissibility of Self-Sacrificial Operations: Suicide, or Martyrdom?" and "The Book of Jihad"; and a video depicting the killing of U.S. Special Forces in Niger and an accompanying comment in Albanian, which translates to: "The Islamic State in Africa killing crusaders, American and French special forces. Look at how the US special forces scream before they die!!! Hahaha!"

Alimehmeti also described his work compiling resources on mixing dangerous chemicals and making explosives to a confidential source and discussed how to make specific types of incendiaries to spray at innocent bystanders in a terrorist attack. On an encrypted messaging channel, Alimehmeti posted dozens of links and downloadable documents on topics such as explosives-making, firearms-handling, defensive tactics, and outdoor survival, with comments encouraging the use of these resources. For example, he posted a video and described it as "a video release from the official media of the Khilafa, explaining how YOU O Muwahid can make TATP explosives in your own home ... SO FIGHT THEM O MUWAHID," an apparent reference to a well-known ISIS video titled, "You Must Fight Them O Muwahhid," which provides step-by-step instructions for constructing a TATP-based explosive device and attacking a human target with a knife.

Alimehmeti is charged with one count of attempting to provide material support to ISIS, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and one count of distribution of information pertaining to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction in furtherance of a federal crime of violence, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

The FBI's New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which consists principally of agents and analysts from the FBI and detectives from the New York City Police Department, is investigating the case. The Justice Department's Office of International Affairs, Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations, and law enforcement partners in Albania and Australia, including the Australian Attorney-General's Department, provided valuable assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas S. Bradley and Jane Y. Chong for the Southern District of New York are prosecuting the case, with assistance from Trial Attorney Jessica K. Fender of the National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Topic: Counterterrorism

Components: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

National Security Division (NSD)

USAO - New York, Southern

Press Release Number: 24-1481

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Islamic State figure arrested in Iraqi Kurdistan

By Najab Balay November 23, 2024

Iraqi national security officials on Saturday said they arrested the top-ranking Islamic State figure in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Azad Shakhi, the so-called emir of the Kurdistan faction of Islamic State, which is also known as IS, ISIS or ISIL, was detained in Kirkuk province alongside six other suspected terrorists, one of whom blew himself up amid the siege on their hideout.

"The detainees were working underground and were found and arrested after a thorough investigation and gathering information," Colonel Salam Abdulkhaliq, spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Security Agency, told VOA's Kurdish Service.

Regional security officials with knowledge of the investigation said the group had been planning to target security figures and government institutions, according to regional news outlets.

"The ISIS network that was arrested had links to the ISIS in Karadag and other parts of the region, they have committed terrorist acts in the past," a senior security source in Kirkuk, who did not want to be named, told VOA.

The source also said other members of the Kirkuk sleeper cell had been detained in recent days, and that "another group of ISIS fighters were killed in an air strike in Rashad district of western Kirkuk last night."

Officials said Shakhi, a resident of the Latif area of Shorjay village in Kirkuk, had previously been listed as an active member of ISIS.

This story originaetd in VOA's Kurdish Service.

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General purpose frigate milestone reached with down-selection of shipbuilders

The Hon Richard Marles MP

Deputy Prime Minister

Minister for Defence

25 November 2024

The Albanese Government has down-selected two shipbuilders, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, to progress designs for Australia's future general purpose frigates.

The general purpose frigate program is part of the Albanese Government's plan to ensure the Navy is equipped with a larger and more lethal surface combatant fleet to respond to our strategic circumstances.

In May, Defence released an approach to market to five shipbuilders of the exemplar platforms identified by the Independent Analysis of Navy's surface combatant fleet.

Defence will now work with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems and Australian industry partners to further develop the proposals for the Mogami and MEKO A-200 frigates.

The Government acknowledges the high-quality proposals put forward by each of the five exemplar shipbuilders. The proposals reflect the sophistication and maturity of the companies involved and the defence industries of Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Spain.

The Albanese Government is investing up to $55 billion over the decade, including up to $10 billion for the general purpose frigates, as part of a plan that will more than double the size of Navy's surface combatant fleet compared with the former government's plan.

Australia's new general purpose frigates will replace the Anzac Class frigates and will be equipped for undersea warfare and local air defence in order to secure maritime trade routes and our northern approaches.

The first three general purpose frigates will be built offshore and, successful and timely consolidation of the Henderson precinct will enable the remainder of the build to be constructed locally at Henderson.

The construction of general purpose frigates at the Henderson Defence Precinct is part of the Albanese Government's plan to invest tens of billions of dollars in defence capabilities in Western Australia over the next two decades, supporting in the order of 10,000 well-paid, high-skilled local jobs.

Defence will engage closely with the down-selected shipbuilders to progress this program and ensure Australia's first general purpose frigate is delivered this decade.

The decision to progress the Mogami and MEKO A-200 designs was informed by a rigorous evaluation by Defence that identified these designs as likely to best meet Australia's capability requirements.

Quotes attributable to Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon Richard Marles MP:

"The Albanese Government is committed to ensuring our Navy is equipped with a larger and more lethal surface combatant fleet, and the general purpose frigate program is a key aspect of this.

"Navy's future fleet will constitute the largest number of surface combatants since World War Two, and will be integral to ensuring the safety and security of our sea lines of communication and maritime trade.

"We extend our gratitude to Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Spain for their efforts in support of this activity. We view their commitment to this process as a reflection of the strong relationships between our nations.

"We acknowledge the extraordinary achievement of each of these companies in manufacturing platforms recognised by the Independent Analysis Team as the best of their kind."

Quotes attributable to Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery, the Hon Pat Conroy MP:

"This program is moving at pace to ensure the Navy is equipped with the ships it needs to keep Australians safe.

"The rapid, accelerated work of the general purpose frigate program to date underpins the next stages of the acquisition to ensure this capability is delivered this decade, providing our Navy with enhanced anti-submarine and anti-air warfare capabilities."

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Lukashenka Threatens Internet Shutdown If There Are Protests During Presidential Vote

By RFE/RL's Belarus Service November 22, 2024

The authoritarian ruler of Belarus, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, has threatened to shut down the Internet in the event of mass protests during or after the upcoming presidential election, after the previous vote in 2020 erupted in unprecedented unrest amid opposition allegations it was rigged.

Speaking to students at Minsk State Linguistic University on November 22, Lukashenka defended past Internet restrictions and warned of future measures to throttle dissent.

"If this happens again, we will shut it down entirely. Do you think I will sit idly and pray you don't send a message when the fate of the country is at stake?" state news agency BelTA quoted him as saying.

Lukashenka admitted that Internet disruptions during the 2020 protests were conducted with his approval, citing the need to "protect the country."

Following the August 9, 2020, election, which many Western governments have said was not free and fair, Internet access across Belarus was disrupted for several days and intermittently blocked.

The disputed election that extended Lukashenka's decades of rule -- he has held power since 1994 -- for another term was widely condemned as fraudulent by the United States, the European Union, and other international actors.

The protests, which demanded Lukashenka's resignation, were met with mass arrests, alleged torture, and violent crackdowns that left several people dead.

Many opposition leaders remain imprisoned or in exile, while Lukashenka refuses dialogue with his critics.

The next presidential election in Belarus is scheduled for January 26.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-lukashenka-internet-shutdown- protests/33211982.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's statement and answers to media questions at a news conference following the joint meeting of the Collegiums of Russian and Belarusian Foreign Ministries, Brest, November 22, 2024

22 November 2024 17:38

2276-22-11-2024



Mr Ryzhenkov,

Colleagues,

Today, we have accomplished significant work. Commencing last night, we engaged in discussions on numerous crucial issues within an informal setting. We convened in Brest at the invitation of Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov and our counterparts from the Belarusian Foreign Ministry.

In this year marking the 80th anniversary of Belarus's liberation from Nazi forces, and in the lead-up to the forthcoming 80th anniversary of our common Victory in the Great Patriotic War in May 2025, it is symbolic to gather here in Brest, a city of sacred importance to our peoples. This is a Hero City. By laying flowers at the Eternal Flame today, we commemorated those heroic acts and emphasised the necessity to preserve this revered memory.

Following the floral tribute, we engaged with young people, specifically students from Brest University and several other universities. Our dialogue focused on the preservation of historical memory and the prevention of attempts to glorify Nazis or equate Nazi criminals with the liberators of Europe. This conversation was timely and beneficial, much like the flower-laying ceremony, which set the tone for our endeavours.

We addressed the matters raised by Mr Ryzhenkov, adhering to a pre-established agenda. A key focus was the imperative of countering legal aggression in its various manifestations. It is unacceptable to blatantly breach international law obligations, as the West is currently doing, violating all the tenets of the WTO, the principles of the IMF and the World Bank, and even its own concepts of globalisation. The West preached the importance of fair competition, the presumption of innocence, and property inviolability, yet abandoned these ideals when it became necessary to penalise competitors - in this instance, the Russian Federation. Numerous other nations, including the Republic of Belarus, also face this pressure. We shall pursue justice through the remaining international legal mechanisms, despite the West's attempts to dismantle them.

Simultaneously, as discussed in depth today and regularly by our Presidents, we must cultivate our own platforms to render us immune to the West's capricious conduct. BRICS and the SCO are advancing this objective, as are efforts within the Union State and the EAEU. We shall undoubtedly persist in these endeavours.

In China, they opine that every crisis brings opportunities. The sanctions debacle has not only compelled us to act but has also served the beneficial role of deterring reliance on those who have proven utterly unreliable as negotiating partners.

Recently, President Vladimir Putin, while addressing the Valdai Discussion Club, remarked that we have finally recognised the West's incapacity to negotiate and the peril of assuming that we might reach an accord with them again. This was evident in February 2022, when the West dismissed our European security proposal. Now, together with our Belarusian friends, we are already deliberating on Eurasian security. At the second Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security (October 31 - November 1 this year), Belarus proposed the development of a Eurasian Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century. Today, one of the documents emerging from the Collegium meeting was our joint statement outlining a vision for this Charter. The ensuing step is to draft the Charter itself, commencing this endeavour with all our partners in the SCO, CIS, and CSTO. With Belarus now a full SCO member, our efforts will be even more effective. We are pleased that the Republic of Belarus is among the first wave of BRICS partner countries, which presents additional collaborative opportunities.

We also discussed the forthcoming anniversary of the Union State. December 2024 will commemorate 25 years since the signing of the Treaty on the Establishment of the Union State. In observance of this milestone, the Supreme State Council will convene. I underscore its importance, as it is anticipated to host the signing of pivotal documents, which have been the primary focus of security efforts this year. This includes the Union State Security Concept and the Russian-Belarusian Treaty on Security Guarantees, both vital documents in safeguarding the legitimate interests of our nations.

I wish to once again express our gratitude to our Belarusian friends and hosts for organising this event, for their customary hospitality, and to the leadership of Brest and the Brest Region for providing us with such exemplary facilities.

Question: Yesterday, President of Russia Vladimir Putin addressed people living in our country and also the architects behind the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine. Is there now an understanding that the signal was heard and received? Will the current US Administration try to add more fuel to the fire before it leaves?

Sergey Lavrov: It is difficult for me to decide for them or make guesses. Those who allowed Vladimir Zelensky to use these missiles also allowed it themselves. President of Russia Vladimir Putin has said so many times. Not a single missile would have flown anywhere without their direct involvement.

As for the reaction to our response, as far as I understand, Vladimir Zelensky was scared. He began accusing his masters that they left him unarmed for such a response from the Russian side. This is useful, because being closer to reality and feeling it on your own skin is useful.

As for what to expect from US President Joe Biden and his outgoing administration, the supply of ATACMS missiles and the permission given to the British and French to use Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles spells "bad legacy" for the next administration. Apparently, this runs in the Democratic Party's blood. In December 2016, when then US President Barack Obama was already leaving the office and there were three weeks left before the inauguration of Donald Trump, Obama played a dirty trick on his successor and expelled dozens of Russian diplomats. There were over 120 of them in total (including family members). They were required to leave Washington on a day when there was no direct flight to Moscow. So, they had to ride with little children and all their belongings six hours by bus to New York. This additional "comfort" was done intentionally, as you can see. Meanwhile, Barack Obama stole (there is no other word to describe it) two Russian diplomatic compounds. We have not been allowed access there to this day. In this way, the plans for the first weeks of Donald Trump's stay in the White House - to launch a normal dialogue with the Russian Federation - were significantly undermined.

I do not rule out that this desire to make a mess is also manifested in the current conditions.

Question: Just yesterday it was reported that training of military personnel is underway in the West in order to attack Belarus. This information was released by Belarusian media.

If this is true, what is Moscow's position, considering that Belarus is a member of the Union State and in the context of the updated nuclear doctrine?

Sergey Lavrov (adds after Maxim Ryzhenkov): As for the updated Nuclear Doctrine of the Russian Federation and how it relates to the activities of the Union State, I have already mentioned that two draft documents have been prepared for the Supreme State Council meeting, which will take place before the end of the year.

The first document is the Union State Security Concept. The second is a draft bilateral interstate agreement on security guarantees. The content of the updated nuclear doctrine is fully aligned with these two Russian-Belarusian documents.

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Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's opening remarks at a joint board meeting of foreign ministries of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, Brest, November 22, 2024

22 November 2024 17:19

2275-22-11-2024

Mr Ryzhenkov,

Mr Mezentsev,

Colleagues,

We appreciate your traditionally warm welcome. We feel at home here.

I believe we have picked the right place - the city of Brest which sits on the westernmost border of the Union State - to hold our joint meeting. This choice is particularly symbolic in the year that marks the 80th anniversary of liberation of Belarus from Nazi invaders. The Brest border outpost was the first to bear the blow of the Third Reich's war machine and became an epitome of courage and heroism of all the peoples of the former Soviet Union.

Jointly held board meetings of our respective foreign ministries provide a unique cooperation format. Since the time the Union State was formed, when the treaty to that effect was signed on December 8, 1999, we haven't missed a single year. This is our 25th meeting, an anniversary event, so congratulations are in order.

I am convinced - and Mr Ryzhenkov mentioned that too - that our joint work enjoys demand. It provides an effective mechanism for coordinating and developing common approaches to a variety of regional and international issues, as well as maintaining professional contacts between senior officials and experts from our respective ministries.

In pursuance of the collegiums' resolutions adopted in 2023, we have seen our diplomats effectively ensure the implementation of the initiatives included in the 2024-2026 Programme for Coordinated Foreign Policy Actions. We will continue to make sure that all its initiatives are implemented in the form of concrete recommendations.

We provided comprehensive foreign policy and diplomatic support for the work that is being carried out to implement the 2024-2026 Guidelines for Implementing the Provisions of the Treaty on the Establishment of the Union State.

Joint efforts to build up political, trade and economic cooperation with the countries of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America continue unabated.

Foreign Minister of the Republic of Belarus Maxim Ryzhenkov mentioned earlier that Belarus became a full SCO member in July. On November 11, it obtained an official status of a BRICS partner country. This is a new category implying the ability to participate in all events without exception. The only difference (since this is not full membership) is that at this junction partner countries will not be eligible for signing documents, but will nonetheless participate in all events. This is Russia and China's shared position. I believe it will get the support. Congratulations once again. We will discuss further coordination at the SCO, BRICS and other multilateral entities which bring together the World Majority countries.

The circle of our like-minded partners at the UN is expanding, primarily through active involvement of the Group of Friends in Defence of the UN Charter. It was set up on the initiative of Venezuela, with our and our Belarusian friends' strong support. It advocates the importance of implementing the principles of the UN Charter not selectively or from time to time, but consistently and in their entirety, as opposed to the Western concept of the rules-based order. The sweeping adoption of Russia's annual resolution on combatting the glorification of Nazism, which is co-sponsored by Belarus, came as a compelling outcome of this work.

In view of the anniversary years (the 80th anniversary of liberation of Belarus; in 2025, liberation of Europe; the victory in the Great Patriotic War and in World War II), the General Assembly adopted on November 11 yet another resolution on combatting the glorification of Nazism. Despite, to put it bluntly, fierce resistance of Western countries, we received a decisive majority of votes, and the entire West revealed its true nature by voting against this resolution.

We commemorated the themes of anniversaries, including the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, with special statements at the OSCE. Alongside other like-minded countries, we adopted an important statement on freedom of expression. The tables have turned: previously the Soviet Union was accused of not having freedom of expression, but now we document on a daily basis the facts of concealed truth and restricted access to information practiced by Western governments and elites, which we regularly disseminate in the OSCE and other entities, including the UN system. They cannot be refuted and are not refuted.

An important area of our activity included monitoring NATO's actions to create new threats to the Union State's security.

We maintain a regular exchange of views and assessments on the state of affairs at the Council of Europe. The Americans, who are not members of the Council of Europe, are leveraging its bodies to come up with pseudo-legal instruments in order to put pressure on Moscow and Minsk.

The sides exchanged views on confidence-building measures and the creation of security architecture in Eurasia. Foreign Minister of the Republic of Belarus Maxim Ryzhenkov has already mentioned the Second Minsk Conference on Eurasian Security which was held on October 31-November 1. Indeed, it took centre stage and brought together an impressive number of participants, including ministers and deputy prime ministers from the European countries.

We started working on the Eurasian Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century. Today, we will make a major step forward and adopt a statement on a shared Russian-Belarusian vision of the Charter content, after which we will start working with other presumptive participants.

We are confronted with a challenge of countering the legal aggression of the West, which is quite urgent because every day they come up with something new which calls for constant attention on the part of our colleagues from the economic bloc and heads of government. Presidents are keeping a particularly close eye on it. However, the diplomatic support for this kind of activities and the importance of our joint efforts is growing.

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Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's opening remarks during a meeting with Foreign Minister of Belarus Maxim Ryzhenkov, Brest, November 22, 2024

22 November 2024 15:41

2273-22-11-2024



Mr Ryzhenkov,

Thank you for inviting me to Brest. You are right in saying that foreign policy should not be divorced from the life of the country at large. The tasks posed to us by our Presidents imply the closest type of cooperation at all levels, including the level of region heads.

We know how much attention President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko pays to regular meetings with heads of Russian regions. He and President of Russia Vladimir Putin hold devoted forums. This has become a tradition.

Brest is a symbol of the 80th anniversary of liberation of Belarus celebrated this year and the 80th anniversary of our common Great Victory to be celebrated next year.

It is quite nice that a meeting with young people has been organised. It is clear that they are taking a keen interest in foreign policy and are engrossed in their studies, work in student construction teams, etc. This guarantees that the younger generations will be a worthy successor to the cause addressed by our Presidents. We are trying to facilitate this in every way.

I am confident that our tradition of holding annual joint Collegium meetings will persist in the future and get consolidated within the framework of foreign policy coordination based on the relevant plans. The topics we will discuss today are also of high current importance, including ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Union State to be marked in December of this year.

I believe that there will be new agreements for the next period. They will be even larger in scale in the interests of our countries and people.



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DHS Will Now Restrict Goods from Over 100 PRC-Based Companies from Entering the United States Due to Forced Labor Practices

November 22, 2024

The Addition of 29 New Entities to the UFLPA Entity List Brings the List to 107

WASHINGTON -- Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), on behalf of the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF), announced the addition of 29 companies based in the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List - bringing the total number of entities on the UFLPA Entity List to 107.The FLETF, chaired by DHS, is taking these steps as part of its commitment to eliminating the use of forced labor practices in U.S. supply chains and promoting accountability for the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other religious and ethnic minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).



"Forced labor is a violation of basic human rights," said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. "The Department of Homeland Security has aggressively enforced the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, preventing goods made through forced labor from entering our country, investigating and exposing more than 100 bad actors, and helping American businesses avoid inadvertently profiting from this modern form of slavery. Alongside our government, industry, and civil society partners, the United States is making progress towards the eradication of forced labor while supporting economic fairness, safeguarding human rights, and holding perpetrators accountable."



"Today's enforcement actions make it clear -- the United States will not tolerate forced labor in the goods entering our markets," said the Under Secretary for Policy, Robert Silvers, who serves as Chair of the Federal Labor Enforcement Task Force. "The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act is a powerful tool in the fight against forced labor, and we are using it to its full potential. We urge companies to take responsibility, know their supply chains, and act ethically."



The UFLPA has been a key instrument for the Biden-Harris administration's fight against forced labor, particularly in the XUAR, and in safeguarding U.S. supply chains. Through the Department's initiatives, the administration has prioritized ethical sourcing and production, reinforcing global workers' rights and empowering consumers to make informed, values-based choices. This work underscores a commitment to building a fairer and more responsible global trade system.



Effective November 25, 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will apply a rebuttable presumption that goods produced by the named 29 entities will be prohibited from entering the United States as a result of the companies' activities, either sourcing materials from the XUAR or working with the government of Xinjiang to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, orreceive Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups out of the XUAR.



Tianjin Tianwei Food Co., Ltd. (formerly known as Tianjin Sanhe Fruit and Vegetable Co., Ltd.) is a company located in Tianjin, China that processes fruit, vegetable, and agricultural products, especially tomato products, and integrates raw material planting, picking, production, processing, trade, and scientific research and development. The United States Government has reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable information, that Tianjin Tianwei Food Co., Ltd. sources material, specifically tomatoes, from the XUAR. Information reviewed by the FLETF, including publicly available information, indicates that Tianjin Tianwei Food Co., Ltd. sources tomatoes from the XUAR, including from Bazhou, Xinjiang.



Xinjiang Zhonghe Co., Ltd., (also known as Xinjiang Joinworld Co., Ltd.), is a company located in the XUAR that primarily focuses on the research, development, production, and sales of electronic materials and aluminum and alloy products including high-purity aluminum, electronic aluminum foil, electrode foil, and other aluminum and alloy products. These products are primarily used in electronic equipment, wires, and cables in a wide range of downstream products, including household appliances, automobiles, and aerospace applications. The United States Government has reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable information, that Xinjiang Zhonghe Co., Ltd. works with the government of the XUAR to recruit and transfer Uyghurs out of the XUAR. Information reviewed by the FLETF, including publicly available information, indicates Xinjiang Zhonghe cooperates with local Xinjiang governments in Yingjisha County and participates in government-sponsored poverty alleviation and labor programs to recruit and transfer Uyghurs. The FLETF therefore determined that the activities of Xinjiang Zhonghe Co., Ltd. satisfy the criteria for addition to the UFLPA Entity List described in Section 2(d)(2)(B)(ii).



Xinjiang Nonferrous Metals Industry Group Co., Ltd. and three of its subsidiaries: Western Gold Co., Ltd., Western Gold Karamay Hatu Gold Mine Co., Ltd. and Western Gold Hami Gold Mine Co., Ltd. are located in the XUAR. Xinjiang Nonferrous Metals Industry Group Co., Ltd. ("Xinjiang Nonferrous") is a state-owned enterprise based in Urumqi, Xinjiang that mines, smelts, and processes raw metallic materials, including copper, lithium, beryllium, nickel, manganese, and gold. Western Gold Co., Ltd. (Western Gold) is a majority-owned subsidiary of Xinjiang Nonferrous that mines, processes, and sells gold and manganese resources, as well as chromium ore and iron ore mining and processing. Western Gold KaramayHatu Gold Mine Co., Ltd. (Western Gold Karamay Hatu Gold Mine) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Gold that mines and processes gold and chromium ores. Western Gold Hami Gold Mine Co., Ltd. (Western Gold Hami Gold Mine) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Gold that mines and processes gold ores. The United States Government has reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable information, that Xinjiang Nonferrous, Western Gold, Western Gold KaramayHatu Gold Mine, and Western Gold Hami Gold Mine work with the government of Xinjiang to recruit, transfer, or receive workers, including Uyghurs, out of Xinjiang. Information reviewed by the FLETF, including publicly available information, indicates Xinjiang Nonferrous, Western Gold, Western Gold Karamay Hatu Gold Mine, and Western Gold Hami Gold Mine worked with the Xinjiang government, including local Xinjiang governments, to recruit, transfer, or receive Uyghurs from Xinjiang, including Hotan and Kashgar prefectures. The FLETF therefore determined that the activities of Xinjiang Nonferrous, Western Gold, Western Gold Karamay Hatu Gold Mine, and Western Gold Hami Gold Mine satisfy the criteria for addition to the UFLPA Entity List described in Section 2(d)(2)(B)(ii).



23 Entities in the Agricultural Sector: The FLETF has identified 23 entities engaged in the production and sale of agricultural products, including tomato paste and tomato products, walnuts, red dates, raisins, and other products. The FLETF has reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable information, that the entities source agricultural products from the XUAR and sell them on online wholesale sites. That information has been corroborated by other publicly available information indicating that the entities source goods from the XUAR. Given information that indicates all 23 companies source agricultural products from the XUAR, the FLETF determined that the activities of the entities satisfy the criteria for addition to the UFLPA Entity List under Section 2(d)(2)(B)(v). The 23 entities are:

Anhui Yaozhiyuan Biotechnology Development Co., Ltd. (also known as Anhui Yaozhiyuan Chinese Herbal Medicine Co., Ltd.; Anhui Yaozhiyuan Chinese Medicinal Materials Co., Ltd.; and Anhui Yaozhiyuan Biological Technology Development Co., Ltd.)

Annan Canned Food Co., Ltd. (also known as Nanling County Annan Canned Food Co., Ltd.)

Dalian Sunspeed Foods Co., Ltd. (also known as Dalian Shengchi International Trade Co., Ltd.)

Gansu Yasheng International Trading Co., Ltd. (also known as Gansu Yasheng International Trade Co., Ltd.; and Yasheng International Trade; and formerly known as Gansu Yasheng International Trade Group Co., Ltd.)

Hangzhou Union Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (also known as Hangzhou Youer Biotechnology Co., Ltd.; Youer Biotech; and Union Biotech)

Hebei Suguo International Trade Co., Ltd. (also known as Suguo International)

Hebei Tomato Industry Co., Ltd. (also known as Hebei Temeite Industrial Group Co., Ltd.; and formerly known as Hebei Temeite International Trade Co., Ltd.)

Hunan Nanmo Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (also known as Hunan Nanmomo Technology Co., Ltd.)

Inner Mongolia Qileyuan Food Co., Ltd.

Inner Mongolia Xuanda Food Co., Ltd. (also known as Xuanda Food; and formerly known as Wuyuan County Xuanda Cereals, Oils and Foods Co., Ltd.)

Jinan Haihong International Trade Co., Ltd. (formerly known as Jinan Haifang Trading Co., Ltd.)

Jining Pengjie Trading Co., Ltd.

Junan Jinsheng Import & Export Co., Ltd. (also known as Junan County Jinsheng Import and Export Co., Ltd.)

Kingherbs Limited (also known as Changsha Jincao Biotechnology Co., Ltd.)

Qingdao Vital Nutraceutical Ingredients BioScience Co., Ltd. (also known as Qingdao Weiyikang Biotechnology Co., Ltd.)

Shanghai JUMP Machinery & Technology Co., Ltd. (also known as Shanghai Jiapai Machinery Technology Co., Ltd.; and formerly known as Shanghai Chituma Food Machinery Technology Co., Ltd.)

Sichuan Yuan'an Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (also known as Sichuan Yuanan Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.)

Taiyuan Weishan International Economic Business Co., Ltd. (also known as Taiyuan Weishan International Trade Co., Ltd.)

The TNN Development Limited (also known as Dehui (Dalian) International Trade Co., Ltd.)

Tianjin Dunhe International Trade Co., Ltd. (also known as Dunhe Foods)

Tianjin Kunyu International Co., Ltd. (also known as China Kunyu Industrial Co., Ltd.)

Weifang Alice Food Co., Ltd.

Zhangzhou Hang Fat Import & Export Co., Ltd. (also known as ZhangzhouHengfa Import and Export Co., Ltd.)

In addition to the 29 new entities, the FLETF added a listed entity to an additional UFLPA Entity List sub-list and the FLETF modified the name of the listed entity through a technical correction.



Xinjiang Daqo New Energy Co., Ltd., (also known as Xinjiang Great New Energy Co., Ltd.; Xinjiang Daxin Energy Co., Ltd.; and Xinjiang Daqin Energy Co., Ltd.), is a company located in Shihezi, XUAR that produces high purity polysilicon materials. This company was first listed on the UFLPA Entity List, pursuant to Section 2(d)(2)(B)(i), in June 2022. The United States Government has reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable information, that Xinjiang Daqo New Energy Co., Ltd. sources silicon powder from the XUAR. The FLETF therefore determined that the activities of Xinjiang Daqo New Energy Co., Ltd. satisfy the criteria for addition to the UFLPA Entity List described in Section 2(d)(2(B)(v).



Xinjiang East Hope Nonferrous Metals Co., Ltd., is a company located in the XUAR that manufactures nonferrous metals, nonferrous metal alloys products, and metal materials. The company also participates in power generation, transmission, and supply activities. When it was first added to the UFLPA Entity List in June 2022, the FLETF included one known alias, "Xinjiang Nonferrous." Information reviewed by the FLETF indicates that "Xinjiang Nonferrous" is not an alias of Xinjiang East Hope Nonferrous Metals Co., Ltd. Therefore, the FLETF has determined that a technical correction is required to change the name of the entity "Xinjiang East Hope Nonferrous Metals Co., Ltd." as it appears on Section 2(d)(2)(B)(i) to remove the alias "Xinjiang Nonferrous."



DHS will publish the revised UFLPA Entity List as an appendix to a Federal Register notice.



The UFLPA, signed into law by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. in December 2021, mandates that CBP apply a rebuttable presumption that goods that are either mined, produced or manufactured wholly or in part in the XUAR, or produced by entities identified on the UFLPA Entity List, are prohibited from importation into the United States, unless the Commissioner of CBP determines, by clear and convincing evidence, that the goods were not produced with forced labor. CBP began enforcing the UFLPA in June 2022. Since then, CBP has reviewed more than 10,000 shipments valued at more than $3.6 billion under the UFLPA.



This expansion of the UFLPA Entity List reflects DHS' prioritization of combatting the introduction of forced labor into U.S. supply chains.



You can read more about the FLETF by visiting: www.dhs.gov/uflpa.

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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian's Regular Press Conference on November 22, 2024

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China

Updated: November 22, 2024 20:29

At the invitation of the Chinese side, Senior Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong will visit China from November 24 to 29.

At the invitation of Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel will visit China from November 24 to 29.

CCTV: To follow up on the visit of Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Xavier Bettel, how does China view its relations with Luxembourg and what's China's expectation of the visit?

Lin Jian: Luxembourg is one of the EU's founding members and China's friendly cooperation partner. Fifty plus years on since the establishment of diplomatic ties, China and Luxembourg have stayed committed to mutual respect, mutually beneficial cooperation and common development. In recent years, the two countries have achieved fruitful results in cooperation in such areas as air freight, finance and steel, which delivers tangible benefits to the two peoples and contributes to enhancing China-EU cooperation and keeping international industrial and supply chains stable. China stands ready to work with Luxembourg to enhance our friendship and mutual trust, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and make new progress in bilateral relations.

Anadolu Agency: The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes during Israel's war in Gaza. The court said it found reasonable grounds to believe that each bears responsibility for war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and crimes against humanity of murder, persecutions and other inhuman acts. The court also found reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant committed a war crime of intentionally directing an attack against civilian population. What's China's comment?

Lin Jian: China noted the reports.

On the question of Palestine, China always stands on the side of fairness and justice, and on the side of international law, opposes all acts that violate international law including international humanitarian law, and condemns all moves against civilians and civil facilities. As we speak, the Gaza conflict is still dragging on and unprecedented humanitarian crisis is unfolding. China supports all effort in the international community conducive to realizing fairness and justice and defending the authority of international law on the question of Palestine. We hope the International Criminal Court will maintain an objective and just position, lawfully perform its duties, and interpret and apply the Rome Statute and general international law in its entirety, in good faith and in line with uniform standards.

CCTV: China has announced a trial visa-free policy to 29 countries, so will this policy be applied to more countries? Some countries hope that the maximum length of stay for visa-free travelers will be extended and the visa exemption will be permitted for more purposes of visit. Will China consider that?

Lin Jian: To further facilitate cross-border travel, China decided to include more countries in its visa waiver program and extend the visa-free policy to ordinary passport holders from Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Estonia, Latvia and Japan on a trial basis from November 30, 2024 to December 31, 2025.

In addition, China decided to further upgrade its visa-free policy. Visa waiver will now be granted to travelers for exchange purpose and the maximum length of stay will be extended from 15 days to 30 days. Starting from November 30, 2024, ordinary passport holders from 38 countries, including the above-mentioned nine countries, can be exempted from visa to enter China and stay for no more than 30 days for business, tourism, family visit, exchange and transit purposes.

RIA Novosti: Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that the Russian Armed Forces carried out a combined strike on a Ukrainian military-industrial complex facility in response to Ukrainian military's use of long-range US-made and British-made weapons. He added that in combat conditions, the newest Russian medium-range missile systems known as "Oreshnik" was tested, with a ballistic missile in a nuclear-free equipment. He also stressed that the conflict in Ukraine is going global. Do you have any comment?

Lin Jian: China's position on the Ukraine issue is consistent and clear. We advocate settling the crisis through political means and avoiding escalation. Under the current situation, all parties need to remain calm, exercise restraint, work for deescalation through dialogue and consultation, and accumulate conditions for an early ceasefire and political settlement of the crisis.

Anadolu Agency: The US solely vetoed a UN Security Council resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza yesterday. It's the sixth time the US as a permanent member used its veto power to block such a resolution. What's China's comment about this?

Lin Jian: China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations has fully stated our position in his explanation of vote. The draft resolution explicitly requires an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, which is in line with the right direction of Security Council actions, and reflects the strong aspiration for peace from the international community.

The ongoing conflict in Gaza has dragged on for 13 months, causing the death of over 40,000 people and unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. The US, for the sixth time, single-handedly used its veto power on the draft resolution on ceasefire in Gaza, which once again resulted in the stagnation of Security Council and international efforts. The international community is once again reminded of US-style double standard, and the US once again stands on the opposite side of international call for ceasefire, hope of survival for the Palestinian people, and conscience of humanity.

The conflict in Gaza continues and the humanitarian disaster is still worsening. The top priority now is to promote full and effective implementation of UN Security Council resolutions by parties to the conflict, and the realization of an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, so as to create conditions for alleviating the humanitarian crisis. We also urge the US to discard political calculations, stop ignoring international law and international humanitarian law selectively, take its responsibility as a major country, and play a constructive role for the peace and stability in the Middle East.

Global Times: It's reported that in a statement released on November 19, US State Department Spokesperson said the Department of State is taking steps to impose new visa restrictions on multiple Hong Kong officials responsible for implementation of Hong Kong's National Security Law. What's China's comment?

Lin Jian: China's central government firmly supports the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in safeguarding national security and punishing various activities that endanger national security in accordance with law. We firmly oppose the US using relevant judicial cases to interfere in China's internal affairs and smear and undermine Hong Kong's rule of law. The US needs to earnestly respect China's sovereignty and Hong Kong's rule of law, abide by the principles of international law and the basic norms of international relations, and refrain from meddling in Hong Kong affairs in whatever form. If the US insists on imposing visa restrictions on Hong Kong officials, China will take firm countermeasures.

AFP: Lai Ching-te will visit three Pacific island nation allies at the end of this month in his first overseas trip since taking office. Does China have a comment on this?

Lin Jian: The one-China principle is a basic norm in international relations and prevailing international consensus. The Lai Ching-te authorities' political manipulation activities and provocations using trips to countries having so-called "diplomatic ties" with Taiwan will lead nowhere. It will not shake the solid and strong international commitment to the one-China principle, or stop the overriding historical trend towards China's reunification. We urge relevant countries to see clearly the trend of history at an early date, and make the right decision that truly serves their fundamental and long-term interests.

Anadolu Agency: To follow up on ICC's arrest warrants about Netanyahu and Gallant, we have noticed that the US was quick to react against the court's decision. White House Spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said they "fundamentally reject" ICC issuing arrest warrants for Israeli officials. Whereas when ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes in Ukraine last year, the US was supporting the court's decision. President Biden at that time said he welcomed the decision and that it made "a strong point." How do you see this double standard concerning international law?

Lin Jian: China always opposes the selective approach to international law and double standards by certain country. Let me reiterate that China always believes that the ICC should maintain an objective and just position, lawfully perform its duties and interpret and apply the Rome Statute and general international law in its entirety, in good faith and in line with uniform standards.

AFP: Moroccan National News Agency (MAP) said that Chinese leader made a short visit to Morocco on Thursday. Can the Foreign Ministry confirm this and provide more details?

Lin Jian: I have no information to share at the moment.

Reuters: Just step back on the question about Lai's visit to the Pacific nations. Does China request any assistance from any other nations to not allow him to travel to those countries perhaps? Has there been any other request to the United States or any other countries in the region to stop this visit from happening?

Lin Jian: As I just said, the one-China principle is a prevailing international consensus.

Hubei Media Group: In an interview days ago on the sidelines of COP29, Jeffrey Sachs, President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and a professor at Columbia University, said China, an important leader in energy transformation, has an essential role in combating climate change. What's your comment?

Lin Jian: In recent years, China has kept to the path of pursuing green development and implemented the new development philosophy. The economic growth is of higher quality and more eco-friendly. China became the first country in the world to achieve zero net land degradation, contributed a quarter of the world's newly added green area, reversed the fast growth momentum of CO2 emissions, built the world's largest and full-fledged industrial chain of the new energy sector, and tops other countries in the installed capacity of new energy and the production and sales of new energy vehicles.

When accelerating green and low-carbon transition at home, China has worked to promote the development and prosperity of the Global South and global green and low-carbon transition. We have also shared our experience of green development to help other developing countries go green and be better off at the same time. By this October, China has signed 53 South-South MOUs on climate change with 42 developing countries, and rolled out nearly one hundred projects on climate mitigation and adaptation. China has also carried out a total of over 300 capacity-building projects in areas related to climate change, and provided more than 10 thousand training opportunities to 120 plus developing countries to increase their climate response capacity, deliver a better life to local people and improve their wellbeing.

It must be pointed out that climate change is a common challenge for mankind that requires joint response from the international community. All parties need to firmly uphold the principles, targets and institutions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement, in particular, the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. Developed countries need to step up to their historical responsibilities and, in accordance with the stipulations of the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, take the lead to cut emissions and realize carbon neutrality ahead of schedule to create space for developing countries in terms of emissions, and earnestly fulfill their obligations of providing developing countries with support of capital, technology and capacity building. Global South countries, including China, can support each other through South-South cooperation on a voluntary basis and improve their capability of responding to climate change and realize sustainable development.

China stands ready to work with all parties, under the guidance of the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, to jointly protect Planet Earth that we all call home and advance progress of global ecological conservation.

******************************************

The following question was raised after the press conference: Has China demanded the US not to allow Taiwan's Lai to transit in US territory when he travels to the Pacific?

Lin Jian: President Xi Jinping in the meeting between Chinese and US Presidents in Lima stressed that the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques are the political foundation of China-US relations and they must be observed. Cross-Strait peace and stability and "Taiwan independence" separatist activities are irreconcilable as water and fire. If the US side cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai Ching-te and the DPP authorities in seeking "Taiwan independence," handles the Taiwan question with extra prudence, unequivocally opposes "Taiwan independence," and supports China's peaceful reunification.

I want to reiterate that China firmly opposes any form of official interaction between the US and the Taiwan region, firmly opposes any visit by the leader of the Taiwan authorities to the US in any name or under whatever pretext, and firmly opposes any form of US connivance and support for "Taiwan independence" separatists and their separatist activities. We urge the US to abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, act on its leaders' commitments, including not supporting "Taiwan independence," stop any official interactions with the Taiwan region, and stop sending wrong signals to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces. China remains resolutely determined to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and oppose interference in our internal affairs by external forces.

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Calls to revoke China's trade status widen in Washington

By Rob Garver November 22, 2024

Influential members of Congress, including the senator poised to become secretary of state in the incoming Trump administration, are pressing hard to revoke China's Permanent Normal Trade Relations with the United States.

Commonly known as "Most Favored Nation" status, PNTR means that Chinese goods being imported into the United States are granted the most advantageous terms that the country offers when it applies tariffs and other restrictions.

China was granted PNTR in 2000, as it prepared for entry into the World Trade Organization. Since then, some of the advantages the status confers have been stripped away by sanctions applied by the first Trump administration and increased during the presidency of Joe Biden.

Few non-PNTR countries

Completely removing PNTR would expose all of China's vast array of exports to the U.S.  $427.2 billion worth in 2023  to even higher levies. The tariffs imposed by the U.S. on goods from countries without PNTR range from a minimum of 35% to as high as 100%.

Currently, there are four countries in the world that do not have PNTR status with the U.S.: Russia, Belarus, North Korea and Cuba. North Korea and Cuba have never held PNTR status, while the PNTR status of Russia and Belarus was revoked after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which Belarus enabled.

If normal non-PNTR tariffs were levied on goods from China, and the increased tariffs applied by the Trump and Biden administrations under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 were left in place, the average tax on Chinese imports could approach 60%. During his campaign this year, President-elect Donald Trump had suggested levying a 60% tariff on Chinese goods, although it is not clear how he arrived at that number.

More assertive policy

This week, the congressionally chartered U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission issued its annual report to Congress. Among its recommendations for changing U.S. relations with China was PNTR revocation. The bipartisan panel, which has been issuing annual reports since 2002, had not previously made a unanimous call for PNTR revocation.

The report accused China of "engaging in practices such as intellectual property theft and market manipulation." It said that PNTR repeal would improve U.S. leverage in trade negotiations and "would signal a shift toward a more assertive trade policy aimed at protecting U.S. industries and workers from economic coercion."

Asked for comment on this story, Liu Pengyu, the spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, emailed VOA a statement criticizing the commission.

"[The] U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission has long been issuing so-called reports about China, which are full of disinformation and smear, based on its entrenched bias about China," Liu said.

"On PNTR, following the agreement between China and the US on China's accession to the WTO, the US announced in 2001 to grant permanent normal trade relations status to China. Attempts to pull the China-US trade and economic relations back to the Cold War era violates WTO rules, and will only harm the common interests of both countries, and disrupt the global economy."

Legislative efforts

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission report followed the introduction of a bill on November 14 by Representative John Moolenaar, chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, that would officially end China's PNTR status.

Moolenaar described granting China PNTR as an experiment that has failed, saying in a statement that repeal would "protect our national security, support supply chain resilience, and return manufacturing jobs to the U.S. and our allies."

In September, similar legislation was introduced in the Senate. One of the key sponsors was Florida Senator Marco Rubio, whom President-elect Donald Trump has nominated to serve as secretary of state in his incoming administration.

Both bills include language that would specify that 100% tariffs be applied to a wide range of products imported from China, including consumer electronics, machinery and solar energy equipment.

Forecasting economic growth

Supporters of eliminating China's PNTR status claim that doing so would lead to a boost in manufacturing in the United States, economic growth and an increase in well-paid jobs.

When the Senate bill to strip China of PNTR was released in September, Senator Tom Cotton said, "This comprehensive repeal of China's PNTR status and reform of the U.S.-China trade relationship will protect American workers, enhance our national security and end the Chinese Communists' leverage over our economy."

In a statement released when the Moolenaar bill was introduced, Michael Stumo, CEO of the advocacy organization Coalition for a Prosperous America, said, "Strengthening America's domestic industrial capacity is paramount to growing the economy, creating good-paying jobs and safeguarding our nation's future. ... Congress's focus on revoking China's [PNTR] status is a necessary step to ensure America's prosperity and independence."

Forecasting disaster

On the other side of the argument, many economists and trade advocacy organizations say that huge spikes in tariffs on Chinese goods would be economically disastrous for the U.S.

Marcus Noland, executive vice president and director of studies at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told VOA that when he and his colleagues modeled the results of PNTR revocation, the findings were precisely the reverse of what the policy's advocates expect. They found slower economic growth, higher prices and a negative impact on manufacturing.

"Taking away Permanent Normal Trade Relation status from China does the opposite of what the proponents would like," Noland said. "It actually does not contribute to an industrial revival in the United States. Just the opposite. What happens is that by raising the tariffs on China ... you make industrial inputs into the United States much more expensive.

"And so, the United States becomes a high-cost location of production for many manufacturers, and loses competitiveness in that sector," he said.

Over time, economic growth and manufacturing levels would begin to rise again, and price increases would fall somewhat, but they never return to the same long-term trajectory, the findings showed.

"You do permanent damage," Noland said.

The U.S. China Business Council, or USCBC, which works to deepen trading ties between the world's two largest economies, also opposes the plan.

"[R]evoking Permanent Normal Trade Relations status for China would significantly harm the U.S. economy, consumers and businesses by driving up prices, eliminating hundreds of thousands of jobs, and making it harder for American companies to compete globally," USCBC President Craig Allen said in a statement emailed to VOA.

"Any policy impacting the U.S.-China relationship should be targeted to achieve specific objectives, address unfair Chinese market practices, and be coordinated with U.S. allies and partners, rather than create a unilateral framework that accomplishes none of these goals," Allen added.

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Readout of President Biden's Call with President Macron of France

November 22, 2024

President Biden spoke today with President Macron of France on a number of global and bilateral matters. They reviewed developments in Ukraine as well as in the Middle East, to include efforts to secure a ceasefire deal in Lebanon that will allow residents on both sides of the Blue Line to return safely to their homes. They committed to remain in close consultation directly and through their national security teams.

###

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CULMINATION OF PAN-INDIA COASTAL DEFENCE EXERCISE - 'SEA VIGIL 24'

India - Press Information Bureau

Ministry of Defence

Posted On: 22 NOV 2024 8:15PM by PIB Delhi

The fourth edition of the Pan-India Coastal Defence Exercise Sea Vigil 24 concluded successfully on 21 Nov 24. This Exercise, conducted over a 36-hour period, demonstrated India's unwavering commitment to strengthening its maritime security and coastal defence mechanisms. Spanning the entirety of India's 11,098 km coastline and its Exclusive Economic Zone of 2.4 million sq. kms, Sea Vigil 24 witnessed the participation of over 21 agencies across six ministries. These included the Indian Navy, Indian Army, Indian Air Force, Indian Coast Guard, State Marine Police, Customs, BSF, CISF, Port Authorities and Fisheries department, among others.

The two days of exercise witnessed extensive deployment of more than 550 surface assets from various maritime security agencies and 60 air sorties with flying time of about 200 hours along the entire coastline of the country.

Coastal Defence and Security Readiness Evaluation (CDSRE) phase of the exercise, conducted for over a period of seven days prior commencement of tactical phase, witnessed a comprehensive audit of over 950 critical coastal locations. The audit included Fishing Landing Centres, Lighthouses, Major and Non-Major ports, Coastal Police Stations, offshore assets, Coastal VAs/ VPs and others. Notably, for the first time, officials from the National Security Council Secretariat participated in the CDSRE activities in Gujarat and West Bengal.

Focus and Objectives

Sea Vigil 24 focused on enhancing coastal defence of the country. Enhancing Security of vital maritime assets such as Oil Rigs, Single Point Moorings (SPMs), Cable Landing Stations, and Non-Major Ports and Nuclear installations along the coast has been one of the major focus areas during this exercise and numerous initiatives were taken towards the same. Indian Air Force has deployed Air Defence Systems on offshore platforms/ Oil Rigs to secure offshore infrastructure. Special emphasis was provided for safety and security of merchant ships wherein, simulated hijacking, Naval Cooperation and Guidance to Shipping and re-routing of Indian merchant vessels was undertaken. Fishing communities of all states participated actively in the exercise and were enthusiastically involved in various duties with the maritime forces.

The exercise also featured an expanded community outreach program aimed at fostering grassroots awareness of maritime security in youth, especially NCC cadets, Bharat Scouts and Guides, and students of coastal areas. The initiatives were organized by the Navy to build a robust security-conscious coastal ecosystem which would reinforce nations Coastal defence.

Strengthening Inter-Agency Coordination

As a key component of India's Coastal Defence Architecture, Sea Vigil 24 served as a platform for evaluating inter-agency coordination and identifying gaps in India's coastal security infrastructure. The seamless collaboration between the participating agencies highlighted their readiness to counter evolving maritime threats.

Legacy and Vision

Since its inception in 2018, Sea Vigil has played a pivotal role in India's Coastal Defence preparedness. By simulating real-time scenarios, the exercise provides valuable insights into the nation's maritime defence capabilities. The lessons learnt from the exercise aid in making the Coastal Defence Architecture more robust and resilient to the prevailing situation.

The successful culmination of Sea Vigil 24 underscores India's steadfast resolve to safeguard its maritime borders and Indian Navy's commitment to handle its responsibilities of 'Overall Maritime Security'. With enhanced inter-agency cooperation, robust preparedness, and active community engagement, the exercise marks another milestone in fortifying the nation's Coastal Defence posture against emerging security challenges.

_______________________________________________________________

VM/SPS 248/24

(Release ID: 2076147)

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Raksha Mantri meets his Japanese & Philippines counterparts on the final day of his three-day visit to Lao PDR

India - Press Information Bureau

Ministry of Defence

Posted On: 22 NOV 2024 12:23PM by PIB Delhi

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh, on November 22, 2024, met his Japan counterpart Mr Gen Nakatani and Secretary of National Defence (Defence Minister) of the Philippines Mr Gilberto Teodoro on the final day of his three-day visit to Vientiane, Lao PDR.

Meeting with Japanese Defence Minister

The two sides reiterated the importance of defence industry and technology cooperation between the two countries. Recalling the milestone event of signing of Memorandum of Implementation of UNICORN mast in Japan last week, both sides agreed for enhanced cooperation in co-production and co-development in the defence manufacturing sector.

To further improve inter-operability between the Indian and Japanese forces, Reciprocal Provision of Supply and Services Agreement between the two countries and participation of militaries in various bilateral and multilateral exercises were discussed by both the Ministers. They also agreed to explore new areas of cooperation in the air domain.

Meeting with Secretary of National Defence of the Philippines

Raksha Mantri welcomed the Philippines as country coordinator for India in ASEAN and ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) - Plus forum for the next cycle. Both sides agreed to expand and deepen cooperation in exchange of subject matter experts, defence industry, counter-terrorism, space and maritime domain.

Prior to his departure to New Delhi, Raksha Mantri also visited the Wat Sisakat Temple (a Buddhist Temple) in Vientiane, and sought blessings from Shri Mahaveth Chittakaro, Abbot of Sisaket Temple.

During his three-day stay in Vientiane, Shri Rajnath Singh attended the 11th ADMM-Plus, and held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Malaysia, Lao PDR, China, US, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Australia, Japan and the Philippines.

VK/Savvy

(Release ID: 2075847)

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Iran Plans To Install 'New Advanced' Centrifuges In Response To IAEA Resolution

By RFE/RL's Radio Farda November 22, 2024

Iran has vowed to respond to a resolution adopted by the United Nations' nuclear watchdog that criticizes the Islamic republic for what it says is poor cooperation by installing a number of "new and advanced" centrifuges.

The resolution, which comes shortly after the return of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi from a trip to Iran, reportedly says it is "essential and urgent" for Tehran to "act to fulfill its legal obligations."

A joint statement by Iran's Foreign Ministry and Atomic Energy Organization said on November 22 that the country's nuclear chief, Mohammad Eslami, "issued an order to take effective measures, including launching a significant series of new and advanced centrifuges of various types."

The Iranian announcement came after the IAEA's board on November 21 issued a second resolution condemning Tehran's cooperation with the agency after a similar warning in June.

Some analysts say the resolution may be a step toward making a political decision to trigger a "snapback" of UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions against Iran.

The "snapback" mechanism is outlined in UNSC Resolution 2231, which enshrined a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. However, the option to reimpose the sanctions expires in October 2025.

The IAEA resolution, put forward by France, Germany, and Britain and supported by the United States, comes at a critical time as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return at the White House in January.

Trump during his first term embarked on a "maximum pressure" campaign of intensified sanctions on Iran and unilaterally withdrew the United States in 2018 from a landmark 2015 agreement that lifted some sanctions on Iran in exchange of curbs to its nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iran claims its nuclear program is peaceful.

The resolution passed on November 21 also urged Iran to cooperate with an investigation launched after uranium particles were found at two sites that Iranian authorities had not declared as nuclear locations.

Nineteen of the 35 members of the IAEA board voted in favor of the resolution. Russia, China, and Burkina Faso opposed it, 12 members abstained, while one did not vote, diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity told the AP.

It also calls on the IAEA to come up with a "comprehensive report" on Iran's nuclear activities by spring.

During Grossi's visit, Iran agreed with an IAEA demand to limit its stock of uranium enriched at 60 percent purity, which is still under the 90 percent threshold needed for a nuclear weapon, but it is much higher than the 3.67 percent limit it agreed to in the 2015 deal.

However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who was Tehran's chief negotiator for the 2015 agreement, warned that Iran would not negotiate "under pressure."

Tehran has responded to previous similar resolutions by moves such as removing IAEA cameras and monitoring equipment from several nuclear sites, and increasing uranium enrichment to 60 percent purity at a second site, the Fordow plant.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/tehran-iaea-nuclear-resolution- centrifuge/33211704.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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Quad Joint Statement on the IAEA Board of Governors Resolution on Iran

US Department of State

Media Note

November 23, 2024

The text of the following statement was released by the Governments of France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors' adoption of a resolution on Iran.

Begin Text

We, the Governments of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States welcome the IAEA Board of Governors' adoption of a resolution on Iran. The resolution responds to Iran's continued failure to provide the IAEA the information and cooperation needed to clarify long outstanding issues relating to undeclared nuclear material detected at multiple locations in Iran. These issues are central to the Agency's ability to provide assurance of the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme. Iran is legally obligated under its Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Safeguards Agreement to cooperate fully with the IAEA and account for all nuclear material and activities.

In its last resolution in June, the Board stated that if Iran failed to provide the necessary, full and unambiguous cooperation with the Agency to resolve all outstanding safeguards issues and implement the safeguards obligations stemming from its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement, further action would be necessary. This follows the Board's repeated requests over several years calling on Iran to resolve these issues. Despite the Director General's continued efforts to engage in a substantive dialogue, Iran has not provided the information or cooperation needed to address them and has instead responded to the Board's calls with threats and provocations. Since 2019, the Agency has sought to clarify the outstanding safeguards issues and make progress. For nearly five years now, Iran has consistently failed to implement the commitments it has made to the Agency.

With this new resolution, the IAEA Board renews its statement that it is essential and urgent that Iran resolve these issues, as well as its support for the Agency's efforts to engage Iran to that end. It asks the Agency to produce a comprehensive and updated assessment which will summarise the Agency's findings over five years of investigations. We hope Iran will take the opportunity between now and that report to finally provide the information and cooperation needed to resolve these issues, so that the Agency is able to provide assurance that Iran's programme remains exclusively peaceful, and the Board can close consideration of this matter. If it does not, it will be important that the Board remain engaged to meet the challenge that Iran's continued refusal to meet its NPT-related nuclear verification obligations would present, including to the credibility of the global IAEA safeguards regime.

We note with serious concern Iran's announcement on 22nd November 2024 that, instead of responding to the resolution with cooperation, it plans to respond with further expansion of its nuclear programme in ways that have no credible peaceful rationale. We expect Iran to reengage on the path of dialogue and cooperation with the Agency.

End Text

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QA-14, 22 November 2024, Statement of the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oncu Keceli, in Response to a Question Regarding the Population Movements toward Kirkuk Regarding the Census in Iraq

Republic of Turkiye Ministry of Foreign Affairs

As Turkiye, with all our institutions, we stand by the Iraqi Turkmens and protect their rights and interests.

In this framework, the peace and security of our Turkmen brothers and sisters, who constitute a significant portion of Kirkuk's population and serve as a bridge of friendship between Turkiye and Iraq, are among our main priorities in bilateral relations with this country.

We have been closely following the recent developments regarding the mass movement of Kurds from the KRI to Kirkuk for the census conducted in Iraq after many years.

Although the census did not collect data on ethnicity, the heavy population movements has rightly caused concern among the Iraqi Turkmen and Arab communities. Clearly, this irregularity would lead to the inclusion of many people who are not originally from Kirkuk in the province's population. This fait accompli would also impact the elections that will be held in the future.

During the last century, Iraqi Turkmens have been subjected to countless massacres and persecutions. We expect the Iraqi authorities not to allow our Turkmen brothers and sisters to face another injustice due to these recent developments.

Our main expectation and sensitivity regarding Kirkuk is to ensure that the demographic structure in the province, which has taken its current composition through history, is not tampered with and that the people of Kirkuk live in a framework agreed upon by the original constituents of the province.

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ICC Arrest Warrant Will Dog Netanyahu Even If He Never Faces The Hague

By Michael Scollon November 22, 2024

It's not clear if Benjamin Netanyahu will ever face prosecution after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against him for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

But even if he never appears before The Hague, the charges and the stigma they carry promise to dog the embattled Israeli prime minister.

Netanyahu has defended himself against the charges related to Israel's ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, and Israel does not recognize the Netherlands-based court's jurisdiction.

But there is no question that carrying out his duties as prime minister just became more difficult for Netanyahu.

Bound By Rome

Anthony Dworkin, a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told RFE/RL that while Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute that established the ICC, "there are 124 countries around the world that are."

Those states now "all have a legal obligation to arrest Netanyahu" if he enters their territory, Dworkin said, and that is going to impose "far-reaching limitations on the countries that he'll be able to go to."

As precedent, Dworkin pointed to the complications Russian President Vladimir Putin has encountered since the ICC issued an arrest warrant against him in March 2023 related to alleged war crimes against Ukraine.

"He's had to change his travel plans pretty significantly," Dworkin said, singling out what was called a mutual decision for him not to attend the BRICS summit in South Africa in July 2023.

This September, ICC member Mongolia faced immense pressure to arrest Putin upon his arrival for a visit. It failed to heed the calls, in a move that was seen as exposing the limits of the court responsible for prosecuting individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression.

The ICC announcement on November 21 came six months after the court's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, first announced he was seeking warrants not only against Netanyahu, but against former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Muhammad Deif, a military commander of the U.S.- and EU-designated terrorist group Hamas whom Israel claimed in July to have killed.

Deif is accused of crimes connected to Hamas's assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, that killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Netanyahu and Gallant are charged in relation to Israel's retaliatory invasion of Gaza, where more than 43,000 people have been killed, according to Palestinian officials.

Rejecting Israel's challenges to the charges on November 21, the ICC announced that it was issuing warrants against all three, working from the assumption that Deif may still be alive.

Depending On Cooperation

The ICC has no powers to enforce its warrant accusing Netanyahu of criminal responsibility for war crimes, including starvation as a method of warfare, and crimes against humanity including "murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts."

Relying on cooperation, Khan has urged all the court's member states to act on the warrants and for nonmembers to work toward "upholding international law."

Among the latter would be the United States, a key Israeli ally that does not recognize the ICC's jurisdiction over this matter and which "fundamentally" rejected the court's decision to issue the warrant.

All European Union states are ICC members, however.

Dworkin noted that "European countries have been quite divided" in responding to Israel's actions in the Palestinian enclave, most of which is in ruins after a year of relentless Israeli air and ground operations.

"Some countries have been increasingly critical of Israel's actions," Dworkin said, while "other countries have tried to walk more of a middle path, criticizing some aspects but broadly supporting Israel."

Now, even a vocal Israel supporter like Germany will have to weigh its support with its commitments to the rule of law.

"We will see a difference in the way that countries look at him, talk about him, and so on," Dworkin said.

Israel has already canceled a visit next week by Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp following his assurances that the Netherlands would uphold the ICC warrants.

France has said it supports ICC prosecutor Khan's actions, and Italy has said it would have to arrest Netanyahu if he arrived in the country.

The Outliers

At the same time, the ruling could have some unintended ramifications.

Viktor Orban -- the prime minister of EU-member Hungary who is often at odds with Brussels on hot-button topics such as relations with Putin -- has already positioned itself as an outlier.

On November 22, Orban accused the ICC of "interfering in an ongoing conflict for political purposes" and said that its warrant against Netanyahu undermined international law.

Orban said he would defy the warrant by inviting Netanyahu to Hungary.

The ICC could also face more backlash in the United States from the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has cast himself as a greater ally to Israel than outgoing President Joe Biden.

Trump's nominee to serve as his national security adviser, Republican congressman Mike Waltz, on November 21 warned that "you can expect a strong response to the anti-Semitic bias of the ICC" when Trump takes office on January 20.

Netanyahu's office, too, has denounced the ICC's decision to issue the warrants as "anti-Semitic," and some observers say Netanyahu could ride such sentiment to get a political boost at home. Support for Netanyahu and his right-wing government fell sharply following the October 7 attack, but has recently improved, according to opinion polls.

"There's universal condemnation across the political spectrum in Israel, so it doesn't hurt him domestically at all," Khaled Elgindy, an analyst at the Middle East Institute in Washington, told RFE/RL. "Maybe [it] helps him a little bit, because people will rally around the flag."

With reporting by Todd Prince in Washington

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/israel-gaza-netanyahu-icc-war- crimes/33212109.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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November 23, 2024

Release

Readout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's Call With Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder provided the following readout:

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz today to review regional threats, discuss ongoing Israeli operations, and reaffirm the United States' ironclad commitment to Israel's security. Secretary Austin emphasized the importance of ensuring the safety and security of the Lebanese Armed Forces and UNIFIL forces in Lebanon. He reiterated U.S. commitment to a diplomatic resolution in Lebanon that allows Israeli and Lebanese civilians to return safely to their homes on both sides of the border. The Secretary urged the Government of Israel to continue to take steps to improve the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza and emphasized the U.S. commitment to securing the release of all hostages, including U.S. citizens.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3976755/

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Myanmar rebels capture town on main road to Chinese-built port

Arakan Army fighters have pinned the military back in ever-smaller zones of control in Rakhine state.

By RFA Burmese 2024.11.22 -- Insurgents in western Myanmar have captured a town on a road junction leading to a Chinese-funded deep sea port, which is bound to raise new concern about the fate of an extensive development that includes energy pipelines running from the coast to southern China.

The Myanmar junta that seized power in a 2021 coup has in recent weeks been reinforcing its defenses at the Kyaukpyu economic zone on the coast of Rakhine state, where China is building a port and energy facilities, including its cross-country natural gas and oil pipelines.

Insurgents of the Arakan Army, or AA, which is fighting for self-determination in Rakhine state, have made significant advances against the military over the past year, leaving junta forces confined to ever smaller pockets of territory, including Kyaukpyu.

On Wednesday, AA fighters captured the town of Toungup, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) southwest of Kyaukpyu on the main road links to central and southern parts of the country, after nearly a month of fighting.

"The AA has captured Toungup town and surrounding battalion bases," a resident of the town, who declined to be identified in fear of reprisals, told Radio Free Asia.

"In the city, the soldiers deserted and the AA is evacuating residents," said the resident.

Another resident said that junta forces had relocated "about 200 prisoners" held at the Toungup police station to a military base ahead of the AA's latest push for the town.

Civilians in the crossfire

Junta forces were attacking Toungup with aircraft and artillery and some houses were ablaze, residents said.

An aid worker in Toungup named Nyi Lay Zaw said that military air and artillery strikes had killed 13 civilians and injured more than 30 others in the township.

"The villages with the most casualties are May Za Li, Hpone Nyo, Taung Ywar, Kaing Shey and Thein Taung," he said.

But residents told RFA that most of the civilian inhabitants of Toungup had fled the fighting to Bago region, Yangon region and other areas under AA control.

One resident who fled to Yangon said that he and others had to walk for 10 days through the mountains because regular roads were blocked by both junta forces and the AA.

"We faced many difficulties on the way amid heavy rains and were very tired," he said. "We had to summit as many as 30 peaks in extremely dangerous conditions."

RFA tried to contact both the junta's spokesperson in Rakhine state, Hla Thein, and the Arakan Army's spokesperson, Khaing Thukha, to ask about the situation but neither responded by time of publication.

Rebel victories in Rakhine

The AA has dealt the military some of the most devastating setbacks since the 2021 coup, seizing over half of Rakhine state's townships, naval and military bases and stretches of coast, including foreign development projects.

The AA had been fighting for control over Toungup township since Nov. 4.

The town was home to the military's last operational command headquarters in Rakhine state, as well as the headquarters of several battalions, including an engineer battalion.

The capture of the town represents the removal of a major obstacle for the AA if it decides to try to capture Kyaukpu, a hub in China's Belt and Road network of energy and infrastructure projects.

The military has recently been sending reinforcements to Kyaukpyu, insurgent sources and residents said.

The AA is also attacking the military in its last important bases in Rakhine state's Ann and Gwa towns.

Of Rakhine state's 17 townships, the AA has captured 10, in addition to one in neighboring Chin state.

Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by Joshua Lipes.

This story has been updated to include information about junta forces relocating prisoners, civilian casualties, and the displacement of residents.

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 November 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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Children and amputees bear brunt of Myanmar's deadly landmine epidemic

By Vibhu Mishra

22 November 2024 - Myanmar has become the world's deadliest country for landmine and unexploded ordnance casualties, with over 1,000 victims in 2023 alone, surpassing all other nations, according to separate studies by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

However, the grim statistic is just the surface of a larger crisis, independent human rights experts warned on Friday, as the military junta intensifies its attacks on civilians, including persons with disabilities.

"The junta is doubling the impact of its extensive use of landmines to crush nationwide resistance," said Tom Andrews, Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, and Heba Hagrass Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities.

They highlighted egregious violations, including forcing civilians to walk through minefields ahead of military units and systematically denying victims access to life-saving aid such as medical care and prosthetics.

These actions, they emphasised, are "absolutely contrary" to international laws, including Article 11 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and UN Security Council resolution 2475 on protecting persons with disabilities in war.

Children most affected

The impact of landmines and unexploded ordnance is particularly severe on Myanmar's children, with UNICEF data released earlier this year revealing that over 20 per cent of the 1,052 verified civilian casualties from such incidents in 2023 were children.

This was a significant rise from 2022, when 390 incidents were recorded.

Children are particularly vulnerable to landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), often unable to recognise their dangers.

In addition, the indiscriminate placement of these deadly weapons in and around homes, schools, playgrounds, and farming areas, puts children at constant risk.

Victims facing criminalisation

The consequences for landmine victims extend beyond physical injuries.

Amputees, already grappling with life-altering trauma, are being criminalised by the junta, which associates missing limbs with resistance activity.

"Now amputees are being forced into hiding to avoid harassment and arrest. Losing a limb is being seen as evidence of a crime," the experts said.

Reality far worse

Amidst the dire picture, the reality is even worse for landmine victims and their families.

"I was heartbroken talking with a young woman who had lost her leg after stepping on a landmine near her home," Mr. Andrews said.

"But I was infuriated when her doctor told me that she had no hope of securing a prosthesis because junta forces were blocking access to the materials necessary to build one," he added.

Call for action

Mr. Andrews and Ms. Hagrass urged UN Member States to take coordinated measures to weaken the military junta's ability to harm civilians.

They also called on all parties to the conflict in Myanmar to immediately stop laying landmines and begin removing them without delay.

Special Rapporteurs are independent human rights experts, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council as part of its Special Procedures. They are mandated to monitor and report on specific thematic issues or country situations and work on a voluntary basis.

They serve in their individual capacity, are not UN staff and do not receive a salary.

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What happens when China puts boots on the ground in Myanmar?

The move represents direct intervention by China, whose troops will have to conduct offensive operations.

By David Hutt 2024.11.23 -- It now appears to be a question of "when, not if" Chinese security personnel will arrive in Myanmar, with Beijing looking to secure its strategic interests in the war-torn country and those of its ally, the military junta that has lost large chunks of the country since the 2021 coup.

The Irrawaddy online news outlet reported that the junta formed a 13-member working committee on October 22 to prepare the groundwork to establish a "joint security company" with China.

According to the report, the committee, chaired by Major-General Toe Yi, the junta's deputy home affairs minister, is currently tasked with "scrutinizing the importing and regulating of weapons and special equipment" until Beijing signs a drafted MOU on forming a "security company."

After that, according to the narrative from Beijing and Naypyidaw, Chinese personnel would join a "company"  more like a militia  alongside junta troops, which would be tasked with defending Chinese strategic and economic interests in the country.

I'm told that China will send troops from the military and police in a "private" capacity, giving the fiction of detachment.

Yet this would not be a joint venture in anything but name.

Does one seriously think that Chinese troops or police are going to listen to the Myanmar generals who have lost battle after battle to ethnic armies and ill-trained civilian militias over the past four years?

Moreover, there is no reason to think that the China-junta "militia" will stick to merely protecting Chinese nationals and Chinese-owned businesses in Myanmar.

Chinese projects delayed

It is true that Chinese assets have come under increased levels of attack from anti-junta forces in recent months.

There is some logic, if you're sitting in Beijing and Naypyidaw, in wanting to allow Chinese forces to help command most of northern Myanmar, giving junta forces a better chance of mopping up rebel forces elsewhere.

The civil war has delayed key Chinese projects in the country, such as the long-planned China-Myanmar Economic Corridor between China's Yunnan province and Myanmar's Indian Ocean coast.

Strategically key for Beijing is a port it wants to build in Rakhine state, allowing China to import oil and gas from the Middle East without ships needing to pass through the Malacca Strait, a potential chokepoint.

This would be essential in the event of a conflict in the South China Sea, during which the Philippines or Taiwan could try to blockade Chinese trade, including oil and gas imports on which China's economy depends.

My sources say that the majority of the PLA contingent will be deployed to Rakhine state.

According to statements released by Beijing, almost certainly intended to construct a peace narrative ahead of the deployment, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told junta leader Min Aung Hlaing in August that he hoped "Myanmar will earnestly safeguard the safety of Chinese personnel and projects."

When Min Aung Hlaing visited China earlier this month, his first visit since the coup, Chinese Premier Li Qiang instructed him to "take effective measures to ensure the safety of Chinese nationals, institutions, and projects in the country."

The reality, as Beijing knows well, is that the junta cannot ensure these things.

That's the entire reason why the "security companies" are deemed necessary by the Chinese government.

Offensive operations

Once Chinese security personnel are on the ground in Myanmar, the fiction that they're just standing guard outside a few industrial compounds or pipelines will become difficult to maintain.

Indeed, they're likely to have no choice but to mount offensive operations.

The most obvious reason to expect this is that many Chinese-run enterprises are in territory currently controlled by resistance groups that will presumably need to be taken by Chinese forces.

If not, why would Beijing make a u-turn on its existing policy, which had been to cajole and pay the ethnic militias to leave Chinese entities out of their fight with the junta?

Secondly, after years of dallying, Beijing now clearly thinks that it cannot trust the anti-junta National Unity Government (NUG), presumably because it's too pro-Western, nor most of the anti-junta ethnic militias - even those who have taken money from Beijing.

Chinese authorities reportedly detained Peng Daxun, the leader of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), a militia that has inflicted heavy casualties on the junta, after he was summoned to Yunnan for a parlay last month.

This may be a temporary detention pour encourager les autres, or it may be Beijing trying to dismantle disloyal militias more permanently.

Yet, in essence, Beijing has now thrown its weight behind the junta because it presumably believes China's interests would be best served by an outright junta victory.

So if Beijing thinks the ultimate way of protecting Chinese business interests in Myanmar, for now and in the long term, is for the civil war to be ended and for junta forces to win the conflict decisively, the difference between Chinese security personnel conducting defensive and offensive operations is paper thin.

Why wouldn't Beijing use its troops to bring about its overarching goal? Why would Beijing overlook the opportunity to end a civil war that it wants over?

Anti-China sentiment

Why would Beijing merely send personnel to defend Chinese factories and pipelines for a few months or years if it thinks there is the possibility that forces hostile to Chinese interests could eventually take power nationally?

Under these circumstances, Chinese personnel would think it justified, under the narrative of "safeguarding the safety of Chinese nationals, institutions and projects in the country," to wage offensive assaults against anti-junta forces across Myanmar.

Granted, the junta is touchy about being seen as a lackey of Beijing  or about Myanmar becoming a protectorate of China.

That is why Beijing has offered platitudes of a joint "security company," a fiction to get around Myanmar's constitution that forbids the deployment of foreign troops.

But what position will the junta be in to dictate what Chinese personnel can do or where they can go once they are in Myanmar?

Lastly, does one imagine that anti-junta forces won't retaliate against Chinese intervention, especially when that intervention is so clearly on behalf of the regime?

Anti-China sentiment is running high in Myanmar and will boil over once Chinese troops and police step foot in the country.

One can very easily imagine an escalating campaign of attacks by anti-junta forces on Chinese interests - increasing the incentives for Chinese security personnel to launch offensive operations.

Once Chinese boots are on the ground in Myanmar, this means direct intervention by China - not merely an economic peacekeeping effort by joint "security companies."

And Chinese personnel will have to conduct offensive operations - not just stand guard at Chinese-run factories and pipelines.

David Hutt is a research fellow at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies (CEIAS) and the Southeast Asia Columnist at the Diplomat. He writes the Watching Europe In Southeast Asia newsletter. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of RFA.

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 November 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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Violence Flares In Northwest Pakistan Following Attack That Killed Dozens

By RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal November 22, 2024

Religious tensions are on the rise in northwestern Pakistan following a deadly attack on a police-escorted convoy of Shi'ite Muslims that threatened to reignite sectarian violence in a strife-plagued region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

In the aftermath of the attack on the 200-vehicle convoy traveling from Peshawar to Parachinar, the capital city of the Kurram district, authorities on November 22 imposed a curfew and suspended mobile service in the remote mountainous district.

RFE/RL correspondents on the ground reported on November 22 that heavily armed people set fire to a military checkpoint in the area overnight.

In Parachinar, dozens of angry people carrying automatic weapons were gathering, amid reports that several other facilities of the Pakistani Army and the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary were attacked and destroyed, with RFE/RL correspondents reporting sounds of constant heavy gunfire.

Jamshed Shirazi, a social activist in Parachinar, told RFE/RL that several government installations had been damaged by the angry protesters. "People are expressing their anger by attacking the government offices," Shirazi said.

But Jalal Hussain Bangash, a local Shi'ite leader, voiced dismay at the violence during a Friday Prayer sermon on November 22 and said that Shi'a had nothing to do with the ensuing violence, RFE/RL correspondents on the ground report.

Hamid Hussain, a lawmaker from Kurram in the national parliament, was adamant that the violence was the work of provocateurs.

"We are helpless. Neither Shi'a nor Sunnis are involved in this. This is some other invisible forces who do not want to see peace in the area," Hussain told RFE/RL.

At least 48 people, including several women and children, were killed and more than 40 wounded when gunmen opened fire on November 21 on the convoy of vehicles in the Kurram district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border.

Local leaders told RFE/RL that most of those killed were Shi'a, but at least four Sunnis were also among the dead.

No one has taken responsibility for the attack, the latest in a series of deadly confrontations in Kurram, long known as a hotspot of Shi'ite-Sunni sectarian conflict.

Local tribal leader Malik Dildar Hussain told RFE/RL that there were about 700 people in the convoy.

Tensions in Kurram began to heat up in the past several months, where clashes again erupted between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslim tribes in the area, which was formerly semiautonomous.

On October 12, 17 people were killed in an attack on a convoy, and there have been a handful of deadly attacks since then.

Sunnis and Shi'a live together in Kurram and have clashed violently over land, forests, and other property as well as religion over the years, despite government and law enforcement efforts to build peace.

Minority Shi'ite Muslims have long suffered discrimination and violence in Sunni-majority Pakistan.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-sectarian-violence- kurram/33212006.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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Death Count Rises As Sectarian Violence Continues In Northwest Pakistan

By RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal November 23, 2024

Local authorities have reported that at least 25 people, most of them Shi'a, were killed on November 22 in fresh sectarian violence in a tribal region of northwest Pakistan long known as a hotspot of Shi'ite-Sunni conflict.

The deaths in the Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province came just two days after dozens of people were killed when gunmen opened fire on a convoy of vehicles in the Sunni-majority district.

Speaking to RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal on November 23, Kurram district administrative head Javedullah Mehsud said the renewed clashes erupted unexpectedly and the authorities could not respond in sufficient numbers to control them.

Other news agencies, citing local officials, reported that at least 32 people had died and 47 were wounded in the violence on November 22.

Locals in the Bagan area of the district told Radio Mashaal that an angry mob of hundreds of Shi'a set several shops and homes on fire. Locals in the predominantly Sunni area claimed that some inhabitants were unaccounted for.

Local Shi'ite leader Malik Dildar Hussain told Radio Mashaal that Shi'a have frequently come under attack in the area.

On November 21, at least 50 people, including several women and children, were killed and more than 40 wounded when gunmen opened fire on November 21 on a police-escorted convoy of 200 vehicles carrying Shi'ite Muslims. The convoy was traveling from the provincial capital, Peshawar, to Parachinar, the capital city of the Kurram district.

The threat of additional violence led local authorities to impose a curfew on November 22 and to suspend mobile telecommunications services in the remote mountainous district.

Local leaders told RFE/RL that most of those killed in the renewed violence on November 22 were Shi'a, but at least four Sunnis were also among the dead.

No group has taken responsibility for the attack.

RFE/RL correspondents on the ground reported on November 22 that heavily armed people set fire to a military checkpoint in the area overnight.

In Parachinar, witnesses reported seeing dozens of angry people armed with automatic weapons gathering amid reports that several other facilities of the Pakistani Army and the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary had been attacked and destroyed. RFE/RL correspondents reported hearing heavy gunfire.

Jamshed Shirazi, a social activist in Parachinar, told RFE/RL that several government installations were damaged by the mob. "People are expressing their anger by attacking government offices," Shirazi said.

Jalal Hussain Bangash, a local Shi'ite leader, voiced dismay at the violence during a Friday Prayers sermon on November 22 and said that Shi'a had nothing to do with the ensuing violence, RFE/RL correspondents on the ground reported.

Hamid Hussain, a lawmaker from Kurram in the national parliament, was adamant that the violence was the work of provocateurs.

"We are helpless. Neither Shi'a nor Sunnis are involved in this. This is [the result of] some other invisible forces who do not want to see peace in the area," Hussain told RFE/RL.

Sectarian tensions have risen over the past several months in the Kurram district, which was formerly semiautonomous.

Seventeen people were killed in an attack on a convoy on October 12, and there have been a handful of deadly attacks since then.

Sunnis and Shi'a living in Kurram have clashed over land, forests, and other property as well as religion over the years, despite government and law enforcement efforts to build peace.

Minority Shi'ite Muslims have long suffered discrimination and violence in Sunni-majority Pakistan.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-sectarian-violence- deaths/33213160.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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Sectarian clashes claim nearly 80 lives in Pakistan

By Ayaz Gul November 23, 2024

Officials in northwestern Pakistan reported on Saturday that a government delegation has begun efforts to negotiate a ceasefire between rival Sunni and Shiite Muslim tribes following armed clashes that resulted in nearly 80 deaths this week.

The sectarian conflict in Kurram district, which borders Afghanistan, flared up Thursday when heavily armed men from the Sunni tribe ambushed multiple passenger vehicles and killed at least 45 Shi'ites, including men, women, and children.

On Friday, Shi'ite community members conducted revenge attacks against the Sunni-dominated village where the ambush had taken place, killing at least 33 people and wounding dozens of others. The attackers set petrol stations on fire and damaged markets as well as homes.

A spokesman for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Kurram is located, announced Saturday that a high-powered government delegation had flown into the turbulent district center, Parachinar, and met with Shi'ite community leaders there.

Muhammad Ali Saif said in a late-night video statement that the meetings were "positive" and efforts were being made to "resolve all disputes amicably to end the tension." He added that the delegation plans to talk with Sunni community leaders in the next stage.

"Our top priority is to broker a cease-fire and establish a lasting peace in the district," said Saif, also part of the government delegation.

The Pakistani border district is known for deadly Shi'ite-Sunni sectarian violence, which stems from long-running land disputes.

A land dispute sparked weeks of clashes in Kurram earlier this year, killing more than 100 people between August and October this year. The fighting had compelled provincial authorities to halt all traffic to and from the district until earlier this month when tribal elders brokered a temporary cease-fire between the opposing factions.

Violence stops traffic

This week's clashes have once again halted traffic on the sole road connecting the district  which has a population of approximately 800,000  to the provincial capital of Peshawar.

The violence in Kurram comes amid a marked increase in militant attacks against Pakistani security forces in multiple districts near or along the Afghan border.

Officials say the violence this month in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan province, which borders Afghanistan, has resulted in the deaths of dozens of security personnel, including troops.

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Pakistan Says Cease-Fire Deal Reached Among Warring Parties In Northwest

By RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal November 24, 2024

The Pakistani government on November 24 said its mediation team had reached agreement on a seven-day cease-fire among warring sectarian groups in the northwest of the country, looking to end clashes that have killed more than 80 people.

Mohammad Ali Saif, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa information minister and government spokesman, told news agencies that Shi'ite and Sunni leaders had agreed to halt attacks for at least a seven-day period as a longer-lasting solution was sought.

The violence between Sunni and Shi'ite groups in the Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province began on November 21 after gunmen opened fire on a convoy of vehicles carrying Shi'ite Muslims, killing at least 38 people.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest in a series of deadly confrontations in Kurram.

Police said armed men torched shops, houses, and government property before a government delegation arrived in the area seeking to defuse the crisis.

"The clashes and convoy attacks on November 21, 22, and 23 have resulted in 82 fatalities and 156 injuries," a local administration official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He added that among the dead were 16 were Sunni and 66 Shi'ite members of the community.

Prior to announcement of the truce agreement, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Law Minister Aftab Alam Afridi said that "our priority today is to broker a cease-fire between both sides. Once that is achieved, we can begin addressing the underlying issues."

The delegation arrived on November 23 and met with Shi'ite leaders, then held talks with Sunni leaders on November 24, an official said.

Sunnis and Shi'a living in Kurram have clashed over land, forests, and other property as well as religion over the years, despite government and law enforcement efforts to build peace.

Minority Shi'ite Muslims have long complained of discrimination and violence in Sunni-majority Pakistan.

With reporting by Reuters, Dawn, and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/sunni-shia-sectarian-violence-kurram- pakistan/33213973.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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Pakistani Capital Locked Down, Internet Partially Suspended Ahead Of Protest

By RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal November 24, 2024

Pakistani authorities have locked down Islamabad and partially suspended mobile phone and Internet services as supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan geared up for a protest in the capital, calling for his release.

The government announced late on November 23 that Internet and cellphone services would be temporarily unavailable "in areas with security concerns" while "continuing to operate as usual in the rest of the country."

It did not specify the areas, nor did it explain when the suspension would be lifted. The announcement was posted on X, which is banned in Pakistan.

The action came ahead of the planned visit of Belarusian authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who is due to arrive on November 25. A 60-member Belarusian delegation arrived in Islamabad on November 24 to pave the way for his stay.

Highways leading to Islamabad through which the protesters are expected to enter the city and gather near the parliament have been blocked by the government.

Most major roads in the city have also been sealed off with shipping containers, while large contingents of police and paramilitary personnel could be seen deployed in riot gear.

Islamabad police issued a statement, saying gatherings of any sort have been banned under legal provisions.

Khan has been in prison since August 2023 and has over 150 criminal cases against him, ranging from corruption to inciting violence.

Khan and his party, Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf or PTI, deny all the charges as politically motivated.

Khan's supporters rely heavily on social media to demand his release and use messaging platforms like WhatsApp to share information, including details of protest rallies.

Ali Amin Gandapur, the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province and a key Khan ally, called on protesters to gather near the entrance of Islamabad's red zone, known as D Chowk.

The red zone houses the country's parliament building and important government offices, as well as embassies and foreign institutions' offices.

"Khan has called on us to remain there till all our demands are met," Gandapur said in a video message on November 23. He is expected to lead the largest convoy into Islamabad.

Last month, a PTI protest in Islamabad turned violent with one policeman killed, dozens of security personnel injured, and protesters arrested. Both protesters and authorities accused one another of instigating the clashes.

The shutdown of Internet and cellphone services during that protest disrupted communications and affected everyday services such as banking, ride-hailing, and food delivery.

With reporting by Reuters and AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-mobile-internet- partial-shutdown-imran-khan-pti-protest/33213788.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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Meeting with the Defence Ministry leadership, representatives of the military-industrial complex and missile system developers

The President held a meeting with the Defence Ministry leadership, representatives of the military-industrial complex and missile system developers.

November 22, 2024

19:50

The Kremlin, Moscow

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Friends and colleagues,

You know that yesterday I informed the Armed Forces personnel, the citizens of Russia, our allies around the world as well as those who are trying to blackmail us by force, about Russia's newest medium-range missile system. This is our, your system, which you have named Oreshnik, a ballistic missile with a non-nuclear hypersonic capability.

As we all know based on the objective control data, the test was a success. I congratulate you on this. And, as I have already said, we will continue these tests, including in combat conditions, depending on the situation and the nature of the security threats posed to Russia. All the more so as we have a stockpile of such products, a reserve of such systems ready for use.

I asked to convene this meeting today with almost a single purpose in mind which is to thank you and the developers of the Oreshnik system, as well as all the research, production, and labour teams involved in creating it for the results of your work. This includes the entire cooperative network which encompasses designers, researchers, engineers, and workers who developed hypersonic technologies, analysed the ballistics, and mastered the production of cutting-edge materials, control systems, microelectronics, and much more.

Your achievements and the short time it took you to develop this new system inspire pride and admiration. They convincingly show that the domestic school of rocket engineering possesses tremendous potential and is capable of addressing the most complex tasks to ensure Russia's security and sovereignty.

In this context, importantly, the Oreshnik system is not an upgrade of old Soviet-era systems, even though we are all originally from the Soviet systems, and we were all raised on the accomplishments of previous generations and, to a certain degree, we built on their achievements. However, this system is, in fact, the result of your work that was done in modern Russia, new Russia. The system relies entirely on contemporary cutting-edge innovations.

I must say that in today's circumstances, when we face new and mounting threats and challenges, the development of such weapons systems holds special, one might even say vital, importance for our country.

Once again, I want to underscore the fact that the fulfillment of the assignments as part of the special military operation and the future of Russia depend, primarily, on our soldiers and officers, on the courage of assault troops and artillerymen, tank crews and paratroopers, sappers, pilots, drone operators, and naval infantry, as well as the coordinated efforts of all branches of the armed forces.

Our units on the front line are operating successfully, competently, bravely, and professionally. They are gaining combat experience and increasing their offensive capabilities every single day. To reiterate, the successful fulfillment of assignments of the special military operation depends primarily on the professionalism, courage, and heroism of our soldiers and officers.

At the same time, it is crucial for both frontline troops and, more broadly, our citizens to know that we possess a vast technological base and a solid industrial and research foundation for ensuring our security. The weapon system tested yesterday serves as yet another reliable guarantor of Russia's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

No one else in the world has such weapons yet, as we and you know. Indeed, sooner or later other leading countries will have them, we know what kind of designs are being worked on there. However, it will be tomorrow, or in a year or two. Meanwhile, we have this system today. And this is essential.

I would like to emphasise one more aspect here. The Oreshnik missile system is not just an effective hypersonic weapon. Due to its striking power, especially when used en masse and in combination with other long-range precision systems that Russia also has, using it against enemy targets will be comparable in effect and power to using strategic weapons. Although in fact the Oreshnik system is not a strategic weapon; in any case, it is not an intercontinental ballistic missile and it is not a means of mass destruction, also because it is a high-precision weapon.

At the same time, as I have already mentioned, there are no means of countering such a missile; no means of intercepting it exist in the world today. And I will emphasise once again: we will continue to test the latest system.

We need to launch its serial production. Let us assume that the decision on the serial production of this system has been made. As a matter of fact, it has already been essentially organised.

Given the particular strength of this weapon, its power, it will be put into service with the Strategic Missile Forces.

It is also important that along with the Oreshnik system, several similar systems are currently being tested in Russia. Based on the test results, these weapons will also go into production. In other words, we have a whole line of medium- and shorter-range systems.

The current military and political situation in the world is largely determined by the results of competition in the creation of new technologies, new weapons systems and economic development. But, as I have repeatedly said, people is our greatest asset, the courage of those who fight at the front, the talent and stamina of those who work at factories and design bureaus, scientific centres and enterprises in all sectors of the economy. And we are certainly proud of such people. Given such people, all the tasks of the special military operation, as I said, will definitely be solved and Russia's security will be reliably ensured.

I would like to once again thank you and your colleagues for your hard, important and productive work, for the high results achieved, for your contribution to strengthening the security and defence capability of our nation, to the defence of our Motherland in the broadest sense of the word.

And I would like to say that the creators of the Oreshnik missile system, those who designed and organised the production of the latest complex, will certainly be decorated with state awards.

First Deputy Chair of the Military-Industry Commission Vasily Tonkoshkurov, please, take the floor.

First Deputy Chair of the Military-Industry Commission of Russia Vasily Tonkoshkurov: Thank you.

Esteemed Mr President,

The system was indeed developed in the shortest possible time and is entirely based on Russian technologies. Import substitution issues have been resolved. The defence industry enterprises' research, development and production base makes it possible to launch a serial production of this type of weapon as quickly as possible.

Mr President, I would like to note that the groundwork done by the defence industry R&D and production enterprises to create up-to-date and new samples of weapons, as well as military and special equipment, have made it possible to develop modern weapons, supply them promptly to the troops, and also promptly consider adjustments and improvements to the weapons, military and special equipment used in conditions of the special military operation, as well as develop new models and deliver them to the troops. Hence, new equipment and the use of weapons can quickly be mastered to be used directly during the combat.

Today, a large investment programme is being implemented to beef up defence industry production capacity, which will allow to significantly increase the production of particularly popular types of weapons and equipment. The current pace of weapons production and supply will help reach the level of over 95 percent in terms of equipping strategic nuclear forces with modern types of weapons and special equipment, and of over 82 percent for the Aerospace Forces.

I would like to note that today defence industry enterprises are taking all measures to ensure that the tasks of the group of forces in the area of the special military operation are fulfilled.

The report is over.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.

Welcome, Mr Borisov.

Director General of the Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities Yury Borisov: Mr Putin, I report to you that the missile and space industry enterprises involved in the development and production of military missile equipment are fulfilling all obligations under the state defence order in due time and without any complaints. The design, technological, production, and, most importantly, personnel potential enables us to create products with unique characteristics, as you have already noted, unparalleled in the world.

As for the production capacity, the practice has shown that we are able to multiply the output of the most in-demand weapons within the shortest time, especially when it comes to high-precision class weapons.

If need be, we can increase production, we do have the reserves.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.

Commander of the Strategic Missile Forces. Please, Mr Karakayev.

Commander of the Strategic Missile Forces Sergei Karakayev:

Comrade Supreme Commander-in-Chief,

I would like to note that, based on your decision from July 2023, the Russian industrial cooperative network has developed a mobile ground-based medium-range missile complex as part of Oreshnik R&D programme.

On November 21, 2024, under combat conditions, tests of the latest medium-range ballistic missile equipped with hypersonic non-nuclear warheads were conducted. As a result of the launch, a strategic target on the territory of Ukraine was hit. The launch was successful, and the mission assignments were fulfilled. The results of the launch confirmed the correctness of the design, engineering, and technological solutions embedded in the project, as well as the feasibility of the missile complex with the specifications in question.

The advanced medium-range missile complex Oreshnik is unmatched in terms of its capabilities. The missile's combat equipment guarantees overcoming all existing and future missile defence systems. The complex is equipped with hypersonic warheads and can effectively strike a wide range of targets ranging from standalone to wide-area targets, including highly fortified ones.

Given the weapon's designated tasks and range, it can hit targets across Europe, offering significant advantages over other types of long-range precision weapons. As you earlier noted, the mass use of this weapon would be comparable to the use of nuclear weapons.

The Oreshnik missile complex will enhance the Strategic Missile Forces' combat capabilities to engage various target types in accordance with assignments, both in non-nuclear and nuclear configurations. The high operational readiness of the complex enables rapid retargeting to any designated objective and ensures its destruction.

Considering the positive results of this launch, it seems reasonable to adopt the complex into service, continue its deployment, improve its capabilities, and to refine the operational skills of personnel when using and maintaining it.

That concludes my report.

Vladimir Putin: We will do just that. Thank you.

<...>

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Telephone conversation with President of the Republic of Senegal Bassirou Diomaye Faye

Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of the Republic of Senegal Bassirou Diomaye Faye at Senegal's initiative.

November 22, 2024

12:30

The two leaders spoke out in favour of strengthening traditionally friendly relations between Russia and Senegal in trade, the economy, and investment, including by undertaking promising joint projects in energy, transport, agriculture, and in particular, by having more Russian businesses work with their partners in Senegal on a wider scale.

They also discussed developments in the Sahara and Sahel region and in West Africa against the backdrop of persisting instability there caused by terrorist groups.

Vladimir Putin invited Bassirou Diomaye Faye to visit Russia, and the Senegalese President accepted this invitation with gratitude.

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Meeting of the Maritime Board's Council for Defending the National Interests of the Russian Federation in the Arctic

November 22, 2024

16:00

Established as part of the Maritime Board of the Russian Federation, the Council for Defending the National Interests of the Russian Federation in the Arctic held its first meeting, with Presidential Aide and Maritime Board Chairman Nikolai Patrushev and the Council's head, Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Russia - Plenipotentiary Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev acting as its co-chairs.

The agenda covered matters dealing with analysing and identifying national security threats in the Arctic, assessing the current state and development of international affairs in the Arctic, including the military and political landscape there, as well as efforts to gauge the social and economic situation in the Russian Arctic.

Accelerating efforts to develop the Arctic economy and its infrastructure, while ensuring that Russia retains the ability to fully control its Arctic territory, the Arctic shelf and the Northern Sea Route are among the main priorities in terms of the country's national maritime policy. This was the message the participants in the meeting emphasised.

They went on to draft proposals designed to build new shipyards and develop technology for building ice-class cargo ships. There was a special focus on the need to ensure that foreign-made hardware and equipment remains operational, while also creating new classes of products domestically, fast-tracking efforts to develop Russian technological solutions in drilling, geological exploration, building ships and vessels, and expanding Arctic infrastructure.

On a special note, participants discussed additional measures to improve Arctic development capabilities through science and technology. Their proposals consisted of exploring whether drafting a technological development programme for the Arctic would be advisable.

In addition, speakers at the meeting talked about creating product and technology development pipelines for the Arctic region. They highlighted the importance of fundamental and inter-disciplinary applied research regarding the operation of equipment and materials, the way northern ecosystems work and people live in the harsh Arctic climate.

The overall mission of the Council for Defending the National Interests of the Russian Federation consists of fulfilling the Maritime Board's objectives to devise measures aimed at implementing the state maritime policy in the Arctic.

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Russia Declares Forum Advocating Regional Autonomy A Terrorist Organization

By RFE/RL's Idel.Realities November 22, 2024

The Russian Supreme Court has declared the international organization Post-Russia Free Nations Forum a terrorist group, the latest move in the Kremlin's clampdown on any sign of dissent.

The organization, founded in Poland in 2022, has been accused of promoting separatism and aiming to disband the Russian Federation into independent states under foreign influence.

Russia is a multiethnic state comprised of more than 80 regions, many of which have large indigenous populations, such as Chechnya and Tatarstan. Since coming to power in 1999, Russian President Vladimir Putin has centralized authority, curtailing the autonomy that some ethnic regions enjoyed.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its attempt to wipe out Ukrainian identity has shone a bright light on the Kremlin's historical mistreatment of its own indigenous populations and triggered a "decolonization" movement that seeks to give more prominence to ethnic groups within Russian historical and cultural studies.

The case against the Post-Russia Free Nations Forum was launched in late October by the Prosecutor-General's Office, which cited its activities as a threat to Russia's territorial integrity and national security.

In its statement, the Prosecutor General's Office alleged that the forum operates through 172 regional and national entities, including the Baltic Republican Party, the Ingria Movement, the Congress of Peoples of the North Caucasus, the Free Yakutia Foundation, and the Far Eastern Confederation. The office claims these groups are directed by exiled leaders of separatist movements.

"These leaders aim to divide the Russian Federation into independent states that would fall under the influence of hostile foreign countries," the Prosecutor-General's Office stated on its official website.

The Post-Russia Free Nations Forum is registered in Poland and describes itself as a civic movement advocating for greater regional autonomy within Russia, with some members supporting full independence for regions. On its website and social media platforms, the organization also uses variations of its name, such as the Post-Russia Free States Forum.

Ukrainian businessman Oleh Mahaletskiy positions himself as one of the founders of the group and is believed to be a major sponsor.

The group's activities have included discussions on decentralization and independence, with notable speakers such as the noted Tatar activist Nafis Kashapov, Bashkir activist Ruslan Gabbasov, Russian opposition politician Ilya Ponomaryov, U.S. political analyst Janusz Bugajski, and others.

Following the November 22 terrorist designation by the Supreme Court, all activities of the Post-Russia Free Nations Forum are now banned in Russia. Membership or association with the group is subject to criminal prosecution under Russian anti-terrorism laws.

Critics of the ruling argue that the designation reflects a broader crackdown on dissent and regional autonomy movements in Russia. They note that the Forum primarily operates abroad and online, raising questions about the ruling's effectiveness outside Russian borders.

The Forum has not yet responded to the court's decision. Observers suggest that this ruling may escalate tensions between Russia and countries hosting members of the organization, particularly Poland, where it is registered.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-post-russia-free-nations- forum-terrorist-organization-separatism/33212336.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's answers to questions during a meeting with young activists in Belarus, Brest, November 22, 2024

22 November 2024 15:26

2272-22-11-2024



Question: Who or what prompted you to choose a diplomatic career?

Sergey Lavrov: This was a chance I got by chance, if you excuse me for this kind of wordiness. It happened that MGIMO held its enrolment exams one month earlier compared to all other universities. I loved physics, and my mother told me that I knew everything a high school graduate had to know about physics, so she challenged me to try and enter MGIMO. Trying did not create any risks, considering that I graduated with a silver medal, meaning that I was an A-plus student in almost every discipline. So there were two exams, one on July 1 and the other on July 3, 1967. After that I went to my school to get my documents, and there was all this fuss there. But I thought: What do I have to worry about, if I already got accepted. This is to say that it all happened by chance.

Question: I would like to have your opinion on the following matter. What should I do to preserve peace and strengthen national security as a good citizen and a person who cares about where my country is headed?

Sergey Lavrov: There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Every person contributes in his or her own way to ensuring that people can live decent lives. A uniform approach would never work here, just as on the international stage where the United States has been trying to cling to its rapidly dwindling hegemony. By the same token, you cannot have a situation when all people are the same and behave in the same manner. Society is polycentric in nature, and new principles shape global system in today's world.

Everyone has their own way of living, be it in terms of economics, social affairs, culture, religion and language, as well as many other defining factors for a nation. Every nation has something in it that brings people together. After all, we all are citizens of our country. Any normal person wants his or her country to succeed, live happily and achieve wellbeing. If you want your country to succeed, that means that you want all of us to succeed, which is totally natural for any human.

If you are taking part in student construction teams, while also engaging in patriotic activities, you are already making a major contribution to building new sites. By participating in these student construction projects, you get to feel what it means to serve your Motherland.

I have taken part in these student construction projects four times. In fact, I spent my vacations this way for several years in a row, so I know what I am talking about. This makes people stronger. We have been to Khakassia, Tuva, near Vladivostok and in Yakutia.

By the way, buildings stand on pillars in Yakutia. And one of them was designed to serve as a liquor plant. This included pouring concrete, and assembling many stories of formwork, laying bricks - all the expensive stuff, while students had to do concrete in the basement. You had to crawl down there, carrying concrete around. Let me share a funny story with you which happened not that long ago. Someone sent me a plate hanging on this liquor plant these days. It shows the date the building opened and then reads: Today's Foreign Minister took part in building it.

This goes to say that everyone has their own role to play. You can understand what people are worth by looking them in the eyes, by their gaze. You want your country to exist, right? "We will not have to worry about anything as long as the country can live its life," as the saying goes. This is the way it will be.

Sergey Lavrov (speaks after Maxim Ryzhenkov): This is a John F. Kennedy quote. He said: "Ask not what your country can do for youask what you can do for your country."

Question: What initiatives are currently being undertaken by Russia and Belarus to address the distortion of history beyond our national borders, aimed at international audiences?

Sergey Lavrov: Allow me to elaborate. Domestically, such efforts are crucial for preserving memory and educating younger generations on the significance of monuments like the Brest Fortress. It's essential for them to be aware of the history and heroism of those who ensured our nations' survival and ultimate victory.

We have established a Commission of Historians with Belarus, as well as with several other nations, to focus on this matter. This commission provides advice on the content of school textbooks. However, the foundation must begin with our own population and youth. This is imperative.

Attempts to distort history commenced quite some time ago. Since 2005, for nearly two decades, we, in collaboration with Belarus and several other former Soviet republics, as well as neighbouring countries like the People's Republic of China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, several dozen countries overall, have annually introduced a resolution at the UN General Assembly. This resolution calls for the prevention of the glorification of Nazism, the disregard for history, its rewriting, and the demolition of monuments - a trend that has gained traction in the Baltic States, Poland, and some other countries. This resolution is always vigorously debated. We refrain from naming any specific nations. Instead, it serves as a reminder against forgetting the history of the Second World War, its outcomes, and the attempts to rewrite these outcomes, blur the lines between victors and vanquished, aggressors and liberators of Europe. These principles are clearly articulated in the resolution. As the saying goes, "the truth will out," which is why all EU countries oppose it, having recently voted against it after previously abstaining. During more favourable periods, we inquired what objections they had.

Their response was that Estonians, Lithuanians, and Latvians perceived it as an affront. Although the resolution does not target them specifically, their perception suggests a guilty conscience. They have long since relocated monuments from prominent squares to more obscure locations.

There is a considerable movement within the UN. We have recently introduced a draft resolution to convene a special session in May 2025, commemorating the 80th anniversary of Victory. This draft is expected to be adopted. It represents our shared Victory. The UN will host events under a neutral banner - "80 years since the end of the Second World War." This will offer us an opportunity to clearly express our perspectives.

Within our allied frameworks - the Union State, the CSTO, and the CIS - there will be commemorative events dedicated to the Great Victory in the Great Patriotic War. We are planning numerous events within other international organisations. In Vienna, the OSCE is straying from its traditional roots as outlined in its foundational documents and is becoming a tool for Western manipulation, contravening all charters. It is crucial to participate in these endeavours on the international stage.

Just as Hitler in the late 1930s subjugated almost the entire Europe, militarised it, and directed it against the Soviet Union - consider the Anschluss of Austria, the occupation of Czechoslovakia, the Munich Agreement, the Siege of Leningrad, and the involvement of Spanish soldiers under the swastika - similarly, various nationalist battalions of the Kiev regime, such as Azov and Aidar, are now fighting under Nazi insignias. They also conduct torchlight processions, although perhaps they have little time for such activities in Ukraine at present. Nevertheless, the ideology and practice of Nazism are institutionalised there. Concurrently, racist laws aimed at eradicating the Russian language in education, the media, culture, and daily life are enforced. Even on the frontlines, the majority of Ukrainians speak Russian. They are orchestrating a linguistic genocide. They threaten to annihilate Russians by any means available.

Now, akin to the 1940s, the Americans have militarised all of Europe, compelling it to finance the Nazi regime. The veneer observed during the era of detente and peaceful coexistence has swiftly vanished. Formerly neutral countries - Finland and Sweden - have rapidly altered their stance. They previously maintained close ties with our border regions, frequently visiting and hosting families across the border. I have visited these regions; it was a tranquil frontier.

Overnight, this facade dissipated. The current President of Finland, Alexander Stubb, whom I have known since his tenure as Foreign Minister, is now among the most fervent Russophobes. They are erecting walls and proclaiming to the world that Russia is poised to attack them. Essentially, they are misguiding their electorate.

During all this time, Russian President Vladimir Putin and all of us continuously attempted to convey to the West that they were "going astray" by supporting this illegitimate Kiev regime and seeking its integration into NATO. And when, a decade after a state coup in Ukraine, the special military operation was initiated, the Western powers started claiming that had Ukraine been admitted to NATO, Russia would not have attacked. This was their narrative. Now, these "narrative architects" are beginning to realise that it might be prudent to halt and admit what remained of Ukraine into NATO. Others argue that they "cannot stop" and must "finish" Vladimir Putin, as failure to do so would result in him attacking them all. Where is the logic? They once asserted that NATO membership guaranteed protection from attack, and now they suggest we intend to attack everyone. This confrontational logic is being impressed upon the general public, and subsequently, discreet decisions are made to allocate another 10 billion to Ukraine, increase the military budget, and the population is expected to "tighten their belts."

This work is of utmost importance. I encourage active participation in it.

Question: Which historical event, in your view, should be remembered and promoted to fortify the Union State?

Sergey Lavrov: I would advocate for the commemoration of our entire history, including the less joyous episodes. We must embrace every aspect of our past - pride, sorrow, and even shame, as such instances have occurred. I would summarise it succinctly.

All events hold significance to enable the continuation of history, which should remain uninterrupted. Here, we have a shared understanding. We will not allow history to be "dragged out," altered, or forgotten.



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PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan

ROC Ministry of National Defense

2024/11/23

PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan

1.Date:

6 to 6 a.m. (UTC+8) Friday to Saturday, Nov. 22-23

2.PLA activities:

25 PLA aircraft and 7 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 13 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan's southwestern and southeastern ADIZ. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the situation and employed CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and coastal missile systems in response to the detected activities.





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PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan

ROC Ministry of National Defense

2024/11/24

PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan

1.Date:

6 to 6 a.m. (UTC+8) Saturday to Sunday, Nov. 23-24

2.PLA activities:

8 PLA aircraft and 7 PLAN vessels, and 1 official ships operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 4 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan's northern and southwestern ADIZ. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the situation and employed CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and coastal missile systems in response to the detected activities.



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Taiwan seeks to strengthen cooperation with Europe through foreign minister's trip

By William Yang November 24, 2024

Taiwan's foreign minister, Lin Chia-lung, wrapped up a weeklong trip to Europe Sunday after meeting European lawmakers in Brussels and overseeing efforts to deepen bilateral cooperation in developing drone technology between Taiwan and Lithuania.

Analysts say the trip was part of Taiwan's ongoing efforts to deepen engagement with European countries and reflected the current administration's attempt to focus on facilitating practical and tangible cooperation with individual nations.

"European countries and members of the European parliament have pushed for tangible cooperation that the EU and Taiwan can both agree on, so focusing on deepening bilateral ties is a more realistic approach for Taiwan as it can help tangible examples of economic cooperation to materialize," Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, an expert on EU-Taiwan relations at National Dong Hwa University in Taiwan, told VOA.

During his seven-day trip, Lin met with several members of the European Parliament in Brussels and visited the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre, which focuses on nanoelectronics and digital technologies. Lin has made economic and trade diplomacy his priority since becoming Taiwan's top diplomat in May.

Lin also led a delegation of representatives from 20 Taiwanese drone companies to Lithuania. They attended a forum on drone technologies and signed two agreements that will facilitate collaboration in the unmanned aerial vehicle industry.

The signing of the agreements is part of Taiwan's efforts to build a domestic drone manufacturing industry, which the government sees as an important part of enhancing the island's overall defense capabilities in the face of increasing military pressure imposed by China.

Beijing views Taiwan, a self-governing island, as an inalienable part of its territory that should one day reunite with the mainland, by force if necessary.

In September, Taiwan gathered more than 50 domestic drone manufacturers and established the Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance, which has been building drone development partnerships with other countries. On November 16, the alliance signed an agreement to promote drone development with the Polish-Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Experts say Lin's trip can help Taiwan broaden the scope of economic cooperation with central and eastern European countries beyond the semiconductor industry.

By focusing on developing partnerships in drone development with Lithuanian companies, "the trip allows the conversation around economic engagements with Taiwan to move beyond the focus on semiconductors," Marcin Jerzewski, the head of the Taiwan Office at the European Values Center for Security Policy, told VOA by phone.

Other European analysts say since central and eastern European countries, especially Lithuania, play an important role in supplying drones to Ukraine in Kyiv's ongoing fight against Russia, Taiwan's emphasis on deepening bilateral cooperation in this sector could resonate with these countries' priorities.

Since Taiwan is deepening cooperation over drone technology "with Lithuania and Poland, two front-line countries that have nuanced and realistic views of the threats coming from Russia, this development can help improve the defense capabilities in central and eastern Europe," Matej Simalcik, executive director of the Central European Institute of Asian Studies, or CEIAS, told VOA by phone.

During a dinner ceremony marking the third anniversary of the establishment of Taiwan's representative office in Lithuania on November 20, Lin said he expects Taiwan and Lithuania to expand the bilateral partnership and "work toward the common goal of promoting peace and prosperity."

Lithuania's recalibration

Despite Taiwan's attempt to deepen engagement with Lithuania, Lin's trip comes at a time when Lithuania's potential new government is considering improving relations with China after Beijing downgraded diplomatic relations with the Baltic country in 2021 following the establishment of Taiwan's representative office in the country.

Gintautas Paluckas, the candidate that the Social Democratic Party wants to make prime minister after coming out on top in elections last month, expressed his desire to "normalize" relations with China. He spoke during an interview with Lithuanian national broadcaster LRT on October 31.

"Having normal relations is certainly an aspiration because the EU - even though relations with China will not be rosy, they will argue about the economy, about tariffs, about protectionist measures [...] - but the EU is trying to maintain diplomatic relations. We cannot fall out of this context and call it leadership," he said.

Ferenczy said as Lithuania rethinks its engagement with China, Taiwan's focus on deepening economic ties will be more "productive" to the sustainability of bilateral ties as it could avoid triggering potential retaliation from China.

"It will help circumvent member states' reluctance to engage with Taiwan and instead bring the kind of engagement that helps both sides," she told VOA.

Ferenczy adds that successful bilateral cooperation with European countries can help consolidate Taiwan's engagement with the European Union as a whole.

"Building up stronger bilateral relationships will help consolidate Taiwan's cooperation with the EU, as countries that have substance to their partnerships with Taiwan may be more willing to embrace Taiwan at the European level," she said.

In response to questions about Lin's trip to Europe, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Beijing opposes any form of official interaction between Taiwan and countries having diplomatic ties with China.

"The EU should abide by the one-China principle, stop any form of official interaction with the Taiwan authorities, and stop sending wrong signals to 'Taiwan independence separatist forces,'" he said during a press conference on November 20.

Lin Chia-lung's trip marks the third time a high-level Taiwanese delegation has visited Europe since Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te won elections in January. As Taipei continues to deepen engagement with European countries, Jerzewski said the Lai administration should consider establishing a coherent approach to manage its relations with Europe.

"Taiwan still doesn't have a concrete strategic document that allows European stakeholders to understand how Taiwan wants to engage with them, and in order to make Taiwan's ties with Europe more sustainable, such a document is important," he told VOA.

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PM call with the Secretary General of NATO: 22 November 2024

The Prime Minister spoke to the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, today.

22 November 2024

The Prime Minister spoke to the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, this afternoon.

They began by discussing the situation in Ukraine and reiterated the importance of putting the country in the strongest possible position going into the winter.

They then turned to the recent deployment of DPRK troops to Russia, and both agreed this only served to further underline the indivisibility of Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security.

The Prime Minister underscored the need for all NATO countries to step up in support of our collective defence and updated on government's progress on the strategic defence review. His government would set out the path to 2.5% in the spring, he added.

They agreed to stay in close touch.

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Canada's donation of new air defence system arrives in Ukraine

National Defence

News release

November 22, 2024 - Halifax, Nova Scotia - National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces

The Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence, has announced that Canada's donation of a National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) has arrived in Ukraine.

This donation will help Ukraine strengthen its air defence systems against destructive air attacks on military sites, civilian critical infrastructure, and population centres. Canada has also donated more than 300 air defence missiles from Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) inventory since February 2022.

In addition to Operation UNIFIER, Canada's current training mission to Ukraine, this donation builds on previous deliveries of armoured vehicles, artillery, drone cameras, winter clothing, and ongoing efforts by the Royal Canadian Air Force to transport Ukraine-bound military aid donated by Canada, Allies, and partners.

Canada remains committed to providing Ukraine with the military aid that it needs to defend itself from Russia's illegal and unjustifiable attacks, including intensifying Russian air raids.

Quotes

"This ground-based air defence system will help Ukraine protect itself against destructive air attacks. Canada's support for Ukraine is steadfast and we will continue to step up and build on our contributions to Ukraine in their fight against Russia's invasion. We thank the United States, as well as our partners in Norway, for their collaboration and ensuring the safe arrival of Canada's donation of this NASAMS to the Armed Forces of Ukraine." The Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence

Quick facts

A NASAMS is a short to medium range ground-based air defence system that protects against drone, missile, and aircraft attack, with a high success rate.

This high-priority donation was purchased by Canada from the United States, and is a new build from Raytheon in partnership with Kongsberg.

This donation, valued at approximately $406 million, comes from the $500 million in military aid to Ukraine that Prime Minister Trudeau announced on November 14, 2022.

Since February 2022, Canada has committed $4.5 billion in total military assistance to Ukraine. The Prime Minister announced an additional $500 million at the NATO Summit in July 2024.

Since late March 2022, the RCAF has been transporting Ukraine-bound military aid donated by Canada, Allies, and partners. To date, the RCAF has transported over 22 million pounds of military donations.

Currently, over 350 CAF members are supporting ongoing training missions in the United Kingdom, Poland and Latvia while facilitating the delivery of military donations to Ukraine.

Since the launch of Operation UNIFIER, the CAF has trained more than 43,000 members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Canada extended this mission until March 2026.

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Foreign Minister Baiba Braze: the presence of 39 countries in a meeting on a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine shows the overwhelming support for it to be established

Republic of Latvia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

22.11.2024

"We need to lay the foundation for a just and lasting peace - we need to make progress in establishing a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. If we don't, no one else will. Russia's efforts to destroy Ukraine's culture, language, symbols evidence the colonial nature of its aggression. We can neither bring back those killed in the war nor erase the trauma of war, but the international community can break this decades-long cycle of impunity," emphasized the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baiba Braze, as she gave opening remarks at the meeting of the Core Group on the Establishment of a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine.

The Deputy Head of Office of the President of Ukraine, Iryna Mudra, addressed the participants of the Core Group: "As to the establishment of a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, we have finally made good progress this year - with the model, the draft statute, and we all expect we'll make concrete steps forward today. Ukraine's position is loud and clear - we will not compromise on justice. Not only our and your people will not understand this, but we would also leave the world in a fundamentally more dangerous state by cementing impunity and blowing the lid of a 'Pandora's box' fully open for unimaginable atrocities."

On 22 November 2024, Riga is hosting the 12th meeting of the Core Group on the Establishment of a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. More than 90 international law experts representing 39 countries, European Union institutions and the Council of Europe continue discussions on the legal aspects relevant to the establishment of a Special Tribunal under the auspices of the Council of Europe.

At the end of the meeting, the Core Group participants will adopt the Vienna-Riga Statement, which reaffirms their commitment to continued working actively and effectively towards establishing a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. It is the first and, for now, the only document circulated to the general public that reflects and enshrines the compromises made so far at the Core Group meetings.

The Vienna-Riga statement of the Core Group on the Establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine

The Vienna-Riga statement of the Core Group on the Establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (in Ukrainian)

About the idea to establish a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine

It is essential to ensure that no international crime committed goes unpunished. At this point, the International Criminal Court cannot prosecute the crime of aggression against Ukraine, so this liability gap needs to be closed.

The possibility of setting up a special tribunal within the framework of the Council of Europe under a bilateral agreement concluded between the Council of Europe and Ukraine is currently being assessed. Latvia strongly supports that. The draft statutes to lay down the substantive and procedural rules applicable to the Special Tribunal, are currently actively negotiated.

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Peace negotiations without Ukraine are out of question, says Minister of National Defence Laurynas Kasciunas in Copenhagen

Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of National Defence

2024-11-22

International cooperation

On November 20-21 Minister of National Defence attended meetings of the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) and the Northern Group in Copenhagen.

The main focus of the meeting with the Defence Ministers of the Northern Group was on assistance to Ukraine. L. Kasciunas underscored the necessity to step up cooperation with Ukraine's defence industry by purchasing from its manufacturers as often as possible.

"Lithuania's support to Ukraine remains unwavering. We will continue dedicating 0.25% of GDP to military assistance in the fight against occupying forces," said Minister L. Kasciunas.

Ministers of the Northern Group issued a joint declaration at the meeting which underscores that no peace negotiations can take place without Ukraine and records an agreement to strengthen the military assistance. Ministers also underlined the need to continue the efforts strengthening security of the critical undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea and agreed to develop Ukraine's technological capabilities and the potential of the European defence industry.

The NB8 meeting focused on regional security, NATO agenda and the situation in Moldova as well. Ministers agreed that Russia continue to be posed as the principal threat in the region and 2% of GDP ceases to be an adequate contribution to the shared Allied security. Minister L. Kasciunas stressed at the meeting that all Allies had to take the responsibility for their security and to develop defence industry at pace: growing national capabilities make all of the Alliance safer.

L. Kasciunas called for attention to the necessity to help Moldova as the EU Eastern Partnership countries were facing the uncertainty.

"We need to assist Moldova in strengthening its defense capabilities. As we continue our consistent support, Lithuania has passed from the stage of sharing expertise to direct assistance to the Moldovan Armed Forces. We are ready to take the role of leadership in ensuring coordination of assistance provided by the Nordic and Baltic countries," said Minister L. Kasciunas.

In the nearest months Lithuania will hand over to Moldova thermal sights, UAVs, anti-tank grenade launchers. It has also been agreed to introduce a three-year military assistance plan with a yearly budget of up to EUR 2 million as of 2026.



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From Neighbors To Power Partners: Romania's Deepening Ties With Ukraine

By Tony Wesolowsky October 22, 2024

Never sworn enemies but not the warmest of neighbors either, Bucharest and Kyiv are today probably closer than they have been in years, if not decades.

The reason? Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Putting aside issues of land and language, Romania is now one of Ukraine's staunchest allies, capped with the two signing a 10-year security agreement in July. Bucharest supplies not only military aid -- although much of it remains hush-hush for security reasons -- but also trains Ukrainian fighter pilots, and soon, marines.

And with Ukrainian trade routes cut off, Romania has also become a key conduit to global markets for Ukrainian grain and other goods.

In part due to that support and the country's proximity to the conflict, Romania, which shares a 650-kilometer-plus border with Ukraine, has registered more Russian military drones flying over or crashing into its territory than any other state on the edge of the conflict, judging by media reports.

Romania, which is spending like never before on defense, is also becoming more strategically integral to NATO amid an eastward shift to face what the Western military alliance deems the biggest threat to European security: Russia.

"I think it's quite clear that Romania's strategic importance has been increasing tremendously since the beginning of the war," said Oana Popescu-Zamfir, director of the GlobalFocus Center, a think tank in Bucharest.

"We've been complaining for a long time that there was less attention given to the Black Sea as compared to the northeastern [NATO] flank. And we still feel that there isn't enough and there's not a clear strategy, a clear allied strategy for the Black Sea in the context of Russia's aggressiveness. But, still, a lot of progress has been made," Popescu-Zamfir told RFE/RL.

Patriot To The Rescue

A Romanian Defense Ministry spokesperson confirmed to RFE/RL's Romanian Service on October 3 that Ukraine had taken possession of a Patriot air defense system from Bucharest. Romania signed a contract in 2017 with the U.S. company Raytheon and took its first delivery in 2020. It now has just one operational system.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who personally thanked Romania for the delivery, has long appealed for more Patriot systems, arguing that they will help his forces fight almost 3,000 bombs that he said Russia launches into the country every month. Up to now, Ukraine has reportedly operated an estimated five Patriots: two from the United States and three from Germany.

Unlike the Patriot delivery, much of the military hardware Romania has supplied to Ukraine is classified. However, according to media reports and analysts that military aid has included APRA-40 rocket launchers, TAB-71 armored vehicles, and artillery shells.

In addition, Bucharest has started training Ukrainian pilots, as the Ukrainian Defense Ministry confirmed on September 12. Ukraine has been long requesting F-16 fighter jets from its allies to bolster its dwindling fleet of Soviet-era MiGs.

The Ukrainian pilots are training at the European F-16 Training Center (EFTC), which opened in November 2023 at a Romanian military air base near the southeastern town of Fetesti. It will also serve as a regional F-16 training hub for NATO allies and partners.

Romania has also announced plans to train Ukrainian marines. The two-year program is scheduled for Air Base 71, also known as Campia Turzii, in central Romania. The idea was hatched by the Ukraine Defense Contact Group -- also known as the Ramstein group -- which is an alliance of 57 countries (all 32 NATO member states and 25 other countries). Backed by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, the plan was approved overwhelmingly by Romania's parliament on October 1.

Economically, Romania has also become crucial to Ukraine, one of the world's biggest grain exporters. Ukraine began using Romania's Black Sea port of Constanta after Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022 halted shipments from its own Black Sea ports.

It exported 14 million metric tons of grain through Constanta in 2023, roughly 40 percent of the port's entire grain shipments for the year, up from 8.6 million tons in 2022.

However, transit volumes from Constanta fell in the second part of the year after Russia repeatedly struck Ukrainian river ports that li on the other side of the Danube from Romania. Ukraine is also using another route to ship grain, hugging the coast of the Black Sea. That route is now overshadowing Constanta's importance for Ukraine but still highlights the country's growing cooperation.

"The relatively smooth cooperation between Romania and Ukraine in expanding export routes via the Black Sea and Danube Delta has fostered mutual trust. Romania is Ukraine's neighbor that handles by far the biggest volume of agricultural exports," said Simon Schlegel, a senior Ukraine analyst at the International Crisis Group.

"While adapting these key export routes to the additional wartime burden was not a frictionless process, Kyiv and Bucharest share an interest in strengthening Romania's port infrastructure," Schlegel told RFE/RL in e-mailed remarks.

Romania, NATO Relations Rising

Meanwhile, Romania's relations with NATO have accelerated as well. Bucharest announced earlier this year that upgrade work had begun at the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base on the Black Sea. The project, first announced in 2019, aims to transform the base into a major NATO hub, accommodating advanced jet fighters and up to 10,000 NATO troops.

"It's going to be the largest [NATO] base outside of Turkish territory. And the reason this is important is...because Turkey is playing a much more complex game, and sometimes it's not very easy for NATO allies to rely on Turkey, and definitely not for Romania, which feels that the Black Sea remains a closed sea because of Turkey and the way they use the Montreux Convention to make sure that they actually divide influence with Russia in the Black Sea, and don't really allow any other external influence," said Popescu-Zamfir, referring to the document regulating maritime traffic through the Turkish Straits.

Despite its membership of NATO, Turkey has been accused of not taking stronger action against Russian naval auxiliary vessels moving through its waters, and the Turkish government has not imposed sanctions on Moscow's seaborne exports.

Moscow is not thrilled with the plan to revamp the air base.

The bigger the NATO base and the "closer it is to Russia's borders, the more likely it is to be among the first targets for retaliatory strikes," Russian Senator Andrei Klimov said in March. "There won't be any benefit for Romania from this, and there will be more threats. This is a fact."

Romania is used to such Russian threats. In 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that positioning U.S. missiles in neighboring countries like Romania would lead to retaliatory measures from Russia. His comments came as Romania installed a U.S. missile defense system at the Deveselu military base, also on the Black Sea.

But Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has only triggered more fears, more defense spending, and more integration with NATO and its members. Romania, which joined the alliance in 2004, is allocating a record 19 billion euros ($20.7 billion) in defense spending in 2024, exceeding NATO's spending target of 2 percent of gross domestic product.

Romania now possesses the second largest military on NATO's eastern flank (75,000 troops versus Poland's 122,500), but much of its military hardware is Soviet-era, although that has been changing. In one of the biggest modernizing deals to date, Romania is to acquire 32 F-35 fighter aircraft from the United States, the Pentagon announced in September, in an agreement worth $7.2 billion. In May 2023, Romania retired the last of its MiG jets and now flies mostly F-16s.

Romania's strategic importance on NATO's eastern flank was underscored when the military alliance in March 2022 agreed to deploy battalions to four more eastern NATO members: Romania, along with Bulgaria, Hungary, and Slovakia. They joined the four battalions created by NATO in 2016 and based in (but including personnel from multiple NATO members): Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland -- two years after Russia seized Ukraine's Crimea and began backing separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The two countries have sometimes had fraught relations, and public attitudes in Romania on Ukraine and Russia's war may be mixed thanks in part to history, said Popescu-Zamfir.

Romania lost the northern part of Bukovyna and parts of Bessarabia -- now in today's Ukraine -- in 1940 thanks to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, an agreement between the Nazi and Soviet powers not to attack one other and to divide up Eastern Europe into spheres of influence. It is history that still reverberates today. When Zelenskiy gave a speech in 2019 describing the inclusion of northern Bukovyna in Romania in 1919 after World War I, Romania's Foreign Ministry issued an official protest.

The two countries have also tussled over minority rights. An estimated 151,000 ethnic Romanians live in Ukraine, mainly in the border regions of Chernivtsi and Zakarpattya. That's not counting the estimated 259,000 people living in Chernivtsi and the Odesa region whom Kyiv considers Moldovans, but Bucharest views as Romanians, arguing that the distinction between the two is artificial.

But polling shows most Romanians back their country's inclusion in Western institutions, and Popescu-Zamfir adds that much of the country's political elite are hawkish when it comes to Ukraine.

"I think really now we have a consensus about, essentially, you know, our interests are inextricably linked with Ukraine's," Popescu-Zamfir said. "We're on the same side of things because Russia is on the other side. So that makes things much more black and white, and this is where we need to stand."

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/romania-ukraine-nato-black-sea-grain- war/33162333.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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The Week In Russia: The Motives Behind Russia's Ballistic Missile Strike On Ukraine

By Steve Gutterman October 22, 2024

Russia's use of what President Vladmir Putin said was a new intermediate-range missile against Ukraine was all about signaling -- "a political strike not a military one," as one analyst put it.



Here are some of the key developments in Russia over the past week and some of the takeaways going forward.



'Not For Military Value'



On the surface, it was a military attack on Ukraine. But Russia's launch of what President Vladimir Putin described as a new intermediate-range missile was all about messaging, with most of the signals aimed squarely at Washington and the West.



In televised remarks after the November 21 strike targeting the city of Dnipro, Putin said it was part of Moscow's response to Ukrainian attacks with U.S.-supplied ATACMS and British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles, which followed reports that those countries had given Kyiv permission to use such systems to hit Russian territory. And he said Russia had the right to target military facilities in countries that allow Kyiv to use their weapons for this purpose.



"In short, this was a political strike not a military one," Mick Ryan, a retired Australian Army major general and a senior fellow at the Sydney-based Lowy Institute think tank, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The ballistic missile strike was part of a broader attack on Dnipro, where Ukrainian authorities said three people were wounded. They said the attack damaged an industrial facility and a rehabilitation center for the handicapped, where photos showed broken windows, a collapsed ceiling, and debris scattered across floors.

Fabian Hoffman, a defense expert and doctoral research fellow at the University of Oslo, told the Kyiv Independent that "this strike is not for military value, this is purely, purely for political purposes."



Here's a look at what Putin was probably trying to achieve.



'A Different Signal'



Since Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he and other Russian officials -- and state-controlled media -- have repeatedly used the potential threat of a nuclear attack to try to frighten the West and deter the United States and Europe from sending weapons to Kyiv.



This nuclear messaging has been so frequent, in fact, that Russia may be running out of sabers to rattle: The Kremlin may be concerned that it is seen as letting its "red lines" be crossed without consequence.



Putin "may perceive that his mentioning nuclear weapons, having done so frequently, is of diminishing value in getting his message across about what he sees as NATO interference in his genocidal war," Ryan wrote. "He needed a different signal to Washington, and he chose to do so with a different kind of weapon."



Putin has been raising the specter of a nuclear strike since long before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But there are plenty of reasons for Russia to refrain from using its atomic arsenal, including questions about effectiveness in the war on Ukraine and the blowback Moscow could face from countries around the world, including China, India, and countries of the Global South.



No 'Significant Inflection'



Nonetheless, the nuclear messaging was by no means missing: In his address, Putin said that "in this case" the missile -- which he called Oreshnik (Hazel) and the Pentagon said was based on an existing model, the RS-26 or Rubezh -- had a non-nuclear payload.



"It's the kind of signaling you engage in when you can't, in fact, escalate in the way you've been threatening," Ruth Deyermond, senior lecturer in the Department of War Studies at King's College London, wrote of the November 21 missile strike.



Like previous words and actions, including a change in the Russian nuclear doctrine this month that included wording that seemed aimed to give Putin freer rein to use atomic weapons if he decides to do so, the missile strike said little about Russia's actual intentions.



"Neither the Oreshnik ballistic missile strike nor Putin's November 21 statement represent a significant inflection in Russian strike capabilities or likeliness to use a nuclear weapon," the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War said in a thread on X.



Biden, Trump, Ukraine, Europe



With U.S. President Joe Biden on his way out and less than two months remaining before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House, Putin may hope the missile "test," as he called it, would do double duty, warning Biden against major moves to strengthen Kyiv in his remaining weeks in office and encouraging Trump -- whose repeated claims that he would quickly end the war have generated expectations of a push for peace -- to roll back U.S. support for Ukraine.



While the United States may be the main target of Russia's signaling, the strike may also have been aimed to sow fear in Ukraine and cause concern in Europe at a time when Trump's upcoming presidency is raising questions not only about levels of U.S. support not only for Ukraine, but about its relationship with NATO and its solidarity with the European Union.



Putin "isn't only messaging Washington D.C. here. He has used a weapon with a range of over 5,000 kilometers, which could therefore be used against almost any target in Europe and the United Kingdom," Ryan wrote. "This is a message to Europe, not only about their support for Ukraine, but also about Russia's capacity and willingness to influence policy related to defense and security well beyond Ukraine."

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/missile-threat-nuclear-putin- ukraine/33212214.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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Putin Says Russia Will Use New Missile Again In 'Combat Conditions' After Ukraine Strike

By RFE/RL November 22, 2024

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the country's new intermediate-range ballistic missile, a nuclear-capable weapon, will continue to be tested, including in combat conditions, as Moscow struck several Ukrainian regions with other, less powerful weapons.

"We will continue these tests, including in combat conditions, depending on the situation and the nature of the security threats that are created for Russia," Putin said on November 22 at a meeting with Defense Ministry officials and military-industrial complex officials.

The Kremlin leader also called for serial production of the large missile to begin.

Russia launched the so-called Oreshnik ballistic missile against Ukraine on November 21 in a strike targeting the city of Dnipro. Putin said at the time it was part of Moscow's response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian soil with U.S.-supplied ATACMS and British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.

The use of the Oreshnik "is first and foremost a messaging and saber rattling kind of weapon. This is the sort of delivery system that's not cheap. It's not a battlefield sort of weapon," Tom Karako, a missile defense expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told RFE/RL.

Putin added on November 22 that the Oreshnik is new and not an upgrade of previous Soviet-designed weaponry. The United States said the new missile is "experimental" and based on Russia's RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

Ukraine initially accused Russia of having used an ICBM in the Dnipro attack. An ICBM has never been used in a war.

Strategic Weapons

Russia has been striking Ukraine with Iskanders, ground-launched, short-range ballistic missiles, and Kinzhals, air-launched, intermediate-range ballistic missiles, as well as various cruise missiles.

Russia probably only has several units of the Oreshnik in stock, a U.S. official told media following the November 21 strike. Ukraine's military intelligence put the figure at up to 10 units.

If Russia were to move forward with serial production of the Oreshnik, it would be for its nuclear force posture and not for use in a conventional war like the one with Ukraine, Karako said.

"This is not an alternative to a cruise missile. It's probably designed for strategic weapons," he said.

Zelenskiy's Response

In his November 21 address to the nation announcing the use of the Oreshnik, Putin said that the missile traveled at a speed of Mach 10, or 2.5-3 kilometers per second, claiming that "there are currently no ways of counteracting this weapon."

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on November 22 that Ukraine was working on developing new types of air defenses to counter "new risks," a reference to missiles like the Oreshnik.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said testing a new weapon for the purposes of terror in another country was an "international crime" and called for a worldwide "serious response" to keep Russia from expanding the war.

"When someone starts using other countries not only for terror, but also for testing their new missiles through acts of terror, then this is clearly an international crime."

A lack of air defenses has been one of Ukraine's major weak spots in the 33-month war with Ukraine. Zelenskiy has called on the West to deliver more air defense systems since the first days of the invasion.

He had also called on the West to ease restrictions preventing Ukraine from striking inside Russia with powerful long-range weapons. Zelenskiy said the deep strikes were necessary to target airfields critical for Russia's daily aerial attacks.

The United States and the United Kingdom reportedly lifted the restrictions on November 17 with Ukraine using their long-range weapons -- ATACMS and Storm Shadow respectively -- to hit targets in Russia's regions of Belgorod and Kursk. Putin launched the Oreshnik into Ukraine to warn the West against arming Ukraine.

Parliament Session Canceled

Russia did not use the Oreshnik to strike Ukraine during another deadly air attack on November 22.

Two people were killed and 12 wounded in Russian strikes on Sumy, Artem Kobzar, the mayor of the northeastern Ukrainian city, reported in a video statement on Telegram.

The Ukrainian Air Force said Russian drone attacks were under way in four regions -- Sumy, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Zhytomyr.

In the capital, which has been on edge for several days amid intense Russian attacks on Ukraine, lawmakers were advised to avoid the government district on November 22 and parliament canceled a scheduled session due to warnings of a potential missile strike.

"We were informed about the risk of a missile strike on the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv in the coming days. Putin has significantly raised the stakes. Tomorrow's parliamentary session is canceled," lawmaker Taras Batenko said.

Oleksiy Honcharenko, another lawmaker, said on Telegram that the next session was now planned for December, although parliament leaders have not officially commented on the warnings.

Zelenskiy's office assured the public that the presidential administration would continue operating "as usual" on November 22.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-warns-combat-tests-new- missile-ukraine-strike/33212469.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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Moscow Boasts Missile Strike On Ukraine Was 'Warning' To West

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service November 22, 2024

Moscow launched another deadly attack on Ukraine on November 22, a day after firing what it said was a new intermediate-range missile that the Kremlin boasted was a "warning" for the West, after Kyiv reportedly obtained permission from President Joe Biden to strike into Russia with U.S. long-range missiles.

Two people were killed and 12 wounded in Russian strikes on Sumy, Artem Kobzar, the mayor of the northeastern Ukrainian city, reported in a video statement on Telegram.

Ukraine's air force said Russian drone attacks were under way in four regions -- Sumy, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Zhytomyr.

In the capital, which has been on edge for several days amid intense Russian attacks on Ukraine, lawmakers were advised to avoid the government district on November 22 and parliament canceled a scheduled session due to warnings of a potential missile strike.

"We were informed about the risk of a missile strike on the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv in the coming days. Putin has significantly raised the stakes. Tomorrow's parliamentary session is canceled," lawmaker Taras Batenko said, while lawmaker Oleksiy Honcharenko said on Telegram that the next session was now planned for December, although parliament leaders have not officially commented on the warnings.

The office of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy assured the public that it would continue operating "as usual" on November 22.

On November 20, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine warned of a significant Russian air attack, prompting the temporary closure of its operations. The embassies of Spain, Italy, and Greece also suspended services for the day.

On November 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the "successful combat testing" of a new Oreshnik (Hazel Tree) intermediate-range ballistic missile amid the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Putin claimed the missile was used in a strike on Ukraine's eastern city of Dnipro, asserting it was a response to NATO's "aggressive actions" and Ukraine's use of Western-supplied missiles to target Russian territory.

On November 22, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated that the test was a message to the West that Moscow will respond harshly to any "reckless" Western moves in support of Ukraine.

"The main message is that the reckless decisions and actions of Western countries that produce missiles, supply them to Ukraine, and subsequently participate in strikes on Russian territory cannot remain without a reaction from the Russian side," Peskov told reporters.

"The Russian side has clearly demonstrated its capabilities, and the contours of further retaliatory actions in the event that our concerns are not taken into account have been quite clearly outlined," he said.

Ukraine's military intelligence said on November 22 that Russia may have up to 10 units of the new missile.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-parliament-cancel-session- missile/33211949.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 Minister Andrei Belousov inspects Sever Group of Forces

22.11.2024

Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov held a working meeting at the command post of the Sever Group of Forces. There he was briefed by the Group's command on the current situation, and nature of hostile actions.

Commander of the Sever Group of Forces Colonel General Aleksandr Lapin reported to the Minister of Defence on the results missions in directions, operational-tactical and army aviation, artillery, and UAVs strikes in the area of responsibility.

Furthermore, Andrei Belousov saw NATO-made weapons employed by the enemy including unmanned aerial vehicles, communication devices and small arms.

The Russian Defence Minister thanked the Group's commanding officers for the high results of operations and presented state awards to servicemen who had showed courage, bravery, and heroism.

At a training of ground of the Sever Group of Forces, the Russian Defence Minister inspected organisation of servicemen training where the troops have team training. There he also awarded personnel.

Department for Media Affairs and Information

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After 1000 days, Ukraine retains strong support at the Permanent Council: UK statement to the OSCE

Ambassador Holland estimates that the Council will have heard at least 1000 statements in support of Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began, while Russia remains isolated.

22 November 2024

Thank you, Mr Chair. It is now over 1000 days since Russia launched its illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It's a shocking milestone. Over that period this Council has met 140 times, including in Special and Reinforced formats. During these meetings we have surely heard at least 1000 statements in support of Ukraine. Russia has been left isolated and seeking to defend the indefensible.

These statements have recorded how the Russian state has executed its illegal war: massacres in Bucha and Irpin, the siege and destruction of Mariupol and the targeting of the Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital. And we should not forget that Russia's war against Ukraine started long before 24 February 2022. Those responsible will be held accountable, and the UK will stand by Ukraine and the principles that underpin this organisation for as long as it takes.

Mr Chair, yesterday was World Children's Day, 35 years since the UN General Assembly adopted the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

We have regularly discussed in this Council Russia's violations of the rights and security of Ukraine's children. These violations include the forcible transfer and deportation of more than 19,500 children to Russia and the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The Russian authorities expose these children to a curriculum that rewrites Russian and Ukrainian history and geography, glorifies Russian military actions, and promotes allegiance to Russia - and in some cases involves military training. The indoctrination of Ukrainian children forms part of President Putin's strategy to erase Ukrainian national identity, dating back to the illegal annexation of Crimea.

As the May 2023 Moscow Mechanism report made clear, Russia's actions are a clear violation of international law, including the UNCRC. The report includes violations of 14 separate articles of the UNCRC.

On 19 November, the UK announced sanctions against ten perpetrators involved in this illegal Russian state programme. Those sanctioned include the All-Russian Young Army Military Patriotic Social Movement and Tetiana Zavalska, the Russian-appointed Head of Kherson Children's Home, where 46 children were forcibly taken from the children's home to Russia for adoption. As my Foreign Secretary has said, "No child should ever be used as a pawn in war".

Lastly, Mr Chair, I strongly condemn the latest waves of Russian strikes across Ukraine. On Monday a Russian missile hit a residential building in Odesa, killing 10 people and injuring 47. On 17 November Russia launched a massive attack against Ukraine's energy infrastructure, which involved more than 200 missiles and drones. The Russian authorities know that these strikes, at this time of year, after the damage they have already caused to Ukraine's grid, are going to cause immense civilian suffering and pose a serious risk to nuclear safety.

The world will not forget this calculated cruelty, which we will continue to record in statements to this Council for posterity. Thank you.

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The World Must Sound Serious to Make Putin Really Afraid of Expanding the War and Feel the Real Consequences of His Actions - Address by the President

President of Ukraine

22 November 2024 - 18:58

I wish you health, fellow Ukrainians!

Today we have published the first list of individuals who have been stripped of Ukraine's state awards and honorary titles. All of them chose to support the criminal war against Ukraine and thus lost their dignity. I do not even want to mention their names. And they will never be here in Ukraine again, so we will eliminate all their ties to Ukraine.

The Security Service of Ukraine is preparing new proposals for such sanctions.

Second. Today, more details about the new missile that Russia used to hit the Dnipro have been established. And we will provide all the details to journalists - international media. The world must know the truth and realize that the only party that does not want peace is Russia.

That is why Russia needs escalations.

I am grateful to all partners who have already responded to this latest episode of Russian madness. But beyond words, action is needed.

And in particular, on my instructions, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine is already holding meetings with our partners on new air defense systems - the kind of systems that can protect lives from new risks.

When someone starts using other countries not just for terror but also to test their new missiles through terror, this is undoubtedly an international crime. And coming from Russia, this is a mockery of the position of states like China, the states of the Global South, some leaders who consistently call for restraint, but in response invariably get some new escalation from Moscow.

That is why the world must sound serious in response - to make Putin really afraid of expanding the war and feel the real consequences of his actions.

True peace is achieved through strength - not otherwise.

Third. As for our response here in Ukraine, to these Russian strikes, to various information about threats.

Today is already the 1003rd day of this war. All the security protocols are the same now as before. If you hear an air raid alert - you have to react, take care of yourself and go to the shelter.

Whatever the Russian missile threat is, it cannot be ignored.

But when there is no air raid alert - state, productions, embassies - all must work in the same way. And take information, including from the intelligence services, as information, not as permission to take a day off. This applies to everyone - from the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and other structures and branches of government to regional and municipal authorities.

When the siren sounds - we go to the shelter. And when there is no siren - we work and serve.

In wartime, there is no other way. We must be aware that "comrade" Putin will continue to intimidate us.

He has built all his power on this.

It is important to know how to respond correctly and do everything possible to bring this war back home to Russia, and to make them feel there what war is.

And one more thing. And one more thing. I want to thank our combat brigades who performed effectively this week. The 38th separate marine brigade, the 39th separate anti-aircraft missile regiment, the 68th separate jaeger brigade, the 102nd, 108th, 124th, 126th separate territorial defense brigades, the 128th separate mountain assault brigade and the 425th separate assault battalion. Thank you, warriors!

And special thanks to all the units in the areas of the Kursk Operation, all those who are truly resilient.

Glory to Ukraine!

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At Its 12th Meeting, The Core Group Adopted a Statement Reaffirming the Inevitability of Punishment for Those Responsible for Aggression Against Ukraine

President of Ukraine

22 November 2024 - 18:14

Riga hosted the 12th meeting of the Core Group on the Establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. The Group includes 41 states. The Ukrainian delegation was led by Deputy Head of the Office of the President Iryna Mudra.

As a result of the meeting, the participants agreed on the key parameters of the Tribunal's work, including its jurisdiction, and developed a roadmap that clearly outlined concrete further steps to establish the Special Tribunal.

"We have finally made significant progress this year. Ukraine's position is clear and unequivocal: we cannot and will not compromise on justice," Iryna Mudra said.

In addition, for the first time, a statement was adopted reaffirming the inevitability of punishment for aggressors. It also reflects the strong common position of the Core Group participants and their commitment to the swift establishment of a Special Tribunal.

Moreover, the Core Group noted the progress made in the preparation of a draft bilateral Agreement between the Council of Europe and the Government of Ukraine concerning the Establishment of a Special Tribunal, its draft Statute and a draft Enlarged Partial Agreement outlining the modalities of support for such a tribunal.

The Special Tribunal is established to punish the highest military and political leaders of the aggressor countries for planning, preparing, unleashing and waging an aggressive war, which is the most serious international crime.

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The President: Lithuania will invest in Ukraine's defense industry

President of the Republic of Lithuania

November 23, 2024

President Gitanas Nauseda met on Saturday with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov to discuss the frontline situation, the need for political and military support to Ukraine, and the prospects for cooperation between Lithuanian and Ukrainian defense industries.

During the meeting, Gitanas Nauseda emphasized Lithuania's unwavering commitment to fully supporting Ukraine, adding that Lithuania is ready to invest in Ukraine's defense industry and develop joint projects. Lithuania will continue to assist Ukraine's key areas, including the procurement of ammunition, air defense elements, Lithuanian-manufactured drones, anti-drone technologies, and other critical systems and armaments. Additionally, 30 million will be allocated to the Lithuania- and Iceland-led demining coalition.

"We fully understand that Ukraine needs weapons and ammunition to defend itself against the aggressor. This requires not only effective support from allies but also a robust and functioning Ukrainian defense industry. In the coming year, Lithuania will invest 10 million in Ukrainian defense industry projects and earmark another 10 million for the Ukrainian Palianytsia drone-missile project," the President said.

Gitanas Nauseda highlighted Lithuania's contributions since the beginning of Russia's war on Ukraine. Lithuania has provided over 700 million in military aid, with this year's assistance exceeding 0.25 percent of the country's GDP. He reiterated that this level of support will continue under the bilateral security agreement signed this year with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The President assured that Lithuania's military assistance to Ukraine will not diminish and will remain focused on priority areas and projects mutually agreed upon with Ukraine.

The President's Communication Group

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The President: Ukraine's victory - an essential condition for global peace and food security

President of the Republic of Lithuania

November 23, 2024

President Gitanas Nauseda remotely addressed participants of the Third International Food Security Summit in Kyiv.

In his speech, the President highlighted the grave threat posed by Russian military attacks on Ukrainian ports and grain storage facilities to global food security.

"These attacks, along with blockade attempts in the Black Sea, severely affect global food security. Yet, despite Russia's most violent efforts, Ukraine remains a reliable supplier. President Zelenskyy's 'Grain from Ukraine' initiative has already helped to provide food for millions in the most vulnerable countries," the President emphasized.

The President affirmed Lithuania's strong support for Ukraine's steadfast efforts to maintain its Black Sea maritime corridor. He stressed that there is no other way of overcoming Russia's military threats but for Ukraine to regain full control of its land and sea. Lithuania, he said, will continue to provide Ukraine with political, military, financial, and humanitarian aid, as well as assistance in addressing energy emergencies, rebuilding critical infrastructure, and implementing necessary reforms.

"Today, Ukraine's victory and Russia's defeat are essential conditions for global peace, stability, and food security. Together, we can achieve this!" the President stated.

The International Food Security Summit was first held in Kyiv in November 2022, following Russia's full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine. More than 30 countries and international organizations have joined President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's 'Grain from Ukraine' initiative to help Ukrainian grain reach food-insecure countries in Africa and Asia. Lithuania remains a supporter of this initiative.

The President's Communication Group

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Zelenskiy Says Putin Aiming To Regain Kursk Territory Before Trump Takes Office

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service November 23, 2024

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Russia is seeking to drive his forces out of the Kursk region before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office next year but added that the military situation in the Donetsk region is the most critical for his country.

"I am certain that [Russian President Vladimir Putin] wants to push us out before January 20," Zelenskiy told reporters, referring to the day of Trump's inauguration. "It is very important for him to show that he controls the situation" in Kursk.

Ukraine stunned the Kremlin by sweeping into the Kursk region in August, seizing nearly 1,400 square kilometers of Russian territory. With Trump promising to end the war upon entering office, Moscow could be forced to exchange land it seized in Ukraine for Kursk territory should it fail to push Ukrainian forces out in time.

Putin has sent tens of thousands of Russian troops to Kursk who are mounting wave after wave of counterattacks, a source on Ukraine's General Staff said. Russia has regained about 800 square kilometers in Kursk or about 40 percent of the territory Ukraine seized, the source said.

Zelenskiy said that Ukrainian troops are inflicting large-scale losses on Russian forces in Kursk. Russia has recently been losing as many as 1,500 troops a day to injury and death across the entire theater of the war, the most since the invasion began in February 2022, Ukrainian and Western officials said.

"Russia hasn't suffered such losses as it is now suffering in Kursk," Zelenskiy said.

Russia has recruited more than 11,000 North Korean troops to help it take back Kursk territory. The North Korean troops reportedly arrived last month though it is unclear if they have taken part in fighting yet.

The United States and the United Kingdom reportedly gave permission this week to Ukraine to strike inside Russia with ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles respectively. The missiles are precision, tactical weapons designed to hit command-and-control centers, logistics and arms depots near the front.

Ukraine has already used the missiles to strike in Kursk and the neighboring region of Belgorod.

Russian Advances

Meanwhile, Russian ground forces continue to make incremental advances in eastern Ukraine, including near the town of Velyka Novosilka, according to Deep State, an open-source organization with ties to the Ukrainian Army, and confirmed by other analysts.

Ukraine has been struggling to hold back the Russian advances due to a lack of manpower, raising concern about a possible breakthrough. While Russia is losing forces at a greater rate, the Kremlin is able to quickly replace them thanks to lucrative wages and incentives.

Putin on November 23 widened those incentives, signing a law permitting the cancellation of debt for new army recruits volunteering to fight in Ukraine.

The new law allows the state to forgive up to 10 million rubles ($95,835) of debt for those signing contracts with the Defense Ministry to fight in Ukraine for at least a year, beginning on December 1.

The law applies to all potential recruits who have had debt collection proceedings opened against them before December 1. The maximum debt forgiveness is several times the average annual salary in Russia's provinces.

Valeriy Zaluzhniy, the former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, said in an interview published on November 23 that new technological advances will prevent a "serious breakthrough" at the front.

Ukraine and Russia have been rapidly developing reconnaissance and strike drones as well as electronic warfare weapons. The technology advancements have helped Ukraine partially compensate for its lack of manpower.

In the interview, Zaluzhniy said that Russia will struggle to expand the front line and break through because it would require huge resources "which the Russians no longer have."

Trump Presidency

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet his counterparts from the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized nations outside Rome on November 25-26 to discuss the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

It will be the last G7 meeting for the Biden administration, which is seeking to ensure that support for Ukraine is sustained when Trump enters office in January.

Trump has criticized aid to Ukraine, raising questions whether he will continue support should a peace deal not be reached.

The president-elect met with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Florida on November 22 to discuss Ukraine and other issues facing the alliance.

Meanwhile, Trump is reportedly considering Richard Grenell, his former intelligence chief, for the new post of special envoy for the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Zelenskiy told reporters that the war could end next year if Ukraine continues to get strong Western support. Zelenskiy spoke with media following the Grain From Ukraine Summit in Kyiv. Ukraine is one of the largest exporters of grains to world markets.

Prior to the conference, Zelenskiy visited a memorial to the victims of the Holodomor, the man-made famine orchestrated by the Soviet government in the 1930s that led to the deaths of millions of Ukrainians.

In a clear reference to Putin's war against Ukraine, Zelenskiy said: "There is something we know for certain. They wanted to destroy us. To kill us. To subjugate us. They failed."

With reporting by Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-kursk-russia-war-loses- territory/33213231.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 (23 November 2024)

23.11.2024

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the operation to neutralise an enemy group, which broke into the territory of Kursk region.

The units of the Sever Group of Forces Group of Forces engaged formations of 41st, 47th, and 115th mechanised brigades, 5th, 17th tank brigades, 82nd Air Assault Brigade, 36th Marines Brigade, 112th, 117th, and 129th territorial defence brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Aleksandria, Gornal, Daryino, Kruglenkoye, Leonidovka, Mirny, Nizhny Klin, Nikolayevo-Daryno, Novoivanovka, Plyokhov, and Sverdlikovo.

Operational-Tactical and Army aviation and artillery inflicted fire damage on enemy manpower and hardware near Aleksandria, Viktorovka, Guyevo, Daryino, Zelyony Shlyakh, Kazachaya Loknya, Kurilovka, Lebedevka, Leonidovo, Malaya Loknya, Martynovka, Melovy, Nikolayevka, Nikolsky, Staraya Sorochina, Sudzha, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye, as well as Basovka, Belovody, Zhuravka, Loknya, Miropolye, and Yunakovka in the Sumy region.

The AFU losses were over 360 troops during the day. Russian troops destroyed two armoured fighting vehicles, German-made Marder and Swedish-made CV-90 combat vehicles, two armoured fighting vehicles, 25 motor vehicles, three artillery guns, eight mortars, and two electronic warfare stations.

Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk region, the AFU losses amounted to more than 35,050 troops, 215 tanks, 149 infantry fighting vehicles, 120 armoured personnel carriers, 1,192 armoured fighting vehicles, 1,017 motor vehicles, 300 artillery guns, 40 MLRS launchers, including 11 of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, 13 anti-aircraft missile launchers, seven transport-loading vehicles, 70 EW stations, 13 counter-battery warfare radars, four air defence radars, 27 units of engineering and other materiel, including 13 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, six armoured recovery vehicles, and one command post vehicle.

The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.

Department for Media Affairs and Information

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During the Operation of Our Grain From Ukraine Program, We Have Managed to Save 20 Million People from Hunger - Speech by the President at the Third International Grain From Ukraine Conference

President of Ukraine

23 November 2024 - 15:38

Dear participants, our dear guests - of our Ukrainian state - ladies and gentlemen, all attendees!

I am pleased that we have gathered for the third time here, in Kyiv, in Ukraine, to support one of our most important and symbolic initiatives - the Grain From Ukraine program.

The program is working really successfully and will continue to expand. I want to thank everyone who makes this possible.

Today, important figures, important volumes are being announced here, which represent the most important thing - the real lives of people: children, families in different parts of the world. And it's not just Europe, of course, which is very important for us. But Africa and Asia - the entire world. These are the countries that we have really helped. Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen.

Now there was a very sensitive video. It was Nigeria and Gaza and so on. Many parts of the world. And I am very pleased, and I want to express my gratitude. And I would like us to applaud the whole team, all the countries that provide all this - such support for people. They bring life to people. Thank you very much!

Overall, during the operation of our Grain From Ukraine program, we have managed to save 20 million people from hunger. And this is solely due to one of our humanitarian programs.

In total, Ukraine's food exports feed 400 million people in 100 countries of the world.

Ukraine is one of the world's largest contributors to food security. And we maintain this status despite everything. Despite this colonial challenge from the Russian Federation. This war is a war against the lives of Ukrainians, against our people, our families.

I want to remind you that the full-scale Russian invasion began, among other things, with the Russian fleet blockading Ukrainian ports. This was the starting point. And Russia was well aware of the consequences of this. They wanted those consequences, of course, the terrible outcome for the whole world - not just for Ukraine.

They wanted global food prices to rise. And this was not just a desire for more money, more profits. This certainly is the case, and it was the case in Russia. But then it was primarily about power. If they can create a food catastrophe, it means they can subjugate a nation that is dependent on food imports - any food. This is an extremely sensitive issue for most African nations, for a significant number of people in Asia. And in Europe or in America, the question of prices is always a question of stability in this or that region. And stability is important for people's lives.

That is why it is so important that we continue to stand together in defending food security, the security of food supply routes and other critical export goods.

Solely during the operation of the food export corridor in our Black Sea - from July of last year to this month - 321 infrastructure facilities in our ports have been damaged by Russian missiles and Iranian drone' strikes. More than 20 vessels - ordinary civilian vessels - were also damaged in the strikes. And we are talking about other countries' vessels. It is not about Ukrainian vessels. More than 60 targeted strikes were aimed specifically at food infrastructure.

Through this war against Ukraine, Russia has shown that there are no truly distant countries in the world. Everything in the world is now strongly interconnected. There is no distance. There is none.

Food prices in Egypt, Libya, Nigeria, and other countries of Africa and the African continent depend directly on the ability of farmers and agribusinesses in Ukraine to function properly. The speed with which we can clear our fields of Russian mines determines how quickly the food market can return to its normal stability. And here, of course, I would like to thank our people, our farmers - we have very little time for this gratitude during the war. First of all, we mention our priority - our army, and this is only fair. But I want to tell you: because of this war, because of the heavy mining of our lands, the large amount of land - we are talking about hundreds of thousands of hectares - a significant number of people were injured, but the farmers continued to work, continued to do all this, despite the technical lack of equipment in Ukraine to demine such volumes. I want to thank all the farmers, all the people in the world who have been fighting against hunger around the world. Thank you very much!

And for Ukraine, it is important to remind everyone of this on these very days, now, when we commemorate all the victims of the large-scale and artificial famine in Ukraine, the Holodomors of different times. Primarily the Holodomor of 1932-1933, which was orchestrated against our people by the then-Moscow authorities. More than 90 years have passed, but the memory of this in Ukrainian families has not and will not fade because millions of people died. We should certainly value every person, tens, thousands, hundreds of thousands. But when it comes to the Holodomor, it is a real genocide because millions of people died.

We have not forgotten that it all happened. And we must do everything to prevent Russia, again because of its colonial ambitions, or anyone else from creating similar catastrophes that happened in Ukraine - similar catastrophes around the world.

I want to thank everyone who is here today. I thank all the diplomatic representatives, all our guests, for honoring the victims of the Holodomor. Thank you for standing with Ukraine at such an important moment.

Glory to Ukraine!

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The President: Without a Clear Stance from Major Countries, Agreements with Putin Will Amount to Mere Stalling Tactics

President of Ukraine

23 November 2024 - 20:23

The G20 Summit in Brazil was held with limited support for Ukraine. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his meeting with journalists at the Third International Grain from Ukraine Summit.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that the majority of the Brazilian people supports Ukraine and thanked them for it. At the same time, Lula da Silva, the President of Brazil, the country currently holding the G20 Presidency and hosting the Summit, showed a weak position on the war.

"If we want good, normal relations between our nations, between our peoples, then, we should probably support people first, not aggressors, leaders of aggression in the world, like Putin, like today's modern Russia," the President said.

According to the President, the weakness shown during the G20 Summit allowed the Russian dictator to hit Ukraine with new missiles during the G20 leaders meeting.

"I do not believe that populism can stop Putin. I do not believe that cheap energy resources can protect your freedom for a long time. I believe this is a wrong step," the Head of State said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy also stressed that when there are strong statements, calls and steps, the Russian dictator will not be able to act as he does now.

In addition, the President noted that Ukraine has raised the issue of reforming the UN Security Council due to its ineffectiveness.

"Everyone is talking about it, but the UN Security Council reform is not happening. There are actors who do not want any reforms, because otherwise they will have less influence," the Head of State said.

The President added that every two or three months, Putin escalates the frontline situation in order to raise the stakes and avoid sitting down at the negotiating table. Without a clear stance from major countries - the United States, Brazil, Asian and African states - agreements with Putin will amount to mere stalling tactics and further intimidation by Russia. At the same time, all the steps proposed by Ukraine to end the war are based on the UN Charter. Our country hopes that our partners will support them.

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Ukraine Is Ready to Share Technologies, Military Experiences and Processing Methods with African Countries - the President

President of Ukraine

23 November 2024 - 18:49

Ukraine is strengthening its presence on the African continent. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his meeting with journalists from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Senegal, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Guinea, Chad, Kenya and Brazil on the sidelines of the Third International Summit on Food Security Grain from Ukraine.

According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, it was decided to open 10 more embassies in African countries, seven of which are already in operation and three will be opened in the near future.

The President emphasized that Ukraine would remain committed to food security despite any Russian attacks and blockades. At the same time, the Ukrainian side is also interested in strengthening economic ties.

"We are interested in the economy, so we have set a task to open new grain warehouses - hubs for storing various food products - in parallel with the opening of embassies. We are talking about bilateral relations with various African countries that are interested in this. We don't want to just stock up on food. We want to share technologies, processing methods, our skills in land cultivation, and we want to exchange experiences with your countries," the President said.

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Defense Cooperation and Humanitarian Initiatives: the President met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic

President of Ukraine

23 November 2024 - 18:25

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Jan Lipavsky, who took part in the Third International Summit on Food Security, Grain from Ukraine, in Kyiv.

"We are glad that we have good relations at the level of leaders and strong ties between our nations. Thank you for standing with us since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. There are many initiatives on your part to help Ukraine, including the one on artillery. We are grateful for everything," the President said.

During the meeting, the parties discussed defense assistance, the progress of the initiative to supply artillery shells, and cooperation between Ukraine and the Czech Republic in countering Russian disinformation.

In addition, Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the Czech Republic's active participation in Ukraine's recovery, thanking in particular for the initiative to increase funding for the National Ukraine Recovery Program after 2025, which is aimed at restoring critical infrastructure.

During the meeting, the parties also agreed on the next steps to further develop bilateral cooperation, including future contacts at the highest level.

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Zelenskiy Calls For More Air-Defense Systems For Ukraine

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service November 24, 2024

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on November 24 his country "needs more air-defense systems" to protect its people as Russia continues to target Ukraine with aerial bombs, combat drones, and missiles.

"Strengthening the protection of our skies is absolutely critical," Zelenskiy wrote on social media, adding that Kyiv was "actively working" with its partners on improving the country's air defenses.

Russia has launched more than 800 guided aerial bombs, around 460 strike drones, and over 20 missiles of various types against Ukraine over the past week, according to Zelenskiy.

Both Ukraine and Russia on November 24 reported repelling dozens of drones from the other side overnight.

Ukrainian military said early in the morning that its air defenses shot down 50 of 73 Russian drones, with more than 10 of the intercepted drones targeting the capital, Kyiv. The Ukrainian Air Force added that it lost track of 19 drones and four more were still in the air.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said the air-raid alert lasted for more than three hours as the drones "were flying from different directions" toward the city.

Russia's Defense Ministry reported its air-defense systems destroyed 34 drones overnight, including 27 over the Kursk region bordering Ukraine. The ministry did not provide information about any damage or casualties caused by the strikes.

Ukrainian forces swept into the Kursk region in a surprise offensive in August, seizing nearly 1,400 square kilometers of Russian territory. But Kyiv has since lost about 40 percent of the territory it captured in Kursk, according to a source in Ukraine's General Staff.

"At most, we controlled about 1,376 square kilometers, now of course this territory is smaller. The enemy is increasing its counterattacks," the source was quoted by news agencies as saying.

The source said Kyiv now controls approximately 800 square kilometer in Kursk and "will hold this territory for as long as is militarily appropriate."

The United States and the United Kingdom reportedly gave permission to Ukraine recently to strike inside Russia with ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles, respectively. The missiles are precision tactical weapons designed to hit command-and-control centers, logistics, and arms depots near the front.

Ukraine has already used the missiles to strike in Kursk and the neighboring region of Belgorod.

France also joined the United States and Britain in signaling to Ukraine that it is allowed use long-range weapons against targets on Russian territory.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in an interview with the BBC that Ukraine could fire French long-range missiles into Russia "in the logics of self-defense." But he would not confirm if French weapons had already been used.

With reporting by Reuters, dpa, and the BBC

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-invasion- volodymyr-zelenskiy-kursk/33213944.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Russia Must Feel That Every Step It Takes to Expand the War Has Consequences for It - Address by the President

President of Ukraine

24 November 2024 - 20:08

Dear Ukrainians! And all our partners!

As we come to the end of the week - the week in which Russia took yet another step to expand the war by striking Ukraine with a new missile - it's important for us to acknowledge and thank everyone who has taken new steps to support our nation, our people, and our life. Ukraine has friends. Ukraine has those it can rely on, and because of this, we are able to respond to Russian terror and defend lives.

This week brought new defense packages. Denmark committed close to a billion kroner - funds that will support our defense industry. Norway has prepared the first tranche, which, following the Danish model, will support arms production, specifically production in Ukraine. Sweden will also contribute funding following Denmark's model. The United States has approved a $275 million package, including munitions for HIMARS, as well as Javelins, drones, and mines that we urgently need to defend positions, particularly in the Donetsk region. Germany has provided a new package as well. There is a new NASAMS from Canada. I am deeply grateful for every single step like this. Sanctions are no less important - this week we have new US sanctions against Russia, very effective ones against the banking sector. These measures significantly weaken Putin's system, and we need more of them. He must constantly lose the means to finance its war - week after week. And no matter how much Russia tries to blackmail everyone it can, we must not lose our resolve, we must keep pushing, and only in this way will real peace become closer.

Today, Ukraine's Security Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs presented media agencies with fragments of the Russian missile that struck Dnipro. Experts are currently analyzing the evidence and working with our partners to establish all the details and specifications of this missile, and to find a response together to this latest Russian escalation. The world has air defense systems capable of countering such threats. Everyone must focus on this. Russia must feel that every step it takes to expand the war has consequences for it.

Those consequences are reflected in our actions at the front, in the actions of our warriors, our units. They are also reflected in the actions of the world, in how the world responds. Putin cannot be given a single week to adapt or find countermeasures. We must consistently do everything to force Russia into seeking peace - true peace. This can only be achieved through two things: helping Ukraine and pressuring Russia. I thank everyone around the world who is doing just that - standing with us, with Ukraine, with the Ukrainian people. I thank all our people who are fighting and working for the sake of Ukraine.

Glory to Ukraine!

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Trump 'incredibly concerned' about escalation of munitions in Russia-Ukraine conflict, aide says

By Ken Bredemeier November 24, 2024

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is "incredibly concerned" about the escalating use of different types of weaponry in Russia's nearly three-year war on Ukraine, his designated choice for national security adviser said Sunday.

Michael Waltz, now a Florida congressman, told "Fox News Sunday" that the decision by the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden to allow Ukraine to use anti-personnel land mines to try to halt Russia's battlefield ground troop advances has turned the fight in eastern Ukraine into something akin to "World War I trench warfare."

Waltz said the decision "needs to be within a broader framework to end this conflict."

"It is just an absolute meat grinder of people and personnel on that front," he said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said last week the United States is sending the anti-personnel mines to Ukraine because of the changing nature of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the main battlefield.

He said Russian ground troops, rather than forces more protected in armored carriers, are leading Moscow's advance, so Ukraine has "a need for things that can help slow down that effort."

Waltz said Trump, who takes office January 20, is concerned about the carnage but said that in the broad picture, the question that must be preeminent is, "How do we restore deterrence and how do we bring peace?"

"We need to, we need to bring this to a responsible end," he added.

Trump has often claimed that he would end the Russia-Ukraine war even before he is inaugurated as the 47th U.S. president. Trump has never said how and refused to say during a campaign debate in September that he wants Ukraine to win.

Biden gave Ukraine authority to launch Washington-supplied missiles with a 300-kilometer range deep into Russia in response to North Korea's dispatch of 10,000 troops to fight alongside Moscow's forces. Within two days, Kyiv targeted weapons warehouses in Russia's Bryansk region with the missiles.

Then, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a new experimental rocket, targeting Dnipro in Ukraine's eastern region.

"This is a clear escalation," Waltz said. "Where is this escalation going? How do we get both sides to the table" for peace negotiations?

Waltz, whose appointment does not require Senate confirmation, said he has been meeting with Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security adviser. Waltz said that any U.S. adversary "is wrong" if it thinks it can "play one side off against the other" with the switch in power in Washington from Biden, a Democrat, and his long-time political foe, Trump, a Republican.

Waltz said he is "confident" Trump will restore peace "in pretty short order" in the multiple conflicts in the Middle East involving Israel fighting Iran-funded militants  Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

But months of cease-fire talks on the conflict in Gaza are stalemated and talks to reach a halt in the Hezbollah-Israel fighting have yet to produce a deal.

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BERKELEY, Calif., Nov. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Algorized, an AI-powered platform pioneering advanced people-sensing and positioning software platform, today announced that it has been named to Fast Companys fourth annual Next Big Things in Tech list, honoring emerging technology that has a profound impact for industriesfrom education and sustainability to robotics and artificial intelligence.

This year, 138 technologies developed by established companies, startups, or research teams are featured for their potential to revolutionize the lives of consumers, businesses, and society overall. While not all technologies are available in the market yet, each is reaching key milestones to have a proven impact in the next five years. This is Algorizeds second nomination, following last years recognition in the Fast Companys World Changing Ideas awards.

Its an honor to have Algorizeds innovations recognized by Fast Company, said Natalya Lopareva, CEO of Algorized. This recognition is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our entire team. We are developing an AI platform, built on sensor fusion and multi-sensor modalities, that can be seamlessly integrated with existing ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless sensor infrastructure. Were excited to see our technology making such a profound impact on safety, efficiency, and human-machine interaction, ultimately benefiting society as a whole.

The Next Big Things in Tech provides a fascinating glimpse at near- and long-term technological breakthroughs across a variety of sectors, says Brendan Vaughan, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. Spanning everything from semiconductors to agricultural gene editing, the companies featured in this years list are tackling some of the worlds most pressing and vexing problems.

CEO Natalya Lopareva led the evolution of the company from research at the University of Zurich (ZHAW), where a team spent months analyzing buildings, environments, and how children and adults breathe and move. The company has now formed strategic partnerships with chip manufacturers and conducted pilot programs in the automotive and industrial automation sectors.

Click here to see the final list.

About Fast Company

Fast Company is the only media brand fully dedicated to the vital intersection of business, innovation, and design, engaging the most influential leaders, companies, and thinkers on the future of business. The editor-in-chief is Brendan Vaughan. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with our sister publication, Inc., and can be found online at fastcompany.com.

About Algorized

Founded on extensive academic research, Algorized enables groundbreaking sensing and positioning applications through a software-only upgrade to existing commodity sensors. The platform leverages proprietary machine learning algorithms to access a wealth of data, facilitating real-time positioning and vital sign detection in any environment. The company is pioneering innovative solutions for sectors ranging from automotive to human-machine interaction in robotics and beyond. Visit Algorized for more information.

Contact:

Megan Liu

megan.liu@algorized.com
NEW YORK, Nov. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are redefining the dynamics of global markets with their strategic foresight and investment discipline, according to Salar Ghahramani of Global Policy Advisors (GPA). Speaking recently with Bloomberg about the impact of the recent U.S. elections on global investment dynamics, Ghahramani highlighted the growing sophistication of SWFs. He emphasized their ability to navigate evolving geopolitical and economic landscapes, solidifying their role as key players in shaping the future of investment.

SWFs are no longer just passive investors. They are actively dictating terms to fund managers, demanding accountability, and deploying resources with long-term goals in mind, Ghahramani notes. This approach reflects a blend of strategic savvy and a nuanced understanding of global priorities.

Highlighting SWFs capacity to align financial returns with national strategic objectives, Ghahramani pointed to recent trends in asset allocation. Many funds are focusing on technologies and industries critical to geopolitical advantage and global competitiveness, a shift that underscores their dual economic and geostrategic roles.

With trillions under management globally, SWFs are leveraging their scale to secure favorable terms and influence market behaviors. The evolution of sovereign wealth funds is a testament to their adaptability and growing leadership. Theyre not merely market participantstheyre shaping market norms, Ghahramani added.

About Global Policy Advisors



Global Policy Advisors LLC is a boutique sovereign wealth fund advisory and consultancy to corporations, boards of directors, and institutional investors  including hedge funds, public pension funds, and SWFs. GPA provides research and advisory services in the intersection of law, policy, and finance, with a focus on governance, international and regulatory affairs, and public policy insights. 
NEW YORK, Nov. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized stockholder rights law firm, is investigating potential claims against Franklin Resources, Inc. (Franklin or the Company) (NYSE: BEN) on behalf of Franklin stockholders. Our investigation concerns whether Franklin has violated the federal securities laws and/or engaged in other unlawful business practices.

Click here to participate in the 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, Franklins stock price fell $2.84 per share, or 12.56%, to close at $19.78 per share on August 21, 2024.

If you purchased or otherwise acquired Franklin shares and suffered a loss, are a long-term stockholder, have information, would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Brandon Walker or Marion Passmore by email at investigations@bespc.com, by telephone at (212) 355-4648, or by filling out this contact form. There is no cost or obligation to you.

About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.:

Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York and California. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com . Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Contact Information:
NEW YORK, Nov. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized stockholder rights law firm, announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Lilium N.V. (Lilium or the Company) (OTCPK:LILM) in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Lilium securities between June 11, 2024 and November 3, 2024, both dates inclusive (the Class Period). Investors have until January 6, 2025 to apply to the Court to be appointed as lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.

Click here to participate in the action.

On October 24, 2024, before the market opened, Lilium disclosed that it had been unable to raise sufficient additional funds to continue the operations of the Companys principal operating wholly owned German subsidiaries. As a result, the managing directors of the subsidiaries determined that they are overindebted and are, or will, become unable to pay their existing liabilities. The Company disclosed that, subject to certain limited exceptions, the Company will lose control of the subsidiaries.

On this news, Liliums stock price fell $0.33, or 61.6%, to close at $0.21 per share on October 24, 2024, on unusually heavy trading volume. The Companys stock price continued to fall in the subsequent trading day, falling $0.06, or 28.8%, to close at $0.15 per share on October 25, 2024, on unusually heavy trading volume.

Then, on November 4, 2024, before the market opened, the Company reported that, following the insolvency of the Companys subsidiaries, Lilium had not been able to raise sufficient additional funds to conduct its ongoing business consistent with past practice. The Company disclosed that funding for the Company is not feasible. As a consequence, the Company would be obliged to file for insolvency.

On this news, Liliums stock price fell $0.015, or 15.5%, to close at $0.083 per share on November 4, 2024, on unusually heavy trading volume. The Companys stock price continued to fall in the subsequent trading day, falling $0.031, or 36.97%, to close at $0.052 per share on November 5, 2024, on unusually heavy trading volume.

The complaint filed in this class action alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Companys business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose to investors: (1) Defendants overstated the progress of the Companys fundraising activities; (2) Defendants overstated the likelihood and/or feasibility of obtaining sufficient funding to continue operations; (3) Defendants failed to sufficiently disclose the imminent insolvency of the Company and its subsidiaries; and (4) that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants positive statements about the Companys business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

If you purchased or otherwise acquired Lilium shares and suffered a loss, are a long-term stockholder, have information, would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Brandon Walker or Marion Passmore by email at investigations@bespc.com, telephone at (212) 355-4648, or by filling out this contact form. There is no cost or obligation to you.

About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.:

Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York, California, and South Carolina. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com . Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Contact Information:

Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.

Brandon Walker, Esq.
Xinjiang launches lab program focusing on sci-tech development of coal resources

Xinhua) 10:25, November 25, 2024

An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 27, 2024 shows the operation site of the No.1 open-pit coal mine of Xinjiang Hongshaquan Energy Co., Ltd of China Energy Group in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Ding Lei)

URUMQI, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Experts from China's leading academic institution launched a laboratory program this week in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to address scientific and technological challenges in the local coal mining industry.

The lab, named after Xinjiang's landmark Tianshan Mountains, is led by the Chinese Academy of Engineering. It will leverage Xinjiang's abundant coal resources and geographical advantages to focus on such key areas as safe and intelligent coal mining, clean and efficient processing and utilization, water resource protection and ecological restoration in coal mining areas, the integration of coal with renewable energy, and the exploration and development of coalbed methane resources.

Xinjiang has 2.19 trillion tonnes of coal resources, accounting for approximately 40 percent of the country's total. However, compared to other coal-rich provinces, the remote region in northwest China has lagged behind in terms of exploration, efficient utilization and the coal-to-green transition.

Academician Peng Suping, who leads the expert team, said that the goal is to establish a world-class sci-tech platform that can provide prompt solutions to technical challenges in local industrial chains and promote large-scale, safe, intelligent, efficient and environmentally friendly coal resource development.

Peng is an expert in the fields of mine engineering geology and geophysical prospecting. He also leads the State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, which is administered by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

A worker operates a machine to load coal onto a train at the Zhundong open-pit coal mine of Xinjiang Zhundong Energy Co., Ltd of China Energy Group in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Sept. 27, 2024. (Xinhua/Ding Lei)

The new lab is located in the regional capital of Urumqi and has received support from three local colleges and universities. Numerous large domestic enterprises have been eager to participate in its establishment.

In 2023, Xinjiang's raw coal output reached 457 million tonnes, an increase of 10.7 percent compared to the previous year. The increased output secured the top position among major coal-producing provinces. Its coal export volume surpassed 100 million tonnes for the first time last year.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
Press Release

Atos receives non-binding offer from the French State to acquire its Advanced Computing activities for an enterprise value of 500 million and up to 625 million including earn-outs

Exclusive negotiations with the French State for the potential acquisition of 100% of BDS's Advanced Computing activities

Proposed enterprise value of 500 million and up to 625 million including earn-outs

Previous non-binding offer sent by the French State was on a wider perimeter including Mission Critical System and Cybersecurity Products businesses, in addition to the Advanced Computing business

Exclusivity granted until May 31, 2025

Target to sign a Share Purchase Agreement by May 31, 2025 upon reception of customary commercial, employee and administrative authorizations

Initial payment of 150 million to be made available upon signing of the Share Purchase Agreement





Commitment to launch a formal sale process for BDS's Mission-Critical Systems and Cybersecurity Products businesses

Impact of the sale of Advanced Computing on the current financial restructuring process and timetable

2027 financial leverage 1 expected to be between 1.8x and 2.1x depending on the outcome of the ongoing 233 million rights issue

expected to be between 1.8x and 2.1x depending on the outcome of the ongoing 233 million rights issue Supplement to the prospectus relating to the ongoing 233 million rights issue to be filed with the French Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF), in accordance with applicable regulations

Subscription period of the ongoing rights issue to be extended, in accordance with the indicative timetable that will be included in the supplement

Indicative closing date of the financial restructuring transactions still planned by year-end or early January 2025

Paris, France  November 25, 2024  Further to its press release dated October 7, 2024, Atos SE (Atos or the Company) announces it has received a non-binding offer from the French State for the potential acquisition of 100% of the Advanced Computing activities of its BDS division, based on an enterprise value of 500 million, to be potentially increased to 625 million including earn-outs.

Atos Advanced Computing business regroups the High-Performance Computing (HPC) & Quantum as well as the Business Computing & Artificial intelligence divisions. The business currently employs approximatively 2,500 employees and generated revenue of circa 570 million in 2023.

The offer received from the French State provides for an exclusivity period until May 31, 2025. If the exclusive negotiations lead to an agreement and subject to obtaining the customary commercial, employee and administrative authorizations, a Share Purchase Agreement may be signed by that date. An initial payment of 150 million is expected to be made available to Atos upon signing of the Share Purchase Agreement.

As agreed upon with financial creditors, a valuation of the disposed perimeter will be carried by an independent expert appointed by the Company to assess notably that the terms of the transaction reflects a fair market value. In addition, in accordance with the judgement approving the Companys accelerated safeguard plan and in the absence of a substantial change in the objectives and resources of the plan, the transaction is subject to the information of the specialized commercial court of Nanterre via the SELARL AJRS, represented by Mr Thibaut Martinat, acting as plan supervisor (commissaire a lexecution du plan).

In addition, Atos would commit to launch a formal sale process for its Cybersecurity products and Mission Critical Systems, which generated revenue of circa 340 million in 2023.

Impact of the sale of Advanced Computing on the current financial restructuring process and timetable

The accelerated safeguard plan, approved by the classes of affected parties on 27 September 2024 and by the specialized commercial court of Nanterre on 24 October 2024, included the possibility of the disposal of the Groups Advanced Computing activities. The forecasts presented in the accelerated safeguard plan, however, did not take this disposal into account considering the ongoing discussions.

On the basis of an enterprise value of 500 million, the proposed transaction is expected to lead to a 2027 financial leverage2 of between 1.8x and 2.1x, depending on the outcome of the ongoing 233 million rights issue.

The Company will file with the French Autorite des Marches Financiers (the AMF) a supplement to the prospectus relating to the ongoing 233 million rights issue, approved by the AMF under number 24-474 on 7 November 2024:

Investors who have already placed subscription orders will have the option of withdrawing them for two (2) trading days following the approval of the supplement by the AMF.

The subscription period for the rights issue, which was supposed to close on 25 November 2024, will be extended, in accordance with the indicative timetable that will be included in the supplement.

The indicative closing date of the financial restructuring transactions is still planned by year-end or early January 2025.

The Company will continue to inform the market in due course of the next steps of its financial restructuring.

*

Atos SE confirms that information that could be qualified as inside information within the meaning of Regulation No. 596/2014 of 16 April 2014 on market abuse and that may have been given on a confidential basis to its financial creditors has been published to the market, either in the past or in the context of this press release, with the aim of reestablishing equal access to information relating to the Atos Group between the investors.

***

Disclaimer

This document contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including references, concerning the Groups expected growth and profitability in the future which may significantly impact the expected performance indicated in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are linked to factors out of the control of the Company and not precisely estimated, such as market conditions or competitors behaviors. Any forward-looking statements made in this document are statements about Atoss beliefs and expectations and should be evaluated as such. Forward-looking statements include statements that may relate to Atoss plans, objectives, strategies, goals, future events, future revenues or synergies, or performance, and other information that is not historical information. Actual events or results may differ from those described in this document due to a number of risks and uncertainties that are described within the 2023 Universal Registration Document filed with the Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF) on May 24, 2024 under the registration number D.24-0429, in the June 30, 2024 half-year financial report published by Atos SE on August 5, 2024 and in the amendment to the 2023 Universal Registration Document filed on 7 November 2024 with the Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF). Atos does not undertake, and specifically disclaims, any obligation or responsibility to update or amend any of the information above except as otherwise required by law.

This document does not contain or constitute an offer of Atoss shares for sale or an invitation or inducement to invest in Atoss shares in France, the United States of America or any other jurisdiction. This document includes information on specific transactions that shall be considered as projects only. In particular, any decision relating to the information or projects mentioned in this document and their terms and conditions will only be made after the ongoing in-depth analysis considering tax, legal, operational, finance, HR and all other relevant aspects have been completed and will be subject to general market conditions and other customary conditions, including governance bodies and shareholders approval as well as appropriate processes with the relevant employee representative bodies in accordance with applicable laws.

About Atos

Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with circa 82,000 employees and annual revenue of circa 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 Atos is 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.

Contacts

Investor relations:

David Pierre-Kahn | investors@atos.net | +33 6 28 51 45 96

Sofiane El Amri | investors@atos.net | +33 6 29 34 85 67

Individual shareholders: 0805 65 00 75

Press contact: globalprteam@atos.net

1 Ratio net debt pre-IFRS16 over EBITDA pre-IFR16; EBITDA computed as OMDA pre-IFRS16 minus anticipated RRI (restructuring, rationalization, integration) costs and Other changes

2 Ratio net debt pre-IFRS16 over EBITDA pre-IFR16; EBITDA computed as OMDA pre-IFRS16 minus anticipated RRI (restructuring, rationalization, integration) costs and Other changes

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HONG KONG, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On November 12, Mr. Song Xiangqian, founding partner of Harvest Capital, was interviewed by Caixin in Beijing. During the interview, he emphasized that a deep understanding of economic cyclical changes is crucial for predicting the future.

Founded in 2007, Harvest Capital has a cumulative fund scale of nearly RMB 30 billion and has repeatedly been honored as Best Investment Institution in Chinas New Consumption Industry. Unlike other investment firms that chase trends, Harvest Capital has long focused on the consumer sector. Although often viewed as a slower sector with challenging IPO prospects, Harvest remains committed to supporting Chinas consumption, empowering national brands, engaging in everyday life, and enhancing the lives of ordinary people, solidifying its position as a leader in the field.

1. Consumer Goods Are Not Fast-Moving but Have Cyclical Resilience

Before founding Harvest Capital, Song Xiangqian accumulated extensive experience in the securities industry, holding senior positions at various financial institutions such as Everbright Securities and Guosen Securities. This background has provided him with a broad macro perspective and keen insight into economic trends and policy adjustments. Throughout his career, he has consistently focused on profound economic cycle changes.

Over the past decade, Chinas consumer market has undergone multiple transitionsfrom consumption upgrades to the wave of new consumption, and now to the current phase of consumption downgrades. Song Xiangqian explained that the emergence of consumption upgrades and new consumption was driven by human needs, aligning with Maslows hierarchy of needs. In recent years, however, due to insufficient effective demand and declining marginal consumption propensity, people have gradually shifted to affordable daily essentials, moving away from a preference for premium consumption among the middle class.

Song Xiangqian predicts that while consumption upgrades and new consumer categories will continue to emerge in Chinas market, they will not be as frequent as in the past. Since its inception, Harvest Capital has adhered to an investment philosophy centered on essential, high-frequency, and livelihood-related products. This trend-aligned strategy has enabled Harvest to develop a portfolio with numerous consumer brands, positioning itself as a prominent investor in national brands.

In todays macroeconomic climate, Song Xiangqian revealed that Harvest Capital will continue to optimize its investment strategy, with a sharper focus on cost-effective consumer categories to remain in sync with the current economic cycle.

Song Xiangqian believes that to fully understand Chinas economy and consumer market, one must venture into smaller cities and counties to grasp the needs of low- and middle-income consumers. As the consumption markets in first- and second-tier cities become saturated, the rise of county-level economies is becoming a new driver of consumer growth.

2. Finding Constants in a Changing Landscape

In 2017, Harvest Capital strategically invested in Eastroc Beverage. Four years later, Eastroc went public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, hailed as the first functional beverage stock. This investment not only yielded significant returns but also demonstrated Harvests market insight in the consumer sector. Harvest supported Eastroc in expanding its market coverage and implementing digital transformation, enhancing the brands capabilities.

Harvest also invested RMB 200 million yuan in 2019 in Lao Xiang Ji, helping it grow into Chinas largest Chinese fast-food chain by store count. Despite the vast size of Chinas catering market, there have long been no chain giants comparable to McDonalds or Starbucks globally. Song Xiangqian believes that China still has gaps in industrialization, standardization, and modernization. Achieving chain scalability requires aligning stakeholders interests and retaining strong management.

As Chinas demographic structure ages, consumption patterns will shift accordingly. Song Xiangqian stated that Harvest Capital will increasingly focus on youth-driven consumer groups, even though the silver economy (targeting elderly consumers) holds great potential but lacks market maturity. Harvests investment strategy will continue to seek constancy amid changing fundamentals of human needs.

3. The Importance of Patient Capital

In recent years, Song Xiangqian has repeatedly stressed that consumer and tech investments are not mutually exclusive. Although tech investments are currently in high demand, he pointed out signs of overheating in the tech sector, while consumer investments have remained relatively calm. Technological advancement requires sustained, systematic investment, and Harvest Capital believes that the key to economic growth lies in the steady growth of companies cash flows.

In his August article on Caixin, The Second Half of Chinas Venture Capital Industry, Song Xiangqian noted that Chinas VC industry has entered a more meticulous, real-economy-driven era, moving away from a fundraising model based solely on storytelling. Going forward, Harvest Capital aims to further transition from Harvest Capital to Harvest Industries, as Song Xiangqian hopes to evolve from investor to industrialist, advancing post-investment services and corporate management within the firm.

Ning Xiaoxin

ningxiaoxin@scharvestcap.com

+86 2151688285-817

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/92251cb6-a475-4d97-b656-8033c27d09fe
Dublin, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Europe IoT in Agriculture Market: Focus on Application, Product, and Country-Wise Analysis - Analysis and Forecast, 2023-2033" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Europe IoT in agriculture market was valued at $5.15 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach $17.85 billion by 2033

Adopting IoT technologies gives farmers and agribusinesses access to a variety of real-time data from sensors tracking weather, crop health, soil moisture, and other important variables. With the use of sophisticated analytics, this data is used to support precision farming, which lowers expenses and the environmental effect of pesticide, fertilizer, and water application while increasing quality and yield.



Additionally, IoT technology helps to solve manpower shortages and increase output levels by automating a variety of agricultural processes, from planting to harvesting. By encouraging smarter, more efficient practices, the integration of IoT in agriculture not only improves sustainability and efficiency but also increases food security by fostering, more adaptive agricultural systems that can respond to changing climatic conditions and the increasing global demand for food.







The agriculture IoT market in Europe is expanding quickly as a result of farmers and agribusinesses using technology more and more to improve efficiency, sustainability, and productivity. The Internet of Things, or IoT, is the use of networked sensors and devices to gather and process data in real-time, facilitating improved agricultural practice decision-making.



IoT solutions are increasingly indispensable in Europe, where agricultural production is critical to both food security and economic stability. Precision farming is made possible by these technologies, which provide farmers the ability to track weather patterns, crop health, and soil moisture levels. Farmers may improve crop output and quality while cutting expenses and lessening their impact on the environment by applying water, fertilizer, and pesticides more precisely.



The adoption of IoT technologies is further fueled by the European Union's emphasis on climate change adaption and sustainable farming practices. The integration of cutting-edge technologies in farming is supported by a number of initiatives and financing programs, which serve to address issues including resource management and labor shortages.



The desire for locally sourced and sustainable food is rising, which means that Europe's IoT for agriculture market is expected to grow significantly. The future of farming in the area is greatly influenced by IoT technology, which is developing smarter, more responsive agricultural systems.



How can this report add value to an organization?

Product/Innovation Strategy: The product segment helps the reader understand the different types of components available for deployment and their potential in Europe region. Moreover, the study provides the reader with a detailed understanding of the IoT in agriculture market by application on the basis of application (precision crop farming, livestock monitoring and management, indoor farming, aquaculture, and others) and product on the basis of component (hardware and software).



Growth/Marketing Strategy: The Europe IoT in agriculture market has seen major development by key players operating in the market, such as business expansion, partnership, collaboration, and joint venture. The favored strategy for the companies has been partnerships and contracts to strengthen their position in the IoT in agriculture market.



Competitive Strategy: Key players in the Europe IoT in agriculture market analyzed and profiled in the study involve major IoT in agriculture, offering companies providing IoT in agriculture for the purpose. Moreover, a detailed competitive benchmarking of the players operating in the IoT in agriculture market has been done to help the reader understand how players stack against each other, presenting a clear market landscape. Additionally, comprehensive competitive strategies such as partnerships, agreements, and collaborations will aid the reader in understanding the untapped revenue pockets in the market.



Key Market Players and Competition Synopsis

CNH Industrial N.V.

Robert Bosch GmbH

Heliospectra AB

Signify Holding

AKVA Group ASA

AGRIVI

Climate LLC

Connecterra B.V.

OSRAM GmbH

Key Attributes:





Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 86 Forecast Period 2023 - 2033 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $5.15 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2033 $17.85 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 13.2% Regions Covered Europe





Key Topics Covered:



Executive Summary



Scope and Definition



1 Markets

1.1 Trends: Current and Future Impact Assessment

1.1.1 Trends: Overview

1.1.2 Agricultural Drones

1.1.3 Autonomous Systems and Agricultural Robots

1.1.4 Blockchain for Traceability

1.2 Supply Chain Analysis

1.2.1 Value Chain Analysis

1.3 Research and Development Review

1.3.1 Patent Filing Trend (by Country, Number of Patents)

1.4 Regulatory Landscape

1.5 Market Dynamics Overview

1.5.1 Market Drivers

1.5.1.1 Increase in Demand for Agricultural Efficiency and Productivity

1.5.1.2 Advancements in Agricultural Technologies

1.5.1.3 Rise in Adoption of Precision Farming

1.5.2 Market Restraints

1.5.2.1 Lack of Trained Personnel

1.5.2.2 High Initial Investment Costs

1.5.3 Market Opportunities

1.5.3.1 Integration of IoT in Robotics

1.5.3.2 Livestock Monitoring and Management



2 Regions

2.1 Regional Summary

2.2 Drivers and Restraints

2.3 Europe

2.3.1 Regional Overview

2.3.2 Driving Factors for Market Growth

2.3.3 Factors Challenging the Market

2.3.4 Application

2.3.5 Product

2.3.6 France

2.3.7 Application

2.3.8 Product

2.3.9 Germany

2.3.10 Application

2.3.11 Product

2.3.12 U.K.

2.3.13 Application

2.3.14 Product

2.3.15 Spain

2.3.16 Application

2.3.17 Product

2.3.18 Italy

2.3.19 Application

2.3.20 Product

2.3.21 Netherlands

2.3.22 Application

2.3.23 Product

2.3.24 Denmark

2.3.25 Application

2.3.26 Product

2.3.27 Rest-of-Europe

2.3.28 Application

2.3.29 Product



3 Markets - Competitive Benchmarking & Company Profiles

3.1 Next Frontiers

3.2 Geographic Assessment

3.2.1 Overview

3.2.2 Top Products/Product Portfolio

3.2.3 Top Competitors

3.2.4 Target Customers

3.2.5 Key Personnel

3.2.6 Analyst View

3.2.7 Market Share



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/c029d9

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, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- This Nova Scotia election RTOERO is again raising issues of dignity and a better future. The national organization launched a digital campaign in Nova Scotia to urge voters, and especially seniors, to speak up on three critical issues:

environmental stewardship

geriatric healthcare

the need for a coordinated seniors strategy

We have what could become two converging crises in Canada, and frankly globally, with climate change and the aging population. We need to act in a coordinated way now, says John Cappelletti, RTOERO board chair. As a society, we watched how quickly actions could happen during the pandemicwe need that level of urgency on these issues.



Voters in Nova Scotia are invited to visit vibrantvoices.ca/provincial, where they can access a form with customizable content to send a message to their candidates.



"We're reminding voters that their voice matters, explains Jim Grieve, CEO of RTOERO. Unified advocacy sends a clear message: we want compassionate leadership and real change."



RTOERO advocates year-round for critical policy improvements. In addition to advocacy, the organization focuses several initiatives on these key priority areas, including:

Funding for research related to geriatrics and innovative solutions to support the social inclusion of older adults through the RTOERO Foundation

Scholarships for post-secondary students studying fields related to geriatrics and supporting Canadas aging population

Funding for early-career practitioners to work with the National Institute on Ageing through a program called Summer Scholars

Community grants to support and partner with local organizations to improve the lives older adults, and support environmental and other community initiatives

Webinar series for members and guests to provide deep learning on various topics related to healthy aging, advocacy, environment and more

Notes Grieve, Were asking for change, but our organization and members arent waiting for changeby working in coordinated and deeply local ways, were focused on improving the lives of our members and all Canadians.

About RTOERO

RTOERO is a bilingual trusted voice on healthy, active living in the retirement journey for Canadas education community. With 86,000+ members in 51 districts across Canada, we are the largest national provider of non-profit group health benefits for education workers and retirees. We welcome members who work in or are retired from the early years, schools and school boards, post-secondary and any other capacity in education.

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Edda Rut Bjornsdottir has been appointed as the Executive Vice President of Domestic Iceland division at Eimskip. The Domestic Iceland division includes land transport and distribution center, warehouse and cold store operations, as well as facility management. The subsidiary Sferir also falls under this division. The division employs about 400 people across 18 locations nationwide.

Edda started as the Marketing and Communications Manager at Eimskip in 2019 and has been the Executive Vice President of the Human Resources and Communications division since 2020. Before joining Eimskip, she worked at Islandsbanki for 12 years in various roles, most recently as an executive director of Sales and Business Management in the Corporate and Investment banking division. Edda holds a B.Sc. in Business Administration with a focus on Computer Science from Reykjavik University. She is the Vice Chairman of the Icelandic Federation of Trade and Services and serves on the board and executive committee of the Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise.

Harpa Hodd Sigurardottir has been appointed as the Executive Vice President of the Human Resources and Communications division, replacing Edda. Harpa has been with Eimskip since 2019 in several roles within the Human Resources and Communications division, most recently as a senior manager in Learning and Development. Before joining Eimskip, she worked in human resources at Lyfja hf. Harpa holds a B.Sc. in Psychology and an M.Sc. in Human Resource Management from the University of Iceland. The Human Resources and Communications division includes human resources, marketing, and communications. Sustainability matters, which previously belonged to this division, will be transferred to the Finance Division.

Alongside these changes, Jonina Magnusdottir, who has been the Executive Vice President of the Domestic division, is stepping down, and we thank her for her service to the Company.

The changes are effective immediately.

Vilhelm Mar orsteinsson, CEO:

"Edda Rut has been part of Eimskip's executive management since 2020 and knows the Company's operations and customers well. She has been responsible for extensive areas across the Company, and her experience and knowledge will be valuable in her new role, especially in cultivating business relationships. Exciting yet challenging projects lie ahead for the Domestic division. Customer expectations and needs are constantly evolving, and our goal is to always provide excellent service and grow with our customers nationwide.

At the same time, it is enjoyable to see Harpa step up and join the Company's executive management. Part of our journey in recent years has been to strengthen the Company's culture and develop its human resources, and Harpa has played a key role in that journey. Harpa has worked with managers and employees across the Company, especially on projects related to international offices, and has led the Company's international leadership program.

I thank Jonina for her contribution and wish her well. At the same time Im looking forward to working with Edda and Harpa in their new roles."

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SAMALAE'ULU, Samoa, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Phemex, a powerhouse in futures trading, is thrilled to announce the Thanksgiving Trade-a-thon, a special event designed to express gratitude to its loyal community. With 100,000 USDT in prizes available, traders can maximize their profit potential while enjoying quality time with loved ones. Participants can join the fun by registering, trading, and inviting friends.

Event duration: November 22 - December 4, 2024, 8:00 (UTC)

How to participate & rewards: Rankings will be based on trading volume. Heres what participants can win:

Turkey Master (Rank 1): Apple Family Bundle (Vision Pro, MacBook Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods)

Apple Family Bundle (Vision Pro, MacBook Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods) Pump No Dump (Ranks 2 - 5): 1,000 USDT each

1,000 USDT each FOMO Fund (Ranks 6 - 55): 50 USDT each

50 USDT each Gravy Grant (Ranks 56 - 105): 20 USDT each

Special prizes:

Newcomer bonus: The first 500 new users registering and completing KYC during the event will receive a 100 USDT Spot Voucher after reaching a 200 USDT trading volume.

The first 500 new users registering and completing KYC during the event will receive a 100 USDT Spot Voucher after reaching a 200 USDT trading volume. Lucky stars: 10 participants will be randomly selected to receive a Phemex gift package.

10 participants will be randomly selected to receive a Phemex gift package. Gratitude reward: All participants will share a 10,000 USDT Trading Bonus prize pool.



Join this profitable Thanksgiving celebration and make the most of the festive season with Phemex!

If you haven't done so, this is a great time to join Phemex as the leading exchange lists new spot pairs every day, giving you the edge to get ahead in your crypto trading journey. With unique features that cannot be found elsewhere, Phemex aims to make trading as customizable and personalized as it can be.

About Phemex:

Phemex is a leading cryptocurrency exchange that specializes in spot and derivatives trading. It features 140+ USDT-margined contract trading pairs with up to 100x leverage that all support Hedge Mode, alongside 300+ popular spot trading pairs. Individuals from all over the world can instantly buy, sell, and trade blockchain cryptocurrency through a user-friendly and secure platform. Phemex has released transparent Merkle-Tree Proof-of-Reserves so all users can verify on the blockchain that all funds are 100% backed on the platform. As the first exchange to publish both proof-of-reserves and proof-of-solvency through a unique, self-proving approach, Phemex stands out as one of the best and most trustworthy crypto exchanges.

Contact:

Oyku Yavuz

oyku.yavuz@phemex.com

Disclaimer: This content is provided by Phemex. 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.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1548efc9-6f3f-4218-a96f-e5625a8b6752
Bismarck, N.D., Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Find the Good Life in North Dakota is welcoming former North Dakotans home this holiday season. The national talent attraction campaign launched in June of 2022 is aimed at addressing the states workforce shortage in an innovative way.

As the holiday season approaches, the campaign will take particular interest in reaching those who may want to consider returning to their home state after moving away. Family gatherings are a perfect reminder of one of the many reasons to come home, said North Dakota Department of Commerce Tourism and Marketing Director, Sara Otte Coleman.

Find the Good Life has targeted young families, recent college graduates, veterans, and former North Dakotans (boomerangs) to attract them to key industries like healthcare, energy, manufacturing, skilled trades, and business. Using various marketing strategies, these efforts have proven highly effective generating:

More than 120 million total impressions

More than half a million paid digital and social users to the website

Nearly 4,200 leads engaged with the Relocation Help Desk

Nearly 2,400 leads in Candidate Marketplace, an innovative tool for employers

More than 1,300 potential residents connected to Community Champions

Nearly 1,300 resumes submitted

Charles Hopkins used the relocation help desk and connected with a community champion when making his decision to move from North Carolina to Valley City, North Dakota in Sept. Hes now working as a Behavior Specialist at the Sheyenne Valley Special Education Unit and loves the way of life his new hometown provides.

I appreciate the opportunity Valley City gives me to grow personally and professionally and am excited to experience new things like ice fishing and fresh farm eggs. Community members have been very positiveIve received tips on winter weather, invited to join the Valley City Young Professionals Network, played in a pool league, and welcomed with homemade food. North Dakota is a gold mine of opportunity for people to find their fit, Hopkins said.

Likewise, North Dakota natives Max and Melissa Otto moved back to their home state after living in Michigan and then Utah while Max completed his general surgery residency. They moved home in 2024 to be closer to family, but also because they missed a quieter life, hunting opportunities and legendary North Dakota sunsets.

A big part of the reason we moved home was we wanted to see family more than just two times a year during the holidays. It was important for us as we started our own family that our kids grow-up being around their grandparents. Plus, the cost of living in North Dakota is so much better and the communities are much safer, Melissa said.

When North Dakota succeeds in talent attraction, we all win. The economy improves, small businesses are supported, and our workforce grows. The Find the Good Life initiative was designed to find the right professionals in key industries and show them why North Dakota is a great place to live and work, said North Dakota Department of Commerce Workforce Development Director, Katie Ralston Howe.

To see all the efforts of Find the Good Life, please visit the website, watch on YouTube, or follow them on Facebook.

###

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Dublin, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Children Wear Market Global Forecast Report by Product Category, Distribution Channel, Countries and Company Analysis 2025-2033" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



Children's Wear market is estimated to be valued at US$303.28 billion in 2024 and is expected to witness growth up to US$450.71 billion by 2033, at a CAGR of 4.50 % from 2025 to 2033

Drivers which are steering the children's Wear market forward include consumer awareness for wearing clothing that is in vogue because of social media and celebrity endorsements, people realizing the importance of environmentally friendly as well as health-focused clothing, and innovations taking place in design and technologies.







Population growth, increasing income levels of families, and the growing role of children's look and self-expression are what drives consumer demand in the children's wear market. Parents are willing to spend on quality and branded clothing which is sturdy, fashionable, and secure. Seasonal demand and seasonal variety, fashion trends, and above all, the growth in e-commerce have also intensified the consumption of children's wear, as parents began shopping online for greater comfort and variety.



Increasing Disposable Income and Lifestyle Shifts



As disposable income in many regions is on the rise, parents are prepared to spend more money on quality and style clothing for children. Lifestyle shifts and high demand for children's fashion have compelled parents to seek premium, branded, and 'eco-friendly' clothes for their children. Better salaries allow families to buy clothes frequently, and they naturally prefer quality over price. This subsequently enhances the expenditure on children's fashion. Coupled with the influence of social media and celebrity culture on children's clothing trends, this shift is what remains notably driving high growth in the children's wear market, especially in urban and developed areas.



Expanding E-commerce and Online Shopping Trends



Through an increase in e-commerce and online shopping trends, the shift has transformed the way the consumers shop for the children's wear market, bringing convenience, variety, and competitive pricing to the charters. Online shopping sites provide all brands, designs, and style options for parents to access in order to compare and buy the clothes best suited to their choice.

Additionally, because of the growth of mobile shopping and social media, inspiration for style has become readily available and increased online sales of children's clothing. E-commerce growth also expands the reach of smaller brands and sustainable fashion labels, which can now directly access customers, thereby expanding the market and making it more accessible to children's clothing. According to McKinsey, as of April 2023, 20% to 30% of Asian Gen-Zs and millennials spend more than six hours per day online. This gives an idea of how huge a role social media plays in the lives of these digitally born generations.



Rising Need for Sustainable and Responsible Wear



Responding to the growing environmental awareness, parents today opt for more sustainable, organic, and ethically produced children's wear. Fabric safety and chemical exposure along with environmental effects make many moves toward green brands that favor natural materials and adopt ethical manufacturing practices. Sustainable children's wear, preferably made from organic cotton or recycled materials, meets the safe and earth-friendly requirements of clothing.

Since more consumers are coming to focus on living sustainably, the children's wear market is gradually increasing and seeing eco-conscious brands that meet parents' preferences for responsible consumption, fostering market growth in response to those evolving values. In April 2023, Adidas announced a new milestone in its journey to replace virgin polyester with recycled polyester. 96 percent of the polyester used in Adidas products is now recycled polyester. Adidas 2017 has stated its target to use any form of virgin polyester in its products alternatively by the end of 2024, which will be achieved well ahead of schedule.



Canada Children's Wear Market



Canada children's wear market is experiencing growth because of increasing disposable incomes and awareness of the fashion created for children. There is a growing demand for clothes that are expected to last long. The Canadian parent chooses premium and green brands that offer comfort and trend, in line with an emerging trend towards sustainable and ethical apparel.

Online shopping offers parents another avenue of access to shop from the website and from vast collections of international and homegrown brands. Seasonal conditions and safety, and other quality considerations, continue to influence other aspects of the selection process, making the Canadian children's wear market dynamic and consumer-oriented. Dec 2023 A Luxury European Brand, Bonpoint, specializes in children's wear and skincare has opened its first Canadian flagship store at 151 Bloor St West, Toronto.

France Children's Wear Market



For the children's wear segment, the France market will grow steadily as a result of growing demand for quality as well as fashionable clothing. Premium, eco-friendly, and ethically produced children's apparel appeals to French parents, who are becoming increasingly conscious about the need for sustainability and safety. E-commerce is important in expanding the market due to online platforms offering convenience and access to various brands. Where the birth rate of France has declined, it still holds the largest child population in the EU, thus sustaining demand for children's wear. All these factors combined will lead to steady market growth in the coming years.



India Children's Wear Market



India's children's wear market is gaining momentum because of rapidly increasing disposable incomes, a growing middle class, and focusing on fashion and quality. This segment highly experiences growth in consumer preferences toward branded, more durable, and fashionable clothing for children. E-commerce sites have further fueled the growth by providing ease and variety, seasonal demands, festive seasons, and the effect of social media trends. India has a significant young population that will surely boom the children's wear market in the near future. September 2024 PILOLO, a new UAE kids clothing fashion brand, recently brought its unique philosophy and organic clothing line into the lives of Indian children.



Saudi Arabia Children's Wear Market



The rising disposable incomes, young population, and demand for fashionable and premium clothing is fueling the children's wear market in Saudi Arabia. Parents in Saudi Arabia have now started to favor high-quality branded and durable children's clothing. Fashionable and trendy children's clothing is in demand these days, too. E-commerce is growing, and it has become pretty easy to shop online, with too many options. There are seasons and religious holidays, and so are social media trends. The modernization of the retail industry in Saudi Arabia will make a huge difference in the market for children's wear in the coming years.



Children's Wear Company Analysis



Adidas AG, Benetton Group Srl, Carter's, Inc., Cotton on Clothing Pty Ltd, Diesel USA Inc., Dolce & Gabbana S.r.l., Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Levi Strauss & Co., NIKE, Inc., and Gap Inc. are the key players in the Children's Wear market.



Key Attributes:





Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 110 Forecast Period 2024 - 2033 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $303.28 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2033 $450.71 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 4.5% Regions Covered Global





Key Topics Covered:



1. Introduction



2. Research & Methodology



3. Executive Summary



4. Market Dynamics

4.1 Growth Drivers

4.2 Challenges



5. Global Children's Wear Market



6. Market Share Analysis

6.1 Product Category

6.2 Consumer Group

6.3 Distribution Channel

6.4 Country



7. Product Category

7.1 Apparel

7.2 Footwear

7.3 Others



8. Consumer Group

8.1 Infant (0-12 Months)

8.2 Toddler (1-3yrs)

8.3 Preschool (3-5yrs)

8.4 Grade schooler (5-12yrs)



9. Distribution Channel

9.1 Offline

9.2 Online



10. Country

10.1 North America

10.1.1 United States

10.1.2 Canada

10.2 Europe

10.2.1 France

10.2.2 Germany

10.2.3 Italy

10.2.4 Spain

10.2.5 United Kingdom

10.2.6 Belgium

10.2.7 Netherlands

10.2.8 Turkey

10.3 Asia Pacific

10.3.1 China

10.3.2 Japan

10.3.3 India

10.3.4 Australia

10.3.5 South Korea

10.3.6 Thailand

10.3.7 Malaysia

10.3.8 Indonesia

10.3.9 New Zealand

10.4 Latin America

10.4.1 Brazil

10.4.2 Mexico

10.4.3 Argentina

10.5 Middle East & Africa

10.5.1 South Africa

10.5.2 Saudi Arabia

10.5.3 UAE



11. Porter's Five Analysis

11.1 Bargaining Power of Buyers

11.2 Bargaining Power of Suppliers

11.3 Degree of Rivalry

11.4 Threat of New Entrants

11.5 Threat of Substitutes



12. SWOT Analysis

12.1 Strength

12.2 Weakness

12.3 Opportunity

12.4 Threat



13. Company Analysis

13.1 Overview

13.2 Key Persons

13.3 Recent Development & Strategies

13.4 Product Portfolio

13.5 Financial Insights

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/skvfkw

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Attachment
Dublin, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Belts and Wallets Market Report Global Forecast By Product, Material, Distribution Channel, End User, Countries and Company Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Global Belts and Wallets Market is expected to grow from US$ 24.86 billion in 2024 to US$ 45.78 billion by 2033, with a 7.02% CAGR from 2025 to 2033

A few of the driving factors include rising disposable incomes, demand for quality accessories, and fashion trends. The sustenance of environmental thinking in consumers' minds will find its way through requests for sustainable materials. Social media and celebrity endorsement will also boost the exposure of the brand to the audience, thus driving the market forward.







Consumers in Asia and North America are increasingly quality and branded accessories conscious. These factors drive sales of premium products. Eco-aware buyers challenge brands to adopt sustainable, ethically made products. Increasing accessibility is also coming through an e-commerce boom, which allows consumers across the globe to seek various options. This landscape shifts belts and wallets to see themselves as essential products in the global fashion and accessories market.



Drivers in the Belts and Wallets Market

Rising Disposable Incomes and Expenditure by Consumers



Growing disposable incomes across the world, especially in emerging markets, enhance consumers' readiness to spend money on accessories like belts and wallets that will add some value in fashion and functionality to their wardrobes. Higher income levels lead to increasing demand for branded and luxury goods, wherein more emphasis is placed on quality and design.

This trend is quite strong in countries like China and India, where economic growth increases the number of people belonging to the middle class that wanted to buy expensive accessories that really represent their style and status. March 2023: Gucci has also released the new Gucci MG Marmont wallet with the famous MG Marmont quilted pattern. The wallet comes with zip-around fastening and is made from leather.



E-Commerce and Digital Accessibility



The e-commerce revolution has significantly expanded the markets for belts and wallets by making them all conveniently accessible to consumers. Online platforms can significantly stretch the outreach of a global and local brand in presenting styles, prices, and quality for easy comparison. And of course, social media and targeted digital advertising fuel demand further, as consumers are exposed to trending styles, discounts, and convenience-driven shopping options. This digital growth not only increases accessibility but also reinforces brand loyalty and awareness.



Growing Demand for Eco-Friendly and Ethical Products



Growing awareness about sustainability has catapulted consumers to look for belts and wallets made of friendly environ- eco-friendly and ethically sourced materials. With this, brands have come up with vegan leather, recycled materials, and sustainable textiles for belts and wallets to ensure appeal to conscious green consumers.

This movement toward sustainability is not just a trend but a significant driver in the accessories market, wherein customers are willing to pay an extra premium for brands that embody the values they desire to live by. Sustainable production methods and transparency also enhance brand reputation, which means that that green brands are taking some advantage in the marketplace. April 2023: Prada debuted the Re-Nylon Belt. The belt was produced from recycled nylon. It can be produced in various hues and has a very easy buckle style.



USA Belts and Wallets Market



USA belts and wallets market is experiencing steady growth with increasing disposable incomes and the ever-increasing demand for high-quality fashionable accessories. Thus, consumer preference towards branded and luxury belts and wallets is rising up with increasing demand among both genders to have a product that merges functionality with style.

Moreover, the e-commerce platforms have made it easier for consumers to get access to different options and thereby enhance market reach. In addition, the sustainability trends are influencing the market as people are opting for sustainable materials. As a fashion-conscious consumer remains to favor accessories, competition in the USA market of belts and wallets is very competitive and dynamic.



India Belts and Wallets Industry



The industry for India Belts and Wallets is growing significantly on account of the rise in disposable income, along with a change in fashion dynamics. The realization of an increasingly large middle class and urbanization process leaves no stone unturned as Indian consumers are becoming increasingly brand-conscious, thereby driving the demand for more traditional accessories, as well as their modern counterparts.

E-commerce platforms have made belts and wallets available to everyone so that consumers can look out for a range of varieties. The rising demand for luxury and high-end belts and wallets resulted in the production of high-quality stylish designs. Demand for sustainability trends is also characterized by the use of eco-friendly materials that benefit the buyer who is environmentally conscious.



Saudi Arabia Belts and Wallets Industry



The increase in disposable income of its people together with the young population, drives the growth of the Saudi Arabia Belts and Wallets Industry since more expensive luxuries are in their demands. As consumers become conscious of fashion, they require quality and branded accessories, and the demands for belts and wallets have become an inevitable necessity for both men and women's wardrobes. It has helped consumers to access a wide range of world and local brands in one window, thus uplifting market dynamics. Furthermore, the rise toward premium products with eco-friendly materials and towards sustainable ones is on the increase and influences consumer choice, making the industry very competitive.



Global Belts and Wallets Company Analysis



In terms of global top competitors within the belts and wallets industry, there are Burberry Group plc; Kering SA; Levi Strauss & Co.; Puma SE; Ralph Lauren Corporation; Titan Company Ltd; PVH Corp.; and Prada S.p.A.



All the key players have been covered from 4 Viewpoints:

Business Overview

Key Persons

Recent Development & Strategies

Financial Insights

Key Attributes:





Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 105 Forecast Period 2024 - 2033 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $24.86 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2033 $45.78 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 7.0% Regions Covered Global





Key Topics Covered:



1. Introduction



2. Research Methodology



3. Executive Summary



4. Market Dynamics

4.1 Growth Drivers

4.2 Challenges



5. Global Belts and Wallets Market



6. Market Share Analysis

6.1 By Product

6.2 By Material

6.3 By Distribution Channel

6.4 By End User

6.5 By Countries



7. Product

7.1 Belts

7.2 Wallets



8. Material

8.1 Leather

8.2 Non-Leather



9. Distribution Channel

9.1 Online

9.2 Offline



10. End User

10.1 Men

10.2 Women



11. Countries

11.1 North America

11.1.1 United States

11.1.2 Canada

11.2 Europe

11.2.1 France

11.2.2 Germany

11.2.3 Italy

11.2.4 Spain

11.2.5 United Kingdom

11.2.6 Belgium

11.2.7 Netherlands

11.2.8 Turkey

11.3 Asia Pacific

11.3.1 China

11.3.2 Japan

11.3.3 India

11.3.4 South Korea

11.3.5 Thailand

11.3.6 Malaysia

11.3.7 Indonesia

11.3.8 Australia

11.3.9 New Zealand

11.4 Latin America

11.4.1 Brazil

11.4.2 Mexico

11.4.3 Argentina

11.5 Middle East & Africa

11.5.1 Saudi Arabia

11.5.2 UAE

11.5.3 South Africa



12. Porter's Five Forces Analysis

12.1 Bargaining Power of Buyers

12.2 Bargaining Power of Suppliers

12.3 Degree of Rivalry

12.4 Threat of New Entrants

12.5 Threat of Substitutes



13. SWOT Analysis

13.1 Strength

13.2 Weakness

13.3 Opportunity

13.4 Threat

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/esydtm

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Attachment
SANDY, Utah, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Based on numbers from the Small Business Administration (SBA) for fiscal year 2024, Mountain America Credit Union has once again made the most 7(a) loans nationally (for the fifth year in a row) among credit unions. Mountain America topped this list by making 233 loans, totaling $90.1 million, which is the second highest total amount lent by a credit union. The credit union also recently earned the National Association of Development Companies (NADCO) Community Impact Credit Union 504 Lender of the Year Award.

A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available by clicking on this link.

Supporting small businesses is a true honor for us as they play a crucial role in enriching our communities, said Michael Griffiths, senior vice president of business lending at Mountain America. We appreciate the recognition from NADCO, which highlights our teams hard work and dedication to helping small businesses define and achieve their financial dreams.

The 7(a) program is the SBAs most common type of loan, helping small businesses with a variety of needs such as real estate, equipment, working capital, and business debt refinancing. The 504 program provides long-term, fixed-rate loans for major fixed assets like equipment, vehicles, and real estate, which in turn promotes business growth and job creation.

We are honored to recognize Mountain America Credit Union with the NADCO Community Impact Award, 2024 Credit Union 504 Lender of the Year, said Rhonda Pointon, president and CEO of NADCO. Mountain Americas partnership is critical to advancing the mission of the SBA 504 program. Their commitment and dedication ensure small business owners across the country get the access to capital they need to succeed and make a positive impact in their community. Thank you for your steadfast commitment to the program.

To learn more about Mountain Americas resources for small businesses, visit macu.com/business.

Disclaimer: Loans on approved credit.
Not for distribution to United States Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brixton Metals Corporation (TSX-V: BBB, OTCQB: BBBXF) (the Company or Brixton) is pleased to announce that it completed on November 22, 2024, the non-brokered private placement previously announced on November 13, 2024 (the Offering).

The Offering consisted of 66,486,631 flow-through units (each, a FT Unit), for total gross proceeds of $5,983,796.87.

Each FT Unit consisted of one common share of the Company issued as a flow-through share within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (each, a FT Share) and one half of one non-transferable common share purchase warrant (a Warrant), each whole Warrant exercisable at a per share price of $0.12 until November 22, 2026.

One insider participated in the Offering for aggregate cash consideration to the Company of $35,000, which constitutes a Related Party Transaction under TSX Venture Exchange Policy 5.9. The Company availed itself of the exemptions contained in section 5.5(c) of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 (MI 61-101) for an exemption from the formal valuation requirement and Section 5.7(1)(b) of MI 61-101 for an exemption from the minority shareholder approval requirement of MI 61-101 as the fair market value of the securities to be distributed in the transaction, and the consideration to be received by the Company for those securities, insofar as the transaction involves interested parties did not exceed $2,500,000.

50% of the proceeds from the sale of the FT Shares will be used to incur flow through mining expenditures, and the other 50% of the proceeds will be used to incur flow-through critical mineral mining expenditures, both as defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada), or in such other proportions and amounts as approved by the Board of Directors of the Company upon reviewing all applicable exploration data available to it.

The securities issued to subscribers of the FT Units are subject to a hold period until March 23, 2025, pursuant to applicable Canadian securities laws.

Finder's fees of an aggregate $221,639.99 and 2,462,666 warrants to purchase common shares of the Company at a per share price of $0.12 until November 22, 2026 were paid to persons who introduced the Company to subscribers to the Offering.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Mr. Gary R. Thompson, Chairman and CEO

Tel: 604-630-9707 or email: info@brixtonmetals.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.

Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as anticipate, believe, plan, estimate, expect, and intend, statements that an action or event may, might, could, should, or will be taken or occur, or other similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact included herein are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential quantity and/or grade of minerals, potential size and expansion of a mineralized zone, proposed timing of exploration and development plans, and the use of proceeds of the Private Placement. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following risks: the need for additional financing; operational risks associated with mineral exploration; fluctuations in commodity prices; title matters; and the additional risks identified in the annual information form of the Company or other reports and filings with the TSXV and applicable Canadian securities regulators. Forward-looking statements are made based on managements beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.

Brixton does not undertake to update any forward-looking information except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

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, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, unless an exemption from such registration is available.

Not for distribution to United States Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States
MALVERN, Pa., Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vishay Precision Group, Inc. (NYSE: VPG), a leader in precision measurement and sensing technologies, announced today that it will present at the following investor conferences in December 2024:

Sidoti December 2024 Small-Cap Investor Virtual Conference.

Thursday, December 5, 2024, at 9:15 a.m. ET.

A live and on-demand webcast of VPGs presentation will be available to the public. It can be accessed via the following link: https://sidoti.zoom.us/webinar or on VPGs website at ir.vpgsensors.com/events.

Thursday, December 5, 2024, at 9:15 a.m. ET. A live and on-demand webcast of VPGs presentation will be available to the public. It can be accessed via the following link: https://sidoti.zoom.us/webinar or on VPGs website at ir.vpgsensors.com/events. 13th Annual NYC Summit.

December 17, 2024, in New York, NY.

The NYC Summit is an independently organized investor conference featuring 17 technology companies. It will feature an in-person round-robin format consisting of small group meetings with company management teams.

For more information or to arrange meetings at either of these conferences, please contact: info@vpgsensors.com.

About VPG

Vishay Precision Group, Inc. (VPG) is a leader in precision measurement and sensing technologies. Our sensors, weighing solutions and measurement systems optimize and enhance our customers product performance across a broad array of markets to make our world safer, smarter, and more productive. To learn more, visit VPG at www.vpgsensors.com and follow us on LinkedIn .

For Investors:

Vishay Precision Group

Steve Cantor, 781-222-3516

info@vpgsensors.com
NEW YORK, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Holiday hosting shouldnt feel like a chore. It should feel like an occasion. Effortless, yes  but extraordinary. This holiday, Marisa Brahney, Emmy-award winning television host and lifestyle expert invites your audience to tap into the magic of hosting with ease, style, and a touch of indulgence.

With years of experience in transforming holiday hosting from stressful to sensational, Marisa can give your audience the insider tips and creative hacks to become the ultimate hosts and turn their homes into a festive wonderland  without breaking a sweat.

Here are Marisas top choices:

Big Lots:

From busy moms or anyone who wants to save time in their day to first-time hosts who dont want to break the bank, Big Lots is that one stop shop to get everything you need for the holidays at a fraction of the cost.

Perfect for parties, dinners and everything in between, Big Lots has unique entertaining pieces that turn your party into a celebration. Make the festivities sparkle with their fun and functional entertaining essentials like metallic cookie platters and colorful glassware.

You can get these and tons of other name brand goods and popular holiday finds all up to 30-50% less than other home discount retailers. Turn the ordinary into extraordinary with a touch of sparkle and cheer this holiday season.

https://www.biglots.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/biglots/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biglots/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@biglots

Betty Booze

Betty Booze is a brand founded by Blake Lively with a simple idea  that what we drink should be held to the same standards as the food we eat.

They make beverages that are real, uncomplicated, and delicious by taking the time to create homemade recipes from high-quality ingredients.

Betty Booze pairs the freshest fruits, spices, herbs, and more with real spirits and just the right amount of bubbles to create unmatched, unmistakably, delicious drinks.

The brand recently launched their newest cocktail, Sparkling Bourbon with Peach Honey Mint, and their new Bourbon Variety Pack inclusive of the new beverage, Sparkling Bourbon with Apple Ginger Sour Cherry, and Sparkling Bourbon with Oak Smoked Lemonade.

They also have three delicious tequila-based drinks.

Betty Booze single flavor packs are $14.99 and the variety packs are $21.99. Betty Booze can be found at Total Wine & More nationwide, and at additional stores in your state. Feel free to go to bettybooze.com/pages/find to locate your closest store that carries Betty Booze.

@bettybooze

The Honey Baked Ham Company

HoneyBaked brings the taste of the holidays to any celebration, whether its a formal sit-down dinner or casual buffet-style soiree with friends. Their Honey Baked Ham with its delicious signature sweet and crunchy glaze makes for the perfect centerpiece that will wow your guests.

The Honey Baked Bone-In Half Ham is the perfect centerpiece for any holiday celebration, with its delicious signature sweet and crunchy glaze that everyone knows and loves. It arrives spiral-sliced, fully cooked and ready to serve  you cant mess it up.

Honey Baked also offers a range of delicious Heat & Serve Sides to complete your holiday spread, like Double Cheddar Mac and Cheese, Maple Sweet Potato Souffle, Green Bean Casserole, Tuscan Broccoli and more.

Pick up at your nearest Honey Baked location, or head to HoneyBaked.com to order ahead.

HoneyBaked.com

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and TikTok.

Motel 6

New data from Motel 6 found that more than half of Americans traveling to celebrate the holidays this year will road trip rather than fly to their destination, and more than a quarter of these travelers will stay at a hotel.

With nearly 1,500 locations across the U.S. and Canada, Motel 6 and Studio 6 Extended Stay offer families and their four-legged friends a clean, affordable and comfortable place to rest whether on route to their celebrations or as a needed break from the festivities.

Unlock the latest room deals and special promotions on gas, pet essentials, road trip snacks and more by downloading the free My6 app or by visiting: www.motel6.com/my6

Facebook: Motel 6

Twitter: @motel6

Instagram: @motel6

For more information, visit: https://marisabrahney.com/

About YourUpdate TV

* YourUpdateTV is a property of D S Simon Media. The video included and release was part of a media tour that was produced by D S Simon Media on behalf of Motel 6, Betty Booze, The Honey Baked Ham Company, and Betty Booze.

Dante Muccigrosso

Director of Media Integration & Client Reporting

E: dantem@dssimon.com

C: 973.524.0104

A video accompanying this announcement is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/70c501f0-2c47-44cb-be5c-cab34b2240d2
Hitachi Rail partners with Invest Ontario to develop next generation of urban rail signalling technology in Toronto

C$100m investment to create cutting-edge Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) product for urban rail operators in Canada and globally

R&D program to integrate AI and 5G tech in new SelTrac solution, creating 100 new high skilled jobs and growing Canadian employees to 1,200+

TORONTO, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hitachi Rail is proud to partner with Invest Ontario as part of a more than C$100 million investment to upgrade its world-leading Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC) signalling technology.

Hitachi Rail aims to develop a new generation of its CBTC technology, SelTrac (G9), which will integrate artificial intelligence (AI), 5G communications, edge and cloud computing. The next generation system will offer transit operators worldwide lower costs, minimized carbon footprint and enhanced passenger experience.

The investment includes the expansion of Hitachi Rails workforce in Toronto, Ontario, creating 100 new jobs and retaining 1,000 highly skilled positions in its York Mills office, including R&D and engineering roles.

The over $100 million investment in the next generation of our world-leading SelTrac technology is hugely exciting  and we are grateful to the Government of Ontario and Invest Ontario for their support, said Ziad Rizk, Managing Director, Urban Rail Signalling, Hitachi Rail. By integrating AI, 5G, edge and cloud computing, our system will allow urban rail transportation operators around the globe to improve passenger journeys and operate more efficiently. This Ontario-invented technology is a Canadian success story that is creating jobs and boosting economic growth.

CBTC is a modern urban signalling system that uses wireless communication between trains and infrastructure to operate urban transit and subway systems more efficiently and safely than conventional signalling. SelTrac, invented in Ontario, is the worlds first moving block CBTC signalling system, currently operating in more than 100 lines in 40 major cities around the world including the O-Train in Ottawa.

Ontario, home to one of the largest tech clusters in North America, is renowned for its strength in AI, automation and connectivity technologies. The provinces expertise in smart mobility, combined with Hitachi Rails global competence centre, makes Ontario the natural place to develop next-generation digital solutions for urban rail and metros.

As one of the largest and most sought-after tech hubs in North America, Ontario is driving the development of next-generation technologies that will strengthen economic growth across key sectors, including automation and transportation, said Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. Through Invest Ontario, we are proud to support Hitachi Rails expansion in Toronto and thank them for choosing our province as the ideal place for their continued growth and success.

The companys York Mills office in Toronto serves as its engineering centre of excellence, equipped with state-of-the-art facilities including labs, testing areas, and simulation environments.

This expansion adds to Hitachi Rails growing presence in Canada that includes around 1,200 employees across the country, who are delivering and maintaining major transit projects in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa. Toronto is home to the companys international urban transit signalling technology business, as well as large program teams based downtown and Mississauga that are delivering major new transit infrastructure, like the Ontario Line and Hurontario.

Under the leadership of Premier Ford, our government is investing $70 billion in the largest transit expansion in North America, connecting millions more Ontarians to reliable and affordable public transit. Today's announcement means Hitachi Rail will be helping even more workers gain the critical expertise needed to deliver Ontario's generational projects, said Prabmeet Sarkaria, Minister of Transportation.

Hitachi Rails investment is a testament to Ontarios strengths in future technologies that are transforming industries from manufacturing to transportation. We are excited to support the company in advancing a made-in-Ontario technology that keeps cities around the world on the move, said Jennifer Block, Interim CEO of Invest Ontario.

In support of this investment, Ontario is providing $4.5 million in funding through the Invest Ontario Fund.

Contact: Adam Love, Hitachi Rail on +1 (437) 234 4024, adam.love@hitachirail.com

Notes to the editors:

Hitachi Rail invented moving block CBTC technology in 1974 in Toronto with the support of the Ontario government. Since then, it has evolved into the world's leading technology for urban rail and transit systems. The investment in G9 coincides with the 50th anniversary of the invention of the original technology.

We have deployed CBTC technology in Ottawa, Montreal, London, Hong Kong, Doha, New York, Chile, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the UAE in the past 10 years.

About Hitachi Rail

Hitachi Rail is committed to driving the sustainable mobility transition and has a clear focus on partnering with customers to rethink mobility. Its mission is to help every passenger, customer and community enjoy the benefits of more connected, seamless and sustainable transport.

With revenues of over 7bn and 24,000 employees across more than 50 countries, Hitachi Rail is a trusted partner to the world's best transport organisations. The company's reach is global, but the business is local - with success built on developing local talent and investing in people and communities.

Its international capabilities and expertise span every part of the urban, mainline and freight rail ecosystems  from high quality manufacturing and maintenance of rolling stock to secure digital signalling, smart operations and payment systems.

Hitachi Rail, famous for Japan's iconic high speed bullet train, draws on the digital and AI expertise of Hitachi Group companies to accelerate innovation and develop new technologies. Hitachi Group is present in 140 countries with over 270,000 employees and global revenues of 54.55bn / 8,564 bn.

For more information, visit hitachirail.com.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b33bb2d6-81f0-4e40-9dd0-f3e21c70080e
LIMASSOL, Cyprus, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Forex trading is one of the most dynamic sectors in the world financial landscape, and thus it needs the most reliable, fast, and innovative platform service provision. Exness has taken the lead in this group of service providers by making available tools that allow traders to operate with high levels of precision and efficiency. It has thus introduced a new benchmark to the industry that focuses on advanced technology and user-friendly experiences for both seasoned professionals and newbies.

Where most provide just the basics, this one goes that extra mile through the provision of some sophisticated and advanced trading features that really step up every analysis and execution trading aspect. Such innovative dedication helps build not just traders confidence but also the platforms standing as a Forex market leader.

Cutting-Edge Technology in Forex Trading

Global trading requires interfaces as fast as the changes in currency pairs. Built on cutting-edge infrastructure, the platform ensures the fastest execution speeds and rock-solid stabilityall these critical qualities for traders who need to be able to act on opportunities without delay, especially in volatile conditions.

Arguably, the most prominent one is the provision of real-time data and, hence, insight-driven decision-making, which would not otherwise be possible without such advanced technology in the first placenot leaving anything to guess for the trader and making him competitive. The tools offered are not only designed for precision but are also customizable, allowing users to adapt them to their specific trading styles and strategies.

Moreover, the platforms focus on user experience ensures that even complex tools are accessible and straightforward to use. This accessibility enables traders at all levels to harness the power of advanced analytics and execute their trades effectively.

Advanced Platform Features Tailored for Professionals

A trading terminal may serve different trading styles, whether the one who prefers short-term trading and quick market moves or believes in long-term strategies, because it has features to cater to these needs. It combines analytical tools with practical functionalities, allowing traders to stay organized and efficient.

Additionally, the terminal integrates features like customizable layouts and advanced reporting tools, which help traders refine their approach over time. This adaptability makes it an indispensable resource for those seeking a professional-grade trading experience.

The Role of The Apps in Streamlining Trading

One of the most significant tools available on the platform is MetaTrader5. Recognized globally for its robust capabilities, it allows traders to analyze markets in-depth, develop strategies, and execute trades with unparalleled accuracy. High-featured software, more advanced chart drawing tools, technical indicators, multi-timeframe analysis

The MT5 app also supports algorithmic tradingthis is particularly useful for traders wanting to automate their strategies. It offers automated systems testing and implementation, thereby enabling systems to execute without the trader being physically present in front of the system at the time of market execution. Integration of this platform with the broker offers an enriched feel where performance meets innovation.

MetaTrader5 is much more than a trading interface; it is rather a dynamic and flexible trading software for the fluctuations of the forex markets. Offering it in the roster reiterates the dedication to arming traders with the best tools available.

Innovation That Drives Success

The app's commitment to being innovative is seen in continuously developing tools that reflect the changing needs of traders as the industry is technology-oriented if one is to stay ahead, not just to adopt but actively shape new trends.

This platform does so by investing in advanced solutions that work to simplify the trade process while enhancing accuracy. Whether its automated systems or risk management supporting tools, focus remains on providing the trader everything he needs to succeed.

In addition to that, there are trader communities providing educational help and insight sharing. By that kind of cooperation, it would be ensured that users would not only enhance their skills but also gain confidence in engaging with even complex markets.

Why This Platform Stands Out

In a crowded market of trading platforms, this one has distinguished itself as the most user-friendly choice on the market today. It makes use of MetaTrader5 and trades through the trading terminal available to bring the best features to the fingertips of the traders and improve their overall performance.

Unlike platforms that merely focus on offering basic functionalities, this one prioritizes a holistic trading experience. From ensuring stability during high-volatility events to offering tools that support strategic growth, every aspect is designed to add value. This provides a very reliable and advanced trading solution for the traders demanding power and adaptability. It ensures that it stays ahead into the future of the ever-evolving currency trading industry while empowering its users to confidently achieve their set goals.

Nina Ivkova, nina.ivkova@exness.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/dc6f9a32-a901-45d9-ad60-414a81f7242f
NASSAU, The Bahamas, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation (BMOTIA), led by the destinations Director General, Latia Duncombe, recently hosted an event at Carnivale Restaurant in Chicago, celebrating the announcement of American Airlines expanding its service between Chicago OHare International Airport (ORD) and Lynden Pindling International Airport (NAS). Starting December 5, 2024, American Airlines will offer daily service, providing Chicagoans with more opportunities to trade the cold of the Windy City for the sunny shores of The Bahamas.

Throughout the evening, guests savored a selection of mouthwatering dishes, expertly crafted by Carnivales culinary team. Guests also sipped on cocktails prepared by one of The Bahamas hottest mixologists, Marvelous Marv Cunningham, which included a Coconut Soursop Mint Smash. The BMOTIA team kept guests engaged, offering chances to win trips to the destination and provided a glimpse of the destinations culture with an immersive Junkanoo performance as a finale to the night.

During the event, Director General Duncombe shared remarks, covering flights specifics and highlighting the importance of this schedule increase to the destination. Our long-standing relationship with Chicago is built on deep historical connections, with the city serving as a vital gateway for Midwest travellers to The Bahamas. Chicago has been instrumental in bringing both leisure and business visitors to our shores. With American Airlines new flight expansion, we look forward to continuing this valued partnership, inviting even more Chicagoans to discover all that The Bahamas has to offer.

American Airlines announced earlier this year plans of expanding its winter schedule with eight new routes to Latin America and the Caribbean. This winter, American will operate more than 2,350 peak weekly flights to more than 95 destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean, more than any other U.S. airline. The Bahamas received 29,448 stop-over visitors from Chicago in 2023, and this new added service provided by American Airlines will make it even more convenient to travel to the destination.

The celebratory event took place at the beloved Carnivale Restaurant, one of the premier dining destinations in Chicagos West Loop offering creatively-inspired Latin fusion dishes since 2005. The owner of Carnivale Restaurant and former State Representative William Marovitz was also in attendance as he announced his new restaurant, Carnivale on Paradise Island, is scheduled to open next month. The 15,000-square-foot restaurant will be located at Hurricane Hole Superyacht Marina and will offer patrons a fusion of vibrant Latin American flavors and Bahamian culinary traditions.

To learn more about The Bahamas or plan a visit, log onto Bahamas.com.

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About The Bahamas:

The Bahamas has over 700 islands and cays, as well as 16 unique island destinations. Located only 50 miles off the coast of Florida, it offers a quick and easy way for travelers to escape their everyday. The island nation also boasts world-class fishing, diving, boating and thousands of miles of the Earth's most spectacular beaches for families, couples and adventurers to explore. See why It's Better in The Bahamas at www.bahamas.com or on Facebook, YouTube or Instagram.

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OTTAWA, Ontario, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Association of Federal Retirees welcomes the findings of a new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, titled "The Power of Pensions: The impact of pension income on Canada's economy." This report underscores the critical role of pensions in supporting Canadian communities and the broader economy.

Key findings from the report include:

In 2021, workplace pension plans contributed $84 billion in pension payments, representing 5 per cent of all income received by Canadians that year  thats more than Canada Pension Plan, Quebec Pension Plan and Employment Insurance income.

For every dollar increase in pension income, federal and provincial governments in total recoup 41 cents in tax revenue and saved seniors' supports.

Workplace pension income  and the resulting spending by seniors  will contribute $24.5 billion to federal coffers in 2025.

Pension income is an important contributor to many local economies, particularly communities with lower-than-average employment income.

The report aligns with the Associations commitment over more than 60 years to the principle that seniors who can retire with income security contribute to a strong economy. However, we are concerned by the evidence uncovered in this report that pension plan coverage has declined dramatically. In the 1970s, 90 per cent of private sector workers with a workplace pension had a defined benefit plan. Today, that figure has plummeted to just 40 per cent.

"This report reinforces one of our core advocacy priorities: that all Canadians deserve dignity and security in retirement," said Anthony Pizzino, Association CEO. "Better retirement security through pensions is not only good for workers and retirees but also plays a crucial role in supporting the Canadian economy, government finances, local communities and equity for historically disadvantaged groups."

The National Association of Federal Retirees continues to advocate for policies that enable all Canadian seniors to retire with dignity. We call for a policy environment that:

Encourages well-managed defined benefit pension plans and enables retirees to continue to contribute to a strong economy.

Rejects legislation that allows employers to walk away from their pension promises.

Commitments to a measured approach to ensure the Canada Pension Plan and Quebec Pension Plan will continue to meet Canadians retirement needs and goals.



Our full list of recommendations to enhance retirement income security is available online .

The National Association of Federal Retirees remains committed to working with policymakers to ensure a secure retirement for all Canadians.

To read the full report, visit the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives online.

For more information, please contact:
New York, NY, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the Mount Sinai Health System, one of New York Citys largest academic medical systems, announced the opening of the Hamilton and Amabel James Center for Artificial Intelligence and Human Health, which is dedicated to enhancing health care delivery through the research, development, and application of innovative artificial intelligence (AI) tools and technologies.

The state-of-the-art research center solidifies Mount Sinai Health Systems leadership in delivering patient care through groundbreaking innovation and technology. As one example, Mount Sinai was among the first academic medical centers in the United States to build and operate a supercomputer, named "Minerva," which went into service in 2013.

The interdisciplinary center will combine artificial intelligence with data science and genomics in a location at the center of the campus of The Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. The facility will initially house approximately 40 Principal Investigators, alongside 250 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, computer scientists, and support staff.

Supported by a generous gift from Hamilton Evans "Tony" James, Executive Vice Chairman of the Manhattan-based investment firm Blackstone, and his wife, Amabel, the 12-story, 65,000-square-foot facility will be housed in a repurposed Mount Sinai building at 3 East 101st Street.

By integrating AI technology across genomics, imaging, pathology, electronic health records, and beyond, Mount Sinai is revolutionizing doctors capacity to diagnose and treat patients, reshaping the future of health care. Mount Sinai has been at the forefront of AI research and development in health care, and now we stand as one of the first medical schools to establish a dedicated AI research center, says Eric Nestler, MD, PhD, Director of the Friedman Brain Institute, Dean for Academic and Scientific Affairs and Nash Family Professor in the Nash Family Department of Neuroscience at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Chief Scientific Officer at Mount Sinai Health System. As AI technology is evolving rapidly, this moment is critical for maintaining leadership in digital health. The Hamilton and Amabel James Center for Artificial Intelligence and Human Health will cultivate an optimal environment for researchers to deepen their understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of human diseasesincluding the most debilitatingand to advance overall health and well-being.

If we want to use artificial intelligence for the greater good and make significant progress in health care, investing in AI research and development within academic institutions is essential, says Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean at Icahn Mount Sinai and President for Academic Affairs of the Mount Sinai Health System. While large tech companies possess substantial funding and resources to access high-performance equipment, they lack access to a health care system, limiting their progress in the field. This new AI research center at Icahn Mount Sinai will yield transformative discoveries in human health by the integration of research and data, fostering collaboration across multiple programs under one roof.

To construct the new AI center, Mount Sinai modernized an existing building to meet contemporary standards, including updating the facade to align with the aesthetic of other campus buildings. Within the 12 floors of the center, eight will be dedicated to Mount Sinais AI initiatives. These core facilities include:

The Windreich Department of AI and Human Health, which focuses on creating an AI Fabric that will integrate machine learning and AI-driven decision-making throughout the Health Systems eight hospitals.

The Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Health at Mount Sinai (HPIMS), formed in 2019 through a collaboration with the Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Engineering in Germany, which aims to enhance capabilities in data science, biomedical and digital engineering, machine learning, AI, and wearable technology. In 2024, the Hasso Plattner Foundation renewed its generous support of HPIMS for the next five years.

The Institute for Genomic Health and Division of Medical Genetics, which leads the effort to harness the power of genomic discovery to develop new ways to prevent and treat diseases, including cancers, heart problems, and genetic disorders.

The Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Institute, focused on the use of multimodality imaging for brain, heart, and cancer research, along with research in nanomedicine for precision imaging and drug delivery.

The Institute for Personalized Medicine, which launched the human genome sequencing research project called the Mount Sinai Million Health Discoveries Program, which aims to enroll 1 million racially and ethnically diverse patients, advance precision medicine research, and improve patient care.

About Mount Sinai's Windreich Department of AI and Human Health

Mount Sinai's Windreich Department of AI and Human Health, the first such department in a U.S. medical school, is committed to advancing and optimizing artificial intelligence and human health. The department is dedicated to harnessing the power of leading-edge tools to revolutionize scientific research and discovery. This commitment is realized through the creation of an "intelligent fabric," seamlessly integrating machine learning and AI-driven decision-making throughout Mount Sinais entire health system. It includes the distinguished Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, serving as a central hub for innovative learning. This integration facilitates robust partnerships spanning all research institutes, academic departments, hospitals, and outpatient centers. Through this strategic approach, the Department is accelerating progress in disease prevention, treating severe illnesses, and enhancing the overall quality of life for all.

In 2024, the Department's innovative NutriScan AI application, designed to facilitate faster identification and treatment of malnutrition in hospitalized patients, earned Mount Sinai Health System the prestigious Hearst Health Prize. This machine learning tool improves malnutrition diagnosis rates and resource utilization, demonstrating the impactful application of AI in health care. For more information, visit ai.mssm.edu.

About the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is internationally renowned for its outstanding research, educational, and clinical care programs. It is the sole academic partner for the eight- member hospitals* of the Mount Sinai Health System, one of the largest academic health systems in the United States, providing care to a large and diverse patient population.

Ranked 11th nationwide in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and among the 99th percentile in research dollars per investigator according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, Icahn Mount Sinai has a talented, productive, and successful faculty. More than 4,560 full-time scientists, educators, and clinicians work within and across 45 academic departments and 38 multidisciplinary institutes, a structure that facilitates tremendous collaboration and synergy. Our emphasis on translational research and therapeutics is evident in such diverse areas as genomics/big data, virology, neuroscience, cardiology, geriatrics, as well as gastrointestinal and liver diseases.

Icahn Mount Sinai offers highly competitive MD, PhD, and Masters degree programs, with current enrollment of more than 1,200 students. It has the largest graduate medical education program in the country, with more than 2,685 clinical residents and fellows training throughout the Health System. In addition, more than 560 postdoctoral research fellows are in training within the Health System.

A culture of innovation and discovery permeates every Icahn Mount Sinai program. Mount Sinais technology transfer office, one of the largest in the country, partners with faculty and trainees to pursue optimal commercialization of intellectual property to ensure that Mount Sinai discoveries and innovations translate into healthcare products and services that benefit the public.

Icahn Mount Sinais commitment to breakthrough science and clinical care is enhanced by academic affiliations that supplement and complement the Schools programs.

Through the Mount Sinai Innovation Partners (MSIP), the Health System facilitates the real-world application and commercialization of medical breakthroughs made at Mount Sinai. Additionally, MSIP develops research partnerships with industry leaders such as Merck & Co., AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk, and others.

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is located in New York City on the border between the Upper East Side and East Harlem, and classroom teaching takes place on a campus facing Central Park. Icahn Mount Sinais location offers many opportunities to interact with and care for diverse communities. Learning extends well beyond the borders of our physical campus, to the eight hospitals of the Mount Sinai Health System, our academic affiliates, and globally.

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* Mount Sinai Health System member hospitals: The Mount Sinai Hospital; Mount Sinai Beth Israel; Mount Sinai Brooklyn; Mount Sinai Morningside; Mount Sinai Queens; Mount Sinai South Nassau; Mount Sinai West; and New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai.

About the Mount Sinai Health System

Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with 48,000 employees working across eight hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, more than 600 research and clinical 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 health care challenges of our timediscovering 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.

Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 9,000 primary and specialty care physicians and 11 free-standing joint-venture centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida. Hospitals within the System are consistently ranked by Newsweeks The Worlds Best Smart Hospitals, Best in State Hospitals, World Best Hospitals and Best Specialty Hospitals and by U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals and Best Childrens Hospitals. The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals Honor Roll for 2024-2025.

For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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Bethesda, MD, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Three physician partners with Aledade, the nations largest network of independent primary care, have been recognized with one of the highest honors federal agencies can bestow in health care.

For their work battling the silent killer  hypertension  a community health center in Arkansas and independent primary care practices in Delaware and Florida were recognized as Million Hearts 2024 Hypertension Control Champions.

Awarded jointly by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Million Hearts 2024 Hypertension Control Champions are highlighted for their exemplar rates of hypertension control. Practices that achieved blood pressure control for at least 80% of their adult patients with hypertension (also known as high blood pressure) received the award from Million Hearts, which has a goal to avert 1 million preventable cardiovascular disease events by the end of 2026.

Only 32 health providers nationwide met the criteria.

We join the CDC in congratulating our partner practices for their commitment to do more good by achieving these exceptional levels of blood pressure control for their patient population, said Ahmed Haque, chief performance officer at Aledade. At Aledade, we are proud to partner with primary care clinicians so they can succeed in value-based care. Our three Hypertension Control Champions are shining examples of how we give our primary care partners the data and support they need to keep patients healthy.

About one in three adults in the United States has high blood pressure, but many dont realize it. High blood pressure is often referred to as the silent killer, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, because it usually has no warning signs, yet can lead to life-threatening conditions like a heart attack or stroke.

Fortunately, high blood pressure often can be prevented or treated as early diagnosis. Simple, healthy changes can keep high blood pressure from seriously damaging a persons health.

Aledade partners who were recognized as Million Hearts 2024 Hypertension Control Champions include:

Mainline Health Systems, Inc., Dermott, Arkansas

Milford Primary Care Associates, Milford, Delaware

Brevard Health Center, Melbourne, Florida

Mainline Healths team, which began working with Aledade in 2020, leveraged data insights from Aledades technology to make more informed clinical decisions and increased its entire patient population hypertension control rate from 70% to 84%.

Our mission is to provide the highest quality clinical services to all, said Kerry Pennington, M.D., the clinical director of Mainline Health Systems, a community health center in Southeast Arkansas. A big change for us occurred when we began to implement the correct processes to proactively monitor the health of our patients. Aledade has been a big part of that improvement as they gave us a platform to invest in improved outcomes. We are honored that this work is being reflected in our recognition as a Million Hearts 2024 Hypertension Control Champion.

About Aledade

Aledade, a public benefit corporation, is the largest network of independent primary care in the country, helping independent practices, health centers and clinics deliver better care to their patients and thrive in value-based care. Through its proven, scalable model, which includes cutting-edge data analytics, user-friendly guided workflows, health care policy expertise, strong payer relationships and integrated care solutions, Aledade empowers physicians to succeed financially by keeping people healthy. Together with more than 1,900 practices, federally-qualified health centers and community health centers in 45 states and the District of Columbia, Aledade shares in the risk and reward across more than 200 value-based contracts representing more than 2.5 million patient lives under management. To learn more, visit www.aledade.com or follow on X (Twitter), Facebook or LinkedIn.

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Mahe, Seychelles, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, BitMart, the leading global cryptocurrency exchange, officially launched its 2024 Black Friday campaign , featuring a reward pool of 200,000 USDT and various other exciting incentives for trading and earning.

To draw excitement to this campaign, the exchange announces a special Lucky Draw program where users can accumulate multiple entries by completing various tasks, with the chance to win up to 500 USDT worth of tokens and exclusive prizes such as a PS5 Pro.



BitMart's Black Friday campaign is a celebration of the crypto community. Users can take advantage of multiple Black Friday deals, including enticing sign-up bonuses, deposit bonuses, spot, and futures trading bonuses. The campaign also features exclusive offers for users interested in Fiat, P2P, and VIP services, consolidating all these benefits into one extraordinary campaign.

Here are some highlights of the campaign:

Flash Sales with Discounts of Up to 50% on Trending Tokens

BitMart users can enjoy a series of flash sale events with discounts of up to 50% on popular cryptocurrencies from Nov. 25, 2024, to Dec. 3, 2024. These limited-time offers provide excellent opportunities to seize exciting deals and optimize their portfolios.

Social Media & Community: Win Big with Follow & Emoji Challenges

BitMarts Black Friday campaign offers engaging community activities, including a "Follow-to-Unlock" event with up to 10,000 USDT in rewards and the chance to win 20 USDT for following BitMart on social media. Additionally, users can join the Community Secret Emoji Challenge on Telegram for a share in a 300 USDT prize pool. These interactive initiatives are designed to reward BitMarts vibrant community and enhance user engagement during the holiday season.

Copy Trading: Share 66,666 USDT!

BitMart is also offering a futures copy trading incentive between 1-10 USDT when traders share their eligible trades of 100 USDT on social media using the hashtag #BlackFriday24BitMartCopyTrade. Posts with high engagement may earn an extra 20 USDT!

Fiat: Buy Crypto with Fiat and Claim Cashback Bonus

During the campaign, new users who complete their first onramp transaction can enjoy 10% cashback. Additionally, all onramp users with a transaction volume ranked in the top 100 can earn a 2% cashback bonus. By completing trading tasks, users can boost their cashback up to 20% on their highest onramp transaction. This attractive offer makes entering the cryptocurrency market more convenient and rewarding.

P2P: Rewards for Accumulated Purchases

Complete P2P transactions totaling 100 USDT during the campaign period to unlock exciting rewards, bringing more benefits to those participating in peer-to-peer trading.

VIP: Earn Up to 100% APY + Exclusive Bonuses

VIP users can earn up to 100% APY by subscribing to select savings products during the event. Limited spots are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Users can qualify by maintaining a net deposit of at least 5,000 USDT and meeting VIP status requirements.

Get 10 USDC When You Subscribe to USDC Flexible Savings

Users who subscribe to USDC flexible savings with an amount of 100 USDC will receive a 10 USDC bonus as part of this special Black Friday offer.

Every year, BitMart takes Black Friday as an opportunity to extend its gratitude to the global crypto community, making this campaign a symbol of appreciation and celebration, said Nickolas Hoog, VP of Marketing at BitMart. With a wide range of exciting offers across various categories, BitMart invites the global crypto community to make the most of this once-a-year opportunity.

For more information, including terms and conditions, campaign rules, and participation details for the Black Friday festivities, visit BitMart's official Black Friday Campaign .

About BitMart

BitMart is the premier global digital asset trading platform. With millions of users worldwide and ranked among the top crypto exchanges on CoinGecko, it currently offers 1,400+ trading pairs with competitive trading fees. Constantly evolving and growing, BitMart is interested in cryptos potential to drive innovation and promote financial inclusion. To learn more about BitMart, visit their Website , follow their X (Twitter) , or join their Telegram for updates, news, and promotions. Download BitMart App to trade anytime, anywhere.






Photo credit: Vinitaa Jayson for Fernwayer

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fernwayer announced the launch of its new marketplace designed to connect discerning travelers with meticulously curated, high-end private tours, addressing a growing need in the travel market. The company debuts with a carefully selected collection of experiences across five countries: Italy, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, and Croatia, with more countries to follow rapidly.

Founded by San Francisco-based entrepreneurs Vinitaa Jayson and Alok Singh, Fernwayer aims to redefine luxury in travel by emphasizing authentic connection, exclusive access, and immersive storytelling.

"We aim to flip the itinerary: adventures first, logistics later," explains Jayson. "Most travelers secure accommodation and flights months in advance but often leave booking experiences until the last minute. By then, the best experiences are sold out, and they end up settling for the ordinary. We're changing that by offering highly differentiated experiences, available for booking months in advance, easily and instantly."

"We choose to partner with Experience Makers based on their storytelling skills, cultural insight, and welcomingnessour goal is to offer experiences where the expertise of a professional truly makes the difference," adds Jayson.

Imagine stepping into Venices Carnevale with an expert, capturing the elegance of timeless masks and costumes through your lens. Or watching sunrise from the slopes of Mount Etna , followed by a homemade Sicilian lunch with locals. In Porto , feel the thrill of negotiating the days catch with fishermen. Hike through Toubkal National Park with a mountain guide who has deep connections with the Berber community, or dance through Sevilles Feria de Abril , complete with a Sevillana masterclass and a horse-drawn carriage ride.

"Uncurated platforms overwhelm travelers with endless, lookalike options, reducing experiences to bare-bones offerings and turning tours into transactions, says Singh. Travel agencies inflate prices with opaque, marked-up packages, while layers of intermediaries drive up costs and force weeks of email back-and-forthonly to push generic options from the agents playbook in the end, instead of the differentiation that travelers crave. At Fernwayer, we cut through the noise with curated, one-of-a-kind experiences, transparent pricing, instant booking, and a commitment to equitable practices."

Fernwayer's experiences span arts and crafts, design and architecture, cultural immersion, gastronomy, photography, social impact initiatives, and outdoor adventures. Most experiences are private and limited to two to eight participants, ensuring intimate and meaningful connections.

We've learned that true luxury is about the richness of experience rather than traditional comforts. It isnt defined by 'stars'not a 5-star hotel, not a first-class flight, says Jayson. Its about unrateable moments: being welcomed like a friend in places typically inaccessible to tourists, engaging in heartfelt conversations that reveal new perspectives, or capturing the perfect photo with guidance from a local expert. Travel should be more than just a journey from point A to point B. It should touch the heart, inspire curiosity, create empathy and foster real human connection.

Travelers can now book experiences through the Fernwayer website ( fernwayer.com ) or with a companion mobile app , available for iOS devices, that includes unique planning features such as Travel Goals, Dreamboards for saving favorite experiences, and an itinerary builder called Journeys.

About Fernwayer

Fernwayer is a marketplace connecting discerning travelers with carefully crafted, authentic, locally-sourced experiences. Founded by entrepreneurs with a vision for sustainable luxury tourism, the company champions travel experiences that enrich both visitors and local communities. The name "Fernwayer," inspired by the German word "fernweh" (an aching for unfamiliar places), reflects the company's commitment to meaningful travel that sustains and enriches destinations for generations to come.

Contact Info:

Fernwayer

fernwayer.com

communications@fernwayer.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0ca78885-e562-4225-be1c-1fe34a5b927e
ONTARIO, Calif., Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Heritage Grocers Group (Heritage or HGG), a leading specialty grocer focused on serving the Hispanic community, is pleased to announce that Suzy Monford has assumed the role of CEO.

Monford is a seasoned industry executive, bringing more than 25 years of experience and a proven track record of transformational leadership and innovation at industry-leading food retailers. She currently serves as CEO of Food Sport International, a global consultancy that advises retailers on financial and impact value creation.

I look forward to helping Heritage build on its strong foundation and am honored to lead the company into its next chapter of growth, said Ms. Monford. Heritages differentiated value proposition and operational excellence will enable the business to capitalize on macroeconomic tailwinds and grow at scale over the years to come. I am excited to lead Heritage and its brands, and to serve our customers, Team Members, and communities, while honoring the uniqueness of each of our banners across the country.

Prior to her role at Food Sport International, Monford was the CEO of PCC Community Markets, where she grew membership to over 100,000 for the first time in co-op history. Before that, she served as a president and group vice president at Kroger and as CEO of Andronicos Community Markets, earning Top Woman in Grocery honors twice in four years. Across her career, she has spearheaded innovative growth initiatives that improved sales and profitability by bolstering merchandising, marketing, operations and digital capabilities.

Apollo Partners and Heritage Board members Andy Jhawar and Joanna Reiss said, We are thrilled to welcome Suzy as Heritages Chairman and CEO, and are confident that her unparalleled industry experience and track record of driving transformational growth will allow her to lead the company into its next phase of growth. Heritage is well-positioned in the Hispanic and ethnic grocery industry, serving as a one-stop-shop for the fastest growing demographics in the United States. Under Suzys leadership, we expect the company to further its mission to bring fresh and affordable groceries to the communities it serves while growing and enhancing its operations.

About Heritage Grocers Group

Heritage Grocers Group is a leading specialty ethnic food retailer that offers an extensive assortment of both authentic and specialty grocery items to the communities it serves. With a unique customer experience focused on freshness, authenticity and affordability, the HGG family of destination groceries incorporate freshly made ethnic foods, differentiated floor formats presenting distinct specialty categories and localized assortments that engage with each community. Headquartered in Ontario, California, Heritage Grocers Group operates in six states: California, Texas, Nevada, Arizona, Kansas, and Illinois, with a total of 58 stores under the Cardenas Markets banner, 29 stores under the El Rancho Supermercado banner, 21 stores under the Tonys Fresh Market banner, and 7 stores under the Los Altos Ranch Market banner. For more information visit https://www.heritagegrocersgroup.com/.



Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements discussed in this release as well as in other reports, materials and oral statements that the Company releases from time to time to the public constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the PSLRA). Generally, words such as anticipate, estimate, expect, could, intend, believe, plan, target, forecast and similar expressions or the negative thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements reflect managements current expectations, strategic objectives, business prospects, anticipated economic performance and financial condition and other similar matters. Forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and subject to a variety of assumptions, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or expected by the management of the Company. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual events or results may differ significantly from these statements. Actual events or results are subject to significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the Companys control. It should be understood that it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors. Given these risks, investors and analysts should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of the document in which they are made. The Company disclaims any obligation or undertaking to provide any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. These statements constitute the Companys cautionary statements under the PSLRA.

Source: Heritage Grocers Group

Contact

Marisa Kutansky

Senior Communications Director

Tel: (909) 923-7426 ext. 1414

Email: mkutansky@heritagegrocers.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2e7c33d5-879e-4d0c-b532-38e788ffce09
Highlights La-Z-Boys rich heritage while embracing modern lifestyles, introducing Urban Modern, La-Z-Girl, and Gamer themes

Embodies innovation in the retail experience of the La-Z-Boy brand, aiming to share the transformational power of comfort with a broader audience



MONROE, Mich., Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE: LZB), a global leader in the manufacture and retail of residential furniture, opens the doors to a new retail experience store in Chicagos iconic Lincoln Park neighborhood.

Innovation and comfort converge in the new space, which immediately welcomes customers and immerses them in the unparalleled transformational power of comfort that defines the La-Z-Boy lifestyle. The in-store experience highlights La-Z-Boys rich heritage as the inventor of the worlds first recliner nearly 100 years ago, while embracing modern lifestyle cues that empower shoppers to create spaces that are just right for them.

Customers can visit a Recliner Runway and interact with iconic La-Z-Boy recliners to learn more about product features or build a customized recliner using a digital touchscreen. Throughout the store, modern lifestyles are embraced with themes like Urban Modern, La-Z-Girl, and Gamer. Every detail reflects the companys mission to inspire relaxation and prioritize customer comfort with each interaction.

We are committed to providing consumers with unparalleled comfort, and in this new store, that includes offering comfortable, inspiring shopping experiences that are tailored to their unique lifestyle preferences, said Rebecca Reeder, President, Retail La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries. Our Lincoln Park store in the heart of Chicago signals innovation in our retail experience and brand, allowing us to share the transformational power of comfort with a broader audience.













To build an experience that both celebrates the La-Z-Boy brand as well as the Chicago community, La-Z-Boy hired American design agency Hello Mercer. The team commissioned Chicago-based artist Stephen Monkemeier to create a mural that references the original La-Z-Boy logo, displayed along the exterior wall of the store. There are also numerous touches of La-Z-Boy and Chicago heritage reflected throughout the 12,600 square-foot space. A hand-painted entryway welcomes the customer and reminds them of the company's commitment to quality and comfort since its founding in 1927. Also exclusive to the store launch is the companys first candle, Heritage 1927. The candle, which embodies the smell of comfort, was designed by Joya Studio of Brooklyn, New York. In addition to nods throughout the pet-friendly store that highlight Chicago, a hero La-Z-Dog wall showcases the communitys favorite pets.

To celebrate the opening, La-Z-Boy is offering shoppers exclusive in-store promotions and Black Friday deals. Located at 1520 N. Halsted Street, Lincoln Park, IL, 60642, the La-Z-Boy store is open Monday  Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sundays from 12 to 6 p.m.

Definitely make us part of your Black Friday plans, says store manager Sarah Haines. We look forward to meeting our Chicago neighbors and sharing our newly inspired offerings that will surely provide an upgrade and new level of comfort to your living space.

For more information and to shop online visit www.la-z-boy.com.

Media Contacts :

Cara Klaer, Corporate Communications: (734) 598-0652; Cara.Klaer@la-z-boy.com

About La-Z-Boy Incorporated:

La-Z-Boy Incorporated brings the transformational power of comfort to people, homes, and communities around the world  a mission that began when its founders invented the iconic recliner in 1927. Today, the company operates as a vertically integrated furniture retailer and manufacturer, committed to uncompromising quality and compassion for its consumers.

The Retail segment consists of 193 company-owned La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries stores and is part of a broader network of over 350 La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries that, with La-Z-Boy.com, serve customers nationwide. Joybird, an e-commerce retailer and manufacturer of modern upholstered furniture, has 12 stores in the U.S. In the Wholesale segment, La-Z-Boy manufactures comfortable, custom furniture for its Furniture Galleries and a variety of retail channels, England Furniture Co. offers custom upholstered furniture, and casegoods brands Kincaid, American Drew, and Hammary provide pieces that make every room feel like home. To learn more, please visit: https://www.la-z-boy.com/.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

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Avante Corp. achieved 52% year-over-year revenue growth in the fiscal second quarter with Recurring Monthly Revenues improving by 29%.

The Company expects continued growth in Fiscal 2025, fueled by the NSSG acquisition, technological innovation such as Halo, Avante Verified and WALL-E, and a strategic focus on combining organic expansion with tuck-in acquisitions.

TORONTO-Ontario, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avante Corp. (TSX.V: XX) (OTC: ALXXF) (Avante or the Company) is pleased to announce its financial results for its second fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2024 all amounts in Canadian dollars thousands, unless otherwise indicated).

Manny Mounouchos, Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Board Chair of Avante, commented, The second quarter of fiscal 2025 marked another successful quarter of growth for Avante, with quarterly revenue increasing by 52% year-over-year. Our core business continues to thrive, reflected in a 29% growth in Recurring Monthly Revenue. The success of the NSSG acquisition has been a key driver of this growth, enabling us to expand our international revenue and elevate our global capabilities. Our proprietary Halo technology is now deployed in over 160 locations and continues to grow, with significant enhancements on the way. In addition to Halo, weve launched several innovative security solutions over the past year including Homeworxx, The Reserve (previously Toyboxx), Argus App, Avante Verified, Human-in-the-loop Remote Video Servies developed in partnership with Scylla, and WALL-E. Looking ahead, we plan to continue developing new tech-enabled products and integrating advanced third-party solutions. We remain committed to driving organic growth and enhancing profitability.

Raj Kapoor, Avantes Chief Financial Officer, added, I am pleased to report that we maintain a robust balance sheet, enabling us to fund the Companys organic growth initiatives through positive cash flows from operations. The Company remains bank debt-free, with $3.9 million in cash on hand and access to $12 million in unused credit facilities. We have achieved positive Adjusted EBITDA in nine of the past eleven quarters while consistently maintaining strong gross margins. The outlook for the remainder of fiscal 2025 is highly positive, supported by our strong financial position, which enables us to pursue compelling acquisitions and advance key internal developments.

QUARTERLY FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE SECOND FISCAL QUARTER ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2024 :

Within continuing operations, the Company reported revenue of $8,089 during the second quarter of fiscal 2025, representing year-over-year revenue growth of 52%, or $2,750, compared to $5,339 for the prior fiscal year second quarter. The increase was due to the acquisition of NSSG, Avante Black growth and organic growth of its domestic business.

Total gross profit from continuing operations increased by $1,359 in the second quarter of fiscal 2025 compared to the same quarter in fiscal 2024. Gross profit margins within continuing operations remained relatively stable at 43% compared to 40% during the prior years second quarter, indicating a consistent level of profitability.

The Avante Security segment delivered recurring monthly revenues (RMR) of $3,666 during the second quarter of fiscal 2025, up from $2,834 during the Companys second quarter in the prior year, a year-over-year growth of 29%. The increase was due to net growth in monitoring customers and the introduction of new recurring revenue services to the existing client base.

The Company achieved Adjusted EBITDA gain from continuing operations of $338 during the second quarter, compared to a gain of $227 for the prior fiscal year second quarter.

OUTLOOK

Management maintains a positive outlook for Fiscal 2025. The Companys long-term financials serve as a guide to developing and executing long-term corporate strategy. Management is pleased to reiterate the Companys long-term financial objectives:

Increase recurring monthly revenues;

Achieve consolidated Adjusted EBITDA margins consistent with its industry;

Achieve growth in Adjusted Net Income per share;

Reinvest cashflows in future business growth.

SUMMARY FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE SECOND FISCAL QUARTER ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2024 :

Readers should refer to the Companys financial statements and MD&A in respect of its second fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2024, for additional risk factors, accounting policies, detailed financial disclosures, reconciliation of non-IFRS financial measures to the most directly comparable IFRS financial measures, related party transactions, contingencies, and reporting of subsequent events. Such financial statements and MD&A are incorporated by reference into this news release and are filed electronically through the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR+), which can be accessed at www.sedarplus.ca.

Three Months Ended $ thousands unless otherwise noted Sep. 30, 2024 June 30, 2024 March 31, 2024 INCOME STATEMENT INFORMATION : Q2 F25 Q1 F25 Q4 F24 RMR in the period, continuing operations (1) $3,666 $3,262 $3,019 Revenues, continuing operations (1) $8,089 $7,915 $7,259 Gross profit, continuing operations (1) $3,477 $3,006 $3,211 Gross profit margin, continuing operations (1) 43.0% 38.0% 44.2% Adjusted EBITDA, continuing operations (1) $338 $363 $(1,899) Net Income (loss), continuing operations (1) $(909) $(128) $(2,736) Net Income (loss) $(909) $(128) $(2,736) Average Common Shares during the quarter 26,643,739 26,643,739 26,575,067 As At BALANCE SHEET INFORMATION : Sep. 30, 2024 June 30, 2024 March 31, 2024 Cash balances & GIC investments (1) $3,914 $6,236 $6,031 Total funded debt as reported, IFRS $0 $0 $0 Total funded debt & lease obligations, IFRS (1) $1,392 $1,357 $1,380 Common Shares at period end 26,643,739 26,643,739 26,643,739

(1)Adjusted EBITDA and Recurring Monthly Revenues (RMR) are non-IFRS financial measures that have no standard meaning under IFRS and as a result may not be comparable to the calculation of similar measures by other companies. See Description of Non-IFRS Financial Measures. Reconciliations of Adjusted EBITDA and RMR to Net Income or Revenues, as applicable, are provided in the Companys Management Discussion & Analysis (MD&A).

Three months ended RECONCILIATION OF ADJUSTED EBITDA Sep 30, 2024 Sep 30, 2023 Total comprehensive income (loss) from continuing operations $(909) $(396) Deferred income tax expense (recovery) - (26) Interest expense 131 (17) Depreciation and amortization 408 316 Amortization on capitalized commission 1 - Share based payments 23 100 Reorganization and acquisition expense 684 250 Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations $338 $227

The Companys (RMR) from continuing operations during the last eight quarters are summarized below. Gross profit margins over the last eight quarters ranged between 37.7% and 44.2%, and were 41.9% on a trailing twelve-month basis to September 30, 2024:

F23(1) F24(1) F25 $thousands Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 RMR in the period $2,600 $2,691 $2,648 $2,834 $2,889 $3,019 $3,262 $3,666 Other revenue 2,492 2,675 2,762 2,504 4,052 4,240 4,652 4,423 Total revenue $5,092 $5,366 $5,410 $5,339 $6,941 $7,259 $7,914 $8,089 Total Gross Profit $2,177 $2,029 $2,039 $2,118 $2,948 $3,211 $3,005 $3,476 Gross Profit % 42.8% 37.8% 37.7% 39.7% 42.5% 44.2% 38.0% 43.0%

(1)The Companys fiscal year end is on March 31 of each year. F23 means the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023; and F24 means the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024.

INVESTOR WEBINAR SCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2024 at 1:00 pm ET (10:00 am PT)

The Company will also host an investor webinar to provide a corporate update and review its fiscal second quarter of fiscal 2025 financial results, on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, at 1:00 pm ET (10:00 am PT). The call will be hosted by: Emmanuel Mounouchos, CEO, Chairman, and Founder of Avante, and Raj Kapoor, CFO of Avante.

Webinar Details:

Webinar Registration: https://bit.ly/Avante-FYQ2-2025 Date: Tuesday, November 26, 2024 Time: 1:00 pm ET (10:00 am PT) Dial-in: 778-907-2071 (Vancouver local) 647-374-4685 (Toronto local) Confirmation #: 889 3884 9713

ABOUT AVANTE CORP. :

Avante Corp Inc. is a Toronto based leading provider of security operatives and technology enabled security solutions to residential and commercial clients. Avantes mission is to deliver an elevated level of security globally, with white-glove mentality to high- net-worth families and corporations alike, through advanced solutions and methods of detecting conditions that require immediate response. The Company has developed a diversified security platform that leverages advanced technology solutions to provide a superior level of security services. With an experienced team and proven track record of solid growth, Avante is taking steps to establish a broad portfolio of security businesses and solutions for its customers through organic growth complemented by strategic acquisitions. Avante acquires, manages and builds industry leading businesses which provide specialized, mission-critical solutions that address the security risks of its clients. Avante is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker XX. For more information, please visit www.avantecorp.ca and consider joining our investor email list.

Emmanuel Mounouchos

Founder, CEO & Board Chair, Avante Corp.

416-923-6984

manny@avantesecurity.com

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 described herein in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. This news release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities described herein have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and such securities may not be offered or sold within the United States absent registration under U.S. federal and state securities laws or an applicable exemption from such U.S. registration requirements.

Non-IFRS Financial Measures

This press release includes certain measures which have not been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) such as EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Recurring Monthly Revenue (RMR). These non-IFRS measures are not recognized under IFRS and and do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS. Accordingly, users are cautioned that these measures should not be construed as alternatives to net income determined in accordance with IFRS. The non-IFRS measures presented are unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers.

References to EBITDA are to net income before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. References to Adjusted EBITDA are to net income before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization of intangibles & capitalized commissions, share-based payments, acquisition, integration and / or reorganization costs, deferred financing costs, loss (gain) in fair value of derivative liability and expensing of fair value adjustments per IFRS. Recurring Monthly Revenues, or RMR, represent revenue during the fiscal period that benefited from contractual periodic billing to customers, typically monthly, quarterly or annually.

Management believes that Adjusted EBITDA and Recurring Monthly Revenues are appropriate additional measures for evaluating Avantes performance. Readers are cautioned that neither EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA nor Recurring Monthly Revenues should be construed as an alternative to net income or revenues (as such financial measures are determined under IFRS), as an indicator of financial performance or to cash flow from operating activities (as determined under IFRS) or as a measure of liquidity and cash flow. Avantes method of calculating EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Recurring Monthly Revenues may differ from methods used by other issuers and, accordingly, Avantes reported Non-IFRS measures may not be comparable to similar measures used by other issuers.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release may contain forward-looking statements (within the meaning of applicable securities laws) relating to the business of the Company and the environment in which it operates. Forward-looking statements are identified by words such as believe, anticipate, project, expect, intend, plan, will, may estimate, pro-forma and other similar expressions. These statements are based on the Companys expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections. The forward-looking statements in this news release are based on certain assumptions. They are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to control or predict. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the Companys ability to achieve the benefits expected as a result of the sale of Logixx Security Inc., anticipated growth from acquisitions, new service offerings and from development and deployment of new technologies and the list of risk factors identified in the Companys Management Discussion & Analysis (MD&A), Annual Information Form (AIF) and other continuous disclosure documents available at www.sedar.com. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate as actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. Readers, therefore, should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Further, these forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and, except as expressly required by applicable law, the Company assumes no obligation to publicly update any such statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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.
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES

OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mustang Energy Corp. (CSE: MEC, OTC: MECPF, FRA: 92T) (Mustang or the Company) is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement for aggregate gross proceeds of up to C$3,000,000 from the sale of the following (together, the Offering):

up to 8,000,000 non-flow through common shares in the capital of the Company (each, a  Share ) at a price of C$0.25 per Share for gross proceeds of up to C$2,000,000 from the sale of the Shares; and

) at a price of C$0.25 per Share for gross proceeds of up to C$2,000,000 from the sale of the Shares; and up to 3,448,276 critical flow-through common shares of the Company (each, a FT Share, and collectively with the Shares, the Offered Securities) at a price of C$0.29 per FT Share for gross proceeds of up to C$1,000,000 from the sale of FT Shares.

Red Cloud Securities Inc. (Red Cloud) will be acting as a finder in connection with the Offering.

Each FT Share will be issued as a flow-through share within the meaning of subsection 66(15) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the Tax Act). The Company intends to use the proceeds of the Offering for the exploration of the Companys uranium projects in the Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan as well as for general working capital purposes. The gross proceeds from the issuance of the FT Shares will be used to incur resource exploration expenses which will constitute Canadian exploration expenses as defined in subsection 66.1(6) of the Tax Act and flow through critical mineral mining expenditures as defined in subsection 127(9) of the Tax Act, which will be renounced with an effective date no later than December 31, 2024 to the purchasers of the FT Shares in an aggregate amount not less than the gross proceeds raised from the issue of the FT Shares.

The closing of the Offering is subject to receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals including the Canadian Securities Exchange (the CSE). Finders fees will be payable in accordance with applicable securities laws and the policies of the CSE. The securities issued under the Offering will be subject to a hold period ending on the date that is four months plus one day following the date of issue in accordance with applicable securities laws.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Engagement of Red Cloud Securities Inc.

The Company engaged Red Cloud to provide a range of corporate advisory services to the Company. Red Cloud is a Toronto-based financial services company that provides assistance to mineral exploration and mining companies in accessing capital markets and enhancing their corporate profile.

Pursuant to the terms of the engagement, Red Cloud will be paid an initial cash fee of $150,000 for an initial 12 month term (the Initial Term), which term will be automatically renewed on a month-to-month basis unless otherwise terminated. In addition, Red Cloud will receive a cash commission equal to 7.0% of the gross proceeds raised from the sale of any equity securities of the Company to certain identified parties (each, an Identified Party) introduced to the Company by Red Cloud and receive such number of common share purchase warrants of the Company (each, a Finders Warrant) as is equal to 7.0% of the number of securities under the offering sold to Identified Parties, each to be exercisable for a period of 24 months following such closing date at an exercise price equal to the offering price of the securities sold during the Initial Term or within a period of 12 months thereafter (the Fee Period), or such other exercise price as required by the policies of the CSE. In the event of the consummation of a transaction other than an equity securities offering during the Fee Period involving an Identified Party, the Company will pay to Red Cloud a fee (the Transaction Fee) premised upon the total cash and non-cash proceeds and other consideration paid or to be paid in connection with the transaction, subject to a minimum $75,000 Transaction Fee. The payment of any fees or issuance of any securities to Red Cloud in connection with the engagement is subject to the approval of the CSE. Red Cloud has no direct relationship with the Company, other than as contemplated in the engagement.

Engagement with German Mining Networks GmbH

On November 25, 2024, the Company engaged German Mining Networks GmbH (GMN) to provide investor relations services in Europe. The engagement commenced on November 25, 2024 and will continue for an initial one month period and shall be automatically renewed for successive one-month periods thereafter (the Term), unless terminated pursuant to the terms of the engagement. Based in Germany, GMN specializes in assisting companies access investors in certain major financial hubs located in continental Europe. GMN will introduce the Company to potential investors, schedule shareholder targeting calls, conduct road shows, and provide support on other such marketing initiatives through various in-person and online channels. Pursuant to the terms of the engagement, the Company will pay a cash retainer of C$6,800 per month, payable in quarterly installments in advance during the Term. In the event that the Company and GMN agree to perform a road show, the Company has agreed to reimburse GMN for certain road show expenses through a cash fee of C$6,800 payable three weeks prior to the date of such road show. The payment of any fees in connection with the engagement is subject to the approval of the CSE. GMN has no direct relationship with the Company, other than as contemplated in the engagement. GMN has an address at Postfach: 10 01 26, 98561 Schmalkalden, Germany and Peter Krah of GMN can be reached by telephone at +49 176-99096054 or by email at krahp@german-mining.com.

About Mustang Energy Corp.

Mustang is a resource exploration company focused on acquiring and developing high-potential uranium and critical mineral assets. The Company is actively exploring its properties in the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan, Canada. Mustangs flagship property, Ford Lake, covers 7,743 hectares in the prolific eastern Athabasca Basin, while its Cigar Lake East and Roughrider South projects span 2,901 hectares in the Wollaston Domain. Mustang has also established its footprint in the Cluff Lake region of the Athabasca Basin with the acquisition of the Yellowstone Project and further expanded its presence in the south central region of the Athabasca Basin with the Dutton Project.

On behalf of the board of directors,

Nicholas Luksha

Nicholas Luksha

CEO and Director

For further information, please contact:

Mustang Energy Corp.

Attention: Nicholas Luksha, CEO and Director

Phone: (604) 838-0184

Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer

This news release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company regarding future events. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as intends, believes or anticipates, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, should, would or occur. This information and these statements, referred to herein as forward-looking statements, are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without limitation, statements regarding discussions of future plans, estimates and forecasts and statements as to managements expectations and intentions with respect to, among other things: the closing of the Offering, the issuance of the Offered Securities, the payment of finders fees, the anticipated closing date of the Offering, and the intended use of proceeds of the Offering. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial out-look that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Neither the CSE nor the Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
HIGHLIGHTS

Mark Lynch-Staunton, previously Benz Mining's Chief Development Officer, promoted to Chief Executive Officer, bringing extensive expertise in exploration, project development, and mine-building to the role.

Since joining Benz over a year ago, Mr Lynch-Staunton has been instrumental in shaping the Company's strategy, particularly in driving the acquisition of high-grade gold assets in Western Australia.

With proven experience in managing large-scale projects, including the multi-million-ounce Bulyanhulu Gold Mine, Mr. Lynch-Staunton is well-positioned to lead Benz through its next phase of growth.

Vancouver, November 25, 2024 - Benz Mining Corp. (TSXV: BZ) (ASX: BNZ) (Benz or the Company) is pleased to announce the promotion of Mr. Mark Lynch-Staunton to Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Since joining Benz as Chief Development Officer in December 2023, Mr. Lynch-Staunton has played a pivotal role in advancing Benz's strategic initiatives and expanding its portfolio of high-quality gold assets, particularly with the recent acquisitions of the Glenburgh Gold Project and the Mt. Egerton Gold Project, located in Western Australia, from Spartan Resources Limited (ASX: SPR), as announced on 6 November 2024.

Mr. Lynch-Staunton's extensive experience spans over 15 years in metals and mining, with a distinguished record in exploration, feasibility studies, and project development. His past work includes senior management roles at Barrick Gold Corp., where he led large multidisciplinary teams on some of the world's largest mineral deposits, including overseeing the feasibility and recommissioning of the multi-million-ounce Bulyanhulu Gold Mine.

Mark Lynch-Staunton commented on his new role:

"I am excited to step into the CEO role and lead Benz through this important growth phase. Our new assets in Western Australia, combined with our existing projects in Quebec, provide a unique opportunity to drive substantial value for our shareholders. I look forward to building on the progress we have made and working with our talented team to unlock the full potential of Benz's world-class portfolio."

Benz Executive Chairman, Evan Cranston, commented on the appointment:

"Mark's leadership and strategic insight have been vital to Benz's recent achievements. His appointment as CEO is a natural progression for both Mark and Benz, and we are confident his proven experience in exploration and mine development will continue to drive the Company's growth. The Board extends its congratulations to Mark Lynch-Staunton on his well-deserved appointment as CEO and looks forward to the continued development of Benz's premier gold assets under his leadership."

Mr. Lynch-Staunton's remuneration package, including base salary, incentive components, and any performance-based equity arrangements, are detailed in Appendix 1.

The Company has also agreed to issue in aggregate a total of 2,000,000 options to certain consultants of the Company. All were granted in accordance with the Company's Omnibus Equity Incentive Compensation Plan and are in accordance with policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. These options have an exercise price of C$0.25 and expire two years from their date of grant.

This announcement has been approved for release by the Board.

About Benz Mining Corp.

Benz Mining Corp. (TSXV: BZ) (ASX: BNZ) is a pure-play gold exploration company dual-listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and Australian Securities Exchange. The Company owns the Eastmain Gold Project in Quebec, with a NI 43-101 and JORC (2012) compliant mineral resource of 1,005,000 ounces at 6.1g/t Au, showcasing Benz's focus on high-grade, high-margin assets in premier mining jurisdictions.

On 6 November 2024, Benz announced a binding agreement to acquire the Glenburgh and Mt. Egerton Gold Projects in Western Australia from Spartan Resources Limited (ASX: SPR). This acquisition, once completed, will mark a transformational step, establishing Benz as a multi-jurisdictional gold exploration company with a focus on unlocking value in underexplored assets. The Glenburgh Project features a Mineral Resource Estimate of 16.3Mt at 1.0 g/t Au (510,100 ounces of contained gold).

Benz's key point of difference lies in its team's deep geological expertise and the use of advanced geological techniques, particularly in high-metamorphic terrane exploration. The Company aims to rapidly grow its global resource base and solidify its position as a leading gold explorer across two of the world's most prolific gold regions.





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For more information, please visit: https://benzmining.com/.

Competent Person's Statement (JORC Code)

The Mineral Resource Estimates for the Eastmain Project and the Glenburgh Project were previously reported in accordance with Listing Rule 5.8 on 24 May 2023 and 6 November 2024, respectively. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the original market announcements and confirms that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the Estimates continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company confirms that the form and context in which the Competent Person's findings are presented have not been materially modified from the original market announcements.

Historical Mineral Resource Estimates

All mineral resource estimates in respect of the Glenburgh Project in this news release are considered to be "historical estimates" as defined under NI 43-101- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101). These historical estimates are not considered to be current and are not being treated as such. These estimates have been prepared in accordance with the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves prepared by the Joint Ore Reserves Committee of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Australian Institute of Geoscientists and Minerals Council of Australia (JORC Code) and have not been reported in accordance with NI 43-101. A qualified person (as defined in NI 43-101) (Qualified Person) has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimates as current mineral resources. A Qualified Person would need to review and verify the scientific information and conduct an analysis and reconciliation of historical data in order to verify the historical estimates as current mineral resources.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking information" or "forward looking statements" (collectively Forward-Looking Information) as such term is used in applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-Looking Information includes, but is not limited to, disclosure regarding the acquisition of the Glenburgh and Mt Egerton projects and the anticipated benefits thereof, planned exploration and related activities on the Glenburgh and Mt Egerton projects, the anticipated timing of completion of the acquisition. In certain cases, Forward-Looking Information can be identified by the use of words and phrases or variations of such words and phrases or statements such as "anticipates", "complete", "become", "expects", "next steps", "commitments" and "potential", in relation to certain actions, events or results "could", "may", "will", "would", be achieved. In preparing the Forward-Looking Information in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including, but not limited to, that all requisite approvals in respect of the acquisition will be received, and all conditions precedent to completion of the acquisition will be satisfied, in a timely manner; the Company will be able to raise additional capital as necessary; the current exploration, development, environmental and other objectives concerning the Company's Projects (including Glenburgh and Mt Egerton) can be achieved; and the continuity of the price of gold and other metals, economic and political conditions, and operations.

Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause plans, estimates and actual results to vary materially from those projected in such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause the forward-looking information in this news release to change or to be inaccurate include, but are not limited to, the risk that any of the assumptions referred to prove not to be valid or reliable, that occurrences such as those referred to above are realized and result in delays, or cessation in planned work, that the Company's financial condition and development plans change, and delays in regulatory approval, as well as the other risks and uncertainties applicable to the Company as set forth in the Company's continuous disclosure filings filed under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca and www.asx.com.au. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on Forward-Looking Information. The Forward-looking information in this news release is based on plans, expectations, and estimates of management at the date the information is provided and the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, other than as required by applicable law.

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS RELEASE.

Appendix 1: Summary of Key Terms of CEO Employment Contract

Commencement date 25 November 2024 Remuneration Annual salary of A$270,000 per annum (excluding superannuation) Term of appointment No fixed term until terminated by either party in accordance with the employment contract. Contract includes an annual review. Termination Three (3) month termination clause on both parties. Statutory entitlements will be paid as required by law. Incentives On commencement date, to be issued, pursuant to the Company's Omnibus Equity Incentive Compensation Plan and policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, an additional 2 million unquoted options with an exercise price of C$0.32, expiring 3 years from date of issue. Mr. Lynch-Staunton was issued a total of 3 million unquoted options upon his appointment as Chief Development Officer, which he still holds. Mr. Lynch-Staunton is entitled to participate in any short term or long-term incentive plan the Company may introduce from time to time, subject to the rules of any applicable plan and as agreed with the Board.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231259
VANCOUVER, Nov. 25, 2024 - Super Copper Corp. (CSE: CUPR) (FSE: N60) ("Super Copper" or the "Company"), a mining exploration company focused on advancing high-potential copper assets, is pleased to announce the appointment of Peter Jonathan (PJ) Murphy to its Advisory Board.

PJ Murphy is a seasoned mining executive and investor with over 25 years of management experience in the mining sector and broader equity markets. Currently serving as the Chairman of Forge Resources, he has a proven track record of identifying and advancing successful mining projects. Murphy brings exceptional leadership skills and a vast network within the investment and mining industries to Super Copper. His expertise in recognizing value investments and maximizing their potential has led to multiple successful transactions in his endeavors. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from McGill University and a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from Dalhousie University.

"As a new Advisor and shareholder, I am excited to join Super Copper at such a pivotal time," said PJ Murphy. "I look forward to working with the executive, technical, and advisory teams to advance the promising Cordillera Cobre project. With an exciting field program underway and a clear growth plan ahead, I'm dedicated to guiding the company towards a future defined by world-class execution and unlocking shareholder value."

Zachary Dolesky, CEO of Super Copper, commented: "We are thrilled to welcome PJ Murphy to our Advisory Board. His extensive experience in the mining industry and proven leadership will be invaluable as we advance our projects. PJ's expertise aligns perfectly with our strategic objectives, and we are confident that his contributions will propel Super Copper to new heights."

About Super Copper Corp.

Super Copper is a mining exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of copper and precious metal projects. It is currently developing its joint venture in a prospective Chilean copper property located within the copper-rich Venado Formation in the province of Atacama, Northern Chile, a region with world-class infrastructure and the presence of global majors. | www.supercopper.com

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed this press release and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. Readers should not rely on information in this summary for any purpose other than for gaining general knowledge of the Company. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the anticipated benefits of appointing PJ Murphy to the Advisory Board, the advancement of the Cordillera Cobre project, the Company's growth plans, the execution of its field program, and expectations about future economic growth and shareholder value. The words "expect," "believe," "intend," "anticipate," "plan," "will," "may," "should," "estimate," "potential," "continue," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that its expectations as reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties, and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates, opinions, or other factors should change.

SOURCE Super Copper Corp.







For further information please contact:



Zachary Dymala-Dolesky, Chief Executive Officer, Super Copper Corp., investors@supercopper.com, Tel: 1 (778) 747-2968


Coquitlam, November 25, 2024 - Nord Precious Metals Mining Inc. , (TSXV: NTH) (OTCQB: CCWOF) (Frankfurt: 4T9B) (the "Company" or "Nord" or "Nord Precious Metals"), Is pleased to provide a planned program for the gravity concentration of the Miller Creek High Grade Silver Tailings and Recovery Permit Requirements.

Frank J. Basa, President and CEO, commented, "The Ontario Metals Recovery Permit minimizes the timelines for obtaining conventional mining permits, which historically have been long and challenging for the junior mining industry." Further adding, "with demonstrated success in our full value mining approach, including silver values of up to 786,809 g/t silver in gravity concentrates, two high-grade silver tailings deposits, and a gravity plant at the ready to process the tailings, Nord has the potential to be revenue generating in the near term. This represents a transformative opportunity to create value from legacy mining sites while supporting Ontario's critical minerals strategy."

Recovery Permits Requirements Highlights:

A Recovery and Remediation" plan is required to describe the project and set out how the land would be remediated

Amendments under Part VII "Recovery and Remediation" of the Ontario Mining Act, whereby proponents would not be required to file a closure planto undertake the proposed recovery of minerals.

Amendments tentatively to be proclaimed to the Mining Act mid-2025.

Value Creation Opportunity:

The Company's full value mining strategy targets multiple revenue streams through the recovery of precious and critical minerals from historical waste streams. As highlighted in the Building More Mines Act (Bill 71, May 2023), Ontario has modernized its approach to mine waste reprocessing, specifically through section 152.1 which establishes a streamlined permitting process for tailings recovery projects. This legislative change positions Nord to potentially expand beyond the Gowganda district into the broader Cobalt Camp, where numerous historical tailings deposits await similar transformation. Our Miller Creek project, with demonstrated silver grades averaging 282 g/t silver in calculated head grades, serves as a proof of concept that could unlock value from legacy mining districts globally.

Planned Processing Program:

The company plans to fly the open stopes by the use of drones to map out the size and extent of the openings on the first level. Stope volume determinations and stockpiled broken mineralization from historic mining will be calculated. Using our proven two-stage gravity-flotation process, initial testing has achieved silver recoveries up to 70 percent with concentrate grades reaching 18,486 g/t silver A recovery plan will be first undertaken of the mineralized waste rock followed by backfill of the first level and stopes with processed tailings.

Qualified person

The technical information in this news release was approved and prepared under the supervision of Mr. Frank J. Basa, B.Eng., (PEO), director of Nord Precious Metals, a qualified person accordance with National Instrument 43-101.

About Nord Precious Metals Mining Inc.

Nord Precious Metals Mining Inc. (formerly Canada Silver Cobalt Works Inc.) recently discovered a major high-grade silver vein system at Castle East located 1.5 km from its 100%-owned, past-producing Castle Mine near Gowganda in the prolific and world-class silver-cobalt mining district of Northern Ontario. The Company has completed a 60,000 m drill program aimed at expanding the size of the deposit with an update to the resource estimate underway.

In May 2020, based on a small initial drill program, the Company published the region's first 43-101 resource estimate that contained a total of 7.56 million ounces of silver in Inferred resources, comprising very high-grade silver (8,582 grams per tonne un-cut or 250.2 oz/ton) in 27,400 tonnes of material from two sections (1A and 1B) of the Castle East Robinson Zone, beginning at a vertical depth of approximately 400 meters. Note that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. Please refer to the Nord Precious Metals (previously Canada Silver Cobalt Works) Press Release May 28, 2020, for the resource estimate. Report reference: Rachidi, M. 2020, NI 43-101 Technical Report Mineral Resource Estimate for Castle East, Robinson Zone, Ontario, Canada, with an effective date of May 28, 2020, and a signature date of July 13, 2020.

The Company also has: (1) 14 battery metals properties in Northern Quebec where it has recently completed a nearly 16,000-metre drill program on the Graal property recently spun out to Coniagas Battery Metals Inc. of which Nord owns 35%; and (2) St. Denis-Sangster lithium project - 260 square kilometers of greenfield exploration ground with numerous pegmatites focussed along a significant volcanic sedimentary rock - Archean granite contact near Cochrane, Ontario contiguous to Power Metals' Case Lake Lithium properties.

Nord Precious Metal's flagship silver-cobalt Castle mine and 78 sq. km Castle property feature strong exploration upside for silver, cobalt, nickel, gold, and copper. With underground access at the fully owned Castle Mine, an exceptional high-grade silver discovery at Castle East, a pilot plant to produce cobalt-rich gravity concentrates, a processing facility (TTL Laboratories) in the town of Cobalt, and a proprietary hydrometallurgical process known as Re-2Ox (for the creation of technical-grade cobalt sulphate as well as nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) formulations), Nord Precious Metals is strategically positioned to become a Canadian leader in the silver-cobalt space. More information is available at www.nordpreciousmetals.com.

"Frank J. Basa"

Frank J. Basa, P. Eng.

Chief Executive Officer

For further information, contact:

Frank J. Basa, P.Eng.

Chief Executive Officer

416-625-2342

or:

Wayne Cheveldayoff,

Corporate Communications

P: 416-710-2410

E: waynecheveldayoff@gmail.com

Caution Regarding 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 release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements which include, but are not limited to, comments that involve future events and conditions, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Except for statements of historical facts, comments that address resource potential, upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt and security of mineral property titles, availability of funds, and others are forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may vary materially from those statements. General business conditions are factors that could cause actual results to vary materially from forward-looking statements.

Copyright (c) 2024 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
VANCOUVER, Nov. 25, 2024 - Brixton Metals Corp. (TSX-V: BBB, OTCQB: BBBXF) (the "Company" or "Brixton") is pleased to announce that it completed on November 22, 2024, the non-brokered private placement previously announced on November 13, 2024 (the "Offering").

The Offering consisted of 66,486,631 flow-through units (each, a "FT Unit"), for total gross proceeds of $5,983,796.87.

Each FT Unit consisted of one common share of the Company issued as a "flow-through share" within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (each, a "FT Share") and one half of one non-transferable common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"), each whole Warrant exercisable at a per share price of $0.12 until November 22, 2026.

One insider participated in the Offering for aggregate cash consideration to the Company of $35,000, which constitutes a Related Party Transaction under TSX Venture Exchange Policy 5.9. The Company availed itself of the exemptions contained in section 5.5(c) of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 ("MI 61-101") for an exemption from the formal valuation requirement and Section 5.7(1)(b) of MI 61-101 for an exemption from the minority shareholder approval requirement of MI 61-101 as the fair market value of the securities to be distributed in the transaction, and the consideration to be received by the Company for those securities, insofar as the transaction involves interested parties did not exceed $2,500,000.

50% of the proceeds from the sale of the FT Shares will be used to incur "flow through mining expenditures", and the other 50% of the proceeds will be used to incur "flow-through critical mineral mining expenditures", both as defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada), or in such other proportions and amounts as approved by the Board of Directors of the Company upon reviewing all applicable exploration data available to it.

The securities issued to subscribers of the FT Units are subject to a hold period until March 23, 2025, pursuant to applicable Canadian securities laws.

Finder's fees of an aggregate $221,639.99 and 2,462,666 warrants to purchase common shares of the Company at a per share price of $0.12 until November 22, 2026 were paid to persons who introduced the Company to subscribers to the Offering.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Mr. Gary R. Thompson, Chairman and CEO

Tel: 604-630-9707 or email: info@brixtonmetals.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.

Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", and "intend", statements that an action or event "may", "might", "could", "should", or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact included herein are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential quantity and/or grade of minerals, potential size and expansion of a mineralized zone, proposed timing of exploration and development plans, and the use of proceeds of the Private Placement. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following risks: the need for additional financing; operational risks associated with mineral exploration; fluctuations in commodity prices; title matters; and the additional risks identified in the annual information form of the Company or other reports and filings with the TSXV and applicable Canadian securities regulators. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.

Brixton does not undertake to update any forward-looking information except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

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, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, unless an exemption from such registration is available.

Not for distribution to United States Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

CALGARY, November 25, 2024 - CANEX Metals Inc. ("CANEX" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has closed the second and final tranche of its previously announced non-brokered private placement. The Company will use the proceeds of the financing to advance the Louise copper-gold porphyry project in British Columbia and the Gold Range oxide gold project in northern Arizona.

Highlights

Strong investor support to allow CANEX to conduct low-cost drill targeting at the large Louise copper-gold porphyry system in British Columbia

Funds will allow additional advancement of the Gold Range project in Arizona focusing on expanding the 4-km long prospective oxide gold trend

The financing was done at a premium to current market price and with no warrant, highlighting the strong potential of the Company's projects

There was strong insider participation with insiders taking 9.2% of the financing

Terms of the Financing

The total non-brokered private placement consisted of 3,000,000 common shares ("Common Shares") and 5,033,365 flow-through common shares ("FT Shares") for gross proceeds of $437,000. Common Shares were offered at $0.045 per share and FT Shares were offered at $0.06 per share. Canex issued 555,555 Common Shares and 416,700 FT Shares in the final tranche.

Proceeds from the FT Shares will be used before December 2025 for general exploration expenditures at the Louise Property which will constitute Canadian exploration expenses within the meaning of subsection 66.1(6) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "Tax Act"), that will qualify as "critical mineral flow through mining expenditures" within the meaning of the Tax Act. Proceeds from non-flow through Common Shares will be used to advance the Company's Gold Range Project and for general working capital.

All securities issued in connection with this tranche of the Offering are subject to a four month hold period and no finder's fees were paid in connection with the Offering.

Insiders purchased a total of 111,108 Common Shares and 583,335 FT Shares. The Company has relied on exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained in Sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 as the fair market value of the subject matter of the Private Placement does not exceed 25% of the market capitalization of the Company as calculated in accordance with MI 61-101.

Incentive Stock Options

The Company has granted, pursuant to its stock option plan, a total of 5,200,000 incentive stock options to existing directors, officers, and consultants of the Company. The options are exercisable at a price of $0.05 per share for five years, with a portion vesting immediately and the remaining vesting over a two year period. These incentive options replace 3,285,000 options that expired during 2024.

About CANEX Metals

CANEX Metals (TSX.V:CANX) is a Canadian junior exploration company focused on advancing it's 100% owned Gold Range Project in Northern Arizona. With several near surface bulk tonnage gold discoveries made to date across a 4 km gold mineralized trend, the Gold Range Project is a compelling early-stage opportunity for investors. CANEX is also advancing the Louise Copper-Gold Porphyry deposit in British Columbia. Louise contains a large historic copper-gold resource that has seen very little deep or lateral exploration, offering investors copper and gold discovery potential. CANEX is led by an experienced management team which has made three notable porphyry and bulk tonnage discoveries in North America and is sponsored by Altius Minerals (TSX: ALS), a large shareholder of the Company.

Dr. Shane Ebert P.Geo., is the Qualified Person for CANEX Metals and has approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release.

"Shane Ebert"

Shane Ebert

President/Director

For Further Information Contact:

Shane Ebert at 1.250.964.2699 or

Jean Pierre Jutras at 1.403.233.2636

Web: http://www.canexmetals.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.

Except for the historical and present factual information contained herein, the matters set forth in this news release, including words such as "expects", "projects", "plans", "anticipates" and similar expressions, are forward-looking information that represents management of CANEX Metals Inc. internal projections, expectations or beliefs concerning, among other things, future operating results and various components thereof or the economic performance of CANEX. The projections, estimates and beliefs contained in such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause CANEX's actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, those described in CANEX's filings with the Canadian securities authorities. Accordingly, holders of CANEX shares and potential investors are cautioned that events or circumstances could cause results to differ materially from those predicted. CANEX disclaims any responsibility to update these forward-looking statements.

SOURCE: CANEX Metals Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Verstappen rues Red Bull's rear wing choices

Max Verstappen says Red Bull may need to rethink its strategy of saving money in the budget cap by not designing and producing a special low-downforce rear wing.

Max Verstappen, Las Vegas GP 2024

 Red Bull

The team was caught short in Las Vegas with a significant top speed deficit, with mechanics forced to cut and trim the wing - damaging the DRS effect.

We chose not to make one, so we simply don't have one, Verstappen said. "That has been the case since 2022. I think we just never thought we would run with so little downforce.

With the budget cap, you have to make choices.

However, he wonders if Red Bull made the right design choice this time. "We will look at it, but on the other hand there is only one year left with these rules, so I don't know if it's worth it. It's tricky.

It still feels a bit like we're throwing away two weekends, he said, referring to the races in Las Vegas and Monza. We had to saw off that DRS flap really hard, then you have less DRS effect, he rued.

The good news for Verstappen is that he qualified P5, he is at least ahead of his title rival Lando Norris - and the McLaren driver needs to close the points gap on Saturday or Verstappen will be world champion.

It's nice that we're ahead of Lando, but I'd still rather be higher up, he said. "We have to see how we handle the tyres in the race and how fast we are.

I'd prefer to be champion as soon as possible, but I'm not really thinking about that.

Team advisor Dr Helmut Marko told De Telegraaf newspaper: I think Max will win the title here, because McLaren doesn't seem fast enough.

Meanwhile, Marko admitted that, like most other teams, Red Bull also had to make changes to the 'skid block' following the latest FIA technical directive.

(GMM)
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Pan-African Savings and Loans supports Ghana Blind Union with boreholes

Business Desk Report Business News Nov - 25 - 2024 , 17:59

Pan-African Savings and Loans (Pan-African), as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, has donated a borehole to the Ghana Blind Union.

The donation forms part of Pan-Africans 2024 focus on supporting Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in Ghana.

Earlier this year, Pan-African also supported the Accra Rehabilitation Centre and the Ghana Society for the Socially Disadvantaged.

The borehole, located on the Ghana Blind Union's premises, will provide a reliable source of clean water for the union's members, staff, and other disability organizations sharing the compound.

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The Head of Corporate Affairs of Research and Customer Experience at Pan-African, Linda Naykene, said: we are committed to promoting inclusivity and accessibility in Ghana, our support for the Ghana Blind Union and other PWD organizations reflects our dedication to empowering marginalized communities."

Pan-African's CSR initiatives aim to make a positive impact on the lives of people within the communities in which they operate, particularly vulnerable groups.
Best-selling novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford dies

BBC Showbiz News Nov - 25 - 2024 , 17:26 5 minutes read

Author Barbara Taylor Bradford, known for best-selling novels including A Woman of Substance, has died at the age of 91.

Published in 1979, A Woman of Substance sold 30 million copies and spawned seven sequels and a TV adaptation, which is still the most-watched programme in Channel 4's history.

It was the first of 40 novels by Taylor Bradford; others include the Ravenscar, Cavendon and the House of Falconer series.

Paying tribute, her publisher and editor Lynne Drew said: "Dominating the bestseller lists, she broke new ground with her sweeping epic novels spanning generations, novels which were resolutely not romances, and she epitomised the woman of substance she created, particularly with her ruthless work ethic."

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The author was "perennially curious, interested in everyone and extraordinarily driven", Drew said, and was "an inspiration for millions of readers and countless writers".

Charlie Redmayne, chief executive of publisher HarperCollins, said: "Barbara Taylor Bradford was a truly exceptional writer whose first book, the international bestseller A Woman of Substance, changed the lives of so many who read it - and still does to this day."

She was "a natural storyteller" as well as "a great, great friend", he added.

A Woman of Substance was the rags-to-riches tale of Emma Harte, a young woman who goes from a being a maid to building and running a major department store.

The mini-series was watched by almost 14 million people on Channel 4 in 1985 and was nominated for two Emmy Awards.



Emma was played by Jenny Seagrove, who paid tribute to the author as a "dear friend".

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's World at One, Seagrove recalled being a young and nervous actress when she first met Taylor Bradford.

"I met Barbara at a screening [of A Woman of Substance] and she just walked up to me and she hugged me and said: 'Oh, you are my Emma.'

"That was all I needed. I burst into tears."

She added that the book was semi-autobiographical and "you could feel the truth in it".

'Changed women's lives'

Taylor Bradford had a huge impact on women, Seagrove said.

"We'd go on publicity tours... and women would come up to me randomly... and say 'You changed my life' because Emma Harte had changed their life in some way, [like] to start a business. It literally changed women's lives."

The actress said she went to the US for Taylor Bradford's 90th birthday celebrations last year.

"Even though she was ill, she put on her finery and was piped in by a bagpiper. She just never changed. She was always curious, always kind, always championing women and always giving and sharing.

"She championed women before it was fashionable, and that's a great legacy," Seagrove added.

A statement from Taylor Bradford's representative on Monday said she "died peacefully at her home yesterday (24 November 2024) following a short illness, and was surrounded by loved ones to the very end".

Taylor Bradford was born in Leeds, where her mother "force-fed me books" and she was in the same primary school class as Alan Bennett.

Young Barbara had her first story published at the age of 10 in a childrens magazine, and left school at 15 to work as a typist and copytaker on the Yorkshire Evening Post.

She got her first stories into the newspapers pages by surreptitiously slipping them into the sub-editors tray. It took the editors some time to realise what she was doing, but they then promoted her to be a journalist, and she was the papers only female reporter at the time.

She went on to write an interior decoration column that was syndicated to 183 newspapers, and her first books were about home design.

They included the Complete Encyclopedia of Homemaking Ideas in 1968, and she also wrote a string of entries in the How to be the Perfect Wife series.

Her first foray into fiction, when she was in her mid-40s, brought huge success and broke the mould.

"When I wrote A Woman of Substance I didn't sit down and think, I'm going to write about a woman warrior who conquers the world and smashes the glass ceiling, but I did want to write about women in a positive way," she told the Guardian in 2017.

"At the time there were a lot of very sexy books out there but the women didn't come out of them very well."

Her other novels included the Ravenscar trilogy, about a 20th Century dynasty that finished with 25-year-old Elizabeth, loosely based on Elizabeth I, at the head of a business empire.

The four-book Cavendon series follows two families - one aristocratic, the other their servants - from the 1920s to the 40s.

'Borrowing from myself'

Standalone novels included A Sudden Change of Heart, The Women in His Life and A Secret Affair.

Her most recent novel, The Wonder of it All, was published last year.

"I think people understand now, I write about women warriors - women who go out and conquer the world, who are not going to be dependent on anybody," the author told BBC Radio 3's Private Passions in 2022.

"They're going to have a career, and they're going to be successful, and they're driven and ambitious and disciplined and determined.

"And I guess I keep borrowing from myself because that's the way I'm made."

Barbara Taylor Bradford was married to Robert Bradford for more than 50 years

A number of her books were turned into TV or film versions. A Woman of Substance starred Liam Neeson opposite Seagrove, while Elizabeth Hurley appeared in 1989's Act of Will, and Anthony Hopkins was in 1991's To Be The Best.

The screen versions were made by the author's husband, Hollywood producer Robert Bradford.

They married on Christmas Eve in 1963, after which she moved to the US. He died in 2019.

Taylor Bradford's spokeswoman said she would be buried alongside her late husband in New York.

Taylor Bradford was made an OBE for services to literature by Queen Elizabeth in 2007, and was also an ambassador for the National Literacy Trust.

In its tribute, the charity hailed her as "a passionate advocate for improving literacy skills throughout her life", and said she "helped change lives in some of the UK's most disadvantaged communities".
Fear for your future, renowned Nigerian pastor warns critics of men of God

Graphic Showbiz Showbiz News Nov - 25 - 2024 , 12:22 1 minute read

Renowned Nigerian evangelist and filmmaker Mike Bamiloye has issued a warning to those who speak ill of men of God, emphasising the potential consequences of such actions.

In a statement on his official X account, Bamiloye referenced biblical accounts to point the dangers of criticising spiritual leaders.

Some people have carried unnecessary curses they ought not to have carried in the first place. Why? Because they had insulted some genuine men of God who carry fires meant for the devil, he said.

Drawing from 2 Samuel 6:16 and 6:23, Bamiloye cited the story of Michal, Sauls daughter, who despised King David for dancing in celebration before God.

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He pointed out that while David did not curse Michal, she incurred divine retribution, remaining childless until her death.

That is how some ignorant and arrogant people are getting their fingers burnt in the fire they cannot quench, he stated. Because some men of God had disappointed you does not imply every man of God you see should now be despised and insulted. It is a very dangerous venture.

Bamiloye concluded saying, Some people are always looking for any excuse to despise and talk against men of God. Fear for your future!

Source: VanguardNgr
Chamber pot going extinct

Lydia Ezit Life Nov - 25 - 2024 , 13:25 4 minutes read

Chamber pots, locally known in the Twi language as "kuraba," are gradually going extinct from major markets across the country.

Vendors of the product say local manufacturers of chamber pots have attributed the prevailing situation of the non-availability of the pots to the lack of raw material for mass production.

Large size

The vendors, who spoke with The Mirror, said chamber pots, particularly the large size, were still very useful and served as toilet bowls for the aged, especially those who are bedridden.

During a tour of some markets such as the Berekum, Sunyani, Techiman, Seikwa, Kumasi Central, Alabar in Kumasi, Obuasi and Accra Central, wholesalers and retailers of chamber pots said the scarcity of raw materials has compelled manufacturers to halt the production of the original chamber pot.

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A vendor, Adwoa Adowaa, however, said the manufacturers have introduced minor black plastic buckets of six litre, many of which have been converted into chamber pots for both young and old in many households.

According to her, her interaction with customers indicated that old people, especially bedridden were unable to use the improvised (six-litre bucket) chamber pot.

Chamber pots are sold between GH8 and GH15, while the six-litre black buckets are sold between GH12 and GH15.

The Mirror had the opportunity to engage some retailers, wholesalers and local manufacturers of chamber pots across the country over the past three months.

Naa Atswei, a vendor said the six-litre buckets have come to replace chamber pots

Local manufacturers

Responding to the claims of the vendors during a visit to manufacturing industries at the South Industrial Area in Accra, the Sales attendant at the KGM Industries, Mr Ben Nyarko, said a Ghanaian company known as Mamba Plast, which produced the old model of chamber pots, had collapsed.

The company collapsed many years ago and no company has been interested in producing their old model chamber pots and that is why you do not find the product on the market," he said.

He, however, said his company had never produced that model of chamber pots.

The Manager of the Accra Depot of the KGM Industries, Mr Karltik Yadav, also added that his company had never produced the local product, explaining that it takes a lot of effort and decisions before a company can introduce a product into the market.

He said they have various litres of the black plastic buckets that could serve the same purpose as a chamber pot.

At Qualiplast, the Sales Attendant, Mr Kofi Amankwa, also said they do not produce chamber pots but rather the six-litre black buckets.

The situation was, however, different at Decor Plast where a member of the Sales Team, Ms Priscilla Nyarko, explained that they only produce the small size of chamber pots for infants.

Ms Nyarko said the market value for the product had reduced so they were focused on producing very small quantities of the product.

Some local manufacturers produce chamber pots for only infants

Chamber pot

Chamber pot, as it is known traditionally, is a small round bowl with a handle which is usually used for storing human waste at night and also doubles as a toilet for children.

When The Mirror visited some of the markets, there was no sight of the chamber pots which used to be very common in sizes and colours on the markets.

A chamber pot dealer in front of the GCB Bank PLC at the Accra Central Market, Naa Atswei, told The Mirror she had sold plastics for 22 years.

Most of the local manufacturers are no more producing chamber pots

She said a lot of people do ask for the old model chamber pot but they tell them it is out of the system.

"Local manufacturers say they do not have the raw materials but they bring us the new six-litre buckets because that is what is being used as an alternative chamber pot in various homes, if they do not have the raw material then what do they use for the six-litre buckets? she asked.

A well-known wholesaler at the Alabar Market, in Kumasi, Alhaji Seidu explained that "people still want the old model for their aged relatives because it is very useful with many customers still seeking for the large size.

Mr Joseph Anane, a vendor said the large size of the old model chamber pot is suitable for the aged

Writer's email address: lydiaezit@gmail.com
Education programme supports 30 institutions to boost youth employment

Elizabeth Nyaadu Adu Education Nov - 25 - 2024 , 09:57 2 minutes read

30 private higher education institutions, vocational centres and key educational players in Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire and Senegal have received financial and technical support from the Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P) Education and Employment Programme (IP2E) since its inception in 2021.

The initiative implemented through partnerships with the Mastercard Foundation, the European Union, and the Government of Monaco, aims to improve access to quality education and strengthen the training-employment match in Africa, in order to ensure better employment opportunities.

Speaking at an event to assess the significant achievements and challenges of the programme in Accra, the Programme Director for IP2E, Koumba Anouma, said: Together, we have faced challenges that taught us invaluable lessons, forged strong partnerships and contributed to a promising future for young people across the region.

She highlighted the programmes progress in enhancing the quality of education and supporting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to access learning and career opportunities.

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She explained that strengthening pathways to employment was essential as Africa prepares to welcome 30 million new job market entrants annually by 2030.

The Head of Investment for I&P Education to Employment, Regis Ouattara, discussed the programme's investment strategy, emphasising the need to support the education sector, which had historically been underfunded.

He said the education sector plays a crucial role in societal development. However, it faces severe funding shortages, particularly in West Africa.

Bridging the gap

Presenting a report which highlights the programmes successes and measurable outcomes, the ESG/Impact Officer of IP2E, Manuela Boma-Atta, said: We have supported more than 200,000 students, with a focus on gender inclusion58 per cent of our beneficiaries are women. This shows our commitment to reducing barriers to education, especially for marginalised populations.

She explained that the programmes support extends to diverse educational businesses, from vocational training and higher education to edtech and publishing with focus areas including digital transformation, measuring graduate employability, fostering inclusion and creating safe learning environments.

For his part, the Programme Partner for Education and Skills at the Mastercard Foundation, Peter Tetteh Narh, expressed the foundations commitment to advancing youth employment through IP2E.

He noted that IP2E aligned with the Foundations ambitious Young Africa Works strategy, which aims to provide dignified work to 30 million African youth by 2030.
Bawumia hails Lands Commission's digital transformation as new office complex is inaugurated

GraphicOnline Nov - 25 - 2024 , 19:32 2 minutes read

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has lauded the Lands Commission for its strides in digital transformation and operational efficiency, describing these efforts as pivotal for national development.

He made these remarks while inaugurating the Commission's new ultra-modern head office complex in Accra on Monday, November 25, 2024.

Recalling a 2018 visit to the Lands Commission, Dr. Bawumia highlighted the challenges the institution faced, including cramped office space and reliance on manual record-keeping.

"At the Land Title Registration Division Office, I saw volumes of files all over the place... I observed that the Commission had a huge problem with space, not only to store their files, but also for staff to do their work," he said. He assured Ghanaians at the time that the government would tackle these challenges, promising to complete a new office complex to enhance the Commission's operations.

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Milestone in modernisation

The newly commissioned building represents the government's efforts to strengthen land administration. Dr. Bawumia emphasised the critical role the land sector plays in Ghana's economy, noting that 90 percent of the population depends directly or indirectly on land for their livelihoods, according to the Ghana Statistical Service.

"A well-functioning land administration system is essential for sustainable economic development, social cohesion, and a vibrant investment climate," he stated, underscoring the necessity of robust land management for national progress.

Dr. Bawumia outlined the governments strategy for land administration reform, which he said is anchored on three key elements: modern office infrastructure, the digitisation and automation of business processes, and the engagement of knowledgeable and well-motivated staff. He described the new head office complex as a crucial step towards achieving these goals, providing a conducive environment for effective land management.

On the digitisation of the Commissions operations, Dr. Bawumia lauded the implementation of initiatives such as online searches, consolidated search processes across divisions, and the Electronic Property Appraisal System for property valuations. He also noted that the digitisation of land title certificates has reduced the risk of errors associated with manual entries, significantly enhancing efficiency and transparency.

The Vice President expressed optimism about the future of land administration in Ghana, crediting the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the Lands Commission, and his offices Liaison Unit for their collaboration in driving these reforms. He emphasised the importance of continued digital transformation to further improve service delivery, accountability, and public confidence in the land sector.

Dr. Bawumia concluded by reaffirming the governments dedication to building a robust and modern land administration system, which he said is essential for ensuring sustainable development and social progress.
Aayalolo takes service notch higher - Anyaa latest beneficiary

Daily Graphic Nov - 25 - 2024 , 09:57 4 minutes read

On Wednesday, October 23, 2024 the Aayalolo Quality Bus Service in collaboration with the Ga Central Municipal Assembly inaugurated a new corridor service at the Anyaa Bus Terminal.

The new service is expected to provide convenient and affordable transportation to inhabitants of the municipality as well as revamp activities in and around the terminal which had become dormant for years.

With the new service Aayalolo bus services will now run from Anyaa to Accra, Anyaa to Madina, Anyaa to Kasoa, Anyaa to Tema and Anyaa to Pokuase/Amasaman.

The Aayalolo services have been in operation since 2016, initially on the Amasaman- Pokuase corridor through Achimota to the Central Business District- Accra Central. The operations were later extended to Dodowa via Adenta to the Central Business Centre, Ashiaman to Accra and Kasoa to Accra.

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Speaking at the event which brought together city authorities, local and traditional authorities, as well as traders and the general public, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for the Ga Central Municipal Assembly, Ambrose Tsegah, expressed utmost joy at the service to be rendered by Aayalolo and urged the constituents and the general public to patronise the service around the clock.

Recruitment

He was very grateful to the Management of Aayalolo for the speed with which they agreed to bring the bus service to the Ga Central Municipality. He also mentioned that he had appealed to the Greater Accra Passenger Transport Executive (GAPTE) to allocate some quota for the municipal assembly for some locals to be recruited and trained as Aayalolo drivers in the very near future.

Ambrose Tsegah and Charles Annan, MD for Gapte, cutting the tape to commence the Anyaa service

He, therefore, asked all present who wanted to be Aayalolo drivers to present their details at the assembly for the necessary arrangements leading to their training and recruitment. He also expressed the commitment of the assembly to ensure the success of the bus service.

The Aayalolo Quality Bus Service, the MCE said, would create employment for the people of his area and also ensure that the mobility and transportation needs of the people are met with the arrival of the Aayalolo service.

The Operations Manager of GAPTE, which is the operator of the Aayalolo Quality Bus Service, Solomon Osei, in lending credence to the importance of operationalising the Aayalolo Bus Service at Anyaa, highlighted the many advantages the Aayalolo services will bring to the locals and solicited their commitment and support to make the service a successful one.

Some of the local people expressed their gratitude for the Aayalolo service and promised to support the service.

Economic opportunities

In a speech delivered by a member of the Board of the Greater Accra Passenger Transport Executive (GAPTE), Anita Amissah, she expressed her profound hope in the many economic opportunities that the new transportation service would bring to the local economy.

Some of the buses for the new service

She said that the extension of the bus service to the area will stimulate commerce, facilitate trade and other businesses as is expected of every effective public transportation system. For the wider public, the Aayalolo brand promises to offer increased accessibility as it will make connections to workplaces, education and healthcare much easier.

As part of reforms initiated under the Ghana Urban Transport Project (GUTP), the GAPTE was established as a metropolitan mobility agency to develop and implement systems for urban transport management, network planning, public transport regulations and service contract management in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area and Awutu Senya East Municipal Assembly in the Central Region. Currently, GAPTE encompasses 27 MMDAs.

This has been made possible through the instrumentality of the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, amid the implementation of measures aimed at restructuring and repositioning GAPTE to deliver on its mandate.

Transformation

The GAPTE Board celebrated Aayalolos transformation from near collapse to a thriving lucrative business fuelled by deliberate policies, strategic planning, innovative thinking and dedication.

Ambrose Tsegah  Mce, Ga Central Municipal Assembly

It said the Aayalolo brand is committed to providing world class transportation and enhancing Accras quality of life through the provision of its services.

The Aayalolo Bus Services mandate to modernise and improve urban transit within the capital city and its surrounding areas, is part of a broader strategy intended to revamp public transportation in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA).

It has been designed to offer an alternative to the informal minibus system, commonly known as "trotros," which, despite being widely used, often suffer from issues such as overcrowding, irregular schedules, and safety concerns. The service aims to provide a reliable and efficient means of transportation for commuters.
Cancellation of double track policy will hinder access to free SHS  Prof. Opoku-Amankwa

Severious Kale-Dery Nov - 25 - 2024 , 09:57 4 minutes read

A former Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, has defended the double track policy introduced in 2018, describing it as the umbilical cord of the free senior high school (FSHS) programme.

He explained that any attempt to cancel the double track/transitional calendar would deny an estimated 1,800,000 students access to the free SHS, technical, vocational education and training (FSHS/TVET).

The free SHS was meant to give access. So, if you are going to deny people access, then you defeat the purpose of the free SHS,

The double track is the umbilical cord of the free SHS because once you stop the double track, you will deny about a third of the students access to free SHS, the former DG of the GES said in an exclusive interview in Accra.

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Prof. Opoku-Amankwa was sharing his opinion on the raging debate in the educational sector, especially the free SHS, which came with the introduction of the double track policy and the teacher licensure.

The double track programme was implemented in 400 SHSs across the country to address the high demand for education and the inability of existing facilities to accommodate the increase in enrolment.

Politics

Excited that both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had promised to maintain the free SHS programme, Prof. Opoku Amankwa was, however, worried that while the NPP was pledging to enhance and protect the free SHS policy, the NDC was focused on abolishing the double track system within 100 days in office.

He insisted that the focus should not be on abolishing the double track because once you abolish it, then you have virtually cancelled the free SHS.

The double track schools now operate a transitional calendar, which allows schools to make maximum use of available spaces.

A transitional calendar allows schools to operate without dividing any year group into two or double tracking any year group: No Green or Gold Tracks, he explained.

Nkrumah/Nana Addo educational policies

Likening the free SHS to Ghanas first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumahs Education Act 1961(Act 87), which made six years of primary followed by four years of middle schooling fee-free and compulsory, Prof. Opoku-Amankwa said today, those policies that Dr Nkrumah brought that met resistance, were now being hailed.

Posterity has vindicated Dr Kwame Nkrumah on his numerous policies, including the implementation of the Education Act 1961 (Act 87).

Posterity will equally vindicate President Akufo-Addo on his numerous policies, particularly on the implementation of the free Senior High School (FSHS), he stated.

He said the two policies shared similar objectives to widen access to education, adding that Dr Nkrumahs policy focused on the primary and middle school levels.

Prof. Opoku-Amankwa added that also, in those days, the policy sought to create awareness of the need and importance of education for national development, especially among rural and economically disadvantaged communities.

Enrolment

The former GES DG stated that at the beginning of the new school year in September 1961, nearly 57 per cent more children  219,480 compared to 123,407 children the previous year  entered Primary One.

According to the Ministry of Education Report of 1963, temporary structures were put up and other accommodation were pressed into service, so that in all, 2,000 new primary schools were opened, ... where no extra buildings could be found, a two-shift system was adopted, and at the beginning of the school year, 832 primary and middle schools had classes operating in this way, he recalled.

Juxtaposing it with the free SHS policy, Prof. Opoku-Amankwa said, In September 2017, barely eight months into office, and exactly 56 years after Dr Nkrumahs fee-free primary and middle school education, President Akufo-Addo implemented the free SHS in fulfilment of his long-standing manifesto promise.

He explained that the purpose of free SHS was to provide free, universal equitable access to quality secondary education that prepared and equipped the youth with employable skills for the world of work and aptitude for further academic work.
Election 2024: Who takes Central Region?

Suleiman Mustapha Nov - 25 - 2024 , 11:00 6 minutes read

The Central Region, like Greater Accra, is one of the most sought-after electoral prizes for the Jubilee House in this years election due to its inconsistent voting pattern.

The region, seen by many as a key unpredictable die for its unclear party loyalty, has historically swung between the two major political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

With over 1.75 million registered voters in 3,637 polling stations, analysts say the region once again holds one of the golden keys to who wins this years presidential poll, as it had done in the past.

Battleground constituencies

The key deciding constituencies that are typically classified as swing are Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese, Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa, Awutu Senya West, Cape Coast North, Gomoa Central, Gomoa East, Komenda Edina Eguafo Abirem (KEEA), Mfantseman, Twifo-Atti Morkwa, Upper Denkyira West and Awutu Senya East.

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In this years election, the constituency to watch out for is Gomoa East, which is currently held by the NDCs Paitoo De-Graft Desmond, who flipped it with 36,637 votes or 49.46 per cent from his closest rival, Kojo Asemanya of the NPP who polled 35,873, representing 48.42 per cent.

The victory margin of 764 makes the constituency a dicey one for the incumbent, especially when the NPP has won the constituency three times in 2000, 2004 and 2016, and the NDC won four times.

The Abura Asebu Kwamankese seat, currently held by the NPPs Elvis Morris Donkoh, is also up for grabs because of the slim margin of victory between the incumbent, who polled 25,048, and his main challenger, Felix Ofosu Kwakye of the NDC, who gained 24,872, losing by 176 votes.

The NDC has won the constituency four times in previous elections. The constituency voted for the Umbrella in 1996, 2000, 2008 and 2012.

The Assin South seat, which is occupied by a Deputy Minister of Education, John Ntim Fordjour, will also be fiercely contested.

He won with 17,121 votes, representing 39.25 per cent, to beat the NDCs Kofi Dantse who polled 15,801 or 36.22 per cent. The 1,320 margin of victory for the incumbent makes the constituency,a must-watch. The NDC won the constituency only in 1996.

The Upper Denkyira West Constituency, held by the NDCs Daniel Ohene Darko, has since 2004 been a safe seat for the NPP until 2020 when the Umbrella flipped it. The incumbent won with 18,446 representing 50.72 per cent to beat the NPPs Samuel Nsowah Djan, who garnered 17,925 ballots, representing 49.28 per cent.

Keen contests

The Cape Coast North has NPPs Horace Ewusi giving Kwamena Mintah Nyarkoh a run for his money.

Ekow Ewusi has done extensive campaigning to ensure that the seat can be won by anybody.

Mfantseman is also being keenly contested but the NPP's Ophelia Hayford Mensah is likely to be retained by constituents.

Cape Coast South, which now has Perry Mensah who was an NPP man now contesting the seat as an independent candidate, would likely impact the NPP's fortune and let the NDC's Kweku Ricketts Hagan slide through for another win.

The NPPs Cynthia Morrison's decision to contest as independent in the Agona West would also impact the fortunes of the NPP.

The KEEA seat which could be described as traditionally NDC is also likely to be retained by the NDC's Samuel Atta Mills even though Percival Quaicoe may close the margin.

Assin North, if the by-election is anything to go by, would be retained by the NDC's James Gyakye Quayson.

Tilting the results

The NDC may need to win some of the 10 seats held by the NPP in order to consolidate its hold of the region and ultimately win the ticket to the Jubilee House, while the NPP will also need to reclaim more of the seats it lost in the 2020 elections in order to sustain its re-election bid and bolster its chances for the Jubilee House.

This means that the Central Region has 60 per cent of its constituencies as swing, making it a key battleground for the two parties, going into the 2024 elections which take place in two weeks.

It is, however, unclear if the NDCs choice of Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, who is a native of the region, will do any trick for the party in the elections.

The Central Region is known for its diverse voter population due to the number of educational institutions located there which may be a factor that underlies its unyielding stance.

NPP lost seats

Interestingly, in the 2020 elections, although Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the NPP won the region by polling 602,111, representing 52.71 per cent to beat his closest challenger, John Dramani Mahama of the NDC who secured 524,038 ballots or 45.87 per cent, the incumbent party suffered several parliamentary casualties, losing nine seats to the NDC.

So, the NDC currently hold 13 seats, up from the four seats it held in 2016. This gives the NDC majority seats from the Central Region. This means the NDC jumped in parliamentary numbers in the region from four in 2016 to 13 in 2020.

The seats are Asikuma Odoben Brakwa, which had Emmanuel Adjei Domson as its Member of Parliament (MP); the Assin North seat that was contested by Abena Durowaa Mensah was also lost to the NDC; the Deputy Minister of Communications, George Nenyi Kojo Andah of Awutu Senya lost his seat as well; the Deputy Minister of Works and Housing, Barbara Asher Ayisi, was also a casualty; the MP for Ekumfi, Francis Kingsley A. Cudjoe, also lost the bid to retain his seat; Gomoa Wests Alexander K. K. Abban was not successful with his ambition, and Samuel Nsowah-Djan of Upper Denkyira West also lost his re-election bid.

Discounting results from the 1992 elections because the NPP largely relinquished the parliamentary polls, the party won the region with 49.7 per cent in the 2000 presidential election, won it again in 2004 with 58.8 per cent and sealed it with 53.2 per cent in 2016 to claim victory in those elections.

The NDC, on the other hand, won the region in 1996 with 55.2 per cent, and after two unsuccessful attempts at the Presidency, it was third-time lucky to win the region in 2008 with 50.6 per cent of the valid votes cast.

The party also clinched victory in the 2012 polls by winning the region with 52.1 per cent.

For many, the Central Region has the same characteristics of middle-class workers who, like the Greater Accra Region, analyse and evaluate issues before voting.

Big impact

The middle-class phenomenon explains why the Central Region is slightly less competitive than Greater Accra, and yet has a larger share of its constituencies classified as swing.

Interestingly, the region has a smaller voter population, compared to the Greater Accra or Ashanti regions, but due to its role as a swing region, it ends up having a big stake in the final outcome of elections.

The seven constituencies that largely lean towards the NPP are Agona West, Assin Central, Assin North, Assin South, Effutu, Heman Lower Denkyira and Upper Denkyira East.

Constituencies such as Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam, Agona East and Cape Coast South also tilt towards the NDC in most contests.

Average votes

Indeed, the NPPs average votes in the region over the years have been 463,415, representing 49.66 per cent.

The NDCs performance, on the other hand, has averaged 445,424, representing 47.73 per cent.

Surely, both parties will seek to improve on these figures in the 2024 elections.
IGP leads police delegation to foster closer relationship with churches

Daily Graphic Nov - 25 - 2024 , 10:27 3 minutes read

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, together with Senior Police Officers at various Command levels nationwide, yesterday joined some congregations in worship in all the regions.

The initiative formed part of the Ghana Police Services new strategy to build closer relationships with the general public and get them to understand that the police were part of the community.

Also, the visit was to acknowledge the leadership of the various churches and their congregations, as well as all Ghanaians, for their contribution towards maintaining law and order from the beginning of the election period to date.

It was also to assure them of the polices professionalism as the nation prepares for the general election on December 7.

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Again, it was an opportunity for the Police Service to congregate across the country to thank and glorify God for His goodness and mercy towards Ghana as a nation.

Churches, message

Some of the churches the IGP and his team visited included the Dr Thomas Wyatt Memorial Temple of the Church of Pentecost, Accra Newtown; the Kpehe Society of the Methodist Church Ghana, the Holy Spirit Cathedral, Adabraka; the Assemblies of God Church, Ridgeway Gospel Centre; Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Ebenezer Congregation, Osu, and the Accra Police Church.

Dr Akuffo-Dampare shared similar messages with each of the congregations his entourage visited.

Reflecting on Gods blessings, he noted: "If we were to take our time and count our many blessings and name them one by one, we would be very surprised at how far God has brought us as a country and as a people, for which we have to be eternally grateful.

"The way we have allowed ourselves to be used as vessels by the good Lord in conducting ourselves in a manner that has led to a situation where so far, with all the election processes, we have not heard anything disturbing from the security point of view, is remarkable and commendable, Dr Akuffo-Dampare emphasised.

Prayer with action

The IGP also called on the Church and all Ghanaians to partner the police by acting as their eyes and ears, by sharing information that had the potential to threaten the peace and security of the nation.

He further urged Christians to back their prayers with action, reminding them that prayer without action was meaningless.

"Our prayers should be backed by actions; other than that, it is meaningless. Dedicate yourselves for God to use you to answer your prayers," he advised.

Peaceful process

Dr Akuffo-Dampare assured the churches that the police were fully prepared and ready to ensure a peaceful process.

Drawing on the analogy of churches conducting their elections peacefully, the IGP encouraged Ghanaians to vote for the party of their choice and afterwards rally behind the Ghana Flag.

"The Ghana Flag is a symbol of our nationality, patriotism and unity. Let it remind us of our responsibility to be vessels for God to use, ensuring peace, security, law and order, so future generations will commend us for not disappointing them," he concluded.
President commissions oil services centre in Takoradi

George Folley Nov - 25 - 2024 , 10:37 3 minutes read

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has commissioned an oil and gas services centre at the Takoradi Port in the Western regional capital.

The government-funded project, estimated at $101 million, was executed by China Harbour Engineering Company in 2022.

Feature

It has a 550-metre quay wall and fittings installed at a 10-metre dredged berth pockets, 1.9 kilometres of access roads, utility services and a 20-hectare serviced storage yard.

The project aims to establish a world-class shore-based logistics platform within the Takoradi Port, featuring offshore supply vessel facilities and a serviced waterfront land to support offshore oil and gas exploration, and production operations.

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Before the commissioning, President Akufo-Addo said the project was a bold testament to the progress the country was making to position her as a leading hub of oil and gas services in West Africa.

The facility, he said, would not only streamline offshore supply services but also enhance heavy engineering and fabrication activities that were vital to petroleum exploration and drilling campaigns "within our reach by offering a comprehensive suite of services.

This terminal will strengthen Ghana's position as a competitive destination for oil and gas operations, the President said, describing the facility as a hallmark of modern engineering and innovation.

It provides a one-stop solution for the petroleum exploration industry, enabling efficient transformation of essential resources, supplies and personnel to and from offshore operational zones to reduce transit times and costs," President Akufo-Addo stated.

Again, through optimised supply chain management, he said the oil and gas terminal would create employment opportunities, foster the transfer of advanced technology and support local industries to thrive in the competitive global oil and gas market.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (in suit), cutting a tape to open the new facility. Those with him are Kwaku Ofori Asiamah (2nd from right), Minister of Transport, Isaac Osei (3rd from right), Board Chairman, GPHA and other dignitaries

"Today, we celebrate not just the commissioning of a facility but the realisation of a vision; one that cements Ghana's place as a leader in the oil and gas service sector and as a beacon of economic resilience and transformation, " he added.

President Akufo-Addo recalled inaugurating the Atlantic Container and Multi-purpose Terminal two years ago and the new dry bulk terminal, which were critical investments in port infrastructure.

"Today, we gather once more to mark the realisation of yet another transformative project; one that underscores the unwavering commitment of my government to enhancing Ghana's economic competitiveness through modern infrastructure, President Akufo-Addo stated.

The President explained that such projects were critical to ensuring that "our ports remain competitive not only as gateways for international trade but also as enablers of regional integration and economic growth.

Keta Port

I must also highlight ongoing efforts to realise my government's vision of establishing Ghana's third commercial port in Kedzi within the Keta Municipality in the Volta Region. Substantial progress has been made, including feasibility studies, stakeholder engagements and an environmental impact assessment. I'm acutely aware of the anticipation and enthusiasm of the people of the Volta Region for this project, President Akufo-Addo stated.

The Minister of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, thanked President Akufo-Addo for his support to the sector in the past eight years, saying his interventions had changed the Takoradi Port.

The Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, also thanked President Akufo-Addo for giving the region this remarkable project.

The Director-General of the GPHA, Michael Luguje, urged all players in the oil and gas industry who had their warehouses scattered across the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis to relocate to the new terminal for a one-stop shop service.
Restructure economies to create decent jobs for unemployed Africans - Raila Odinga urges African nations

Nana Konadu Agyeman Nov - 25 - 2024 , 09:57 3 minutes read

A former Prime Minister of Kenya, Raila Odinga, has urged African countries to restructure their economies to create jobs for the people.

He said they must begin the business of manufacturing to turn around the persistent unemployment dilemma facing the jobless.

We have to restructure our economies to avoid a situation in which a few people at the top do extremely well while ordinary workers struggle at the bottom and see their wages stagnate at unhelpful levels, he said.

Decent wage

Speaking at the 45th session of the General Council of the Organisation of the African Trade Union Unity (OATUU) in Accra last Friday, Mr Odinga said the proportion of the employed population living in poverty despite being employed stood at 29 per cent on the continent.

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So, we have the challenge of ensuring that as Africa takes a positive economic trajectory, everybody is participating in and benefiting from growth.

That means ensuring that everybody who works hard gets paid a decent wage with decent benefits and that employers and investors are given the right environment to get fair returns from their investment, he said.

The event, held on the theme: Strengthening the role of trade unions for advancing social justice for everyone, brought together trade union leaders from across Africa and representatives from the African Union (AU), the International Labour Organisation and other international trade union organisations.

They deliberated on how to empower trades unions to tackle issues such as workers rights and advancing social justice for all.

Mr Odinga said after decades of largely underwhelming performance on several fronts, including the economy, Africa was currently on an upward trajectory.

In February, he said the African Development Bank reported that Africa would account for eleven of the worlds 20 fastest-growing economies this year, with real GDP growth for the continent expected to average 3.8 per cent and 4.2 per cent in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

That, he said, was higher than the projected global averages of 2.9 per cent and 3.2 per cent within the same period, with the continent set to remain the second fastest growing region after Asia.

Many times, we forget that behind these positive figures are real human workers and their unions who are working harder than ever to make investment, production and employment possible and move Africa forward. Hail to our workers and their unions.

Our unemployment rate of 6.3 per cent is unsustainable. The informal sector constitutes 83.1 per cent of the economy, another unsustainable reality, he said.

Protect workers

Mr Odinga, who also held the position of the African Union High Representative for Infrastructure Development, noted that the world today was in a period of rapid economic changes, driven by innovation, globalisation and technology.

In such moments, he said workers needed stronger representation and a louder voice, which was what OATUU did or aspired to do.

Paying tribute to the OATUU for giving workers a voice, he said, the organisation must always strive to ensure that the forces of globalisation and automation did not put workers at a disadvantage.

Sustain support

The President of OATUU, Dr Francis Atwoli, urged African governments to continue to support the organisation financially to make it stronger to represent the interests of workers across the continent.

He particularly thanked the government of Ghana for showing continued support for the organisation over the years.

Decent work and fair wages

The Secretary General of the Trade Union Congress of Ghana, Joshua Ansah, said in their quest for social justice, OATUU must focus on ensuring that all workers enjoyed safe working conditions, fair compensation and social protections.

We must ensure equitable economic growth by promoting sustainable development that benefits all, not just a privileged few, he said.

Writers email: nana.agyeman@graphic.com.gh
Revise VAT on mineral exploration - Jinapor to next government

Timothy Ngnenbe Nov - 25 - 2024 , 09:57 4 minutes read

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel A. Jinapor, has made a strong recommendation to the next government to review the Value Added Tax (VAT) component of the tax build-up on the exploration for prospective mining companies.

Mr Jinapor said since exploration was the lifeblood of the mining industry, it was important that a fair VAT regime and other incentives were given to prospective investors to encourage exploration.

The Damongo Member of Parliament (MP) made that call at the 10th Ghana Mining Industry Awards (GMIA) organised by the GCM in Accra last Friday.

The event was held on the theme: A decade of rewarding excellence in the mining sector." It brought together captains of the mining industry, policymakers, regulators and a section of the public.

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Award winners

At the 10th GMIA, AngloGold Ashanti Iduapreim Mine was adjudged the Mining Company of the Year for excelling in sustainable environmental management, occupational, health and safety; corporate social investment mining innovation and fiscal contribution to the state.

The Mining Personality of the Year (President's Category) went to Samuel Boakye Pobee of AngloGold Ashanti while the Best Female Miner of the Year (Technical ) went to Evelyn Ofori-Atta of Newmont Ahafo South Mine.

In the Media Category, a senior reporter of the Daily Graphic, Timothy Ngnenbe; broadcast journalist with Multimedia, Erastus Asare Donkor; a medical doctor and reporter of JoyNews, Dr Neta Parsram; and a freelance journalist and documentary producer, Edem Srem, picked up awards in the Print, Broadcast and Online categories respectively for their quality reportage on responsible mining. More than 20 other individuals and companies won awards in different categories.

Context

Ghana is Africas leading producer of gold, with four million ounces (oz) production last year. Preliminary reports for the first half of this year show that gold production is in excess of 2,000,000 oz from both large and small-scale mining.

All things being equal, total production is projected to exceed the 4 million oz recorded last year. As of August 2023, gold alone had contributed $4.7 billion in exports receipts.

For the first half of this year alone, export receipts from gold reached $5 billion, with a projection to exceed $10 billion by the end of the year.

Mr Jinapor said with the coming onstream of Cardinal Namdini Gold Mine, the expansion of existing mines, the revamping of dormant mines and the construction of new mines by Newmont Ahafo North and Azumah Resources, as well as the first lithium mine by Atlantic Lithium, he was confident that the country's legacy in the sector would be consolidated.

He said since the mining industry was the country's cash cow, there was the need to jealously guard it for sustainable development. In that regard, he called on all stakeholders to commit to the next decade "with renewed determination, united in our purpose to harness more fully the potential of mining for the benefit of all Ghanaians."

The minister said going forward, innovative measures must be taken to improve the security of mining concessions.

"This is a matter we prioritised and trained special security forces for deployment to the mines. I have also led the Chamber to make presentations to the Ministerial Committee of the National Security Council on this matter and it is my hope that the next government follows through the agreed recommendations to ensure adequate security for the mines," he said.

Mr Jinapor also urged the GCM and its members to pay particular attention to the development of mining communities where they operate.

Responsible mining

The First Vice-President of GCM, Frederick Attakumah, stressed the need for mining companies to undertake their operations in a responsible manner to ensure that their operations did not affect the integrity of the environment.

Mr Attakumah underscored the need for all mining companies to strictly adhere to the local content requirement of their leases to help build local capacity and employ more people in mining communities.

He commended the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, for his contribution to the mining industry.

Galamsey

Touching on the illegal mining menace, the GCM Vice-President said it was crucial for all stakeholders to demonstrate their commitment to ending the canker by helping to address the triggers of the practice.

He said the GCM was committed to working with the government, the Ghana National Association of Small-scale Miners (GNASSM and other stakeholders to fight the menace .
Next article: CHRAJ exonerates Rev Kusi Boateng on allegations of conflicts of interest, double passports, names

Previous article: New book that examines Ghanas struggle with corruption launched in Accra

GNPC warns public to stay alert against social media scammers

Beatrice Laryea Nov - 25 - 2024 , 15:09 2 minutes read

The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has advised the public to stay alert about a fraudulent social media page using its name and logo for deceptive business activities.

The corporation specifically cautioned people to avoid engaging with a page under the handle "GNPC Invest."

In a press release dated Monday, November 25, and signed by the Manager of Corporate Affairs, Eric Pwadura, GNPC urged: "We strongly advise the public not to interact with this page or share any personal information."

"Please be advised that GNPC does not operate any investment platforms, and any claims or advertisements suggesting otherwise are false and unauthorized," the statement read.

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The statement also revealed that the corporation had reported the fraudulent social media page to the Police Cybersecurity Unit and encouraged the public to report any similar pages for appropriate action.

"The Corporation has informed the Police Cybersecurity Unit about the fraudulent social media page. Stay vigilant and report any suspicious pages impersonating GNPC and its subsidiaries to help protect our community from potential scams," the statement read.

Lastly, the statement urged the public to visit the official GNPC website at www.gnpcghana.com and follow the corporation's verified social media channels for accurate information and updates.

The GNPC was established as a State-owned entity to operate on a commercial basis. The corporation was given legal backing through two main statutes i.e. PNDC Laws 64 and 84.

The corporations vision is to become a leading global oil and gas company whose operations have a profound impact on the quality of life of the people of Ghana.
Xiaomi India is set to launch the Redmi Note 14 series in India on December 9 and has been steadily releasing details of the flagship model in the series, the Redmi Note 14 Pro+.

According to the specs released so far, the phone will have a 50MP telephoto camera, IP68 dust and water resistance, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front, and a curved AMOLED display. The phone will be available in three colors, including a black and what looks like vegan leather purple. The camera cluster on the back has been modeled after the Xiaomi logo.

So far, the revealed and leaked specs look very similar to the version that launched in China a while back. That model also had a 6.67-inch, 1220p 120Hz AMOLED display, Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset, and a 6200mAh battery.

More details on the device will be revealed as we inch closer towards the launch.

Source
The Matao, Guams senior mens national soccer team, goes against Singapore in the second leg of the FIFA World Cup 26 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 Joint Preliminary Qualification Round 1.
Sen. Chris Duenas questions Department of Corrections leadership as they appear before lawmakers of the 37th Guam Legislature during an oversight hearing conducted at the Guam Congress Building in Hagatna on Dec. 29, 2023.
Whats typically a long walk has now been shortened for United Airlines passengers transiting through the Daniel K. Inouye Honolulu International Airport, thanks to recent changes made by the Transportation Security Administration.

Transit passengers now have a more convenient procedure to catch their connecting flight.

TSA Administrator David Pekoske announced in a letter to Guam Del. James Moylan Friday that he has approved a new alternative operating procedure, for arriving Guam passengers on United Airlines.

Under the new alternative operating procedure, a TSA bag drop location has been designated near the baggage carousel within the airports sterile area, which would require a much shorter movement, according to a release from Moylans office.

A local TSA official confirmed that its essentially a reversion to the old process in which transit passengers collect their baggage from the carousel within the sterile area, proceed to a Customs and Border Patrol inspection within the baggage hall, then submit their bags to TSA officers who will be located just beyond the CBP inspection stations.

Once the transit passenger drops their baggage off, they exit the sterile area and make a short walk towards a TSA screening area before heading to their gate, according to the news release.

The TSA, in conjunction with CBP, will continue to monitor passengers in the sterile area while ensuring security remains a priority. Passengers will also not be authorized to open their checked-in luggage in the sterile area, or they may be subject to further screening, the release added.

Moylan said before the latest change, transit passengers had to pick up their baggage and move it to a designated TSA bag drop location, which is a far distance from the sterile area.

This creates great inconveniences for passengers and even more for Manamko, those with disabilities, families traveling with young children, and individuals with short layovers, he said.

The Guam delegate said theres great appreciation for the collective efforts in addressing this problem.

Thank you to Mr. Sam Shinohara and his team at United Airlines for assisting in this advocacy and, of course, to the federal partners of TSA and CPB. While we pounded all these entities with numerous letters, we commend their efforts to remain resilient and identify solutions, Moylan added.

Sen. Jesse Lujan said he and Moylan have been pressing the issue since their terms began.

Our people will welcome this common sense transit procedure in Hawaii...when Guams elected leaders speak with one voice, federal officials hear our reasonable pleas, and our people benefit, he added.

The alternative operating procedure shall be reviewed after a year with options to extend, according to Moylan.
If you need to make a Costco run to stock up on supplies for your Thanksgiving gathering, youll want to make sure you finish your shopping by the day before Thanksgiving. Thats because Costco will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, which this year falls on Thursday, Nov. 28.

For last-minute supplies on the holiday, your best bet is to stop in at a grocery store. Some chains will have limited hours early in the day. For example, Whole Foods will be open for modified hours. The company recommends checking your local store page for details.

Costco closes for several major holidays every year, according to the company. In addition to Thanksgiving Day, stores also are closed on the following holidays:

New Years Day

Easter Sunday

Memorial Day

Independence Day

Labor Day

Christmas Day

Costco stores will be open regular hours the day before Thanksgiving. Be sure to check the companys warehouse finder tool before you tackle the chaotic parking lots to get those free samples and other supplies.

When does Costco open on Black Friday?

Unlike other big national retailers like Target and Walmart that open their doors extra early on Black Friday, Costco will open for regular hours on Nov. 29.

Club opening hours can vary by location, so youre best bet is to use the Costco store locator.

Costco Wholesale is a multibillion-dollar global retailer with warehouse club operations in eight countries. The member-only stores sell bulk items, plus a huge selection of specialty items. The company got its start in 1976 in a converted airplane hangar in San Diego. There are more than 40 Costco stores from Louisiana to Florida.
Publix is known for keeping its doors open on most federal holidays, including Labor Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day and Independence Day. However, Thanksgiving is one of the rare exceptions.

In fact, Publix only closes three days a year: Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. This means all Publix locations (and pharmacies) in Florida will be closed on Thursday, Nov. 28.

But dont worryPublix will remain open until 10 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 27, to give customers plenty of time to grab those last minute holiday essentials.

Publix grows in Florida with new prototype stores

Publix currently manages a network of 1,386 stores in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Kentucky.

Florida is home to 872 stores, and so far, this year, more than a dozen more already have popped up across the Sunshine State, including at least two new two-story prototype stores that feature a second level with seating and dining areas  and free Wi-Fi.

Publix first unveiled its newest multilevel model on March 7 in Orlando, Florida, at the Shoppes at Storey Park with a 48,387 square foot store. And on Nov. 21, another prototype store opened at the Courtyard Shops, the 58,834 square-foot store at 13880 Wellington Trace, also features a Pours wine bar and a coffee shop  as well as burrito, pizza and pasta bars.

What else is closed on Thanksgiving Day?

Publix isnt the only store closing in Florida for Thanksgiving Day. Aldi, BJs Wholesale Club, Costco, Sams Club, Walmart, Winn-Dixie and Trader Joes will also be closed in observance of the holiday.

Whats open on Thanksgiving Day?

Some locations of Whole Foods, The Fresh Market and Kroger will be open on Thanksgiving Day. Be sure to check with your local store for specific hours of operation.




Haiti - Digicel NOTICE : Talent contest, open competition





The Digicel Foundation Talent Contest aims to showcase your talents while encouraging the creation of works that combine creativity and the spirit of Christmas. All forms of artistic creation can participate, provided that they respect the theme which is: "Christmas in Haiti : smiles and sharing" (Nwel an Ayiti: souri ak pataj).



Who can participate in the contest ?

The contest is open to all residents of Haiti and aged 15 or over.



What types of talents can be submitted ?

Participants must submit a video showcasing their talent in the following categories:



- Singing

- Dancing

- Drawings, paintings, sculptures

- Drama (monologue, sketch)

- Any other form of creative talent



The video can include several people if the participation of the group is essential to accomplish the task. However, only one person will be considered an official participant.



How to submit the video ? :

- Maximum duration: 1 minute 30 seconds.

- The video must have either an introduction (opening), or a subtitle that describes the work.

- For material works (drawings, paintings, sculptures), the video must show the creation process (before and after).

- Indicate your personal information in the email (name, first name, age, address and telephone number).

- Indicate on which platform (Facebook or Instagram) you wish to participate and specify your username (Username) on the platform of your choice. You can only participate on one platform.

- Photo of an identity document.



Videos must be sent by email to : fondation.projet@digicelgroup.com



Videos will be evaluated by a jury composed of members of the Board and the Digicel Foundation team, according to the following criteria:



Respect for the theme:

Does the proposal reflect the spirit of Christmas in Haiti, by highlighting smiles and sharing?

Originality:

Is the talent presented innovative or distinctive?

Quality of the performance:

Does the execution of the work or performance demonstrate real know-how and mastery of the field?

Technical quality:

Does the video stand out for its clarity of sound, image quality and creativity in its presentation?



Important dates to remember:

Competition launch : November 24, 2024; Jury Selection : December 10th;



Online Voting Period: December 11th to December 17th.



Video Submission Deadline : December 9th



Prizes :

There will be 2 winners:



- The winner on Facebook will receive: 2,000 US dollars

- The winner on Instagram will receive: 2,000 US dollars



For full contest details and terms, please see the FAQ available at: https://cms.dgc-prod.maplewave.com/api/assets/digicel-foundation/5e0c6b7b-2fa6-4559-bfc1-9cb80d9ae7b4/faq-concours-de-talent-.pdf?version=0&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0q3mSrvAkL8AL2-2mLCDTDEUngtdydTVDzGipEzw-RFZu-tap1f0eqHt4_aem_mEunsYWscKMV3nr_1KjKZA



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Haiti - News : Zapping...





Respect and admiration for Sister Paesie

"Respect and admiration for Sister Paesie, Founder of the 'Kizito Family' community, which is working to help 2,500 children in Cite Soleil, Village de Dieu and Delmas. Homes for orphaned children, schools and school canteens, Kizito Family activity centers," said Antoine Michon, French Ambassador to Haiti.



More than 6 million Haitians have the new CIN

The National Identification Office (ONI) has registered more than 6 million Haitian citizens (3,123,000 women and 2,912,000 men) since the launch of the new National Identification Card (CIN) in 2019.



101 years of the FAMV

The Dean's Office of the Faculty of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine (FAMV) of the State University of Haiti (UEH) informs professors, students, administrative and technical staff members and all former leaders and graduates of this entity of the UEH that from Saturday, November 23 to Saturday, December 14, 2024, different types of activities will take place as part of the celebration of the 101 years of existence of the FAMV.



International NGOs on all fronts

In October, the escalation of violence in Port-au-Prince, Delmas and Tabarre displaced more than 10,000 people. To respond to urgent needs, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and its partners distributed non-food items and emergency shelter kits to nearly 2,000 households. In addition, IOM continued its collaborative efforts with the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF to relocate families displaced from schools in Port-au-Prince, allowing for the resumption of educational activities. Expulsions from the neighboring country increased. IOM assisted more than 4,000 migrants, including by providing them with cash, food, medical support, family reunification, and housing.



The FUSION Party calls for urgent dialogue

The Fusion Party of Haitian Social Democrats (PFSDH) calls for urgent dialogue for a Haitian and sustainable solution to the security crisis. In a note, the Fusion Party writes, "We, the PFSDH, are dismayed and deeply concerned like many other compatriots in the face of the deterioration of the living conditions of the population imposed by the security crisis, have decided to launch this cry of blood from the depths of our bowels to say : stop it !"



MMSS Mandate : Russia Highlights US Inconsistency

On Wednesday, November 20, 2024, Vassili Alexievich Nebenzia, Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Security Council, declared after expressing his opposition to the transformation of the MMSS into a UN Mission of Beus Helmets (Peacekeeping Force) "I want to highlight the inconsistency of Washington's approach [...] The MMSS mandate has just been renewed for one year [...] and Washington has not fully paid its contribution to the Mission [...]"



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(CNBC) Italian lender UniCredit on Monday offered to snap up its domestic rival Banco BPM for roughly 10 billion euros ($10.5 billion) in a move it says is separate from its pursuit of German bank Commerzbank. The move would, if completed, merge two of Italys largest lenders. UniCredit said in a statement early Monday that it is offering 6.657 euros for each share.

To read this article:
The AI startup Anthropic is intensifying its collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS). Amazon is investing a further 4 billion US dollars (around 3.8 billion euros) to become Anthropic's primary cloud and training partner. This brings Amazon's total investment in the start-up to 8 billion US dollars (around 7.7 billion euros). However, the company remains a minority investor. Other investors include Alphabet (Google), Microsoft, Apple and Nvidia.

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The Anthropic engineers are to work closely with Annapurna Labs, a subsidiary of AWS. This is the company behind the Trainium chips. They specialize in the training of machine learning models. The aim of the partnership is to further optimize the efficiency of the hardware. Anthropic wants to benefit from this when training its foundation models around the Claude family.

Claude as core infrastructure for Amazon Bedrock

Claude has been provided via the AWS platform Amazon Bedrock for some time now. According to Anthropics, tens of thousands of companies use it, including Pfizer. The pharmaceutical company wants to use the Claude models to accelerate the research and development of drugs while saving millions in operating costs.

The AI-supported search engine Perplexity also provides answers with Claude in Amazon Bedrock. The European Parliament uses Claude to make 2.1 million official documents searchable in multiple languages with "Archibot" and reduce search time by 80 percent.

Dario Amodei is one of the founders of Anthropic. (Image: Antrophic)

Anthropic establishes itself as a leading AI company

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Anthropic was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI members, including Dario Amodei, previously Vice President of Research at OpenAI. The company specializes in the development of general AI systems and language models and is committed to the responsible use of AI.

However, Anthropic is also being criticized: several rights holders are suing the company for allegedly using copyrighted material when training the chatbot Claude. Most recently, three book authors accused Anthropic of illegally using their works. The company is also battling copyright lawsuits from music publishers.

(ssi)
Apple's rigid App Store regulations have been the focus of European competition watchdogs for years. In one aspect, the antitrust watchdogs are now temporarily letting the iPhone manufacturer off the hook: the EU Commission announced on Friday that it was closing its antitrust investigation into suspected anti-competitive behavior by the US company towards developers of e-books and digital audiobooks. The investigation started in June 2020 and focused on Apple's obligation to use its proprietary in-app purchase system and restrictions on the ability of competing developers of e-book and audiobook apps to point iPhone and iPad users to alternative, cheaper purchase options outside the App Store.

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However, the Commission emphasizes that this is not an acquittal: "The closure of an investigation does not mean that the conduct in question is compatible with EU competition rules." The special part of the monopoly investigation had been stopped because an e-book and audiobook seller had withdrawn its complaint against Apple. In March, the Brussels government institution already imposed a record fine worth billions on Apple for abusing its dominant position in the market for the distribution of music streaming apps such as Spotify in a parallel case. Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager already made it clear in 2021 with regard to the App Store: "Apple has a monopoly." Providers of mobile applications would have to distribute them via the store and comply with "the mandatory and non-negotiable rules".

Stricter competition rules apply to Apple with the DMA

The Commission classified Apple as a "gatekeeper" at the beginning of September. Since March, the company has therefore had to make Messenger and app stores interoperable and may no longer give preference to its own products or services on its platforms. In June 2024, the executive body decided in this light to close its broader antitrust investigation into Apple in this area. It explains that, according to the DMA, the iPhone maker may not oblige app developers to use its proprietary payment system and may not impose monetary or other barriers to the control of their applications.

At the same time, the Commission assures that it will continue to monitor business practices in the technology sector , including those of Apple  "under both the DMA and the competition rules". Apple is also facing trouble from the US: the US Department of Justice planned a large-scale antitrust lawsuit against the company in early 2024, which it filed in court shortly afterwards together with 16 US states. It mainly revolves around the Group's strategy of securing the dominance of the iPhone by networking it with other products and services and keeping users in its own ecosystem.

(nie)
From November 25, Postbank customers will also be able to send and receive money via the European smartphone payment service Wero using their cell phone number or e-mail address. Postbank is thus joining the system, which has so far been limited to savings banks and cooperative banks in Germany, three months later than originally planned. It brings with it around twelve million potential users.

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At the same time as Postbank, the European Payments Initiative (EPI), which is developing the Wero platform on behalf of the participating banks, plans to release its own app. Its use is initially mandatory for Postbank customers if they want to participate in Wero. Wero will also be added as a function to Postbank's banking app, similar to the practice of savings banks and cooperative banks. However, the parent company Deutsche Bank is leaving the exact timing open.

Conversely, customers of savings banks and cooperative banks will not be able to use the Wero app for the time being. According to the German Savings Banks and Giro Association and DZ Bank, which is in charge of the cooperative banks, this is planned, but neither gave an exact date during a presentation to representatives of the press in Frankfurt on Thursday.

Wero app

The structure of the independent Wero app is recognizably based on existing payment apps in other European countries such as Twint (Switzerland) or Mobile Pay (Denmark), but its somewhat playful visual design makes it visibly independent. In addition to customers of the German Postbank, only customers of the French Banque Postale will initially be able to use the app. Customers of savings banks and Volksbanks as well as the other affiliated institutions in France and Belgium are sent to the respective banking apps by Wero via a deep link upon registration. In the future, however, it should also be possible to store several bank details, so that Wero would effectively become the wallet that its creators want it to be.

The user interface of the Wero app is kept functional, similar to comparable services elsewhere in Europe. (Image: Bild: European Payments Initiative)

The interface initially allows users to send money or request money from other users in a similar way to PayPal. It is also possible to generate a QR code that the payer or recipient can scan. During a demonstration by an EPI employee, this looked quite smooth; we will provide our own test when the app is officially launched.

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Just like Wero in the banking apps, the app also uses the SEPA real-time transfer from the current account, where the money has to get from the sender to the recipient in a maximum of ten seconds. The same fee is charged per incoming or outgoing transaction as for a standard transfer. If a customer's account model includes an unlimited number of free transfers, there are no additional costs for these. For example, if the individual transaction is priced at 35 cents, an outgoing or incoming Wero payment will also cost 35 cents.

Some elements are a little playful - the confirmation that the money has been sent is also available with one move. (Image: Bild: European Payments Initiative)

Security and data protection

The level of security is also comparable to that of a SEPA real-time transfer. The Wero app uses the cell phone numbers or e-mail addresses to communicate the account details of the two parties involved in the background. The banks then process the actual transfer between themselves. In private person to private person (P2P) mode, which is currently the only option available, transfers are therefore final and cannot be reversed  Users of "Friends and Family" on PayPal are already familiar with this rule. Customer and buyer protection is only planned once online payments are also possible.

The same rules as for bank transfers also apply in terms of data protection. Banks may only evaluate transaction data with consent and may not pass it on to third parties. According to the participating banks, the transactions are processed exclusively on European servers.

In the Wero app, , you can also make your name partially anonymous when paying by cell phone number or email address, just like in the savings banks' app ; when paying by QR code, no name should be transmitted at all. This is useful at flea markets, for example, when dealing with people you don't know. Partial anonymization is currently permanently set in the cooperative banks' banking app. However, the sender's IBAN is transmitted for private transactions in Germany. This corresponds to the practice for normal transfers and differs from France, for example, where this is not the case.

If desired, the surname can be hidden when sending money. However, the IBAN is included. (Image: Bild: European Payments Initiative)

Status and outlook

Currently, users can still only send money privately via Wero. By mid-2025, the payment method should then be available for online retailers and, as "P2Pro", for self-employed people such as fitness trainers or music teachers. An initial pilot project is currently underway for online retailers. By mid-2026, EPI and the participating banks want to bring Wero to store checkouts. Further functions for use in retail are also planned, such as payment deferrals or installment payments. The Wero app is also set to become a carrier for the European ID wallet.

At the event in Frankfurt, the bank representatives reiterated that these two expansion stages are the main motive behind Wero. The aim is to counterbalance the US payment methods, which dominate national payment transactions in many European countries and whose systems are almost unrivaled for payments abroad. In addition, the aim is to provide merchants with a payment method that is not only transnational but also cheaper.

However, it is by no means certain that this plan will work. The major credit card companies are also introducing a wallet with "Click to Pay"; PayPal is also the market leader in online retail and P2P payments, especially in Germany.

The number of connected banks is also set to increase further. ING, for example, is currently planning to connect its German customers to Wero in the first half of 2025. Deutsche Bank customers are set to follow in mid-2025. In Belgium, all remaining member banks are to join in the course of 2025, with the Netherlands and Luxembourg following in 2026. The Netherlands in particular wants to securely integrate its national online payment method iDEAL, which has a market share of around 80 percent there, into Wero first.

The savings banks and bank representatives present at the press event in Frankfurt also provided specific user figures for the first time. According to Joachim Schmalzl from the German Savings Banks and Giro Association, the savings banks have 82,000 registered Wero users, which is "on target". According to Thomas Ullrich from the central institution DZ Bank, the cooperative banks have around 300,000 registrations. Across Europe, 14 million Wero users are said to be registered, the lion's share of which come from France. Since the end of September, numerous banks there have been connected to Wero, bringing their mobile payment method Paylib with them. A total of eight million transactions have been counted across Europe since the market launch of Wero.

When announcing the figures on Thursday, EPI and the banks involved once again emphasized that they would regard the first few months as a start-up phase. Before the system scales, the first banks should have joined. The aim is to avoid major failures during the "complex account integration" and to be better able to cope with delays caused by technical problems (such as those reported for the Wero app and Postbank).

(mon)
SLL announced earlier last week that its members will participate in a day-long strike on both 9 December and 13 December. Pilots have also decided to reject on-call assignments for an indefinite period starting on 5 December, according to Service Sector Employers (Palta).

FINNAIR on Saturday communicated that it will cancel hundreds of flights due to two work stoppages organised by the Finnish Airline Pilots Association (SLL).

Finnair revealed that it will cancel roughly 300 flights on the strike days, estimating that the cancellations will affect some 33,000 air travellers. The cancellations will be entered into its system flight by flight, with the affected passengers receiving a notification, along with a possible re-routing offer, as the process moves forward.

Jaakko Schildt, the chief operating officer at the majority state-owned airline, expressed his disappointment with the unions decision to strike rather than negotiate.

This unfortunately disrupts the travel plans of thousands of our customers during the pre-Christmas season. We are doing everything we can to serve our customers well even in this difficult situation and will offer alternative flights to as many customers as possible, he assured in a press release.

It is unfortunately impossible, the airline admitted, to offer all passengers a re-routing that is close to their original booking due to the high number of affected passengers. Passengers for whom a suitable re-routing cannot be found can apply for a refund of the ticket price from customer service or, when applicable, from the travel agency that made the booking.

Palta and SLL have sought to reach a new collective bargaining agreement for the past three months  under the guidance of the national conciliator since 4 November. Vesa Uuspelto, the chairperson at SLL, on Wednesday argued in a press release that pilots have voluntarily made numerous concessions in the past decade to reduce costs and improve efficiency in order to secure the ability of the majority state-owned airline to operate amid the crises caused by Covid-19 and Russias war of aggression in Ukraine.

In the negotiations, we are seeking for come compensation for the substantial improvements made to efficacy in past years. The employer side has been unwilling to even discuss the kind of changes that would have no financial impact, he lamented.

SLL has, for example, demanded pay rises and improvements to the existing supplementary pension scheme.

Heini Wiik-Blafield, the head of bargaining at Palta, described the demands generally as unreasonable and the pay-rise demand as completely overblown in a press release issued on Saturday.

As pilots are adamant about their unreasonable demands, also the consequences will be unreasonable: the measures will mess up the trips of thousands of passengers in the run-up to Christmas, she stated. The pilots pay-rise demands are completely overblown in this economic situation and the changed operating environment after the closure of Russian airspace.

Wiik-Blafield reminded that Finnair had devised its strategy around its ability to fly from Helsinki to Asia over Russia.

That competitive advantage no longer exists, and the situation has changed significantly. As the airline is flying shorter flights with smaller aircraft, the structure of operations has changed. There is a lot of competition in Europe, and Finnair has to be able to operate flexibly and cost-effectively amid the competition.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT
Ekpa, a vocal advocate for the independence of Biafra, has been accused of using social media to promote violence and civil disobedience in the region.

Finnish police have arrested Simon Ekpa , a Finnish-Nigerian dual citizen and leader of a banned secessionist movement, on suspicion of inciting violence in southeastern Nigeria. The move has prompted Nigeria to renew its calls for Ekpas extradition, accusing him of terrorism and extremism.

He claims leadership of a faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a group outlawed in Nigeria and designated a terrorist organisation.

Finnish authorities revealed that Ekpa and four others, suspected of financing his activities, were detained in Lahti. Detectives allege that Ekpas online campaigns have directly led to violence against civilians and public officials in Nigeria. Detective Chief Inspector Otto Hiltunen stated that the investigation has involved international cooperation but did not specify Nigerias involvement.

Nigerian officials have been vocal in their demands for Ekpas extradition. Army spokesperson Tukur Gusau described the arrest as a significant victory, expressing hope that Ekpa will face justice in Nigeria. Nigerias Director of Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba, praised international collaboration in addressing terrorism.

Special assistant to Nigerias president, Dada Olusegun, took to social media to mock Ekpas self-proclaimed title, referring to him as "Prime Minister," while reiterating expectations for extradition. However, no formal request has yet been confirmed.

Simon Ekpas arrest has unsettled Nigerians in Finland, with many fearing reprisals from his supporters. A Nigerian community leader, speaking anonymously, noted widespread reluctance to comment on the case, citing safety concerns. Accusations against those allegedly reporting Ekpa have further heightened tensions.

Calls to identify Ekpas sponsors, particularly from the US, have intensified online, with demands for accountability over violence in southeastern Nigeria.

This is not Nigerias first attempt to have Ekpa extradited. A similar push in February 2023 following threats by Ekpa to disrupt Nigerias general elections failed after Finnish authorities released him after a brief interrogation. At the time, Finland cited Ekpas rights as a Finnish citizen while expressing concern about his activities.

Ekpas separatist movement has deep historical roots. The push for Biafran independence led to a civil war in Nigeria from 1967 to 1970, resulting in over a million deaths, many due to starvation. IPOB, formed in 2012, initially pursued nonviolent means for secession but launched an armed wing in 2020, claiming to protect the Igbo ethnic group.

Ekpa rose to prominence in 2021, declaring himself the Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic Government-in-Exile and a successor to IPOBs leader Nnamdi Kanu, who has been in custody since 2021. IPOB has distanced itself from Ekpas faction, criticising his methods.

In southeastern Nigeria, Ekpas directives, including sit-at-home orders, have caused widespread disruption. Critics say the enforcement of these orders has led to violence, with civilians and businesses caught in the crossfire.

The Paijat-Hame District Court in Lahti is considering a request from Finnish authorities to extend the detention of Ekpa and his alleged accomplices. Finland has not confirmed whether it will comply with Nigerias extradition request.

While Finnish police have emphasised their commitment to addressing crimes linked to Ekpa, they have also reiterated the importance of respecting due process and international law.

HT
Diverse containers empower China's international railway service

Xinhua) 11:00, November 25, 2024

A train loaded with lithium batteries for traction purposes is about to depart from a train station in southwest China's Chongqing, Nov. 19, 2024. (Xinhua/Tang Yi)

CHONGQING, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Three trains loaded with lithium batteries have completed their trips this week, marking the first large-scale trial rail transportation of lithium battery exports for electric vehicles in the country.

For China, one of the world's largest producers of lithium batteries, this is a major step forward in the export of this product.

The trains departed from southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Sichuan Province and Guizhou Province separately on Tuesday and had reached their destinations in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and east China's Shanghai Municipality by Saturday.

Previously, the transport of lithium batteries was deemed risky due to concerns over them catching fire or exploding if jolted. As such, they are categorized as dangerous goods and only transported by sea or road.

A new type of container has changed this.

"For the trial run, we are using new containers designed solely for the transport of lithium batteries. The containers are made of non-combustible materials and equipped with smoke and temperature detectors and vent devices," said Jia Ping, deputy general manager of China Railway Chengdu Group Co., Ltd., the operator of the three trains during the trial run.

As China's international trains reach more countries and regions, these special containers show the potential of railway transportation and help more goods go global.

Another case in point is automobile transportation. A traditional 40-foot container can only hold two cars at most. Since last year, some automobile enterprises in China have started to use a new type of container with a metal frame in the middle.

"This adjustable frame can unleash the upper space of the container. Now a 40-foot container can accommodate three to four vehicles," said Wang Lin, director of the port logistics department of Chongqing International Logistics Hub Park, adding that the adjustable metal frame is developed jointly by logistics and automobile enterprises in Chongqing, in a bid to lower the transportation costs.

"The new design reduces the average transportation cost of a vehicle by more than 40 percent," Wang said.

An aerial drone photo taken on Nov. 19, 2024 shows a train loaded with lithium batteries for traction purposes at Dulaying international land-sea logistics port in Guiyang, southwest China's Guizhou Province. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

For automobile transportation, some places in China also turn to the JSQ freight trains. In October this year, a JSQ freight train loaded with 261 commercial vehicles departed from north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Unlike traditional cargo trains, which feature containers, the JSQ has 29 special carriages, each able to accommodate nine to 10 vehicles.

The carriages are interconnected, so the vehicles can be driven into every carriage directly, making loading much more efficient.

According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in the first three quarters of this year, China exported about 4.31 million vehicles, up by 27.3 percent year on year.

Some foreign enterprises have also been able to consult on container design. Dutch company New Silk Way Logistics has used the China-Europe rail services for eight years. The company introduced temperature-controlled containers to help European pharmaceutical enterprises access the Chinese market.

"Medical products are very sensitive to temperature and transit time. The transit time is only about 18 days by the train, far fewer than by sea," said Hanno Reeser from New Silk Way Logistics, noting that some of the products are meant for public health and patients, so it is important they can further utilize their special containers on this train.

China's international railway service has provided opportunities for European enterprises. More European businesses now choose to use this service, he said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
US President-elect Donald Trump's top security advisor called on Sunday for an end to the escalation of the war between Ukraine and Russia, and for both parties to come to the negotiating table.

"We need to bring this to a responsible end. We need to restore deterrence, restore peace, and get ahead of this escalation ladder, rather than responding to it," said Mike Waltz, Trump's pick for the influential role of US national security advisor (NSA).

In recent days, Washington has authorized Kyiv to use US-supplied missiles to strike targets in Russian territory and agreed to supply it with landmines, prompting Moscow to respond with the use of an experimental medium-range ballistic missile.

Waltz, a noted foreign policy hawk and former US special forces officer, has been critical of Russia but has, like Trump, opposed increasing aid to Ukraine.

"President Trump has been very clear about the need to end this conflict," he told US media outlet Fox News on Sunday.

"We need to be discussing is who's at that table, whether it's an agreement, an armistice, how to get both sides to the table and then what's the framework of a deal?"

Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, with the United States and others coming to Kyiv's aid in its fight to hold its territory in the east of the country.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has in the past ruled out ceding any territory to Russia, and told Fox News on Tuesday that Ukraine would lose the war if Washington pulls funding.

President Joe Biden's administration has promised a smooth transition to Trump, who has pledged major shake-ups on both foreign and domestic policy.

On Sunday, Waltz said he had met Biden's NSA Jake Sullivan and warned adversaries abroad against thinking they could gain an advantage in the months before Trump takes office in January.

"For our adversaries out there that think this is a time of opportunity that they can play one administration off the other. They're wrong... we are hand in glove."

Waltz also lauded "the strength and the grit" of Israel in its offensive against Hamas, which has killed at least 44,211 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to local authorities.

The war was triggered by the assault on Israel by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023, a cross-border raid that resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

"Now is a moment to craft some type of arrangement that doesn't just put a pause for future October 7th's (but) truly brings stability to the Middle East," said Waltz.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has declared that Israel's leaders deserve death sentences rather than arrest warrants.

His statement comes in response to the International Criminal Court's recent issuance of arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the war in Gaza.

Speaking while at the Basij paramilitary force, Khamenei vowed that "the enemy [Israel] will not win in Gaza and Lebanon," Iran's Tasnim news agency reported.

"Bombing people's houses in Gaza and Lebanon is not a victory," he said, "The fools should not think that just because they bomb people's homes, hospitals and communities, they have won. No, nobody considers this a victory."

"What the Zionists did was a war crime," he continued. "They have issued an arrest warrant, this isn't enough  a death sentence must be issued for Netanyahu. A death sentence should be issued for these criminal leaders."

On Friday, Britain suggested that Netanyahu could face arrest under the ICC warrant if he visited the country, while Ireland confirmed it would arrest him if he entered.

Israel and the United States on Thursday condemned the ICC's decision to issue warrants with President Joe Biden calling the move "outrageous."

"The UK will always comply with its legal obligations as set out by domestic law and indeed international law," UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's spokesman reportedly said on Friday.

Canada, Belgium, Spain, Austria, Finland, Portugal, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Switzerland are among the 124 ICC member countries that have pledged to enforce the arrest warrants. Meanwhile, nations like Hungary, Czechia, and Argentina have stated they will disregard them.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban expressed solidarity with Israel, joining the U.S. in supporting Netanyahu. In a letter inviting Netanyahu to Budapest for an official visit, Orban assured the Israeli leader of his "safety and freedom."
China provides platforms for global vocational education cooperation, exchanges

Xinhua) 13:02, November 25, 2024

Exhibitors show tea art at an achievement exhibition during the 2024 World Vocational and Technical Education Development Conference in Tianjin, north China, Nov. 21, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhao Zishuo)

TIANJIN, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- In the exhibition area of a saline-alkali-tolerant plant factory in east China's Shandong Province, green alfalfa, sweet sorghum, oats and other seedlings have grown so well that they have caught the eye of Christine Akoth Onyango, vice chancellor of Taita Taveta University in Kenya.

"We have not reached this level yet of adapting plants to soil types. The way you are doing is very impressive," said Onyango, who has been on her second trip to China.

A previous memorandum of understanding signed by the education institutions in China and Kenya has paved the way for more Kenyan teachers and students to come to Dongying Vocational College in Shandong to learn various relevant technologies.

"China's agricultural technology is very practical, and we should carry out more cooperation with China in the field of vocational education to improve Kenya's agricultural development level," she said.

Onyango participated in the 2024 World Vocational and Technical Education Development Conference in Tianjin Municipality, north China. The conference, which ran from Thursday to Friday, attracted more than 600 overseas guests from over 100 countries and regions. They shared their experiences and achievements at the conference and jointly discussed an innovative path for vocational education development.

Thomas Parker, CEO of Look Education New Zealand (LENZ), was touched by the ancient books and porcelain restoration skills demonstrated by hearing-impaired students from Shandong Vocational College of Special Education.

Parker said that his school is engaged in preschool education, health care, information technology and other training methods. Moreover, he looks forward to taking the opportunity to have face-to-face discussions with Chinese partners.

Jekathese, director of College Dayatech Subang Malaysia, was amazed at the high-tech vocational and technical education equipment such as robots and artificial intelligence on display at the conference venue.

"I think we have gained a lot of knowledge and a lot of input for us to take back to our country, with more possibility for us to collaborate with China," Jekathese said.

The World Technical and Vocational Education and Training League, a vocational education cooperation organization, was established at the conference, which aims to provide the most comprehensive, balanced, representative and inclusive international platform for vocational education.

The league's first group of members consists of 89 institutions from 43 countries and regions, including higher education institutions, vocational and technical colleges, enterprises and educational organizations.

Muferihat Kamil, Ethiopia's Minister of Labor and Skills, said that the league is a timely initiative that aligns perfectly with Ethiopia's vision for global collaboration.

China has the largest vocational education system in the world and is always willing to share high-quality development programs in the field of vocational education with other countries.

Luban workshop, an international cooperation project on vocational training mainly supported by China's Tianjin, has set up 34 workshops in 30 countries and regions.

On the east African plateau with an average altitude of 1,200 meters, there is a "steel dragon" connecting Ethiopia and Djibouti. Liban Fouad Osman, a train conductor, is one of the first 24 graduates of Luban Workshop in Djibouti.

"Luban Workshop has brought us railway knowledge and also brought hope to me. I have been determined to work in railways since childhood," he said.

According to the Report on the Development of Vocational Education in China released at the conference, China has trained many skilled talents for partner countries.

Fabio Kessler, an apprentice industrial mechanic from Germany, is on a two-week study visit in China at the invitation of Tianjin Sino-German University of Applied Sciences.

"I think it's very interesting to see all the different things here like the technology and also the craftsmanship." The 21-year-old student also expressed his interest in working for a Chinese company or working on a career related to China in the future.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
The new flagship hotel from YOTEL, YOTEL Tokyo Ginza, is set to welcome its first guests from 16 December 2024, marking the international brand's continued expansion in Asia.

Global hotel brand YOTEL will open YOTEL Tokyo Ginza for its first guests on 16 December 2024. The new-build hotel holds a prime position in central Ginza, the city's most popular dining and shopping destination, and is located just a fifteen-minute walk from Tokyo station - a major transport hub with links to cities across Japan via the Shinkansen (bullet train) lines and Narita International Airport.

YOTEL Tokyo Ginza will offer a range of room options to meet the varying needs of its guests, including double, twin, bunk triple and family connected options. Rooms will feature YOTEL signatures such as SmartBeds, super-fast WiFi, wireless charging and rain showers with Urban Jungle amenities. Floor to ceiling windows will immerse guests in the city, with views of Tokyo Tower, Ginza, and the Shinkansen snaking its way through Tokyo.

On the ground floor, the bar and restaurant Komyuniti will offer an all-day dining concept, serving simple and fresh international fare, as well as wine, craft local beer, sake and soju. From breakfast through to after-dinner drinks, Komyuniti will provide a welcoming space for hotel guests to work and socialise, and for locals to grab a bite to eat or a drink. Other hotel facilities include a striking Mission Control (reception area) with three self-service stations, a high-spec 24/7 gym available exclusively for hotel guests, and robot crew, who will be on hand to deliver water and extra towels to any room.

The hotel's public spaces draw inspiration from the vibrant streets and people of Ginza, featuring clean lines, warm wood tones, and soft, understated colours. Local artist Mio Fukukawa has been commissioned to create bespoke artworks inspired by Ginza's street scene, adding an authentic, local touch to the property.

This launch is YOTEL's third hotel in Asia, following the opening of YOTEL Singapore in 2017 and YOTELAIR Singapore Changi Airport in 2019, and is the brand's first venture into Japan.

Hotel website
HIX LDN returns to London's Business Design Centre on 27 & 28 November for a true celebration of everything that makes hotels incredible. Here's what to expect from Europe's best hotel design event. HIX LDN - Europe's leading hotel design event - is back for 2024 with more of the best hotel interior experiences. Bringing the hospitality design community together for two days of networking, talks, installations, and an exhibition of over 200 leading interior design brands, HIX is a true celebration of everything that makes hotels incredible. Last year, HIX welcomed 4,280 guests to London's Business Design Centre, including architects, designers, operators, developers, investors, project managers, specifiers and more. Gathering the entire hotel supply chain under one roof, HIX returns on 27 & 28 November with new spaces, new experiences, a new theme, and a newly expanded exhibition of the latest interior product launches.

Theme

The theme for this year's HIX, 'a sense of place', explores the unique connections that exist between a hotel and the area it serves - be that a specific building, a neighbourhood, a district or an entire city. As guests seek out increasingly authentic localised experiences, tapping into these connections has become a key marker of both commercial and cultural success. As such, designers have been tasked with facilitating organic, sustainable relationships with close-knit surrounding communities.

Every element of the HIX 2024 programme will be guided by this idea; from the topics up for debate on the HIX Talks stage and the form of the event's signature HIX installation, to the soundtrack and menus at one of the many industry networking receptions.

Expo

Featuring a curated selection of 200 cutting-edge design brands, the HIX showfloor represents the best of the bathroom, surface, technology, furnishing and fabric sectors - a one stop shop with everything you need to bring the guest experience to life. This year's line-up includes returning HIX favourites like GROHE, Laufen, Roca, Hansgrohe, Chelsom, Duxiana, Hypnos, Muuto and Table Place Chairs, along new members of the HIX community like Cane-line, Woodio, Pablo Designs, Frandsen and Bensen.

Due to popular demand, HIX LDN 2024 has added an entirely new exhibition space in the Gallery Hall, where guests will discover more of the latest and greatest hotel interior experiences along with a dedicated programme of breakout talks, pop-up activations and parties. Meanwhile, back for its third year, Collection is the event's 'expo-within-an-expo' comprising a micro edit of 30 European labels presenting exclusive new products.

Talks

How is the rise of responsible tourism changing hotel design? Is F&B the key to unlocking an authentic local experience? Will hotels evolve to be more like homes? The agenda for this year's HIX Talks programme asks the big hotel design questions and features a lineup of the industry's brightest minds. This year's speakers include senior and executive representatives from Marriott, IHG, Hilton, Accor, AvroKO, Nomadic Escapes, Luxury Frontiers, Squire & Partners, Holloway Li, Studio Lost, Richmond International and more.

Running parallel, a newly launched series of breakout talks curated by HIX partners will complement the main programme with discussions centred around branding, investment and the future of travel. Taking place on the all-new Gallery Stage, these breakout sessions include panels, presentations and intimate one-on-one chats with the people and perspectives shaping the future of hotel design.

Installations

Each year, HIX collaborates with leading hotel designers to create immersive installations that push the boundaries of the hospitality experience. In 2022, HIX worked with WeWantMore and organic material artist Come Di Meglio to develop the world's first mycelium bar, whilst 2023 upped the stakes with a pair of spaces by Blacksheep and MIXD that showcased two distinct 'rooms with a point of view'.

This year, under the guiding mantra of 'a sense of place', the signature HIX installation will mark the event's largest and most ambitious project yet. Partnering with five leading hospitality design studios in Stylt Trampoli, Purcell, 3Stories, Atellior and SUSD London/4Corners, HIX 2024 will feature a large-scale installation created by set designers Cloud & Horse, with each of these studios producing a gallery of design work that reimagines the iconic Business Design Centre as a hotel.

Working from a deep-dive historical report on the building and local area by heritage consultants Historic Productions, each studio's vision will be captured within a multimedia exhibition that celebrates the relationship between hospitality design and local spaces, communities and experiences, truly immersing HIX guests in the hotel interior experience.

This event is organized by Connect X Media Ltd
There used to be a time when hotel revenue managers simply had to look at predicted demand and keep an eye on competitors rates to optimize pricing.

When travelers booked a hotel room, they had no way of knowing the quality of the guest experience unless they had stayed at the hotel before or knew someone who had. For them, the primary quality indicator was price.

All that changed when online reviews came along.

Online reviews bridged that information gap, creating value transparency and replacing price as the only quality indicator. For revenue managers, that meant adding a new strategy (and a new skill) to their decision-making: reputation pricing.

In this article, we explore reputation pricing, strategies for improving reputation and rates, and technology to help.

But first, listen to Pablo Torres, Adele Gutman, and Paula Carreirao discuss the formula for balancing reviews and pricing to drive optimal results during a recent Cloudbeds Live on Maximizing Hotel Revenue Through Reviews.

Watch the full video: Maximizing Hotel Revenue Through Reviews. Watch video!

What is reputation pricing?

Reputation pricing uses your hotels online reputation as one of the factors influencing rates. As IDeaS explains, reputation pricing aligns your hotels room rates with three elements: your guests knowledge about the level of experience you offer, their expectations about the value they can get for their money, and their willingness to pay for that value.

How your online reputation impacts pricing strategies

Your online reputation has a significant impact on occupancy and profitability.

Research shows that the more positive reviews a property has, the higher it will rank in search results. This, in turn, leads to more visitors, conversions, and, finally, higher occupancy rates.

Additionally, if guests believe (based on reviews and ratings) that they will get more value from staying at your property, theyll be willing to pay more for it. Pablo noted during Cloudbeds Live that as long as a hotel fits within a travelers budget and is in the right location, theyre likely to splurge and pay a little bit extra to guarantee a positive guest experience. Thats when reputation pricing comes in, allowing revenue managers to increase metrics like ADR (average daily rate) and, ultimately, RevPAR (revenue per available room).

The connection between reputation and rates

Several research studies have confirmed the connection between reputation and rates. One study by Cornell University estimated that a 1-point increase in user review score (on an OTAs 5-point scale) would allow a property to increase prices by 11.2% without harming its occupancy rates.

In a paper published by the Universidad de Murcia, researchers compared the rates of the hotels ranking #1 on Tripadvisor in four Spanish cities with those of their three direct competitors. The results showed that, in most cases, the top-ranking hotels applied considerably higher rates than competitors for the same room type.

 Source: Cloudbeds

The impact of negative reviews

While positive reviews will increase your hotels expected value, negative ones will have the opposite effect. However, trying to offset that with lower rates is not that simple.

A study by Kelly A. McGuire and Jeannette Hoincluded in their book Hotel Pricing in a Social World: Driving Value in the Digital Economyshowed that: lowering the price of a badly rated and negatively reviewed property provides no additional value in the minds of consumers. If you have negative reviews, the authors say, you should keep the price up and try to fix the issues that generated them instead.

As a warning to hoteliers, Adele Gutman shared during Cloudbeds Live that just one negative review can turn away 30 guests and noted that AI suggestions have been known to spread negative reviews even if the issue has been addressed. Therefore, hotels must try their best to avoid poor reviews entirely.

6 ways to improve reputation and increase rates simultaneously

The goal of reputation pricing is to understand your perceived value and increase it over time. This process involves not only revenue managers but also marketing and operations teams.

Here are six steps to follow to increase your reputation and rates:

1. Understand your online reputation

You cant do anything until you understand your perceived value in the market. To do this, collect and analyze guest feedback and perform a sentiment analysis to see where you stand. Consider both direct and indirect feedback as part of your analysis.

Direct feedback includes:

Hotel guest responses to email surveys

Feedback collected directly by staff

Ratings and reviews left on OTAs (online travel agencies like Booking.com) and other external channels (like Google)

Indirect feedback includes:

Mentions of your hotel on social media

Loyalty program participation

Conversion rates on metasearch campaigns

Conversion rates on your hotels website.

2. Know your competitors reputation

A good reputation is not enough to charge more; you must offer more value than the competition to push the price. Ensure you understand the value (and shortcomings) of your competition and amplify how you deliver a better experience.

For example, if your competitors guests are complaining about the continental breakfast being underwhelming, make sure you advertise your award-winning dining experience with pictures and detailed descriptions on your profiles.

3. Know your guests

The other side of the equation for assigning value to your reputation is your customers willingness to pay, which can be different depending on property type (hostel, luxury, boutique), guest segment (leisure, business), or booking source (corporate/consortia, travel agency vacation packages).

Pablo shared that he recently spoke to the General Manager of an independent hotel that leverages group business in the winter since capacity is lower. Therefore, its unlikely that the hotel will receive noise complaints or other negative feedback. In the summer, however, the hotel doesnt push to have events in case they disturb high-paying transient travelers.

By knowing your segments in and out, you can offer a highly valued guest experience that warrants a higher price.

4. Assign a monetary value to reputation

Utilizing technology, take the data youve collected about your reputation, guest segments, competitors, and overall revenue to determine if, based on your hotels reputation, you can raise rates.

Knowing your guests price elasticity will be crucial to determining the maximum premium you can apply without hurting occupancy rates.

5. Improve your reputation and maintain it

It requires a consistent effort to maintain and improve your reputation. To ensure you climb the ranks and establish your hotel at the top of its category, implement a hotel reputation management strategy that includes the following:

Encourage feedback and respond to reviews. A report by Cornell University found that simply asking for feedback is associated with higher ratings and that responding to reviews leads to improved sales and revenue. Investing in an online reputation management strategy is crucial to establish a positive online reputation.

Know your priorities. Another study by Cornell University, which analyzed the content of over 95,000 hotel reviews, found that consistent service and comfortable rooms are key drivers of guest satisfaction, more than other factors such as location and amenities.

As you try to fix issues highlighted in guest reviews, its important to prioritize those operational areas. The study also found that for hoteliers, its much better to receive consistently good feedback. Travelers tend to consider excellent reviews mixed with less good ones as red flags, so ensure you offer a consistent experience.

Dont skimp on the details. A high star rating is not an excuse to ignore guests feedback. In fact, McGuire and Ho found that travelers value reviews more than ratings. If you receive a 4-star rating from a guest, but in their review, they mention a minor problemfor example, the shower wasnt working properlypotential guests are likely to value that detail, so you should too.

6. Use reputation pricing with other strategies

Reputation pricing should be used with other tried and tested hotel pricing strategies, most commonly:

Competitive pricing. Look at the rates of your direct competitors to make sure youre not charging unreasonably high or low rates.

Demand-based pricing. Vary pricing based on demand, whether its actual (bookings already made by guests for a given period) or based on forecasting.

Profit pricing. Determine rates by calculating the hotels operating costs and adding the target profit margin.

How technology can help improve reputation and increase rates

Monitoring and managing your online reputation can be challenging, especially because of the sheer number of platforms (OTAs, social media, and metasearch engines) where guests can leave reviews. Thats where technology can help.

Reputation and revenue management systems (RMS) can be integrated with a hotels PMS, channel manager, and booking engine to facilitate a reputation pricing strategy. With an integrated system, hotels can gather and respond to guest feedback and update rates across platforms all from one place.

8 top reputation management tools

Here are some of the leading reputation management tools for hotels to streamline the collection and analysis of guest feedback.

Cloudbeds.

Cloudbeds new AI-powered review management tool integrates with Google Business Profile to help hotels manage reviews and craft personalized responses. With this tool, lodging businesses can:

Respond to guest reviews fast

Utilize AI-generated replies to improve ratings and reputation

Self-manage reviews all in one place

During Compass, Cloudbeds quarterly product webinar, Jeremee Peters, Director of Product, gave a quick overview of how hotels can leverage this tool.

In addition, Whistle for Cloudbeds offers real-time messaging, in-stay surveys, and seamless integration with TripAdvisor, automatically verifying guests reviews for authenticity.

Cloudbeds also integrates with the following solutions, giving hoteliers the flexibility to choose the best system for their business.

See everything the Cloudbeds Platform has to offer. Book a demo!

GuestRevu.

Monitors reviews on Google and TripAdvisor collects personalized feedback from guests, and consolidates it in Cloudbeds PMS.

Hotels Quality.

Allows you to communicate with guests via email, SMS, and instant messages, with a focus on marketing automation and upselling.

Helps reputation management by sending out guest surveys, monitoring online reviews and sending real-time alerts to address issues with guests promptly.

Reputize.

Actively engages with guests during and after their stay, helping you fix issues before they turn into a negative review.

StayFI.

Helps you engage with guests before, during, and after their stay, also by leveraging guest WiFi.

Uses a proprietary scoring system to assess a hotels online reputation and a multi-channel messaging platform to engage with guests and collect guest feedback.

Xperium by RepUp.

Automates review monitoring and ensures 1:1 guest communication on multiple channels from a unified dashboard.

Drive more bookings at a higher ADR

Reputation pricing sits at the intersection of revenue management, sales, marketing, and operations.

Although it requires hoteliers to actively monitor customer satisfaction and manage feedback, it can be an effective revenue management strategy to leverage positive reviews and ratings, driving more bookings at a higher ADR.

To be successful, hotels must understand guest expectations in the hospitality industry, develop a strong online presence backed by positive reviews, and make pricing decisions that align with their perceived value.

Interested to see how Cloudbeds can supercharge your property? Request a Demo!

About Cloudbeds

Cloudbeds is the leading platform redefining the concept of PMS for the hospitality industry, serving tens of thousands of properties in more than 150 countries worldwide. Built from the ground up to be masterfully unified and scalable, the award-winning Cloudbeds Platform brings together built-in and integrated solutions that modernize hotel operations & finance, distribution & marketing, guest experience, and revenue & analytics. Founded in 2012, Cloudbeds has been named a top PMS, Hotel Management System and Channel Manager (2021-2025) by Hotel Tech Report, World's Best Hotel PMS Solutions Provider (2022) by World Travel Awards, and recognized in Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 in 2024.

Martina Orlandi

Marketing Specialist

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As luxury hospitality evolves, guest expectations are shifting toward a deeper appreciation for sustainable practices and thoughtful details that elevate the experience. John Roberts, President and CEO of Empyrean INTL, shares how the company navigates these trends, offering insights that resonate with hoteliers aiming to enhance their guests stay through luxury linens that balance opulence with eco-conscious values.

Source: BLLA

Sustainability as a Core Value in Hospitality

In todays market, the call for sustainable practices is loud and clear, influencing nearly every aspect of the hospitality experience, from energy usage to product selection. One of the most profound shifts in luxury hospitality is the move toward sustainable materials and practices, says Roberts. Guests now expect hotels to align with their environmental values, choosing products like organic cotton and bamboo for their eco-friendliness. Empyrean INTL meets this demand by offering luxury linens that are not only aesthetically pleasing but are also sustainably crafteda key consideration for hotels aiming to attract environmentally aware travelers.

Elevating Guest Comfort and Experience

Todays travelers demand more than comfort; they look for products that reflect a commitment to quality and ethics. Roberts notes, Guests are seeking luxurious linens that are ethically produced and sustainable, enhancing both the tactile and emotional aspects of their stay. For hoteliers, offering linens made from premium materials like Egyptian and Supima cotton can enhance comfort and create a sense of indulgence that resonates with discerning guests. This focus on quality not only boosts guest satisfaction but also drives return visits and positive reviews.

Source: BLLA

Personalization and Design Trends for Unique Guest Stays

In a competitive market, creating unique, memorable experiences is essential. Current trends in luxury linens, such as minimalist designs, personalization through monogramming, and clean, neutral tones, cater to guests desire for a serene and personalized space. By keeping up with design trends and offering customizable options, hotels can differentiate themselves and add a personal touch that guests appreciate, Roberts explains. Empyrean INTLs approach to trends, driven by thorough research and collaboration with designers, reflects a commitment to timeless aesthetics that complement any luxury hotel interior.

Innovating for a Sustainable Future

Roberts emphasizes that sustainable luxury is no longer an aspiration but an industry standard. Empyrean INTLs Ecoptimus collection features 100% organic linens produced with minimal environmental impact. Our focus on sustainable materials and responsible production helps hotels meet guests expectations for eco-friendly practices, he says. This approach supports a healthier planet while providing hotels with a competitive edge in the market.

For hotels aiming to enhance their sustainability credentials, working with partners who prioritize green practices can add significant value. From energy-efficient manufacturing to water conservation, Empyrean INTLs commitment to minimizing its environmental footprint ensures that hoteliers can provide guests with a luxury experience that doesnt compromise on ecological responsibility.

Source: BLLA

The Road Ahead: Challenges and Opportunities

Roberts acknowledges the challenges facing luxury linen providers, from navigating sustainability regulations to distinguishing themselves in a crowded market. However, he sees great opportunities in innovation, driven by an increasing demand for both luxury and sustainable practices. As Roberts concludes, By addressing these challenges and focusing on sustainable luxury, we can continue to lead and support hotels in providing memorable, environmentally conscious guest experiences.

Empyrean INTL exemplifies the evolving standards in luxury hospitality linens, proving that its possible to merge luxury with sustainability effectively. Their approach provides hoteliers with the tools to create guest experiences that align with contemporary values, setting a new benchmark in the luxury hospitality industry.

To learn more about PeopleVine, visit their listing on the BLLA Marketplace.

About BLLA

The official organization for the world's independent boutique lifestyle hotels and leaders who are entrepreneurs themselves, promoting capital, resources, connection, education, and advocacy. As a pioneer in forecasting the boutique movement, BLLA's boutique community currently extends to more than 10,000 verified boutique and lifestyle hotels. BLLA is a catalyst for trends and the future of the boutique lifestyle, exactly what today's traveler is embracing. BLLA.org / Stay-Boutique.com. BLLA is also a capital/partner matchmaker via its Boutique Money Group division.

The corporate manifesto is: Experience the intention behind the brand.

Boutique Lifestyle Leaders Association (BLLA)

BLLA

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San Diego, CA  Cloudbeds, the premier hospitality management software platform, has today announced it has been named as part of the Deloitte Technology Fast 500  a ranking of the 500 fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences, fintech, and energy tech companies in North America.

Over the past three years, Cloudbeds has achieved a revenue growth of 473%, driven in part by its pioneering technological innovations that have solidified the platforms position at the forefront of the hospitality industry.

Adam Harris, CEO of Cloudbeds, said: Being recognized once again on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 is a direct result of this teams relentless commitment to our partners and customers. Our cutting-edge technology has fueled remarkable growth over the last 12 months and reimagined whats possible for hospitality. This milestone reflects the extraordinary efforts of our team and the trust our partners place in us as we continue our mission to redefine the concept of property management systems.

Cloudbeds has been a member of the Technology Fast 500 for four consecutive years. Now in its 30th year, the annual ranking by Deloitte honors the fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences, fintech, and energy tech companiesboth public and privatein North America. Technology Fast 500 award winners are selected based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth from 2020 to 2023.

In order to be eligible for Technology Fast 500 recognition, companies must own proprietary intellectual property or technology that is sold to customers in products that contribute to a majority of the companys operating revenues. Companies must have base-year operating revenues of at least US$50,000, and current-year operating revenues of at least US$5 million. Additionally, companies must be in business for a minimum of four years and be headquartered within North America.

About Cloudbeds

Cloudbeds is the leading platform redefining the concept of PMS for the hospitality industry, serving tens of thousands of properties in more than 150 countries worldwide. Built from the ground up to be masterfully unified and scalable, the award-winning Cloudbeds Platform brings together built-in and integrated solutions that modernize hotel operations, distribution, guest experience, and data & analytics.

Founded in 2012, Cloudbeds has been named a top PMS, Hotel Management System and Channel Manager (2021-2024) by Hotel Tech Report, Worlds Best Hotel PMS Solutions Provider (2022) by World Travel Awards, and recognized in Deloittes Technology Fast 500 in 2024. For more information, visit www.cloudbeds.com.

About Deloitte

Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the worlds most admired brands, including nearly 90% of the Fortune 500 and more than 8,500 U.S.-based private companies. At Deloitte, we strive to live our purpose of making an impact that matters by creating trust and confidence in a more equitable society. We leverage our unique blend of business acumen, command of technology, and strategic technology alliances to advise our clients across industries as they build their future. Deloitte is proud to be part of the largest global professional services network serving our clients in the markets that are most important to them. Bringing more than 175 years of service, our network of member firms spans more than 150 countries and territories. Learn how Deloittes approximately 460,000 people worldwide connect for impact at www.deloitte.com.

Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee (DTTL), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as Deloitte Global) does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the Deloitte name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms.

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Significant upcoming privacy updates from Apple are coming in December and they will impact email marketing strategies. For hotel marketers, these changes are crucial as they will alter how engagement metrics like email opens and clicks are tracked. Understanding and adapting to these updates is essential for maintaining effective communication with guests, ensuring personalized experiences, and leveraging first-party data to drive direct bookings and enhance overall marketing efforts.

Here are the main points hotel marketers need to be aware of:

A.I. message summaries: Apple is introducing AI-driven message summaries that will replace pre-header content in emails. This means that instead of seeing the pre-header, recipients will see a brief AI-generated summary of the email content. Marketers will need to ensure their emails are engaging enough to make these summaries interesting.

Apple is introducing AI-driven message summaries that will replace pre-header content in emails. This means that instead of seeing the pre-header, recipients will see a brief AI-generated summary of the email content. Marketers will need to ensure their emails are engaging enough to make these summaries interesting. Apple categories: Similar to Gmails tabs, Apple Mail will now categorize emails into four categories: Primary, Transactions, Updates, and Promotions. This categorization is done on-device for privacy reasons. Marketers should be aware that there is no reliable way to force emails into the Primary category, and they should be cautious of anyone claiming otherwise.

Similar to Gmails tabs, Apple Mail will now categorize emails into four categories: Primary, Transactions, Updates, and Promotions. This categorization is done on-device for privacy reasons. Marketers should be aware that there is no reliable way to force emails into the Primary category, and they should be cautious of anyone claiming otherwise. User preferences: The article notes that many Gmail users turned off tabs, indicating a preference against automatic categorization. However, Apple seems to believe users are ready for this feature. Marketers should monitor how this change affects engagement and adapt accordingly.

Overall, these changes highlight the need for email marketers to stay informed and adaptable, focusing on creating compelling content and understanding new metrics for success. Here are the key takeaways for hotel marketers from the article:

Privacy changes: Apple is introducing significant privacy updates that will impact email marketing. These changes will make it harder to track email opens and clicks, affecting how marketers measure engagement.

Apple is introducing significant privacy updates that will impact email marketing. These changes will make it harder to track email opens and clicks, affecting how marketers measure engagement. Focus on first-party data: With these privacy updates, its crucial for hotel marketers to prioritize collecting and utilizing first-party data. This means leveraging data directly from your guests to personalize their experiences and communications.

With these privacy updates, its crucial for hotel marketers to prioritize collecting and utilizing first-party data. This means leveraging data directly from your guests to personalize their experiences and communications. Enhanced email content: Since tracking will be more challenging, the emphasis should shift to creating high-quality, engaging email content that encourages direct responses and interactions from recipients.

Since tracking will be more challenging, the emphasis should shift to creating high-quality, engaging email content that encourages direct responses and interactions from recipients. Adaptation to new metrics: Marketers will need to adapt to new metrics for measuring success, such as focusing on conversion rates and direct bookings rather than traditional email open rates.

Marketers will need to adapt to new metrics for measuring success, such as focusing on conversion rates and direct bookings rather than traditional email open rates. Increased importance of consent: Ensuring that you have explicit consent from your guests to receive communications will be more important than ever, aligning with the broader trend towards greater data privacy and protection.

These changes highlight the need for hotel marketers to be agile and innovative in their strategies to maintain effective communication with their guests. If you have any more questions or need further details, please contact us at [email protected].

ABOUT CENDYN

Cendyn is a global hospitality cloud-based technology company that enables hotels to drive revenue, maximize profitability, and create deeper connections with guests through its integrated solutions. Serving hoteliers for nearly 30 years, Cendyn drives commercial success for hotels through its Find, Book, Grow promise: find the right guests; drive them to book direct, and grow loyalty and revenue across the spectrum of digital guest interactions.

Cendyn has over 35,000 customers worldwide in more than 150 countries. The company supports its growing customer base from locations across the globe, including the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Bangkok, and India. To find out more, visit cendyn.com

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Edinburgh hotels rank as UKs most expensive for a New Years Eve stay - Image Credit Lighthouse

Unsurprisingly, Edinburgh and London lead the list of most expensive locations to bring in 2025 - just as they did last year - but more low-key getaways are also popular for those looking to escape for New Years Eve

Its fireworks for hospitality markets in the English and Scottish capitals this New Years Eve, as both cities will set revelers back more than 400 to stay the night in a hotel.

At the opposite end of the scale, Yorkshire and the Midlands are the cheapest, with those choosing to spend the night in Sheffield spending 358% less than those booking a night in Edinburgh.

There are also plenty looking outside of the major cities. Popular options for those looking to escape the bigger and more brash celebrations are Cornwall and Lake Windermere, with hotels in both posting strong pricing performance, especially when looking at slightly longer stays.

Hogmanay is in high demand with travelers once again

New Years Eve in Scotland holds special significance in Scotland, with its own term  Hogmanay  and a world-renowned festival taking place in Edinburgh city center.

That prominence has pushed up pricing for accommodation in the city year after year. It takes the top spot as the most expensive destination in the country for a New Years Eve hotel room.

There, the average room will set you back 481. That represents the highest prices advertised this year, sitting alongside the week when Taylor Swifts Eras Tour was in town, when prices hit 448.

This marks an excellent year for hoteliers in Edinburgh, who have been able to post prices above 2023 in every month of this year, led by 22% higher prices year-on-year in June during the Eras Tour.

Should those looking for a Scottish opening to 2025 need something a lot more affordable, then perhaps Glasgow could be a great alternative?

Just 45 miles east of its more celebrated counterpart, Glasgow also holds traditional Scottish celebrations, but a night there will cost just 148, or more than three times cheaper than its more celebrated counterpart.

Or even less again, Aberdeen is the second most affordable destination in our UK destinations, where a hotel room will set you back an average of 112.

Outside Edinburgh, the only other destination that comes close is London.

London has one of the UKs largest fireworks displays on NYE, with 100,000 official tickets for this event alone, alongside a huge range of other events and nightlife that attracts visitors from far and wide.

This is driving prices up to 425 on December 31st, which makes this week the highest pricing point for the year.

Head to the middle of the UK for the lowest New Year's Eve hotel prices

At the other end of the scale, Yorkshire and the Midlands are home to the cheapest locations for a night in a hotel. Sheffield hotels are on average 105 on NYE.

Also within the top five cheapest locations are Leeds (120), Birmingham (122) and Nottingham (124), which all occupy a similar price bracket.

York bucks this trend, being the fourth most expensive location on the list, where a room will cost 204, but otherwise, it is central England where the lowest prices are to be found.

Escapes outside the big cities also popular for New Year's Eve

Not everyone is looking for a big night out in a bustling city, as rural escapes and some smaller cities are also performing well, especially for multi-night stays.

Windermere is the most prominent example, with the Lake District town costing visitors 317 to stay in during NYE, making it the third most expensive destination.

More visitors appear to be staying on for additional nights in Windermere, as room rates hit 211 on 1st January 2025, a 33% drop, compared to a 44% decline over those days in Edinburgh.

Similarly, Cornwall is the seventh most expensive destination for NYE, but moves up to the fifth highest across December 31st and January 1st. Hotel rooms are being advertised for 196 for NYE and 143 for the day after, which is a 27% drop.

This indicates that there is a different customer profile for quieter locations, comprising a multi-night stay to enjoy the local area, whereas major cities known for vibrant nightlife are seeing more of a one-night bump.

For example, prices fall 55%, 54% and 47% in Liverpool, Brighton and Blackpool from 31st to 1st, but Oxford and Cambridge, which have limited late night options decline 22% and 16%.

Using real-time demand and pricing data to capitalize on key dates in the calendar

The lesson for hoteliers is to know your guest profile and set prices to accurately meet market demand before your competitors.

Lighthouse can give you all the data you need to take advantage of events and significant days in your calendar, ensuring you never miss out on a revenue opportunity.

We bring together demand data, competitor pricing, occupancy rates and much more all in one place. We can indicate emerging demand events months in advance and enable you to set optimal prices to capture this demand, so you can position your property for success

To find the edge over your competitors, get in touch today.

About Lighthouse

Lighthouse (formerly OTA Insight) is the leading commercial platform for the travel & hospitality industry. We transform complexity into confidence by providing actionable market insights, business intelligence, and pricing tools that maximize revenue growth. We continually innovate to deliver the best platform for hospitality professionals to price more effectively, measure performance more efficiently, and understand the market in new ways.

Trusted by over 65,000 hotels in 185 countries, Lighthouse is the only solution that provides real-time hotel and short-term rental data in a single platform. We strive to deliver the best possible experience with unmatched customer service. We consider our clients as true partners - their success is our success.
The Ritz-Carlton, Bali x Missoni - Image Credit Ritz-Carlton

Italian fashion house Missoni and The Ritz-Carlton have teamed up to launch the Missoni Resort Club at The Ritz-Carlton in Bali. The project transforms the beachfront of The Ritz-Carlton's resort in Nusa Dua, Bali, into a unique Missoni-themed experience, combining Missoni's signature designs with The Ritz-Carlton's elegance.

The collaboration incorporates Missoni's colorful patterns and Italian heritage into the resort's beachfront, creating a vibrant and sophisticated space. The fashion house has styled every detail of the beachfront, from umbrellas and sunbeds to common areas, reflecting the turquoise and emerald hues of Bali's natural landscape. Guests can enjoy branded beach accessories exclusive to the property, immersing themselves in the Missoni Resort Club experience.

A Missoni pop-up store will be located within the resort, giving guests of The Ritz-Carlton, Bali, exclusive access to a curated Missoni resort wear collection that is only available at the property. A first release will showcase a Missoni beachwear collection featuring archival fabrics and styles explicitly tailored for The Ritz-Carlton. The second release, scheduled for June 2025, will introduce a bespoke pattern created solely for the collaboration, offering ready-to-wear styles, bathwear, and accessories made from Missoni's signature raschel textile.

Jamie Kerr, VP and Global Brand Leader of The Ritz-Carlton, explained that the collaboration with Missoni reflects their commitment to innovation and creating memorable guest experiences. This project aims to promote the Missoni brand and philosophy worldwide, allowing guests to immerse in the Missoni lifestyle in exclusive locations fully.

The partnership follows the successful capsule collection with Late Checkout: A Ritz-Carlton Story, further showcasing The Ritz-Carlton's versatility and commitment to innovative fashion partnerships. With a focus on hospitality innovation, The Ritz-Carlton continues to offer customers unique experiences, bringing together various expressions of luxury that resonate across different cultures.

For reservations, visit The Ritz-Carlton, Bali, and for more information on the partnership, visit Missoni's official website.
Hotel Preko Ugljan, Curio Collection by Hilton - Image Credit Hilton

Hilton is set to expand its presence in Europe's resort market by adding four new franchises in Greece, Portugal, and Croatia under the Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, and Curio Collection by Hilton brands. The resorts, namely Hilton Mykonos Beach Resort & Spa and Sound of the Sea Karpathos in Greece, Casa de Sada Algarve in Portugal, and Hotel Preko Ugljan in Croatia, are scheduled to open within the next two years.

Hilton's continued growth in Europe's resort market is part of its strategy to increase its global presence. In the last five years, the company has doubled its resort offerings to more than 350 properties worldwide.

Alan Mantin, vice president of development for Southern Europe at Hilton, expressed excitement about bringing four new resort properties to Greece, Portugal, and Croatia. He noted that the global demand for high-quality resort accommodations continues rising, with Mediterranean locations particularly popular among Hilton Honors members.

Hilton's new Mediterranean resorts aim to cater to the growing trend of travelers seeking destinations that offer relaxation and culturally enriching experiences. Nicole Tilzer, vice president of All-Inclusive & Resort Strategy at Hilton, stated that the new properties combine serene coastal retreats with authentic, destination-inspired offerings alongside Hilton's signature hospitality.

In 2024 alone, Hilton opened 10 new resorts across Greece, Spain, Italy, Croatia, and Malta. All Hilton properties offer benefits to members of the Hilton Honors guest loyalty program, including the ability to earn Points for hotel stays and experiences.
Rendering of the LXR Hotels & Resorts property in Xi'an - Image Credit Hilton

Hilton has unveiled plans for its first LXR Hotels & Resorts property in China in partnership with Zhong Ding Guo Sheng. The luxury hotel is scheduled to open in 2027 in the historic city of Xi'an. This move signifies a significant step for Hilton in expanding its luxury hotel portfolio in China.

The decision to expand into China comes in response to the increasing demand for luxury travel and personalized accommodation experiences. Qian Jin, President of Greater China and Mongolia at Hilton, commented on the announcement, noting that the expansion enriches Hilton's portfolio of regional luxury brands, offering a more diverse range of hospitality experiences to the Chinese market.

LXR Hotels & Resorts, which debuted in 2018, has since grown into 13 luxury properties worldwide, each offering unique hotel and resort experiences defined by individual design, personal service, and cultural experiences. The Xi'an property will join Hilton's existing luxury brands in China, which include Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts and Conrad Hotels & Resorts.

Currently, 33 luxury hotels are trading, and another 21 are in the pipeline in the Greater China region. Hilton is looking to double the footprint of the trading hotels under the four brands in the coming years.

The LXR Hotels & Resorts hotel in Xi'an will feature 118 guest rooms, providing a luxurious hub for guests to explore this world-renowned capital of 13 ancient Chinese dynasties. The hotel will be located in the bustling Datang Everbright City, adjacent to prominent landmarks, such as the Great Wild Goose Pagoda, Dayan Pagoda, and Dacien Temple.

The hotel will offer a tranquil escape from the city's bustle, where guests can unwind and experience peaceful luxury. The property will also feature a swimming pool, a state-of-the-art fitness center, and a variety of wellness experiences.

Li Cheng Ping, Chairman of Zhong Ding Guo Sheng, expressed excitement about the partnership with Hilton, highlighting the rich culture of Xi'an and the potential for the new hotel to become a new tourism landmark of the city.

Candice DCruz, Vice President of Luxury Brands for Asia Pacific at Hilton, also commented on the expansion, emphasizing Hilton's commitment to curating immersive stays that connect discerning travelers with the heart of the locale.
Guestroom at the Novotel Abidjan Marcory - Image Credit Accor

Novotel has recently unveiled its latest addition, Novotel Abidjan Marcory, located in the Marcory district of Cote d'Ivoire. This 17-story structure is designed to cater to the needs of modern families and professionals, offering a blend of work and leisure facilities.

The hotel is situated just 10 minutes away from Feliz Houphouet-Boigny International Airport and close to the Plateau business center. It houses 201 rooms, including 10 suites, designed to balance work and relaxation.

Inspired by the Sundukovy Sisters design studio, the interior design features 'co-living' spaces that foster social interaction. Claude Missir's architectural vision complements this. Joanna Pera Duvocelle has designed the dining areas, enhancing the guest experience with refined culinary spaces.

The hotel is true to Novotel's philosophy of balanced living, offering spaces that energize professionals and foster family bonding. The "Your Time, Your Way" concept allows guests to customize their experience, providing flexible spaces for work, leisure and amenities for rejuvenation.

Novotel Abidjan Marcory's culinary offerings include LIVA, a restaurant on the 11th floor that offers contemporary Mediterranean cuisine and panoramic city views. Other facilities include L'Escale, a cigar lounge, a LIVA pool, and a pool bar area for relaxation.

The hotel also boasts a 24-hour fitness center, an outdoor pool, and three adaptable meeting rooms, including the Sirocco room, which can accommodate up to 300 people.

Jerome Rotrou, General Manager, highlights that the hotel's opening aims to provide quality accommodation and a balance between work and relaxation for guests in West Africa- Abidjan's rapidly growing economic hub.

Paul Stevens, Director of Operations for Accor in the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa, mentioned that the opening of this hotel marks an essential milestone for Accor in Sub-Saharan Africa. He emphasized their dedication to community development and skill-building by welcoming over 200 Ivorian talents to their team.

The opening of Novotel Abidjan Marcory comes as Cote d'Ivoire is gaining recognition as a top West African destination. The government's "Sublime Cote d'Ivoire" program, which aims to increase tourism's GDP contribution to 10% by 2025, supports this. The new Novotel hotel is expected to play a significant role in this growth.
Crowne Plaza Danang City Centre Hotel - Image Credit IHG Hotels & Resorts

IHG Hotels & Resorts has announced a new addition to its portfolio in Vietnam, Crowne Plaza Danang City Centre. The hotel, slated to open later this year, will operate under a management agreement with Regis Bay Vietnam Investment Joint-Stock Company.

The new property, previously Bay Capital Danang Hotel, will add 283 rooms to IHG's portfolio in Vietnam. The hotel is expected to cater to the increasing demand for meeting and event spaces in the city. Guests will have the option to choose rooms and suites with views of the Danang landscape or Han River.

The Crowne Plaza Danang City Centre will join other IHG properties in the region, including Crowne Plaza Phu Quoc Starbay and Crowne Plaza Vinh Yen City Centre. The brand is known for providing a balanced travel experience, offering spaces that facilitate work and leisure.

Chris Anklin, Senior Director of Development for South East Asia & Korea at IHG Hotels & Resorts, noted that the new hotel reinforces the company's robust presence in Central Vietnam, which includes more than 1,000 rooms across three hotels. IHG plans to double its portfolio size, from 16 to over 40 hotels, in the coming years.

Regis Bay Vietnam Investment Joint-Stock Company's Board Chairman, Rui Xiang Chin, expressed confidence in the new hotel's success due to its central location and world-class facilities. He believes that IHG's strong in-market experience and global systems will drive performance and returns on the property.

Located in the commercial hub of Central Vietnam, Danang is poised to become a market leader for business travel in the Asia-Pacific region, a market expected to be worth about USD$800 billion by 2027.

The Crowne Plaza Danang City Centre is 15 minutes from Da Nang International Airport in the Hai Chau district. It is close to government and commercial offices, Han bridge, Dragon bridge, and the Da Nang Cathedral. The hotel is also within 100 kilometres of UNESCO Heritage Sites at Hoi An, Hue, and My Son.

The property will offer facilities including an all-day dining restaurant, lobby lounge and bar, over 500 square meters of meeting spaces, a swimming pool, spa, and fitness center. This expansion in Vietnam is part of IHG's broader growth strategy across Asia Pacific, which includes more than 90 Crowne Plaza hotels.
These hotels are among the lowest-priced properties for travelers in Lisbon. Currently, the lowest price for a hotel in Lisbon is $20. The cheapest hotel is Divine House of Graca priced at $20. Price data was last updated on March 13, 2025.
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Grammy Camp Expands to New York, Miami and LA

The Grammy Museum has announced that the Grammy Camp is expanding with sessions in New York, Miami, and LA, opening doors for the next generation of emerging artists.

Grammy Camp Expands to New York, Miami and LA

by Stacy Simons Santos via Celebrity Access

The Grammy Museum announced today the expansion of its acclaimed Grammy Camp, a prestigious week-long program for high school students eager to pursue careers in the music industry. Starting in the summer of 2025, Grammy Camp will be held in New York and Miami, in addition to its flagship Los Angeles program.

The expansion aims to make the one-of-a-kind music industry immersive experience more accessible to students from all over the country, furthering the programs mission to educate and inspire the next generation of music professionals.

The 2025 GRAMMY Camp season will take place at the following locations:

 Art House Studios, Miami, FL  June 814, 2025

 Evergreen Enterprise Experience, Los Angeles, CA  July 1319, 2025

 Engine Room Audio, New York, NY  July 27Aug. 2, 2025

Now in its 21st year, Grammy Camp will focus on all aspects of commercial music. It will feature various career tracks in multiple locations: Music Business, Instrumental Performance, Electronic Music Audio Production, Songwriting, and Vocal Performance. Grammy-winning teaches each track and -nominated professionals, Recording Academy members, industry experts, and notable guest artists, offering participants an exclusive glimpse into real-world music career pathways.

With the expansion to different cities, each location will incorporate a curriculum tailored to its unique musical heritage, offering specialized tracks such as Musical Theater, Screen Scoring, Music Production with a DJ Emphasis, and Instrumental Performance surrounding Jazz and Latin Music. Students will be selected for one career track, but can collaborate with all students.

Expanding GRAMMY Camp from one to three cities enables us to deepen our engagement with the next generation of music makers, said Michael Sticka, President/CEO of the GRAMMY Museum. Our new locations in Miami and New York mark just the beginning in our long-term plans to build upon the lasting impact weve made in Los Angeles, making the program more accessible to young people across the country.

Applications for GRAMMY Camp 2025 are now open to high school students nationwide. For more details, students interested in applying can visit the website HERE.

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Hancock Shaker Village: Thanksgiving on the Farm

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Hancock Shaker Village continues it's Thanksgiving on the Farm tradition on the three days following Thanksgiving Day: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Nov. 29  Dec. 1.

The historic Village will be open all three days from 11am4 pm.

There will be a variety of tours, talks, and demos throughout the weekend.

Highlights of the weekend include:

Turkey Walk & Talk - Looking for a great way to get out of the house or an activity for visiting guests and family? Gobble up nature and escape the hectic pace of the holiday with a peaceful guided walk on our one-mile Farm & Forest Trail. The walk ends in the barnyard where you can visit the iconic Round Stone Barn and say hello to the farm animals. Included in admission and FREE to members. Friday, Nov. 29, 11am Saturday, Nov. 30, 11am

Shop & Sip  Avoid the crowds on Black Friday, enjoy a sip of wine or cider, and the experience the ease of shopping at the Shaker Mercantile, a unique store celebrating the region's best artisan makers and handcrafted gifts, including items made at the Village by our own blacksmiths and woodworkers. (Admission to the Village is NOT required to shop at the store.) Friday, November 29, 11am  4pm

Member Discount Days - Members enjoy a DOUBLE discount (20 percent instead of 10 percent) in the Shaker Mercantile. It's a great time to shop for gifts! (Some exclusions may apply). Included in admission and FREE to members. Friday, Nov. 29 - Sunday, Dec. 1, 11am  4pm

Grateful Shaker Supper  Experience a memorable communal meal in the historical 1830 Brick Dwelling and dine where the Shakers ate their daily meals for over 100 years. Savor a delicious fall harvest meal prepared by Woodlife Kitchen chef Peter Belmonte and soak up the history of the iconic building. Prior to dinner, enjoy a cocktail and a special Shaker music program performed in the Meeting Room of the Brick Dwelling. More information on the menu and tickets can be found at hancockshakervillage.org/events. Saturday, Nov. 30, 6pm



Hancock Shaker Village is located at 1843 West Housatonic Street in Pittsfield.
Monday 25 November 2024, 10:55

Harry and Meghan Markle might leave the United States due to Donald Trump's victory in the American presidential elections. The Sussexes have been living in the US since they stepped down from their roles as senior members of the royal family in 2020, and according to the Daily Mail's editor-in-chief, Charlotte Griffiths, the Duchess was "very upset" by the tycoon's electoral victory, which is why the couple might decide to leave America.

The House in Portugal

Not to return to the United Kingdom, possibly, but to settle in Portugal, where the second son of King Charles and his wife have recently purchased a house. Speaking to Gb News, the expert stated that Meghan "viscerally detested Trump for many different reasons, and in the past, she has said live on television that he is a misogynist. So she might want to leave America." Already following Trump's first election as president, Meghan had "threatened" to want to stay in Canada.

The Connection with Princess Eugenie

The choice of Portugal as the new destination for the Sussexes is also motivated by the fact that Princess Eugenie and her family spend a lot of time there. It is known that Meghan and Harry are very close to Eugenie, a protagonist of the 2022 Netflix series "Harry & Meghan," and her husband Jack Brooksbank. Additionally, being closer to the United Kingdom, the couple could visit Britain more frequently. Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams stated: "This residence gives Harry and Meghan a foothold in the EU and a base close to Britain."

A House by the Sea

Even though Britain will always remain in the heart of King Charles III's second son, the couple has chosen to move a bit further down and focus on Portugal. The new Portuguese house of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is located south of the Lusitanian capital, an hour's drive away, and probably within the Costa Terra beach resort. The 6.3 million home is situated in the exclusive CostaTerra Gold and Ocean Club, owned by multimillionaire real estate magnate Mike Meldman, co-founder of Casamigos tequila, along with George Clooney and Cindy Crawford's husband, Rande Gerber. Additionally, Mike has been friends for years with Princess Eugenie's husband. The resort was designed by Denton House, a luxury architecture and interior design firm. Equipped with a private pool and surrounded by greenery, the royal residence also has a private beach in the Algarve, away from mass tourism and therefore among the preferred destinations of the rich and famous. An ambitious project that, when completed, will host 300 homes within it, each costing around 3.6 million.
The day I get a good review in The New York Times Ill kill myself, once said the novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford who, following a short illness, has died at the age of 91. They only give good reviews to books that dont sell. Taylor Bradford, known affectionately across the industry as BTB, certainly never had to worry about her books not selling. Her career can be summed up in astronomical numbers  40 books published; 91 million books sold and the rights to 90 countries. Her 1979 debut A Woman of Substance is one of the top-selling novels ever published. At one point she was Britains second wealthiest woman after the late Queen.

BTB is the last of the great dowager British female authors  a select group that also included Barbara Cartland and Jackie Collins (and might have also numbered Catherine Cookson, had Cookson not led such a humble life first in Hastings and then in the North East). Each was as notorious for their stately, idiosyncratic, sometimes transatlantic lifestyle as for the cheerfully formulaic bestselling blockbusters they churned out with cuckoo clock regularity  and which won them the devoted affection of a large and overwhelmingly female fan base.

In the case of BTB, her novels invariably told the story of an indomitable, spirited young girl from an impoverished background who fought hardship to make a success of her life while having plenty of nice sex along the way; BTB would sniff at anything remotely vulgar. As a writer she had an undeniable common touch, combining relatable protagonists with sweeping, frequently historical settings  even if her prose favoured overheated metaphor over nuance and lacked a certain narrative elan. Her novels were racy, dryly commented the journalist Andrew Billen once, but they didnt race.

Yet BTB was more than a collection of stats and figures and stock heroines with creamy English rose complexions, personified most potently in A Woman of Substances Emma Harte, the domestic servant-turned-business mogul whose rags-to-riches trajectory eventually spawned seven novels. BTB was also a carefully cultivated, highly appealing brand. Readers loved her because she epitomised the feminist lite mix of aspirational lifestyle and tough, independent spirit that typified many of her plucky heroines (BTB heroines were nothing if not plucky).

Following her 1963 marriage to Bob Bradford, a New York producer whom she met when she was 28 (and whose canny commercial instinct helped mastermind her literary identity), she moved to America and, following the success of A Woman of Substance, which was made into a Channel 4 series in 1985 starring Deborah Kerr and Liam Neeson, embarked on a life that combined a formidable work ethic (she would rise at 6.30am each day to write) with old-world luxury.

BTB lived in a heavily perfumed whirl of Chanel blouses and Gauthier jewellery, in Connecticut houses and New York apartments stuffed with chintz and marble fireplaces, which she shared with her beloved bichon frise dogs  one was called Chammie, short for Champagne. When BTB came to London she would stay in The Dorchester. She was never photographed without makeup or an impeccable blow-dry. I dont like to tell women what to do but I think its a good idea to try to look nice, she had said. All of this she did with an endearing side helping of cheery Northern salt. Its a good thing Im a down-to-earth girl from Yorkshire with my feet on the ground, otherwise it might have gone to my head, she once told the Yorkshire Evening Post.

open image in gallery BTBs particular blend of feminism was both inspirational and old fashioned ( PA )

BTBs particular blend of feminism was both inspirational and old fashioned, born out of a life defined by fierce personal drive and an innate conservatism (she was a fan of Margaret Thatcher and in the US, where she had lived since the Sixties, voted Republican). Such views were expressed through her fictional female protagonists who broke the rules yet remained inherently traditional. BTB herself was born to a lower-middle-class family in Leeds in 1933. Her engineer father was tall, dark and handsome, like all the men in her novels (she once famously said she would never base a character on Harvey Weinstein because he was too ugly). He was also a bit of a womaniser.

It was her mother, who was later discovered to be the illegitimate daughter of the Marquess of Ripon, following an affair between him and her domestic servant grandmother, who encouraged the young Barbara to read prodigiously and who installed in her an unassailable self-belief. There was no way I was going to end up slaving in some textile factory, married off and perpetually pregnant, like so many Yorkshire girls of my generation, BTB said of her decision to take a job as a typist at the Yorkshire Evening Post when she was 15.

Of course, I believe in equality in everything for women, but I think were all authors of our own fate

There she was mentored by journalist and novelist Keith Waterhouse, who warned her against the lecherous young men in the newsroom. They included a pre-Lawrence of Arabia Peter OToole, who apparently had a real thing for BTB. He was lanky and dishevelled with acne, she later recalled. I refused to go to the movies with him, but he still edged up to me whenever the newsroom went to the pub. By this point, BTB had already had her first story published in a magazine (at the age of 10). By the age of 18 she was editing the womens pages. And by 20 she had a column in the Evening Standard.

Despite her success in a male-dominated field such as journalism, she was also an incorrigible believer in conventional gender roles. During the 1960s she wrote a series of books called How to be the Perfect Wife. (During this period, she also suffered a number of miscarriages and remained childless in her otherwise, by all accounts, ecstatic marriage to Bob, who died in 2019.)

open image in gallery Taylor Bradford with her husband Robert at Claridges Hotel, London ( Bob Dear/PA )

Her books tended to betray the extent to which she adored men as much as she did strong women. Her specific idea of feminism certainly had no truck with the militant ideology of the 1970s. Feminism implies bra-burning, standing on soap-boxes and man-hating, she said. Of course, I believe in equality in everything for women, but I think were all authors of our own fate.

That stand on your own two feet-style gumption is partly why, I think, so many people loved BTBs novels. Her female characters in particular defy the odds and achieve their dreams, yet they also refuse to see themselves as victims of anything and, crucially, they also never preach. I never set out to spread any message with my books, BTB once said. I simply want to tell stories of strong female survivors. She always knew her own worth, and promoted it ruthlessly and unquestionably, awe-inspiringly successfully. If any woman was ever the author of their own fate, it was the indefatigable BTB.
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Best-selling author Barbara Taylor Bradford, who wrote the acclaimed novel A Woman of Substance, has died, aged 91.

The British-American novelist died peacefully at her home on Sunday (24 November) following a short illness.

Bradford was a prolific writer, completing a total of 40 novels during her lifetime. All of her books  often centred on the lives of the glamorous and wealthy  went on to become worldwide bestsellers. Her debut novel, A Woman of Substance, was released in 1979 and sold over 30 million copies.

Born in Leeds, Yorkshire, in 1933, she attended nursery alongside the acclaimed playwright, Alan Bennett. The bestselling author started writing at age seven and was first published at age 10  when her mother sold a story to a childrens magazine. The writer has credited much of her success to her parents, who she said were instrumental in supporting her career.

Beginning her writing career as a typist for the Yorkshire Evening Post aged 15, she became a reporter a year later, and by the age of 18 was the papers first womans editor.

Shortly after, she moved to London to become a columnist and editor on Fleet Street.

open image in gallery Barbara Taylor Bradford was often called the queen of the genre ( Bradford Enterprises )

The author met Hollywood film and TV producer Robert Bradford in 1961, and the couple married in London on Christmas Eve in 1963. They eventually moved to New York in 1964 and remained together for 55 years until Robert died in July 2019.

Speaking about his death in an interview with The Guardian in 2021, she said He had a stroke in the night. His last words were, I love you. Im so glad I told him, I love you too, darling. A week later he was gone.

open image in gallery Bradfords books sold over 90 million copies worldwide ( Bradford Enterprises )

One of the most successful fiction writers in the world, her books have sold more than 91 million copies to date and have been published in more than 40 languages and in 90 countries.

Ten of her books were adapted into TV films or dramas by her husband. A Woman of Substance starring Jenny Seagrove and Liam Neeson, became a global hit and two Emmy awards nominations. It broke records when it premiered on Channel 4 in 1985, attracting 13.8 million viewers.

open image in gallery Taylor Bradford began her career on the Yorkshire Evening Post ( PA )

Bradford was awarded an OBE by the late Queen for her contributions to literature in 2007.

In one of her last interviews, the author was asked what she would have inscribed on her epitaph, and she replied: She made her dreams come true.
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Jon M Chu has provided an update on the long awaited sequel to his 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians sequel, but said that he would not bring the cast back unless its worth it.

The first Crazy Rich Asians film, written by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim, directed by Chu, and based on the 2013 novel of the same title by Kevin Kwan, followed Chinese-American professor Rachel Chu who travels to Singapore with her boyfriend Nick Young and is shocked to discover that his family is one of the richest there.

The romantic comedy-drama was lauded for its predominantly Asian cast, with Constance Wu starring as Rachel Chu, Henry Golding as Nick Young, along with Gemma Chan, Lisa Lu, Michelle Yeoh, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, and Sonoya Mizuno. Crazy Rich Asians grossed $239m globally, and opened to mostly favourable reviews.

A sequel was announced by Warner Bros Pictures in 2018, with Chiarelli and Lim returning to write the script, based on the books sequel, China Rich Girlfriend. Later the same year, it was announced that the third film, based on the final novel in the trilogy, Rich People Problems, would be filmed back-to-back in 2020.

open image in gallery Henry Golding and Constance Wu in Crazy Rich Asians ( Sanja Bucko/Warner Bros/Kobal/Shutterstock )

In 2022, Chinese-Australian writer Amy Wang was hired to replace the writers following Lims exit from the film in 2019 after it was revealed that Chiarelli was allegedly going to be paid almost 10 times more than her.

In a podcast appearance, fresh off the success of recent directorial venture Wicked, Chu provided fans with a disappointing update on the fate of the sequel.

I wont bring everyone back unless its worth it. Theres too much on the line for everybody, Chu said on Deadlines Crew Call.

I want the best thing. I want it to be worthy of what Crazy Rich Asians 1 was. Weve tried all different versions. Its hard because people think the first movie is like the book, but it actually is not. Its the right spirit, but the plotting is very different. And so, you cant just go and translate. And weve tried versions and the fact is, is that we just havent gotten there.

And theres no way Im dragging the audience back. Theres no way the bar is too high. So, in time when we get there, we will.

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To me, that sequel right now is the Broadway musical that were working on. Thats very exciting and very fun, he added, referring to the forthcoming musical adaptation in development, set to be directed by Chu.

Chus Wicked, along with Gladiator 2, is being credited for fans rushing to theatres this past weekend, with the lavish musical, starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, debuting with $114m domestically and $164.2m globally for Universal Pictures, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

open image in gallery Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in a scene Wicked (  Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved. )

The Independents Clarisse Loughrey gave Wicked three stars, writing that stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande showcase phenomenal vocal ability in this adaptation of the blockbuster musical, but theyre let down by a film that is aggressively overlit and shot like a TV advert.
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Glen Powell has offered the winner of his lookalike contest the chance to select a beloved family to make a cameo in one of his forthcoming films.

After the success of the Timothee Chalamet, Paul Mescal, Harry Styles, Dev Patel, Zayn Malik, and Zendaya look alike contests, the Glen Powell lookalike contest took place in the actors hometown of Austin, Texas.

Hundreds gathered at Auditorium Shores in Town Lake Park on Sunday (24 November) to be selected by special judges  Powells mother and aunt  and win bragging rights to the face that most resembles the Hit Man star.

Powell, who wasnt able to make it to the contest in person due to filming obligations for Edgar Wrights forthcoming remake of The Running Man in England, sent in a recorded video to the event with a message to all the participants.

Starting with a joke on how he resembles Justin Hartley and had assembled attendees so he could pull off a heist, Powell declared that he had a prize that had a cash-value prize of $6bn.

Welcome to the Justin Hartley lookalike contest. In all seriousness Ive assembled you here today at Auditorium Shores for an important mission. I want to pull off a heist. We dont need masks because we all have the same face, its the perfect crime. They cant get all of us because we are one. A criminal Glen-terprise, said theTop Gun: Maverick actor.

Also, I know its November, but if no one is shirtless for no reason, then this whole thing is a sham and, obviously, no one is committed to the bit.

I know there is some cash and a hat at stake here, but I just wanted to say that the winner of todays contest gets a personal prize from me. Now, you may know that my parents make a cameo in every movie I make, but today, the winner of the Glen Powell lookalike contest wins their parents or any family member of their choice a cameo in my next movie.

I am completely serious. This is a cash-value prize of $6bn.

Take a pic together for me, enjoy my favorite city in the world, keep Austin weird, hook em Horns and see ya around, every time I look in the mirror.

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The contest was won by Maxwell Braunstein, a physicians assistant in Austin. He took home a whopping $5, a cowboy hat, free queso from Torchys for a year, and a thumbs up from the real Glen Powells mom, according to Fox 7.

My face hasnt hurt like this since I was ten and at Disney World, said Braunstein. I did tell people I was going to win. I did mention that to my friends that sent it to me.

The first lookalike contest took place last month, when YouTuber Anthony Po decided to host a Timothee Chalamet lookalike contest in the Washington Square Park in New York. With more than 2,000 attendees, the contest had to be moved to Mercer Park after law enforcement intervened and dispersed the gathering.

Fans were sent into a frenzy when the real Timothee Chalamet unexpectedly showed up. The Call Me By Your Name star walked up to a few of the contestants to take a photo, causing the entire crowd to erupt into excited shrieks.

Lauren Bulla described attending a Paul Mescal lookalike contest forThe Independent, writing: I was under the impression that part of the intrigue which seemingly draws attendees to these events is the hope of finding a celebrity lookalike boyfriend. If you cant have the real thing, maybe your citys closest match is the way to go. And so, filled with trepidation (and a healthy dose of scepticism), I went along to the Howl at the Moon pub in Hoxton to find out...
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Kaya Scodelario has opened up about the prejudices she has faced in the UK acting industry.

The Wuthering Heights star, 32, shot to fame as Effy Stonem in the Channel 4 teen drama Skins alongside Nicholas Hoult, Jack OConnell and Daniel Kaluuya after attending an open audition in 2007.

Scodelario, who grew up in a council flat in Islington with her Brazilian mother, admitted she experienced a crisis of confidence when the series concluded and walked out of an audition for a BBC adaptation of Jane Austens Emma full of posh, gorgeous girls due to anxiety.

Following Skins, Scodelario starred as Cathy in Andrea Arnolds acclaimed Wuthering Heights adaptation in 2011 before focussing on big US franchises, including The Maze Runner and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Speaking to The Guardian, Scodelario admitted she faced fewer barriers in America than in the UK, where she knew her background would mean shed be cast as a maid in any period drama she auditioned for.

In recent years, the actor has made a return to the UK, most recently starring alongside Theo James and Daniel Ings in Guy Ritchies hit Netflix series The Gentlemen.

I think things have changed for the better, she reflected. It seems like the industry is finally catching up with the idea that a British actor doesnt look or sound a certain way.

open image in gallery Kaya Scodelario as Effy in Skins' ( Channel 4 )

It comes shortly after it was revealed in May that working class representation in the film and TV industry has plummeted to the lowest level in a decade.

Only eight per cent of creatives identified as being from a working class background, while over 60 per cent of those working in the same sector were middle or upper class, the highest level in 10 years.

Scodelarios Skins co-star OConnell, who was raised in a working-class household in Derby, previously told The Independent he would have to sleep rough on park benches in London in order to go to auditions.

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Skins found its cast members by visiting youth drama clubs, hosting open auditions and inviting the likes of Nicholas Hoult, who had previously starred in About a Boy alongside Hugh Grant, to read for a role.

open image in gallery Scodelario in The Gentleman ( Netflix )

Elsewhere in the interview, Scodelario, who filmed scenes involving sex and recreational drug use when she was just 14 years old, revealed safeguarding wasnt really a thing when she was cast in Skins.

The actor admitted the cast were so grateful and happy to be on the show that they just did as we were told most of the time.

Nothing too awful ever happened, thank God, she said. But it could have, and I think thats whats scary about it.

Whats wonderful now is that every production is aware that a sex scene is essentially a stunt, and it should be choreographed.
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Sir Michael Caine has divided opinion after sharing a petition calling for a new general election.

The 91-year-old British actor, whose film credits include Get Carter, Alfie and The Italian Job, linked to the petition set up by those disillusioned by Keir Starmers first four months as prime minister.

Despite the futile nature of the petition, Caine threw his backing behind the idea by sharing a link to the petition on X/Twitter.

The synopsis for the petition reads: I would like there to be another General Election. I believe the current Labour Government have gone back on the promises they laid out in the lead up to the last election.

Labour won a landslide victory in the general election back in July after a campaign that saw Starmer promise voters change. He said he would give Britain the sunlight of hope it needed after 14 years of turmoil under the Conservatives.

However, Starmer has recently faced criticism for his decision to scrap winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners  something that has seen him warned that elderly people are literally going to die.

In July, when the news was first announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, the governments official analysis showed that the means testing of winter fuel payments will drive 100,000 additional pensioners into poverty by 2026.

It will strip the payments, worth up to 300, from around 10 million pensioners, driving 50,000 more into relative poverty next year, followed by another 50,000 in the following years.

Caines sharing of the petition has led to a divisive response from his followers. While others who are frustrated with Labour after the partys victory concurred with his belief, many noted not only the futility of sharing such a petition, but the fact that Caine has often voted Conservative in the past.

This doesnt surprise me, one social media responded to Caines post.

open image in gallery Michael Caine has shared a petition calling for another general election in the wake of Labours victory ( @themichaelcaine/X )

At the time of writing, the petition has amassed more than two million signatures.

Caine, who was a supporter of Brexit and maintained his position despite issues surrounding the UKs supply chain, said of former PM Boris Johnson: Oh, I supported him. I thought he was great. But now Im very disappointed in him. He made a big mistake there, going to Marbella. Lets see if when he comes back he can settle it all. Otherwise we might have a socialist government.

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In 2019, Caine reiterated his belief that Brexit was a good decision.

The actor stated that he thinks its important for the UK to be in charge of their own future even if it means being poorer.

Speaking on the Today show, he said: People say Oh, youll be poor, youll be this, youll be that. I say Id rather be a poor master of my fate than having someone I dont know making me rich by running it.

The actor claimed that fears of a no-deal Brexit were a result of scare tactics.

open image in gallery Sir Michael Caine has often voted Conservative in the past ( Getty )

What I see is Im being ruled by people I dont know, who no one elected, and I think of that as fascist, he said, adding: In the long run, though, itll come around.

Starmer told BBC Radio Lincolnshire in response to the winter fuel payment furore: At the moment, until we bring in the changes, the allowance is paid to everyone, irrespective of whether they need it or not.

A lot of pensioners will say I dont actually need it, and I had to answer what difficult decisions we can make to ensure we use our money most effectively.

He also urged those eligible for pension credits to ensure they take them up.
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Yellowstone pulled the trigger on another major character during last nights (November 24) episode.

*Warning  Major spoilers for Yellowstone season five, part two ahead*

Fans of Taylor Sheridans Western drama were in uproar earlier this month over the way Kevin Costners patriarch, John Dutton, was unceremoniously dispatched following the actors acrimonious exit from the series.

The Paramount Plus series returned on November 10 for the second part of its final, fifth season.

In the latest episode, titled Three Fifty-Three, Sarah Atwood (played by Dawn Olivieri)  the fixer and girlfriend of Wes Bentleys Jamie Dutton  was assassinated. It was previously revealed that she had been responsible for Johns killing.

After a heated argument with Jamie, Sarah gets into her car and drives away. Jamie later calls her to make up after the fight and she pulls over on the side of the road to take the call.

Wes Bentley as Jamie Dutton in Yellowstone ( Paramount Network )

A couple then pulls up to ask for directions, but after learning who she is, the man in the vehicle leans over and shoots Sarah dead with Jamie still on the phone.

I always sort of know its coming, Olivieri told theHollywood Reporterin a post-mortem interview. And to read it is like, OK, here we go. We got what we all wanted. I think everyone is happy that the train station came.

Sarah was public enemy number one among Yellowstone fans as the one responsible for the death of Costners fan-favorite character.

On Twitter/X, fans rejoiced over the characters untimely demise.

Glad Skanky Sarah is taking a dirt nap, but that kill belonged to Beth, one person wrote of Yellowstone character Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly), the daughter of John.

Sarah Atwood got what she deserved, wrote another.

I just laughed tonight during episode 11 when the clean up crew car next to her asked her for directions. I knew it was coming. LOL and three more to the heart. How rude, a third added.

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I was really hoping for something sinister to happen to Sarah. But Ill take that, a fourth person wrote.

Olivieri played Claire Dutton in the Yellowstone prequel 1883, which led to Sheridan writing her role in Yellowstone.

In the interview with THR, the actor suggested that Costners early exit from the series accelerated her characters death. I did know there was an exit strategy for [Costner], but I dont think I was supposed to go as soon as I did, she said.

I think that was going to happen [with John], but because we had to wrap this all up in lightning speed, I think it had to go down the way it went. I believe I was meant to go into the next season and continue on as a character... The storyline had to go full throttle to figure out how to tie up every end and move things along.

Costner, who led Yellowstone as the Montana landowner for four and a half seasons, announced he was departing the hit series due to scheduling issues in May last year.

Reports initially suggested that his departure was due to a falling out with Sheridan over conflicts caused by the actors desire to shoot his Western passion project, Horizon  An American Saga.

When asked what he thought about his characters death after the episode aired, Costner said: I didnt see it. I heard its a suicide, so that doesnt make me want to rush to go see it.

Im going to be perfectly honest. I didnt know it was actually airing last night. I didnt realize yesterday was the thing.

Yellowstone airs weekly on Sundays on Paramount Plus at 8 p.m. ET.
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A court in South Korea has sentenced a man to prison after he was found guilty of evading mandatory military service by deliberately gaining weight.

The 26-year-old man was sentenced to a year in prison, suspended for two years, under the Military Service Act by the Seoul Eastern Dongbu District Court, The Korea Herald reported.

The man had doubled his daily food intake and consumed large amounts of water before his physical examination for the military draft, according to the report. He had qualified for a combat role in his initial physical exam in October 2017.

He deliberately consumed more food and was granted a grade that held him obese after a physical exam in June 2023. He weighed 102.3kg at 169cm tall with a body mass index of 35.8, which allowed him to serve in a non-combat role at a government agency.

According to South Korean law, all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 28 must join the military and serve 18 months in active service. In 2020, the law was revised to allow globally recognised K-pop stars to postpone their service until they turned 30.

Those who evade their mandatory military service without justifiable cause can be jailed for up to three years under the military law.

The defendant reportedly followed a weight-gain regimen planned by his friend, who was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years, for aiding and abetting.

The friend denied the accusation and said he never thought the defendant would go through with the plan.

The court reportedly handed a "relatively lenient punishment" for the defendant and his friend as the duo held no previous criminal record. The defendant acknowledged his wrongdoing and vowed to sincerely serve his military duty, according to the Korean daily.

Earlier in 2018, a dozen South Korean college students deliberately made themselves overweight by consuming large amounts of protein powder and drinking copious amounts of juice the day before their physical exam to avoid service.
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Four people were killed in Indias northern state of Uttar Pradesh after violence erupted during a court-ordered survey of a 16th-century mosque.

The clashes between locals and police over the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal, which is at the centre of a legal dispute claiming that it was built on a Hindu temple site, led to the death of four Muslim youths and resulted in injuries to at least 20 police officers on Sunday.

Photos and videos from the site also showed several vehicles being set ablaze.

Authorities detained 21 people and imposed internet shutdowns and restrictions on movement in the area after the killings. Schools and colleges have also been shut in the area.

Officials stated those involved in the violence would face charges under the National Security Act (NSA).

Tensions in Sambhal have been rising since a video survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid began last Tuesday. The survey follows a petition claiming the mosque was built on a temple destroyed by Mughal ruler Babur in the 1520s.

Authorities under the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government initiated the survey the same day.

Some Muslim groups in Sambhal protested the mosque survey, claiming they were not notified in advance and questioned the courts urgency.

A second survey on Sunday turned violent when protesters gathered near the mosque, shouted slogans, and clashed with the survey team, according to police.

Meanwhile, opposition Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the biased and hasty attitude of the state government on the dispute was extremely unfortunate.

The administrations insensitive action without listening to all parties further vitiated the situation and resulted in the death of many people  for which the BJP government is directly responsible, he wrote on X.

A case has been filed against Sambhal lawmaker Ziaur Rahman Barq, along with Sohail Iqbal, the son of local MLA Iqbal Mehmood, from the Samajwadi Party. Authorities have accused them of inciting violence, mobilising crowds, and instigating unrest, India Today reported.

Those who lost lives during the clashes have been identified as Nauman, Bilal, Naim, and Mohammad Kaif. While there are claims that the victims sustained bullet injuries, police said the exact cause of the deaths will be determined through autopsies.
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Pakistani authorities arrested over 4,000 supporters of Imran Khan, including five parliamentarians, ahead of a rally demanding the release of the former prime minister from prison, where he has been held for over a year.

Islamabad was under lockdown, roads were blocked, and mobile data was suspended in certain areas. Clashes between members of Mr Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and the police occurred near Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, local reports said.

The government claimed the measures were for public safety, while PTI insisted the arrests and restrictions were politically motivated.

On Monday, clashes between PTI workers and police continued, with police reporting stone-pelting that hospitalised 14 officers, while PTI accused police of using tear gas and batons.

Dozens of protesters, including four in Islamabads D-Chowk, were arrested on Monday. Interior minister Mohsin Naqvi had warned earlier that anyone entering the large town square would be detained.

On Monday, roads in Islamabad were blocked by containers and a heavy security presence, according to the BBC. However, supporters of the former prime minister, using social media and messaging platforms despite restrictions, remained defiant.

The crackdown coincides with a visit by Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko.

Mr Khan has been imprisoned for over a year, facing more than 150 criminal cases. Despite this, he remains widely popular, with his political party, PTI, claiming the charges are politically driven.

Earlier on Sunday, Pakistan suspended mobile and internet services in areas with security concerns.

The announcement was shared by the government and interior ministry on X (Twitter) despite the platform being banned in Pakistan. The statement did not specify which areas were affected or how long the suspension would last.

open image in gallery Paramilitary soldiers stand guard at the Red Zone area blocked with shipping containers ahead of a protest rally by Imran Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in Islamabad ( AFP via Getty )

Internet and mobile services will continue to operate as usual in the rest of the country, the posts said.

PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram said Mr Khans wife, Bushra Bibi, was on her way to Islamabad in a convoy led by Khyber Pakhtunkhwas chief minister, Ali Amin Gandapur.

She cannot leave the party workers on their own, Mr Akram said.

The US Embassy released a security alert for Americans in Islamabad, advising them to steer clear of large gatherings and cautioning that even peaceful gatherings can turn violent.

open image in gallery Passengers rush on trains after authorities blocked the motorways on the eve of the protest call by the opposition party Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaft (PTI) to demand release of former prime minister Imran Khan ( EPA )

Interior minister, Mr Naqvi announced that Islamabads Red Zone, home to key government buildings and the target for Mr Khans supporters, has been sealed off, warning that anyone reaching it will be arrested.

He attributed the measures to safeguarding residents and property while accusing PTI of causing disruptions. He clarified that only mobile data, not cellphone services, had been affected.

When Mr Khan was briefly detained in May last year, PTI supporters launched nationwide protests that escalated into attacks on state buildings and military installations. Thousands were arrested and around 100 people faced military trials.

Additional reporting by agencies.
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Sean Diddy Combs will reportedly feast on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Thanksgiving in jail.

At Brooklyns Metropolitan Detention Center, where the disgraced music mogul is being held on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation for prostitution, Thanksgiving will be far from luxurious.

Combs, who has pleaded not guilty, is awaiting a decision on whether he will be granted bail this week as he awaits his trial scheduled for May 5, 2025.

According to the prisons Thanksgiving Day menu obtained by People,breakfast begins at 6 a.m. with fruit, cereal, and pastries. Lunch at 11 a.m. will feature turkey roast or hot and sour tofu, accompanied by traditional sides like mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, cranberry sauce, gravy, dinner rolls, and assorted holiday pie.

Thanksgiving dinner  served after the 4 p.m. headcount  will be a simpler affair: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, potato chips, whole wheat bread, and fruit.

Combss legal team continues its push for his release. On November 8, they filed a motion arguing that the prosecutions case is thin and suggested that some allegations stem from a decade-long consensual relationship. During a bail hearing on November 22, a defense attorney proposed that Combs reside in a three-bedroom Upper East Side apartment if granted bail. Family members and supporters, including his mother Janice Combs, his daughter Chance Combs, his son Justin Dior Combs, and adopted son Quincy Brown, attended the hearing.

( Getty Images for Congressional B )

The judges decision, expected during Thanksgiving week, remains pending as of midday November 25. Meanwhile, Combs remains in custody on a $50 million bond.

Prosecutors accused Combs of using jailmates phones to contact family members and potential witnesses, urging them to craft narratives and influence testimony. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Slavik stated that Combs had shown he cannot be trusted, adding, Simply put, the defendant cannot and will not follow rules. Slavik also criticized Combss lawyers, claiming they had enabled his flouting of rules and demonstrated an inability to control their client.

Court documents alleged that Combs began his campaign to influence witnesses shortly after his incarceration in September. Prosecutors wrote, The defendant has shown repeatedly - even while in custody - that he will flagrantly and repeatedly flout rules in order to improperly impact the outcome of his case. They further stated it strains credulity to believe that Combs will stop engaging in criminal conduct and abide by conditions of release.

With new evidence presented by his defense team, Combs lawyers argued for his release to prepare for his trial. However, prosecutors remain adamant that Combs is both a flight risk and a danger to the community, leaving his fate in the hands of the judge.
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Kaley Cuoco has opened up about her late dog Shirley.

The Big Bang Theory star turned to Instagram on Sunday (November 24) to share the reason why she decided to rehome her dog, who recently died of cancer.

Most of you know I had [Shirley] for many, many, many years, she started off her Instagram Reel. All of a sudden, you kind of stopped seeing her, and I started to get a lot of questions as to where she was because its very unlike me to just stop posting about a dog that Ive had since she was six weeks old.

She continued to praise the dog, saying, Long story short, shes a very special dog to me, as you all know.

Unfortunately, Shirley was not able to get along with her fiance, Tom Pelphreys dog, Cuoco continued. And when the love of my life came into my life, Tom, who is also a mega dog lover, and he moved across the country with his beautiful German Shepherd, Blue, a couple years ago, unfortunately, Blue and Shirley started getting into some mega fights, she said.

Cuoco had Shirley since she was six weeks old ( Getty Images )

She added that the fights were intense to the point where Shirley appeared determined to kill Blue and would fight with most dogs except for her other dog Norman.

Although Shirley was violent around other dogs, she loved being around people. However, she became afraid of another animal being hurt, which led to the decision that Shirley could no longer live with her and Pelphrey anymore.

I loved her so much, but I was really scared, Cuoco said. I didnt want something really bad to happen or possibly a person accidentally be there and get hurt.

Cuoco clarified that despite rehoming her dog, she wanted to make sure that she went to the right home. I didnt want her to end up in a home that didnt understand her because she is so special and Ive had her for so long, she said.

Thankfully, Cuocos pet handler, Tony, and his wife volunteered to take in Shirley and they kept her until she died. They have loved her so so much, and it was an excruciating decision, the Flight Attendant actor said.

Cuoco explained that Shirley had a very aggressive bone cancer that came on very quickly.

She was almost 14 years old, which is an unbelievable life for a dog, she continued. And I just wanted to share her story and what we had to do.

She had an amazing life with us and an amazing last for years with Tony and Angie. I am devastated that she has gone over the rainbow bridge.

Cuoco is known for being a huge advocate for rescued animals. Obviously I rescue dogs, and everyone knows that about me, but Ive really expanded to farm animals and even Thoroughbreds and horses off the track, the actress said in an interview with People in May.

She has taken this love for all kinds of animals and put it into her ranch in Thousand Oaks, California which includes horses, donkeys, chickens, goats, cows, and pigs. Really anything with four legs is welcome here. We dont turn anyone away. Its become this magical place, Cuoco said.
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Lyle Menendezs wife Rebecca Sneed has announced their separation after 21 years of marriage, following reports her husband had an affair with a British college student.

Sneed, 55, took to Facebook on Friday (November 22) to share news of her separation from Menendez, who is currently serving a life sentence alongside his brother Erik Menendez for the 1989 murders of their parents. The brothers are awaiting a resentencing hearing on December 11, following the recommendation of outgoing Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon.

Lyle and I have been separated for a while now but remain best friends and family, Sneed wrote on Facebook. I continue to run his Facebook pages, with input from him, and I am forever committed to the enduring fight for Lyle and Eriks freedom, as has been so evident over the years.

She continued: Ill continue to update you all on the progress of the case because I believe we all have the common goal of seeing the guys walk free! I will never stop fighting for them.

Sneed also denied speculation they were separating due to recent reports that Menendez was busted for possessing a cellphone behind bars to keep in contact with his 21-year-old alleged love interest.

This is NOT a cheating scandal, she wrote.

open image in gallery Lyle Menendezs wife Rebecca Sneed announces their separation after 21 years of marriage ( AP )

The former couples separation announcement came the same day it was reported that Menendez had struck up a relationship with a University of Manchester student, who had allegedly flown from her home in Greater Manchester in the north of England to visit Menendez behind bars, according to the Daily Mail.

Earlier this month, Menendez released a statement as part of an amended resentencing request memo, in which he spoke about navigating his challenging marriage as he learn[ed] to be a husband and a partner from behind bars.

This coming November will be my 20th wedding anniversary, he wrote on November 7, per E! News. Learning to be a husband and a partner from inside a prison has been challenging. It has also changed my life in so many positive ways.

[Sneeds] unwavering support and belief in me is something I am most grateful for and has played no small part in my journey to be a better person, he said.

open image in gallery Lyle Menendez (left) and Erik Menendez (right) were found guilty of killing their parents in 1989 ( AP1990 )

Menendez and his brother Erik were sentenced to life in jail without parole after being found guilty of killing their parents at their Beverly Hills home in 1989. Calls for the brothers to be released have ramped up in recent months following the controversial Netflix drama Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, created by Ryan Murphy.

In October, outgoing LA District Attorney Gascon announced the case would be reevaluated. However, incoming DA Nathan Hochman has questioned whether his predecessors decision to re-examine the high-profile Menendez brothers case may have been a political ploy.

Gascon has denied his decision was politically motivated, telling the outlet: I believe that they should be released and they should be released cleanly within the law.
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A private New York island is up for sale for only $700,000 but there are a few details prospective buyers should keep in mind.

Just outside Albany, Campbell Island sits on the Hudson River with lush greenery, thick woods, flowers, multiple beach fronts, and a little cove.

Up until this year, Jeanne Casatelli has been the owner of the 92-acre land. In 1960, her father purchased the property for just $25,000, taking advantage of the islands resources to aid his concrete business.

When her father passed, she inherited only a portion of the property. She then bought the rest a few years later. Now, Casatelli is ready to leave the undeveloped property behind and hand it off to someone willing to pay around $700,000.

I hope to find a buyer who appreciates Campbell like I do to pass the baton to, she told Gothamist. I want it to hold onto its unique natural features, but also allow people to come there, by water, by bike, by foot and with vehicles.

According to Private Islands Inc., the most expensive New York island listed right now is Thompson Island. For $3.495 million, a buyer can become the owner of the 45 acres that sits between the Adirondacks and Vermonts Green Mountains. Meanwhile, the 0.60-acre Twin Island is up for $699,000.

Campbell Island in New York is up for sale for $700,000 ( YouTube/@jcrenss1 )

So, while Campbell Island is on the affordable side of islands for sale in New York, theres one aspect of the property that shouldnt be overlooked.

Casatelli told Gothamistthat the property isnt all that accessible. Campbell Island is connected to the mainland by railroad tracks, which makes the legal access more complicated.

Whats more, the island is close to a nature preserve, which Casatelli says isnt ideal for future development projects. For the most part, no one really knows about Campbell except for a the regulars who come to fish and walk or bike the trails.

Casatelli said: When I walk down there, people are sometimes walking out. Theyll stop and chat and they tell me how much they love it. I like to hear that.

I have no idea how many people know about it, she continued.

Some of the most expensive islands in the United States for sale right now are located in Florida. Captiva Key, 13 acres, and Enchanted Island, 4 acres, are listed for $22 million and $20 million respectively.
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The Lebanese civilians most devastated by the Israel- Hezbollah war are Shiite Muslims, and many of them believe they are being unfairly punished because they share a religious identity with Hezbollah militants and often live in the same areas.

This is clear, said Wael Murtada, a young Shiite man who anxiously watched paramedics search rubble after a recent Israeli airstrike destroyed his uncles two-story home and killed 10 people. Who else is being attacked?

Israel has concentrated its attacks on villages in southern and northeastern Lebanon and neighborhoods south of Beirut. This is where many Hezbollah militants operate from, and their families live side by side with large numbers of Shiites who arent members of the group.

Israel insists its war is with Hezbollah and not the Lebanese people  or the Shiite faith. It says it only targets members of the Iran-backed militant group to try to end their yearlong campaign of firing rockets over the border. But Israels stated objectives mean little to people like Murtada as growing numbers of Shiite civilians also die in a war that escalated sharply in recent months.

Shiites dont just measure the suffering of their community in deaths and injuries. Entire blocks of the coastal city of Tyre have been flattened. Large parts of the historic market in the city of Nabatiyeh, which dates to the Ottoman era, have been destroyed. And in Baalbek, an airstrike damaged the citys famed Hotel Palmyra, which opened in the late 19th century, and a home that dates to the Ottoman era.

Lebanese Shias are being collectively punished. Their urban areas are being destroyed, and their cultural monuments and building are being destroyed, said Mohanad Hage Ali, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut.

As Shiites flee their war-torn villages and neighborhoods, the conflict is increasingly following them to other parts of Lebanon, and this is fueling tensions.

Scores of people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes on Christian, Sunni and Druze areas where displaced Shiites had taken refuge. Many residents in these areas now think twice before providing shelter to displaced people out of fear they may have links to Hezbollah.

The Israelis are targeting all of Lebanon, said Wassef Harakeh, a lawyer from Beiruts southern suburbs who in 2022 ran against Hezbollah in the countrys parliamentary elections and whose office was recently demolished by an Israeli airstrike. He believes part of Israels goal is to exacerbate frictions within the small Mediterranean country, which has a long history of sectarian fighting even though diverse groups live together peacefully these days.

Some Shiites say statements from the Israeli military over the years have only reinforced suspicions that their wider community is being targeted as a means to put pressure on Hezbollah.

One commonly cited example is the so-called Dahiyeh doctrine, which was first espoused by Israeli generals during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. It is a reference to the southern suburbs of Beirut where Hezbollah is headquartered and where entire residential blocks, bridges and shopping compounds were destroyed in both wars. Israel says Hezbollah hides weapons and fighters in such areas, turning them into legitimate military targets.

A video released by the Israeli military last month has been interpreted by Shiites as further proof that little distinction is being made between Hezbollah fighters and Shiite civilians.

Speaking from a southern Lebanese village he did not name, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari called it a terror base. This is a Lebanese village, a Shiite village built by Hezbollah. As he toured a house and showed stocks of hand grenades, rifles, night-vision goggles and other military equipment, Hagari said: Every house is a terror base.

Another army spokesperson disputed the notion that Israel tries to blur the line between combatants and civilians. Our war is with the terror group Hezbollah and not with the Lebanese population, whatever its origin, said Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani. He denied that Israel was intentionally trying to disrupt the social fabric of Lebanon, and pointed to Israels evacuation warnings to civilians ahead of airstrikes as a step it takes to mitigate harm.

Many Lebanese, including some Shiites, blame Hezbollah for their suffering, while also decrying Israels bombardments. Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel last year the day after Hamas attacked Israel and started the war in Gaza; this went against the group's promises to use its weapons only to defend Lebanon.

Since last October, more than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon, and women and children accounted for more than 900 of the dead, according to the Health Ministry. More than 1 million people have been displaced from their homes. Shiites, who make up a third of Lebanons 5 million people, have borne the brunt of this suffering. Israel says it has killed well over 2,000 Hezbollah members in the past year.

The death and destruction in Lebanon ramped up significantly in mid-September, when Israeli airstrikes began targeting Hezbollahs leaders, and once again in early October, when Israeli ground troops invaded.

Early in the war, Israeli airstrikes killed about 500 Hezbollah members but caused very little collateral damage. But since late September, airstrikes have destroyed entire buildings and homes, and in some cases killed dozens of civilians when the intended target was one Hezbollah member or official.

On one particularly bloody day, Sept. 23, Israeli airstrikes killed almost 500 people and prompted hundreds of thousands of people  again, mostly Shiites -- to flee their homes in panic.

Murtadas relatives fled from Beiruts southern suburbs in late September after entire blocks had been wiped out by airstrikes. They moved 22 kilometers (about 14 miles) east of the city, to the predominantly Druze mountain village of Baalchmay to stay in the home of Murtadas uncle.

Then, on Nov. 12, the home where they sought refuge was destroyed without warning. The airstrike killed nine relatives  three men, three women and three children  and a domestic worker, Murtada said.

The Israeli army said the home was being used by Hezbollah. Murtada, who lost a grandmother and an aunt in the strike, said nobody in the home was connected to the militant group.

Hezbollah has long boasted about its ability to deter Israel, but the latest war has proven otherwise and taken a severe toll on its leadership.

Some Shiites fear the weakening of Hezbollah will lead to the entire community being sidelined politically once the war is over. But others believe it could offer a political opening for more diverse Shiite voices.

Cease-fire negotiations to end the Israel-Hezbollah appear to have gained momentum over the past week. Some critics of Hezbollah say the group could have accepted months ago the conditions currently under consideration.

This would have spared Lebanon destruction, martyrs and losses worth billions (of dollars), Lebanese legislator Waddah Sadek, who is Sunni Muslim, wrote on X.

_____

Associated Press writer Tia Goldenberg contributed to this report from Tel Aviv, Israel.
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A Russian man was convicted and sentenced to 14 years in prison Monday after being found guilty of high treason for a video he sent to Ukraines security services, the latest in a series of espionage cases involving the conflict.

The Volgograd District Court said Nikita Zhuravel had been in disagreement with the political course of the Russian Federation and entered into correspondence with a representative from Ukraines security services online and carried out tasks for him. It did not give details on the tasks.

Zhuravel is already serving a 3 1/2-year sentence for burning a Quran in front of a mosque, which was handed down in February.

Prosecutors said Zhuravel filmed a trainload of military equipment and warplanes in 2023 and sent the video to a representative of Ukraines security agency.

Rights activists say Zhuravel is a political prisoner who was beaten while in custody.

While in pretrial custody before his first sentence, Zhuravel was beaten by the 15-year-old son of Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-appointed strongman leader of the mostly Muslim region of Chechnya. The elder Kadyrov posted the video on social media and praised his son, causing public outrage.

Federal authorities have refrained from any criticism of the Chechen strongman.

Treason and espionage cases have skyrocketed after President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. The cases have targeted a wide range of suspects, from Kremlin critics and independent journalists to scientists, drawing attention from rights groups.

The legal definition of treason has been expanded to include providing vaguely defined assistance to foreign countries or organizations, effectively exposing to prosecution anyone in contact with foreigners.
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A landslide caused by heavy rains after a prolonged drought in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, flooded dozens of homes early Sunday, local authorities said. It swept away a young girl, spurred evacuations and left parts of the city without electricity.

Torrential rain on Saturday caused a river to spill its banks, dislodging mud from a southwestern La Paz neighborhood where low-slung, shoddily built dwellings dot the hillside.

The torrent of rocks and soil surged down a narrow ravine early Sunday, wrecking some two dozen homes and flooding another 40, said Juan Carlos Calvimontes, Bolivia's deputy civil defense minister.

I lost my workshop and the cars that I had there are buried, said auto mechanic Luis Mencias, his voice shaking as he surveyed the sea of debris.

Hours after the rain subsided, rescuers were still searching for a missing 5-year-old girl in the inundated neighborhood of Bajo Llojeta. Emergency workers trudged through the boot-sucking mud on Sunday, pulling at least six residents  suffering from hypothermia, their hair matted with sludge  from the collapsed hillside. Soldiers helped clear mud from the streets.

My daughter was with her cousins when the mud came," said Grover Mendoza, the missing girl's father. The neighbors rescued my nephews but my daughter was missing.

The mayor of La Paz, Ivan Arias, directly blamed the poor construction of houses perched on the hillside without permits.

There are irresponsible people who destabilize the hillside and the rains drag it away, affecting the lower-lying neighborhoods, he said.

In a visit to the site, President Luis Arce delivered aid to flood victims and vowed to hold people responsible for the illegal construction that exacerbated the damage.

We are shocked by what happened, he said. This cannot be left like this. An investigation must be carried out."

The city of La Paz, nestled in a valley surrounded by high hills, is particularly prone to floods and landslides. Bolivia's rainy season is just starting after the nation suffered one of its most severe droughts in recent memory.
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As Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the incoming administrations pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, continues to tout the use of raw milk, California health authorities acted Sunday to recall raw milk that had been contaminated with bird flu.

While no illnesses have been reported, the states Department of Public Health warned residents against drinking the batch of cream top, whole raw milk from Fresno Countys Raw Farm LLC and advised consumers to return the product to where it was purchased. Raw Farm LLC has issued a voluntary recall of the affected lot code 20241109.

No illnesses associated with this lot of raw milk have been reported. Out of an abundance of caution, and due to the ongoing spread of bird flu in dairy cows, poultry, and sporadic human cases, consumers should not consume any of the affected raw milk, it said in a release.

The County of Santa Clara Public Health Laboratory had identified bird flu in one sample of raw milk purchased at a retail outlet. In response to this positive test, the California Department of Food and Agriculture will begin testing raw milk in bulk tanks for bird flu twice a week  instead of just once.

After testing both of Raw Farm LLCs locations, that departments results were negative for the virus.

open image in gallery The Fresno County-based Raw Farms LLC issued a voluntary recall of its raw milk. No related illnesses have been reported ( California Department of Public Health )

The news comes as human cases of dangerous H5N1 bird flu have risen across the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now reports 55 across seven states. The majority of those cases are in California, and the agency reported it had confirmed the first avian influenza H5 virus infection in a child in the US last week. How the child, who is recovering from their illness, was infected with H5N1 remains a mystery.

Consistent with previously identified human cases in the United States, the child reportedly experienced mild symptoms and received flu antivirals. There were low levels of viral material detected in the initial specimen collected, and follow-up testing of the child several days later was negative for H5 bird flu but was positive for other common respiratory viruses, it said.

In Canada, a teenager infected with H5N1 remained in critical condition.

Of the cases reported in the Western Pacific Region from January 2003 through this past September, the World Health Organization says there was a case fatality rate of 54 percent. No one in the US has died this year and none of those infected in California or the US have been hospitalized. Authorities maintain that the risk to the American public remains low.

It is unclear how many of those infected were drinking raw milk, but many were dairy workers in California.

Public health experts have warned consumers against drinking raw milk or raw milk products due to elevated risks of foodborne illness, including outbreaks of E. coli, Salmonella, and Listeria. Raw milk products are not pasteurized, a heating process that kills bacteria and viruses like bird flu.

While the US has been pasteurizing milk since the 1890s, and the Food and Drug Administration issued a regulation prohibiting the interstate sale of raw milk in 1987, 30 states allow the instrate sales of raw milk. Fewer than 1 percent of Americans have rejected pasteurization. Kennedy has pledged that the aggressive suppression of raw milk is about to end. He drinks raw milk.

open image in gallery Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., speaks Walker, Michigan last September. Kennedy, President-elect Donald Trumps pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, says he drinks raw milk ( (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) )

If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. Preserve your records, and 2. Pack your bags, he wrote last month on X. HHS oversees the FDA.

But, the FDA urges consumers who purchase raw milk to understand the health risks involved.

While raw milk puts all consumers at risk, the elderly, immune-compromised people, children and pregnant women are especially vulnerable to the hazards of raw milk consumption, the FDA says. FDAs consumer education will continue to focus on helping consumers understand the risk to these populations.
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Diplomats and other officials say there have been several sticking points in ceasefire talks to end the war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, even as conditions for an agreement appear to be ripe.

Israels military has killed nearly all of the militant groups top leaders, but it continues to fire missiles into Israel. Tens of thousands of Israelis who were evacuated from the border months ago are pressuring their government to go home. And the world wants to stop regional conflict from spreading after more than a year of fighting.

Following the latest visit to the region by a U.S. mediator, Israel hit central Beirut over the weekend, and Hezbollah responded with its biggest barrage in weeks as each applied pressure to reach a deal.

Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire almost daily since the day after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, setting off the war in Gaza.

Israel launched a widespread bombardment of Lebanon two months ago, then a ground invasion. More than 3,500 people in Lebanon have been killed, many of them civilians.

More than 70 have been killed in Israel, over 40 of them civilians. In addition, over 50 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the ground offensive.

Heres a look at the proposal and the sticking points.

A proposed two-month ceasefire to start

The proposal under discussion to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah calls for an initial two-month ceasefire during which Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon and Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the southern border south of the Litani River.

The withdrawals would be accompanied by an influx of thousands more Lebanese army troops, who have been largely sidelined in the war, to patrol the border area along with an existing U.N. peacekeeping force.

An international committee would be set up to monitor implementation of the ceasefire agreement and of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701, which was passed in 2006 to end a monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah but never fully implemented. Hezbollah never ended its presence in southern Lebanon, while Lebanon said Israel regularly violated its airspace and occupied small patches of its territory.

It is not clear whether a new deal would be any more successfully implemented than the one in 2006.

Michael Herzog, Israels Ambassador to Washington, told Israeli Army Radio on Monday that the deal aimed to improve surveillance and enforcement of the previous resolution. While he said there were still certain points that needed to be finalized, a deal was close and could be clinched within days.

A U.S. official said negotiations continued to progress on Sunday, but the parties still need to work out some outstanding issues to close the deal. The official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the private talks, declined declined to detail the outstanding issues.

Israel wants freedom to strike Hezbollah and other disagreements

Two Western diplomats described several points of dispute to The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss ongoing negotiations.

They said Israel was asking for more guarantees to ensure that Hezbollahs weapons are removed from the border area. Israeli officials, concerned about the possibility of Hezbollah launching the kind of attack that Hamas carried out from Gaza into southern Israel, have said they would not agree to a ceasefire deal that doesn't explicitly grant them freedom to strike in Lebanon if they believe Hezbollah is violating it.

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorized to discuss the sensitive talks, said the issue remained a point of contention, although he said the talks were headed in a positive direction.

Lebanese officials have said agreeing to such a deal would violate Lebanons sovereignty. Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem has said the militant group would not agree to a deal that does not entail a complete and comprehensive end to the aggression and does not protect Lebanons sovereignty.

Lebanon and Israel also disagree over which countries would sit on the international committee overseeing implementation of the deal and Resolution 1701. The diplomats said Israel refused to allow France, which has remained close with Lebanon since its colonial rule there ended and has recently been at odds with Israel. The Israeli official confirmed that France's role was in dispute. Meanwhile, Lebanon has refused to allow Britain, a close ally of Israel.

And Israel does not want to enter into negotiations on 13 disputed points along the border as part of a ceasefire deal, the diplomats said.

The European Unions top diplomat, Josep Borrell, who has a contentious relationship with Israel's government, said Sunday during a visit to Lebanon that he's not convinced that Israel is interested clearly in reaching an agreement for a ceasefire."

Both sides have an interest in ending the war

A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the strongest of Iran's armed proxies, is expected to significantly calm regional tensions that have led to fears of war between Israel and Iran directly. It's not clear how it would affect the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Hezbollah had long insisted that it would not agree to a ceasefire until the war in Gaza ends, but it has now dropped that condition.

One diplomat said there are fears that if no ceasefire is reached, the war will expand further into Syria and Iraq as Israel attempts to cut off the supply of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah. Israel has carried out regular airstrikes on Iran-linked groups in Syria and has threatened to strike in Iraq, where Iran-backed militias have periodically launched drone attacks on Israel.

Geir Pedersen, the U.N. special envoy for Syria, said during a visit to Damascus on Sunday that ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon are critical to avoid Syria being dragged even further into the conflict.

Meanwhile, analysts say Hezbollah has been weakened but continues to keep up steady fire into Israel, including strikes far from the border.

On Sunday, Hezbollah fired about 250 rockets and other projectiles into Israel, wounding seven people in one of the militant groups heaviest barrages in months, in response to deadly Israeli strikes in Beirut. Violent clashes continue in southern Lebanon as Israeli forces attempt to take control of strategic towns.

Israel says its goal in the war with Hezbollah is to enable displaced Israelis to safely return home. In Lebanon, a quarter the population has been displaced, and parts of the country, particularly in south Lebanon and areas south of the capital Beirut, have been destroyed.

In Lebanon, where officials and residents are anxious for war to end, an initial rush of optimism dissipated after the Biden administrations point man on Israel and Lebanon, Amos Hochstein, left the region last week without a deal.

Many now believe no agreement will be reached before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.

___

Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani contributed from Washington.

___

Find more of APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
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The death toll rose Monday to 25 after two motorboats carrying migrants from Somalia capsized in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar, authorities said Monday.

The migrants had been at sea for nearly a month hoping to reach the French island territory of Mayotte.

Another 48 people were rescued Sunday from the waters near the island of Nosy Be off northern Madagascar, said Jean-Edmond Randrianantenaina, the head of Madagascar's Maritime Ports Agency.

Somali authorities said Sunday that 24 people had died. It was not clear what caused the boats to capsize.

The boats left a beach near the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Nov. 2 with 73 people on board and were believed to be headed to Mayotte, Randrianantenaina said. Mayotte is around 1,600 kilometers (990 miles) from Mogadishu.

The survivors are aged between 17 and 50, authorities in Madagascar said.

Randrianantenaina said an investigation was underway, while a government delegation from Somalia will come to organize the repatriation of its citizens. Madagascar's foreign ministry has asked the U.N. International Organization for Migration for help.

Many young Somalis embark every year on dangerous journeys in search of better opportunities abroad. The U.N agency has previously raised concerns over the rise in irregular migration from Horn of Africa countries as people flee from conflict and drought.

In April, 38 migrants died and 22 others were rescued from a shipwreck off Djibouti on a popular migration route to Yemen. Most of those rescued were Somali and Ethiopian nationals seeking work in Gulf States.

___

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
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An eight-year-old girl and a man have been seriously injured after a gunman opened fire on a car, the Metropolitan Police have said.

The child and the man, aged 34, were rushed to hospital after they were shot in Southern Row, Ladbroke Grove, just after 5.30pm on Sunday.

A woman and two-year-old baby were also in the vehicle during the shooting, but were unhurt, police said.

A 22-year-old man was arrested immediately following the incident on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in custody.

A horrified onlooker heard screaming and ran downstairs where she witnessed the incident.

I was completely in shock and I just ran back up the stairs because I was really scared, she said. Then I looked and I heard screaming afterwards, and then people coming out to call the police.

open image in gallery Police have cordoned off the scene in Southern Row, Ladbroke Grove ( Aaron Chown/PA )

Another woman living near the scene, who did not want to be named, said she was scared after the shooting.

She was in her kitchen cooking and thought fireworks were going off before armed police arrived and she discovered what had happened.

A large cordon remains in place as police and forensics teams comb the area near a block of flats.

Speaking near the scene of the shooting on Monday, superintendent Owen Renowden said the eight-year-old girl is in surgery, although her injuries are not life-threatening and she is in a stable condition. However, the 34-year-old man has suffered potentially life-changing injuries.

The superintendent said: Last night at approximately 5.30pm we received numerous 999 calls to Southern Row reporting that shots had been fired, that a number of people in a vehicle had been injured.

We immediately dispatched units to the scene, including local officers from the emergency response teams on the borough, supported by armed officers from the specialist firearms command.

On arrival, officers located a 34-year-old man and an eight-year-old girl who had sustained serious gunshot injuries. Also present in the car were a two-year-old child and a 32-year-old woman who were thankfully unharmed.

open image in gallery A police forensic officer at the scene on Southern Row in Ladbroke Grove, west London ( Aaron Chown/PA )

Labour MP for Kensington and Bayswater Joe Powell said in a statement on X (Twitter): These senseless acts of violence have no place on our streets.

Appealing for witnesses to come forward, Superintendent Renowden added: I am appealing to the public who may have been in the area at the time of the shooting. Did you hear any gunshots around 5.30pm yesterday evening? Did you see anyone fleeing from the area?

We are keen to hear from anyone who may have any information surrounding this incident. Your information matters, no matter how insignificant you may think it is.

Witnesses can contact police on 101 giving the reference CAD5238/24NOV or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online to remain anonymous.
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A 43-year-old man has been charged with a bomb hoax after the US embassy was locked down over reports of a suspicious package last week.

Daniel Parmenter of Kildare Terrace, west London, has been charged with making a bomb hoax threat after the incident on Friday morning.

The embassy was immediately locked down as armed police carried out a controlled explosion of the item within a cordoned area, said to have caused a loud bang.

Parmenter was arrested on Sunday 24 November, after a search of his home address. He appeared at Ealing Magistrates Court on Monday 25 November.

He was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on Monday 23 December. There are no current links between this investigation and any similar incidents of reported suspicious packages in recent days.

open image in gallery Firefighters stand outside the US embassy after a suspicious package was found last Friday ( Reuters )

People who had been queuing up for visa appointments were locked inside for more than an hour before being sent home while staff remained inside as officers searched the area.

In a statement at around 1pm on Friday, the Met Police said: Initial indications are that the item was a hoax device. An investigation will now follow.

Some cordons will remain in place for the time being but the majority of the police response will now be stood down.

The embassy is in a high-rise, residential area close to the Thames, with the cordons meaning people who live in the area were unable to get back into their homes.

open image in gallery Firefighters were among the emergency responders on the scene at the US Embassy in Nine Elms ( Millie Cooke )

Firefighters were also at the scene, as well as the dog squad, with dozens of people - many of them people who were attending the building for visa interviews - told to stay behind barriers while authorities responded.

One woman at the scene, who did not want to be named, said she and a companion had been in the building for about three hours.

We didnt hear anything, it was very calm and chilled in there. The cafe stayed open and the amazing thing was they continued processing visa applications throughout the morning. They handled it really well, she said.

The US Embassy said at the time:Met Police are present and have closed Ponton Road out of an abundance of caution. We will provide further updates when available.
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As a theatre manager and a performing arts teacher, life for Nikki Kenward has always been about movement. The idea of being denied such freedom would have simply made life not worth living - or so she thought.

But when a sudden illness paralysed her, leaving her conscious but unable to move any of her body apart from one eye, she found her answer was very different.

What I discovered in those dark moments was the will to live, Ms Kenward, who is now 71 and in a wheelchair, explained. It was burning so hard in me. I knew I didnt want to die. I was just thinking: I want to live. I dont care how bad its going to be, I will survive this.

Ms Kenward was a young mother, aged 36, when she went to hospital with a flu-like illness. Just a day later it had progressed to Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that occurs when the bodys immune system attacks its nerves.

She would be in intensive care for four-and-a-half months and in hospital for almost a year. She began speaking in a whisper after five months, and had to be fed through a tube for several months more. It would be two years until she could pick up a cup of tea.

Speaking about her time in hospital, she said: The pain was absolutely excruciating. They had to keep turning me over and it would take six people to turn me. When you use the power of your muscles, you cant bear to be touched. Every time they touched me it was agony.

I began picking up cups of tea after about two years. The idea was that I would walk again. I tried for about four years to walk but Ive never been able to. But Ive gone from nothing to being able to talk, but my hands havent fully recovered and my legs didnt recover.

I was a very busy drama therapist in a psychiatric unit. I had my own business. If those years ago euthanasia had been legal, I probably would have said Id rather die, Ms Kenward added. Say Id signed an advance directive and gone into hospital with Guillain-Barre syndrome... I couldnt do anything, I couldnt speak, I could only blink with one eye. My family would be gathered around and, if they were asked what were her wishes?, I think they would have said she wants to die.

open image in gallery Nikki Kenward before she got Guillain-Barre syndrome and was working as a drama teacher ( Nikki Kenward )

Her husband Merv, 60, explained: What happened to Nikki was a very sudden thing, she went from being completely ok to being paralysed. She was such a mobile person that it might not have seemed strange to think she wouldnt have wanted to live after this.

Yet Ms Kenwards realisation in those moments that she wanted to fight for life has led her to become a campaigner against assisted dying. Her work has become all the more relevant now UK parliamentarians will take the issue to a vote, potentially paving the way for the practice to become legal.

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater has sponsored a bill that would allow assisted dying for terminally ill adults. Under the bill, terminally ill adults with a prognosis of six months or less could seek assistance to end their life, provided two doctors and a High Court judge confirm their decision.

What does that say about my life? People have told me directly that they would rather be dead than be in my position. Its amazing how frank people can be Nikki Kenward

MPs will debate the issue for the first time on 29 November. While proponents of the bill say that it will allow people at the end of their lives to have a say in how they die, opponents have warned of a slippery slope if the legislation is made law.

Other countries  such as Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium and the US  have expanded the accessibility of assisted dying after initial legislation permitting it was passed.

However, Ms Leadbeater has insisted that her bill is just about terminally ill adults, saying: I get a bit worried theres a panic and potentially some scaremongering about people having to do this. No one has to do anything.

open image in gallery Nikki Kenward became suddenly ill at the age of 36 ( Nikki Kenward )

But Ms Kenward is not convinced and is worried that the bill lacks sufficient safeguards. She pointed to the controversial Liverpool Care Pathway, a palliative care plan that was abolished in 2013 after families reported their loved ones being drugged and deprived of fluids in their last weeks of life.

Her husband Merv is also worried about how the assisted dying bill would impact peoples views of disability. When people talk to Nikki now they assume she must be for assisted dying, because the general perception is that if you have a significant disability you wont want to be here.

Ms Kenward, who is from Shropshire, added: What does that say about my life? People have told me directly that they would rather be dead than be in my position. Its amazing how frank people can be.

Referring to Tony Nicklinson, a man who was paralysed from the neck down who fought for the right to legally end his life, Ms Kenward said: I get that. I know what its like to be in that much agony. I only need to leave the house to be confronted with how difficult life can be for disabled people. There are so many places where we are not wanted.

Disability campaigners, such as charity Disability Rights UK, have come out against the assisted dying bill, with chief executive Kamran Mallick saying: Giving us dignified and equitable lives should come before putting in place ways of assisting us to die.

The debate will heat up in the coming days ahead of the expected parliamentary vote on Friday. The Labour cabinet are split over the issue and ministers have been criticised for speaking out publicly with their concerns.

Labour peer Lord Falconer, who backs the bill, has suggested that the justice secretarys concerns about the bill were motivated by religious belief.

Rachael Maskell, the MP for York Central and a devout Christian, said Lord Falconers claim that Shabana Mahmood was trying to impose her Muslim beliefs on those in favour of assisted dying was hugely offensive and discriminatory and urged him to apologise.

Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has chosen not to reveal how he will vote but health secretary Wes Streeting has said he will oppose it.
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The doctor who created the Sarco suicide pod has said he will bring his creation to the UK if assisted dying is made legal.

Dr Philip Nitschke said he is ready to launch the pod, should Labour MP Kim Leadbeaters legislation go through.

The Private Members Bill is due for its second reading in the House of Commons on Friday, in the first debate and vote of its kind in the House since 2015.

MPs will be given a free vote on the issue, allowing them to decide according to their conscience rather than in line with party policy.

The Bill, which covers England and Wales, says that only terminally ill adults with less than six months left to live and a settled wish to die would be eligible.

The device, which fills with nitrogen gas, may be favoured by those who choose assisted dying but do not wish to die by fatal injection or medication combinations, Dr Nitschke said.

We have a lot of members there, and a lot of UK people following the Sarco project very closely. There would be a lot of scope. I would be very keen to do that, he told The Telegraph.

It seems to me that it will just provide an additional option for those who dont want the needle and who dont want the drink who do like what I describe as the stylish and elegant means that is provided by this device in some idyllic location.

open image in gallery The Sarco suicide pod ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )

It comes after cabinet secretary Simon Case said the government would remain neutral and suggested ministers avoid participating in public debate on the issue. Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has declined to say which way he will vote, adding that he does not want to pressure other MPs.

The Cabinet is split over the issue, with more members believed to be in favour than against.

Culture secretary Lisa Nandy, work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall, Northern Ireland secretary Hilary Benn, transport secretary Louise Haigh and energy secretary Ed Miliband have all said they will back the law.

Meanwhile, justice secretary Shabana Mahmood, health secretary Wes Streeting, education secretary Bridget Phillipson and business secretary Jonathan Reynolds have said they will reject the legislation.

open image in gallery Labour MP Kim Leadbeater says the Bill will help give autonomy to terminally-ill patients ( Stefan Rousseau/PA )

Dr Nitschke, 77, suggested the Lake District may offer the ideal picturesque location to use the Sarco machine. He added: If you want to be overlooking the lakes or the mountains or looking [at] whatever, theres no reason why they shouldnt be accommodated. Certainly, Sarco can do that.

On Monday, the prime ministers spokesperson said: Weve been clear that the government will remain neutral but Cabinet members will clearly be voting as MPs with independent views.

And it will be perfectly normal that there will be different views in that respect and it is obviously expected that they will want to explain to their constituents how they are going to vote on this highly emotive issue.

Supporters of the Bill are optimistic that it has enough backing for the legislation to pass the first Commons hurdle, but the result will not be known until a division list is published after the vote, showing which way MPs voted.

Proponents say existing legislation fails to respect patient autonomy and discriminates financially between those who can afford to travel abroad to end their lives within the law and those who cannot.

Many of those opposed to a law change have voiced concern about the potential for coercion and mission creep, and say the legislation has been rushed.

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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James Scott Rhys Anderson, who says he is a former British soldier, has been captured in Russias Kursk region while fighting for Ukraine, according to Russian state media.

The 22-year-old mans father told the Daily Mail he feared his son would be tortured, while the UK Foreign Office confirmed it was supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention.

His capture would mark one of the first known cases of a Western national being captured on Russian soil while fighting for Ukraine.

So, who is Mr Anderson, and how did this man come to be captured by Russian forces?

open image in gallery In this photo taken from footage released by the Russian defence ministry last month, a Russian soldier fires from a howitzer toward Ukrainian positions in Kursk ( AP )

How did we get here?

In footage shared online, a man identifying himself as Mr Anderson is seen dressed in combat fatigues while appearing to have his hands tied.

Russian state outlet RIA reported a national security source as saying that he is a British citizen fighting with the Ukrainian army in Russias Kursk region.

Ukraines forces launched an incursion in the region in August and are now facing an intensified counter-attack from Russian and reportedly North Korean troops.

Who is James Scott Rhys Anderson?

In the footage, Mr Anderson said he served as a private in the British Army from 2019 to 2023, in the 22nd Signal Regiment. I was a signalman, he said.

He said he signed up to fight for Ukraines International Legion after losing his job.

When I left ... I applied on the International Legion webpage. I had just lost everything. I just lost my job, he said. I [saw] it on the TV ...It was a stupid idea.

open image in gallery Two Russian military volunteers in Kursk ( EPA )

Scott Anderson confirmed to the Daily Mail that his son had been operating as a signalman in Ukraines International Legion, saying: Im hoping hell be used as a bargaining chip but my son told me they torture their prisoners and Im so frightened hell be tortured.

Mr Anderson said his son had been in the British armed forces for four years, having gone to Army Foundation College as a 17-year-old. After leaving the Army last year, he became a civilian custody officer for Thames Valley Police, prior to travelling to Ukraine, the Mail reported.

I didnt want him to go, father says

Speaking to the Mail from his home in Oxfordshire, his 41-year-old father said he had spoken to his son on WhatsApp nearly every day until he was posted on his most recent operation in the past week, and had been in the Ukrainian border region of Sumy  which neighbours Kursk  during their last contact.

He said his son was alive, healthy in Sumy, where he had sent a video to his father.

James last came home only a month and a half ago. He said his Ukrainian commander had made a promise that hed contact me if he was ever killed or captured, said Mr Anderson. When he called me and sent the video I was in complete shock and in tears. I could see straight away it was him. He looks frightened, scared and worried.

He added: I didnt want him to go. I did try to persuade him not to go  my whole family tried to persuade him. He wanted to go out there because he thought he was doing what was right. He was dead against what was happening to the Ukrainian people.
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Watch as Rachel Reeves delivers her CBI speech on Monday (25 November) as the chancellor insists there is no alternative to tax rises.

Earlier on Monday, the chancellor was accused of catching firms off guard and undermining investment and jobs, the head of one of Britains leading business groups said.

Rain Newton-Smith, chief executive of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said profit is not a dirty word because it underpins firms ability to invest, but the Governments actions have hampered that.

The Chancellor is expected to tell the organisation there is no alternative to tax rises as she holds firm against criticism of the 25 billion increase in firms national insurance contributions (NICs).

Ms Newton-Smith welcomed the new political and economic stability offered by the government after the turbulence of the Conservative years, but condemned the way firms have been blindsided by the increase in NICs and the lowering of the threshold at which they start to be paid.

She warned it will make it more difficult to achieve the economic growth sought by Ms Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer.
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They set off on Sunday morning, looking forward to a five-day diving trip in the Red Sea; a popular worldwide destination filled with beautiful coral reefs and plentiful marine life.

But for the 31 tourists on the luxury Sea Story yacht, the dream excursion turned into a nightmare when the vessel was reportedly struck by high waves on Monday, sinking in less than seven minutes.

In total, 44 people, including staff, were on the 44-metre boat when the distress signal was sent not far from the Egyptian town of Marsa Alam - of those, just 33 people have so far been rescued.

They include Britons Colin Sharratt and Sally Jones, keen sailors, according to The Times.

However, Egyptian authorities searching the sunken ship have also found four dead bodies. Seven people are still reported missing, including British couple Jenny Cawson, 36, and her husband Tariq Sinada, 49.

Ms Cawsons family told the BBC on Saturday they are continuing to receive daily updates from the Foreign Office  but voiced their frustration as there is still no news.

For those rescued, their stories of survival are now emerging with some said to have spent 30 hours trapped in air pockets inside the yacht before being dramatically saved.

open image in gallery Colin Sharratt and Sally Jones are believed to have been among the survivors on the Sea Story yacht ( Tim Postin/Facebook )

Its a sickening end to a diving trip the tourists onboard, who came from many different countries including UK, United States, Germany and Ireland for the trip operated by Dive Pro Liveaboard.

Life on board the four-deck wooden boat was luxurious. The tourists enjoyed a plush lounge, complete with a bar and 18 air-conditioned en-suite rooms.

But the trip took a turn for the worse after the boat departed Marsa Alam on Sunday despite weather warnings from the Egyptian Meteorological Authority.

open image in gallery Rescue workers carry a survivor to safety ( Red Sea Governorate/AFP/Getty )

The authority warned of the possibility of large waves and advised boats against any maritime activity on Sunday and Monday.

On Monday morning, at 5.30am, the distress signal was sent. Red Sea governor Amr Hanafi said the sinking began after a huge wave crashed into the vessel, and the ship went down in between five and seven minutes.

open image in gallery Dive boat Sea Story as shown on Dive Pro Liveaboard website ( Dive Pro Liveaboard )

Within moments, water was gushing through the structure and passengers were screaming from inside the cabins as the boat was toppled over, the father of a survivor told The Times.

One of the British survivors told investigators they tried to swim up but the current was too strong and I felt like I was choking. That tourist survived thanks to their life jacket, which kept them on the surface until rescue teams arrived, the outlet reported.

open image in gallery The boat capsized near the popular resort town of Marsa Alam ( The Independent )

A major rescue operation ensued, led by Egyptian naval forces, the military and the Red Sea Governorate. On Monday, 28 people were rescued and brought to safety, images showing the moment the shocked group made it to safe ground.

The search paused overnight, before resuming on Tuesday morning. Little news has come from authorities since.

Khattab al-Faramawy, Youssefs uncle, who was part of the rescue operation, told the BBC: We dived 12m (40ft) underwater, describing it as a complicated mission, as they used torchlight to find their way into the darkness.

open image in gallery 28 survivors were rescued on Monday and five on Tuesday ( AFP/Getty )

Incredibly, they reached five survivors still trapped in the boat - including Youssef - who had survived for 30 hours underwater thanks to a 20cm-large air pocket that allowed them to breathe.

Its very nice to be back, one Belgian tourist told officials, as he thanked the Egyptian military for their rescue efforts, and for the warm shower after an ordeal which left him shaking with cold.

On the same day, four bodies were recovered from the boat. They are yet to be officially identified.

Some doubts have been raised over the cause of the boat sinking, despite conflicting with witness reports.

Oceanographer Simon Boxall told Sky News that there was no evidence of a huge wave, arguing that the wind conditions werent that strong and wouldnt create these alleged three- to four-metre waves.

He added: I still feel that this is probably not a wave that caused the capsize. We need to see an investigation coming out of this. Its still early days, but the information coming out from the Egyptian authorities is still very sparse.
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The family of a young British man facing a 20-year jail sentence in Dubai over a holiday romance have warned that his mental health is declining and they are all living in a nightmare.

Marcus Fakana, an 18-year-old from Tottenham in north London, was on holiday with his parents when he met a 17-year-old girl who has since turned 18.

Campaign group Detained in Dubai said that after having sex, the teenagers, who were staying at the same hotel, discussed carrying on with their blossoming teenage romance when they came back to London.

The parents of the girl, who was a minor under United Arab Emirates (UAE) law, looked through her phone and reported Mr Fakana to the police after they arrived home from their trip, the organisation said.

Mr Fakanas family warned that his mental health is beginning to worsen as they explained he is very scared. Dubais office of public prosecutions told the BBC his trial will take place on 9 December.

The family have set up a GoFundMe to raise money for Mr Fakanas legal costs, explaining they went to the UAE to celebrate his fathers birthday.

Dubai has only recently made sex out of marriage legal for tourists ( Reuters )

What was meant to be a happy time has turned into a nightmare for him, our family, and our friends, they wrote on the fundraising page. This has happened as a result of someone trying to misuse UAE law against him. He is being charged with a crime that could lead to imprisonment for up to 20 years.

The family added: He is only 18 years old, very scared, and his mental health is starting to decline. Weve done all we can to fight for his freedom, but now we urgently need to raise at least 20,000 to work on getting him back home.

Weve already spent as much as we can on legal help and his housing needs while he stays to fight his case. Were trying our best, but we are struggling with the funds to continue this fight.

The family have warned that Dubais legal system is very different to the UK and very expensive which makes this whole ordeal even more challenging.

The funds raised will cover his legal fees, accommodation in the UAE while the case goes on and travel costs to bring him back safely to the UK, they added.

Mr Fakana claims he was unaware the girl, who is also from Lonon was months younger than him when they first met.

The Dubai government told the BBC: Under UAE law, the girl is legally classified as a minor, and in accordance with procedures recognised internationally, her mother, being the legal guardian, filed the complaint. Dubais legal system is committed to protecting the rights of all individuals and ensuring impartial judicial proceedings.

Dubai has only recently made sex out of marriage legal for tourists but the country still has a strict Islamic legal system in place. In the UK, the pairs relationship would be legal.

Mr Fakana told Detained in Dubai: We had a wonderful time together. We really liked each other but she was secretive with her family because they were strict. My parents knew about our relationship but she couldnt tell hers. She had to meet me without telling them it was to see a boy.

When she left, I couldnt wait to see her again when I got home. Then suddenly, police knocked on our hotel door. They said they were taking me in for questioning but wouldnt tell me why. I couldnt imagine what for. I was frightened and my parents were terrified.

A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office previously said they are supporting a British man in the UAE and are in contact with his family.

The Independent has contacted Dubais ministry of justice for comment.
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Sir Patrick Stewart has opened up about the horrifying abuse his father subjected his mother to in previously unreleased footage from the Queens domestic abuse documentary.

The veteran actor, who has previously told of how his troubled childhood affected him as an adult, spoke about the shame and humiliation that came with witnessing the violence as a child as he described trying to protect his mother from the abuse.

Sir Patrick has advocated for victims of domestic abuse for over a decade and has recently backed The Independents Brick by Brick appeal upon its launch in September.

The innovative campaign, in partnership with charity Refuge, smashed its goal to raise 300,000 to build a safe home for women fleeing violence and is now fundraising to build a second home.

Be a brick, buy a brick and donate here or text BRICK to 70560 to donate 15

open image in gallery The veteran actor spoke about the shame and humiliation that came with witnessing the violence as a child ( ITVX/LoveMondayTV )

Queen Camilla also backed the campaign ahead of the release of her 90-minute film following her work spreading awareness for the cause.

Unseen footage from the documentary of Sir Patrick sharing his story has now been shared, with the actor describing how his perfect life was shattered when his father returned from World War Two when he was six years old.

My life with my mother and my brother was perfect. We got on well. There was no arguing or shouting or getting upset or anything like that. It was just wonderful. The war ended in 1945 so I was by the time my father came home, I was six years old, and it was horrifying, he said.

The shouting was so loud because he had a huge voice. I would scream at my father to stop when he hit my mother and hit her again and again. And there were times when we used to sit on the steps leading down from the bedrooms, right behind the door that opened up into the one living room, and we would sit right behind it.

open image in gallery Stewart recently backed The Independents Brick by Brick appeal upon its launch in September ( Prime Video )

My brother and I, we became experts at understanding where the shouting was going, what it was going to lead to, and we always knew the moment that the violence was going to begin.

So with that, we would push open the door and burst into the room, and my brother, Trevor, who was taller than me, would force himself between my father and my mother so that he couldnt reach her and she would shout out, No, no, no, please. You dont have to protect me.

He added how his neighbours were aware of the abuse and at one point physically intervened.

He said: Ill never forget our very next-door neighbour coming into the house, bursting the door open when my father was yelling and walked over to my father, pushed her sleeves up, put up her fists and said, Come on, Al Stewart, try it on me. Try it on me. And of course, he didnt. He didnt touch her. He stepped away.

The actor still finds it difficult to understand why his mother did not leave his father and said he never told anyone about the abuse as it was something that people never spoke about.

I kept it all to myself. It was locked inside me, and I felt shame, he said.

You can watch the Queens full documentary, made by Love Monday TV, on ITVX.

Please donate now to the Brick by Brick campaign, launched by The Independent and charity Refuge, to help raise another 300,000 to build a second safe space for women where they can escape domestic abuse, rebuild their lives and make a new future. Text BRICK to 70560 to donate 15.
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The father of a former British soldier allegedly captured by Russian troops fighting for Ukraine expressed fear that his son might be tortured in prison.

James Scott Rhys Anderson, 22, was taken prisoner in the Kursk area of Russia, state news agency RIA reported, citing a security source.

In a video posted on unofficial pro-war Russian Telegram channels, a young bearded man wearing military clothing with what appears to be his hands tied behind his back, says in English that he formerly served in the British army.

The soldiers father, Scott Anderson, 44, told the Daily Mail: Im hoping hell be used as a bargaining chip but my son told me they torture their prisoners and Im so frightened hell be tortured.

Mr Anderson had been back in the UK as recently as a month and a half ago. We spoke on WhatsApp almost every day until he went on his most recent operation, his father said.

He said his Ukrainian commander had made a promise that hed contact me if he was ever killed or captured.

Russian servicemen operate a Uragan multiple rocket launcher in an undisclosed location ( Russian Defense Ministry Press Service )

The UK Foreign Office told The Independent it was supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention.

Mr Anderson said he broke down in tears after receiving the video of his son, who looked frightened, scared and worried.

Mr Anderson said he didnt want his son to get involved in the war in Ukraine and the entire family had tried to stop him: He wanted to go out there because he thought he was doing what was right. He was dead against what was happening to the Ukrainian people.

President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a call in February 2022 for foreign nationals to join the fight against Russia after Vladimir Putin attacked Ukraine. Since then, thousands of people have joined the troops, including units such as the International Legion for the Defence of Ukraine, which comprises foreign groups and operates as a part of the Ukrainian military.

James Anderson was captured in the border region of Kursk, where Russia has moved about 50,000 of its troops along with North Korean soldiers to take back the areas after Ukraine launched a surprise cross-border incursion on 6 August.

In the video which emerged over the weekend, the man in an English accent said to the camera: I was in the British army before, from 2019 to 2023, 22 Signal Regiment. Just a private. I was a signalman. One Signal Brigade, 22 Signal Regiment, 252 Squadron.

He explained that he signed up to fight for Ukraines International Legion after losing his job. When I left, I got fired from my job, I applied on the International Legion webpage. I had just lost everything. I just lost my job, he said.

I see it on the TV, he added, shaking his head. It was a stupid idea.

He described how he had travelled to Ukraine from Britain, saying: I flew to Krakow, Poland, from London Luton. Bus from there to Medyka in Poland, on the Ukraine border.

Mr Anderson told the Daily Mail that his son had fallen in love with a Ukrainian although I dont know her name.

In 2022, British nationals Sean Pinner, Aiden Aslin, Andrew Hill and John Harding, and aid volunteers Dylan Healy and Paul Urey were captured by Kremlin-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Apart from Mr Urey, who died in captivity, they were all subsequently released by Russia.
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Romania's political landscape is reeling after a little-known, far-right populist secured the first round in the presidential election, electoral data showed Monday, going from an obscure candidate to beating the incumbent prime minister.

Calin Georgescu, who ran independently, will face off against reformist Elena Lasconi in a runoff in two weeks.

Georgescu,62, was ahead after nearly all ballots were counted with around 22.95% of the vote. Lasconi of the progressive Save Romania Union party, or USR, followed with 19.17%. She beat by a slim margin incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu of the Social Democratic Party, or PSD, who stood at 19.15%. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR, took 13.87%.

It is the first time in Romanias 35-year post-communist history for the PSD not to have a candidate in the second round of a presidential race, serving a huge blow to the countrys most powerful party and underscoring voters anti-establishment sentiment.

After polls closed on Sunday, 9.4 million people  about 52.5% of eligible voters  had cast ballots, according to the Central Election Bureau. The second round of the vote will be held on Dec. 8. Georgescu, 62, won 43.3% of the vote in Romania's large diaspora, compared to Lasconi who got 26.8%.

Most local surveys predicted he would win less than 10% of the vote.

The president serves a five-year term in the European Union and NATO member country and has significant decision-making powers in areas such as national security, foreign policy and judicial appointments.

After casting his ballot on Sunday, Georgescu said in a post on Facebook that he voted For the unjust, for the humiliated, for those who feel they do not matter and actually matter the most  the vote is a prayer for the nation.

According to his website, Georgescu holds a doctorate in pedology, a branch of soil science, and held different positions in Romanias environment ministry in the 1990s. Between 1999 and 2012, he was a representative for Romania on the national committee of the United Nations Environment Program.

Despite not having a clear political agenda, his videos on TikTok are popular, amassing 1.7 million likes.

But his rising popularity will be tested when he faces Lasconi.

Lasconi, a former journalist and the leader of the USR, has been running on an anti-corruption reformist agenda. She told The Associated Press ahead of the vote, that she saw corruption as one of the biggest problems Romania faces and expressed support toward increased defense spending and continued aid to Ukraine. If she wins the final vote, she will be the first female president in Romania's history.

Romania will also hold parliamentary elections on Dec. 1 that will determine the countrys next government and prime minister.
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A bitter new Labour war of words erupted on Monday over the role of religion in the plan to legalise assisted dying.

A senior Labour MP denounced Lord Falconer for claiming justice secretary Shabana Mahmood opposed the law change because it was against her Muslim faith.

Rachael Maskell, who also opposes assisted dying, called on Lord Falconer to say sorry for his offensive and discriminatory comments.

Meanwhile, speaking to The Independent, former Labour health minister Ben Bradshaw accused bishops in the Church of England of being out of step with Anglicans, criticising the church for giving the impression that there is only one Christian view on assisted dying.

Ms Maskells intervention came after Lord Falconer said cabinet ministers should not impose their religious beliefs on others in their objections to assisted dying.

Lord Falconer, an ally of Sir Keir Starmer, said the justice secretary had religious and spiritual reasons for being opposed to assisted dying.

I think shes motivated  and I respect this  by her religious beliefs. They shouldnt be imposed on everybody else, he added.

Asked on Monday by the BBC to respond to Lord Falconers remarks, Ms Maskell, who has spoken in the past of her strong Christian faith, said: I find it highly offensive and discriminatory and he should apologise for making such comments.

The row comes as temperatures are flaring on the Labour benches about the assisted dying bill, which MPs will vote on this Friday.

Sir Keirs government is split on the proposed legislation, with the prime minister choosing not to reveal how he will vote while health secretary Wes Streeting plans to oppose it.

open image in gallery Rachael Maskell called for Lord Falconer to apologise ( PA Archive )

In a letter to constituents revealed on Sunday, Ms Mahmood  the most senior Muslim politician in Britain  said she was profoundly concerned by the proposed legislation, ahead of a historic Commons vote this week.

She argued the state should never offer death as a service.

Polling guru Professor Sir John Curtice said on Monday that while surveys show consistent public backing for assisted dying, it had less support among those with religious views.

He said approximately two in three voters favour a change in the law, with one in six against, and little change in polls over the last 40 years.

It meant assisted dying was less controversial than historic decisions to abolish capital punishment and legalise gay marriage where the publics view at the time had not been so clear.

Prof Curtice added: It is fair to say that those with religious views, Christian, Muslim or whatever, are less keen on assisted dying than the rest of the population.

Mr Bradshaw, who is a practising Anglican, told The Independent that the decision of leading Christian figures to speak out on this topic reflects repeated mistakes from church leadership on a whole range of issues.

It comes after the outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby claimed the legalisation of assisted dying would be dangerous, suggesting it would lead to a slippery slope where more people would feel compelled to have their life ended medically.

Whether its treatment of divorcees, women in the church, the role of LGBT people in the church  in every single instance, the church has been on the wrong side of history. For me, its the final straw, Mr Bradshaw said.

I just thought it was odd for the bishops to speak out so strongly on an issue where once again theyre so out of step with Anglicans as a whole.

And not least  just a week after this major scandal exploded to rock the Church of England, exposing the historic failure of the church leadership to deal with the problem of child abuse.

While Mr Bradshaw said he, as a practising Christian, believes in the sanctity of life, he said he sees nothing in church texts that dictate that we should use all the wonders of modern science and medicine to keep people alive when they have a terminal illness and we should make them suffer.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has been described as potentially the biggest change in Britains social laws since abortion was legalised in 1967.

open image in gallery Rachael Maskell said Lord Falconers comments were hugely offensive ( PA Media )

With days to go before the historic vote, the result is on a knife-edge, with backers of the bill believing they have enough support, while opponents believe they may be able to block it.

In a significant intervention on Friday, Gordon Brown came out against the legislation, arguing instead for the establishment of a commission on improved palliative care.

Culture secretary Lisa Nandy, work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall, Northern Ireland secretary Hilary Benn, transport secretary Louise Haigh and energy secretary Ed Miliband have all said they will back the law.

As well as Ms Mahmood and Mr Streeting, education secretary Bridget Phillipson and business secretary Jonathan Reynolds have said they will reject the legislation.

Many of those opposed to a law change have voiced concern about the potential for coercion and mission creep, and say the legislation has been rushed.

A group of 29 faith leaders united to oppose the bill in a joint letter on Sunday, saying they were deeply concerned that it could open up the possibility of life-threatening abuse.

MP Kim Leadbeater, who introduced the private members bill, has described it as the most robust in the world, with three layers of scrutiny in the form of a sign-off by two doctors and a High Court judge.

It would also make coercion an offence with a possible punishment of 14 years in jail.

The bill, which covers England and Wales, states that only terminally-ill adults with under six months left to live and a settled wish to die would be eligible.

Lord Falconer was contacted for comment.
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Rachel Reeves will stare down business amid fierce criticism of her Budget, telling bosses we had no alternative to harsh tax hikes.

The chancellor will come face to face with firms at the Confederation of British Industrys (CBI) annual conference, saying I stand by those choices laid out last month.

The CBI has warned that Ms Reeves tax grab will hit growth by undermining companies investment plans, with chief executive Rain Newton-Smith saying the government has made it harder for firms to take a chance on hiring new people.

She will tell the groups annual conference in London: Across the board, in so many sectors, margins are being squeezed and profits are being hit by a tough trading environment that just got tougher.

In the October Budget, chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a nearly 70 billion uplift in public spending, partly funded by sharp increases in business taxes such as employer national insurance contributions ( PA Wire )

And heres the rub, profits arent just extra money for companies to stuff in a pillowcase. Profits are investment When you hit profits, you hit competitiveness, you hit investment, you hit growth.

Ms Newton-Smith will add: What really defines growth is the decisions made in boardrooms up and down the country.

Its CFOs and CEOs asking: can we afford to invest? Can we afford to expand? Can we afford to take a chance on new people?

Well after the Budget, the answer were hearing from so many firms is still not yet.

But a defiant Ms Reeves is expected to say: I have heard lots of responses to the governments first budget but I have heard no alternatives.

We have asked businesses and the wealthiest to contribute more. I know those choices will have an impact. But I stand by those choices as the right choices for our country: investment to fix the NHS and rebuild Britain, while ensuring working people dont face higher taxes in their payslips.

Labour made economic growth a central part of its pitch to voters in the general election, and has repeatedly pledged to help boost business investment since entering government.

In the October Budget, Ms Reeves announced a nearly 70 billion uplift in public spending, partly funded by sharp increases in business taxes such as employer national insurance contributions.

Labour also raised the minimum wage, in a move praised by workers groups and unions, but which businesses have said will force them to pass on some costs to consumers, hire fewer people or make less profit.

In her speech, Ms Newton-Smith will point to a recent survey by the body, which found almost two-thirds of companies think the Budget will damage UK investment.

The event is due to be attended by the chancellor, who is expected to take part in an onstage talk with Scottish Power chief executive Keith Anderson.

Ms Newton-Smith will say: Tax rises like this must never again be simply done to business.

Thats the road to unintended consequences. From now on we need an elevated partnership for a higher purpose.

Too many businesses are having to compromise on their plans for growth. We cant let that stand and not act.

Ms Newton-Smith will also urge the government to move faster on promises to reform business rates, give companies more flexibility on how they spend money via the apprenticeship levy, and make occupational health tax-free to help fewer people drop out of the workforce.

She will also say that Ms Reeves should slash red tape across a number of industries, after the chancellor vowed to reduce regulatory hurdles for the financial sector earlier in November.

And she will call for a simpler planning system, less complex tax rules and an expansion of measures designed to encourage new technology adoption among small businesses.

The chief executive will say: On regulation, the Chancellors Mansion House speech committed to putting risk appetite back in our toolbox for growth. Now we need the same approach for regulation across sectors.

Last week, a closely-watched monthly business survey suggested that activity across the UKs private sector contracted in the first weeks of November, amid a drop in firms confidence after the Budget tax rises.

And earlier in November, retailers including Tesco, Sainsburys and Marks & Spencer warned that they will face a 7 billion jump in their costs because of the Budget policy changes, and said job losses were inevitable.

A government spokesperson said: Last month we delivered a once in Parliament budget to wipe the slate clean and deliver change by investing to repair the NHS and rebuild Britain, while ensuring working people dont face higher taxes in their payslips.

That meant difficult choices to repair the public finances and to put public finances on a firmer footing. However, the alternatives were more austerity, more decline and more instability that would have left businesses and working people worse off.

Despite the difficult inheritance, the Government is determined to go for growth and to work in partnership with businesses to invest in Britains future so we can make every part of the country better off. That is why the Government is reforming the planning system, tackling barriers to trade and taking forward the 63 billion of private sector investment announced at the International Investment Summit.
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Donald Trumps team are seeking assurances that the controversial deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius will not be completed before his inauguration in January.

The Independent recently revealed that the president-elect is looking for ways to veto the agreement because of concerns over its security implications in the Indian Ocean with the crucial joint UK/US base on Diego Garcia.

There are also concerns that the deal struck by Sir Keir Starmer and foreign secretary David Lammy will allow China access to the islands to build their own rival base.

The deal, which has the blessing of outgoing US president Joe Biden, was not meant to be completed until the spring. But the UK prime ministers envoy Jonathan Powell, who is set to be the national security adviser, is flying to Mauritius today for talks with its prime minister to complete the deal.

open image in gallery Chagos islanders protest against the deal ( AP )

The talks are being described as a crucial working meeting with the objective of deepening the discussions and finalise the ends of the Anglo-Mauritian treaty on the Chagos Archipelago, as well as the details of the 99-year lease for the American military base in Diego Garcia.

Both Chagossians and Trumps team fear it is also an attempt to fast track the deal to get it completed before Mr Trump could try to veto it.

It comes as figures preparing to be part of the Trump administration team have set up discussions with UK critics of the deal who helped organise the initial legal advice to provide grounds for the president-elect to veto the deal.

While the initial concerns were raised with Trump by Nigel Farage, it is understood that Tory shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel, another hardline Brexiteer, is being kept in the loop to try to help the Trump team scupper Sir Keirs Chagos plans.

open image in gallery The Diego Garcia base is the main cause for concern ( Getty )

The Trump team members have been asking about parliamentary timetables to see if the deal could be pushed through quickly but also looking for off ramps, solutions to allow Starmer to drop the deal but save face at the same time.

A source told The Independent: There are many options in this regard.

One of the options is to use the recent change of government in Mauritius as a reason to rethink the deal.

A Brexiteer parliamentary researcher working directly with the Trump team told The Independent: They couldnt understand why it was agreed and whether it was Biden or Starmer.

Trumps team are said to be relieved that it would be very hard using the parliamentary timetable to push the deal through early.

However, the meeting between Mr Powell and the prime minister of Mauritius Navin Ramgoolam today is raising concerns.

Added to that, Chagossian islanders, who have been excluded from the process, are furious that they continue to be kept out of the talks by the Labour government.

They have launched a judicial review into the deal which is set to be heard on 5 December and could also potentially hold it up.

A spokesperson for Chagossian Voices said: Both sides seem to be moving at speed, and both governments are keeping Chagossians away from the treaty. Weve had no involvement at all. The Chagossian community is asking to be involved in the future of their own islands.

Mr Lammy recently defended the deal in an interview with The New Statesman where he pointed out that it guaranteed use of the base for at least 99 years.

He added: Im very confident that when the new administration looks at the detail of this deal that they will stand behind it because Donald Trump knows what a good deal looks like [a reference to his 1987 book The Art of the Deal]  and this is a good deal.

However, the government has resisted publishing the costs of leasing back the base.

The Independent has contacted the Foreign Office for comment.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: We are working with the new Mauritian government to progress a landmark deal that protects our base; it secures the long-term protection of the base.

Our position remains unchanged. Were finalising the details of the treaty, which will come forward for scrutiny as part of the ratification process next year. There has not been any change to the timelines.

They added: We look forward to working with the incoming administration on a wide range of priorities including on national security and on economy and defence.
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David Lammy has been warned that the UK could be pulled into another global flashpoint over the rapidly destabilising situation in Bangladesh.

A cross-party group of MPs have written to the foreign secretary with a major report into Bangladesh listing a series of alarming conclusions, including the gaining of ground by Islamist extremists following the collapse of Sheikh Hasinas government at the start of August 2024.

The all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for the Commonwealth has recorded more than 2,000 atrocities since the fall of Hasanis government and warned that the current regime may be weaponsing the legal system to exact revenge.

Any escalation in Bangladesh could have potential fallout in the UK with the 2021 census recording 644,881 people of Bangladeshi descent in England and Wales - 1.1 per cent of the population.

Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

The collapse of the government impacted Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq, whose aunt is the ousted Bangladeshi prime minister and maternal grandfather was its founding president.

APPG chairman Tory MP Andrew Rosindell said: This report will be a step in our efforts to raise awareness of issues affecting important Commonwealth partners.

The findings will be shared with the government, charities, and other stakeholders involved with Bangladesh and the Commonwealth. It is hoped that these issues are heard within Westminster and Whitehall, and this report helps to inform parliamentarians and decision makers.

The report notes: Despite the violence and turmoil, the fall of Sheikh Hasinas government at the start of August 2024 was met by many with great joy and hope.

However, we have also received evidence that raises questions about the efficacy of the new interim regime. There is an urgent need to end the culture of using the law as a political weapon, and that human rights and the rule of law need to be upheld.

A failure to do this will not reflect well on the new interim regime of Professor Muhammad Yunas.

The APPG said that it received evidence that murder charges are being slapped on former ministers, Awami League leaders, MPs, former judges, scholars, lawyers and on journalists in such numbers to raise questions around their credibility.

Highlighting reports of 1,000 deaths by the end of August, the MPs and peers added: We have heard the security situation in some parts of Bangladesh remains extremely dangerous over three months after the initial student protests that led to the fall of Sheikh Hasina and the formation of the interim government.

It also raised concerns over the way religious and ethnic minority groups appeared to have been targeted in the past few months.

And added: There is evidence emerging that hardline Islamists are becoming increasingly politically influential and visible.
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Kemi Badenoch has admitted that the last Conservative government lost the support of business, despite having served in it as the partys business secretary.

In her first major speech since succeeding Rishi Sunak, Ms Badenoch said she was not surprised at how many bosses flocked to meet Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves before the general election.

I know it is because you thought that we didnt understand what your needs and concerns were, and you knew we were going to lose, she told leaders at the Confederation of British Industrys (CBI) annual conference in London.

open image in gallery Kemi Badenoch said business lost faith in the Conservative Party while she was business secretary ( Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire )

And in an embarrassing admission for Ms Badenoch, who was business secretary from February 2023 until the election in July, she said: It was obvious that we Conservatives lost the confidence of business.

Ms Badenoch was setting out her plans for the Conservative Party amid a furious business backlash at plans set out by Ms Reeves last month.

Looking to capitalise on anger at Labour, with many bosses feeling betrayed after the partys pre-election charm offensive, Ms Badenoch said: Every big business started out as a small business, and that is why I am so concerned that the burden on them is still increasing, with taxes - corporation tax, employers National Insurance and new regulations.

The new government believes that invisible businesses can absorb these costs, but its everyday people who bear the brunt either in higher prices or lower wages, sometimes both.

We may see the jobs which are lost as a result but no one ever sees the jobs that are not created.

But in a policy-light speech, Ms Badenoch instead talked about returning the Conservative party to first principles and declined to set out her own plans on tax and spend.

open image in gallery Kemi Badenoch declined to say how she would plug a gap left in the public finances by Rishi Sunak ( PA Wire )

I believe that we need to have free and fair competition, not monopolies, not rent seeking, not corporatism but a genuine competition that allows new entrants in and those who are no longer productive to evolve or leave the economy, she said.

Asked whether she would repeal Ms Reeves 2p hike to employer national insurance contributions, Ms Badenoch said she would not comment on every bit of micro policy. She said the previous government did not think it should be this high, but could not commit to scrapping the increase.

A Labour spokesman said: After weeks of campaigning against it, Kemi Badenoch is now refusing to say whether she would actually reverse the employer national insurance rise. The opposition seem to finally accept that the damage they did to the economy made tax rises necessary - but the least the public deserve is an answer on what their actual position is.

Ms Badenoch was also asked how she would fill the gap left in public spending plans by Mr Sunaks government, but told a reporter she disagrees with the premise of the question.

We can do things better, we can redesign things, she said instead.

In a bid to rebuild bridges with industry, she said: Im not here to represent business interests, thats your job, I am here to let you know the Conservative Party shares your values.

open image in gallery Kemi Badenoch tried to take advantage of business fury at Labour ( PA Wire )

It comes after the CBI warned that Ms Reeves tax grab will hit growth by undermining companies investment plans, with chief executive Rain Newton-Smith saying the government has made it harder for firms to take a chance on hiring new people.

Ms Newton-Smith welcomed the new political and economic stability offered by the government after the turbulence of the Conservative years, but condemned the way firms have been blindsided by the increase in NICs and the lowering of the threshold at which they start to be paid.

She warned it will make it more difficult to achieve the economic growth sought by Ms Reeves and the PM.

"What really defines growth is the decisions made in boardrooms up and down the country," she told the CBIs conference in London.

"Its CFOs (chief financial officers) asking Can we afford to invest? Can we afford to expand? Can we afford to take a chance on new people?

"Well, after the Budget, the answer were hearing from so many firms is still not yet.

"The rise in national insurance, the stark lowering of the threshold, caught us all off guard.

"Along with the expansion and the rise of the National Living Wage - which everyone wants to accommodate - and the potential cost of the Employment Rights Bill, they put a heavy burden on business."

In her Budget, the chancellor announced around a 70 billion increase in public spending, funded through tax rises and increased borrowing.

Labour also raised the minimum wage, in a move praised by workers groups and unions, but which businesses have said will force them to pass on some costs to consumers, hire fewer people or make less profit.
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British spies will seek to counter Russian cyberwarfare with a new laboratory for artificial intelligence, with a senior government minister warning that Russia will not think twice about targeting the UK.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden will speak at the Nato cyber defence conference at Lancaster House on Monday night. Vowing never to let Vladimir Putin deter the UK from supporting Ukraine, Mr McFadden will say the UK and its Nato allies are watching Moscow and combating its attacks both publicly and behind the scenes.

Mr McFadden will warn that Britain learned long ago not to appease dictators and that Mr Putin will not be successful in attempting to weaken backing for Ukraine.

open image in gallery Pat McFadden is to address the Nato conference on Monday ( PA )

And the minister, responsible for UK national security, will announce a new Laboratory for AI Security Research aimed at helping the UK stay ahead in the new AI arms race.

The centre will bring together GCHQ, Oxford University, the National Cyber Security Centre, the Alan Turing Institute and numerous government departments, and be handed an initial 8.22m.

Mr McFadden will say: Be in no doubt: the United Kingdom and others in this room are watching Russia. We know exactly what they are doing, and we are countering their attacks both publicly and behind the scenes.

We know from history that appeasing dictators engaged in aggression against their neighbours only encourages them. Britain learned long ago the importance of standing strong in the face of such actions.

Thats why we support Ukraine in its fight to decide its own destiny. Putin is a man who wants destruction, not peace. He is trying to deter our support for Ukraine with his threats. He will not be successful.

Mr McFadden will also warn that cyber interference enables Russia to turn the lights off for millions of people by shutting down power grids and represents the hidden war it is waging against Kyiv.

open image in gallery Russian president Vladimir Putin records a televised address in Moscow ( AP )

But while AI can amplify existing cyber threats, it can also create better defence tools for security agencies to use to collect, analyse, and produce more useful intelligence, he will say.

Cyberwar is now a daily reality, Mr McFadden is to tell allies.

One where our defences are constantly being tested. The extent of the threat must be matched by the strength of our resolve to combat it and to protect our citizens and systems.

He will add: AI is already revolutionising many parts of life  including national security. But as we develop this technology, theres a danger it could be weaponised against us. Because our adversaries are also looking at how to use AI on the physical and cyber battlefield.

Alongside the new laboratory, the minister will also announce a new 1m incident response scheme designed to share expertise so that allies can counter cyberattacks more effectively.

open image in gallery On Thursday, Moscow used a new ballistic missile in Ukraine ( AP )

Mr McFadden and senior national security officials will also meet business leaders next week to discuss how they can protect themselves as he warns Russia will not think twice about targeting British firms.

The intervention comes amid a dramatic escalation in tensions between Russia and the West, with Mr Putin lowering Moscows threshold for the use of nuclear weapons and suggesting the Ukraine war is becoming a global conflict.

The Russian leader has said he is entitled to target the military facilities of countries which have supplied weapons to Kyiv.

On Thursday, Moscow used a new ballistic missile in Ukraine, which Mr Putin said was in response to the UK and US allowing missiles they have supplied to be used to strike targets in Russia.

Ministers have declined to explicitly confirm that British missiles have been used across the border, but the UK is widely believed to have allowed its Storm Shadow weapons to be used by Ukrainian forces within the Kursk region.

Meanwhile, the US has given permission for its ATACMS weapons to be fired at targets in Mr Putins country.

Moscow sent 73 drones into Ukraine overnight into Sunday. According to Ukraines air force, 50 drones were destroyed and four lost, likely having been electronically jammed.

In Russia, the defence ministry said 34 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight into Sunday in four regions of western Russia, including Kursk, Lipetsk, Belgorod and one over the Oryol region.
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Sir Keir Starmer has ruled out calling a general election after a petition calling for another vote was signed by more than two million people.

I would like there to be another general election, the petition reads.

I believe the current Labour government have gone back on the promises they laid out in the lead-up to the last election.

open image in gallery Sir Keir says hes not surprised many people want an election re-run ( PA Wire )

Asked about the petition on ITVs This Morning programme on Monday, Sir Keir dismissed calls for an election by saying that it is not how our system works.

He said: Look, I remind myself that very many people didnt vote Labour at the last election.

I am not surprised many of them want a re-run.

The government must respond to all petitions with over 10,000 signatures, and petitions reaching 100,000 signatures are considered before parliament.

The petition comes amid growing backlash over Labours budget, which has sparked controversy for hikes to national insurance and extension of inheritance tax to include farms, among other unpopular proposals which aim to fill the spending black hole.

Among the famous faces to have shared the petition are billionaire Trump-ally Elon Musk, who has repeatedly criticised Sir Keir since he came to power, and British actor Michael Caine.

Who wants to call a general election?

The petition was only set up on November 20, but has already received over 2,184,000 signatures at the time of writing.

The majority of signatories to the petition are concentrated in Conservatives or Reform safe seats.

Many of the names in these seats may seem familiar, as vocal critics of the current Labour government. The MPs in constituencies where the petitions have received the most signatures include leader of the opposition Kemi Badenoch, former leadership hopeful James Cleverly, and topping the list, Alex Burghart.

The petition is highly popular among constituents of Reform leaders Richard Tice and Nigel Farage, with 9,550 signatures between the two constituencies.

However, over a million signatures have come from constituencies with a Labour MP.

The Labour MP representing the most constituents calling for a general election is Kevin McKenna, with 4,609 constituents signing the petition.

Mr McKenna won his constituency of Sittingbourne and Sheppey by just 355 votes in July.

The constituency had a low voter turnout of just 51.9 per cent and was historically Conservative.

It is likely that his narrow win made many residents unhappy in an area with high Tory support; but even so, it is unclear whether those signing the petition would be able to oust Mr McKenna in another election.

open image in gallery Prime Minister Keir Starmer dismissed the petition on ITVs This Morning today. ( ITV )

No Labour seat has seen more than 6 per cent of constituents sign the petition.

However, this discontent may still cause some concern for Labour MPs with small majorities. In the Derbyshire Dales, Labour MP John Whitby won by 350 votes, and over 4,426 of his constituents have signed the petition to call an election. MPs in Ribble Valley, Middlesborough South, and Redditch face a similar dilemma.

A high number of constituents in South Norfolk have also signed the petition in South Norfolk, where Terry Jermy is the Labour MP.

Mr Jermy has faced recent pressure following the farmers protests, as his constituency is being eyed by the Tories and has 408 farm holdings.

Even some constituents of Labour leaders have signed the petition calling for a new election, with over 3,000 signatures in Deputy PM Angela Rayners seat.

Discontentment from abroad

At least 14,276 of the signatures were from people based outside the United Kingdom, according to self-declared locations required in the petition forms.

Thousands of signatures came from the United States, Spain, France and Australia.

The petition has also received hundreds of signatures from Thailand, UAE and Cyprus.

There are even five signatures reported from the Vatican City, where the Pope resides.

Only British citizens and UK residents are allowed to sign this type of petition to be considered by Parliament.

However, the rapid scale of the petition may make it more difficult to verify the identities of the two million-plus signatories. The Independent has reached out to the government to confirm how many of the signatures are verified.

This is not helped by non-citizens such as billionaire Elon Musk promoting the petition, saying on X that the people of Britain have had enough of a tyrannical police state.
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Sir Keir Starmer has revealed his new family kitten, Prince, has not yet met Downing Streets famous mouse catcher Larry the cat.

The Starmer family adopted their new pet Prince, a Siberian kitten, shortly after moving into Downing Street, meaning Larry faced fierce competition as No 10s chief mouser.

The prime minister previously revealed he let his children get the kitten after a long summer of negotiations, though they originally pleaded with him to get a dog.

Larry the cat - whose title is chief mouser to the Cabinet Office - is Downing Streets most famous feline occupant, often appearing in photographs and video amid important political moments.

Since the Starmer family moved in, Larry has been joined by their rescue cat Jojo and now Prince.

open image in gallery Prince is a Siberian kitten. Stock image ( Getty )

Asked for an update on the Starmer family kitten on Monday, Sir Keir told ITV: Prince is the name of the kitten.

So, Prince and Larry havent met yet. I am worried that Larry will come off the better  the kitten is tiny.

Larry, now 17 years old, is thought to be in his final years, having already outlived the average lifespan for a tabby.

Downing Street officials have reportedly prepared a media plan to announce his eventual death.

Pictures, selected to be published upon news of his death, are reportedly stored in folders on the No 10 IT system as part of a plan to inform the public.

open image in gallery Larry the cat leaves No 10 Downing Street as Starmer welcomes Ukrainian President Vlodomyr Zelensky ( AP )

The cat, who was adopted from Battersea Cats Home, was first brought into Downing Street by David Cameron as a pet for his children and has since outlasted five prime ministers.

However, not everyone is the biggest fan of Larry. Labour minister Ian Murray recently joked Larry is a little s**t, and the most miserable animal youll ever meet in your life.

Former prime minister Boris Johnson once branded Larry a thug who mauled his Jack Russell-cross Dilyn after he tried to steal the tabbys food.

The Cabinet Office website includes a biography of the beloved cat, which reads: Larry has been in residence since 15 February 2011, he is the first cat at Number 10 to be bestowed with the official title chief mouser.

Larry was recruited from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home on recommendation for his mousing skills. He joined the Number 10 household and has made a significant impact.
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Rachel Reeves has been accused by business chiefs of making it hard to invest in Britain, prompting her to insist there was no alternative.

Directly facing her critics at the CBI conference after weeks of negativity about her autumn Budget, a defensive chancellor pledged that businesses in the UK will not have to suffer another one like it before the next election.

Squaring up to her detractors, she told them: I have heard a lot of feedback about my Budget but not any alternative suggestions.

open image in gallery ( Getty )

Ms Reeves insisted that the government had provided a rock of stability so that industry could be confident in their future planning.

Businesses have not held back their anger on the increase in national insurance contributions, which has been branded a jobs tax.

open image in gallery Rachel Reeves insisted to the CBI that she had provided a rock on which industry could build ( PA )

Salman Amin, the chief executive of McVities owner Pladis, warned: Going forward, its becoming harder to understand what the case for investment is ... to make a difference in the growth rate of the economy.

Speaking about the national insurance hike, co-founder of Cobra Beer Lord Bilimoria told Times Radio: If they can hear, this is not just me. This is a unanimous voice of business saying you have not listened to us. This is not going to generate growth.

This is going to damage business. Please listen to us. Please work with us. And Im up for them to do that. Its not too late. Its not too late.

Ms Reevess defiant riposte to the business world also came after the head of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) claimed that firms were caught off guard by the hike in national insurance contributions.

Rain Newton-Smith, chief executive of the CBI, said the measures announced last month have made it harder for businesses to take a chance on hiring new people.

She also criticised the changes to inheritance tax relief for farmers, saying it had left them fearful about the future.

In the Budget, the chancellor announced around a 70bn increase in public spending, funded through tax rises and increased borrowing.

Labour also raised the minimum wage, in a move praised by workers groups and unions, but which businesses have said will force them to pass on some costs to consumers, hire fewer people or make less profit.

In a message to the government, Ms Newton-Smith said ministers must work more closely with businesses in future after the shock of the Budget.

open image in gallery Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch speaking at the CBI conference ( PA )

Speaking after Ms Reeves at the business groups annual conference, CBI chairman Rupert Soames made it clear he was unconvinced by her words, claiming that businesses were milked as the cash cow in Labours autumn Budget.

He accused the government of making policies which are directly in conflict with one another, calling Labours employment rights bill an adventure playground for lawyers.

This week, the Department of Work and Pensions is going to produce a paper setting out actions to help get a meaningful number of the 9 million [jobless people] back into work.

But at the same time, we have a Budget which makes employing people, particularly the young, part-time and low-paid much more expensive.

And we have an employment rights bill which makes employing people much more risky and an adventure playground for lawyers. These policies are directly in conflict with each other.

He continued: Its hardly surprising that business people are scratching their heads and asking themselves: What really is the government trying to achieve, and how do these policies hang together?

Businesses have not been alone in attacking the Budget, which featured a record-breaking 40bn of tax rises.

Charities, hospices, GPs and dentists have been among those infuriated by the national insurance rise.

Thousands of farmers took over Whitehall last week in protest over the changes to inheritance tax to include agricultural land.

Ms Reeves has refused to back down on any of her new taxes.

She said: I think everybody knows that that inheritance was pretty dire in terms of that hole in the public finances, and so at the Budget in October, I just had to make a number of difficult decisions.

But she also pledged: Im going to be honest and level with people about the scale of the challenges that we face, and to also take the action needed to put those problems right. But weve done that now, and businesses can be certain that we're never going to have to do a Budget like that again.

She warned the public sector that its spending envelope had been decided for the next five years and it would need to live within its means with extra finance coming from reform, not more tax hikes.

Ms Reeves added that the public sector was still being run like businesses were run a decade ago, as she appealed for expertise from her audience to help drive government efficiencies.

Earlier at the CBI conference, new Tory leader Kemi Badenoch admitted that business leaders had stopped listening to her party when they were still in government and she was the then business secretary.

She pledged to slash red tape and rewire our economy as she sought to woo business chiefs to back the Tories.

The Conservative leader said the system was broken and was not suitable when faced by aggressive competitor economies like China.

But she warned that Ms Reevess jobs tax was not the answer.
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Sir Keir Starmer revealed more details on his plans to make spiking a drink a specific criminal offence as part of the governments crackdown on violence against women and girls (VAWG).

During a meeting with police bosses, transport figures and hospitality executives in Downing Street on Monday morning, the prime minister said he hoped the measures would give people the confidence to come forward.

He laid out plans for venue staff to be trained in relation to spiking, with a pilot to begin within weeks before a wider rollout next year.

By the spring, Sir Keir pledged that thousands of workers in the night-time economy will be trained on how to prevent spiking incidents, support victims and help collect evidence.

Labour has promised to halve VAWG in the next decade, with the prime minister calling for a coordinated response to bring the vile perpetrators to justice.

open image in gallery Sir Keir laid out the measures during a meeting with police bosses, transport figures and hospitality executives in Downing Street on Monday morning ( Mina Kim/PA Wire )

The party pledged in its manifesto to introduce a new offence for spiking, but there was no detail in the Kings Speech this year about a specific crime  however, Sir Keir reaffirmed his commitment on Monday, saying: My government was elected on a pledge to take back our streets, and we will never achieve this if women and girls do not feel safe at night.

He added: Cracking down on spiking is central to that mission.

We know it can be incredibly difficult for victims to come forward to report this awful crime, and these cases can be very hard to prosecute. We must do more to bring the vile perpetrators who carry out this cowardly act, usually against young women and often to commit a sexual offence, to justice.

It is unclear when the legislation will be introduced, but ministers and officials are understood to be working to bring it forward as soon as possible  with Sir Keir promising to take back our streets from criminals.

open image in gallery It is unclear when the legislation will be introduced, but ministers and officials are understood to be working to bring it forward as soon as possible ( Mina Kim/PA Wire )

The government announced that 10,000 workers in the hospitality industry will be trained to deal with incidents by next spring as part of an expansion of a scheme piloted from December, to be rolled out from March of next year.

Detailing the training scheme, Sir Keir told the meeting it would be partly to spot whats happening, but also to know what to do in the event that there is an incident in a venue.

He also said that the final point of discussion for the morning was police indexing  (the) way that we count it across different police forces.

Sir Keir added: At the moment its quite hard to get your arms around the pure numbers.

Labour says the proposals are part of the partys promise to halve VAWG in the next decade  although home secretary Yvette Cooper did admit the pledge is ambitious and that the government has not worked out how to measure their progress as she laid out a string of reforms to overhaul policing at an annual summit with police chiefs last Tuesday.

Plain-clothes officers are being deployed in areas around bars and clubs to spot predatory behaviour, with chief constable Jason Hogg of Thames Valley Police due to tell the meeting how his force is implementing such measures.

open image in gallery Home secretary Yvette Cooper described spiking as a disturbing and serious crime which can have a damaging and long-lasting impact on victims ( PA Wire )

Chief constable Lucy DOrsi of British Transport Police will highlight the relaunch of the text-to-report number, 61016, which is free across all major networks and invites women to contact the force for help in the event of harassment on the train.

Home secretary Yvette Cooper said: Spiking is a disturbing and serious crime which can have a damaging and long-lasting impact on victims.

Thats why today we are taking decisive action to prevent this devastating crime and to crack down on perpetrators, by introducing a new criminal offence for spiking and launching specialist training for thousands of bar staff nationwide.

People shouldnt have to worry about the safety of their drinks on a night out. These changes are about giving victims greater confidence to come forward, and ensuring that there is a robust response from the police whenever these appalling crimes take place.
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More than 30 pilot whales that stranded themselves on a beach in New Zealand were safely returned to the ocean after conservation workers and residents helped to refloat them by lifting them on sheets.

Four of the pilot whales died, New Zealands conservation agency said.

New Zealand is one of the most common places for beachings and pilot whales are especially prone to becoming stranded.

open image in gallery Department of Conservation officials praised the incredible efforts made by hundreds of people to help ( AP )

A team was monitoring Ruakaka Beach near the city of Whangarei in New Zealands north on Monday to ensure there were no signs of the whales saved on Sunday stranding again, the Department of Conservation said. The agency praised as incredible the efforts made by hundreds of people to help save the foundering pod.

Its amazing to witness the genuine care and compassion people have shown toward these magnificent animals, Joel Lauterbach, a Department of Conservation spokesperson, said in a statement. This response demonstrates the deep connection we all share with our marine environment.

open image in gallery New Zealands stretches of protruding coast with shallow, sloping beaches is thought to confuse whales ( AP )

A Maori cultural ceremony for the three adult whales and one calf that died in the stranding took place on Monday. New Zealands Indigenous people consider whales a taonga  a sacred treasure  of cultural significance.

New Zealand has recorded more than 5,000 whale strandings since 1840. The largest pilot whale stranding was of an estimated 1,000 whales at the Chatham Islands in 1918, according to the Department of Conservation.

Its often not clear why strandings happen but the island nations geography is believed to be a factor. Both the North and South Islands feature stretches of protruding coastline with shallow, sloping beaches that can confuse species such as pilot whales  which rely on echo-location to navigate.
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Federal officials are preparing for what may be the "busiest Thanksgiving travel period on record" - and are warning travelers looking to head out of town.

The agency said it may need to actually slow down air traffic during the Thanksgiving holiday travel period due to air traffic controller shortages, and possible weather delays, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Roughly 31 million people are expected to fly over the Thanksgiving holiday period, according to the trade association Airlines for America.

FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said that slowdowns are most likely to occur in the New York area, where the agency has had trouble keeping up with demand for air traffic controllers.

During the Thanksgiving travel period, we will use traffic flow management initiatives to deal with any staffing shortages on that particular day in this airspace, and we expect to have some of those shortages. So, were working diligently to make sure that that can operate as efficiently as possible, Whitaker said at a Thursday press conference at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport just outside Washington DC.

open image in gallery The FAA is warning passengers that record air travel is expected over the holiday season ( AP )

The agency is expecting November 26  the Tuesday before Thanksgiving  to be its busiest travel day for air traffic. Whitaker said if the slowdowns are needed, they'll like happen that day and will be put in place to ensure travelers' safety.

These initiatives keep the system safe, and people should know that safety is never at risk. If we are short on staff, we will slow traffic as needed to keep the system safe, he said.

FAA data from May showed that it is still about 3,000 controllers short of its targets. In September, the agency announced it had hit its goal of hiring 1,800 controllers in 2024, but it's unclear how many controllers the agency will lose their year to attrition and retirements, according to CNN.

In addition to the staffing issue, the weather may also cause some disruptions to Thanksgiving air travel.

Whitaker said that the agency is "closely watching the weather, which is of course the biggest source of delays, and we'll do our best to work around that."

Travelers moving through Charlotte, North Carolina, may also run into slowdowns as service workers at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport strike for better pay and conditions.

The Transport Security Administration expects to screen 18.3 million travelers from Tuesday until December 3, a 6 percent increase over last years numbers.

open image in gallery The Transport Security Administration expects to screen 18.3 million travelers from Tuesday until December 3, a 6 percent increase over last years numbers ( AP )

The TSA also warned that anyone trying to bring leftovers back with them should be sure what they're carrying is properly packed.

The agency said anything solid can go through a checkpoint, but if it a traveler can "spill it, spread it, spray it, pump it or pour it" and it's larger than 3.4 ounces, then it should be stored in a checked bag.

As always, it wont just be the skies filled with holiday travelers, but Americas roads as well.

AAA predicts that approximately 80 million travelers will hit the road this week and drive 50 miles or more to make it to a celebration. Thats an increase of 1.7 million over last years travel numbers.

Thanksgiving is the busiest holiday for travel, and this year were expecting to set new records across the board, from driving to flying and cruising, Stacey Barber, Vice President of AAA Travel, said in a statement. Americans reconnect with family and friends over Thanksgiving, and travel is a big part of that. AAA continues to see travel demand soar post-pandemic with our members looking for new adventures and memorable vacations.
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A Georgia mother who believed she was pouring evil into her baby when breastfeeding her has been convicted of killing the child.

Chloe Driver, 24, brutally stabbed her 13-month-old daughter Hannah to death. Prosecutors alleged throughout her trial that Driver was motivated to kill Hannah because she wanted her husband, the babys father, all to herself.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Katie Gropper told the court that Drivers husband had two other wives and that their polygamist group had radical views and lived a lifestyle of alternative healing practices that included drinking their own urine.

A jury heard how Driver struggled with an unstable childhood, a history of mental illness and was enduring an abusive and oppressive marriage when she said she finally snapped and stabbed her baby and herself in December 2020.

Defense attorneys attempted to paint a picture of a woman who was abused and coerced by her alleged cult leader husband. They claimed a combination of her mental illness and extreme beliefs resulted in the babys death.

Driver had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of malice murder, felony murder, first-degree cruelty to children, and aggravated assault.

But at the end of a six-day trial, and just three hours of deliberation, a jury found her found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt but mentally ill on all charges  which means they rejected Drivers insanity plea and found her criminally responsible for her actions.

open image in gallery Chloe Driver pictured at the time of her arrest for murder in 2020. Her neck was bandaged up from where she had stabbed herself in the throat ( Cherokee County Sheriff's Office )

The murder of baby Hannnah

Police responded to a home in Canton, Georgia on December 8, 2020, to find a mother and her baby daughter with stab wounds inside a bedroom.

Driver was lying on a mattress next to blood covered baby Hannah, holding her hand. Both were rushed to the hospital where the baby died from her injuries.

Police said Driver had taken a knife from the butcher block in the kitchen, locked herself and her baby in the bedroom and stabbed her repeatedly.

They were found by the babys father, Benyamin Ben Michael, also known as Brian Joyce or Z  who allegedly let out a blood-curdling scream as he cried to Driver, what did you do?

Driver was married to the man who also had two other wives.

Dr. Carli Blomquist, an emergency room doctor who tended to Hannah, told the court during Drivers trial that the baby was empty of blood when she was brought in.

She wanted him to herself

A letter allegedly written by Driver was shared in court during her trial that revealed her chilling confession about the murder.

He didnt do it. I did it, she had written, referring to her husband, Ben Michael. I was going insane and no longer wanted to be with his friends but kept coming back for him. I only wanted my baby and husband but he refused.

The prosecution told the court that, she wanted to be with him and he was never going to give up his polygamist cult lifestyle that they had adopted.

open image in gallery Driver watches from the defense table as a video of her police interview is played in court ( Court TV )

But the defense said the claim that Driver killed the child to get Ben Michael all to herself defies logic because she would have also killed the other wives.

If she wanted him to herself, wouldnt she have gotten rid of the competition? the defense pointed out.

Before the jury was sent out to make a decision, the defense urged them to find her guilty by reason of insanity, arguing that Driver was in a delusional state at the time of the babys death and that she was not able to distinguish right from wrong.

Justice for Hannah in this case is getting her mother the treatment she needs, they said.

Did a polygamist cult drive Chloe Driver to murder?

In the months leading up to the murder of baby Hannah, Driver said she was seeing signs that convinced her Ben Michael and the other wives wanted her to kill herself and her child, according to Dr. McLendon Garrett.

Dr. Garrett, a forensic psychologist who conducted an interview with Driver following the murder, testified for the defense, arguing that the mother suffered from paranoia and had experienced delusions before her babys death.

Driver was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, borderline personality disorder, and cannabis use disorder. She attributed Drivers mental health struggles to a traumatic childhood and abusive relationships.

She had a very unstable childhood, Dr. Garrett said. "Her family was cold, and she left them multiple timesliving with boys, even leaving the state to move in with one. She experienced suicidal ideation early on and engaged in self-harm, including cutting and attempting to overdose on sleeping pills.

Driver then met her husband when she was just 17 years old and he was 38, and then became part of a nomadic religious group led by her husband, who Dr. Garrett said she believed played a pivotal role in her mental state.

She was incredibly isolated, Dr. Garrett said. She wasnt allowed to speak to others unless it was for recruitment purposes. She couldnt go to stores, use money, or have a phone without supervision. Her only jobs lasted about two weeks, and those were out of necessity.

open image in gallery Driver appeared emotionless as a jury found her guilty of murder ( Court TV )

The group are strict vegans who followed unorthodox health practices that included drinking their own urine, according to witness testimony.

Driver also told the doctor about the control she was under and how she would face punishment, which included dark therapy, where she was confined to a bed, the windows covered, denied bathroom access, and forced to urinate on herself.

After Driver gave birth to Hannah, she began to question the groups teachings, specifically about the lack of the childs care, including vaccinations, and simply - a birth certificate.

She was concerned her baby wouldnt have a normal life, Dr. Garrett said. But realized she wasnt going to get that with Ben Michael.

Drivers paranoia and delusions intensified, but when she asked the other wives for help, they reportedly gave her CBD oil, which allegedly only intensified the tendencies, Dr. Garrett said.

She felt like the wives ganged up on her and made her believe that she and the baby were sinful.

She believed she was downloading her sin  all the bad parts about her  into her child through breastfeeding, Dr. Garrett said. She also talked about pouring her sin into the child.

There was a lot of evidence that she really believed by having a child with somebody who was married -- by having the child in this sort of open relationship -- that it was a sin and that she passed that sin on to her daughter, Dr. Garrett added. And so they shared that -- that they were both embodiments of sin.

When asked what Dr. Garrett believed to be the specific trigger that pushed her over the edge, she said Driver told her she was upset when Ben Michael threw a dirty shirt at her when she said she needed something clean so she could change Hannah.

open image in gallery Baby Hannah was just 13 months old when her mother stabbed her to death in December 2020 ( Cherokee County Sheriffs Office )

That incident was potentially the straw that broke the camels back after months of delusions, Dr. Garrett said.

"She was incredibly isolated and mentally unwell," she added. "Her relationship with the group and its dynamics created a perfect storm."

A perfect storm that eventually led to Hannahs tragic death.

From that moment on, I snapped, Driver told Dr. Jacquelyn Zahm, who also evaluated her after the murder.

Disturbing claims of dark therapy and urine drinking

In a bizarre portion of testimony, Drivers friend took the stand in an orange prison jumpsuit and told the court of Drivers polygamous lifestyle and their unorthodox health rituals.

Jason Spillars, who faces charges in a separate case in North Carolina, painted the household of Ben Michael as harmonious and supportive, but a patriarchal one with the man in charge because men are better decision-makers, they can regulate their emotions in a way that women cannot, and theyre just better leaders, he said.

Spillars gave an inside look at the groups polygamous lifestyle, with shocking claims that they participated in rituals such as drinking urine and the isolating dark therapy.

Despite this, he said all three women who were married to Ben Michael were content in their roles and that Drivers involvement was voluntary and based on shared beliefs, not coercion.

open image in gallery Jason Spillars gave an inside look at the groups polygamous lifestyle, with shocking claims they participated in rituals such as drinking urine and isolating dark therapy ( Court TV )

Spillars testified that his friend had previously gone through cycles of mental distress, and that in the months leading up to Hannahs murder, her delusion and paranoia had increased.

He then became emotional on the stand as he recounted what he witnessed on the day of the babys murder. He recalled walking into the room to find Ben Michael doing CPR on Hannah and seeing blood everywhere.

As he applied pressure to Drivers stab wounds, he said he remembered his friend telling him, Stop, Im supposed to die. Spillars then broke down in sobs as he insisted that Driver was a good mother who loved her daughter.

Her mom begged her to come home

Drivers mother Renee said she and other family members tried desperately to convince her to leave Ben Michael, but nothing could sway her.

I did everything I could to get her to stay with me, but it didnt work, Renee told the court as she became emotional.

After baby Hannah was born, their contact was minimal, but Renee said she knew Driver was a very good mother and she loved her daughter.

Driver wiped away tears and her lips trembled as her mother testified.

After Hannah was born, Renee said shed reiterated that her daughter and granddaughter could move in, but Ben Michael was not welcome because Renee didnt want anything to do with him.

Renee said in July 2020 she started noticing changes in her daughter, describing her as being in a zombie-like state and not herself.

Nothing really changed with Hannah -- just her, Renee said. She was just falling apart. I mean, she was literally just falling apart, but at that time, I wasnt so much paying attention to her because, I mean, I had Hannah, too, and I was just so excited every time I got to see Hannah.

The verdict

For six days, jurors listened to testimony from 21 witnesses and viewed graphic crime scene photos before being sent out to decide Drivers fate.

The young mother appeared emotionless as the verdict was read in court on Wednesday.

She was found guilty, but mentally ill, of murdering her baby girl.

The guilty but mentally ill verdict means that the jury rejected her insanity plea and found her criminally responsible for her actions.

Driver will be sentenced on December 12. Until then, Driver will be in the custody of the Georgia Department of Corrections, which will be responsible for addressing her mental health needs.
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A former dental assistant in Stillwater, Oklahoma, has been accused of recording himself sexually assaulting patients while they were sedated for surgery and then sharing the footage online, according to police.

Police said that Cody Allen Stolfa, 36, allegedly committed "crimes against nature," and was in possession of 10,000 files of child sexual abuse material on his computer and cell phones.

In July and November 2024, 18 arrest affidavits were filed against Stolfa, according to News 4, which obtained copies of the court documents.

As of Friday, Stolfa has been charged with 10 counts of sexual battery, five counts of forcible sodomy, six counts of child exploitation, four counts of clandestine recording, two counts of sodomy of victim under 16 and one count of lewd acts to a child.

News 4 reporters insisted that "much of the information contained in the affidavits is too graphic and disturbing for News 4 to share in full detail."

open image in gallery Cody Allen Stolfa, 36, has been charged with numerous crimes, including forcible sodomy, child exploitation and sexual battery after he allegedly sexually abused patients  including minors  who were sedated at a Stillwater, Oklahoma, dental clinic where he worked ( Payne County Sheriffs Department )

What is known is that Stolfa allegedly sexually assaulted, battered, abused and or sodomized 16 young men who were in his care at Central Oklahoma Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Associates in Stillwater.

According to prosecutors, Stolfa was only employed by the clinic for three months before he was fired for poor job performance.

"It's just really gross," Payne County District Attorney Laura Thomas told News 4. "He's [a] brazen, scary guy."

Not only did Stolfa allegedly take advantage of minors in a vulnerable state, but he also recorded his actions and then shared those videos to others online.

Thomas said someone in Australia viewed one of the videos on the Telegram app. The video allegedly showed Stolfa allegedly was sexually assaulting a patient. The Australian viewer informed local authorities of the video. The Australian officials then used facial recognition software and other strategies to identify the man in the video as Stolfa. They contacted the FBI and the Stillwater Police with their findings.

Police launched an investigation and ultimately arrested Stolfa in July.

After his arrest, police obtained a search warrant for his electronic devices, where they allegedly found a folder marked "naughty." In the folder, they allegedly found 115 videos of Stolfa recording himself while he sexually assaulted 15 other patients. Six of the 16 victims were minors, police said, and all were male.

In addition to the alleged videos, police said they also found a folder filled with more than 10,000 files of child sexual abuse material, including images "from infancy to adult," and Stolfa allegedly "committing crimes against nature" on an animal multiple times.

Thomas said all of the victims are now adults, and that none of them knew that they'd been assaulted until they were contacted by police and made aware of the situation.

She also pointed out that Stolfa never should have been allowed to be in a room alone with patients while they were recovering from sedation. Thomas said that there are always supposed to be three people in the room, and noted that the clinic was cooperating fully with the investigation.

Thomas said that Stolfa allegedly shared his images through various apps, including Grindr, Discord and Snapchat.

Stolfa is currently being held in Payne County Jail without bond. He is being sued in civil court by at least one of his alleged victims.
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The life of every member of the Ramsey clan changed forever when 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was found viciously killed in the basement the day after Christmas in 1996.

But the life of an investigator  and subsequently the rest of his family  was about to change, too; Lou Smit just didnt know it yet as he drove to Boulder from Colorado Springs in the months immediately after the murder.

The retired veteran detective had been called in by Boulders district attorney to advise as local police grappled with media chaos and infighting while attempting to investigate a sensational murder  an almost unheard-of crime in the well-heeled, leafy community.

Smit, however, already had more than 200 murder cases under his belt. Hed also helped score high-profile convictions, including after the investigation into the 1975 killing of Karen Grammer, sister of Frasier actor Kelsey, and the murder of a woman whose killer later confessed to taking 47 other lives.

Smit  a married father of four and grandfather known for his habit of perennially carrying a toothpick in his mouth  threw himself into the investigation. He applied the same dedication that had earned him near legendary status among his colleagues, even agreeing to take on the case despite difficult family circumstances.

open image in gallery Lou Smit, a detective who worked in Colorado Springs law enforcement for decades, came out of retirement at the request of Boulder authorities after the 1996 murder of JonBenet Ramsey ( Cindy Marra )

A week or two after he started, he moved to Boulder, Smits daughter, Cindy Marra, tells The Independent, detailing how a local couple let him use a spare room as his base during the week. We had to all get together as a family, because my mom had been dealing with cancer, and so we had to have some kind of a plan to take care of her.

Despite her illness, Smits wife, Barbara, also lent a hand.

We have his journal; he dictated into a recorder every day, and my mom would then transcribe it, Cindy says. And within the first couple of days, in that journal, he already said: Something is not right. Something is not right. Here I see evidence of an intruder.

Cindy caught up with her dad by phone when he finally could come up for some air as he pored over the case.

I remember just saying to him: So, who did it? The mom or the dad? Because thats what we had been fed by the media, she tells The Independent. He goes, Well, I dont think it was either. I dont think it is a family member. I think an intruder broke into that home and killed her.

So that was really surprising to me.

Smit, who at the time had grandchildren of similar ages to JonBenet, became convinced that the perpetrator entered the home through a basement window. He proved it was possible by climbing into and out of the window himself. Smit believed the killer used a stun gun on JonBenet, pointing to marks on her body as evidence.

open image in gallery Smit, posing with his four children, was devoted to finding JonBenets killer and asked his family and friends to continue the investigation after his 2010 death ( Cindy Marra )

In accordance with the investigative transfer theory  that a killer brings or leaves something to a crime scene  he posited that JonBenets attacker brought with him duct tape, cordage and a stun gun as part of a kidnap kit, then left with the evidence.

Smit also pointed to DNA collected from under the childs fingernails and on her underwear that was ruled by a lab report from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to be foreign and male, excluding JonBenets parents and nine-year-old brother, who were home at the time.

All of this put him at odds with Boulder police, who seemed dead-set on their theory that someone within the Ramsey family was responsible. (Within four years of JonBenets murder, one former Boulder detective went on national television to claim she feared for her life when she looked into John Ramseys eyes after he discovered his daughters body in the basement; another detective wrote a book placing blame squarely on Patsy, hypothesizing she killed her daughter in anger over a bedwetting incident.)

Eighteen months after he joined the JonBenet investigation, Smit resigned, writing in his September 1998 letter that the Ramseys did not do it.

There is substantial, credible evidence of an intruder and a lack of evidence that the parents are involved, he wrote.

Smits friends and family note the toll the case took on him as he hit repeated obstacles with Boulder authorities. He had to fight to present evidence to a grand jury looking into JonBenets murder.

Years after Smits 2010 death, it emerged that the grand jury had voted to indict the parents on child abuse charges, but its important to note that grand juries only hear arguments and evidence hand-picked by prosecutors. There is no defense.

It was just hard for him to think that people were just proactively trying to thwart his investigation or his observations, Cindy says. It always made us angry, because we knew he didnt deserve it. We knew these people just were on their own page.

open image in gallery Smits friend and former law enforcement colleague, John Wesley Anderson, published a book last year about the detectives quest to get justice for JonBenet; he is among the group working to continue Smits effort to solve the case ( WildBlue Press )

Calling him a delusional old man or anything like that was just so off. It just was so wrong.

Smit had dedicated his life to family, faith and the force, applying in 1966 to the department where his cousin, Bill, already served as a police officer.

The problem was the 5-foot, 9-inch minimum height requirement  Lou was only five feet 8  inches, writes John Wesley Anderson, a fellow Colorado Springs detective who asked Smit to be his best man at his 1997 wedding, in Lou and JonBenet: A Legendary Lawmans Quest to Solve a Child Beauty Queens Murder.

Lou really wanted to be a police officer and told Bill to whack him over the head with his nightstick. Later, at his medical exam, Lou measured exactly 5-feet 9- inches tall, including the bump on his head.

Within a decade of joining the department, Smit proudly brought his children to the trial of Freddie Glenn, who was convicted in 1976 of the murder of Karen Grammer and two other victims. Glenn later confessed to dozens more.

We didnt know who Kelsey Grammer was at all, but I just remember going to that trial and being just so impressed, Cindy says, who calls her father my hero.

Filmmaker Joe Berlinger, whose three-part documentary Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet premieres on Netflix Monday and lays out much of Smits work, uses the same word to describe the detective.

open image in gallery Smits wife, Barbara, was suffering from cancer at the time he agreed to help with the JonBenet investigation; Barb assisted in the effort, too, transcribing notes he dictated into a recorder ( Cindy Marra )

Smit was a total hero  a really smart cop who became personally attached to this case who was horribly mistreated by the Boulder police, Berlinger tells The Independent, adding that he believed the then-Boulder DA did the smart thing: hired a well-regarded investigator, somebody who had tremendous respect.

And the Boulder police were okay with it, until he came up with the wrong conclusion for them, and then they smeared him and said hes like a delusional old man looking for fame and fortune, Berlinger continues. The opposite was true. I wish Id had the pleasure to meet him in person  he struck me as somebody who was deeply dedicated to his craft and deeply dedicated to the truth.

Smit is described in the documentary by law enforcement friends in similar terms; one compares him to a modern-day Sherlock Holmes. He continued to work the case on his own and with the Ramseys; as he was dying of colon cancer, he enlisted help.

He was trying to get the evidence in front of more and more people, but he just ran out of time, his friend Anderson tells The Independent.

Anderson is among a group of family and friends carrying on Smits mission in his memory after the detectives death 14 years ago at the age of 75.

Weeks before Smit entered hospice, while he was still in the hospital, Cindy recalls her father reiterating his hope that the investigation go on after his death.

open image in gallery A new Netflix documentary puts forth much of the investigative work done by Smit, who was known for perennially carrying a toothpick in his mouth ( Cindy Marra )

My husband and I were in the room at that time, and he again, just said, Just make sure that somebody continues to follow up on this. And he said, Get a pen, get a pencil and paper  and write this down, she says. And he gave me a name, and he goes, Start there.

That was his number one person of interest at the time, Cindy says; following her fathers death, she convened a dedicated group that did exactly what her father asked, and theyve been working their way through his list of likely culprits ever since  going to so far as to obtain DNA from individuals across the country.

They have a GoFundMe to help defray the costs; in the days before the release of the Netflix documentary, donations totalled nearly $64,000.

It speaks to the impact that my dad had on not only his children and grandchildren, but on the people that he worked with, because we have just been on a mission to fulfill his dying wish  and I think that, if he wasnt who he was to all of us, we would have given up a long time ago, Cindy says.

Anderson, who says he served as an advisor for the new Netflix documentary, considers whether Smit would find the continuing efforts to solve JonBenets murder bittersweet .

Having known Lou most of my life, Im sure he would be  from a professional perspective  very thankful that theres so much attention to the investigation, to the facts of the case and keeping the case alive, he says.

He had a wonderful quote, and he would often say, on cold cases that we had or cases that were waiting to be solved, he said: If nothing else, you have to stir the pot.

To me, what that always meant was, if nothing else, lets go re-interview some witnesses, lets do something we havent done, lets keep that pot from growing cold on the stove. And I think, with this Netflix documentary, its really a big spoon to stir that pot.

I think its going to have kind of a ripple effect where other people will say, I thought that was solved, or Ive been waiting to share this information or I thought it was the mother, but now its not  so were hoping that more significant leads will come out.
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Six months before the sensational case of JonBenet Ramseys murder hit the news  along with the near ubiquitous presence of the tiny blonds beauty pageant glamor shots  the documentary Paradise Lost premiered.

The film by Joe Berlinger cast doubt on the guilt of a trio of Arkansas teens convicted in the killings of three local eight-year-olds.

For Berlinger, whose films on the West Memphis Three not only earned him an Oscar nomination but also saw the prisoners walk free, a key element of his work has always centered on rooting out  and hopefully correcting  injustices.

But JonBenets murder didnt immediately catch his eye as a possible example. After the 6-year-olds body was found on the day after Christmas in 1996, talk shows, tabloids and the barreling behemoth of 24-hour news grabbed the story and ran with it, usually relating details parceled out strategically by police in Boulder, Colorado.

open image in gallery JonBenet Ramsey was just six years old when she was found murdered in the basement of her parents home in Boulder, Colorado ( Sipa/Shutterstock )

Back then I fell for it, Berlinger, 63, tells The Independent. And Im embarrassed that I fell for it, because I had just finished Paradise Lost, which is all about wrongful conviction  but I had a two-year-old daughter at home, and I kind of bought into the media hype.

And I thought to myself, Gee, my daughter, my two-year-old, is very cute, and I bet when shes six, shell be really cute; I would never put her into a beauty pageant  and I had a bunch of judgment about that.

He wasnt alone; even now, ask almost anyone about JonBenet Ramsey and theyll have strong opinions and a theory about who killed her.

More often than not, theyll point to her parents or then-nine-year-old brother, all of whom were home in the familys tony, holiday-decorated mansion at the time of the JonBenets murder. Patsy Ramsey called 911 to report finding a ransom note for her daughter before dawn on December 26, 1996; hours after police first responded, another search of the property led by Patsys husband, John, uncovered their daughters body in a basement room.

Over time, as I became more familiar with the case, it became illogical, says Berlinger, who did a deep dive into the murder and investigation that increased his skepticism  resulting in his new Netflix three-part docuseries, Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey, which premieres on Monday.

open image in gallery JonBenet, right, poses in a family photo with her father, John, mother, Patsy, and older brother, Burke ( John Ramsey )

Key to the directors research was the work of Lou Smit, a Colorado Springs detective who came out of retirement to assist the Boulder district attorneys office in the months after the killing. Smit quickly decided the Ramseys were not involved, putting him at odds with local police and launching a personal mission to uncover the truth. (His family and friends carry on that mission 14 years after his death.)

After looking at Smits detective work, Berlinger says, thats when I had this a-ha! moment.

The documentary highlights many of Smits points, such as his insistence that an intruder could easily have crept into the house and waited to snatch JonBenet before the plan went horribly wrong.

The special investigator also believed that DNA would ultimately solve the case, and many viewers will likely be surprised to hear of the delays and lack of DNA testing by Boulder authorities persisting even today.

The Netflix series outlines how a DNA report clearing the Ramseys was given to Boulder police by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation in the months after the murder; the documentary posits that, since the familys innocence did not align with local polices theory, it was unnecessarily withheld while stories kept getting fed to the press painting the Ramseys as guilty.

According to Smits notes, the CBI DNA report was not shared with Boulder prosecutors for months; despite the evidence, as well, city authorities continued to let suspicion focus on the Ramsey family, only clearing them publicly in 2008  a clearance which did little in changing public perception after decades of blame placement and innuendo.

JonBenet was brutally sexually assaulted and tortured with a garrote (a knotted cord tied to the broken handle of a paintbrush taken from her mothers supplies) before she died. Unknown male DNA was found in her underwear, however that DNA has yet to be identified, and contamination concerns persist given lax crime scene securement at the time and other issues. Testing methods have exponentially evolved since the mid-1990s, however, the director tells The Independent.

With the advances in DNA technology, I think this case can actually be solved, Berlinger says. And so I will be honest and say one of my goals of this show is to pressure Boulder police to finally do the right thing  the Ramsey family has been pounding the table for several years for additional DNA testing.

open image in gallery JonBenets mother called 911 on the day after Christmas in 1996, telling the operator shed found a ransom note; the childs body was only found hours later in the basement by her father ( AP1997 )

Hes talking about the surviving Ramsey family; JonBenets mother, Patsy, died in 2006 at age 49. The childs older half-sister, 22-year-old Beth, had been tragically killed in a car accident in 1992 when JonBenet was a toddler.

I cant imagine a more brutalized family than the Ramsey family, Berlinger tells The Independent. John Ramsey  who I think deserves a Purple Heart [or] five Purple Hearts  he lost his daughter, Beth, from a previous marriage. As a parent, I cant think of anything more painful.

JonBenet was the magic elixir that was going to help that family recover, and shes brutally murdered in the most horrific way imaginable  and then theyre blamed for it. The mother, Patsy, is dealing with ovarian cancer, and no doubt the stress of that murder and being blamed for it, Im sure, contributed to it coming back.

The then-Boulder DA cleared the Ramseys and her brother, Burke, in 2008, writing that she was deeply sorry. There have been myriad prosecutorial and police regime changes since the murder, and opinions differ. Suspicion within the wider arena has lingered to the point that CBS went ahead with a 2016 program theorizing that Burke accidentally killed JonBenet before their parents staged the scene.

He sued CBS for $750 million and the case was settled in 2019.

Burke doesnt speak in the docuseries, but it features interviews with John Ramsey and another adult son from his first marriage, in addition to Colorado reporters  not all of whom come out looking great  and law enforcement experts. The program also delves into the strange case of John Mark Karr, a pedophile extradited from Thailand who confessed to the killing but was ruled out by alibi and DNA, despite his knowledge of unreleased details.

open image in gallery JonBenet Ramsey is buried Georgia, where her parents met and where she was born; her mother, Patsy Ramsey, was buried next to her upon her death in 2006 at the age of 49 ( Getty Images )

Berlinger says part of his motivation for making the docuseries was his desire always to shine a light on things that I think are wrong and need to be corrected.

Im blessed that I can say that  my work has been the catalyst for six people being released from prison, he says. So I am deep in the wrongful conviction space, and there are certain patterns that make wrongful convictions happen that I see in this case.

Just like in the West Memphis case  what you often see in wrongful conviction cases is kind of a small-town police force thats not experienced enough to handle the crime that gets locked into an idea early on and cant move that tunnel vision  and this is what you see in this case, he says, though convictions here came in the court of public opinion rather than court of law.

Its exacerbated by the fact that [the authorities] method was to feed false or incomplete stories to the press in an era where there was just exploding irresponsible journalism, and it just created this firestorm.

For those who lived through the Nineties, it can be easy to forget just how far some cable programs and talk shows pushed matters and muddied agendas; for younger audiences, clips will be jaw-dropping. The new Netflix series includes footage from one mock trial held of the Ramseys on a daytime chat show which included input from an expert who made an explicit interpretation of JonBenets performance with a saxophone that Berlinger calls obscene.

In another mind-boggling reality, the Ramseys went head-to-head on CNN with a former Boulder detective whod written a book accusing Patsy of the killing (this cop not only settled with the Ramseys after they sued for libel and defamation but also failed to exhibit a solid grasp of case detail in other recorded interviews.)

The exploration particularly of the medias role was another motivating factor behind the JonBenet docuseries, Berlinger tells The Independent.

I have always been very concerned about this decades-long march weve had towards the lessening of journalistic standards and the rise of opinion journalism, which has divided our country, Berlinger says, adding that he believes the deep division has arisen because we each tune in to different opinions on television, and the truth is somewhat ephemeral.

open image in gallery Joe Berlinger attends the Truth Seekers Summit hosted by Variety and Rolling Stone at Second Floor on 25 August 2022 in New York City ( Cindy Ord/Getty Images )

And I think all of this began with not just the JonBenet Ramsey case, but JonBenet, OJ Simpson  the early 90s gave birth to a whole new era of irresponsible journalism.

All of a sudden there were 500 networks in a 24-hour news cycle, and everyone thought they could make money on telling real stories, and I think journalistic standards greatly declined  and you can trace that to todays environment, where we have kind of the death of truth, and 50 percent of the population gets its news from TikTok.

While he laments the state of the news landscape, Berlinger does have hopes that perhaps his project can prompt action from investigators in Colorado. A cold case review team of outside experts last year made recommendations to Boulder police about how best to proceed in the investigation, but the department only announced that the specific recommendations will not be made public at this time However, we are committed to following the recommendations generated from this cold case review.

The release from December 2023 insisted that Boulder authorities were working with leading DNA experts from across the country to ensure the latest forensic techniques are used to analyze remaining DNA samples.

The evidence has been preserved and will continue to be ready for testing when there is proven and validated technology that can accurately test forensic samples consistent with the evidence available in this case. Detectives are actively taking steps to prepare the evidence for testing when possible.

When asked this week by The Independent for any updates about such testing  along with detailed other questions  a spokeswoman only continued to urge anyone with information to contact detectives but cited the open and ongoing nature of the investigation as the reason for no further comment.

open image in gallery Lou Smit, a retired Colorado Springs detective, was asked to investigate the case by the Boulder district attorney; he resigned a year and a half later, insisting that evidence pointed to a killer outside of the Ramsey family ( Cindy Marra )

In a statement, Chief Steve Redfearn said: The killing of JonBenet was an unspeakable crime and this tragedy has never left our hearts. We are committed to following up on every lead and we are continuing to work with DNA experts and our law enforcement partners around the country until this tragic case is solved. This investigation will always be a priority for the Boulder Police Department.

Boulder police wouldnt play ball with Berlingers team, either.

They wouldnt officially sit down, and they wouldnt reveal any information; nor have they revealed much information to the Ramseys, Berlinger says. Our belief, until were told otherwise, is not much has been done, and there are advances in DNA technology that demand that they take action.

And there is a good likelihood that this crime can be solved. There are old items that were tested that need to be retested. There were old items sent to the crime lab that were never tested.

Putting it bluntly, Berlinger says: Lets get some action finally. Lets dismiss all these crazy conspiracy theories that defy logic.

Lets focus on the fact that there can be some DNA tested, and it could possibly lead to finding out who the killer is.
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A Connecticut couple has been arrested for allegedly stealing $1 million in Lululemon products in a three-month span.

Jadion Richards, 44, and Akwele Lawes-Richards, 45, were arrested earlier this month in Woodbury, Minnesota and each charged with one felony count of organized retail theft, court documents show.

The alarm sounded at Lululemon in Roseville, Minnesota on November 14 when the couple left the store, prompting employees to call police about the couple potentially shoplifting, a probable cause statement says.

The couple denied the shoplifting claims, Richards said he was being racially profiled and accused employees of setting the alarm off on purpose. The alarm didnt go off when they exited the store for the second time, and they drove off in a rented Hyundai Tucson.

At some point, the responding officer realized that the day prior, he had received a text from a Lululemon employee that a large theft had occurred involving three people  he later learned that theft involved Richards, Lawes-Richards and an unidentified man, the statement says.

A couple is accused of stealing $1 million in Lululemon products from September through November at stores across the country ( Getty Images )

An organized retail crime investigator for Lululemon said the trio are accused of stealing 45 items worth nearly $5,000 on November 13. The couple is responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in loss to the athleisure-wear store across the country by fraudulently returning stolen items to different Lululemon locations, the investigator said.

When arrested the next day at a Woodbury Lululemon, officers recovered a wallet with different credit and debit cards that Richards had concealed in his buttocks, the filing says. He also had a key card for a room at JW Marriott in Bloomington.

Hotel staff checked three of 12 suitcases in his room to see who they belonged to, finding each contained Lululemon clothing with their tags still attached, the document states.

After obtaining a search warrant, investigators recovered the suitcases, estimating that they held Lululemon clothes worth more than $50,000.

From September through November, the couple is accused of committing thefts in Minnesota, Colorado, New York, Connecticut and Utah; they are accused of stealing more than $30,000 from Lululemon stores in Minnesota and at least $32,000 in Colorado.

The group worked together using specific organized retail crime tactics such as blocking and distraction of associates to commit large thefts, the filing says.

For example, in Colorado, the duo held up coats and jackets as if they were eying them, but were in reality blocking the view of staff and other customers while they concealed the items and removed their security sensors, according to the court document.

Typically Richards would walk into the store first, purchase a few cheap items with his credit card, and go back out to the sales floor where he and Lawes-Richards would remove a security tag from another item and instead place it onto a recently purchased item.

Lawes-Richards and an unidentified woman then concealed the items in their jackets or under their shirts, the filing says.

The women then led the group out of the store. When the security tags set off the alarms, Richards, in the back, would stop and show Lululemon the bag with his purchased items as the women left the store unscathed.

The total loss to Lululemon from Richards, Lawes-Richards and their group is close to $1 million, the investigator said, according to the filing.

They were being held at Ramsey County Jail until they were released after Richards posted $100,000 bail on November 21 and Lawes-Richards posted $30,000 bail on November 19, court documents show.

They are next due to appear in court on December 16.

Lululemons vice president of asset protection, Tristen Shields, told NBC News in a statement that the company is committed to creating a safe and secure environment.

This outcome continues to underscore our ongoing collaboration with law enforcement and our investments in advanced technology, team training and investigative capabilities to combat retail crime and hold offenders accountable, Shields continued. We remain dedicated to continuing these efforts to address and prevent this industry-wide issue.
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A California judge has postponed the highly-anticipated resentencing hearing of the Menendez brothers to January 2025.

The hearing to decide whether Erik and Lyle Menendez should be given a chance at parole nearly 30 years after they were convicted of gunning down their parents at their Beverly Hills mansion was originally scheduled for December 11, but now will be January 30-31.

Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic said Monday at a status hearing that he needed more time to review the case and said he wants to give the newly elected Los Angeles district attorney Nathan Hochman enough time to get up to speed.

The brothers are serving life in prison without parole for the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.

Defense attorneys previously argued at trial that they had been sexually abused by their father, while prosecutors denied that and accused them of killing their parents for money.

At the hearing on Monday, members of the Menendez family, including the sisters of the brothers mother Kitty and father Jose, were in attendance and allowed to testify due to their declining health.

It breaks my heart that my sister Kitty knew what was happening and did nothing about it, that we knew of, Joan VanderMolen, Kitty Menendez 92-year-old sister, told the court.

They never knew if tonight would be the night they would be raped. I love Erik and Lyle and its time for them to come home. No child should have to endure what Lyle and Erik had to at the hands of their father.

open image in gallery Erik and Lyle Menendez's aunt Joan VanderMolen, center, arrives at a courthouse ( AP )

Over the years, several members of the Menendez family have lobbied for the brothers to be released, arguing they were victims of sexual abuse. The brothers 85-year-old aunt Terry Baralt also testified.

I feel 35 years is a long time, Baralt said. I think it is time for them to come home.

Two weeks before the elections, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon asked the court to reduce their sentences to 50 years to life, which would make them eligible for parole.

But he then lost the reelection to independent candidate Nathan Hochman, who will take office on December 2.

Hochman criticized Gascons handling of the case during the campaign, and has said that he will review the case with fresh eyes once he takes office.

While Mark Geragos, the attorney representing the brothers, was hoping to have his clients home by Thanksgiving or Christmas, he is now focused on the January court date.

Were hoping that by the end of that, or sometime sooner, that we will in fact get the brothers released, Geragos told reporters outside the courthouse after the hearing.

open image in gallery Erik Menendez, left, and Lyle Menendez, right, have been in prison for 28 years ( AP )

A massive crowd gathered outside of the Van Nuys courthouse early Monday, hoping to be one of the 16 people allowed to attend the first court appearance in decades by the brothers.

Erik and Lyle, who are now 53 and 56, were expected to appear via remote feed from the Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego where they are incarcerated. It wouldve been the first public appearance for the brothers in 28 years.

But due to a technical glitch, the brothers did not appear virtually and Geragos waived their right to appear while the court addressed scheduling.

The highly-anticipated status hearing comes a month after the brothers filed a habeas corpus petition for a review of new evidence of their fathers alleged sexual abuse that was not presented at trial. Two pieces of evidence are at the center of the brothers petition.

The first is evidence which includes a letter Erik Menendez wrote in 1988 to his uncle Andy Cano, describing the sexual abuse he had endured from his father. The brothers asked their lawyers about it after it was mentioned in a 2015 Barbara Walters television special.

The lawyers hadnt known of the letter and realized it had not been introduced at their trials, making it effectively new evidence that they say corroborates allegations that Erik was sexually abused by his father.

open image in gallery Tammi Menendez, center, the wife of Eric Menendez, is hugged by an unidentified woman as she leaves a courthouse on Monday ( AP )

Another piece of new evidence emerged when Roy Rossello, a former member of the Latin pop group Menudo, recently came forward saying he had been drugged and raped by Jose Menendez, the boys father, when he was a teen in the 1980s. Menudo was signed under RCA Records, where Jose Menendez was chief operating officer.

Rossello spoke about his abuse in the Peacock docuseries Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed and provided a signed declaration to the brothers lawyers.

Had these two pieces of evidence been available during the brothers trial, prosecutors would not have been able to argue that there was no corroboration of sexual abuse, or that their father Jose Menendez was not the kind of man that would abuse children, the petition argues.

The recent releases of the Netflix drama Monsters: Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and the documentary The Menendez Brothers in 2024 brought renewed public attention to their plight.

open image in gallery California Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week that he wont decide until incoming Los Angeles district attorney Nathan Hochman reviews the case ( AP1990 )

Prosecutors recommended resentencing for the brothers last month, saying they have worked on redemption and rehabilitation and demonstrated good behavior inside prison.

Immediate freedom is one possible result; the judge also might weigh in on the merits of the evidence. And if the brothers dont get relief in court, they can hope Californias governor will grant them clemency.

While clemency might be another pathway to freedom for the brothers, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week that he wont decide until incoming Los Angeles district attorney Nathan Hochman reviews the case.

Before I can make any decision about the Menendez brothers case, I will need to become thoroughly familiar with the relevant facts, the evidence and the law, Hochman said in a statement.
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A judge will decide Monday whether new evidence warrants a re-examination of the convictions of Erik and Lyle Menendez in the shotgun murders of their parents in their Beverly Hills home more than 30 years ago.

The brothers were found guilty of murdering Jose and Kitty Menendez in 1989 and sentenced to life in prison without parole. While their defense attorneys argued at trial that they had been sexually abused by their father, prosecutors denied that and accused them of killing their parents for money. In the years that followed, they repeatedly appealed their convictions without success.

Now, at 53 and 56, Erik and Lyle Menendez are making a new bid for freedom. Their lawyers filed a habeas corpus petition  a request for a court to examine whether someone is being lawfully detained  in May 2023, asking a judge to consider new evidence of their father's sexual abuse. Newly discovered evidence directly supports the defense presented at trial, the petition said.

The recent releases of the Netflix drama  Monsters: Lyle and Erik Menendez Story  and the documentary The Menendez Brothers" in 2024 brought renewed public attention to their plight. Members of the public will be given the opportunity to win a seat in the courtroom to catch a glimpse of the brothers, who will be appearing virtually.

Prosecutors recommended resentencing for the brothers last month, saying they have worked on redemption and rehabilitation and demonstrated good behavior inside prison.

A judge will decide Monday whether new evidence warrants a re-examination of the convictions of Erik and Lyle Menendez ( AP )

Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon held a news conference less than two weeks before Election Day, asking for new sentences of 50 years to life. This could make them immediately eligible for parole because they were less than 26 years old when they killed their parents.

Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic is scheduled to consider the resentencing request on Dec. 11, but on Monday, he'll first address the abuse evidence raised in the habeas petition. Immediate freedom is one possible result; the judge also might weigh in on the merits of the evidence. And if the brothers dont get relief in court, they can hope Californias governor will grant them clemency.

The new evidence includes a letter Erik Menendez wrote in 1988 to his uncle Andy Cano, describing the sexual abuse he had endured from his father. The brothers asked their lawyers about it after it was mentioned in a 2015 Barbara Walters television special. The lawyers hadn't known of the letter and realized it had not been introduced at their trials, making it effectively new evidence that they say corroborates allegations that Erik was sexually abused by his father.

More new evidence emerged when Roy Rossello, a former member of the Latin pop group Menudo, recently came forward saying he had been drugged and raped by Jose Menendez, the boys father, when he was a teen in the 1980s. Menudo was signed under RCA Records, where Jose Menendez was chief operating officer.

Rossello spoke about his abuse in the Peacock docuseries Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed," and provided a signed declaration to the brothers lawyers.

Had these two pieces of evidence been available during the brothers' trial, prosecutors would not have been able to argue that there was no corroboration of sexual abuse, or that their father Jose Menendez was not the kind of man that would abuse children, the petition argues.

While clemency might be another pathway to freedom for the brothers, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week that he won't decide until incoming Los Angeles district attorney Nathan Hochman reviews the case. Hochman, a Republican-turned-Independent who unseated the progressive Gascon on Dec. 2, has said he wants to carefully look at the evidence before making any decisions.
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A 73-year-old man fell to his death after trying to escape home invaders by going through the window of his sixth-floor Manhattan apartment, police say.

Early Saturday morning, a man broke into a Washington Heights apartment through a window after scaling a fire escape before letting two accomplices in through the front door, the New York Police Department said in a statement.

Two men were in the 161st Street apartment at the time: 73-year-old Jacinto Remigio and his 40-year-old son.

The invaders tied up the 40-year-old, who was not injured, and stole an $8,000 gold chain and $200 in cash, according to police. During this, Remigio tried to escape through a window.

open image in gallery Three men broke into a Manhattan apartment on Saturday morning, the New York Police Department said. The men allegedly tied up a 40-year-old as his father tried to escape through his apartment window. ( AFP via Getty Images )

Heriberto Garcia, who said he was friends with Remigio for decades, told NBC News he witnessed the attempted escape.

Garcia said the man fell after he climbed out of the window, got out onto a small ledge to reach another window and was stopped by an air-conditioning unit. He fell 30 minutes after the three men broke into the apartment, CBS News reports.

The 73-year-old was pronounced dead at Harlem Hospital Center.

Richard Ramsundarsingh, who lives two floors below Remigios apartment, told CBS News the home invasion woke him up.

"There was a loud bang early in the morning," Ramsundarsingh said. "I heard the sound. You think its the neighborhood."

"Two flights down. What if they had stopped on this floor? Or the floor before or somebody else? God knows what couldve happened. Its kind of scary now," he added. "When you think about it, its only two floors up, and you have no idea that someone just lost their life two floors up. It goes to show one minute youre here and the next minute youre gone."

The three burglary suspects, all men, are being sought by the NYPD after they fled.

The NYPD told The Independent there are no further updates as of late Monday morning.
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A sorority at Dartmouth College and two members of a fraternity are facing charges related to the death of a student who drowned after attending an off-campus party this summer.

Won Jang, 20, of Middletown, Delaware, had been reported missing in July after the party. State and local emergency responders searched the Connecticut River and found his body.

On Friday, police in Hanover, New Hampshire, where Dartmouth is located, announced that Alpha Phi has been charged with one count of facilitating an underage alcohol house. Two members of the Beta Alpha Omega were charged with providing alcohol to a person under 21.

open image in gallery A sorority and two frat members have been charged over the drowning death of Won Jang, a 20-year-old Dartmouth student. ( LinkedIn )

The party was hosted by Alpha Phi sorority and alcohol was provided by Beta Alpha Omega. Most of those at the party were under 21. At the end of the party, police said several attendees decided to swim in the river. While at the river, a heavy rainstorm hit and most people left. Jang, whose family told authorities he could not swim, was left behind.

At the time of the incident, Dartmouth suspended the sorority and fraternity and those suspensions remain in effect. Jang was a member of Beta Alpha Omega.

"Dartmouth has long valued the contributions that Greek organizations bring to the student experience, when they are operating within their stated values and standards," the college said in a statement. "These organizations, as well as all Dartmouth students and community members, have a responsibility to ensure Dartmouth remains a safe, respectful, equitable, and inclusive community for students, faculty, and staff."

No one from Alpha Phi could be reached for comment.
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Amid an ongoing battle royal with hip-hop icon Kendrick Lamar , Canadian rapper Drake now claims their shared record label secretly gamed the system to artificially inflate his avowed rivals most recent diss track, in which Lamar accuses the former child star of being a certified pedophile, while suppressing his own music.

In an eyepopping court filing obtained by The Independent, Drake , born Aubrey Drake Graham, says Universal Music Group (UMG) used a network of bots, in conjunction with a so-called pay-to-play scheme, to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves with Lamars smash hit song  Not Like Us , all to Drakes detriment.

The filing accuses UMG, which has deals with both performers, of paying Spotify to recommend Not Like Us to users who are searching for other unrelated songs and artists, claiming the label also paid Apple to have Siri purposely misdirect users requesting songs from Drakes catalog, serving up Not Like Us in its place. UMGs ploy, the filing argues, created the false impression that the Song was more popular than it was in reality. Making matters even stickier, Drake says in the filing that UMG has tried to hide its alleged propping up of Lamar at Drakes expense by terminating employees associated with or perceived as having loyalty to Drake.

open image in gallery Kendrick Lamar has been locked in a battle with Drake for years ( Getty Images )

According to the filing  a petition by Drake and his company, Frozen Moments LLC, asking the court to order UMG and Spotify to preserve all relevant documents and communications in advance of a pending lawsuit  UMG has so far refused to engage with Drake over the issue, instead pointing the finger at Lamar and telling Drake to sue Lamar, not UMG.

But a source from Drakes camp said on Monday, shortly after the petition was filed in New York State Supreme Court, that Drake is upset with UMGs allegedly shady business practices, not Lamar or his lyrics. (Drake has hit back at Lamar with his own tracks, calling the Compton rapper a domestic abuser and casting doubt on the paternity of his child.) Further, the source told The Independent, if Drake is successful at tamping down wrongdoing throughout the industry, the result could help protect other, less well-known artists from future exploitation.

In an email, a UMG spokesman said, The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue. We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.

Spotify declined to comment. The attorneys representing Drake declined to comment on the record for this story.

UMG was one of Spotifys earliest supporters, inking a multi-year global licensing agreement with the streaming giant in 2020, Drakes court filing states. It cites UMGs financial reporting, which showed some $2.3 billion in earnings from Spotify in 2023, accounting for nearly 20 percent of the labels revenues.

open image in gallery Spotify streams are at the center of a legal filing by Drake, who contends his label has shown preference to rival Kendrick Lamar ( AFP via Getty Images )

In May of this year, with streaming so important to its bottom line, UMG did not rely on chance, or even ordinary business practices, to achieve success with Lamars latest release, according to the filing.

It instead launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves with a song, Not Like Us, in order to make that song go viral, including by using bots and pay-to-play agreements, the filing states, claiming UMG charged Spotify 30 percent less than its usual licensing rates in exchange for Spotify pushing recommendations for Not Like Us to users who are searching for other unrelated songs and artists.

Neither UMG nor Spotify disclosed that Spotify had received compensation of any kind in exchange for recommending the Song, the filing contends, claiming that such practices contravene the Communications Act of 1934.

In June, a whistleblower revealed on a podcast that Lamars label had paid him to set up a bot network that would generate 30 million streams on Spotify in the first few days after the May 3 release of Not Like Us, according to the filing. The leaker claimed he had been promised a cash payment plus a percentage of the songs sales in exchange for his help. The filing says UMG also paid to quietly inflate the number of views Lamars Not Like Us video received, paid traditional radio stations for extra airplay, and claims the labels alleged under-the-table streaming deals extended beyond Spotify.

Online sources reported that when users asked Siri to play the album Certified Loverboy by recording artist Aubrey Drake Graham d/b/a Drake, Siri instead played Not Like Us, which contains the lyric certified pedophile, an allegation against Drake, the filing states.

open image in gallery Drake claims his streams have been suppressed beyond Spotify, extending all the way to Siri recomendations ( Getty Images for The Recording A )

UMG, additionally, paid social media influencers to promote and endorse Lamars song, without either side disclosing the financial arrangement, according to the filing, which says the arrangement generated nearly 900 million streams on Spotify for Not Like Us, a record for the most streams ever in a single day for a hip-hop song, and the most-streamed diss track in Spotify history. The song was also a massive hit on radio, and became the best-selling rap song of 2024, the filing states. The motivation behind UMGs schemes, according to Drakes filing, was entirely financial. It claims the colossal success of Not Like Us has, in turn, juiced sales of Lamars back catalog, making even more money for UMG.

Drakes filing even alleges that he has received information that UMG has been taking steps in an apparent effort to conceal its schemes, including, but not limited to, by terminating employees associated with or perceived as having loyalty to Drake.

Streaming and licensing is a zero-sum game, the filing concludes. Every time a song breaks through, it means another artist does not. UMGs choice to saturate the music market with Not Like Us comes at the expense of its other artists, like Drake.

Last month, nu-metal band Limp Bizkit sued UMG , claiming the label has not paid them despite their songs being streamed more than half a billion times.

Drake is accusing UMG and Spotify of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), as well as the NY Deceptive Business Act and the NY False Advertising Act.
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Hannah Kobayashi, the Hawaiian woman who disappeared after missed a connecting flight in Los Angeles, has been found safe and sound, her family has revealed.

The 30-year-old from Maui first went missing on November 8 while traveling from the Pacific island state to New York City via LA for what she described as a bucket list trip.

Her family launched a desperate search to find her, flocking to LA, handing out flyers and keeping her story in the public eye. Police later declared her a voluntary missing person, saying that she had been captured on surveillance footage walking across the USs southern border into Mexico.

But the mystery has now reached a positive conclusion.

We are incredibly relieved and grateful that Hannah has been found safe, the family said in a statement to KABC on December 11.

This past month has been an unimaginable ordeal for our family, and we kindly ask for privacy as we take the time to heal and process everything we have been through.

We want to express our heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported us during this difficult time. Your kindness and concern have meant the world to us.

Heres everything we know about the case.

Where was she going?

Kobayashi, a photographer and aspiring DJ, departed her hometown of Maui, Hawaii, on November 8 to visit her aunt in New York City. She described the trip in her hand-written itinerary as bucket list dreams become reality.

She had initially planned the trip with her ex-boyfriend but they had since broken up. As the trip was already planned, the pair planned to travel on the same flight and go their separate ways once they landed at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York.

open image in gallery Hannah Kobayashi went missing on November 8 when she failed to board a connecting flight at LAX ( midorieve/Instagram )

Kobayashis aunt, Geordan Montalvo, planned to go to a show with her niece in New York on the evening of November 12.

But the pair touched down at LAX for a 42-minute layover and, while her ex-boyfriend made it to the final destination, Kobayashi missed the connection.

Her ex-boyfriend helped police with their inquiries to try to find Kobayashi.

Where was she last seen before disappearing?

A photo of Kobayashi appeared to show her getting off the flight at the Los Angeles airport on November 8.

The next day she was spotted at a Taschen bookstore at The Grove shopping center in the Fairfax area of LA. Her family said they do not know why.

A video posted on YouTube On Sunday November 10 showed Kobayashi at the LeBron XXII Trial Experience, an event held at the Nike store, also at The Grove. A photo of the event also appeared to have been posted on her Instagram account.

A day later on November 11, surveillance video around a downtown Los Angeles Metro train station near the Crypto.com arena showed her with an unknown person. Her family said she did not appear to be in good condition in the footage.

On December 2, police said in a statement that Kobayashi was seen collecting her luggage from a carousel at LAX on November 11.

The next day, she purchased a bus ticket from Union Station to San Ysidro, California  close to the Mexican border. She then crossed over the border into Mexico by foot soon after, the LAPD said. She was alone and was carrying her belongings.

open image in gallery Surveillance footage shows Hannah Kobayashi arriving at Los Angeles International Airport on November 8 ( Sydni Kobayashi/Facebook )

The LAPDs missing persons unit then traveled to the US-Mexico border to review the footage with the US Customs and Border Protection.

Based on the footage, law enforcement believe Kobayashi went missing of her own accord and so the LAPD said it would not be continuing its investigation in Mexico.

To date, the investigation has not uncovered any evidence that Kobayashi is being trafficked or is the victim of foul play, the LAPD said in the statement.

She is also not a suspect in any criminal activity.

Suspicious payments

Prior to the sighting at the border, police had been investigating a pair of payments she made over Venmo to a man and woman on November 9.

One of the payments was sent at 6.25pm to a woman named Veronica Almendarez and was labeled with a bow-and-arrow emoji, according to The US Sun.

open image in gallery The 30-year-old missed her connecting flight to New York on November 8 ( Sydni Kobayashi/Facebook )

Less than an hour later, at 7.19pm, Kobayashi made a second payment to a man named Jonathan Taylor with the subject line reading.

That payment was reportedly for a tarot card reading, sources familiar with the investigation told the outlet.

Weird texts

During the search for the missing 30-year-old, the Kobayashi family spoke out about unusual messages they had been sent from her phone.

The family said they received a strange and cryptic text from her phone suggesting she was being intercepted while she was boarding a Metro train, and expressing fear that someone was trying to steal her identity.

Once the family started pressing, she went dark, Pidgeon previously told the Associated Press. She said the phone just went dead after November 11.

That day, her mother texted her asking whether she made it to New York, to which the daughter responded she hadnt.

open image in gallery A flyer with information on Hannah Kobayashi displayed in Los Angeles last month ( AP )

Kobayashi later texted a friend, writing: Deep Hackers wiped my identity, stole all of my funds, & have had me on a mind f*** since Friday.

Another message said: I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds, followed by one saying, For someone I thought I love.

A third message a friend received from Kobayashis number said she had been tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds to someone I thought I loved.

Her sister Sydni Kobayashi spoke of her familys fears that someone is controlling her, saying that strange text messages were absolutely not like her.

The text messages used words like hun, love and babe, words that Kobayashi would not use, her sister old HawaiiNewsNow.

Tragic death of her father

In fresh heartache for the family, Kobayashis dad Ryan Kobayashi was found dead near LAX in the early hours of November 24, police said.

The 58-year-olds death was ruled a suicide.

Ryan Kobayashi had traveled to LA to join the search for his daughter.

Just a few days before he died, he was handing out missing persons flyers in the city and said he would do everything in his power to find her.

Were just trying to get us as much information as we can, he previously told HawaiiNewsNow. Want to get the word out... has anyone seen my daughter?

open image in gallery Hannahs dad Ryan Kobayashi was found dead in Los Angeles ( Fox News )

He added: Shes a wonderful person who brings joy to so many people.

Sydni Kobayashi told NewsNation that her father fought until his last breath to find Hannah.

While Kobayashis aunt told People that the family believes the father was overwhelmed during the search and suffered a mental health emergency.

He died of a broken heart, Pigeon said. I think it just became so overwhelming for [Ryan] driving the streets, going to Skid Row and seeing where his daughter could possibly have ended up.

A secret marriage scam?

Los Angeles Magazine reported in early December that Kobayashi may have been involved in a green card marriage scam before she disappeared, which was reportedly unearthed by her mother when she discovered immigration documents at her daughters home.

The magazine said that Kobayashi may have been scammed out of money that involved her marrying an Argentinian man, citing sources.

The family didnt go public with their findings because they did not have the facts or the necessary documents to verify the information, they said in a statement.

The family has not confirmed the authenticity of the images or the accuracy of the information provided about a possible secret marriage, the statement shared by their lawyer Sara Azari said.

This is one of many leads we are actively investigating with the help of our attorney and investigative team.

Found safe and sound

On December 11, Kobayashi was finally located and her family was informed of the good news by the LAPD.

We have not seen her and at this point we have no reason to compel her to see us, Lieutenant Doug Oldfield of the departments missing persons unit told People.

Its a big news story so she may decide to come with a lawyer, but she is not obligated to speak to us.

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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Watch outside court as Erik and Lyle Menendez appear in court for the first time in 28 years after the shotgun murders of their parents.

A judge will decide if the discovery of new evidence warrants a re-examination of the brothers convictions.

In 1989, the brothers were found guilty of murdering their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez and sentenced to life without parole. Throughout the previous trial, the brothers defense attorney argued that the brothers had been facing years of sexual abuse by their father. However, prosecutors denied this allegation and instead accused them of murdering their parents for money.

In the years following their conviction, their lawyers had unsuccessfully been working to appeal the courts decision. Until March 2023, a habeas corpus petition was filed asking the judge to consider new evidence that supports the claims of sexual abuse inflicted by their father.

Their story has been dramatized in the 2022 Netflix docuseries Monsters, in which Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez play Erik and Lyle Menendez.
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The father of missing Maui woman Hannah Kobayashi has been found dead in Los Angeles as the desperate search for the 30-year-old continues.

Ryan Kobayashi, 58, was found dead in the early hours of Sunday in a parking lot near LAX airport, according to the Los Angeles Police Department, NBC Los Angeles reported. He is believed to have died by suicide.

Just a few days earlier, Ryan was handing out missing persons flyers to people in the streets of LA as he said he would do everything in his power to find his daughter.

Shes a wonderful person who brings joy to so many people, he told reporters at the time.

Ryan had traveled to LA to help search for his daughter, who has been missing since November 8 when she stopped over at Los Angeles International Airport on her way from Hawaii to New York City.

Hannah was set to meet her aunt Geordan Montalvo and her aunts husband Bob in New York and they all had tickets to go to a concert on November 12 together. The vacation was described as a bucket list trip.

open image in gallery Hannahs father Ryan Kobayashi was found dead in a parking lot near LAX, police said ( Fox News )

But, the 30-year-old missed her connecting flight at LAX on November 8.

The following day, she was spotted at a bookstore at The Grove, a popular outdoor mall in LA. One day later, she was seen at a LeBron James event.

On November 11, surveillance video captured her at a downtown Los Angeles Metro stop with a person not known to her family.

open image in gallery Hannah Kobayashi, 30, vanished while traveling from Hawaii to New York City ( Sydni Kobayashi/Facebook )

Larie Pidgeon, Hannahs aunt told KTLA 5 her niece did not look well. She is not safe, and she is not alone, she said.

Her family previously told the Daily Mail that police had waited 10 days after Hannah went missing to contact them as they condemned the slow-moving investigation.

Before she disappeared, Hannah had sent cryptic texts to a friend saying she had been tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds to someone I thought I loved.

Her sister, Sydni Kobayashi, described the texts as really weird. Hannah added that she was scared and couldnt come back home.

open image in gallery Hannah Kobayashi in security footage from LAX airport ( Facebook )

Then the texts suddenly stopped.

Hannah is 5ft 10ins and weighs about 140 pounds. She has brown hair and eyes, and fair skin with freckles.

The search for Hannah continues.

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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The Independents feature-length documentary, The A-Word, which exposes the devastating impact of Americas abortion bans, has screened in Nashville, Tennesseean abortion-ban state.

Audience members in the special closed screening described the film, that has been hailed by CNN and PBS as an unflinching look at the reproductive rights crisis in America, as incredibly moving and powerful essential viewing.

Among those in attendance were women who nearly died because of the bans, medics involved in landmark lawsuit challenging some of the countrys strictest restrictions, and representatives from reproductive rights and advocacy groups

Since the 2022 Supreme Court decision which overturned Roe v. Wade, 17 states have banned abortion entirely or severely restricted it, leaving tens of millions without careespecially in the South and Midwest. This investigative series and documentary from The Independent exposes the far-reaching implications of these bans on standard medical care in restrictive states, including delays for critically needed care and worsening health outcomes for mothers and families, particularly in Black communities.

The film  accompanied by an investigative series of stories  also delved into the anti-abortion movement, revealing how lawmakers in Republican-dominated states have funneled more than half a billion dollars in taxpayer funds to a multi-billion-dollar industry that steers women away from terminating their pregnancies via fake healthcare clinics.

There are concerns this will only worsen as President-Elect Donald Trump has repeatedly boasted about his role in overturning Roe V Wade and recently voted against measures in his home state of Florida to relax a punishing ban on abortion after six-weeks.

Official trailer: The A-Word | An Independent TV Documentary

Francie Hunt, Executive Director of Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood, said that The A-Word, is essential work to expose the dangers facing women in America. Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi co-hosted the event.

Desribing the film as incredibly moving, she said: The A-Word is a very honest portrayal of where Tennessee and America are in terms of the dangers facing our democracy and abortion rights.

In Tennessee, a huge Christian nationalist agenda... is using abortion and reproductive rights as a tool to divide our state and our nation for political purposes.

This is an age of misinformation and disinformation and the abuse of our voice for political purposes. I think we need to continue to stand up. Films like this one will help elevate the message that our bodies are our own and that without control of our bodies, we cant truly be free.

Heather Maune, an OB/GYN in Tennessee and a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights aiming to challenge the states crippling bans, said the film was beautiful and vital to educating the public about the impact on health care.It represents the struggle were in, in Tennessee. As a physician here, it is very near to my heart that the strife and struggle these women are going through is told. In their own words, its even more powerful.

She said she was particularly struck by the story of Breanna Cecil, a mother who had a non-viable pregnancy, had to travel out of state for an abortion and ended up contracting a life-threatening infection which has impacted her ability to conceive. Breanna was also in the audience.Ive heard several stories like hers... These tragedies will continue until we stop legislating this procedure in ways that prevent medical professionals from taking care of their patients, she added.

The new 40-minute documentary from Chief International Correspondent Bel Trew screened at a women-run Anzie Blue event space in Tennessees capital just weeks after Donald Trump secured a decisive victory at the polls, capturing the support of the countrys evangelicals, who have repeatedly petitioned for a nationwide abortion ban.

Although President-elect Trump has said he would not sign a federal ban, the Center for Reproductive Rights told The Independent they are concerned the incoming administration and an emboldened Republican-dominated Congress could encroach on freedom in other ways.

For example, by deciding to misuse or misinterpret the 150-year-old Comstock Act to ban the mailing of anything that could be used to terminate a pregnancy.

This year, the team traveled across America, meeting women like Nicole Blackmon, a mother from Alabama forced to endure a life-threatening pregnancy, and doctors like Laura Andreson, who risks prosecution to help her patients. The documentary also highlights the efforts of Christian nationalists pushing for federal bans and restrictions on abortion and IVF.

open image in gallery Dr Andreson, who appeared in The A-Word and is part of a lawsuit challenging Tennessees abortion bans attends the A-Word screening with Jackie, who also appeared in the documentary ( Bel Trew )

Dr. Andreson, a Democrat who ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Tennessee House and is also part of the Center for Reproductive Rights lawsuit in Tennessee, co-hosted the screening on Tuesday with the local chapter of Planned Parenthood.

She said the film and the screening were what builds us back up amid concerns that Trump will seek to restrict abortion access nationwide.

She said: This is whats going to give us the energy to move forward and keep fighting. I also think that if things go really, really wrong, were going to need each other. It feels good to have this community gather after the election and know that youre not alone, and to know that what youve donewhat you did leading up to this electionmattered. It mattered to those around you.

open image in gallery The A-Word screened in Nashville Tennessee ( Bel Trew )

Breanna Cecil, a mother who was left partially infertile after having to travel for an abortion when her pregnancy was nonviable, said the film, in which she shares her devastating story, was hard watching but really important.

Breanna, who is now exploring IVF after a harrowing hospital stay, said that under the bans she is terrified to get pregnant again.

I wish [the film] could be plastered on the walls everywhere for everyone to see. Instead of just one news segment, Im hoping that more people can pick it up and show it, she added.

Jackie Yount, another mother featured in The A-Word, described being left to bleed in an emergency room during a miscarriage because, under the restrictions, doctors were forced to wait until the babys heartbeat stopped. Jackie, who had been pregnant during the filming, brought her newborn to the screening.Im just so thankful that youve taken the time to put this together.

And for so many people to come forward and talk about their experiences, she said. I have two daughters, and I want my girls to have the healthcare that I dont currently have. The whole goal here is to make sure they have a better future.
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President-elect Donald Trumps eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, has reportedly emerged as the most influential figure in his transition team, encouraging his father to nominate often controversial personnel to top cabinet posts regardless of their qualifications or experience relevant to the role.

The incoming 47th president is known to value loyalty above all else and prefers to keep matters within the family, although which of his children hold the biggest sway tends to vary.

While his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner were prominent advisers during his first term, Don Jr is currently the most commanding voice in his fathers ear at Mar-a-Lago this time around, Reuters reported.

It was Don Jr who urged the former president to pick Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate during this years presidential campaign. Despite Vances past comments about childless cat ladies sparking controversy during the election campaign, the two candidates together beat the Democrats to clinch victory on election night.

Now, Don Jr is understood to have flexed his muscles most recently by blocking Trumps former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from rejoining his second administration, having taken exception to the latter since his fathers first term.

The reality this time is we actually know what were doing, Don Jr told Fox News earlier this month when asked about the transition process.

And its about surrounding my father with people who are both competent and loyal.

In addition to ensuring candidates are willing to bend the knee, Don Jr is seeking out contenders who embrace an anti-establishment worldview, including protectionist economic policies, and who believe in cutting down military interventions and overseas aid.

Not all of his recommendations have been taken up, however, with Trump preferring Florida Senator Marco Rubio for secretary of state over Richard Grenell, who was previously his ambassador to Germany and a firm favorite of his son.

President-elect Donald Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr at the election night watch party in Florida. Don Jr has emerged as the biggest familial influence during the transition ( AP )

And at least two of Don Jrs personal picks for the cabinet, health secretary nominee Robert F Kennedy Jr and national intelligence director nominee Tulsi Gabbard, are expected to endure rocky confirmation hearings in the Senate and be grilled over past controversies.

Kennedy is an environmental activist who has spread misinformation on vaccines while Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman, has implied that Russian President Vladimir Putin had valid grounds for invading Ukraine and raised eyebrows when she met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the midst of his bloody crackdown on dissidents in 2017.

Should either or both be blocked from taking office, Don Jr could find his standing diminished accordingly, although he recently hinted to Fox Business that Trumps transition team has back-up plans in place should that occur.

The rise of Susie Wiles from Trump campaign manager to White House chief of staff has also meant that the former president is no longer quite so dependent on his family for counsel as he once was, Wiles having managed to instil a greater degree of order and discipline within his operation than was evident prior to her arrival.

Stuff is really buttoned down, a member of Trumps current team told Reuters of her impact.

He may not need the family this time like he used to.

Rather than join the administration in an official capacity himself, Don Jr is due to join conservative venture capital fund 1789 Capital once his father is sworn into the Oval Office on January 20.

But he will reportedly continue to host his politics-themed podcast, popular with the MAGA movement, and advise his father on an informal basis.
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Elon Musk has shared his own disbelief that the government efficiency department Donald Trump tapped him to lead is real.

The worlds richest man and SpaceX owner, who holds billions of dollars in government contracts through his companies, appeared to mock the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in a post on X.

I still cant believe @DOGE is real, he said, followed by two laughing emojis.

But I think its actually going to work, he added.

Musk will head up the newly-created department in Trumps second administration alongside venture capitalist Vivek Ramaswamy.

Under Musk, the new office  which will operate outside of government  will advise on gutting federal departments and which staff should be fired if it deems they are a massive waste.

MAGA congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has also been tapped to chair a House subcommittee that will work in tandem with DOGE.

open image in gallery Musk, who holds billions in government contracts through his companies, will take up the advisory role in Trumps administration ( AP )

The panel will recommend firing government bureaucrats and will provide transparency and truth to the American people through hearings, according to Greene.

It will operate under the House Oversight Committee, chaired by Republican congressman James Comer of Kentucky.

When he announced the new department earlier this month, Trump vowed that Musk and Ramaswamy would pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.

The president-elect characterized the department as an advisory board that will provide guidance outside of government.

This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people! Musk said off the back of the announcement.

In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, Musk and Ramaswamy said they want to reduce annual federal spending by at least $500 billion.

open image in gallery Elon Musk shared his own disbelief about DOGE in a post on X ( @elonmusk/X )

They specified they would cut $1.5 billion earmarked for international organizations, another $535 million to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds hundreds of locally owned public radio and television stations, and another $300 million for progressive groups like Planned Parenthood.

Musk has said he would recommend cutting the nations budget by at least $2 trillion  or roughly one-third.

The Tesla CEO spoke about his intentions to slash federal spending and the potential impacts of the plans on the campaign trail.

At a virtual town hall event on October 26, Musk warned that if Trump was reelected, their plans for the economy would likely call for temporary hardship for Americans.

We have to reduce spending to live within our means, Musk said at the time. And, you know, that necessarily involves some temporary hardship, but it will ensure long-term prosperity.
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President-elect Donald Trump has endorsed Floridas Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis to replace Matt Gaetz in the US House of Representatives.

Gaetz stepped down from his seat in the House earlier this month after Trump nominated him to lead the Department of Justice. He withdrew his bid for attorney general last week as allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug mounted. The House Ethics Committee was reportedly set to release a highly damaging report on their investigation into these allegations just two days after Gaetz resigned.

The committees investigation is now over given Gaetzs resignation. They also have not released the report, despite pressure from lawmakers. Gaetz, who has denied all wrongdoing, said he would not return to Congress.

Now, Trump has announced his favorite pick to replace Gaetz.

open image in gallery Jimmy Patronis, picture speaking at a Republican rally, has served as Floridas CFO since 2017 ( Getty Images )

A fourth generation Floridian from the beautiful Panhandle, and owner of an iconic seafood restaurant, Jimmy has been a wonderful friend to me, and to MAGA, Trump wrote on Truth Social. As your next Congressman, Jimmy would work tirelessly alongside of me to Grow our Economy, Secure our Border, Stop Migrant Crime, Strengthen our Incredible Military/Vets, Restore American Energy DOMINANCE, and Defend our always under siege Second Amendment.

Should he decide to enter this Race, Jimmy Patronis has my Complete and Total Endorsement, he added. RUN, JIMMY, RUN!

Patronis resigned as Floridas CFO on Monday afternoon and declared he intends to run for Gaetz seat. He also responded to Trumps endorsement on X: Put me to work, Mr. President. @realDonaldTrump I am here to serve.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis set dates for the seats special election on Friday. The primary election will take place on January 28, and Gaetzs successor will be elected on April 1.

Patronis, a long-time ally to the president-elect, has served as Floridas CFO since 2017. He is married with two children and owns a seafood restaurant in Panama City.

In January, the CFO promoted a state bill that would have helped Trump, whose Mar-a-Lago residence is in Florida, pay his mounting legal fees.

The Freedom Fighters Fund would have provided up to $5 million in financial support to Florida residents running for President who face legal, partisan, political attacks by the Department of Justice or State Attorneys, The Washington Post reported.

The bill was ultimately withdrawn earlier this year after DeSantis threatened to veto it.

Meanwhile, Gaetz could be considering new career options. The team at Newsmax, a right-wing media network, has made it clear they would like Gaetz to jump on board and potentially host his own show, The Independent reported last week.

The former lawmaker also joined Cameo, a platform where users can pay celebrities to create personalized videos.

I have joined cameo, Gaetz previously told The Independent. I hope to bring people joy.
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Some Republican senators are privately hoping that other controversial Trump cabinet nominees will follow Matt Gaetzs lead and drop out of the running, according to a report.

Gaetz bowed out of consideration to be Donald Trumps attorney general last Thursday following intense scrutiny over resurfaced sexual allegations from his past. The former congressman said he was unfairly becoming a distraction to the Trump administrations agenda.

Now some GOP lawmakers are turning their attention to Trumps cabinet picks of Pete Hegseth, tapped for defense secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr for health and human services secretary and Linda McMahon as education secretary, the Hill reports.

Hegseth and Kennedy Jr are likely to face tough questions over sexual misconduct allegations, which they deny, at Senate hearings next year, while McMahon could be asked about accusations of failing to prevent the sexual abuse of teenage WWE workers.

My expectation, not just my hope, is that some of these people may be weeded out in the process before they ever get to a hearing, one Republican senator who requested anonymity told The Hill.

open image in gallery Trumps cabinet nominees face a grilling in the Senate hearings next year ( Getty Images )

A president should have some level of deference to who he or she wants in positions that surround them, but that doesnt mean its a free card. It doesnt mean theres nothing were supposed to do, the senator added. Thats why the Constitution matters. It gives us the chance to advise and consent. We just need to make sure we do our jobs.

A second GOP senator, who also remained anonymous, said that focus was shifting to Hegseth and Kennedy Jr. There are clear signals from my colleagues that theres more trouble than just with Gaetz, the lawmaker told the outlet.

They added that public hearings in which both Democrat and Republican senators interrogate nominees over sexual allegations would be awful for the Senate.

open image in gallery Pete Hegseth has been accused of sexual assault, which he denies ( REUTERS )

Hegseths nomination to head up the Pentagon is in jeopardy following an allegation of sexual assault from 2017, which he denies.

A newly released police report revealed previously unreported details about the alleged assault which took place after a Republican womens conference at the Hyatt Hotel in Monterey, California, on October 8, 2017.

The woman at the center of the allegation told police that Hegseth physically blocked the door to stop her from leaving his hotel room and took her phone away, before sexually assaulting her, according to the report, seen by The Independent.

open image in gallery Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration of Trumps attorney general ( REUTERS )

Hegseth has maintained that the encounter was consensual and, in the police report, he stated there was always conversation and always consensual contact between the two of them.

His lawyer said Hegseth paid the woman in 2023 to head off the threat of a baseless lawsuit. No charges were brought against him.

Republican Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said there was a lot floating around out there when asked about the allegation against Hegseth.

We need to actually be able to visit with him face-to-face, and I know the committee will do a thorough vetting, she told the Hill.

open image in gallery RFK Jr is embroiled in a sexual misconduct allegation, which he denies ( Getty Images )

Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, also a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the charges against Hegseth are concerning to say the least and added it may be that this is a president who doesnt consider those kinds of behaviors to be concerning.

Meanwhile, vaccine-skeptic Kennedy Jr is embroiled in a sexual misconduct allegation by a former live-in nanny. Eliza Cooney told Vanity Fair in July that she was hired by Kennedy Jr and his then-wife as a part-time babysitter in 1994 to look after the couples four children. The alleged incidents took place years later.

In one instance, she recalled him moving his hand up and down her leg under the table during a meeting in his kitchen. In the back of my mind, I was hoping it wasnt what it actually was, she told the outlet.

open image in gallery Linda McMahon and her husband are accused of failing to prevent the sexual abuse of teenage WWE workers ( AP )

In a separate encounter, she said a shirtless Kennedy Jr walked into her bedroom and asked him to rub lotion on his back. It was totally inappropriate, she told the magazine. At the time, Cooney was 23 and he was 45.

Kennedy Jr has never been charged with any crime in connection to this incident.

And McMahon, Trumps pick to lead the Department of Education, was accused in October of enabling sexual abuse that occurred at WWE, which she co-founded with her estranged husband Vince.

The civil lawsuit details allegations of sexual abuse of underage boys by ringside announcer Melvin Phillips. It accuses the McMahons of allowing a rampant culture of sexual abuse.

A lawyer for McMahon branded the allegations as false, and she, her husband and Phillips do not face criminal charges related to these claims.
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Special counsel Jack Smith has announced that he will be dropping both his 2020 election interference case and classified documents case against Donald Trump, following the president-elects victory.

The decision by the federal prosecutor was announced in two separate motions, filed on Monday.

In his motion to dismiss the federal election interference case, Smith wrote that there was precedent to not bring an indictment or proceedings against a sitting president. However, he stressed that the decision had been made due to the recommendations of the Justice Department rather than the strength of the case.

The (Justice) Departments position is that the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated, Smith wrote to Judge Tanya Chutkan in a six-page filing. This outcome is not based on the merits or strength of the case against the defendant.

That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Governments proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind.

open image in gallery Smith sought to hold Trump accountable for his actions after the 2020 election ( AFP via Getty Images )

The original indictment accused Trump of pushing false claims of voter fraud after the 2020 presidential election in an attempt to overturn results and return to power.

Prosecutors claimed Trump engaged in a so-called fake electors scheme to do so. Ultimately, his actions, according to Smith, inspired a mob of supporters to storm the Capitol on January 6.

Shortly after the first motion was filed on Monday, the Department announced it would also be abandoning the classified documents case appeal in Florida.

That case, also brought by Smith, emerged after an FBI raid on Trumps residence at Mar-a-Lago allegedly uncovered improperly stored boxes of classified documents, some containing matters related to national security. Photos in the indictment showed stacks of boxes stored in a bathroom that was publicly accessible.

Smith accused Trump, his aide Walt Nauta and property manager Carlos de Oliveira, of knowingly withholding the documents from the National Archives and failing to cooperate with authorities when they tried to obtain them.

All three pleaded not guilty and Trump remained adamant that he had the authority to keep the documents because he de-classified them before leaving office. Prosecutors disputed that, claiming Trump did not go through the formal process of doing so.

open image in gallery This undated image, released by the US District Court Southern District of Florida, attached as evidence in the indictment against former US president Donald Trump shows stacks of boxes in a bathroom and shower allegedly in the Lake Room at Mar-a-Lago, ( US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE/AFP via )

District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee tasked with overseeing the case, dismissed the case earlier this year, arguing that Smith was improperly appointed. Prosecutors were in the midst of appealing that ruling when Mondays motion was filed.

Smiths criminal pursuit of Trump over the last two years, with both the case over the attempt to subvert the 2020 presidential election and his mishandling of classified documents, marked the first time in American history that a former occupant of the White House faced federal criminal charges.

The saga also culminated in a landmark ruling from the Supreme Court earlier this summer, which stated that the president qualifies for some presidential immunity from criminal prosecution.

The motions to dismiss came earlier than expected, as Smith had been set to reveal how he planned to wind down the cases against Trump on December 2.

The President-elect has previously said that he would fire Smith from his position on his first day back in the Oval Office.

The American People re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate to Make America Great Again. Todays decision by the DOJ ends the unconstitutional federal cases against President Trump, and is a major victory for the rule of law, said Steven Cheung, Trumps Communications Director.

The American People and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country.
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The youngest child of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr didnt want Donald Trump to become the next president  but Dr Bernice King believes Trumps inauguration taking place on the same day as the federal holiday honoring her father is a small win.

Im glad that if it was going to happen, it happened on the King holiday, because Dr King is still speaking to us, she told The Independent. She sees the January 20 event as a wake-up call for the country and an opportunity to stand up to the incoming administrations charged agenda items.

We cannot retreat or recoil, King said. We have to commit ourselves to continuing the mission of protecting freedom, justice and democracy in the spirit of my father.

King had been excited about the prospect of seeing Vice President Kamala Harris, who is of Black and South Asian heritage, become the countrys first female president on MLK Day.

open image in gallery Bernice King looks up at her fathers memorial in Washington in August 2023, 60 years after the March on Washington ( Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )

Shed hoped the US would elect someone who embodied the values her father did. Not someone whos spewing hateful rhetoric, whos not been very kind-hearted and whose policies are not humane in their approach, as she described the president-elect.

She later added: A Trump win could potentially set in motion a perilous and oppressive presidential administration that would undermine and deny the hard-fought battle for civil and human rights for which my parents and so many others sacrificed.

Civil rights leaders like her are worried the incoming administration will attempt to scale back those rights. Trump has proposed a mass deportation plan, vowed to go after his enemies, and intends to implement discriminating federal policies against LGBTQIA+ people and people of color.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and NAACP have announced their commitment to fighting what may come next.

open image in gallery Chief Justice John Roberts, right, reads the oath of office to the former president at the ceremonial swearing-in at the US Capitol in 2013. Obama used Kings Bible in the ceremony ( Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

We are entering a new era of civil rights for better or worse, Gerald Griggs, president of the Georgia NAACP, said. We have not seen an assault on civil rights like I believe is about to happen since the 50s, maybe even the 20s.

The group is working to ensure Trumps power does not go unchecked by bolstering its legal and lobbying teams. Griggs said hes willing to give the president-elect a chance, but is concerned about some of his recent actions, like appointing former congressman Matt Gaetz as his pick for US attorney general. Gaetz withdrew himself from consideration on Thursday.

Under Trump, Griggs fears the Department of Justices civil rights division will be weaponized against minority groups.

We have to be ready right now, he said. We are already having organizational meetings, both on the national level and the state level, to prepare the units for whats about to happen.

In a news release distributed the day after the election, the ACLU promised to defend against Trumps deportation plan, provide counsel to whistleblowers and challenge any discriminatory policies and regressive plans on reproductive freedoms.

open image in gallery The late civil rights leader speaks to thousands during his "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in Washington on August 28, 1963 ( Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

King knows any pushback against the incoming administration will require the same level of dedication seen during her fathers movement, before the country had a Civil Rights Act or a Voting Rights Act.

In the weeks after the election, shes been comforted by his famous words like, Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred, something he said while delivering the famous I Have a Dream speech in 1963.

I know a lot of people are angry right now, King told The Independent. But we cant let that rot in us.

Thousands of protesters are expected to descend onto the streets of Washington DC ahead of Trumps inauguration.

The Peoples March on Washington is scheduled for January 18. A coalition of organizations, including the ACLU, Planned Parenthood and the National Womens Law Center, are planning the event to protest Trumps stances that they fear will undermine civil rights.

On Inauguration Day, Al Sharptons National Action Network plans to hold a rally in the city.

There has never been a more important time to peacefully mobilize and organize, Sharpton said while announcing the event on MSNBC last week.

MLK Day has been celebrated on the third Monday in January since its establishment in 1983, while Inauguration Day has been set as January 20 since 1937. The late civil rights icon was assassinated in 1968.

open image in gallery Protesters cheer at the Women's March on Washington during the first full day of Donald Trump's presidency in 2017 ( AP )

Griggs and King will spend the holiday attending events commemorating the late Kings legacy. As Trump takes the oath, Griggs wants the incoming president to consider the importance of the late icon in American history and not forget people in King Jrs birthplace, Fulton County, are still waiting for an explanation on charges related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

In August 2023, Trump was charged with racketeering and conspiracy for allegedly urging Georgia officials to sway the results in his favor. The case has been delayed after a December 5 hearing in the matter was canceled until further order from the court.

Its interesting, Griggs said of the upcoming holiday. The juxtaposition of a man of immense greatness, humility and concern for the community, with Donald Trump.

Only two presidents have taken the oath on the holiday before: Barack Obama in 2013 and Bill Clinton in 1997. Obama used a Bible belonging to the civil rights leader in the ceremony.

The Independent emailed a Trump spokesperson asking whether the president-elect would incorporate Kings legacy into the ceremony but did not get a response.
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A Republican lawmaker has said that the Senate Intelligence Committee has a lot of questions for Tulsi Gabbard about a visit to Syria where she met with President Bashar al-Assad.

Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma, who sits on the committee, said he wants to know the context and purpose of her meeting with the Syrian dictator in 2017 before he backs her as Donald Trumps director of national intelligence.

Well have lots of questions. She met with Bashar Assad, well wanna know what the purpose was and what the direction for that was, as a member of Congress, Lankford told CNNs Dana Bash on State of the Union.

Well wanna get a chance to talk about past comments that shes made and get them into full context.

Lankford said the committee would get everything out about Gabbard, and referred to her being outspoken in the past.

Gabbard has previously made statements and comments that have been supportive of Russia and has denied crimes were committed by the Syrian regime. In 2017, as a Democratic House member from Hawaii, she flew to Syria for a meeting with Assad.

open image in gallery Tulsi Gabbard will face questions from the Senate over her 2017 meeting with the Syrian dictator ( AFP via Getty Images )

Were gonna go through hearings. Were gonna get everything out. Were gonna get facts and information and get the entire story, Lankford said.

She is somebody who has been very outspoken. Shes obviously a past member of the military. Shes a veteran herself.

Despite Lankfords remarks, several other Republicans have been quick to defend Gabbard after her nomination by Trump sparked renewed concerns about her past comments and ties to foreign governments.

Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat and veteran of combat missions in Iraq, warned on Sunday that Gabbard is compromised over her statements about Russia and the trip to Syria.

The U.S. intelligence community has identified her as having troubling relationships with Americas foes. And so my worry is that she couldnt pass a background check, Duckworth also told State of the Union.

But Republican Senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri said it was a slur to say that Gabbard is compromised.

I think its  its really interesting that anybody that has a different political view now is being cast as a Russian asset. Its totally ridiculous, he told told NBC Newss Kristen Welker on Meet the Press.

open image in gallery US Senator James Lankford from Oklahoma said the Senate Intelligence Committee has a lot of questions for Trumps intel pick ( EPA )

Tulsi Gabbard has served in our military. She served as a congresswoman from Hawaii, as a Democrat, I might add, part of this unique coalition that President Trump has put together and won and got that mandate. But I think its insulting. Its a slur, quite frankly, he added.

Gabbard, a veteran and former Democratic House member, has promoted conspiracy theories about the U.S.s involvement in Ukraine.

The former Hawaii congresswoman left Congress to embark on an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2020. She joined the Republican Party earlier this year, endorsed Trump and joined his presidential transition team.

Gabbard joined an Army reserve unit after serving 17 years in the Hawaii National Guard, and she points to her deployment experience to explain her skepticism towards U.S. military interventions.

Trump praised Gabbard for fighting for our Country and the freedoms of all Americans, when he tapped her for the position.

As a former Candidate for the Democrat Presidential Nomination, she has broad support in both Parties  she is now a proud Republican! Trump said. I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace through Strength.
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A pack of grey wolves has been spotted in a popular California national park for the first time in a century.

The pack  consisting of one adult male, an adult female, and two cubs  was spotted on a wildlife camera roaming the southern border of Lassen Volcanic National Park, according to state wildlife officials.

The grey wolf was believed to have been hunted out of Lassen Volcanic National Park in the 1920s, but the small group was spotted back there recently.

CDFW has confirmed the presence of a new wolf pack near Lassen Volcanic National Park in recent weeks, said Axel Hunnicutt, a Gray wolf coordinator for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

These detections come from camera trap photos of wolves and their pups on U.S. Forest Service land around the park, and also from CDFWs wolf biologists tracking and monitoring in the area.

At this time, we have not had confirmed detections of this pack within the park, but are continuing to work with National Park Service to monitor for wolf presence in the area. Much of LVNP is remote wilderness that would be ideal habitat for wolves and so it wouldnt be surprising for this group to be using parts of the park.

It is unclear if the wolves belong to an existing group that roams in the northern California territory  known within conservation circles as the Diamond Pack.

Other nearby packs include the Lassen Pack  situated further south in Lassen National Forest, and the Antelope Pack which are reported to be another new male-female pair in the Sierra Nevada Valley, according to OutdoorLife.

The Gray wolf sighting confirms the pack as the third to be spotted in California this year after they were previously thought to be extinct.

Officials have reportedly identified the adult female within the pack as a 3-year-old from the Lassen Packs 2021 litter in northern California but the males origins are yet to be confirmed.

Wolves rarely pose a direct threat to human safety, with wild wolves generally avoiding people. As with all wild areas of California, we encourage people to recreate responsibly in areas where large carnivores may be present, Hunnicutt added.

Gray wolves were typically hunted in the early 20th century but, today, they are strictly protected under the California Endangered Species Act and the federal Endangered Species Act.

Previously thought to be extinct in California  the return of wolves has widely been praised by conservationists in the past year and the news of the new pack has been well-received by social media users online.

According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Gray wolves were extirpated from California in the 1920s.

One Facebook user said: So excited. I hope this pack survives. Amazing news (love heart emoji)

Whereas another wrote: Yay!! We needed this shot of hope!

The return of Gray wolves is expected to benefit other endangered species in the area such as Sierra Nevada Red Foxes who were outcompeted by coyotes ever since the wolves disappeared, wrote California Wolf Watch.

Therefore, some hope that the wolf resurgence will drive out coyotes and lead to population growth in the beloved Red Fox.
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A New Zealand citizen who fell ill after drinking contaminated alcohol in Laos has returned home following the deaths of six tourists due to supected methanol poisoning.

New Zealands foreign ministry had earlier reported that one of its citizens fell ill in Laos and was believed to be a victim of the poisoning.

The victims, including two Danes, two Australians, a Briton, and an American, had visited Vang Vieng, a popular tourist town in Laos. Earlier, the US State Department also released a health alert for its citizens travelling to Laos, citing suspected methanol poisoning in Vang Vieng, possibly through the consumption of methanol-laced alcoholic drinks.

This followed warnings issued by other nations whose citizens have been affected.

The New Zealand Embassy in Bangkok has been providing assistance to one New Zealander who we believe to have been poisoned with methanol in Laos. They have now departed Laos and returned home, a New Zealand foreign ministry spokesperson said.

Details about the individuals condition were not disclosed.

The Laos government has pledged to prosecute those responsible, and investigations are ongoing.

The government also expressed its sincere sympathy and deepest condolences to the families of the deceased. Authorities in Laos also detained the manager and owner of a backpacker hostel in Vang Vieng on Friday.

Backpacker foreign tourists roam around in Vang Vieng, Laos, Friday, 22 November 2024 ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

Lao state-run news agency KPL said earlier that authorities were gathering evidence and witness accounts following the foreigners deaths due to suspected consumption of tainted alcoholic beverages.

The government has been conducting investigations to find causes of the incident and to bring the perpetrators to justice in accordance with the law, it said in its first official comments published on the foreign affairs ministry website.

Methanol poisoning from counterfeit and homemade alcohol has prompted warnings from multiple countries, including Australia, the US, and the UK. It is a toxic alcohol that is used industrially as a solvent, pesticide, and alternative fuel source, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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A DHL cargo plane has crashed into a house near Lithuanias capital, killing at least one of four people on board.

Lithuanias rescue chief Renatas Pozela said the Boeing 737-400 crashed shortly before its scheduled landing at Vilnius airport early on Monday morning, with authorities suggesting terror could not be discounted as they investigate the cause.

It fell a few kilometres before the airport, it just skidded for a few hundred metres, its debris somewhat caught a residential house, Mr Pozela said.

open image in gallery Lithuanian Emergency Ministry employees work close to the scene of the crash ( AP )

Residential infrastructure around the house was on fire, and the house was slightly damaged, but we managed to evacuate people.

One person onboard was confirmed dead, while another three were injured, officials said. The person who was killed was a member of the flight crew but not a pilot, officials said. Firefighters freed two pilots from the cockpit, one of whom was seriously injured, according to police.

All of the people in the house survived, a spokesperson for the governments National Crisis Management Centre said, adding that there was nothing currently to suggest that an explosion preceded the crash.

Police said 12 people were evacuated from the house.

Firefighters were seen pouring water onto a smoking building some 1.3km north of the airport runway. A large police and ambulance presence was seen nearby and several major streets nearby were cordoned off.

open image in gallery Plane wreckage could be seen in the courtyard of a house near Vilnius airport ( Getty )

The Lithuanian airport authority identified the aircraft as a DHL cargo plane arriving from Leipzig, Germany. Flight-tracking data from FlightRadar24 showed the aircraft made a turn to the north of the airport, lining up for landing, before crashing a little more than 1.5km short of the runway.

Authorities have not yet identified a cause for the crash, which happened just before 5.30am local time. Weather at the airport was around freezing temperature, with clouds before sunrise and winds around 18mph.

The aircraft was operated by Swiftair, a Madrid-based contractor, which could not be immediately reached for comment.

A DHL spokesperson confirmed that an aircraft being operated by third-party carrier Swiftair under contract for DHL made a forced landing close to Vilnius airport, adding: The cause of the accident is still unknown and an investigation is already underway.

The Boeing 737 was 31 years old, which is considered by experts to be an older aircraft but is not unusual for cargo flights.

The possibility of terrorism cannot be discounted, but there is currently no evidence to suggest it is to blame for the crash, Lithuanias counterintelligence chief Darius Jauniskis said.

open image in gallery Burning goods are seen following the plane crash on Monday ( Getty )

We cannot reject the possibility of terrorism ... But at the moment we cant make attributions or point fingers, because we dont have such information, he said.

The crash comes as Germany investigates several fires caused by incendiary devices hidden inside parcels at a warehouse in Leipzig earlier this year, the countrys prosecutor general said in October.

British counterterrorism police have also said they are investigating possible Russian involvement in an incident in Birmingham where a package caught fire at a DHL warehouse, and are liaising with other European law enforcement agencies to see if there was a connection with similar incidents elsewhere.

Polish prosecutors have since arrested four people in connection with the Birmingham fires, and charged them with participating in sabotage or terrorist operations on behalf of a foreign intelligence agency. Prosecutors warned the action had been a test run for future attacks on the United States.

In the months after the fires, intelligence agency chiefs, including the heads of MI6 and MI5, have warned that their Russian counterparts were carrying out a range of attacks in Europe, including arson and sabotage.

Lithuanias prime minister Ingrida Simonyte cautioned against speculation, saying investigators needed time to do their job.

The responsible agencies are working diligently, Ms Simonyte said. I urge everyone to have confidence in the investigating authorities ability to conduct a thorough and professional investigation within an optimal timeframe.

Only these investigations will uncover the true causes of the incident  speculation and guesswork will not help establish the truth.

Additional reporting by agencies
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French prosecutors have sought a 20-year prison term for Dominique Pelicot, accusing him of facilitating the mass rape of his wife Gisele Pelicot by dozens of men, drugging her unconscious, and sharing pictures and videos of her sexual assault.

The case, which has drawn significant public attention, is nearing its conclusion after nearly three months of hearings in Avignon.

Mr Pelicot, 72, has admitted to secretly mixing sedatives into his wifes food and drink over several years, leaving her unconscious so he could rape her and invite others to do the same.

Many of the 51 other men on trial have claimed they were unaware they were raping Ms Pelicot, denied intending to harm her, or shifted all responsibility onto her then husband, accusing him of manipulation.

Prosecutor Laure Chabaud demanded the maximum sentence for aggravated rape, stating: The maximum sentence is 20 years, which is a lot ... but at the same time ... too little in view of the seriousness of the acts that were committed and repeated.

open image in gallery Gisele Pelicots rape trial continues in Avignon ( EPA )

During the court proceedings, Mr Pelicot sat silently, his gaze fixed on the floor, leaning on a cane as the prosecutor outlined her recommendations.

Over the next two days, prosecutors are expected to outline the sentences they seek for each defendant. Verdicts and sentencing are anticipated by 20 December.

Mr Pelicots lawyer, Beatrice Zavarro, said it was unsurprising that prosecutors had called for the maximum sentence against her client.

open image in gallery Gisele Pelicot arrives at the Avignon courthouse for the trial of her former partner Dominique Pelicot ( AFP via Getty )

The trial, involving 51 defendants accused of participating in the assaults, has positioned Ms Pelicot, 71, as a powerful symbol in the fight against sexual violence in France. She has insisted on a public trial, rejecting the courts initial suggestion to hold proceedings behind closed doors.

Her bravery has been widely praised, with observers commending her poise and decision to allow her full name to be published  an uncommon move under French law for victims of sexual violence. The court is expected to issue its verdict before 20 December.

Additional reporting by agencies
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When Katja Vogt considers a Jaguar, she pictures a British-made car purring confidently along the Italian coastline  a vision of familiarity that conveys that dreaming, longing feeling we all love.

She's not sure what to think about Jaguar now after the 89-year-old company announced a radical rebranding this week that featured loud colors and androgynous people  but no cars. Jaguar, the company says, will now be JaGUar. It will produce only electric vehicles beginning in 2026.

And say goodbye to British racing green, Cotswold Blue and black. Its colors are henceforth electric pink, red and yellow, according to a video that has received backlash online. Its mission statement: Create exuberance. Live vivid. Delete ordinary. Break moulds.

Intrigued? @Jaguar posted on social media. "Weird and unsettled is more like it, Vogt wrote on Instagram.

Especially now, with the world feeling so dystopian," the Cyprus-based brand designer wrote, "a heritage brand like Jaguar should be conveying feelings of safety, stability, and maybe a hint of rebellion  the kind that shakes things up in a good way, not in a way that unsettles.

Our brands, ourselves

Jaguar, a sturdy symbol of British tradition and refinement, was one of several iconic companies that announced significant rebrandings in recent weeks, upending a series of commercial  and, yes, cultural  landmarks by which many modern human beings sort each other, carve out identities and recognize the world around them.

Campbell's, the soupy, 155-year-old American icon immortalized in pop culture decades ago by Andy Warhol, is ready for a new, soupless name. Comcasts corporate reorganization means that there will soon be two television networks with NBC in their name  CNBC and MSNBC  that will no longer have any corporate connection to NBC News, a U.S. legacy news outlet.

One could even argue that the United States itself is rebranding a bit with the election this month of former President Donald Trump and Republican majorities in the House and Senate in a divided nation. Unlike Trump's first election in 2016, he won the popular vote in what many called a national referendum on American identity.

Are we, then, the sum total of our consumer decisions  what we buy, where we travel and whom we elect?

Certainly, it's a question for those privileged enough to be able to afford such choices. But volumes of research in the art and science of branding  from brandr, an old Norse word for burning symbols into the hides of livestock  say those factors do contribute to the modern sense of identity. So rebranding, especially of heritage names, can be a deeply felt affront to consumers.

It can feel like the brand is turning its back on everything that it stood for  and therefore it feels like its turning its back on us, the people who subscribe to that idea or ideology, said Ali Marmaduke, strategy director with the Amsterdam-based Brand Potential.

He said cultural tension  polarization  in 2024 is surging over politics, wars in Russia and the Mideast, the environment, public health and more, creating what Marmaduke said is known as a polycrisis: the idea that there are several massive crises converging and that feel scary and complex.

People are understandably freaked out by that, he said. So we are looking for something that will help us navigate this changing, threatening world that we face.

Trump's Make America Great Again qualifies. So did President Joe Biden's Build Back Better slogan atop his legislative plan. And Campbell's soup itself  Mmm Mmm Good  isn't going anywhere, its CEO, Mark Clouse, said in a statement. The company's new name, Campbells Co., will reflect the full breadth of our portfolio, which for some time has included brands like Prego pasta sauce and Goldfish crackers.

When Jaguar is not a sleek movie-star car, what is it?

None of the recent activity around heritage brands has sparked a backlash as ferocious as Jaguar's. It's a company that has stood as a pillar of tradition-loving British identity since World War II.

The rebrand, which includes a new logo, is slated to launch Dec. 2 during Miami Art Week, when the company will unveil a new electric GT model. Jaguar said in its press release that its approach was rooted in the philosophy of its founder, Sir William Lyons, to copy nothing.

What it's calling the new Jaguar will overhaul everything from the font of its name to the positioning of it's famous leaper cat. Exuberant modernism will define all aspects of the new Jaguar world, according to the press release. The approach is thought to be aimed at selling fewer cars at a six-figure price point to a more diverse customer base.

The reaction, though, ranged from bewilderment to hostility. Memes sprouted up likening the video to the Teletubbies, a Benetton ad and  perhaps predictably  a bow to woke culture as the blowback intersected with politics.

Grace. Space. Pace. Thats what you are supposed to be about," tweeted @JonnyHorsepower. I dont know what the hell this ad (?) is about. Replied @Jaguar, cryptically: These are our Strikethroughs. Deliberate, graphical and linear.

A Spectator headline declared that the Jaguar rebrand is doomed and that it had killed a British icon. But wait: What if the rebrand turns out to be just a huge mockery of woke rebrands? wondered Bennie1289 on Reddit.

Marketing and branding designers pointed out that any rebrand should, at least, be easy for consumers to remember and understand. JaGUar stumbled over that test on Day 1.

Correction, November 19th, read a blurb under an article in The Verge. A previous version of this article said only the G and U letters in Jaguar are upper case. The J is also upper case.

___

Laurie Kellman has written about politics and global culture for 27 years. Follow her on X at http://x.com/APLaurieKellman
China to launch first Fuxing EMU train to connect southern and eastern Xinjiang

13:03, November 25, 2024 By Zhang Yiyi ( Global Times

The Fuxing power-concentrated (electric multiple unit) EMU passenger train will be launched between Korla City and Hami City in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on November 29, with tickets available online starting November 22. It will be the first Fuxing service connecting southern and eastern Xinjiang, according to China Media Group (CMG).

The Fuxing CR200J EMU covers a one-way distance of 729 kilometers, accommodating up to 720 passengers per train, and completing the one-way journey in approximately six hours.

Currently, two pairs of regular passenger trains run daily between Korla and Hami. The launch of the Fuxing EMU will cut travel time by up to 57 minutes from Korla to Hami and up to 1 hour and 26 minutes in the opposite direction, according to CMG.

"The Fuxing CR200 series, with a top speed of 200 kilometers per hour, introduces advanced technology to upgrade traditional intercity railways. The enhanced speed will significantly improve passenger flow and boost tourism connectivity between the two regions, " Sun Zhang, a railway expert at Shanghai Tongji University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Sun noted that the railway between Korla and Hami passes through several renowned tourist attractions, allowing for better utilization of the region's tourism resources and promoting the economic development of Xinjiang.

In addition to passenger services, the Fuxing bullet train between the two regions can also transport goods. Korla, located on the 2,712-kilometer southern Xinjiang desert loop railway that began operation in 2022, can be connected to the China-Europe freight train networkvia the newly launched Fuxing EMU service, according to Sun.

"This link boosts goods transport from southern Xinjiang and strengthens trade with neighboring countries via the China-Europe freight corridor," Sun said.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing)
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A British man who was fighting for Ukraine has been captured by Russian forces, according to reports.

Describing himself as a former British army soldier, the man identifies himself as James Scott Rhys Anderson, 22, in a video that was first posted on Telegram before being widely circulated on Sunday.

Russian state news agency Tass reported that a military source said a UK mercenary had been taken prisoner in the Kursk area of Russia.

The UK Foreign Office told The Independent it was supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention.

The man in the footage is dressed in combat fatigues and speaks with an English accent while appearing to have his hands tied.

He said to the camera: I was in the British army before, from 2019 to 2023, 22 Signal Regiment. Just a private. I was a signalman. One Signal Brigade, 22 Signal Regiment, 252 Squadron.

He explained that he signed up to fight for Ukraines International Legion after losing his job.

When I left, I got fired from my job, I applied on the International Legion webpage. I had just lost everything. I just lost my job, he said.

I see it on the TV, he added, shaking his head. It was a stupid idea.

He described how he had travelled to Ukraine from Britain, saying: I flew to Krakow, Poland, from London Luton. Bus from there to Medyka in Poland, on the Ukraine border.

The UK Ministry of Defence declined to comment.
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Two Britons are reported to be among dozens of people missing after a tourist yacht capsized off the coast of Egypt.

Sea Story was carrying 44 people and sunk after being hit by a wave in the Red Sea at around 5.30am local time on Monday morning, said Amr Hanafi, governor of the Red Sea region.

While 28 people were rescued, 16 people remained missing on Monday night, Mr Hanafi said.

Among those missing are two Britons, according to the BBC, with the UK Foreign Office providing consular support to a number of British nationals and their families as a result of the incident.

open image in gallery Survivors of boat sunk off Red Sea coast disembark from a rescue vessel ( Reuters )

The boat, owned and operated by marine company Dive Pro Liveaboard, had set sail on a five-day diving trip before it sunk south of the coastal town of Marsa Alam.

Those onboard included 31 foreign nationals from the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, Belgium, Switzerland, Finland, China, Slovakia, Spain and Ireland.

Mr Hanafi said a high sea wave hit the vessel and caused it to capsize in about five or seven minutes. Some passengers were inside the cabins, which is why they couldnt get out of the boat, his statement on Facebook said.

open image in gallery Survivors rest at a coffee shop in Marsa Alam after being rescued from the sunken vessel ( AP )

Mr Hanafi ruled out a technical defect to the ship, saying that all the required licences had been obtained for Sea Story.

Egyptian weather forecasters had warned about rough weather and large waves on the Red Sea just two days earlier. Wind speeds were between 37-43 mph (60-70 km/h), and wave heights were 3-4m (10-13ft) high, they said.

On Monday night, an Egyptian navy warship El Fateh and military aircraft were spearheading rescue efforts to locate those still missing, with rescue teams working around the clock.

open image in gallery The 144ft twin-engine Sea Story had set sail for a five-day diving trip on Monday ( Dive Pro LIve Aboard )

The Finnish foreign ministry confirmed to AFP news agency that one of its nationals is also among the missing.

The UK Foreign Office spokesperson said: We are providing consular support to a number of British nationals and their families following an incident in Egypt and are in contact with the local authorities.

The Chinese embassy in Egypt confirmed two of its nationals were in good health after being rescued, according to their state media as reported by AFP news agency.

Meanwhile, Polish foreign ministry spokesman Pawel Wronski, told state-run Polish news agency PAP that authorities had information that two Polish citizens may have been aboard the boat.

A spokesperson for travel trade organisation Abta said: We have been in contact with our members to see if they had any customers on the ship affected by this incident.

Marsa Alam is a popular destination for tourists on Egypts southern Red Sea coast and is surrounded by diving spots, including renowned coral reefs.

Three Britons died in June last year when the diving boat they were on burst into flames off Marsa Alam. The fire was caused by a suspected electrical fault.
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An unexpected odor is coming out of the Russian spacecraft that docked to the International Space Station last weekend.

NASA said Sunday that the unpiloted Progress 90 resupply mission had reached the orbiting laboratorys Russian Poisk module Saturday after launching on a Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan on Thursday morning.

After opening the Progress spacecrafts hatch, the Roscosmos cosmonauts noticed an unexpected odor and observed small droplets, prompting the crew to close the Poisk hatch to the rest of the Russian segment, the agency said in a social media post.

It did not describe what kind of odor was emanating from the spacecraft, but Russian space news outlet Russianspaceweb.com reported that the crew had described it as toxic.

The source of the smell was not immediately clear, but previous Russian vehicles have leaked in space.

open image in gallery The Progress 90 cargo craft approaches the International Space Station before docking Saturday. The spacecraft carried three tons of supplies. But, when astronauts opened the hatch, they also received something unexpected: an odor ( NASA )

The space stations air scrubbers  which are used to remove carbon dioxide and other contaminants from the air  and contaminant sensors monitored the stations atmosphere after the observation.

The air quality inside the space station was determined to be at normal levels.

There are no concerns for the crew, and as of Sunday afternoon, the crew is working to open the hatch between Poisk and Progress while all other space station operations are proceeding as planned, NASA said.

The Progress mission delivered about three tons of food, fuel and supplies for the Expedition 72 crew on board the space station.

The Roscosmos spacecraft will be docked for six months prior to its departure for a re-entry into Earths atmosphere to dispose of trash loaded by the crew.

The space stations crew includes Roscosmos Aleksandr Gorbunov, Ivan Vagner and Alexey Ovchinin. NASAs Pettit, Nick Hague, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are also a part of Expedition 72. Their journey ends in Spring 2025.

Russia plans to continue operations at the space station through at least 2028, and international operations will continue through 2030 before it is deorbited.

European astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has said theres also a very peculiar odor on the space station itself.

open image in gallery The Progress 90 spacecraft is pictured moments before launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan last Thursday. The spacecraft reached the space station last weekend ( NASA )

While space is an airless vacuum, it is full of molecules that have odors when humans smell them in safe conditions. After returning from a spacewalk, astronauts have described unique scents.

One is a strong, metallic smell. Some have described it like gunpowder, welding fumes, seared steak or the mixture between walnuts and the brake pads of [a] motorbike.

It is hard to describe this smell; it is definitely not the olfactory equivalent of describing the palette sensations of some new food that tastes like chicken. The best description I can come up with is metallic; a rather pleasant sweet metallic sensation, NASA astronaut Don Pettit said after a mission in 2003. It reminded me of my college summers where I labored for many hours with an arc welding torch repairing heavy equipment for a small logging outfit. It reminded me of pleasant sweet-smelling welding fumes. That is the smell of space.
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A small chapel in the picturesque Swiss town of Lucerne has installed an AI Jesus that allows parishioners to confess their sins to a digital version of the Son of God.

The multi-lingual bot has been placed within the confessional booth of Peters Chapel, with a heavenly hologram projected behind the latticed opening.

The creators of the Deus in Machina project say it is an experimental art installation aimed at exploring spirituality in the context of artificial intelligence.

Deus in Machina encourages critical reflection on the limits of technology in the context of religion, the projects website states.

The encounter with the AI Jesus and the supporting program are intended to encourage critical engagement with AI.

open image in gallery The heavenly hologram projected through the lattice of the confessional booth in Peters Chapel, Lucerne ( Deus in Machina )

Two thirds of people who used the AI Jesus confessional booth said they had a spiritual experience, though one described it as a gimmick.

Some of the churchgoers interviewed by DW said they found inspiration and comfort through talking to the AI Jesus.

He was able to reaffirm me in my ways of going about things and he helped me with questions I had, like how I can help other people to understand him better, and come closer to him, said one woman.

Another said: I was surprised, it was so easy. And though its a machine, it gave me so much advice. Also, from a Christian point of view, I felt taken care of and I walked out really consoled.

open image in gallery The Deus in Machina project has faced criticism from some churchgoers at Peters Chapel in Lucerne ( Deus in Machina )

The AI Jesus concept was conceived by computer scientists at the university, and given the blessing by Peters Chapel theologian Marco Schmid.

What were doing here is an experiment - we wanted to launch the discussion by letting people have a very concrete experience with AI, he told DW.

That way, we have a foundation for talking about it and discussing it with one another... Accessibility is easy, 24 hours a day, so it has abilities that pastors dont.

Those skeptical of the installation include ethics professor Peter Kirchschlager, who claims that the AI Jesus does not serve as a suitable replacement for a human priest.

We should be careful when it comes to faith... when finding meaning in religion, Professor Kirchschlager warned.

Thats an area where we humans are actually vastly superior to machines, so we should do these things ourselves.

This sentitment echoes that of AI philosopher Nick Bostrom, whose most recent book described how technological advancements could lead to a form of heaven-like utopia.

The Oxford University professor believes that even within such a future, humans would likely still prefer other humans to lead religions and offer spiritual guidance.

A traditions continuation may require humans to be doing certain things, and participating in various ceremonies, Professor Bostrom told The Independent earlier this year.

It wouldnt count as continuing that tradition if you designed a bunch of robots... That would just not be the thing that people want.
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Thousands of Amazon employees in more than 20 countries plan to take part in a coordinated protest against the online retail giant on Black Friday.

Warehouse workers and delivery drivers will strike in the Germany, according to the campaign organised by the Make Amazon Pay group, while protests will also take place in major cities throughout dozens more countries.

Those taking part in the industrial action, which is led by the Swiss-based UNI GLobal Union and Progressive International, are calling on Amazon to improve workers rights, pay more taxes and commit to greater environmental sustainability.

The day of action on 29 November is the fourth Black Friday in a row that Make Amazon May has organised action, aiming to disrupt Amazon on what is usually the busiest shopping day of the year.

Amazons relentless pursuit of profit comes at a cost to workers, the environment and democracy, said Christy Hoffman, the general secretary of UNI Global Union.

Bezoss company has spent untold millions to stop workers from organizing, but the strikes and protests happening around the world show that workers desire for justice  for union representation  cant be stopped. We stand united in demanding that Amazon treat its workers fairly, respect fundamental rights, and stop undermining the systems meant to protect us all.

Previous years have seen organised walkouts in the US, protests outside Amazons headquarters, and street marches by garment workers in Bangladesh.

Amazon said in a statement that it is already taking a proactive stance against climate change after becoming the largest purchaser of renewable energy in the world.

These groups represent a variety of interests, and while were always listening and looking at ways to improve, we remain proud of the competitive pay, comprehensive benefits, and engaging, safe work experience we provide our teams, an Amazon UK spokesperson said.
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The majority of Gen Z workers are using generative A.I. tools in their jobs, according to a new survey.

The Harris Poll and Google Workspace research also found a resounding 93 percent of those who identified as Gen Z used two or more tools on a weekly basis. And, 79 percent of millennials do the same.

Google released the findings on Monday, and the organizations received responses from more than 1,000 U.S.-based knowledge workers, such as engineers, tech workers, analysts, and others whose main capital is what they know.

The participants were between 22 and 39 years old and either have or aspire to hold a leadership role at work.

Our research shows that emerging leaders are adopting A.I. to increase their impact at work, Yulie Kwon Kim, Google Workspaces vice president of Product, said in a statement. Rising leaders are not simply using A.I. as a tool for efficiency, but as a catalyst to help grow their careers.

open image in gallery A new Harris and Google Workspace poll has found that 93 percent of 1,000 workers who identified as Gen Z use A.I. on a weekly basis ( Getty Images/iStock )

The survey also found that 82 percent of those individuals are leveraging A.I. tools in their work, with 70 percent using the technology for drafting emails or helping overcome language barriers.

When it comes to writing, 88 percent said that A.I. could help them use the right tone and 87 percent said it could make them more comfortable composing longer emails.

Furthermore, 90 percent said they would be more confident joining meetings on the go if they knew A.I. was taking notes for them.

Google also said its data shows how A.I. can help to scale business-critical skills, such as collaborating with others, communicating effectively, and leading a team. For example, 86 percent of respondents said A.I. could help make leaders become better managers, and 47 percent said it could aid communication to improve problem solving.

Nearly all  98 percent  anticipate that A.I. will have an impact on their industry or workplace within the next five years.

The future of work is here  and its A.I.-powered, Kwon Kim added. Rising leaders are not only advocating for A.I.  theyre deploying this technology in meaningful ways, from improving communication with colleagues to freeing up time for strategic work.

open image in gallery Google released the findings and nearly all, 98 percent, said they expect A.I. to impact their industry in the next five years ( (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File) )

Google has major financial stakes in the success of A.I., and Google Workspace includes multiple A.I.-powered tools.

Earlier this year, citing needs for new electricity sources to support A.I. technologies, Google said it would buy power from the nuclear energy company Kairos Power and expects to bring the first small modular reactor online by 2030.

The announcement came after a similar move by Microsoft, as companies increasingly look for cleaner energy sources that can also meet surging demand from data centers and artificial intelligence.

With reporting from The Associated Press
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Microsofts Outlook and Teams apps have stopped working properly amid what appears to be a major outage.

Both apps are part of the Office 365 suite, Microsofts offering for businesses.

The outage came towards the beginning of the working day in Europe, and left many without the ability to communicate with their colleagues.

Microsoft Teams is the companys workplace chat app, and competes with other messaging platforms such as Slack. Outlook and its associated online services are used for workplace emails and calendar functions such as scheduling meetings.

Both appeared not to be working properly on Monday morning, according to users and tracking website Down Detector. Microsoft said it was aware of some issues with Exchange Online  the email hosting service for businesses that is accessed through Outlook  as well as in the calendar functionality in Teams.

Were investigating an issue impacting users attempting to access Exchange Online or functionality within Microsoft Teams calendar, it said, and directed affected users to its online admin centre. That page is intended for network administrators and other professionals who manage IT networks, and requires a login.

Some reported that parts of the services were working as normal, while other parts were broken. Emails could arrive but then the attachments on those emails might not load, for instance.
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A mother broke down in terms after a passenger refused to give up their seat in Economy Plus so she could sit with her son.

In a recent post shared to the popular  Am I The A**hole? Reddit forum, a traveler asked if they were in the wrong for making a seat swapper cry. They explained that once they were settled in their seat in the Economy Plus section of the plane, a mother came up to her about doing a seat change.

A woman approaches and asks me to change seats to 32b so her nine-year-old son can sit with her. I ask how much cash she has to repay me for the money I spent on the seat, the traveler explained. She says Im cruel for leaving her son with anxiety sitting alone.

Traveler says a mother accused them of being cruel because they wouldnt change seats for her son (stock image) ( Getty Images )

When they asked the mother if she offered to switch seats with the person who was next to her son, she said no because she needed the legroom in her Economy Plus seat. In response, the Reddit user made claims about the mothers parenting tactics, which upset her.

I said clearly she cares more about her own comfort than her sons well-being, the post continued. If she cared, she would give up her seat and move to the back. She breaks out in a screaming wail, filled with HOW COULD YOU.

However, 10 minutes after the incident, the mother wasnt sitting in her Economy Plus seat. Instead, the Reddit user noticed a man happily sitting next to her, as he was grinning about his sweet seat upgrade. The traveler concluded that after this flight, their partner accused them of questioning the mothers parenting in public and making her cry.

In the comments of the post, the traveler made a few clarifications about when they booked their ticket and doubled down on why they said no to changing seats.

When I booked my seat, hers was already taken so she booked first. Didnt look like poor planning, looked like she only wanted to pay for one premium seat and wanted to guilt me into giving up my seat, they explained.

The Reddit post has quickly gone viral, with more than 21,000 upvotes. In the comments, multiple people criticized the mother for not buying a seat next to her child on the plane beforehand.

Shes in the wrong for one - not being able to plan and book ahead of time so her son isnt left alone two - not being able to put aside her comfort ahead of her precious son and three - thinking that anyone owes her anything for being a poor planner, one person wrote.

Her tears dont change the fact that she prioritized comfort over her sons needs. Thats on her, another claimed.

A third person responded: Whenever ANYONE is asking to swap seats, its ALWAYS for a better one and they always throw a fit like this to try and get what they want when told no. People like this should be removed from the plane.

This isnt the first time that a passengers experience on a flight has gone viral. Last month, a traveler in the middle seat shared her female rage when two men on either side of her had stretched their legs far enough that she appeared squished into her seat.

Why would anyone EVER need that much room??? I tried to get him to move but he wouldnt, she wrote in the caption of her video.
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Just as there are good odds the turkey will taste dry, airports and highways are expected to be jam-packed during Thanksgiving week, a holiday period likely to end in another record day for air travel in the United States.

The people responsible for keeping security lines, boarding areas and jetliners moving  from the U.S. transportation secretary and airline chiefs on down the line  swear they are prepared for the crowds.

Airline passengers might get lucky like they did last year, when relatively few flights were canceled during the holiday week. A repeat will require the weather's cooperation. And even if skies are blue, a shortage of air traffic controllers could create delays.

Auto club and insurance company AAA predicts that nearly 80 million Americans will venture at least 50 miles from home between Tuesday and next Monday. Most of them will travel by car.

Drivers should get a slight break on gas prices. The nationwide average price for gasoline was $3.06 a gallon on Sunday, down from $3.27 at this time last year.

The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 18.3 million people at U.S. airports during the same seven-day stretch. That would be 6% more than during the corresponding days last year but fit a pattern set throughout 2024.

The TSA predicts that 3 million people will pass through airport security checkpoints on Sunday; more than that could break the record of 3.01 million set on the Sunday after the July Fourth holiday. Tuesday and Wednesday are expected to be the next-busiest air travel days of Thanksgiving week.

open image in gallery FILE - As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, travelers walk through Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va., on Nov. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) ( Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

This will be the busiest Thanksgiving ever in terms of air travel, TSA Administrator David Pekoske said. Fortunately, our staffing is also at the highest levels that they have ever been. We are ready.

Pekoske said TSA will have enough screeners to keep general security lines under 30 minutes and lines for people who pay extra for PreCheck under 10 minutes.

However, an ongoing shortage of air traffic controllers could cause flight delays.

Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Mike Whitaker said last week that he expects his agency to use special measures to deal with shortages at some facilities. In the past, that has included airports in New York City and Florida.

If we are short on staff, we will slow traffic as needed to keep the system safe, Whitaker said.

The FAA has long struggled with a shortage of controllers that airline officials expect will last for years, despite the agency's lofty hiring goals.

Thanksgiving Day takes place late this year, with the fourth Thursday of November falling on Nov. 28. That shortens the traditional shopping season and changes the rhythm of holiday travel.

With more time before the holiday, people tend to spread out their outbound travel over more days, but everyone returns at the same time, said Andrew Watterson, the chief operating officer of Southwest Airlines.

A late Thanksgiving leads to a big crush at the end  the Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday after Thanksgiving are usually very busy with Thanksgiving this late," Watterson said.

Airlines did a relatively good job of handling holiday crowds last year, when the weather was mild in most of the country. Fewer than 400 U.S. flights were canceled during Thanksgiving week in 2023  about one of every 450 flights. So far in 2024, airlines have canceled about 1.3% of all flights.

The rise of remote work also has caused the Thanksgiving travel period to expand, AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz said.

The pandemic changed everything, she said. What we have seen is that post-pandemic, people are leaving at certain times, perhaps even leaving the weekend before Thanksgiving, working remotely from their destination a couple of days, and then enjoying time with their loved ones.

Nightmares of Thanksgivings past have further shaped holiday traffic jams. Motorists who learned to avoid traveling the day before and the Sunday after Thanksgiving have created new bottlenecks on other days, according to Diaz.

Because we warned for so long (that) Wednesday and Sunday are the worst days to travel, people were like, OK, Im going to leave on Tuesday and come back on Monday to avoid the rush," she said. So now those two days are congested as well.

Advice for travelers

Airport security officials are pleading with passengers to arrive early, not to put lithium-ion batteries in checked bags in case they overheat, and to keep guns out of carry-on bags. TSA has discovered more than 6,000 guns at checkpoints this year, and most of them were loaded.

Holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas bring out many infrequent travelers, and they often have questions about what they can bring on the plane.

TSA has a list on its website of items that are banned or restricted.

Drivers should know that Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons will be the worst times to travel by car, but it should be smooth sailing on freeways come Thanksgiving Day, according to transportation analytics company INRIX.

On the return home, the best travel times for motorists are before 1 p.m. on Sunday, and before 8 a.m. or after 7 p.m. on Monday, the company said.

In metropolitan areas like Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and Washington, traffic is expected to be more than double what it typically is on a normal day, INRIX transportation analyst Bob Pishue said.
Profits increase to 4.7m for Persian Restaurants, which runs several outlets

The operator of the first McDonalds outlet in Ireland, on Dublins Grafton Street, last year recorded pre-tax profits of 4.68m.

Owned by Amir Afsar, Persian Restaurants Ltd operates a number of McDonalds restaurants in Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford, including the Grafton Street outlet.

New accounts show the companys revenues increased by 9pc from 48.28m to 52.72m.

The pre-tax profit of 4.68m followed a pre-tax loss of 220,497 in 2022. The loss was mainly due to a payout of 5.6m to directors.

Pay to directors last year was less than 10pc of the 2022 payout at 531,557, made up of emoluments of 487,000, and 44,557 in pension contributions.

Persian Restaurants also operates McDonalds at the Nutgrove Shopping Centre, in Rathfarnham, and the Frascati Shopping Centre, in Blackrock.

The Grafton Street outlet is the countrys oldest McDonalds. It opened in 1977.

The company last year recorded post-tax profits of 4.07m after incurring a corporation tax charge of 614,737.

The profit last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of 1.24m.

At the end of December, accumulated profits at the company totalled 19.59m, and the company had cash of 19m.

Another McDonalds franchisee, Elaine Sterio, operates five McDonalds restaurants in the Co Louth and north Dublin areas. The most recent accounts for Ms Sterios Glenellen Restaurants Ltd show its revenues increased from 21.52m to 24.68m in 2022.

Ms Sterio started working for McDonalds in 1989 while studying.

Pre-tax profits at Glenellen Restaurants in 2022 decreased by 20pc from 1.47m to 1.16m.

Numbers employed decreased from 342 to 320 as staff costs increased from 7.05m to 7.7m.

McDonalds is currently embarking on a 40m expansion plan for Ireland, which will create 1,000 jobs here over the next four years.

It now has 95 restaurants here, all of which are operated by franchisees.

McDonalds invested 42m between 2018 and 2023 in Ireland.

This included the refurbishment of existing outlets and the opening of new restaurants.

As part of the investment, McDonalds currently has two planning applications before Tipperary Co Council and Wexford Co Council, for new restaurants.

A number of locals in Thurles, Co Tipperary, are objecting to McDonalds Ireland constructing a new drive-thru fast-food restaurant for Thurles, on health grounds.

In one objection, Ronan Spain, of Carraig Donn, Clongour, Thurles, told the council: As a father of two young children, I object to the development of a fast-food restaurant on health grounds, particularly as we are in the midst of an obesity crisis in this country, where one in five children aged under five is obese, according to a study referenced on the HSE website on October 10th 2024.

The council has placed the application but the only item the planning authority has sought further information from concerns a traffic issue.

McDonalds is to provide an assessment of traffic queuing at the drive-thru.
The nation will go to the polls on Black Friday, a concept imported from America when stores kick off the Christmas shopping spree with highly publicised sales at supposedly discounted prices. According to a poll commissioned by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), just over one third of us are planning to buy something. Thats down from 45pc last year, although we are planning to spend about 26pc more  431 instead of 343.

While women are more likely to buy something on Black Friday, men are more likely to spend big with 42pc of them expecting to splash at least 500, compared with 24pc of women planning to splurge that amount.

Its off to the polling stations after that. Will the final TV debate change anything? Its to be hosted by RTEs Prime Time on Tuesday, with presenters Miriam OCallaghan and Sarah McInerney putting the questions to Fine Gaels Simon Harris, Sinn Feins Mary Lou McDonald and Fianna Fails Micheal Martin.

The Government parties will be wary about the release of any statistics this week that puts their performance in a bad light. On Wednesday, for example, the Central Statistics Office will publish figures for recorded crime detection. The following day, the CSO will have data about retail sales and prices.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. Photo: Reuters

It will be some time before the next cabinet is appointed here, but the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is likely to have her team of 26 commissioners approved by a vote of the European Parliament on Wednesday. It includes Michael McGrath, the former Fianna Fail minister for finance, in the portfolio of Democracy, Justice and Rule of Law.

To mark the event here, the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) is hosting a panel discussion at 8am on Wednesday entitled Von der Leyens New Team  What Next for Europe? It will be chaired by broadcaster Eileen Dunne, and feature Catherine Day, former secretary general of the European Commission, economist Dan OBrien, and Professor John OBrennan.

To more taxing matters, and Revenue is hosting webinars on Tuesday and Wednesday to help taxpayers make submissions to Revenue Technical Services. The annual tax conference organised by Chartered Accountants Ireland is on Thursday morning. The Goodbody-sponsored 17th annual equity conference is on Tuesday at Croke Park, with Entain, Evoke and Playtech set to be in attendance.

Easyjet are due to publish results on Wednesday, the same day as Santiago Capital hosts an audience with former Tory minister turned podcaster Rory Stewart at the RDS Concert Hall. The rest will indeed be politics.
The madness is back but it's not NFTs. Image: Getty

In 2010, its last year under the control of John Teeling, Cooley sold 11.9m worth of whiskey abroad. Last year the figure was 11.6m

The company's takeover by Beam in 2011 could be seen as a case study in how not to grow a small but potentially very valuable business within an enormous global drinks giant. Photo: Visit Carlingford

If the idea was to go back to fossil fuels full throttle to deliver in the short term for shareholders, it hasnt exactly played out that way. Above, former BP CEO Bernard Looney. Photo: PA via Getty

The performance of the firm has been incredibly disappointing since it was taken over by Beam in 2011 for 73m

When Looney resigned last year BP's share price was 525p. Last week it was languishing at 386p

It is only a little over a year since Cork man Bernard Looney resigned as chief executive of oil giant BP. Yet, the world of fossil fuels looks very different. So too does the BP share price.

BP stock was trading at 525p when Looney came under pressure to resign following a lack of disclosure about a relationship with an employee. The share price gave BP a market capitalisation at the time of 84bn.

Last week the share price was languishing at 386p (463c) with a market cap that is 22bn less.

BP is massively scaling back on its renewables investments and is even disposing of some. Meanwhile, it is going full throttle into oil and gas exploration in what has become a dramatic U-turn on commitments given back in 2020 by Looney.

Climate activists outside BP HQ in London during last year's Cop summit. Photo: Getty

Looney had set out an ambitious energy-transition strategy four years ago.

Last week BP announced several divestments including a plan to sell its US onshore wind-energy business. This owns 10 operating wind-farms across seven states.

It isnt a huge business and it could easily be viewed as non-core. Analysts believe it may be sold for around $2bn (1.9bn). But BP began developing its US onshore wind business in the mid-1990s.

Under Looney, BP reduced its exploration workforce by 75pc. It is now hiring again in this part of the business.

If the idea was to go back to fossil fuels full throttle to deliver in the short term for shareholders, it hasnt exactly played out that way. Above, former BP CEO Bernard Looney. Photo: PA via Getty

Among major investments in wind, solar and battery storage, the company also promised to cease exploration activities in countries where it did not already have some upstream activities. That tone sounds very dated now.

BP is far from alone when it comes to big oils change of tone around renewables. But if the idea was to go back to fossil fuels full throttle to deliver in the short term for shareholders, it hasnt exactly played out that way.

BP is massively scaling back on its renewables investments and is even disposing of some

A few weeks ago, BP announced its worst set of figures in four years.

BP clawed back 1.8m in remuneration from the sacked Looney and put through an 8m pay packet deal for his successor, Murray Auchincloss.

Targets for share buybacks are the new normal in the sector as short-term gain moves front and centre. BP plans to spend 10.7bn buying back its own shares between 2024 and 2025.

Drill baby drill was the industry mantra during the Trump campaign and there is a huge expectation the new president will oversee a total change of focus.

Cooley owners get trampled in Irish whiskey liquid gold rush

Employees at Cooley Distillery outside Dundalk must surely be wondering where it all went wrong as the company plans to shift its bottling operations to Spain and Scotland.

The performance of the firm has been incredibly disappointing since it was taken over by Jim Beam whiskey-makers Beam in 2011 for 73m.

In 2010, its last year under the control of John Teeling, Cooley sold 11.9m worth of whiskey abroad. Last year, the figure was 11.6m.

The figure is even more incredible given that in the years since 2010, global sales of Irish whiskey have rocketed from under five million cases to 15 million cases last year.

The performance of the firm has been incredibly disappointing since it was taken over by Beam in 2011 for 73m

Cooleys turnover in 2010 was 15.9m. Last year, it was 19.1m with sales in Ireland having shown some growth.

The importance of Cooley in the wider Irish whiskey landscape cannot be underestimated. But the takeover could be seen as a case study in how not to grow a small but potentially very valuable business within an enormous global drinks giant.

One issue is that Beam bought Cooley in 2011 because it liked the business. However, shortly afterwards, Japanese drinks giant Suntory bought Beam, because it liked Beam. Cooley was a tiny part of that huge operation.

There are real issues at play here too  such as back in 2011, there were four distilleries in Ireland and now there are 42. While the global market for Irish whiskey was growing, so too was the number of competitors.

In 2010, its last year under the control of John Teeling, Cooley sold 11.9m worth of whiskey abroad. Last year the figure was 11.6m

At the time of the acquisition, Cooley had built up large volumes of ageing distilled whiskey. The sale of this product by the new owners to up-and-coming distilleries provided a vital lifeline for a burgeoning new industry, as any new player has to wait at least three years for their product to mature.

Cooley stock helped many new brands to get going  including the Teeling brand, because the family were able to purchase Cooley stock as part of the exit deal in 2011.

It has been an extraordinary journey for the Co Louth company given that it was due to be acquired by Irish Distillers back in 1994 until the deal was blocked for competition reasons by then enterprise minister Ruairi Quinn.

Irish Distillers made clear at the time that it planned to dispose of the Cooley whiskey stock if the deal had gone ahead.

While the global market for Irish whiskey was growing, so too was the number of competitors

It now faces its own new challenges as Suntory looks to consolidate bottling processes for better efficiencies.

But there may be another dark cloud on the horizon for the industry  Donald Trump. The incoming president of the US has said he wants to impose 10pc to 20pc tariffs on imported goods.

This could include Irish whiskey in an attempt to provide a boon to the American bourbon industry. The strength of some Irish brands could ride out that tariff regime. Brands that can command a premium price may not grow as much but could still deliver solid sales despite the inevitable increase in price.

But at the very least, a new tariff regime could hold back growth of the category in the US which is Irish whiskeys biggest market.

There have already been signs within the industry of a softening of growth in Irish whiskey sales as drinks giants are pushing tequila brands very heavily.

There may be another dark cloud on the horizon for the industry  Donald Trump

Some of them have spent huge sums buying tequila businesses and now want to make sure they get their money back out of them.

George Clooneys Casamigos brand is one case in point where it was bought by Diageo in 2017 for $1bn (948m). But most tequila is still made in Mexico. Casamigos is made in Jalisco and it could be hit with Trump tariffs as it crosses over the border to the US.

It seems that workers at Cooley Distillery have been caught in the crossfire of truly global shifts in a sector dominated by giants.

Crypto art bubble goes bananas

What happened to the art hype around NFTs  non-fungible tokens? These reached a high in 2021 when Christies sold $69m worth of digital-only art by the artist Beeple. It was a lot of money to pay for a jpeg!

Riding on the back of early crypto mania, NFTs later crashed, having seen more than $40bn (36.6bn) spent on blockchain-recorded digital assets and artwork.

The madness is back but it's not NFTs. Image: Getty

Estimates suggest the crash has been around 97pc. Even at that valuation, you would still see over $1bn of NFT art sold per year.

Crypto may be staging a comeback in the Trump/Musk era, but dont expect the humble NFT to rise again. Last week one crypto mogul splashed out $6.2m on a piece of art which consisted of a real banana stuck to a canvas with some duct tape.

The madness is back but it isnt NFTs.
Take That star and lead singer Gary Barlow will play Dublin, Belfast and Kerry as part of a brand-new solo tour of Ireland and the UK.

The Songbook Tour 2025, is set celebrate an illustrious four-decade career, and will see him perform an array of songs from his back catalogue of hits with both Take That and as a solo artist.

The artist will play the INEC Killarney on April 20, Waterfront Hall Belfast on April 22 and 23 and the 3Olympia Theatre Dublin on April 25 and 26.

It will kick off at The Isle of Man on the April 17, with 41 dates around the UK and Ireland, including a string of outdoor shows in June where he returns to Scarborough Open Air Theatre and The Eden Project in Cornwall.

The 53-year-old, artist, who has 13 number-one singles, will visit several new venues, including Stockton Globe, Glasgows Armadillo and Halifax Piece Hall, giving his fans a unique opportunity to see him perform his biggest hits in an intimate setting.

The Songbook Tour will celebrate his status as one of Britains most successful songwriters and record producers.

As part of Take That, he has won eight BRIT Awards and sold over 45 million records. One of the bands biggest hits, Back For Good, will celebrate its thirtieth anniversary in March 2025.

The track is still ranked as one of the UKs favourite-ever pop songs having reached No.1 on its release in March 1995 and remaining top of the charts for four consecutive weeks, going on to become the bands biggest-selling song of the 90s.

Barlow is off the back of a worldwide tour with his Take That bandmates, playing sell-out shows in their This Life On Tour, which saw them sell over 1 million tickets.

Their album of the same name, This Life, released in 2023, scored the band their twelfth No 1 album in the UK, spawning massive hits including Windows and This Life.

The band also curated their very own four-day festival in Malta in October - The Greatest Weekend, where they performed their album 'Everything Changes' live, in its entirety for the first time since its release in 1993.

Barlow has also co-written and produced music for other renowned artists including Dame Shirley Bassey, Elton John and Robbie Williams, and most recently, he wrote the song Running Wild for JIN from Korean super group, BTS.

Tickets for The Songbook Tour go on sale on Friday, November 29 at 9.30am from Ticketmaster.

Tickets for Killarney cost from 61.85 to 107.25, while tickets for Belfast cost from 70 to 90 and tickets for Dublin cost from 61.35 to 106.75.
Tears and screams in court as young mothers among dozens of squatters who are told they will be jailed  before it emerges they were held illegally
Sinn Fein's Cathy Bennett elected in Cavan-Monaghan



Ms Bennett joins running mate Matt Carthy and Fine Gael's David Maxwell on the ticket, with just two seats in the constituency, and the country, left to be filled.



It was elation once again for Sinn Fein as first time candidate Cathy Bennett won a seat to Dail Eireann amid wild celebrations in the Cavan Leisure when she was elected.

Her supporters sang 'Oro Se Do Bheatha Abhaile' at full pitch this evening.

Cathy Bennett got 3,281 votes from Matt Carthys transfers putting her on 13,383 and giving her a surplus of 1,841 to be distributed between Fianna Fails Brendan Smith and Niamh Smyth and Aontus Sarah OReilly.

Niamh Smyth is on 10,856 after getting 73 from Carthys surplus while Brendan Smith got 94 pushing him to 10,616.

Aontus Sara OReilly got 131 from Carthys surplus and is on 9,129 and looks like she will finish in sixth place.

But, there was a heavy feeling of inevitability on the 13th count as Cathy Bennett, Brendan Smith, and Niamh Smyth relaxed with their families and friends so you had none of the quaintly manic nail biting of other elections where a delicious sense of hope and wonder filled the air.

Smith and Smyth are sitting TDs and Fianna Fails vote has increased by around 600 votes while Sinn Feins overall vote is down around 2000 votes while Fine Gaels vote is down around 5,000 votes.

But they will be happy to have held the seat that ex Minister Heather Humphreys worked so hard to win and first timer David Maxwell has big shoes to fill.

But for those who won, it was all worth the trudging of the winding roads of Cavan and Monaghan in the deep winter was all worthwhile.

But with one more count to go, Brendan Smith and Niamh Smyth look set be elected.



Gerry McLaughlin






Outcome would leave Micheal Martin in position to become next taoiseach Rising tensions in Fine Gael over exhausted Harris and four-point poll dip Paschal Donohoe to be rolled out in final days to hit home the experience messageHarriss lack of electoral and leadership experience blamed for mishaps in recent days

Fine Gael strategists admits Fianna Fail likely to win more seats after series of Simon Harris howlers

Fine Gael strategists are now admitting Fianna Fail will win more seats than their party following a series of campaign calamities for Taoiseach Simon Harris.

That outcome would leave Micheal Martin in position to become taoiseach ahead of Mr Harris.

The partys previously confident attitude about winning the most seats has drifted away after several damaging incidents.

Fine Gael will fall back on its strong point on the economy in the closing days of the campaign, with Paschal Donohoe being rolled out to talk about a risk to jobs and the need for stability. Fianna Fail is now in contention to add seats in a host of constituencies  with the help of Fine Gael transfers.

Strategists are now questioning whether their Brand Harris plan has paid off, with sources admitting the Taoiseach is worn out, too nervous and is trying to stretch himself too thinly.

Simon Harris asked whether exchange with Charlotte Fallon will overshadow election campaign

The party will now put outgoing Public Expenditure Minister Mr Donohoe on the airwaves in the final days to hit home the experience message, which Fianna Fail leader Mr Martin has had the monopoly over.

The Taoiseach gave an underwhelming performance in the leaders debate and had a difficult encounter with a care worker on a canvass in Kanturk, Co Cork. Mr Harris was forced to apologise to Charlotte Fallon, a disability worker with St Josephs Foundation, after a clip of an exchange between them on Friday went viral.

The latest Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks poll also showed a collapse in the Harris hop, with Fine Gael down four points to 22pc, Fianna Fail unchanged at 20pc and Sinn Fein up two to 20pc.

Fine Gael party figures pointed to Mr Harriss lack of electoral and leadership experience for mishaps in recent days

He probably stretched himself too thin trying to run around country and shake hands with everyone

His gaffe in Kanturk is being put down to fatigue. However, there are also question marks being raised about the management of the leaders tour, which failed to spot the incident.

Harris is wrecked, said one strategist. There is a level of sympathy towards him because hes run ragged but its not a level playing field for him and hes overperforming. He was too nervous and worn out. He probably stretched himself too thin trying to run around country and shake hands with everyone but at the same time, its good that hes trying to run around the country and shake hands with everyone.

Another strategist said: It was pure tiredness and he made a mistake, which you can overcome.

Nobody believes he is a bad person who doesnt care about disabilities.

Thank God we had Harris as leader. Imagine what it would be like if we had [Leo] Varadkar. Wed be coming back with 20 seats,

One party general election candidate said: The leader is exhausted but so is everyone, the next 48 hours will be key they need to settle the ships.

Fine Gael voters will transfer more to Fianna Fail than the other way around

An outgoing TD said the campaign is currently a mess and they said they werent surprised by the poll.

Another outgoing minister said there is no big panic and said the party being on 20pc will motivate and get out our core base. They said: We still need a good week and a good leaders debate.

Follow our Election 2024 live blog and find updates, analysis, and our interactive constituency profile map at our Election 2024 hub

Asked yesterday whether he thought the Kanturk incident would overshadow his campaign, Mr Harris said: Im human, I make mistakes, but you know what I do when I make a mistake? I own it. I put my hands up, I got it completely wrong, I was wrong, simple as.

Fianna Fail is now in contention for gains in Roscommon-Galway, Donegal, Carlow-Kilkenny, Kildare South, Louth, Carlow-Kilkenny, Clare and potentially Dublin South-Central and Dublin Rathdown.

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin. Photo: PA

Fine Gael is still hopeful of extra wins in Cork South-West, Tipperary North, Waterford, Galway West and Dun Laoghaire, but there will be losses elsewhere as the party struggles with half its sitting TDs not running.

Fine Gael election candidates who are running to win seats for the first time are uneasy, with one party campaigner commenting: If I was running, Id be shitting myself.

Sinn Fein is still in play for wins in Galway East, Cork North-Central, Dublin Fingal East, Wicklow-Wexford and Waterford.

Fianna Fail will do better than the polls say. Fine Gael voters will transfer more to Fianna Fail than the other way around. Everything will have to fall right now for us to be in the early 40s of seats, a senior party source said.

Mary Lou McDonald yesterday said that support for Sinn Fein is ahead of poll numbers which show her party and the two main coalition partners close to a three-way tie.

The Sinn Fein president said that over the past week an energy for the party had come back very, very strongly after slumps in support earlier this year.

However, this was rejected by Fianna Fail and Fine Gael sources, who said there is no momentum behind Sinn Fein out on the doors.
Some candidates understand dementia, but they dont always see the impact on families

General election candidates have been called on to commit to the delivery of a comprehensive National Dementia Registry in the next government, with the latest figures showing there are almost 2,000 people living with dementia in Wicklow alone. Among those is a Greystones resident and former member of the Defence Forces, who has added his voice to the campaign.

The Alzheimer Society of Ireland (ASI) said a 'National Dementia Registry is now essential to enable the development, operation and quality of dementia-related health and social care services, given nationwide an estimated 64,000 people live with dementia, with the number projected to reach 150,000 by 2045.

The ASI called on candidates to ensure a registry is in the next Programme for Government as it is needed for mapping services and ensuring equitable access across all regions.

Wicklow

Greystones local Gerry Paley is one of those people living with dementia and is on a mission this election season. Diagnosed with early-onset, or young-onset Alzheimers in 2017, Gerry is one of the faces of the ASIs national campaign, Dementia Pledge.

On Tuesday, November 19, his face was displayed on a billboard in front of the train station in Greystones, urging candidates to commit to improving dementia services.

I want every candidate in this general election to sign the pledge, Gerry said. While things have improved, there are still great needs. Many people in Wicklow cant access essential services like home help.

In the past, Gerry could be found on weekend manoeuvres at the Glen of Imaal serving with the Defence Forces  An Forsa Cosanta Aitiuil (FCA) 21st Infantry Battalion. More recently, he has been spending his Saturdays and Sundays with his wife Nuala, meeting candidates and explaining the needs of people living with dementia in the area.

Some candidates understand dementia, but they dont always see the impact on families, Gerry explained. There are over 5,200 people living with young-onset dementia, diagnosed under 65, like me. Many are forced to stop working, leaving them with big mortgages and families to support. Often, their partners must leave work too, especially if no homecare is available.

In Wicklow alone, according to the last figures available (2020), it was estimated that 1,838 people were living with dementia, with 144 diagnosed with young-onset dementia.

Nearly five years later, the countys growing and ageing population means that number is more than likely to be much higher today. Sadly, not everyone can access home help, leaving family carers working around the clock to keep their loved ones safe.

We want Gerry to stay in Greystones, close to our family, said Nuala, who is also Gerrys primary carer.

Nuala is also a member of the Dementia Carers Campaign Network (DCCN), an advocacy group of carers and former carers of someone with dementia. The DCCN is supported by The Alzheimer Society of Ireland.

Were lucky to access The ASIs Day Care at Home Service, Nuala added. Lorna, our carer, visits twice a week, giving Gerry time to catch up with friends or take a walk with Teddy, our Cockapoo. Those visits give me precious time to rest, and Gerry gets to spend time with other people and have his social care needs met.

In Wicklow, carers also really need access to respite services. There are times when I know I really need a break, but Gerry cant be on his own and I have nobody to look after him.

Before retiring, Gerry worked as a civil servant and he was a keen rugby player and captain at Seapoint RFC, which kept him out of politics. Now, as an advocate with The Irish Dementia Working Group, supported by The Alzheimer Society of Ireland, hes researching which candidates and parties are serious about improving dementia services.

The Alzheimer Society of Ireland has released a six-point manifesto urging the next government to:

Resource the model of care for dementia Develop a National Dementia Registry Make brain health a public health priority Deliver a dementia workforce for the future Implement the Statutory Home Support Scheme Appoint an independent commissioner for older people

So far, some candidates have pledged their support, but others havent  and thats disappointing, Gerry said. This isnt about party politics. We need every candidate in the county to endorse this pledge.

Commenting further on the need for the registry, the ASIs head of advocacy, research and public affairs, Cormac Cahill welcomed an allocation of 200,000 in Budget 2025 to implement it, but said this was just the beginning.

Unlike many other countries, Ireland does not have a dementia registry which means there is no national systematic approach to the collection and analysis of dementia data. The lack of hard data on the number of people with dementia in Ireland and where they live makes our estimations just that, estimations on prevalence rather than evidence-based facts.

This creates a significant challenge for planning equitable service provision; both nationally and locally. Access to dementia services, such as day care, home care, and medical support, remains unequal across Ireland, with rural areas particularly underserved.

To enable candidates to make public their support, the ASI has set up an online Dementia Pledge which candidates of all parties and independents have been urged to sign up to, at: dementiapledge.ie.

In turn, voters will be able to visit the portal before voting day and see which candidates in their constituency have given their commitment to people with dementia and their carers.
Kevin Doyle: TV debate offers Simon Harris a last chance to prove it hasnt all been a performance

The Fine Gael leader is now the underdog and has only days left to convince voters that he is actually a breath of fresh air, rather than a long-serving cabinet minister who is running out of steam

Fianna Fail's Micheal Martin and Simon Harris of Fine Gael with Katie Hannon during last week's leaders' debate on RTE. Photo: Naoise Culhane

Kevin Doyle Mon 25 Nov 2024 at 03:30

Political watchers love to argue the value of TV debates, but tomorrow nights showdown on RTE may be one of the most consequential in recent Irish election history.
Fianna Fail and Fine Gael voters believe the Labour Party are the best option for a deal Sinn Fein supporters would much rather work with the Social Democrats

Labour Leader Ivana Bacik says Ireland 'needs to see change' this General Election as voters tell her they cant afford to pay mortgages, rent and childcare

The Labour Party is the publics preferred choice to be the junior partner in a new coalition after Fridays election, a new opinion poll shows.

When voters were asked who they wanted to see in the next government aside from Fianna Fail, Fine Gael or Sinn Fein, more than one in five (21pc) pointed to Ivana Baciks party.

Independents, alongside candidates from Independent Ireland and the Social Democrats, are all at 18pc each, followed by Peadar Toibins Aontu, at 15pc.

Only 11pc said they wanted the Greens back as part of a coalition, while 7pc said People Before Profit Solidarity and 10pc said they were not sure.

Fine Gael leader Simon Harris and Fianna Fails Micheal Martin have both pushed back against forming a coalition consisting of more than three parties, saying it would lead to an unstable government.

However, Ms Bacik has previously suggested the party would enter coalition talks with a bloc of green and progressive parties first.

Interestingly, while Fianna Fail and Fine Gael voters appear very keen on doing a deal with Labour, voters who will give their first preference to Sinn Fein are much less enthused.

People who say they will back Mary Lou McDonalds party are four times more likely to support a deal with the Social Democrats rather than the Labour Party.

The data was gathered as part of the latest Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks poll. More than 1,400 people took part in the poll last Thursday and Friday. It has a margin of error of +/-2.6 percentage points.

Senior figures in Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have eyed Labour as the most likely coalition partner, with Fine Gael especially in favour as it views the party as having values similar to its own.

There is also a feeling that voters have forgiven Labour for the role it played in government during the financial crash.

One senior Fine Gael figure believes Labour will emerge with more seats than the Greens, while Fianna Fail hit out at the Green Party in the dying days of the last Dail, saying it was behaving like an opposition party.

The Labour Party is currently polling at 4pc, with no change from the previous surveys at the beginning of November.

When respondents were given a list of declared candidates in their constituencies and asked to choose a number one, Labour candidates also received 4pc.

The Greens also come in at 4pc, while Aontu is on 6pc, with the Social Democrats on 5pc.

People Before Profit is on 3pc and Independent Ireland/Independents are on 20pc.

The Labour Party yesterday launched its childrens rights charter, which promises to cap childcare at 200 per month.

Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, the Green Party and Sinn Fein have all made election promises to cut childcare costs to 200 a month, while the Social Democrats have said they would reduce fees to 250 a month.
Some familiar names are back in the fray  but Fine Gaels Damien English wont be one of them, with the former junior minister announcing in recent months that he would be stepping away from politics. English has been a constant figure in Dail Eireann since first elected in 2002. This election, he will instead be replaced on the ticket by his parliamentary assistant, councillor Linda Nelson Murray from Navan.

Another interesting name on the ballot is Fianna Fail Cllr Ailing Dempsey, daughter of former TD and minister Noel Dempsey. Noel Dempsey served as a TD from 1987 to 2011 and held a number of ministerial positions during his tenure. Fianna Fail Senator Shane Cassells has decided to step away after 25 years in politics.

This will be the second general election for Peadar Toibins Aontu Party. The former Sinn Fein TD was first elected to the Dail in 2011 and was re-elected as leader of the Aontu Party in 2020. He will be expected to retain that seat.

Finishing off his first term as TD is Sinn Feins Johnny Guirke, who topped the polls and was elected on the first count, despite being a relatively new name on the General Election ballot in 2020. He took the Sinn Fein seat in the constituency, which was left vacant when Peadar Toibin left the Party to form Aontu.

Current TDs (three seats)

Damien English (FG), Johnny Guirke (SF), Peadar Toibin (Aontu)

Are there any boundary changes that could be crucial?

Under the most recent constituency review, a large part of Meath West will now move into the Longford/Westmeath constituency. Areas such as Castlepollard, Delvin, Collinstown and Clonmellon, who voted in the Meath West Constituency since 2007, will now be voting in the Longford/Westmeath constituency. The boundary between the Meath East and Meath West constituencies remains unchanged.

Who could make gains here?

With the departure of Mr English, the Fine Gael seat in Meath West is viewed as potentially vulnerable. It will be interesting to see if they are able to retain that seat.

Mr Toibin is also expected to hold onto his seat. He missed out in the European elections but is well placed here.

Sinn Fein have had a disastrous few weeks, and this could prove to hurt the Partys election results. This could potentially swing voters towards the Social Democrats Ronan Moore or the Greens Seamus McMenamin, despite both parties not having a strong traditional vote in the constituency.

Following Shane Cassells defeat in 2020, Fianna Fail will want to regain their seat in Meath West. Will Aisling Dempsey follow in her fathers footsteps all the way to Leinster House?

What issues are under the spotlight?

Housing is the main issue for many voters, with Meath being among a number of the prominent commuter counties that are seeing soaring housing costs and a notable lack of supply.

On that same note, there is a continuous push in Meath West for a rail line to serve the area, with thousands travelling to Dublin for work.
Like its southern counterpart, Tipperary North is now a three-seater constituency following recommendations from the Electoral Commission. Interestingly, a large section of north west Kilkenny is to be included here, encompassing Urlingford, Galmoy, Freshford and Tullaroan.

In the west, a small portion of land around Newport and Birdhill is being returned to Tipperary North, making for an interesting battle as candidates seek to appeal to voters previously beyond the borders.

Current TDs (the five-seater is splitting and changing to a three-seater)

Martin Browne (SF), Jackie Cahill (FF), Alan Kelly (Labour), Michael Lowry (Ind), Mattie McGrath (Ind).

Who could make gains here?

Labour Party TD Alan Kelly and independent TD Michael Lowry are both considered strong in this constituency with the possible final seat being fought over by one of the two Fianna Fail candidates, and, or, Fine Gael.

Fianna Fail has taken the decision to run two candidates in this three seater, Cllrs Ryan OMeara and Michael Smith, son of the former Minister. Some have speculated this could split the FF vote, leaving the field open for Fine Gaels Phyll Bugler to take a seat.

In the 2020 general election, former Labour leader Alan Kelly topped the poll in the areas around Nenagh and over to Ballina, while the Thurles based Lowry dominated most of the southern part of Tipperary North, up to the M7 motorway.

Independent Cllr Joe Hannigan won large support around Borrisokane, and Jackie Cahill won the Fianna Fail vote. With Cahill out of the race, it remains to be seen if Fianna Fails move of running two candidates pays off. If FF were to take two seats it would be considered a major coup for the party.

What issues are under the spotlight?

The main election talking points in North Tipperary are housing, public transport, especially for rural areas, healthcare, with an emphasis on overcrowding in Nenagh Hospital. Other hot topics include the long running saga of a bypass for Thurles, and immigration IPAS centres in Roscrea and Borrisokane.

Farming issues are also the fore in this large constituency with a series of towns separated from each other by sparsely populated areas. As with Tipperary South, progress on wastewater treatment plants, new housing projects in villages, and planning issues are regularly top of the agenda at local authority meetings, as villages and towns expand.

Candidates

Evan Barry, Sinn Fein

Phyll Bugler, Fine Gael

Dan Harty, Sinn Fein

Alan Kelly, Labour*

Michael Lowry, Independent*

Peter Madden, The Irish People

Liam Minehan, Independent

Diana ODwyer, People Before Profit

Ryan OMeara, Fianna Fail

Francis OToole, Aontu

Justin Roundy Phelan, Independent

Iva Pocock, Green Party

Jim Ryan, Independent

Michael Smith, Fianna Fail

*indicates sitting TD
A big seat swap-up in Tipperary means the five-seater is changing to a three-seater in Tipperary South  and its all for the taking.

Tipperary South (currently a five-seater, will change to three seats)

Martin Browne (SF), Jackie Cahill (FF), Alan Kelly (Labour), Michael Lowry (Ind), Mattie McGrath (Ind)

Any boundary changes?

The new constituency of Tipperary South has existed since the 1940s in various forms, apart from the period from 2016 to the present day, when it was merged with Tipperary North to create a five seater. Following a recommendation from the Electoral Commission, it will exist again as a three-seater.

Who could make gains here?

Sitting TD independent Mattie McGrath topped the poll in a huge swathe of south west Tipperary last time out, in rural areas surrounding Clonmel, and up the western regions to the Limerick border, and is seen as a strong contender to retain his seat.

Fine Gael have a strong first time general election candidate in the Mayor of Clonmel, Cllr Michael Murphy, who is seen as in contention to take a seat for FG, who currently have no TD in Tipperary, once considered a party stronghold in the era of Tom Hayes.

Current incumbent Sinn Fein TD Martin Browne topped the poll around Cashel, east Tipperary town and in the south east of the county, around Carrick-on-Suir.

Independent TD Michael Lowry has consistently topped the poll in rural areas of Tipperary South bordering the North, but he is out of contention in the South this time, so it remains to be seen who will pick up his votes.

Sitting Fianna Fail Cllr Imelda Goldsboro is again contesting a seat for the party, and was dominant in the north east of Tipperary South, around Ballingarry and Killenaule.

Workers and Unemployed Action Group (WUAG) and Independent TD Seamus Healy has topped the poll in Clonmel, while Fine Gaels Theresa Newman did well in mid Tipperary. As she is not in the race this time, its likely her votes will go to Cllr Murphys this time.

What are the issues under the spotlight?

Housing and public transport are hot topics in Tipperary South, with the success of Local Link and a new bus service for Clonmel showing what can be done. The need to invest in wastewater sewerage systems and affordable housing to support the growth of towns and villages is a constant theme at local authority meetings, while the status of the N24 transport corridor, a major road project to upgrade linking Limerick to Waterford via Tipperary, is also on the agenda.

Major town rejuvenation projects are underway in Tipperary town and Carrick-on-Suir, while dereliction remains a problem in large towns such as Clonmel.

IPAS centres in Clonmel, Dundrum and Cashel have made national headlines and immigration has risen in recent years to become a sensitive topic in a county with housing shortages.

The constituency has seen concerns around major energy projects such as wind farms, and in Dualla, where locals are concerned about the scale of a proposed solar farm around their village.

Candidates

Michael Chicken Brennan, Labour Party

Martin Browne, Sinn Fein

Bill Fitzgerald, Independent

Imelda Goldsboro, Fianna Fail

Seamus Healy, Independent

Myriam Madigan, Green Party

Rosemary McGlone, Aontu

John McGrath, The National Party

Mattie McGrath, Independent*

Michael Murphy, Fine Gael

John OHeney, Independent

Nadaline Webster, Independent Ireland

*Indicates sitting TD
As the four sitting TDs for Waterford have all confirmed theyre running in the General Election, there could be a significant shift in politics in the Deise as a lot has changed politically in the last four years, although, the constituents seem to be screaming about the same long term issues, with few resolutions.

Those who have put themselves forward to contest the election offer the Waterford constituents a wide variety of all political views across the board, but the question is whether or not the constituents will continue with mainstream politics by backing traditional politics, or, continue the trend that has been gathering momentum over the last few years in the Deise where more Independent candidates and smaller political parties appear more desirable.

Current TDs (four seats)

Mary Butler (FF), David Cullinane (SF), Matt Shanahan (Ind) and Marc O Cathasaigh (GP)

Who could make gains here?

Sinn Fein has added a second candidate to the ticket, and is the only party to do so, with Conor McGuinness emerging from the Dungarvan area. This could potentially cause some upset for Fine Gael's candidate, Senator John Cummins, who would have a very strong agricultural backing, but this depends on how 2020 poll-topper Cullinanes votes transfer should he perform as well as the previous election. Sen. Cummins has also been vocal on the progress of SETU in many aspects, where he could also pick up votes.

Cllr Roche made history in Waterford during the Local Elections as she was deemed elected to the sixth seat in her area with 1,126 votes, having not met the quota, but she was the first to be elected to the Council for the Social Democrats Party in Waterford and is now the first to run in the General Election.

With the mention of the Social Democrats, it will be interesting to see if Waterford will shift from supporting the traditional political parties, yet a keen candidate to watch is Dublin-experienced councillor and Waterford native, Sadhbh ONeill.

There was major backing for Independent candidates across Waterford in the Local Elections, which could trend in the General Election too and keep Matt Shanahan his seat with new candidate Frank Conway not far behind.

What issues are under the spotlight?

Waterford Airport, the Cath-Lab, the SETU engineering building are among the top local issues, with Government handling the airport business case like a hot potato being juggled between positivity of the Taoiseach and the scrutiny of Minister Lawless. This doesn't bode well for Green Party candidate Marc O Cathasaigh as the Minister for Transport and former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan had the business case resting on his desk for months without knowing. He did, however, support the North Quays project, but the Local Elections truly highlighted that theres no love lost between Waterford and the Green Party as since that election, there has been no Green Party representative on Waterford City and County Council, removing the then Mayor and Airport Board member, Councillor Jody Power.

Minister for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler, has never shied away from discussing Government matters openly and has been vocal for Waterford, but she might feel the pinch as in 2020 her Fianna Fail seat was secured by significant transfers from her Fianna Fail running-mate, John Mulligan and Labours John Pratt as they were eliminated.

Interestingly, the closest thing Minister Butler will have to a party member in the race is former Fianna Fail representative, Councillor Mary Roche, who left the party after there was no delivery on health care promises made to the people of Waterford.

While the public campaigned for a fully-staffed Cath-Lab to be opened 24/7 in University Hospital Waterford, the increase of services last year announced by Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, was most welcomed by the community, yet, a full time service is still sought after as the Waterford service struggles to cater for the entire south east.

Follow Independent Waterford on Facebook

Candidates

Mary Butler, Fianna Fail *

Ronan Cleary, Aontu

Frank Conway, Independent

David Cullinane, Sinn Fein*

John Cummins, Fine Gael

Patrick Curtin, People Before Profit-Solidarity

Conor McGuinness, Sinn Fein

Aaron Joyce, Independent

Killian Mangan, Independent

Marc O Cathasaigh, Green Party*

Mark ONeill, Independent

Sadhbh ONeill, Labour

Mary Roche, Social Democrats

Matt Shanahan, Independent*

John Walsh, Irish People

*Indicates sitting TDs
For Charlotte Fallon, it is time to switch the spotlight.

The Cork care worker, whose supermarket meeting with Taoiseach Simon Harris last Friday became the viral moment of the general election campaign, said she wants the focus firmly placed on the message rather than the messenger.

It isn't about me, she told the Irish Independent.

It should be about care workers, their pay and working conditions but, above all, it should be about the people that they care for and who entirely rely on the care they provide.

Ms Fallon, who lives in Kanturk, made headlines when Mr Harris abruptly cut short a discussion with her about the pay and working conditions of care workers.

The exchange was caught on an RTE video clip that went viral and has become one of the biggest talking points of the election campaign, particularly because Mr Harris made disability issues one of his cornerstone pledges.

The Taoiseach has been a long-standing advocate for the care and special needs sector given that his mother is a special needs assistant and his brother has autism.

Charlotte Fallon with Taoiseach Simon Harris. Photo: Screenshot from RTE News.

Mr Harris later admitted he made a mistake by not engaging with Ms Fallon, who left the supermarket distressed.

Later, the care worker said she felt silly and stupid for having raised the plight of care workers with the Taoiseach.

Simon Harris meets Charlotte Fallon in the video

Simon Harris asked whether exchange with Charlotte Fallon will overshadow election campaign

Mr Harris contacted Ms Fallon on Saturday and apologised in a conversation that lasted 20 minutes.

He also said he would like to meet her after the general election campaign to discuss issues surrounding disability support.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and Green Party leader Roderic OGorman said the supermarket exchange was one of the defining moments of the election campaign.

He is a human being and I know he was after a very long day

Ms Fallon accepted the apology from Mr Harris and said she also regretted how the supermarket meeting unfolded.

However, what she doesnt regret is fighting for fairness for Section 39 care workers.

Section 39 organisations are groups that have agreements with the HSE to provide care within communities.

Ms Fallon found herself in the eye of a political storm when all she wanted was a commitment to improve the pay for Section 39 carers, address staffing issues throughout the sector and ensure those who rely on such care receive the support they deserve.

In the 48 hours after the exchange with the Taoiseach, she had to screen the tsunami of calls she received by allowing them to go to voicemail and she has turned down most media interviews.

The phone never stopped ringing and all I wanted was time with my family before I go back to work, she said.

Charlotte works for the St Josephs Foundation as a care provider.

On occasions, she rises at 6am to prepare for a work shift that begins at 7am and finishes at 7pm. Other shifts can vary from 8am to 8pm.

If urgent issues arise outside of her shift that require her attention, any work matters she deals with largely go unpaid.

St Josephs not only provides care for its clients, but also provides respite care for families when possible.

Such are the strains on the over-stretched service that sometimes respite cannot be provided.

Ms Fallon said the sector is run by dedicated, hard-working staff who were passionate about a career that is effectively a vocation.

I'm not alone in that - it is the case for a lot of Section 39 workers, she said.

I generally work in the retirement section, to be fair, there are a few in the [care] house that wouldnt be older, but would have very specific needs. We provide for those needs because we have the hoists and things like that which are required.

Some of the houses cannot cater for that because they don't have the facilities for it.

She worked for years as a hairdresser before deciding on a career change and fell in love with care work.

I just wanted to find my feet after being a hairdresser for years, she said.

I am just over three-and-a-half years here now and I love it. It is so close to my heart. When I came to St Josephs I realised it was what I was searching for.

I had volunteered for COPE Foundation. My mother was a healthcare assistant in Kanturk Hospital for years. She cared for my grandparents, her own mother and father as well as her brother. She was absolutely outstanding.

I always said I wouldn't want [my parents] to have to go to a home. Not that there's anything wrong with a home  absolutely not. But I wanted to help keep them home as long as I possibly can. That was one of my main reasons for training in the care area.

It is always something I am very passionate about.

Ms Fallon said that while care work is effectively a vocation, staff who effectively do the same work as others deserve the respect of being paid the same.

All I want is for the work we do to be acknowledged and respected in terms of the pay we receive

We are entirely reliant on funding because we are a voluntary organisation. We are partially funded by the HSE, but Section 39 workers seem to have been given the biggest blow in the world, she said.

We fought to get our pay money back in terms of pay parity [after cutbacks over a decade ago]. But we only got a bare minimum of 8pc which is being paid in dribs and drabs.

They wouldn't give us the full amount that we were supposed to get originally. The Government has pushed back on the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) several times now.

There is a handwritten letter recently sent to Simon Harris, but it appears to have been ignored unfortunately.

We fought long and hard for our money. But we feel that we have been ignored.

We are 18pc behind the HSE and Section 38 [workers].

We provide great care. We have great staff. We train people in  they get what they need and they say: Do you know what, we are only paid buttons? They go to other places for better pay.

Ms Fallon said the tragedy is that those who depend on care are the ones who pay the price.

It is very sad because our lads become so adjusted, they get used to people and it can be very upsetting, she said.

For argument, lets say Mary leaves to go to a better paid job. Our lads then will ask: Where is Mary gone? They wonder did they do something wrong  was it them? It is hard for them to comprehend why a care worker they liked, they had gotten used to and they relied on had left.

It is very, very hard, not just for the lads, but for the staff who want to stay to see great colleagues leaving, many of whom would stay if they received fair pay.

As for her encounter with the Taoiseach, Ms Fallon said she greatly appreciated his subsequent phone call and the offer of a meeting after the general election to discuss carer pay and working conditions.

He is a human being and I know he was after a very long day. I do feel for him and I know that general election campaigns can be very rough. I am glad we got to chat on Saturday, she said.

All I want is for the work we do to be acknowledged and respected in terms of the pay we receive. I think it is the least we deserve.

I am so proud that the plight of the sector is getting out there now and people are voicing more concern. They are speaking up and they are being heard. Because people have been shut off and phones have been hung up on them.

Ive have had loads of people telling me their beautiful stories and they are heartbreaking stories. I think it is time we all said enough is enough.

Ms Fallon said the care sector does not need platitudes, apologies or praise, what it needs is funding and resources to allow the carers who are passionate about their jobs to make a difference.
Cheers and emotional reunions as Irish peacekeepers touch down on home soil

Irish troops were welcomed with signs, balloons, hugs and kisses from family members at Dublin Airport this morning following the end of their six-month deployment in south Lebanon.

A total of 200 Irish troops from the 124th Infantry Battalion arrived at Terminal 1 of Dublin Airport, drawn from different units across the Army and Air Corps.

Last month, a Unifil outpost on the Israel-Lebanon border in which some Irish troops were based was damaged during fighting between the Israel Defence Forces and Hezbollah.

The UN and several member states have repeatedly called on all parties to ensure the safety of peacekeepers.

Ireland is one of 48 countries contributing troops to Unifil.

Thankfully, no Irish soldiers were harmed, but consistent contact with families through WiFi was not always possible while the peacekeepers were caught in the crossfire between Hezbollah and the Israeli army, who had been firing at each other.

One woman, Nicole OFlaherty from Clondalkin, who was with her extended family and her son Rian (3), dressed as an Irish peacekeeper, said that at the beginning of her partner Calvin Conways deployment, she felt very on edge.

Everything was up in the air at times, but I had faith in Calvin and the Irish army that theyd get through it safely, she said.

Theyre all so brave, and every one of them stuck it out even in the hard times. Its been heartbreaking for the families in Lebanon and the families here at home when we couldnt make contact.

Claire Doogue and her extended family waiting for her fiancee Paul

There would be maybe 24 hours that would pass without hearing from him, and Id be ringing the army just to get through to him, but thankfully they are all safe and home now.

"Having him home is an early Christmas present," she added.

Mr Conway told the Irish Independent that he missed his son Rian a lot while he was away.

It was my first time overseas as a mechanic, he said.

Everything was put into place to ensure we could regularly contact family under the amazing leadership that made sure everything went smoothly, even when things were going wrong.

Cheers rang out and tears of elation streamed down faces as mothers embraced sons, fathers held their daughters, and loved ones exchanged long-awaited kisses.

It was scary when it started to get really bad over there

The troops spent six months as part of a Unifil mission in southern Lebanon as tensions in the Middle East heightened, with Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Iran, and Hezbollah attacks on Israel.

In October, Camp Shamrock, made up of UN peacekeepers, was struck by a rocket amid escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, with much of the Irish troops time thereafter spent locked down in bunkers.

The increased tensions led to reduced access to food and water supplies for the Irish peacekeepers, who were forced to wash with bottled water and eat ration packs for extended periods.

Leah Curran from Carlow was also waiting anxiously for her partner Adam Maher, along with her mother-in-law, sister-in-law and son Charlie.

It was scary when it started to get really bad over there, she said.

Its been really tough and very different from the previous tours hes been on

She added that they are really looking forward to Christmas and getting home to get a Chinese takeaway tonight.

Also waiting patiently in the arrivals hall was Clare Agnew for her husband Padraic.

The relief is indescribable; I cant believe it. I thought wed never get him home, she said.

Sometimes it would be two to three days before I heard from him and it hasnt been nice.

Padraic said he was delighted to be home and couldnt wait to spend time with his wife and have a pint of Guinness.

He had been away for nearly seven months after being deployed to Lebanon at the beginning of May; this was his second overseas tour after nearly eight years with the Defence Forces.

Holding a large welcome home sign was Shannon Dooge, who was waiting for her fiance Paul Byrne, who had been away since August.

Were getting married next year, so he went and did this to help pay for our wedding, she said.

There were times when they had no WiFi, which was nerve-wracking, but once I heard from him, I was put at ease, she said.

"The first half of the trip was better than the second half.

With everything thats been going on, its been really tough and very different from the previous tours hes been on.

He had leave to take, but wasnt able to come back home because it was too dangerous to travel, she added.

In southern Lebanon, peacekeepers are engaged in a mission to monitor the demarcation line with Israel, a region that has faced over a year of conflict between Israeli forces and Hezbollah.

Recently, an attack resulted in injuries to four Italian peacekeepers when two 122-mm rockets struck the Sector West Headquarters in Shama. Unifil attributes this assault to Hezbollah.

Moreover, damage has been reported at Unifil facilities, which the organisation claims is the result of actions by the Israeli military.

However, Israel has dismissed allegations of deliberate attacks, asserting that UN troops have inadvertently acted as a human shield for Hezbollah fighters.

Given the rising tensions, Israel has recommended that Unifil evacuate its personnel from the area for their own safety. In response, Unifil has denounced any assaults on peacekeepers as a flagrant violation of international law and a breach of Resolution 1701, which is central to its mandate.

Unifil has called for an immediate end to the troubling trend of regular attacks  whether direct or indirect  against its personnel.
A man in his 40s has been charged over a huge haul of cocaine worth 560,000 seized in Limerick city.

He is due to appear before Limerick District Court on Monday, November 25, 2024.

A second man arrested remains in custody at a garda station in Limerick. He can be held under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996 for up to seven days.

Gardai stopped and searched a vehicle as part of the operation and seized 490,000 worth of suspected cocaine.

They also carried out a search at a party in the city and seized suspected cocaine with an estimated street value of 70,000.

The drugs will undergo analysis by Forensic Science Ireland.

The raids came as part of Operation Tara which is aimed at dismantling drug gangs operating at all levels in Ireland.

Investigations are ongoing.
People take part in a protest marking 1,000 days since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in Istanbul, Turkey, on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Most Irish people support giving Ukrainian refugees clarity on their future in Ireland, two years after the countrys invasion by Russian forces and ahead of this years general election, according to a poll.

Ukrainian refugees have been granted temporary status and offered direct provision since 2022 in Ireland and now face uncertainty in their futures with a new government set to be voted in next week.

However, the Government has changed rules around the provision of accommodation and social welfare supports, significantly reducing the level of supports available to Ukrainians in recent months, as authorities also struggle to find accommodation for everyone who needs it amid the housing crisis.

In a poll of 1,000 people carried out last week, 80pc of Irish voters said Ukrainians should be given clarity on their future in the country.

The poll was carried out by polling company Ireland Thinks, for the Ukraine Civil Society Forum, which is part of the Immigrant Council of Ireland.

A total of 74pc of respondents believed that politicians should stand up to racism and intimidation against refugees while 69pc agreed that the government needs to include refugees in the national strategy on housing and have a new approach to providing working visas in order to address a shortage of workers.

National coordinator of the Ukraine Civil Society Forum, Emma Lane Spollen, called on the next government to lay out a plan and options for Ukrainians futures in Ireland.

This poll also showed that the public recognise the need for immigration to support the economy, from construction of new houses to healthcare and crucially, that the Government should plan for the accommodation needs of refugees within our national housing strategy, she said.

We are delighted to see that the Irish public believe that politicians must take a firm stance against racism and intimidation of refugees.

Irelands offer of sanctuary has been genuine and deeply felt. Everybody stepped up and did what we had to do. It was the right thing to do. It still is. But we must plan ahead.

There are around 110,000 Ukrainian refugees in Ireland, up 16pc on the same time last year.

As of November 2024, 22,943 Ukrainian people are employed in Ireland, 17,562 Ukrainian children are currently enrolled in the Irish school system and, a total of 32,812 people are currently accommodated in short-term accommodation across the country, with others accommodated in other settings.

The Ukraine Civil Society Forum has brought forward recommendations for a new Government which include intensive language tuition to bring asylum seekers to fluency and allow them to join the workforce easily, to approach the issue with more empathy and compassion and reset a long-term accommodation strategy.
Staff at Childrens Health Ireland (CHI), which manages the three childrens hospitals in Dublin, were told the appointment of a new chief executive is imminent after concerns emerged when it was confirmed the official who held the post on an interim basis has resigned.

The interim chief executive Fiona Murphy will leave in February, according to a memo to staff from Dr Jim Browne, chairperson of the CHI board.

It comes just seven months before the promised completion of the new National Childrens Hospital.

CHI has a major role in overseeing the construction, as well as planning for the phased transfer of care from the existing three hospitals over the next year.

In a memo to staff, Dr Browne said: I regret to inform you that Ms Fiona Murphy has tendered her resignation as Interim chief executive of Childrens Health Ireland, effective February 2025.

On my own behalf and on behalf of the board, I would like to convey my sincere thanks and appreciation to Ms Murphy for her tremendous leadership over the past year or so. Fiona has done and continues to do an incredible job in challenging circumstances. I am sure you will all join me in wishing her every success in her new role.

I would like to assure you that the board expects to appoint a new CEO imminently. I will be writing to you regarding this in the very near future.

In the meantime, the Board and I would like to thank you for your continuing commitment to CHI and most importantly to the care of our patients and their families.

Earlier this year the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, criticised the board for delays in seeking a new permanent chief executive of the organisation. He wrote to Mr Browne in August on the matter.

The Social Democrats said the development raises "very serious questions" about the management of the hospital project and the "repercussions it could have".

Wicklow TD Jennifer Whitmore said this comes at a sensitive time for the new hospital and if it is not "rectified quickly, the new hospital could be an empty shell - that there is actually no one working there because that planning hasn't happened, she warned.

"The fact that we are now coming into December and not only is there not a permanent person in place, but the person who was acting in that position has left, I think that raises very, very serious questions as to the management of this and also what the repercussions will be," she said.
The broadcast will mark the 40th anniversary of Band Aids song

Sir Bob Geldof and Midge Ure masterminded the first ever Band Aid single, Do They Know Its Christmas, nearly 40 years ago (Brian Aris/BBC)

Independent radio stations across the country are taking part in a simultaneous broadcast at 8.35am on the Monday 25 November of the latest mix of Do They Know It's Christmas? to mark the 40th anniversary of its release.

This will be the songs debut, with voices from the original group along with the latest stars. Producer Trevor Horn has produced the song, blending voices together to celebrate the original release of the Band Aid track.

The broadcast will raise funds for the Live Aid charity on the 40th anniversary of the release of the song. The release of the Do They Know Its Christmas?  2024 Ultimate Mix track will help raise more money for the Band Aid Trust charity, and it can be bought at the following link https://bandaid.lnk.to/buy

Chair of Independent Broadcasters Ireland, John Purcell said, Our stations are delighted to support this initiative and to launch the latest mix of this iconic track, which did so much over the last 40 years to raise awareness of world hunger, and to gather much-needed funds for charity.

This song has been played on our stations so many times over the years, and it still resonates with listeners, particularly at this time of year, when the gap between people living in acute poverty and starvation and those in better-off countries is most obvious, he added.

Do They Know Its Christmas? came about through the work of Bob Geldof and Midge Ure. The Band Aid record which featured the worlds top music artists, was a response to the extreme suffering during the famine in Ethiopia.

Along with the concerts held in 1985 in London and Philadelphia, the Band Aid release raised 114 million for famine relief.

The Irish people gave over 7 million to the Live Aid charity, fundraising proportionately more than other countries.

Ed Sheeran recently commented that he had not been asked for approval for his vocals to be featured on the song and that he would have declined if he had been consulted.

A decade on and my understanding of the narrative associated with this has changed, eloquently explained by [Ghanaian-English artist] Fuse ODG. This is just my personal stance. Im hoping its a forward-looking one. Love to all, Sheeran said on Instagram.

In response to this Bob Geldof, speaking to The Sunday Times said, Why would Band Aid scrap feeding thousands of children dependent on us for a meal? Why not keep doing that? Because of an abstract wealthy-world argument, regardless of its legitimacy?

Participating in the simulcast tomorrow morning will be Corks 96FM, 98FM, Beat 102103, C103, Clare FM, Irelands Classic Hits Radio, East Coast FM, FM104, Galway Bay FM, Highland Radio, iRadio, KCLR 96FM, KFM, Live 95FM, LMFM, Mid West Radio, Midlands 103, Newstalk, Ocean FM, Q102, Radio Kerry, Radio Nova, Red FM, Shannonside/Northern Sound, South East Radio, SPIN South East, SPIN1038, Sunshine 106.8, Tipp FM, Today FM, and WLR.

RTE Radio will also be taking part in the broadcast event. Radio stations in Britain will join Irish stations in this initiative.
Informal discussions will taken place tomorrow between health officials and unions on the pay gap faced by staff in some organisations caring for people with a disability which was the subject of a controversial exchange with Taoiseach Simon Harris on Friday.

The discussions will look at the gap which sees staff in Section 39 organisations paid less than their counterparts in the HSE.

On Friday, Cork care worker Charlotte Fallon told Mr Harris who was campaigning in a Kanturk supermarket: It should be about care workers, their pay and working conditions but, above all, it should be about the people that they care for and who entirely rely on the care they provide.

Mr Harris has since said he apologised to Ms Fallon and said he accepts he should have stayed and listened to her longer after walking away from her.

In a surprise move, unions including Forsa and Siptu, have been invited to a meeting with HSE and Department of Health officials tomorrow.

Workplace Relations Commission talks were due to take place last week on the issue but did not go ahead.

Section 39 organisations are funded by the HSE but they are run independently.

The pay gap which has widened even further following the most recent public service pay agreement has led to a long running campaign for parity and is leading to staff leaving the organisations for better pay. This include organisations such as Enable Ireland, the Irish Wheelchair Association and Rehab Ireland.

Strike action was threatened in October last year but an agreement was reached to give Section 39 workers an 8pc increase.

However, not all staff have benefited from it yet.

The Rehab Group said today that the absence of pay parity for our staff directly affects our ability to deliver the vital services upon which 12,800 children, adults, and their families rely. The failure to address this issue is hampering recruitment and retention of essential staff, which ultimately jeopardises the quality and sustainability of disability services."

The Rehab Group is calling on the Government to take decisive steps to bring the current talks on this issue to finality and to address the pay and pensions issue at its core. It is regrettable that this issue was not resolved prior to the calling of the general election. Without immediate intervention, this disparity will continue to compromise the sectors ability to attract and retain skilled professionals, meet service demands, and maintain the quality of care for vulnerable individuals and families.

The time has come for commitments to be honoured through decisive action. The lives of thousands of individuals with disabilities and their families depend on it.
Three women in their 20s were arrested after gardai seized six pipe bombs and 29,000 worth of drugs in Co Galway.

The six viable improvised explosive devices, along with 20,000 worth of cocaine and 9,000 worth of cannabis, were seized during a search of a property in Menlough in Ballinasloe on Sunday afternoon around 3.30pm.

Members of the Galway Divisional Drugs Unit carried out the search alongside the Armed Support Unit and also found mixing agent and other drug paraphernalia.

More than 9,400 in cash and two mobile phones were seized in a follow-up search of a property in Loughrea. The three women who were arrested were detained at a garda station in Galway.

One of the women has since been released and a file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions. Investigations are ongoing.
Maire Ni Fhatharta will be laid to rest beside the shores of Galway Bay following her funeral mass on Wednesday

The heartbroken family of a 32-year-old swimmer who drowned in Galway has paid tribute to all those who spent 11 days and nights searching for her.

The family of Maire Ni Fhatharta from Doire Lochain Thoir, An Spideal on Co Galway, whose funeral details have been announced, said they will be forever in the debt of all those who searched for her.

She lost her life after going for a morning swim at Silverstrand near Barna on November 12.

The body of another swimmer, 74-year old songwriter Johnny Duhan, was found in the water the same day at Rusheen Bay a few hours after he was reported missing after going for his daily swim at Silverstrand the same morning. He was laid to rest in Killaan Cemetery in east Co Galway last week.

The search for Maire Ni Fhatharta, who worked as an Irish language planning officer in An Spideal, was one of the largest and most organised ever mounted along the west coast.

The late Johnny Duhan. Photo: Ray Ryan

Search parties, organised into zones, combed the coastline each day and each night in line with tidal movements from south Connemara through to Galway city and on through south Galway and along the north Clare coast.

Over 500 searchers were involved at weekends with over 100 craft including fishing vessels, jet-skis, kayakers, sailing boats and paddle boarders, in addition to all the multi-agencies.

A fundraising drive launched to help defray the costs of the search reached over 225,000. Excess funds will be distributed among various rescue bodies.

The search came to an end on Friday before 4pm, just as it was being stepped down for the night ahead of the arrival of Storm Bert, when her body was discovered near the shoreline between the beach at Silverstrand and Barna village.

We would like to say a massive thank you to you all for everything you have done between searching, organising, delivering, donating and all the other things that we may not even be aware of. Your generosity, kindness, dedication and hope have helped us bring our beautiful Maire home.

We will be forever in your debt and Maire can finally rest in peace, said her family.

She will be laid to rest in Reilig Mhaoiris, Cloch Mor in south Connemara on the shores of Galway Bay on Wednesday following requiem mass at noon in An Spideal. Maire Ni Fhatharta will repose at the Cillin in the Church of Mary Immaculate Queen, Barna, tomorrow from 4pm-6pm.

It is with great heartache that Maires partner Dan and all her family share the news of her death, said a family notice.

She is survived by her parents Peig and Johnny, her sisters Fionnuala and Maighread, and brothers Tomas, Stiofan and Eoghan.
Katie Byrne: Meghan and Harrys Polo series is a show about the minted with a moral hole in middle

Pair have moved from tackling world problems to bigging up the lives of the rich in documentary they have produced

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and polo player Nacho Figuares. Photo: WireImage

Katie Byrne Sun 24 Nov 2024 at 03:30

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle signed a multi-year deal with Netflix in 2020, they knew exactly what kind of television series, films and childrens shows they wanted to make.
Councillors in the Fermoy Municipal District will hold conversations with local groups and get feedback from the public on whether they should erect an artistic commemorative piece for Tom and Marie Cavanagh.

A successful businessman who once oversaw the largest Ford dealership in the country earning Fermoy the tag the town of 1,000 cars, Dr Cavanagh also had an extensive business portfolio under his belt and was a highly respected champion of social entrepreneurship.

Over the years Dr Cavanaghs interests had straddled many sectors  from directorships at Warner Lambert, Hudson Chemicals and Foir Teoranta to the board of AIB, national trustee of the MS Society and patron of the Cheshire Home in Cork.

Independent councillor Peter ODonoghue recently brought forward a motion requesting that the council consider erecting an artistic commemorative piece for Tom and Marie Cavanagh and all who contribute their time, money and energy to the communities of Fermoy and surrounding areas.

Cllr ODonoghue said the Cavanaghs were fantastic people for Fermoy and the surrounding areas. They were inspirational people. Tom and Marie once owned the largest Ford dealership in the country. They founded the Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL). Founder of the Tomar Trust in the 1980s which has dispersed nearly 100 million to youth and related causes in Ireland and beyond. They provided finance for the pharmacy building in UCC in 2006.

The Cavanaghs were wealthy people, but they were very humble and honest, said Cllr ODonoghue. They were very community oriented. They spent their money trying to help people and this community especially. I saw a few weeks ago in Cappoquin that they had erected a commemorative piece for them and I thought it would be something nice for this municipal district to do.

The Cavanaghs didnt approach me about this. I mentioned it to members of the Cavanagh family and they said if it is something the people of Fermoy would like that would be okay. They asked that all others who volunteered their time be considered in that commemorative piece as well, he added.

The motion was seconded by Independent councillor William OLeary who said: Whatever the most appropriate way to commemorate them is I fully support it for what they have given this part of North Cork and the county as a whole. The Cavanagh family as a whole have been phenomenal for the area. We have to give some thought to but it is something we should definitely pursue.

Fine Gael councillor Noel McCarthy agreed that is a very good motion, but he expressed concerns that somebody could be left out of the commemorative piece. I am glad he contacted the Cavanagh family. The only thing I would be concerned about is if we leave out someone we are in trouble. It is going to take a big research. We need to make sure that we get everyone that should be included in it. Who are the others and where do we find that information?

So many people have made vital contributions to this town way before my time. How do we approach that? If we are going to do it we have to take time, effort and who do we get to do that. We have to get this 100% right. They are so well respected in this community, he added.

Fianna Fail councillor Frank OFlynn said full clearance is required from the family who must be brought on board. I welcome the motion but I would definitely tread carefully. 99.9% of the good deeds Tom Cavanagh and his family did, no-one will ever know. The family are still doing good deeds. I would like to explore it further but we need full clearance and discussion with the family. The family has to be brought on board. Their issues have to be taken into account at all stages.

Fianna Fail councillor Deirdre OBrien agreed that full consensus is required from everyone. He put the town on the map and was a great representative. His heart was always in the right place. You need to get consensus from everyone. There needs to be an unanimous agreement to put this forward.

To recognise Tom and Marie would be fantastic, said Cllr ODonoghue: I just want to reiterate I approached the family and family members. They didnt want conflict. If it was something the people of Fermoy would like it would be okay, but if it is going to create conflict leave it off. My motion was to open up a discussion. It is not going to happen overnight.

Cllr OBrien said they will engage in dialogue with local groups and the general public. Maybe we should speak to the general public, groups and get the feeling out there. I dont think it is a decision for us to take today. We need everyone to have an input into it.
The care centre will comprise of 82 residential beds along with its existing 10 independent living units following the expansion

Churchtowns Windmill House Care Centre will get an additional 42 beds and employ 60 more people following a newly announced expansion.

Following the new expansion, which will be carried out by Buckley Bros Builders in Mallow, the care centre will comprise of 82 residential beds along with its existing 10 independent living units. The new bedrooms will all be single rooms with private en-suites and dining and day rooms.

Windmill Healthcare, which operates six care centres in Ireland, said the expansion of its facility will represent an investment of over 7 million into the local economy.

The care centre operator said it was pleased to announce the creation of 60 new jobs in line with the expansion of its centre in Churchtown. Once recruitment has been completed, the centre will employ 120 people.

Hiring for healthcare assistants, nurses, caterers and administrative and support staff will begin in November 2025, according to Windmill Healthcare.

Pat Kennedy, managing director of Windmill Healthcare, highlighted the key role of the local workforce in this decision expand its facility and staff.

The proven dedication and excellence of care demonstrated by our local team have garnered the trust of the community over the past 20 years, Mr Kennedy said.

The expanded care centre is expected to be ready for registration with the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) in January 2026.
Deputy Moynihan who is seeking re-election in the Cork North West constituency was delighted to visit a number of business owners and meet members of the public in Macroom. It was great to have the Tanaiste, Micheal Martin, accompany me on a canvass in Macroom recently. We met so many people and we had a great welcome in the town. Bhi plei ar an habair eagsula aitiuil, naisiunta agus idirnaisiunta.

Deputy Moynihan who was first elected to Dail Eireann in 2016 said the Tanaiste also visited the Macroom Buffalo Farm earlier that day: Earlier in the day it was great to also have the opportunity to show an Tanaiste the Macroom Buffalo Farm in Cluan Clud, Cill na Martra where the difficulties farmers are experiencing was discussed.

"It was even better to get a chance to taste their beautiful award winning produce," he added.
The 34-year-old English darts star is currently ranked 15th in the world and has won five ranking PDC titles

Chris Dobey will exhibit his skills at the Hibernian Hotel in Mallow on November 30.

Hollywood will come to Mallow later this month, when professional darts star Chris Hollywood Dobey showcases his skills at the Hibernian Hotel on Saturday, November 30.

The 34-year-old English darts star is currently ranked 15th in the world in the Professional Darts Corporation and has won five ranking PDC titles.

The exhibition that will be put on by Dobey promises excitement and plenty of fun and some attendees will have the opportunity to meet and chat with the visiting professional.

A portion of the funds raised by the event will go to the Marymount University Hospital and Hospice, which provides specialist palliative care for those with life limiting illness.

General entry tickets for the event are available for 15 while VIP Experience tickets, which will enable purchasers to meet and mingle with Chris Dobey, are available for 25.

Tickets are available at the hotel reception or online via Eventbrite. The Hibernian Hotel can be contacted by phone at 022-58200.
Kirsten with best friend Chloe Halpin, who is now an Aer Lingus pilot

Engineer Kirsten Lee, from Finglas, on her graduation day in DCU

An engineer says its important to break glass ceilings for other women after finding it daunting to often be the only girl in lectures in college.

Growing up in a working-class family in Finglas, Kirsten Lee said she was the first of her immediate family to go to higher education.

I went to an all-girls school in Glasnevin. I loved the school, but I felt lost for most of my school years, she said.

Stem was where my strengths were. We didnt have the option to do subjects like metalwork, woodwork, tech graph, construction, engineering, computer science, things like that.

We didnt even have the option to do applied maths, which was something that would have been really useful for me going into engineering.

I got to where I am today because of my best friend Chloe. Shes a first officer for Aer Lingus. We went to secondary school together, and the two of us really felt like it was us against the world.

We were so hell bent on getting incredible grades, going on and achieving greatness.

She had her plan; she knew she wanted to be a pilot. I didnt know what I wanted to do, but seeing her determination was such an inspiration to me.

Kirsten with best friend Chloe Halpin, who is now an Aer Lingus pilot

I think she is the youngest first officer for Aer Lingus at the moment. She got her pilot licence the day before she turned 21.

At school, it was clear Ms Lee had a natural ability in maths and physics, but STEM courses werent widely promoted as a college option.

But then in fifth year, a guidance counsellor remarked that engineering might suit her skills.

I wouldnt worry about being the only girl or thinking things like this isnt what women do. People like us have to break those glass ceilings in order for women behind us to do what were doing, she said.

Seeing my maths and physics teachers, who were both women, being so passionate about subjects that were not really represented in was an inspiration for me.

Ms Lee ended up graduating in the top two of her class in DCU and is now working for a major international firm.

She was also recently nominated for a Women in STEM award for developing and delivering a summer camp for secondary school students in advanced electronics.

Kirsten Lee and partner Oisin Thurlow on their graduation day

There were lectures where I was the only girl. I have been the only girl in a room before, she said.

It is daunting, but from my experience, when youre surrounded by such like-minded people, your gender doesnt matter. Youre all there for the same reason, to learn and to excel.

I met my partner Oisin then in second year of college and he also did electronic engineering.

He was incredible, seeing somebody who is also from a working-class area, north inner-city Dublin, and seeing how passionate he was about engineering, it set that fire in me.

The two of us were a dynamic duo. We would stay in DCU late to do our assignments and study. He was my rock during college and we both made the Deans list. We both did really well.
The Dogs for the Disabled national charity is looking to expand its services.

As life partnerships go, there is none more suitably matched than Rachel OConnor and her loyal companion Justin.

The independence that Rachel (22) from Listowel enjoys today was not always guaranteed after delays in reaching her physical milestones were detected at two years old. At one point, doctors believed Rachel might not walk.

Once diagnosed with a form of Ataxia, she required a wheelchair and a walker. Her parents were determined to leave no stone unturned in ensuring their daughter received the therapy she needed.

Even though Rachel started walking independently from the age of eight, she continued to struggle with balance and coordination.

Despite these progress markers, her ability to walk straight and lead an independent life was still compromised. It made the every day tasks that are taken for granted by others out of reach.

Rachel explains that she would easily stray from footpaths and bump into people because of poor balance. It was a threat to personal safety as much as her self-confidence.

But life changed considerably when Justin came into Rachels life through the national charity, Dogs for the Disabled. Justin has, quite literally, helped put Rachel back on the straight and narrow again.

They said I might never walk but here I am today, she said.

Justin helps to keep Rachel in sync on busy streets and is even boosting her energy levels when walking as she no longer needs to focus as much on her balance.

She received Justin as a fifth-year student and together they have graduated to second-level where Rachel is continuing her studies in Social Care at MTU. Naturally, she considers Justin as the gift that has gifted her independence.

I can travel alone now whereas before I wouldnt have felt as safe. My parents know Im safe with Justin. This allows me to use public transport and travel to Dublin to see my friends. Dogs are amazing, Rachel said.

Dogs for the Disabled was set up in 2007 and has worked quietly in transforming the lives of children and adults living with physical disabilities by providing a service which is free of charge.

This includes Task Dogs for wheelchair users, Mobility Dogs for children with Cerebral Palsy and Ataxia-type conditions. A new Parkinsons dog programme is also being devised.

The dogs are described as individual lifelines offering practical assistance that increases independence and provides a social connection to those who need it most.

Dogs for Disabled want to raise funds to transform a house on eleven acres on the outskirts of Cork City as their new national training centre and permanent headquarters. This would allow them to expand the service to more people.

The property requires complete renovation and the immediate goal is to raise 500,000 to make it fit-for-purpose and operational as soon as possible.

They are holding a special fundraiser at the Manor West Shopping Centre on 8 December from 9:30am to 6:30pm.

This is a wonderful charity. The place they are in at the moment is tiny and they want a new facility because in a bigger place they can train more dogs and make more partnerships. This would make a huge difference, said Rachel.

The independence and safety that I feel has given me more confidence. People know I might need extra help when Justin is by my side. That is a sense of security in itself. The ability to be able to go and see the world without my parents is so freeing. Having Justin has opened a world of possibilities for me," said Rachel.

For more information email info@dogsfordisabled.ie. Or visit dogsfordisabled.ie
Pictured at the 2024 Asia Matters Awards at the Radisson Blu Hotel. Accepting the Special Award as a Regional Investor in Ireland presented to Astellas were Seamus OConnell, Astellas, Caroline Mullins, Astellas, Emily Ging, Astellas, Yui Shimazu, Director, Asia Matters, Louis Collins, Astellas, Keely OGrady 2024 Rose of Tralee, H.E. Norio Maruyama Ambassador of Japan to Ireland, Samantha Hobbs, Director of Corporate Affairs, Asia Matters and Martin Murray, Executive Director, Asia Matters.

Astellas receiving its reward. Grainne Seoige, MC, Mary Buckley, Executive Director, IDA Ireland, Alan Dukes, Chairman, Asia Matters, Louis Collins, Astellas, H.E. Norio Maruyama, Ambassador of Japan to Ireland and Yui Shimazu Director Asia Matters.

The commitment of Astellas over the past 35 years through its operations in Kerry and Dublin has earned it a special award as the best regional investor at the recent Asia Matters Business Awards in the Radisson Blu Hotel in Dublin.

The Asia Matters Business Awards recognise Irish companies who have achieved strategic success in Asia and Asian companies making a unique contribution to Ireland.

With a heritage in Ireland spanning more than 35 years, Astellas operations have a significant local impact and global reach.

The company currently employs more than 650 people in Ireland in two facilities in Killorglin and Mulhuddart, and supplies medicines to 133 countries worldwide.

In September 2023, Astellas Pharma Inc. announced further investment in Kerry with the construction of a 330 million state-of-the-art facility in Tralee.

The new endeavour marks a pivotal achievement for the company as it continues to expand its global manufacturing footprint.

Over 600 people are expected to be employed in the construction of the Tralee facility and, once operational, it is expected to create over 100 additional highly specialised science, engineering, and technology roles, with potential for continued growth.
Maura Higgins won plenty of plaudits following her exploits in consuming 12 themed dishes in a bushtucker trial at the weekend which included pigs eyeballs, cockroaches and a goats testicle.

Former Love Island star Maura Higgins has caused more than a stir since her arrival into the 'I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! jungle.

Shes among the bookies favourites to be crowned the queen of the jungle and, now it would appear, Maura Higgins home town is backing her to do just that.

The Longford TV personality entered the Im a Celebrity.Get Me Out of Here! reality show last Thursday as a self-confessed absolutely petrified latecomer.

Yet, fast forward the best part of four days and the 34-year-old model has risen to become one of the favourites to fly back from Australia with the shows 2024 winners mantle in tow.

Follow Independent Longford on Facebook

Part of that growing popularity has been garnered by the former Love Island stars witty turn of phrase and bravery in downing a series of animal body parts and creepy crawlies during a bushtucker trial over the weekend.

Maura Higgins won plenty of plaudits following her exploits in consuming 12 themed dishes in a bushtucker trial at the weekend which included pigs eyeballs, cockroaches and a goats testicle.

Having entered the show alongside broadcaster and writer Reverend Richard Coles, Maura quipped about how the two were sharing a double bed in the jungle.

I never thought Id see the day Im about to sleep with a vicar  but my friends wouldnt be shocked, she joked.

On the streets of her home town of Ballymahon, locals were quick to endorse the credentials of the social media influencer.

I think she is very comical, said Adam Duggan. She is a big celebrity for Ballymahon especially and its definitely a big thing for the town.

Having emerged from the south Longford towns SuperValu store clutching her shopping, local woman Lorraine Flattery said the entire town and its surrounding environs were keeping their fingers crossed the Longford reality star would go all the way.

Absolutely, she told the Irish Independent in no uncertain terms.

Her mother lives two doors up from mine and she lived there too. I wouldnt have known her well, but I am delighted for her, absolutely and its great for the town.

Maura Higgins

They were soundings another local woman, who gave her name as Caroline, was only too quick to back up.

We are all very, very proud of her, she said, while admiring Mauras courage in taking on the shows infamous eating trial.

Do you know what? The only thing that would make me do something like that would be if somebody paid my mortgage off, so hats off to her.

She did really well last night, absolutely smashed the eating trial and she is coming across really, really well.

She is a very authentic girl, so well done to her.
Images of Sligo and the Wild Atlantic Way were beamed into the homes of over 350,000 people in Denmark this week, when a special Ireland episode of a popular travel show called Anne-Vibeke Rejser (meaning: Anne-Vibeke Travels) aired on Danish TV channel DK4. Filming took place here earlier this year and was supported by Tourism Ireland and Failte Ireland.

In the episode, viewers saw presenter Anne-Vibeke Isaksen visit Drumcliffe Church, enjoy a surfing lesson at the National Surf Centre on Strandhill Beach and a seaweed bath experience with VOYA Seaweed Baths.

Emer Mac Diarmada, Tourism Irelands Manager for the Nordic Region, said: Tourism Ireland was delighted to support the production of this special Wild Atlantic Way episode of Anne-Vibeke Rejser. Viewers across Denmark saw her take in our coastline and city streets, as well as our fantastic scenery, culture, attractions and, most importantly, our local characters.

Publicity and broadcasts like this are a key element of Tourism Irelands programme of activity. The episode was viewed by around 350,000 people, so its a wonderful opportunity to inspire travellers in Denmark to put the Wild Atlantic Way on their holiday wish-list for 2025 and beyond.
General Election candidates Chris MacManus (left) and Cllr Gino O'Boyle (right) join Cllr Declan Bree in support of the INMO protest at Sligo University Hospital on Monday.

Deputy Martin Kenny joined his daughter in a protest at Sligo University Hospital on Monday in a dispute over pay.

Nurse Clinical Placement Coordinators at Sligo University Hospital held a lunchtime protest on Monday over their exclusion from a pay award.

Nurse and Midwife Clinical Placement Coordinators support essential clinical placements for undergraduate student nurses and midwives.

Since the roles inception, CPCs have been graded and compensated according to the Clinical Nurse/Midwife Manager 2 (CNM2) pay scale.

The Expert Review Body on Nursing and Midwifery recommended additional increments on the CNM2 pay scale.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) asserts that the Department of Health is obstructing the recommended pay increases for CPCs.

The Minister for Health has ignored a 4,300 strong petition and the Department of Health have declined an invitation to attend the Labour Court to resolve this issue.

CPCs feel they should not be excluded from the recommended pay change as they are graded under the CNM2 scale. The Expert Review Bodys report made no distinctions for CPCs within this grade.

CPCs support students during clinical placements, ensuring high-quality and safe learning environments for nursing and midwifery students.

According to the INMO, efforts to attract and retain nursing and midwifery trainees and new graduates are vital. Pay discrepancies could undermine retention of skilled CPCs, jeopardising the training system.

Salary inconsistencies risk negatively impacting CPC retention, threatening the quality of student clinical placements and the future of healthcare training in Ireland, the union says.

Following a meeting of the INMO CPC section on Tuesday 19th November it was agreed to hold lunchtime protests in support of the CPCs in a number of locations including at SUH on Monday 25th November from 13:15 -13:45.

Deputy Martin Kenny, has criticised the Minister for Healths failure to implement recommended pay increases for Clinical Placement Coordinators.

Speaking after the lunchtime protest, which he attended, Deputy Kenny said, Clinical Placement Co -ordinators (CPCs) coordinate and support the essential clinical placements for undergraduate student nurses and midwives  placements that they must complete in order to graduate. CPCs are also nursing alongside this role.

The Expert Review Body on Nursing & Midwifery recommended additional increments on the pay scale of CPCs, which the Minister for Health has so far refused to sanction. In fact, the Minister and his department are also refusing to attend Labour Court hearings to resolve this matter.

I stood on the picket line today with my daughter, Claire, who is currently a student nurse in Sligo University Hospital. As parents, we are incredibly proud that Claire has decided to follow a profession like nursing, and I see first hand the work undertaken by the CPCs who guide her as she trains in SUH. These coordinators are simply invaluable in the health system  yet we have a Minister who does not want to acknowledge that.

I am concerned about Claires future prospects in the northwest and whether she will ultimately choose to emigrate  like so many other young nurses and midwives across the region.

At a time when our nurses are leaving the country in record numbers, the Minister has now decided not to provide a very modest pay increase to those training and guiding our student nurses. To me, this is another case of a government being penny-wise and pound foolish.

CPCs are training and guiding our undergraduate nurses and midwives, they are playing a critical role within the health service. They must be paid and valued for that.
Leslie Turner, Mary Conroy, James Wellwood, Frances Bermingham, Aine Ryan, Fiona Byrne Edel Walsh, Lina Verna and Gwin Grace were pictured during the Irish Design Week craft workshop "Material Connections" in Cleariestown on Tuesday. Pic: Jim Campbell

Mary Conroy and Aine Ryan pictured during the Irish Design Week craft workshop "Material Connections" in Cleariestown on Tuesday. Pic: Jim Campbell

As part of Irish Design Week, artists, designers, and craftspeople participated in Material Connections: Designing with Glass and Nature, a one-day workshop which took place in Murrintown, Co Wexford.

Led by Fiona Byrne, Mary Conroy, and Aine Ryan this hands-on event was designed to explore the creative potential of recycled and natural materials, with a special focus on mould-making and glasswork.

The three facilitators guided participants in pushing the boundaries of traditional craft and design while investigating the intersection of ecological design, feminist principles and craft technologies.

Participants learned to create functional yet evocative pieces that challenge conventional ideas about human and non-human relationships, reflecting on the role of the body in design and engaging in tactile, slow-making processes with a focus on concepts such as biomimicry, the agency of non-human entities, and sustainable practices that emphasise collaboration with the environment.

It was an opportunity for creatives to rethink how they work with materials, develop new techniques, and create pieces that reflect a deeper connection to the natural world, said Fiona.

This event was supported by the Design & Crafts Council Ireland as part of Irish Design Week 2024.
Wexfords efforts in combating the effects of climate change have been recognised with three nominations for the prestigious 2024 Ocean Hero Awards. The Tomhaggard Clean Coasts Group has been shortlisted in the Group of the Year category while one of its members, Anne Marie Kirwan, has received a nomination in the Individual of the Year section.

In addition, Ballygarrett Tidy Towns has been shortlisted for Event of the Year 2024.

The Ocean Hero Awards pay tribute to the exceptional contributions made by Clean Coasts volunteers, groups, and communities in preserving and protecting Irelands coastal and marine life. This year, Clean Coasts received hundreds of nominations across six categories: Group of Year, Individual Volunteer of the Year, Youth Volunteer of the Year, Campaigner of the Year, Event of the Year and Equality Diversity and Inclusion Award. A total of 36 groups, organisations and individuals have made the shortlists and will be invited to an awards ceremony at the Gibson Hotel in Dublin on November 27.

During the ceremony, there will be talks about the marine environment and Clean Coasts campaigns and the Ocean Heroes of the year will be announced.

Bronagh Moore, Clean Coasts Programme Manager said, Volunteers and community groups are the beating heart of An Taisces Clean Coasts programme. The Ocean Hero Awards is an opportunity for us to highlight and celebrate the phenomenal work that these individuals and groups carry out in protecting our coast, day in and day out, whatever the weather. We look forward to meeting those shortlisted, in person, on November 27, and to hearing about their achievements throughout the year.
A little pony with an injured leg is recovering after being found alone and abandoned in the Wicklow Mountains, having likely being dumped by its owners a number of weeks ago.

The Irish Horse Welfare Trust (IHWT), who have a major online auction fundraiser taking place in December, are currently looking after the cob pony at their base in Woodenbridge, and doubts have been cast on just how much longer the pony would have survived out in the wilderness, especially given the current cold snap.

The Irish Horse Welfare Trust is mainly involved in the rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming of abused or neglected horses and ponies. Whilst they take equines from all over Ireland, the majority come from the eastern parts of Leinster with many coming from Wicklow and Wexford.

The pony was spotted by a hill walker taking in the scenery in the mountains near Aughavanna, and appeared to have a bad hind leg injury, which could have been the reason he was dumped.

IHWT CEO Sharon Power said: The hill walker reported the pony to us and also sent us a video, which showed he was genuinely hurt. The ISPCA inspector located him and then we arrived with a horse trailer to bring him to Woodenbridge.

"He was very thin and malnourished and it appears he might have been dumped a number of weeks ago. He was just abandoned in the middle of no where.

"Its an extremely isolated area where you wouldnt generally get a lot of walkers. If the hill walker hadnt spotted him then he wouldnt have survived for much longer, especially given the recent freezing weather conditions and the fact he was so thin and weak, while also suffering from an injured leg. It certainly wouldnt have ended well if the hill walker hadnt come across him.

Its incredibly frustrating as we are always trying to get the message across that if you have a horse or pony you cant look after anymore or afford, then contact us at the IHWT. You dont just completely abandon the animal and leave it to fend for itself in an incredibly isolated spot. Its cruel, never mind illegal.

IHWT staff have christened the little pony Charlie, and he is currently receiving the care and attention he needs. His leg was injured, but not broken, and a farrier has made a special shoe for Charlie, alongside advice from a vet.

Sharon added: Hes a lovely little fellow and he has stolen all of our hearts. He is doing well and has received a lot of attention on social media. We will find a new home for him but hes a good few months away from rehoming and first needs to build his strength back up.

Sadly, he is not the first rescue case of this type, or indeed in Wicklow and Wexford. Other horses have been rescued from the same area as the latest little guy and other areas of Co Wicklow and Wexford. Currently we are caring for two separate groups of horses from Wexford that are involved in pending court cases for animal cruelty by the authorities.

Our operation takes a lot of funds and resources to run and although we get some government grants we are also dependent upon fundraising and donations to continue our work.

The Irish Horse Welfare Trust is planning a fundraising online auction of equestrian and racing related items in December. The auction which will go live on Sunday, December 1, and will run until midnight on Tuesday, December 10.

Sharon stated: The increase in costs for equine care such as hay and bedding has placed an enormous strain on our already limited resources. This online auction is an important event in our fundraising calendar and our main winter fundraiser. We are asking individuals and businesses alike to support by donating items for the auction.

Among the items sought by the charity include art, jewellery, memorabilia, hampers and vouchers. The charity is asking business owners to consider donating a voucher. Vouchers would be most welcome for tack shops, riding lessons, hotels, restaurants and animal feed, but any voucher would be very much appreciated. Donors will be listed on the online auction site unless they wish to remain anonymous.

Another recent rescue involves a young thoroughbred colt surrendered by an owner that could no longer look after him. The IHWT currently cares for 63 equines on site and 19 in short term foster with many hundreds already re-homed all over Ireland.

Whilst the charity receives some annual grants from government bodies, it is dependent upon fundraising and donations to keep up this vital work. More information about the charity and its work is available at www.ihwt.ie

Anyone who can donate an items for the auction can contact Sharon on 086 6047840 or by email to info@ihwt.ie
Ifac, a farming, food and agribusiness professional services firm, is advising employers in Wicklow to plan ahead for the proposed changes to BIK treatment of employer PRSA contributions.

New legislative changes will affect how employer contributions to Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs) are viewed from a Benefit-in-Kind (BIK) perspective. This development will influence both employers and employees, especially those aiming to optimise retirement savings tax-efficiently.

Martin Glennon, head of financial planning at ifac, said: Navigating these new rules will require careful planning to maintain the tax advantages PRSAs offer, all while staying within the newly introduced limits. Plus, the anticipated effective date is January 1, 2025 so there is a limited timeframe for directors to take action.

Right now, employer contributions to PRSAs are not subject to BIK, meaning employees are not taxed on contributions made by their employer. On top of that, theres no limit on how much an employer can contribute without triggering a BIK charge, which has made this setup a popular option for building retirement savings tax-free.

However, while employer contributions have enjoyed this flexibility, employees still need to stay within the Standard Fund Threshold (SFT)  the cap on the total amount of tax-relieved pension savings a person can accumulate over their lifetime, currently set at 2 million. Exceed that, and hefty taxes apply.

The bill introduces a new cap on how much an employer can contribute to a PRSA without triggering BIK. The limit is 100pc of the employees salary. Anything above that will be treated as a taxable benefit-in-kind, meaning itll be taxed as regular income for the employee.

For example, if an employee earns 30,000 a year, their employer can contribute up to 30,000 to their PRSA without any BIK. Anything beyond that would be subject to income tax.

Additionally, employer tax deductions for PRSA contributions will also be limited to this 100pc salary cap. This aligns employer contributions with tax relief limits on employee contributions, creating more consistency across the system.

The governments stated goal with pension reform has been to simplify the pension system in Ireland. However, this new cap on employer PRSA contributions may require employers and employees to engage in more detailed financial planning to avoid breaching limits and triggering unexpected tax liabilities.

For employees, especially low earners, the changes make it difficult to accumulate retirement funds. Alternative strategies, such as an occupational pension scheme, may be needed to make the most of pension contributions without triggering tax charges. This option, however, carries Revenue restrictions regarding salary and service levels, and tax relief for employers on large contributions may need to be spread.

Martin concluded: The proposed changes to BIK treatment of employer PRSA contributions are significant and restrictive. While the aim of pension reform in Ireland has been to simplify the system, this new development seems to create more complexity, especially for business owners.
Four-part Trespasses adapted from novel by author Louise Kennedy

Gillian Anderson on the red carpet in LA earlier this year

Hollywood came to Holywood, Co Down, with Gillian Anderson  star of The X Files, Scoop and The Fall  taking on her latest role.

She was filming scenes beside the towns Yacht Club on Kinnegar Road on Wednesday night for new Troubles drama Trespasses.

Also starring in the Channel 4 series is Martin McCann from Blue Lights and Hollyoaks Gerard McCarthy.

The broadcaster commissioned the show, with lead talent Lola Petticrew and Tom Cullen, in August and said filming would also take place in Belfast.

It is based on Louise Kennedys breakout debut novel of the same name, which was shortlisted for the Womens Prize for Fiction, and will be a four-part series with one-hour episodes.

The plot is billed as a forbidden love story, set against the backdrop of the Troubles and has been adapted by screenwriter Ailbhe Keogan.

Teasing the series, a Channel 4 spokesperson said: In 1975, in a town outside Belfast, whilst working one night behind the bar of her family pub, serving a mixed crowd including the locally stationed soldiers, Catholic schoolteacher Cushla meets Michael, an older Protestant married man, who often defends IRA suspects and is friends with cultured Bohemians who enrage and intrigue Cushla.

Worlds apart, Cushla knows a relationship like this spells all kinds of trouble, but they are irresistibly drawn to one another.

In a place where loose lips cost lives and danger lurks in the shadows, amidst the fear and paranoia, this illicit affair between Cushla and Michael ignites and burns bright...

Lola and Tom take the leading roles, while Gillian plays a character called Gina  and is also the executive producer of the thriller.

She said: I fell in love with Louises stunning book when I read it in proof. I was immediately drawn to the tragi-comic creation that is Gina and couldnt resist when Louise asked me to play her.

Reading Ailbhes brilliant scripts confirmed how vividly this story could translate to screen and with Dawn Shadforth at the helm and Lola and Tom alongside, Im delighted to be part of the Trespasses family.
A South Korean man has been convicted of evading compulsory military service by eating so much he became too obese to fight.

A court in Seoul sentenced the 26-year old, who has not been named, to a year in prison, suspended for two years.
LATEST | Irish citizen who was on board yacht that capsized in Red Sea is safe, Tanaiste confirms, as four bodies recovered and seven remain missing

33 people saved by rescuers  with seven people still missing31 tourists of various nationalities were on board along with 14 crewThe Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed at least one Irish citizen was on board

Yachts and boats are docked in the marina at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada after a tourist boat sank off Red Sea coast (REUTERS/Stringer)

Adrianna Wrona and Darragh Nolan Tue 26 Nov 2024 at 13:30







The Irish national who was on board a tourist yacht that capsized in the Red Sea off Egypt is safe, Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin has said.
Three people have been arrested in the United Arab Emirates in connection with the alleged murder of an Israeli citizen, the Emirati interior ministry said on Sunday.

The ministry statement did not give details on the suspects or say if they had been charged, but said all legal powers would be used "to respond decisively and without leniency to any actions or attempts that threaten societal stability".
Adani Group publishes operational report following the US indictment of founder Gautam Adani on bribery allegations. File photo from Wallpaper Cave

Ahmedabad/IBNS: Adani Group has reassured investors that its listed companies have sufficient cash reserves to meet debt obligations for the next 12 months.

This announcement comes as the conglomerate provides its first operational update since US authorities indicted founder Gautam Adani in a bribery case last week.

In its "half-yearly business compendium," Adani Group reported a strong financial performance, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) surpassing $10 billion for the first half of the fiscal year.

The company projects a full-year EBITDA of $12 billion.

"Each of our portfolio companies has enough liquidity to fulfill all debt servicing requirements for at least the next 12 months," the group stated on Monday (Nov. 25).

The report follows Adani's involvement in a criminal case where he and seven others are accused of orchestrating a bribery scheme to secure favorable solar power contracts worth over $2 billion in profits.

Adani Group has denied the allegations, labeling the US charges as "baseless" and vowing to pursue all legal avenues.

Shares of Adani's publicly listed companies took a significant hit following the US charges, losing over $20 billion in market value.

However, on Monday, Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports saw share price gains, rising 3.6 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.

Despite this recovery, Adani Enterprises is down 21 percent since the beginning of the year, while Adani Ports has risen 11 percent over the same period.

While the share prices showed some rebound, the groups dollar bond prices declined.

The 2027 maturity bonds for Adani Ports fell by 1.6 cents, trading at 88.98 cents on the dollar.
Bath Spa University Pro VC Prof John Strachan launches Bharat, A Luxe Story at Bath Business School, Bath Spa University in the UK

Author and academician Mahul Brahma launched his 10th book Bharat, A Luxe Story in the historic city of Bath in the UK earlier this month during his annual academic visit to the university.

Brahma is Dean and Professor with NSHM Media School in India and a Visiting Research Fellow with Bath Business School, Bath Spa University, UK.

As a Visiting Research Fellow he is invited by the university to deliver a series of lectures on various facets of communication and marketing and for exploring possible research collaborations. He is a Fellow of the Commercial Education Society of Australia (FCES).

He is a luxury commentator, columnist and has authored 10 books, exploring luxe academically through the lens of history, sociology, economics, philosophy, anthropology, and mythology.

His books include The Luxe Trilogy, Luxe Inferno, The Mythic Value of Luxury, Quiet Luxe, Aesthetic Leadership in Luxury, among others. Bharat, A Luxe Story was launched earlier this year in India by Ambassador of Brazil Kenneth Feli Haczynski Da Nobrega.

Pro Vice Chancellor of Bath Spa University John Strachan launched the book during a seminar in the Newton Park campus of the university in the presence of Head of Bath Business School Dr Diana Reader, senior faculty members and students on Nov 13. He has also written the foreword for the book.

Speaking of the book, Strachan said: India, in all of its remarkable variety, a country both traditional and hyper-modern, is a key theme of this book. That said, though Bharat is the main focus of his work in this book, Mahul is engaged in an insightful and persuasive engagement with culture in both the eastern and the western worlds; his is a wide ranging and provocative vision.

He had also launched Prof Brahmas previous book Aesthetic Leadership in Luxury in the UK in 2023.

Brahma said: Bharat, A Luxe Story is very special for me as it commemorates my two-decade-long journey as a luxury columnist, commentator and an author. It is my homage to the rich heritage of Bharat. The book traces the evolution of luxury in Bharat, which is all set to become a USD 10-trillion economy, with the passage of time and change of perspective of Indians, redefining the mythic value of luxury.

He added: I am thankful to my friend Prof John Strachan for penning such a wonderful foreword and for launching the book. A big thanks to Dr Diana Reader for her unflinching support. It is a wonderful experience to launch the book at Bath Business School, Bath Spa University in the presence of esteemed academicians and students. A big thanks to Bath Business School and Bath Spa University.

Bharat, A Luxe Story is an authoritative, research-based anthology of essays exploring various facets of luxury from the perspectives of Sociology, Philosophy, Anthropology, History, and Economics, revolving around India, that is Bharat, to find a deeper meaning of luxe beyond the myopic price tag. It captures the centuries-old love affair between Bharat and global luxury brands. From Cartiers Patiala Necklace to custom-made Louis Vuittons and Rolls Royces, Bharat has been the epicentre of branded luxury.
S Jaishankar inaugurates Indian Embassy's new Chancery in Rome. Photo Courtesy: S Jaishankar X page

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday inaugurated the new Chancery of the Indian Embassy in Italy where he is visiting to attend the Outreach session of the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting.

The Chancery was inaugurated in Rome.

Jaishankar posted on X: "Pleased to inaugurate the new Chancery of the Embassy of India in Rome today."

Pleased to inaugurate the new Chancery of the Embassy of India in Rome today.



It befits the continued expansion of India - Italy partnership in recent years. Will also help us serve better the Indian community in Italy.@IndiainItaly



  pic.twitter.com/fGYvR2dADq  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) November 24, 2024

He said the Chancery will help in serving the Indian community members in Italy.

"It befits the continued expansion of India - Italy partnership in recent years. Will also help us serve better the Indian community in Italy," Jaishankar said.

Jaishankar will be visiting Italy from November 24 to 26.Jaishankar will be visiting Fiuggi city in Italy for the meeting.

He is also expected to meet his counterparts from Italy and other participating nations in the G7 related engagements and hold bilateral discussions during the visit, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement on Saturday.

During the visit, EAM will also participate in the 10th edition of the MED Mediterranean Dialogue in Rome, being organised by Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy.
Indian Parliament's Winter Session begins today. Photo Courtesy: PIB

The Winter Session of the Indian Parliament will begin on Monday with the legislators expected to discuss several crucial bills including the Waqf Act (Amendment) Bill.

The Winter Session will continue till December 20.

The Session will provide 19 sittings spread over a period of 26 days.

During this session, the Parliament is expected to see discussion and passage of several bills like Waqf Act (Amendment) Bill, the Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, the Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, the Bills of Lading Bill, the Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, the Railways (Amendment) Bill, the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, and the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill.

The session is commencing at a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA registered a landslide victory in the Maharashtra Assembly polls.

According to reports, the opposition is likely to attempt to corner the government over issues like Manipur violence, Delhi pollution, among others.

Ahead of the Winter Session, a meeting of the Government with Floor Leaders of all Political Parties was held under the Chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday.

Rajnath Singh said the government is ready for discussion on all these issues subject to the rules of the respective Houses of Parliament and the decisions of the respective Presiding Officers.

In total, the meeting was attended by 42 Leaders from 30 political parties including Ministers.
Car plunges into river after Google map guides them to unfinished flyover in UP. Photo Courtesy: Unsplash

Misguided by Google Maps to an under-construction bridge, at least three people died after their car plunged into a river in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.

The incident happened in Bareilly district.

The deceased were travelling from Gurugram to Bareilly to attend a wedding.

They were relying on Google Maps to reach the venue but the GPS guided them to an under-construction flyover.

The car dropped into the Ramganga river from a height of 50 feet.

After spotting blood flowing in the river, locals recovered the car on Sunday morning and found the three bodies.

Police later reached the spot and took the bodies for post-mortem examination.

"At 9:30 am today, a damaged car was found on the river Ramganga. Police were informed and arrived at the spot. When the police arrived, they saw a Wagon R, which was possibly hired as a taxi, on the river. The car went to the incomplete bridge and fell into a river from there," police told India Today.

Police identified two victims as Amit and Vivek. One seriously injured passenger said Google Maps led them to the unfinished bridge.

Police are also investigating the lack of safety measures or warning about the lurking danger at the site.
Narendra Modi refers to his Guyana trip during Mann Ki Baat address. Photo Courtesy: PIB

PM Narendra Modi said a 'Mini India' resides in Guyana and the Indian-origin people are leading in every sector in the country.

Modi recently visited Guyana as a part of his three-nation tour.

Addressing India in his monthly radio address named Mann Ki Baat, Modi said: "Thousands of kilometres away from India, a Mini India dwells in Guyana too."

"Around 180 years ago, people from India were taken to Guyana to work in the fields and for other tasks," the Indian PM said on Sunday during the monthly address.

Modi said: "Today, people of Indian origin in Guyana are leading the country in every field be it politics, business, education or culture."

He said Guyanese President Irfan Ali is proud of his Indian heritage.

Speaking on the project in Oman, Modi said: "You will also find an extraordinary project going on in Oman very interesting. Numerous Indian families have been living in Oman for many centuries. Most of them who have settled there are from Kutch in Gujarat. These people had created important trade links."

"Even today they have Omani citizenship, but Indianness is ingrained in their personae. With the support of the Indian Embassy in Oman and the National Archives of India, a team has started the work of preserving the history of these families. Thousands of documents have been collected under this campaign so far," he said.

Modi said: "These include diaries, account books, ledgers, letters and telegrams. Some of these documents even date back to the year 1838. These documents are full of sentiments. When they reached Oman years ago, what kind of life they lived, what kind of joys and sorrows they faced, and, how their relations with the people of Oman progressed."

He said: "All of this is a part of these documents. The Oral History Project is also an important basis of this mission."

Guyana recently conferred upon Indian PM Narendra Modi the country's highest civilian honour, the 'Order of Excellence'.

Modi became the first Indian PM to visit Guyana in 56 years.

He visited the nation from November 20 to November 22.
S Jaishankar meets UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy. Photo Courtesy: S Jaishankar X page

Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday met UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Italy when he appreciated the momentum in the bilateral Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Jaishankar said he discussed ways to deepen cooperation in technology, green energy, trade and mobility sectors.

Started the day by meeting FS @DavidLammy of UK, in Rome today.



Appreciate the steady momentum in India UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.



Discussed deepening cooperation in technology, green energy, trade, mobility, as well as ongoing developments in Indo-Pacific and pic.twitter.com/fkskzBQkUY  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) November 25, 2024

"Appreciate the steady momentum in India UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership," Jaishankar posted on X.

"Discussed deepening cooperation in technology, green energy, trade, mobility, as well as ongoing developments in Indo-Pacific and West Asia," he said.

Jaishankar is visiting Italy to attend the Outreach session of the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Fiuggi as a guest country.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the event.

Jaishankar will be visiting Italy from November 24 to 26.

During the visit, EAM will also participate in the 10th edition of the MED Mediterranean Dialogue in Rome, being organised by Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy.
Indian Coast Guard apprehends Myanmarese fishing boat with prohibited drugs in Andaman seas. Photo courtesy: PR Team

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) Monday apprehended a Myanmarese fishing boat Soe Wai Yan Htoo, carrying 5,500 kgs of prohibited drug Methamphetamine along with one portable Inmarsat Satellite phone, in the Andaman seas.

An ICG Dornier aircraft, while on reconnaissance sortie, detected a boat which was operating in a suspicious manner.

The information was passed on to the Joint Operation Centre, which subsequently deployed a Fast Patrol Vessel from Sri Vijaya Puram to intercept the suspicious boat.



A team of the ICG ship boarded the Myanmarese boat for investigation on Monday morning when the boat was eight nm off Barren Island in Indian Territorial waters and the joint interrogation was carried out.

The six crew onboard the boat were identified as Myanmarese nationals.

During rummaging, the team recovered 5,500 kgs of prohibited drug Methamphetamine and one portable Inmarsat Satellite phone. Subsequently, the boat was brought to Sri Vijaya Puram for further investigation.



The seizure is the biggest-ever drug haul by ICG, highlighting its commitment to safeguarding Indian territorial waters.
Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt tied the knot in 2022 | Photo courtesy: Alia Bhatt Instagram handle

Ranbir was speaking at the 55th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.

"The first time when I met Alia, she asked me 'Who is Kishore Kumar?'," said Ranbir leaving the audience surprised. One in the audience also said, "Are you serious?"

The actor then added, "It's just the circle of life. It's like people are forgotten and then the newer artistes come. I think it's very important that we remember our roots."

Ranbir kapoor saying that when they met first time Alia Bhatt asked him who is Kishor Kumar.. pic.twitter.com/aV1IFNRraa    (@Bhai_saheb) November 24, 2024

Among several netizens, one posted, "He was 20 and She was 9. Pedophilia chal rha tha #RanbirKapoor ka and somehow they were discussing #KishoreKumar saab #AliaBhatt should zip her husband's mouth if she really wants that #AllIndiaBakchod(AIB) video of hers to still work He threw her under the bus lol."

He was 20 and She was 9

Pedophilia chal rha tha #RanbirKapoor ka and somehow they were discussing #KishoreKumar saab#AliaBhatt should zip her husband's mouth if she really wants that #AllIndiaBakchod(AIB) video of hers to still work 



He threw her under the bus lol https://t.co/8s2YNFxsLt  okkk (@avada_kedavara1) November 24, 2024

One user on Reddit wrote, "Both should just stop talking about each other in interviews at this point it's for their betterment."

Another said, "Lipstick revenge taken. What is level of Alia? She doesnt know President of India n Kishore Kumar."

The netizens have referred to Alia's past revelation where she had claimed Ranbir asks her to "wipe out" lipstick as he loves the "natural colour" of her lips.

"Because one thing my husband (when he wasn't my husband when he was my boyfriend as well) says when we used to go out at night, he used to say 'Wipe that (lipstick) off. Wipe that off'. Because he loves the natural colour of my lips," Alia had said online leaving a section of netizens calling Ranbir "dominating" and a "toxic partner".

Because one thing my husband (when he wasn't my husband when he was my boyfriend as well) says when we used to go out at night, he used to say 'Wipe that (lipstick) off. Wipe that off'. Because he loves the natural colour of my lips." Alia Bhatt pic.twitter.com/GOu5q73VXk  Yen (@CriipticGirl) April 15, 2024

In the very early phase of her career, Alia was trolled heavily for failing to correctly name the President of India on a chat show.

Instead of correctly naming Pranab Mukherjee, Alia took the name of Prithviraj Chauhan while her co-actor Varun Dhawan said Manmohan Singh, who was the Prime Minister back then.

On the work front, Ranbir Kapoor, who was at the IFFI to honour his grandfather Raj Kapoor ahead of his 100th birth anniversary, will star alongside Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Love & War.

Ranbir's upcoming films also include Ramayana, which is based on the Hindu epic of the same name, while Alia will next feature in Alpha.
Key Projects:

This partnership represents the largest FDI by an Indian company in Bhutan's renewable energy sector. The projects will support Bhutan's goal of sustainable development and clean energy production.The investment by Reliance Power in partnership with the Government of Bhutan for the development of solar and hydro power projects is up to $1 billion.Reliance Power Ltd. and Druk Holding will co-develop the 770-MW Chamkharchhu-1 Hydro Project, which is classified as a run-of-the-river project under a concession model aligned with Bhutans policies.Druk Holding and Investments (DHI) is the commercial arm of the Royal Government of Bhutan, established in 2007. Its primary purpose is to hold and manage the existing and future investments of the Royal Government for the long-term benefit of the people of Bhutan. DHI aims to grow its investment portfolio by 10x by 2030, focusing on future-oriented investments.In this joint venture, Reliance Power will hold a 49 percent stake, while DHI will maintain majority ownership with a 51 percent share. The project will operate under a concession model in line with the governments policies.This will be developed in Gelephu Mindfulness City, Bhutan, in two phases of 250 MW each over the next two years 2. Once completed, it will be the largest solar installation in Bhutan 2This run-of-the-river project aims to boost Bhutan's existing power capacity.A media release confirmed that land for the project has already been earmarked, and a technical team, consisting of experts from Reliance, DHI, and external consultants, is currently conducting site assessments and technical studies. The project is set to become one of the largest investments in Bhutans renewable energy sector and represents the largest FDI by an Indian company in Bhutan.Earlier in August this year, Tata Power , one of India's largest integrated power companies, has had entered into a strategic partnership with Druk Green Power Corporation Ltd (DGPC) , a subsidiary of DHI, and the sole generation utility of Bhutan for the development of the 600 MW Khorlochhu Hydropower Project.
A first-generation Indian-American teenager wants to establish a social life in school after a traumatic first year, but friends and family get in the way of her freedom.
With a massive number of intriguing films and web series scheduled to debut on OTT platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, and Zee5, the coming month, December 2024 is sure to be a pleasant time for binge watchers. Anticipated titles include Mismatched: Season 3, starring Prajakta Koli and Rohit Saraf, and Bandish Bandits: Season 2. The worldwide hit Squid Game: Season 2, is also set to take the world by a storm. December's 2024 OTT releases have a really exciting schedule that will keep viewers interested all month long.

December 2024 OTT web series and movies releases

Churchill at War - Netflix, 4th December

Through his own words, Churchill discusses his crucial leadership position during World War II, his wartime strategy, and the life circumstances that made him a significant figure of the period.

Agni - Amazon Prime Video, 6th December

Vithal, played by Pratik Gandhi, and his brother-in-law Samit, played by police officer Divyenndu, are introduced to the audience in the trailer. These two characters are at the center of the story as they put aside their personal grievances and work together .

Echoes of the Past - Netflix, 6th December

Yehia is falsely imprisoned for the murder of his sister Nadia after she dies in a diving accident. He returns fifteen years later to find the truth and exact revenge. Echoes of the Past, features Sherif Salama, Saba Mubarak, Mahmoud Hemida, and Asser Yassin.

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Netflix , 11th December

The series, which will follow the Buendia family through multiple generations as they face adversity and success, was filmed in Colombia by Laura Mora and Alex Garcia Lopez with the help of the late author's family.

Amaran - Netflix, 11th December

The recent Tamil film Amaran, which was directed by Rajkumar Periyasamy and starred Sivakarthikeyan and Sai Pallavi in the prominent parts, is based on the true story of Rashtriya Rifles commander Mukund Varadharajan.

Bandish Bandits: Season 2 - Amazon Prime Video, 13th December 2024

The new season, which follows protagonists Radhe and Tamanna, continues to investigate the blending of Indian classical music with modern pop. Ritwik Bhowmik, Rajesh Tailang, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Atul Kulkarni, Sheeba Chaddha, and Shreya Chaudhry all return to their roles. Saurabh Nayyar, Aaliyah Qureshi, Rohan Gurbaxani, Yashaswini Dayama, and Divya Dutta are among the recent additions.

Mismatched: Season 3

The show centers on Rishi, a traditional dating enthusiast and ardent romantic who falls in love with gamer Dimple and eventually wishes to wed her. It stars Rohit Saraf and Prajakta Koli.

Squid Game: Season 2

Player 456 returned with a new resolution in mind, having given up traveling to the United States three years after winning Squid Game.

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'Lady Superstar' Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivans wedding video was recently featured on the actresss Netflix documentary Nayanthara: Beyond the fairy tale and it looks like some other celebs are trying to walk on the same road. If reports are anything to go by, then Naga Chaitanya and Sobhita Dhulipalas wedding video might stream on OTT for all you fans. Exciting, right? While this might sound like a treat for fans, there is no official word for it for now.

Naga Chaitanya and Sobhita Dhulipala's wedding to stream on OTT?

Several streaming services have reportedly asked Chaitanya and Sobhita for permission to broadcast their wedding on their platforms. Netflix is among the top bidders for the rights, a source told the Deccan Chronicle.

Even though few digital platforms are vying for the rights, Netflix remains the top contender for its reach in over 190 countries and for its marketing blitz to boost and hype the grand marriage of star couple and grab more eyeballs. Besides, it would be graced by the biggest Tollywood, Kollywood, and Bollywood stars making it a must-watch celebration," the source shared.

Since Chaitanya and Sobhita are well-known celebrities, the insider continued, it is not surprising that the platforms would want to stream their wedding video. The insider continued by saying that because two well-known actors are getting married and veteran pan-India star Nagarjuna is planning and overseeing the arrangements, it is the most anticipated wedding in the biz.

When are Naga Chaitanya and Sobhita Dhulipala getting married?

On December 4, Naga Chaitanya and Sobhita are scheduled to get married. The wedding will take place at Hyderabad's Annapurna Studios.

For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.
I Am Kathalan OTT Release: A one-of-a-kind techno-thriller, this Malayalam movie was released in theatres on November 7 and became an instant favourite of many across. Opened to mixed reviews from critics, this Girish A. D. directorial is finally gearing up for its digital debut. I Am Kathalan will be streaming on Manorama Max after its theatrical run, presumably by the end of December.

I Am Kathalan cast and crew

The thriller stars Naslen K Gafoor, Lijomol Jose, Dileesh Pothan, Sajin Cherukayil, Anishma Anilkumar, Vineeth Vasudevan, Vineeth Vishwam, Arshad Ali, Kiran Josey, Zhinz Shan, Saran Panicker, Arjun K., and Sanath Sivaraj among others. Written by Sajin Cherukayill, I Am Kathalan has been bankrolled by Gokulam Gopalan, Dr Paul Varghese, and Krishnamoorthy under the banner of Dream Big Films. Sidhartha Pradeep has given music and an original background score.

I Am Kathalan plot summary

The Malayalam language is centred around a young guy named Vishnu who holds some great cyber skills but fails to get placed anywhere due to his backlogs and unimpressive projects. In parallel to this, his girlfriend also decides to part ways with him adding up to his frustration. Vishnu then decides to take revenge but eventually ends up risking everything he cherishes.

I Am Kathalan review

This isnt just another hacking thrillerits a raw, emotionally charged story that speaks to anyone whos been hurt, betrayed, or humiliated. Too often, reviewers try to put movies like this in a box, dismissing the complexity that makes them relatable to real life. What makes this one different is that it resonates with those who've experienced the pain of betrayal, a Google reviewer opined.

I Am Kathalan is currently in theatres near you. Head out, watch and share your review @indiatimes.

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Everyone is aware by now that there have been long-running rumors that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan have split up. Abhishek, who most recently starred in the film I Want To Talk, has given Aishwarya a lot of praise amid the film's hype and ongoing divorce rumors. He also regarded himself as fortunate to be able to go out in the world and make movies.

Abhishek Bachchan thanks Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

In an interview with The Hindu, the actor thanked Aishwarya for taking care of their daughter Aaradhya while he has been out for work.

He was quoted saying, Even in my household, I'm very lucky I get to go out and make the movies. But I know that Aishwarya is at home with Aaradhya, and I thank her immensely for that. But I don't think the children think of it that way. They don't look upon you in third person. They look upon you in the first  you're the parent, the father or the mother.

He also mentioned that he didn't feel his parents weren't there when he was a kid. His mother, Jaya Bachchan, had stepped back from acting following his birth, while his father, Amitabh Bachchan, was at the height of his career in the 1970s.

Proud dad Amitabh Bachchan

Actor Amitabh Bachchan finally saw his son's film, I Want To Talk, a few days after it was released. Amitabh talked about Abhishek Bachchan and the movie's emotional impact on his blog.

While praising his son's work and also the film a part in his blog read, Some films invite you to be entertained .. some films invite you to BE the film.

For the unversed, Abhishek Bachchan's I Want To Talk is now in cinemas.

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Nicole Kidman and her husband Keith Urban are considering a move back to Australia, and it's easy to see why. After a tough year, especially with the loss of her mother Janelle, in September, the Hollywood actress returned to Sydney for the funeral. Sources close to the family suggest that she's struggling with 'burnout' from work-related tours, and the recent events have further strained her emotionally.

Nicole Kidman going back to her Aussie roots: Report

The Big Little Lies star may be heading back to her Aussie roots. A source close to the actress revealed to Woman's Day magazine that Nicole and her husband have had a tumultuous year, with barely any quality time together, which forced her to face some of her toughest moments alone.

The insider expressed concern about Kidman's well-being, saying, "The big concern is how much more she can endure." The actress recently reunited with her family, including sister Antonia, in Sydney to mourn the loss of her mother, Janelle, who passed away at 84.

'Waking up at 3 am, crying and gasping'

In a candid conversation with GQ, Nicole Kidman revealed that she often wakes up in the middle of the night, overcome with emotion, as she grapples with the realities of mortality and the pain of losing her parents.

"Mortality. Connection. Life coming and hitting you," she told the magazine. "And loss of parents and raising children and marriage and all of the things that go into making you a fully sentient human. I'm in all of those places. So life is, whew. It's definitely a journey."

Nicole Kidman, 57, opened up about her emotional struggles, taking a deep, dramatic breath as she shared that the reality of mortality and losing loved ones "hits you as you get older." She described the experience as "waking up at 3 am, crying and gasping"  a pain she chooses to confront head-on, saying, "I'm in it. Fully in it."

Nicole Kidman on her mother's death

Kidman lost her mother in September this year, while her father passed away in 2014. She learned about the loss just before she was headed for the Venice Film Festival to accept the Best Actress award for her film Babgygirl. "I'm in shock and I have to go to my family," the Eyes Wide Shut star said in a statement. "But this award is for her. She shaped me, she guided me and she made me."

For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.
After a shocking defeat for Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT) and their allies in the Maharashtra assembly elections, BJP MP and Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut did not miss a chance to lash out at the former Maharashtra Chief Minister.

On Sunday, the actor took a dig at the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), who called Uddhav Thackeray a 'daitya' (demon). She also stated that she had anticipated his loss. Ranaut in a statement released a day after Mahayuti swept Maharashtra said, "I expected such a bad failure of Uddhav Thackeray."

"We can identify who is a 'devta' (god) and who is a 'daitya' (demon) depending on if they respect women or work for their welfare," she added.

#WATCH | Delhi | On Maharashtra Assembly elections, BJP MP Kangana Ranaut says, "... I had anticipated his (Uddhav Thackeray's) loss... Those who disrespect women are monsters and they met their fate, they lost... They demolished my house and even used foul words against me, so pic.twitter.com/dU4tbihTyo  ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2024





Kangana exposes Thackeray referring to her house demolition in 2020

The Mandi MP did not stop there, she went on to comment on the Maharashtra assembly election results and said, those who disrespect women are monsters and they will meet their fate like Thackeray did. Referring to how under the orders of the then-Uddhav Thackerays rule a part of the house was demolished in 2020, she said, They demolished my house and even used foul words against me, so it was evident that they had lost their sense of right and wrong..."

Before the demolition of Kanganas house in 2020, she had controversially said that she felt more threatened by the Mumbai Police than a movie mafia. Later she also made a comparison between Mumbai and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir which triggered the heat more between Kangana and the state government.

In one of the old videos of the actress on X (formerly Twitter) is seen saying, Uddhav Thackeray, tujhe kya lagta hai? (what do you think?) colluded along with the film mafia, demolished my home and took revenge on me? My home was demolished today, your arrogance will crumble tomorrow."

Check video:

Old video of Kangana Ranaut is making the rounds again. Her house was demolished during Uddhav Thackeray's Govt. That time, she dared Uddhav. Who knew all this will happen?@KanganaTeam pic.twitter.com/tinsEXIHqA  Sayan Chakraborty (@sayan2024) November 23, 2024

Maharashtra elections 2024 results in a gist

The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance won the Maharashtra Assembly elections in 2024. The alliance is also set to retain power in the state, while the NDA group achieved a majority of 235 seats in the 288-member assembly.

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Bishop TD Jakes, renowned pastor of The Potter's House church, experienced a medical emergency during a recent Sunday sermon, prompting an early conclusion to the service. Following the incident, his team provided a health update to address concerns among his followers and the wider community.

Amid his health scare, Jakes' past connection with Hollywood hip-hop mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs has resurfaced. A federal lawsuit filed earlier this year alleges that Jake was involved in addressing the consequences of certain allegations made against the music mogul.

Bishop TD Jakes faces a medical emergency

During a recent sermon, Bishop TD Jakes, 67, suddenly stopped speaking and dropped his microphone. The live stream of the service captured the moment, showing attendees rushing to his side in concern.

Voices in the audience urged those nearby the Bishop to "Back up, give him some space." This prompted the live stream to be abruptly cut, with a voice asking the congregation and online viewers to begin praying.

Church shares his health update

The church released a statement, saying that Bishop TD Jakes had a "slight health incident" during his hour-long sermon and promptly received medical attention.

The statement added that Jakes is "stable and under the care of medical professionals." The church also expressed gratitude for the "outpouring of love, prayers, and support" from the community.

What is Bishop TD Jakes' P Diddy connection?

Bishop TD Jakes was previously mentioned in a lawsuit against Sean Combs. According to reports, the lawsuit filed by Rodney "Lil Rod" Jones claims that Jones has evidence of Diddy discussing how he planned to use his relationship with Jakes to mitigate the fallout from Cassie Ventura's lawsuit.

In a March 2024 lawsuit, Jones claimed that he had irrefutable evidence" of "Mr. Combs detailing how he planned to leverage his relationship with Bishop T.D. Jakes to soften the impact on his public image of Cassie Venturas lawsuit.

Although Jakes was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, he promptly addressed the allegations to clarify his position. He addressed the rumours in a Christmas Eve sermon, choosing not to dignify the allegations and instead focusing on preaching the truth. His ministry and business representatives have also denied the new allegations, calling them false.

Diddy is currently in custody in Brooklyn, facing various charges. His trial will begin on May 5, 2025.

For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.
Comedian and Brooklyn Nine-Nine actor Andy Samberg is the latest celebrity to join the BTS fan club, singing praises for Jungkook's solo song Standing Next to You. His confession has sparked a wave of excitement among BTS fans, known as ARMYs, who have warmly welcomed him to the fandom with open arms!

Andy Samberg reveals his favourite Jungkook song

On Saturday, November 23, Andy Samberg joined his co-host Akiva Schaffer for their The Lonely Island & Seth Meyers Podcast.

The conversation took an exciting turn when Akiva started praising BTS, before breaking into singing their summer pop song Butter.

Andy Samberg then surprised fans by revealing his own favourite BTS track - Jungkook's soulful solo Standing Next to You from his debut album Golden! If youre asking me I'm all about that standing next to you, but thats solo work, he said.

Andy Samberg revealed on a podcast that he is a fan of Jungkooks Standing Next To You.



 He is an American actor, comedian, musician, writer, producer, and member of the comedy music group The Lonely Island. pic.twitter.com/gr1JdiPDIL  Pop Flop (@PopFlopHQ) November 23, 2024

Fans react to Andy's confession

Brooklyn Nine-Nine star's BTS endorsement has now sent fans into a frenzy! ARMYs highlighted Andy's confession is proof of the K-pop group's unparalleled global influence.

"Oh Jungkook, you're loved by everyone," one BTS fan wrote. "Notice how he has taste," another wrote. A third user added, "Legend knows Legends."

Oh Jungkook, you're loved by everyone    (@Kookcraze) November 24, 2024

Notice how he has taste  z  (@honsoolboi) November 23, 2024

LEGEND KNOWS LEGENDS  Ann Golosino (@ann_golosino2) November 23, 2024

Another fan dropped a list of BTS' celebrity fans, writing, "Tell me why we should care about some ant!s talking shit when we have tons of producers, music legends, artists, Hollywood stars praising Jungkook & loving his music. From Beyonce, Diana Ross, Backstreet Boys & Andy Samberg too."

tell me why should we gaf abt some ant!s talking sht when we have tons of producers, music legends, artists, hollywood stars praising jungkook & loving his music. from beyonce, to diana ross, backstreet boys & andy samberg too. mind u jungkook is an household name in pop music pic.twitter.com/BDlo95ZeMg   (@jeonsfairyy) November 23, 2024

"Diana Ross, Chris Martin, BEYONCE, Madonna, Andy Samberg() many Korean stars, many Kpop artists, multiple producers and composers including Grammy-nominated ones() so many big names have mentioned Jungkook and showed adoration for him. Hes such an incredible superstar," one BTS fan gushed.

Diana Ross, Chris Martin, BEYONCE, Madonna, Andy Samberg() many Korean stars, many Kpop artists, multiple producers and composers including Grammy nominated ones() so many big names have mentioned Jungkook and showed adoration for him. Hes such an incredible superstar.  .97 (FAN) (@goldenjeonstar) November 24, 2024

About Jungkook's song Standing Next to You

Standing Next to You, featured on Jungkook's debut solo album Golden, is a heartfelt song that conveys a sense of comfort, reassurance, and devotion, making it a standout track in Jungkook's discography.

The song debuted at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Billboard Global 200 after its release in November last year. The song sold 121,000 copies globally and earned 81.6 million plays on Spotify upon its debut.

Which Jungkook song is your go-to jam? Let us know in the comments section below.

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In another major blow for Sean Diddy Combs, aka Diddy, a judge denied his latest bail request. It was the hip-hop mogul's third attempt at securing bail before his impending trial next year. Diddy, 55, has been locked up at New York's Metropolitan Detention Center since his arrest in September on federal charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.

'That is not going to work'

Diddy will remain behind bars as U.S. District Judge Arun Subramaniam squashed his plea to allow him to wait for his trial on a private island. Refusing to entertain his demands, the judge said, "That is not going to work."

Diddy's lawyers' alternative proposal

His lawyers proposed an alternative: house arrest at his luxurious Upper East Side New York City home, with 24/7 surveillance and no internet access, allowing him to use his phone only to communicate with his legal team.

The proposal boasted an uptight arrangement, featuring three guards posted around the property, with two stationed inside the three-bedroom apartment alongside him. His lawyers argued that these measures would be "substantially more restrictive" than incarceration itself.

Diddy's whopping $50 million bail package

Diddy's initial 'lucrative' bail proposal included a $50 million bond, primarily secured by the equity in his home. Additionally, his attorneys also surrendered his U.S. passport to alleviate flight risk concerns. His family members, including Janice Combs, Chance Combs, Jessie Combs, D'Lila Combs, and Love Combs, also submitted their passports to Diddy's legal team.

After the initial proposal was rejected, his defense team presented another desperate offer - house arrest with a strict vigilante at all times - to get him before his trial. They also proposed restricting Diddy's contact with women, allowing only close female family members to visit him.

Sean Diddy Combs' life behind bars is a far cry from his luxurious LA mansion. Since his arrest, his legal team has shed light on the challenges he's facing in jail. Diddy's lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said that the food is the most difficult part of his experience in prison.

No 'special treatment' for Diddy in prison

Timothy Smith, who has served time in Brooklyn's notorious jail, recently revealed what Diddy's prison life looks like. He assured that the rapper would receive no special treatment in jail despite his wealth and status. In an interview with Daily Mail Australia, Smith stated, "His money and wealth won't get him any benefits." He added that in the federal system, privileges are limited, and even the wealthy are only allowed basic items like a tracksuit and sneakers from the commissary."

For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.
Diljit Dosanjh performed a concert in Pune on Sunday evening. Several videos and photos from the event circulated on social media platforms. A video showing a man proposing marriage to his fiancee has gone viral online.

Couple proposes at Diljit Dosanjh's Pune concert

In the video posted on Instagram, a man gets down on his knees to propose to his girlfriend on stage to the excitement of the audience. Later, he kisses her hand and hugs her. Diljit is overheard singing near them. Following that, Diljit is seen clapping and encouraging the audience to applaud them.

Diljit shook hands with the man before hugging his girlfriend. The man revealed that he proposed to his fiancee after 13 years of being together. The clip concluded with Diljit repeating his words.

The event was conducted on the open ground at Suryakant Kakade Farms in Kothrud.

The Internet noticed how Dosanjh reacted

People on the internet were in awe of the video. Many people noticed how Diljit Dosanjh was looking at them with a soft smile. Here's what some people wrote in the comments.

Credit: IG/ meradiljit

The state excise department cancelled the liquor permit for Diljit's event on Sunday, in a last-minute decision.

The decision was made in response to strong protests against providing booze at the event by the NCP party's youth wing and senior BJP leader Chandrakant Patil, as well as several residents and organisations.

Earlier this month, at his Ahmedabad concert, Diljit indicated that if the government imposed a statewide ban on "sharab," he would cease creating songs about it. Diljit's Dil-Luminati Tour will continue with concerts in Kolkata on November 30.

Also read: Diljit Dosanjh stumbles on stage in Ahmedabad, but fans call it his lucky charm

What do you think about this? Tell us in the comments.

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The Times claimed that US President-elect Donald Trump is poised to issue an executive order excluding transgender service members from the military, citing defence sources. Trump is reportedly ready to sign orders prohibiting transgender people from serving in the United States military shortly after taking office on January 20 of next year. The move would medically discharge 15,000 transgender service members from the military, declaring them unfit to serve.

Directives would also prohibit transgender people from joining the military

Credit: X

The directives would also prohibit transgender people from joining the military, at a time when nearly every branch of the US armed forces is struggling to fulfill recruitment goals.

Trump has criticized "woke" tactics in the military, claiming that certain top commanders prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion over readiness. During his first term, Trump stated that the United States will no longer "accept or allow" transgender people in the military, citing "tremendous medical costs and disruption." The ban went into effect in 2019.

Joe Biden allowed transgenders to be a part of the military

However, upon assuming office, President Joe Biden changed that policy. Now, Trump is expected to overturn Biden's order and move forward by removing the currently serving trans troops, according to The Times.

Credit: Pexels

The executive order is one of many moves that President-elect Trump intends to take upon his return to the White House, including extensive immigration measures. All of these initiatives are expected to face considerable legal challenges.

Also read: Donald Trump Wins: BTS of the President's social media game goes viral  Watch him craft X post in real time

What do you think about this? Tell us in the comments.

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Sambhal Violence: On November 24th (Sunday), a clash erupted between cops and locals over a survey of Mughal-era Jama Masjid ordered by the court. For the unversed, this is the same mosque which has become national news over claims it was built on the site of a Hindu temple. After a series of legal battles, the court finally ordered a survey that has now turned violent.

Why was the mosque survey being conducted in Sambhal?

The survey arrived with an order by the court which took cognizance of a petition filed by Vishnu Shanker Jain. The senior advocate alleged that the mosque concerned was originally a temple. The petitioners have argued that historical texts such as 'Baburnamah' and 'Ain-e-Akbari have clearly documented the destruction of the temple in 1529 by Mughal emperor Babur.

Instagram

On November 24, an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) team under the supervision of court commissioner Ramesh Singh, district magistrate Rajendra Pensia, SP Krishan Kumar, and other officials started the survey around 7 am which started peacefully.

How did the Sambhal Violence erupt?

It was around 9 am that suddenly a mob of around 2,000-3,000 people gathered outside the mosque and started shouting slogans and pelting stones at police personnel, as reported by Times of India. Police in their defence launched tear gas and broke into lathi charges but things turned ugly as the mob reportedly opened fire at cops and set over 10 vehicles ablaze.

Divisional commissioner Aunjaneya Singh shared, The mob intensified its attack and started firing from nearby houses, leading to injuries among officers, including the SP's PRO, SDM Ramesh Babu, and circle officer Anuj Chaudhary, who was hit by bullet pellets. Several other cops were also injured during this altercation.

PTI

What were the repercussions of Sambhal Violence?

The survey team was safely evacuated from the site and the internet services were immediately suspended. Mohd Nayeem, Mohd Bilal, and Mohd Nauman, all residents of Sambhal died during the clash. My brother was shot dead by circle officer Anuj Chaudhary. We saw him aiming at my brother. We demand strict action, Bilal's younger brother told the Times, a claim denied by Aunjaneya.

The schools in Sambhal and nearby areas remain shut till November 25 and the security around the area has been heightened to avoid any escalation. 15 people including three women have been so far arrested in connection with the incident and further investigation is underway.

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[With Inputs from NDTV, PTI.]

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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 50-year-old businessman, identified as Osuoha Iheanacho, at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu State.

It was gathered that Mr. Iheanacho, who allegedly ingested 90 wraps of cocaine, was apprehended on Wednesday.

INFORMATION NIGERIA learnt that the suspect, had been under surveillance for three months.

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NDLEA, in a statement made by its Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, noted that Iheanacho was going through inbound passenger screening upon arrival from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, when he was apprehended.

READ MORE: NDLEA Uncovers Cross-Border Drug Syndicates, Apprehends Six Suspects

He said: The suspect was subsequently placed on excretion observation. He excreted 90 pellets of cocaine weighing 2.019kg.

Investigation reveals that the suspect who operates phone and accessories business in Lagos and Gabon, Central Africa, travelled by road from Gabon to Douala, Cameroon from where he took a flight to Addis Ababa where he swallowed the pellets of cocaine while in transit and thereafter continued his journey to Enugu with Lagos as his final destination.

He deliberately complicated his movement to distort traces of his travel history unknown to him that he has been on NDLEA watchlist for the past three months.


Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has granted Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, full ownership rights to returned stolen artefacts.

Fred Itua, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS), in a statement on Sunday, said the state government is revoking the concession of Oba Akenzua II Cultural Centre, which was used as a motor park by the last administration.

The Governor had previously stated that his administration will support traditional institutions and uphold the Oba of Benin as exclusive owner of returned looted artefacts from the Benin massacre of 1897 by British colonial forces.

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Okpebholo also restored the statutory financial entitlements of the Benin Traditional Council and ordered that the status quo before the creation of the now abolished councils be maintained.

The spokesperson noted that the decisions were in line with the Governors move to further right the wrongs of the immediate-past administration and foster cordial relations between the government and the people.

READ ALSO: Benue Workers To Earn N75,000 Minimum Wage As Gov Alia Approves New National Minimum Wage

This administration also hereby abolishes the new traditional councils in Edo South, created by the last administration.

Governor Okpebholo has restored the statutory financial entitlements of the Benin Traditional Council (BTC) and has ordered that the status quo before the creation of the now abolished councils be maintained, the statement reads.

The Okpebholo administration is also backing the initial plan of the State Government to build the Benin Royal Museum that will house the returned artefacts.

The Federal Government had issued a Gazette for the recognition of ownership and custody of the repatriated Benin artefacts to Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II.

The governors decision is seen as a significant step towards recognizing the rights and privileges of the traditional ruler of Benin Kingdom.

Governor Okpebholo respects the rights and privileges of the traditional ruler of Benin Kingdom, Omo NOba NEdo Uku Akpolokpolo Oba Ewuare ll and pledges the support of his administration to ensure the Monarch plays his role as the custodian of the rich cultural heritage of the Benin people, the statement added.


The media aide to former Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, Crusoe Osagie, has described the probe of Obasekis administration by Governor Monday Okpebholo as a smokescreen to cover the incompetence of the current administration.

Osagie stated that the meaningless probes embarked upon by the Okpebholo administration are an attempt to distract from glaring incompetence and lack of direction.

He added in a Sunday statement that Obaseki oversaw one of the most transparent, accountable and prudent governments in the history of Nigeria.

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READ ALSO: Appointments: APCs Reward System For Loyalty Under Buhari, Tinubu, Very Poor  APC Chieftain

The media aide criticized Okpebholos administration, saying it has resorted to charades of empty probes to buy time and distract from its incompetence and unpreparedness for office.

He should stop his futile and failed attempt to fool the people of Edo State who have already seen him for who he truly is, Osagie said.

Osagie advised Okpebholo to focus on governance and improving the lives of Edo people rather than waste state resources on meaningless probes.

He concluded that Edo people are watching and Okpebholos government will be judged not by the noise it makes but by the impact it delivers.
Operatives of Ondo State Police Command have arrested a man, identified as Mr. Adegoke, for allegedly beating a suspected thief to death in Odigbo Local Government Area of the state.

It was gathered that the suspect, who is said to be a farmer in Mile 10, Ore axis, reportedly beat two individuals for invading his farmland.

According to a source who spoke with Daily Trust on Sunday, said that the other suspect attacked by Adegoke had been hospitalised.

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He added that the farmer had claimed that the suspected thieves also stole his motorcycle.

The source said: Some suspected thieves had been stealing the farm produce of one Adegoke, popularly called Ariya. But he had been keeping quiet for long.

However, Nemesis caught up with the thieves, as Adegoke was able to get hold of two persons out of four found on his farm.

Before now, his cocoa pods, kola nuts, and plantains had been missing from his farm often and often, including his motorcycle. But he found two persons culpable of the offence.

Adegoke beat them to a stupor, and in the process, one died. And that has led to intra-communal tension in the area.

Speaking over the incident, the State Police Commands Spokesperson, Funmi Odunlami, disclosed that the complainant claimed the suspected thieves were around Adegokes farm to pick snails and not to steal.

Odunlami said that it was the farmers wife who reported to him that thieves had again invaded his farm.

She added that the farmer rushed to the scene and attacked the suspects, adding that investigation has commenced over the incident.
Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has berated Governor Seyi Makinde over alleged conversion of State Library buildings into shopping malls.

APC in a statement made by its Publicity Secretary Wasiu Olawale Sadare on Sunday, said that the development is unacceptable.

It was gathered that some structures at the headquarters of the Oyo State Library Board, in Dugbe Ibadan, which houses a library and other public utilities have been converted into shops.

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READ MORE: 2027: Nigerians Must Unite Against APCs Failure  Gov Makinde

APC in it reaction to the development, described Governor Makindes decision as a shameful act.

The statement reads: It is a sad reality that the buildings which used to serve as public libraries and archives in Dugbe axis of Ibadan have now paved the way for the development of commercial and business structures.

The implication of this is that education and research development have been relegated to the background in the state by the same administration which has refused to address the issue of poor reading culture among young students.

Without mincing words, the word library is now strange to many students in public primary and secondary schools in Oyo State because the government does not care to build such facilities or fix the existing ones, which require good attention.

How can a government wake up one day and convert public reading facilities and archives into lock-up shops in the name of making money and thereby subject the entire society to the danger of illiteracy and ignorance?


The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been accused of being hijacked by some of its Governors and stakeholders, who are allegedly working to keep Umar Damagum as acting National Chairman until 2027.

This move, according to Ikenga Ugochinyere, a member of the House of Representatives, is aimed at weakening the opposition Party.

Speaking on behalf of the opposition coalition lawmakers at a press conference in Abuja on Sunday, Ugochinyere alleged that there is a plot to derail the partys planned National Executive Council (NEC) meeting.

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Today we have a political partythe Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)thats supposed to lead the opposition, but we have political charlatans hijacking the heartbeat of the opposition party, and turning it into an errand platform for the ruling party, the lawmaker said.

Ugochinyere further stated that the plan is to ensure that the NEC meeting to choose a chairman from north central, where the position is originally supposed to come from, is not possible.

READ ALSO: Its Part Of Our Duty To Destroy PDP  APC Chieftain Replies Sowunmi

They want Umar Damagum, an imposter of the highest order, to continue to parade as the national chairman and stay in office till 2027 so they can foist on us a weakling that will be presidential candidate, he alleged.

The lawmaker also accused some PDP governors of frolicking with APC leaders, saying they are going to London to have meetings with APC leadership.

If the founding fathers of this party are still alive and are seeing what Im seeing, they will be crying, Ugochinyere said.

The PDP has been struggling with an internal crisis since 2022, which has polarized the Party and its National Working Committee (NWC).

A faction of the Party wants Damagum to be removed as the acting National Chairman, while another faction wants him to continue to occupy the position.
Controversial Human rights activist, Aisha Yesufu, has claimed that the Peoples Democratic Party had lost its opposition power since 2014.

INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that Aishas statement is coming, following a claim made by a PDPs Chieftain, Segun Sowunmi, who said that the party have been destroyed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Sowunmi noted that Tinubu had no business appointing Nyesom Wike as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, without consulting with the elders of the opposition party.

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Speaking on her X page over the weekend, Aisha, in her response to Mr. Sowunmis claim, said that PDP had lost the privilege to govern Nigerians due to mismanagement of political power.

READ MORE: Tinubu Responsible For Crisis In PDP, Wikes Appointment Is Political  Segun Sowunmi

She added that the major opposition party treated people like leper, thinking they were untouchable.

Aisha said: The same PDP we were attacked for is the PDP you now know is destroyed?

PDP was destroyed since 2014! They believed they were untouchable and treated Nigerians like lepers.

Anyway na when person wake up be im morning. Let me repeat! PDP is a threat to opposition.
Two suspects have been apprehended at separate crime scenes on Okhoro and Cemetery Roads in Benin, Edo State, for alleged vandalism of electricity infrastructure.

Mrs. Evelyn Gbiwen, Head of Branding and Corporate Communications at BEDC Electricity PLC, confirmed the arrests in a statement issued on Sunday in Benin City.

According to Gbiwen, one of the suspects vandalized 200KVA and 500KVA substations in the Play House and Iyayi areas. Upon apprehension, the suspect pretended to be a BEDC staff member and presented a fake identity card.

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She stated that the suspect was apprehended with 70mm2 by 7 meters of cable taken from the Play House 200kVA substation and another 70mm2 by 7 meters of cable from the Iyayi 500kVA substation.

READ MORE: Ogun Police On Manhaunt For Fleeing Suspect Who Killed Woman During Argument

The second suspect was arrested at another location with stolen items, including 10 meters of copper wire from a 500KVA power transformer at Third Cemetery and 20 meters of 500mm2 cable from a substation on Old Rubber Board Road in Benin.

Gbiwen described the suspects arrest as a major milestone in the fight against vandalism and reaffirmed the companys dedication to addressing the issue.

We are resolute in our fight against vandalism, as it doesnt only affect our operations, but also tarnishes our reputation.

We urge communities to be vigilant and guard their substations, as we work together to prevent these malicious acts.

Our appeal also goes to the communities to report any suspicious activities around substations and support the companys efforts in combating vandalism,  she added.
Students headed to Paris during their send-off at Harriett's Bookshop. Harriett's owner, Jeannine A. Cook, raised more than $60,000 to show the kids a world beyond Philadelphia. Read more

Eleven young adults are spending Thanksgiving week gazing at the Eiffel Tower, tooling through the galleries in the Louvre, and floating down the Seine, thanks to Harrietts Bookshop owner Jeannine A. Cook.

Cook partnered with North Phillys accelerated high school YESPhilly and the D.C.-based teen travel company Going Global with Barbara and raised more than $60,000 through GoFundMe for the students and chaperones to travel overseas. The jaunt will be many of the young adults first trip abroad.

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Im sooo excited, said 19-year-old Nymir Foster. Foster, dressed in a pithy cobalt blue tuxedo with skinny two-strand twists dangling past his eyes, was surrounded by family and friends who gathered at Harrietts Bookshop Friday night to wish Foster and his cohorts a bon voyage. Ive always wanted to go to Paris, Foster said. I cant wait to see the art and the fashion.

Cook  who owns Harrietts in Fishtown and Idas Bookshop in Collingswood  is respected throughout the book world for her artsy pop-up installations that pay homage to the legacy of Black women. Shes hosted two pop-ups in Paris named after the early-20th-century entertainer and expatriate Josephine Baker.

However, Cook, 40, did not travel to Paris until she was in her 30s. This trip is Cooks way of giving Philadelphia students an opportunity she dreamed of when she was their age.

This is another iteration of Josephines, Cook said. Instead of bringing books, Im bringing these young people to Paris. I want them to see the road she travelled. I want them to see anything is possible.

When Cook brought the idea to YESPhillys principal David Rivoire, he was unsure he could pull it off but excited about the potential. Cook made it happen, recruiting Going Globals founder, Barbara Eubanks, to coordinate the experience. Cook collaborated with the school district to create an elective where students earned credits, applied for passports, and took classes in travel etiquette. They also wrote essays about why they should be chosen for the trip.

I wrote about seeing the Eiffel Tower, said Rashia Goosby,18, who will graduate from YESPhilly in January and plans to go to college in the spring. Ive only seen Paris in [Netflixs] Emily in Paris. I want to see the places where Emily went.

Hassan Cox received his high school diploma from YESPhilly on Nov. 1. He cant wait to visit the art museums. Im stoked, said Cox, 20, who wants to go to college for nursing or, perhaps, pick up a trade like fixing cell phones. Nah, I cant draw, he said with a quick smile. But art is really inspiring to me.

The students and their chaperones will tour the City of Lights for seven days and stay in an Airbnb where they will will celebrate Thanksgiving  that falls on Cooks birthday this year  as a group.

On Friday, the excited students and their families milled around Cooks still-being-renovated bookshop. She purchased the building, Harrietts home of four years, for $700,000 in August and is still in the midst of turning the 500-square-foot retail space into her dream book boutique. Partygoers sampled sweet and savory pastries served on a newly installed counter slated to be a coffee bar. They drank lavender Mami Wata punch, a nod to a fertility goddess and mermaid believed to live in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa.

Harrietts walls were painted a rich navy adorned with floating bookshelves with popular new hardcovers like like TaNehesi Coates The Message, Percival Everetts James, and Krystal Marquis The Davenports: More Than This. A wall featuring photos of Diana Ross and the Supremes sits opposite the single-book bookshelves, a few feet away from a portrait of abolitionist, emancipator, and the bookshops namesake, Harriet Tubman.

This work is part of the work of Harriet, Cook said. These passports we helped these young people get are like Freedom Papers, like their ancestors who were enslaved before them, these documents give them access to the rest of the world.
When Christina Parker heard the cracks of gunshots outside her window, she knew that what shed feared for more than a year had finally happened.

The man who had stalked, threatened, and kidnapped her, who cut off her hair on a subway platform, who even burned down five homes in search of her and her boyfriend, had come to kill his rival.

She waited a moment before walking outside. Then, still in her slippers, she shuffled onto Ludlow Street.

There, lying on the pavement in his own blood, was Naseem Smith, with bullet holes throughout his body. Smith had tried to give Parker a fresh start, had given her hope, had loved her.

Now he was about to die. All for some twisted form of revenge that could  and should  have been prevented by police.

Parker knew whod pulled the trigger: Markevon Durham. Her ex.

She had broken up with him a year earlier after a tumultuous, yearslong relationship that began when she was in high school. She ended things after learning hed lied about his age and the fact that he was married with children, but Durham refused to move on, and instead, began his streak of terror.

For months as the crimes unfolded, Parker, Smith, and their loved ones had begged for help from Philadelphia law enforcement, telling responding officers and fire marshals that Durham was the one trying to burn them alive. Parker and Smith were at home in Hunting Park when Durham set their house ablaze  twice. In one instance, they told a detective they had seen Durham running away after setting their roof on fire.

But he wasnt charged  leaving him free to torment Parker and, eventually, to ambush Smith with a gun.

On the night of the shooting  Nov. 8, 2018  Parker explained it all to Detective Robert Daly at Southwest Detectives.

Durham felt like Naseem took me away from him, she said  that if he couldnt have her, no one could.

Smiths family corroborated Parkers account, telling Daly about the crimes that had left their homes in ashes  and detailing how theyd done everything they could to try and get law enforcement to help.

Daly remembers the family screaming at him when they first met him, unloading their frustrations even though he was new to the case: We told you this would happen! they said. This is your fault! This month, inside a Philadelphia courtroom, Durham was finally brought to justice. To understand how the case came together, The Inquirer reviewed hundreds of pages of police and court records, interviewed victims, police, and prosecutors, and attended the weeks-long trial at which Durham was convicted of crimes including third-degree murder, attempted murder, arson, kidnapping, and aggravated assault.

The outcome stirred mixed emotions for many of those closest to it: gratitude that Durham was finally held accountable, but agony that it took so long.

I dont think Ill ever feel whole again, Parker, 27, said through tears in a recent interview. When Naseem passed away, it was like I lost a part of myself.

If they wouldve listened in the first place, she said of law enforcement, it never wouldve happened.

Parker was 17 when she met Durham at a Planet Fitness gym. It was 2014, and she was in her final year of high school at YESPhilly. Durham told Parker he was 21, and they went on to date for three years. He even took her to her senior prom.

Then, in the summer of 2017, Parker learned that Durham was married with two children and was at least three years older than hed said.

She ended the relationship.

Not long afterward, Parker started dating Smith. They had met at the Wawa at Broad and Walnut Streets, where they both worked. She was drawn to his smile, his optimism, his upbeat nature.

He just showed me how I should be loved and should be treated, she said.

When Durham learned that Parker was dating Smith, he began taking unusual steps to try and win her back: prank calling their relatives, pouring sugar into the gas tank of Smiths car, even rifling through their trash.

Then he went a step further  and kidnapped Parker. On Oct. 14, 2017, Durham showed up outside Parkers dads house in Germantown and dragged her into his car. He drove her out to the suburbs, punching, choking, and berating her on the way, she said. After driving around for hours, Durham took Parker to his cousins apartment in Manayunk. There, she said, he tried to sexually assault her. She thought Durham was going to kill her  and he sent texts to friends afterward boasting that he nearly had.

I almost killed her, I drove her out to Quakertown, Durham said in a text the next day, adding: I f her life up yo.

The next morning, Durham gave Parker a ride back to her dads house. Days later, she went to a police station to say Durham had hit her, and she then sought and obtained a protection-from-abuse order against him.

His behavior only escalated from there.

A week after the PFA was filed, he set Smiths house on fire  while Smith and Parker were inside sleeping. Fire investigators found a trail of gas from the first floor into the basement, where a window had been smashed in.

Then, the following week, Durham targeted Smiths mother, Nashawna Leake.

Leake was working an overnight shift as a receptionist at Project HOME when Durham sneaked behind her house on the 1500 block of Glenwood Avenue and poured gas along its exterior wall. It was 3 a.m., and Leakes parents and two children, ages 4 and 16, were asleep inside.

Durham lit the flame, and a blaze quickly ripped through the structure.

Leakes family escaped unharmed, but the house was destroyed, along with most of their belongings.

Leake told a responding police officer and the fire marshal she thought the culprit was the man who had set her sons house on fire a week earlier: the former boyfriend of her sons new girlfriend.

That is the only person I would have any problems with, she said later. We dont have enemies.

The next morning, on Nov. 8, someone shot at Smiths cousin outside the house they shared on the 1300 block of West Jerome Street. No one was struck, but Smith called police and told responding officers he suspected the shooter was Durham.

Then, in December, Durham showed up outside Parkers job at the Center City Wawa. Parker said he approached her to talk about getting back together, then followed her onto an elevator and down to the Broad Street Line concourse. As she tried to walk away, Parker said, Durham grabbed her, pulled out a pair of scissors, and cut off part of her ponytail.

Parker flagged down SEPTA police, and Durham was taken into custody and charged with simple assault and violating his PFA.

Bail was set at $5,000, but he paid the requisite 10%  $500  to secure his release the next day.

At his job, a coworker would later recall, hed waved Parkers sheared hair around to brag to his colleagues.

He said that cutting her hair would ruin her life, said Anitra Stevens, because it was the most precious thing on her body.

After the holidays, the harassment expanded to new targets, including Smiths former girlfriend, Erika Cole, the mother of his son.

She and Smith had dated in 2017  before he began dating Parker  and on Jan. 1, 2018, Cole gave birth to their baby boy.

Ten days later, Cole received a strange message on Facebook from an account with the name Brittney Tellall. Hey I know you dont know me but congratulations with your new baby hes adorable! it began. The message then went on to ask for details about Smith and Parkers relationship. Cole didnt reply. Less than 24 hours later, her house was set on fire. She was breastfeeding her baby at 4 a.m., she said, when she saw an explosion of orange and heard a sound kind of like thunder. She ran outside into the freezing cold with her baby. Three family members also escaped unharmed.

But by the time firefighters got the flames under control, the house was ruined.

Cole told fire marshals she believed the culprit was the stranger behind the mysterious Facebook message from the day before.

As the attacks escalated, Smiths relatives werent the only targets. His home, on Jerome Street, was set ablaze a second time, in January 2018.

He and Parker were again inside. And this time, after the fire started, they saw Durham running away.

Detective Luz Varela, who responded to the scene, made a note of that, police records show, but never sought to have Durham arrested.

Ten months later, in November 2018, Smith was shot and killed on Ludlow Street.

When Daly, the detective assigned to the shooting, began to investigate and interviewed Parker, she said she was sure that Durham was the killer. She described the string of crimes that led up to the gunfire and said she was angry that no one in law enforcement had seemed to listen or recognize the growing threat. When Naseem passed away, it was like I lost a part of myself. Christina Parker

Daly found police reports detailing all of the earlier incidents, including the Jerome Street fire in which Parker and Smith said they had seen Durham fleeing the scene. Daly applied for an arrest warrant for that crime almost immediately.

Durham, he said, shouldve been arrested after that statement.

How [the detective] handled that case was wrong, Daly later testified.  It does not represent what our oath is.

(Varela, the other detective, said by phone after Durhams conviction that she did not recall the case or her role in it and therefore could not comment.)

Once Durham was behind bars for the arson, Daly began subpoenaing records and gathering evidence to investigate the rest of the allegations: the killing, the other fires, the stalking.

The case, he said, just kept growing.

Cell-phone records showed that Durham was using his phone near the scene at the time of every one of the fires.

He had also used a background-check tool to look up peoples addresses and phone numbers. When Daly subpoenaed Durhams account, it showed hundreds of searches for relatives of Smith and Parker, including every house that had been set on fire.

And when Daly cross-referenced those records with the cell-phone location data, he learned that Durham was conducting searches on Smiths family while driving around the blocks where they lived.

I would call that diligence, the detective said.

It wasnt until Dalys third or fourth conversation with Parker that she told him about Durhams initial crime: the kidnapping. It was as if she had gone through so much torment that shed partially blocked the terrifying encounter from her memory, he said.

Parker couldnt recall the date she had been snatched, or precisely where she was taken when Durham drove her to the suburbs. But when Daly reviewed Durhams cell-phone and Google records, he saw the evidence hiding in plain sight: GPS coordinates from Oct. 14, 2017, showed that Durham had driven to Parkers fathers house, then to Quakertown, and back to Manayunk.

By October 2019  about 11 months after Durham was charged with one of the arsons  Dalys investigation had led to charges in every other incident, including Smiths slaying, Parkers kidnapping, and four more arsons.

At his trial this fall, Durham chose to act as his own lawyer, a decision that put him in a position to question many of the people hed been accused of trying to kill.

At times, that strategy seemed to backfire. As he questioned Smiths mother about the torching of her house, she identified him as the perpetrator.

It was you, she said.

When he questioned Parker, she said: You set fires to peoples houses that were in Naseems life. You kidnapped me. You cut my hair. You harassed us. And we didnt have issues with anyone outside you. Durham, for his part, told the judge he had been wrongfully accused. He said that the evidence in the case was entirely circumstantial, based on digital records that were unreliable or misinterpreted, and that the detective had force-fed information to Parker and to Smiths family. How [the detective] handled that case was wrong  It does not represent what our oath is. Detective Robert Daly

Durham testified on his own behalf and said he was the one who had dumped Parker. He called her crude and obscene names and sought to paint her and Smith as the aggressors in a long-running love triangle.

He admitted that he cut Parkers hair and said he had driven her to Quakertown once. But he insisted that he hadnt threatened her or held her against her will. And he told the judge there was insufficient evidence to prove he had committed any crime.

No pertinent testimony or evidence was raised in this case, he said.

Common Pleas Court Judge J. Scott OKeefe disagreed.

He convicted Durham on all counts.

Parker sobbed as the verdict was delivered.

It felt like a weight was lifted  not off my shoulders, but my body, she said later.

With the trial behind her, she said, she hopes to make peace with her loss and finally try to move forward. Naseem was a beautiful person inside and out. He taught me a lot of things, Parker said. I learned my worth from being with that man. Smiths mother, meanwhile, said her sons death, and her belief that it could have been prevented, had changed her. Its made her angry at times, she said, and caused her to lose sleep. But she knows Smith wouldnt want bitterness to overwhelm her. So she does her best to carry on in his memory.

I can hear him, she said. I can hear him saying its going to be all right.

When Daly was first assigned to Smiths shooting, he was part of Southwest Detectives, where he investigated crimes such as shootings and robberies. Once Smiths case became a murder, he requested permission to stay with it. He has since been promoted to the Homicide Unit, where he has become one of the departments top experts in digital forensics.

Durham, now 34, faces decades in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for January.

Hes also awaiting trial on charges that while he was incarcerated last year, he and two other inmates attacked a jail guard, stole his keys and radio, held him hostage, and tried to take over their cellblock.

Assistant District Attorney Cydney Pope, who prosecuted the case, said that Durhams crime spree was unlike any she had handled in her career  that he had tortured his victims for months in a cruel and senseless manner.
Aslyn Anaya Planas, a student at Thomas Jefferson University, said she was assessed a late fee because her state grant was not in. Here, she is on the East Falls campus. Read more

The last year has been marked by repeated delays stemming from the botched rollout of a new federal student financial aid system.

In Pennsylvania, those hurdles have been compounded this fall by difficulties in the transition to a new platform system at the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency. PHEAA is the agency that administers the states financial aid grant program.

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Some students who would usually get their grants in September still dont have their money. Others have reported receiving late fees from their colleges and, in some cases, have been unable to register for the spring semester because of holds on their accounts.

 READ MORE: Heres what one Philly-area college financial aid expert advises about the latest FAFSA delay

Clearly their software is still not completely functional, said Michael Driscoll, president of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, who earlier this month was talking with a group of 20 student government leaders and discovered that one couldnt register for classes, another was having trouble paying rent, and two more also had problems with getting their grants.

Driscoll heads the commission of presidents from Pennsylvanias 10 state universities, including West Chester and Cheyney.

The stress for students, he said, has been enormous, and he fears some will choose not to come back for the spring semester, concerned that they will be on the hook for money they were promised. The maximum PHEAA grant is $5,750.

They are going to lose a semester or lose whatever  at a time when Pennsylvania needs all the educated workforce it can get, Driscoll said.

We were just not prepared

PHEAA spokesperson Bethany Coleman said the new modernized system launched by PHEAA this year ultimately will benefit schools, students, and families but acknowledged that its start was a heavy lift and that this first year has been less than ideal.

 READ MORE: Big changes in applying for federal financial aid are coming: Temple official breaks down what it all means.

But she also blamed delays on ongoing problems with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) program, which meant the agency didnt even begin to receive student records until mid-April and found they were riddled with errors. The state agency uses FAFSA data to administer its grants. New corrected files were not available until the second half of May, she said.

At that point, we had more than half a million records sent to us all at once, forcing us to condense what would normally amount to nine months of processing into just four, she said.  We were just not prepared for such a large volume in such a short period of time.

 READ MORE: Drexel is cutting staff and benefits as it faces a $63 million operating loss and 15% fewer first-year students

Coleman said all grant applications that met the June 1 FAFSA filing deadline have been processed, with $130 million in funds being distributed to colleges since late October.

More funds will be released in the coming days, she said.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education said in a statement it is aware of the delays and has provided support to PHEAA to try to resolve issues.

We have strongly urged PHEAA to communicate clearly and proactively with students and financial aid offices regarding these delays to help mitigate any potential impacts on students or higher education institutions, the department said.

Some education officials are asking why PHEAA didnt delay the rollout of its system, given ongoing problems with FAFSA, which last year experienced a delayed launch, technical glitches, and miscalculations. The problems with FAFSA meant students and their families had much less time to apply for aid last year. And issues werent even resolved by the start of this semester.

The FAFSA form finally became available this week, nearly two months past its normal Oct. 1 launch but before the date the department initially projected  Dec. 1. Congress has passed legislation awaiting a signature from President Joe Biden that would require the form to come out by Oct. 1 every year.

Originally, the feds were supposed to roll out their new form in 2023-24, so we started working on ours for the following year so wed have some time between the two, Coleman said. She did not address whether PHEAA could have delayed its launch, given the issues with FAFSA.

It was kind of too late

Students have felt the impact.

Because of financial aid delays, William Delrossi, 19, a fine arts major at Temple University, said he was temporarily unable to register for classes and, as a result, didnt get some of the classes he wanted for his major.

They finally figured it out, but it was kind of too late, said the sophomore from South Philadelphia.

He said he works weekends and needs the grant money  he receives $2,630 per semester  to stay enrolled at Temple and described the process as scary and frustrating.

Delrossi is one of 161 students from lower-income families who also receive scholarships from the Philadelphia Education Fund, a nonprofit that helps students with college and career success.

As first-generation, low-income college students, our  scholarship recipients are careful to keep their student accounts balanced, said Allison Kelsey, who oversees the scholarship program. PHEAAs grant is a critical piece of the financial aid matrix that makes college possible. Without it at the usual time, our students tried to cobble together other resources while contacting us for help requesting accommodation from their colleges.

She said she hopes to work with PHEAA next spring to improve the process.

Aslyn Anaya Planas, 21, a junior health sciences major at Thomas Jefferson University, said she was hit with a $100 late fee in September because she didnt have her grant.

It was just stressful, she said. I feel like they should just communicate more. No one really knows what they are doing. It makes everything so complicated.

She said Friday that she was notified via email the money would be coming.

The Philadelphia Education Fund is covering her late fee, as well as late fees for its other students, Kelsey said.

College officials said they have been doing what they can to assist students, removing late fees as they become aware and clearing the way for students to register for classes. IUP also alerted students over the summer to watch for an email from PHEAA to register in the new system. Some students, however, reported never receiving the email, IUPs Driscoll said. In other cases, the link within the PHEAA email expired within 24 hours, before students acted.

PHEAA, Coleman responded, has posted information on its website and on social media and said confusion arose because some students have multiple email addresses.

Not much contingency planning

Driscoll said IUP also has contacted landlords, asking that they give students extra time to pay.

IUP didnt receive its first file of information from PHEAA until early October, and it had possible awards listed for only 950 of 3,100 potentially eligible students. By Nov. 15, PHEAA had released funds for only 1,700 students, he said.

It doesnt seem like there was much contingency planning going on here, he said. The students really deserve better.

Some students also are frustrated with their colleges for not waiving payment until the grants arrive. Nora Stocovaz, a student at Dickinson College, wrote last month in the student newspaper, the Dickinsonian, that the college would not credit the grant to her account without the amount being confirmed by PHEAA.

All we can suggest at this time is, if you are able to submit payment in full for your current FA24 balance owing then please do so, the colleges students account office wrote to her in an email, she said. Students then will get a refund when the grant comes through, the school said.

The government has determined neither myself nor my family can pay this sum of money, wrote Stocovaz, who is from Philadelphia, but Dickinson College thinks I have thousands upon thousands of dollars laying around to give to this institution and just wait for the refund?

Dickinson spokesperson Craig Layne said the school regrets the stress students have experienced during this process.

Dickinsons financial aid and student accounts offices have worked tirelessly in good faith with students and PHEAA to resolve issues related to the delays as expediently as possible, he said.

PHEAAs Coleman said the agency is asking schools not to delay students from registering for classes and has worked with colleges to advance funds for student accounts when requested.

Temple University took PHEAA up on that offer in September and began to slowly deposit money in accounts of students deemed eligible, said Emilie Van Trieste, director of the office of student financial services.

But it was a very time-consuming, manual process, she said.

Temple, where more than 5,000 students are eligible for state grants, finally got money out to most students who were eligible earlier this month, she said.

We find ourselves in a much better position now, Van Trieste said, but it has taken us a couple months to get here.

She said she hopes next year goes more smoothly but isnt faulting PHEAA for this years complications.

I think PHEAA has been good with the hand they were dealt, she said.
Philadelphia's student population rose for the first time in 10 years. Shown here are students on the first day of the 2023-24 school year, waiting to go inside F.S. Edmonds Elementary in the city's East Mount Airy section. Read more

After years of declining enrollment, the Philadelphia School District has grown.

Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said the school systems official student count for 2024-25 is 117,956  1,841 students more than in 2023-24, an increase of a little under 2%.

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The student population rose in 10 out of 15 geographic networks, in the citys opportunity network of alternative schools, in neighborhood high schools and magnet schools.

 READ MORE: Philly school board OKs tax changes for a new Sixers arena over objections: board meeting takeaways

We sure are excited about that, Watlington told the school board Thursday night. We are absolutely thrilled that more families are choosing to enroll their children in the School District of Philadelphia.

Officials said the enrollment gain was due to students transferring from charter schools and from elsewhere outside the district. Of those students, many are English-language learners, a booming population in the city, particularly in the Northeast.

Officials said the English-learner population has doubled in the last 10 years  now, 25,350 district students make up this category, about 22% of total district enrollment. In the 2013-14 school year, English learners were about 10% of the districts total population.

Still, Philadelphia is a much smaller district than it once was. Twenty years ago, in the 2004-05 school year, the district enrolled 187,547 students. The districts student count began to slip significantly after Pennsylvania, in 1997, authorized charter schools, which are publicly funded and authorized by local school boards but managed by independent boards. Today, 64,119 students attend Philadelphia charter schools.

On Thursday night, Watlington and Reginald Streater, the school board president, touted the recent enrollment increase  and the districts increased graduation rate. The four-year graduation rate for the Class of 2024 was 77.5%, up from 74.1% the prior year.

The superintendent credited teachers, principals, and school support staff with the gains. Streater said the improvement and the increased enrollment show whats possible.

Together, were steering our efforts towards a future that values both academic excellence and educating the whole child, said Streater.

Whats coming down the pike

While enrollment is up in the district as a whole, district and state officials have said the school system must rethink its building footprint. There are 64,000 empty seats in district schools.

Officials are now taking public feedback on a coming facilities master plan, due next fall. They have said school closings, colocations, and construction are all likely.

Some schools have hundreds of unused seats, but others have too little space to deal with their burgeoning populations.
The meat and cheese slicers are spinning and lox is on the cutting board again at the landmark Kochs Deli in West Philadelphia, a year after the city Health Department ordered its shutdown under previous management.

Kochs reopened on Nov. 15 under Bing Li, who bought the takeout deli and building in late 2020 from the longtime partnership that had taken it over from the Koch family.

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Meanwhile, Common Pleas Court  not a deli scale but the scales of justice  has been asked to determine the rightful owner of the Koch name.

Li  who paid $625,000 for the building and the business at 4309 Locust St., according to city records  said he did not intend to operate the deli, which was founded by the Koch family in 1966.

After refurbishing the space, Li leased it to Morshed Ali Alqaifi in late 2021. By mid-2023, Alqaifi owed $18,000 in rent, according to Municipal Court records, and Li began eviction proceedings. In November 2023, health inspectors reported finding no hot water, inadequate refrigeration, and evidence of rodents, and ordered Kochs closed.

Alqaifi signed a judgment, allowing him to step away without repaying the back rent, according to court records. A month later, Alqaifi leased a space at 622 Market St., near Independence Mall, and put up signs that it would open as Kochs Deli.

Alqaifi had contended that he had the right to use the name. Li went to Common Pleas Court in March and obtained a preliminary injunction to block Alqaifi from using it. Alqaifi then renamed it BOP Kosh Deli. But in August, Pennsylvania Supreme Court lifted the injunction and sent the case back to Common Pleas, where it awaits a hearing.

The BOP Kosh name remains on the Market Street deli owned by Alqaifi, who declined to comment. His attorney, Peter Mylonas, did not reply to repeated requests for comment.

If there are any similarities between the two shops, its the menu. Both share a list of sandwich names dating back to the days when brothers Bob and Lou Koch ran the deli, a favorite of the University of Pennsylvania community. The Bob Koch, for example, layers roast beef, turkey, chopped liver, and onions on rye.

Kochs opened in 1966 on a tree-lined rowhouse block of family-owned businesses topped by apartments. A year later, after founder Sid Koch was injured in a car wreck, he and his wife, Frances, gave the business to sons Lou and Bob, who routinely kibbitzed with waiting customers while handing out samples. More meat for less bread was the slogan; according to legend, a customer once dislocated his jaw while trying to wrangle a sandwich.

After the deaths of Lou (1995) and Bob (2005), their brother Barry sold the deli and building to Ezra Haim, the Main Line deli owner who had catered Bobs funeral, and his friend Rami Shabbat. Kochs rolled along for 15 years until Li bought it.

After Alqaifi left, Li said he replaced the equipment, deep-cleaned the space, and performed repairs. On Nov. 15, Haim himself was behind the counter, helping to train staff in the art of stacking slices of corned beef and mounding coleslaw atop a slice of rye bread before it could topple. Customers stopped by, like Tasha Terrell, who lives a block away and said she has been ordering from Kochs since 1990.

It is so good here, said Terrell, who would say only that she is 40-something and favors the turkey hoagies. They really fill up the sandwiches.

When Li reclaimed the business, he said he had considered turning it into a Chinese restaurant or bubble tea place. But then, I looked up all the history and said, I have to keep this, he said. I cant just take somebodys memory.
A patient receives the monkeypox vaccine at the Dr. Ala Stanford Center for Health Equity in North Philadelphia in 2022. The Black Doctors Consortium hosted the clinic. Read more

As winter approaches, bringing colder weather and more indoor gatherings, Philadelphians should prepare for a surge in cases of the cold, flu, and COVID-19.

While most Americans have some form of health coverage, millions remain uninsured. In Philadelphia, 10% of residents lack insurance, according to the citys 2018 report on accessing primary care. Among noncitizen residents, that number rises to 40%.

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This means more than 100,000 Philadelphians have difficulties accessing the vaccines they need. But even for those who are insured, fewer people are getting vaccinated than they were in prior years, said Landrus Burress, the citys director for the Division of Disease Control.

Peoples immunity to viruses that cause COVID and the flu wane three to six months after getting vaccinated. Thats why its so important to get an updated dose before we start gathering for the holidays, Burress said of increased cases and hospitalizations during the winter. We dont want anyone stuck sick at home when they could be celebrating with family and friends, or worse, in the hospital. Its all about gathering and building community during this time of year, and doing so in a safe way.

Burress advises everyone 6 months and older to get vaccinated, especially individuals at higher risk for severe illness from respiratory viruses. So if you or someone close to you is 65 or older, have a weakened immune system, have underlying health issues, or are pregnant, now is the time to get that updated vaccine, he said.

For the under and uninsured, there are free vaccination options out there. Heres what to know.

How to get vaccines for free in Philadelphia

Most people can get free COVID and flu vaccines through health insurance, according to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.

If you dont have employer-sponsored health care, more affordable health insurance is available on the state marketplace, called Pennie.com in Pennsylvania and getcovered.nj.gov in New Jersey. These marketplaces, created under the Affordable Care Act (or ObamaCare), can also be accessed via HealthCare.gov.

Free or low-cost health care can be provided through the federal governments health insurance programs: Medicare for people over 65, and with other conditions, and Medicaid for individuals and families with low income. Apply and learn more about these benefits on Pennsylvanias benefits access platform, COMPASS, at compass.dhs.pa.gov.

If you dont have any form of health insurance, there are still ways to get free vaccines in Philadelphia.

City health centers

City health centers provide free or low-cost care, including vaccines for adults and children. No registration is needed, and you dont have to be an existing patient to receive a vaccine. Bring proof of Philadelphia residency, such as a drivers license, lease agreement, or utility bill, and an insurance card if you have one. Translation services are available.

Residents can receive free or low-cost COVID-19 and flu vaccines at the following city health centers, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Health Center 3: 555 S. 43rd St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19104, (215) 685-7504 Health Center 4: 4400 Haverford Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19104, (215) 685-7601 Health Center 5: 1900 N. 20th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19121, (215) 685-2933 Mattie L. Humphrey Health Center (Health Center 9): 131 E. Chelten Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19144, (215) 685-5701 Strawberry Mansion Health Center: 2840 W. Dauphin St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19132, (215) 685-2401

Apart from these city health centers, Federally Qualified Health Centers provide free or low-cost vaccines. View a map and list of primary care providers in Philadelphia on the primary care finder at phila.gov/primary-care.

Who should get an updated COVID-19 or flu vaccine?

Everyone 6 months and older is eligible for a COVID-19 and flu vaccine.

Updated COVID-19 and flu vaccines usually come in one dose for most people. Kids under 4 years old may require two doses of the updated COVID-19 vaccine, and kids under 9 may need two doses of the flu vaccine.

According to the health department, older adults and people with moderately to severely weakened immune systems may be eligible for additional doses and should speak to their health care provider.

Who should get an RSV immunization?

RSV, or Respiratory syncytial virus, vaccines are recommended for infant children and older adults.

Adults age 75 and older and adults ages 60 to 74 who are at increased risk for severe RSV are recommended to get the RSV vaccine.

For infants, there are two immunizations recommended to prevent severe RSV:

RSV vaccine (Pfizers Abrysvo) is given to the birthing parent during weeks 32 to 36 of pregnancy RSV antibody (Beyfortus) is given to infants after birth

Beyfortus is free through most private insurance and the Vaccines for Children program available at city health centers and Federally Qualified Health Centers.
PHMC, which acquired behavioral health nonprofit Carson Valley Children's Aid in 2022, has closed its core residential treatment program for youth last summer and is folding its most of its other operations into other PHMC subsidiaries. Carson Valley is based in Flourtown. Read more

One of Philadelphias largest health and human services nonprofits has recently shuttered several long-running programs serving youth with behavioral problems and people in addiction.

Public Health Management Corp. is working through program closures at subsidiaries as part of a broad effort to eliminate units with chronic losses that threaten PHMCs stability.

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Last summer, PHMC closed a residential treatment program for youth with behavioral problems at Carson Valley Childrens Aid in Flourtown, as part of its sweeping changes there.

The Bridge, a Philadelphia mental health and substance abuse treatment center, closed on Oct. 30.

The Villa, a behavioral health facility in Ambler, will close Dec. 23, according to PHMC.

PHMCs chief executive Michael Pearson in an interview said he did not have details on how many children were served by those programs. The census was very low, said Pearson, a former board member who became permanent CEO a year ago.

Its not just that the residential programs were losing money, Pearson said. They were also out of step with the broadly accepted view that children are better served in their community, rather than housed in residential facilities, he said.

 READ MORE: A PHMC subsidiary failed to regain its independence in 2017.

The moves reflect what Pearson described more broadly in a Nov. 7 email to employees as a public health landscape that is not hospitable to providers like PHMC.

PHMC also closed Visiting Nurse Association of Greater Philadelphia last month because it was losing too much money. For 138 years, its nurses had cared for patients in their homes, often during the end of life.

Funding challenges and staffing shortages continue to push programs to breaking points, Pearson said in the email. We are holding ourselves accountable to evaluating our programs carefully, deploying our resources efficiently, and expanding our capacity in areas where weve demonstrated strong results.

A retrenchment at PHMC

The retrenchment at PHMC comes after the June 2023 retirement of former CEO Richard J. Cohen, who led the nonprofit for 42 years.

Cohen pursued a vision since at least the mid-1980s of assembling a collection of nonprofits through more than 20 acquisitions that would enable PHMC to wrap services around people, families, and communities, Cohen said in a 2018 interview with The Inquirer.

Since then, PHMC has completed at least four more acquisitions. These include two of the recently closed programs, Visiting Nurse and Carson Valley, both acquired in 2022.

 READ MORE: PHMC won a state emergency management contract in 2020.

Their closures show that PHMC no longer offers a safe harbor for financially troubled nonprofits.

In Cohens retirement announcement, PHMC said it had $500 million in revenue. The organization does not publish audited financial statements that combine the parent PHMCs results and all of its subsidiaries. A spokesperson declined to provide consolidated financial results for fiscal 2024, which ended in June.

The latest available financial statement for PHMC, the corporate parent, shows that it had $293 million in annual revenue in the year ended June 30, 2023, down from $340 million the year before. Revenue from Philadelphia agencies plummeted to $110 million from $192 million.

PHMC has 3,000 employees.

Troubling times for human services nonprofits

The closures at PHMC are happening during a rough year for human services nonprofits in the Philadelphia region.

Resources for Human Development, another large Philadelphia-based human services nonprofit, had repeated layoffs and was on the verge of bankruptcy before agreeing in May to be acquired by Inperium Inc. Benefits Data Trust, a nationally lauded nonprofit that helped people sign up for government benefits, abruptly announced its closure in June. United Way of Greater Philadelphia & Southern New Jersey laid off 16 people, equal to 38% of its staff, in September.

PHMCs program closures have played out at its sprawling network of subsidiaries across the region. It announced on May 1 that the residential program at Carson Valley, founded in 1917 as Carson College for Orphaned Girls, would close at the end of June. That was two years after Carson Valleys PHMC deal, which was expected to give the agency financial security.

Carson Valley was struggling financially for years before the acquisition, logging five straight years of operating losses. In some years, Carson Valley borrowed money from a beneficial trust to repay other debt or to meet operating expenses, according to audited financial statements.

In addition to closing the residential center, PHMC is now restructuring Carson Valleys other services. A dozen of Carson Valleys government-funded programs will be moved to other PHMC subsidiaries. A nursery school for the general community and another program will remain on Carson Valleys Flourtown campus.

The PHMC subsidiaries receiving Carson Valley work include the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium and Turning Points for Children, which has its own troubles.

Turning Points  which traces its roots to an organization founded in 1882  filed for bankruptcy protection in May, as it faced at least eight lawsuits alleging personal injury or negligence related to its work in the citys child welfare system. Turning Points had stopped providing those services at the end of 2022.

As part of PHMCs efforts to improve its finances, it has sold some property, including the former Turning Points offices at 419 S. 15th St. in Center City. That property sold for $2.75 million in June. PHMC sold Calcutta House, which provided housing and other supportive services to homeless men and women with HIV/AIDS, at 1601 W. Girard Ave. for $730,000 in September.

Despite its cutbacks, PHMC has areas of growth, Pearson said. In July, it started to manage hundreds of millions in annual state child-care subsidies. In bidding for the contract, it beat out Caring People Alliance, a former PHMC subsidiary that has managed the child-care subsidies for decades.

Pearson described that contract as an example of how PHMC redeployed resources in terms of meeting our mission of making healthier communities.
Sen. John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz shake hands before debating in Harrisburg, Pa., on Tuesday, October 25, 2022, during their race for U.S. Senate. Read more

Victoria Perrone wasnt a spokesperson for Sen. John Fettermans 2022 senate campaign. As his treasurer, she worked with numbers and spreadsheets. But when the campaign asked her to speak about her sister who relied in part on Medicaid at her Delaware County elementary school, she agreed.

My sister passed away from Ovarian Cancer in June and Dr. Oz became the Republican nominee, she said on stage at Nether Providence Elementary School that year, sporting a Made in Delco hoodie. When I found out Dr. Oz lied to millions of TV viewers that one of his miracle cures would decrease ovarian cancer by 75%, I got really mad, like Delco Mad.

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Now two years later, President-elect Donald Trump said he will nominate Mehmet Oz as administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a role that oversees the coordination and implementation of major health care programs like Medicare, Medicaid, the Childrens Health Insurance Program, and the Affordable Care Act.

So when Fetterman said this week that he would vote for Oz if the celebrity doctor agrees to protect Medicaid and Medicare, Perrone got Delco mad again.

Our politics are obviously different, and we do have a history, but I dont have any bitterness, Fetterman told CNN reporter Manu Raju this week of Oz. I dont hold anything against him. As long as hes willing to protect and preserve Medicaid and Medicare, Im voting for the dude.

But on the campaign trail in 2022, Fetterman often attacked the celebrity doctor known for spreading misinformation as a liar and a fraud, and frequently said Oz would be a threat to Medicare and Social Security funding. So the senators remarks this week garnered a reaction from several former campaign staffers, and some of his former senate staffers also expressed outrage at Ozs nomination.

Annie Wu Henry, who was on Fettermans campaigns digital team and was coined his TikTok whisperer, posted screenshots of posts from Fettermans X account that argued Oz would threaten Medicare and Social Security. Harrison Morgan, who also worked on Fettermans campaign, reposted Henrys compilation as well as other posts against Oz. Morgan also shared a 2022 post from Fettermans account that called Oz a fraud.

In 2022 I worked on a campaign against an out of touch liar and fraud to ensure he would not have the responsibility of serving everyday Americans and Pennsylvanians  and we won., Henry said. Over the past two years, Dr. Mehmet Oz has done nothing to prove himself anything otherwise, in fact, his appointment to this position coming from a notoriously dangerous pathological liar only solidifies that we cannot and should not trust him in any level of our government.

Sophie Ota, the digital director for Fettermans 2022 campaign, also pointed out the irony of Fettermans statement about appointing Oz. Oh my god hahahahahahahahahahahahah, she posted alongside Fettermans statement.

Former Fetterman communications staffers Emma Mustion, Joe Calvello, and Nick Gavio, who all left within the same time period in the spring, all shared posts on X against Ozs appointment.

During his 2022 run, Oz said he supported expanding Medicare Advantage plans, which use private insurers, and he argued in a 2020 op-ed that every American who isnt on Medicaid should be on one of the private plans.

A 2014 study found that less than half of claims made on Ozs show were accurate, The 19th reported. Oz also said in 2014 that Americans without insurance do not have a right to health and should instead receive 15-minute screenings in a festival-like setting, the report said.

A huge personal betrayal

For Perrone, Fettermans statement was a huge personal betrayal. She said her sister cast a vote for Fetterman on the last ballot she lived to cast.

Knowing all of these things that we researched about Mehmet Oz and the lies that he told on his show, and then seeing and knowing where he stands on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, it made zero sense to me that John would even say that he would consider voting for him, because, in my opinion, it is pretty clear cut that he is not qualified, Perrone said in an interview.

She said she doesnt know why Fetterman, who is blatantly and obnoxiously authentic, would be open to believing Oz, who made a career out of lying to people. If Fetterman was trying to extend an olive branch to work with Republicans, this was a very failed attempt of doing that, she said.

I dont know if hes caving to the Republican Party; I dont know if hes just being gullible, she said.

Fetterman  who also said this week of Oz that he would get a beer with the dude, as NOTUS reported  dismissed the reaction to his recent remarks on Friday.

Freakouts are rarely illuminating, he posted on X. I never committed to a yes, just an open dialogue lol.

He also pointed to the Republican majority in the Senate to support his view. But while Democrats dont have the power to block Trumps nominees, they can play a role in directing the conversation about them.

Fettermans office did not respond to a request for comment.

Fetterman has already alienated some of his supporters on the left who expressed frustration and disillusionment over his hard-line support for Israel in its war against Hamas. Hes also extended his snark  which he previously was known for extending to Republicans like Oz  to progressives who previously supported him.

Theres been a pattern of people feeling duped by him, and where he actually stands on issues, Perrone said.

Meanwhile, Fetterman has made a better impression with Republicans over his staunch support for Israel. He has welcomed pro-Israel Trump appointments with open arms, including Sen. Marco Rubio and U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik. He was, however, dismissive of former Florida U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetzs now-withdrawn appointment as attorney general, sarcastically saying he didnt see it coming that Gaetz wouldnt be confirmed.

Staff writer Julia Terruso contributed to this article.
Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride described her first week on Capitol Hill after being elected as the first openly transgender member of Congress as a crash course in the dysfunction and performance art of the federal legislature.

McBride, 34, recently returned home from new member orientation for the House of Representatives, where the Democrat was welcomed with attacks from Republican colleagues who successfully pushed for her to be banned from the womens bathrooms.

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Republican lawmakers response to McBrides history-making election morphed the antagonism toward transgender people that played out in GOP campaigns into a personal attack on the incoming House member. But McBride, who did not campaign on her identity, largely avoided entertaining the hostility. She declined media interviews about the subject and instead issued statements describing the attacks as a manufactured culture war and distraction from issues like the cost of living, saying shes not here to fight about bathrooms.

I will tell you, over the last week Ive had a crash course in the dysfunction of Congress, and, in some cases, the performance art of Congress, she said at an awards ceremony during the orientation hosted by Future Coalition, a bipartisan organization for Gen Z and millennial state and federal lawmakers.

And so it is good for my soul to be in a room full of Democrats and Republicans who understand that our job is to roll up our sleeves, dive into the detail, bring people together to make government work better. That is our job, McBride said.

In social media posts Monday, McBride shared highlights from her second and final week of orientation, including the awards ceremony last Wednesday.

In the keynote speech, McBride said she believes people across the country of every ideological background are facing what she called their own crisis of hope thats rooted in a fear of no longer being able to meet the scope and the scale of the challenges that we face both individually and collectively.

She said this fear is based on a fierce competition for pain between political parties and the toxicity of viewing others as enemies rather than neighbors. She told the young lawmakers that they have a heightened responsibility to prove they can work together effectively and practice radical grace and compassion to help find solutions for constituents.

And thats a tall order in Congress right now, and so it particularly falls on your shoulders in state legislatures to live that truth, McBride said.

Other highlights shared Monday included the relationships she made with Congress members on both sides of the aisle at orientation and getting lost in the pedestrian tunnels underneath the vast Capitol complex.

McBride also managed to secure her first-choice office after picking lucky number 13 in the Congressional office lottery, she said on social media. McBride shouted out fellow Swifties in the post, since Taylor Swift considers 13 her lucky number and it holds significance for her fan base.

She said that she spoke to media about her campaign priorities of guaranteeing affordable health care, housing, and child care, and that she met with entrepreneurs about bringing jobs to Delaware and expanding opportunities for home ownership.

On a more personal note, McBride shared a photo on Instagram with former Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, who is now U.S. ambassador to Italy, and former Delaware first lady Carla Markell back in her home state on Sunday. McBride said that the couple has mentored and supported her throughout her life and that next to my family, no two people have done more for me.
Tulsi Gabbard speaks at a campaign rally for Donald Trump in New York City last month. Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.  Republican senators pushed back on Sunday against criticism from Democrats that Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trumps pick to lead U.S. intelligence services, is compromised by her comments supportive of Russia and secret meetings, as a congresswoman, with Syrias president, a close ally of the Kremlin and Iran.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat and veteran of combat missions in Iraq, said she had concerns about Tulsi Gabbard, Trumps choice to be director of national intelligence.

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I think shes compromised, Duckworth said on CNNs State of the Union, citing Gabbards 2017 trip to Syria, where she held talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Gabbard was a Democratic House member from Hawaii at the time.

The U.S. intelligence community has identified her as having troubling relationships with Americas foes. And so my worry is that she couldnt pass a background check, Duckworth said.

Gabbard, who said last month she is joining the Republican Party, has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades. She was deployed to Iraq and Kuwait and, according to the Hawaii National Guard, received a Combat Medical Badge in 2005 for participation in combat operations under enemy hostile fire in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III.

Duckworths comments drew immediate backlash from Republicans.

For her to say ridiculous and outright dangerous words like that is wrong, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma, said on CNN, challenging Duckworth to retract her words. Thats the most dangerous thing she could say  is that a United States lieutenant colonel in the United States Army is compromised and is an asset of Russia.

In recent days, other Democrats have accused Gabbard without evidence of being a Russian asset. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, has claimed, without offering details, that Gabbard is in Russian President Vladimir Putins pocket.

Mullin and others say the criticism from Democrats is rooted in the fact that Gabbard left their party and has become a Trump ally. Democrats say they worry that Gabbards selection as national intelligence chief endangers ties with allies and gives Russia a win.

Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat just elected to the Senate, said he would not describe Gabbard as a Russian asset, but said she had very questionable judgment.

The problem is if our foreign allies dont trust the head of our intelligence agencies, theyll stop sharing information with us, Schiff said on NBCs Meet the Press.

Gabbard in 2022 endorsed one of Russias justifications for invading Ukraine: the existence of dozens of U.S.-funded biolabs working on some of the worlds nastiest pathogens. The labs are part of an international effort to control outbreaks and stop bioweapons, but Moscow claimed Ukraine was using them to create deadly bioweapons. Gabbard said she just voiced concerns about protecting the labs.

Gabbard also has suggested that Russia had legitimate security concerns in deciding to invade Ukraine, given its desire to join NATO.

Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri said he thought it was totally ridiculous that Gabbard was being cast as a Russian asset for having different political views.

Its insulting. Its a slur, quite frankly. Theres no evidence that shes an asset of another country, he said on NBC.

Sen. James Lankford, another Oklahoma Republican, acknowledged having lots of questions for Gabbard as the Senate considers her nomination to lead the intelligence services. Lankford said on NBC that he wants to ask Gabbard about her meeting with Assad and some of her past comments about Russia.

We want to know what the purpose was and what the direction for that was. As a member of Congress, we want to get a chance to talk about past comments that shes made and get them into full context, Lankford said.
China stresses judicial administration's role in solving disputes

Xinhua) 13:06, November 25, 2024

BEIJING, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Justice has urged judicial administrative bodies at all levels to integrate their actual work in their efforts to dissolve disputes and risks and safeguard social stability.

The instructions were laid out at a recent meeting of the ministry's leading Party members group at the backdrop of a number of high-profile public security cases across the country.

The meeting stressed the importance of enhancing mediation work by the people, such as guiding mediators to carry out in-depth investigations into common disputes involving marriages, neighbors, inheritance of property and other matters. This approach aims to make mediation more targeted and effective.

Mediators should also work more closely with relevant authorities to dissolve disputes at the primary level and at an earlier stage, according to the meeting.

Underscoring the absolute security at prisons and drug rehabilitation centers, the meeting called for better resettlement, assistance and education of those released after serving their sentences, in order to reduce the likelihood of reoffending.

It also stressed further coordination of resources regarding lawyers, notarization, judicial authentication, arbitration and legal aid to provide more accurate, sound and efficient legal services for people's quest for dissolving disputes and protecting their rights and interests.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
Rising and shining Sponsored by:

This generation of young insurance professionals is equipping its employers with a competitive edge, balancing digital savviness with strong client relationships built on trust and expertise.

Standing out from the crowd needs to be done not only in person but also through their online presence, so their branding needs to be successful, says Kirsty Dowell, director at Stellar Insurance Brokers.

The industry expert further highlights that todays tech-driven young insurance professionals enjoy the benefit of their online upbringing, making their digital brand building less challenging than doing the same task in person.

They need to have the ability to shine through in both aspects, which is something past generations have never had to navigate, Dowell adds.

Given that nearly one-third of Australias insurance workforce is set to reach or exceed retirement age by 2030, Insurance Business Rising Stars of 2024 have demonstrated their potential to play an important role in leading the industrys transformation, particularly with respect to leveraging advanced technologies.

According to KPMGs international report, Advancing AI across Insurance, organisations are taking a strategic and cautiously optimistic approach to AI transformation.

Were seeing significant interest in AI with many insurance organisations trialling proofs of concept within niche areas, states one of the authors, Caroline Leong, KPMG Australia partner and global insurance claims lead at KPMG International.

There is still hesitancy around wider deployment, exacerbated by challenges around the speed at which AI is evolving, data quality, bias and regulatory compliance. This has resulted in many businesses taking a measured approach.

The Advancing AI report also revealed the following:

47% of insurance organisations experimenting with AI have set up AI centres of excellence, featuring employees from across the business, compared to the global average of 40% .



41% of leaders who are extremely familiar with AI expect to redesign business processes from the ground up with the technology.



57% of organisations see AI as the most important technology for achieving their ambitions over the next three years.



58% of CEOs said it would take three to five years for Gen AI to provide a return on investment.



85% of insurance CEOs believe that Gen AI is a double-edged sword, in that it may not only aid in the detection of cyberattacks but also provide new attack strategies for adversaries.



61% of organisations are wary about trusting AI systems, with 84% citing cybersecurity as a top concern.



71% of CEOs believe that the lack of current AI regulation within the insurance industry could become a barrier to the organisations success.

Dowell points out that the biggest challenge for young insurance professionals over the past 12-18 months has been forging meaningful connections in a post-pandemic world since many started their careers during or after lockdowns.

The habits and behaviours towards human connection have diminished and changed completely, she says. Insurance is a relationship-based industry, with our peers and building rapport and trust with our clients. This can be challenging for young professionals because they either need to step outside their comfort zone to create these relationships or adapt to build meaningful connections with limited or no in-person interactions.



To identify exceptional young talent for the 10th annual Rising Stars list, IB invited nominations from professionals across the Australian insurance sector. Nominees had to work in roles related to, interacting with, or impacting general insurance and must not have been previously recognised.

Candidates also needed to be under 35 and committed to a career in insurance with an evident passion for the industry. After reviewing all nominations, the IB team recognised 27 of the sectors most outstanding young professionals.



2024s Rising Stars lead insurance evolution



Tech, AI and ESG are becoming increasingly important tools within the insurance industry. IBs Rising Stars have embraced these trends and incorporated them in their day-to-day operations. Below they offer their insight and how they are leading the future of insurance.

Anita Cheng of Sportscover is actively developing her data analytic skills and participating in projects that integrate AI into their firms existing frameworks.

By contributing to the advancement of AI in our processes, I believe I can play a part in shaping an industry that exceeds customer expectations, she says. This change is critical as it will allow insurers to assess risk more accurately, leading to fairer pricing and improved customer satisfaction.

Arch Insurance Australias Nicholas Houseas is another advocate.

He says, Leveraging data analytics and AI can streamline operations, improve accuracy and enhance the broker and insured experiences. I see myself contributing to this by advocating for adopting innovative technologies within our organisation.



Also highlighting the importance of Gen AI and how it is rapidly expanding in the industry is QBE/Elders Insurances Alisa Louangamart.

We must ensure that the excitement of this emerging technology is coupled with an understanding of what needs to happen for it to be implemented successfully, she says. I see myself contributing to this change by ensuring that customers outcomes are central to how we use this and other new tools.

This is echoed by Leah Giragosian, Arch Insurance Australia, who believes the adoption of AI can enhance customer experiences and streamline claims processing.

I see myself contributing to this evolution by advocating for and implementing innovative ideas within our processes, ensuring we remain responsive and agile to the needs of our clients in a rapidly changing industry.

Dismissing any doubts about the adoption of AI, Beau Murphy of Brooklyn Underwriting, underlines how transformative it is.

He says, The ability to draw from AI to streamline our workloads while still tapping into the subjectivity and analysis that only people can provide is an opportunity that shouldnt be met with fear or hesitation but a fantastic toolset to build a better foundation for the future. Embracing this change and advocating for the careful adoption of its capabilities is an exciting, near-future change I will continue to champion and believe in.



Arch Insurance Australias Mitchel McDonald emphasises how the D&O insurance sector is witnessing a complex and dynamic environment shaped by shifting regulatory requirements and heightened scrutiny of corporate governance, trends reverberating across various lines of insurance.

Professionals in this space must understand geopolitics, have advanced financial analysis skills and have a legal background applicable in Australia and internationally, he says. I want to advocate for enhanced training initiatives that equip professionals with essential skills and instill a genuine interest in insurance. If we embrace innovation and address the complexities of our industry, we can cultivate an engaging environment that excites the next generation, ensuring the future success and resilience of the insurance sector.

Tech drives efficiency and performance but can also be leveraged to achieve other goals.

As a part of our ESG team, I have been involved in a commitment to enhance the sustainability of our supply chain and be full-scope carbon neutral by 2030, adds CHU Underwriting Agencies Mia Wilson. This goal is being achieved through close collaboration with our builders and suppliers to improve practices in waste management, fleet emissions, electricity usage and material usage. I aim to advocate for broader environmental goals and align insurance industry practices by participating in this initiative.

While Gallagher Bassetts Michael Charalambous is committed to integrating holistic, inclusive support for injured workers within the companys return-to-work (RTW) services, ensuring its approach addresses each aspect of an injured workers journey back to health and productivity.

I see myself driving initiatives beyond traditional RTW measures, advocating for policies supporting a more balanced, comprehensive recovery process, he says. By championing such initiatives, I aim to set a new standard in the industry that leads to better outcomes for workers and employers.



Young insurance professionals drive innovation



While 2024s Rising Stars have made impactful contributions to the insurance sector, IB profiles eight winners across three subsets:

client-centric claims and service excellence



leadership and team building



expertise in underwriting and technical knowledge

Those profiled, along with all the Rising Stars, exemplify the innovation, leadership, and dedication driving the industry forward.



Client-centric claims and service excellence

Age: 24 | Claims consultant



A passion for teamwork and dedication to providing exceptional customer service over and above her daily responsibilities in managing personal accident claims has earned her recognition within the professional community.

Cheng believes emotional intelligence is essential to understanding client needs and building strong relationships, underpinning her success.

As clients increasingly seek personalised service, my ability to empathise and connect with them will enhance their experience and build a trusting relationship, she says.

Strategic thinking is vital, too, as the industry faces rapid changes due to technology and shifting consumer expectations. Im working on this by participating in workshops and seeking advice from experienced mentors who can provide insights on long-term planning and decision-making.

By developing leadership qualities, Cheng aims to create a more responsive and sustainable future for the industry, helping her organisation better meet client needs and navigate the fast-moving insurance sector.



Over the next five years, the change I hope to see:

 increased use of AI and data analytics in underwriting and claims processing, as it will allow insurers to assess risk more accurately, offer fairer pricing and improve customer satisfaction

Anita Cheng Sportscover

While managing a recent complex personal accident claim involving a claimant athlete being rendered quadriplegic, she assisted the family after hours. That proactive communication with all stakeholders enabled the timely processing of a significant capital benefit payment.

Maintaining an empathetic approach is important in claims management and especially in insurance because that demonstrates the meaning of insurance and delivering the best help as much as we can, Cheng adds.

She balances empathy with the complexities of her role, communicating updates and providing straightforward explanations of the claims process to ensure clients feel informed and supported.

In the recent quadriplegic case, I took the time to understand what this vulnerable family was going through, she says. I listened to their concerns and kept them updated regularly.

Cheng often assumes a mentorship role, sharing her expertise and collaborative approach to guide less experienced colleagues through complex cases that prioritise efficient and accurate claims management and processing.



Age: 32 | Claims handler, accident and health



While managing corporate travel, accident, and health claims, Giragosians leadership potential came to light.

Im focused on developing several leadership qualities and skills that I believe will be important in shaping the insurance industrys future, she says. Building strong relationships with clients and team members fosters a supportive environment and leads to increased engagement and better communication.

To understand client needs, Giragosian is committed to enhancing communication to:

provide transparent information



set realistic expectations



improve client satisfaction

She has also been instrumental in creating service-level agreements and is frequently called upon by underwriters to educate brokers on the companys accident and health claims process and products.



Over the next five years, the change I hope to see:

 the adoption of AI to enhance customer experiences and streamline claims processing

Leah Giragosian Arch Insurance Australia

Giragosian promotes a culture of feedback, encouraging team members to share their ideas and concerns, fostering collaboration and trust.

In addition, she created a flyer to clearly outline Australias Medicare legislation and its implications for personal accident and sickness policies, providing clients with crucial information that helps set realistic expectations for claims and facilitates a smoother claims review process. It also minimises potential complaints, fostering better client relationships and customer experience.

Keen to assist new staff in settling into their roles, she also developed a training manual on systems and claims processes.

The training manual was created to streamline our internal process at Arch and enhance the onboarding experience for new staff members, she says. My experience in previous leadership roles inspired me to create these educational resources when starting at Arch. I strive to analyse and refine existing workflows, ensuring efficiency and clarity for all team members understanding our internal processes when managing a claim end-to-end and the importance of compliance with claims management procedures.



Leadership and team building

Age: 35 | Team manager



Charalambous has stood out for making a positive difference in improving recovery and RTW outcomes for the Victorian Department of Education, one of the regions largest employers. His inclusive and innovative leadership style promotes teamwork while pushing for better results.

Balancing team wellbeing with recovery challenges is key to delivering our best to clients, he says. My approach centres on clear communication, role clarity and structured development to foster an inclusive, supportive culture that strengthens team morale and our capacity for effective RTW solutions.

His greatest strength lies in an ability to forge personal connections with people and unite them towards a common goal. Moreover, he actively supports his teams wellbeing, creating a supportive and welcoming workplace where everyone feels valued.



Over the next five years, the change I hope to see:

 a stronger emphasis on holistic, inclusive support for injured workers, encompassing mental, emotional and physical recovery

Michael Charalambous Gallagher Bassett

This commitment has boosted team morale and retention rates, earning him respect from colleagues and the senior leadership team. As one RTW specialist from the Victorian workers compensation team notes, Charalambous leadership skills make coming to work enjoyable, illustrating his impact.

He is focused on advancing his stakeholder management and strategic thinking skills, particularly in relation to team performance and client service outcomes.

He says, These skills are vital for fostering a high-performance culture that resonates with the Gallagher Way values. By enhancing these capabilities, I can contribute to a future where our industry leads in operational excellence and client service standards.



Age: 29 | Direct portfolio team leader



Wilson leads a skilled team of customer service agents and underwriters that serve the companys direct customer base, motivating her team to excel while overseeing underwriting and risk approvals, ensuring decisions align with the overall risk strategy.

Im working through an MBA and focused on enhancing my adaptability and strategic decision-making skills, she says. The ability to respond proactively to industry shifts and emerging challenges is essential, so equipping myself with the expertise to make sound and agile decisions is key.

Acknowledging that ethical standards and accountability are foundational in shaping the industrys future, she notes that balancing customer-centric innovation with profitability is more important than ever. She fosters innovation by empowering her team to explore breakthrough ideas.



Over the next five years, the change I hope to see:

 the insurance industry embraces sustainability as a core principle, integrating environmental impact into its operations and partnerships

Mia Wilson CHU Underwriting Agencies

Wilson is also involved in several initiatives vital to how the company will adapt to change in the coming years. One such project taps into her underwriting knowledge and direct customer experience as a subject matter expert in developing a new insurance product addressing the industry-wide concerns of underinsurance and non-insurance.

She led the project from a coverage and risk perspective, providing insights into the wants and needs of potentially vulnerable subsets of communities.

Through working with lot owners, I saw firsthand that some traditional insurance policies can fall short of the nuanced needs of vulnerable populations, she says. Underinsurance in these areas stems from cost barriers and limited access to tailored information and education around coverage options. Vulnerable communities face unique challenges and require unique solutions and cover. However, standard approaches can overlook specific circumstances.

Her view is that developing more individualised, accessible and affordable insurance options will help mitigate risks by allowing access to adequate cover while also encouraging greater financial resilience for these communities.



Expertise in underwriting and technical knowledge

Age: 25 | Underwriter, executive assurance



A varied background in claims services, financial lines broking and underwriting has given McDonald a broad perspective in finding solutions for his clients needs.

An insatiable curiosity to understand all aspects of his work has enabled his potential to shine through. He has built a reputation for tackling complex and time-consuming cases, ensuring detailed risk assessments and the best outcomes for brokers and insureds.

My drive to uncover the why behind insurance is rooted in a commitment to professional excellence, he says. I ask specific questions to understand how products work, allowing me to make informed decisions. This curiosity enables me to find solutions that benefit clients and my employer.



Over the next five years, the change I hope to see:

 the elevation of industry standards through comprehensive training and tailored accreditation that align with the evolving global insurance landscape

Mitchel McDonald Arch Insurance Australia

Collaborating with industry experts and colleagues, as well as staying updated on market trends, has enabled him to look at products through multiple lenses, giving him an edge on identifying opportunities. This makes it easier to anticipate potential challenges.

Immersing myself in complex risks pushes me out of my comfort zone, he says. Having this focus broadens my knowledge and improves my ability to navigate complicated situations. I am also honing my communication skills, particularly in fostering a strong team dynamic and engaging with my colleagues on how I can add value or provide guidance.

McDonald adds that sharing knowledge encourages collaboration and innovation. His openness to discussing complex risks improves problem-solving and better meets evolving client needs.

Leading by example, he prides himself on being accountable and fosters a culture of continuous learning and ownership as he strives to build a team dynamic that can navigate any challenges.



Age: 32 | Assistant underwriter, property



Managing a diverse portfolio of accounts in the property division has enabled his technical expertise and client-centric focus to come to the forefront. That, along with a commitment to providing positive outcomes for brokers and the company, has earned him a reputation as a trusted professional.

He also serves as the lead contact for general property inquiries from brokers who have acquired accounts through Letters of Authority. His knowledge of property insurance products and straightforward communication have led him to be regarded as a reliable resource.

As the lead contact for property inquiries, maintaining trust and reliability with brokers is paramount, as they are front of mind, he says. Taking a proactive approach to broker relationships ensures regular touchpoints that go beyond transactional interactions.



Over the next five years, the change I hope to see:

 greater use of technology such as data analytics and AI in underwriting and claims processing to enhance the experiences of brokers and insureds

Nicholas Houseas Arch Insurance Australia

That commitment to exceptional service highlights his responsiveness, reliability and solution-oriented mindset when he provides:

swift feedback on submissions



innovative coverage solutions



technical expertise

Houseas is currently focused on enhancing his strategic thinking and emotional intelligence to enable him to anticipate industry trends better and align the companys initiatives with broader market dynamics, helping to drive innovation.

He says, These qualities will allow me to lead with vision and empathy and help to shape a more responsive and adaptive industry that meets the evolving needs of clients and partners.



Innovation and operational improvement

Age: 32 | Risk and compliance specialist



As a team leader in the companys shift towards a more customer-centric model, Louangamart optimises and simplifies operations.

Im grateful to leaders in QBE and Elders Insurance who have given me opportunities to learn and grow within the company, as one of my career goals that will never change is to keep learning from peers and inspiring leaders as everyone brings their own unique style, experience and skills to the table, she says.

My focus is on developing strategic thinking skills and understanding risks to better navigate the rapid industry changes. As the industry evolves every day with technology and customer experience in mind, I believe resilience through transformation is essential.



Over the next five years, the change I hope to see:

 Gen AI streamlines day-to-day tasks across the industry, provided it is properly curated, tested and delivers valid outcomes

Alisa Louangamart QBE/Elders Insurance

One of her proudest accomplishments was partnering with colleagues to recruit and onboard into her underwriting team individuals from the companys shared services centre from QBE and Elders office in the Philippines and seeing the direct impact they bring.

The most rewarding aspect is seeing them learn something new and working closely with their people leader and onshore team every day, she says. Witnessing these positive changes has reinforced my commitment to a collaborative and inclusive leadership approach, where listening and responding to feedback plays a critical role.

Louangamart is also credited with improving customer engagement by implementing a real-time chat function within Microsoft Teams, enabling underwriters and operations team members to respond promptly to customer inquiries.



Age: 29 | Underwriter  financial lines



Insurance followed a successful academic journey of an undergraduate degree in international relations and mass communication and a masters degree in international relations.

His studies also included a dissertation on high-level business relationships between Australia and South America while doing internships around reshaping views on Chinese foreign policy and asset-based community development.

Murphy currently underwrites PI, ML and cyber policies after acquiring work experience with several large insurers.

Having researched international relations and continually educating myself post-graduation, it has allowed me, as an underwriter in a globalised world, to be conscious of the unimaginably complex tentacles of consequence that every risk has snaking through it, he says.

This in-depth research experience has enhanced my underwriting lens with a hyper-sensitive awareness that a domino effect in one region affects another, such as through sanctioned exposures, supply chain woes and cyber interconnectivity.



Over the next five years, the change I hope to see:

 AI doesnt have to build the house, but it can be the toolbox from which we all draw. Embracing this change and advocating for its careful adoption is an exciting, near-future change I will continue to champion

Beau Murphy Brooklyn Underwriting

As a new generation of leaders steps up, Murphy asserts that adaptability is the key trait.

Every generation has dealt with changes, such as the move to the internet, he says. Now, those changes are supercharged with so many issues, from AI and how it will interact with all our roles to how customers interact with us and their expectations. The next generation of leaders will need flexibility and adaptability to roll with these changes for the industry as a whole.

From the sponsor At AXA, we believe that the future is in our hands. We see it as a responsibility to deploy expertise to address and mitigate potential risks. AXA XL is committed to recognising and nurturing talent in the insurance industry. We are delighted to continue our sponsorship of Insurance Business Rising Stars, an initiative that celebrates and supports the next generation of insurance professionals. This partnership reflects our dedication to fostering innovation, expertise and leadership within AXA XL and across our industry.



In a dynamic era marked by rapid change and evolving challenges, the identification and nurturing of exceptional talent have become paramount. We firmly believe that IBs Rising Stars encapsulate the essence of expertise, visionary leadership and transformative thinking. These qualities not only propel individuals to new heights but also serve as catalysts for the resilience of the entire insurance sector.



The team at AXA XL is excited about the opportunity to play a pivotal role in recognising and supporting the Rising Stars, who are poised to make a significant impact on our industry. We are excited to play a part in encouraging curiosity and propelling their promising careers. Catherine Carlyon

Country Manager, Australia

AXA XL
Concerningly, what we are seeing is not only the volume of cases related to family violence increasing, but the severity is also on the rise, she said.
This restructure that weve undertaken allows us to continue to handle a high growth rate. However, despite the rapid growth, we are focused and determined not to lose the non-corporate, accessible, unique, and enjoyable culture which we are renowned throughout the industry for, he said.
The consortium, facilitated by the Gallagher Research Centre, is the first of its kind in the insurance industry, according to the company. It collaborates with partners including Federation University in Australia, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and Colorado State University (CSU) in the United States.
Raindrops approach centres on transforming intricate policy details into a format that is easier to understand and use. Its platform incorporates features such as semantic policy analysis, standardisation tools, and visual comparisons, catering to insurance professionals seeking efficiency in policy interpretation. The company also integrates regulatory updates to help users stay informed.
Although consumer representatives do not work for the NAIC, they provide guidance on best practices for protecting policyholders. One key area of focus, according to Silvia Yee, senior staff attorney and policy analyst for the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, is ensuring that policyholder experiences are central to regulatory decisions.
Predictions of a softer insurance pricing market are on the horizon. Perhaps not in early 2025, but theres no question the market is stabilizing from the high prices the sector has seen in recent years. Relying on higher revenue from higher prices in the property/casualty market is not a sustainable way to keep pace with agency growth. Now is the time to make plans for future agency growth. This report highlights a few recommendations on how agencies can grow in the changing market.

Employee Benefits

Cross-selling employee benefits for commercial business is not new but most insurance agencies continue to struggle with crossing department lines when it comes to agency growth opportunities, according to Randy Schwantz, author of three previous books on selling insurance, and CEO/president of The Wedge Group, a business performance and sales consulting firm.

Even the largest agency organizations find low percentages of cross-selling happening between the P/C side of the house and the employee benefits side of the house, he said.

Agencies focused primarily on P/C business will cross-sell other P/C products. For example, an agent with a small commercial lines client might ask for an opportunity to quote that insureds personal lines coverages. But not all agencies will cross-sell employee benefits products if they do not sell them directly.

For example, I was working with one of the huge private equity firms  a $3 billion company  and they said that their accounts were only between 3% and 6% cross-sold across their platform. That means they probably had the P&C business but only up to 6% were cross-sold with employee benefits, he said.

Schwantz says theres a boat load of money to be made when an agency makes it commonplace to cross-sell their commercial lines P/C insureds with employee benefits.

But why dont more P/C agents seek out cross-selling opportunities with the life/health and benefits side of the business? Schwantz says it has a lot to do with the competitive nature found in a typical profile of an agent. Agents are protective of their business. The fact that we work for the same company doesnt mean Im going to let you in on my accounts, he said.

Its a trust issue, a competence issue, but when you look at opportunities the money is there, he said. You can see the gold pot at the end of the rainbow.

Schwantz says even the agencies that do cross-sell benefits products have room to grow. A lot of agencies that are really proud would say that theyre probably 30% cross-sold, but thats still a huge gap.

Stay Focused on Prospecting

Theres no better time to grow the agency than in todays market because everyone wants to shop, says David Carothers, principal of Florida Risk Partners, who also founded the Killing Commercial Insurance Sales Training program. He counsels his own agency producers and others on how to grow their book of business. Growth is more than waiting for new business to walk in the door; its critical for agents to stay mindful of prospecting even during these busy times, he says.

The problem is, with all of the inbound coming in right now, producers arent staying focused on what they know theyre good at and what theyve been successful with in the past, and theyre allowing these other opportunities that seem like low hanging fruit to come in and distract them, Carothers says. The problem with that is that those people seeking new business are only reaching out for price.

The reality is, if you start running the numbers, the close rates are much higher. The retention on that business is going to be much lower because these are people that are reaching out because pricing changed and theres no loyalty there.

He challenges producers to come up with an ideal prospect profile. And we want them to have three to five ideal prospects that theyre going after every single day, he said.

Carothers doesnt believe in producers limiting their prospecting to one niche market, either. Im not a big believer in getting so niched down that youre only going after one class of business, because then youre not diversifying your book and youre not spreading your risk, he said.

But getting really good at three to five niches and finding ideal prospects in those niches can be a great way to grow.

Youve got to stay focused in your prospecting and stay true to what built your business to this point, he added.

But dont confuse activity with productivity, Carothers said. New business activity doesnt always mean growth, he added. Agents should be measuring the hours they are investing to quote some of the incoming activity and compare it against their return on investment, he suggests.

One of the things we talk about all the time is knowing your hourly rate, Carothers said. You should not touch anything on your desk thats not going to pay you your hourly rate. So, if you start working on things outside of your hourly rate, youre going to diminish your own income and the income of the agency at the same time, he said. Youre going to end up wasting your time on a bunch of bad business.

Pay Attention to Gaps

One area that could help agencies grow  and protect agencies from potential errors and omissions claims  is paying close attention to coverage changes during this time of rapid movement, says Chris Burand, president of Burand & Associates. For more than 30 years, Burand has offered consulting services for the P/C insurance industry.

Absolutely make sure you are checking the renewals to make sure coverage hasnt been removed, or diluted, he said. You will increase sales if you do that, and you will reduce your E&O exposures.

Burand says while carriers have re-structured their underwriting criteria for certain lines of coverage, they have also re-structured some policy forms with more restrictive coverage terms. Its important to pay attention as some changes can be difficult to identify, he says.

Im seeing pretty sneaky wording creep into policies that materially reduces coverage, he said. A lot of it has to do with silent exclusions,' he said. Theyre silent because there should be wording in the form that says, This is the coverage and heres the exclusions. But now instead of, Heres the coverage and here are the exclusions, it says, Heres the coverage for X, but its worded in such a way that the exclusions are automatic and dont have to be listed, he said.

For example, a recent policy he reviewed asked for the insured to go online to answer some additional questions. What it doesnt say is that if you dont go answer those additional questions, your coverage will be reduced, he said.

As rates and pricing begin to moderate there will continue to be movement of accounts because of these changes. Carriers will continue to adjust their underwriting criteria, and some may leave certain markets entirely, Burand says.

Agents may even see some interesting mergers for small mutuals, he adds. You still have some carriers that have to shrink; they just have run out of operational surplus, and so business is going to have to find new homes. Agencies have an opportunity to capture more business as result of these ongoing changes, he said.

Its going to be another couple of years of changes, he said. Accounts are going to be moving at a faster pace than normal and theyre going to go somewhere.

So why not you, he said. Its a matter of thinking it through and being ready and making sure that youre the first agency that clients call.

Capturing this movement could be a lucrative strategy for agencies. And so, as an agency, are you set up to take advantage of that? he said.

Cross-Selling, Again

Cross-selling is key to growing in 2025 and thats not always a primary focus for agencies even for P/C lines of business, Carothers said.

If I wanted to grow right now, I would be looking at every single account that I have on the personal line side and make sure Ive offered them flood and umbrella, he said. And on the commercial side, I would make sure Ive offered flood, umbrella, employment practices and cyber.

Not only are agencies not offering these coverages, they are not offering the right limits of coverages and are setting themselves up for a disaster when it comes to an E&O scenario, he said.

They are also not maximizing revenue. Agents arent maximizing revenue because were not fulfilling our duty to offer as agents, Carothers said. We have a duty to offer that coverage or get that client to reject it.

The independent insurance agency and brokerage channel achieved an organic growth rate of 10.3% in 2023, according to a Reagan Consulting survey. But Carothers hears that many agencies have grown by as much as 25% organically over the past year or two due to rate increases. Is next year going to bear the same thing? And if it doesnt, what are we going to do to offset that? he said. We need to continue to make prospecting and cross-selling a priority even though everybodys fat and happy right now, because as the market will start to soften; we need to ready.

Topics Trends Employee Benefits
The owner of a trucking company was sentenced Thursday to two months in prison followed by one year of supervised release for lying to investigators after one of his trucks was accused of causing a crash that killed seven motorcyclists in New Hampshire.

Dunyadar Gasanov, 39, pleaded guilty in Springfield, Massachusetts, in August to three counts of making false statements to investigators after the 2019 crash involving a driver for a car transport company he owned, Westfield Transport Inc.

Gasanov has also been prohibited from driving commercially while on supervised release and must pay a $300 special assessment.

Gasanov was accused of falsifying driver logs to avoid federal highway safety regulations, including exceeding limits on the number of hours a driver can operate. He also lied to federal investigators about instructing at least one employee to deactivate electronic logging devices in order to exceed the allowable driving hours.

He was also accused of lying to investigators about how long he had known the driver, Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, who was taken into custody by immigration authorities after he was acquitted of causing the deaths in New Hampshire.

Zhukovskyy  who had taken heroin, fentanyl and cocaine the day of the crash  repeatedly swerved back and forth before the collision and told police he caused it. But a judge dismissed eight impairment charges, and his attorneys said the lead biker was drunk and not paying attention before sliding in front of Zhukovskyys truck, which was pulling an empty flatbed trailer.

Gasanov faced up to five years imprisonment, one year of supervised release and a $10,000 fine on each count. His co-defendant, Dartanayan Gasanov, pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. Both were indicted in 2021.

Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Trucking
Frances Natixis Investment Managers is holding early-stage talks with Italian insurer Generali GASI.MIabout a potential tie-up, a person with knowledge of the situation said, in a deal that could create one of the largest fund managers in Europe.

The firms have not yet agreed to the terms of a deal, and it remains uncertain whether the talks will lead to an agreement, according to the Financial Times, which was the first to report the news.

A spokesperson for BPCE, the parent company of Natixis, declined to comment on market rumors. Generali declined to comment on the FT report.

Natixis currently manages $1.3 trillion in assets, according according to its website, while Generali reported 821 billion euros ($863.86 billion) in managed assets for the first half of the year. A tie-up could lead to the creation of one of Europes biggest fund managers.

The French lender had been working with Fenchurch Advisory and Rothschild & Co to informally gauge interest in its money management arm Natixis Investment Managers, Reuters reported in January, citing sources.

BPCE had also approached rivals including AXA, Deutsche Bank-backed DWS and Generali over merging their asset management operations, according to a previous Reuters report.

Reuters also reported last month that Germanys Allianz was exploring options for its Allianz Global Investors unit, which, according to its website, oversees 560 billion euros in assets.

In September, Natixis sold its pan-European private credit specialist MV Credit to California-based investor Clearlake Capital.

($1 = 0.9534 euros)

(Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro, Gursimran Kaur and Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Tasim Zahid and Anil DSilva)
An Ohio outpatient mental health treatment facility has agreed to pay a $16,000 settlement and take numerous steps to improve workplace safety after a patient attacked a nurse practitioner violently in April 2024.

Responding to the incident, investigators with the U.S. Department of Labors Occupational Safety and Health Administration learned the patient stabbed an employee repeatedly with a knife the patient brought into a Signature Health Inc. facility in Maple Heights. Despite the risk of injury, the facilitys lone security guard and other co-workers were able to stop the attack from continuing.

Signature Health said has implemented actions at the Maple Heights facility and will expand this program to all its facilities corporate-wide. Signature Health will install weapons detection equipment, hire risk consultation specialists to review its procedures and establish workplace violence committees, among other measures.

Source: OSHA

Topics Ohio
The Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance is cautioning drivers to be on the lookout for deer and other wild animals as temperatures drop and nights become longer.

Dawn and dusk are the most susceptible times to experience deer collisions, said Chlora Lindley-Myers, Director of the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance. Always be cautious and regularly scan both sides of the roadway. Keep in mind some accidents are unavoidable, so its always best to be prepared by contacting your agent or carrier to discuss appropriate insurance coverage.

In 2023, Missouri reported more than 3,500 crashes involving deer, equating to one deer strike occurring approximately every 2 hours and 30 minutes in the state.

In these crashes, there were four fatalities, and 420 people were injured, DCI said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates damage caused by deer accidents alone results in about $1 billion of uninsured losses annually.

Damage to a vehicle from an accident with an animal is covered under an auto policys optional comprehensive coverage, DCI said. Drivers who only have collision or liability coverage will not be covered for damage from an animal collision.

Topics Personal Auto Missouri
South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor is recalling about 145,235 electrified vehicles in the United States due to a loss of drive power, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Friday.

The recall includes certain IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6 EVs along with some luxury Genesis GV60, Genesis GV70 and Genesis G80 electrified variants from model years 2022-2025.

The U.S. auto safety regulator said that integrated charging control units are likely to get damaged and stop charging the 12-volt battery, which can result in a loss of drive power.

Hyundai dealers will inspect, replace and update the software on impacted parts and its fuse for free, the NHTSA added.

Hyundai to Recall Over 42,000 US Vehicles On Wiring Issue

South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor is recalling about 42,465 vehicles in the U.S. due to improperly routed wiring that may increase the risk of a crash, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Saturday.

The recall includes certain 2025 Tucson and Santa Cruz vehicles.

The U.S. auto safety regulator said that a vehicle transmission that could move out of Park mode without the driver pressing the brake pedal could cause the vehicle to roll away, raising the risk of a crash.

On Friday, the automaker also recalled over 145,000 electric vehicles in the U.S. due to a loss of drive power.

Topics Profit Loss
Nissan persuaded a federal appeals court on Friday to decertify 10 class actions accusing the Japanese automaker of selling cars and SUVs with defective automatic emergency braking systems that caused vehicles to stop suddenly for no reason.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati said it was improper to let drivers of 14 Nissan models sue in groups under the laws of 10 individual states simply by claiming that the braking systems did not work.

Drivers claimed they experienced phantom activations of the systems at low overpasses, parking garages and railroad crossings, instead of when collisions might be imminent.

Writing for a three-judge panel, however, Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton said some drivers may never have experienced sudden braking, or sought repairs to begin with.

He also said Nissan created distinct software upgrades for different models that appeared to fix the problem for some drivers, suggesting there was no common defect.

Analyzing the various manifestations of the alleged defect is necessary to assess whether common evidence could vindicate the plaintiffs or Nissan on a classwide basis, Sutton wrote.

Class actions let plaintiffs potentially obtain greater remedies at lower costs than if forced to sue individually.

The litigation covers Nissans Rogue from 2017 to 2020, Rogue Sport from 2017 to 2021, Altima from 2019 to 2021, and Kicks from 2020 to 2021.

The 10 states are California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Lawyers for the drivers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Nissan and its lawyers did not immediately respond to similar requests.

The appeals court returned the case to a trial judge in Nashville, Tennessee, for further proceedings, potentially allowing new evidence supporting class certification. Nissan has plants in Smyrna and Decherd, Tennessee.

The case is In re: Nissan North America Inc Litigation, 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 23-5950.

Photo: AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File

Topics Lawsuits
Mary Louis excitement to move into an apartment in Massachusetts in the spring of 2021 turned to dismay when Louis, a Black woman, received an email saying that a third-party service had denied her tenancy.

That third-party service included an algorithm designed to score rental applicants, which became the subject of a class action lawsuit, with Louis at the helm, alleging that the algorithm discriminated on the basis of race and income.

A federal judge approved a settlement in the lawsuit, one of the first of its kind, on Wednesday, with the company behind the algorithm agreeing to pay over $2.2 million and roll back certain parts of its screening products that the lawsuit alleged were discriminatory.

The settlement does not include any admissions of fault by the company SafeRent Solutions, which said in a statement that while it continues to believe the SRS Scores comply with all applicable laws, litigation is time-consuming and expensive.

While such lawsuits might be relatively new, the use of algorithms or artificial intelligence programs to screen or score Americans isnt. For years, AI has been furtively helping make consequential decisions for U.S. residents.

When a person submits a job application, applies for a home loan or even seeks certain medical care, theres a chance that an AI system or algorithm is scoring or assessing them like it did Louis. Those AI systems, however, are largely unregulated, even though some have been found to discriminate.

Management companies and landlords need to know that theyre now on notice, that these systems that they are assuming are reliable and good are going to be challenged, said Todd Kaplan, one of Louis attorneys.

The lawsuit alleged SafeRents algorithm didnt take into account the benefits of housing vouchers, which they said was an important detail for a renters ability to pay the monthly bill, and it therefore discriminated against low-income applicants who qualified for the aid.

The suit also accused SafeRents algorithm of relying too much on credit information. They argued that it fails to give a full picture of an applicants ability to pay rent on time and unfairly dings applicants with housing vouchers who are Black and Hispanic partly because they have lower median credit scores, attributable to historical inequities.

Christine Webber, one of the plaintiffs attorneys, said that just because an algorithm or AI is not programmed to discriminate, the data an algorithm uses or weights could have the same effect as if you told it to discriminate intentionally.

When Louis application was denied, she tried appealing the decision, sending two landlords references to show shed paid rent early or on time for 16 years, even if she didnt have a strong credit history.

Louis, who had a housing voucher, was scrambling, having already given notice to her previous landlord that she was moving out, and she was charged with taking care of her granddaughter.

The response from the management company, which used SafeRents screening service, read, We do not accept appeals and cannot override the outcome of the Tenant Screening.

Louis felt defeated; the algorithm didnt know her, she said.

Everything is based on numbers. You dont get the individual empathy from them, said Louis. There is no beating the system. The system is always going to beat us.

While state lawmakers have proposed aggressive regulations for these types of AI systems, the proposals have largely failed to get enough support. That means lawsuits like Louis are starting to lay the groundwork for AI accountability.

SafeRents defense attorneys argued in a motion to dismiss that the company shouldnt be held liable for discrimination because SafeRent wasnt making the final decision on whether to accept or deny a tenant. The service would screen applicants, score them and submit a report, but leave it to landlords or management companies to accept or deny a tenant.

Louis attorneys, along with the U.S. Department of Justice, which submitted a statement of interest in the case, argued that SafeRents algorithm could be held accountable because it still plays a role in access to housing. The judge denied SafeRents motion to dismiss on those counts.

The settlement stipulates that SafeRent cant include its score feature on its tenant screening reports in certain cases, including if the applicant is using a housing voucher. It also requires that if SafeRent develops another screening score it plans to use, it must be validated by a third-party that the plaintiffs agree to.

Louis son found an affordable apartment for her on Facebook Marketplace that she has since moved into, though it was $200 more expensive and in a less desirable area.

Im not optimistic that Im going to catch a break, but I have to keep on keeping, thats it, said Louis. I have too many people who rely on me.

Bedayn 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.

Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits InsurTech Data Driven Artificial Intelligence
Chinese hackers are positioning themselves in U.S. critical infrastructure in the event of a clash with the United States, a top American cybersecurity official said on Friday.

Morgan Adamski, the executive director of U.S. Cyber Command, said ongoing Chinese-linked cyber operations are aimed at gaining an advantage in the event of a major crisis or conflict with the U.S.

Adamski made the comments to researchers at the Cyberwarcon security conference in Arlington, Virginia. On Thursday, U.S. Senator Mark Warner told the Washington Post that a suspected China-linked hack on U.S. telecommunications firms was the worst telecom hack in our nations history  by far.

That cyberespionage operation, dubbed Salt Typhoon, has included stolen call records data, the compromise of communications of top officials of both major U.S. presidential campaigns before the Nov. 5 election, and telecommunications information related to U.S. law enforcement requests, the FBI said in a recent statement.

Beijing routinely denies cyber operations targeting U.S. entities. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Topics USA Cyber China
Texas reached a $12.6 million settlement with TPC Group over environmental violations related to the November 2019 explosions at the companys Port Neches chemical plant, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Friday.

The settlement requires TPC Group to repair or replace its equipment and to pay $12.6 million in penalties for violations of state emissions laws at the companys Port Neches plant after the 2019 blast.

The explosions the day before Thanksgiving 2019 prompted the evacuations of more than 50,000 people from the area  about 100 miles east of Houston. The blasts spewed more than 11 million pounds of hazardous substances, causing more than $130 million in offsite property damage and additional impacts to human health and the environment, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

Texas sued TPC Group in 2020, alleging that the company continued to operate its plant in Port Neches despite knowing that the facility had issues and for violating emissions limits even after the blast. The state also alleged that the Houston-based company violated clean air laws multiple times from January 2018 to September 2019.

In a statement, TPC Group said that it was working closely with the Texas Commission on Environment Quality and the attorney generals office to ensure its compliance with the states emission limits. The company described operational challenges caused by custom emission control units that it installed while converting the Port Neches plant after the explosion.

TPC Group is committed to complying with the emission limits of its permits and has been working diligently to address the issues, Sara Cronin, TPC Groups vice president of communications and public affairs, said in a statement. The agreement is reflective of our dedication to work every day to be a positive part of the communities in which we operate and a leader in producing C4 petrochemicals.

In May, TPC Group pleaded guilty to a violation of the Clean Air Act and agreed to pay more than $30 million associated with the explosions.

The company filed for bankruptcy in 2022. In August, it agreed to pay $150 million in penalties related to violations alleged by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

In Texas, we believe in ensuring all industries operate safely and being responsible stewards of our environment, Paxton said in a statement Friday. These penalties send a clear message: operate responsibly to protect the health and safety of your fellow Texans, or face the consequences.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/22/texas-port-neches-plant-explosion-settlement/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

Photo: Thick smoke fills the sky above the TPC plant Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2019, in Port Neches, Texas. (Kim Brent/The Beaumont Enterprise via AP)

Topics Texas Chemicals
Just a week after a pilot program for strengthening Florida condominiums was launched it reached maximum capacity and is no longer accepting applications. The overwhelming response could underscore the need for wind mitigation and could set the stage for more funding from lawmakers early next spring.

The My Safe Florida Condominium program, similar to the popular My Safe Florida Home, provided two-to-one matching grants for inspections and wind mitigation work on condo buildings within 15 miles of the coast, up to $175,000 per condo association.

The Legislature approved the program early this year with $30 million in funding, and it was launched Nov. 14. By Nov. 19, the funding had been exhausted after at least 150 associations had been accepted for the grants, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Financial Services said.

The grants will provide for condominium inspections and retrofitting designed to make condo buildings more resistant to hurricane winds. Measures may include stronger roof-to-wall connections, stronger roof systems, as well as stronger windows and doors.

A number of people familiar with Floridas property insurance situation have said more wind mitigation measures are key to reducing losses in hurricanes. The pilot program legislation was sponsored by state Sen. Nick DeCeglie, R-St. Petersburg, whose district includes one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Milton in October.

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Florida
Higginbotham, an independent insurance and human resources firm based in Texas, has joined forces with Fitts Agency in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, further expanding Higginbothams presence in the state.

Fitts CEO Forrest Fitts said the partnership is a good fit for both firms. The Alabama agency was founded almost 150 years ago by J.H. Fitts and is considered one of the largest independently owned agencies in western Alabama.

Higginbotham has headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, and has operations around the country. The firm acquired another large Alabama agency, WRM Group, in 2023.

Topics Alabama
Whenever we switch on our devices, were bombarded with AI:

chatbots offer answers to our questions

when we write messages, predictive text suggests words

Alexa can play our favourite song

AI-generated deepfake presenters read the news

In Arizona and California, we can ride in AI-controlled cyber cabs

in Beijing last summer 27 AI-enabled humanoid robots attended a conference

and at Teatro Verdi in Pisa, on September 12, a mechanical maestro called YuMi conducted Andrea Bocelli and the Lucca Philharmonic Orchestra.

YuMi conducting Andrea Bocceli at Teatro Verdi, Pisa, 12 Sept. 2024. The robot had been trained in just two days

Making a significant  though largely unrecognised  contribution to all these initiatives was Cork academic George Boole.

Born in the small English cathedral town of Lincoln in 1815, George Boole came from a humble family: his father was a shoemaker, struggling to support four children. A classmate described him as inquisitive, a sort of prodigy a star of the first magnitude.

Having left school at 14 years-old, he helped his father build telescopes, kaleidoscopes, even a calculating machine. His translation of a difficult poem from ancient Greek caused outrage: many said this was impossible for a boy of his age, he must have had assistance. Boole went on to write over seventy poems of his own.

Portrait of George Boole (Illustrated London News, 21 Jan. 1865)

When his fathers shoe business collapsed, 16-year-old George turned his back on a possible career in the church, and took up school teaching in Doncaster and Liverpool to support his family. Returning to Lincoln in 1834, he daringly set up his own school, and moved his family into the schoolhouse. By getting involved with the Lincoln Mechanics Institute, he helped provide an education to adults whod missed out on school.

Boole had a voracious appetite for reading, and taught himself French, German and Latin, but said he got better value from his maths books than novels because they lasted him longer. Strangely, the quiet man never described himself as a mathematician, rather a psychologist, philosopher and logician.

We have a mathematician trying to work out how the mind works, writes his biographer, Desmond MacHale (The Life and Work of George Boole, Cork University Press, 2014).

Getting connected

When he was 28, Boole wrote to Professor Augustus de Morgan at University College London, to help him get an article published by the Royal Society. The paper was not only accepted by these eminent scientists, they also awarded him its first gold medal for mathematics. Booles name became well known in academic circles but he was still without a job.

The British government's decision to establish Queens colleges in Ireland gave him the opportunity he needed. However, with no formal qualifications, his only chance of getting a chair was to rely on his publications and testimonials from academic friends, even character references from people living in Lincoln. My hopes of success are not very sanguine, he admitted.

For months he heard nothing. Suddenly, in August 1849 he received a letter offering him the post of Professor of Mathematics at Queens College Cork (UCC), with an annual salary of 250 and lodgings on Grenville Place, opposite North Mall.

Queen's College, Cork (UCC), with bust of George Boole (UCC)

Cork was perfect for an independent thinker, a maverick, who at Cambridge University would have been overshadowed, says MacHale. The Cork Examiner (Nov 8, 1849) described him as well developed in the frontal region, as a phrenologist would say. Regarded as a confident, modest and gentle teacher, he always had the welfare of his students at heart, and complained about the smoky chimneys and echo in the lecture rooms.

Boole became the prototype of an eccentric professor, pacing up and down deep in thought, and bringing home complete strangers  on one occasion a whole street band  just because he found them interesting. But he found Cork uncomfortable, and couldnt stand all the rain. He made frequent trips back to Lincoln, and even considered taking a job in Melbourne.

In 1850 he was asked to give maths lessons to Mary Everest, a shy 18-year-old girl, niece of George Everest, after whom Mount Everest is named. Teacher and pupil kept in contact, and in 1855 shocked friends by announcing their marriage: he was 40, she was 23.

Five daughters were born in quick succession. Ethel Lilian (Voynich), the youngest, came to write The Gadfly, a novel that sold millions of copies in Russia and China. The couple lived first on Sundays Well Road, a 10-minute walk from college, later in a house overlooking the sea on Castle Road outside Blackrock, and finally at Lichfield Cottage in suburban Ballintemple.

Mary went to some of his lectures  possibly the first woman in Ireland to attend university classes.

Boole Library, UCC, with University Librarian Coral Black (Evening Echo online, 30 Apr. 2024)

Forefather of AI

Booles masterpiece, An Investigation of the Laws of Thought, was published in 1854, and helped towards his appointment as Fellow of the Royal Society in 1857  an extraordinary achievement considering he began as a lone wolf schoolteacher. In his book, Boole maintained that every human thought has two outcomes, every whim can be reduced to a mathematical operation: yes or no, true or false, on or off, 1 or 0  just like the symbols on the switch of an electric kettle.

When reasoning, speakers of every language use three words: and, or and not, continued Boole. By giving these words mathematical symbols (, , and ), it was possible to control them. Today, they can be used in computer programmes.

Boolean Algebra and Boolean Logic paved the way for designing modern, high-speed computer circuits and relays. These days, every keystroke on your computer, every swipe on your phone, every answer from Siri can be traced to Boole. We are awash in Boole, says Canadian technology buff Ava Chisling.

Although the expression Artificial Intelligence wasn't used until 1955 by American academic John McCarthy, Booles work provided the groundwork for many AI algorithms today, says philosopher Antonio Panovski.

An ugly death

Booles teaching duties were demanding  he had 73 students, more than any other teacher  and placed a huge toll on his health. Clashes with college management, and a mysterious fire which burned down his office, added to this stress.

On November 24, 1864, when his train was cancelled, he walked three miles in pouring rain from his home in Ballintemple to Queen's College, where he lectured in saturated clothes. That night he developed a feverish cold, which settled on his lungs. Delirious and unable to speak, doctors concluded that his brain was in the most alarming condition.

George Boole's final home, Lichfield Cottage, Ballintemple, Cork (Irish Examiner, 13 June 2015 p.106)

Mary Boole was an advocate of fringe medicine, especially homeopathy, which believes in treating the illness with the cause. Seeing as her husbands illness was caused by exposure to rain, moisture could restore him to health, so she laid him in wet linen. On the evening of December 8, aged only 49, George Boole died from pneumonia.

Although only a simple headstone marks his grave at St Michaels Cemetery, Blackrock, Booles name lives on at UCC, where the library bears his name, and a panel in the Boole Memorial Window depicts him as a medieval scholar, diligently at work.

If Boole had lived, speculates MacHale, we might have had the computer revolution in the 19th century, rather than the 20th and 21st century.

Boolean Cloud H7 robot self-emptying vacuum cleaner and mop combo (amazon.com)

Be that as it may, he would surely be chuffed  in his quiet way, of course  that today an AI-driven self-emptying robot vacuum cleaner and mop combo, called the Boolean Cloud H7, can clean peoples homes when they tap on their smartphone.

The Essential George Boole: Logic, Love and Legacy. By Desmond MacHale and Yvonne Cohen

Des MacHale and Yvonne Cohen have collaborated on a new book, The Essential Boole , which will be launched in UCC on December 6  the 160th anniversary of Boole's death.
Dangerous synthetic cannabinoids being sold in vape shops are causing psychosis in children as young as 13 that may damage them for life, a leading psychiatrist has warned.

Professor Bobby Smyth, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist and clinical professor at Trinity College Dublin, said 20-25% of presentations to adolescent addiction services he works in now involve hexahydrocannabinol (HHC)  a semi-synthetic cannabinoid with broadly similar effects to cannabis.

The drug is now the main component in 5%-10% of presentations to youth addiction services he works with, and that's from a base of zero 18 months ago, Prof. Smyth said.

Problems linked to the drug began to emerge in youth addiction and mental health services some 14 months ago, but presentations are now escalating month on month and are found across the country, he added.

My colleagues in the mental health service are seeing more and more cases of acute mental disturbance linked to HHC use. And this is sold in shops

Young people are presenting psychotic in some cases, he said. His colleagues have seen children as young as 13 suffering from HHC use.

Because it's sold at shops, people seem to think it's been tested or regulated or in some way safe when it's none of those things.

Why has this stuff been sold in shops across the country to children with absolute impunity?

Hexahydrocannabinol vapes seem to fall within a legal loophole as they are not a health product, meaning they're not regulated by the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA). They are also not a food product, so are not regulated by the Food Safety Authority (FSA). Responsibility may also be seen to fall between the departments of Health and Justice, he said.

That's the problem with these things. Really everyone's responsible, but no one's responsible, he said.

'Headshop' closures

However, legislation was passed banning the sale of psychoactive substances following the rise in synthetic drug sales in "headshops" in the 2000s.

The Criminal Justice Psychoactive Substances Act 2010 banned the sale, supply, import, export or advertising of psychoactive substances. This resulted in the closure of multiple "headshops" that had opened across Ireland  often highly lucrative small businesses which sold largely synthetic drugs, which were then called "legal highs".

That legislation was left purposely broad and undefined to catch all psychoactive substances so that producers could not merely tweak a chemical formula to evade bans on certain substances.

The Psychoactive Substances Act was very novel legislation at the time. We were a world leader. It was effective in shutting down the headshops and other countries around the world started learning from it," Prof. Smyth said.

We had the best protection systems in the world, but the protection system is no use if you don't use it

It's hard not to be frustrated by the collective system response in this case. It really has let young people down badly.

The people who engage in drug selling, as these people are, need a sharp shock to realise that our society doesn't want this."

Psychiatric illnesses suffered by young people who use this drug may be long-term and irreversible, he said.

Some of them will be left with psychotic illnesses probably for the rest of their lives, Prof. Smyth said.

We shouldn't be paying that sort of price as a society for something entirely avoidable. It should have been stopped on day one.

It needs to be removed from the shelves by whatever mechanism immediately. There needs to be a pretty immediate review of the systems we have in place in Ireland to ensure this doesn't happen again.

Psychotic episodes

The former lord mayor of Cork City and youth services manager, Mick Finn, is also concerned about teenagers and young adults now struggling due to hexahydrocannabinol vape use.

Mr Finn, who is running in the general election, said that young people are being admitted to Cork University Hospital and the Mercy Hospital suffering psychotic episodes after using these vapes.

Young people are seeing things that are not there. Theyre suffering psychotic episodes, having heightened anxiety, Mr Finn said. He is concerned that multiple suicides may now be linked to use of these vapes.

Users are appearing in Cork hospitals with severe psychosis fallout following use of these vapes that contain hexahydrocannabinol or HHC for short, Mr Finn said.

I have come across the situation in my role as youth services manager with Cork ETB, with those working on the frontline in drug counselling and addiction services saying it requires urgent attention.

Mr Finn said that use of these vapes does not obviously impact all users. However, he said that the dosage and ingredients within the vapes can be altered to keep them within legal parameters and that this unknown mix can adversely affect many people who use it in vapes.

Episodes relate to users becoming paranoid, having severe mood swings, and increased aggression, and I know that a large number of young people have been referred to psychiatric services over the last months because of use.

Some children as young as 13 are using it, and there are concerns that it might lead to developmental and social issues and even more serious consequences

I recall a number of years ago there were several deaths linked to the use of headshop incense and bath salts, and moves were made to control the sale and usage of those.

"My call now is for similar controls to be made on HHC products, especially for vapers who are minors and for whom the impact of using HHC vapes could be extremely serious."

One third of young people attending certain youth services are now misusing hexahydrocannabinol vapes and experiencing psychotic episodes, violent outbursts, paranoia, severe anxiety and suicidal ideation, he said.

Synthetic cannabinoids have caused many serious poisonings, mass poisonings, and deaths internationally in recent years, Professor Eamon Keenan of the HSEs addiction services said.

There is a high level of risk associated with edibles, herbal, and vape products currently available on the Irish market nationally, Prof. Keenan said.

There is a risk they contain new and more dangerous substances than what is stated on the packaging, even if the packet looks legitimate.

Risks are increased if these substances are taken in combination with other drugs

Synthetic cannabinoids are man-made chemicals produced to mimic the effects of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive compound in cannabis.

Often, products do not contain THC but instead they can contain a synthetic cannabinoid which will produce similar, more potent effects. They will greatly increase the risks of a drug emergency occurring, because they produce more intense adverse effects, Prof. Keenan said.

Hexahydrocannabinol was reported to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) as a drug of concern in May 2022, and is currently the subject of intensive monitoring, Prof. Keenan said.

The HSE is concerned about the use of this drug in Ireland as it is being sold openly in vape shops.
Voters have been urged by the Irish Pharmacy Union to question politicians on plans to expand treatment in pharmacies in light of a now 16-year freeze on fees paid to pharmacists.

Customers could see pharmacy closures instead of expansion if this issue is not addressed by the next Government, the pharmacists have warned.

The plans will allow patients be treated for eight common conditions, including cold sores and shingles, in pharmacies without needing a GP prescription. It also includes offering hormone replacement therapy (HRT) from January, with patients only paying pharmacy and GP fees.

Union president Tom Murray said pharmacies want to offer more medical care and build on recommendations in a recent expert taskforce report on the sector.

He described the potential as huge for patients to have faster access to medications and plans for pharmacists to prescribe some medications.

Voters who value the care pharmacies already provide, and want them to be enabled to deliver additional services, should ask election candidates about their intentions for the utilisation of pharmacists skills over the coming days, he urged.

However, he said meaningful change is needed in the funding model which supports the sector.

Currently, one in 10 pharmacies is loss-making. Without swift action from the next Government, pharmacy closures will become a reality he warned.

Pharmacies deliver essential State-funded healthcare services through community drug schemes, but fees for these professional services have been frozen since 2009

"It is unreasonable and unviable to expect pharmacies to operate with 2009 professional fee structures whilst operating with 2024 costs.

Professional fees

They are calling for an increase in the professional fee to 6.50 per item of medicine dispensed under the community drug schemes. This would not affect how much patients pay per item.

A number of political parties have pledged in their manifestos to review professional fees and pharmacy funding, he pointed out.

When a new Government is formed, we will be holding them to account on this issue and will expect to see this commitment reflected in the Programme for Government.

He called for fair funding to support this vital part of the health sector.

The choice for the next Government is clear: Fund pharmacies and watch the sector thrive, or allow pharmacy funding structure to continue to struggle with constituents bearing the inevitable consequences, he said.

The union has previously raised concerns about the way the hormone replacement therapy plans are being described as 'free HRT' by Government

However, while the products will be free, women will be expected to pay fees for dispensing and GP appointments.

A group of pharmacists have also separately called for clarity on the therapy plans, warning that some women could still face fees of up to 1,200 annually.

Pharmacist Sheena Mitchell said: The minister for health has written into law that there will be free HRT for women.

"However, unlike the contraceptive scheme, he is unwilling to pay a doctor to assess a womans suitability for HRT, unwilling to pay a pharmacist to dispense the medication, and unwilling to pay the pharmaceutical suppliers for a sufficient quantity of the hormone replacement therapy drugs to meet demand.
Ireland has provided 6m to fund the rebuilding of Ukraines critical infrastructure, including the ongoing destruction of its energy capacity by Russian forces.

Ukraine and EU leaders have expressed grave concerns over the coming winter, with estimates that 70% of the countrys energy capacity has been destroyed.

The head of Ukraines state grid operator recently said the country is facing its hardest winter since the Russian full-scale invasion in February 2022, with the prospect of civilians facing up to eight hours of power outages.

Average temperatures in Ukraine between December and February range from 2C to -4.8C, but conditions can get as low as -20C.

From October 2022 to September 2024, Ukraine's energy infrastructure facilities suffered 1,024 Russian attacks, according to the countrys energy ministry.

Authorities, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, have said that Russia is preparing to target three Ukrainian nuclear power plants.

He said Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is hoping to torment millions of Ukrainiansordinary families  women, children  by leaving them in the dark and cold this winter.

According to the United Nations, Russian forces launched nine waves of long-range and large-scale coordinated attacks on Ukraines electric power system between March 22 and August 31, 2024.

It said this has disproportionately impacted groups in a situation of vulnerability, such as older persons, those with disabilities, households with lower incomes, with women particularly affected.

It said there are reasonable grounds to believe Putin has violated foundational principles of international humanitarian law.

Irish support

In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Ireland condemns Russias continued bombardment of Ukrainian civilian and energy infrastructure.

International humanitarian law provides for certain protections which are applicable to civilian infrastructure, the statement said. Attacking civilian energy infrastructure, as Ukraine prepares for another difficult winter, is particularly cynical and indicative that Russia has no genuine desire for peace.

It said Ireland is supporting efforts to urgently increase Ukraines energy security before the winter and address the immediate humanitarian and civil protection needs of the population.

In 2024, Ireland is providing 23.5m in humanitarian funding to Ukraine, channelled through UN agencies and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the statement said. Irelands funding supports shelter, cash assistance and other winterisation activities, as well as wider humanitarian support.

Ireland has also provided 6m to the World Bank Group for the Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction and Reform Trust Fund to fund critical infrastructure projects, including in the energy sector.

The statement said the EU has provided 400m out of the 629m Ukraine Energy Support Fund, which funds repairs, as well as the supply of transformers and mobile gas turbines for power generation.

It said other departments have provided in-kind and monetary supports to Ukraine. It said through this mechanism, ESB and Gas Networks Ireland have provided equipment and spare parts for repairing gas and electricity networks.
Former rugby international Brendan Mullin, who stole hundreds of thousands of euro from Bank of Ireland Private Bank when he was its managing director, has been jailed for three years.

Mullin (aged 61) was earlier this month found guilty of stealing just over 567,000 from the bank on dates between 2011 and 2013, after the jury returned guilty verdicts in 12 of the 14 charges against him following a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court trial.

The three-week trial heard allegations Mullin, of Stillorgan Road, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, was acting dishonestly when he arranged for sums of money to be paid by the private bank to McCann Fitzgerald solicitors, Beechwood accountants and Grant Thornton for work that had been done either for him personally or for his firm Quantum Investment Strategies.

The prosecution further alleged that Mullin stole 500,000 from Bank of Ireland during a breakdown in communication within various arms of the banking group, with the money ultimately being transferred to a company called Spice Holdings, registered in the British Virgin Islands.

The court heard Spice Holdings was a client that Mullin had brought into the bank.

Sentencing him on Monday, Judge Martin Nolan said Mullin was in a position of trust and a position of power when he stole from the bank. He was able to sway other parties to do his will, the judge said.

The judge noted no motive was advanced by Mullin, but he could only infer Mullin was somewhat desperate for funds and embarked on this endeavour to obtain money.

He took into account a number of mitigating factors, including what the defence termed as the exceptional factor that Bank of Ireland Private Bank was fully repaid the funds and not at a loss. The judge also noted there was a significant delay in bringing the case.

The court heard Mullin now accepts the verdicts of the jury and Judge Nolan accepted he is remorseful and sorry for what he did. But he noted a custodial sentence was inevitable and he handed down a jail term of three years. Mullin put his head down when the sentence was handed down.

Mullin was acquitted of the two charges relating to Beechwood Partners, including the alleged theft of 6,150 from the private bank for work carried out privately for Mr Mullin and a false accounting charge related to the same.

The jury was also directed by the trial judge to return a verdict of not guilty on a further count of deception alleging Mullin induced two bank workers to sign a payment authorisation letter.
Crime/policing

Recruit 6,000 gardai over five years;

Double training allowance for recruits;

Garda transport hubs at key bus and train stations and increased deployment on public transport;

Tackle anti-social behaviour and retail crime;

Introduce facial recognition technology;

Provide 1,500 prison spaces;

Minimum tariffs for life sentences.

Analysis

Firstly, Fine Gael has been in Government and has held the position of minister for justice for the last 13 years.

Garda numbers stand at 14,125, compared to 14,700 when the Government formed in June 2020 (-4%). At frontline garda rank, the fall was higher (-6%). In fairness, covid meant that at least 1,000 fewer gardai were recruited.

The Government has promised 800-1,000 recruits a year since covid, but those targets have not been reached.

Meanwhile, there is an overcrowding crisis in jails. Yesterday, it hit a high of 5,124 inmates  in a system with spaces for 4,519. It compares to 3,708 prisoners in June 2020  a jump of 38%.

Drugs

Tackle drug use to ensure safer communities and public spaces;

Consider mobile medically supervised injecting facilities, building on the pilot.

Analysis

The manifesto does not state the partys position on decriminalisation of possession, though Taoiseach Simon Harris made it pretty clear afterwards and had a swipe at Fianna Fail.

The manifesto does commit to tackling anti-social behaviour and drug use to ensure safer communities and public spaces. The Citizen Assembly on Drugs Use said that, while drug possession should remain illegal, a form of decriminalisation should be introduced, though it left the legal mechanism to the Oireachtas and Government to figure out. The Oireachtas committee backed decriminalisation and the repeal of Section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Mr Harris has kicked these recommendations to touch and appears to keep to what is existing policy  though never actually implemented. This would give one chance, at most two, to people caught in possession by sending them for a health referral. If they refuse or are caught subsequently, they are sent back to the criminal justice process.

Security/defence

Establish Cabinet committee on national security;

National Cyber Security Centre, currently in Department of Communications, to be brought into Department of Justice;

National policy statement on national security;

Update laws on phone interception and data retention;

Preserve policy of military neutrality but enhance co-operation with UN, EU, and Nato;

Continue the current situation of defence being represented by a minister at cabinet (currently Minister of Foreign Affairs is also Minister of Defence);

Achieve Level of Ambition 2 (LOA 2), as per Commission on Defence Forces.

Analysis

There are already long-standing committees on national security, so its not clear why they want a new one.

The call for a national policy statement on national security is odd as the country has been waiting many years for a promised national security strategy, devised by the National Security Analysis Centre (NSAC), of which there is no mention.

Promises to update phone interception legislation are also long overdue.

The decision not to propose a full-time minister for defence will be a disappointment to many people involved in the area.

FIANNA FAIL

Crime/policing

Recruit 5,000 gardai over five years to reach 20,000;

New transport police;

New dispersal orders to deal with anti-social behaviour and public space protection orders to deal with protests outside politicians homes or public libraries;

Mandatory minimum sentences for those who assault emergency workers.

Analysis

The pledge to recruit gardai is similar to recent years, but those numbers havent been met. The transport police has been floated before and, while there is a need to make public transport safer, the personnel would have to come from the gardai.

Drugs

The FF manifesto says it will decriminalise the possession of drugs for personal use  it was only after, in clarifications, that the party said this would only apply to cannabis, not other drugs;

The party will introduce legislation to require those caught with drugs for personal use to attend education or treatment;

It said it will also publish a formal national position on cannabis regulation.

Analysis

Fianna Fails stance on decriminalisation in the manifesto seemed straight-forward, but what turned heads was the clarification issued subsequently that it would only apply to cannabis.

The promise to examine legalising cannabis and formulate an official Government position is interesting and may, in part, stem from the Citizens Assembly narrowly voting against legalising it.

Security/defence

Create a new Department of Domestic Affairs, splitting away from the Department of Justice;

A new national intelligence agency to sit within domestic affairs;

This department would take in the National Cyber Security Centre;

It would publish a national security strategy;

The department would have responsibility for a new border management agency and for migration, asylum seekers, and trafficking;

Increase Defence Forces strength to 11,500 (currently 7,430 or so) as per

LOA 2;

LOA 2; Acquire a military radar system and progress naval service replacement, as per LOA 2;

Continue policy of military neutrality.

Analysis

Even if people are sceptical about implementation, experts believe the proposals on national security at least indicate a growing realisation that security is a priority. Fianna Fail doesnt mention the National Screening Advisory Committee (NSAC) either, nor the national security strategy.

The new Department of Domestic Affairs would mean greater focus, and its own budget, and a new intelligence agency would mean the same.

The downside is that setting up the agency would be a very complicated and time-consuming task. It could take five to 10 years and cause all sorts of ructions among, and within, existing agencies.

The issues of garda numbers, drug legalisation, and 'EU militarisation' appear in many party manifestos.

SINN FEIN

Crime/policing

Recruit between 900 and 1,000 gardai each year, rising to 1,500, and bring total strength to 16,000 over five years;

20m additional funding to tackle domestic violence;

Expand youth diversion projects and increase funding for youth projects;

Put 1bn from Apple tax money into a "communities fund" to invest in working-class areas.

Analysis

Garda recruitment figures are similar to the other parties. The 1bn fund from Apple taxes for disadvantaged areas would be welcomed by many.

Drugs

Implement the partys five-year community addiction and recovery strategy, which will return funding to historic high levels for local and regional drug and alcohol task forces and initiate an unprecedented investment in community addiction and recovery inpatient capacity.

Analysis

Strangely, for a 180-page document, there is only one mention (the above) of drugs and no reference to decriminalisation. But its "tackling addiction, empowering recovery" strategy does make clear the party would end the criminalisation of addiction, not penalise minor possession for personal use, and provide extensive diversion to health services. Interestingly, it states that consumption of drugs in a public place would remain illegal.

Security/defence

Draft legislation to implement the review into the Offences Against the State Act;

Referendum to enshrine neutrality in the constitution and establish a citizens assembly to agree the wording;

Calls on all sides to cease the current unlimited supply of weapons into Ukraine which, it said, has costs hundreds of thousands of lives;

Maintain the triple-lock (Government, Oireachtas, and UN approval for Irish troop missions abroad);

Oppose further militarisation in the EU, including any prospect of an EU army;

Increase current Defence Forces funding by 206.9m and capital funding by 295m by 2030;

Bring Defence Forces numbers to a baseline figure of 11,500 as under LOA 2.

Analysis

Sinn Feins backing of the Offences Against the State Act appears to mark a significant development since the majority report backed a permanent, and expanded, non-jury Special Criminal Court, albeit with some changes.

The proposal to set up a citizens assembly just to agree the wording for enshrining neutrality in the referendum seems very limited as you would expect any such assembly to examine, in the first place, whether or not it should be enshrined.

The partys call on Ukraine, Russia, the US, and the EU to end hostilities and put the interests of the people above other geopolitical interests certainly leaps out from the page.

Then it adds: All sides must cease the current unlimited supply of weapons into Ukraine which has cost hundreds of thousands of lives.

It leaves the impression that Ukraine is among those who are putting geopolitical interests before the interests of their own people. Not only that, but Sinn Fein believes limits need to be put in place on weapons going into Ukraine to defend itself  which it has a right to do under UN law.

The partys reference to further militarisation of the EU and to the bogey man of an EU army highlights how it views voluntary co-operation among EU members.

The manifesto does make reference to the fact that Ireland is reliant on other states to address gaps in its defence capabilities, which includes the "secret" relationship Ireland has with the British air force.

However, apart from its general commitment to LOA 2, the manifesto makes no reference to funding Irish fighter jets (which is under LOA 3).

LABOUR

Crime/policing

Recruit at least 1,000 gardai every year and reach 16,000 by 2029, with a long-term goal of 18,000;

Increase community policing teams and double the size of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau;

Address dangerously overcrowded prisons by increasing funding for the Probation Service, reducing short-term sentences and investing in mental health and addiction;

Expand youth work projects, increase their core funding, and give pay parity for youth workers.

Analysis

Recruitment figures similar to other parties. The doubling of the economic crime bureau would be welcomed by many.

There is a strong emphasis on youth work, but there are no budgetary figures.

Drugs

Additional resources for local drug and alcohol task forces;

Permanent funding from seized Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) assets for the Drive drug-related intimidation programme;

Decriminalise drug possession and repeal of Section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Analysis

The backing of local task forces will be welcomed by many, but there are no funding specifics. The use of CAB funds for Drive might help and builds on the existing Community Fund.

Labours support for repealing of Section 3 is similar to other parties.

Security/defence

Immediate goal to bring Defence Forces strength back to 9,500 and then to 11,500, as under LOA 2;

Evaluate requirements to provide air corps intercept capability;

Review possible transfer of Coast Guard and National Cyber Security Centre to Department of Defence;

Review personnel pay and allowances;

Overhaul national security structures and underpin NSAC with legislation;

Publish national security strategy;

Enshrine neutrality in the constitution by referendum and retain triple lock;

Labour said it accepts the majority report of the OASA review, though says the non-jury court would only be used in exceptions.

Analysis

The promised growth of Defence Forces strength is on a par with other parties. Putting NSAC on a statutory basis would help. Labours position on the SCC appears to be a change in policy.

There is no movement on neutrality or a referendum. It is not clear if Labours opposition to deeper militarisation includes current voluntary cooperation with other EU states on protecting critical infrastructure and improving cybersecurity or taking part in EU battlegroups.

GREEN PARTY

Crime/policing

Increase garda numbers to 15,500;

Local policing forum in every community;

Expand Garda Youth Diversion;

Spend 1bn over four years in expanding domestic violence services and bring number of refuge spaces from current target of 280 to 675.

Analysis

Garda policies similar to other parties. The Green Party has a particular focus on domestic violence.

Drugs

Remove criminal penalties for possessing less than a weeks supply of a drug;

Expand drug testing at festivals and nightclubs;

Introduce legal drug consumption rooms to allow for drugs other than heroin;

Decriminalise possession of less than 5g of cannabis and possession of less than four cannabis plants on private property;

Prescribe cannabis-based medicines through pharmacies;

Tolerate regulated cannabis "coffee shops" selling cannabis from licensed suppliers.

Analysis

Too much in this for detailed analysis, but the Green Party goes beyond decriminalisation of drugs for personal use to include plants in homes.

Drug decriminalisation is an issue parties diverge on in this general election. Stock Picture: Getty

How Dutch-style coffee shops would work in Ireland from a policing and legal point of view is worthy of a PhD.

Expanding the pilot injecting centre to a drug consumption room and expanding drug testing would make sense to many.

Security/defence

Commit to active military neutrality but this means being able to properly defend ourselves and not being politically or morally neutral in the face of unprovoked aggression;

Retaining triple lock;

Defence Forces budget should be upgraded to plug the gaping holes in responding to cyber attacks or identifying who is traversing our seas and sky.

Analysis

The Green Party identifies that to be militarily neutral means having the ability to defend references, in particular, the need to invest in the naval service and air corps.

SOCIAL DEMOCRATS

Crime/policing

Target of 18,000 gardai;

Adjust policing deployment to match areas experiencing population growth;

Invest in youth facilities and mental health and addiction services;

Multi-annual funding for domestic violence services and double available refuge spaces;

Establish independent anti-corruption agency/

Analysis

The target for garda levels is the most ambitious, but it is not clear how that would happen. Strong focus on tackling domestic violence and corruption.

Drugs

Decriminalisation of drugs for personal consumption;

Increase funding for drug treatment, health services, and community drug services;

Create expert commission to examine the possible legalisation, regulation, and taxation of cannabis;

Comprehensive plan to tackle poverty, deprivation, and disadvantage.

Analysis

Similar to other parties, but also calls for an expert body to look at cannabis regulation and emphasises the need to invest in disadvantaged areas.

Security/defence

Develop a new national defence and security framework;

Full review of pay and conditions in the Defence Forces;

Change Department of Defence to Department of Defence, Security, and Emergency Planning;

Create with that department an office of national defence and security monitoring and threat assessment and an office of national information, cyber and data defence, and security;

Set minimum strength of Defence Forces at 11,500;

Maintain current form of neutrality, adding this meant being able to defend and monitor ones own territory;

Any change to neutrality, including triple lock, to be first tested by a citizens assembly and, possibly, by referendum;

Ensure Ireland not used as a hub by state and non-state actors for the passage of military equipment.

Analysis

The priority given to national security is a positive development. Its reference to a new security framework is despite the fact we are still awaiting the national security strategy by NSAC.

Expanding the functions of the Department of Defence, in particular by giving it the lead role for national security and defence, will be welcomed by people on the "defence" side.

However, it will no doubt raise concerns on the Garda Siochana and Department of Justice side. Its proposal of a new office for security and threat assessment clashes with Ireland already having NSAC.

It also refers to neutrality meaning the ability to defend oneself and that Ireland needs the ability to prevent the supply of weapons over our airspace but this means having a military radar (which is under LOA 2) and intercept aircraft (only under LOA 3).

PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT

Crime/policing

Oppose attacks on refugees and asylum seekers and all forms of racism.

Analysis

Given the extent of concerns about crime and policing levels in working class areas, it is striking the party has little mention of these issues.

Drugs

Immediately legalise cannabis and promote not-for-profit cannabis social clubs;

Move towards decriminalisation of all drugs;

Establish a State-run distribution service with high levels of regulation and supervision;

Expand medical cannabis access programme;

Increase funding for local drugs and alcohol task forces;

Increase funding for a public health education campaign on drugs.

Analysis

Its policies on drugs are far more developed. Whatever the argument for and against legalisation, it accurately points out decriminalisation leaves supply with cartels and gangs.

Security/defence

Defend neutrality, including triple lock;

Withdraw from defence co-operation projects within EU and Nato;

Ireland should call for peace in Ukraine rather than supporting EU efforts to intensify war.

Analysis

PBP explicitly doesnt want Ireland taking part in EU Pesco projects. It makes no reference to increasing investment in the Defence Forces.
No matter how peaceful the deployment, returning home after a period of overseas service is a traumatic affair. It is the closest thing to being released from prison that, hopefully, any of us will ever experience. You go from living with one, very intense family to suddenly being back home with another.

One, very deliberate routine, operated under specific conditions, to a veritable buffet of availability and emotions. Nothing dramatic must happen during your deployment for that to be the case. Literally nothing, yet the separation is such the readjustment is always profound.

It takes immense patience from those who have already been patiently waiting for you for six months to allow you the appropriate time and space to readjust. Theres a cruelty in that, as they have likely suffered more in your absence, yet must play second fiddle once again.

It also takes discipline from the individual not to suddenly over-indulge in every vice their unique circumstance deprived them.

Critically, it also takes appropriate support from the Irish Defence Forces, the people who sent you out there.

Consider, then, what awaits members of the 124th Infantry Battalion who will return home this week after spending practically all of their time in Lebanon either directly or indirectly under actual rocket fire.

Last month, as social media anointed Irish peacekeepers in Lebanon the saviours of humanity, some public servants  prisoners to the moment  suggested the appropriate way to 'thank our troops' was to host them at the Dail bar for a pint.

Add in the worry from home, the discomfort of the world's gaze being temporarily upon them, followed by the confusion as to why it suddenly diverted elsewhere.

The reality of facing down Merkava tanks, and the whoosh of Katyusha rockets. Of claustrophobic bomb shelters. The absurd juxtaposition of dealing with bloodthirsty IDF one moment, and a distressed text from home the next.

Whether it be a boyfriend at home, annoyed at your absence or a pregnant partner, sick with worry. Of children expecting their mothers for birthdays, only for them to do that weird math  Mummy is not coming home, and the sky in the country shes in is ablaze on television.

Its a lot. And while our screens and newspapers will be filled with joyous pictures of airport reunions, I suggest we all take a deep breath, count our blessings they all came home, and move on. Leave them to be with their families.

There is no reason to glorify their trauma, and regardless of how unharmed their bodies might be, there absolutely will have been trauma. Decompression is an imperative part of reintegration, and it is incumbent upon the Defence Forces now to not repeat the mistakes of the recent past and ensure they get the private support they will undeniably need.

That support needs to be quiet, and consistent, not played out for clicks on the Late Late Show.

Last month, as social media anointed Irish peacekeepers in Lebanon the saviours of humanity, some public servants  prisoners to the moment  suggested the appropriate way to thank our troops was to host them at the Dail bar for a pint.

Another, a day trip to the Aras to meet the president. It was well intentioned (I hope) but with an election looming, it also stank of opportunism.

Take it from me, just about the last place any soldier who spent the last two months in and out of bomb shelters needs to be this side of Christmas is back in his uniform, bused up to Dublin for a photo op with a grinning TD. Similarly, the Aras.

Even if the soldiers and their families might take pride in such attention, being used as a political pawn is an insult to the job they did. The support they need is not likes on social media, but from their workplace.

We are coming up on the two-year anniversary of the death of Private Sean Rooney in South Lebanon. The death of a colleague overseas is one of the most traumatising events that can befall a serving soldier, not least because it happens in a vacuum, where the normal support networks of friends and family are unavailable.

In the immediate aftermath of Pte Rooneys death, the Defence Forces deployed personal support services teams to Lebanon to provide support to those who served alongside him. Those teams would have stayed a short while in theatre before returning to Ireland.

Pte Rooney was killed only month into a six-month tour of duty, so his colleagues would have had to undergo the next five months with his death living very large in their memories. Some soldiers were present with him, others  in the days that followed  were directly involved in his repatriation home.

The responsibility to our troops does not end at the airport, and certainly not at the bar in Leinster House.

While the Defence Forces managed the bare minimum in addressing the psychological needs of the troops in the immediate aftermath, it is unclear what extra steps were taken in the months that followed.

More importantly, given trauma manifests itself in different ways over long periods, what steps did they take when those troops returned home in May 2023?

What steps are they taking now?

As somebody recently retired from the Defence Forces, I have no doubt it will get the first part right. The 124th Infantry Battalion will arrive home heroes and be feted as such. There will be briefings, debriefings, and leaflets handed out that will inevitably be left behind in the confetti.

There will also be much back-slapping and quite a few photographs. Whats needed though, more than anything, is follow-up. Not slick soundbites. You cant take people from their families, drop them in harm's way, then send them home to put their kids to bed, content you did your job because you got them to sign a bloody form.

There can be no talk of a life less ordinary if those who send them away do not ensure they have the softest landing possible when they get home. That responsibility does not end at the airport, and certainly not at the bar in Leinster House.
More than 30 pilot whales stranded on a beach in New Zealand have been safely returned to the ocean after conservation workers and residents helped to refloat them by lifting them on sheets.

Four of the pilot whales died, New Zealands conservation agency said.

The island nation is a whale stranding hotspot and pilot whales are especially prolific stranders.

A team was monitoring Ruakaka Beach near the city of Whangarei in New Zealands north on Monday local time to ensure there were no signs of the whales saved on Sunday stranding again, the Department of Conservation told The Associated Press.

Rescuers stand in the water as they help refloat stranded pilot whales (Nikki Hartley/New Zealand Department Of Conservation via AP)

The agency praised as incredible the efforts made by hundreds of people to help save the foundering pod.

Its amazing to witness the genuine care and compassion people have shown toward these magnificent animals, Joel Lauterbach, a Department of Conservation spokesperson, said in a statement.

This response demonstrates the deep connection we all share with our marine environment.

A Maori cultural ceremony for the three adult whales and one calf that died in the stranding took place on Monday.

New Zealands Indigenous people consider whales a taonga  a sacred treasure  of cultural significance.

New Zealand has recorded more than 5,000 whale strandings since 1840.

The largest pilot whale stranding was of an estimated 1,000 whales at the Chatham Islands in 1918, according to the Department of Conservation.

It is often not clear why strandings happen but the island nations geography is believed to be a factor.

Both the North and South Islands feature stretches of protruding coastline with shallow, sloping beaches that can confuse species such as pilot whales  which rely on echolocation to navigate.
Thousands of supporters of Pakistans imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan have defied a lockdown, tear gas and widespread arrests to head to the capital to demand his release.

The leadership of Khans party went ahead with the long march even as Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko arrived for a three-day visit. He was received at an airport near the capital by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Authorities said at least one police officer was killed and several officers and demonstrators were injured in clashes. The marchers appeared determined to reach Islamabad, where the lockdown, which has been in place for two days, has disrupted daily life.

Khan, who has been in jail for more than a year and faces more than 150 criminal cases, remains popular. His party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) says the cases are politically motivated.

A convoy of vehicles carrying protesters was expected to reach the capital later on Monday. Security officials say they expect between 9,000 and 11,000 demonstrators, while the PTI says the number will be much higher.

Supporters are demanding Khans release (AP)

Authorities said police were firing tear gas in an attempt to halt the marchers about 15 miles from the city. Video on social media showed Khan supporters donning gas masks and protective goggles.

Travel between Islamabad and other cities has become nearly impossible. Ambulances and cars were seen turning back from areas along the key Grand Trunk Road highway in Punjab province, where shipping containers were used to block roads.

Video circulating online showed some protesters operating heavy machinery to remove the containers.

We are determined, and we will reach Islamabad, though police are using tear gas to stop our march, PTI senior leader Kamran Bangash told The Associated Press. We will overcome all hurdles one by one, and our supporters are removing shipping containers from roads.

Mr Bangash also said Khans wife, Bushra Bibi, who was recently released on bail in a corruption case, will lead the march along with Ali Amin Gandapur, the chief minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Khans party remains in power.

Khans main political opponent, Mr Sharif, heads the current government.
Germany is collaborating with Lithuania and Spain to probe a plane crash near Vilnius airport, stated German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. She emphasized that a series of hybrid attacks targeting individuals and infrastructure has placed Europe on high alert.

The necessity for us, alongside our Lithuanian and Spanish partners, to seriously contemplate whether this incident was accidental or, following last weeks events, yet another hybrid occurrence reflects the volatile times we are currently experiencing, even in the heart of Europe, Ms. Baerbock remarked in Fiuggi, Italy, during her meeting with G7 counterparts.

The German authorities are closely coordinating with Lithuanian officials to uncover the details surrounding this event, she went on to say.

A DHL cargo plane crashed while attempting to land at Vilnius airport this morning, resulting in the death of one person on board, and some debris affecting a nearby residence.

The flight was operated by Swiftair on behalf of DHL and had originated from Leipzig, Germany.

According to a spokesperson for Lithuanias National Crisis Management Centre, the Boeing 737-400 went down around 3:30 am Irish time as it approached Vilnius airport.

Flightradar24 indicated that the flight departed Leipzig at 2:08 am.

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Security camera footage captured an aircraft descending behind a warehouse, followed by a bright red and orange display in the night sky and thick dark smoke billowing afterward.

Rescue services reported that the plane struck the ground, fragmented, and skidded over 100 meters. Debris also impacted a home.

In the recorded exchange between the pilots and the control tower, the pilots did not report any extraordinary events until the very last moment, said Marius Baranauskas, head of the Lithuanian National Aviation Authority.

We need to investigate the black boxes to ascertain what was occurring within the aircraft, he added.

In response to the crash, Lithuanian police and prosecutors have initiated a criminal investigation. Additionally, a specialized unit from the Justice Ministry will conduct a civil aviation inquiry, as stated by the government. Only these investigations will provide clarity regarding the actual causes of the event; speculation and conjecture will not assist in uncovering the truth, stated Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte.

A spokesperson for the Lithuanian police reported that one individual onboard, a Spanish national, lost their life, while three otherscitizens of Spain, Germany, and Lithuaniasustained injuries.

During a press conference, police noted that 12 individuals had been evacuated from the residence affected by the debris. Fortunately, there were no casualties on the ground.

Firefighters worked to extinguish the flames on the damaged building located about 1.3 kilometers north of the airport runway, and nearby streets were sealed off.

DHL has initiated its own investigation into the crash, as communicated by a spokesperson for the companys Lithuanian division.

The aircraft was carrying regular parcels. We do not have any information suggesting that any of them were suspicious, she shared.

A spokesperson for the European Union Aviation Safety Agency conveyed that it was premature to make any comments regarding the crashs causes.

Burning debris is visible following the crash in Vilnius.

The 737-400 involved in the incident was 31 years old, according to the Flightradar24 database.

Boeing is working to gather further information and is ready to offer support, as stated by a Boeing spokesperson.

Swiftair has opted not to provide any comments.

Germany is already looking into multiple fires set by incendiary devices concealed in packages at a warehouse in Leipzig earlier this year.

British police are investigating a warehouse fire in Birmingham from July, which was sparked by a package igniting, and are coordinating with other European law enforcement agencies to determine any potential connections to similar incidents.
Israels military has issued evacuation orders to residents in parts of Gaza City, triggering a new wave of displacement. Additionally, a Gaza hospital director sustained injuries due to an Israeli drone strike, according to Palestinian medics.

The recent evacuation orders for the Shejaia suburb, shared by the Israeli army spokesperson on X, previously known as Twitter, last night were attributed to Palestinian militants launching rockets from this densely populated area in northern Gaza.

For your safety, you must evacuate immediately to the south, stated the militarys announcement. Hamas armed wing claimed responsibility for the rocket attack, asserting that it targeted an Israeli army base across the border.

A Palestinian boy is seen sitting on the debris from an Israeli strike on Nuseirat refugee camp.

Video footage circulating on social and Palestinian media, which Reuters has yet to verify, depicted residents fleeing Shejaia using donkey carts and rickshaws, with many others, including children with backpacks, walking away.

In central Gaza, health officials reported that at least ten individuals have lost their lives in Israeli airstrikes targeting the urban camps of Al-Maghazi and Al-Bureij since last night.

Hospital director wounded by gunfire

In northern Gaza, health officials indicated that an Israeli drone dropped bombs on Kamal Adwan Hospital, injuring its director, Hussam Abu Safiya.

Israeli forces have been active in northern Gaza since early last month, targeting what they claim are regrouping Hamas militants.

This will not deter us from fulfilling our humanitarian mission, and we will continue this work at any cost, said Mr. Abu Safiya in a video statement shared by the health ministry.

We are being targeted daily. They shot at me recently, but this will not stop us, he added from his hospital bed.

Israeli forces allege that armed militants utilize civilian structures, including residential buildings, hospitals, and schools, for operational cover. Hamas refutes this, accusing Israeli forces of indiscriminately attacking populated areas.

Palestinians in Khan Younis in southern Gaza transport injured relatives to the hospital.

Kamal Adwan is among three hospitals in northern Gaza that are barely functioning, as the health ministry reports that Israeli forces have detained and expelled medical staff and obstructed the delivery of emergency medical aid, food, and fuel supplies.

In recent weeks, Israel claims to have facilitated the provision of medical and fuel supplies and the transfer of patients from northern Gaza hospitals in collaboration with international agencies like the World Health Organization.

Residents in three besieged towns of northern GazaJabalia, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanounreported that Israeli forces have demolished hundreds of homes since resuming operations in an area that Israel previously declared clear of militants.

Palestinians contend that Israel appears intent on permanently depopulating the region to establish a buffer zone along Gazas northern border, a claim that Israel denies.

According to Gaza officials, Israels military campaign has claimed more than 44,000 lives, forcibly displaced nearly all of the enclaves 2.3 million residents at least once, and reduced large areas of the narrow coastal territory to rubble.

The conflict ignited after a cross-border assault by Hamas-led militants on 7 October 2023, resulting in around 1,200 fatalities and over 250 hostages taken back to Gaza, as reported by Israeli statistics.
Philippines VP Issues Stark Warning to Marcos Jr: Assassination Threat if She is Harmed

Security agencies in the Philippines have increased safety measures following Vice President Sara Dutertes statement indicating she would have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr assassinated if something were to happen to her.

In a stark indication of the growing divide between the two most influential political families in the Southeast Asian country, Ms. Duterte revealed at a conference that she had contacted an assassin and instructed him to eliminate Mr. Marcos, his wife, and the speaker of the Philippine House should she be killed.

I have spoken with someone. I said, if I get killed, go after BBM (Marcos), (First Lady) Liza Araneta, and (Speaker) Martin Romualdez. No joke. No joke, Ms. Duterte stated during a briefing filled with profanity.

She continued, I instructed him not to stop until they are dead, and he confirmed he would proceed.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr is shown with Sara Duterte following their inauguration in 2022.

Ms. Duterte did not mention any specific threats against her person.

The Presidential Security Command announced that they have intensified and reinforced security protocols.

We are also in close coordination with law enforcement agencies to identify, prevent, and combat any potential threats to the president and the first family, the statement read.

Police Chief Rommel Francisco Marbil reported that he has ordered an immediate investigation, stressing that any direct or indirect threat to his life must be treated with the utmost urgency.

The Presidential Communications Office stated that any threat to the Presidents life should always be taken seriously.

Ms. Dutertes office has not yet responded to requests for comments regarding these statements.

Experts believe her forthright comments will not diminish her political backing. Jean Encinas-Franco, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines, noted, If anything, this type of rhetoric strengthens her connection to the aspects her fathers supporters admired.

The daughter of Mr. Marcos predecessor, Ms. Duterte stepped down from the Marcos cabinet in June, while still serving as vice president, marking the demise of a powerful political alliance that helped both her and Mr. Marcos, the son and namesake of the former authoritarian leader, achieve significant electoral victories in 2022.

Protesters in July showcased effigies of Mr. Marcos and Ms. Duterte engaged in conflict.

Speaker Martin Romualdez, who is Mr. Marcos cousin, has drastically reduced the budget for the vice presidential office by nearly two-thirds.

Ms. Dutertes remarks are the latest in a recent series of dramatic indications of a rift at the highest levels of Philippine politics. In October, she accused Mr. Marcos of incompetence and imagined violent actions against him.

The two families are currently at odds over issues such as foreign policy and former President Rodrigo Dutertes controversial war on drugs.

In the Philippines, the vice president is elected independently of the president and has no formal responsibilities.

Many vice presidents have engaged in social development initiatives, while some have received appointments to cabinet positions.

The country is preparing for mid-term elections in May, which is viewed as a crucial test of Mr. Marcos popularity and a key opportunity for him to solidify his power and cultivate a successor before his single six-year term concludes in 2028.

Historically, political violence in the Philippines has included the assassination of Benigno Aquino, a senator who was a fierce opponent of the elder Marcos, as he returned from political exile in 1983.
Crestview, Fl. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature)  The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has long been regarded as the preeminent domestic law enforcement agency in the United States, entrusted with protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution. Over the course of my 25-year FBI career, I have seen a shift in the bureaus practices in domestic surveillance and this shift has sparked serious concerns about possible abuses of power, political bias, and violations of privacy and civil liberties. What many people currently find troubling are the FBIs surveillance activities that appear to target political views and religious beliefs. While the FBI generally justifies its actions as necessary in support of national security, a closer examination reveals some significant implications for how the public might view the FBIs perceived objectivity and social trust.

Political Views and Surveillance

Concerns about the FBIs domestic surveillance history have been fueled by controversial surveillance programs that targeted individuals and groups based on their political ideologies or religious affiliations. Maybe the most concerning of these historical FBI surveillance programs was the COINTELPRO (Counterintelligence Program) initiative, which was active from 1956 to 1971. Under COINTELPRO, the FBI infiltrated, surveilled, and disrupted civil rights organizations, anti-war movements, and other so-called progressive groups. The FBI surveilled social figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. The Black Panther Party was also subjected to intense scrutiny. These FBI surveillance targets may not have been monitored for criminal activity but, instead, for challenging social norms and advocating for change. Some historical views hold that the FBIs motivations for these actions were likely based on political bias rather than real security concerns. A review of historical documents from the COINTELPRO era revealed that this program actually sought to neutralize social leaders who were perceived as threats to the political status quo.

More recently, the FBI has been reprimanded in various circles for reported surveillance of parents who protested against or disagreed with school board policies, decisions, and actions. According to media reports, the FBIs counterterrorism and criminal investigative programs created an EDUOFFICIALS threat designator to track case activities that involved threats against school board administrators, board members, teachers, and staff. In October 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memo directing the FBI to address threats of violence against school officials. This letter was generated in response to a National School Boards Association letter requesting federal assistance to address threats against school board members. Subsequently, whistleblowers revealed that the FBI opened a number of investigations into parents who were identified as protesting prevailing education policies, to include parents who were upset over previous mask mandates. While the FBI denied this type of activity, there have been repeated calls by national leaders for additional investigation. In the end, the FBIs perceived targeting of people or groups who dissented from school policies and political positions could have undermined democratic principles, chilled free speech, and fostered a culture of fear in our otherwise free and open society.



Christopher M Piehota, Wanted: The FBI I Once Knew (Freiling LLC, 2024). Available at Barnes and Noble and at Amazon.com .

Religious Views and Surveillance

In addition, the FBI has also been accused of religious profiling in its investigative practices. Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the bureau intensified its focus on Muslim communities, often equating religious practices with potential threats. The FBIs reported use of undercover informants in mosques and Islamic community centers were cited as examples of this troubling approach. Looking back, it was found that a number of FBI informants may have erroneously targeted individuals with no evidence of criminal or terror activity and created an atmosphere of distrust within communities.

In a more recent issue, the FBI received a great deal of negative attention when a leaked internal intelligence document warned that radical traditionalist Catholics pose an extremist threat. This memo discussed monitoring racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists and their possible interest in Radical-Traditionalist Catholicism. Basically, this FBI intelligence document noted a growing overlap between the far-right white nationalist movement and Radical Transnational Catholicism, which was described as adhering to anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT, and white supremacy ideologies. People were shocked at this type of FBI investigative position and the FBI Director confirmed the document was removed from bureau systems, as it did not meet FBI standards. Why did FBI managers allow that kind of intelligence document to be authored to begin with? Maybe, the FBI organizational culture and resultant views and practices merit a critical review for other types of potential bias or shortfalls in objectivity? Such views and practices can alienate affected religious communities, and further exacerbate societal division. We can plainly see how FBI surveillance and intelligence activities can raise questions about the bureaus observance of the constitutional protections afforded under the First Amendment.

Conclusion

The FBIs domestic surveillance activities can have far-reaching consequences for the preservation of our democratic governance and civil liberties. Any actual targeting of individuals or groups based on political views or religious beliefs can undermine our foundational principles of freedom of speech, assembly, and religion. These principles are essential to sustaining our democratic processes. Also, questionable FBIs surveillance activities can erode public trust in law enforcement and domestic security operations. The chilling effect of biased or poorly managed domestic surveillance activities cannot be overstated with targeted people and groups. Knowing that peoples lives and activities may be monitored by the government due to political activism or religious practices can result in self-censorship, stifling dissenting opinions, and weakening of the fabric of our civil society.

The FBI has an awesome responsibility in balancing its domestic surveillance practices and operational effectiveness with the preservation of our foundational principles of democracy, privacy, and justice. While national security is an undeniable priority, security cannot and should not be had at the expense of civil liberties and constitutional rights. The examples above can give the FBI a chance to re-evaluate its current organizational culture, leadership environment, and operational practices in how it is meeting the needs of the American people. Only by addressing these issues with honesty, objectivity, and humility can the FBI do right for the American people. The American people who provide the public trust that the FBI operates under. This is the same public trust that demands that the FBI fulfill its mandate to protect all communities and uphold the Constitution without bias, political hedging, or religious prejudice.



Press Release:

November 8, 2024  Chris Piehota, a 25-year FBI Special Agent who retired as one of the bureaus eight most senior career executives, shares his personal observations regarding the FBIs organizational challenges. He shares his thoughts on FBI shortfalls in leadership, cultural norms, and operational decision-making that contributed to the FBIs current diminished state.

Wanted: The FBI I Once Knew (at Barnes and Noble in paper, at Amazon on Kindle) provides an insiders view and tells a cautionary tale of how the FBI, once one of the worlds highest-performing organizations, could fall victim to leadership atrophy, cultural erosion, complacency, and core mission distraction. Claims of FBI political polarization and agency misconduct have become the norm. Politicians have discussed the bureaus disbanding and the American public is losing faith in what was once one of our most trusted and revered institutions.

Wanted covers how the FBI fundamentally changed after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, and shifted away from its roots. These drastic shifts in FBI leadership approaches and organizational philosophies negatively impacted what was one of our most respected federal agencies. Wanted provides the authors insights and recommendations on how to put our FBI back on a path to restored confidence and credibility in its service to the American people.

Todays FBI could benefit greatly from a return to the leadership models, cultural traits, and operational practices that made it great. To some degree, these factors were deprioritized, watered down, and sometimes discarded for new-era management approaches embraced by corporate America (Excerpt from Wanted  The FBI I Once Knew).
( Middle East Monitor )  French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Sunday said France would implement international law in relation to the International Criminal Courts (ICC) arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Anadolu Agency reports.

France is committed to international justice and its independence, Barrot said in an interview for France 3 TV channel.

We have been saying from the very beginning that Israel has the right to defend itself within the framework of respect for international law.

Each time Israel violates international law, blocking access to aid, bombing civilians, forcibly displacing them, establishing colonies in the West Bank.

He added they strongly condemn these actions.

Asked if he supported the ICCs arrest warrant for Netanyahu, Barrot said: I cannot put myself in the position of the court in any circumstance.

Barrot argued that the ICCs arrest warrant amounted to the formalization of the accusation against certain politicians.

Regarding the question of whether Netanyahu would be arrested if he visited France, Barrot said: France will always apply international law.

The ICC, in a landmark move on Thursday, issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel has launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas in October last year, killing more than 44,000 people, most of them women and children.

It has also engaged in cross-border warfare with Lebanon, launching an air campaign in late September against what it claims are Hezbollah targets.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on Gaza.

Middle East Monitor
Highlights:

Indicated resources of 402 million tons containing: 2.5 billion pounds of copper 21 million ounces of silver 140,000 ounces of gold

Inferred Resource of 64 million tons containing: 394 million pounds of copper



Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 25, 2024) - US Copper Corp (TSXV: USCU) (OTCQB: USCUF) (FSE: C730) ("US Copper" or the "Company") is pleased to announce an updated Mineral Resource Estimate ("Resource") on its entire 100% controlled Moonlight-Superior Copper Project in Northeast California.

This Resource will be used for the development of an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") on the Moonlight-Superior Project which is now anticipated in early January, 2025.

The updated Resource (see Table 1 below) comprises an open-pit Indicated Resource of 402 million tons grading 0.31% Cu for total contained metal of 2.5 billion pounds of copper, representing a 99% increase in the Indicated Resource Category for contained copper from our 2018 Resource Estimate (see April 12, 2018 press release). This updated Resource also includes an additional Inferred Resource of 64 million tons grading 0.31% copper for total contained metal of 394 million pounds of copper.

Management Commentary

Stephen Dunn, CEO of US Copper, commented: "We are extremely pleased with the results of the updated Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") for the Moonlight-Superior project. The overall copper resource now exceeds 2.5 billion pounds in the Indicated category, and our Moonlight-Superior Project is showing excellent potential to become a key American copper producer."

Mr. Dunn continued: "This MRE will provide the basis for a Preliminary Economic Assessment, which we expect will be available to release in early January 2025. As the world is facing growing supply/demand imbalance of this critical mineral, we strongly believe that this important asset could become a core component of the United States' critical mineral development strategy that aims to provide essential metals for the energy transition and ongoing demand growth from many economic sectors."

New Mineral Resource Estimate

The Resource Estimate is summarized in Table 1 below. The Resource Estimate was prepared by Terre Lane, of Global Resource Engineering, Denver, Colorado ("GRE"). Ms. Lane is independent of US Copper Corp. A technical report prepared in accordance with NI43-101 (the "Technical Report") will be filed on the Company's website and SEDAR+ within 45 days of the date of this press release.

Key assumptions reflected in the MRE are detailed below for each deposit and will be further described in the Technical Report.

This estimate is supported by more than 200,000 feet of historic drilling on the Project, conducted by Placer Amex, US Copper, and 3 other junior exploration companies, as well as a resampling and database validation program undertaken by the Company.

Table 1

Deposit Material Cutoff Grade Units Mass

(million tons) Cu Grade (%) Cu Content ('000 lb) Ag Grade (ppm) Ag Content (troy oz.) Au Grade (ppm) Au Content (troy oz.) Indicated Engels Oxide 0.16 % 2.39 0.81 40,861 7.72 565,232 0.055 4,050 Transition 0.16 % 7.52 0.50 79,941 4.75 1,093,948 0.042 10,194 Sulfide 10.45 NSR/ton 8.32 0.46 76,750 5.83 1,415,487 0.056 13,585 Lambs Ridge Oxide 0.16 % 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.000 0 Transition 0.16 % 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.000 0 Sulfide 10.45 NSR/ton 1.61 0.27 8,614 0.00 0 0.000 0 Moonlight Oxide 0.16 % 1.35 0.36 10,244 3.77 154,364 0.128 5,460 Transition 0.16 % 25.71 0.33 179,071 3.85 2,972,073 0.037 30,083 Sulfide 10.45 NSR/ton 232.35 0.30 1,390,461 1.87 12,674,340 0.009 61,721 Copper Mountain Oxide 0.16 % 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.000 0 Transition 0.16 % 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.000 0 Sulfide 10.45 NSR/ton 3.94 0.32 24,936 0.00 0 0.000 0 Superior Oxide 0.16 % 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.000 0 Transition 0.16 % 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.000 0 Sulfide 10.45 NSR/ton 119.64 0.30 722,893 0.81 2,817,086 0.004 14,949 Total Oxide 0.16 % 3.74 0.68 51,104 6.59 719,596 0.087 9,510 Transition 0.16 % 33.23 0.39 259,012 4.20 4,066,021 0.042 40,277 Sulfide 10.45 NSR/ton 365.86 0.30 2,223,654 1.58 16,906,913 0.008 90,255 Total 402.83 0.31 2,533,771 1.85 21,692,531 0.012 140,042 Inferred Engels Oxide 0.16 % 0.15 1.18 3,740 11.91 55,046 0.010 48 Transition 0.16 % 1.73 0.49 18,287 5.20 281,158 0.019 1,053 Sulfide 10.45 NSR/ton 6.93 0.38 52,445 5.08 1,027,412 0.041 8,280 Lambs Ridge Oxide 0.16 % 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.000 0 Transition 0.16 % 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.000 0 Sulfide 10.45 NSR/ton 3.46 0.30 20,954 0.00 0 0.000 0 Moonlight Oxide 0.16 % 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.000 0 Transition 0.16 % 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.000 0 Sulfide 10.45 NSR/ton 30.82 0.28 175,635 0.09 81,857 0.000 35 Copper Mountain Oxide 0.16 % 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.000 0 Transition 0.16 % 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.000 0 Sulfide 10.45 NSR/ton 3.90 0.27 21,320 0.00 0 0.000 0 Superior Oxide 0.16 % 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.000 0 Transition 0.16 % 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.000 0 Sulfide 10.45 NSR/ton 17.60 0.29 101,817 0.01 2,681 0.000 23 Total Oxide 0.16 % 0.15 1.25 3,740 12.64 55,046 0.011 48 Transition 0.16 % 1.73 0.53 18,287 5.58 281,158 0.021 1,053 Sulfide 10.45 NSR/ton 62.71 0.30 372,171 0.61 1,111,950 0.005 8,338 Total 64.59 0.31 394,199 0.77 1,448,154 0.005 9,440

*Notes:

The effective date of the Mineral Resource is September 15, 2024. The Qualified Person for the Mineral Resource Estimate is Terre Lane of GRE. Mineral resources are reported at a 0.16% Cu cutoff for oxide and transition material and at a 10.45 NSR/ton cutoff for sulfide material. The oxide and transition cutoff is calculated based on a long-term copper price of US$4.00/lb; assumed combined operating costs of US$7.50/ton (process and G&A); metallurgical recovery of 75% for copper. The sulfide cutoff is calculated as the breakeven NSR, which is equal to the combined process and G&A costs for the sulfide material. Mineral resources are captured within an optimized pit shell and meet the test of reasonable prospects for economic extraction by open pit. The optimization used mining costs of US$2.35/ton mined and a 45 pit slope. Rounding may result in apparent differences when summing tons, grade, and contained metal content.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical content of this press release has been reviewed and approved by George Cole, M.Sc., Director of US Copper who is a "Qualified Person" as defined in NI 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. George Cole is a Registered Professional Geologist through AIPG (CPG-11687).

About US Copper Corp

US Copper controls approximately 10 square miles of patented and unpatented federal mining claims in the Light's Creek Copper District in Plumas County, NE California; essentially, the entire District. The District contains substantial copper (silver) sulfide and copper oxide resources in three deposits - Moonlight, Superior and Engels, as well as several partially tested and untested exploration targets.

The Superior and Engels Mines operated from about 1915 to 1930 producing over 161 million pounds of copper from over 4 million tons of rock containing 2.2% copper with silver and gold credits.

The Moonlight deposit was discovered by Placer Amex during the 1960s and a resource was calculated after the drilling of over 400 holes. A development decision was made but then put on hold in 1972 when copper prices were weak. US Copper has owned the project since 2013 and has advanced the project with 3 different drill programs and a number of engineering studies. Further details can be found on both the Company's website at www.uscoppercorp.com and SEDAR+ at sedarplus.ca under the US Copper Corp profile.

For Further Information Contact:

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.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws and regulations, including statements regarding the future activities of the Company. Forward-looking statements reflect the current beliefs and expectations of management and are identified by the use of words including "will", "hopes", "anticipates", "expected to", "plans", "planned", "intends" and other similar words. Actual results may differ significantly. The achievement of the results expressed in forward-looking statements is subject to a number of risks, including those described in the Company's management discussion and analysis as filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities which are available at www.sedarplus.ca. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon forward-looking statements.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / November 25, 2024 /Hannan Metals Limited ("Hannan" or the "Company") (TSXV:HAN) (OTC PINK:HANNF) announces receipt of environmental approval for its first drill program at the Belen prospect, part of the Company's 100%-owned Valiente copper-gold project in Peru (Figure 1).

Highlights:

Received Declaracion de Impacto Ambiental ("DIA") or Environmental Impact Statement from Peru's Ministry of Mines

Approval covers 40 drill platforms across 702 hectares (area of direct impact: 1.69 hectares)

The Belen permit area encompasses three key prospects within an 8 km by 2 km trend (Figure 2): Ricardo Herrera (porphyry copper-gold) Vista Alegre (epithermal gold) Sortilegio (porphyry copper-gold)

DIA approval received in November 2024, following January 2024 application, reflecting improved permitting conditions in Peru

Michael Hudson, CEO, stated: "The approval of our second DIA in Peru marks a milestone for Hannan's work in the Andean back arc. Our maiden drill program at Belen will deploy up to 40 platforms to test the extensive porphyry copper-gold and epithermal gold mineral systems for the first time across the Ricardo Herrera, Vista Alegre, and Sortilegio prospects, while we continue our groundwork programs at Previsto.

"We are grateful for our employees' and external experts' detailed work, the strong support from local communities during public participation meetings, and the guidance from various government agencies where we have encouragingly seen permitting times in Peru shorten significantly."

Project Overview

The Valiente project represents a newly discovered metallogenic province in Central Eastern Peru, where Hannan is prospecting for Miocene-age porphyry copper-gold deposits in a back-arc setting. The DIA-approved area represents 4% of Hannan's total Valiente landholding.

Next Steps

Reapply for CIRA (Certificate of non-existence of archaeological remains) from the Peruvian Ministry of Culture - expected by end of December 2024. Submit permit application to initiate activities in Q1 2025. Mobilize drill rig(s) at the start of the dry season in Q2 2025.

About the Valiente Project

At the Valiente project, Hannan is targeting Miocene age porphyry copper-gold in a back-arc setting in Central Eastern Peru. Hannan considers the belt to be a potential new metallogenic province of Peru. Located far inboard of the conventional porphyry settings, the project shows regional similarities to deposits such as the large Bajo de Alumbrera copper-gold porphyry in Argentina.

The Valiente Cu-Au project represents a small proportion (4%) of Hannan's total landholding at Valiente.

In 1984 Ingemmet, the Peruvian Geological Survey, conducted mapping in the central part of the Central Cordillera in the Departments of Huanuco and Ucayali. The area was sporadically explored during the 1990's by Gitennes, Newcrest, BHP, WMC and others but records are sparse. At this time, access to the area was restricted because of unpredictable security conditions and poor infrastructure.

From 2020 to 2021, Hannan launched a greenfields program for porphyry and epithermal gold deposits in the high jungle areas of the Eastern Cordillera of Peru, which included regional database compilation, target generation, and field mapping. Hannan also conducted regional stream sediment sampling (fine clay fraction). The target generation permitted definition of prospective area, one of which was the Valiente block located along the eastern flank of the Central Cordillera, Department of Ucayali.

The Belen Copper-Gold Porphyry Project

The Belen prospect, 100% owned by Hannan is located 19 km east of the city of Tingo Maria, in central Peru. The deposit site is characterized by steep topography on the eastern flank of the Central Cordillera with elevations between 800 m and 2,000 m above sea level ("a.s.l."). The project was discovered in 2021 during an extensive greenfields program initiated by Hannan.

Peru has been a major copper and gold producer since precolonial times. Currently known gold deposits include orogenic gold, porphyry Cu-Au, porphyry Au, transitional porphyry-epithermal, epithermal, and placer gold. The Belen project may represent a transitional porphyry-epithermal style within the newly discovered Valiente metallogenic belt of the central eastern Andes. The Valiente project is located further east than most of the conventional Andean porphyry settings and shows regional similarities to deposits such as the large Bajo de Alumbrera copper-gold porphyry in Argentina. It is interpreted that Valiente was formed in a tectonically favourable area associated with an arc-oblique wrench fault system, that may have aided the ascent of oceanic arc-related magmas into the transfer zone so far inboard from the magmatic arc.

A 5,176-line km airborne magnetic and radiometric survey has been completed and processed at the Valiente project. The survey covers the entire 94,500 ha of Hannan's 100%-owned mining concessions across the project area. Hannan's preliminary evaluation of the airborne data demonstrates at least 18 magnetic anomalies of significance across the project. Magnetic and radiometric data were recorded simultaneously during the survey. Both data sets are instrumental for targeting porphyry deposits due to the presence of magnetic minerals (such as magnetite) and potassic alteration (from minerals such as biotite and K-feldspar), often associated with the core of porphyry mineral systems. A strong correlation is observed with known mineralized areas and magnetic and potassic radiometric anomalies such as at the Belen prospect with two porphyry targets at Ricardo Herrera and Sortilegio and Valiente Norte, where four magnetic targets have been identified.

The Belen Cu-Au target contains a linked porphyry copper-gold and epithermal gold mineral system which include a number of prospect areas described below in more detail.

Ricardo Herrera Copper-Gold Porphyry Target

A linked porphyry copper-gold and epithermal gold mineral system has been identified at Belen within an 8 km by 2 km trend. Recent detailed field work has identified a leached copper-gold porphyry with well-developed quartz veining at upper topographic levels and evidence for an enriched chalcocite blanket sampled over 1 km within lower lying creeks at the Ricardo Herrera Copper-Gold Porphyry Target. This coincides with a highly anomalous Cu-Au-Mo soil anomaly over a 1,600 m by 800 m area above a mapped and radiometrically dated Miocene-age porphyry intrusion.

The Ricardo Herrera porphyry stock was intruded in several stages, broadly termed early, intermineral, and late, all interpreted within a relatively short time interval. The early stages are hornblende feldspar porphyries of andesitic composition, whereas the late stages consist of unaltered feldspar porphyries of andesitic composition. The intrusions caused contact metamorphism and hydrothermal alteration that partially obliterated the original texture and composition of the sedimentary country rocks. Two early porphyries are identified. The first being an intermediate argillic (chlorite from secondary biotite-white micas) with relicts of potassic alteration (secondary biotite-magnetite) with "EB" type veinlets (early biotite), M-type (magnetite) veinlets and few A-type veinlets (quartz). The second early porphyry intrusion is characterized by A-type veinlets, jarosite-goethite iron oxide veinlets with phyllic alteration (quartz-white sericite), argillic alteration (kaolinite). The intermineral stock is dominated by supergene argillic alteration and propylitic alteration (chlorite, epidote).

In porphyry copper systems, the area with the highest copper grade often corresponds to the early porphyries. The focus of the detailed geological mapping has therefore been to identify this area and to sample it with systematic rock sampling.

At Ricardo Herrera the combined early hornblende feldspar porphyry is at least covering an area of 850 m x 250 m on the surface. But limited exposures, that are mostly constrained to creeks and rare outcrops, make it difficult to define the true area. Observed copper minerals include pyrite, chalcopyrite, chalcocite, molybdenite, neotocite and chrysocolla mineralization. The intermineral hornblende feldspar porphyry contains supergene argillic alteration and minor neotocite. Moderate to pervasive secondary biotite alteration is common throughout the host rock. Strong chloritization and pyritization is observed replacing the secondary biotite.

At this initial stage of prospecting at the Ricardo Herrera porphyry target, the early porphyry occupies a surface area of 0.21 km2 which is comparable to the 22.37 Moz gold La Colosa deposit in Colombia where the early diorite porphyry occupies a surface area of 0.35 km2.

Channel sampling at Ricardo Herrera has been focused on creeks where outcrop exposures are good. In many places access is a limiting factor of what can be sampled. Most channels have to date been taken from zones peripheral to what is interpreted to be the core of the system. The results are summarized in Table 1. Results from 34 individual channels include 5 m @ 0.11% Cu and 5 ppm Mo. This channel is open to either side and is from the strongly leached and weathered exposure of the early diorite porphyry. Fractures are rich in jarosite and goethite after pyrite and chalcopyrite. Importantly, the best and highest-grade results have been achieved from the leached early porphyry. The results are also low in manganese therefore interpreted to be representative of a leached porphyry system. Channel sampling continues.

Results from 13.7 km Induced Polarization ("IP") geophysical survey at Ricardo Herrera prospect were released during the period. The survey identified two chargeable zones corresponding to two mapped porphyry units. Each represents a significant exploration target. The second target demonstrates the greatest potential with a chargeable zone over 800 m x 600 m and to at least 500 m depth which remains open.

Vista Alegre Epithermal gold target

Gold mineralization at Vista Alegre is dominated by siliceous boulders, up to 1m3 in size and show a strong correlation between milky quartz, pyrite, chalcopyrite and arsenopyrite. Gold mineralization has also been recognized in strongly weathered diorite outcrops exposed in a creek where gold is hosted by sporadic and discontinuous sulphide veins dominated by iron oxides and with partly preserved pyrite. Grid soil sampling on 100m x 100m and 25m x 25m spacing has identified two gold trends, one that overlaps with the mineralized boulders and the regional Andean thrust fault. The other is located on top of a hill in an area mapped as sandstone and mudstones. The combined strike of both gold trends is 3km.

Previous work has also included:

Systematic 100 m x 100 m soil sampling program. Two strong gold anomalous trends that extend for 1,800 m and 970 m respectively have been identified. Assays have been received to date from 376 samples covering an area of 2 km x 1.7 km. Values range from <0.001 ppm to 0.094 ppm, average 0.0056 g/t in soil. The gold anomaly correlates very well with several elements including arsenic.

Soil anomalies are coincident with gold found in silicious milky quartz sulfide boulders up to m 3 in size. To date 19 boulders >0.1 ppm Au have been sampled over a trend of 1.6 km that is parallel to the main gold anomaly. A total 48 rock samples from boulders average 0.44 g/t Au, 2.2 g/t Ag, and range from below detection limit to 2.72 g/t Au and 44 g/t Ag.

Two gold mineralized outcrops have also been located 270 m apart. The mineralization is hosted by 5 - 30 cm long sulphide veins in an intrusive host rock with magnetite and iron oxides. The mineralization is correlated with high values of copper and molybdenum. The outcrops assayed: Grab sample: 1.17 g/t Au, 0.67 % Cu and 33.4 ppm Mo. Channel sample: 0.3 m @ 3.21 g/t Ag, 0.57 % Cu and 22 ppm Mo



Sortilegio

The bedrock of the Sortilegio area is characterized by a multistage intrusive event with complex intercutting relationships. The event was dated (U-Pb) by Hannan in May 2023 to belong to the fertile Miocene epoch (21.8-21.2 Ma). The rocks are composed of diorite to monzonite intrusions, gabbro pyroxenite/lamprophyre and a late stage of megacryst k-feldpar rich monzonite. The intercutting relationships are mostly gradational, and the youngest rocks are the gabbro pyroxenite/lamprophyre and monzonite. The monzonite is mostly K-feldspar megacrystic with a pegmatitic texture. The youngest rocks mapped are thin porphyritic dykes and veins and they are inferred to be contemporary with the mineralization.

The mineralization overprints all rocks in the area. It is characterized by a zoned stockwork of goethite-hematite veinlets with relicts of sulphides. The zoning is marked by the intensity of the veinlets/m and vein brecciation in the contact of the k-feldspar megacrystic monzonite. The goethite-hematite veins have formed after primary copper sulfides and represent a leached part of the system, with minor remnants of chalcopyrite-pyrite still present. Magmatic-hydrothermal breccias are often important hosts in alkalic systems.

Detailed mapping at Sortilegio has demonstrated a leached alkalic porphyry style copper mineralization over an area of 1,800 m by 1,000 m area. Most notable is a stockwork of goethite veinlets overprinting all phaneritic rocks with six core zones with >20 veinlets/m. Lower intensity veining, marked by 10 to 20 veinlets/m envelope the core zone and form a halo to the higher-grade mineralization. High-grade copper-gold bearing massive goethite boulders with remnants of secondary biotite with one boulder assaying 16.0% Cu and 4.4 g/t Au are interpreted to be sourced from structurally controlled mineralization within these core zones.

Strong indications are also emerging of a 4 km long skarn hosted gold-base metal target (the Belen Skarn zone) north and east of Sortilegio, expanding the footprint of the mineral system to cover 10 km. The soil anomalous trend is parallel to an Andean thrust fault and initial soil data suggest a strike >4 km. 190 soil samples have been analyzed with pXRF and 90 samples with fire assay from the area with results ranging from 6 ppm Zn to 2,031 ppm Zn and averaging 109 ppm Zn, 2 ppm Pb to 266 ppm Pb and averaging 18 ppm Pb and <0.001 g/t Au to 0.103 /t Au and averaging 0.008 g/t Au.

Technical Background

All samples were collected by Hannan geologists. Samples were transported to ALS in Lima via third party services using traceable parcels. At the laboratory, rock samples were prepared and analyzed by standard methods. The sample preparation involved crushing 70% to less than 2 mm, riffle split off 250g, pulverize split to better than 85% passing 75 microns. Samples were analyzed by method ME-MS61, a four-acid digest preformed on 0.25g of the sample to quantitatively dissolve most geological materials. Analysis is via ICP-MS. Channel samples are considered representative of the in-situ mineralization samples and sample widths quoted approximate the true width of mineralization, while grab samples are selective by nature and are unlikely to represent average grades on the property. Gold was analyzed by ALS in Lima using a standard sample preparation and 25g fire assay sample charge.

About Hannan Metals Limited (TSXV:HAN) (OTCPK: HANNF)

Hannan Metals Limited is a natural resources and exploration company developing sustainable resources of metal needed to meet the transition to a low carbon economy. Over the last decade, the team behind Hannan has forged a long and successful record of discovering, financing, and advancing mineral projects in Europe and Peru.

Mr. Michael Hudson FAusIMM, Hannan's Chairman and CEO, a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release.

On behalf of the Board, "Michael Hudson"

Michael Hudson, Chairman & CEO Further Information

www.hannanmetals.com

1305 - 1090 West Georgia St., Vancouver, BC, V6E 3V7

Mariana Bermudez, Corporate Secretary,

+1 (604) 685 9316, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain disclosure contained in this news release may constitute forward-looking information or forward-looking statements, within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. These statements may relate to this news release and other matters identified in the Company's public filings. In making the forward-looking statements the Company has applied certain factors and assumptions that are based on the Company's current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to: the political environment in which the Company operates continuing to support the development and operation of mining projects; the threat associated with outbreaks of viruses and infectious diseases; risks related to negative publicity with respect to the Company or the mining industry in general; planned work programs; permitting; and community relations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news.
VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 25, 2024 /CNW/ - Black Mammoth Metals Corporation (TSXV: BMM) (OTC: LQRCF) ("Black Mammoth" or the "Company") is pleased to announce silver, lead and gold values from rock chip sampling at its Leadore Silver-Lead property ("Leadore") in Lemhi County, Idaho. The new samples containing up to 2160 g/t (69.7 opt) silver and over 20% lead are accompanied by gold grades ranging from hundreds of ppb to 1 g/t (see Table 1). These samples confirm historical mining and drilling data, and the Company plans to evaluate the Property for a potentially larger and higher-grade target.

Location:

The Leadore property with the historical Leadville, Kimmel and Baby Joe mines is located in the Junction Mining District in Lemhi County and is situated along the southwestern base of the Beaverhead Mountains, 80 kms SE of Salmon, Idaho (see Figure 1). Leadore has year-long access and is adjacent to a paved highway.

Claims Position:

The Company has recently expanded the Leadore claims position through staking, now totaling 74 Federal lode mining claims (1528 acres, 618 hectares approximately). The claims in the area of known mineralization and near the three historical mines are administered by the Bureau of Land Management, with part of the current claims position administered by the US Forest Service.

Past Operators:

The Leadville mine was established in 1904, and the first recorded production was in 1907 when a high-grade shipment was made. The three mines were operated intermittently and on a small scale until 1930. In 2012, an operator drilled six core holes to confirm historic drill assays and to test the size and extent of disseminated silver-lead mineralization in the footwall of the Leadville fault. The drilling was successful in achieving these goals and a new high-grade silver-lead mineralized zone was discovered.

Mineralization:

The silver-lead mineralization appears to be associated with a microbrecciated and sheared cataclastic granite porphyry along the contact with the underlying carbonate rocks. It is believed that the main mineralized zone remains open down-dip of this interpreted shear zone with repeated mineralized parallel structures possible along the range front.

Black Mammoth intends to conduct an Induced Polarization (IP) survey in 2024 and additional sampling and mapping campaigns to refine drill targets.

Acquisition Terms (in USD):

Black Mammoth optioned 11 federal mining claims (the "Option") from a private vendor (the "Vendor") in April 2024, covering the area of known mineralization around the three historical mines by making an aggregate of $100,000 in cash payments in accordance with the following schedule. The Option was considered a non-core asset:

Cash Payment Payment Date Status

$10,000 at signing paid

$30,000 1st anniversary -

$30,000 2nd anniversary -

$30,000 3rd anniversary -

$100,000 Total

There are no royalties, work commitment amounts, finder's fees or share compensation in connection with the Option.

Sampling Program:

The sampling program consisted of 38 rock chip samples collected and delivered to ALS Global in Elko, NV during October 2024; and analyzed using the following prep and analytical procedures as described in the ALS Global 2024 price list: Prep 31Y, Au-ICP22 (Using a 50gram charge, FA ICP-AES finish), ME MS41 (Ultra Trace ICP-MS). Over limit samples for Ag also were analyzed using Ag-OG46 and Ag-GRA21(30gram charge FA-Gravimetric finish). Over limit samples for Pb were analyzed using Pb-0G46.

About Black Mammoth Metals Corporation:

In 2024, Black Mammoth Metals acquired a 100% interest in:

East Reveille Gold property , Nye County, NV ,

, , America Mine Gold property , San Bernardino, CA ,

, , Quito Gold property , Lander County, NV

, South Ravenswood and Callaghan Gold districts, 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 or verified the historical information.

On behalf of the board,

"Dustin Henderson"

Dustin Henderson, BBA

President & CEO

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.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 25, 2024) - Pacific Empire Minerals Corp. (TSXV: PEMC) ("Pacific Empire", "PEMC" or the "Company"), a British Columbia copper-gold explorer, is pleased to announce that it has finalized drill targets and a corresponding diamond drilling strategy at its flagship Trident property, located 50 km west of Centerra Golds Mt. Milligan Mine.

Highlights

The updated drill program proposes a initial fence of 3-5 drill holes moving from south to north across the target area in addition to one hole testing a potential high grade breccia pipe.

Updated targeting incorporates the orientation of regional stratigraphy which dips roughly 20o to the south and suggests that the orientation of the main porphyry target should dip 70o to the north.

Based on this interpretation the orientation of drill holes for the upcoming drill program should be dipping 70o to the north, which allows the target to be tested most effectively.

"In designing and further refining the strategy for the upcoming drill program at Trident, it is critical to understand the orientation of a potential porphyry ore body to maximize the potential for success of our initial diamond drill program at Trident," commented Brad Peters, President, CEO & Director of Pacific Empire. "We now have a high degree of confidence that the potential porphyry target dips approximately 70 degrees to the north, and the implications from this interpretation allow us to locate future drill holes and their respective orientations to best cover the target area for rapid success."

Analysis of the regional stratigraphy in the area of the Trident and Pinnacle properties reveals that the general orientation of rocks in the area dip gently to the south at an angle of approximately 20 degrees. This has significant implications for identifying the location and orientation of the porphyry targets on both the Trident and Pinnacle properties.

Analysis of historical drill core reveals the presence of mineralized porphyry dikes that are directly responsible for the copper-gold mineralization encountered at Trident. The source and origin of these mineralized porphyry dikes has yet remained elusive. All the historical drilling at Trident has focused almost exclusively on the robust copper-gold soil geochemical anomaly that characterizes the property.

Considering the target area and the area of historical exploration is on a gentle slope, it is reasonable to assume that the source of the soil geochemical anomaly at Trident is upslope from the anomaly itself. Pacific Empire believes that the area to the north of historical drilling is the most likely location for a potential copper-gold porphyry discovery and is responsible for the robust geochemical anomaly as well as the source of the observed mineralized porphyry dikes from historical drilling.

Figure 1 - Example of mineralized porphyry dikes within a 6 m interval grading 0.87% copper (2007-2 from 74 - 80m)

Figure 2 - Schematic representation of the Primary Target area in relation to historical drilling and the geochemical anomaly with proposed drillhole locations.

The copper and gold in soil geochemical anomalies at Trident were the first clue for Pacific Empire that there was potential for a significant discovery at Trident. The copper anomaly extends roughly east-west for approximately four kilometres and on average is one kilometer wide. In addition, there are a significant number of samples that run greater than 500 ppm copper with a maximum value of 5,213 ppm, representing over half a percent copper in the soil. An important observation is that the best drilling which is at an area referred to as the "A Zone" is on the southern margin of this geochemical anomaly and has a very limited geochemical signature in the immediate area and downslope. This is however the location where mineralized porphyry dikes were observed in drill core from the 2007 diamond drill campaign. The orientation of these dikes is dipping to the north, again, suggesting the source of the mineralized porphyry dikes is to the north.

Another important observation is the distribution of zinc in soil geochemistry. A common pattern for copper porphyry hydrothermal systems is for the highest copper grades to occur closest to the hydrothermal center, whereas the highest zinc values tend to occur outboard from the hydrothermal center.

Dr. Paul Johnston, Pacific Empire's Senior Geologic Advisor commented, "In general, copper is concentrated in the center and declines away from the center. Zinc remains soluble at lower temperatures and can therefore be transported further from the hotter hydrothermal center. The thermal gradients in a porphyry system do not have to be spherical in 3D or circular in plan. Many things, like permeable faults, can disrupt the ideal pattern"

Figure 3 - Copper soil geochemistry in relation to the Primary Target.

Figure 4 - Anomalous zinc soil values transported away from hydrothermal center (volcanic rocks shown in green, intrusive rocks shown in brown).

The following map, (Figure 5) shows the location of the drill targets at a "Triple Point Junction" with volcanic rocks to the north and intrusive rocks to the south. The targets are also at a location where two types of intrusive rocks meet, the monzonite and syenite of the Hogem Intrusive Suite. An attractive location for porphyry deposits is often found within intrusive rocks that are immediately adjacent to volcanic rocks. An additional attractive targeting factor is a further contact such as, in this case, the contact between different intrusive rocks. Such juxtapositions of contacts and rocks units have the potential to facilitate fluid conduits that are critical for the formation mineralized hydrothermal systems.

Figure 5 - Airborne Resistivity (56kHz) with geological units showing the location of the Primary Target at a Triple Point Junction (note the thick black line represents the boundary between volcanic rocks to the north and intrusive rocks to the south).

It is very common for hydrothermal breccias to be intimately associated with and in close proximity to mineralized hydrothermal systems. One of the more intriguing discoveries at Trident has been the recent observation of the presence of very well mineralized hydrothermal breccia specimens. Although collected from subcrop, they suggest a significantly mineralized breccia may exist in the primary target area.

Figure 6 - Property scale Gold soil geochemistry with location of Campbell Trench, A Zone and 2007 Drilling

Figure 7 - Copper soil geochemistry with location of Campbell Trench, A Zone and 2007 Drilling

Figure 8 - 2024 Magnetotelluric Survey with location of Campbell Trench, A Zone and 2007 Drilling

About Trident

The Trident property is an early exploration stage property hosting an alkalic porphyry copper-gold-silver prospect with district-scale potential that is accessible by vehicle. The property is located approximately 50 km to the southeast of NorthWest Copper Corp.'s Kwanika Deposit and 50 km to the northwest of Centerra Gold's Mt. Milligan Mine. The property covers 6,618 hectares endowed with well-established logging roads providing important efficient access to conduct exploration programs.

Copper mineralization on the property was first discovered in 1969, while exploration crews were following up on anomalous stream sediment samples. The following year, Falconbridge optioned the property and over the next two years completed IP and magnetic surveys, geological mapping, soil sampling and diamond drilling. This work ultimately led to the discovery of the A Zone.

Additional exploration programs were completed by Kookaburra Gold Corp. from 1988 through 1991, Solomon Resources Ltd., from 2006 through 2008. In 2013, PEMC optioned the property and in 2014, in turn, PEMC optioned the property to Oz Minerals which completed during that same year, an IP survey and completed a two drillhole, diamond drill program at Trident.

In 2022, Pacific Empire acquired a 100% interest in the property in exchange for granting the vendors a 2% net smelter return royalty ("NSR"). One-half (1%) of the 2% NSR which may be purchased for $500,000 by Pacific Empire.

Prior to 2014, known mineralization on the property was believed to be associated with fracture and/or shear zones structures striking 120 degrees and dipping 75 degrees towards the northeast. A review of historical drill core by the Pacific Empire exploration team has led to a much different interpretation with respect to the nature of known mineralization on the property. The most important observation made was the determination of the presence of hornblende-feldspar monzonite porphyry intrusions detected within drill core obtained from the A Zone. These types of porphyry intrusions are typically characterized by sheeted quartz sulphide veins hosting disseminated chalcopyrite and bornite residing immediately adjacent to and within the porphyry dikes. Other observations include the highest grades noted in historical drilling can be seen to be directly associated with intervals where such porphyry intrusions occur.

Figure 9 - Regional Land Position and Significant Companies

Figure 10 - South Hogem Copper-Gold Belt

"Between our 100% owned Trident and Pinnacle projects runs the Klawli river. The gold flakes and nuggets in the vial displayed on the map were collected from that location on the Klawli river. It is this and other geochemical evidence gathered by the PEMC exploration team which leads us to postulate the potential for a gold-enriched copper system nearby on either Trident, Pinnacle, or possibly both projects. To date, visible gold has been observed in outcrops at Trident, placer gold discovered in the nearby Klawli river gravels, as well gold has been detected in drill core from Pinnacle. All three of these known occurrences of gold and their respective locations suggests there may be a shallow buried, large scale, gold-enriched, copper porphyry deposit within our district scale land package," commented Brad Peters, President, CEO and Director of Pacific Empire.

Table 1 - Highlights from Historical Drilling at Trident

About Pinnacle

The Pinnacle project is located 60 km to the west of Centerra Gold's Mt. Milligan Copper-Gold Mine and 30 km to the southeast of NorthWest Copper's Kwanika Copper-Gold Deposit in a proven copper-gold porphyry district. Access to the Pinnacle is by road including a new and expanding network of logging roads and trails throughout the main target areas. This improved access is a significant development and is anticipated to contribute to cost effective drill support and provides additional bedrock exposure.

"Over the past 2 years significant logging operations have developed an extensive road network that now covers the entirety of the southern half of the property providing new outcrop exposure and efficient access. The 2023 forest fires dramatically affected the property resulting in significantly improved access to the property," commented Brad Peters, President, CEO and Director of Pacific Empire.

Qualified Person's Statement

Kristian Whitehead, P.Geo., serves as a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 and has reviewed the scientific and technical information in this news release, approving the disclosure herein.

A Quality Assurance/Quality Control program was part of the sampling program at Trident. This program included the systematic submittals of standards and blank samples into the flow of samples produced by the sampling.

Samples were prepared and analyzed at ALS Laboratory in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Gold is assayed using a 30-gram of -75 micron-size pulp fire assayed and finished by ICP-AES analysis to detect content between 0.01 and 10.0 ppm (Au-ICP21). Copper returning over limit values (>10,000 ppm) was re-assayed with higher detection limits using a 0.4g pulp with Four Acid Digestion and ICP finish to detect content between 0.001 - 50% (Cu-OG62). As well, a 0.5 gram cut from the pulp of each rock sample was dissolved by four acid digestion and analyzed by mass spectrometry for a suite of 48 additional elements (ME-MS61).

About Pacific Empire

Pacific Empire is a copper exploration company based in Vancouver, British Columbia and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol PEMC. The Company has a district scale land position in north-central British Columbia totaling 22,541 hectares.

British Columbia is a "Green" copper jurisdiction with abundant hydroelectric power, access and infrastructure in close proximity to the end market.

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

Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", and "intend", statements that an action or event "may", "might", "could", "should", or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following risks: the need for additional financing; operational risks associated with mineral exploration; fluctuations in commodity prices; title matters; environmental liability claims and insurance; reliance on key personnel; the potential for conflicts of interest among certain officers, directors or promoters with certain other projects; the absence of dividends; competition; dilution; the volatility of our common share price and volume and the additional risks identified the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statement or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aldebaran Resources Inc. (Aldebaran or the Company) (TSX-V: ALDE, OTCQX: ADBRF) is pleased to announce the results of an updated mineral resource estimate for the Altar copper-gold project in San Juan, Argentina (the 2024 Altar Resource Estimate). This updated resource estimate includes three main porphyry discoveries (Altar Central, Altar East, and Altar United) reported within a single conceptual open pit. The 2024 Altar Resource Estimate is reported using the same cut-off (US$13.99 NSR/t) as the 2021 mineral resource estimate, to allow for a direct comparison.

Highlights

Measured & Indicated resource of 2.40 billion tonnes grading 0.42% copper, 0.07 g/t gold, 1.22 g/t silver and 42 ppm molybdenum 22.01 billion pounds of copper, 5.08 million ounces of gold, and 93.76 million ounces of silver

Inferred resource of 1.22 billion tonnes grading 0.37% copper, 0.04 g/t gold, 1.25 g/t silver and 45 ppm molybdenum 9.83 billion pounds of copper, 1.71 million ounces of gold, and 49.04 million ounces of silver

Significant increase when compared to the 2021 mineral resource estimate 100% increase in Measured and Indicated tonnes 542% increase in Inferred tonnes 94% increase in Measured and Indicated copper pounds 462% increase in Inferred copper pounds 48% increase in Measured and Indicated gold ounces 338% increase in Inferred gold ounces

Mineralization is still open in several directions

Amenable to open-pit mining

John Black, Chief Executive Officer of Aldebaran, commented: The 2024 Altar Resource Estimate represents a major milestone for the Altar copper-gold project. Over the past several years we focused on expanding the footprint of the Altar deposit, completing over 63,000 m of drilling since we reported the last mineral resource estimate in 2021. The results reported today demonstrate that Altar is one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits in the world. On the back of this resource estimate, we have begun working towards the first PEA on the Altar project, to be completed in Q2-2025. With our 2024-2025 drill program just underway and lots of catalysts coming, the future is very bright at the Altar copper-gold project.

Dr. Kevin B. Heather, Chief Geological Officer of Aldebaran, commented: The new 2024 Altar Resource Estimate is the validation of an exploration concept we had in 2017, while doing the original due-diligence on the project before acquiring an option to earn-in on the Altar project. We believed there was geological evidence that the gap between Altar Central and Altar East could host significant mineralization that had never been drilled. Fast-forward to today, after seven years of conviction, hard work, and the discovery and definition of the Altar United porphyry, were happy to report a very significant increase in the 2024 Altar Resource Estimate. Just as important as the size of the deposit, 66% of the resource tonnes are classified as Measured and Indicated, indicating a very high confidence level in the resource estimate. This will prove very valuable while working towards a PFS on Altar, which we plan to complete in H2-2026. This important milestone clearly adds substantial value and positions Altar as one of the very few truly giant copper-gold projects still in the hands of a junior exploration company.

The open pit-constrained mineral resources are summarized below in Table 1 while the resources separated by cut-off grade can be found in Table 2.

Table 1. 2024 Altar Resource Estimate - $13.99 NSR Cut-off (0.24% CuEq)

Average Grade Contained Metal Material

Type

Category Tonnes

(000's) Cu

(%) Au

(g/t) Ag

(g/t) Mo

(ppm) As

(ppm) Cu

(M lbs) Au

(M Ozs) Ag

(M Ozs) Supergene Measured 121,884 0.55 0.08 1.07 21 289 1,475 0.3 4.2 Indicated 80,007 0.36 0.06 0.93 19 123 639 0.2 2.4 Total M&I 201,891 0.47 0.07 1.01 20 223 2,114 0.5 6.6 Inferred 24,850 0.46 0.07 1.01 19 213 251 0.1 0.8 Mixed Measured 109,510 0.38 0.07 1.22 23 192 913 0.2 4.3 Indicated 19,208 0.32 0.06 1.11 23 139 136 0.0 0.7 Total M&I 128,718 0.37 0.07 1.20 23 184 1,049 0.3 5.0 Inferred 1,386 0.29 0.07 1.00 13 111 9 0.0 0.0 Hypogene Measured 549,385 0.41 0.10 0.98 20 120 4,966 1.7 17.3 Indicated 1,517,339 0.42 0.05 1.33 54 114 13,882 2.6 64.9 Total M&I 2,066,724 0.41 0.07 1.24 45 116 18,848 4.3 82.2 Inferred 1,189,513 0.37 0.04 1.26 46 96 9,572 1.6 48.2 Total Measured 780,779 0.43 0.09 1.03 21 156 7,354 2.3 25.8 Indicated 1,616,554 0.41 0.05 1.31 52 115 14,657 2.8 68.0 Total M&I 2,397,333 0.42 0.07 1.22 42 128 22,011 5.1 93.8 Inferred 1,215,749 0.37 0.04 1.25 45 98 9,832 1.7 49.0 See notes at end of release for details

Table 2. 2024 Altar Resource Estimate by Cut-off

Cut-off

($ NSR/t) Cut-off

(CuEq%) Category Tonnes

(000's) Cu %

(%) Au

(g/t) Ag

(g/t) Mo

(ppm) $5.00 0.10 Measured 1,018,765 0.37 0.08 0.93 20 Indicated 2,530,775 0.32 0.04 1.06 41 Inferred 2,587,700 0.25 0.04 0.92 33 $11.00 0.19 Measured 870,938 0.40 0.09 1.00 20 Indicated 1,917,475 0.38 0.05 1.22 48 Inferred 1,566,764 0.33 0.04 1.15 42 $13.99 0.24 Measured 780,779 0.43 0.09 1.03 21 Indicated 1,616,554 0.41 0.05 1.31 52 Inferred 1,215,749 0.37 0.04 1.26 45 $19.00 0.31 Measured 609,269 0.47 0.10 1.10 20 Indicated 1,210,221 0.46 0.06 1.46 59 Inferred 784,220 0.42 0.05 1.44 52 $25.00 0.41 Measured 398,156 0.55 0.12 1.22 18 Indicated 783,221 0.53 0.06 1.62 71 Inferred 440,257 0.49 0.05 1.53 63 See notes at end of release for details

Altar Resource Estimate

The 2024 Altar Resource Estimate has an effective date of November 25, 2024 and was completed by Independent Mining Consultants, Inc. out of Tucson, Arizona. The 2024 Altar Resource Estimate was prepared and reported in accordance with the CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. Mr. John Marek and Mr. Jacob Richey are the Qualified Persons for the 2024 Altar Resource Estimate. A supporting NI 43-101 Technical Report will be filed on SEDAR at www.sedarplus.com within 45 days.

The Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Mineral resources reported herein are contained within a floating cone pit shell to demonstrate reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction to meet the definition of Mineral Resources in NI 43-101. Please see notes at the end of the release for more detail on the parameters utilized for constraining the 2024 Altar Resource Estimate.

QDM Gold and Radio Porphyry

The QDM Gold and Radio Porphyry deposits sit approximately 3 km west of Altar Central and thus are not considered in the mineral resource estimate reported today. An updated mineral resource estimate for QDM Gold and Radio Porphyry is underway and is expected to be completed in early 2025.

Webinar

For more context, please join the Company in a live event on Wed Nov 27 at 11:00 am EST / 8:00 am PST. Q&A will follow the presentation. Click here to register: https://6ix.com/event/aldebaran-resources-presents-corporate-update.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical data contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Kevin B. Heather, B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc, Ph.D, FAusIMM, FGS, Chief Geological Officer and Director of Aldebaran, who serves as the Qualified Person (QP) under the definitions of National Instrument 43-101.

Notes:

The Altar mineral resource was updated during 2024. All mineral resources are contained in pit geometries. Mineral resources for Altar are based on metal prices of $3.75/lb copper, $1,800/oz gold, $23.00/oz silver. There are no mineral reserves at Altar at this time. Cut-off grades are based on calculations of net smelter return (NSR) assuming the processing by flotation to

produce a copper concentrate and smelting of that concentrate. The Altar NSR is defined as:

Copper Contribution:

Float Recoverable Copper Grade x 22.0462x(3.75-TCRC) less 1% smelter deduct

Floatation Recoverable Copper Grade = (Copper Grade  0.01)*0.92

Gold Contribution:

(Gold Grade in ppm x 0.55 /31.1035) x (1800-4.00) less 1 gm smelter deduct

Silver Contribution:

(Silver grade in ppm x 0.50/31.1035) x (23.00 -0.30) less 30 gm smelter deduct

Arsenic grades vary by block in the model and smelter terms, including arsenic penalties, vary by block.

Average smelter terms, including arsenic penalties for the 2024 Altar Mineral Resource, is approximately

$0.71/lb copper. Equivalent copper cut-off grade calculations at Altar are approximate due to the complexities of arsenic

penalty calculations by block. Tables may not balance exactly due to rounding. The Qualified Persons for the mineral resources are John Marek RM-SME, and Jacob Richey PE, of

Independent Mining Consultants, Inc.

Data Verification and QA/QC

The data described above is supported by using industry standard QA/QC procedures consisting of the insertion of certified standards and blanks into the sample stream and utilizing certified independent analytical laboratories for all assays. Historical QA/QC data and methodology on the project were reviewed and will be summarized in the NI 43-101 Technical Report.

ON BEHALF OF THE ALDEBARAN BOARD

(signed) John Black

John Black

Chief Executive Officer and Director

Tel: +1 (604) 685-6800

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please click here and subscribe to receive future news releases: https://aldebaranresources.com/contact/subscribe/.

For further information, please consult our website at www.aldebaranresources.com or contact:

Ben Cherrington

Manager, Investor Relations

Phone: +1 347 394-2728 or +44 7538 244 208

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About Aldebaran Resources Inc.

Aldebaran is a mineral exploration company that was spun out of Regulus Resources Inc. in 2018 and has the same core management team. Aldebaran holds a 60% interest in the Altar copper-gold project in San Juan Province, Argentina and is proceeding to formalize an earn-in of an additional 20% interest. The Altar project hosts multiple porphyry copper-gold deposits with potential for additional discoveries. Altar forms part of a cluster of world-class porphyry copper deposits which includes Los Pelambres (Antofagasta Minerals), El Pachon (Glencore), and Los Azules (McEwen Copper).

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 Statements

Certain statements regarding Aldebaran, including management's assessment of future-plans and operations, may constitute forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws and necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, most of which are beyond Aldebaran's control. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements or information can be identified by the use of words 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 statements that certain actions, events or results "may," "could," "would," "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved.

Specifically, and without limitation, all statements included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that Aldebaran expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including the proposed exploration and development of the Altar project described herein, and management's assessment of future plans and operations and statements with respect to the completion of the anticipated exploration and development programs, may constitute forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws and necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, most of which are beyond Aldebaran's control. These risks may cause actual financial and operating results, performance, levels of activity and achievements to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, such forward-looking statements. Although Aldebaran believes that the expectations represented in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and Aldebaran does not undertake any obligation to publicly update 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 law.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 25, 2024) - ONGold Resources Ltd. (TSXV: ONAU) (OTCQB: ONGRF) ("ONGold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into agreements to purchase 100% interests in both the Monument Bay Gold Project ("Monument Bay") and the Domain Project ("Domain", and together the "Projects"), both located in Manitoba, Canada, from a wholly-owned subsidiary of Agnico Eagle Mines Limited ("Agnico Eagle") (TSX: AEM) (NYSE: AEM), and Agnico Eagle and Capella Minerals Ltd. ("Capella") (TSXV: CMIL), in the case of Domain. Upon closing of the transactions under the two agreements, Agnico Eagle will own 15% of ONGold's total issued and outstanding common shares (see details below).

Monument Bay is located in northeastern Manitoba, near the Ontario-Manitoba border, and represents a district-scale exploration opportunity with significant gold and tungsten mineralization over a 40 km strike length. Monument Bay is an advanced stage exploration asset with over 232,000 metres drilled in more than 800 diamond core holes, while still having substantial exploration upside both within the known deposits and along underexplored satellite zones. Monument Bay has had numerous mineral resources estimates completed by various Qualified Persons on behalf of various operators, which are no longer current under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") but will be used by ONGold to focus exploration efforts and form the basis of future resource estimates to be prepared in accordance with NI 43-101. The proposed acquisition of Monument Bay will strengthen ONGold's portfolio, provide a camp to explore ONGold's nearby Rapson Bay Properties and complement the Company's broader exploration footprint in Northern Ontario.

ONGold entered into separate asset purchase agreements for Monument Bay (the "MB Agreement") and Domain (the "Domain Agreement", together with the MB Agreement, the "Agreements") on November 25, 2024. Under the terms of the Agreements, ONGold will acquire the Monument Bay and Domain Projects for initial aggregate consideration consisting of $250,000 in cash, of which $100,00 is payable under the MB Agreement and $150,000 payable under the Domain Agreement, and 8.7 million ONGold common shares valued at approximately $4.2 million at a $0.485 ONAU share price (the "Initial Consideration"), payable under the MB Agreement, resulting in Agnico Eagle holding a 15% equity stake in the Company. In addition, Agnico Eagle will be entitled to up to $21.5 million in contingent milestone-based payments under the MB Agreement while Agnico Eagle and Capella will together be entitled to $0.5 million in contingent milestone-based payments under the Domain Agreement. Closing of the acquisition of the Projects is expected to occur in December 2024 and remains subject to the satisfaction of certain customary closing conditions.

The transactions are an important step in advancing ONGold's strategy of becoming a leading junior explorer in the prolific Stull Lake Greenstone belt of Northern Canada. With its extensive technical expertise, strong commitment to social acceptability, mindful Indigenous engagement and partnerships, in addition to a proven track record of responsible exploration, ONGold's team is uniquely positioned to unlock the full potential of Monument Bay and Domain.

Kyle Stanfield, CEO of ONGold, commented: "We are thrilled to have reached this agreement with Agnico Eagle, a leader in the gold mining industry, and proud that ONGold is the new owner of these high quality assets. With an experienced management team and advisory board, including leaders with deep expertise in technical exploration, capital markets, and Indigenous relations, ONGold is well-equipped to responsibly unlock the full potential of these assets. We believe the under-explored Monument Bay regional area holds great potential to create substantial value for our shareholders as well as the local community."

Transaction Highlights

Attractive Acquisition Price Initial Consideration of $250,000 in cash and 8.7 million ONGold common shares valued at approximately $4.2 million at a $0.485 ONAU share price for the Projects. Contingent consideration with respect to the Projects is payable at significant project milestones.



Addition of Advanced Stage Exploration Project with Historic Resources Monument Bay has been the subject of several historic resource estimates completed by various operators which are no longer current under NI 43-101. See discussion of, and cautionary disclosure related to, historic resource estimates below. The most recent Technical Report (2017) identified 2.3 million Au oz at an average grade of 1.24 g/t in the Measured & Indicated Mineral Resources categories and 720,000 Au oz at an average grade of 0.92 g/t in the Inferred Mineral Resources category. The mineral resources referenced above are historic and no longer current under NI 43-101. See discussion of, and cautionary disclosure related to, historic resource estimates below.



Excellent Near Deposit Exploration Opportunities Significant potential to expand mineralization at the Twin Lakes Deposit, AZ, and Mid-East Zones through near-mine exploration. Untested shear zones and geophysical anomalies provide high-priority drill targets for mineral resource expansion.



Exciting Regional Exploration Play Monument Bay's district-scale land package along the prolific Stull-Wunnummin Fault Zone is highly prospective and under-explored. Geological features similar to significant mines like Newmont's Musselwhite gold mine suggest potential for high-grade, iron formation-hosted gold deposits within the Monument Bay property.



Synergistic and Complementary Acquisition The acquisition will complement ONGold's Northern Ontario properties, allowing the team to leverage deep regional expertise and operational efficiencies to accelerate exploration success across a broader portfolio. Substantial opportunities for resource sharing and streamlined exploration, positioning ONGold as a leading junior gold explorer in the Northern Ontario and Manitoba regions. Diversifying across multiple assets with significant exploration potential creates multiple pathways for future growth and discovery. Significant camp infrastructure at Monument Bay could be used to support future exploration at Rapson Bay.



Agnico Eagle as a Strategic Shareholder Agnico Eagle to receive 8.7 million ONGold common shares as part of the Initial Consideration, resulting in a 15% equity stake in ONGold.



Strategic Benefits to ONGold:

District-Scale Exploration Potential: Monument Bay and Domain offer significant blue-sky potential with expansive, underexplored land packages along the prolific Stull-Wunnummin Fault Zone, providing opportunities for large-scale gold and critical metals discoveries.

Addition of Advanced Stage Exploration Project: Monument Bay adds an advanced-stage exploration asset with extensive drilling (more than 800 holes over 232,000 metres) and a historical mineral resource estimate which identified 2,300,000 Au oz at an average grade of 1.24 g/t in the Measured & Indicated Mineral Resources categories, and 720,000 Au oz at an average grade of 0.92 g/t in the Inferred Mineral Resources category. While this estimate is historical and not currently compliant under NI 43-101, it provides a foundation for ONGold to advance exploration and potentially establish a current mineral resource estimate. See discussion of, and cautionary disclosure related to, historic resource estimates below.

Critical Minerals Potential: Monument Bay offers exploration potential for critical minerals, including copper, nickel and tungsten.

De-risking the Portfolio: This acquisition of the Projects diversifies and de-risks ONGold's exposure, expanding its project scale and bolstering its portfolio of highly prospective gold assets in Canada and the Northern Ontario region.

Complementary Geography: Monument Bay's proximity to ONGold's Rapson Bay Property and TPK Project presents significant opportunities for operational synergies that will optimize resource sharing and streamline exploration activities.

Figure 1: Map of Monument Bay & Rapson Bay

Historic Mineral Resource Estimate

Monument Bay has been subject to several mineral resource estimates that contemplate both open pit and underground mining on the property since the initial resource estimate in 1991. All resource estimates are no longer current under NI 43-101 and should be treated as historic in nature.

Recently, a series of internal historical mineral resource estimates for Monument Bay were completed by WSP Canada Inc. ("WSP") on behalf of Agnico Eagle's subsidiary, Yamana Gold Ontario Inc. ("Yamana"). The most recent technical report, titled "Monument Bay 2017 Resource Update, Twin Lakes Deposit," dated July 2017 and authored by WSP, evaluated the pit-constrained Twin Lakes deposit but did not evaluate potential underground mineral resources at Twin Lakes or other deposits, including the AZ and Mid-East zones, is described below.

Note: Pit constrained resources at 0.3 g/t Au cut off grade.

Figure 2: Monument Bay Historic Mineral Resource Estimate

The historical mineral resource estimate for Monument Bay is derived from an unpublished report prepared for Yamana by WSP dated July 2017. The resource estimate was calculated using cut-off grades of 0.3 grams per tonne (g/t) gold for open-pit resources. The 2015 pit shell was used to constrain the resource. The Mid-East and AZ Zones are not included in this estimate. This resource only considers open-pit resources and is pit-constrained. Subsequent resource modelling has indicated there is a high degree of variability in tonnage, metal grades, and contained metal as a result of different estimation methodologies and geological models.

This estimate, prepared prior to ONGold's execution of the MB Agreement, is considered historical in nature. It is no longer current and should not be relied upon. The 2015 pit shell used to constrain the resource is outdated and would need to be updated to reflect current economic conditions and technical parameters. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimates in this news release as current mineral resources or mineral reserves, and ONGold is not treating the historical estimates as current mineral resources or current mineral reserves. ONGold does not have any more recent estimates or data available with respect to these historical estimates and has not conducted sufficient work to establish the relevance and reliability of the historical resource estimates.

To verify and update this historical estimate to current NI 43-101 standards, additional work is required. This includes further drilling, a review of the geological model, and validation of previous findings under the oversight of a qualified person. Until such work is completed, investors are cautioned that the historical estimate does not meet current NI 43-101 standards, and any economic analysis or decisions based on this estimate should be avoided.

Monument Bay - Exploration Potential

In addition to deposits at Twin Lakes and the AZ and Mid-East Zones, the large Monument Bay property holds many untested targets and offers significant potential for new discoveries. Areas to the east of the Mid-East Zone have similar magnetic signatures as the mafic volcanic unit in the hanging wall of the Twin Lakes Deposit. This area is generally poorly tested by diamond drilling.

The shear structures at Monument Bay have been known since the 1980s but have never been drilled. The shear has been traced for a length of at least 1.5 km and aeromagnetic surveys suggest it may extend several kilometres further. Previous work has exposed a series of quartz-tourmaline veins at surface spatially associated with a shear zone in mafic volcanic rocks. Assays up to 6.10 g/t Au have been obtained from these veins.

Northwest trending features seen in aeromagnetic data appear to control high-grade mineralization in the Twin Lakes Deposit. These same features, interpreted to be faults, cut iron formation units to the southeast, where a decrease in magnetic intensity suggests magnetite-destructive alteration (sulphidization) may be present. Similar magnetic signatures are characteristic of iron formation hosted gold deposits such as the Musselwhite Mine in Northern Ontario operated by Newmont Corporation.

In addition, recently analyzed airborne electromagnetic (EM) surveys found several zones of high conductivity. These represent standalone targets, which may be prospective for critical metals. Again, these targets are untested by drilling.

Figure 3: Total Magnetic Intensity and Exploration Targets

Legend:

A) Potential Twin Lakes analogues along strike

B) Conductive sulphidic zones in iron formation

C) Standalone high conductance zones; possible base metals targets

Exploration Plans

These multiple exploration targets require follow-up with ground surveys prior to drilling. On completion of desktop compilation and analysis, the exploration program is anticipated to focus on refining the geological model and identifying new target areas. Key activities include integrating geology and geophysics through desktop studies, re-analyzing stored samples for gold grains, and conducting a drone magnetometer survey over 50-meter spaced lines to gather detailed geophysical data. Additionally, a 45-day field program involving geological mapping and structural analysis will target poorly drilled satellite zones to the east and south of the Twin Lakes Deposit.

Further analysis, including magnetic inversion studies, will enhance the understanding of subsurface structures and guide future exploration efforts. This groundwork is anticipated to set the stage for more intensive exploration campaigns, focusing on drilling exploration targets and refining targets for deposit discovery and resource expansion.

Proximity to Rapson Bay Project

The Monument Bay Property is contiguous to ONGold's Rapson Bay Project in Ontario, which consists of 1,528 cell units covering over 286 km2. This property covers approximately 23 km of the Wolf Bay Shear Zone, a splay from the regional Stull-Wunnummin Fault Zone ("SWFZ"). This shear separates the basalt-dominated Hayes River Group and Oxford Lake Group, which consists mainly of intermediate to felsic volcanics and derived sedimentary rocks. The Gilleran Lake Intrusive is a differentiated mafic intrusion within the Hayes River Group. Several gold, copper and zinc showings are known on the property. Rapson Bay is located approximately 30 km from the camp at Monument Bay, allowing ONGold to utilize the existing camp infrastructure to conduct and expand exploration activities at Rapson Bay.

A multi-phase work program in 2010-2011 by Northern Superior Resources Inc. consisted of prospecting, mapping, airborne magnetometer, selected induced polarization (IP) and ground magnetometer surveys and surficial till sampling. This culminated with the drilling of 9 diamond core holes totalling 2,548.7 m. Several intersections of gold mineralization were obtained from this drilling, highlighted by WB-11-008C, which cut 0.83 g/t Au, 3.07 g/t Ag, 0.55 % Cu and 0.028 % Mo over a core length of 52.5 m from 57.9 m downhole, including 1.83 g/t Au, 6.65 g/t Ag, 1.08% Cu and 0.059% Mo over 18.0 m from 79.9 m. Together, the Rapson Bay and Monument Bay properties will give ONGold a strong position in a highly prospective mineral district.

Summary of the Transaction

ONGold will acquire the Projects for an Initial Consideration of approximately $4.5 million, consisting of $250,000 in cash and 8.7 million ONGold common shares valued at approximately $4.2 million at a $0.485 ONAU share price, with $150,000 of the cash consideration paid under the Domain Agreement and the balance of the Initial Consideration of $100,000 and 8.7 million ONGold common shares paid under the MB Agreement. In addition, Agnico Eagle will be entitled to up to $21.5 million in contingent milestone-based payments under the MB Agreement while Agnico Eagle and Capella will together be entitled to $0.5 million in contingent milestone-based payments under the Domain Agreement.

Upon completion of the acquisition of the Projects, Agnico Eagle will hold a 15% equity interest in ONGold. ONGold and Agnico Eagle will enter into an investor rights agreement in connection with the transactions under the Agreements, pursuant to which Agnico Eagle is entitled to certain rights, provided that Agnico Eagle maintains certain ownership thresholds in ONGold, including, but not limited to: (a) the right to participate in equity financings in order to maintain its pro rata ownership in ONGold at the time of such financing or acquire up to a 19.9% ownership interest in ONGold; and (b) the right to nominate one person to the board of directors of ONGold.

Figure 4: Summary of Consideration

In connection with the acquisition of the Projects, a non-arm's length party to the Company (as such term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) will be paid finder's fees in the amount of $250,000 in total, with $125,000 payable in cash, and $125,000 payable in common shares of ONGold. The Company will issue 257,732 common shares at a price of $0.485 per common share to the finder.

Technical Report

In accordance with the rules of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company will file a technical report relating to Monument Bay, prepared in compliance with NI 43-101, within 90 days of the closing of the acquisition of Monument Bay.

Monument Bay Description

Monument Bay is located in northeastern Manitoba, close to the Ontario-Manitoba border, approximately 590 km from Winnipeg and 52 km northeast of Red Sucker Lake First Nation. The site is accessible year-round by aircraft, with winter road access available during freeze-up conditions. The project consists of 136 contiguous mining claims covering 31,250 hectares. ONGold plans to maintain the existing exploration camp at Twin Lakes with access via a 5,000-foot ice runway in the winter, and float planes for summer operations. A high-voltage power line extends to Red Sucker Lake.

The geological setting of Monument Bay is situated within the Oxford-Stull Domain, part of the Western Superior Province. This region is a granite-greenstone terrane characterized by volcanic-sedimentary assemblages and significant plutonic activity, formed through the subduction and collision of major continental terranes.

The gold and tungsten mineralization at Monument Bay is hosted within the Twin Lakes and AZ Shear Zones, which are splays of the regional SWFZ. These mylonitic shear zones deform the volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Stull Lake Greenstone Belt, creating favorable conditions for mineralization. The Twin Lakes deposit, the primary focus of historic exploration, is hosted within the Twin Lakes Shear Zone and exhibits many characteristics typical of Archean orogenic gold systems, including stockwork veins, quartz-carbonate shear veins, and hydrothermal breccias. Gold and tungsten mineralization are associated with porphyry intrusions, with visible gold, pyrite, arsenopyrite, and scheelite present in the deposit. The Mid-East and AZ Zones, located along parallel shear zones, represent additional exploration targets with the potential to supplement the Twin Lakes Deposit.

Figure 5: Monument Bay Geological Overview

Project History

Monument Bay has a rich exploration history spanning several decades, with multiple operators contributing to its development and the understanding of its geological potential. Since the late 1980s, extensive exploration activities-including drilling, geophysical surveys, and resource estimations-have been conducted by various companies. Information regarding these operators and their exploration tenures is summarized in the table below.

Note: The drilling data presented above are based on internal reports provided by previous operators, including Yamana Gold Inc. ONGold has not yet fully reviewed or verified this historical drilling information.

Figure 6: Exploration History by Operators

More recently, from 2011 to 2015, Mega Precious Metals held the property and drilled 179 diamond drill holes, focusing on expanding known mineralization and identifying new targets within the project area. In June 2015, Mega Precious Metals was acquired by Yamana Gold Inc. Yamana advanced the project by generating several in-house resource estimates with WSP, and conducted additional drilling, including almost 60,000 metres of drilling in 190 holes, significantly enhancing the project's drilling database.

In March 2023, Agnico Eagle acquired Yamana's Canadian assets, including Monument Bay and Domain. Overall, Monument Bay now hosts a comprehensive database of over 800 diamond drill holes representing over 232,000 meters of drilling, providing a solid foundation for ONGold to advance future exploration and development efforts.

Technical Information

The scientific and technical content of this press release has been reviewed and approved by Rodney Barber, P. Geo. for ONGold, who is a "Qualified Person" as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Barber is the President of ONGold and is not considered independent.

All technical data contained in this press release related to Monument Bay is considered historical in nature. Please see the disclaimer in the section of this press release titled "Historic Mineral Resource Estimate" for further details.

About ONGold Resources Ltd.

ONGold holds significant exploration assets in Northern Ontario, highlighted by the district-scale TPK Project and October Gold Project. These projects represent a strategic footprint in one of Canada's most prolific gold-producing regions.

The TPK Project, known for its extensive gold mineralization, covers 47,976 of hectares in a highly favourable geological setting, and has shown promising exploration results from historical drilling and recent surveys. The project area is situated in a region known for its mineral potential.

ONGold also holds the district scale October Gold Project, consisting of 1,308 claims covering an area of 271 km2, which has a favorable geological setting for large-scale gold deposits and is located approximately 35 km along strike from the Cote Lake Mine. Evolution Mining Limited ("Evolution") (ASX: EVN) holds an option to acquire a 75% undivided interest in the October Gold Project by incurring an aggregate of C$7 million in expenditures and making cash payments totaling C$1.1 million.

ONGold also holds a 100% interest in additional properties in northwestern Ontario, known as Rapson Bay, Thorne-Ellard and Meston Lake. Together, these comprise 2,334 cell claims, covering 43,791 ha.

ONGold is committed to responsible exploration practices and sustainable development, emphasizing strong partnerships with local communities and stakeholders. By adhering to high standards of environmental stewardship and community engagement, ONGold aims to not only explore and develop its assets but also contribute positively to the regions and Indigenous territories in which it operates.

With a seasoned management team led by industry veterans and a strategic focus on high-potential mining assets, ONGold Resources Ltd. is well-positioned to become a leader in the development of next-generation mines in Canada's prolific mining sectors.

ONGold Resources Ltd. on behalf of the Board of Directors

Kyle Stanfield, Chief Executive Officer & Director

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.

Cautionary Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation that is based on expectations, estimates, projections and interpretations as at the date of this news release. The information in this news release about the proposed transaction; plans at the Projects; and any other information herein that is not a historical fact may be "forward-looking information". Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, interpretations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "interpreted", "management's view", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information and are intended to identify forward-looking information. This forward-looking information is based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company, and at the time it was made, involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the companies to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, risks relating to historic mineral resource estimates and the ability to obtain permits; the inability of the Company to close the transactions contemplated by the Agreements and any ancillary matters thereto; and the inability of the Company to obtain approvals of the TSX Venture Exchange. Although the forward-looking information contained in this news release is based upon what management believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the parties cannot assure shareholders and prospective purchasers of securities that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking information, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, and neither party nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any such forward-looking information. Neither party undertakes, and assumes no obligation, to update or revise any such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information contained herein to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by law.
G7 ministers meeting in Italy next week will discuss the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Friday, saying the issue required further analysis.

Israel and its allies denounced the ICC's decision on Thursday to issue an arrest warrant for the Israeli premier, even as Turkey -- and rights groups -- welcomed the move.

Meloni's hard-right coalition government appeared divided.

Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said Thursday that Italy would have to arrest Israel's premier if he visited, only for Meloni's deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, to say Netanyahu would be welcome in Italy.

"In the coming days I will delve deeper into the reasons that led to the ICC's decision. Reasons that should always be objective and not political in nature," Meloni said in a statement.

She said the issue would be put on the agenda of a meeting of Group of Seven foreign ministers in Fiuggi, near Rome, on Monday and Tuesday.

The ICC also issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu's former defence minister and for Hamas's military chief Mohammed Deif.

"One point remains clear from this government -- there cannot be an equivalence between the responsibility of the state of Israel and the terrorist organisation Hamas," Meloni said.
The United States on Friday announced sanctions against a former Colombian general it said was involved in extrajudicial killings of civilians falsely reported as combat deaths.

The punishment means former general Mario Montoya and his family are barred from traveling to the United States, the State Department said.

Montoya used to command the Colombian army and was one of the senior officers closest to then-president Alvaro Uribe, who served from 2002 to 2010, while the government waged a fierce offensive against the leftist guerrilla army known as the FARC.

In 2023, a special court in Colombia indicted Montoya on charges of crimes against humanity over the death or disappearance of 130 civilians falsely reported as having died in clashes with guerrilla forces.

The State Department said it supported a 2016 peace accord between FARC and the government under which the rebels, then the most powerful guerrilla army in Latin America, laid down their arms.

This reduced violence in Colombia, which had been torn for decades by fighting between government forces, rebels and paramilitary groups linked to drug trafficking.

But Colombia's internal conflict heated up again in recent years as FARC rebels who rejected the 2016 accord kept fighting the government, with violence also coming from another holdout guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), and drug cartels, among other armed groups.

"The United States will continue efforts to support a durable and lasting peace in Colombia that recognizes the needs of victims and survivors," the department said in a statement.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled.

The warning came a day after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant more than a year into the Gaza war.

The United Nations and others have repeatedly decried humanitarian conditions, particularly in northern Gaza, where Israel said Friday it had killed two commanders involved in Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war.

Gaza medics said an overnight Israeli raid on the cities of Beit Lahia and nearby Jabalia resulted in dozens killed or missing.

Marwan al-Hams, director of Gaza's field hospitals, told reporters all hospitals in the Palestinian territory "will stop working or reduce their services within 48 hours due to the occupation's (Israel's) obstruction of fuel entry".

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was "deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of 80 patients, including 8 in the intensive care unit" at Kamal Adwan hospital, one of just two partly operating in northern Gaza.

Kamal Adwan director Hossam Abu Safia told AFP it was "deliberately hit by Israeli shelling for the second day" Friday and that "one doctor and some patients were injured".

Late Thursday, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, Muhannad Hadi, said: "The delivery of critical aid across Gaza, including food, water, fuel and medical supplies, is grinding to a halt."

He said that for more than six weeks, Israeli authorities "have been banning commercial imports" while "a surge in armed looting" has hit aid convoys.

- 'Absurd and false' -

Vowing to stop Hamas from regrouping, Israel on October 6 began an air and ground operation in Jabalia and then expanded it to Beit Lahia.

Gaza's health ministry says the operation has killed thousands.

The UN says more than 100,000 have been displaced from the area, and an official told the Security Council last week that people "are effectively starving".

Issuing the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, the Hague-based ICC said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe they bore "criminal responsibility" for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and crimes against humanity including over "the lack of food, water, electricity and fuel, and specific medical supplies".

A furious Netanyahu said: "Israel rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions and accusations made against it."

He said the judges were "driven by anti-Semitic hatred of Israel".

On Friday, he thanked his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban for inviting him to visit in defiance of the ICC warrant, which Orban branded "political".

Hungary currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

US President Joe Biden, whose country is Israel's top military supplier, called the warrants against Israeli leaders "outrageous", but other world leaders supported the court.

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said Netanyahu would be arrested if he set foot in the country.

Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday discussed efforts to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon, the White House said.

- Warrant for Hamas chief -

The ICC also issued a warrant for Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, saying it had grounds to suspect him of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the attacks on Israel that sparked the war, including "sexual and gender-based violence" against hostages.

Israel said it killed Deif in July, but Hamas has not confirmed his death.

On Thursday, a UN representative said an Israeli raid on Palmyra in Syria this week was "likely the deadliest" by Israel on the country so far. On Friday, a war monitor said the strikes killed 92 pro-Iran fighters.

Israel again bombed Gaza on Friday. In Gaza City, just south of Jabalia, one man who said he took his cousins to hospital after a strike urged "the world... to put an end" to the war.

Belal, who gave only his first name, said 10 members of his family had been killed.

At least 44,056 people have been killed in Gaza during more than 13 months of war, most of them civilians, according to figures from Gaza's health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.

Hamas triggered the war with the deadliest attack in Israeli history, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

The war expanded to Lebanon in late September when Israel escalated air strikes against Iran-backed Hezbollah and later sent ground troops into southern Lebanon, after nearly a year of tit-for-tat cross-border exchanges which Hezbollah said were in support of Hamas.

Lebanon says more than 3,580 people have been killed in the country, most of them since late September.

Five Israeli missiles struck a residential building in the heart of Beirut on Saturday, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) said, adding the eight-storey building was "completely destroyed".

AFP journalists heard at least three large explosions in the capital, a day after Israel carried out multiple strikes in the city's southern suburbs.

A strike on Baalbek in the east killed the director of Dar al-Amal university hospital and six colleagues, the health ministry said late Friday.

NNA also reported strikes in the south of the country, where UN peacekeepers have reported being fired on numerous times, blaming both Israel and "non-state" actors.

On Friday, Rome said Hezbollah was probably behind rocket fire that lightly wounded four Italian peacekeepers.
Israeli authorities will stop holding Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank under administrative detention, a form of internment widely used against Palestinians, the defence ministry announced on Friday.

The Palestinian Authority swiftly hit out at the decision saying that it "encourages extremist settlers to commit terrorism against Palestinians, their land and their properties, while giving them an additional sense of impunity and protection".

Defence Minister Israel Katz said it was "inappropriate" for Israel to employ administrative detention against settlers who "face severe Palestinian terror threats and unjustified international sanctions".

Both the European Union and the United States have slapped sanctions on extremist settlers over the past year, and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has proposed extending them to their supporters within the Israeli government.

Katz said that prosecution or "other preventive measures" would be used instead to deal with criminal acts in the West Bank.

But settlement watchdog Peace Now said internment was one of the few effective tools that Israeli authorities had to prevent settler attacks against Palestinians, which have surged in the West Bank since the Gaza war erupted in October last year.

Administrative detention dates back to British colonial rule and allows authorities to hold people without charge or trial for six-month periods that can be renewed indefinitely.

It is often used against Palestinians Israel deems security threats.

Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said the authorities used internment "extensively and routinely" to hold thousands of Palestinians for lengthy periods of time.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club advocacy group told AFP in August that 3,432 Palestinians were held in administrative detention.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Friday that eight settlers were interned as of November.

- 'Cynical' -

Peace Now director Yonatan Mizrahi told AFP that although administrative detention was mostly used to detain Palestinians, it was one of the few effective tools for temporarily removing the threat of settler violence in the West Bank.

"The cancellation of administrative detention orders for settlers alone is a cynical... move that whitewashes and normalises escalating Jewish terrorism under the cover of war," the group said in a statement.

Israel's announcement comes a day after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant on suspicion of crimes against humanity and war crimes in the conflict sparked by Hamas's unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack.

It also comes after Washington announced its latest round of sanctions on Monday, targeting Amana, a movement that backs settlement development, and others suspected of "ties to violent actors in the West Bank".

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir urged the government to respond to the ICC warrants by annexing the whole of the occupied West Bank, which the Palestinians claim as part of their future state.

Excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, the West Bank is home to three million Palestinians as well as about 490,000 Israelis living in settlements which the United Nations says are illegal under international law.
An Israeli air strike in central Beirut killed at least 11 people early Saturday, bringing down a residential building and jolting residents across the city out of bed as Israel kept up its air campaign against Hezbollah.

The attack was followed by others in the city's southern suburbs after calls by Israel's military to evacuate the area.

Rescue operations were underway in the city centre on Saturday morning, with an excavator removing the rubble of the eight-storey building, and a fire truck and civil defence rescuers stationed nearby as people gathered around the site.

"The strike was so strong it felt like the building was about to fall on our heads," said Samir, 60, who lives in a building facing the one that was destroyed.

He said he fled his home in the middle of the night with his wife and children.

"We saw two dead people on the ground... The children started crying and their mother cried even more," he told AFP.

The Israeli strike in the working-class Basta neighbourhood killed at least 11 people and wounded 63, Lebanon's health ministry said, adding it had also left behind "a large amount of body parts that are being identified".

"The final death toll will be determined after DNA tests are carried out," the ministry said in a statement.

The state-run National News Agency said Israeli jets had launched six missiles at the structure, causing "widespread destruction in buildings" nearby.

The predawn attack in Basta was not preceded by an evacuation warning from Israel's military. Similar strikes carried out without warning outside of Hezbollah's traditional bastions have tended to target high-level members.

Israel declined to comment on the strike, while Hezbollah had yet to mention it.

Another strike hit the neighbourhood of Hadath in Beirut's southern suburbs, which are a stronghold of Hezbollah.

Israel stepped up its campaign against the Iran-backed group in late September, targeting areas where it holds sway in the country's east, south and south Beirut, and later sending in ground troops after nearly a year of limited cross-border exchanges of fire.

Lebanon's health ministry says at least 3,645 people have been killed since October 2023, when Hezbollah initiated cross-border clashes with Israel in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas over the Gaza war. Most of the deaths have been since September this year.

- Gaza hospitals struggling -

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas's unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

At least 44,056 people have been killed in Gaza during more than 13 months of war, most of them civilians, according to figures from Gaza's health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.

Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza's civil defence agency, told AFP on Saturday that "19 people were killed and more than 40 others wounded" by predawn Israeli air strikes and tank fire.

Umm Muhammad Abu Sabla, the sister of one of the victims of Saturday's strikes, told AFP she rushed to the scene to find "people carrying body parts from under the rubble".

"Our entire life is misery. Let them kill us all so we can be relieved from this suffering," the 62-year-old said in the main southern city of Khan Yunis.

The war has created a humanitarian crisis in the besieged territory, where people are experiencing widespread shortages of food, fuel and medicine.

Marwan al-Hams, director of Gaza's field hospitals, told reporters on Friday that all hospitals in the Palestinian territory "will stop working or reduce their services within 48 hours due to the occupation's (Israel's) obstruction of fuel entry".

The United Nations and others have repeatedly decried humanitarian conditions, particularly in northern Gaza, where Israel said Friday it had killed two commanders involved in Hamas's October 7 attack.

Vowing to stop Hamas from regrouping, Israel on October 6 began a renewed air and ground operation in the north.

Gaza's health ministry says the operation has killed thousands.

The UN says more than 100,000 have been displaced from the area, and an official told the Security Council last week that people "are effectively starving".

- 'Absurd' warrants -

The Hague-based International Criminal Court announced on Thursday that it had issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant over their conduct of the war in Gaza.

The court said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe the pair bore "criminal responsibility" for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and crimes against humanity, including over "the lack of food, water, electricity and fuel, and specific medical supplies".

A furious Netanyahu said: "Israel rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions and accusations made against it."

The ICC also issued a warrant for Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, saying it had grounds to suspect him of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the October 7 attack on Israel, including "sexual and gender-based violence" against hostages.

Israel said it killed Deif in July, but Hamas has not confirmed his death.

Since Israel expanded the focus of its war from Gaza to Lebanon, it has also intensified strikes on neighbouring Syria, a key conduit of weapons for Hezbollah from its backer Iran.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday that Israeli strikes targeting three sites in Palmyra earlier in the week had killed 92 pro-Iran fighters.

One of them hit a meeting of pro-Iranian groups that involved commanders from Hezbollah and Iraq's Al-Nujaba group.
Lebanon said an Israeli air strike in the heart of Beirut that brought down a residential building and jolted residents across the city killed at least 11 people on Saturday.

The attack in the capital was followed by others in the city's southern suburbs after calls by the Israeli military to evacuate the area.

Israel has not commented on the strike in central Beirut, while Hezbollah has yet to mention it.

Rescue operations were underway in the area on Saturday morning, with an excavator removing the rubble of the eight-storey building, and a fire truck and civil defence rescuers stationed nearby.

"The strike was so strong it felt like the building was about to fall on our heads," said Samir, 60, who lives in a building facing the one that was destroyed.

He said he fled his home in the middle of the night with his wife and children.

"We saw two dead people on the ground... The children started crying and their mother cried even more," he told AFP.

The Israeli strike, which hit the working-class Basta neighbourhood, killed at least 11 people and wounded 63, Lebanon's health ministry said, adding it had also left behind "a large amount of body parts that are being identified".

"The final death toll will be determined after DNA tests are carried out," the ministry said in a statement.

The state-run National News Agency said Israeli jets had launched six missiles at the structure, causing "widespread destruction in buildings" nearby.

The predawn attack in Basta was not preceded by an evacuation warning from Israel's military.

A Lebanese security source told AFP on condition of anonymity that the strike had "targeted a leading Hezbollah figure", though it was unclear if they were killed. The official did not name the figure.

Another strike hit the neighbourhood of Hadath in Beirut's southern suburbs, which are a stronghold of the Iran-backed militant group.

The Israeli military said it had struck "several Hezbollah command centres" and other targets in the southern suburbs.

Israel stepped up its campaign against the militant group in late September, targeting its strongholds in the east and south as well as south Beirut, and later sending in ground troops after nearly a year of limited cross-border exchanges of fire.

Lebanon's health ministry says at least 3,645 people have been killed since October 2023, when Hezbollah began trading fire with Israel in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas. Most of the deaths have been since September this year.

- Gaza hospitals struggling -

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas's unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

At least 44,176 people have been killed in Gaza during more than 13 months of war, most of them civilians, according to figures from Gaza's health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.

Civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP on Saturday that "19 people were killed and more than 40 wounded" by predawn Israeli air strikes and tank fire.

Umm Muhammad Abu Sabla, the sister of one of the victims of Saturday's strikes, told AFP she rushed to the scene to find "people carrying body parts from under the rubble".

"Our entire life is misery. Let them kill us all so we can be relieved from this suffering," the 62-year-old said in the main southern city of Khan Yunis.

The war has created a humanitarian crisis in the besieged territory, where people are experiencing acute shortages of food, fuel and medicine.

Marwan al-Hams, director of Gaza's field hospitals, told reporters on Friday that all hospitals in the Palestinian territory "will stop working or reduce their services within 48 hours due to the occupation's (Israel's) obstruction of fuel entry".

The United Nations and others have repeatedly decried humanitarian conditions, particularly in northern Gaza, where Israel said Friday it had killed two commanders involved in Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack.

Vowing to stop Hamas from regrouping, Israel on October 6 began a renewed air and ground operation in the north.

Gaza's health ministry says the operation has killed thousands.

The UN says more than 100,000 have been displaced from the area, and an official told the Security Council last week that people "are effectively starving".

- 'Absurd' warrants -

The Hague-based International Criminal Court announced on Thursday that it had issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant over their conduct of the war in Gaza.

The court said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe the pair bore "criminal responsibility" for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and crimes against humanity, including over "the lack of food, water, electricity and fuel, and specific medical supplies".

A furious Netanyahu said: "Israel rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions and accusations made against it."

The ICC also issued a warrant for Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, saying it had grounds to suspect him of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the October 7 attack on Israel, including "sexual and gender-based violence" against hostages.

Israel said it killed Deif in July, but Hamas has not confirmed his death.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday praised the "courageous decision" of the International Criminal Court to seek the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant.

"We support the arrest warrant. We consider it important that this courageous decision be carried out by all country members of the accord to renew the trust of humanity in the international system," Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul.

The ICC issued the warrants against the Israeli leaders and Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif on Thursday on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza conflict.

"It is imperative that western countries -- who for years have given the world lessons on law, justice and human rights -- keep their promises at this stage," added Erdogan, whose country is not a state party in the ICC accord.

Erdogan has become a fierce critic of Israel since the start of its military offensive on Gaza in October 2023.

He has vowed several times to make sure that Israel's prime minister, who has angrily condemned the ICC warrants, is "brought to account" over the Israeli military campaign in the Palestinian territory.

Turkey and 52 other countries this month sent a letter to the United Nations demanding an end to arms sales and deliveries to Israel.
The Sudanese army said Saturday it had retaken a key state capital south of Khartoum from rival paramilitaries who had held it for the past five months.

The Sennar state capital of Sinja is a strategic prize in the 19-month-old war between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces as it lies on a key road linking army-controlled areas of eastern and central Sudan.

The army said that Sinja had been "liberated... from the terrorist militia".

It posted footage on social media that it said had been filmed inside the main base in the city.

"Sinja has returned to the embrace of the nation," the information minister of the army-backed government, Khaled al-Aiser, said in a statement.

Aiser's office said armed forces chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had travelled to the city of Sennar, 60 kilometres (40 miles) to the north, on Saturday to "inspect the operation and celebrate the liberation of Sinja".

The RSF had taken the two cities in a lightning offensive in June that saw nearly 726,000 civilians flee, according to UN figures.

Human rights groups have said that those who were unwilling or unable to leave have faced months of arbitrary violence by RSF fighters.

Sinja teacher Abdullah al-Hassan spoke of his "indescribable joy" at seeing the army enter the city after "months of terror".

"At any moment, you were waiting for militia fighters to barge in and beat you or loot you," the 53-year-old told AFP by telephone.

Both sides in the Sudanese conflict have been accused of war crimes, including indiscriminately shelling homes, markets and hospitals.

The RSF has also been accused of summary executions, systematic sexual violence and rampant looting.

The paramilitaries control nearly all of the vast western region of Darfur as well as large swathes of Kordofan in the south. They also hold much of the capital Khartoum and the key farming state of Al-Jazira to its south.

Since April 2023, the war has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted more than 11 million -- creating what the UN says is the world's largest displacement crisis.

From the eastern state of Gedaref -- where more than 1.1 million displaced people have sought refuge -- Asia Khedr, 46, said she hoped her family's ordeal might soon be at an end.

"We'll finally go home and say goodbye to this life of displacement and suffering," she told AFP.
Lebanon said an Israeli air strike in the heart of Beirut that brought down a residential building and jolted residents across the city killed at least 15 people on Saturday.

A Lebanese security source told AFP that the strike had "targeted a leading Hezbollah figure", but a Hezbollah lawmaker denied any official of the Iran-backed group was present.

The attack in the capital was followed by others in the city's southern suburbs after calls by the Israeli military to evacuate.

Israel has not commented on the strike in central Beirut.

Rescue operations were underway in the area on Saturday morning, with an excavator removing the rubble of the eight-storey building.

"The strike was so strong it felt like the building was about to fall on our heads," said Samir, 60, who lives in a building facing the one that was destroyed.

He said he fled his home in the middle of the night with his wife and children.

"We saw two dead people on the ground... The children started crying and their mother cried even more," he told AFP.

The Israeli strike, which hit the working-class Basta neighbourhood, killed at least 15 people and wounded 63, Lebanon's health ministry said.

"The final death toll will be determined after DNA tests are carried out," the ministry said in a statement.

The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said Israeli jets had launched six missiles at the structure, causing "widespread destruction in buildings" nearby.

The predawn attack in Basta was not preceded by an evacuation warning from Israel's military.

- 'Diplomatic resolution' -

Similar strikes carried out without warning outside of Hezbollah's traditional bastions have tended to target senior figures but Hezbollah lawmaker Amin Sherri denied any official was present at the time of the strike.

"There was no party figure in the two targeted buildings," the NNA quoted him as saying as he visited the site.

The health ministry said the Israeli air force also hit eastern Lebanon, killing eight people in the town of Shmostar overlooking the Bekaa Valley, another Hezbollah stronghold.

"The Israeli enemy strike on Shmostar killed eight people, including four children, and nine others were injured, including four in critical condition," a ministry statement said.

Israel stepped up its campaign against the militant group in late September, targeting its strongholds in Lebanon's east and south as well as south Beirut, and later sending in ground troops after nearly a year of limited cross-border exchanges of fire.

Lebanon's health ministry says more than 3,650 people have been killed since October 2023, when Hezbollah began trading fire with Israel in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas. Most of the deaths have been since September this year.

In a telephone call with Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz on Saturday, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin "reiterated US commitment to a diplomatic resolution in Lebanon that allows Israeli and Lebanese civilians to return safely to their homes on both sides of the border", a spokesperson said.

US envoy Amos Hochstein has been shuttling between Lebanon and Israel this week in a bid to broker a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

After talks in Beirut earlier this week, he had said that a deal was "within our grasp" but as he headed to Israel both sides put out statements that dented hopes of rapid progress.

- Deadly strikes on Gaza -

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas's unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

At least 44,176 people have been killed in Gaza during more than 13 months of war, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.

Civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP on Saturday that 19 people were killed and more than 40 wounded by predawn Israeli air strikes and tank fire.

Umm Muhammad Abu Sabla, the sister of one of the victims of Saturday's strikes, told AFP she rushed to the scene to find "people carrying body parts from under the rubble".

"Our entire life is misery. Let them kill us all so we can be relieved from this suffering," the 62-year-old said in the main southern city of Khan Yunis.

The war has created a humanitarian crisis in the besieged territory, where people are experiencing acute shortages of food, fuel and medicines.

In his call with Katz, the Pentagon chief "urged the government of Israel to continue to take steps to improve the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza".

The United Nations and others have repeatedly decried humanitarian conditions, particularly in northern Gaza.

The UN says more than 100,000 have been displaced from the area since early October, and an official told the Security Council last week that people "are effectively starving".

The trickle of aid entering Gaza was the principal basis cited by the International Criminal Court in the arrest warrants it announced on Thursday for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant.

The court said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe the pair bore "criminal responsibility" for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and crimes against humanity, including over "the lack of food, water, electricity and fuel, and specific medical supplies".
G7 foreign ministers on Monday are meeting near Rome for two days of talks with regional counterparts on the Middle East, before turning to Russia and the war in Ukraine.

The Group of Seven ministers will also discuss the International Criminal Court's arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas's military chief, "and the possible effects on the current crises in Lebanon and Gaza", Italy's foreign ministry said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will attend the talks in Fiuggi and Anagni alongside ministers from fellow G7 nations Britain, Canada, Germany, France and Japan, hosted by Italy's Antonio Tajani.

The first session on Monday afternoon will be dedicated to the situation in the Middle East and the Red Sea, notably efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon.

One session will include ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as well as the secretary general of the Arab League, Rome said.

"We have asked for the presence of partners in the region to foster dialogue with the members of the G7," Tajani said in a statement.

"Only together can we find concrete solutions that can bring peace and stability to the region."

On the second day of talks on Tuesday, the discussion will turn to Ukraine in the presence of the war-torn country's foreign minister, Andriy Sybiga.

Officials will discuss ways to continue supporting Kyiv, prospects for peace and initiatives for future reconstruction, Rome said.

The same day in Brussels, ambassadors from NATO countries and Ukraine will hold talks over Russia's firing of an experimental hypersonic intermediate-range missile.

Tensions in the Asia-Pacific are also on the agenda at the G7 meeting, and the Italians have invited foreign ministers from South Korea, India, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The G7 ministers are also expected to discuss the ongoing crises in Haiti and Sudan, as well as the political situation in Venezuela.

The ICC issued warrants against Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant as well as Hamas' Mohammed Deif on Thursday in response to accusations of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza, triggered by the militant Palestinian group's October 7, 2023 attack.

Israel and its allies denounced the decision, but it was welcomed by Turkey and rights groups.

Several countries have said they would comply with the ICC warrants and arrest Netanyahu should he enter their soil, while other nations were still considering their response to the decision.
It took 6 months for a decision to be issued. It was a tortuous process. Several dozens of states and organizations intervened in a circus of amicus curiaes submissions over the summer, as remembers Sergey Vasiliev, law professor at Open University in Amsterdam. All this was unnecessary, nonsensical, and mismanaged, he states in this podcast on the fly prepared by our partners at Asymmetrical Haircuts, Janet Anderson and Stephanie van den Berg. And now weve got this early Xmas present from the International Criminal Court (ICC): arrest warrants have been delivered to Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant  as well as to top Hamas army chief Mohammed Deif, who Israel says they have killed last July.

So now that the prosecutor and the judges have done their job, thinks Vasiliev, the ball is in the states court. And it looks confusing. In The Netherlands where the ICC sits, the Prime Minister immediately said that they would comply with the decision and arrest Netanyahu if he came to this country. But a little bit later his far-right coalition partner Geert Wilders said the warrants were horrendous and that he would go and visit his friend Netanyahu in Israel soon. Obviously the US denounced the ICC decision. Canada and Italy said they would comply, the UK and Germany stayed silent, France took note.

The credibility of the ICC has been partially restored, thinks Vasiliev. But it now has staunch enemies among powerful non-member states, and its member states themselves may be more divided than ever. This happens a week before the ICC has its annual meeting in The Hague  the Assembly of State Parties, that opens on December 2.

Recommended reading Pressure mounts on the ICC
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Monday, November 25, 2024 - A Kenyan family is still waiting for a response from the Belgium Embassy regarding the death of their 33-year-old son who was murdered under mysterious circumstances in Diani.

The family is calling for a key suspect in the murder case Ms. Lauren Lotruglio to return to Kenya to assist in the investigations.



In a letter dated March 19, 2024, addressed to the Belgian Ambassador to Kenya, Mr. Peter Maddens, the family, through the father of the deceased, is urging the embassy to intervene in their pursuit of justice.



This letter is to notify you that a Belgian citizen, Ms. Lauren Lotruglio (suspect), is implicated in a murder case involving my son, the late Kennedy Olilo Obuma, Mr. James Obura Obonyo writes.



Mr. Obonyo explains that the murder occurred on November 5, 2023, in Diani, Kwale County. On the night of the murder, the deceased was last seen with the two suspects, Ms. Lauren and Mr. Carlos, at a hotel resort in Diani, where they had dinner.



After dinner, the deceased was taken by Ms. Lauren and Mr. Carlos to a home where he was supposed to spend the night. Upon arrival at the property, the two suspects locked my son in the house, leaving him inside until the following day when his body was discovered in a gruesome murder scene, he says.



He states that the local police in Diani were notified of the murder and recorded statements from both suspects, Ms. Lauren and Mr. Carlos.



The father is perturbed by how Ms. Lauren was allowed to leave the country despite being a key suspect in the case.



This is because, when the body was discovered, Ms. Lauren had handed over her passport to the local police, as per usual protocol.



Shockingly, even before the investigations were complete, her passport was returned to her, and she was allowed to travel back to Belgium on November 9, 2023, just three days after the murder.



The father wrote a complaint letter dated June 25, 2024, to the Director of Criminal Investigations, Homicide Department, Mr. Martin Nyuguto.



He informed Mr. Nyuguto that on May 22, 2024, DCI officers met with his family in Mombasa to gather statements from Zipporah Tabu Obura, the mother of the deceased; Gilbert Wesonga, the deceased's uncle; and himself.



He added that the family was dissatisfied with how Gilbert Wesongas statement was handled.



Gilbert had a typed statement consisting of six pages, which he wanted to present to the DCI officer. The DCI officer handpicked the contents of pages 2 and 3 of Gilbert's statement and completely disregarded pages 4, 5, and 6, he disclosed.



He further explained that the DCI officer stated she would only record what was relevant based on the questions she was asking the witness at that time.



She added that the omitted statement would be expounded in court at a later date. The omitted content is key material to the case and is not hearsay, he said.



The family is now seeking assistance from relevant authorities after losing faith in local police officers.









The Kenyan DAILY POST.




Monday, November 25, 2024 - Bishop Ben Kiengeis right-hand man Elias Njau has surrendered to the police for questioning after he was linked to the brutal assault of his lover Florence Wanjiku.

Njau surrendered himself to Menengai Police Station in the company of his lawyer.

He was arrested and placed in custody as investigations into the assault incident continue.

Rift Valley Regional police boss Jasper Ombati had earlier visited Florence in the hospital where she is fighting for her life and said a special team of police officers had been formed to pursue the suspect.

Ombati had warned anyone protecting the suspect would be treated as an accomplice.

Speaking from her hospital bed, Florence said Elias wanted her dead after stabbing her 18 times.

She was rescued by security guards and neighbours who rushed her to the hospital in critical condition.

Elias followed her to the hospital baying for her blood and even accessed her room but he was ejected by security guards.

Wanjiku said the attack will likely incapacitate her from performing her job normally.

The Kenyan DAILY POST.




Monday, November 25, 2024 - Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has accused his former boss, President William Ruto, of being allergic to the truth as well as not listening to the voice of the people.

Speaking during a church service in Kigumo, Murang'a County, yesterday, Gachagua claimed that the deal with the Adani Group is what led to his fallout with President Ruto.

According to Gachagua, he had told the president that the deals with the Indian firm were shady and that the people did not want it.

However, Ruto dismissed him, alleging that he was opposing government projects.

The matter with Adani is what led to my fallout with the president. Because in the Cabinet, I was the only person who could tell him the truth.

All the others were cowards. I told him the issue with Adani is shady and the people dont want it. He hated me. It was said Im opposing government projects.

I would like to ask the president to take time to read the book of John 8:31. Let him agree to listen to the people of Kenya, Gachagua claimed.

He further claimed that Ruto did not cancel the Adani deals out of a move from his heart but because the Indian firm's founder was indicted in the United States.

"Even after the president cancelled the deals, there was no need to clap for him because it did not come from his heart.

He only responded after that suspect was indicted in the United States," the former deputy president claimed.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Monday, November 25, 2024 - President William Ruto reportedly used Sh 2.5 billion of taxpayers money to ensure his former Deputy, Rigathi Gachagua, was impeached.

This was revealed by former President Uhuru Kenyattas lawyer, Ndegwa Njiru, who said the Head of State used the billions to bribe Members of Parliament and senators to impeach Gachagua who was then a thorn in the flesh of his government.

Cementing Njiru s assertion on Sunday in Muranga county, Gachagua said Muranga Senator, Joel Nyutu was offered Sh 20 million by Ruto to betray Gachagua but he refused.

I am proud of Muranga leaders especially Joe Nyutu who was offered a bribe of Sh 20 million by Ruto and his agents to betray me but he refused, Gachagua told the faithful at a Kigumo church.

He termed other Mt Kenya leaders as traitors and urged the electorate to send them home in 2027.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Monday, November 25, 2024 - A High Court sitting in Nairobi has issued a conservatory order suspending immunity and privileges granted to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

In the order issued on Monday, November 25, Justice Bahati Mwamuye prohibited the Foundation alongside its officials including directors from enjoying any privileges and immunities under the Privileges and Immunities Act.

"Pending the inter partes hearing and determination of the Application dated 22/11/2024, a conservatory order be and is hereby issued suspending the Privileges and Immunities (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) Order, 2024, given and notified as Legal Notice No. 157 made on 19/09/2024 under the hand of the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, and published in the Special Issue of the Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 181 dated 04/10/2024 at 2941," part of the verdict read.

It added, "Pending the inter partes hearing and determination of the Application dated 22/11/2024, a conservatory order be and is hereby issued prohibiting the 1st Respondent and its Directors, Officers, Staff, and Agents acting under its authority from enjoying or continuing to enjoy any privileges and immunities under the Privileges and Immunities Act [Chapter 179 of the Laws of Kenya] or the Cooperation Agreement between the 1st Respondent and the Government of the Republic of Kenya referred to in Paragraph 2 of the impugned Order."

Last month, the government granted the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation special privileges and immunities, recognizing it as a charitable trust under the Privileges and Immunities Act.

This status would allow the Foundation to engage in contracts, manage property, and defend legal actions, similar to diplomatic entities.

Non-Kenyan staff would enjoy legal immunities and tax exemptions while performing their duties in the country, although these benefits do not extend to local citizens unless they are exclusively employed by the Foundation.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Monday, November 25, 2024 - Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has lauded Mt Kenya residents for heckling President William Rutos economic advisor, Moses Kuria, during a burial in Kigoro, Muranga County.

Kuria, who has been nicknamed Rutos house girl by Gachaguas allies, was heckled and chased out of a burial in Muranga on Saturday after he started criticising Gachagua who was not present.

Addressing the incident, Gachagua distanced himself from the ongoing rumours that he sent goons to heckle the former CS.

The former second in command said the reaction from Muranga residents was spontaneous and not premeditated.

And I saw yesterday that people listen to me. Someone came and started giving people (tiring and false) stories.

"They listened for a while and demanded that he stop speaking, but he insisted on continuing.

"And my people, as we agreed, you started singing to silence him. I told them not to touch Mt. Kenya but they did.

"They are now feeling the effects. What they saw in Embu and Murang'a is just the beginning. More is yet to come," Gachagua said.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Monday, November 25, 2024  President William Ruto is seriously considering appointing one of his close friends as the next Interior Cabinet Secretary.

This was revealed by Embakasi Central MP Benjamin Gathiru, alias Mejja Donk, who revealed that he had obtained reliable information that Cabinet Secretaries Kipchumba Murkomen and Davis Chirchir were being considered for the Ministry of Interior docket.

Speaking during a church service at AIPCA Kangari in Murang'a County, Gathiru revealed that his intel indicated that one of the two was considered for the role as a thank-you gift for bringing in the controversial Indian company, Adani Holdings, to Kenya.

Gathiru also alleged that both Murkomen and Chirchir played an important role in bringing in the Adani Group to land a deal with the government.

''Those two ministers who were in the Energy and Transport dockets, they are the ones who signed with Adani saying that the company was good and therefore could be sold for the airport. Today, I have information that one of them is lined up for the Ministry of Interior job, Gathiru revealed.

Gathiru, who is also an ally of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, claimed that the plan to move one of the two to the influential Interior docket was a strategy to allow the government to bring Adani back through the back door.

''They want to get one of those ministers who brought Adani to the Ministry of Interior so that when Adani makes a comeback, he can be well hidden, he noted.

The Cabinet reorganization seems to be in the offing, with Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi currently holding more than 2 dockets in the ministries of Interior, Gender, and Foreign Affairs.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Monday, November 25, 2024 - Popular Kikuyu gospel musician Martin Wa Janet has deactivated his social media accounts following allegations that he is being used by President William Ruto and Deputy President Kithure Kindiki to create divisions in the Mt. Kenya region.

This emerged on Sunday when the musician attempted to stop former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua from addressing a crowd that had gathered at Ihura Stadium in Muranga County.

According to sources, Ruto and Kindiki financed the concert on condition that Wajanet doesn't allow Gachagua to address the crowd.

When Gachagua emerged from the crowd, Wa Janet switched off the sound system and stopped Gachagua from addressing the crowd, though the former DP managed to address the mammoth crowd.

As a result, Kenyans have reported all his social media accounts including Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube forcing him to deactivate them.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Monday, November 25, 2024 - Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has blasted President William Ruto's cabinet, saying it is a one-man show.

Speaking at a church function in Kigumo, Muranga county, Gachagua said during his days in Cabinet, he was the only one who had the guts to confront Ruto and tell him to stop overtaxing Kenyans.

In the Cabinet, I was the only one who could speak the truth. All others were afraid. When the president stared down at them, they all bowed down."Gachagua said.

The former second in command also stated that he fell out with President William Ruto after he opposed the Adani deals with the government.

"The Adani issue was the source of friction between myself and the President. In the Cabinet, I was the only one who could speak the truth.

"All others were afraid. When the president stared down at them, they all bowed down." Gachagua stated.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Monday, November 25, 2024 - Malava MP Malulu Injendi has criticised the Catholic Bishops for rejecting President William Rutos Sh5.8 million donation.

Speaking during an interdenominational prayer in Kericho County, Injendi blasted the Catholic Church over the move.

As a result, he asked for forgiveness from the President on behalf of the Church, while maintaining that it was a shame for the Nairobi Archdiocese leadership to reject the Presidents donations.

''We were ashamed and I would like to appeal to our bishops that you cannot do what you did to the President. May God forgive and bless you, Injendi stated.

According to the lawmaker, it was not right for the Catholic Church to reject the donations from the President even though it still had a lot of financial needs and challenges that it still had not addressed.

''As you can see, I have my rosary on and that means that I am a Catholic. Mr. President, we have a lot of requirements and needs as Catholics including buildings and other things, he added.

The Amani National Congress (ANC) lawmaker further alleged that the financial assistance that the Catholic Church used to get from its headquarters in Rome, Italy, had since stopped therefore making it hard for the believers to fundraise on their own.

''The help and assistance we used to get from abroad, we no longer do not get it. It is these believers who instead bear the brunt. We were surprised after taking you on a tour of our church, it is a shame that you sacrificed your salary only for our bishops to sit and do what they did, the lawmaker added.

Injendis sentiments are likely to generate a lot of criticism from the church leadership, especially on the allegations that it no longer receives financial aid from its headquarters.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Monday, November 25, 2024 - A 22-year-old househelp is in critical condition at Kenyatta Hospital after a fall from the fourth floor of Jumuira Heights in Kiambu County.

Shanny Atieno, who had been employed for less than two months, reported a violent altercation with her employer Lavender Akinyi that led to her jumping in a bid to escape.

Lavender reportedly attempted to attack her with a knife, prompting her to jump from the balcony.

She sustained serious injuries that saw her spinal cord badly affected.

Shanny said Akinyi had been subjecting her to physical abuse and locking her in the house, bragging that she could kill her and bury her body secretly.

She has been threatening to kill me and bury my body secretly. She claims she is untouchable, the victim said.

Police investigating the incident say the rogue employer is also under probe for other criminal offenses.

She is linked to Kilimani, Lavington, Muthangari, Kileleshwa, and Hurligham burglaries.

She is dangerous and operates with armed gangsters.

Lavender has been arrested several times after being linked to criminal activities but she always buys her freedom.













Watch the report courtesy of Citizen TV.

The Kenyan DAILY POST.




Monday, November 25, 2024 - More allegations have emerged regarding the toxic work culture at Quickmart Supermarket, further intensifying concerns about the companys internal environment.

Following a series of previous complaints, a recent submission reveals more troubling details about the company's treatment of its employees, particularly as the festive season approaches.



According to the latest claims, all annual leave, off duties, and shifts have been scrapped until after the back-to-school period next year.



Outsourcing companies have reportedly been informed of the policy change, with severe consequences for failure to comply, including job terminations.



This policy change comes as a major concern for employees already under intense pressure.



The submission also mentions the actions of several senior staff who are accused of creating an oppressive work environment by reportedly harassing and intimidating employees.



The submission claims that current management is targeting long-serving employees with higher salaries in an attempt to cut costs.



Employees are said to be under immense pressure with many reportedly suffering from depression.



"Hello Cyprian. Hide my ID. So I saw what you posted about Quickmart. My friend Ivo ndo kuko.

"Like now we are heading into the festive season, all annual leaves, off duties, and shifts will be scrapped until next year after the back-to-school period.

"All outsourcing companies will be informed of the same and failure to comply unaenda home.



"That guy called Steve Boro in the company of Muindi and Susan HR operations have no respect for their employees.

"I know a guy alikua anaitwa Julius Momanyi, alianza na Quickmart back in Nakuru back then... he was later transferred to Nairobi and promoted to be a manager. The guy started fighting depression with alcohol due to pressure from the VM team.

"He was sacked last year due to alcoholism... sasa analala tu kwa mitaro huku sukari.



What is happening is the current management is targeting those old employees with big salaries like Julius.

"Wanasema wanakata cost. Staff wanakufa na kazi na wengine depression. Even the outsourcing can't help their employees, those outsourcing HRs are puppets of that Steve and the team.

"If you try to fight them you will be their target na utawekelewa uwizi ama integrity scandal.



"I also know a guy who is in charge of security anaitwa MWAI, a very malicious guy.

"He owns handcuffs that he keeps threatening staff with in case you're found in the wrong.

"There is a guy alikua tu sawa na kazi yake pale CBD OTC, jama alishikwa skuingine na uyu Mwai na wakamfunga pingu ati alikuwa anaiba na pia wakasema yeye ni G@Y. DANTEZ was suspended nasjui muona tena...



The owner of Quickmart needs to come out and dissolve that HR team, Operations, and Virtual team.

Via Cyprian Nyakundi.

The Kenyan DAILY POST.
Prize awarding ceremony of Chinese song competition held in Myanmar's Yangon

Xinhua) 13:11, November 25, 2024

Students perform during the awarding ceremony of a Chinese song competition in Yangon, Myanmar, Nov. 24, 2024. The competition was divided into three groups based on age: Children, Teenagers, and Youth. A total of 45 contestants earned awards among over 100 contestants from Chinese schools across the country, according to the event organizers. (Xinhua/Myo Kyaw Soe)

YANGON, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- The grand final performance and prize-awarding ceremony of the Chinese Song Competition were held in Yangon, Myanmar, on Sunday.

The event was organized under the supervision of the Chinese embassy in Myanmar and the Center for Language Education and Cooperation.

The competition was divided into three groups based on age: Children, Teenagers, and Youth. A total of 45 contestants earned awards among over 100 contestants from Chinese schools across the country, according to the event organizers.

The awards included two first prizes, four second prizes, and six third prizes, as well as special awards such as the Most Potential Award, the Most Imaginative Award, and the Most Popular Award, all presented in each group, it said.

The competition aimed to celebrate the tradition of China-Myanmar friendship through music, promote cultural exchange between the two nations, and foster an understanding of Chinese culture.

It also provided students with an opportunity to showcase their talents on stage, it said.

As China and Myanmar are neighboring countries with close cultural ties, this competition served as a significant milestone in cultural exchange between the two nations, it added.

The final competition was held at the China Cultural Center in Yangon on Nov. 22 and Nov. 23.

Students perform during the awarding ceremony of a Chinese song competition in Yangon, Myanmar, Nov. 24, 2024. The competition was divided into three groups based on age: Children, Teenagers, and Youth. A total of 45 contestants earned awards among over 100 contestants from Chinese schools across the country, according to the event organizers. (Xinhua/Myo Kyaw Soe)

Students perform during the awarding ceremony of a Chinese song competition in Yangon, Myanmar, Nov. 24, 2024. The competition was divided into three groups based on age: Children, Teenagers, and Youth. A total of 45 contestants earned awards among over 100 contestants from Chinese schools across the country, according to the event organizers. (Xinhua/Myo Kyaw Soe)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)




Monday, November 25, 2024 - Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has revealed the ugly side of President William Ruto that most people dont get to see.

Speaking during a church service at the AIPCA Kangari in Kigumo, Murang'a County, Gachagua accused Ruto of being a dictator who has instilled fear in his juniors.

Gachagua criticized Kenya Kwanza leaders, accusing them of fearing President Ruto. He pointed out Cabinet Secretaries as being too intimidated to challenge Ruto, even when he is in the wrong.

The self-declared 'truthful man' told the church that he was among the only leaders who could openly call out the President when he felt some of Ruto's decisions were detrimental to the citizens, citing the collapsed Adani deals as a classic example.

"The Adani issue was the source of friction between myself and the President," Gachagua said.

"In the Cabinet, I was the only one who could speak the truth. All others were afraid. When the president stared down at them, they all bowed down."

"Whenever Cabinet Secretaries were in disagreement, they used to ask me to tell the President. Nobody can tell the president this is not right, he added.

Gachaguas latest comments were that of a man who had little left to lose in his political career after his impeachment.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Monday, November 25, 2024 - Trans-Nzoia County Governor, George Natembeya, has joined Busia County Senator, Okiya Omtatah, in expressing interest in the presidency.

In an interview with one of the local dailies over the weekend, Natembeya, who is also the Democratic Action Party leader, revealed that he will run for the highest office in the land once he completes his term as Trans-Nzoia Governor, promising to offer a fresh alternative and practical leadership to better the lives of Kenyans.

Mr. Natembeya confirmed that his eyes are set firmly on the Presidency, adding that he will run on a platform of accountable and proactive leadership.

He also dismissed claims that he is seeking a presidential running mate position.

"You can't change things when you're the deputy. Even offering advice can lead to your impeachment," Natembeya said.

Natembeya spoke days after he was linked to a mega alliance that is being crafted by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, Former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, and former Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Monday, November 25, 2024 - An outspoken United Democratic Alliance (UDA) politician has reacted after former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua received a warm and heroic welcome during his attendance at two events in Kigumo and Kiharu constituencies, Muranga County, on Sunday.

In an update on X on Sunday, Kirinyaga Woman Representative, Njeri Maina, noted that no political figure will be able to go against Gachagua in any part of the Mt. Kenya region.

"Anyone who will fight Rigathi Gachagua Mt. Kenya; North, East, West, or South of it will sink faster than HMS Hood," Njeri said.

HMS Hood is a famous British battleship that sank in 1941 after being struck during a naval battle with the German battleship Bismarck.

Gachagua made a brief stop at Ihura Stadium where he received a rapturous king-like welcome at the historical stadium.

The Kenyan DAILY POST
The Irish Pop-up Collective (IPUC) is bursting with new brands and an additional venue this Christmas.

Over 55 Irish brands and businesses will showcase their products at the pop-up in the Glenroyal Hotel, Maynooth on Sunday 1 December. This is the fifth Irish Pop-up Collective event celebrating the best of Irish business, creativity and craftsmanship. Founders Kate Fine and Debbie Millington set up IPUC to give a platform to quality Irish brands and businesses. These events have grown momentum and are the ideal opportunity to meet a community of innovative entrepreneurs and buy unique gifts from sustainable Irish businesses. Visitors can expect everything from fashion and beauty to homewares, craft, kids clothing & toys, food and drink.

These pop-ups are now highly anticipated, offer a unique shopping experience and are a fantastic opportunity to meet the makers and founders and support Irish businesses, says Kate Fine, IPUC.

We saw the demand for a second venue where we can offer opportunities to more businesses and still host familiar brands who have gained a great following over past events. The free event will take place in the Corrib Suites at the Glenroyal Hotel, Maynooth from 10am-7pm on Sunday 1 December.

Full details can be seen by following @irishpopupcollective.
Popular Kilkenny catering and food retail company Mise En Place is celebrating an impressive two decade in business  having survived and thrived through a recession and a global pandemic.

Local entrepreneurs Robert Cowley and Nora OMalley are the hard-working owners of Mise En Place, a brand synonymous with creating magical meals, dessert and sauces from their Drakelands base since 2004.

In 2004, the talented chefs set up Mise En Place as a catering business to serve the southeast, having worked in some of the worlds finest five-star hotels and restaurants such as the Monacos Hotel du Paris, Four Seasons Hotel London, the Merrion Hotel, and Hayfield Manor.

The Covid pandemic saw them reimagine their business by launching a retail arm. It was an instant hit and today their Drakelands shop is a destination onto itself with customers constantly coming and going to stock up on the Mise En Place ready meals, desserts, fresh breads, salads, cakes and sauces.

It could be a very different story if we didnt pivot during Covid and change our offering. It paid off for us and we have never looked back. We even had to build on a car park to cater for our growing customers, commented Nora OMalley.

Located just two kilometres from Kilkenny City off the Kilcreene Road, the retail shop at Mise en Place is open from Monday to Friday from 10am to 4pm and a staff of eight assist Robert and Nora in providing a range of all the catering outfits most popular dishes, alongside a selection of new offerings, pastries, salads, quiches and sweet treats.

At the start, we wondered how many people would make the journey out to us but thanks to a loyal customer base, combined with ease of parking we always have a steady stream every day. Whilst the shop is busy and the main day-to-day part of the business, we still cater for larger family events and groups. Larger pre-booked quantities of food can be collected from the shop with heating instructions, said Nora.

Our foods are simple to heat and serve. We wanted to provide everyday dishes  Lasagne, cottage pie, stroganoff, tagine, Rogan Josh, beef Guinness, alongside salads soups, fishcakes, tarts, our own preserves, vinaigrettes and granola. We also stock a range of local Kilkenny products. Everyone has a favourite but one thing is for sure  if we ran out of Thai curry, there would be a riot! laughed Rob Cowley.

Twenty years in, Robert says they still love what they do.

We want to thank all the people who have helped us along the way, from our loyal customers, brilliant staff and of course our families  they put up with us in the crazy busy periods! said Robert.

Quality and convenience is ever-important for todays busy customers and one of the biggest successes of recent years and has been Mise En Places Christmas menu.

We offer everything bar the turkey and ham  starters, prepared vegetables, potatoes, stuffing, gravy and a range of desserts, mince pies and pudding. We will be working right up to Christmas Eve afternoon. Then we can rest up with our own families knowing that our foods are on hundreds of tables around Kilkenny over Christmas, said Nora.

Visit miseenplace.ie or phone 056 7702936
Michael Lyng Motors was named the 2024 Kilkenny Business of the Year at the prestigious Kilkenny Business Awards held at the Lyrath Estate Hotel last night, Saturday, November 23.

Hosted by popular broadcaster Marty Whelan, the event brought together over 600 representatives of local enterprise, to celebrate success, innovation, and excellence across the county.

The overall Business of the Year was presented to Michael Lyng Motors by Therese Bourke from main sponsors Vhi. Michael Lyng Motors are a family-owned Ford and Hyundai dealership, committed to providing exceptional service for many years in Kilkenny.

The judges commended the business on its ethos of prioritising both customer and staff well-being and acknowledged it for its support with their local community. The prominent business is renowned for its commitment to quality and its longstanding position in local commerce.

Kilkenny Business Awards were presented to 20 outstanding local businesses during the gala event, as well as the Presidents Award which went to Marian Flannery in recognition of her work on Festivals in Kilkenny and the Lifetime Achievement Award which went to Kathleen Leadbetter, from Jerpoint Glass.

President of the Chamber, Anne Barber; It is a special privilege to be recognising the best of Kilkenny businesses. Winning aside, all shortlisted businesses should be proud of their tremendous achievements in getting through the rigorous judging process.

FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS, CLICK HERE

Therese Bourke, Head of Customer Service at Vhi (main sponsor), commented; Vhi is proud to be the title sponsor of the Kilkenny Business Awards, celebrating excellence and innovation within our local business community. As one of Kilkennys largest employers, and with 24 years in the county, we are committed to supporting both local enterprises and the broader community.

"These awards showcase the vital role businesses play in strengthening Kilkennys economy, and we commend the Kilkenny Chambers leadership. Congratulations to all finalists on their achievements and we wish them all continued success.

Kilkenny Chambers chosen charity for 2024 was the Cois Nore Cancer Support Centre. CEO John Hurley paid tribute to the sponsors, who make the Awards possible, and thanked John Masterson, Fastlane Audio Visual, Mycrofilms, A Digital Medial Hub and the Lyrath Estate Hotel, the Chambers partners in the presentation of the night.
There are still a limited amount of tickets available for available for the Marble City Music Festival which runs from November 28 to December 6 in St Mary's Cathedral in Kilkenny.

Patrick Rafter heads up the incredible festival for their Christmas concerts which feature glorious music played by some of Irelands greatest musicians along with some tasty festive treats.

Musicians include Patrick Rafter, Claudia Boyle, Fiachra Garvey, the Rafter Family and Michel Lethiec. On the programme is an evening of solo Bach, A Family Christmas Concert, Chamber Orchestra and soloists, and a violin and piano recital.

Tickets can be bought at www.marblecitymusicfestival.com. Tickets can also be purchased at Frank Wall Mans Shop, High Street Kilkenny. All concerts at St. Marys Cathedral are wheelchair accessible and there is also easy parking.

On Thursday (November 28), Rafter joins forces with Ailbhe McDonagh - the first ever Irish cellist in history to record Bachs 6 Suites for solo cello. Included in the programme will be the 1st and 3rd cello suites.

On Friday (November 29), one of the world's leading clarinettists comes to Kilkenny - Michel Lethiec. Patrick Rafter teams up with Lethiec and French Chamber Orchestra, Rosa Musica, for a spell-binding evening of exciting chamber music. On Saturday (November 30) is a special day, as Patrick Rafter and celebrated Irish pianist, Fiachra Garvey, release their debut album under acclaimed British Record Label, Rubicon Classics. They will perform the entire album at St Marys Cathedral the same evening it releases. The programme is an incredible mix of virtuoso and profound works including the epic Ravel Sonata No. 2.

On Sunday (December 1) at 4pm a very special concert entitled A Family Christmas and features an

incredible lineup of musicians: Claudia Boyle soprano, Paddy and Maura Rafter, JJ McNamara, The Kilkenny Choir and Patrick Rafter violinist. Rafter and Garvey will also travel to Curtis Auditorium in Cork City for another launch of their album on December 6.

All concerts include complimentary mulled wine and mince pies, and most importantly, a warm welcome. Follow Marble City Music Festival on Facebook and Instagram for videos, updates and more! www.marblecitymusicfestival.com
Readers will be aware that the Governments Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill has seen both Meta and Google warn that rather than pay a levy under the proposed law for links to news stories, they would block NZ news stories from Google and Facebook.

Curia was asked to poll 1,000 New Zealanders on:

The government is considering a scheme to levy fees on search engines and social media sites, that display links to NZ news stories. In response sites such as Google and Facebook may stop showing you NZ news stories. How annoyed would you be if you could no longer find NZ news stories through search engines or social media sites?

The full results are at Curia.

So 65% of respondents said they would be very or somewhat annoyed if they could no longer find NZ news stories through search engines or social media sites.

There is quite a bit of variation by demographics. The percentage who said they would be very or somewhat annoyed by demographics was:

Under 40s 75%

Green voters 70%

Women 69%

Labour voters 69%

NZ First voters 67%

NZ First voters 67% 40  59s 64%

National voters 62%

Men 60%

ACT voters 57%

Overs 60s 52%

It is interesting that it started life as a Labour bill and now is a National bill, yet Labour and National voters will be considerably upset if it passes and causes them to lose access to NZ news sites via social media and search engines.

Of course there is a chance Google and Meta are bluffing, and wont block news access. We may find out, if the Government proceeds. I personally wouldnt bet that they are bluffing.

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By KTimes

Actor Jung Woo-sungs agency addressed his rumored relationship with a non-celebrity, saying it could not confirm details regarding his private life.

An official from Jung's agency, Artist Company, said, We ask for your understanding as we are unable to confirm matters related to the actors personal life. We also request restraint from excessive speculation.

Earlier that day, TenAsia, an online media outlet, reported that Jung has been in a long-term relationship, suggesting that his rumored partner was shocked to learn about Jungs child from his relationship with model Moon Ga-bi.

Jung and Moon met recently to discuss issues surrounding marriage and child-rearing but could not reach an agreement, TenAsia reported, citing sources.

While Jung expressed his willingness to provide child support for Moons son, born out of wedlock, he maintained his stance against marrying Moon or taking on the role of a father in a traditional family setting, it reported.

Moons recent social media post, where she revealed the birth of her son and her journey to motherhood with the words I found the courage, is understood to be connected to the breakdown of these discussions, it said.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.




















By Baek Byung-yeul

"The Firefighters" focused on depicting the intense efforts and sacrifices of firefighters who tried to save victims, rather than relying on too many cinematic techniques, as it reconstructs a tragic 2001 arson case that occurred in Seoul, film director Kwak Kyung-taek said Monday.

"When I first received the scenario, my heart felt too heavy to handle their story of sacrifice, so I initially declined (the offer to direct). The production company persuaded me saying it was time to address this story. I also felt indebted to firefighters, so I ultimately decided to take on their story," the director said during a press conference at a cinema in Seoul.

"Handling such a story requires great care. While it clearly commemorates someone's sacrifice, as a director, I feel somewhat ashamed to keep emphasizing this aspect to the audience. Though it's heavy, I hope viewers can experience a new perspective through the touching emotions."

"The Firefighters" deals with an incident where six firefighters lost their lives in March 2001 when a building owner's son committed arson at a multifamily home in northwestern Seoul's Hongje-dong.

Their tragic sacrifice brought attention to the poor working conditions of firefighters, and improvements began gradually afterward. Their working schedule changed from alternating days to three shifts and they started receiving proper firefighting suits instead of just waterproof clothing.

The film depicts the daily lives and hardships of firefighters leading up to the climax where the team, including Cheol-woong (Joo Won), Jin-seob (Kwak Do-won), In-ki (Yoo Jae-myung), Hyo-jong (Oh Dae-hwan) and Seo-hee (Lee Yoo-young), respond to the fire in Hongje-dong.

"Since it's based on a true story, while we filmed happily on set, we also carried heavy hearts while acting. I approached my role thinking about the firefighters," Joo said.

"There's one documentary about this incident and I can't count how many times I rewatched it. I hope this incident becomes more widely known," Lee said.

Actor Yoo expressed hope that the film would bring more attention to the work firefighters do in our society.

"What surprised me about this film was that it didn't use flashy cinematic techniques to portray these people as heroes. It delivered the firefighters' story as is and I hope this helps the film share their story," Yoo said.

While honoring the noble sacrifices of firefighters, the film also demonstrated exceptional direction in fire scenes. It vividly portrays both the process of firefighters searching for victims through flames and realistic challenges such as fire trucks struggling to access fire scenes due to Korea's poor parking conditions.

Firefighters told me that smoke was the scariest part of real fire suppression. They said they struggle most with smoke, which makes it impossible to see ahead, and after filming, I understood why many movies failed to properly depict smoke," the director said. "You can't see anything. The biggest challenge was adjusting to make the actors' faces and actions visible in smoke-filled scenes. I think we depicted smoke better than other firefighting movies."

"The Firefighters" will be released in theaters on Dec. 4.
KB, Shinhan, Hana likely to retain current heads

By Jun Ji-hye

With the terms of major bank CEOs set to expire at the end of this year, all eyes are on what lies ahead for them.

Woori Bank and NH NongHyup Bank are both expected to see leadership changes. The former is under investigation by prosecutors over suspicions of inappropriate loans extended to relatives of the former chairman of Woori Financial Group, Sohn Tae-seung, while the latter has been linked to six financial crimes this year alone.

According to industry sources on Monday, Woori Financial Groups board of directors expressed Friday that it would be difficult for CEO Cho Byung-kyu, who has led the bank since July last year, to extend his term.

While the bank has received positive evaluations for its performance, with its third-quarter net profit increasing by 10.2 percent from a year earlier, the investigation involving Cho appears to have impacted the prospects of his reappointment.

Cho has been under investigation on allegations of delaying reporting to financial authorities despite being aware of the inappropriate loans.

The candidate for the banks next CEO is expected to be announced at the end of this month.

NH NongHyup Bank CEO Lee Seok-yong, who has completed his first two-year term, may also be replaced.

Reappointment of the CEO is uncommon at NH NongHyup Bank, and the series of embezzlement, breach of trust and other financial crimes that occurred this year are likely to weigh on Lees chances.

NH NongHyup Bank plans to announce the pool of candidates for its next CEO after mid-December.

On the other hand, the CEOs of KB Kookmin, Shinhan and Hana banks are expected to have their terms extended.

Kookmin Bank CEO Lee Jae-keun, who took office in January 2022, has completed his initial two-year term and secured a one-year extension.

KB Financial Group plans to hold an affiliate CEO candidate recommendation committee meeting on Wednesday to announce the candidate for the bank's next CEO.

Similarly, Shinhan Bank CEO Jung Sang-hyuk, completing his first term after taking office in February last year, is also expected to be reappointed under the general two-plus-one-year CEO tenure policy.

Hana Bank CEO Lee Seung-lyul, who assumed office in January last year, is also expected to be reappointed. This expectation is driven by the bank's achievement of the highest net profit in the banking sector during his first year and its record-breaking earnings again this year.

Shinhan Financial Group and Hana Financial Group plan to announce their CEO candidates mid-December.
By Yi Whan-woo

OK Financial Group, a conglomerate that started as a private money lending firm, is considering selling its last remaining private money lending unit in a bid to establish a foothold in the securities sector, sources familiar with the matter said Monday.

While such a bid aligns with the groups portfolio diversification, they said the company is also believed to be pushing faster to improve its negative image, which is heavily associated with the private loan business.

The company formerly owned multiple money lending brands, including Rush & Cash and Miz Sarang, before steadily withdrawing from the market and entering the tier 2 banking industry.

It is working to sell H&H Financial Loan, its last remaining private loan company, after the Fair Trade Commission labeled it a conglomerate in its 2022 update.

The sale of H&H Financial Loan is necessary for the company as it plans to acquire Hanyang Securities, a midsized brokerage house that went up for sale this year.

OK Financial Group invested about 100 billion won in a fund created by KCGI, a private equity firm selected as the preferred bidder for Hanyang Securities.

The KCGI is screening potential buyers of the brokerage house to determine their eligibility under the guidelines of the Financial Services Commission (FSC).

Under the circumstances, the FSC is pessimistic about a private money business acquiring a securities firm for transparency and other reasons, a source said. Accordingly, OK Financial Group wants to make clear it is done with private money business by selling H&H Financial Loan.

Another source pointed out that financial consumers still associate OK Financial Group with private loan business that offers money at a higher rate than major commercial banks.

The company apparently wants to shift away from such a negative image, the source said.
Korea's exports are expected to grow 2.2 percent on-year in 2025, driven by robust performance of premium semiconductor products, although anticipated changes in U.S. trade policy may weigh down on the growth, a state-run think tank said Monday.

The projection marks a slowdown from the 8.4 percent growth estimated for 2024, according to a report released by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET).

"Exports are set to slow due to the base effect, but backed by the recovery of major IT sectors, such as semiconductors, outbound shipments will continue to grow," the institute said, adding that the country's trade surplus is expected to reach $48.7 billion, slightly up from $47.4 billion projected for this year.

"However, the new Donald Trump administration's blanket tariff policies may weigh down on Korea's automobile shipments to the United States, significantly impacting overall exports," it added.

Trump has been proposing sweeping tariffs of at least 10 percent, and up to 20 percent, on all imported goods.

Should exports meet the target, it will mark the first time Korea's annual shipments surpass the landmark $700 billion. The KIET estimated this year's outbound shipments to reach $685.5 billion.

Imports are anticipated to grow 2.1 percent on-year in 2025, marking a turnaround from the estimated decrease of 0.7 percent in 2024.

"While foreign exchange rates and global crude prices are expected to remain stable, imports are likely to rise slightly due to higher demand for intermediate goods amid stronger exports," said the report.

"The slowing demand in major export destinations and expanded overseas production will lead to a 2.7 percent decrease in exports by the automobile sector, including auto parts," it added.

The think tank, however, offered a positive outlook for the semiconductor industry, forecasting an 8.5 percent on-year growth on rising demand for IT products amid improving consumer sentiment and recovery in global chip prices.

On the other hand, exports of batteries are expected to decrease 6.7 percent on-year in 2025, partly due to a slowdown in global demand for electric vehicles, the KIET added.

The KIET, meanwhile, projected economic growth of 2.1 percent for 2025, slightly down from this year's estimate of 2.2 percent.

The estimate aligns with the Bank of Korea's projection made in August but is slightly higher than the 2 percent suggested by the International Monetary Fund.

"While investment in the construction sector is anticipated to remain sluggish in 2025, exports are expected to maintain growth. With domestic consumption and facility investment also gradually recovering, overall growth is expected to reach 2.1 percent," the KIET said.

The KIET added that economic growth for the first half of 2025 is expected to reach 1.9 percent, while growth in the July-December period will be slightly higher at 2.2 percent. (Yonhap)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited an offshore fishing farm under construction in the eastern port city of Sinpho, calling for regions to use their own natural and economic resources in a bid to develop themselves independently, state media reported Tuesday.

The North's leader made the remarks during his visit to the Sinpho City Offshore Farm under construction in South Hamgyong Province, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, without disclosing the date of his inspection.

During a visit to the construction site of the farm in July, Kim ordered a new model of offshore farming to be built that mobilizes the resources of the sea effectively as part of efforts to develop backward regions.

The North's leader called for regions to secure the "motive force of regional economic development by fully exploiting various resources and natural and geographical environments," as the move represents an important share of the country's key regional development policy, according to the KCNA.

"He repeatedly stressed the need to help all regions lay the foundations for developing independently by effectively developing and using their own natural and economic resources," it said.

Kim also called for the successful completion of the project before next month's plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.

For the Sinpho farm, around 70 percent of the construction has been completed, with scallops and kelp being farmed on a trial basis, the KCNA said.

In January, Kim set forth a project to build modernized factories in 20 cities and counties over the next decade to enhance the living standards of the people. The move is seen as being intended to ease the worsening public sentiment amid deepening economic difficulties. (Yonhap)
The Japanese government on Monday expressed regret over Korea boycotting a Japan-led event honoring wartime forced labor victims, including Koreans, from an old Japanese mine complex.

The remark came as Korea boycotted the memorial held on Sado Island, off Japan's west coast, on Sunday and held its own memorial honoring the victims earlier in the day in protest over Tokyo's apparent insincerity in delivering on its pledge to remember the victims.

"It is regrettable that Korea did not participate," Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a press conference.

Announcing the decision just a day before the event, Seoul indicated it had to do with the fact that Tokyo had decided to send a vice foreign minister who has a history of attending the Yasukuni Shrine honoring the war criminals from World War II to the event as the government representative. (Yonhap)
Korea voiced hope Monday that a new climate finance deal reached at a recent U.N. summit will help accelerate the implementation of the shared international goals on reducing carbon emissions under the Paris Agreement.

Seoul expressed its expectation as the U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP29) wrapped up its two weeks of heated talks with a new agreement on setting an annual target for global climate finances in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Sunday (local time).

The new agreement, known as the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance, calls for all relevant parties to work to spend more than $1.3 trillion in total annually by 2035 to tackle climate change, Seoul's foreign ministry said in a release.

Of the pledged amount, advanced countries will invest an annual $300 billion, a threefold increase from the original goal agreed upon in 2009.

A heated debate emerged during this year's conference, as developing countries objected to the suggestion from wealthier nations to include their contributions toward the new annual target, a reason why the conference came up with the new deal two days past the initial deadline.

The Paris Agreement calls for capping the global warming increase to 1.5 degrees celcius above the levels from the pre-industrialization period.

"The agreement lays the foundation for the full-scale launch of a transparent and robust international carbon market," the ministry said.

"The agreement is considered a significant turning point in responses to the climate crisis, with practical implementation and cooperation becoming key tasks going forward," it said.

Over 60,000 participants, including those from 198 relevant parties, international organizations, industries and civic groups, attended the conference.

The Korean delegation was led by Environment Minister Kim Wan-sup and Chung Kee-yong, ambassador-at-large for climate change.

Next year's COP 30 is due to take place in Brazil. (Yonhap)
Seoul holds separate memorial service for forced laborers

By Anna J. Park

A memorial service for Korean laborers forcibly mobilized to the Sado mines, which Japan had promised to hold annually following the sites inscription as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage last summer, has become an embarrassment for the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, according to politicians and diplomatic observers, Monday.

The controversy arose when Akiko Ikuina, a parliamentary vice minister at Japan's foreign ministry, was chosen to represent the Japanese government at the first memorial service. Due to her alleged past record of visiting to the Yasukuni Shrine, where Japanese war criminals are enshrined among others, the Korean government requested a change in Japans representative. But Japan declined the request.

Furthermore, despite another request from Korea for the Japanese representative to include expressions of mourning and reflection in her eulogy recited at the event, Japan reportedly failed to provide a clear response, prompting Korea to hold a separate memorial service. The Korean government concluded that such a memorial service planned by Japan did not align with the original purpose of honoring Korean laborers.

At the memorial, which took place without Korea's participation on Sunday, Ikuina delivered a eulogy recognizing the "dangerous and harsh conditions" that Korean laborers endured, but avoided acknowledging coercion or offering any apology from Japan.

This omission has deepened Korea's sense of betrayal toward Japan, which had promised to honor the victims at the annual memorial service under an agreement made during the Sado mines' UNESCO inscription in July.

Triple blows

While Japan is the primary target of criticism, growing discontent is directed at the Korean government for what many are calling a "diplomatic debacle." Critics argue that Korea offered concessions to Japan for the Sado mines' UNESCO listing while receiving nothing in return.

Rather than acknowledging Korea's cooperation in the UNESCO listing process, Japan delivered what many in Korea perceive as a "triple blow"  excluding references to the forced labor of Korean workers in exhibition materials, attempting to downplay coercion in the memorial's title, and sending a representative with an alleged history of visiting the Yasukuni Shrine to the annual memorial service that had been agreed upon by both countries.

The Korean government is facing criticism for relying too heavily on Japan's goodwill, inadvertently allowing Tokyo to distort the narrative surrounding the mine's UNESCO listing.

On Sunday, Korea's foreign ministry said the decision to hold a separate memorial ceremony underscores the government's unwavering stance on historical issues with Japan.

"Guided by this principle, the government will continue to work toward improving bilateral relations in a manner that benefits both Korea and Japan," the ministry said.

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) supported the foreign ministry's stance, saying the government will prioritize national interests in all diplomatic matters, including Korea-Japan relations, while maintaining a principled approach to diplomacy.

"It is unfortunate that the Korean government's demands were not acknowledged when this is a sensitive issue for both Korea and Japan. We need to reflect humbly and reassess whether this outcome was the result of complacency on the part of our diplomatic authorities," Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the ruling party, said at the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday.

"Japan's sincere acknowledgment of the Korean victims of the Sado mines, along with a clear apology and reflection on past colonial rule, is the fundamental prerequisite for a future-oriented Korea-Japan relationship," Choo stressed, adding that the favorable atmosphere between Korea and Japan that has been nurtured under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration should not be shaken.

Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), denounced the controversy surrounding the memorial service, calling it "the worst diplomatic disaster."

"Due to the government's disastrous diplomacy, the Sado mines' memorial service has been reduced from honoring the souls of forced labor victims to a celebration of Japan's UNESCO inscription of the site," Lee rebuked on Monday.

"The forced mobilization of over 1,500 Koreans has been erased from history, and it will be remembered as the worst diplomatic failure, where the Korean government itself justified Japan's colonial rule. This submissive and conciliatory diplomacy by the Yoon administration has led to the disaster of the Sado mines' memorial service," Lee added, emphasizing that a future-oriented Korea-Japan relationship will be difficult if Tokyo persists in distorting history Seoul continues its humiliating approach to diplomacy.

The two countries will mark the 60th anniversary of the normalization of Korea-Japan diplomatic relations next year.

The Korean government, which did not attend the Japan-led memorial service the previous day, held its own ceremony near the site of the former Korean laborers' dormitories in Niigata Prefecture, Japan, Monday.

Following a moment of silence and the offering of flowers, Korea's Ambassador to Japan, Park Cheol-hee, delivered a eulogy for the Korean laborers who had been forcibly mobilized, honoring the spirits of the deceased workers.

"First, I bow deeply to express my heartfelt condolences to the souls of the Korean laborers who were forcibly mobilized to work in the Sado mines over 80 years ago and died after enduring harsh labor. I pray for their peaceful rest," the ambassador said.

"The sorrow of the Korean workers who died far from their homeland, never to embrace their loved ones again, and the pain of those who survived but lived on suffering from the aftermath, including silicosis, will never be fully alleviated by words alone. We will never forget the tears and sacrifices that lie behind the history of the Sado mines," Koreas top envoy to Japan added.

Sado mines, famous for its gold production during the Edo period (16031867), became a crucial site for securing war materials like copper as the Pacific War intensified. During World War II, an estimated 1,500 Koreans were forcibly mobilized to work in harsh conditions at the mines. Korea was under Japans colonial rule from 1910 to 1945.

When UNESCO decided to inscribe Sado as a World Heritage site in July, the Korean government had initially opposed the inscription. However, after final negotiations with Japan, an agreement was reached in which Tokyo promised to reflect the full history of the mines and include exhibits related to the forced labor of Koreans. This agreement paved the way for the inscription to be achieved through mutual understanding.

Since World Heritage inscriptions require unanimous approval from all 21 member countries of the World Heritage Committee, the support of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration played a crucial role in Japan securing the world heritage inscription.
By Jon Dunbar

Renovations at Blackmarket, a barber shop/event space in central Seoul's multicultural Itaewon, are nearing completion, and its owner, Australian national Beau Walder, is celebrating with a special hip-hop/lo-fi event this weekend.

Headlining the event will be German beatmaker/producer digitalluc. "I'm a massive fan," Walder told The Korea Times.

"When Beau contacted me a few months ago, I had already booked a trip to Southeast Asia but didnt have the return ticket yet," digitalluc said. "He texted me on Instagram and was asking if I would be down to play a gig in Korea and that he wants to book me for a show. Then everything went quick. We booked the tickets, and voila. It was perfect timing."

The event will also feature local talent, namely DJ Son, whom Walder describes as a "wicked well-known Korean DJ," and his friend DJ Log, "both well known for their scratch and original taste in hip-hop."

Digitalluc said he will play a beat set on his sampler for the event, "only original music that I have produced by myself. Playing a few remixes I did as well."

This will be the only chance to catch digitalluc's act during his short three-day stay in the country.

In his downtime, he's looking forward to exploring the city and digging for some records. "I (have) always been interested in Korean history but never visited," he added. "Im not too familiar with the music scene over there but very keen to find out."

Digitalluc started making beats 14 years ago in his tiny one-bedroom apartment as a hobby. "I spent countless nights producing and always dreamed of reaching a few people," he said. "Never thought that one day Ill be making a living out of it and traveling the world. Traveling and playing shows in different countries and continents is amazing. You meet people you would never meet and it often feels like you know them for a long time already. Music really connects!"

He said he produces music almost exclusively at night and has always had a strong connection with the moon and universe. "If my music were a physical location, it would be on the moon," he said. "I think people in Korea can easily vibe to it because there is no language barrier  most of the tracks are instrumentals, and hip-hop is always super international."

Entry is limited to 60 people and costs 20,000 won at the door. This includes a free drink, plus a screen-printed poster handmade by Walder and signed by himself and all the performers.

After having completed extensive renovations on the place, Walder will continue booking events at Blackmarket with international artists, and he also plans to rent the space out for others to put on their own events.

Visit blkmrkt.co.kr for more information about the show and venue, or linktr.ee/digitalluc for more about digitalluc.
The military has launched early-stage preparations to assign its fleet of F-35A stealth fighters in different air bases across the nation, officials said Monday, in a move meant to enhance their survivability amid North Korean threats.

Under the plan, the military is expected to assign a new batch of 20 stealth fighters, set to arrive in South Korea as early as 2026, in another location from where the existing stealth fighters are located, according to the officials.

South Korea currently maintains 39 F-35A stealth fighters, delivered in 2019, at the 17th Fighter Wing in Cheongju, 112 kilometers south of Seoul. The country initially purchased 40 F-35As but retired one damaged by a bird strike.

The military did not disclose where the new batch of stealth fighters will be assigned to, citing operational security.

In a statement, the Air Force said it will assign the new batch of F-35As to "effectively" defend the nation, without elaborating.

The plan is seen as part of efforts to more effectively operate the advanced fighters and respond to military threats from North Korea, which has conducted multiple drills potentially targeting air bases in South Korea.

In February last year, North Korea said its short-range ballistic missiles launched from the Sukchon area in South Phyongan Province flew 395km and 337 km, respectively, putting the air base in Cheongju within range.

The following month, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected an exercise at a unit charged with striking the "enemy's operation airport in the direction of the western front," implying the drills were aimed at striking the South's military airfields in case of a war.

The F-35A is a key asset for the South Korean military due to its high-performance radar and stealth capabilities, enabling it to carry out long-range strategic strikes without being noticed by the enemy.

They are part of the country's Kill Chain preemptive strike system, a pillar of its three-pronged deterrence program against the North's nuclear and missile threats. (Yonhap)
Korea plans to develop a homegrown combat system to search, detect and remove naval mines underwater and install it on naval warships by 2029, the state arms procurement agency said Monday.

Under the deal signed with defense firm Hanwha Systems, the Defense Acquisition Procurement Agency (DAPA) aims to develop the new weapons system and equip it on minesweeper hunters set to be deployed by the Navy in 2029, DAPA said.

The envisioned combat system comprises around 20 pieces of equipment, including a naval mine search sonar, and processes data collected through the sonar, radar and sensor and conducts necessary armament.

It also uses artificial intelligence to detect naval mines and operate unmanned surface vessels, enabling a safer environment for troops carrying out operations, according to DAPA. (Yonhap)
Korea's antitrust regulator said Monday it has requested the financial regulator to address unfair terms and conditions imposed by credit companies on their customers.

In its most recent review of 1,215 terms and conditions from credit card firms, credit loan providers and related companies, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) identified 45 problematic clauses and formally requested the Financial Services Commission to help change such terms that may limit or hinder consumers' interests and rights.

Among the issues identified were terms allowing credit card companies to change or discontinue services without notice, leaving customers vulnerable to sudden restrictions, the FTC said.

For instance, some agreements included ambiguous language, like "subject to the circumstances of affiliated partners," enabling companies to limit services unpredictably, it added.

The FTC annually conducts a review of new or revised financial terms and conditions introduced by banks and financial institutions. Based on its findings, the FTC identifies unfair practices and recommends changes to protect consumers. (Yonhap)
Lee Jae-myung sees one of his legal challenges resolved

By Kwak Yeon-soo

Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Rep. Lee Jae-myung was cleared, Monday, of charges of suborning perjury or soliciting false testimony.

The verdict marks a dramatic turnaround in his political career, as he was sentenced to a suspended jail term for a separate case just 10 days ago.

This ruling will slightly ease the legal burden on Lee, who is currently facing a total of five trials, as he remains the strongest opposition contender for the 2027 presidential election. Lee and the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) are expected to use the verdict as momentum to more actively assert that the charges against him are politically motivated and part of an effort to suppress the opposition, further solidifying the anti-government stance of the DPK's campaigns.

Lee was indicted in October last year on charges of suborning a secretary of a former mayor of Seongnam, a Gyeonggi Provincial city, over the phone to testify in his favor in a 2018 election law violation case involving him. At the time, Lee was tried for spreading false information during a televised debate for his Gyeonggi governorship election.

Prosecutors suspected that the secretarys subsequent testimony was given at Lees request. But the DPK chief denied the prosecutions claim, stating that he only asked the secretary to testify based on what he remembered.

Given the evidence submitted by the prosecution, it was not clearly demonstrated that Lee had the intention of suborning the secretary to commit perjury, the Seoul Central District Court said in the ruling. The court, however, fined the secretary 5 million won ($3,570).

After the verdict, Lee expressed his gratitude to the court.

I am grateful to the judiciary for restoring truth and justice, Lee said. Compared to the difficulties and pain Koreans go through, the problems I deal with are insignificant. I will continue to do my best to promise better lives for our people. Lets pursue politics that saves lives rather than politics that kills.

The prosecution said it will appeal the verdict of innocence given to Lee.

The charges of suborning perjury were one of the legal obstacles hindering Lee's political career and his path to the presidency. Earlier this month, a guilty verdict on his election law violation charges already dealt a serious blow to his prospects.

Lee was sentenced to one year in jail suspended for two years. If the verdict is finalized, he would be stripped of his Assembly seat and banned from running for a public post for the next 10 years. This will prevent him from running for the presidency in the 2027 election. In the 2022 election, he narrowly lost to President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The main opposition leader is currently standing trial in four other cases: corruption related to a development project in Seongnam, involvement in an illegal cash transfer of $8 million to North Korea, and embezzlement during his term as Gyeonggi Province governor.

Experts said the acquittal will allow Lee to tighten his grip on the party and help strengthen his leadership.

I think Lee would feel the burden lifted because the public tends to think that once is a mistake. The DPK will escalate attacks on prosecutors under the Yoon administration. Partisan fights will likely continue until early next year when the appellate court issues its ruling on Lees election law violation, political commentator Park Sang-byeong said

The PPP expressed disappointment over the court's decision.

We respect the judiciary's decision, but express disappointment. There is still a chance an appellate court may reverse the courts acquittal. In addition, the first ruling does not exempt Lee from his political and moral responsibilities. PPP spokesperson Rep. Kwak Kyu-taek said.

The PPP said it will focus on improving peoples livelihood. Earlier in the day, PPP Chairman Han Dong-hoon said, "We urgently need momentum to restore the people's livelihoods and drive economic growth. If we don't act now, we could be left behind permanently."
Prosecutors on Monday demanded a five-year prison sentence for Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong in an appeal against a court decision that acquitted the chairman over the controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates.

Prosecutors also requested a fine of 500 million won ($356,552) for Lee during the final hearing at the Seoul High Court.

Lee was indicted in September 2020 on charges of stock price rigging, breach of duty and accounting fraud in the course of the controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates, Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T.

The merger, where three Samsung C&T shares were offered for one Cheil share, helped Lee tighten his control of Samsung C&T, the de facto holding company for Samsung Group, through his 23.2 percent stake in Cheil.

Prosecutors suspected that the group manipulated the stock market to inflate the prices of Cheil and drive down Samsung C&T prices through various unfair practices, including disseminating false market information and lobbying the National Pension Service, a major Samsung C&T shareholder, to support the merger.

"What the defendant destroyed in this case is the justice of our economy and the constitutional values that make up the foundation of the capital market," the prosecution said, adding Lee "deceived" the shareholders by convincing them that favoring the merger was for the national interest.

The prosecution also stressed that an acquittal of Lee would pave the way for dominant shareholders to push through a merger according to their interests in "illegal and expedient" methods.

In its ruling in February, the Seoul Central District Court acquitted Lee of all 19 charges, concluding that Lee's succession as the group chairman was not the sole purpose of the merger, nor was there any evidence showing that the merger inflicted financial losses on shareholders.

The prosecution appealed the decision.

In his final statement, Lee reaffirmed that he "never intended to cause financial harm to shareholders or mislead investors for personal gain." He maintained he genuinely believed the merger was "beneficial for the future of both companies."

He pleaded for "a chance" to dedicate himself fully to navigating the company's current economic challenges and to leading it "a step forward."

"I am aware that there are deep concerns about Samsung's future," he said. "I promise we will overcome these challenging times, even as the current situation is more difficult than ever."

Shares of Samsung Electronics, the crown jewel of the Samsung Group, have taken a hit recently amid mounting concerns over economic uncertainties and a perceived lack of innovation in the company's artificial intelligence chip technology.

The appeals court will deliver its final verdict at 2 p.m. on Feb. 3. (Yonhap)
The Korean government held its own ceremony in Japan on Monday to honor Korean forced labor victims from an old Japanese mine complex, after boycotting a Japan-hosted event over Tokyo's apparent insincerity in delivering on its pledge to remember the victims.

Foreign ministry officials from Seoul and nine family members and relatives of the victims gathered at a site that used to be a lodging for Korean forced laborers, near the Sado gold and silver mines, on Sado Island, off Japan's west coast, officials said.

Korean Ambassador to Japan Park Cheol-hee attended the event.

Monday's ceremony came a day after Korea boycotted a memorial organized by the regional Japanese government for Sado mine forced laborers, including Koreans, citing "disagreements" that could not be resolved between the two governments in time for the event.

"I bow my head and express my deepest condolences to the souls of the Korean workers who were forcibly mobilized to the Sado mine 80 years ago," Park said in a memorial address.

"It is beyond our imagination to grasp how many nights you endured, holding on to the hope of returning to your beloved family and homeland ... Behind the history of the Sado Mine lies the tears and sacrifices of these Korean workers, and we will never forget this," Park said.

Park also extended his heartfelt condolences to the victims' families, calling for the event to serve as "a true day of remembrance" for all Korean forced labor victims who suffered "unspeakable pain under harsh conditions."

"We sincerely hope this memorial ceremony brings some comfort to the deceased workers and their bereaved families," Park said.

"To make sure that the painful history 80 years ago is not forgotten, Korea and Japan must commit to making genuine efforts together," he added.

Japan voiced regret over Korea boycotting its memorial event.

"It is regrettable that Korea did not participate," Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said in a press conference.

"We have worked closely with local authorities and maintained respectful communications with the Korean government," Hayashi said.

Announcing the decision just a day before the event, Seoul indicated that it had to do with the fact that Tokyo had decided to send a vice foreign minister who has a history of attending the Yasukuni Shrine honoring the war criminals from World War II to the event as the government representative.

The shrine, seen as a symbol of Japan's militaristic past, has long been a source of tension, with Korea strongly opposing visits or offerings made by Japanese government officials.

Akiko Ikuina, the parliamentary vice minister, said in her memorial speech during Sunday's event that "many people from the Korean Peninsula" worked at the mines. There was no mention of forced mobilization for labor or Japan's colonization of Korea.

Regarding Ikuina's attendance, Hayashi said the decision was made given her role in public relations, culture and Asia-Pacific affairs at the foreign ministry.

"We believe there were no issues with this decision," he said.

Korea's memorial ceremony proceeded with a silent tribute and a wreath-laying for the victims.

On Sunday, the foreign ministry in Seoul said holding the separate ceremony "reflects the government's firm determination" that it will not compromise with Japan on historical issues.

"Based on this principle, we will continue to strive to advance bilateral relations in a way that will serve the interests of both Korea and Japan," the ministry said. (Yonhap)
By Lee Hae-rin

Yun, a 27-year-old Seoul-based job seeker who graduated from Seoul Womens University, felt scared as she woke up on Monday and read the news on the possible hiring discrimination against graduates from womens universities.

"Korea has always had a bad image of women's universities and I had felt that ever since I was a student," she said, explaining that she often felt that Korean society projected a stereotype of them, painting them as "sensitive and emotional."

Last week, an online post claiming that "the acceptance rate of applicants from Dongduk Women's University is expected to decrease during the second half of this year" was uploaded on the anonymous workplace community Blind.

The writer, who was certified to be working at a large company here and claimed that his spouse is in charge of hiring in the human resources (HR) department of the same company, said, "There was no direct mention about giving them a disadvantage at the meeting, but we should wait and see what kind of butterfly effect this could bring."

According to local news reports, his was not the only post carrying the same message.

Another Blind user, who was confirmed to work for a semiconductor giant, left a comment on a post about the student protests, saying, "The human resources team (here) has already started filtering (Dongduk Womens University graduates)." Meanwhile, another user, who works at an auto parts company also added, "They have been filtering (womens university graduates) discretely so far, but now they have an excuse to do so very openly."

Although Yun supports the cause of the ongoing rights movement at Dongduk and Seoul Womens universities with all her heart, she said that the fear is real when it comes to potential hiring discrimination.

"Many people see the student protests negatively, and they are usually the ones who are in a position to hire young people at the company," Yun said.

Lee, a 24-year-old student who will graduate from Dongduk Women's University next year, shared Yun's view.

"I think this ridiculous reality shows exactly why Korea still needs women's universities, Lee said, referring to the hiring discrimination issue.

Although I'm proud to have graduated from a women's university, I'm also worried that the prejudice against women's university graduates could worsen, while the economy is so difficult and employment is getting harder in reality.

Meanwhile, the board member of a public institution under the Ministry of Labor and Employment was also embroiled in a discrimination controversy.

Lee Woo-young, chairman of the Human Resources Development Service of Korea, wrote on his Facebook page on Nov. 16, "I want to filter out candidates from this university if possible," referring to Dongduk Women's University.

"From the perspective of a father with a son, I think I will never accept a daughter-in-law from this university," he said. "I'm glad that my eldest daughter-in-law is a decent person from a coeducational college, and my youngest son's girlfriend is a true person from a coeducational college."

Although the truth of the matter remains unknown, the potential hiring discrimination against womens university graduates has been openly unfolding online, with some internet communities also moving to file a complaint with the labor ministry.

After a series of anonymous reports of such discrimination, the government launched an investigation. An official from the labor ministry said, "We are currently collecting reports as they are coming in," adding, "We are aware of the facts and will deal with them in accordance with laws and principles if they are found to be in violation of the law."

The Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act stipulates that employers should not discriminate between men and women when recruiting or hiring workers.

However, the penalty remains minor. Those who violate this law can be fined up to 5 million won ($3,566).

This is not the first time that Korean companies have been accused of hiring discrimination against womens university graduates.

Last year, a Blind post titled "I skip resumes from women's universities," written by someone who claims to be in charge of a companys HR team, went viral.

At that time, about 2,800 reports of alleged discrimination followed, and the labor ministry also launched a fact-finding investigation, which concluded that there was no gender discrimination related to hiring at the company.
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was acquitted Monday of charges of suborning a former mayoral secretary to make false court testimony in his favor, a ruling expected to ease his legal challenges ahead of an anticipated presidential run in 2027.

Lee, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, was accused of suborning a secretary to former Seongnam Mayor Kim Byung-ryang to give false testimony during a 2019 trial on his alleged election law violations.

The trial centered on charges that Lee, as a candidate for Gyeonggi governor, lied during a TV debate in 2018 about his conviction in the early 2000s, which was for impersonating a prosecutor in collaboration with a KBS TV news producer in order to investigate the mayor over a real estate corruption scandal.

Prosecutors later accused Lee of pressuring the secretary, Kim Jin-seong, to support his remark at the debate that he had been framed. The prosecution said Kim's false testimony helped win Lee's acquittal in the election law violation case and demanded three years in prison for Lee and 10 months for Kim.

"Based only on the evidence submitted by the prosecutor, there is not enough evidence that Lee Jae-myung deliberately tried to make Kim Jin-seong resolve to commit perjury," the Seoul Central District Court said in delivering its ruling.

The court, however, found Kim Jin-seong guilty of committing perjury and sentenced him to a fine of 5 million won ($3,566).

The ruling was closely watched as it came only 10 days after the same court sentenced Lee to a suspended one-year prison term for making false statements as a candidate during the 2022 presidential campaign.

If that sentence is upheld, Lee will be stripped of his parliamentary seat and barred from running for public office for 10 years, including the 2027 presidential election.

Lee is also standing trial in three other cases on charges of corruption in connection with development projects in Seongnam, involvement in an illegal cash transfer of $8 million to North Korea and embezzlement of funds from the Gyeonggi provincial government.

"I thank the court that restored the truth and justice," Lee said outside the court after his acquittal. "I will continue to do my best for a better life for our people."

The opposition leader has widely been considered a front-runner in the next election after having lost to President Yoon Suk Yeol by 0.73 percentage point in 2022. (Yonhap)
President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating rose for the second consecutive week to 25.7 percent, a survey showed Monday.

According to the survey by Realmeter and commissioned by a local news outlet, the positive assessment of Yoon's performance rose 2 percentage points from the previous week, while the negative assessment fell 2.7 percentage points.

The survey was conducted on 2,508 adults from Monday to Friday last week and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points, with a confidence rate of 95 percent.

The pollster said Yoon's approval rating surpassed the 25 percent mark in six weeks, attributing the rise to the growth for Yoon's support in conservative strongholds, like Busan and Daegu.

In a separate survey conducted by the same pollster on 1,003 individuals aged 18 and over on Thursday and Friday, the approval ratings of the two major rival parties both fell.

Support for the ruling People Power Party dropped 1.3 percentage points from the previous week to 30.3 percent, while the figure for the main opposition Democratic Party fell 2.6 percentage point to 44.9 percent. (Yonhap)
INC-5 chair asks member states to pursue autonomous measures aligned with sustainability

By Jung Da-hyun

BUSAN  The fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) began in Busan on Monday amid growing concerns that the outcome may result in a "framework convention" due to persistent disagreements among countries.

On the opening day, government delegations from U.N. member states, international organizations and other stakeholders convened to discuss the agenda for developing a legally binding global treaty to tackle plastic pollution, including its impact on marine environments.

For the opening of the plenary session, President Yoon Suk Yeol provided a congratulatory remark recorded on video calling for the international community to finalize a legally binding instrument at INC-5.

"Reaching an agreement at this meeting will send a powerful message of hope and courage to the world that we can unite to overcome any challenge," Yoon said.

He expressed hopes that member states would negotiate with a sense of responsibility for future generations and work toward opening a historic chapter by finalizing the treaty.

"The most important thing is that the international community must unite in its determination to establish a binding global agreement on plastic pollution," he said.

Highlighting Koreas commitment to global sustainability efforts, Yoon pledged to expand green official development assistance and position the country as a "hub state," aiming to bridge gaps between nations in addressing plastic pollution.

Environment Minister Kim Wan-seop also underscored the importance of developing a legally binding international treaty on plastic pollution, stressing that the health of the planet and the well-being of future generations depend on the outcome of the negotiations.

"The health of our planet and future generations depend on what we accomplish here," he said. "We must demonstrate flexibility, make compromises and find common ground to ensure a result we can all be proud of for future generations."

Kim reiterated the urgency of the issue, expressing hope that the negotiations in Busan would serve as a pivotal milestone in the fight against plastic pollution.

"We must end plastic pollution before plastic pollution ends us," he said.

Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, stressed the severe impact of plastic pollution, which she said operates on a different timescale.

She explained that some plastics can take up to 1,000 years to decompose.

"Even then, they break down into ever smaller particles that persist, pervade and pollute," she said.

Andersen detailed how plastic pollution harms natural systems, reducing ecosystem resilience, obstructing urban drainage systems and complicating efforts to adapt to climate change.

"This is why public and political pressure for action has risen to a crescendo," Andersen said, highlighting the urgency of negotiation regarding a legally binding treaty.

Meanwhile, significant divisions remain among countries  particularly oil-producing nations like Iran and Saudi Arabia  over regulations on plastic production.

These countries opposed imposing limits on producing primary polymers, raw materials derived from fossil fuels used to make plastics. They said negotiations should be continued based on outcomes from the previous INC session held in Canada in April.

Concerns persist that the session may fail to produce a detailed and specific treaty. Some warn that the outcome could result in a broad agreement outlining general principles rather than enforceable measures.

Read More Global attention centers on reducing plastic production as 5th round of negotiations begins in Busan

Luis Vayas, the chair of INC and Ecuador's ambassador to the United Kingdom, released a non-paper on Oct. 30.

Discussions on whether to adopt the non-paper as the agenda for the final round of negotiations remained ongoing on the first day.

Vayas expressed optimism that the negotiations would reach a successful conclusion, according to an environment ministry official.

He also proposed that each member state adopt autonomous measurements aligned with sustainable production and consumption practices.

During a press briefing, Kim emphasized that Korea supports a step-by-step approach to plastic regulation, rather than imposing uniform measures.

Regarding concerns over the outcome's potential lack of specificity, Kim revealed that officials have proposed an annex adding to the chairs non-paper.

"It aims to phase out unnecessary plastics, like single-use forks, through detailed guidelines while considering differing global perspectives," he said.



Additionally, Kim highlighted the environment ministry's effort to share advanced waste management and tracking systems with developing nations. The initiative aims to strengthen legal and institutional frameworks in these countries, contributing to global efforts to combat plastic pollution.

The INC-5 negotiations will continue through Sunday, with the outcome likely shaping the next phase of global efforts to combat plastic pollution.
By Kwon Mee-yoo

Discover the pinnacle of Korean craftsmanship in the "Sculpted Celadon of the Goryeo Dynasty" exhibition at the National Museum of Korea.

This special exhibit showcases celadon from the 913-1392 Goryeo Kingdom, known for its intricate designs and stunning jade-green glaze. Each piece, shaped to mimic natural and mythological forms, represents the zenith of Goryeos artistic and technical mastery in ceramics.

Experience the exquisite beauty of these pieces until March 3, 2025.
By Park Jin-wan

As the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit concluded in Lima, Peru, South Koreas diplomatic engagement revealed both opportunities and limitations in its regional strategy. President Yoon Suk Yeol's participation at both APEC and the subsequent G20 summit tested Seoul's diplomatic capabilities, particularly in balancing its alliance commitments with broader regional engagement between the United States and China.

Most notably, the event provided a critical platform for reinforcing U.S.-South Korea-Japan trilateral cooperation, building upon the foundations laid at the Camp David Summit. The establishment of a permanent secretariat between the three nations signals a strategic attempt to institutionalize cooperation at both leadership and working levels  a move that appears designed to weather potential shifts in U.S. foreign policy following the 2024 presidential election.

However, this arrangement faces realistic challenges. The precedent of the Korea-China-Japan Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat, which remained inactive for over four years at the leadership level despite its permanent status, serves as a sobering reminder that institutional frameworks alone cannot guarantee sustained cooperation, particularly with the uncertainty surrounding regional dynamics under the new American leadership.

Perhaps more unique was the first bilateral meeting between South Korean and Chinese leaders in two years. The discussions centered on the growing Moscow-Pyongyang relationship, with President Yoon expressing explicit concerns about North Koreas troop deployment to Russia. Beijing's response, including proposing 1.5-track diplomacy, suggests a calculated opening for dialogue while maintaining strategic ambiguity. President Yoon's subsequent comment to Brazilian media that Korea does not necessarily have to make a choice between two superpowers appears to reflect a nuanced approach to strategic autonomy, one that may prove crucial as global power dynamics continue to evolve.

Looking ahead to 2025, South Korea's hosting of APEC in Gyeongju presents both opportunities and challenges. Economic projections from the Gyeongbuk Development Institute suggest the summit could generate approximately 1.4 trillion won ($1.03 billion) in regional economic benefits and 1.8 trillion nationally. With over 200 scheduled meetings  including leadership summits and various ministerial conferences  the event is expected to attract an additional 500,000 domestic and international visitors.

However, recent experiences with international events, including the Saemangeum World Scout Jamboree in 2023 and the unsuccessful Busan Expo bid, offer important lessons for policymakers. These events highlighted the dangers of overreliance on soft power assets without adequate infrastructure and preparation. While the nature of the two events is admittedly different from that of APEC, the success of the 2025 summit will require a more comprehensive approach that balances cultural promotion with practical considerations and robust organizational infrastructure.

The path to a successful summit rests on three pillars, each drawing crucial lessons from Korea's past experiences. First, infrastructure development must be approached with long-term sustainability in mind, creating lasting value for Gyeongju beyond the summit itself. This lesson resonates given Korea's mixed legacy of international events  from the 2014 Incheon Asian Games to the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics  where host cities still grapple with underutilized facilities and struggle to maintain their postevent relevance.

Second, local economic engagement must transcend the traditional model of temporary summit-driven gains. Success requires a city-wide initiative, led by local authorities, to create an ecosystem that makes Gyeongju worth revisiting.

Finally, Gyeongju's rich cultural heritage should serve as more than a scenic backdrop  it should be integral to Korea's vision for regional cooperation and dialogue. The unsuccessful 2030 Busan Expo bid offers a valuable lesson here; it failed partly because it didn't effectively communicate Busan's unique value proposition to the international community. For APEC 2025, Gyeongju's historical significance should be woven into a compelling narrative about Asia's shared cultural heritage and collective future.

The broader context for the event is the evolving nature of multilateral institutions in an era of strategic competition. While some analysts point to the declining functionality of traditional multilateral frameworks  evidenced by incidents such as Russia's veto of the United Nations Panel of Experts renewal forums like APEC retain significant symbolic and practical value. They provide crucial platforms for bilateral engagement on the sidelines of larger meetings and facilitate dialogue across strategic divides. The 2023 San Francisco meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, followed by the constructive exchanges at Lima in 2024, demonstrates APEC's evolving role from a purely economic forum to a crucial mechanism for strategic de-escalation and diplomatic bridge-building.

For Seoul, which aspires to be a Global Pivotal State, the 2025 APEC summit presents a moment to showcase its diplomatic sophistication. The timing is significant, with China also hosting APEC the following year, creating a unique "Asian moment" in regional diplomacy. Success will require a coordinated effort across government levels, from municipal to national, supported by bipartisan legislative cooperation and civil society engagement. The establishment of a comprehensive advisory committee structure for early preparation will be essential to ensure both efficient preparation and meaningful outcomes.

Two decades after hosting APEC 2005 in Busan, Korea returns to the APEC stage profoundly transformed  having evolved from a regional economic power into a global technological, cultural and diplomatic force. The 2025 Gyeongju summit presents a historic opportunity to showcase this evolution, requiring efficient coordination between national and local governments to demonstrate Korea's enhanced capacity for regional leadership.

Park Jin-wan is a nonresident James A. Kelly Korea Fellow at Pacific Forum.
Korea must press Japan's on forced labor

A planned memorial to jointly honor the sacrifices of forced wartime laborers, including Koreans, ultimately fell through. The failure was attributed to the Japanese governments increasing lack of sincerity toward Seoul and complacency on the part of the Korean government. On Sunday, a memorial was held for those who were forced to work in the Sado mines, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but no Korean delegation was present. Instead, Korean family members of the forced laborers and government officials held a separate memorial on Monday.

The fallout has become a roadblock to improving relations between Korea and Japan. The Korean foreign ministry withdrew from attending the event after discovering, too late, that the Japanese government representative, parliamentary vice minister Akiko Ikuina, had visited Yasukuni Shrine. This shrine, a symbol of Japans militaristic past, is a frequent source of controversy between the two nations.

Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the ruling People Power Party, warned Japan on Monday not to undermine the growing friendly relations with Korea. "Clear atonement and self-reflection on its colonial past, including sincerely remembering and mourning the forced laborers, is the foundation for future-oriented Korea-Japan relations," Rep. Choo said. In response, a Japanese cabinet spokesman expressed regret over Seoul's decision. Tensions between the two countries also arose over the timing of the parliamentary vice minister's visit to Yasukuni Shrine. Many are left wondering why the two nations continue to bicker over such facts.

The decision to appoint such a representative is deeply regrettable. Seoul played a key role in facilitating the inclusion of the Sado mines in Niigata Prefecture as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July. Since a consensus among member nations is required for UNESCO registration, Korea consented to this for the larger goal of improving relations. At that time, Japan had pledged to hold an annual memorial and to acknowledge the sacrifices of the forced Korean laborers. However, Seoul opposes visits by Japanese government officials to Yasukuni Shrine, and the selection of a representative with such a controversial record reflects an absence of diplomatic sensitivity. Moreover, at Sunday's memorial, the parliamentary vice minister failed to acknowledge the forced labor of Koreans, referring to them only as "many people from the Korean Peninsula" who were at the mines under Japan's wartime labor policies.

In light of President Yoon Suk Yeol's bold efforts to strengthen ties with Japan, further supported by the trilateral alliance between Seoul, Tokyo, and Washington, the Japanese government's mishandling of the memorial should be strongly addressed by the Korean government. Koreans are reminded of the painful memories following Japan's registration of Hashima Island as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015. At the time of the Hashima Island registration, Japan agreed to take steps to ensure a full understanding of the site's history. However, when the Industrial Heritage Information Center opened in Tokyo in 2020, it failed to explicitly address the facts surrounding Korean forced labor.

Japan must now recommit to authentic and sincere diplomacy, ensuring that such insincere diplomatic gestures do not occur again in the future. For its part, the Korean government cannot escape criticism for its complacency in this matter, having focused more on the official ranking of the Japanese government representative without carefully reviewing her record.

To that end, Japan should fully and wholeheartedly acknowledge the pain of the victims of forced labor and other wartime atrocities. Approximately 1,500 Koreans were forced to work in the Sado Mines under harsh conditions, and their suffering must be acknowledged with sincerity.

The challenges arising from the new geopolitical order, particularly with the looming inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, are expected to be unprecedented. In this context, Tokyo must show greater sincerity, especially in light of Seoul's progressive efforts to improve ties, by courageously addressing the lingering pain of the victims of forced labor and facing the facts head-on. Seoul, for its part, must continue to vigilantly monitor and demand meaningful action from Tokyo, while also holding itself accountable. As the two nations approach the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties next year, they must remember that sensitivity and diplomacy are essential qualities of an advanced nation  qualities that must guide all their efforts moving forward.
By Lee Min-hyung

Heo Kuen-haeng, a senior consultant at Kia, advises aspiring salespeople to have a deep understanding of regional characteristics for the sustainable growth of their careers.

He recently joined the ranks of the carmakers grand sales masters after achieving accumulated vehicle sales of more than 4,000. Heo started working at Kia in 1996 and has annually sold 139 cars on average for 29 years. He is now the 31st grand master of Kia.

Heo is based in Cheonan, the most populous city of South Chungcheong Province. The region is also home to many industrial complexes of major conglomerates, including Samsung SDI. The city also has a highly populated residential area.

I adopted a strategy of selling all the vehicles, including ones for corporate use and typical sedans or SUVs for general customers, Heo said in a telephone interview, Sunday.

Each region has unique characteristics from a sales perspective, requiring salespeople to adjust their strategies based on the target region, according to Heo.

For instance, demand for rental cars is high on Jeju Island and other popular tourist cities, so salespeople need to come up with different strategies there, he said.

This is why Heo decided not to focus on selling specific vehicles in his territory, but opted to become an all-round sales player.

Vehicle demand from big companies and their secondary vendors remain solid, but my target demand also includes regular customers, as the population of Cheonan is over 600,000, which accounts for more than 30 percent in the same province.

He also picked his consistent attitude as another core strength that has driven his robust sales performance.

I try my best to make my customers feel treated well, he said. This is the general response from my customers after they talk with me. My sales attitude or mood never goes up and down. I have kept a similar attitude for almost three decades of my entire career.

The attitude gives more returns to him than in the past due to prevailing individualism, according to him.

People are getting more hard-hearted, and care less for others, he said. This can be an opportunity for salespeople, as their kind and amicable attitude shines more at this period of an increasingly hostile society.

Heo also displayed hopes to win the title as a great master after reaching 5,000 total vehicle sales in the near future. Great master is the highest honor given to salespeople based on sales figures.
A fire broke out at a POSCO factory in the southeastern city of Pohang, officials have said, with the blaze being completely put out two hours later.

The fire started at the steel company's third Finex furnace of the plant, located some 270 kilometers southeast of Seoul, at 11:18 p.m. Sunday.

Firefighters dispatched 21 fire trucks and some 50 personnel to the scene before extinguishing the fire at 1:13 a.m. Monday. No casualties have been reported so far, officials said.

The police and fire agency plan to look into the exact cause of the fire and the extent of the damage.

Just two weeks earlier, a fire broke out at the same Finex furnace, injuring one worker and halting production. The company had resumed normal operations at the furnace on Tuesday last week.

"The fire at the No. 3 Finex furnace won't affect the Pohang plant's daily output capacity of 30,000 to 40,000 tons as the No. 2 Finex furnace and three blast furnaces (in Pohang) will help offset the production losses in the affected Finex furnace," a company spokesperson said over the phone.

POSCO aims to resume the No. 3 Finex furnace's operations within this year, he added.

In addition to its Pohang furnaces, the company operates five blast furnaces at another domestic integrated steel mill in Gwangyang, some 290 km south of Seoul. (Yonhap)
The bus presence of Korean companies in China has withered palpably in recent years amid toughened competition from local rivals and sluggish domestic demand in the neighboring country, according to industry watchers Monday.

In September, LG Display sold its liquid-crystal display (LCD) factory in China's Guangzhou to a local company for around 2 trillion won ($1.43 billion), effectively ending China operations of Korean LCD manufacturers following a similar move by industry rival Samsung Display.

Tech giant Samsung Electronics closed its last remaining smartphone factory in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, in 2019. Once the leading player in the Chinese smartphone market, its market share plummeted to near zero, prompting the company to shift production to Vietnam and India.

Hyundai Motor which once operated five production bases in China, now has only two remaining. After selling a manufacturing facility in Beijing in 2021, it sold its Chongqing plant earlier this year for 300 billion won. Its Changzhou plant has halted operations, with plans to sell it under way.

The combined market share of Hyundai and affiliate Kia stood at around 10 percent a decade ago, but now it has fallen to around 1 percent. The automakers are focusing on utilizing their Chinese factories as export hubs.

The retail sector has also suffered noticeably, with Lotte Group having borne the brunt of the lingering impact from a diplomatic dispute between Seoul and Beijing over the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system, called THAAD, in Korea in 2017.

Lotte Group is currently seeking to selling a retail complex development project in Chengdu, which was halted after the THAAD incident. Once the envisioned sale is complete, Lotte will have completely withdrawn from the Chinese market after 30 years of operations.

At its peak, Lotte Mart had operated 112 stores in China, but it withdrew from the market in 2018. Lotte Department Store also ended its Chinese operations in June this year with the closure of its Chengdu branch.

Cosmetic giant Amorepacific Group has also been losing ground to local competitors in recent years, leading to the withdrawal of its Hera and Etude House brands. Amorepacific's Chinese subsidiary reported a 42 percent on-year decrease in sales to 75 billion won in the third quarter of this year, resulting in an operating loss of 30 billion won.

In general, Korea's direct investment in China plummeted 78 percent on-year to $1.87 billion in 2023, making China the seventh-largest destination for Korean investment. A report by the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) cited rising labor costs and reduced incentives for foreign investors in China as key factors driving Korean companies to redirect investments to other regions.

Choi Ji-won, a researcher at KIEP's China research team, said, "The growing competitiveness of Chinese companies poses the greatest threat to Korean firms."

"While varying by product, many Chinese firms excel in manufacturing and have strong price competitiveness," Choi added.

An industry source from a firm that has reduced Chinese operations said: "The days of securing sales volume in the Chinese market has passed. We need to find a structure where we can generate profit even with smaller sales."

Chung Yeon-seung, a business professor at Dankook University, noted, "China is a country where political logic is strong."

"One cannot merely trust China as a business partner based purely on economic logic. It is important to approach the market conservatively and with response measures." (Yonhap)
China will utilize Korea to offset trade shocks under Trump presidency

By Lee Min-hyung

Hyundai Motor, Kia and POSCO are in urgent need of government assistance to thwart escalating pressure from their Chinese counterparts, as more price-competitive electric vehicles (EV) and steel products from Asias largest economy will make aggressive inroads into Korea in the era of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, experts said Monday.

EVs and steelmaking will be the two most vulnerable industries in Korea to be sandwiched by the hegemonic war between the U.S. and China after Trump regains his presidency in January.

This prompted calls for local carmakers and steelmakers to partner with the government to minimize the potential aftermath of the looming trade landscape change.

Trump continues reiterating his threat to impose a tariff of up to 60 percent on goods imported from China to the United States. China, for its part, will make up for its potential trade loss in the U.S. by expanding exports to Korea and other Southeast Asian markets, according to market watchers.

BYD, the worlds largest EV maker, is in the final phase of preparations for the sales of its EV sedans and SUVs in the Korean market this January. This is the first time the company will initiate sales for passenger cars in Korea.

As Tesla also made steep sales growth in only a couple of years, Korean carmakers are on high alert over BYDs inroads here. According to market tracker SNE Research, BYD surpassed Tesla in the number of combined EV sales for the first nine months combined this year, winning the title of the worlds top-selling EV maker.

BYDs core strength comes from its price competitiveness, as it manufactures lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries on its own.

Experts underscored the importance of strengthening the partnership between local carmakers and the government.

Even if the government is on track to stop offering subsidies for EVs equipped with LFP batteries due to their environmental impacts, this is not enough to retrain rapid inroads of Chinese EVs, Kim Pil-soo, an automotive technology professor at Daelim University College, said.

This is because BYDs cheap lineups, set to be sold in Korea, still hold a competitive edge in prices against their rivals in the similar segment, according to Kim.

There is no clear breakthrough for the time being, so the government and consumer organizations should team up with domestic carmakers to prevent Chinese EVs from engulfing the local market, he said.

Things are even worse for steelmakers represented by POSCO.

The steelmaker reported a disappointing operating profit of 438 billion won ($313 million) in the third quarter, down 39.8 percent from a year earlier, hit by Chinese players oversupply in the global steel industry. To mitigate declining profitability, the company recently ended up shutting down one of its factories here.

Chinese steelmakers will focus on expanding exports not just to Korea, but other Asian markets to reduce the Trump risk, Kim Moon-tae, head of an industry policy division at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said.

The government is advised to help local players diversify their export channels so they can reduce shocks in the Trump era."
By Nam Hyun-woo

Chemical giant Hyosung is facing increasing concerns over the groups bid to sell its industrial specialty gas unit, as the stock price of a Hyosung affiliate anticipated to take over the unit is faltering upon investors apparent oppositions.

According to the Korea Exchange, Hyosung TNC, a chemical textile subsidiary of the group, shed 4.45 percent and closed at 204,000 won on Monday, extending its losing streak for the fifth consecutive session.

Hyosung TNC plummeted 20.63 percent on Friday after reports and rumors that the group is seeking to sell Hyosung Chemicals industrial specialty gas unit to Hyosung TNC at around 1 trillion won ($715.77 million).

Initially seeking to sell the gas unit to an outside investor, Hyosung Chemical had been negotiating with a consortium comprised of STIC Investments and IMM Private Equity for the past five months. However, the company said in its regulatory filing on Wednesday that it has withdrawn its designation of the consortium as the preferred bidder, saying the two sides were unable to reach a mutual agreement.

The gas unit produces high-purity nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) gas, which is used as a cleaning agent in the semiconductor manufacturing process. Even though the market outlook for NF3 gas remains lucrative, the Hyosung Chemical unit relies heavily on Samsung Electronics for its sales, meaning Samsungs downturn will affect the units profitability as well.

Despite the gas divisions disappointing valuation, Hyosung Chemical is facing an urgent need to sell the unit to address its financial constraints. The company has reported operating losses for 11 consecutive quarters and faces 1.37 trillion won in short-term debt obligations due within a year.

Against the backdrop, Hyosung TNC said on Wednesday that it has been reviewing Hyosung Chems inquiry on our intention to acquire the specialty gas division, but no specific decisions have been made at this point.

Since Hyosung TNC annually produces 3,500 tons of NF3 gas, acquiring the unit with 8,000 tons of yearly capacity will elevate the company to become the worlds No. 2 NF3 gas producer, analysts said. However, they pointed out that there are uncertainties over how Hyosung TNC will fund the acquisition.

Hyosung TNC posted an operating profit of 1.4 trillion won in 2021 but saw it plunging to 123.6 billion won in 2022 and 213.4 billion won in 2023. As of September, the companys cash and cash equivalent remained at 98.75 billion won, meaning Hyosung TNC either has to use bonds it holds, issue new rights, or get new loans to acquire the gas unit.

Concerns over financial structure deterioration due to additional fundraising and potential damages to shareholder value are contributing to Hyosung TNCs stock price drop, NH Investment & Securities analyst Choi Young-kwang said.
The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), a major Korean business lobby, on Monday held a meeting with its Japanese counterpart and agreed to strengthen ties in areas of energy, supply chains and advanced technologies.

According to the KCCI, the 13th meeting of the business chamber leaderships of Korea and Japan was held in Osaka in collaboration with the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI). Their last meeting took place in Busan, Korea, in June 2023.

The Korean side was led by KCCI Chairman Chey Tae-won and HS Hyosung Vice Chairman Cho Hyun-sang among others, while the Japanese side was led by JCCI Chairman Ken Kobayashi and Shingo Torii, vice chairman of Suntory Holdings.

In his opening remarks, Chey emphasized the growing importance of Korea-Japan relations and their strengthened economic partnership, urging continued support to maintain the momentum of cooperation between the two chambers.

He added, "The business chambers from both countries should take the lead, alongside key economic organizations, in organizing forums where economic leaders from Korea and Japan can gather."

Discussions focused on identifying promising areas for private sector-led economic cooperation, including energy, supply chains and advanced technologies, as well as exploring cooperation models between local chambers.

At the meeting, Cho highlighted the growing importance of cooperation due to external geopolitical uncertainties and growth limits in their domestic economies. He also stressed the importance of joint investments in overseas hydrogen production facilities for the establishment of a global hydrogen supply chain, according to the KCCI. (Yonhap)
By Nam Hyun-woo

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong made Fortune's list of the 100 Most Powerful People in Business, becoming the only Korean entrepreneur included.

Fortune updated its list of the 100 Most Powerful People in Business, including Lee at No. 85.

Fortune described Lee as "Korea's richest person," saying he had been "groomed for power, raised, educated and trained to take over" the business empire from his father, the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee.

The magazine noted that Samsung remains the top memory chipmaker in the world but has fallen behind rivals in supplying semiconductors for artificial intelligence (AI) processors, referring to high-bandwidth memory chips.

Fortune added that Samsungs foundry business has given up ground to rival TSMC, attributing this to the company's declining stock performance.

The magazine said it selects each candidate for the list among leaders from 40 industries based on its metrics on the size of the business, the financial health of the business, innovation, influence and other criteria.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk topped the list, followed by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Along with them, global big tech firm CEOs made the top 10.

Apple CEO Tim Cook ranked sixth, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was seventh, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman came in eighth and Google CEO Sundar Pichai was 10th.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's top security advisor called on Sunday for an end to the escalation of the war between Ukraine and Russia, and for both parties to come to the negotiating table.

"We need to bring this to a responsible end. We need to restore deterrence, restore peace, and get ahead of this escalation ladder, rather than responding to it," said Mike Waltz, Trump's pick for the influential role of U.S. national security advisor (NSA).

In recent days, Washington has authorized Kyiv to use U.S.-supplied missiles to strike targets in Russian territory and agreed to supply it with landmines, prompting Moscow to respond with the use of an experimental medium-range ballistic missile.

Waltz, a noted foreign policy hawk and former U.S. special forces officer, has been critical of Russia but has, like Trump, opposed increasing aid to Ukraine.

"President Trump has been very clear about the need to end this conflict," he told U.S. media outlet Fox News on Sunday.

"We need to be discussing is who's at that table, whether it's an agreement, an armistice, how to get both sides to the table and then what's the framework of a deal?"

Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, with the United States and others coming to Kyiv's aid in its fight to hold its territory in the east of the country.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has in the past ruled out ceding any territory to Russia, and told Fox News on Tuesday that Ukraine would lose the war if Washington pulls funding.

President Joe Biden's administration has promised a smooth transition to Trump, who has pledged major shake-ups on both foreign and domestic policy.

On Sunday, Waltz said he had met Biden's NSA Jake Sullivan and warned adversaries abroad against thinking they could gain an advantage in the months before Trump takes office in January.

"For our adversaries out there that think this is a time of opportunity that they can play one administration off the other. They're wrong... we are hand in glove."

Waltz also lauded "the strength and the grit" of Israel in its offensive against Hamas, which has killed at least 44,211 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to local authorities.

The war was triggered by the assault on Israel by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, a cross-border raid that resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

"Now is a moment to craft some type of arrangement that doesn't just put a pause for future October 7th's (but) truly brings stability to the Middle East," said Waltz. (AFP)
Muslim

A Pakistani government team mediated a seven-day cease-fire deal between rival sectarian groups on Sunday, halting days of clashes that have killed at least 68 people and injured dozens in the northwest of the country, one of the mediators said.

The violence began when gunmen attacked convoys of civilian vehicles on Thursday, killing at least 40 people, mostly Shi'ite Muslims. That sparked retaliatory attacks against Sunni Muslim residents and there have been pitched battles between armed groups from both sides.

Armed Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims have engaged in tribal and sectarian rivalry for decades over a land dispute in Kurram district near the Afghanistan border.

"Both sides have agreed to a week-long cease-fire which is expected to be extended," Muhammad Ali Saif, a member of the mediation team, told Reuters by phone, adding that major clashes had already stopped.

Saif, who is also the information minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Kurram is located, said both sides had also agreed to exchange prisoners, including women, and the bodies of those killed in the clashes.

The prisoners and bodies will be exchanged with assistance from Pakistani paramilitary forces.

The team flew into Parachinar, Kurram's main city, on Saturday and met Shi'ite and Sunni tribal leaders with the entire district under virtual curfew and armed groups roaming the streets in many villages.

Saif said news of the cease-fire should also halt smaller skirmishes that had been reported in remote areas of the district.

Another member of the mediation team, Akhtar Hayat Gandapur, the police chief of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said Shi'ite leaders were demanding the immediate arrest of those involved in attacking passenger vehicles, as well as compensation for the victims and safety assurances for travelers.

The government is yet to identify or publicly name who the attackers were and no one has claimed responsibility.

Two government sources, who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the death toll from retaliatory violence since Thursday's bus attacks had risen to at least 28, putting the overall toll at 68.

Armed groups stormed into settlements inhabited by members of rival sects. Many homes have been evacuated, while markets and schools remain closed and several petrol stations were set alight, the officials said.

They said they feared the death toll could rise as communications in the area are down, making information difficult to obtain. (Reuters)
Reports that China has built a prototype nuclear reactor for its next aircraft carrier have prompted renewed focus on its supposed long-term ambition to project naval power far from its shores.

Carriers powered by nuclear reactors do not need to refuel as often as conventionally powered ones. This gives them much greater range and also allows them to carry more fuel and weapons for their aircraft.

Associated Press reported on Nov. 11 that China had built a prototype reactor for a large surface warship on a mountain site outside the city of Leshan, in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

Research provided to the news agency by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California concluded that China's 701 Institute, which is responsible for aircraft carrier development, had procured reactor equipment "intended for installation on a large surface warship."

The analysis was based on publicly available documents, including an environmental impact report that described it as a "national defence-related" project, and satellite images taken between 2020 and 2023 showing the construction of facilities related to the reactor site.

The United States has 11 carriers that use the technology and the only other nuclear-powered carrier in service is France's Charles de Gaulle.

Beijing has long been rumoured to have been planning a nuclear-powered carrier that would help to achieve its ambitions of giving the People's Liberation Army (PLA) "blue-water capabilities," and the AP report may be the first evidence it is working towards this.

Adding such a carrier to the PLA Navy's fleet would allow it to conduct "smooth deepwater aircraft operations," according to Yoon Suk-joon, a senior fellow at the Korea Institute for Military Affairs in Seoul and specialist in Chinese naval weapons systems.

"[Nuclear propulsion allows] sufficient operating speed that is not affected by sea conditions, sufficient power supply, ensuring the safety of the aircraft take-off and landing system, and building unlimited propulsion," added Yoon, who is a retired naval captain.

"This means that the Chinese navy can always keep its aircraft carriers on standby in open seas with greater confidence."

He said nuclear power would give the carrier a top-speed of up to 30 knots (55km/h or 34mph) and help increase the speed at which advanced launch systems for the aircraft could operate.

Collin Koh, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said a nuclear-powered carrier would be able to go on "global voyages," without necessarily having to stop for refuelling.

"All that means [is] that we are not just looking at the Chinese operating the carrier just within the region."

Koh also said he could not imagine that this type of reactor would be used for any other surface ships "and that clearly highlights the long-term Chinese ambition."

He said while nuclear-powered carriers could play a key role in potential flashpoints such as the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, "we are also going to expect the Chinese carrier to go more global ... starting with the Indian Ocean."

He also said the PLA's first overseas base in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa "is large enough to accommodate an aircraft carrier."

China's navy is already the world's largest and has a goal of having six carriers by the end of 2035 as it undertakes a rapid modernisation.

Its third and newest carrier, the Fujian, is currently undergoing sea trials and is the first outside the United States to be equipped with an advanced electromagnetic catapult launch system that allows planes to be launched more frequently.

Koh added that the Chinese carrier programme is an "evolutionary" one and the Fujian's successor  commonly known as the Type 004 - will be of the "same size or even larger."

He added that if the reported reactor project was successful, "subsequent Chinese carriers ... will all be nuclear-powered."

In March, Yuan Huazhi, political commissar for the PLA Navy, confirmed work on a fourth carrier was under way and an announcement on whether it would be nuclear-powered would be made "soon."

Alex Bristow, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said nuclear-powered carriers would "bolster the PLA Navy's status as a 'first-tier' competitor of the U.S. Navy."

He added: "It's debatable whether aircraft carriers would survive long in a major U.S.-China war ... but [they] could play an important role in a number of other scenarios, giving Beijing the means to signal strength and apply force, including against weaker military opponents than the U.S."

Bristow also said: "China's development of a blue-water navy that could project force throughout and beyond the Pacific Ocean is another justification for Australia's military modernisation, including the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines through the Aukus partnership [with Britain and the U.S.."

But some analysts also pointed out that there were practical constraints on what such carriers can do.

Timothy Heath, a senior international defence researcher at the Rand Corporation think tank in the U.S., said a nuclear-powered carrier would still need places to stop to take on food and water on long distance voyages.

"The carrier would be very vulnerable to U.S. submarines in any confrontation with the U.S. navy on the high seas," he added.

Koh said that to have a "fully functional, operable and sustainable carrier strike group," the ships need proper support. This not only included the ability to replenish supplies, but also suitable escorts to develop a "real blue-water capability."

"Correspondingly, it also means that the cost of protecting the carrier will become higher as well, with more assets to protect, the more liabilities ... It isn't just about, 'oh, I have a nuclear power and aircraft carrier'."

Read the full story at SCMP.
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International Day Elimination of Violence against Women

Ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November, the European Commission and the High Representative/Vice-President issued the following statement:

All forms of violence against women are despicable. They are a violation of human rights and undermine our core values.

Women across all corners of the world continue to endure unspeakable violence  physical, sexual, psychological and economic  offline and online. Women and girls also bear the brunt of both immediate violent and lasting effects of war and conflict, resulting disproportionality in economic hardship. The situation is especially dramatic in the context of humanitarian crises, where instances of conflict-related sexual violence and human trafficking often go unreported.

Following the EU's accession to the Istanbul Convention, the most ambitious and comprehensive standards to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence, this year we adopted the first ever EU law to effectively fight violence against women and domestic violence, which complements existing legislation in EU Member States. We now have additional tools to combat such violence, both offline and online, to ensure that women and girls can be safe and live without fear, to provide the targeted support services for victims, and accountability for perpetrators. We call on all Member States to put in place these robust measures swiftly.

Our commitment to end violence against women around the world is a key priority for the EU external action, not least in the EU's role as a major humanitarian donor. We reaffirm our steadfast dedication to the immediate eradication of violence against women and girls in collaboration with partner countries, civil society, women's rights groups, and human rights defenders.

Background

The EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025 commits the European Union to prevent and combat gender-based violence. In May 2024, the European Union adopted the Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence. The Directive aims to provide a comprehensive framework to effectively prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence across the EU. It does so by introducing definitions of certain criminal offences (cyberviolence offences, female genital mutilation and forced marriage), strengthening the protection and support of victims, facilitating their access to justice, enhancing prevention, data collection, coordination and cooperation.

In October 2023, the European Union acceded to the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention. It is the most far-reaching international legal instrument to set out binding obligations to prevent and combat violence against women and girls. In parallel, the Commission has already achieved most of the actions under its EU Strategy on victims' rights (2020-2025). The objective of the strategy is to ensure that all victims in the EU can fully benefit from their rights under EU law. In July 2023, the Commission adopted the proposal for a Directive amending the 2012 Victims' Rights Directive, and to strengthen the rights of all victims of crime across the European Union.

Today, the Commission is also publishing a Flash Eurobarometer on Gender Stereotypes on Violence against Women. Across the EU, 92% of respondents consider unacceptable for a man to occasionally slap their wife or girlfriend. 82% of respondents find it also unacceptable for men to body gaze, ogle, catcall or whistle at women. 73% disagree that women often make up or exaggerate claims of abuse or rape.

On 25 November, Eurostat, the European Union Fundamental Rights' Agency (FRA), and the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) will present the findings of a joint survey on gender-based violence in the EU. More information on the gender-based violence survey can be found here from Monday 25 November 11:00 CET.

The Commission provides funding for projects and organisations to tackle gender-based violence through the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme. EUR 23 million will be made available in 2025 under the DAPHNE strand to support transnational actions that tackle and prevent violence against children and gender-based violence in the domestic sphere and in intimate relationships, as well as those that protect and support survivors of gender-based violence, including child protection systems.

Internationally, the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy (2020-2024) and the Action Plan on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in External Action 2021  2025 (GAP III), extended until 2027, stand as the EU's ambitious framework for achieving progress on gender equality and women's empowerment. The EU, as co-leader of the Generation Equality Forum's Action Coalition on Gender-Based Violence, will continue its efforts to curb gender-based violence, throughout the world.

Six years since its launch, the Spotlight Initiative's initial phase has been fully implemented in five regions. Its success has led to the Initiative being selected as one of the 12 High Impact Initiatives' for its impact across all of the Sustainable Development Goals. As the initiative enters its next phase, the EU will continue to invest in the prevention of gender-based violence globally.

As every year, the European Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS) participate in the UN Women's Orange the World campaign. On the evening of the 24 November, the European Commission's Headquarters, the Berlaymont building, will be illuminated in orange, the UN-designated symbol of the global commitment to eliminate Violence against Women. The facade of EEAS headquarters will also go orange to support the campaign. Pictures will be available on EbS.

For More Information

Ending gender-based violence

EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025

Gender Action Plan III

Flash Eurobarometer 544  Gender Stereotypes  Violence against Women

EU gender-based violence survey carried out jointly by Eurostat, FRA and EIGE

Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence

Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence

EU Strategy on victims' rights (2020-2025)

Proposal for a Directive amending the 2012 Victims' Rights Directive

Spotlight Initiative

ACT Programme

Orange the World

Global Hub for Victims of Violence

Zarazeno ne 24.11.2024 11:11:00 Zdroj Evropska komise en Original ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/api/documents?reference=STATEMENT/24/5989&language=en lang en guid /STATEMENT/24/5989/
Classic drama staged in street in Tianjin

Xinhua) 13:29, November 25, 2024

Audience watch drama "the Phoenix hair clip" staged in a street in Tianjin, north China, Nov. 24, 2024. "The Phoenix hair clip" is a poem of famous poet Lu You in China's Song Dynasty (960-1279), describing his real tragic love story that had been adapted by artists into many versions of dramas.

Actors of Tianjin People's Art Theater staged the classic drama in a street in Tianjin to display artistic atmosphere of the city. (Xinhua/Li Ran)

An actor performs drama "the Phoenix hair clip" in a street in Tianjin, north China, Nov. 24, 2024. "The Phoenix hair clip" is a poem of famous poet Lu You in China's Song Dynasty (960-1279), describing his real tragic love story that had been adapted by artists into many versions of dramas.

Actors of Tianjin People's Art Theater staged the classic drama in a street in Tianjin to display artistic atmosphere of the city. (Xinhua/Li Ran)

Actors perform drama "the Phoenix hair clip" in a street in Tianjin, north China, Nov. 24, 2024. "The Phoenix hair clip" is a poem of famous poet Lu You in China's Song Dynasty (960-1279), describing his real tragic love story that had been adapted by artists into many versions of dramas.

Actors of Tianjin People's Art Theater staged the classic drama in a street in Tianjin to display artistic atmosphere of the city. (Xinhua/Li Ran)

Actors perform drama "the Phoenix hair clip" in a street in Tianjin, north China, Nov. 24, 2024. "The Phoenix hair clip" is a poem of famous poet Lu You in China's Song Dynasty (960-1279), describing his real tragic love story that had been adapted by artists into many versions of dramas.

Actors of Tianjin People's Art Theater staged the classic drama in a street in Tianjin to display artistic atmosphere of the city. (Xinhua/Li Ran)

Actors perform drama "the Phoenix hair clip" in a street in Tianjin, north China, Nov. 24, 2024. "The Phoenix hair clip" is a poem of famous poet Lu You in China's Song Dynasty (960-1279), describing his real tragic love story that had been adapted by artists into many versions of dramas.

Actors of Tianjin People's Art Theater staged the classic drama in a street in Tianjin to display artistic atmosphere of the city. (Xinhua/Li Ran)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
KRISTINE Melne, proprietor of the Trendy Treasures department store in Mountmellick, recently organised a Pink Ribbon fundraiser for Breast Cancer Ireland, having been inspired by customers who are surviving breast cancer.

The fancy fashion flaunts took place recently in The Hares Corner Restaurant, which was packed out on the night.

Restaurant owner Edel Connolly offered her premises as the venue for the event and provided refreshments, music and a room where the models could change outfits and have professional makeovers by Nicole Marnell of Lavish Beauty.

Guest speakers included patient ambassador Avril Tierney from Portarlington and Carol Ann Scott, outreach co-ordinator for the midlands, who gave a talk on breast cancer and provided invaluable information to the gathering.

Kristine Melne told the ***Laois Nationalist*** what inspired her to run the event. She said: I am inspired by lots of my customers who have breast cancer or are surviving it. I feel for those lovely ladies, who might be losing themselves and their confidence. Its nice to try to help in bringing back their joy, because those amazing women are so deserving. Lots of women think that breast cancer wont affect them, but all women have to be very careful.

When I began to plan all of this, it got much bigger than I expected. People came from all over to help. Most of the women developing breast cancer are very young with small kids. One lady found out she had breast cancer only two weeks into her pregnancy. All of the stories that I was told made me want to do more to help.

I got in touch with Beverley Barbour of the Methodist Church and Janet Stewart, who fundraised so much for the Ben and Jake Foundation  there was so much support.

I hadnt seen any references to a Pink Ribbon fashion show where the models are breast cancer survivors ever taking place in a small community before. I am so happy for the women. One woman came to me for clothes and said that she doesnt see herself as herself anymore, so this is all about helping these women. Kristine finished by saying that the event raised a whopping 2,700 for Breast Cancer Ireland and that the evening was very emotional, special and positive, while creating a lovely, homely atmosphere for the wonderful women. She added that she plans to run the fundraiser again in 2025.

Kristine wishes to thank everyone who helped in any way, including those who donated prizes: Infinity Hair Salon, Happy Hands Nail Studio, Hughes Pharmacy, McElwee Pharmacy, SuperValu Mountmellick, SuperValu Stradbally, Laois Pharmacy, D&B Nails, Tesco Extra Portlaoise, Floral Essence Florists, Bawnaraun Woodcraft, Aiden Carroll Flooring, Willow Tree Reflexology, Shaws, Tirlan Countrylife, The Max, Pick of the Crop and several more, along with people who arrived with items for the raffle.

Donations collected by local woman Daiga Klindzane from friends allowed her to make six glorious hampers, while another donated a designer Marc Jacobs tote bag, which was auctioned for the worthy cause in memory of her own mother, who sadly died from cancer.
MOUNTMELLICK woman Alice Culliton, who has spent 47 of her 77 years volunteering with Concern, will hold a Collection and Fast Day at the towns SuperValu on Friday 29 November.

Alice worked with Concern from August 1977 until mid-1999 but has continued to raise funds for the charity for the past 15 years.

Alice described how her many years with Concern inspired her to keep going. She said: During that time, I had different places of work, starting out in Bangladesh for two years working with the very poor who had to live in densely populated shelters.

After that, I spent a year working with the Cambodian people in their camps in Thailand. They had fled from the cruel regime of Pol Pot. Many widowed women and their children were traumatised from the extermination of their people in Cambodia. Alice did a years nutrition study in 1981/82 and then spent two years working in Leinster as a Concern area representative, supporting fundraising groups and speaking in schools.

This was a time when Ethiopia was in the grip of a huge, devastating famine. Alice requested to work there in 1984 and then went to Tanzania for three years to set up womens development programmes in the Concern working area of Iringa, Tanzania.

She spent over a year in Sudan in emergency feeding programmes, following the displacement of thousands of people from the conflict areas of South Sudan, made worse by the floods that hit Khartoum.

Alice returned to Bangladesh in 1991, after a years study in Swansea University, to oversee Womens Development programmes for four years. Very poor women were selected for these programmes, which were run in five big towns and staffed by many local staff trained up by Concern.

The programmes included income generation, womens personal development and functional literacy, with a section for their under five-year-olds in a kindergarten facility with supporting nutrition and health care.

Alice moved from there to Uganda in October 1994, where the focus of work initially was assisting HIV/AIDS affected families and then a programme for the village communities in the districts allocated to Concerns work.

These communities identified their critical problems, which could be classroom facilities and access to town markets for their agriculture produce. This required the construction of Irish bridges across the dry river bed to cope with seasonal flash flooding and, in some areas, water-saving sites or mini-reservoirs near their village. Women in these villages could need to walk many miles for a daily supply of water.

A local contribution was sourced from the villages in labour and locally accessible materials such as sand, stone and bricks. Skilled experts such as engineers, especially with expertise for water harvesting) were mobilised from the district headquarters with support from Concern.

After handing over to a local Concern field officer in Bangladesh and Uganda, Alice returned home to find new work until retirement. She continues to support Concern in local church gate collections and Christmas Fast fundraising events.
VMPL

New Delhi [India], November 25: The 19th Security Leadership Summit 2024, organized by CAPSI and APDI, concluded at PHD House, New Delhi. The event brought together industry leaders, policymakers, and experts to explore advanced technologies shaping the security landscape under the theme "Surakshit Bharat - Viksit Bharat 2047."

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Key discussions highlighted AI in security services, women's safety, private sector investigations, and collaboration between private security and police forces. Sessions on drone technology, cybersecurity, and leadership emphasized the emergence of drone warriors as the future of frontline security operations.

The summit featured distinguished Chief Guests, including Chief Guest Gen (Dr) V K Singh, PVSM, AVSM, YSM (Retd), Former Union Minister with Dr. Satya Pal Singh, Former Union Minister Lt. Gen M U Nair, PVSM, AVSM, SM, National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC), Government of India, and Sh. Mahesh Sharma, Secretary General, CAPSI and APDI, presiding over the event.

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Chief Guest Gen V K Singh, PVSM, AVSM, YSM (Retd) Former Union Minister released CAPSI's 'Surakshit Bharat - Viksit Bharat Vision 2047', outlining a roadmap for a secure and developed Bharat by 2047. Lt General MU Nair, PVSM, AVSM, SM, National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC) Government of India shared insights on integrating AI and drones with national security, while Devesh Chandra Srivastava, Special CP - Crime (IAS), Delhi Police, chaired a panel on Women Security.

Esteemed speakers included Dr. Satya Pal Singh, Dr. Shamsher Singh, Lt. Gen. A B Shivane, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd), Former DG Mechanised Forces Indian Army & Strike Corps Commander, Shri. Rajneesh Gupta, IPS, Joint Commissioner of Police / IFSO, Special Cell, Sh. S S Srivastava, Sh. V K Bhawra IPS (R), Sh. Anil Pratham IPS (R), and representatives from the Indian Army, Delhi Police, and global security organizations. International experts such as Mike LaCorte, President - Association of British Investigators (AB) & CEO, Conflict International Limited and Ambassador (Dr.) Sylvester Okere, Founder & CEO, Strategic Groups USA LLC added global perspectives to the discussions.

Kunwar Vikram Singh Chairman of CAPSI & APDI, highlighted the summit's focus on future-ready security through technology and leadership under the vision 'Surakshit Bharat - Viksit Bharat 2047.' He also announced CAPSI's initiative to train one lakh drone warriors under DGCA guidelines to transform India's security framework.

Chief Guest Gen V K Singh, PVSM, AVSM, YSM (Retd) Former Union Minister, praised CAPSI's Drone Warriors initiative as visionary and emphasized the growing importance of cybersecurity. He highlighted that strong internal security is key to national safety, urging responsible use of technology to achieve a Surakshit Bharat, Saksham Bharat, and Viksit Bharat.

Dr. Satya Pal Singh, Former Union Minister, emphasized that security is the foremost need of the nation, and ensuring a 'Surakshit Bharat' is crucial for achieving the vision of a 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047. He highlighted the importance of collaboration between government and private security agencies to build a robust safety culture. He concluded, "Security is not just a necessity--it is a commitment and a way of life we must wholeheartedly adopt."

Mike LaCorte, President of the Association of British Investigators and CEO of Conflict International Limited, called the vision of a 'Surakshit Bharat' by 2047 essential for India's progress. He highlighted the crucial role of public and private security agencies working together across jurisdictions, varying laws, procedures, and protocols. He praised CAPSI for streamlining these efforts, creating a strong foundation for a safer and more secure India.

Lt General MU Nair, PVSM, AVSM, SM, National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC) Government of India highlighted, "The future is tech-driven, with new innovations bringing risks like cybercrimes. As the largest digital ecosystem in the world, India must stay vigilant. CAPSI's role in training security professionals in cybersecurity is crucial for protecting communities in the digital era."

Chief Guest, Hon'ble Sh. Jual Oram, Hon'ble Minister, Ministry of Tribal Affairs commended CAPSI for connecting over one crore security guards, focusing on training, and promoting cybersecurity. He also praised CAPSI's collaboration with foreign agencies and alignment with PM Modi's 'Viksit Bharat' vision, contributing to an empowered India.

Dr. Onkar Sharma, Advisor - Ministry of Labour urged contractors and security agencies to comply with laws, including minimum wages, 8-hour working limits, and overtime. He stressed the need for reforms to ensure a fair and secure environment for the nation's protectors.

The concept of CITY SECURITY COUNCILS in collaboration with State Police and other stakeholders was discussed during a panel chaired by Shri Bhagwan Shankar, IAS (R), Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt of Sikkim. The 19th Security Leadership Summit 2024 delivered insightful discussions, networking opportunities, and actionable outcomes, shaping the future of the security industry for a safer and progressive India.

About CAPSI: The Central Association of Private Security Industry (CAPSI) is a premier organization representing the interests of private security industry professionals in India. CAPSI is committed to promoting best practices, professional standards, and advocacy for the industry.

(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)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, November 25: The "America First" trade policy promoted by upcoming U.S. President Donald Trump has far-reaching implications for global trade and geopolitics. According to a report by Motilal Oswal, this policy carries mixed outcomes for exporters worldwide because it is designed to prioritize U.S. manufacturing by reducing imports, particularly from China.

For India, Trump's policies present both opportunities and challenges. The Indo-Pacific defense strategy could strengthen U.S.-India collaboration, opening doors for Indian businesses in sectors such as pharmaceuticals and defense. It said "Indian businesses in sectors such as pharmaceuticals and defense might also find new opportunities, especially if U.S.- India collaboration strengthens... Emerging markets face a mixed bag of challenges and opportunities". Trump 2.0 Has Cabinet and Executive Branch of Different Positions and Eclectic Personalities.

Additionally, anticipated U.S. corporate tax cuts could boost IT spending, benefiting India's IT sector. However, a stronger dollar and potential tariffs on Indian exports could strain its trade balance. Another significant concern is the impact of increased tariffs on U.S. exports. Key industries, such as agriculture and technology, risk losing competitiveness in global markets if trading partners impose retaliatory tariffs. The report said "increased tariffs might prompt retaliatory measures from trade partners, potentially affecting U.S. exporters in sectors like agriculture and technology".

The report also highlighted that India may find a silver lining in global supply chain realignments, particularly in technology areas like AI and semiconductors, driven by the "China+1" strategy. For instance, the European Union (EU) may levy duties on American goods, potentially hampering the automotive and steel industries. These measures could not only slow growth in Europe but also disrupt global trade patterns. Hush Money Case: Judge Postpones US President-Elect Donald Trump's Sentencing Indefinitely.

Emerging markets face a dual challenge. While higher tariffs and a stronger dollar may escalate export costs for sectors like IT and pharmaceuticals, some countries, like Mexico, stand to gain by attracting manufacturing that might otherwise remain in China. The report highlighted that geopolitically, Trump's approach is likely to escalate tensions with China and reshape alliances. Countries like Japan and South Korea may reconsider their strategies, while the EU might strive for self-reliance, fostering new alliances outside U.S. influence.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) Billionaire Gautam Adani's conglomerate on Monday showcased its cash reserves and profits that are enough to service debt obligations as well as meet growth plans as it reassured investors about business as usual despite a US bribery indictment against the founder.

The ports-to-energy conglomerate, whose chairman Adani and two other executives have been indicted in a US court for allegedly bribing Indian officials to secure solar power contracts, in a presentation to investors highlighted cash balances of Rs 55,024 crore exceeding long-term debt repayments for the next 28 months.

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Equity now accounts for almost two-thirds of its total asset creation, a stark contrast to five years ago. In the past six months, the group invested close to Rs 75,227 crore against a total debt increase of only Rs 16,882 crore.

A note was also shared with the investors, along with the presentation.

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Outlining the group's liquidity position, the note said, "Adani portfolio companies have sufficient liquidity to cover all debt servicing requirements for at least 12 months. As of September 30, 2024, Adani portfolio companies had cash of Rs 53,024 crore, which was close to 21 per cent of its total gross debt outstanding."

This amount, it said, was sufficient to cover the next 28 months of debt servicing requirement.

GROWTH WITHOUT DEBT

In the past, the group had announced plans to invest more than Rs 8 lakh crore (USD 100 billion) across portfolio companies in the next 10 years.

Fund Flows from Operations (FFO) or cash profits stood at Rs 58,908 crore for the past 12 months and grew at over 30 per cent during the last five years. On this basis, even after assuming no growth, the group will be able to invest Rs 5.9 lakh crore only from its internal cash accruals over the next 10 years, leaving very little dependency on external debt.

Further, at the portfolio level, there is a very low debt gearing of 2.46x -- which means it has massive headroom for debt, according to the presentation.

Other highlights from the presentation included EBITDA (earnings before interest tax and depreciation) for the past 12 months, which it said was highly stable and, hence, predictable due to its infrastructure projects, grew by 17 per cent to Rs 83,440 crore.

Existing annual cash flows alone can pay the entire debt in three years.

Gross assets or investments increased by Rs 75,227 crore against a total debt increase of only Rs 16,882 crore. The asset base has now increased to Rs 5.5 lakh crore.

Average cost of borrowing is at 8.2 per cent, the lowest in five years, due to upgrades in ratings across group companies, it said.

The Adani Group's long-term debt from domestic banks is Rs 94,400 crore. This stands against a cash balance of Rs 53,024 crore, most of which is parked with Indian banks.

Borrowings from global banks are 27 per cent of total debt.

Adani said 62 per cent of its total revenue and 87 per cent of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were derived from its core infrastructure business.

Net debt to EBITDA at 2.46x - against guidance of 3.5x-4.5x. Also, its gross assets to net debt ratio improved to 2.7 times during the first half of the current fiscal year compared to 2.63 times in the previous year.

FUNDING

The Adani group presentation to investors came as doubts were being expressed over its ability to raise funds overseas following the US indictment against its founder chairman Gautam Adani and seven others including his nephew Sagar, for being part of an alleged USD 265 million bribery scheme.

Some global banks and financial institutions were reportedly considering temporarily halting fresh credit to the group.

Last week, S&P Ratings had said it will watch for any signs of weaker funding access or concerns from existing lenders -- which could be demonstrated by the lowering of funding limits, non-renewal of facilities, or significantly higher credit spreads.

After the news of the indictment broke, equity and bond prices across Adani group companies have fallen sharply.

The group cancelled a USD 600 million concluded bond sale.

This indictment is independent of, but follows, a short-seller report last year, which hit equity and bond prices across the group although these had subsequently recovered.

The group, which had denied all allegations levelled by US short-seller Hindenburg Research, has also dismissed the allegations in the US indictment as baseless and has said it would seek all possible legal recourse.

Its CFO Jugeshinder Robbie Singh on Saturday stated that the group would respond to the US allegations after a detailed review of the legal filing and after advice from its counsel.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) Billionaire Gautam Adani's conglomerate on Monday touted its financial and credit details of its portfolio companies to investors, showcasing its robust profits and cash flows that can sustain growth without reliance on external debt.

The ports-to-energy conglomerate, which has been hit by an indictment in a US court against its founder chairman Gautam Adani and two other executives for allegedly bribing Indian official to secure solar power contracts, in a presentation to the investors highlighted its consistently expanding profits and cash flows, which over a period have led to lowering dependence on debt for its growth ambitions.

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Equity now accounts for almost two third of its total asset creation, a stark contrast to five years ago. In the last six months, the group has invested close to Rs 75,227 crore, against a total debt increase of only Rs 16,882 crore.

A note was also shared with the investors, along with presentations.

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Outlining the group's liquidity position, the note said, "Adani Portfolio companies have sufficient liquidity to cover all debt servicing requirements for at least 12 months. As of September 30, 2024, Adani Portfolio companies had a cash of Rs 53,024 crore, which was close to 21 per cent of its total gross debt outstanding".

This amount, it said, was sufficient to cover the next 28 months of debt servicing requirement.

GROWTH WITHOUT DEBT

In the past, the group has announced plans to invest over Rs 8 lakh crore (USD 100 billion) across portfolio companies in the next ten years.

The Fund Flows from Operations (FFO) or cash profits stood at Rs 58,908 crore for the last twelve months and is growing over 30 per cent for the past five years. On the basis of this, even after assuming no growth, the group will be able to invest Rs 5.9 lakh crore only from its internal cash accruals over the next ten years, leaving very little dependency on external debt.

Further, at the portfolio level, there is very low debt gearing of 2.46x -- which means it has massive headroom for debt, according to the presentation.

Other highlights from the presentation included EBITDA (earnings before interest tax and depreciation) for the last twelve months, which it said is highly stable and hence predictable due to its infrastructure projects, which grew by 17 per cent to Rs 83,440 crore.

Also, existing annual cash flows alone can pay the entire debt in 3 years.

Gross assets/investments increased by Rs 75,227 crore, against total debt increase of only Rs 16,882 crore. Asset base has now increased to Rs 5.5 lakh crore.

Average cost of borrowing at 8.2 per cent, lowest in the last 5 years, due to upgrade in ratings across group companies, it said.

Adani Group's long-term debt from domestic banks was Rs 94,400 crore. This stood against a cash balance of Rs 53,024 crore, most of which was parked with Indian banks.

Borrowings from global banks were 27 per cent of total debt.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, November 25: The Supreme Court on Monday censured the AAP government and the Delhi police for a "serious lapse" on their part in the strict implementation of GRAP-IV measures and directed the Commission for Air Quality Management to take action against the erring officials.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih said the authorities made no efforts to implement GRAP-IV measures. "It is apparent that the authorities mentioned in GRAP-IV clauses 1, 2 and 3 have made no earnest efforts to implement action under clauses 1 to 3. Some police teams were deputed at a few entry points that also without any specific instructions," it said. Delhi Air Pollution: Do Not Relax Anti-Pollution GRAP-4 Curbs Without Courts Nod, Says Supreme Court.

Calling for action against the erring officials, the bench said, "(Court) commissioners have noted that police were only deployed as on November 23 and thus a serious lapse on part of authorities. We, therefore, direct commission to immediately initiate action under Section 14 of CAQM Act 2021."

Section 14 of the CAQM in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021 deals with the punishment for non-compliance of its provisions. Refusing to relax GRAP-IV curbs, the top court said unless the court was satisfied of there being a "consistent downward trend of AQI", it couldn't permit the commission to go down to Stage 3 or 2 of the GRAP. Delhi Pollution: GRAP Stage-4 Restrictions To Come Into Force From November 18 As Air Quality Worsens in Delhi-NCR; Check Details.

The bench earlier asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, and Senior advocate Shadan Farasat for Delhi government, if there was any written order directing police to station permanently at the checkpoints.

"What steps Delhi government took to inform the people stationed at 13 entry points to stop entry of trucks?" the bench asked. When Bhati informed the bench that orders were given to the police to deploy personnel at 23 major checkpoints, it remarked, "Why only at 23? This is negligence that it was done on only in 23 points. We will direct the commission to prosecute commissioner of Delhi police under section 14 CAQM Act."

The top court directed the CAQM to place the updated data on AQI in order to take a call on GRAP IV measures on the next hearing on November 28. The apex court is seized of the matter related to air pollution in the Delhi-NCR. First implemented in 2017, the GRAP was a set of anti-air pollution measures followed in the capital and its vicinity according to the severity of the situation.

It classifies the air quality in the Delhi-NCR under four different stage -- Stage 1 "poor" (AQI 201-300), Stage 2 "very poor" (AQI 301-400), Stage 3 "severe" (AQI 401-450) and Stage 4 "severe plus" (AQI above 450).

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Jammu, Nov 25 (PTI) The BJP convened a meeting of its legislators here on Monday, urging them to prioritize public issues and demand equitable development of both regions of the Union Territory.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emphasized ensuring the Jammu region receives its rightful share in all government decisions.

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The meeting, held at the BJP Headquarters in Jammu this evening, was chaired by J&K BJP president Sat Sharma, J&K BJP general secretary (organisation) Ashok Koul and Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma.

Addressing the MLAs, Sat Sharma directed them to raise public concerns strongly in the Assembly and press the government for balanced development across Jammu and Kashmir.

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"The legislators should press the people's issues in the House (assembly). They should forcefully press the government for the equilateral development of the both regions while ensuring that the people of Jammu region get their due share in all the decisions," he said.

Sharma also called on the legislators to focus on the ongoing membership drive, ensuring maximum participation from their respective constituencies.

Koul elaborated on the progress of the membership drive, highlighting the growing support for the BJP due to the "unprecedented political will" demonstrated by the Modi government.

He urged the MLAs to contribute actively to the campaign, reflecting the public's trust in the party's vision.

Sunil Sharma, who conducted the meeting, reaffirmed the commitment of the BJP MLAs to address the aspirations of people and work tirelessly for their welfare.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) The CBI has registered an FIR against eight lawyers and two others for allegedly filing a Special Leave Petition based on forged documents to "implicate" Ajay Katara, a witness in the sensational murder case of his brother Nitish Katara, in a false rape case.

The central probe agency took action on the order of the Supreme Court which directed it to probe the matter after the man who purportedly filed the plea claimed that he had not signed any "vakalatnama" in a matter linked to his daughter who had levelled allegations of rape against Ajay Katara.

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The son and nephew of politician DP Yadav were convicted of abducting and killing Nitish, 23, on February 17, 2002.

The CBI has registered the FIR against the woman, who had filed the rape complaint against Ajay, her husband and eight lawyers who were part of filing the SLP before the Supreme Court, officials said.

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The woman's father on whose name the SLP was filed before the Supreme Court said that he had never her after she eloped and married in 2013 and could not have signed it.

The Badaun police had closed the case of alleged rape filed by the woman against Ajay Katara as no evidence was found against him.

Ajay in his submissions told the Supreme Court that he was being slapped with a number of fake cases at the behest of DP Yadav, "a known history-sheeter", as he was the only witness on whose testimony his son and nephew were sentenced to a life term in the murder of Nitish Katara, the apex court order noted.

He said at least 37 cases were filed against him out of which 35 have been turned down at the investigation level while the remaining two have been stayed by the Allahabad High Court.

He claimed that the father of the complainant woman had filed a case with Badaun Police in 2013 that his daughter, a minor at that time, was taken away by four persons.

Ajay said his name was nowhere in the FIR, the affidavit filed by the victim or her statement made in person before the Allahabad High Court.

However, when she made a statement before the local police and magistrate under 164 CrPC two months later, she introduced a new story that Ajay Katara "did wrong things" with her when she reached Ghaziabad for eight days in June 2013.

The investigation officer closed the case against Katara in December 2013.

The victim did not file any protest petition regarding the closure of the case for nearly five years. In 2018, she moved an application before the Badaun court that Katara should be arrested and tried but it was rejected by the court.

She challenged the order before the High Court which gave a direction to the police to investigate and to the Badaun court to look the matter afresh, he said.

Katara challenged it in the High Court which quashed the proceedings against him on December 16, 2019, observing that even if the entire material collected during the evidence is assumed to be true on its face value, then also any commission of a cognisable offence under IPC 376 (rape) is not made out against him.

Four years later, a petition was filed before the High Court seeking recall of the 2019 order which was also dismissed by it on April 2 this year, Ajay Katara said.

Two appeals were purportedly filed by the complainant's father before the Supreme Court -- one challenging the 2019 high court order quashing the proceedings against Ajay and another challenging the 2024 order quashing the recall petition.

On July 29, 2024, the woman's father sent a letter to the Supreme Court registry claiming that he had not filed any SLP and it was "falsely" filed in his name.

The father later appeared in the court confirming the contents of his letter and that he does not know the lawyers -- Anubhav, RPS Yadav and Karan Singh Yadav-- involved in the filing of the petition.

The Supreme Court was of the view that the woman, and her husband with the "able assistance" of a battery of advocates namely Advocate on Record Anubhav Yashwant Yadav, RPS Yadav, Karan Singh Yadav along with advocate and notary AN Singh and lawyers in the high court Santosh Kumar Yadav, Jai Singh Yadav and Alok Kumar Yadav had "made a brazen attempt to falsely implicate Ajay Katara by filing false proceedings" in the name of the father by "filing false and fabricated documents".

All these lawyers have been booked by the CBI in its FIR filed in connection with the case.

"Katara is made to suffer for being a witness in the said case (Nitish Katara murder). As stated by him in the affidavit, he was subjected to continuous threats and still continues to be under pressure for having appeared as a witness," the court noted.

Handing over the probe to the CBI, the Supreme Court said the matter assumes serious concern when the advocates who are the officers of the court are involved, when they actively participate in the ill-motivated litigations of the unscrupulous litigants and assist them in misusing and abusing the process of law to achieve their ulterior purposes.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi [India], November 25 (ANI): The Indian Coast Guard has apprehended a drug consignment of 5.5 tonnes (5,500 kgs) in the Andaman waters, an official said.

The boat used for smuggling the drugs was first picked up by an Indian Coast Guard Dornier maritime surveillance aircraft after which the ICGS vessel apprehended it on the high seas, Indian Coast Guard officials said.

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The seizure is the largest-ever drug haul by the Indian Coast Guard in maritime history, the Indian Coast Guard stated in a release.

"Indian Coast Guard (ICG) created history in the maritime domain in India by apprehending a Myanmarese Fishing boat named 'Soe Wai Yan Htoo' in Andaman seas which was carrying approx. 5500 kgs of prohibited drug Methamphetamine along with one portable Inmarsat Satellite phone," as per an official release.

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In the recent past, there has been a rise in detection/sighting of Rohingya boats/ Myanmarese poachers in the Andaman seas. The Andaman seas were kept under strict surveillance owing to recent inputs revealed during joint interrogation of apprehended poachers.

"The Indian Coast Guard Dornier aircraft whilst on reconnaissance sortie detected a boat which was operating in a suspicious manner. The information was passed on to the Joint Operation Centre (JOC), which subsequently deployed an ICG Fast Patrol Vessel, ICG Ship Aruna Asaf Ali from Sri Vijaya Puram to intercept the suspicious Myanmarese boat," the release read.

The ICG ship despite prevailing rough sea conditions proceeded with the best speed to intercept the suspicious Myanmarese boat. The ICG Ship intercepted one fishing boat which did not match the characteristics of a local Indian boat. As the boat was flying a Myanmar Flag, it was shadowed till the early morning of November 24.

"ICG Ship Aruna Asaf Ali boarded the suspicious Myanmarese boat for investigation at 0630 hrs on 24 Nov 24 when the boat was 08 nm off Barren Island in Indian Territorial waters and the joint interrogation was carried out," the release read.

Six crew onboard the boat were identified as Myanmarese nationals. During rummaging of the boat, the boarding party detected approx. 5500 kgs of white crystalline compound onboard along with one portable Inmarsat Satellite phone. The white crystalline compound was anticipated to be contraband and hence boat was apprehended.

"Subsequently, the boat was brought to Sri Vijaya Puram for further investigation. ICG Ship Aruna Asaf Ali along with the apprehended boat entered Sri Vijaya Puram at 0500 hrs on Nov 25," the release read. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Reasi/Jammu, Nov 25 (PTI) A policeman was injured when a march by shopkeepers and labourers against a proposed ropeway project along the trek route to the Vaishno Devi shrine turned violent on Monday as protesters resorted to stone pelting and clashed with police in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district.

After hour-long discussions with protesters, the district administration assured them of holding talks with different stakeholders, including shrine board officials, to address their concerns, following which the protesters called off their strike.

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Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday said the genuine concerns of the people protesting at the Katra base camp against the proposed ropeway project along the Mata Vaishno Devi route would be addressed.

Amid slogans of "Bharat Mata ki Jai", hundreds of protesters held a march and sit-in in Katra town, the base camp for pilgrims visiting the shrine atop Trikuta hill.

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The protesters, who had initially called for a 72-hour strike, extended it by 24 hours late on Sunday.

During Monday's protest, tension escalated when a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) vehicle attempted to pass through the town while the protesters were holding a dharna.

Some protesters turned violent, hitting the vehicle and breaking its windshield, officials said.

The vehicle was moved back with police intervention, prompting violent clashes during which some protesters threw bricks at the police, chased them, and even manhandled them, they added.

Some policemen were allegedly beaten by the protesters.

Senior Superintendent of Police (Reasi) Paramvir Singh said, "The law and order situation has become challenging, and we are trying to handle it. Officers are in talks with the protesters to resolve the issue."

The protesters are demanding that the project be shut down or that compensation be provided to all those likely to be affected.

The strike, called by shopkeepers and pony and palanquin owners, began on November 22 after the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board announced plans to proceed with the Rs 250-crore ropeway project between Tarakote Marg and Sanji Chhat along the 12-kilometre route.

The shopkeepers and labourers fear the project, proposed to be completed in two years, would render them jobless.

Sinha, who is also the chairman of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB), said a committee headed by the divisional commissioner of Jammu had already spoken to stakeholders to build consensus on the development projects.

He was speaking to reporters after reviewing the ongoing Tawi Riverfront project in the city.

Responding to a question about the stone-pelting incident in Katra on the fourth day of the strike, the LG said concerns regarding potential job losses are being taken care of. However, he emphasized that there would be no compromise on development projects and creating employment opportunities for the people.

Reasi Deputy Commissioner Vishesh Paul Mahajan and protest leader Bhupinder Singh jointly announced the strike's suspension.

"I have held talks with Bhupinder. We are aware of your demands and concerns. Bhupinder has given time till December 15 to hold talks with all stakeholders to resolve the issues," Mahajan said while addressing the protesters.

He said that pilgrims coming from various parts of the country should not face difficulties due to the strike. "We will immediately take up the demand for work on the ropeway with the shrine board. Other demands, such as compensation, will be discussed within two to three days. Please choose two to three members for talks," he said.

"We will strive to find a solution acceptable to all," he added.

Bhupinder Singh said the government has been given time until December 15 to resolve the issues, and the strike has been called off until then.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Katra (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], November 25 (ANI): Pony and palanquin owners, along with locals, pelted stones during their protest against the Mata Vaishno Devi ropeway project in Jammu and Kashmir's Katra on Monday.

The pony and palanquin owners, who assist thousands of pilgrims travelling to the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine, began their protest on November 22. It has continued till today, opposing the Rs 250-crore ropeway project planned between Tarakote Marg and Sanji Chhat along the 12-km route.

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Paramvir Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Reasi, told ANI, "People have been protesting here for the past three days, and we have been managing the situation. Today, some of them pelted stones at the police team. We are trying to handle the situation, and hopefully, normalcy will be restored soon."

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha visited the site of the under-construction Jammu Tawi Riverfront Project and reviewed the ongoing work.

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He stated, "Ninety per cent of the work has been completed, and we hope it will be finished by January. This project will contribute to the development of J&K's tourism."

Commenting on the ongoing protest in Katra, he added that any losses suffered would be addressed.

The locals and workers have expressed concerns that the ropeway project would render them jobless.

The ropeway project, announced by the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, aims to provide a faster and safer journey for pilgrims. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Monday dismissed as "rumours" talk of his resignation following the assembly polls debacle and stressed on "collective accountability" for the defeat.

Patole made the remarks after meeting Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge during which he conveyed that the result had not reflected the sentiments of the people of Maharashtra.

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"Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and other national and state leaders were leading Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) from the forefront during the assembly polls. So, we were sure that the trends were in favour of Maha Vikas Aghadi, even the citizens believed that," the Maharashtra Congress chief said.

"If I talk about Nanded, the Lok Sabha bypolls and assembly elections were held on the same day. In Lok Sabha bypolls, our candidate was winning in six assembly seats, whereas, in the assembly elections, we are not winning even a single seat," he said, adding that there cannot be such a "huge difference".

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This is the sentiment among the people also and they have stated that this government in Maharashtra was not being formed on their votes, he claimed.

"So, I spoke to Mallikarjun Kharge on this," he added.

Asked whether he had offered to resign or the party had asked for his resignation after the Maharashtra assembly polls defeat, Patole said, "These are all rumours and there is no truth in them. There is collective accountability."

Patole also said he will meet Rahul Gandhi in a day or two and discuss all issues.

"Democracy is being finished. We have discussed that... there was no talk of resignation," he said.

The MVA alliance, comprising the Congress, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Shiv Sena (UBT), was restrained to 46 seats by the Mahayuti that reaped a rich harvest of 230 seats in the 288-member House.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 25 (ANI): In a meeting held in Mumbai on Sunday, Shiv Sena leaders passed a resolution unanimously electing Eknath Shinde as the legislative party leader.

The resolution was moved by Shiv Sena leader Uday Samant in the party meeting chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

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After the meeting of Shiv Sena leaders, Uday Samant said that the party leaders have decided to give all authority to Eknath Shinde to decide on the cabinet and swearing-in process.

"CM Eknath Shinde has been unanimously elected as the leader of the party... We have given all authority to Eknath Shinde to decide on the cabinet and swearing-in process," Uday Samant told ANI.

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Following the meeting, party leader and newly elected MLA from Aurangabad West, Sanjay Shirsat, said, "There are chances that the Mahayuti leaders will head to Delhi tomorrow... Every party worker wants their party leader to be the CM, but the final decision lies with Ekanth Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis, and Ajit Pawar."

Meanwhile, party leader Rahul Shewale also said that all the newly elected MLAs unanimously nominated CM Eknath Shinde as their leader.

This decision comes after the ruling Mahayuti alliance, of which Shiv Sena is a part, resounding victory in the recently concluded Maharashtra assembly election.

The Mahayuti alliance comprises Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).

The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance secured a landslide victory in the Maharashtra assembly polls by winning 230 (BJP-132, Shiv Sena-57, NCP-41) out of a total of 288 seats.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a major setback. The Shiv Sena (UBT), led by Uddhav Thackeray won only 20 seats; Congress managed 16, and the NCP (SCP) led by Sharad Pawar won just 10 seats.

The BJP demonstrated an impressive strike, winning 132 out of the 148 seats it contested in Maharashtra. The party's allies, the Shiv Sena and NCP factions, also performed well.

The Maharashtra assembly elections were held on November 20, and the results were declared on November 23.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday met with beneficiaries of the 'Majhi Ladki Bahin' scheme, where he expressed his gratitude to them for the historic win of the Mahayuti alliance in assembly polls.

Addressing the gathering, CM Shinde said that the government will soon increase the amount to Rs 2100 as promised.

"I am with you all, I thank all Majhi Ladki Bahin for electing me. You all chose Mahayuti, as we promised we will be giving Rs 2100 to all my sisters. This government is yours and you choose this government again. I feel blessed you all came here and gave me blessings. This is a common people's government and we are working for the growth of Maharashtra," CM Shinde said. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Mumbai, Nov 26 (PTI) The Maharashtra government has reinstated IPS officer Rashmi Shukla as the Director General of Police (DGP) and chief of the police force of Maharashtra, after the conclusion of the assembly polls, an order issued by the state home department said on Monday evening.

Senior IPS officer Sanjay Kumar Verma had taken over as the DGP of Maharashtra, a day after DGP Rashmi Shukla was removed on an Election Commission of India directive ahead of the assembly polls.

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Shukla was removed from the post after a demand by Maharashtra Congress unit chief Nana Patole.

Verma was to hold the top post till the elections process was over, while Shukla was sent on compulsory leave for the same duration, as per a previous government order.

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However, with the completion of the electoral process and the announcement of election results on Sunday, the Election Commission of India officially declared the Model Code of Conduct concluded on Monday, the home department order said.

As a result, the government has ended Shukla's period of enforced leave and she has been directed to resume her role as DGP, with Verma transferring the charge back to her, it said.

The official government order detailing this change has been digitally signed and published on the Maharashtra government's official website.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi [India], November 25 (ANI): Lok Sabha MP Abdul Rashid Sheikh, also known as Engineer Rashid moved an application in Patiala House Court, New Delhi seeking interim bail to attend the ongoing parliament session. He is an MP from Baramulla, Kashmir and President of Awami Ittehad Party (AIP). He is in judicial custody in an NIA case.

Principal District and Sessions Judge of Patiala House Court issued notice and sought response from the NIA. The matter has been listed on November 27.

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Engineer Rashid also addressed the court through video conferencing and submitted he needs interim bail to attend the parliament session.

Engineer Rashid submitted that he had been elected by his people. He was not allowed to attend last parliament session. "With folded hands I request that I may be granted interim bail," he submitted.

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Another accused also submitted through video conferencing that they are not aware what happens in hearing when they appear through video conferencing. He requested to appear physically before the court.

Meanwhile, the Principal District and Sessions Judge Vimal Kumar Yadav of Patiala House Court has kept pending the jurisdiction for the purpose of hearing of an NIA case having public representatives (MP/MLA) as accused.

The counsel for NIA and accused persons made submissions that the case should not be transferred to an MP/MLA court as there is no such provision in NIA Act.

He also referred to a circular issued by the Central Government.

The special public prosecutor for Enforcement Directorate (ED) also submitted that the case should be kept in the same court.

Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra appeared for the NIA.

Advocate Vikhyat Oberoi, appearing for Engineer Rashid submitted that the bail plea is pending for 2-3 months, also that all accused persons want an expeditious trial.

The NIA special court, which is currently hearing the Jammu and Kashmir terror funding case, on November 21, recommended to transfer the case to a special court designated for MPs/MLAs, considering that one of the accused, Rashid Engineer, is now an MP.

The court had urged District Judge of Patiala House Court that the case be sent to a special designated judge for MPs/MLAs.

The court, while made recommendations for transfer, also sent all pending applications, including the regular bail plea of Rashid Engineer to the District Judge.

Engineer Rashid, Lok Sabha MP from Baramulla, Jammu and Kashmir, has recently surrendered at Tihar Jail after his interim bail expired. This is related to the Jammu and Kashmir terror funding case currently being investigated by the NIA.

In August 2019, Rashid was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). During his incarceration, he filed his nomination for the 2024 parliamentary elections from jail and won by a margin of 204,000 votes, defeating former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

In 2022, the NIA Court of Patiala House Court ordered the framing of charges against Rashid Engineer and several other key figures, including Hafiz Saeed, Syed Salahuddin, Yasin Malik, Shabbir Shah, Masrat Alam, Zahoor Ahmed Watali, Bitta Karate, Aftab Ahmed Shah, Avtar Ahmed Shah, Naeem Khan, and Bashir Ahmed Butt (also known as Peer Saifullah).

The charges are part of an ongoing investigation into terror funding in Jammu and Kashmir, where the National Investigation Agency (NIA) alleges that various militant organizations, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizbul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and JKLF, collaborated with Pakistan's intelligence agency, ISI, to orchestrate attacks on civilians and security forces in the region.

The NIA's investigation claims that in 1993, the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) was formed to further separatist activities, with funding channeled through hawala and other covert methods. Hafiz Saeed, along with Hurriyat leaders, is accused of using these illicit funds to fuel unrest in Jammu and Kashmir, targeting security forces, inciting violence, burning schools, and damaging public property. The agency contends that these operations were designed to destabilize the region and promote terrorism under the guise of political resistance. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chandigarh, Nov 25 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Panipat on December 9 and launch "Bima Sakhi Yojana", aimed at empowering women, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said on Monday.

Prime Minister Modi will on December 9 launch the "Bima Sakhi Yojana", aimed at empowering women, which will directly benefit millions of women across the country, he said.

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Saini on Monday reviewed the preparations for the prime minister's upcoming visit to Panipat, said an official statement here.

Development and Panchayat Minister Krishan Lal Panwar, Education Minister Mahipal Dhanda, BJP State president Mohan Lal Badoli, BJP MLA Pramod Kumar Vij, Director General of Police (DGP) Shatrujeet Kapur and senior officials were also present.

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Saini gave necessary instructions to the officials while reviewing the preparations for the visit.

According to the statement, Saini stated that the event to be held on the historic land of Panipat will send a strong message of women empowerment.

He also said it was from Panipat that the prime minister launched the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign in 2015.

The chief minister said that both the Centre and the state government are implementing several schemes for women empowerment.

Saini said the people of Haryana have sent a strong message of development by securing a historic victory for the the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recently held polls, the impact of which was also evident in the recent assembly elections in Maharashtra.

He said the people of Haryana have entrusted the BJP with the responsibility of governance for the third time, marking a victory for development.

The chief minister assured that the trust of people will be upheld and the government will accelerate its development efforts in this third term.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Jammu, Nov 25 (PTI) Police on Monday conducted extensive searches at multiple locations in connection with two separate terror-related cases in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district.

The search were conducted in Thanamandi, Dharhal, Kalakot and Manjakot areas as part of investigations into the cases registered at Thanamandi Police Station in 2013 and Rajouri Police Station this year, said a police spokesman.

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He said the two cases pertain to a terrorist network active in the border district linked to proscribed terrorist organizations like Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) trying to activate the overground workers (OGWs) to initiate, organize and execute terror-related activities.

During the searches, incriminating materials and documents were recovered and seized, the spokesman said.

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Jaipur, Nov 25 (PTI) The moustache, linked to masculinity and respect, has also got associated with electoral victory in the recently concluded assembly bypolls in Rajasthan. Posters of moustache have appeared at multiple locations in Khimsar assembly constituency of the state after results were declared on Saturday.

Jat-dominated Khimsar seat in Nagaur district is considered a bastion of Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) supremo and Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal. Revant Ram Danga of the BJP defeated his nearest rival Kanika Beniwal of the RLP candidate with a margin of 13,901 votes. Kanika is the wife of Hanuman Beniwal.

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After the results, several places in Khimsar, including outside the house of health minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar in the Civil Lines area in Jaipur, were adorned with posters of moustache.

The posters were put up as a symbol of victory of the BJP candidate following a call by minister Khimsar to get his moustache shaved off if the party faced defeat on the seat.

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During election campaign in the recently held assembly bypolls, Khimsar had vowed to remove his moustache if BJP candidate Danga faced defeat. In the election, the vow of the minister was at stake. He took this vow to unite the Rajput and other communities in support of the BJP candidate.

Danga registered a win on the seat following which the minister expressed gratitude to the voters for "respecting" his vow and also the moustache.

After the results were declared, the minister's supporters have been celebrating the victory as the victory of 'moustache'. To highlight this, posters of moustache were placed at different locations in civil lines, including at the entry gate of the minister's bungalow.

The minister said, "I am thankful to the voters that they respected my vow. Me and my family have been serving them and will continue to do that."

Hanuman Beniwal won the Khimsar seat in 2008 as a BJP candidate and as an Independent in the 2013 assembly elections. He formed the RLP and won this seat in the 2018 assembly elections.

The Jat leader won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Nagaur in alliance with the BJP and fielded his brother Narayan Beniwal in the assembly bypolls on Khimsar. Narayan Beniwal won the bypolls.

The RLP was the part of INDIA bloc in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections but the Congress decided to contest the bypolls without any alliance and fielded its candidate Ratan Chaudhary in the bypolls on Khimsar.

However, Chaudhary could secure only 5,454 votes.

Newly elected BJP MLA Danga was a close associate of Hanuman Beniwal when the RLP was formed but later he parted ways after being ignored in the party. He chose to join the BJP.

Former Congress MP Jyoti Mirdha, who also joined the BJP ahead of the assembly elections last year, was instrumental in bringing Danga to the BJP fold.

Hanuman Beniwal and Jyoti Mirdha have been old rivals. Beniwal had defeated Mirdha in the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar belongs to Khimsar town in Nagaur. He is an MLA from Lohawat in Jodhpur.

He was looking after the election management of the BJP in Khimsar, which was one of the seven assembly seats that went to bypolls.

The ruling BJP won five seats while the Congress and the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) bagged one seat each in the results declared on Saturday.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], November 25 (ANI): In a major breakthrough, the Punjab police bust an organised criminal module handled by Manjeet Mahal, presently lodged in Tihar Jail, with the arrest of his three operatives.

Director General of Police, Punjab, Gaurav Yadav took to his official handle on X and posted, "The Anti Gangster Task Force, Punjab (AGTF), in a joint operation with SAS Nagar Police, busts an organised criminal module handled by Manjeet Mahal, presently lodged in Tihar Jail, with the arrest of his three operatives."

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"The arrested accused have a criminal history with a number of cases registered against them in Haryana and Delhi Preliminary interrogation of accused revealed that the accused were planning to execute sensational crimes in the state on the directions of their handler Manjit Mahal," said the post.

The officials recovered two .30 calibre pistols along with 18 live cartridges from the possesion of the accused.

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Earlier last week on Friday, the Amritsar Commissionerate Police busted trans-border arms smuggling module backed by foreign based smugglers with the arrest of six persons, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav.

DGP Gaurav Yadav further said 10 pistols including three sophisticated 9MM Glock pistols along with 10 cartridges were recovered from the possession of the accused persons.

Those arrested were identified as Vinod Kumar alias Rangeela of Putlighar, Yuvraj Singh and Surkhap Singh of village Roriwala in Amritsar, Jugraj Singh alias Jaggu of Plah Sahib road in Amristar, Amritpal Singh of village Sherpur in Batala and Prabhdeep Singh alias Harman of village Mumrai in Batala, a press release said.

DGP Yadav said that preliminary investigation revealed that the arrested accused had been in contact with foreign-based smuggler, who has been pushing huge consignments of weapons into Indian territory via drones and other means.

He said that further investigations were underway to establish backward and forward linkages in the case. (ANI)

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Moradabad (Uttar Pradesh) [India], November 25 (ANI): Moradabad Police Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh confirmed on Monday that those accused in the Sambhal incident include an Samajwadi Party (SP) MP and the son of a local MLA, adding further he assured that the situation in the site of violence is now peaceful, and an investigation is underway.

"The situation in Sambhal is peaceful. An investigation is underway. FIRs have been registered. FIR regarding instigation has been registered against Sambhal MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq and local MLA's son. 4 people have died. The injured are being treated. Strict action will be taken, if needed NSA will also be imposed," said the Moradabad Police Commissioner.

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Meanwhile, in a joint press conference, Sambhal SP Krishna Kumar Bishnoi informed that a complaint has been filed against as many as 800 people after the violence.

SP Bishnoi also said that two accused, identified as Zia Ur Rehman Barq and Sohail Iqbal had been arrested for allegedly instigating the mob to the violence.

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Addressing the media, SP Bishnoi said, "Our sub-inspector Deepak Rathi who got injured yesterday has filed a complaint against 800 people. Zia Ur Rehman Barq and Sohail Iqbal have been made accused. He said they instigated the mob. Barq was given notice earlier too. He had given provocative speeches earlier too and he was told not to do so."

"15 policemen have been injured in the incident. 23 people have been arrested so far. All the accused will be arrested and legal action will be taken," said the SP.

Samajwadi Party MP, Zia Ur Rehman Barq, who has been accused of instigation in the Sambhal incident also spoke to ANI and said, "It is so unfortunate, it is a pre-planned incident. Across the country, Muslims are being targeted and such a bad situation has never happened after independence. The way the Places of Worship Act is being violated. One by one pleas are being submitted and hearing is happening on the same day itself and order is also coming, same day DM and SP went and conducted the survey. People were stopped from offering Namaz. What was the necessity of a second survey?"

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak on Monday said that the survey at the mosque in Sambhal was being carried out under the orders of the court and that a fair investigation would be carried out into the violence incident that claimed the lives of 4 and injured many yesterday.

"A survey was being carried out there (Sambhal) on the orders of the court. Whatever incident happened is very sad. A fair investigation will be conducted into the incident," Deputy CM Pathak told ANI.

Earlier in the day, Deputy Inspector General of police (DIG), Moradabad Range, Muniraj G on Monday confirmed that the death toll in the Sambhal violence" violence has risen to four following the ruckus and stone pelting incident over an ASI survey of the Mughal-era mosque of the district.

DIG Muniraj G also stated that four FIRs had been filed in connection with the incident, and actions are being taken against those responsible.

Speaking to ANI on Monday, the DIG said, "The current situation in Sambhal is peaceful. Police have been deployed at important places. Last night, we confirmed three deaths but today while undergoing treatment in Moradabad, another person succumbed to his injuries. A total of 4 deaths have taken place."

"Looking at the situation, we will remove the suspension on the internet. Actions are being taken against the accused. I appeal to the people of Sambhal to maintain peace. Four FIRs have been registered in total," said the official.

Meanwhile, a petition has been filed with the National Human Rights Commission on behalf of DK Foundation of Freedom and Justice in connection with the violent protest in Sambhal, Moradabad.

The DK Foundation of Freedom and Justice took suo motu cognizance under the provisions of its Memorandum of Article and filed a petition on the basis of the viral video of the incident that took place in Sambhal.

In the petition, the organization claimed that the police administration was taking action only against the Muslim community.The petition also said that due to indiscriminate firing by the police administration, three people of the Muslim community died, which is a condemnable incident and a matter of investigation.

In wake of the violence that erupted after an ASI survey at a Mughal-era mosque in Sambhal, the district administration on Monday announced that outsiders, social organizations, or public representatives will be barred from entering Sambhal without prior authorization from the authorities.

According to an official notification from Sambhal District Magistrate Rajender Pensiya, "Any outsider, social organization or public representative without the orders of the authorities will be prohibited from entering Sambhal.Security has been heightened near the Shahi Jama Masjid in the area to maintain order and prevent any escalation of violence following the initial incident of ruckus and violence in Sambhal.

Security has been deployed with two-way radios for communication, security batons, flashlights, firearms, vehicle barriers and metal detectors to maintain the level of security for local regulations.

Police officials in the area conducted patrolling to deter any criminal activity and maintain order, and ensure the safety of people and property by offering a visible security presence.

These measures come to effect after a survey team that had arrived at the Shahi Jama Masjid to conduct a survey of the mosque in Sambhal district on Sunday morning amid heavy police deployment faced stone-pelting from some "anti-social elements."

The said survey was part of a legal process following a petition filed by senior advocate Vishnu Shanker Jain, who claimed the mosque was originally a temple.

A similar survey was previously conducted on November 19, with local police and members of the mosque's management committee present to oversee the process. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) A recent surprise inspection by the traffic and commercial officials of the North Central Railway (NCR) Zone found that employees of a private catering firm were cooking food using LPG cylinders in the pantry car of Poorva Express in violation of safety norms as well as the contractual terms.

The Railway Board had asked all zones on June 2, 2022 to ensure prohibition of on-board cooking to prevent associated fire safety risk. The private contractors, roped in to provide catering services to passengers, were instructed to pick food from various base kitchens set up near stations across the rail network.

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"In a surprise inspection, our traffic and commercial officers found that RK Associates and Hoteliers Pvt Ltd, which has a contract with Railways to pick food from its base kitchen and serve it to on-board passengers in various trains, violated railway safety norms and conducted on board cooking in Poorva Express," Shashi Kant Tripathi, Chief Public Relation Officer, NCR Zone, said.

"Since the firm has a contract with IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation), we are in talks with it to initiate action against the catering service provider," he added.

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PTI wrote to the firm which did not respond to the allegations.

According to documents, the IRCTC awarded temporary licence to RK Associates "for managing on-board catering service in Train no. 12381-12382 Howrah New Delhi Poorva Express for a period from 24-07-2024 to 14-07-2029".

One of the conditions to award a licence for catering service is that the firm will pick prepared food items from various designated pickup points near outside base kitchens and will not cook food on-board.

Railway officials say the said firm was found flouting the contractual terms during an inspection by IRCTC officials earlier as well and a warning letter was issued to it but the firm failed to mend its ways.

"It has come to our attention that train no 12303-04/81-82 Howrah-New Delhi Poorva Express is not collecting food from the base kitchen in Howrah, which is a clear violation of the tender agreement," a warning letter from IRCTC dated August 21 said.

It added, "Furthermore, cooking on board is strictly prohibited as per the cluster tender clause. Our OBCS (on-board catering staff) have repeatedly instructed you to cease this practice but you have shown no intention of complying."

The IRCTC's warning letter directed the firm to immediately stop the "unauthorized practice" and pick the food from the base kitchens according to the tender agreement.

"If prompt corrective action is not taken by your office, further action as dim fit may be initiated," the letter said.

Tripathi said catering firms can use hot cases or casseroles to keep food warm but they cannot cook food on-board using cylinders or any inflammable means.

According to the Railway Board's June 2022 circular regarding "Prohibition of Cooking in Pantry Cars", a High Level Safety Review Committee had recommended this step.

"All zonal Railways must ensure implementation of above instructions with immediate effect and maintain zero tolerance to any instance of such violation," the circular said. JP

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Etah (UP), Nov 25 (PTI) A violent clash broke out after a group of people opposed construction work on a plot of private land near a dargah in Jalesar town claiming it to be Waqf property, officials said on Monday.

The incident on Sunday evening left several people injured and caused significant property damage, they said, adding two accused have been arrested and a case lodged against 16 named suspects and around 150 unidentified others.

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The violence in Etah occurred on a day clashes erupted between protesters opposing a court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque and the police in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district, leaving four people dead.

The trouble arose in Jalesar when individuals, allegedly led by accused Rafiq, attempted to stop construction on a plot of land owned by Anil Kumar Upadhyay and others, according to police.

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Claiming the land as Waqf property, the group demolished a boundary wall with hammers, damaged over a dozen vehicles, and engaged in stone pelting, the police said.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Vipin Kumar Moral said, "The disputed land -- bearing survey numbers 3181 to 3192' -- private ancestral property, as confirmed by revenue records and prior demarcation in the presence of dargah committee members."

Etah Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Shyam Narayan Singh said the police acted promptly to control the situation.

On Monday, police arrested Rafiq, the alleged mastermind, and sent him to judicial custody, according to officials.

"Two key accused, identified as Farmaan alias Bunty and Rafiq, son of Abdul Latif, have been arrested. We will not tolerate any breach of law and order," he said.

Jalesar Police Station in-charge Sudhir Raghav said an FIR has been registered against 16 named individuals, including Rafiq, under charges of rioting, criminal intimidation, and causing public disturbance.

"One of the accused tried to strangle a complainant, indicating a clear intent to harm," Raghav added.

Upon receiving reports of the violence, SSP Shyam Narayan Singh and Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Rajkumar Singh reached the site to assess the situation. A large police contingent, including PAC personnel, was deployed to restore peace.

Circle Officer (CO) Nitish Garg said those involved in stone pelting and vandalism are being identified through viral videos.

"Strict action will be taken against all culprits. The situation is under control, and peace has been restored," he said.

"All individuals involved in the violence will be arrested. Law and order will not be compromised under any circumstances," SSP Singh stressed.

While the town remains tense, flag marches were held and if needed additional forces will be deployed, the officials added.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Thane, November 25: A 38-year-old worker suffered injuries after a fire broke out in a pharmaceutical manufacturing unit in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Monday.

The blaze erupted at around 10 pm at the factory located in Anand Nagar MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation) in Ambernath area, Thane Municipal Corporation's disaster management cell chief Yasin Tadvi said. A worker, identified as Anil Yadav, received burn injuries and was admitted to a local hospital for treatment, an official at the Thane police control room said. The unit was destroyed in the fire, Tadvi said. Thane Pharma Factory Fire: Blaze Erupts at Pharmaceutical Factory in Ambarnath Area, No Casualties Reported (Watch Video).

Four teams of fire personnel from Ambernath, Ulhasnagar, Badlapur and Kalyan fought the blaze for more than four hours and brought it under control at around 2.45 am, he said. Cooling operations were underway, Tadvi said, adding the cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Manama [Bahrain], November 25 (ANI/WAM): Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, today chaired the 12th session of the UAE-Bahrain Joint Higher Committee, held in Manama. The Bahraini side was led by Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The meeting was attended by several high-ranking officials, including Abdullah bin Touq Almarri, Minister of Economy; Noura bint Mohammed Alkaabi, Minister of State; Sultan bin Saif Alneyadi, Minister of State for Youth Affairs; Khalifa Shaheen Almarar, Minister of State; and other senior representatives from both countries.

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In his opening remarks, the UAE Top Diplomat emphasised on the deep bonds of fraternity, friendship, and collaboration between the two nations. He highlighted that the meeting reflects the strong and enduring relationship between the UAE and Bahrain, which, he said, is supported and nurtured by President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain.

"This patronage and support have served as a key motivator for our efforts and shared aspirations to elevate our strategic relations and diversify areas of bilateral cooperation between both sides," Abdullah said.

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"The United Arab Emirates has always considered and continues to consider Bahrain a strategic partner across all fields. Bahrain is an integral and deeply rooted part of the journey of progress and prosperity in the Arabian Gulf and the entire region."

He pointed out that the continued periodic convening of the UAE-Bahrain Joint Higher Committee reflects "the commitment of both countries to work together, as opportunities and achievements are explored, challenges and outstanding issues in various fields are discussed, and the best possible opportunities are always sought to serve both countries. This approach also reflects our shared desire to create innovative solutions to overcome challenges and transform them into tangible achievements that serve the interests of the peoples of both countries."

Abdullah stated that UAE-Bahrain ties transcend mere figures, representing a shared destiny and ambitious goals. He noted that non-oil trade between the two countries exceeded USD 7.5 billion in 2023 and emphasised the UAE's desire to strengthen partnerships with Bahrain across industries such as trade, renewable energy, transportation, infrastructure, and services.

He added, "We continuously aspire to expand our partnership base with our brothers in Bahrain across all sectors, including industry, trade, renewable energy, transportation, infrastructure, and services. We in the United Arab Emirates believe in the necessity of cooperation with our brothers and key partners within various international institutions and multilateral platforms. Therefore, we look forward to continuing mutual support for the nominations of both our countries in international institutions and forums, in addition to strengthening our partnerships in multilateral work."

At the conclusion of his remarks, Abdullah addressed Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, saying: "My brother Bu Rashid, I always take great pleasure in meeting you and am honoured to work with you and your team. I extend my gratitude to the teams whose efforts have been instrumental in ensuring the success of this session of the Joint Committee. I am positive you will continue your efforts so that we continue working together to serve and advance our two countries."

At the conclusion of the Committee's work, Abdullah and Al Zayani signed the minutes of the 12th session of the UAE-Bahrain Joint Higher Committee.

Additionally, the two top diplomats witnessed the signing of four Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) and an executive programme between the two countries.

The signed Memorandums of Understanding included the following:

- MoU on strengthening cooperation and exchanging expertise in civil aviation, signed by Abdullah bin Touq Almarri, Minister of Economy, and Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Bahrain's Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications.

- MoU on bilateral cooperation and the exchange of financial and economic policies and expertise, signed by Ali Abdullah Sharafi, Assistant Undersecretary of the International Financial Relationship Sector at the Ministry of Finance, and Engineer Nawaf Al-Sayed Hashim Al-Sada, Assistant Undersecretary for International Cooperation Affairs at the Ministry of Finance and National Economy, Bahrain.

- MoU on cooperation in enhancing competitiveness, signed by Hanan Ahli, Managing Director of the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre (FCSC), and Faisal Issa Hamad, Assistant Undersecretary for Competitiveness and Economic Indicators at Bahrain's Ministry of Finance and National Economy.

- MoU on cooperation in training and developing government competencies, signed by Yasser Ahmed Al Naqbi, Director General of Abu Dhabi School of Government, affiliated to Department of Government Enablement, and Shaikha Rana bint Isa bin Duaij Al Khalifa, Director General of the Institute of Public Administration in Bahrain.

An executive programme for cooperation in the tourism sector was signed by the UAE Minister of Economy, and Fatima bint Jafar Alsairafi, Bahrain's Minister of Tourism. (ANI/WAM)

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Balochistan [Pakistan], November 25 (ANI): The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) condemned the ongoing state-sponsored violence that has been oppressing the Baloch people for over seven decades.

The state has transformed the region into a war zone, where the Baloch people face daily repression, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and the destruction of entire communities. The BYC further added that despite the international call for justice, Baloch people continue to suffer the brutalities by the Pakistan security forces.

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In a post on X on Saturday, the BYC stated, "What we see today is not new, but the continuation of decades-old policies designed to oppress the Baloch people, exploit their resources and perpetuate their genocide. These actions are carried out under the pretence of national security, but their real purpose is to maintain dominance and deny the people of Balochistan their rightful say over their land and future."

The BYC further highlighted that the children in Balochistan grew up with fear and insecurities. They have limited access to education and facilities. The young individuals are deprived of jobs and livelihood and therefore they protest against the state. Entire communities are caught in a cycle of poverty, grief, and survival, with little hope for change. The state's actions, reminiscent of colonial control, treat the Baloch people not as citizens with rights but as obstacles to be subdued.

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The BYC lamented, "This is not just a military operation; it is an attack on the very existence of the Baloch nation. By targeting its economy, destroying its social fabric, and silencing its voices, the state is effectively waging a war to erase the Baloch identity."

The BYC further appealed to resist the intensified military operation against the people and would do everything to protect the identity of the Baloch nation. "We urge the global community, United Nations and all the organizations worldwide working for humanity to intervene on a humanitarian basis and prevent the Baloch nation from genocide," stated the BYC. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Toronto [Canada], November 25 (ANI): The Hindu Student Council (HSC) Canada hosted a meet-and-greet session at OCAD University Toronto, bringing together Hindu student leaders from various campuses to share their experiences and challenges.

The members of the HSC gathered on Sunday evening along with the Hindu student leaders of the Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) and the Hindu Forum of Canada.

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During the event, the students shared their challenges in terms of facing Hinduphobia and shared their struggles and achievements in establishing their rightful space in academia.

Hindu Student leaders from different campuses also expressed their concerns about negative stereotypes created due to strained relations between India and Canada. Following the event, the students also chanted 'Jai Shree Ram' in their Puja Room.

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While speaking with ANI, one of the students said, "Hindu Students Council is the largest pan-Hindu youth organisation in North America and it is important because it provides Hindus with the safe space on campuses to express their Dharma, to practise their culture and become young strong leaders."

Another student named Khushi said, "Hindu Students Council is important because it gives a place to grow, and we teach them how to be the next generation of strong Hindu leaders, how to speak up for ourselves, all while celebrating our rich diversity, our rich culture on campuses. We also make sure that Hindu students have the resources to present Hindu Dharma in the best light possible. It's (Hindu Students Council) a space where we go by three values -- Empowerment, Awareness and Seva."

Another student said, "I believe that the Hindu Students Council is important because it provides the opportunity for not only the youth but for everyone to have an opportunity to learn about the Hindu Dharm, learn about our culture, learn about the religion, and so, attending these events will give the youth an opportunity to learn about the religion.

Hindu Students Council is a diverse community of students and young professionals which provides opportunities to foster well-being and cultivate personal growth and empowerment based on values rooted in Hindu culture. (ANI)

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Al Qudra Lakes (UAE), Nov 25 (AP) A desert oasis hidden away in the dunes in the far reaches of skyscraper-studded Dubai has drawn a surprising new set of weary world travellers: a pack of Argentinian rodents.

A number of Patagonian mara, a rabbit-like mammal with long legs, big ears and a body like a hoofed animal, now roam the grounds of Al Qudra Lakes, typically home to gazelle and other desert creatures of the United Arab Emirates.

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How they got there remains a mystery in the UAE, a country where exotic animals have ended up in the private homes and farms of the wealthy. But the pack has already survived several years in a network of warrens among the dunes.

The UAE's Climate Change and Environment Ministry and authorities in Dubai did not respond to questions from The Associated Press about the Patagonian maras' presence. One estimate suggests that as many as 200 could be thriving in the area and the wider Al Marmoom Desert Conservation Reserve nearby, as only a few dead maras have been found.

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An AP journalist happened upon at least five maras on a recent visit to Al Qudra Lakes, a vast desert area some 40 kilometres south of downtown Dubai. On another visit, he saw multiple packs of the animals, including one mother still nursing a baby.

Al Qudra sits at the end of a long bicycle track popular in the winter months and draws campers and others who enjoy the outdoors in the cooler weather among the area's lakes. Some have been manmade into the shapes of a crescent moon, two hearts or even an advertisement for Dubai's Expo 2020.

The Patagonian maras first appeared publicly in 2020 during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. A request for information on their sightings first made a summertime issue of the Dubai Natural History Group's monthly newsletter, with volunteers describing them as being seen both in Al Qudra and on Saadiyat Island near the country's capital of Abu Dhabi.

This large rodent is a common species in zoological collections and undoubtedly found its way out from captivity," wrote Jacky Judas, who long has studied mammals in the UAE, in a chapter in the recent book A Natural History of the Emirates."

"They can regularly be seen sleeping or eating grass in the middle of roundabouts at Al Qudra. This species is not adapted to live in arid environment, although in the absence of his usual predators, like pumas, it can possibly survive in highly modified habitats with tree plantations, lawns and ponds, Judas wrote.

That's the exact environment found at Al Qudra  likely contributing to the maras' continued survival there despite temperatures in the UAE regularly reaching 45 degrees Celsius in the summer with high humidity.

The number at Al Qudra also suggests they are breeding. Patagonian maras mate for life and females only enter heat a few times a year for about 30 minutes apiece. They can give birth to one to three offspring at a time. In Argentina, the animals can be hunted and eaten, their fur used for rugs and blankets.

While the Patagonia maras are herbivores and pose no threat to humans, they likely have very few predators at Al Qudra. Arabian red fox do live and hunt in the area.

How the Patagonian maras got there remains a mystery. Maras are on display at the children's section of the Dubai Safari Park zoo, but at the same distance from Al Qudra as downtown. There are surrounding tracks and farms owned by Dubai's elite near Al Qudra, which suggests the maras escaped either overland or through digging their way out of a nearby property.

Patagonian maras, which typically live in central and southern Argentina, have been trafficked into areas as exotic pets in the past. In Lakewood, Colorado, a suburb of Denver, the appearance of one sparked wide local news coverage earlier this year. However, the animal is now believed by authorities to be dead. In August, a Patagonian mara was found in the trunk of a car carrying other animals trying to enter Turkey from Greece in a suspected trafficking attempt.

Though it is illegal to keep endangered or threatened wildlife as pets in the Emirates, there have been numerous sightings and social media videos of Emirati men in luxury cars accompanied by pet lions along for the cruise. In 2021, authorities put out a warning that a wild cat had been seen loose in one neighbourhood. (AP)

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Vilnius, Nov 25 (AP) A DHL cargo plane crashed Monday morning near the Lithuanian capital.

The Lithuanian airport authority identified the aircraft as a DHL cargo plane flying from Leipzig, Germany, to Vilnius Airport.

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It posted on the social platform X that city services including a fire truck were on site.

DHL Group, headquartered in Bonn, Germany, did not immediately return a call for comment. (AP)

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New Delhi, November 25: Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1992 batch, Dinesh Bhatia has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Brazil, as per a press release by the Ministry of External Affairs on Monday. Bhatia is currently serving as the ambassador of India to Argentina, having assumed this role on August 21, 2019, and his accreditation also extended to Uruguay and Paraguay until February 2022.

Before this, he served as the Consul General of India in Toronto and Ambassador to Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, and Liberia. Additionally, he has held various positions in Indian missions abroad, including in Madrid, Kathmandu, and Kuwait. Bhatia was seconded by the government to the Department of Atomic Energy in Mumbai and served as private secretary to the tourism minister of India. He has also worked in different divisions of the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi. M Keivom Appointed as the Next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Djibouti.

Bhatia joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1992 and received training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie, and the Foreign Service Institute, New Delhi. He is an alumnus of the National Defence College (NDC) and participated in the 4th Joint Civil Military Course on National Security at LBSNAA.

Bhatia holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Delhi College of Engineering with a specialization in Electronics and Communication. Before joining the Civil Service, he worked in the private sector. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers and a member of the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers. Vinay Mohan Kwatra Takes Charge As Indias Ambassador to US, Says Will Continue To Work Intensely To Strengthen This Crucial Partnership.

Bhatia has authored "Devi Purana--A Rendition of Srimad Devi Bhagavatam," published by Bloomsbury in 2023, and "Physics for Civil Services Prelims," published in 1994. He is married to Seema Bhatia, an Ayurvedic practitioner, psychologist, and hypnotherapist, and they have a daughter and a son.

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Rome [Italy], November 25 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with his counterparts from France, Ukraine, Lebanon, and Croatia at the sidelines of the MED Mediterranean Dialogues Conference in Rome, Italy on Monday.

The Foreign Minister discussed Indo-Pacific, Ukraine and global issues with his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot.

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"A useful stock-taking of our bilateral partnership. Also discussed Indo-Pacific, Ukraine and global issues," Jaishankar stated in a post.

https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1861009721550856674

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He also interacted with Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib and his Croatian counterpart Gordan Grlic Radman.

"Glad to interact with Lebanese FM Abdallah Bou Habib at the @RomeMEDialogues. Look forward to remaining in touch," he stated.

"Appreciate seeing FM @grlicradman of Croatia at the@RomeMEDialogues.His sentiments for our ties are always positive," Jaishakar said in a subsequent post.

https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1861009173762207780

https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1861006011936436303

Further during his meeting with Ukrainian FM Andrii Sybiha, Jaishankar reiterated India's support for "dialogue and diplomacy."

"Good to meet FM of Ukraine @andrii_sybihain Rome today. Useful exchange on advancing our bilateral cooperation. Reiterated India's support for dialogue and diplomacy," he stated.

https://x.com/drsjaishankar/status/1861038217790652757?s=46

Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar addressed the Rome Mediterranean Dialogue where he said that the new element of the relationship between India and the Mediterranean would be connectivity, and called the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor "can be a game changer."

In his opening remarks at the MED Mediterranean Dialogues Conference in Rome, the EAM highlighted the growing significance of connectivity in global relations, especially in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and its impact on the region.

He noted that while the conflict has complicated the situation, progress on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) continues on the eastern side, particularly between India, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Jaishankar pointed out the importance of the I2U2 grouping, which consists of India, Israel, the UAE, and the US, and is expected to become more active in the future.

He also expressed concerns over the escalating situation in West Asia and mentioned that India has been in regular touch with both Israel and Iran to "advocate constraints" and "enhance communication" in an attempt to resolve the conflict between both countries.

The Foreign Minister reiterated India's strong condemnation of terrorism, and the abduction of hostages by Hamas, and affirmed support for reaching a ceasefire.

Jaishankar, however, also emphasised the need to abide by international humanitarian law and called large-scale civilian casualties "unacceptable."

"Today I focus my remarks on the conflicts. The situation in the Middle East is obviously deeply concerning, both for what has happened and what may still come. India unequivocally condemns terrorism and hostage-taking. It also regards large-scale civilian casualties in military operations to be unacceptable. International humanitarian law cannot be disregarded in immediate terms. We should all support a ceasefire," EAM Jaishankar said. (ANI)

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London [UK], November 25 (ANI): The German province of Schleswig-Holstein made history by celebrating Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in their parliament for the first time.

The event was well-attended by the Indian community, led by Rakesh Veuli, a resident of the Arshan Berg area.

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Tobias and Deputy Commerce Minister Julia Carsten along with other CDU Leaders and local Party workers attended the event and praised the contribution of the Indian community. A large number of Indian students also participated in this inaugural Diwali celebration.

The event featured a vibrant showcase of Indian culture, including energetic Bhangra performances.

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https://x.com/IndiainHamburg/status/1859261103815180378

Earlier, the Indian consulate in Hamburg shared a post on X and stated, "Together with @IndiaInHamburg, the Parliamentary group of CDU of Schleswig-Holstein invites you to celebrate the Festival of Lights, Diwali, at the CDU-Fraktion, Landeshaus Kiel. You are welcome to join and celebrate an evening full of lights, joy, and togetherness!."

Meanwhile, on the occasion of India-Germany 25 years of strategic partnership, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday highlighted the significance of the strategic partnership and described Europe as a crucial strategic region for India in terms of trade and geopolitical ties.

He also called Germany one of India's most important partners.

The remarks by PM Modi came while addressing the News9 Global Summit."The theme of this summit is India-Germany: A Roadmap for sustainable growth. This theme is a symbol of the responsible partnership of both countries," the Prime Minister said.

He added, "Europe is an important strategic region for India, both in terms of geopolitical relations and trade and investment and Germany is one of our most important partners. Indo-German strategic partnership completed 25 years in 2024 and this year has been historic and special for this partnership."

Notably, Germany is India's largest trading partner in Europe. It has consistently been among India's top ten global partners and was the seventh-largest trading partner in FY 2020-21 (10th during FY 2021-22 up to October 2021), as per the Embassy of India in Berlin, Germany. (ANI)

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Tel Aviv, Nov 25 (AP) Israel has said that the body of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi who went missing in the United Arab Emirates has been found after he was killed in what it described as a "heinous antisemitic terror incident".

The UAE's Interior Ministry later said authorities arrested three suspects involved in the killing of Zvi Kogan.

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The statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Sunday said that Israel "will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death". Israeli authorities did not say how they determined the killing of Kogan was a terror attack and offered no additional details.

Kogan, 28, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who went missing on Thursday, ran a kosher grocery store in the futuristic city of Dubai, where Israelis have flocked for commerce and tourism since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in the 2020 Abraham Accords.

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The agreement has held through more than a year of soaring regional tensions unleashed by Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack into southern Israel. But Israel's devastating retaliatory offensive in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon, after months of fighting with the Hezbollah militant group, have stoked anger among Emiratis, Arab nationals and others living in the the UAE.

Iran, which supports Hamas and Hezbollah, has also been threatening to retaliate against Israel after a wave of airstrikes Israel carried out in October in response to an Iranian ballistic missile attack.

The Emirati government did not respond to a request for comment. However, senior Emirati diplomat Anwer Gargash wrote on the social platform X in Arabic on Sunday that "the UAE will remain a home of safety, an oasis of stability, a society of tolerance and coexistence and a beacon of development, pride and advancement".

Early on Sunday, the UAE's state-run WAM news agency acknowledged Kogan's disappearance but pointedly did not acknowledge he held Israeli citizenship, referring to him only as being Moldovan. The Emirati Interior Ministry described Kogan as being "missing and out of contact".

"Specialised authorities immediately began search and investigation operations upon receiving the report," the Interior Ministry said.

The ministry later said that three "perpetrators" had been arrested "in record time" without giving additional details.

Netanyahu told a regular Cabinet meeting later Sunday that he was "deeply shocked" by Kogan's disappearance and death. He said he appreciated the cooperation of the UAE in the investigation and that ties between the two countries would continue to be strengthened.

Israel's largely ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, condemned the killing and thanked Emirati authorities for "their swift action". He said he trusts they "will work tirelessly to bring the perpetrators to justice".

Israel also again warned against all nonessential travel to the Emirates after Kogan's killing.

"There is concern that there is still a threat against Israelis and Jews in the area," a government warning issued Sunday said.

Kogan was an emissary of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, a prominent and highly observant branch of ultra-Orthodox Judaism based in Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood in New York City. It said he was last seen in Dubai. The UAE has a burgeoning Jewish community, with synagogues and businesses catering to kosher diners.

The Rimon Market, a kosher grocery store that Kogan managed on Dubai's busy Al Wasl Road, was shut Sunday. As the wars have roiled the region, the store has been the target of online protests by supporters of the Palestinians. Mezuzahs on the front and back doors of the market appeared to have been ripped off when an Associated Press journalist stopped by on Sunday.

Kogan's wife, Rivky, is a US citizen who lived with him in the UAE. She is the niece of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, who was killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The UAE is an autocratic federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula and is also home to Abu Dhabi. Local Jewish officials in the UAE declined to comment.

While the Israeli statement did not mention Iran, Iranian intelligence services have carried out past kidnappings in the UAE.

Western officials believe Iran runs intelligence operations in the UAE and keeps tabs on the hundreds of thousands of Iranians living across the country.

Iran is suspected of kidnapping and later killing British Iranian national Abbas Yazdi in Dubai in 2013, though Tehran has denied involvement. Iran also kidnapped Iranian German national Jamshid Sharmahd in 2020 from Dubai, taking him back to Tehran, where he was executed in October. (AP)

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Antananarivo (Madagascar), Nov 25 (AP) The death toll rose on Monday to 25 after two motorboats carrying migrants from Somalia capsized in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar, authorities said on Monday.

The migrants had been at sea for nearly a month hoping to reach the French island territory of Mayotte.

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Another 48 people were rescued Sunday from the waters near the island of Nosy Be off northern Madagascar, said Jean-Edmond Randrianantenaina, the head of Madagascar's Maritime Ports Agency.

Somali authorities said Sunday that 24 people had died. It was not clear what caused the boats to capsize.

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The boats left a beach near the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on November 2 with 73 people on board and were believed to be headed to Mayotte, Randrianantenaina said. Mayotte is around 1,600 kilometers (990 miles) from Mogadishu.

The survivors are aged between 17 and 50, authorities in Madagascar said.

Randrianantenaina said an investigation was underway, while a government delegation from Somalia will come to organize the repatriation of its citizens. Madagascar's foreign ministry has asked the UN International Organisation for Migration for help.

Many young Somalis embark every year on dangerous journeys in search of better opportunities abroad. The UN agency has previously raised concerns over the rise in irregular migration from Horn of Africa countries as people flee from conflict and drought.

In April, 38 migrants died and 22 others were rescued from a shipwreck off Djibouti on a popular migration route to Yemen. Most of those rescued were Somali and Ethiopian nationals seeking work in Gulf States. (AP)

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London [United Kingdom], November 25 (ANI): The Madhya Pradesh government hosted a distinguished lunch for UK Parliamentarians on Monday, wherein Chief Minister Mohan Yadav shared the state's vision for growth and sustainability.

He highlighted the state's commitment towards green energy, emphasising its leadership in India's renewable energy revolution. With a focus on ease of doing business, the state is creating an environment ripe for growth, offering unparalleled opportunities in sectors such as tourism, agri-business, and agri-tech.

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The Chief Minister also highlighted the importance of the Indo-British partnership and its potential to drive growth in both nations.

In his opening remarks at a lunch meeting with UK parliamentarians, CM Yadav said, "As Prime Minister Narendra Modi often emphasises, this India-Britain partnership is not just rooted in history but is vital for our future."

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"Madhya Pradesh is at the forefront of India's development, combining sustainable growth with immense potential across sectors like agriculture, renewable energy, and tourism."

CM Yadav, currently in London to promote industrial development in Madhya Pradesh and attract foreign investment, underlined the immense potential for collaboration between the two countries in emerging sectors.

"Vision for Tomorrow: Our relationship, aptly described by PM Modi as a 'Living Bridge,' has evolved into a dynamic partnership centred on technology, innovation, and knowledge exchange. This collaboration holds immense potential for both nations, particularly in emerging sectors," Yadav said.

He further highlighted key sectors in Madhya Pradesh that have consistently achieved double-digit economic growth, making them attractive to investors.

"Madhya Pradesh has emerged as a key hub in India's growth story, consistently achieving double-digit economic growth. The state offers exceptional opportunities across multiple sectors, including agri-business and food processing, automobiles and auto components, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, information technology and digital services. With a significant focus on technology exchange, higher education, and skill development, the state has introduced progressive policy reforms under the 'Make in MP' initiative, particularly in renewable energy, textiles, pharmaceuticals, and automotive sectors," Yadav stated.

The Chief Minister emphasised the state's intent to build long-term partnerships in skill development, research collaboration, and education.

The MP Chief Minister also extended a warm invitation to the United Kingdom to join Madhya Pradesh as a Partner Country for the upcoming Global Investors Summit in February 2025 in Bhopal. The summit will serve as a platform for international collaboration, showcasing the state's vast potential for investment and innovation.

"This summit will showcase not only investment opportunities but also the rich cultural heritage of Madhya Pradesh," Yadav added.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav is on a week-long visit to the United Kingdom (UK) and Germany from November 24 to November 30 to attract investment to the state.

The visit underscores the Madhya Pradesh government's commitment to advancing industrial development and fostering meaningful collaborations beyond investments. (ANI)

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Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [Pakistan], November 25 (ANI): A seven-day ceasefire was agreed upon between two warring tribes in Kurram District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Sunday, following intense efforts by the provincial government to de-escalate violence that has plagued the region.

This ceasefire is seen as a crucial step in curbing the violence that has already claimed 64 lives in recent weeks, with the death toll rising following a series of deadly clashes, Dawn reported.

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The agreement comes after the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government decided to form a high-powered commission aimed at settling long-standing land disputes between the tribes. Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, the chief minister's adviser on information, confirmed that the ceasefire would last for seven days.

He added that both tribes had agreed to return each other's bodies and prisoners as part of the truce. "The ceasefire was agreed upon for seven days between the tribes, both of which also decided to return each other's bodies and prisoners," Barrister Saif stated in his announcement.

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The violence in the region had escalated earlier in the week when a convoy of around 200 vehicles came under heavy gunfire on Thursday in Bagan town, killing at least 43 people. Another 21 deaths occurred in fresh clashes on Saturday, heightening fears of further unrest. On Friday, intense firefights between the tribes wounded over 30 individuals. Despite the ceasefire agreement, sporadic gunfire continued throughout Lower Kurram until Saturday evening, leaving residents in constant fear.

To mediate the conflict, government representatives met with leaders from both the Shia and Sunni tribes. A delegation met with the Shia tribe on Saturday, while talks with Sunni leaders were held the following day. Afterwards, the delegation returned to Peshawar, where Barrister Saif confirmed positive developments in engagements with the stakeholders. "There are positive developments in engagements with stakeholders," he told Reuters.

While the ceasefire has provided a reprieve, political figures are calling for more immediate action to restore long-term peace. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari voiced his concerns over the escalating lawlessness, criticising the provincial government's inaction, reported Dawn.

"On one hand, the Kurram district is burning in the fire of unrest, and on the other, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is absent from the scene," Bilawal said. He further accused the PTI-led provincial government of failing to protect the lives and property of citizens, asserting that its silence was akin to being "an ally of the terrorists."

Malala Yousafzai, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, also expressed her deep concern over the violence. "My heart aches for the families of Parachinar, Kurram, as sectarian violence escalates and affects every part of daily life, including schools," Malala said in a statement on X.

She called on the Pakistani government and security forces to work together to ensure the safety of the people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, stressing that they deserve to live in peace. "Pakistan's government and security forces must work together to keep people safe. The people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa deserve to live in peace," she concluded, as per the report by Dawn.

As the ceasefire continues, attention remains on how the government will address the root causes of the violence and work toward a lasting solution in Kurram. (ANI)

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Washington DC [US], November 25 (ANI): The US condemned the murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan in the United Arab Emirates after his body was discovered on Sunday. He had been reported missing since Thursday in the Arab nations.

The spokesperson of the US's National Security Council, in a statement, expressed condolences to Rabbi Kogan's family, the Chabad-Lubavitch community, the Jewish community, and all those mourning his death.

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The US described the killing as a crime against peace, tolerance, and coexistence, emphasizing that it was an attack on the UAE's stance against violent extremism. The statement further stated that the government confirmed that it is working with Israeli and UAE authorities and has extended assistance where needed.

"We condemn in the strongest terms the murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan in the UAE, and our prayers are with his family, the Chabad-Lubavitch community, the broader Jewish community, and all who are mourning his loss. This was a horrific crime against all those who stand for peace, tolerance, and coexistence. It was an assault as well on UAE and its rejection of violent extremism across the board. The United States is working in close coordination with Israeli and UAE authorities, and we have offered all appropriate forms of support. We commend the rapid efforts of UAE authorities, who now have suspects in custody. Those who carried out this crime, and anyone supporting them, must be held fully accountable," the statement read.

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Kogan, an outreach rabbi with the Chabad movement, worked in Abu Dhabi. In addition to his outreach, the 28-year-old Kogan also ran a kosher grocery store. He is survived by his wife, who is a US national.

Following the discovery of the body of the missing Israeli-Moldovan rabbi on Sunday, Israel warned its citizens to avoid non-essential travel to the UAE.

Israel's National Security Council (NSC) had already designated the UAE's threat level to Israeli citizens as "moderate." The NSC urged Israelis to avoid businesses and venues associated with Israelis or Jews, not to overtly display Israeli or Jewish symbols or share travel details on social media, and to be vigilant in public areas.

"This vile antisemitic attack is a reminder of the inhumanity of the enemies of the Jewish people," Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on social media platform X.

"It will not deter us from continuing to grow flourishing communities in the UAE or anywhere--especially with the help of the dedicated commitment and work of the Chabad emissaries all over the world...I thank the UAE authorities for their swift action and trust they will work tirelessly to bring the perpetrators to justice," he added.

According to Israeli media reports, the killers are thought to be Uzbek nationals working on behalf of Iran who fled to Turkey. Amid a major spike in attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets worldwide since Hamas's October 7 massacres, Israel has issued travel warnings for countries across the Middle East. (ANI)

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Star couple Sobhita Dhulipala and Naga Chaitanya, who are gearing up for their wedding, will be having an eight hour long ritual on D-Day, according to sources. As the couple prepare for their big day, a source close to the event reveals that the wedding is going to be traditional and old-school. Will Naga Chaitanya and Sobhita Dhulipala Have a Big Fat Indian Wedding? Nagarjuna Akkineni Spills the Beans.

"It's going to be more than 8 hour long wedding rituals according to the Telugu Brahmin traditions, which is what Sobhita and Chaitanya are following for their wedding, a source close to Sobhita revealed.

The source added, In order to honour the cultural aspects and give respect and attention to all the beautiful details of a Telugu wedding they are going all out with an over 8 hour traditional hard-core old school wedding.

The couple is set to tie the knot on December 4.

For her big day, the actress has chosen a traditional Kanjivaram silk saree, beautifully adorned with real gold zari.

A source said: Sobhita Dhulipala has picked a beautiful Kanjivaram silk saree with real gold zari while shopping with her mother. Shes also getting a simple white khadi saree woven in Ponduru, Andhra Pradesh, along with a matching set for Chaitanya, following tradition. Sobhita is personally involved in every detail, adding a special and heartfelt touch to her big day.

The insider added that Sobhitas wedding preparations reflect her deep connection to her Telugu heritage, with a clear commitment to tradition.

Naga and Sobhita will marry in an intimate yet culturally rich ceremony, attended by close friends and family.

A photo of their wedding invitation went viral on social media. The invite featured the names of their family members and the date of the special occasion. It also appeared that the couple has gifted a goodies basket along with the wedding invitation as a gesture of love and respect for their guests.

The basket included a piece of cloth, a wooden scroll, food packets, and various confectionery items. The invitation features images of temples, bells, banana trees, and a cow, adding a personal and cultural touch to the occasion. Naga Chaitanya and Sobhita Dhulipalas Wedding Invite Leaks Online Amid Astrologers Viral Doomed Marriage Prediction (See Pic).

Naga and Sobhitas pre-wedding celebrations began in October, with the actress sharing a glimpse of a traditional ceremony held at her home.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 25, 2024 01:17 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
New Delhi, November 25: LG and Samsung will reportedly work together to launch an AI-powered smartphone, which is expected to debut in 2025. According to reports, the two South Korean tech giants are anticipated to combine their expertise to create a new device called the "Galaxy ixi-O." The collaboration is said to involve Samsung Electronics and LG Uplus to push advanced AI in mobile technology.

As per a report of The Korean Economic Daily, Samsung Electronics and LGs telecom arm, LG Uplus, to jointly develop the ixi-O AI smartphone. The two companies are said to have reached an agreement to collaborate on a new project to create a smartphone that uses artificial intelligence. The new AI phone is expected to offer much more than just the usual features of an AI assistant that you might find on smartphones. They might plan to develop a device that fully uses the power of AI technology in innovative ways to push the limits of what smartphones can do to meet the needs of users. Apple iPhone Production in India Reaches USD 10 Billion in April-October 2024, Tech Giant Creates 1.75 Lakh Direct Jobs in 4 Years: IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

The partnership between the two companies is expected to concentrate on merging LG Uplus's AI call assistant, known as ixi-O, with Samsungs AI service called Galaxy AI. According to reports, Samsung and LG's new AI smartphone is anticipated to be released next year. Earlier this month, LG launched ixi-O, a personal AI assistant that is available in South Korea. The AI assistant has several features, which include the ability to detect voice phishing scams in real-time, answer phone calls, and even record and summarise conversations. AMD To Launch New Smartphone Chip APU in 2026 Built on TSMCs 3nm Processor, Likely for Samsungs Flagship Device: Report.

Multiple reports indicate that LG and Samsung are planning to unveil their new AI smartphone alongside the Galaxy S25 series. The Samsung Galaxy S25 series is expected to be launched on January 22 next year. Following this announcement, the AI smartphone is anticipated to be available in the first quarter of 2025.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 25, 2024 03:37 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Mental Mechanics of a Mercury Retrograde

Scientists have found evidence of creatures who once had brains and evolved to favor a networked nervous system throughout the organism. Then again, most life on Earth has been lived by brainless organisms. To consider your own mental processes with detached wonder will provide much insight on the topsy-turvy turn of Mercury.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Intuition is your inner compass, guiding you in ways logic cant always explain. Youll tune into your instincts and let them have a voice. You may find answers that your mind has yet to see.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Persistence isnt about relentless pushing; its about figuring out how to keep going with the least amount of drama. What might make your way easier, more joyful, interesting, friendly, gentle or appealing? Progress doesnt have to be so laborious.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Biomimicry is the art of learning from lifes forms and processes. Natures wisdom will spark innovation for you today. Let your curiosity lead the way, guiding you toward designs that respect and renew.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Whenever theres an outcome expected and a person responsible, thats work, and dont you know it. Todays work will take forms that are invisible to those who dont understand everything involved in pulling it off. Feel free to give them a hint.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). Acceptance doesnt mean surrendering your values, but it might mean recognizing that not everyone shares them. Because youre present to friends and strangers alike, youll get out of your comfort zone. One gesture opens a new world.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Knowing your strengths without needing to prove them, youll walk with quiet assurance and let your actions speak louder than words. People notice your deep confidence. Its magnetic without trying.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Youll give something up so you can really appreciate what you have. While you welcome the opportunity to lighten your load, youd rather be the one to choose what goes into the donation box.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). Drop the word I from your conversation and magic will unfold. Youre inherently captivating, so theres no need to talk about yourself, only to be yourself. That will do all the talking for you.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Progress rarely occurs in a straight line. Today, there will be detours and dead ends, but every twist has something to teach. Keep moving forward on the scenic route. Small delights abound.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Natures design deepens your understanding of what it means to be part of lifes intricate web. Youll affect and be affected by every other being. Youll experience lifes wisdom firsthand.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). If the rules are not written down, spoken or communicated explicitly, then the only way to find out what they are is to break them. Rule-breaking also shows you the actual rules as opposed to the theoretical and idealized version.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Focus on your own needs and goals. When you take care of yourself, youre stronger in all your relationships. A moment of reflection keeps you on track. Pause to acknowledge what youre giving and taking, as well as how far youve come.

TODAYS BIRTHDAY (Nov. 25). Chance flirts with you, flipping on the electrical current throughout your year. Youll find a rhythm of connection in many relationships, each one unexpected and meaningful, but one particularly influential in this fresh chapter. More highlights: a new passion project gains momentum, financial gains from clever decisions, and peace arrives in the form of closure. Cancer and Leo adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 20, 33, 5, 14 and 29.

CELEBRITY PROFILES: Christina Applegate made a heartfelt appearance at the 2024 Emmy Awards, where she received a standing ovation from the audience and reflected on her career and roles like Kelly Bundy in Married ... With Children and Jen Harding in Dead to Me. The Sagittarian spirit is playful and moving ever-forward, and Applegate openly shares her victories and aspirations, like working with Shirley MacLaine and sharing drinks with Cher.

Holiday Mathis debut novel, How To Fail Epically in Hollywood, is out now! This fast-paced romp about achieving Hollywood stardom is available as a paperback and ebook. Visit http://www.creatorspublishing.com for more information. Write Holiday Mathis at HolidayMathis.com.

COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM
A man was killed in a rollover accident along a Route 33 off-ramp in Palmer Township, state police said.

The driver crashed just after 10:45 a.m. Monday along the highway in the northbound lanes, Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Nathan Branosky told lehighvalleylive.com. Branosky is public information officer for the Troop M barracks.

Its not clear why the SUV veered off the road and overturned near the highways off-ramp at the Palmer Township/Tatamy interchange, Branosky said.

The driver was taken to St. Lukes Hospital in Bethlehem Township where he was pronounced dead, Branosky said Tuesdsay.

State police briefly shut down the ramp. Traffic was briefly diverted with motorists making a left at the top of the ramp, but not a right into Tatamy Borough.

Pennsylvania State Police in Belfast are investigating with the assistance of Pennsylvania State Polices Troop M Forensic Services Unit. The Palmer Municipal Fire Department and Suburban EMS assisted police at the crash scene.

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com.
Two farmers from Laois have contributed to a new book which explores practical ways to create a more sustainable farming future.

More than 50 Irish farmers contributed to The Farming For Future Handbook, including John McHugh from Condarrig, Portlaoise and Bruce Thompson from Ballyfin, Portlaoise.

The new book combines scientific research with local knowledge to give farmers and others practical tips on how to create a more sustainable future while protecting land and nature.

The farmers share their experiences in the book on how working with nature can help reduce costs and improve incomes. It is hoped that the book will become the essential guide to caring profitably from the land, while also acting as practical guide to protecting and restoring nature.

The farming community are often targeted in discussions regarding environmental damage caused by poor farming practises, however this book aims to highlight the positive ways farmers can sustain and enhance the local environment while also benefitting from the results.

READ NEXT: Laois residents take objection to housing plan to An Bord Pleanala

The book was inspired by the growing interest from farmers, landowners and growers - big and small - in learning how best to manage their land in a way that enhances habitats and safeguards the natural environment and rural communities while also protecting profits.

The Farming For Nature project was established to support and encourage farmers and those who wish to farm in a way that will improve the natural health of the countryside.

Portlaoise man John McHugh is a dairy farmer as well as an ambassador for Farming For Nature. In a snippet of advice he gives in the book, John says: "Productivity is output per unit input. The more I learned about the true cost of the inputs I used, the more I realised how unproductive I was.

"I think most farmers underestimate the scope to reduce costs and remain profitable by farming for nature. Its not a blueprint that is encouraged by the industry. I think its time that we stop farming for the industry and start farming for our own, our families and our communities wellbeing. That will see us looking back to nature."

Fellow dairy farmer, Bruce Thompson shares in the book: "Dung is a microhabitat for a whole diverse range of small creatures but, for me, the king of these is the indomitable dung beetle.

"Modern farming techniques have depleted a lot of our beetle populations. Practices such as grassland tillage, wet (runny) dung pats derived from modern grass management and the removal of animals from fields in autumn (leaving no food for the beetles until spring) have all contributed to beetle decline.

"However, the biggest factor of all is the use of anthelmintics to control parasites in animals. These animal remedies are toxic to beetles. The real tragedy of losing beetles (and other dung derived insects) is their loss as a food source for the wider animal kingdom."

President Michael D Higgins has praised the book, describing it as: "a timely and essential contribution to the on-going discourse on how we, as a society, must respond to some of the most pressing challenges of our time."

The book was conceived and developed by Brigid Barry, researched and mainly written by conservation ecologist Dr. Emma Hart on behalf of Farming For Nature, and co-edited by Dr. Brendan Dunford of the Burrenbeo Trust.

The book will be launched on 28 November and is sure to be one to check out for everyone, not just for farmers.
Portarlington Independent candidate Elaine Mullally is hoping to tackle voter apathy in Laois after experiencing real frustration at the doors across the county. "I am running because I can't find anyone else to vote for", that's what the local businesswoman is telling those who are fed up and have no intention of voting in the general election this Friday, November 29.



It was her own disillusionment with the current political system that led the mother of two to decide to run back in July. It was a month after leaving Independent Ireland, a party she founded but parted ways with over what she describes as a weak stance on a no campaign for the carer's referendum and the decision by the party's MEP Ciaran Mullolly to align with the policial grouping Renew in the European Parliament.



"The grouping are very much Fianna Fail based and there was no consultation on that so for me it was the deciding factor. I thought if the party is able to be pulled in that direction very quickly then it was probably not something I could keep putting my energy into," she said.



On the doors one the main issues coming up for her is the lack of supports for families of children with autism and special needs.



"Services for families dealing with autism and other special needs are completely neglected by the government and as a result children are being left undiagnosed for far too long. There is very little support for parents after diagnosis," she said.



After holding numerous public meetings Ms Mullally said she was 'overwhelmed' by how big of an issue it is. This led her to set up a taskforce which aims to give a voice to parents and ensure that their concerns are addressed, advocating for a fairer, more inclusive system for children with special needs in Laois. CONTINUE READING BELOW PHOTO



Immigration policy is another big issue which the Dail hopeful believes needs to be addressed. She said people are afraid to express their views over fear of being branded racist.



"I don't believe the government has handled immigration correctly. I can't stand this idea of the government and mainstream media calling people racist because they actually want to have a discussion about it. We are the most loving, empathetic, open hearted nation, that's my opinion and yes we do have elements, there is far rights, far lefts but to label anybody who wants to ask a question is so wrong, particularly just an ordinary working class person like myself who has lived and worked their whole life in this country."



Asked about protests in Belfast in August and in the capital last year which led to violence, arson, damage to businesses and arrests, Ms Mullally said while she doesn't support violence she believes protesting is a right.



"I don't support any form of violence. I believe protesting is a right if people want to do it. I think because the government has failed to communicate with communities and engage with them they have created that problem themselves. They have no one to blame but themselves for what is happening and people are angry and frustrated.

"The amount of people who have said to me they are afraid to speak about this because they don't want to be called racist. How has our country come to that that we can't have a grown up adult conversation about something that is perfectly normal. The government should be encouraging us to have an open conversation. Why aren't they?".



Ms Mullally has called for an immediate review of the existing immigration process which she says is "broken, unfair and inhumane".



"To come here and be handed tents and be shoved into buildings that are not fit for purpose, nobody wants that. Somebody fleeing a war and somebody coming here for genuine reasons - we should welcome them with open arms as much as we can. If you can't get into a country without a passport, how have this government let so many people through without passports? It''s a serious question that needs to be answered."



Ms Mullally was one of the first Independents out of the traps in this election and has run an energetic campaign. She acknowledges running as an independent has its challenges in terms of financial backing and having to build her own campaign team rather than having the support of a party.



"The second challenge is people are genuinely so fed up they don't want to vote. There is a huge apathy towards politics. There are so many people saying they don't want to vote at all, what's the point? I'm hoping because I'm running and I'm strong, confident and capable that it will offer a bit of hope for people that they will see this is something completely different.



"The mistake people make is that they think social media is where it is all happening and it's not. You have to get out and vote. The more people that are engaged, the more we will find out what people are thinking on the ground."



Ms Mullally is hoping to make history by becoming the first female TD from Laois in the 34th Dail.



"I have five sisters and coming from a family of all women I think my dad instilled in us that you can do whatever you want to do and that has carried through. I don't have a glass ceiling on myself and I have two daughters and I would teach them the very same. I don't believe in gender quotas for the Dail. I think if you work hard then you deserve a seat. It's not about getting it because you are a woman. I have certainly never experienced any prejudice as part of my campaign. I would like to even think it is going to my advantage because there has never been a female TD for Laois."



As the campaign enters its final days Ms Mullally and her team have turned their attention to her hometown of Portarlington after covering the rest of the county over the last five months. She is hoping this will give her an edge above the rest of the candidates in this field.



"I am hoping I have done the groundwork and I have met enough people. I am into my 35,000th batch of flyers. I believe I have the best people behind me and that I am running a very strong campaign whereas others have come out quite late."

* In the run up to Friday's election we will feature interviews will all 12 candidates running in Laois. Keep an eye on our General Election section.
Many fresh faces have emerged across Laoiss political scene ahead of the upcoming General Election, and none are as eager as 23 year old Mountrath man Ken Mooney.

Mr Mooney will stand for People Before Profit in his battle for one of three seats in the Dail.

At just 23 years of age, the office clerk has recently graduated from the University of Limerick with a degree in politics, and has been a member of People Before Profit since 2020.

Born into what he describes as a fairly apolitical family, Mr Mooney believes that the strength of his campaign comes from his own experiences, rather than whether he hails from a political dynasty in Laois.

While people in politics tend to come from political families, I was drawn into it by my own personal experiences, Mr Mooney explained.

This will be my mothers first time voting. Day in day out I saw what was happening, and I was interested in the decisions being made on both local and national levels. I have no background as a TD, but maybe thats for the better, Im not stuck in an environment where I dont meet everyday people, he said.

Pictured: People Before Profit candidate Ken Mooney

As a student, I had to eat sleep for lunch, and even now working full time, Im pinching my pennies. There are many candidates running in this General Election that are not experiencing that.

The candidate first joined People Before Profit while living in student accommodation in Limerick.

It was somewhere you wouldnt even put a dog, for 500 a month. I thought that there has to be something different we can do about this. I joined the party and threw myself straight into it. I am very proud to be a member, Mr Mooney said.

One of Mr Mooneys main priorities is tackling the housing crisis in Laois.

People Before Profit propose an amendment to the constitution to make housing a right. We have the right to food and water, but people also need a home, he affirmed.

On a Laois level, we can look into building houses. When you look at housing estates around Laois, and into the urban areas of Portlaoise, we see social houses that were all built from the 1940s to the 1970s.

"There havent been real developments in the last few decades, and we are constantly promised more housing without seeing any, he said.

There is also a huge issue of dereliction nationwide. There are vacant council-owned houses that we need to turn into homes for people, and its something that can be done, Mr Mooney stressed.

While powerhouses Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have dwarfed other parties in Laois throughout the decades, Mr Mooney believes that Laois people are ready for change.

Pictured: Mr Mooney out canvassing for People Before Profit.

I speak to working class people every single day on the canvas. We dont just canvas during election time, we are out and about 24/7 365. People Before Profit are the only party where the majority of candidates are renters. We have many people running who are renters, which cant be said for the other parties," he said.

"We are seeing our wages going towards rent and people are paying extortionate prices around Laois.

I would love to be elected, but thats not the number one priority for me. For me, its making sure that peoples voices are heard. We all bleed the same colour, and we are all fighting against the inequalities and disastrous policies of 100 years of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, Mr Mooney asserted.

People Before Profit have consistently fought for the taxation of the rich and the abolishment of USC charges. Mr Mooney believes that tax exemptions for everyday people of Laois are possible through his party.

We want to keep the surplus going, and its time for the rich to pay their share, he said.

We need to scrap the USC and replace it with a millionaires tax that we can invest into our public services. We have published a budget where we have costed every thing we want to do. The data is there and the money is there, our ideas arent just pie in the sky, Mr Mooney said.

The USC was brought in by an austerity Government as a temporary measure 16 years ago, and we still have it. Thats one change we want to make. We also see the current rise in prices of goods and services. Its not a god-given raise in prices, its a bonanza, he claims.

Energy companies have seen record profits this year. We need to impose a tax on the prices of essential goods and services like heating, fuel and even bread. There needs to be a cap on how much these goods can cost, and put money back in the pockets of everyday people, he said.

Mr Mooney has said that he will continue to fight for the rights of the working class, carers, immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community in Laois.

Pictured: People Before Profit candidate Ken Mooney

I think that the rights of carers is a big issue. I grew up seeing how the state treated my mother as a carer, and it was disgusting. On economic terms, carers are saving the state 10 billion, but its not just purely economic, he said.

These are family members who love their relatives in need of care. They deserve respect, dignity and a decent living wage. Something I am tremendously proud of is how my party have always stood by carers with compassion. I am also very proud of how my party has stood by the LGBTQ+ community, we are extremely vocal on trans rights. There are so many trans people in Laois that arent getting access to the healthcare they need, and I think thats extremely important," Mr Mooney said.

"We are also strongly in favour of abortion and womens rights too. Our TDs dont take the full Dail salary, they take the average industrial wage. Thats just one thing that signals that we are serious about this, we arent just making promises at election time, Mr Mooney finished.

Ken Mooney was born and raised in Mountrath, having attended primary and secondary school in the town. At 23, he is the youngest candidate.

The candidate said he comes from an a-political family, and chose to run in the election to give a voice to the working class people of Laois.

Mr Mooney moved to Limerick at the age of 17, to study politics in the University of Limerick.

It was here that Mr Mooney saw the housing crisis first hand, and chose to join People Before Profit-Solidarity in 2020.

The main policies championed by Mr Mooney are housing, cost of living, abolishing the Universal Social Charge, free public transport for all, a better living wage for carers, the revitalisation of Laois towns.

The candidate firmly believes that the people of Laois should not be taxed for the use of fossil fuels, and that the problem is large companies contributing to climate change.

Mr Mooney holds the supports of carers particularly close to his heart, having grown up with his mother working as a carer.

He is a proud champion of abortion rights for women, the freedom of Palestine, the protection of workers and easy access to healthcare for the trans community in Laois.
Laois parents have launched a new campaign which they want to turn into a national fight to build capacity at secondary schools Laois and elsewhere for children with Autism.

The decision to set up an action group in Laois has come about after local parents met with the 12 Laois General Election campaign at a meeting in the run-up to polling day.

Aileen Donovan is one of the parents who helped to organise the meeting which has already led to the group to starting a social media campaign called 'Different not Less'.

She and other parents are campaigning to have more places created in Laois secondary school in units similar to the primary school system.

"The aim is to bring people together and start sharing their stories. My hope is that by bringing awareness to the issue so that the politicians can't ignore us because there are huge problems," she told the Leinster Express / Laois Live.

Ms Donovan, who is the mother of a boy with Autism, outlined the message given to Laois politicians at the public meeting in the Portlaoise Parish Centre.

"The general consensus is that a lot of units are up and running in primary school but there has been very little forward planning for what happens to children when the reach 13," she said.

Ms Donovan said children with Autism are ending up in mainstream classes in secondary schools after being educated in ASD units right through primary school after being diagnosed with Autism.

"Parents are taking mainstream places (for their children) simply because they feel they have no option. If they don't take it they have nowhere else to go," she said.

She described this as a 'hope for the best' scenario faced by children and parents.

The politicians were also told of children being bussed to secondary schools a long distance from their homes due to the shortage of capacity. She said Laois familes are being advised to go to Kildare and Tipperary.

Ms Donovan spoke about her own situation with her son who is aged 13. She has been told that he would not cope in secondary school and needs to attend a special school at a second level but can't source a place.

"I don't know where to turn," she said.

Ms Donovan said parents are faced with a huge amount of stress when it comes to finding a place for their children in secondary schools. She said 20 parents in Laois were directly impacted this year by insufficient Laois secondary school places at present but more children will suffer if the problem is not addressed.

She said some schools in Laois have a maximum capacity for three children with Autism from first to sixth year classes. Ms Donovan believes the system should instead have units for each year of the cycle.

"I would like to hope that we would start a national movement. Initially, we are starting in Laois but if there are 20 families in Laois that is replicated all over the country with more in counties with bigger populations like Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick," she said.

Ms Donovan believes that pressure will be created on politicians to act nationally if other families from other counties join in.

She adds that the General Election has given the impetus to parents to organise and get a campaign going.

She thanked all the politicians for attending the meeting in Portlaoise on Wednesday, November 20.
Laois has a new chief executive this week, as Laois County Council chief Michael Rainey stepped into his new role at his first monthly council meeting on November 25.

Having lived in Ballintubbert, Laois for 24 years, Mr Rainey worked for 18 years in Laois County Council where he was the housing officer for Laois. He has spent the past five years in Carlow County Council rising further through the ranks to become a director of services and interim chief executive.

Housing will remain one of his top focuses now that he is back in Laois and in the top job, as he told councillors who welcomed him at the meeting.

Thank you, Its a huge honour and a privilege to be in this role. I thank the members for ratifying me. I look forward to developing a close and proactive working relationship with members and with businesses.

He thanked the acting CEO Simon Walton, as well as his two immediate predecessors, John Mulholland and Peter Carey.

There is a lot of responsibility on me to deliver for Laois. Ill be putting my energy and commitment to that, Mr Rainey said.

He listed three priorities he has set himself.

Laois has performed exceptionally well in housing and I want to continue that, and to broaden it to include the delivery of more affordable and private housing.

Another key area is vacancy and dereliction. I want us to make a coordinated effort to rejuvenate our towns and villages, and bring back those vacancies to use.

There are plenty of funding sources, including the Urban regeneration funds, Clar and others. It behoves us as a local authority to ensure we are getting more than our fair share. And that we then spend it well, effectively and efficiently.

My third focus is on economic development, in partnership with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland. Well be challenging them to deliver so we can bring in more jobs to the county, which will in itself have an impact on developing towns and villages, particularly on the west side of the county.

I am looking forward to working with you all, and I am confident of the support of elected members. We will really improve the quality of life in Laois. Laois is in a very strong position and it behoves us to move forward, he said.

The Cathaoirleach Cllr Padraig Fleming welcomed Mr Rainey back.

He is no stranger to us, having been housing officer here. He always has a nice smile but there is plenty of steel behind it, thats a positive statement. I know the experience you gained in Laois will make you a progressive chief executive working for the people of Laois, I wish you well, Cllr Fleming said.

Over the last 24 years, Mr. Rainey has worked across three local authorities including Laois County Council, Kildare County Council and most recently Carlow County Council where he has been both Director of Services and Interim Chief Executive during the last five years.

"I started with Laois County Council in 2001 and over the following 18 years I was lucky to work in nearly every functional area of local government, including nine years as Housing Officer before being appointed Director of Service in Laois County Council with responsibility for Planning and Housing. In December 2019, I took up the position of Director of Service with Carlow County Council with responsibility for Planning, Economic Development, Regeneration, Corporate Services, HR, ICT and Carlow Town Manager.

I am very grateful to the Cathaoirleach and Elected Members of Laois County Council for approving the appointment and I look forward to working in partnership with them, he continued.

A thriving Laois County Council has significant positive implications for the County but also for the Midlands, and I look forward to developing a close and proactive working relationship with the Elected Members, staff of the local authority and community and business stakeholders over the coming years.

I wish to acknowledge and thank my colleague, Simon Walton, who has served as Interim Chief Executive since May 2024 for his excellent stewardship, and to especially acknowledge the huge contribution to County Laois of my predecessors John

Mulholland and Peter Carey before that.

Over the coming months, Mr. Rainey says he intends to reach out to all the key business, community, sectoral stakeholders to ensure that the Council is delivering quality services that meet the needs of the customer and to hear about opportunity areas for further development. There are also several key priority areas that he will be focusing on.

Laois has outperformed other local authorities in the delivery of social housing over recent years and this is something that will continue under my leadership and I will be placing an increased focus in affordable and other housing delivery pipelines to ensure there is a sustainable housing delivery model across the County, he notes.

Another key focus area will be Regeneration, I believe a lot can be achieved through ambitious plan-making and securing the highestlevels of government investment through URDF, RRDF, Town and Village, Clar, ORIS and other funding streams. It is critical that vacant and derelict properties are brought back into use, that public realms are attractive and the communities across Laoistowns and villages feel supported.

Mr. Rainey highlights the success that Laois County Council has had with the J17 National Enterprise Park and believes that this is only the start of unlocking the economic potential of the County.

The aim for me will be to work in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce, the IDA and Enterprise Ireland to bring investment into the County and to support the existing strong and vibrant SME sector. Michael also wants to see a new

tourism strategy that reflects the importance of tourism and maximises the potential of the recreational, social and cultural assets within Laois.

Climate change is also on his agenda.

The recent adoption by Laois County Council of a Climate Action Plan and the proactive work of Laois County Council to date shows the potential of local government in this area. The Climate Action Plan provides a strategic framework as to how we as a sector can deliver on our climate change actions, the Council now needs to meet that challenge he says.

Regarding challenges that the Council faces in the achievement of its goals, Mr. Rainey highlights several issues. As an employer, the Council needs to continue to attract and retain the right talent to deliver on the Councils ambitious plans over the coming years and it is also important that the Council keeps pace with the digital agenda and increase the range of services that are available online.

Despite the challenges, Mr. Rainey is optimistic about Laois going forward.

As someone who has lived in the County for the last 24 years, I know the strengths of the County, its citizens and the exceptional quality of life on offer. It is my mission to improve that quality of life through the many services provided by Laois County Council but particularly in the areas of housing provision, employment opportunity and community development.
Planning permission is being sought to develop the former Donnelly Mirrors site on the outskirts of Naas.

Permission has been applied to Kildare Co Council for the provision of a warehouse/logistics campus, including two massive warehouse/logistics buildings with offices and staff facilities.

The plans, which have a construction value of 15m, were lodged by Edelvale Property Limited, based in Clane.

Hundreds of Kildare people have worked at the Donnelly Mirrors plant on the Dublin Road, which first opened in 1968 and was destined to be the European presence for the Donnelly Corporation from Michigan.

The company was started by Irish American John Donnelly and his family retained control of it until it was sold to Magna, an enormous Canadian car parts manufacturer, in 2002.

The Donnelly Corporation was a world leader in the field of mirrors for the auto industry, producing at one point two thirds of the worlds inside car mirrors.

In May 2005, new owners Magna laid off 245 workers as it moved much of its production to North America and Spain.

Two years later, Magna closed the plant with the loss of 280 jobs.

The company blamed falling sales, fierce competition and high costs for its decision.

According to new plans for the Naas site, the proposed warehouse campus will be accessed via an upgraded entrance to the Dublin Road (R445).

In addition, a new spine road, with new internal site roundabout, is proposed to connect the subject site to the Dublin Road Roundabout.

The proposed development will also feature truck parking, car parking and bicycle parking.

The draft designs include an ESB substation, lighting, internal roads and footpaths, landscaping.
The Leitrim Volunteer Awards lit up The Dock in Carrick-on-Shannon on Friday, 22 November 2024, celebrating the outstanding efforts of County Leitrim's volunteers. Acclaimed writer Michael Harding added his unique charm as special guest, making the evening a heartfelt tribute to the selfless heroes who make a difference every day.

Cora Molloy was been honored with the Volunteer of the Year  Social Inclusion award by the Leitrim Development Company for her outstanding contributions to the Ukrainian community in Leitrim. Through her innovative and engaging English language classes, Cora has helped Ukrainians, many of whom speak little or no English, to gain confidence and integrate into their new lives in Ireland.

Her teaching approach is unique, blending art and creativity to make learning fun and accessible. I aim to take my students out of their comfort zones, Cora explains, because thats how they truly learn and grow. Her vibrant, interactive classes incorporate new words and expressions each week, fostering an environment where students feel empowered to communicate and connect.

Cora's commitment extends beyond teaching. She builds strong, personal relationships with her students, offering support with practical issues like housing and local services. As a result, many of her students have gained confidence in speaking English and some have even found employment locally. One notable success story is a pharmacist currently studying for an exam to practice in Ireland, a testament to the impact Coras classes have had.

Beyond the classroom, Cora has played a pivotal role in helping her students feel part of the wider community. By forming friendships with both students and their families, she has helped bridge cultural gaps and foster a sense of belonging in the area.

In addition to her teaching achievements, Cora has a fun fact that reflects her adventurous spiritshe has never driven a car and prefers getting around Leitrim on her beloved motorbike.

Coras recognition as Volunteer of the Year is a tribute to her dedication, not only in teaching English but in building a more inclusive, connected community for Ukrainians in Leitrim.
The 2024 Leitrim Volunteer Awards, held on November 22 at The Dock Arts Centre, recognized the selfless contributions of individuals and groups who strengthen the community. Michael Harding, the keynote speaker, emphasized the transformative power of volunteering: Every time you bring people together volunteering, youre saying to them: You matter. Thats the biggest thing that builds community. Hardings words reflected the evenings theme, celebrating those who create positive change through their dedication and hard work.

Silvia Bourbine was named Volunteer of the Year  Environment and Heritage for her remarkable contributions to Mountain Meitheal Northwest Group. Silvias passion for mountain trail building, sustainable practices, and community engagement has significantly enhanced the local walking experience. Her leadership, despite health challenges, has inspired many to connect with the outdoors.

The Young Volunteer of the Year award went to Jude Murphy, a dedicated volunteer with the Rossinver Community Development Company. Judes reliability and sense of humor make him a favorite among the local community, where he plays an essential role in organizing events and ensuring everything runs smoothly.

Volunteer of the Year  Community was awarded to Thelma Banks for her outstanding service to Dromahair, where she supports various groups, including the Defibrillator group and the Killenummery Womens Group. Her quiet dedication has strengthened the sense of community in the area, showing the power of local volunteerism.

Daria Mazina received the Award for an International Persons Contribution for her leadership in Carrick-on-Shannon Tidy Towns. After relocating from Ukraine, Daria quickly integrated into the community and helped lead the towns successful Tidy Towns efforts, culminating in the Irelands Best Kept Town award.

Volunteer of the Year  Children and Youth was given to Siun Mhig Fhloinn, who has made a significant impact at Gaelscoil Chluainin. Siuns work in promoting inclusivity and her role in opening the first Autism Unit in the school have made her a key figure in the community. She has also led initiatives to encourage the use of the Irish language among parents and children.

Catriona Charles was honored with Volunteer of the Year  Community for her dedicated work at the Mohill Family Support Centre. Catriona has volunteered for over eight years, helping organize childrens camps, youth clubs, and a variety of other activities. She also serves on the board of the Irish Kidney Foundation, advocating for organ donation.

In the Social Inclusion category, Cora Molloy was recognized for her work tutoring Ukrainian refugees in English. Through her enthusiasm and compassion, Cora has helped many learners gain confidence and integrate into the local community, creating a space for cultural exchange and mutual support.

Sean Ledwith received the Volunteer of the Year  Youth Services award for his 20 years of service with Carrigallen Foroige Club. Seans commitment to youth development through community service, fundraising, and environmental projects has had a profound impact on the local young people.

The Volunteer Award for work with Older People was given to Iryna Tsymbal, who has become a trusted companion for older residents through the ALONE program. Her kindness and reliability have made her a vital part of the community, helping others feel less isolated.

The event also celebrated outstanding groups, including Ciara Turbett and Aisling Heaney from the Mohill Friends of Breastfeeding Mum2Mum group, who provide invaluable support to new mothers, and the Carrick-on-Shannon Library's Childrens Art Class, led by Olena Zhuravel and Valeria Shvets, for bringing children from diverse backgrounds together through creative workshops.

The Ballinamore Community Services Hub Volunteers were recognized for their work in promoting environmental sustainability through their repair cafe and swap shop. The volunteers efforts have helped reduce waste and provide essential services to the community.

The Lifelong Achievement Award was presented to Kathleen Kearns for her decades of tireless volunteering. From supporting Foroige and the FRIENDS group to organizing community events, Kathleens energy and commitment have left a lasting mark on the Leitrim community. If Kathleen is on board, you can rest assured an event will run smoothly, said Josephine Stroker, Manager with Leitrim Volunteer Centre.

As Michael Harding concluded, Thank you for all that you do for each other and for the Leitrim of now and the Leitrim of the future. The event highlighted the essential role volunteers play in creating a connected, inclusive, and thriving community.
Gardai have arrested three women and seized six improvised explosive devices, 20,000 worth of cocaine and 9,000 worth of cannabis during a search of a house in Galway, as part of ongoing investigations targeting organised criminal activity.

In an intelligence-led operation at around 3.30pm, the Galway Divisional Drugs Unit, with the Armed Support Unit, searched the residential property at Menlough, Ballinasloe, Co Galway on Sunday, November 24.

They recovered six viable improvised explosive devices, as well cocaine with an estimated street value of 20,000, 9,000 worth of cannabis, mixing agent and other drug paraphernalia.

The Defence Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team was requested to attend and safely removed the explosive devices.

Read Also: Touring party accused of vandalising bus and leaving driver 'absolutely terrified'

During a follow-up search at a residential property in Loughrea, more than 9,400 in cash and two mobile phones were seized.

Three women (aged in their 20s) were arrested and detained at a Garda station in County Galway under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act 1939.

One has since been released and a file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Investigations are ongoing, a statement from An Garda Siochana concluded.
There is a requirement for stable Government in Ireland with experienced figures at the helm following Donald Trumps US presidential election victory, senior Fine Gael members have argued.

As anxieties grow over potential changes to US tax and trade policies, Taoiseach Simon Harris said the country needed the next government to hit the ground running.

Mr Trump has said he would cut the corporate tax rate for companies that made their products in the US to 15% and increase tariffs on foreign goods.

Mr Harris said there could not be months of paralysis in government formation talks following the Irish election, due to the potential impacts of decisions taken by the next US administration.

By way of an example, the Fine Gael leader said Ireland could lose 10 billion euro in corporation tax if just three major US companies left the country.

He said that from his phone call with Mr Trump, he believed the next US leader was serious about pursuing the policies that he campaigned on.

He said the European Council had already discussed the issue of certain EU countries being particularly exposed to trade shocks.

Mr Harris rejected the assertion that he risked overhyping the potential problems and talking them into reality.

He added: It would be utterly irresponsible in a general election not to discuss it, but I do think its entirely manageable.

The Fine Gael leader said if he was personally re-elected as taoiseach, he would engage immediately with Mr Trump and EU counterparts.

Mr Harris said this would be one of his key messages to voters in the remainder of the campaign, alongside cost-of-living measures and the partys approach to public spending and investment.

I remain extremely optimistic about this election. This is a three-way tie (with Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail), anybody can yet come out as the largest party, and were going to work tirelessly until 10 oclock on Friday, he said.

His party colleague and public expenditure minister Paschal Donohoe argued that November 29 represented the most important election he had ever contested.

Mr Donohoe, who became a councillor in 2004 and first contested a general election in 2007, said the world was changing very rapidly.

He said: Its a time of multiple wars, its the time in which the consensus in relation to global trade and tax policy is now beginning to change.

And because we are a small, open economy at the heart of the global economy, all of those changes really matter to us.

In @AirfieldEstate w @SimonHarrisTD to talk to businesses about the importance of a stable Govt in ensuring a strong economy; a point thats well understood. Asking people to vote @FineGael No.1 on Friday for a team with the experience& energy to deliverhttps://t.co/hyYTgR8Tgh pic.twitter.com/tS7qcp84hx  Paschal Donohoe (@Paschald) November 25, 2024

Its never mattered more to elect a stable government that has the ability to take our country through what could be times of challenge, and a stable government that has within it people whove been around for dealing with other challenges in the past.

Mr Harris said the next Government would benefit from Fine Gael in government because the party was a member of the EPP, the EUs largest political grouping, and because Mr Donohoe had been the president of the Eurogroup.

The Taoiseach said it was absurd that other political parties were suggesting billions of euro more in increased spending amid a significantly increased risk of transatlantic trade shocks following Mr Trumps election victory in the US.

Mr Harris said: I think that is actually an irresponsible and reckless thing to do at this moment in time.

In relation to Sinn Fein in particular, Mr Donohoe accused the largest opposition party of not engaging with other countries in Europe, adding: As opposed to us seeing the European Union and the euro as the best way in which we can secure our national interests.

Mr Harris went on to rule out a coalition with Sinn Fein, adding that he did not find the partys policies compatible with Fine Gael in any manner or means.
Forging Ahead Together for Greater Heights?WEPACK ASEAN 2024 Concludes Successfully





SHANGHAI, Nov. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As 2024 draws to a close, we ushered in Malaysia's grand packaging industry event - WEPACK ASEAN 2024, which has concluded successfully amid accolades, marked by advanced equipment demonstrations with widespread acclaim, successful order contract signings in enthusiastic exchanges, and a series of exciting events that heralded crowds of attendees.

Continuing its tradition, the exhibition was held at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre in Kuala Lumpur, which was packed with 3,029 trade visitors during its run from November 14 to 16.

As a gala event in Southeast Asia's packaging industry, WEPACK ASEAN 2024 occupied 8,000 square meters of exhibition area, and attracted over 120 quality exhibitors from Southeast Asia and beyond to the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre in Kuala Lumpur, showcasing innovative packaging industry technologies and news products. Once again targeting the Southeast Asian packaging industrial chain, it focused on crafting an extraordinary event that offers a wide variety of activities such as exhibitions, forums, matchmaking events, and visits to well-known enterprises, and provided a platform for in-depth exchanges and interactions among practitioners in the Southeast Asian packaging sector.

Six major themed exhibitions with exhibits covering the upstream and downstream industry

WEPACK ASEAN 2024 featured six themed exhibitions on site: Corrugated ASEAN, FoldingCarton ASEAN, Dprint ASEAN, Paper ASEAN, Packaging Containers Expo ASEAN and Food Pack & Tech ASEAN.

Among them, Packaging Containers Expo ASEAN and Food Pack & Tech ASEAN, newly added to this year's exhibition as complements of the downstream packaging industrial chain (packaging products and finished packaging products), mobilized the participation of more buyers of carton and folding carton production equipment, led more brand-owning enterprises to the exhibition site, and also facilitated efficient communication between industrial chain enterprises on site.

Overseas associations and major manufacturers attended in groups

WEPACK ASEAN 2024 received strong support from numerous overseas specialized associations, such as Malaysian Corrugated Carton Manufacturers' Association (MACCMA), Malaysia Printing Association (MPA) and Corrugated Box Manufacturers' Association (CBMA), who flocked to the exhibition in groups, along with major international manufacturers from Malaysia and neighboring countries.

Asian Corrugated Cases Association (ACCA)

Malaysia Printers Association

Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM)

Printing Industries Association of The Philippines (PPP)

(PPP) Corrugated Box Manufacturers Association, Singapore (CBMA)

(CBMA) Malaysian Corrugated Carton Manufacturers' Association (MACCMA)

Asosiasi Kotak Karton Gelombang Indonesia (AKKGI)

Lanka Corrugated Carton Manufacturers Association (LCCMA)

Hong Kong Corrugated Paper Manufacturers' Association Ltd (HKCPMA)

Association Corrugated Converting Indonesia (ACCI)

China Hefei Printing Association

Chinese Taipei Corrugated Case Association (CTCCA)

New Taipei City Carton Business Association

Printpack Indonesia media group...

Onsite exhibition booths packed with big shots

A large-scale packaging exhibition in Southeast Asia, the WEPACK ASEAN 2024, along with its six shows, brought together over 120 quality packaging industrial chain suppliers, such as ANS Apollo, ECOSURE PULPMOLDING TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED, SANSIN PRIMA(M) SDN BHD, Valco Melton Malaysia SDN BHD, Inktone Packaging Solutions., CENTURY, OPS, CORRUGMA, BORREGAARD, ASIA NMA, VALCO, BONGDING, INKTONE, HAW LIIHY, Dongfang Precision, Wanlian Precision, KL Group, Shanghai Dinglong, Qingdao Kaituo, Bystar, Guangdong Toprint, Zhuhai Kaixin Technology, Guangdong Xiaohua Packaging, XT Pack, ZHEJIANG YONGHUI CORRUGATED ROLLER, Zhejiang Yongshun Machinery, LI SHENQ Machinery, Dongguan Runcai Intelligent Printing Equipment Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Kingtau Electromechanical Equipment, WUHAN CHUCAI Digital Technology, Guojin, Xintian, Ketai, IKE, BBIAO, Xiangxu, Meijia, Hongyuan, Qinshanmei, Worldwide, Zhongqian, Insley, Dayu, Huilong, Bofa, Rizhi, Hongbo, Heneng, Guanyu, Chenguang, ZHAOLI, Kunhou, Chumbro, Ipack, Tang Cheng Seiko, ANYPACK, Fengming, Yinzhi, Yinbao Guangya, Haida, JINGKE, Jinbing, Qianjin Baoluo, Ruichang, Dongbao, Haojie, Xunxu, Jialifu, Intco, Hongsheng, Yinengjie, Fengwei, Kemao, DAXIANG, Honghai, Lifei, Fuqi, Zeshengda, Huijie, Mingyi, Saw Paper King, Hade, Hangzhou Tingzheng Packing Material, THINKGO IOT, Hangzhou Hesheng Plastic Products, Kunshan Fanhong Surface Treatment, Wuxi Yinghong Laser, and Zhuhai Letong New Materials.

VIP guests visited for joint consultation and contribution

During the exhibitions, senior executives from multiple subsidiaries of the Oji Group came to site to visit and explore new technologies and products while engaging in collaborative discussions with industry peers.

Demand matchmaking resulted in multiple order contract signings

Apart from various supplier booths and conference areas, the exhibition's organizer has also set up a TAP buyer matchmaking area on site to provide present trade visitors with buyer matchmaking service, as well as happy moment areas, visitor lounges, and VIP lounges for onsite visitors' activities and recreation. Numerous onsite visitors have quickly identified suppliers meeting their purchase needs through TAP, according to TAP match-making specialists.

Conferences with various attendees boosted exhibition impact

The WEPACK ASEAN Conference, co-organized by the MACCMA and RX, was officially launched in the exhibition site conference area. The conference pooled together multiple parties such as key industry associations, carton color printing enterprises, industry experts and equipment suppliers from 10 Asian countries in a bid to analyze changes in the carton packaging industry with industry peers, gain insights into global industry trends, and communicate the latest industry technologies and achievements.

On the evening of November 14, MACCMA, an important partner of WEPACK ASEAN, hosted its grand 33rd anniversary dinner, which ushered in a number of distinguished guests from the Southeast Asian packaging industry, including senior leaders from RX and chairman of MACCMA.

WEPACK ASEAN 2024 successfully attracted packaging industry experts and scholars from across Southeast Asia and beyond, featuring a strong business atmosphere and spirit of innovation. Amid enthusiastic interactions and discussions among enterprise representatives, industry experts, and scholars, the WEPACK ASEAN 2024 concluded perfectly!

Looking ahead, at WEPACK 2025 (April 8-10, 2025, Shanghai New International Expo Center) and WEPACK ASEAN 2025, we look forward to seeing you again to jointly witness and drive the prosperity of the packaging industry.

SOURCE RX (China) Investment Co., Ltd.

24 november 2024 at 20:35

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Legacy Meets Mindful Luxury at Hakone Sanctuary: Embrace Nature's Finest at Kinnotake Resorts with Black Friday Exclusive





HAKONE, Japan, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Kinnotake Corporation has announced a Black Friday Sale for Kinnotake Resorts, granting exclusive access to three exceptional properties in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture. Each resort offers a distinctive sanctuary, seamlessly blending tranquility, privacy, and the natural beauty of the region. Guests can indulge in private onsen (hot spring), tailored wellness experiences, and thoughtfully designed spaces that nurture both body and spirit. The resorts combine traditional Japanese elements with modern luxury, creating an immersive and refined environment.

Black Friday Sale Details:

Booking Period: November 22 - December 2, 2024 (JST)

Stay Period: December 1, 2024 - August 31, 2025 (blackout dates apply)

Special Offers: 40% off the regular price (non-refundable, prepayment plan)

Featured Properties:

Kinnotake Tonosawa

It is located in a forest and offers 21 rooms across nine unique room types. Each room features a design that seamlessly integrates indoor and outdoor spaces, with a private open-air onsen and terrace. The resort provides a tranquil environment for a restful and relaxing stay.

Book: https://kinnotake-resorts.com/kinnotake-tonosawa/en/room_d_search/?dt1=2025-01-19&str_order=low

Matsuzakaya Honten

It was founded in 1662 and is part of the Japan Brand Collection Luxury Selection. Matsuzakaya Honten blends historic elegance with modern comfort. It was renovated in 2024 and now features six pavilions and five private onsen retreats.

Book: https://kinnotake-resorts.com/matsuzakayahonten/en/room_d_search/?dt1=2025-01-22&str_order=low

Hotel Zagakukan

It is a ryokan-style hotel, just a 7-minute walk from Hakone-Yumoto Station, ideal for sightseeing. It offers a ryokan (Japanese inn) experience, despite being a hotel, with some rooms featuring open-air onsen. The hotel has 10 rooms, each offering different options for guests.

Book: https://kinnotake-resorts.com/zagakukan/en/room_d_search/?dt1=2025-01-19&str_order=low

This sale offers a unique chance to experience Japanese luxury, with stays designed for relaxation and refined retreats. The resorts' serene environments and curated services ensure an exceptional experience for those seeking tranquility and rejuvenation.

*Based on availability. Terms and conditions apply.

Photo: https://cdn.kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M108173/202411210364/_prw_PI1fl_70506qHo.jpg

About Kinnotake Resorts

Kinnotake Group, known for blending tradition with modern luxury, offers a transformative ryokan experience. Its bamboo-inspired resorts combine Japan's heritage with sustainability and innovation. Each property delivers a unique blend of traditional hospitality and modern comfort, ensuring guests an exceptional stay that seamlessly integrates nature, culture, and luxury.

Kinnotake Resorts official website: https://kinnotake-resorts.com/en/

For more information, visit: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/attach/202411210364-O1-FqwG17D8.pdf

SOURCE Kinnotake Corporation

25 november 2024 at 01:00

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UNESCO and Relais & Chateaux Announce a Partnership for Sustainable Development in Harmony with All Life on Earth





PARIS, Nov. 25, 2024 /CNW/ -- UNESCO and the Relais & Chateaux Association announce having signed a partnership agreement to develop and implement joint projects supporting the sustainable conservation and use of biological diversity through the world's hospitality and culinary traditions and savoir-faire.

To view the Multimedia News Release, please click:

https://www.multivu.com/relaischateaux/9304951-en-unesco-and-relais-chateaux-announce-partnership

"The partnership with UNESCO is a natural step for our Association to take: Our objective is to support and encourage change, to continue to rethink our properties' operational models so as to dovetail travel ? a source of personal enrichment ? with environmental, social, and economic objectives," explains Laurent Gardinier, President of Relais & Chateaux.

"Never in history has nature experienced such dramatic decline. One million species ? of the eight million identified to date ? are facing the threat of extinction. With one voice, UNESCO and the Relais & Chateaux Association are calling for us all to change our perspectives and practices with regard to food and reestablish a balance between humankind and the environment," states Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO.

The partnership has two core components:

First, UNESCO supports the Association's new commitments, In Harmony with All Life on Earth: Our 12 Commitments to Sustainability, designed to pursue three major missions:

- preserve the world's hospitality and culinary traditions,

- contribute to the protection and development of biodiversity,

- take daily action for a more humane world.

In their day-to-day devotion to cuisine and hospitality, the 580 member properties of the Relais & Chateaux network, spread across 65 countries, are in constant contact with persons of every origin, from all kinds of communities, as well as with nature in its infinite richness and variety. This is the context in which the partnership was established between UNESCO and the Relais & Chateaux Association, whose commitments clearly illustrate the vital interconnectedness of food, health, and the environment.

Second, pilot projects will be conducted by Relais & Chateaux members and UNESCO Sites. In keeping with UNESCO principles, implementation guidelines will be established for future pilot projects, including with the biosphere reserves of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme and World Heritage Sites. The projects, to be led by Relais & Chateaux members, aim to promote UNESCO Sites and traditional savoir-faire by encouraging sustainable biodiversity conservation and use while respecting local cultures and preserving natural and cultural heritage.

The first pilot projects will be implemented in 2025 by Relais & Chateaux members located near UNESCO Sites.

The driving force behind the Relais & Chateaux-UNESCO collaboration is Mauro Colagreco, Vice President of Chefs for Relais & Chateaux and Chef-Owner of the three-Michelin-star Mirazur restaurant in Menton, France. Designated a Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity by UNESCO in November 2022 in light of his commitment and involvement in sharing savoir-faire, Chef Colagreco has since been working to support the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme and to generate broad public interest and active public involvement in environmental issues. The partnership that he promotes between these two institutions makes it possible for him to expand the initiative to reach the Association's 580 members.

"Over the past two years, I have worked with UNESCO to champion biodiversity and inform and involve as many people as possible regarding the need to protect our ecosystems. I see gastronomy as a powerful vector for change and we must fundamentally rethink the way we approach food systems. I quickly realized that we need to greatly increase the number of biodiversity guardians across the world if we want to protect our planet and the species living upon it. The Relais & Chateaux network has 580 properties with a total of 800 restaurants, so it seemed clear to me that getting them involved in this initiative was the logical next step," declares Mauro Colagreco, Vice President of Chefs, Relais & Chateaux.

The MAB Programme is an intergovernmental scientific program that aims to establish a scientific basis for improving relations between human beings and the environment. It combines conservation, local development, cultural heritage preservation and protection of the savoir-faire and traditions of local and indigenous populations. With 759 biosphere reserves spread across 136 countries, UNESCO protects nearly eight million square kilometers of natural spaces ? the equivalent of the surface area of Australia ? and supports the communities that benefit from them. Nearly half of Relais & Chateaux members are located within two hours of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

ABOUT RELAIS & CHATEAUX

Relais & Chateaux, established in 1954, is an association of 580 unique hotels and restaurants throughout the world, operated by independent owners ? most often families ? who are passionate about their craft and deeply committed to forging warm, lasting relationships with their guests.

www.relaischateaux.com

ABOUT UNESCO

With 194 Member States, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization contributes to peace and security by leading multilateral cooperation on education, science, culture, communication and information. Headquartered in Paris, UNESCO has offices in 54 countries and employs over 2300 people. UNESCO oversees more than 2000 World Heritage sites, Biosphere Reserves and Global Geoparks; networks of Creative, Learning, Inclusive and Sustainable Cities; and over 13 000 associated schools, university chairs, training and research institutions. Its Director-General is Audrey Azoulay.

"Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed" ? UNESCO Constitution, 1945.

More information: www.unesco.org

PR contacts:

RELAIS & CHATEAUX:

Lars Seifert, Director of Communications, Relais & Chateaux, [email protected]

Matthieu Guevel, Director of Communications, UNESCO, [email protected]

UNESCO:

Matthieu Guevel, Director of Communications, [email protected]

Francois Wibaux, Press Officer, [email protected]

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2563316/Relais_et_Chateaux.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2084329/5039020/Relais_et_Chateaux_Logo.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2563315/UNESCO_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Relais et Chateaux

25 november 2024 at 02:00

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REPLY: Sagepath Reply Enhances Consumer Checking Onboarding Experience for SouthState





Sagepath Reply, a digital experience agency within the Reply network, has successfully partnered with SouthState Bank to enhance its consumer checking onboarding experience. By delivering a personalized, multi-channel journey, Sagepath Reply helped SouthState guide new customers through essential onboarding activities while introducing them to additional products and services.

SouthState Bank, that serves over one million customers across the southeastern United States, sought to create a cohesive, personalized onboarding experience that would offer clear, guided steps for new customers, helping them navigate key activities such as downloading the mobile app, enrolling in eStatements and online banking, setting up a digital wallet, and subscribing to account alerts. To achieve this goal, SouthState turned to Sagepath Reply for their expertise in designing customer-centric digital experiences.

Sagepath Reply created a personalized, multi-channel onboarding journey using Salesforce and Kentico. This solution included custom emails, SMS reminders, a central landing page for onboarding activities, and personalized hero images to enhance user experience. The new onboarding process resulted in higher customer engagement, with email click-through rates exceeding industry averages, a 53% increase in journey activities, and a 24% SMS click-through rate, 15% above industry standards.

Missy Power, Director of Digital Marketing at SouthState Bank shared, "Sagepath Reply elevated our onboarding journey, creating a smooth and personalized start for our new customers. We've seen a remarkable boost in engagement thanks to their expertise."

The enhanced journey not only helped new customers complete essential onboarding tasks but also successfully introduced them to additional products and services, leading to a more comprehensive and enjoyable onboarding experience.

Reply

Reply [EXM, STAR: REY] specializes in the design and implementation of solutions based on new communication channels and digital media. As a network of highly specialized companies, Reply defines and develops business models enabled by the new models of AI, big data, cloud computing, digital media and the internet of things. Reply delivers consulting, system integration and digital services to organisations across the telecom and media; industry and services; banking and insurance; and public sectors. www.reply.com

Sagepath Reply

Sagepath Reply is a leading digital experience agency, specializing in delivering innovative, customer-centric solutions that drive engagement and business growth. As part of the Reply network, Sagepath Reply combines technical expertise with creative strategies to help companies succeed in the digital age. https://sagepath-reply.com/

SouthState Bank

SouthState Bank, a subsidiary of SouthState Corporation, serves over one million customers across Florida, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia. As a nationally chartered bank, SouthState provides a wide range of financial services and products to its customers, with a focus on personalized, community-oriented banking. www.southstatebank.com/

25 november 2024 at 04:05

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Liangzhu Forum offers window and bridge for global civilization exchange





HANGZHOU, China, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In late November, when numerous global cultural figures gather in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, they will engage in an exchange via a pair of "eyes" that have witnessed the changes of ancient and modern civilizations.

The Mojiaoshan Palace Area at the Liangzhu Archaeological Site

A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available by clicking on this link.

The "eyes" is the symbol of the Liangzhu Forum, whose second session will be held by Hangzhou Liangzhu Archaeological Site Administrative District Management Committee in Hangzhou from November 25 to 27.

Earlier this month, the official logo of the Liangzhu Forum was officially unveiled. The distinctive patterns from the Liangzhu culture depict a pair of lively and profound "eyes of civilization." This design symbolizes not only a window into the exploration of civilization and the enlightenment of wisdom but also bears witness to the exchange and mutual learning of civilizations across history and into the future.

More than 200 guests from 63 countries and regions across five continents, representing fields such as literature, archaeology, and music, will gather in this culturally rich and prosperous city in east China to attend the forum focused on promoting exchange and mutual learning to develop a new form of human advancement.

These guests, including the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Shanghai Archaeological Forum, a judge for the Cervantes Literature Prize, and the dean of the School of Music at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, will experience the profoundness of China's long-lasting civilization and the charm of the world's diverse and inclusive civilizations through the exchange of ideas.

As an important initiative by China to deepen dialogue on civilization with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, the Liangzhu Forum was first held in 2023. Although the forum itself is relatively young, it is built upon the culture with a history of over five thousand years. Meanwhile, it has already reached beyond Hangzhou and China, becoming a vibrant force that promotes exchange and interaction among world civilizations.

"Liangzhu" means "beautiful land in the water." The Liangzhu ancient city, which dates back approximately 5,300 to 4,300 years, has yielded abundant relics, serving as unique evidence of China's five-thousand-year-plus civilization. The discovery of Liangzhu has pushed back the origin of Chinese society to a level comparable to that of civilizations in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and India.

On July 6, 2019, the Liangzhu Archaeological Site was inscribed on the World Heritage List, becoming the 55th World Heritage site in China and filling the gap of Neolithic urban archaeological sites in East Asia in the World Heritage List. In 2020, the People's Congress of Hangzhou passed legislation to designate July 6 as Hangzhou Liangzhu Day.

According to Hangzhou Liangzhu Archaeological Site Administrative District Management Committee, in recent years, the Liangzhu Archaeological Site has strengthened international cultural exchange and cooperation through various forums, exhibitions, and major events, transforming the "beautiful land in the water" into an international platform for dialogue among different civilizations.

During the inaugural Liangzhu Forum held in early December last year, artists and Sinologists from around the world strengthened their exchanges and established friendships through activities such as artistic creation and field research. Representatives from the six major alliances of the Silk Road freely expressed their views during the forum, deepening their understanding of the Global Civilization Initiative.

In addition to the opening ceremony and main forum, the second Liangzhu Forum will also feature dialogues between Chinese and foreign writers, archaeologists, and musicians.

There will also be exhibitions and academic seminars showcasing the achievements of "A Comprehensive Collection of Ancient Chinese Paintings" and the compendium of Chinese silk art, as well as special concerts dedicated to Liangzhu culture and an exhibition showcasing the historical and classic industries of Zhejiang Province.

Furthermore, during the forum, the National Cultural Heritage Administration will establish the Liangzhu international archaeological center, which will greatly facilitate interdisciplinary and cross-sector cooperation between Liangzhu and internationally renowned archaeological institutions.

In addition to inviting foreign counterparts to China, the Liangzhu culture has actively reached out to foreign countries, presenting the splendid charm of ancient Oriental civilization to people of many nations.

Recently, the "Journey Through Civilizations -- An Encounter with Liangzhu" 2024 world tour exhibition concluded in the Peruvian capital, Lima. Over the past two years, the Liangzhu culture, via the exhibition, has entered 12 countries and regions including Egypt, the United Kingdom, Ethiopia, and Singapore, receiving enthusiastic responses from the local communities.

Liangzhu, bearing witness to the splendid Chinese civilization of over five thousand years, is now shouldering a greater mission in the new era -- to practice the Global Civilization Initiative and promote cultural exchanges through the Liangzhu Forum.

"By hosting of the Liangzhu Forum, we are willing to join hands with the global cultural and tourism industry, using culture as a medium and travel as a bridge, to explore broader cooperation opportunities," said Chen Guangsheng, head of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism.

"We sincerely invite friends from all countries to come to Zhejiang to experience the infinite charm of the poetic and picturesque place," Chen said.

Source: Hangzhou Liangzhu Archaeological Site Administrative District Management Committee

25 november 2024 at 05:30

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Maarif Education Signs Agreement to Acquire Ibn Khaldoun Education Company





Maarif to acquire 100% of Ibn Khaldoun Education Company, which currently enrolls around 13,000 students across 4 schools.

Strategic acquisition to position Maarif as the largest K12 education company in Saudi Arabia by revenue and geographic coverage.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Maarif Education, one of the largest education companies in Saudi Arabia with a legacy of over 50 years in K12 education, announced today the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of Ibn Khaldoun Education Company (IKEC).

The strategic acquisition, which is subject to approval from the relevant authorities, marks one of the largest investments in Saudi Arabia's education sector and will increase Maarif's size by almost 60%. IKEC operates four schools in Riyadh, which offer both national and international curriculums and have a current enrollment of around 13,000 students. Following the deal, the total number of students enrolled in Maarif schools will increase to over 36,000.

The transaction is part of Maarif's ongoing plans to expand its footprint in Saudi Arabia, increasing access to the best quality education and learning experience for the Kingdom's students. It will make Maarif the largest K12 education company in the country by revenue and geographic coverage, creating a true national champion that is ready to become one of the major regional players.

Dr. Husam Zaman, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Maarif Education, and Mr. Thunayyan al Obaikan, CEO of IKEC, signed the agreement at a ceremony held in Digital City, Riyadh in the presence of Maarif and IKEC Executive Management teams.

Commenting on the announcement, Eng. Ihab Osman, CEO of Maarif Education, said: "Today marks a transformative milestone for Maarif Education as we strategically expand our footprint by acquiring IKEC, building upon our five-decade legacy of shaping Saudi Arabia's educational landscape. This investment will significantly expand Maarif's size and provide us with increased capacity, scale and margin enhancements, further cementing Maarif's growing presence in the Kingdom. By aligning with Vision 2030's objectives for the development of the education sector, we are committed to enhancing educational quality and accessibility, ensuring that we continue to empower future generations to thrive in an evolving world."

Thunayyan al Obaikan, CEO of IKEC, commented: "This strategic acquisition by Maarif marks a pivotal moment for IKEC and we are proud to join its portfolio of renowned schools. Maarif's proven excellence in delivering high-quality education and its ambitions to further expand its network open new horizons for our schools and students. Together, we will harness Maarif's extensive resources and expertise to enhance our educational offerings, ensuring that every student receives the best possible learning experience. We are excited about the future and committed to our shared vision of empowering the next generation of leaders in Saudi Arabia in a nurturing and innovative environment."

The private K12 education sector in Saudi Arabia is projected to see strong growth in the coming years as the Kingdom focuses on elevating the quality of education through privatization. Rapid population growth, rising disposable incomes, Saudis' growing inclination towards private schooling, and the government's initiatives to attract global talent to the country are driving growth in the segment. According to a 2023 study, the Kingdom's school-going population has surpassed the GCC school-aged population by almost threefold.

ABOUT MAARIF EDUCATION

Established in 1971, Maarif Education is one of the largest education companies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. For over five decades, Maarif Education has been a driving force in shaping the educational landscape of the Kingdom. Today, Maarif operates 10 educational complexes strategically located across the country and employs over 2,460 teaching and academic staff. The campuses include 74 different national and international kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high schools for girls and boys that incorporate international best practices and standards in line with Vision 2030.

For more information, please visit: www.maarif.sa/

ABOUT IBN KHALDOUN EDUCATION COMPANY (IKEC)

Ibn Khaldoon Education Company (IKEC), established in 2006, has grown alongside the rapid expansion of Saudi Arabia's private K-12 education sector. The company operates four schools?Erqaa, Al Nafil, Al Manar, and Al Yasmeen, offering both national and international curricula. Currently serving over 13,000 students, IKEC has earned a strong reputation as a trusted education provider, catering to the diverse communities of Riyadh. With a steadfast commitment to academic excellence and holistic development, IKEC continues to play a vital role in shaping the future of education in the Kingdom.

For more information, please visit: www.ikschools.com

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SOURCE Maarif Education

25 november 2024 at 06:43

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Sagewind Capital Announces Majority Investment in Aechelon Technology





Sagewind Capital LLC ("Sagewind"), a government technology-focused U.S. private equity firm with offices in New York City and the Washington, DC area, announced today a majority investment in Aechelon Technology, Inc. ("Aechelon" or the "Company"). Aechelon is a premier provider of image generation software and complex databases enabling live-virtual-constructive training, mission rehearsal, sensor exploitation and command and control for full-flight aircraft simulators that train pilots across the U.S. Department of Defense ("DoD").

Founded in 1998 and based in San Francisco, Aechelon is a trusted partner for government agencies, defense prime contractors, and DoD agencies. The Company aims to set a new standard in immersive visualization, enhancing training and safety outcomes through exceptional image quality and industry-leading system performance. Aechelon leverages cutting-edge hardware, software technologies, machine learning and computer vision to build advanced visual solutions.

Raj Kanodia, Managing Director of Sagewind Capital, said, "In today's environment, the importance of training and readiness is at an all-time high. As the demand for immersive simulation products grows, Aechelon is uniquely positioned to lead the way with its visualization capabilities. We are proud to partner with Nacho and his team to support mission-critical military training."

Ignacio (Nacho) Sanz-Pastor, CEO of Aechelon, said, "We are thrilled to join forces with the Sagewind team, one of the leading investors in the defense industry. Their expertise will enable us to scale our operations and achieve transformative growth. This is an exciting new chapter for our company, employees, and customers."

Aechelon is Sagewind's eighth platform investment in the government technology sector.

About Aechelon Technology

Aechelon Technology, Inc. is focused on image and data generation products for visual simulation and visualization, and is a leading provider of real-time computer graphics solutions for training, simulation and visualization for defense and commercial applications. The Company specializes in COTS-based, high-resolution, multi-channel, geo-specific image generators, out-the-window (OTW) displays, and correlated worldwide sensor databases, along with comprehensive integration services. Aechelon Technology is headquartered in South San Francisco, CA. Please visit www.aechelon.com for more information.

About Sagewind Capital

Sagewind Capital LLC, a U.S. company, is a government technology focused private equity firm with offices in both New York City and the Washington, DC area. Sagewind seeks to partner with exceptional management teams and focuses on significant capital appreciation by helping businesses grow organically and through strategic acquisitions. The firm is focused on long-term capital appreciation and has the flexibility to own businesses for extended periods. For more information please visit www.sagewindcapital.com.

25 november 2024 at 07:35

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RebelDot Triples Its AI & Data Team in the Last Year, Becoming One of the Leading AI Companies in Romania





The company now boasts a team of 35 AI specialists delivering innovative solutions to clients across various industries, both locally and internationally

RebelDot continues its collaborations with prestigious universities and internship programs to nurture top AI talent

CLUJ-NAPOCA, Romania, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- RebelDot, a Cluj-based software developer, has tripled its AI & Data team over the past year, positioning itself as one of the leading AI companies in Romania. With a team now comprising 35 specialists, RebelDot is emerging as a market leader in AI at the national level, continuing to deliver innovative solutions to clients in diverse industries, both locally and internationally.

This strategic expansion was made possible by a focused approach on internal skill development and ongoing investments in innovation. Following the acquisition of Steepsoft last year, which brought 13 AI specialists into the team, the company significantly increased this number to meet growing market demands.

According to a recent European Commission report, the adoption of AI technologies is rapidly growing in Europe, with 42% of large companies already using AI-based solutions to enhance operational processes, optimize supply chains, and improve customer experiences.

In Romania, AI adoption is also on the rise, but still at an early stage compared to the European average. Around 23% of Romanian companies have integrated AI technologies into their operations, a figure expected to increase significantly as digitalization and digital transformation become strategic priorities for businesses.

"The need to innovate and offer cutting-edge solutions to our clients is what drives the growth of our AI team. We are constantly adapting to provide services that meet market demands", said Tudor Ciuleanu, CEO of RebelDot. "Our investments in the AI department reflect our commitment to helping companies in Romania and Europe adopt advanced technologies and stay competitive in a rapidly changing global market".

In addition to expanding its technical capabilities, RebelDot works closely with prestigious universities in Cluj-Napoca and Oradea to support education and training in AI, contributing to the development of the next generation of AI experts.

"At present, RebelDot's AI & Data team includes diverse roles such as AI Engineer, AI Product Manager, Data Engineer, Data Modeler, and Data Architect. These capabilities enable the company to develop tailored solutions across various sectors, including finance, insurance, and manufacturing", said Vadim Fintinari, Head of AI, noting that this diversity and expertise allow them to address clients' specific needs and offer solutions that meet the increasingly complex demands of the market.

In 2023, RebelDot reported a 40% increase in business from the previous year. This performance is attributed to the growth of the AI segment and the increasing number of client referrals, with the company boasting a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 91.2%, placing it in the top 1% of tech companies globally.

About RebelDot

RebelDot is a Cluj-Napoca-based technology company with an international presence, specializing in accelerating the digitalization and innovation process for global brands. With extensive experience in developing software and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, RebelDot supports both enterprise companies and start-ups, offering consultancy and implementation services, from idea to the launch and maintenance of digital products. RebelDot also invests in innovative tech start-ups through Rebel Ventures, contributing to the development of the local and global tech ecosystem.

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SOURCE RebelDot

25 november 2024 at 07:37

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A Second Leading Proxy Advisor Recommends Shareholders of Anfield Energy Inc. Vote FOR the Proposed Arrangement with IsoEnergy Ltd.





VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Anfield Energy Inc. (TSX.V: AEC; OTCQB: ANLDF; FRANKFURT: 0AD) ("Anfield" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that Glass Lewis & Co., LLC ("Glass Lewis"), a leading independent proxy advisory firm, has recommended that Anfield shareholders ("Shareholders") vote "FOR" the resolution approving the previously announced plan of arrangement involving Anfield and IsoEnergy Ltd. (the "Arrangement") at the upcoming Special Meeting of Shareholders (the "Meeting"). Glass Lewis' recommendation is in addition to the recommendation in favour of the Arrangement already received from Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. ("ISS").

The Meeting will begin on Tuesday, December 3, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. (Vancouver time). The Meeting will be held in person at 1111 West Hastings Street, 15th Floor, Vancouver British Colombia V6E 2J3. For complete details and links to all relevant documents related to the Meeting please visit https://anfieldenergy.com/special-meeting-vote/.

The Board of Directors of Anfield recommends that Shareholders vote FOR the special resolution approving the Arrangement.

Due to the essence of time and the Canadian postal strike, Shareholders are encouraged to vote by telephone or online, as per the instructions provided in the form of proxy or voting instruction form.

The proxy voting deadline is Friday, November 29, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. (Vancouver Time).

Registered Shareholders Beneficial Shareholders Common Shares held in own name and represented by a physical certificate or DRS. Common Shares held with a broker, bank or other intermediary. Internet www.investorvote.com www.proxyvote.com Telephone 1-866-732-8683 Call the applicable number listed on the voting instruction form.



Shareholder Questions and Voting Assistance

Shareholders who have questions about voting their shares may contact the Company's proxy solicitation agent and shareholder communications advisor, Laurel Hill Advisory Group:

Toll Free: 1-877-452-7184 (for Shareholders in North America)

International: +1 416-304-0211 (for Shareholders outside Canada and the US)

By Email: [email protected]

About Anfield

Anfield is a uranium and vanadium development and near-term production company that is committed to becoming a top-tier energy-related fuels supplier by creating value through sustainable, efficient growth in its assets. Anfield is a publicly traded corporation listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (AEC-V), the OTCQB Marketplace (ANLDF) and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (0AD).

On behalf of the Board of Directors

ANFIELD ENERGY INC.

Corey Dias, Chief Executive Officer

Contact:

Anfield Energy, Inc. Clive Mostert

Corporate Communications 780-920-5044

[email protected] www.anfieldenergy.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 news release. No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release.

None of the securities to be issued pursuant to the Arrangement have been or will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws, and any securities issuable in the Arrangement are anticipated to be issued in reliance upon available exemptions from such registration requirements pursuant to Section 3(a)(10) of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable exemptions under state securities laws. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information 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 state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". These forward-looking statements or information may relate to the Transaction, including statements with respect to the availability of the exemption under Section 3(a)(10) of the U.S. Securities Act with respect to the securities issuable in the Arrangement and any other activities, events or developments that the companies expect or anticipate will or may occur in the future.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at the time, are inherently subject to business, market and economic risks, uncertainties and contingencies that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Such assumptions include, but are not limited to, assumptions that the exemption under Section 3(a)(10) of the U.S. Securities Act with respect to the securities issuable in the Arrangement will be available. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in 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 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.

Such statements represent the current views of the Company 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. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to the following: the inability of the parties to the Arrangement to rely on the exemption under Section 3(a)(10) of the U.S. Securities Act with respect to the securities issuable in the Arrangement. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

25 november 2024 at 08:00

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Doron Therapeutics Raises $11M Series A to Progress Biologic Regenerative Osteoarthritis Drug into Phase 3 Clinical Studies





New Members Strengthen Board of Directors

Doron Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech company focusing on degenerative musculoskeletal conditions, today announced it has successfully raised an aggregate $11 million as an initial Series A round to take MOTYS into Phase 3 clinical studies. SPRIM Global Investments (SGI), a prominent health sciences investment firm, is leading the round.

Doron's most advanced product, MOTYS, is an intra-articular biologic drug developed for the management of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. Data from a Phase 2 clinical trial were recently presented on podium at the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) World Congress 2024 in Vienna, Austria - where MOTYS was identified as a highly promising program to address the significant impact of debilitating osteoarthritis.

With compelling pre-clinical evidence of superiority when compared to currently available therapies, including steroids and hyaluronic acid, a robust CMC package and clinical data from over 350 patients, MOTYS is being developed to provide potent and durable effects from a single injection.

As part of the Series A financing, Doron is also adding two new board members. Karen Zaderej, who previously served as chief executive officer and as chairman of the board of directors of Axogen Inc. from 2010, led the company's transformation from a start-up to a public company. Her experience advancing Avance Nerve Graft, a biologically active human tissue graft, through BLA submission will be invaluable to Doron. Also joining the board is Tassos Konstantinou, SPRIM's managing director, an investment professional with life science venture capital and business development experience that brings a broad and diversified global perspective.

"We are excited for Doron to join our portfolio of companies - and see a great opportunity for their program to be successful and disrupt the vast and growing global market of osteoarthritis," said Michael Shleifer, managing partner of SPRIM.

"We are grateful to our Series A investors, for their confidence in our initiative," said Alessandra Pavesio, chief executive officer and co-founder of Doron. "This is an exciting time for Doron as we progress our lead product into Phase 3 clinical studies. The unmet need for non-surgical interventions in osteoarthritis is immense and growing. We believe MOTYS will allow patients to have reduced pain and regain function, allowing them the opportunity to get back to healthy and active lives."

About Osteoarthritis

OA is the most common form of arthritis, affecting millions of people worldwide. It occurs when the protective cartilage that cushions the ends of the bones wears down over time. This can lead to pain, stiffness, and swelling in the joints, most commonly in the knees, hips, hands and spine. Risk factors include age, sex, obesity and a history of participation in active sports. Women are more likely to develop OA.

About Doron Therapeutics

Doron Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that has developed a Phase 3 ready, intra-articular biologic drug derived from placental tissue. The lead product, MOTYS, includes a host of beneficial growth factors with pre-clinical data that suggests potent anti-inflammatory, tissue-protective and regenerative capabilities pivotal to treating the progressive and degenerative disease of osteoarthritis.

About SPRIM Global Investments

SPRIM Global Investments (SGI) is a leading health sciences venture capital firm with deep industry expertise and decades of operating experience across 17 countries. SGI invests in biotechnology, digital health and R&D service companies to commercialize the newest technologies and accelerate innovations that are the future of health around the world.

Media Contact:

Sarah Caley

Head of Business Development and Strategy

Doron Therapeutics

[email protected]

25 november 2024 at 08:00

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Cistto Launches the "Humanized Anti-Aging Global Scientist Alliance" in China, Empowering Products with Cutting-Edge Science





LOS ANGELES, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As an emerging brand specializing in sensitive skin repair, Cistto is grounded in skin science and committed to advancing skin health through the latest dermatological breakthroughs and cutting-edge biotechnology. Cistto is steadfast in its promise to develop safe, effective, and scientifically validated products that truly make a difference. In China, over 250 dermatologists have already recognized and recommended Cistto's products, a testament to the brand's commitment to quality and results. But Cistto isn't stopping there. To ensure it remains at the forefront of skincare innovation, the brand has brought together global scientific expertise, unveiling the "Humanized Anti-Aging Global Scientist Alliance" on November 6 in China.

Professor Liu Wei, Consultant to the Dermatology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association and Vice Chairman of the Aesthetic Medicine and Cosmetology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, was officially appointed as Cistto's invited skin science expert. Professor Liu, a leading figure in dermatological research, has contributed to standardized industry references in the theory and foundational studies of skin aging, providing comprehensive theoretical guidance and research support for Cistto's product development.

Professor Zhang Jiaheng, appointed Director of the Biomaterials Center at the Zhuhai Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Visiting Professor at the Institute of Chemical Materials, China Academy of Engineering Physics, has officially joined Cistto as the brand's invited collagen technology expert and technical advisor for the Origin Collagen series. As a supramolecular scientist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor Zhang has dedicated his research to supramolecular technology and its applications, publishing over 200 SCI journal papers and holding more than 90 patents. Together with Cistto, he has co-developed the breakthrough core technology?Cyclopeptidetm Transmembrane Technology, leading to the creation of the innovative Nanocelltm superconductive transmembrane collagen, which powers the exceptional anti-aging performance of the "Origin"tm collagen series.

In China, Cistto is also honored to announce its collaboration with Sir J. Fraser Stoddart, winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. As a leading authority in supramolecular chemistry, Stoddart's pioneering research has opened new directions in the field and provided critical insights into the development of Cistto's Cyclopeptidetm Transmembrane Technologytm. Together, they have witnessed the remarkable results of the Nanocelltm superconductive transmembrane collagen, which promotes the production of 8 major types of collagen in just 7 days.

Cistto is more than just a skincare brand; it is a champion of scientific principles. Through continuous technological innovation and the support of a world-class expert team, Cistto is committed to providing global consumers with safer, more effective skincare solutions, ushering in a new era of "humanized anti-aging."

Official website: https://cistto.us/

SOURCE Cistto

25 november 2024 at 10:00

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MarketsandMarkets Appoints Milan Rao as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Revenue Officer, Strengthening Apex Leadership in Line with Ambitious Growth Plans





DELRAY BEACH, Fla., Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- MarketsandMarkets, a prominent Indian-origin startup recognized by Forbes as one of 'America's Best Management Consulting Firms 2023', has appointed Milan Rao as its Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). Milan's appointment comes as the company continues to scale its innovative AI-based knowledge platform and consulting capabilities and strengthens its apex leadership team, in preparation for its future growth trajectory.

Milan has joined MarketsandMarkets from a distinguished career in the industry, bringing over 25 years of expertise in driving operational excellence and revenue growth at global firms. He has held leadership roles at top-tier organizations, such as Wipro, GE Healthcare and Airtel, where he was instrumental in spearheading transformation strategies for clients in diverse sectors. Milan also has extensive experience in scaling startups and working with PE firms in accelerating growth for start-ups in high-potential markets.

Sandeep Sugla, Founder and CEO of MarketsandMarkets, expressed his enthusiasm for Milan's appointment: "We are thrilled to partner with Milan in this leadership role. His wealth of experience across large global firms and start-ups is a perfect fit to drive our growth and scale ambitions, globally. Milan's expertise will be invaluable, as we continue our mission to enable businesses to identify and capitalize on megatrends, such as AI, clean-tech, IoT, and blockchain, which will create transformative opportunities across industries like Technology, IT, Semiconductors, Healthcare, Life Sciences, Energy, Chemicals, Industrial and Automotive sectors."

Milan's leadership will be critical in navigating the ongoing global disruptions caused by these megatrends. According to MarketsandMarkets, new revenue sources amounting to approximately USD 25 trillion are expected to emerge by 2030, creating significant growth potential for clients. His dual role as COO and CRO will see him overseeing operational efficiencies, while driving sustainable revenue growth through innovative market strategies and partnerships.

"I'm excited to have joined a company that is at the forefront of identifying and analyzing real-time megatrend impacts across major sectors," said Milan. "MarketsandMarkets' AI-based platform is unique in its ability to provide actionable insights to global leaders, enabling them to adapt to and benefit from disruptive shifts. I look forward to building on this foundation and helping our 13,000 global clients stay ahead of the curve in an increasingly dynamic business environment."

Milan holds an MBA from IIM Calcutta and a bachelor's degree in computer science from IIT, BHU-Varanasi, and has undertaken an advanced management program from Harvard Business School. He is an active supporter of several social initiatives, focusing on education and healthcare for the underprivileged.

About MarketsandMarketstm

MarketsandMarketstm has been recognized as one of America's best management consulting firms by Forbes, as per their recent report.

MarketsandMarketstm is a blue ocean alternative in growth consulting and program management, leveraging a man-machine offering to drive supernormal growth for progressive organizations in the B2B space. We have the widest lens on emerging technologies, making us proficient in co-creating supernormal growth for clients.

Earlier this year, we made a formal transformation into one of America's best management consulting firms, as per a survey conducted by Forbes.

The B2B economy is witnessing the emergence of $25 trillion of new revenue streams that are substituting existing revenue streams in this decade alone. We work with clients on growth programs, helping them monetize this $25 trillion opportunity through our service lines ? TAM Expansion, Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy to Execution, Market Share Gain, Account Enablement, and Thought Leadership Marketing.

Built on the 'GIVE Growth' principle, we work with several Forbes Global 2000 B2B companies ? helping them stay relevant in a disruptive ecosystem. Our insights and strategies are molded by our industry experts, cutting-edge AI-powered Market Intelligence Cloud, and years of research. The KnowledgeStoretm (our Market Intelligence Cloud) integrates our research, facilitates an analysis of interconnections through a set of applications, helping clients look at the entire ecosystem and understand the revenue shifts happening in their industry.

To find out more, visit www.MarketsandMarketstm.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Contact

Mr. Rohan Salgarkar

MarketsandMarketstm INC.

1615 South Congress Ave

Suite 103, Delray Beach, FL 33445

USA: +1-888-600-6441

Email: [email protected]

Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2566417/Milan_Rao_MarketsandMarkets.jpg

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1951202/4609423/MarketsandMarkets.jpg

25 november 2024 at 10:15

News published onand distributed by:
Quisitive Reports Third Quarter 2024 Financial Results





TORONTO, Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Quisitive Technology Solutions Inc. ("Quisitive" or the "Company") (TSXV: QUIS, OTCQX: QUISF), a premier Microsoft Cloud and AI solutions provider, today reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024.

Management Commentary

"Our Cloud business maintained stability as we experienced modest sequential growth and saw an expanding pipeline of AI-driven customer engagements," said Quisitive CEO Mike Reinhart. "The hiring process of specialized staff from Microsoft's investment in our Blackbelt Team has been completed and will enhance our ability to further establish a strong pipeline of customer opportunities. We have also developed new IP for our AI Innovation Center, designed for customers in the Azure environment to accelerate their AI use case testing and to facilitate successful custom AI deployments. Looking ahead to the new year, we remain committed to further investing in our sales engine in alignment with Microsoft, with early 2025 positioned as a key momentum-building phase to drive growth in the latter part of the year."

Third Quarter 2024 Financial Results

The Company's condensed consolidated interim financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 and related management's discussion and analysis will be posted on the Company's website and on the Company's issuer profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com on November 25, 2024 subject to completion of the interim review by the Company's external auditors. All figures are expressed in United States dollars unless otherwise stated. Financial highlights include:

Revenue from continuing operations sequentially improved to $30.7 million compared to $29.6 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2024. Results improved slightly when compared to $30.68 million for the third quarter ended September 30, 2023.

Gross profit from continuing operations as a percentage of revenue sequentially improved to 42.9% compared to 42.1% for the second quarter ended June 30, 2024. Results remained steady and relatively unchanged when compared to 42.9% for the third quarter ended September 30, 2023.

Gross profit from continuing operations sequentially improved to $13.2 million compared to $12.5 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2024. Results remained steady when compared to $13.2 million for the third quarter ended September 30, 2023.

Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations sequentially improved to $4.2 million compared to $3.9 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2024. Results decreased when compared to $4.9 million for the third quarter ended September 30, 2023.

The Company's total senior debt to Adjusted EBITDA ratio was approximately 1.9:1.0 on a pro forma basis at September 30, 2024.



Third Quarter 2024 and Recent Operational Highlights

Successfully completed the hiring process of specialized roles within Quisitive's AI Blackbelt Team through Microsoft's AI program investment.

Development of AI Innovation Center, an IP platform for AI readiness designed for customers operating in the Azure environment.

Sponsored Microsoft's SMC Sales and Tech Summit event.

Officially awarded 2024 Microsoft Analytics Partner of the Year at Microsoft Ignite.

Fiscal Year 2024 Guidance

Quisitive is providing the following guidance for fiscal year 2024:

Low High Fiscal Year 2024 Revenue from Continuing Operations 119,000,000 121,000,000 Fiscal Year 2024 Pro Forma Adjusted EBITDA from Continuing Operations 15,000,000 16,000,000

Conference Call

Quisitive management will hold a conference call today (November 25, 2024) at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time (2:00 p.m. Pacific time) to discuss these results.

Company CEO Mike Reinhart and CFO Scott Meriwether will host the call, followed by a question-and-answer period.

Toll Free dial-in: 1-877-704-4453

International dial-in: 1-201-389-0920

Webcast Link: Here

Please call the conference telephone number 10 minutes prior to the start time. An operator will register your name and organization. If you have any difficulty connecting with the conference call, please contact Gateway Group at 949-574-3860.

A telephonic replay of the conference call will be available after 8:00 p.m. Eastern time today and will expire after Monday, December 9, 2024.

Toll-free replay number: 1-844-512-2921

International replay number: 1-412-317-6671

Replay ID: 13750196

For additional information, please visit the Investor Relations section of Quisitive's website at: https://quisitive.com/investor-relations/.

The following tables summarize results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023:

Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended September 30, 2024 September 30, 2023 September 30, 2024 September 30, 2023 Revenue continuing operations $ 30,715 $ 30,679 $ 90,241 $ 92,814 Cost of Revenue 17,544 17,513 51,797 56,095 Gross Margin 13,171 13,166 38,444 36,719 Operating Expenses Sales and marketing expense 3,878 3,080 11,550 9,312 General and administrative 4,986 5,190 14,932 17,274 Development 121 108 339 332 Share-based compensation 501 548 1,386 3,209 Interest expense 643 1,570 3,229 4,850 Amortization 1,748 1,842 5,460 5,652 Acquisition related compensation 5 - 182 638 Depreciation 217 267 693 810 Foreign exchange loss (gain) 157 (166 ) (77 ) 53 Acquisition-related, transaction and other expenses 186 1,428 3,707 2,165 Other income (6 ) (7 ) (26 ) 3 Loss Before Income Taxes 735 (694 ) (2,931 ) (7,579 ) Income tax expense (recovery)? current 370 1,017 (213 ) 1,862 Deferred income tax recovery (32 ) (336 ) (32 ) (1,213 ) Loss from continuing operations $ 397 $ (1,375 ) $ (2,686 ) $ (8,228 ) Discontinued Operations Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax (112 ) 96 16,611 943 Income (Loss) for the Period $ 285 $ (1,279 ) $ 13,925 $ (7,285 )



About Quisitive:

Quisitive (TSXV: QUIS, OTCQX: QUISF) is a premier, global Microsoft partner leveraging the power of the Microsoft cloud platform and artificial intelligence, alongside custom and proprietary technologies, to drive transformative outcomes for its customers. The Company focuses on helping enterprises across industries leverage the Microsoft platform to adopt, innovate, and thrive in the era of AI. For more information, visit www.Quisitive.com and follow @BeQuisitive.

Quisitive Investor Contact

Matt Glover and John Yi

Gateway Group

[email protected]

949-574-3860

Tami Anders

Chief of Staff

[email protected]

972.573.0995

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures - Adjusted EBITDA

Financial Measures and Adjusted EBITDA

There are measures included in this news release that do not have a standardized meaning under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and therefore may not be comparable to similarly titled measures and metrics presented by other publicly traded companies. The Company includes these measures because it believes certain investors use these measures and metrics as a means of assessing financial performance. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization is calculated as net earnings before finance costs (net of finance income), income tax expense, and depreciation and amortization of intangibles) is a non-GAAP financial measure that does not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies.

We prepare and release quarterly unaudited and annual audited financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS. We also disclose and discuss certain non-GAAP financial information, used to evaluate our performance, in this and other earnings releases and investor conference calls as a complement to results provided in accordance with IFRS. We believe that current shareholders and potential investors in the Company use non-GAAP financial measures, such as Adjusted EBITDA, in making investment decisions about the Company and measuring our operational results.

The term "Adjusted EBITDA" refers to a financial measure that we define as earnings before certain charges that management considers to be non-operating expenses and which consist of interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, stock-based compensation (for which we include related fees and taxes), changes in fair value of derivatives, transaction and acquisition-related expenses, US payroll protection plan loan forgiveness, and earn-out settlement losses.

Management considers these non-operating expenses to be outside the scope of Quisitive' ongoing operations and the related expenses are not used by management to measure operations. Accordingly, these expenses are excluded from Adjusted EBITDA, which we reference to both measure our operations and as a basis of comparison of our operations from period-to-period.

Management believes that investors and financial analysts measure our business on the same basis, and we are providing the Adjusted EBITDA financial metric to assist in this evaluation and to provide a higher level of transparency into how we measure our own business. However, Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Adjusted EBITDA should not be construed as a substitute for net income determined in accordance with IFRS or other non-GAAP measures that may be used by other companies, such as EBITDA. The use of Adjusted EBITDA does have limitations as, some investors may consider these charges and expenses as a recurring part of operations rather than expenses that are not part of operations.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information

This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation regarding Quisitive and its business. 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 are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to: the future growth potential of the Company and its cloud solutions business and AI offerings; the financial outlook of the Company, including growth projections, capital allocation and cost savings; potential for growth and expectations regarding the Company's ability to capitalize on the expanding opportunities emerging from AI advancements.

These forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time such statements were made. Actual future results may differ materially as forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to materially differ from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors, among other things, include: fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; the ability to realize on cost saving measures; the Company's limited operating history; future capital needs and uncertainty of additional financing; the competitive nature of the technology industry; unproven markets for the Company's product offerings; lack of regulation and customer protection; the need for the Company to manage its future strategic plans; the effects of product development and need for continued technology change; protection of proprietary rights; network security risks; the ability of the Company to maintain properly working systems; foreign currency trading risks; use and storage of personal information and compliance with privacy laws; use of the Company's services for improper or illegal purposes; global economic and financial market conditions; uninsurable risks; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated; and those factors described under the heading "Risks Factors" in the Company's annual information form dated May 23, 2023 available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure shareholders that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information, or the material factors or assumptions used to develop such forward-looking information, will prove to be accurate. The Company does not undertake any obligations to release publicly any revisions for updating any voluntary forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities 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.

25 november 2024 at 16:30

News published onand distributed by:
NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for Dragonfly Mission





WASHINGTON, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA has selected SpaceX to provide launch services for the Dragonfly mission, a rotorcraft lander mission under NASA's New Frontiers Program, designed to explore Saturn's moon Titan. The mission will sample materials and determine surface composition in different geologic settings, advancing our search for the building blocks of life.

The firm-fixed-price contract has a value of approximately $256.6 million, which includes launch services and other mission related costs. The Dragonfly mission currently has a targeted launch period from July 5, 2028, to July 25, 2028, on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Dragonfly centers on novel approach to planetary exploration, employing a rotorcraft-lander to travel between and sample diverse sites on Saturn's largest moon. With contributions from partners around the globe, Dragonfly's scientific payload will characterize the habitability of Titan's environment, investigate the progression of prebiotic chemistry on Titan, where carbon-rich material and liquid water may have mixed for an extended period, and search for chemical indications of whether water-based or hydrocarbon-based life once existed on Saturn's moon.

NASA's Launch Services Program at the agency's Kennedy Space Center is responsible for managing the launch service. Managed for NASA at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, the Dragonfly team comprises scientists, engineers, technologists, managers and more who have deep experience on missions that have explored the solar system from the Sun to Pluto and beyond, as well as experts in rotorcraft, autonomous flight, and space systems from around the globe. Dragonfly is the fourth mission in NASA's New Frontiers Program, managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information about NASA programs and missions, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov

SOURCE NASA

25 november 2024 at 17:01

News published onand distributed by:
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The Capitol, seat of the Liberian Legislature, the First Branch of the Government of Liberia
A JUDGE said the best man in a wedding, whose careless driving caused the death of the groom on the morning of the ceremony, will have to live with the consequences of his actions for a lifetime.

The accused - Shane Harty, aged 21, of Tola Park, Shannon, Co Clare - received a fully suspended sentence at an emotional sentencing hearing at Limerick Criminal Circuit Court this Monday afternoon.

Shane Harty pleaded guilty last month to careless driving causing the death of Myles Harty, aged 20, of Friary Court, Askeaton (picture below with fiancee Kate Quilligan) at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court.

The two young men, who were cousins, were travelling to a 24-hour shop in Rathkeale in the early hours of the morning at the time of the single-vehicle collision.

Shane Harty was before Judge Colin Daly for sentencing last Monday, November 18 where the evidence was heard.

Prosecuting barrister Lily Buckley BL, instructed by State Solicitor Brendan Gill, outlined the evidence with the assistance of Sergeant Patricia Ryan.

Ms Buckley said that very tragically the collision happened around 1am on the R518 between Rathkeale and Askeaton on August 21, 2021 - the morning of Myles Hartys wedding day.

The court heard the Skoda Octavia left the road, hit a drystone wall, travelled upside down and hit a telephone pole which unfortunately impacted the head of Myles Harty. The medical evidence was that Myles Harty suffered head injuries incompatible with life and his death would have been rapid if not instantaneous.

Ms Buckley said there were no alcohol or drugs in the systems of Shane Harty or Myles Harty and they were both wearing seat belts.

A forensic collision investigator could not calculate the speed the car was travelling at but the damage caused to the Skoda, the height it reached in the air, breaking the telephone pole and the distance it travelled "would suggest the vehicle was travelling at over 80kmph" which is the speed limit on that stretch of road.

When gardai put it to Shane Harty that he was speeding at the time he lost control, he replied: No doubt.

Shane Harty admitted to gardai that earlier in the journey he had been showing off.

Brian McInerney SC, instructed by solicitor Michael ODonnell, represented Shane Harty.

Mr McInerney read out letters of apology written by Shane Harty to Myles Hartys parents and wife-to-be Kate Quilligan.

In mitigation, counsel referred to the absence of alcohol or intoxicant, no defects in the vehicle, Shane Harty had a full licence and insurance, co-operated with gardai, has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty and is genuinely remorseful.

Mr McInerney said the forensic collision investigator could not calculate the speed of the vehicle.

Judge Colin Daly adjourned giving his judgement until this Monday afternoon to consider his verdict.

At the outset, the judge expressed his sympathies to Myles Hartys parents, fiancee, son, family and friends.

Whatever we say or we do, we cant bring Myles back. I hope that the conclusion of this sentencing hearing will bring some form of closure, said Judge Daly.

He thanked the family for the very dignified way they have conducted themselves, and the prosecution and the defence for their sensitivity.

The facts of this case can hardly be described as more tragic, said Judge Daly.

The judge said the speed at which Shane Harty was driving cannot be established with certainty.

However, he said he was satisfied that it can be established beyond reasonable doubt that speed was the most significant factor or reason for the accident happening.

Shane Harty was responsible for driving at speed, and therefore his culpability must be considered to be towards the upper end.

This accident has impacted Shane Harty - he will have to live with the consequences of his actions for a lifetime, said Judge Daly.

READ MORE: Best man admits speeding and showing off prior to collision that killed groom in Limerick

The judge imposed an 18-month prison sentence which he suspended for two years.

Judge Daly banned Shane Harty for driving for five years to send a clear message to young men, in particular, of the dangers of speeding and consequences that can arise.

Shane Hartys driving licence was handed in to the court.

Outside the courtroom, there were emotional scenes as family members hugged one another with tears in their eyes.
WESTPORT Estate has announced the appointment of Limerick native Ciaran Reidy as general manager of The Grace at Westport Estate, the estates new flagship hotel set to open in early 2026.

With over two decades of experience managing prestigious properties, Loughill man Ciaran Reidy is well-positioned to bring the vision for The Grace at Westport Estate to life, creating a destination that combines a deep sense of connection with exceptional guest experiences.

The west Limerick man has a distinguished background in luxury and heritage hospitality, having led award-winning properties such as The Johnstown Estate and Lough Rynn Castle. His reputation for elevating guest experiences and fostering strong team cultures aligns with Westport Estates mission to honour the estates history while offering an inviting and inspiring environment. In his role, Reidy will oversee daily operations and lead a dedicated team committed to creating experiences that celebrate the estates cultural and natural heritage, where guests can pause, reflect, and reconnect.

Im excited to bring this vision to life at The Grace at Westport Estate, Reidy commented.

Were dedicated to creating an environment that offers a deeply authentic experience for every guest, inspired by the unique history of Westport Estate and the spirit of the Wild Atlantic Way. Together, well craft a place where connection and renewal are at the heart of every moment.

Westport Estate also announces Pat McCann, founder and former CEO of Dalata Hotel Group, joins its board as a Non-Executive Director. With over 50 years in the hospitality industry, McCanns expertise will be instrumental in shaping the strategic direction of Westport Estate. Known for his transformative leadership and dedication to community-focused growth, McCanns role underscores Westport Estates ambition to create a world-class destination.

Pictured are the new Westport Estate board, back row, from left: Ciaran Reidy, General Manager, The Grace; Gemma Jordan, General Manager, Westport Estate and Cathal J Hughes, Director. Middle row, from left: Harry Hughes and Barry OConnor, Directors, Westport Estate and The Grace and Pat McCann, Non-Executive Director, Westport Estate and The Grace. Front row, from left: Rachel Doyle, Non-Executive Director, Westport Estate; Cathal Hughes and Owen Hughes, Directors, Westport Estate and The Grace and Fiona OSullivan, Non-Executive Director, Westport Estate. Not present: Maire Hughes, Director.

McCann joins an esteemed group of Non-Executive Directors on the Westport Estate board, including Rachel Doyle, owner of Arboretum and chair of the horticultural division on the Bord Bia board, and Fiona OSullivan, an Irish tourism specialist with over 30 years of experience and leadership roles in the Inbound Tourism Operators Association of Ireland and SITE Ireland.

Speaking on joining the board, McCann said: Im delighted to join the Westport Estates journey to create a place of true connection along the Wild Atlantic Way. Together with the team, our mission is to shape a unique destination that blends warmth and connection, deeply rooted in the rich heritage of Westport.

Barry OConnor, CEO of Westport Estate, added: Bringing Ciaran and Pat on board at this crucial stage supports our ambition for Westport Estate. Their leadership will be pivotal in shaping a premier tourist destination that pays homage to our history while delivering an unforgettable guest experience along the Wild Atlantic Way.

Cathal Hughes, Chairman of the Westport Estate board, said: At this transformative moment for Westport Estate, Ciaran and Pats insights will play a vital role in realising our vision. Their leadership and experience will be crucial as we shape a destination that combines our historic legacy with fresh, inspiring visitor experiences.

The Grace at Westport Estate celebrates the cultural and historical significance of the estate, drawing inspiration from Grace OMalley, the legendary Pirate Queen, and Grace Kelly, a Hollywood icon linked to the Hughes family, owners of Westport Estate. Designed by Taylor McCarney and constructed by Stewart Construction, The Grace at Westport Estate will open in early 2026.

The hotel is part of the Westport Estates wider mission to transform the area into a premier tourist destination on the West of Ireland. Filled with cultural, educational and immersive experiences as part of Westport Estates 'Awaken Your Wild' project, the development of the estate is underway following full planning permission granted last month.
A NEW nursing home to serve the wider south Limerick and north Cork area has been offically opened.

Liz Downes, chair of the Older Peoples Council and Charlie McAllister Cork County Age Friendly Ambassador officiated at the official opening of the Charleville Nursing Home.

We are delighted that Charleville Nursing Home is an age friendly home. The focus on age friendly communities is an inclusive and wide ranging alliance that is an inter agency partnership. The Alliance includes public sector agencies and community organisations like Charleville town which promotes a positive approach to ageing. This includes transport, housing, social protection and of course healthcare. The work of Age Friendly Ireland promotes hearing the voice of the older person and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement model of care also advocates for listening to what matters most to the person," said Liz Downes.

Charleville Nursing Home is managed by Mowlam Healthcare, who have 31 facilities across Ireland.

Charleville Nursing Home is a 60 bed purpose built facility.

READ MORE: Permission for senior living scheme in Limerick refused

Chief Executive Officer Mowlam Healthcare Michele McCormack said they were pleased to open Charleville Nursing Home.

"This purpose built facility provides a range of care services to the local community. We work closely with the local Community Services and hospitals in Cork & Limerick to provide Short Term Rehabilation and Long Term care for older people. We are honoured that Charleville Nursing Home is an Age Friendly facility, which gives it a hallmark of age friendly care delivered with every resident, every day. Charleville Nursing Home has been formally recognized by the Institute for Healthcare (IHI) Improvement as a Participant in delivering Age Friendly Care. These are care centres recognized by the IHI as adopting age friendly care practices. Charleville is one of 10 Mowlam nursing homes that have achieved this designation and are the first in Ireland to do so with only 35 residentail care recognized internationally adpting this approach. We see Charleville as part of an age friendly community, supported by Cork City Age Friendly Alliance. Also I would like to sincerely thank our Director of Nursing Catherine Treacy and her dedicated staff for their hard work, commitment and enthusiasm to Charleville Nursing Home," she said.

Director of Nursing Catherine Treacy added: I am so proud to be part of the Charleville Nursing Home team. It is a modern yet homely building which provides much-needed care for older people and their families in north Cork and Limerick. This is a caring, bright and welcoming facility staffed by a highly trained and compassionate team of people.
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has issued a warning to Irish households over a number of hobs amid poisoning fears.

"There are hundreds of dangerous gas hobs in Irish homes right now," the stark warning reads.

The latest update from the CCPC adds that "a potentially fatal fault in some models could cause gas poisoning, fires, explosions and death."

They advise homeowners, renters and landlords to "act now and act swiftly to protect yourself and your household."

A statement continued: "Some gas hobs have a faulty elbow joint that may fracture, causing gas to leak. This issue affects the following brands (specific models only):

Belling

ElectriQ

Cooke and Lewis

Caple

Russell Hobbs

Comfee

"If you own or rent a property with a gas hob, check it now," they said.

How to check:

"Look for your gas hobs brand name.

"If you have one of the above brands, click that specific link for more information, including the affected model numbers and manufacturer contact details or, simply ring the manufacturer and let them know you may have one of the faulty gas hobs."

READ NEXT: Met Eireann weather forecast for this week makes one big prediction after Storm Bert

If your hob is affected, the CCPC advice is to, "stop using it immediately  it is unsafe.

"Contact the manufacturer for a free inspection and repair by a registered gas installer."

Renters are advised to "ask your landlord or letting agent to confirm if the hob is affected and arrange for inspection or repair.

"If you cant get a response from them, you may need to take action yourself. Follow the steps above and contact the manufacturer of the gas hob in your home.

"This issue may also affect gas hobs in holiday homes, campervans, or boatscheck all properties."

Smell gas? Call Gas Networks Ireland on 1800 20 50 50 immediately.
The proportion of green jobs advertised in Northern Ireland has almost doubled, research has found.

The volume of green job adverts as a proportion of all job adverts increased year on year from 2.4% to 4%, the second highest share of green job adverts in the UK, behind Scotland (5.6%,) and higher than the UK average of 3.3%.

This is according to PwCs Green Jobs Barometer.

It also found that the number of green jobs advertised in Northern Ireland has seen a 25.6% increase year on year bringing the total number to just under 2,800.

These jobs were in the mining and quarrying (41%), electricity (9.2%) and construction (6.9%) sectors.

This growth was partially offset however by modest reductions in sectors including manufacturing (minus 0.5%), transport & storage (minus 0.4%) and accommodation and food services (minus 0.3%)

PwCs Green Jobs Barometer, now in its fourth year, tracks the movement in green jobs creation, job loss, carbon intensity of employment, and worker sentiment across regions and sectors.

Jason Calvert, director and economist at PwC Northern Ireland, said it is clear there are opportunities for further growth.

Its encouraging to see that green job creation in Northern Ireland continues to show resilience, he said.

It is clear that there are opportunities for further growth here  while our green jobs market is small and needs to be scaled up, there is a lot we can do.

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Green Growth Strategy, which includes developing a workforce that supports climate action, is a further step in driving us toward creating meaningful solutions for businesses here to benefit from the opportunities of the net zero transition.

Ultimately, in order for Northern Ireland to thrive in a net zero world, we need a skilled workforce, and so we must make a concerted effort to create new low carbon jobs, and adopt a co-ordinated approach to upskill and reskill the existing workforce.

Policymakers also need to incentivise higher education in fields that will support the green economy, creating better conditions to retain new graduates in the region, ensuring that we are harnessing young peoples passion for the environment and creating the skills NI will need to thrive in a net zero world.

Across the UK, London leads the regions in the total number of green job adverts, with more than 58,500.

This marks a 30% increase of more than 13,300 roles advertised in the past year, representing a green jobs market 3.4 times bigger than first recorded in 2021.

Meanwhile Scotland leads with the highest proportion of job adverts considered green, at 5.6%, totalling approximately 28,700 roles, triple the size of the Scottish green jobs market that was first recorded by the barometer in 2021.
LOCAL residents are planning to appeal a decision to approve the building of 25 new apartments in their estate.

Silvergrove Developments has secured conditional planning permission from Limerick City and County Council to build 25 apartments in two-and-three storeys next to Drominbeg Square in Rhebogue.

Its just yards away from another set of 20 new-build houses which the University of Limerick (UL) bought for 12.5m.

Due to the fact the same developer, Silvergrove, was the applicant on the latest project, there were fears the development may house more students.

READ MORE: LEDP receives award honouring contribution to Limerick over 25 years

However, it has since been stated that the multi-storey proposal is specifically intended for older persons and/or persons with disabilities.

The 25 apartments will be divided into 10 one-bed apartments and 15 two-bed apartments.

It will be managed by an Approved Housing Body (AHB). These are independent, not-for-profit organisations which provide affordable rented housing for people who cannot afford to pay private sector rents or buy their own homes.

Local councillor and chairperson of the Rhebogue Residents Association, Sarah Beasley, confirmed locals would appeal against the decision to give planning permission, to An Bord Pleanala.

We are totally against this. We are not going to sit by and let this happen. If we have to go the High Court, we have to go the High Court, she told Limerick Live.

Twenty groups and individuals wrote to the council with concerns over the development, which has been named Rhebogue Courtyard.

The majority of these expressed opposition to the proposal.

In their own submissions to council, a number of other residents identified an issue of the invasive Japanese Knotweed plant.

Cllr Beasley said when locals heard of this development, there was a feeling of here we go again, given the huge opposition which greeted the initial 20 homes at Drominbeg Square.

Its just not in keeping with the area. It looks like something which would be built in an industrial estate, she said.

It feels like there is no thought for the people of Rhebogue.

We dont have a bus stop, we dont have a postbox. There is nothing for the children, she said.

Another local, Darren Beckett said even though he lives some distance from the 20 other homes, he hears music at night.

Its loud. Its keeping children awake. Theres a lady in the house on her own. She doesnt want to confront anybody, but at the same time, she has had to get earplugs in order to sleep, he said.

A number of concerns were expressed over the roof terrace.

Agents for Silvergrove have stated this terrace will be animated with planters, and allow occupants enjoy watching the world go by.

Council gave the project the green light subject to a number of conditions, including that the developer name the AHB in charge.

Silvergrove did not return a request for comment from the Limerick Leader.
Elon Musk made big promises to Wall Street about Teslas new Model Y SUV in 2022, and the company was ramping up its production in Austin, Texas, when environmental problems threatened to derail his plans.

The door to the plants giant casting furnace, which melts metal to be molded into the Model Ys parts, wouldnt shut, spewing toxins into the air and raising temperatures for workers on the floor to as high as 100 degrees. Hazardous wastewater from productioncontaining paint, oil and other chemicalswas also flowing untreated into the citys sewer, in violation of state guidelines.

Tesla left the costly problems largely unaddressed during the critical ramp-up. As a result, the companys 10 million-plus square foot plantamong the largest car factories in the worlddumped toxic pollutants into the environment near Austin for months.

This account of the Austin plants environmental problems, which havent been reported previously, comes from emails between Texas regulators and the company obtained by The Wall Street Journal in response to public-records requests, as well as interviews with former employees and other documents, including a memo sent by a whistleblower to the Environmental Protection Agency.

A Journal investigation shows that Tesla bosses were aware of the problems but sometimes chose short-term fixes to avoid slowing production. Former employees said they feared they might lose their job if they drew attention internally to potential environmental hazards, because senior managers didnt consider such issues to be mission critical. As head of the company, Musk set the tone, these people said, pushing employees to move fast and complaining frequently in public statements that unnecessary regulations are strangling the U.S.

The worlds richest man now has an even bigger megaphone. Musk, who aligned himself closely with President-elect Donald Trump during his campaign, was named Nov. 12 as co-head of a new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE." Musk has said he thinks he can chop at least $2 trillion" from the federal budget, including by cutting government jobs at regulatory agencies. How that will play out for the EPA is unclear, but some people who have worked with him for years expect that Musk will attempt to curb environmental regulationsincluding those that affect his companies.

We finally have a mandate to delete the mountain of choking regulations that do not serve the greater good," Musk tweeted after Trumps announcement.

Tesla and Musk didnt respond to requests for comment.

Musk is considered a champion of the environment for his role in pioneering the electric car industry. He has said the mission of Tesla, which is the largest maker of electric cars in the U.S., is to protect life on Earth." Yet across his business empire, Musks companies show a pattern of breaking environmental rules again and again, federal and state government filings and documents show.

Teslas Fremont, Calif., facility has accumulated more warnings for violations of air pollution rules over the past five years than almost any other companys plant in California, according to a Journal analysis of informal enforcement actions in the EPAs compliance database. It is second only to a refinery owned by oil-and-gas behemoth Chevron, which is in nearby Richmond.

This year, California regulators said Tesla violated air-pollution permits at its Fremont factory 112 times over the past five years and alleged it repeatedly failed to fix equipment designed to reduce emissions, releasing thousands of pounds of toxic chemicals in excess of permissible limits into the surrounding communities. Even after extensive discussion," Teslas efforts have not been enough to stem the violations," the abatement order from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District read. Tesla denied the allegations in the state proceeding. Since the order was filed, the regulator has issued 75 additional notices of violations to Tesla, according to a spokesperson.

Musks rocket company, SpaceX, has also had run-ins with regulators in Texas and community pushback in Florida, including over the impact of its launches on local plants and animals. Federal regulators recently fined the company for dumping about 262,000 gallons of wastewater from launches into wetlands in Texas without a permit. SpaceX has denied the allegations.

Complying with environmental rules isnt usually the top priority for Tesla management, people familiar with the companys officials said. Tesla brought to the auto industry a Silicon Valley ethos to move fast and break things, and Musk views regulations as a hindrance to innovation because they slow down the work, the people said.

At the factory in Austin, managers sometimes ignored workers who raised warnings about environmental issues, former employees say. Some employees feared they would be fired if they slowed down production.

One environmental-compliance staffer in the Austin plant claimed that Tesla repeatedly asked me to lie to the government so that they could operate without paying for proper environmental controls," according to a 2024 memo from the employee to the EPA that was reviewed by the Journal.

The staffer sent the detailed memo alleging environmental violations at Tesla to the EPA. The memo, including hundreds of pages of state regulatory documents, as well as photos and videos, was reviewed by the Journal. The EPAs criminal-enforcement division and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality earlier this month opened a preliminary inquiry related to the former Tesla staffers allegations, according to people familiar with the matter.

Multiple employees left Tesla without severance pay after declining to sign nondisclosure agreements to keep quiet about their work for the company, including environmental and other noncompliance issues they witnessed, people familiar with the negotiations said.

Tesla has continued to draw the attention of regulators. On June 4, 2024, Austin Water regulators notified Tesla that it had violated its permit with the city when it discharged to the sewer system more than 9,000 gallons of wastewater that wasnt properly treated for pH, according to documents released under public-records requests. On Aug. 30, 2024, TCEQ notified Tesla of five violations, including exceeding its permitted emissions limit for certain air pollutants and not disclosing deviations, according to the documents.

Environmental lawyers say state regulators rely on companies to self-report environmental lapses and dont typically levy fines or take other punitive measures against them. The underlying theme for enforcement is to create an environment where companies get back to compliance," rather than to penalize them heavily and discourage them from self-reporting, says environmental lawyer Lynn Grayson.

Musk moved Teslas headquarters from California to Austin in 2021, citing tax incentives, lesser regulatory oversight and the general political climate. Environmental regulators in Texaslike most statesare charged with monitoring compliance under the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and other federal statutes.

The year before, Tesla sold nearly 500,000 vehicles, and sales were growing rapidly. But Musk had moonshot ambitions for the company to grow sales by more than 50% each year to eventually hit his goal to sell 20 million cars in 2030. Giga Texas was a vital part of the plan and to get there, Tesla set a goal to manufacture 5,000 Model Ys a week at the factory.

Everything about the nearly mile-long Gigafactory in Austin is outsized, including the casting shop, where the roughly 30-foot-tall furnaces do the old-fashioned work of melting aluminum to be molded into car parts in giant die-casting machines.

The furnace temperature can soar to around 1,200 degrees, but in 2022 the massive door wouldnt close, creating a slew of environmental and safety issues.

For months, the door yawned open as car production churned up. Such a defect would typically cause the furnace to use more fuel and to emit higher levels of pollutants from its smokestack, according to former employees. A constant haze enveloped the factory floor and temperatures reached 100 degrees, they said.

When a TCEQ regulator arrived for a site visit in early fall 2022, Tesla employees employed an elaborate ruse" to hide the issues, adjusting the amount of fuel going into the furnace and temporarily closing the door, the memo sent to the EPA alleged. These actions allowed Tesla to pass the important emissions test, according to the memo.

The staffers memo said managers were aware the regulators tests didnt represent actual operating conditions," but the gambit worked, and the factory received a passing grade. Afterward, the fuel levels were put back to their regular settings, the memo said. Former employees say the furnace door wasnt permanently fixed for several more months.

In August 2024, TCEQ issued notices of violation to the company related to fuel use. By the time the regulator issued the notices, Tesla had already largely resolved the problems, according to TCEQ documents.

TCEQ disclosed through a public information request from the Journal that there were 15 investigations of the Tesla Austin facility14 related to air and one to waste.

With production ramping up at the Gigafactory in the spring of 2022, Tesla decided to celebrate the new facility with a party. It dubbed the event the Cyber Rodeo."

Workers got ready by rolling in mechanical bulls and buffing the factory floors to a shine for 15,000 guests, including investors and VIPs like Harrison Ford, who were set to tour the facility.

But behind the scenes, some environmental engineers and others at Tesla were fretting about a roughly six-acre, triangular-shaped evaporation" pond Tesla built to hold wastewater from construction, chemical spills and its paint shop.

The pond was filled with toxins, including sulfuric and nitric acids, and the algae-colored water had begun to smell of rotten eggs, former employees said. At one point, employees found a dead deer in the water, they said. For a time, Tesla discharged untreated pond water directly into the sewer system without permission from Austin Water, the water utility for the city, according to former employees and emails from regulators.

By the time of the party, Tesla had self-reported its actions to Austin Water. To hide the eyesore, it hired a team of contractors to pump most of the ponds water into trucks across the road, after having secured permission to then divert the water from the trucks into the sewer system.

Austin Water said in a statement that it later issued a notice of violation in connection with the pond to Tesla through email and required the company to meet monthly to avoid further violations," and that it works to develop a working partnership with our industrial customers" to protect the citys wastewater treatment facilities.

Sometimes during rainstorms, Tesla discharged a sludgy mix of mud and chemicals from occasional spills outside the plant, turning a  mile stretch of the Colorado River into a mucky brown slick, according to pictures and videos viewed by the Journal.

A top civil engineer at Tesla repeatedly committed to fixing the storm sewer system" in 2022 but never directed any serious repairs," a former staffer wrote in the memo to the EPA outlining the issue. Instead, Tesla periodically cleaned the storm sewer with pressurized water and vacuum trucks, according to the memo reviewed by the Journal.

Even when it wasnt raining, the Gigafactory generated vast amounts of industrial wastewater as it built carsabout 500,000 gallons a day, currently according to the water utilityand like most companies it was required to obey certain rules in disposing of it.

Throughout the day, water flowed from across the factory into three large tanks, where much of the contamination was supposed to be filtered out before being released into the local sewer system.

The company had assured regulators multiple times that its system was working, according to state regulators and emails reviewed by the Journal. But the system wasnt completely separating out pollutants, according to former employees and an April 2022 email reviewed by the Journal.

As a partial stopgap, the company assigned a staffer to manually test the wastewater, according to the memo sent to the EPA and former employees. But despite their efforts, the levels exceeded what Teslas permit allowed, and between Sept. 9-11, the company released 259,000 gallons of caustic water into the Austin sewer system, according to emails from state regulators to Tesla that were reviewed by the Journal. In a statement, Austin Water said the release didnt pose a threat to fish or other aquatic life, and that Tesla did not receive a permit to discharge process water until all pretreatment systems were installed and operational."

On Sept. 20, Austin Water issued two notices of violations to Tesla for exceeding the pH limit in its permit, according to state regulators and emails to Tesla provided by the city of Austin under a public information request.

Problems mounted a few days later when an outside lab that Tesla hired to test its wastewater notified environmental staff that the company had exceeded its permit level for zinc, according to the memo and former employees.

Environmental staff notified Austin Water, but one member refused to comply with a request from Tesla managers to lobby the regulator not to consider the violation as a significant non-compliance," according to the memo.

In late November, Tesla again urged the environmental staffer to reach out to Austin Water. The staffer refused.

That same week, Tesla fired the staffer for pushing back on their requests" according to the memo.

John West contributed to this article.

Write to Susan Pulliam at Susan.Pulliam@wsj.com, Emily Glazer at Emily.Glazer@wsj.com and Becky Peterson at becky.peterson@wsj.com
For years, through carefully choreographed dinners and meetings, Apple CEO Tim Cook did something that has eluded many other corporate leaders: He developed a personal relationship with President-elect Donald Trump.

Their rapport has been built, in part, by zeroing in on areas of mutual interest between Apple and Trumps agenda.

Now, with Trumps cabinet taking shape and new circles of power emerging in Washington, executives across the corporate sphere are working to get in the good graces of the new administration. Plenty hope to follow Cooks playbook.

In the first Trump administration, the Apple executive pioneered a template for how business leaders should engage with Trump. Instead of sending government relations executives or lobbyists, Cook would appeal to Trump directly through phone calls and meals, said people familiar with the interactions.

Cook then developed a meeting strategy with Trump where he would bring one data point to home in on a single issue in a meeting, the people said. That approach helped keep the meetings from spiraling in too many directions.

Big win on tariffs

In 2017, as Trump was working on a tax-cut plan, Cook told the then-president that Apple would increase its U.S. investments if the company could repatriate $250 billion in overseas cash at a reduced tax rate. Trump would later cite Apple while promoting his tax plan.

Cooks biggest win took place in 2019 when Apple was facing down a potential 10% tariff on all imports from China, where Apple still overwhelmingly produces its devices. Cook personally lobbied Trump, explaining how tariffs would increase iPhone prices and help foreign rivals like Samsung. Days later, the Trump administration announced it would scale back its tariff plan, giving exceptions to a range of electronics, including the iPhone.

Apple then reversed an earlier decision to move production of its Mac Pro computer to China from Austin, Texas. Trump appeared with Cook in Austin at the site of the manufacturer and later tweeted that he had opened" a major Apple manufacturing plant. The plant, operated by a contractor, had actually been open for years. Neither Cook nor Apple corrected Trumps claim.

Trump personally reveled in the attention Cook gave him and praised him for directly engaging. Thats why hes a great executive, because he calls me and others dont," Trump said of Cook in 2019.

Even before Trump was again elected president, Cook resumed his engagement with Trump. On a podcast in October, Trump said Cook called him about Apples growing legal problems in Europe. Apple is facing massive fines for violating EU competition laws. Trump said he told Cook: Im not going to let them take advantage of our companies."

Apple didnt respond to requests for comment.

Benefits and risks

Replicating Cooks playbook will likely prove challenging, executives say. Few companies carry the name recognition of Apple and Cook. Some lobbyists and corporate advisers have already found that, if Trump doesnt have an existing relationship with an executive, getting on his schedule now is difficult.

If a company is well known, that helps; Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg spoke with Trump in recent days and discussed trade policies and tariffs. Ortberg initiated the call, which was mainly to congratulate Trump on his victory, according to people familiar with the discussion. The two dont have a prior relationship and Trump had been critical of the jet maker in his first term.

Like many executives, Cook also leveraged middlemen. During Trumps first term, Cook cultivated close ties with his son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka Trump to get to the president.

Those who sit down with the president-elect or others in his circle of power should know that there are both benefits and potential risks to doing so, said Ron Williams, a former CEO of health insurer Aetna, and a board member at companies such as Warby Parker.

Anytime you can build a relationship with someone, you are advantaged," Williams said. If you have dinner, you can count on your phone ringing at some point; that may or may not be what you want."

Williams has found it can be helpful to be a source of information and data to government officials. When he was running Aetna, Williams said he tried to provide fact-based context on health policy to government officials, explaining implications of proposed changes, to simplify complicated matters.

Developing such relationships takes time and a strategy. For example: Is it best to shoot for a cabinet-level meeting, or to chat with a committee in the House of Representatives?

Unless youre Tim Cook, you have to meet these people three or four times before they know who you are," Williams said. You have to invest the time in building the relationships, and the question is where do you do that?"

DOGE team ideas

Some executives are relying more heavily on trade groups or working to retain in-the-know lobbyists and advisers who have ties with those in Trumps orbit. A number of companies are also considering whether to propose ideas directly to the Department of Government Efficiency," led by Elon Musk and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

If executives can offer ideas to streamline the government, aligning on issues the administration cares about, it could be a way to develop new relationships within Trumps inner circle. How executives do that remains unclear, as the DOGE team and others still are taking shape.

We will continue to build relationships with the new administration," said Aradhana Sarin, chief financial officer at AstraZeneca, while noting that she is unsure if the pharmaceutical giant will suggest ideas to the efficiency group.

Others are planning alternative paths to reach the new administration. One technology CEO said that, with so many venture capitalists in Trumps orbit, he plans to lean more on his venture-capital investors for influence in Washington instead of relying on traditional lobbying firms.

Not all one-on-one engagement achieves the desired results. FedEx chairman Fred Smith, an advocate of free trade, said at an event last month that he has spoken to Trump very vociferously" about globalization and tariffs.

I havent been able to move him. He says imports are deficits or losses and exports are profits," Smith said of Trump at the time. But Ive pointed out to him, and hes very kind, hes actually a very nice fellow one-on-one."

A spokesperson for the Trump transition team didnt respond to a request for comment.

Following Trumps win in the 2024 presidential race, Cook congratulated him and suggested their relationship would continue.

We look forward to engaging with you and your administration," Cook wrote on social media.

Esther Fung and Sharon Terlep contributed to this article.
Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are likely to get a boost in 2025 on the back of increased political clarity after a year of key national elections globally and a cooling initial public offering (IPO) market, top executives at Investec Bank Plc said in an interview with the Mint .

2024 was clearly a year of significant uncertainty. Uncertainty leads to a slowdown in M&A (mergers & acquisitions)," Charles Barlow, head of strategy execution for Investec Bank, said. Investec is dual-listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and provides services such as investment banking, private credit financing and brokerage services, among others, in India and globally.

What we are hoping will happen is that now that we've had this year of all these elections across the US, in the UK, Germany, France, South Africa, and India over in 2024, going into 2025, regardless of the outcome of all these elections, at least globally, well be in a better position to know where we stand, and M&A will start to flow," Barlow said.

Specifically, in India, the tempering of the primary capital markets is likely to have a positive impact on M&A, said Vikram Surana, head, corporate finance and equity capital markets, Investec Capital Services (India).

I think we are seeing some signs of a slowdown in terms of the IPO market. With the public markets cooling down a bit, the momentum will shift towards M&A and private sponsor activity," Surana said.

In India, Investec also offers equity capital market services through a joint venture with SBI Capital Markets, a unit of State Bank of India.

Also Read: How VIP is trying to shed its baggage

Annually, the Indian market has seen M&A and private equity activity remain range-bound at around $60-100 billion over the last several years. This is likely to continue, and private equity investments across manufacturing, capital goods, defence, packaging, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and IT (information technology) services will play out, Surana added.

Most private investors have seen the highest returns of 30-40% in internal rate of return from India over the last several years, prompting them to invest a lot more in India through large platforms, Surana said.

Indian companies are also showing more interest in outbound transactions through $100 million to $300 million tuck-in acquisitions, the executives said. If companies out of India are buying products or companies internationally, they like to see how those can be connected to India, Barlow said. In a tuck-in acquisition, a company merges a smaller acquired firm into one of its divisions.

For global investors, on the other hand, investing in India was a sure way to get access to a large market.

If you invest in India, you get access to one-and-a-half billion people without having to invest in 20 countries," Barlow added.

In the last five years in India, Investec has executed 40-45 transactions, averaging 8-9 deals per year in the private markets. Together with SBI Caps, Investec has done $6 billion worth of transactions in the IPO markets and its private credits team has closed 65 transactions in the last 5 years and invested $6 billion into India through credit, Surana said.
Puzhehei village in Yunnan: a winter's dream

By Yun Guan, Zhao Huan and Xin Nian (People's Daily App) 14:36, November 25, 2024

Puzhehei village in Southwest China's Yunnan Province unfolds like a serene ink painting in winter. Peaks rise through the mist while the soft morning fog drapes the hills in a dreamlike embrace. Villages peek through a sea of clouds, their outlines blending with smoke and haze, creating a tranquil world where time slows and beauty lingers at every glance.

(Translated by Di Chenjing)

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing)
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- A big theme in finance over the past two decades has been a shift in power away from investment banks that traditionally dominated the industry to the asset management firms that orbit it. Now, thats reflected in the seat of government, too. By picking Scott Bessent as Treasury secretary, Donald Trump has chosen a Wall Street type who hasnt held a senior position at a Wall Street firm.

Bessent isnt the first hedge fund manager to take on the role of Treasury secretary; that honor went to Steven Mnuchin in 2017. But while Mnuchin spent 17 years at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. before setting up a fund  which he ran only briefly  Bessent has been an investment manager his entire career. Eschewing traditional Wall Street firms, he joined Brown Brothers Harriman after Yale University  one of only a few in the early 1980s to hire graduates straight into investment management  and has remained in the industry since.

Some may wonder what skills a hedge fund manager brings to the role considered akin to chief financial officer of the US, whose responsibilities include shaping policy, managing federal finances and ensuring regulatory compliance within the financial sector. Unlike predecessors, Bessent has little experience managing large institutions. Henry Paulson (2006-2009) ran the Treasury Gepartment fresh out of Goldman Sachs; Robert Rubin (1995-1999) and Nicholas Brady (1988-1993) similarly rose to the top of their firms, and Jack Lew (2013-2017) was senior in another. The first in the job, Alexander Hamilton (1789-1795), even founded a bank before taking office.

In contrast, Bessent is used to working in small, tight-knit teams. Overseeing a department of 125,000 Treasury officials presents a different challenge (albeit one Elon Musk at the Department of Government Efficiency may help to make more manageable).

But he does know how to manage money and has been an invested observer in policy over many economic cycles. After joining Soros Fund Management in 1991, he was dispatched to London where his analysis of the local mortgage market contributed to the firm putting on its famous trade against the British pound. Bessent recognized that homeowners wouldnt be able to withstand the high rates the Bank of England would need to impose to defend the currency. Although now known as more of a macro manager, his bottom-up research into housing proved vital to the firms billion-dollar score. The micro drives the macro, he says. As Treasury secretary, this understanding of how economies fit together stands him in good stead.

Other qualities he can draw upon are a drive to turn quick decision-making into an asset and an aptitude to imagine multiple outcomes in an uncertain world. Like many fund managers, Bessent is also ruthlessly pragmatic. Two words to avoid in the investment business, he says, are never and always. A former colleague notes his uncanny ability to read newspapers six months ahead of time.

These features, combined with learned market awareness, explain how Bessent got himself in a position to be selected in the first place. According to the Wall Street Journal, he decided to back Trump when he saw that legal cases were helping rather than hurting approval ratings, telling people it reminded him of a stock that rises despite bad news  often a bullish signal.

Hedge fund managers have made their mark in senior positions in other countries. Theyve run national banks in Switzerland and Brazil  Arminio Fraga, a former president of the Central Bank of Brazil, worked alongside Bessent at Soros Fund Management. In the UK, a hedge fund manager, Rishi Sunak, even made it all the way to prime minister, via a stint as chancellor of the exchequer. But few have amassed as much experience navigating through global economic cycles as Bessent.

Trumps choice has already laid out his thinking on the economy, so his policies shouldnt come as a surprise. One of his most successful trades was in Japan in 2013 when he anticipated the impact then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abes three-arrow program would have on the countrys finances. Possibly influenced by it, he has a three-arrow proposal of his own: Cut the budget deficit to 3% of gross domestic product by 2028, spur growth of 3% through deregulation and produce an additional 3 million barrels of oil or its equivalent a day. Markets will be encouraged by the lesson he learned from his Japan experience: Capital flows to where it is treated well.

As an experienced global strategist with a deep understanding of financial systems, and a track record of backing views with real money, Scott Bessent is positioned to succeed. He also knows the cost of failure. Bad policy creates good investment opportunities, he says. He wont want to give his competitors a chance to make money at his expense.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Marc Rubinstein is a former hedge fund manager. He is author of the weekly finance newsletter Net Interest.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion
Bengaluru: The chief executive of a two-year-old zero-revenue green energy company that recently scored a 10,000 crore ($1.2 billion) investment commitment from REC Ltd is among those indicted in the $250 million Adani bribery case.

New Delhi-based Ocior Energys co-founder and CEO Ranjit Gupta was the chief executive of Azure Power Global Ltd, the company in the thick of the bribery charges by US prosecutors, between 2019 and 2022.

Ociors other co-founder, its chief operating officer Murali Subramanian, was first president and then COO of Azure Power when Gupta was at its helm. Prior to joining Azure Power, Gupta and Subramanian had co-founded Actis Llp-backed renewable energy company Ostro Energy, which Renew Power acquired in 2018.

Ocior Energy signed a memorandum of understanding with REC, the Indian state-owned firm that finances and promotes power projects, in September this year to construct a plant to produce 200,000 tonnes of green ammonia, or carbon-free ammonia, in Gopalpur, a coastal town in Odisha.

Gupta and Subramanian, both graduates of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, set up Ocior Energy in August 2022. This was after Azure Powers board asked them to resign in April, according to the US Department of Justices complaint dated 20 November.

The US Department of Justices complaint mentions an unnamed co-conspirator 2" along with Gupta. It does not say why Azures board asked Gupta and Subramanian to leave.

Also read | Mint Explainer: The indictment of Gautam Adani

US prosecutors began investigating the case two years ago after Azure Power, previously listed on the New York Stock Exchange, disclosed that its audit committee had received two whistleblower complaints in 2022 detailing improper payments to Indian government officials. The investigations culminated in US prosecutors indicting Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and seven others in a $250 million bribery case.

A questionnaire emailed to Gupta on Saturday went unanswered. Subramanian declined to offer a comment. It is unclear if Gupta and Subramanian shared details about the US investigation with REC. An email sent to REC on Saturday seeking comment remained unanswered.

Also read | Adani bribery case: whistleblowers, WhatsApp texts, and incentives

The co-conspirator

The US Department of Justice has described the above-mentioned co-conspirator #2" as an Indian citizen who held a high-ranking position at Azure Power between July 2019 and April 2022. According to his LinkedIn profile, Subramanian was the chief operating officer of Azure Power Global during that time.

Beginning in or about 2020, defendant Ranjit Gupta and Co-Conspirator #2, while acting within the scope of their employment as officers, employees and agents of the U.S. Issuer, knowingly and willfully conspired and agreed with each other and others, including but not limited to the defendants Gautam S. Adani, Sagar R. Adani and Vneet S. Jaain, to corruptly offer, authorize, promise to pay and to pay bribes to and for the benefit of government officials in India to cause Indian state electricity distribution companies to enter into contracts with SECI in order for the Indian Energy Company, the Indian Energy Companys subsidiaries and the U.S. Issuer to obtain and retain business," the US Department of Justice said in its complaint dated 20 November.

Adani Group has denied the allegations against its directors, including Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani, terming the charges as baseless".

Also read | Adani may see wider impact from US setback

The Ocior empire

Ocior Energy has zero revenue and 10 employees, including Gupta and Subramanian, but has outlined big plans. In press statements, Ocior has announced $21 billion in investments by 2030 to build a green energy empire from Egypt to Odisha. However, it has yet to share the funding source for these plans.

At least one infrastructure expert who formerly worked with a Big Four consultancy firm for over a decade expects that RECs MoU with Ocior may remain a non-starter.

Typically, MoUs are subject to conditions and due diligence before they become financing commitments. A company whose cofounders are under a probe is unlikely to be able to find the projects and investors and meet the prerequisites for financing," said Manish Agarwal, a Mumbai-based independent infrastructure expert.

The envisaged billions of dollars of investments would be unlikely to fructify for the same reasons," said Agarwal.

Gupta, along with seven other executives, including Adani group founder and chair Gautam Adani, is alleged to have paid 2,000 crore ($250 million) in bribes to unnamed Indian officials between 2020 and 2024 in exchange for favourable terms on solar power contracts awarded to Adani Green Energy Ltd and Azure Power.

Azure Power and Adani Green Energy were shortlisted by Solar Energy Corporation of India in December 2019 to construct solar cells and produce 10 GW of power. SECI, a company under Indias ministry of new and renewable energy, oversees New Delhis renewable energy plans, including funding large solar projects.

Also read | Adani bribery case: US SEC summons Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani

Ocior Energys stated plans include setting up a 1 million tonne per year green hydrogen and ammonia plant in the Kutch district of Gujarat and a 1 million tonne per year green ammonia plant in Andhra Pradesh. The company has said that both projects will require 80,000 crore ($10 billion) of investments.

Overseas, Ocior Energy signed a preliminary agreement with Egypts government in June, promising to spend $4.25 billion on a green hydrogen and ammonia project in the Suez Canal Economic Zone. In December last year, it announced plans to invest $5 billion in Jordan to set up a 1 million tonne per year green ammonia plant by 2030.

Also read | Adani indictment: FCPA cases take long to conclude
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has rejected tech giant Apple's request to pause an antitrust investigation against it, according to a Reuters report, citing the antitrust body's internal order on the matter. The probe will thus continue.

Apple's request to hold the investigation report in abeyance was deemed untenable, the CCI said in the order.

Apple, CCI and NGO Together We Fight Society (TWFS), the main complainant in its antitrust case, did not respond to questions, the report added.

What Happened? The CCI in August recalled investigation reports after Apple alleged that these documents disclosed its commercial secrets to competitors including Match (Tinder's parent), as per Reuters. The documents were regarding a 2021 case and had elements that should not have been distributed.

As such the watchdog asked parties involved to return the reports and destroy any copies, following which it issued new reports.

Later in November, an internal order from the CCI showed that Apple argued that TWFS, the main complainant in its antitrust case, had failed to comply with CCI directives that asked for assurance that copies of the recalled reports were destroyed. It asked the regulator to take action against the non-compliance and withhold the revised report, Reuters said.

The Case The CCI in its probe determined that Apple used its market dominance to position itself better than competitors in app stores on its iOS operating system, the report said. This was done to the detriment of app developers, users and other payment processors, it added.

Meanwhile, Apple has called itself a small player in India pointing to the prevalance of Google's Android system and denied breaking anti-competitition laws.

The CCI internal order also showed that Apple has been asked to submit its audited financial statements for FY21-22, FY22-23, and FY23-24 under regulatory guidelines aimed at determining possible monetary penalties in the case. Senior officials at the regulator are expected to review the investigation report and make a final ruling on the case.
PRNewswire

Washington [US]/ Chandigarh [India], November 25: Marking 10 successful years of Indo-US Strategic Partnership for Equitable World, Global Equity Alliance Summit was hosted by Washington Adventist University here at Sligo Seventh Day-Adventist Church, Carroll Ave at Maryland in Washington, USA.

- Indo-US Bilateral Ties will Soar to New Heights under Modi 3.0 & Trump 2.0: say US Administration officials at Washington

- Empowered with Modi Mantra of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Minority Communities Playing Pivotal Role in India's Growth Story: say Minority Indian Diaspora leaders

Aimed primarily at advancing minority empowerment by fostering dialogue on minority welfare and education, renowned academicians, business and thought leaders and policymakers held prolonged deliberations on various facets of the decade-long impact of minority reforms under PM Modi in India. A special prayer led by Dr Jiwan Stefan Moon, Chaplain of Washington Adventist University was also held for global peace and harmony at the Sligo Seventh Day-Adventist Church.

During the summit, Washington Adventist University & Association of American Indian Minorities honoured Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Dr Martin Luther King Jr Global Peace Award for Minority Upliftment. The award was presented to PM Modi in recognition of his works done for the minority welfare and peace efforts undertaken in last 10 years. The abrogation of Article 370 under Modi government ushered in lasting peace in Jammu & Kashmir and terrorism-related activities hit the rock bottom. PM Modi has been instrumental in his peacekeeping efforts amid Russia-Ukraine war. PM Modi also ensured safety of Hindus during conflict in Bangladesh and took measures to end humanitarian crisis along its border with Myanmar.

The event was attended by Congressmen, top US Administration officials, renowned academicians, researchers, industry leaders and officials from the local administration were also present at the occasion. Prominent among those who attended the event were David j Byrd, Former National Director for US Department of Commerce, Minority Business Development Agency, Dr Sukhpal Singh Dhanoa, White House Correspondent, Satnam Singh Sandhu, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (India) and Convener of Indian Minorities Federation, David Pillai, Chairman, Transworld Educare Pvt Ltd, Professor Ken Cherian, Dr John Daniel, Senior Pastor, Southern Asian Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Dr Cheryl Harris Kisunzu, Provost of Washington Adventist University, US Administration officials and leaders from different walks of life from Indian Minority diaspora in United States of America.

A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between Chandigarh University, India and Washington Adventist University, US for establishing programs of exchange and collaboration in areas of interest for mutual benefit of both institutions. This collaboration will explore opportunities for students such as short term or long term mobility such as summer schools, semester abroad, articulation and exchange, progression for students into Master's or Doctorate programs, identify opportunities for exchange of faculty, research staff and administration staff and make faculty and students aware of the academic programs, research institutes and educational resources of each other's institution for joint workshops, conferences and co-publishing and cultural exchange and identify other areas of possible interest and collaboration.

During the summit, a research paper highlighting the 'Transformation of Minorities in the Past Decade in India' was presented by the Provost of Washington Adventist University, Dr Cheryl Harris Kisunzu, which was attended by officials, faculty members and students at the university.

Later, two high-level panel discussions on 'Leadership Inclusivity Bridging Communities through policies and Governance' and 'Transforming lives through Education empowering Minority communities' were held that dwelt on the complex issues surrounding minority welfare, leadership, education and inclusive governance. With its long-standing commitment to inclusivity, interfaith dialogue and educational empowerment of minorities Washington Adventist University (WAU) stand as a landmark on minority education.

Praising the strong camaraderie shared between President Elect Donald Trump and PM Modi, top US Administration officials & members of Indian diaspora said Indo-US bilateral ties under Trump and PM Modi are all set to soar to greater heights serving not just the mutual interests of both the nations but will also usher in an era of global peace, progress, and prosperity for all.

During research paper presentation 'Transformation of Minorities in the Past Decade in India', Dr Kisunzu, Provost of Washington Adventist University said, "India under the leadership of PM Modi has seen unprecedented educational reforms that has transformed the lives of minorities in the last one decade. PM Modi has ensured financial empowerment of Minorities through initiatives like PM Jan Dhan Yojana and PM Mudra Yojana. As a result thousands of minority-owned businesses have thrived from 2014 to 2024."

"With CAA, Modi government is providing asylum to thousands of persecuted minorities from neighbouring countries. Through historic move such as abolition of Triple Talaq, Modi government ensured that fast divorce was made unlawful for the Muslim population. Moreover, there were 1.5 million graduates among minorities in 2014 and it rose to 2.2 million graduates in 2024. The number of Start-Ups by minorities have increased from 10,000 in 2014 to 40,000 in 2024."

Pakistan needs Strong and Nationalist Leader like Prime Minister Modi: Sajad Tarar, a Pakistani American residing in Washington for 35 years

Sajad Tarar, a Pakistani American, who is residing in Washington for 35 years said, "Today when we look at Bharat, the only figure that comes to the mind is that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi Ji's biggest contribution to India is the nationalism. Under his visionary leadership, India today has become 5th largest economy in the world and on course to become 3rd largest economy soon. PM Modi has strong persona and leadership qualities; owing to his remarkable efforts, India has been transforming from a regional power to a superpower. I always say that Pakistan also needs a strong and nationalist leader like Prime Minister Modi so that Pakistan can also advance in information technology, finance, leadership, dedication, clarity and nationalism in this new century. PM Modi always says Bharat first.

Long-pending issues of Minorities were resolved under Modi government: Satnam Singh Sandhu, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha and Convener of Indian Minorities Federation

Satnam Singh Sandhu, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha and Convener of Indian Minorities Federation said, "The world is looking at Modi 3.0 and Trump 2.0 with great hopes as both the leaders have shared their pledge to work together for establishing global peace and ending wars."

Praising PM Modi for empowerment of Minorities in India, Sandhu said, "The empowerment of minority communities in India can be ascertained from the facts that as many as 30.8 million scholarships have been granted to students of Minority communities for ensuring their access to quality education. Nearly 40,000 Madrassas have been upgraded so that they can provide skill-based and employment-oriented education to the Muslim youth. 20 per cent of the total loans given under PM Mudra Yojana to promote entrepreneurship have been to the people from Minority communities. 31 per cent of the total 20.3 million homes built under PM Awas Yojana have been given to the people of Minority communities and 1.5 million youth of minority communities have been given Skill Development training to enhance their employability during the last 10 years of PM Modi."

PM Modi Empowering Minorities through Inclusive Policies: Dr Jiwan Stefan Moon, Chaplain of Washington Adventist University

Dr Jiwan Stefan Moon, Chaplain of Washington Adventist University said, "We are excited that the new partnership is happening between US and Bharat which is great where the pioneers countries representing democracies inclusion and equity come together. India and United States are the frontiers, pioneers of human rights, equity and inclusiveness".

PM Modi built India's wonderful relationship with US, says Gurpreet Preet Takhar, chair, Governor's Commission on South Asian American Affairs

Gurpreet Preet Takhar, chair, Governor's Commission on South Asian American Affairs in Maryland, "Today I am here to support Indian diaspora of Maryland and US and support PM Modi and his government specially for the wonderful relationship they have built over the years. And this America-India partnership is the most important relationship. We have got 4 million Indian diaspora in US. And I am also here to support the alliances of education because the students who come here, there are 200 thousand students in US who come every year to US from India".

A member of Hindu community, Manavasi Arya said there are lots of challenges when it comes to minority in US, specially it comes to Indian minorities. However we are reckoning as a force we are coming here as Indians we are doing amazing work here in all fields including technology, defense, medical. We have left nothing.

About Chandigarh University

Chandigarh University is a NAAC A Grade University and QS World Ranked University. This autonomous educational institution is approved by UGC and is located near Chandigarh in the state of Punjab. It is the youngest university in India and the only private university in Punjab to be honoured with A Grade by NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council). CU offers more than 109 UG and PG programs in the field of engineering, management, pharmacy, law, architecture, journalism, animation, hotel management, commerce, and others. It has been awarded as The University with Best Placements by WCRC.
Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India (NewsVoir) Hon'ble Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Smt. Anandiben Patel, felicitated Galgotias University at Raj Bhavan, Lucknow, for its exceptional performance in the QS World University Rankings: Asia 2025. Ranked 187 in Southern Asia and 621-640 across Asia, Galgotias University has once again raised the bar for academic excellence and global recognition in such a short time. The Hon'ble Governor felicitated Galgotias universities from the state of Uttar Pradesh, for its remarkable performance in the QS World University Rankings: Asia 2025, celebrating Uttar Pradeshs contribution to higher education on the global stage. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with elite institutions such as IIT Kanpur, IIT Varanasi, MNIT Allahabad, IIIT Allahabad, and Banaras Hindu University, Galgotias University reaffirmed its position as a leader in Placements, innovation-driven and quality-focused education. Dr. Dhruv Galgotia, CEO of Galgotias University, graciously accepted the award on behalf of the institution, attributing this landmark achievement to a steadfast commitment to innovation and quality education. With a visionary outlook that resonates deeply, Dr. Galgotia remarked, Galgotias university feels truly honoured by this recognition and soon we will be among the top 100 universities of the world encapsulating the university's ethos. Under his stewardship, Galgotias University has blossomed into a crucible of innovation, sustainability, and research, equipping its students to outshine the competition and lead with confidence on the world stage. As he aptly noted, Galgotias University is not just raising the bar for education in India but breaking new ground globally. Through strategic partnerships and a forward-thinking approach, were fostering an ecosystem that champions both academic brilliance and cultural refinement. Galgotias University's Pro-Vice Chancellor, spotlighted the universitys ever-expanding global footprint, emphasized how the university is evolving from a national leader to a prominent name on the international stage. . He acknowledged the unwavering efforts of faculty, students, and stakeholders, whose dedication has been the bedrock of this extraordinary ascent. Their collective belief in the institutions vision has continually spurred achievements that redefine educational benchmarks and set new precedents. Not resting on its laurels, Galgotias University has also earned distinction in the THE World University Rankings 2025, clinching the 45th position among Indian universitiesboth government and privateand marking its global debut in the 1001-1200 band. The institution further solidified its standing with a prestigious QS Rating of 5 stars, excelling across Teaching, Academic Development, Innovation, Employability, and Facilities. Adding another feather to its cap, Galgotias University ranked within the 401-500 band worldwide in the Times Higher Education (THE) Interdisciplinary Science Rankings 2025. The felicitation by Hon'ble Governor Smt. Anandiben Patel serves as testament for the excellence Galgotias university is achieveing in placements,academics and research and now Galgotias has even greater aspirations to be one of the top 100 Universities of the world. Galgotias University, with its eyes set firmly on the horizon, remains committed to rewriting the rules of higher education by bringing Active learning in India through its consultancy support and mentorship by inspire at Nanyang technological university, Singapore. (Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with Newsvoir and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR PWR
Two of the largest investors in the Adani group have made contrasting investment decisions after US authorities indicted Gautam Adani and two other directors in a $250 million bribery case.

French oil giant TotalEnergies, which has invested $3.85 billion in Adani group companies since 2019, said on Monday that it had decided to hold off on new investments until the allegations are clarified.

US-based GQG Partners affirmed its faith in the Adani group, expecting that the Indian government would back the ports-to-retail conglomerate. The American investor, though, added in a note to investors on 21 November that it expects the investigations to be long-drawn, hurting Adani groups ability to borrow foreign capital.

We feel the Indian government will maintain its support for Gautam Adani as he is the most important infrastructure developer in the country by order of magnitude, GQG Partners said in its note, which Mint has reviewed.

As investors in broad area of companies, globally, we take any indictment very seriously. That said, we recognize the distinction of the allegations of the individuals vs the companies. We believe the fundamentals of the companies we are invested in remain sound, said GQG Partners.

Also read | Adani may see wider impact from US setback

GQG Partners had come as a white knight when the Adani groups stocks were in free fall following US short-seller Hindenburg Researchs allegations in January 2023 of stock manipulation and accounting fraud by the Ahmedabad-based conglomerate.

Adani group, which has denied the allegations by US prosecutors and Hindenburg, on Monday assured its investors that it had enough cash reserves to service its debt obligations and meet its growth plans.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India is yet to submit its report on the Hindenburg allegations to the Supreme Court.

Not aware of investigation TotalEnergies, which has a 50% stake in three joint ventures with Adani Green Energy Ltd and a 37.4% stake in Adani Total Gas Ltd, had put on hold all new investments in Adani group companies following Hindenburgs allegations in January last year. It also holds a 19.75% stake in Adani Green Energy.

However, after almost a year of pause, in December last year, Adani Green Energy announced the completion of a 1,050 MW equal joint venture with TotalEnergies, with a $300 million investment from the French company.

In September this year, Adani Green Energy announced another equal joint venture with TotalEnergies for 1,150 MW of solar energy projects, with the French company investing $444 million in it.

Until such time when the accusations against the Adani group individuals and their consequences have been clarified, TotalEnergies will not make any new financial contribution as part of its investments in the Adani group of companies, the French oil giant in a statement on Monday.

TotalEnergies added that it was not made aware of the existence of an investigation into the alleged corruption scheme by the Adani group.

Also read | Mint Explainer: The US indictment of Gautam Adani

The US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission have charged Gautam Adani, Adani Green Energy executive director Sagar Adani, and the companys managing director Vneet Jaain with allegedly paying bribes to government officials in India in exchange for favourable solar power supply agreements.

The charges include withholding information on the investigation by US federal prosecutors from American investors when raising two bonds and two syndicated loans.

While TotalEnergies is a strategic investor in Adani group joint ventures, GQG Partners is a financial investor, acquiring holdings in the groups stocks.

Also read | Adani bulls cut positions before news of US indictment

No material impact Rajiv Jain-led GQG Partners said in its note to investors that it expects the bribe investigations to have no material impact on Adani group companies.

Since March last year, GQG Partners has poured in close to $3 billion in buying stakes in seven of the Adani groups 11 listed companies. As of 21 November, GQG Partners had a total exposure of $8.1 billion to these seven companies.

GQG Partners shares tumbled 20% on the Australian Securities Exchange on 20 November following the indictment of Adani Green executives, including group founder and chairman Gautam Adani. GQGs shares have since recouped part of the losses.

GQG Partners and Jain did reply to Mints request for comment.

At least one lawyer expects the bribery indictment to be a long-drawn episode.

TotalEnergies statement is saying I'll curtail my risk and not make any new investments until I have clarity. GQG Partners rationale, in contrast, states that it continues to have full faith in the group and the Indian government and that the Adani group will continue to do well. It is for investors to choose which of the two views they want to accept, said Sakate Khaitan, senior partner at Khaitan Legal Associates.

But the undeniable thing to note is that this indictment by the US federal prosecutors is not something that can be resolved quickly.
Mumbai: When comedian Kunal Kamra began posting videos of old, dusty piled up scooters lying before Ola Electric service centres, he seemingly triggered a tidal wave of rants by Ola customers who had long given up on any redressal. Kamras X (formerly Twitter) post blew up with photos and videos of non-functional scooters. Customers posted videos of being chased away from service centres by company bouncers. Someone set a service centre on fire. And while founder Bhavish Aggarwal fought with Kamra online over an October weekend, shares of Ola Electric crashed on Monday. But, who was helping the customers?

Enter: Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA). Indias newest regulator, set up in 2020 to exclusively protect consumer rights, issued a show-cause notice to Ola Electric for violating consumer rights. Two weeks later, when the company said it had successfully settled over 99% of all consumer complaints, CCPA dismissed the claims and initiated its most lethal weapon of legal enforcement: a class-action lawsuit.

All this should give customers of Ola Electric, and any other brand, reason to cheer. For decades, Indian customers have struggled helplessly against brands that sell them faulty, harmful, or poisonous goods, refused refunds and returns, or ran scammy ads. The only legal recourse and source of compensation is to fight a case against savvy corporate lawyers in the slow, overburdened consumer dispute courts. Can CCPA, empowered to prevent harm and protect customers as a class, bring some relief?

It depends.

Interviews with the current and former commissioner of CCPA, legal experts, and people familiar with the regulators thinking, reveal the inner workings of Indias newest regulator. And while it is determined to do good, it may be trying to do so with one hand tied behind its back.

A solid start

The regulator was born when the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, was amended to include a regulatory body dedicated to protecting Indian consumers as a class. It was given the power to issue subordinate legislation, meaning the guidelines, advisories, and orders it issued had legal backing. Besides, it was given the powers to initiate class-action lawsuits against errant companies and brands on behalf of customers (more on this later), as it did against Ola Electric this year.

View Full Image CCPA issued a show-cause notice to Ola Electric for violating consumer rights. (Photo: Reuters)

The regulator began operations in 2020, just before the covid-19 pandemic spread. However, almost all its top officers were on additional charge, meaning CCPA was an additional duty along with their regular jobs.

The additional secretary of the consumer affairs ministry, Nidhi Khare (now secretary), became its chief commissioner, while joint secretary Anupam Mishra was appointed commissioner. The job of investigating CCPA cases was handed to two officersthe director-generals of the Bureau of Indian Standards (body that ensures compliance to Indian Standards) and the National Test House (central governments testing laboratory). This arrangement continues today.

But finally, Indian consumers had a body solely looking out for them. Before this, a customers sure shot way to get justice from a brand was to sue in the consumer courtsa tedious, time-consuming, and rather expensive task, with rare results.

In 2021, the regulator passed its first set of orders, largely indicting consumer brands for falsely advertising protection from covid-19. Brands selling soap, ply and laminate, and even linen received CCPA notices for falsely advertising antiviral and antibacterial properties, allegedly preying on peoples pandemic anxieties.

Besides, CCPA launched a concerted effort to help consumers get refunds for airline tickets that were cancelled once the lockdown was imposed. All major online travel aggregators received notices and follow-ups for two years until they had returned their customers money. We were able to very successfully carry out a class-action lawsuit against online travel agents," CCPA chief commissioner Nidhi Khare told Mint in an interview. When the honourable Supreme Court ordered airlines to refund cancelled tickets, tour and travel agencies were not refunding the amount they had received to consumers, giving some reason or the other. CCPA ensured refunds to individual customers of 1.5 crore. That is not a small amount."

Since then, CCPA has issued over 100 orders. It has also initiated class-action lawsuits against brands against whom consumer complaints on social media and with the National Consumer Helpline are piling up.

The intent is there to fix things," a consumer rights advocate told Mint, requesting anonymity. The officers are good, unlike your typical babus [officers]."

However, he added, on-ground action has slowed down. For example, CCPA issued guidelines around dark patterns in December last year," he said. But almost a year later, it has not issued a single notice against anyone indulging in this practice. There are plenty of examples of everyday dark patterns including ride cancellations in ride-hailing apps, seat assignment flows in airline booking platforms. So while the intent is there, officers do need to get to work."

A dark pattern is a design in an app or interface that tricks a user into choosing an option they did not want to. For instance, changing the standard location of Yes/No options in a popup or language that shames a user for wanting to leave an app are examples of commonly found dark patterns.

While the regulator has kept itself busy these last four years, how effective has it been on ground?

Hands: Tied

CCPA scores over other means of redressal for the Indian consumer. The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), an industry body, has no legal backing to enforce its guidelines against misleading advertisements and stealth advertising on social media. Meanwhile, the consumer courts system is clogged with pending cases. For instance, in 2023, consumer commissions disposed of 136,000 cases between December 2022 and September 2023, but 545,000 cases were still pending, per latest data made available by the consumer affairs ministry.

The law empowers CCPA to enforce its orders and guidelines, and act preemptively to protect consumers so they need not resort to navigating the consumer courts system.

A loose analogy for CCPA could be the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the US," Jaideep Reddy, partner of technology, media and telecom practice at law firm Trilegal told Mint. However, the US statute is focused on a few short sections and the FTC interprets these on a case-by-case basis," he said. The FTC, for instance, interprets the terms unfair and deceptive in each case. However, Indias Consumer Protection Act 2019 is more prescriptive and lays down statutory norms.

The very prescriptive law that gives CCPA legal power to prosecute and enforce, also holds it back from taking effective punitive action. Consider this: the highest penalty the regulator can impose on a guilty brand or firm under the Consumer Protection Act 2019 is 50 lakh. In most cases, it prescribes fines ranging from 3-20 lakh per offence.

How much is 5 lakh or 10 lakh for a large company?" a senior official familiar with the workings of CCPA told Mint, requesting anonymity. This is simply not a big enough deterrent for large companies."

Even the former secretary of the consumer affairs ministry, Rohit Kumar Singh, agreed. In terms of enforcement powers, CCPA is constrained by the law itself," he told Mint. That needs to be amended. However, the setting up of CCPA has been a good start. Prior to the 2019 Act, there was no provision for such a protection authority." Singh, who retired from the IAS earlier this year, is also a member of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC).

In terms of enforcement powers, CCPA is constrained by the law itself.  Rohit Kumar Singh

Besides, any brand hit by a CCPA order can appeal in the consumer courts. This would test the limits of CCPAs powers to investigate and prosecute a company.

Drawing lines

Heres another challenge. Much of the work of protecting consumers overlaps with the work of other regulators, such as telecom, aviation, and food manufacturing. Consider CCPAs recent notices to quick commerce firms over violations of the Legal Metrology Act. Officials aware of the developments pointed out that ensuring compliance with this act was the responsibility of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) under the ministry of health. CCPA reportedly sent notices to firms including Zepto and Blinkit for failing to display expiry dates among other charges in late October. A couple of weeks later, the FSSAI issued an official order to online food sellers, asking them to comply.

Similarly, in the case of Ola Electric, CCPAs investigation and action may be limited to misleading advertisements. At best, they can pass an order against the company saying your scooters are malfunctioning, which means your ads were misleading," the official quoted above said. But there are many ways to argue a case of misleading ads, especially once they appeal in a consumer court. It will be difficult for CCPA to make a case of unfair trade practices against Ola Electric; a battery catching fire is a faulty product, not unfair practice."

Much of the work of protecting consumers overlaps with the work of other regulators, such as telecom, aviation, and food manufacturing.

Besides, this official added, CCPA is not empowered to properly investigate unfair practices at Ola Electric or effectively prosecute it for not servicing and replacing faulty scooters. CCPA should not have issued that press release," he said, referring to the show cause notice the regulator sent to Ola Electric in early October. They dont even have a team that can investigate this case properly. In the Legal Metrology case, it was the FSSAI that was equipped to investigate violations."

To be sure, any new regulator will need time to find its feet and clearly carve out its jurisdiction. In CCPAs case, it will need to successfully pursue several cases to establish a precedent of what it can, or cant, do.

Even four years after inception, its top investigative positions are staffed by officers with additional charge. Except for some young professionals, there is not even one top-ranked person who is on the permanent rolls of the CCPA," the official said.

CCPA needs to be strengthened in terms of human resources" former consumer affairs secretary Singh said. Apart from the chief commissioner (Nidhi Khare), the authority needs more independent commissioners and investigators to carry out its work."

Secretary Khare is aware of the problem; she told Mint the ministry was in the process of hiring more people but did not share specifics or a timeline.

Overworked officers juggling several responsibilities can also dull the impact of a new regulator. As of now, some public policy and corporate affairs executives engaging with the regulator say its top people lack bite.

View Full Image A file photo of CCPA chief Nidhi Khare.

The way forward

With all these challenges, CCPAs best bet for now may be to focus on the biggest violation of consumer rights  advertisements.

CCPA is primarily handling the issue of misleading advertisements, since that is what affects the most number of consumers at the same time," former secretary Singh said. The advertisement is the first point of contact between a brand and a customer. With increasing digital marketing, this menace of misleading ads is also growing exponentially," he added.

However, its hard to monitor the tidal wave of contemporary ads and identify those violating consumer trust. CCPA can ask for help from other bodies, such as ASCI.

The ASCI is doing a very good job," former secretary Singh said. But being a self-regulatory body, it cannot do much if a member defies its directives. When CCPA issues an order, you are bound by law to comply. In my opinion, the consumer affairs ministry should use ASCI as the first level of screening and take their advice on both reporting and enforcement in respect of misleading ads. ASCI is in a better position to monitor errant advertisers on ground," he added.

But the real glory in protecting consumers comes from decisive action, including fining violators and ensuring affected customers get compensation along with their money back. In this regard, CCPA has had limited success so far, except for the refund of airline tickets booked before the lockdown.

The real glory in protecting consumers comes from decisive action, including fining violators and ensuring affected customers get compensation along with their money back. In this regard, CCPA has had limited success so far.

The regulators most potent tool is initiating class action lawsuits on behalf of affected customers. Now, the Consumer Protection Act, 1988, always allowed customers to come together and pool their complaints into a class-action in the consumer courts. But in India, this provision hasnt picked up much. Unlike the US, where lawyers often take no upfront fees from customers and earn a share of the compensation awarded, customers suing in India must bear the cost of litigation. According to Trilegals Reddy, Indian consumer courts dont award litigation costs easily, even to the winning party.

In the long run, the true test of CCPAs power will lie in its effective use of class-action lawsuits, enforcing the many guidelines, orders, and advisories it issues. For now, there is a long way to go.
Tata Capital Healthcare Fund (TCHF) is planning to increase the ticket size of each of its investments to around $25 million, from $10-18 million currently, the private equity (PE) funds managing partner Visalakshi Chandramouli said, as demand for healthcare in the world's fifth-largest economy grows.

The fund is also betting on domestic pharmaceutical companies that target global markets.

The healthcare and life sciences-focused PE fund has raised a total $200 million across its two funds - TCHF I (2012) and TCHF II (2022). So far, it has deployed 90% of its $130 million second fund corpus. TCHF II has so far invested in nine companies across diverse segments of the healthcare sector, and is in the process of concluding a tenth investment in the medical consumables segment, Chandramouli told Mint.

This is a business where the macro theme is essentially the India indigenization story, where we are looking at local production for global products," Chandramouli said, adding that local players for global markets is a big shift happening in the medical technology space in India. This is a company which is a leader in the select medical consumables category, having a very strong regulatory know-how, exports to over 50 countries, and reasonable growth as well as profitability," she said. Chandramouli declined to name the company or share more details, but said they plan to conclude the investment soon.

Increasing capital

Going forward, TCHF is looking at increasing the capital deployed to address Indias unmet healthcare needs. The size of capital weve been deploying so far has been in the $10-18 million rangenow potentially we should be looking at a much larger ticket size going forward, given the fact that the need is much more," Chandramouli said, adding that it would be in the over $25 million range in the future.

The fund looks at bridging the gaps in Indias healthcare space when building its portfolio. One of the fund's key focuses is on demographics, Chandramouli said. There's a huge population which is above 60, nearly 160-170 million people, and there is no formal institutional care on that," she said.

Spending on healthcare is also set to increase. Even the middle income householdsthere will be an at least three-to-four times increase in health expenditure. So one needs to address that," she added.

India's healthcare sector has been growing at a rapid pace. It grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22% between 2016 and 2022, a 2023 NITI Aayog paper said. The growth has been driven by several factors, including an ageing population, a growing middle class, the rising proportion of lifestyle diseases, an increased emphasis on public-private partnerships as well as accelerated adoption of digital technologies, including telemedicine, besides heightened interest from investors, the paper noted.

In the first five months of 2024, private equity and venture capital investments in the Indian healthcare sector surpassed $ 1 billion, a 220% increase from the previous year, according to the Indian Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF).

Betting on local for global

Pharmaceutical companies make up a large chunk of the companys portfolio. In its second fund, pharmaceuticals make up 50% of the fund, healthcare services make up for 30%, and the remaining 20% is for healthtech and medtech, Chandramouli said. One of the key areas of focus for the fund within pharma is companies catering to the regulated markets.

Of the existing four pharma companies in its portfolio, two are India-focused  Noble Plus Pharmacy and Skin Care and Linux Laboratories, which focuses on domestic formulations  while two are focused on global markets. This includes Sakar Healthcare, which is focused on branded exports and contract manufacturing, and complex generics maker Orbicular Pharmaceutical Technologies.

TCHF invested up to $20 million in Orbicular in May 2024. Orbicular is a contract development and manufacturing company, which focuses on complex generics formulations for the regulated markets like the US.

Complex and specialty generics is a key focus for the industry, and Chandramouli anticipates secular growth for the segment over the next decade, given the fact that a whole host of patents are expiring in the complex generics space," she said. Especially in the ones for the GLP (Glucagon-like Peptide) analogue space, thats one of the complex generics that Orbicular is targeting, which is for both diabetes as well as weight loss products," she added.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drugs are used to treat type-2 diabetes and obesity. The patent for semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor antagonist, is set to expire in several countries in 2026. Semaglutide is patented by Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, which sells it under brand names Ozempic and Wegovy and has seen phenomenal demand. The GLP-1 market is expected to exceed $100 billion by 2030, according to JP Morgan.

Also Read: Why Tata Capital Healthcare Fund is wary of healthtech bets

Indian pharma majors like Dr. Reddy's, Cipla, Zydus, Lupin and Sun Pharma are gearing up to launch generic versions of GLP-1 drugs as patents expire to cash in on the burgeoning market.

The fund will continue to focus on companies that have the potential to scale up and target regulated markets, she said.

Slow on healthtech

Mint reported earlier this year that TCHF was wary of healthtech bets. The fund has one healthtech investment in its portfolio  when it poured $10 million in Deeptek Inc, an artificial intelligence-backed radiology imaging business, in 2022.

Healthtech, by nature of the business itself, it's not something which, at least at an investment level, will be an Ebitda positive," Chandramouli said. If you look at our fund two, nine of our 10 investments are mid-sized revenue companies with a strong growth as well as with solid Ebitda margins. Even our healthtech portfolio has a very strong growth, but it's the only one which is not yet Ebitda positive," she added. Ebitda is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, and is a key measure of a company's profitability.

Chandramouli reiterated that they hadnt changed their stance, especially for online pharmacies, which is the biggest segment within healthtech. It's still a model which is yet to evolve in a very sustainable way," she said. One is watching how some of the large players are going to scale up, how they are going to move towards profitabilitySo they are all in a wait-and-watch mode," she said.
Gaja Capital is on the hunt for a refined version of the hungry but inexperienced startup foundersenior corporate leaders and professional managers struck by the entrepreneurial bug.

The mid-market private equity firm is actively scouting for seasoned professionals to build new ventures across consumer businesses, education, financial services, and enterprise software.

We have a whole generation of professional managers who didnt have entrepreneurial opportunities when they were in their twenties and thirties. More people are now becoming interested in entrepreneurship," Gopal Jain, co-founder and managing partner at Gaja Capital, told Mint.

It works both wayssometimes we approach people, sometimes they approach us," he added.

Also read | Yuvraj Singh changes investment gear, set to pad up for snacks brand Twiddles

Last month, Gaja Capital and venture capital fund Lok Capital agreed to invest 800 crore in Weaver Services, an affordable housing finance startup founded earlier this year by former executives of mortgage lender HDFC Ltd.

The domestic private equity firm has made similar investments earlier. Gaja Capital first invested in RBL Bank Ltd in 2010, when the private sector lender was led by former Bank of America managing director and chief executive Vishwavir Ahuja. Gaja Capital has since diluted its stake in RBL.

The starting point is a space and a management team," said Jain. For it to become a reality, we need to find something worth buyingan asset through which we can address the potential in the market. Additionally, we need to ensure that we can buy it at the right price."

Entrepreneurship on-ramp

Jain is clear on what he is looking for in potential entrepreneurs to build businesses alongside the private equity firm.

Professionals should be specialists in domains with a large addressable market and have successfully managed and scaled businesses. It is essential for such professionals to have the ability to source transactions. Some people claim to be vertical specialists but fail to identify viable targets," Jain added.

He is also looking for leaders who can build a core team to work with them on a new venture. If someone cannot attract people to work with them, it may indicate they are not effective at managing people," Jain said.

While Gajas cheque would come in later, its involvement would start much earlier, from refining the idea, identifying potential transactions, and negotiating the deal. Currently, along with conversations with professionals, Gaja is also looking to buy early-stage companies and accelerate their growth.

Its more capital efficient because if you are willing to buy a small asset, you have more purchasing power than if you were going after an asset that 100 investors want to buy," said Jain.

Also read | Wealthtech meets edtech: Serial entrepreneur Prashanth Ranganathan's new bet

According to Aakash Choubey, partner at law firm Khaitan & Co., private equity firms typically retain majority control of a company in such transactions. While management teams benefit from equity and other incentives, these can be subject to restrictions, he said. These conditions can limit the managements ability to sell shares, exercise full control, or explore other opportunities," Choubey added.

Founded in 2004, Mumbai-based Gaja Capital prefers to invest through buyouts and growth capital. It raised over $800 million across four funds, closing its latest fund at $400 million in 2023, according to media reports.

Gaja Capital has cumulative assets under management of $1 billion across four funds, including co-investments.

Jain declined to comment on an Economic Times report earlier this month that said Gaja Capital was contemplating an initial public offering and had appointed IIFL Securities to manage the issue.

Also read | No startups too small to IPO in a bull market
New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi on Monday approved the revamp of the Permanent Account Number system to introduce 'PAN 2.0', along with projects worth 22,847 crore in various domains including agriculture, railways, green energy, and education.

The cabinet also approved a proposal to waive bank guarantees that telecom service providers had submitted for spectrum auctions till 2022. The 'in-principle' approval is set to benefit Vodafone Idea the most, along with Bharti Airtel, which was to submit bank guarantees of nearly 24,700 crore and had sought a waiver.

PAN 2.0 is expected to cater to demands of businesses, focus on efficient grievance redressal, and provide better cybersecurity. Existing PAN card holders will not need to change anything or apply for new cards, Union minister of information and broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw said in his address to the media.

Also read | What is Pan 2.0? Government aims to launch fully paperless and online system "There will be a complete upgrade of the PAN system. The focus of the new PAN system will be on grievance redressal using a separate tech-driven grievance redressal system," said Vaishnaw, adding that this policy change is for ease of living for the middle class, and ease of doing business in the country.

The upgraded PAN 2.0 will focus on providing services for business-related activities using a Common Business Identifier, the minister said. This addition is to cater to the industry's demand for a single PAN identifier instead of multiple identity numbers, the minister said, adding that the new PAN cards issued under PAN 2.0 will have a QR code identifier also.

PAN data to be secure The expenses towards infrastructure of PAN 2.0 will be 1,435 crore, as per a government press release. He also clarified that the data of all PAN holders will be protected by the PAN data vault system as well as robust cybersecurity measures.

PAN helps to link all the transactions done by a person with the income tax department whether it is tax payments, credit for taxes deducted or collected at source (TDS/TCS) or the return of income. It is the cornerstone of the tax departments profiling of assessees.

The ten digit alpha numeric number issued by the department is compulsory for every transaction with the department. It is mandatory for several financial transactions such as opening of bank accounts, deposit of cash in bank account, opening of demat account, transaction of immovable properties and dealing in securities. PAN also serves as a photo identification accepted by all government and non-government institutions in the country.

Also read | Govt approves  10,700 cr equity infusion in FCI, launches PM Vidyalaxmi scheme PAN 2.0 is a technological upgrade to India's tax infrastructure. By digitizing and streamlining PAN card services, it provides for greater efficiency and ease of access for taxpayers. This initiative also aligns with the Digital India vision by promoting the use of PAN as a common identifier across government platforms, said Yeeshu Sehgal, head of Tax Markets at AKM Global, a tax and consulting firm.

The cabinet's announcement on Monday also included a formal introduction of the national mission on natural farming after a successful pilot run, as well as railway infrastructure projects to connect India's northern region of Uttar Pradesh-Bihar to Mumbai and other surrounding ports, and two new hydroelectricity generation projects in Arunachal Pradesh.

For natural farming The cabinet set aside 2,481 crore for the national mission on natural farming after successfully running a pilot project from 2019-2023 to cover 9 lakh hectares. The new mission is set to cover 1 crore farmers to allow them to use sustainable and chemical-free natural farming, minister Vaishnaw said.

The focus of this programme will also be knowledge-creation and resource building using agricultural research institutions, he said. The initiative would also train 30,000 Krishi Sakhislocal volunteersand providing undergraduate courses on natural farming.

Of the total outlay, 1,584 crore will be borne by the Centre, while 897 crore will be the share of states, with the scheme running until the end of the 15th Finance Commission period in 2025-26, the minister said. Natural farming practices under the mission aim to reduce input costs, rejuvenate soil health, and build resilience to climate risks such as waterlogging, floods, and droughts. By boosting soil carbon content, water-use efficiency, and biodiversity, the mission will promote sustainable farming while mitigating health risks from exposure to fertilisers and pesticides.

Also read | Government gives  35K-crore manufacturing, infra push with industrial cities The CCEA also outlayed 3,689 crore towards two hydroelectricity generation projects in Arunachal Pradesh to generate green energy. The two projectsHeo Hydro Electric Project and Tato-1 Hydro Electric Projectwill generate 240 megawatt (MW) and 186 MW power, respectively. The Heo Hydro Eelctricity Project will cost 1,939 crore, and the Tato-1 Hydro Electricity Project will cost 1,750 crore. The Tato-1 project will use tailwater from the Heo project, effectively using the same water twice, Vaishnaw said. Both projects will be executed by state-run North Eastern Electric Power Corp. Ltd (Neepco).

Three railway projects The CCEA also approved 7,927 crore for three railway infrastructure projects in the Purvanchal-Mumbai corridor to benefit the middle class, Vaishnaw said. The three projects are Manmad-Jalgaon 4th line spanning 160km, Bhusawal-Khanwa 3rd and 4th lines spanning 131 km, and Manikpur-Prayagraj 3rd line spanning 84km. These railway lines will benefit the movement of goods towards Mumbai and its surrounding ports and is likely to save 8 crore worth of diesel, as per Vaishnaw. The research for these projects employed the PM GatiShakti Portal extensively, Vaishnaw informed the media.

In the expenditure to promote education and innovation among youth, the CCEA approved spending 2,750 crore for the Atal Innovation Mission 2.0 and 6,000 crore towards securing top global journals for young students under the One Nation One Subscription scheme. The Atal Innovation Mission 2.0 will set up 2,500 new labs in northern and north-eastern frontiers which were previously not connected under the scheme. These will be in addition to the 10,000 labs already set up. Additionally, the second iteration of the scheme will train 5,500 individuals to maintain the innovation ecosystem, said Vaishnaw, adding that the government will also take efforts to procure from startups created under the scheme.
Launching the UN International Year of Co-operatives 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that there is a requirement of a collaborative financial model to ensure easy and transparent financing for co-operatives.

This is to pool financial resources to support small and financially weak co-operatives as India works towards making the country a developed nation by 2047.

This point is important as co-operatives play a huge role in the sugar, fertilizers, fisheries and milk production industries and cover almost 98% of rural India.

Underlining the need to decide the direction of the global co-operative movement in the 21st century, Modi said, "We will have to think of a collaborative financial model to ensure easy and transparent financing for cooperatives. He emphasized the importance of pooling financial resources to support small and financially weak co-operatives. Such shared financial platforms can play an essential role in funding large projects and providing loans to co-operatives.

Co-operatives can enhance the supply chain by participating in the procurement, production and distribution processes, he said.

International Co-operative Alliance Reiterating the need to create global financial institutions which can finance co-operatives across the world, Modi said that the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) plays a huge role, and it is imperative to move beyond this in the future. The current situation in the world presents a big opportunity for the co-operative movement.

Also read: PM Modi calls for constructive debates as winter session begins He pointed out the need to make co-operatives the flag-bearers of integrity and mutual respect in the world. For this, he added, there is need to innovate policies and strategize. Underscoring the importance of making co-operatives climate resilient, they should be connected to the circular economy and promote start-ups in co-operatives.

There are about 200,000 housing co-operative societies in India and 1.2 trillion is now deposited in co-operative banks across the country. "Our government has implemented several reforms to enhance the co-operative banking system, including bringing them under the purview of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and increasing deposit insurance coverage to 5 lakh per depositor," the PM stated. The expansion of greater competitiveness and transparency have helped position Indian co-operative banks as more secure and efficient financial institutions.

Co-operative help for developing countries According to Modi, co-operatives can help the countries of the Global South to achieve the kind of growth they need. Therefore, he said, Today it is necessary to innovate new ways for international collaboration of co-operatives and todays Global conference could be of great assistance.

The UN International Year of Cooperatives 2025, launched at the ICA global co-operative conference in New Delhi focuses on Co-operatives build a better world." It underscores the transformative role co-operatives play in promoting social inclusion, economic empowerment, and sustainable development. The UN SDGs recognize co-operatives as crucial drivers of sustainable development, particularly in reducing inequality, promoting decent work, and alleviating poverty. Next year will be a global initiative aimed at showcasing the power of co-operative enterprises in addressing the worlds most pressing challenges.
New Delhi: The ministry of consumer affairs has decided to disptach 150 tonnes of onions to Jammu and Kashmir to cool prices of the essential commodity, two people aware of the development said. The ministry has taken the initiative to lower skyrocketing prices of essential commodities by releasing bulk quantities into the markets.

Onion prices in Jammu and Kashmir range from 60 to 90 a kg. In other parts of the country, the prices vary from 50 to 70 a kg. Currently, the government sells subsidised onions at 35 per kg across the country.

"The onions destined for the Valley state will be transported through trucks, each with a carrying capacity of about 25 tonnes. These trucks will travel from Delhi to Srinagar," one person said, adding that the trucks will start moving next week.

We expect retail onion prices to stabilise after offloading bulk quantities in the Valley," the second person said.

The ministry holds a buffer stock of 470,000 tonnes of onions from the rabi crop and is distributing it to stabilise supply and prices.

Also Read | Govt plans to make onion transport by railways the norm to moderate prices In October, the ministry decided to make railways the main mode of transporting onions to key consumer markets in the country. The major onion-producing states are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.

Delhi received its fifth shipment of onions through the railways, with 720 tonnes arriving at Kishan Ganj railway station on 21 November. The fourth shipment of 840 tonnes reached Delhi on 17 November.

The first shipment of 1,600 tonnes, transported by the Kanda Express, arrived on 20 October. It was followed by the second shipment of 840 tonnes on 30 October and the third shipment of 730 tonnes on 12 November.

Sown area Onions have also been transported by trains to Guwahati and Chennai. On 23 October, 840 tonnes of onions had been dispatched from Nashik by rail, which arrived in Chennai on 26 October. A shipment of 840 tonnes of onions by rail arrived at Changsari station in Guwahati on 5 November and was distributed in various districts of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and other northeastern states.

This year, kharif onion was sown on 3.82 lakh hectares, 34% more than last years 2.85 lakh hectares, according to the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

Late kharif sowing is also on track, with 1.28 lakh hectares covered by early November. More kharif onions are reaching markets, along with increased release of buffer stocks and good progress in late kharif sowing, ensuring onions remain affordable for consumers," the second person said.

Also Read | Govt removes minimum export price for onions and basmati rice Onion prices started after the government scrapped the minimum export price of $550 per tonne on 13 September and halved the 40% export duty imposed on onion shipments.
(Bloomberg) -- OPEC has little scope to reverse its oil production cuts, which have triggered a wave of rival supply from the US shale industry, Irans representative to the group said.

This strategy in support of prices has effectively encouraged higher supply outside the group, particularly on the part of the US, Iranian OPEC governor Afshin Javan said of the curbs in an article on state-run news agency Shana. That would leave a limited room for maneuvering by OPEC to ease its restrictions.

The article, unusually critical of OPEC policy for one of the groups founding members, comes days before the producers meet to decide on plans for reviving halted supplies. Javan also wrote that some smaller African members, including Gabon and Congo, may quit the organization because they cant afford to pay membership fees.

OPEC , an alliance of OPEC nations such as Saudi Arabia and non-members led by Russia, is seeking to revive production halted since 2022, but has been forced to delay the restart amid faltering crude prices.

The planned supply increases by OPEC are likely to bring about oversupply in 2025, Javan cautioned.

Production cutbacks by the coalition over the past four years have financed a surge of US shale oil, which has climbed by 2 million barrels a day since 2020, he wrote. As governor, Javan assists the countrys oil minister, Mohsen Paknejad.

Bleak economic prospects in top consumer China are compounding the challenge for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners, Javan added.

In the current year, demand for OPECs crude oil is likely to decline, he wrote. His assessment is a stark contrast to projections from OPECs Vienna-based research department, which indicate a growing need for the groups output.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
ICSE, ISC exam date sheet 2025 released: The date sheet for ICSE (Class 10) and ISC (Class 12) board exams has been released by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, CISCE on Monday, November 25, 2024. The students who will appear for the examination can download the timetable from the official website at cisce.org.

The Class 10 or ICSE board examinations will commence from February 18 and conclude by March 27, 2025. Meanwhile, the Class 12 board examinations will start from February 13 with Environmental Science exam and will wrap up on April 5 with Art Paper, according to the official schedule.

The candidates who will appear for the upcoming Board exams in 2025 can now refer to the complete date sheet given below.

Also Read | JKSSB police constable exam admit card 2024 out at jkssb.nic.in

How to download ICSE, ISC exam date sheet? Given below are steps to access ICSE, ISC exam date sheet 2025

Step 1: Go to the official website at cisce.org

Step 2: On the homepage, click on the link to check date sheet for Class 10 or 12 as required.

Step 3: The ICSE, ISC date sheet 2025 will be displayed on the screen.

Step 4: Download the date sheet and take a printout for future reference.

Students must visit the official website of CISCE for more information.

In the official notifications, the Council informed that both ICSE and ISC results will be declared in May 2025. Other details related to exam day instructions, direction to candidates, use of unfair means during exams, rechecking of answer scripts and more, were also shared in the notice.
As the air quality slightly improved in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), schools in this region are preparing for resumption of physical classes after the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Monday night ordered that all classes upto standard 12 be conducted in hybrid mode.

State Govts in the NCR shall ensure that all classes upto 12th Standard are conducted in a Hybrid mode i.e., both in physical and also in an online, wherever online mode is feasible in the territorial jurisdiction of the NCT of Delhi and in the districts of Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar in the NCR," said the CAQM order.

The physical classes have been suspended in the Delhi-NCR  Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida, Greater Noida, and Ghaziabad  for more than a week now due to severe air pollution.

GRAP-IV rules The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to consider relaxing norms under Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)-IV for educational institutions, observing that many students could not get mid-day meals, attend online classes, or have access access to air purifiers.

Last week, GRAP-IV was imposed in the national capital after the Air Quality Index (AQI) crossed the 450 mark, and the apex court had said that the curbs can't be eased without its approval.

A bench of justices Abhay S Oka and AG Masih made it clear that it is leaving it to the Commission to decide to what extent the norms applicable in GRAP III and GRAP-IV as of today can be either relaxed or exceptions can be carved out.

Also Read | Can the World Unite to End the Plastic Pollution Crisis?

The Commission has been directed to make a decision on this issue by Monday or latest by Tuesday morning so that it can be implemented from Wednesday.

The matter is scheduled to come up before the top court again on November 28.

Delhi AQI Delhi's air quality improved to 'poor' on Monday, according to the latest CPCB data.

At 9 am, the national capital's Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 281, compared to 318 at 4 pm on Sunday, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.
Hours after the Supreme Court urged the air quality panel to consider reopening schools in Delhi-NCR citing unavailability of air purifiers and lack of mid-day meals, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Monday night ordered that all classes upto standard 12 be conducted in hybrid mode.

State Govts in the NCR shall ensure that all classes upto 12th Standard are conducted in a Hybrid mode i.e., both in physical and also in an online, wherever online mode is feasible in the territorial jurisdiction of the NCT of Delhi and in the districts of Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar in the NCR," said the CAQM order.

The air quality panel said that the option to exercise an online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians.

It further stated that the NCR state governments may also consider conducting classes in a hybrid mode as above in all other areas in NCR.

CAQM said that they have taken note of the factor that students of classes X and XII and the associated school authorities are most impacted by the GRAP Stage - IV restrictions, considering the Board examinations facing them and the various competitive exams which follow.

"These students are required to attend classes in a physical mode, considering the practical classes as also the practical examinations. Besides, the students are also required to attend extra classes / tutorials for the Board examinations."

Meanwhile, the Directorate of Education, Government of Delhi issued directions to heads of all government, government-aided, unaided recognised private schools of Directorate of Education, NDMC, MCD and Delhi Cantonment Board regarding conducting classes in hybrid mode for students of all classes with immediate effect till further orders.

The restrictions on physical classes of schools and colleges were imposed recently due to severe air pollution.
Maharashtra Election Result: Maharashtra Congress Chief Nana Patole on Monday rejected the reports of him stepping down as state Congress chief after the party's poor performance in Maharashtra assembly elections.

"I am going to meet Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, I have not given my resignation," Nana Patole told mediapersons on reports of his resignation as state Congress chief.

Also Read | Will RSS back Fadnavis as next Maharashtra CM? Know what THIS report says

In the 288 seat Maharashtra assembly, the state Congress unit led by Patole and the Maha Vikas Aghadi were routed by the BJP-led Mahayuti in the one-sided contest. Congress won just 16 seats despite contesting over 100 seats.

In fact, Patole managed to save his own seat by a thin margin.

He defeated nearest BJP rival Avinash Brahmankar in the Sakoli assembly constituency, but managed to win the contest by a narrow margin of 208 votes.

Patole polled 96,795 votes, while his challenger from the BJP came close to bagging 96,587 votes. Independent nominee Somadatta Karanjekar was a distant third, bagging 18,309 votes.

Meanwhile, Patole on Sunday said that the Congress will ensure the newly-elected Mahayuti government fulfils promises it made to the people of the state in its election manifesto and speeches.

Addressing a press conference, the Congress leader said the Mahayuti, which banked on the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme for its victory in the state election, should immediately fulfil its promise of raising the monthly allowance for women from 1,500 to 2,100.

The Mahayuti recorded a landslide victory, winning 230 out of 288 seats. The BJP bagged 132 seats, the Shiv Sena 57, and NCP 41 seats.

The MVA, on the other hand, managing to win just 46 seats together. The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) won 10 seats, Congress got 16, and Shiv Sena (UBT) 20 seats.
Maharashtra Election Result: Eknath Shinde is likely to resign as Maharashtra's chief minister tomorrow, November 26. However, the Shiv Sena (Shinde) chief will continue as the caretaker CM, according to reporters.

Shiv Sena insiders said that CM Eknath Shinde is expected to submit his resignation to the governor on Tuesday and remain as a caretaker CM until a new CM and cabinet is sworn in, according to a report in TOI.

Also Read | Will RSS back Fadnavis as next Maharashtra CM? Know what THIS report says

The oath-ceremony is likely to be held tomorrow, said Deepak Kesarkar, a senior minister from the Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena.

Mahayuti alliance scripted a historic victory by winning 235 seats in the 288-member house. The BJP led the Mahayuti's victory by winning 132 seats  the highest among all allies. Shinde Sena won 57 seats and Ajit Pawar-led NCP won 41 seats among other Mahayuti alliance partners.

Two days after the November 23 results, the alliance partners are having a key meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah in the national capital on Monday for picking the next chief minister.

Also Read | Will RSS back Fadnavis as next Maharashtra CM? Know what THIS report says

While Ajit Pawar's NCP is said to given support for Fadnavis, Sena MLA's are reportedly pitching for continuing Shinde as CM since the election was fought under his leadership.
The suspense continues on who will be the next chief minister of Maharashtra, two days after the ruling Mahayuti alliance scripted a historic victory in the assembly elections winning 235 seats in the 288-member house.

The result declared on November 23 has unleashed pressure on alliance partners to take a call on who will be the chief minister  incumbent chief minister Eknath Shinde or BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis.

The BJP, which led the Mahayuti's return by securing record 132 of its 235 seats, has so far maintained silence. But the saffron party is reportedly under pressure from its MLAs, who want the chief minister to be from the party. Many MLAs are learnt to have suggested the name of Devendra Fadnavis, currently the Deputy Chief Minister, for the top post.

Shinde Sena won 57 seats Apart from the BJP, the Mahayuti comprised Ajit Pawar-led NCP and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. The NCP bagged 41 seats while the Shinde Sena won 57 seats in the assembly polls.

A decision on the CM will be taken by party Central leaders and the BJP parliamentary board. There will be adequate consultation with alliance partners, Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule was quoted as saying in The Indian Express.

The MLA's in Eknath Shinde camp hope incumbent CM continues as CM. Mahayuti fought the Assembly election under the leadership of Eknath Shinde and achieved a historic mandate. So, the alliance should decide to continue with him as Chief Minister, a Shiv Sena leader was quoted as saying in media reports.

Mahayuti fought the Assembly election under the leadership of Eknath Shinde and achieved a historic mandate.

The NCP  the third alliance partner  appointed Ajit Pawar as its leader. The party indicated that it would have no objection to Fadnavis becoming CM.

In the 2019 assembly election, the BJP-Shiv Sena (undivided) won the majority. The alliance didn't last long as the Shiv Sena pulled out, unleashing political turmoil in the state. The state saw three different chief ministers in the last five years: BJPs Devendra Fadnavis, Shiv Senas (UBT) Uddhav Thackeray, and Shiv Senas (SHS) Eknath Shinde.
Maharashtra Election Result: Two days after the Mahayuti alliance scripted a historic victory in Maharashtra assembly elections, the suspense over the state's next chief minister continues. The Mahayuti alliance won 235 seats in the 288-member House.

The result declared on November 23 has unleashed a contest for the CM pick within alliance partners. It will either be Shiv Sena (Shinde) chief Eknath Shinde or Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis.

Also Read | Who will be next Maharashtra CM? Devendra Fadnavis or Eknath Shinde

Shinde is the incumbent chief minister. Fadnavis' BJP led the Mahayuti's victory by winning 132 seats  the highest among all allies. Shinde Sena won 57 seats and Ajit Pawar-led NCP won 41 seats in the election.

RSS backs Fadnavis Fadnavis is the most prominent BJP face in the state who enjoys the confidence of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological mentor of the BJP. He is also favoured by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,

The RSS is likely to back Fadnavis to become the chief minister of Maharashtra after the Mahayuti alliance's emphatic election victory. Not just because of his proximity to the RSS but also due to BJP's best-ever performance in the elections by emerging as the single-largest party.

The RSSs concern is that Maharashtra, with such a massive mandate now, should have an able administrator and visionary who can lead the state with a firm hand, Indian Express quoted an anonymous RSS leader in a report.

The BJP was reduced to nine seats from 23 that it won in 2019 Lok Sabha in Maharashtra. Fadnavis, who is considered close to the RSS, reportedly sought Sangh's help to counter the oppostion Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) narrative on caste census and save Constitution.

The RSS pitched in and got involved on ground in Maharashtra after the Lok Sabha debacle. The Sangh organised a conclave in Mumbai, which was attended by BJP leaders including Fadnavis. Overall, the RSS convened 60,000 small meetings in the state and mobilised the BJP voters to come out and vote.

Also, the RSS, through special 65 friendly organisations, launched a campaign called 'Sajag Raho' - be vigilant, be awake, bolstering BJP's push in the assembly polls and counter the opposition narrative.

The RSS support helped the BJP do well in Vidarbha and Marathawada regions of Maharashtra this election.
Leading China hawks in the U.S. House of Representatives are calling for a rethink on whether Hong Kong should continue to enjoy the cozy banking relationship it has with the U.S., saying the city is becoming a hub for money-laundering and sanctions evasion.

Hong Kong has turned into a major center for the export of controlled Western technology to Russia; the creation of front companies to buy Iranian oil; the managing of ghost ships" that serve North Korea, as well as other violations of U.S. trade controls, the bipartisan leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

The letter was signed by Rep. John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican who chairs the committee, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat who is the committees ranking member. The Wall Street Journal reviewed a draft of the letter, which is scheduled to be publicly released on Monday.

Hong Kong has shifted from a trusted global financial center to a critical player in the deepening authoritarian axis of the Peoples Republic of China, Iran, Russia and North Korea," the lawmakers said. We must now question whether longstanding U.S. policy towards Hong Kong, particularly towards its financial and banking sector, is appropriate."

The lawmakers cited research, for example, that shows that nearly 40% of goods shipped from Hong Kong to Russia in 2023 were high-priority items such as semiconductors that Russia could use to prosecute its war in Ukraine.

Both lawmakers have worked extensively in the past with President-elect Donald Trumps pick for secretary of state, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, on China-related issues, including efforts to force TikToks Chinese owners to sell the app.

A representative for Yellen didnt respond to a request for comment, nor did Hong Kongs trade office in New York.

The two lawmakers, whose committee focuses on competition with China and frequently makes bipartisan calls for a tougher approach to the country, asked Treasury for information on how it intends to combat money-laundering and sanctions evasion that use Hong Kongs financial system.

Hong Kong, which has a special status within China, has seen its role as a global financial hub increasingly come into question as Beijing has muscled the city closer into its orbit, driving an exodus of expatriates. U.S. officials in particular have condemned Hong Kong authorities crackdown on dissidents under a tough national security law, though many Western banks have continued to do some business there.

Last week, a court in Hong Kong sentenced dozens of pro-democracy advocates for what Communist Party leadership viewed as subversion under that law. The Biden administration has called for their immediate and unconditional release. The government of the Hong Kong special administrative region said attacks on the fair and open" sentencing are smears.

The same day, a Hong Kong government-sponsored financial summit played host to a number of global financial leaders, including Goldman Sachs Chairman David Solomon, Citi Chief Executive Jane Fraser and State Street CEO Ronald OHanley, according to a program of the event. Leaders from HSBC, BNP Paribas and other institutions also attended.

Banking leaders didnt publicly discuss the court proceedings on the summits panels. A spokesman for State Street confirmed OHanleys attendance. A spokeswoman for Citi declined to comment. Representatives for the other banks didnt respond to requests for comment.

Earlier this month, Moolenaar and Krishnamoorthi called on the Biden administration to sanction Hong Kong police, judges and prosecutors for their role in the arbitrary detentions of human-rights activists.

Rebecca Feng contributed to this article.

Write to Richard Vanderford at Richard.Vanderford@wsj.com
Bengaluru: Equinox India Developments Ltd, formerly Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd (IBREL), is looking to launch projects across top metros, with gross development value (GDV) in excess of 12,000 crore, after the firm was recapitalized earlier this year, a top company official said.

It has launched its maiden project in suburban Mumbai under the Embassy brand name.

We have upcoming residential launches lined up in H12025, across Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Bengaluru and Chennai. We have just launched our first project under the Embassy banner, which has received a good response, Sachin Shah, CEO and executive director, Equinox India, told Mint.

IBREL was renamed Equinox India when Bengaluru-based developer Embassy Group, global asset manager Blackstone Real Estate Fund, UK-based investment firm Baillie Gifford & Co. and other investors infused 3,911 crore into the company through a preferential allotment of shares.

Also read | Indiabulls Real Estate to raise  3,911 cr via preferential allotment Embassy Group, Blackstone and Baillie Gifford are now the three largest shareholders in Equinox.

Mumbai-based Equinox's first Embassy-branded projectEmbassy Oneis a residential development in Thane, with 186 apartments, each priced at 1 crore and above. Equinox has struck a trademark licence agreement with Embassy to use the latter's brand name.

Exciting launch We are excited with our new residential launch in Thane, the first under the Embassy banner. We have received good response to the product. We have upcoming project launches lined up across Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Bengaluru and Chennai, with gross development value in excess of 12,000 crore, Shah said.

In MMR, Equinox plans to launch premium housing projects in Worli, Juhu, and in Alibaug, a coastal town and a popular second-home market known for its high-end residences. The projects are currently in different stages of design and approval.

Also read | Blackstone, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority said to buy stake in Indiabulls

The Worli and Alibaug projects will be developed on land which Indiabulls owned. The Juhu land is owned by Embassy, and Equinox will do a development management agreement with the former, to develop the project.

Meanwhile, the much-awaited merger of Indiabulls Real Estate with Embassy Group is still to be approved by the National Company Law Apellate Tribunal (NCLAT). The deal has been in the making for five years now.

Judgement reserved In the most recent hearing of the matter on 13 November, the NCLAT reserved its judgment, said Shah.

We are waiting for NCLAT's decision, said Jitu Virwani, chairman and managing director of Embassy Group.

The launch of the Thane project marks the first residential project under the Embassy brand in Mumbai. The developer currently has office properties managed by Embassy REIT (real estate investment trust) in the city. In recent years, multiple developers from Bengaluru such as Prestige Group and Puravankara Ltd have entered Indias most valuable property market. Gurugram-based DLF Ltd is also set to launch its first project in Mumbai in the coming months.

Also read | Indiabulls Real Estate to challenge NCLT order withholding merger with Embassy MMR is a brand-conscious market, with a focus on quality. It is less price-sensitive than Bengaluru, and more end-user driven compared to NCR, said Anuj Puri, chairman of property advisory Anarock Group.
New Delhi: India's production sops programme which powered a 13 trillion manufacturing boom may not add any more sectors soon in the wake of slowing disbursements, two people aware of the matter said.

While the government had earlier considered extending the production-linked incentives (PLI) framework to new sectors such as toys, drones, and furniture, the pause on fresh additions will allow it to stabilize and optimize the existing framework, the people cited above said, requesting anonymity.

The textiles ministry, which had planned to add more product lines such as t-shirts and innerwear under the scheme, has suspended the plan, one of the two people cited above said. Earlier, Mint reported that the PLI scheme for shipping containers has been paused, after NITI Aayog said building them locally may turn out be too costly.

While the government disbursed nearly 10,000 crore in FY24 under various PLI schemes, disbursements this year remain under 1,000 crore, according to data from the department for promotion of industry and internal trade under the commerce ministry. Most claims this year are from manufacturers of electronics products, textiles, automobiles and white goods.

Disbursements have slowed because many manufacturers were unable to meet the stiff production targets to access the incentives, one of the two people cited above said.

Also read | Indias PLI Auto scheme sees modest start with 500 crore claims in FY24, industry anticipates surge by FY26

"The ceilings are so high that many manufacturing companies are struggling to meet the stipulated benchmarks, resulting in delayed claims and dampened enthusiasm for expanding the initiative further in the short term," the person cited above added.

Textiles companies making apparel out of manmade fiber must invest a minimum of 300 crore and achieve sales of at least 600 crore in FY25. The incentive range for this category is 11-15%. For technical textiles, the minimum investment is 100 crore, and sales target 200 crore, with 7-11% incentives. The scheme includes a two-year gestation period for investment before production begins in FY25. Companies must achieve incremental turnover of 25% over the previous year to continue receiving incentives.

For AC components, the minimum investment target is 150 crore for larger companies and 50 crore for smaller companies Y22. By the end of 2025-26, these targets increase to a cumulative 600 crore and 300 crore respectively. The sales target begins at 750 crore for larger companies and 250 crore for smaller companies in FY22, growing progressively to reach 2500 crore for larger companies and 1,125 crore for smaller companies by FY26. The incentives under the scheme range from 4% to 6% of the net incremental sales.

The PLI scheme, launched in 2021, aims to strengthen Indias manufacturing sector across 14 industries. By attracting investments, fostering efficiency and achieving economies of scale, the programme seeks to make Indian companies globally competitive and generate jobs, positioning India as a key player in global manufacturing.

Also read | Govt panel may approve 4,000 cr new PLI scheme for specialty steel next month

Indian manufacturing industry requires continued and wider government support for a few more years. As the world looks at China plus one policy, Indian manufacturing must scale up fast to benefit from this opportunity" said Ravi Saxena, chief executive officer and founder of Wonderchef, a cookware and kitchen appliances making company.

The component ecosystem needs to get developed. Without proper support genuine manufacturing growth won't happen. Instead, India risks relying on imported components, particularly from China, and engaging in basic assembly, which won't truly develop the sector," Saxena added.

The scheme covers mobile phones, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, automobiles, speciality steel, telecom, electronics, white goods, food products, textiles, solar PV modules, advanced batteries and drones, focusing on boosting high-tech and strategic industries.

While the focus is to strengthen and support PLI schemes across existing sectors, the government may tweak some of the schemes to make them more attractive, the second person added.

"The idea is to aid the existing schemes to generate good investments, before including new sectors. Sectoral reviews are being carried out to figure out why investments in certain sectors have been low and measures that can be taken to address them," the person added.

Also read | Budget 2024: Centre working on PLI scheme for manufacturing shipping-grade containers

A commerce ministry spokesperson didn't respond to emailed queries.

As things stand, sectors like electronics, drugs & pharmaceuticals, automobiles, and white goods have seen steady investments, while others have faced a slowdown.

The government launched the PLI scheme in 2021 with an outlay of 1.97 trillion. The FY25 budget raise the annual allocation by 33% to 6,200 crore, prioritizing subsidies for high-performing sectors like electronics and pharmaceuticals.

So far, investments under the PLI scheme have surpassed 1.5 trillion, driving production worth 13 trillion and creating over 100,000 jobs, according to government data.

According to the rating agency Crisil, the PLI scheme is expected to drive industrial capex of 3-3.5 trillion over its duration, apart from constituting about 8-10% of total capex in key industrial sectors over the next three to four years.

So far, the process of claiming incentive payouts has encountered challenges such as delayed approval of invoices, the rating agency said in a report in February.

"Sectors with a higher incentive-to-sales ratio and relatively straightforward rules for payouts, such as mobile handsets, may receive the majority of payouts by fiscal 2028 (FY28)," it added.

And read | FAME slows down, auto PLI in fast lane
Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltds shares have gained 9% since its September quarter results (Q2FY25) were released around mid-November. Consolidated gross margin expanded year-on-year, pushing Ebitda growth to 16.5%, ahead of 6% revenue growth.

This could be exciting for investors, coupled with the fact that Cromptons electric consumer durables (ECD) business saw double-digit revenue growth for the fifth straight quarter. ECD revenue rose by 12.5% in Q2 to 1,393 crore or 73% of consolidated revenue. This was led by 26% and 20% growth in appliances and pumps, respectively.

Also read: Indian stock markets get a band-aid, but chronic pain remains

The fans segment, ECDs largest revenue contributor, saw growth moderate to 5% after clocking far higher 16% growth in the June quarter. The non-ceiling fans portfolio did well in Q2. Also, launches in the premium segment such as Swirl, Aura and Santos led to a better premium mix.

Cromptons management pointed out that it has been hiking prices of fans regularly, but has observed that sometimes, particularly in Q2, that there has been a lag in several competitors undertaking price hikes.

Butterfly yet to take flight

Cromptons remaining revenue comes from the lighting and Butterfly businesses, each of which contributed 13% of Q2 revenue. Strong delivery in the business-to-customer (B2C) segment helped on-year revenue growth in lighting improve to 6% from 2% in the June quarter.

Kitchenware maker Butterfly is yet to see a marked recovery, with its business in the midst of a refresh. Butterfly revenue has fallen about 18% in each of the past two quarters. Similar to Q2, Cromptons consolidated profit growth was stronger than revenue growth in the first half of FY25.

We slightly cut FY25-27 estimated earnings per share (EPS) by about 2% in view of Butterflys weak performance," said Jefferies India in a 17 November report. Butterfly integration and synergies will be monitored, it added.

Also read: Froth clears from Bharat Forges valuation, but it lags on a crucial metric

Cromptons shares are 16% below their 52-week high of 484 on 2 September. The stock trades at 35.5 times estimated FY26 earnings, according to Bloomberg data. Nomura Research believes Butterfly can deliver a stronger FY26 with a premium product portfolio and a low base.

Price hikes and operating leverage should drive Ebitda margin from about 11% in FY24 to about 12.1% by FY27 (forecast), leading to a healthy 24% compound annual growth rate in EPS," said Nomuras analysts.

In the near term, Crompton is set to benefit from higher premiumisation and new product launches, while demand slowdown and delays in Butterfly synergies are key risks.

Also read: Supply delay drags Hindustan Aeronauticss near-term growth prospects
Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) said on Monday its board of directors has given in-principle approval to demerge the company's ice-cream business into a separate, listed entity.

The board has authorized HULs management to undertake preparatory steps required for the potential demerger of the ice-cream business, including the drawing up of the scheme of arrangement.

Subject to the necessary approvals and procedures to be followed in accordance with the applicable laws, it is proposed that the shareholders of HUL will receive shares in the new entity in proportion to their shareholding in HUL. The decision to demerge is subject to approval of the board and the shareholders to the scheme of demerger to be placed before the board early next year, the company said in an exchange filing.

The board considered different modes of separation of the ice-cream business and after due consideration, with a view to maximize value for all the shareholders, the board has accorded in-principle approval to demerge the business, India's largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company said.

The HUL stock closed 1.2% higher at 2,474.95 on the National Stock Exchange on Monday.

Globally, Unilevers ice-cream business operates five of the top 10 selling brands in the category, including Walls, Magnum, and Ben & Jerrys. The brands together delivered a turnover of 7.9 billion in 2023 for Unilever.

HUL's move follows its London-based parent Unilevers decision in March this year to separate its own ice-cream business in a bid to become a more focused company, operating four business groups across beauty and well-being, personal care, home care and nutrition. Meanwhile, in India, HULs ice-cream brands, which include Kwality Walls, Cornetto, and Magnum, accounted for less than 3% of its total revenue in FY23. HULs total revenue from operations in FY23 stood at 59,144 crore.

Earlier in September, the HUL board constituted a committee of independent directors to evaluate the prospects and way forward for the ice-cream business, pursuant to Unilevers decision to separate their ice-cream business.

Based on the recommendation of the independent committee, the board then announced the separation of the business in October 2024.

Ice-cream is a high-growth business with iconic brands such as Kwality Walls, Cornetto and Magnum, operating in an attractive category, and has mid to high single-digit profitability. The demerger of the ice cream business will create a leading listed ice-cream company in India, which will have a focused management with greater flexibility to deploy strategies suited to its distinctive business model and market dynamics, thus realising its full potential. Further, the business will continue to be equipped with the portfolio, brand and innovation expertise from the largest global ice-cream business, enabling it to keep winning in the marketplace, HUL said.

Analysts said the demerger will allow existing investors to have a stake in a pure-play ice-cream entity also which is a high-growth business15-20% CAGR potential, with 5-9% profit margins.

This will allow more flexibility and focussed management for the ice-creams business. Shareholders of HUL (leftover entity) can eventually look at a special dividend when and if HUL exits as an ice-cream listed entity. This will allow a smoother transition, said Abneesh Roy, executive director, Nuvama Institutional Equities.

Indias ice-cream market is set to cross $5 billion by FY25, according to a 2023 report by Wazir Advisors. The country's predominantly hot and humid climate contributes to demand for both ice-creams and cold beverages. Brands such as Amul, Naturals, Havmor, Mother Dairy, Vadilal, Nic, among others sell ice-creams in the market.
Penny stock: Shares of Gujarat Toolroom Limited, a Gujarat-based company, hit the 5 per cent upper circuit on Monday, November 25 after the company said it has successfully executed an order worth 31 crore for Reliance Industries.

This achievement marks another significant milestone in our collaboration with Reliance Industries, underscoring our capability to deliver high-quality projects within stipulated timelines, the company said in an exchange filing on Monday.

Gujarat Toolroom has now completed 60 crore worth of orders for Reliance Industries in the current financial year.

Gujarat Toolroom share price was trading in the green, up 4.99 per cent, at 13.26 apiece at 11:58 am on BSE. The company enjoys a market capitalisation of 212.35 crore. Meanwhile, Reliance Industries share price was up 2.49 per cent at 1297.50 at 12:14 pm.

Gujarat Toolroom expressed optimism about securing additional orders from Reliance in the coming months, which could further boost revenue and profitability.

These accomplishments highlight our companys unwavering commitment to excellence, innovation, and building long-term relationships with industry leaders, it added.

Gujarat Toolroom fundraise Earlier this year, in October, Gujarat Toolroom Limited raised 50 crore via a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) at an issue price of 11.50 per share. The offering saw strong participation from institutional investors, including Zeta Global Funds and Eminence Global Fund PCC Trade Fund.

In its exchange filing, the company stated, Gujarat Toolroom is delighted to announce the successful completion of its Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP), raising 50 crore through the issue and allotment of 4,34,78,260 equity shares at a price of 11.50 per share, including a premium of 10.50 per share. This represents a significant milestone in the Companys ongoing growth journey.

Zeta Global Funds (OEIC) PCC Ltd and Eminence Global Fund PCC Trade Fund 1 each subscribed to 2,17,39,130 equity shares, collectively accounting for 50% of the total allotment, according to a filing.

Other developments In addition, the company declared a 100 per cent dividend for the last quarter, showcasing its robust cash flow and consistent value delivery to shareholders.
Top Gainers and Losers Today : The Top Gainers And Losers Today: The Nifty index concluded trading at 23907.25, representing an increase of 1.32%. Throughout the day, the Nifty reached a high of 24351.55 and a low of 24135.45. The Sensex experienced fluctuations within the range of 80473.08 and 79765.99, ultimately closing at 79117.11, which reflects a 1.25% rise and is 992.74 points above the opening price.

The midcap index outperformed the Nifty 50, with the Nifty Midcap 50 closing 1.63% higher. Similarly, small-cap stocks also surpassed the Nifty 50, as evidenced by the Nifty Small Cap 100, which ended at 17755.55, marking an increase of 360.3 points or 2.03%.

The Nifty 50 has delivered the following returns:

- In the last 1 Week: 3.28%

- In the last 1 Month: 0.17%

- In the last 3 Months: -3.15%

- In the last 6 Months: 5.62%

- In the last 1 Year: 21.78%

Nifty Index Top Gainers and Losers Today

The leading gainers in the Nifty index included Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (up 5.01%), Larsen & Toubro (up 4.15%), Bharat Electronics (up 4.09%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 3.74%), and State Bank of India (up 3.48%). Conversely, the top losers in the Nifty index were JSW Steel (down 2.46%), Tech Mahindra (down 0.85%), Infosys (down 0.66%), Bajaj Auto (down 0.64%), and Asian Paints (down 0.51%). The Bank Nifty concluded at 51135.4, with an intraday high of 52331.1 and a low of 51774.05. The performance of the Bank Nifty over different periods is as follows:

- In the last 1 Week: 3.64%

- In the last 1 Month: 2.77%

- In the last 3 Months: 2.05%

- In the last 6 Months: 5.91%

- In the last 1 Year: 18.95%

Here is the list of stocks classified as top gainers and losers during the trading session on November 25, 2024:

Sensex:

Top Gainers: Larsen & Toubro (up 4.13%), State Bank of India (up 3.52%), HDFC Bank (up 2.21%), Wipro (up 1.99%), ICICI Bank (up 1.82%).

Top Losers: Tech Mahindra (down 0.79%), Asian Paints (down 0.74%), Infosys (down 0.73%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 0.49%), HCL Technologies (down 0.37%).

Nifty:

Top Gainers: Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (up 5.01%), Larsen & Toubro (up 4.15%), Bharat Electronics (up 4.09%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 3.74%), State Bank of India (up 3.48%).

Top Losers: JSW Steel (down 2.46%), Tech Mahindra (down 0.85%), Infosys (down 0.66%), Bajaj Auto (down 0.64%), Asian Paints (down 0.51%).

Nifty MidCap 50:

Top Gainers: Cummins India, Ashok Leyland, Vodafone Idea, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, PB Fintech.

Top Losers: Max Healthcare Institute, Alkem Laboratories, Suzlon Energy, Voltas, Yes Bank.

Nifty Small Cap 100:

Top Gainers: Central Bank of India, Titagarh Rail Systems, IRB Infrastructure Developers, Olectra Greentech, NBCC India.

Top Losers: Castrol India, National Aluminium Company, Redington India, R R Kabel, Equitas Small Finance Bank.

BSE:

Top Gainers: Central Bank of India (up 8.71%), Emami (up 8.47%), Sumitomo Chemical India (up 7.86%), IRB Infrastructure Developers (up 7.57%), Siemens (up 7.24%).

Top Losers: Adani Green Energy (down 8.05%), DCM Shriram (down 5.56%), Symphony (down 3.79%), Adani Energy Solutions (down 3.78%), Adani Power (down 3.02%).

NSE:

Top Gainers: Railtel Corporation of India (up 8.79%), Central Bank of India (up 8.39%), Sumitomo Chemical India (up 8.18%), Titagarh Rail Systems (up 7.71%), Jupiter Wagons (up 7.64%).

Top Losers: Adani Green Energy (down 7.89%), Vijaya Diagnostic Centre (down 5.30%), CRISIL (down 3.67%), Adani Energy Solutions (down 3.66%), Adani Power (down 3.00%).
Everyone must have heard that one should never average down a falling stock. If there is a turnaround in sight, betting on a revival may be worth considering. But if nothing happens, buying at lower levels is like investing in a dead business. The reason is that you generate returns if a stock goes up, not down.

Yet many do the opposite and buy stocks during prolonged downturns. Take, for example, Yes Bank, Suzlon Energy, and Syntex Plastics, where many investors tried catching the bottom. All they did was catch a falling knife. They kept averaging when the stock was in a long-term downtrend, correcting over 90% until the share price settled in low single digits.

The same story has played out with Vodafone Idea (Vi). The number of shareholders has increased from 2.2 million in December 2021 to 5.4 million as of September 2024, a jump of ~145%. (Note: Thats the growth in the number of shareholders, not the share price.)

So, now that everyone has been punting on its revival, the question to ask is whether it is worth the risk? I have tried connecting the dots in this story.

How Vodafone Idea lost its spark?

Trouble started in 2007 when Hutch was renamed Vodafone. At that time, there were more than ten telecom operators in India, including Airtel, BSNL, Aircel, and Tata Indicom.

Smartphones and 3G started taking root, leading to massive subscriber growth. However, due to intense competition, telecom companies engaged in an enormous price war, which pulled down the sector's average revenue per user (Arpu).

Falling Arpu between 2005-2011

View Full Image Source: Building rural telecoms, one rupee at a time (PWC)

Later, as Reliance Jio entered the industry in 2016, it triggered a fierce price war with free voice calls and inexpensive data. This caused the recharge value to take a significant beating, leading to further cuts in Arpu.

The industry went into consolidation, with many shutting down. Moreover, the Jio price war severely impacted existing companies Airtel, Vodafone, and Idea. Others, like BSNL and MTNL, were also severely affected.

Gross revenue trends

View Full Image Source: Vi investor presentation

With Jio in the driving seat, Airtel managed to fight it out. Vodafone and Idea merged in 2018 to form Vi (Vodafone Idea). At the time of the merger, Vi's net debt stood at 1.09 trillion, with net debt-to-Ebitda at 24x.

According to reports, the goal was to benefit from the merger synergy to the tune of 14,000 crore annually. The plan also aimed at operational efficiency and debt paring, which would have brought down the net debt-to-Ebitda to 8.6x.

However, the situation didnt go as planned, making things difficult for the company. The apex court 2019 ruling regarding the adjusted gross revenue" (AGR) calculation greatly affected it. Moreover, Vi had lost a market share of 19% after the merger.

According to reports, it was asked to cough up 58,300 crore as AGR dues. The companies were given 10 years until 2031 to clear their dues.

This, combined with continued subscriber churn and rock-bottom Arpu, left it with no capital to upgrade its network and introduce 5G. Vi tried to raise capital from investors but didnt materialize due to its cash flow issues.

As of September 2021, it had a debt of 1.95 trillion, including deferred spectrum payment obligations of 1.09 trillion, an AGR liability of 0.63 trillion, and financial institution dues worth 0.23 trillion. It was tough for Vi to remain a going concern.

However, in 2021, the government offered the industry a four-year moratorium. By then, Vi had already paid 7,850 crore of its dues.

To save the ailing company, in 2022, the government also converted the accrued interest on its debt worth 16,100 crore into equity at 10 per share, giving it a 23.1% stake (as of 19 July 2024). It has also recently raised 2,070 crore from a promoter entity through preferential issues.

View Full Image Source: Q2FY25 investor presentation

Vodafone Idea: Signs of a turnaround?

To support its revival, the company has planned a total of 45,000 crore in funding, including equity and debt. It aims to use the funds to repay some of its debt, pay vendors, expand its 4G network, and launch 5G services.

According to Mint, it raised 18,000 crore through an FPO in April this year. The FPO saw strong demand from foreign institutional investors like GQG, UBS, Fidelity, and Jupiter Fund. Motilal Oswal, HDFC Mutual Fund, and SBI General Insurance subscribed to the issue.

The shareholding of mutual funds increased from 2.06% as of Q4FY24 to 4.1% as of Q2FY25. On the other hand, the shareholding of foreign institutional investors (FIIs) rose from 1.97% to 12.69% during the same period.

Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla cited the fundraising as a fresh lease of life". He added, Vi will stage a smart comeback; this moment marks the beginning of Vi 2.0."

Is this a fresh lease of life for Vi?

Vi has raised a total of 24,000 crore through equity issuance, including 18,000 crore through FPO. Now that it has raised funds, Vi can compete better. These funds will help it expand its 4G coverage and roll out 5G.

It also aimed to raise 25,000 crore in debt by late November. However, this loan has yet to be completed. Lenders want clarity from the government on any relief on AGR dues of 70,320 crore (as of Q2FY25). They also want the bank guarantee to be waived.

This sudden twist came after the Supreme Court rejected Vi's plea to recalculate the AGR dues. This funding was vital to expanding its 4G coverage and rolling out 5G. It would have also increased its competitiveness, helping arrest increasing subscriber churn and increase Arpu.

Vi blended churn

View Full Image Source: Tijori Finance

The moratorium is expected to end in September 2025. After that, it will have to pay 27,000 crore in FY26. Further, the payment is expected to increase to 41,500 crore per year from FY27 to FY31.

Kotak Institutional Equities estimates a cash shortfall of 10,400 crore over FY25-27. After the moratorium ends in September 2025, the shortfall is expected to jump to a massive 74,000 crore during FY28-32.

This makes survival difficult without meaningful cash flow or government support. As of September 2024, it had a total outstanding dues of 2.05 trillion. The worst part is debt is not coming down.

Can recent price hikes save it?

The industry recently increased prices by 20% to 25% in Q2FY25. The consensus estimates Vi Arpu to increase to 171-180 by FY25 end from 156 in Q2 FY25.

View Full Image Increase in Arpu after recent tariff hikes

Moreover, as Airtel advocates, another price hike in FY26 will likely increase Vi's Arpu. However, Vi must stop losing subscribers to take full advantage of the price hikes. Even then, at least a 20-25% hike would not work for Vi.

Goldman Sachs says that to become Vi-free cash flow neutral, its Arpu will have to increase by 160% or 280. But it looks tough under the current scenario.

Falling number of subscribers

Macquarie estimates that even under optimistic conditions, such as a 20% immediate tariff hike followed by a 10% annual tariff increase without any subscriber loss, Vi would take over 20 years to generate enough revenue to repay its dues to the government organically.

This is especially true as its revenue market share plunged to an all-time low of 15% in Q1FY25. It also lost market share in 16 of the 22 circles in which it operates. As of June 2024, its customer market share stands at 18.6% (down from 34.6% in March 2017).

View Full Image Market share (as of June 2024) (Source: Q2FY25 investor presentation)

What about Vodafone Ideas financials?

Its revenue has been stagnant for the last four years. Its FY20 revenue was 44,900 crore, which stood at 42,600 crore at the end of FY2024. However, it has reduced its losses from 73,900 crore to 31,200 crore during the same period.

The good part is that it is Ebitda positive. Its Q2FY25 Ebitda stood at 4,550 crore, with a margin of 41.6%.

For more such analysis, read Profit Pulse.

However, it's already trading at a rich EV/Ebitda valuation of 15.9x, against its 10-year average of 14.3x. Its valuation is also high compared to Airtel's 12.7x. Its share price has also fallen 60% from its recent high.

View Full Image Vi share price

Are we staring at a Jio-Airtel duopoly?

With a subscriber base of ~220 million, Vi could fail, given its massive debt. If it indeed fails, it will be a devastating blow to the telecom sector, which will be pushed into a duopoly.

A duopoly is neither good for the industry nor the consumer. Therefore, one argument favouring Vodafone's Idea could be that the government would try to support and help the entity survive. But thats hardly a strong investment case for the company.

Having said that, BSNL is also expanding its 4G network and aiming to introduce 5G in 2025. It has recently gained subscribers after private telcos' price hikes.

Amassed with government funding worth 2.75 trillion, can BSNL rise from the ashes as Vi goes down?

Vodafone Idea-What happens next?

In a situation like this, to punt may not be the smartest decision. But then, who knows?

A totally unexpected developmentthink acquisition, full government bailout, massive new funding, or even a sharp uptick in revenues could suddenly make the situation look a lot better. And your punt could pay off. But then what are the chances of it happening? Thats what you need to factor in before betting on Vodafone Idea.

Meanwhile, for me, its a wait-and-watch situation at best, with too many unknowns.

Note: Throughout this article, we have relied on data from www.screener.in and Tijori Finance. Only in cases where the data was not available have we used an alternative, but widely used and accepted source of information.

The purpose of this article is only to share interesting charts, data points, and thought-provoking opinions. It is NOT a recommendation. If you wish to consider an investment, you are strongly advised to consult your advisor. This article is strictly for educative purposes only.

Madhvendra has been a passionate follower of the equity market for over seven years. He is a seasoned financial content writer. He loves reading and sharing his honest opinion about publicly listed Indian companies and macroeconomics.

Disclosure: The writer does not hold the stocks discussed in this article.
Shades of cinema We are taking really long to accept that we are the dark-brown people, says actor Mia Maelzer. And our industry at least should not be doing this weird thing. The weird thing Maelzer is referring to is the repeated casting of fair-skinned actors, especially women, in Tamil cinema. Colours of Kollywood: A Melanin Deficiency is a biting new documentary short, written and directed by Paro Salil, which investigates this phenomenon with the help of clips from popular films and talking heads that include famous practitioners like K. Hariharan but also activists and regular folk who dont see themselves represented in their own cinema. The double standard of plenty of dark-skinned male stars in Tamil film and hardly any female ones, as several of the interviewees point out. Watch it on the Neelam Social channel on YouTube. Uday Bhatia

The power of imagination In a water-locked village, Chairman Amin has banned TV, computers and mobile phones. He says they are haram and calls them sinful devices invented by the West to trap everyone. Then Kumar babu gets a television set, and Amin has no counterargument when the schoolteacher points out that his religion does not forbid him from watching TV. Streaming on Hoichoi, Television is a 2012 Bangladeshi film by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki. It is beautifully framed, juxtaposing lush greenery with men clad in colourful lungis and shirts. There is a scene where Kumar and his family are watching TV, and neighbours are peering inside from windows on both sides of the room. A love triangle adds a touch of lightness to this social satire. Farooki was recently appointed an adviser to the interim government of Bangladesh.Nipa Charagi

Also read: I Want To Talk review: Living on a thin line Windows of pearl A few months ago, on walking tour of Saligao, I came across oyster shells slotted into the windows of beautiful old Portuguese-style homes. Long before glass was easily available in India, these little translucent shells from the inside of oysters were used to create windows that filtered in light and maintained privacy. Most of these 200-300-year-old homes are empty, but the windows are like little works of art with the ovals of shiny mother of pearl or nacre still intact in crumbling frames. Use of these shells is banned as the oysters are dwindling. With the houses abandoned and waiting for buyerssince most of their owners live abroad, my guide Adolphina of Soul Travelling saidits likely these windows of art have a short life. Shalini Umachandran
Of all daily tasks, only a few contribute to true productivity. The majority of our workload is filled with routine, repetitive tasks that become exhausting over time. These mundane activities, like applying for leave, submitting reports or assigning tasks, sap energy and distract from more important and strategic work, and consume valuable time, leaving employees feeling drained and less focused on what really matters.

Workflow redesign, enhanced by AI, eliminates or automates rote tasks, streamlining operations and freeing employees to focus on higher-value work.

To fully harness this human-AI synergy, its essential to understand what workflows entail.

Also read: Why cultural intelligence matters at work

What Are Workflows?

Workflows are structured sequences of tasks designed to achieve a specific goal, ensuring smooth and efficient operation of various organisational processes. These workflows can range from simple approval systems to complex, multi-departmental processes. There are several types of workflows. Here are some of them:

Sequential workflow: A linear process where tasks are completed in a set order. An example is an employee onboarding process, where each step, from document submission to team introductions, must happen one after the other.

Parallel workflows: Tasks that can be performed simultaneously, such as handling different facets of a project by separate teams working at the same time.

Rules-based workflows: These are conditional workflows, triggered by certain criteria, such as an automatic email being sent when a task is completed.

Collaborative workflows with AI agents: AI agents work alongside human employees to make decisions and complete tasks. They assess situations, communicate with each other, and collaborate with team members to ensure smooth task execution and end to end process completion.

The role of AI

One of the most significant benefits AI offers is its ability to automate tasks that currently bog down employees.

This level of automation doesnt just save time, it improves accuracy, ensures compliance, and enhances overall employee satisfaction. Lets take a common workplace scenario to understand this in action.

Consider the traditional leave application process: Navigating a leave management system, selecting dates, providing reasons, and emailing a manager. The manager then approves, assigns coverage, and updates project timelines. With AI, instead of juggling multiple systems, the employee could simply state, I would like to apply for leave from (date) to (date) for (reason)." AI understands the request and automates each stepchecking leave balances, sending approval requests, assigning tasks to a colleague, updating the employees status, and securing final approvalall in a single, seamless interaction.

AI agents are intelligent systems that perform tasks while interacting with humans and other AI systems. For instance, in Accounts Payable, these agents can analyse cash flow trends and collaborate with other AI agents to generate predictive analytics. They also facilitate n-way matching (a technique that designates matching between multiple types of files) by comparing purchase orders, invoices, and receiving reports for validation. By flagging discrepancies for human review, this collaborative approach streamlines operations and enables quicker, data-driven decisions.

Enhancing Productivity

AIs role in workflow automation goes beyond efficiencyit also directly impacts employee well-being. AI-automated workflows contribute to a healthier work-life balance by reducing the mental load associated with routine processes.

For example, in HR workflows, AI can automate the entire onboarding process, from generating offer letters to setting up new hires in internal systems and arranging training schedules. This automation frees HR professionals to focus on employee engagement and talent development, fostering a more supportive and growth-oriented work culture.

AIs ability to automate and optimise workflows is transforming the way businesses operate. By taking over the mundane, repetitive tasks that consume so much of employees time, AI allows teams to focus on what truly mattersstrategic initiatives, creative problem-solving, and personal growth.

Sanjeev Menon is the co-founder and head of product and tech at E42.

Write to lounge@livemint.com
From entry-level cards with a paltry 1,000 joining fee to Amex Centurion, the most expensive card in India right now, American Express offers an enviable variety of credit cards. In between, it offers highly rewarding, travel-focused cards and premium cards with lifestyle benefits for the rich.

But with heavyweights such as HDFC Infinia, Axis Atlas and Axis Magnus Burgundy serving up stiff competition, do you really need an Amex card?

Ashwin, a credit card enthusiast who tweets as @drgrudge, said given how elusive Infinia and Magnus Burgundy are, credit card users could consider getting an Amex card. Both Infinia and Magnus Burgundy are hard to get. HDFC bank doesnt give Infinia easily, whereas Magnus Burgundy requires you to maintain a 30 lakh fixed deposit or 10 lakh savings account balance with Axis Bank. Moreover, only high spenders can get meaningful rewards on these cards. In comparison, Amex cards are easily accessible and, in my opinion, more rewarding at lower spending levels," he said.

"HDFC bank doesnt give Infinia easily, whereas Magnus Burgundy requires you to maintain a  30 lakh fixed deposit or  10 lakh savings account balance."

Sumanta Mandal, founder of TechnoFino, a platform specialising in credit card reviews, agreed. The base reward rate of both Infinia at 3.33% and Magnus Burgundy at 4.8% works out lower than those of Amex cards," he said.

View Full Image Graphic: Pranay Bhardwaj

What does Amex offer?

Amex credit cards are most rewarding for miles transfers and lifestyle benefits in the super-premium category, which includes cards such as Amex Platinum Charge and Centurion. Amex doesnt offer any cashback credit cards.

Both Mandal and Ashwin advised those keen on travel rewards to consider three cards  Platinum Travel, MRCC and Gold Charge. MRCC and Gold Charge are entry-level cards with joining a fee of 1,180 and an annual fee 5,310 from the second year onwards. Both these fees include 18% GST.

These cards earn you two Membership Rewards (MR) points for every 100 you spend. However, for both MRCC and Gold charge, the main rewards come in the form of bonus points for certain monthly spends. On MRCC, you get 1,000 points each month for making four transactions of 1,500 each. You can earn an additional 1,000 points each month by spending at least 20,000.

Also read: Advisor Alpha  How financial advisors can truly add value

Similarly, on Gold Charge, six payments of 1,000 each earn you 1,000 bonus points. One can easily spend 6,000 every month just on utilities, so these milestones can be completed by buying vouchers or on wallet loads. You earn 13,440 points annually just by spending 6,000 each month from any of these two cards," said Mandal.

For Gold charge, you dont need to buy Amazon Pay vouchers to pay bills as the card earns you rewards on utilities, fuel, insurance and other categories that are exempted on MRCC. Note that Amex doesnt allow a minimum payment due option on its Charge cards.

With Amex Platinum Travel, the reward rate is the same at 2 MR points for every 100 spent. With this card too, the main benefits come from two milestone benefits. On spending 1.9 lakh during the year, you get a bonus of 15,000 MR points, and on spending 4 lakh, you get 25,000 MR points and Taj vouchers worth 10,000. Essentially, on spending 4 lakh a year you earn 48,000 MR points. Amex Platinum travel is a mid-level card with joining fee of 4,130 and an annual renewal fee of 5,900.

With all three cards you get a welcome bonus that helps you recoup the joining fee. However, there are no rewards to help recoup the annual fee, though the fee may be waived on spending 2 lakh in a year on Gold Charge and MRCC, and 7 lakh on Platinum Travel. However, there is no official waiver condition so you need to call Amex support and ask for it.

Marriott the most rewarding transfer

American Express has nine transfer partners  two hotels and seven airlines. Mandal said transferring Amex MR points to Marriott Bonvoy offers the best value.

The transfer rate is 1:1, which is better than that of the other transfer partners, which allow transfers at a 2 MR points:1 airmiles ratio. If you compare this to other banks credit card transfer programmes, the transfer ratio to airlines is better than Marriott, so it makes sense to use Amex MR points for Marriott points and reward points from other credit cards for airlines," he said.

"It makes sense to use Amex MR points for Marriott points and reward points from other credit cards for airlines."

On transferring to Marriott, the value of one MR point can vary from 0.5 to 1. At 0.50 per MR point, the MRCC card earns 6.3% rewards on annual spends of 2.4 lakh, whereas Gold Charge earns a 9.3% reward rate on 72,000 annual spends. Both these annual spending amounts are the milestone limits that earn you bonus rewards.

The alternative is to buy Taj vouchers that get you 0.50 per MR point. So, for the Platinum Travel card, the 48,000 MR points earned on spending 4 lakh become 24,000 and on adding the bonus 10,000 Taj voucher, you get a 8.5% reward rate on spending 4 lakh.

Also read | Health insurance with no premium hikes: Should you buy such plans?

HDFC Infinia yields a high reward rate only when you transact on its Smartbuy platform. In comparison, Amex cards offer a much higher reward rate," said Ashwin. Smartbuy is HDFC banks online platform that can be used to book flights or buy vouchers using the banks credit cards. However, this doesnt mean users should not get Infinia if they are getting Amex. The former offers better airmiles transfer compared to Amex. The two cards offer different types of rewards and users should use both," he added.

Other than airmiles transfers, MR points can also be used to get vouchers from Flipkart or other e-commerce platforms and to adjust against credit card bills. However, the reward rate is much lower on these redemptions.

The big downsides of Amex

An Amex credit card cant be the only credit card you use. This is because Amexs acceptability for point-of-sale payments is a major issue. Acceptability of Amex cards for offline transactions is on the lower side compared to industry standards. This is true both in India and abroad," said Ashwin.

Mandal added the problem is worse with smaller merchants, who refuse to accept Amex Cards as it charges a higher merchant discount rate (MDR) than other card networks.

Also read | Indias insurance reforms: A bold transformation, but not without challenges

Responding to Mints queries on this, Anurag Gupta, VP and head of global merchant & network services at American Express India said, Our merchant pricing is designed to reflect the unique value we bring to our partners, including access to high-spending card members, secure and reliable payment processing, data-driven insights to support informed business decisions, and world-class customer service."

He added that American Express has more than tripled the number of locations that accept its cards since the launch of the company's International Coverage Strategy in 2017. In 2023 alone, we added over a million new merchant locations in India. Our efforts have been focused on expanding acceptance in everyday categories where our card members live, work, and travel most, such as retail, dining, travel, gas stations, and health & wellness," Gupta said.

Ashwin said the other issue with Amex is that it mainly services customers in tier-1 cities, so people in smaller cities find it difficult to get a card. While I would say a credit card portfolio cant be complete without an Amex card, its not a complete no-brainer because of these two major issues," he said.

"Acceptability of Amex cards for offline transactions is on the lower side compared to industry standards."
By Melanie Burton

MELBOURNE, Nov 25 (Reuters) - A lithium technology startup backed by Rio Tinto expects to finalise a funding round in the next week to raise A$29 million ($19 million), even as the global lithium market struggles, its Melbourne-based CEO told Reuters.

ElectraLith is developing a filtration technology that can extract lithium from brine deposits without using water or chemicals, which would be key in arid areas like Chile's Atacama desert, and needs only small amounts of energy.

"The lithium market is not great, venture capital markets arent great, (so) the fact we are about to close this round with an oversubscribed investor base ... for us thats fantastic," CEO Charlie McGill told Reuters.

Several companies, including Exxon Mobil, are competing to commercialise their own direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies in an industry that is expected to grow to more than $10 billion in annual revenue within the next decade.

DLE is expected to reshape the lithium market by speeding the production process of the metal used in EV batteries and electronics to hours or days, compared with months or longer with large evaporation ponds and open pit mines.

ElectraLith's DLE-R process, for which the company holds commercialisation rights, filters brine through two membranes that extract lithium and turn it into lithium hydroxide, before injecting the remaining brine back into the aquifer.

The group is working on how to scale the membrane for large projects while maintaining its properties, McGill said, and retains all commercial rights.

ElectraLith plans to use funds raised to build its first pilot plant at Rio Tintos Rincon operations in Argentina, he said, adding the project is about a year from being ready to pilot.

Two more pilot plants are set to follow. The firm is currently owned by venture capital firm IP Group, Rio Tinto and Monash University, where its membrane technology was developed under Professor Huanting Wang.

By producing lithium hydroxide without water or chemicals, ElectraLith says it can compete at around half the cost of rivals, McGill said.

"The availability of water in the regions where there are lithium mines is a major problem," he said.

In Utah, where it is working on a project with Australia-listed Mandrake Resources, water from the Colorado River basin has to flow to Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

"You cant get a water permit," McGill said.

"So we show up and we are like, 'We dont need water.'"
THE SENSE that the COP29 climate talks were outstaying their welcome in Baku was tangible through growing absences. Over the 30 hours between the scheduled end on Friday November 22nd and the final gavel in the early hours of Sunday morning first food, then water, then toilet paper ran out; finally fire extinguishers were slowly removed. A few dozen countries walked out, toobut they came back in time for a conclusion which, if far from inspiring, was at least better than the total breakdown that threatened.

The main purpose of the meeting was to put to bed a couple of issues left over from COPs past. In 2015, the Paris agreement struck at COP21 said the UN system needed new rules for trading carbon credits. In 2021 in Glasgow the attendees committed themselves to a New Collective Quantified Goal" for climate finance that would go beyond Pariss $100bn a year from north to south.

When it came to the first goal, called for by the Paris agreement, the COP approved rules that will let countries identify and authorise carbon credits (specifically Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes) that can then be traded. But the timelines involved are not well defined, the transparency such systems need is not assured and countries that do things badly will not necessarily face consequences beyond having the fact pointed out.

The conference also set up an offputtingly complicated system for trading other credits as part of the Paris agreement. It includes a 5% levy on such trades that would be put to adaptation projects in developing countries. It also includes new safeguards for indigenous people. But some useful parts of previous drafts were cut, such as one meant to ensure that carbon removed from the atmosphere is locked away for centuries, if not forever.

As for climate finance, all agreed that $100bn is not enough. The most frequently cited estimate of what it would cost for developing countries (excluding China) to both end their use of fossil fuels and adapt to climate change comes from Amar Bhattacharya, Vera Songwe and Nicholas Stern of the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance. The three economists see a need for investments of $2.3-2.5trn a year by 2030, rising to $3.1-3.5trn by 2035. Of that, they think, first $1trn and then $1.3trn will have to come from private and public sources beyond those countries.

The latter figure worked its way into the final decision, which calls on"a fairly weak encouragement, in UN-speakparties to try and increase all forms of climate funding to meet it. Somewhat more forcefully, the document decides to set a goalof at least $300bn per year by 2035" for finance to developing countries, a number that applies to public and private money and to money from development banks. It does not explicitly say that this money should come from what the system treats as developed countries; it separately encourages" countries in the global south to help each other.

Rich countries say the $300bn will do the vital work of unlocking the private money required to reach the larger goal by making borrowing cheaper and reducing some of the risks that make investors wary. It is in line with, though less than, the amount which the expert group says is necessary to that end: Dr Bhattacharya and his colleagues put the need at $300bn a year by 2030, and $390bn a year five years later. Wopke Hoekstra, the EUs climate commissioner, spoke of it ushering in a new era for climate finance".

Poor countries were less impressed. They say that the amounts they need are much greater than those under discussion and that the degree to which the new money will encourage other investment is greatly overstated. Chandni Raina, the Indian negotiator, railed at the final plenary against both the manner in which the text on finance had been pushed throughagainst Indias strenuous objectionsand the paltry sum" it contained. Some bristled at the idea that contributions from countries like China could count towards the total, which they see as an attempt by the richest countries to wriggle off the hook. In the end, though, the agreement on the table was better than none at all, and nothing better seems in prospect over the years ahead.

In the end, the difference between a $300bn and a $390bn goal is small compared with how quickly the goal is reached and how efficiently the money is spent. (The previous $100bn goal took more than a decade to be met.) It is now up to all countries to manage the tricky task of integrating climate goals into their economic planning.

This is a huge task, especially for the countries with the shallowest pockets. These are also often those with the greatest need for measures to cope with hotter temperatures and more extreme weather. These are the areas where rich countries and multilateral development banks can do the most good, and where they should concentrate on channelling their funds. Shortly before dawn in Baku on Sunday Tina Stege, the Marshall Islands climate envoy, addressed an exhausted audience. We are leaving with a small portion of the funding climate-vulnerable countries urgently need," she said. It isnt nearly enough. But its a start."

 2024, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com
Constitution Day of India, also known as Samvidhan Divas, is observed annually on November 26. It marks the adoption of the Indian Constitution in 1949 by the Constituent Assembly.

The Constitution came into effect on 26 January 1950, establishing India as a sovereign, democratic republic.

The day celebrates the values of justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity enshrined in the Constitution. Dr BR Ambedkar, the Chairman of the Drafting Committee, is widely revered as the chief architect of the Constitution.

Also Read | The supremacy of Indias Constitution is the foundation of our democracy

Officially declared in 2015, Constitution Day marks the adoption of the Indian Constitution on 26 November 1949.

Significance of Constitution Day Constitution Day honours Dr BR Ambedkar and promotes awareness of constitutional values, rights, and duties.

The day underscores the importance of justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity, fostering national unity. It is a day to reflect on the transformative journey of the nation and reaffirm commitment to the principles that bind the diverse fabric of India.

Constitution Day also reinforces democratic ideals, encouraging active civic participation and responsibility. It serves as a reminder of India's commitment to building a progressive, inclusive, and equitable society for all citizens.

History of the Indian Constitution Indias struggle for independence highlighted the need for a governing framework to ensure justice, equality, and liberty for all citizens. Therefore, the Government of India Act, 1935 served as a foundation for India's governance but lacked provisions for a sovereign democratic republic.

The Constituent Assembly was formed in December 1946 through elections held under the Cabinet Mission Plan.

It had 389 members, including prominent leaders like Dr BR Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Sardar Patel. After Partition, the membership was reduced to 299. The Assembly met for the first time on 9 December 1946 and was presided over by Dr Rajendra Prasad as its chairman.

Also Read | JGU and IIT Madras Collaborate to Design Advanced Robot Tour Guide for Indias First Constitution Museum

The Drafting Committee, led by Dr BR Ambedkar, was tasked with preparing the draft. The draft was deliberated over in 11 sessions spanning 2 years, 11 months, and 18 days.

On 26 November 1949, the Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution, which came into effect on January 26, 1950, marking Indias transition to a democratic republic.

It is the longest written constitution in the world, with 395 Articles and 8 Schedules at its inception (later amended).

The Indian Constitution is a unique blend of rigidity and flexibility, drawing inspiration from various global constitutions. It reflects the vision of a progressive, inclusive India, safeguarding the rights of its citizens while emphasizing their duties.

Also Read | One Nation One Election needs major Constitutional amendments: Explained

Inspirational quotes The Constitution is not a mere lawyer's document; it is a vehicle of life, and its spirit is always the spirit of age.  Dr BR Ambedkar

We are Indians, firstly and lastly.  Dr BR Ambedkar

The spirit of the Constitution is to provide equality of status and opportunity to every citizen.  Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

"Liberty, equality, and fraternity are not to be treated as separate items in a trinity. They form a union of trinity in the sense that to divorce one from the other is to defeat the very purpose of democracy.  Dr BR Ambedkar

A Constitution is not merely a document in black and white. It is a living document that evolves with the nation.  Justice PN Bhagwati

Democracy is not merely a form of government. It is primarily a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience.  Dr BR Ambedkar

The greatness of a nation lies in its fidelity to its Constitution and its adherence to the rule of law.  Pranab Mukherjee

The sanctity of the Constitution lies in its ability to balance rights and responsibilities.  Unknown

The Constitution gives us the freedom to dream big and work towards achieving those dreams.  Narendra Modi

The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object.  Dr Rajendra Prasad

Meaningful ways to celebrate Constitution Day Reading the Preamble: Begin the day by collectively reading the Preamble of the Indian Constitution in schools, colleges, offices, or public gatherings to reaffirm commitment to its principles.

Educational Programs: Organize debates, quizzes, essay competitions, and lectures focusing on the significance of the Constitution, its history, and its impact on modern India.

Awareness Campaigns: Spread awareness about fundamental rights and duties through workshops, posters, or social media campaigns.

Constitution-Themed Cultural Activities: Arrange skits, plays, or poetry recitals centered on constitutional themes such as equality, justice, and freedom.
A married businessman allegedly stabbed his live-in partner in Haryana's Sonipat and set her body on fire. In a bid to make it appear like a fire accident, he set fire to his house too. The police arrested the accused, Upkar, on Sunday, and said he killed the woman, Sarita, over a domestic dispute.

Sarita was Upkar's schoolmate. After separating from her husband, Sarita lived with Upkar for six years.

On October 25, Upkar killed Sarita in Rishi Colony in the Civil Lines area and set fire to the house to mask the crime as a fire accident, the police said.

Also Read | Israel says Rabbi Zvi Kogan murdered in anti-Semitic attack in UAE

"Upkar's wife was aware of his live-in relationship, while Sarita had divorced her husband, whom she married in 2004. Both of them were living as 'husband-wife' for six years," said Manish Kumar, Crime Unit, Ganaur.

Upkar, from Vishnu Nagar in Yamunanagar, was apprehended by the police when the forensic analysis of Sarita's body, who hailed from Zirakpur, Punjab, and taught at a local college, indicated the murder was a clear case of stabbing. The body was set afire after that.

Also Read | 3 killed as violent protests erupt over mosque survey in UPs Sambhal

A court has granted the police two days of custody of Upkar. He will be interrogated and taken to the crime scene, an investigating official said.

The crime was unravelled after Sarita's brother, Trishla from Punjab, lodged a complaint at the Civil Lines police station in Sonipat.

Forensic analysis indicated she was murdered by stabbing prior to being burned.

In his complaint, Trishla said Sarita had divorced her husband, Kapil, with whom she had a daughter, and started living with Upkar in Sonipat in 2018. They often had disputes. He alleged that Sarita had told him that Upkar had called her on October 20 and demanded money.

Also Read | Delhi cop murdered in Govindpuri, suspect killed in encounter

On October 25, Trishla said, he received a phone call from his sister who said that Upkar was trying to strangulate her, but the phone went silent soon after. Later that day, he received information that Sarita's house caught fire, and she died in the blaze.
The autopsy reports of three of the six individuals killed in Manipur's Jiribam district by suspected Kuki militants revealed multiple bullet wounds and lacerations on different parts of their bodies, officials confirmed on Sunday.

The report of three-year-old Chingkheinganba Singh showed that his right eye was missing and he had a bullet wound in the skull, they said, as reported by PTI.

The report also noted cut wounds, fractures in the chest, and lacerations on the forearm and other parts of his body. Signed on November 17, the report indicated that the child's body was in a "state of decomposition", they added.

The report said the cause of death would be pending until the receipt of the chemical analysis report of viscera from the Directorate of Forensic Sciences in Guwahati, officials said.

Meanwhile, the post-mortem examinations were conducted at the Silchar Medical College Hospital (SMCH) in Assam's Cachar district.

The report also detailed the injuries sustained by his mother, L Heitonbi Devi (25), who had "three bullet wounds in the chest and one in the buttock", officials said.

According to the report, her body was brought to SMCH on November 18, around seven days after her death, they said.

The child's grandmother, Y Rani Devi (60), suffered five bullet wounds -- one in the skull, two in the chest, one in the abdomen, and one in an arm, officials said.

Her body was brought to SMCH on November 17, at least three to five days after her death, the report noted.

The autopsy reports revealed deep lacerations on several parts of the bodies of the two women who were killed in the attack. The cause of death for Rani Devi is still undetermined, pending the chemical analysis report of the viscera, officials said.

The post-mortem reports for one more woman and two children are also still awaited.

The six individuals, all from the Meitei community, had gone missing from a relief camp in Jiribam after a gunfight on November 11 between security forces and suspected Kuki-Zo militants, which resulted in the deaths of 10 insurgents. Their bodies were later found in the Jiri river in Jiribam district and the nearby Barak river in Assam's Cachar over the following days.
New Delhi: The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) on Monday recommended audit standards for limited liability partnerships (LLPs), although the accounting and auditing self-regulator Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) expressed reservations about some of the proposals, the ministry of corporate affairs said in a statement.

The ministry said in the statement about NFRA's Monday meeting that these standards will be effective from 1 April 2026 upon the Union government's approval.

The proposed standards are similar to those already recommended by NFRA for companies. NFRA had earlier this month recommended revised audit standards for companies to be notified, with changes to some of the standards issued by ICAI, despite objections from the accountants' body to some of the changes, Mint reported on 12 November.

Also read | NFRAs revised norms could lead to audit market concentration: ICAI ICAIs concern is that the proposed revisions in the audit standard for consolidated financial statements of business groups could lead to concentration of the audit market around big audit firms at the expense of other auditors, Mint reported on 14 November. Audit concentration refers to a big chunk of the audit market going to the top audit firms, a trend seen in economies like the US and the UK.

NFRA, formed in 2018, has taken the lead in revising the audit standards and getting them notified as government rules under the Companies Act, a requirement that was written into the law in 2013.

The new Companies Act of 2013 requires audit standards of ICAI to be notified as governments rules in consultation with and after recommendations by NFRA.

Forty auditing standards The ministry said that NFRA on Monday decided to recommend the 40 auditing standards and related standards on quality control, which were finalised by NFRA at its two-day meeting earlier this month for audit of companies, to be applicable to audit of LLPs too, with the needed changes.

NFRA has a 12-member board out of which three are from ICAI. Out of eight members of NFRA attending the meeting, seven, including representatives of Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), RBI, two independent experts, two full-time members of NFRA and Chairperson Ajay Bhushan Pandey were in support of the proposal, the statement said.

Also read | NFRA Board revises all audit standards despite ICAI dissent The statement said that ICAI members also supported the proposals except for their reservations to standards on quality control and audit standards dealing with group financial statements (SA 600), joint audits (SA 299), financial statements prepared under special frameworks (SA800), single financial statements and account items (SA 805) and summary financial statements (SA 810).

These reservations, the statement said, were as expressed by them earlier about company audit and quality management standards finalized in the last meeting and which were reiterated on Monday in the case of audit of LLPs.

Queries emailed to ICAI seeking comments for the story remained unanswered at the time of publishing.
Congress-led Telangana government on Monday refused to accept 100 crore donation announced by Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani for the University.

Adani had announced the donation for the Young India Skill University being set up in the state.

Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said that the decision was taken since Adani's announcement gave rise to unnecessary discussions.

Addressing a press conference, Revanth Reddy said that if the donation is accepted, it may appear favouring the state government or the CM, if the donation was accepted, reported PTI.

Also Read | Adani Group assures investors about servicing debt obligations

The development comes amid a fresh plea in the Supreme Court seeking a probe into the indictment of billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani who has been charged in the US for alleged bribery and fraud.

Reddy said that the amount proposed by Adani was part of the company's Corporate Social Responsibility activities, however, to stay away from any controversy or allegations, the state govt has decided not to take the money.

He further added that the Telangana government has not accepted a single rupee into its account from any organisation, including Adani Group.

"I and my Cabinet colleagues do not want to be involved in unnecessary discussions and situations that would dent the image of the state government or my own. That is why, on behalf of the state government, our official Jayesh Ranjan wrote a letter (to Adanis)".

Also Read | Will bribery allegations against Adani intensify FPI selling spree?

The CM said that the letter clearly requested the Adani Foundation not to transfer 100 crore to the university.

The US Department of Justice has accused Adani of being part of an elaborate scheme to pay USD 265 million (about 2,200 crore) bribe to Indian officials in exchange for favourable terms for solar power contracts in four Indian states, PTI reported.

The Adani Group has denied the charge, saying the allegations levelled by the US prosecutors are baseless and that the conglomerate is compliant with all laws. It also vowed to pursue all possible legal recourse.

Also Read | Adani bulls cut positions before news of US indictment
Top News on Nov 25: From Nifty, Sensex rebounding to IPL 2025 Auction Day 2 to Sambhal violence to SC on reopening Delhi schools, here are today's top stories.

Stock Market Today: Sensex, Nifty 50 rally 1% each on Maharashtra poll outcome; investors mint  7 lakh crore Indian stock market ended another day in the green, fueled by the BJP and its allies securing a decisive victory in the Maharashtra state elections, providing a much-needed boost to the markets, which had been under pressure from weak Q2 earnings and persistent FPI selling. READ MORE

HDFC Bank share price climbs over 3% to hit record high, crosses  1,800 mark for the first time ever Private sector lender HDFC Bank surged over 3 per cent in intra-day deals on Monday, November 25 to a fresh record high of 1801.90. This is the first time the stock has crossed the 1,800 mark. The rally comes as the broader market gained significantly, driven by the BJP-led NDA's victory in the Maharashtra elections. READ MORE

IPL Auction 2025 LIVE Updates Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar and Bengal duo of Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep were main gainers on Day 2 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction on Monday. READ MORE

Devendra Fadnavis likely next Maharashtra CM; Eknath Shinde, Ajit Pawar expected deputies  official announcement soon

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Devendra Fadnavis is likely to be the next chief minister of Maharashtra. The incumbent CM, Eknath Shinde could be Deputy CM along with NCP leader Ajit Pawar. The saffron party's top leadership has reportedly cleared the names of Fadnavis as CM and the other two deputy chief ministers, according to sources. READ MORE

HUL approves demerger of ice cream business into separate-listed entity. Check details here Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) giant Hindustan Unilever's board on Monday, November 25, gave in-principle approval to demerge its ice cream business into an independent, listed entity. According to the filing, HUL shareholders will receive shares in the new entity in proportion to their existing holdings in the FMCG major. READ MORE

Sambhal violence news: 7 FIRs filed; SP MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq, MLA Iqbal Mehmoods son in the dock  see updates Sambhal violence updates: A day after violence erupted in Uttar Pradeshs Sambhal district over a court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque, seven FIRs were lodged by police, naming Samajwadi Party MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq and local SP MLA Iqbal Mehmood's son Sohail Iqbal as accused. READ MORE
Police on Sunday placed Dasna temple priest Yati Narsinghanand under house arrest and restricted his movement, along with that of his disciples, to prevent any disruption during the conference organized by Muslim cleric Tauqeer Raza regarding the Waqf Board Amendment Bill at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan, an official told PTI.

In response to the police action, Narsinghanand and his followers began reciting the Hanuman Chalisa inside the Dasna temple premises.

In a statement, Narsinghanand charged that many inlcuding Raza, take the Hindus' gentlemanliness as a weakness.

ACP, Wave City, Lipi Nagayach, said that the movement of Yati and his disciples was restricted on Sunday morning when they were boarding their vehicles to go to Delhi.

Narsinghanand had on Friday urged the Hindu community to recite Hanuman Chalisa at a Muslim community gathering slated to take place in Delhi.

Earlier, in a video message, the controversial leader Yati Narsinghanand, who is involved in several cases, urged Hindu society not to repeat the "mistake" of the Shaheen Bagh movement and to unite against what he referred to as "Islamic Jihadists."

A conference was organized by cleric Tauqeer Raz on Sunday at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi to discuss the Waqf Amendment Bill.

"If even now we do not oppose the Jihadis, then like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Kashmir, Afghanistan, Iran, Arab, we will lose everything and be finished off from India too," Yati Narsinghanand said.

Ghaziabad Police Commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra said since the matter pertained to Delhi, he would have no objection to permitting Yati and his disciples to cross the border if they are allowed by authorities there.
By Melanie Burton

MELBOURNE (Reuters) -A lithium technology startup backed by Rio Tinto expects to finalise a funding round in the next week to raise A$29 million ($19 million), even as the global lithium market struggles, its Melbourne-based CEO told Reuters.

ElectraLith is developing a filtration technology that can extract lithium from brine deposits without using water or chemicals, which would be key in arid areas like Chile's Atacama desert, and needs only small amounts of energy.

"The lithium market is not great, venture capital markets arent great, (so) the fact we are about to close this round with an oversubscribed investor base ... for us thats fantastic," CEO Charlie McGill told Reuters.

Several companies, including Exxon Mobil, are competing to commercialise their own direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies in an industry that is expected to grow to more than $10 billion in annual revenue within the next decade.

DLE is expected to reshape the lithium market by speeding the production process of the metal used in EV batteries and electronics to hours or days, compared with months or longer with large evaporation ponds and open pit mines.

ElectraLith's DLE-R process, for which the company holds commercialisation rights, filters brine through two membranes that extract lithium and turn it into lithium hydroxide, before injecting the remaining brine back into the aquifer.

The group is working on how to scale the membrane for large projects while maintaining its properties, McGill said, and retains all commercial rights.

ElectraLith plans to use funds raised to build its first pilot plant at Rio Tintos Rincon operations in Argentina, he said, adding the project is about a year from being ready to pilot.

Two more pilot plants are set to follow. The firm is currently owned by venture capital firm IP Group, Rio Tinto and Monash University, where its membrane technology was developed under Professor Huanting Wang.

By producing lithium hydroxide without water or chemicals, ElectraLith says it can compete at around half the cost of rivals, McGill said.

"The availability of water in the regions where there are lithium mines is a major problem," he said.

In Utah, where it is working on a project with Australia-listed Mandrake Resources, water from the Colorado River basin has to flow to Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

"You cant get a water permit," McGill said.

"So we show up and we are like, 'We dont need water.'"

($1 = 1.5349 Australian dollars)
US President-elect Donald Trumps appointed Border Czar, Tom Homan, is set to visit Texas this week to prepare for a crackdown on illegal border crossings, said Lone Star State Governor Greg Abbott who lauded Homan as "the right guy in charge" to secure the US-Mexico border and enforce deportations of illegal migrants.

"Weve got the right guy in charge of it. His name is Tom Homan. Hes going to be the border czar, Abbott said on radio show Cats Roundtable on WABC 770 AM. Theres a tall task for President Trump to find, to locate these people and then to deport them or to jail them, Abbott said.

For one, were going to secure the border. For another, were going to have to remove from our country all these dangerous criminals to restore peace and safety in our communities.

Were going to secure the border, and were going to have to remove these dangerous criminals, Abbott said, focusing specifically on Venezuelan prison gang members, the Tren de Aragua, who have been linked to violence in both Texas and New York.

Abbott also announced plans to bolster physical barriers along the Texas-Mexico border, including more buoys, fencing, and walls, as part of a strategy to deter illegal crossings.

Homans role and policy changes Tom Homan, former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), was appointed as Trumps border czar on November 12. Homan has vowed to implement drastic changes in US border security, including mass deportations, tackling human trafficking, and addressing drug smuggling. He promised that on day one of the Trump administration, there would be immediate action aimed at achieving shock and awe in border control enforcement.

In a recent appearance on Donald Trump Jr.'s 'Rumble' show, Homan outlined plans to use a multi-faceted approach to border security, focusing on not just deportations but broader efforts to tackle the full scope of border-related crime.

Trump's promises of change Trump expressed strong support for Homans appointment, underscoring his extensive experience and commitment to tough border policies. I am pleased to announce that the former ICE Director, and stalwart on Border Control, Tom Homan, will be joining the Trump Administration, in charge of our Nations Borders, Trump posted on Truth Social.

Homans mandate will include overseeing both the southern and northern US borders, as well as maritime and aviation security. His responsibilities will extend to managing large-scale deportation initiatives, reinforcing Trumps promise to restore order and safety at the nations borders.
Federal prosecutors on Monday (November 25) filed motions to dismiss criminal charges against President-elect Donald Trump, including allegations of attempting to overturn the 2020 election and illegally retaining classified documents.

The decision was based on longstanding Justice Department policy that prohibits the prosecution of sitting presidents.

Justice Departments policy cited Special counsel Jack Smith, who pursued the charges against Trump with vigor, emphasized that the decision was not a reflection on the merits of the cases but rather adherence to Justice Department protocol.

"That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Governments proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind," prosecutors stated in filings.

Legal and political context The move effectively concludes two high-profile federal cases that posed significant legal threats to Trump: one involving allegations of election interference and another related to the alleged hoarding of classified documents. Both cases were being tried in federal courts in Washington, D.C., and Florida, respectively.

Trump, who has consistently labeled the cases as politically motivated, had pledged to dismiss Smith as special counsel upon taking office in January.

Also Read | Donald Trump names Pam Bondi as Attorney General as Matt Gaetz steps down

Impact of the Supreme Court ruling The decision to drop the cases also reflects the practical impact of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in July, which granted former presidents broad immunity from prosecution for actions taken while in office. The ruling stalled the 2020 election interference case, forcing prosecutors to reassess their strategy.

Also Read | Donald Trumps hush money sentencing delayed indefinitely
Pete Hegseth, former Fox News commentator and President-elect Donald Trumps pick for Secretary of Defense, has stirred significant controversy after advocating for an "educational insurgency" during a recent appearance on a podcast. The conversation, centered around his 2022 book "Battle for the American Mind", focused on his vision for "classical Christian schools" to play a pivotal role in reshaping American education.

Educational insurgency vision Hegseth outlined his belief that religiously affiliated schools could serve as boot camps to prepare future generations. He stated that these schools would provide the "recruits" necessary for what he referred to as an "underground army" aimed at launching an educational insurgency in America.

Tactical retreat strategy Hegseth, in discussion with host Toby Sumpter on CrossPolitic, described these schools as boot camps that would provide the recruits needed for a broader ideological movement aimed at restoring Americas values. He elaborated on his concept of an "educational insurgency," drawing parallels to counterinsurgency tactics he had learned during his military service in Afghanistan.

Hegseth suggested that the first phase of this insurgency would involve regrouping and reorganizing, with a focus on creating a strong base of supporters from religiously affiliated schools. Once the groundwork is laid, he indicated, the second phase would involve more overt actions to reclaim control over the educational system.

We call it a tactical retreat, Hegseth explained, comparing his strategy to the principles of Mao Zedongs insurgency tactics. Once the foothold has been taken, once the recruits have graduated boot camp, then we can move to phase two. He stressed that while school choice was an important policy, the real goal was to cultivate an underground force capable of eventually launching offensive operations.

Were in the middle of phase one right now, which is effectively a tactical retreat where you regroup, consolidate, and reorganize. And as you do so, you build your army underground with the opportunity later on of taking offensive operations in an overt way, Hegseth said, adding that his remarks were "metaphorical and all that good stuff," eliciting laughter from the hosts.
Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu, a prominent Bangladeshi Hindu monk & former member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), was arrested Monday (Novemer 25) at Dhaka Airport, according to multiple news reports. The arrest has sparked protests across the city, with the Hindu community voicing outrage.

Das had recently expressed concerns over the safety of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh following a regime change earlier this year. His outspoken advocacy for minority rights allegedly led to his arrest.

Protesters gathered at key locations, including the Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka, where a group of Hindus blocked traffic late in the evening. Similar protests were reported at the Cheragi Pahar intersection in the port city of Chittagong around 6:00 pm local time. The protesters marched in a procession, demanding the immediate release of Chinmoy Krishna Das.

During the protests near Dhaka's Shahbagh Square and the university area, at least 20 individuals were reported injured, with three in critical condition, as per News18 report.

In a post on social media platform X, Kanchan Gupta, senior advisor to the Indian ministry of information and broadcasting, said: Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari was charged with sedition after he led a massive rally of Hindus protesting targeted hate attacks and protection from Islamists. (The) tallest leader of the Hindu community is believed to have been taken to the Detective Branch of Yunus Regime."

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari has urged India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to intervene after prominent Hindu leader Shri Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu was allegedly abducted by the Detective Branch at Dhaka Airport in Bangladesh. Adhikari, writing on X (formerly Twitter), highlighted that Das Prabhu, a key figure in advocating for the rights of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh, had been targeted by the government, which filed a treason case against him. Adhikari expressed concerns over the safety of Das Prabhu and the potential threat posed by the Bangladeshi government, urging Jaishankar to take "urgent steps" in addressing the issue.

The Hindu community in Bangladesh was hit in the chaotic aftermath of a student-led revolution that forced the prime minister Sheikh Hasina to flee.

Also Read | How Bangladesh crisis stirs CAA debate in India. 5 points

The attacks were condemned by the new caretaker government, and its leader Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus.

Hindus are less than a tenth of its 170 million Bangladesh population. Sheikh Hasina fled by helicopter on August 5, and was given shelter by the Indian government. They were targeted because they were perceived to have supported Hasina.

Hasina's toppling lost India its closest ally in the region.

Her 15-year rule saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.

Those who suffered under Hasina in Bangladesh are openly hostile to India for the abuses committed by her government.

Also Read | Bangladesh HC orders high-level probe into power supply deals with Adani group

An arrest warrant was issued for the fugitive 77-year-old Hasina, whose last confirmed whereabouts was a military airbase near India's capital New Delhi.

The Bangladesh Hindu, Buddhist, Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) reported more than 2,000 incidents, including murder and rape, from August 4-20.
Days after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu and others for war crimes, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei demanded death sentence for the Israeli Prime Minister.

"They issued an arrest warrant, that's not enough... Death sentence must be issued for these criminal leaders", Khamenei said, referring to the Israeli leaders.

Also Read | War between Hezbollah and Israel drags Beirut back into despair

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants against Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defence chief Yoav Gallant and a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri.

Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies war crimes in Gaza.

The warrant for a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri, lists charges of mass killings during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel that triggered the war on the long-blockaded Palestinian enclave, and also charges of rape and the taking of hostages.

Israel also said it killed Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike in July but Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied this.

The supreme leader of Iran backs the Hamas and Hezbollah militants fighting Israel in Gaza and Lebanon.

Also Read | Missiles target Beirut as Israel escalates strike on Hezbollah strongholds

What the ICC said  With regard to the crimes, the Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu, born on 21 October 1949, Prime Minister of Israel at the time of the relevant conduct, and Mr Gallant, born on 8 November 1958, Minister of Defence of Israel at the time of the alleged conduct, each bear criminal responsibility for the following crimes as co-perpetrators for committing the acts jointly with others: the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.
A DHL cargo plane operated by Madrid-based Swiftair crashed near Vilnius Airport in Lithuania early Monday (November 25), killing a Spanish crew member and injuring three others. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Crash details The Boeing 737, en route from Leipzig, Germany, crashed at 5:30 a.m. local time while approaching the airport. The aircraft skidded a few hundred meters and struck a house in a residential area, though no local residents were harmed, according to Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte.

Surveillance footage captured the plane descending normally before erupting into a fireball upon impact, though the exact moment of the crash was obscured. Flight-tracking data from FlightRadar24 indicated the plane turned north of the airport, lining up for landing, but crashed about 1.5 kilometers short of the runway.

Casualties and response Of the four crew members aboard, onea Spanish citizenwas killed, Lithuanian police communications head Ramunas Matonis confirmed. The other three crew members, identified as Spanish, German, and Lithuanian citizens, sustained injuries. Firefighters freed two pilots from the cockpit, with one in serious condition, according to police commissioner Arunas Paulauskas.

Fire and Rescue Department chief Renatas Pozela said the crash caused a fire in the surrounding area, though the house struck by the plane sustained only minor damage, and its residents were safely evacuated.

Investigation underway Officials are exploring several possible causes, including technical failure, human error, and the potential for a terrorist act. However, Prime Minister Simonyte urged patience, stating, Speculation and guesswork will not help establish the truth.

Weather conditions at the time of the crash included freezing temperatures, cloudy skies, and winds of about 30 kph (18 mph). The aircraft, a 31-year-old Boeing 737, was considered older but not unusual for cargo operations.

Eyewitness accounts An eyewitness, identified only as Svaja, described seeing a fireball and initially fearing the outbreak of a global conflict. My first thought is that a world (war) has begun and its time to grab the documents and run somewhere to a shelter, to a basement, she told local media.

The DHL-branded aircraft was making a routine freight flight to Lithuanias capital, a key logistics hub in the Baltic region. Neither DHL nor Swiftair has issued a statement regarding the incident.
The US Air Force reported detecting several small drones last week near three important military bases in eastern England: RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall, and RAF Feltwell. The drones were observed from Wednesday (November 20) and Friday (November 22). While the Air Force did not disclose the identity of those responsible for the incursions, officials assured that the drones did not impact residents or critical infrastructure.

As global hostilities heat up, the US Air Force is stepping up security, but whos sending these mysterious drones?

Bases under observation Royal Air Force Lakenheath, located in Suffolk, is home to the 48th Fighter Wing, a key component of the US Air Force's combat operations in Europe. RAF Mildenhall hosts the 100th Air Refueling Wing, and RAF Feltwell provides housing, schools, and other services. The proximity of these bases has heightened the Air Force's vigilance in monitoring airspace and ensuring security. The US Air Force, while not revealing specific countermeasures, emphasized its right to protect these installations.

Security measures and ongoing monitoring In a statement, the US Air Forces Europe emphasized that base personnel are working with host-nation authorities and mission partners to ensure the safety of personnel and facilities. The Air Force declined to disclose detailed force protection measures, but reassured that robust security procedures are in place.

Timing amid escalating global tensions The drone sightings occurred during a period of heightened military activity. In a significant escalation of hostilities, Ukraine recently launched intermediate-range missile strikes inside Russian territory, following approval from US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the use of these advanced weapons.

Also Read | Russia launches experimental ballistic missile amid Ukraine war

In retaliation, Russia launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile at Ukraine, with President Vladimir Putin stating that Russia had the right to strike nations that allow their weapons to be used against Russia.
Lebanon news: Israel has killed 29 in Beirut and at least dozens more in a series of airstrikes across Lebanon, in what the military claims are attacks on Hezbollah centres situated in civilian areas, ANI reported.

The deaths include the toll increase from the flattening of a residential complex in Beirut's dense Basta area. The Lebanese Ministry of Health has revised its death toll to 29 from 20, and said rescue teams continued working late into the weekend to recover dead and injured. At last count, the ministry said 66 were injured in the incident, which saw an eight-storey residential building shot down to rubble at 4 am on November 23.

Besides the capital city, Israel also struck Shmistar in the Baalbek-Hermel region in eastern Lebanon, killing at least 13 people, including four children, and wounding another 13. The neighbouring towns also saw airstrikes that killed 11 people and injured 32, as per the report.

Another five were killed and 19 injured in Israeli bombardment of the port city of Tyre, it added.

Also Read | Israeli airstrikes kill 20 in Beirut as ceasefire talks falter

What Israel's Military Says According to the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), the air force attacked 12 Hezbollah command centers in Dahieh, Beirut. These 12 centres allegedly included a Hezbollah's Intelligence Unit, coast-to-sea missile unit, and Unit 4400  responsible for smuggling weapons from Iran through Syria into Lebanon.

These command centers were used to plan, command, and execute terrorist attacks against Israel and monitor terrorist activity against IDF troops operating in southern Lebanon, the IDF said in its statement.
The Canadian government is set to proceed with the hearing of four Indian citizens accused of killing pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar without a preliminary hearing, Hindustan Times reported.

According to HT, the case against Karan Brar, Amandeep Singh, Kamalpreet Singh, and Karanpreet Singh has been moved from Surrey Provincial Court to the British Columbia Supreme Court after the prosecution asked for their direct indictment.

The direct indictment would lead to the direct trial of the case without a preliminary hearing. According to a report in The Indian Express, skipping the initial process would deprive the defence counsel of an opportunity to cross-examine prosecution witnesses. The council would also miss the chance to discover the case against its client before the actual trial.

A spokesperson for the BC Prosecution Service, Ministry of Attorney General confirmed the development to Hindustan Times. It said that the prosecution, called the Crown in Canada, moved for the stay of proceedings in the provincial court.

All four accused appeared in the Supreme Court on November 18. Communications Counsel Damienne Darby told HT that all four appeared in court by video, except Amandeep Singh, who appeared by counsel designation.

Also Read | Prince Harry heads to Canada on another solo trip as Meghan Markle parties in LA

When will the trial begin? There is no information about the exact date of the beginning of the trial, an official told IE. The official also abstained from giving information on a potential timeline.

The four accused were set to appear in the Surrey Provincial Court for a hearing on November 21, but the hearing was cancelled.

Also Read | Canadas provincial leaders want a free trade deal with the US that excludes Mexico

Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was murdered on June 18, 2023. Nijjar's killing sparked diplomatic tensions between Canada and India.
Electric-vehicle dreams are crashing into reality, and the latest signs come from Europe. Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt last week filed for bankruptcy, one day after Ford announced 4,000 job cuts in Europe because of the government-mandated EV transition. Will the next Trump Administration learn from Europes blunders?

The global auto industry continues to be in a period of significant disruption as it shifts to electrified mobility," Ford said Wednesday. The transformation is particularly intense in Europe where automakers face significant competitive and economic headwinds while also tackling a misalignment between CO2 regulations and consumer demand for electrified vehicles."

EV demand is softening in Europe as in the U.S., despite hefty subsidies and mandates. Europes emissions regulations require manufacturers to produce increasing numbers of EVs. Such mandates and Chinese imports have resulted in an EV glut and growing losses for auto makers.

Volkswagen last month said it plans to close at least three German plants, cut pay and slash thousands of jobs. Cue the auto-maker pleas for government support. Ford last week said Europe needs more public investments in charging infrastructure" and meaningful incentives to help consumers make the shift."

Public investments" didnt much help Northvolt, which Brussels tried to stand up as a homegrown competitor to Tesla, Chinas CATL, and South Koreas LG Chem and Samsung. European governments backed a $5 billion loan for Northvolt to expand a Swedish factory. Northvolts CEO at the time called the deal a milestone for the European energy transition."

Northvolt has repeatedly run into production problems, which spurred BMW to cancel an order in June. Waning EV demand meant new orders would not be forthcoming. The bankruptcy filing will sting Northvolts investors, which include Volkswagen, BMW, and Danish and Canadian pension funds.

Europes auto layoffs and Northvolts failure are warnings to the U.S. The domestic auto industry last week sent a letter to Donald Trump urging him not to scale back EV incentives," their euphemism for taxpayer subsidies. Our sources say U.S. auto makers want to keep the Biden mandates with some regulatory flexibility because they have invested heavily in meeting them. Competitors like Toyota have been smarter and invested more in hybrid vehicles that consumers seem to prefer.

Green industrial policies are failing in Europe and the U.S., at tremendous cost to taxpayers and in misallocated investment. The Trump Administration has an opening to correct these mistakes.
Globally, women are the ones who have been managing household finances. However, when it comes to business finances, women are significantly under-represented. Even so, studies also show that women outperform men in fund management and credit repayment, which would suggest financial acumen among them.

Why is it, then, that when it comes to starting a business, women are not asking for money? In our study of 898 women entrepreneurs (WEs), we found that less than 40% of them seek financial support from banks. Our study also revealed that more than 60% of WEs face several challenges while seeking financial support from banks. This brings us back to the question: Are WEs not asking for money? Or are WEs are not getting the money?

We found that WEs often do not ask for money because they are not confident of their financial knowledge. This is on account of their gendered socialization that imposes a self-limiting belief which hinders their willingness to take financial risks.

Despite this, even when some women attempt to access credit, gender stereotypes held by loan officers, who are typically a male, contribute to unequal distribution of credit between men and women. Data from World Bank affirms the same, with men receiving credit equivalent to 52% of their deposits, while women get only 27%.

To overcome these self-limiting beliefs, women need to cultivate self-efficacya sense of self-assurance in ones capacity to perform, cope and succeed under any adversityin financial matters. Women at all levels and various stages have faced some challenge or the other while asking for money or in the process of getting it. To navigate these challenges, women need women supporters and cheerleaders who can encourage them in their journey of entrepreneurship.

Become financially confident: A study conducted by Lusardi and Mitchell found that women across the world showed a consistent pattern of dont know responses to questions related to financial literacy. This reflects an underlying lack of financial confidence, a result among many of things of constantly being discouraged from taking financial decisions.

However, instead of succumbing, women need to, first, financially educate themselves through online and offline courses or workshops on money matters; second, WEs should reach out to women in finance to seek financial advice and support. Several WEs reported negative experiences when dealing with male financial agents on account of biases.

In contrast, women financial agents, given their gender-specific experiences, are more sensitive to womens needs and hesitancy, and could aid them in their entrepreneurial journey better.

Count on familial support: Women have to juggle societal expectations of care and household responsibilities on one hand and running a successful business on the other. Amid this, women rarely find alone-time to sit and gather all their thoughts.

This necessitates the need for not just a designated office space, but also designated time that women can carve out for themselves to gather their thoughts, prioritize their needs and work on themselves. However, this can be enabled only by a familial support system that not only understands her needs, but also offers assistance in ways that let her put her much-needed me time to good use.

WEs have shared with us how their female relatives, especially their mothers and mothers-in-law, have been their pillars of strength, granting them the freedom to embrace their true selves without the weight of societal obligations of caregiving and domestic duties.

Do not lose out on networking: Networking, as described by Malcolm Galdwell, is a way to connect with people who know many worlds. This makes networking a valuable tool for entrepreneurs to build professional relationships and partnerships, find mentorship and guidance, and learn from their peers and seniors in the industry.

However, often, women miss networking opportunities because of personal hesitancy and various structural limitations that may include lack of mobility, care responsibilities and gender biases. In contrast, as networking is usually dominated by men, personal hesitancy may stem from safety concerns and a fear of judgement.

For WEs to make the most out of networking events, here is a cheat-sheet:

 Be an early bird. Arrive early to snag the best conversations before the room gets crowded.

 Team up with fellow WEs for some mutual support (and fun)!

 Perfect your pitch. Craft a snappy 30-second introduction about who you are, what you love, and relate it to your current project. Think of it as your origin story.

 Identify your needs as an entrepreneur. Research attendees beforehand to find potential resource persons and mentors. Ice-breakers become a breeze with a bit of background information on others present.

 Have your business card up the sleeves. Hand it out to everyone you meet.

 Connect with your new mates on LinkedIn. It is like collecting the required ingredients for your successful business recipe.

 Be attentive for others stories, but do not forget to share your insights too. Make yourself visible and heard, just like men never fail to do.

 Last but not least, strut with confidence.

Create a female tribe: Women mentors, having faced gender and industry-specific barriers, are ideally best suited for providing mentorship support to WEs in their early-stage career, guiding them not only through the high tides of their entrepreneurial journey but also the gendered obstacles that women face everyday.

With the entrepreneurial space being typically male heavy, it can be hard to find a female mentor who shares a similar path. Nevertheless, this challenge can be mitigated by creating what we could call a female tribea kind of sorority where women with varied professional experiences come together to share their insights and guidance. Early-stage WEs can seek support from this female tribe, gaining just the space they need.

By forming their own club, women entrepreneurs in particular and women in general can shrug off gender biases and build their financial confidence. By swimming together in a gendered world, WEs will not only be able to speak out louder on money-related matters, but also navigate financial depth with greater ease, thanks to their newfound camaraderie.

The authors are, respectively, a professor and research associate at the Indian School of Business (ISB)
Days after Maha Vikas Aghadi's crushing defeat in the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024, state Congress President Nana Patole stepped down from the post, reported NDTV on Monday.

He stepped down from the post after Congress won just 16 out of 103 seats it had contested in the state polls. Apart from Congress's dismal performance across the state, Patole even struggled to perform well in his constituency, Sakoli, where he managed to win with a thin margin of just 208 votes.

Nana Patole ensured Congress's promising performance in Lok Sabha polls Congress's disappointing performance in Maharashtra Assembly polls starkly contrasts with the Lok Sabha Elections, where the grand old party received an overwhelming response in the state. The party had performed well in the state during parliamentary elections in the first half of the year under Nana Patole's leadership. The party had won 13 out of 17 seats it contested. The party had won the highest number of seats among all Maha Vikas Aghadi allies.

He took charge of Maharashtra Congress in 2021 after replacing Balasaheb Thorat. Due to Congress's promising performance in Lok Sabha, Patole had bargained hard during seat-sharing talks for Maharashtra Assembly Polls. Congress's stern demand led to friction between other MVA allies, including Shiv Sena UBT and NCP (Sharad Pawar).

Maharashtra Assembly Elections The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti alliance secured 230 seats out of the total 288 constituencies in the Maharashtra Assembly Election results announced on Saturday, November 23.

The BJP regained its strength in the state after a disappointing performance in Lok Sabha elections. BJP bagged 132 seats, whereas other Mahayuti alliance parties, including NCP, Shiv Sena, won 41 seats.
Lok Sabha on Monday adjourned till 12 noon, shortly after the Lower House of Parliament commenced proceeedings on Day one of the 2024 Winter Session.

Speaker of the House, Om Birla adjourned the House to noon today.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a post on X that as the Parliament session begins, the first step the government should take is to have a detailed discussion on the Adani saga which has the potential of tarnishing India's image at the global stage, on Monday.

"This is what the INDIA bloc parties demand today, for the hard earned investments of crores of retail investors are at stake," Kharge said.

"We do not need monopolies and cartels to run this country. We need healthy market driven competition in the private sector, which facilitates equal opportunities, employment and equitable distribution of wealth, catering to the inherent entrepreneurial spirit of India," he added.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his customary address to media persons ahead of the the commencement of proceedings of the House, took a dig at the Opposition parties, saying that those rejected by the people during elections try to disrupt proceedings of the House as well.

"Those rejected 80-90 times by people do not allow discussions in Parliament. They do not understand people's aspirations. I hope new members from every party get chance in Winter Session of Parliament to share their ideas," the Prime Minister said.

The PM also mentioned how this session of Parliament is a special one as the 75th anniversary of the Constitution, will be celebrated on November 26.

"The last phase of 2024 is underway and the country is preparing for 2025. This Session of Parliament is special in several ways and the most important thing is the beginning of the 75th year of the Constitution. Tomorrow, in the Samvidhan Sadan, everyone will celebrate the 75th year of our Constitution," he said during his address.
Poll strategist-turned-politician, Prashant Kishor has called Bihar "literally a failed state" which is in "deep shit" and that tremendous efforts are required for its all-round development.

In a virtual interaction with the Bihari diaspora community in the US, the Jan Suraaj leader exuded confidence in his partys victory in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.

"We have to realise that this (Bihar) is a state which is in deep shit. If Bihar were a country, it would be the 11th largest country in terms of population in the world. We have just overtaken Japan in terms of population," Kishor was quoted by news agency PTI while addressing the Bihari diaspora community after the launch of the US chapter of the Jan Suraaj.

The Jan Suraaj party, which was launched in October this year, failed to make an impact in the bypolls for four assembly segments in Bihar, the results of which were declared on November 23. Three candidates of the party lost deposits. The ruling NDA swept the bypolls, winning all four seats.

Kishor said in the address that the biggest challenge is that society has become "hopeless" about improving the situation of Bihar. He, however said, not all is lost.

Some Hope, Though "Some hope is definitely there because of what we have been doing in the last two and a half years. But to convert this into a tangible electoral outcome and further into a governance outcome (will take time). Anyone who wants to be part of it has to be committed for at least five-six years," he said adding.

Kishor told the community that he was "not trying to scare them" but making them aware of the ground realities and the long road ahead.

"The Jan Suraaj will win in 2025 (Bihar Assembly elections). There is no doubt about it. (Based on my) electoral understanding, I can clearly see that we will win," he said.

He said if the Jan Suraaj is voted to power, his top priority would be improving school education and this would be funded by the revenue generated after lifting the statewide ban on alcohol.

"Even if the government (of the Jan Suraaj) is formed in 2025 and we continue to work hard with this intensity, it would be a big thing if Bihar becomes a middle-income state by 2029-2030. It is literally a failed state as it stands today on all developmental parameters," Kishor said.

We have to realise that this (Bihar) is a state which is in deep s**t.

He urged members of the Bihari diaspora in the US to start calling their friends and relatives to support and vote for the Jan Suraaj.
Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, stated on Monday that the BJP's use of power to create a rift between Hindus and Muslims is detrimental to both the state and the country. His comments followed violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal, which led to the deaths of three individuals, including security and administrative personnel. A fourth person, who was injured in the clashes, succumbed to their injuries in the hospital on Monday.

In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi worte, The biased and hasty attitude of the state government on the recent dispute in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh is extremely unfortunate. My deepest condolences to those who lost their loved ones in the violence and firing. The administration's insensitive action without listening to all parties further vitiated the situation and resulted in the death of many people - for which the BJP government is directly responsible.

He added, "BJP's use of power to create rift and discrimination between Hindu-Muslim communities is neither in the interest of the state nor the country. I request the Supreme Court to intervene in this matter as soon as possible and provide justice."

My appeal is to maintain peace and mutual harmony. We all have to join together to ensure that India moves forward on the path of unity and constitution, not communalism and hatred, he further said.

4 killed, 20 detained Four people were killed and scores of others, including around 20 security personnel and four personnel of the administration, were injured as protesters opposing a court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque here clashed with police, PTI reported.

The protesters torched vehicles and pelted stones at the police, who used tear gas and batons to disperse the mob.

"The miscreants fired shots... the PRO of the superintendent of police suffered a gunshot to the leg, the police circle officer was hit by pellets and 15 to 20 security personnel were injured in the violence," Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh said, as reported by PTI.

Those responsible for the violence will be charged under the National Security Act (NSA), said officials. As a precaution, internet services across the district have been suspended for a day, officials told ANI.

Internet services have been suspended in Sambhal tehsil for 24 hours, and the district administration has declared November 25 a holiday for all students up to Class 12.

Social media images depicted protesters throwing stones at police from rooftops and near the Shahi Jama Masjid. Later, police were seen allegedly cornering and assaulting individuals as they attempted to disperse a large crowd in a narrow alley.

Other visuals showed a street littered with slippers, bricks, and stones. In one video, police in riot gear were seen firing shots towards a lane, with flames and smoke rising in the background. Another clip showed Superintendent of Police (SP) Krishan Kumar urging stone-throwers to stop the violence.

Legal battle Supreme Court lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who is a petitioner in the case, stated that the Court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) had ordered the formation of an Advocate Commission to conduct a survey of the mosque. The court instructed that a report be filed after carrying out videography and photography during the survey.

On Sunday, Jain appealed to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to take control of the "temple."

Gopal Sharma, a local lawyer representing the Hindu side, claimed that a temple that once stood at the site was demolished by Mughal Emperor Babur in 1529.
BEIRUTFrom his tiled terrace in the foothills overlooking Beirut, Mohammed Dayekh is watching a place he once loved go up in flames.

A 34-year-old director and screenwriter with jet black hair and tattooed forearms, Dayekh grew up in southern Beirut. Four years ago, he moved to the hills above the city after Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia group, tightened its grip on his old neighborhood and made it more conservative. More women started wearing the Iranian-style chador instead of Lebanese-style headscarves, and men talked up Tehrans influence.

Now, Dayekh feels a flood of complicated emotions as he watches Israeli airstrikes hit the neighborhood. He had yearned for change in Lebanon, he saidbut not like this.

This place that I destroyed in my own mind is being destroyed by someone else," he said, as fires from the strikes rose above the Mediterranean.

Beirut has staggered through war, economic collapse and a port explosion in 2020 that leveled much of the city center. Now, the latest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, is dragging Beirut back into a cycle of violence, just as it was beginning to stabilize after years of chaos.

Israel says its airstrikes are targeting Hezbollahs infrastructure, including what it says are weapons storage facilities and bunkers used by the groups military wing underneath Dahiyeh, the Hezbollah-dominated neighborhood where Dayekh grew up.

Israels military also says it is targeting the groups economic lifeblood, including branches of a U.S.-sanctioned microlending bank that is part of its sprawling network of social services.

Over a one-month period in September and October, the Israeli military issued 99 orders urging civilians to leave and stay away. The orders cover half the urban area of greater Beirutfive times greater than the area affected by a monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, according to a study by the Beirut Urban Lab at the American University in Beirut.

The bombings destroyed 325 Beirut buildings, including residential and commercial structures, over 30 days, the study said. Strikes have hit near Beiruts airport and hospitals which are located near neighborhoods where Israel says Hezbollah is hiding its military and administrative infrastructure.

Bombings have intensified in recent days, despite hopes for a cease-fire. At 4 a.m. on Saturday local time, an Israeli strike leveled an apartment building in a densely populated residential area in the center of the capital. This time, there was no warning beforehand.

Hours later, rescue workers combed the pile of concrete in search of bodies. Dust wafted through the air as an excavator pulled clumps of concrete and dirt from a crater. Silence settled over the street as a procession of men carried a body in a white tarp around a corner and down the pile of rubble.

Israel hasnt said what the target of the strike was. The Lebanese health ministry said 15 people were killed in the strike.

Overall, some 3,600 people have been killed in Lebanon over the past year, according to the Lebanese health ministry. The conflict began when Hezbollah started firing missiles daily at Israel after Oct. 7, 2023, to show solidarity for Palestinians in Gaza, it said. Israel retaliated in an effort to stop the attacks.

The conflict also has caused $8.5 billion in damage, according to the World Bank, nearly half of Lebanons annual economic output, which had already cratered after a financial crisis that started in 2019.

The Israeli strikes have largely emptied parts of the Shiite-majority southern section of Beirut, pushing tens of thousands of people into the other half of the city, including predominantly Christian, Sunni and mixed areas. The displaced have crammed into schools and churches, sleeping in their cars and pitching tents for a time on the citys beaches.

With this massive displacement that is taking place, there are a lot of question marks on how to do the day after," said Nasser Yassin, the Lebanese minister of environment.

Faded glory

In the 1950s and 60s, Beirut attracted Hollywood stars and European jet-setters. But it never fully recovered from a 15-year civil war that began in 1975, pitting Muslims against Christians and the Israeli army against the Palestine Liberation Organization, which was temporarily based in Lebanon in the early 1980s.

When the war ended, Lebanons government rebuilt the devastated capital. And for a while, the city boomed, drawing cash from the Persian Gulf and Lebanese expats who returned each summer from the U.S. and elsewhere to eat mezze with family and enjoy Beiruts beaches and bars.

A parallel boom took place in southern Beiruts Dahiyeh neighborhood, as Hezbollahbankrolled by Iranevolved into a political party that elected candidates to parliament, launched its own satellite channel and expanded its military forces. It also smuggled new missiles and drones into the country from Iran and widened its network of tunnels in southern Lebanon.

Dayekh, the director, rose from Dahiyehs slums into a career in stand-up comedy and writing satirical shows for national cable networks.

While he loved Dahiyeh and its lively street culture, Dayekh chafed at its growing ultraconservatism under Hezbollahs sway. When he overheard Hezbollah supporters speaking positively about Iran, it irritated him that they didnt know Iran was also the country of avant-garde directors he admired. He decided he needed to leave, just as Beirut fell apart again.

In 2019, a banking crisis caused Lebanons economy to implode, and massive protests called for a transformation of Lebanons political system. Then, in 2020, a warehouse full of hazardously stored ammonium nitrate exploded, destroying a swath of the capital.

We are every time moving forward with even more scars," said Mona Fawaz, a professor of urban studies and planning at AUB.

Everything turned to ashes

By 2023, Lebanon was learning to live with what felt like a permanent state of crisis. But Beirut residents watched warily as tensions in the region escalated after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas.

The Israeli airstrikes and invasion of Lebanon have driven more than a million people from their homes, with most converging on Beirut and its immediate surroundings, according to the Lebanese government.

In late October, a strike demolished apartment buildings across the street from Rafiq Hariri University Hospital, one of the citys largest medical centers. The strike killed at least 18 people steps away from beachfront hotels, on an outer edge of Dahiyeh that residents still considered safe.

Israels military said the strike was directed at a Hezbollah member involved in planning attacks on Israel near the hospital, and the hospital wasnt a target of the attack.

Ola Eid, a 46-year-old actress, had been throwing chocolates to her neighbors two young girls on an adjacent balcony. The blast threw her to the ground as the building collapsed around her, a large plant saving her from a falling door. One girls body had been torn apart.

Everything turned to ashes," she said. After spending the night in the adjacent hospital, debris still stuck in her hair. Nobody thought they would hit here."

For Dayekh, moving to hills above Beirut has kept him out of harms way.

His father, who still lived in the old neighborhood, fled to Dayekhs house when Israeli warplanes dropped 80 tons of bombs nearby, killing Hezbollahs top leader Hassan Nasrallah in late September. His dad was so panicked when the blast shattered the windows of his apartment that he forgot to grab his false teeth when he rushed out the door.

Now, Dayekh often smokes as he watches the fires from airstrikes, trying to make sense of his conflicted views about the damage to Dahiyeh.

It saddens me," he said. Im witnessing it being destroyed."

Wael Taleb contributed to this article.

Write to Jared Malsin at jared.malsin@wsj.com
Gaganyaans unmanned mission is likely to begin as early as March next year to prepare for Indias most ambitious space project, its manned mission in 2026.

According to a CNN-News18 report, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will send ships carrying scientists to be stationed at observation points in the Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans to monitor the unmanned mission.

The success of this unmanned mission would mark a milestone in Indias history and could determine the launch of Gaganyaans manned mission in 2026. Four astronauts are currently in training for a three-day mission during which they will travel to space, orbit at an altitude of 400 km, and then return to Earth, culminating with a landing in Indian territorial waters.

ISRO under Government of India is scheduling a scientific experiment tentatively during the period between 1 March 2025 and 31 August 2025. Tentative schedule of mission is slated as 1 March 2025," the documents accessed by CNN-News18 state referring to Gaganyaan G1 Mission, described as an unmanned mission from Sriharikota.

Eight ISRO scientists will be on board each of these ships, which could sail for at least two weeks to reach their locations.

How will the Gaganyaan unmanned mission work? According to the report, two ships, one each from the Pacific Ocean and North Atlantic Ocean, will be deployed with full equipment to support crew operations. ISRO is set to establish hybrid communication circuits linking ships with MOX-ISTRAC and SCC-ISTRAC in Bengaluru, both pivotal in the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

A shipment including a shipborne terminal (SBT), electronic equipment, MV-SAT antennas, and related subsystems will be dispatched from ISTRAC for installation on chartered vessels.

This scientific experiment, being a new development and considering the system readiness, the date of experiment is scheduled between the above period of 1 March 2025 and 31 August 2025," CNN-News18 reported citing the documents.

The ISRO ISTRAC consignment will be dispatched to an observation point in the North Atlantic Ocean from the closest Indian port, heading to a port in New York via cargo shipment.

Following this, a chartered vessel will embark from New York to the designated location in the North Atlantic Ocean, a distance of 3,000 km, with an estimated journey time of 13 to 14 days, according to the documents accessed by the media outlet.

Also Read | ISRO Chief reveals new dates for upcoming missions: Chandrayaan 4 to Gaganyaan

An ISRO team comprising eight officials will board the vessel in New York and proceed to the observation point. The mission's tracking activities are scheduled to last no more than three days.

CNN-News18 also said that all ISRO's equipment will be set up on the vessel's deck, overseen by a team of scientists. This team will accompany the equipment on the chartered boat, providing support for the mission and potentially operating the equipment daily en route to the observation point.

The vessel is scheduled to arrive at the observation point in both the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans at least two days prior to the mission's start date.
Elon Musk, the Tesla chief and SpaceX founder responded to astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson's mockery of his ambitions to colonise Mars. In an interview with American talk show host Bill Maher, the astrophysicist disapproved of Elon Musk's Mars travel plans and claimed that his idea would never find any investors.

Defending his plans to set up a colony on Mars, Elon Musk shared the video of Tyson's viral rant and noted that Mars is crucial for humanity's long-term survival. Elon Musk in a post on X (formerly Twitter) wrote, Wow, they really dont get it. Mars is critical to the long-term survival of consciousness.

As Elon Musk emphasised the importance of Mars for human survival, he asserted that he would not seek venture capital investment. Im not going to ask any venture capitalists for money. I realize that it makes no sense as an investment. Thats why Im gathering resources, the post reads.

An advocate of Mars colonisation as the ultimate solution for humanity's long-term survival, the tech billionaire's company SpaceX's Mars program plans to set up a self-sustained large-scale settlement on the distant planet. This will serve as an alternate for humans on Earth, if the planet becomes unsustainable for human life.

Also Read | What to read to understand Elon Musk

Meanwhile, Neil deGrasse Tyson, sceptical of Elon Musk's plans, feels that humankind should focus on immediate challenges on Earth rather than wasting resources and energy elsewhere. During the show, the astrophysicist reasoned that the Mars project would offer no returns, and hence, no one would be willing to invest.

At the show, Neil deGrasse Tyson said, For him to just say, let's go to Mars because it's the next thing to do. What is that venture capitalist meeting look like? 'So, Elon, what do you want to do?' 'I want to go to Mars?' 'How much will it cost?' '$1 trillion.' 'Is it safe?' 'No. People will probably die.' 'What's the return on the investment?' 'Nothing.' That's a five-minute meeting. And it doesn't happen.
Choosing the right front load washing machine is a pivotal decision for any household, aiming to optimize laundry chores without sacrificing fabric care. Front load machines have garnered acclaim for their efficiency, using less water and energy compared to their top load counterparts. They are also lauded for their gentle yet effective cleaning action, which helps in extending the life of clothes. This article dives into the top 7 models available on the market, comparing their capacities, energy efficiency ratings, and unique features that set them apart.

We've meticulously analysed models across brands to present options that cater to a wide range of needsfrom those of small apartments to bustling family homes. Each model reviewed has been selected for its performance, durability, and the innovative technologies it brings to your laundry room. From machines equipped with steam functions for allergy sufferers to those with inverter motors designed for silence and longevity, our comparison aims to guide you through finding a model that not only fits your laundry habits but also aligns with your lifestyle preferences. Discover which front load washing machine stands out as the optimal choice for ensuring your clothes receive the care they deserve while bringing unparalleled convenience into your daily routine.

1. Samsung 6 kg, 5 star, Digital Inverter, Motor, Fully-Automatic Front Load Washing Machine

This sleek Samsung front-load washing machine packs top features into a compact design that's perfect for small families looking to wash clothes efficiently. With its powerful 1000 RPM digital inverter motor, it delivers high spin speeds for faster washing and drying cycles, so you can get your laundry done quickly. The machine offers 10 wash programs, including a 15-minute quick wash for small loads, as well as programs for delicates, denim, wool and synthetics. It is rated for superior energy and water efficiency, helping lower your utility bills, while the Hygiene Steam option uses steam to remove allergens and reduce odor for fresher laundry. Samsung 2 year comprehensive warranty and 20 year warranty on the motor provide lasting peace of mind. The diamond drum shape gently washes clothes without damaging fabric and the hygienic stainless steel drum prevents the buildup of dirt and bacteria.

Specification of Samsung 6 kg, 5 star, Digital Inverter, Motor, Fully-Automatic Front Load Washing Machine Capacity : 6 kg

: 6 kg Energy Rating : 5 Star

: 5 Star Motor Type : Digital Inverter Motor

: Digital Inverter Motor Load Type : Front Load

: Front Load Special Features : Eco Bubble Technology, Diamond Drum, Quick Wash

: Eco Bubble Technology, Diamond Drum, Quick Wash Spin Speed: 1000 RPM

Reasons to Buy Reasons to Avoid Energy-efficient 5 Star rating Limited 6 kg capacity may not suffice for bigger households Stylish silver design May be priced higher compared to competitors Features like Eco Bubble and Hygiene Steam Durable Digital Inverter Motor

The Haier 8 Kg 5 Star Inverter Motor AI DBT Technology Fully-Automatic Front Load Washing Machine is designed to deliver an efficient and effortless laundry experience. With its 8 kg capacity, its perfect for medium to large households. Featuring AI DBT (Dynamic Balance Technology) for low noise and vibration, this machine ensures smooth operation even at high spin speeds. Its inverter motor offers energy efficiency, durability, and optimal performance. The 5-star energy rating minimizes power consumption, making it an eco-friendly choice.

Specifications of Haier 8 Kg 5 Star Inverter Motor AI DBT Technology Fully-Automatic Front Load Washing Machine Feature Details

Capacity 8 Kg

Energy Rating 5 Star

Motor Technology Inverter Motor

Noise Reduction AI Dynamic Balance Technology

Wash Programs Multiple (Cotton, Synthetic, etc.)

Spin Speed Up to 1200 RPM

Control Panel LED Touch Display

Reasons to Buy Reasons to Avoid Large 8 kg capacity, ideal for families. May be overcapacity for smaller households. Energy-efficient 5-star rating, reducing electricity bills. Higher initial cost compared to semi-automatic models. Inverter motor for quiet and durable operation. Requires regular maintenance for long life. AI Dynamic Balance Technology ensures smooth operation.

3. IFB 6 Kg 5 Star Fully Automatic Front Load Washing Machine 2X Power Steam

IFB's fully automatic washing machine takes the hassle out of laundry day. With a spacious 6 kg capacity, it's perfect for small families and couples looking for convenience and superior cleaning. Powered by IFB's 2X Power Steam technology, this machine delivers powerful yet gentle washing for all your garments. The 5-star energy rating means lower energy bills, while the 800 RPM spin speed helps clothes dry faster. With 8 wash programs, including an Express Wash option, you have the flexibility to tackle every load. The stainless steel drum and optimally placed holes ensure clothes are handled with care, while the built-in heater provides hot water washing for deep cleaning. Backed by a 4-year comprehensive warranty and 10-year motor and spare support, this washing machine means reliability, durability and worry-free performance for years to come. Simply load, add detergent, select your cycle, and let IFB's innovative technology and powerful motor do the hard work so you can spend less time on laundry and more time on the things you love.

Specification of IFB 6 Kg 5 Star Fully Automatic Front Load Washing Machine Capacity : 6 kg

: 6 kg Energy Rating : 5 Star

: 5 Star Motor Type : Standard

: Standard Load Type : Front Load

: Front Load Special Features : 2X Power Steam, Aqua Energie, Ball Valve Technology

: 2X Power Steam, Aqua Energie, Ball Valve Technology Spin Speed: 800 RPM

Reasons to Buy Reasons to Avoid Energy-efficient 5 Star rating 6 kg capacity may not be sufficient for a joint family 2X Power Steam feature Design could have been better

4. Panasonic 6 kg 5 Star Fully Automatic Front Loading Washing Machine

This Panasonic washing machine packs big features into a compact 6kg drum. Its wide 480mm door makes loading and unloading a breeze, while the My Cycle option lets you save your preferred wash settings for everyday convenience. The Sterilize Wash feature uses extra hot water to remove residue, moulds, and bacteria, keeping your clothes and machine hygienic. The Add Clothes Later function means you can add forgotten items anytime during the cycle. All this tech comes wrapped in a stylish gray exterior that adds a touch of sophistication to your laundry room. This front loader provides the perfect balance of form and function for small households looking to upgrade their wash routine with energy-efficient, innovative features in a space-saving design.

Specification of Panasonic 6 kg 5 Star Fully Automatic Front Loading Washing Machine Capacity : 6 kg

: 6 kg Energy Rating : 5 Star

: 5 Star Motor Type : Standard

: Standard Load Type : Front Load

: Front Load Special Features : Pause N Add, Tub Clean

: Pause N Add, Tub Clean Spin Speed: 800 RPM

Reasons to Buy Reasons to Avoid 5 Star energy rating for efficiency Spin speed of 800 RPM could be lower than others Tub Clean feature for maintenance Limited advanced features User-friendly control panel Capacity might not be enough for large households Pause N Add feature for convenience

5. BLACK+DECKER 6.0 Kg 5 Star Fully-Automatic Front Loading Washing Machine

Take laundry day to a whole new level with the BLACK+DECKER 6 Kg fully automatic washing machine. Designed for efficiency and performance, this front loader packs an energy-efficient BLDC motor drive that consumes 60% less power while providing lower noise and a longer lifespan. The 5-star energy rating means lower running costs and the steam wash option helps sanitize fabric for a deeper clean. With 16 wash programs, including mix, quick, wool, and intensive steam, you'll have the flexibility to tackle any laundry load. The 6 kg drum capacity is perfect for small families and couples, while the 1000 RPM high spin speeds help reduce drying time. The durable full metal body with dual-tone exterior and transparent glass door combines style and visibility, and the ergonomic control panel makes operating this washer a breeze. Unleash the power of fully automatic washing and never settle for ordinary laundry again.

Specification of BLACK+DECKER 6.0 Kg 5 Star Fully-Automatic Front Loading Washing Machine Capacity : 6.0 kg

: 6.0 kg Energy Rating : 5 Star

: 5 Star Motor Type : Standard

: Standard Load Type : Front Load

: Front Load Special Features : 15 Wash Programs, LED Display

: 15 Wash Programs, LED Display Spin Speed: 1000 RPM

Reasons to Buy Reasons to Avoid Steam Wash feature for effective cleaning Newer brand with limited market presence High spin speed of 1200 RPM Energy rating not specified Multiple wash programs for flexibility Compact size suitable for small spaces

Also read:Top 10 Whirlpool Refrigerators that would be a great addition to your homes 6. Hisense 6.0 Kg Fully-Automatic Front Loading Washing Machine

This Hisense washing machine combines style and performance for an affordable price. The 6KG capacity and 15 wash programs - including Cotton, Steam Wash and Quick 15' - make it suitable for small families or couples looking for the perfect balance of wash quality, water and energy efficiency. The 1000 RPM spin speed helps clothes dry faster while the Snowlake drum provides enhanced fabric protection. A fully automatic front load design ensures easy use and the 2-year comprehensive warranty provides peace of mind. The built-in heater allows you to utilize steam wash functions for deep cleaning and wrinkle release while the child lock and time delay features add convenience. Together, all these features and benefits deliver a stylish, high-performing wash for your everyday laundry needs at a budget-friendly cost.

Specification of Hisense 6.0 Kg Fully-Automatic Front Loading Washing Machine Capacity : 6.0 kg

: 6.0 kg Motor Type : Standard

: Standard Load Type : Front Load

: Front Load Special Features : Steam Wash, Quick Wash

: Steam Wash, Quick Wash Spin Speed: 1200 RPM

Reasons to Buy Reasons to Avoid Steam Wash feature for effective cleaning Newer brand with limited market presence High spin speed of 1200 RPM Energy rating not specified Multiple wash programs for flexibility Compact size suitable for small spaces

7. Voltas beko A Tata Product 1200 rpm 6 Kg Front Load Washing Machine with inbuilt Heater and Hygiene Wash

Get clothes that are cleaner than clean with the Voltas beko A 6kg fully automatic washing machine. Its 1200 RPM high-speed spin efficiently removes water from clothes, reducing drying time. The inbuilt heater helps kill germs for ultimate hygiene with Hygiene Wash mode. The 14 wash programs including Hygiene, Shirts, Lingerie and more, make it suitable for all your laundry needs. The large 6 kg capacity is perfect for small to medium-sized families. With an energy rating of 5 stars, it uses less water and electricity compared to similar models for lower utility bills. Made with a sturdy steel drum and metal body, this washer is built to last. Backed by a 5-year warranty on the motor and 2 years on other parts, you can wash with confidence. High performance, energy efficiency and smart features combine in this Voltas beko washing machine to deliver hygienic, gentle, and effective cleaning of your clothes and household linens.

Specification on Voltas beko A Tata Product 1200 rpm 6 Kg Front Load Washing Capacity : 6 kg

: 6 kg Motor Type : Standard

: Standard Load Type : Front Load

: Front Load Special Features : Inbuilt Heater, Hygiene Wash, ProSmart Inverter Motor

: Inbuilt Heater, Hygiene Wash, ProSmart Inverter Motor Spin Speed: 1200 RPM

Reasons to Buy Reasons to Avoid High spin speed of 1200 RPM for better drying Brand is relatively new in the washing machine market Inbuilt heater for improved wash quality Energy efficiency rating not clearly specified Hygiene Wash for sanitary cleaning Limited customer reviews for comprehensive assessment ProSmart Inverter Motor for efficient operation -

Three best features

Product Name Capacity Spin Speed Special Features Samsung 6 kg, 5 star, Digital Inverter Motor, Fully-Automatic Front Load Washing Machine 6 Kg 1000 RPM Digital Inverter Motor, Hygiene Steam Haier 8 Kg 5 Star Inverter Motor AI DBT Technology Fully-Automatic Front Load Washing Machine 8 Kg 1200 RPM Inverter Motor AI DBT Technology IFB 6 Kg 5 Star Fully Automatic Front Load Washing Machine 6 Kg 800 RPM 2X Power Steam, In-built Heater Panasonic 6 kg 5 Star Fully Automatic Front Loading Washing Machine 6 Kg 1000 RPM Self Cleaning Black and Decker 6.0 Kg 5 Star Fully-Automatic Front Loading Washing Machine 6 Kg 1000 RPM Steam Wash, BLDC Motor Drive Hisense 6.0 Kg Fully-Automatic Front Loading Washing Machine 6 Kg 1000 RPM Steam Wash, Built-in Heater Voltas Beko 6 Kg Front Load Washing Machine 6 Kg 1200 RPM Hygiene Wash, Inbuilt Heater

Best value of money product The Panasonic 6 kg 5 Star Fully Automatic Front Loading Washing Machine is a compact and energy-efficient appliance, designed to simplify laundry chores while offering top-notch cleaning performance. With a 5-star energy rating, it ensures minimal electricity consumption, making it both eco-friendly and economical. Its 6 kg capacity is ideal for small families or individuals, efficiently handling daily laundry loads. The machine features advanced wash programs tailored for different fabric types, ensuring gentle care and effective stain removal. Its front-loading design enhances convenience and water efficiency, while the sleek, modern aesthetic blends seamlessly with contemporary interiors.

Best overall product Samsung 6 kg, 5 star, Digital Inverter, Motor, Fully-Automatic Front Load Washing Machine packs powerful cleaning into a petite package. The fully automatic front load design means easy loading and less bending, while the 6 kg capacity is perfect for small families. Powered by Samsung's Digital Inverter Motor and Hygiene Steam, it tackles tough stains with ease yet is gentle on your clothes. The 10 wash programs, including Quick Wash and Wool cycle, give you options for every fabric, and the high 1000 RPM spin speed helps clothes dry faster. Plus, the energy star 5-star rating means lower energy bills and lower water consumption. Together, all these smart features deliver the premium performance you'd expect from Samsung in a stylish yet compact washer to fit any space. Simply load, select, and let this wonder washer go to work - your clothes will come out cleaner, fresher, and ready to wear again in a flash.

How to find the best product Here's a guide to help you choose the right model.

Assess Your Laundry Requirements:

Capacity Needs: Ensure the 6kg capacity suits your household's laundry volume.

Space Constraints:Measure your laundry area to ensure the machine fits comfortably. Evaluate Features and Technology:

EcoBubble Technology: Look for models with EcoBubble for efficient cleaning at lower temperatures.

Spin Speed Options:Higher spin speeds offer better water extraction, reducing drying time.

Wash Programs:Consider models with varied wash programs for different fabric types. Energy Efficiency:

Energy Rating: Opt for higher energy-rated models to save on electricity bills and reduce environmental impact.

Noise Level:

Quiet Operation: If youre sensitive to noise, check the decibel (dB) level for quieter operation.

Ease of Use and Maintenance:

Control Panel:Look for user-friendly interfaces with clear displays.

Drum Clean Features:Features like self-cleaning drums enhance maintenance ease. Warranty and After-Sales Service:

Warranty Period: Consider the length and coverage of the warranty.

Customer Service:Good after-sales service ensures hassle-free repairs and maintenance. User Reviews and Ratings:

Consumer Feedback: Check online reviews and ratings for user experiences and potential issues.

Price and Budget:

Cost-Effectiveness: Balance features with your budget. Sometimes, spending a bit more upfront can save costs in the long run.

Additional Features:

Smart Connectivity: Some models offer Wi-Fi connectivity for remote control and monitoring.

Child Lock:A useful feature for households with children.
UPDATE: A Venezuelan gang member arrested for human trafficking in Chattanooga was supposed to be deported and has been on ICE's radar since July of 2022.

A release from Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Chicago says Adelvis Rodriguez-Carmona was an unlawfully present citizen of Venezuela and a member of the Tren de Aragua gang.

TBI says Venezuelan gang operating in Chattanooga; local law enforcement denies The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office and Chattanooga Police Department said they have received multiple inquiries regarding TDA, but have no evidence to prove their presence.

The report says in July of 2022, U.S. Border Patrol encountered Rodriguez-Carmona near Eagle Pass, TX, which on the U.S.-Mexico border. He was placed into removal proceedings and released on an order of recognizance.

A year later, in July of 2023, an immigration judge issued a final order of removal for Rodriguez-Carmona in absentia, meaning if ICE officers found him, he would be taken into custody and deported from the U.S. without any hearing before a judge.

In February of 2024, he was arrested for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, no firearms identification card, driving without a license or insurance, and possession of adult use of cannabis in a motor vehicle. The report says he was later released.

In March of 2024, he was arrested without incident outside of his residence. At that time, ERO Chicago said he was placed in the Dodge County Detention Facility in Juneau, Wisconsin, pending immigration removal proceedings.

This Venezuelan noncitizen represented a significant threat to the residents of our communities, said ERO Chicago Assistant Field Office Director Raymond Hernandez. Not only is he a validated member of a transnational street gang, but he also displayed a willingness to unlawfully discharge a firearm in public. ERO Chicago will continue to prioritize public safety by removing such threats from our streets.

It's not clear what happened between his detainment in March and his recent arrest in Chattanooga.

Local 3 is trying to determine why Rodriguez-Carmona was released multiple times from custody. We have reached out to ICE and their Public Affairs Officer David Yost is working on a statement.

PREVIOUS STORY: A known gang member of Tren de Aragua, what the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation described as a "violent" Venezuelan gang, is behind bars in Hamilton County.

Booking reports show the gang member was booked in the Hamilton County Jail the same day the sheriff's office stated, "there is no active investigation into this gang or its gang members operating or residing in Hamilton County or being incarcerated in our jail at this time."

"It's not a concern for us right now:" Chattanooga mayor weighs in on violent Venezuelan gang The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) recently warned that Venezuelan gangs are operating in Tennessee, and human trafficking may be taking place in Chattanooga.

Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly also stated during the week of the arrest, "we have no evidence that Tren de Aragua is operating in Chattanooga. So, we'll continue to be vigilant, but it's not a concern for us right now in Chattanooga."

READ MORE | TBI says Venezuelan gang operating in Chattanooga; local law enforcement denies

The TBI confirms Adelvis Rodriguez-Carmona to be a known member of Tren de Aragua, additionally suspected of committing violent crimes in Chicago and New York City.

The TBI says four people were arrested for human sex trafficking in the Hamilton County area:

Wilimar Herrera Guedez, 29, charged with one count of prostitution

Rebeca De Los Juarez Lucena, 26, charged with one count of prostitution

Yidalbris Marcano Salas, 29, charged with one count of prostitution, one count of possession of marijuana for resale, one count of possession of Xanax for resale, one count of possession of crack cocaine for resale, and one count of unlawful possession of a weapon

Adelvis Rodriguez-Carmona, 30, charged with one count of patronizing prostitution, one count of possession of marijuana for resale, one count of possession of Xanax for resale, one count of possession of crack cocaine for resale, and one count of unlawful possession of a weapon

He is being held on a $125,000 bond.

The joint investigation between the TBI, Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, Chattanooga Police Department, and Homeland Security Investigations started at a local hotel when law enforcement discovered an illegal sex operation.
The Dail is full of teachers, nothing wrong with teachers - I love teachers I have four children, but I wouldn't generally employ a lot of teachers to go out and get things done.

Those were the words of Ryanair boss Michael OLeary at a Fine Gael event last week.



The airline boss had been attending the campaign launch of Minister Peter Burke when the comment was made.



The statement triggered outrage from teachers and their unions across the country and sparked a huge reaction on both National media and online.



The President of the Irish National Teaching Organisation (INTO) and Melview National School, Longford teacher Carmel Browne was less than impressed with the remarks.

WATCH: Your 90-second guide to voting in General Election 2024 in Longford



I suppose they were the kind of comments that were quite outrageous, said Carmel.



They were comments that were very dismissive of teachers and the teaching community and I suppose, generally they came from somebody in a very different vein of life.



The reaction on social media shows how the school community have responded.



From our point of view, teachers work extremely hard all the time and theyre an integral part of the community, explains Carmel, Theyre also very well respected in the community.



When I was thinking about this, I realised that one thing that teachers do as well as working hard at their schools, is volunteering.

Also read: Longford / Westmeath produces first major election campaign controversy as teachers 'mocked and demeaned from a Fine Gael stage'



Theres a huge amount of volunteerism that teachers engage within their local communities.



Carmel discussed the response from politicians regarding OLearys comments.



I suppose the Taoiseach removed himself from the comments but I havent heard anything from any local Fine Gael representatives.



When asked whether the comments made would sway how the school community would vote Carmel said, I think what's most likely to change people's views on the election is how the parties engage with the Manifesto and what they're going to do for education in the coming five years.



In schools, teachers are overburdened a lot at the moment with their workload and a lack of support for people in special education. There is a lack of therapeutic support, which we have been calling for a long time to be enhanced and increased.

Also read: Longford / Westmeath Sinn Fein TD: 'Video of jeering Fine Gaelers reveals partys contempt for teachers and workers'



We want to combat the teacher supply issue in some areas, were keen to find some initiatives to improve that.



Restructuring the salary scale is one area that could improve the supply issue and encourage five per cent of teachers who are abroad to come home, explains Carmel.

Also read: No-frills budgeting won't fly in Longford / Westmeath schools



Special Education is also a key area the INTO Manifesto is going to be focused on.

As always with support for children in Special Education and children generally in school.



Were looking for class sizes to be reduced to 19 which is a commitment made by some of the government parties in the last election.

Also read: 'Too many teachers in the Dail': Michael O'Leary stands over comments despite 'pile on'



If the classes are smaller then all children will get better resources and better resources that are there.



Improvement of Special Education resources has been a major focus of Carmels tenure as INTO president.



Therapeutic supports in schools to further the Mental Health Pilot in schools and then to support the children in our special schools by restoring the supports, the therapeutic supports and the psychological supports that were available to those schools before being taken away in austerity times in 2011.

Also read: Longford Sinn Fein election candidate insists 'that Fine Gael dont get sh*t done'



We would be calling for them to be restored and then for children to be getting into the right settings as quick as possible, she concluded.
eir, Irelands leading telecommunications provider, has released its first ever comprehensive Economic and Social Impact Report, which highlights that the company has invested almost 1.7 billion in telecommunications infrastructure in the last six years, supporting Ireland to become one of the most digitally connected countries in Europe.



eir has also announced a further 500 million investment to expand its fibre network across Ireland, reinforcing its commitment to enhancing nationwide connectivity.



eir has also announced that 13,305 homes and businesses across Longford can now access gigabit fibre broadband, according to new data from its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband roll-out programme.

Also read: 459,775 CLAR funding for twelve Longford projects



The eir fibre build project is already 88% complete in Longford with 13,305 homes and businesses now having access to high-speed fibre connection, following investment of 7.4 million into the Longford network.



On completion, the network will serve 15,139 premises across the county of Longford facilitating broadband speeds up to 100 times faster than a traditional copper network.



In addition to its substantial investment in Fibre across County Longford, eir has made a multi million euro investment to upgrade 27 mobile sites across County Longford over the past 4 years. This investment provides over 99% 4G coverage in the county through the eir mobile and GoMo brands, enabling high quality mobile voice and data experiences.

WATCH: Your 90-second guide to voting in General Election 2024 in Longford



eir is also supporting the Governments National Broadband Plan in County Longford through the use of several thousand of its poles to facilitate the rollout of rural fibre.
He chose to do this, and now he has to live with the consequences, Judge Kenneth Connolly said as he sentenced a man convicted of two charges of dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to two and a half years in prison.



Jaison Kurian (46), of Ballyclare Court, Ballyleague, Roscommon, appeared at a sitting of Longford Circuit Court last week having pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a road traffic collision on April 9, 2023.



Emer Gavigan and Ciara Fox both underwent weeks of hospital treatment following a horrific road traffic collision on the outskirts of Ballymahon. Mr Kurian's dangerous driving left both young women with life-changing injuries as a result of the head-on crash.



Ms Gavigan and Ms Fox were the front seat occupants of the car, while their friend, Orla Keane, was a rear seat passenger.



The State's case was presented by barrister, Shane Geraghty BL. State witness Garda Eamon Fitzpatrick outlined details of the incident and the subsequent Garda investigation into the matter.



When Garda Fitzpatrick arrived at Drinan, Ballymahon the defendant's car was in the middle of the road, while the other vehicle was substantially damage.



Mr Kurian only sustained minor grazing as a result of the crash, but the occupants of the second car were clearly in distress.



The driver, Ms Gavigan, was in a critical condition, in danger of going into cardiac arrest and in a potentially fatal state. Ms Fox, the front seat passenger, was also in a critical condition and going in and out of consciousness.



A passing motorist, Dessie OReilly, had earlier come to the aid of the crash victims, freeing Ms Keane from the wreckage and alerting emergency services.



Garda Fitzpatrick administered a roadside breath test on Mr Kurian, which returned a fail reading and a subsequent breath test at Longford Garda Station revealed a reading of 48mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.



The witness said a forensic collision investigator later assessed the scene of the accident and determined that Mr Kurian failed to maintain lane discipline which resulted in the head on collision.



By analysing the CCTV footage available in the area the forensic collision investigator found that Mr Kurian was travelling between 70kph to 73kph at the time of the crash, while the speed limit was 60kph.



The defendant attended at Longford Garda station on May 10, 2023 and gave a voluntary caution statement. He said the evening before the crash he was at mass in Multyfarnham that was being recorded for broadcast the following morning. He provided the food for the event.



After that there was a second religious service in Mullingar. Mr Kurian admitted consuming wine and whiskey at the party between services, but said he went to a friend's house after the second mass. After this gathering he slept for a while before deciding to drive home.



In interview he told officers he was driving out of Ballymahon when he felt a sudden lost pressure in one of his tyres before the collision. He said he saw the car coming and it turned to the right, but his car was out of control and they hit him.



Garda Fitzpatrick told the court that tests undertaken by the forensic collision investigator did not bear out this version of events.



The three young women gave candid victim impact statements to the court outlining the recollections of the night and the repercussions it had on their lives.



The young ladies were out socialising in Longford town, after a meal they went to a pub and then nightclub. As Emer Gavigan was the designated driver she was not drinking.



In her statement Ms Gavigan, who was 22 at the time, spoke of the devastating impact on her life by the actions of a careless individual. She said she was on the brink of completing her nursing studies at the time, but her injuries halted her progress and left her in a state of depression.



She movingly spoke of the impact it had on her family: When they came to the hospital they were handed an envelope of my personal effects, my cut up jeans, and my blood covered runners before they got to see my lifeless body.



Ms Gavigan had very little recollections of the incident and spent six and half weeks in Tullamore Hospital. She said she continues to live with the fallout of the collision: My anxiety is now a front seat passenger every time I get in a car.



Ciara Fox detailed the huge physical impact of the crash. Ms Fox did not have any recollection of the incident, and was treated in the ICU of Beaumont Hospital until April 17, 2023.



Her victim impact statements referenced the physical and psychological impact the crash had on her life. Ms Fox had to undergo a craniotomy, a surgical procedure to remove part of the bone from the skull to expose the brain, and described the emotional toll as overwhelming.



The front seat passenger's injuries were so significant she missed the final year of her college studies and spoke of watching the clock for her next painkiller. She said she felt anxious, depressed and continues to feel unsafe in cars.



Ms Fox stated she felt that Mr Kurian made no attempt to help us.



Learning support teacher Orla Keane spoke of the reckless and irresponsible actions of the other driver that night, describing him as a man who knowingly got into a car while intoxicated and left our families fearing the worst.



Ms Keane addressed the difficult mental toll of the crash, but thanked her family, friends and passing motorist, Dessie OReilly.

Ms Keane concluded by saying: I am lucky to still have my two best friends here today.



The court was told that although Mr Kurian had no previous convictions, he received a six month driving ban for a Fixed Charge Penalty Notice (FCPN) for driving over the limit in May 2021.

Also read: Man who collected over 16,000 worth of cocaine in Longford panicked when he encountered Garda checkpoint



The defendant prepared letters of apology for each of the victims of his dangerous driving, however the court was told the three women were unwilling to accept them, but would prefer a statement by Mr Kurian in the witness box.



Mr Kurian, speaking through an interpreter, told the women: I am sorry.



Defence barrister, Dara Foynes SC, said her client came from a culture where alcohol does not feature and only started drinking when he came to Ireland.



Ms Foynes described the offence as an aberration, telling Judge Connolly her client made a decision in the early hours of the morning to try to get home, adding that Mr Kurian was otherwise of good character.



In summing up Judge Connolly described the horror crash that affected many lives, like ripples that emanate from the incident.

Also read: Judge says 'Feuding equals Jail' in Longford Court



He chose to do this, and now he has to live with the consequences. He made a choice, a bad one, and it has affected many lives, Judge Connolly said.



Describing the passing motorists, Dessie O'Reilly, as a hero the judge and also commended the emergency service for a wonderful job.



The judge spoke of being utterly stunned that the two front seat passengers survived a crash that utterly decimated the car and left the women with lifelong injuries.



He noted that the victim's car was spun around 360 before colliding with a footpath and a wall.



Judge Connolly highlighted the aggravating factors: the fact Mr Kurian was at twice the legal limit, had a previous disqualification for driving while intoxicated and the severity of the collision which resulted in the destruction of the victim's car.



In mitigation the judge noted the early plea, the fact Mr Kurian had no previous conviction, his documentation was in place and he had not come to subsequent Garda attention.

Also read: Man in his 20s dies and woman hospitalised following tragic Leitrim road crash



He accepted the defendant was a good family man and that while he was over the speed limit it was not egregiously so.

Judge Connolly said Mr Kurian's remorse appeared to be genuine.



Setting the headline sentence at five years and three months for both counts of dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm, the judge said that could be reduced to three years and nine months by the mitigating factors.



Judge Connolly suspended the final 15 months of that sentence on a probation bond for 18 months, during which time Mr Kurian must engage with alcohol addiction services. The defendant will serve a two and a half year custodial sentence, and a six year driving bans.
Support for Fine Gael has slumped by six percentage points with days to go before Irelands General Election, according to the latest poll.

Taoiseach Simon Harriss party now trails both Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein, the Irish Times/Ipsos B&A survey indicates.

Fianna Fail leads the way on 21%  up two points on the last poll two weeks ago.

Sinn Fein stands on 20%  up one  while Fine Gael is on 19%  down six points since the November 14 poll.

Ireland goes to the polls on Friday.

The latest poll comes after Mr Harris apologised over the weekend after facing criticism for his handling of an encounter with a disability care worker while canvassing in Kanturk in Co Cork on Friday.

Several incidents have put Fine Gael under pressure during the election campaign, including comments made by Ryanair boss Michael OLeary about teachers in the first few days.

Mr OLeary was criticised for saying at a Fine Gael candidate launch that he would not hire teachers to get things done , which drew laughs and cheers from the gathered party faithful.

There has also been a furore over whether senator John McGahon should have been selected as a Fine Gael candidate for the Louth constituency.

Mr McGahon was found not guilty of assaulting a man outside a Dundalk nightclub in a criminal case two years ago but a High Court civil action earlier this year found him liable, with the politician ordered to pay damages.

With regard to the smaller parties, the poll has the Greens on 4%  up one; Labour on 4%  down one; Social Democrats on 6%  up two; People Before Profit on 3%  up one; and Aontu on 3%  no change.

Independents (including the Independent Ireland party) are on 17%  down three percentage points.

In terms of personal favourability, Mr Harriss popularity is down from 50% to 46%, while Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin is on 44%  down one point.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald is unchanged on 31%.
A review of governance procedures in Sinn Fein prompted by child safeguarding concerns should deliver a report before Christmas, party president Mary Lou McDonald has said.

The party has been beset by a series of controversies in recent months, regarding allegations of inappropriate behaviour involving party members and elected representatives.

Last month, party president Ms McDonald announced a complete overhaul of the partys governance procedures, as she apologised for its handling of a sex crime investigation into a former press officer.

Michael McMonagle, 43, from Limewood Street in Londonderry, was sentenced at Derry Crown Court to nine months in custody and nine months under statutory supervision, after pleading guilty to a series of child sex offences.

The case plunged Sinn Fein into controversy as the party faced questions about safeguarding, and how two other party press officers provided references for McMonagle, while he was under police investigation, for a subsequent job with the British Heart Foundation.

On the Pat Kenny show on Newstalk, Ms McDonald denied a suggestion that the review had become chaotic.

She added: We had a series of challenging events which had to be dealt with.

In the course of that, and I would say in each of those cases I ensured accountability and consequences for people whose behaviour was not up to standard.

In the course of that a number of gaps in our oversight mechanisms emerged and as the leader of the party I have moved to correct that.

I will, I hope, have a report back from that process this side of Christmas.

Ms McDonald also said she had not watched the Disney+ show Say Nothing, which portrays the murder and secret burial of Jean McConville by the IRA in 1972.

She was asked if she believed she should watch the show, which features actor Josh Finan as Gerry Adams, the former Sinn Fein leader.

Ms McDonald said: No, I dont believe so.

I think what people recognise is that now in the year 2024, heading into 2025, 26 years on from the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, entire generations have been born and have grown up on an island that is peaceful.

I think that is something to be celebrated. I take great heart and great pride in that, and the past has to be acknowledged, but the past is the past.

Despite persistent allegations, Adams has always denied being a member of the IRA or having any involvement in the abduction and murder of Ms McConville.

In 2014 he was arrested by detectives investigating the murder. He was questioned for four days before being released without charge.
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: November 25 2024

This award, which recognizes outstanding service to Sag Harbor and its community, is being given to Assemblyman Thiele for his decades-long service to Sag Harbor.

The Sag Harbor Partnership is honored to announce the ninth recipient of their annual Community Service award, this year being given to Fred W. Thiele Jr., our New York State Assemblyman for the last 29 years. The award will be given Friday, November 22, 2024 in Sag Harbor NY.

This award, which recognizes outstanding service to Sag Harbor and its community, is being given to Assemblyman Thiele for his decades-long service to Sag Harbor. His contributions have been many, impactful and profound. From defending the East Ends environment to its history and rural values, Mr. Thiele has always been in the forefront of positive change.

Susan Mead and Jayne Young, Co-Presidents of the Partnership, jointly stated that The Partnership has long wanted to honor Fred with this award. Now that he is leaving the Assembly, we are able to do so. Sag Harbor has been so fortunate that Assemblyman Thiele has been an extraordinary advocate for our district. We have benefitted profoundly from his legislation. It has helped preserve Sag Harbors history, environment and will in the future assist with funding for affordable housing. Fred has been a steadfast partner on many initiatives, from the preservation of the Sag Harbor Cinema to the saving of the John Steinbeck house.

About the Sag Harbor Partnership

In 2012, a group of volunteers banded together to create the Sag Harbor Partnership. These volunteers represent a cross section of Sag Harbor's communitiesfrom Noyack to SANSand share a love for the village and a desire to ensure its future sustainability and prosperity. Sag Harbor Partnership works with community organizations and Sag Harbor Village government on projects that both preserve and enhance the character of this vibrant place. A list of recent projects includes fundraising for Sag Harbor Fire Departments new fireboat, support for Steinbeck Park, the Sag Harbor Water Quality Initiative, buying and rebuilding the Sag Harbor Cinema, helping to fund Mashashimuet Parks new playground, SANS preservation, new bike racks for Main Street, the Mask Project, and Historic Walking Tours of Sag Harbor.
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: November 25 2024

Preserving Plum Island is vital not only to our environmental stewardship but also to the legacy of Suffolk Countys unique natural and cultural heritage, said LaLota.

Reps. Nick LaLota (R-NY) and Joe Courtney (D-CT), Co-Chairs of the bipartisan Long Island Sound Caucus, released the following statement after the House Natural Resources Committee passed their bipartisan Plum Island National Monument Act.

Preserving Plum Island is vital not only to our environmental stewardship but also to the legacy of Suffolk Countys unique natural and cultural heritage. Im proud to see my bipartisan Plum Island National Monument Act advance through committee, bringing us one step closer to protecting it for future generations, said LaLota. This is a win for our environment, our economy, and for everyone who values protecting our irreplaceable resources. Ill keep working with my colleagues to ensure its swift passage on the House floor.

Good news. Advancing this bipartisan, bicameral bill is the next step in determining the future of Plum Island and ensuring its conservation, said Courtney. I thank my fellow Co-Chair of the Long Island Sound Caucus, Rep. Nick LaLota, for working with me and our delegations to persistently advocate for this legislation. I look forward to continuing working with the Caucus to get this bill across the finish line.

Plum Island is a unique and important piece of America, said Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR), Chair of the Natural Resources Committee. Id like to applaud Congressman LaLota for his bipartisan work on this important legislation to authorize a much-needed study on the future of Plum Island.

Background:

In March 2023, LaLota introduced the Plum Island National Monument Act as his first piece of legislation. This bill would establish Plum Island as a national monument for ecological conservation, historical preservation, and the discovery and celebration of our shared cultural heritage.

The amended legislation, which passed the House Natural Resources Committee, would require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a comprehensive study of Plum Island, New York. This study aims to assess the appropriateness of designating Plum Island, or parts of it, as a unit of the National Park System or the National Wildlife Refuge System, or exploring other protective measures for its resources.

The study would evaluate the national significance of Plum Island, assess the feasibility and suitability of its designation under the Department of the Interior, and consider alternative preservation methods involving federal, state, local, private, or nonprofit entities. The legislation would require consultations with relevant stakeholders and provide cost estimates for any federal actions related to the acquisition, development, operation, and maintenance of the proposed protections. The findings and recommendations must be reported to Congress within three years of funding availability.

In May 2023, LaLota sent a letter to Biden calling on the President to either voice support for the Plum Island National Monument Act, which aims to permanently protect the island, or designate the island as a national monument through Presidential powers authorized in the Antiquities Act of 1906.

In March 2024, LaLota spoke in support of protecting and preserving Plum Island at a hearing for the Natural Resources Committee. At the hearing, LaLota questioned National Park Service Deputy Director Mike Reynolds and Louise Harrison of Save the Sound on the importance of protecting Plum Island and what can be done to build support for and advance the Plum Island National Monument Act.

Plum Island, New York is located in Southold Township about three miles from Orient, New York. In 1954, the Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) was established on the island and managed by the United States Department of Agriculture. In 2002, the Department of Homeland Security was tasked with continuing the operation. The laboratory researched foreign animal diseases and worked to prevent the introduction and spread of such diseases. After significant community concerns, in 2005, the PIADC was ordered to close and relocate to Manhattan, Kansas. The Department of Agriculture and the Department of Homeland Security are still deconstructing the PIADC.

The Department of Homeland Security originally was required by law to sell Plum Island to the highest bidder, however, former Congressman and incoming EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin successfully passed legislation to repeal that requirement. Rep. LaLotas legislation would ensure that Plum Islands natural habitat is protected and preserved for generations to come.
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: November 25 2024

Mahmut Unver and John Yilmaz allegedly underpaid workers at the Anatolia Mediterranean & Grill by more than $60,000.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that the owners of a mediterranean restaurant in West Hempstead were charged with allegedly underpaying their employees by more than $60,000 from September 2023 to April 2024 and failing to contribute to the New York State Unemployment Insurance program.

Mahmut Unver, a.k.a. Max Unver, and Red Lions Food Corp., which operates as Anatolia Mediterranean & Grill, were arraigned on November 13, 2024, before Judge Geoffrey Prime on charges of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (a C felony), Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree (an E felony), Failure to Pay Wages When Due Under Labor Law (an unclassified misdemeanor), and Willful Failure to Pay Contributions (an unclassified misdemeanor). They pleaded not guilty and are due back in court on January 6, 2025. Co-defendant John Yilmaz, a.k.a. Canturk Yilmaz, was arraigned yesterday before Judge Geoffrey Prime on the same charges. He pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance. He is due back in court on December 13, 2024.

If convicted, the defendants face up to 5 to 15 years in prison.

The prosecution of the defendants is the first under the amended Grand Larceny statute in Nassau County, which includes compensation for labor services in the definition of property. The amendment, which was signed into law on September 6, 2023, strengthens criminal penalties for wage theft by allowing prosecutors to combine wage underpayments or improper wage payments for an entire workforce into a single grand larceny charge.

My office does not tolerate the exploitation of hard-working employees, said DA Donnelly. By allegedly underpaying their restaurant workers by more than $60,000 in the span of seven months, Mahmut Unver and John Yilmaz not only violated the law, but they undermined the dignity and value of those who helped build their business. The amended Grand Larceny statute in the State of New York, which now considers wage theft a form of larceny, reinforces our commitment to holding employers accountable and ensuring justice for employees who are deprived of the wages they rightfully deserve.

DA Donnelly said that, according to the charges, the defendants allegedly underpaid nine former employees of the Anatolia Mediterranean & Grill, located at 183 Hempstead Avenue in West Hempstead, between on or about September 6, 2023, and April 31, 2024.

Two former employees, a delivery driver and a food preparer, were allegedly underpaid by more than $10,000 and $11,000, respectively. The seven other employees underpayments range from $1,696 to $9,936.

In addition to the alleged wage underpayments, records obtained from the New York State Department of Labors Unemployment Insurance Division show that Red Lions Food Corp. allegedly failed to pay its unemployment insurance contributions since September 2022.

According to the latest collection notice dated June 21, 2024, the business had allegedly underpaid its unemployment insurance contributions by approximately $13,989.11.

The case is being prosecuted by Attorney-In-Charge of Labor Crimes Richard Balletta of the Major Financial Frauds Bureaus Crimes Against Revenue Unit, under the supervision of Bureau Chief Maureen McCormack and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Investigations Division Rick Whelan. Unver and Red Lions Food Corp. are represented by Mitchell Elman, Esq. Yilmaz is represented by Stacy Albin-Leone, Esq.
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: November 25 2024

Melanie's Law S.6288/A.6026 Allows Courts To Issue Orders of Protection to Immediate Family Members or Household Members of Named Victims, Regardless of Age.

Governor Kathy Hochul today signed legislation expanding protections in domestic violence cases in criminal and family court. This legislation recognizes that domestic violence does not just impact a person who is or was in an intimate relationship with an abuser  it impacts their family and household members as well. Under this legislation, all family and household members will be afforded the same process in court, including the ability to obtain an order of protection. Previous laws only allowed unrelated children under the age of 18 to be included on the adult family members order of protection. Additionally, this legislation will allow these family and household members to file family offense petitions in Family Court. Todays action, on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, expands on Governor Hochul and the Legislatures commitments to keeping all New Yorkers safe and combating domestic violence.

Melanie Chianese should be standing with us today, along with countless New Yorkers lost at the hands of senseless and preventable acts of domestic violence, Governor Hochul said. By signing Melanies law, we are committing New York State, our law enforcement and our legal system to the fundamental principle that every person deserves to be protected.

Melanies Law is named after Melanie Chianese, who was tragically killed by her mothers ex-boyfriend while he was awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to a domestic violence felony. Melanies mother, Cheryl Chianese-Cavalli, was able to get orders of protection for herself and Melanies four-year-old son, but Melanie was ineligible because she was 29. Governor Hochul was joined at the signing by Melanies mother. Melanies Law recognizes the importance of protecting those close to a victim, as in many cases, those who harm will use any method to establish power and control over their partner, including hurting those who matter most to them.

Mother of Melanie Chianese, Cheryl Chianese-Cavalli said, Today is a big step forward for domestic violence. Melanie's Law will save lives and her legacy will live on forever in our hearts.

State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said, With Governor Hochuls signing of Melanies Law today, New York takes a significant step forward in strengthening protections for survivors of domestic violence and their loved ones. I commend Senator Michelle Hinchey for her determination in championing this law and thank our partners in the Assembly for their collaboration in getting it done. Above all, I want to express my deepest gratitude to Melanies family and the advocates who have turned their pain into purpose, working tirelessly to make this law a reality. Their courage and determination will provide safety and peace of mind to countless families across our state.

State Senator Michelle Hinchey said, Today, thanks to one mothers extraordinary courage and advocacy for change, Melanies Law, championed by her mom, Cheryl, is now law. Domestic violence leaves a trail of trauma that impacts entire families, and when people come forward for help, they deserve a legal system that offers protection and compassion. Im proud to sponsor Melanies Law, which will help do that, allowing orders of protection to now extend to relatives of DV victims, providing a safeguard for those who often bear the ripple effects of abuse. My deepest thanks go to Governor Hochul for signing this vital legislation and Cheryl Chianese, whose advocacy has provided families with a stronger voice in their fight for safety through Melanies Law.

Assemblymember Brian Cunningham said, Government is about solving problems and protecting people. Today, we did both. The passage of Melanies Law will finally close a harmful and deadly loophole to legally protect friends, roommates, and family against violent and emotionally abusive abusers. Now, an abuser cannot escape the rule of law or redirect the threat of emotional or physical violence toward a survivor and the people they love.

The signing comes one month after more than 250 professionals from across the state arrived in Albany to attend Learning the Signs: Assessing the Risk of Lethality in Domestic Violence Cases  the states first-ever summit of its kind  hosted by the state Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence (OPDV) and the State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS). The two-day training provided law enforcement agencies, attorneys, social services staff, gender-based violence services providers and other professionals with the necessary training and tools to assess danger in domestic violence cases and respond in a survivor-centered, trauma-informed and culturally responsive manner.

Earlier in October, Governor Hochul announced a record-level, $35 million state investment to improve the public safety response to intimate partner abuse and domestic violence and better address the needs of victims and survivors.

New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence Executive Director Kelli Owens said, No one should feel helpless to protect their children, no matter how old they might be, from their abuser. Thank you, Governor Hochul, and our legislators, for taking this step to offer peace of mind and save lives. OPDV is dedicated to raising awareness, working with law enforcement and domestic violence professionals to better assess lethality risk factors, and ensuring the needs of victims and survivors are met in a survivor-centered, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive way.

New York State Office of Victim Services Director Bea Hanson said, Melanies Law recognizes the far-reaching impact of domestic violence and the danger that an abuser may pose to other individuals, not just their intimate partner. I thank Governor Hochul and the Legislature for closing this loophole and for their steadfast support of victims rights.

New York State Office of Children and Family Services Commissioner Dr. DaMia Harris-Madden said, Domestic violence is an insidious malady that not only has a devastating effect on the target of abuse but has a traumatic impact on the children and all other family members in the home. I applaud Governor Hochul and the advocates for signing this potentially life-saving legislation that closes a dangerous gap in the law and will enable Family Court to issue orders of protection to anyone in a family or household who could be in danger from a domestic abuser.

The New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence is the countrys only cabinet-level executive state agency dedicated to the issue of gender-based violence. Follow OPDV on Facebook, Instagram and X.

The Division of Criminal Justice Services provides critical support to all facets of the States criminal justice system, including, but not limited to: training law enforcement and other criminal justice professionals; analyzing statewide crime and program data; providing research support; and managing criminal justice grant funding. Follow DCJS on Facebook, Instagram and X.

New York's Domestic and Sexual Violence Hotline is available 24/7: 800-942-6906 (call), 844-997-2121 (text) or @opdv.ny.gov (chat). OVS Resource Connect also allows individuals to find state-funded victim assistance programs in their community by their specific need or concern.
Weapons, including short-range rocket and missile launchers, found by the IDF in Lebanon. (IDF photo)

The Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah targeted northern and central Israel with multiple rocket barrages on November 24, including one of the largest attacks on the Tel Aviv area in one day since Operation Northern Arrows began on September 23. Israels operation against Hezbollah is now in its third month, and even though the IDF says it has struck numerous Hezbollah rocket launchers and eliminated more than 2,000 Hezbollah operatives, the group continues to use its arsenal.

Hezbollah began its attacks on November 24, using drones to target northern Israel. The IDF intercepted two of the drones. Next, just before 7:30 am, when many Israelis are dropping children off at school, the group launched six long-range rockets targeting areas of central Israel near Tel Aviv. The Israel Air Force intercepted five of the projectiles. Hezbollah followed up this attack with a barrage of 30 rockets targeting northern Israel. One woman was wounded in the barrage, and damage was caused in the town of Maalot-Tarshiha.

Later in the day, more rockets were fired at central Israel and Haifa in northern Israel, causing damage to buildings in the city of Petah Tikva northeast of Tel Aviv and in Haifa. Damage was caused to an area in Petah Tikva by the attacks. By 3:00 pm, the IDF said Hezbollah had launched more than 160 projectiles that crossed into Israel. This was the most since November 11, according to IDF data published semi-regularly. The last significant increase in attacks was on November 18, when 130 projectiles crossed into Israel. In general, most days in November have seen around 50100 projectiles crossing into Israel.

Hezbollahs attacks on November 24 typically included barrages of two dozen rockets at a time targeting specific areas in northern Israel and the launching of several long-range rockets at central Israel.

The IDF struck back at Hezbollah, hitting at least one of the rocket launchers used to target Haifa. The footage released by the IDF shows a rocket launcher on the back of a short flatbed truck. This type of vehicle could be used for civilian purposes, and the launcher could be disguised before being elevated, making platforms like this easy to deploy and hard to find. The IDF footage showed that the truck was empty of occupants, and the launcher was empty.

The IDF also carried out precision strikes on buildings in southern Beirut after warning locals to evacuate the area. The IAF conducted intelligence-based strikes on Hezbollah command centers which were deliberately embedded between civilian buildings in the Dahieh, a key Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut. From those command centers, the Hezbollah terrorist organization is directing its terror activities against the State of Israel, the Israeli military said. All targets struck were deliberately embedded by the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the heart of civilian areas, this is a further example of how the Hezbollah terrorist organization cynically uses the Lebanese civilian population as a human shield, the IDF added.

In the wake of the IDF strikes, Hezbollah continued to target central Israel. It launched two rockets at 6:12 pm and then singular rockets at 6:31 and 6:47 pm. Three fell in open areas, and one was intercepted. The attacks illustrate the complexity Israel faces in dealing with the rocket threat. These attacks often set off sirens over a large area because of the chance that shrapnel could fall if there is an interception and to prevent danger to civilians. The rocket may be intercepted or fall in an open area, but more than a million people may be sent to bomb shelters anyway.

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).
A profile picture of Mousa Ali Daqduq published by US forces in Iraq.

A recent Israeli airstrike in Syria killed Ali Mousa Daqduq, one of Hezbollahs most wanted military leaders who served as the deputy commander of the Radwan Unit at the time of his death, a senior US defense official confirmed to NBC News. Daqduq, along with Qassem Soleimani, played an instrumental role in establishing Iraqs Iran-backed Shia militias during the early 2000s. These militias now operate in Iraq, Syria, and Israel.

Few details about Daqduqs elimination are available. However, on November 10, both Israeli and Arab media reported that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) strikes in Syria killed two prominent Hezbollah commanders: Ali Mousa Daqduq and Salim Ayyash. Despite the reports, the IDF did not comment on the reported targeting.

Over the course of the war, the IDF has carried out numerous targeted eliminations of top Hezbollah commanders. For example, on September 24, an Israeli airstrike in Beirut killed 12 Radwan Force commanders, including its chief, Ibrahim Aqil.

Daqduq played many roles throughout his career with Hezbollah. He was appointed as the deputy commander of the Radwan Force in late September 2024 after the IDF savaged the units leadership in a series of airstrikes that month. The Radwan Force is Hezbollahs special operations unit tasked with infiltrating the Israeli border and carrying out attacks inside the country against military and civilian targets.

Before assuming a leadership role in the Radwan Force, Daqduq served as the commander of the Golan Unit, a Hezbollah cell formed near the Golan Heights in Syria to operate against Israel. Israel killed his son, Hassan Ali Daqduq, in an airstrike in Syrias Quneitra governorate in December 2023. Hassan Ali was also a member of the Golan Unit.

Daqduqs legacy in Iraq

The US government added Daqduq to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists in November 2011 for his role in establishing the Iran-backed militias that are responsible for the murder of at least 600 American soldiers in Iraq.

According to the US Treasury Department, In approximately 2005, Iran asked Hezbollah to form a group to train Iraqis to fight Coalition Forces in Iraq. In response, Hassan Nasrallah established a covert Hezbollah unit to train and advise Iraqi militants in Jaish al Mahdi (JAM) [or Mahdi Army] and JAM Special Groups, now known as Asaib Ahl al Haq [League of the Righteous], a Mahdi Army faction which is a US listed Foreign Terrorist Organization. Asaib Ahl al Haq has emerged as one of the most powerful Shia terror organizations in Iraq today.

Daqduq worked closely with former Islamic Revolutionary Guards ForceQuds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, the former head of Iraqs Popular Mobilization Forces and the founder of Hezbollah Brigades, Qais Khazali, the founder and leader of Asaib Ahl al Haq, and Abu Mustafa al Sheibani, the founder of the Sheibani Network and current leader of Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, to establish a network of militias loyal to Iran.

The US killed Muhandis and Soleimani in an airstrike in Baghdad in 2020.

The Iranian-backed militias that Daqduq, Hezbollah, and Iran spawned are now powerful entities in Iraq and Syria. In Iraq, the militias wield significant political power in parliament. At the same time, the military branches dominate the Popular Mobilization Forces, an official arm of the Iraqi security establishment that reports only to the prime minister.

In 2007, Daqduq was captured by the US military. After 11 months, he was transferred to Iraqi custody and released in November 2012 after being acquitted of terrorism charges. Following his release in 2012, the US added Daqduq to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. He soon returned to Lebanon and was placed in charge of training Hezbollahs special forces.

Joe Truzman is a research analyst at FDD's Long War Journal focused primarily on Palestinian militant groups and Hezbollah. Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.
Black Friday is the biggest shopping event of the year, but Cyber Monday is often the best time to get a good deal on a new iPhone, accessories, or other Apple gear. We check prices on iPhone models all year round, so at any point you can check out our best iPhone deals article for up-to-date info on the top deals. We have separate advice for readers looking to buy an iPhone 16 in the U.S. and the U.K.

In fact, if you want one of the latest iPhone 16 models you can already save money with the U.K. Cyber Monday deals, see below for details.

You can find all the best Cyber Monday deals below, as well as some advice on where to look and what to look out for. Well be updating this page imminently, as the discounts come in.

If youre looking for other Apple products, check out our mega roundup of the best Cyber Monday Apple deals.

iPhone deals for Cyber Monday 2024: Our advice

Apples newest iPhones are the iPhone 16 ($799/799), 16 Plus ($899/899), 16 Pro ($999/999), and 16 Pro Max ($1,199/1,199). It is unlikely that we will see large discounts on these new iPhones over Black Friday, but any saving is worth having.

The iPhone 15 ($699/699) and 15 Plus ($799/799) and 14 ($599/599) and 14 Plus ($699/699) are still offered for sale, as well as the iPhone SE ($429/419). It is likely that most of the deals will be on these older iPhone handsets. You can save some money by buying an older iPhone, but youll be giving up some newer features, most notably Apple Intelligence.

The only phones capable of Apple Intelligence are the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and the set of iPhone 16 handsets. This might not matter to you now, but it may do in the future, so just keep this in mind when making your purchase. If you see an offer on the iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max we recommend buying one. These were great phones, capable of Apple Intelligence. The leap from the iPhone 15 Pro to the iPhone 16 Pro is not nearly as big as that from the iPhone 15 to iPhone 16.

We dont recommend buying an iPhone SE even if its free through a carrier as its several years old and is due to get an update in early 2025.

iPhone deals in the U.S. for Cyber Monday 2024

Its very rare to find a deal on an unlocked iPhone 16, but there are some discounts on previous models:

iPhone deals in the U.K. for Cyber Monday 2024

In the U.K. and many countries it is easy to buy an unlocked iPhone and resellers often offer discounts. Here is our pick of the best U.K. iPhone deals this Black Friday. For the latest deals on specific models, check the automated price comparison tables at the bottom of this article.

iPhone deals from U.S. carriers for Cyber Monday 2024

In the U.S., the only big iPhone deals you can find come from carriers, and have a lot of strings attached. Typically, you have to buy a phone on a multi-year installment plan and get your discount in the form of monthly bill credits. These might change over Black Friday, but the offers are likely to still have strings attached.

These are the deals that are available from the three major U.S. carriers. Conditions always apply hereyou may need to have a specific plan, open a new line, or trade in a device. Most U.S. carrier deals require you to buy the phone on an installment plan, and then you get the discount as bill credits toward your monthly payment.

AT&T: Get up to $1,000 in bill credits when you buy a new iPhone 16 Pro or Pro Max and trade in your old phone, with a qualifying unlimited plan.

T-Mobile: Get up to $830 in bill credits toward the purchase of any iPhone 16 model when you trade in your old phone and join the Go5G plan.

Verizon: Get up to $100 in bill credits toward any iPhone 16 Pro model with a trade-in and the activation of a new line on the Ultimate Unlimited plan.

Amazon: Amazon has partnered with Boost Infinite, a new carrier owned by Dish that primarily uses T-Mobile and AT&T towers for now. $65/mo gets you a free iPhone 16 Pro and unlimited talk, text, and data. Restrictions apply.

iPhone accessories deals for Cyber Monday 2024

Many of the best deals are going to be on iPhone accessoriescases, chargers, cables, and the like. There are way too many such products to keep track of, and many small discounts come and go throughout the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale. We highlight only the most interesting bargains; products that are rarely discounted or exceptionally good prices on accessories we recommend.

U.S.

U.K.

You can also find more Apple accessory Black Friday deals. Also check out our round-up of the Best iPhone 16 cases and the Best iPhone 15 cases. You might also find some deals among our best earbuds for iPhones and best over-ear headphones. And dont forget to look at our best AirPods Cyber Monday deals.

Does Apple discount iPhones for Cyber Monday?

Rather than discount its products, every year Apple holds a shopping event from Black Friday (November 29) to Cyber Monday (December 2). Apples Black Friday deal takes the form of gift card offers, rather than actual savings.

We can confirm what Apple is doing for Black Friday 2024: if you buy an iPhone 15 from Apple you can get a voucher for $75/60, buy an iPhone 14 and get a $50/40 Apple Gift Card, but an iPhone SE and get a $25/20 Apple Gift Card. Just note that these handsets are not compatible with Apples new Apple Intelligence features, which may or may not matter to you now, but might do in the future.

Plenty of resellers and carriers do have Black Friday offers on iPhones. Below you will find the best ones weve seen as well as advice on what to look out for so that you can get the best deal.

Is Apples Cyber Monday deal any good?

Rather than discount its products, every year offers gift card offers rather than actual savings.

For 2024 the gift card amounts are $75/60 for the iPhone 15. This is a decent saving If you want to buy one of these phones. You could use your $75 voucher to buy a case or something else from the Apple Store, or even credit it to your account to pay for subscriptions for a few months.

2024 2023 2022 iPhone 15 $75  n/a iPhone 14 $50 $75  iPhone 13 n/a $50 $50 iPhone SE $25 $25 $50

Below are up-to-date tables that show the best offers right now on the various Apple iPhones.

iPhone 16 deals

iPhone 16: From $799/799

iPhone 16 Plus: From $899/899

iPhone 16 Pro: From $999/999

iPhone 16 Pro Max: From $1,199/1,199

iPhone 15 deals

iPhone 15: From $799/799

iPhone 15 Plus: From $899/899

iPhone 15 Pro: was from $999/999

iPhone 15 Pro Max: was from $1,199/1,199

Retailer Price 1479 View Deal Product Price

iPhone SE (third-generation) deals

iPhone SE: from $429/429

Retailer Price 559 View Deal Macway FR 576 View Deal Product Price

Cyber Monday 2024: Best deals for Apple products

Check out these roundups for the best Apple deals:
Jennifer Lopez's presence in Saudi Arabia has caused more than one social uproar in Turkey, an annoyance that went all the way to the diplomatic order of the country ruled by Recep Tayyip Erdogan since 2014.

The image that caused so much controversy has to do with the symbolism that Muslims have of the Kaaba, the stone construction that governs the center of the courtyard of the Great Mosque located in Mecca, the city where Muslims, because of their religious beliefs, have to visit once in their lives.

Her dancing in front of the Kaaba while singing during her concert outraged the Turks, so much so that even their former President of Religious Affairs, Mehmet Gormez, reacted harshly for what he considers a lack of respect from Saudi Arabia towards Islam.

In Turkey, it was widely expected that the country's president of Religious Affairs, Ali Erba, would express some words, but he has not yet pronounced himself on an event that has caused much controversy given the case that Sharia rules in Saudi Arabia.

"The Kaaba is not the property of any, tribe, nation or state," Mehmet Gormez expressed very upset that the silhouette of the Kaaba was used as a stage decoration at the Riyadh Festival.

"The use of the silhouette of the Kaaba as a mere decoration is an insult that is incompatible with any value of Islam. The repetition of the images deeply hurt all believers. Using the holiest motto of Muslims for such illegitimate and immoral activities is literally a violation of the holy name of Islam," Gormez argued.

This was the culmination of a tense few days between the two countries, as the Turkish press had published that the Saudis were 'selling' their mosques to the highest bidder with this type of spectacle.
An authentic Mexican restaurant in Boston has closed its original location after 25 years.

El Pelon Taqueria said in an Instagram post Sunday, Nov. 24 that the restaurant closed its Fenway location to consolidate our efforts at our Brighton location.

A comment left by the restaurant indicated that El Pelons last day of service was Saturday. The restaurant will continue to offer catering and delivery throughout the city.

This was a difficult decision, the post reads. We want to express our gratitude for all your support throughout the years. You have made this journey incredibly special, from celebrating proposals to anniversaries and all in between. This is not a goodbye. We hope to see you at the Brighton location.

El Pelon Taqueria opened at 92 Peterborough St. in Boston in 1998, according to the restaurants website. The restaurants menu features classic Mexican fare from tacos and burritos to enchiladas and quesadillas. Through its freshly prepared meals and annual chile pepper eating contest, El Pelon Taqueria became a Boston staple.

"Ive been eating the el guapo there since 2001. Ive seen you burn down twice! Im so happy youll still be around but that location is everything to me," one patron commented on El Pelons Instagram post.

"Thank you for so many memories and so much good food, another comment reads. My boyfriend of 6 years and I had our first date here. You will be dearly missed."

The restaurant opened its Brighton location in 2010, El Pelons website states. That location is at 2197 Commonwealth Ave. in Brighton.
Next month, Jews around the world will participate in a centuries-long tradition of lighting candles, dining on fried food and gathering with loved ones to celebrate Jewish history.

Hanukkah, also spelt Chanukah, is the Jewish eight-day, wintertime Festival of Lights, honoring the rededication of the Holy Temple  a time where a small group of faithful Jews fought off the Syrian-Greek army to protect their faith in the second century BCE.

This year, the Festival of Lights begins on the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 25, and ends Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025.

On the evening of Dec. 25, Jews will mark the beginning of the holiday and honor the miracle of the oil, by lighting the first candle of the menorah, a nine-pronged candelabra.

But this year, the celebration is kicking off much later than in years past.

In 2024, it begins two and a half weeks later than it did in 2023, a week later than in 2022 and nearly a month later than in 2021.

Thats because the Hebrew calendar, and all Jewish holidays, are determined by the phases of the moon  also known as a lunisolar calendar.

Hebrew calendar

Every month of the Hebrew calendar follows the phases of the Moon, and every year follows the Earths orbit around the Sun.

According to Chabad.org, towards the beginning of the Moons cycle, it appears as a thin crescent which signals a new Jewish month.

It grows until it is full towards the middle of the month, and wanes throughout the month until it is no longer visible.

Read more: North Shore city may turn vacant Kmart into affordable housing

It is invisible for about two days and once the crescent reappears, the cycle begins again.

Hanukkah is always celebrated on the 25th day of the ninth month of the Hebrew calendar, Kislev.

Kislev usually coincides with November into December of the Gregorian calendar.

Because the Hebrew calendar is lunisolar, the months vary between 29 and 30 days long. This impacts when months begin and end, also influencing when holidays occur  including Hanukkah.

What is the story of Hanukah and the eight candles lit for the holiday?

In the second century BCE, Israel was ruled by Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks) who tried to force the people of Israel to accept Greek culture and beliefs instead of mitzvah observance, according to Chabad.org.

The story says Against all odds, a small group of faithful but poorly armed Jews, led by Judah the Maccabee, defeated the Seleucids and reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

When they tried lighting the temples menorah, a seven-branched candelabra, the band found only enough pure olive oil for one-day, though it Miraculously, lasted for eight days until new oil could be prepared under conditions of ritual purity.

Today, the miracle of oil is celebrated with the lighting one candle every night of the eight-day-long celebration.
Good Monday Morning, all.

As if it were needed, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu provided further confirmation last week that she wont be [rolling] out the welcome mat for the incoming Trump administration if it comes to town and starts trying to deport people.

The Democratic mayors comments came after President-Elect Donald Trumps pick for border czar, Tom Homan, dismissed Wu, a two-time Harvard grad, as not very smart for her very public defiance, and questioned why any public official would stand in the way of getting criminals off the streets.

They can not cooperate, Homan told the cable news channel NewsMax last week, according to The Boston Herald. But there are certain laws in place that they cant cross and I hope she doesnt cross it.

Wu fired back in a statement, arguing that Trump and his lieutenants can say whatever they want about me, but our public safety record speaks for itself: Boston is the safest major city in America.

The mayors tough talk represented the latest escalation in tensions between the Bay States top Democrats and the incoming Republican White House as it firms up its plans to use the U.S. military to deport millions of people who are in the country illegally.

If Trump carries through on those plans, tens of thousands of people in Massachusetts also could be deported. However, the effort is expected to face vigorous legal challenges.

Democratic Gov. Maura Healey already has said that the State Police wont be put to work assisting the new administration.

In an interview with MSNBC earlier this month. Healey noted that every tool in the toolbox has got to be used to protect our citizens, to protect our residents, and protect our states, and certainly to hold the line on democracy and the rule of law.

Massachusetts Republican Party Chairperson Amy Carnevale slammed Healey and Wu in a statement last week, saying that its appalling and disgusting that the two pols are prioritizing appeasing the most radical elements of their political base over the safety of Massachusetts residents.

Carnevales statement came in response to the news that federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices in Boston had arrested two undocumented immigrants on child rape charges and taken another into custody who had been convicted of the same charge in Brazil.

Parents across the Commonwealth are horrified that individuals charged with such serious crimes are allowed to roam free because local authorities refuse to work with ICE to remove these criminals from our streets, Carnevale continued.

X boss Elon Musk also weighed in, attacking state policies and Bostons decade-old status as a sanctuary city.

Why are sanctuary cities protecting child rapists? Unconscionable. Any politician who does so should be recalled immediately, the billionaire, and close Trump ally, posted to the social media site, WBUR reported.

In that same statement, Wu defended the citys approach.

Sign up right here for MassLives new politics newsletter, Bay State Briefing  Your weekly round-up of Massachusetts political news and the people and policies driving those stories.

Our homicide rates are among the lowest of any city nationally, and gun violence has been at an all-time historic low over the last two years here in Boston, Wu said, according to WCVB-TV in Boston.

This is no coincidence  its a reflection of the trust between our residents and our public safety officials and a result of our daily focus on community policing and coordinating city services. We will continue to focus on that work and have no intention of rolling out the welcome mat for them, she continued.

At least one Bay State Democrat has acknowledged that the partys immigration policies are a political liability.

Speaking to business leaders in Boston last week, U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-8th District, said the Democrats' policies have caused people to be afraid.

Our task is to know who is coming into the country  to have an orderly process that does not scare the bejesus out of people of Arizona and New Mexico," Lynch said.

Democrat Elizabeth Warren speaks to supporters at SoWa Power Station in Boston on Nov. 5, 2024 after the Associated Press declared her the winner in the U.S. Senate race against Republican John Deaton.(Sebastian Restrepo/MassLive)

Can you hear them now?

Theres no doubt that Election Day went pretty well for Massachusetts Democrats. Vice President Kamala Harris handily carried the state; U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren coasted to reelection, and the party retained its super-majority on Beacon Hill.

Nonetheless, Bay State Dems are engaging in the same kind of group introspection thats kind of become a cottage industry since Nov. 5.

Party officials announced a virtual listening tour last week that will analyze what worked and what didnt in 2024; gather feedback on areas for improvement, and foster a collaborative environment where all voices are heard.

Your voice matters, and this is your opportunity to help us build on our successes and strengthen our movement for the future. Together, we can ensure the Massachusetts Democratic Party continues to represent and advocate for the values that matter most to our communities, state Democratic Chairman Steve Kerrigan said in a statement.

Details on the sessions, conducted over Zoom, will be coming soon, the party said.

U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-4th District, holds a news conference in Brookline, Mass., on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024 (John L. Micek/MassLive).John L. Micek

The plural of caucus is ...

U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-4th District, has joined with several of his House colleagues to launch a pro-housing caucus on Capitol Hill. The group has been dubbed the YIMBY Caucus. Or Yes in My Backyard.

Other members of the bipartisan group include U.S. Reps. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz.; Scott Peters and Robert Garcia, both Democrats of California; Brittany Pettersen, D-Colo.; Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., and Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., Auchincloss' office said in a statement announcing its creation.

The cost of housing is the greatest economic challenge facing Massachusetts. The answer: build more housing, the Newton lawmaker said. At all levels of government, Americans need permitting & land use reforms that unlock more housing production.

Zzzzz ...

If you lost sleep on Election Night, take heart, youre hardly alone.

Nearly 93% of Americans said the nations quadrennial political drama cost them some shut-eye this year, according to a post-election study by SleepCycle.

The website analyzed more than 593,000 sleep sessions to come up with its results. And if theres any comfort, Americans slept better in 2024 than they did during the 2020 election, the analysis found.

In Massachusetts, 73% of residents reported some quality shuteye on Nov. 5. And most of you headed to bed around 11:35 p.m., according to the analysis.

Voters in Wyoming got the soundest sleep on Election Day, while Mississippi voters had the roughest night, the analysis found.

Phillip Eng, the general manager of the MBTA walks near a Green Line train at Riverside Station on March 27, 2023. (Chris Lisinski/State House News Service)

They said it

They continue to deliver on the schedule that weve set, and the quality has not shifted. Quality, in fact, has gotten better ... All of the learning curve that took place during the Orange Line [car delivery] prior to myself getting here is being factored in, so now the Red Line cars are performing right off the bat.

 MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng on the improving quality of the Ts newly delivered Red and Orange Line cars after the agency reset its contract with Chinese manufacturer CRRC (via State House News Service).

Massachusetts Republicans are hoping to build on earlier gains during legislative elections on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.(State House News Service)

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Turned up to 11

Because, sometimes, you just need to start the work week with Carly Rae Jepsen. Here she is, live, with Jack Antonoffs Bleachers with a live version of Tiny Moves, recorded at Fisher Green Pavilion in Seattle in July.

Your Monday long read

President-elect Donald Trump has been populating his incoming administration with allies and loyalists from the two states he calls home  New York and Florida. On Friday, the Republican named former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as his choice for U.S. attorney general.

Writing for The Dispatch, Michael Warren delves into the Sunshine States move into the national spotlight.

Heres the germane bit:

No one represents this Florida takeover better than Susie Wiles, the co-chair of Trumps 2024 campaign who will serve as his White House chief of staff. And Wiles is not just the architect (along with Chris LaCivita) of Trumps victory this year, Warren wrote. Shes a powerhouse in Florida Republican politics, getting a large amount of credit for both Rick Scotts out-of-nowhere victory in his 2010 run for governor and Ron DeSantis win in the 2018 gubernatorial race. Wiles ran the Trump campaigns Florida operation in 2016, putting the state back in the Republican column for the first time since 2004. In the eight years since, Florida has only tipped further into the GOPs column, up and down the ballot.

Thats it for this morning. Tips, comments, and suggestions can be sent to jmicek@masslive.com. Have a good week, folks.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell has joined with colleagues in more than a dozen states who are calling on federal regulators to make it easier for people to switch their cell phone provider.

Campbell and her fellow attorneys general have called on the Federal Communications Commission to pass a rule that would let consumers change their mobile providers while keeping their existing phones, her office said in a statement.

Right now, people can switch carriers and keep their existing phone numbers, a process known as porting, but there are often hurdles to jump through, including making sure your existing phone is compatible with your new carriers network, according to Android Authority, a consumer news site.

The rule, if adopted, would require a uniform baseline for providers to unlock consumers' phones within 60 days of activation, a move that would [reduce] consumer cost and confusion in the marketplace, Campbells office said.

Inconsistent policies and arbitrary timelines across carriers have made purchasing a mobile phone and choosing a service provider all too confusing and expensive for consumers, Campbell said.

By adopting this rule, and creating a more uniform unlocking standard, the Federal Communications Commission has an opportunity to empower consumers, foster competition, and increase choice in the wireless marketplace, she continued.

In a Friday letter, Campbell and a coalition of 15 state attorneys general told federal regulators that they routinely hear from consumers who said theyve been misinformed or deceived about wireless offers, including offers of free cell phones.

These customers say theyve been lured into entering a contract with a particular service provider for an extended period of time, Campbells office said.

Adopting the rule would result in reduced device costs by increasing the supply of those available at a lower cost, create more competition between providers, which would result in more affordable plans, and standardize the 60-day unlocking period for all service providers.

Campbells office was joined on the push by attorneys general in Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.
The state House on Monday approved Bostons request to temporarily reconfigure the way the states largest city splits property taxes between commercial and residential taxpayers.

The bill now heads to the state Senate, which met briefly but adjourned until Wednesday without acting on the legislation, which is the product of a compromise between Mayor Michelle Wu and the leaders of four business groups.

State Rep. David DeCoste, R-5th Plymouth, derailed action on the bill last week, using a procedural gambit. But he was not in the chamber on Monday when Democrats brought the bill to a vote at the start of their 11 a.m. session.

Read More: Boston tax shift bill hits snag on Beacon Hill

Wu has pushed for the bills passage to mitigate the extent of coming increases in residential property taxes, while critics of the legislation say the city should pull back on its spending increases and be more mindful of potentially lasting commercial real estate struggles.

Democrats were able to advance the bill during an informal session where theres no quorum and any legislator can stall a bills progress.

House Minority Leader Bradley Jones Jr., R-20th Middlesex, was briefly in the chamber during Mondays session, as were GOP REps. Stephen Howitt, R-4th Bristol, and Donald Wong, R-9th Essex.

Democratic Reps. William MacGregor, D-10th Suffolk; Rob Consalvo, D-14th Suffolk; Jay Livingstone, D-8th Suffolk, and Dan Ryan, D-2nd Suffolk, all of whom represent parts of Boston, also were in the chamber.
A first-term Democratic state lawmaker from Cape Cod is reportedly under investigation for felony larceny.

The specifics of the allegations against state Rep. Christopher Flanagan, D-1st Barnstable, largely are shielded from public view in a heavily redacted police report by the Yarmouth Police Department.

The first-term lawmaker is being investigated for felony larceny of more than $1,200, according to police. The story was first reported by the independent Boston Broadside.

In that police report, a Yarmouth officer writes that they met with an unidentified person on Sept. 20 for a conversation about a savings account to which Flanagan had access.

Based on the conversation regarding potential fraudulent use of a business account, [redacted] placed Flanagan on administrative leave pending an internal investigation, the officer wrote.

Sign up right here for MassLives new politics newsletter, Bay State Briefing  Your weekly round-up of Massachusetts political news and the people and policies driving those stories.

Upon learning this information from [redacted] dating back to when inconsistencies were prevalent when Flanagan used the business account. In this [redacted] checks written to himself deposited from and several withdrawals totaling about $36,000, the officer wrote.

Flanagan, of Dennis, was penalized earlier this year for misleading state regulators about payment for a campaign mailer, The Boston Herald reported.

He resigned from a second job at the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Cape Cod in May, the newspaper further reported.

The officer wrote that the party or parties hed met with had met with Flanagan several times to speak about the misappropriated funds but has not been able to get a reasonable answer from him.

At some point, Flanagan and [redacted] have resulted to communicating via email, as phone calls have gone unanswered, the officer wrote.

MassLive has reached out to Flanagan for comment for this story.

In a statement, a spokesperson for House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano, D-3rd Norfolk, said the House leader was aware of the investigation into Flanagan, but we have no basis to conclude that it is in any way related to his role as a [m]ember of the House of Representatives.

Given that there appears to be an active investigation by law enforcement, we will refrain from making any additional comments, the spokesperson said.
SPRINGFIELD  Radio personality Monte Belmonte, dressed in a flowing pink gown as Glinda from the Wizard of Oz, began his trek Monday morning, not upon a yellow brick road, but rather the 43-miles of highway and byway to Greenfield.

The 15th annual march  which often features Belmonte dressed in a costume pushing a shopping cart  began Monday in Springfield. This two-day march aims to raise $500,000, equivalent to 1.5 million meals for residents of Western Massachusetts.
A FORMER HSE manager who was part of an online paedophile ring has been sentenced to six years imprisonment.

Peter OMalley (47) of Hawthorn Place, Ballinrobe, appeared before Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court yesterday where he was sentenced to a total of six years and nine months after pleading guilty to ten sample charges in relation to the possession and distribution of child pornographic material between January 2020 and March 2021.

The charges included one count of causing a child to watch sexual activity, two counts of the use of information and communication technology to facilitate sexual exploitation of a child, three counts of possession of child pornography and four counts of distribution of child pornography.

The court heard that Mr OMalley, who worked as a manager with the HSE in the west of Ireland, was an administrator of a group on a social-media app where child pornography was shared and users would discuss having sex with underage children, including babies and toddlers.







Torture

In sentencing Mr OMalley, Judge Garavan said that being an administrator of the group showed that the defendant was a very willing participant. He added that the depravity of the images and the duration of 22 months in which he engaged in the activity demonstrated that he was a type of paedophile who was attracted in a sexual way to prepubescent children.

It seems to me that ultimately the accused was a member of a type of paedophile ring, not in the way which we would understand it of perpetrating sexual assaults but none the less the sharing and distribution of depraved [images of] children essentially being abused in such a way which amounts to torture, and given the nature of what is done to them is physically and emotionally torture, Judge Garavan said.

Anyones heart would break at seeing children being very upset and disturbed by being penetrated or the victim of other sexual activity. They could be seen screaming and crying of which is the most disturbing image to have to think about, he added.







FBI involvement

The facts in the case were heard last month when Detective Garda Paula Griffin of the Mayo Divisional Protection Services Unit explained to the court that Mr OMalley was identified as an administrator of the app by the FBI in Philadelphia and intelligence was shared with An Garda Siochana on May 18, 2021.

She explained that the defendant facilitated users entry onto the app, and that in order to gain access the would-be users would have to send three videos and five images of a child-sexual-abuse nature, including the rape of children by adults.

On October 4, 2021, Gardai searched Mr OMalleys home in Ballinrobe and seized four electronic devices, including two personal phones and a tablet and his HSE work phone. Gardai discovered 128,791 images on his personal phone, and of this, 70 percent of the material was pornographic  legal and illegal.

Det Garda Griffin explained that 249 images were child pornographic material, with 62 categorised as being Category One content (the most serious category) and 44 images of Category Two. No videos were recovered on the phone.

The Category One images included content of children from three years to 17 years engaged in sexually explicit activity or witnessing it, including children being sexually abused by adults.

The Category Two images included content in which childrens genitals were exposed and they were in poses of a sexual nature.

Detective Garda Griffin explained that the reason the investigation was initiated was because of Mr OMalleys online activity on the app, and the Gardai had managed to retrieve deleted messages. She said that in excess of 10,000 conversations from December 2019 to April 2021 were recovered, and the defendant who was using the name Pat Noone was identified in 30 conversations that contained illegal material.

The court was informed Mr OMalley was engaged in group chats in which child explicit material was exchanged and he had shared child abuse material with other users. He stated repeatedly in the chats that his preference in age was with early teens and he was the initiator of the majority of the chats recovered.







Extremely graphic

Det Garda Griffin gave an outline of the charges against Mr OMalley and she explained that images shared into the group were of an extremely graphic nature. She said in one chat the defendant described his sexual fantasies with children and specifically stated a preference for sexual intercourse with eight to ten year olds.

In one conversation, one user informed Mr OMalley that he has an eight year old daughter and the defendant discussed his sexual fantasies of sexual intercourse with this child. In another conversation, another user outlined he has a 12-year-old daughter and Det Garda Griffin said the gravity and depravity of the messages increases during the conversation, and Mr OMalley discussed sexual acts with children in an extremely graphic nature. He discussed having sexual acts with the 12 year old girl and the user at the same time.

In March 2021, Mr OMalley engaged in a conversation with a user regarding a sexual act with a two-year-old baby who was said to be the daughter of the other user. Det Garda Griffin said the messages were of extremely graphic and contained disturbing descriptions of raping children.

She also outlined conversations Mr OMalley had with users who identified themselves as underage teenage girls, one as young as 13 years. In some conversations he discussed meeting with some of the underage girls and told them he would like to have sex with them.

When questioned by gardai following his arrest, Mr OMalley admitted to being the user in the app but did not give any reason for his activity.







Dark place

Mr Desmond Dockery, senior counsel for Mr OMalley, said his client was a native of The Neale outside Ballinrobe and the eldest in his family, and that since the charges had come to light he has been estranged from his parents and his siblings.

Mr OMalley played an important role in organising the testing for Covid-19 in Mayo and Roscommon but was suspended from his job with the HSE following his detection in relation to this case. He resigned last June. All his work devices were examined, and none contained any illegal material.

Mr Dockery said that his client had been engaged to be married in May 2020, but the relationship ended at the end of 2019 he was at a very low ebb. He said that when the Covid lockdown was introduced in March 2020, Mr OMalley was living alone and working from home, and he started drinking excessively and engaging in adult porn.

Mr OMalley, he said, was introduced to the app, where it became easy for him to get into illegal material.

He fell deeper and deeper into this dark place and was completely out of character for him. His addiction to it deepened and he became fixated on it.







Explanation not accepted

At yesterdays sentencing sitting, Judge Garavan said he did not accept this explanation saying that given his background and intelligence, Mr OMalley should have realised the depravity of what he was doing and not continued it for 22 months.

It is hard to accept any genuine remorse his counsel urged on this court on his behalf. He could never explain why he felt this remorse.

It seems to me he was aware of the depraved and violent nature of it and knew well what was happening was the worst type of images being shared. This man is intelligent and he must have the insight to understand that the photographs of these children are real children. They may not be in his town or in the country, but they are young children being abused by an adult for the sexual fantasies of sick adults.

Clearly these were people who are attracted to the sexual exploitation of children, which is of course an offence that the majority of people would find hard to comprehend, he said.

Judge Garvan imposed concurrent sentences in four of the counts, with the charge of distribution of child pornography receiving the longest sentence of nine years.

After taking into account the mitigating factors, including the fact he is undergoing counselling and has shown insight and is an appropriate person for sex offenders programme, the judge reduced each sentence by 25 percent.

As a result, he imposed a custodial sentence of six years and nine months, but suspended the final nine months for a two-year period.

Judge Garavan added that upon his release Mr OMalley will come under the supervision of the Probation Service for three years. During this time, he must continue counselling and undertake a sex offenders course, and he must have the permission of the Gardai or the Probation Service before he can own or access a smart phone or other such digital device.

Judge Garavan commented that this was a significant sentence in terms of child pornography. He said he had taken into account Mr OMalleys role as administrator and distributor and the graphic nature of the matter, along with the nature of the conversations in the group chat, before finalising the sentence.

He also backdated the sentence to October 31 last, which is the date when Mr OMalley was placed in custody.
THE landlord of a Westport premises that sold vapes and sweets in close proximity has terminated the lease with the tenant by mutual consent.

Local representatives raised concerns after receiving numerous complaints after the shop opened on Shop Street in recent weeks.

The landlord who owns the premises has told The Mayo News that the lease has since been terminated by mutual consent. The shop has now closed and signage has been removed from the front of the property.

The property was let on the understanding that it would sell electronic devices, including vapes. After opening, the shop sold vapes and sweets and displayed signage advertising that it sold vapes and American sweets.

General election candidate Keira Keogh (Fine Gael) said on Friday that positioning a sweet shop alongside a vape store in such a central location is not just irresponsibleits a public health risk.

The sale and advertisement of vapes are currently not subject to the same restrictions as traditional tobacco-based products.

While current legislation prohibits the sale of vaping products at childrens events, it does not address the real-world issues of shops co-locating these products with sweets or other goods aimed at young consumers, added Ms Keogh.

I will fight for laws that require businesses to operate responsibly and put the health of our children first, she pledged.

Cllr Peter Flynn also raised concerns about the shop in a social media post and said he would raise the matter at a Mayo County Council meeting on Monday.
Ballina resident Lucy OHora received top accolades at the Carlow College, St Patricks Conferring Ceremony for 2024 on November 22, receiving a graduation prize for achievements for her third level studies.

In addition to receiving her BA (Hons) in English and History, Lucy was awarded the Robert Frederick Holmes (1803) Award in recognition of her contribution to student life in Carlow College.

Rebecca Gallagher, also from Ballina, joined Lucy in graduating from the BA (Hons) in English and History and was joined by her parents for the celebrations.

Staff and students at Carlow College had a day of celebration for its Class of 2024 on Friday as 152 graduates  including 5 students from Mayo - were conferred in the Colleges graduation, which took place in Carlow Cathedral.

The ceremony conferred awards across undergraduates in Arts and Humanities; English and History; Social, Political and Community Studies; and Applied Social Studies.

Michael Moriarty, well-known author and educator, delivered the keynote address at the graduation.

Speaking of the ceremony, Dr Margaret Murphy, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Registrar of Carlow College said: Today is a day of celebration for our new graduates and their families and friends. It is a proud day for the College and we applaud the achievements of the class of 2024. We look forward to hearing about the next stages in their journeys, whether that is in employment or further study.

Carlow College President, Fr Conn O Maoldhomhnaigh warmly congratulated the graduates who come from 16 different counties across Ireland.

As College President, it is my pleasure and privilege to acknowledge the exceptional achievements of all of our graduates. They have been part of our journey over the past three to four years and we wish them the very best as they continue on their own individual paths, said Fr O Maoldhomhnaigh.
China trade exhibition builds cooperation platform for Sino-Fijian enterprises

Xinhua) 14:58, November 25, 2024

SUVA, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Trade Exhibition of People's Republic of China in Fiji 2024 was held from Thursday to Sunday in the capital city of Suva, providing a platform for cooperation and communication between Chinese and Fijian businesses.

This exhibition took place at the Vodafone Arena in Suva, covering an area of approximately 1,600 square meters.

Over 30 Chinese companies showcased their latest products, technologies, and services in various fields, including infrastructure construction, automotive, renewable energy, general machinery, electronic communications, electrical equipment, and aquaculture.

At the exhibition, the mushroom cultivation booth from the China-Fiji Juncao Technology Demonstration Center attracted many local visitors.

A 75-year-old Fijian man named Alusio Tawakevoudua was particularly enthusiastic about promoting Chinese mushroom cultivation technology to his fellow citizens.

Tawakevoudua shared with Xinhua that he traveled from his village to Suva to volunteer as a guide after learning about the center's participation in the event.

He recounted how six years ago, Chinese experts arrived in their village and taught them how to grow mushrooms, which transformed the villagers' lives. "The Chinese experts have helped me and my family so much, and I want to give back in any way I can," Tawakevoudua said.

The exhibition also attracted numerous businesses from Fiji and neighboring countries.

Wasim Ahmed, CEO of Fiji AI Networks, noted that the event provided an opportunity for face-to-face communication between companies from China and Fiji. He emphasized the high quality and effective, better solutions of Chinese products, saying that his company signed a contract with an exhibitor to purchase a batch of radio communication equipment.

A booth from a photovoltaic company based in Shanghai drew large crowds, with some small solar products selling out immediately. The company representative, Shen Chongliang, explained that there was a strong demand from both individuals and enterprises, and numerous visitors frequented their booth, culminating in an order signed with an Australian hotel on-site.

In his opening speech, Chinese Ambassador to Fiji Zhou Jian remarked that this exhibition is the largest, most diverse, and highest-quality event that China has ever held in Fiji, providing an important window for Fijian enterprises and people to understand China's advanced technologies and products.

The exhibition was jointly hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Fijian Ministry of Trade, Co-operatives, Micro Small and Medium Enterprises, and Communications.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
by Fern Siegel , November 25, 2024



A new 15-second TV spot for Guinness stout uses a holiday jingle as the backdrop to "It's the Most Wonderful Pint of the Year" campaign.

The ad opens with a mansion covered in snow as the scene morphs into a frothy pint that resembles a snow globe. The creative is by integrated-marketing agency Taylor. The work airs on TV throughout December and on the Guinness US Instagram channel and digital platforms.

In addition, the Diageo-owned brand has a second campaign that focuses on its Guinness Nitrosurge device. The "Dancing Can" Guinness Draught spot demonstrates the tool, which breaks down the nitrogen in beer so consumers get a smooth pour each time. AMV BBDO produced the 30-second ad, directed by Johnny Kelly.

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The can dances to Perez Prado's "Guaglione," the same song used in the original 1994 spot.

Separately, in mid-November, Guinness and Brooklyn Brewery announced the launch of Guinness Fonio Stout, a limited-edition beer. Available in select locations in the greater New York area, this beer celebrates the global history of Guinness, blending its Irish heritage with the vibrancy of West African culture. The initiative, part of the iBrewing for Impact campaign, is inspired by Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver's work with ancient West African grain fonio.

The Guinness brand was established in 1759, when Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease on St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin.

Diageo's brands include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Smirnoff and Don Julio tequilas.
by Fern Siegel , November 25, 2024

Combining tech and engineering, A1RWATER generates pure water from air, using a simple power source. BBH USA has been chosen to shape the brand's strategic direction across channels.

The agency will also focus on A1RWATERs direct-to-consumer products, extending the technology to businesses and industries across the Americas.

Founded in 2018 in the United Arab Emirates, A1RWATER works to generate clean water from HEPA-filtered air requiring less infrastructure and no chemicals. The company says that reduces the need for single-use plastic and emissions.

Steven Panariello, CEO, BBH USA, said: We look forward to helping them shape a powerful narrative that not only elevates the brand but drives meaningful change in addressing global water challenges.

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First work is expected in 2025, but no specific timeline has been announced.

Pete Carr, CEO, A1RWATER, added the agency's creative expertise will amplify our efforts to revolutionize how the world thinks about water while reducing environmental impact and addressing the urgent need for sustainable solutions.

A1RWATER joins PayPal and Samsung SEA on the agencys roster of recent wins.

BBH is part of the Publicis Groupe.
Protests and strikes are taking place in over 20 countries around the world

Thousands of Amazon workers are expected to protest or strike in countries around the world during this week's Black Friday.

The main aim of the global protests is to put in the spotlight the need for improved workers rights from the US-based online retailer.

Workers and representatives from unions and workers groups intend to join in the protests, which will take place on Black Friday (29 November)

In the UK, protests are planned outside Amazons UK headquarters on Bishopsgate in London on that day.

Amanda Gearing, a senior organiser at union GMB, said: Here in the UK Amazon represents everything that is broken about our economy. Insecure work, poverty wages and often unsafe working conditions.

"GMB will not let these shape the world of work for the next decade.

In Germany, thousands of members of the union Ver.di will go on strike at warehouses located across the country, including Dortmund, Leipzig, Koblenz, Graben and and Rheinberg.

And in France, the Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions and Citizens Action (ATTAC) will hold protests in several cities.
Lindum's expansion into Europe is a significant step forward for the family-owned firm

Lindum, a UK-based packaging solutions provider, has announced the opening of its first warehouse in mainland Europe.

This strategic expansion will allow Lindum to improve service to its customers across Europe, particularly in Belgium and the Netherlands, and eliminate the cost of duty for its clients within the EU.

The new warehouse is in the Netherlands and reflects the growing demand for Lindums services in pallet stability innovations, particularly from UK-based customers with European sites.

Bernard Sellars, Managing Director of Lindum Packaging, said: "The opening of our first warehouse in Europe marks an exciting milestone in our company's history.

"Establishing a base in the Netherlands allows us to continue doing that on a larger scale, especially for our European customers who are looking to avoid post-Brexit tariffs and duties.

"We are delighted to offer a more efficient service to our customers in Europe, especially, Belgium and the Netherlands, who we look forward to meeting at this new facility."

This expansion follows increasing demand from European customers and UK-based companies with operations across Europe.

The company's decision to expand into the Netherlands was driven by the need to enhance its international presence.

In addition to duty-free trade, the warehouse provides the company with greater flexibility and faster delivery options.
Marines with Skin Condition Affecting Mostly Black Men Could Now Be Booted Under New Policy

A new Marine Corps policy says troops with a genetic skin condition that can cause pain and scarring from shaving and mainly...
A former U.S. Navy officer has been sentenced for conspiring to steal over $850,000 in military gear and selling it to buyers in other countries, federal officials said.

Richard Allen, 53, pleaded guilty Aug. 29 to conspiracy and six counts of money laundering. Now he'll serve 18 months in prison followed by three years of federal supervised release, the United States Attorney's Office said in a Nov. 21 news release.

Allen was also required to pay "$100,000 plus any sum obtained through forfeiture and directed to restitution."

The maximum penalties Allen faced were 125 years in prison and a fine of $3.5 million, court documents said.

"Mr. Allen has unequivocally accepted responsibility for his actions. He realizes that he made very poor decisions," Melissa Larsen, Allen's attorney, said in court documents.

Allen -- who served the U.S. Navy for more than 20 years before retiring -- began the scheme while stationed at Naval Weapons Station in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he had "unfettered" access to warehouses, court documents stated.

Using his access, Allen stole $856,433 worth of Navy gear and supplies, including uniforms, winter gear, flame retardant shirts and pants, soft body armor, goggles, infrared flag patches, Navy SEAL Trident insignia and Small Arms Protective Insert plates, according to court records.

Then, Allen and his co-conspirators sold the military gear to buyers in over 50 countries, including Russia and China, authorities said.

Court documents revealed Allen used an email address hosted on a Russian server to communicate with buyers, even telling one buyer he could "make a wish list."

He accessed military base police radio codes to monitor activity and make sure the thefts succeeded, authorities said.

"Allen was driven by greed to not only steal and attempt to profit from his crime, but to endanger the very national security he was sworn to uphold," Special Agent Michael Krol said in the release.

Even after retiring, Allen kept directing the conspiracy and receiving payments for it, according to the release.

One of Allen's co-conspirators, Matthew Thomas Deleo, was arrested in December 2015. He pleaded guilty to three charges in 2018 and was sentenced to "time served (approximately 19 months), 3 years of supervised release and ordered restitution in the amount of $866,582.97," court documents said.

The scheme was investigated by Naval Criminal Investigative Service-Northeast Field Office; Defense Criminal Investigative Service-Northeast Field Office; Homeland Security Investigations; Department of Commerce, Office of Export Enforcement-Boston Field Office; and the FBI, according to court documents.

"While the ramifications of this conspiracy's actions can never fully be known -- what with official U.S. Navy gear disseminated to foreign nations -- the sentence in this case communicates the gravity of Richard Allen's betrayal to the country he once honorably served," said U.S. attorney Zachary Cunha.

 2024 The Charlotte Observer.

Visit charlotteobserver.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Title: How to Build a Model Rocket!







(How To Build A Model Rocket)

Introduction

Model rockets have been a fascination of engineers for centuries, not just because of their remarkable speed and power, but also due to their ability to provide insights into various scientific concepts and challenges faced by scientists. In this article, we will delve deeper into how to build a model rocket, providing a unique and engaging perspective on space exploration.

Building a Model Rocket

1. Define your goals: Before building a model rocket, you need to clearly define what you want to achieve. What kind of space exploration do you want to accomplish? What kind of data do you want to collect? These questions will help you determine the size, design, materials, and components needed to build your rocket.

2. Choose a platform: The next step is to choose a suitable platform for your rocket. Different platforms have different features and capabilities, so its important to choose one that fits your needs. For example, a Tierra suborbital can be used for commercial purposes, while a SpaceX Dragon satellite is used for academic research.

3. Design the rocket: Once you have chosen your platform, you need to design your rocket. This involves determining the shape, composition, and layout of the rockets internal structures. You should also consider the intended use of your rocket, such as carrying astronauts or making space.

4. Choose the engines: The engines used in model rockets play an essential role in supporting the rockets operation. Some popular engines include Cfn-20 (China funded Development Group) and X180 (NASA-fundamented Project X). You should also consider the cost and reliability of the engine.

5. Gather funding: Finally, you need to gather funding to support your rocket project. The first step is to secure funding from industry partners, investors, and government agencies. You can also explore crowdfunding platforms to raise funds quickly.

Advantages of Building a Model Rocket

1. Increased efficiency: By building a model rocket, scientists can experiment with different designs and optimize the rockets performance, resulting in increased efficiency.

2. Science and technology collaboration: Model rockets allow scientists to collaborate with researchers from other institutions and collaborate on projects related to science and technology. This fosters a culture of innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration.

3. Data collection: Model rockets are capable of collecting vast amounts of data from space, which can be used for research and development.

4. International cooperation: Space exploration is a global endeavor that requires international cooperation. By building a model rocket, scientists can gain valuable insights into the challenges faced by space agencies around the world and contribute to the success of global space missions.

Conclusion







(How To Build A Model Rocket)

Building a model rocket is an exciting and challenging process that requires creativity, technical expertise, and time. With its ability to provide insights into various scientific concepts and challenges faced by scientists, model rockets have become an increasingly important tool for space exploration. As we continue to push the boundaries of space exploration, building models rockets holds even greater significance.

Inquiry us

if you want to want to know more, please feel free to contact us. ([email protected])
The cruise ship industry is expected to have a $230 million economic impact on the Great Lakes region in 2025, according to a forecast.

Cruise the Great Lakes, a marketing program focused on attracting more passengers to the region, predicts continued growth next year as a defunct cruise line returns to the freshwater seas.

As we look to 2025, were excited to see continued growth in the Great Lakes cruise sector, said Cathleen Domanico, tourism director of Cruise the Great Lakes. We forecast this upcoming season to be even stronger than 2024, both in terms of passenger numbers and economic impact, which underscores the appeal of cruising in the Great Lakes.

About 22,000 passengers are expected to cruise the Great Lakes in 2025 on ships from Pearl Seas, Viking, St. Lawrence Cruise Lines, Ponant, Hapag-Lloyd and Victory.

Victory Cruise Lines is returning to the region with two ships for the first time since 2022. The ships, Victory I and Victory II, sailed in 2023 as Ocean Navigator and Ocean Voyager under American Queen Voyages; that company has since filed for bankruptcy and the ships were sold at auction for $2 million to the previous owner of Victory who is now reviving the brand.

Between the six cruise lines, a total of 700 port visits are expected next year, which is a 30% increase over 2024. With an estimated 22,000 individual passengers, the total number of cruise passenger visits across the region is estimated to exceed 150,000.

The forecasted economic impact of $230 million is a 15% increase from 2024. Thats attributed to more passengers, more port visits, higher shoreside spending, and a rising price premium for Great Lakes cruises.

The beauty and diversity of our region continue to attract visitors from around the world, said Anne Sayers, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Tourism and chair of Cruise the Great Lakes. With more ships and ports on the itinerary, the positive economic contributions of Great Lakes cruising will continue to be felt across the region.
Season 5 Part 2 episode 11 of Yellowstone aired Sunday, Nov. 24, with a new development in John Duttons investigation and a shocking turn of events. Warning: This article contains spoilers.

Kayce and Jamies first confrontation this season, a new death and other key moments from the episode are recapped below to catch you up before episode 12 airs on Sunday, Dec. 1, at 8 p.m. ET on Paramount Network.

Warning: Spoilers begin now.

Find out how to watch the most recent episode of Yellowstone here.

Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 episode 11 recap:

Yellowstone episode 11 began with the moment John Dutton was murdered  showing the ranchs patriarch dragged unconscious into the bathroom and put through the motions of shooting himself. Both Kayce and Beth Dutton had an eerie feeling that something was off at the same time the trigger was pulled.

The episode returned to present day, where Kayce was at the coroners office for a toxicology report. After he asked the doctor to investigate it as a homicide, she found plenty of evidence on Johns body that he was restrained and dragged. By the time Kayce left, the cause of death was changed to undetermined, and he was able to reopen the case. But he didnt end his personal investigation there.

Kayce realized the murder weapon was a pistol from the livestock office, and his security footage would show who took it. He gave the detective permission to access the footage. Then, Kayce paid his brother Jamie a visit. This was the first time the brothers spoke after Johns death.

Kayce threw Jamie over his office desk demanding that he say if he had a role in their fathers death, but Jamie lied to his face and said he didnt. Before Kayce left, he gave his adopted brother a warning that he better be speaking the truth for the sake of both of them.

Later in the episode, a new Montana governor named Steve was sworn in. Of course, Steves priority is to undo Johns work to protect the Dutton Ranch and support Market Equities' development plans.

Back at the ranch, Thomas Rainwater and Mo stopped by to pay their respects. Rainwater offered his help to Beth, and the two talked about how to keep as much of the land together, pristine, as possible.

Before the episode ended, Jamie paid Sarah Atwoods house a visit to criticize the murder she planned. After an argument and physical fight, Sarah left. A few minutes later, Jamie called to apologize. As the two talked, a couple pulled up by her car to ask for directions and if she was Sarah Atwood. Then, the biggest shock of the episode occurred. They shot and killed her while Jamie listened to his lover die on the other end of the call.

With only three episodes left, there is no telling how the series will end, but fans are certainly on the edge of their seats waiting to find out.

The next new episode of Yellowstone airs Sunday, Dec. 1, at 8/7c on Paramount Network.

In episode 12, Counting Coup, Kayce makes a bold move. Meanwhile, Rip asks for help from a friend in Texas, while the bunkhouse contemplates their future. Jamie attempts to cover his tracks.

Find a complete recap of Yellowstone in its entirety in our MLive Yellowstone guide.

Where to watch Yellowstone Season 5 part 2:

$28/month, ditch cable and unlock 70+ channels of reality TV, movies, and more. Get access to over 70,000 movies and shows on-demand, plus AMC+. Philo (start free trial) - For, ditch cable and unlockof reality TV, movies, and more. Get access to over 70,000 movies and shows on-demand, plus AMC+. Click here to watch.

Season 5 part 2 cast:
CANTON TOWNSHIP, MI -- A fire at a mobile home in the Glen Ridge Manufactured Home Community claimed the lives of two children and left three other injured. Fire and police were dispatched to the community around 5:30 p.m. for reports of a fire.

Once crews arrived on scene they found a two adults and two children outside of a fully engulfed residence. Crews were able to rescue a third child from the residence before all five family members were transported to a nearby hospital.
DEXTER, MI  Before the idea of being a teacher occurred to him, Drake Reinert said he wanted to be an investment banker.

He pursued a degree in business from Indiana University and entered the workforce, he said, managing more than 100 people. Among them were several high school and college students, who helped inspire him to switch careers.
KENT COUNTY, MI  A man accused of assaulting a lieutenant at the Grand Rapids Township fire station faces multiple felony charges.

Robert Daniel-Brent Joppe, 40, of Cedar Springs, is charged with resisting and opposing an officer causing serious injury, punishable by up to 15 years in prison upon conviction, assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, a 10-year felony, carrying a concealed weapon, a five-year felony and resisting and opposing a police officer, a two-year felony.
OTTAWA COUNTY, MI -- The turmoil and rancor in Ottawa County government has intensified as some claim intimidation caused the lone finalist for the countys top leadership job to drop out.

Ottawa County Board Chair Joe Moss on Monday, Nov. 25 claimed that James Lower, the Sparta village manager, received communications from current Ottawa County Commissioner Jacob Bonnema and commissioner-elect John Teeples that prompted Lower to drop out.

Lowers announcement comes after another top finalist, Port Huron City Manager James Freed, on Friday, Nov. 22 said he was dropping out.

RELATED: Finalist for Ottawa County administrator post drops out

Freed and Lower were among 19 total candidates and made the cut to become the two finalists. They were chosen by a special executive transition committee comprised of five county commissioners, all who are affiliated with the highly conservative political platform Ottawa Impact.

It is unfortunate to find someone that is supported by the community that feels he must withdraw due to the intimidation he has received, Moss said during a committee session Monday.

This behavior is also creating a toxic environment for the transition between the two boards, he said.

Moss' mention of two boards references the Nov. 5 election, in which five new people won seats on the county board effective Jan. 1. All of those people are critics of Ottawa Impact and will cause the current Ottawa Impact majority voting bloc to disappear.

Related: Government control: Moderate Republicans claim two-seat edge over far-right Ottawa Impact

The boards Ottawa Impact majority have made several controversial decision over the last two years, spurring a significant amount of public criticism.

Teeples and others, following the November election, asked Moss and the executive transition committee not to pick a new administrator. They said the incoming board should have a voice in the process.

Also, Bonnema and Commissioner Doug Zylstra earlier argued the administrator search firm selected by Moss and the transition committee may not be best-suited for the job. The firm was not selected through a bidding process.

Lower, the lone finalist who now has dropped out, submitted a letter to Moss on Monday that talked about his reasoning for dropping out. Moss read the letter at Mondays transition committee meeting.

RELATED: Ottawa County should have sought bids on administrator search firm, some commissioners say

Lower noted that members of the incoming board had contacted him, both directly and indirectly, to say he would not get a fair chance to succeed as the new administrator. He did not specifically name Bonnema or Teeples.

They explained that, regardless of my qualification or efforts, they were committed to terminating or otherwise forcing out whoever is hired. This would be the case even if it resulted in significant cost to taxpayers through severance payments, search fees and renewed turmoil, Lower wrote in the letter.

Lower went on to say: I do not wish to cause Ottawa County taxpayers additional money or to be placed in a role set up for failure, thereby contributing further to the division in the community.

Bonnema, reached Monday, acknowledged he communicated with Lower and said: I answered his questions.

But he took issue with Moss' claim that he intimidated Lower.

The accusation of intimidation was merely an unfounded opinion of Chairman Moss, lacking any factual basis. Unfortunately, this chair and the exclusively OI committee intentionally set these candidates up for failure. It appears they acted out of a self-serving desire for control, Bonnema wrote in a text message to MLive.

Bonnema said he now is hopeful the new board will have a say in picking a new administrator after the new year.

The Ottawa County Administrator process has been rushed, frantic and flawed before it was even announced, he alleged.

Bonnema said he was aware of several highly qualified candidates who chose not to apply with W Talent Solutions because of the current leadership environment.

Teeples could not immediately be reached for comment.

Moss, in a Monday statement, said hes worried the county now will have to wait six to 12 months before a new administrator is hired.

The county has been without a permanent administrator since former Administrator John Gibbs was fired for misconduct in February. Moss said he delayed the process of filling the post until after the August primary election so applicants would know who would comprise the 2025 board.

He said he hopes to work collaboratively with incoming commissioners in January.

Regardless of whether we appoint someone now or sometime next year, its important that our county has a strong permanent administrator, he said.

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GRAND RAPIDS, MI - A vigil will take place Monday evening to mourn the loss of a local teenager whose body was found last week.

The candlelight vigil for Cortez McConer Jr. will be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 25, at Godwin Heights High School, 50 35th Street SW in Wyoming.

Together we will celebrate his light and the lasting impact he has had on our school and community, a Facebook post from the school reads.

Cortez was missing for more than three weeks before his body was found last Friday in a heavily wooded area near Rockford, police said.

Police and the family of Cortez, 16, had been looking for him since Oct. 28.

Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom on Monday, Nov. 25 said Cortez died from accidental drowning.

Cortez was with two friends Oct. 28 near the McDonalds restaurant on East Division Avenue in Rockford. They allegedly had been in a stolen vehicle.

The teens fled from police. Cortez and one of the friends crossed a creek before they separated. Cortez continued on, crossing Wolverine Boulevard and then going north through woods.

He apparently ventured into a reedy area that led to a pond, going into the pond before turning back.

Winstrom said his body was located in water, although it wasnt particularly deep. He suspects that hypothermia and exhaustion may have contributed to the death.

In later searches for Cortez, the only intent of police was to bring him home safely. There was no intent to look at any possible wrongdoing.

This is not the outcome we had hoped for, Winstrom said earlier in a written statement. On behalf of GRPD, we send our heartfelt condolences to Cortezs family and friends and the many in our community who will be grieving alongside them.
MARQUETTE, MI - Several inches of snow are in the forecast between now and Monday night for parts of the Upper Peninsula - a welcome arrival for snow lovers who had been hoping to see more accumulation in Michigans northern reaches by now.

A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for the western third of the U.P. until noon Monday, including the towns of Iron Mountain, Marquette, Ironwood, and Houghton on the Keweenaw Peninsula.

Old Man Winter has finally woken up! Wet snow will spread northward into the UP after midnight tonight, continuing through Monday afternoon, meteorologists at the National Weather Service office in Marquette said today. Accumulations around 2-4 are expected in the west half with locally higher amounts near 6 possible in lake enhancement areas. Less snowfall and wintry mixed precipitation is expected near the lakeshores, especially near Lake Michigan."

Some key messages from the NWS on the timing of this Upper Peninsula snowfall:

Wet snow begins to spread across the Upper Peninsula after midnight tonight.

The snow is slated to continue through Monday afternoon. There could be some wintry mix or sleet falling with this snow in areas near the Lake Michigan shoreline on Monday.

In the eastern U.P., anywhere from 1 to 3 inches of snow is forecast.

There will be more chances for snow mid-week and into Thanksgiving weekend. By the end of the week, below-normal temperatures will be felt across the U.P.

RELATED: Thanksgiving travel outlook: Storm system with waves of snow could clip 1 part of Michigan

The Upper Peninsula is in line for snow over the next 24 hours. Here are the expected totals.NWS

Here are the details of the Winter Weather Advisory:

Counties included: Keweenaw, Ontonagon, Northern Houghton, Baraga, Marquette, Gogebic, Iron, Dickinson, Southern Houghton.

Cities included: Iron River, Iron Mountain, Copper Harbor,

Gwinn, Houghton, Hancock, LAnse, Marquette, Ontonagon, Sidnaw, Ironwood and Kenton.

In effect from 1 a.m. Monday to 1 p.m. Monday.

What to expect: Wet snow expected. Total snow accumulations between 2 and 4 inches, with higher accumulations up to 6 inches possible. Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous

conditions could impact the Monday morning commute. Slow down and use caution while traveling."
Asian political parties welcome China's Global Civilization Initiative in promoting culture of peace

Xinhua) 08:05, November 25, 2024

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Representatives of Asian political parties have welcomed China-proposed Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) to promote a culture of peace, said a declaration released in Phnom Penh on Saturday.

The Phnom Penh Declaration on Peace and Reconciliation was issued at the conclusion of the 12th General Assembly of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), which was hosted by the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and attended by representatives of 49 political parties from 28 countries.

"We shared the view that tolerance of cultural, ethnic, racial and religious diversities is essential for lasting peace, and agreed that we will endeavor to promote cultural and religious tolerance, inter-faith harmony, traditional values and peaceful coexistence among nations and ethnicities as well as the Asian tradition of mutual respect," the declaration said.

"In this regard, we welcomed the Global Civilization Initiative that will be pursued on the notion of harmony without uniformity rather than a coercive insistence on uniformity," it added.

Proposed by China in March 2023, the GCI advocates respect for the diversity of civilizations, the common values of humanity, the importance of inheritance and innovation of civilizations, as well as robust international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation.

Chea Munyrith, president of the Cambodian Chinese Evolution Researcher Association, said the GCI is another important public good China has shared with the world in the new era after the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative.

"The GCI inspires countries to uphold the principles of equality, mutual learning, dialogue and inclusiveness among civilizations, and let cultural exchanges transcend estrangement, mutual learning transcend clashes, and coexistence transcend feelings of superiority," he told Xinhua.

"The GCI has inspired countries to keep an open mind in appreciating the perceptions of values by different civilizations, and to refrain from imposing their own values or models on others and from stoking ideological confrontation," Munyrith added.

According to the declaration, the representatives of Asian political parties also welcomed and supported the United Nations initiatives and the Global Development Initiative in promoting multilateralism and inclusive development.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
China's Chongqing sees NEV exports surge as automakers expand globally

People's Daily Online) 15:46, November 25, 2024

Logistics staff load China Railway Express trains with Chongqing-made automobiles at Chongqing Yuzui Station on March 8, 2024. (Photo/cqnews)

China emerged as the global leader in automobile exports in 2023, shipping 4.91 million vehicles worldwide, according to China's General Administration of Customs. The nation's export momentum continued into 2024, with 4.7 million vehicles exported in the first nine months, surpassing the previous year by nearly 1 million units.

The surge in China's auto exports is exemplified by Chongqing Municipality, a major automotive hub in southwestern China.

The city exported 368,000 vehicles valued at 33.17 billion yuan ($4.58 billion) in 2023. During the first three quarters of 2024, Chongqing's auto exports grew 34 percent to 31.7 billion yuan, with new energy vehicle (NEV) exports soaring 131.9 percent.

Chongqing performed remarkably in NEV exports, with local brands Changan and SERES leading the way. In 2023, Changan's NEV sales surged 69.2 percent compared to the previous year. The first phase of Changan's overseas production base in Thailand is set to produce 100,000 vehicles annually.

Meanwhile, SERES has established a strong presence in the European market, with orders for its new SERES 5 model exceeding 20,000 units.

"A growing number of countries are adopting green initiatives and promoting NEVs, creating opportunities for Chinese automakers who have developed technological expertise and cost advantages," said Wan Zhijun, vice president of SERES' overseas business department.

Chongqing's well-established automotive supply chain provides companies with opportunities to reduce costs and improve efficiency, Wan said. He added that ongoing improvements in the industrial chain and product quality have become key factors driving the global expansion of Chongqing-made vehicles.

The steady flow of international orders demonstrates the growing recognition of Chinese automakers and reflects their sustained investment in research and development (R&D).

Changan allocates at least 5 percent of its annual sales revenue to R&D. SERES increased its R&D investment by 320.61 percent to 2.8 billion yuan in the first half of 2024. Xpeng, a smart NEV manufacturer, has invested more than 19 billion yuan in R&D and maintains over 40 percent of its workforce in R&D roles.

SERES has expanded its global footprint over the years, now selling vehicles in more than 70 countries through over 100 international trading partners.

"We tailor different strategies for different markets," Wan explained. For example, SUVs and mini commercial vehicles are popular in North Africa and the Americas, while consumers in the Middle East and Europe prefer stylish and technologically advanced smart-connected NEVs, said Wan.

SERES established its European headquarters in Amsterdam in March 2023, where it now employs a team of about 30 people.

"The team provides after-sales service support, spare parts warehousing and technical training for European customers," Wan said.

He explained that while some automakers previously lacked comprehensive overseas business plans and adequate after-sales service systems, most companies now focus on deeper market penetration and long-term brand management.

Guoyuan Port in Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area serves as a key national logistics hub that integrates rail, road, and water transportation. The port is a crucial departure point for Chongqing-made vehicle exports.

From Guoyuan Port, the Yangtze River provides connections to ports along the Yangtze River Economic Belt eastward, enabling river-sea transport. Westward, the port links to Central Asia and Europe via China-Europe freight trains, while southward routes connect to ASEAN and South Asia through the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor.

"We partnered with Chongqing's railway department in December 2022 to implement dedicated vehicle transport trains. This increased automobile export capacity by about 1.5 times and reduced enterprise costs by approximately 15 percent," said Liu Guangyu, deputy director of logistics management at Chongqing Port's customs department.

Chongqing Customs has implemented an expedited clearance system for vehicle exports. "Trains from Chongqing now reach Central Asia via the China-Europe route in three to five days. Meanwhile, using dedicated trains through the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor from Qinzhou Port in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, shipments can reach Europe in 18 to 20 days," Liu said.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
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Pushpa 2 composer Devi Sri Prasad wages a war of words against film's producers: You have more complaints than love

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Central Bank of India shares gain on RBI nod to venture into insurance sector via Generali JV

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Infra may be back after Maha win, but railways and defence stocks will remain out of favour despite steep correction

Lovisha Darad Lovisha is passionate about domestic and global equity market development. She writes stories exclusively on equities from a fundamental perspective, gathering insights from niche market gurus.

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MC Explains: Why SEBI wants to overhaul ownership of clearing corporations

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Three stocks to add to your watchlist for this week

Brijesh Bhatia is the Senior Research Analyst at Definedge. He has over 18 years of experience as a trader and technical analyst in India's financial markets. He has worked with UTI, Asit C Mehta, and Edelweiss Securities.

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Moneycontrol consolidates No 1 position in business news, widens gap with over 36 percent bigger audience than ET in October as per Comscore

101Reporters

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After mega mandate, time for Mahayuti to fulfil infra, slum-free Mumbai promises, say developers

Shiladitya Pandit

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Rohit Singh

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GoM report on GST on health insurance to be placed before Council when received: FinMin

101Reporters

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Cabinet approves two Hydro power projects in Arunachal Pradesh with investment of Rs 3,700 crore

Jagyaseni Biswas

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Close contests in Maharashtra polls saw 58 candidates losing despite securing 1 lakh plus votes

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Delhi AQI: Air quality in national capital improves to 'poor', some areas still under 'very poor' conditions

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Danish Khan is the editor of Technology and Telecom. He was previously with the Economic Times and has tracked the sector for 13 years.

Tamal Nandi

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'Imagine if I had campaigned in your seat': Ajit Pawar's jibe at nephew Rohit

Siddharth Chakravorty

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Maharashtra, UP, Rajasthan, Bihar: How Super Saturday changes the script for BJP beyond just numbers

Parimal Peeyush

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Pawar, Thackeray did not campaign for MVA as planned: Congress on Maharashtra rout

Parimal Peeyush

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In this editing of Moneycontrol Pro Panorama: Indian banks gearing for change in new year, how the trading cycle will fare in 2024...

Unilever is doubling down on India -- What that means for HULs investors

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Bengaluru entrepreneur leaving city after 14 years posts emotional note. He is now hiring in Pune

Stella Dey

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This US state has sold marijuana worth nearly $1 billion after legalisation in 2022: Open for business

Ankita Sengupta

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Jagyaseni Biswas

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Swarali Bodas

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Israeli cabinet to convene on November 26 to discuss ceasefire with Lebanon, officials say

101Reporters

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Archisha Yadav

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Cabinet note on electronics component scheme likely next month, may allow JVs with Chinese firms

Adrija Chatterjee is an Assistant Editor at Moneycontrol. She has been tracking and reporting on finance and trade ministries for over eight years.

Danish Khan is the editor of Technology and Telecom. He was previously with the Economic Times and has tracked the sector for 13 years.

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Danish Khan

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Global AI Conclave: IT companies that change the inefficient 'Time & Material' model will succeed, says Premji Invest's TK Kurien

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Reshab Shaw

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Trump effect? Huawei gears up to take on Android, iOS app stores with plans for 100,000 apps on HarmonyOS

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Aabhas Sharma

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Union govt should not dictate to semiconductor companies on where to invest: Karnataka minister MB Patil

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Christin Mathew Philip

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Vivo X Fold4 launch: This is what we know about Vivos upcoming flagship foldable smartphone

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Shaurya Shubham

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Priyanka Roshan

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Feature: Chinese song competition in Myanmar promotes language learning, cultural exchange

Xinhua) 16:26, November 25, 2024

YANGON, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese song competition recently held in Yangon offered Myanmar students an opportunity to enhance their language skills while celebrating cultural exchange.

The event was organized under the supervision of the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar and the Center for Language Education and Cooperation.

The competition supports Myanmar students' Chinese learning and gives them a chance to showcase their talents, Kyi Shwin, rector of the Yangon University of Foreign Languages, told Xinhua on Sunday.

Competitions like this provide students opportunities to engage beyond the classroom, allowing them to connect with a broader audience, which greatly benefits their development, he said.

"I hope to see more of these competitions organized in the future," he added.

Cho Cho Myint, principal of Bowen Chinese School and organizer of the event, said: "This is the first time a Chinese song competition has been held in Myanmar and it is an incredible opportunity for students."

They can see that learning Chinese goes beyond lectures; it can also happen through music, she said.

"I am delighted to see so many Myanmar students participating alongside Chinese students. Music brings people closer together, and I am truly happy to witness this connection," she added.

The competition attracted over 100 students from Chinese schools across Myanmar. Participants were divided into three groups based on age -- children, teenagers and youth -- with 45 students receiving awards.

A first-prize winner, Nan Phyusin, 18, expressed her excitement. "This competition allowed me to showcase my talent on stage. Singing is both my happiness and therapy, and this event gave me the opportunity to share that with others."

"During the event, I also witnessed how Myanmar people can sing Chinese songs very well, which helps strengthen the cultural relationship between the two countries," she said.

17-year-old Aung Thiha Han, who won third prize, shared his experience. "This competition gave me the chance to make friends with students from schools across the country, including those who traveled from other regions and states."

"Speaking Chinese continuously while preparing for the competition helped me improve my language skills. When studying becomes dull, I find learning through music a highly effective and enjoyable way to progress," he said.

Myintzu Han, 21, who earned a special award, said: "I listen to Chinese songs every day, which helps me improve my tone, pronunciation and word arrangement. Singing makes me happy, and I never get bored with learning Chinese this way."

"At the competition, seeing so many talented competitors, even those younger than me, motivates me to improve and aim higher. I truly admire their skills and was inspired by them," she said.

The competition showcased the benefits of learning Chinese through music while fostering cultural exchange and building confidence among participants, said the principal of Bowen Chinese School.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
White House Image - mml View Photo

President Biden released a statement regarding Thanksgiving.

Biden was Mondays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Here are his words:

As families, loved ones, and friends across the country come together to celebrate Thanksgiving, let us be grateful for all the blessings of this Nation and its limitless possibilities.

Throughout our countrys history, this season of reflection and giving thanks comes in good times and tough ones. Before there was a United States of America, the Pilgrims celebrated Thanksgiving in honor of their first successful harvest and the support and generosity of the Wampanoag people who made it possible. Amid the fierce battle for our Nations independence, General George Washington and his troops celebrated Thanksgiving on the way to Valley Forge. During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday to honor the blessings of our country, even as he fought to preserve our Union.

This week, Americans will gather with their loved ones and families, celebrating the love they share and the traditions they built together. To those who are also enduring hard times or grieving the loss of a loved one, know that we are thinking of you.

We are truly a good Nation because we are a good people  the First Lady and I see it every time we travel the country because we meet so many incredible people doing the most extraordinary things. We have met with service members, veterans, and their families, who have selflessly served and sacrificed for our country. We have witnessed the resolve of firefighters, police officers, and first responders, who risk their lives every day to protect us. We have seen the best of our character in the doctors, nurses, scientists, public servants, union workers, and teachers, who ensure everyone is taken care of and no one is left behind. We have seen all the possibilities this Nation holds in the mothers, fathers, and caregivers, who work hard to build a future worthy of their childrens greatest dreams, and in young people across the country, who are the most talented, engaged, and educated generation in history.

This Thanksgiving we are grateful for our Nation and the incredible soul of America. May we all remember that we are the United States of America  there is nothing beyond our capacity if we do it together.

The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML.
By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

Readers who have been following our HICPAC coverage (here, here, here, here, and here) know that HICPAC stands for Healthcare Infection Control and Prevention Advisory Committee. CDCs Daniel Jernigan and John Howard describe HICPACs purpose as follows:

HICPAC is a federal advisory committee appointed to provide advice and guidance to the Department of Health and Human Services and CDC regarding the practice of infection control in clinical settings. CDC plans for updates to [the CDC guideline on isolation precautions] to be accomplished in stages over a period of several years. The first step is to complete a framework document that will be part one of the updated Guideline to Prevent Transmission of Pathogens in Healthcare Settings (Guidance). The framework provides the scientific foundations that will be used when prevention recommendations are developed for specific pathogens and clinical situations that will be subsequently developed through HICPAC as part two of the guideline.

To set the scene for the bureaucratic knifework to come: The draft Guidance of the last HICPAC meeting, which proposed to weaken patient protections from Covid, raised such a furor (murderous abomination) that its masters at CDC felt that it needed to be fixed. Jernigan and Howard then attempted to get HICPAC back on track, in January, by writing a letter to them that posed four questions for HICPAC to answer as it redrafted the Guidance. The deliverables presented, in November, at the meeting I am about to describe, enabled HICPAC to answer CDCs four questions.

In this post, as a preliminary, I will first review HICPACs compliance at this meeting with issues raised by the World Health Network (WHN) with the Inspector General of Health and Human Services, the parent agency of CDC. I will then present CDCs four questions, followed by HICPACs definition of masks. Next, I will look at two deliverables, Infection Control in Healthcare Personnel Workgroup (Infection Control) and Isolation Precautions Guideline Workgroup (Isolation Precautions), that HICPAC used to answer CDCs four questions. After looking at HICPACs answers to those questions, I will conclude. (The meeting ran over two days, and unfortunately I did not have time to listen to the video recordings for November 14 and 15, 9 hours 44 minutes and 4 hours 31 minutes respectively. Public comments were held November 15, at the end of the meeting.) Here are two articles (Judy Stone in Forbes; Infection Control Today) that handle this HICPAC meeting at a higher level.

Compliance Issues at HICPAC

For a detailed discussion of World Health Networks Complaint, see NC here.

(1) Quorum. Still non-compliant per WHNs complaint. HICPAC is legally mandated to have 14 members. However, the HICPAC roster shows only 11. I dont see how a committee that doesnt meet its basic legal requirements for membership can call a meeting in the first place, let alone declare it has a quorum[1].

(2) Secrecy. Yaneer Bar-Yam of World Health Network posted:

HICPACs workgroups produced Infection Control and Isolation Precautions for the full committee to vote on, so this is a big deal.

(3) Committee Composition. Yaneer Bar-Yam of World Health Network once more:

On committee composition, Jernigan and Howard wrote:

CDC is working to expand the scope of technical backgrounds of participants on the HICPAC Isolation Guideline Workgroup and eventually among the committee members through established processes in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) regulations and guidance. The expanded workgroup and the HICPAC with the newly appointed members will review and discuss these additional considerations and guideline at the next HICPAC meeting, which is open to the public.

HICPAC has in fact expanded workgroups to include specialists in airborne transmission. But these specialists are not full members of the committee, and therefore have no voting rights. So are we really going to complete the Guidance without giving scientists or engineers a vote?

(4) Conflict of Interest. Summarizing WHNs complaint, I wrote (and forgive the length and breadth of the elephant in the room):

WHN has now gone for what is really the jugular: Following the money. A. Financial Relationships. WHN writes: An important principle of FACA is that employees of the agency that is being advised (in this case, the CDC) are not allowed to be members of the committee due to the inherent nature of financial relationships that may preclude independence. While funding is not strictly forbidden, it is apparent that conflict of interest should be avoided. A financial relationship between the institution and individual members such as that which currently exists between CDC and virtually all of the members of the HICPAC committee seriously risks comprising the independence of their judgment. This is the case not merely because funding links may influence particular decisions, but also because the relationships created by such funding may well incentivize the committee to advance or reject decisions of certain types, such as refusing to recognize the full impact of an airborne pathogen on hospital-based infection and the practical steps that must be taken to address this pathogen . To put it crudely, if CDCs handwashing desk writes your HICPAC check, you will be unlikely to give airborne transmission the attention it deserves. B. Competition for Funding with Rival Siloes. WHN writes: Furthermore, members of HICPAC, recognized for their expertise in areas such as bloodstream infections, sepsis, sharps injuries, hand hygiene, fomite transmission, sterilization and disinfection, antimicrobial resistance, and Ebola, are funded specifically for their work in these fields and would not be funded for airborne transmission prevention . This creates a potential conflict of interest which may interfere with a decision to shift the focus of infection prevention to airborne diseases, which is required to deal effectively with the hospital-based transmission of COVID-19. Such a shift could threaten the funding that supports their salaries, research, staff, and programs, as well as their positions of authority in infection prevention and control [IPC], and that of their colleagues. This inherent tension is compounded by similar conflicts of interests among CDC officials responsible for nominating HICPAC members and setting the committees agenda, including the current and former HICPAC Federal Officers and the director of NCEZID. I dont know anybody who has an issue with threatening IPC. Do you? (And if these two sections make HICPAC and CDC seem like a snakepit of self-dealing, well, it looks like thats what it is. It would also be interesting to know if the CDC Foundation is hooked into this inherent tension at all.) C. Perverse Incentives in Fee-for-Service Systems from Hospital-Acquired Infections. WHN writes: HICPACs Charter mandates providing guidance on prevention, and control of healthcare-associated infections Therefore, committee members that are compensated for encouraging spread of infection (or compensated for being knowingly or willfully ignorant of the science of infection control in a healthcare setting), are in conflict of interest with HICPACs objective. More specifically, it is well established that direct payment systems can lead to perverse incentives against the prevention of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). In fee-for-service payment models, hospitals are reimbursed for services provided, including the treatment of HAIs. In such a system, hospitals can generate more revenue by providing additional care to treat these infections, rather than by preventing them in the first place. Many members of HICPAC are from hospital management, and as such, have direct financial interests that conflict with the prevention of HAIs. This conflict of interest, long recognized in the context of other HAIs, must now also be addressed for COVID-19 and other airborne diseases.

At the start of the meeting, the roll is called as the quorum is taken. The Committee members answer with their names and Conflicts of Interest. Its amusing to hear so many of them say no conflict. Same as it ever was. Nothing has changed.

CDCs Four Questions

From Jernigan and Howards letter, here they are:

In what follows, Im going to focus only on masks (and respirators), because universal use of respirators in hospital settings is my hobbyhorse policy goal.

HICPACs Definition of Mask

From page 29 of Isolation Precautions:

(A BFC is a Barrier Face Covering. They are less effective than N95s). In other words, in the HICPAC context, respirators are not one type of mask, but entirely different. From a usage perspective, this is unfortunate: Mask is usefully both a noun and a verb, so people mask, are masked, practice masking; but people do not respirator, are not respiratored, do not practice respiratoring, so to a dull normal[2], respirators may be deemed a type of mask. Further, it seems weird to mention BFCs (definitely Today I Learned territory) and not respirators. In fact, doesnt it seem odd that theres no parallel slide entitled Definition of the Term Respirator in Todays Discussion? For example, an N95 is not a KN95 is not a KN94. And is an elastomeric a respirator? Inquiring minds want to know! In fact, its almost as if the authors of Isolation Precautions really didnt want to talk about respirators at all.

Infection Control in Healthcare Personnel Workgroup

For Infection Control, Im going to look at just one footnote: footnote 17 on page 19:

Here is the note itself, on page 59:

From page 19, helpfully highlighted at the bottom:

Authors [sic] conclusion: wearing a surgical mask for source control is highly protective against transmission

From the actual article, Risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from universally masked healthcare workers to patients or residents: A prospective cohort study, in the conclusion:

Our study provides evidence that universal masking, embedded with other infection control practices , is associated with low risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from healthcare workers to patients and residents.

In other words, in their version of the authors conclusion, the authors of Infection Control, workgroup chair Connie Steed and David Kuhar left out all the confounders (helpfully underlined).

Isolation Precautions Guideline Workgroup

This is the knifework part. Evidently  although since the Workgrup deliberations are secret, violating FACA, as WHN points out above, we cant be sure  this workgroup was organized along Team A/Team B lines, where Team A is hospital infection control administrators, and Team B is scientists and engineers familiar with aerosol tranmission. For the Guidance, each team produced narratives. From Isolation Precautions, page 69:

And the narratives of each team were supported by different classes of evidence: clinical (no doubt hospital administrators) and laboratory (no doubt scientists and engineers, though heaven knows there are fine studies done on aerosol tranmission, too). From Isolation Precautions, page 70:

Ill just leave this here, for now, but well get back to the knifework in the Conclusion.

HICPAC Answers CDCs Four Questions

Here now are HICPACs answers. As you can see, the results are a rout for Narrative B (respirators). Baggy Blues uber alles! Lets take the questions one by one

On the bright side, finally HICPAC admits airborne transmission. Sadly, N95 respirators should not be recommended for all pathogens that spread by air. (And think about that for a moment. What happens if there are multiple airborne pathogens in a given hospital simultaneously? Should the most protective (respirator) or least (mask) be used? Will hospital administrators be issuing memos on mask v. respirator use on a daily for weekly basis? (Keeps em busy, I supppse.) Why not go for the simplest solution thats effective in all cases?

Efficiency of spread over long distances, such as through ventilation systems? I cant believe Team B allowed that. The Japanese 3Cs concept applies to a hospital room or war just as much as a restaurant: closed spaces, crowded places, and close-contact. Further, aersols move like smoke and gradually fill rooms. In neither case is long distance an appropriate model.

The least HICPAC could do is ask for the regulation to be changed.

Determined by local risk of pathogen transmission and epidemiology, rather than at all times has some problems. First, to assess the risk, you need to test, and for all airborne pathogens, but HICPAC isnt recommending that. Second, assume that HICPAC recommends periodic testing for some pathogens. That implies that some will be infected before the testing flags risk (exactly the mistake CDC made with its green maps, before it destroyed testing entirely).

Conclusion

Any dull normal who isnt a member of a high-powered Federal Advisory Committee knows that Baggy Blues are gappy; if you put one on, you can feel the air coming in and out through the sides (and since #CovidIsAirborne  or, heaven forfend, H5N1  Covid is coming in and out too)[3]. N95s with proper headstraps are less gappy by construction; and with fit-testing, not gappy at all. Further, N95s are made from non-woven fabric with a static electrical charge; air gets in and out, but the charge traps particles like Covid viruses. Baggy Blues are better than cloth masks, but they dont have the static charge, so again, N95s are better by construction. Baggy blues are simply not as good as N95s, let alone elastotmerics, meaning that fewer people will get sick and die with N95s than with Baggy Blues, which youd think would matter to hospitals, but I guess not. But HICPAC vociferously maintains that they are as good.

How then is it possible for smart people to be so stupid? Leaving aside corruption conflict of interest, the very simplest explanation is to look at the bureaucratic knifework (I told you Id come around to it again). You will recall that Isolation Precautions said there were two kinds of evidence: Clinical (Team A, masks) and Laboratory (Team B, respirators). So where are all the people favoring Laboratory Evidence? Thats right. In the Workgroups, with no vote. And who are the people favoring Clinical Evidence? Yes, clinicians. On the Committee, with a vote. Given the committee composition, the outcome  masks > respirators  is not hard to predict, especially given that the clinical evidence for masking was cherry-picked anyhow. HICPAC rigged the committee. The fix was in.

NOTES

[1] What they mean by having a quorum has not been clarified but the usual definition of having a quorum is having the legally required number which they dont have (Yaneer Bar-Yam, via email.) I did a little digging. As best I can determine

Starting with the video for November 14, we see the unidentified convenor (likely Sydnee Byrd, a contracted CDC program analyst) call the roll. All eleven members from the HICPAC roster respond present. The convenor then calls on the ex officio members. Finally, at 00:03:41, the convenor states: We have made meeting and voting quorum. The process seems a little murky. First, typically the Chair calls a meeting to order, and then requests that a Secretary (or some other registrar) perform the roll call. In this case, the meeting is never called to order, and a non-member (probably Byrd, the Federal contractor) calls the roll. That seems odd. Second, CDC apparently believes (see the August meeting recap) that a quorum can be reached by having 10 HICPAC members and 2 ex officio members in attendance. That is twelve, not fourteen (or eleven). This is odd, since the typical quorum for a commmittee of fourteen is calculated at eight, not twelve. That said, typically ex officio members can vote, so it makes sense to include them in a quorum. It seems, however, that HICPAC has achieved the positively surreal position of being a Committee that should not be able to function at all (eleven members on the roster, not fourteen) nevertheless being able to reach a quorum (and given everything else CDC has done in this pandemic, surreal is by no means out-of-band for them). Fourth, why does CDC have two flavors of quorum, meeting and voting, if indeed ex officio members can vote? Finally, a Committee can meet without a quorum, but it cannot transact business, and cannot present information or committee reports. Note that every item on the agenda is informational, and Infection Control and Isolation Precautions are workgroup reports to the Committee. At this point, the HICPAC bylaws  if any  would be really useful. Perhaps some kind soul will throw a copy over the transom.

[2] From Cnet: All face masks arent equal. Theres a wide spectrum of protection available, from medical-grade respirators to handmade cloth face coverings.

[3] Feeling air come out of the gaps in a Baggy Blue is a fine example of what Isolation Precautions calls laboratory evidence.
Black, red or dead: How Omaha became a hub for black squirrel scholarship Flatwater Free Press

Alarming Links Uncovered: Blue Light From Screens May Trigger Early Puberty and Stunt Growth SciTech Daily

SCIENTISTS INVENT GIANT DISHWASHING MACHINE FOR ENTIRE HUMAN BODIES Futurism

A $6 million banana?! Finshots

Climate/Environment

Pandemics

Five Eyes on India

Africa

Seven Wagner mercenaries killed in Mali attack claimed by al Qaeda affiliate The Economic Times

China?

Philippines VP Sara Duterte threatens Marcos assassination if she is killed Al Jazeera

O Canada

I was at the protests in downtown Montreal last night. The goal of the protest was to condemn the NATO military alliance for their role in global warfare and their support for Israel. After a few blocks some windows were broken, including those of the Palais des Congres where  Alex Tyrrell (@AlexTyrrellPVQ) November 23, 2024

Old Blighty

European Disunion

Syraqistan

2/ No need to pity us. We are reaping the death we have sown. But it is important to state clearly that Israel is as weak as it has ever been and it is growing weaker. Ive written this previously, but anyone who thinks Israel is triumphant is sorely mistaken. >  Ori Goldberg (@ori_goldberg) November 24, 2024

And:

7/ Our genocide is justified by our version of the big lie with which I began  that our lives are alone worthy of being acknowledged as lives. We were built and suckled on supremacy, so our shift to murderous solipsism was the most radical the world has ever seen. >  Ori Goldberg (@ori_goldberg) November 24, 2024

A map of Hezbollahs attacks today against Israel, the most it has ever done in a single day at 51. The farthest south was a drone attack targeting a naval base in Ashdod, only 20 miles north of the Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/HmiYx3Tfuc  Seamus Malekafzali (@Seamus_Malek) November 24, 2024

*** Pakistani capital in lockdown before march by Imran Khans supporters Al Jazeera

New Not-So-Cold War

Once an open neo-Nazi, Azov Movements top figure Dmytro Kukharchuk is upbeat about working meetings at Pentagon. He says Pentagon is optimistic about Ukraine and keen to replicate the example of 3rd detached assault brigade (controlled by the political leadership of the far pic.twitter.com/mRrmUGUftS  Leonid Ragozin (@leonidragozin) November 22, 2024

The Caucasus

Georgian opposition gears up to disrupt inaugural parliament session Bne Intellinews

South of the Border

Spook Country

Why has the CIA been Hiding the JFK Files for 62 Years? Larry Johnson, Sonar21

Trump Transition

Democrats en deshabille

Bill Clinton: in demonizing all establishments and all people who wear a tie like you and me to work and have a good education, we are breaking down the legitimacy ofpeople who actually know things that are very important for us today and very important for our continued pic.twitter.com/0OfAJOa6yV  Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) November 24, 2024

Police State Watch

Antitrust

Monopoly Round-Up: Economic Termites Preparing to Feast? BIG by Matt Stoller

AI

Another four miles Internal exile

Groves of Academe

THE BUSINESS-SCHOOL SCANDAL THAT JUST KEEPS GETTING BIGGER The Atlantic

The Bezzle

Gamblers Are Sinking Billions Into a Leveraged Market Fringe Bloomberg

Class Warfare

Antidote du jour (via):

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
This post endeavors, at a very high level, to discuss how the US/NATO shortcomings against Russia and the so-called Wests geostrategic competitors, are more foundational than most commentators recognize. This is due at least in part to an onslaught of propaganda maintaining long-standing prejudices against Slavs and non-white countries that industrialized after Europe.1

Even so, the seeming cognitive block to admitting Russia prowess is leading to bizarre and self-defeating responses, such as acting as if Russia will agree to a ceasefire or a pause on Ukraine NATO entry (when any discussion of NATO entry is a big red flag to the Russians) to US and NATO doubling down. They are insisting they will continue to violate Russias red lines by launching more deep missile strikes into Russia even after the successful demonstration of Russias formidable Oreshnik missile. France authorized the use of its long-range Scalp missiles against undisputed Russian territory after the Oreshink strike.

Well discuss a bit below some of accounts of the Oreshink works and why it is so significant (keep in mind I cant independently verify either the information or the analyses; hopefully well get more detail soon). The West ought to be reacting to the Oreshnik the same way the US did to the 1957 Sputnik launch: that it demonstrated that the US was seriously behind the USSR in key areas of expertise. There was a panicked acceleration of space-related spending as well as a broader push to increase math and sciences education.

But in fact the US and NATO have gotten many proofs of how their capability level is behind and if anything falling further behind, from Russian success in GPS signal-jamming and blocking Starlink to its air-defense prowess to Russia regularly using hypersonic missiles, while the US has only recently had a successful test.2

Now the US is the clear leader in some important weapons categories, such as submarines. But an even bigger from the perspective of capabilities is that the US and its allies seem to be operating from a dated playbook. And this problem appears to be deep seated. This goes beyond the problem identified by many experts early on, that NATO was optimized only for very local defense and for regional wars against insurgent forces (read mainly men in sandals with AK-47s and shoulder-launched missiles), not a peer power. ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) capabilities are not simply more important than ever but now drive battlefield operations.

Yet many former military officers have pointed out that the US concept of war remains mired in World War II notions like big arrow attacks. For instance, Andrei Martyanov has discussed how Russian weapons are net centric as in they communicate with each other. I believe this goes beyond tanks being able to say, Here I am! but sending back battlefield information.

I hope knowledgeable readers can opine, but I wonder if the US has also become complacent due to its satellite and in some cases, radar capabilities (the point of sending the THAAD system to Israel was per either Lawrence Wilkerson or Douglas Macgregor not its small stock of missiles but its spectacular radar, which can see small objects at extremely long distances). We may be kidding ourselves as to the effectiveness of our current systems versus highly-intensive, multi-perspective surveillance of active battlefields.

Similarly (and I did listen to this clip 2x, so my recounting should be ), after his last visit to Russia, Scott Ritter described a long conversation with a military officer. Ritters interlocutor said he bet he knew how Ritter would plan an attack and Ritter obligingly provided the right response, as in classic combined arms operation with logistical support, with air strikes first, then air cover for a tank and infantry advance.

The Russia said, Thats not how we do it. The first step is to plan the drone map, as in to grid out the area and how to deploy drones to cover the theater of battle. The drones are also the first line of combat: The drones lead the way.

Mind you, the Russians cant regard these as advanced ideas if an officer would casually pass them on to a foreign commentator. Yet Ritter found the information to be novel3

A second issue is that the West has not adapted to the related rise of the importance and power of unmanned weapons, witness the demonstrated impotence against Ansar Allahs attacks on shipping.

One example is the great summer counteroffensive of 2023. It seemed ludicrous from the outset to think it would get much of anywhere. The West announced its plans well in advance, so Russia has ample time to make its Surovkin line even more robust that it might otherwise have. Russia could see Ukraine forces assembling. Bizarrely, the attack did not include meaningful air cover. Instead, US and NATO planners vested their hopes in idea that Russia troops would run away when they encountered Western weapons.

As readers know, the fight did not get as far as Russias first fortified line. Russians mined the tanks and armored vehicle approaches with drones, forcing them (mainly) to follow narrow paths cleared by mine-clearers. Taking out a single vehicle would stop an advance. When the vehicles tried to retreat, they would typically find that Russia had drone-mined their rear. Ukraine adapted by instead moving men in via armored personnel carriers, close to tree lines, and having them advance on foot. That made them vulnerable to drone attacks again, illustrating that Russia had drones in such abundance that it could afford to use them against small groups and even single soldiers.

This encounter should have been seen as a humiliating defeat. Perhaps I missed it, but I have not come across any signs that that has been internalized by NATO or the US, meaning no/not enough of a post mortem much the less recognition of the need for a serious rethink of how the West wages war.

In June 2022, a landmark article published by the Royal United Services Institute, The Return of Industrial Warfare by Alex Vershinin, described how Russia was outproducing the West in artillery and it would take ten years of concerted effort by the West to catch up. Since then, Russia has increased its shell output considerably while Western efforts have floundered.

But even more important than the gap in what the West no doubt likes to see as comparatively crude weaponry is the Wests ever-more dated vision of what war is about. The Oreshnik ought to be a wake-up call but muted reactions suggest otherwise.4 Another sign is a new article in the Financial Times that discusses what Europe would need to do to defend itself without US backing.

What the Oreshnik Signifies

Lets start in sentence first, verdict afterward mode. A reason Western officials are so upset about the Oreshnik is that it shows that Russia (sensibly) restarted work on intermediate range ballistic missiles after Trump exited the INF treaty in 2019, which had disallowed them. One obviously uncomfortable fact is that the fact that this missile is not just merely hypersonic but travels at >Mach 10. That means it can hit European targets at double-plus speed and cannot be intercepted.

Russia has been trolling:5

New Oreshnik (Hazel) missile, what we know so far:  a new weapon, not an upgrade  high-precision, medium-range, with hypersonic speed  first used in combat on November 21, 2024, when it struck a Ukrainian defense facility in Dnepropetrovsk  will be mass-produced pic.twitter.com/TvfhCunKoO  RT (@RT_com) November 23, 2024

Another important feature is that the missile has MIRV-like capabilities (more expert commentary objects to calling it MIRV) in that the missile can and here did separate into 6 capsules which in turn each delivered 6 warheads, for a total of 36. I have weirdly seen a video that estimates the cost of the Oreshnik at several million and depicts that as expensive, when for 36 delivered warheads, even before getting to their impact, seems cheap.

But lets turn to what seems to be the real showstopper, which is not the impressive flight speed and distance per se but the destructive effect:

Eyewitnesses: "Yuzhmash is gone" In Ukraine, the SBU has completely classified the consequences of the strike by the "Oreshnik" on the defense plant "Yuzhmash" in Dnepropetrovsk. Despite the blockade in the Kiev media, residents of the city began to say for the first time that pic.twitter.com/5tRGUbiHgU  Tony (@Cyberspec1) November 24, 2024

As well unpack in a bit, many commentators have seemed to discount the sheer kinetic and heat force of this weapon. Well work in a minute from the widely reported fact, supposedly based on estimates using the impact videos, that the missiles hit the ground at hypersonic speed.6 If that is accurate, that represents a vast increase in power.

Consider the old normal. Here is a typical recap; I recall Simplicius saying something very similar in an extensive treatment of hypersonic missiles but search is not being sufficiently helpful in tracking it down:

No missile is hypersonic in the terminal phase. The heat generated by lower atmospheric pressure would destroy it before it reached its target. The key to the success of hypersonic speed in the upper atmosphere is the plasma bubble that generates, which makes the missile invisible to radar. By the time its on its reentry track and has slowed down (still travelling fast) its too late to effectively target.

Now how could Russia have achieved what was heretofore deemed impossible? If the missiles indeed struck the ground at hypersonic speed, its due to new alloys to withstand the incredible re-entry heat.

Some have argued that the lack of apparent secondary explosions shows the Oreshnik was not impressive. Thats a misreading because the missiles drove deep into the ground and the great energy was dispersed and did its main damage there. Even so, this longer video shows some secondary blasts:

New footage reveals multiple Oreshnik missile strikes in Ukraine from an alternate angle.

Earlier, President Putin announced plans for mass production of the advanced Hazel missile systems.#RussiaUkraineWar #MissileStrike #Oreshnik #MilitaryUpdate #Putin pic.twitter.com/z3ZZZUJeOb  X Headlines (@XHeadlinec) November 23, 2024

Even though Black Mountain Analysis concedes that claims about the actual destruction of the Yuzhmash plant vary, the lack of explosions at impact actually confirm the kinetic force of the weapons. From Black Mountain Analysis:

The impact on the target in this missile attack is astonishing. What is also interesting is that there are no visual signs of explosions typical for surface or near-surface detonations. This means the warheads likely penetrated deep into the ground with incredible momentum and hit the underground locations (workshops) with a force as powerful as if they had detonated. The kinetic shock wave will likely be enhanced by the instantaneous expansion of the soil moisture when exposed to the high temperatures caused by the warhead and the friction of intrusion into the ground at such depths.. The missile is unknown, but the effect of its payload is a fascinating subject to cover. The Oreshnik missile system has extraordinary characteristics regarding the kinetic hit-to-kill mode. Warheads consist of special metals, and motors can achieve 10-11 Mach for these blocks, turning them into kinetic killers. The logic is simple  the higher the speed, the more energy is delivered. Therefore, this terminal block requires no explosive material but heavy, hard, and high-melting-point metal. At such high speeds, penetration into the target causes massive destruction on impact through the shockwaves, creating a mini-high concentrated localized earthquake. It does not need to hit the target precisely (just in the vicinity), and the sheer energy and momentum transfer will produce such shockwaves that will break the concrete structures deep underground. To do this, a camouflet explosion is developed. A camouflet explosion is an explosion at a relatively great depth, where no visible changes on the ground surface are formed. The destruction of underground objects occurs when the object is within the fracture zone. From https://impact.uwo.ca/impact-craters/products-of-impact-crater/

The video below also endorses the notion that the impact speed is ~Mach 10 and provides some views early on of its small launch vehicle:

And Black Mountain Analysis explained long-form that the targeted Yuzhmash facility included significant and very well bunkered underground production areas and Ukraine was planning to use them for among other things, intercontinental ballistic missiles. He added:

According to some analysts, the plant and its design bureau are among the most extensive underground military bases, serving as a model for North Korean underground complexes

Even though the French statement authorizing the use of its Scalp missiles means that the significance of Oreshnik has not yet penetrated some of the thicker skulls in the Collective West, perhaps they are telling themselves that Russia does not have others in reserve yet. That is a dangerous bet. However, in a discussion with Daniel Davis, John Mearsheimer pointed out that Russia is winning in Ukraine and just needs to stay the course. Responding to Western provocations will distract from Russias larger objectives.

John Helmer confirmed this reading:

Just as important, the [Russian] source says, the Russian ground offensive in the east will remain slow, patient, maybe for two years more. The priority is on preventing Russian casualties, conserving Russian lives. This is essential once you realize that the [Putin] presidential succession also depends, not only on winning the war on Russian terms, but ensuring the protection of Russian lives.

And the reason for the Scalp missile barking may be that the Yuzhmash strike directly undercut more ATACMS and Storm Shadow missile salvos. Again from Helmer:

Although satellite images of the plant after Thursdays attack have not been declassified or published in the open, what is likely is that the bunker stocks of ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles being prepared at the plant for launching against Russia were destroyed, along with the factory-floor and machine capacities of the plant to service HIMARS, other rocket and missile firing equipment delivered by the US and NATO states to the Zelensky regime.

Mearsheimer pointed out that if the West again hit pre-2014 Russia, Putins druthers would be to mess with the US and its allies out of theater, such as by better arming Ansar Allah. Keep in mind that Western officials (even recently Jake Sullivan) have pointed out that ATACMS (and by extension Storm Shadow and Scalp) strikes will not change the outcome of the conflict. However, Mearsheimer pointed out that if politically-meaningful damage were done, Putin may have to respond to domestic pressure to make a visible and painful counterattack.

The West Does Not Appear to be Adapting to New Realities

Due to this post already being a bit long, well give only cursory treatment to our second topic, that of the Collective West being wedded to an outdated mental model of how to wage war, and that in turn leading to misguided priorities. We will use a new story in the Financial Times, Can Europe defend itself with less American help?, as an object lesson.

Well put aside the considerable internal decision-making and coordination issues that NATO faces in the absence of US knocking heads together leadership. Auerlien has described them in gory detail over many posts, with NATOs Phantom Armies as good one-stop shopping.

One can argue that the Financial Times would not represent the most advanced thinking in NATO, Perhaps that is true. But the Financial Times is fairly well plugged into political orthodoxy and what I call leading edge conventional wisdom. So it would seem reasonable to take its account of big priorities and impediments at face value.

One glaring issue is the way, as in the US, procuring and contracting drive the bus. This is an issue that Brian Berletic has repeatedly mentioned that is an impediment to Collective West military effectiveness, that our weapons-making is profit rather than purpose driven. In the EU, theres an additional level of complexity, as in wrangling over who produces what. We have pointed out that NATO, as an actually administratively very weak and lose alliance, has mainly had inefficient national produced weapons, such as the afore-mentioned UK Storm Shadow versus French Scalp versus German Taurus missiles, and several national flavors of tanks and armored personnel carries, and even reports that 155mm shells are not as well standardized as they ought to be. The article confirms that by citing a McKinsey finding, that the US has 32 types of weapons systems versus 172 for Europe.

But what is striking about the piece is that it emphasizes what one might consider to be conventional warfare and with that, current major weapons categories. Not that that wont remain important going forward. But there is a bizarre failure to recognize that some currently perceived-to-be-important weapons types are being made less potent or even irrelevant. Larry Johnson has argued that manned aircraft are going the way of the cavalry.

In light of the short discussion at the top of the paramount role of ISR and the increasingly powerful role of drones, this section reads as if Europe aspires to fight yesterdays war:

And all that is in addition to what Europe would need to do should America withdraw from Nato. In that scenario, the things at the top of any hypothetical to-do list are what Edward Stringer, a former British RAF air marshal, calls the boring stuff. Its boring war  stuff like ammunition stockpiles, transport and logistics  that really matters, says Stringer, who has written about a possible post-US Nato. Its also what almost nobody does properly at scale, except for the US. But some of what the US provides to Nato  such as its fleet of C17 cargo planes, which cost $340mn apiece and can carry 75 tonnes of equipment almost 4,500km without refuelling  is all but irreplaceable. US-made F-35s also increasingly sit at the heart of Natos combat air power, with more than 500 of the fighter jets expected to operate in Europe by the mid-2030s, IISS estimates.

The visuals confirm a love of older tech in the form of fighter jets. Note these are the only graphics in the piece:

Contrast this with increasing evidence of these jets being rendered less potent by Russian air defenses. From Simplicius:

Western pundits rejoice that the strike [into Kursk by Storm Shadows] proves how F-16s or other platform are able to hit Russia with Western missiles. The problem is, this strike provesthus far at leasttheyre too scared to launch them deep. The fact they targeted something right near the LOC indicates that the Su-24s, Mig-29s, or other carrying platforms (F-16s almost certainly not risked from their far-west Ukraine refuge) were terrified of coming anywhere close to the Russian border, as they would be shot down by S-400 or related systems. You see, Ukraines export variant Storm Shadows are said to go 300km max, which means just to reach the compound in Kursk, the planes likely released the missiles at maximum distance all the way over the Dnieper river, safely out of Russian AD range

Ironically, the reason the command center in Kursk was vulnerable was that Russia was loath to put its S-400 launchers too close to Ukraine, so Western planners do look to have correctly identified an area of coverage weakness.

But the bigger point is this article no where mentions drones (which could allow Europe to leapfrog some of its older and overlapping weapons systems) and barely alludes to air defense, per a passing mention of Patriots:

That includes Germanys Rheinmetall, Nordic multinational Nammo and MBDA, a European multinational that produces missiles, including Storm Shadows, and which started a $5.5bn joint venture this year with the USs Raytheon to produce Patriot air defence missiles in Germany.

Patriot systems are widely considered to be inferior to the Russian S-400. Russia is already on to S-500 andS-550 systems. Perhaps I missed it, but I have not read that the Patriot has been upgraded.

Apologies for limiting ourselves to this new Financial Times story as a case study. However, it does strongly suggest, even if it cannot amount to definitive proof, that the Western understanding of its military capabilities is sorely dated.

______

1 One staple is that even articles that concede that Russia is winning in Ukraine still include ritual denigration of the Russian military. A recent example depicting Russia as primitive, even barbaric. From the BBC in Ukraine front could collapse as Russia gains accelerate, experts warn:

The losses are compounded by the meat grinder approach said to be favoured by Russian commanders  describing the waves of recruits thrown towards Ukrainian positions in a bid to exhaust troops.

2 A related issue is Russias success in achieving close coordination of its battlefield forces and its arms manufacture. Russia has been feeding information from combat failures and successes back to weapons makers and has been making adaptations in time frames that are simply impossible in the US contracting process.

3 Ritters surprise is credible to me based on many years of competitor interviews. I was the only person at McKinsey to have the nerve to call direct competitors of my client Citibank and then get them to talk to me (not hiding that I was from McKinsey, engaged by a client in their space) and then more competitor interviews in my later life. The usual way to get them to agree was to remind them that they were in charge, they could terminate the talk at any time, and that I was seeking general market information. Inevitably, I would learn at least one item per interview of what the subject really did think was general market information that was new and useful to Citibank.

4 One example is a new, prominent story at the Wall Street Journal: Ukraine Clings to Shrinking Sliver of Russia, Expecting Trump to Push for Peace Talks. It mentions the Storm Shadow strike into Kursk and depicts it as killing a North Korean general (dubious) and providing a morale boost. Admittedly this article presents itself as having a tight focus, but works in unverified British claims like Russia having suffered 700,000 casualties, without mentioninng the Oreshnik strike.

5 Last night, this little RT video came up many times on a Twitter search on Oreshnik without even wanting to see it. It seems to have been significantly scrubbed; it took a lot of effort today to find the clip, although stills from it were more abundant.

6 This section admittedly relies heavily on Black Mountain Analysis, but I have seen other accounts make claims similar to his, so for convenience I will again cite this source:
Record Store Day Black Friday at indie record stores across Nashville on Nov. 29 See the full list of special releases at recordstoreday.com

Between the first dark days of daylight saving time and the Technicolor lights of the holiday season lies capitalisms biggest day, Black Friday. Audiophiles across the country prepare by filling their wish lists with vinyl releases specially organized to draw you into independent record shops for the second-biggest record-buying holiday of the year, Record Store Day Black Friday. RSDBF has something for everyone on your list, from exclusive titles to physical media debuts thatll go into wider circulation later.

RSD Firsts and Exclusives

If you want to be the first to get your hands on some of this years most sought-after releases from chart-topping artists, be sure to add these to your list: Noah Kahans collaborative Town Hall LP, Kacey Musgraves Deeper Into the Well LP, Olivia Rodrigos Guts (Spilled) double LP or the Boyz Noize remix LP of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Challengers soundtrack.

Moving on to exclusive titles: If you love the idea of winding down with a classic live record but cannot be bothered to get up to flip sides more than once, check out Jimi Hendrixs Songs for Groovy Children: The Fillmore East Concerts. This quintessential release has been abbreviated; the original LP set released in 2019 included eight records! The five tracks on this blue-and-purple swirl vinyl release span all four of Hendrixs New Years 1970 celebration sets.

Hip-hop fans will want to check out MF Dooms Operation: Doomsday 25th Anniversary, and they have their choice of formats. In a rare occurrence for RSDBF, the record will be released on two LPs, CD and cassette; choose your favorite listening experience or get all three.

Listeners with a sense of humor should be sure to look out for Steve Martins famous ode to the boy king who gave his life for tourism with King Tut on a special 12-inch maxi-single picture disc. If your sense of humor more closely aligns with pranks and fart jokes, consider presenting your favorite goofy goober with their very own copy of The Spongebob Squarepants Movie  Music From the Movie and More  to celebrate the 20th anniversary of a cinematic classic.

If female folk-rock heroes are your thing, consider Joni Mitchells Hejira Demos LP or Stevie Nicks new feminist protest single The Lighthouse on a 7-inch. Alt-pop fans will love Tegan and Saras So Jealous (20th Anniversary) double LP  hearing Walking With a Ghost on vinyl will be a treat.

Fans of punk legends the Ramones will want to check out their Greatest Hits LP, while more modern rebels ought to seek out Rage Against the Machines Democratic National Convention 2000 EP. If you think music peaked in the 90s, youll love Record Store Days Song of the Year 12-inch single: This time, the honor has been bestowed on Pearl Jams Waiting for Stevie, recorded at a recent show in Seattle.

Record Store Happenings

Along with the rest of the retail world, plenty of local record stores will honor RSD Black Friday with special hours and incentives for savvy shoppers.

The Great Escape (whose flagship store is at 5400 Charlotte Ave. but also has stores in Madison and Murfreesboro) will have exclusives as well as a 20 percent discount on regular stock. Theyll open four hours early at 8 a.m. for early birds to get their shop on. McKays (636 Old Hickory Blvd.) will not have any exclusives, and will be open normal hours, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Third Man Records (623 Seventh Ave. S.) doesnt participate in RSDs exclusives program, but you never know what kind of special surprises could be in store! Recent releases include a reissue of Albert Aylers New Grass, a 40th anniversary reissue of The Jesus and Mary Chains debut single Upside Down and a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers live set from 1982 called The Gennaro Tapes  not to mention Jack Whites Grammy-nominated No Name LP.

+7 Chuck Indigo, Becca Mancari, Many More Rock Out on Record Store Day The Groove and Vinyl Tap hosted blowout shows Saturday with a massive variety of live music

The Groove (1103 Calvin Ave.) will open to shoppers at 10 a.m. to sling RSD exclusives, special buys, sale records and mystery grab bags perfect for every listener on your list. Their East Side neighbors at Grimeys (1060 E. Trinity Lane) will have the exclusives as well, and will also open at 10 a.m.

Vinyl Tap (2038 Greenwood Ave.) will celebrate Black Friday as well as the store, bar and venues birthday with sales, an early opening at 11 a.m., DJs spinning and, of course, RSD exclusives.

Analog Your Life (2546 Lebanon Pike) is the perfect spot for Black Friday shoppers looking for an early-morning boost. Theyll have exclusives and 10 percent off their regular stock starting early at 10 a.m., along with complimentary doughnuts and coffee and a shopping experience soundtracked by local DJs.

Elevator Vinyl doesnt carry RSD exclusives, but theyll be celebrating their first anniversary inside Lykke Haus Vintage (500 Trinity Lane) with some sweet new stock, a DJ and sexy Santa. Im not sure I want to know what that means, but if you do, the party starts at 11 a.m.

+2 Daydream Records Sets Up Shop Talking with Daniel Halal about his recently opened used-only retail spot in the Shoppes on Fatherland

Alisons (994A Davidson Drive) wont have exclusives either, but shoppers will be treated to 15 percent off everything in the store all weekend. Phonoluxe (2609 Nolensville Pike) doesnt carry RSD specials but will have new stock for perusal on Black Friday. Jimbos (inside Vinterest at 2416 Music Valley Drive) wont have them either, but will have 10 percent off their usual stock. Itll be business as usual on Black Friday at two of Nashvilles newer vinyl outposts, Dead End Records (100 Taylor St., Suite A22A) and Daydream Records (Suite 203 inside the Shoppes on Fatherland, 1006 Fatherland St.), but youd be remiss not to pay them a visit and support the newest seedlings in Nashvilles growing indie record-store ecosystem.

As always, make sure to check with stores or watch their social media for last-minute changes. And while youre out and about on Black Friday, be sure to also check out Hi-Fi Frontier (inside Dashwood Vintage at 2416 Music Valley Drive) and Swaggie Records (211 Union St.). The Scene wasnt able to get any info about their plans before press time, but its always a good day to support a mom-and-pop shop. Good luck, and happy shopping!

Editor's note: The print version of this story suggests you also visit Soulfolks. Sadly, after this issue went to press, proprietor and musician R.A.P. Ferriera posted that the store has closed.
State troopers have arrested at least 10 unhoused people in the past month under a 2022 law prohibiting outdoor camping on public property, according to court records.

The arrests have been concentrated near Riverfront Park, a terraced green space where Lower Broadway meets the Cumberland River. Police made just two arrests this year under the law prior to Oct. 29. News of state troopers sudden enforcement of the public camping ban quickly spread through the unhoused community, many of whom see the ban as a powerful legal weapon wielded by officers.

They are targeting us homeless, says Dennis, an unhoused man who uses a wheelchair and did not share his last name. I cant even move anywhere without help. They picked me up when I was passed-out, down at the cabin.

Dennis says troopers arrested him and others at Fort Nashborough, the reconstructed log cabin that stands downtown on First Avenue as a historical monument to Nashvilles founding.

Its not anything that Im aware of, but thats not to say that hasnt happened, says Lt. Bill Miller, a spokesperson for the Tennessee Highway Patrol. It might have been the Capitol protection unit, or troopers from the Nashville district. State troopers have jurisdiction anywhere in Tennessee, as we are a statewide law enforcement agency.

Over the past four years, state lawmakers upgraded penalties for public camping in two strokes. In the midst of ongoing racial justice protests at the state Capitol (co-led by current state Rep. Justin Jones, elected in 2022), legislators upgraded unauthorized public camping from a misdemeanor to a class-E felony. That charge carries up to six years in prison and a fine up to $3,000. The GOP-controlled legislature went further in 2022, passing additional legislation pushed by state Sen. Paul Bailey (R-Sparta) that more directly makes camping while homeless a felony. At the time, Gov. Bill Lee declined to sign the legislation  a symbolic gesture  stating that he feared the bills effects on homeless people. But Lee didnt veto the law, allowing it to take effect on July 1, 2022.

Residents living on the street share the sense that they live at the mercy of troopers and police.

To be arrested for camping on public land, you have to meet certain criteria  you have a source of food, water, a place to sleep on, a means of shelter, everything like that, says Daniel, a 40-year-old man who lives outside in downtown Nashville, as he pushes a shopping cart full of clothes and personal belongings. I can lie down in the grass and go to sleep, but [if] I have my stuff with me, they tell me to get the hell out. They say Im camping, or impeding a walkway, or trespassing.

A Law Increasing Penalties for Unauthorized Camping Has Locals Worried Debate over the bill also garnered national attention when one lawmaker referenced Hitler while voicing his support

At McKendree United Methodist Church, a congregation on Church Street with substantial homelessness outreach, John Graham explains that living outside means navigating power dynamics and constantly shifting territory.

They wont let you sleep anywhere, even for a couple hours, Graham, who juggles three jobs, tells the Scene while he waits to use the bathroom outside McKendrees alleyway entrance. They wake [you] up and tell you to keep moving. The hotels, the diners and the bars dont want homeless people in there. They close their public restrooms to us. Thats why the streets smell like piss. Meanwhile these hotels have a hundred empty rooms.

Different people have different theories about the sudden push against homeless people sleeping outside. Some peg it to the CMA Awards, a star-studded ceremony that took place Nov. 20 at Bridgestone Arena. On Nov. 21, Mayor Freddie OConnell denied local involvement in the crackdown on WPLNs This Is Nashville.

Everyones cracking down on homeless people because theyre tired of giving out warnings, says one Downtown Ambassador who declined to give her name. The Nashville Downtown Partnership employs a corps of these Segway-mounted guides to patrol downtown.

In the immediate term, the spate of public camping felonies has driven more people into Davidson County jails and courts. The nonprofits, government agencies and individuals involved in the expansive homeless services landscape now include Davidson County prosecutors weighing whether to punish poverty or look the other way.

Each offense is evaluated on a case-by-case basis, DA spokesperson Ken Whitehouse tells the Scene on Friday morning, an hour before three camping cases are set to come up in front of Judge Allegra Walker. Since they are pending, we cant speak on the specifics.

In one case brought Friday, Assistant District Attorney Jenny Charles isnt pursuing felony charges. The DAs office brought in the Office of Homeless Services to coordinate with defendants, who were released from custody Friday with court dates the following week.

I think we can all agree that a class-E felony is an overreach, but I dont think the answer is returning her to live under a bridge, Charles wrote to one individuals public defender the day before three camping cases came up in court.

During a recess, a court employee made a passing comment about how Riverfront Park seemed like a preferable place to sleep for someone without any alternatives. She wondered aloud if the troopers in the room would arrest her.

I turned my own brother in, a trooper responded.
Former Israeli minister Ayelet Shaked denied entry to Australia over incitement

Former Israeli minister Ayelet Shaked has been banned from entering Australia over fears of "incitement".

(Article republished from MiddleEastEye.net)

Shaked, a former MP for the far-right Yamina party, was scheduled to appear at a conference hosted by the pro-Israel Australia Israel and Jewish Affairs Council (Aijac).

However, the Australian Department of Home Affairs told the former Israeli justice minister on Thursday that she had been denied a visa to travel to the country under the Migration Act.

The act allows the government to deny entry to individuals likely to "vilify Australians" or "incite discord" within the local community.

Speaking to Israeli media, Shaked claimed that her ban was due to her vocal opposition to a Palestinian state.

"These are dark days for Australian democracy - this government has chosen the wrong side of history," she told Channel 12.

Shaked, a stalwart of Israel's ultra-nationalist and religious Zionist movements, has long been a controversial figure in Israel and abroad.

In October 2023, shortly after the Hamas attacks in southern Israel sparked the ongoing war, Shaked gave an interview to Israel's Channel 13 in which she called for the expulsion of all Palestinians from Gaza.

"We need to use the destruction as an opportunity to encourage other countries to take in a quota of refugees," she said.

"We need all two million to leave. That is the solution for Gaza."

Read more at: MiddleEastEye.net
British military plotting to destroy independent media outlet The Grayzone to keep Ukraine fighting

Leaked documents obtained by show that a cabal of British military and intelligence assets is plotting a takedown of the independent media outlet in order to "keep Ukraine fighting."

Since the start of the Ukraine proxy war, this cabal has been working behind the scenes under the cover of darkness to prolong the conflict with Russia "at all costs." Apparently, the deep state needs the Ukraine-Russia war to continue for the purpose of protecting its interests.

Known as Project Alchemy, the secret cabal was convened under the watch of the British Ministry of Defense and is overseen by Charlie Stickland, a high-ranking major general in the UK.

The Grayzone conducted an extensive investigation into Project Alchemy, discovering that the group is involved in all sorts of "highly aggressive schemes." These include cyberattacks, "discreet operations," and outright terrorism.

Project Alchemy was inspired by Operation Gladio, a Cold War-era, pan-European CIA and MI6 "stay-behind" terror army of fascists that worked in a similar hidden fashion to push its own deep state agenda.

"Complementing its calls for clandestine special forces-style attacks on Russian territory, Project Alchemy proposed an aggressive propaganda blitzkrieg, under the bland banner of 'information operations,'" writes The Grayzone's Kit Klarenberg.

"In order to manage Western public, which was likely to turn against a long war if its economic costs grew too steep, the cabal's members whipped up a menu of malign attacks on disruptive media outlets through a campaign of legal harassment."

(Related: Did you know that the head of the UK armed forces was caught secretly helping Ukraine forge battle plans against Russia?)

If Russia wins, the West is done

One of those media outlets, we now know, is The Grayzone, which has been publishing plenty of hard-hitting investigative pieces as of late exposing secret operations like Project Alchemy that are invisible to the general public.

It turns out that the same guy who plotted to destroy London-based celebrity client journalist Paul Mason was also nominated to direct Project Alchemy's information warfare campaign. His name is Amil Khan, and he is a veteran psychological warfare operative who was previously exposed by The Grayzone for running all sorts of propaganda campaigns, including via YouTube "influencers" who were paid to push regime change in Syria and Ethiopia.

"Khans involvement in Project Alchemy suggests his crusade against this outlet was approved at the highest levels of the UK's national security state," Klarenberg adds.

"Underlining London's obsession with maintaining control of the Ukraine proxy war's narrative, The Grayzone was earmarked for destruction just days after Russian troops crossed into Ukrainian territory."

The leaked internal discussions that have emerged show that Project Alchemy's members openly fantasized about the downfall of the Russian government after a long and grueling war with Ukraine. At the same time, they also worried that their plans might backfire and that Russia could gain the upper hand in an instant, shocking the West.

A Feb. 27, 2022, "grand strategy paper" sent by Project Alchemy to John Bew, Boris Johnson's then-chief foreign policy advisor, expressed concerns about the emerging BRICS alliance, which seems to be growing stronger by the day. BRICS represents the most formidable threat right now to NATO world dominance.

That paper urged British leadership to "prepare for SWIFT II," the original SWIFT referring to the U.S.-controlled financial transfer system that is "going to be destroyed" by the West's anti-Russia sanctions, "slowly, but inevitably."

What we are witnessing, in other words, are two warring factions that want control over the world: NATO versus BRICS. The former is what we are all used to living with right now, and the latter would seem to represent a coming new world order where global dominance shifts from West to East.

The latest news about the Ukraine-Russia war and where it is headed can be found at WWIII.news.

Sources for this article include:

TheGrayzone.com

NaturalNews.com
With Trump soon to be inaugurated, climate scientists declare SUDDEN END to climate emergency narrative

All these years of fearmongering over a "melting" planet and "boiling" oceans were for naught now that the so-called "climate emergency" has been discarded as junk science.

The Czech division of the International Climate Intelligence Group (Clintel) held a two-day climate conference in Prague earlier this month at the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic. There, climate scientists declared and affirmed "that the imagined and imaginary 'climate emergency' is at an end."

Several of the world's leading scientists and researchers spoke at the event, making it clear to everyone there that just about everything the world has been told about climate change and global warming is highly exaggerated at best, and flat-out false in reality.

"The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which excludes participants and published papers disagreeing with its narrative, fails to comply with its own error-reporting protocol and draws conclusions some of which are dishonest, should be forthwith dismantled," it was further stated at the conference.

(Related: According to climate professor Bill McGuire, the only way to prevent a climate breakdown involves "culling" the human population  but not himself, of course.)

CO2 isn't increasing global temperatures

One of the most impactful declarations at the conference had to do with carbon dioxide (CO2), the boogeyman molecule of the climate cult. The world's most diehard climate cultists fear CO2 more than just about anything else because they believe it is causing planetary temperatures to increase.

The reality, of course, is that CO2 is simply plant food. Plants produce oxygen for humans to breathe, and humans exhale CO2 that plants use to grow and thrive. It really is as simple as that.

To climate cultists, however, CO2 is basically poison and must be stopped. The climate conference in Prague debunked this myth once and for all, exposing the entire climate narrative as a scam.

Even if every nation on earth successfully reached "net zero" emissions by the 2050 target date, global temperatures would only be about 0.1 C cooler, maybe, with no actual emissions reductions.

"So far, the attempts to mitigate climate change by international agreements such as the Paris Agreement have made no difference to our influence on climate, since nations such as Russia and China, India and Pakistan continue greatly to expand their combustion of coal, oil and gas," reports Watts Up With That.

"The cost of achieving that 0.1 C reduction in global warming would be $2 quadrillion, equivalent to 20 years' worldwide gross domestic product."

A call was made at the conference for the entire global scientific community to take a step back from climate crusading and instead reflect on the matter from a different perspective.

The scientists at the event uniformly called upon "the entire scientific community to cease and desist from its persecution of scientists and researchers who disagree with the current official narrative on climate change and instead to encourage once again the long and noble tradition of free, open and uncensored scientific research, investigation, publication and discussion."

In their letter to "the entire scientific community," those in attendance at the conference made out several key points about the climate that deserve repeating:

1) The sun, not greenhouse gases, is primarily responsible for global temperature patterns.

2) The industrial era did nothing of any significance to impact the climate.

3) There is zero evidence to suggest that extreme weather events are in any way increasing, even if they get more media coverage due to technological advancements.

4) Despite having spent trillions upon trillions of dollars trying to stop emissions, global temperatures have still risen, albeit modestly, since 1990.

More related news coverage can be found at Climate.news.

Sources for this article include:

WattsUpWithThat.com

NaturalNews.com
Estonia calls for the EU to send soldiers to Ukraine amid concerns over impending shift in U.S. foreign policy positions

Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna has suggested that European Union (EU) member states should be prepared to send members of their militaries to Ukraine if U.S. President-elect Donald Trump attempts to broker a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow that would be seen as more beneficial for Russia.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Tsahkna emphasized that membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is still the best security guarantee for Ukraine. If Trump opposes even this, he claimed that the EU would need to step up and provide "boots on the ground" in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly stated that joining NATO is essential for Ukraine's security, as an alternative to acquiring nuclear weapons. The "victory plan" he is promoting to the EU and Trump includes NATO membership to end the conflict with Russia.

Estonia, which has a significant Russian minority and shares a border with Russia, has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine and has called for stronger measures against Russia. However, Tsahkna acknowledged that it would be difficult for the EU to offer security guarantees to Ukraine without U.S. backing, and questioned whether Trump would abandon NATO due to Americas political and economic interests.

Trump has long promised to end the Ukraine conflict quickly, using his relationships with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky to broker peace. Although Moscow has dismissed the idea that Trump could easily resolve the conflict, Putin has noted that Trumps statements deserve attention.

Tsahkna also urged the EU to boost its defense capabilities, as Ukraine is now considered NATO's first line of defense against Russia. He stressed that the EU cannot wait for U.S. decisions, as the security architecture in Europe may need to shift with Ukraine's fate on the line.

Biden admin speeding up military aid deliveries, allowing Kyiv to strike Russia with long-range missiles

Meanwhile, the administration of President Biden has made moves to influence the war's outcome, including sending military aid to Ukraine and allowing Kyiv to fire long-range ATACMS missiles deep into Russian territory. This shift is seen as a response to Russia's increasing use of North Korean troops at the frontlines. Additionally, Biden approved nearly $300 million in military aid to Ukraine, including anti-personnel landmines, to bolster Kyiv's defense. (Related: Ukraine strikes Russian military installation in Bryansk just one day after Biden authorizes use of U.S.-made, long-range ATACMs missiles.)

In response, Russia has escalated tensions by loosening conditions for nuclear weapon use, signaling that Moscow could consider using nuclear weapons if faced with a "massive" attack or if non-nuclear countries backed by nuclear powers are targeted. This raises fears of a broader conflict, though some analysts believe Putins threats are more about intimidating the West than actually starting World War III.

As the situation develops, Russia launched its largest aerial attack on Ukraine in nearly three months, signaling its intention to strengthen its position ahead of future negotiations, particularly with Trumps upcoming presidency. Experts suggest that Russia is preparing for peace talks, but Moscow's aim is still to subjugate Ukraine and retain key territories.

Meanwhile, despite the escalating conflict, Zelensky remains steadfast in defending Ukraines territorial integrity, including Crimea.

In a recent speech marking 1,000 days of Russia's full-scale invasion, Zelensky presented a "resilience plan" to parliament. He emphasized that Ukraine's goal of restoring full territorial integrity would not be compromised. He further stated that any settlement leaving Ukraine in a worse position than it was before 2022 would provoke political chaos within the country.

Watch this video discussing what happened as soon as Ukraine received the green light to attack Russia with long-range Western missiles.

This video is from the Victor Hugo Art channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Nearly three years into the conflict, Ukraine grapples with dwindling resources as Russia steadily gains ground.

Ukraine hopes to win over Trump with its "victory plan" proposal.

European leaders conspire to SABOTAGE Trumps plan to end Ukraine war.

Putin signals readiness for peace talks with Trump but stresses unchanged demands for ending Ukraine conflict.

Trump blames Biden, Zelensky for Ukraine conflict, warns of WWIII with Russia.

Sources include:

RT.com

BBC.com

Brighteon.com
Former CDC director claims COVID-19 virus may have originated in North Carolina

Robert Redfield, who served as the director of the CDC under President Donald Trump, has claimed that the COVID-19 virus could have started as part of a secret biodefense program in a North Carolina lab

Redfield, a longtime critic of Dr. Anthony Fauci and supporter of the lab leak theory that the virus stemmed from Chinas Wuhan Institute of Virology, told the Third Opinion podcast that the virus was intentionally engineered as a part of a biodefense program.

And now, he believes that it may not have necessarily been created in China and that those in Wuhan might have simply been trying to cope with the situation once they realized the ramifications of it.

Either way, he believes the role played by the U.S. was substantial, citing the fact that the government funded research through the NIH, Department of Defense and USAID.

He said that Dr. Ralph Baric, a University of North Carolina coronavirologist, is the scientific mastermind behind the whole situation. Although he cant prove anything, he believes he may have had a hand in developing some of the original viral lines.

Baric collaborated on gain-of-function research with top coronavirologist Shi Zhengli of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, with some of their experiments being conducted at Barics Chapel Hill lab. Shis team in Wuhan went on to use Barics research techniques in work that was partly funded by research grants from the U.S. One of the techniques pioneered by Baric enables researchers to splice different components of viruses together in a manner that leaves no trace of what was done.

Baric told congressional investigators that he had serious reservations about the biosafety protocols in Chinese labs and that he believed a lab leak was a possible cause of the pandemic. He testified that he advised Shi to work in a more secure lab that had a biosafety level 3 designation, but she did not follow his suggestion. Therefore, he said that a lab accident could not be ruled out given the insufficient biosafety level of the lab where she was conducting the work.

The lab leak theory was criticized in the early days of the pandemic, with the mainstream media and some academics even going so far as to mock those who supported it and claim it was nothing more than a conspiracy theory.

However, the theory has become widely accepted recently as evidence continues to mount, including reports of how Wuhan lab workers got seriously ill with COVID-like symptoms back in November 2019.

Redfield said that the ability of COVID-19 to spread so rapidly among humans made it quite different from other coronaviruses and believes that treating it the same as SARS in the early days of the pandemic was a critical error.

He said that he should have tried harder to gain access for the CDC to the Wuhan lab and that the World Health Organization was highly compromised by China.

Redfield also supports the idea of RFK, Jr. serving in a public health role

Redfield has also gone on the record supporting the idea of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. serving as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services. He said in an interview that he does not agree with liberals claims that he will introduce anti-vaccine policies.

Kennedy is not antivaccine. What Kennedy is about is transparency about vaccines, honest discussion about vaccines, asking for the data to show that these vaccines are safe and theyre efficacious, he said.

Sources for this article include:

DailyMail.co.uk

TheHill.com

VanityFair.com
Trumps incoming border czar claims the Biden administration has blood on their hands for the murder of Laken Riley

President-elect Donald Trump's incoming "border czar" Tom Homan has claimed that the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden " has blood on their hands " for the murder of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, by an illegal immigrant in Georgia

In March, a Venezuelan national and undocumented migrant identified as Jose Antonio Ibarra brutally beat Riley to death. At that time, Riley was jogging on the University of Georgia campus when Ibarra dragged her into the bushes and murdered her.

According to the records from Customs and Border Protection, Ibarra was first arrested near the southern border on Sept. 8, 2022, for illegally entering the country. However, he was immediately released due to insufficient detention space and took refuge in New York City.

From here, Ibarra was even able to find employment as an Uber driver. But then, he was also apprehended in the state for endangering a child while riding a gas-powered moped without a helmet in 2023 but was released again, only to flee to Georgia and murder Riley.

The Department of Homeland Security ended the "Remain in Mexico" policy, officially known as the "Migrant Protection Protocols," in August 2022. The policy required undocumented migrants to await court hearings outside the United States. In short, this lax approach had something to do with the release of Ibarra into the United States.

Then, the trail for Ibarra resumed in the city of Athens on Nov. 18, and Homan, who formerly served as the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for five months during the first Trump administration, lambasted the outgoing Biden administration and its approach to immigration enforcement.

"If Trump was president, and he did get in the United States, and he got arrested in New York for a crime before he committed this murder, he would never have been released to the streets," Homan explained. "He would've been turned over to ICE."

Additionally. Homan argued that stricter enforcement and cooperation between ICE and local authorities could have prevented Riley's death. Therefore, he concluded: "So this administration has blood on their hands."

Homan vows to defund sanctuary cities and strengthen the presence of ICE on U.S. borders

Homan added during the interview that the case of Riley is just "one of many" cases that have occurred under the Biden administration.

"She's just one of many, Griff. You know we've heard many stories under this administration that's happened, and there's many more we don't know about, 'cause sometimes sanctuary cities don't capture their foreign national citizenship, so it's not in a report, and they never contact ICE," Homan said. (Related: Incoming Trump "border czar" to conduct worksite RAIDS for busting migrant sex, labor trafficking networks.)

In line with this, Homan vowed to push for renewed efforts to defund sanctuary cities and strengthen the presence of ICE in such jurisdiction.

"Look, if they're not going to help us then we'll just double the manpower in those cities. They don't want ICE agents in their neighborhoods but they don't let ICE agents in the jail. They don't understand if you let us in the jail, that'll be less agents in your neighborhood," he said.

Homan also warned violent criminal organizations like the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua that he will dismantle their operations once seated as the "border czar."

"Tren de Aragua, they're on notice. Their days of violence and bloodshed in this country are coming to an end very fast. My message to Tren de Aragua: My gang is bigger than your gang and we're [going to] take you out."

Head over to Trump.news for more stories about Donald Trump's plan to fix immigration.

Watch Tom Homan telling Veronika Kyrylenko of the New American magazine that the U.S. border is broken by design.

This video is from The New American channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Tom Homan warns opponents of BORDER SECURITY: "Get the hell out of the way."

Former ICE Director Tom Homan: Trump's mass deportation plan won't separate families, since WHOLE FAMILIES of illegals will be deported together.

Trump to carry out largest mass deportation of illegals in American history despite logistical implications: "It's not a question of a price tag."

EXCLUSIVE details on Trumps MASS DEPORTATION plan to save America from being overrun.

Latest polls show majority of Americans now approve of MASS DEPORTATIONS for illegal immigrants.

Sources include:

NYPost.com

ZeroHedge.com

News4SanAntonio.com

Brighteon.com
House Democrat suggests creation of a SHADOW GOVERNMENT to oppose Trump

A Democratic lawmaker in the House of Representatives is proposing the creation of a so-called "shadow government" to challenge the administration and policies of President-elect Donald Trump.

U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-NC) has suggested setting up a "shadow cabinet" to oppose the Trump administration. Nickel claimed that this idea, adopted from the British parliamentary system where the leading opposition party creates a shadow cabinet to hold the government accountable, could serve as an essential check against what he described as "extreme MAGA attacks on our government."

"As Democrats, we simply failed to convince the American people we have better ideas to solve their problems, but we do," said Nickel. "Now we need to dust ourselves off and get ready to fight."

Nickel clarified that the shadow cabinet would question Trump's policies and give alternative solutions to tackle urgent national issues. He proposed that U.S. Senator-elect Adam Schiff (D-CA) should serve as the shadow U.S. attorney general (AG) to oppose Trump's nominee, former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL). However, Gaetz withdrew his name as a potential nominee and was replaced by former Florida AG Pam Bondi.

"If Trump attempts to weaponize the justice system against his political opponents, we need leaders like Schiff to stand up for independent justice," Nickel declared.

He also suggested U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT) as shadow education secretary to protect public education, and U.S. Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY) as shadow state secretary to handle foreign policy concerns and defend the United States' international allies and commitments. He also recommended that U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) could serve as shadow health and human services secretary to protect so-called "reproductive rights."

Finally, Nickel nominated Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) as shadow head of the Environmental Protection Agency, to oppose Trump's pick, former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), who Nickel claims might undermine environmental protections and policies. (Related: Trump names pro-Israel Rep. Lee Zeldin head of EPA.)

Nickel claims shadow government could act as "insurance policy" for America's democracy

In his statement, Nickel claimed that creating a Democrat-controlled shadow government would act as an "insurance policy" for America's democracy that can also "strengthen the government" by supporting Trump's second administration with alternative policy proposals.

Nickel assumes that this shadow cabinet would offer a platform for Democrats to express their vision while guaranteeing a strong investigation of the Trump administration.

The proposal has triggered debate among Democrats and political analysts, with some seeing it as a clever reply to Trump's return to power and others doubting its usefulness.

As America gets ready for a new Trump administration, Nickel's suggestion highlights the increasing factional pressure and the Democratic Party's determination to set up a unified opposition.

Meanwhile, Capitol Hill Democrats are pushing the White House to make every effort to strengthen the executive branch against Trump and his promised attempts to demolish federal agencies and restructure them in his own way.

The legislators want outgoing President Joe Biden to get forceful and prolific with unilateral executive orders in the last weeks of his administration. These Democrats claim this is necessary to both safeguard the Democratic Party's policy wins and to strengthen the Department of Justice, the U.S. intelligence community and other offices set to be reformed under Trump.

In this regard, they view Biden as a type of preventive firewall against Trump's promises to reclaim their legislative victories and clean out huge portions of the federal bureaucracy in a "deep state" purge devised to simplify government and eradicate his executive branch critics.

Follow Trump.news for more news about the coming Trump administration.

Watch the video below about President-elect Donald Trump appointing "change-makers" and "doers" in his cabinet.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Trump announces plan to end deep state corruption in Washington once and for all.

Furious Democrats blame JOE BIDEN and TIM WALZ for Kamala Harris humiliating election loss.

Top 10 Ways the Democrats SCREWED UP their chances of winning the election and continuing their reign of communist terror in the USA.

Sources include:

YourNews.com

TheHill.com

Brighteon.com
Woman who killed her father over election disagreement married to transgender MSM journalist

A Seattle woman who killed her father with an ice ax over an election-related disagreement is married to a transgender journalist who has contributed to several mainstream media (MSM) outlets.

The Daily Mail named the woman as Corey Burke, 33, who murdered her 67-year-old father Timothy on the evening of Nov. 5. While she initially told law enforcement that the murder stemmed from a disagreement over house lights, the murderer later confessed that the killing was related to the results of the 2024 presidential election and the victory of President-elect Donald Trump.

Corey was a "power lesbian" woman who worked as a training program for Blue Origin, a space exploration company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Her partner Samantha Leigh Allen  a man pretending to be a woman  works as an editor at the transgender news website Them, which is owned by Conde Nast. Based on the Mail's revelation, it appears that Corey wears the pants in the relationship.

Allen's website mentioned that he has been featured on the MSNBC program "Morning Joe" and also covered LGBT stories as a senior reporter for the Daily Beast. He had also written for other MSM publications such as the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Out, CNN and more. Allen has also authored two books  "Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States" and "M to (WT)F: Twenty-Six of the Funniest Moments from My Transgender Journey."

But Adan Salazar of InfoWars pointed out that the MSM won't even bat an eye on the tabloid's revelations. "Don't expect mainstream news networks to report on the Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) induced killing, or the woman's close ties to the legacy media and the woke agenda, anytime soon," he wrote.

Murder of Timothy Burke a stark reminder that TDS destroys families

The Mail also recounted the grisly details of the 66-year-old's death at the hands of his daughter. Corey told detectives that "she knew she could not convince her father to keep the lights off," so she went upstairs and retrieved the ax.

She then tripped Timothy and strangled him, but not without difficulty. Corey had to bite him while choking as "he was too strong," but felt better once the 66-year old "went limp." She then "sat next to him until he stopped breathing."

Corey then hit him several times in the head and side with both ends of the ax, before putting his body in the basement where police found him. She emerged from the house with a bloody face, and initially did not let law enforcement enter. The killer was sent to the Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for medical treatment and a mental health evaluation.

While at the hospital, Corey admitted to a police officer that she did kill her father. She told law enforcement that she "freaked out" at the time, claiming there was "something important about Election Day" and the murder "needed to happen today." Timothy voted for Trump, while she voted for outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris  who lost the election.

"I killed him. [It] was really hard, really f*****g hard. There were points where [I] felt [I] wasn't going to be able to," she whispered to an officer. Corey also mentioned something about wanting to help people "change their attachment to their parents." (Related: Insane liberal women are teaching one another how to poison men who voted for Trump.)

Following her confession, she was taken into custody and later charged with first-degree murder on Nov. 8. She appeared in court almost two weeks later on Thursday, Nov. 21.

Head over to LeftCult.com for more stories like this.

Watch this clip that features violent and unhinged liberals incensed about the loss of Kamala Harris in the election.

This video is from the Your News Now (YNN) channel on Brighteon.com.

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Trump Derangement Syndrome fueled by these FOUR POISONS: Mass media propaganda, vaccines, fluoridated water, and rapeseed oil.

Sources include:

InfoWars.com

DailyMail.co.uk

Brighteon.com
Popular British feminist writer bemoans police state hate crime tyranny in UK: a transgender man from the Netherlands behind complaint

All it takes in Great Britain today to get someone's house raided is to anonymously report them for a "hate crime," as well-known British writer and feminist Julie Bindel learned the hard way

Bindel is among several others who faces persecution at the hands of the UK police state after "a transgender man from the Netherlands" complained that some of the things she said publicly were "offensive" to transgenders.

A similar type of thing happened to another UK journalist by the name of Allison Pearson. As we reported, Pearson was investigated for a "hate incident" involving a year-old post on X / Twitter that she deleted.

Both Pearson and Bindel are victims of the anti-free speech agenda of the far-leftists who now control the UK. Bindel wrote a scathing article for The Independent explaining the horrors of what she went through at the hands of British police.

"At first I thought that perhaps they were investigating a spat of local burglaries or car thefts in the area, although I soon dismissed that possibility," Bindel writes about the raid.

"The police are rarely proactive on those issues, as resources are so stark and ever diminishing ... Which is what made it so shocking when the young, female officers told me why they were standing on my doorstep."

(Related: Did you know that the globalists are throwing everything they have at trying to censor speech worldwide?)

Even leftists are tired of UK speech tyranny

Bindel was told by the female officers that she was being investigated for a "hate crime," though none was ever specified, nor was Bindel told how legal jurisdiction works with matters such as this.

When the officers asked Bindel if she would agree to voluntarily go the local police station for questioning, she told them absolutely not.

"Why should I do that when I have no idea what I was being accused of?" she asks. "I had better things to do."

One day later, Bindel received a phone call from law enforcement indicating that she would not be under investigation after all.

"I was disappointed," she recalls, noting that if the case proceeded all the way to trial, it could have become a "teachable moment" to "educate the public about this Orwellian state of affairs."

Bindel stayed calm the entire time but fully admits that she likely would have gotten really upset had she thought that UK police stood any chance of legally punishing her for words that came out of her mouth.

"I thought about the women who have lost jobs, been hounded out of college courses, friendship groups, and university societies, as well as those who would have found it distressing to be threatened with a hate crime conviction for no good reason," Bindel writes.

"Police coming after those of us who do nothing more than speak the truth about gender madness and refuse to bend the knee to the crazy cultists, are doing a massive public disservice."

Since police resources are already so limited as it is, wasting time on non-crimes like "offensive" things people say is not exactly the best way for the UK to get its flailing economy under control.

"Police have limited time to investigate actual crime, but are instead being tasked with ticking off the likes of me for daring to tweet that 'trans women are NOT women' (or whatever the person in Holland had objected to)," Bindel writes.

"I was able to send the two officers packing, without their visit even spoiling my lunch."

LGBTs get the most special treatment in the world today. Learn more at Transhumanism.news.

Sources for this article include:

ReclaimTheNet.org

NaturalNews.com

Telegraph.co.uk

NaturalNews.com
Russia confirms WWIII COMING SOON after Biden green-lights long-range missile strikes

Months remain until President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated, which means President Joe Biden can still do a lot of damage on the world stage, particularly concerning Russia.

Lawmakers in Moscow are responding to the news that Biden just authorized Kiev to use long-range U.S. missiles inside Russia, one of the world's premier nuclear powers  what could go wrong?

Vladimir Dzhabarov, the first deputy head of the Russian upper house's international affairs committee, told the Tess media outlet that what Biden just did represents "a very big step towards the start of World War III."

"The West has decided on such a level of escalation that it could end with the Ukrainian statehood in complete ruins by morning," added Andrei Klishas, a senior member of Russia's Federation Council, also known as the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, on the Telegram messaging app.

(Related: You know all those Western sanctions against Russia? They are only making BRICS stronger and the West weaker.)

Zelensky celebrates by threatening Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was so thrilled about what Biden did that he celebrated with the issuance of new threats against Russia.

"Today, there's a lot of talk in the media about us receiving permission for respective actions," Zelensky said. "But strikes are not carried out with words. Such things are not announced. Missiles will speak for themselves. They certainly will."

While it is certainly the case that some people in the United States support Zelensky and Ukraine, many do not, as evidenced by Trump receiving both the electoral and the popular vote. The American people want peace, not war.

The deep state, conversely, wants as much war as possible. It keeps the powers that be (TPTB) wealthy, the masses in poverty, and the cash flowing, but it is not what We the People want.

On X / Twitter, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted that the military-industrial complex is determined to unleash WWIII "before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives."

"Gotta lock in those $Trillions," Trump Jr. added about the deep state's greed. "Life be damned!!! Imbeciles!"

Commenting on what Biden did, especially after Election Day, former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Richard Grenell said that "no one" anticipated this escalation "during the transition period."

"This is as if he is launching a whole new war," Grenell added about Biden. "Everything has changed now  all previous calculations are null and void. And all for politics."

Now that the U.S. has given the green light to Kiev to start blasting long-range, U.S.-made missiles at Russia, other countries have decided to pile on and do the same. This will only rile up Russia even more and push the world ever closer towards WWIII.

Trump could warn Zelensky that if a single long-range missile goes off during the transition period, all peace talks could fall apart. Is that what he really wants to happen?

"It is time we know exactly who is writing Joe Biden's script," tweeted "KMac" (@ForMoationCreatv) about the situation. "The American people shouldn't have to speculate about something so critical. Especially now."

Responding to this, another wrote that Biden has likely not done a single thing of his own volition in years. Clearly the guy is a puppet on a string, and one of the most corrupt to ever occupy the White House.

"Biden lied and said he would have a peaceful transition," wrote another. "He should be removed before he causes WWIII!"

Another suggested invoking the 25th Amendment to deal with Biden.

"Now that she (Kamala) lost, they're going to attempt to sabotage Trump and along with it, the world," this person added. "We have to get control of this government back."

The latest news about war escalations can be found at WWIII.news.

Sources for this article include:

RMX.news

NaturalNews.com
Report: Ukraine could construct plutonium-made nuclear bombs within months if Trump halts military aid

A briefing paper prepared for Ukraine's Defense Ministry recently revealed that Kyiv has plutonium resources that would allow them to build hundreds of rudimentary explosives within months . These "dirty bombs" are similar to the first atomic weapons dropped by the United States in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan in 1945.

The report indicated that this course of action could be triggered if U.S. President-elect Donald Trump pulls out the military aid for Ukraine.

According to the paper, Kyiv is still in control of nine operational reactors and has "significant expertise on how to build weapons" despite giving up its nuclear arsenal in 1996. Oleksii Yizhak, head of the department at Ukraine's National Institute for Strategic Studies and author of the paper, claimed that they could extract plutonium from its spent fuel rods at nuclear power plants to create a significant arsenal of dirty warheads.

"The amount of material is sufficient for hundreds of warheads with a tactical yield of several kilotons," Yizhak said, adding that these would also suffice to destroy an entire Russian airbase or concentrated military, industrial or logistics installations.

Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Trump that Kyiv will pursue nuclear weapons for defense if it doesn't gain entry into NATO.

"The outcome is either Ukraine will be a nuclear power  and that will be our protection  or we should have some kind of alliance. Other than NATO, today we don't know of any effective alliances," Zelensky said in Ukrainian while speaking to the European Council in Brussels. "I believe that he heard me," the Ukrainian leader said of Trump.

Zelensky later clarified he had meant there was no alternative security guarantee and Kyiv has since denied they are considering building a nuclear bomb.

Meanwhile, Trump has famously pledged to end the Russia-Ukraine war within a day of becoming president. He met with Zelensky before the U.S. presidential elections and vouched for his "very good relationship" with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He has also said the invasion would never have happened if he had been in the White House and has criticized outgoing President Joe Biden's level of support for Ukraine.

Last week it emerged that Trump could propose an 800-mile demilitarized zone between Russia and Ukraine as part of a plan to end the war early. The plans, which were outlined by three Trump staffers, would involve the zone being policed by British and European troops.

Under the plans, the U.S. would also arm Ukraine to deter Russia from restarting the war. However, responsibility for manning and financing the buffer zone would fall solely on Ukraine's European allies.

"We are not sending American men and women to uphold peace in Ukraine. And we are not paying for it. Get the Poles, Germans, British and French to do it," Trump reportedly said.

Kyiv denies reports that it would be building nukes if Trump cuts off aid

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry on Nov. 13 denied media reports claiming that Kyiv would be developing weapons of mass destruction should the U.S. stop sending military aid to the nation.

"Ukraine is committed to the NPT (the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons); we do not possess, develop, or intend to acquire nuclear weapons," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said via X, formerly Twitter. (Related: Ukraine denies reports from think tank that it is months away from developing a NUCLEAR WEAPON.)

He said that Ukraine works closely with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and that it is fully transparent in its monitoring, which rules out the use of nuclear materials for military purposes.

Amid these uncertainties, the United States recently announced a $425 million military aid package to Ukraine. The package would include armored vehicles and anti-tank weapons.

A separate analysis wickedly suggested that Trump just hand Ukraine nuclear weapons to thwart Putin's Russia once and for all.

Nicholas Drummond, a security and defense expert, told the Daily Express: "In the next four years Russia will rearm, but also Ukraine will recover and rearm and prepare. That preparation could be the U.S. giving Ukraine nuclear weapons."

"A deal could be done very quietly, and suddenly Ukraine becomes very powerful. Zelensky can say 'We have nuclear weapons and if you attack us we will bomb Moscow,' he said. "Can you imagine what that would do to Putin? This is one reason why Putin may be weary of a peace deal that is not exactly on his terms.

He argued that yes, this is possible, and still not allow Ukraine to join NATO.

Visit UkraineWitness.com for stories related to the ongoing and burgeoning war between Ukraine and Russia.

Sources for this article include:

DailyMail.co.uk

KyivIndependent.com

EconomicTimes.IndiaTimes.com
UN Climate Change Censorship Regime seeks to convert journalists into propagandists and take control over the internet

During the latest United Nations G20 Summit, world leaders came together to form a new Climate Change Censorship Regime aimed at ramming climate change propaganda down everyones throats 24/7, while using their own tax dollars against them.

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Audrey Azoulay blatantly said that climate change disinformation is running rampant on the internet and must be stopped. She desires absolute obedience to climate change narratives. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also addressed the Summit, claiming, coordinated disinformation campaigns are impeding global progress on climate change.

We must fight the coordinated disinformation campaigns impeding global progress on climate change, ranging from outright denial to green-washing to harassment of climate scientists. Through this Initiative, we will work with researchers and partners to strengthen action against climate disinformation, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

To solve this crisis of people thinking for themselves, the global leaders introduced something called the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change. This is just another sophisticated term describing how world leaders intend to censor individuals online when those individuals disagree with corrupt government/corporate narratives.

Climate change brainwashing campaign launched out of the UN

So far, six governments are on board with this proposal of censorship and propaganda, including the central governments of France, Sweden Denmark, Chile, Morocco, and the UK. Initially, these governments will tax their citizens to the tune of $10-$15 million to fund research and awareness campaigns, communication strategies, and climate change advocacy groups. Their goal is to inundate the public with climate change narratives 24/7 to drive social and political changes. Of course, these political changes are intended to give power away to a central world government, as an elite group of fraudsters censor and lie to gain power and influence.

By funding communication strategies and brainwashing the public with climate change doom and gloom, globalists can transform their climate change theories into a believable religion -- a cult that must be adhered to at all costs. In this authoritarian religion, government is seen as the savior of the planet, and the people are expected to owe their allegiance to the climate experts. As globalists seize upon the sovereignty of nations, as they restrict energy sources and farming, the people of the world are expected to kiss their feet and worship the architects who are behind these manufactured climate crises. If that means supporting geoengineering experiments in the skies and in the sea, then obedience is the answer. No dissent is allowed.

UN climate masters want to convert journalists into climate change advocates

UN climate master Audrey Azoulay sees climate change as an existential challenge that must be addressed with more government intervention into peoples lives, including the censorship of opposing viewpoints and the converting of journalists into useful idiots who must promote climate change theories that are rooted in hysteria, and inevitably lead to subjugation and population control.

In fact, Azoulay views journalists as a critical link between science and society. Instead of reporting the news, journalists are now expected to espouse climate change narratives whenever they are prompted by the UN experts. Azoulay tries to appear compassionate by saying that journalists will be facing risks while reporting on climate issues and they should be preemptively protected so they can safely report on climate change issues. Converting journalists into official UN mouthpieces is the end goal here, as journalists are expected to abandon their professional role and become one with the hivemind authorities.

Without access to reliable information about climate disruption, we can never hope to overcome it. Through this initiative, we will support the journalists and researchers investigating climate issues, sometimes at significant risk to themselves, and fight the climate-related disinformation running rampant on social media, said Audrey Azoulay, UNESCOs Director-General.

These UN proposals threaten to censor individuals worldwide, while exploiting so-called journalists, who will be turned into propagandists for UN agendas.

Sources include:

ReclaimtheNet.org

G20.org
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The Integrated Rack 7000 is an update to the existing 5000 model and will support the upcoming Nvidia GB200 Grace Blackwell NVL4 Superchip with a new PowerEdge XE server designed for the IR7000. All told, the IR 7000 supports up to 144 GPUs per rack in a 50OU standard rack.

Separately, Dell announced it will offer support for Nvidia Tensor Core GPUs by the end of the year, including the H200 SXM cloud GPUs. The two companies are working on integrating Nvidia software with Dell hardware infrastructure. The first move will be support for Nvidia H100 NVL GPUs in upcoming PowerEdge servers.

Dell also is offering a new solution for general professional users and data scientists, called Dell Agentic RAG with Nvidia. Its RAG agents handle company-specific data access and regulatory challenges. The software is available now, while the GPU update will be available by the end of the year.

Microsoft Ignite announcements

The news announced at Microsoft Ignite was understandably centered around Microsoft products as related to Dell AI Factory, the companys AI initiative covering products and services. First up, Dell announced that its APEX File Storage for Microsoft Azure will offer a Dell-managed option for organizations seeking a simplified deployment and management experience.

Dell PowerScale, its enterprise NAS file storage system, will be geared to more easily meet the needs of AI workloads in multicloud environments. It features burst capacity for performance-intensive AI workloads, reduced management complexity, and faster time to data-driven insights through native integration with Microsoft AI Service tools.

Also new are Dell APEX Protection Services for Microsoft Azure, delivered as Dell-managed, AI-powered cloud data protection and cyber resiliency across edge locations, remote offices and data centers. It offers zero trust security, including immutability, encryption, multi-factor authentication and role-based access controls and protects against ransomware and cyberthreats. The companies say that they can accelerate time to recovery from cyber attack by as much as 80%.
Panaji, Nov 25 : Filmmaker Prakash Jha, whose short film 'Amar Aaj Marega' was screened on Sunday at the 55th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), feels that he has achieved nothing despite being the recipient of many National Awards and honours.

The actor spoke with IANS on the sidelines of IFFI and said that he believes in constantly working because he thinks whatever is done is in the rearview mirror.

The director-actor told IANS, "I have actually done nothing, I have achieved nothing. I am not being modest, honestly speaking. Because what's done is done. What has to be done is most important. And that's how I look at life. Every day is the first day. Every day of the shoot is the first day of the shoot. And every work is exciting. That's how I look at it. So, ready to do anything new."

He also spoke about the line differences between cinema and OTT and said that in every format story rules supreme.

He told IANS: "The gospel truth is the story, the content. Whether you do OTT, or films in the past, whether you do films in the future, whenever you do it, if you are able to tell a good story, and engage the audience, you will be successful. And I think that's the correction which is happening in the industry."

He added: "The audience is telling us to tell them a good story, tell them well. They will receive it. If we keep going on the beaten path, keep churning out the same thing in different ways, that's not going to work."
Perth, Nov 25 : India's defence of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was shrouded in doubt before the series began in Perth. A 3-0 loss to New Zealand, no Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, India selected a playing eleven, which had four players playing in Australia for the first time, with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja left out of the eleven.

Being bowled out for 150 on day one of the match was enough to create more doubts in minds of onlookers of India defending the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. But India, captained by Jasprit Bumrah, reminded everyone of their all-famous bounceback abilities and came back from behind in emphatic style to record a monumental 295-run win over Australia on day four at the Perth Stadium on Monday.

The manner and margin of Indias famous win in Perth Stadium has given them a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, which is now also their biggest Test win from the runs margin outside home. Its also the second time India have won the opening match of a Border-Gavaskar Trophy series after doing so in Adelaide in 2018.

Captain Bumrah, the chief architect of Indias famous triumph in Perth, picked eight wickets, including the match-changing spell of 5-30, which gave them a 46-run lead and single-handedly blew away Australia.

Contributions of second-innings centurions Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, as well as of KL Rahul, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Rishabh Pant, and Mohammed Siraj will also be etched in memory for a long time as Perth 2024 is now added in list of glorious overseas Test wins for India.

Starting day four from 13-2, chasing 534 was always going to be a tall order for Australia. Despite a counter-attacking 89 from Travis head and local lad Mitchell Marsh making 47, Australia were bowled out for 238 just after tea, with Bumrah and Siraj taking three wickets each.

India struck on eighth ball of the day as Usman Khawaja got a top-edge on the swivel pull off Siraj, which was safely pouched by Rishabh Pant running a few inches to his right. But from the other end, Head was charging up to play his shots with freedom  driving, cutting and sweeping with elan to collect his boundaries.

Steve Smith presented a more sorted look at the crease with the minimal trigger movement towards middle and off, as compared to a more exaggerated shuffle which caused his downfall for a golden duck in the first innings.

The duo also survived lbw appeals off India, who burnt a review in the process, while Smith took a blow on ribs off a short ball from Harshit Rana. Just as it seemed Smith was comfortable at the crease, he was squared up by a short of a good length on the fifth stump from Siraj and took a feather edge through to a full-stretch diving Pant.

But Head continued to back his attacking instincts  reaching his fifty by ramping a short ball from Siraj over the keeper for four and then getting on top of the bounce to pull through fine leg for another boundary to bring up Australias hundred, as the hosts equalled their first-innings score for the loss of five wickets here.

Post lunch, Mitchell Marsh pulled and muscled Rana for six and four respectively. He then danced down the pitch to loft Washington Sundar over long-off for six, while Head smashed Rana through cover for four. Bumrah came in by bowling from around the wicket and outside the off-stump, while slipping in a short ball to create pressure on Head.

Once Bumrah bowled a back of the length delivery outside off-stump, Head looked to fend off the back foot to release the pressure, but only managed to feather the ball through to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant for 89.

Marsh continued to march forward by sweeping and edging for his two boundaries, but chopped onto his stumps while looking to carve Nitish Kumar Reddy through the off-side to fall for 47, giving the all-rounder his maiden Test wicket.

Alex Carey showed some resistance by pulling Siraj and Reddy twice for boundaries, and found support from Mitchell Starc, who hanged around for 35 balls to make his 12 runs. Just as it looked like the 45-run partnership for the eighth wicket would run till tea, Sundar struck as Starc tried to clip off his pads and Dhruv Jurel just pulled his right hand up to complete a sensational reflex catch.

Post tea, Sundar castled Nathan Lyon by hitting top of off-stump, and Rana wrapped up the match when his slower off-cutter coming from round the wicket, pegged back off-stump of Carey to set up the series perfectly, as India showed its ability to bounce back after a crushing defeat against Australia, yet again.

Brief Scores: India 150 in 49.4 overs and 487/6 dec in 134.3 overs lead Australia 104 in 51.2 overs and 238 in 58.4 overs (Travis Head 89, Mitchell Marsh 47; Mohammed Siraj 3-51, Jasprit Bumrah 3-42) by 295 runs
Bhopal, Nov 25 : Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, who embarked on a six-day foreign visit to attract foreign investments from the UK and Germany, sought the Indian High Commission's support for the Global Investors Summit (GIS) scheduled in Bhopal in February next year, an official said on Monday.

Expressing gratitude for a warm welcome, Yadav hailed Vikram Doraiswami, High Commissioner of India to the UK, and the Indian diaspora on Sunday for supporting his efforts.

He said that one-on-one meetings and meaningful discussions about investment opportunities in Madhya Pradesh have been truly inspiring and informative.

"I am deeply grateful for the warm welcome I received. I am eager to contribute to transforming Madhya Pradesh into a thriving industrial hub and a beacon of economic growth," CM Mohan Yadav said in a statement issued by his office in Bhopal on Monday.

Mohan Yadav is on a six-day (November 24 to 30) visit to the UK and Germany to elevate industrial development in Madhya Pradesh and through foreign investment.

On his first foreign visit after taking charge as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh in December last year, Mohan Yadav is aiming to foster partnerships with global industrialists by highlighting potential in key sectors of the state.

MP CM has sought the High Commission's support for establishing Madhya Pradesh as a preferred destination for British investors.

On Tuesday, CM Yadav is scheduled to hold an interactive session with over 120 leading UK-based industrialists to encourage them to invest in Madhya Pradesh, according to the CM office.

Following three days in the UK, CM Yadav will travel to Germany on November 27. In Munich and Stuttgart, he will engage with Bavarian state government leaders, industry representatives, and Indian consular officials.
Bhopal, Nov 25 : The Madhya Pradesh government launched a social awareness campaign 'Hum Honge Kamyaab' on Monday to ensure women's safety.

The campaign was launched by State Women and Child Development Minister Nirmala Bhuria at Kushabhau Thakre Auditorium.

The campaign will be carried out in the state under the supervision of district administration and police and conclude on December 19.

During the campaign's launch, the Women and Child Development Department released a video message of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, in which he appealed to people to make the campaign a huge success.

In his video message, CM Yadav asserted that ensuring the safety of women is not only the responsibility of the government and police but a collective responsibility.

"Discrimination between men and women should be ended and for this purpose, the men need to change their mindset, and then, the concept of gender equality will serve its purpose," CM Yadav said.

During the campaign, different awareness activities, beginning with gender sensitisation consultation will be held in residential colonies, educational institutions and many other places across the state.

Chief Minister Yadav was on a six-day visit to the UK and Germany to attract foreign investments for the state.

Recently, a minor girl was gang-raped in Raisen, hardly 30 km from the state capital Bhopal.

The Opposition Congress last month organised a massive protest against crime against women in Madhya Pradesh. All senior leaders, including former CMs Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath joined the protest in Bhopal on October 18.

Citing the report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the Congress claimed, around 18 rapes were reported daily in the state while 3,029 women and 3,641 minor girls were raped in MP in 2023.
London, Nov 25 : Discover the future of cryptocurrency regulation in India as the government takes steps to create a clear and secure trading environment. Explore the implications for traders, potential challenges, and how India can learn from global examples to lead in the crypto landscape. Stay informed and ready to seize the opportunities ahead!

India is at a key point on how it looks at cryptocurrency rules. With worldwide markets changing and digital assets getting more popular, the Indian government is ready to clear up the legal rules for cryptocurrencies. This move could greatly affect trading and crypto activities, changing how people and companies deal with these digital items.





The Need for Regulation: Why Is It Happening Now?

What Might New Rules Include

Prospects and Issues for Crypto Traders

A Global View: Lessons from Others

Future of Crypto Trading in India

The fast growth of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum has pushed governments around the world to set clear rules. India stands as one of the biggest spots for crypto usage globally, seeing a rapid rise in crypto activities recently. From general investors to big businesses, more people want to get into digital currencies.Yet, this growth brings many issues. Worries about money laundering, tax cheating, and misuse of cryptocurrencies have made the Indian government act. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has shown worry about unregulated crypto assets that can harm financial safety.The new proposed regulations aim to tackle these issues while still promoting innovation. They may include tax rules, licensing needs for exchanges, and ways to prevent illegal actions. Such a framework could shift India from being unclear to having a concrete market for crypto trading.The Indian government seems to be looking at international regulations to form a fair policy. Main points include defining cryptocurrencies as digital goods instead of money, putting anti-money laundering (AML) steps in place, and creating tax guidelines for trades.For traders, this clarity might change everything. Legal certainty may motivate more individuals to engage in trading without worrying about unexpected bans or fines.Crypto exchanges will likely feel the impact too. Requirements for licences and strict Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures could become essential, ensuring only rule-following exchanges operate locally. While it might boost costs for some platforms, it would build trust among users and bring a wider audience into crypto trading.For those excited about crypto, regulation offers both chances and hurdles. On the bright side, regulated surroundings provide security and legal coverage. Traders will know their rights better which lowers risks seen in unregulated markets.Plus, institutional involvement in crypto trading might increase. With clear guidelines available now, financial organisations may grow more assured about investing in digital goods or providing related servicesleading to higher liquidity and better price setting within India's trade landscape.But challenges still exist. Tough rules might scare off smaller investors used to looser controls currently present. High taxes on profits from crypto trades could also affect earnings causing traders to reassess their strategies.Another worry is regarding potential stifling of innovationtoo much regulation can hinder blockchain startup growth causing fewer prospects for entrepreneurs or tech developers in India.While India finds its way through this journey... toward rules for crypto, it can gain from what others have done. Countries like the US, Singapore, and Japan made big rules to control cryptocurrencies, finding a mix of growth and safety.Take Japan; its system for giving licences to crypto exchanges has cut down on scams a lot and built up trust with users. In contrast, Singapore has become a crypto centre by being friendly to businesses but keeping strict anti-money laundering rules.India is likely going to take parts of these ideas and change them to fit its own market troubles and chances. By setting up rules that help safe trading in crypto while reducing dangers, India might lead globally in the crypto realm.The start of crypto rules in India means a fresh chapter for traders. With the government pushing for new ideas and protecting investors, good times lie ahead for those into trading and cryptocurrencies.For regular traders, this could bring better learning tools, advanced trading platforms, and safer ways to buy digital assets. For companies, it brings chances to dive into blockchain tech and use cryptocurrencies in their work.Whether you're experienced or just starting out in crypto trading, knowing about these changes is key. By being aware and ready, you can move through this changing environment confidently and grab the chances it brings.India's path towards regulating cryptocurrency shows how digital assets matter more in today's global economy. As it steps onto the world stage in crypto, traders will see advantages from a clearer and stronger market.
Jeddah, Nov 25 : Will Jacks Rs 5.25 crore move to Mumbai Indians (MI) and Tim Davids Rs 3 crore move to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) sparked excitement in the accelerated round on the second day of the IPL 2025 Auction here at the Abadi Al Johar Arena in Jeddah on Monday.

England power-hitter Will Jacks, who represented Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the previous edition, was sold to the Mumbai Indians for Rs 5.25 crore. The 26-year-old, who made his debut in the 2024 season in which he played eight games including a brilliant century against Gujarat Titans, entered the auction at a base price of Rs 2 crore. The five-time IPL winners pipped Punjab Kings to win his services and in a surprise decision, RCB chose not to use their Right to Match for their former batter.

Tim David, the former Mumbai Indians middle-order batter, was bought by RCB for Rs 3 cr. The Australian entered the auction at a base price of Rs 2 crore but the Bengaluru franchise faced little to no resistance in garnering his services.

Baroda all-rounder Deepak Hooda entered the auction at a base price of Rs 75 lakh and was sold to Chennai Super Kings for Rs 1.7 crore.

Shahbaz Ahmed was sold to Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 2.4 crore. The former Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder has been in scintillating form at the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 trophy where he scored a century for Bengal against Punjab on Saturday, entered at a base price of Rs 1 crore. LSG and SRH entered the bidding war but the former pipped the Hyderabad-based franchise.

Punjab Kings secured the services of Azmatullah Omarzai for Rs 2.4 crore. The Afghanistan fast-bowling all-rounder was sought after by Chennai as well but Punjab had the final laugh for the player who registered himself at a base price of Rs 1.5 crore.

RCB secured the services of West Indies all-rounder Romario Shepherd for his base price of Rs 1.5 crore while Gujarat Titans secured the services of Tamil Nadu spinner R. Sai Kishore for Rs 2 crore. Having entered at a base price of 75 lakh, Punjab did not face any competition for the talented spinner but were outclassed by GTs Right to Match (RTM) card.

Two-time IPL winner with Chennai Super Kings, Moeen Ali went unsold at the auctions having entered at a base price of Rs 2 crore.
The Russian economy looks unable to sustain President Vladimir Putins war on Ukraine past next year, but an end to the fighting could also pose an existential threat to his regime, according to experts.

In an analysis in Foreign Policy magazine earlier this month, Marc R. DeVore, a senior lecturer at the University of St. Andrewss School of International Relations, and Alexander Mertens, a professor of finance at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, explained how Russia cant produce enough to replace what its losing on the battlefield.

For example, the military is losing about 320 tank and artillery cannon barrels a month, while Russian factories can produce only 20 each month, forcing the Kremlin to dig into aging Soviet stockpiles. But thats not enough, and Russia will run out of barrels sometime in 2025, DeVore and Mertens estimated.

In addition, Russia is losing about 155 infantry fighting vehicles a month, but its defense industry can make only 17 a month. The supply-and-demand economics of artillery shells and troops are also unsustainable.

Russia cannot continue waging the current war beyond late 2025, when it will begin running out of key weapons systems, they wrote.

But the Kremlins mobilization of the economy to support the war has also left it vulnerable to an eventual end to hostilities.

DeVore and Mertens noted that paring back massive defense spending will trigger an economic downturn and leave many without work.

The experience of other societiesin particular, European states after World War Isuggests that hordes of demobilized soldiers and jobless defense workers are a recipe for political instability, they warned.

The war has also distorted the composition of Russias economy, favoring defense firms at the expense of small- and medium-size firms that serve the civilian sector, which wont be able to absorb soldiers and workers displaced by the wars end.

A peace deal would leave Putin with three unpalatable options, according to DeVore and Mertens. The first would be to shrink the military and defense industry, sparking a recession that threatens the regime. The second is to maintain a massive military that eventually chokes off economic growth.

Having experienced the Soviet Unions decline and fall for similar economic reasons, Russian leaders will probably seek to avoid this fate, they added.

The third option is to maintain the military and use it to seize the resources it needsin other words, using conquest and the threat thereof to pay for the military. They pointed to offshore gas reserves in the Black Sea, other natural resources in Ukraine, or the withdrawal of Western sanctions as possibilities.
Using innovative social media insights and satellite imagery, researchers uncover how poorly planned nighttime lighting disrupts sleep and poses a growing public health concern in urban and rural China.

Study: Outdoor Artificial Light at Night and Insomnia-Related Social Media Posts. Image Credit: YIUCHEUNG / Shutterstock

In a recent study published in the JAMA Network Open, researchers investigated the association between outdoor artificial light at night (ALAN) exposure and insomnia incidence using social media data and satellite-derived nighttime light images in mainland China.

Background

Light pollution, driven by poorly designed artificial lighting, is rapidly increasing, with China experiencing over 6% annual growth in nighttime light. ALAN disrupts circadian rhythms, inhibits melatonin production, and diminishes sleep quality, potentially contributing to depression, insomnia, and metabolic disorders.

Traditional methods of studying ALAN's impact on insomnia, such as surveys, are prone to recall bias and limited coverage. By integrating social media data and satellite-based ALAN measurements, this study introduces an innovative and real-time approach to understanding ALAN's health impacts. Further research is essential to refine these methodologies and address broader environmental and health implications.

About the Study

Innovative Data Integration: The study uniquely combines satellite-derived nighttime light data with over 1.1 million insomnia-related posts from Weibo, providing real-time, large-scale analysis of light pollution's effects on sleep.

In the present study, following Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) reporting guidelines, insomnia prevalence was estimated through daily insomnia-related posts on Weibo, a major Chinese social media platform with 257 million daily active users. A two-stage data collection process employed the Scrapy framework, leveraging internet protocol location functionality introduced by Weibo in 2022. Posts containing insomnia-related keywords were identified and supplemented by user demographic data. Extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) was used to classify relevant posts, addressing potential misclassification from unrelated content like advertisements.

The analysis period spanned May 2022 to April 2023, with city-level data aggregated daily. To ensure comparability, insomnia incidence was calculated as the number of insomnia-related posts per 10,000 users aged 15-39, constituting 96% of the platform's user base. ALAN exposure, quantified through National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)s Black Marble nighttime light remote sensing images, provided daily intensity estimates at a 500-meter resolution. This high-resolution dataset allowed the researchers to analyze ALAN exposure at a granular level, uncovering subtle geographical and temporal trends. Missing data were imputed using temporal averages, and extreme values were trimmed to ensure reliability.

Meteorological variables, air quality indices, and social media trends were incorporated as covariates. Statistical methods included Pearson correlation, multivariable regression, and smoothing spline models to evaluate exposure-response relationships. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses confirmed the accuracy of the results. Although these methods address some biases, the exclusion of indoor ALAN exposure, screen usage, and non-public social media posts highlights the need for complementary data sources in future studies.

Study Results

Regional Disparities Highlighted: Smaller cities in China face disproportionately higher insomnia risks from ALAN due to poorly planned urban lighting and the lack of comprehensive light pollution regulations.

The study analyzed 1,633,151 social media posts from 336 cities in mainland China, ultimately including 1,147,583 posts identified as insomnia-related after thorough data processing. During the study period from May 2022 to April 2023, daily mean ALAN exposure ranged from 3.1 to 221.0 nW/cm/sr. Spatially, ALAN exposure exhibited a distinct pattern, with higher intensities observed in eastern regions and urban centers, mainly provincial capitals and economically developed cities. This geographic distribution mirrored the incidence of insomnia, as reflected in the frequency of insomnia-related posts. A statistically significant correlation between ALAN exposure and insomnia-related posts was evident across all subgroups.

Regression analysis revealed an association between ALAN exposure and insomnia incidence. In the unadjusted model, every 5 nW/cm/sr increase in ALAN exposure corresponded to a 0.390% increase in insomnia incidence. After adjusting for multiple covariates, this association remained significant, with a 0.377% increase per 5 nW/cm/sr. Stratifying cities by ALAN exposure quartiles showed a progressive rise in insomnia incidence, ranging from 0.569% in the second quartile to 4.320% in the highest quartile compared to the reference group.

The exposure-response analysis highlighted a nonlinear relationship, with the steepest increases in insomnia incidence at lower ALAN exposure levels, plateauing at higher levels. Interestingly, nearly two-thirds of the cities had ALAN exposure levels between 10 and 80 nW/cm/sr, falling within the range of rapid incidence growth. This finding underscores the urgency for targeted interventions in these regions.

Subgroup analysis demonstrated variability in the association between ALAN and insomnia. Medium and small cities exhibited higher susceptibility to ALAN exposure, with increases of 0.603% and 0.622% in insomnia incidence per 5 nW/cm/sr, respectively, compared to 0.284% in larger cities. The absence of robust lighting policies in less developed cities likely exacerbates this disparity, emphasizing the need for urban planning reforms. Seasonal variations, extreme temperature conditions, and periods of poor air quality intensified the observed effects.

Sensitivity analyses confirmed the accuracy of these findings. Adjusting for factors like per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or social media popularity yielded consistent results. No false-positive associations were detected in posts unrelated to insomnia.

Conclusions

Policy Gap Identified: The study emphasizes the absence of national standards for outdoor lighting in developing countries like China, calling for urgent regulatory action to mitigate ALAN's health impacts.

To summarize, this ecological study utilized large-scale social media data from 336 cities in China, examining 1,147,583 insomnia-related posts from May 2022 to April 2023. The findings demonstrate a significant association between increased ALAN exposure and higher insomnia incidence, particularly in small-to-medium cities.

Proposed mechanisms include melatonin suppression, circadian rhythm disruption, and oxidative stress activation. Unlike in developed countries, disparities in urban development and poorly planned lighting contribute to these risks in China. Policymakers should consider implementing localized light pollution regulations and adopting sustainable lighting designs to mitigate these health risks while fostering equitable urban development.

Future studies should address this research's limitations, including the role of indoor lighting and other potential confounding factors, to provide a more comprehensive understanding of ALAN's impact on public health.
Bacterial vaginosis (BV), the most prevalent condition affecting the female reproductive system in women aged 15 to 44, is linked to such serious health risks as preterm birth, gynecological malignancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

But effective long-term treatments for BV are limited: More than half experience a recurrence within six months, according to several studies.

With a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine will study the dynamics of BV in hopes of identifying a more effective approach.

We hope to gain insights into promoting health within the human microbiome and to find better ways to prevent and treat infections that involve multiple types of bacteria. This research is a promising step toward better treatments for BV and highlights Case Western Reserve's commitment to advancing women's health." Gina Lewin, Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve School of Medicine

BV, which causes pain, odor and discharge - in addition to possible serious health risks - occurs from an imbalance in vaginal bacteria.

Lewin and her team of microbial ecologists - also part of Case Western Reserve's Center for Global Health and Diseases - will investigate the diversity of bacteria in the vaginal microbiome at a single-cell level. They will focus on the different strains of bacteria present and their individual behaviors.

Lewin's approach will examine the genetic variations within thousands of bacterial cells from vaginal microbiome, which could lead to understanding how BV develops and why some women respond better to treatment than others. This aspect of the study will work with established patient groups in collaboration with researchers at the University of Manitoba, Canada.

In addition, researchers will examine how individual bacterial cells behave and interact with a host environment, using advanced sequencing technology.
Today, the Mount Sinai Health System, one of New York City's largest academic medical systems, announced the opening of the Hamilton and Amabel James Center for Artificial Intelligence and Human Health, which is dedicated to enhancing health care delivery through the research, development, and application of innovative artificial intelligence (AI) tools and technologies.

The state-of-the-art research center solidifies Mount Sinai Health System's leadership in delivering patient care through groundbreaking innovation and technology. As one example, Mount Sinai was among the first academic medical centers in the United States to build and operate a supercomputer, named "Minerva," which went into service in 2013.

The interdisciplinary center will combine artificial intelligence with data science and genomics in a location at the center of the campus of The Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. The facility will initially house approximately 40 Principal Investigators, alongside 250 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, computer scientists, and support staff.

Supported by a generous gift from Hamilton Evans "Tony" James, Executive Vice Chairman of the Manhattan-based investment firm Blackstone, and his wife, Amabel, the 12-story, 65,000-square-foot facility will be housed in a repurposed Mount Sinai building at 3 East 101st Street.

"By integrating AI technology across genomics, imaging, pathology, electronic health records, and beyond, Mount Sinai is revolutionizing doctors' capacity to diagnose and treat patients, reshaping the future of health care. Mount Sinai has been at the forefront of AI research and development in health care, and now we stand as one of the first medical schools to establish a dedicated AI research center," says Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, Director of the Friedman Brain Institute, Dean for Academic and Scientific Affairs and Nash Family Professor in the Nash Family Department of Neuroscience at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Chief Scientific Officer at Mount Sinai Health System. "As AI technology is evolving rapidly, this moment is critical for maintaining leadership in digital health. The Hamilton and Amabel James Center for Artificial Intelligence and Human Health will cultivate an optimal environment for researchers to deepen their understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of human diseases - including the most debilitating - and to advance overall health and well-being."

If we want to use artificial intelligence for the greater good and make significant progress in health care, investing in AI research and development within academic institutions is essential. While large tech companies possess substantial funding and resources to access high-performance equipment, they lack access to a health care system, limiting their progress in the field. This new AI research center at Icahn Mount Sinai will yield transformative discoveries in human health by the integration of research and data, fostering collaboration across multiple programs under one roof." Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean at Icahn Mount Sinai and President for Academic Affairs of the Mount Sinai Health System

To construct the new AI center, Mount Sinai modernized an existing building to meet contemporary standards, including updating the facade to align with the aesthetic of other campus buildings. Within the 12 floors of the center, eight will be dedicated to Mount Sinai's AI initiatives. These core facilities include:
Mursla Bio, a leader in Extracellular Vesicle (EV) science on a mission to significantly improve cancer outcomes for at-risk patients through the power of dynamic biopsy technology, today announced results of its multi-center clinical study, MEV01, in collaboration with leading academic institutes including University College London, Imperial College London, University Hospital of Santa Maria and the Medical University of Graz.

Pierre Arsene, Founder and CEO, Mursla Bio. Image Credit: Mursla Bio

The ongoing study is investigating the Companys dynamic biopsy-based blood test, EvoLiver, for the surveillance of primary liver cancer, Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC), among high-risk, cirrhotic patients. Mursla Bio established the first EV multiomics biomarker signature for HCC with 86% early-stage sensitivity and 88% specificity, significantly surpassing existing surveillance techniques including ultrasound and alpha-fetoprotein testing.

The results are part of MEV01 and based on 464 patient samples, primarily collected prospectively, within a western population, representing etiologies such as MASH / fatty liver disease, alcoholic liver disease and hepatitis. Mursla Bio developed the EvoLiver test by isolating organ-specific hepatocyte extracellular vesicles (h-EVs) from blood samples, enabling the validation of a novel HCC biomarker signature comprised of fewer than 10 h-EV microRNAs and proteins.

The expanding population at risk of developing HCC is placing an increasing economic burden on healthcare systems due to current surveillance methods, including ultrasound, which often have difficulties detecting small tumors especially in overweight patients. An affordable, blood-based surveillance tool with significantly improved sensitivity would transform patient outcomes given the existing treatment options. Identifying HCC-specific blood biomarkers remains challenging due to the complexity of liver disease and the difficulty in detecting varied etiologies.

EvoLiver leverages a pioneering platform that isolates h-EVs, identifies and validates novel multiomics biomarkers to distinguish HCC with cirrhosis from non-cancerous cirrhosis. EvoLivers low blood volume requirement and quick turnaround times support improved patient outcomes while streamlining disease management for clinicians and patients. The companys next steps with EvoLiver are to publish final MEV01 results in 2025, offer the test in the US as a Laboratory Developed Test (LDT), and set up a larger study to secure FDA approval and broad reimbursement coverage.

Our flagship test has shown that our pioneering method of non-invasively capturing dynamic cellular processes from specific tissues via organ-specific EVs can detect early-stage HCC with far greater sensitivity than standard techniques. Earlier detection is critical to improving survival rates, as it enables access to effective treatments such as ablation, resection, or transplant. Our blood modality is also a more convenient method that will increase patient adherence to surveillance testing. EvoLiver represents an important step forward in the way liver cancer is detected and monitored. Pierre Arsene, Founder and CEO, Mursla Bio

Mursla Bios dynamic biopsy technology combines the accuracy and disease sub-typing capabilities of tissue biopsies with the ease of liquid biopsy sample collection, providing a non-invasive intervention with comprehensive biological insights. This is made possible by advanced EV science and an innovative extracellular omics approach, supported by Mursla Bios technologies. These technologies include organ-specific EV isolation from biofluids for precise targeting, an AI-enabled multi-omics workflow for disease biomarker identification, and a scalable assay platform using optimal biomarkers for clinical use.

Dr Tomas Dias, Mursla Bios CSO, presented data from the study at one of the largest medical conferences, AASLDs The Liver Meeting, in San Diego, on 17 November 2024 in a presentation titled: Novel multiomics biomarker signature derived from blood circulating hepatocyte-extracellular vesicles for the early detection of HCC.
Faridabad Real Estate: Metro Connectivity, Delhi-Mathura Expressway Boosting Luxury Housing Growth

Reported By :

News18.com

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 17:57 IST

The rise of Greater Faridabad has been a game-changer, with improved infrastructure and ambitious development projects fueling the city's evolution, says industry players.

A recent report by ANAROCK revealed that in the first half of 2024 alone, 6,205 housing units were sold in Faridabad. (Representative image)

Faridabad, once known as an industrial town, has transformed into a hub for real estate investment over the years. The sector is experiencing an upward growth trajectory amid the growing demand for high-end projects with luxury amenities, coupled with its excellent connectivity within the Delhi-NCR region. Further, metro connectivity, combined with the upcoming Delhi-Mathura Road expressway, makes Faridabad more accessible, enhancing its appeal for homebuyers and investors.

Besides, the rise of Greater Faridabad has been a game-changer, with improved infrastructure and ambitious development projects fueling the citys evolution. The expansion of Neharpar (Greater Faridabad) has unlocked new construction zones, offering a mix of affordable homes, premium housing, and luxury projects. This diversity ensures options for every buyer segment, creating a dynamic real estate landscape.

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A recent report by ANAROCK revealed that in the first half of 2024 alone, 6,205 housing units were sold in Faridabad. These included 715 units in the luxury segment, 1,920 in affordable housing, and 3,570 in mid-to-premium categories. Such numbers highlight Faridabads rising prominence in NCRs property market, which is driven by infrastructure improvements and an influx of professionals seeking modern lifestyles. In addition, the completion of the Faridabad-Jewar Expressway is expected to boost property prices by up to 40 per cent, opening doors for new luxury residential projects and positioning Greater Faridabad as a prime investment destination.

Mohit Goel, managing director of Omaxe Group, said, Luxury homes have gained significant traction across NCR. As per JLLs report, the segment has also seen a 96% year-on-year increase in sales in the first nine months of 2024, with new launches already surpassing last years total by 8%. This surge in demand reflects a broader trend toward aspirational living, driven by buyers seeking improved lifestyles and premium amenities. Cities like Faridabad, with its competitive pricing and abundant land banks, are emerging as key urban centres for luxury real estate development."

Its strategic location and improving infrastructure and connectivity attract an influx of affluent buyers seeking their dream homes here. Infrastructure projects like the FNG Expressway and Delhi-Mumbai Expressway have further strengthened its appeal. Further, the launch of Asias largest private hospital in 2022, a 130-acre facility, drives medical tourism. Hence, we anticipate that Faridabad will continue to rise as an ideal destination for luxury properties, providing unparalleled opportunities for both real estate brands and investors to tap into this growing market, he added.

R C Gupta, vice-president of CREDAI NCR, said, Faridabad has evolved into a prominent urban hub with significant potential for real estate growth. Enhanced infrastructure and improved connectivity have positioned it as one of the key cities in the Delhi-NCR region. The rising demand for mid-segment and luxury projects makes it an attractive destination for investment, with developers eyeing long-term prospects in the area. Faridabads growth trajectory is set to gain further momentum in the near future."

Faridabad has evolved into a prominent urban hub with significant potential for real estate growth. Enhanced infrastructure and improved connectivity have positioned it as one of the key cities in the Delhi-NCR region. The rising demand for mid-segment and luxury projects makes it an attractive destination for investment, with developers eyeing long-term prospects in the area. Faridabads growth trajectory is set to gain further momentum in the near future.

Kushagr Ansal, director of Ansal Housing, said, Over the years, buyers interest in luxury properties has risen significantly. With a growing trend toward an improved lifestyle in Faridabad, people are now seeking their dream homes here. Hence, we foresee a growing presence of major brands and business opportunities in the region, further strengthening the citys identity as an aspirational destination for luxury properties."

Beyond its allure for residential properties, Faridabad is also emerging as a major commercial hub. Economically, the city is performing well, with an annual growth rate of 8% in the retail sector. Over the next five years, it is expected to attract 30,000 new professionals, solidifying its position as an economic hub. Educational institutions, malls, and quality healthcare services are enhancing Faridabads urban environment, providing more opportunities for residents. The region boasts iconic projects known for their unique architecture and world-class shopping experience, attracting both buyers and investors.

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Uddhav Poddar, chairman and managing director of Bhumika Group, said, Faridabads evolution from an industrial hub to a thriving urban center has been driven by its strategic location, robust infrastructure development, and enhanced connectivity. These factors, coupled with the governments focus on sustainable urban planning, have positioned Faridabad as an attractive destination for luxury real estate. The citys rising property values and growing commercial investments further underscore its potential as a lucrative market for both residents seeking a premium lifestyle and investors eyeing significant returns."

Thus, with major infrastructure projects nearing completion and property values consistently rising, the city offers immense potential for investors and homeowners. It has shed its industrial past to become a modern urban hub, blending economic growth, world-class infrastructure, and unmatched lifestyle opportunities. As the city continues to grow, it is setting new benchmarks for urban development and real estate success in the region.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 17:57 IST
Belated ITR Filing Last Date: Check Deadline, Penalty And Steps To File Late Return Online

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 12:54 IST

Know how to file belated return

Belated ITR Filing Due Date

Belated ITR Filing Last Date: The last date to file income tax returns for the financial year 2023-24 (Assessment Year 2024-25) was July 31, 2024. It was the deadline for filing tax returns for taxpayers who do not have to get their accounts audited.

Missed ITR Deadline

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Can You File ITR After July 31?

You can still file your tax return even if you missed the deadline but with a late fee. This is called filing a belated return.

Key Points About Belated ITR:

Eligibility:

You can file a belated return if you missed the original due date for filing your ITR, which is typically July 31st for individuals.

Belated ITR Due Date

Belated ITR For AY 2024-25

The deadline for filing a belated ITR is December 31st of the assessment year. For the AY 2024-25, the belated ITR must be filed by December 31, 2024.

Penalty:

Filing a belated ITR may attract a penalty under Section 234F of the Income Tax Act. The penalty can be:

Rs 5,000 if the ITR is filed on or before December 31 of the assessment year.

Rs 10,000 if filed after December 31 but before the end of the assessment year (March 31).

However, if your total income does not exceed Rs 5 lakh, the penalty is reduced to Rs 1,000.

Interest on Tax Due:

If you have any outstanding tax liability, interest under Section 234A (for delay in filing a return) may also be levied on the amount due.

Deductions and Losses:

If you file a belated return, you cannot carry forward certain losses (e.g., business losses, capital losses) to future years, except for loss under the head Income from House Property."

Revised Return:

If you realise that you made a mistake in your belated return, you can still file a revised return within the same deadline (December 31 of the assessment year).

Refunds:

You can still claim a refund if any tax has been overpaid, but the process might take longer due to the late filing.

Verification:

After filing the belated return, you need to verify it either online through Aadhaar OTP, net banking, etc., or by sending a signed copy of ITR-V to the Centralized Processing Centre (CPC) within 120 days of filing.

How To File Belated Return For AY 2024-25

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Steps to File a Belated Return

Visit the Income Tax Departments e-filing portal: Income Tax Department e-Filing

Login/Register: Use your PAN as the User ID.

Choose the relevant form: Select the appropriate ITR form based on your income sources.

Select the Assessment Year: Ensure you select AY 2024-25 for the financial year 2023-24.

Fill in the details: Enter your income details, claim deductions, and calculate the tax payable.

Pay the Tax: Pay any outstanding tax, along with applicable interest and penalties.

Submit the Return: Verify and submit the return online. You can use an Aadhaar OTP, EVC via net banking, or send a signed physical copy of ITR-V to CPC, Bengaluru.

Filing your ITR even after the due date helps avoid higher penalties and keeps you in compliance with tax regulations.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 11:12 IST
DUSU Election Result 2024: Counting Underway, NSUI Ahead Of ABVP In 3 Seats

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 15:43 IST

DUSU Elections 2024: Eight candidates are contesting for the post of president, five for the post of vice president, and four each for the post of secretary and joint secretary.

As many as 14 CCTV cameras and 8 video cameras have been installed on the campus to monitor the votes in the Delhi University Students Union elections (File Photo)

Five rounds of counting of votes have been completed in the DUSU elections 2024. Out of about 19-20 rounds, six rounds of counting have been completed so far. NSUI has maintained its lead, this time 21 candidates are contesting, out of which 9 are women. NSUI candidates are leading in the race for all three posts of President, Secretary, and Joint Secretary. At the same time, ABVP is ahead in the race for the post of Vice President.

In the DUSU Election 2024, out of a total of 1,45,893 voters from across 52 colleges, around 51,300 students have voted. For the last 10 years, ABVP has been dominating DUSU. However, this year a close contest is being seen between ABVP and NSUI candidates. Last year, ABVP won three posts including the president. Whereas, the vice president seat was won by NSUI.

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The Delhi University Student Union election results will be out by evening So who is ahead? Know the results so far.

President

Rishabh Chaudhary ABVP  5821

Ronak Khatri NSUI  6418

Vice President

Bhanu Pratap ABVP  6405

Yash Nandal NSUI  5060

Secretary

Mitravinda Karnawal ABVP  5189

Namrata Jeff Meena NSUI  5064

Joint Secretary

Aman Kapasiya ABVP- 4405

Lokesh NSUI- 7015

As many as 14 CCTV cameras and 8 video cameras have been installed on the campus to monitor the votes in the Delhi University Students Union elections. Instructions have been given to conduct counting in two shifts in all colleges, departments, institutes, centres. Counting commenced at 8 am for the morning shift and at 2 pm for the evening shift. Eight candidates are contesting for the post of president, five for the post of vice president, and four each for the post of secretary and joint secretary.

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Meanwhile, Delhi University has received an affidavit signed by all the candidates contesting the student union elections. This affidavit has refrained candidates from playing drums or loudspeakers after the results are released, banned bursting crackers, and not putting up pamphlets. It has been said in the affidavit that after the victory, the candidates will not be able to take out road shows or rallies. Candidates who do not follow these conditions, their victory can be canceled or they can also be removed from the post.

Some students standing outside the counting center want to go inside but the police are not allowing them. The student says that we are not able to get the update from inside. The university is under police surveillance. The Delhi High Court had earlier stayed the results due to extensive defacement of public property.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 14:10 IST
Gurugram, Faridabad Schools Not To Reopen Today, Online Classes To Continue

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 07:49 IST

Gurugram District Commissioner Ajay Kumar issued on order which noted poor air quality index (AQI) levels in almost all urban and rural parts in the district.

As per official orders, online classes will be conducted in all government and private schools of Gurugram district on Nov 25 (Representative/File Photo)

The closure of physical classes for students up to Class 12 in both urban and rural areas in Gurugram and Faridabad was extended till November 25 in view of the bad pollution levels in the districts, as per official orders.

Gurugram District Commissioner Ajay Kumar issued on order which noted poor air quality index (AQI) levels in almost all urban and rural parts in the district. Therefore, in the interest of health and safety of children, the order issued earlier on November 18 are being extended, it said.

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On November 25, online classes will be conducted in all government and private schools of Gurugram district, it added.

A similar order was issued by Faridabad DC Vikram Singh. All physical classes for students up to Class 12 will remain closed till November 25," read the order.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 07:49 IST
Coalition Dharma Or Party Ambition? BJP Torn Between Fadnavis, Shinde For CMs Chair

Reported By : &

News18.com

Edited By: Apoorva Misra



Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 12:23 IST

While BJP cadre believe the party notching up 132 seats on its own in the Maharashtra election is reason enough to not play second fiddle anymore, Shinde supporters cite upcoming BMC polls and the Bihar example to bat for him

Sources indicate that the BJPs top leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, are deliberating over the chief minister's pick. (PTI)

BJP leaders are insistent upon Devendra Fadnavis as the chief minister of Maharashtra, citing the near-majority figure of 132 seats notched up by the party on its own, and urge amongst the BJP cadre to not play second fiddle anymore in the important state.

A reliable source in the party said the government in 2022 under Eknath Shindes leadership was formed under peculiar circumstances as Shinde had come with 40-odd MLAs and had to be rewarded with the CMs post, while Fadnavis made the sacrifice for the sake of party discipline and larger party interest.

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However, this meant that BJP was devoid of the CMs post for the full last five years, while the partys relations with Uddhav Thackeray had broken in 2019 over the chief ministers chair. Fadnavis is also said to have the backing of the RSS, which played a crucial role in the elections this time. The NCP-led by Ajit Pawar is also said to be in favour of Fadnavis as chief minister.

ALSO READ | Mahila, Kisan, OBC Safe Hain, Vidarbha Flip & Sharads Collapse: 5 Factors Behind Mahayutis Maharashtra Win

If we dont get a BJP CM even after winning 132 seats, just 12 short of a majority on our own, when will we? Some BJP leaders who fought on tickets of our allies have also won, and independents who won are also ready to support the BJP. The party has a huge call to take," a reliable source in the BJP said.

It is expected that Fadnavis, Shinde and Pawar will travel to Delhi on Monday or Tuesday to meet the BJP high command and a decision will be taken.

In the Eknath Shinde camp though, there is clarity that the election was fought under Shindes leadership and there was never any agreement that the number of seats will determine who will be the next chief minister. Shinde, in fact, has returned with 57 seats, more than his last tally. There are also crucial polls of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) coming up in which Shinde will play a big role. The Shinde camp is citing the same for his continuation as the chief minister.

ALSO READ | First MP, Now Maharashtra: How Silent Strategists Yadav, Vaishnaw Delivered BJP Wins One After Another

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Both Shinde and Fadnavis claim credit over being the architect of the Ladki Bahin Yojana which is said to have turned the election in the Mahayutis favour. While Shinde did not miss out saying during the elections that it was the Mukhymantri Ladki Bahin Yojana, BJPs posters and advertisements credited Fadnavis to be the architect of the scheme.

In the end, it will be a tough call for the BJP to take in Maharashtra  either exhibit its own ambitions and electoral performance to put Fadnavis back in the CMs chair which he occupied between 2014-2019, or compromise again in the name of coalition dharma to ensure there are no hiccups in the Mahayuti unity in a state known for surprise switching of camps by various political leaders.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 09:09 IST
How The Raj Thackeray Factor Helped Uddhav Save Face In Maharashtra

Reported By :

News18.com

Edited By: Apoorva Misra



Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 12:47 IST

Political analysts suggest that without the MNS fielding candidates in critical constituencies, Uddhav Thackerays Shiv Sena (UBT) would have been limited to just 10 seats, with most of the remaining seats going to Eknath Shindes Shiv Sena

Raj Thackerays MNS is said to have played a decisive role in eight critical constituencies, including high-profile ones like Worli, Mahim, and Bandra East, where Shiv Sena (UBT) won. (PTI)

The results of the Maharashtra assembly elections showcased a massive victory for the Mahayuti alliance, reminiscent of the 2014 Modi wave. The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was decimated, with Uddhav Thackerays Shiv Sena (UBT) securing only 20 seats. A surprising factor in the polls, however, was the role of Raj Thackerays Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in indirectly aiding his cousin Uddhav Thackerays party.

Political analysts suggest that without the MNS fielding candidates in critical constituencies, Uddhav Thackerays Shiv Sena (UBT) would have been limited to just 10 seats, with most of the remaining seats going to Eknath Shindes Shiv Sena faction. The MNS is said to have played a decisive role in eight of these constituencies, including high-profile ones like Worli, Mahim, and Bandra East.

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In Mahim, MNS candidate Amit Thackeray secured 33,062 votes, splitting the anti-incumbency vote and enabling Uddhav Thackerays candidate Mahesh Sawant to win by a narrow margin of 1,316 votes against Shinde factions Sada Sarvankar. Similarly, in Worli, where Aaditya Thackeray contested, MNS candidate Sandeep Deshpande garnered 19,367 votes. This vote split ensured Aadityas victory with a margin of 8,801 votes over Shindes candidate Milind Deora.

Other critical constituencies where the MNS influenced outcomes include Vikhroli, Jogeshwari East, and Kalina, where the vote share of MNS candidates proved decisive. In Jogeshwari East, the MNS garnered 64,239 votes, helping Uddhavs faction secure the seat with a slim margin of 1,541 votes.

The scenario was similar in Dindoshi, Versova, and Guhagar, where MNS candidates drew enough votes to neutralise the advantage of Shindes Shiv Sena. For instance, in Guhagar, Uddhav Thackerays candidate won by 2,830 votes, with the MNS polling 6,712 votes, preventing a Shinde victory.

The MNSs strategic fielding of candidates in Mumbai and other key areas indirectly benefited Uddhavs faction, helping it retain its urban stronghold. Seats like Worli, Mahim, and Bandra East were particularly critical for this outcome.

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For Eknath Shindes faction, the MNSs performance came as a setback. Analysts estimate that Shindes Shiv Sena could have gained 10 additional seats had the MNS not fielded candidates in these constituencies. The vote division allowed Uddhavs faction to secure crucial victories, leaving Shinde with fewer seats than anticipated.

Though the MNS failed to win a single seat, the partys performance has become a talking point in Maharashtras political circles. Raj Thackerays indirect influence on the election outcomes highlights his potential to sway the states political landscape. The MNSs role in splitting votes has opened up possibilities for new alliances and strategies in future elections. In the aftermath of these results, Raj Thackerays MNS may emerge as a significant player in Maharashtras political scene, capable of altering equations and forming new power dynamics.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 11:22 IST
While it's not 'uncommon' for a turtle to lay her eggs on Queensland beaches, the timing and location of this one certainly is.

Locals spotted the nesting turtle in the sand close to the shore at Bokarina Beach in Queensland. Source: Sunshine Coast Council

Locals were stunned by an "unusual" discovery on a popular beach in recent weeks, which prompted volunteers to rush in and snap into action before harm could be done.

A green sea turtle came ashore onto Bokarina Beach on Queensland's Sunshine Coast to lay her clutch of eggs as the start of the hatching season kicks off across the state. But the timing of her visit and her location baffled many, Yahoo New Australia was told.

Sea turtles are known to lay their eggs "under the cover of darkness", not during the day. Additionally, they often travel up onto the sand dunes, away from the water's edge. This one however "lay her nest below the high tide mark" making locals thinking she "was in a hurry".

"Research shows turtles prefer dark stretches of beach to nest on. Turtles dont usually nest during the day," a Sunshine Coast Council spokesperson explained to Yahoo News Australia. But they can occasionally nest during the daytime or early morning, "particularly under certain conditions such as overcast skies, or proximity to high tide".

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Sunshine Coast TurtleCare volunteers found the turtle on their early morning walk where they look for signs of turtle tracks. Photos shared online last week show a group of volunteers crowding around a patch of sand while some "dug a bund wall to temporarily protect the nesting mother and her eggs".

"Marine turtle embryos breathe through the shell, so if the nest is too wet, oxygen can't reach the eggs and they can suffocate," the council explained.

Trained TurtleCare Citizen Scientists relocated the clutch of vulnerable eggs to a safer place in the dunes to avoid inundation by the high tide, to increase both "the chance of incubation success, and the subsequent hatchlings making it to the ocean".

Volunteers helped dig a 'bund wall' to temporarily protect the nesting mother and her eggs from the water. Source: Sunshine Coast Council

When speaking with Yahoo on Monday, Turtles of Moreton Bay rescuer Mick Croft said this behaviour can be "pretty unusual" but it's not necessarily unheard of  especially among other sea turtle species including flatbacks.

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"The behaviour is a little bit unusual for populated areas," including Bokarina, he explained. But not so much in less crowded beaches including Raine Island in Cairns or Western Australia's Ningaloo Reef.

A 'false crawl' likely explains sea turtle's behaviour

In the case of this turtle at Bokarina, he suspects it might have done a "false crawl". This refers to when sea turtles come ashore with eggs but they turn around without depositing them on the sand as they normally would.

"Sometimes if you're walking on the beach, you'll see sea turtle tracks and it does like a big U-turn and heads back down the beach. That's what is called a false crawl," he explained.

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"They've decided for whatever reason  whether it be nearby people, or it's too wet  that it just didn't feel right so they head back out to sea".

But through that process, it might be that she "needs to abort" her eggs. This could explain why the eggs were laid quite low down the beach. Additionally, it's not "uncommon" for inexperienced nesters to drop their eggs away from the dunes, although, looking at the images, this turtle appears "mature" and experienced," he said.

Visitors are warned against driving on the dunes at 4WD beaches during turtle seaosn. Source: Supplied/Darren Jew

Beachgoers warned to stay alert during nesting season

During nesting season, which in Queensland, typically runs between November to January each year, beachgoers are encouraged to stay alert. Drivers visiting the state's 4WD beaches must avoid driving along the dunes and after sunset when the turtles are known to nest.

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"One of the threats posed by 4WD vehicles during turtle season is that hatchlings will get stuck in tyre tracks, dramatically increasing the time they are on the beach, where they are at risk of being eaten by a predator or dying by exhaustion," Bribie Island Environmental Protection Association Inc (BIEPA) President Richard Ogden told Yahoo.

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BJP, NCP Back Fadnavis For Maharashtra CM, Sena Camp Pushes For Shinde's Return: Sources

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 12:22 IST

Following the Mahayuti alliance's win in the Maharashtra polls, debate continues over the chief minister's post, with the BJP backing Devendra Fadnavis while Eknath Shinde's faction pushes for his return.

Devendra Fadnavis (L)/Eknath Shinde (R) (Photo: PTI)

Days after Mahayuti swept the Maharashtra assembly polls to the 288-member assembly, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which bagged 41 seats in the polls, has backed Devendra Fadnavis for the chief ministers post, sources told CNN-News18, after a meeting held in Mumbai on Sunday.

The NCP said all three parties in the alliance (NCP, BJP, and Shiv Sena) will decide on the chief ministers face.

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The BJP is the biggest party, the situation in 2022 was different. All three parties will take a decision, theres no fight," the NCP said, as per sources.

However, the Eknath Shinde Shiv Sena faction has demanded Shinde return to his chair, reiterating that the poll trends were in favour of the Mahayuti because of his flagship initiative, the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana.

Earlier, Shinde too had said that the people of the state have responded to the welfare schemes with their votes.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which bagged 132 seats, also wants Devendra Fadnavis to be the next chief minister of the state.

Sources also said that the formula for the new government formation is ready and that the BJP will have nearly 24 ministers, while Eknath Shindes Shiv Sena will have nearly 12 ministers.

The NCP was likely to have nearly 10 ministers in the new government in Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, the one chief minister and two deputy chief ministers formula would continue, they said.

For the next steps, Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar, and Eknath Shinde are also likely to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah. However, some parties said the leaders would not be travelling to Delhi.

The main contest, in the Maharashtra election, was between the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which together constitute six major parties.

Independent candidates showed their mettle by standing second in 19 constituencies.

SHINDE UNANIMOUSLY ELECTED SENA LEGISLATIVE PARTY LEADER

On Sunday evening, Shiv Sena leaders passed a resolution unanimously electing Eknath Shinde as the legislative party leader.

The resolution was moved by Shiv Sena leader Uday Samant in the party meeting chaired by Eknath Shinde.

After the meeting, Shiv Sena leader, Uday Samant said that the party leaders have decided to give all authority to Eknath Shinde to decide on the cabinet and swearing-in process.

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Commenting on the development, Shiv Sena candidate Sanjay Shirsat said, There are chances that the Mahayuti leaders will head to Delhi on Monday. Every party worker wants their party leader to be the chief, but the final decision lies with Ekanth Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis, and Ajit Pawar."

Sitting MP of the Shinde factions Shiv Sena, Rahul Shewale also confirmed that Shinde was unanimously elected the leader of the legislative party.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 07:46 IST
From When You Get Your Voter ID To When You Get Your Govt: Indian Elections Explained

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 10:29 IST

News18 takes you through the election process in India, from a new voter getting their voter ID card all the way to the government formation, including what happens to the EVMs at every stage

EVMs are standalone machines, not connected to any network or internet. They can record a maximum of 2,000 votes and can handle up to 64 candidates per unit. (PTI)

With Maharashtra and Jharkhand results out, India has wrapped up the last major election cycle of 2024. The formation of governments in these two states sometime this week will cap the process, shifting focus to the next major election, Delhi in February 2025 followed by Bihar in October-November 2025.

Barely days after completing the mammoth exercise in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, the Election Commission of India will start the process to hold Delhi Assembly elections, beginning with a call for new voters to register.

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News18 takes you through the election process in India, from a new voter getting their voter ID card all the way to the government formation and oath-taking.

PRE-ELECTION PHASE

Voter Registration

Any Indian citizen aged 18 or above can register as a voter.

Citizens can enroll themselves as General Voter and fill Form 6 online at National

Voters Service Portal or offline at local electoral registration offices.

Overseas voters need to fill form 6A.

After requisite paperwork and verification, voters are issued a Voter ID card known as EPIC  Electors Photo Identity Card.

Electoral rolls are regularly updated with new registrations, removals, and corrections.

Citizens can fill Form 7 for deletion or objection in the electoral rolls.

To record shifting of residence, correction of entries in existing electoral roll, or replacement of EPIC, citizens need to fill Form 8.

Election Commission Begins Preparation

The Election Commission of India (ECI) conducts regular reviews of electoral rolls

It coordinates with state governments for security arrangements.

It also plans for procurement and deployment of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and VVPATs.

Then begins the training of election officials and security personnel.

Election Announcement

The Election Commission announces election dates typically 2-3 months before voting.

The Model Code of Conduct immediately comes into effect with the announcement of the election schedule.

The Model Code of Conduct is basically a set of guidelines that regulates political parties and candidates during elections. It prevents ruling parties from using governmental power to gain unfair advantage, bans new government projects, and ensures fair campaigning practices. Violations can result in penalties.

The election schedule includes five important dates  nomination dates, scrutiny period, last date for withdrawal of nomination, polling or voting dates, and the counting of votes or the election result day.

CAMPAIGN PHASE

Nomination Process

After internal discussions and parleys with alliance partners, political parties nominate candidates.

The candidates across parties file nomination papers along with the prescribed security deposit.

Independent candidates not affiliated with any political party can also file nominations.

The nomination papers include basic details about the candidate followed by information such as assets, liabilities and whether any criminal or civil cases are filed against them.

The nominations are then scrutinised by Returning Officers.Candidates can withdraw nominations within a specified timeframe.

Campaign Period

While parties conduct outreach programmes with the electorate round-the-year, its usually 2-3 weeks before voting day that campaigning actively picks up.

Parties and candidates conduct rallies and door-to-door campaigns, with senior and popular leaders from other states also roped in. Sometimes, candidates are accompanies by celebrities who endorse them.

The campaigning must stop 48 hours before polling the date. This duration is known as the Silent Period.

Prepping The EVMs

Before elections, the Electonic Voting Machines (EVMs) are stored in warehouses under strict security.

As elections approach, the first-level checking is done by authorised manufacturers.

Next comes the randomisation process to assign EVMs to constituencies.

Mock polls are conducted to ensure proper functioning of the machines.

Candidates can also test and verify the EVMs.

Political parties, too, can place seals on storage rooms.

VOTING DAY

Polling Process

On voting day, polling stations open at 7am and remain open till around 6pm.

Voters must bring a valid ID to be eligible to vote, though the Voter ID is preferred.

At the polling booth, polling officials verify the voter identity.

After voter verification, the polling officer activates the Control Unit.

The Balloting Unit lights up, showing its ready.

Voter enters the voting compartment and sees candidate names, party symbols, and a blue button next to each option on the EVM.

The voter presses the blue button next to their preferred candidate and a beep confirms their vote is recorded.

The VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) shows a paper slip for 7 seconds, displaying the candidates name, symbol, and serial number.

This slip then automatically drops into sealed VVPAT box and serves as physical backup of electronic votes. It also wllows for vote verification if needed.

In recent elections, special arrangements have been made for elderly and disabled voters to vote from home.

Service voters and specific categories vote through postal ballots.

Why Use EVMs?

EVMs are standalone machines, not connected to any network or internet, hence considered to be unhackable. They run on a one-time programmable chip.

The machines can record a maximum of 2,000 votes and can handle up to 64 candidates per unit.

The EVMs display votes for each candidate only after formal counting begins.

The machines are said to be tamper-proof and repotedly stop working if attempted to open forcefully.

Since they are battery powered, EVMs work even without electricity.

Each EVM has unique a serial number for tracking and stores data for over 10 years even if batteries are removed.

POST-POLLING PHASE

Storage and Security

The EVMs sealed after voting and stored in strong rooms under 247 security.

There is CCTV surveillance and party representatives are allowed to monitor the stored EVMs.

A three-tier security arrangement is put in place to guard the voting machines.

Vote Counting

The counting of votes on election results day typically begins at 8am.

The counting is conducted in the presence of Returning Officer and candidates and their agents can observe the counting process.

The EVM votes are counted round-wise and VVPAT slip verification is done for EVMs at random.

The results are uploaded real-time on the Election Commission website.

Results Declaration

While the results are generally clear 3-4 hours into counting, the ECI formally declares the results.

The winning candidates receive their certificates.

The party or alliance with majority stakes the claim to form the government.

Sometimes this part of the process drags on if the results are too close to call. This leads to hectic negotiations among parties and even attempts at poaching. Parties prefer to secure their newly elected MLAs or MPs at resorts in states where they are in power.

What Happens to EVMs After Counting?

The EVMs are stored for a minimum of 45 days after election results.

If any challenge is filed against the election of any candidates, the concerned EVMs are stored until the case is resolved.

They are cleared only after written approval from the ECI. Even then, data is cleared using a special procedure.

The machines then undergo maintenance before the use in the next election.

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GOVERNMENT FORMATION

The President (in case of national elections) or Governor (in case of state elections) invites the largest party or alliance leader to form the government.

The Prime Minister-designate or Chief Minister-elect submits a list of ministers.

The swearing-in ceremony is conducted wherein the PM or CM take oath along with the ministers.

In the next few days, the incoming government announces portfolio allocation.

The new government must then prove majority in Parliament or the Assembly within a specified time.

Next comes the election of the Speaker.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 10:26 IST
Maharashtra Win Underlines Why Women-Centric Schemes Will Be A Central Plank For Parties In Future Elections

Curated By :

News18.com

Edited By: Shilpy Bisht



Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 18:16 IST

From West Bengals Lakhir Bhandar in 2021 to Ladki Bahin in Maharashtra in 2024, the financial assistance schemes for women have proven to be a game-changer for political parties like BJP, Congress and TMC in Maharashtra, Karnataka and West Bengal elections

Not just the BJP, almost every political party is expected to lean on schemes like 'Ladli Bahin' to reap political dividends in the forthcoming elections. (PTI Photo)

One better take Sharad Pawar seriously when he credited the Ladli Bahin Yojana for the success of the BJP-led Mahayuti government in Maharashtra, which secured 234 of the 288 Legislative Assembly seats.

The Ladli Bahin Yojana provides Rs 1,500 in direct cash transfers to women heads of Maharashtra households, with a pre-election promise to increase this to Rs 2,100. That money may be a weekend dinner plan for many in Mumbai or Delhi  means an extra breather to their monthly sustenance.

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The Trinamool Congress (TMC) claims that Mamata Banerjee introduced the scheme, which has been now being implemented in many households in India. Although the scheme has bled financial coffers of many states, including West Bengal and Karnataka where it has been implemented, it has given fantastic political dividends to the BJP in a populous state like Maharashtra.

Not just the BJP, almost every political party is expected to lean on such a scheme for women in upcoming elections, given the rich dividend it Is bringing.

Let us look at which states have introduced women-centric cash schemes over time.

Maharashtras Ladli Bahin Scheme

Launched on the Raksha Bandhan (August 2024), the Ladli Bahin scheme provides Rs 1,500 each month to more than 1 crore women of Maharashtra. The state government modelled the Yojana around another BJP-ruled state government  Madhya Pradesh. In Maharashtra, the government was careful to avoid corruption ahead of the election. Hence, it launched the Nari Shakti Dhoot app, through which eligible women can apply online.

Local administration officials, such as Anganwadi workers and gram sevaks, assisted women in enrolment for the scheme, which had no fees. The government also urged applicants to link their Aadhaar with their bank accounts for a speedy process.

The scheme has proved to be not just a social success but a political one too.

After the election results were declared, Sharad Pawar remarked, From whatever information we have received from the people and party workers, I think Ladli Bahin Yojana was one of the important reasons behind our defeat. Women voters were paid some amount and then the ruling party leaders campaigned about it. They told the voters that they were giving a consolidated amount of two to three months in their account. Because they told the women voters that once Mahayuti is out of power, the scheme will be stopped, it worried the womenfolk who then voted against us." There cannot be a bigger endorsement than this from a senior opposition leader like Pawar.

Jharkhands Maiya Samman Scheme

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led Congress government surveyed around and then introduced the Maiya Samman Scheme in August, offering Rs 1,000 monthly assistance to women aged 21-50 years, potentially benefiting 5 million women statewide. The scheme worked. In the Jharkhand Assembly election, women voters exceeded men across both phases, with higher female turnout in 68 of 81 constituencies. Women voters (91.16 lakh) outnumbered the male turnout by 5.52 lakh votes, according to the Election Commission.

Women in the 18-50 age group receive a monthly cash handout of Rs 1,000, directly into their bank accounts. The enhanced amount of Rs 2,500 is expected to roll out next year. Monthly payments are generally processed by the 15th of every month, with adjustments made during festivals for added convenience.

Despite BJP-led NDAs best efforts, the JMM came back to power in Jharkhand. While there can be many reasons attributed to it: The BJP not announcing a tribal chief ministerial face, tribal sympathy for Hemant Sorens arrest, the financial assistance to women  their overwhelming participation in the election shows it.

Madhya Pradeshs Mukhyamantri Ladli Behna Yojana

Former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who has the image of being the brother of the women of Madhya Pradesh; many of them also cried after the news of his resignation broke, introduced the Mukhyamantri Ladli Behna Yojana in 2023, which is referred to as Ladli Behna Yojana. The scheme is seen as a major reason why the BJP came back to power for the third time, proving general sentiments ahead of the election wrong.

Under this scheme, every woman of Madhya Pradesh above 23 years and below 60 years of age will get Rs 1,000 every month from the government. The implementation of the scheme will not only reflect the improvement in the health and nutritional status of women and children dependent on them, but women will be financially more independent than before to spend according to their priority," read the government scheme. However, the creamy layer  women with an annual income of Rs 2.5 lakh and above  are kept out of the purview of the scheme.

Last year, when Chouhan went to address rallies, more women than men were seen in the crowd. Even in election results, the BJP was happy to see that get reflected.

Karnatakas Gruha Lakshmi Scheme

Congress-ruled Karnataka turned to woo the marginalized women who voted for them over the Gruha Lakshmi scheme. The scheme, launched in 2023, offers a monthly assistance of Rs 2,000 to about 1.1 crore women of the state. To be eligible for the scheme, a woman must be listed as the head of household on an Antyodaya, BPL, or APL ration card. The assistance is paid directly into the beneficiarys account through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).

The scheme was intended to be political. No wonder it was launched amid much fanfare by the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi at Maharajas College in Mysuru.

In the first major electoral test after the introduction of the scheme, the Congress has a reason to smile. Even as the BJP crushed it in Maharashtra, the Congress was able to deal a blow to the opposition as it won all three seats in Karnataka by-polls. The Congress won the Channapatna seat in south Karnataka by a margin of 25,413 votes, the Shiggaon seat in central Karnataka by 13,448 votes and Sandur in north Karnataka by 9,649 votes.

West Bengals Lakhir Bhandar Scheme

But the scheme began in West Bengal back in the day when it was named Lakhir Bhandar to provide a monthly financial assistance to women between the ages of 25 and 60 from the economically weaker sections of society.

The amount, which started as humble as Rs 500, increased this year. Weeks before the Lok Sabha election was announced, the Mamata Banerjee government in the state budget hiked cash incentive from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per month for the general category and from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200 for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

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The BJP had earlier ridiculed the scheme as begging" and paid a political price more than once. But in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the BJP learned from its mistake and endorsed Mamata Banerjees actual women scheme, inspiring many of its and Congress-ruled states to replicate her model.

In September this year, a newspaper article quoted TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek OBrien who argued why there should be a national rollout of the scheme. While that may be far from reality, more individual states with vested political interests would invest heavily in women-centric schemes in the future as women have proven to be a valuable voting bloc, as has been witnessed in Maharashtra.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 17:40 IST
Why Is Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal District On Edge? Row Over Shahi Jama Masjid Survey Explained

Curated By :

News18.com

Edited By: Shilpy Bisht



Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 11:24 IST

The second survey of the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid Mosque in Sambhal was conducted on the order of a local court on November 19 in connection with a petition that claimed that the Harihar temple was demolished to built the mosque in 1526

Police and security personnel stand guard amid violence during a second survey of the Jama Masjid, claimed to be originally the site of an ancient Hindu temple, in Sambhal, on November 24, 2024. (PTI Photo)

The Sambhal Mosque survey has created a law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh, where four people have been killed and several others, including police officers, have been injured.

Schools and colleges have shut down and internet has been restricted as authorities clamp down on protestors who oppose the survey.

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What Was The Surveys Outcome?

The second survey of the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid Mosque in Sambhal was conducted on the order of a local court on November 19 in connection with a petition that claimed that the Harihar temple was demolished to built the mosque in 1526. The order was passed by the court of Civil Judge (Senior Division), Sambhal at Chandausi, Aditya Singh.

The petition was filed on the afternoon of November 19, and within hours, the judge appointed an advocate commissioner to carry out an initial survey at the mosque, which was done on the same day.

Some miscreants came out of the crowd gathered near the site and pelted stones at the police team. The police used minor force and tear gas to bring the situation under control," Superintendent of Police Krishna Kumar Vishnoi told PTI.

Supreme Court lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who is a petitioner in the case, urged the Court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to take control of the temple".

What Are The Petitioners Claiming?

Jama Masjid is a protected monument" notified on December 22, 1920 under Section 3, sub-section (3) of Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904. It has been declared as Monument of National importance and figures on the website of ASI, Agra circle Moradabad division" in the list of centrally protected monuments.

The petitioners, eight of them, claim that the Jama Masjid Committee is forcibly and unlawfully" using the centuries-old Shri Hari Har Temple" dedicated to Lord Kalki in Sambhal.

According to the petition, Sambhal is a historical city and holds unique significance deeply rooted in Hindu Shastras, according to which it is sacred site where an incarnation of Lord Vishnu known as Kalki manifest in the future, a Divine figure yet to make an appearance".

The petition also said the Hindu scriptures confirm that in ancient times a unique Vigrah consisting of Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva emerged and due to this reason, it is called Shri Hari Har temple. It says that Shri Hari Har temple of Sambhal was made by Lord Vishwakarma Himself in the beginning of the universe".

The petitioners argued that Babar who invaded India in 1526 AD destroyed a number of Hindu temples to show how powerful Islam was and to make Hindus fell that they are subjects of the Islamic ruler".

The petitioners also criticised the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) for failing to control the subject property and not taking any action". The officers of ASI are silent spectators and they have succumbed to the pressure exerted by members of Muslim community," the petition said, as quoted by The Indian Express.

The petitioners have asked that the court allows them to access the Shri Hari Har Temple  the alleged Jama Masjid". They have also sought a permanent injunction restraining the defendants, their officers, workers and every person acting under them to create any hurdle".

How Have The Muslims Reacted?

Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal Ziaur Rehman Barq has said outsiders have attempted to disrupt" the communal harmony of the district by filing a petition in court. He further said Jama Masjid in Sambhal district is a historical site" where Muslims have been offering prayers for several centuries. He said the Muslims will appeal" in the court if the order from the court is unsatisfactory".

What Is Happening In Sambhal?

The protestors torched vehicles and pelted stones at the police, who used tear gas and batons to disperse the crowd. Images were shared on social media that showed protesters throwing stones at the police from atop buildings and in front of Shahi Jama Masjid.

In another purported clip, some police personnel in riot gear were seen firing gunshots towards a lane while flames leapt and smoke billowed into the air in the background, as mentioned in a PTI report.

Shots were fired by the miscreants the PRO of the superintendent of police suffered a gunshot to the leg, the police circle officer was hit by pellets and 15 to 20 security personnel were injured in the violence," Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh said.

He said a constable also suffered a serious head injury, while the deputy collector fractured his leg.

Among the 21 people detained for the violence in Sambhal are two women, and officials said those accused in the violence would be booked under the stringent National Security Act (NSA).

A magisterial enquiry will be conducted in the incident, officials said.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Krishan Kumar, who urged the crowd to not incite violence, refuted allegations that the police have opened fire. He said the police used pellet guns; no weapons were used that could take anyones life".

Weapons have also been recovered from the houses of the detained people. Firing took place from a house in Nakhasa police station area, from where two women have been detained," he added.

According to District Magistrate Rajender Pensiya the casualty count stands at three. The reason for the death of two of them is clear  bullet wounds from countrymade pistols. The reason for the death of the third person is not clear, but it will be after the post-mortem examination."

The SP added that an FIR has been registered at the Sambhal Police Station and the 20-22 policemen, who were injured, were giving their statements.

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The divisional commissioner said when the survey team was leaving the site after completing the survey, the crowd started pelting stones are them. There were groups on three sides. One from the front, one from the right and one from the left. They were continuously pelting stones. Police used force so that the survey team could be taken out and escorted safely. Tear gas shells were also fired. Plastic bullets were used," divisional commissioner Aunjaneya Singh said.

(with inputs from PTI)

First Published: November 25, 2024, 10:17 IST
300 Gold Sovereigns, 1 Crore Cash Stolen From Businessman's House In Kerala

Last Updated: November 26, 2024, 00:14 IST

Police have launched a manhunt for the burglars, who broke in the house when the residents were away in Tamil Nadu.

The money, gold and other valuables were reportedly kept locked in a cupboard with the keys in another room. (Representative/AP File)

A gang of burglars made off with cash to the tune of Rs 1 crore and 300 sovereigns of gold from the home of a prominent businessman in Valapattanam in this district, police said on Monday.

The theft took place when the owners were away in Madurai in Tamil Nadu to attend a marriage ceremony.

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The burglary came to light when the residents returned home on Sunday night and found the valuables stored in the locker missing, they said.

Police sources said the residents had been away from the house since November 19.

It is suspected that the burglars gained entry into the house by cutting the grill of the kitchen window. Three people could be seen scaling the compound wall and entering the house in the CCTV footage.

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One of the relatives of the family told the media that money, gold and other valuables were kept locked in a cupboard and its key was kept in another room.

A police team and fingerprint experts reached the house and collected evidence and a widespread search was launched to nab the accused.

Location : Kannur, India

First Published: November 26, 2024, 00:14 IST
Bombay HC Denies Bail To Worli BMW Hit-And-Run Accused, Junks Illegal Arrest Claim

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 13:37 IST

Mihir Shah was arrested on July 9, two days after he allegedly rammed his BMW car into a two-wheeler in Mumbais Worli area, killing 45-year-old woman.

Main accused Mihir Shah had told police that he was at the wheel when his BMW crashed into a couple's scooter, killing a 45-year-old woman. (File Image)

The Bombay High Court on Monday refused to release Mihir Shah, the main accused in a BMW hit-and-run case, on the ground of "illegal" arrest.

Shah, the 24-year-old son of a former Shiv Sena leader, and his driver Rajrishi Bidawat had filed petitions in the HC claiming they have been illegally detained and sought immediate release.

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Shah was arrested on July 9, two days after he allegedly rammed his BMW car into a two-wheeler in Mumbais Worli area, killing 45-year-old woman Kaveri Nakhwa and leaving her husband Pradeep injured.

His driver Bidawat, who was also present in the car at the time of the accident, was arrested on the day of the incident.

As per their pleas, the police had not informed them the grounds of their arrest at the time, which they claimed was in violation of the law.

A division bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande on Monday dismissed the petitions.

"Both the petitions are dismissed," the court said.

The duo sought their release, claiming any further detention would be in utter violation of the constitutional mandate and a failure to comply with Section 50 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Under this section, the police, while arresting a person, have to communicate to him/her full particulars of the offence for which he/she is being arrested or other grounds for such arrest.

Both Shah and Bidawat are presently in judicial custody.

In their habeas corpus (produce the person) petitions filed in the HC in August, Shah and Bidawat claimed their detention was illegal and sought that they be released immediately.

Shah, in the plea, sought quashing of the orders passed by a local court remanding him first in police custody and then judicial custody.

He also sought for his arrest to be declared as illegal.

Shah is accused of speeding off towards the Bandra Worli Sea Link after the accident, even as the woman remained on the bonnet of the car and then got entangled in its wheels, for a distance of more than 1.5 kilometres.

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As per police, Shah, who fled from the scene, was under the influence of alcohol at the time.

Mihir Shahs father and former Shiv Sena leader Rajesh Shah had also been arrested in the case, but was later granted bail.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 13:37 IST
Bride Rejects Groom Earning Rs 1,20,000 Per Month After Jaimala, Wants Husband With Govt Job

Curated By :

Translation Desk

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 18:43 IST

The groom had his Rs 1.2 lakh salary slip sent and showed it to the bride's family. However, the bride firmly refused to marry him

The bride said that she had been assured the groom would hold a government job. (Representative/Shutterstock)

A bride refused to proceed with her marriage after the jaimala ritual (exchange of garlands) upon discovering the groom was not employed in a government job as she had believed, but held a private sector position. The incident took place in Uttar Pradeshs Farrukhabad district. The grooms family departed later that day after a long wait without the bride.

The girls family had arranged the marriage to an engineer from Balrampur, Chhattisgarh. An intermediary claimed that the grooms family lived in rented accommodation in Kannauj, and that the groom himself was a government engineer who owned six plots of land and 20 bighas of land.

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The wedding procession came to a guest house on the wedding night. At night, the ritual of Dwarchar was performed with the arrival of the wedding procession. The Jaimala ceremony was also held late at night. Meanwhile, at around quarter to one in the night, the bride got the news that the groom does not have a government job but a private job, so she refused to complete the wedding rituals.

When questioned about her decision to halt the wedding, the bride stated her refusal to marry someone in the private sector, claiming she had been assured the groom would hold a government job. Her declaration left both families speechless, and despite their attempts to reason with her, the bride remained resolute in her decision.

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Meanwhile, as the situation escalated, concerned residents gathered and attempted to mediate between the families. However, the groom, in an attempt to resolve the impasse, requested his payslip via telephone and presented it to the brides family. The document revealed a monthly salary of Rs 1,20,000.

The bride however remained resolute in her refusal to marry. Consequently, the families decided that both parties should settle the wedding expenses amongst themselves. After a financial agreement was reached, the groom departed without his bride. Both the parties settled the expenses and the grooms side returned without the bride. No complaint was lodged in the police station.

Location : Farrukhabad, India

First Published: November 25, 2024, 18:43 IST
Constitution Day India: Opposition Demands Rahul Gandhi's Address, Govt Responds

Curated By :



Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 14:30 IST

Constitution Day of India: The Constitution Day event will be organised in the old Parliament building on Tuesday where PM Modi will address the nation.

Constitution Day 2024: PM Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi (PTI Images)

Constitution Day of India: President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend a Constitution Day event on Tuesday marking 75 years of the adoption of the Indian Constitution by the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949.

The President and the Vice President will address the nation during the event that will take place at the Central Hall of the old Parliament Building, now known as Samvidhan Sadan. However, the Prime Minister will not speak at the event.

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A commemorative coin and a stamp will also be released during the event, besides copies of the Constitution in Sanskrit and Maithili.

The preamble would be read by all Bharatiya across the globe with the President. Mass preamble readings in panchayats, Amrit Sarovar sites in rural areas are likely to be held," officials said.

Constitution Day Event Likely To Be Flashpoint Between Govt & Opposition

Tomorrows Constitution Day event is likely to turn into another point of contention between the government and the Opposition as the floor leaders of the INDIA bloc wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking an invitation to the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to address the special event.

When the Prime Minister is asked to speak why not LoPs?" Congress asked.

The party said that the Leader of Opposition is a Constitutional post and Rahul Gandhi must be allowed to address the event. Rahul Gandhi coined Save Constitition," the party said.

Notably, President Murmu and Vice President Dhankhar are scheduled to address the nation on the occasion, however, no such invitation has been extended to the LoPs so far.

Govt Responds To Oppositions Demands

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju junked the Oppositions claims stating that the government has made the arrangement for the LoP of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on the dias.

The Opposition reacts without knowing the complete details. The Prime Minister is not even speaking (at the event). So their objection is meaningless," Rijiju said.

The Modi 1.0 had declared November 26 as the Constitution Day, marking the adoption of the Constitution in 1949, which later came into effect on January 26, 1950, establishing India as the sovereign nation.

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PM Modis Address At Another Event

The Prime Minister will take part in another event in the event. Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, and Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna will also be present at the function. PM Modi will address the occasion at around 5.45 pm.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 13:03 IST
Ex-OSD To Ashok Gehlot Held In 2020 Phone-Tapping Case, Granted Bail

Published By :

PTI

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 23:36 IST

Officials said Delhi Police made the arrest in a phone-tapping case of 2020 based on a complaint lodged by Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

Delhi Police has arrested Lokesh Sharma, the former officer-on-special duty to ex-Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot. (Image: AFP/File)

Delhi Police has arrested Lokesh Sharma, the former OSD to ex-Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, in a phone-tapping case of 2020 based on a complaint lodged by Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, officials said on Monday.

However, Sharma was granted bail soon after his arrest by the Crime Branch, police said.

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In April this year, Sharma claimed that an audio clip of a purported telephonic conversation between Shekhawat and some Congress leaders discussing toppling" the then Congress government in Rajasthan was given to him by Gehlot, the chief minister of the time.

In March 2021, Delhi Police registered an FIR against Sharma on charges of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, and unlawfully intercepting telephonic conversations on the complaint of Shekhawat.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 23:36 IST
Haryana Govt Buys New Helicopter for Rs 80 Crore To Replace 15-Year-Old Chopper

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 23:53 IST

The Haryana government had been using a twin-engine helicopter purchased by the then-Congress regime in 2009.

A 'puja' ceremony in the presence of Haryana CM Nayab Saini was conducted after the helicopter was purchased. (Nayab Saini/X)

The Haryana government has purchased a new helicopter replacing the existing one which was 15 years old.

Minister for Civil Aviation and Urban Local Bodies Vipul Geol on Monday said the states Civil Aviation Department had long back recommended buying a new chopper.

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A puja ceremony was performed here on Monday before the helicopter, Airbus H145-D3, was put into operation by the Haryana government.

Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, minister Goel and another minister Rajesh Nagar were also present on the occasion.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines, Goel said the present helicopter which was being used by the government was an old one.

The (Civil Aviation) Department had over a year ago recommended that it (old chopper) should be changed. We had given the order for a new one and now we have got the delivery of this helicopter," Goel said.

With the new chopper stated to have cost the exchequer Rs 80 crore, Goel, however, said the purchase cost will be worked out once the old helicopter is sold.

But the new one was needed because the existing helicopter was 15 years old" he further stated.

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The state government had been presently using a twin-engine helicopter, purchased in 2009 during the erstwhile Congress regime at a cost of nearly Rs 33 crore.

Nearly six years ago, the BJP government had acquired a fixed wing aircraft  a Beechcraft King Air 250.

Location : Chandigarh, India

First Published: November 25, 2024, 23:53 IST
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J&K Bans WhatsApp, Gmail For Transmission Of Sensitive Official Documents

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 23:43 IST

As per the norms laid by the government, top-secret information will be shared only in a closed network with high encryption.

Third-party tools like WhatsApp and Gmail have been banned for transmission of official documents.

The Jammu and Kashmir government has banned the use of third-party tools like WhatsApp and Gmail for transmission of sensitive official documents, saying it can lead to data breaches and leaks.

These platforms are not specifically designed to handle classified or sensitive information, and their security protocols may not meet the stringent standards required for official communications, an order passed by the General Administration Department on Saturday.

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It has come to the attention of the administration that there is an increasing trend among officers and officials to use third-party tools such as WhatsApp, Gmail, and other similar platforms for transmitting sensitive, secret, and confidential information. This practice poses significant risks to the integrity and security of the information being communicated," the order read.

It said using third-party communication tools can lead to several potential issues including unauthorised access, data breaches, and leaks of confidential information.

Consequently, the use of such tools could result in severe security breaches that jeopardize the integrity of governmental operations," the order reads.

The GAD issued guidelines for the officials to follow while handling official communication.

Classified information falls under the following four categories namely, Top Secret, Secret, Confidential and Restricted. A Top Secret and Secret document shall not be shared over the Internet. According to NISPG, the Top Secret and Secret information shall be shared only in a closed network with leased line connectivity where a SAG-grade encryption mechanism is deployed.

However, Confidential and Restricted information can be shared on internet through networks that have deployed commercial AES 256-bit encryption," it added.

The directive said the use of government email facility or government instant messaging platforms (such as CDACs Samvad, NICs Sandesh etc) is strongly recommended for the communication of Confidential and Restricted information.

Care should be taken during the classification of information; information that deserves a Top Secret/Secret classification shall not be downgraded to Confidential/ Restricted for the purpose of sharing," it added.

In the context of the e-Office system, departments have been directed to deploy proper firewalls and white-list IP addresses.

The e-Office server should be accessed through a Virtual Private Network (VPN) for enhanced security. Departments may ensure that only authorised employees/personnel are allowed to access the e-Office system.

However, Top secret/Secret information shall be shared over the e-Office system only with leased line closed network and SAG grade encryption mechanism," it said.

It said there was a blanket ban on sharing any top secret or secret information through video conferencing. The officials working from home have been directed to use security-hardened electronic devices (such as laptops, desktops) connected to office servers via a VPN and firewall setup.

Top Secret and Secret information should not be shared while working from home, it said.

The order said digital assistant devices such as Amazons Echo, Apples HomePod, Google Home, etc. should be kept out of the office during discussions on classified issues.

Digital assistants (such as Alexa, Siri) should be turned off during official meetings in the office used by employee. Smartphones should be deposited outside the meeting room when discussing classified information," the order said.

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In light of the risks, all officers and officials were directed to adhere strictly to the guidelines to ensure the security and confidentiality of official communications.

Non-compliance with these directives may result in disciplinary action as deemed appropriate by the administration," the order read.

Location : Srinagar, India

First Published: November 25, 2024, 23:43 IST
LIVE | Kerala Lottery Result Today 25.11.2024: Win Win W-797 Winners Soon; First Prize Rs 75 Lakh!

Published By :

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Last Updated: November 30, 2024, 09:21 IST

Kerala Lottery Result Guessing Numbers: Check the Live Updates and FULL LIST of winning numbers for Win Win W-797 lucky draw for Monday, November 25 here from 3 pm.

Kerala Lottery Win Win W-797 Result: The first prize winner of Win Win W-797 will get Rs 75 lakh. (Image: Shutterstock)

KERALA LOTTERY WIN WIN W-797 RESULT ON MONDAY, 25.11.2024, LIVE UPDATES: The Kerala State Lottery Department will release the Win Win W-797 results on Monday, November 25. In Thiruvananthapuram, the lottery draw will be held in Gorky Bhavan, close to the bakery crossroads, at 3 p.m. The winner of the first prize would receive Rs 75 lakh. Second and third place would receive prizes of Rs 5 lakh and Rs 1 lakh, respectively. To ensure fairness, an unbiased panel of judges will oversee the entire lottery process.

ALSO READ: Kerala Lottery Result Today 30.11.2024: Karunya KR-682 Winners Soon; First Prize Rs 80 Lakh!

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KERALA LOTTERY RESULT TODAY: WIN-WIN W-797 PRIZE STRUCTURE

1st Prize: Rs 75 lakh

2nd Prize: Rs 5 lakh

3rd Prize: Rs 1 lakh

4th Prize: Rs 5000

5th Prize: Rs 2000

6th Prize: Rs 1000

7th Prize: Rs 500

8th Prize: Rs 100

Consolation Prize: Rs 8,000

HOW TO CHECK KERALA WIN-WIN W-797 LOTTERY RESULTS?

The Kerala Lottery Departments official website, www.keralalottery.info, will include the Win-Win W-797 lottery results. Additionally, you can personally visit the Kerala Government Gazette office to confirm the results.

HOW TO CLAIM PRIZE MONEY?

Compare your ticket number with the draw results that are published in the Kerala Government Gazette to see if you are eligible for a prize. You might have a chance to win if both numbers matches up. The winners can pick up their prize at the Kerala Lottery headquarters in Gorky Bhavan within 30 days of the results being announced. For verification, be sure to provide both your winning ticket and a legitimate form of identification.

HOW TO DOWNLOAD A PDF WITH A FULL LIST OF WINNING NUMBERS?

1. Visit the Kerala Lottery Departments official website at www.keralalotteries.info or keralalotteryresult.net.

2. Click on the Win-Win W-797 Result link.

3. The outcome should now show each winning number.

4. Find the websites download link.

5. To view the lottery results in PDF format, click the link.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED TO CLAIM PRIZE MONEY?

A copy of the winning ticket, both sides of which have been self-attestation passport-sized images with a Gazette officials signature

A copy of the participants PAN card signed by them.

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Fill up the award money receipt form online and send it in with a revenue stamp.

Documents proving identity, including voter ID, PAN, Aadhaar, and ration cards.

Location : Thiruvananthapuram [Trivandrum], India

First Published: November 25, 2024, 09:00 IST
Ek Hai To Safe Hai Echoes As PM Modi Gets Rousing Welcome In Lok Sabha | Watch

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News18.com

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 15:20 IST

The treasury bench MPs welcomed PM Modi with chants of Modi, Modi" and ek hai toh safe hai" as he walked into the Lower House of the Parliament with folded hands and took his seat on the first day of Winter Session of the Parliament.

PM Modi entering Lok Sabha on first day of Winter Session of Parliament.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday received a huge round of applause amid thunderous ek hai toh safe hai" chants by Bharatiya Janata Partys MPs in Lok Sabha as a token of appreciation for the PMs leadership that led to the BJP-led Mahayuti alliances thumping victory in the recently held Maharashtra assembly elections.

The treasury bench MPs welcomed PM Modi with chants of Modi, Modi" and ek hai toh safe hai" as he walked into the Lower House of the Parliament with folded hands and took his seat on the first day of Winter Session of the Parliament. The slogan- given by PM Modi during his campaigning in Maharashtra to overcome the caste division in the name of Hindutva-turned the tables for BJP in the recently held polls.

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Ahead of the commencement of the Winter Session of the Parliament, the Prime Minister took a veiled swipe at the opposition Congress saying that those who have been continuously rejected by the people are the ones who do not allow discussions to take place in the Parliament. Some people who have been rejected by the people are constantly trying to control the Parliament through hooliganism by a handful of people. The people of the country count all their actions and when the time comes, they also punish them," he had said.

The Winter Session of the Parliament which began on Monday will continue till December 20 and will witness discussions on various issues, including the Waqf Act (Amendment) Bill.

Ek Hai To Safe Hai Turned Tables For BJP In Maharashtra

The slogan Ek Hai To Safe Hai which was given by PM Modi during his campaigning in Maharashtra worked in favour of the saffron camp as it swept the western state with a landslide victory by winning 230 seats in the 288-member assembly.

Ek Hai To Safe Hai was seen as a more sophisticated and acceptable slogan when Uttar Pradesh CM and BJP firebrand leader Yogi Adityanath came up with a slogan of Batenge to Katenge ( in reference to the attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, and that if Hindus get divided, they will get slaughtered). Modi understood that Yogis remark had two shortcomings. First, it was in Hindi, which would not be acceptable to many across India, and second, the tone of the comment seemed harsh. So he came with up with a more appealing slogan.

Maharashtra Assembly Polls Results

The BJP-led Mahayuti, which includes Chief Minister Eknath Shindes Shiv Sena and Deputy CM Ajit Pawars NCP, secured 230 out of 288 assembly seats in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, retaining power in the state.

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Meanwhile, the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadis attempt to reclaim power fell short, as the opposition alliance managed to win just 46 seats. The BJP won 132 seats, the Shiv Sena secured 57, and the NCP claimed 41 seats.

In the MVA, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) won 10 seats, the Congress won 16, and the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) won 20 seats.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 11:56 IST
No 'Housewives' Or 'Sexy': Kerala Women's Commission Issues Media Guidelines Against Misogyny, Sexism

Curated By :

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Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 13:39 IST

Media must refrain from sensationalising news involving women or presenting their personal choices in a manner that invites judgment.

Kerala Women's Commission sets guidelines against media misogyny.

The Kerala Womens Commission has called for an overhaul of the language and approach used in media reporting to eliminate gender bias, sexism, and misogyny. In a comprehensive set of recommendations, the commission emphasised the need to avoid expressions, headlines, and narratives that portray women in a derogatory or stereotypical manner.

Key Recommendations

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The guidelines focus on transforming the medias perspective on women and gender-related issues. Notable suggestions include:

Avoiding Sexist Headlines and Language

Headlines that demean women, such as No more housewives run away," and sexually suggestive titles like Sexy Sharapova," should be avoided. Media must refrain from sensationalising news involving women or presenting their personal choices in a manner that invites judgment. For instance, phrases like mother of two eloped with her boyfriend" place undue focus on a womans personal life and should not be used.

Correcting Stereotypical Terminology

The commission urged the media to stop labelling unemployed women as housewives" and instead use terms that reflect their identities beyond domestic roles. Similarly, phrases rooted in cultural stereotypes, such as Valaiyam Bhadram" (a Tamil expression associating women with bangles), must be avoided.

Challenging Gendered Perceptions of Work and Roles

The guidelines emphasised the need to dismantle traditional notions that assign domestic responsibilities like cooking and childcare exclusively to women, while associating fields like education, investment, and military service with men.

Preserving Dignity Over Style

The commission criticised the medias focus on rhymes, poetic expressions, or aesthetics in headlines at the expense of respecting womens dignity. For instance, framing stories of womens setbacks with phrases like womens intellect is behind" perpetuates harmful stereotypes and should be replaced with unbiased reporting.

Promoting Gender-Sensitive Vocabulary

The commission proposed creating a stylebook of vocabulary based on principles of gender equality. This resource would serve as a guideline for media professionals and public officials, ensuring the use of respectful and inclusive language.

Roadmap for Implementation

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The commission recommended forming a committee comprising experts in gender justice, linguistics, and media studies. Representatives from institutions such as the Kerala Language Institute and Kerala Media Academy will be involved in drafting the stylebook. Importantly, the committee is expected to include a significant representation of women. The stylebook is to be completed within six months and made available for widespread use.

The recommendations highlight the urgent need to address deep-rooted misogyny in media narratives. By adopting these changes, the media can play a pivotal role in fostering gender equality and dismantling harmful stereotypes. The submission of these recommendations to the government marks a critical step in ensuring that the portrayal of women in the media upholds their dignity and reflects progressive societal values.

Location : Kerala, India

First Published: November 25, 2024, 13:39 IST
'Those Rejected By People Disrupt Parliament': PM Modi's Swipe At Congress Ahead Of Winter Session

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News18.com

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 12:22 IST

Ahead of the Parliament Winter Session, PM Modi today slammed the Opposition and said it tries to disrupt the proceedings of the House.

PM Modi addresses media ahead of Parliament Winter Session (Photo: PTI)

The Opposition is attempting to control the Parliament House by disruptions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday, ahead of the commencement of the Parliament session.

Speaking to the media, the Prime Minister, referring to the Congress, also said that those who have been continuously rejected by the people are the ones who do not allow discussions to take place in the Parliament.

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Some people who have been rejected by the people are constantly trying to control the Parliament through hooliganism by a handful of people. The people of the country count all their actions and when the time comes, they also punish them," PM Modi said today.

But the most painful thing is that the new parliamentarians bring new ideas, new energy and they do not belong to any one party but to all parties. Some people usurp their rights and they do not even get the opportunity to speak in the House," he added.

But those who have been continuously rejected by the people 80-90 times do not allow discussions to take place in the Parliament. They neither respect the spirit of democracy nor do they understand the importance of peoples aspirations. They have no responsibility towards them, they are unable to understand them and the result is that they never live up to the expectations of the people," the Prime Minister said.

Speaking further, PM Modi said, The voters of India are dedicated to democracy, their dedication to the Constitution, their faith in the parliamentary working system, all of us sitting in the Parliament will have to live up to the sentiments of the people and this is the need of the hour."

The only way to make up for it is that we should highlight various aspects of every subject in a very healthy manner in the House, the coming generations will also get inspiration from it. I hope that this session will be very fruitful. I once again invite all the respected MPs to take this session forward with zeal and enthusiasm," he said.

#WATCH | Delhi: On #ParliamentWinterSession, PM Narendra Modi says, The voters of India are dedicated to democracy, their dedication to the Constitution, their faith in the parliamentary working system, all of us sitting in the Parliament will have to live up to the sentiments pic.twitter.com/30ulGcqAOn ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2024

The public has to reject them (Opposition) again and again. Some of the Opposition members behave very responsibly. They also wish that work should be done smoothly in the House. But those who have been continuously rejected by the public, ignore the words of their colleagues, disrespect their feelings and disrespect the feelings of democracy," the Prime Minister said.

Today, the world is looking at India with great hope. Our use of the Parliaments time and our behaviour in the House should be such that it strengthens the respect that India has gained at the global level," he added.

#WATCH | #ParliamentWinterSession | Prime Minister Narendra Modi says The public has to reject them (Opposition) again and againIt is a condition of democracy that we respect the feelings of the people and work hard day and night to live up to their hopes and expectations. pic.twitter.com/pNHKtcXYxF ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2024

At the beginning of his address, PM Modi said, The last phase of 2024 is underway and the country is preparing for 2025. This session of Parliament is special in several ways and the most important thing is the beginning of the 75th year of the Constitution."

Tomorrow, in the Samvidhan Sadan, everyone will celebrate the 75th year of our Constitution," the Prime Minister said.

#WATCH | #ParliamentWinterSession | Prime Minister Narendra Modi says The last phase of 2024 is underway and the country is preparing for 2025. This Session of Parliament is special in several ways and the most important thing is the beginning of the 75th year of the pic.twitter.com/lRgEy6lPr3 ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2024

The session will continue until December 20 and will witness discussions on various issues, including the Waqf Act (Amendment) Bill.

BILLS LIKELY TO BE DISCUSSED IN PARLIAMENT SESSION

Among other bills listed for introduction, consideration and passing, include the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, the Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, the Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, the Bills of Lading Bill, the Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, the Railways (Amendment) Bill, the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, and the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill.

The Boilers Bill, the Rashtriya Sahkari Vishwavidyalaya Bill, the Punjab Courts (Amendment) Bill, the Merchant Shipping Bill, the Coastal Shipping Bill, and the Indian Ports Bill, are also included in the list.

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Earlier, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju asserted that the union government is ready to discuss any topic" while calling for a peaceful session of Parliament.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday after the all-party meeting ahead of the session on November 24, Rijiju said several topics were raised requesting discussion in Parliament.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 10:38 IST
'Not Everything Can Be Transferred To CBI': SC On Probe For 'Custodial Torture' Of RG Kar Protesters

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Edited By: Oindrila Mukherjee



Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 18:31 IST

The Supreme Court observed that routine transfer of investigations to CBI can have a "demoralising" impact on senior IPS officers of the state police

The Calcutta HC had upheld a single-judge order directing a CBI probe into the custodial torture allegations levelled by a woman protester. (Image: News18/File)

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered an SIT to be formed to probe the alleged custodial torture of a woman following her arrest over protests against the RG Kar rape and murder case in Kolkata.

The bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan said not everything can be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). It said senior IPS officers of West Bengal need to be entrusted with the investigation.

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According to reports, the Supreme Court noted that routine transfer of investigations to CBI can have a demoralising" impact on senior cops.

Routine entrustment of investigation of matters to CBI not only leads to burden on the premier investigating agency of the country, it has very serious demoralizing impact on the officers of the state police. It may not be prudent to proceed on the premise that senior officers allocated to West Bengal cadre are incompetent or inefficient to hold a fair, independent and dispassionate investigation and find out the truth," the bench was quoted in a report published by LiveLaw.

The court said the special investigation team (SIT), composed of officers whose names were submitted by the state, will submit its report on the progress of the investigation on a weekly basis to the Calcutta High Court.

It further directed the high court chief justice to constitute a special bench before which the SIT will submit its report besides seeking further investigation.

On November 11, the top court stayed the October 8 order of the HC directing a CBI probe while asking the state government to submit a list of seven IPS officers, including five women, who will comprise a fresh SIT to probe the custodial torture case.

The order was passed on an appeal filed by the West Bengal government that stated that the high court had erroneously ordered a CBI probe whereas the state police was capable of the investigation.

On November 6, a division bench of the high court upheld a single-judge order directing a CBI probe into the custodial torture allegations levelled by the woman. It said the order of the single judge to conduct an independent investigation could not be faulted and did not call for any interference.

Initially, two women petitioners, moved the single-judge bench alleging physical torture while in police custody. The court noted the report of a jail doctor who found signs of haematoma  a solid swelling of clotted blood within tissue  on the legs of one of them.

The complainants were arrested on September 7 and remained in the custody of Falta police station in the Diamond Harbour district till their judicial remand ordered by the Diamond Harbour court the next day, the high court noted.

The division bench further noted that while the report of the medical officer of Diamond Harbour sub-correctional home states haematoma on both the legs of one woman, the examining doctor of Diamond Harbour Medical College and Hospital recorded no external injury.

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Considering the subsequent medical reports of the petitioner, the bench said it was of the prima facie view that the trauma occurred on her on September 7 in police custody. It observed the discrepancies were serious and would warrant an independent agency to conduct the investigation.

(With PTI inputs)

First Published: November 25, 2024, 18:31 IST
Sambhal Violence: 4 Dead, FIR Names Samajwadi MP; Akhilesh Yadav Demands Suspension Of Cops

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Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 15:12 IST

Four people were killed in Sambhal violence. Politics has heated up over the issue with Akhilesh alleging BJP hand in incident.

Sambhal mosque violence (PTI Image)

A day after stone-pelting and arson took place over the court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid in Uttar Pradeshs Sambhal, the administration has restricted the entry of outsiders" into the district without prior orders of the authorities.

The death toll in the violence rose to four. Three people were killed in the violence yesterday and another person has succumbed to his injuries, the police said.

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The police have filed an FIR against Samajwadi Party MP Ziaur Rahman Barq for allegedly inciting riots. However, the MP claimed that he was not in the state when the violence took place as he had visited Bengaluru for India Muslim Personal Law Board.

As a part of a conspiracy, they have used weapons, they have murdered our 5 innocent people, many others are injured, a false case has been registered I want a murder case should be registered against these officers and they should be put behind bars," Barq said.

Weapons Recovered, People Detained: Police

The police said that 25 rioters were arrested in connection with violence which took place on Sunday when the survey was underway at the mosque premises.

Several kinds of weapons were recovered from the detained persons, which also included two women, living in the Nakhasa police station area. Firing took place from their residence, Superintendent of Police (SP) Krishan Kumar said.

This comes as four people were killed while several others were injured in the clashes between the police and the protesters who shouted slogans, and threw stones at the cops while the survey was underway. The protesters set vehicles on fire, after which the police used tear gas to disperse the mob.

The survey team arrived at the spot early in the morning and started its work, when locals gathered outside, leading to violence in the area. The mosque is in the middle of a legal battle over claims that it was been built over the Harihar temple that had once stood at the site.

Akhilesh Yadav To Lead Delegation To Sambhal

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has said that he will lead a delegation to Sambhal, while also slamming the UP government. He alleged that riots were created by the Yogi government. When one survey was done on 19th November, then what was the need for a second survey? Accused policemen should be suspended and they should be booked under murder cases," he said.

Akhilesh said that the Sambhal MP was not in the town during the incident, yet he has been booked in the case.

What Did Autopsy Report Say?

According to the sources, the autopsy report of the two deceased was ready, which stated that their deaths took place due to 315-bore bullets, and such weapons are not used by UP Police. The two deaths occurred due to firing from illegal arms. Deaths have not taken place from the bullets fired from police weapons," sources said.

The autopsy was carried out by a panel of two doctors and the entire process was recorded on camera," police sources said.

Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi React

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi lashed out at the Yogi Adityanath government accusing it of partiality and urging the Supreme Court to take up the matter. Rahul held the BJP responsible for the deaths that occurred in the violence and alleged that the party was creating a rift between the Hindus and the Muslims.

Priyanka, who has newly been elected to Lok Sabha from her brothers former constituency Wayanad, urged the top court to intervene.

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Top Points From Sambhal Mosque Violence:

Sambhal, DIG, Moradabad Range, Muniraj G said, The current situation in Sambhal is peaceful. Police have been deployed at important places. Last night, we confirmed three deaths but today while undergoing treatment in Moradabad, another person succumbed to his injuries. A total of 4 deaths have taken place. Looking at the situation, we will remove the suspension on the internet. Actions are being taken against the accused. I appeal to the people of Sambhal to maintain peace" Sambhal SP Krishna Kumar Bishnoi said that the police have registered 7 FIRs against nearly 2500 people. He said that all the rioters will be identified using CCTV and drone cameras. Weapons have also been recovered from the houses of the detained people. Firing took place from a house in Nakhasa police station area, from where two women have been detained," the SP said. The mobiles of the people who have been detained are being checked to understand whether there was a conspiracy or not, the police said. The Sambhal District Magistrate issued a notification prohibiting any outsider, social organization, or public representative from entering Sambhal without the orders of the authorities. Schools have been shut in view of the violence. Classes up to Standard 12 will remain suspended today. The SDM said they have put no restriction on opening of shops but since it is Monday, shops are closed as per the routine practices of the area. The situation is under control and additional forces have been deployed. Internet services have been suspended for a day, the SP said. When DM and DIG were patrolling, two women pelted stones at them, and firing was done through a country-made weapon, and a PRO got shot in the foot. Women also pelted stones, the police official said. Strict action will be taken against the perpetrators under the stringent National Security Act. An FIR has been registered. 20 police personnel and four administrative officials have been injured in the violence. A constable suffered a serious head injury and a deputy collector fractured his leg. Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav held the district administration responsible for the violence and said that there would be many more deaths, however, some were reported. He claimed that such type of orders (by the judge) would set the whole country on fire".

Location : Sambhal, India

First Published: November 25, 2024, 08:22 IST
Sambhals Jama Masjid Clash: Another Mosque-Temple Dispute In Uttar Pradesh?

Reported By :

News18.com

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 19:54 IST

After Ayodhyas Babri, Varanasis Gyanvapi and Mathuras Shahi Idgah, is it the start of yet another mosque-temple dispute in UP?

Police personnel deployed in the area surrounding the Jama Masjid in Sambhal, on Monday. (PTI)

Downed shutters, shut internet services, closed schools, empty roads and police flag marches  a day after communal clashes killed four, Sambhal wore a deserted look on Monday.

At the heart of the violence in the city in Uttar Pradeshs Moradabad district is the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid, which Hindus claim was built on the ruins of the centuries-old Shri Harihar Temple dedicated to Kalki, the 10th incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

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After Ayodhyas Babri Masjid, Varanasis Gyanvapi mosque and Mathuras Shahi Idgah, is this the start of yet another prolonged mosque-temple dispute in Uttar Pradesh?

News18 gets the side of the Hindu and Muslim petitioners.

SAMBHAL ON FIRE

Sundays tension began after a crowd resisted a court-ordered survey of the 16th-century mosque, which was led by an advocate commission investigating claims that the mosque was built atop a pre-existing temple, according to officials with the district administration.

Along with the four deaths, the clashes left several, including 20 police personnel, injured. A police constable, who suffered a head injury, is in critical condition. Authorities have detained 21 individuals, including three women, and launched a probe, with plans to charge those involved under the stringent National Security Act (NSA).

District Magistrate Rajender Pensiya said two of the men died of gunshot wounds from country-made pistols, while the cause of the third death remains uncertain pending a post-mortem report.

SURVEY DONE, REPORT TO BE SUBMITTED ON NOVEMBER 29

Officials with the district administration said Sundays violence had been simmering since last Tuesday when the survey began.

The survey came after a petition claimed that Mughal emperor Babur had demolished a Harihar temple at the site in 1529. Initially deferred to Sunday to avoid disrupting prayers, the survey proceedings sparked unrest. Despite the clashes, officials completed the survey, including videography and photography, as directed by the court.

Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, also involved in the Gyanvapi dispute, confirmed the survey report will be submitted by November 29.

#SambhalJamaMasjid | Mr Zafar Ali, the lawyer for the Masjid committee made announcement from the Mosque, he requested everyone to stay calm and not to indulge in any kind of violence : @Vishnu_Jain1 , Lawyer@AnchorAnandN | #therightstand pic.twitter.com/lDB0rl8WIs News18 (@CNNnews18) November 25, 2024

THE HINDU PETITION

The Jama Masjid is a protected monument notified under the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904, and listed as a monument of national importance by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Sambhals mosque, however, came in the news after Jains petition representing the eight petitioners.

The petition claims that Sambhal holds unique significance in Hindu scriptures as the birthplace of Lord Kalki, the future incarnation of Lord Vishnu. It further states that the temple was created by Lord Vishwakarma at the beginning of the universe and housed a unique idol symbolising both Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva.

But the temple was destroyed in 1526 AD by Mughal Emperor Babur during his invasion of India, aiming to assert Islamic dominance and subjugate Hindus. In our petition, we have sought court permission to access the temple and an injunction to prevent any obstacles from being created at the site," Hari Shankar Jain, one of the petitioners, told News18.

Citing the Baburnama, Jain claimed that Baburs memoirs confirm the existence of a temple, which he allegedly demolished in 1529. Supporting the claim, the petitioners referenced an 1875 report by British archaeologist ACL Carlleyle (Tours in the Central Doab and Gorakhpur, 1874-1875 and 1875-1876), which observed that the mosques pillars bore striking similarities to those of old Hindu temples, concealed beneath plaster. Removal of plaster on one pillar revealed red columns typical of Hindu temple architecture.

Additionally, the petitioners highlighted an inscription, cited in the 1875 report, stating the mosque was built in 1526 AD by Mir Hindu Beg, a courtier of Babur, who purportedly converted a temple into a mosque. An ASI report also identified features within the mosque indicating links to Hindu temple structures, further fuelling the controversy.

THE MUSLIM SIDES VERSION

Advocate Zafar Ali, who is also a part of the Shahi Jama Masjid Committee, dismissed the Hindu sides claims about a temple existing at the site. He said: The Hindu side has no evidence to prove a temple existed here before the mosque. They cannot even specify the year or century in which the alleged temple was built."

He said that if a temple had existed, there would have been historical records or documentation, which the petitioners lack. He also said that Baburnama and other texts cited by the Hindu side need thorough judicial interpretation to establish credibility. He acknowledged Sambhals historical significance as the capital of Prithviraj Chauhan, but said that this does not prove the temples existence. He said that no such claims have been made since independence. Although some cases were filed in 1877 and 1879, they were dismissed, with rulings in favour of the Jama Masjid," he said. He said that the temple claim is based on rumours and not facts.

THE POLITICAL SPIN

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi criticised the UP governments handling of the dispute, calling it biased and hasty" and the incident extremely unfortunate." Appealing for peace, Gandhi wrote on X, The administrations insensitive action without listening to all parties further vitiated the situation and resulted in the death of many people  for which the BJP government is directly responsible."

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav demanded immediate Supreme Court intervention, alleging a conspiracy to spread tension in the name of the survey". He said, A case of disturbing peace and harmony should be registered against those who took sloganeers with them with the aim of disturbing social harmony."

SP MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq, facing charges related to the violence, defended the mosque as a historical structure, citing the 1991 Supreme Court ruling that religious places should remain as they were in 1947.

In response, BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said, Nobody has any right to break the law. If a court has passed an order, it will be implemented. The judicial process is available for those who want the order amended."

OTHER SUCH DISPUTES IN UP

Ayodhyas Babri Masjid dispute: The dispute centres around a plot in Ayodhya, which Hindus believed is the birthplace of Lord Ram. Under Babur, the Babri Masjid was constructed at the site in 1528. Hindu groups claimed it was built after demolishing a Ram temple. The dispute escalated, leading to the demolition of the mosque by kar sevaks on December 6, 1992, triggering nationwide riots.

The matter reached the court, and in 2010, the Allahabad High Court divided the land into three parts among Hindus, Muslims, and the Nirmohi Akhara. However, the Supreme Court, in a landmark judgment on November 9, 2019, awarded the entire 2.77-acre disputed site to Hindus for the construction of a Ram temple, while directing the government to allocate 5 acres to Muslims to build a mosque in Ayodhya.

Mathuras Shahi Idgah Mosque Dispute: The mosque in Mathura, built under emperor Aurangzeb, stands adjacent to the Krishna Janmasthan, believed to be Lord Krishnas birthplace. Hindu litigants claim the mosque was constructed in the 17th century after demolishing the Keshavdev Temple at the site. In December, a local court admitted the Hindu sides plea, but the Muslim side filed objections in the High Court. Currently, nine cases are pending in Mathura courts, with Hindu petitioners consistently seeking the mosques removal from the 13.77-acre complex it shares with the Katra Keshav Dev Temple.

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The ASI, responding to an RTI query, cited a November 1920 gazette confirming that Aurangzeb dismantled the temple to construct the mosque. The ASI document stated that parts of the Katra mound were previously occupied by the temple before its demolition and subsequent use for the mosques construction, adding historical weight to the Hindu claims.

Kashis Gyanvapi Dispute: In August 2021, Rakhi Singh and four other Hindu women approached the Varanasi civil court, seeking the right to worship Hindu deities within the Gyanvapi mosque premises all through the year. In their claim, the plaintiffs said that the Gyanvyapi mosque and its premises were once a Hindu temple. They claimed that Aurangzeb had demolished the temple and built the mosque there. The court directed the ASI to carry out a survey of the Gyanvapi mosque. The aim was to determine if the mosque had been constructed over the pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple or not. In its report, the ASI revealed that a pre-existing structure appeared to have been destroyed in the 17th century, and part of it was modified and reused", adding that based on scientific studies, it can be said that there existed a large Hindu temple prior to the construction of the existing mosque".

First Published: November 25, 2024, 19:54 IST
Stones Hurled, CRPF Van Damaged Amid Massive Protests Against Vaishno Devi Ropeway Project

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Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 15:19 IST

The locals have been complaining that the project would negatively impact the environment and their livelihoods. They claimed that the ropeway project would render them jobless.

People hold protest against the Mata Vaishno Devi ropeway project, in Katra (ANI)

The situation turned tense in Jammu and Kashmirs Katra town on Monday after the protestors pelted stones and clashed with the security forces during their ongoing protests against the proposed ropeway project along the trek route to the holy shrine of Vaishno Devi atop Trikuta hills.

As per the visuals shared by the news agency ANI, the protestors hurled stones at the security personnel and damaged a CRPF vehicle.

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#WATCH | J&K: People hold protest against the Mata Vaishno Devi ropeway project, in Katra pic.twitter.com/soomGQqYCa ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2024

Reasi SSP Paramvir Singh said that the protest was going on peacefully for the past three days but today some protesters pelted stones at the security forces.

Here people have been protesting for the past 3 days and we were handling that. Today some of them pelted stones at the police team, we are trying to handle the situation, hopefully, soon there will be normalcy," news agency ANI aquoted Singh as saying.

#WATCH | Katra, J&K: Paramvir Singh, SSP Reasi says, Here people have been protesting for the past 3 days and we were handling that. Today some of them pelted stones at the police team, we are trying to handle the situation, hopefully, soon there will be normalcy" https://t.co/uFsmQUkSf9 pic.twitter.com/xlDLfEovwq ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2024

The shopkeepers and labourers on Sunday took out a protest rally on the third day of their strike and held a sit-in outside the office of the subdivisional magistrate and Shalimar Park in Katra, the base camp for pilgrims visiting the shrine. The three-day strike called by shopkeepers and pony and palanquin owners began on Friday.

The 72-hour strike has been extended by another 24 hours. We will meet again and announce our future course of action," a member of the joint committee of shopkeepers and pony and palanquin owners had said.

While the businesses located at the base camp of Katra remained operational, shops lining the pilgrimage route from Ban Ganga to Charan Paduka observed closures. However, the suspension of pony and palanquin services is causing hardships for the pilgrims, especially the elderly and differently-abled, to continue their sacred journey.

#WATCH | Pony and palanquin owners hold protest against the Mata Vaishno Devi ropeway project, in Katra pic.twitter.com/cyMMuqMfmG ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2024

The locals have been complaining that the project would negatively impact the environment and their livelihoods. They claimed that the ropeway project would render them jobless. They also accused the authorities of pushing through the development without adequate consultation.

Lieutenant Governor Reacts

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has assured the protestors of their employment. He said that the committee headed by the Divisional Commissioner has been deliberating on the ropeway project and the rehabilitation of the locals.

The LG emphasised that the genuine concerns of the locals would be considered while the development of the region would not be ignored.

Vaishno Devi Ropeway Project

The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) had announced implementation of the long-awaited ropeway project to facilitate a safer and faster journey for the pilgrims. According to project details, the ropeway will be developed with a cost of Rs 250 crore between Tarakote Marg to Sanji Chhat along the 12-kilometre track.

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According to the shrine board CEO Anshul Garg, The ropeway project will be a game changer, especially for those pilgrims who find it challenging to undertake the steep trek to the shrine."

(With inputs from agencies)

Location : Katra, India

First Published: November 25, 2024, 14:29 IST
When'll Delhi-NCR Schools Reopen? After Supreme Court Hearing, Air Quality Panel Issues Directive

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Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 22:37 IST

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih noted that the students were being deprived of mid-day meals and lacked wherewithal to attend virtual classes.

The restrictions on physical classes of schools and colleges were imposed recently due to severe air pollution. (File image)

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Monday ordered state governments in the Delhi-NCR region to ensure that classes up to 12th standard and those in colleges and other educational institutions are conducted in a hybrid" mode, after the Supreme Court on Monday directed the air quality panel to consider resuming physical classes in the region which were discontinued due to high air pollution levels.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih noted that students were being deprived of mid-day meals and lacked wherewithal to attend virtual classes. The bench further observed that a significant number of students do not have air purifiers at home, suggesting there may be little difference in air quality exposure whether children stay at home or attend school.

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The CAQM is expected to take a decision during the course of the day or latest by tomorrow morning so that it can be implemented from Wednesday," the bench said.

CAQM Orders State Govts To Conduct Classes In Hybrid Mode

After the Supreme Court hearing, the CAQM orders the state governments in the Delhi-NCR region to hold classes up to 12th standard and those in colleges and other educational institutions in a hybrid" mode, i.e., both in physical" and also in an online", wherever online mode is feasible. The option to exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians," it said.

Delhi | In compliance with the Supreme Courts directives, giving relaxation in restrictions under Stage-III and Stage-IV of the GRAP, CAQM orders that State Govts in the NCR shall ensure that all classes upto 12th Standard are conducted in a Hybrid" mode i.e., both in pic.twitter.com/W8PDM2b3hh ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2024

Since last week, schools in the region have shifted to online classes after the suspension of physical classes due to implementation of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) IV restrictions amid severe air pollution levels.

The schools in the national capital along with in other NCR districts of Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Gurugram remained closed and operated online till Monday. The decision to keep the schools closed till November 25 was taken independently by the respective authorities after Delhis AQI remained in Very Poor category.

Meanwhile, the Gautam Buddh Nagar district Inspector of Schools issued an order stating the suspension of physical classes and continuation of online classes from pre-primary to class 12 till Tuesday, November 26 due to the deteriorating air quality levels in the district.

The court also observed that due to the implementation of GRAP 4 rules, many sections of society, including the daily wage labourers, have been adversely affected. The bench said all states must use funds collected as labour cess to provide subsistence to them.

We direct all the states to use funds collected as labour cess to provide subsistence to construction workers when such work is prohibited and all states shall comply with the same. Action should be taken immediately," it observed.

The top court slammed the authorities for failing to implement measures related to curbs on construction and entry of polluting vehicles into Delhi-NCR, and ordered the CAQM to initiate action against the officials of Delhi government and Delhi police for a serious lapse" on their part.

It is apparent that the authorities mentioned in GRAP-IV clauses 1, 2 and 3 have made no earnest effort to implement action under clauses 1 to 3. Some police teams were deputed at few entry points that also without any specific instructions. (Court) commissioners have noted that police were only deployed as on November 23 and thus a serious lapse on part of authorities. We, therefore, direct commission to immediately initiate action under Section 14 of CAQM Act 2021," the bench underscored.

However, the court declined to relax anti-pollution GRAP-4 restrictions in the region, stating that it would consider reducing the curbs only if there was a consistent improvement in the Air Quality Index (AQI).

The national capital, which has been enveloped in a toxic smog for weeks, is battling adverse air pollution levels. Earlier in the day, however, there was marginal improvement as the air quality index (AQI) turned from very poor to poor, as per data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

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An AQI between zero and 50 is considered good, 51 and 100 satisfactory, 101 and 200 moderate, 201 and 300 poor, 301 and 400 very poor, and 401 and 500 severe.

(With inputs from agencies)

First Published: November 25, 2024, 19:33 IST
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On November 22, GAC Energy Technology (Thailand) Co., Ltd. ("GAC Energy") signed a framework cooperation agreement with the Confucius Institute at Mahasarakham University in Mahasarakham Province, Thailand, according to a post on GAC Energy's WeChat account.

Photo credit: GAC Energy

GAC Energy, the energy facility and service operator under GAC Group, is dedicated to establishing a network of electric vehicles (EVs) charging infrastructure in Thailand. Leveraging its ultra-fast charging technology and extensive experience in infrastructure construction, GAC Energy is driving its "100 Cities, 1,000 Charging Piles" initiative. The company has already built and is operating 19 fast-charging stations in Thailand. By 2028, GAC Energy aims to establish a network of 200 super charging stations with 1,000 chargers in 100 cities across Thailand.

Under the agreement, the Confucius Institute at Mahasarakham University will lead efforts to connect GAC Energy with site resources at its own location as well as 18 other Confucius Institutes across Thailand. Together, they will jointly build EV charging stations. GAC Energy will invest in and install 100 Aion AC smart charging stations a the initial stage of the cooperation, with plans to expand the network further in response to increasing demand.
Murty Classical Library Marks a Decade with Ten Indian Classics Anthology

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Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 11:41 IST

The unveiling of Ten Indian Classics celebrated 2,500 years of South Asias literary heritage with a harmonious blend of intellectual discourse, cultural revival, and Shubha Mudgals spellbinding musical renditions.

The grand unveiling of Ten Indian Classics brought together luminaries from the literary and musical worlds at New Delhis India Habitat Centre

The grand unveiling of Ten Indian Classics, the latest addition to the Murty Classical Library of India, was more than just a book launchit celebrated South Asias rich cultural and literary history. Held on November 8, 2024, at New Delhis India Habitat Centre, the event brought together luminaries from the literary and musical worlds. The highlight? A spellbinding performance by Shubha Mudgal, who set the stage ablaze with her renditions of verses from the anthology.

This was no ordinary book launch; it was a deep dive into the soul of Indias literary traditions, which span 2,500 years and include languages as diverse as Sanskrit, Kannada, Persian, and Punjabi.

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What Makes a Classic?

The evening kicked off with an enlightening address by poet and translator Ranjit Hoskote, who also penned the foreword for the anthology. He posed the thought-provoking question: What defines a classic? Is it time-tested relevance, universal themes or something more elusive?

For Ten Indian Classics, the answer lies in its ability to bridge eras, offering stories and verses that continue to resonate till today. From the mystical poems of Surdas to the philosophical musings of Buddhist women, the anthology captures the essence of timeless literature.

The Anthology: A Navratna of Literary Gems

During the panel discussion, Ranjit Hoskote, Navtej Sarna and Vanamala Viswanatha likened the anthology to a navratna necklace. Each text is a gem, unique in its brilliance, yet collectively forming a harmonious whole. This metaphor perfectly encapsulates the anthologys diverse offerings:

Battling Cultural Amnesia

One of the most poignant themes of the discussion was cultural amnesiathe tendency to forget or overlook the rich tapestry of traditions that shaped our history. Hoskote emphasized that this anthology is not just a collection but a revival of stories that risk being lost in time.

By juxtaposing original scripts with English translations, Ten Indian Classics combats this amnesia, ensuring these works remain accessible to a global audience.

South Asian Connections: A Linguistic Tapestry

The anthology highlights the interconnectedness of South Asias languages and cultures. For instance, the inclusion of Persian texts underscores centuries of exchange between regions. The panelists discussed how the anthology serves as a cultural bridge, mapping the complex relationships between languages and their shared histories.

Shubha Mudgals Musical Magic

The evening reached its crescendo with a musical performance by Shubha Mudgal. Known for her versatility in Hindustani classical music and Indian pop, Mudgals renditions brought the texts alive.

She performed hymns by Surdas and romantic ghazals by Mir Taqi Mir, weaving melodies that left the audience spellbound. Her voice, paired with the depth of the anthologys verses, was a perfect tribute to the literary greats featured in the book.

Why Ten Indian Classics Is Relevant Today

In a world of fleeting trends, Ten Indian Classics serves as a reminder of enduring values. The anthology isnt just about preserving the past; its about finding relevance in it for the present and future.

Each text in the anthology reflects universal themeslove, devotion, philosophy and resilience. Whether its the medieval battles in Tulsidass Ramcharitmanas or the separation of lovers in Bullhe Shahs poetry, these stories speak to emotions and dilemmas that are as relevant today as they were centuries ago.

A Decade of the Murty Classical Library of India

This anthology also marks the tenth anniversary of the Murty Classical Library of India, which has been instrumental in reviving South Asias literary heritage. Over the past decade, the series has published translations of classical works from languages like Bangla, Sindhi, and Telugu, making them accessible to global audiences.

The series is a testament to the dedication of scholars and translators who ensure these works are not just preserved but celebrated.

As the evening drew to a close, one thing was clear: Ten Indian Classics is not just a book; its a journey through time. From its scholarly translations to its artistic presentation, the anthology is a treasure trove for anyone interested in South Asias literary heritage.

The event itself was a microcosm of what the book representsa blend of intellectual depth and artistic brilliance. Whether youre a seasoned scholar or a curious reader, this anthology invites you to explore the depth and diversity of South Asian literature.

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First Published: November 25, 2024, 10:11 IST
Aditya Roy Kapur To Attend International Emmy Awards; Reacts To The Night Manager Nomination: If We Win

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Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 19:50 IST

The Night Manager, starring Anil Kapoor, Aditya Roy Kapoor, and Sobhita Dhulipala, is India's only nomination at the 2024 International Emmy Awards, which is set to take place in a few hours!

Aditya Roy Kapur reacts to The Night Manager's nomination at International Emmy Awards 2024.

Aditya Roy, Anil Kapoor and Sobhita Dhulipala starrer series The Night Manager is Indias only nomination at the 2024 International Emmy Awards, and has been nominated for the Best Drama Series category. The award ceremony is all set to take place in New York City on Monday, and it will be streamed in India on Tuesday, November 26. Aditya Roy Kapur is attending the International Emmy Awards. He jetted off to New York on Saturday, and will be joining the crew at the prestigious ceremony.

Speaking about the same, Aditya Roy Kapur told Hindustan Times, The whole crew flew down. I had some time off from shoot too, so I felt itd be a nice way to cap off the whole experience. It was a close-knit team that worked on the show, and everyone made time for this (to attend the Emmys)." He further added that he isnt thinking about the results at all, and feels that its a great feat just to have been nominated. I am not thinking about all that. Maybe Sandeep (Modi, director) and everyone is, but I feel its great that we were nominated. If we win, it would be like cherry on top," he said.

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He added that the Emmy nomination for The Night Manager is a huge validation as the team worked very hard. Its heartening to see your work get recognized on such an international platform. But the biggest validation comes from the audience. To know they enjoyed it everything stems from there," he said.

The 52nd International Emmy Awards will be held on November 25 in New York. The event will be streamed in India from 3:30 am to 9:30 am IST on November 26, 2024. Actor-comedian Vir Das is set to host the ceremony this year.

The Night Manager will compete with Les Gouttes de Dieu (Drops of God) (France), The Newsreader  Season 2 (Australia) and Iosi, El Espia Arrepentido  Season 2 (Argentina) for the Best Drama Series at the 2024 International Emmy Awards.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 19:48 IST
Allu Arjun Fans Over Rajinikanth, Pushpa 2 Star's Imitation Of Tamil Superstar's In Chennai Goes Viral | Watch

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Edited By: Dishya Sharma



Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 07:38 IST

Allu Arjun was decently fluent in Tamil. Despite many requests from his Telugu fans, the star continued to speak in Tamil at the event, thanking everyone involved in the movie.

Allu Arjun declares himself as a Rajinikanth fanboy.

Naan pirandha indha mannuku en anbaana vankkam. En Tamil makkale vanakkam. En Chennai makkale vanakkam (My salute with love to this land where I was born. Salute to Tamilian and Chennaites). I have been waiting for this day for a long time. It is a memorable day. I have travelled across the world for the promotion of Pushpa, but the feel that I get when I come to Chennai is unparalleled," Allu Arjun began his speech at the pre-release event of Pushpa The Rule in Chennai.

Allu Arjun, born in Chennai, spent all his schooling and college years in the city, and he is no stranger to the place and its language. However, this is the first mega event for the star in Chennai, and he remarked he had been waiting for this moment for years. This place reminds me of where I have come from. I am going to talk a lot. Psychologically, it is said the kind of life one has led in the first 20 years of his life will determine the rest of his life. I spent all my twenty years here, and I salute my roots. Whatever I am today is because of what I have learned in Chennai. Wherever I go, I will remain a Saadha Chennai paiyan. I might forget Tamil while I am talking on the stage but when I am around friends, I just go full on."

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Talking about Pushpa The Rule, he said, I have worked three years to give a wildfire to all of you. I hope I have done it. I have come here many times for many events and spoke, but I always wanted one function, one auditorium just for myself." When Telugu fans interrupted him asking to talk in Telugu, Allu Arjun said, We have to speak in Tamil here. Thats the respect you give the land you are standing on. If you can you should speak the language. If I am in Dubai, I will speak in Arabic, if I am in Delhi, I will say Namaste Thats the respect I give for the soil." Saying it, the Telugu superstar continued his speech in Tamil.

Thanking Rashmika Mandanna, he said, I have been working only with her for the past four years. I have been seeing only one girl for the past four years, and thats Rashmika. When I now go work with other actresses, I am becoming conscious and wonder why is this not Rashmika. I have become comfortable working with you. Theres no way, I could have done this without you. Thank you for making me perform at my best, Crushmika."

The Telugu star then thanked his director Sukumar for changing his life forever. If theres no Sukumar, theres no Pushpa. And if there is no Arya, theres no Allu Arjun. I wouldnt be standing here. When I did my first film, it became a hit but, I wasnt good at it. I didnt get films after that. I was sitting at home listening to scripts but no one was ready to do a film with me. Thats when one new director came up to me. His name was Sukumar and we did a film called Arya, and from then on, there was no looking back, baby. I have told it many times. If there is one person who has affected me and inspired me so much, it is Sukumar. He is not here because he is keen on giving his best. His absence speaks about his presence."

And lastly, there is one person who is very very very special to me. It is none other than my fans. Each one of you is special to me. I am not saying just because I am standing on the stage, but I love my fans. I love my army. I thank everyone for standing with me. I have not had a film in the past three years, but I promise I will keep doing more films after this," he said.

He wrapped his speech with a rapid fire. During the session, he was asked about the films he watched first day first show as a Chennai boy. Instead of putting it out in words, he recreated Rajinikanths gesture to reveal he watched his movies first-day first show. Just the actions are enough to understand, right?" asked Arjun.

The event came to an end with the Telugu star admitting that he is not fond of dancing at such promotional events, but he rarely makes some exceptions. Sometimes, I feel like I want to dance. This is one of those times." He wrapped up the event with the banger of a step from Puspa Pushpa Step, leaving the Chennai crowd with excitement for the film, which is set to be released on December 5.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 07:36 IST
Anushka Sharma, Virat Kohli's Son Akaay's Pic Leaks During Ind Vs Aus Perth Test? Here's The Truth | Fact Check

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Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 09:20 IST

Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli welcomed their son, Akaay, earlier this year. The actress was spotted in the stands of the Ind vs Aus test match in Perth.

Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli have two kids.

Several social media users were tricked into believing that Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohlis son Akaays face was revealed at the India vs Australia test match in Perth. On Sunday, Anushka was spotted in the stands, cheering for her husband as he scored a century. The camera often panned toward Anushka to show her reaction to Virats performance when one such time, a baby was spotted behind her. Several fans believed it was Akaay.

In a video going viral on social media, a man was seen holding a baby and attempting to put him to sleep. Fans instantly believed it was Akaay and celebrated his first spotting. However, news outlets such as Times Now have quoted sources who have confirmed that the baby is not Akaay.

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Anushka welcomed Akaay earlier this year. The actress has been extremely private about the little one. She kept her second pregnancy under the wraps and also surprised everyone with the news of the sons birth with a post on social media. Anushka and Virat have kept him away from the medias attention. Even in her birthday post dedicated to Virat, she hid not only Akaays face but also their daughter Vamikas face.

Anushka and Virat have a strict no-photo policy in place for their children. They have requested the paparazzi on multiple occasions to not take pictures of their kids.

Meanwhile, Virat and Anushka do not shy away from letting the world get a glimpse of their love. On Sunday, Virat blew kisses at Anushka after he scored a 100 against Australia in the Perth test match. Anushka blushed and cheered him on as he celebrated his milestone on the ground. Check out the video below:

Anushka Sharma reaction Virat Kohli century sad moments heart  #YashasviJaiswal #YashasviJaiswal #AUSvIND #INDvsAUS #ViratKohli

First Published: November 25, 2024, 09:20 IST
Pushpa 2's Allu Arjun, Sreeleela Set The Stage On Fire With Their Dance At Event

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Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 12:36 IST

Allu Arjun performs the hook step to Pushpa Pushpa at an event in Chennai.

Pushpa 2: The Rule will be released on December 5. (Photo Credits: Instagram)

Allu Arjun and Rashmika Mandanna are gearing up for the release of Pushpas sequel, Pushpa 2: The Rule, which is scheduled to be released in theatres on December 5. Ahead of its grand release, the actors are putting all efforts into promoting their upcoming action drama. To generate buzz for the movie, the makers organised the Pushpa Wildfire Event in Leo Muthu Indoor Stadium at Sai Ram Engineering College, Chennai, on Sunday, November 24. Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandanna and Sreeleela attended the event.

In one video from the event, Allu Arjun, dressed in an all-black outfit, was seen performing the hook step to Pushpa Pushpa, the title track of Pushpa 2: The Rule. As soon as he began dancing to the song, the audience erupted in loud cheers for the actor. However, a humorous moment also caught the attention of the people on the internet. While Allu Arjun was dancing, one of his shoes fell off his foot, and he was seen wearing it in the middle of his performance.

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Oreyyyy The recent event held in Chennai was significant as the makers decided to release Pushpa 2s other banger song, Kissik, featuring Allu Arjun and Sreeleela. During the event, the Guntur Kaaram actress was seen grooving to the peppy beats of the song. Dressed in a white, heavily embellished saree, Sreeleela elegantly performed the catchy hook steps of the now-released song Kissik on the stage. Sreeleela's cute dance to the #KissikSong #Pushpa2TheRule pic.twitter.com/Gol5XTtilV  Telugu360 (@Telugu360) November 24, 2024

After the event, Allu Arjun shared a picture on his Instagram account, thanking the audience at the Chennai event. His back was facing the camera and the actor was seen wearing the same outfit, featuring a jacket with Pushpa written in bold letters on it. The 42-year-old actor wrote a caption in his mother tongue, which translates to My heartfelt thanks to the land I was born in.. Thank you."

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Allu Arjun (@alluarjunonline)

Speaking of Pushpa 2: The Rule, the film directed by Sukumar and produced by Mythri Movie Makers will be released three years after the first film. Pushpa: The Rise, featuring Allu Arjun and Rashmika Mandanna, was released in 2021. While the two leads are reprising their roles, the upcoming action drama will also feature Fahadh Faasil, Jagapathi Babu, Dhananjaya, Rao Ramesh, Sunil and Anasuya Bharadwaj. Pushpa 2: The Rule is set to be released on December 5 in theatres worldwide.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 12:36 IST
Ram Gopal Varma To Be ARRESTED? Police Team Reaches His Andhra Home For Allegedly Defaming CM Naidu

Published By :

IANS

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 15:10 IST

Last week, Ram Gopal Varma had sought four days to appear before the police. However, he skipped the appearance before police on Monday.

There are allegations that RGV tarnished the reputation of CM Naidu. (Photo: IMDb)

A team of Andhra Pradesh Police reached the residence of filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma in Hyderabad on Monday as he failed to appear before them for questioning in a case related to posting derogatory content against Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his family members on social media.

Officials of Ongole Rural Police arrived at the residence of the controversial film director, who is likely to be arrested in the case. There was high drama as the police learnt that the filmmaker was not at home. He had reportedly left for Coimbatore.

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RGV, as the filmmaker is popularly known, had skipped the appearance before police on Monday.

Last week, he had sought four days to appear before the police. There are allegations that he tarnished the reputation of CM Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, Information and Technology Minister Nara Lokesh and others.

The police on November 11 registered a case against the filmmaker on a complaint by local Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Ramalingam. The complainant alleged that RGV made derogatory comments against CM Naidu, his son Nara Lokesh, other family members, and actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan during the promotional activity of his film Vyuham late last year.

The filmmaker had posted objectionable comments on social media platforms. A case under Section 336 (4) and 353 (2) of the BNS Act and also under Section 67 of the IT Act was booked against RGV at Maddipadu police station.

The police on November 13 served notice to the filmmaker, directing him to appear before the investigation officer at Maddipadu police station. RGV had approached the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which declined to grant interim relief. The court made it clear that it cannot order similar to the grant of bail in a quash petition.

RGV had sought interim orders exempting him from appearance before the investigating officer. When RGVs counsel told the court that the petitioner was facing the threat of arrest, the judge said the petitioner should file a bail petition.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 15:10 IST
Samantha Ruth Prabhu Opens Up On Bollywood's Pap Culture: 'I Have Never Called Paps...'

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: November 26, 2024, 00:38 IST

Despite her growing popularity, Samantha admits she is still adjusting to Bollywood's pervasive paparazzi culture.

Samantha Ruth Prabhu is currently seen on Citadel: Honey Bunny.

Samantha Ruth Prabhu, celebrated for her roles in Telugu blockbusters like Ye Maaya Chesave, Rangasthalam, and Eega, became a sensation in Bollywood with her portrayal of Raji, a Sri Lankan rebel operative in The Family Man 2. Her recent role in Citadel: Honey Bunny alongside Varun Dhawan further cemented her position in Hindi film industry. Despite her growing popularity, Samantha admits she is still adjusting to Bollywoods pervasive paparazzi culture.

In an interview with Galatta India, Samantha revealed her discomfort with being constantly photographed. It still gets to me. Every time I see a camera on my face, I have this little shudder. I know people think that celebs call the paps, but I honestly have never done that. Every time Im taken by surprise, and it still instills a little bit of fear," she confessed.

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Coming from the South Indian film industry, Samantha explained that the paparazzi culture is unfamiliar territory for her. In the South, theres no paparazzi culture. Its not something I grew up with or have been made familiar with. This is new for me," she said.

Samantha added, Im very used to switching on and off. Post-shoot, Im extremely how do I say this? Theres no fancy star quality about me. I cant claim Im simple, but I am extremely real. So when Im not working, I switch off completely. That leaves me vulnerable when Im caught off guard by a camera or someone taking my picture or video. Im still not used to it. I dont encourage it and Im not fond of that attention."

She further shared her unease with public speaking and hearing her own voice. Im not fond of hearing my own voice," she admitted with a smile.

First Published: November 26, 2024, 00:38 IST
Tamannaah Bhatia BREAKS Silence On Marriage Rumours With Vijay Varma: 'Shaadi Bhi Ho Sakti...'

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 21:36 IST

Tamannaah and Vijay reportedly began dating while working on Lust Stories 2, and fans have been eager to see more of them on screen.

Tamannaah Bhatia and Vijay Varma have been together since 2023.

Tamannaah Bhatia and Vijay Varma have become the centre of marriage rumours, with fans speculating about their future together. The actress, whos been riding high on success of her popular dance number Aaj Ki Raat from Stree 2, hinted at the possibility of tying the knot soon.

During a conversation with Hindustan Times, Tamannaah shared her thoughts on tying the knot with Vijay. She said, Shaadi bhi ho sakti hai, kyun nahi?"

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She stated, Marriage could happen, why not?" and expressed happiness with her current life. She also clarified that marriage wouldnt impact her professional journey, saying, For me, there is no connection between marriage and career. I am ambitious and will continue acting after marriage."

The couple reportedly began dating while working on Lust Stories 2, and fans have been eager to see more of them on screen. Addressing the possibility of collaborating again, Tamannaah said, Why not? If we find a good project, Vijay and I would love to do it."

As per a report by 123Telugu, the couple is planning a wedding in 2025 and has started searching for a luxurious apartment in Mumbai to settle in post-marriage. Though no official announcement has been made, sources suggest the duo is taking significant steps toward their future together.

Vijay Varma, in an earlier conversation with YouTuber Shubhankar Mishra, openly spoke about his relationship with Tamannaah. He shared, We truly enjoy each others company. Since we love spending time together, there was no reason to hide our feelings." Vijay further added that both he and Tamannaah felt comfortable being open about their relationship.

The rumours have sparked excitement among fans and within the industry, with many eagerly awaiting confirmation from the couple. As preparations for their potential wedding reportedly begin, fans cant wait to celebrate this union.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 21:36 IST
Virat Kohli's Sister Bhawna Kohli BREAKS Silence On Alleged Photos Of Anushka's Son Akaay: 'It's Not Our...'

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 15:45 IST

Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli welcomed their son Akaay earlier this year. The couple has been fiercily protective about his identity.

Anushka Sharma, Virat Kohli spotted in Perth.

Virat Kohlis sister Bhawna Kohli Dhingra reacted to photos going viral claiming that it is the first photos of Virat and Anushka Sharmas son Akaay. On Sunday, cameras noticed a baby behind Anushka and fans believed that it was Akaay. Virushkas fans celebrated that they got to see Akaays face. However, Bhawna has clarified that the baby in the frame is not Akaay.

Taking to her Instagram Stories, Bhawna said, Have been seeing Virat and Anushkas friends daughter being mistaken for Akaay on social media. The child in the picture is not our Akaay. Thank you."

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Check out her post below:

Anushka and Virat welcomed their son Akaay in February this year. Anushka had been private about her pregnancy and directly announced the arrival on the baby in February. With abundant happiness and our hearts full of love, we are pleased to inform everyone that on 15th February, we welcomed our baby boy Akaay, Vamikas little brother into this world! We seek your blessings and good wishes in this beautiful time in our lives. We request you to kindly respect our privacy at this time. Love and gratitude, Virat & Anushka," the couple said in a statement on Instagram in February.

The actress shared the glimpse of the little one on the occasion of Virats birthday. On the occasion, Anushka shared a picture in which Virat was seen holding on to their son and their daughter Vamika. However, she covered their faces with heart emojis.

Anushka and Virat have a strict no-photo policy in place for their children. They have requested the paparazzi on multiple occasions to not take pictures of their kids. In an interview in Vogue India back in 2020, Weve thought about it a lot. We definitely do not want to raise a child in the public eyewe dont plan on engaging our child in social media. I think its a decision your child should be able to take. No kid should be made to be more special than the other. Its hard enough for adults to deal with it. Its going to be difficult, but we intend to follow through."

First Published: November 25, 2024, 15:44 IST
Opinion | Constitution@75: Why India Veered Away From The US Model

Written By :

News18.com

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 14:49 IST

Unlike the US, India emerged from colonial rule and partition. This context shaped its constitutional choices, favouring a strong central authority and parliamentary democracy

The Indian Constitution (1949), as published by the Government of India, spanned 278 pages. The recent diglot edition (2022) extends to 400 pages. (Representative image)

The first three words of the constitutions of the US (1787) and India (1949) are tellingly common  We, the People". The expression was apparently imported by Sir BN Rau, the Constitutional Adviser, who submitted his draft Constitution in October 1947. This draft Constitution was shared with the Drafting Committee on October 27, 1947. The Drafting Committee, chaired by Dr BR Ambedkar, chose to retain these words though changed the rest of the Preamble based on the Objectives Resolution (introduced by Jawaharlal Nehru on December 13, 1946) adopted by the Constituent Assembly on January 22, 1947. The expression appears in the Draft Constitution (1948) prepared by the Drafting Committee.

The American Constitution (1787) should be noted for at least three pathbreaking achievements. First, it identified people as the source of sovereignty, even as the American War of Independence (1775-83) had catapulted common people to the forefront of history, thereby successfully challenging the divine right/instrumentality of monarchy, as exemplified by the British sovereign, George III. Second, it introduced the concept of a written and unified constitution, which, by default, places certain limitations on the powers of the legislature and executive. This very feature also renders it subject to judicial review. Third, it globally popularised the concept of a Constituent Assembly (Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia, 1787) as a model for formulating constitutions.

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When the Constituent Assembly first met on December 9, 1946, to formulate the Constitution of India, Dr Sachchidananda Sinha, the seniormost member, was made the temporary chairman. Dr Sinha invoked the example of the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia (1787), as a model for framing independent federal constitutions in various countries across the world. For more than a century, Indian constitutionalists had looked towards the British Parliament to achieve constitutional/political reforms under the colonial government. However, Britain furnishes no example of constitutional law different from statutory laws.

In Britain, Parliament is supreme, and can do everything, as Jean-Louis de Lolme famously stated, except make a woman a man, and a man a woman". All constitutional developments in colonial India had come down from the British Parliament, beginning with the Regulating Act, 1773 to the Government of India Act, 1935. However, when the hour of reckoning came for Indians to frame their own Constitution, they looked towards the American example of the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention (1787).

The American model held an additional appeal for the Indians, as independent India was poised to set up a federal polity. While it is true that the British under the Government of India Act, 1935 had redistributed the powers to the provinces thus forming a federal type of government, the federation that the Congress aimed for an independent India was of a more pronounced nature. With the Muslim League remaining opposed to the Congress dominance, to the extent of absenting themselves from the Constituent Assemblys proceedings, and the loyalties of princely states still undecided, the Congress was ready to concede greatest possible autonomy to the provinces, reserving only a few subjects to the Centre. This approach, however, could have dangerously undermined the authority of the Centre.

The exit of the Muslim League from the scene, with the partition of India, proved to be a blessing in disguise. It removed a cankerous element from the body politic of India, thereby helping other constituents reach a consensus on the Constitution. The worlds longest-written Constitution, comprising 395 articles and eight Schedules, was adopted within less than three years.

There was a dilemma regarding the type of democracy India would adoptparliamentary, presidential, or a mixed system. During the early sessions of the Constituent Assembly, there was a strong sentiment in favour of the American presidential system. This inclination was reflected in certain decisions of the Assembly, as noted by Constitutional Adviser B. N. Rau. He explains that this was evident not only in the mode of election for the head of the Federation and the heads of the constituent states but also, to some extent, in the relationships between the heads of states and their ministers. However, the current was already ebbing by June 1948 when Rau addressed IAS probationers in New Delhi (B.N. Rau, Indias Constitution in the Making, P.316).

Raus brother, B Shiva Rao, who was also a member of the Constituent Assembly, notes that the Union Constitution Committee, at its meetings on 8 and 9 June 1947, unequivocally decided in favour of the parliamentary form of government. In this system, the President would not possess any special powers personally vested in him but would exercise all functions, including the dissolution of the lower chamber of Parliament, on the advice of his ministers (The Framing of Indias Constitution: A Study, p. 339).

BR Ambedkar, while presenting the Draft Constitution before the Constituent Assembly on November 4, 1948, captured the relative merits and drawbacks of the presidential and parliamentary forms of government.

He described it lucidly: The Presidential system of America is based on the separation of Executive and Legislature. So that the President and his Secretaries cannot be members of the Congress. The Draft Constitution does not recognise this principle. Only members of Parliament can become Ministers. Ministers have the same rights as the other members of Parliament namely, that they can sit in Parliament, take part in debates and vote in its proceedings. Both systems of Government are of course democratic and the choice between the two is not easy. A democratic executive must satisfy two conditions  (1) it must be a stable executive and (2) it must be a responsible executive. Unfortunately, it has not been possible so far to devise a system which can ensure both in equal degree. You can have a system which can give you more stability but less responsibility or you can have a system which gives you more responsibility but less stability. The American and Swiss systems give you more stability but less responsibility. The British system on the other hand gives you more responsibility but less stability."

II

The most striking difference between the American Constitution and the Indian Constitution lies in their length and use of language. The US Constitution originally comprised 4,543 words, which, with 27 amendments, has increased to 7,591 words. It can be easily read in a single sitting. In contrast, the Constitution of India (1949), as published by the Government of India, spanned 278 pages. The recent diglot edition (2022) extends to 400 pages. The US Constitutions clarity and brevity stand in sharp contrast to the legalistic language of the Indian Constitution, which makes it far less accessible for casual reading. For example, the phrase notwithstanding anything", which has the power to nullify the main proposition within an article, clause, or part, appears 115 times in the text.

What explains the difference in length between the US and Indian constitutions? The answer lies in differing historical contexts and perspectives. The framing of the Indian Constitution coincided with the attainment of independence. Its drafters were creating a governing document for a newly sovereign nation that needed to establish itself as a stable democracy in the global arena. This explains their preference to secure many things in the Constitution, which could have been otherwise left to statutory lawmaking, as in the US or Japan.

The United States, on the other hand, sought to avoid adopting a written constitution for as long as possible. This explains why, despite gaining independence in 1783, the Philadelphia Convention was not convened until 1787. While the Declaration of American Independence (1776) coincided with the War of Independence (177583), there was no comparable urgency to frame a constitution. Viscount James Bryce (1893) notes that in 1777, the 13 American states formed a firm league of friendship" for both offensive and defensive purposes during the war by drafting the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. Under these articles, each state retained its sovereignty, freedom and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled."

This confederation, not ratified by every state till 1781, was a league rather than a national government, which virtually possessed no central authority or had any jurisdiction over individual citizens. There was no federal executive, federal judiciary and no means of raising the money except by voluntary contributions, which states were slow to render, and no power to compel the obedience of either states or individuals (The American Commonwealth Vol-1, P.20).

George Washington described the affairs as no better than anarchy. It was the sad experience of internal difficulties and the contempt with which the foreign governments treated them, affirms Viscount Bryce, that at last produced a feeling that some firmer and closer union was needed. A convention of delegates from five states met at Annapolis, Maryland in 1786. It drew up a report to condemn the existing affairs, and recommended that Articles of Confederation should be revised (The American Commonwealth Vol-1, P.21).

The Philadelphia Convention (1787) was the outcome of the Annapolis Conference. 55 delegates sat for nearly five months to draft the Constitution of the US. The debates were all secret, and not published before 1819. The US Constitution, it might be seen, is minimalist as the states were suspicious of a strong central authority. The Constitution actually came as a compromise.

The situation in India was markedly different. India emerged as a successor to British India, already unified as a nation. The framers of the Indian Constitution aimed to establish a strong, united, and viable democracy. This aspiration explains the unitary bias" present in Indias Constitution. Initially, princely states were granted the freedom to draft their own constitutions and join the Union of India on their own terms. However, this approach was later deemed unnecessary, resulting in a single Constitution for the entire nation.

An interesting feature of both the US and Indian Constitutions, known for their federal polity, is the complete absence of the word federation in either. In the deliberations of various committees of the Constituent Assembly, and even in the first draft of the Indian Constitution (October 1947) prepared by BN Rau, the term federation was used. However, the Drafting Committee, chaired by BR Ambedkar, replaced it with the term Union for India, which became the standard description. Similarly, the US Constitution, in its Preamble, refers to forming a more perfect Union".

A constitution is essentially a rulebook for the government, inclusive of all its branches viz. legislature, executive and judiciary. There are certain sections which also relate to the people, making it a peoples document. The first ten amendments to the US Constitution, collectively known as the Bill of Rights (1789), marked the first recognition of fundamental rights in world history. Similarly, the Fundamental Rights in the Indian Constitution (Articles 12 to 35) have been assigned a dedicated section, Part III.

However, the recent effort to transform the Constitution of India from a document to a deity (a holy book) appears somewhat misplaced. The makers of the Indian Constitution did not perceive it in such a light.

That said, it must be acknowledged that the US Constitution has historically resonated more deeply with its citizens. For instance, under the Naval Act of 1794, when the USA commissioned its first six frigates, one was named USS Constitution. This connection, however, stems not just from the brevity and clarity of the text but also from the unique historical nature of the American republic. The USA, being a relatively recent creation in world history, is an immigrant nation with little ancient or medieval history to boast about. It can best express its national identity through its Constitution.

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India, on the other hand, is an ancient civilisation, with a long history of cultural continuity despite political disruptions. As such, Indians have less need to turn their Constitution into a deity.

The writer is author of the book The Microphone Men: How Orators Created a Modern India (2019) and an independent researcher based in New Delhi. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 14:34 IST
Beijing (Gasgoo)- Chinese new energy vehicle maker NETA Auto and its partner PT Surya Mobil Abadi recently announced the opening of a new 3S dealership in North Jakarta's Pluit district. This milestone reflects NETA Auto's commitment to the Indonesian market.

Photo credit: NETA Auto

NETA Auto announced last month it has fully launched its sales operations in Indonesia, introducing the NETA V as its first model, priced at 3.79 million Indonesian rupiah (approximately 170,000 yuan). In November 2023, NETA signed an agreement with PT Handal Indonesia Motor (HIM) to commence local production of its vehicles in the second quarter of 2024 through KD assembly, marking a significant step forward in its regional expansion.

Opening ceremony; photo credit: NETA Auto

Currently, NETA Auto has operated 11 3S and 4S dealerships across Indonesia, and plans to increase the total to over 20 by the end of 2024, providing enhanced customer services nationwide.

Beyond Indonesia, NETA Auto has expanded into South America, Africa, and the Middle East. In March this year, the company began mass production at its KD factory in Thailand, followed by local manufacturing in Indonesia in June. Additionally, it inaugurated its first African flagship store in Nairobi, Kenya, in June, and launched its popular NETA X model in Uzbekistan in October.

Looking ahead, NETA Auto aims to strengthen its foothold in Southeast Asia while pursuing opportunities in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.
Opinion | The Maha Mandate: MVA Swept Away By The Modi Tsunami

Written By :

News18.com

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 14:17 IST

In the past 50 years, no party or pre-poll alliance has achieved a victory of such magnitude in Maharashtra as the Mahayuti. Clearly, the Modi waveif anythinghas grown stronger and more impactful

Maharashtras 2024 results, delivering a clear majority to the Mahayuti, put an end to speculation about any political instability. (PTI)

Maharashtra has become the sixth state in India to give the BJP a historic mandate for the third time in recent years. Previously, states such as Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, and Haryana delivered resounding mandates to the BJPsome for the second consecutive time, some for the third, and Odisha for the first time ever.

In the past 50 years, no party or pre-poll alliance has achieved a victory of such magnitude in Maharashtra as the BJP-led Mahayuti. Development, rule of law, and social justice triumphed, while the lies, deceit, divisive forces, and dynastic politics exemplified by the Oppositions MVA were defeated. More significantly, the Maharashtra victory once again underscored the resonance of the slogan Modi hai toh mumkin hai. Clearly, the Modi waveif anythinghas grown stronger and more impactful, delivering when it mattered most and excelling with the mantra Ek hain toh safe hain.

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It is important to note here that while Rahul Gandhi and the Congress repeatedly invoked Dr Babasaheb Ambedkars name to serve their vested political interests, they did nothing to preserve or promote the legacy of this towering Dalit icon. Thanks to Prime Minister Modis efforts, Babasaheb Ambedkar will receive a befitting tribute through a 450-foot-tall memorial (350-foot statue plus a 100-foot pedestal) at the sprawling 12-acre Indu Mills compound in Mumbais Dadar. The memorial will be completed by May 2026.

Similarly, at a cost of over Rs 3,600 crore, Maharashtras enduring pride, the magnificent Shiv Smarak dedicated to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, is set to become a sight to behold. This project, too, has been made possible through Prime Minister Modis personal intervention, with every effort being made to ensure its timely completion. The statue will be located 1.5 km off Mumbais Girgaum Chowpatty beach on a man-made rocky island. On 24 December 2016, during the foundation stone-laying ceremony by PM Modi, volunteers collected water from countless rivers across Maharashtra and soil from Shivajis various forts to mark the occasion.

The limited point is thisBy honouring the enduring legacies of Maharashtras greatest legends, PM Modi has reignited a sense of pride that had been lost under successive Congress regimes, which ignored our veers (heroes), including Veer Savarkar, one of the bravest figures in Indian history.

In October 2024, in a historic decision, Marathithe language spoken by millions in Maharashtra and beyondwas officially declared a classical language by the Modi government, alongside Pali, Assamese, and Bengali. Until now, India recognised six classical languages: Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Odia, and Malayalam. This recognition is expected to enhance the prestige and promotion of Marathi, encouraging further research, education, and cultural activities. It also highlights the significance of Marathia language with a history spanning at least 2,000 yearsas a vibrant and integral part of Indias linguistic and cultural diversity.

This long-overdue recognition by the Modi government has strengthened the BJPs bond with the Marathi community, who see the party as one that finally acknowledged their rich cultural heritage and literary tradition. The decision also delivered electoral dividends, and rightly so. Even beyond Maharashtra, Marathis settled in Nigeria have applauded this move by PM Modi. Marathis form a significant ethnic group in Nigeria and other parts of West Africa, making this recognition a source of pride for their global community.

Coming back to the Opposition, it completely lost its momentum in the past few months. A desperate Uddhav Thackeray repeatedly claimed to represent the real Shiv Sena. However, the former chief ministerwhose government fell in 2022 when he resigned timidly via a Facebook Live broadcast rather than facing a trust vote on the floor of the Assemblysecured far fewer seats than his rival, Eknath Shindes party, this time.

Uddhav has also repeatedly alleged that he was backstabbed by the BJP, refusing to acknowledge that he lost his party symbol and the majority of his party MLAs, not because of the BJP, but due to his own mismanagement and incompetence. The question of who backstabbed whom is no longer a matter of debate; it has been conclusively settled.

The electorate of Maharashtra has spoken decisively, delivering a significant blow to Uddhavs Hinduphobic politics. The lynching of the Palghar sadhus in front of 300 policemen in April 2020, while then-Chief Minister Uddhav remained a mute spectator, marked a turning point. The silent anger that brewed then found its resolute voice in 2024, with Hindus in Maharashtra rejecting MVAs brazen Hinduphobia.

As for Rahul Gandhi, his polarising brand of caste-census-oriented narrative, that only sought to divide Hindus along caste lines, was soundly rejected too. The Congress received a humiliating drubbing in Maharashtra, recording its worst-ever performance in the state. What initially seemed like a neck-and-neck contest between the Mahayuti and the MVA turned into a completely one-sided affair, with the Mahayuti securing a landslide victory. The BJP outperformed its previous record of 122 seats in the 2014 Assembly elections by winning an impressive 132 out of the 149 seats it contested this time in 2024.

In the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP won 105 seats. However, the BJP faced setbacks in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, winning only 9 of the 28 seats it contested, compared to the 23 out of 25 seats it secured in 2019. Therefore, the 2024 assembly elections where the BJP rose from the ashes like a phoenix and registered a massive success rate of 89 per cent, has to be one of the greatest political comebacks in recent memory. The partys allies, Shiv Sena (Shinde faction), which won 57 seats, and the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction), which secured 41 seats, also surpassed their own expectations. Together with smaller allies, the Mahayuti won 233 out of the 288 seats.

The MVA was demolished and decimated, with the Uddhav Thackeray group winning just 20 seats, the Congress 16, and the Sharad Pawar faction only 10. The MVAs performance was so dismal that the State Assembly may not even have a Leader of the Opposition (LoP), as no faction within the MVA managed to secure the mandatory minimum of 29 seats required for LoP status.

Learning a lesson from the Lok Sabha debacle, the Mahayuti got to work soon after June 2024. The BJP took the lead in propagating a counter-narrative and setting its own agenda, forcing the MVA to play on its pitch.

For the Opposition, everything seems to have gone wrong. Following the INDIA blocs Lok Sabha success, egos clashed, cohesion was lacking, and their campaign narrative failed to resonate. State Congress President Nana Patole and Uddhav Thackeray struggled to agree on seat-sharing, delaying the alliances preparations. They criticised the Mahayutis Ladki Bahin Yojana but soon announced a similar scheme, promising to double the entitlement amount for women. Unsurprisingly, the electorate of Maharashtra saw through the MVAs charades. Rahul Gandhi desperately tried his regressive caste-census diatribe that backfired completely, leaving the Congress humiliated and humbled. The MVA could not even cobble together 50 seats, marking one of its most catastrophic defeats in the face of the relentless Modi tsunami.

Everyone wrote off the BJP after the partys 2024 Lok Sabha performance in Maharashtra but the spectacular comeback by the saffron party is stuff that folklores are made of. Schemes like Ladki Bahin emerged as a game changer. Launched in August 2024, it reached 2.34 crore women who received Rs 7500 each, over four odd months. With 4.60 crore women voters in Maharashtra, that proved decisive. Beyond Ladki Bahin, other welfare measures contributing to the victory included waiving farmers electricity bills (costing Rs 15,000 crore), providing Rs 2500 crore in minimum support price (MSP) related subsidies to soybean and cotton farmers, and so on and so forth.

The Maratha reservation protests emerged as another significant factor in the electoral discourse. This issue had cost the Mahayuti some seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. However, despite Maratha protest leader Manoj Jarange-Patils call to vote against the Mahayuti in the assembly polls, the BJP successfully countered this challenge. It effectively mobilised non-Maratha Hindu voters by consolidating the Mali, Dhangar, and Vanjari communities.

For the Opposition, particularly Uddhav Thackeray, an existential crisis looms. The Congress is likely to face internal discord, with knives out from its INDIA bloc allies. Beyond state politics, these results will weaken the INDIA bloc and undermine the Congress partys narrative on the caste census, which has evidently failed at the hustings, taking down with it Rahul Gandhis false bravado and misplaced hubris.

The MVAs defeat runs deeper than just the numbers. Several prominent leaders lost their seats. For instance, Congress veteran Balasaheb Thorat, a nine-time contestant and Chief Ministerial aspirant; Ruturaj Patil, nephew of Congress strongman Satej Patil from Kolhapur South; former Health Minister Rajesh Tope in Ambad; and Dhiraj Deshmukh, son of former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, in Latur Rural, were among the notable losers. Meanwhile, Mahayuti leaders secured significant victories, including Eknath Shinde in Kopri-Pachpakhadi, Devendra Fadnavis in Nagpur Southwest, Ajit Pawar in Baramati, and several others, including the BJPs Sambhaji Nilangekar.

Maharashtras 2024 results, delivering a clear majority to the Mahayuti, put an end to speculation about any political instability. This decisive mandate is a resounding vindication of Prime Minister Modis political capital and his unmatched political acumen. It represents a vote for Modis Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, and Sabka Prayas narrative, which embodies inclusivity and unity.

This unifying theme of political inclusion paid significant dividends in Maharashtra, with even Muslim women in many areas voting in good numbers for Mahayuti candidates, rejecting the MVAs politics of appeasement. Several Muslim-dominated regions in Konkan, Vidarbha, Marathwada, and Mumbai decisively rejected the MVA.

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The Mahayutis landslide victory transcended socio-economic, gender, caste, and religious barriers. While the contributions of local leadership deserve huge credit, a victory of such magnitude for the BJP in Maharashtra required a far more substantial force multiplier. That force multiplier was none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose charismatic ability to unify people extends far beyond mundane electoral arithmetic.

Sanju Verma is an Economist, National Spokesperson for BJP and Bestselling Author of The Modi Gambit". Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 14:17 IST
Opinion | Why BJPs Kedarnath Win Was Essential For PM Modis Vishwas Ki Dor

Written By :

News18.com

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 18:43 IST

BJPs victory in the Kedarnath bypolls is more than just a political win. It highlights how PM Modis 'Vishwas Ki Dor' has solidified womens faith in his leadership and policies

The Kedarnath bypoll win represents a cultural reassertion of the BJP's dominance in Uttarakhand. (Representative image: PTI)

The Kedarnath bypoll win represents a cultural reassertion of the BJPs dominance in Uttarakhand. The BJPs victory stems from a complex yet natural amalgamation of womens empowerment, development, fair temple administration, work that overcomes conflicts of interest and propaganda, and the peoples appetite for stability. The Congress has been unable to extricate itself from Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhamis stronghold or challenge his focused vision. Dhamis political style in Kedarnath, as chief minister, centres on sustaining what PM Modi has initiated and creating what Dhami himself envisions for Kedarnath and Uttarakhand. This win was crucial for the BJPs commitment to continuitybe it developmental, cultural, or spiritual.

Women voters in Kedarnath are among the most perceptive in Uttarakhands hill districts. They consistently assert their dominance over men in strengthening the Vishwas ki dorthe thread of trustthat connects them to PM Narendra Modi, both in numbers and emotion. Through their turnout at the booths, they have subtly conveyed that they perceive development and policies differently from men and youth.

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With cautious optimism, women voters have kept the political bravado of the two main political parties, especially the BJP, focused on pragmatic and Kedarnath-oriented governance in a region prone to confrontational politics. By supporting women candidates like Asha Nautiyal, who secured victory in the recent Kedarnath bypoll, and the late MLA Shaila Rani Rawat in the past, the women of Kedarnath have sent a powerful message. Their faith in their own gender highlights a unique way of defining politics in alignment with the preservation of dharma.

Three-time MLA and a popular leader in Kedarnath, Asha Nautiyal secured 23,814 votes, winning by a margin of 5,622 votes. With this recent victory, Nautiyal has reinforced a pattern evident from her repeated successes in Kedarnaththat this assembly seat, home to the revered Jyotirling, favours women candidates. Congress candidate Manoj Rawat, on the other hand, garnered 18,192 votes. Continuing a trend often linked to the popularity of PM Modi, his work, and his policies in Uttarakhand and at the Centre, the percentage of women voters in the Kedarnath poll once again surpassed that of men. Womens voter turnout in the Kedarnath bypoll stood at 61.64 per cent compared to 55.65 per cent for men.

The first takeaway from the BJPs Kedarnath bypoll win is that women voters can not only help the BJP withstand anti-incumbency and defeat propaganda, but also emerge as crucial custodians of power for the party in assembly seats that are home to devasthanas. To achieve this, communication must be channelled effectively, and the benefits of development highlighted, reiterated, and reinforced through meaningful interactions during the campaignsomething the BJP has managed successfully.

Second, development alone is not always sufficient. The Congress, as a key member of the INDIA bloc, has demonstrated that with persistent and sharp narrative-building and by tapping into local sentiment, it can erode the BJPs support base and numbers. This holds true even in the face of visible, tangible developmental work and people-centric policies driven by the Centre-state partnership of the double-engine government.

Third, Kedarnath has responded positively to the BJP despite the governments indications during the recently concluded Char Dham Yatra that temple administration would need to be streamlined under an umbrella body to manage the increasing pilgrim influx.

Fourth, CM Dhami has solidified his image as a leader offering amicable, people-centric solutions, promoting honourable narratives, and finding acceptable resolutions to controversies targeting him and his government.

Fifth, efforts by certain politicians in the state to stir up regionalismpitting Garhwal against Kumaon using the Char Dham Yatra as a pretexthave failed once again. This outcome suggests that the broader interests of local communities, the state, and pilgrim safety outweighed the conflicts of interest held by stakeholders of the Char Dham Yatra.

Sixth, Kedarnath voted in favour of the BJP despite initial anger over the governments innovative practice of diverting and channelling pilgrims to other temples in the region. This measure was introduced to regulate traffic in the Himalayan region and prioritise pilgrim safety and security before they reached the four Dhams. Dhami faced criticism from the opposition for the growing pilgrim influx at Kainchi Dham, with accusations that he was deliberately diverting yatris to Kumaon, the region he hails from.

Seventh, Dhami successfully dismantled the Congresss sole opportunity to embarrass the BJP on a national stage. Eighth, certain sections of the media exhibited a strong inclination to link the BJPs loss in Faizabad (which includes the Ayodhya assembly seat) with potential defeats in Badrinath and Kedarnath. However, such comparisons proved futile, as the factors and circumstances influencing these seats bear no meaningful correlation.

The higher turnout of women compared to men in Uttarakhand polls is often attributed to their trust in Modi, his women-centric policies, and his distinct work ethic. Women voters in the state have stated to this writer, during both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, that Modis work culture resonates with the work culture practised by the laborious pahadi" women. In the 2022 Uttarakhand Assembly elections, women voters significantly contributed to the BJPs victory, with 67.20 per cent voting in favour of the party, compared to 62.60 per cent of male voters. Studies have also shown that womens voting percentages in the nine hill districts of Uttarakhand improved in 2022 compared to 2017. To maintain and grow this exclusive base of womens support, the BJP will need to focus on nurturing trust and further enhancing its engagement with women voters.

Among the BJP leaders who played a key role in the partys Kedarnath bypoll campaign was BJYM national vice president and spokesperson Neha Joshi. Joshi highlighted that Asha Nautiyals candidature significantly strengthened the BJPs connection with voters, particularly women. She remarked, As a former MLA, Asha Nautiyal ji and her work are well-known in Kedarnath, which played a major role in the BJPs victory. I felt that people definitely have a soft corner for her, and it helped the BJP win despite anti-incumbency and the propaganda surrounding the Char Dham Yatra." Joshi also noted that interactions with voters during the campaign revealed that womens faith in PM Modi, his policies, and his work remains unwavering.

A sharp statement on the Kedarnath bypoll came from Ajendra Ajay, chairman of the Shri Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC), the autonomous body responsible for overseeing worship, rituals, prasad distribution, and the preservation and maintenance of the Badrinath and Kedarnath devasthans. Ajay asserted that the Congresss defeat was a direct result of its negative politics surrounding Kedarnath and the Kedarnath Temple. Voters have given the Congress a befitting reply for the negativism in its politics and the negative campaign it ran for the Kedarnath bypoll. Unki nakaratmakta rajniti thi."

Ajay accused the Congress of misleading the public on three key issues related to the Kedarnath Temple. In his statement, he highlighted these issues: alleged diversion" during the Char Dham Yatra; accusations of gold theft intended for the sanctum sanctorums gold plating; and controversy surrounding the establishment of a temple in Delhi, perceived to be modelled on the Kedarnath Temple. The BJP has frequently suggested that locals are instigated by the Congress on matters concerning vyavasthaa blend of discipline, security, and organisationthat the government strives to maintain.

In 2025, the Dhami-led government is expected to return with intensified efforts to address the challenges posed by the unprecedented rise in pilgrim numbers. According to a report, as of 21 October 2024, 14,46,921 pilgrims visited Kedarnath out of the total 42,92,760 participating in the Char Dham Yatra.

The coordination between the government and the Shri Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) in managing Yatra operations, safety, and tourism has produced some outcomes that are unique to Uttarakhand and exclusive to Kedarnath. The successfully concluded Yatra from May to November, increased pilgrim numbers, enhanced facilities, and better organisation of the pilgrimage journey towards the darshan are factors that eventually percolate into life, livelihoods, offerings at temples, incomes, local prosperity, security, assurance of the continuation of hereditary rights of the Purohits, and above all, the continuity of villages of Kedarnath. The seamless government-BKTC collaboration underpins all these achievements.

No matter how many attempts are made to stir up issues or provoke controversies, the government-BKTC partnership in the unique structure of temple administration in Kedarnath has left a positive impact on the lives of the people. Dhami, much like Modi, is associated with credibility, promise, the fulfilment of promises, and trust. In July 2024, the Uttarakhand government proposed a law to prohibit organisations and trusts from using the names of the Char Dhams. Recognising a growing cultural controversy, as Purohits strongly opposed the construction of a temple modelled on Kedarnath Dham, in Delhi, Dhami assured them that the name of the Dham would not be used. Given that Dhami was able to calm tensions and avert another protest during the Yatra, thereby restoring faith, it can be argued that Congress has misjudged his stamina and resilience in resolving such issues.

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The BJPs hard-earned success in Kedarnath is underrated and deserves to be replicated at other devasthanas. The BJP has successfully established a clear contrast in its politics, which it describes as sakaraatmak (positive), compared to the nakaraatmak (negative) politics of the Congress, and it is learning to effectively counter such tactics.

Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 18:43 IST
'Monster Who Disrespects Women': Kangana Ranaut Slams Uddhav Thackeray After MVA's Poll Rout

Curated By :

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Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 15:21 IST

BJP MP Kangana Ranaut launched a scathing attack against Uddhav Thackeray, calling him "Daitya" who "met his fate because he disrespected women."

BJP MP Kangana Ranaut and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray | File Image/ANI

After Maha Vikas Aghadis crushing defeat in the Maharashtra Assembly election, actor-turned-politician and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut launched a scathing attack against Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday, calling him Daitya (monster)" who met his fate because he disrespected women."

I expected such a bad failure of Uddhav Thackeray. We can identify who is a devta (god) and who is a daitya (monster) depending on if they respect women or work for their welfare," Ranaut said while speaking to reporters in Mumbai.

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Ranaut recalled her clashes with the MVA government, led by Uddhav Thackeray in 2020, when the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation demolished alleged illegal alterations at her Bandra bungalow.

#WATCH | Delhi | On Maharashtra Assembly elections, BJP MP Kangana Ranaut says,  I had anticipated his (Uddhav Thackerays) loss Those who disrespect women are monsters and they met their fate, they lost They demolished my house and even used foul words against me, so pic.twitter.com/dU4tbihTyo ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2024

He faced the same fate as daitya", the Mandi MP said. They demolished my house and even used foul words against me, so it was evident that they had lost their sense of right and wrong," Ranaut added, pointing out that such actions have consequences.

Before the demolition exercise at her bungalow, Ranaut had said she feared the Mumbai Police more than the movie mafia" and likened the Maharashtra capital to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Mahayutis Maha Win

The BJP-led Mahayuti on Saturday secured a landslide victory in Maharashtra, bagging a whopping 230 of the 288 assembly seats, as the Congress-led MVAs dream of wresting power fizzled, with the opposition combine managing to garner just 46 seats.

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Notably, none of the MVA constituents secured the minimum number of seats mandatory to claim the post of leader of opposition in the assembly.

Reacting to Mahayutis massive victory in Maharashtra, Ranaut lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modis leadership and said he was born for the salvation of the country and is invincible". The people of Maharashtra voted for development and a stable government, she added.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 08:02 IST
'BJP Biggest Party, Must Have Decided Something': Ajit Pawar On Maharashtra Govt Formation

Curated By :

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Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 13:01 IST

Ahead of the government formation in Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar has said the decision on the next chief minister would be made after the Mahayuti alliance partners meet and discuss.

Ajit Pawar (Photo: PTI)

Amid the speculations over the next Maharashtra chief minister, Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar on Monday said the decision on the same would be taken after leaders of all the Mahayuti alliance sit together. However, he also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party must have decided something" over the same.

Pawar also confirmed that discussions on the post and the government formation formula were already underway.

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We will decide the formula for the chief minister post by sitting together. The BJP is the largest, they must have decided something," Pawar said while speaking to reporters in Satara district of the state.

Pawar also acknowledged the contribution of the governments Ladki Bahin scheme, which provides financial assistance to women, in the Mahayutis victory in the just-concluded state assembly polls.

The expectations of people from us have increased, and we will give them a very stable and strong government," Pawar said.

This is the first time in the history of Maharashtra that an alliance has achieved large-scale success. Earlier, we have seen the wave of Indira (Gandhi) Ji and Rajiv Gandhi. But this time Maharashtra had decided something different."

We tried to reach the common people with the schemes without any impact on development work, did not discriminate on the basis of caste, religion or anything," he said.

On the government formation, Pawar said, Government in the state should be formed by November 27, after which there wont be presidential rule."

ALSO READ | BJP, NCP Back Fadnavis For Maharashtra CM, Sena Camp Pushes For Shindes Return: Sources

MAHARASHTRA ELECTION 2024

In the Maharashtra poll results declared on November 23, the ruling Mahayuti, which comprises the BJP, Chief Minister Eknath Shindes Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP, bagged an impressive 230 of the 288 assembly seats.

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The focus has been on BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is being seen as a strong contender to occupy the top post for the third time, as his party bagged 132 of the 149 seats it contested in the state.

Notably, Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Deepak Kesarkar has said his party legislators feel Eknath Shinde should continue as the chief minister of the state, where the ruling Mahayuti scored a landslide victory in the assembly polls.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 12:59 IST
Google Might Never Launch Another Pixel Tablet Version In The Market: Know More

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 14:41 IST

The tablet space has been Google's weak spot over the years and the Pixel Tablet might not last long either

Google has warned that any action taken against it will not benefit small businesses but will allow tech behemoths like Amazon, Microsoft and TikTok to fill the void.

Googles tablet journey could end with the first Pixel Tablet that was announced in 2023. Thats right, we might never see a Pixel Tablet 2 or 3 version in the market, according to new reports. The companys tablet focus has been wavering for years and it seems that Google is now moving to other projects rather than invest its resources and money in a segment where it continues to falter against the might of the iPads. The Pixel Tablet 2 launch was recently said to be in the plans, but these new developments clearly have poured water in those expectations.

Pixel Tablet 2 Cancelled, What Happens Now

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The details about Googles plan to shelve the Pixel Tablet series comes via Android Authority. The company has asked the internal team working on tablets to focus on other projects. Googles tapered interest in the tablet is nothing new, and the fact that Pixel Tablet didnt get a wider release suggests the brand is happy to invest its future in other categories.

The update did come as a surprise to us, simply because another report tipped the launch of Pixel Tablet 2 in 2025 with a more powerful Tensor G4 chipset and support for the Gemini AI features. So, if Google has supposedly canned the Pixel Tablet 2, then what are the chances of a Tablet 3 coming out ever.

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Having said that, we did hear Google might merge ChromeOS with Android for a new platform that may run on a Pixel laptop, so that could be the reason for the tablet lineup going on the backburner once again and this time, it may never see the light.

The company does intend to make new Pixel phones, and the Pixel 9a could be the first to roll out in 2025. Thats not all, Google has already offered the Android 16 developer preview version, so a full release is expected in late Q1 2025 which is much earlier than its older versions.

Location : California, USA

First Published: November 25, 2024, 08:30 IST
6-Foot-2 New York Library Employee Files Lawsuit Over Crampy Desk Assignment

Curated By :

Trending Desk

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 14:36 IST

The employee is suing for $4.6 million, alleging that being assigned an ill-fitted desk caused severe physical and emotional distress.

The employee was recruited in 2021. (File photo/Shutterstock)

When it comes to workplace comfort, size matters! And for one New York Public Library employee, its become the basis of a lawsuit. William Martin, a 6-foot-2, 163-kg library assistant, is suing the library for $4.6 million, claiming that the cramped, ill-fitting desk he was assigned caused him both physical and emotional distress. Martin said that the desk at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library on Fifth Avenue was just too small for his frame, making it impossible to work without discomfort. Now, hes seeking legal action, demanding compensation for the toll it took on his well-being.

In a lawsuit filed in Brooklyn Federal Court, William Martin described the desk he was assigned as crampy," citing its swaying countertop and a 12-inch drop that made it physically uncomfortable. He was assigned this desk when he joined in October 2021. In his legal statement, as reported by the New York Post, Martin said, All I sought was just a service desk with the appropriate accommodation given my physical attributes."

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Martins union initially intervened to resolve the issue, temporarily relocating him to other service desks. But in June 2023, problems resurfaced when a new assistant director allegedly insisted he return to the small first-floor desk. Tensions escalated after Martin voiced his concerns and sought legal advice, leading to a full-blown dispute.

Martin alleged that the assistant director dramatically increased" his assignments to the cramped desk, a move he claimed was detrimental to his health and safety," according to the lawsuit. Court documents indicate that Martin believes this was a tactic by the director to bully" and intimidate" him, attempting to assert authority by showing him who is the boss."

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Martin was later accused of sleeping on the job, a charge he denied, calling it false." Following his suspension, he requested a transfer and medical leave, citing anxiety and depression. The lawsuit claims that the stress caused by the working conditions has taken a severe toll on his mental health. Martin reportedly trembles" at the prospect of returning to work. His condition, he says, has made him unable to perform in his current role.

Martin is now requesting that a judge mandate the library to approve a leave of absence and provide compensation for the distress he has endured. In response, a representative from the New York Public Library told The New York Post that the lawsuit is without merit" and emphasised the librarys commitment to addressing employee concerns and treating everyone with respect.

Location : Delhi, India

First Published: November 25, 2024, 14:36 IST
How This Canada Man Created Digital Art By Running 10 Km Everyday

Curated By :

Trending Desk

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 18:15 IST

The 32-year-old accountant blended his passion for running and editing to create the viral video using the route-tracking app Strava.

The masterpiece was the result of 121 runs through the streets of Toronto. (Photo Credit: X)

A 32-year-old chartered accountant from Toronto has captivated the internet by creating a dancing stick figure in a route-tracking app. Duncan McCabe, who combined his love for running and digital editing, spent months meticulously crafting his running routes into a stunning piece of digital art.

Using the popular route-tracking app Strava, McCabe planned his running paths to create a choreographed visual display. His project, which took shape over 121 runs between January and October 2024, turned into a viral video thats now taken the internet by storm.

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McCabes record of 121 runs, when stitched together, shows a stick figure dancing to Sofi Tukkers Purple Hat." Every single frame of the video  his second such creation after a similar project in 2023  involved McCabe running approximately 10 kilometres each day, as per the Fast Company.

McCabe was inspired by San Francisco Strava artist Lenny Maughan and Torontos Mike Scott, who drew a giant beaver across the city using his bikes GPS route in 2022, reported Canada Running. Similarly, he mapped out the stick man in the same size in the frames for 10 months.

McCabe said, I designed the hat early in January, but the hat doesnt actually come into the animation until July. I knew I was going to use that song the whole time. Thats what inspired ithim wearing a hat and him taking off the hat," in a conversation with blogTO,

He also added that he had to complete at least 120 runs or frames to make the animation look fluid. The same run, if I used 60 images, it would look very choppy; if you have a lot of frames, it looks fluid, so that was the motivation to keep doing it even in bad weather," McCabe explained.

Ive seen a lot of the Toronto running community, but this guy wins. pic.twitter.com/il9LBXyiSD Ben Steiner (@BenSteiner00) November 21, 2024

The fluid movements of the stick figure have captured the attention of many social media users. Since sharing, the 30-second clip has garnered more than 25 million views and over 407,000 likes. Users couldnt hold back from praising the artist and filled the comments section with appreciation.

This is insanely impressive," read a comment.

This is insanely impressive Armin (@itsarminbabaei) November 22, 2024

Another added, The amount of effort and planning that goes into this is insane."

The amount of effort and planning that goes into this is insane. https://t.co/Xr953Ml9UA Mac Stevenson (@MacStev3nson) November 22, 2024

This is one of the most impressive things Ive ever seen anyone do," commented a user.

This is one of the most impressive things Ive ever seen anyone do. Adam Briscoe (@AdamBriscoe7) November 22, 2024

An account remarked, Thats insane dedication!! Dude is winning."

That's insane dedication!! Dude is winning  dazzigar (@dazzigar) November 22, 2024

Hes on another level! Definitely the standout of the community," said an individual.

"He's on another level! Definitely the standout of the community Salman Ahmed Mortern (@PostMorternKing) November 22, 2024

Another X user praised, Most impressive thing I have seen this year. Kudos to Duncan."

Most impressive thing I have seen this year Kudos to Duncan  Vivek Choudhary (@ivivekch) November 23, 2024

Wow, Im so impressed. Never thought about this. Maybe Ill try it," expressed another.

Wow, Im so impressed. Never thought about this. Maybe, Ill try it. Mimi  x (@mwhite01) November 23, 2024

This isnt McCabes first attempt at creating Strava digital art through his runs. Last year, he made stick figures of various animals, including a dinosaur, a giraffe, a whale, and a shark, in the streets of Toronto after running 700 kilometres.

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McCabe isnt alone in hacking" Strava to create artwork or cartoons using the line drawings produced by the apps GPS tracking system. Theres a vibrant community of athletes who have embraced this creative approach, turning their runs and bike rides into fun and intricate pictures. Ive got good admiration for many of the great pieces of Strava art out there," McCabe says, citing Mike Scott, another Torontonian, who used cycle routes in 2022 to sketch an image of a beaver.

Duncan McCabe is an experienced finance professional from the Greater Toronto Area, as per his LinkedIn account. He currently works as a Senior Finance Manager at PointClickCare. Before that, he was a Financial Reporting Manager at Canada Goose. McCabe has also worked at Henrys, PwC in Australia and the UK, and in roles at McMaster University and the Canada Revenue Agency. He has strong skills in financial reporting, analysis, and management, with expertise in financial modeling and data analytics.

Location : Delhi, India

First Published: November 25, 2024, 18:15 IST
Im Leaving Bengaluru: Why This Startup Founder Is Moving To Pune After 14 Years

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 09:41 IST

A startup founder who spent over 14 years in Bengaluru is now relocating to Pune, Maharashtra. Read on to find out the reasons behind his decision to leave the Karnataka capital.

Bengaluru, often referred to as Indias Silicon Valley, ranks as one of the most populous cities in the country. (Representative image: Getty)

A startup founder who called Bengaluru home for over a decade has been moving up northwest to start afresh. Asthana Ujjawal, who is relocating to Pune, shared a note about Bengaluru and people cant help but share their own experiences of living in both the cities. Some even highlighted the stark differences between them.

I am leaving Bengaluru for Pune," wrote Ujjawal on X (formerly Twitter). He reflected on how the tech capital has been instrumental in shaping his life. From his first job and foreign trip to finding a life partner, making friends, building two successful businesses, securing funding, Bengaluru has been at the heart of it all. However, his decision to leave isnt rooted in feeling like an outsider" but rather in meeting the demands of his business.

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For those unaware, there has been growing criticism from locals regarding the influx of migrants into the city. Time and again, Bengaluru makes headlines as residents urge newcomers to learn Kannada if they wish to call the city home.

Read| Bengaluru Is Overrated, People Are Rude: Haryana Woman After Living In Tech Capital For Four Years

He added, I am not a local but there wasnt a day when I felt like an outsider  and if you are thinking thats because I live in a bubble of high rise and car  thats not the case. I have also lived the BMTC, auto, cab life in the city for longest time."

Ujjawal went on to say that the words cant describe his experience of living in Bengaluru, adding that people need to live beyond the cliches of weather, coffee, beer and startups" to feel what its like living in the Karnataka capital.

Bengaluru is not a city, it is a beautiful experience that is hard to explain in words. You experience it once you live with the people here and walk in the lanes of Jayanagar. People who call Bengaluru meh, need to live beyond the weather, coffee, beer and startups," Ujjawal further expressed.

The co-founder of Zymrat said that while hes excited to moving to Pune, he will continue returning to Bengaluru to walk through the lanes of the city where he spent more than 14 years of life and experienced all the ups and downs.

Also Read| Bengaluru Man Calls Out Sharan Hegdes Startup 1% Club For Expecting Free Work From Experts

In response to Ujjawals note, an X user Aviral Bhatnagar said, Pune is a great city to live in  good people, weather, food, vibes. Id say that it has the good parts of all Indian cities, and none of the extreme greats or bad. It also allows you to be an independent thinker, away from the noise and echo chambers."

Pune is Bengaluru at a smaller scale. Come!" declared another.

A third commented, You will love Pune. It is a beautiful city and it doesnt fail to make you feel like home."

Amazing. Bengaluru is truly the best despite all its flaws. Have a great stay in Pune," chimed in a fourth.

A fifth joined, Pune is Bengaluru, 10 years ago."

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Pune has the best of both worlds. Modern infra and greenery+mountains on the outskirts. Has a rich history and amazing food too," expressed a sixth.

Ujjawal started his career with Infosys as a software engineer in 2007 and joined British Telecom in 2009. Over the years, he worked with several other companies before founding ThoughtNirvana in 2011. In October 2017, he co-founded Zymrat, an activewear brand for men and women, which has since been acquired by the fashion brand Styched. Ujjawal is now building Gabit, a healthtech company founded by Gurugram-based entrepreneurs Gaurav Gupta (previously a co-founder of Zomato) and Arpana Shahi.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 09:21 IST
In Chhattisgarh's Korba And Janjgir-Champa, Fake Company Scams Women Of Rs 10 Crore

Curated By :

Local News Desk

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 12:07 IST

The members of the Flora Foundation Max Company have cheated on the unfortunate woman by gaining their trust.

They took around Rs 10-11 crore worth of money.

These days, the cases of money or loan fraud have become terrifyingly normal and nothing seems to work on it. In the Jangjir-Champa district of the Chhattisgarh state, women were loan scammed in money worth crores, Local18 reports. Here is all on the report.

The members of the Flora Foundation Max Company have cheated on the unfortunate woman by gaining their trust by leading them to dreams of becoming self-reliant and earning better for a good livelihood. The victims knocked on the door of the Janjgir Superintendent of Police office, hoping to get justice in this regrettable situation.

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As per more Local18 reports, the agents and operators of the fraudulent company shut it down and are now on the run. According to one of the victims, Ahilya Chauhan, a resident of the Basantpur village in the district, the fake company tricked the women into getting their loans from different banks by giving hope of golden dreams."

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Making them wish to start a small business, the company convinced a woman to get a loan in her name and made her invest an amount of Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000, added the reports. All the unfortunate women are residents of different villages in the district of Janjir-Champa. According to them, more than fifty thousand women from the districts of Korba and Jangjir are associated with the company and they have deposited around Rs 10-11 crore.

The women are now demanding that the company should pay the money back in deposits every month or simply return the amount to them. The Additional SP of the Jangjir-Champa district Umesh Kumar Kashyap says that a complaint has been lodged in this regard and the police will take action as soon as the investigation starts. A complaint was also registered in the Korba district and further action will be taken after receiving information from them.

Location : Delhi, India

First Published: November 25, 2024, 12:07 IST
Indian Living In US Shares Tips On How Not To Smell Like Curry, Sparks Debate

Curated By :

Trending Desk

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 15:19 IST

Social media users argued that such generalisations are often used to discriminate against people of Indian origin.

She said wearing specific cooking clothes helps minimise the lingering smell. (Photo Credits: Instagram)

Shivee Chauhan, an Indian content creator based in San Francisco, recently shared a video discussing her methods to prevent the lingering smell of Indian food" after cooking. In the clip, she outlined her strategies for dealing with the strong aromas of spices and onions often associated with Indian cuisine.

However, the video sparked widespread debate online, with some viewers accusing Chauhan of perpetuating a racial stereotype in the Westthat Indians smell like curry. Social media users argued that such generalisations are often used to discriminate against people of Indian origin. On the other hand, supporters appreciated her practical tips for maintaining a neutral scent after cooking aromatic dishes.

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In the video posted on Instagram, Chauhan shares that she loves cooking Indian food but dislikes how the smell of spices, onions and garlic sticks to her clothes. How to not smell like curry. I love my Indian food. But I also hate going out smelling like Indian food," she said.

Take a look:

To address the concern, Shivee Chauhan shared a solution: Wear designated cooking clothes" specifically for preparing meals. I have my cooking clothes that I wear while cooking. The smell of the onion, garlic and spices really sticks to the clothes that youre wearing. So, it is worth it to have clothes that you cook in and always, always change out of office clothes as soon as you come back home," Chauhan said.

I also change my clothes before going out so that they dont have that lingering smell of cooking," she added.

Chauhan also advised against wearing jackets in the kitchen as it can be difficult to get rid of the smell even after dry cleaning. To avoid this, she keeps her jackets in a closed closet when cooking. She also takes extra precautions by shutting the doors of rooms like her bedroom and entryway closet. Turning on the vent and opening the balcony gate were additional suggestions Chauhan mentioned to get the smell out.

If you like, you can also swap the pungent-smelling red onion for the less pungent white onion. The food wont taste the same though," she concluded.

The video, which has amassed nearly 8 million views, sparked a debate. A user commented, I think this is a white people concept."

How can someone even smell like curry," someone asked.

A person said, Good tips for all, not just Indian people."

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One angry user asked, Do you have different skin you use for cooking too?"

Meanwhile, an individual suggested, Heat coffee powder in a pan for some time which will neutralize the cooking smell. Also keep baking soda in small perforated containers in closets, near stoves, inside fridge and ovens, which will absorb the molecules which cause a strong smell."

Location : Delhi, India

First Published: November 25, 2024, 15:19 IST
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.

Hyundai Motor Group signs hydrogen industry collaboration agreement with Guangzhou, Ulsan cities

On November 25, Hyundai Motor Group signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Guangzhou, China, and Ulsan, South Korea, to promote the development of the hydrogen industry. According to the MoU, the three parties will collaborate on a variety of hydrogen-related initiatives and work together to build a robust hydrogen energy ecosystem.

Photo credit: Hyundai Motor Group

Changan Automobile, CATL ink agreement for cooperation on batter

y swap project

On November 22, 2024, Changan Automobile, CATL, and CATL's subsidiary Contemporary Amperex Energy Service Technology Ltd. (CAES) held a signing ceremony in Chongqing to formalize a three-party framework cooperation agreement on battery-swapping projects. They also signed intent agreements for orders with taxi fleet partners, signaling further collaboration in the battery-swapping sector.

NIO's 2,700 battery swap station in China goes online

On November 25, NIO announced the launch of its 2,700th battery swap station in China. To date, NIO users have performed over 58 million battery swaps, underscoring the company's continued efforts to expand its battery-swapping network.

NIO to put ET9 model onto market on NIO Day 2024

Recently, NIO's founder, Chairman, and CEO William Bin Li revealed that NIO 's all-electric executive sedan model ET9 would officially hit the market on December 21 at the NIO Day 2024, its most important event of the year. The model has been available in pre-sale with a price of 800,000 yuan. Official delivery is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2025.

XPENG X9's cumulative deliveries hit 20,000 units

On November 25, Chinese smart electric vehicle XPENG announced that it has hit a delivery milestone of 20,000 X9 vehicles.

DST, CATL's subsidiary to co-develop skateboard chassis for commercial vehicles

On November 22, Digital Sustainable Transport (DST), a Chinese leading provider of digital and intelligent operation services for logistics new energy vehicles, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Synland, a subsidiary of CATL, to collaborate in the field of commercial vehicle skateboard chassis.

CATL, Pingmei Shenma team up on smart zero-carbon industrial park model for coal chemical sector

On November 22, China Pingmei Shenma Group (Pingmei Shenma") and CATL signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Ningde city, Fujian Province, marking the first collaboration between CATL and a major state-owned coal chemical enterprise, according to a post on CATL's WeChat account. The partnership sets a new benchmark for efficient collaboration and deep integration between the new energy and traditional energy sectors.

Porsche starts pre-sales of new Taycan RWD in China

Porsche recently kicked off the presale of its new Taycan model's RWD (rear-wheel drive) version in China, setting a starting price of 928,000 yuan.

GAC Energy signs strategic cooperation agreement with Confucius Institution at Mahasarakham University to deploy charging facilities in Thailand

On November 22, GAC Energy Technology (Thailand) Co., Ltd. ("GAC Energy") signed a framework cooperation agreement with the Confucius Institute at Mahasarakham University in Mahasarakham Province, Thailand, according to a post on GAC Energy's WeChat account.

LIVAN Auto enters Indonesian market with debut of LIVAN 8 all-electric MPV

LIVAN Auto, a new energy vehicle maker under Lifan Technology, unveiled the right-hand drive version of the LIVAN 8 model in Jakarta, Indonesia, following the domestic launch at the Auto Guangzhou 2024 on November 15, according to a post on Lifan Technology's WeChat account.

NETA Auto plans to open 20 dealerships in Indonesia in 2024

Chinese new energy vehicle maker NETA Auto and its partner PT Surya Mobil Abadi recently announced the opening of a new 3S dealership in North Jakarta's Pluit district. This milestone reflects NETA Auto's commitment to the Indonesian market.

QCraft's 'Longzhou SPACE' Robobus put into pilot operations in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province

Chinese autonomous driving tech company QCraft recently saw its latest driverless shuttle (Robobus), the Longzhou SPACE, commence pilot operations in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province. To date, QCraft's Robobus in the city have provided ride experiences to nearly 5,000 passengers.

Autonomous driving solution developer Freetech files for IPO in Hong Kong

Chinese autonomous driving solution developer Freetech officially filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on November 22. The IPO is jointly underwritten by CITIC Securities, CICC, Huatai International, and HSBC.

Chery Automobile's joint-venture factory in Spain starts production of first vehicle model

On November 23, Chinese automaker Chery Automobile and Spain's Ebro-EV Motors officially commenced vehicle production at their joint-venture facility, the Ebro Factory, located in Barcelona's Zona Franca.

Huawei's HIMA releases official image of 'MAEXTRO S800' luxury sedan co-built with JAC Group

On November 23, Huawei's smart car alliance, Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA), officially unveiled through Weibo an image of the MAEXTRO S800, an ultra-luxury sedan developed in collaboration with JAC Group.
Longtime Chinese Employee, Fired For Sleeping At Desk, Drags Company To Court And Wins Rs 41 Lakh

Curated By :

Trending Desk

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 10:05 IST

His actions at work were cited by the company as a major breach of discipline and conduct that warrants dismissal.

Unconvinced of the fairness of his dismissal, Zhang promptly took the matter to court and received a verdict in his favour. (Representative Image)

A department manager, who was fired for sleeping on duty, has been awarded 350,000 yuan (around Rs 41 lakh) by a court in Jiangsu province, China. The employee, identified only as Zhang, had been working for 20 years for a chemical firm in Taixing. His dismissal came after he was caught napping for an hour at his workplace in surveillance footage earlier this year.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the case came to light after Zhang signed a report by the companys HR department stating he was caught sleeping at work due to exhaustion." In a WeChat group that leaked, Zhang also stated that he once slept at work for an hour or so", when asked by some HR staff.

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The company served Zhang with a dismissal notice, citing his actions were a major breach of discipline and conduct that warranted firing him.

The notice acknowledged his long tenure, stating, Comrade Zhang, you joined the company in 2004 and signed an open-ended employment contract. However, your behaviour of sleeping on the job is a serious breach of the companys zero-tolerance discipline policy. Consequently, with the unions approval, the company has decided to terminate your employment, ending all labour relations between you and the company," SCMP reported.

Unconvinced of the fairness of his dismissal, Zhang promptly took the matter to court.

The Taixing Peoples Court examined the case, weighing the standards of the companys disciplinary policy against Zhangs record of employment and the circumstances of the violation. Presiding over the case, Judge Ju Qi stated that while its legal for companies to maintain employee rules and fire employees for their breach, this must be fulfilled under certain conditions where the actions of the worker have had detrimental effects.

Sleeping on the job was a first-time offence and did not result in serious harm to the company," Judge Ju was quoted by SCMP.

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The court also acknowledged that Zhang had served for more than two decades and for this period, he was promoted several times, received a number of salary increments and his performance was good. Due to these reasons, the court observed that the termination was disproportionate.

Finally, the court sided with Zhang determining his dismissal to be unjustified and unreasonable. The chemical company was told to compensate Zhang with 350,000 yuan.

Location : Delhi, India

First Published: November 25, 2024, 10:05 IST
Man Fires Gunshots In Air To Celebrate Mahindra Thar Purchase, Internet Demands Action

Curated By :

Trending Desk

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 10:04 IST

The man shared a video on social media, which showed him firing a couple of rifle shots into the air.

The newly purchased car was decorated with garlands. (Photo Credits: Instagram)

Celebratory firing has always been a topic of discussion. The act of celebratory firing has also resulted in the death of individuals. The Supreme Court even disapproved of the practice, calling it dangerous and illegal. Despite such unfortunate incidents and the apex courts warning, festive shooting continues to exist. In the latest instance, a man from Madhya Pradesh, who brought a new Mahindra Thar, decided to mark his achievement with a round of celebratory firing. No wonder, he faced massive flak over the shocking display.

On November 18, the man turned to social media to share a video which showed him firing a couple of rifle shots into the air. This has led to widespread condemnation from netizens as well as safety advocates.

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In the video, the man could be seen standing seemingly outside a Mahindra showroom. He is inside his brand new Thar with another person positioned next to him. The newly purchased car is decorated with garlands. The man, who holds a rifle, soon raises the gun and fires a few shots into the air to mark the occasion.

Many congratulations to Mama Saheb Hokam on taking New Thar rocks," the caption of the clip read.

Another video posted by the man features him unveiling his new car with pride while his associates clap over his new feat.

The video has attracted many negative reactions and social media users have condemned the man over his irresponsible behaviour.

A person said, Not sure why such celebration, what have you achieved. We need cars for convenience not for showoff. Need mindset change of such people in this country."

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Another noted, Kindly take action against him as soon as possible." Someone came down heavily and stated, Local politician/criminal.etc."

However, many also congratulated the man over his new purchase. So far, the clip has attracted more than a million views.

Location : Delhi, India

First Published: November 25, 2024, 10:04 IST
Reddit Post On Employee Monitoring Software Sparks Concerns About AI

Published By :

Trending Desk

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 15:11 IST

A viral Reddit post highlights a software that compares employee data with colleagues, sparking concerns over AI-driven surveillance in the workplace.

Social media users voiced their displeasure with the softwares role. (Representative Image)

Imagine your every keystroke, typing speed, website visit and email being scrutinised  not just tracked but compared against your colleagues to flag unusual" behaviours, with red flags" sent directly to your manager. Thats the reality a viral Reddit post has unveiled, shedding light on a pretty big" productivity tool with unsettling AI-powered surveillance capabilities. The post has sparked widespread backlash online, intensifying the conversation about digital workplace surveillance and employee privacy.

The Reddit user said in his now-viral post that he found what artificial intelligence (AI) is capable of when he had the pleasure of sitting through a sales pitch for a pretty big productivity monitoring software suite." Beyond standard features like tracking keystrokes and capturing desktop screenshots every few seconds, the software leverages AI for more advanced and intrusive monitoring.

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The user says the software permits management to categorise employees by work category." The software then uses AI to generate a productivity graph based on all your mouse movement data, where you click, how fast you type, how often you use backspace, the sites you visit, the programs you open, how many emails you send."

Artificial intelligence is also utilised to compare this data to that of your coworkers, and any productivity gaps are reported to your management. If you fall below a cutoff percentage (say you type slower than your colleague or take longer to fill out a form or have to answer a phone call in the middle of writing an email), you get a red flag for review that gets sent to your manager and whoever else they choose," the Reddit user elaborated.

These red flags or warnings might be raised to indicate any perceived or actual productivity deficiencies. For example, if your desktop remains inactive for more than 30 to 60 seconds, you will see a red alert. If your workflow is constant Monday-Thursday but goes below the predetermined aggregate data score on Friday, you get a red flag.

Check the post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/overemployed/comments/1gy7lma/employee_monitoring_software_has_gone_off_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

The post on Reddit attracted a lot of attention. Shared on November 24, it has garnered over 2,000 upvotes.

One user said, So the AI I have doing my work is going to be monitored by AI?"

Another asked, Thats interesting. Does it run on a guillotine?"

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Yeah Ive had that used against me in my last company. Even though I was solely in charge of two big projects going smooth, somehow I wasnt clicking enough," a user commented.

Meanwhile, the software company has sparked fresh concerns on Reddit about AI-driven job displacement, claiming that the data it collects can be used for workflow efficiency automation" alongside offering AI automation services.

Location : Delhi, India

First Published: November 25, 2024, 15:11 IST
Internet Speed Linked To Indias Declining Birth Rate? CRED Founder Kunal Shah's Theory Sparks Debate

Curated By :

Trending Desk

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 14:12 IST

Shah's conjecture implies improved connectivity to the internet, to some extent perhaps affects the lifestyle, values, and interaction patterns, which translates into lower births.

Indias total fertility rate which refers to the number of children per woman bears is 2.01 less than the replacement level which is 2.1. (Photo Credits: X)

Kunal Shah, the founder of CRED, stirred an online discussion with his latest post on X. Shah said there was a correlation between fast internet connection and lower birth rates in India. His statement has raised many questions but many also disagreed with his theory. While some users thought it was bizarre, others considered the idea that the internet might, in some way, be influencing the trends, such as population growth.

Conjecture: data speed in a community is correlated to decline in birth rate," Shah wrote.

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Conjecture : data speed in a community is correlated to decline in birth rate. Kunal Shah (@kunalb11) November 23, 2024

The intriguing juxtaposition of these trends raises an important question: could high-speed internet be a factor in family planning? Direct connections cannot be drawn without evidence.

One user agreed with Shahs analysis stating, True. As communities develop and access technology increases, factors like education and career opportunities tend to reduce birth rates."

True. As communities develop and access technology increases, factors like education and career opportunities tend to reduce birth rates. Utkarsh (@utkarshh_24) November 23, 2024

Another user added, Thats an interesting take! If faster data leads to smarter choices, maybe its a win-win for society."

That's an interesting take! If faster data leads to smarter choices, maybe it's a win-win for society. Ayush Shrivastava (@NotesbyAyush) November 23, 2024

Meanwhile, a user went on to ask, Are you saying if I upgrade my wifi speed, my odds of becoming a father reduce?"

are you saying if i upgrade my wifi speed, my odds of becoming a father reduce? Sankalp (@sankalpsthakur) November 23, 2024

Something called spurious correlation"," a comment read.

Something called "spurious correlation". Sikka999 (@sikka999) November 23, 2024

The Numbers Behind Indias Population Trends

Indias total fertility rate which refers to the number of children per woman bears is 2.01 less than the replacement level which is 2.1. Nevertheless, India is the most populous country in the world with over 1.45 billion people.

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The reduction in fertility has been consistent for the last decade. From 2014-2024, Indias population growth declined from 1.27% to 0.89% and from 2.31 to 2.01 children per woman. At the same time, the availability of internet connection in the country has dramatically increased.

According to Statista, internet usage went from 13.5% in 2014 to 52.4% by 2024. Surpassing speeds have again been enhanced by the introduction of 5G services with reports showing a rise in average mobile data by 80% in the same period.

Location : Delhi, India

First Published: November 25, 2024, 13:37 IST
At Least 17 Missing After Egyptian Tourist Boat Sinks In Red Sea

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 19:49 IST

The governorate received a report shortly before dawn Monday of a distress call made from the yacht, which had left Marsa Alam for a five-day journey.

The Sea Story reportedly departed a port near Marsa Alam, Egypt, on Saturday. (Image: Red Sea Governorate)

At least 17 people are missing after a tourist yacht sank in the Red Sea following warnings about rough seas, Egyptian officials said Monday.

The governor of the Red Sea region, Amr Hanafy, said rescuers saved 28 people from the vessel south of the coastal town of Marsa Alam, and some were airlifted to receive medical treatment.

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Hanafy said 31 tourists of various nationalities were on board along with 14 crew.

The governorate received a report shortly before dawn Monday of a distress call made from the yacht, which had left Marsa Alam for a five-day journey.

It was not immediately clear what caused the four-deck, wooden-hulled motor yacht to sink. But the Egyptian Meteorological Authority on Saturday warned about turbulence and high waves on the Red Sea and advised against maritime activity for Sunday and Monday.

A person answering the phone at the company that operates the yacht, Dive Pro Liveaboard in Hurghada, Egypt, told The Associated Press they have no information" and hung up.

According to their website, the Sea Story was built in 2022 and can hold 36 passengers.

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The Egyptian military was coordinating rescue operations with the governorate.

Many tourist companies have stopped or limited traveling on the Red Sea due to the dangers from conflicts in the region.

Location : Cairo, Egypt

First Published: November 25, 2024, 19:46 IST
Bangladeshi Hindu Monk Detained, Protesters Demanding Release Targeted; Over 20 Hurt

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 23:53 IST

Krishna Das Prabhu, a prominent Hindu leader, was detained at Dhaka airport and taken to an undisclosed location.

Several FIRs were filed against Bangladeshi Hindu religious leader Krishna Das Prabhu, recently detained and barred from leaving Bangladesh. (IMAGE: X/@Shebeshivi)

Bangladeshi Hindu religious leader Krishna Das Prabhu was detained at Dhaka Airport on Monday by the nations authorities and was barred from leaving the country and taken to an undisclosed location, CNN-News18 has learned.

Hindu rights advocacy and civil society groups in Bangladesh started protesting towards evening in Dhaka, Chittagong and other major cities demanding his release but were met with violence in certain protest sites.

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Sources told CNN-News18 that at least 20 people were injured in the protests near Dhakas Shahbag Square and university area. Three of those injured were in critical condition.

Sources have told CNN-News18 that few FIRs and investigations were pending" against the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) monk who has expressed concern over attacks on Hindus and other minorities following a regime change in Bangladesh earlier this year.

Indian lawmakers and a senior official expressed concern over his arrest and said it was tactics deployed by Muhammad Yunus-led interim government attacking Hindus.

Kanchan Gupta, senior advisor to the Indian ministry of information and broadcasting, said Krishna Das Prabhu, aka Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari is a Hindu leader and a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

Gupta in a social media post claimed that Krishna Das was arrested by the interim government led by Nobel laureate and economist Muhammad Yunus.

Hindu leader and ISKCON monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari is reported arrested in Dhaka by Yunus Regime Police.Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari was charged with sedition after he led a massive rally of Hindus protesting targeted hate attacks and protection from Islamists. Kanchan Gupta  (@KanchanGupta) November 25, 2024

Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari was charged with sedition after he led a massive rally of Hindus protesting targeted hate attacks and protection from Islamists. (The) tallest leader of the Hindu community is believed to have been taken to the Detective Branch of Yunus Regime," Gupta said in a social media post on X.

Trinamool Congress leader Suvendu Adhikari urged External affairs minister S Jaishankar to take note of the matter and take urgent steps".

Renowned firebrand Hindu Leader; Shri Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu has been abducted by the Detective Branch at Dhaka Airport in Bangladesh.He is leading the fight for the survival & dignity of the Hindu Minorities of Bangladesh.The Bangladeshi Sanatani Community fear that Md pic.twitter.com/n5Bb6Zk2JM  Suvendu Adhikari (@SuvenduWB) November 25, 2024

Shri Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu has been abducted by the Detective Branch at Dhaka Airport in Bangladesh. He is leading the fight for the survival and dignity of Hindu minorities of Bangladesh," Adhikari said in a post on X.

The Bangladeshi Sanatani Community fear that Md Yunuss Radical Regime may stoop to any level, even eliminate perceived threats to its authority," he further added, while sharing a video of the ISKCON saint.

Protesters Face Violence

Hindu groups in Bangladesh claim that the ISKCON leader was arrested. Sources said that the monk was detained by the Detective Branch (DB) of Bangladesh.

Devotees quickly organised nationwide protest marches in response to the arrest of Chinmoy Prabhu Das.

Rallies were taken out in capital Dhaka and major cities like Chittagong, Barisal, and Khulna, with participants demanding his release.

In Dhaka, ISKCON devotees are gathering at the Detective Branch office as well to demand his release from detention.

Protesters in Dhaka blocked a major street in Shahbag Square, chanting slogans such as We will die for justice, we will fight for it," in their demand for Chinmoy Prabhus immediate release.

Taslima Nasreen, renowned Bangladeshi author and an outspoken critic of religious fundamentalism, also shared a video of a protest in Chittagong.

Hindus protest in Chittagong against the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das. pic.twitter.com/um00ys0fqV taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) November 25, 2024

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In a separate social media post, she lashed out at the Yunus-led interim government for failing to protect Hindus and not taking action against miscreants involved in disturbing peace and attacking minorities.

(with inputs from Manoj Gupta, Sidhant Mishra and Kamalika Sengupta)

Location : Dhaka, Bangladesh

First Published: November 25, 2024, 16:50 IST
'Detention Without Reason Worrisome': Govt Sources On Hindu Leader's Arrest In Bangladesh

Reported By :

CNN-News18

Edited By: Oindrila Mukherjee



Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 23:29 IST

Sources said the Centre has time and again advised Hindu leaders in Bangladesh to remain vigilant about their own safety. The Indian embassy has not received any information on the arrest of the Hindu leader

Bangladesh police arrested Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, a leader of the Hindu group Sammilita Sanatani Jote, from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport area in Dhaka on November 25. (Image: @MumbaichaDon/X)

India has expressed concerns over the arrest of a Hindu leader in Bangladesh, amid rising violence against minority communities. Detention without a reason is worrisome as there is no properly elected government at this point in time, sources told CNN-News18.

Bangladesh police on Monday arrested Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, a leader of the Hindu group Sammilita Sanatani Jote, from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport area in Dhaka. But, the authorities have not given a reason behind this arrest.

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Bengali-language newspaper Prothom Alo reported that Das was a leader of ISKCON, which recently expelled him.

According to sources, the central government has time and again advised Hindu leaders in Bangladesh to remain vigilant about their own safety. The Indian embassy has sought information on the arrest of the Hindu leader, but has not received any information.

Sources said they know that he was taken away from the airport to a detective branch office in Dhaka. The Muhammad Yunus-led interim government is expected to respect Hindu sentiments and the work of ISKCON across the world, they said.

ALSO READ | Tolerance Festival In Bangladesh Scrapped After Islamist Threats

Das was detained in line with a request from (regular police)," spokesperson of the Polices Detective Branch Rezaul Karim said, adding that he will now be handed over to the concerned police station for subsequent legal procedure.

Leaders of ISKCON in Bangladesh were not immediately available for comments, but the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council condemned the detention, saying it could affect the countrys image abroad.

Citing Sanatani Jagran Jotes key organiser, Gaurang Das Brahmachari, Bdnews24 news portal said Das was supposed to go to Chattogram by air from Dhaka.

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On October 30, a case was filed against 19 people, including Das, at Chattograms Kotwali police station, accusing them of disrespecting Bangladeshs national flag in Chattograms New Market area during a rally of the Hindu community.

Hundreds of people, meanwhile, from the Hindu community took to the streets at the Cheragi Pahar intersection in the port city, demanding the immediate release of Das. Similarly, the Hindu community members in the capital blocked the Shahbagh intersection late in the evening, protesting the arrest.

Location : Dhaka, Bangladesh

First Published: November 25, 2024, 23:23 IST
Body of Israeli-Moldovan Rabbi Murdered in UAE Repatriated: Report

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 20:08 IST

Israel denounced the murder of Tzvi Kogan, 28, as an anti-semitic "terrorist attack" after his body was discovered.

Tzvi Kogan's murder in the UAE sparked anger in Israel amid tensions in the Middle East. (Reuters)

A plane carrying the body of Israeli-Moldovan rabbi Tzvi Kogan, who was murdered in the United Arab Emirates, was on its to Israel on Monday, an Israeli rescue and recovery group said.

At this moment, his coffin has been placed on a flight to Israel," Zaka said in a statement referring to Kogan, 28, who had been based in the UAE as a representative of the Chabad Hasidic movement.

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Chabad, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish movement, said Kogans funeral will take place at 11 pm (2100 GMT) at the Mount of Olives in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

Three suspects held in the United Arab Emirates over the murder of the Israeli-Moldovan rabbi are from Uzbekistan, authorities in the Gulf state announced Monday, saying they were working to determine their motives.

UAE-based rabbi Tzvi Kogan, 28, was found dead by security services last week, following what Israeli officials and an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group he was affiliated with called an anti-Semitic attack.

Kogans death came as a blow to the tiny Jewish and Israeli communities in the Muslim-majority UAE, which prides itself on its safety, stability and religious tolerance.

The three suspects were arrested on Sunday, and after preliminary investigations" the interior ministry identified them in a statement.

The authorities revealed the identities of the three perpetrators, all of whom are Uzbek nationals," said the statement published Monday by the official WAM news agency. It named them as Olimboy Tohirovich, 28, Makhmudjon Abdurakhim, 28, and Azizbek Kamilovich, 33.

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The ministry said authorities were taking the necessary actions to uncover the details, circumstances and motives of the crime".

Kogan was in the UAE as a representative of the Chabad Hasidic movement, which is known for its outreach efforts worldwide.

Location : Jerusalem, Israel

First Published: November 25, 2024, 20:08 IST
Donald Trump Plans To Remove Transgender Members From US Military: Report

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 11:46 IST

Donald Trump reportedly plans to ban transgender individuals from serving in the US military, potentially discharging 15,000 active service members, a report has suggested.

Donald Trump (Photo: AFP)

US President-elect Donald Trump will likely remove all transgender members from the US military soon after he returns to the White House. According to a report with The Times, Trump will sign an order on the same, which would lead as many as 15,000 people, believed to be transgenders, out of their posts.

Quoting defence sources, the report suggested the order could be signed on Trumps first day at the White House, which would be January 20. The order would also ban the transgenders from joining the military in the future.

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The transgenders would be medically discharged, determining that they are unfit to serve, the report stated.

Before the US elections, during one of his campaigns, Trump had pledged to restore the name of a Confederate general to a major US military base.

Trumps strongest anti-woke messaging during the campaign took aim at transgender troops.

On previous occasions too, Trump banned transgender service members and posted a campaign ad on X portraying them as weak, with the vow that WE WILL NOT HAVE A WOKE MILITARY!"

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Trump also suggested the US military could play an important role in many of his policy priorities, from tapping National Guard and possibly active-duty troops to help carry out a mass deportation of undocumented immigrants to even deploying them to address domestic unrest.

Such proposals alarm military experts, who say deploying the military on American streets could not only violate laws but turn much of the American population against the still widely respected US armed forces.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 09:19 IST
'Huge Pressure On China': Xi Advisor Terms Musk's Department In Trump 2.0 'Biggest Threat'

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 12:25 IST

The US Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy under Trump's second term, poses a challenge to China's system, a Beijing official has said.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk (Photo: AFP)

The Department of Government Efficiency, headed by Elon Musk and Indian-origin entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy under Trump 2.0, will be the biggest threat to China, according to Zheng Yongnian, Chinas top academic and policy advisor to Beijing, news agency PTI reported.

Yongnian also said the team of the duo would put huge pressure on Chinas current system and that his country would now have to compete with a far more efficient US political system.

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A more efficient US political system would put huge pressure on Chinas current system," Zheng, dean of the School of Public Policy at the Chinese University of Hong Kongs Shenzhen campus, said while speaking at Baichuan Forum hosted by the Institute for International Affairs (IIA) on November 23.

Of course, the pressure is not exclusive to China but also others, especially Europe," he said.

In the medium to long term, the greatest pressure on China may come from changes within the US," Zheng said, adding, If Trump succeeds in his efforts to overhaul the government, the US would develop a new, more competitive system".

The official also called it a form of state capitalism with American characteristics".

I think we should not underestimate the institutional reforms prioritised by figures like Musk," he warned, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Sunday.

Zheng also said that to counter the US internal changes China should expand opening up countermeasures, adding that Trump may damage bilateral ties with tariffs but he does not want to go to war with China".

Trumps tariff stick" against China under his America First" policy approach would not only maximally" damage bilateral relations but also sabotage the international trade system, he added.

US, CHINA, AND TARIFFS

According to PTI, China is gearing up for Trumps second term, beginning on January 20 next year, on several fronts, including his threat to impose a 60 per cent increase of tariffs on its over USD 427 billion annual exports to the US.

Trump, who acted tough on China during his previous term, is expected to reinforce measures against Beijing on various global fronts, including Taiwan and the South China Sea.

China asserts Taiwan as part of its mainland and claims ownership over most of the South China Sea.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims over the area.

To counter tough tariff increases by the incoming Trump administration in the US, China announced new policy measures on November 21 to back its export sector against unreasonable foreign trade restrictions" and to create a good environment" for its exports.

At the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting in Peru and the 20 summit in Brazil last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping during his meetings with a host of world leaders reaffirmed Chinas commitment to promote high-standard opening up" for investment and trade.

As part of new measures to open up, China added nine more countries, including Japan to its unilateral visa-free entry scheme, taking the total to 38.

DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY

Tech tycoon Musk, the worlds richest person, was tapped to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, along with wealthy Trump ally Vivek Ramaswamy. Both will supposedly remain private citizens.

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Musk says he is targeting 2 trillion dollars in cuts from the federal governments 7 trillion dollar budget, pledging to test legal boundaries to achieve it.

The duo has already planned to scrap thousands of regulations" and reduce the size of the government workforce.

First Published: November 25, 2024, 11:21 IST
James Pike. (Photo by Devan Mello, @devanmello on X.)

There have been a number of instances over the years of broadcast booths losing power and sideline reporters having to fill in. The latest came in a NASCAR Regional Late Model Stock race Saturday night, the South Carolina 400 at Florence Motor Speedway. That race was set to be called by Eric Brennan, Blake McCandless, and James Pike on FloRacing, but the booth lost power partway through, leading to Pike having to go it alone on the commentary side. And his work there was noticed:

A billion shoutouts to @JamesVPike. He went from pit reporter, to suddenly being the ONLY voice of the broadcastcalling the whole damn thing from the center of the infield likely with zero monitor and technology. Unbelievably difficult And it was GREAT! https://t.co/SsIPOz6vD9  Alan Cavanna (@AlanCavanna) November 24, 2024

Pike noted later that he was able to do this with the help of the Race Monitor app, and that he learned the ins and outs of that calling virtual iRacing events:

&

Also, to clarify here: it was me, my microphone, my IFB and the @RaceMonitor app  but the act of reading timing and scoring on that app I learned through all my @iRacing shows looking at the live timing window of @appgineerins ATVO. Credit to both programs in this case. https://t.co/7PXPlCJ5My  James Pike (@JamesVPike) November 24, 2024

He also praised many of his colleagues, and a fellow broadcaster who was streaming from pit road:

I happened to be the person in position to perform this time around. Thats what the show asked of me. The best of us in this profession, I believe, act first and foremost of the best interest of the show. Thats what I tried to do  appreciative of the support from everyone.  James Pike (@JamesVPike) November 24, 2024

Had we stayed down the entire time, I had a plan in place to have Travis stream for the duration of the race and then act as my wireless cam op in Victory Lane. Would have pulled him right on my shoulder to get @TreytenLs interview. Travis also did what the situation asked for. https://t.co/D1xPCgj2LR  James Pike (@JamesVPike) November 24, 2024

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For their parts, both the NASCAR Regional team and Florence Motor Speedway owner Steve Zacharias put out statements on the broadcast issues here:

NASCAR Productions is aware of the ongoing issues related to the live stream of the South Carolina 400 and is working diligently to resolve them. We apologize for these challenges during what we understand is a highly anticipated event.  NASCAR Regional (@NASCARRegional) November 24, 2024

We wanted to clarify the broadcast situation during the 400. Please know this is not just words in a post. We take this seriously, and we will improve so that our next big event can be watched and enjoyed by all who tune in. pic.twitter.com/2l3zOa46hx  Florence Motor Speedway (@FmSpeedway2024) November 24, 2024

A broadcast situation like this is far from ideal for anyone at any time. But thats exacerbated further during a highly-anticipated event, and the South Carolina 400 was certainly that, thanks in part to Dale Earnhardt Jr. taking part and driving a car in a No. 8 Budweiser paint scheme for the first time in 17 years. The race also has a notable tradition; while there had only been four previous races under this name at this speedway, it incorporates the history of the nearby and long-running Myrtle Beach 400. So there were plenty eager to watch this.

It looks like what happened here was more on issues with the speedway than with the broadcaster, and its positive to see the speedway saying they take this seriously in their follow-up post on this. Well see how they work to fix these infrastructure problems. But Pike and the FloRacing team certainly did a commendable job here under difficult circumstances. And that adds to the long history of sideline reporters stepping up when needed.

[Alan Cavanna on X]
Netanyahu Approves Lebanon Ceasefire Deal 'In Principle'. What Happens Next?

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 19:59 IST

Israel's military campaign against Hezbollah escalated dramatically since September, resulting in over 3,000 deaths in Lebanon.

Netanyahu had resisted ceasefire efforts until all of Israel's objectives in Lebanon were met. (Reuters/File)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved a ceasefire deal in its conflict against Hezbollah in principle", although Israeli still has some reservations over the deal which it will convey to the Lebanese government. This came after a regional source told CNN on Sunday that a deal was very close".

This came as Israel continued to pound Lebanon, pushing the death toll well beyond 3,000 since the escalation of hostilities in mid-September. Hezbollah fired at least 250 rockets at Israel and destroyed some houses near Tel Aviv, injuring four, a day after a powerful Israeli strike killed at least 29 people in Beirut. Israel also carried out strikes against 12 Hezbollah command centres in southern in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh.

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The regional source suggested that while a ceasefire deal between the two warring parties was closer than ever, it was not yet fully formed. US and Israeli officials also cautioned that no light had been given to mediators yet. We are moving in this direction, but there are still some issues to address," a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier said.

What Does The Deal Entail?

Hezbollah in recent days has been considering a US-Israeli proposal for a 60-day pause in fighting in the hopes of a lasting ceasefire. Israel has been locked in fighting with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah since October 2023, but fighting escalated dramatically since late September of this year.

Earlier this month, Israels top leadership had said there would be no ceasefire and no pause in Lebanon" until war objectives are met to weaken Hezbollahs capabilities and return home tens and thousands of people displaced due to Hezbollahs attacks. US mediator Amos Hochstein has been holding talks with regional parties this week and highlighted progress in a ceasefire deal.

The proposal will include three stages: a truce followed by Hezbollah removing its forces north of Litani River; an Israeli pullout from southern Lebanon and Israeli-Lebanese negotiations on demarcation of contested border areas. An international body led by the US will be tasked with monitoring the ceasefire and Israel expects to receive a letter from Washington affirming its right to act militarily should Hezbollah break the terms of the ceasefire. The Lebanese Army would be responsible for preventing Hezbollah from re-establishing itself in southern Lebanon.

What Happens Next?

Israeli media reported that Netanyahu had convened a meeting of his security cabinet over the ceasefire proposals. The negotiations largely loom on restoring a ceasefire based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended a 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war. It requires Hezbollah to pull its fighters back around 30 km (19 miles) from the Israeli border, and the Lebanese army to deploy in the buffer zone.

Israel has agreed in principle to a US-backed ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon and Netanyahu is now working on how to present it to the public, reported The Times of Israel. The reservations by Israel and other details are still being negotiated and multiple sources told CNN that the agreement would be not finalised until all issues are resolved. A ceasefire agreement will also need to be approved by the Israeli cabinet.

However, CNN analyst and Axios reporter Barak Ravid cited a source as saying Hochstein had told the Israeli ambassador to Washington on Saturday that if Israel did not respond positively in the coming days to the ceasefire proposal, he would withdraw from the mediation efforts. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Sunday said a US ceasefire proposal was awaiting final approval from Israel.

Israel has eliminated most of Hezbollahs top leadership, including leader Hassan Nasrallah, in precise airstrikes and injured thousands of people in an attack using exploding pagers and walkie-talkies. It has also launched a ground invasion and eliminated several Hezbollah commanders.

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Meanwhile, the Lebanese army said on Sunday at least one soldier had been killed and 18 more injured in an Israeli strike at an army centre in Al-Amiriya near the southern city of Tyre. The Israeli military said it regretted the incident and was investigating, and that it was fighting against Hezbollah, not the Lebanese Army.

(with agency inputs)

Location : Jerusalem, Israel

First Published: November 25, 2024, 17:29 IST
Jaishankar Meets Counterparts From War-Ravaged Ukraine, Lebanon In Rome

Published By :

PTI

Last Updated: November 26, 2024, 00:06 IST

Jaishankar also met counterparts from the UK and France in Rome.

Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib (left) and Andrii Sybiha (right). (IMAGE: X)

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday met his counterparts from several countries, including the UK, France and Ukraine, here and discussed ways to deepen cooperation in multiple sectors as well as regional and international developments.

Jaishankar, who arrived here on Sunday on a three-day visit, started the day by meeting British Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Rome.

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Appreciate the steady momentum in India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Discussed deepening cooperation in technology, green energy, trade, mobility, as well as ongoing developments in Indo-Pacific and West Asia," he said in a post on X.

Good to meet FM of Ukraine @andrii_sybiha in Rome today. Useful exchange on advancing our bilateral cooperation. Reiterated s support for dialogue and diplomacy.   pic.twitter.com/n9XEwVJ3PI  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) November 25, 2024

He also met Frances Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and discussed Indo-Pacific, Ukraine and global issues.

Nice to meet FM @jnbarrot of France in Rome today. A useful stock taking of our bilateral partnership. Also discussed Indo-Pacific, Ukraine and global issues," the minister said in another post on X.

Glad to interact with Lebanese FM Abdallah Bou Habib at the @RomeMEDialogues.Look forward to remaining in touch.   pic.twitter.com/5PzGQbx8u0  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) November 25, 2024

Jaishankar also held a useful exchange with Foreign Minister of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha on advancing bilateral cooperation.

Good to meet FM of Ukraine @andrii_sybiha in Rome today. Useful exchange on advancing our bilateral cooperation. Reiterated Indias support for dialogue and diplomacy," he posted on X.

On his part, Sybiha said he held meaningful talks with Jaishankar on several bilateral and international issues.

I appreciate Indias support for Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity. Indias global role is critical to advancing a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine," he said in a post on X.

I informed about the latest developments, Russias strikes on our energy system, including nuclear objects, and its use of an IRBM. We discussed the implementation of our leaders agreements and agreed to hold the next intergovernmental commission meeting in the coming months," the Ukrainian minister said.

Jaishankar also interacted with Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib and Croatian counterpart Gordan Grlic Radman.

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Appreciate seeing FM @grlicradman of Croatia at the @RomeMEDialogues. His sentiments for our ties are always positive," the minister wrote on X.

During his visit, Jaishankar will participate in the Outreach session of the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Fiuggi, where India has been invited as a guest country.

Location : Rome, Italy

First Published: November 26, 2024, 00:06 IST
Jaishankar Says India Favours Two-State Solution On Palestine Issue, Supports Ceasefire

Published By :

PTI

Last Updated: November 26, 2024, 00:19 IST

Jaishankar said the situation in West Asia is deeply concerning.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said diplomatic options should be pursued to resolve the Ukraine and West Asia conflicts. (IMAGE: X)

India supports an immediate ceasefire in West Asia and favours a two-State solution in the long-term, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday as he condemned terrorism, hostage-taking and civilian casualties in military operations.

Speaking at the 10th edition of the MED Mediterranean Dialogue in Rome, Jaishankar said that the situation in West Asia is deeply concerning, both for what has happened and what may still come.

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India unequivocally condemns terrorism and hostage-taking. It also regards large-scale civilian casualties in military operations to be unacceptable. International humanitarian law cannot be disregarded," he said.

In immediate terms, we should all support a ceasefire. India has also extended relief directly and through UNRWA. In the longer term, it is imperative that the future of the Palestinian people be addressed. India favours a two-State solution," he said.

Voicing concerns over the widening of the conflict in West Asia, Jaishankar said that India has been in regular touch with both Israel and Iran at the highest levels to advocate restraint and enhance communication.

Where Lebanon is concerned, there is an Indian contingent like Italy, that is part of UNIFIL. With regard to the Gulf of Aden and the northern Arabian Sea, Indian naval ships have been deployed since last year to protect commercial shipping. Given our capacity to engage various parties, we are always willing to contribute meaningfully to any international diplomatic endeavours, " he said.

United Nations Interim Force in South Lebanon (UNIFIL) has around 10,500 peacekeepers drawn from 50 troop-contributing countries. India has more than 900 people as part of UNIFIL in Lebanon.

Noting that the Ukraine-Russia conflict is in its third year, Jaishankar said that the continuation of this conflict has serious destabilizing consequences, including for the Mediterranean.

What is clear is that no solution is going to emerge from the battlefield. India has consistently held the view that disputes in this era cannot be settled by war. There must be a return to dialogue and diplomacy; the sooner the better. This is a widespread sentiment in the world today; especially in the Global South," he asserted.

Since June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has personally engaged leaders of both Russia and Ukraine. This has included his visiting Moscow and Kyiv, he said.

Our senior officials remain in continuous touch. We firmly believe that those who have the ability to explore finding common ground must step up to that responsibility," the minister said.

Talking about the growing challenges of these two major conflicts, he said the world is experiencing severe stress.

Two major conflicts are underway. Supply chains are insecure. Connectivity, especially maritime, stands disrupted. Climate events are more extreme and frequent. And the Covid pandemic has left deep scars," he said.

Jaishankar said the Mediterranean presents both opportunities and risks in an uncertain and volatile world. Beyond extrapolating current trends, the new element of our relationship will be connectivity," he said.

He said that the conflict underway currently in West Asia has undoubtedly been a major complication. But the IMEEC (India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor), which can be a game changer, is proceeding ahead on the Eastern side, especially between India, UAE and Saudi Arabia, he added.

He also talked about the I2U2 grouping of India, Israel, UAE and the US, saying it is expected to be more active in times to come.

Jaishankar said Indias trade with the Gulf alone is in the range of USD 160 to 180 billion annually. The rest of MENA (Middle East and North Africa) adds about another USD 20 billion. More than nine million Indians live and work in West Asia.

Whether it is energy, technology, industrial projects or services, we have big stakes. It is also a region to which we are connected in history, culture and security," he said.

Talking about opportunities, Jaishankar said a closer and stronger relationship between India and the Mediterranean will serve them well.

We are today on the threshold of a new era. It is one of re-globalizing, re-balancing and multi-polarity. It is also a more technology-centred future, with a premium on the mobility of talent and greener growth. Opportunities in this world are as indivisible as anxieties. A closer and stronger relationship between India and the Mediterranean will serve both of us well," he said.

Our annual trade with the Mediterranean nations is about USD 80 billion. We have a diaspora here of 460,000. About 40% of that in Italy. Our key interests are in fertilizers, energy, water technology, diamonds, defence and cyber," he said.

Jaishankar said that India has significant projects underway as airports, ports, railways, steel, green hydrogen, phosphates and submarine cables.

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Our political relations with the Mediterranean are strong and our defence collaboration is growing, including more exercises and exchanges," he added.

Jaishankar, who arrived here on Sunday on a three-day visit, will participate in the Outreach session of the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Fiuggi, where India has been invited as a guest country.

Location : Rome, Italy

First Published: November 26, 2024, 00:19 IST
Policeman Killed As Imran Khan's Supporters March Towards Islamabad, Cops 'Taken Hostage'

Published By :

PTI

Last Updated: November 26, 2024, 00:05 IST

Imran Khan issued a "final call" for his supporters on November 13 for nationwide protests against the "stolen mandate".

Imran Khan's supporters throw back teargas shells fired by riot policemen during their protest march to Islamabad. (AFP)

A policeman was killed and 70 injured when former prime minister Imran Khans supporters clashed with security personnel deployed to prevent the protesters from reaching Islamabad, the Punjab government said on Monday.

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari at a press conference here said many policemen were taken hostage" after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf: supporters clashed with the police on the way to Islamabad.

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The 72-year-old former premier issued a final call" on November 13 for nationwide protests on November 24, denouncing what he termed as the stolen mandate, the unjust arrests of people and the passage of the 26th amendment, which he said has strengthened a dictatorial regime".

His supporters resumed march towards Islamabad on Monday after an overnight stop on the way amid stiff resistance by the authorities to foil their attempt to enter the national capital and stage a sit-in at the D-Chowk, located close to several important government buildings: the Presidency, the PM Office, the Parliament, and the Supreme Court.

At least 70 policemen have been injured and one killed in clashes, she said. Bokhari said the condition of five personnel was critical.

Imran Khans Supporters Taking Police Officers Hostage

Constable Mubashir lost his life in a clash with the PTI workers at Kati Pahari en route to Islamabad. To those who call them a political party, I ask them if they will say it after this. Imran Khans supporters taking police officers hostage is this politics," the minister asked.

Bokhari said Khans wife Bushra Bibi was setting this country on fire. Bushra is inciting the Pashtuns (Pathans) to get her husband released." Khan has been implicated in dozens of cases since his government was dismissed through a no-confidence motion in 2022. He has been in Adiala Jail at Rawalpindi since last year facing over 200 cases.

3,500 PTI Workers Arrested

Bokhari said Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz instructed police officers to remain unarmed.

However, the PTI came armed from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to wreak havoc and instigate violence, she said.

Bokhari said KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapurs province was burning yet he was trying to set Punjab on fire.

The PTI wants dead bodies to achieve its objectives. However, the State will act with patience and restraint," she said and added that Pakistan could never prosper with Imran Khan in charge.

The PTI, on the other hand, said over 3,500 party leaders and workers were arrested by police in Punjab and Islamabad.

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Dozens of PTI workers have been injured and over 3,500 party leaders and workers arrested during the clashes with police en route to Islamabad," a senior PTI leader said.

He said the partys long march towards Islamabad would continue till the release of PTI founder Imran Khan and other political prisoners from jail and the independence of the judiciary was restored.

Location : Lahore, Pakistan

First Published: November 25, 2024, 23:27 IST
Over 20 Hurt As Protesters Demanding Bangladeshi Hindu Monks Release Attacked | Watch

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 23:04 IST

Protests broke out in Dhaka, Chittagong and Barishal demanding the release of Chinmoy Krishna Das.

Protests in Bangladeshs Chattogram demanding immediate release of ISKCON monk and Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu. (IMAGE: X/@HinduVoice_in)

Bangladeshi Hindus have taken to the streets demanding the release of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) monk and Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu. However, on Monday evening, protesters were attacked in Dhaka and Chittagong by unknown miscreants leading to injuries to over 20 people.

Protesters sustained injuries in front of a protest in Dhaka University in the capital and near a protest in Shahbag Square. Protesters were also attacked in Chittagong.

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Three protesters have sustained critical injuries, sources said.

The protests erupted after the monk was detained by Bangladeshi officials while leaving Dhaka and taken to an undisclosed location, sources told CNN-News18.

#BREAKING: Protests erupt in Bangladeshs Chittagong after Police arrested Hindu saint and ISKCON leader Sri Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu ji in Dhaka. Minority Hindus come out in large numbers to protest. https://t.co/d9DGotisu8 pic.twitter.com/YlaGqQb2py Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) November 25, 2024

Hindu groups in Dhaka say that Krishna Das was arrested.

Indian lawmakers like Suvendu Adhikari of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the arrest was a ploy against Hindus by the interim government led by Nobel laureate and economist Muhammad Yunus.

Taslima Nasrin, renowned author and an outspoken critic of religious fundamentalism, shared videos of protests from Chattogram.

Hindus protest in Chittagong against the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das. pic.twitter.com/um00ys0fqV taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) November 25, 2024

Along with protests in Dhaka and Chittagong, demonstrations were also reported from Barishal, Khulna and Comilla.

#BangladeshIn several districts, Hindus are coming out in the streets against the arrest of Sri Chinmay Krishna Das Prabhu. This video is from the #Barishal district. Hindu youths gathered and are protesting in Town Hall Chawk. #FreeChinmayKrishnaPrabhu pic.twitter.com/KiVAEQqlbk  Hindu Voice (@HinduVoice_in) November 25, 2024

Videos shared by news outlets like Kalbelaonline claimed to show miscreants attacking peaceful protesters demanding the release of Krishna Das Prabhu near Dhaka University. News18 could not independently verify the authenticity of the video shared on social media.

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Krishna Das was detained while leaving Dhaka at the citys airport and taken into custody by Detective Branch. CNN-News18 has learned that several FIRs have been registered against him.

His supporters claim Krishna Das is being targeted by the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government for protesting attacks on Hindus since the toppling of the Sheikh Hasina-led regime earlier this year.

Location : Dhaka, Bangladesh

First Published: November 25, 2024, 21:28 IST
Russian Forces Capture British Man Fighting With Ukraine: Report

Last Updated: November 25, 2024, 09:18 IST

Russian forces captured a British mercenary fighting with the Ukrainian army in Russia's Kursk region, which is still partially controlled by Kyiv forces.

Representative image of Russian forces | AP Image

Russian forces captured a British mercenary fighting with the Ukrainian army in Russias Kursk region, which is still partially controlled by Kyiv forces, a security source told Russias RIA state news agency.

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A mercenary from Great Britain, who called himself James Scott Rhys Anderson, was captured. He is now giving evidence," the Russian source told RIA in remarks published on Sunday.

In a video posted on unofficial pro-war Russian Telegram channels on Sunday, a young bearded man wearing military clothing with what appears to be his hands tied in the back, says in English that his name is James Scott Rhys Anderson and that he formerly served in the British Army.

Reuters could not independently verify the video and the RIA and other media reports.

It was not clear when the video was filmed. The British Foreign Office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the reports outside office hours.

The BBC reported earlier that the Foreign Office said it was supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention".

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Ukraine forces, which staged a surprise incursion in the Russian border region of Kursk in August, still control parts of it. However, Kyiv said over the weekend that it has since lost over 40% of the territory that it had captured, as Russian forces have mounted waves of counter-assaults.

Location : Russia

First Published: November 25, 2024, 09:18 IST
We Must Ask Ourselves: Germany Fears Outside Hand In DHL Cargo Plane Crash

Published By :

AFP

Last Updated: November 26, 2024, 00:39 IST

The DHL cargo plan crashed near Vilniuss airport. Lithuanian officials have not yet linked it to the recent sabotage cases.

This photograph taken on November 25, 2024 shows the wreckage of a cargo plane in the courtyard of a house following its crash near the Vilnius International Airport in Vilnius. (IMAGE: AFP)

A DHL cargo plane crashed Monday near the Lithuanian capitals airport, killing one crew member, with Germany raising the possibility of outside involvement in the disaster.

While authorities stopped short of linking the tragedy to a recent series of sabotage cases, Lithuanian officials have in past weeks probed alleged acts of incendiary devices being planted on cargo planes.

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The plane, which was coming from the German city of Leipzig, crashed about one kilometre (0.6 miles) from Vilnius airport having hit several buildings as it skidded several hundred metres, according to the police and the DHL logistics company.

Images from the crash site showed debris from the plane and packages on fire scattered across a residential area cordoned off by the emergency services.

So far, there are no signs or evidence suggesting this was sabotage or a terrorist act," Lithuanias Defence Minister Laurynas Kasciunas told reporters, adding the probe to establish the cause could take about a week".

State Security Department chief Darius Jauniskis said that while the Baltic country had seen an increasingly aggressive Russia and could not rule out the case of terrorism we cannot make any attributions or point fingers yet".

Hybrid incident

Echoing that caution, Lithuanias Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte urged people in a social media post to refrain from jumping to conclusions" during the investigation.

But German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said we must now seriously ask ourselves whether this was an accident or whether it was another hybrid incident".

The term hybrid" is commonly used to describe attacks that do not use conventional military tactics, such as sabotaging infrastructure or launching cyberattacks.

Since Russias invasion of Ukraine in 2022, European countries have often used the term to describe actions against them that they believe originate from Moscow.

Germanys Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said later in Berlin there were no findings" as yet that indicated there had been an explosive charge on the aircraft that could have caused the crash.

According to police, the plane skidded several hundred metres, hitting a residential building which caught fire, along with smaller buildings and a car.

Firefighters said one of the four crew died in the crash.

Police said the deceased person was Spanish, and that the three other crew members were Spanish, German and Lithuanian nationals. One was critically injured.

The emergency services said the house hit by the plane was evacuated and its 12 residents moved to safety.

We were woken by an explosion. Through the window, we saw the wave of explosions and a cloud of fire. Like fireworks," Stanislovas Jakimavicius, who lives near the crash site, told AFP.

Emergency landing

German logistics company DHL said the aircraft was operated by its partner SwiftAir and had been attempting an emergency landing" early in the morning.

A German transport ministry official said the countrys Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation will support the investigation on site".

It was not immediately clear what caused the crash.

Earlier this month Lithuania carried out arrests as part of a criminal probe into sending incendiary devices on Western-bound planes.

According to Polish and Lithuanian media, the devices, including electric massagers implanted with a flammable substance, were sent from Lithuania to Britain in July and could be behind a lorry fire outside Warsaw.

UK anti-terrorism police last month said they were investigating how a parcel burst into flames at a depot earlier this year, after a similar case in Germany blamed on Russia.

The Lithuanian presidents chief security adviser blamed Moscow for the incidents.

We know who the source of these operations is. It is Russian military intelligence," Kestutis Budrys told Ziniu radio earlier this month.

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We cannot let this go unanswered as it will only escalate into the new kinds of actions," Budrys added.

Poland and Lithuania, both NATO members bordering Russia, are staunch allies of Ukraine, frequently warning about Russian-inspired sabotage on EU soil.

Location : Vilnius, Lithuania

First Published: November 26, 2024, 00:39 IST
When you hear about the microdosing of drugs, it typically refers to psychedelics these days. But the Los Angeles Times reports the concept is now in play for weight-loss drugs exploding in popularity. The story begins with the example of Shauna Bookless, who was looking to shed pounds but found that she'd have to shell out $1,300 a month for Wegovy because it wasn't deemed "medically necessary" for her. A friend instructed her how to buy a "compounded" version of the main ingredient, semaglutide, directly from a lab for a lot less, and she now mixes her own doses and stays well below the standard target of 2.4mg. "I'm playing doctor," she says. And she's not alone.

"As demand for popular weight-loss drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound skyrockets, Bookless' DIY approach highlights the lengths some are willing to go to slim down while saving money," reads the story. "Some patients, with or without the help of doctors, are experimenting with 'microdosing' weight-loss drugsusing smaller-than-recommended amountsin order to stretch limited supplies, reduce costs and even potentially curb side effects."

No hard data exist on the number of people doing this, but it's not difficult to find spas and clinics offering microdose optionsfor now. The practice relies on the aforementioned "compounded" versions of the medication. These are essentially copycat versions, allowed under federal law when shortages exist of the commercial varieties, explains the Times. If the shortages go away, so do compounded versions. Pharmaceutical companies, not surprisingly, hate the workaround and warn people against it. But doctors also raise concerns. "It's just a data-free zone," Sarah R. Barenbaum, an obesity specialist at Cornell University, tells Healthline. "I would say it's not impossible, it just hasn't been studied," Another doctor in the Healthline piece warns that microdosing is "not recommended. There are many things that can go wrong." (More weight loss stories.)
Visitors gather at German technology group Heraeus' booth during the seventh China International Import Expo in Shanghai last week. [Photo/China Daily]



China's rapid advancement in technology and innovation is a major draw for German businesses seeking to expand their investment, which will further strengthen bilateral cooperation, Heraeus Group CEO Jan Rinnert has said.

"It's important to note that in the past five years, we've invested more than we did in all the previous years combined," Rinnert, CEO and chairman of the Board of Managing Directors of Heraeus Group, a German family-owned global technology group, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Heraeus began its journey in China 50 years ago with a refinery in Hong Kong and now it has "a dynamic presence in 12 cities across China, spanning multiple industries," he said, adding that one of China's primary appeals to German companies is the sheer size of its market and the immense growth opportunities it offers.

With a growing middle class and rising disposable incomes, Rinnert anticipates a strong demand for high-quality products and services.

Rinnert noted that China's commitment to economic growth is another critical factor driving investment. Despite global economic uncertainties, China has set an ambitious growth target of 5 percent for 2024. The goal, which is significantly higher than those of other major economies, creates a stable environment for businesses, he added.

Behind the company's focus on the Chinese market is also China's "rapid advancement in technology and innovation."

"By collaborating with local customers, universities and institutions, we can innovate new technologies together," the business leader said.

Heraeus has increased its investment in research and development (R&D) and innovation centers in China. Recent initiatives include the establishment of centers for precious metals products and advanced packaging for power electronics in Shanghai, both launched this year. The company's global innovation center for photovoltaics business was relocated from North America to Shanghai years ago, he added.

As Heraeus continues its development in China, Rinnert said he has witnessed significant progress in the country since he began traveling to China in 2003.

"Since then I have visited China two to three times each year. One of the most noticeable changes is the greener landscapes, which is a reflection of the country's heightened focus on environmental issues."

Rinnert expressed his enthusiasm for China's shift toward a more sustainable and innovation-driven economy.

"We're excited to be part of this transformation ... Our expertise in high-quality material science aligns perfectly with the recent focus on establishing 'new quality productive forces,'" he said.

"By fostering strong partnerships between Germany and China, we can combine strengths and resources to drive forward our shared goals," Rinnert said. "We have witnessed remarkable growth in sectors such as semiconductors, electric vehicles, the circular economy, and renewable energy, including the most recent advancements in green hydrogen."

Looking ahead, Rinnert is optimistic about further strengthening Heraeus' presence in China with continued cooperation between Germany and China.

"This collaboration will be a cornerstone of our strategy as we look to the future," he said.

XINHUA
A notable environmentalist in Cambodia, Ouch Leng, along with five others, was taken into custody while probing illegal logging activities in Veun Sai-Siem Pang National Park, Stung Treng province. Rights group Licadho conveyed that these arrests occurred as part of an expanded campaign against environmental activists in Cambodia. The group has documented increasing deforestation near an economic land concession. No charges have yet been filed against Leng, who was awarded the 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize, or any of the others.

The arrests align with a broader governmental crackdown on activists. In July, 10 members of the environmental organization Mother Nature Cambodia were sentenced to six years imprisonment on charges of conspiracy. Stung Treng's spokesperson, Men Khung, confirmed the recent arrests, asserting that the individuals defied orders to leave a restricted forestry area. He said they were attempting to sow anarchy and provoke officials, denying their status as actual activists.

The conflict is rooted in a governmental economic land concession given in 2022 despite a 2012 suspension on new concessions aimed at controlling deforestation and mass resource extraction. The Cambodian government, under Prime Minister Hun Manet, appears to maintain prior administration's stance, facing persistent allegations of judicial misuse to suppress dissent. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)
Celebrated South African writer and poet Breyten Breytenbach died in Paris at the age of 85, as announced by his family on Sunday. Breytenbach was a prominent critic of South Africa's apartheid regime, known for his contributions to Afrikaans literature. His fearless opposition to racial segregation was unwavering, and he was also notably recognized for his work addressing themes of exile and identity.

Breytenbach's commitment to social justice led to his arrest in 1975 during a covert visit to South Africa after having moved to France. He was accused of aiding the African National Congress (ANC) in its resistance against apartheid. Convicted of treason, Breytenbach served a seven-year prison sentence, an experience he would later recount in his critically acclaimed book Confessions of an Albino Terrorist. Following his release, he continued his advocacy from Paris, remaining deeply connected to his South African heritage.

A dynamic literary figure, Breytenbach's works, including A Season in Paradise, have left an indelible mark on both local and global literary landscapes. Born in the Western Cape in 1939, his life's narrative reflected a profound link to his homeland, despite living abroad for much of his life. He is mourned by his wife Yolande, daughter Daphnee, and two grandsons. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)
Republican senators pushed back on Sunday against criticism from Democrats that Tulsi Gabbard, President-elect Trump's pick to lead US intelligence services, is "compromised" by her comments supportive of Russia as well as secret meetings she attended as a congresswoman with Syria's president, a close ally of the Kremlin and Iran. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat and veteran of combat missions in Iraq, said she had concerns about Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's choice to be director of national intelligence, the AP reports. "The US intelligence community has identified her as having troubling relationships with America's foes. And so my worry is that she couldn't pass a background check," Duckworth said.
Marjorie Taylor Greene is no fan of NPR, and as chair of an as-yet-unformed House subcommittee that will work with the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency, she says she will look into cutting the public broadcaster's government funding. "We'll be looking at everything from government-funded media programs like NPR that spread nothing but Democrat propaganda," began the congresswoman during an appearance on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures, as cited by Mediaite and the New York Post. "We'll be going into grant programs that fund things like sex apps in Malaysia, toilets in Africa. All kinds of programs that don't help the American people. I want to talk to the people at the Pentagon and ask them why they can't find billions of dollars every single year and why they fail their audit."
Former US Senator Fred Harris, an influential figure in Oklahoma's progressive politics, died Saturday at the age of 94. Known for his advocacy of economic and social justice during the turbulent 1960s, Harris was remembered fondly by Oklahoma Democrats. Alicia Andrews, chair of the Oklahoma Democratic Party, lauded Harris for showing "what is possible when we lead with both heart and principle," emphasizing his efforts to ensure inclusivity.

Harris chaired the Democratic National Committee from 1969 to 1970, playing a key role in unifying the party after the chaotic 1968 convention. Despite an unsuccessful presidential run in 1976, his impact on politics endured. Harris recently appeared at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, offering reflections on progress and unity, with attendees describing him as inspiring. Kalyn Free, of the Choctaw Nation, heralded him as a mentor and hero, recalling his dedication to Indian Country.

Beyond politics, Harris contributed as a professor at the University of New Mexico. Oklahoma leaders commemorated his work on the Kerner Commission, which investigated the civil unrest of the 1960s. Jeff Berrong, with a family connection to Harris through Oklahoma's state Senate, highlighted Harris as being "ahead of his time" and perpetually focused on equality for all. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)
A devastating landslide struck La Paz, Bolivia's capital, early Sunday due to torrential rains following a severe drought. The disaster, which swept away a young girl and destroyed dozens of homes, prompted emergency evacuations and caused widespread power outages. Bolivia's deputy civil defense minister, Juan Carlos Calvimontes, reported that the landslide destroyed around 24 homes and flooded approximately 40 others in the southwestern area of the city.

Rescue teams worked tirelessly, searching for a missing 5-year-old girl in the mud-laden neighborhood of Bajo Llojeta. Rescuers pulled residents, many of whom suffered from hypothermia, from the debris. Grover Mendoza, the missing girl's father, recounted the moment his daughter disappeared: "My daughter was with her cousins when the mud came."

La Paz Mayor Ivan Arias attributed the landslide's severity to unauthorized hillside constructions, which destabilized the area. President Luis Arce, visiting the site, promised aid to victims and stressed accountability, stating, "This cannot be left like this. An investigation must be carried out." The city's vulnerability to such natural calamities is heightened by its geographic location and the onset of a rainy season following one of Bolivia's most severe droughts in recent memory. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)
It makes American political rhetoric look downright civil for once: The Philippines' vice president is under investigation after threatening to kill the president, reports Reuters. During an online press conference in which she was asked whether she feared for her safety, VP Sara Duterte responded thusly:

The threat: "I've already spoken to someone, so don't worry about my security," she said, per the New York Times. "I told that person to kill BBM, Liza Araneta, and Martin Romualdez if I were to be slain." That would be President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., the first lady, and the House speaker. She said she told the hit man, "After I die, don't stop until you've killed them all," adding, "no joke, no joke," per Australia's ABC.
President-elect Trump isn't in office yet, but California Gov. Gavin Newsom is already planning to counter an expected move on electric vehicles. On Monday, Newsom promised that if Trump killed the $7,500 federal rebate to buyers of EVs, California would restore it for state residents, reports the Los Angeles Times . "We will intervene if the Trump Administration eliminates the federal tax credit, doubling down on our commitment to clean air and green jobs in California," Newsom said in a statement.

The governor said the state would revive its Clean Vehicle Rebate Program, which began in 2010 but was phased out last year, per the San Francisco Chronicle. California has been the most aggressive state in regard to EVs, with a law requiring that all new cars and light trucks be zero-admission by 2035. The New York Times notes that Trump is expected to try to block California from instituting standards stricter than federal ones, as he did during his first administration. California sued the White House more than 120 times in those four years, and similar battle lines are being drawn for his second term. (More Gavin Newsom stories.)
In a move to reach out to its global congregation during the Holy Year, the Vatican will enable remote access to St. Peter's tomb via a live webcam, launching on December 2. This initiative by Pope Francis aims to offer "symbolic access" to individuals who cannot visit in person. An additional webcam will be installed at the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica for the 2025 Jubilee, a once-every-quarter-century event that should see 32 million pilgrims descend on Rome. Pope Francis is set to officially open the basilica's Holy Door on Christmas Eve.
A DHL cargo plane crashed on approach to an airport in Lithuania's capital and skidded into a house Monday morning, killing a Spanish crew member but not harming anyone on the ground, per the AP . The cause is under investigation. A surveillance video showed the plane descending normally as it approached the airport before sunrise, and then exploding into a huge ball of fire behind a building. The moment of impact could not be seen in the video.

Lithuanian officials acknowledged that one line of inquiry will be whether Russia played a role given its suspected involvement in other cases of sabotagealthough they stressed that there is no evidence pointing to that yet. "Without a doubt, we cannot rule out the terrorism version," said Darius Jauniskis, chief of Lithuanian intelligence. Western security officials suspect that Russian intelligence is carrying out sabotage in retaliation for nations' support for Ukraineincluding arson attacks and disinformation, and by putting incendiary devices in packages on cargo planes. In July, one caught fire at a courier hub in Germany and another ignited in a warehouse in England.

Polish prosecutors said last month that parcels with camouflaged explosives were sent via cargo companies to EU countries and Britain to "test the transfer channel for such parcels" that were ultimately destined for the US and Canada. "We see Russia becoming more aggressive," Jauniskis said. "But for now, we really cannot make any attributions or point fingers at anyone, because there is no information about it." The Lithuanian airport authority identified the aircraft as a DHL cargo plane arriving from Leipzig, Germany, a major freight hub, and one of the injured was a German citizen.

(More DHL stories.)
TDT | By Ashen Tharaka

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

The Ethiopian Consulate General in Bahrain hosted a vibrant celebration marking the 5th anniversary of the Prosperity Party and the 19th Ethiopian Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Day. The event, held under the theme National Consciousness for National Unity, highlighted Ethiopias rich cultural heritage, achievements, and aspirations.

The occasion commenced with an address by H.E. Ambassador Shiferaw Geneti, Consul General of Ethiopia in Bahrain. Ambassador Shiferaw emphasized the importance of the National Day, urging Ethiopian nationals to bolster unity and collaboration, especially during a transformative period of economic reforms in the country. He underscored the significance of inclusive federalism and the role of collective national consciousness in achieving sustained national unity.

H.E. Ambassador Dr. Said Ahmed, Ethiopias Ambassador to Kuwait, graced the event as the guest of honor and delivered a goodwill message, further emphasizing Ethiopias progress and aspirations on the global stage.

The celebration highlighted Ethiopias remarkable achievements over the past five years, particularly in tourism, manufacturing, agriculture, and economic reforms. Notable accomplishments included advancements in Addis Ababa's infrastructure and urban development, which have positively impacted other cities across the country. These efforts have not only enhanced Ethiopias economic standing but also preserved its rich cultural and historical legacy.

The Consulate General extended its gratitude to contributors supporting Ethiopia's development, presenting certificates of appreciation to honor their efforts.

Attendees were treated to a showcase of Ethiopias vibrant cultural heritage through traditional attire, cuisine, music, dance, poetry, and cultural performances. The event fostered mutual understanding and cultural exchange, reflecting Ethiopias unity in diversity and its enduring solidarity.

The Consulate General affirmed its commitment to promoting Ethiopias achievements and strengthening ties between Ethiopian nationals in Bahrain and their homeland. The event served as a testament to Ethiopia's progress and the harmonious coexistence of its diverse peoples.
TDT | By Ashen Tharaka

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

A pivotal meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was convened today. The session was co-chaired by Bahrain's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, and UAEs Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

During the meeting, Sheikh Abdullah emphasized the deep-rooted ties between the two nations, lauding the leadership of UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Bahrains King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. He highlighted that the unwavering support of both leaders has propelled efforts to strengthen strategic relations and diversify areas of bilateral cooperation.

Focus on Strategic Partnerships

Sheikh Abdullah reiterated the UAE's commitment to its partnership with Bahrain, describing it as a cornerstone of Gulf Cooperation and regional progress. He noted the importance of the committee's periodic meetings in fostering collaboration, addressing challenges, and exploring innovative solutions across various sectors.

Dr. Al Zayani echoed similar sentiments, expressing pride in the exemplary diplomatic ties that unite the two nations. He praised the UAE's diplomatic leadership, its role in global stability, and its commitment to Arab solidarity.

Areas of Cooperation Discussed

The discussions spanned a range of sectors, including:

Political and diplomatic collaboration.

Economic, trade, and industrial investments.

Renewable energy, transportation, and infrastructure development.

Cultural exchange, education, and youth initiatives.

Both sides reviewed progress in these areas and signed multiple agreements to enhance cooperation:

1. Civil Aviation Cooperation: A memorandum to strengthen ties in aviation.

2. Tourism Collaboration: An executive program for promoting tourism.

3. Government Capacity Building: A memorandum on training government personnel.

4. Financial and Economic Policies: Agreements on sharing expertise in financial and economic strategies.

5. Competitiveness Enhancement: Cooperation to bolster competitiveness and statistical data exchange.

Looking Ahead

The committee reaffirmed its commitment to expanding the strategic partnership, reflecting a shared vision for prosperity and stability in the region. Both nations pledged to work together on innovative initiatives that serve the interests of their peoples and contribute to regional development.

The meeting concluded with the signing of the joint committee's resolutions, underscoring the determination of Bahrain and the UAE to build on their historical ties and create a future of shared progress.
Police are looking for a 19-year-old who may be armed with a gun used in a fatal shooting of a 24-year-old in Bridgeton on Sunday morning.

James E. Snead of Bridgeton remained at large on Monday, police said. He allegedly shot and killed Kevon Williams in the 100 block of Cottage Avenue.

Police responded to that area around 11:18 a.m. after gunfire was reported, finding Williams and pronouncing him dead at the scene.

Bridgeton police have not recovered the gun and said Snead may still have it on him and should be considered armed and dangerous. No further details about the shootings investigation were released Monday.

Anyone with information about Sneads whereabouts is asked to contact local police at 856-297-8164 or the Cumberland County Prosecutors Office at 856-506-7114. Tips can also be shared anonymously with the prosecutors office online.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Eric Conklin may be reached at econklin@njadvancemedia.com.
A Newark man was sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison for orchestrating a multi-state car theft ring that sold more than 40 stolen vehicles for over $200,000, federal prosecutors announced.

Warren Guerrier, 47, was sentenced to 70 months in prison on Monday for leading the scheme that ran from November 2016 to June 2020, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of New Jersey.

The sentencing follows him pleading guilty in June in Newark federal court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

During the scheme, Guerrier and his co-conspirators targeted specific vehicles, installed GPS tracking devices to monitor their locations and then stole the cars, according to court documents.

The stolen vehicles were photographed, advertised for sale online and sold to unsuspecting buyers, who were provided falsified certificates of title and fake identification documents, prosecutors said.

At least 40 cars were stolen. The group sold the cars for prices ranging from $6,500 to $15,000, earning about $285,000 over the nearly four-year scheme, according to court documents.

Vehicles were stolen from various locations, such as Parsippany, Paterson, East Orange, and the Edison train station, authorities said. Apartment complexes, hotels and shopping centers were frequently targeted during the scheme.

Though the types of cars werent reveled by the attorney general, previous charging documents revealed they included Acuras, Hondas and Ford Explorers.

Outside of New Jersey, Guerrier and his crew also operated in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia while using aliases and fake documents to conceal their identities, according to the release.

During the investigation, law enforcement discovered Guerrier living in a Hackensack apartment under the name Michael Smith. In his apartment authorities found GPS tracking records and photos of stolen cars, according to the FBI.

Guerrier was arrested in June 2020 and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft after a lengthy investigation.

In addition to his 70-month prison term, he was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $291,637 in restitution.

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An Israeli flag flying over Hoboken City Hall was ripped down three times. The words Free Palestine were painted on a wall outside a synagogue in Hoboken.

And there was a day earlier this year when hundreds of people gathered on Washington Street near City Hall to protest  some for U.S. support for Israel in the ongoing war against the Hamas terrorist group, and others for the end of a conflict that was costing innocent Palestinian citizens their lives.

The Mile Square City is far from the Middle East and the war that began Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas slaughtered 1,200 Jews in an unprovoked attack, but it seems to be the center of Hudson County when it comes to passionate opinions on each side.

A Palestinian flag-raising event Monday  the flag was pinned to a wall in City Hall because of renovations around the flagpole outside  drew sharp criticism as well as praise.

"Over the past days, I have received emails stating that this flag raising means that the city supports terrorism and antisemitism, Bhalla said in a statement that preceded the City Hall event. Similar to earlier this year, I am taking lengths to explain that raising the Palestinian flag is an expression of our support of the Palestinian community in Hoboken and beyond, at a time when they are also hurt and suffering."

Bhalla noted that he was criticized for an Israeli flag-raising earlier this year, but I took lengths to explain that raising the Israeli flag is an expression of our support of the Israeli community in Hoboken and beyond, at a time of deep hurt and suffering among our Israeli community in Hoboken.

The Gaza war between Israel and Hamas has claimed approximately 44,000 lives, with more than 104,000 injured, the Associated Press reported.

Some groups called for mass demonstrations at Mondays event, but it appears to have gone off without a hitch. A handful of people, equally divided between pro-Palestine and Israeli supporters, sans signs or megaphones, quietly demonstrated outside City Hall.

Hoboken Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher said she sent Bhalla a note over the weekend asking the mayor to call off the event.

"While the intent behind the flag-raising may have been to honor a cultural, or more likely political, request, this decision is deeply divisive at a time when many residents are already grappling with the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, Fisher said in her newsletter to residents. Symbols matter, and actions like this have the potential to create unnecessary divisions within our community."

Jewish Voice for Peace of Northern NJ praised Bhalla, saying Like each of the members of Hobokens rich tapestry of ethnic groups, Palestinians deserve to have their heritage acknowledged. ... We have confidence that the mayor, city council, and people of Hoboken will not allow false and weaponized charges of antisemitism to be used to prevent recognition of Hobokens Palestinian community at a time of its greatest anguish.

Acknowledging there is not a large Palestinian population in Hoboken, Bhalla said thats all the more reason to raise the flag.

I feel that this makes it even more critical that we do not silence or deny the existence of a small minority of residents and their request for a flag raising, he said. Recognizing their existence is all the more important for our community as a whole.
Jersey City will pay $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit involving one of the heroes in a 2019 mass shooting, a sergeant who was promoted to lieutenant a year after a crash left two city residents with serious injuries.

The settlement of the lawsuit against the city and Lt. Marjorie Jordan, who risked her life pulling a wounded officer to safety during the Dec. 10, 2019 shootout on Martin Luther King Drive, ends four years of contentious litigation that included claims from the victims' attorney that the city used despicable tactics and attempted to skirt responsibility.

The city is expected to vote Tuesday on approving the settlement of $1 million for Khadijah Younger and $500,000 Crystal DeJesus, who were injured in an Aug. 5, 2019 crash at Garfield Avenue-Danforth Avenue intersection.

The city council is also expected to approve a $350,000 settlement for a woman who was injured in a 2018 crash involving another police officer.

Younger suffered a shoulder injury, a torn rotator cuff and a loss of hearing in one ear in the three-vehicle crash, according to the lawsuit. DeJesus suffered serious and permanent injuries that have caused her considerable pain and suffering and economic loss, the lawsuit said.

The crash report and damage to the vehicles show that Younger was nearly through the intersection when her vehicles rear quarter panel was struck, throwing her car into DeJesus vehicle.

In the report, Younger told police she did not see Jordans emergency lights or hear a siren. Youngers attorney, Joseph Siclari, has said a video from a nearby surveillance camera showed Jordans police vehicle within 40 feet of the intersection without its lights on while responding to what the internal affairs report called a possible hostage situation.

Jordan, who told police in the crash report her lights and siren were activated, admitted during a deposition she didnt activate the emergency equipment until she was close to the intersection, Siclari said.

The internal affairs report found Jordan at fault for the crash, with mitigating circumstances. The crash was her fourth and it was the second time she was found at fault, the IA report said.

The settlement is not close to the largest the city has paid out this year.

In February the city settled a lawsuit for $3 million in which a police officer responding to a call was driving on the wrong side of Jersey Avenue and struck a pedestrian trying to cross the street.

Jordan was promoted to lieutenant in November 2020, making her one of the highest ranking women officers in the police departments history.

She was lauded for her actions in the mass shooting incident that left six people dead  Jersey City Detective Joseph Seals, the two assailants and three people inside a kosher deli in MLK Drive.

Amid a hail of gunfire, Jordan raced onto a sidewalk to assist a police officer who had been shot in the shoulder.

In the other settlement, Jersey City pay $350,000 to end the lawsuit by Ana Toledo, who was a passenger in a vehicle involved in a crash with Police Office Jennifer (Santos) Szymanski on Garfield Avenue April 18, 2018.

The lawsuit said Toledo suffered serious injuries that required immediate and continuous medical treatment.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, better known as ICE, has proposed to add as many as 600 beds to house immigration detainees at two locations in New Jersey.

The ACLU in New York learned about the plans through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, stemming from ICE seeking contracts for additional space to house inmates in the Newark area, and publicized it last week.

ICE plans seek more space at the Elizabeth Contract Detention Center, which is already an ICE immigration jail, and the Albert M. Bo Robinson Treatment Center in Trenton, a halfway house that has been used in the past by New Jerseys corrections and parole agencies, and Mercer Countys jail.

ICE does not comment on ongoing or pending litigation, ICE Spokesperson Mike Alvarez told NJ Advance Media.

U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, who represents Trenton in Congress, sees the move as using the capital city as a staging ground for mass deportations, she said in a statement, calling the development infuriating.

Immigrant Americans move here for the promise of freedoms that we all  Black or white, Latino or Asian, Native or newcomer, cherish. But today, Donald Trump and his MAGA Republicans stoke fear against new immigrants to distract us from their agenda, which threatens to raise prices, make cuts to Social Security and Medicare, and let corporations gouge prices, Watson Coleman, D-12th Dist., said.

This proposal is unacceptable and runs counter to New Jersey values. I reject it and call on community leaders, the Governor, and President Biden to reject it and get to work on creating a fair immigration process that respects all families, the congresswoman said in the statement.

U.S. Rep. Bonnie Coleman Watson (D-NJ) speaks during a news conference on December 5, 2019, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in this file photo.TNS

The ACLU, though, pointed out that the plans originated under the Biden administration, which the agency has been questioning.

Instead of closing abusive detention facilities once and for all, the Biden administration is simply paving the way for the incoming Trump administration to conduct mass detention and deportation of immigrant communities nationwide, Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney at the ACLUs National Prison Project, said in a statement.

The Biden administration must instead work to close these facilities now, Cho said.

Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora took a more measured tone with the news, saying he understands more ICE inmates in Trenton could create more jobs in the city, but hes very leery of the Trump administrations immigrations plans.

Its going to be one of those wait and see things, he said.

But, the mayor said, if theyre getting rid of just the bad guys, were all for it.

I mean, MS-13 gang members and the like, you know, I have no problem with that.

Both the Elizabeth and Trenton facilities have been the target of complaints and critics that say they are inhumane, and with the Elizabeth center, the subject of public protests.

In 2015, Mercer County pulled its inmates from the Bo Robinson center citing mismanagement.

The GEO Group once owned the facility, but no longer, according to the ACLU. Bo Robinson is not listed on the companys website. Its unclear who currently owns or operates Bo Robinson.

CoreCivic owns the Elizabeth facility, and has sues to stop the New Jersey law signed by Gov. Phil Murphy in 2021 that bars county or private jails from signing, renewing or extending immigration detention agreements with ICE. The matter is currently under appeal.

The company, CoreCivic, a private jailer formerly called Corrections Corporation of America, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Workers and activists converge on the Elizabeth Contract Detention Center in 2020 as part of protests against the holding of immigration detainees there.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com
A New Jersey teenager who made at least one threatening phone call to a high school in Florida has been sentenced to two years in prison, authorities said.

Brad Parga, of Guttenberg, swatted Milton High School in Santa Rosa County, Florida, on Feb. 14, 2022, the Santa Rosa County Sheriffs Office said in a statement. He was 17 at the time.

Authorities said they suspect Parga made other calls, but he was only convicted in the Valentines Day incident.

Parga was charged in April 2023 and later pleaded no contest to making a false report using firearms in a violent manner and interfering with school administration, authorities said. He said he made the calls to get media attention.

In a one phone call, Parga said he was walking around the school campus with a gun in a duffel bag, according to a recording.

Im not there to kill everyone, man, Im just there to hurt three people that I dont like, the caller said.

Police tracked down Parga after speaking to a Milton High School student who said she had communicated online with someone from New Jersey.

Parga was sentenced on Nov. 14 and will also be on probation for three years after being released from prison in Florida.

Two years ago, Brad Parga wanted to get onto the news, the sheriffs office said in a statement. He thought he could get his 15 minutes of fame by making fake swatting calls to a Santa Rosa County District high school.

Well, Sheriff (Bob) Johnson heard his wish and kindly obliged, the statement continued. Now hes the lead role of his own new two-season special, with a three-year sequel on probation. With an exclusive set, and an easy costuming department who are partial to jumpsuits, Parga is ready to begin his new contract.

Santa Rosa County is in northwest Florida, near Pensacola.

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By Dave DAlessandro

Members of the worlds greatest deliberative body affirmed their independence last week by doing nothing  other than publicly sharing their distaste for a credibly-accused pedophile to be named the nations top law enforcement official. Its what youd call a promising start.

But even though many Republican senators made it clear that Attorney General nominee Matt Gaetz needed to be dropped into historys wheelie bin, there will be more tests of their collective spine in January, when other repellent contenders sent by President-elect Trump will face confirmation hearings.

Trump would rather bypass the process entirely by installing cabinet secretaries and other appointees without debate via recess appointments, which allows a president to act on his own when the Senate is not in session -- a clear attempt to break the Senate and its new Republican majority before he even takes office.

To better understand that strategy, measure the Senates appetite to obey in advance, and gauge its sense of self-preservation, we turned to historian Dr. Ross Baker, the distinguished emeritus professor of political science at Rutgers University who served three US Senators. This conversation from Friday was edited for brevity.

Q. Do you expect incoming Majority Leader John Thune to run the Senate in any way that differs from Mitch McConnell, whom you referred to as an unyielding partisan who values party over country in our previous chats?

In some ways, Thune will be very much like McConnell, in that he sees himself as a protector of the institution and less openly combative -- hes got a much sweeter disposition. Nonetheless, I think he is very much an institutional patriot, sees the Senate as a major player in American public policy, and as both an ally and an obstacle to a president, depending on what the situation is.

Q. Even before Thune was voted in, he faced a loyalty test, when Trump demanded that candidates for leader violate the advice and consent requirement of Article II and allow recess appointments for his nominees. Can Thune withstand this kind of pressure for long? What happens once GOP Senators bypass the Constitution at Trumps behest just once?

Lets first consider the vote Thune got when he ran for majority leader: It was overwhelming. There was very little support for the presidents choice, Rick Scott (13 votes), and the (15) votes that went to John Cornyn could have easily gone to Thune. So a number of senators  many unfamiliar even to the politically literate -- are strong backers of Thune, and theres a phalanx of moderate-to-conservative senators who are prepared to fall behind him in battles with the Trump administration.

Clearly, there are senators like Thom Tillis who are up in 2026 who see themselves as more vulnerable and theyll be less willing to defy Trump. But there are enough Republicans who arent up for another four years, who perceive themselves as politically strong enough to defy Trump on things like nominees. And youll find that these same people have reservations about Pete Hegseth or Tulsi Gabbard as they did with Matt Gaetz.

Q. Thune did say, however, that while he prefers the confirmation process, recess appointments were on the table. Most interpreted that as a willingness to torpedo the constitution.

Well, historically, the Senate has never recessed for 10 days. Trump is asking Thune to run up the white flag, and I just dont think hes going to adjourn the Senate for 10 days  hed have to agree on a concurrent resolution with (House Speaker) Mike Johnson to recess Congress completely. So the idea of these nominees getting through without advice and consent is pretty unlikely.

And if it so happens that someone is confirmed during the recess, that appointment only lasts until the following year  they still have to face the process again, so you cant escape a vote entirely. A four-year recess appointment doesnt exist.

Q. What do you make of Trumps nominations so far, and what do they tell us about how hes approaching his second term?

Well, theyre deliberately provocative. My theory -- since Matt Gaetzs name came up  is that this first tranche of nominees was daring the Senate to confirm some marginal people. And when they get rejected, he had people in reserve  most of them alumni of the Heritage Foundation or hangers-on, but who are more conventional.

But these are very unconventional. The idea that Bobby Kennedy has the credentials to run HHS -- and the idea that Doctor Oz would report to him  is right out of a science fiction novel. The nomination that frightens most people is not Pete Hegseth  I believe he will simply drown in the Pentagon, in its vastness and its complexity  but Tulsi Gabbard. Proposing that the family jewels  our deepest and most important intelligence secrets  should be placed in the hands of someone as inexperienced and erratic as Gabbard is an invitation to the Senate to come down on that nomination like an avalanche.

Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence. Why not follow that by naming Rudy Giuliani Attorney-General?  Ross K. Baker (@Rosbake1) November 13, 2024

Q. So you think those three  Hegseth, Gabbard, Kennedy  will also be rejected by the Senate?

I think Hegseth could be confirmed. The sexual assault accusation is pretty lurid, but he has a military background, reached the rank of Major  not a commander of large numbers of troops, but a field grade officer. If theres any organization in US government conscious of rank, its the Pentagon: They practice chest reading in the hallways there, which means when they encounter someone in the halls, they look at the ribbons theyre wearing. Thats carrying your resume on your chest.

Hegseth served honorably and got two Bronze Stars  a moderately important distinction  and that might make him acceptable to lead, lets say, the Department of Veterans Affairs.

But the Pentagon will overwhelm him. I dont think hes the kind of person who has the kind of mind that would be able to encompass the enormity of what the Pentagon does. I dont think hell get to 50, because there are people in the Senate who will look upon this as well above his pay grade.

Hegseth will be in over his head at the Pentagon. His military experience, while notable, did not include direct command of large numbers of soldiersperhaps a battalion of 200and there are millions of men (and women!) who will be nominally under his command.  Ross K. Baker (@Rosbake1) November 23, 2024

Q. The Republicans will have 53 in the next session. Who are the ones youll be watching?

There are people you dont hear much about, like Mike Crapo and Jim Risch from Idaho, who are really fine senators. Risch will be chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. Youll be hearing more about Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia. The usual contrarians are still there -- Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, and someone I admire, Todd Young of Indiana, a moderate from a very red state. I also will watch Bill Cassidy, who will be vulnerable (to a primary challenge) in 2026. Louisiana is a tough state with a crazy ballot system that could easily cause him to lose, and he was one of the seven Republicans who voted to impeach Trump.

Some are not household names, but they are solid, respectable Republicans who have been on the McConnell team all the way and are fully transferrable to the Thune team.

BREAKING @J_Insider via @GSDeutch: GOP Sen. Risch holds off on backing Gabbard, Hegseth for Cabinet posts https://t.co/OQxXYmIH5S  Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) November 23, 2024

Q. The recess appointment demand will not be the last attempt by Trump to cut the legislative branch out of its constitutional role. But you seem confident that the Gaetz debacle was proof of political gravity and that institution will hold up, even though there are countless executive orders to come.

I stand behind the writers of The Federalist Papers on this one. Members of Congress dont want to surrender their roles and simply say, Ill be a rubber stamp for the president, even though some are. But theres an institutional pride which burns particularly brightly in the Senate.

I admit a bias; its the institution Ive studied most closely. Senators might have a very high opinion of themselves, which some people would regard as hubris. But I see it as institutional patriotism: At some point, theyre going to have to defend the relevancy of the Senate, and I think there are enough senators there who are prepared to do that.

Even setting aside the alleged child-sex-trafficking (a phrase I never thought I'd say), Gaetz has no business being America's top cop. The things he's done in public -- including socializing with Holocaust deniers and white supremacists -- should be sufficiently disqualifying. pic.twitter.com/UBx8nXaQtn  Catherine Rampell (@crampell) November 16, 2024

Q. So will the Senate have the largest role in establishing the guardrails on Trump?

Its interesting: The House is just organizing now, selecting offices and so on. Its a much smaller scale on the Senate side: Theres a kind of intimacy, senators encounter each other more often, they get to know each other, they have more committee assignments than House members. The difference shows in the inability of the House even to organize itself; its composed of a lot of people who are easily re-elected every two years, with 98% of incumbents returning to office.

But Senators have a sense  partly because theyre protected by a six-year term  that they are required not only to defend the constitution, but the institution itself, so that it continues to be relevant in the 21st century.

On the filibuster and voting rights: A Q&A with Dr. Ross Baker https://t.co/OwUPImH7Wj pic.twitter.com/O4insJwKBS  NJ.com Politics (@NJ_Politics) January 17, 2022

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Matt Gaetz has a new side hustle after withdrawing from consideration to be President-elect Donald Trumps attorney general last week.

The Florida Republican resigned from the House shortly after Trump tapped him to be his attorney general in his second administration. However, Gaetz announced he would withdraw from consideration last week after numerous Republican lawmakers raised concerns about Gaetzs qualifications and the allegations of sexual misconduct brought against him.

With no plans to return to Congress in 2025, Gaetz has become the latest embattled Republican to join online video service Cameo.

I served in Congress. Trump nominated me to be US Attorney General (that didnt work out). Once I fired the House Speaker, Gaetzs Cameo biography reads.

Gaetz is charging at least $500 for personalized video messages, according to his Cameo profile, which is shared in his social media platform X bio. The Cameo website said users can ask Gaetz to make a video for a holiday or birthday gift, to give someone a pep talk, to roast someone, and much more.

The videos that are previewed on Gaetzs Cameo profile show him capitalizing off of his failed bid for attorney general. In a message congratulating someone on being made partner at their law firm, Gaetz says: Here you are making partner, and my legal career took a little bit of a different turn this last week.

Gaetz created his Cameo profile on Friday, just one day after he announced his decision to withdraw from consideration. Gaetz is not the only former Republican lawmaker to join Cameo in recent years. After former Rep. George Santos was expelled from the House last year, he also joined the online platform to sell custom videos.

And now, current Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) has also apparently joined Cameo. But politics reporter Reese Gorman noted that joining Cameo may not be allowed for current members of Congress, according to sources.

Some sources have pointed out that this could fall under "honoraria" which is explicitly not allowed for members of Congress.



Hence why George Santos and Matt Gaetz waited until after they left Congress to start a Cameo https://t.co/LQF1P0Dv4W pic.twitter.com/m1jaBy2KQr  Reese Gorman (@reesejgorman) November 25, 2024

Gaetzs nomination as attorney general had stunned many career lawyers inside the Justice Department, but reflected Trumps desire to place a loyalist in a department he has marked for retribution following the criminal cases against him.

Hours after Gaetz withdrew, Trump nominated Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, who would come to the job with years of legal work under her belt and that other trait Trump prizes above all: loyalty.

Its unclear whats next for Gaetz, who is no longer a member of the House. He surprised colleagues by resigning from Congress the same day that Trump nominated him for attorney general. Some speculated he could still be sworn into office for another two-year term on Jan. 3, given that he had just won reelection earlier this month.

But Gaetz, who has been in state and national politics for 14 years, said hes done with Congress.

I think that eight years is probably enough time in the United States Congress, he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Trump world is celebrating after special counsel Jack Smith moved to dismiss two federal cases brought against President-elect Donald Trump.

Smiths team asked a federal judge Monday to dismiss the 2020 election interference case brought against Trump, who was charged with four felonies last year. Later on Monday, Smith also asked to dismiss the classified documents case brought against Trump.

Trump and his allieswho have decried the legal cases as politically motivatedare celebrating Smiths latest moves as Trump prepares to head to the White House next year.

The American People re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate to Make America Great Again. Todays decision by the DOJ ends the unconstitutional federal cases against President Trump, and is a major victory for the rule of law, Steven Cheung, Trump Communications Director, said in a statement.

The American People and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country, he added.

Trumps allies also flocked to social media to boast about the latest development, arguing that the charges should have never been brought in the first place.

MAJOR VICTORY for President Trump and JUSTICE! These fake (and illegal) charges were used to persecute President Trump for being the biggest threat to the Democrat regime. Political prosecution should never happen in America!! Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) wrote on social media platform X.

MAJOR VICTORY for President Trump and JUSTICE!



These fake (and illegal) charges were used to persecute President Trump for being the biggest threat to the Democrat regime.



Political prosecution should never happen in America!! https://t.co/42w7BxCX6c  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) November 25, 2024

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) quoted tech billionaire Elon Musk by writing: [T]he Hammer of Justice is coming. May it be swift.

Vice President-elect JD Vance also weighed in, saying that Trump may have been sent to prison if he did not win the election.

If Donald J. Trump had lost an election, he may very well have spent the rest of his life in prison. These prosecutions were always political. Now its time to ensure what happened to President Trump never happens in this country again, Vance wrote on X.

And conservative activist Charlie Kirk wrote on X: The lawfare lost. America won.

Later on Monday, Trump posted about the latest developments to his Truth Social.

These cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought. Over $100 Million Dollars of Taxpayer Dollars has been wasted in the Democrat Partys fight against their Political Opponent, ME. Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before, he said.

It was a political hijacking, and a low point in the History of our Country that such a thing could have happened, and yet, I persevered, against all odds, and WON. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! he added.

Despite Trump and his allies labeling his multiple legal woes as politically motivated, Trump has vowed retribution against his political opponents. Politico reported earlier this month that some involved in Trumps legal cases could be among Trumps targets, including Smith, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, as well as many others.

The move announced in court papers marks the end of the Justice Departments landmark effort to hold Trump accountable for what prosecutors called a criminal conspiracy to cling to power in the run-up to his supporters' attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Justice Department prosecutors, citing longstanding department guidance that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted, said the departments position is that the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated.

That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Governments proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind, the prosecutors wrote in Mondays court filing.

The decision was expected after Smiths team began assessing how to wind down both the 2020 election interference case and the separate classified documents case in the wake of Trumps victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. The Justice Department believes Trump can no longer be tried in accordance with longstanding policy that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Should a Capitol police officer who shot and killed a rioter at the Capitol on Jan. 6 who was breaking through a door that led to the Speakers Lobby be sent to jail?

President-elect Donald Trump and members of his inner circle have reportedly floated prosecuting Capitol Police Officer Michael Byrd  hailed as a hero for defending Congressional members  for murder in the shooting of Ashli Babbitt.

Trump campaigned on pardoning people prosecuted and jailed for their roles in the riot at the Capitol.

According to a report from Politico, that could extend to prosecuting Byrd:

Trump has joined with his supporters  some of whom took part in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot  to call for prosecution of Byrd, the U.S. Capitol Police officer who shot and killed rioter Ashli Babbitt as she attempted to breach the entrance to the Speakers Lobby while House members were being evacuated. The Justice Department announced in April 2021 that it closed the investigation into Babbitts death and no charges would be filed against Byrd. Last year, Trump called Byrd a thug and coward, adding: Ashli Babbitt was murdered!

Babbitt, 35, was fatally shot while attempting to climb through the broken window of a barricaded door leading to the Speakers Lobby inside the Capitol. Police there were evacuating members of Congress from the mob supporting Trumps false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

The U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia cleared the Capitol police officer who shot her of wrongdoing, concluding that he acted in self-defense and in the defense of members of Congress. The Capitol Police also cleared the officer.

Trump has called her an incredible person and he even taped a posthumous birthday greeting to her in 2021.

But the life of the Air Force veteran from California was far more complicated than the heroic portrait presented by Trump and his allies. In the months before her death, Babbitt had become consumed by pro-Trump conspiracy theories and posted angry screeds on social media. She also had a history of making violent threats.

On social media, Babbitt identified as a Libertarian and ardent supporter of the Second Amendment. Her posts included videos of profane rants against Democrats, COVID-19 mask mandates and illegal immigration.

Her Twitter account, which was taken down after her death, was rife with references to the QAnon conspiracy theory, which centers on the baseless belief that Trump has secretly battled deep-state enemies and a cabal of Satan-worshiping cannibals that includes prominent Democrats who operate a child sex trafficking ring.

Nothing will stop us, Babbitt tweeted Jan. 5. They can try and try and try but the storm is here and it is descending upon DC in less than 24 hours....dark to light!

She was one of five people who died during or immediately after the riot, including a Capitol Police officer.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.
WASHINGTON  Janis Hernandez, the legislative chair for the Louisiana Retired Teachers Association, spent her Thursday watching to see if the U.S. Senate would consider a bill to roll back provisions that reduce Social Security benefits for thousands of public employees in the state.

She had heard that the legislation might be brought up.

But the Senate instead focused on confirming federal judges, then left Washington until Dec. 2.

After decades of trying, Hernandez and groups representing teachers, police officers and other public employees from around the nation are closer than ever to stripping the Windfall Elimination Provision, called WEP, and the Government Pension Offset, called GPO, out of the Social Security law. Removing the two curbs would increase benefits for about 2.8 million public employees nationwide, including about 90,000 in Louisiana.
Jerry Davich Metro columnist Follow Jerry Davich Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

Hundreds of flyers created by a hate group calling itself the Trinity White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan were randomly scattered across Indiana last week.

The flyers state, LEAVE NOW  AVOID DEPORTATION, with Uncle Sam kicking out a young family, portrayed by a crudely drawn image. The flyers encourage the reporting of illegal immigrants by using contact information for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and an out of state chapter of the KKK.

The recruitment flyers suggested the self-deportation of immigrants before President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025. The flyers were released as Trump announced he would declare a national emergency and order the military to execute his mass deportation plans.

Residents in multiple cities and towns in Indiana reported receiving the flyers, from St. Joseph County to Hamilton County, though its unclear if any have made their way to this corner of the state. I contacted a handful of local police departments, which reported no complaints made by Region residents.

Other police departments and mayors offices in our state have issued statements condemning the flyer and describing its message as discriminatory and intimidating.

Alfredo Estrada, a Merrillville attorney who practices immigration law in federal and state courts, told me, A community cannot be built on hate, like the mass deportation rhetoric. It must be built on the progress and prosperity of us all.

He cited biblical scripture, Psalm 82:3: Defend the weak  uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.

This reminds us of our duty to protect those in need of justice, Estrada said. When hate groups target immigrant communities with threats of mass deportation, they are not just attacking individuals, they are undermining the very fabric of our country.

Injustice stems from oppression of vulnerable groups, and we must  if we are truly followers of Christ  stand united against all forms of discrimination and fear-mongering, particularly when it tears apart families and communities, he added.

The KKK group, based in Kentucky, described the flyers as simply informative. A statement released from the group states: Our next flyer will read, You can run, but you cant hide. Americans on GUARD! Coming soon, to cities near you.

Merely informative, huh?

We should expect more scattered rhetoric like this as Inauguration Day approaches and these kind of hate groups get empowered by mass deportation plans and threats. I dont condone illegal immigration, which is much more complex than the simpleminded remedy of kick them out. But I also dont condone inflammatory rhetoric that will ignite the embers of hate and spark dangerous scenarios for targeted families.

Drawing on my past successes during the previous Trump administration  successfully protecting immigrants' rights  I will remain dedicated to helping them navigate the legal challenges that may come, Estrada said.

If immigrants get wrongfully targeted or harassed, they can report it to police and could qualify for a U non-immigrant status, he noted.

Whats called a U visa is set aside for victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and are helpful to law enforcement or government officials in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

In 2000, Congress created the U non-immigrant visa with the passage of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (including the Battered Immigrant Womens Protection Act). The legislation was intended to strengthen the ability of law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute cases of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking of non-citizens and other crimes.

Im interested in the public response to mass deportation threats and related propaganda designed to stoke a mob mentality. Will people vocalize their opposition or keep their mouths shut as immigrant families get hauled away from their homes? Its a test of morality and righteousness, weighing the scales of criminal justice versus moral justice.

In March of this year, a public demonstration in Valparaiso promoting neo-Nazi white supremacy did something more newsworthy than the incident itself. It triggered a backlash of public contempt across Northwest Indiana, a refreshing display of solidarity in a Region with a history of tribalism.

Earlier this year, the Merrillville Police Department received numerous inquiries and observed various social media posts regarding alleged bus arrivals of illegal immigrants in its community. We want to clarify that the Merrillville Police Department has not verified any information indicating that illegal immigrants have been dropped off in Merrillville. If such information was to be confirmed, we would immediately make a public announcement, the department stated in a media release. The Merrillville Police Department remains committed to ensuring that accurate information is communicated to the public and to maintaining the safety and well-being of all our community.

As propaganda heats up regarding this explosive issue  through scattered flyers, rumors and misinformation  we must keep in mind whats really needed: immigration reform, not immigration rhetoric.
The resolution already appears to be having an impact. Last week, the Schelling Architecture Foundation retracted a prize it was planning to award to James Bridle, a British writer, who signed a pledge to boycott Israel alongside authors including Sally Rooney, Percival Everett and the Nobel laureates Annie Ernaux and Abdulrazak Gurnah. In an email to Bridle, seen by The New York Times, the foundation cited the resolution, which it said points the way forward for state institutions.

Meron Mendel, the director of the Anne Frank Educational Center in Frankfurt, said that although some artists were still having their events canceled, fewer were losing work or prizes over Gaza as memories of Oct. 7 fade. Mendel, speaking before Goldins opening, said he had no idea why Goldins exhibition had not attracted lawmakers attention when other artists had lost opportunities.

The works at the Neue Nationalgalerie exhibition, which is called This Will Not End Well and runs through April 6, are not directly related to Israel or the occupied Palestinian territories. They focus instead on intimate relationships among Goldins friends and family, and within marginalized groups including people living with AIDS and transgender people. The show is on its third stop, after runs in Stockholm and Amsterdam, where it was well received by critics.

Goldins most high-profile work in recent years has been in the field of activism, as she campaigned for museums to renounce sponsorship from the Sackler family because of its links to the opioid crisis. Goldin and her supporters staged attention-grabbing stunts against the Sackler family at institutions including the Louvre, the Guggenheim and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The artist declined several interview requests for this article and has previously said she is boycotting The New York Times, which she sees as biased toward Israel.
California will step in and provide rebates to eligible residents who buy electric vehicles if President-elect Donald J. Trump ends the $7,500 federal E.V. tax credit, Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Monday.

We will intervene if the Trump administration eliminates the federal tax credit, doubling down on our commitment to clean air and green jobs in California, Mr. Newsom, a Democrat, said in a statement. Were not turning back on a clean transportation future  were going to make it more affordable for people to drive vehicles that dont pollute.

Mr. Newsoms proposal comes as California officials gird for an extended battle with the incoming Trump administration over environmental policy, immigration and other issues. As he did during his first term, Mr. Trump is expected to try once again to block Californias authority to set auto emissions limits that are stricter than federal standards.

Already, Mr. Newsom has called a special session of the California Legislature for December, in part to discuss an increase in funding for litigation. During Mr. Trumps first term, California sued his administration more than 120 times.
A former dancer for Shen Yun Performing Arts, the prominent music and dance company of the Falun Gong religious movement, filed a lawsuit on Monday accusing the group and its leaders of trafficking vulnerable children to work for little to no pay.

The 68-page lawsuit, brought by Chang Chun-Ko in Federal District Court in White Plains, N.Y., described Shen Yun as a forced labor enterprise that has exploited underage dancers through threats and public shaming to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.

Shen Yun instills obedience in its dancers through a wide range of tactics, the lawsuit said, including by confiscating their passports, cutting them off from outside media, denouncing them as Chinese government spies if they question the groups practices and subjecting rule-breakers to public critique sessions.

Ms. Chang said she was recruited from Taiwan to join Shen Yun as a dancer at age 13, in 2009. She performed with the group until she left in 2020, when she was 24.
The sun was not yet up on Oct. 1, 2021, when dozens of health care workers emerged from Mercy Hospitals front entrance and joined hundreds of their union colleagues on the picket line.

The strike, which involved 2,000 union workers, lasted for more than a month, becoming one of the most significant labor strikes to hit Western New York health care in decades. It cost Catholic Health tens of millions of dollars, disrupted health care operations across the region amid the Covid-19 pandemic and strained the relationship between hospital managers and employees.

The recovery continues more than three years later. And any rebuilt relationships will be put to the test as the hospital and the union prepare to bargain again in 2025.

But, Mercy Hospital officials say, this isnt the same South Buffalo hospital as it was leading up to the strike.

New leadership is in place, including a hospital president with deep ties to South Buffalo who inherited a difficult situation but built an administrative team that brought in fresh ideas. Financially, the work has paid off: Mercy Hospital, which lost almost $100 million in 2021, is again profitable, even without one-time infusions of government grants.

It wasnt easy, but weve gotten there together, said Marty Boryszak, a South Buffalo native who was named president of Mercy Hospital in September 2022.

The turnaround at Mercy Hospital has keyed improvements at the larger Catholic Health, which has been financially fragile but is now seeing gains in operating performance. Had Mercy Hospital, the flagship site for Catholic Health, continued to falter, that could have spelled doom for Buffalos second-largest health system.

After a long strike at Mercy Hospital, how do Catholic Health and union workers repair the relationship? From the time the strike started Oct. 1 to when it was suspended last week, Catholic Health and the union both landed punches, often thrown in very public fashion. That talk has stopped, but trust is difficult to regain.

But the work is far from done and more improvements are needed, say hospital officials and union leaders. In particular, union leaders have expressed frustration that Mercy Hospital is not able to meet all the staffing ratios the union fought to secure three years ago.

I feel like the frustrations have outweighed the positive movement, said Brian Magner, a registered nurse in Mercy Hospitals cardiac catheterization lab and president of Communications Workers of America Local 1133. I feel were still behind where we need to be.

Hospital and union leaders know staffing will again be a focal point when bargaining begins in March, ahead of the four-year contracts expiration on June 30.

Both sides are optimistic negotiations will be smoother this time because the situation and timing are different. In 2021, the Covid-19 pandemic was still raging, taking an existing staffing crunch and supercharging it, accelerating burnout in workers  some of whom also were frustrated by the states Covid-19 vaccine requirement for health care workers.

The level of tension, maybe, and the level of disagreement and disgust is definitely better than it was heading into 2021, said Debbie Hayes, CWA area director.

A new leadership style

In the afternoon of Oct. 29, Mercy Hospital administrators did their monthly leadership rounds, visiting various units around the facility.

Each visit started with a prayer to bless the caregivers. Leaders provided updates, including on the IV fluid shortage and the recent retirement of a beloved psychiatrist, and took questions.

When each visit ended, administrators left behind a bucket of Halloween candy for staff at each unit.

Christina Tobin, the hospitals vice president of operations, said administrators have tried to be out there and present, part of rebuilding the culture in the strikes aftermath.

They needed to know that we were there for them, that we supported them, said Tobin, who has worked at Mercy Hospital for 7 years.

Leaders also started a Fun Committee, geared toward boosting employee engagement.

The committee started with a holiday lights display at Mercy Hospital in late 2022 and now aims to do something monthly. That ranges from raffles to bringing vendors to the lobby to working with the SPCA to bring in puppies to a carnival-like cookout with several Skee-Ball alleys.

During the rounds last month, administrators alerted staff to an upcoming event with a Viva Las Vegas theme, complete with an Elvis Presley impersonator.

Financial improvements

The pandemic and the strike dealt thunderous financial blows to Catholic Health.

So much so that Catholic Health approached CWA leadership to ask the union to support the health system not paying into the pension for a period of time. The union agreed and negotiated a deferment, looking to be part of the solution in terms of fixing the financial problem, Hayes said.

Catholic Health was supposed to restart payments in January but was a little slow out of the gate while it waited for anticipated relief funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, noted Catholic Health President and CEO Joyce Markiewicz. That FEMA money eventually arrived and Catholic Health is now caught up on its pension payments.

Kaleida, Catholic Health getting nearly $140 million in Covid-19 relief from FEMA Kaleida will receive a total allocation of more than $65.4 million, while Catholic Health will get nearly $74.2 million from FEMA, U.S. Sens. Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand announced.

That was very important to us to keep our word when they were gracious enough to work with us, Markiewicz said.

The FEMA dollars, provided to cover the health systems response to the pandemic, have no doubt helped Mercy Hospital and Catholic Health improve financially. But the South Buffalo hospital also is seeing operational gains.

In fact, Boryszak expects Mercy Hospital  even if you strip out all the positive one-time grant infusions  to finish this year in the black by about $7 million to $10 million. That follows years of being in the red, with operating losses of more than $24 million in 2020, $99.5 million in 2021, nearly $78 million in 2022 and almost $18 million last year.

Mercy Hospital is relying less on workers from health care staffing agencies. As of late October, the hospital had about 80 agency staff members, down from a peak of more than 250 a couple of years ago.

The hospital also has become more efficient at moving patients through the building. It created an observation unit for patients who dont need inpatient level care. Leaders also created a discharge lounge, where staff can bring patients who are ready to be discharged and are waiting for a ride home. The lounge is staffed and, while there, patients can still receive medications.

We can still give you any treatment you need, but since we can move you that much quicker, now we can turn over the bed that you were previously in for one of those patients that needs it from the ED, said Michelle Wild, the hospitals nursing director.

That means less Emergency Department boarding, the practice of holding admitted patients in beds placed in hallways while they wait for an inpatient room.

Jessica Visser, the hospitals vice president of patient care services, said average daily holds stood at 18 in October 2022, dropped to 10 in October 2023 and was about five last month. Patients average length of stay also has dropped, from 32 hours two years ago to 21 hours today, she added.

Its not because were seeing less patients, Visser said. Its just because weve become more efficient at moving people through.

Mercy Hospital also has moved forward with building improvements. For example, a long-delayed project in the sterile processing department  a roughly $11 million project  started this fall and should be completed by January 2026.

Staffing still a concern

During and after the strike, Mercy Hospital had significant staff turnover as some employees found jobs elsewhere and others left the profession.

But in the last two years, Mercy Hospital has hired more than 800 new employees across all departments.

During last months leadership rounds, Visser told each unit that Mercy Hospital is up 72 nurses since the beginning of the year, outpacing the net increase of 63 nurses in 2023. Visser added that the hospitals employee retention rate is now above the national average.

While Catholic Health has crafted several solutions, including a Nurse Residency Program that launched last fall, Visser described the nursing shortage as something that will be an ongoing concern in health care for the next decade.

Staffing challenges, she said, remain on the night shift at Mercy Hospital, particularly in the Emergency Department and in medical-surgical units.

From UPS executive to hospital leader: South Buffalo native named Mercy Hospital president Marty Boryszak, Catholic Health's senior vice president of acute care services, has been named president of Mercy Hospital in South Buffalo.

Hospital and union leadership have regular talks about staffing through a state-mandated clinical staffing committee. A 2021 state law required New Yorks hospitals to form clinical staffing committees to submit minimum staffing plans to the Health Department.

The state can conduct visits to ensure compliance with the law, as it did during a fall 2023 trip to Mercy Hospital.

The state found three deficiencies during that visit, including for not meeting a staffing plan in one department, but Catholic Health submitted a correction plan that was accepted by the Health Department, said Markiewicz, the health system CEO.

Boryszak, who also is senior vice president of acute care for Catholic Health, said the hospital has made progress but is still just scratching the surface of what needs to be done.

Our goal is to get to the staffing ratios as quickly as possible with the continued retention and recruitment efforts, he said.

Staffing will again be a focus when early bargaining starts in March. Hayes, of CWA, said the union had its first bargaining caucus early this month and she could feel the frustration of some members over staffing.

But she and other union leaders are cautiously optimistic negotiations will be smoother next year, especially with so many nurses in leadership positions at Catholic Health, including Markiewicz, Tobin, Visser and Wild.

It will be interesting to see the effect that the new administration has on the collective bargaining process moving forward, and if the approach to bargaining, and if their willingness to listen to our issues, to take them seriously, to bargain strong language, is something that theyre willing to do and do it before we end up in the type of situation that we were in 2021, Hayes said.
This time, some of the picks follow the same pattern (Marco Rubio at the State Department, say), but in other cases you have people being picked explicitly because of the critiques theyve lobbed at the institutions theyre assigned to lead  Pete Hegseth with the Defense Department, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. with everything associated with American health care, and so on. (This was part of the idea behind the late, unlamented Matt Gaetz appointment, as well.) So this sets up potential scenarios for sustained intra-bureaucratic warfare  but with the proviso that because none of these nominees have substantial managerial experience, if they actually go to war with the bureaucracies they aspire to lead, its a decent bet the bureaucracies will win.

Gessen: Ross, I have far less faith in the resilience of the bureaucracies. I remember visiting the State Department about a year (maybe less) into the first Trump administration and noticing how much had changed in such a short time. The line at security was gone, because there were so few visitors. Inside, the place was a ghost town. In a very short time, the Trump administration had fired some people, induced others to quit and, perhaps most important, paralyzed the work of those who remained. Everyone I talked to said that they didnt know what would happen to whatever programs they were running or employed by. All of this is to say: Bureaucracies have less inertia than we might imagine, especially when the person or people at the helm are dead set on destroying the actual thing.

Lydia Polgreen: For me, the most significant development is what seems to be a broad infrastructure built to ensure fealty, not just to Trump but to a broader hard-right agenda that goes deep into the guts of government at many levels. Last week there was a report in ProPublica that the state of Georgia had disbanded the committee that examines maternal mortality, apparently in response to ProPublica reporting on women who died as a result of the state abortion ban. At the same time, the House just passed a bill that could quite easily result in nonprofit news organizations like ProPublica being targeted as terrorist organizations. It is a neat trick to ensure there is less information about the impact of abortion bans and less investigative reporting exposing that impact. Yes, the picks for several of his cabinet positions are terrifying, but it is also the way policy cascades through peoples lives that is really pretty alarming.

Jamelle Bouie: Those cabinet picks are revealing, though. Trumps decision to nominate a set of cranks, charlatans and apparatchiks for key positions  and his threat to force them into office through essentially extra-constitutional means  is a clear indication that he intends to govern as a strongman. I would add that the elevation of men accused of varying degrees of sexual assault and abuse is a signal that this administration will be even more culturally reactionary and hostile to basic ideas of equality among citizens than his first one was.

Healy: Masha, you wrote a recent column about Trump, Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orban in which you argued: Trumps first term, and his actions in the four years since, tracked the early record of Putin and Orban in important ways. And then: Looking closely at their trajectories, you wrote, gives a chillingly clear sense of where Trumps second term may lead. So I want to ask you: How do we know that things in America are really getting as bad as all that? That we are slipping in the direction of authoritarianism, if not autocracy? Where are the lines? What should we watch for?
It might be the most shocking news yet to come out of this roller-coaster of a transition: After weeks of choosing cabinet secretaries who seem determined to destroy the agencies they will lead, Donald Trump announced the choice of a secretary of labor whom many American workers actually like.

His pick, Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon, who just lost her bid for re-election, was one of only three Republicans to cosponsor the PRO Act, which protects workers right to organize. She also cosponsored the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, which requires all states to recognize public-sector unions.

In fact, Chavez-DeRemer, the daughter of a Teamster, has such a pro-union record that some Republicans are in a full-blown panic about her nomination.

Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana wrote on X that he plans to question her about her support for Democrat legislation in Congress that would strip Louisianas ability to be a right to work state, and if that will be her position going forward. The New York Post ran a headline quoting conservatives calling her toxic and unserious.
Shortly after conception, a fertilized egg divides, becoming two. Then each of those cells splits, becoming four, and on and on. Over time, those lineages of cells grow distinct, giving rise to all the different organs and tissues in the human body and comprising as many as 36 trillion cells.

Scientists would love to understand the trajectory of each of those cells over time. Its something that developmental biologists like me have dreamed of for over 100 years, said Alex Schier of the University of Basel in Switzerland. But the best they have managed has been taking snapshots of cells at different stages.

Lacking that complete history, scientists still have much to learn about how, exactly, cells produce our organs, or how they heal wounds later in life. We really only understand bits and pieces, said Tanja Stadler, a computational biologist at ETH in Zurich.

Dr. Stadlers lab and others around the world are trying to turn cells into their own historians, as she and her colleagues described in the journal Nature Reviews Genetics on Monday. Their engineered cells can insert distinctive bits of genetic material into their DNA. As the cells divide, those genetic bits turn into distinctive bar codes.
From the 1970s through the mid-90s, personals ads were a staple of these new papers  not least because they helped bring in revenue. In the print-only era of Seven Days Personals, Vermont singles could place the first 25 words of an ad for free, but had to pay per word after that. Those who wanted to get in touch with potential matches had to call a Seven Days hotline at a rate of $1.99 per minute or send the paper $5 sealed in an envelope with a letter for the staff to forward to the recipient.

But many independent weeklies started to fold in the early 2000s, shuttering their personal ads sections along with them. As dating apps boomed, many surviving alt-weeklies ended personal ads, too.

Recently, Ms. Routly posed a question to a listserv of alt-weekly publishers: Is anyone still doing personals? You find you can still make money doing that? was the only response she received.

In an interview, Ms. Routly said the personal ads fit in with the papers larger mission.

One of the reasons weve survived is that we have a real community in a geographical place, not people sitting in their basement, she said, adding: We consider it a public service.

For the last 28 years, the Seven Days offices have occupied part of a warehouse in the South End of Burlington, where its neighbors include an acupuncturist and the wholesaler Vermont Wine Merchants. From a standing desk, Jeff Baron, an audio producer who started at the papers circulation desk in 2013, vets each personal ad application one at a time.
During a trial in a Virginia courtroom in September over Googles dominance in advertising technology, concepts and phrases like a second-price auction," demand-side platforms and header bidding repeatedly came up.

Judge Leonie M. Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, who was presiding in the antitrust case, often grasped within minutes the obscure mechanics of placing ads online. She also pushed lawyers to move on when they slowed down the proceedings with objections, or when witnesses repeated things she had already heard.

Lets go, Judge Brinkema said again and again.

The trial lasted just three weeks. In contrast, a landmark antitrust trial last year over Googles search dominance took 10 weeks. Another antitrust trial over Googles app store policies, a case brought by Epic Games, ran for a month. The Microsoft antitrust trial in the late 1990s lasted more than eight months.

Now Judge Brinkema, 80, is moving the Google ad tech case to its next phase in the federal court where she works, which is known as a rocket docket. On Monday, she heard closing statements from the Justice Department and a group of states, which brought the ad technology case, and from Googles lawyers. Earlier this year, she told lawyers that she would use closing arguments to answer her remaining questions before she issued her decision, which is expected in the coming months.
We lurched along an unpaved road in the night, walls of trees and knotted vines on either side. In the darkness lurked some of the worlds most unusual mammals, and I had come to Borneo to fulfill a lifelong dream to see them: catlike civets, scaled anteaters called pangolins and big-eyed colugos that spread their body flat as they glide from trunk to trunk.

In the open back of a pickup truck, two wildlife spotters stood in front of me, whirling their flashlights. To my right stood my father, whose lifelong obsession with wildlife had inspired my own. Clothes damp from the humidity, we plunged deeper into the moonlit jungle.

My father and I had long wanted to travel to Borneo together, inspired by an online community of people called mammal watchers, who shared tantalizing stories about their sightings on the island on the website mammalwatching.com.

Mammal watching is superficially similar to bird-watching: trying to see as many different wild species as possible. It is hard  mammals can be elusive  but rewarding, as the most interesting mammals dwell in the earths wildest and most vulnerable places. Searching for these creatures is both an adventure and an exercise in supporting conservation, particularly in Borneo, where palm oil plantations have replaced large areas of rainforest.
The District of Columbias attorney general on Monday sued an activist known for his calls to abolish the police, saying that he diverted $75,000 from a charity to pay for mansion rentals, a trip to Cancun and designer clothes.

Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb, an elected Democrat who oversees nonprofits in the city, said Brandon Anderson had turned an anti-police-brutality charity called Raheem AI into a piggy bank for himself.

Mr. Schwalb also sued Raheem AI. He asked a judge to shutter the organization, bar Mr. Anderson from leading any other Washington nonprofit and order Mr. Anderson or Raheem AI to repay the $75,000. The money would then be given to a charity chosen by the judge.

Brandon Anderson misused charitable donations to fund lavish vacations and shopping sprees, and the Raheem AI board of directors let him get away with it, Mr. Schwalb said in a written statement. He continued, My office will not allow people to masquerade behind noble causes while violating the law."
Tales have been told for years about the famed 836-pound emerald believed to be worth up to $1 billion: that it survived a panther attack, that it survived the floods of Hurricane Katrina, that the gem may be cursed.

Yet the mystery of who rightfully owns the emerald, a highly debated topic, could be coming to an end, after a federal court ruling last week set in motion the gems repatriation to Brazil.

The ownership of the emerald, which was unearthed in Brazil more than 20 years ago, has been at the center of a sprawling international dispute for decades, including a civil court battle in California and criminal convictions in Brazil. Several U.S.-based gem collectors also claim to be the emeralds rightful owner.

The Brazilian authorities say the Bahia Emerald, as the stone is known, is a national treasure and was illegally smuggled from Brazil into the United States. The gem, one of the largest emeralds ever to have been discovered, has been sequestered in the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department since 2015, as criminal and civil cases have played out in the courts.
The case of the Menendez brothers captured the nations attention in the 1990s, the shocking violence and allegations of sexual molestation playing out in one of the wealthiest enclaves of the country.

The brothers trial in 1993 was one of the first to be televised to a national audience, and much of the evidence about sexual abuse within the family was introduced. The brothers were tried together but in front of separate juries, each of which deadlocked.

When the brothers were tried a second time, there were no TV cameras in the courtroom, and the judge excluded much of the evidence about the claims that Jose Menendez, Lyle and Eriks father, had molested his sons. The brothers were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. At the time of the murders, Lyle was 21 and Erik was 18.

The case never quite faded away and has been the subject of a steady stream of documentaries and dramatized treatments. Two recent productions, a docudrama and a documentary released by Netflix, generated renewed attention and led to a recent decision by George Gascon, the outgoing district attorney of Los Angeles County, to recommend that the brothers be resentenced.
I think that there was some good policy, but the American people and Southerners need to feel it in their gut, said Andy Beshear, the Democratic governor of deep-red Kentucky who was considered as a possible running mate for Ms. Harris. If youre talking about the outrage of the day in Washington, D.C., and youre talking about the crazy thing a politician said last night, and then youre talking about jobs, youre only talking about jobs a third of the time. That focus and feel is something that I think weve got to work at.

That work comes as Republicans in the South see the next midterm election cycle as a chance to cement their dominance. Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia, who will lead the Republican Governors Association this year, has been widely floated as a possible candidate for U.S. Senate when his term ends in 2026. And on Friday, the states G.O.P. attorney general, Chris Carr, announced his campaign for governor, saying that he would fight to keep Georgia red.

Anderson Clayton, the chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, said the next leader of the Democratic National Committee should have a new Southern strategy  that is, a method of engaging states in the Deep South to keep them competitive and to elect state leaders who could challenge Mr. Trumps policies. She pointed to Democrats wins down the ballot to argue that the strategy was already working and could be expanded with more resources.

In North Carolina, the party flipped enough seats to break Republicans Statehouse supermajority, and elected the states Democratic attorney general, Josh Stein, to the governors mansion. Democrats there also won statewide races for superintendent of public instruction and claimed victory in a race for a state Supreme Court seat. In Georgia, the party gained two seats in the Statehouse and made inroads at the municipal level.

Those results are why the national party should continue putting resources into the region, rather than pulling up stakes  something leadership has absolutely done in years past, Ms. Clayton said. It starts, she said, with reigniting the partys base.
Steven Witkoff, the billionaire New York real estate executive whom President-elect Donald J. Trump has named as his special envoy to the Middle East, was in a jam.

The year was 2018 and Mr. Witkoffs co-investor in a Manhattan hotel project had been indicted by the Justice Department on fraud charges. A plan to convert the hotel into luxury condominiums was also on hold. But there was a two-part rescue of sorts from the kind of real estate angels that New York property investors have increasingly turned to.

First, Abu Dhabis sovereign wealth fund expanded its stake in the troubled hotel, Park Lane, which sits at the southern edge of Central Park. Then, in an even more crucial move, the Qatar Investment Authority last year dispatched $623 million as a leveraged buyout of Mr. Witkoff and his partners.

The transactions  involving two oil-rich sovereign wealth funds from the Middle East  are a hint of the enormous flow of dollars pouring into U.S. real estate firms from entities associated with countries like Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Colleges and universities have tightened rules around protests, locked campus gates and handed down stricter punishments after the disruptions of pro-Palestinian demonstrations and encampments last spring.

The efforts seem to be working.

Universities have seen just under 950 protest events this semester so far, compared to 3,000 last semester, according to a log at the Nonviolent Action Lab at Harvard Universitys Ash Center. About 50 people have been arrested so far this school year at protests on higher education campuses, according to numbers gathered by The New York Times, compared to over 3,000 last semester.

When students have protested this fall, administrators have often enforced  to the letter  new rules created in response to last springs unrest. The moves have created scenes that would have been hard to imagine previously, particularly at universities that once celebrated their history of student activism.
Heather Healy, the director of the employee assistance program for the Association of Flight Attendants union, said the general public may incorrectly believe that flight attendants are immune to emotional trauma from flights. Over time, repeated events can worsen the impact of frightening experiences, just as they would for anyone else. Instead of seeing each incident as something that builds your armor, view it instead as something that puts chinks in your armor, she said.

While emergency workers, such as paramedics and police officers, are often offered alternative work environments where they can regain resiliency after traumatic incidents, Ms. Healy said, flight attendants dont have that same recovery period protocol. Its get back on the plane or dont.

I wish I could say Im much improved, but Im not.

For some, the trauma endures for years, on planes and off. On a flight from Boston to Chicago in 2016, the aircraft that Emma Lazaroff was on went dark. The pilot, over the intercom, urgently told flight attendants to take their seats, and the plane started shaking and loudly rattling. It took what felt like a nosedive. We were thrown against our seats, Ms. Lazaroff said. Luggage was all over the cabin. Everyone thought we were going to die. After about five minutes of chaos, the plane seemed to ascend, and the black sky outside the windows revealed a sunset. The flight landed safely.

Ms. Lazaroff, now 32, doesnt know what caused the incident  the pilot didnt tell passengers, and the airline wouldnt tell her  but it has caused severe and lasting repercussions. Shortly after the flight, she started experiencing panic attacks, flashbacks, nightmares and nausea, which persist to this day. This year, she was finally diagnosed with PTSD; Xanax helps her fly. Im much more irritable generally, Ms. Lazaroff said. I have a very exaggerated startle response  if someone puts a cup down, itll make me shriek.

Jacob Morton, 35, said a 2016 flight from St. Louis to Los Angeles was burned in my brain. A few minutes after takeoff, he heard what sounded like an explosion. With a background in aerospace engineering and a previous job in aircraft design, he correctly guessed that the plane had hit a bird, which he knew was a benign occurrence that pilots are trained for. But when the engine stopped, and he smelled smoke, and the pilot instructed flight attendants to assume the brace position, everyone panicked  and so did he. Ever since then, I just grip the seat and white-knuckle through every takeoff, he said. He keeps an eye on speed and altitude, which provide comfort thanks to his knowledge of flight mechanics, but thats all he can do. I just grit my teeth and get through it, he said.
A United Nations helicopter has been buzzing nonstop for days over Haiti, as the U.N. starts to draw down its personnel in Port-au-Prince, evacuating 14 people at a time in chopper rides.

Many embassies and international aid organizations  including Doctors Without Borders, which runs some of the few functioning hospitals in Port-au-Prince  are suspending operations in Haiti, where gangs have stormed into more parts of the capital, sowing panic among humanitarian groups.

Port-au-Princes international airport remains closed to commercial traffic after gangs shot at U.S. airliners this month.

Many Haitians are particularly alarmed and dismayed by the departure of personnel from the United Nations, the international agency people are relying on to help resolve a crippling gang crisis that has forced many civilians to flee their homes.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has indicated he is open to a cease-fire in the yearlong conflict with Hezbollah, as U.S. officials pressured him to finalize a deal before Thanksgiving, according to two Israeli officials briefed on his thinking.

Mr. Netanyahu was scheduled to meet with his cabinet on Tuesday to discuss a proposed deal to end the war in Lebanon, two other Israeli officials said. Mediators have made significant progress toward a cease-fire over the past week, but a key sticking point has been Mr. Netanyahus insistence on securing some assurance that Israel could restart the fighting if Hezbollah broke the truce, Israeli officials said.

The latest proposal is seen as the best chance to end fighting that has killed thousands in Lebanon and close to 100 Israeli civilians and soldiers, while displacing roughly 60,000 people in Israel and about one million in Lebanon. But negotiations have been starting and stopping for weeks, and the two sides may not come to terms.

Mr. Netanyahus office declined to comment on his intentions. All of the officials who described his thinking spoke on the condition of anonymity, in order to discuss the sensitive, private negotiations.
Thousands of supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan defied a government lockdown and violent police opposition to march to the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, on Monday evening and demand his release, the latest escalation of political tensions.

At least one officer was killed, and several officers and demonstrators were injured, the government said.

Mr. Khan, who has been in jail since August of 2023 and faces more than 150 criminal cases, remains hugely popular despite attempts by the military-backed civilian government to suppress his support. His party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or P.T.I., says the cases are politically motivated.

Mr. Khan accuses the government and military of teaming up to crush his party, rig elections and undermine democracy. The government argues that Mr. Khan is sowing chaos through protests and insists the charges are legitimate, framing him as someone who refuses to play by the rules. It has rejected Mr. Khans calls to negotiate for his release.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. of the Philippines said on Monday that he was taking seriously deeply concerning threats that had been made against him, days after his vice president said she had arranged for an assassin to kill Mr. Marcos if she were murdered.

In a video address, Mr. Marcos said that there have been a slew of reckless profanities and threats, including plans to kill some of us. He did not directly mention Vice President Sara Duterte.

If it is so easy to threaten the life of a president, how much more for ordinary citizens? he said. Such criminal intent should never be tolerated. I will not take this sitting down.

On Monday, the presidents security was tightened, two days after Ms. Duterte said in a virtual briefing that she had made arrangements for Mr. Marcos, his wife, Liza, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, who is the presidents cousin, to be murdered if she were killed. Ms. Duterte said on Monday that her remarks had been maliciously taken out of logical context.
A DHL cargo plane crashed in a residential area near Vilnius Airport in Lithuania, killing one person on board and setting a house ablaze, officials said.

The Lithuanian authorities said the cause of the crash was under investigation.

The Boeing 737 plane had departed from Leipzig, Germany, and crashed near Vilnius Airport at about 5:30 a.m., the airport said in a statement.

It burst into flames and set a two-story home on fire, according to Renata Liaudanskiene, a spokeswoman for Lithuanias Fire and Rescue Department. She said that no one in the house was injured but that three people were pulled from the wreckage of the plane and taken to a hospital.

A fourth person who was on board the plane was killed in the crash, according to the Lithuanian authorities. .
Romania, a NATO member and host to a missile defense facility built by the United States, has been thrown into political disarray by the surprise victory of a little-known ultranationalist in the first round of a presidential election held this weekend.

Official results released Monday afternoon gave the most votes to Calin Georgescu, a dark-horse candidate without a party who had been widely dismissed as a fringe extremist. Mr. Georgescu, an expert on sustainable development who has worked for the United Nations, has denounced Ukraine, NATO and the European Union, and has often sided with Russia. He has praised Romanias fascist leader during World War II.

Despite leading, however, Mr. Georgescu took only 22.9 percent of the vote on Sunday, which is far short of the majority needed to win outright. He will therefore compete in a runoff on Dec. 8 against the second-place finisher, Elena Lasconi, a mayor and former journalist who took 19.2 percent.

Marcel Ciolacu, the center-left prime minister, came in third with just under 3,000 votes fewer than Ms. Lasconi. The vote involved a total of 14 candidates who were in general more centrist than Mr. Georgescu  as is Ms. Lasconi  suggesting he faces an uphill battle to win their voters in the second round.
Widespread travel disruption took place across Britain on Monday as a result of Storm Bert, which pounded the country with a deluge of rain and fierce winds over the weekend.

At least three people were killed in England and Wales amid sweeping floods, landslides, fallen trees, road accidents and power outages. By Monday afternoon, more than 120 flood warnings were still active across Britain.

Warnings of strong winds also remained in place in parts of Scotland through Monday, and residents in parts of Wales were told to boil water before using it as the supplier was investigating possible contamination.

Do not attempt to travel on any route today, Great Western Railway, which serves large parts of southern England and Wales, warned customers on Monday in a post on social media. Hundreds of flights were canceled over the weekend, with many train services suspended and some roads closed. The affected train services included the Stansted and Gatwick express lines, which service the London-area airports.
Tass also referred to an unverified video, posted by a pro-Russian military blog on Telegram, a popular messaging app, in which Mr. Anderson, said in the video to be 22, said that he had served in the British Army for four years, starting in 2019, but then got fired from his job. He then decided to join the international legion in Ukraine.

That was a stupid idea, Mr. Anderson said in the video.

Yuri Podolyaka, one the most popular pro-Kremlin military bloggers on Telegram, said in a post that Mr. Anderson was captured in the village of Plyokhovo, about a mile north of the border between Russia and Ukraine. Plyokhovo has been the scene of some of the most intense fighting in the area.

Over the past few weeks, Russia has been trying to drive Ukrainian forces out of the Kursk region. So far, at least a third of the captured territory has been retaken by Russia in bloody assaults against some of the best Ukrainian units.

After more than two and a half years of heavy fighting, both Russia and Ukraine are suffering from troop shortages. But with a much smaller population, the difficulty has been more acute for Kyiv.

Russian investigators are now likely to charge Mr. Anderson with being a mercenary in a foreign conflict. If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison.
The United Arab Emirates on Monday announced the arrests of three Uzbek nationals in connection with the kidnapping and murder of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi, an attack that raised alarm over the safety of the small Jewish community in the country.

A statement from the U.A.E.s interior ministry named the suspects in the abduction and death of Zvi Kogan as Olimboy Tohirovich, Makhmudjon Abdurakhim, both 28, and Azizbek Kamilovich, 33. and included photos of them blindfolded and handcuffed.

Emirati authorities said they were still working to uncover the circumstances and motives of the crime. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel called the murder an abhorrent antisemitic terrorist attack.

Image Zvi Kogan, an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi whose body was found on Sunday, was part of the small Jewish community in the United Arab Emirates. Credit... @Dudikepler/UGC, via @Dudikepler, via Reuters

Rabbi Kogan, 28, went missing on Thursday and was last reported seen in Dubai, the most populous of the nations seven emirates, according to an Israeli official. Israeli news outlets have reported that his car was found abandoned in Al Ain, a city in the adjacent emirate of Abu Dhabi, on the border with Oman. His body was found on Sunday.
A fluffy Pomeranian is lucky to be alive after miraculously serving a fall from the 12th floor of an apartment building in Cali, Colombia, onto the roof of an adjacent three-storey building.

On November 19, a Colombian family experienced moments of terror after realizing that their pet Pomeranian was nowhere to be found in their 12th-floor apartment in the city of Cali. They looked everywhere for him, and when it became clear that he was not in the house, they decided to check the windows, and thats when they spotted a small hole in the roof of an adjacent building, three floors below. Using a pair of binoculars, the desperate dogs owners could spot their beloved Paris through the small hole. The floor that Paris had been spotted on was locked, so his owners immediately called the local fire department to have the pooch rescued. Miraculously, he was found alive and well, with not so much as a scratch on him.

Its unclear how Paris fell from his 12th-floor home, considering the owners always keep the windows closed, but what baffled both his poor humans and the veterinarian who checked him for injuries after the rescue was how he survived. Its believed that the metallic roof he plunged through and his fluffy Pomeranian coat cushioned his fall, but still, he should have had some kind of external or internal injury after such a fall. He has been under observation since his rescue and he appears to be perfectly healthy.
A Belarusian blogger managed to convince dozens of Russian teachers to make and wear tinfoil hats as means of protection against radiation from NATO satellites.

Vladislav Bokhan, a Belarussian blogger and activist known for his elaborate pranks, made headlines earlier this month when he released several photos of dozens of Russian teachers wearing tinfoil hats decorated with the Russian flag. He reportedly contacted multiple schools in Russias Voronezh region, introducing himself as an official from the local branch of United Russia (the countrys ruling party), and ordered them to hold a patriotic master class called Helmet of the Fatherland. Bokhan demanded that teachers working at these schools make tinfoil hats to demonstrate their readiness to protect themselves from radiation from NATO satellites, and to his surprise, seven of the schools he contacted actually followed his instructions without question.

Evil NATO members are planning to irradiate the Russian people physically and biologically. Therefore, our teachers will have to learn to resist this with the help of primitive means of protection, like a tinfoil hat, Bokhan wrote in his letter to the Russian schools. The goal of the master class is to strengthen patriotism, increase awareness and skills of teachers in the field of practical classes in civil defense, the ability to work with improvised materials to make primitive means of protection against the threat of the use of satellite and electronic equipment by NATO, and to develop skills in working with foil.

To make sure that the teachers didnt google tinfoil hats and realize that the whole thing was a prank, the Belarussian activist provided clear tinfoil-making instructions compiled using ChatGPT. His plan worked, and teachers in at least seven Voronezh schools organized master classes on creating improvised means of protection from NATO radiation, with some even decorating their handmade headgear and posing with them on their heads, and one demanding a diploma or certificate of participation in the masterclass.

Let the helmet you make with your own hands become a means of protection against external enemies of our beautiful country, one of the teachers said in a video sent to Bokhan, and others came up with added benefits of wearing tinfoil hats, attracting positive vibrations from space, reducing anxiety, and protecting against the leakage of vital energy. The blogger says that he has no idea how they came up with these concepts.

Vladislav Bokhan revealed his prank earlier this month, and the Voronezh Ministry of Education confirmed that several schools in the region fell victim to his deception in July. However, in their statement, Russian officials tried to sugarcoat the incident, praising the teachers creative approach and patriotic spirit.

On the one hand, the teachers once again demonstrated their patriotic spirit, high efficiency and creative approach to any task (the foil helmets look very convincing). On the other hand, of course, it was disappointing that they could not distinguish a genuine party initiative from an inappropriate joke, the official statement read. We believe that this is partly due to the special attention to the safety of citizens in the region  even in this joke, cautious teachers decided to find a grain of truth.

In a recent interview, the Belarussian blogger said that he was inspired to pull off this clever prank by an essay of the late Italian writer Umberto Eco in which he discussed the 14 features of fascism, adding that he wanted to encourage people to think about what reality they live in.



Every autocracy generates conspiracy theories, they help to unite society around the Government as the sole guarantor of protection from an unseen but pervasive enemy, Vladislav Bokhan said. I dont believe this [experience] will make the teachers reflect. First of all, they will see me as an enemy.
A Wisconsin man who had been missing since August after going kayaking on Green Lake recently resurfaced to confess to faking his death and moving to Eastern Europe.

On August 12, the tranquility of the town of Watertown, Wisconsin, was shattered by the disappearance of Ryan Borgwardt, a 44-year-old husband and father of three. Borgwardt had gone on a short kayaking trip on Green Lake but disappeared completely, and an emergency search found his capsized kayak on the lake and his vehicle and trailer in a nearby park, suggesting that he had fallen in the lake and drowned. A day later, local fishermen found Ryans fishing rod and then a tacklebox containing his belongings. All the signs pointed to Borgwardts accidental demise, but then, one day, during the investigation that followed, local law enforcement found evidence that suggested Ryan had crossed into Canada, and border authorities there confirmed that they had indeed run his passport a day after his disappearance. It was this discovery that led to the uncovering of Ryan Borgwardts elaborate plan to fake his death and leave his family behind.

Photo: Unsplash

Great news: We know that hes alive and well, Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll said in a news conference earlier this month. The bad news is, we do not know where, exactly, Ryan is and he has not yet decided to return home.

Investigators made contact with the 44-year-old man on November 11 and have reportedly been in contact with him ever since. He has confessed to faking his death in order to cover his track, detailing every step of his elaborate plan, but has yet to offer an explanation for inflicting trauma on his wife and three children. According to Sheriff Podoll, he just had personal matters going on and he thought this was the right thing to do, but some news sources have since been speculating that he had fallen madly in love with another woman and had eloped with her.

Good evening, its Ryan Borgwardt, today is 11 November, its approximately 10 am by you guys. Im in my apartment, Borgwardt could be heard saying during a recent press conference. I am safe, secure, no problem. I hope this works.

Ryan told investigators that he had planned every detail of his plan months before executing it. He stashed an electric bike near the boat launch on Green Lake, then paddled onto the water with a kayak and a child-sized inflatable boat. He then overturned his kayak and tossed his phone in the water before paddling back to shore in the inflatable boat. He then rode his bike 80 miles through the night to Madison where he boarded a bus to Detroit. He eventually crossed into Canada where he boarded a flight to Europe using a new passport. Investigators are still verifying his story, but so far most of it checks out.

Authorities say that Borgwardt changed the hard drive in his computer and erased his search history before disappearing. He also took out a $375,000 life insurance policy, which Podoll said was intended to help his family, transferred funds to a foreign account, changed his email and spoke to a woman in Uzbekistan. Investigators were able to get in contact with Borgwardt through a Russian-speaking woman, although they have yet to verify if it is the same woman he had been speaking to before disappearing.

In our communications, we are expressing the importance of his decision to return home and clean up the mess that he has created, Sheriff Podoll said, adding that Borgwardt expressed regret regarding his actions. He is aware that he put his family through hell and that he cost US authorities tens of thousands of dollars in resources and man-hours, but, to his defense, he said that he believed searches for his body would cease within two weeks of his disappearance.



He expressed concerns that if he does come back, its going to be hard to live (and that) no one will accept him. But the community has stated before that theyre willing to forgive, Sheriff Podoll told reporters, adding that he tried convincing him to come back for his kids. Christmas is coming, and what better gift he could give his kids to be there for Christmas with them.
Accused appeared at Tullamore District Court where a book of evidence was served and she was sent forward to appear at Tullamore Circuit Court on Tuesday, November 26.

A WOMAN has been accused of stealing 29,460 from Shannonbridge Action Group.

Sile Ryan (53), Raghra Park, Shannonbridge was sent forward to Tullamore Circuit Court after a book of evidence was served on her at Tullamore District Court on Wednesday.

Garda Stacey O'Brien gave evidence of serving the book and applied for Ms Ryan to be sent forward to next Tuesday's (November 26) sitting of the Circuit Court on 92 charges.

Bridget Kelechi, solicitor for Ms Ryan, told Judge Fiona Brennan that there was no need for the court to go through each of the charges individually.

Garda O'Brien said bail as set in the District Court could remain. The accused was granted bail on her own bond of 250 and among the conditions are that she sign in at Birr Garda Station once a week and have no contact directly or indirectly, including through social media, with the committee of the Shannonbridge Action Group, the alleged injured party.

Ms Kelechi applied for legal aid for her client and it was granted by Judge Brennan who assigned the solicitor and one counsel.

The charges against Ms Ryan allege the theft of various amounts of money, from 262 up to 2,000, the property of Shannonbridge Action Group, on many different dates between July 19, 2019 and June 20, 2023.

The woman also faces numerous charges of making false AIB cheques, with the intention the cheques might be used to induce another person to accept them as genuine.

She is also charged with using an AIB bank statement which she knew or believed to be a false instrument, on July 11, 2023 at Shannonbridge Action Group.

Another charge alleges that on June 21, 2023, Ms Ryan attempted to commit theft contrary to the Criminal Justice Theft, Fraud and Offences Act.
Gardai in Laois are investigating a crash that took place in the early hours of Sunday morning, November 24 in Clonaslee.

The driver of the vehicle collided with a parked car while flower pots belonging to the Tidy Towns were also damaged in the incident.

"Gardai received a report of a road traffic collision that occurred in Clonaslee, Co. Laois in the early hours of Sunday, 24th November 2024. It is reported that a vehicle collided with a stationary, unoccupied car at approximately 4:50am. No injuries were reported. Enquiries are ongoing," a Garda spokesperson told Leinster Express/Laois Live.

Clonsalee Tidy Towns group took to social media to issue an appeal over the crash outside the old protestant church.

"A lot of damaged caused by the driver of a White saloon car who left the area heading towards Rosenallis direction. A lot of damage to their car particularly the drivers side and exhaust system, from the sounds of it with damage to our flower pots located there. A parked car was also damaged," they said.

"Any information contact Portlaoise Gardai who are aware of the incident. 057 867 4100."
Entertainment / Celebrity

by Simbarashe Sithole

Sungura lovers in Guruve and surrounding areas are excited following revelations that the genre's kingpin, Alick Macheso, will return on stage at Guruve hotel on Friday.The development comes in the wake of pressure exerted by fans as they called for his return.Macheso's popularity ratings used to shoot through the roof at the peak of of the tobacco-selling season in Guruve when the majority of farmers were liquid.Speaking to Bulawayo24.com through his publicist, Tich Makahamadze, Macheso said he was grateful that his fans were calling for him to return to Guruve hotel."Our fans kept on calling us back in Guruve so we said iband revanhu iri, kune vanhu ndokwatinoenda(It is the people's band and we go where our people are) so this Friday we are at Guruve hotel we hope to market our new album Kupa Kuturika well there," Macheso said.The Madhau hitmaker will be supported by Hosiah Chipanga who will be touring Guruve for the first time.A staunch Macheso fan, Justice "Electric Doctor" Mujeri hailed Macheso for breaking his tradition of coming to Guruve once a year."We are very excited that the king of Sungura has finally broke his tradition of coming once a year here in Guruve we are going to pack Guruve hotel to capacity in honour of his gesture," said the Electric Doctor.Guruve hotel proprietor Monica "Mai Mabhena" Chikanda said the hotel was ready to host Macheso and Chipanga."This is a very big gig because we are hosting two giants hence all is set for the gig people should come in numbers and enjoy at Guruve hotel," she said.
The United States just held a presidential election between two pro-war, militarist candidates, each of whom could have been expected to shift yet more funding into war preparations, to arm the genocide in Palestine, and to wage and threaten war with abandon. And yet peace was, as it often is, a deciding factor.

Many voters demanding peace were otherwise inclined to vote for Kamala Harris. Had she simply committed to ceasing to illegally arm just one war, she probably would have won.

Many voters demanding peace squinted their eyes hard enough to see peace in Donald Trump. Had he not mixed peace along with war into his word salad, he probably would have lost.

A poll published in May suggested that voters in swing states would be significantly more likely to vote for then-candidate Biden were he to embargo arms to Israel. A second poll from August showed the same (minus Biden). A third poll from September showed the same (for Harris).

Peace is far from the only factor that swung this election, and many other elections. Numerous other obvious ways to win or lose could be examined. But it is interesting how resilient peace is as a determining factor no matter how little discussed by candidates and corporate pundits.

In 2020 Trump lost after refusing to end the war on Afghanistan to a Joe Biden promising to do so and pretending he hadn't led the charge for the war on Iraq.

In 2016 a peace-preaching Trump beat out a Hillary Clinton popularly understood to be simply drooling for more wars. Polling in swing states showed that military families opposed to more wars from Clinton made the difference -- as did many other factors, any one of which could easily have changed the result.

In 2012, as in 2008, Obama sold himself as a peace candidate, the facts notwithstanding, and he defeated pro-war candidates including, in 2008, the most pro-war candidate we've seen, John McCain.

In 2000 George W. Bush campaigned against "nation-building", and the Supreme Court stole the election for him, but in 2004 he campaigned against a candidate in John Kerry who both supported and opposed Bush's warmaking. Peace voters had no one to vote for.

In 2006, however, peace voters gave the Democrats both houses of Congress, with ending the war on Iraq the top motivation in exit polls. The Democrats immediately escalated the war on Iraq, sending peace advocates into the despair that opened them up to fantasizing about Obama two years later.

As you go back through the years of U.S. elections, peace is prominent. Kamala Harris pulled a Hubert Humphrey, choosing loss over peace, but Humphrey got there first. Nixon won pretending to be for peace, on the model of Lyndon Johnson and Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt.

"Elect me for more wars" has never worked.

"Elect me for peace" has worked many times -- including for many a warmonger.

If people could vote directly on public policy, the world would be a much more peaceful place.


LIFE Magazine 6 Dec 1963 - PRESIDENT KENNEDY IS LAID TO REST - Tang l... TT Kennedy 25-11-1963

(Image by manhhai from flickr) Details DMCA



It all began with an assassination 61 years ago .

That Day

On November 22nd of 1963, almost exactly two months after my wife and I were married at the University of Minnesota, I was in the midst of a Shakespeare class on the University of Minnesota campus when the assassination of JFK was announced. Everyone was shocked; the air was thick with disbelief. The usually bustling campus was eerily quiet as I walked home, my mind reeling, trying to comprehend the gravity of what had just happened.

My wife had been teaching a class of elementary students in one of the Minneapolis public schools, trying to keep things calm. When she arrived home, she joined me in front of the TV in our apartment near campus, and we watched for the next several days as we, with the rest of the nation, tried to make sense of the assassination and mourn a fallen leader, who represented such renewed hope for the nation.

Since that day our nation has slowly been taken on another path, one that is much more focused on the needs of an economic elite, with changes in the tax code, the weakening of collective bargaining for unions and the pro-business Supreme Court rulings, while deemphasizing the needs of the ordinary citizens of our democracy.

This shift, which might have been labeled a conspiracy had it come from the liberal left, was instead described as a 'good business plan' by its conservative architects. Those conservative elements that represented that economic elite encompassed businesses, corporations, the military-industrial complex and the secret elements of our nation that covertly support their bidding in the name of National Security.

None of this was very apparent to most of us at that time, except that the Warren Commission report left too many questions unanswered: the inconsistencies of eyewitness testimony, the one-assassin theory, the one-bullet theory, and the kill shot coming from the back, all of which challenged our common sense. As time went on it became clearer that the official explanation of that assassination was as much a cover-up as a real investigation.

A Journalist's Warning

A couple of years later in 1965/1966 as I found myself teaching high school in a small town in Michigan, my wife and I were invited to a dinner by some friends and at that dinner was a journalist who had recently returned from Vietnam. He described the assassinations that the CIA operatives were carrying out in Vietnam. After hearing what he was saying, I said, "Well what would happen if the CIA began to do that here?' His answer was, "What makes you think they haven't?" That totally stopped the conversation as his response began to sink in.

The Motivation for the Quiet Coup

The quiet coup was, in reality, a plan to reestablish control over the levers of government in the US by the economic elite that had dominated government since the very beginning of this nation. With the coming of FDR and his New Deal, control of those levers had been shifted to be more democratically controlled by the citizens of the nation. In other words, the purpose of government had shifted to be in service of the citizens rather than being in service to business and the economic elite. But the new plan of that economic elite was to shift the focus back to economics, deregulating business with new economic and tax programs and solidifying that control so as never to lose it again.

The economic elite hated FDR and fought the New Deal, tooth and nail, with the help of a very conservative Supreme Court. That economic elite began to gradually reclaim some of their dominance by the end of FDR's administration. That process continued under Truman and seemed to begin to be solidly reestablished under Eisenhower, but the election of JFK appeared to jeopardize those gains.

As JFK continued in office, it became clear that things were returning to a "New Deal", more democratizing ideology. After the Bay of Pigs fiasco, perpetrated on the new president by the Eisenhower CIA with Alan Dulles as head, Kennedy fired Dulles and was about to dismantle the CIA. Later, Kennedy was beginning to pull out of Vietnam, and after the Cuban Missile Crisis, had found ways to perhaps end the Cold War by finding a de'tente with Russia and Cuba. All of these things began to look like a return to the democratizing elements of the New Deal, a possible end to the Cold War and potentially an end to the dominance of the economic elite once again.

After the JFK assassination, as we all know, the war in Vietnam continued for several more years, to the benefit of the military-industrial complex, the power of the CIA continued, the possibility of a de'tente with Russia and/or Cuba dissolved, and the Cold War with its arms race, continued to be the focus of our foreign policy. And, to top it all off, Alan Dulles was part of the Warren Commission.

The Beginning of the Quiet Coup

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This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

Let's try to put recent political events in this country in perspective -- if, that is, perspective is even a concept when it comes to Elon Musk and the word "billion," no less "billionaire," or the very idea of "the world's wealthiest person" being, no surprise at all, Donald Trump's big-money pal and (according to him, at least) "first buddy." And yes, Elon Musk could even someday become the planet's first trillionaire. In the meantime, he contributed more than $100 million to the Trump campaign. And keep in mind that Trump has already promised to make him the co-chair of a new Department of Government Efficiency that will, in turn, cut other departments and supposedly reduce as much as $2 trillion in "wasteful federal spending" (spending, undoubtedly, that doesn't relate to rich people). Oh, and not only did Musk's wealth rise by a (mere) $26.5 billion in the wake (excuse that word, Elon!) of Donald Trump's election victory, but the 10 richest billionaires on this planet all made a bloody fortune ($64 billion in total) off that win. Oh -- sorry for all the "ohs" but it does catch me off-guard -- and how coincidental that the two people leading the next president's transition team, Howard Lutnick and Linda McMahon, just happen to be -- yes, you guessed it! -- billionaire contributors to The Donald's election campaign.

So, I'm sure you won't be surprised to learn, given how much the oil and gas industry donated to his campaign, that he's only recently appointed Chris Wright, the chief executive of a fracking company, as secretary of energy. The New York Times calls Wright "a media-friendly evangelist for fossil fuels" while disparaging climate science," who, in turn, is close -- don't be shocked! -- "to Harold G. Hamm, the billionaire founder of [the oil and gas giant] Continental Resources who donated nearly $5 million to Mr. Trump since 2023 and is playing a role in the transition."

And that's just to start down a list of billionaires who have backed Donald Trump. As former Labor Secretary Robert Reich commented all too aptly, his next term in office "will be a billionaires' ball." Indeed, it will. And in that context, let TomDispatch regulars Liz Theoharis and Shailly Gupta Barnes focus on those Americans who won't have a chance in hell of attending that ball and are likely to find themselves in an ever more difficult world. Tom

Lifting from the Bottom

How to Survive Donald Trump's America

By Liz Theoharis and Shailly Gupta Barnes

"If they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?" (Luke 23:31)

Before November 5th, millions of us were already struggling with poverty, extreme storms, immigration nightmares, anti-trans bills, criminalized reproductive health, the demolition of homeless encampments, the silencing of freedom of speech on campuses" and, of course, the list only goes on and on. Since Donald Trump and J.D. Vance were elected, more of us find ourselves in a state of fear and trembling, given the reports of transgender people attacked in broad daylight, misogynist social media posts threatening "your body, my choice," Black college students receiving notes about returning to enslavement, and the unhoused beaten and battered.

In the wake of the election results, there has also been a flurry of activity in anticipation of the extremist policies Donald Trump and crew are likely to put in place to more deeply harm the nation's most vulnerable: mass Zoom meetings with MoveOn, the Working Families Party, Indivisible, and more; interfaith prayer services for healing and justice organized by various denominations and ecumenical groups; local actions pulled together by the Women's March; community meetings with the hashtag #weareworthfightingfor; and calls to mobilize for inauguration day and beyond.

Although some were surprised by the election outcome, there were others who saw it coming and offered comfort and solidarity to their communities even before the results were in. On the eve of election night, a public elementary school in West Harlem, New York, sent this message to its families:

"We know emotions are running high. Today, and last week at school, many conversations in PreK through 5th grade were had and heard regarding how voting happens" worry from some students about whether they will be safe after tomorrow" We assured all children that our school, no matter what, will always be a safe place for them and their families" It is so hard feeling that this election and its outcomes could have such a huge impact on any person based on their status, race, gender identity, sexuality, religion, country of origin and so many other identities which make our school so beautifully diverse"It is not easy being a parent/caregiver on a good day, let alone when it feels like times are so turbulent and uncertain and even, scary. We are here for you, parents, caregivers, and we are in this together. No matter what!"

That message came from a Title 1 school, nearly 60% of whose students qualify for free school meals. If Trump keeps up with his promise to close the Department of Education, tens of thousands of public schools across the country, like the one in West Harlem, could lose critical funding and programs that sustain tens of millions of students and their families -- that is, if public education isn't completely privatized in some grim fashion.

Of course, not all communities approached Trump's election with such trepidation. On November 6th, the Bloomberg Billionaire Index reported that the 10 richest men in the world added $64 billion to their own wealth after Donald Trump was declared the winner of the 2024 election. Since then, the stock market has had some of its best days in recent history.

An Impoverished Democracy

After inciting an insurrection at the Capitol, being indicted in state and federal court, convicted of 34 felony counts, and using racist, sexist, and hateful rhetoric prolifically, Donald Trump has gone down in history as the only convicted felon to become an American president, receiving more than 74 million votes and securing 312 electoral college votes. Although an undisputed victory, the outcome relied heavily on a weakened democracy and a polarized economy, drawing on discontent and disarray to regain political power.

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New York, NY, July 18, 2024 Greg Mansell, a passionate and dedicated New York City Employment Lawyer, is renowned for his relentless pursuit of justice for his clients. From the initial consultation to the final resolution, Greg's commitment to hard work, devotion, and open communication has consistently yielded successful outcomes. Greg has achieved significant recognition for his work in employment law, being named among U.S. News: Best Lawyers in America from 
Canada's travellers are known for their love of adventure and cultural experiences. With the recent visa-free travel policy for Canadians to Egypt, now is the perfect time to explore a luxurious Nile cruise. Combining ancient wonders with unmatched comfort. A Nile cruise offers an extraordinary way to discover Egypt's iconic sites. 1. Visa-Free Travel for Canadians Egypt's recent policy allows Canadians to visit without a visa, making travel easier and more accessible. 
By MELINA WALLING Associated Press

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP)  In the wee hours Sunday at the United Nations climate talks, countries from around the world reached an agreement on how rich countries can cough up the funds to support poor countries in the face of climate change.

Its a far-from-perfect arrangement, with many parties still deeply unsatisfied but some hopeful that the deal will be a step in the right direction.

World Resources Institute president and CEO Ani Dasgupta called it an important down payment toward a safer, more equitable future, but added that the poorest and most vulnerable nations are rightfully disappointed that wealthier countries didnt put more money on the table when billions of peoples lives are at stake.

The summit was supposed to end on Friday evening but negotiations spiraled on through early Sunday. With countries on opposite ends of a massive chasm, tensions ran high as delegations tried to close the gap in expectations.

Heres how they got there:

What was the finance deal agreed at climate talks?

Rich countries have agreed to pool together at least $300 billion a year by 2035. Its not near the full amount of $1.3 trillion that developing countries were asking for, and that experts said was needed. But delegations more optimistic about the agreement said this deal is headed in the right direction, with hopes that more money flows in the future.

The text included a call for all parties to work together using all public and private sources to get closer to the $1.3 trillion per year goal by 2035. That means also pushing for international mega-banks, funded by taxpayer dollars, to help foot the bill. And it means, hopefully, that companies and private investors will follow suit on channeling cash toward climate action.

The agreement is also a critical step toward helping countries on the receiving end create more ambitious targets to limit or cut emissions of heat-trapping gases that are due early next year. Its part of the plan to keep cutting pollution with new targets every five years, which the world agreed to at the U.N. talks in Paris in 2015.

The Paris agreement set the system of regular ratcheting up climate fighting ambition as away to keep warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. The world is already at 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Fahrenheit) and carbon emissions keep rising.

What will the money be spent on?

The deal decided in Baku replaces a previous agreement from 15 years ago that charged rich nations $100 billion a year to help the developing world with climate finance.

The new number has similar aims: it will go toward the developing worlds long laundry list of to-dos to prepare for a warming world and keep it from getting hotter. That includes paying for the transition to clean energy and away from fossil fuels. Countries need funds to build up the infrastructure needed to deploy technologies like wind and solar power on a large scale.

Communities hard-hit by extreme weather also want money to adapt and prepare for events like floods, typhoons and fires. Funds could go toward improving farming practices to make them more resilient to weather extremes, to building houses differently with storms in mind, to helping people move from the hardest-hit areas and to help leaders improve emergency plans and aid in the wake of disasters.

The Philippines, for example, has been hammered by six major storms in less than a month, bringing to millions of people howling wind, massive storm surges and catastrophic damage to residences, infrastructure and farmland.

Family farmers need to be financed, said Esther Penunia of the Asian Farmers Association. She described how many have already had to deal with millions of dollars of storm damage, some of which includes trees that wont again bear fruit for months or years, or animals that die, wiping out a main source of income.

If you think of a rice farmer who depends on his or her one hectare farm, rice land, ducks, chickens, vegetables, and it was inundated, there was nothing to harvest, she said.

Why was it so hard to get a deal?

Election results around the world that herald a change in climate leadership, a few key players with motive to stall the talks and a disorganized host country all led to a final crunch that left few happy with a flawed compromise.

The ending of COP29 is reflective of the harder geopolitical terrain the world finds itself in, said Li Shuo of the Asia Society. He cited Trumps recent victory in the US  with his promises to pull the country out of the Paris Agreement  as one reason why the relationship between China and the EU will be more consequential for global climate politics moving forward.

Developing nations also faced some difficulties agreeing in the final hours, with one Latin American delegation member saying that their group didnt feel properly consulted when small island states had last-minute meetings to try to break through to a deal. Negotiators from across the developing world took different tacks on the deal until they finally agreed to compromise.

Meanwhile, activists ramped up the pressure: many urged negotiators to stay strong and asserted that no deal would be better than a bad deal. But ultimately the desire for a deal won out.

Some also pointed to the host country as a reason for the struggle. Mohamed Adow, director of climate and energy think tank Power Shift Africa, said Friday that this COP presidency is one of the worst in recent memory, calling it one of the most poorly led and chaotic COP meetings ever.

The presidency said in a statement, Every hour of the day, we have pulled people together. Every inch of the way, we have pushed for the highest common denominator. We have faced geopolitical headwinds and made every effort to be an honest broker for all sides.

Shuo retains hope that the opportunities offered by a green economy make inaction self-defeating for countries around the world, regardless of their stance on the decision. But it remains to be seen whether the UN talks can deliver more ambition next year.

In the meantime, this COP process needs to recover from Baku, Shuo said.
The Oregon Cascades and the Oregon coast are two of the most desirable places to spend Thanksgiving break, according to a new analysis of travel trends.

HomeToGo, which describes itself as the marketplace with the worlds largest selection of vacation rentals, released a list of the top 15 U.S. destinations for Thanksgiving vacations and two Oregon cities ranked in the top five.

Sunriver was the No. 2 destination on the list, and Lincoln City came in at No. 5.

Sunriver Resort welcomes guests to many wintertime events including nightly light shows in December.Photo by Tyler Roemer

Sunriver offers access to the nearby Mt. Bachelor ski area and a wide variety of vacation rentals. Sunriver Resort has a large holiday light display, starting Saturday, Nov. 23.

With La Nina expected to bring colder and wetter weather to the region this winter, its not surprising that Oregons ski resorts are a trending travel destination.

Mt. Bachelor Ski Area had seen more than 40 inches of snow in early November and opened on Nov. 16  its earliest opening since 1998, according to a press release.

An early morning moon-set over a series of sea stacks at the mouth of Siletz Bay on the northern Oregon Pacific Coast near Lincoln City, Oregon, 2014. (Photo by Buddy Mays/Getty Images).Getty Images

Lincoln City is a particularly popular fall and winter destination on the Oregon coast, in part thanks to Finders Keepers, the annual treasure hunt for glass floats on the citys beaches.

Explore Lincoln City's "Finders Keepers" program drops glass floats created by local artists on Lincoln City beaches.Nathan Holstedt

HomeToGo analyzed search trends for destinations on its vacation rental website to compile the ranking, looking at search interest in both states overall and specific destinations in each state.

Oregon was one of three states that climbed to the top of the trending list with the largest year-on-year increases in interest among vacationers, Eleanor Moody, a HomeToGo spokesperson, said in a news release.

 Julie Evensen covers trending topics and popular culture. She can be reached at jevensen@oregonian.com or @juliecevensen on Twitter and @julieevensen on Threads.

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60"FlyOverChina | Spotted seals return to Liaodong Bay for breeding season 60'FlyOverChina | Spotted seals return to Liaodong Bay for breeding season Pub Date:24-11-25 10:57 Source:Xinhua

PANJIN, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- As the breeding season arrives, spotted seals return to Sandaogou area of Liaodong Bay in Panjin City, northeast China's Liaoning Province. These lovely animals take their rest on the tidal flats and play joyfully in the waters. Editor:Qin Shuying

Related News Chinese poetry master Ye Jiaying dies at 100 24 Solar Terms: Minor Snow Choir from Chinese mountainous region sing... Exhibition of China's Tang Dynasty held in...
News / National

by Gideon Madzikatidze

Through the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the Japanese government has last week committed a US$ 5.1 million in its quest to support 37,000 smallholder farmers across five districts within Zimbabwe's three provinces (Masvingo, Mashonaland Central and Manicaland).The pledge comes in the wake of climate-related abnormalities caused by the El Nino induced drought.Speaking during the signing ceremonies, Shinichi Yamanaka who is the Japanese ambassador to Zimbabwe, announced that the three-year program will enhance food security and resilience for smallholder farmers through establishment of water-based infrastructure, development of value chains and capacity-building amongst agricultural extension services."Under this project, small-scale farmers will be supported in growing sesame seeds to practice market-oriented agriculture and a Japanese trading company called ITOCHU Corporation is expected to play an important role in completing the value-chain of the project," Shinichi Yamanaka said."The Japanese government will provide financial assistance of approximately US$ 72,000 to the project for the construction of storages for sesame farmers in Mwenezi District while implemented by Sustainable Agriculture Technology (SAT)," Shinichi Yamanaka added."SAT is expected to support sesame production and its procurement including value addition for the local and export market," Yamanaka added.Meanwhile, the Country representative and director for WFP in Zimbabwe, Barbara Clemens also added that the grant will enable improvement, availability, accessibility, and reliability of food for families in Zimbabwe."This invaluable contribution from the Government of Japan allows us to make food more available, easier to access, and more reliable for Zimbabwean families," Clemens announced."By supporting farmers to grow food in a sustainable way and connect them to markets, we can address immediate food needs and empower communities to build a food-secure future," Clemens added.The Japanese support is specifically meant for Chiredzi, Mwenezi, Rushinga, Mt Darwin and Chipinge.
Yesterday evening, we met friends for dinner at Marias Mexican Grill in South Jordan  this was our first time there, by the way, and, for whatever it may be worth, I thought my food was unusually good  and then we headed up together to Symphony Hall in Salt Lake City. We arrived early, for a discussion of that nights program with the Symphonys Assistant Conductor, Jessica Rivero Altarriba. As a special treat, though, she introduced the Utah Symphonys just-announced Music Director Designate, Markus Poschner, and conducted a very brief interview with him. He is very personable, and his English is excellent. As it happened, he was already scheduled as the guest conductor for last night.

The concert fell into two parts. The first was Benjamin Brittens Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 13, with Benjamin Grosvenor as pianist. The second was Beethovens great Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat major, Op. 55 Eroica.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) wrote his so-called Heiligenstadt Testament  despite the grand title by which its come to be known, it was simply a letter to his brothers Karl and Johann  in 1802. In it, he explained his increasing withdrawal from the world on account of growing deafness. Ah, he wrote to them, how can I admit to an infirmity in the one sense that ought to be more perfect in me than in others? Its a heartbreaking letter, and a heartbreaking situation. Only slightly more than a year later, though, he began work on his Third Symphony, which proved to be revolutionary not only for him but, really, in the history of western music altogether. (And the Fifth, the Sixth, the Seventh, and the glorious Ninth  my personal favorites  were yet to come.)

Famously, Beethoven originally dedicated the Third Symphony to Napoleon, idealistically imagining that Bonaparte was intending to follow through on the ideals of the French Revolution: Liberte, egalite, fraternite. But then, when Napoleon declared himself Emperor of France, Beethoven was disillusioned and angrily repudiated his dedication.

Thinking of Beethovens deeply tragic biography once again, however, I feel it appropriate to share here a column that I wrote for the Deseret News back in 2012. I hope that you wont mind:
News / Regional

by Simbarashe Sithole

Masvingo-based suspected robber Alfred Mukwazhe (42) is nursing a gun wound after he was shot at Yingcan Cadogan mine in Shamva last week.The Chinese national Tang Hongbo allegedly fired two warning shots to scare the machete-wielding Mukwazhe who his friend accompanied.Acting Mashonaland Central police spokesperson Sergeant Major Samuel Chikasha confirmed the case.Allegations are that on November 21 the two suspected robbers cut a fence at the mine and gained entry during the midnight.They stormed the guard room wielding machetes and the Chinese national was parked there.He saw the two coming and shouted to stop them but they continued advancing.He pulled a pistol and fired two warning shots before pointing at Mukwazhe.Mukwazhe was shot and he fell.The mine manager Moris Mutonhodza together with Hongbo went to pick up the Mukwazha who was bleeding from the gun wound.They rushed him to Shamva Hospital before filing a police report.Police recovered the gun and three empty cartridges from Yingcan.
Opinion / Columnist

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) must abandon its feeble approach to dealing with the destructive chaos orchestrated by opposition political parties and take an uncompromising stand against their blatant role in fuelling post-election violence. These opposition groups have exposed themselves as nothing more than power-hungry, self-serving entities willing to burn nations to the ground in pursuit of their selfish ambitions. From Zimbabwe in 2018 to the recent bloodshed in Mozambique, these anarchists have shown complete contempt for democracy, human decency, and the lives of innocent citizens.In Mozambique, opposition leader Venancio Mondlane's outright rejection of election results directly triggered violent protests, leading to over 30 deaths. This carnage is not an isolated incident but part of a sickening trend where opposition parties, unable to accept their failure, incite riots, destroy property, and spill innocent blood. The chaos that unfolded in Zimbabwe following the 2018 elections is yet another damning testament to the opposition's reckless and destructive nature. Their actions are nothing short of a premeditated attack on the democratic process and the stability of entire nations.The audacity of these opposition figures to dress up their violence as "resistance" to oppression is a grotesque mockery of justice and decency. This excuse has allowed them to evade responsibility for the lives they have destroyed and the havoc they have unleashed. Enough of this nonsense! SADC must take an unrelenting stance, punishing these agitators with the severest measures available. Those who incite violence, directly or indirectly, must face harsh sanctions that leave no room for impunity. It is high time the region put an end to the toxic exploitation of democracy by these rogue elements.But it doesn't stop with the opposition leaders alone. The enablers of this chaos - be they journalists, so-called activists, or organisations that parrot the opposition's divisive propaganda - must also be held accountable. Individuals like Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin'ono and leaders of the opposition like Nelson Chamisa and Tendai Biti have been glorified by naive supporters despite their roles in provoking unrest. These opportunists are nothing more than mercenaries and merchants of death, their ambitions steeped in the blood of the innocent. Their so-called activism is a cover for insidious agendas that prioritise political power over human life.As SADC Executive Secretary Elias Magosi rightly emphasised, there are legal and peaceful avenues to resolve electoral disputes. But instead of choosing law and order, these defeated opposition parties resort to violent tantrums. The region cannot afford to keep turning a blind eye. SADC's failure to take immediate and severe action against these anarchists will embolden them further, plunging nations into deeper chaos and destroying public confidence in democratic processes.SADC must act now - firmly, decisively, and without hesitation. No political party, no journalist, no organisation, and no so-called activist should be allowed to plunge nations into chaos and hold democracy hostage. The stability and survival of entire nations must not be sacrificed at the altar of political ambition. SADC must rise to its mandate and obliterate this cancer of opposition-driven violence. The time for diplomacy and soft words is over; it's time for unrelenting action to ensure peace, stability, and the protection of innocent lives. Anything less is tacit complicity.
CARLISLE - The signs in Lis Asian Massage in Carlisle said no erotic services. But according to customer accounts and online reviews, the regulars knew that if you were willing to pay a little extra, the signs didnt apply.

Thats what Cumberland County detectives are alleging in a new prostitution and human trafficking case filed this week.

Lis Asian Massage, at 300 E. High St., remained closed and padlocked Friday when a PennLive reporter drove by. Small strips of police evidence tape were affixed across the front double doors.

The owner, Chuanxia Wang, 65, is charged with felony counts of promoting prostitution, human trafficking and dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities. Two female employees are also facing misdemeanor prostitution counts.

Preliminary hearings for all three women are scheduled for next week.

Cumberland County District Attorney Sean McCormack on Friday said this weeks arrests are part of an ongoing effort by his detectives and local police to try to make Cumberland County known by human traffickers as a place to avoid.

Police said the investigation at Lis is actually an off-shoot of a probe begun at another massage parlor in Cumberland County.

In that case, a tipster expressed concerns to police about what appeared to be a rotating cast of Asian women working and living at the massage parlor off West Trindle Road in South Middleton Township for weeks at a time, and then being replaced with others.

Police raided that parlor, GL Massage, last month, and one of the employees there disclosed she had previously worked at Lis in Carlisle.

There, that employee said, Chuanxia Wang, whom she described as the owner of Lis, directed her and other employees to engage in sexual acts with customers for payment.

Police then started to investigate Lis, including interviews with customers who had been recorded coming and going from the business in recent weeks and were identified through state motor vehicle registrations.

Investigators also dove into online sites that feature customer reviews of massage parlors, and found at least two posts regarding Lis in which customers described, getting hand jobs from female workers there after paying a tip beyond the house fees for a massage.

Overall the massage wasnt great, but the twofer was lots of fun, one client wrote in July, after describing two separate instances of masturbation during a one-hour visit, followed by a hot towel clean-up.

Several of the customers tracked down by police, who were not named in the charging documents, also admitted they had paid for sexual services at the business, and after being shown pictures, identified Wang, of Newport, Perry County, and two other women, Dong Mei Liu and Yue Jun Zhao, both of Flushing, N.Y., as having provided those services.

Flushing, a part of Queens, is one of the epicenters of New York Citys largest-in-the-nation Chinese American community.

Equipped with this information, police raided Lis on Nov. 19 and found Liu, 55, and Zhoa, 62, working there. Wang, 65, arrived on the scene during the search.

Liu and Zhao were arraigned later that day on single misdemeanor counts of prostitution.

Wang, whom state records showed had incorporated Lis Asian Massage in February 2018, is charged with felony counts of running a corrupt organization, human trafficking and promoting prostitution.

Case filings show that Wang and her husband, identified as Ronald Wilson, are listed on the buildings lease as the renters of the property. Wilson, police said an affidavit of probable cause, denied anything illegal was occurring at Lis, though he volunteered that he had heard GL Massage had an issue.

Wang is not an owner of GL Massage, though Wilson confirmed to police that Wangs massage license was posted there, and he said she used to go there to help out when business was slow at Lis.

Police also noted that several potential customers came into Lis during their raid, and two agreed to be interviewed. Both admitted having received hand jobs at the business for an additional payment, even though signs posted at the business stated it did not provide erotic services.

One of those men also identified Wang, Liu and Zhou as having performed sexual acts on him for money.

Asked about the investigation associated with GL Massage, McCormack said Friday that case is continuing and theres potentially more charges down the road...

I think Cumberland County is ripe for this type of crime because we have the highway system, McCormack said, referring to the fact that three interstates pass through Cumberland, and Interstate 81 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike intersect here.

The message that Im trying to get out is that were not going to tolerate human trafficking in Cumberland County and were going to do what we can to root it out.

In an unrelated case, in August 2023 county detectives raided five massage parlors operating in several West Shore communities and charged their operator, Min Dong, 55, of Camp Hill, with running a corrupt organization and other counts.

The charges against Dong are still pending.

McCormack noted that the county has also been running periodic stings to identify and arrest individuals who patronize labor/sex trafficked individuals.
Police are investigating the death of a man who was shot following a fight inside a bar in Philadelphias Juniata Park neighborhood early Sunday.

According to police, officials learned of the incident after the victim, a 28-year-old man, was brought into a hospital in the city after he had been shot around 2 a.m. on Sunday, NBC10 reported.

He died within an hour after arriving at the hospital, officials said.

According to police, the man got in a fight inside JJs Cafe, a bar near the intersection of East Erie Avenue and J Street in Philadelphias Juniata Park section. It spilled into the streets and, officials said, an unknown gunman pulled out a gun and fired several times.

Officials said the man was shot several times.

No other information has been released.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Philadelphia Police Department at 215-686-TIPS (8477).

There is a $20,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.
A Bedford County woman is facing child abuse charges after police say she instructed a group of children to beat a young girl with a belt.

Penny Lynne Garlock, 62, of Hopewell Towship, has been charged with child endangerment and aggravated assault with extreme indifference, according to reports from WJAC and WTAJ.

Authorities said that they were contacted on Oct. 19 when a 9-year-old girl was reported missing.

Police said they found the girl hiding in Garlocks house and that she told them that she had been held down on a bed and beaten with a belt by three boys.

Officials said that she had welts and red marks on her legs, back, and backside, as well as a possible head wound.

The victim was taken to a hospital, where she later told authorities that Garlock had hit her with a spatula and a metal oven rack.

Garlock was arraigned Nov. 20 and released on $50,000 unsecured bail, news reports said.
For more than a year, authorities have been debating whether a 78-year-old woman charged with killing her husband 37 years ago in Perry County is competent to stand trial.

Charges have been pending against Judith Jarvis since December 2022, when police accused her of shooting her husband Carl Jarvis, 42, in the head on Aug. 10, 1987, in the couples Millerstown home.

The case, cold for 35 years, was solved in 2022 when blood on the pajamas Judith was wearing during the shooting tested positive for Carls DNA, Pennsylvania State Police said.

The Perry County district attorneys office filed a murder charge against Judith, but the Pennsylvania attorney generals office has since taken over the case due to a conflict of interest in the DAs office.

Perry County District Attorney Clay Merris confirmed the transfer to PennLive but did not elaborate on the nature of the conflict of interest. However, online court records show her defense attorney Tammy Dusharm withdrew from the case in January and took a job at the DAs office.

Judith Jarvis has been awaiting trial at SCI Muncy without bail for nearly two years as the case moved to the AGs office and her competency was questioned. Muncy is a medium/maximum-security womens prison that provides medical care for elderly defendants.

Jarvis had a preliminary hearing and arraignment before a judge, but for more than a year, defense attorneys and prosecutors have been debating whether or not they can move forward with the case. Court records show the case has been tied up in mental health evaluations since the defense raised the issue of competency in the fall of 2023.

Attorney generals office spokesman Brett Hambright confirmed the office accepted the referral in January and said prosecutors are waiting for President Judge Kenneth Mummah to rule on Judith Jarviss competency. Her next court date has not been scheduled.

Carl Jarviss homicide went without any arrests for decades.

Pennsylvania State Police said Judith called troopers to the couples Cherry Valley Road home just after midnight that night in August 1987 because of a domestic disturbance. She said she was scared because her husband was breaking things, and she had walked outside.

No one was at the Jarvis home that night besides Carl and Judith, according to state police.

When troopers arrived, they knocked on the door and called for Carl Jarvis, but did not receive a response, according to the affidavit.

The troopers entered and found Carl Jarvis naked and dead between the bed and wall in a bedroom on the western side of the house. Hed been shot in the head with a .22-caliber revolver, state police said. The bullet entered through the back of his head and exited at the front.

In 2020, blood on Judiths pajamas that she said came from a goose bite was submitted for DNA testing. Using a hair sample from Carl, state police said they were able to match his DNA to the blood on his wifes pajamas.

In court documents, state police said a forensic pathologist determined it would be essentially impossible for Carl to have shot himself in the head, given how his body was found.

Carl Jarvis was an Army master sergeant who fought in Vietnam, according to his obituary. He was buried at Fort Indiantown Gap in Lebanon County. The obituary said Carl was survived by his parents, two brothers and two sisters.

Judith Jarviss case is at least the second in recent years in central Pennsylvania where authorities are debating the competency of an elderly person tied to a murder case.

Mark Warfel, 91, has been named in court documents as the suspected killer of Tracy Kroh, a teenager presumed dead after disappearing from Millersburg, Dauphin County, in 1989. He has been held in a state prison, on palliative care, since February 2022 for allegedly assaulting a nurse at UPMC Harrisburg Hospital.

Warfels competency hearing was continued in January and has not been rescheduled as of November. Warfels defense attorneys said at the time that he was incompetent to stand trial on any charges and that its a miracle hes still alive.
A meteorologist with Fox 43 has announced she will be departing the station.

Ally Debicki, meteorologist with the York-based Fox affiliate station, posted on her Facebook page that after almost 8 years in the business Im taking a step back.

Im not good at goodbyes, Debicki wrote in her post. Ive loved every minute Ive spent with the FOX43 news team and have so many to thank for the experience BUT I still have this last week on air before my time is up.

Debicki joined the Fox 43 team in August of 2022. Originally from New Jersey, she studied at Penn State University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology.

Prior to arriving at Fox 43, she worked at WENY News in Horseheads, New York, then at FOX56/WOLF TV in northeastern Pennsylvania.

While she did not announce her future plans in her message, Debicki ended her post with lets make it a great one before my last day November 29th.

To read her full post, visit her Facebook page here.
Second Cup cuts ties with Montreal franchisee, closes cafes over antisemitic remarks and gesture

Second Cup Canada announced the termination of its franchisee's contract in a social media statement on Saturday, reaffirming its 'zero tolerance for hate speech.' (CBC - image credit)

WARNING: The story below contains antisemitic remarks and an image of a woman making a Nazi salute.

Two Second Cup cafe locations at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital have been shut down and the franchise owner's contract terminated after the individual was filmed at a protest on Thursday making "hateful remarks and gestures," according to the Canadian company.

In a statement posted to its social media pages on Saturday evening, Second Cup Canada said it has "zero tolerance for hate speech."

"In co-ordination with the hospital, we've shut down the franchisee's cafe and are terminating their franchise agreement," the statement reads.

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The company said it will retain the staff and continue paying them until the locations at the hospital reopen under new management.

In a series of texts with CBC News, the president and CEO of Foodtastic, which owns the Second Cup coffee chain, identified the franchisee as Mai Abdulhadi.

Peter Mammas said the company's operations team reviewed several videos Saturday afternoon, one showing a woman  whom he identified as Abdulhadi  at a protest raising her arm in a Nazi salute and another showing her hurling antisemitic remarks at other demonstrators.

"The final solution is coming your way, the final solution. You know what the final solution is?" the woman can be heard saying.

The phrase is widely recognized for its association with Nazi Germany's plan to exterminate Jewish people.

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CBC has viewed the videos, which are being circulated on social media.

Mammas said his team confirmed that the videos were taken at a pro-Palestinian protest outside Concordia University on Thursday. He said a franchise termination notice was served to her shortly after her identity was verified.

"We are completely against hate speech and anything that would [incite] violence," wrote Foodtastic's CEO. "We believe that everyone has the right to voice their opinions, but in the respectful and productive way."

CBC attempted to reach Abdulhadi for comment but has not yet received a response.

The CEO of Foodtastic said the company's operations team reviewed footage from last Thursday's pro-Palestinian protest outside Concordia University. He says the person seen making the gesture is Mai Abdulhadi. The company says Abdulhadi owned and operated two of its Second Cup locations inside the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal.

The CEO of Foodtastic said the company's operations team reviewed footage from last Thursday's pro-Palestinian protest outside Concordia University. He says the person seen making the gesture is Mai Abdulhadi. The company says Abdulhadi owned and operated two of its Second Cup locations inside the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal. (thestartupnation.ca/Instagram)

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Mayor urged to 'rein in' antisemitic behaviour at protests

Henry Topas, Quebec regional director of B'nai Brith Canada, said he views the behaviour shown in the videos as a symptom of Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante's tolerance of "continual hateful protests in the street."

He also criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's recent "endorsement" of the "corrupt" International Criminal Court's decision to issue an arrest warrant earlier this week accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of war crimes in the country's deadly war in Gaza.

"That creates an atmosphere that is horrendous, and that creates an atmosphere in which we saw someone walking around showing the Heil Hitler sign and saying that the final solution is soon," Topas said.

He said he'd like to see Plante "rein in" antisemitic behaviours during protests, saying it is "unacceptable what has been tolerated to be demonstrated and shown to the people of Montreal."

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CIUSSS West-Central Montreal, the health authority that oversees the Jewish General Hospital, says it was made aware of a video "containing antisemitic and hateful messaging that has been circulating on social media."

"We fully support Second Cup's decision to take swift and decisive action in this matter by shutting down the franchisee's cafes and terminating their lease agreement," a statement to CBC reads.

It added that CIUSSS stands "firmly against antisemitism and any other form of discrimination or hate speech."

The incident follows a surge in tensions in Montreal following recent protests.

At Thursday's protest, students held a rally calling for Quebec post-secondary institutions to divest from companies with ties to Israel and urging the federal government to take a stance against the ongoing war in Gaza.

On Friday, three people were arrested after protests by pro-Palestinian and anti-NATO demonstrators turned violent, with protesters throwing objects at police, lighting two vehicles on fire and breaking windows.

The protest was condemned by politicians of all stripes on Saturday as acts of antisemitism, which one organizer rejected, saying the protests were against the actions of Israel and not Jewish people, and referring to the arrest warrant issued for Netanyahu.

As of Saturday afternoon, Montreal police said they had not received any reports of antisemitic acts or other hate crimes related to the demonstration.
A central Pennsylvania winery has started a unique partnership with a new restaurant located close to one of its Lancaster County tasting rooms.

Waltz Vineyards Estate Winery announced on Nov. 13 that its handling the beverage side at the Olde Mill Restaurant, 9 Queen Road, in Intercourse.

Thats within walking distance, or a short drive on a rainy evening, to Waltzs satellite tasting room in Kitchen Kettle Village. The restaurant will be serving central Pa.-based beverages such as Waltz wines, Spring House and Englewood beers, and Thistle Finch spirits to complement its menu.

Carl Kosco is the owner of the dinner-only steakhouse, which is open 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday and Sunday (it is closed on Thanksgiving) and 4 to 9 on Friday and Saturday (4 to 8 on Black Friday). An 80-seat restaurant, it will operate in the dining room where Best Western guests are served breakfast. The former Olde Mill Restaurant, which served Pennsylvania Dutch fare, closed in November, according to a lancasteronline.com story.

Kosco also owns Inn & Spa at Intercourse Village, at 3542 Old Philadelphia Pike, which is just a short walk away.

The Old Mill Restaurant is located at 9 Queen Road, in Intercourse, Lancaster County.Waltz Vineyards

Said marketing specialist Lexe Waltz: We provide the bar drinks and bar service to pair with Olde Mills fine dining experience. We aim to fill a gap in the area by offering a refined evening drink experience for those seeking exceptional bar service paired with Olde Mills fine dining.

This adds to the numerous restaurants, breweries and distilleries that serve Waltz wines in addition to the main location at 1599 Old Line Road in Manheim and Kitchen Kettle Village.

Heres the complete list, per the Waltz website.

Waltz Vineyards, one of the regions top wineries with a long list of awards, celebrated its 15th anniversary last month with a harvest festival. It wrapped up harvest in late October.

Waltz Vineyards celebrated 15 years in business earliert this year.Waltz Vineyards

Zack Waltz is now the director of operations for a business that his parents Kim and Jan opened in the spring of 2009.

A producer of primarily dry red and white wines, Waltz Vineyards added its first sparkling in July  made from Chardonnay grapes  and Zach Waltz recently told paeats.org that a sparkling rose is also in the works.

One note: Waltzs Black Friday sale includes an additional 20% off six or more bottles, on top of the regular discounts: 5% off 6 bottles, 10% off 12 bottles)
A new report has ranked states based on how good  or bad  their credit scores are.

Pennsylvania didnt crack the top 20 when it came to states with the former.

To be fair, the WalletHub report did rank Pennsylvania in the 21st overall spot. This means that while the Keystone State just missed being in the top 20 rankings, its still on the financially healthy end of the spectrum.

The same couldnt be said for 50th place  Mississippi. Vermont, New Hampshire, and Minnesota ranked in third, second, and first, respectively.

Minnesotans have the highest average credit score, at 726, the report elaborates. Thats well into the good credit range and just 24 points away from excellent credit.

The state has good job opportunities and the eight-highest average income in the country, which helps residents maintain financial stability. In addition, Minnesota residents are increasing their debt credit card debt more slowly than people in many other states, and they dont have particularly high rates of delinquency or financial distress.

WalletHub researchers managed to find these states after averaging out residents credit scores in each of the 50. This data was taken from TransUnion.

The average credit score by state ranges anywhere from 672, which is the middle of the fair credit range, to 726, which is well into the good credit range, adds WalletHub analyst, Chip Lupo. Thats a 54-point difference.

Moving to one of the top states may help you increase your own credit score, as they tend to have high average incomes, low unemployment rates and other positive economic factors that make it easier for residents to pay their creditors on time and limit their borrowing.
A report has revealed which popular United States landmarks are the best for travelers looking to see some sites without breaking the bank.

And one in Philadelphia is amongst the very top.

Conducted and published by Betway Insider, Independence Hall is the second best landmark in the nation when it comes to getting the most bang for your buck.

The location, for those of you who may not know, is where the Declaration of Independence was signed on that fateful July day in 1776, according to the National Park Service. It also served as a host to the Constitutional Convention.

Independence Hall was just beaten out by first place winner  the Pearl Harbor Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii. In third to round out the top three was the Freedom Trail in Boston, Mass.

Tickets for a tour around Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvaniacost $1 (1.38 CAD) and its positive reviews are only a fraction below those of the Pearl Harbor Memorial at 98.4%, reads the report.

As a result, the attraction is a very close second, with a total score of 9.77 out of 10.

Indeed, the historical site boasts a 4.5 out of 5 star rating on Yelp, with over 5,900 of those ratings being excellent.

No trip to Philadelphia would be complete without touring Independence Hall! reads one such (very helpful) review. Many people arent aware that this building was actually part of The Pennsylvania Statehouse.

You can also visit the adjacent Supreme Court & Legislative Buildings that housed our government for the first 10 years, before relocating to NYC & then to Washington DC. The tour inside Independence Hall required a prior reservation, so go [to] the creation.gov [website] & set up an account & make your reservation in advance.

And heck, maybe walk by another historical  and haunted  location while youre in the area.
A central Pennsylvania based Applebees Grill & Bar franchise has been sold.

Keystone Apple, Inc. in Mechanicsburg sold six restaurants to The Rose Group, a Bucks County based company, according to a press release.

The restaurants are located in Swatara Township, Derry Township, Carlisle, Ephrata, Lancaster and York.

The Harrisburg market is vibrant and full of opportunity, said Jason Rose, vice president of Real Estate Development of The Rose Group in a press statement. We are excited to welcome this group of managers, restaurant team members and guests into our Rose Group family and extend our eastern Pennsylvania footprint.

Rose Group operates about 55 Applebees restaurants in eastern Pennsylvania, greater Baltimore, the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Delaware and Mercer County, New Jersey.

It was recently named the 2024 Abe Gustin Franchisee of the Year award at Applebees annual franchise conference.

Keystone Apple grew out of Davenports Inc., which operated local Hardees, Roy Rogers and Big Boy restaurants. The first central Pa. Applebees opened in 1994 along Jonestown Road in Lower Paxton Township. However, it closed in 2020.
A teacher in Mississippi thought she was handing out snacks to her students during a class birthday celebration.

Those snacks were, in fact, dog food.

WTVA reports how the teacher  whose name has not been released to the public  handed out the dog food to high school students in Calhoun County School District on Wednesday while under the impression it was beef jerky. About eight students took at least one bite of the treats.

Superintendent Dr. Lisa Langford later explained one of the students went to the doctor with a stomach ailment. The school nurse also called Poison Control to inform them what was going on.

Which type or brand of dog food was handed out to the students remains unknown.

According to Fox News, the teacher was fired following the incident. The parents of the children who consumed the dog food were alerted to the incident.
Deer season in Michigan is just less than two weeks old, and already three hunters have turned up dead.

And now we know why.

According to a Fox News report, the men were ages 57, 65 and 83, and they were found in Arenac and Tuscola counties in the state. And, per the report, officials believe they had heart attacks while dragging heavy deer back to their vehicles after kills.

The act of deer hunting typically involves hiking to a tree stand or blind, waiting in the cold for hours and then dealing with a sudden surge of adrenaline when a deer is spotted, Dr. Bradley Serwer, a cardiologist and chief medical officer at VitalSolutin, told Fox.

Once a hunter hits the deer, they have to track the deer, often for a long distance over rugged terrain, he continued. When the deer is found, it must be transported back to a vehicle. This typically involves dragging a 100-to 200-pound animal over varied terrain.

Serwer told Fox that cold exposure increases the risk of abnormal heart rhythms, particularly ventricular arrhythmias that can cause sudden cardiac arrest.

Mix that in with the adrenaline rush, which Serwer told Fox can increase the risk of ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac arrest, as well as the hiking in and out to stand locations and it can create a strain on the cardiovascular system.

And if you are having to make the return hike while dragging a heavy deer it can really be taxing.

Serwer told Fox hunters can reduce their risk of such an incident by trying to stay in shape.

He also recommended trying to stay hydrated, avoiding alcohol and dressing appropriately. He also suggested carrying a phone in case you need to call for help.

You can read more about the deaths and the suggestions for avoiding tragedy in the field here.
Note: This story has been updated to note that the bulk of the layoffs will take place on Jan. 17, 2025.

This Christmas might not be a joyful one for some employees at one major company.

Boeing just announced that they will lay off 2,192 employees on Jan. 17. Seven other workers will be laid off on Dec. 20, however, five days before Christmas.

The majority of layoffs will take place in Washington, and 2,200 layoff notices have been issued. Another 220 were sent to their South Carolina facility, in addition to an unknown number sent to Oregon and Missouri. Both locations in Washington and South Carolina are where Boeing builds commercial airliners.

The layoff filings come after Boeing announced on Oct. 11 plans to cut 17,000 jobs  10% of its workforce  in order to reduce costs amid its eight-week machinist union strike.

The news came in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining (WARN) announcement filed with the Washington State Employment Security Department.

CEO Kelly Ortberg told employees the company must reset its workforce levels to align with our financial reality.

Earlier this month, Boeing delivered layoff notices to more than 400 members of its professional aerospace labor union. The pink slips went out at that time to members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, or SPEEA. The workers will remain on the payroll through mid-January.

According to the Boeing company, Eligible employees will receive severance pay, career transition services, and subsidized health care benefits up to three months after exiting the company.

The company also said these layoffs include attrition and concentrating backfills for open positions on business-critical priorities.








(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Author: Ismar Volic, Wellesley College

Now that the elections are over, you might be left feeling exhausted, despondent and disillusioned  whether your preferred candidate won or not. You are not alone.

Survey after survey has found that Americans agree that the political system is not serving them.

Americans say they are angry at the political dysfunction, disgusted with the divisive rhetoric, weary from the lack of options, and feel unheard and unrepresented. I am a mathematician who studies quantitative aspects of democracy, and in my view, the reason for this widespread dissatisfaction is evident: The mechanisms of American democracy are broken at a fundamental level.

Research shows that there are clear mathematical fixes for these malfunctions that would implement sound democratic practices supported by evidence. They wont solve every ailment of American democracy: For example, Altering Supreme Court rulings or expanding voting access are more political or administrative than they are based in math. Nevertheless, each of these changes  especially in combination with one another  could make American democracy more responsive to its citizens.

Problem: Plurality voting

Plurality voting, or the winner-take-all method, is how all but a handful of the nations 520,000 elected officials are chosen. It is also mathematically the worst, because it can give victory to a candidate who does not have majority support. This method is rife with mathematical problems, such as vote-splitting and the spoiler effect, which both deliver victory to less popular candidates.

Solution: Ranked-choice voting

Ranked-choice voting allows voters to put their preferences in order, rather than just registering their top selection.

This system, used in Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere around the world, as well is in over 50 jurisdictions in the U.S., including Alaska, New York City and Minneapolis, elects a candidate that has broad support. Because voters are not worried about wasting their votes, this method allows people to show support for third-party candidates even if they dont win. This method also punishes negative campaigning because candidates can win even if they are some voters second or third choices, not just their first choice.

Using mathematical principles and methods, its possible to rebalance democracy. Andrii Yalanskyi/iStock / Getty Images PlusAndrii Yalanskyi/iStock / Getty Images Plus

Problem: Electoral College

The Electoral College is a unique and uniquely archaic mechanism that no other country in the world wants anything to do with. Its legacy of slavery and the Constitutions framers skepticism about the populace being smart enough to make good decisions for themselves is only exacerbated by its many mathematical problems, which give some states voters more power than others when electing a president.

Solution: Popular vote

The evidence shows that switching to a popular vote would eliminate those biases. But even if 63% of Americans support getting rid of the Electoral College, history shows that the constitutional amendment required is not likely to happen.

A way to avoid a need for a constitutional change could be the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, currently supported by 17 states, including California and Illinois, and Washington, D.C. It would require the electors from the states in the compact to vote for the winner of the national popular vote. But it does not take effect until enough states join that their combined electoral votes reach the winning threshold of 270. Right now, states with a total of 209 electoral votes back the measure.

Problem: Single-winner districts

Because of winner-take-all voting, congressional and state officeholders dont necessarily reflect the districts partisan makeup, giving disproportionate representation to one party.

Solution: Multi-winner districts

Most democracies around the world have geographically larger districts that elect multiple candidates at the same time. Multi-winner districts are designed to achieve proportional representation. Right now, all nine Massachusetts representatives in the U.S. House are Democrats, even though one-third of the states voters typically opt for Republican candidates. But if Massachusetts had three congressional districts instead of nine, and each elected three House members, one-third of the seatswould go to Republicans, commensurate with the proportion of the states Republican voters. Multi-winner districts also effectively eliminate gerrymandering.

South Carolina state Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Columbia, questions his Republican colleagues new map of congressional districts on Jan. 20, 2022. Jeffrey Collins/APJeffrey Collins/AP

Problem: Party primaries

About 10% of eligible voters cast ballots in congressional primaries. Those voters often represent a fired-up base that can elevate fringe or extreme candidates who go on to run in general races that are often not competitive due to a confluence of factors such as plurality voting and single-winner districts.

The final figures are not yet available for 2024, but this one-tenth fraction of voters effectively decided 83% of congressional seats in 2020. Representatives mold their politics to pander to the demands of that base and can keep their jobs for decades with little effort.

Presidential primaries have their own mathematical flaws that distort the preferences of the voters and reward polarizing candidates who can turn out the base.

Solution: Open primaries, or none at all

A system of open, nonpartisan primaries is employed in California, Colorado and Nevada. Three or four top candidates advance to the general election, which is then conducted using ranked-choice voting. This structure increases voter participation and delivers more representative outcomes.

A simpler solution could be to eliminate primary elections and hold a single, open general election with ranked-choice voting.

A 1913 postcard shows the U.S. House of Representatives in the year its membership was fixed by law at 435. vintagehalloweencollector via Flickr, CC BY-NDvintagehalloweencollector via Flickr, CC BY-ND

Problem: Size of the House of Representatives

The very first amendment the framers of the Constitution proposed was one that would have required the size of the House of Representatives to grow as the nations population increased. For close contact between officeholders and constituents, they liked a ratio of 30,000 to 50,000 people per House member. Their amendment was never ratified.

The ratio today is 760,000 people per representative. The size of the House is set by law and has been fixed at 435 members since 1913. It is hard to imagine that a representative can speak knowledgeably about so many constituents or understand their collective needs and preferences.

Solution: Make it bigger

To reduce the ratio, the House would need to be bigger. With a national population over 337 million, James Madisons preference would require more than 6,700 House members. Thats unwieldy. Most democracies either intentionally follow or seem to have naturally settled on a different formula, in which the size of the legislature is about equal to the cube root of the countrys population.

For the U.S., that number is currently nearly 700, which would put the population-to-representative ratio at 475,000-to-1. This would still upset Madison, but its considerably more representative than the current state of affairs.

Could the Capitol handle such an expansion?

Architectural studies show that wont be a problem.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/americans-agree-politics-is-broken-here-are-5-ideas-for-fixing-key-problems-243553.
Pick a social media platform and a fishing-related hashtag, say #patroutfishing on Instagram.

Itll turn up thousands upon thousands of posts.

Anglers have long posed for photos with their latest and biggest catches, but the phenomenon of being able to pull out a smartphone and share your achievement globally is unique to the past 10 or 15 years.

Its something thats been on Travis Pantaleos mind since the coronavirus pandemic drove so many of us into nature for socially isolated recreation  and it was the focus of his masters research thesis in fisheries management at Oregon State University.

Wednesday night, he brought his look into Fish Out of Water to Lost Tavern Brewing in Hellertown, as part of the Watershed Coalition of the Lehigh Valleys Tap Talk series.

What impact, if any, does the use of social media have on recreational angling from a catch-and-release or even a mortality perspective? is the question he posed. And the reason that this is important is because some of your most dedicated anglers will do everything that they absolutely can to make sure that a fish swims off. But theres still a 10% mortality assigned to any catch-and-release angling  .

Travis Pantaleo, a member of the Cooks Creek Watershed Association in Bucks County and the Board of Directors for the Watershed Coalition of the Lehigh Valley, discusses catch-and-release fishing and snapping fish photos for social media during a coalition Tap Talk on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, at Lost Tavern Brewing in Hellertown.Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com

Numerous managers of fisheries across the United States offer tips  online, of course  on how to practice safe catch and release. The intersection of the internet and fishing isnt necessarily a bad thing, Pantaleo said.

Anglers can visit the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commissions GIS site for maps of trout streams; where-and-when details on the 4.4 million trout stocked this year in Pennsylvania, including 1.2 million stocked by cooperative nurseries that help raise trout for anglers to go out and catch; and more. Those who manage fishing can draw on information gleaned from social media to influence decision making on stocking and conservation, he said.

Pantaleo admits to taking photos of some of the fish he catches while out on Cooks Creek in Upper Bucks or other local steams.

But his research has shown the extra time to snap a shot can increase the risk to the fish.

When you go to take a photo, the chances are the percentage and times that youre keeping that fish out of the water multiplies by 1.6, he cited. So keeping a fish out for 30 seconds just became 45. Keeping a fish out of water for 60 seconds just became a minute and a half.

And so it kind of extrapolates the possibility of harming that fish without even really thinking about it. And when you see a lot of photos online, they look pretty good. You know, if youre anything like me, if you go take a picture of a fish, youre rushing. Like for me its quick, its awful because the photo comes out really bad because Im just trying to get it back in the water and Im not a good photographer.

Pantaleo is a member of the Cooks Creek Watershed Association and a board member at the Watershed Coalition of the Lehigh Valley, a nonprofit organization that encompasses 13 waterway groups in all.

His research shows that the time a fish spends out of water, assuming its being released, can cause serious damage.

Its not too different from if you were to try to hold your breath under the water for 60 seconds or more, he said. The only thing is where we would asphyxiate because we would take in too much water, fish kind of have the opposite: They have a large buildup of carbon dioxide. When theyre reintroduced into the water, to put it simply, the oxygen moves through their body so fast that it causes cardiac issues.

That sudden exchange can kill a fish, or cause difficulty righting or balancing itself, or lead to reproductive problems, Pantaleo said, voicing particular concern for native populations of brook or brown trout.

There can be injury to the fish, Pantaleo said. So depending on how you hook it, if you hook a fish relatively deep inside of its throat with its gills, theres a good chance its going to swim away bleeding and ultimately die from loss of blood. You can scrape it, it can get infected.

Some examples of best practices for catch-and-release fishing include using barbless hooks, going with a silicone or rubber-mesh net instead of nets with knots, and wetting hands or gloves to reduce harm to the protective slime covering the fishs skin.

Anglers are good partners in conservation, said Stefanie Green, who coordinates the Watershed Coalition of the Lehigh Valleys Tap Talk series. Rod and gun clubs promote coalition events. They organize stream cleanups. Pennsylvanias fishing license sales estimated at 782,989 in 2023-24 help protect native species, conserve the outdoors and enhance waterways, according to Fish and Boat.

Pantaleo cited examples of anglers calling others out on social media, over pics of fish that have been dropped or which are covered in dust or dirt.

And on the opposite side of that, you have other forums where people are very encouraging of folks to go out and experience this type of experience for themselves, he told about 18 people gathered for Wednesday nights Tap Talk. So it goes back to that idea that social media can both be a positive and a negative.

The Watershed Coalition started its Tap Talks in spring 2019 at Birthright Brewing Co. in Nazareth. Theyre held in conjunction with the Penn State Extension, whose master watershed steward coordinator for Lehigh and Northampton counties, Shannon Frankosky, was in attendance Wednesday.

The series grew out of visits to local businesses that use Lehigh Valley water, and the talks dont always take place at beer breweries. The members have held events at Portch Tea, a kombucha-tea maker in the Emmaus area; Taylor House Brewing Co. and Blockers Coffeehouse in Catasauqua; Seven Sirens Brewing Co. in Bethlehem; and Black River Farms Vineyard & Winery in Lower Saucon Township.

Give us something delicious with local water and were there, said Green, who is president of the Bertsch-Hokendauqua-Catasauqua Watershed Association.

For more tips on safe catch-and-release fishing, including to keep both the fight and the fishs time out water as brief as possible, visit the websites of the National Park Service website or National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife is blunt in its recommendation: Photos can be so stressful. SKIP SOCIAL MEDIA! But if you feel you must get a picture, prepare for taking photos with your fish safely under the water surface. When lifting the fish out of the water, do it for 5 second intervals or less. Try to get the shot (within reason), but return your fish to the water for a rest between attempts. Take it slow down below.

More tips from keepfishwet.org include making sure your camera is easily accessible and ready to use and being mindful of conditions where a photo simply isnt a good idea, like if the water is warm or the fish is deeply hooked.

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat also offers a video on How to Handle Fish for Safe Catch and Release:

Next Tap Talk

Learn more about the Watershed Coalition of the Lehigh Valley on Facebook. Wednesdays event was free, though participants were asked to register at eventbrite.com. President Rebecca Hayden says its next Tap Talk is planned for January on pollution trapped in snow and its year-round effects on both surface water and groundwater.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
By Jaxon White, LNP, Lancaster, Pa. (TNS)

With the election of Dave Sunday as attorney general, Pennsylvania will have a governor and top prosecutor from different political parties for the first time in a decade.

Given that Gov. Josh Shapiro is up for re-election in 2026 and believed to be considering a presidential run in 2028, close observers of state politics might be expecting the new Republican attorney general to be an early and active thorn in the Democrats side.

After all, past attorney generals have caused plenty of headaches for governors when the two officeholders were from opposite political parties.

But Sunday and Shapiro have emphasized their willingness to work together in the weeks since the York County district attorneys victory, marking the first time a Republican won the attorney general seat since 2004.

My goal is to collaborate everywhere theres a possibility for collaboration, Sunday told LNP  LancasterOnline this week.

Sunday said he has met with Shapiro and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis to discuss their working relationship. Having a divided government in a purple state like Pennsylvania has some perks, Sunday said.

You have to work together in all of the areas that you can, and you shouldnt be obstructive just for the sake of doing it, he said.

Shapiro, who served as attorney general from 2017 to 2022, predicted in a press conference earlier this month that he and Sunday will work well together. He called the Republican a really quality guy and said they worked closely together in the past.

Hes someone who I know will enforce the law without fear or favor, Shapiro said of Sunday. Hell bring his own approach to the job  as he should. He was chosen by the voters to lead that critically important office.

The attorney general holds a wide range of responsibilities, from defending state agencies in lawsuits to prosecuting cases of political corruption, gun violence and environmental crimes, and enforcing consumer protection laws.

To do all that, the office has vast resources, including an annual budget of about $144 million and a staff of more than 1,000. Sunday said his priorities remain to address concerns about public safety, the mental health crisis and the opioid epidemic.

The exception to the rule

Perhaps nobody knows more about the dynamic of attorneys general and governors of different parties than former Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, whose administration had several public disputes with former Attorney General Kathleen Kane, a Democrat who was found guilty of seven misdemeanors and two felony counts of perjury in 2016.

Kanes most notable action against Corbett was opening an investigation in 2013 into his handling of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal at Penn State University. Though Corbett was cleared of wrongdoing, many credit the public backlash he faced as contributing to his loss to former Gov. Tom Wolf in 2014.

Corbett claimed Kane reached new levels of politicizing the attorney generals office while she held the seat.

Thats not Dave Sundays makeup, Corbett said.

Corbet, who served as the attorney general under Democratic governors from 1995 to 1997 and 2005 to 2011, said he doesnt envision Sunday looking over Shapiros shoulder once hes sworn into his new statewide role on January 21.

As attorney general, Corbett faced accusations of targeting House Democrats as his office investigated the infamous Bonusgate scandal, which saw legislative aides offered taxpayer-funded bonuses in exchange for work on political campaigns.

At the time, critics claimed Corbett dragged his feet when it came to investigating the Republican caucus, but ultimately nine of the 22 people convicted were Republicans.

Corbett said his office conducted no investigations based on political differences.

Former Kane spokesman Chuck Ardo said he didnt know Sunday personally, but that he doubts Sunday would target Shapiro without clear reasons because it may look like he is using the office for political gain.

" Kathleen Kane was really the exception to the rule," Ardo said. I think attorney generals in the past and in the future are people of character and ethics and will conduct themselves appropriately.

Ardo noted that Sunday could litigate Shapiros proposals and executive actions, but likely cant block them unilaterally.

Renewed criticisms

Political observers say Sunday would risk the public perception that he is politicizing Pennsylvanias top prosecutor role if he directed his focus to obstructing Shapiro. Past attorney generals have received such criticism.

But Chris Borick, a political scientist and director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, said if Sunday were to launch investigations into the Shapiro administration  as Kane did when Corbett was governor  it would probably be over former Shapiro adviser Mike Verebs resignation after being accused of sexual harassment by an aide.

Shapiros office agreed to pay $295,000 of taxpayer money to settle the complaint, and the extent of Shapiros knowledge of Verebs behavior has come under scrutiny from critics, including many of the states top Republicans. Shapiros staff has maintained he did not know of the complaint until months after it was filed.

Gov. Josh Shapiro talks to media during a visit to Nour coffee shop in Hampden Township. August 7, 2024. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.comDan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com

That scandal received renewed attention as Shapiro made the shortlist as a vice presidential contender this year.

Could you see an attorney general wanting to look further into that? The answer is yes if they thought it was an area ripe for further investigation, Borick said. It wouldnt be beyond the pale for such office.

Sunday did not mention such an investigation on the campaign trail this year, and he said this week he had never thought about it.

We dont identify people and then try to find a crime for them, Sunday said. We identify crimes that are occurring, and then we investigate those crimes.

(c)2024 LNP (Lancaster, Pa.)

Visit LNP (Lancaster, Pa.) at lancasteronline.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Republican House speaker Mike Johnson is bracing for what could be a fraught battle on Friday as he seeks to hang on to the gavel when Congress returns from its holiday recess.

Despite having the endorsement of President-elect Donald Trump, the Louisiana Representative can only afford one Republican rebellion against his re-election bid when the lower chambers members cast their votes  so tight is the GOPs 219 to 211 majority  and one congressman has already indicated his objections to Johnson while several more say they are unconvinced or will require concessions.

Trump himself has meanwhile continued to rage on Truth Social that the US is a disaster, a laughing stock all over the World! in response to Wednesdays suspected terror attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas, the second of which saw one of his friend Elon Musks Tesla Cybertrucks blown up outside a Trump-owned luxury hotel in the Nevada city.

This is what happens when you have OPEN BORDERS, with weak, ineffective, and virtually nonexistent leadership, the president-elect declared.

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The DOJ, FBI, and Democrat state and local prosecutors have not done their job, he added, blaming Joe Bidens administratio for the chaos.

Key Points

Will Mike Johnson make it? What to look out for ahead of Fridays House speaker vote

Who could challenge Johnson for Speaker of the House?

Donald Trump claims US breaking down after New Years Day terror incidents

Trump rages at TOTAL DISASTER Biden over national security

Cybertruck blast suspect was a Rambo type who loved Trump, family says

Truth Social: Trump bizarrely tells UK to get rid of windmills

09:00 , Joe Sommerlad

Good morning!

Heres a typically oddball message to the world from Donald Trump to start your day.

The U.K. is making a very big mistake. Open up the North Sea. Get rid of Windmills!



Donald Trump Truth Social 12:18 AM EST 01/03/25  Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) January 3, 2025

Man, only Don Quixote hates windmills more than this guy.

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The president-elect also announced further nominees to his incoming administration overnight, including new US ambassadors to Spain and the Netherlands and a team to support Scott Bessant at the Treasury.

I am pleased to announce the amazing Team that will be working in conjunction with our United States Secretary of the Treasury Nominee, Scott Bessent. All of them are incredible, hardworking Patriots, who will work tirelessly to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN:



Ken Kies will be  Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) January 3, 2025

I am pleased to announce that Benjamin Leon Jr. will serve as the next United States Ambassador to Spain.



Benjamin is a highly successful entrepreneur, equestrian, and philanthropist. He came to the U.S. from Communist Cuba at 16-years-old, with only Five Dollars in his pocket,  Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) January 3, 2025

I am pleased to announce that Joe Popolo will serve as the next United States Ambassador to the Netherlands.



Joe is a successful businessman and philanthropist across many different sectors. For over 20 years, he helped transform the Freeman Company into the Worlds leading  Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) January 3, 2025

Trump border czar has gut feeling New Orleans, Las Vegas attacks connected  despite no definitive link

08:10 , Oliver O'Connell

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Donald Trumps incoming border czar Tom Homan told Fox News on Thursday that he had a gut feeling that the explosion of a Cybertruck in Las Vegas was connected to the deadly terror attack in New Orleans, despite the FBI saying theres no definitive link.

Pressed by Fox News anchor Sandra Smith on whether he was privy to any information proving such a link, Homan acknowledged he was not before saying he felt there were just too many coincidences between the two incidents.

Justin Barangoa reports.

Trump border czar has gut feeling New Orleans and Las Vegas attacks are connected

How Fox News retracted New Orleans report sparked a MAGA meltdown about the border

07:40 , Oliver O'Connell

Hours after a U.S. Army veteran plowed a truck into a crowd of revelers celebrating New Years on New Orleanss Bourbon Street, leaving 14 dead and dozens injured, Fox News reported that the terror suspects vehicle was spotted crossing the U.S.-Mexico border just two days prior.

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The conservative cable giants suggestion that the horrific tragedy may have been linked to migrants entering the United States sparked an immediate freakout from prominent conservatives  and likely led to President-elect Donald Trumps initial statement on the mass casualty event that tied immigration to the terror attack.

While the incoming president insisted hed been proven right that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, Fox News soon walked back much of its reporting, noting that the vehicle had been spotted near the border in November rather than late-December and that it didnt appear the suspect was the driver in that instance.

Justin Barangoa has the story.

How Fox News retracted New Orleans report sparked a MAGA meltdown about the border

James Carville admits he didnt listen to his own advice

06:40 , Oliver O'Connell

Democratic strategist James Carville believed that Vice President Kamala Harris would win, but he admitted in a New York Times op-ed that he didnt listen to his own advice from the 1992 campaign: Its the economy, stupid.

We have to begin 2025 with that truth as our political north star and not get distracted by anything else, he wrote.

Gustaf Kilander reports from Washington, D.C.

Carville admits why Democrats lost and he was wrong. He didnt listen to himself

Who could challenge Johnson for Speaker of the House?

05:40 , Oliver O'Connell

Mike Johnson is set to face a vote on Friday that will determine whether he remains Speaker of the House, and although he is running unopposed with Donald Trumps support, its unclear if all his conservative colleagues are willing to back him up.

Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, has faced pushback from some Republicans after he supported a recent spending bill that the president-elect and Elon Musk opposed.

That could pose a problem for him this week because Johnson can only afford to lose two Republican votes  assuming all Democrats vote against him  if he wants to keep the top Congressional job. At least one Republican has already signaled they are not voting for Johnson.

Ariana Baio reports.

Who is in the running to be Speaker of the House?

Bannon warns Musk: Were going to rip your face off

04:40 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trumps one-time White House strategist Steve Bannon warned Elon Musk Tuesday that he and other MAGA diehards are going to rip your face off unless Musk smartens up and stops pushing visas for skilled foreign workers to take good-paying tech industry jobs away from Americans.

He instructed Musk to sit back and study to understand MAGAs  and what supporters believed was Trumps  America First stance to keep U.S. jobs for Americans.

Mary Papenfuss reports.

Were going to rip your face off in visa fight, Steve Bannon warns Elon Musk

Chief Justice Roberts warns elected officials not to ignore Supreme Court decisions

03:40 , Oliver O'Connell

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts warned that elected officials should not to disregard the rulings made by the court in a report.

Roberts, who will mark 20 years at the top of the court later this year, released his year-end report where he warned of increasing attacks to the legitimacy of the court.

The court has come under increased scrutiny ever since it moved to a decisive 6-3 conservative majority largely put in place by President-elect Donald Trump during his first tenure in the White House from 2017 to 2021.

Eric Garcia reports from Washington, D.C.

Chief Justice Roberts warns elected officials not to ignore Supreme Court decisions

ICYMI: Fox News melts down over Don Lemon profanely mocking MAGA supporters

02:40 , Oliver O'Connell

Don Lemons gleeful and profane celebration of the ongoing MAGA squabble over H-1B visas left several Fox News personalities outraged on Tuesday, with one panelist fuming whether the former CNN star thought her Donald Trump-supporting parents were stupid.

Justin Barangoa has the story.

Fox News melts down over Don Lemon mocking MAGA supporters: Is my mom stupid?!

Alina Habba slams Biden for saying Trumps cases went too slow

01:40 , Oliver O'Connell

Alina Habba has reacted to claims Attorney General wasnt tough enough in prosecuting her boss, President-elect Donald Trump, insisting the incoming president had it so rough.

Michelle Del Rey reports.

Alina Habba slams Biden for saying Trumps cases went too slow: He had it so rough

Jill Biden got the priciest gift from a foreign leader in 2023

00:40 , AP

President Joe Biden and his family were given tens of thousands of dollars in gifts from foreign leaders in 2023, according to an annual accounting published by the State Department on Thursday, with first lady Jill Biden receiving the single most expensive present: a $20,000 diamond from Indias leader.

Read on...

Jill Biden gets the priciest gift from a foreign leader in 2023  a $20,000 diamond

How might Republicans pay for Trumps tax cuts?

00:10 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump and his Congressional allies could add requirements to welfare programs such as Medicaid, withhold prescription drugs from federal health care coverage, repeal environmental regulations and more in order to reduce federal spending and pay for his new round of tax cuts.

Trump is determined to cut taxes for Americans but doing so means the government will need to cut federal spending elsewhere, or risk raising the national debt by trillions of dollars.

Ariana Baio reports.

Food stamps and denying Ozempic: The ways Republicans could pay for Trumps tax cuts

Trumps plan to name cartels terrorists could open door to military operations in Mexico

Thursday 2 January 2025 23:40 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trumps plan to designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations could provide the legal framework to allow the U.S. to conduct military operations in Mexico, according to experts.

For years, the President-elect has threatened to designate cartels that traffic illicit drugs into the U.S. foreign terrorist organizations. That distinction would allow the government to place additional economic and social sanctions on them.

Ariana Baio has the details.

Trumps plan to name cartels terrorists could open door to military operations

Watch: Biden awards Liz Cheney Presidential Citizens Medal

Thursday 2 January 2025 23:23 , Oliver O'Connell

President Biden awards Presidential Citizens Medal to Liz Cheney pic.twitter.com/YqNt68A4AO  Acyn (@Acyn) January 2, 2025

Fox News claims Democrats are real losers in the MAGA civil war over visas

Thursday 2 January 2025 23:10 , Oliver O'Connell

After carefully tip-toeing around the growing tensions that have rocked the GOP in recent days, Fox News appears to have finally found a narrative it can sell right-wing viewers on the MAGA civil war over immigrant visas.

According to the conservative cable giant, infighting is how politics ought to work, and Democrats who were giddy over the right tearing itself apart over highly skilled immigrant workers are the real losers now that MAGA is having a civilized debate over the issue.

Justin Barangoa has the story.

Fox News declares the real losers in the MAGA civil war over visas  the Democrats

C-SPAN given permission to cover House Speaker election and Electoral College vote count

Thursday 2 January 2025 23:02 , Oliver O'Connell

Speaker Johnson is giving C-SPAN permission to have TV cameras controlled by C-SPAN inside the U.S. House Chamber for two historic 2025 events:



January 3rd - Opening Day of 119th Congress & House Speaker Election



January 6th - Electoral College Vote Count & Certification pic.twitter.com/hs31jXqH02  CSPAN (@cspan) January 1, 2025

Vance calls Musks op-ed praising far-right German party AfD interesting

Thursday 2 January 2025 22:55 , Oliver O'Connell

Vice President-elect JD Vance took to X to call an op-ed by Elon Musk in Die Welt explaining his support for the far-right German party Alternative for Germany (AfD) interesting.

Musk shared a post on X by Martin Varsavsky, who posted what he said was the article submitted by Musk to the German paper. The AfD is a far-right populist, eurosceptic party that opposes immigration and has called for mass deportations.

Gustaf Kilander reports.

JD Vance calls Elon Musks piece praising far-right German party AfD interesting

Possible holdout on Johnson speakership says he shares concerns about delaying Trump agenda

Thursday 2 January 2025 22:53 , Oliver O'Connell

Republican Rep Michael Cloud, a possible holdout on Speaker Mike Johnson who met with him today, says he shares concerns that a delay in electing a speaker of the House could also delay enacting Donald Trumps agenda.

The Texas congressman wrote on X: There are concerns that a delay in electing a Speaker could lead to a brief delay in enacting President Trumps agenda. This a legitimate concern that I share. The other option on the table is maintaining the status quo, which will undoubtedly fail Trumps agenda. Im working to help find a third option. We must ensure the House is structured to enact the America-First agenda in a way that has permanence.

There are concerns that a delay in electing a Speaker could lead to a brief delay in enacting President Trumps agenda. This a legitimate concern that I share. The other option on the table is maintaining the status quo, which will undoubtedly fail Trumps agenda. Im working to  Congressman Michael Cloud (@RepCloudTX) January 2, 2025

House debuts new rules including one that makes it harder to boot the speaker

Thursday 2 January 2025 22:40 , Oliver O'Connell

The House Republican leadership revealed their new rules for the 119th Congress Wednesday, including a measure making it more difficult to remove the speaker of the House.

The speaker, Mike Johnson, and other Republicans shared the change in the rules during a press conference in November after the partys leadership elections.

A motion to vacate, the process for removing the speaker, will now require nine sponsors to be considered on the House floor.

Gustaf Kilander has the details.

House debuts new rules including one that makes it harder to boot the speaker

Most GOP holdouts have met with Speaker Johnson ahead of Fridays crucial vote

Thursday 2 January 2025 22:33 , Oliver O'Connell

Everyone on our holdout list met with the Speaker today in person besides Reps Steube, Burlison, Burchett and Boebert



Calls could have been made, of course pic.twitter.com/96yb39OyJP  haleytalbotcnn (@haleytalbotcnn) January 2, 2025

Watch LIVE: President Joe Biden delivers remarks at a Presidential Citizens Medal ceremony

Thursday 2 January 2025 22:28 , Oliver O'Connell

Happening Now: President Biden delivers remarks at a Presidential Citizens Medal Ceremony. https://t.co/u7fsefAidh  The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 2, 2025

Trump border czar has gut feeling New Orleans, Las Vegas attacks connected  despite no definitive link

Thursday 2 January 2025 22:25 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trumps incoming border czar Tom Homan told Fox News on Thursday that he had a gut feeling that the explosion of a Cybertruck in Las Vegas was connected to the deadly terror attack in New Orleans, despite the FBI saying theres no definitive link.

Pressed by Fox News anchor Sandra Smith on whether he was privy to any information proving such a link, Homan acknowledged he was not before saying he felt there were just too many coincidences between the two incidents.

Justin Barangoa reports.

Trump border czar has gut feeling New Orleans and Las Vegas attacks are connected

Trump says he will drum up support for Mike Johnson ahead of speaker vote

Thursday 2 January 2025 22:10 , Oliver O'Connell

President-elect Donald Trump told reporters he would make phone calls on behalf of House Speaker Mike Johnson to help Johnson keep the gavel.

Trump spoke to reporters at Mar-a-Lago on New Years Eve and reiterated his support for Johnson. A reporter asked him if he would make phone calls to Republicans who are skeptical of keeping Johnson as speaker.

Eric Garcia reports.

Trump says he will make phone calls for Mike Johnson ahead of the vote for speaker

Biden celebrates 235 judicial confirmations

Thursday 2 January 2025 21:55 , Oliver O'Connell

With just over two weeks until he cedes the reins of the executive branch to Donald Trump, President Joe Biden says the 235 judges confirmed to the federal bench during his four years in office will serve as a bulwark against abuses from the executive and legislative branches and will represent what he described as the best in America.

Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, D.C.

Biden celebrates 235 judicial confirmations: The best of America

Dr. Oz once said uninsured have no right to health

Thursday 2 January 2025 21:40 , Oliver O'Connell

Mehmet Oz, President-elect Donald Trumps pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, once said the uninsured dont have a right to health.

The physician, better known as the TV celebrity Dr. Oz, made the comment during a 2013 address to the National Governors Association. He told attendees that uninsured people should be given a way of crawling back out of the abyss of darkness, of fear, over not having the health they need in a festival-like setting with physicians.

He added that the uninsured dont have a right to health, only the right to access a chance at health.

Katie Hawkinson reports.

Trumps Medicare pick Dr. Oz once said uninsured have no right to health

What we know about the Turo-rented cars involved in deadly New Year incidents

Thursday 2 January 2025 21:25 , AP

Two deadly incidents on New Years Day  an attack being investigated as an act of terrorism in New Orleans and an explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck in Las Vegas  both involved vehicles that were rented on Turo, a peer-to-peer car sharing company.

Read on...

Turo-rented cars were involved in 2 deadly incidents this New Year's. Here's what we know

Johnson open to process reforms sought by GOP holdouts in speaker vote

Thursday 2 January 2025 21:12 , Oliver O'Connell

NEW: Speaker Mike Johnson says the holdouts are seeking process reforms, and he is open to those changes. Hell have more meetings btwn now and tmrws vote.



I think this is going to turn out well tomorrow, and we'll stay unified and we'll get all this done, Johnson said.  Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) January 2, 2025

Trump takeover threats touted as aiding Putins expansionist goals by Kremlin supporters

Thursday 2 January 2025 21:10 , Oliver O'Connell

President-elect Donald Trump has boasted on social media about taking over Greenland, making Canada the 51st state, and wresting control of the Panama Canal.

His expansionist rhetoric has worried allies but elated enemies, with Russians viewing the statements as evidence that Trump isnt opposed to foreign wars of conquest, as is the Kremlin, despite what he has otherwise stated.

Gustaf Kilander reports.

Kremlin supporters tout Trump takeover threats as aiding Putins expansionist goals

Johnson making the rounds of right-wing media ahed of speaker vote

Thursday 2 January 2025 21:08 , Oliver O'Connell

Johnson was on Fox this AM. Fox Biz this afternoon. And Newsmax tonight.



Floor vote for speaker tomorrow. https://t.co/NFi2vnr3p2  Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) January 2, 2025

Feds unveil timeline of New Orleans terror suspects movements

Thursday 2 January 2025 20:55 , Oliver O'Connell

The FBI has shared the movements of suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar in the final days and hours leading up to his deadly New Orleans attack early New Years Day.

New details have emerged about how Jabbar, 42, traveled from his home in Houston, Texas, to New Orleans on New Years Eve in a rented pickup truck.

He later rammed it into a crowd on bustling Bourbon Street, filled with revelers enjoying the celebrations at approximately 3:15 a.m. on January 1.

Rhian Lubin looks at what we know.

Timeline of the New Orleans terror suspects movements leading up to deadly attack

Timeline: Donald Trump and Elon Musks tumultuous relationship

Thursday 2 January 2025 20:40 , Mike Bedigan

The rapid and intense bromance between two of the worlds most powerful men  Donald Trump and Elon Musk  may not have been on many peoples bingo cards for 2024, given their previous history.

But, it blossomed to end the year.

In recent months, the tech billionaire has become the self-titled first buddy to the president-elect, but their relationship has not always been rosy. Before the campaign rallies, compliments and close proximity lodgings, the pair have had their fair share of public disagreements and even exchanged insults.

With rumors swirling of a potential end to the honeymoon period between Trump and Musk  sources report that Trump is already becoming annoyed with his wealthy friend  here is a look back at their often tumultuous relationship:

A timeline of Donald Trump and Elon Musks tumultuous relationship

Trump calls Rep Chip Roy ahead of speaker vote

Thursday 2 January 2025 20:31 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump getting more directly involved in the speakers race, calling up one of Johnsons sharpest critics. Unclear if Roy was moved at all by their convo.



Meanwhile, Johnson is currently meeting with some of the holdouts in his office. https://t.co/wBGxioIvVA  Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) January 2, 2025

Even with Trump endorsement, Johnsons future still uncertain

Thursday 2 January 2025 20:25 , Oliver O'Connell

Mike Johnson will face the music tomorrow as the House of Representatives is set to meet and elect a new speaker for the 119th Congress.

The Trump loyalists term as speaker began after he emerged as a consensus candidate last fall, thanks to his ability to win over both moderates and institutionalist Republicans while also maintaining friendly(ish) ties with his partys frenzied right wing. His election occurred after the chamber was shut down for nearly a month following the ouster of Kevin McCarthy, his predecessor, from the speakers chair by a rebellion within the GOP caucus.

The congressman from Louisiana has maintained shaky control of his caucus since late October of last year, buoyed in part by a weariness resulting from that chaotic speakerless period. Whether that will continue into the new Congress, however, still remains uncertain.

John Bowden reports from Washington, D.C.

Trump endorsed Johnson for House speaker. His future is still anything but certain

Rep Victoria Spartz undecided on Johnson, wants Gingrich-style contract with America

Thursday 2 January 2025 20:20 , Oliver O'Connell

Massie says he is a no. Johnson cant afford to lose more votes.



Spartz on way out of Speakers office says she is undecided and wants more concrete governing plans per @sarahnferris



"Gingrich had the contract with America, and I think it's important for us to have the same  haleytalbotcnn (@haleytalbotcnn) January 2, 2025

Spartz comes out of Johnsons office.



Says shes going to make a decision tomorrow but we had a good meeting with the speaker, discussed some things. In a lot of things we agree https://t.co/NedT0EfMYZ  Jordain Carney (@jordainc) January 2, 2025

Watch: Incoming Trump border czar maintains gut feeling over terrorism and Las Vegas explosion

Thursday 2 January 2025 20:15 , Oliver O'Connell

pressed on Fox News explain why he thinks the Las Vegas explosion has a "terrorist connection," incoming Trump border czar Tom Homan admits he's working with nothing but "a gut feeling" pic.twitter.com/i0vlbufhJv  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 2, 2025

Biden received updates on terrorist attack in New Orleans and car explosion in Las Vegas

Thursday 2 January 2025 20:09 , Oliver O'Connell

Today, I convened @VP and my homeland security team to discuss the investigations into the terrorist attack in New Orleans, and the car explosion in Las Vegas.



We're making every resource available to law enforcement to ensure there are no remaining threats to Americans. pic.twitter.com/ZWQTG1wjGF  President Biden (@POTUS) January 2, 2025

Johnson meeting with Freedom Caucus ahead of speaker vote

Thursday 2 January 2025 20:03 , Oliver O'Connell

Mike Johnson is holding a meeting with members of the Freedom Caucus who are undecided or looking for commitments regarding tomorrows speakership vote.

Freedom Caucus members including Reps Andrew Clyde, Ralph Norman, Michael Cloud, Victoria Spartz, Andy Ogles and Andy Harris just walked into Speaker Mike Johnsons office per @sarahnferris



Norman on way in says hes still undecided



CNN latest holdout list: pic.twitter.com/MggXbDr8iv  haleytalbotcnn (@haleytalbotcnn) January 2, 2025

ANALYSIS: Will Mike Johnson make it? What to look out for ahead of Fridays House speaker vote

Thursday 2 January 2025 19:58 , Oliver O'Connell

Eric Garcia writes:

The House and Senate will convene on Friday for the start of the new Congress, giving Donald Trump a Republican trifecta when he returns to Washington 17 days later. The Houses first order of business? Embarking on the semi-annual tradition of cat-herding that is the vote for speaker.

Read on...

Will Mike Johnson make it? What to look out for ahead of Fridays House speaker vote

Army vet shot himself in the head before his rented Cybertruck exploded outside Trump hotel, cops say

Thursday 2 January 2025 19:47 , Oliver O'Connell

James Liddell and Mike Bedigan report:

On Thursday, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said investigators were confident that Livelsberger was the person in the vehicle, though his body was burned beyond recognition. He added that there was evidence that he had suffered a gunshot wound to the head prior to the blast.

Continue reading...

Matthew Livelsberger: What we know about the Cybertruck explosion suspect

Sheriff: Cybertruck specs prevented a bigger explosion and more damage to Trump hotel

Thursday 2 January 2025 19:35 , Oliver O'Connell

The number of victims of the Tesla Cybertruck explosion outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas was limited by the vehicles reinforced exterior, police have said.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said the blast had been directed up through the truck resulting in minimal damage to the surroundings.

Seven people were injured during the New Years Day incident, and the driver of the vehicle was killed. The man was later identified by authorities as U.S. Army veteran Matthew Livelsberger.

Mike Bedigan reports.

Cybertrucks specs prevented a bigger explosion, sheriff says

Full story: Trump critic Liz Cheney to be awarded Presidential Citizens Medal by Biden

Thursday 2 January 2025 19:28 , Oliver O'Connell

President Joe Biden is handing the second-highest civilian honor to fierce Donald Trump critics Liz Cheney and Rep. Bennie Thompson for their work leading the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot.

Biden will award the Presidential Citizens Medal to 20 people in a ceremony at the White House Thursday evening. Some of the recipients fought for same-sex marriage, one led the charge in treating wounded soldiers, and two others are close friends of the president: former Sens. Ted Kaufman and Chris Dodd.

Gustaf Kilander reports.

Trump critic Liz Cheney to be awarded Presidential Citizens Medal by Biden

How Fox News retracted New Orleans report sparked a MAGA meltdown about the border

Thursday 2 January 2025 19:20 , Oliver O'Connell

Hours after a U.S. Army veteran plowed a truck into a crowd of revelers celebrating New Years on New Orleanss Bourbon Street, leaving 14 dead and dozens injured, Fox News reported that the terror suspects vehicle was spotted crossing the U.S.-Mexico border just two days prior.

The conservative cable giants suggestion that the horrific tragedy may have been linked to migrants entering the United States sparked an immediate freakout from prominent conservatives  and likely led to President-elect Donald Trumps initial statement on the mass casualty event that tied immigration to the terror attack.

Justin Barangoa has the story.

How Fox News retracted New Orleans report sparked a MAGA meltdown about the border

EXCLUSIVE: Cybertruck blast suspect was a Rambo type who loved Trump, family says

Thursday 2 January 2025 18:22 , Oliver O'Connell

The Green Beret who was driving a Tesla Cybertruck that blew up outside the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas on New Years Day was a 100 percent patriot, his bewildered uncle said Thursday.

Matthew Livelsberger, 37, was like a Rambo-type, for lack of a better word, Dean Livelsberger told The Independent.

Dean, whose older brother is Livelsbergers father, Roger, himself an Air Force veteran who served in Vietnam , said his nephew loved the Army.

He used to have all patriotic stuff on Facebook, he was 100 percent loving the country, he continued. He loved Trump, and he was always a very, very patriotic soldier, a patriotic American. Its one of the reasons he was in Special Forces for so many years. It wasnt just one tour of duty.

Justin Rohrlich reports.

Cybertruck blast suspect was a Rambo type who loved Trump, family says

Who could challenge Johnson for Speaker of the House?

Thursday 2 January 2025 17:20 , Oliver O'Connell

Mike Johnson is set to face a vote on Friday that will determine whether he remains Speaker of the House, and although he is running unopposed with Donald Trumps support, its unclear if all his conservative colleagues are willing to back him up.

Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, has faced pushback from some Republicans after he supported a recent spending bill that the president-elect and Elon Musk opposed.

That could pose a problem for him this week because Johnson can only afford to lose two Republican votes  assuming all Democrats vote against him  if he wants to keep the top Congressional job. At least one Republican has already signaled they are not voting for Johnson.

As of now, Johnson is the only official speaker candidate, in part thanks to Turmps endorsement. However, several other names floated around before Johnsons nomination was made official, providing some potential backups if Republicans have a repeat of last years fiasco.

Ariana Baio reports.

Who is in the running to be Speaker of the House?
Argentina's Maria Lampropulos Triumphs in Inaugural Womens Winter Festival

Laura Fryer Live Reporter Copy link

The Womens Winter Festival, sponsored by PokerStars, unfolded at Londons Hippodrome Casino, bringing together women from across the globe for four thrilling days of poker action.

The 400 Main Event was the festivals centerpiece, spanning all four days. Players participated in three Day 1 flights, with Day 1a drawing 42 entrants, Day 1b attracting a massive 148-player field, and Day 1c adding 81 more. This brought the total field size to 271, leaving the total prize pool at 100,000. In the end, Maria Lampropulos was crowned the champion to claim the title and first-place prize of 20,000.

400 Main Event Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize 1 Maria Lampropulos Argentina 20,000 2 Ann-Roos Callens Belgium 12,610 3 Marta Porter United Kingdom 9,000 4 Franky Green United Kingdom 6,850 5 Lisa Roberts USA 5,280 6 Jennifer Steele United Kingdom 4,070 7 Kim Dockery United Kingdom 3,260 8 Celine Diot France 2,730 9 Berivan Dag United Kingdom 2,280

Winner's Reaction

After her victory, Lampropulos expressed her excitement while sharing plans to celebrate by going to drink with the girls. The camaraderie and respect among players were evident, with Lampropulos saying she had a lot of fun with the girls  everyone had good vibes. Throughout the final table, participants celebrated each elimination with heartfelt applause, reflecting the supportive and empowering atmosphere that defined the womens event.

"The festival was amazing, I really enjoyed it"

Lampropulos praised the festival and commented that the festival was amazing, I really enjoyed it", she added that the good vibes among participants made the experience even more enjoyable. Reflecting on the festivals success, she expressed her hopes that this event would encourage more women into poker and help make the event even bigger.

Womens Winter Festival: A Global Celebration of Poker in London

Tournament Recap

The Womens Winter Festival achieved a historic milestone, becoming the largest womens poker event ever held outside of Las Vegas, a testament to its resounding success and global appeal. During Day 1b, Kerryjane Craigie, Festival Founder and Poker Director at the Hippodrome Casino in London, made an exciting announcement, highlighting the festivals significance in empowering women in poker and expressing hopes for its continued growth in the future.

Several familiar faces graced the Main Event, including Kyna England, 2024 EPT Barcelona Ladies Main Event Champion Soraya Estrada, and Nikki Limo. Unfortunately, none managed to make it past the bustling Day 1b. Nataly Sopacuaperu also faced disappointment, being eliminated on the bubble early on Day 2, just missing out on the minimum cash.

Christina Solli entered Day 2 as the chip leader and maintained a steady stack throughout. She eliminated several players, including PokerStars Pro Jen Shahade, and ended Day 2 as the frontrunner.

Day 3 Drama

Jennifer Steele led the counts going into Day 3, followed closely by Solli and Ann-Roos Callens. Solli had a turbulent day, losing ground after doubling up Tina Abery, who hit a river save.

Shortly after, Sollis run came to an end in 11th place when she ran into Ann-Roos Callens pocket aces. Callens capitalized on her momentum, advancing to the final table and eventually securing a spot in the heads-up battle.

Heads-Up Showdown

The heads-up duel commenced six hours into Day 3 featuring Callens against Lampropulos, who had started Day 3 with just 14 big blinds but steadily built her stack. A critical double-up against Callens ignited her streak, culminating in the elimination of Marta Porter in third place.

Heads-up action lasted less than an hour. A pivotal moment occurred when Callens shove resulted in a dramatic chop after the river saved her tournament life. However, Lampropulos quickly retook, chipping away at Callens stack over three consecutive hands.

The final hand saw Callens shove with K6, called by Lampropulos holding Q5. A queen on the flop sealed the victory for Lampropulos, crowning her the Womens Winter Festival Main Event Champion.

In addition to her Main Event victory, Lampropulos showcased her prowess in the UKIPT Womens High Roller last week, where she also claimed first place. Looking ahead, she revealed her plans to compete at EPT Prague next month.

The end of this event concludes the PokerNews coverage of the Womens Winter Festival. Stay tuned for live updates on our upcoming events, where we will continue to bring you the latest action, insights, and stories from the world of poker.

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After four days of intense play at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino, Zhen Chen emerged victorious in the $5,300 High Roller at the 2024 Merit Poker Gatsby Gala Series, topping a 103-entry field to claim the trophy and the top prize of $132,300.

The final table showcased players from nine different nations, highlighting the international appeal of the Merit Poker Series. Ultimately, it was China that triumphed, with Chen dispatching Russia's Aleksandr Chernikov in a brief heads-up battle. A well-executed trap with three players left helped propel Chen to the top, cementing his place as the champion.

Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize 1 Zhen Chen China $132,300 2 Aleksandr Chernikov Russia $91,500 3 Simone Andrian Italy $58,800 4 Adrian State Romania $43,600 5 Fahredin Mustafov Bulgaria $32,000 6 Felipe Ketzer Brazil $26,000 7 Angelos Michael Cyprus $21,400 8 Elie Saad Lebanon $17,100 9 Mehmet Demirkol Turkey $13,100

Winner's Reaction

Chen reflected on his victory with gratitude and humility, acknowledging the strong competition at the final table. "There were very strong competitors on this final table, but I fortunately had a big stack and great seat position behind the chip leader," he said. "Also, my flipsI can win, Im lucky."

Chen admitted to struggling earlier in the series during the $2,200 Warm-Up, where he lost several big hands despite being the favorite. However, he noted how fortune turned in his favor this time. "In this game, I can win, its very fortunate," he added.

The key to Chens success was his strategic adjustment during the final stages. Observing Chernikovs tendency to shove with 30 big blinds, Chen adapted by setting traps. "I noticed that he kept shoving preflop, so I wanted to change my strategy to trap," he explained, referencing the pivotal hand with pocket tens that shifted momentum in his favor.

Chen also spoke fondly of Cyprus and the Merit Poker Series. "I was here recently, and I feel this place is very nice and beautiful. Thats why I keep coming back to Cyprus," he shared.

When asked about how he would celebrate, Chen kept it simple. "I didnt think yet, but I think Ill just jump into the Main [Event] because Im running hot. I want to keep going and going," he concluded with a smile.

Final Table Action

Mehmet Demirkol, the short stack entering the final table, was the first to exit after his pocket tens ran into the pocket queens of Simone Andrian. Shortly after, Chen took the chip lead for the first time with a well-timed value bet against start-of-day chip leader Angelos Michael, setting the tone for his dominant performance.

Chernikov narrowly escaped elimination in a critical hand against Michael when his ace-ten spiked an ace on the river to overcome Michaels pocket jacks, signaling the start of Michaels decline. Not long after, Elie Saad exited in eighth place as his pocket sixes couldnt hold up against Fahredin Mustafovs pocket queens, kicking off Mustafovs impressive run.

Mustafov then delivered a quick one-two combo to eliminate Michael and bring the field down to six. First, Mustafov check shoved the turn with a straight holding ten-seven, and Michael eventually called with a combo draw. Unfortunately for Michael, a brick on the river sent his stack tumbling to around twelve big blinds.

Angelos Michael

Not long after, Mustafov delivered the final blow when called the three-bet shove of Michael with king-queen, and held against the king-nine of the player from Cyprus.

Felipe Ketzer followed shortly after when his ace-ten couldnt overcome the pocket aces of Chernikov. Despite flopping a gutshot, Ketzer found no further help and exited in sixth place.

Mustafov found himself in a crucial coinflip situation, holding ace-king against the pocket tens of Andrian. Both players anxiously awaited the board, but with a clean runout offering no help to Mustafov, the Bulgarian player's impressive run came to an end in fifth place.

Fahredin Mustafov

Andrian then claimed another knockout when his pocket jacks were far too good for the ace-deuce of Adrian State, which left just three players in contention.

Chernikov jumped into the lead when his pocket eights held in a huge pot against Andrian's ace-eight, which meant the Russian player held around half of the chips in play.

Chen was the short stack at the time but turned his tournament around with three double-ups in quick succession. First, his ace-nine found an ace on the flop against the pocket nines of Chernikov. Shortly after his queen-ten rivered a straight against the ace-three of Andrian, giving him an average stack.

Simone Andrian

Moments later, in perhaps the hand of the final table, Chen laid a trap with pocket tens by limping in the small blind and Chernikov took the bait as he shoved with nine-seven in the big blind. Chen snap-called and got a clean runout, which gave him a gigantic stack and turned the tables.

Chen then shoved with jack-ten to apply pressure to the shorter stacks and Andrian made the right call with king-queen. However, a ten on the flop was enough for Chen to send Andrian packing, which left just two players.

Alexsandr Chernikov

There was no talk of a deal or even a break when the finalists got to heads-up, and there was action right off the bat as a few hands in both Chen and Chernikov got their stacks into the middle in a coinflip. Chen held pocket eights and Chernikov had the overcards with ace-nine, but an eight on the flop all but sealed the deal for Chen, which meant Chernikov had to settle for second.

Zhen Chen + Friends

Congratulations to Zhen Chen on an outstanding performance and a well-deserved victory!
Food Reporter

Jane Godiner covers food, drink and entertainment for the Free Times and The Post and Courier Columbia. Her food bylines have previously appeared in TASTE and Spoon University. She received a Master's Degree at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2024.
Walter Lawrence Banks had physically attacked the mother of his children on multiple occasions, but he had only threatened to shoot her. That is until 17 months ago, when he knocked her to the ground and fired two shots into her.

Banks has since been put away for 10 years for the crime.

What he did was dangerous, and hes shown he was dangerous before, said Judge Richard Moore in Albemarle County court Thursday.

Having pleaded guilty earlier this year to aggravated malicious wounding, the 28-year-old was sentenced Thursday for the 2023 shooting, which took place just outside Charlottesvilles western border at the Berkshire & Barter Court apartment complex in Albemarle County.

The first time Banks was arrested for attacking Tynaisha Felton was the prior year. Police dispatched to her apartment on Jan. 7, 2022, asserted that in addition to stealing more than $1,000 in cash, Banks had destroyed a Ring camera, a Roku device, a television and Feltons telephone. More ominously, she told investigators, he threw her down a flight of stairs and revealed a handgun.

[He] stated to her words to the effect that if she wasnt the mother of his children he would blow her head off, according to a police report.

While robbery and firearms charges were dropped, Banks was convicted of property destruction and assault and battery of a family member, receiving a 30-day sentence.

Later in 2022, police were again called after another attack on Felton. This time, Bank was charged with strangulation, a felony.

I observed scratches to her collarbone and right shoulder area as well as multiple red marks on the front of her neck, wrote the investigating officer. She also had a scratch mark on her right forearm.

With Banks showing some scratches of his own and claiming that he was trying to restrain Felton from attacking him, he was allowed to plead guilty with a promise that the charge would be lowered after a year of rule-following and good behavior.

The defendant is not to have any violent or abusive contact with Felton, Moore in November 2022.

At first, everything was going well, as Banks, according to a probation report, passed his drug tests and got a job as a dishwasher at the Whole Foods grocery store north of the city.

But all that changed on June 23, 2023, when Felton and a boyfriend wheeled up to the Banks family residence near North Berkshire Road so Felton could meet with Banks sister about child care.

According to the police report, witnesses said that Banks threatened the boyfriend with a gun and argued with Felton. Suddenly, they said, Banks pushed Felton to the ground and then shot her twice.

She said that he tried to shoot her in the head, but she put her arm up, investigating officer Michael Schneider wrote in his report.

As it turned out, bullets struck Felton in her right forearm and left shoulder, according to Schneider. The officer also interviewed Banks father, who reportedly wrestled the gun from his sons grip as the younger Banks went suicidal.

Walter was trying to put the handgun to his chin to kill himself, according to the fathers account to police.

While Banks fled the scene, he was arrested three days later and has been held without bail at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail.

The bespectacled Banks sat grim-faced in Albemarle Circuit Court as a team from the Office of the Public Defender argued for lenience in the form of a nine-year sentence.

Im not trying to sugarcoat the tragedy, said lawyer Lauren Reese. But this tragedy did not happen in a vacuum.

Reeses legal team filed a 27-page motion recounting hardships Banks has faced. While filed under seal, some of the documents assertions were discussed in court: that Banks parents split up, that he moved in to his grandmothers home when he found his fathers discipline too strict, that he lost his best friend to a car accident, and that he had to testify against his own brother in a criminal case.

The document also allegedly points to Banks triumphs, such as his recent completion of a general educational development, or GED, program.

I think hes redeemable; I know hes redeemable, Reese said.

Banks younger sister, Janet Banks, testified about her brothers bouts with self-harm, which included attempting to stab himself and what he did after fleeing the shooting.

We found him in the woods, said his sister, telling the court that her brother had unsuccessfully attempted to hang himself with a spark plug wire.

Although Banks mother and another sister shed tears hearing such tales in court, Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Holly Vradenburgh argued that a rough childhood is no excuse for violence.

He was upset by her arriving with [her boyfriend], said Vradenburgh. It was an intentional act in this moment of rage.

Vradenburgh said that the bullets passing through Feltons chest and arm avoided bones and major organs and allowed her to recover quickly.

This could have been so much worse, Vradenburgh said. We could have been here on a murder case.

Vradenburgh sought a sentence of 13 years and one month.

Im sincerely sorry from the bottom of my heart to the mother of my children, Banks told the judge shortly before the 10-year sentence was imposed. I will never take this kind of reckless behavior again for the rest of my life.

The shooting could additionally bring Banks a probation violation conviction and a harsher revision of his deal in the strangulation case. The Charlottesville Circuit Court will consider those matters on Dec. 5.

While Banks lawyers did not wage a mental infirmity defense, the judge decreed that Banks should serve his time in a prison equipped with mental health services.

When you get out youll have years to live, Moore advised Banks. I hope youll never eo anything like this again.
Mount Pleasant, SC (29464)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun. High 76F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low around 65F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.
Three weeks after being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, Virginia state Sen. John McGuire has yet to resign his seat in the Virginia Senate, an unusual delay that has raised questions about the transition of power and the scheduling of a special election to fill the Republicans vacancy.

McGuire, who defeated Democrat Gloria Witt in Virginias 5th Congressional District earlier this month after unseating U.S. Rep. Bob Good in one of the most expensive GOP primaries nationwide this year, is slated to be sworn in to Congress in January.

However, his continued hold on his state Senate seat, representing the 10th District, is drawing attention because most state lawmakers resign soon after winning federal office to allow for a smooth succession process. The state Board of Elections is set to certify the results of the Nov. 5 election on Dec. 2.

Under state law, a special election must be set within 30 days of a vacancy or notification of it, whichever occurs first.

Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas, a Portsmouth Democrat, is expected to set a date for a special election to fill McGuires seat once his resignation is official.

Were still waiting for a formal resignation letter so we can go ahead and call for a special election, JoNathan Collins, a spokesman for Lucas, told the Virginia Mercury Monday.

McGuire did not respond to several phone calls and text messages seeking comment. Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle, a Hanover Republican, said Monday that he expects a special election to be set for Jan. 7, the day before the General Assembly convenes for its 20205 session. He did not elaborate further.

Democrats hold a slim 21-19 majority in the state Senate. If McGuires vacant seat remains unfilled by the start of the legislative session in January, Republicans will face an additional loss in their numbers.

David Richards, a political science professor at the University of Lynchburg, said that he doesnt see a strategic reason for why McGuire would delay resigning his seat.

Im chalking this up to paperwork delays or something like that, Richards said. Im not going to pretend to know what McGuire is thinking, but this does seem to fall in line with the fairly loose way he ran his campaign, both in the primary and in the general election.

McGuire, Richards said, often seemed to be using a different playbook than the normal one, whether because he has his own ideas or simply is unfamiliar with what he needs to do, it wasnt clear. My hope is that he gets up to speed once he gets to D.C. in 2025 and will figure out how to be an effective voice in Congress for the 5th District.

The 10th state Senate District, which spans 11 localities, stretching from Lynchburg in the west to the Richmond suburbs in the east, leans Republican. McGuires departure has set the stage for a hotly contested race, particularly among Republican hopefuls eager to retain the seat in the GOP column.

Last week, district Republicans announced the process for selecting their nominee in the upcoming special election. The local GOP committee scheduled a mass meeting for 5:30 p.m. Dec. 12 to choose the partys candidate. Unlike a firehouse primary, the mass meeting format allows registered Republicans in attendance to vote directly. The location for the meeting has yet to be finalized.

Among the first of the six Republicans to announce their bids for McGuires seat was former state Sen. Amanda Chase, who had served in the body for eight years and lost her 2023 GOP primary for her Chesterfield-based seat to Sen. Glen Sturtevant.

Because the law requires state legislators reside in the district they represent, Chase has moved from her former home in Chesterfield County to Appomattox County.

Shayne Snavely, Chases former aide who worked on her bid for the Republican nomination for governor three years ago, has also declared his intention to run.

And so have Jean Gannon, a Powhatan County real estate appraiser and longtime Republican activist, and Duane Adams, the chairman of the Louisa County Board of Supervisors, who ran for the Republican nomination in the district in 2023 but lost to McGuire.

In more recent weeks, Luther Cifers, a businessman from Prince Edward County, and Bryan Hamlet, the chairman of the Cumberland County Board of Supervisors, have also launched their campaigns in District 10.

The lone Democrat who has filed to run in the Republican-leaning district is Jack Trammel, a college professor from Louisa County who in 2014 unsuccessfully ran against Republican Dave Brat in Virginias 7th Congressional District.

This story was originally published in the Virginia Mercury.
Bostan Lake in northwest China welcomes migratory birds Pub Date:24-11-25 10:57 Source:Xinhua

Bostan Lake, the largest inland freshwater lake in China, is now a seasonal haven for migratory birds. Experience the beauty of this serene and harmonious scene! Editor:Qin Shuying

Related News Chinese poetry master Ye Jiaying dies at 100 24 Solar Terms: Minor Snow Choir from Chinese mountainous region sing... Exhibition of China's Tang Dynasty held in...
FUNCHAL, Portugal, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Casa Palacio Don Ramon, a five-star luxury hotel in Seville, was named winner in the categories of "World's Leading New Boutique Hotel" and "Europe's Leading New Boutique Hotel" at the 2024 World Travel Awards, held Sunday night in Madeira, Portugal. The Andalusian group that owns the hotel, Kaizen Hoteles, also received awards for "World's Leading Independent Hotel Group" and "Europe's Leading Independent Hotel Group."

The president of Kaizen Hoteles, Maria Luisa de Azcarate (third from left), celebrates the World Travel Awards 2024 for the best independent hotel group worldwide and in Europe, as well as the award for 'New Boutique Hotel World and in Europe' for Casa Palacio Don Ramon in Seville.

"These awards mean a great deal, not just for our hotels but for tourism in Andalusia. There are many outstanding destinations worldwide, but Andalusia has its unique lifestyle, music, and the character of its people," said Marisa de Azcarate, president of Kaizen Hoteles, following the ceremony. "That's why I want to highlight these recognitions, as they help put the region on the tourism map."

The World Travel Awards, established in 1993, are regarded within the industry as "the Oscars of tourism." Casa Palacio Don Ramon triumphed over six other luxury hotels from destinations including Japan, the United States, Mexico, and Greece.

De Azcarate emphasized the significance of Spain earning this accolade for the first time in the luxury tourism sector, which she believes has a greater economic impact than mass tourism.

She also noted that luxury tourism fosters long-term economic opportunities in other sectors, such as transportation, culture, leisure, and services in general.

Joining her in Funchal, the capital of Madeira, was Saray Castano, director of Casa Palacio Don Ramon. She explained that the hotel, which opened in 2023, is housed in an 18th-century palace located on Trajano Street in the Andalusian capital.

The property features 26 rooms with decor inspired by Arab, Mozarabic, and New World art. The restoration and renovation incorporated sustainable technology, including thermal and acoustic insulation, humidity control systems, aerothermal and geothermal energy, and radiant stone flooring.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2566595/Kaizen_Hoteles.jpg
Your vote is important no matter how many shares you hold.

The Board of Directors of IsoEnergy unanimously recommends that Shareholders vote FOR the Arrangement Resolution.

TORONTO, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - IsoEnergy Ltd. ("IsoEnergy") (TSX: ISO) (OTCQX: ISENF) is pleased to announce that independent proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis & Co. ("Glass Lewis") has recommended IsoEnergy shareholders ("Shareholders") vote "FOR" the ordinary resolution (the "Share Issuance Resolution") to approve the share issuance in connection with the previously announced arrangement (the "Arrangement") involving the Company and Anfield Energy Corp. ("Anfield") at the upcoming Special Meeting of Shareholders (the "Meeting") to be held on Tuesday, December 3, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. (Toronto time).

Glass Lewis' recommendation complements the favourable recommendation for the Arrangement previously received from Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. ("ISS").

Philip Williams, Chief Executive Officer and Director of IsoEnergy, commented, "We are pleased that both Glass Lewis and ISS have endorsed the Board's unanimous recommendation for Shareholders to vote 'FOR' the Share Issuance Resolution. These recommendations underscore the significant potential value the Arrangement offers to IsoEnergy shareholders."

The Board of Directors of IsoEnergy recommends that Shareholders vote FOR the Share Issuance Resolution

Vote Today

Shareholders are reminded that the deadline to vote is fast approaching. Shareholders must submit their proxies before 2:00 p.m. (Toronto Time) on Friday, November 29, 2024.

Due to the essence of time and the Canadian postal strike, Shareholders are encouraged to vote by telephone or online, as per the instructions provided in the form of proxy or voting instruction form.





Registered Shareholders Beneficial Shareholders

Common Shares held in own name and represented by a physical certificate or DRS. Common Shares held with a broker, bank or other intermediary.

Internet www.investorvote.com www.proxyvote.com

Telephone 1-866-732-8683 Call the applicable number listed on the voting instruction form.

Questions

If you have questions about the Meeting matters or require voting assistance please contact IsoEnergy's proxy solicitation agent, Laurel Hill Advisory Group at:

Laurel Hill Advisory Group

Toll Free: 1-877-452-7184 (for shareholders in North America)

International: +1-416-304-0211 (for shareholders outside Canada and the U.S.)

Email: [email protected]

The Arrangement and Meeting Details

On October 1, 2024, IsoEnergy and Anfield entered into a definitive agreement (the "Arrangement Agreement") pursuant to which IsoEnergy has agreed to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Anfield (the "Anfield Shares") by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement.

At the Meeting, Shareholders will be asked to vote on the Share Issuance Resolution and a special resolution approving a potential consolidation of the IsoEnergy Shares (together with the Share Issuance Resolution, the "Resolutions"), in each case as more particularly described in the management information circular mailed to Shareholders in connection with the meeting (the "Circular").

The Meeting will be held online at meetnow.global/M9YNP66 on December 3, 2024 at 2:00 a.m. (Toronto time). Shareholders of record as of October 21, 2024 are eligible to vote at the Meeting.

Please visit the Special Meeting page on our website for complete details and links to all relevant documents ahead of the Meeting at https://www.isoenergy.ca/investors/special-meeting/. The Circular is also available under IsoEnergy's profile on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca).

X: @IsoEnergyLtd

www.isoenergy.ca

None of the securities to be issued pursuant to the Arrangement have been or will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws, and any securities issuable in the Arrangement are anticipated to be issued in reliance upon available exemptions from such registration requirements pursuant to Section 3(a)(10) of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable exemptions under state securities laws. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information 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 state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". These forward-looking statements or information may relate to the Arrangement, including statements with respect to the consummation of the Arrangement; receipt and timing of approval of the IsoEnergy shareholders with respect to the Arrangement; the date of the Meeting; and any other activities, events or developments that the companies expect or anticipate will or may occur in the future.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at the time, are inherently subject to business, market and economic risks, uncertainties and contingencies that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Such assumptions include, but are not limited to, assumptions that IsoEnergy and Anfield will complete the Arrangement in accordance with, and on the timeline contemplated by the terms and conditions of the relevant agreements; that the parties will receive the required shareholder, regulatory, court and stock exchange approvals and will satisfy, in a timely manner, the other conditions to the closing of the Arrangement. Although IsoEnergy has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in 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 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.

Such statements represent the current views of IsoEnergy with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by IsoEnergy, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to the following: the inability of IsoEnergy and Anfield to complete the Arrangement; a material adverse change in the timing of and the terms and conditions upon which the Arrangemen tis completed; the inability to satisfy or waive all conditions to closing the Arrangement; the failure to obtain shareholder, regulatory, court or stock exchange approvals in connection with the Arrangement; unanticipated changes in market price for IsoEnergy Shares and/or Anfield shares; changes to IsoEnergy's and/or Anfield's current and future business plans and the strategic alternatives available thereto; growth prospects and outlook of Anfield's business; regulatory determinations and delays; stock market conditions generally; demand, supply and pricing for uranium; and general economic and political conditions in Canada, the United States and other jurisdictions where the applicable party conducts business. Other factors which could materially affect such forward-looking information are described in the risk factors in IsoEnergy's most recent annual information form, the Circular and IsoEnergy's other filings with the Canadian securities regulators which are available, respectively, on each company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. IsoEnergy does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

SOURCE IsoEnergy Ltd.
ALPHARETTA, Ga., Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Arclin, a leading material science company, officially launched its new brand on November 12, 2024. This modern rebranding reflects the company's evolution as a material science provider with a focus on protective and mission-critical products and its expanded presence as a global leader across key market sectors.

To better align its brand with its evolving vision, Arclin embarked on a year-long research, strategy, and creative development process. The initial months focused on gathering insights from internal stakeholders, existing customers, and industry experts to identify key strengths, value propositions, and areas for growth.

"The research phase was pivotal in helping us sharpen our focus and align internally so that we could better represent our true value and potential to different internal and external audiences," said Mark Glaspey, Arclin's Chief Operating Officer.

A key partner in this transformation has been Matchstic, a brand identity firm based in Atlanta, GA. Collaborating closely with the Arclin team, Matchstic helped transform the company's narrative from a chemical and applications company to that of a global leader in formulated technologies that are essential to meeting worldwide demand. As part of its overall rebranding effort, Arclin also worked with Whiteboard, a Chattanooga, TN, based company, to completely overhaul its website onto a more robust, easier-to-navigate platform that more clearly represents the depth and breadth of the company's offerings.

Inspired by the Arclin out-of-the-box approach to thinking and innovating, the new brand symbol is a nod to a deconstructed cube. The shape of the panels implies movement and momentum that speaks to the company's continued innovation and commitment to bringing life-changing products to the world.

"The selection of a vibrant orange as our primary color represents a bold departure from our previous brand," said Jana Wright, Arclin's Vice President of Brand & Marketing. "This change signals a confident transition, positioning Arclin as a leading material science company. Our new logo reflects our philosophy of technological precision and innovation."

The stenciled wordmark visualizes the relationship between the seen and the unseen with intentional gaps inside the letterforms. This idea highlights the seemingly invisible science that is the backbone of Arclin productstechnologies that are vital and found in essential protective products across numerous industries, enhancing our lives in ways that many people do not realize.

"We've been around for many years, but never have we been able to fully articulate or capture what we do," stated Bradley Bolduc, Arclin's President and Chief Executive Officer. "It's a complex process, producing polymers and materials that touch so many products and areas of life. We've always taken a back seat in that story. But now is the time to change that, highlighting our transformation over the past five years, by making a bold change in how we present ourselves to our employees, customers and industry as a whole."

About Arclin

Arclin is a leading materials science company and manufacturer of polymer technologies, engineered products and specialized materials for the construction, agriculture, transportation infrastructure, weather & fire protection, pharmaceutical, nutrition, electronics, design, and other industries. Headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, Arclin has offices and manufacturing facilities throughout the U.S., Canada, and U.K. and manufactures for customers worldwide. For more information, visit www.arclin.com.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2222683/Arclin_Logo.jpg
STOCKHOLM, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Bioservo, a global pioneer in wearable medical robotics that revolutionizes assistive care with its innovative 'State of the art' technology, proudly announces a plan to collaborate strategically with Limb Lab, a best-in-class orthotics and prosthetics provider. This collaboration aims to bring the groundbreaking Carbonhand technology to patients across the United States.

Limb Lab, an independently-owned and -operated prosthetic and orthotic company, is known for its innovative and personalized approaches to supporting individuals with limb difference and other functional needs. Having developed deep experience in this space for over a decade, Limb Lab will now make Carbonhand available to people in Arizona, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Iowa, significantly expanding access to this transformative technology.

The Carbonhand device, powered by Bioservo's patented Soft Extra Muscle (SEMTM) technology, intuitively enhances grip strength to support daily activities, meeting an urgent need for patients with impaired hand function. Carbonhand enhances assistive care by delivering state-of-the-art technology designed to empower users with impaired hand function and provide a higher quality of life.

"Since early 2024, Carbonhand has been available to U.S. Veterans through VA benefits, with around ten Veteran Centers across the country prescribing this life-changing device," said Petter Backgren, CEO of Bioservo. "Our collaboration with Limb Lab now allows us to extend this solution to a broader range of people in need, strengthening our goal to make Carbonhand the standard of care for individuals requiring support in grip strength."

Contact Information:

Petter Backgren, CEO, Bioservo AB

Phone: +46 70 555 69 97

Email: [email protected]



Marty Frana, CEO, Limb Lab

Phone: +1 844 546 2522

Email: [email protected]

About Bioservo AB

Bioservo AB is a leader in wearable muscle-strengthening systems that are revolutionizing assistive care. Headquartered in Kista, Sweden, Bioservo is dedicated to enabling greater independence and improved quality of life for individuals worldwide, empowering users with innovative, soft exoskeleton technology. For more information, please visit www.bioservo.com.

About Limb Lab, LLC

Limb Lab is a client- and clinician-driven healthcare company. For over ten years, it has steadily expanded as it has relentlessly pursued its mission to improve functional outcomes  and quality-of-life  for the people it serves. Please find us at www.limblab.com.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com.

https://news.cision.com/bioservo-ab/r/bioservo-collaborates-with-limb-lab-to-expand-accessibility-of-carbonhand--across-the-united-states,c4071128

The following files are available for download:

https://news.cision.com/bioservo-ab/i/carbonhand-peeling-potatoes,c3354898 Carbonhand Peeling Potatoes

SOURCE Bioservo AB
Exports of high-quality wheat expected to top 25 million tonnes this year.

WINNIPEG, MB, Nov. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Cereals Canada today released its annual New Wheat Crop Report to domestic and global customers of Canadian wheat. The 2024 report provides a quality and functionality update and highlights Canadian wheat production.

Watch Cereals Canada CEO Dean Dias introduce the 2024 New Wheat Crop Report Cover of 2024 New Wheat Crop Report showing a wheat field at harvest. (CNW Group/Cereals Canada)

"In the 2024-25 crop year, Canada is expected to export 25.4 million tonnes of wheat to over 80 countries, with the quality and protein content that customers expect," stated Dean Dias, Chief Executive Officer at Cereals Canada. "This will make Canada the world's third largest exporter of wheat, and the top exporter of high quality, high protein wheat, for the second year in a row."

In a season that started with ample precipitation in Western Canada, Canadian farmers grew nearly 34.3 million tonnes of high-quality wheat. The 2024 wheat crop is four percent larger than last year and eight percent larger than average, thanks to above-average yields for both non-durum wheat and durum wheat.

Quality was excellent for all classes with a high proportion of the crop grading No. 2 or better.

The CWRS crop had average protein content with a very high proportion grading No. 1 or No. 2.

A high proportion of the CWAD crop graded No. 1 or No. 2 and had average to higher-than average protein content.

The CPSR crop had average protein content, and a very high proportion graded No. 1 or No. 2.

A high proportion of the CESRW crop graded No. 1 or No. 2 with protein content that is slightly lower than average.

The technical data for the 2024 wheat crop will be presented at two customer webinars hosted by Cereals Canada on November 19 and 20, before a cereals value chain delegation embarks on four international trade and technical missions. This year's delegation, which includes Cereals Canada experts, value chain members, producer representatives, and the Canadian Grain Commission, will engage with 18 markets that purchased $8.6 billion worth of Canadian wheat in 2023.

"The New Crop Trade and Technical Missions help strengthen the competitiveness of the Canadian cereal industry," noted Dias. "Our targeted, in-market outreach provides opportunities to build relationships and create advocates for our industry, while engaging in market access discussions. It goes beyond simply providing updates on the quality of Canadian wheat."

The New Wheat Crop Report is prepared and presented annually, in partnership with the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC), value chain members, and provincial grower commissions. This fall, Cereals Canada received over 115 samples of Western Canadian wheat from eight grain exporters for analysis. The Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) contributed an assessment of Eastern Canadian winter wheat for the report.

To learn more about Canada's 2024 New Wheat Crop and download the 2024 Crop Summary, visit cerealscanada.ca/2024-wheat-crop/

About Cereals Canada: Cereals Canada is the national, not-for-profit, industry association representing the Canadian cereal grains value chain. We value relationships and work with government and stakeholders to provide timely, expert technical information and deliver best-in-class customer experience. We are dedicated to supporting the Canadian cereals value chain including farmers, exporters, developers, processors, and our customers around the world with a focus on trade, science, and sustainability.

SOURCE Cereals Canada
BOSTON, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CereVasc, Inc., a clinical-stage medical device company developing novel treatments for neurological diseases, today announced that the company will be participating in the upcoming 36th Annual Piper Sandler Healthcare Conference in New York.

Dan Levangie, CereVasc Chairman and CEO, is scheduled to discuss the development and clinical performance of the eShunt System at 2:50 PM Eastern Time on December 4th.

About CereVasc, Inc.

Located in Massachusetts' healthcare hub, CereVasc, Inc., is a clinical stage, medical device company focused on the development of novel, minimally invasive treatments for patients with neurological diseases. Its initial product, the eShunt System, encompasses first-ever, groundbreaking percutaneous transvenous-transdural access to the central nervous system intended to allow the first minimally invasive treatment for communicating hydrocephalus (CH), a potential improvement to the current standard of care. The eShunt device concept originated from Tufts Medical Center physicians Carl Heilman, MD, Neurosurgeon-in-Chief and Chair of Neurosurgery, and Adel Malek, MD, PhD, Chief of Neurovascular Surgery and Director of Cerebrovascular and Endovascular Neurosurgery. The patented eShunt System includes an endovascularly implantable cerebral spinal fluid shunt and delivery components, which are designed to treat CH without invasive surgery. For additional information, please visit our website at www.cerevasc.com.

The eShunt Device is an investigational device and not available for sale within or outside the United States.

Company Contacts:

DJ Cass

CereVasc, Inc.

[email protected]

Media Contacts:

Ethan Metelenis

Precision AQ

[email protected]

SOURCE CereVasc
GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, N.J., Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Lennar, one of the nation's leading homebuilders, today announced the debut of two new construction communities in Gloucester Township. The thoughtfully designed neighborhoods  Emerson Square and Chase Pointe nestled in the heart of Sicklerville, are set to redefine modern living in South Jersey, just 20 miles from Philadelphia.

Lennar debuts two new communities in Gloucester Township nestled in the heart of Sicklerville in South Jersey. Emerson Square and Chase Pointe offer a wide range of high-quality homes ideal for growing families and first-time buyers.

"Emerson Square and Chase Pointe demonstrate our commitment to offering a wide range of high-quality homes for today's buyers," said Anthony Mignone, Lennar Regional Vice President for Lennar. "These communities meet South Jersey's demand for well-priced new construction, ideal for growing families and first-time buyers. Lennar is creating vibrant neighborhoods where families thrive."

The communities provide exceptional value and a seamless blend of suburban tranquility with urban convenience. Emerson Square boasts 63 single-family homes, and Chase Pointe delivers 95 townhomes.

Future homeowners can look forward to the convenience and peace of mind that comes with Lennar's signature Everything's Included homes. These homes take the guesswork out of selecting features and finishes, offering highly sought-after upgrades at no additional cost. Each home is move-in ready with top-tier enhancements, ensuring an exceptional living experience for every resident. Pricing begins in the $400,000s.

Emerson Square and Chase Pointe residents will enjoy easy access to local airports and transit hubs, as well as premium shopping and trendy dining options just minutes away. Gloucester Township is family-friendly, featuring excellent schools, numerous parks, and recreational facilities that promote an active lifestyle. Plus, the area hosts engaging community events that foster a strong sense of belonging, making it an ideal place for families and individuals seeking a welcoming and vibrant environment.

For more information visit Emerson Square and Chase Pointe or call (609) 349-8258.

About Lennar Corporation

Lennar Corporation, founded in 1954, is one of the nation's leading builders of quality homes for all generations. Lennar builds affordable, move-up and active adult homes primarily under the Lennar brand name. Lennar's Financial Services segment provides mortgage financing, title and closing services primarily for buyers of Lennar's homes and, through LMF Commercial, originates mortgage loans secured primarily by commercial real estate properties throughout the United States. Lennar's Multifamily segment is a nationwide developer of high-quality multifamily rental properties. LENX drives Lennar's technology, innovation and strategic investments. For more information about Lennar, please visit www.lennar.com.

Contact: Danielle Tocco

Vice President Communications

Lennar Corporation

[email protected]

Direct Line: 949.789.1633

SOURCE Lennar Corporation
Purchase agreement is for commercial volumes of e-SAF over a 10-year period

IAG expects to start receiving fuel deliveries from Infinium in 2026

LONDON, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- International Airlines Group (IAG) today announced a new Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) purchase agreement with e-SAF producer Infinium, which plans to supply the UK market with power-to-liquid e-SAF from late 2026. Produced from water, waste CO2 and renewable energy, e-SAF is expected to reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 90% compared to today's conventional jet fuel.

IAG announces 10-year purchase agreement for ultra-low carbon Infinium sustainable aviation fuel.

Under the terms of the ten-year agreement, Infinium will supply IAG with e-SAF to support any of its five airlines, Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, LEVEL and Vueling. Last year, IAG airlines used approximately 12% of the world's supply of SAF*.

This deal supports the scale-up of e-SAF, which is manufactured through a process that converts water, waste CO2 and renewable power into fuel. This new class of fuel is not encumbered by feedstock limitations, has a higher degree of emissions reduction versus conventional jet fuel and has a relatively low land and water-use footprint. It is also a "drop-in" replacement for aviation fuel that requires no changes to existing aircraft engine designs.

Jonathon Counsell, IAG's Group Sustainability Officer, said: "So far, we're on track to deliver our 10% 2030 SAF goal and agreements with innovators like Infinium, are key to reaching this target. Aviation as an industry is working hard to decarbonize and policy should focus on solutions such as SAF, rather than only increasing costs which risk affecting the competitiveness of the European aviation industry. What the industry needs is additional policy support to attract funds to construct SAF plants and reduce aviation's reliance on fossil fuels."

The e-SAF will be produced at Infinium's Project Roadrunner facility, located in the United States in West Texas. Project Roadrunner is set to be the largest global producer of e-SAF once fully operational and has received funding commitments from Brookfield Asset Management and Breakthrough Energy Catalyst. Project Roadrunner is Infinium's second eFuels project, being developed after the Project Pathfinder in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Robert Schuetzle, Infinium's CEO, said: "We are proud that IAG has chosen Infinium to help towards its sustainability goals. Long-term, bankable commitments like these are what drive the ability to ramp up production of e-SAF, which is a critical milestone for the airline industry and for eFuels as an alternative to both fossil-based fuels and prior generations of SAF."

As part of its sustainability roadmap, IAG is also investing in new aircraft and implementing fuel efficiency initiatives, purchasing and investing in SAF and advancing carbon removals to reduce emissions from its operations.

* Based on IATA's latest figures for SAF production in 2023

About International Airlines Group (IAG)

International Airlines Group (IAG) is one of the world's largest airline groups with 582 aircraft, directly connecting Europe to 250+ destinations in 91 countries and carrying 115+ million passengers per year. Its leading airlines in Spain, the UK and Ireland include Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and LEVEL. The Group also consists of two complementary businesses: IAG Cargo and IAG Loyalty. PwC found that IAG supports more than 600,000 jobs in the region directly and indirectly and through the spending of travellers, contributing nearly 70 billion of GDP to the EU and UK.

About Infinium

Infinium is an electrofuels provider on a mission to decarbonize the world. Electrofuels, also known as eFuels, are a new class of synthetic fuels created using renewable power and waste carbon dioxide, not petroleum or resources that compete with food. Infinium eFuels such as eSAF jet fuel and eDiesel can be dropped into existing planes, trucks and ships, significantly reducing harmful carbon dioxide emissions compared to fossil-based fuels. In addition to helping the transport industry meet carbon reduction goals, Infinium eNaphtha is a lower carbon alternative for chemical processing, including plastics production. Learn why Amazon, American Airlines, Brookfield, IAG and other leading cleantech innovators have chosen Infinium at www.infiniumco.com.

SOURCE Infinium
SAN FRANCISCO and SUZHOU, China, Nov. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Innovent Biologics, Inc. ("Innovent") (HKEX: 01801), a world-class biopharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and commercializes high quality medicines for the treatment of oncology, cardiovascular and metabolic, autoimmune, ophthalmology and other major diseases, announces that nearly 10 accepted clinical data of its novel oncology molecules, including an oral presentation of updated Phase 1 result of its novel TOPO1i CLDN18.2 ADC (IBI343) in previously-treated pancreatic cancer, will be released at the European Society of Medical Oncology Asia (ESMO Asia) Congress 2024 from Dec 06-08, 2024, in Singapore.

Details on the abstracts are listed below:

Mini Oral

Abstract Title: Anti-claudin18.2 (CLDN18.2) antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) IBI343 in patients with advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC): updated results from a Phase 1 study

Abstract No: 132MO

Session Type and Title: Mini Oral session: Gastrointestinal tumors

Presentation Time: 2024-12-07, 09:50-09:55

Presenter: Jian Zhang, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, CN

Abstract Title: mFOLFOX6 + Bevacizumab + PD-1 Monoclonal Antibody in Locally Advanced MSS CRC (BASKET): A Prospective, Single-Arm, Open-Label, Phase 2 Study

Abstract No: 74MO

Session Type and Title: Mini Oral session: Gastrointestinal tumors

Presentation Time: 2024-12-07, 10:20-10:25

Presenter: Jun Huang, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, CN

Posters

Abstract Title: Anlotinib plus Sintilimab as First-line Treatment for Patients with Advanced Colorectal Cancer (APICAL-CRC): an Open-Label, Single-arm, Phase 2 study

Abstract No: 75P

Session Type and Title: Poster Display session

Presentation Time: 2024-12-07, 17:50-18:45

Presenter: Zhan Wang, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University, CN

Abstract Title: A single-arm, multicenter, Phase 2 study of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) combined with donafenib and sintilimab as first-line treatment for unresectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (CHANCE 2203)

Abstract No: 137P

Session Type and Title: Poster Display session

Presentation Time: 2024-12-07, 17:50-18:45

Presenter: Gaojun Teng, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, CN

Abstract Title: FOLFOX-HAIC combined with sintilimab and bevacizumab for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: a single-arm, Phase 2 study

Abstract No: 207P

Session Type and Title: Poster Display session

Presentation Time: 2024-12-07, 17:50-18:45

Presenter: Bin Liang/ Zizhuo Wang, Union Hospital Tongji Medical College Huazhong University of Science and Technology, CN

Abstract Title: Updated results from Phase 2 study of HAIC plus sintilimab and bevacizumab biosimilar in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)

Abstract No: 214P

Session Type and Title: Poster Display session

Presentation Time: 2024-12-07, 17:50-18:45

Presenter: Haibin Zhang, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Third Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University, CN

Abstract Title: Anlotinib Combined with Sintilimab Versus Chemotherapy Combined with Immunotherapy in Perioperative NSCLC: A Phase 2 Study

Abstract No: 599P

Session Type and Title: Poster Display session

Presentation Time: 2024-12-07, 17:50-18:45

Presenter: Tianqing Chu, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, CN

Trial in Progress abstracts (TiP)

Abstract Title: A randomized, controlled, multicenter Phase 3 study of IBI310 (anti-CTLA-4 antibody) plus sintilimab (anti-PD-1 antibody) as neoadjuvant treatment for resectable microsatellite instability-high/mismatch repair-deficient (MSI-H/dMMR) colon cancer: Trial in Progress

Abstract No.: 119TiP

Session Type and Title: Poster Display session

Presentation Time: 2024-12-07, 17:50-18:45

Presenter: Ruihua Xu, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, CN

Abstract Title: Efficacy and Safety of Combination Therapy of Sintilimab and Chemotherapy with Cryoablation in the First-Line Treatment of Advanced Non-Squamous Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)

Abstract No.: 722TiP

Session Type and Title: Poster Display session

Presentation Time: 2024-12-07, 17:50-18:45

Presenter: Zhiqiang Gao, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, CN

Dr. Hui Zhou, Senior Vice President of Innovent, stated: "We are very pleased to present and share a robust set of clinical data at EAMO Asia 2024. Notably, we are highlighting the breakthrough potential for our TOPO1i CLDN18.2 ADC (IBI343) in pancreatic cancer, a global difficult-to-treat cancer. Consistent with the preliminary signal observed in small patient size, the data in dose expansion stage demonstrated encouraging efficacy and good safety, which reinforced our confidence in advancing its development. Given unique design of Fc-silent antibody, combined with stable linker and potent extecan payload, IBI343 pioneered in the exploration of CLDN18.2 ADC agents for PDAC treatment. As one of the few biopharmaceutical companies with both advanced technology platforms and a robust pipeline in "IO+ADC" areas, Innovent remains dedicated to transforming cancer treatment by delivering innovative, effective, and safe therapeutic options for doctors and patients."

About Innovent

Innovent is a leading biopharmaceutical company founded in 2011 with the mission to empower patients worldwide with affordable, high-quality biopharmaceuticals. The company discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes innovative medicines that target some of the most intractable diseases. Its pioneering therapies treat cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic, autoimmune and eye diseases. Innovent has launched 11 products in the market. It has 5 new drug applications under regulatory review, 3 assets in Phase III or pivotal clinical trials and 17 more molecules in early clinical stage. Innovent partners with over 30 global healthcare companies, including Eli Lilly, Sanofi, Incyte, Adimab, LG Chem and MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Guided by the motto, "Start with Integrity, Succeed through Action," Innovent maintains the highest standard of industry practices and works collaboratively to advance the biopharmaceutical industry so that first-rate pharmaceutical drugs can become widely accessible. For more information, visit www.innoventbio.com, or follow Innovent on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Statement: 1Innovent does not recommend the use of any unapproved drug (s)/indication (s). 2Ramucirumab (Cyramza) and Selpercatinib (Retsevmo) were developed by Eli Lilly and Company.

Forward-looking statement

This news release may contain certain forward-looking statements that are, by their nature, subject to significant risks and uncertainties. The words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend" and similar expressions, as they relate to Innovent Biologics ("Innovent"), are intended to identify certain of such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend to update these forward-looking statements regularly.

These forward-looking statements are based on the existing beliefs, assumptions, expectations, estimates, projections and understandings of the management of the Company with respect to future events at the time these statements are made. These statements are not a guarantee of future developments and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company's control and are difficult to predict. Consequently, actual results may differ materially from information contained in the forward-looking statements as a result of future changes or developments in our business, the Company's competitive environment and political, economic, legal and social conditions.

The Company, the Directors and the employees of the Company assume (a) no obligation to correct or update the forward-looking statements contained in this site; and (b) no liability in the event that any of the forward-looking statements does not materialise or turn out to be incorrect.

SOURCE Innovent Biologics
NEW YORK, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The language training market in india size is estimated to grow by USD 7.55 billion from 2024-2028, according to Technavio. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 14.37% during the forecast period. Growing emphasis on continuous professional development is driving market growth, with a trend towards integration of technology in learning and training, such as e-learning platforms, virtual reality (VR), and simulations. However, high cost of accessing quality training programs, educational resources, and technology infrastructure poses a challenge. Key market players include Alliance Francaise Paris ile de France, Babbel GmbH, Berlitz Corp., British Council, Cambridge Institute, Cosmolingua, EF Education First Ltd., Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH and Co. KG, Goethe-Institut, Henry Harvin Education Inc., IFLAC, INaWORD, inlingua International Ltd., Institute of Universal Languages and Education, ITESKUL, IXL Learning Inc., Language Services Bureau, LetsTalk Academy of English and Foreign Languages, Nile, Pearson Plc, ReSOLT EdTech LLP, and Winsome Translators Pvt. Ltd., Alliance Francaise Paris ile de France , Winsome Translators Pvt. Ltd., Apex Language Academy, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chandigarh Language Academy, Diploma in Foreign Languages, English and Foreign Languages University, Foreign Language Learning Pvt. Ltd., Language Training Institute, and India International Language Academy

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Language Training Market in India 2024-2028

AI-Powered Market Evolution Insights. Our comprehensive market report ready with the latest trends, growth opportunities, and strategic analysis- View Free Sample Report PDF

Forecast period 2024-2028 Base Year 2023 Historic Data 2018 - 2022 Segment Covered End-user (Institutional learners and Individual learners), Learning Method (Classroom-based, Online, and Blended), Language (English, French, German, Spanish, and Others), Business Model ( B2B, B2C, and B2G), and Geography (APAC) Region Covered India Key companies profiled Alliance Francaise Paris ile de France, Babbel GmbH, Berlitz Corp., British Council, Cambridge Institute, Cosmolingua, EF Education First Ltd., Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH and Co. KG, Goethe-Institut, Henry Harvin Education Inc., IFLAC, INaWORD, inlingua International Ltd., Institute of Universal Languages and Education, ITESKUL, IXL Learning Inc., Language Services Bureau, LetsTalk Academy of English and Foreign Languages, Nile, Pearson Plc, ReSOLT EdTech LLP, and Winsome Translators Pvt. Ltd, Alliance Francaise Paris ile de France , Winsome Translators Pvt. Ltd., Apex Language Academy, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chandigarh Language Academy, Diploma in Foreign Languages, English and Foreign Languages University, Foreign Language Learning Pvt. Ltd., Global Language Training Institute, and India International Language Academy

Key Market Trends Fueling Growth

The language training market in India has experienced significant growth due to advanced technology integration. E-learning platforms like Babbel offer personalized learning paths and multimedia content. VR technology provides language practice experiences. Simulations offer practical learning scenarios for real-life language use. Institutions use digital language resources and language lab systems for comprehensive learning. These factors increase demand for language training, driving market growth.

The Language Training Market in India is experiencing significant growth, with a growth in demand for proficiency in various languages. Skills like Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and Japanese are in high demand. Companies are looking for employees with multilingual skills to cater to their global clientele. E-learning platforms are playing a crucial role in making language training more accessible and affordable. Chatbots and virtual assistants are also being used to enhance the learning experience. The use of technology is transforming the way language training is delivered in India. The trend is towards more interactive and personalized learning methods. The future looks bright for the language training industry in India.

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Market Challenges

The cost of accessing quality language training programs, educational resources, and technology infrastructure in India is a significant barrier to growth in the language training market. Individuals and organizations face financial constraints that limit access to valuable learning opportunities, particularly for those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds or in remote areas. Language learning course fees range from USD120 to USD421 , and the high cost of online courses, study materials, and technology infrastructure can present significant financial hurdles. In rural areas, the lack of reliable internet connectivity and modern computing equipment further exacerbates the challenges of engaging in e-learning and virtual training. These factors are expected to hinder the growth of the language training market in India during the forecast period.

is a significant barrier to growth in the language training market. Individuals and organizations face financial constraints that limit access to valuable learning opportunities, particularly for those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds or in remote areas. Language learning course fees range from to , and the high cost of online courses, study materials, and technology infrastructure can present significant financial hurdles. In rural areas, the lack of reliable internet connectivity and modern computing equipment further exacerbates the challenges of engaging in e-learning and virtual training. These factors are expected to hinder the growth of the language training market in during the forecast period. The Language Training Market in India faces several challenges. One key challenge is the need to cater to a diverse population with various languages and dialects. Another challenge is the competition from free online resources and low-cost alternatives. Additionally, the lack of standardized curriculum and certification programs can make it difficult for institutions to differentiate themselves. Furthermore, the high cost of quality education and the need for flexible learning options can deter potential students. Lastly, the digital transformation requires language training providers to adapt to e-learning platforms and incorporate technology into their offerings.

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Segment Overview

This language training market in India report extensively covers market segmentation by

End-user

1.1 Institutional learners

1.2 Individual learners

Learning Method

2.1 Classroom-based

2.2 Online

2.3 Blended

Language

3.1 English

3.2 French

3.3 German

3.4 Spanish

3.5 Others

Business Model ( B2B, B2C, and B2G)

Geography

4.1 APAC

1.1 Institutional learners- The language training market in India serves a substantial group of learners in academic institutions, vocational centers, and corporations. These learners aim to boost their language abilities for academic, professional, and personal reasons. In academia, universities like JNU and EFLU provide specialized language courses for students and educators. Vocational training centers, such as NITHM, offer language programs for those entering industries like tourism and international trade. Corporate initiatives, including Wipro, Infosys, and Deloitte, provide language training for professional growth and intercultural communication. Digital language learning platforms, like Coursera for Campus and Rosetta Stone for Enterprise, cater to the unique needs of academic institutions, vocational centers, and corporations. These factors are driving the demand for language training among institutional learners in India.

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Research Analysis

The Language Training Market in India is experiencing significant growth due to the increasing demand for multilingual talent in multinational firms. Specialized courses in E-learning platforms are becoming increasingly popular, offering flexibility and affordability. Artificial Intelligence (AI) integration, through speech recognition and chatbot assistance, is revolutionizing language education. Qualified language instructors provide in-person tutoring to address linguistic gaps. Flexible pricing models cater to various budgets. AI-powered social robots are also being used to enhance language learning experiences. Language start-ups are emerging, offering innovative solutions in digital tutoring for English, Spanish, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, and Korean.

Market Research Overview

The Language Training Market in India is experiencing significant growth due to the increasing globalization and the rising demand for multilingual workforce. The market caters to various sectors such as BPOs, KPOs, IT, and education. English language training holds the largest market share, followed by other languages like French, German, Spanish, and Chinese. The market is driven by factors such as increasing foreign investments, growing tourism industry, and the need for effective communication in international business. The Indian government and several educational institutions are also promoting language training through various initiatives. The market is expected to continue its growth trajectory in the coming years.

Table of Contents:

1 Executive Summary

2 Market Landscape

3 Market Sizing

4 Historic Market Size

5 Five Forces Analysis

6 Market Segmentation

End-user

Institutional Learners



Individual Learners

Learning Method

Classroom-based



Online



Blended

Language

English



French



German



Spanish



Others

Business Model ( B2B, B2C, and B2G)

Geography

APAC

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
DALLAS, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Loopback Analytics has been honored by the Dallas Business Journal as one of the Best Places to Work in North Texas. The Best Places to Work Awards took place on October 29, 2024, at a luncheon at the Hilton Anatole.

Loopback Analytics is a leading provider of data analytics and market access services for health system specialty pharmacy programs. This is Loopback's second consecutive year earning the Best Places to Work award, highlighting their commitment to culture as they grow and strengthen their mission to bridge the gap for better patient access.

Dallas Business Journal's 2024 Best Places to Work Finalist Loopback Analytics

Now in its 22nd year, the award program had over 330 nominations and more than 13,000 North Texas employees from each company took surveys provided by Quantum Workplace. The rankings were based on confidential surveys of employees that measure success in team dynamics, trust in leadership, communication and more, with only the top-scoring companies in the region earning the coveted title.

The 103 winning companies were ranked by their overall survey scores in five categories based on employee count.

For more information on this year's Best Places to Work honorees, click here.

About the Dallas Business Journal

Founded in 1977, the Dallas Business Journal is the premier source for local business news, research and events in Dallas-Fort Worth. From breaking news to live events, the Business Journal serves its readers by helping them grow their businesses, grow their careers and simplify their professional lives.

In addition to our weekly print publication, we also offer the annual Book of Lists, free daily morning and afternoon news updates via email, along with networking and awards events. The Business Journal is a division of American City Business Journals, the country's largest publisher of business publications. It is owned by Advance Publications.

About Loopback Analytics

Founded in 2009, Loopback Analytics is a leading provider of data analytics and insights that simplify understanding, access and innovation for patients requiring specialty care. Our mission is to connect Health Systems and Life Sciences through analytics and data-enabled services. Healthcare and Life Science stakeholders use the Loopback clinical intelligence platform to identify and understand how patient cohorts that would otherwise be difficult-to-identify and quantify are treated in the real world.

SOURCE Loopback Analytics
The McNichols family endowment enables the Tampa General Hospital Team Member Assistance Program to broaden support for team members and continue in perpetuity.

TAMPA, Fla., Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Tampa General Hospital (TGH) and the TGH Foundation today expressed gratitude to the McNichols family for their generous contribution in support of the academic health system's Team Member Emergency Fund, which has been rebranded as the McNichols Team Member Assistance Program, and now provides sustainable support and resource assistance to team members.

The McNichols Team Member Assistance Program allows the academic health system to care for team members navigating unexpected challenges they and their families may face outside of work. Since its establishment in 2009, the program has helped team members and their families in various ways, including resources for home repairs due to hurricane damage, gas cards to provide financial assistance due to an unexpected economic peak and computers and school supplies in preparedness for school, and has provided more than $2.5 million in financial assistance and resources to team members in need. Most recently, it is providing support to team members at all levels throughout the organization as they navigate the devastating direct and indirect impacts of Hurricane Helene, which was the most severe storm to affect the region in more than a century.

This gift from the McNichols family is already making it possible to broaden the program's support for team members, making it more inclusive, compassionate and sustainable. For the first time in the program's history, Tampa General is opening it up to all team members starting on Day 1 of their employment. A new application process will streamline decision-making, enabling agile and unbiased responses to all requests, and a dedicated team member with a public assistance background will manage the program to establish timely connections to sustainable and realistic support resources for both urgent and long-term challenges.

The endowment from the McNichols family also inspired generous contributions from the health system's partner organization, Palantir Technologies, Inc., and its medical staff. Both of these contributions have had a tremendous impact on the nearly 1,100 team members across the system who have applied for support through the Program in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

"On behalf of our family, we hope this gift will enable Tampa General to continue to provide their team members with the resources they need to thrive both in and out of the workplace," said Gene and Patsy McNichols. "Tampa General's team members work every day in service to our community and while they are often characterized as superheroes by their patients, like everyone, they face unexpected challenges. Our hope is that with this gift, we can provide them the same feelings of care and hope that they provide to patients every day."

Tampa General prioritizes the team that contributes to the operational excellence of its academic health system with several initiatives to position them for success, extending beyond competitive compensation, benefits packages and schedule flexibility to include programs that align with the workforce's needs outside of the workplace. With a focus on leading with authenticity, transparency, kindness and vulnerability, Tampa General invites suggestions from team members by establishing several channels and forums for team members to communicate openly with the health system's senior leaders. Their feedback has resulted in a benefits program redesign to align resources with the benefits team members identified as most important, expanded access to free mental health services, family programs, discounts and several educational and professional development programs.

Tampa General currently employs approximately 14,000 team members and physicians and delivers world-class care at more than 150 care locations statewide and the McNichols Team Member Assistance Program and other programs have contributed to improved vacancy and turnover rates, which are currently maintained at 11 percent and 16 percent, respectively, both below the national industry averages. Additionally, they have earned Tampa General national recognition as an employer of choice, including the following recent accolades:

"At Tampa General, we understand that providing the safest and most innovative patient care and require a dedicated, experienced and purpose-driven team," said Qualenta Kivett, executive vice president and chief people and talent officer at Tampa General. "As leaders, we understand that when we invest in our team and provide the environment and resources to meet their unique needs, they are positioned to show up at their best for our patients and each other. This gift from the McNichols family is instrumental in our "team member first" approach by increasing the effectiveness of our Team Member Assistance Program. Ultimately, it empowers us to achieve operational excellence and provide exceptional care to our patients."

In addition to this endowment, the McNichols family has previously funded the Team Member Chaplain program and was a founding member of TGH's Corporate Philanthropy Partners program. Gene McNichols, CEO of McNICHOLS Co., is a former TGH Foundation and hospital board member and his wife, Patsy McNichols, sits on the TGH Bruemmer Leadership Council.

"On behalf of the Tampa General Hospital Foundation, I express our sincere gratitude to the McNichols family for their continued support of our mission and their shared commitment to the well-being of our patients and team members," said Frann Leppla, executive vice president and chief philanthropy officer of the TGH Foundation. "As our geographic footprint and impact continue to grow, this generous investment in our most essential resource  our people  is, in turn, an investment in the health of millions of people across the state of Florida."

ABOUT TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL

Tampa General Hospital, a 981-bed, not-for-profit, academic health system, is one of the largest hospitals in America and delivers world-class care as the region's only center for Level l trauma and comprehensive burn care. Tampa General Hospital is the highest-ranked hospital in the market in U.S. News & World Report's 2024-2025 Best Hospitals, with two medical specialties ranking among the top 20 in the nation and eight medical specialties ranking among the top 50 best hospital programs in the United States. Tampa General Hospital has been designated as a model of excellence by the 2022 Fortune/Merative 100 Top Hospitals list. The academic health system's commitment to growing and developing its team members is recognized by three prestigious Forbes magazine rankings  in the top 100 nationally in the 2024 America's Best Large Employers, the top 50 in Florida in the 2024 America's Best Employers by State and the 2023 America's Best Employers for Women. Tampa General is the safety net hospital for the region, caring for everyone regardless of their ability to pay, and in fiscal year 2022, provided a net community benefit of approximately $240.3 million in the form of health care for underinsured patients, community education, and financial support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay. It is one of the nation's busiest adult solid organ transplant centers and is the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. With five medical helicopters, Tampa General Hospital transports critically injured or ill patients from 23 surrounding counties to receive the advanced care they need. Tampa General houses a nationally accredited comprehensive stroke center, and its 32-bed Neuroscience, Intensive Care Unit is the largest on the West Coast of Florida. It also is home to the Muma Children's Hospital at TGH, the Jennifer Leigh Muma 82-bed neonatal intensive care unit, and a nationally accredited rehabilitation center. Tampa General Hospital's footprint includes TGH North, which is comprised of three hospitals and several outpatient locations in Citrus and Hernando counties, 17 Tampa General Medical Group Primary Care offices, TGH Family Care Center Kennedy, two TGH Outpatient Centers, TGH Virtual Health, and 20 TGH Imaging outpatient radiology centers throughout Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Palm Beach counties. Tampa Bay area residents also receive world-class care from the TGH Urgent Care powered by the Fast Track network of clinics. To see a medical care professional live anytime, anywhere on a smartphone, tablet or computer, visit Virtual Health | Tampa General Hospital (tgh.org). As one of the largest hospitals in the country, Tampa General Hospital is the first in Florida to partner with GE Healthcare and open a clinical command center that provides real-time situational awareness to improve and better coordinate patient care at a lower cost. For more information, go to www.tgh.org.

Media Contact: Beth Hardy, APR

Assistant Manager

Publications & Physician Communications

(727) 510-6363 (cell)

[email protected]

SOURCE Tampa General Hospital
NEW YORK, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Report on how AI is redefining market landscape - The global metalworking fluids market size is estimated to grow by USD 2.09 billion from 2024-2028, according to Technavio. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 3.2% during the forecast period. Increasing industrialization in emerging economies is driving market growth, with a trend towards emergence of bio-based metalworking fluids. However, environmental impact of metalworking fluids poses a challenge.Key market players include Abitec, AMILE Industries Pvt. Ltd, Apar Industries Ltd., Arabian Petroleum Ltd., BASF SE, Benz oil Inc., Callington Haven Pty Ltd, Carborundum Universal Ltd., Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp., FUCHS SE, Gandhar Oil Refinery India Ltd., GP , Grauer and Weil India Ltd., Illinois Tool Works Inc., Lonza Group Ltd., Master Fluid Solutions, Saudi Arabian Oil Co., Sun Chem Pvt Ltd., and Victory Polychem Pvt. Ltd..

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Metalworking Fluids Market 2024-2028

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Metalworking Fluids Market Scope Report Coverage Details Base year 2023 Historic period 2018 - 2022 Forecast period 2024-2028 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 3.2% Market growth 2024-2028 USD 2089.3 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 3.1 Regional analysis APAC, North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and South America Performing market contribution APAC at 39% Key countries US, China, Germany, UK, and Japan Key companies profiled Abitec, AMILE Industries Pvt. Ltd, Apar Industries Ltd., Arabian Petroleum Ltd., BASF SE, Benz oil Inc., Callington Haven Pty Ltd, Carborundum Universal Ltd., Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp., FUCHS SE, Gandhar Oil Refinery India Ltd., GP Global, Grauer and Weil India Ltd., Illinois Tool Works Inc., Lonza Group Ltd., Master Fluid Solutions, Saudi Arabian Oil Co., Sun Chem Pvt Ltd., and Victory Polychem Pvt. Ltd.

Market Driver

The Metalworking Fluids market is experiencing significant growth due to increasing demand from various industries. Key sectors driving this trend include automotive, aviation, construction, and agriculture. In automotive industries, metalworking fluids are used extensively in machining, forming, and forging processes. Similarly, in aviation, these fluids are essential for manufacturing aircraft parts and assemblies. Agricultural sector's focus on high-yield equipment and infrastructure construction also contributes to the market's growth. Construction vehicles and heavy machinery manufacturing require metalworking fluids for efficient production. Additionally, the demand for metalworking fluids is high in the manufacturing of consumer goods and infrastructure projects. Environmental concerns and health issues are influencing the market's development, with a shift towards eco-friendly and biodegradable metalworking fluids. The chemical composition of MWFs (Metalworking Fluids) is being modified to ensure corrosion prevention and heat reduction. Exporters of automobiles and transportation equipment are also significant consumers of metalworking fluids. The market is further boosted by the demand for high-performance metalworking fluids in industries like marine, railroads, and waterways. The market's future looks promising, with advancements in MWF chemistry and the need for improved tool efficiency and workpiece quality driving innovation. However, challenges such as hazardous waste disposals and worker health concerns must be addressed to ensure sustainable growth.

The metalworking fluids market is witnessing a significant trend towards the adoption of eco-friendly, bio-based fluids. These fluids, derived from renewable materials, are gaining popularity due to their lower environmental impact and enhanced worker safety. Companies like Exxon Mobil and BASF are leading this shift, producing bio-based metalworking fluids from sustainable sources such as vegetable oils, esters, and plant extracts. These fluids offer adequate lubrication and cooling while meeting stringent environmental standards. The increasing focus on sustainability is driving the demand for these bio-based fluids, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and emissions.

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Market Challenges

The Metalworking Fluids market encompasses a wide range of industries, including automotive, aviation, construction, and heavy industry machinery. Key challenges include the demand for high-performance fluids in agriculture for equipment like tractors and high-yield harvesters. In aviation, aircraft and aircraft parts require fluids for cooling, lubrication, and corrosion prevention during manufacturing. In automotive industries, metalworking fluids are essential for assembly lines, machining, and forming automobile parts. Environmental issues and hazardous waste disposals are significant concerns, driving the need for eco-friendly MWFs. Health issues related to worker exposure to chemicals and metal chips are also a challenge. The chemical composition of MWFs plays a crucial role in heat reduction, tool efficiency, and workpiece quality. Markets for MWFs extend to infrastructure construction, marine, and transportation sectors. Industrial printers and heavy machinery manufacturing also require lubricants. The global market for MWFs is driven by consumerism, population growth, and trade relations. The integration of circuits and electronics in machinery calls for advanced MWFs to ensure connectivity and product visibility. Primary ferrous and non-ferrous metals, including iron structures, require metalworking fluids for drilling, bending, forging, and forming. The market for industrial lubricants, including motor oils and gear oils, is closely linked to the MWF market. Railroads, roads, waterways, and large construction vehicles also rely on metalworking fluids for their operations. In summary, the Metalworking Fluids market faces challenges in various industries, including agriculture, automotive, aviation, construction, and heavy industry. Environmental concerns, health issues, and productivity are key factors influencing the market. The demand for eco-friendly, high-performance MWFs continues to grow as industries evolve and expand.

In the global metalworking fluids market, manufacturers encounter a significant challenge: creating high-performing, eco-friendly formulas that adhere to stringent environmental regulations. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enforces these regulations, controlling the use of hazardous substances in metalworking fluids. To meet both operational and regulatory demands, companies invest in research and development to produce advanced, low-VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) formulations. Balancing innovation, continuous testing, and investments is essential to create fluids that effectively reduce emissions and waste without compromising machining quality. This delicate equilibrium is difficult to achieve but necessary for businesses to remain competitive and compliant in the metalworking fluids industry.

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Segment Overview

This metalworking fluids market report extensively covers market segmentation by

End-user

1.1 Construction

1.2 Automobile

1.3 Aerospace

1.4 Electrical and power

1.5 Others

Product

2.1 Mineral

2.2 Synthetic

2.3 Bio-based

Geography

3.1 APAC

3.2 North America

3.3 Europe

3.4 Middle East and Africa

and 3.5 South America

1.1 Construction- The global metalworking fluids market is primarily driven by the construction industry, which utilizes these fluids for various applications such as machining, cutting, and shaping metal components. In construction, cutting and grinding fluids are essential for metal fabrication in steel beam cutting, concrete surface grinding, and metal component shaping. Hydraulic fluids are crucial for heavy machinery like excavators and bulldozers, ensuring efficient operation and preventing metal component wear and tear. Notably, India's urbanization trend predicts that urban areas will house 40% of India's population and generate 75% of the country's GDP by 2030. This expansion of infrastructure projects, including bridges, buildings, and roadways, significantly increases the demand for metalworking fluids, making construction a significant end-user in the market's growth during the forecast period.

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Research Analysis

The Metalworking Fluids market encompasses a wide range of fluids used in the manufacturing sector for machining and metalworking processes. These fluids, derived primarily from crude oil, include base oils, motor oils, and lubricants. They are essential for heavy industry machinery in various industries such as manufacturing, construction, transportation, and more. In the industrial lubricant market, metalworking fluids play a crucial role in primary ferrous and non-ferrous manufacturing processes. The aviation and marine industries also heavily rely on these fluids for their machinery. Factors driving the demand for metalworking fluids include population growth, increasing consumerism, product visibility, and the need for efficient manufacturing processes. Connectivity and infrastructure development further boost demand, while trade relations and the availability of roads are critical considerations for the market's growth.

Market Research Overview

Metalworking fluids, also known as MWFs, are essential liquids used in various industries for metalworking processes such as machining, forming, and forging. These fluids play a crucial role in reducing heat, preventing corrosion, and improving tool efficiency. The market for metalworking fluids is vast and diverse, spanning across sectors like agriculture, construction, automotive, aviation, and heavy industry machinery. In the agricultural sector, metalworking fluids are used in the manufacturing of agricultural equipment, ensuring high-yield production and efficient machinery operation. In the automotive industries, these fluids are employed in the production of automobile parts, ensuring smooth manufacturing processes and high-quality end products. The aviation industry relies on metalworking fluids for the production of aircraft and aircraft parts, ensuring the production of lightweight, durable, and safe components. In the construction sector, metalworking fluids are used in the manufacturing of heavy machinery and equipment, enabling the construction of infrastructure projects and large construction vehicles. The demand for metalworking fluids is driven by consumerism, population growth, and the need for increased process productivity. However, environmental issues and health concerns have led to the development of eco-friendly and non-toxic metalworking fluids. The market for metalworking fluids is expected to grow significantly in the coming years due to the increasing demand for transportation equipment, infrastructure development, and the need for improved workpiece quality and surface finish. Metalworking fluids are used in various industries, including drilling, forging, grinding, forming, and metal fabrication. They are also used in the production of base oils, gear oils, and motor oils. The chemical composition of metalworking fluids varies, depending on the specific application and the type of metal being worked. Metalworking fluids are used in various industries, including the manufacturing of iron structures, non-ferrous metals, and primary ferrous and non-ferrous metals. They are also used in the production of marine and railroad equipment, as well as in the automotive, aviation, and heavy machinery manufacturing industries. The use of metalworking fluids is essential for the production of high-performance metalworking fluids, which are used in the manufacturing of complex components and integrated circuits. These fluids help to improve tool efficiency, reduce tool wear, and ensure high-quality workpiece surfaces. However, the production and disposal of metalworking fluids can pose environmental and health concerns. Proper disposal of hazardous waste is crucial to minimize the impact on the environment and worker health. In conclusion, the metalworking fluids market is a dynamic and diverse industry that plays a crucial role in various sectors, including agriculture, construction, automotive, aviation, and heavy industry machinery manufacturing. The demand for metalworking fluids is driven by consumerism, population growth, and the need for increased process productivity. However, environmental and health concerns have led to the development of eco-friendly and non-toxic metalworking fluids, ensuring sustainable and safe production processes.

Table of Contents:

1 Executive Summary

2 Market Landscape

3 Market Sizing

4 Historic Market Size

5 Five Forces Analysis

6 Market Segmentation

End-user

Construction



Automobile



Aerospace



Electrical And Power



Others

Product

Mineral



Synthetic



Bio-based

Geography

APAC



North America



Europe



Middle East And Africa



South America

7 Customer Landscape

8 Geographic Landscape

9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

10 Company Landscape

11 Company Analysis

12 Appendix

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions.

With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contacts

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
CHICAGO, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, "Into the Desert," a poignant novel that delves into themes of healing, the landscapes of western China, and women's experiences, has been awarded the 2024 New York City Big Book Award in the women's fiction category. Additionally, esteemed author Xue Mo presented this award-winning work at both the 37th Tokyo International Film Festival and the 2024 Frankfurt Book Fair. These events concluded successfully, attracting significant attention and appreciation from professionals within both the publishing and film industries.

Featured Speakers at 2024 Frankfurt Book Fair Author Xue Mo and his reader

"The protagonists in Xue Mo's works are often as unyielding as Sisyphus. They accept life's injustices without resignation, refusing to bow to fate. They strive to be masters of their destiny, tirelessly forging ahead, falling, and rising again to tackle challenges," observed one critic.

Unlike traditional healing literature, Xue Mo's Into the Desert confronts the harsh realities of life and the impermanence of existence head-on. Through its life-and-death stakes, the novel reveals extraordinary human resilience and courage in the face of adversity. While it physically traverses the vast Gobi Desert, the story ultimately journeys into the deepest recesses of the human soul.

From Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore to Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go and Toshikazu Kawaguchi's Before the Coffee Gets Cold, healing literature often employs gentle narratives to intertwine loneliness, trauma, and hope, creating a dreamlike refuge for readers. Japanese and Korean healing fiction frequently leans on "fate-driven healing" or "magical healing," and offers the readers comforting escapes from reality.

Conversely, "Into The Desert" charts an entirely different course. It does not shy away from suffering nor does it provide magical reprieves; instead it confronts unavoidable realities head-on while steadfastly resisting despair even amidst trauma. In this world where progress is incremental: "Every step forward brings you closer to your goal."

The story follows Lanlan and Ying'er, two women with little hope, as they embark on a perilous journey across the Gobi Desert in search of a better life. Along the way, they lose their camels, food, and water, facing obstacles such as snakes, jackals, quicksand, hunger, thirst, and exhaustion. This adventure tests the limits of their physical endurance while repeatedly challenging their inner strength.

The desert becomes a crucible for self-discovery. Lanlan, guided by her faith in Vajravarahi, learns to let go of distractions and focus on the present. Ying'er, initially timid and unsure, gradually uncovers her courage and resilience. Her transformation becomes profoundly moving as she finds the resolve to confront the dangers they face.

When asked, "Why must Lanlan and Ying'er endure so much suffering? If the strength of women lies in love and wisdom, why does the story include so much darkness?"

Xue Mo responded:

"Suffering is the essence of human existence. It is something we must face. The value of art lies in its ability to create beauty amidst suffering, love amidst hatred, light amidst darkness, and hope amidst despair."

This, precisely, is what sets Into the Desert apart from traditional healing literature. It does not rely on "magic" to erase wounds but instead uses realist storytelling to reveal the essence of healing. Xue Mo reminds us that true healing comes from the courage to confront trauma, the tenacity to persist, and the wisdom to know that "the world is but a dream, and emotions are but illusions." Once awakened, one lives fully in the present, with poetry and purpose as the twin oars propelling the boat of life forward.

The book is now available for purchase on Amazon,

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=into+the+desert&crid=3GBF0TQVS36RW&sprefix=into+the+desert%2Caps%2C1074&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

Media Contact:

Ida Liu

+17735620064

[email protected]

SOURCE Xue Mo
The 150 MW / 600 MWh project will support grid reliability and economic development in New Mexico, while moving New Mexico toward its clean energy goals

Win represents Plus Power's 6th announced market and 3rd large tolling agreement

THE WOODLANDS, Texas, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Plus Power announced that its 150 MW / 600 MWh Corazon Energy Storage project was awarded a 20-year contract by Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), subject to regulatory approvals, in response to the utility's 2026-2028 Generation Resources Request for Proposals. The RFP was issued in 2022 and sought projects that will help serve growing energy demand in New Mexico as it transitions to zero-carbon energy by 2045. PNM filed with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission for approval of the project on Nov. 22, 2024.

Corazon Energy Storage in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

If approved, Corazon Energy Storage, located in Albuquerque, will begin construction in 2026, with an anticipated commercial operation date in late 2027. The facility will enhance grid reliability by storing excess energy and injecting it back into the grid during peak hours in the evening, weather events, and unexpected demand. Plus Power and PNM signed a tolling agreement, by which Plus Power retains ownership of the facility while PNM can charge and dispatch energy according to its needs.

Corazon Energy Storage will help integrate New Mexico wind and solar energy. PNM, the largest utility in New Mexico, has identified battery energy storage as a key component in its plan to make its electric generation 100-percent carbon-free by 2040, five years ahead of the state's goal. Corazon will interconnect to the grid at Pajarito Substation, which is located centrally to PNM's system, to store and dispatch energy from renewable resources.

Corazon Energy Storage will also provide much-needed capacity to support PNM's customer load requirements.

"We are excited to support PNM customers' energy demand needs while it works to transition to clean, affordable energy. Our project will help to ensure the reliability and sustainability of New Mexico's electricity system," said Brandon Keefe, executive chairman and CEO of Plus Power. "We look forward to a long partnership with PNM and the surrounding community."

With Corazon Energy Storage, Plus Power is expanding its presence in the Southwest and entering its sixth state market. An industry-leading developer, owner, and operator of standalone battery energy storage assets, the company's portfolio includes 10 GW of projects in 28 states and Canada. It owns seven operating facilities located in Arizona, Texas, and Hawaii, and two facilities under construction in Maine and Massachusetts, that total 1,650 MW / 4,150 MWh.

Plus Power's 185 MW / 565 MWh Kapolei Energy Storage facility on Oahu, Hawaii is the most advanced grid-scale battery energy storage system in the world and is helping Hawaiian Electric replace the capacity of a retired coal power plant less than a mile away. Its 250 MW / 1,000 MWh Sierra Estrella Energy Storage facility, located in Avondale, AZ, is currently the largest standalone battery in Arizona and its Rodeo Ranch Energy Storage facility, sized up to 300 MW / 600 MWh, is the largest standalone battery in ERCOT.

About Plus Power

The Plus Power team is accelerating the deployment of transmission-connected battery energy storage throughout the United States. Plus Power develops, owns, and operates standalone battery energy storage systems that provide capacity, energy, and ancillary services, enabling the rapid integration of renewable generation resources. Headquartered near Houston, with offices in San Francisco, Chicago, and Miami, Plus Power operates at the nexus of energy, technology, and finance. For more information, visit www.pluspower.com.

Contact:

Polly Shaw

[email protected]

+1-415-577-5763

SOURCE Plus Power
NEW YORK, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sivers Semiconductors AB (STO: SIVE), a global leader in photonics and wireless technologies, has been named as finalists for the prestigious Outstanding EMEA Semiconductor Company Award by the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) alongside global powerhouse brands. This recognition underscores Sivers' critical role in advancing high-performance, energy-efficient solutions for AI Data Centers, Satellite Communications and global communications networks.

Driving Innovation in AI Data Centers and Satellite Communications

At the forefront of solving the most pressing challenges in AI Data Centers and Satellite Communications, Sivers continues to innovate with its photonics and wireless divisions enabling seamless communications from the Cloud to the Edge with energy efficient solutions.

Photonics Leadership: Sivers' high-precision, high power laser arrays are enabling a new era of optical interconnects for AI Data Centers, overcoming data bottlenecks while significantly reducing power consumption. In collaboration with marquee customers like Ayar Labs, Sivers is accelerating the transition from electrical to optical interconnects, a crucial step for scaling AI workloads and improving energy efficiency.

Sivers leadership in laser photonics was most recently showcased at the European Conference for Optical Communications (ECOC) show in September 2024, with its world-leading 16 wavelength laser arrays alongside Ayar Labs optical I/O chiplets to offer 4x improvement in bandwidth and bandwidth density as well as a 4x improvement in energy per bit transferred over 8 wavelength laser array configurations.

Wireless Excellence: Sivers' RF beamforming integrated circuits provide unparalleled energy efficiency and high bandwidth solutions for Satellite Communications and 5G networks. Partnerships with leading innovators like All.Space and Thorium Space while adding new blue-chip SATCOM and 5G customers, demonstrate Sivers' ability to deliver timely, cutting-edge solutions for Satellite Communications and other data networks.

Sivers' technological excellence and market impact have been further solidified through its two recent U.S. CHIPS Act awards in 2024. These awards fund critical 5G/6G and electronic warfare "lab to fab" projects, reflecting Sivers' opportunity to expand into the defense sector. Collaborations with renowned industry players like BAE Systems and Raytheon underscore its strategic importance and innovative capabilities.

Recognition of Global Leadership

The final winners of all GSA Awards will be announced on December 5th at the GSA Awards Dinner Celebration in Santa Clara, California. This prestigious event brings together global industry leaders to recognize excellence across multiple categories, celebrating the companies and individuals driving innovation and shaping the future of the semiconductor industry.

"Our technologies are at the heart of the most transformative secular trends in global communications networks," said Vickram Vathulya, CEO of Sivers Semiconductors. "Being named a finalist for this prestigious award validates our relentless commitment to innovation, sustainability, and addressing the complex challenges of tomorrow's data-driven world."

About the GSA Awards

The Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) is a leading industry organization that unites the entire semiconductor ecosystem to represent and promote industry-wide interests and perspectives. With a global footprint of over 300 corporate members, including more than 120 public companies, GSA provides a unique, neutral platform for collaboration. This platform enables global executives to interface and innovate with peers, partners, and customers, accelerating industry growth and maximizing returns on invested and intellectual capital. GSA members represent 77% of the $535 billion semiconductor industry and continue to grow.

The GSA Outstanding EMEA Semiconductor Company Award celebrates companies headquartered in Europe, the Middle East, or Africa that demonstrate exceptional strength across multiple dimensions, including innovation, market impact, leadership, financial performance, innovation potential, risk management, and social contributions.

Contact

Vickram Vathulya

CEO, Sivers Semiconductors

Tel: +46 (0)8 703 68 00

Email: [email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/sivers-semiconductors/r/sivers-semiconductors-named-finalist-for-gsa-s-outstanding-emea-semiconductor-company-award,c4070815

The following files are available for download:

SOURCE Sivers Semiconductors
Dubai expo spices up regional organic products industry

DUBAI, UAE, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The 22nd Middle East Organic and Natural Product Expo 2024, which concluded in Dubai on Wednesday (Nov 20), succeeded in registering tremendous growth in terms of exhibitor as well as visitor numbers.

The expo featured more than 550 exhibitors, an 80% surge from the past year, and attracted 15,200 trade visitors, a 25% rise when compared to the past show, strengthening its position as the region's biggest and most comprehensive organic and natural products event.

Highlights of Organic Expo Dubai 2024

"We are thrilled to announce the successful conclusion of the 22nd Middle East Organic and Natural Product Expo 2024. This year's event witnessed a remarkable growth in both the number of exhibitors and visitors, reflecting the increasing interest and commitment towards organic living. The Expo has delivered on its promise, providing exceptional value to all stakeholders involved. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all participants, partners, and visitors for their unwavering support and contribution to making this event a tremendous success. Together, we are fostering a healthier, more sustainable future," said Shinu Pillai, Exhibition Director of the Middle East Organic and Natural Products Expo.

From lively exhibitor stands to informative conference sessions and several special sessions such as Organic Super Kitchen, Beauty Corner, Yoga Extravaganza, a special pavilion for tea and coffee, Fresh Produce Pavilion, and Superfoods Pavilions, the Expo offered a comprehensive platform for visitors to explore everything natural and organic, spanning food and drink, living, health, nutrition, beauty & cosmetics and beyond.

The Sri Lanka Export Development Board, which successfully organised the Sri Lankan Pavilion at the Expo, received enthusiastic response. "Given the rising global demand for natural and organic products, our participation in the Expo was incredibly timely. We received an overwhelmingly positive response at the Expo so much so that we are already planning our participation in the next edition of the Expo," said Ms Vinoka Perera, Assistant Director, National Organic Control Unit, Sri Lanka Export Development Board.

The Expo also witnessed the global debut of Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation's (MATRADE) Malaysia International Halal Showcase, titled MIHAS@Dubai. "With its very first edition, MIHAS@Dubai provided us with direct access to the thriving Halal and organics industry in the region. Our collaboration with Middle East Organic and Natural Product Expo helped us further expand our reach and impact," said Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican, Chairman, MATRADE.

"We are excited about the new opportunities arising from our collaboration with the Middle East Organic and Natural Product Expo. MIHAS debut in Dubai within the expo allowed us to enhance our presence in the region," said Datuk Mohd Mustafa Abdul Aziz, CEO, MATRADE.

"The inclusion of the world's largest Halal fair added a new and exciting dimension to the Expo, enriching the experience for all attendees. This collaboration underscored our commitment to promoting sustainable and ethical practices in the organic and Halal industries," said P Ravi, Director, Global Links Exhibition Organizers & Conferences, which organizes the organics expo.

Some of the first-time participants were in awe of the Expo. "The event was a remarkable experience for us, especially as it marked our first participation in an international fair. We received a significant number of enquiries, which exceeded our expectations and opened up new business opportunities for us," said Patnaree Royruangpanich, Co-Founder & CMO, S&P Bioenergy Co., Ltd, Thailand.

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), the nodal agency for the promotion of agricultural and processed food products exports from India, showcased India's inherent advantage and strength in natural and organic products as part of the Indian Pavilion at the Expo. "We successfully organized a buyer-seller meeting during the event, which was instrumental in bringing buyers and sellers together," said Ms Vinita Sudhanshu, General Manager, APEDA.

The participation by Uganda was aimed at exploring opportunities for Ugandan agricultural producers and distributors. "Uganda's organic sector has tremendous potential for growth, and the Middle East Organic and Natural Products Expo became a vital platform for promoting Ugandan organic products," said Hon. Lt. Col (Rtd) Bright Rwamirama, Ugandan Minister of State for Animal Industry.

Following the grand success of the 22nd edition, the 23rd Middle East Organic and Natural Products Expo 2025 is all set to be held from November 17 to 19 at Dubai World Trade Centre.

More information available at https://organicandnatural.com/

Contact: Jennie Robin

Phone: +971 4 8747 528

Email: [email protected]

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2566494/Middle_East_Organic_and_Natural_Product_Expo.jpg

SOURCE Middle East Organic and Natural Product Expo
DUBLIN, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- WaterWipes today announces the winners of the fifth annual Pure Foundation Fund, which celebrates the achievements of healthcare professionals (HCPs) and departments working in maternity, neonatal and postnatal care.

This year's Pure Foundation Fund winners are the Liverpool Women's Hospital Neonatal Team and the NICU Team at the Coombe Hospital, Dublin, who received a generous bursary of 10,000/10,000 each for their departments to continue to support their ongoing efforts to deliver exceptional care to families and babies.

WaterWipes Pure Foundation Fund 2024 Winners, Liverpool Womens Hospital Neonatal Team WaterWipes Pure Foundation Fund 2024 Winners, the Coombe Hospital NICU Team, Dublin

Giving parents and fellow HCPs the chance to say 'thank you' to those who have gone above and beyond, WaterWipes focused this year's Pure Foundation Fund on HCPs who have helped care for babies born prematurely or admitted into the NICU. Unlike previous years, voters could nominate not just an individual, but also an entire team or unit.

Jill Harrison, Clinical Lead at the Liverpool Women's Hospital Neonatal Team, said of the win:

"We're so thrilled by the news that we have won this year's WaterWipes Pure Foundation Fund. It's been a wonderful boost for everyone on the team and a testament to everyone's hard work and dedication."

Ann MacIntyre, Director of Midwifery & Nursing at the Coombe Hospital, said of their win:

"We are so delighted to receive the award, which we will use to further expand our learning and knowledge on preterm behaviour. When you see a tiny premature baby born weighing less than a bag of sugar and the size of a 500ml bottle, you cannot fail to be moved to pull out all the stops to get these babies to good health. Some of these journeys are very long, so we get to know the parents. We feel part of their family and they become part of the Coombe family."

Brogan Chesters, Brand Acceleration Manager at WaterWipes, said:

"This year's Pure Foundation Fund nominations have truly moved us, underscoring the invaluable impact of maternal, neonatal, and postnatal healthcare on families in the UK and Ireland. We're thrilled to recognise and give thanks to these unsung heroes with WaterWipes bursary funds, helping to advance care in these critical areas."

WaterWipes received over 1300 nominations for this year's Pure Foundation Fund. The worthy winners were reviewed by a panel consisting of representatives from WaterWipes, alongside UK neonatal charity Bliss and the Irish Neonatal Health Alliance (INHA).

For more information about this year's winners and the WaterWipes Pure Foundation Fund, please visit here.

About WaterWipes

WaterWipes was created by our founder Edward McCloskey after his newborn daughter developed a nappy rash on her sensitive skin. After an extensive search he couldn't find a baby wipe that didn't contain numerous ingredients, so he decided to make his own. Many years later and after a lot of hard work, testing, and scientific research, WaterWipes was born. Pure and gentle for the most delicate skin but in the convenience of a wipe, WaterWipes are purer than cotton wool and water*.

*Cooled, boiled water.

About the WaterWipes Pure Foundation Fund

WaterWipes launched the Pure Foundation Fund in 2020, and since then, has used it to celebrate and recognise the incredible work of healthcare professionals involved in maternity, neonatal and postnatal care. Healthcare professionals and expectant and new parents are encouraged to nominate individuals who go above and beyond to make a difference to the lives of parents and babies for the chance to win a reward that powers forward their efforts. Entries are reviewed by a panel consisting of representatives from WaterWipes, alongside UK neonatal charity Bliss, and the Irish Neonatal Health Alliance (INHA).

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2565595/Liverpool_Womens_Hospital.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2565596/Coombe_Hospital.jpg

SOURCE WaterWipes
TULSA, Okla., Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics, in partnership with Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology, is proud to present the 8th Annual Oklahoma Women in Aviation & Aerospace Day, an inspiring celebration of the contributions of women to this dynamic industry. This year's event, powered by the Oklahoma Air National Guard, Tulsa International Airport, Rose State College, and other key collaborators, will take place at the 138th Fighter Wing in Tulsa.

Colonel (Ret.) Nicole Malachowski, the first woman pilot in the Thunderbirds Air Demonstration Squadron and an inductee into the National Womens Hall of Fame, will deliver a keynote address on resilience and leading through adversity at the 8th Annual Oklahoma Women in Aviation & Aerospace Day in December.

Oklahoma's aerospace and aviation industry is not only the second-largest and fastest-growing in the state, but it's also a key driver of innovation and economic impact, contributing $44 billion annually. The demand for a skilled and diverse workforce has never been greater. Reflecting this, our theme for the year pays tribute to the unsung heroes of our industrythe aircraft mechanics and technicians who keep America flyingand to the iconic Rosie the Riveter, whose rallying cry of "We Can Do It!" has inspired generations. Today, we're expanding that message to "Everyone Can Do It!"because in the modern aviation industry, there is a place for each and every one.

Colonel (Ret.) Nicole Malachowski, the first woman pilot in the Thunderbirds Air Demonstration Squadron and an inductee into the National Women's Hall of Fame, will deliver a keynote address on resilience and leading through adversity.

Kellie Hudson, a renowned Air Boss who has led more than 30 aerial events, will serve as emcee, bringing her extensive experience in aviation operations to the day's festivities.

The event will feature a luncheon, a keynote address and a panel discussion highlighting the growing opportunities in the aerospace field. Attendees will also learn about Oklahoma's advanced air mobility strategy, which positions the state as a leader in transportation innovation and job creation.

Established in 2017, this special day is rooted in history and honors the contributions of women like Pearl Carter Scott, a Chickasaw aviator who became the youngest pilot in the U.S. at age 13.

The 8th annual event will be held on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, at 11:30 a.m. at the 138th Fighter Wing in Tulsa, Okla. Tickets for purchase are available to the public and registration is required on Eventbrite at https://bit.ly/2024OKWIAA.

Register today to honor the past, celebrate the present and inspire the future of women in aviation and aerospace. Your participation supports a brighter, more inclusive future for the skies.

SOURCE Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics
London, Nov 25 : Strong winds, heavy rain, and flooding brought by Storm Bert caused travel disruption and power outages across the UK, leaving three men dead.

The fatalities occurred in road incidents during the storm in Hampshire, Lancashire, and Trefriw, North Wales, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.

In South Wales, hundreds of properties were inundated.

The governing body for Rhondda Cynon Taf, one of the principal areas of Wales, declared a "major incident" on Sunday morning, citing "significant flooding" throughout the region.

Natural Resources Wales issued two severe flood warnings on Sunday noon for the River Monnow at Forge Road, Osbaston, and Skenfrith, warning of a danger to life.

More than 100 flood warnings and 200 flood alerts remain active across the UK.

Travel was severely disrupted, with around 200 flights cancelled on Sunday at London's Heathrow Airport. Rail services were also disrupted across multiple routes and the National Rail warned that "severe weather may affect parts of England, Wales and Scotland until Monday".

Power outages were reported in parts of England and Wales over the weekend, leaving thousands without electricity during the storm's peak.

In Ireland, Storm Bert also wreaked havoc, causing severe flooding and cutting power to tens of thousands of homes.
Gaza, Nov 25 : The Civil Defence in the Gaza Strip has warned of a "humanitarian disaster" due to rainwater, which could cause flooding and damage to the tents of displaced people.

The Civil Defence Authority said on Sunday in a press statement that "due to the rain, the tents of the displaced people in the Yarmouk Stadium shelter camp, the Gaza Municipality Park, the Beach Camp, and the tents set up in schools in Gaza City were damaged".

"We are facing a catastrophic humanitarian scene if the displaced people in the camps continue in this condition, especially in light of the damage to many of their tents and their unsuitability for shelter," it added.

The authority expressed concern that conditions may deteriorate with the onset of winter, Xinhua news agency reported.

It warned that residents living in low-lying areas face a "real disaster" if they are exposed to rainwater, as sewage channels have been blocked due to the Israeli army's destruction of infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.

Mahmoud Basal, a spokesman for the Civil Defence, warned of the risk of collapses in the homes and buildings to which residents have fled, as these structures have sustained cracks and severe damage due to bombings in their areas.

Basal called on the international community to save the lives of displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip before it is too late and to protect them from the hardships of the winter season by providing tents and caravans.

"Rain increases our misery and makes matters worse for us to be in this catastrophic situation," said Rajab Abu Warda, who lives with his family in a temporary tent he set up in the centre of Gaza City.

He added that the rain and wind have made their lives "unbearable".
London/New Delhi, Nov 25 : To attract global investment opportunities in the state and move forward towards the goal of 'Viksit Bharat 2047', Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav arrived in London and received a warm welcome from Vikram Doraiswami, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, and the Indian diaspora.

This marks the start of the Chief Minister's six-day visit to the UK and Germany, starting from Monday, to provide new heights to industrial development in Madhya Pradesh and attract global investment by engaging with industrialists, business leaders, and government representatives in both the UK and Germany.

This exclusive event will showcase the vast investment opportunities in Madhya Pradesh, highlighting key sectors like Renewable Energy, Electric Vehicles, and Food Processing. It will have the unique opportunity to engage with top industry leaders, engage with the Indian diaspora, and discover how Madhya Pradesh is driving innovation and economic growth on the global stage.

During the first leg of his UK visit, CM Yadav is expected to visit the British Parliament and is also likely to pay floral tributes at Mahatma Gandhi's statue at Parliament Square on Monday.

He will also visit King's Cross and redevelopment sites on the same day.

The Chief Minister will meet with representatives of industrial organisations and industrialists to increase investment and industrial cooperation in the state.

He will also attend a dinner program organised by the NRI group "Friends of Madhya Pradesh" in London, which will be attended by more than 400 members of the Indian diaspora.

During his visit, CM Yadav will interact with industrialists and the High Commissioner of India to the UK, Vikram K. Doraiswami, at breakfast on November 26.

Following this, a session will be held to discuss investment opportunities in Madhya Pradesh, with over 120 participants. The discussion will focus on sectors such as electric vehicles, automotive, renewable energy, and food processing in roundtable meetings after the lunch break.

On Tuesday, CM Yadav will visit B.R. Ambedkar House and pay his respects.

On November 27, CM Yadav will visit Warwick University, where he will interact with the dean, faculty members, and researchers of the Warwick Manufacturing Group.

Later, he will travel from Birmingham Airport to Munich, Germany.

After his three-day visit to the UK, CM Yadav will spend November 28 and 29 in Germany, attending several events in Munich and Stuttgart.

In Germany, CM Yadav will hold discussions with leaders of the Bavarian state government and the Consul General of India in Munich on the morning of November 28. After that, he will visit SFC Energy and participate in an interactive session on investment opportunities in Madhya Pradesh.

Representatives from the Consulate General of India, CII, Invest India, and the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce will also be present.

Around 80 representatives will take part in the session, followed by one-to-one meetings with industry representatives to discuss investment matters.

The Chief Minister will also visit the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart. This museum, established in 1791, houses a significant collection of ancient fossils and dinosaur remains, with more than 11 million objects in its archives.

Following this visit, CM Yadav will travel to Frankfurt before returning to New Delhi.

This foreign tour aims to effectively showcase the investment opportunities in Madhya Pradesh to international investors.

This follows four successful interactive sessions on investment opportunities in Madhya Pradesh held in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, and Kolkata, along with Regional Industry Conclaves in Ujjain, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa.
London/New Delhi, Nov 25 : To attract global investment opportunities in the state and move forward towards the goal of 'Viksit Bharat 2047', Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav arrived in London and received a warm welcome from Vikram Doraiswami, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, and the Indian diaspora.

This marks the start of the Chief Minister's six-day visit to the UK and Germany, starting from Monday, to provide new heights to industrial development in Madhya Pradesh and attract global investment by engaging with industrialists, business leaders, and government representatives in both the UK and Germany.

The CM has sought the High Commission's support for the Global Investors Summit, scheduled in Bhopal in February 2025, requesting them to "help us establish Madhya Pradesh as a preferred destination for British investors".

This exclusive event will showcase the vast investment opportunities in Madhya Pradesh, highlighting key sectors like Renewable Energy, Electric Vehicles, and Food Processing. It will have the unique opportunity to engage with top industry leaders, engage with the Indian diaspora, and discover how Madhya Pradesh is driving innovation and economic growth on the global stage.

During the first leg of his UK visit, CM Yadav is expected to visit the British Parliament and is also likely to pay floral tributes at Mahatma Gandhi's statue at Parliament Square on Monday.

He will also visit King's Cross and redevelopment sites on the same day.

The Chief Minister will meet with representatives of industrial organisations and industrialists to increase investment and industrial cooperation in the state.

He will also attend a dinner program organised by the NRI group "Friends of Madhya Pradesh" in London, which will be attended by more than 400 members of the Indian diaspora.

During his visit, CM Yadav will interact with industrialists and the High Commissioner of India to the UK, Vikram K. Doraiswami, at breakfast on November 26.

Following this, a session will be held to discuss investment opportunities in Madhya Pradesh, with over 120 participants. The discussion will focus on sectors such as electric vehicles, automotive, renewable energy, and food processing in roundtable meetings after the lunch break.

On Tuesday, CM Yadav will visit B.R. Ambedkar House and pay his respects.

On November 27, CM Yadav will visit Warwick University, where he will interact with the dean, faculty members, and researchers of the Warwick Manufacturing Group.

Later, he will travel from Birmingham Airport to Munich, Germany.

After his three-day visit to the UK, CM Yadav will spend November 28 and 29 in Germany, attending several events in Munich and Stuttgart.

In Germany, CM Yadav will hold discussions with leaders of the Bavarian state government and the Consul General of India in Munich on the morning of November 28. After that, he will visit SFC Energy and participate in an interactive session on investment opportunities in Madhya Pradesh.

Representatives from the Consulate General of India, CII, Invest India, and the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce will also be present.

Around 80 representatives will take part in the session, followed by one-to-one meetings with industry representatives to discuss investment matters.

The Chief Minister will also visit the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart. This museum, established in 1791, houses a significant collection of ancient fossils and dinosaur remains, with more than 11 million objects in its archives.

Following this visit, CM Yadav will travel to Frankfurt before returning to New Delhi.

This foreign tour aims to effectively showcase the investment opportunities in Madhya Pradesh to international investors.

This follows four successful interactive sessions on investment opportunities in Madhya Pradesh held in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, and Kolkata, along with Regional Industry Conclaves in Ujjain, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa.
Hyderabad, Nov 25 : Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief Mohan Bhagwat has said that while the world races ahead without contemplating its destination, 'Bharat' has always reflected on the deeper truth of unity and oneness.

Speaking at 'Lokmanthan Bhagyanagar 2024', the RSS Chief provided a profound perspective on Bharat's eternal concepts of 'Dharma' and the creation of life.

"Our ancestors knew the truth of the unity of existence, they understood that it's everything...that's why there is diversity and it goes for some time, then there is only oneness. Unity is eternal and diversity also has unity if we try to explore it," Bhagwat said at the event.

"There is no need to respond to those whose experiments have failed over the last 2,000 years. Our focus should be on guiding our own people--those entangled in false narratives or countering them. On the global stage, we will play by our predefined parameters and in our unique way," he added.

The RSS Chief further called for taking the Lokmanthan initiative to rural Bharat, urging smaller gatherings in villages to engage with grassroots voices.

"Our inner feeling tells us that we are not enemies to anyone in this world and no one is an enemy to us. It's ok that someone is aggressive and has done something to us, so we will not tolerate it, but we will also respond to it...we don't engage in a fight with anyone," he said.

Bhagwat drew parallels from Puranic symbolism, stating, "Just as Halahala emerged during the churning of the ocean, challenges will arise. But we are prepared to bear them and serve Amrit for the welfare of all."

He concluded by expressing his gratitude, saying that even his own understanding had expanded through the deliberations of Lokmanthan Bhagyanagar 2024.

The RSS is demanding to rename Hyderabad as Bhagyanagar.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Minister Kishan Reddy have also advocated for the name Bhagyanagar on several occasions.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy also attended the event.
Ankara, Nov 25 : Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, discussing bilateral relations and regional and global issues, according to Erdogan's office.

During the phone talk, Erdogan said on Sunday that the two sides aimed to enhance cooperation in various fields, particularly the expansion of bilateral trade volume, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the Turkish President pledged that his country will continue to contribute to the peace process.

Turkey, which maintains good relations with both Ukraine and Russia, has been acting as a mediator between the two countries since their conflict broke out in February 2022.

On Wednesday, Erdogan said the US decision to allow Kyiv to deploy its long-range missiles for strikes inside Russia is "a move aimed at fueling the war".

"It appears to be a move aimed at fueling the war, ensuring it does not end, and even encouraging its spread," Erdogan told reporters on his flight back to Turkey from Brazil, where he attended the G20 summit, according to a report by semi-official Anadolu Agency.
Beirut, Nov 25 : European Union (EU) Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell has said that Hezbollah and Israel must be pressured to accept the US proposal for a ceasefire, pledging $200 million to the Lebanese army.

"We must pressure the Israeli government and maintain the pressure on Hezbollah to accept the US proposal for a ceasefire," said Borrell on Sunday following his meeting in Beirut with Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri.

He noted that the proposal is pending the final agreement with the Israeli government, Xinhua news agency reported.

The EU foreign policy chief said that the international community cannot stay idle in front of what is happening, noting that the EU is ready to allocate $200 million to support the Lebanese army.

Borrell also met with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who stressed the need to exert pressure to stop the Israeli "aggression" on Lebanon and reach a ceasefire.

Mikati said, "Lebanon is counting on European support to help it politically and economically and to strengthen the army's role in all fields."

Since September 23, the Israeli army has intensified its air attack on Lebanon in an escalation of conflict with Hezbollah.

Israel further initiated a ground operation across its northern border into Lebanon in early October.
China Telecom Global has officially kicked off operations in Saudi Arabia with the launch of new subsidiary China Telecom Gulf, which has already secured its first cooperation agreements with local telcos STC and state-owned BTC Networks.

China Telecom Gulf said it will leverage its experience with 5G, cloud computing, AI, and other fields to provide digital products and services to Saudi enterprises, institutions, and consumers.

The telco also said it will work closely with Saudi government departments, enterprises, and partners to develop local digital infrastructure.

At a launch ceremony in Riyadh on Thursday, China Telecom executive director and EVP Liu Guiqing also positioned China Telecom Gulf as part of the Chinese governments Belt and Road Initiative, saying in a speech that telco aims to establish a robust bridge for cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia in the field of information technology,

According to a statement released Saturday, China Telecom Gulf also signed strategic cooperation agreements at the launch event with STC, BTC and Huawei Saudi Arabia.

No details were given on what the agreements cover, only that they will involve deep collaboration to provide optimized and convenient digital experiences to Saudi customers. According to Chinas state news agency Xinhua, the agreements are centred around IoT.

The statement from China Telecom said the establishment of its subsidiary in Saudi Arabia marks a major milestone in the company's entry into the Middle Eastern communications market, representing a key development in its global strategy.

China Telecom Global operates branches in 42 countries and regions around the world, has ownership in 53 international submarine cables, and manages 27 self-operated internet data centres.
New Delhi, Nov 25 : The Parliament's Winter Session will start today with the government appealing to all the parties to ensure smooth conduct of business in both houses while representatives of 30 parties have highlighted several issues for inclusion in the agenda in the nearly-month-long proceedings.

Meanwhile, in a bid to strengthen their collective voice and coordinate their actions in the upcoming Parliament session, the floor leaders of INDIA bloc parties are scheduled to meet at the Parliament House office of Congress President and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge at 10 a.m. on Monday.

According to sources, the interaction in the meeting of opposition leaders will be aimed at formulating a unified strategy. Opposition parties, including the Congress, the CPI, the CPI-M, the Trinamool Congress, the AAP, the DMK, the Shiv Sena-UBT, the NCP-SP and others, have consistently sought to challenge the Central governmentas policies and agenda in Parliament. With several key issues on the agenda, from economic issues to social justice, the bloc leaders are set to discuss their collective strategy to ensure that there is no sign of disunity.

Amid expectations of a stormy session, veteran BJP leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chaired an all-party meeting with 42 leaders and floor managers from various parties on Sunday.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, who described the meeting as afruitful", sought cooperation from all parties. "The government is open to discussing all issues, but our only request is to ensure a smooth conduct of proceedings," he said.

"We have taken note of the suggestions regarding issues for discussion made by floor managers of parties and would share them with the Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chairman," he said, adding that the business advisory committees of both Houses would finalise the agenda with the consent of the presiding officers.

The legislative agenda of the session will include the celebration of 75 years of the Constitution on November 26, Rijiju said, adding that key documents related to the making of the statute would also be released in the presence of President Droupadi Murmu.

He hinted that at least 17 bills are likely to come up for discussion during the session.

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, pending in Lok Sabha, has also been listed for consideration and passage after a report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) is submitted in the lower house.

In all, eight bills are pending in Lok Sabha and two in Rajya Sabha.

The developments during the Winter Session, beginning within two days of the declaration of Assembly election results in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, are also likely to reflect the contrasting moods in the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc after the former won in the western state and the latter retained power in the eastern state.

The Winter Session is scheduled to be held from November 25 to December 20.
Islamabad, Nov 25 : Pakistan's capital has been placed under heavy security to prevent supporters of jailed former Prime Minister and founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf' (PTI), Imran Khan, from marching towards Islamabad as they are set to continue to protest throughout the country to seek his release.

Imran Khan issued a "final call" for nationwide protests on Sunday amid statements and warnings by his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) leaders. He claimed that they would be leading rallies from all parts of the country and marching towards the capital, Islamabad, with an aim to not leave until the former Chief Minister is released from jail.

The PTI supporters further said they must also be handed over the claimed mandate in the recent general elections, which seems to have been blocked and handled by the federal and provincial governments in Islamabad and Punjab, respectively.

It leaves no space for any PTI workers to assemble in Islamabad or anywhere in Punjab, and confine the protest to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) only, where the party is in power.

What seemed to be a day's drill of rallies from all parts of the country towards Islamabad, now seems to be extending its time to the next day (November 25) as the PTI rally from KP's provincial capital Peshawar has not been able to reach the capital Islamabad and is expected to camp itself in Swabi for Sunday night and regroup to march on Monday morning.

PTI claims that the government has resorted to arrests of its lawmakers and leaders to stop them from leading the rallies towards Islamabad.

PTI also claimed that security forces may use baton charges and tear gas to disperse their supporters from rallying in the capital Islamabad and parts of Punjab province.

"Convoy of National Assembly Opposition leader Omar Ayub was targeted near Taxila and shells were fired at him," said a post by PTI's official 'X' account.

Another post by PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat maintained that a convoy of his brother was stopped at Daud Khel and was fired at with tear gas shelling. However, Sher Afzal asserted "we will reach D-chowk in any circumstance".

On the other hand, Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has warned PTI leaders and protestors that anyone entering the protected areas will be arrested.

"One option is that we let them come and paralyse Islamabad. The other option is to protect Islamabad. The area PTI has called the protest is a protected area of Islamabad, monitored by the IG (Inspector General) and DIG (Deputy Inspector General) of Police. Any protestor who enters that area will be arrested," he said while speaking to the media at D-Chowk in Islamabad, the announced destination of the PTI long march.

Interior Minister Naqvi said that at least 33 out of 100 individuals arrested in the previous protest by PTI were Afghan nationals, while several other foreign nationals were detailed in the past two days, raising questions about the intentions of the PTI protest.

"Are Pakistani citizens involved in your (PTI) protest, or is this a movement led by foreigners?" he asked.

"PTI protests bring harm to the country and create considerable hardship for citizens," he added.

PTI's "Final Call" protest has not received a clearance from the government or the court.

The Islamabad High Court has already said that PTI did not seek permission to protest in Islamabad and does not hold an NOC (No Objection Certificate), which would deem its protest rally towards Islamabad illegal.

On the other hand, the government also maintains that it would now allow anyone to enter the capital and create unrest and chaos, warning PTI supporters to refrain from confronting and engaging in clashes with the security forces.

On the ground, the government in the federal capital and the Punjab province seems to be ready, geared up, and vigilant in doing everything to stop the PTI protest.

The government has already blocked all motorways leading to Islamabad, mobile services have been suspended, over 37 entry points into Islamabad have been blocked, Section 144 has been imposed, allowing police officials to now allow any gathering in the capital or in Punjab province, and a heavy deployment is in place to stop the protestors from entering into the capital's territory.

PTI's supporters were nowhere to be seen in Punjab or Islamabad throughout Sunday.

However, thousands of party supporters gathered in Peshawar, the provincial capital of PTI-controlled KP province, who are marching towards the capital Islamabad.

The KP rally is led by its Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Imran Khan's wife Bushra Bibi.

KP Chief Minister Gandapur has said that the PTI rally would reach D-Chowk in Islamabad by all means and at all costs, adding "we will not leave Islamabad until Imran Khan is released, PTI supporters arrested unjustly are released, our stolen mandate is returned to us and 26th Amendment, which has strengthened a dictatorial regime is nullified".

As the PTI rally from KP continues to march towards Islamabad at a slow pace, extending its plan to enter into the capital till Monday; Islamabad authorities have announced the closure of all educational institutions (both public and private) on Monday.

Experts observe that PTI's leadership from Punjab, Sindh, and Balochistan has failed miserably in translating its tall claims, warnings, and threats to the government into action.

"PTI leadership failed to come out in Punjab, Sindh, and Balochistan. They even failed to get people out. And now the nationwide protest has turned into a KP-centric agitation. It's yet another failure on the part of PTI, its leadership, and its supporters. And this is exactly what irritates Imran Khan in jail, who has had a tough time handling his team to assert pressure on the government and the establishment through strong public power shows," said political analyst Umar Bacha.
Mumbai, Nov 25 : "Tumbbad" and "Ship of Theseus" cinematographer Pankaj Kumar is all prepped up to make his feature directorial debut with a tribal action drama christened "Konyak." Mumbai, Nov 25 (IANS) "Tumbbad" and "Ship of Theseus" cinematographer Pankaj Kumar is all prepped up to make his feature directorial debut with a tribal action drama christened "Konyak."

The project, which will be shot in Konyak Naga and Hindi languages, emerged from Ghosh's travels through Nagaland. Kumar, also known for his work on films including "Brahmastra Part One: Shiva" and "Talvar," will both direct and produce the film through his production banner focused on theatrical storytelling.

Kumar, who shot Raj & DK's Prime Video series "Farzi" and Netflix series "Guns & Gulaabs," is currently in post-production on "Khauff," a horror series directed by him for Prime Video.

The film, which is set in northeast India, was selected for the NFDC Screenwriters Lab 2024, part of the Film Bazaar, and will be produced through Kumar's newly established Jiboom Studios.

Kumar said: "The vision for 'Konyak' is to create something immersive and untamed, a film that lives and breathes on the big screen, where every frame tells a story of endurance and heritage. As a director, coming from a background in cinematography, this is the kind of project that lets me bring all those elements together."

"It's exciting to collaborate with Uddhav on this  to take his compelling narrative and craft it into a grand visual experience that is as deeply rooted in the essence of its setting as it is driven by the pulse of adventure."

Written by Uddhav Ghosh, the film follows a young warrior named Thungpang who, guided by prophetic visions, must protect his community during a deadly conflict between headhunting tribes. The story explores themes of betrayal and honor as he confronts his former friend turned enemy, Sangba, reports variety.com.

Ghosh shared that the vision was always clear  to create an action epic that felt raw, unfiltered, and steeped in authenticity, drawing on the primal storytelling of films like 'Fury Road' and 'Apocalypto.'

"With Pankaj Kumar now on board as director, his visual mastery elevates this film into the cinematic spectacle it deserves to be. His excitement matches mine, as we craft a story that isn't just about action but about identity and resilience that lives in everyday life," Ghosh added.

Script editor Claire Dobbin, who mentored the project, describes it as "much more than an action movie. It is a compelling story of betrayal, courage and resilience and shines a light on a little-known, but unforgettable people  the Konyak."

Marten Rabarts, head of IFFR Pro at International Film Festival Rotterdam, who also served as a lab mentor, notes: "Like many thoughtful filmmakers in all parts of the formerly colonized world Uddhav Ghosh is exploring the long-overshadowed stories of indigenous First Nations people and in collaboration with them is helping unearth intense and complex histories, a resistance to the British empire and profound connection to land and place which binds them together in love, war, blood and spirit."

Film Bazaar is the project market component of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.
Sambhal : , Nov 25 (IANS) Hours after chaos erupted in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal on Sunday as a court-ordered survey of the Mughal-era Jama Masjid led to violent clashes between locals and the police, leading to the deaths of four youths, the authorities on Monday imposed strict security measures and enforced prohibitory orders, shut down schools and colleges and suspended Internet services in the area.

Outsiders are prohibited from entering Sambhal till December 1 and no public representatives will be allowed to visit the area and public gatherings have also been banned for now.

According to sources, weapons have been found and confiscated from the homes of some of the 21-odd people who were arrested by the police on Sunday after the violence in the area. There are two women among the 21 people held for the violence. More arrests are likely as police are trying to identify the miscreants with the aid of the CCTV cameras.

The mosque is at the centre of a contentious legal battle over claims that it was built on the site of a Hindu temple.

Police said the violence started when a crowd gathered near the mosque as the survey team, led by an aAdvocate Commissioner,a began its work.

The crowd swelled to nearly a thousand people, and they tried to prevent the police from entering the mosque. Some people in the crowd threw stones at the police personnel stationed at the site. The mob also set ablaze over ten police vehicles stationed in the area as a precautionary measure.

The police responded by firing tear gas shells and in the chaos, four youths were killed and as many as 20 police personnel were among the scores of people injured in the violence.

The survey, which began at 7:30 A.M., was part of a process initiated by a petition claiming that a temple once stood in place of the mosque.

Tensions have been simmering in Sambhal since a similar survey was conducted on Tuesday. The petitioners argue that historical texts such as "Baburnamah" and "Ain-e-Akbari" document the destruction of the temple by Mughal emperor Babur in 1529.

Supporters of the survey argue that it is a necessary step in uncovering historical truths, while critics view it as a provocation that violates the sanctity of religious places as upheld by the Places of Worship Act, 1991.
Mumbai, Nov 25 : As they are celebrating five months of marital bliss in Tuscany, Zaheer Iqbal heaped praise on his ladylove Sonakshi Sinha as he called her the "hottest".

Mumbai, Nov 25 (IANS) As they are celebrating five months of marital bliss in Tuscany, Zaheer Iqbal heaped praise on his ladylove Sonakshi Sinha as he called her the "hottest".

Zaheer took to his Instagram stories, where he shared a picture of his wife sitting next to a heater. Sonakshi is seen dressed in an oversized white hoodie as she posed while her husband took the picture.

Comparing her to the heater, he encircled it and tagged it as hot. He then drew an arrow over Sonkashi's head and wrote "hottest".

On November 24, the two shared several glimpses from their romantic getaway on their respective Instagram handles. The actress shared a few moments, which included a photo of the two posing next to a store called "DESII", which the actress circled and wrote: "Couple celebrating 5th month(versary) on 4th honeymoon Vibe h vibe hai vibe hai."

She added the song "Vibe" by Diljit Dosanjh playing in the background.

Zaheer shared a video of Sonakshi in a clothing store and captioned: "The stalker becomes the salkee."

The last story had a video featuring the two going on a road trip with Sonakshi mouth-syncing rapper Badshah's song "Mercy" as Zaheer filmed the actress.

Sonakshi and Zaheer tied the knot on June 23 in Mumbai after 7 years of dating. They first met at a party hosted by Bollywood superstar Salman Khan. Interestingly, both Sonakshi and Zaheer started their careers with Salman.

While Sonakshi made her debut opposite Salman in the box-office phenomenon 'Dabangg', Zaheer made his debut with Salman Khan's home production 'Notebook'. The couple reportedly dated for 7 years, and lived together for a year before tying the knot.

Meanwhile, on the work front, the actress is set to share the screen with her husband in 'Tu Hai Meri Kiran' The two have previously worked together in the film 'Double XL', which also starred Huma Qureshi, and a music video titled, 'Blockbuster'.
New Delhi, Nov 25 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a sharp attack on the Opposition on Monday, accusing them of disrupting Parliament and denying meaningful discussions.

He stated that those "who have been rejected by the people multiple times are attempting to control the House through chaos."

Speaking to the media ahead of the Winter Session of Parliament, PM Modi underscored the significance of this session, terming it a special occasion as it coincides with the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Indian Constitution.

"This is the Winter Session, hopefully, the atmosphere will also be cool. This is the last session of 2024, and the country is enthusiastically awaiting 2025. This session is special in many ways. The most significant aspect is that our Constitution is entering its 75th year -- a monumental moment for our democracy. Tomorrow, we will commence this extraordinary occasion together in the new Parliament building," he said.

The Prime Minister highlighted the rigorous deliberations undertaken by the framers of the Constitution, leading to the creation of a remarkable document. "One of the Constitution's key elements is our Parliament and our parliamentarians," he added.

Calling for productive and healthy debates, PM Modi took aim at the Opposition for obstructing proceedings.

"The people who have been rejected repeatedly by the electorate, try to control Parliament through disruptions. While they fail, their actions are being closely observed by the people of the country. The most troubling aspect is that new MPs, who bring fresh ideas and perspectives, are being denied their rightful opportunity to speak in Parliament due to such disruptions," he said.

Stressing the importance of intergenerational learning in a democracy, the Prime Minister said, "Every generation in a democracy has the responsibility to train future generations. However, those rejected by the people 80-90 times do not let discussions take place in Parliament."

"They neither understand the aspirations of the people nor live up to their expectations, and that is why the public continues to reject them," he added.

Reflecting on India's growing prominence on the global stage, PM Modi said, "The world looks at India with hope. At such a crucial time, our discussions in Parliament can further enhance India's standing before the world. India rarely gets opportunities like this, and it is our duty to ensure that the trust voters place in democracy and the Constitution is upheld through meaningful work in Parliament."

He urged all members to make up for lost time and engage in substantive debates on critical issues.

"A message should go out that the dedication of voters to democracy, the Constitution, and the sanctity of parliamentary proceedings is being honoured by their elected representatives," he said.

The Prime Minister concluded by expressing hope for a productive session, stressing that healthy discussions are essential to address the nation's pressing concerns.

"The voters of India are committed to democracy, their loyalty to the Constitution, and their confidence in the parliamentary system. It is essential for everyone in Parliament to reflect the sentiments of the people. To achieve this, we must discuss various aspects of each topic in a constructive manner. This will inspire future generations as well. I hope this session proves to be productive, and I encourage all esteemed MPs to approach it with passion and enthusiasm," he said.
Abu Dhabi, Nov 25 : The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has introduced a federal decree-law aimed at empowering the nation's arts sector, local news agency.

The law establishes a comprehensive framework for regulating non-profit arts institutions while offering a host of benefits to the arts industry, professionals, and talented artists, reports Xinhua, quoting UAE's official news agency WAM.

The legislation seeks to promote artistic creation, attract talent, and foster a thriving creative economy. By facilitating initiatives such as private museums, temporary art exhibitions, and theatrical performances, the law emphasises inclusivity, encouraging artistic activities that resonate with the wider community. It also promotes values of tolerance and coexistence through creativity.

The decree law enables local authorities to provide incentives, including tax and customs exemptions for art institutions and collections, subject to compliance with legal requirements. Artistic institutions could receive financial support through endowments, grants, and sponsorships while benefiting from simplified licensing procedures overseen by the Ministry of Culture or local authorities.

Moreover, the law defines permissible artistic activities, including visual and audio arts, performing arts, literature, music, and film screenings. It underscores the role of new technologies and virtual platforms in expanding access to art collections and exhibitions.

Stringent safeguards are incorporated to ensure that artistic activities do not incite hatred or sectarian, racial, or religious conflicts. All artistic endeavours must be licensed by competent authorities to ensure compliance.

The initiative reflects the UAE's commitment to consolidating its position as a global hub for arts and culture, aligning with its broader vision of fostering creativity and cultural excellence.
Kolkata, Nov 25 : A youth has been arrested on the charges of raping and murdering a five-year-old girl in Gurap of West Bengal's Hoogly district.

Kolkata, Nov 25 (IANS) A youth has been arrested on the charges of raping and murdering a five-year-old girl in Gurap of West Bengal's Hoogly district.

The accused will be presented at a district court on Monday and the public prosecutor will seek his police custody.

As per the statements given by the victim's parents to the police, the girl went missing on Sunday evening. After she did not return home for quite some time, the parents started enquiring with the neighbours about whether any of them had seen her.

On getting information from an eyewitness who saw the girl entering the house of the accused, the parents along with some other neighbours went there and started questioning the accused.

Being suspicious of the inconsistent statements given by the accused, they informed the local police station.

After thorough search operations, the police found the victim from the accused's house.

The cops immediately took her to the local hospital where she was declared dead. The body of the victim has been sent for post-mortem.

Recently, West Bengal has seen frequent cases of rape or rape and murder, and in most cases, the victims had been minor girls.

The most-talked-about issue in the matter had been the ghastly rape and murder of a woman junior doctor of state-run R. G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata within the hospital premises in August this year.

The trial process in the matter was in progress with civic volunteer Sanjay Roy being identified as the "sole prime accused" in the rape and murder crime in the first chargesheet of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Mumbai, Nov 25 : Late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray's grandson Aaishvary Thackeray has wrapped up the shoot for his maiden film with filmmaker Anurag Kashyap.

According to an independent industry source: "Aaishvary Thackeray's debut film with Anurag Kashyap has finally wrapped. The film had a 69-day shoot, which was entirely conducted in Lucknow. More details about the film are awaited."

Aaishvary is the son of Smita Thackeray and late Jaidev Thackeray. UHis journey in cinema began in 2015 when he worked as an assistant director on Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Bajirao Mastani."

The details about the film are still under wraps.

Talking about Anurag, I started with writing a television serial. He got his major break as a co-writer in Ram Gopal Varma's crime drama Satya in 1998 and made his directorial debut with Paanch, which never had a theatrical release due to censorship issues.

In 2004, he then went on to direct Black Friday, a film based on the namesake book by Hussain Zaidi about the 1993 Bombay bombings. Its release was held up for two years by the District Board of Film Certification because of the pending verdict of the case at that time but was released in 2007 to widespread critical appreciation.

He then went on to make movies such as "No Smoking", "Dev. D", a modern adaptation of Devdas, "Gulaal" and the thriller "That Girl in Yellow Boots". Kashyap's prominence increased with the two-part crime drama, Gangs of Wasseypur.

Kashyap subsequently co-produced the critically acclaimed drama The Lunchbox, and the biographical drama Shahid. His next films were the anthology Bombay Talkies and the drama Ugly.

He ventured into the space of web with "Sacred Games", based on Vikram Chandra's novel of the same name. He then tried his hands in romance with "Manmarziyaan."
Baghdad, Nov 25 : The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a Shiite militia group, claimed responsibility for two drone attacks on sites in Israel.

According to its statements on Sunday, the group's fighters launched separate drone attacks, one on a 'vital site' and the other on a 'military site' in Israel, Xinhua news agency reported.

The statements did not provide further details about the targeted sites or report any casualties.

The Iraqi militia group noted that the drone attacks were carried out "in solidarity with our people in Palestine and Lebanon," adding it would continue targeting "the enemy's strongholds at an escalating pace."

Since the outbreak of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has repeatedly attacked Israeli and US positions in the region to show support for Palestinians in Gaza.

The militia has stepped up its attacks on Israel after the latter intensified strikes against Hezbollah across Lebanon on September 23.
As expected, Mexico has gone ahead with plans to abolish a number of regulatory bodies, including telecoms watchdog the Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones (IFT). However, it hasnt been the wholesale clear-out some commentators feared.

The country's ruling majority last week approved the general text of the constitutional amendment to abolish seven autonomous watchdogs. They include antitrust watchdog Cofece, telecoms regulator IFT, energy regulator CRE, hydrocarbon regulator CNH and public information and data protection office INAI.

These reforms to bodies that help to ensure government transparency could, Reuters has suggested, worsen tension with the US and hit credit ratings. In the event, some of the plans have been diluted. Mexico's lower house of Congress proposed adjustments to these reforms late last week to ensure compliance with the 2020 United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

The telecoms regulator IFT was a strong focus of these adjustments as its scrapping in particular is seen as very likely to breach the USMCA agreement.

The answer, it seems, will be to merge the IFT with the antitrust watchdog Cofece, creating an autonomous body under the Economy Ministry, while preserving its technical and operational independence.

The argument for change has been that streamlined governance could save some US$5 billion annually and reduce corruption. The opposing argument has been that it would strip funding from important projects, reduce transparency and oversight and concentrate power with the executive.

In the event, the adjusted proposals will now move to the Senate, where ruling party Morena holds a large majority.
Yaounde, Nov 25 : Two separatist fighters, including a commander, were killed when government forces of Cameroon struck their hideout in the country's war-torn Anglophone region of Northwest, according to local and security sources.

The crackdown early on Sunday, as confirmed by a military official in the region who requested not to be named, was launched in the early hours of Sunday in Bamenda, the chief town of the region.

The commander killed in the operation "regularly kidnapped civilians and demanded huge ransom. He was responsible for the deaths of many soldiers and civilians," the official told Xinhua news agency by phone.

Fighting between government forces and separatist fighters has persisted in Cameroon's two English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest since 2017 when separatists attempted to establish an independent nation in these regions.
Sudan Port, Nov 25 : The United Nations (UN) is working with Sudan to increase funding for the 2025 humanitarian response plan, UN's top humanitarian official Tom Fletcher said in Sudan Port.

During a Saturday meeting with Mona Nourel Daim, chief of Sudan's Humanitarian Aid Commission, Fletcher emphasised the need for joint efforts to tackle Sudan's escalating crisis, Xinhua news agency reported quoting the country's official SUNA news agency.

"We will work in joint cooperation with the government of Sudan to contribute to increasing funding for the 2025 humanitarian response plan," Fletcher was quoted as saying by SUNA.

Fletcher arrived in Port Sudan on Saturday for his first humanitarian mission as the newly-appointed Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. He assumed the role on November 18.

Fletcher described his visit as an opportunity to assess the humanitarian situation on the ground and hear directly from those affected by the conflict.

Nourel Daim underscored the scale of the crisis, warning that donor contributions in 2024 have fallen short. "Funding from donors during 2024 is below ambition, despite the fact that Sudan is going through the worst humanitarian crisis," she said. She urged the international community to step up support for the 2025 response plan to implement critical projects and alleviate suffering among displaced populations.

The humanitarian response plan for 2024 was projected to require $2.7 billion, but only $1.5 billion have been secured, according to UN data.

Sudan has been gripped by a devastating conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since mid-April 2023. According to the November update by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, the deadly conflict has resulted in more than 27,120 deaths.

Additionally, the conflict has displaced over 14 million people, both within Sudan and across its borders, according to the latest estimates by the International Organisation for Migration.
Montevideo, Nov 25 : Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou recognised the opposition candidate Yamandu Orsi as president-elect, who will succeed him in the 2025-2030 period after Orsi won the second round of the presidential elections against Alvaro Delgado.

On Sunday, Delgado of the National Party also recognised Orsi of the left-wing opposition coalition the Broad Front as president-elect, reports Xinhua news agency.

"I want to send from here, with all this coalition government, with all these actors of the coalition, a big hug and a greeting to Yamandu Orsi and to the Broad Front," Delgado said in his speech alongside the leaders of the ruling coalition in the capital Montevideo.

"We can congratulate the winner with sadness, but without a guilt complex, we must respect the sovereign decision above all things," he added.

President Lacalle Pou said on X that he called Orsi "to congratulate him as president-elect of our country."
Dehradun, Nov 25 : IPS officer Deepam Seth has been appointed as the 13th Director General of Police (DGP) of Uttarakhand. A notification to this effect was issued by the state administration on Monday.

Seth, a 1995-batch IPS officer, in his latest stint, was previously serving as the Additional Director General (ADG) of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).

Seth's career spans several significant positions. In undivided Uttar Pradesh, he served as Additional Superintendent of Police in Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar and later as the City Superintendent of Police in Agra.

Following the creation of Uttarakhand, he held key roles, including Senior Superintendent of Police in Nainital, Additional Secretary (Home), Inspector General (Provincial Armed Constabulary), and Inspector General (Law and Order).

In a central deputation last year, Seth was posted as Inspector General with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police in Chandigarh. Upon his return to his original cadre on Monday.

Seth has been appointed as the state's top police officer and is set to replace the DGP Abhinav Kumar.

Abhinav Kumar, a 1996-batch officer originally allotted to the Uttar Pradesh cadre, had opted for Uttarakhand after the state's creation in 2000. However, he was retained in Uttar Pradesh and challenged this decision through various legal avenues. Kumar assumed the role of acting DGP of Uttarakhand in November 2023 following the retirement of former DGP Ashok Kumar.

Despite his tenure, Kumar's name was excluded from the panel of eligible candidates for the DGP position submitted by the state government to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

This exclusion prompted him to write to the Home Secretary in October, citing provisions of the Uttarakhand Police Act that allow the state government to independently appoint a DGP for a fixed term of two years.

Controversy surrounded Seth's appointment as DGP after retirement of Ashok Kumar. While his name was initially included in the previous panel sent to the UPSC, his central deputation prevented his appointment at the time. As a result, Abhinav Kumar was appointed acting DGP in November 2023.

Recently, the Uttarakhand administration wrote to the Centre requesting Seth's early return from deputation. Within a day, the Centre relieved him, clearing the way for his appointment. Notably, Seth is the most senior officer in the Uttarakhand cadre.
Sambhal : , Nov 25 (IANS) Roads in the trouble-torn Sambhal city in Uttar Pradesh on Monday bore a deserted look, with the administration issuing prohibitory orders while the police booked a Samajwadi Party (SP) MP and the son of an SP legislator along with 400 others, for the deadly riots the previous day.

Internet remained suspended and schools were closed even as security forces conducted flag marches in the city, officials said.

Police sources said at least 25 people, including two women, have been detained or arrested for the violence that left four dead and dozens, including 22 policemen, injured during violent protests on Sunday against a court-ordered survey of the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid in connection with a petition claiming that it was built after razing a Hindu temple in 1529.

Vehicles were torched and stones pelted during rioting on Sunday, forcing police to use tear gas and cane-charge to counter the protestors.

SP MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq and his party colleague and SP legislator Iqbal Mehmood's son Nawab Suhail Iqbal, were named in the seven FIRs registered by Uttar Pradesh Police over the violence against 400 people.

The accused have been booked under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986 and the National Security Act, 1980.

The state administration has also restricted entry of outsiders into the district till December 1, said an official.

In New Delhi, Union Minister Giriraj Singh blamed the local politicians for fomenting trouble in Sambhal.

"The Sambhal incident is a blot on our democracy. If anyone is responsible for this, it is the Opposition. A murder case should be filed against the local MLAs who incited violence. They not only spread terror but also orchestrated riots and obstructed officials, showing their disregard for the Constitution," Giriraj Singh told IANS.

His party colleague and Lok Sabha MP Jagdambika Pal demanded strict action against the culprits.

"Who is responsible for the incident in Sambhal? The survey team acted on court orders. The administration is complying with the court's directives, and if the police and administration face stone pelting, strict action should be taken against those responsible," Pal said.

Earlier in the day, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi held the BJP government in UP directly responsible for the flare up. He also stated that the nation must join together to ensure that "India moves forward on the path of unity and Constitution, not communalism and hatred."

Rahul Gandhi further stated that the BJP's use of power to create rift and discrimination between Hindu-Muslim communities is neither in the interest of the state nor the country.

"I request the Supreme Court to intervene in this matter as soon as possible and provide justice," he added.

According to sources, weapons have been found and confiscated from the homes of 21-odd people who were arrested by the police on Sunday after the violence in the area.

There are two women among the 21 people held for the violence.

More arrests are likely as police are trying to identify the miscreants with the aid of the CCTV cameras.

Police said the violence started when a crowd gathered near the mosque as the survey team, led by an 'Advocate Commissioner,' began its work.

Krishan Kumar, SP Sambhal, said, "It was communicated to everyone that Section 163, which was previously known as Section 144, has been imposed. Anyone who takes the law into their own hands will face strict legal action".
Perth, Nov 25 : India's defence of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was shrouded in doubt before the series began in Perth. A 3-0 loss to New Zealand, no Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, India selected a playing eleven which had four players playing in Australia for the first time, with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja left out of the eleven.

Being bowled out for 150 on day one of the match was enough to create more doubts in minds of onlookers of India defending the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. But India, captained by Jasprit Bumrah, reminded everyone of their all-famous bounceback abilities and came back from behind in emphatic style to record a monumental 295-run win over Australia on day four at the Perth Stadium on Monday.

The manner and margin of Indiaas famous win in Perth Stadium has given them a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, which is now also their biggest Test win from the runs margin outside home. Itas also the second time India have won the opening match of a Border-Gavaskar Trophy series after doing so in Adelaide in 2018.

Bumrah, the chief architect of Indiaas famous triumph in Perth, picked eight wickets, including the match-changing spell of 5-30, which gave them a 46-run lead and single-handedly blew away Australia.

Contributions of second innings centurions Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, as well as of KL Rahul, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Rishabh Pant, and Mohammed Siraj will also be etched in memory for a long time as Perth 2024 is now added to the list of glorious overseas Test wins for India.

Starting day four from 13-2, chasing 534 was always going to be a tall order for Australia. Despite a counter-attacking 89 from Travis head and local lad Mitchell Marsh making 47, Australia were bowled out for 238 just after tea, with Bumrah and Siraj taking three wickets each.

Brief Scores: India 150 in 49.4 overs and 487/6 dec in 134.3 overs lead Australia 104 in 51.2 overs and 238 in 58.4 overs (Travis Head 89, Mitchell Marsh 47; Mohammed Siraj 3-51, Jasprit Bumrah 3-42) by 295 runs
Perth, Nov 25 : India's defence of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was shrouded in doubt before the series began in Perth. A 3-0 loss to New Zealand, no Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, India selected a playing eleven, which had four players playing in Australia for the first time, with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja left out of the eleven.

Being bowled out for 150 on day one of the match was enough to create more doubts in minds of onlookers of India defending the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. But India, captained by Jasprit Bumrah, reminded everyone of their all-famous bounceback abilities and came back from behind in emphatic style to record a monumental 295-run win over Australia on day four at the Perth Stadium on Monday.

The manner and margin of Indiaas famous win in Perth Stadium has given them a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, which is now also their biggest Test win from the runs margin outside home. Itas also the second time India have won the opening match of a Border-Gavaskar Trophy series after doing so in Adelaide in 2018.

Captain Bumrah, the chief architect of Indiaas famous triumph in Perth, picked eight wickets, including the match-changing spell of 5-30, which gave them a 46-run lead and single-handedly blew away Australia.

Contributions of second-innings centurions Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, as well as of KL Rahul, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Rishabh Pant, and Mohammed Siraj will also be etched in memory for a long time as Perth 2024 is now added in list of glorious overseas Test wins for India.

Starting day four from 13-2, chasing 534 was always going to be a tall order for Australia. Despite a counter-attacking 89 from Travis head and local lad Mitchell Marsh making 47, Australia were bowled out for 238 just after tea, with Bumrah and Siraj taking three wickets each.

India struck on eighth ball of the day as Usman Khawaja got a top-edge on the swivel pull off Siraj, which was safely pouched by Rishabh Pant running a few inches to his right. But from the other end, Head was charging up to play his shots with freedom a" driving, cutting and sweeping with elan to collect his boundaries.

Steve Smith presented a more sorted look at the crease with the minimal trigger movement towards middle and off, as compared to a more exaggerated shuffle which caused his downfall for a golden duck in the first innings.

The duo also survived lbw appeals off India, who burnt a review in the process, while Smith took a blow on ribs off a short ball from Harshit Rana. Just as it seemed Smith was comfortable at the crease, he was squared up by a short of a good length on the fifth stump from Siraj and took a feather edge through to a full-stretch diving Pant.

But Head continued to back his attacking instincts a" reaching his fifty by ramping a short ball from Siraj over the keeper for four and then getting on top of the bounce to pull through fine leg for another boundary to bring up Australiaas hundred, as the hostsa equalled their first-innings score for the loss of five wickets here.

Post lunch, Mitchell Marsh pulled and muscled Rana for six and four respectively. He then danced down the pitch to loft Washington Sundar over long-off for six, while Head smashed Rana through cover for four. Bumrah came in by bowling from around the wicket and outside the off-stump, while slipping in a short ball to create pressure on Head.

Once Bumrah bowled a back of the length delivery outside off-stump, Head looked to fend off the back foot to release the pressure, but only managed to feather the ball through to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant for 89.

Marsh continued to march forward by sweeping and edging for his two boundaries, but chopped onto his stumps while looking to carve Nitish Kumar Reddy through the off-side to fall for 47, giving the all-rounder his maiden Test wicket.

Alex Carey showed some resistance by pulling Siraj and Reddy twice for boundaries, and found support from Mitchell Starc, who hanged around for 35 balls to make his 12 runs. Just as it looked like the 45-run partnership for the eighth wicket would run till tea, Sundar struck as Starc tried to clip off his pads and Dhruv Jurel just pulled his right hand up to complete a sensational reflex catch.

Post tea, Sundar castled Nathan Lyon by hitting top of off-stump, and Rana wrapped up the match when his slower off-cutter coming from round the wicket, pegged back off-stump of Carey to set up the series perfectly, as India showed its ability to bounce back after a crushing defeat against Australia, yet again.

Brief Scores: India 150 in 49.4 overs and 487/6 dec in 134.3 overs lead Australia 104 in 51.2 overs and 238 in 58.4 overs (Travis Head 89, Mitchell Marsh 47; Mohammed Siraj 3-51, Jasprit Bumrah 3-42) by 295 runs
London, Nov 25 : British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday announced that spiking will be made a criminal offence in the country.

"My government was elected to take back our streets, central to this mission is making sure women and girls can feel safe at night. Perpetrators of spiking will feel the full force of the law," Starmer posted on X ahead of a meeting with police chiefs, industry executives and transport bosses called to Downing Street to crack down on spiking and protect women and girls.

The incidents of spiking, through drinks or other means, have been rising in the United Kingdom and Monday's meeting comes just weeks before Christmas when violence against women and girls is known to rise.

The Labour government believes that its decision to make spiking a new criminal offence will send a clear signal to the perpetrators and empower victims to report offences.

Starmer is expected to demand coordinated action across the police, transport network and venues to stamp out the "cowardly act", including by training thousands of staff working in the nighttime economy on how to spot and tackle spiking.

"Piloted from December, the training will help equip staff with the skills they need to prevent incidents, support victims and help police collect evidence. This will be rolled out to up to 10,000 bar staff across the country by spring next year," read a statement issued by the UK Prime Minister's Office.

As many as 20 police forces across England and Wales have been deploying plain-clothed officers into areas around bars and clubs to spot predatory sexual behaviour.

"We know it can be incredibly difficult for victims to come forward to report this awful crime, and these cases can be very hard to prosecute. We must do more to bring the vile perpetrators who carry out this cowardly act, usually against young women and often to commit a sexual offence, to justice," said Starmer.

"That is why I made a promise that, if elected, I would make spiking a new criminal offence. Today, I am proud to have come good on that pledge," he added.
Jaipur, Nov 25 : The coronation ceremony of Nathdwara MLA Vishvaraj Singh Mewar as the 77th successor of the Mewar dynasty began on Monday at Chittorgarh Fort in Rajasthan amid uncertainty over the question whether he would defy legal notices and enter the City Palace for a ritual that has been opposed by a trust controlling the former royal property.

Vishvaraj Singh has plans to visit the palace and the Eklingji temple for a traditional "Dhuni Darshan", but the trust managing the City Palace has denied him permission. Legal notices have also been issued, warning against unauthorised entry.

Strong security arrangements have been made in this context to prevent any flare up, police said.

Earlier, Vishvaraj Singh was given a 21-gun salute during the coronation ceremony at Chittorgarh Fort which makes him the 77th Diwan of Eklingnathji. Flowers were laid all along the way for the 77th Maharana of the Mewar dynasty.

This traditional ritual, held at Fateh Prakash Mahal in Chittorgarh Fort, has drawn dignitaries and members of various royal families from across India.

The event honors the legacy of the historic Mewar dynasty following the passing away of former MP Mahendra Singh Mewar on November 10.

Meanwhile, the Dr. Ambedkar Scheduled Caste Officers-Employees Association (AJAK) has criticised the coronation, calling it inconsistent with democratic principles.

The organisation's president, Shriram Choudhary, argued that such feudal events, especially in government premises, undermine India's constitutional ethos.

The association has written to Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, threatening protests.

The coronation took place in the backdrop of a long-standing property controversy involving the City Palace in Udaipur.

The palace, currently controlled by Mahendra Singh Mewar's younger brother Arvind Singh Mewar, is central to the controversy.

Vishvaraj Singh has plans to visit the palace and the Eklingji temple but his decision has been opposed by a trust managing the City Palace. Legal notices have been also issued, warning against unauthorised entry.

Despite police efforts to mediate, no resolution has been reached, prompting the administration to enforce strong security measures.

District collector Arvind Poswal said that they tried to build consensus between two parties but no consensus could be built.

Randheer Singh Bhindar, former representative of the royal family, said that it has been decided that Vishvaraj singh will go to the City Palace.

Udaipur SP Yogesh Goyal said the administration tried to mediate but without success.
Brazilian neutral network, digital infrastructure and data centre group V.tal has agreed a contract with Atlas Renewable Energy, an international renewable energy solutions provider, which says it is entering the data centre sector in Latin America through the deal.

As part of the agreement, announced late last week, Atlas is building a solar plant in the Brazilian city of Arinos in northern Minas Gerais state in the southeast of the country. This will generate about 1,150 GWh of clean energy annually.

Carlos Barrera, CEO of Atlas Renewable Energy, says: With this contract, we aim to service Latin Americas data centres by shifting towards sustainable energy solutions, especially given their ever-increasing importance in our region and the world, said. He adds that this is only the first step; the company is looking forward to supporting the operations of digital infrastructure companies throughout the region.

The Draco solar plant as it will be known, will dedicate 710 GWh of its full capacity annually to powering V.tals buildings throughout Brazil, as well as the data centre park owned by Tecto, V.tals data centre business unit, which offers edge and hyperscale solutions.

The remaining capacity will be available for purchase by other companies seeking to meet their sustainability goals. A hospital network and a poultry producer have both already signed contracts to receive power from the new plant.

Its been a busy period for V.tal, which late last week secured US$630 million financing from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to expand its fibre network in Brazil.

The funded project reportedly allows more than 1.6 million new homes to be connected with fibre by V.tal by 2028, as well as about 4,000 schools. The total value of the project planned by V.tal is said to be US$1.64 billion.

The Teletime news service says that at the end of the third quarter the operator had passed 22.3 million houses with its fibre optic network. V.tal is also in the process of acquiring Oi's 4 million fibre subscriber base and is enjoying growth in the data centre business.
Kuwait City, Nov 25 : Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said that Egypt "stands with any Arab country facing aggression or threats from Israel," warning against dragging the region into a full-scale war.

Speaking at a press conference after his visit to Kuwait, Abdelatty criticised the international community's inaction that put the global system at risk amid Israeli aggression targeting women and children, Xinhua news agency reported.

Reaffirming Egypt's commitment to international and regional efforts to end the aggression, he said: "The arrogance of power will not bring stability and security to Israel before the Palestinian people regain their legitimate and full rights."

He also noted a significant decline in revenues from the Suez Canal due to the escalation in the Red Sea that impacts global maritime traffic.

"The tensions in Gaza and Lebanon contribute to the militarisation of the Red Sea, severely harming not only global trade but also Egypt's economy," he said.

The Foreign Minister applauded Egypt's "deep, historic, and strong ties with Kuwait at both official and popular levels", commending Kuwait's role in enhancing joint Arab action.
Rome: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar meets Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom David Lammy in Rome on Monday November 25, 2024.. Image Source: IANS

Rome, Nov 24 : External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar held discussions with the UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Rome on Monday, ahead of the Outreach session of the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting being hosted by Italy where India has been invited as a guest country.

"Appreciate the steady momentum in India UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Discussed deepening cooperation in technology, green energy, trade, mobility, as well as ongoing developments in Indo-Pacific and West Asia," the EAM posted on X after the meeting.

The meeting took place just a few days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and British PM Keir Starmer met on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro last week and had reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

As he announced the establishment of two new Consulates General of India in the United Kingdom in Belfast and Manchester, PM Modi had labeled the meeting with Starmer as an "extremely productive" one.

"For India, the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the UK is of immense priority. In the coming years, we are eager to work closely in areas such as technology, green energy, security, innovation and technology. We also want to add strength to trade as well as cultural linkages," said Prime Minister Modi after the first meeting between the two leaders.

EAM Jaishankar, who inaugurated the new Chancery of the Embassy of India in Rome on Sunday, is on a three-day visit to attend the Outreach session of the G7 Foreign Ministersa Meeting.

He is also scheduled to participate in the 10th edition of the MED Mediterranean Dialogue in Rome, being organised by Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy.

The conference will be inaugurated on Monday with a speech by Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tajani.

Besides EAM Jaishankar, the event will also be attended by high-level representatives from all over the enlarged Mediterranean region, as well as representatives of numerous relevant international organisations, including Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary General, Arab League; Taher al-Baour, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Libya; Abdallah Bou Habib, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Lebanon; Mohamed Salem Ould Marzouk, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauritania; Shaya Mohsin Zindani, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Yemen and Geir O. Pedersen, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Syria.

In Fiuggi, which is hosting the G7 Foreign Ministersa Meeting, EAM Jaishankar is expected to hold discussions on major regional issues and global topics, including the stability of the Indo-Pacific -- a priority region for political balances and world trade.

He is also expected to meet his counterparts from Italy and other participating nations in the G7 related engagements and hold bilateral discussions during the visit.

The G7 Foreign Ministersa Meeting in Fiuggi will be the second to be hosted in Italy in 2024, after the one held in Capri from April 17 to 19.

Under the Italian Presidency, the G7 Foreign Ministers have also met, in recent months, on the sidelines of major international events in Munich, Washington and New York.

"As in Capri, the agenda of the Fiuggi Ministerial Meeting will focus on the main issues at the heart of the international debate, starting with the situation in the Middle East following Hamasas brutal terrorist attack against Israel on 7 October 2023. Among the topics under discussion will be the serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the situation in Lebanon, the one in the Red Sea, and the need to promote a credible political horizon for the region that guarantees peace and security, from the perspective of 'two Peoples, two States'," stated the Italian G7 Presidency, earlier this week.
Sao Paulo, Nov 25 : Seventeen people were killed and more than 20 others injured when a bus fell into a ravine in the Brazilian state of Alagoas, said local authorities.

According to the fire department, the bus carrying 40 passengers lost control and plunged into the ravine in the mountains area of Uniao dos Palmares municipality, Xinhua news agency reported.

The state government has vowed to provide full assistance to the victims' families and declared three days of mourning.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.
Mysuru, Nov 25 : On the eve of a hearing in the Karnataka High Court, the petitioner in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) case involving Chief Minister Siddaramaiah accused Lokayukta officers investigating the case of attempting to shield the accused.

Speaking to media in Mysuru, petitioner Snehamayi Krishna said it has come to light that officers attached to the Lokayukta were "cooperating" with the accused.

It is not tenable for an investigation agency, which is accused of favouring the accused, to probe the MUDA case, he said, reiterating his demand for a CBI probe.

"I am confident that the High Court, which is looking into my petition seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the MUDA scam, will consider the demand," he said.

The matter is likely to come up in the High Court on Tuesday.

The Lokayukta officers were taking instructions from the ministers in the Congress government, alleged Snehamayi Krishna, raising suspicion of wrongdoings.

He alleged that some case-related documents had also been destroyed or concealed.

"A search warrant was issued to conduct raids on the MUDA office on June 28, but the Lokayukta has still not conducted the checks," he alleged.

He also demanded that Lokayukta officers, involved in the investigation of the case till now, should be kept out of future probe.

The petitioner alleged irregularities in the MUDA probe, claiming the investigation by the Lokayukta was halted abruptly.

The Lokayukta is investigating the MUDA case following the orders of a Special Court.

The MUDA case involves alleged illegal allotment of 14 plots/sites to CM Siddaramaiah's family. It also includes alleged illegal allotment of thousands of sites to supporters for CM Siddaramaiah and other politicians.
Bengaluru, Nov 25 : Karnataka BJP on Monday said that winning bye-elections in three Assembly constituencies in Karnataka does not mean that the Congress government is scam free.

Speaking at a press conference at the BJP state headquarters in Jagannath Bhavan in Bengaluru, BJP state General Secretary P. Rajeev criticised the Congress government, accusing it of using voters' mandate to validate its corruption.

He stated, "Using voters for the validation of the Congress government's misdeeds is an insult to democracy and the Constitution. Winning three constituencies in the bye-elections does not mean that the Congress government is scam-free," Rajeev said.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is attempting to portray himself as free of allegations, but the scams and irregularities committed by this government are inexcusable crimes, Rajeev claimed and added that the BJP will intensify its fight against this.

He claimed that the people will not accept or forgive the government's corruption and scams.

He emphasised, "While ruling parties have the advantage of administrative machinery and public sentiment, using voters to validate corruption is a disgrace to democracy. It undermines the Constitution."

Rajeev challenged CM Siddaramaiah, who is a lawyer, to file affidavits seeking the withdrawal of all pending court cases in light of their bye-election victory.

"They have won through the misuse of money, power, and resources. Using electoral victories to undermine the judicial system is an unpardonable offense," he said.

He further noted that due to the BJP's efforts, there was action against corruption in the Valmiki Tribal Welfare Corporation scam including ministerial resignations and arrests.

The High Court has also called for an investigation.

The BJP state President's padyatra forced the government to return 14 plots of land, indicating acknowledgment of wrongdoing, he claimed.

Rajeev expressed confidence that the people would deliver a fitting response to the Congress in the upcoming General Elections.

Rajeev alleged that the BJP successfully opposed the Congress government's appeasement policies regarding the Waqf issue, which have victimized innocent farmers.

He claimed that the BJP's statewide campaign had revealed the Congress' appeasement and anti-farmer policies, drawing significant public opposition.

Ahead of the winter session of legislature starting on December 9, BJP will intensify its fight for farmers within the Assembly. To prepare, three teams will tour districts from December 4-6 under the leadership of state BJP President B.Y. Vijayendra, Assembly Opposition leader R. Ashoka, and Council Opposition leader C Narayanaswamy.

"This campaign, under the banner 'Our Land, Our Right,' will expose the Congress government's Tughlaq-like policies," Rajeev said.

Rajeev said that the BJP was a disciplined party, where decisions are made through consultations with the state core committee.

"If individuals act out of personal interest, violating party rules and discipline, their actions cannot be associated with the party," he said.

He stated that MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal's protest was conducted without the approval of national, state, or district leaders.

"Such actions amount to indiscipline. While attempts were made to address the issue at the state level, Yatnal did not cooperate. We will bring this matter to the attention of national leaders and submit a report against him," Rajeev stated.

BJP state spokespersons Ashok Gowda and Venkatesh Dodderi were also present at the press conference.
New Delhi, Nov 25 : Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj announced on Monday that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has re-launched the senior citizen pension scheme, despite challenges posed by the Central government.

The scheme, offering financial assistance to Delhi residents aged 60 and above, was revived under the leadership of former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who had previously launched it but saw it halted during political setbacks.

The re-launched scheme has seen overwhelming interest, with over 10,000 applications on its first day. The government has opened 80,000 new registration slots to accommodate the demand.

Speaking to IANS, Saurabh Bharadwaj emphasised the significance of the scheme for elderly residents. "Today is a very big day for the elderly in Delhi. The senior citizen pension scheme was stopped in the past, but now, after Arvind Kejriwal returned, it has been re-launched."

"We've re-launched 80,000 pensions today for the people of Delhi. Under the scheme, senior citizens aged 60-69 will receive 2,000 per month, while those aged 70 and above will receive 2,500. Additional benefits are provided for applicants from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and minority communities," he said.

Old-age pensions have long been a political flashpoint in Delhi. Earlier this year, the BJP criticised the Delhi government for failing to expand the scheme since 2018, despite its capacity to accommodate an additional one lakh beneficiaries.

In response, the AAP government accused the Central government of withholding its contribution to the pensions, with the issue only resolved after persistent lobbying.

As Delhi heads into the 2025 Assembly elections, with the current term ending in February, former CM Kejriwal has called on voters to re-elect the AAP, promising to fulfil all remaining projects in the next term.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Kolkata, Nov 25 : Two autopsy assistants of state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata were arrested on Monday on charges of illegally extorting money from the relatives of the victims of unnatural deaths whose bodies came to the hospital morgue for a post-mortem examination.

This came to light as the two autopsy assistants - identified as Shambhu Mallick and Santosh Mallick - had a severe scuffle between them within the hospital premises a few days back.

Sources said that the cops of Tala Police Station started an investigation into the matter and came to the reason for the scuffle was the quarrel between the two autopsy assistants over the share of the extorted money.

Meanwhile, R.G. Kar insiders said that in the past, several complaints had piled up with the hospital authorities against these two autopsy assistants accusing them of extorting money.

"However, the hospital authorities have ignored all the complaints for a long time. The matter would not have come to such a stage had there not been the clash between the two, following which normal post-mortem process at the morgue was halted for quite some time," said an R.G. Kar insider who did not wish to be named.

One of the important charges in the financial irregularities case at R.G. Kar on which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is carrying out an investigation is the illegal sale of organs, harvested from unidentified bodies coming to the hospital morgue for post-mortem, in the market at lucrative prices.

The charges are also there that this racket was run by the former and controversial Principal Sandip Ghosh in association with a section of the autopsy assistants. In fact, the junior doctors attached to R.G. Kar and had been protesting against the ghastly rape and murder of a junior doctor of the hospital had also alleged earlier that Ghosh used to have a share of the money extorted from the relatives of the victims of unnatural deaths whose bodies came to the hospital morgue for the purpose of post-mortem.
Jammu, Nov 25 : The situation in Katra town - the base camp for the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine - in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district took an ugly turn on Monday when protesters clashed with police and resorted to stone pelting, officials said.

Shopkeepers, pony owners, porters, palki wallahs (palanquin-bearers) and others are protesting in the town of Katra against the proposed project along the trek route to the shrine atop the Trikuta hills.

Protesters threw stones at a CRPF vehicle and clashed with security men on the fourth day of the protest.

Shouting slogans of aBharat Mata ki Jaia, hundreds of protesters held a march and sit-in in Katra town on Monday.

The protesters had initially called a 72-hour strike, but decided on Sunday to extend it by another 24 hours.

Shri Mata Vaishno Devi shrine is the holiest Hindu shrine in the Jammu division where more than 1.50 crore devotees come each year to pay obeisance to the deity.

The strike called by shopkeepers, pony and palanquin owners began on November 22 after the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board announced plans to proceed with the Rs 250-crore ropeway project between Tarakote Marg and Sanji Chhat along the 12-km route.

The shopkeepers and labourers are saying that the proposed project, expected to be completed in two years, would leave them jobless.

During Mondayas protest, tension escalated when a CRPF vehicle attempted to pass through the town while the protesters were holding the sit-in. Officials said protesters attacked the vehicle and smashed its windshield. The vehicle was moved back with police help and during this period, protesters threw bricks at the policemen.

SSP, Reasi, Paramvir Singh has described the law and order situation as challenging and said the administration is trying to defuse the tension by talking to the protesters to allay their fears.

--IANS
New Delhi, Nov 25 : The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the formation of a fresh Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged torture of two women BJP activists in police custody in West Bengal.

These two women activists were arrested by state police after a complaint was lodged against them accusing them of making derogatory comments concerning the daughter of Trinamool Congress General Secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan allowed the appeal moved by the West Bengal government against the Calcutta High Court directing a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe.

In October, the Calcutta HC directed the CBI to probe the allegation after these two women approached the single-judge Bench of Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj accusing police of excesses, including physical assault while they were in custody.

Besides directing the CBI probe in the matter, Justice Bharadwaj had also observed that such actions on the part of the state police were simply unacceptable.

Later, a division bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hirnmay Bhattacharya upheld the order passed by the single-judge bench.

The division bench observed that from the medical report, it was clear that there had been a physical assault on the two women and hence that report cannot be ignored.

A video went viral where these two women were allegedly heard making derogatory remarks against Abhishek Banerjeeas minor daughter from a rally organised to protest against the rape and murder of a woman junior doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata.

Based on that video, a third woman filed a complaint at Diamond Harbour Police Station. Acting on that complaint, the police arrested the two women activists.

In its order, the Supreme Court said the investigation of the torture allegations will not be transferred to the CBI but to a SIT constituted by the state government comprising three senior IPS officials, who otherwise belong to states other than West Bengal but are serving in the West Bengal cadre.

The SIT, headed by DIG, Presidency Range, Akash Magharia, will take over the investigation and submit a weekly report regarding the progress to a bench of the Calcutta High Court to be constituted by the Chief Justice.

The apex court granted liberty to the two women activists to approach the SIT, also comprising SP Howrah Swati Bhangalia and Howrahas DC Traffic Sujata Kumari Veenapani, for the protection of their life and liberty.
Telecom operator MTN Benin officially launched the country's first commercial 5G network on Friday, with initial services available in select areas of the port city of Cotonou and Abomey-Calavi.

At the launch ceremony, MTN Benin touted 5Gs potential role in accelerating digital transformation for enterprises and expanding digital services in Benin, especially in terms of streaming, video games and Internet of Things (IoT), according to the Ecofin news agency.

Bolaji Adeola, senior network manager at MTN Benin, also said 5G can enable smart agriculture and boost healthcare access with services like remote care and teleconsultation, as well as improve logistics services, the report said.

MTNs business director Chary Doumbia said 5G services will expanded throughout Cotonou and the rest of the country soon, but gave no specific timeline for rollout plans.

According to Ecofin, MTN Benins 5G network is partially funded by a syndicated loan of XOF65 billion (US$103.8 million) it obtained in July from various regional financial institutions, including West African Development Bank (BOAD), Banque Atlantique, Societe Generale, Banque Internationale pour lIndustrie et le Commerce (BIIC), and BGFI Bank.

In January this year, MTN Group pledged to invest US$215 million in infrastructure in Benin over the next three years after seeing positive results from 5G trials in the country.

According to the latest figures from Benins telcoms regulator ARCEP, MTN Benin was the biggest mobile operator in the country at the end of June 2024, with just over 11 million subscriptions  6.1 million of which are active mobile Internet subscriptions.
Bhubaneswar, Nov 25 : Ahead of the upcoming winter session of the Odisha Assembly, the leaders of all major political parties participated in an all-party meeting held under the chairmanship of Speaker Surama Padhy here on Monday.

Speaking to media persons here, Padhy said that an all-party meeting was convened as per the procedural rules. She further stated that Chief Minister and Leader of the House Mohan Charan Majhi, opposition BJD Chief Whip Pramila Mallik, and Congress Legislative Party Leader Ramchandra Kadam among others participated in the meeting.

"We have deliberated extensively to ensure a smooth and productive session of the Assembly. The meeting was successful," said Padhy.

The opposition Biju Janata Dal and Congress on the other hand are all set to corner the state government on various issues including the law-and-order situation in the state, and the mango kernel death issue.

Senior BJD leader Pratap Keshari Deb stated that there are several burning issues which will be raised by the BJD during the Assembly session.

"As a responsible opposition, we will take up these issues and put the government in dock," said Deb.

The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leaders are scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. on Monday to discuss the party's strategy to corner the state government over different issues.

Meanwhile, the Director General of Police YB Khurania on Monday reviewed the security arrangements at Vidhan Sabha ahead of the winter session which is going to commence from November 26.

Police commissioner S Dev Datta Singh, ADG (Law & Order) Sanjay Kumar and Bhubaneswar DCP Pinak Mishra along with other senior police officials were also present there.

"The Commissionerate police have made extensive arrangements for the Assembly session which is going to begin from tomorrow (Tuesday). Three-tier security arrangements have been put in place for the Assembly session. As many as 30 platoons of police force and more than 300 officers will be deployed for the security of the state Assembly during the session. Adequate security arrangements have also been made at the designated places for dharna," said Khurania.

Notably, the second session of the 17th Odisha Assembly will begin on November 26 and will continue till December 31.
New Delhi, Nov 25 : Jharkhand BJP President, Babulal Marandi on Monday congratulated Hemant Soren on the INDIA Bloc's win in the Jharkhand elections and called for the formation of a corruption-free government.

In an interview with IANS, he raised concerns about the declining tribal population while acknowledging Jairam Mahto's growing influence among Kurmi voters and vowed that BJP would continue its grassroots efforts throughout the year, regardless of election results.

Interview excerpts:

IANS: How do you view INDIA Bloc's win in the Jharkhand elections?

Babulal Marandi: I congratulate Hemant Soren and hope he will form a corruption-free government. As the tribal population is decreasing, the CM-designate should form an SIT team to investigate this issue thoroughly.

IANS: What is the reason behind NDA losing?

Babulal Marandi: It is too early to comment. It's been only two days since the election results were announced. We will analyse once the government is formed and then assess where we fell short.

IANS: Jairam Mahto's party JLK, how significant was its role in the recent elections?

Babulal Marandi: He performed well in many constituencies, and a significant portion of Kurmi's votes shifted toward him. Earlier, these votes favoured AJSU, but now the trend has changed.

IANS: How do you view the post-election violence in Jharkhand, resembling West Bengal?

Babulal Marandi: In a democracy, there should be no place for violence. This morning, I received reports from the Barhait and Sahebganj. I had a conversation with the SP there. Similar reports came from Baharagora. I urge the police to register FIRs and take strict action against those instigating violence. Winning elections is worth celebrating, but such celebrations should not involve violent activities or attacking houses. This is not a part of democracy. I appeal to Hemant Soren to guide his workers. If they resort to violence, we will strongly oppose it. Democracy is about people's choice, not dictatorship.

IANS: Freebies like the Ladki Behan Yojana and Maiya Samman Yojana were major issues during these polls, both in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. What is your take on that?

Babulal Marandi: After a week, we will review our performance and analyse the factors. However, it cannot be denied that any scheme launched leaves an impact.

IANS: Why did the BJP lose in every reserved seat in Jharkhand?

Babulal Marandi: I don't see it as a reserved or unreserved issue. NDA won just 24 seats, and other seats which we did not win include both reserved and unreserved constituencies. We don't categorise society in this manner. When unexpected results occur, it impacts us temporarily, but such situations wonat last long.

IANS: Is BJP back in preparation mode to win the next term?

Babulal Marandi: Yes, we work all year round, not just during elections. Even after elections, we continue our initiatives, such as cleanliness drives, temple and pond cleaning, and organising blood donation camps. Elections come every five years, but our work is constant. Parties are formed for the betterment of the people and to raise awareness about democracy, not just for elections.

IANS: Your views on the demands to declare those killed in Sambhal as martyrs?

Babulal Marandi: It depends on the reason behind their deaths. The details must be looked into before making any judgment.

IANS: PM Modi has said small groups in Parliament try to hijack and disrupt sessions.

Babulal Marandi: Thereas nothing new about this. We have been witnessing this for a long time now, they do it every time.
Jeddah, Nov 25 : Bhuvneshvar Kumar starred in the capped bowlers list on the second day of the IPL 2025 Auction as he was sold to Royal Challengers Bengaluru for Rs 10.75 crore here at the Abadi Al Johar Arena in Jeddah on Monday.

The bidding for the pacer began at his base price of Rs 2 crore and after an intense bidding war between MI and LSG, it seemed as though Mumbai were about to secure his services at Rs 10.50 crore but RCB entered the fray and snatched his services at Rs 10.75 crore.

Bhuvneshwar began his IPL journey in 2009 with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (then Bangalore) but didnat play in his first two seasons before moving to the now-defunct Pune Warriors. After three seasons with the side, he secured a move to Sunrisers Hyderabad where he went on to represent the team for a decade and became the side's all-time leading wicket-taker. He has played 176 matches and has 181 scalps to his name in the league.

Mumbai Indians solidified an already fiery bowling attack, having retained Jasprit Bumrah and bought Trent Boult on Day 1, with the acquisition of Deepak Chahar for Rs 9.25 crore. The 32-year-old has played 81 games and claimed 77 wickets to his name. He entered the auction at a base price of Rs 2 crore and despite CSKas best attempts to buy him once again, MI prevailed in the bidding war.

In another move, Akash Deep, the former RCB fast bowler, was sold to Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 8 crore. He was highly sought after as PBKS, CSK and LSG tussled for his services, which started at a base price of Rs 1 crore before LSG prevailed on the bidding table.

Tushar Deshpande was sold to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 6.50 crore. The pacer, who represented the Chennai Super Kings in the previous two seasons, has played 36 games and taken 42 wickets in the league so far. CSK and RR engaged in an intense bidding war for Deshpande, starting at a base price of Rs 1 crore and quickly escalating past Rs 6 crore. Both teams fiercely competed for his services but the Royals prevailed with a bid of Rs 6.50 crore.

Delhi Capitals exercised their Right to Match (RTM) option and retained the services of Mukesh Kumar for Rs 8 crore who has represented the team for the past two seasons. Punjab Kings had originally won the bidding war for the 31-year-old but DC had the final say to bring him on board.

South African pacer Gerald Coetzee, who represented the Mumbai Indians in the 2024 season, was sold to the Gujarat Titans for Rs 2.40 crore. The Proteas pacer played ten games in his debut season in the tournament and scalped 13 wickets. His base price of Rs 1.25 crore was met by GT and following a slight bidding war with PBKS, the latter backed out of the race.

New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson was sold to Punjab Kings at his base price of Rs 2 crore. His former team RCB had RTM available for the 33-year-old but opted not to use it.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians acquired the services of Afghanistan spinner Allah Ghazanfar for Rs 4.80 crore in the capped spinners set.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Adil Rashid, Akeal Hosein and Keshav Maharaj remain unsold in the set.
New Delhi, Nov 25 : Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday penned a comprehensive and insightful article on how the co-operatives have undergone sea-change in terms of growth and revival in recent times while underscoring its need and importance in bringing prosperity to 1.4 billion population.

The detailed write-up, laced with several case studies has also drawn appreciation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This comes against the backdrop of India hosting its global five-day conference of the Co-operatives at Bharat Mandapam today.

Sharing details on his X handle, Amit Shah, also the Minister of Co-operatives, lauded 'Sahakar Se Samriddhi' scheme and said that it will unravel new avenues and potential for growth for the masses, including the poor and marginalised population.

"Bharat has revived its rich history of cooperatives to uplift the marginalised section. PM Modi's vision of 'Sahakar Se Samriddhi' is a mission statement for the world," he wrote on X.

The post drew attention and admiration from PM Modi as he lauded the rejuvenation of the cooperative sector under Amit Shah.

"Union Minister of Cooperation highlights how the administrative and policy reforms have rejuvenated the cooperative sector. He underscores that the vision of 'Sahkar Se Samriddhi' aims to make the cooperative institutions self-reliant and robust," PM Modi wrote on X.

Amit Shah wrote in the leading daily that the co-operative model was a vital part of the country's growth and added that it picked up pace and strength under PM Modi's tenure.

"Although our nation has had an elaborate history of cooperatives, the way cooperation became a medium of economic development before Independence was revitalised with greater energy and strength during PM Modi's tenure," he wrote.

Highlighting India's rich tradition of cooperation embedded in its cultural and cultural practices, he recalled similar endeavours in Kautilya's 'Arthashastra' and elaborated on how the collective effort led to the construction of dams, reservoirs, temples and more, during those eras.

"Economic models for 30 million to 200 million are unlikely to be suitable for India. For building a prosperous nation, with a 1.4 billion-plus population, it could be possible only through co-operation," he wrote further.

"India's commitment to 'Shahakar se Samridhi' is not just a vision but a solemn pledge to build a future grounded in collective prosperity, sustainability and shared progress," he remarked on a concluding note.
New Delhi, Nov 25 : Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), India's leading car maker, has achieved the milestone of having completed the export of 3 million vehicles.

New Delhi, Nov 25 (IANS) Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), Indiaas leading car maker, has achieved the milestone of having completed the export of 3 million vehicles.

The 3 millionth landmark vehicle was part of a shipment of 1,053 units that sailed from Gujaratas Pipavav port on Sunday, comprising models like Celerio, Fronx, Jimny, Baleno, Ciaz, Dzire and S-Presso, according to a company statement on Monday.

Maruti Suzuki MD & CEO Hisashi Takeuchi said: "Our exports from India have grown by 3 times from 4 years ago. Inspired by this global demand, Maruti Suzuki is determined to diversify and ramp up vehicle exports to 7.5 lakh units by 2030-31."

Maruti Suzuki commenced export of vehicles from India in 1986 and recorded an accelerating growth in its overseas shipments over the year. The first large consignment of 500 cars was shipped to Hungary in September 1987. The company clocked the 1 millionth milestone in vehicle exports in FY 2012-13, followed by the next million in a little less than 9 years in FY 2020-21.

The progression from 2 million to 3 million cumulative exports was achieved in just 3 years and 9 months, making it the fastest million for Maruti Suzuki.

Takeuchi said: "The 3 million cumulative exports milestone reflects Indiaas automobile manufacturing excellence and is a shining example of Brand India on the global stage. We thank the Government of India for instituting encouraging policies and enabling trade agreements with some markets augmenting export growth."

aAligned with the Government of Indiaas flagship aMake in Indiaa initiative, Maruti Suzuki is committed to deep localization and multiplying exports. Today, 40 per cent of passenger vehicles exported from India are from Maruti Suzuki making us the number 1 vehicle exporter in the country. Our success in international markets is the outcome of high acceptance of Maruti Suzukias global standard vehicles for quality, safety, design and technology. We thank our global customers and esteemed distributors for their trust in us," he added.

Maruti Suzuki exported 181,444 units in the period April-October in FY 2024-25, marking a growth of 17.4 per cent over the same period the previous year. Today, the company exports 17 models to nearly 100 countries. America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East are important export markets for the company.
New Delhi, Nov 25 : Congress Lok Sabha MP Tariq Anwar on Monday strongly criticised the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government for its handling of the violence in Sambhal district, which has resulted in four fatalities.

The violence erupted during a survey of a mosque, which is at the heart of a controversial legal dispute over claims it was built on the site of a Hindu temple. The survey, conducted by an aAdvocate Commissioner,a led to clashes as a crowd gathered near the mosque, resulting in the deaths and injuries of around two dozen people. In response to the incident, authorities imposed strict security measures, including prohibitory orders, school and college closures, and a suspension of internet services in the area.

Speaking to IANS, Anwar attributed the violence to administrative failures.

"This is a complete failure of the administration. There was tension, and the administration should have anticipated this and taken precautions. They should have made proper preparations, communicated with both communities and taken them into confidence," he said.

He further criticised the policeas response, stating, "When the police took action, it was also wrong. If anyone is responsible for this, it is the government."

Anwar also commented on the Oppositionas stance regarding the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024. He noted that Opposition members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) had met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, requesting an extension of the panelas tenure.

aItas up to the Speaker to decide, but if the Oppositionas argument is valid, time should be given. This is a very controversial bill, and nothing should be left unresolved," he added.

Regarding the recent Maharashtra election results, Anwar expressed concerns over alleged irregularities with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

"The results from Maharashtra are concerning. People are comparing them to the Lok Sabha results from four months ago, and itas a shocking outcome. There is growing suspicion about EVMs, and the demand to abolish them is rising. Many countries have already done so, but India continues to use them. Despite these concerns, we believe in democracy and accept the people's mandate," he said.
Bengaluru, Nov 25 : A man has been booked for posting objectionable content against Hindu deities on social media in Karnataka.

Akhila Karnataka Brahmana Mahasabha Vice President B. S. Raghavendra Bhat lodged the complaint with Mahalaxmipura Police Station in Bengaluru.

"We will not incite violence and indulge in burning down buildings. We have lodged a police complaint seeking legal action," he maintained.

"We follow the ideology of Lord Ram. But, if action would not be taken against man putting up the objectionable post, the community can also adopt the ideology of Parashuram," he warned.

According to police, a complaint has been lodged against one Anjum Sheik in this regard.

The complainant stated in his petition: "The accused used derogatory and objectionable language on goddess Sringeri Sharadamba, Horanadu Annapurneshwari, and Kollur Mookambika on social media. All of them were revered gods of Hindus."

"The accused had also used derogatory language against Lord Venkateswara and Lord Ganesh. The accused had used highly offensive words in his posts. Using such derogatory language for revered Hindu gods caused immense pain," Bhat stated in his complaint.

"The accused had taken to this act to spread hatred between the two communities. Legal action should be initiated against the accused and he should be put behind bars for hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus," the complainant stated.

The complainant has also urged the police that they should also probe and ascertain if anyone else was the brain behind the act.

"All the gods targeted by the accused person belong to major Hindu pilgrimage centres, worshipped by lakhs of devotees, the complainant said.
New Delhi, Nov 25 : Slamming the BJP's double-engine government slogan, former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday asked voters to continue backing the AAP's single-engine government in Delhi to reap the benefits of welfare schemes like old age pension.

Announcing the re-launch of the old-age pension scheme of the AAP government and the addition of 80,000 new beneficiaries, the AAP National Convenor said the BJP's double-engine governments in the country were giving lower pensions than the Delhi government.

Kejriwal said the old-age pension scheme was expanded by the AAP government when it came to power in 2015. The pension was raised to Rs 2,000 from Rs 1,000 (for those aged 60-69) and increased to Rs 2,500 from Rs 1,500 (for those aged 70 and above).

He said the Delhi Cabinet has passed the pension scheme's relaunch proposal and the Delhi government has also launched the scheme by opening an online portal which received 10,000 applications in one day.

Kejriwal said the AAP government's plan to add 80,000 new pensioners would take the total number of beneficiaries to 5.30 lakh.

With eyes on the upcoming Assembly elections in Delhi, the former Chief Minister said, "It is better for voters to remain with the single-engine AAP government rather than vote for the BJP's double-engine government as things are progressing well under the AAP government."

Addressing the media at the joint briefing, Chief Minister Atishi hit out at the BJP and the Central government for creating hurdles in the AAP government's development works.

She complimented Kejriwal for working for all sections of society while he was the CM till October when he was arrested in an allegedly fake money laundering case.

Earlier, Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj told IANS that the AAP government has re-launched the senior citizen pension scheme, despite challenges posed by the Central government.

"We've re-launched 80,000 pensions today for the people of Delhi. Under the scheme, senior citizens aged 60-69 will receive Rs 2,000 per month, while those aged 70 and above will receive Rs 2,500. Additional benefits are provided for applicants from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and minority communities," he said.

Speaking to IANS, Saurabh Bharadwaj emphasised the significance of the pension scheme. "Today is a very big day for the elderly in Delhi. The senior citizen pension scheme was stopped in the past, but now, after Arvind Kejriwal returned, it has been re-launched."
Hyderabad, Nov 25 : Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy said on Monday that his visits to Delhi are not linked to politics. Dismissing the Opposition's criticism of his frequent visits to the national capital, he said he would visit Delhi any number of times to get to the state what is due from the Centre.

Addressing a press conference, he slammed Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao for finding fault with his visits to Delhi.

"Some people are criticising me for visiting Delhi 28 times. I will visit as many time as required," he said.

"I am not going to Delhi for politics or bail," he said while alleging that Rama Rao visited Delhi to save himself in a case.

Revanth Reddy said he was going to Delhi on Monday to attend the marriage of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's daughter.

He said he would meet party MPs and discuss the state-specific issues to be raised during the ongoing Parliament session.

Lashing out at BRS leader Rama Rao, the Chief Minister remarked that he wants to go to jail.

"He believes that he can become the chief minister if he goes to jail. If this is correct, his sister Kavitha will become the chief minister first because she has already gone to jail," he remarked.

He also stated that there is stiff competition in KCRas family for the post of the Chief Minister.

He stated that people of the country have rejected the BJP and the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as evident from the party's defeat in Nanded and Wayanad Lok Sabha seats at the hands of Congress party.

Revanth Reddy said he can't understand why BJP is celebrating.

"In Maharashtra Assembly elections, people voted for MahaYuti but in Nanded Lok Sabha by-election they voted for Congress," he said.

"They had a government in Maharashtra, they retained it. We had the government in Jharkhand, we retained it. Their seats have gone up in Maharashtra and our seats have gone up in Jharkhand," the Telangana CM said.

He added that the BJP suffered crushing defeat in Assembly by-elections in Karnataka and West Bengal.
Seoul, Nov 25 : Prosecutors on Monday demanded a five-year prison sentence for Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong in an appeal against a court decision that acquitted the chairman over the controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates.

Prosecutors also requested a fine of 500 million won ($356,552) for Lee during the final hearing at the Seoul High Court, reports Yonhap news agency.

Lee was indicted in September 2020 on charges of stock price rigging, breach of duty and accounting fraud in the course of the controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates, Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T Corp.

The merger, where three Samsung C&T shares were offered for one Cheil share, helped Lee tighten his control of Samsung C&T, the de facto holding company for Samsung Group, through his 23.2 percent stake in Cheil.

Prosecutors suspected that the group manipulated the stock market to inflate the prices of Cheil and drive down Samsung C&T prices through various unfair practices, including disseminating false market information and lobbying the National Pension Service, a major Samsung C&T shareholder, to support the merger.

"What the defendant destroyed in this case is the justice of our economy and the constitutional values that make up the foundation of the capital market," the prosecution said, adding Lee "deceived" the shareholders by convincing them that favoring the merger was for the national interest.

The prosecution also stressed that an acquittal of Lee would pave the way for dominant shareholders to push through a merger according to their interests in "illegal and expedient" methods.

In its ruling in February, the Seoul Central District Court acquitted Lee of all 19 charges, concluding that Lee's succession as the group chairman was not the sole purpose of the merger, nor was there any evidence showing that the merger inflicted financial losses on shareholders.

The prosecution appealed the decision. In his final statement, Lee reaffirmed that he "never intended to cause financial harm to shareholders or mislead investors for personal gain." He maintained he genuinely believed the merger was "beneficial for the future of both companies."

He pleaded for "a chance" to dedicate himself fully to navigating the company's current economic challenges and to leading it "a step forward."

"I am aware that there are deep concerns about Samsung's future," he said. "I promise we will overcome these challenging times, even as the current situation is more difficult than ever."

Shares of Samsung Electronics, the crown jewel of the Samsung Group, have taken a hit recently amid mounting concerns over economic uncertainties and a perceived lack of innovation in the company's artificial intelligence chip technology.

The appeals court will deliver its final verdict on February 3.
Carlos Michael Morales: 'What really hurts at Cuban prisons is the hunger' Access to medicine is 'a horror movie' says the former political prisoner. If a sick inmate doesn't have a family member to take care of him, 'he's just not going to get cured.

Independent journalist activist and former Cuban political prisoner Carlos Michael Morales (age 48) was sentenced to two years and ten months in prison after participating in the demonstrations on July 11, 2021 (11-J). He served his sentence in full, being held at four different prisons in his home province of Villa Clara.

In May 2024, just two months after being released, Morales was imprisoned again on a charges of disobedience related to his journalistic activity. Since July 2024, he has beenunder house arrest and constant harassment by the Cuban authorities, despite complaints by international human rights organizations like Amnesty International, Articulo 19 and the Complaint Center of the Foundation for Pan American Democracy.

In this interview with the Cuban Prisons Documentation Center, Morales talks about his experience as a political prisoner in Cuba, marked by constant human rights violations and impunity by prison authorities.

Let's talk about your arrest.

I was arrested for participating in the 11-J protests in Caibarien, Villa Clara. The next day I was taken to the municipality's police investigation unit and then to La Pendiente prison, in the city of Santa Clara, until in November 2021 I was sentenced to two years and ten months in prison on a bogus charge of disturbing the peace.

At that time I went on hunger strike to protest the judicial process, and they took me out because they were afraid that the more than 30 11-J prisoners there would follow my example. Then they transferred me to the Alambrada Prison, in Manacas, where I stayed for about two years and five months. Then, due to my rebellious attitude, I was taken to the the Guamajal Prison, also in Santa Clara, where I was subjected to the harshest regime. In February of 2024 I was transferred to the Provincial Prison of Villa Clara, known as the Pre, where I stayed until March 6, when I fully served out my sentence.

What were the living conditions like at those prisons?

La Pendiente was full. There I lived with 15 prisoners in an extremely small space. When we were quarantined for Covid we could barely leave the cell or get off our bunks. At the Manacas Prison I lived in cubicles with 30 people. They were small, and their hygienic conditions were dreadful. In fact, I became infected with intestinal parasites there. At the Guamajal Prison the conditions are slightly better, but the space is also very limited.

There I lived with 20 prisoners in a very small cell. At the Pre I became infected with intestinal parasites again due to the poor hygienic-sanitary conditions.

Did you feel discriminated against in prison?

For my political opinions. In Manacas they put me in with prisoners sentenced for common crimes, even though we were prisoners of conscience imprisoned unfairly, arbitrarily, for exercising our human rights. We shouldn't even have been incarcerated, and certainly not with extremely dangerous inmates. I even spent time with murderers.

Initially, the authorities did not allow other inmates to interact with political prisoners. Afterwards, they tried to stir up conflicts between us. There was always some regular prisoner who agreed to cooperate with State Security; they'd provoke us, and try to get us into trouble, but it was hard for them, because the vast majority of the prisoners held us in high regard.

Did you suffer hostile treatment by prison officials?

Yes. On one occasion a group leader named Henry tried to hit me, but we got in a struggle, and then the other inmates in the cell got involved and prevented him from hitting me. They punished me, taking away my phone and putting me in a walled cell. I had to go on hunger strike for a week, until Alfredo Gomez, the head of the prison body, saw that my health was deteriorating and suspended the punishment.

Other times I got into fierce arguments with guards who tried to humiliate me. On February 27, 2024, in Guamajal, I was attacked by Captain Felix Bucari. I was arguing with an inmate who was an informant working for State Security, and had offended me, and the captain came and started to hit me. The next day, when they were going to transfer me to the Provincial Prison of Villa Clara, Major Rolando beat me again, simply because I asked where they were taking me.

On March 4, two days before I was released, a State Security officer who never identified himself came to see me and accused me of disobedience. The next day the head in Villa Clara of "confronting the opposition" showed up, a lieutenant colonel with State Security He told me that the disobedience charge would be dropped, but that if I continued working as a freelance journalist after my release they were going to imprison me again. And that's what happened. On May 2 I was jailed again on charges of disobedience.

What were the solitary confinement cells like?

They reek. You have to endure the stench of urine and feces that has accumulated over months and years. I was taken many times to those cells without having committed any infraction, simply as another form of persecution. Livan Hernandez Sosa, an 11-J political prisoner, was also put in isolation for saying that there was corruption at the prison, something that was confirmed shortly thereafter when Kadil Hernandez Cabrera, head of the Manacas Prison at that time, was fired after it was proven that he had been, in fact, involved in corrupt acts.

Are inmates seen by doctors when they go on hunger strikes?

A doctor usually visits them once a day, almost always in the morning. But, unless they faint or there's some kind of emergency they don't see them again until the next day.

Were you questioned by State Security agents?

They went with some frequency, but I refused to talk to them. On one occasion they threatened to transfer me to another prison after I sent a letter to another political 11-J prisoner. In Alambrada, while waiting for the sentence, an officer by the name of "Christopher" began to provoke me because he wanted my punishment to be extended, but I knew that if I took the bait he would accuse me of attacking him, and then they could lock me up for up to eight more years.

Then there was a time when they stopped going, or, when they did, they didn't see me. At the end of 2023 an officer named "Diego" arrived in Manacas to harass political prisoners.

On one occasion we got into a heated argument because he wanted to force me to talk to him, but I refused to. In retaliation, he put Livan Hernandez Sosa and I in a tunnel, and left us handcuffed there for eight hours. As a result, I suffered bursitis in my right arm.

Did you file any formal complaints about these incidents?

When I left Manacas for Guamajal, I went on hunger strike to accuse "Diego," before the Military Prosecutor's Office, of having tortured me. I spent 15 days like that, enduring very poor conditions, until a prosecutor came and I was able to present my legal complaint.

In February of 2024 the Prosecutor's Office issued its response, stating that "Diego" had not committed any infraction, and that he had the authority to leave me handcuffed for eight hours. Total impunity.

Were you ever subjected to disciplinary treatments?

Several times. For not handing over a razor, for arguing with a guard who offended me... For those things, they put me in a walled cell for 48 hours, in Manacas. They punished the three 11-J political prisoners who were there.

Would you say that there are some prisoners who are treated better than others?

There are informant prisoners, or snitches (chivatos) as call them, disparagingly, in Cuba, who supply information. These people receive privileged treatment, to a certain extent, while their information enables the authorities to go after others. But, when they are no longer of use, they brush them aside, and they too become victims.

Did you see inmates in positions of disciplinary power over others?

That happens at prisons all over the world, but I have to say that the prison population is no longer as aggressive as it was a few years ago, when there were more fights and stabbings, at least in Villa Clara.

There are always some prisoners who want to bully others, but few do now, as there is a lot of hunger, overcrowding, repression, and what the prisoners want is to access a minimum severity regime so they can work, earn a little money, and get furloughed every two months.

You're a Christian. Did they respect your right to religious attention?

The only prison in Villa Clara where there is religious attention is Guamajal, and it is very limited. The first time I went to worship, the head of Reeducation didn't want me to participate. The second time they simply wouldn't let me in. They started asking me for a series of papers. They said that we were all there, and they didn't want us to have that contact.

Were you deprived of your right to make phone calls?

On several occasions they threatened to deprive me of them for two months, but they didn't follow through, as they knew that I was on a hunger strike.

In Guamajal the re-educator Carlos Leyva, however, sided with the political prisoners when he heard the things they had to say. I had to cite codes, and, even so, arguments with him were constant.

At the Pre I had less time to make calls, but I felt free because there were no guards listening. It is very unpleasant to have no privacy with your family members.

Were you offered the chance to study or work?

There is a school at the prisons, but it's a joke. The teaching is of very low quality. Generally speaking, political prisoners with an attitude of dignity reject re-education. The same things is true of work. Many times they offer it to people who give the authorities information.

The position of a principled political prisoner is not to work, especially at a maximum security prison. In fact, when a political prisoner is offered a job, it is to humiliate him.

Let's talk about the food.

If there is one thing that really hurts at Cuban prisons, it's the hunger. No one can be satiated with the amount of food they give you there, and the cooking is awful.

For breakfast they gave us an acidic drink and a piece of bread or some root vegetable. At about 11:00 in the morning, a snack; and lunch at 4:00 in the afternoon: a little rice, which is often like a putty, or is dirty, with seeds, garbage, and pebbles; a little water, where they boiled some food before, without any salt or condiments; a bit of minced tench (fish), of very poor quality and emitting a tremendous stench; or tench croquettes that only a pig could eat.

Prisoners who do not have a family member to bring them food, constituting the vast majority, have to live with that and go 12 to 14 hours without eating anything between lunch and breakfast. You can imagine the malnutrition at prisons

What is the situation in terms of water?

Of the prisons in Villa Clara, three have critical water situations. I was sometimes thirsty. The water was disgusting, tasting of dirt or fish. It usually has to be transported in buckets, and the supply was very limited. If I washed, I couldn't take a bath; if I tried to, there often wasn't enough to bathe. The water there is so cold that, at the prisons with a courtyard, the prisoners put the buckets in the sun to warm them up a little.

What was your experience with healthcare?

When I arrived at La Pendiente we underwent psychological analysis. They also conduct health tests, but these are more complementary. Sometimes they do antigen or HIV tests to see if there are any people with venereal diseases. But, overall, the medical care in Cuban prisons is poor. Sometimes you have to go on a hunger strike to get care. There are many elderly people with serious illnesses and diseases, and they are not given extra-penal leave. For that to happen, the inmate has to be on the verge of death. This is a regime that has no compassion for sick people.

When I had a medical problem, I usually got the necessary examinations, but, because they knew that I spoke out through the independent press, social media, and the Cuban Human Rights Observatory.

However, during the last hunger strike I went on, in February 2024, after being beaten by Captain Felix Bucari and Major Rolando, the attention was critical. They later isolated me from the rest of the prison population, without an inmate to take care of me. One morning I suffered severe tachycardia and there was absolutely no one to help me.

What about access to medicines?

It's like a horror movie. There are very few medications. When an inmate falls ill, the vast majority of the drugs that the doctor might prescribe must be obtained outside the prison, where the situation is also serious. If a sick inmate doesn't have a family member to take care of him, 'he's just not going to get cured.'

In prison, were you provided with the clothes and everything else you needed?

They gave you one or two changes of clothes, which you have to wear every day. Only at La Pendiente, which is for people who are not yet sentenced, do they let you wear civilian clothes, and mostly on weekends, when you wash. Otherwise you are only allowed inmate clothing, which is of an extremely uncomfortable fabric, unpleasant to the eye and on the body.

If you wash it during the week, you may be punished. They give you a quilt, which usually reeks, and that you have to wash with a lot of detergent to get the stench out; a sheet, which is usually very worn out; and a small towel that inmates use to wash their feet. One bathroom soap once a month, and sometimes a roll of toilet paper. They never give you a shaving razor, though you are required to shave.

Did you witness any deaths or suicide attempts in prison?

When I was in Manacas, one inmate committed suicide; he couldn't stand the hunger he was suffering.

Do you think that the prison authorities seek to minimize the differences between life in prison and outside it, as should be their goal?

No. Inmates are treated aggressively, rudely and disparagingly. They are assaulted, beaten over minor incidents, punished, and disciplined for the least infraction, sometimes even for pleasure. Minors receive serious beatings by the police and members of the military. It is a constant onslaught, to the point that prisoners sometimes find daily life difficult.

Do you think the prison authorities seek to prevent or reduce recidivism by inmates?

They should, but, unfortunately, this is a police state where everything is a crime. At La Pendiente prison there were more than 600 inmates, even though this exceed its capacity. They had to set up outbuildings at the Villa Clara Provincial Prison because they did not all fit. There are a huge number of people awaiting trial due to the trend of accusing Cubans of disobedience and constituting threats.
Chennai, Nov 25 : The next session of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly will begin on December 9.

In a statement issued on Monday, Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Secretary K. Srinivasan announced that the Speaker of the Assembly, M. Appavu, has scheduled the session to begin at 9:30 a.m. on December 9. The session will be held at the Assembly Hall in Durbar Hall.

Sources within the principal opposition party, AIADMK, informed IANS that the opposition plans to raise concerns about the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. The DMK government is also expected to face criticism over the encounter killings of history-sheeters and criminals.

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who also holds the Home Department portfolio, will be under pressure to address questions about the rise in murders in Tamil Nadu. Among these is the high-profile case of the brutal murder of BSP state president K. Armstrong on July 5.

Armstrong was killed by bike-borne assailants, and the police have since arrested 28 individuals in connection with the case. The first accused, Nagendran, has been in Puzhal Central Prison for the past 26 years, while the second accused, Sambav Senthil, remains absconding.

The Chief Minister is also expected to face questions about the governmentas handling of recent heavy rains, floods, and the resulting destruction of Samba paddy crops, which has adversely affected farmers in the state.

This session will be the first after Stalinas son, Udhayanidhi Stalin, was appointed as the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

There are also reports suggesting that the AIADMK is attempting to court Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), a powerful Dalit political party currently allied with the DMK. The VCK, which has four MLAs in the Assembly, could become a source of tension during the session if these overtures lead to political manoeuvring.
Siem Reap, Nov 25 : United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday that threat from landmines remained as some state parties to the Mine-Ban Convention, known as the 'Ottawa Treaty', renewed the use of anti-personnel mines.

Guterres said in a message sent to the Siem Reap-Angkor Summit on a Mine-Free World being in Cambodia's Siem Reap province, Xinhua news agency reported.

He said the convention represented a solemn commitment to end the legacy of destruction from landmines and that for 25 years, it has driven important progress, with over 55 million anti-personnel devices destroyed across 13,000 square kilometres in over 60 countries.

Also, thousands of people have received lifesaving awareness education and victim assistance services, he added.

"But the threat remains. This includes the renewed use of anti-personnel mines by some of the Parties to the Convention, as well as some Parties falling behind in their commitments to destroy these weapons," Guterres said.

"I call on States Parties to meet their obligations and ensure compliance to the Convention, while addressing humanitarian and developmental impacts through financial and technical support," he added.

Guterres' message was read by UN Under-Secretary-General Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana during the opening ceremony of the summit, which brought together delegates from more than 150 countries, which are state parties to the Mine-Ban Convention.
Jeddah, Nov 25 : The accelerated round of the IPL 2025 Auction, proved to be a mixed bag of excitement, fierce bidding wars, and surprising exclusions. While several uncapped players fetched impressive amounts, notable veterans and promising names were left unsold, here at the Abadi Al Johar Arena in Jeddah on Monday.

Uncapped all-rounder Anshul Kamboj turned heads during the auction. Known for his sensational 10-wicket haul in the Ranji Trophy and effective new-ball bowling, Kamboj sparked a fierce bidding war between Delhi Capitals (DC), Chennai Super Kings (CSK), and Mumbai Indians (MI). The Haryana all-rounder, who boasts a natural inswinger and consistent length, saw his price rocket past Rs 3 crore, finally landing with CSK for Rs 3.4 crore.

The towering 6'6" pacer Gurnoor Singh Brar, renowned for his bounce and pace, returned to Gujarat Titans (GT) after an exciting bidding contest with Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings. Brar's exploits in the 2024 Sher-E-Punjab T20 league, where he was the top wicket-taker, and his stint as a net bowler for the Indian Test side boosted his credentials. Titans secured him for Rs 1.3 crore.

Shubham Dubey, who impressed last season, became the focus of an intense bidding war. Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) engaged in a back-and-forth duel, with RCB eventually conceding as RR secured Dubey for Rs 80 lakh.

CSK brought Shaik Rasheed back for his base price of Rs 30 lakh, showing their continued trust in the uncapped batter. Meanwhile, Himmat Singh was snapped up by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for the same price, adding depth to their middle-order options.

The accelerated round saw several surprises as experienced and talented players were left unsold. James Anderson, the oldest player in the auction, found no takers. Indian stalwarts like Prithvi Shaw, Shardul Thakur, Devdutt Padikkal, and Ajinkya Rahane were conspicuous by their absence from the accelerated list. Mayank Dagar, who was with RCB last year, and uncapped players like Pukhraj Mann, Madhav Kaushik, and Vansh Bedi also failed to attract bids.

Mukesh Choudhary returned to CSK at his base price of Rs 30 lakh, strengthening their pace attack. Arshad Khan, an all-rounder previously with MI, moved to GT after an intense bidding war that ended at Rs 1.3 crore. Swapnil Singh, the left-arm spinner, was retained by RCB through an RTM card after DC raised his price to Rs 50 lakh.
New Delhi, Nov 25 : The government has formed a committee to suggest a framework for providing social security and welfare benefits to gig and platform workers, the Parliament was informed on Monday.

Gig workers and platform workers have been defined for the first time in the Code on Social Security 2020, which has been enacted by the Parliament.

Social Security and Welfare-related provisions for the gig and platform workers have been mentioned in the Code, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Shobha Karandlaje, told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

"The Code provides for framing suitable social security measures for gig workers and platform workers on matters relating to life and disability cover, accident insurance, health and maternity benefits, old age protection, etc. The Code also provides for setting up a Social Security Fund to finance the welfare scheme," she added.

An advisory has also been issued by the Ministry of Labour and Employment to aggregators to register themselves and platform workers engaged with them on the e-Shram portal.

The ministry launched the eShram portal on August 26, 2021, for the creation of a comprehensive National Database of Unorganised Workers (NDUW) verified and seeded with Aadhaar.

The eShram portal is meant to register and support unorganised workers by providing them with a Universal Account Number (UAN).

In October this year, about 60,000 registrations happened on eShram per day and a single-day registration reached 97,839 on October 9, said Karandlaje in a reply to a separate question in the Lok Sabha.

As on November 19, over 30.4 crore unorganised workers have registered on the eShram portal, on a self-declaration basis.

"Integration of social security and welfare schemes with eShram is a continuous process," said the minister.

She further stated that since its inception in October and till November 18, a total of 46,10,233 Labour Identification Numbers (LINs) have been issued online to businesses and employers registered on Shram Suvidha Portal (SSP).

The portal has eased the complexity of compliance by providing the facilities of online registration, licence, and return filing to business entities along with a randomised risk-based inspection system, thereby reducing subjectivity, for the law-implementing agencies.

"Since its inception and till November 18, 2024, 1,20,663 licences have been issued online. Further, a total of 4,35,376 returns have been filed online," the minister said.
Mumbai, Nov 25 : Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday evening left for Delhi for a 'private' function where he is likely to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the government formation in the state.

Sources said that the Deputy Chief Minister is expected to hold a meeting with the party's central leaders over the government formation in the wake of MahaYuti's landslide victory in the state assembly election.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar are also likely to leave for Delhi to participate in the meeting with the Home Minister.

Sources said that the trio is expected to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah tonight to discuss the formalities to be completed for the government formation and the Chief Minister's post, besides, the Cabinet formula among BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP will also be taken up for discussion during their meeting.

The meeting is crucial especially when the chorus is rising for Fadnavis to be the Chief Minister within the BJP as several newly elected legislators are making a strong pitch after they met the former at his official residence Sagar. BJP has yet to convene the meeting of the newly elected legislators to elect the state legislature party group leader, chief whip and whip.

However, both Shiv Sena and NCP have already held their meetings and appointed Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar as the group leaders of their respective state legislature parties.

A senior BJP leader said that it is not only the BJP legislators and the rank and file that want Fadnavis to become the Chief Minister but RSS too is in his favour.

He said that Fadnavis, who was the second Chief Minister after Vasantrao Naik to complete a five-year tenure, became the Chief Minister for 80 hours second time after Ajit Pawar had deserted his uncle in November 2019.

"After Eknath Shinde was appointed as the Chief Minister in June 2022, Fadnavis followed the party's directive and joined the government as Deputy Chief Minister. The situation has changed completely now as BJP broke its previous record of winning 122 seats in 2019 as it has bagged 132 seats and it is due to Fadnavis' leadership. The central leadership is expected to give its green signal soon," the BJP leader said.

Interestingly, Shiv Sena legislators are strongly making a case for the party chief leader Eknath Shinde to continue as the Chief Minister, saying that he is the natural claimant for being an architect of the MahaYuti's stellar performance in the state Assembly election.

On the other hand, NCP legislators are arguing that Ajit Pawar, who is known as the best administrator, should become the Chief Minister.

A section of the MahaYuti alliance is floating a formula of dividing the Chief Minister's post among themselves whereby BJP and Shiv Sena can hold the post for two years each and NCP for one year. This will be based on the number of legislators of the respective parties. However, there has been no official statement from any ally yet.
Patna, Nov 25 : At least four persons including a 10-year-old girl were injured in the post bypolls violence in the Belaganj Assembly constituency in Gaya, Bihar.

The altercation between the two groups began after a family was celebrating the NDA's election win during a birthday party.

The ugly spat took place while some members started to play songs in honour of Chirag Paswan, which allegedly provoked members of the Yadav community.

"We were playing songs, celebrating the birthday and the election victory. The songs mentioned Chirag Paswan. Yadav people came and told us to stop the music. They started abusing us and eventually resorted to physical assault. About 10-15 people attacked us, throwing bricks and stones at us. Many of us were injured," Murari Paswan, an injured NDA supporter, recounted.

The violence left four members of the same family including a 10-year-old girl injured who were then admitted to Magadh Medical College Hospital for treatment.

Murari Paswan accused Shailesh Yadav, Bablu Yadav, and others of leading the attack, stating that they are affiliated with the RJD.

"An FIR has been lodged by both parties at Chandauti police station and three individuals have been arrested in connection with the incident," said Ajay Kumar, SHO of Chandauti police station.

On November 23, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won all four Assembly seats in Bihar by-election.

In Tarari, BJP candidate Vishal Prasant won defeating CPI-ML candidate Raju Yadav. Prashant secured 78,755 votes, Yadav garnered 68,143 votes while Jan Suraaj Party candidate Kiran Devi only 5,622 votes.

In Imamganj, Deepa Kumari, the daughter-in-law of Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) (Secular) Chief Jitan Ram Manjhi, also secured the victory in a tightly contested race.

In Ramgarh, BJP candidate Ashok Kumar Singh won the seat by 1,362 votes. Ashok Singh secured 62,257 votes, while BSP candidate Satish Yadav trailed with 57,656 votes.

In Belaganj, JD-U candidate Manorma Devi won defeating RJD's Vishwanath Kumar Singh.
New Delhi, Nov 25 : About 61.91 lakh foreign tourists arrived in India this year (January-August period) against 59.71 lakh arrivals registered in the same period last year, the government said on Monday.

In a reply to a Lok Sabha question on the first day of the Parliament's winter session, Union Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that total foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) stood at 9.52 million (90.52 lakh) last year.

"As per the UNWTO Barometer published in September 2024, export revenues from international tourism in 2023 were recorded at $1.8 trillion, which includes receipts from tourism activities as well as passenger transport," the minister said.

The tourism sector contributed 5 per cent to the country's GDP in 2022-23, a significant surge from 1.75 per cent in 2021-22.

The Ministry of Tourism undertakes various promotional activities in important and potential tourist-generating markets with the objective of showcasing India's tourism potential and promoting tourism in the country, including the state of Himachal Pradesh.

"The Chalo India initiative has been launched by the Ministry to encourage the huge Indian diaspora to become Incredible India ambassadors and encourage their five non-Indian friends to visit India, every year," the minister informed.

A Chalo India portal has also been developed for registration of the Indian diaspora. There are about five million OCI card holders.

While each OCI holder can nominate up to five people, the total number of free e-visas to be granted under the initiative is one lakh.

The ministry has undertaken several steps to improve the quality of infrastructure and facilities at various tourist destinations across the country under schemes such as 'Swadesh Darshan', 'PRASHAD', and 'Assistance to Central Agencies for Tourism Infrastructure Development', in collaboration with States/UTs, Central agencies and private stakeholders.

The Ministry of Tourism has partnered with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Railways, and Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways to achieve this goal.

The 'Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive' (PRASHAD) scheme provides financial assistance to the state governments and union territories administration for the development of tourism infrastructure at the pre-identified pilgrimage destinations and heritage cities.
Jeddah, Nov 25 : Will Jacks' Rs 5.25 crore move to Mumbai Indians (MI) and Tim David's Rs 3 crore move to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) sparked excitement in the accelerated round on the second day of the IPL 2025 Auction here at the Abadi Al Johar Arena in Jeddah on Monday.

Jeddah, Nov 25 (IANS) Will Jacksa Rs 5.25 crore move to Mumbai Indians (MI) and Tim Davidas Rs 3 crore move to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) sparked excitement in the accelerated round on the second day of the IPL 2025 Auction here at the Abadi Al Johar Arena in Jeddah on Monday.

England power-hitter Will Jacks, who represented Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the previous edition, was sold to the Mumbai Indians for Rs 5.25 crore. The 26-year-old, who made his debut in the 2024 season in which he played eight games including a brilliant century against Gujarat Titans, entered the auction at a base price of Rs 2 crore. The five-time IPL winners pipped Punjab Kings to win his services and in a surprise decision, RCB chose not to use their Right to Match for their former batter.

Tim David, the former Mumbai Indians middle-order batter, was bought by RCB for Rs 3 cr. The Australian entered the auction at a base price of Rs 2 crore but the Bengaluru franchise faced little to no resistance in garnering his services.

Baroda all-rounder Deepak Hooda entered the auction at a base price of Rs 75 lakh and was sold to Chennai Super Kings for Rs 1.7 crore.

Shahbaz Ahmed was sold to Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 2.4 crore. The former Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder has been in scintillating form at the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 trophy where he scored a century for Bengal against Punjab on Saturday, entered at a base price of Rs 1 crore. LSG and SRH entered the bidding war but the former pipped the Hyderabad-based franchise.

Punjab Kings secured the services of Azmatullah Omarzai for Rs 2.4 crore. The Afghanistan fast-bowling all-rounder was sought after by Chennai as well but Punjab had the final laugh for the player who registered himself at a base price of Rs 1.5 crore.

RCB secured the services of West Indies all-rounder Romario Shepherd for his base price of Rs 1.5 crore while Gujarat Titans secured the services of Tamil Nadu spinner R. Sai Kishore for Rs 2 crore. Having entered at a base price of 75 lakh, Punjab did not face any competition for the talented spinner but were outclassed by GTas Right to Match (RTM) card.

Two-time IPL winner with Chennai Super Kings, Moeen Ali went unsold at the auctions having entered at a base price of Rs 2 crore.
New Delhi, Nov 25 : In a significant achievement in wildlife conservation, India's tiger population has grown to 3,682 in 2022, up from 2,967 in 2018, showing a 6 per cent annual increase in consistently monitored areas, the Parliament was informed on Monday.

New Delhi, Nov 25 (IANS) In a significant achievement in wildlife conservation, Indiaas tiger population has grown to 3,682 in 2022, up from 2,967 in 2018, showing a 6 per cent annual increase in consistently monitored areas, the Parliament was informed on Monday.

The rise in tiger numbers is due to efforts by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which focuses on three main strategies -- material and logistical support, restricting habitat interventions, and following Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Kirti Vardhan Singh told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

The Central Indian Landscape Complex and Eastern Ghats Landscape Complex, spanning Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Jharkhand, saw the numbers rise from 1,033 in 2018 to 1,439 in 2022, while the Shivalik-Gangetic Plain landscape complex, encompassing Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar, registered a rise from 646 to 819, including from 442 to 560 in Uttarakhand. Other complexes also registered significant growth, such as Sundebans where the population increased from 88 to 101.

However, within the Central Indian Landscape Complex and Eastern Ghats Landscape Complex, the tiger population has declined in Odisha, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand. Apart from this, the tiger population has also decreased in Arunachal Pradesh where it has come down from 29 to 9 in 2022. However, in Madhya Pradesh, tigers increased from 526 in 2018 to 785 in 2022, and in Maharashtra, from 312 to 444.

India's tiger population has more than doubled since 2006, when it was 1,411. This growth has been supported by Project Tiger, a government initiative that funds conservation activities through annual plans prepared by tiger reserves. These plans are based on broader Tiger Conservation Plans, as mandated by the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the reply said.

Funding is provided to tiger reserves for acquiring capacity in terms of infrastructure and material, to deal with tigers dispersing out of source areas. These are solicited by tiger reserves through an Annual Plan of Operation (APO) every year which stems from an overarching Tiger Conservation Plan (TCP), mandated under Section 38 V of the Act.

Based on the carrying capacity of tigers in a tiger reserve, habitat interventions are restricted through an overarching TCP. In case tiger numbers are at carrying capacity levels, it has been advised that habitat interventions should be limited so that there is no excessive spillover of wildlife including tigers thereby minimising man-animal conflict. Further, in buffer areas around tiger reserves, habitat interventions are restricted such that they are sub-optimal vis-a-vis the core/critical tiger habitat areas, judicious enough to facilitate dispersal to other rich habitat areas only, the reply said.

As per Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs), the National Tiger Conservation Authority has issued three SOPs to deal with human-animal conflict -- the issue of managing dispersing tigers, managing livestock kills so as to reduce conflict as well as relocating tigers from source areas to areas where the density of tiger is low, so that conflict in rich source areas does not occur.

Also as per Tiger Conservation Plans, need-based and site-specific management interventions are undertaken by the tiger reserves to improve the quality of wildlife habitat and funding support for these activities is provided under the Project Tiger Component of the ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats, the Minister said in the reply.
Patna, Nov 25 : Bihar Public Health Engineering Minister and BJP MLA Neeraj Kumar Bablu said on Monday that the Waqf Bill should not be amended but completely abolished.

"The Waqf Board Bill should be entirely abolished rather than amended. The decision regarding the Waqf Board will be decisive for Bihar. All religious practices like Namaz will eventually face restrictions," the Bihar minister said.

He also supported Union Minister Lallan Singh's claim that minorities do not vote for the JD-U despite the Nitish Kumar government having done many things for the community.

Bablu suggested that development policies should now be tailored while keeping religion in mind, signalling a potential shift in how governance and religious considerations might intersect.

The opposition is fiercely resisting any amendments to the Waqf Board Bill and has accused the BJP government of using the issue to polarise communities for political gain.

On Sunday, Union Minister and Munger MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh (Lallan Singh) addressed the Muslim community's voting patterns in Muzaffarpur, saying that Muslims have not traditionally supported the JD-U in elections.

He urged party workers not to remain under any illusions, asserting that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is fully aware of the demographics behind his electoral support.

Singh emphasised that Nitish Kumar's focus remains on Bihar's overall development, irrespective of voting trends.

On the contentious issue of the Waqf Board, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also reiterated the BJP's stance on the issue. During a speech at the BJP headquarters celebrating the Maharashtra election win, PM Modi claimed that the Waqf Board has no constitutional basis.

He also accused the Congress of "unjustly" transferring properties to the Waqf Board during its tenure, a move he suggested was politically motivated.
On the morning of November 23rd, the first Anhui Chu Culture Forum opened in Huainan, Anhui, where over 160 experts, scholars, and researchers related to Chu culture gathered at the foot of Shungeng Mountain to discuss the creative transformation and innovative development of Chu culture. Chu culture has a unique charm and has had a profound impact on Chinese history, benefiting contemporary society and serving as a cultural heritage cherished by provinces such as Hunan, Hubei, Henan, and Anhui. Situated in the Jianghuai region, Anhui was a strategic stronghold for the state of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period. In 241 BC, the state of Chu moved its capital to Shouchun, which is today's Shouxian County in Huainan City, Anhui Province. On April 16th of this year, at the "Archaeological China" major project progress meeting, the National Cultural Heritage Administration announced the latest discoveries from the highest-ranking Chu tomb excavated to datethe Wuwangdun Tomb in Huainan City, Anhui Province. Since the beginning of this year, as the archaeological excavation of the Wuwangdun Tomb has steadily progressed, Huainan City has continuously intensified its research into the unique characteristics of "Huai-Chu Culture" and released nationwide planning topics on Huai-Chu culture. In May, the city hosted the first Chu Culture Academic Seminar. Huainan Normal University and the Anhui Chu Culture Museum have also used artifacts unearthed from the Wuwangdun Tomb as models to create a series of cultural and creative products. Huainan is a place where Chu culture has accumulated, been passed down, and transformed, and it is referred to by the academic community as the birthplace of Chu culture studies. It houses the only museum in the country named after Chu culture, the Anhui Chu Culture Museum. Plans are underway to develop Shouchun City, the Wuwangdun Archaeological Site Park, and the Chu-Han Cultural Tourism Core Area. By hosting the first Anhui Chu Culture Forum, Huainan aims to generate enthusiasm for Huai-Chu culture research, establish its brand, spread its stories, and bring its legacy to life.

Source: www.news.cn www.xinhuanet.com
In a recent legal clash that stirred up the coffee industry, Moccona (owned by JDE) went head-to-head with Vittoria over the shape of their coffee jars.

The dispute centered around Mocconas claim that Vittorias coffee jar design was misleading and deceptive, potentially causing customers to confuse the two products. Vittoria, in turn, denied these claims and sought to cancel Moconnas trade mark registration, arguing that the jar shape was not distinctive enough to warrant protection.

The Federal Court ruled in favor of Vittoria, dismissing Moconnas claims of trade mark infringement. The Court found that the shape of Vittorias jar was not confusingly similar to Moconnas, pointing out several key differences in the proportions, neck and shoulder shape, and lid design of the jars. Additionally, the Court determined that Vittoria did not use the shape of its jar as a trade mark.

On the other hand, the Court dismissed Vittorias attempt to cancel Moconnas trade mark, as Moconnas jar shape had acquired distinctiveness, had been used in commerce, and was not registered in bad faith.

From the Moccona vs. Vittoria coffee jar dispute, business leaders can extract several key lessons about protecting their brand and trademarks, ensuring their business remains distinct and legally safeguarded.

Trademark protection is more than a legal tool

The Moccona case serves as a reminder of the critical role trademarks play beyond just protecting your intellectual property. Trademarks, whether for logos, product shapes, or other brand elements, are invaluable assets that offer exclusivity and legal protection from competitors.

For business leaders, registering your brand elements isnt just about securing legal rightsits about strategically positioning your brand for long-term growth and value, especially as your business expands.

Lessons from Vittorias defense

Vittorias decision to challenge Mocconas trademark highlights an important lesson in questioning the validity of trademarks. Although they didnt succeed in having Mocconas coffee jar trademark canceled, Vittorias cross-claim serves as a reminder that businesses can contest the distinctiveness of a competitors trademark, especially if it feels like the mark is too generic or non-distinctive. For business leaders, this emphasizes the importance of periodically reviewing your competitors trademarks and being prepared to defend your market position. If a trademark feels too close to yours or affects your brand identity, you have the option to challenge itjust be ready for the legal complexities that come with it.

Build distinctiveness  Its crucial for trademark strength

A key lesson from the Moccona case is the importance of building distinctiveness in your brand identity. Mocconas coffee jar had achieved a level of distinctiveness that helped defend its trademark rights. For business leaders, this underscores the need to develop unique, recognizable designs and consistently reinforce them in the marketplace. The more recognizable and distinct your product becomes, the more robust your trademark position will be in the event of a dispute. Vittoria, despite its efforts to invalidate Mocconas mark, would need to prove its own trademarks are also unique to avoid similar challenges.

Trademark infringement is more complex than looks

This case also highlights that trademark infringement isnt solely determined by how similar two products appear. Despite both being coffee jars, the Federal Court ruled that the designs werent confusingly similar, pointing out the differences in proportions, lid shapes, and neck designs.

This teaches business owners that trademark disputes can hinge on even the smallest design differences. Its important to ensure your brand stands apart not only in look but also in overall branding and marketing strategy to avoid legal challenges.

Know when and how to defend

The Moccona case emphasizes the importance of actively defending your trademarks. Moccona successfully fought to protect its trademark from cancellation, showcasing the need for proactive defense. Business leaders must be prepared to defend their trademarks whenever they are challenged, ensuring they are consistently used and legally protected.

This kind of preparedness can save businesses from costly and time-consuming disputes. Vittoria, in this case, actively defended its market position by challenging Mocconas trademark and asserting that it was too generic.

Be prepared to demonstrate legitimate use

Mocconas defense was strengthened by its active use of the coffee jar design in commerce. For business leaders, this serves as an important reminder: trademarks must be actively used in the market, not just registered.

If your trademark is ever questioned, be ready to show that it has been genuinely and consistently used in connection with your business. This demonstrates the legitimacy of your claim and strengthens your position in protecting your brand.

Trademark laws are jurisdiction-specific

While this case took place in Australia, the lessons extend beyond national borders. Trademark laws and protections can vary greatly between countries, so businesses operating globally must register their trademarks in each market they enter.

What is protected in one country may not be in another, so its crucial to understand the nuances of trademark law in different jurisdictions to ensure comprehensive protection for your brand. Both Moccona and Vittoria could have faced different outcomes had the case been contested in other regions, underscoring the need for multinational trademark protection.

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Kolkata, Nov 25 : Monday was an eventful day as far as the multi-crore cash-for- school job case in West Bengal is concerned, as two parallel and crucial developments unfolded in connection with the matter at two courts here.

On one hand, a special court of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Kolkata granted bail to Arpita Mukherjee, a prime accused in the case and a close associate of former West Bengal education minister and ex-Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee.

Last week, the same special court granted her a five-day parole because of the sudden demise of her mother.

The term of the parole was supposed to expire on Monday only. Arpita was granted bail 857 days after she was arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials in July 2022 after huge cash and gold were recovered from her twin residences.

Also, on Monday, Calcutta High Court Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam referred the matter pertaining to bail plea of Partha Chatterjee to a new Bench.

Last week, the matter remained pending at a two-judge Bench of the Calcutta High Court as the two judges of the same Bench differed on the matter and the case was sent back to the office of the Chief Justice.

Although it was perceived initially that the Chief Justice might refer the matter either to a higher bench or an alternative two-judge Bench, on Monday it was announced that a single-judge Bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty will look into the matter.

Last week, the two-judge Bench of Justice Arijit Bandopadhyay and Justice Apurba Sinha Roy gave a fractured verdict on Chatterjee's bail plea. While Justice Bandopadhyay granted the bail to Chatterjee, Justice Sinha Roy refused it.

As the reason for the refusal, Justice Sinha Roy stated from the proceedings of the hearing it had been evident that there had been attempts on the part of the state administration to protect some of the accused persons in the case.

Chatterjee was also arrested by the ED sleuths on the same day Arpita was arrested in July 2022. Since then, a solitary cell of Presidency Central Correctional Home in Kolkata had been his abode.
Jaipur, Nov 25 : The Rajasthan Curriculum Review Committee held under the leadership of Professor Kailash Chand Sodani asserted on Monday that there is a necessity to align educational content with both ancient and modern values.

Sodani highlighted the enduring influence of Lord Macaulay's education policy and its perceived drawbacks while also stressing the importance of embracing the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

"There is a need to give knowledge to the future generation which should be a confluence of ancient and modern values. Education policy is most important for building the future of any country. Unfortunately, even today Lord Macaulay's policy is influencing our nation. We are seeing its ill effects," he said.

He added that fortunately, the incumbent government has implemented the National Education Policy 2020, adding that the Indian knowledge system should be a part of the education system.

"We need to consider how we can make changes in the school curriculum according to the present times," he said.

He also asked the committee members to send their suggestions in writing to the committee before the next meeting.

During the meeting, PDF links of textbooks from Class 1 to 12 were distributed among all the members and the syllabus of primary-level books was also distributed.
Cairo, Nov 25 : A total of 17 people, including tourists and Egyptian crew members, were missing after their safari boat sank off the northern area of Marsa Alam city at the Red Sea, the Egyptian Red Sea Province said on its official Facebook page on Monday.

The boat initially carried 45 people, including 31 tourists and 14 crew members.

Amro Hanfy, governor of the Red Sea Province, told Xinhua news agency that 28 survivors had been found and dispatched by airplane for medical care.

"Intensive efforts are underway in search for the missing in coordination with the armed and naval forces," noted Hanfy.

The governor added that frigate El-Fateh and airplanes are continuing to comb the area.

He urged people nearby to avoid the accident spot so that the rescue team could carry out their duties.

According to initial information, the boat sank near a coral reef in north Marsa Alam, Xinhua news agency reported.

The control centre in the Red Sea province received a distress signal from a crew member on Monday from a boat named 'Sea Story' around 5:30 am local time (0330 GMT).

The boat, on a diving trip, left Port Ghalib in Marsa Alam on November 24 and was scheduled to return to Hurghada Marina on November 29.
Ranchi, Nov 25 : The new government in Jharkhand under Chief Minister Hemant Soren, set for his fourth term as he is sworn in on November 28, will include at least five new faces in the cabinet, sources said.

On Monday, Soren held discussions with his close aides at the CM's residence to finalise the new cabinet. Earlier, consultations were also held with alliance leaders to decide ministerial allocations.

The Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) -- key allies in the coalition -- are expected to have their ministerial nominations finalised by their respective high commands.

Meanwhile, the CPI-ML, another alliance partner, has yet to confirm whether it will be a part of the cabinet or not. If it does, it will mark the first time a Left party holds a ministerial position in Jharkhand.

The Jharkhand cabinet can have a maximum of 12 ministers, including the Chief Minister. The alliance numbers include 34 MLAs from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), 14 from the Congress, 4 from the RJD, and 2 from the CPI-ML.

As per sources, the cabinet may consist of Six MLAs from JMM, three or four from Congress, one or two from the RJD and one from the CPI-ML, if it chooses to join.

From the JMM, the names under consideration include first-time ministerial prospects such as Louis Marandi (Jama), Stephen Marandi (Maheshpur), Mathura Mahato (Tundi), and Anant Pratap Deo (Bhawanathpur).

Chaibasa MLA Deepak Birua and Ghatsila MLA Ramdas Soren are expected to retain their ministerial positions.

From the Congress, probable candidates include Rameshwar Oraon (Lohardaga), Pradeep Yadav (Poraiyahat), Deepika Pandey Singh (Mahagama), and Anoop Singh (Bermo)

RJDas Suresh Paswan, the MLA from Deoghar, is considered a strong contender for a ministerial role.

If consensus on the cabinet lineup is not reached by November 28, only two or three ministers may take the oath alongside Chief Minister Soren. The first cabinet meeting, shortly after the swearing-in, is expected to focus on key decisions for the stateas governance and development.

The swearing-in ceremony is expected to see a gathering of prominent INDIA bloc leaders including Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, Leader of Opposition in Bihar Tejashwi Yadav, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, etc.

Preparations for the grand event are underway, with officials ensuring proper arrangements for the ceremony.
Satara : , Nov 25 (IANS) Political circles went aflutter after witnessing a rare family bond unfolding in Satara - Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MLA Rohit R. Pawar touching the feet of Nationalist Congress Party President Ajit A. Pawar - here on Monday.

Satara (Maharashtra), Nov 25 (IANS) Political circles went aflutter after witnessing a rare family bond unfolding in Satara  Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MLA Rohit R. Pawar touching the feet of Nationalist Congress Party President Ajit A. Pawar  here on Monday.

The sudden 'encounter' took place near the memorial of former Deputy Prime Minister, the late Y. B. Chavan at Pritisangam in Karad town where the Pawars had gone to pay homage to the first Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

As Rohit R. Pawar was stepping out, right in front was Ajit A. Pawar who was entering the memorial complex and both were standing opposite each other  as supporters from both sides stiffened.

Sporting his trademark dark glasses, Ajit A. Pawar, 65, stepped up, smiled and warmly shook hands with Rohit R. Pawar, plus playfully slapped him, 'buddy-style' on the right shoulder, easing the tensions around.

"Abhinandan Abhinandan Take 'darshan darshan' of your 'kaka' now," said Ajit A. Pawar, grinning, in his characteristic cheerful style, exuding bonhomie after the bitterly fought election season ended on Saturday (November 23).

On his part, Rohit R. Pawar, 39, reciprocated with folded hands, smiled and moved up to him, bowed and bent down to touch his uncle's feet, as their supporters started smiling with joy and the atmosphere eased up.

For the second time in a row, the businessman Rohit R. Pawar bagged the Karjat-Jamkhed Assembly seat (Ahmednagar) by a thin margin of 1,243 votes over his nearest Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rival Prof. Ram S. Shinde.

On the other hand, Ajit A. Pawar romped home in the Baramati Assembly seat (Pune) with a whopping margin of 100,899 votes, trouncing his nephew, Yugendra S. Pawar who was contesting his maiden elections.

Ajit Pawar added: "You barely scraped through If I had conducted a rally (in Karjat-Jamkhed), just imagine what would have been your fate," said Ajit Pawar, rubbing it into Rohit R. Pawar, but again patted and wished 'All the Best'.

Later, Rohit R. Pawar chatted with media persons and said that "despite our political differences, Ajit Pawar is like my father figure".

"In the 2019 Assembly elections, uncle (Ajit A. Pawar) had helped me hugely, and since he is my elder, it was my duty to touch his feet. In this land of Y. B. Chavan, the tradition and values he had given need to be followed and we are also doing the same," said Rohit R. Pawar  the son of Ajit A. Pawar's cousin, Rajendra Pawar.

To a question on Ajit A. Pawar's parting jibe at him, Rohit R. Pawar smiled and acknowledged that if he had indeed held a public meeting in his constituency (Karjat-Jamkhed), the election outcome could have been different.

"But he was busy in Baramati and didn't get time to visit my constituency. I also congratulated him (Ajit. A. Pawar) for his eighth victory there," said Rohit R. Pawar.

While Rohit R. Pawar accused the BJP of distributing Rs 30 lakh in his constituency ahead of the elections, the vanquished candidate Prof. Ram S. Shinde concurred that he had sought Ajit A. Pawar's time to address a rally (in Karjat-Jamkhed), but it couldn't materialise.

Shinde also claimed that it was a Pawar Family deal in which he became the victim and accused Ajit A. Pawar of not adhering to the 'dharma' of MahaYuti alliance politics.

However, NCP State President Sunil Tatkare dismissed the allegations as 'baseless' and said that the party had worked with full vigour for all the candidates of the MahaYuti including BJP and Shiv Sena.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: qnajmi@gmail.com)
New Delhi, Nov 25 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the ICA Global Cooperative Conference 2024 and also launched the UN International Year of Cooperatives 2025 at an event attended by representatives of over 100 countries at Bharat Mandapam in the national capital.

Underlining the need to create global financial institutions which can finance co-operatives across the world, PM Modi lauded the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) for its huge role and said it was imperative to move beyond this in the future.

Emphasising the need to decide the direction of the global Co-operative Movement in the 21st century, the Prime Minister said: "We will have to think of a Collaborative Financial Model to ensure easy and transparent financing for cooperatives. He underlined the importance of pooling financial resources to support small and financially weak co-operatives. Such shared financial platforms can play an essential role in funding large projects and providing loans to co-operatives. He further highlighted the potential of co-operatives in enhancing the supply chain by actively participating in procurement, production and distribution processes."

He expressed confidence that the future of India's cooperative journey will get necessary insights from the Global cooperative conference and in return, the global cooperative movement will receive a new spirit and latest tools of the 21st century from India's rich experience of cooperatives.

He also thanked the United Nations for declaring 2025 as the International Year of Cooperatives.

PM Modi highlighted that there were thousands of farmers, cattle breeders, fishermen, more than 8 lakh cooperative societies, 10 crore women associated with Self-Help Groups and youth involved in incorporating technology with cooperatives in India.

He stated that it was the first time that the Global Cooperative conference of International Cooperative Alliance was organized in India when there was an expansion of the cooperative movement in the country.

The Prime Minister said that significant progress has been made in strengthening India's co-operative banking sector as over Rs 12 lakh crore is now deposited in co-operative banks across the country, reflecting the growing trust in these institutions.

"Our government has implemented several reforms to enhance the co-operative banking system, including bringing them under the purview of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and increasing deposit insurance coverage to Rs 5 lakh per depositor," he added.

PM Modi said that India sees a huge role for cooperatives in its future growth. He said that the government was forming multipurpose cooperative societies in 2 lakh villages where there was no society at present. He added that the co-operatives were being expanded from manufacturing to the service sector.

He said that India is working on the world's largest grain storage scheme in the cooperative sector which would see warehouses being built across the country in which farmers could store their crops. This would benefit small farmers the most, he added.

Underlining the government's commitment to supporting small farmers through the formation of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), the Prime Minister said: "We are organising our small farmers into FPOs and providing necessary financial assistance to strengthen these organisations."

Bhutan's Prime Minister Dasho Tshering Tobgay, Deputy Prime Minister of Fiji, Manoa Kamikamica, and around 3,000 delegates from over 100 countries are participating in the conference. Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), in collaboration with ICA and government of India, and Indian Cooperatives AMUL and KRIBHCO are hosting the conference.
Bhopal, Nov 25 : The farmers have lodged protests in different districts across the state over the shortage of fertilizers amid the peak of wheat and other rabi crop season in Madhya Pradesh.

Alleging a dearth of fertilizers at government-run distribution centres, angry farmers have been staging protests in different districts for the last many days. However, state administration maintained that adequate fertilizer is available in the state.

In a fresh incident, protests over the shortage of fertilizer were reported from three districts, forcing farmers to raise their voices against the state administration.

A large number of farmers staged a protest in the Niwari district and blocked the highway on Monday evening. However, district police swung into action and dispersed the farmers.

In Guna district, a farmer also committed suicide while recording his suicide video in which he narrated the ordeal he faced due to the shortage of fertilizers.

Following that shocking incident, leaders from both the ruling BJP and Congress expressed their disappointment and demanded immediate attention from the state administration.

State Agriculture Minister Endal Singh Kansana recently said that the Russia-Ukraine war is the reason behind the shortage of fertilizers in the State.

The Opposition Congress has been raising concerns regularly, accusing the state administration of being in 'sleeping mode'.
Jeddah, Nov 25 : Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) splurged money on talented 21-year-old English all-rounder Jacob Bethell while Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opened their pockets to acquire Australian pacer Nathan Ellis on the second day of the IPL 2025 Auction here at the Abadi Al Johar Arena on Monday.

RCB went big for Bethell as he was bought for Rs 2.6 crore. The Barbados-born all-rounder sparked intense bidding at the IPL auction. SRH opened the bid at his base price of Rs 1.25 crore, but RCB and Punjab Kings (PBKS) joined the fray. Known for his all-round prowess, Bethellas price soared, as RCB secured the rising star for Rs 2.6 crore.

Nathan Ellis was sold to Chennai Super Kings for Rs 2 crore after an intense bidding war. The Australian quick, known for his variations that suit Chepauk, saw CSK open the bidding at his base price of Rs 1.25 crore. PBKS, his former team, joined the contest and pushed his price higher. Just as CSK seemed set to steal him, PBKS considered using their Right to Match (RTM) option.

CSK raised the bid to Rs 2 crore, leaving PBKS in deep deliberation. After lengthy discussions at the PBKS table, they ultimately chose not to match the bid.

Sri Lankan fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera was sold to Delhi Capitals for Rs 75 lakh. Known for his ability to hit the deck hard and bowl at an impressive pace, Chameera entered the auction at the same price. DC opened the bidding and secured him without competition, making him a valuable addition to their lineup.

West Indies sensation Shamar Joseph was sold to LSG for Rs 75 lakh. Mumbai Indians (MI) opened the bidding at his base price, but the contest ended swiftly. Just as it seemed Joseph would join MI, LSG executed their RTM card to retain the Baracara pacer. With no further bids from MI, Joseph will don the Lucknow jersey in 2025.

Sri Lankan all-rounder Kamindu Mendis was sold to Sunriers Hyderabad (SRH) at his base price of Rs 75 lakh. Entering the IPL auction for the first time, Mendis saw interest from Hyderabad as they did not face any competition to take his services.

Jason Behrendorff, Kyle Mayers, Sarfaraz Khan, Matt Short, Shivam Mavi and Navdeep Saini all went unsold in the accelerated auction.
New Delhi, Nov 25 : Facing FIRs over the deadly violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal city, Samajwadi Party MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq and his party legislator Iqbal Mehmood's son Nawab Suhail Iqbal on Monday denied any wrongdoing and blamed the lax administration and police for the death of four people.

MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq told IANS, "I have been booked in a false case by police who want to hide their own failure."

MP Barq and Iqbal were named in the seven FIRs registered by Uttar Pradesh Police against 400 people for the flare-up on Sunday.

Four persons were killed and dozens, including 22 policemen, injured during protests against a court-ordered survey of the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid in connection with a petition claiming that it was built after razing a Hindu temple in 1529.

The MP claimed innocence and said, "I was not even in Sambhal when the violence took place. I was attending a meeting of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board in Bangalore."

Barq also demanded the registration of cases against policemen who shot dead innocent youths.

Denying that he made any inflammatory speeches, he said he had prevented things from turning violent when an earlier attempt was made to carry out a survey.

SP legislator Iqbal Mehmood's son Nawab Suhail Iqbal, who has also been booked by the police over Sunday's incident, claimed innocence. "Show me any video or photo to prove that I was there at the site of violence," he told IANS, claiming that he had remained at home as per the direction of the administration.

He said he had even tried to convince people to cooperate with the survey team.

Confirming that he had gone towards the mosque in the morning, he said he did so to convey his father's message to people that they should cooperate with the survey team as it had been sent by a court.

The legislator's son also said that he never gave a speech to incite communal hatred.

Advocate Zafar Ali, Jama Masjid, Sambhal, also claimed that neither the SP MP nor the MLA's son was present near the area where trouble broke out on the previous day. "The SDM and police officials are to be blamed for the killing of four people."

He claimed he was present in the mosque when the survey was conducted and the team did not find anything objectionable.

Police sources said at least 25 people, including two women, have been detained or arrested for the Sunday violence in which vehicles were torched and stones pelted, forcing police to use tear gas and cane-charge to counter the protestors.

SP MP Awadhesh Prasad expressed grief over the incident, calling it "heartbreaking and painful" while accusing the BJP of provoking unrest to divert attention from electoral issues.

He also defended the booked SP MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq, claiming that Barq was not present at the scene during the violence. "The MP was with us at the time. This is a baseless case aimed at silencing him in Parliament," Prasad said.
Chennai, Nov 25 : Tamil Nadu BJP Spokesperson A.N.S. Prasad called upon Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin to take immediate action against the "violent behaviour" of some of the members of the DMK in Chepauk constituency.

Chennai, Nov 25 (IANS) Tamil Nadu BJP Spokesperson A.N.S. Prasad called upon Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin to take immediate action against the "violent behaviour" of some of the members of the DMK in Chepauk constituency.

He alleged that as the MLA of Chepauk-Thiruvallikkeni constituency, Udhayanidhi Stalin has a responsibility to uphold democracy and ensure that his constituents are protected from violence and intimidation.

"The people of Tamil Nadu will not tolerate such violence, and it's time for the government to take a strong stance against it. The recent attack on Thiru Jegatheesan, District President of the Fishermen's Wing, by Vishnu, son of Chetti Arumugam, affiliated with the DMK party, is a clear indication of the party's goondaism," he said.

He alleged that the incident occurred during a voter list verification campaign, where the BJP members were performing their "democratic duty", and was orchestrated by DMK's local leader Kamaraaj and 116th Ward Secretary Sasi.

"The government must take concrete steps to address police bias and ensure that the police are impartial and effective in maintaining law and order. The government must ensure that citizens are protected from violence and intimidation and that their democratic rights are upheld," he said.

He asserted that this is not the first instance of DMK's violence and intimidation and called upon the state government to take concrete steps to address police bias and inaction and ensure that citizens are protected from violence and intimidation, and their democratic rights are upheld.

"It's time for the DMK government to take responsibility and ensure justice is served. We urge the government to take immediate action against DMK's violence and ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice," he said.

He also called upon the Tamil Nadu Police to act and arrest Vishnu, the DMK "rowdy" who attacked BJP leader Jegatheesan.

He added that as the local MLA and Deputy Chief Minister, Udhayanidhi Stalin must ensure democracy is upheld in his constituency and direct the Chennai Police Commissioner to take necessary action.
Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni will pay a state visit to Vietnam from Nov. 28  29.

The trip will be made at the invitation of State President Luong Cuong, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on November 25.

Vietnam and Cambodia established diplomatic ties in 1967. Vietnam is currently Cambodia's third-largest trading partner and the top trading partner within ASEAN. In 2023, trade between the two nations reached $8.6 billion.

Vietnam has invested in 205 projects in Cambodia with a total registered capital of $2.94 billion, making it the leading ASEAN investor and one of the top five countries with the largest direct investments in Cambodia. Meanwhile, Cambodia ranks second among 79 countries and territories receiving Vietnamese investments abroad.
Patna, Nov 25 : Following Bihar bypolls success, the NDA announced to release the short film 'Nitish Kumar Ka Bihar' to highlight the transformation of the state under Nitish Kumar's leadership since 2005.

"The film will evoke strong emotions, showing the dire conditions in the state before Nitish Kumar's governance and celebrating the advancements made during his tenure," said BJP state chief Dilip Jaiswal during a joint press conference of NDA constituents held at the JD-U office on Monday.

He said that the film would evoke strong emotions, adding that it would expose the situation of Bihar before 2005 while fostering greater respect for Nitish Kumar's leadership.

"This cinematic endeavour is set to become a central element of the NDA's political narrative in Bihar, as it seeks to strengthen its position and showcase the governance achievements of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ahead of the 2025 elections," he said.

The film is part of a broader campaign to counter opposition criticism and reinforce Nitish Kumar's image as a transformative leader.

Jaiswal also criticised Bihar Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav, accusing him of being absent during critical times, such as the Bihar floods, and referencing foreign trips made by him.

He further criticised the Lalu family for alleged nepotism, suggesting that the RJD is losing relevance among voters.
Ankara, Nov 25 : Four people were missing on Monday in Turkey's northern province of Ordu as heavy snowfall gripped much of the country since the weekend.

The four individuals were stranded in the Mesudiye district, the state-run TRT broadcaster reported, quoting Ordu Governor Muammer Erol.

The group, identified as Murat and Ferhat Gunay along with Hudaverdi and Baris Aslantas, had travelled to the Topcam area for hunting on Saturday, according to the governor.

The group informed their families that they were sheltering in a mosque and urgently requested assistance. However, rescue teams could not reach the area due to severe storms, Xinhua news agency reported.

Communication with the stranded group had been intermittent and was eventually lost. "Our priority is to ensure the safety of both the stranded individuals and our rescue teams," Erol said, adding that the rescue operation involved 23 personnel and seven vehicles.

Snowfall and storms have caused road closures and accidents across Turkey.
Johannesburg, Nov 25 : The South African Police Service (SAPS) on Monday announced the arrest of 14 illegal miners who emerged from an abandoned mine in Stilfontein, North West province, after weeks underground in a standoff with police.

According to National Police Spokesperson Athlenda Mathe, the arrested illegal miners, all from Mozambique with a 14-year-old boy among them, came to the ground Sunday morning.

Mathe said that contrary to earlier claims that they were trapped underground, the illegal miners, who had been underground for weeks, were just refusing to come out due to fear of arrest, as proved by their resurfacing.

"They chose to come out late at night, thinking police are no more standing static," she said, adding that other illegal miners "ran back" into the mine shaft upon noticing the police presence.

It is believed that over 1,200 illegal miners remain underground, with more than 1,000 resurfacing intermittently in small groups over the past few weeks, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the police welcomed a court judgment compelling the government to provide necessary emergency aid to the illegal miners, including water, food, blankets and medical assistance.

Mathe said police would continue monitoring and maintaining a presence outside the mine shaft.

Illegal mining has been rampant in South Africa for years, often involving miners from neighboring countries seeking gold.

The South African government launched the nationwide Operation Vala Umgodi (close the hole) earlier this year to crack down on illegal mining activities.
Srinagar, Nov 25 : The picturesque city of Srinagar came alive on Monday as it played host to the World Craft Council's (WCC) 60th Jubilee Celebration extension programme from November 25 to November 28.

This grand event follows the successful celebration held in New Delhi from November 21 to November 24. The event has brought together 15 international delegates who are WCC members from diverse regions, including Kuwait, Australia, France, the U.K., Ireland, Central Asia, and beyond.

Alongside these delegates, artisans from various parts of the World have also gathered to showcase their exceptional craftsmanship, reflecting a rich tapestry of global heritage.

"The programme aims to spotlight the J&K's rich craftsmanship and cultural heritage on a global platform. This initiative underscores the government's commitment to preserving and promoting the artisanal traditions that define Jammu & Kashmir's identity," said an official statement.

It added that the delegates began their visit in Srinagar with a Craft Safari through the historic lanes of the old city, adding that this immersive experience introduced them to the intricate artistry and vibrant traditions of the region.

"Later, they engaged in an insightful meeting with local stakeholders and government officials at the Government Arts Emporium, Srinagar, fostering dialogue and collaboration. The main jubilee celebration event is scheduled for November 26 and 27, 2024, at the SKICC in Srinagar. These events will feature expert panel discussions where renowned craft experts will explore contemporary challenges and opportunities in the global craft industry," it said.

The statement added that a vibrant craft bazaar will also be set up, showcasing exquisite creations from Jammu & Kashmir and beyond, offering artisans a platform to display and sell their work.

"This celebration is not only a testament to the timeless craftsmanship of Jammu & Kashmir but also a step forward in positioning the region as a global hub for artisanal excellence," it further said.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Nov 25 : The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday approved three projects of the Ministry of Railways entailing an investment of Rs 7,927 crore.

The projects are: Manmad 4th line (160 km), Bhusawal a" Khandwa 3rd & 4th line (131 km) and Prayagraj (Iradatganj) a" Manikpur 3rd Line (84 km), according to an official statement issued after the CCEA meeting.

The proposed multi-tracking projects will ease operations and reduce congestion, providing the much-required infrastructural development on the busiest sections between Mumbai and Prayagraj, the statement mentioned.

"The projects are in line with PM Modi's vision of a New India which will make people of the region 'Atmanirbhar' by way of comprehensive development in the area which will enhance their employment/ self-employment opportunities," the statement said.

The projects are part of the PM-Gati Shakti National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity which have been possible through integrated planning and will provide seamless connectivity for movement of people, goods and services.

The three projects covering seven districts in three states i.e., Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by about 639 km.

The proposed multi-tracking projects will enhance connectivity to Two Aspirational Districts (Khandwa and Chitrakoot) serving approximately 1,319 villages and about 38 lakh population.

The proposed projects will enhance connectivity along the Mumbaia"Prayagraja"Varanasi route by enabling the operation of additional passenger trains, benefiting pilgrims traveling to Jyotirlingas in Nashik (Trimbakeshwar), Khandwa (Omkareshwar), and Varanasi (Kashi Vishwanath), as well as religious places in Prayagraj, Chitrakoot, Gaya, and Shirdi.

Additionally, the projects will promote tourism through improved access to various attractions such as Khajuraho UNESCO World Heritage Site, Ajanta & Ellora Caves UNESCO World Heritage Site, Devgiri Fort, Asirgarh Fort, Rewa Fort, Yawal Wildlife Sanctuary, Keoti Falls, and Purwa Falls etc.

These are essential routes for transportation of commodities such as agriculture products, fertiliser, coal, steel, cement, containers, etc.

The capacity augmentation works will result in additional freight traffic of magnitude 51 MTPA (Million Tonnes Per Annum).

The Railways being environment friendly and energy efficient mode of transportation, will help both in achieving climate goals and minimising logistics cost of the country, lower CO2 emissions which is equivalent to plantation of 11 crore trees, the statement added.
Jammu, Nov 25 : The J&K government on Monday ordered confidentiality of official communication and warned its officers/employees against derelictions.

The government on Monday asked officers and officials to ensure the security and confidentiality of official communications, underlining that the increasing trend of using third-party tools poses significant risks to the integrity and security of the information being communicated.

"It has come to the attention of the administration that there is an increasing trend among officers and officials to use third-party tools such as WhatsApp, Gmail, and other similar platforms for transmitting sensitive, secret, and confidential information", said a government circular.

"This practice poses significant risks to the integrity and security of the information being communicated. Using third-party communication tools can lead to several potential issues including unauthorised access, data breaches and leaks of confidential information. These platforms are not specifically designed to handle classified or sensitive information, and their security protocols may not meet the stringent standards required for official communications," the order said.

It added that consequently, the use of such tools could result in severe security breaches that jeopardise the integrity of governmental operations, adding that to emphasise the importance of exercising discretion and adhering to established protocols for handling official communications, particularly those of a sensitive, secret, or confidential nature, the government issued guidelines for the officers and the officials of Jammu and Kashmir.

The border underlined that classified information falls under the four categories namely, TOP SECRET, SECRET, CONFIDENTIAL and RESTRICTED.

"The TOP SECRET and SECRET document shall not be shared over the internet. According to NISPG, the TOP SECRET and SECRET information shall be shared only in a closed network with leased line connectivity where SAG grade encryption mechanism is deployed. However, CONFIDENTIAL and RESTRICTED information can be shared on the internet through networks that have deployed commercial AES 256-bit encryption. The use of government email (NIC email) facility or government instant messaging platforms (such as CDAC's Samvad, NIC's Sandesh etc.) is strongly recommended for the communication of CONFIDENTIAL and RESTRICTED information. Care should be taken during the classification of information, it said. "Information that deserves a TOP SECRET/ SECRET classification shall not be downgraded to CONFIDENTIAL/ RESTRICTED for the purpose of sharing. While using the e-Office system, Departments must deploy proper firewalls and white-list of IP addresses," it added.

The order said that the e-Office server should be accessed through a Virtual Private Network (VPN) for enhanced security, adding that decadents may ensure that only authorised employees and personnel are allowed to access to the e-Office system.

"However, Top secret/Secret information shall be shared over the e-Office system only with leased line closed network and SAG grade encryption mechanism. Regarding Video Conferencing (VC) for official purposes, it said, only Government VC solutions offered by CDAC, CDOT and NIC may be used. Meeting ID and passwords should only be shared with authorized participants. For enhanced security, the 'Waiting Room' facility and prior registration of the participants may be utilised. Even then, Top Secret/ Secret information shall not be shared during the VC meetings. Officials working from home should use security-hardened electronic devices (such as Laptops, Desktops, etc.) connected to office servers via a VPN and Firewall setup," the order said.

It added that the 'Top Secret' and 'Secret Information' should not be shared in a work-from-home environment.

"Digital Assistant Devices such as Amazon's Echo, Apple's HomePod, Google Home, etc. should be kept out of the office during discussions on classified issues. Further Digital Assistants, (such as Alexa, Siri, etc.) should be turned off during official meetings in the office used by employees. Smartphones should be deposited outside the meeting room when discussing classified information," the order said.

It further added that in light of the potential risks outlined above, all officers and officials are directed to adhere strictly to these guidelines to ensure the security and confidentiality of official communications.

"Non-compliance with these directives may result in disciplinary action as deemed appropriate by the administration," reads the government order.
New Delhi, Nov 25 : The Centre on Monday approved the 'One Nation One Subscription' scheme to provide country-wide access to international high-impact scholarly research articles and journal publications to students, faculty and researchers with an outlay of Rs 6,000 crore.

The fund  allocated for three calendar years (2025, 2026 and 2027) as a new central sector scheme  will help students and researchers of all higher education institutions managed by the central government and state governments and Research and Development Institutions of the central government, said the Union Cabinet.

The initiative will open a goldmine of knowledge available in top-quality scholarly journals to nearly 1.8 crore students, faculty, researchers and scientists of all disciplines, including those in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, thereby encouraging core as well as interdisciplinary research in the country

According to the Cabinet, a total of 30 major international journal publishers have been included in 'One Nation One Subscription'.

All of the nearly 13,000 e-journals published by these publishers will now be accessible to more than 6,300 government Higher Education Institutions and Central government R&D institutions, said the Cabinet.

Access to journals will be provided through a national subscription coordinated by the Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET), an autonomous inter-university centre of the University Grants Commission (UGC) through an entirely digital process

This will supplement the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) initiative to promote research and development and foster a culture of research and innovation throughout government universities, colleges, research institutions and R&D laboratories.

The ANRF will periodically review the usage of One Nation One Subscription and publications of Indian authors of these institutions.

The Department of Higher Education will have a unified portal "One Nation One Subscription" through which the institutions will be able to access the journals, according to the Cabinet.
Jeddah, Nov 25 : As the IPL 2025 Auction moved onto its culmination, all franchises looked to give final touches to their squad. Big names like Moeen Ali and Devdutt Padikkal were some of the biggest names sold at the back end of the event at the Abady Al Johar Arena on Monday.

Kolkata Knight Riders dominated proceedings at the end of the day as they rounded their squad with some solid acquisitions. England veteran Moeen Alias reintroduction saw KKR buying him at his base price of Rs 2 crore. Mumbai batter Ajinkya Rahane, who has had a well-regarded career with the national team, was reintroduced and bought at his base price of Rs 2 crore by the defending IPL champions.

One of the fastest bowlers in India, Umran Malik, was bought for his price of Rs 75 lakh by the Kolkata-based side. Left-arm spinner Anukul Roy and Bengaluru-born wicketkeeper batter Lunith Sisodia were bought by KKR for Rs 40 lakh and Rs 30 lakh, respectively.

India batter Devdutt Padikkal, who is currently with the national team in Australia, went unsold in the earlier rounds but was available to buy for his base price of Rs 2 crore and it was Royal Challengers Bengaluru who ended up bringing him back to the Chinnaswamy. The left-handed opener rose to prominence with RCB in 2020 before racking 411 runs in the 2021 season following which he was released and joined Rajasthan Royals before being traded to Lucknow Super Giants in 2024.

New Zealand all-rounder Glenn Philips re-entered the auction at his base price of Rs 2 crore and despite going unsold earlier, it was Gujarat Titans who secured his services further solidifying their team strength.

Chennai acquired local-talent C Andre Siddarth for his base price of Rs 30 lakh. The 18-year-old Tamil Nadu batter has recently earned a call-up to the India Under-19 squad for the upcoming Asia Cup in the UAE.

David Warner, Piyush Chawla, Shardul Thakur, Mayank Agarwal, Arjun Tendulkar and Dewald Brevis were some of the prominent names that went unsold.
New Delhi, Nov 25 : The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) allowed hybrid classes in Delhi-NCR schools, hours after the Supreme Court asked it to examine the grant of relaxation of actions in relation to educational institutions.

The CAQM said that state governments in Delhi-NCR shall ensure that all classes up to the 12th Standard are conducted in a "Hybrid" mode.

It observed that all the primary schools in Delhi and also those in other areas of NCR do not have capabilities or access for conducting classes purely in an online mode.

The top court while asking the CAQM to consider relaxing curbs, said that a large number of students are being deprived of the facility of mid-day meals as the schools and anganwadis are closed or do not have the facilities to take benefit of online education.

"The residences of many students do not have air purifiers, and therefore, there may not be any difference between the children sitting at home and the children attending school. An appropriate decision shall be taken by the Commission on the above aspects immediately, even if a copy of this order is not available," it said.

Further, the apex court asked CAQM to decide on the continuation of the ban on conducting physical classes for Classes 10 and 12.

"We expect that a decision shall be taken by the Commission during the course of the day or, at the latest, by tomorrow morning so that it can be implemented. We make it clear that all other actions provided in stage IV shall be scrupulously implemented," the SC said.

Moreover, the Supreme Court ordered the Commission for Air Quality Management to immediately initiate action against the defaulting officers and entities who have made no earnest effort to implement Stage IV of the GRAP (Graded Response Action Plan) in the national capital and adjoining states.

It said that unless the top court is satisfied that there is a consistent downward trend of the Air Quality Index (AQI), it cannot permit relaxation of stage IV norms.

The public interest litigation (PIL) relating to control of pollution will be heard next on Thursday.

--IANS
Dhaka, Nov 25 : Chinmoy Krishna, spokesperson of Bangladesh Sanatan Jagaran Mancha, and head of Pundarik Dham in Chittagong, was taken into custody by Dhaka Metropolitan Police on Monday as the interim government led by Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus continues to inflict horrors on the Hindu community of the country.

According to local media, Chinmoy Krishna, also known as Krishna Prabhu Das, was taken into custody by the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Monday at 4:30 pm.

"Additional Commissioner of DB, Rezaul Karim Mallik, confirmed the detention, saying that it was based on a requisition related to a complaint. He mentioned that Chinmoy Krishna would be handed over to the related police station. However, the specific details of the complaint against him were not immediately disclosed by the DB official," reported Bangladesh's leading daily 'Dhaka Tribune'.

Chinmoy Krishna was not only associated with the Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Mohajot (BJHM), a grand national alliance of 23 religious organisations in the country, but also with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

As the news about Chinmoy Krishna's arrest spread on social media, several protests broke out in Chittagong, demanding his immediate release.

It was reported that protesters marched and rallied at the Cheragi intersection in the city, chanting slogans and demanding his release.

Several videos that went viral on social media late Monday evening showed Bangladeshi policemen targeting the protestors who were marching towards the Cheragi intersection.

Kanchan Gupta, a Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, posted an image of a Hindu protester soaked in blood after the violent attacks.

"Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari was charged with sedition after he led a massive rally of Hindus protesting targeted hate attacks and demanding protection from Islamists. Tallest leader of the Hindu community, Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari is believed to have been taken to Detective Branch of Yunus Regime," Gupta said in another post on X.

The incidents of vandalism, looting, arson, land grabbing, and threats to leave the country have been repeatedly inflicted on the Hindu community after the interim government was sworn-in on August 8 under the leadership of Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus.

The Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Oikya Parishad had earlier sent an 'open letter' to Yunus, expressing "profound sorrow and concern" over a particular group's "unprecedented violence" against the minorities.

Even though Yunus and his religious affairs' advisor A.F.M. Khalid Hossain assured that the current establishment believes in communal harmony, the communal violence, which began immediately after former PM Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka, continues to cause widespread fear, anxiety, and uncertainty among the minorities in Bangladesh, especially Hindus.
Universities in the United States are urging international students to return before President-elect Donald Trumps inauguration, citing concerns about potential travel restrictions and policy changes that could impact visas and reentry processes.

The Office of Global Affairs at the University of Massachusetts Amherst posted on Instagram on Nov. 15, recommending international students return to the U.S. after the winter break but before Trumps inauguration. The office warned that the incoming administration might impose travel bans or restrictions for international citizens as early as its first day in power.

"The Office of Global Affairs recommends that our UMass Amherst international community, including all international students, scholars, faculty and staff under UMass immigration sponsorship, strongly consider returning to the U.S. prior to the presidential inauguration day of Jan. 20, 2025 if they are planning on traveling internationally during the winter holiday break," the post read.

The advisory clarified that it was not a university mandate or based on any current U.S. government policy. Instead, it was issued as a precaution, citing past travel bans during Trumps first administration in 2016. The office "is making this advisory out of an abundance of caution to hopefully prevent any possible travel disruption to members of our international community," it stated.

The University of Massachusetts Amhersts guidance followed a similar statement from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Nov. 12.

David C. Elwell, Associate Dean and Director of MITs International Students Office cautioned that executive orders from the new administration could affect travel and visa processes, as well as cause delays at embassies and consulates due to staffing issues.

"We know this is a time of uncertainty but also this is common after any election. We have experience with these transitions," he said.

Elwell advised international students to avoid relying on rumors, social media, or unverified news about potential policy changes and to consult official sources for updates.

At Yale University, the Office of International Students and Scholars organized a seminar on Nov. 20 to address concerns about immigration policy under the new administration.

Ozan Say, the offices director, assured students and scholars of Yales ongoing support. "As we have done under any administration before, we will always support our international community and ensure Yale remains a welcoming place for international students and scholars," he said.

Stephen Robinson, director of Champlain Colleges Dublin campus, told The Pie News in a Nov. 6 report that there is the worry that, a Republican administration could impose more regulations on state-funded U.S. institutions, potentially affecting outbound students and international partnerships.

During Trumps first term, several policies negatively impacted international students. In 2017, Trump introduced travel bans targeting nearly a dozen countries, including five predominantly Muslim nations, North Korea, and Venezuela. In 2020, he expanded these bans to limit immigrant visas from six additional countries with significant Muslim populations.

Trump also proposed measures to restrict visa issuance, prevent international students from staying in the U.S. if enrolled in online courses during the pandemic, and limit student visas for certain nationalities.

These actions, according to Maia Chankseliani, Associate Professor of Comparative and International Education at the University of Oxford, sent a message that the U.S. was not welcoming to international students.

"This perception likely dampened international student enrolment," she told Times Higher Education in a Nov. 15 report.

Between 2017 and 2021, under the Trump's administration, the U.S. saw a decline in international student enrollments. Data from the Institute of International Education (IIE)s Open Doors reports shows a drop in total international students from 1,078,822 in the 2016/17 academic year to 1,075,496 in 2019/20. New enrollments saw an even sharper decline, from 300,743 in 2015/16 to 267,712 in 2019/20.

The situation changed swiftly after that.

The 2023-2024 academic year saw over 1.1 million international students from 200 countries and territories studying in the U.S., the highest figure ever recorded, according to the IIE. These students contributed approximately $50 billion to the U.S. economy. The number of new international student entrants reached over 298,000, marking a 6.6% increase from the previous year.

Vietnamese students made up 22,066 of this total, ranking as the sixth-largest international student community in the U.S.

As Trump prepares to take office again, his campaign has signaled plans to intensify immigration restrictions. Trump has pledged to launch the largest deportation effort in U.S. history, focusing on criminals while aiming to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. He also indicated plans to declare a national emergency and use military resources, including the National Guard, to enforce deportationsa move likely to face legal challenges.

While Trump has suggested supporting green cards for thoroughly vetted foreign students graduating from U.S. colleges, his broader immigration policies are expected to create challenges for international students navigating education and residency in the U.S.
Hyderabad, Nov 25 : A Class 6 student of a private school here died of suffocation after a roti roll got stuck in his throat.

The tragic incident occurred at a school in Secunderabad here on Monday when Vikas Jain was eating the roti roll during lunch hour.

As the boy was gasping for breath, his classmates alerted teachers, who rushed him to a local hospital. However, he passed away before doctors could provide him with medical aid.

Vikas Jain was a student of Class 6 at the school located near Tivoli Theatre. He had brought a roti roll from home and was having lunch along with his classmates when the food got stuck in his windpipe, resulting in his death.

The incident shocked the student community.

The police shifted the body to the government-run Gandhi Hospital for an autopsy. Police have registered a case and took up further investigation.

Three similar incidents were reported in the Telugu states in recent times.

Last month, a man died after choking on a dosa in Andhra Pradeshas Kurnool district.

Venkataiah, 43, was eating Dosa at a local eatery when the food got stuck in his throat. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but he was pronounced dead on arrival due to suffocation. According to eyewitnesses, Venkataiah had consumed alcohol prior to eating the dosa, which is believed to have resulted in the tragedy.

A 37-year-old man died of asphyxiation when a piece of chicken bone got stuck in his throat in Hyderabad in June. The businessman from Shadnagar town had come to his sisteras house in Saidabad area in Hyderabad. He had eaten chicken biryani after consuming liquor at restaurant-cum-bar. According to police, Sonugomula Srikhant was rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.

In a similar incident in Mahabubnagar district in January, a youth lost his life after a piece of chicken bone got stuck in his throat while having a meal. Jitendra was a labourer from Jharkhand.
Patna, Nov 25 : The state presidents of all five constituent parties of the NDA on Monday said that the alliance has set a target of 225 seats for the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections.

The NDA in Bihar which includes BJP, JDU, HAM, LJP Ram Vilas, and Rashtriya Lok Morcha has also announced a unified campaign from January 15 to February 25 next year, aiming to strengthen coordination among party workers down to the booth level.

At a meeting held at the JD-U office's Karpoori Auditorium, the state presidents of all five constituent parties emphasised the need for harmony among their cadres.

JD-U state president Umesh Kushwaha said, "The joint campaign will kick off from Bagaha on January 15, covering the entire state over the next six weeks."

The campaign is a direct result of a meeting led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at his residence, underscoring the alliance's focus on a cohesive strategy to meet their ambitious seat target for the upcoming elections.

Raju Tiwari, the state president of LJP (Ram Vilas), said, "The campaign emphasises that the time remaining before the elections is limited and this initiative will enhance worker coordination."

The NDA leaders aim to replicate and surpass their 2010 performance when the alliance won 206 seats. They believe they can achieve this target as public trust remains strong in Nitish Kumar's leadership.

The campaign, scheduled to run from January 15 to February 25, will include district-level programs featuring a half-hour short film. The film will highlight the state of Bihar before 2005 under RJD rule and contrast it with developments post-2005, aiming to appeal to the new generation of voters.
Hyderabad, Nov 25 : Nearly a month after falling critically ill due to food poisoning at a tribal welfare residential school, a 16-year-old student succumbed at a hospital here on Monday.

C. Shailaja breathed her last at Nizamas Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) on Monday

She was one of the 60 students who had taken ill at the residential school at Wankidi in Kumaram Bheem Asifabad district on October 30.

The students complained of vomiting and diarrhea after having dinner at the school. They were all shifted to a nearby government hospital.

As the condition of three female students, including Shailaja, was critical, they were shifted to Hyderabad and admitted to NIMS.

While two students recovered and were subsequently discharged, Shailaja's condition remained critical, and she finally lost the battle for life.

The ninth-class student was put on a ventilator.

Doctors said the girl was not responding to the treatment and had developed kidney problems and lung infection.

The police shifted the body to Gandhi Hospital for autopsy. As the situation was tense at the hospital, a large number of policemen were deployed as a precautionary measure.

After the autopsy, the girlas body was taken to her native village with the police escort.

Meanwhile, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has blamed the state government for the death of the student and demanded Rs 50 lakh compensation for her family.

BRS leader T. Harish Rao said the state government was responsible for the death the tribal student. He alleged that the government tried to hush up the studentas death by shifting the body to her native place in a hurry.

BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao slammed Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy for not visiting the hospital even once to see the student. He said the residential schools should be safe but every month three students are dying due to the governmentas negligence.

Rama Rao also criticised the Chief Minister for not having an education minister in his Cabinet.

On Saturday, BRS leader K Kavitha visited the student at NIMS and expressed her outrage over the situation. She alleged that since the Congress-led government took power in Telangana, 42 students have died from food poisoning in government schools. She blamed the poor quality of meals served in these schools for the tragic deaths.
Mumbai, Nov 25 : Actor Rishi Kapoor once playfully scolded his younger brother Rajiv Kapoor for "talking too much" during an interview.

Mumbai, Nov 25 (IANS) Actor Rishi Kapoor once playfully scolded his younger brother Rajiv Kapoor for "talking too much" during an interview.

He humorously remarked that Rajiv had given him a "headache." The brothers appeared together on Simi Garewal's popular show, "Rendezvous with Simi Garewal."

In 2022, the actress-host shared a clip from the episode on her Instagram account, captioning it, "Rendezvous Gems. This is the way I like to remember them. Rishi Kapoor would have been 70 today. Rajiv Kapoor also went too soon. What fun they were! I miss them."

In the clip, as Simi called for a "cut," a comedic moment unfolded. Rishi, visibly irritated, turned to Rajiv and joked, "You talk so much. You've given me a headache with all your talking. How much do you talk, man?" The playful scolding turned into a light-hearted sibling banter, with Rishi jokingly frustrated by his brother's chatter. Rajiv, known for his calm demeanor, laughed it off, transforming the exchange into an endearing moment that left everyone on set smiling.

The candid interaction highlighted the humorous, easygoing bond shared by the Kapoor brothers. Despite their stardom, they were relatable siblings at heart, teasing and sharing laughs.

Fans loved the throwback clip, with one commenting, "Ok, so Rajiv Kapoor is how Ranbir will look when he gets old," and another mentioned, "Ranbir's voice and personality are totally similar to Rajiv Kapoor ji totally similar." Rishi Kapoor passed away in April 2020 after a two-year battle with leukemia.

In a heartfelt statement, the Kapoor family shared, "Our dear Rishi Kapoor passed away peacefully at 8:45 am IST in hospital today after a two-year battle with leukemia.

The doctors and medical staff said he kept them entertained to the last." Rajiv Kapoor, best known for his role as Narendra in "Ram Teri Ganga Maili", died on February 9, 2021, following a heart attack. The loss of both brothers in such a short span left a void in Bollywood and among fans who cherished their talent.
Srinagar, Nov 25 : Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary on Monday described J&K as an abode to varied cultures and traditions abundantly blessed with unique and exquisite artefacts and creations which symbolise unity in diversity.

He stated this while addressing the inaugural ceremony of an exclusive heritage exhibition of over 500 exquisite artefacts of historical and cultural significance, organised by the Kala Kendra Society, Jammu, on the eve of World Heritage Day at Abhinav Theatre.

The Chief Secretary, while speaking on the occasion, exhorted the younger generation to visit the museums and monuments of their region to know and understand our historic legacy and cultural blend. He maintained that J&Kas rare and extraordinarily enchanting culture and heritage besides its splendid natural grandeur fascinates the whole world.

He said that the exhibition has been keenly designed to provide a platform for private collectors dedicated to preserving objects of heritage significance.

He reiterated his commitment towards the preservation of J&Kas heritage legacy while elaborating on the scheme being implemented for revival, restoration and protection of J&Kas cultural inheritance.

The exhibitionas key attractions included rare exhibits from the Kashmir School of Paintings, ancient copper utensils, manuscripts inscribed on Birch Bark (Bhojpatra), original text of Rajatarangini, an ancient historical chronicle, coins from the Kushan, Dogra, Sikh and British periods.

The event was a resounding success, drawing attention to the regionas rich cultural heritage and the invaluable contribution of private collectors in its preservation.
Agartala, Nov 25 : The Border Security Force (BSF) troopers apprehended six Bangladeshi nationals including women and children in Tripura on Monday, officials said.

A BSF spokesman said that BSF troops of BOP Murtichera in Unakoti district apprehended three Bangladeshi nationals while they were trying to exfiltrate to Bangladesh.

Apprehended Bangladeshi nationals are residents of the Kamalbazar area of the Sylhet division.

The spokesman said that in another operation BSF troops apprehended three Bangladeshi nationals, including a woman and a child from northern Tripura.

Adopting a non-lethal strategy BSF troops successfully foiled several attempts of smuggling and seized contraband worth Rs 10 lakhs, he said.

According to the spokesman, in one such operation, a Bangladeshi smuggler reportedly sustained pallet injury by BSF firing from non-lethal weapons.

BSF is maintaining a high level of alertness on the international border to prevent infiltration and trans-border crime, he pointed out.

On November 22, the BSF accompanied by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Northeast Frontier Railway and the Government Railway Police (GRP) arrested 16 nationals including women and minors of the neighbouring country.

These infiltrators confessed that they had entered India via the Sonamura border in the Sepahijala district with the help of an intermediary and were similarly planning to travel to Delhi in search of jobs.

Over the last four months, around 520 Bangladeshi nationals and over 63 Rohingyas were arrested by the GRP, Border Security Force (BSF), and Tripura Police from the Agartala railway station and various other places in Tripura after they illegally entered India.

The Rohingyas illegally entered India after fleeing their camps in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar where more than one million displaced Rohingyas from Myanmar have been living since 2017.

After the Bangladesh unrest began in June-July, BSF enhanced surveillance along the 4,096-km border with the neighbouring country to prevent trans-border crime and infiltration, the BSF officials said.

Five Indian states a" West Bengal (2216 km), Tripura (856 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Mizoram (318 km) and Assam ( 263 km) share a border with Bangladesh.
Panaji, Nov 25 : Bollywood actress Kriti Sanon, who was recently seen in her debut production 'Do Patti', which was released on streaming, has shared her take on the issue of nepotism that's prevalent across the board.

The actress, who is herself a complete outsider, shared that the Hindi film industry welcomed her with open arms. However, she mentioned that when an artiste is not from the film industry, it does take them sometime for them to get to a position which they desire.

The actress attended the 55th edition of the International Film Festival of India in Goa on Monday, and engaged in a conversation during the session 'Empowering Change: Women Leading the Way in Cinema'.

She said, "The industry has given me a very warm welcome since the time I have come. Of course, when you don't belong to a film background, it takes time for you to get there. It takes time for you to get those opportunities you crave for. It takes time for you to even get those magazine covers. So everything is a bit of a struggle. But after 2-3 films, if you keep working hard and if you are at it, nothing can stop you".

However, the actress made a bold point as she said that Bollywood is alone not responsible for nepotism.

She shared, "I feel the industry is not so much responsible for nepotism. It's also the media and the audience. The audiences want to watch what the media is putting about certain star kids. Because the audience is interested in them, the industry feels that since the audience is interested, let's make a movie with them".

"So I think it's a circle. But I feel if you are talented, you will get there. If you're not talented, and if the connection is not there with the audiences you will not get there", she added.
Guwahati, Nov 26 : The opposition leader in Assam and Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi on Monday targeted the Congress party claiming that it lost in the by-election due to arrogance.

Gogoi told reporters: "The poor show of Congress in the recently concluded bypolls is due to arrogance. The Congress party ignored the opposition unity and went into the by-election alone, breaking the alliance with other parties. It paid back in the election and Congress suffered a humiliating defeat in the polls."

The legislator also asserted that the BJP can be ousted from power only when all opposition parties fight the election together.

The opposition unity in Assam faced a jolt following the decision of the Congress party to field a candidate in the Behali assembly segment in the recently concluded by-election.

Congress has given to the BJP turncoat Jayanta Borah in Behali although the seat was earlier decided to be given to CPI-ML, a constituent of the United Opposition Forum in the state which was led by the Congress party itself.

This caused significant tension in the opposition camp and the state Congress chief Bhupen Borah resigned from his post in the United Opposition forum.

Congress fielded a candidate on the Behali seat on the insistence of Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi who spearheaded the poll campaign there.

The United Opposition Forum also warned that they can take on the BJP without Congress and CPI-ML has already given a candidate in Behali to pose a challenge to the Congress along with the ruling party.

BJP swept the by-election in Assam by winning all five Assembly constituencies  Dholai, Behali, Samaguri, Bongaigaon, and Sidli went through bypolls on November 13 as the legislators in these seats were elected to the Lok Sabha in the general elections this year.

Congress fought by-elections in five seats but drew a blank.
Guwahati, Nov 26 : In an effort to improve the state's educational system, the Assam government has launched a bold plan to build 700 cutting-edge leader schools, officials said on Monday.

According to a senior official, this innovative action aims to improve educational standards and give pupils access to cutting-edge learning resources.

"In order to create transformative learning settings, this project prioritises cutting-edge technology, modern infrastructure, and skilled management. With top-notch facilities, the schools will strive for academic success, encourage skill development, and offer a supportive learning atmosphere," the official added.

Earlier, Assam education minister Ranoj Pegu asserted that the state government has been eyeing to promote digital classes in the schools along with physical teaching.

He has mentioned that the education department's digital attendance system will be utilised to bring down school dropout rates in the state.

He said, "As the academic session for this year resumed after a gap of one month, I addressed the teachers through virtual mode. I wish them good luck in the upcoming days."

The minister mentioned that the education department has been working to promote digital education in the schools.

"We have decided to give thrust on imparting teaching through digital mode. The majority of schools in Assam are equipped with smart classrooms along with seamless internet connectivity. These facilities will be utilised to give students exposure to digital education," he added.

Meanwhile, Pegu also said that the state government has been seriously considering bringing down the school dropout ratio.

"We have installed a digital attendance system for students and teachers in the schools. The attendance of students is being strictly monitored and necessary steps will be taken to increase the turnout. Once the attendance can be increased, the school dropout rates will automatically come down," the education minister said.
Dhaka, Nov 26 : The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) on Monday urged the Indian government to take immediate steps, seeking the release of prominent Hindu leader and priest, Chinmoy Krishna Das, who was earlier taken into custody by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

Taking to social media platform X, ISKCON said: "We have come across disturbing reports that Sri Chinmoy Krishna Das, one of the prominent leaders of ISKCON Bangladesh, has been detained by the Dhaka police."

"It is outrageous to make baseless allegations that ISKCON has anything to do with terrorism anywhere in the world. ISKCON, Inc. urges the Government of India to take immediate steps, speak to the government of Bangladesh, and convey that we are a peace-loving Bhakti movement."

"We want the Government of Bangladesh to release Chinmoy Krishna Das immediately. Our prayers to Lord Krishna for the protection of these devotees," ISKCON wrote on X.

International Society for Krishna Consciousness, known as ISKCON, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organisation with followers across countries and cultures.

Chinmoy Krishna Das, spokesperson of Bangladesh Sanatan Jagaran Mancha, and head of Pundarik Dham in Chittagong, was taken into custody by Dhaka Metropolitan Police on Monday as the interim government led by Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus continues to inflict horrors on the Hindu community of the country.

According to local media, Chinmoy Krishna Das, also known as Krishna Prabhu Das, was taken into custody by the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Monday at 4:30 pm.

"Additional Commissioner of DB, Rezaul Karim Mallik, confirmed the detention, saying that it was based on a requisition related to a complaint. He mentioned that Chinmoy Krishna Das would be handed over to the related police station. However, the specific details of the complaint against him were not immediately disclosed by the DB official," reported Bangladesh's leading daily 'Dhaka Tribune'.

Chinmoy Krishna Das was not only associated with the Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Mohajot (BJHM), a grand national alliance of 23 religious organisations in the country but also with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

As the news about Chinmoy Krishna Das's arrest spread on social media, several protests broke out in Chittagong, demanding his immediate release.

It was reported that protesters marched and rallied at the Cheragi intersection in the city, chanting slogans and demanding his release.

Several videos that went viral on social media late Monday evening showed Bangladeshi policemen targeting the protestors who were marching towards the Cheragi intersection.

Kanchan Gupta, a Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, posted an image of a Hindu protester soaked in blood after the violent attacks.

"Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari was charged with sedition after he led a massive rally of Hindus protesting targeted hate attacks and demanding protection from Islamists. Tallest leader of the Hindu community, Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari is believed to have been taken to Detective Branch of Yunus Regime," Gupta said in another post on X.

The incidents of vandalism, looting, arson, land grabbing, and threats to leave the country have been repeatedly inflicted on the Hindu community after the interim government was sworn in on August 8 under the leadership of Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus.

The Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Oikya Parishad had earlier sent an 'open letter' to Yunus, expressing "profound sorrow and concern" over a particular group's "unprecedented violence" against the minorities.

Even though Yunus and his religious affairs' advisor A.F.M. Khalid Hossain assured that the current establishment believes in communal harmony, the communal violence, which began immediately after former PM Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka, continues to cause widespread fear, anxiety, and uncertainty among the minorities in Bangladesh, especially Hindus.
When the forces of Libyas U.N.-recognized Government of National Accord captured in April 2020, the town of Tarhuna from the Kaniyat militia, they discovered a traumatized city and mass graves of hundreds of civilians, victims of crimes amounting to war crimes. For nearly nine years, the town had been ruled by the Kani brothers and their Kaniyat, who imposed on Tarhunas 13,000 citizens a reign of terror.

Seeking justice for the people of Tarhuna, on November 19, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, urged the U.N. Security Council and member states to cooperate with the ICC in executing arrest warrants against those suspected of war crimes committed in Tarhuna.

We welcome the recent unsealing of six arrest warrants for leaders of, and local officials associated with the Kaniyat militia, said Mark Simonoff, Legal Adviser to the United States Mission to the U.N.

The arrest warrants represent significant strides in pursuing accountability for the most atrocious crimes committed in Libya and sending a message to victims that they are not forgotten.

Libya has made great strides in key areas over the past six months. The various investigative and cooperative activities undertaken by the Office of the Prosecutor have strengthened the foundations for accountability amidst ongoing political, security, and resource challenges, said Ambassador Simonoff.

The United States commends civil society, human rights defenders, and victims associations for carrying the torch of justice in Libya. We applaud the commitment of the Office of the Prosecutor to proactively hold regular meetings with such groups to hear their views and concerns while practicing trauma-informed approaches.

The United States urges the Libyan authorities to take into account the perspectives of survivors and civil society organizations in Libya who have waited far too long to have a seat at the table.

Building a stable and prosperous Libya requires facing the injustices of the past head on. This requires the Libyan authorities to implement stronger means of witness protection, invest further in psychosocial support during and beyond trial proceedings, and lift restrictions on civil societythe backbone of the justice process.

Resolving political instability and promoting accountability will go a long way toward addressing the chronic cycles of violence in Libya, said Ambassador Simonoff.

It is long past time to break the cycle of impunity that has fed this prolonged conflict and to empower the Libyan people in their pursuit of a peaceful and prosperous future.
Islamabad, Nov 26 : Opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protest titled "Final Call" has forced its way into the capital Islamabad and is marching on its way towards its destination D-Chowk, which is taking place at a time when the first round of backdoor talks between the government and PTI have failed, and the second round is expected to start past Monday midnight.

At least one police official has died while more than a hundred police officials were left injured, with many in critical condition.

However, the ruling Shehbaz Sharif's government maintains that it would not spare those who called for this protest, asserting that anyone who reached D-Chowk would be arrested.

The PTI protest, which was announced on November 24, has now entered into its second day as tens of thousands of protestors from the Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP) province continue to march, overcoming hurdles, blockades, violent clashes with security officials, tear gas and rubber bullets.

The PTI march is being led by KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Bushra Bibi, the wife of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Bushra Bibi became the driving force behind the protest march as she called on all supporters of Imran Khan to keep pushing forward until her husband and PTI founder is not released from Adiyala Jail.

"My brothers, as long as Imran is not with us, we will not end this march. I will stay there till my last breath, and all of you have to support me. This is not just about my husband but about the country and its leader," Bushra Bibi said on Monday while addressing the protestors.

As per the latest reports, violent clashes are taking place between PTI supporters and security officials at 26 number area of Sangjani interchange in Islamabad.

The government maintains that its first priority is to not let PTI get what it has come looking for in terms of casualties, warning that all those behind this protest will not be spared.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that those who called for this protest, which has yet again resulted in the death of one police official, will not be spared.

"PTI wants to make sure that it gets to play with dead bodies and has been engaging in violent clashes with the police. We have proof that our police officials who have been injured and killed have been hit by straight gunshots," he said while speaking to the media at D-chowk in Islamabad.

"We will also give you evidence of how all of this was planned to disrupt the visit of the Belarusian President and its delegation. They (PTI) protestors do not even care about the country and that foreign dignitaries were landing in the country. Yesterday also, they tried to do their best to embarrass Pakistan by trying to disrupt and hinder the visit of the Belarusian delegation. This is all part of their plan to spread unrest in the country," Naqvi added.

While the PTI protest from KP continued to move slowly towards Islamabad, a backdoor round of table talks was underway between the government and a delegation of PTI.

The PTI delegation was represented by its chairman Barrister Gohar Khan and Barrister Saif, the spokesperson for the KP provincial government, while the government delegation was represented by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, and others.

As per sources, the first round of talks did not yield any results.

However, a second round of talks is expected to start on Monday night as the PTI delegation reached Adiyala Jail to meet with Imran Khan for consultation.

It is expected that a common ground of understanding may be reached to bring the fast-worsening security situation in the capital to a logical closure.

PTI demands the immediate release of Imran Khan, the return of what it terms a stolen mandate during general polls on February 8, 2024, and the reversal of the 26th Constitutional Amendment.

While there are hopes that the second round of talks would de-escalate tensions, the situation on the ground in the capital remains extremely tense and threatens more violence.

As PTI protestors move deeper into Islamabad, authorities have announced the closure of all educational institutions in the capital for two more days, while a heavy deployment of security has been put in place at Adiyala Jail, Rawalpindi, D-Chowk, and other entry points and routes towards the capital's Red Zone.

PTI protestors vow to remain in the capital until their leader Imran Khan is released and their demands are met by the government.
Despite ongoing consolidation in the global book market, PWs annual ranking of the worlds largest publishers is largely unchanged from last year. There is one notable exception: Japans Hitotsubashi Group moved into seventh place due to the further integration of two publishersShueisha and Shogakukanthat the holding company owns. Shueisha was the 11th-largest publisher on last years list, and Shogakukan was in the 23rd place. (The current ranking is based on revenue for 2023 or fiscal 2023.)

RELX Group remained #1 this year, with sales at the STM and legal publisher holding relatively even at $6.3 billion. Thomson Reuterss revenue inched over $6 billion for the first time, keeping it just ahead of Bertelsmann, where Penguin Random House and Bertelsmanns educational publishing holdings together posted a 9% increase in sales, to just under $6 billion.

Hachette Livre maintained its hold on sixth place after being picked up by a new parent company, Vivendi. Wiley landed in ninth place based on $2 billion in sales, though in the wake of some asset sales its likely to drop in next years ranking.

HarperCollins is in 10th place with sales of just under $2 billion, down from the prior year. CEO Brian Murray attributed declines to a number of factors, including macroeconomic headwinds and the lingering effects of the pandemic.

PWs full ranking of the worlds largest publishers, compiled by industry consultant Ruediger Wischenbart, has typically included at least 50 companies. That changed this year, with 47 publishers appearing on the list. The change is due to continuing consolidation and the fact that companies that had been educational publishers, such as Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, now consider themselves educational technology companies, not publishers.

Total revenue of the companies in the current ranking was $69.7 billion, up from $69.05 billion the prior year.

The 10 largest publishers generated combined revenue of $38.7 billion, 55.5% of all sales from companies on this years list. Between 2019 and 2023, total publishing revenue of the ranked companies rose by about 16%.
In June, Victor Martinez-Hernandez was charged with the murder of Rachel Morin, a mother of five in Maryland. Police in Oklahoma tracked the accused repeat offender down with a sample of his DNA recovered from a Los Angeles home invasion in which a nine-year-old girl and her mother were assaulted. Police say he came to the U.S. illegally to escape prosecution for at least one other murder in his native El Salvador in December 2022.

That should never have been allowed to happen, said Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler, referring to the numerous missed red flags the case presented. His office apprehended Hernandez in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Victor Martinez-Hernandez: Charged with the death of Rachel Morin in Maryland.

Like the member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua sentenced to life in prison last week for the murder of Laken Riley in Georgia, Hernandezs case is shining a light on the federal governments failure to properly vet and keep track of lawless migrants.

These gaps have led to broad claims that illegal immigrants have less involvement with the criminal justice system than native-born Americans. A review of the available data, however, shows that the criminal records of millions of migrants  the ones President-elect Trump vows to prioritize for deportation  remain unknown due to illegal crossings, lax enforcement, and lax data collection by federal and sanctuary jurisdictions.

In addition, an analysis of the available statistics by RealClearInvestigations suggests that the crime rate of noncitizens is vastly understated. A separate RCI analysis based on estimates developed by the U.S. Department of Justices National Institute of Justice (NIJ) suggests that crime by illegal aliens who entered the U.S. by July 21, 2024 cost the country some $166.5 billion. These criminals disproportionately entered the U.S. during the Biden administration.

Jose Ibarra: Sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Laken Riley in Georgia.

The problem begins with incomplete initial vetting by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The criminal histories of migrants from far-flung countries with often shoddy record-keeping are somewhat hard to determine. It is also impractical to hold each person until they have passed a rigorous background check. As a result, ICE routinely releases many illegals into the country on their own recognizance and then discovers afterward that many had criminal records in their home countries.

In response to a request from Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas, ICE reported this summer that it has released 7.4 million such non-detained noncitizens into the U.S. during the last four decades or so. ICE reports that these include 662,566 noncitizens with criminal histories - 435,719 individuals with criminal convictions in their home countries and another 226,847 with pending criminal charges. These precise figures, however, do not say whether the crimes of the latter group were committed in the accuseds home country or the U.S.

In the July 21 letter to Rep. Gonzales, ICE reported that 13,099 of these non-detained individuals have convictions for homicide, with 1,845 facing criminal homicide charges. Another 9,461 have convictions for sex offenses (not including assault or commercialized sex), and 2,659 face pending charges. The convictions include other crimes such as assault (62,231), robbery (10,031), sexual assault (15,811), weapons offenses (13,423), and dangerous drugs (56,533).

It's difficult to calculate all the victimization costs: Friends and family of Laken Riley react to the verdict in Athens, Ga.

These figures are only suggestive of the extent of crime because they only list the most serious crime committed by each individual. A murderer, for example, who also committed a sex offense, is only counted as a murderer. It does not include the fact that millions of migrants are violating the law because of their presence in the U.S. It also does not account for the lawbreaking involved in working without proper authorization or the widespread use of stolen Social Security numbers to secure employment.

The 662,566 convicted and likely criminals make up 9% of the 7.4 million released noncitizens.

Laken Riley: Her case illustrates the governments failure to properly vet and keep track of lawless migrants.

The statistics miss much of the relationship between crime and illegal aliens. Noncitizens in the national docket data either surrendered to border agents or were apprehended at the border. Those who avoid surrender likely have reasons to evade authorities, such as a criminal background. But there are others who avoided being caught and wont be in these numbers. That group includes gotaways  individuals observed crossing the U.S. border illegally but not apprehended or turned back. With up to 38% of border agents shifted from monitoring to processing duties and 30% of surveillance cameras not functioning, millions more likely entered the U.S. undetected, potentially including the most dangerous individuals.

The Customs and Border Protection Agency estimates that some two million such gotaways have entered the country since 2021.

The data on migrants who have been processed also understates the problem. Criminals rarely commit just one crime. For example, from 1990 to 2002, in the 75 most populous U.S. counties, 70% of those convicted of a violent felony had a prior arrest, and 56% had a prior criminal conviction. In 2023 in Washington, D.C., the average homicide suspect had been arrested 11 times before committing a homicide. Data for 30 states shows that 60.1% of criminals released from prison in 2005 had been arrested again within two years, and 73.5% had been arrested within four years. The ICE data set provides a single entry for each individual.

Most violent crimes dont result in an arrest, so looking at arrests or convictions in these other countries will underestimate whether illegal aliens are criminals. Across all U.S. cities in 2022, only 35.2% of violent crimes resulted in an arrest. While 50.6% of murders resulted in an arrest, just 24.1% of rapes produced an arrest, 22.7% of robberies, and 39.9% of aggravated assaults.

Heavy publicity: The suspect was long at large and evidently widely traveled in the U.S.

As the Laken Riley and Rachel Morin murder cases make clear, it is difficult to calculate all the victimization costs of crime to families and society.

Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas: He got ICE to release statistics.

Using tools developed by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), RCI did estimate what is likely the bare minimum economic costs of illegal alien crime. It arrived at its estimated cost to victims in dollar terms by assuming that each of the 662,566 non-detained noncitizen offenders on ICEs list committed just once in the U.S. the crime for which they have been previously accused.

ICE presented Rep. Gonzales with numbers on 42 different types of crime, but the NIJ only calculated the cost to victims for eight types of crime. Professor Mark Cohen at Vanderbilt University, who co-authored the original NIJ report, updated the list with 15 of the crime categories reported by ICE: murder, sexual assault, sexual offenses, robbery, assault, arson, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, weapon offenses, drugs, fraud, liquor offenses, gambling, and stolen property. Cohens updated numbers provide estimates for the damage from child abuse, drunk driving, and vandalism, but ICE did not collect numbers on those crimes.

NIJs estimated losses from crime victimization include : medical care/ambulances, mental health care, police/fire service costs, social/victim services, property loss/damage, reduced productivity (at work, home, and school), and nonmonetary losses (fear, pain, suffering, and lost quality of life).

Donald Trump embraces Patty Morin, mother of Rachel Morin, at a campaign rally in November.

Murders account for almost $153.8 billion of the $166.5 billion in estimated criminal victimization costs (a breakdown of the costs of crime for each type of crime is available here). Another $6 billion involves sexual assaults/offenses, and an additional $5.2 billion comes from sexual assaults and sexual offenses.

Half of the crimes these non-detained individuals commit don't have cost estimates. These crimes include kidnapping, embezzlement, extortion, smuggling, traffic offenses, and weapon offenses.

These criminal illegal aliens entered the U.S. under multiple administrations, but the size of the problem was likely larger under the Biden administration. That isnt just because so many more illegal aliens were entering the country. Under the Trump administrations remain-in-Mexico policy, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) performed background checks on immigrants. That included contacting immigrants countries of origin.

ICE agents cannot access the same databases to check on the immigrants, and they dont contact the immigrants home country. Plus, the massive inflow of immigrants has overwhelmed the system. The Deputy Director for ICE blames the enormous workload agents face, so they havent been able to do even the limited background checks they are doing. There are so many coming in that the government cant house these immigrants until their backgrounds are properly checked.

ICE has been processing criminals as they enter the country, but without identifying them as criminals. So, under the Biden administration, they have simply been released into the country. Now, they are walking freely in the United States, and no one knows where they are.

As bad as these numbers are, the reality may be even worse. The Biden-Harris administration is accused of presenting the border crisis so that it does not look as bad as it is. In mid-September, retired San Diego Border Patrol Chief Aaron Heitk testified how the Biden administration ordered him not to publicize the arrests of illegal border crossers who they identified as having terrorist ties.

The American Immigration Council, which strongly opposes President-elect Donald Trumps deportation policies, estimates that it could cost $88 billion to deport one million illegal immigrants. But if we accept its estimate and ignore the various government benefits that these individuals might be receiving, ICEs number of 662,556 illegal criminal immigrants implies a cost of $58.3 billion to remove them  just over one-third of the conservative estimate given here of the cost of the crimes by these criminals.

The estimate of over $160 billion in costs from criminal illegal aliens is very likely an underestimate of the true costs. It assumes the average criminal coming into the country commits only one offense similar to what he committed in his home country. We are also not counting the costs of half of criminal illegal aliens.
Pop music icon Elton John has announced he lost the sight in his right eye.

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The Grammy winner told ABC's Good Morning America Monday that the problem stemmed from an infection he suffered last summer.

"It kinda floored me, and I can't see anything. I can't read anything, I can't watch anything," John, 77, said. "My left eye's not the greatest."

He said plans to complete a new album are on hold while he adapts to these challenges.

"There is hope and encouragement that it will be OK, but I'm kinda stuck at the moment," John said.

"I can do something like this, but going into a studio and recording? I don't know because I can't see a lyric for a start."

A documentary called Elton John: Never Too Late is set to premiere on Disney+ on Dec. 13.

It was directed by R.J. Cutler and John's husband David Furnish.
The United States has made clear repeatedly that it will not support an unconditional ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas that fails to release the hostages held by Hamas. These two urgent goals are inextricably linked, said Ambassador Robert Wood, U.S. Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs at the United Nations:

There are still seven American citizens in the hands of Hamas. We will not forget them. For our part, we will continue to pursue a diplomatic solution that brings peace, security, and freedom to Palestinians in Gaza. The United States, along with partners in the region, has worked tirelessly to achieve such a deal. But we are not there yet. Why? Because Hamas has rejected deal after deal after deal.

[I]t is not Israel standing in the way of a ceasefire and hostage deal. It is Hamas, stressed Ambassador Wood.

Israel has said it is prepared to have a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of a few of hostages. And then, build on that to bring each and every hostage home.

Any UN Security Council resolution must condemn Hamas for its October 7 terrorist attack, said Ambassador Wood:

Its inexplicable that more than 13 months since that day, some members of this [Security] Council are missing the plot that they refuse to acknowledge it is Hamas that instigated this conflict. It is Hamas that has put millions of Palestinians civilians in harms way and has brought the region to the precipice of a broader war.

American diplomacy will continue to press for more aid in and throughout Gaza, which requires immediate steps to improve conditions on the ground.

The United States has taken a very clear position since this war began, which is that Israel had a right to defend itself after the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, Ambassador Wood reiterated.

At the same time, the United States has done more than any other country to improve the humanitarian conditions in Gaza.

Its vital that we end this war in a way that charts a path forward in the post-conflict period that provides governance, security, and reconstruction in Gaza, and restores dignity for civilians caught in the middle of a war they did not want, said Ambassador Wood. ... [L]ets work to bring a durable end to the suffering and misery of Hamas many victims since October 7.
Katy Perry is teasing new dates for The Lifetimes Tour.

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"Ok guys, what leg of the tour do you think we're gonna announce next?" the pop icon asked in a video she posted to social media.

The musician then grabbed a bottle of Clearly Canadian strawberry sparkling water.

"Clearly Canadian," she said zooming in on the text. "The Canadian leg is coming up. Oh Canada."

Perry previously announced the U.K. portion of her tour following the September release of 143.

"The Lifetimes Tour is going to be a dance party and everyone is invited," she said at the time.

She is set to stop in Vancouver July 22, Edmonton July 24, Winnipeg July 26, Ottawa July 29 and Montreal July 30.

She visits Quebec City and Toronto on Aug. 1 and Aug. 5, respectively.

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Tickets for those events will go on pre-sale Nov. 27, she said.
Kaity Biggar / Instagram

By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 11/25/2024



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

alum Zach Shallcross has proposed marriage to Kaity Biggar for the second time -- and with a brand new ring!Zach popped the question for the second time to Kaity on their second anniversary while the pair was sailing on a romantic yacht in Lisbon, Portugal.Kaity, 30, announced the big news via Instagram on Friday, November 22."aaHow lucky am I to get to say 'yes' to you twice!" Kaity captioned a carousel of photos featuring alum showing off her new engagement ring.Photos included Zach and Kaity drinking wine, kissing, and snuggling up to each other on the boat.Kaity recently lost -- and found -- her original engagement ring, an oval-cut diamond, from 's 27th season.Many fans therefore speculated in the comments that Zach may have re-proposed with Kaity's old ring since she was excited to be reunited with it again, but that wasn't the case. Instead, Kaity now has two engagement rings!Kaity recently shared a wedding update with Zach on TikTok.In a November 11 video, Kaity, who revealed she had recovered her original ring, said she and her fiance are postponing their wedding planning for now."First off, wedding update: So we had a wedding venue , everything, and we actually just didn't sign it," Kaity admitted."So we are floating the boat ourselves on this wedding, and having a wedding projected to cost $70K coming out of our pockets is just absolutely insane and not going to happen, especially when we're thinking about having a family."27 winner pointed out how she and Zach are thinking ahead -- and that includes figuring out how they're going to pay for their children's schooling and "setting them up for a successful life."Kaity therefore confirmed she and Zach have decided to "take a step back" from wedding planning. They had previously met with a wedding planner in April and were eyeing a Fall 2025 wedding "At this point, Zach and I are just going to re-evaluate things, take a step back," Kaity said."Obviously we want to marry each other. We just want the best venue for the right price tag, as we all do. We also have the rest of our lives together, so it's like, 'Why are we rushing into anything?'"Kaity explained the couple has just been taking things "day by day," and she added, "[We're] loving being with each other and building our relationship more and more."Kaity also revealed she and Zach are gifting each other a trip to Tokyo for Christmas, although they may not go on the trip until Spring 2025.Also in her TikTok video, Kaity explained how she had found her missing engagement ring."Let's talk about how we got this bad boy back. I am an engaged woman again! Basically it was eight days, didn't have the ring, freaking out," Kaity said.Kaity noted that she had informed ABC of her missing ring because they insure it for her."Day 8, I got a call from [ Daisy Kent ] from [ Joey Graziadei ]'s season, and she got a little phone call from somebody saying, 'Are you missing a bag?' This is what I find really weird! Daisy was like, 'Yeah, my friend is missing a bag,'" Kaity revealed.The bag then showed up to Kaity's house the next day, which Kaity also found "so weird."Kaity added, "I have no idea how Daisy's friend/team was aware about the bag, but anyways, we got it back. I didn't really ask a whole lot of questions because I was just happy to have my engagement ring back. But yeah, that's what happened."Earlier this month, Kaity had revealed that she lost her engagement ring while traveling back to her home in Austin, TX, from a trip."I had a connecting flight in Miami. So I got off my first plane in Miami and had to recheck my bag and go through customs... When I got to the Austin airport, my driver was looking for my bag, I'm looking for my bag, can't find it," Kaity shared at the time.Kaity continued, "And guess what's in my bag? My ring is in my checked bag."Kaity said when she asked the airline office for her bag's location, she was told her luggage "didn't make it" but would arrive that night or the next morning."It's been six days and I do not have my engagement ring," Kaity lamented last week."I also had $1,100 of makeup and hair care in there... You better find that damn bag or Neil Lane will be coming for you... So if you're going to learn anything from my experience, please don't put your diamonds or valuables or anything in a checked bag."Zach and Kaity got engaged on 's 27th season, which filmed in late 2022 and aired in early 2023. Zach had selected Kaity over his runner-up Gabi Elnicki Interested in more news? Follow our Bachelor Nation News Page on Facebook or join our The Bachelor Facebook Group
The concept of a ranch rifle is generally considered to be a handy, compact, intermediate-caliber rifle, carried around all-day long from dawn to dusk while on a ranch.

Most people probably envision something like the OG ranch rifle, the Ruger Mini-14  a magazine-fed semi-automatic rifle in 5.56 or 7.6239 with a traditional stock. Such a rifle is very effective at policing a ranch, protecting livestock, crops, and more by dispatching pests, predators, and game.

While an AR-15 fills the same role very capably, some might prefer the slim profile and feel of a traditionally stocked rifle. Many shooters find a traditional stock to point and handle very naturally and intuitively. When transporting your gun, such as in a scabbard on horseback, a ranch rifle is slimmer from top to bottom than typical pistol-gripped modern sporting rifles.

Or you might like the aesthetics or simply want more variety in your portfolio of blasters. Finally  and more controversially because of the politics  you might live behind the curtain in a state that doesnt respect the Second Amendment. Such ban states like California and New York restrict ownership of firearms based on arbitrary factors such as the presence of a pistol grip on a magazine-fed semi-automatic rifle.

Therefore, the traditional stock found on ranch-style rifles (and lack of other silly criteria such as flash hiders and vertical grips) place them in the rarefied position of not being classified as a so-called assault weapon, often referred to as featureless builds.

A refrain we commonly hear about ban states like California from red-blooded Americans in free states is something like, Screw California! You should move out of that hell hole. Or they might proclaim, Do not comply! While many people are indeed fleeing ban states, many also have generations of families, businesses, farms, jobs, and other things keeping them there. And when you have the well-being of your loved ones at stake, simply ignoring local laws isnt a great option.

Moreover, states like California and New York are huge components of the economy, infrastructure, and fabric of the United States, and thus have a significant impact on the nation as a whole, whether you like it or not. Thankfully, patriotic residents of those states as well as 2A advocacy groups continue to fight tooth and nail to defend our rights, and it behooves us all to support them.

Lets be clear, while mainstream media sources regularly paint the fight for the Second Amendment as expanding gun rights, its no such thing. In fact, were just fighting back against decades of laws and regulations that have been chipping away at our Constitutional rights.

And as much as everyone loves to hate on New York, it gave rise to the landmark New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen decision, in which the Supreme Court reiterated the plain meaning of the Second Amendment and clarified the framework by which the constitutionality of gun-related legislation needs to be assessed.

This has led to challenges of many other laws across the land that infringe on the Second Amendment.

While the legal and legislative fight continues on unabated, one can optimistically hope that these unconstitutional assault weapon bans will be overturned on the basis of the Bruen framework  even as many politicians continue to call for a national ban.

Meanwhile, ranch-style rifles can provide most of the practicality of their free-state equivalents while keeping ban-state residents compliant with current laws. Theyre semi-automatic, magazine-fed rifles that can put rounds on target just like any other  which incidentally makes clear the absurdity of these assault weapon bans.

We all bristle when our options are restricted by the government, but as far as were concerned, the more of these rifles out there with citizens to guard hearth and home the better, even as we look to a future where the modern musket is protected nationally. And dont forget these are large and highly populated states; the more gun owners in the fold the better.

Weve already discussed how some shooters might prefer the ergonomics of a traditionally stocked gun, and how theyre slimmer as well. So lets talk about some potential downsides.

You lose the ability to quickly adjust the length of pull and the option of a folding stock. Overall length may be longer due to the positioning of the firing hand. Safeties typically arent as easy to flick on and off, and reloads usually arent quite as efficient. Youll need a cheek riser to use optics, and ergonomics for CQB and unusual positions arent as comfortable. We used ADMs AD-RECON-SL scope mounts to position our scopes as low as possible.

But ranch rifles certainly get the job done, and they do it in style, if not a bit steampunk. Highlighted here are the OG itself, the Mini-14, in modern form, as well as three weapon systems from CMMG, Foxtrot Mike, and SIG Sauer that utilize bufferless uppers. Theyre entirely self-contained, with recoil springs within the upper, so they dont require a lower with a receiver extension.

Thus, they allow for folding stocks, no stocks at all, or, as shown here, traditional stocks. Additionally, you can always adapt the uppers to regular AR lowers in the future. Mal and Zoe would approve.

CMMG BR4 DISSENT

SPECS: CMMG BR4 Dissent

Caliber: 5.56mm, 300BLK, 22ARC, 6mm ARC, 6.5 Grendel, 9mm, 350 Legend

Barrel length: 14.5, 16.1 inches (tested)

Overall length: 37.3 inches (as tested)

Weight: 7.6 pounds

MSRP: Starting at $1,900

Accessories:

Atibal X 1-1030 FFP Plumb Reticle scope  $800

ADM AD-RECON-SL scope mount  $227

SureFire M640DFT Pro Turbo Scout Light Tan  $439

CMMG has been manufacturing ARs since 2002, always looking to provide quality at a good price while continually enhancing the platform and supporting a wide variety of calibers. A few years ago, CMMG introduced their bufferless Compact Action in their Dissent line, for use as a pistol or with folding stocks. The Compact Actions bolt carrier group is shortened so it doesnt extend past the rear of the upper, with dual guide rods and springs above it. Since thats where the charging handle usually lives, its moved forward to the handguard as a side charger that can be placed on either side.

To adapt their Dissent uppers for use with a traditional stock, CMMG designed a new lower. Think of it as a regular AR lower with the rear stretched out to accommodate a mounting point for a Magpul SGA Remington 870 shotgun stock and the trigger relocated further aft so its properly positioned for the stock.

This makes the magazine release unreachable unless you have E.T. fingers, so CMMG added an ambidextrous unit to reload with your support hand. A standard AR safety selector no longer works, so CMMG placed a crossbolt safety at the very end of the lower. This actually works fine, as you can actuate it from one side with your trigger finger and the other with your thumb, though youll probably need to shift your grip.

Notably, CMMG has built out an entire family of products, with many caliber options and large-frame and small-frame lowers, called the Br3 and Br4, respectively. The Br3 is offered in 7.62mm, 6.5CM, and 8.6BLK, while the Br4 comes in 5.56mm, 300BLK, 22ARC, 6mm ARC, 6.5 Grendel, 9mm, and 350 Legend. There are various barrel lengths and some non-threaded options, plus your choice of seven different Cerakote colors.

Our sample is a Br4 in 5.56mm with a 16.1-inch 1:7-twist 4140 barrel with a 15-inch M-Lok handguard. The gas block is adjustable; youll need a long 3/32-inch Allen key to reach it. The muzzle brake and trigger are from CMMGs own premium Zeroed line. The single-stage trigger has a longer linkage for the relocated trigger shoe, but it breaks relatively cleanly with some creep at 3.75 pounds.

Off the bench, the CMMG delivered solid performance, though it wasnt as accurate as the Foxtrot Mike and SIG. American Eagle XM 55-grain printed a 3.2 MOA five-shot group at an average of 2,927 fps. ADI 69-grain SMKs did 2.4 MOA at 2,615 fps, and Igman 55-grain FMJ delivered 2.2 MOA at 2,904 fps. Federal Gold Medal Center Strike 77-grain OTM did the best with a 1.8 MOA group at 2,416 fps.

On the range, the CMMG handled very well with good ergonomics, only lacking an ambidextrous bolt catch. Between the muzzle brake and the adjustable gas block, it shoots flat with good return on recoil. It was completely reliable with no malfunctions or issues.

The same held true for CMMGs 9mm upper that we also tested on the Br4 lower, as it feeds from a magazine with the same outer footprint as a regular STANAG magazine. This upper features CMMGs radial delayed blowback system, so it was reliable with various different loads and had a nicer recoil impulse than typical straight blowback 9mm ARs.

The CMMG Br4 Dissent has great attention to detail, with minimal compromises for the ranch rifle format, though its on the heavier side. We also salute CMMG for the wide range of options and calibers theyve fielded, including a large frame version. Its a great option to get a ranch rifle in the exact  or multiple  chambering youre seeking.

FOXTROT MIKE RANCH RIFLE

SPECS: Foxtrot Mike Ranch Rifle

Caliber: .223 Wylde

Barrel length: 16 inches

Overall length: 37.5 inches

Weight: 6.2 pounds

MSRP: Starting at $949 ($1,449 as tested without Cerakote)

Accessories:

Vortex Razor HD Gen II-E 1-624 scope  $2,400

ADM AD-RECON-SL scope mount  $227

JP Enterprises JPAMC ambidextrous magazine catch  $90

SureFire Mini Scout Light Pro  $369

Rugged Suppressors Razor762  $894

Foxtrot Mike aims to create innovative firearms at reasonable prices. Their second- generation uppers are bufferless, with dual nested springs and a recoil rod that threads through a counterbore in the abbreviated BCGs carrier key and seats into the rear of the forward charging handle rod.

They then designed a ranch-style lower that extends further back to take a Remington 870 stock with the trigger guard brought back within reach. The safety is a reversible cross-bolt unit, nicely positioned to deactivate it with your trigger finger but inconveniently far forward on the other side to put back on safe.

Unfortunately, the gun doesnt come with ambidextrous controls; we can forgive the bolt catch but an ambi mag release is a must have on a rifle like this. We added JP Enterprises excellent unit, which was a cinch to install and works great for reloading with your support hand. Foxtrot Mike should ship them this way.

The trigger shoe itself is peculiar  its basically upside down, pivoting on the bottom rather than the top. You grow accustomed to it, but it feels quite odd for a while. Our sample has an optional Hiperfire trigger, which breaks cleanly at 3.5 pounds with a little creep. Given the online chatter weve read complaining about the heavy standard trigger, the $250 premium for the Hiperfire is worthwhile.

Foxtrot Mikes manufacturing techniques and considerations are as interesting as their firearm designs. For instance, they make their own barrels and are extremely meticulous. They machine flats on the barrel at the muzzle and the rear; the one in front helps you easily service the muzzle device and the one in the rear ensures the barrel extension can be installed in the factory to an exact torque specification.

Barrels are made from premium 41V50, vacuum stress relieved, and melonited with a burnished chamber. Foxtrot also replaces its tooling on a strict schedule to ensure consistency, with extensive QA performed on every barrel. Additionally, a taper lock barrel nut ensures concentricity.

Indeed, Foxtrot Mikes OCD paid dividends at the range, as it delivered impressive accuracy in our testing. American Eagle grouped five shots in 1.8 MOA at 2,976 fps, while Federal Gold Medal Center Strike 77-grain OTM gave us 1.7 MOA at 2,454 fps. Igman 55-grain FMJ printed 1.5 MOA at 3,000 fps, and ADI 69-grain SMK achieved 0.7 MOA at 2,650 fps. Bravo, especially from a 6.2-pound ranch rifle.

The rifle is very light and handles very well. It has a very mild recoil impulse, but we found the four-port muzzle brake to push the gun downward excessively. We replaced it with a Rugged Suppressors muzzle brake, making it silencer-friendly.

Working the action is stiffer than the other rifles here, though it gets better with use. On our first range trip, we experienced some feeding issues, but determined it was a bad magazine that caused the same problem with all the rifles we brought out that day. Besides that, the rifle functioned 100 percent.

Our sample came with the optional sexy Woox wood furniture, partial top rail delete, and a sweet Cerakote paint job thats no longer listed on the website. You neednt get that fancy. Even with the premium for the Hiperfire trigger and extra budget for an ambi mag release, Foxtrot Mikes Ranch Rifle is quite a bit more affordable than the others. Despite some quirks, combined with its light weight, impressive accuracy, and great handling, this makes it very appealing.

SIG MCX REGULATOR

SPECS: SIG Sauer MCX Regulator

Caliber: 5.56mm, 7.62x39mm

Barrel length: 16 inches

Overall length: 38 inches

Weight: 7.7 pounds

MSRP: $2,800

Accessories:

SIG Sauer Tango 6T 1-6x24mm scope with SFP Hellfire reticle  $1,500

SIG Sauer Alpha2 scope mount  $100

SIG Sauer Foxtrot-MSR full-size weapon light  $200

Unlike the other two direct-impingement guns, the SIG MCX Regulator is topped by SIGs battle-tested, short-stroke gas-piston MCX upper. The MCX upper is already self-contained, so it works as-is on SIGs new ranch-style lower.

It has a level of refinement that you can only expect from a Goliath like SIG. Like the others, the lower is stretched to accommodate a traditional stock (Mossberg 500 in this case), but its carefully crafted with several niceties.

The bottom of the lower between the magwell and the trigger guard is machined into an integrated ARCA rail so you can clamp in to a tripod. The trigger guard is canted upward and the trigger shoe contoured to match, placing it higher and making it more comfortable to access when gripping the traditional stock. The lower is longer than the CMMG and Foxtrot Mike, providing an organic, comfortable rear contour as well as additional space to work the MCXs rear charging handle.

But the most brilliant aspect is the Regulators safety selector. SIG engineered an ambidextrous safety thats wonderful to use with your trigger finger and arguably better than a 45-degree selector on a regular AR, already widely considered to be the pinnacle of rifle ergonomics. Plus, it features the same ambidextrous magazine and bolt controls youd find on other late-model MCX-SPEARs.

As we mentioned in our MCX-SPEAR review on page 54, were accustomed to seeing around 1.5 MOA from this platform. Our Regulator did even better than this. Off the bench, American Eagle XM 55-grain FMJ put five shots in 2.5 MOA at an average of 2,906 fps. ADI 69-grain SMK did 1.6 MOA at 2,610 fps. Igman 55-grain FMJ cranked it up to 1.3 MOA at 2,944 fps, and Federal Gold Medal Center Strike 77-grain OTM brought it home with 1.2 MOA at 2,439 fps. We had one failure to feed in the second magazine we put through the gun, then never had another issue after that.

SIG calls the trigger a two-stage match trigger. Wed call it a nearly 6-pound two-stage trigger with a fair amount of creep; its better than a standard USGI trigger but not as good as other SIG match triggers weve had. It gets the job done.

We kitted ours out with SIGs new 33,000 candela Foxtrot-MSR weapon light and Tango 6T 1-6x scope with the bright Hellfire reticle. The rifle is accurate, reliable, and shoots soft and flat.

Ergonomics are great, especially the safety as a real standout for serious tactical use where youre flicking it on and off, though its heavier than the others and the rear charging handle feels cramped.

Overall, this is truth in advertising  the MCX Regulator is everything you love about the MCX, just with a traditional buttstock. Your wallet might hate you, but you could easily take this rifle to war, much less tote it around a ranch.

RUGER MINI-14

SPECS: RugerMini-14

Caliber: 5.56mm

Barrel length: 16.1, 18.5 inches

Overall length: 35 inches (as tested)

Weight: 6.8 pounds (as tested with shortened barrel and Samson rail)

MSRP: $1,259

Accessories:

Samson Hannibal Rail  $145

Atibal E2 Enclosed Red Dot  $325

GG&G Mini-14 Ranch Scope Mount Picatinny Rail  $52

PWS FRC 3-port compensator  $100

Silencer Central Speed K suppressor  $1,199

Rearden Atlas XL adapter  $99

SureFire Micro Scout Light Pro  $349

Ruger introduced the Mini-14 in 1973, and wed be remiss if we didnt include it in this article. As its name suggests, it was positioned as a smaller version of the M14 service rifle, though its fixed piston gas system is actually more like an M1 Garand.

Ruger has been manufacturing them ever since, updating them over the years and releasing and discontinuing various models and calibers. Today, Ruger offers traditional Mini-14 ranch rifles with 18.5-inch barrels, tactical models with 16- and 18.5-inch barrels as well as optional folding stocks, and Mini-30s chambered in 7.62x39mm.

Our sample here is a current production standard blued ranch rifle. It comes from the factory with an 18.5-inch, cold hammer forged, non-threaded barrel and optional synthetic stock. As is, its legal just about everywhere.

To further modernize our rifle, we sent it off to Wright Armory in Arizona to work their magic. They cut, crowned, and threaded the barrel, then relocated the front sight. They pinned and welded a Primary Weapon Systems FRC Plan B-compatible muzzle brake so the overall length was an NFA-friendly 16.1 inches. Finally, they installed Samsons Hannibal rail to provide a top Pic rail over the handguard and mounting for accessories and a forward red dot. We affixed Reardon's Atlas XL HUB adapter to our Silencer Central Speed K to clear the three-port muzzle brake.

One important upgrade with later Mini-14s are the tapped integral scope mounts; you can attach scope rings or Rugers Picatinny rail as shown. This is much improved over the previous scalloped scope bases that you had to fiddle with to align your optics. However, if you have an older Mini-14, GG&G makes an affordable Picatinny rail thatll mount to them.

While Mini-14s arent known for pinpoint accuracy, our sample was still a 3 MOA gun with the right ammo, which is fine for the intended purpose. American Eagle XM 55-grain FMJ had the largest five-shot groups at 6 MOA, with an average velocity of 2,814 fps. ADI 69-grain SMK gave us 3.7 MOA at 2,521 fps. Meanwhile, Igman 55-grain FMJ tightened it up to 3.3 MOA at 2,802 fps. Federal Gold Medal Center Strike 77-grain OTM topped the ranking with 3 MOA at 2,320 fps. The trigger broke at 5 pounds with some creep.

Mini-14s are known for chucking brass into the next zip code, and ours was no exception, making quick work of every magazine we ran through it with no malfunctions of any kind. The lightweight rifle pointed very naturally and snapped quickly between targets. While it didnt shoot as flat as the other guns, the muzzle brake helped settle it down and it was easy to hammer multiple-shot strings.

As the Mini-14 is over 50 years old, it should be no surprise that modern platforms  including Rugers own ARs  outperform the Mini-14. But not only are Mini-14s enticingly nostalgic, theyre downright fun and enjoyable to shoot. Our tricked-out version accepts a suppressor and whatever accessories you want to add, just like any other modern rifle. The Mini-14 is light, nimble, reliable, and svelte. All these decades later, it remains the archetype of what a handy ranch rifle is.

MORE FOR THE RANGE
The 11th edition of the Mercedes-Benz Classic Car Rally in Mumbai on Sunday featured headturners that left the audience gasping in awe.

Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com presents a ringside view.

All photographs: Rajesh Alva/ Rediff.com IMAGE: The star of the show was Mercedes-Benz 500K, built between 1934 and 1936; the Mercedes-Benz 500K Roadster was distinguished from other cars by the letter 'K', meaning Kompressor.

The 11th edition of the Mercedes-Benz Classic Car Rally took place in Mumbai on Sunday in spectacular style, cementing its reputation as India's premier event for vintage and classic car enthusiasts.

IMAGE: Mercedes-Benz Nurburg 460, the last of the passenger cars created after the merger between Daimler and Benz & Cie.

Held in Mumbai, this year's rally brought together a collection of over 95 timeless Mercedes-Benz classics, with around 60 of them making their debut at the show, and drawing record crowds to witness the grandeur and legacy of the brand with the three-pointed star.

What started as a one-off event to celebrate 120 years of motorsport with Mercedes-Benz has turned into a major event, with car lovers flocking to the streets of Mumbai for a dekko.

The cars were laid across majestically on the lawns of Hotel Taj Land's End in Bandra, before moving into the city.

IMAGE: The classic Mercedes-Benz W110.

Among the highlights was the much-anticipated Supercharged Class, showcasing the iconic Kompressor (German for supercharger) models from the 1920s and 1930s.

The 500K, 540K, and 630K -- each a masterpiece -- left the crowds enthralled.

It was the first time that all three models were present at the same location.

IMAGE: The 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540k Cabriolet B, with Inline eight cylinder 5.4-litre engine.

The Superlimousine Class was another headturner.

Cars like the Nurburg, 600 Grosser, and the multiple 300 Adenauer variants offered a window into an era of unrivalled luxury and prestige.

Not to be missed in this class was the 1000SEL (V126).

IMAGE: The 1937 Mercedes Benz 170 range.

The Bruno Sacco Class paid tribute to the legendary Italian designer.

This class was a celebration of design, and harked back to his influence on Mercedes-Benz aesthetics.

This included the first-generation SLK, the G-Wagen and the SEC (C126) S-Class coupe, widely considered one of Sacco's greatest works.

IMAGE: Classic car enthusiast and industrialist Gautam Singhania made an appearance.

Adding a unique touch to this year's rally was the Mile Munchers Class, honouring participants who drove down in their beauties from Goa, Lucknow, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mysore and Rajkot.

Some of the cars that made the drive to Mumbai were the 190 (W201), the 240D (W123) and E220 (W124).

IMAGE: The chief guest of the show was Ashish Shelar, fresh from his re-election as MLA from Bandra West.

Perseus Bandrawalla, curator of MBCCR, said, This is a museum on wheels, showcasing cars right from the world's first automobile; the 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen (replica), to the state-of-the-art modern classic; the SLS AMG with its iconic gullwing doors. You can practically see the evolution of automobiles over the last 130 years.

IMAGE: The rally was flagged off by Mercedes-Benz India MD & CEO, Santosh Iyer, along with Lance Bennett, VP-Sales and Marketing.

Santosh Iyer, MD & CEO of Mercedes-Benz India, had this to say about the rally's 11th edition, "It is a true celebration of automotive history, craftsmanship, and innovation. For over a decade, this event has become the highlight of Mumbai's winter season."

Hormazd Sorabjee, editor of Autocar India said, "The Mercedes-Benz Classic Car Rally is the backbone of the classic car movement in India, and Autocar India is proud to be associated with such a passionate community."

IMAGE: The convoy was led by the 500K and 380SL, as it ran from Hotel Taj Lands End to Worli Seaface and then back via the Bandra-Worli Sea link.

You can see more of the iconic beauties below.

IMAGE: The first stationary gasoline engine developed by Carl Benz was a one-cylinder two-stroke unit which ran for the first time on New Year's Eve 1879. The engine output was 0.75 hp (0.55 kW).

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
As the Union government explores ways to restrict import of laptops and other electronic devices starting with a 5 per cent reduction from the current level, it is working to ensure that theres no supply disruption in India even if an import cap is introduced, it is learnt.

Photograph: Issei Kato/Reuters

The caveat assumes significance in the context of the governments announcement of its plan in August 2023 to issue licences for import of select IT hardware products to reduce the country's dependence on China.

However, due to resistance from companies, industry lobby groups and key trade partners including the United States (US), India stepped down from its earlier plan and a new import management system was introduced from November 2023  to issue import permits in an end-to-end online format.

The import management system covers seven IT hardware items including laptop, tablet, all-in-one personal computer, ultra-small form factor computer and servers, and is currently in place till December 31.

Ahead of that deadline, steps are being planned all over again to boost India manufacturing while reducing imports.

A source in the government said that those manufacturing in the country and also those planning to start the process have expressed the need for an import limit so that they can take advantage of Make in India under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) has been engaged with the industry on this matter for long, while giving a series of extensions to the current system of automated import.

The government, while being aware of the possibility of getting caught in a trade restriction war in the global arena with such a curb, is clear that it wants to promote manufacturing in the country, another source said as he explained the need for placing import restrictions.

At least two new global majors are planning to begin manufacturing in India next April onwards.

According to one of the sources quoted above, the government is doing multiple things ahead of any restriction that may come in place.

Its watching the progress of manufacturing in India and ensuring that supply disruption does not take place at any stage.

In the entire process, maintaining a level-playing field cannot be ignored while giving a push to the PLI scheme, the official said.

He added that national security considerations are in place too.

When asked about the quantum of reduction of import, the official said that no decision had been taken on slashing the import and by how much.



However, sources admitted that a discussion on cutting the import by 5 per cent towards the end of 2025 has taken place and could possibly be implemented without making it official".

Expectations are that even when imports are cut, the supply of laptops and tablets would not reduce as manufacturing in India would pick up by then.

During the financial year 2023-24, imports of the seven IT hardware products stood at $8.7 billion, with the share of China at about 60 per cent.

In the case of personal computers, the share of Chinese imports hovered around 80 per cent.

With the existing import management system valid till December 31, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade under the department of commerce, is expected to issue SOPs for the dos and don'ts on import of IT hardware products, for the benefit of the industry, any time now, according to a top official.

Meanwhile, even as Indias relations with China seem to have improved recently, the comeback of the Trump administration in the US can make things complex for India, industry watchers believe.

Even under the Joe Biden-led administration, India faced immense pressure from the United States (US) to keep America as well as relevant stakeholders informed about India's plan on the import monitoring system for select IT hardware products.

The point we are reinforcing with the government of India is to keep us informed.

"The more we know what to expectthe more effective your measures are going to be, the better off we are all going to be including the impact to the US and Indian economy, the US Trade Representative Katherine Tai had said earlier this year.

However, according to Delhi-based think tank Global Trade Research Initiative, the US stance on China is inconsistent.

It imposes tariffs and restrictions on Chinese goods like solar cells and electric vehicles to protect its own interests but resists when other nations take similar steps that might affect American companies.

"India has a strong case for building its own laptop manufacturing capabilities. China controls 81 per cent of the global PC and laptop market, and any disruption there could have global repercussions, GTRI said in a report.
A new kind of history has been created in Maharashtra. Accept it. We need to give credit where it's due.

Modi led this change... from the setback of June 4 to November 23, notes Sheela Bhatt.

IMAGE: Narendra D Modi acknowledges the cheers at the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters during the BJP's celebration over the party's historic victory in the Maharashtra assembly election, November 23, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

Narendra Modi is all set to wipe out the setback of 240 seats in the Lok Sabha 2024 election.

1. The Maharashtra victory strengthens Modi's leadership in government, in his party and in Parliament.

2. By no stretch of imagination can the Jharkhand and Maharashtra results be politically comparable. A new kind of history has been created in Maharashtra. Accept it. We need to give credit where it's due. Modi led this change... from the setback of June 4 to November 23.

3. Maharashtra's tallest leader Sharad Pawar confronts political ignominy in the final phase of his awesome career in public life.

4. The power that Balasaheb Thackeray's dynasty held for five decades in Maharashtra has been rejected by voters.

5. This election is the great betrayal of 'secular-liberal' and 'minority' voters of the great state of Maharashtra and the Congress is accountable for this. What poor understanding of the voters' psyche! Rahul Gandhi wanted to win this election on an anti-Adani plank?! A fight against crony capitalism isn't relevant at all for voters. Someone is playing a joke with secular-liberal voters who are voting against the 'conservative-ultra-nationalist' ideology. Amit Shah must be smirking today,

6. Modi gets a terrific opportunity to implement some big ideas that he couldn't introduce in his earlier two terms as prime minister and his NDA allies will willingly support him.

7. The Modi-Shah jugalbandi remains in command in the BJP. Its ongoing transformation from a 'Brahmin-Baniya' entity to a party which is bringing OBCs to the centre of its electoral strategy helped steer its triumph in Maharashtra.

8. Most of the media failed to read the tea leaves in Maharashtra. Most of us failed to see the formidable NDA wave.

9. Modi is at a turning point in his life. And lucky, too. At 74 life is giving him a refreshing moment. With Donald Trump in America, a steady relationship with Vladmir Putin and improving relationship with China it's time for him to invest all his attention in the next level of economic development.

10. Modi's 'Hindutva hi vikas hai' slogan remains in Indian politics. 'Ek hai to safe hai' and 'batenge to katenge' slogans will remain in the election game.

11. It's utterly mindless of the Congress to counter the BJP's politics over religion, caste, development, culture and language only with a few limited issues. As Chandrababu Naidu observed, 'Modi is thinking of 2029.' Maharashtra is part of that big game.
'Jairam Mahto's new party dented the NDA because he pulled a lot of the OBC vote.'

IMAGE: Jairam Mahto of the Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha campaigning in the Dumri assembly constituency which he won. Photograph: Kind courtesy Tiger Jairam Mahto/X

"Kalpana Soren has played an important role in the JMM's victory. She participated in every tribal festival and travelled through the state when her husband Hemant Soren was imprisoned. She was crucial in convincing people about their tribal culture and drove home the point that JMM is the best party for the state and the BJP was a party of upper castes."

"She has a strong chance of being in the cabinet because female voters will be disappointed if she does not," says Dr Bibhuti Bhusan Biswas, assistant professor, Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi.

Dr Biswas was sector magistrate in-charge of the smooth and fair conduct of election in seven polling booths in the state.

In a phone interview with Rediff.com's Archana Masih, Dr Biswas spoke about the reasons for JMM's stunning win, the BJP's defeat, the declining graph of the Congress and the emergence of a new young leader in the state.

What are your foremost takeaways from the verdict in Jharkhand?

JMM, BJP, Congress, Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha -- the new emerging party started by Jairam Mahato -- were the four parties dominating the political scenario in Jharkhand.

26.8 million people connected with the JMM's Maiya Yojana policy which targeted female voters and proved beneficial for the party. The INDIA group settled seat sharing arrangement without any dispute, whereas there were some pulls and push in the NDA. JMM focused on state and local politics while the NDA was focusing on external factors having limited impact on Jharkhand politics like Bangladeshi infiltrators and Rohingya refugees. JMM was able to convince people that the border was controlled by the central government. The NDA appointed the Assam CM (Himanta Biswa Sarma) and former MP CM (Shivraj Sigh Chouhan) who were seen as outsiders which had a negative impact on the people. The BJP did not have a chief ministerial face. The Jairam Mahto factor dented the NDA because his Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha pulled a lot of the OBC vote. Hemant Soren's imprisonment had an emotional effect on the tribal people who think of the JMM as a tribal party that speaks about their Jal Jungle Zameen. The NDA gave the slogan Roti Beti Mati ki Pukar which was overshadowed by Jal Jungle Zameen. JMM has a well organised ground force. Its door-to-door campaign helped them greatly.

People voted for those who performed and voted out those who didn't. Four sitting ministers lost which showed that people voted smartly.

IMAGE: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren with his wife and JMM candidate Kalpana Murmu Soren shows her election certificate after her win from the Gandey assembly seat in the Jharkhand assembly elections, November 24, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

What complexion will Hemant Soren's second consecutive government have? What policies will it pursue?

It will be a challenging task.

Hemant Soren has made many promises. The Maiya Yojana will be increased to Rs 2,500 per month and he will have to mobilise this large amount.

He has promised improved law and order which is not in good shape.

He needs to improve infrastructure.

He has said he will strengthen the education sector and revive of rural education and scholarships.

He has promised a boost to indigenous craft and opportunity to local people.

Jharkhand despite being mineral rich is a poor state and people have expectations that the government will come with good ideas and policies.

IMAGE: Kalpana Murmu Soren at an election campaign in Jharkhand. Photograph: ANI Photo

What kind of relationship will Hemant Soren strike with the Centre in the second term?

In his first statements after the win he said the PM congratulated him and he hopes that Jharkhand will flourish in the next five years.

He has given indication that the Central government cannot be ignored because of the nature of cooperative federalism.

State governments are well aware that if they do not cooperate with the Centre, they risk not receiving any package or help. Hemant Soren's dominating narrative was that more Rs 1 lakh crore has been withheld by the central government.

If this scenario continues, it will not bode well for the state government.

Therefore, he has to govern cautiously, and if you see the results most tribal candidates have won. He will have to include all components of the social fabric and perform better than last time.

IMAGE: Congress supporters in Ranchi, November 23, 2024 celebrate INDIA bloc leads in the Jharkhand assembly elections. Photograph: ANI Photo

Will his wife Kalpana Soren be inducted in the cabinet?

His wife took over immediately after he went to prison and has played an important role in this victory.

She participated in every tribal festival and travelled through the state. She was crucial in convincing the women and stressing about their tribal culture.

She drove home the point that JMM is the best party for the state and the BJP was a party of upper castes.

She has a strong chance of being in the cabinet because female voters will be disappointed if she does not.

Moreover, in future, if Hemant Soren encounters problems with the CBI, ED, he has the option of appointing his wife as CM. He will not take a risk like what happened with Champai Soren who was made CM for five months and then joined the BJP.

IMAGE: Hemant Soren with newly elected INDIA bloc MLAs at the CM House in Ranchi, November 24, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

The Congress did not perform well in Jharkhand. What future does it have in the state?

The Congress is not consistent. They are excited after a win, but their outreach at the ground level is weak.

The BJP, meanwhile, is visible on the ground for the next 5 years even if it loses the election.

The Congress relies on the Gandhi family to keep the party intact. They do not have an organised cadre on the ground level like the BJP.

The party has no leader in the state. They gain because of aligning with the JMM, and cannot be in a dominant role.

The JKLM party has emerged as a factor in the state led by a young leader. If people want an alternative, they will not see it in the Congress, but rather from a party rooted in the state.

Similarly, the BJP also does not have a face to counter Hemant Soren.

The Congress will survive as long as it is part of the INDIA group in the state.

Part 2 of the Interview: 'Uddhav, Sharad Pawar's Future Is Shaky'

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
This was reported by the Lithuanian defense ministry on the social network X on Sunday, 24 November.

The ministry said that Lithuania continues its unwavering support for Ukraine.

"Lithuania continues its unwavering support for Ukraine. This week, generators, M113 spare parts, weapons and ammunition were delivered. Whatever it takes for Ukraine to win. Solidarity remains steadfast," the Lithuanian Defense Ministry said.
'This is leading to anarchy.'

IMAGE: Kuki organisations hold a rally in Churachandpur, Manipur, November 19, 2024, with mock coffins in remembrance of Kukis who died during the unrest. Photograph: ANI Photo

Dr Sandeep Pandey, general secretary of the Socialist Party of India, has been trying to undertake some peace initiative with the help of both Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur with the help of civil groups. Dr Pandey is a recipient of the Magsaysay Award, which he returned to protest the Israeli military action in Gaza.

"The first thing they must do is remove Chief Minister Biren Singh and impose President's rule. Within six months of his dismissal we can have the Manipur assembly elections," Dr Pandey tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com in the concluding segment of a two-part interview.

Who benefits from the anarchy in Manipur?

The BJP's entire game was polarisation of the Meitei community in its favour. What they were not prepared for was the long term resistance from the Kuki community who are now better prepared as they are a tribal community with the tribal spirit in them to fight. The tribal spirit is never to surrender.

Nobody knows in which direction this violence will go now.

The second thing which the government was not prepared for was the fact that the Kukis are holding onto certain areas of Manipur like Churachandpur and Kangpokpi where they are not allowing the Meiteis to enter. They have put out banners in their areas stating, 'You have separated us so now give us separate administration'.

Why can't the CRPF or military take control of those areas?

They are working as part of a central command that Chief Minister Biren Singh used to head. After May 4, the command has been taken away from Biren Singh and given to a security adviser, Kuldiep Singh, who has to take a call on this issue.

Kuldiep Singh is a retired IPS (Indian Police Service) officer. Kuldiep is a bureaucrat. How can he take such a call because such a call needs to be taken by a politician? Home Minister Amit Shah or Prime Minister Narendra Modi must tell him what to do.

Take the Armed Forces Special Protection Act, it was withdrawn from 19 police stations and it is only two days ago that they brought AFSPA back in six police stations. Now the Manipur government wants to withdraw AFSPA because it is in Meitei dominated areas.

The government of Manipur wants AFSPA in Kuki and Naga areas but not in Meitei areas. This is leading to anarchy.

What about the BJP's Manipur unit?

In Manipur they have mobilised the Meiteis who are mostly Hindus in their belief systems, against the Kukis who are Christians in their beliefs.

They were not prepared for the long term resistance of the Kuki community against the Meiteis. The Kukis are demanding a separate administration.

Aren't there Meiteis who are Christians and Kukis who are Hindus too?

Kuki are all Christians. Even if they are not Christians then they follow their tribal religion.

Meiteis are mostly Hindus and a part of them believe in reviving their traditional religion which is Sanamahism. Some Meiteis have converted to Islam and they are called Pangals. But some Meiteis are Christians too.

How do the lives of common people go on in Manipur? Do children go to school? People go to offices, etc?

Life is going on except that the Meiteis cannot go to Kuki areas and the Kukis cannot go to Meitei areas.

Educational institutions have been affected more in Kuki areas than in Meitei areas. Meitei government employees cannot work in Kuki areas and vice versa.

Violence erupts in between, but that does not disrupt normal life.

When I last went to Manipur, two Meiteis were captured and held hostage by Kukis. These two hostages were later exchanged with 11 Kukis imprisoned in Imphal jail.

The present incidence of violence is unusual as curfew has been imposed in some districts. Before your interview, I got a call from a friend in Imphal who said the Internet has been shut down.

What about civil society groups?

They are all scared. Take Babloo Loitongbam, when he tried to hold a peace meeting in Bengaluru, militant groups from Manipur threatened him and told him not to hold such meetings.

Other Manipuri civil society members were trying to take the peace initiative in Assam, but that too was not successful. We are trying to take some peace initiative, but it's not very easy.

The Kuki community is welcoming us, but our Meitei colleagues are not confident of this peace initiative. They feel if the peace outcome effort from their side goes wrong, they will become the target of Meitei militant organisations.

What do Kukis get in return in this ongoing violence?

They are at the receiving end. The whole protest from their side started because of the high court judgment stating that Meiteis must be given schedule tribe status. This is what led to the start of violence as the Kukis took to protest. Now, they have to defend themselves for survival.

Who gives arms and ammunition to both groups?

Meiteis have looted the police and got arms and ammunition. Kukis on the other hand have traditional arms. And there is some truth that arms are being supplied from Myanmar which is a neighbouring country.

But then even in Myanmar there is a different kind of resistance going on against the government. Their government has no control over certain areas of their country. In Myanmar it is alleged that insurgent groups are getting arms from India.

What must the Government of India do?

The first thing they must do is remove Chief Minister Biren Singh and impose President's rule. After six months of his dismissal we can have the Manipur assembly elections.
Former US president Bill Clinton on Monday expressed his doubt over the realisation of Gandhi's dream of India given the continued internal differences in the country, particularly between Hindus and Muslims.

IMAGE: Former US President President Bill Clinton speaks during the memorial service for Ethel Kennedy at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, US, October 16, 2024. Photograph: Leah Millis/Reuters

Today, India is enjoying brisk growth and has become the world's most populous country, but the persistence of internal divisions, especially between Hindus and Muslims, leaves open the question of whether Gandhi's vision will ever be fully realised, Clinton, 78, wrote in his latest book Citizen: My Life After the White House that hit the stores last week.

Clinton mentioned his visit to Gujarat after the devastating earthquake in 2001, including that to a hospital and his interaction with a group of Indian youths at the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad.

Clinton, with the help of some of his Indian-American friends in Silicon Valley, helped found the American India Foundation that raised millions of dollars for quake victims and relief measures.

Just six days after I left office, my first opportunity for post-presidential service came when a massive earthquake struck the Indian state of Gujarat, killing 20,000 people and destroying thousands of homes, schools, hospitals, health clinics, and other buildings in cities, towns, and small villages, the former president wrote in the book's chapter titled The Man with No Face.

"Because I had dealt with many natural disasters as governor and president, I called Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and volunteered to help. I had a high regard for the Vajpayee government formed when we worked together to restore strong ties badly frayed by decades of Cold War strain," Clinton writes.

He was a selfless, ascetic, lifelong bachelor who had kept in check the most destructive impulses of his Hindu nationalist party and supported the booming growth of India's high-tech centres.

Vajpayee had a clear grasp of the challenges ahead. He said he could repair the largest cities but lacked the money and organisation to restore the towns and villages, many of which were wiped out.

"He asked me to help organise the Indian-American community to do that," he wrote, adding that this resulted in the formation of AIF.

Clinton narrates a painful account of a visit to a hospital to meet the quake victims.

"As I made my way through the group, I noticed a man at the far end of the room, in a section not well-lighted. He was sitting on his bed talking to a woman I assumed was his wife. I glanced at him several times, wondering why he hadn't come forward. When the man turned to see the goings-on, I understood why. He had no face," Clinton wrote.

"A falling stone had sheared it away. His brows, nose, and lips were gone. I tried to imagine what he must feel, losing parts of himself essential to his health, to his ability to relate to others, to his very identity. Still, his gaze was steady and riveting. Whether he stayed in his bed because of embarrassment, pain, or both, I couldn't know. But I knew there was still a person inside. I bowed to him slightly and returned to the people nearby," he said.

"When I got to the door to leave, I looked at him again. This time he slowly raised his hand in greeting. I waved back, moved by the dignity and courage of a man still hanging on. His image stayed with me as I travelled to Ahmedabad to visit Mohandas Gandhi's ashram and talk with young Indian leaders about whether Gandhi's vision for India as a peaceful haven for all its people, regardless of their ethnic or religious heritage, could still become a reality," Clinton wrote.

From Gujarat, Clinton said he went to Calcutta, or Kolkata as it's now known, to keep his promise to Mother Teresa before her death in 1997 to visit her Shishu Bhavan or Homes for the Children.

"As her successor toured me around, I saw many children with disabilities and others who appeared mixed-race, all either without parents or whose parents were too poor to take care of them. They had found a loving home," he wrote.

Clinton said, "AIF is still going strong. (Founder) Lata Krishnan is still there and has been board co-chair for several years. Charity Navigator is highly rated and continues to attract strong support. Lata's children were eight and eleven when she started with AIF. They grew up watching their mother, and supportive father, AJ, prove you can do well and make a difference to others. I had no idea what would happen when I started."

"But I'm grateful I had the chance to help them get organised to support their critical decision to work with dedicated local NGOs and to encounter the man with no face and feel the grace of his greeting. In many ways AIF was a precursor to the work I would do in the future, not only in other natural disasters, but in other Clinton Foundation programmes and through the Clinton Global Initiative," Clinton said.
Some residents have already taken this step to relocate, either temporarily or permanently, some to their native places and others to clean-air destinations like Goa and Himachal Pradesh.

IMAGE: Kartavya Path amidst the morning smog in New Delhi. Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters

New Delhi's air pollution levels are proving to be a tipping point for many of its residents and the expats stationed here.

Several of them are choosing to relocate or leave the city during the months when the air quality is particularly bad.

Caroline Gabriel, an Australian citizen employed in Delhi, says she has gone back to her home country because her health was getting affected.

"I plan to return next month when the AQI (Air Quality Index) levels improve," she adds via a text message.

Embassies, meanwhile, are acting on the situation.

"We have formed an Air Quality Council, an internal group, which serves to advise the ambassador and embassy management on measures we can take to mitigate the effects of air pollution and ensure the air is safe to breathe," says Christopher Elms, spokesperson for the US embassy in New Delhi.

"We have also installed air quality monitors in each of our vehicles," he says, adding that the option of working from home is also open during extremely poor conditions.

A British high commission spokesperson says that with air purifiers in place, they try to maintain the indoor AQI levels between 0 and 50 parts per million.

"We follow local guidance under the Delhi government's Graded Response Action Plan," says the spokesperson.

Elms adds that some of the US embassy personnel plan their vacations around the time of peak pollution in New Delhi.

"Many take long weeks to visit other beautiful areas in India with better air quality like Goa, Kerala, or the hill stations."

For some, these getaway trips are a year-long affair.

Samuel Gebre, an American expat living in Delhi, says he and his family frequently plan out-of-town trips to get some fresh air.

"At home, we've had to keep the air filters running non-stop, and have restricted activities to indoors. With kids, it's tough," he says, adding that some of his friends who have health issues have decided to leave the country for a while.

Over at the embassy of Switzerland, employees are being reimbursed the cost of protective masks.

Besides that, "we use Swiss technology such as IQAir systems to measure air quality," says an official from the embassy.

Not just expats, Delhi residents, too, are looking for options to avoid being in the city during poor AQI months.

On November 18, when the AQI touched 496, a severe-plus category, a New Delhi-based chartered accountant named Kanan Bahl took to X to say that he had started talking to his family about reconsidering living in the national capital.

In another post, a senior resident doctor at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences said: 'If you can, escape Delhi! You will thank me later, in a few years.'

Some residents have already taken this step to relocate, either temporarily or permanently, some to their native places and others to clean-air destinations like Goa and Himachal Pradesh.

"I have shifted to a small village in Goa and plan to stay here for a few months," says Jyoti Pande Lavakare, author of the book Breathing Here is Injurious to Your Health.

Though Lavakare managed to migrate, not everybody in her family had this choice.

"My daughter works in Gurugram and my father cannot travel due to his age," she says, adding that this does leave one with a sense of guilt.

Besides, it is not easy. "There are expenses. You have to look for houses, negotiate rents, and adapt to less developed infrastructure," Lavakare says.

To skip this hustle, Saurabh Bhasin, a Gurugram-based lawyer, moved bag and baggage with his family to Goa in June this year.

"Delhi's pollution was one of the primary reasons for relocating," says Bhasin.

With some companies giving employees the option to work from home, a few are choosing to return to their native places.

Devesh Mishra, a media professional, has moved to his village in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. "I plan to return after 15, 20 days," he says.

A revenue officer who does not wish to be named says he got himself transferred from Delhi to Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, where the AQI is far better.

These are forced migrations, the people say, and wouldn't have been necessary had it not been for Delhi's unhealthy air.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
The formation of a new government in Maharashtra, which appeared likely immediately after the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition won a thumping majority in the assembly elections, is delayed due to the Shiv Sena's insistence that Eknath Shinde continue as the chief minister, sources said on Monday.

IMAGE: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde with Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Photograph: ANI Photo

After the November 20 elections results were out on Saturday, there was talk that the new CM may be sworn in as early as Monday but that has not happened, apparently due to the ruling Mahayuti not reaching a consensus on who will be the next CM, the sources said.

Shiv Sena spokesperson Naresh Mhaske cited the Bihar model to assert that Shinde should continue as the chief minister.

However, BJP MLC Pravin Darekar batted for Devendra Fadnavis for the CM's post, saying the deputy chief minister is the most capable candidate to lead the state.

The Mahayuti coalition, comprising the Shiv Sena, BJP and Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party, retained power by winning 230 of the 288 assembly seats in the just-concluded state polls, leaving the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi with just 46 seats.

Amid the talk of Fadnavis becoming the CM for the third time, came statements of various Sena leaders that Shinde should continue as the landslide win was under his leadership as the CM.

The BJP, led by Fadnavis, won the highest ever 132 seats for the party, while the Shiv Sena led by Shinde bagged 57 seats.

"We feel Shinde should be the chief minister, just like in Bihar where BJP did not look at the numbers but still made JD-U leader Nitish Kumar the CM. Senior leaders of the Mahayuti (in Maharashtra) will ultimately take a decision," Mhaske told reporters on Monday.

Mhaske also compared the situation to the leadership dynamics in Haryana, where the BJP contested the assembly elections recently under Nayab Singh Saini's leadership.

"The election in Maharashtra was contested under the leadership of Shinde, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. This shows that the alliance's leadership should be respected," he said.

On Sunday, state minister Deepak Kesarkar met Shinde at the latter's residence in Mumbai and batted for his continuation as CM.

"Shiv Sena MLAs feel Shinde should continue in the post because under his leadership the Mahayuti worked very well and performed spectacularly in polls," Kesarkar told reporters.

BJP leader and former Union minister Raosaheb Danve said the party would soon hold a meeting of its legislators.

"The NCP chose Ajit Pawar (as its leader in the assembly), and so has Shiv Sena (chosen Shinde as its leader). The BJP will soon call a meeting of its legislators. It is obvious that the BJP wants the CM's post," Danve said.

The final decision would be communicated to the central leadership after the party's internal discussions, he added.

Fadnavis on Saturday denied any dispute over the CM's post, saying leaders of the Mahayuti will decide on the issue together.

Meanwhile, a legislature official dismissed reports that the President's rule may come into force if a new government is not in place by November 26, when the tenure of the14th state assembly ends.

In fact, with the officials of the Election Commission of India submitting copies of the gazette with names of the newly-elected members of the state legislative assembly to Maharashtra Governor C P Radhakrishnan on Sunday, the 15th assembly is already in place, an official said.

As per Section 73 of the Representation of the People Act about the publication of results of the state assembly, after submission of the notification of the names of the members elected, it shall be deemed that the House has been duly constituted, the official said.
The Jammu and Kashmir government has banned the use of third-party tools like WhatsApp and Gmail for transmission of sensitive official documents, saying it can lead to data breaches and leaks.

Image used for representational purposes only. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters

These platforms are not specifically designed to handle classified or sensitive information, and their security protocols may not meet the stringent standards required for official communications, an order passed by the general administration department on Saturday.

"It has come to the attention of the administration that there is an increasing trend among officers and officials to use third-party tools such as WhatsApp, Gmail, and other similar platforms for transmitting sensitive, secret, and confidential information. This practice poses significant risks to the integrity and security of the information being communicated," the order read.

It said using third-party communication tools can lead to several potential issues including unauthorised access, data breaches, and leaks of confidential information.

"Consequently, the use of such tools could result in severe security breaches that jeopardize the integrity of governmental operations," the order reads.

The GAD issued guidelines for the officials to follow while handling official communication.

"Classified information falls under the following four categories namely, Top Secret, Secret, Confidential and Restricted. A 'Top Secret' and 'Secret' document shall not be shared over the Internet. According to NISPG, the 'Top Secret' and 'Secret' information shall be shared only in a closed network with leased line connectivity where a SAG-grade encryption mechanism is deployed.

However, 'confidential' and 'restricted' information can be shared on internet through networks that have deployed commercial AES 256-bit encryption," it added.

The directive said the use of government email facility or government instant messaging platforms (such as CDAC's Samvad, NIC's Sandesh etc) is strongly recommended for the communication of 'Confidential' and 'Restricted' information.

"Care should be taken during the classification of information; information that deserves a 'top secret/secret' classification shall not be downgraded to confidential/restricted for the purpose of sharing," it added.

In the context of the e-Office system, departments have been directed to deploy proper firewalls and white-list IP addresses.

"The e-Office server should be accessed through a Virtual Private Network for enhanced security. Departments may ensure that only authorised employees/personnel are allowed to access the e-Office system," it said.

"However, Top secret/Secret information shall be shared over the e-Office system only with leased line closed network and SAG grade encryption mechanism," it said.

The order said there was a blanket ban on sharing any top secret or secret information through video conferencing. The officials working from home have been directed to use security-hardened electronic devices (such as laptops, desktops) connected to office servers via a VPN and firewall setup.

'Top secret' and 'secret' information should not be shared while working from home, it said.

The order said digital assistant devices such as Amazon's Echo, Apple's HomePod, Google Home, etc. should be kept out of the office during discussions on classified issues.

"Digital assistants (such as Alexa, Siri) should be turned off during official meetings in the office used by employee. Smartphones should be deposited outside the meeting room when discussing classified information," the order said.

In light of the risks, all officers and officials were directed to adhere strictly to the guidelines to ensure the security and confidentiality of official communications.

"Non-compliance with these directives may result in disciplinary action as deemed appropriate by the administration," the order read.
Jammu and Kashmir MP Engineer Rashid on Monday moved a Delhi court seeking interim bail in a terror-funding case to attend the Parliament session.

IMAGE: Baramulla MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid. Photograph: ANI Photo

After Rashid urged Principal District and Sessions Judge Vimal Kumar Yadav to grant him the reprieve, the court asked the National Investigation Agency to file a response by November 27.

Engineer Rashid, appearing virtually in court from Tihar Jail, said, "I have been elected by my people. I was not allowed to attend the last session. With folded hands I request you that I may be granted interim bail."

During the proceedings, the counsel for Rashid and the NIA jointly sought the matter to remain in the court hearing it and not transfer it to another court.

The court would further hear both sides on November 27.
The fiercely-contested Maharashtra assembly elections where two coalitions and six major players vied for power saw 58 candidates losing despite securing more than one lakh votes, with the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar bearing the brunt.

IMAGE: Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis takes blessings from his mother Sarita Fadnavis after the victory of BJP-led Mahayuti in the Maharashtra assembly election, in Nagpur, November 23, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

Prominent such politicians include former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, and senior Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat and Dhiraj Deshmukh among others, the ECI data shows.

Sunil Tingre (NCP), Sangram Thopte and Dhiraj Deshmukh (both from Congress), and Ram Shinde (Bharatiya Janata Party) also narrowly missed out on victory despite substantial voter support.

Each assembly constituency has around 2.80 lakh voters or more.

The Mahayuti coalition, comprising the Shiv Sena, BJP and Ajit Pawar-led NCP, retained power by winning 230 of the 288 assembly seats in the recently concluded state polls, leaving the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi with just 46 seats.

Districts like Pune and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar witnessed an exceptionally high number of such close contests.

The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party-SP has the largest share of defeated candidates who garnered over one lakh votes, with 22 such instances.

The Congress came next, with 16 candidates in a similar position.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray accounted for seven of these candidates, while the BJP saw four of its nominees losing despite garnering over one lakh votes.

The Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction has two candidates on this list and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena one.

Among the high-profile losses, Congress stalwart Prithviraj Chavan failed to clinch a victory from the home turf of the Karad South constituency.

Chavan polled 1,00,150 votes while the BJP winner Atul Bhosale bagged 1,39,505 votes.

Similarly, former Maharashtra Congress president Balasaheb Thorat bit dust by a margin of 10,560 votes against Shiv Sena's Amol Khatal, who polled 1,12,386 votes.

Congress stalwart Dhiraj Deshmukh was defeated from the Latur Rural constituency by a thin margin of 6,595 votes.

The BJP winner Ramesh Karad polled 1,12,051 votes and Deshmukh, a sitting MLA, secured 1,05,456 votes.

Sunil Tingre of NCP lost to NCP-SP rival from the Vadgaon Sheri assembly segment in Pune district despite a substantial voter base.

Sangram Thopte of Congress and Rahul Kalate, who belongs to NCP-SP, lost to NCP and BJP candidates from Bhor and Chinchwad constituencies, respectively, despite securing one lakh plus votes.
Floor leaders of the Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance met on Monday ahead of the start of Parliament's winter session and decided to raise the issue of alleged corruption in the Adani Group and demand a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the matter.

IMAGE: Congress MPs at an all-party meet on Sunday. Photograph: Jitender Gupta/ANI Photo

INDIA leaders also decided to write to Speaker O P Birla and demand that Opposition leaders in both Houses be invited to speak during the programme on Constitution Day on Tuesday.

The letter would make the point that if the prime minister can speak, why not the leaders of the Opposition, party sources said.

The floor leaders met at Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge's Parliament House office.

Several Opposition members, including Kharge, have given adjournment notices in both Houses of Parliament on the issue.

'As the Parliament session begins, the first step the government should take is to have a detailed discussion on the Adani saga which has the potential of tarnishing India's image at the global stage. This is what the INDIA bloc parties demand today, for the hard earned investments of crores of retail investors are at stake,' Kharge said in a post on X after the meeting.

'We do not need monopolies and cartels to run this country. We need healthy market driven competition in the private sector, which facilitates equal opportunities, employment and equitable distribution of wealth, catering to the inherent entrepreneurial spirit of India,' the Congress president added.

Sources said INDIA leaders also took the decision to demand a Joint Parliamentary Committee into issues surrounding the Adani Group.

Those who attended the meeting included the Congress' K C Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Nasir Hussain and Manickam Tagore as well as the Samajwadi Party's Ramji Lal Suman, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's T R Baalu, Tiruchi Siva and Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, and Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar's Supriya Sule, Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha.

K Radhakrishnan of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, P Sandosh Kumar of the Communist Party of India and Indian Union Muslim League leader E T Mohammed Basheer were there as well.

Revolutionary Socialist Party's N K Premachandran, Kerala Congress leader K Francis George, Rashtriya Janata Dal's Abhay Kumar Sinha, Dr Faiyaz Ahmad, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's Vaiko, Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist-Liberation leader Raja Ram Singh and Bharat Adivasi Party's Rajkumar Roat were also present.
The Parliament session is set to start on Monday, with various issues slated to be discussed, including the Waqf Act (Amendment) Bill.

IMAGE: Lok Sabha proceedings. Image only for representation. Photograph: Sansad TV/ANI Photo

The session will conclude on December 20.

There will be no sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on November 26, to commemorate 'Constitution Day'.

Other bills that are listed for introduction, consideration and passing include the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, the Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, the Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, the Bills of Lading Bill, the Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, the Railways (Amendment) Bill, the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, and the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill.

The Boilers Bill, the Rashtriya Sahkari Vishwavidyalaya Bill, the Punjab Courts (Amendment) Bill, the Merchant Shipping Bill, the Coastal Shipping Bill, and the Indian Ports Bill, are also included in the list.

Moreover, the leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) are also planning to meet today in the Parliament House, to discuss the strategy of the opposition.

Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge is expected to decide the strategy, according to sources.

The party is also expected to raise the issue of Manipur violence and bribery charges against the Adani group.
A lawyer was killed on Tuesday during clashes between the security personnel and followers of a Hindu community leader, who was denied bail and sent to jail by a court in the port city of Chattogram in Bangladesh, police said.

IMAGE: Chinmoy Krishna Das, a Hindu leader associated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), is escorted by the police at the Chattogram Metropolitan Magistrate Court, in Chattogram, Bangladesh, on November 26, 2024. Photograph: Stringer/Reuters

Police said that assistant public prosecutor Saiful Islam, who is in his early 30s, was critically wounded and rushed to a hospital where he was declared dead.

The violence erupted after Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, spokesperson for Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, was denied bail and sent to jail by the Chattogram's Sixth Metropolitan Magistrate court in a sedition case. He was arrested from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka a day earlier.

Immediately after the court's order at around noon, Das' followers started to protest, disrupting the movement of the prison van carrying him. Protesters were shouting slogans demanding his release, The Daily Star newspaper reported.

Police and members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) fired sound grenades and charged batons at the protesters to clear the way of the van. The van was finally able to leave the court premises at around 3 pm, the report said.

Das called on his followers to remain calm from inside the prison van.

Nazim Uddin Chowdhury, president of the Chittagong Lawyers' Association, claimed that protesters dragged the lawyer out of the hall room and hacked him to death.

An eyewitness claimed that the lawyer was beaten up by protesters, the Bangla-language newspaper Prothom Alo reported.

Later, he was taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead.

Citing Dr Nivedita Ghosh, a duty doctor at the emergency department of Chittagong Medical College Hospital, the paper said that eight people were brought in with injuries. One of them was found dead.

Interim government Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus condemned the murder of the lawyer, urging people to keep calm and stay away from participating in any untoward activities.

He directed the authorities to conduct an investigation into the killing and take appropriate legal measures, according to a statement issued by his press wing.

Yunus also ordered the law enforcement agencies to step up security in the port city, including in all the vulnerable neighbourhoods.

The interim government is committed to ensuring and upholding communal harmony in Bangladesh at any cost, he read.

Deputy Commissioner of City Police Liaquat Ali confirmed one death but said they were still investigating the cause.

The Daily Star newspaper reported that at least 10 people, including journalists, were injured during the clash.

Protests also broke out demanding Das' release in different districts including Dhaka, Cumilla, Khulna, Dinajpur and Cox's Bazar.

Hundreds of people from the Hindu community on Monday took to the streets at the Cheragi Pahar intersection in Chattogram, demanding his immediate release. Similarly, the Hindu community members in Dhaka blocked the Shahbagh intersection, protesting the arrest.

Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council also protested Das' arrest and demanded his immediate release.

A case was filed against Das and 18 others on October 30 at Chattogram's Kotwali Police Station leader on the complaint of a leader of former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which accused them of disrespecting the national flag in the city's Laldighi Maidan during a rally of the Hindu community on Oct 25.

Local government affairs adviser and Anti-Discrimination Student's Movement leader Asif Mahmud said Das has been arrested not as a leader of any community but for sedition.

"If someone is involved in any incident like sedition, he will not be spared, he told reporters following a public rally in northwestern Rangpur city on Tuesday.

"If Bangladesh's sovereignty and independence are endangered or the country is exposed to dishonour or contempt, the government will take steps," Mahmud said.

Das was also a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), which recently expelled him.

ISKCON leaders in Bangladesh were not immediately available for comments.

Bangladesh's minority Hindus, which constitute only about 8 per cent of the 170 million population, have faced over 200 attacks in 50-odd districts since the fall of Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government on August 5.
Aircraft spare parts Sweden had acquired as part of Ukraine aid package is for maintenance of 14 JAS 39 Gripen multirole fighters. The details of the acquisition made this September were disclosed by Swedish Minister of Defense Pal Jonson at a joint press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umierov on November 22nd, Janes reports.

"There were spares for up to 14 [Gripen] platforms in the last package," Jonson said referring to the SEK 4.6 billion (USD ~415 mln) military assistance provision allocated September 9th by the government of Sweden.

JAS 39 Gripen fighters of the Czech Air Force / Open-source illustrative photo

The provision was part of Stockholm's "efforts to establish conditions for a possible future support of JAS 39 Gripen fighters to Ukraine," reads the official notice from the defense department, and amounted to half of the value of this package. By acquiring new spares some of the JAS 39C/D jets could be saved from dismantling and considered for transfer to Ukraine in the future.

However, Pal Jonson re-emphasized that the ongoing deployment of American F-16 Fighting Falcons and associated infrastructure in the Ukrainian Air Force currently remains the top priority for the "fighter jet coalition" which includes Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Hence the prospect of sending Swedish Gripens to Ukraine is put on hold for now.

"It is not in the hands of ourselves, but on export licenses and other partners in the fighter coalition who are waiting to donate the Gripen until they have gone further with the F-16," Jonson said.

On a note from Defense Express, the detail about 14 kits of spares could account for several explanations: one is that 14 is the number of JAS 39 Gripen aircraft Stockholm is considering for transfer, and the second is related to Sweden's capacity also to maintain this many jets. Considering the fleets of the country's previous customers, with 14 Gripens operated by Hungary, and 14 by the Czech Republic, the upkeep of such a squadron seems like a standard export practice.

Notably, Pal Jonson provided no updates regarding the planned delivery of Saab 340 (ACS890) aerial early warning and control aircraft which is essential to realize the full potential of Western-type multirole fighter aircraft by providing accurate target data. Sweden has committed to supplying two Saab 340s to Ukraine in May 2024.

Earlier Defense Express pointed out that the standard training course on this AEW&C system lasts about 7 to 8 months, implying that the new asset could reach operating capability by the end of 2024.
As suspense over who will become the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra continues, Nationalist Congress Party leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Sunday backed his party's chief, Ajit Pawar, for the top post.

IMAGE: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CMs Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis show a victory sign during a press conference, at Varsha Bungalow in Mumbai on Saturday. Photograph: ANI Photo

Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Deepak Kesarkar, however, has said his party legislators feel Eknath Shinde should continue as the chief minister of the state, where the ruling Mahayuti scored a landslide victory in the assembly polls.

Kesarkar met Shinde at the latter's residence in Mumbai on Sunday, a day after the Mahayuti coalition, of which Shiv Sena is a constituent, retained power by winning 230 of the 288 assembly seats in the state, leaving the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi with just 46 seats.

"Shiv Sena MLAs feel Shinde should continue in the post because under his leadership the Mahayuti worked very well and performed spectacularly in polls," Kesarkar told reporters.

He, however, added that Shinde and Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis (Bharatiya Janata Party) and Ajit Pawar (Nationalist Congress Party) will take a unanimous decision on the CM issue.

"Whatever may be the decision, it will be in the interest of Maharashtra," said Kesarkar, who won another term from the Sawantwadi constituency.

Bhujbal also said that 'all the three parties will sit together and decide who will be our leader'.

However, he also said, "Ajit Pawar can also become the CM, his strike rate is very good."

"Today all our MLAs came to the meeting, many council members also came, and everyone has decided that Ajit Pawar will lead us in the Vidhan Sabha. But who will be the CM, we three parties will decide together," he added.

Earlier on Sunday, NCP president Deepak Mankar said that the party workers are in favour of making 'dada' (Ajit Pawar) the chief minister of the state.

"The workers of NCP wish that if 'dada' (Ajit Pawar), then Maharashtra will get a good direction. Dada has the capacity to do work...we know the kind of work he did in Maharashtra as deputy CM in the last 2.5 years...let's see...Mahayuti is taking everyone along," Mankar told ANI.

Speculation regarding the chief minister's post started doing rounds after the BJP led by Fadnavis won the highest 132 out of 288 seats in the state elections.

The Shiv Sena led by Shinde bagged 57 seats.

Fadnavis on Saturday denied any dispute over the chief minister's post, saying leaders of the Mahayuti will decide on the issue together.

State BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Sunday echoed Fadnavis.

"Leaders of the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the BJP leadership will decide who will be the next chief minister of the state," he said.

On Sunday night, Shinde was elected as the leader of the Shiv Sena Legislature Party.

The resolution to this effect was unanimously passed by all 57 MLA-designates at a meeting held at a suburban hotel.

Three more resolutions were also passed, including hailing Shinde for leading the party to a spectacular victory, thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for their support and the people of Maharashtra for reposing faith in the Mahayuti alliance.

*****

5-6 MLAs of MVA might cross over to Mahayuti: NCP chief whip

Nationalist Congress Party's chief whip Anil Patil has claimed there is unrest in the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) camp and its five to six MLAs might cross over to the ruling Mahayuti in the next four months.

The MVA, comprising the Congress, Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray led by former CM Uddhav Thackeray, suffered a crushing blow in the just concluded Maharashtra assembly polls, winning only 46 of the state's 288 seats.

In contrast, the BJP-led ruling coalition, which also has Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar-led NCP as partners, bagged an impressive 230 seats.

"There is tremendous unrest among some NCP-SP, Congress and Sena-UBT MLAs who have been re-elected. Those having good relations with us have expressed concerns over MVA's massive defeat," Patil told Marathi news channel ABP Majha on Sunday.

If one wants development works in his constituency, it is good to be in power, said the legislator from Ajit Pawar's party.

"The MVA MLAs feel their future is uncertain. It shouldn't be a surprise if five to six MLAs cross over to the Mahayuti in the next four months," he said.

-- with ANI inputs
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).

IMAGE: Shiv Sena-UBT leader Sanjay Raut. Photograph: ANI Photo

Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena-UBT winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.

"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.

Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.

The Sena-UBT leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."

Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.

"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.

Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.

He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.

"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
Varanasi Is One Of The 10 Oldest Cities In The World
The Supreme Court on Monday ordered an SIT investigation into the alleged torture of a woman in police custody following her arrest over protests against the rape and murder of a doctor at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

IMAGE: Doctors and medical students protest against RG Kar Medical College incident. Photograph: ANI Photo

Observing not everything could be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan modified the Calcutta high court order ordering a CBI probe and said senior IPS officers of the state need to be entrusted with the investigation.

The top court said the SIT, which will comprise officers, whose names were submitted by the state, shall submit its report on the progress of the investigation on weekly basis to the high court.

The Calcutta high court chief justice was directed to constitute a special bench before which the SIT would submit its report besides seeking further investigation.

On November 11, the top court stayed the October 8 order of the high court directing a CBI probe while asking the state government to submit a list of seven IPS officers, including five women, who would comprise a fresh SIT to probe the custodial torture case.

The order was passed on an appeal filed by the West Bengal government that stated the high court had erroneously ordered a CBI probe whereas the state police was capable of the investigation.

On November 6, a division bench of the high court upheld a single-judge order directing a CBI probe into the allegations levelled by the woman.

The division bench said the order of the single judge to conduct an independent investigation could not be faulted and did not call for any interference.

Initially, two women petitioners, moved the single-judge bench alleging physical torture while in police custody.

The court noted the report of a jail doctor who found signs of hematoma (a solid swelling of clotted blood within tissue) on the legs of one of them.

The complainants, Rebeka Khatun Molla and Rama Das, were arrested on September 7 and remained in the custody of Falta Police Station in the Diamond Harbour police district till their judicial remand ordered by the Diamond Harbour court the next day, the high court noted.

The division bench further noted while the report of the medical officer of Diamond Harbour sub-correctional home states hematoma on both of Das' legs, the examining doctor of Diamond Harbour Medical College and Hospital recorded no external injury.

Considering the subsequent medical reports of the petitioner, the high court bench said it was of the prima facie view that the trauma occurred on her on September 7 in police custody.

It observed the discrepancies were serious and would warrant an independent agency to conduct the investigation.
Shiv Sena spokesperson Naresh Mhaske on Monday cited the Bihar model to assert that Eknath Shinde should continue as the chief minister of Maharashtra, where the ruling Mahayuti has scored a landslide victory in the assembly polls.

IMAGE: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in a conversation with Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis during a press conference, at Varsha Bungalow in Mumbai on Saturday. Photograph: ANI Photo

However, Bharatiya Janata Party MLC Pravin Darekar batted for Devendra Fadnavis for the CM's post, saying the deputy chief minister is the most capable candidate to lead the state.

The Mahayuti coalition, comprising the Shiv Sena, BJP and Ajit Pawar-led NCP, retained power by winning 230 of the 288 assembly seats in the just-concluded state polls, leaving the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi with just 46 seats.

Speculation regarding the chief minister's post started doing rounds after the BJP led by Fadnavis won the highest 132 seats.

The Shiv Sena led by Shinde bagged 57 seats.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Shiv Sena spokesperson Mhaske said Shinde should continue as the CM.

"We feel Shinde should be the chief minister, just like in Bihar where BJP did not look at the numbers but still made JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar the CM. Senior leaders of the Mahayuti (in Maharashtra) will ultimately take a decision," the Lok Sabha member said.

Mhaske compared the situation to the leadership dynamics in Haryana, where the BJP contested the assembly elections recently under Nayab Singh Saini's leadership.

"The election in Maharashtra was contested under the leadership of Shinde, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. This shows that the alliance's leadership should be respected," he said.

On Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut's claims that the BJP might 'use and throw' Shinde after its purpose is served, Mhaske emphasised Shinde's popularity.

"Shinde has established himself as a commoner. He is the most popular leader in recent surveys by some news channels. His name is the frontrunner," he said, defending his party's claim to the post.

On Sunday, state state minister Kesarkar met Shinde at the latter's residence in Mumbai and batted for his continuation as CM.

"Shiv Sena MLAs feel Shinde should continue in the post because under his leadership the Mahayuti worked very well and performed spectacularly in polls," Kesarkar told reporters.

He, however, added that Shinde and Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar will take a unanimous decision on the CM issue.

"Whatever may be the decision, it will be in the interest of Maharashtra," said Kesarkar, who won another term from the Sawantwadi constituency.

BJP leader Darekar, however, dismissed Mhaske's comments, suggesting it could be his personal opinion rather than the party's stand.

"People have given mandate to Devendra Fadnavis. The people of Maharashtra stood behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he said.

"In my opinion, Fadnavis should become the chief minister. Maharashtra needs an astute and academic leader. He kept the alliance united, gave our allies candidates, and even stepped back when required. He has always maintained coordination," Darekar said.

He said Fadnavis is the most capable candidate to lead the state, particularly given his deep understanding of Maharashtra.

"The people of the state want Fadnavis, who understands Maharashtra very closely. After NCP (SP) leader Sharad Pawar, Fadnavis is the person who understands this state deeply," he said, emphasising that Fadnavis has the administrative skills necessary to take the state forward with the Centre's support.

"Even the Mantralaya administration wishes Fadnavis to become CM," Darekar claimed.

BJP leader and former Union minister Raosaheb Danve said the party would soon hold a meeting of its legislators.

"The NCP chose Ajit Pawar (as its leader in the assembly), and so has Shiv Sena (chosen Shinde as its leader). The BJP will soon call a meeting of its legislators. It is obvious that the BJP wants the CM's post," Danve said.

The final decision would be communicated to the central leadership after the party's internal discussions, he added.

Fadnavis on Saturday denied any dispute over the CM's post, saying leaders of the Mahayuti will decide on the issue together.

State BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Sunday echoed Fadnavis.

"Leaders of the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the BJP leadership will decide who will be the next chief minister of the state," he said.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar head Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday separately visited the memorial of the state's first chief minister Y B Chavan in Karad and paid tributes to him on his death anniversary.

IMAGE: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. Photograph: ANI Photo

Sharad Pawar offered floral tributes at 'Pritisangam', the memorial of his mentor Yashwantrao Balwantrao Chavan.

Later, his nephew and NCP head Ajit Pawar also visited the memorial and paid homage to the late leader.

Sharad Pawar was accompanied by his grandnephew Rohit Pawar.

Rohit Pawar came face-to-face with Ajit Pawar there.

While congratulating his nephew, Ajit Pawar quipped, "Come, take my blessings. You barely survived (in retaining the seat). Had I held a rally (in Karjat Jamkhed), imagine what would have happened", suggesting that had he campaigned in his nephew's assembly constituency, it would have been difficult for the latter to win the seat.

Rohit Pawar then touched his feet.

Rohit retained his Karjat Jamkhed seat in Ahilyanagar district by defeating Bharatiya Janata Party's Ram Shinde by a thin margin of 1,243 votes.

The NCP-SP leader later told reporters that despite their (political) differences, Ajit Pawar is a 'father figure' to him.

"In the 2019 elections, he (Ajit) helped me immensely and since he is my uncle, it was my responsibility to touch his feet. In this land which belongs to Chavan Saheb, the tradition and values given by him need to be followed and we are doing the same," he said.

Asked about Ajit Pawar's friendly banter, Rohit Pawar said it is true that had his uncle held a rally (in Karjat Jamkhed), things would have been different.

"But he was busy in Baramati and could not get time to come to the constituency," he said.

Rohit Pawar said he congratulated the deputy CM for his performance in the recent elections.

Last year, Ajit Pawar along with several other legislators joined the Eknath Shinde-Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state, leading to a split in the NCP founded by his uncle Sharad Pawar.

In the just-concluded polls to the 288-member Maharashtra assembly, the NCP led by Ajit Pawar performed well winning 41 seats, while the NCP-SP headed by his uncle put up a dismal show by securing only 10 seats.
Police have lodged seven first information reports (FIRs) in connection with the violence over a court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque in Sambhal, naming Samajwadi Party MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq and local Samajwadi Party MLA Iqbal Mehmood's son Sohail Iqbal as accused, officials said on Monday.

IMAGE: Samajwadi Party MP Zia Ur Rehman speaks to the media about the survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid, in Sambhal, UP, November 22, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

The district administration has already imposed prohibitory orders and barred the entry of outsiders into Sambhal till November 30.

Internet services are suspended in Sambhal tehsil and Monday was declared a holiday for all schools.

A magisterial probe has also been ordered into the violence.

Three people were killed and scores of others, including security personnel and administration officials, injured on Sunday as protesters opposing the survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid clashed with police.

A fourth injured person died on Monday.

Asked about their autopsy reports, Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh said that prima facie, it appears that gunshots from countrymade weapons were the cause of death.

However, he did not go into further details.

Addressing a press conference on Monday, Superintendent of Police Krishan Kumar said seven FIRs have been lodged in connection with the violence.

Six people, including Barq and Iqbal, were named and 2,750 others have been mentioned as unidentified, he said.

"Due to Barq's statement earlier, the situation worsened. He was given a notice earlier for this," he added.

The official said that Barq's 'Jama Masjid ki hifazat' (protection of Jama Masjid) remark mobilised the mob.

When asked about the MP being in Bengaluru and not Sambhal on Sunday, Kumar said Barq's name was included in the FIR based on his previous statements.

He also said that those who tried to damage the mosque by hurling stones would also be identified and rumour mongers would be taken care of.

Among the seven FIRs, Kumar said two were registered at the Nakasa police station and the rest at the Sambhal Kotwali.

The officer said 25 people have been arrested so far in the case and attempts are on to identify others involved in the violence.

He added that there was peace in the city and people have opened their shops.

District Magistrate Rajender Pensiya said late on Sunday that the prohibitory orders had been issued under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

"No outsiders, other social organisations or public representatives will enter the district border without the permission of the competent officer," said the order, which came into force with immediate effect.

Violation of the order will be punishable under Section 223 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the BNS.

IMAGE: Police and paramilitary personnel using tear gas to control the situation near the Shahi Jama Masjid, in Sambhal, UP, November 24, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

Earlier in the day, Muniraj told reporters that Naeem, Bilal and Nauman -- the three men who died in Sunday's violence -- had been buried. All three were aged about 25.

Asked about the role outsiders played in the violence, Pensiya said that according to the probe, people gathered here from places 10-15 kilometres away.

Traffic movement in the city is normal and despite the weekly closure, some shops have opened, he said, adding that only the area near the mosque wore a deserted look.

A local shopkeeper said that the number of people coming to buy daily items increased in the afternoon.

Several houses in the area were seen locked and no one was ready to talk to the media. Heavy police force was deployed in the entire area and patrolling was underway.

Tension had been brewing in Sambhal since November 19 when the Jama Masjid was first surveyed on the court's orders following a petition claiming that a Harihar temple had stood at the site.

On Sunday, trouble started early when a large group of people gathered near the mosque and started shouting slogans as the survey team began its work.

District officials said the survey could not be completed on Tuesday and was planned for Sunday to avoid interference with afternoon prayers.

Supreme Court lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who is a petitioner in the case, had earlier said the Court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) ordered the constitution of an 'advocate commission' to survey the mosque.

The court has said a report should be filed after conducting a videography and photography survey through the commission, he had said.

On Sunday, Jain urged the Archaeological Survey of India to take control of the 'temple'.

Gopal Sharma, a local lawyer for the Hindu side, had earlier claimed the temple that once stood at the site was demolished by Mughal emperor Babur in 1529.
The police Budaun booked officials of the public works department and Google Maps in connection with the death of three men whose car rolled over an under-construction bridge while following directions on the navigation app, an officer on Monday said.

Image used for representational purposes only. Photograph: ANI Photo

The car fell into the Ramganga river from a partially constructed bridge in Dataganj police station area early Sunday.

Nitin and Ajit, aged 30, both brothers from Farrukhabad district, and Amit, 40, from Mainpuri district, were on their way from Noida to Faridpur in Bareilly to attend a wedding.

According to the police, the driver was led by Google Maps into taking the unsafe route.

The incident took place on the Bareilly-Budaun border.

Dataganj police station SHO Gaurav Bishnoi said an FIR on charges of laxity in duty and others was filed against four engineers of the PWD, along with some unknown people.

The regional officer of Google Map has also been brought under the scope of investigation. His name is yet to be included in the FIR.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson of Google in a statement said, "Our deepest sympathies go out to the families. We're working closely with the authorities and providing our support to investigate the issue."

On Sunday, Faridpur circle officer Ashutosh Shivam said, "Earlier this year, floods caused the front portion of the bridge to collapse onto the river, but this change had not been updated in the system."

He said the bridge had no safety barriers or warning signs on the approach.
IMAGE: Rumeysa Gelgi with Jyoti Amge, the tallest and shortest women on earth. Photograph: Kind courtesy rumeysagelgi/Instagram

Jyoti Amge, the shortest lady on the planet, met Rumeysa Gelgi, the tallest woman on earth, for afternoon tea on the occasion of the 20th annual Guinness World Records Day at the Savoy Hotel in London last week.

Jyoti, who will be 31 soon and hails from Nagpur, is 62.8 centimetres or 2 ft 0.7 in tall.

Rumeysa, 27, stands 215.16 cm or 7 ft 0.7 in tall and lives in Turkey where she lives with her family.

Jyoti's abnormality is caused by achondroplasia, a bone growth disorder that affects the arms and legs. It is a genetic disorder that occurs in the early stages of fetal development and causes short stature, impacting the cartilage tissue that should later form the bones of the child's arms and legs.

Rumeysa's height is due to a condition called Weaver syndrome, an extremely rare genetic condition that causes bone overgrowth following a mutation of the EZH2 gene. There are only about 50 such identified cases in the world.

Jyoti has appeared and acted in television series like The World's Smallest Woman: Meet Jyoti (2020), CAVE iN (2020), Beyond the Record (2017), American Horror Story FreakShow: Extra-Ordinary-Artists (2014), Gupse Ozay in Rekorlar Dunyasi (2013), American Horror Story (2011), Bigg Boss (2006).

After home schooling, Rumeysa now works as a Web designer. She also appeared as the lead in the Guinness World Records documentary Rumeysa: Walking Tall.

She is just not the tallest woman in the world, she also holds records for the largest hands on a woman: 24.93 cm (9.81 in); the longest back on women: 59.90 cm (23.58 in); and the longest ears on a female.

Glimpses from Jyoti and Rumeysa's encounter in London:

IMAGE: Sunrise at Tower Bridge on Guinness World Records Day: Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday, who stands at 5 ft 7 in (170 cm), stands next to Rumeysa Gelgi (7 ft 0.71 in or 215.16 cm) and Jyoti Amge (2 ft 3/4 in or 62.8 cm). Photograph: Kind courtesy Guinness World Records/X

IMAGE: Rumeysa and Jyoti stand tall. Photograph: Kind courtesy Jyoti Amge/Instagram

IMAGE: Rumeysa and Jyoti have tea at the Savoy in London. Photograph: Kind courtesy guinnessworldrecords.com

IMAGE: Rumeysa holds Jyoti. Photograph: Kind courtesy rumeysagelgi/Instagram

IMAGE: The shortest and tallest women in the world. Photograph: Kind courtesy guinnessworldrecords.com

IMAGE: Rumeysa and Jyoti look for other record holders in the Guinness Book Of World Records. Photograph: Kind courtesy guinnessworldrecords.com

IMAGE: Craig presents Rumeysa with the special blue-and-gold certificate celebrating Rumeysa and Jyoti's status as Guinness World Records ICONS: The cream of the crop of record-breaking achievements. Photograph: Kind courtesy guinnessworldrecords.com

IMAGE: Craig presents Jyoti with her blue-and-gold certificate. Photograph: Kind courtesy guinnessworldrecords.com

IMAGE: The iconic women pose for a photo. Photograph: Kind courtesy rumeysagelgi/Instagram

IMAGE: Rumeysa and Jyoti compare their hands. Photograph: Kind courtesy rumeysagelgi/Instagram

IMAGE: Rumeysa and Jyoti enjoy reading the Guinness Book Of World Records. Photograph: Kind courtesy rumeysagelgi/Instagram

IMAGE: And the Guinness World Records notes 'Pizza brings people together'. Photograph: Kind courtesy Guinness World Records/Twitter

Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday said no 'formula' was being discussed for the chief minister's post and a decision on it will be taken together by the Mahayuti partners.

IMAGE: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde with Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule address a press conference, at Varsha Bungalow in Mumbai on Saturday. Photograph: ANI Photo

Speaking to reporters in Karad, Nationalist Congress Party leader Pawar also said the Mahayuti got such a huge mandate and the Maha Vikas Aghadi did not even have enough numbers to stake claim for the leader of opposition's post in the state assembly.

Pawar also acknowledged the contribution of the government's Ladki Bahin scheme, which provides financial assistance to women, in the Mahayuti's victory in the just-concluded state assembly polls.

The deputy CM paid tributes to Maharashtra's first chief minister Yashwantrao Chavan at his memorial 'Pritisangam' in Karad on his death anniversary.

In the state poll results declared on Saturday, the Mahayuti, comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and NCP, bagged an impressive 230 of the 288 assembly seats.

BJP leader and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis is being seen as a strong contender to occupy the top post for the third time, as his party bagged 132 of the 149 seats it contested.

Notably, Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Deepak Kesarkar has said his party legislators feel Shinde should continue as CM.

Asked if any "formula" for the CM's post was being decided, Pawar said, "There is no formula being discussed. We three (allies) will sit together and discuss on CM's post."

"Yesterday, NCP selected me as the party's leader in the assembly. Eknath Shinde was also elected as Shiv Sena's leader in the assembly and BJP will also do the same. We will sit together and discuss and will provide a stable government," he said.

Pawar also said they will decide what formula to work out on the cabinet formation among the three parties.

"There are news reports that government should be formed before November 27 or else there will be President's rule, but there's nothing like that," the NCP leader said.

"We now have a massive majority that not a single party from the opposition has got enough numbers to nominate leader of the opposition. This is a fact and one cannot deny it," he said.

Fadnavis and Shinde will keep up the tradition of respecting the opposition and other members in the assembly, he said.

A great responsibility has come on shoulders of the Mahayuti leaders, Pawar said.

He acknowledged the contribution of the Ladki Bahin scheme in the Mahayuti's win.

"We cannot ignore that Ladki Bahin helped us in this election. We are grateful to them (women voters)," he said.

Defending the scheme, Pawar, who is also the state finance minister, said, "Had I been opposed to the Ladki Bahin scheme, I would not have presented it in the House. I discussed the scheme with several retired finance officers before finalising it."

Pawar also dismissed concerns raised by some opposition leaders over the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), pointing out that polls in states like Punjab, West Bengal and Telangana, governed by their political opponents, have been conducted with the same system.

He was responding to NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar's comments about a pattern of the BJP winning a bigger state while a smaller state going to its opponents.

"During the Lok Sabha polls, Mahayuti faced a humiliating defeat (in Maharashtra). That time, we accepted the mandate. That time, the EVM was perfect (for opposition). There is no reason to blame the EVMs as success and failure depend on voters," he said.

In Satara district, not a single MVA candidate won any seat.

"It shows voters prefer to elect whosoever they feel is appropriate," he added.

Asked about Sharad Pawar's remarks that fielding his grandnephew Yugendra Pawar against Ajit wasn't a wrong decision, the deputy CM asked if there were no other candidate to be put up against him.

"Yugendra is into business and he has no links with politics. There was no reason to field my nephew, who is the son of my younger brother. I tried convincing that I had committed a mistake during Lok Sabha polls, but still a candidate from the family was fielded," he said.

"I don't want to comment further on this. I have got tired of apologising for fielding my wife against (cousin) Supriya (in Lok Sabha polls). Yugendra was in business, then why was he prepared to contest against me?" the NCP leader added.

He noted that in Aheri seat, NCP leader Dharamraobaba Atram's daughter Bhagyashree Atram was pitted against him by NCP (SP).

"In many constituencies, family members were pitted against each other," he added.

Asked about Sharad Pawar's remarks that those who deserted him parted ways with the values of Y B Chavan, the deputy CM said, "We are following the values and ideology of Chavan."

"How long we will be criticised?" he asked.

"Was there support of Chavan saheb to whatever happened in 1978 (referring to formation of coalition government in the state by Sharad Pawar after rebellion)? One can't just play politics of convenience. Today whatever we do, we are being criticised. We are also walking the path shown by Chavan saheb, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Shahu Maharaj, Mahatma Phule and Babasaheb Ambedkar," Pawar said.
This photo taken on Nov. 9, 2024 shows children running in Daliyabuyi Village, Yutian County of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.(Xinhua/Hu Huhu)

YUTIAN, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) --Daliyabuyi Village was once located in the heart of the Taklimakan Desert. In 2019, the entire village completed its relocation and moved to a resettlement site closer to the county seat. As a result, the village ended its previous history of inconvenience in transportation, network, electricity, drinking water, medical treatment and schooling.

At present, the village has established agricultural and animal husbandry cooperatives and developed special tourism such as desert exploration, and the villagers' income has increased year by year.

A drone photo taken on Nov. 6, 2024 shows homestays at the scenic spot in the former site of Daliyabuyi Village, Yutian County of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Chen Shuo)

This photo taken on Nov. 7, 2024 shows tourists taking photos of the sunrise at the scenic spot in the former site of Daliyabuyi Village, Yutian County of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)

This photo taken on Nov. 7, 2024 shows a view of the scenic spot in the former site of Daliyabuyi Village, Yutian County of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)

A drone photo taken on Nov. 6, 2024 shows vehicles driving in the scenic area at the former site of Daliyabuyi Village, Yutian County of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Chen Shuo)

This photo taken on Nov. 7, 2024 shows tourists visiting an old house of a villager at the scenic spot in the former site of Daliyabuyi Village, Yutian County of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Daliyabuyi Village was once located in the heart of the Taklimakan Desert. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)

This photo taken on Nov. 5, 2024 shows villagers running a small shop at the scenic spot in the former site of Daliyabuyi Village, Yutian County of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)

This photo taken on Nov. 6, 2024 shows a villager sorting a room at a residency-transformed hotel at the scenic spot in the former site of Daliyabuyi Village, Yutian County of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)

Editor: JYZ
BRATTLEBORO  Plans were approved for North Chair Brewing to allow outdoor consumption as a tasting room at a Frost Street brewery reopens.

"We're just bringing our tasting room back to life," Jonathan Tobin, chief operating officer of North Chair Brewing, said at the Development Review Board meeting Wednesday

At the meeting, the DRB unanimously endorsed a request to modify a condition of its 2018 decision for site plan approval to now allow outdoor consumption at 39 Frost St. Previously, the facility had been owned by Whetstone Beer Co.

Sugar Mountain buys Whetstone craft brewery facility BRATTLEBORO  After more than three years of Act 250 reviews, expert testimony, official fil

North Chair's parent company Sugar Mountain Holdings acquired the brewery in February.

"We've rebuilt the tasting room, and we'd like to have people enjoy some of our beers outside," Tobin said. "We have a nice little grass area in front. We're going to move some things around and give people some more space."

Hours of operation are noon to 3 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and noon until 6 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Tobin said hours may expand in the summer.

Before the DRB meeting, the Select Board signed off on allowing outdoor consumption on site.

Tobin said live, but not loud, music also is part of the plan.

"All the neighbors who stopped by are really excited, just mentally to see somebody there and doing something and having a tasting room open, a place to go," Tobin said. "We see a lot of local foot traffic from people, who live both on our street and then the surrounding streets, just coming in to say hi and enjoying a beer and walking amongst the neighborhood."

Asked what the North Chair product tastes like, Tobin said, "It's really good."

"We actually just did a dark Czech lager today that is off the charts, bringing back beer that tastes like beer," he said. "So less of the fruity beers, less of the really unique stuff, and going back to very traditional styles that are tried and true."

Dan Richardson, neighbor, said he doesn't want to "see this evolve into a bar." Tobin assured him that won't be happening.

"Maximum capacity of the interior space is 15 people in our tasting room so it's not a big place," Tobin said. "And luckily, the outside space should be shielded not only by the building but by the fencing and everything else that we have."

Sugar Mountain also is converting the ski lodge at Maple Valley Ski Area in Dummerston into a brewery, distillery and event center. Updates have been posted on North Chair Brewing's Instagram page.

"We just started doing some renovations to try and get it started," Keane Aures, spokesman for Sugar Mountain Holdings, said in an interview Sunday. "We started doing some demo on the deck and the interior, and we're trying to get some work started to see when we can get it open."

Aures said he has given up on putting a timeline on the project. Yearslong permitting challenges landed the project in the Vermont Supreme Court, which ultimately provided the green light.
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

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Cloudy skies with a few showers after midnight. Low around 45F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
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Auckland-based smart metering and data services company Bluecurrent has inked an agreement to acquire Melbourne-based Metropolis Metering, which specialises in the commercial and industrial and embedded network markets.

Auckland-based Bluecurrents CEO, Neil Williams, said the proposed buy-out delivered an expanded suite of services for customers.

Our new, combined business will continue to deliver Bluecurrents market-leading work, supported by Metropolis Meterings agile, innovative practices, Williams said.

Metropolis Metering CEO Andrew Randall said he was excited about the opportunities that Bluecurrent would bring to the business, with its scale and customer relationships across Australia and New Zealand.

From the outset we have had strong values alignment with the Bluecurrent team, focused on sustainable growth and playing a pivotal role in the transition to carbon-zero, ensuring a smarter future for all, Randall said.

The agreement is subject to conditions, with completion of the expected in early December.
US President Donald Trump has urged Russia to agree to a 30-day cease-fire, warning he would slap additional sanctions on the country if it refused the US proposal, as Moscow made more gains on the battlefield.



"Russia has no way out but cease-fire. If needed we will sanction it, but I hope we won't need to," Trump told reporters at the White House on March 12.



"In a financial sense we can do very unpleasant, very bad things, devastating for Russia, but I don't want to," he said.



His comments come a day after Kyiv agreed to the temporary cease-fire following nine hours of talks with Trump administration officials in Saudi Arabia.



Trump has made ending Russia's more than three-year full-scale invasion of Ukraine a top priority since taking office for a second term less than two months ago, quickly dispatching his top officials to Moscow and Kyiv to prepare the groundwork for peace talks.



He has used Washington's significant leverage over Ukraine -- namely military aid and intelligence sharing -- to get Kyiv to agree to the cease-fire proposal, which if implemented, would leave almost 20 percent of the country in Russia's hands for the time being, at least.



But Trump lacks that type of leverage with Russia, which has navigated sweeping US and European sanctions placed on its economy following the invasion much better than most experts forecasted.

Putin may seek to drag out talks with the US over a cease-fire to improve Russia's position on the battlefield and hence at the negotiating table when and if Moscow and Kyiv hammer out a peace deal.

As Trump spoke at the White House, Putin was visiting troops in Russia's Kursk region, where fierce fighting is currently taking place and Moscow's forces are advancing.

Ukraine seized a swath of the Kursk region in a stealth incursion in August seen as an effort to divert Russian forces from eastern Ukraine and use the territory as a bargaining chip during any peace talks.

That strategy is now at risk of failing as Russian forces slowly push the Ukrainians out of Kursk. Russians forces have retaken more than half the territory initially captured by Ukraine.

Putin's visit to Kursk was his first since the incursion and signals the momentum Russia has in that theater of the war. The Kremlin leader urged his troops to retake the region in its entirety "as soon as possible."

Ukraine's top military commander, General Oleksandr Syrskiy, said that fighting continued in and around Sudzha, the largest town in the part of the region that Ukraine occupied.

Unconfirmed reports on March 12 indicated that Ukraine has begun to draw back units as Russian officials claimed their troops had captured more settlements, including Sudzha.

"Despite increased pressure from the Russian and North Korean forces, we will maintain the defense of the Kursk region as long as it is appropriate and necessary," Syrskiy wrote on Telegram.

In a Facebook post, Syrskiy said that saving soldiers lives is a priority and that Ukrainian troops "maneuver to more favorable positions, if necessary," wording often used top describe a retreat.

Concessions?

Trump hinted that Ukraine would have to make concessions on land, something more and more experts say is inevitable given Russia's momentum on the battlefield.

"When we talk cease-fire [with Ukraine], we talked land, who's withdrawing -- we discussed a lot of things [with Ukraine]," Trump said.

"We don't want to waste time, people are dying. Russia is not in the best situation now. I hope [Putin] gets a cease-fire."

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the cease-fire proposal and said he hoped it would be used as a draft for a lasting peace deal that included security guarantees for Ukraine.

"It's now up to Russia what is next," he said at a March 12 press conference, and whether "it wants to continue its aggression against Ukraine or not."

On the streets of Kyiv, some Ukrainians told RFE/RL's Current Time that they doubted whether Russia would sign on to, and adhere to, a cease-fire deal.

"I'm not sure what to say, but it all seems implausible, frankly speaking," said one Kyiv man, while a woman in the capital said the cease-fire talks were "meaningless without Russia taking part."

Moscow has so far declined to comment on the specifics of the proposal for the 30-day cease-fire, and it's unclear whether Putin has made up his mind on the agreement.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was "carefully studying" the joint US-Ukraine statement issued following the Jeddah talks and will wait to comment until Russian negotiators receive more detailed information from Washington. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who represented the United States at the talks, said Washington "will have contact with Russians" today.

Trump on March 11 said he would soon speak with Putin to secure his commitment. Mike Waltz, the White House national-security adviser, spoke with his Russian counterpart on March 12, while Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff also planned to travel to Moscow, possibly to meet Putin.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe held a phone call with Sergei Naryshkin, director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, late on March 11, the Interfax news agency reported.

Rubio told reporters on March 12 in first comments since leaving the talks in Jeddah that the United States hoped to have a positive answer from Russia toward the cease-fire deal and "strongly urge[s] Russians to end all hostilities.

Konstantin Kosachev, an influential lawmaker in Russia's upper house of parliament, seemed to imply that Moscow would not simply accept the US-backed ceasefire proposal but attach conditions, taking into account that Russian forces have the momentum on the battlefield.

"Russia is advancing, and therefore it will be different with Russia," Kosachyov said in a Telegram post.

"Any agreements (with all understanding of the need for compromise) will be on our terms, not American," he said. "And this is not boasting, but an understanding that real agreements are still being written there, on the front line. Which Washington should also understand."

Rubio also said Ukraine will need a strong deterrent to prevent future attacks and that Europeans will "need to be involved in this regard." He added that further discussions would need to tackle to topic of the European Union lifting sanctions on the Russian economy.

"I would imagine that in any negotiation, if we get there, hopefully with the Russians, they will raise these European sanctions that have been imposed upon them," Rubio said.

Moscow has so far been against a European peacekeeping force in Ukraine and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated Russia's position during an interview with three right-wing US bloggers that it will under no conditions accept the presence of NATO forces in Ukraine.

Minerals Deal

Washington and Kyiv could sign a framework agreement as early as this week on sharing the revenue generated from Ukraine's mineral resources.

Trump and Zelenskyy intended to sign the deal during their meeting at the Oval Office on February 28. However, the two got into a heated, public exchange over security guarantees for Ukraine and the meeting was abruptly ended without any deal.

Rubio cautioned that he "would not couch [the] minerals deal as a security guarantee." But he added that "if the United States has a vested economic interest thats generating revenue for our people as well as for the people of Ukraine, wed have a vested interest in protecting it if it were to be challenged or threatened."

The parade of comments come after Russia and Ukraine traded air attacks overnight just hours after Kyiv agreed to accept the cease-fire proposal.

Two Russian missile strikes hit the central Ukrainian city of Kryviy Rih on March 12, killing one person, while a separate attack killed four crew members of a cargo ship near the southern port city of Odesa.

Russia's Defense Ministry said its air-defense systems shot down six drones overnight on March 12, one over Ukraine's Russia-annexed Crimea and five over the Black Sea. The Krymsky Veter Telegram channel reported loud explosions and air-raid sirens over Crimean towns and near Russian military sites.

The United States announced after the talks in Saudi Arabia that it would immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and restore military aid to Ukraine, which could be a boost to Ukrainian forces. Ukraine's battlefield positions have been under heavy pressure, particularly in Russia's Kursk region.
The European Union has proposed for the first time to target Chinese companies and individuals with visa bans and asset freezes over their dealings with Russian firms linked to Moscow's war effort in Ukraine, according to RFE/RL.

The new measures, which are laid out in a draft proposal reviewed by RFE/RL, are part of a proposed 15th sanctions package recently put forward by Brussels that aims to target six China-based companies with asset freezes and one Chinese citizen with a visa ban, among other entities.

While the EU has hit Chinese entities in the past with sanctions as part of Brussels' effort to curtail evasion, those measures have consisted of bans that prevent EU companies from having business dealings with those firms. This proposal marks the first effort to blacklist Chinese companies or individuals with visa bans and asset freezes over helping Russia procure dual-use goods that can be used on the battlefield.

If approved, such a move would prevent individuals associated with the company from entering the EU and would freeze each firm's EU-based funds.

The draft sanctions package comes as Russia has managed to overcome sweeping EU and U.S. technology sanctions aimed at stifling its military-industrial complex by rerouting crucial goods like microprocessors through friendly third countries or sourcing from them directly.

China, in particular, has played a leading role in boosting Russia's economy since its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and Western officials have said that Chinese support in circumventing sanctions has had a major effect in helping Moscow on the battlefield.

The only Chinese individual proposed for a visa ban is a "Chinese businessperson" that represents a firm engaged in mainland China and Hong Kong, the draft document states, which has "infringed prohibitions against circumvention of the EU's restrictive measures regime imposed on the Russian Federation," including companies that are part of Russia's military-industrial complex.

The proposed document lists 54 persons for visa bans and 29 entities for asset freezes in total, the majority of which are based in Russia and are Russian citizens.

Among the six firms based in China or Hong Kong that are proposed for asset freezes, one of them is owned by a Russian national.

The company, the draft document states, "has been the largest supplier of sanctioned microelectronic components to Russian companies since the beginning of the war of aggression against Ukraine, which are used for the fabrication of Orlan drones which are used by the Russian military in Ukraine."

In addition to the asset freezes and visa bans, the new package also takes aim at 33 companies mostly based in Russia that are under export restrictions, but also includes firms based in China, Iran, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates.

The document also lists 44 entities as part of an effort to impose sanctions on Russia's so-called "shadow fleet," the term meant to refer to ships that are engaged in illegal operations for the purposes of circumventing sanctions.

The draft version of the sanctions package was first shared with EU countries on November 22 and would still need to be approved by all 27 member states in order to come into effect.
Welcome back to the China In Eurasia briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter tracking China's resurgent influence from Eastern Europe to Central Asia.

I'm RFE/RL's China Global Affairs Correspondent Reid Standish and here's what I'm following right now.

Minding The Transatlantic Gap

China is looking to capitalize on a transatlantic rift between the United States and Europe that is widening as U.S. President Donald Trump looks to quickly end the war in Ukraine.

But how much of an opening is there actually for Beijing?

Finding Perspective: The threat of tariffs, a war of words at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month, U.S.-Russia talks that excluded Europe and Kyiv, and a standoff at the United Nations over how to commemorate the third anniversary of the war in Ukraine have all been recent fissures between Washington and European governments.

That brought new questions about relying on the United States to European capitals and left an opening for Beijing, which has been trying to woo back Europe over the past four years.

On the sidelines in Munich, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held bilateral meetings with several top European officials, including EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

Spain's foreign minister seems to be at least more open to the idea of keeping China closer amid tensions with the United States.

Jose Manuel Albares told the Financial Times that the European Union should craft its own China policy and not follow the more confrontational line with Beijing advocated by those in the Trump administration.

"Europe must take its own decisions, on its own. And we have to decide when China can be a partner and when China is a competitor," Albares told the newspaper.

How We Got Here: During Trump's first term in office, Washington pushed European governments to take a harder line on China. That led to the bloc labeling China a "systemic rival" in 2019.

The Chinese government's untransparent handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, trade, human rights, and supply chain concerns, and Beijing's backing of Russia throughout the war in Ukraine all saw that harder line solidify in Europe under former U.S. President Joe Biden's tenure.

Now amid growing transatlantic tensions, some European governments see following Trump's tough stance on China as a way to win over Washington. Others, like the Spanish government, are arguing to preserve vital economic ties with Beijing, especially amid growing uncertainty about the United States.

This has even led to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, one of Brussels's more hawkish voices on China, calling in January for a new effort to improve relations between Brussels and Beijing.

A True Rift? Tensions on each side of the Atlantic are real.

Following his party's victory in elections on February 23, Friedrich Merz, Germany's chancellor-in-waiting for the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said the Trump administration "does not care much about the fate of Europe" and that the Continent needs to act accordingly.

"My absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the U.S.A.," he said.

Talk of a seismic shift in the geopolitical order is also under way in Brussels.

One EU official recently back from discussions with U.S. officials told RFE/RL that the White House's focus is on ending the war in Ukraine and that there is a "take it or leave it" attitude from Washington.

The Trump administration wants to "remove the Ukraine issue from the table and move on to other issues. It is becoming clear that Trump's goal is to rule the world together with Russia and China" and work toward "strategically separating them from each other," said the official, who was granted anonymity in order to discuss sensitive matters.

Why It Matters: Europe may be grappling with a realignment, but that doesn't mean China is its only option to hedge.

As European leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visit Washington, von der Leyen is set to arrive in India on February 27.

James Crabtree, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told me that "it's hard to imagine a better time to re-energize Europe's and India's historically lackluster ties" and that a focus of the trip will be technology cooperation.

"A meeting of the EU-India Trade and Technology Council -- only the second since its foundation in 2023 -- offers opportunities to deepen collaboration in areas ranging from artificial intelligence to clean technologies," he said.

China may also be short on opportunities, with most EU members unable to look past its support for Russia amid the war in Ukraine. The bloc's most recent sanctions package passed on February 24 once again included Chinese companies and individuals.

What is likely to emerge is a more fragmented Europe when it comes to China. While some governments look to countries like India, South Korea, and Japan to balance out their foreign policy, others -- such as the current Spanish government and Hungary -- will keep courting Chinese investment and create new openings for Beijing.

Three More Stories From Eurasia

1. A Reverse Nixon?

China publicly backed the Trump administration's recent talks with the Kremlin, but analysts and former U.S. officials I spoke with mostly said the prospect of a U.S.-Russia reset is also making Beijing "nervous" about having less leverage over its partner.

The Details: "While a complete rapprochement might not be in the cards, they're nervous because if Trump lifts sanctions on Russia, then Moscow's dependency on China decreases," Dennis Wilder, who was a top White House China adviser to former U.S. President George W. Bush, told me.

One of the hallmarks of Chinese leader Xi Jinping's foreign policy has been a burgeoning strategic partnership with Russian President Vladimir Putin that's grown closer since Moscow's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Beijing has propped up the Russian economy through enhanced trade and energy purchases while fueling the Kremlin's war effort with the supply of key goods as both Xi and Putin have found common ground in wanting to challenge the West and unseat the United States.

The fear of all that being derailed by a new type of U.S.-Russia relationship born out of a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine is real for Beijing.

Wilder says he's had conversations with "very senior Chinese officials" since Trump's election in November who have expressed concern about a potential U.S.-Russia reset.

He says they've used the phrase "Only Trump goes to Moscow," a play on the historical reference to former U.S. President Richard Nixon's landmark visit to Beijing in 1972, when he defied precedent and courted China to exploit its split with the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.

2. But Can It Work?

A grand bargain would be a major diplomatic feat, but it's something Trump administration officials have hinted at in public comments of late.

What You Need To Know: The Trump administration has made clear it sees managing a long-term rivalry with China as its top foreign policy objective and may look to deprioritize regions like Europe and the Middle East in order to raise pressure on Beijing in Asia.

Following the talks in Riyadh, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the possibility for future "geopolitical and economic cooperation" between Washington and Moscow was among the key points discussed.

And in an interview this month with The Wall Street Journal, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Washington was prepared to reset the relationship with the Kremlin following an agreement over Ukraine as a move to end Russia's isolation and its growing dependence on China since the war began.

"It's not in Putin's interest to be the little brother in a coalition with China," Vance said.

The thinking is that even new cracks between the two powers may loosen Moscow's alignment with Beijing and could have a deterrent effect on China, especially if it decides to use military force to take Taiwan.

Still, both Beijing and Moscow are aware of what the White House is trying to do, and Beijing has made a point to show it and Moscow are still a tandem, including a recent phone call between Putin and Xi on the third anniversary of the war in Ukraine.

Steve Tsang, director of SOAS University London's China Institute, told me he believes Washington's efforts to reset its Russia ties are also not all bad news for Beijing.

"Xi does not want Putin to fail in the war, and so Trump delivering a peace that mostly meets Russian conditions is a positive," he said. "Who knows who will be the next U.S. president and if there will be a reversal of U.S. posture post-Trump."

3. Taiwan Watches A New U.S. Line On Ukraine

Ukrainians living in Taiwan and local supporters protested outside the de-facto Russian Embassy in Taipei on the eve of the third anniversary of Moscow's invasion.

What It Means: The self-governing island has been a vocal supporter of Kyiv, which the Taiwanese government sees as a foil for its own tenuous geopolitical position where China has long threatened to invade and annex Taiwan if it refused to peacefully accept unification.

Those parallels have grown since Trump's election. The United States is Taiwan's largest military backer and its support is considered vital for its survival, but Trump's global shakeup, including launching negotiations with Russia without Ukraine and threatening to cut off future aid to Kyiv, has brought anxiety to Taiwan about a similar withdrawal of American assistance.

When I was in Taiwan in December, I spoke with several senior officials who said they were closely watching what happened to Kyiv on the battlefield and with the new U.S. administration.

So far, the White House has reaffirmed its support for Taiwan, but Washington has also threatened tariffs on the island's semiconductor industry, which is responsible for around 60 percent of world production for microchips and 90 percent of the most-advanced ones needed for the global AI boom.

Across The Supercontinent

Choking Off Iranian Oil: Earlier this month, the United States brought in a new tranche of sanctions on Iranian oil, my colleague Kian Sharifi and I reported . The move is seen as an opening shot against Tehran and Beijing -- Iran's top oil customer.

New Bridge Deal: The Transport Ministry of Tajikistan and the Tajik branch of the Chinese company Zhejiang Communications Construction Group (ZCCC) signed a cooperation agreement for the construction of what will be the longest road bridge in Central Asia.

New Tools For Tashkent: Uzbekistan showcased on February 25 newly purchased Chinese-made air-defense systems, including the FM-90 short-range surface-to-air missile system and the KS-1C medium-to-long-range air-defense system.

One Thing To Watch

A Chinese-crewed cargo ship is detained in Taiwan's southern port of Tainan after a key Taiwan-Penghu Internet cable was mysteriously severed.

Taiwanese prosecutors are investigating whether this was an accident or part of a broader pattern of disruptions to vital communication lines, but the country's Coast Guard released footage of them apprehending the vessel.

The move comes amid growing tensions from a rise of so-called gray zone tactics, the term often used by Taiwanese officials to refer to the hybrid tactics used to intimidate the island but which remain below the threshold for war.

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
This photo taken on Nov. 21, 2024 shows stuffed panda toys by SeeU Panda at a cultural and creative product store in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

A staff member introduces stuffed panda toy products via livestreams at a studio of the Panda Factory headquarters in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 20, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A staff member makes stuffed panda toy parts out of sheepskin at a workshop of Panda Factory in Heze, east China's Shandong province, March 12, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua)

A quality inspector (R) advises a stylist on the modification of a stuffed panda toy at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A researcher tests a stuffed panda toy's sensing vocal parts at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Stylist Liu Xianlin refines a stuffed panda toy at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

This photo taken on Nov. 21, 2024 shows a stuffed panda toy at a cultural and creative product store in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

A staff member cleans a stuffed panda toy before packing up at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A stylist refines a stuffed panda toy at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Visitors look at the stuffed panda toys by Panda Factory at the Paris Design Week in Paris, France, Sept. 5, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua)

Stylists refine stuffed panda toys at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A girl selects stuffed panda toys at a cultural and creative product store in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

A staff member shows a stuffed toy made in the image of 6-month-old giant panda "Fubao" at the headquarters of the Panda Factory in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 20, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A staff member cleans a stuffed panda toy before packing up at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A quality inspector checks stuffed panda toy products at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A staff member prepares to take pictures of a stuffed panda toy made in the image of 6-month-old giant panda "Fubao" at the headquarters of the Panda Factory in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 20, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A stylist assembles a stuffed panda toy at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Staff members transport the packed panda toys at the workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Wang Bo (R), a senior product developer, and Xiang Tao, a staff member of the research and development department, discuss revising the design draft of a giant panda toy at the Panda Factory headquarters in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 20, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Staff members shoot a short video of a stuffed panda toy made in the image of a 22-day-old panda cub at the Panda Factory headquarters in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 20, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A staff member assembles a stuffed panda toy at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A staff member cleans a stuffed panda toy before packing up at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A staff member introduces stuffed panda toy products via livestreams at a studio of the Panda Factory headquarters in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 20, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A staff member cuts sheepskin used for making parts of stuffed panda toys at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Editor: JYZ
ISSYK-KUL, Kyrgyzstan -- Born with a severe form of cerebral palsy and epilepsy, life has always been difficult for Meerim Aliaskarova.

But everything in her life took a turn for the worse when Meerim was raped at the age of 16 by her neighbor in the northeastern Kyrgyz village of Kurmenty two-and-half years ago.

She gave birth to the stillborn child fathered by the rapist with a Caesarean section, a traumatic experience that left the teenager suffering more frequent seizures, high blood pressure, and anxiety, her family says.

Before the incident, Meerim would go without any [epileptic] seizure for up to six months, but now she gets seizures two to four times a month, her sister, Jypar Jigitekova, says.

The seizures have also become more severe. After each one she doesnt eat and becomes bedridden for 10-15 days. Before she would get better within a week, Jigitekova told RFE/RL. She has become withdrawn and doesnt like talking and interacting with people.

The neighbor, 66-year-old Duishenaly Adykov, has been sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison for the crime. Adykov lost his latest court appeal on October 30. Adykov's relatives claim he is innocent.

Aliaskarovas case is among several similar incidents in Kyrgyzstan that led the authorities to introduce tougher punishments for sexual assault and other crimes against minors that remain prevalent in the Central Asian country.

Separately, theyre also planning stricter punitive measures for those convicted of sexual assault against the disabled.

Sexual violence against children is punishable by life imprisonment.

In May, Kyrgyzstan abolished a regulation that spared defendants who were aged 60 and older at the time of the crime from facing the maximum penalty for sexually assaulting minors.

Earlier, Kyrgyzstan eliminated the statute of limitations for pedophilia and prohibited granting an amnesty and parole for convicted pedophiles.

In January, the country adopted a law that bans law enforcement agencies from closing criminal cases involving rape, even if the parties reach an agreement outside court, a relatively common practice in Central Asia.

Supporters of that law argued that such practices lead to victims being denied justice.

Speaking Up

Sexual violence and other crimes against minors, including handicapped children, are commonplace in Kyrgyzstan, according to official statistics.

The Prosecutor-Generals Office recorded 406 serious and particularly serious crimes against minors in 2023, including at least 160 rapes.

In June, police in Jalal-Abad Province detained a 35-year-old man on suspicion of raping a four-year-old girl in the courtyard of a high-rise residential building.

In August, a man was detained in the southern region of Osh on suspicion of sexually assaulting a minor. The 14-year-old victim gave birth after a rape-related pregnancy, police said.

One month later, police in the northeastern Tyup district -- Aliaskarova's home region -- reported that another disabled girl had been raped. A criminal probe is under way.

Nazgul Turdubekova, the head of the Child Rights Defenders League, said the attackers of disabled children in Kyrgyzstan often believe that handicapped children are weak, unable to defend themselves, and unlikely to be believed due to their limited ability to communicate effectively.

Turdubekova also pointed to a lack of specialized social workers to regularly visit the homes of the handicapped minors, assess their living conditions, and educate parents on the importance of vigilance in caring for their disabled children.

Many Kyrgyz believe the real number of sexual violence cases against minors is much higher than the official figures, because many children are too afraid to complain or simply dont understand theyre being abused.

In many cases, the families prefer not to report the crime, fearing a lifetime of perceived disgrace in the conservative country.

But Aliaskarovas family has decided to speak up and seek justice for her. However, despite the perpetrator being behind bars, the family fears Aliaskarova will never be able to rebuild her life.

Her father, Aliaskar Jigitekov, who is blind, blames himself for not being able to protect his vulnerable daughter.

I wonder if it wasnt for this tragedy, that perhaps my daughter would have met someone and gotten married, he said. The [rapist] just destroyed my daughters life.

Written by Farangis Najibullah with reporting by RFE/RL Kyrgyz Service correspondent Kunduz Kyzylzharova
At least one officer was killed and dozens of people were injured outside Islamabad after police fired tear gas at supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Officials locked down the Pakistani capital using shipping containers to block major roads. Supporters from Khan's opposition Tehrik-e Insaf party demanded his release, new elections, and the strengthening of the judiciary. Khan has been in prison since August 2023 over corruption charges that he claims are politically motivated.
BUCHAREST -- Pro-Russian far-right candidate Calin Georgescu has won a surprise victory in the first round of EU and NATO member Romania's presidential vote and will face pro-Western center-right candidate Elena Lasconi in the December 8 runoff.

Complete preliminary results of the November 24 election showed independent Georgescu -- who has been criticized for his anti-NATO and anti-Semitic statements -- won with 22.94 percent of the vote.

Lasconi, a former TV journalist and small-town mayor for the center-right Save Romania Union (USR), trailed in early results reporting, but edged ahead of the initial favorite, leftist Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.

With 19.17 percent of the vote, Lasconi advanced by a wafer-thin margin over Ciolacu's 19.15 percent, which prompted Ciolacu to concede and announce his resignation as leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). The margin between the two was just 2,742 votes.



"I sent a message to Mrs. Lasconi and extended my congratulations," Ciolacu told the media.

Ciolacu's third-place finish means that for the first time since 1989, the PSD, the heir to Romania's Communist Party, won't have a candidate in the presidential runoff.

Lasconi has yet to declare victory, telling journalists just that "it's been devilishly difficult."

Hundreds of pro-Lasconi protesters, mostly students and other young people, demonstrated on the evening of November 25 in downtown Bucharest on University Square in front of the National Theater to show their dissatisfaction with Georgescu.

They shouted, "Do not vote for a dictator" as they gathered peacefully, though there was a minor incident with a pro-Georgescu supporter carrying a Bible. Georgescu frequently quoted biblical phrases in his campaign.

When the man appeared in front of the demonstrators, they booed him and he started running between cars on the road. Romanian police said he tried to provoke the demonstrators.

Police officers intervened to prevent a possible conflict, the police said in a statement. The man tried to flee and was "immobilized and taken to the police station," the statement said. The protest continued without further incident.

Some demonstrators expressed surprise that Georgescu came first in the elections.

"Like everyone else, I expected this man to take what he had in the polls, somewhere around 5 percent," Alex Zlavog said. "It was a surprise, and I think we have to ask ourselves very serious problems about polling agencies and what happens with these polls."

Georgescu thanked his voters, telling them, "Your voice was heard." He also rejected the accusations of extremism and fascism, saying they were "totally false" and he is "completely dedicated to the Romanian people."

The runoff will be held a week after the parliamentary elections on December 1 -- a faceoff the media is portraying as a battle between East and West.



George Simion of the ultranationalist Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) had 13.86 percent, a surprisingly low score after many predicted he would advance to the runoff together with Ciolacu.

Critics have charged Simion with also being Russian-friendly and, while he wants Romania to remain in NATO, he has also said Bucharest should be neutral.



The winner of the second round will succeed the outgoing center-right incumbent, Klaus Iohannis, who is completing his second and final term after a decade in office.

Fourteen candidates officially registered in the race, but liberal ex-Prime Minister Ludovic Orban last week announced he was withdrawing and threw his weight behind Lasconi.



Election officials put the turnout at just over 52 percent, or about 9.44 million voters casting their ballots.



In 2019, total first-round turnout was 51.18 percent. In the second round, it rose to 55.1 percent.

Georgescu, an obscure figure who held positions in Romania's Foreign Ministry and at the UN environmental agency UNEP, started as a member of AUR and was twice put forward as a possible prime minister by Simion's party.



But Georgescu's anti-Semitic statements made him too radical even for AUR, which eventually broke with him when the authorities opened a criminal investigation on his radical views.



However, even without the overt backing of a party, Georgescu performed unexpectedly well both inside the country and in Romania's Western diaspora, where he took more than 43 percent of the vote, ostensibly by using the TikTok social media platform to call for an end to Romania's aid to Ukraine.



Under the incumbent Iohannis, Romania has turned into a key ally of Ukraine, not only providing training and military equipment but playing a key role in transporting Ukrainian grain and other agricultural goods to global markets.

The 62-year-old, who has been criticized in the Romanian media for his pro-Russian and anti-NATO statements, claimed his shocking victory was a vote for "peace," echoing statements by other pro-Moscow European leaders such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.



"Tonight, the Romanian people cried out for peace. And they shouted very loudly, extremely loudly", he said late on November 24.



In previous interviews, Georgescu urged closer ties with Moscow, claiming that "Russian wisdom" was Romania's best chance, although he has not publicly backed Russia's war in Ukraine.



Asked about Georgescu's upset victory, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on November 25 said Russia did not know much about him or his opinions.



"I would not make any predictions yet. We probably cannot say that we are that familiar with the world view of this candidate as far as relations with our country are concerned."

Lasconi, a former small-town mayor and TV journalist, was the only presidential candidate who opposed the idea of Ukraine giving up land to Russia in a peace deal, saying doing so would embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin.



"If Ukraine cedes territory, Putin won't stop," she had said. "We need to help Ukraine win this war," she said during the only presidential debate, held last week.



She was also the most bullish among the top candidates on NATO, calling for the military alliance to have a greater presence in Romania.



Lasconi garnered 56 percent of the Romanian vote in Moldova, where more than 80,000 Romanian passport holders showed up to vote. Moldova was part of Romania before World War II and the countries share a common language and history. Many Moldovans have acquired Romanian citizenship, which gives them the right to travel and work in the West.

Some analysts said Georgescu's shock victory was also a result of mounting disillusion with Romania's entrenched political elites among young Romanians, many of whom leave the country because of what they say is a lack of opportunities.



Rima, a voter at a Bucharest polling station, told RFE/RL, "There should be more opportunities for young people, so we don't have to leave the country after we graduate from high school or college."



"The president should be more open-minded on some topics, especially international ones. That's what I want: to live in a free country where we as young people have a voice," she said, without specifying her candidate.



Romania's president has significant decision-making powers, including on matters of national security and foreign policy. Elected for a five-year term, the president can also reject party nominees for prime minister and government nominees for judicial appointments.
US President Donald Trump said he sees a "very good chance" for peace between Ukraine and Russia after "very good and productive discussions" between US officials and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a March 14 post on his Truth Social site, Trump also said the United States had urged Russia to spare the lives of "thousands" of Ukrainian soldiers that Putin has said have been isolated by Russian troops in Russia's Kursk region. Ukraine disputes that claim.

The post came just hours after the Kremlin said it was "cautiously optimistic" following a meeting late on March 13 between Putin and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.

"We had very good and productive discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday, and there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end," Trump wrote.

Trump added that "thousands of Ukrainian troops are completely surrounded by the Russian military, and in a very bad and vulnerable position."

"I have strongly requested to President Putin that their lives be spared," he wrote. "This would be a horrible massacre, one not seen since World War II."

Putin said a day earlier that a group of Ukrainian troops were "isolated" in the Kursk region, the site of a surprise incursion by Ukrainian forces last August. Responding to Trump's plea on March 14, he said the soldiers' lives would be spared if they surrendered and urged Kyiv to order them to do so.

Officials in Kyiv have said that while Ukrainian forces have been slowly withdrawing in the Kursk region under heavy pressure from Russian troops, but the armed forces general staff said on March 14 that "[r]eports of the alleged 'encirclement' of Ukrainian units...in the Kursk region are false and fabricated."

"There is no threat of encirclement of our units," it said in a statement on social media.

Zelenskyy Challenges Putin's Motives

Earlier on March 14, Putin's spokesman said there were grounds for "cautious optimism" over Trump's 30-day cease-fire proposal, which Ukraine accepted earlier this week at talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia.

Ukraine, meanwhile, questioned Moscow's sincerity in ending the war, which is now in its fourth year since Russia's full-scale invasion on February 2022.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow that Putin sent Trump a message about his cease-fire proposal after his talks with Witkoff in the Russian capital.

"When Mr Witkoff brings all the information to President Trump, we will determine the timing of a conversation (between Trump and Putin). There are reasons to be cautiously optimistic," Peskov said.

Putin said a day earlier that he agrees in principle with the US proposal for a temporary cease-fire with Ukraine, but added that "there are nuances," such as Western weapons deliveries to Kyiv, that he wants addressed first.

The Russian leader also said any agreement should lead to long-term peace that addresses the "root" reasons for the war, an apparent reference to NATO expansion and other developments Putin claims have put Russia's security in jeopardy.

In a video posted late on March 13, Zelenskyy questioned Putin's motives, saying the Russian leader was preparing to reject the proposal but was afraid to tell Trump.



"That's why in Moscow they are imposing upon the idea of a cease-fire these conditions -- so that nothing happens at all, or so that it cannot happen for as long as possible," Zelenskyy said.

He followed up on March 14 with a post on social media accusing the Kremlin of trying to "complicate and drag out the process."

"Russia is the only party that wants the war to continue and diplomacy to break down," he said on X after a call with the Secretary of State of the Holy See, cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Putin's Response To Trump's Pressure

Kyiv agreed to Trump's 30-day cease-fire proposal at a meeting in Jeddah on March 11, putting the onus for peace in Moscow's lap. Putin's response threw the ball back into US hands, at least to some degree.

Trump called Putin's initial reaction to peace talk developments "promising" but incomplete, though he added he hoped Russia would "do the right thing" and agree to the deal.

"I think the Russians are keen not to be seen as the intransigent party as that could lead to consequences from Trump, such as sanctions. So that informed Putin's comments today," John Hardie, deputy director of the Russia Program at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank, told RFE/RL.

Trump has made ending the war in Ukraine a top priority since taking office for a second term less than two months ago, and is wielding US leverage to get both Kyiv and Moscow to the table.

On March 13, the US administration heightened pressure on Russia by increasing restrictions on the country's oil, gas, and banking sectors.

Among the measures, the Treasury Department was allowing the expiration of a 60-day exemption put in place in January by the Biden administration that let some energy transactions involving sanctioned Russian banks continue. The move would make it more difficult for other nations, especially in Europe, to buy Russian oil.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) -- which includes the United States, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan -- said they discussed imposing more sanctions on Russia and boosting support for Ukraine if the Kremlin does not agree to the cease-fire.

Among the measures discussed during the March 13-14 meeting were caps on the price for Russian oil exports, they said in a joint statement. Western nations in late 2022 imposed a $60-a-barrel price cap on the export of Russian oil using Western ships or insurance. It is unclear if the G7 discussions touched on lowering the price cap. Russia's economy is heavily dependent on oil exports, which account for a third of federal budget revenues.

In a joint statement following the meeting, the G7 said that "we reaffirmed our unwavering support for Ukraine in defending its territorial integrity and right to exist, and its freedom, sovereignty, and independence."

"We welcomed ongoing efforts to achieve a ceasefire, and in particular the meeting on March 11 between the US and Ukraine in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," it added.

Putin also said there were several unanswered questions in the proposal, such as what to do about Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region.

"If we have a cease-fire, does that mean that everyone there would leave?" Putin said. "Should we release them [Ukrainian troops] after they committed crimes against the population? Or would they surrender?"

Ukraine denies committing such crimes, saying it abides by humanitarian law and does not target civilians.

Why Should Russia Agree To A Cease-Fire?

Kyiv seized a swath of the Kursk region in a stealth incursion in August, a move seen as an effort to divert Russian forces from eastern Ukraine and use the territory as a bargaining chip in any peace talks.

That strategy is now failing as Russian forces supported by North Korean troops push the Ukrainians out of Kursk. Russia has regained more than half the territory in Kursk initially captured by Ukraine.

Zelenskyy told reporters on March 14 that the situation in Kursk was "obviously very difficult."

Among the other concerns Putin voiced about the cease-fire proposal is whether Ukraine would use the 30-day period to mobilize and train forces or rearm with the help of the West.

He also raised the question of how the nearly 2,000-kilometer front would be monitored. Zelenskyy told reporters that the front could be monitored by US satellites.

Experts had warned that Putin would likely seek to drag out cease-fire talks because his forces have the upper hand on the battlefield.

Aside from the advances in Kursk, Russia is gaining territory in eastern Ukraine -- albeit at high human and material costs -- due to its significant manpower advantage.

However, Zelenskyy said Ukraine has stopped Russian forces at the gates of Pokrovsk, a key logistical hub in Donetsk region, after months of fighting on the outskirts of the city. Zelenskyy asserted that the incursion into Kursk forced Russia to pull forces from eastern Ukraine, giving his troops time to defend the city.

Russia is seeking to capture at a minimum the entirety of the four regions of Ukraine it claims to have annexed in September 2022: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya, and Kherson. A cease-fire freezing the current front lines would leave them short of that goal.

"One way the Russians could slow down this process without coming out directly and saying 'no', is by dragging out those technical discussions on monitoring" the cease-fire, Hardie said.

"That could also give them ways to try to pin the blame back on Ukraine, by insisting on certain technical matters that Ukraine might find objectionable," he said.
Violence against women and girls is pervasive across the world, and often underreported.

Rampant physical, sexual, and psychological violence is part of what activists have called a global attack on women's rights.



Nowhere is that more apparent than in Afghanistan, where the Taliban has erased women from public life and severely restricted their fundamental rights.



Under the rule of the extremist group, Afghanistan has become the only country in the world where teenage girls are banned from attending school.



"I wanted to become a doctor and serve my country," Marzieh, a teenaged Afghan girl, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. "I studied for nine years, but it was all for nothing. Now, I have ended up staying at home."

No country has recognized the Taliban, which seized power in 2021. But a growing number of countries, including in the West, are cooperating with its government on trade, security-related issues, and immigration.



"If the world can look at what the Taliban are doing to women and girls and shrug and move on and focus instead on partnering with the Taliban on other issues, that says something incredibly damning about how little the rights of women and girls matter to global leaders," said Heather Barr, associate women's rights director at Human Rights Watch (HRW).



Under Taliban rule, there has been a surge in forced, early, and child marriages. The United Nations has said child marriages have increased by around 25 percent in the past three years in the country.



Rights groups have said a devastating economic and humanitarian crisis and the lack of educational and professional prospects for women have fueled the sharp uptick.



"I was married at 14, and I had my first child at 15," Shazia, a child bride, told Radio Azadi. "It was a daughter. I struggled a lot with her. I never thought I would survive. It was extremely difficult for me."

'Freedom To Choose'



In neighboring Iran, women are banned from many fields of study, sporting events, and from obtaining a passport or traveling outside the country without their husband's consent.



Women who violate the country's Islamic dress code, meanwhile, face fines and sentences of up to 10 years in prison.



A growing number of Iranian women have refused to wear the mandatory hijab, or Islamic head scarf, in defiance of the country's clerical establishment.



The hijab is a symbol of women's oppression in Iran, a 20-year-old woman inside the country told RFE/RL's Radio Farda.



"This piece of cloth represents a right that has been taken away from us," she said. "It is the freedom to choose what I want to wear."



The issue of the controversial hijab was central to the unprecedented protests that erupted across Iran in 2022. The demonstrations were triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who was arrested for allegedly violating the hijab law.



During the protests, women and girls removed and burned their head scarves.



The authorities waged a brutal crackdown on protesters and doubled down on their enforcement of the hijab.



Meanwhile, scores of women in Iran are killed by their male relatives each year -- including their husbands, fathers, and brothers -- in the name of preserving the family's "honor."



According to Stop Femicide Iran, an NGO based in New York, over 150 women were victims of femicide in Iran in 2023.

Political Will



Gender-based violence is pervasive even in countries where women do not face restrictions in their appearances, freedom of movement, and right to work or study.



The UN estimated in 2023 that a woman was killed every 10 minutes by her partner or family member. Almost one in three women experiences violence at least once in her lifetime, according to the world body.



In Kosovo, at least 58 women have been killed in cases of femicide in the past 14 years.



Erona, a 20-year-old, was killed in April, almost a year after she got divorced. Her ex-husband is accused of murdering her.

Erona's mother, Milihatja, believes her daughter suffered years of domestic violence.



"She would come home and tell me that she would never return to him, but something would happen and she would go back," she told RFE/RL's Kosovo Service.

In Bosnia-Herzegovina, a man live-streamed on Instagram the killing of his ex-wife before eventually turning the gun on himself.



The killing in August 2023 triggered shock and outrage, and underscored the issue of violence against women in the Balkan country.



Maida, who lives in the country's northeast, divorced and reported her abusive husband around a year ago.



"He came and grabbed me by the neck. My children saw it and started to cry. I told them I'm OK,' but then he slapped me," Maida told RFE/RL's Balkan Service.



Then, she said, her husband threatened to kill her and their children. "I know what he's capable of, and I decided to go to the police and report him," she said.



Eventually, she managed to get a restraining order. But she still does not feel safe. "He can come at any time of the day and do what he imagined in his head," she said.



Experts say gender-based violence is preventable and addressing the issue often comes down to political will.



"These are not mysterious unsolvable problems -- they just require that governments be genuinely committed to upholding the rights of women and girls and that they put in place the resources, systems, and expertise needed to do so," said Barr of HRW.
People visit an exhibition titled "Cocoon of Traditions: Silk in the National Cultures of Eurasia" at Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Nov. 22, 2024. The exhibition, which opened here on Nov. 22, showcases 283 pieces of silk textiles dating back from the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century from the Russian Museum of Ethnography. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

People visit an exhibition titled "Cocoon of Traditions: Silk in the National Cultures of Eurasia" at Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Nov. 22, 2024. The exhibition, which opened here on Nov. 22, showcases 283 pieces of silk textiles dating back from the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century from the Russian Museum of Ethnography. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

People visit an exhibition titled "Cocoon of Traditions: Silk in the National Cultures of Eurasia" at Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Nov. 22, 2024. The exhibition, which opened here on Nov. 22, showcases 283 pieces of silk textiles dating back from the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century from the Russian Museum of Ethnography. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

Visitors view exhibits during an exhibition titled "Cocoon of Traditions: Silk in the National Cultures of Eurasia" at Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Nov. 22, 2024. The exhibition, which opened here on Nov. 22, showcases 283 pieces of silk textiles dating back from the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century from the Russian Museum of Ethnography. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

People visit an exhibition titled "Cocoon of Traditions: Silk in the National Cultures of Eurasia" at Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Nov. 22, 2024. The exhibition, which opened here on Nov. 22, showcases 283 pieces of silk textiles dating back from the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century from the Russian Museum of Ethnography. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

A visitor views exhibits during an exhibition titled "Cocoon of Traditions: Silk in the National Cultures of Eurasia" at Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Nov. 22, 2024. The exhibition, which opened here on Nov. 22, showcases 283 pieces of silk textiles dating back from the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century from the Russian Museum of Ethnography. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

Editor: JYZ
Roscommon Gardai were delighted to meet up with Little Blue Hero Jamie Webb last week.

Jamie, who is from Loughglynn, met Sgt Deirdre Coleman, Community Policing, at Castlerea Train Station.

Last year, Jamie was nominated for a special achievement award at the Roscommon-Longford Garda Youth Awards, acknowledging his bravery and resilence as he had overcome many health challenges.

Little Blue Heroes Foundation, established in 2017, is a not-for-profit registered charity voluntarily led by Garda members, retired Garda members and civic minded people from local communities.

Little Blue Heroes Foundations vision is to support families of children with serious illnesses in Ireland while empowering the lives of children through positive community engagement.
Himanshi Khurana's Father Arrested for Assaulting Government Official

Despite multiple police raids in Ludhiana over the past few months, Khurana evaded arrest.

Himanshi Khurrana Arrest Latest News: Punjabi actress and former Bigg Boss contestant Himanshi Khurana's father, Kuldeep Khurana, has been remanded to 14 days of judicial custody by a Phillaur court. The arrest comes in connection with an alleged assault and verbal abuse of a Naib Tehsildar during election duty in Goraya, Punjab, five months ago.

As per the report, an FIR was registered against Kuldeep Khurana based on a complaint filed by Naib Tehsildar Jagpal Singh. The complaint accuses Khurana of obstructing Singh's official duty, using abusive language, and physically assaulting him. The incident, reportedly recorded on video by an accompanying staff member, served as key evidence in the case.

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Despite multiple police raids in Ludhiana over the past few months, Khurana evaded arrest. However, acting on a recent tip-off, Goraya Police apprehended him at his residence. He was presented before the Phillaur court and subsequently sent to Kapurthala Jail.

SHO Palwinder Singh of Goraya Police Station confirmed the arrest, emphasizing that the charges include interference with a government official's work and physical assault during official duty. The investigation remains ongoing to ascertain further details related to the incident.

(For more news apart from Himanshi Khurrana Arrest Latest News, stay tuned to Rozana Spokesman)
Punjab News: Farmer Leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal to Hunger Strike Tomorrow

These demonstrations will show solidarity with Dallewals hunger strike and amplify the farmers demands.

Punjab News, Farmer Protest, Jagjit Singh Dallewal Hunger Strike Tomorrow: Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal is set to begin a fast unto death from Tuesday, November 26, at the Khanauri border. The move is aimed at pressuring authorities to address the longstanding demands of farmers and laborers.

Background of the Agitation

Farmer leaders have voiced their frustration over the governments failure to implement previously agreed-upon demands. Highlighting the sacrifices made, they noted that over 750 farmers lost their lives during the historic Delhi farmers' movement. In addition, 33 more have been martyred since the launch of the ongoing Farmers' Movement-2 on February 13, 2024.

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Since February, farmers and laborers have been demonstrating at key locations such as Khanauri, Shambhu, and Ratanpura, demanding Minimum Support Price (MSP) guarantees and other vital reforms.

Farmers Protest, Key Demands

The movement focuses on the following:

Implementation of the MSP Guarantee Act as per the Swaminathan Commissions 3+50 formula.

as per the Swaminathan Commissions 3+50 formula. Complete debt waiver for farmers and laborers.

for farmers and laborers. Enforcement of the Land Acquisition Act of 2013.

Provision of 200 days of employment annually for MNREGA laborers and linking the scheme with agriculture.

for MNREGA laborers and linking the scheme with agriculture. Formation of a Spice Commission to regulate pricing and marketing of agricultural produce.

Farmers Protest, Nationwide Demonstrations Planned

In a recent meeting of the United Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), it was decided that peaceful demonstrations will be organized at district headquarters across multiple states starting November 26. These demonstrations will show solidarity with Dallewals hunger strike and amplify the farmers demands.

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As the agitation intensifies, all eyes will be on the governments response to the persistent calls for justice and reform.

(For more news apart from Punjab News, Farmer Protest, Jagjit Singh Dallewal Hunger Strike Tomorrow, stay tuned to Rozana Spokesman)
During COP29, Liu Zhenmin, China's special envoy for climate change, noted that over the past decade, China has become one of the world's fastest reducers of energy intensity, saving approximately 1.4 billion tonnes of standard coal. BAKU, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- A package of climate agreements was reached early Sunday at the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan. The agreements included decisions on the New Collective Quantified Goal for climate financing and issues relating to the global carbon market mechanism under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. The agreements set the post-2025 climate finance targets, including an annual funding of at least 300 billion U.S. dollars from developed countries and a broader climate financing goal of at least 1.3 trillion dollars per year by 2035 to support the climate actions of developing countries. A BASE ON WHICH TO BUILD "Reaching an agreement at COP29 was essential to keep the 1.5 degrees Celsius global warming limit alive," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a post on X. "I had hoped for a more ambitious outcome -- on both finance & mitigation -- to meet the scale of the great challenge we face, but the agreement reached provides a base on which to build." Guterres added that the agreement "must be honoured in full and on time. I appeal to governments to do so urgently." The arrangements are expected to lay the groundwork for developing countries to undertake climate action and submit a new round of nationally determined contributions next year. Nearly 200 parties broke years of deadlock in multilateral negotiations, finally reaching a consensus on the international carbon market mechanism under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. It marked the completion of the implementation rules for the market mechanism under Article 6 and resolved the last pending issue within the Paris Agreement. In addition, the conference also reached decisions on various issues, including the carbon trading mechanism, the implementation of the Global Stocktake results, the mitigation work program, and the global adaptation goal. In his speech at the closing plenary session, Zhao Yingmin, head of the Chinese delegation and vice minister of ecology and environment, highlighted that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the entry into force of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Over the past 30 years, the process of climate governance under the convention has faced challenges but has consistently moved forward. Zhao emphasized that humanity is a community with a shared future, and in the face of the climate crisis, unity and collaboration are the only viable paths. Zhao noted that the outcome document on the New Collective Quantified Goal revealed that developed countries' financial commitments still fall far short of meeting the needs of developing nations, and their financial obligations must be further clarified. He added that addressing the global climate crisis requires adhering to the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities," upholding multilateralism, and working together for mutual benefit. Zhao reaffirmed that China, as a responsible major developing country, will steadfastly promote the multilateral process and international cooperation on climate change, regardless of how the global landscape evolves. China will continue to implement its national strategy for actively addressing climate change, pursue its carbon peaking and neutrality goals, and engage extensively in South-South climate cooperation to contribute to global green, low-carbon, climate-resilient and sustainable development, said Zhao. "I commend everyone who worked hard to build consensus. You have shown that multilateralism -- centered on the Paris Agreement -- can find a path through the most difficult issues," said UN chief Guterres in his COP29 closing statement. CHINESE CONTRIBUTION During COP29, Liu Zhenmin, China's special envoy for climate change, noted that over the past decade, China has become one of the world's fastest reducers of energy intensity, saving approximately 1.4 billion tonnes of standard coal. Liu said China's renewable energy capacity accounts for over one-third of the global total, and cumulative investments in renewable energy rank first worldwide. The country is also a leading international supplier of wind power, photovoltaic equipment and battery technologies. In an interview with Xinhua, former UN Under-Secretary-General Erik Solheim noted that China is now an indispensable nation for global climate efforts. He affirmed China's important role in the global green energy transition, which accounts for 60 percent or more of global production in key green sectors, including solar, wind and hydropower, as well as electric cars and batteries. Jeffrey Sachs, president of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, told Xinhua that China is making energy structure transformation possible around the globe by exporting green technologies through good partnerships worldwide, which is a vital part of the solution to climate change. Zhao noted China has supported South-South countries in low-carbon demonstration projects, mitigation and adaptation efforts, and talent training. Official statistics showed that China has signed 54 cooperation agreements with 42 developing countries on climate change cooperation. Since 2016, the country has provided and mobilized over 24 billion dollars for projects to assist other developing nations in tackling climate challenges.
This photo taken on Nov. 24, 2024 shows the site of a rocket attack from Lebanon, in Petah Tikvah, central Israel. Hezbollah launched approximately 200 rockets into Israel on Sunday as Israel prepared to initiate a new wave of airstrikes on Beirut. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Hezbollah launched approximately 200 rockets into Israel on Sunday as Israel prepared to initiate a new wave of airstrikes on Beirut.

The Israeli military said in a statement that the rockets, fired by Hezbollah militants, targeted northern and central Israel and included three drones. It added that the country's aerial defense systems intercepted only some of the rockets. A launcher from which projectiles were fired toward the Haifa Bay area was struck by the military.

At least eight people were injured by the afternoon. In Kfar Blum, close to the Israel-Lebanon border, first responders with the Magen David Adom rescue service said they treated a man who sustained serious wounds.

A five-story residential building in Haifa, the largest city on Israel's northern coast, was evacuated due to fears of collapse after it was struck by a rocket, the Fire and National Rescue Authority reported. Additional damage was reported in the northern cities of Kiryat Shmona and Ma'alot, as well as near Petah Tikvah in central Israel.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for missile and drone strikes on a military target in Tel Aviv, in retaliation for Israel's recent airstrikes on Beirut.

The attacks were carried out at 06:30 a.m. local time (0430 GMT) "with a salvo of high-quality missiles and a squadron of attack drones," and "the operation achieved its goals," Hezbollah said in a statement, without specifying its target and the precise location.

The group said in other separate statements that it also launched for the first time "an air attack with a squadron of suicide drones on the Ashdod naval base, 150 km from the Lebanese-Palestinian border."

The group also claimed launching drone attacks on a newly-established operations room for the Israeli army in the settlement of Metula in northern Israel, and missile attacks on other northern cities including Hatzor Haglilit, Ma'alot, and Kfar Blum.

Lebanese military sources, who spoke anonymously, told Xinhua that violent clashes have been ongoing since the early hours of Sunday between Hezbollah members and Israeli forces that had advanced in Lebanon's southeastern town of Khiam, the village of Yaroun in the central sector, and the village of Chamaa in the western sector of the border area.

The Israeli army blew up about 18 houses on the eastern edge of Khiam, including the municipality building, they said.

Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes carried out seven raids on towns and villages in eastern Lebanon and 10 on those in the south, and the Israeli artillery shelled 11 border towns and villages in southern Lebanon with about 50 shells, they added.

The Israeli military also announced plans to renew airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburb, urging residents to evacuate the area in a post on social media platform X. On Saturday, Israel carried out at least three waves of strikes on the Lebanese capital, killing at least 20 individuals and injuring 66 others, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.

Since Sept. 23, the Israeli army has intensified its air attack on Lebanon in an escalation of conflict with Hezbollah. Israel further initiated a ground operation across its northern border into Lebanon in early October. 

This photo taken on Nov. 24, 2024 shows a car damaged in a rocket attack from Lebanon, in Petah Tikvah, central Israel.

Hezbollah launched approximately 200 rockets into Israel on Sunday as Israel prepared to initiate a new wave of airstrikes on Beirut. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

Israeli first responders work at the site of a rocket attack from Lebanon, in Petah Tikvah, central Israel, Nov. 24, 2024.

Hezbollah launched approximately 200 rockets into Israel on Sunday as Israel prepared to initiate a new wave of airstrikes on Beirut. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

Israeli first responders work at the site of a rocket attack from Lebanon, in Petah Tikvah, central Israel, Nov. 24, 2024.

Hezbollah launched approximately 200 rockets into Israel on Sunday as Israel prepared to initiate a new wave of airstrikes on Beirut. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

Israeli first responders work at the site of a rocket attack from Lebanon, in Petah Tikvah, central Israel, Nov. 24, 2024.

Hezbollah launched approximately 200 rockets into Israel on Sunday as Israel prepared to initiate a new wave of airstrikes on Beirut. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

Israeli first responders work at the site of a rocket attack from Lebanon, in Petah Tikvah, central Israel, Nov. 24, 2024.

Hezbollah launched approximately 200 rockets into Israel on Sunday as Israel prepared to initiate a new wave of airstrikes on Beirut. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

Editor: Zhang Zhou
Chandigarh Likely to Witness Another Dry November After Rain-Free October

Over the past decade, this will be only the second November without any rain in Chandigarh.

Chandigarh Weather Update Latest News: Following a completely dry October, November appears set to end without any rainfall, marking one of the driest months in recent years for the city.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted no rain over the next 10 days, indicating that this November will mirror the rainfall deficit of 2022, when no precipitation was recorded. Over the past decade, this will be only the second November without any rain in Chandigarh.

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Western Disturbances Weaken

Surender Paul, Director of IMD Chandigarh, attributed the lack of rainfall to the absence of active Western Disturbances (WDs), which typically bring rain during this time of year.

"This season, we havent seen any significant WDs. They have either been too weak or passed north of the region," Paul explained.

Director General of Meteorology Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, during a recent visit to Panjab University, noted a gradual weakening of WDs over the years. Originating as tropical storms near the Mediterranean Sea, the intensity and frequency of these disturbances remain challenging to forecast, according to IMD officials.

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Temperatures Remain Above Normal

The prolonged dry spell has also contributed to higher-than-normal temperatures for November. In the past week alone, daytime temperatures fluctuated significantly, rising from 24.1C on November 17 to 28.8C on November 24, after a brief dip midweek.

With no rain in sight and warm days persisting, November is poised to conclude on a similar dry and warm note as October, reinforcing concerns about changing weather patterns in the region.
Parliament Winter Session Commences Today: Waqf Bill and Adani Group Among Key Topics

November 26 will observe no parliamentary proceedings in honor of Constitution Day.

Parliament's winter session 2024: The Parliament's winter session begins today and will continue until December 20, with an array of critical bills and pressing national issues slated for discussion.

Parliament's Winter Session 2024: Key Legislative Agenda:

The session will focus on several bills, including:

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The Waqf Act (Amendment) Bill

The Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill

The Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill

The Railways (Amendment) Bill

The Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill

The Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill

The Rashtriya Sahkari Vishwavidyalaya Bill

The Punjab Courts (Amendment) Bill

The Indian Ports Bill, among others.

November 26 will observe no parliamentary proceedings in honor of Constitution Day.

Opposition Strategy and Key Issues

Leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc will convene today in Parliament to finalize their strategy. Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, is expected to spearhead discussions.

The opposition is likely to raise concerns over:

The ongoing violence in Manipur.

Allegations of bribery and financial irregularities against the Adani Group.

Governments Stance

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju assured that the government is prepared to engage in discussions on any topic while emphasizing the need for a peaceful and productive session.

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"The government is ready to discuss any issue. Our priority is to ensure smooth proceedings in both Houses without disruptions," Rijiju stated following an all-party meeting held on November 24.

During the meeting, 42 leaders representing 30 political parties proposed various discussion topics. Rijiju underscored the importance of cooperation from all members to maintain decorum and foster meaningful debates.

As the session kicks off, all eyes will be on the Parliament to see how discussions unfold on critical legislative matters and national concerns.
Soviet prisoners in Romania

The end of World War Two in Romania and its less well-known episodes

Soviet prisoners in Romania

Eugen Nasta, 25.11.2024, 14:00

Romania took sides with Germany in World War Two. On June 22nd, 1941, jointly with Germany, Romania began military operations against the Soviet Union. However, we need to say the Soviet Union had been the aggressor state, the year before. In June 1940, in the aftermath of two cession ultimatums the Soviets issued to the Romanian government, the Soviet Union occupied Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, Romanian territories of the east and the north. Among other things, just as it would happen in any military operation, there also were prisoners.

Over June 22nd, 1941 and August 23rd, 1944, the Romanian Army captured 91,060 Soviet soldiers. Of them, 90%, that is 82, 057 military, were sent to Romania, in 12 concentration camps. According to the dictionary compiled by historians Alesandru Dutu, Florica Dobre and Leonida Loghin The Romanian Army in World War Two, of those who were detained in concentration camps,13,682 who were of Romanian origin from Bessarabia and Bukovina were released. Other 5,223 died, while 3,331 escaped.

On August 23rd, 1944, Romania pulled out of the alliance with Germany and on Romanian territory there were 59, 856 Soviet prisoners, of whom 2, 794 were officers, while 57, 062 were NCOs and soldiers. Considering the prisoners ethnic origin, 25, 533 were Ukrainians, 17,833 Russians, 2,497 Kalmuks, 2,039 Uzbeks, 1,917 Turks, 1,588 Cossacks, 1,501 Armenians, 1,600 Georgians, 601 Tartars, 293 Jews, 252 Polish, 186 Bulgarians, 150 Ossetins, 117 Azeri, as well as other several dozens of ethnic groups, in smaller numbers.

Documents reveal the Soviet prisoners in Romania were treated in accordance with the existing international legislation. Early into the war the living conditions were dire, and it was because of such conditions that most of the deaths were reported. Yet they improved rapidly, the reports compiled by the Romanian Armys control commission mentioning the progress.

The Soviet prisoners were confined in concentration camps, accommodation, food, hygiene and medical assistance conditions were provided for them, they were interrogated and were given the chance to work.

Colonel Anton Dumitrescu took part in the act of August 23rd, 1944, himself and four NCOs being the ones who arrested Marshall Ion Antonescu and vice-Prime Minister Mihai Antonescu.

In a 1974 interview stored in Radio Romanias Oral History Center, he recalled how, prior to his arresting Antonescu, he was sent to gather intel on the center of Soviet prisoners in Slobozia. The Romanian intelligence service had found out the Germans prepared that center as a launching site of the operations against the Romanian army, should the latter defect.

In Slobozia there was a big centre with Russian prisoners. The Germans had garnished the entire camp with Vlasov troops. The Vlasov troops were the Russians who, led by general Vlasov, had taken sides with the Germans. And, in German uniforms, fought against the Russians. However, from the intelligence I had, the Germans wanted to be sure about that center should something happen with us, with the Vlasovs taking sides with the Russians and fighting against us.

I had been in contact with the Vlasovs in the Caucasus when, indeed, those people in no way wanted to surrender because the Soviets would have killed them. They were dead set on fighting. The entire region there was teeming with refugees from Moldavia and from Bessarabia and I did not see any Vlasov whatsoever.

Engineer Miron Tasca used to work in Braila, at the French-Romanian plant, with a mixed, civilian and military production. In 1995, he reminisced the Soviet prisoners who worked at the Braila-based plant and what happened with them, after the Soviets reached Romanian territory.

We, during the war, at the factory in Braila, also worked with a series of prisoners. They were treated very well, they did not work on the machines, they did manual jobs, downloading and uploading stuff, and cleaning. Those prisoners, the Soviets set them free, took them and brought them back to Russia. The moment they were taken, they also knew they had to leave.

One of them, who told me he was an Uzbek, said he no longer wanted to return to the USSR. He asked me to go at all lengths to keep him there, he was a hard-working, silent and quiet boy. Of course, something like that was not possible. Prisoners were investigated, numbered, completely taken over, and thats when he also left, the poor thing. But he was the one who under no circumstances wanted to return. Others did not want to return either, likeminded people, that is. Perhaps they did not know what was in store for them, but he, from the very beginning said he did not want to return. 

A student of the military school during the war, Catrinel Dumitrescu, in 1998 said that, prior to seeing Soviet military after 1944, he had also seen them as prisoners:

I had seen Russians before, they were prisoners. There were, in our country, about 10-20 Russian prisoners who were free to work. They were accommodated with the gendarmes post and worked in the cleaning of roads, of roadside ditches, they called in at private residences and did menial jobs there, they received food and suchlike. After August 23rd, 1944, the first ones to flee, not to the East but to the West, were those Russians! Cause they knew what was going to come. 

Soviet war prisoners in Romania are a less well-known chapter in Romanian modern history. It is that kind of chapter that still takes its time to reach public consciousness.
2024 Presidential Election Update

The latest update on the presidential election in Romania

Newsflash

Vlad Palcu, 25.11.2024, 08:12

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION  The hard-right independent candidate Calin Georgescu leads the list of partial results with 22.91% of total votes, followed by the incumbent Prime Minister and president of the largest party in Romania, PSD (Social-Democrats), Marcel Ciolacu with 19.18%, and the representative of the reformist Save Romania Union (USR) party, Elena Lasconi, with 19.15%.

Early exit polls on Sunday had put Ciolacu in a comfortable lead, projecting the center-right candidate, Lasconi, was trailing 5% behind. Some 2,500 votes currently separate the two candidates.

Georgescus result stunned both society and media, after the independent failed to secure the support of any political faction, and chose to conduct his campaign on social media (particularly on TikTok), leveraging anti-establishment rhetoric to rally more voters.

A figure of great controversy, Georgescu is known for his overt support of Russias war in Ukraine, but also for his admiration of the Legionary Movement in Romania and his sovereigntist views.

The vote poses a dilemma for the millions of Romanians who voted for other candidates, the BBC writes in response to the results. In turn, Politico describes Georgescu as a candidate who came out of nowhere to overturn what many saw a predictable clash between the PSD candidate and a representative of the parliamentary opposition.

The presidential runoff is slated for December 8, while the parliamentary election will be held on December 1, the National Day of Romania.
2024 Presidential Election Update

The latest update on the presidential election in Romania

Newsflash

Vlad Palcu, 25.11.2024, 08:51

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION  The hard-right independent candidate Calin Georgescu leads the list of partial results with 22.91% of total votes, followed by the incumbent Prime Minister and president of the largest party in Romania, PSD (Social-Democrats), Marcel Ciolacu with 19.17%, and the representative of the reformist Save Romania Union (USR) party, Elena Lasconi, with 19.16%.

Early exit polls on Sunday had put Ciolacu in a comfortable lead, projecting the center-right candidate, Lasconi, was trailing 5% behind. Some 450 votes currently separate the two candidates.

Georgescus result stunned both society and media, after the independent failed to secure the support of any political faction, and chose to conduct his campaign on social media (particularly on TikTok), leveraging anti-establishment rhetoric to rally more voters.

A figure of great controversy, Georgescu is known for his overt support of Russias war in Ukraine, but also for his admiration of the Legionary Movement in Romania and his sovereigntist views. In a quick reaction, Russias state-controlled media outlet RIA Novosti called Georgescu a candidate aligned to Russia.

The presidential runoff is slated for December 8, while the parliamentary election will be held on December 1, the National Day of Romania.
November 25, 2024

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsflash

Newsroom, 25.11.2024, 13:55

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION  The independent candidate Calin Georgescu has surprisingly won Sundays first round of the presidential election, with 22.95% of the vote, after the counting of 99.98% of the votes. The leader of Save Romania Union (USR), Elena Lasconi, ranks second with 19.17%, followed by the leader of the Social-Democratic Party (PSD) and the countrys Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, with 19.15%. The president of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), George Simion, grabbed 13.87% of the vote, while the leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL), Nicolae Ciuca, ranks fifth with 8.79%. Over 52% of candidates on permanent lists cast their votes. 821 thousand Romanians voted abroad. 13 candidates enrolled in the race, 9 backed by political parties and 4 independent candidates. The second round of the presidential election is slated for December 8, while the parliamentary election will be held on December 1, the National Day of Romania.

VOTE  The first round of the presidential election came to a close at 7 AM in all the voting precincts set up abroad, the Romanian Foreign Ministry announced. The last polling stations to close their doors were in Vancouver, Canada, but also on the US West Coast  San Francisco, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Las Vegas, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego and Seattle. Voters were able to cast their votes as early as Friday. The Foreign Ministry has set up 950 polling stations abroad for the presidential and parliamentary elections this year. According to the Permanent Electoral Authority, 821,703 Romanians cast their votes abroad, 817,476 on additional lists and 4,227 by post.

REFERENDUM  Bucharest residents on Sunday were invited to cast their votes in a local referendum called by Mayor General, Nicusor Dan. The referendum passed the critical threshold of 30% participation. According to preliminary results, the majority response to the three questions was Yes. 67% of respondents agreed that construction permits be issued by the Bucharest City Hall alone, 64% voted in favor of the City Hall Council approving the budgets of the City Hall and local districts, while 82% voted in favor of creating a program designed to combat drug use in schools. The referendum needs to be first confirmed by Parliament, political parties cannot ignore the will of 500 Bucharest dwellers, Mayor Nicusor Dan said, calling on political parties to come up with a plan over the coming days with a view to transposing the result of the referendum into national law.

SCHENGEN  The Interior Ministers of Romania, Bulgaria, Austria and Hungary and the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, agreed in Budapest that Romania and Bulgaria would join the Schengen area with their land borders starting January 1, 2025. A decision will be taken in next months Home Affairs Council meeting hosted by Brussels. Romania is a provider of security in Europe, and its accession will consolidate the Schengen area, Interior Minister Catalin Predoiu said.

VISAS  China has eliminated visas for Romanian citizens over November 30, 2024  December 31, 2025. The decision was hailed by the Romanian Foreign Ministry, which said the measure will help facilitate the mobility of Romanian citizens, expanding the scale of person-to-person contacts. Visas will be lifted for citizens travelling for business, tourism, visiting relatives of merely transiting China. Romanian citizens who do not find themselves in one of the aforementioned situations are required to present a visa upon entry. (VP)
November 25, 2024 UPDATE

A roundup of local and world news

Newsflash

Newsroom, 25.11.2024, 20:00

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION Calin Georgescu, running independently for president of Romania, has surprisingly won Sundays first round of the presidential election, with 22.94% of the votes after counting 99.94% of the ballots. Second comes Elena Lasconi, the leader of Save Romania Union, with 19.17% of the votes, followed by the head of the Social Democratic Party and PM Marcel Ciolacu with 19,16%. He is followed by the president of AUR party, George Simion (13.87%) and the Liberal leader, Nicolae Ciuca (8.79%). The turnover was over 52%, with more than 821,000 Romanian nationals voting abroad. According to the Permanent Electoral Authority, the largest number of valid votes cast abroad went to Calin Georgescu (43.35%), followed by Elena Lasconi (26.82%) and George Simion (12.07%). The former NATO deputy secretary general, Mircea Geoana, and the Liberal Nicolae Ciuca were voted for by less than 5% of those who went to the polls, while Marcel Ciolacu was elected by less than 3% of the Romanians in the diaspora. There were 13 candidates in the presidential race, 9 backed by political parties and 4 independents. The second round of the presidential elections will take place on December 8. On December 1, Romanias National Day, general elections will be held, after on June 9, local and European parliamentary elections were also organised in Romania.

RESIGNATION Romanias prime-minister Marcel Ciolacu announced his resignation as leader of the Social Democrats over the poor results in the first round of the elections for president of Romania. Ciolacu failed to reach the decisive round, having lost to the candidate of the Save Romania Union, Elena Lasconi, by several thousand votes. Ciolacu congratulated the two candidates who qualified for the second round and announced that his party will not challenge the results, because the importance of the decisive round on December 8 is much greater than personal interests. He also said he would stand by his colleagues until after the parliamentary elections due next Sunday, and that he would not run for any party position after that. The MEP Victor Negrescu is now the interim party president. The Liberals, the governing partners of the Social Democrats, are facing a similar situation. The party leader Nicolae Ciuca, who also serves as speaker of the Senate, resigned following the presidential election results, where he came in fifth place. He called on traditional parties to keep Romania united. Ciuca said that the Liberal Party is aware of the mistakes it has made and will fight to the end for Romania to remain a free and democratic country.

DIASPORA The first round of the presidential election came to a close at 7 AM in all the polling stations abroad, the Romanian foreign ministry announced. The last polling stations to close were in Vancouver, Canada, and on the US West Coast. Voters were able to cast their votes as early as Friday. The foreign ministry has set up 950 polling stations abroad for the presidential and parliamentary elections this year. According to the Permanent Electoral Authority, 821,703 Romanians cast their votes abroad, 817,476 on additional lists and 4,227 by post.

REFERENDUM Bucharest residents were invited on Sunday to cast their votes in a local referendum called by the mayor general, Nicusor Dan. The referendum passed the 30% participation threshold. Preliminary results indicate the majority response to the three questions was Yes. 67% of respondents agreed that construction permits be issued by the Bucharest City Hall alone, 64% voted in favor of the City Hall Council approving the budgets of the City Hall and local districts, while 82% voted in favor of creating a program designed to fight drug use in schools. The referendum needs to be first confirmed by parliament.

CHINA China has eliminated visa requirements for Romanian nationals over November 30, 2024  December 31, 2025. The Romanian foreign ministry welcomed the decision, and said the measure will help facilitate the mobility of Romanian citizens, expanding the scale of person-to-person contacts. Visas will be lifted for citizens travelling for business, tourism, visiting or transiting China. (AMP)
Closer to full Schengen accession

After waiting 13 years, Romania and Bulgaria will join the Schengen Area of free movement with their land borders as of January 2025

(foto: Polizia di Frontiera Romena)

Daniela Budu, 25.11.2024, 13:50

The Ministers of the Interior of Romania, Hungary, Austria and Bulgaria reached a historic agreement in Budapest on Friday on the enlargement of the Schengen Area, paving the way for the full accession of Romania and Bulgaria starting on January 1, 2025. The final decision, however, which requires the agreement of all EU interior ministers will be taken on December 12 at the JHA Council in Brussels. I have always considered that the current situation is unfair to Romania, which has made numerous efforts in recent years and long ago fulfilled all the conditions to become part of the Schengen Area  said the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, whose country is holding, until the end of the year, the presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Moreover, all the European institutions have supported in recent years the accession of the two states to the area of free movement and welcomed the positive result of the meeting in Budapest. Let 2025 see Schengen become stronger, wrote the leader of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on social media.The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, has also welcomed the positive development on Romania and Bulgaria fully joining the Schengen area. For his part, the Austrian Minister of the Interior, Gerhard Karner, whose country has so far opposed the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the free movement area, acknowledged that illegal migration has decreased, but we must continue to strengthen the external borders of the European Union. Concerning veto on the full accession of Romania and Bulgaria, he pointed out: it is not only my decision, it is the decision of the entire chancellery .

In Budapest, Minister Catalin Predoiu welcomed the agreement and stressed that this goal is for the benefit of all, as Romania is a real security provider in the Schengen Area.

Catalin Predoiu: We reached an agreement. The meeting was a success. Our goal, Romanias goal at this meeting was to create the conditions for a positive decision at the JHA Council in December. It was to create the conditions so that the Austrian veto could be lifted, so that we would have a decision this year. And I think it was a common goal, including that of my colleague and friend Gerhard Karner. It was important that everyone was comfortable, as the very good work done by the Romanian and Bulgarian border police, together with their colleagues from Serbia, Hungary, Austria, this very good work that was the basis of the path we travelled, will continue even after Romania and Bulgaria join the Schengen Area with land borders as well.

We recall that Austria has opposed the enlargement of the free movement zone from 2022 as a sign of protest against the numerous illegal entries into its territory. In March this year, it accepted partial Schengen membership for the two Eastern European states, with air and sea borders, and established a roadmap for a possible extension to land borders. (MI)
DTEK is not a monopolist, according to Ukrainian or European legislation, and counts on cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the energy holding told the Interfax-Ukraine agency.

"The company hopes that the EBRD will also join in as much as possible restoring the Ukrainian energy sector and DTEK is ready to work with the bank in order to achieve peace and light for Ukraine in the struggle," the press service commented on the statement by EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso.

Earlier, the Italian edition Corriere della Sera, citing Renaud-Basso, reported that the EBRD was not ready to lend to Rinat Akhmetov's structures, since he is an oligarch and this would damage the prospects of Ukraine moving towards the EU in the long term, and would like to change the structure of his financial and industrial group so that after the end of the war, the weakened role of the oligarchs is not restored.

"After the adoption of the law on oligarchs, agreed upon by the European Commission, the company's shareholder is categorically not an oligarch. DTEK, along with all Ukrainian energy companies, went through two terrible war winters. We invested $1.2 billion of our own funds to restore the energy infrastructure, which was the target of about 200 missile and drone attacks by Russia," the energy holding noted.

It specified that its specialists have restored the light to the homes of almost 16 million Ukrainians, including military personnel, children, teachers and doctors, and are doing everything possible to get through the third difficult winter in the conditions of Russian military aggression against Ukraine.

In addition, during the full-scale war, DTEK built a "green" energy facility - the Tylihulska wind farm with a total investment of more than EUR 200 million and invested EUR 1.4 billion in "green" energy in total.

"This is our contribution to Ukraine's membership in the European Union and the extension of the painstaking work on integrating the Ukrainian energy system into the EU system, which we have been doing for two decades. We are grateful to our Western partners for their assistance and cooperation, a good example of which is the decision of the EU and the U.S. government to provide the company with EUR 107 million," the statement said.
Surprising result in Romanias presidential elections

The independent candidate Calin Georgescu takes the lead in the first round of the presidential elections in Romania.

Photo: roaep.ro

Mihai Pelin, 25.11.2024, 14:00

The independent candidate Calin Georgescu takes the lead in the first round of the presidential elections in Romania.

Over 9.4 million Romanians cast their ballot for the countrys next president in the first round of voting on Sunday. The voter turnout rate was 52.55%, much higher than five years ago, when it stood at 42.19%. Over 820,000 Romanians voted abroad, most of them in the United Kingdom (150,000), Germany (145,000) and Italy (123,000). The big surprise of the election is the independent candidate Calin Georgescu, a 62-year-old agronomist engineer, who ranked first in the voters preferences. He worked as an expert in sustainable development and was secretary of state in the Ministry of Environment. He headed a department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then held various positions at the UN in the field of environment, for several years. Since 2013, he has been head of the European Research Centre of the Club of Rome, and is currently a professor at the University of Pitesti (south).

The international media reports that Romanians are voting for extremism, which from a geopolitical point of view is a disaster. Electoral earthquake in Romania: a pro-Russian candidate that no one expected came out first in the first round of the presidential elections, ahead of the pro-European Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, France Presse reports. A hard-right Romanian politician and NATO critic has achieved a shocking result that threatens Romanias firm pro-Ukraine stance, Reuters reports. Calin Georgescu was associated with the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), a party that had repeatedly mentioned his name as a candidate for prime minister. He was later removed by the AUR leadership, who accused him of damaging the partys image with his pro-Russian and anti-NATO stance. In a 2021 interview, Calin Georgescu described NATOs missile shield at Deveselu as a shame of diplomacy and said the Alliance would not protect any of its members if they were attacked by Russia. In addition, he said that Ion Antonescu, Romanias de facto leader in World War II, who was sentenced to death for his role in the Holocaust, and Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, the leader of the Legionary movement  one of the most violent and anti-Semitic in Europe  are national heroes.

A criminal case was opened against Georgescu for promoting the personality cult of individuals suspected of genocide. Romanias best chance is Russian wisdom, he said in another interview. Extremely religious and nationalist, he campaigned for reducing Romanias dependence on imports, supporting farmers and increasing domestic food and energy production. Calin Georgescu stayed out of the spotlight and focused on social media. Romanians voted for him, including those in the diaspora, despite his strongly anti-Semitic, legionary, messianic, pro-Russian and anti-Western discourse. I said we are not doing politics, we are doing history. It came true, he pointed out, after the polling stations closed.
Anglo American PLC (AAUKY.PK) Monday said it has agreed to sell its remaining steelmaking coal to Peabody Energy for up to $3.775 billion.

This cash consideration includes an upfront payment of $2.05 billion at close, and $725 million in four installments starting from one year after the closing the deal. Anglo American is also entitled to get up to $1 billion, depending on certain favorable events in the future.

The company is selling four steelmaking coal mines- Moranbah North, Grosvenor, Aquila, and Capcoal, located in Australia. It had already announced the sale of its 33.3 percent stake in Jellinbah Group Pty Ltd, a provider of coal mining services, for about $1.1 billion.

"In steelmaking coal, through a combination of today's announced Transaction and our previously announced agreement to sell our interest in Jellinbah, we stand to unlock up to US$4.9 billion of value, reflecting the high quality of the assets and adding to our balance sheet resilience," said Duncan Wanblad, Chief Executive of Anglo American.

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Business News
French stocks traded higher on Monday after Donald Trump nominated Scott Bessent, a billionaire hedge fund manager and an advocate for deficit reduction, to lead the U.S. Treasury Department.

The benchmark CAC 40 was up 35 points, or half a percent, at 7,289 after rising 0.6 percent on Friday.

Atos SE shares jumped nearly 22 percent. The multinational information service and consulting company announced that the French State has made a non-binding proposal to buy 100 percent of the Advanced Computing activities of its BDS division for 500 million euros, based on an enterprise value for a period until May 31, 2025.

Airbus SE, an aeronautics and space company, added 1.4 percent after it announced the launch of a second tranche of its share buyback program, aiming to repurchase up to 2.12 million shares, between November 25 and January 24, 2025.

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Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) announced Monday it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Intera Oncology Inc., a privately held medical device company. Intera provides the Intera 3000 Hepatic Artery Infusion Pump and floxuridine, a chemotherapy drug, both of which are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The Intera 3000 pump is used to administer hepatic artery infusion (HAI) therapy to treat tumors in the liver primarily caused by metastatic colorectal cancer.

In patients who receive HAI therapy to treat their cancer, the Intera 3000 pump is implanted under the skin and a connected catheter is placed in the hepatic artery, which supplies the liver with oxygenated blood.

The pump then provides a continuous flow of floxuridine directly into the liver to treat tumors that have metastasized, most commonly from the colon.

The Intera 3000 pump is the only constant flow implantable pump for HAI therapy approved in the United States.

The acquisition will expand the interventional oncology offerings of Boston Scientific with complementary therapy to treat liver-dominant metastases.

Boston Scientific expects to complete the transaction in the first half of 2025, subject to closing conditions. The transaction is expected to have an immaterial impact on adjusted earnings per share in 2025.

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Business News
The Canadian market is likely to open with a negative bias Monday morning, tracking weak crude oil and metal prices. U.S. futures are higher, reacting to Donald Trump's decision to nominate hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as U.S. Treasury Secretary.

Oil and bullion prices are down on reports Israel and Hezbollah are on the cusp of a ceasefire deal.

Preliminary data on Canadian manufacturing sales for the month of October is due at 8:30 AM ET.

The Canadian market closed modestly higher on Friday, lifted by gains in industrials and energy stocks. Positive reaction to the nation's retails data and the recent announcement of a mini stimulus package contributed to the upside.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which advanced to a new all-time high of 25,478.37, settled at 25,444.28 with a gain of 53.60 points or 0.21%.

Asian stocks closed broadly higher on Monday after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump chose wealthy hedge fund manager Scott Bessent to be his Treasury Secretary. Bessent's reputation for stability and his past advocacy for gradual economic policies have calmed market nerves.

European stocks are turning in a mixed performance after having climbed to two-week highs earlier in the session. The nomination of Scott Bessent to lead the U.S. Treasury Department in the Trump administration, and expectations of rate cut by ECB after the central bank chief economist Phillip Lane's dovish remarks aid sentiment.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are down $0.16 or 0.22% at $71.08 a barrel.

Gold futures are down $30.30 or 1.11% at $2,681.90 an ounce, while Silver futures are down $0.513 or 1.65% at $30.825 an ounce.

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Cassava Sciences, Inc. (SAVA), a clinical-stage biotechnology company, Monday said its Phase 3 ReThink-ALZ study of simufilam in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease did not meet its co-primary endpoints. Cassava shares plunged more than 85 percent in pre-market.

In the study, Simufilam did not show a significant reduction in cognitive or functional decline versus placebo in Alzheimer's disease patients. Following this, the company has decided to discontinue its second Phase 3 study of simufilam, ReFocus-ALZ.

Cassava stock had closed at $26.48, down 17.71 percent on Friday. It has traded in the range of $8.79 - $42.20 in the last 1 year.

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Business News
Streaming company Brightcove, Inc. (BCOV), announced Monday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Italian software company Bending Spoons S.p.A, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $233 million.

Under the terms of the agreement, Brightcove shareholders will receive $4.45 per share in cash for each share of Brightcove common stock that they own.

The per share consideration represents a 90% premium over Brightcove's 60-day volume weighted average share price as of the close on November 22, 2024.

The transaction, which was unanimously approved by Brightcove's Board of Directors, is expected to close in the first half of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions and approvals, including approval by Brightcove's stockholders, and the receipt of required regulatory approvals.

Upon the completion of the transaction, Brightcove will become a privately held company and its common stock will no longer be listed on any public stock exchange.

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Business News
Apple Inc.'s request to put on hold an investigation report that found the tech major breaching competition laws has been denied by the Indian antitrust regulator, Reuters reported citing an internal order.

The Competition Commission of India or CCI has turned down the request, following which the case on Apple's app store practices on its iOS operating system will continue.

In August, the CCI had ordered a rare recall of two investigation reports that detailed alleged breaches of competition law by Apple. This was after the company complained that the regulator had disclosed commercial secrets to competitors including Tinder-owner Match Group, in the case dating back to 2021.

The case was centered around Apple's alleged abuse of its dominant position in the apps market to force developers to use its proprietary in-app purchase system, at a fee of up to 30 percent. The company, however, denied all wrongdoing.

The CCI then had asked parties to return the reports and destroy any copies, and then issued new reports.

As per the CCI's latest internal order, Apple in November alleged that Indian non-profit Together We Fight Society or TWFS, the main complainant in the antitrust investigation, had not complied with the directives to give an assurance that the old investigation reports had been destroyed.

The CCI order, dated November 13, shows that Apple asked the CCI to take action against TWFS for non-compliance with its order and to withhold the revised report.

However, the CCI in the order said, "Apple's request to hold the investigation report in abeyance was deemed untenable."

The internal order also showed that Apple has been asked to submit its audited financial statements for fiscal years 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 under regulatory guidelines. The move reportedly aims to determine possible monetary penalties in the case.

The CCI will make a final ruling on the ongoing case, following the review of the investigation report by its senior officials.

Apple has already been subject to antitrust investigations and orders in Europe, Japan and Korea, and also faces various lawsuits.

In March, the European Commission had fined Apple over 1.8 billion euros for abusing its dominant position through its App Store on the market for the distribution of music streaming apps to iPhone and iPad users or iOS users.

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Business News
Honda Activa Electric Teaser Reveals Charging Socket Design  Battery Swapping Station installed in a petrol station

In its latest teaser, Honda has unveiled another key detail about the upcoming Activa Electric scooter  the charging socket design. Alongside this, a spy shot from Bangalore reveals the first glimpse of Hondas battery-swapping infrastructure in India. These developments build anticipation for the Activa Electric, which is set to launch on November 27, 2024, in Bangalore.

Convenient Charging Socket Placement

The Activa Electric teaser highlights a charging socket located on the scooters side. Protected by a secure flap to guard against dust and water, the socket is simple and user-friendly, making at-home or public charging convenient for riders. This feature underscores Hondas commitment to providing practical solutions for urban commuters.

Battery Swapping Stations Spotted in Bangalore

In a significant move towards supporting its electric vehicle ecosystem, Honda has begun installing battery-swapping stations in Bangalore. One of these stations has been spotted at a petrol bunk near Hulimavu. The station closely resembles the ones Honda uses in international markets and appears compatible with the removable batteries teased for the Activa Electric. Interestingly, the batteries also resemble those used in the Honda EM1 electric scooter.

These swapping stations will allow Activa Electric riders to deposit a depleted battery and instantly replace it with a fully charged one. This drastically reduces downtime and eliminates the need for lengthy charging sessions, making it an ideal solution for urban commuters and high-mileage riders.

Dual Charging Options for Maximum Convenience

With the Activa Electric supporting both  Onboard Charging via its charging socket for home or public station use and

Battery Swapping via Hondas newly installed stations. This dual approach gives Honda a competitive edge over rivals like the Ola S1, TVS iQube, and Bajaj Chetak, which rely solely on fixed battery setups.

Strategic Expansion of Battery Swapping Network

Hondas battery-swapping stations are part of its broader strategy, supported by its subsidiary, Honda Power Pack Energy India Private Limited. These stations will likely be installed at key locations in Bangalore and other cities in the future. By leveraging its experience in international markets, Honda aims to create a seamless and efficient battery-swapping ecosystem in India.

The Activa Electrics official unveiling will take place on November 27, 2024, in Bangalore, where Hondas battery-swapping initiative is already taking shape. This event will mark Hondas entry into Indias electric scooter segment, combining modern technology with the trusted Activa brand legacy.
On Monday, the municipal enterprise Kyivteploenergo (KTE) announced an attempt by law enforcers to disrupt the work of its largest division, Kyiv Thermal Networks, following a previous attempt during investigative actions on November 22 to disrupt the restoration of equipment destroyed by shelling at one of Kyiv's thermal power plants.

"This time, representatives of the territorial department of the Bureau of Economic Security (BES) in Kyiv came to Kyiv Thermal Networks joint venture, which includes more than 160 heat sources, 2,700 heating networks and emergency teams that daily restore heat supply and repair damage to worn-out pipelines," the company reported on Telegram.

In parallel, searches were launched at the head office of the utility company.

KTE expressed bewilderment about the circumstances of the investigators' arrival. In particular, the reason for the searches at the heat power plant was not the discovery of a crime, but oral information from third parties.

"Today, law enforcement officers came under an outdated court ruling, which is already more than a month old. It seems that law enforcement officers are deliberately accumulating a reserve of artificial reasons to use them in business or political interests to exert pressure," the company noted.

KTE reported that, according to the court ruling, the reason for the criminal proceedings is the accusation of concluding contracts at inflated cost prices for improvement work after repairing damage to the heating networks. At the same time, law enforcement officers ignore the fact that the winner of the bidding was determined automatically on a competitive basis in the public procurement system ProZorro with the selection of the lowest of the proposed offers.

"Since concluding contracts without holding a tender, for which permission was temporarily granted during martial law, does not suit law enforcement agencies either, and there are no other methods of conducting purchases provided for by law, Kyivteploenergo does not understand how purchases should be made in such a case, including materials that are critical for the energy complex," the company emphasized.

KTE claims that during the searches, as in previous cases, the company did not interfere with the investigative actions.

"Considering the current situation, Kyivteploenergo declares increased pressure on the largest thermal power enterprise of Ukraine, which is an integral part of the energy system of Ukraine. After all, in the last two working days alone, investigative actions at important life support facilities have been carried out for the second time," KTE stated.

KTE drew attention to the fact that in the event of a disruption in the operation of its critical infrastructure facilities, the energy supply of consumers throughout Ukraine could be affected.
With the middleweight motorcycle segment gaining higher volumes, Honda can introduce the GB500 in India as the CB500

At the 2024 EICMA, Honda introduced the GB350 S for European markets. Across international markets, Honda uses the GB350 name in comparison to CB350 in India. New reports indicate that Honda is also working on GB500. Which could spawn a CB500 version for Indian market to rival the likes of Royal Enfields ever-expanding 650cc portfolio.

Honda GB500 registered in Europe, USA

In a development that reveals Hondas potential plans to launch GB500, a trademark has been filed for GB500 under motorcycle and motorcycle parts category. In the USA, the GB500 name has been trademarked with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on 12th November.

Similarly, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) registered the name on 14th November. Theres a strong chance of GB500 making it to production and keep a check on Royal Enfields ever-popular and ever-expanding 650cc portfolio. If priced competitively and achieved manufacturing efficiency from their Indian facility, Honda can have a compelling twinner on their hands.

What engine could the Honda GB500 be using?

Smaller capacity Honda GB350 utilizes a single-cylinder, air-cooled engine. The larger GB500 wont be adding any significant value if it too gets a single-cylinder setup. With a single-cylinder engine, the GB500 could deliver around 30 hp. In comparison, the GB350 produces 20 hp.

A gain of just around 10 hp may not be enough to motivate enthusiasts to upgrade to the larger capacity GB500. Due to these factors, it is possible that Honda GB500 could be getting a liquid-cooled engine, capable of generating upwards of 45 hp. Honda can either use the existing 500cc twin-cylinder engine or choose a newly developed engine for GB500.

Existing Honda bikes such as the CMX 500 Rebel and CB500 models utilize a 471 cc, water-cooled, inline two-cylinder engine. It generates 47 hp at 8,500 rpm. From a cost perspective, using the existing 500cc twin engine seems more suitable. Models spawning from this platform might take CB500 name in markets like India.

Specs, features and hardware

Honda GB500 will be designed to comply with the A2 motorcycle licensing system in Europe. The bike might use a tubular steel frame, integrated with telescopic forks at front and dual rear shock absorbers. The bike will have disc brakes at both ends and dual-channel ABS will be offered as standard.

Overall profile will be quite similar to the smaller capacity GB350 (CB350 in India). Some of the key highlights include circular headlamp and rear-view mirrors, curvy fuel tank and a single-piece seat. Similar to the GB350, the GB500 will have a comfortable riding stance.

Honda GB500 launch date, pricing

While Honda has registered GB500 in multiple markets, a launch is not happening anytime soon. A reasonable guess will be 2026. In terms of cost, Honda could choose a competitive pricing strategy for GB500. Something similar can already be seen with GB350 which is available in Europe at 4,490 euros (Rs 3.99 lakh).

In India, the CB350 is available at a starting price of Rs 2 lakh (Ex-sh). Royal Enfields 650cc portfolio, on the other hand, starts from Rs 3.02 lakh (Ex-sh).
Kia India CKD exports 2024  Half of Kia Corporations CKD Exports Come from India

Kia India has surpassed 1,00,000 completely knocked-down (CKD) vehicle exports since initiating shipments in June 2020. This achievement reflects the companys growing influence within the global automotive supply chain. Cumulative exports from Kia India have reached 3.67 lakh units, showcasing its role in meeting global automotive demand.

Kia India contributes 50 percent of Kia Corporations global CKD export volumes. This substantial share highlights the companys reliance on Indian manufacturing expertise and logistical efficiency to meet international requirements. The exported models, including Seltos, Sonet, and Carens, align with global market preferences for SUVs and MPVs.

Kia India CKD exports 2024  Targets New Markets with 38,000 CKD Units

Current CKD exports target regions such as the Middle East and Africa. These areas represent strategic growth markets for Kia Corporation due to their increasing demand for reliable and competitively priced vehicles. New markets such as Uzbekistan, Ecuador, and Vietnam are expected to receive over 38,000 CKD units in 2024.

Located in Andhra Pradesh, the Anantapur manufacturing facility is Kia Indias export hub. The plant employs advanced manufacturing processes tailored to CKD production, ensuring that vehicles meet international quality standards. The facilitys proximity to major ports aids seamless export operations.

CKD Exports Doubled to be by 2030

CKD export operations began in June 2020, with consistent growth in shipment volumes since inception. The company aims to double CKD export volumes by 2030, reflecting a robust long-term strategy. The November 2024 announcement underscores Kia Indias commitment to meeting its ambitious targets.

By 2030, Kia India plans to scale exports significantly, targeting emerging markets with rising automotive demands. The strategic focus on Middle East and African markets leverages their growth potential while meeting diverse consumer preferences through versatile vehicle designs.

Seltos, Sonet, and Carens Dominate Kias Export Lineup

The Seltos, Sonet, and Carens dominate Kias export portfolio due to their appeal in global markets. These models offer a balance of affordability, practicality, and durability, catering to varying consumer needs across regions. Their success reinforces Kia Indias position in the international automotive landscape.

Kia India prioritises competitive pricing and high marketability to sustain its export momentum. This approach not only strengthens its foothold in existing markets but also facilitates entry into new regions. The focus on delivering reliable vehicles positions the company favourably in the global value chain.

Breaking Into New Markets With Market-Ready Models

Kias export strategy depends on Indias role as a significant automotive manufacturing hub. The companys success exemplifies how global brands leverage Indias industrial capabilities and skilled workforce to enhance their international operations.

With plans to expand its CKD export footprint, Kia India is poised to play an even more significant role in the global automotive industry. Sustained investment in manufacturing, coupled with a targeted export strategy, will drive the companys long-term growth.

Joonsu Cho, Chief Sales Officer, said: India is a key market for Kia Corporation, serving not only as a strong sales driver but also as an emerging export hub. This milestone highlights Kia Indias commitment to manufacturing excellence, innovation, and delivering value to global customers. We are proud to see models like the Seltos, Sonet, and Carens perform strongly in international markets. We are also grateful for the governments export-friendly policies, which have played a crucial role in strengthening Indias position within the global automotive value chain. Looking ahead, we aim to expand our CKD footprint to the Middle East and Africa, to double our export volume by 2030.
Next year, for the first time since the full-scale invasion, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) will return to a full-fledged three-stage assessment of the resilience of the banking system, the regulators website reported on Monday.

The adaptation of banks to work in a full-scale war and their fairly high financial results make it possible to return to the usual practice of annual assessment. Ultimately, this exercise should reveal possible weak links and, if necessary, strengthen them so that the banking system can continue to successfully respond to existing and potential challenges, NBU Governor Andriy Pyshnyy said.

Thus, the assessment of the resilience of the banking system in 2025 includes three stages: mandatory for all banks asset quality review (AQR) with the help of independent auditors, extrapolation by the National Bank of the results of an in-depth audit of assets within the AQR for banks whose assets were subject to an in-depth audit, as well as stress testing by the regulator of the largest banks under the baseline and unfavorable scenarios based on the financial statements of financial institutions with a forecast horizon of three years.

At the same time, according to the published concept for assessing the resilience of banks in 2025, the central bank has softened the preconditions for conducting an in-depth audit: if in 2021 a financial institution could make seven mistakes in managing the assets of legal entities and individuals, then in 2025, in order to conduct an in-depth audit, four of these mistakes must be such that they led to an adjustment in credit risk.

The NBU informs that it plans to approve the terms of reference for the assessment of the sustainability and the list of banks to which the stress test will be applied in December of this year, to complete the first stage of the assessment in April 2025, the second - on July 10, and the third - on August 10 of the following year.

According to the schedule published by the regulator, on August 1, 2025, banks must reflect the results of the asset quality review in their reports, and on August 15 and September 15, 2025, they are obliged to submit to the NBU the programs for the second and third stages, respectively.

It is assumed that the banks will implement the programs approved by the National Bank by the end of next year, and the results of the sustainability assessment will be published by the same time.
The worlds thinnest spaghetti is just 372 nm across  about 200 times thinner than a human hair.

The novel nanopasta is not intended to be a new food but was created because of the wide-ranging uses that extremely thin strands of material, called nanofibers, have in medicine and industry, said University College London researcher Beatrice Britton and her colleagues.

Nanofibers made of starch are especially promising and could be used in bandages to aid wound healing, as scaffolding for bone regeneration and for drug delivery.

However, they rely on starch being extracted from plant cells and purified, a process requiring much energy and water.

A more environmentally friendly method is to create nanofibers directly from a starch-rich ingredient like flour, which is the basis for pasta.

To create spaghetti just 372 nm across, the authors used a technique called electrospinning, in which threads of flour and liquid are pulled through the tip of a needle by an electric charge.

To make spaghetti, you push a mixture of water and flour through metal holes, said University College London researcher Adam Clancy.

In our study, we did the same except we pulled our flour mixture through with an electrical charge. Its literally spaghetti but much smaller.

The novel nanopasta formed a mat of nanofibers about 2 cm across, and so is visible, but each individual strand is too narrow to be clearly captured by any form of visible light camera or microscope, so their widths were measured with a scanning electron microscope.

Nanofibers, such as those made of starch, show potential for use in wound dressings as they are very porous, said University College Londons Professor Gareth Williams.

In addition, nanofibers are being explored for use as a scaffold to regrow tissue, as they mimic the extra-cellular matrix  a network of proteins and other molecules that cells build to support themselves.

Starch is a promising material to use as it is abundant and renewable  it is the second largest source of biomass on Earth, behind cellulose  and it is biodegradable, meaning it can be broken down in the body, Dr. Clancy said.

But purifying starch requires lots of processing. Weve shown that a simpler way to make nanofibers using flour is possible.

The next step would be to investigate the properties of this product.

We would want to know, for instance, how quickly it disintegrates, how it interacts with cells, and if you could produce it at scale.

In electrospinning, the needle in which the mixture is contained and the metal plate upon which the mixture is deposited form two ends of a battery.

Applying an electrical charge makes the mixture complete the circuit by streaming out of the needle on to the metal plate.

Electrospinning using a starch-rich ingredient such as white flour is more challenging than using pure starch, as the impurities  the protein and cellulose  make the mixture more viscous and unable to form fibers.

The researchers used flour and formic acid rather than water, as the formic acid breaks up the giant stacks of spirals (or helices) that make up starch.

This is because the layers of helices stuck together are too big to be the building blocks of nanofibers.

The formic acid then evaporates as the noodle flies through the air to the metal plate.

The scientists also had to carefully warm up the mixture for several hours before slowly cooling it back down to make sure it was the right consistency.

As the newly developed material consists of fibers formed from the extrusion and drying of flour, it may be defined as pasta, dramatically undercutting the previous record for the thinnest pasta lunga by approximately a thousand times, they concluded.

Their paper appears in the journal Nanoscale Advances.

_____

Beatrice Britton et al. Nanopasta: electrospinning nanofibers of white flour. Nanoscale Adv, published online October 30, 2024; doi: 10.1039/D4NA00601A
The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) together with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) signed an agreement to provide portfolio guarantees to Lviv Bank in the amount of $40 million, Head of Lviv Regional Military Administration Maksym Kozytsky reported on Monday.

"Ukrainian entrepreneurs will be able to receive financing on favorable terms with minimal collateral requirements. This will allow them to invest in commercial real estate, receiving loans with partial collateral coverage," he noted on Facebook.

According to him, this will be especially useful for domestic exporters and importers, who will now find it easier to attract significant amounts of financing to develop their activities.

"The first program of such guarantees in western Ukraine has already proven its effectiveness: thanks to it, 500 loans were issued for a total of almost $19 million," he added.

Kozytsky noted that similar programs are operating in two more banks, which allowed the total portfolio of DFC loan guarantees to exceed $100 million.

Details about the deal are not available on the websites of the bank, DFC and USAID as of now.

According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of October 1 of this year, Lviv Bank ranked 25th (UAH 12.3 billion) among 62 banks operating in the country in terms of total assets. The financial institution received UAH 196.06 million in net profit for the first nine months of this year, while for the same period last year it was UAH 150.9 million.

At the end of October this year, a similar agreement on attracting guarantees for loans to small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine for a total of $40 million was signed with DFC by Lviv-based Kredobank. In this case, the guarantee covers 80% of the loan amount, i.e. the agreement will allow Kredobank to issue loans for businesses for $50 million.

It was specified that loans for working capital, investment loans and leasing under DFC guarantees will be available to enterprises operating throughout the controlled territory of Ukraine, with no more than 300 employees and no more than $15 million. The maximum loan amount for a client is $1.5 million in equivalent. Within the framework of the program, at least 25% of all loans under DFC guarantees should be received by enterprises in the agricultural sector.
On November 25-26, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andriy Sybiha is to participate in the ministerial meeting of the Group of Seven, the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports.

"On November 25-26, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andriy Sybiha, on behalf of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will visit Italy to participate in the ministerial meeting of the Group of Seven," the message says.

In particular, on Monday, the Foreign Minister will hold a series of bilateral talks with his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani, head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell, and foreign ministers of the countries of the Global South.

On Tuesday, the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is scheduled to participate in a special session of the Group of Seven ministerial meeting on Ukraine, as well as a number of bilateral talks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot, Minister Melanie Joly, as well as German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

"The key topic of the talks will be strengthening support for Ukraine against the background of recent aggressive steps by the Russian Federation, including the involvement of North Korean troops in aggression, the shelling of Ukraine with an intermediate-range ballistic missile, aerial terror against civilians, critical infrastructure and the energy system," the Foreign Ministry stressed.

It is reported that during the talks, Sybiha will agree on important steps by the allies to increase military support, increase sanction pressure on the Russian Federation, implement the Victory Plan and move towards a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace based on the Peace Formula and the UN Charter.
Ukraine is fulfilling its promise to strengthen its presence in African countries: it is expanding its diplomatic representation, still intends to hold the Ukraine-Africa summit and is ready to cooperate in many areas - from food supplies to technology exchange and security assistance, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

"We have made a promise that we will strengthen our presence in African countries. That's what happened in Africa. I have signed an order to open 10 additional embassies in the countries of the African continent: seven have already been opened, three will be opened in the near future," he said at the 3rd International Conference on Food Security Grain from Ukraine in Kyiv on Saturday.

Zelenskyy stressed that this policy focuses on each country, "a separate emphasis", and Kyiv is interested in establishing bilateral relations with various African countries who show interest in this.

According to him, Ukraine will remain a guarantor of food security, despite any Russian blockages and attacks.

"Further, Ukraine wants to increase its presence not only politically. The task has been set in parallel with the opening of embassies to open new grain houses  the socalled storage hubs for various food products," the president added.

He pointed out that in addition to supplying food directly, there is a desire to share technologies, increase processing and increase mutual trade turnover.

Zelenskyy recalled that the African continent was represented by 14-15 leaders at the World Summit in Burgenstock, Switzerland, and they all joined the joint communique.

Answering a question from a Kenyan journalist, the President of Ukraine noted very good personal relations with Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto and expressed confidence in holding another bilateral meeting.

"In general, apart from the meeting with the Kenyan leader, I really asked that both our team and the African teams of other leaders meet Ukraine halfway, and we were able to organize a strong Ukraine-Africa summit. And I really wanted us to intensify our economic relations and security due to the increased presence of Russia ... in many parts of the African continent," Zelenskyy said.

According to him, the Russian Federation is trying to put pressure on Africa by such methods as Wagnerian mercenaries in order to put pressure on Europe later.

As reported, Ukraine after the full-scale invasion of Russia in 2022 opened diplomatic missions in Botswana, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Mozambique and Rwanda.
Photo: https://eurosolidarity.org/2024/11/24

Member of Parliament of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, said during the Political Assembly of the European People's Party (EPP) that Russia has attracted troops from North Korea and weapons from Iran to the war against Ukraine, and this means that the Third World War has already begun. This was reported on the website of the European Solidarity political party with reference to an interview with the Times of Malta.

"We have North Korean soldiers on Ukrainian territory. We have drones from Iran attacking right in front of my house. We have North Korean missiles attacking energy infrastructure in Kyiv [and] artillery shells delivered to Russia from North Korea and Iran," the leader of European Solidarity said.

Poroshenko warned that North Korean soldiers are being sent to Ukraine to gain combat experience, and these troops will be used in Southeast Asia to blackmail the world. He stressed that together with Iran, North Korea supplies more artillery shells, missiles and drones than all NATO member countries supply to Ukraine together.

Poroshenko stressed that this is the main danger facing Ukraine and called for action.

"We need an effective mechanism to make sanctions effective and stop Iran and North Korea from supplying these weapons. With that, victory would be significantly closer, and Russia would be significantly weaker," Poroshenko stressed.

During his stay in Malta, Poroshenko addressed the Political Assembly of the European People's Party at the headquarters of the Nationalist Party, which is part of the EPP. He spoke few hours after Russia had launched a missile at Ukraine that is believed to be capable of carrying a nuclear charge. According to Poroshenko, the Russian president "wants to make our partners in the West afraid," which Putin really needs to achieve his goals.

Answering the question of whether victory over Russia is realistic and whether his country could agree to the cession of territory, Poroshenko stressed that there would be no compromise on this issue, Ukraine would never recognize or agree to the seizure of Ukrainian territory.

Listing five conditions for peace, the former president said there would be no compromise on Ukrainian sovereignty and independence, emphasising Ukraine will never be a colony of Russia and that it instead wanted to join both the EU and NATO.

Poroshenko also noted, commenting on the statements of U.S. President-elect Trump, that victory within 24 hours is possible if Ukraine is invited to NATO. According to him, it is necessary to learn from the example of the Cold War, when West Germany gained membership in NATO despite the protests of the Soviet Union, which occupied the east of the country. Poroshenko said that "we must learn from this experience and repeat it."

The only thing Trump needs to do is invite Ukraine to join NATO. Its a very important precondition to stop the war, Poroshenko stressed.
FCA says bank 'lacked integrity' over 4bn investment during crisis

Barclays Bank has been fined 40m by Britains financial regulator over alleged secret payments to Qatar during the 2008 global financial crisis to avoid a UK government bailout.

The Financial Conduct Authority said the bank had pulled an appeal  due to be heard on Monday - against a provisional 50m fine laid down in 2022 when it found Barclays was reckless and lacked integrity.

As malfeasance by the banking industry brought the financial system to near collapse, Barclays allegedly paid 322m to the Gulf oil state in exchange for a 4bn investment as part of a plan to raise 12bn to avoid a bailout that could have seen the lender coming under UK government control.

Critics of the deal said it allowed Qatar to buy a stake in Barclays shares at a big discount not offered to other investors. The Qatar Investment Authority still owns 2.9% of the bank.

"Barclays misconduct was serious and meant investors did not have all the information they should have had, the regulator said on Monday.

The UK government spent more than 137bn of taxpayers cash in loans and capital to prop up the banking system along with 1trln in guarantees to restore confidence in the system. It bailed out Lloyds Bank and the former Royal Bank of Scotland - rebranded as NatWest Group.

In its findings, the FCA said the Barclays board was keen to avoid accepting the offer of government capital, because it would hinder the bank's ability to pay dividends and bonuses to its executives.

In 2020 three former Barclays bankers accused of funnelling the fees to Qatar in exchange for emergency funding were found not guilty of fraud.

It was the only criminal case brought against UK banking executives for their actions during the financial crisis. The case, which was brought by the publicly funded Serious Fraud Office, cost the taxpayer 9m-10m. No-one in the US or UK banking industry was ever prosecuted for actions that left taxpayers on the hook for billions.

An unrepentant Barclays on Monday said it still disagreed with the FCAs decision.

The bank in February reported annual profits for 2023 of more than 6bn and unveiled plans to return 10bn to shareholders.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com
Russian invaders struck the center of Odesa, residential buildings were damaged, there are victims, said head of the Regional Military Administration Oleh Kiper.

"Russian terrorists launched a missile attack on the city center of Odesa. There are victims. The civil infrastructure has been damaged, in particular residential buildings," he wrote on Telegram on Monday.

The data is being updated.
Shares in ITV surged on Monday following a report over the weekend that potential suitors have begun circling the broadcaster again after a prolonged period of share price weakness and renewed questions about its long-term strategic destiny.

According to Sky News, a number of possible bidders for parts or all of the company, whose biggest shows include Love Island, have in recent weeks held early-stage discussions about teaming up to pursue a potential transaction.

TV industry sources told Sky that CVC Capital Partners and a major European broadcaster - thought to be France's Groupe TF1 - were among those which had been starting to study the merits of a potential offer.

The sources also said that RedBird Capital-owned All3Media and Mediawan, which is backed by the private equity giant KKR, were on the list of potential suitors for the ITV Studios production arm.

One cautioned that none of the work on potential bids was at a sufficiently advanced stage to require disclosure under the UK's stock market disclosure rules, and suggested that ITV's board, which is chaired by Andrew Cosslett, had not received any recent unsolicited approaches.

That meant that the prospects of any formal approach materialising was highly uncertain.

The person added, however, that Dame Carolyn McCall, ITV's long-serving chief executive, had been discussing with the company's financial advisers the merits of a demerger or other form of separation of its two main business units.

Its main banking advisers are Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Robey Warshaw.

Sky said bankers and analysts believe that ITV Studios, which made Disney+'s hit show, Rivals, would be worth more than the entire company's market capitalisation in a break-up of ITV.

People close to the situation told Sky that under one possible plan being studied, CVC could be interested in acquiring ITV Studios, with a European broadcast partner taking over its broadcasting arm, including the ITVX streaming platform.

"At the right price, it would make sense if CVC wanted the undervalued production business, with TF1 wanting an English language streaming service in ITVX, along with the cashflows of the declining channels," one broadcasting industry veteran told Sky over the weekend.

"They would only get the assets, though, in a deal worth double the current share price."

At 1220 GMT, the shares were up 10% at 72.03p.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "A depressed valuation and relative weakness in sterling are the context for reports of bid interest in ITV - with the possibility of yet another domino falling in a UK market which has seen plenty of M&A in 2024.

"ITV has faced a difficult transition away from its reliance on linear TV advertising and its push into areas like streaming and TV production havent done enough, rightly or wrongly, to impress the market.

"Several names from private equity and within the industry have been suggested as potential suitors  although nothing has emerged yet which has reached the threshold required for ITV to make any disclosures. Whether ITVs public service broadcasting remit might be an obstacle to any deal remains to be seen.

"There is further speculation that ITV might look to demerge the business on the basis that the individual parts might attract a better valuations as standalone entities - particularly its ITV Studios production arm.

"The latter has endured a lingering effect from the Hollywood writers strike last year, which pushed back many productions, and the more disciplined spending approach of the big global streaming giants. However, it has also enjoyed some notable successes this year including Rivals on Disney+ and Mr Bates vs The Post Office.

"ITV has made progress with ITVX - which received a mixed reception at launch but has built a sizeable audience and meaningful digital advertising revenue in the interim."
Millions of tourists to the UK could soon be asked to pay a local visitor levy as cash-strapped councils try to raise money to fund services. Nearly half of Scotlands local councils are considering a mandatory levy on overnight stays, known as a tourist tax, to help cope with a surge in visitors that has overwhelmed places such as Skye, the Callanish stones on Lewis and Orkneys neolithic sites.  Guardian

Thousands of Amazon workers are expected to protest or strike in more than 20 countries during Black Friday to press for better workers rights and climate action from the US retailer. Workers and representatives from unions and workers groups intend to join protests against the Seattle-based companys practices between Black Friday and Cyber Monday (29 November and 2 December), one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year.  Guardian

Angela Rayner must bring planning officers out of retirement in order to achieve a government pledge to build 1.5m homes, the estate agent Savills has said. The Housing Secretarys plans to bring in an additional 300 planning officers will be far short of the thousands needed if it wants to follow through on its manifesto pledge to build 1.5m homes over the next five years, the head of planning at Savills has said.  Telegraph

The Observer made a profit of more than 3m last year, according to internal figures which raise questions over claims it must be offloaded to protect The Guardian. A report seen by The Telegraph shows that the Sunday title made a profit of 3.4m in the year to the end of March, outstripping forecasts by almost 300,000.  Telegraph

The City regulator is opaque and unaccountable and widely seen as incompetent, according to a report due to be revealed in parliament on Tuesday. A study of views on the Financial Conduct Authority, which includes the opinions of some current and former staff, is due to report claims that the organisation has a defective culture, is too close to those it regulates and is slow to act and even slower to admit it has got things wrong.  The Times

Britains 500 biggest companies paid a record 1.45 billion in audit fees this year, as accounting firms raised their prices to cover the extra work staff are having to put in. HSBC remains the most lucrative audit contract in the UK, with the bank paying 88 million to PwC, up from 78 million in 2023. Shell and BP, the two oil majors, are the next biggest audit fee payers at 51 million and 45 million respectively.  The Times
Nationwide will announce a 2bn gain on its 2.9bn takeover of Virgin Money in its half-year results, this Wednesday, likely triggering a windfall for its customers. The building society will also turbo-charge investment in the combined business on top of its recently begun 500 person hiring spree. As well, millions of members are in line for more 'fairer share' perks. - Financial Mail on Sunday

There is speculation in the markets that Close Brothers may need to sell assets, perhaps including Winterflood Securities. Some even believe that the firm itself might become a takeover target. Car loans account for a fifth of total lending, or about 2bn. But what once was a booming sector has turned sour. Hence, the lender may now be forced to divest assets in order to meet compensation claims. - Financial Mail on Sunday

Endeavour Mining boss Ian Cockerill is a strong believer in gold as a "store of value". He of course has an interest in inciting gold buying. Nonetheless, Cockerill points to how the yellow metal has fulfilled precisely that role over the past four or five millennia. - The Sunday Times

Recruiters have seen a flood of new job applications from workers angry over a flurry of return-to-office mandates at large companies. Two-thirds of recruiters have seen such applications increase, the results of a survey show. Three-quarters of recruiters meanwhile had observed candidates turning down rules that did not include hybrid working. - Guardian
The Bombay Chartered Accountants Society (BCAS), India's largest and oldest voluntary professional body of Chartered Accountants, has joined hands with the National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM), an education and capacity-building initiative by SEBI, in a strategic collaboration. This partnership aims to promote financial literacy, enhance capital markets through research and workshops, and strengthen the connection between academia and the profession.

Both organizations of repute shall leverage their core strengths towards bridging the capacity and learning gap thereby improving the robustness of the financial fabric of India. The MoU also includes plans for capacity building, specialized training programs, workshops, research initiatives and similar joint initiatives. These training and development sessions are intended to provide practical exposure and hands-on experience ensuring participants are well-equipped to navigate the complexities of the securities market.

Speaking on the MoU signing, CA Anand Bathiya, President at BCAS, said, BCAS has consistently demonstrated its steadfast commitment to the development of professional capabilities within the financial community as well as industry. We are excited to partner with NISM to channel our joint efforts towards further enhancing the financial fabric of our country.

Adding to this, Shri Sunil Kadam, Registrar, NISM, said: NISM believes that the professionals are important partners for the regulator to assist in maintaining the integrity of the market and we expect them to come forward and raise a concern about any red flags, malpractices or system failure which they observe, as early detection of such things will save a lot of damages. The collaboration is aimed at strengthening the capacity building of the professionals to play an important role in strengthening regulatory compliance. The Indian Capital Markets are expanding very rapidly and new opportunities will be created for young professionals through the joint courses and training offered by NISM and BCAS.

The signing ceremony was followed by a fireside chat around Bridging the Trust Deficit in Financial Markets: The Role of Professionals in Strengthening Investor Protection and Market Transparency. Esteemed speakers included Shri Sunil Kadam, Registrar, NISM, and CA Anand Bathiya, President, BCAS. The session was moderated by Mr. Deepak Trivedi, Chief General Manager, of the Partnerships & Marketing Department.
According to a report, major pharmaceutical companies in the country saw a 10 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth in the second quarter of FY25, driven primarily by strong performances in North America and the domestic market.

The report also highlighted that the Indian Pharmaceutical Market (IPM) grew by 8 percent YoY, with chronic therapies showing a 9 percent increase. However, acute therapies experienced a modest growth of 4 percent due to a weak season for these segments.

It said, "The pharmaceutical universe under our coverage reported Q2FY25 growth of 10.2 percent YoY and 1.7 percent QoQ, driven by robust growth in North America (10.8 percent YoY) and the India business (9.8 percent YoY)".

The report also highlighted a positive outlook for the pharmaceutical sector over the next three years, driven by a strong pipeline in biosimilars, GLP-1, and peptides, which are used in the treatment of diabetes and other conditions. Companies with a large share of chronic care portfolios continue to outperform the broader market.

It said, "We anticipate a healthy pipeline in segments such as biosimilars, GLP-1, and peptides for pharmaceutical companies over the next three years".

The healthcare sector also showed impressive growth in Q2FY25, with top-line revenue increasing by 17.6 percent YoY and 10.4 percent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ). Improved hospital occupancy rates, which rose by 340 basis points (bps) YoY and 470 bps QoQ, were a key growth driver.

As per the report, in the hospital segment, insurance payers contributed 33 percent to total revenues, marking a 23 percent YoY and 12 percent QoQ growth.

Despite this growth, insurance penetration remains low, offering potential for expansion as awareness of health insurance increases and purchasing power improves.

High-growth therapies, such as cancer and cardiac care, continued to drive double-digit growth in the hospital sector. With increasing occupancy rates and higher Average Revenue Per Occupied Bed (ARPOB), these factors are expected to sustain future growth in the healthcare industry.

This strong performance in pharmaceuticals and healthcare highlights the sector's resilience and its potential for ongoing growth.
External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar held discussions with the UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Rome on Monday, ahead of the Outreach session of the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting being hosted by Italy where India has been invited as a guest country.

"Appreciate the steady momentum in India UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Discussed deepening cooperation in technology, green energy, trade, mobility, as well as ongoing developments in Indo-Pacific and West Asia", the EAM posted on his social media handle after the meeting.

The meeting comes within days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and British PM Keir Starmer met on the margins of G-20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro last week and reaffirmed their commitment towards strengthening the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

During the event, in which he declared his government would establish two new Consulates General of India in the United Kingdom, one each in Belfast and Manchester, PM Modi had described the meeting with Starmer as 'extremely productive'.

"For India, the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the UK is of immense priority. In the coming years, we are eager to work closely in areas such as technology, green energy, security, innovation and technology. We also want to add strength to trade as well as cultural linkages", said Prime Minister Modi after the first meeting between the two leaders.

EAM Jaishankar, who inaugurated the new Chancery of the Embassy of India in Rome on Sunday, is on a three-day visit to attend the Outreach session of the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting.

He is also scheduled to participate in the 10th edition of the MED Mediterranean Dialogue in Rome, being organised by Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy.

The conference will be inaugurated on Monday with a speech by Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tajani.

Besides EAM Jaishankar, the event will also be attended by high-level representatives from all over the enlarged Mediterranean region, as well as representatives of numerous relevant international organisations, including Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary General, Arab League; Taher al-Baour, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Libya; Abdallah Bou Habib, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Lebanon; Mohamed Salem Ould Marzouk, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauritania; Shaya Mohsin Zindani, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Yemen and Geir O. Pedersen, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Syria.

In Fiuggi, which is hosting the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting, EAM Jaishankar is expected to hold discussions on major regional issues and global topics, including the stability of the Indo-Pacific -- a priority region for political balances and world trade.

He is also expected to meet his counterparts from Italy and other participating nations in the G7 related engagements and hold bilateral discussions during the visit.

The G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Fiuggi will be the second to be hosted in Italy in 2024, after the one held in Capri from April 17 to 19.

Under the Italian Presidency, the G7 Foreign Ministers have also met, in recent months, on the sidelines of major international events in Munich, Washington and New York.

"As in Capri, the agenda of the Fiuggi Ministerial Meeting will focus on the main issues at the heart of the international debate, starting with the situation in the Middle East following Hamass brutal terrorist attack against Israel on 7 October 2023. Among the topics under discussion will be the serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the situation in Lebanon, the one in the Red Sea, and the need to promote a credible political horizon for the region that guarantees peace and security, from the perspective of 'two Peoples, two States'", stated the Italian G7 Presidency, earlier this week.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  At this time of year, the Staten Island Mall in New Springville is adorned with festive decorations, bringing a sense of holiday cheer to shoppers visiting the retail hub.

Amid the joyful atmosphere there are those who prey on business owners and in exercising Grinch-like behavior, tarnish what should otherwise be a safe, pleasant shopping experience.

Assistant Chief Melissa Eger, the NYPDs new borough commander for Staten Island, joined Deputy Inspector Glorisel Lee, the commanding officer of the 121st Precinct in Graniteville, at the mall last week to meet with local retailers and speak on the efforts being taken to curb retail theft across the borough.

Among these latest initiatives is the formation of a borough-wide NYPD retail theft task force, which, in working to gather information from retailers, could further assist the Richmond County District Attorneys Office in holding repeat offenders accountable.

Deputy Inspector Glorisel Lee, left, the commanding officer of the 121st Precinct in Graniteville, and Assistant Chief Melissa Eger, right, talk with employees of the Gerald Peters store in the Staten Island Mall on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)(Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)

Overall, major crime in the borough is down 8.3% year to date, as reported by NYPD CompStat data. However, retail theft on Staten Island is up 9% this year compared to last, according to Eger.

In seeking to drive that number down, Eger plans on making retail theft a priority.

The Staten Island retail community has gone through a lot since the legislative reforms of 2020, Eger said. We see the same recidivists committing multiple retail thefts at the same retail locations.

NYPD retail theft task force

This holiday season, Eger is forming an NYPD team on Staten Island with the specific objective of focusing on this particular crime.

In looking to beef up the police presence in shopping centers, Eger explained that select officers will be deployed to the same retail locations so that they can get to know the community, meet with business owners, identify subjects of interest and target recidivist thieves who continue to plague different retailers.

Were looking to put this team together, with supervision from our precincts and our patrol borough, and were excited to see the results, Eger shared.

Deputy Inspector Glorisel Lee, left, and Assistant Chief Melissa Eger, speak with officers in the Staten Island Mall on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)(Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)

This task force will consist of two supervisors and 16 officers throughout the Islands four precincts, Eger said. These authorities will monitor the boroughs retail communities, including Bricktown Centre in Charleston, the waterfront in the 120th Precinct, Hylan Commons and The Boulevard in New Dorp, and the Staten Island Mall.

Most of the officers will be stationed in the mall, Eger noted.

In building partnerships with the retail community, these officers will be able to gather information which could then be shared with the retail community at large, as well as the NYPDs investigative units and intelligence units, according to Eger.

Information sharing among retailers

One way in which information is gathered by the NYPD is by accessing Auror, an independent application used within the retail community to share real-time information which could assist them in safeguarding their products.

If a store makes an account and they start utilizing it and someone is stealing from there, they can post and say, even if they dont know who it is, they can post his photo and say, this guy just hit our store an hour ago, took $500 worth of items, you know, this is his photo, he was driving this car. If they see the car, and they can share that information and other stores can see that, NYPD Sgt. Daniel Commender explained. So the mall can look and say, hey, this guy just hit Zara, maybe hes coming for Sephora next. And if Sephora were to post him an hour later, the website connects the dots.

From left, Deputy Inspector Glorisel Lee, Assistant Chief Melissa Eger, Zara store manager Lisa Correa and Sgt. Daniel Commender speak in the Staten Island Mall on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)(Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)

In linking these events, the application builds something of a profile which provides law enforcement entities with information on who they might be dealing with and whether or not they are a suspected recidivist, Commender explained.

Were encouraging the retail community to use this app because it is a great way to share information, added Eger.

Holding perpetrators accountable

Eger is looking forward to working closely with the Richmond County District Attorneys Office to combat recidivism.

Were looking to hold these retail recidivists accountable who hit multiple times at locations, stealing small amounts of items but returning over and over, said Eger. So were looking together to aggregate those charges and hold them accountable for a higher crime.

District Attorney Michael E. McMahon himself highlighted legislative changes in Albany which have reinforced the ability of prosecutors to hold these recidivists accountable.

Like so many Staten Islanders, I am tired of standing in line at the pharmacy waiting for someone to unlock the shaving cream while some thug comes in and swipes whatever items are left unlocked, McMahon said in a statement. Thanks to recent legislative changes passed in Albany, my prosecutors have been empowered to aggregate the total value of goods stolen by repeat retail thieves, allowing petit larceny cases to be elevated into felonious grand larcenies and strengthening criminal penalties for those who pilfer from our boroughs business community. This new law has enabled law enforcement to hold retail recidivists more accountable in the courtroom and my office has wasted no time utilizing this new tool to our advantage, prosecuting countless cases in just seven months since the nascent law went into effect.

McMahon also discussed the formation of a new unit at his office, stating the following:

Working in direct partnership with Assistant Chief Eger, the heroic men and women of New Yorks Finest, and our boroughs retailers, my offices newly established Retail Recidivist Unit will continue to prosecute shoplifters to the fullest extent of the law and we are grateful to Governor Hochul and State Senator [Jessica] Scarcella-Spanton for securing this pro-public safety provision in this years state budget.

As indicated by McMahon, Scarcella-Spanton has taken steps to protect retail workers. A bill written by the state senator makes the assault of a retail worker a Class E felony, a crime punishable by up to four years in prison.

We arrest the same perpetrators, daily, weekly, and they walk in and out of the system, so were working closely with the district attorneys office to build the best cases for the best prosecution, Eger said.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Those looking for a new career may want to consider which jobs are expected to be in the highest demand in the coming years.

The U.S. economy is expected to add nearly 6.8 million jobs over the next decade, from 2023 to 2033, according to projections from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Much of the job growth will be spurred by the healthcare industry, as the countrys rapidly aging population requires higher levels of medical care.

From 2010 to 2020, the numbers of Americans ages 65 and up increased a staggering 38.6%, from roughly 40.3 million in 2010 to 55.8 million in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

With more and more senior citizens to care for, home health and personal care aides are expected to see the highest level of job growth, with an additional 820,500 jobs expected to become available over the next decade, projections show.

Other jobs in the healthcare industry expected to see sizable growth include registered nurses, medical and health services managers and nurse practitioners, which are all expected to see more than 100,000 new jobs created.

Heres a look at the 10 job titles expected to see the most growth over the next decade, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

HOME HEALTH AND PERSONAL CARE AIDES

Employment 2023: 3,961,900 jobs

Projected Employment 2033: 4,782,400 jobs

Employment Growth: 820,500 jobs

Median Annual Wage 2023: $33,530

SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS

Employment 2023: 1,692,100 jobs

Projected Employment 2033: 1,995,700 jobs

Employment Growth: 303,700 jobs

Median Annual Wage 2023: $132,270

COOKS, RESTAURANT

Employment 2023: 1,434,200 jobs

Projected Employment 2033: 1,678,600 jobs

Employment Growth: 244,500 jobs

Median Annual Wage 2023: $35,780

FAST FOOD AND COUNTER WORKERS

Employment 2023: 3,734,100 jobs

Projected Employment 2033: 3,946,500 jobs

Employment Growth: 212,500 jobs

Median Annual Wage 2023: $29,540

GENERAL AND OPERATIONS MANAGERS

Employment 2023: 3,630,100 jobs

Projected Employment 2033: 3,840,500 jobs

Employment Growth: 210,400 jobs

Median Annual Wage 2023: $101,280

REGISTERED NURSES

Employment 2023: 3,300,100 jobs

Projected Employment 2033: 3,497,300 jobs

Employment Growth: 197,200 jobs

Median Annual Wage 2023: $86,070

STOCKERS AND ORDER FILLERS

Employment 2023: 2,864,700 jobs

Projected Employment 2033: 3,033,300 jobs

Employment Growth: 168,600 jobs

Median Annual Wage 2023: $36,390

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES MANAGERS

Employment 2023: 562,700 jobs

Projected Employment 2033: 723,300 jobs

Employment Growth: 160,600 jobs

Median Annual Wage 2023: $110,680

FINANCIAL MANAGERS

Employment 2023: 837,100 jobs

Projected Employment 2033: 975,300 jobs

Employment Growth: 138,300 jobs

Median Annual Wage 2023: $156,100

NURSE PRACTITIONERS
As a result of a missile strike on the center of Odesa, at least eight people were injured, an investigation has been launched, the regional prosecutor's office reported.

"According to the investigation, at about 10:00 on November 25, the armed forces of the Russian Federation launched a missile attack on Odesa. According to preliminary estimates, this is Iskander-M ballistic missile. At least eight people received injuries of various degrees as a result of the attack. Medical assistance is being provided to the victims," the regional prosecutor's office said.

It is reported that a pretrial investigation has been launched into violations of the laws and customs of war (Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

It is indicated that the civilian infrastructure in the city center was damaged: residential buildings, a medical facility, office space, retail facilities and vehicles.

Data on the final number of victims, as well as a complete list of destruction and damage are being established.
Editors note: Welcome to Inside Out, our weekly roundup of stories about Staten Islanders making waves, being seen, supporting our community and just making our borough a special place to live. Have a story for Inside Out? Email Carol Ann Benanti at benanti@siadvance.com.

Isabella Coraci pauses for the camera on the Seine River with the Eiffel Tower in the background. (Courtesy/Caroline Coraci)Staten Island Advance

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  This week, we thought wed shine the Advance spotlight on an inspirational young adult whos dedicated to advancing environmental technology and public health issues  and whose commitment to making a difference in the world is worthy of recognition.

MEET ISABLELLA CORACI

Like so many other young adults, When Isabella Coraci graduated from St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School back in 2021, she wasnt quite sure in what direction she was headed and a little unclear as to what to do with her life.

The Princes Bay resident began her first semester at Pace Universitys Manhattan campus taking classes in literature and writing. But she hesitated to declare her major and was mainly enrolled in general classes.

It wasnt until the following year that Coraci realized the field she most wanted to pursue her studies and the career path where she would be most focused. She soon came to the realization that she wanted to help the planet.

I want to combine my passion for technology and environmental and public health to leverage my degree to help others through the areas of public and environmental health, she explained.

So, she transferred to Pace Universitys Manhattan campus to the Pleasantville campus in the fall of 2022 and declared her major in information systems with a minor in business. Coraci will graduate in May from Paces Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems.

Coraci knew she didnt want her degree to be just another piece of paper  and made sure shed be equipped with a significant amount or professional and real-world experience during her time at Pace.

CORACIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Her accomplishments include, serving on the honors advisory board, assisting at the Universitys information technology desk, and working at the universitys writing center, where she tutors freshmen student athletes.

This year, shes also serving as an intern at the Universitys Blue CoLab, an organization of students and faculty dedicated to advancing the technology, information and warning systems regarding the safety of our drinking water.

Of the experience, Coraci says: I think the issue of safe drinking water is really important because all people and biological life need water. We can make sure our annual water reports are more accessible at Pace. We also want students at other universities to know what is in their drinking water.

However, of all her accomplishments and achievements over the last few years, Coraci speaks most proudly of being selected as 2024 United Nations Academic Impact-Millenium Fellow. She is one of 25 Pace students selected this year in which over 52,000 applications were received from students at 6,000 colleges from 48 nations. And only 5% of applicants were selected.

During this semester, the Fellows worked individually and in small groups on their chosen social impact project that advances one or more of the 17 UN Sustainability Goal related to peace, justice, wellbeing and sustainability. They also connected with students around the world and attended enrichment sessions led by their peers and global leaders.

Coracis social impact project is Right to Know H2O 2024, which is a project dedicated to informing the public what chemicals are in their drinking water.

The group conducted a survey, asking Pace students and staffers if they know what was in their drinking water.

I think it is really great to be a part of a global effort to promote the U.N. Sustainable Goals, in particular UN sustainable development goal 6 which is clean water and sanitation, Coraci says. It has been really great meeting students from around the world and learning about their projects.

CORACIS ADVICE FOR OTHERS

As Coraci prepares to graduate, she has sound advice for incoming students.

Put yourself out there, she suggests. I know it is scary. Freshman year is hard but it gets better. It can be intimidating but you have to put yourself out there. Take different classes just to get a sense of what you like and dont like. Put yourself out there and challenge yourself.

She adds that Paces Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems has allowed her to get hands-on experience working with and leading teams.

The opportunities I have had to be a Blue CoLab team member and eventual intern team lead, as a Millennium Fellowship campus director, and working at the ITS help desk or writing center have been indispensable experiences.

She goes on to explain her professors have been very approachable and supportive for which she is extremely grateful.

Seidenberg has definitely provided me with experiences to talk about on my resume, in interviews, and beyond.

CELEBRATIONS - NOV. 24 TO NOV. 30

NOV. 24

Birthday greetings Sunday go to Lucille Herring, a registered nurse, Ann V. McGinley and twins Andrew and Justin Ducey Chiacchiero.

NOV. 25

Monday is birthday time for Prudence Ingram, Justin Cauldwell, Victor Reindl Sr. of New Springville, Alan Moses and Joseph B. Wilson.

Happy wedding anniversary Monday to Elizabeth and Frank Palaia.

NOV. 26

Birthday best on Tuesday to Tom Gangemi, Martin Cusack, Phil Balletto, Charles John Romano Jr., who turns 15 (2015) Kimberly Arale, Kevin Duffy and Vito Arcabasio. 

Happy birthday to Rev. Michael Martine, pastor of Holy Rosary R.C. Church in South Beach.

NOV. 27

The happiest of birthdays Wednesday to Eileen Kavanagh, Jim Turrisi Jr., Robert Pearsall, Lynn Sexton, Amanda Nicole Collins, Vebi Causevic, Anthony Tramontano, Lisa Andersen and Rita LaFata.

Happy wedding anniversary Wednesday to Joanne and Andrew Ferris and to Susan and Jim Taranto.

NOV. 28

Happy Thanksgiving Day birthjday to Mary Carucci, Jim Purcaro, Charles John Romano, Collette Lamirand and Kali-Rose DeCristoforo, whos now a Sweet Sixteen.

Happy 42nd wedding anniversary to Dr. Larry and Susan Arann.

NOV. 29

Birthday greetings Friday go to Paul Cobb, Bonnie Giovinazzo, twins Shannon and Danielle Piacentino, Lauren Ciocco, Maura Lee Wood, Lumy Rivera, Stephen Hart, Gene McIntosh, Brielle Smith, Patrick Connelly, Ann Marie Bumbalo, Edith Gerhard and Marie DAmica.

NOV. 30

Special birthday wishes on Saturday go to Larry Guidice, Salvatore Gandolfo, Mark Quinn, Amy Warner who turns 27, Bonnie McDermott, Bob Kruse, Stefanie Bivona and Lilly Dimino, who turns 17.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.  The owners of a Colorado funeral home who let nearly 190 bodies decay in a room-temperature building and gave grieving families fake ashes pleaded guilty on Friday to corpse abuse.

Jon and Carie Hallford, who own the Return to Nature Funeral Home, began storing bodies in a decrepit building near Colorado Springs as far back as 2019 and gave families dry concrete in place of cremated remains, according to the charges. The grim discovery last year upended families grieving processes.

Plea deals reached between the defendants and prosecutors call for Jon Hallford to receive a 20-year prison sentence and Carie Hallford to receive 15 to 20 years in prison.

Over the years, the Hallfords spent extravagantly, prosecutors say. They used customers money and nearly $900,000 in pandemic relief funds to buy laser body sculpting, fancy cars, trips to Las Vegas and Florida, $31,000 in cryptocurrency and other luxury items, according to court records.

Last month, the Hallfords pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges in an agreement in which they acknowledged defrauding customers and the federal government. Under the agreement, prosecutors could request sentences of up to 15 years in prison for the couple.

Even as the couple lived large, prosecutors said the bodies at their funeral home were decomposing.

The bodies were laying on the ground, stacked on shelves, left on gurneys, stacked on top of each other or just piled in rooms, prosecutor Rachael Powell said. She said the family members of the bodies that were discovered have been intensely and forever outraged.

The Hallfords each pleaded guilty to 191 counts of corpse abuse for the bodies found decaying and two instances where the wrong bodies were buried.

They also agreed to pay restitution, with the amount yet to be determined. Additional charges of theft, forgery and money laundering would be dismissed under the agreements.

Crystina Pages son, David, died in 2019 and his body languished in the funeral homes building until last year.

He laid in the corner of an inoperable fridge, dumped out of his body bag with rats and maggots eating his face for four years, Page said outside the courtroom after the hearing. Now every moment that I think of my son, Im having to think of Jon and Carie, and thats not going away.

Sentencing was set for April 18.

Six people with objections to the plea agreements had asked prior to Fridays hearing to address the court. They considered the length of the sentences under the plea deal insufficient given the Hallfords conduct, prosecutors said.

Judge Eric Bentley said they would get a chance to speak prior to the sentencings. If the judge rejects the plea agreement, the Hallfords would be able to withdraw their guilty pleas and go to trial.

Carie Hallford told the judge that while she didnt visit the building as much as Jon: I knew how bad it was and chose to do nothing about it.

At the close of Fridays hearing, Bentley revoked a bond that had allowed Carie Hallford to remain free while the case was pending. She was handcuffed in the courtroom while family members of the deceased applauded.

Jon Hallford already was in custody, and was in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffed for the hearing.

Last month, the Hallfords pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges in an agreement in which they acknowledged defrauding customers and the federal government.

Jon Hallford is represented by the public defenders office, which does not comment on cases. Carie Hallfords attorney, Michael Stuzynski, declined to comment.

Over four years, customers of Return to Nature spread what they thought were their loves ones' ashes in meaningful locations, sometimes a planes flight away. Others carried their urns on cross-country road trips or held them tight at home.

The bodies, which prosecutors say were improperly stored, were discovered last year when neighbors reported a stench coming from a building in the small town of Penrose, southwest of Colorado Springs.

Authorities found bodies too decayed for visual identification. The building was so toxic that responders had to wear hazmat gear and could remain inside only for brief periods.

The discovery of the bodies at Return to Nature prompted state legislators to strengthen what had been among the laxest funeral home regulations in the country. Unlike most states, Colorado didnt require routine inspections of funeral homes or credentials for the businesses operators.

This year, lawmakers brought Colorados regulations up to par with most other states, largely with support from the funeral home industry.
EDITORS NOTE -- President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will be in Fort Wadsworth for a Friendsgiving dinner Monday evening with service members and their families at the U.S. Coast Guard Sector New York at the base.

For the latest coverage, including information on Father Capodanno Boulevard road closures, visit here.

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President Joe Biden is pictured with John Zimmerman, chair of the National Turkey Federation, from left, and Zimmerman's son Grant, after pardoning the national Thanksgiving turkey Peach during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) APAP

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden kicked off his final holiday season at the White House on Monday by issuing the traditional reprieve to two turkeys who will bypass the Thanksgiving table to live out their days in southern Minnesota.

The 82-year-old president welcomed 2,500 guests to the South Lawn under sunny skies as he cracked jokes about the fates of Peach and Blossom and sounded wistful tones about the last weeks of his presidency after a half-century in Washington power circles.

Its been the honor of my life. Im forever grateful, Biden said, taking note of his impending departure on Jan. 20, 2025. Thats when power will transfer to Republican President-elect Donald Trump, the man that Biden defeated four years ago and was battling again until he was pressured to bow out of the race amid concerns about his age and viability.

Until Inauguration Day, the president and first lady Jill Biden will continue a busy run of festivities that will double as their long goodbye. The White House schedule in December is replete with holiday parties for various constituencies, from West Wing staff to members of Congress and the White House press corps.

Biden relished the brief ceremony with the pardoned turkeys, named for the official flower of the presidents home state of Delaware.

The peach pie in my state is one of my favorites, he said during remarks that were occasionally interrupted by Peach gobbling atop the table to Bidens right. Peach is making a last-minute plea, Biden said at one point, drawing laughter from an overflow crowd that included Cabinet members, White House staff and their families, and students from 4H programs and Future Farmers of America chapters.

Biden introduced Peach as a bird who lives by the motto, Keep calm and gobble on. Blossom, the president said, has a different motto: No fowl play. Just Minnesota nice.

Peach and Blossom came from the farm of John Zimmerman, near the southern Minnesota city of Northfield. Zimmerman, who has raised about 4 million turkeys, is president of the National Turkey Federation, the group that has gifted U.S. presidents Thanksgiving turkeys since the Truman administration after World War II. President Harry Truman, however, preferred to eat the birds. Official pardon ceremonies did not become an annual White House tradition until the administration of President George H.W. Bush in 1989.

With their presidential reprieve, Peach and Blossom will live out their days at Farmamerica, an agriculture interpretative center near Waseca in southern Minnesota. The centers aim is to promote agriculture and educate future farmers and others about agriculture in America.

Later Monday, first lady Jill Biden will receive delivery of the official White House Christmas tree that will be on display in the Blue Room. Then the Bidens will travel to New York City for an evening Friendsgiving event at a Coast Guard station on Staten Island.

Biden began his valedictory calendar Friday night with a gala for hundreds of his friends, supporters and staff members who gathered in a pavilion erected on the South Lawn, with a view out to the Lincoln Memorial.

Cabinet secretaries, Democratic donors and his longest-serving staff members came together to hear from the president and pay tribute, with no evidence that Biden was effectively forced from the Democratic ticket this summer and watched Vice President Kamala Harris suffer defeat on Nov. 5.

Im so proud that weve done all of this with a deep belief in the core values of America, said Biden, sporting a tuxedo for the black-tie event. Setting aside his criticisms of Trump as a fundamental threat to democracy, Biden added his characteristic national cheerleading: I fully believe that America is better positioned to lead the world today than at any point in my 50 years of public service.

The first lady toasted her husband with a nod to his 2020 campaign promise to restore the soul of the nation, in Trumps aftermath. With the results on Election Day, however, Bidens four years now become sandwiched in the middle of an era dominated by Trumps presence on the national stage and in the White House.

Even as the first couple avoided the context surrounding the presidents coming exit, those political realities were nonetheless apparent, as younger Democrats like Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Bidens Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg not only raised their glasses to the president but held forth with many attendees who could remain in the partys power circles in the 2028 election cycle and beyond.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Gov. Kathy Hochul recently announced the completion of a bridge replacement project over the New York State Thruway.

Construction crews successfully replaced the 71-year-old Schepps Corners Road Bridge in Onondaga County, which crosses the I-90 stretch of the thruway just east of Syracuse, between Exit 34 and Exit 34A.

The new structure increased clearance for the highway below, while offering wider shoulders and new guardrails for the nearly 2,600 vehicles that cross it daily.

Investing in critical infrastructure is about investing in the safety and connectivity of our communities, Hochul said. This bridge replacement will provide the people of Central New York with the high standards of quality they deserve, and were proud to have done it on time and on budget.

The nearly three feet of increased vertical clearance was designed to decrease the number of overheight vehicles that strike the structure.

According to the Thruway Authority, 224 vehicles have struck a bridge on the thruway since 2020, with almost 50 happening this year alone.

The bridge that this project replaced was originally built in 1953, right around the official opening of the N.Y. Thruway system.

The Schnepps Corner Road bridge is just one of three multi-million-dollar projects announced by Hochul that will provide much-needed upgrades to the New York State Thruway.

The largest project intends to improve road infrastructure in Ulster and Greene counties. The state has allocated $21.3 million in funds for full and partial depth repairs and pavement resurfacing on a 15.5-mile section of I-87, between Exit 19 in Kingston and Exit 20 in Woodstock, between mile post 93.8 and mile post 109.3.

A separate, $4.4 million project in Greene County will see another aging bridge replaced. The Cauterskill Road Bridge in the Town of Catskill will be replaced with a modern structure. Approximately 870 vehicles per day travel over the bridge, which was built in 1955.

Drivers can view a live map of traffic and construction on the thruway at the New York State Traveler Map site.
GANZHOU, Jiangxi, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- In land ports and at logistics hubs in cities such as Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan and Ganzhou, containers branded with "China-Europe freight train" can be easily spotted amid the vast sea of stacked containers. These cities, located deep in China's inland regions, have become critical nodes within the expansive China-Europe freight train network, which now connects 227 cities in 25 European countries and over 100 cities in 11 Asian countries, forging an unbroken trade link between Asia and Europe. The departure of the 100,000th China-Europe freight train last week from southwest China's Chongqing marked a significant achievement in this trade corridor's development. It underlined the importance of the service in accelerating the high-level opening up of China's inland regions and transforming once-remote areas into dynamic hubs of international trade. GROWING OPPORTUNITIES As a China-Europe freight train departed from Ganzhou in east China's Jiangxi Province on Tuesday, Liao Xiang watched with pride. Among the 55 containers onboard, three contained office furniture produced by his company, with these products destined for Hungary -- a new international market for his business. Founded in 1995, Jiangxi Sanyou Furniture focused on the domestic market, with some initial overseas ventures in the Middle East. "The launch of the China-Europe freight train service in Ganzhou, combined with the opening of the Ganzhou International Inland Port, has significantly reduced export costs," said Liao. "Thanks to the convenience and efficiency of these services, we've been able to explore European markets," Liao added. From January to October 2024 alone, Sanyou exported over 20 TEUs of office furniture worth over 5 million yuan (about 695,303 U.S. dollars). The train that departed from Ganzhou was the 2,000th such service from Jiangxi, and carried a variety of goods, including daily necessities, lighting fixtures and machinery equipment. To date, the China-Europe freight train service from Jiangxi has transported 220,000 TEUs and 5.2 million tonnes of goods, valued at over 8.4 billion U.S. dollars, according to the Nanchang branch of China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. The service is benefiting not just furniture makers but also local enterprises in the timber, pottery, medical supplies and even frozen goods industries. Wei Wei, a logistics official, highlighted the critical role these trains play in fostering economic cooperation between inland Chinese regions and the rest of the world -- particularly participating countries of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). CLOSER TO PUBLIC For many Chinese consumers, the China-Europe freight train service is also making international products more accessible. "This is my first time shopping at an imported goods bonded store facilitated by the China-Europe freight train. I was impressed by the wide variety of products and their attractive prices," said Niu Runfeng, a traveler from Xinyang, central China's Henan Province, who made a train transfer at Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, before heading to Shanghai. Niu purchased some Russian-made cookies, while his friend bought several cans of German beer at the store at Hankou Railway Station."We trust the quality of the products." The store, the first of its kind in Wuhan, has seen its daily sales reach around 100,000 yuan, said Li Wenyan, who is in charge of the store. "We have imported more than 10,000 products from countries and regions along the China-Europe freight train routes, including Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkiye, Germany, Italy and Poland, and our product range features grains, cooking oil, alcohol and beverages, daily necessities, healthcare products and handicrafts," said Li. The best-selling items in her store include snack foods from Southeast Asia and cosmetics from Europe. In addition to the Hankou Railway Station store, there are about 60 similar stores that have opened across China, which can be found at train stations and in residential communities in cities such as Beijing, Zhengzhou, Nanchang, Xiamen, Ganzhou, Taiyuan and Yinchuan. These stores are part of broader efforts to leverage the China-Europe freight train service to foster economic exchange and improve consumer access to global goods. "The China-Europe freight train (Wuhan) has become a crucial platform for Hubei's opening up, playing a key role in ensuring the stability of foreign trade channels and boosting the economic development of Hubei," said Wu Qiong, general manager of Wuhan Asia-Europe Logistics Co., Ltd. "The service has driven the high-level opening up of China's inland regions and ensured the benefits of people in BRI participating countries and regions, demonstrating the initiative's core principle of achieving shared growth through consultation and collaboration," said Ding Yao, head of the Chongqing economic information center.
Ukrainian parliamentarian, leader of the European Solidarity party Petro Poroshenko, when speaking at the session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Canada, called on the members of the Alliance to give Ukraine an invitation. He stressed that this would be the right response to Putin's escalation, the European Solidarity said on its website.

"When we now see the message that Putin sent to the world by attacking us with an intercontinental ballistic missile, sending 12-15 ballistic missiles per night to Kyiv, to critical energy infrastructure facilities - whom is this message addressed? To Ukraine. We are not afraid. This is the message to a weak Western nation," Poroshenko stressed.

"What is the main component of our victory? Membership in NATO. We can win this war without firing a single shot, with just one signature. And this is the signature of Ukraine's invitation to NATO. This will change everything at once. Demonstrate that Putin cannot blackmail not only Ukraine, but also the free democratic world. We need this signature now," Poroshenko stressed.

He called for allocating at least 0.25% of Western GDP to support Ukraine.

"I want to draw your attention to the figures released by the Ukrainian intelligence service. North Korea and Iran supply Russia with more artillery shells than all NATO countries do to us. They supply more missiles than all NATO countries. This means that they are putting their economy on a military track, and we think that somehow it will be," Poroshenko said.

"No one in the world understands why we should not get permission to sign an invitation for Ukraine. Why tie Ukraine's hands if over the past two weeks we have been demonstrating the unique effectiveness of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. With not only Russian, but also North Korean positions destroyed," Poroshenko stated.

"So, now signing the invitation to NATO is the right answer to Putin. And I want to remind you that this is the cheapest option. This is an option to avoid a nuclear catastrophe," Poroshenko said.

He recalled the "red lines" regarding Ukraine - there can be no compromise on Ukrainian sovereignty and independence and no compromise on the territorial integrity of Ukraine and no compromise on the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
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Industry Super-backed news publication The New Daily is shedding staff as its owner gets ready to offload the publication, with a deal expected to be finalised by years end.

The New Dailys owner, Industry Super Holdings  the superannuation sectors collectively held investment arm  put the publication on the market earlier this year, saying the loss-making publication was finding it harder to keep itself afloat.

Solstice Media, which publishes The New Daily at present through its subsidiary Motion Publishing, is in pole position to buy the publication, which has been steadily cutting staff.

Eight positions have been made redundant, while a handful of staff will be offered new roles, Motion managing director Paul Hamra said. Several others have left the organisation recently.
Investors have demanded that Triple Ms owner, Southern Cross Media, slash costs even further after handing down a strike against the companys executive pay packet and a strong protest vote against the election of its new chairman.

The votes, delivered at the companys annual meeting on Monday, highlighted the souring sentiment of investors against the performance of the radio and TV broadcasters previous management.

The performance of Southern Cross over the past five years has been extremely poor with massive shareholder value destruction, David Kingston from K Capital told the meeting.

Southern Crosss digital platform LiSTNR, with stars such as Hamish & Andy, has been one of the few bright spots amid a cyclical downturn across the entire media sector.

The activist investor said billions of dollars of investor funds have been torched and left a company worth just $125 million.
Even before Donald Trump was re-elected US president there was a lot of discussion of a post-globalisation world. Once hes back in the White House, we might get a clearer idea of what that world looks like.

It was Trumps first term in office, his trade wars and then the pandemic, which ignited the discussion about deglobalisation and the shift towards reshoring, friend-shoring and a focusing on securing national supply chains. Joe Bidens mis-named Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS, with their massive incentives for US domestic investment, could be seen as a manifestation of deglobalisation.

Donald Trumps America First policies will rattle the global economy. Credit: AP

Despite the talk, the increasing competition and friction between the US and China and, to a lesser extent, between the European Union and China, in the post-pandemic environment global trade volumes have increased, not decreased, and global capital flows are at record levels.

Trade between China and the US might have decreased but, while there has been a change to trade patterns, the globalised trading environment has remained largely intact, albeit under stress from the outbreak of protectionism in the US and the swelling backlash against Chinas export-led economic strategy.
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Exclusive Eating outFood Rick Shores team set to unleash its spectacular Gold Coast follow-up Half a decade in the making, Norte and Sueno will serve Latin-American inspired food and drink in digs from one of Australias hottest design firms. Matt Shea November 25, 2024 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

Five years. Thats how long Nick Woodward, David Flynn and Frank Li have been working towards the opening of Norte and Sueno in Nobby Beach. But then, these twin venues are the Gold Coast follow-up to Rick Shores, that citys most iconic modern restaurant. Perhaps it always had to take this long. Nick Woodward and group manager Michael Leopold inside Norte, which will open with sister venue Sueno in mid-December. Markus Ravik Theres definitely pressure to get it right, Woodward says. But were blessed to have an incredible team at Ricks. And that gives us the confidence that we can nail it from day one. Weve ticked every box in our control to make this work. Norte and Sueno will open together on the top two levels of the Oxley 1823 development in mid-December, serving Latin American-inspired food and drinks, with a lean into Mexican cuisine.

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In charge of the design is Jared Webbs J.AR OFFICE, fresh off its work on Brisbanes Hong Kong-inspired Central  the groups most recent opening  and winning a national design award for the brilliant late-2023 facelift of Gerards Bistro, also in Brisbane. The brief was to capture the monolithic boldness of the modernist architecture the team witnessed during research trips to Mexico City. Is this the Brisbane restaurant opening of the year? The result will be a pair of venues defined by black slate, brown limestone, woven textiles, and striking vermiculated waffle ceilings. Downstairs, in Norte, the kitchen will take centre stage; upstairs at Sueno, it will be a semi-open-air affair designed to capture the feel of an arid landscape, with splashes of colour. We didnt want to make it too kitschy Mexican, Woodward says. It needed to have its own identity and lean on some of the things that we came across in our travels. Award-winning J.AR OFFICE is lending the venues a distinctive Mexico City-inspired design, which includes this striking central staircase. Markus Ravik

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For Norte and Sueno, Woodward and co travelled a lot. Group executive chef James Brady, a partner in the venues, spent four weeks living on his own in Mexico City, renting an apartment and researching recipes. He also spent time in the kitchen at KOL, Londons one-Michelin starred Mexican restaurant. I [also] went to Argentina and worked with a butcher, who showed me how to butcher a whole cow for the parrilla, Brady says. And then we ended up going into the actual countryside and cooking in the traditional way, which was the building block for the hearth in Norte. Norte and Sueno will be star tenants in the new Oxley 1823 development. Markus Ravik For food, Norte will make good use of its custom-made hearth, with a menu split into raw dishes, bar snacks, masa (corn-based plates), mains, sides and desserts. Brady says signatures will include raw scallop served mango, bee pollen, chilli and grapefruit; a flank steak with native chimichurri and caramelised onion; a beef tostada with fermented chilli, agretti and taki kombu; and grilled coral trout with a koji butter, guacachile and green pico de gallo.

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Upstairs, Sueno will focus more on snackier eats. You might order baby abalone with fermented habanero, bonito soy and pickled red onion; hiramasa kingfish and Ora King salmon ceviche; al pastor-style Moreton Bay bug tacos with pineapple and a crustacean butter emulsion; and champagne crayfish skewers with a chipotle butter. Theres definitely pressure to get it right. But were blessed to have an incredible team at Ricks. And that gives us the confidence that we can nail it from day one. Weve ticked every box in our control to make this work. Norte and Sueno co-owner Nick Woodward. For drinks, group beverage director Peter Marchant has compiled an all killer, no filler 150-bottle wine collection for Norte, with almost half the list occupied by Central and South American drops, while Sueno will serve hard-to-find tequila and mezcal to fuel a cocktail menu with a bunch of variations on the classics. Marchant has also worked with Brisbanes Newstead Brewery to develop a cerveza for both venues. [At Norte] its about showing off those varieties, styles and regions that people havent seen next to maybe things that they do know, Marchant says. Weve still got to have reference points there for people that they know and trust, such as malbec and [South American carbernets], but part of what we are doing is showing them different things as well. Upstairs, there will be a focus on wines by the glass. Were [also] doing a half-tequila half-mezcal margarita, which has that really smoky edge to it, and at the tasting the other night at Ricks I think I drank the best caipirinha Ive tasted in my life. Norte and Sueno will open at 17 Lavarack Road on the Gold Coast in mid-December.

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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief dedicated to energy and its protection.

"There were reports from the Ministry of Energy, Naftogaz Ukrainy and all key participants in the industry. We talked about the progress of restoration after the Russian shelling on November 17 and the further protection of all critical facilities. Gas infrastructure and generation: nuclear, hydro, thermal and the like," Zelenskyy said in his Telegram channel on Monday.

In addition, the participants of the Headquarters discussed partnership with European countries to increase opportunities for importing electricity, in particular, business.

At the headquarters, there was a report from the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on covering critical infrastructure facilities from the sky. "We are taking the most effective experience of air defense echeloning and distributing it to other regions," the president said.

He also heard a report from the Defense Ministry on contracting and advance payments for Ukrainian manufacturers of weapons, shells, missiles, drones, results for 2024 and planning for 2025.
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Chef-influencer Joel Bennetts and Blackwood owner Daniel Sorridimi will be serving spiced lamb mince, pickled Korean-style carrots and savoury rice alongside sugar-free sodas at Sana.

Rocked by the closures earlier this year of Kylie Kwongs Lucky Kwong restaurant and award-winning bar Re, the railway workshop redevelopment at South Eveleigh has nabbed some incoming talent, with chef-influencer Joel Bennetts to open a new venue there in February 2025.

Bennetts will be hoping his 85,000 social media followers follow him to Sana, the Mediterranean-influenced fast-casual dining venue hes opening with Daniel Sorridimi, owner of Blackwood in Bondi and Cronulla.

Chef Joel Bennetts (left) and Blackwood owner Daniel Sorridimi at the site of their new venue Sana at South Eveleigh. Steven Woodburn

The South Eveleigh development turned a corner in September with the opening of The Grounds Coffee Factory, the Willy Wonka-esque venue attracting plenty of new customers to the budding precinct.

Bennetts, who has a strong CV that includes past-tense Rose Bay fine-diner Pier, and until recently ran the kitchens at Fish Shop and Burger Park, met Sorridimi in Bondi.
Its time for us bitcoin sceptics to eat humble pie  we were wrong.

Bitcoin has been on a tear since Donald Trump won the US election. It has surged more than 40 per cent to flirt with the momentous $US100,000 ($153,000) milestone for the first time in its history.

In recent days, bitcoin has crept closer to the $US100,000 milestone. Credit: Jamie Brown

More than $US4 billion has flowed into US-listed bitcoin ETFs (exchange-traded funds) since the election alone. Bitcoin is the best-performing asset class  up more than 130 per cent this year, ahead of gold (up 32 per cent) and the US market (up 25 per cent).

Trading volume in MicroStrategy, the most popular way to gain leveraged bitcoin exposure via the stock market, last week surged to a record $US136 billion, eclipsing the previous record set by GameStop in 2021.
Canberra Civic car park, noon last Saturday, reports Mike Fogarty of Weston (ACT). Stood behind a delightful teenage couple, both fully decked out in Goth gear. Girl in tattered tights and black face paint. Likely lad, white face paint, had nothing to lose but his chains. I said: Hey folks, too late for Halloween, and too early for a rave? Reply: No way, were off to have our photo with Santa! Youth is never wasted on the young.

Beggars can be choosers: The chicken wrap was too big for my appetite, so I offered the boxed takeaway to a homeless man in George Street, says Wendy Crew of Lane Cove North. He shyly smiled, then asked Do I have to eat the lettuce?

Dave Lloyd of Thornleigh noted the headline Minns, unions reach temporary truce in the Herald last week and thought he could better it: Does Minions reach an agreement not have a good ring to it?

We still use a landline phone to keep in touch with elderly relatives in the UK, writes Pauline McGinley of Drummoyne. Ive just been to replace my old one, but couldnt find them anywhere in the store. Eventually, an employee ushered me to a far-flung counter and there, lurking underneath, were four or five boxes to choose from. I honestly felt like I was buying some kind of contraband!

Even though Republicans have already shut the Gaetz, Tony Moo of Lane Cove still wonders, Wayne Duncombe (C8), perhaps we should be more kind to Eddie Munster?
We bring you the stories of womens lives lost in Australia in recent years. Some of the cases featured are still before the courts.

The Brisbane Lions have joined the cause for men to take the lead in eliminating violence against women.

Thanks to the drive from local charity Beyond DV, the AFL stars would add their voices to the campaign, alongside Australias top Family Court judge.

Will Alstergren, the chief justice of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, said he was speaking out on Monday, as the Lions returned to training at Springfield, because the start of the holiday season always brought a surge in family violence.

Left to right: Lions co-captain Harris Andrews, Lions CEO Greg Swann, Beyond DVs Carolyn Robinson and chief justice Will Alstergren.

We need men to play their part in changing this culture of disrespect and violence against women, he said at the event, which also marked the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and the start of UN Womens 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.
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 When Johanna Barry noticed her daughter Makenzie lashing out, she put it down to the terrible twos. Then came the night terrors. She just would not go to sleep, Barry recalls. She would wake up in this trance-like state. Shed be screaming, and no matter how much we just hugged her, [the terrors] could last over an hour. Makenzie was too young to speak at the time, but later told her parents what she remembered of her hallucinations: one in which monsters crawled up her walls, another in which she watched her skin fall off, and occasions when she saw visions of people who werent in the room. Now nine years old, Makenzie has just started sleeping in her own room again, five years since her parents took her off montelukast  a chewable flavoured tablet used to treat asthma but increasingly linked to depression, aggression and suicidal thoughts. Johanna Barry with daughter Makenzie, who suffered night terrors and hallucinations that her parents attributed to the asthma drug she was taking at the time. Credit: Barry was one of a group of parents who wrote to Health Minister Mark Butler at the weekend, urging him to intervene in a drawn-out process to add warning labels to the medication. Heres why.

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The news US government researchers unveiled at a conference last week early results from laboratory tests showing the medication, sold under the brand name Singulair and generically as montelukast, binds to various brain receptors critical to psychiatric function. While the findings, first reported by news agency Reuters, have not been published or peer-reviewed, they are the first glimpse of detailed research being undertaken by the US Food and Drug Administration. The researchers told patient groups the finalised data would not be published for a while but their participation in the conference was our way of trying to get this information to the public. What is montelukast? When montelukast hit pharmacy shelves in 1998 under the brand name Singulair, it was a blockbuster product for pharmaceutical company Merck, offering relief in a pill as an alternative to an inhaler. In early advertising, the company said the side effects were so benign they were similar to a sugar pill, while the label said any distribution in the brain was minimal. But by 2019, thousands of reports of neuropsychiatric episodes, including dozens of suicides, in patients prescribed the drug had piled up on internet forums and in the FDAs tracking system.

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In Australia, drugs containing montelukast have been associated with more than 200 adverse events reported to the Therapeutic Goods Administration in the past decade. There have been 15 events reported this year alone, including three suicides. Loading Montelukast was the only drug the three people who took their own lives were known to have been taking at the time of their deaths. However, adverse event reports are not confirmed by the TGA and do not prove a causal link between a medicine and a side effect. In 2020, increasing adverse event reports in the US, combined with new scientific research, led the FDA to add a black box warning to the montelukast prescribing label, signalling serious mental health risks. The agency also convened a group of internal experts about the same time to look into why the drug might trigger neuropsychiatric side effects. Australians have been prescribed drugs containing montelukast on more than 40,000 occasions in the past year, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme data reveals. What has the FDA found?

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Results of the groups work, which are preliminary and have not been previously reported or made public, were presented to a limited audience at the American College of Toxicology meeting in Austin, Texas, last Wednesday. Loading Jessica Oliphant, a deputy director at the FDAs National Centre for Toxicological Research, told the conference that laboratory tests showed significant binding of montelukast to receptors in the brain. The FDA confirmed earlier scientific research showing montelukast penetrates the brains of rats. These data indicate that montelukast is highest in brain regions known to be involved in [psychiatric effects], Oliphant said. The behaviour of montelukast appears similar to other drugs known to have neuropsychiatric effects, such as the antipsychotic risperidone, according to FDA slides reviewed by Reuters. The FDA has cautioned that its studies are ongoing, and results have not been finalised. What have Australian authorities said? An action group including almost 1200 Australians has been lobbying the TGA to enforce the black box warning mandated in other countries, including the US.

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A local council has been labelled the Grinch who stole Baysides Christmas after the organisers of a popular lights display cancelled the tradition, blaming red tape.

The mammoth annual Christmas display at 63 Grange Road in Sandringham, with up to 40,000 lights, was due to celebrate its fifth anniversary since its beginnings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Michael Eather and his mother Glennis at the Grange Road Christmas lights display in 2023. Credit: Eddie Jim

Organisers get an event permit from Bayside City Council each year, and draft traffic management plans to account for the hundreds of families driving by, and people visiting on foot.

But this year, obtaining the permit and traffic management approvals proved too challenging, organisers said.
Matilda Bay and Applecross will be the first new stops in Perths expanded ferry network, tender documents have revealed.

The current route operates solely between South Perth and Elizabeth Quay, with 13 new stops being considered to grow the citys public transport options on the Swan River.

The proposed stage 1 route for the Perth ferry network expansion.

A tender document issued by the Public Transport Authority revealed the proposed stage 1 of the project would include new stops at Matilda Bay/the University of Western Australia, and Applecross at the Raffles jetty.

The others being investigated are at Point Fraser, Burswood Park, Optus Stadium and Claisebrook Cove, with future consideration to be given to stops at Belmont, Belmont Park, Rivervale, Maylands and Canning Bridge.
Were bringing our blog to a close for today, thanks for joining us.

However, we will leave you with two breaking stories, the first of which concerns the biggest headline of the day  polling which spruiked Basil Zempilas as an electoral saviour for the WA Liberal Party and sparked an (ultimately unsuccessful) leadership challenge.

Well, we can now reveal the polling in question was facilitated by the marketing company owned by Zempilas mayoral campaign manager, Cam Sinclair.

Sinclair is a longtime Liberal party member and runs Perth agency Ammo Marketing, which helped build both Zempilas Churchlands campaign website and Liberal leader Libby Mettams website.

He confirmed to WAtoday that his agency was behind the Sodali & Co polling but that it was commissioned by an Ammo Marketing client and was provided only to them  not Zempilas.

Read the full story here.

Meanwhile, as we leave you, a bushfire emergency warning remains in place for parts of Wedge Island, Cooljarloo and Nambung as a fire burns out of control.

Indian Ocean Drive is closed between Ocean Place and Cervantes Road, and an evacuation centre has been opened at Juren bay Sport and Recreation Centre on Bashford Street. Cervantes Primary School will also be closed on Wednesday.

Remember, for the most up-to-date information, visit Emergency WA, call 13 DFES (13 3337), follow DFES on Facebook, listen to ABC Local Radio, 6PR, or news bulletins.

Thank you again for joining us, and well see you tomorrow morning for more news you need to know.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is expanding support for vulnerable categories of Ukrainians, representatives of the fund said during a communication with Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Iryna Vereschuk.

"Assistance to families with children living in a 30-kilometer zone from the contact line in seven regions will continue. They will be provided UAH 21,800 to prepare for winter," the press service of the Office of the President said.

More than 103,000 people have already received payments, of which 44,000 are children. In addition, about 5,000 families have been provided with household fuel.

The program, under which a lump sum of UAH 10,800 will be provided to families with children who left the communities of Sumy and Kharkiv regions, where mandatory evacuation was announced, will also continue.

In addition, the number of schools in the frontline areas, which will receive cash grants from UNICEF for modernization of food processing units and preparation for winter, will increase from 350 to 800.

Vereschuk thanked UNICEF Representative to Ukraine Munir Mammadzade for the support provided to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians with children and called for further deepening of cooperation.
Western Australias workplace safety watchdog has launched legal action against oil and gas major Santos over a 25,000-litre condensate spill at its Varanus Island operation two years ago.

The legal action is a fresh headache for Santos, which was accused of covering up the deaths of at least three dolphins whose carcasses were found floating upside down in waters near the spill.

The leak occurred while the tanker Catalan Sea was being loaded with oil.

On March 20, 2022, about 25,000 litres of condensate leaked from a hose Santos used to load a tanker moored off its Varanus Island gas processing facility, 75 kilometres from WAs Pilbara coast.

The Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety alleges Santos did not operate its licensed pipeline in a proper and workmanlike manner, and failed to prevent the spill as required under the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1982.
Workers on Sydneys transport mega-projects have been breathing in deadly levels of crystalline silica dust with alarming frequency as figures reveal one in three air-quality tests during construction of the Metro City and Southwest exceeded legal limits.

Transport for NSW air-quality tests between 2016 and 2020 during metro construction showed the highest unprotected exposure to the deadly dust was 208 times above the workplace safety standard. Of 948 tests in the City and Southwest tunnels, workplace standards were breached in 34 per cent of cases, including 8 per cent in which workers were unprotected.

Despite the health implications, SafeWork NSW has blocked the release of further air-quality results in other tunnels, including the $25 billion Metro West, siding with companies concerned about reputational damage.

WestConnex staff during tunnel construction in 2021. Credit: Kate Geraghty

The four years of data released to the Australian Workers Union (AWU) under freedom-of-information laws underscore the threat to the thousands of workers employed across transport projects.
Edinburgh: Given everything that had occurred in the previous hour or two, it made bizarrely perfect sense that Sione Tuipulotus grandmother would hand him the Hopetoun Cup trophy after beating the Wallabies at Murrayfield.

She whispered in my ear and said, we got them, Tuipulotu said post-game.

Sione Tuipulotu is presented with the Hopetoun Cup at Murrayfield by his grandmother Jaqueline Thomson. Credit: Getty Images

The Scotland captains answer came with a broad grin, and an even broader Australian accent. And it all came after a memorable afternoon at Murrayfield where Tuipulotu  and his 77-year-old grandmother  were in the middle of absolutely everything, much to the delight of an adoring Scottish crowd.

But first to re-cap. Born and raised in Melbourne, Tuipulotu played for the Junior Wallabies but couldnt crack a regular spot for the Rebels in Super Rugby, and so he moved to Scotland to play.
So, maybe the reports of the Wallabies resurrection have been a little exaggerated?

Yes ... but only a little!

It is true: the dreams of a grand slam are gone, and the Scottish victory over the Wallabies by 27-13 at Murrayfield on a cold Sunday afternoon was a little on the dispiriting side of things.

Against that, this third Test of Australias spring tour was still a great match; and the Wallabies proved themselves more than competitive against a seriously strong Scottish team playing at home. And if the sons of the Southern Cross didnt quite get the biscuits, they still showed enough for hope to spring eternal for next years series against the British and Irish Lions.
There must be more than 1000 people crammed into one section of the small arrivals hall.

We are log jammed in the entrance, going nowhere for 30 or so minutes, until a kind of line forms and those ahead start shuffling, inch by inch, to a destination I cant see from the back of the line.

It took more than two hours to reach the immigration desk at Tokyos Haneda Airport. Credit: Bloomberg

Its hot, theres no water, and someone ahead in the line, who seems to be experienced with this airport, says it might take three hours to reach the immigration desk.

It takes more than two.
Beirut: Israels military launched airstrikes across Lebanon on Monday, unleashing explosions throughout the country and killing at least 31 while Israeli leaders appeared to be closing in on a negotiated ceasefire with the Hezbollah militant group.

Israeli strikes hit commercial and residential buildings in Beirut as well as in the port city of Tyre. Military officials said they targeted areas known as Hezbollah strongholds. They issued evacuation orders for Beiruts southern suburbs, and strikes landed across the city, including metres from a Lebanese police base and the citys largest public park.

The barrage came as US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron are expected to announce a ceasefire within 36 hours, according to four senior Lebanese sources.

In Washington, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said, Were close, but nothing is done until everything is done.
Washington: In the heat of the 2000 presidential campaign, Democratic candidate vice president Al Gore took a break from barnstorming battleground states to attend a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee in East Hampton, New York. Standing behind Gore onstage was Scott Bessent, a hedge fund manager and  at the time  a major donor to Democrats who cohosted the event at his home.

On Saturday AEDT, Bessent was tapped by president-elect Donald Trump to be his Treasury secretary. Having won the trust of Trump and his inner circle, Bessent would lead a Republican economic agenda of cutting taxes, culling federal regulations and enacting sweeping tariffs.

As Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent would help Donald Trump as he attempts to remake the US economy. Credit: AP

The selection caps an extraordinary career arc for an investor who was once a protege of liberal billionaire philanthropist George Soros and gave money to top Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and Barack Obama.

He was very supportive of the causes and the people that we supported, said Will Trinkle, a Democrat who cohosted the event with Gore. He noted that Bessent, who would be the first openly gay Treasury secretary, was a strong advocate for gay rights and marriage equality.
Consistency of ideology or anything else is the last thing we should expect in Trumps nominees, Chris Whipple, the author of The Gatekeepers, a book about White House chiefs of staff, said on Saturday. Thats because there is no process in place to make these choices  its all according to the whim of the boss. Bessent made a late conversion to MAGA ideology. He seems to embrace Trumps enthusiasm for tariffs, though in recent weeks he has noted that imposing them gradually  a nuance Trump has not discussed  is critical to avoiding economic shocks. His identity as a gay, married father certainly clashes with the beliefs held by some of Trumps evangelical and far-right supporters. He told Yales alumni magazine in 2015 that in a certain geographic region at a certain economic level, being gay is not an issue. He added: If you had told me in 1984, when we graduated, and people were dying of AIDS, that 30 years later Id be legally married, and we would have two children via surrogacy, I wouldnt have believed you. Hedge fund investor Scott Bessent, Donald Trumps Treasury secretary pick, made a late conversion to MAGA ideology. Credit: nna\ebennett But more jarring to some of the MAGA faithful may be the fact that Bessent raised money for the presidential run of a Democrat, Al Gore, in 2000. Or that a dozen years ago, he was chief investment officer for Soros Fund Management, the $US30 billion instrument of George Soros, the subject of scores of right-wing conspiracy theories. When listing Bessents many qualifications for the job, Trump left off the fact that he is considered among Soros most successful proteges.

The newly named pick for Labour Secretary, congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer, also seems likely to straddle two camps. Chavez-DeRemer, an Oregon Republican who lost her seat in the House this month, often spoke of her fathers membership in the Teamsters and won the support of about 20 labour unions during her unsuccessful re-election bid. Loading As the GOP moved quickly to solidify around Trump and promised to kill off government regulation, Chavez-DeRemer moved the other way. She was one of three Republicans who sponsored a 2023 bill that would have shielded workers seeking to organise union representation from retribution or firing, while giving new powers to the federal government to punish employers who violate workers rights. It was not the only area where she saw more room for government intervention. One of the things that transcends party is public safety, Chavez-DeRemer said in an interview with The New York Times during her re-election bid. People want to wake up in the morning, know that its safe to go to take their kids to school and drive on safe roads, she added. Those transcend party. Those are the kind of things I focus on. The news on Friday that she was named to head the Labour Department was hailed by the teamsters and their president, Sean OBrien. The AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organisations) expressed wariness of Trumps anti-worker agenda in a statement posted on social media, but conceded that Lori Chavez-DeRemer has built a pro-labour record in Congress.

One who does fit neatly into the mould of a Trump aide is Brooke Rollins, whom Trump named on Saturday as his choice for agriculture secretary. She served as domestic policy adviser in the first Trump administration, then became head of the America First Policy Institute, a sort of Trump government in waiting staffed with other former members of his administration. Rollins organisation has called for getting rid of civil-service protection for many federal employees, speeding gas and oil drilling on federal lands, and doing away with red-flag laws meant to keep guns from people who are deemed by a judge to be a danger to themselves or to others. Then there is the national security team. Michael Waltz, the designee for national security adviser, was a strong advocate of sending more aid to Ukraine and doing whatever was necessary to push back the Russian invasion, until he voted against the $US95 billion in additional aid to Ukraine in the northern hemisphere spring. Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un twice during his first term, hoping to contain North Koreas nuclear arsenal. Credit: Getty Images His new deputy, Alex Wong, worked for Mitt Romney in 2012, part of a wing of the Republican Party that has never reconciled itself to Trump. But Wong worked at senior levels of the State Department on North Korea, helping to set up Trumps two meetings with Kim Jong-un.

That diplomatic high-wire act was rooted in Trumps belief that a combination of personal diplomacy and economic lures would drive Kim to give up his arsenal of nuclear weapons. Loading The effort failed: the talks collapsed, and the North Korean leader today has a larger arsenal than he did before the meetings. Kim has insisted that he is done talking to Washington. In the intervening years, Wong has served as chair of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a congressionally appointed, bipartisan group studying the national security implications of Americas economic engagement with Beijing. Such topics never had an airing during the campaign. Discussion of the complex economic, technological and military relationships with China was distilled by Trump to a declaration that tariffs would solve all problems. But his national security advisers clearly have a more nuanced view. That leaves Musk, the worlds richest man and newest denizen of Mar-a-Lago, and Ramaswamy. They are supposed to head the Department of Government Efficiency, writing in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that the entrenched and ever-growing bureaucracy represents an existential threat to our republic.
The air defense of the Ukrainian Ground Forces shot down 178 enemy reconnaissance and attack drones last week, Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, Lieutenant General Oleksandr Pavliuk has said.

These were 129 Shahed-131/136 drones seven Orlan 10/30 drones, 17 Zala drones, five Supercam drones, 14 Lancet drones, and six Molniya drones, he said on the Telegram channel.
PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- The Government of Sint Maarten announces the opening of a condolence book in honor of the late Dame Ruby Bute, a revered cultural icon, artist, and storyteller whose contributions have profoundly helped to shape the identity of our Sint Maarten.



The condolence book will be available for signing starting Monday, November 25, 2024, at 12:00 PM at the Government Administration Building in Philipsburg.



All members of the public are invited to express their condolences and pay tribute to Dame Ruby Butes enduring legacy to her people and country.



Dame Ruby Butes work celebrated the essence of Sint Maarten, bringing its vibrant culture and history to life through her art and storytelling.

Her passing represents a significant loss for the community, yet her contributions to the preservation of our heritage will continue to inspire future generations.



Prime Minister Dr. Luc Mercelina stated, Dame Ruby Bute was an extraordinary artist and cultural custodian whose life and work embodied the soul of Sint Maarten. We encourage everyone to join us in honoring her remarkable legacy.



The condolence book will remain open for signing during regular office hours in the days following its opening.
THE NETHERLANDS (THE HAGUE):--- Deputy Minister Plenipotentiary Drs. Gracita R. Arrindell recently met with the outgoing Advisory Division of the Council of State for the Kingdom member Maria van der Sluijs-Plantz at the Sint Maarten House in The Hague.

It was the first courtesy visit to Sint Maarten House in The Hague since Arrindell became the Deputy Minister Plenipotentiary in May. Maria van der Sluijs-Plantz took the opportunity to bid farewell as the countrys representative.

The meeting was informative and broached her experience representing Sint Maarten as a member over a spectrum of topics. The tasks include a great deal and variety of reading material in preparation of making a meaningful contribution to the discussions and advisory processes, Deputy Minister Plenipotentiary Drs. Gracita Arrindell said on Sunday.

The Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands regulates the basic structure of the Kingdom and the formal relations between its constituent countries. The Charter was signed in 1954, and 2024 marks its 70th anniversary. A lot has changed in 70 years. Suriname became independent in 1975, and Aruba became an autonomous country within the Kingdom in 1986, separate from the Netherlands Antilles.

In 2010, the Netherlands Antilles was dismantled, and Curacao and Sint Maarten received the status of autonomous country while the remaining islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba became special municipalities and incorporated into the Netherlands.

In relation to the 70th anniversary of the Kingdom Charter, the Advisory Division of the Council of State of the Kingdom formulated an advisory opinion pointing out the two guiding principles for the future of our Kingdom, namely constructive cooperation and mutual assistance and contributing to more balanced relations and mutual understanding. It advises Kingdom partners to use these guiding principles in their actions.

It also recommended: The Council of Ministers of the Kingdom consists of the Dutch Council of Ministers supplemented by the Ministers Plenipotentiary of Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten. These officials are not directly accountable to any of the four parliaments.

The Kingdom Government as a whole is, but only to the parliament of the country of the Netherlands. As a result, the parliaments of Aruba, Curacao, and Sint Maarten do not have the opportunities that the House of Representatives and the Senate have to hold the Kingdom Government accountable.

It is ultimately up to the Minister, Plenipotentiary to represent Caribbean interests in the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom. This is no easy task, given the relationships within the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom.

The Advisory Division, therefore, suggests that the position of the Ministers Plenipotentiary in the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom be strengthened. This can be done, for example, by making procedural arrangements under which they are given more opportunity to put forward their views.

The guiding principle here is that Caribbean countries appoint individuals with qualities that match the weight of the position. It is important that once appointed Ministers Plenipotentiary are given time to build a network.

Van der Sluijs-Plantz is Sint Maartens representative on the Council of State who has represented the country for almost seven years and whose term comes to an end in March 2025. The Council of Ministers will have to start the process shortly to nominate a new representative for Sint Maarten. Maria van der Sluijs-Plantz was appointed in October 2018.

Members and State Councilors are appointed on the basis of their expertise and experience in legislative, administrative or judicial matters. They are drawn from the ranks of academia, public administration, the judiciary and government.

The Advisory Division of the Council of State for the Kingdom includes extra members appointed by the other countries of the Kingdom, and they meet once a month. The Vice President of the Council of State is the chair of the Advisory Division.

The Council of State has two primary tasks, carried out by two separate divisions. The Advisory Division, as its name implies, advises the Dutch government and Dutch Parliament on legislation and governance, while the Administrative Jurisdiction Division is the countrys highest general administrative court. The basis for these responsibilities can be found in articles 73 and 75 of the Constitution.

The organization comprises of the Advisory Department which provides support to the Advisory Division; the Administrative Jurisdiction Department; the Support Services Department; and the Management Support Department.

The Advisory Division of the Council of State provides the government with independent advice on: all Bills introduced in Parliament by the government; all orders in council, before they are promulgated by the Crown; all treaties that the government puts before Parliament for approval; all matters on which its advice is required by law, such as the Budget Memorandum and expropriation orders; other matters on which the government seeks the Councils advice.

The Advisory Division of the Council of State produces about 500 advisory opinions on legislation annually. Every year, an average of around 1,800 cases and 400 applications for provisional relief in the field of spatial planning are brought before the Administrative Jurisdiction Division, over 5,300 cases and 800 applications for provisional relief are brought before the Aliens Chamber, and over 3,400 appeal cases and 300 applications for provisional relief are brought before the General Chamber.

Minister Drs. Arrindell, who was the first President of the Parliament of Sint Maarten, was appointed Deputy Minister Plenipotentiary by the Mercelina cabinet 1 in May 2024 and started working at the Sint House in July 2024.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister Jansen-Webster recently visited the Guided Living Home for the Elderly, managed by Dr. J. Enterprises, where she presented a basket of goodies to the residents.

During her visit, the residents expressed their gratitude, sharing that they feel comfortable and are pleased with the home and the services provided by the dedicated staff. Minister Jansen-Webster commended the setup of the home and emphasized the importance of supporting the elderly.

We must continue to seek ways to assist, especially the elderly, Minister Jansen-Webster stated, reaffirming her commitment to ensuring their well-being.

The visit highlighted the government's dedication to improving the quality of life for seniors in the community.
PHILIPSBURG:--- On Sunday, November 24th, eleven students from Milton Peters College, accompanied by two guiding teachers, posed at Princess Juliana Airport dressed in heavy coats, hats, and scarves, ready to face the cold of Europe. An exciting program awaits them in Amsterdam and Ahaus, Germany, where their German counterparts and host families eagerly anticipate their arrival.

SVOBE Schools would like to extend heartfelt thanks to Erasmus+, Sol Antilles NV, Boekhoudt Notary, Windward Roads, Brooks and Associates, TELEM, Caribbean General Contractors, several private individuals, andlast but certainly not leastPJIAE for their fantastic contributions to this project.
US drawing up contingency plans for Taiwan emergency: Kyodo



Tokyo, Nov 25 (AFP) Nov 25, 2024



The United States is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of an emergency over Taiwan, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported.

They will be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, according to sources familiar with Japan-US relations, Kyodo said late Sunday.

The US Third Marine Littoral Regiment, which possesses the multiple-launch HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System), would be deployed along Japan's Nansei island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said.

From an early stage, if a Taiwan contingency becomes highly imminent, temporary bases will be set up on inhabited islands based on US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations, the report added.

Japan's military is expected to mainly engage in logistical support for the marine unit, including supplying fuel and ammunition, it said.

Kyodo added that the US Army would deploy Multi-Domain Task Force long-range fire units in the Philippines, Kyodo said.

The Japanese and the Philippines defence ministries were not immediately available for comment. The US embassy in Manila declined to comment while the Chinese embassy in Manila "noted" the Kyodo report.

China is building up its military capacity while ramping up pressure on self-governed Taiwan, which it claims as part of its territory.

Washington has been strengthening alliances in the region, while infuriating Beijing with regular deployments of ships and fighter jets in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.

burs-stu/fox
HRW says Israel strike that killed 3 Lebanon journalists 'apparent war crime'



Beirut, Lebanon, Nov 25 (AFP) Nov 25, 2024



Human Rights Watch said on Monday an Israeli air strike that killed three journalists in Lebanon last month was an "apparent war crime" and used a bomb equipped with a US-made guidance kit.

The October 25 strike hit a tourism complex in the Druze-majority south Lebanon town of Hasbaya where more than a dozen journalists working for Lebanese and Arab media outlets were sleeping.

The Israeli army has said it targeted Hezbollah militants and that the strike was "under review".

HRW said the strike, relatively far from the Israel-Hezbollah war's main flashpoints, "was most likely a deliberate attack on civilians and an apparent war crime".

"Information Human Rights Watch reviewed indicates that the Israeli military knew or should have known that journalists were staying in the area and in the targeted building," the watchdog said in a statement.

HRW "found no evidence of fighting, military forces, or military activity in the immediate area at the time of the attack", it added.

The strike killed cameraman Ghassan Najjar and broadcast engineer Mohammad Reda from pro-Iran, Beirut-based broadcaster Al-Mayadeen and video journalist Wissam Qassem from Hezbollah's Al-Manar television.

The watchdog said it verified images of Najjar's casket wrapped in a Hezbollah flag and buried in a cemetery alongside fighters from the militant group.

But a spokesperson for the militant group said he "had no involvement whatsoever in any military activities".

HRW said the bomb dropped by Israeli forces was equipped with a United States-produced Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kit.

The JDAM is "affixed to air-dropped bombs and allows them to be guided to a target by using satellite coordinates", the statement said.

It said remnants from the site were consistent with a JDAM kit "assembled and sold by the US company Boeing".

One remnant "bore a numerical code identifying it as having been manufactured by Woodard, a US company that makes components for guidance systems on munitions", it added.

The watchdog said it contacted Boeing and Woodard but received no response.

In October last year, Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah was killed by Israeli shellfire while he was covering southern Lebanon, and six other journalists were wounded, including AFP's Dylan Collins and Christina Assi, who had to have her right leg amputated.

In November last year, Israeli bombardment killed Al-Mayadeen correspondent Farah Omar and cameraman Rabih Maamari, the channel said.

Lebanese rights groups have said five more journalists and photographers working for local media have been killed in Israeli strikes on the country's south and Beirut's southern suburbs.

lg/ysm/dv
Israel says hit Hezbollah command centre in deadly weekend strike



Jerusalem, Nov 25 (AFP) Nov 25, 2024



The Israeli army on Monday said it had struck a Hezbollah command centre in the downtown Beirut neighbourhood of Basta in a deadly air strike at the weekend.

"The IDF (Israeli military) struck a Hezbollah command centre," the army told AFP regarding the strike that the Lebanese health ministry said killed 29 people and wounded 67 on Saturday.

The strike hit a residential building in the heart of Beirut before dawn Saturday, leaving a large crater, AFP journalists at the scene reported.

A senior Lebanese security source told AFP that "a high-ranking Hezbollah officer was targeted" in the strike, without confirming whether or not the official had been killed.

Hezbollah official Amin Cherri said no leader of the Lebanese movement was targeted in Basta.

Since September 23, Israel has intensified its Lebanon air campaign, later sending in ground troops against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

The war followed nearly a year of limited exchanges of fire initiated by Hezbollah in support of its ally Hamas after the Palestinian group's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the Gaza war.

The conflict has killed at least 3,754 people in Lebanon since October 2023, according to the health ministry, most of them since September this year.

On the Israeli side, authorities say at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians have been killed.
Ambassadors of the G7 countries in Ukraine met with the mayors of Dnipro, Mariupol, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Velyka Pysarivka, Chernihiv, Varash and Orzhytsia, Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov said.

"More than two hours of discussions. About the challenges of war and the situation in local government in general. About the decentralization reform and the financial solvency of municipalities. Everyone had their say  from representatives of regional centers to the smallest communities. From the west and east of the country," Filatov said on Facebook.

He noted that he also held personal conversations with U.S. Ambassador Bridget Brink and Ambassador of Italy, which currently chairs the G7, Carlo Formosa.

"There will be no details. I can only say that I am grateful to our esteemed partners not only for their unwavering military and political support for Ukraine, but also for their willingness to hear the voice of local self-government throughout our country," Filatov said.
Iraq says population exceeds 45 mn after long-delayed census



Baghdad, Nov 25 (AFP) Nov 25, 2024



Iraq's population has surpassed 45 million, more than a third of whom are under the age of 15, authorities said Monday after the first nationwide census in nearly four decades.

The census conducted over two days last week was the first to cover all 18 governorates since 1987, when dictator Saddam Hussein was in power, with one a decade later excluding the three governorates that make up the autonomous Kurdistan region.

It was repeatedly delayed by years of war and political tensions between factions in the country blighted by sectarian and ethnic divisions.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced at a news conference that, based on the preliminary results of the census, the population of Iraq exceeded 45.4 million, including foreigners and refugees.

And while women make up 49.8 percent of the population, "households headed by women represent 11.33 percent" of the total recorded, he said.

About 60.2 percent of the population was between 15 and 65, or "of working age", the prime minister said.

Those under 15 years old account for 36.1 percent of the population.

An average Iraqi family comprises of about five members, according to these preliminary results which suggest an annual population growth of 2.3 percent.

The northern Kurdistan region said its population stood at more than 6.3 million, including foreigners.

The census conducted on Wednesday and Thursday aimed to deliver much-needed up-to-date demographic data for the country, previously estimated to have a population of about 44 million.

The questionnaire looked at the number of people per household, health status, education level, employment status, number of cars and even an inventory of household appliances, so standards of living can be assessed.

The results are crucial for determining parliamentary representation, budget allocations and the development of effective public policies in the country grappling with crumbling infrastructure, power cuts, water shortages and outdated roads.

The last census covering the entire country, conducted in 1987, reported 18 million inhabitants.
Russia says downed 8 ballistic missiles fired by Ukraine



Moscow, Nov 25 (AFP) Nov 25, 2024



Russia said Monday its air defences had shot down eight ballistic missiles fired by Ukraine, amid heightened tensions over Kyiv's use of Western-supplied long-range arms against Russia.

Ukraine fired US-made ATACMS ballistic missiles into Russia for the first time last week after receiving approval from Washington, prompting a furious reaction from Moscow.

"Air defence forces shot down eight ballistic missiles," the Russian defence ministry said in a daily briefing, without saying what kind of missiles were used or where they were shot down.

Moscow and Kyiv have escalated their use of long-range missiles after the United States gave Ukraine approval to use the weapons against Russia.

Moscow fired an experimental hypersonic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro last Thursday, with President Vladimir Putin warning the weapon -- which he called Oreshnik -- could be used again in combat.

Adding to tensions, a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian border town of Shebekino on Monday killed a civilian, according to local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

The attack wounded another man, he said, while separate Ukrainian shelling damaged several apartment buildings.
Syria's 'large quantities' of toxic arms serious concern: watchdog



The Hague, Nov 25 (AFP) Nov 25, 2024



The world's chemical watchdog said Monday that it was "seriously concerned" by large gaps in Syria's declaration about its chemical weapons stockpile, as large quantities of potentially banned warfare agents might be involved.

Syria agreed in 2013 to join the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, shortly after an alleged chemical gas attack killed more than 1,400 people near Damascus.

"Despite more than a decade of intensive work, the Syrian Arab Republic chemical weapons dossier still cannot be closed," the watchdog's director-general Fernando Arias told delegates at the OPCW's annual meeting.

The Hague-based global watchdog has previously accused President Bashar al-Assad's regime of continued attacks on civilians with chemical weapons during the Middle Eastern country's brutal civil war.

"Since 2014, the (OPCW) Secretariat has reported a total of 26 outstanding issues of which seven have been fulfilled," in relation to chemical weapon stockpiles in Syria, Arias said.

"The substance of the remaining 19 outstanding issues is of serious concern as it involves large quantities of potentially undeclared or unverified chemical warfare agents and chemical munitions," he told delegates.

Syria's OPCW voting rights were suspended in 2021, an unprecedented rebuke, following poison gas attacks on civilians in 2017.

Last year the watchdog blamed Syria for a 2018 chlorine attack that killed 43 people, in a long-awaited report on a case that sparked tensions between Damascus and the West.

Damascus has denied the allegations and insisted it has handed over its stockpiles.

Syria's civil war broke out in 2011 after the government's repression of peaceful demonstrations escalated into a deadly conflict that pulled in foreign powers and global jihadists.

The war has killed more than half a million people, displaced millions, and ravaged the country's infrastructure and industry.
'After Mazan': France unveils new measures to combat violence against women



Paris, Nov 25 (AFP) Nov 25, 2024



France announced Monday a new campaign to combat violence against women, including raising awareness about the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse, as the country reckons with a mass rape trial that has shocked the public.

Equality Minister Salima Saa unveiled a raft of initiatives two days after tens of thousands of people demonstrated in major French cities against violence targeting women, where protestors denounced government actions as "window-dressing".

A case in the southern city of Avignon for 51 men, including one who drugged his wife over a decade and dozens of others are charged with accepting his invitations to abuse her at their home in Mazan in southern France, has stoked widespread anger.

There will be "a before Mazan, and an after Mazan just like there was a before and after #MeToo," Saa said during an interview with broadcaster Franceinfo.

But advocates are calling for more far-reaching measures, including a dedicated 2.6 billion euro ($2.7 billion) budget and a stronger legal framework to tackle the problem.

The government will extend the network of hospitals where victims can report an incident from 236 to 377 by the end of 2025, Saa said, marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

"A woman will be able to lodge a complaint at all hospitals with an emergency department and a gynaecological service," she said.



- Focus on drugs -



She also announced an awareness campaign about the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse, which she called "a new scourge".

As part of the campaign, a helpline "can provide answers and advice and tell you which laboratory to go to, what to do with your hair, blood tests, and urine tests", Saa said.

The budget for emergency assistance to help victims of domestic violence leave their homes will increase from 13 million euros to 20 million in 2025, a measure that has benefited 33,000 people since it was introduced at the end of 2023.

"We have succeeded in obtaining a 10 percent increase in the budget" devoted to gender equality, totalling 85.1 million euros, Saa said.

But that number falls far short of demands coming from women's rights associations, which are calling for 2.6 billion euros and a "comprehensive legal framework" to replace current legislation that advocates say is "fragmented and incomplete".

During his first term as president, Emmanuel Macron vowed to work to eliminate violence against women, a message Saa reiterated, calling it the "great cause" of his presidency.

In 2023, police recorded more than 110,000 victims of sexual violence -- 85 percent of them women.

And since the start of this year, 122 women have been killed, according to the feminist group NousToutes (All of us Women).
France unveils new measures to combat violence against women



Paris, Nov 25 (AFP) Nov 25, 2024



France announced Monday a new campaign to combat violence against women, including raising awareness about the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse, as the country reckons with a mass rape trial that has shocked the public.

Equality Minister Salima Saa unveiled a raft of initiatives two days after tens of thousands of people staged new demonstrations in French cities against violence targeting women, where protesters denounced government actions as "window-dressing".

The case of Dominique Pelicot has caused outrage in France. The 71-year-old is on trial over raping and recruiting dozens of strangers to rape his heavily sedated wife for almost a decade in the village of Mazan. He is in the dock with 50 other men, many of whom have denied the accusations.

There will be "a before Mazan, and an after Mazan just like there was a before and after #MeToo", Saa said during an interview with broadcaster Franceinfo.

But advocates are calling for more far-reaching measures, including a dedicated 2.6 billion euro ($2.7 billion) budget and a stronger legal framework to tackle the problem.

The government will extend the network of hospitals where victims can report an incident from 236 to 377 by the end of 2025, Saa said, marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

"A woman will be able to lodge a complaint at all hospitals with an emergency department and a gynaecological service," she said.



- Focus on drugs -



Saa also announced an awareness campaign about the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse, which she called "a new scourge".

As part of the campaign, a helpline "can provide answers and advice and tell you which laboratory to go to, what to do with your hair, blood, and urine tests", Saa said.

Prime Minister Michel Barnier said on Monday France will reimburse the purchase of drug detection kits in several areas of France on a trial basis, though he did not offer a timeline for its implementation.

The budget for emergency assistance to help victims of domestic violence leave their homes will increase from 13 million euros to 20 million in 2025, a measure that has benefited 33,000 people since it was introduced at the end of 2023.

"We have succeeded in obtaining a 10-percent increase in the budget" devoted to gender equality, totalling 85.1 million euros, Saa said.

But that number falls far short of demands coming from women's rights associations, which are calling for 2.6 billion euros and a "comprehensive legal framework" to replace current legislation that advocates say is "fragmented and incomplete".

During his first term as president, Emmanuel Macron vowed to work to eliminate violence against women, a message Saa reiterated, calling it the "great cause" of his presidency.

In 2023, police recorded more than 110,000 victims of sexual violence -- 85 percent of them women.

Since the start of the year, 122 women have been killed, according to the feminist group NousToutes (All of us Women).
UNIFIL 'seriously concerned' by deadly strikes on Lebanon army



Beirut, Lebanon, Nov 25 (AFP) Nov 25, 2024



UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon expressed worry Monday over deadly strikes on Lebanese soldiers, which Beirut blames on Israel, despite the army staying out of the war between Hezbollah and Israel.

"UNIFIL is seriously concerned by numerous strikes on the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) inside the Lebanese territories," the peacekeepers said in a statement, using the acronym for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

The army has reported 19 members killed while on active duty.

The army's "role remains vital for the full implementation of Resolution 1701 (2006), which is essential to ending the ongoing violence between Hizbullah and Israel", UNIFIL said.

Resolution 1701 ended the last Hezbollah-Israel war of 2006 and stated that Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only armed forces in the country's south, where Hezbollah holds sway.

It also called for Israel to withdraw troops from Lebanon and forms the basis for ongoing ceasefire talks.

UNIFIL, currently with more than 9,300 troops, has been stationed in southern Lebanon since 1978 and is tasked with monitoring the "Blue Line" of demarcation with Israel.

"We remain deeply alarmed by the escalation of hostilities and the widespread destruction and loss of life across the Blue Line," the peacekeepers said, urging parties "to address their differences through negotiations -- not through violence".

On Sunday, the Israeli military expressed "regret" for an incident in which a Lebanese army position was hit, saying "its operations are directed solely against the Hezbollah" group.

The Lebanese army reported one soldier killed in the incident and 18 others wounded.
US 'appalled' by alleged Russia use of banned gas in Ukraine



The Hague, Nov 25 (AFP) Nov 25, 2024



Western countries and Russia crossed swords on Monday at a chemical arms control meeting, with a US official saying it was "appalled" by Moscow's alleged use of a banned riot control gas in Ukraine.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) a week ago said CS riot gas had been discovered in shell and soil samples, given to it by Kyiv. The samples were taken from the zone where Ukraine was battling Russian forces.

The Hague-based OPCW's convention bans the use of CS gas and other toxic weapons in war zones. The watchdog did not identify the gas' origin.

"I remain appalled by the scale and frequency of Russia's use of riot control agents as a method of warfare against Ukrainian forces," said Bonnie Jenkins, US Under-Secretary for Arms Control and International Security.

Russia's use of so-called riot control agents (RCAs) on the battlefield "and unlawful war against Ukraine has been no secret", Jenkins told delegates at the OPCW's annual meeting.

"It is well documented not only by Ukraine, but also by NGOs, journalists and even Russian troops and state media," Jenkins said.

Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of using chemical weapons in the nearly three-year-long conflict, with Kyiv's Western allies likewise claiming Moscow has employed banned weapons.

Last week's revelation by the OPCW documented the first use of riot control gas in areas where active fighting was taking place in Ukraine.

"Russia had once lied when it said it had no intention in invading Ukraine. It also lied when it said it was not using riot control agents in violation of the convention," said Jenkins.

Russia's representative Kirill Lysogorsky hit back, saying "the collective West is trying to settle scores with countries it deemed undesirable."

"The Kyiv regime continues to systematically use toxic chemicals and RCAs against the armed forces of the Russian Federation and the civilian population," Lysogorsky said.

But the EU on Monday also said it was deeply worried that CS gas was used in Ukraine and it called for the swift identification of those responsible.

"We are hoping for a timely attribution of the RCA munition collected," EU special envoy Stephan Klement told delegates.

"Russia has not provided any credible answers... on the growing number of reported uses of Riot Control Agents as a method of warfare by its forces in Ukraine."

The OPCW's Chemical Weapons Convention strictly bans the use of riot control agents including CS, a type of tear gas, outside riot control situations when it is used as "a method of warfare".

CS gas is non-lethal but causes sensory irritation including to the lungs, skin and eyes.

jhe/bc
Iraqis sentenced to prison in $2.5-bn corruption case



Baghdad, Nov 25 (AFP) Nov 25, 2024



An Iraqi court on Monday sentenced to prison former senior officials, a businessman and others for involvement in the theft of $2.5 billion in public funds -- one of Iraq's biggest corruption cases.

The three most high-profile individuals sentenced -- businessman Nour Zuhair, as well as former prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi's cabinet director Raed Jouhi and a former adviser, Haitham al-Juburi -- are on the run and were tried in absentia.

The scandal, dubbed the "heist of the century", has sparked widespread anger in Iraq, which is ravaged by rampant corruption, unemployment and decaying infrastructure after decades of conflict.

A criminal court in Baghdad specialising in corruption cases issued the prison sentences ranging from three to 10 years, a statement from Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council said.

Thirteen people received sentences on Monday, according to member of Parliament Mostafa Sanad.

Most of them, 10, are from Iraq's tax authority and include its former director and deputy, he added on his Telegram channel.

Iraq revealed two years ago that at least $2.5 billion was stolen between September 2021 and August 2022 through 247 cheques that were cashed by five companies.

The money was then withdrawn in cash from the accounts of those firms.

A judicial source told AFP that some tax officials charged were in detention, without detailing how many.

Businessman Zuhair was sentenced to 10 years in prison, according to the judiciary statement.

He was arrested at Baghdad airport in October 2022 as he was trying to leave the country, but released on bail a month later after giving back more than $125 million and pledging to return the rest in instalments.

The wealthy businessman was back in the news in August after he reportedly had a car crash in Lebanon, following an interview he gave to an Iraqi news channel.

Juburi, the former prime ministerial adviser, received a three-year prison sentence. He also returned $2.6 million before disappearing, a judicial source told AFP.

Kadhemi's cabinet director Raed Jouhi, also currently outside Iraq, was sentenced to six years in prison -- alongside "a number of officials involved in the crime," according to the judiciary's statement.

Corruption is rampant across Iraq's public institutions, but convictions typically target mid-level officials or minor players and rarely those at the top of the power hierarchy.
But over this Parliament were going to return investment, were going to return growth to the economy, because in the end thats the only way to ensure that Britain is competitive and to ensure that we punch our weight in the world and to improve living standards for working people and to properly fund the public services that I want to see improved as well.
My margin is around eight to 12 per cent but the Government get 20 per cent, twice what is going to the owner. They are dipping me five times: the VAT on turnover, the National Insurance and PAYE on wages, the business rates on rent and corporation tax on profit; its endless. Im so disappointed in Rachel Reeves. She came for lunch at the restaurant when she was shadow chancellor, she spent four hours here and wrote a really nice thank you letter. But she obviously wasnt listening to a word I said.
URCS volunteers set up mobile aid station for Odesa residents whose homes damaged by enemy missile strike

Photo: https://www.facebook.com/RedCrossUkraine

Volunteers of the Emergency Response Team of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS) set up a mobile aid station for residents of damaged homes as a result of the Russian missile attack on Odesa.

"A team of the Emergency Response Team of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society in Odesa region worked at the site of the shelling A mobile aid station was set up where residents of damaged homes can charge their gadgets and drink hot drinks," the society said on Facebook on Monday.

Volunteers helped rescuers evacuate people from damaged homes and transported them to medical institutions in the city. They also provided first aid and first psychological assistance to the victims.

In addition, the URCS volunteers handed out film and tarpaulin for temporary repairs of damaged premises.

As reported, 11 people were injured as a result of the Russian missile attack on Odesa.

On Monday, November 25, at about 1000, the Russian armed forces launched a missile attack on Odesa. Preliminary, with an Iskander-M ballistic missile.
After their encounter at the venue, Adele said in an Instagram post: Words will never sum up what you mean to me, or what you coming to my show means, let alone how it felt seeing you back in your palace with your beautiful family.
According to the charge, Parmenter is accused of placing an article, namely a device that resembled an IED, at the US Embassy, Nine Elms, with the intention of inducing in another a belief that the said article was likely to explode or ignite and thereby cause personal injury or damage to property.
The Council is doing all it can to make sure the building's owner secures the site as soon as possible and the closure can be lifted. In the meantime, please avoid the area if you can.
Asked for more detail about the sanctions, Mr Lammy added: We are shadowing 30 Russian vessels. We are determined to ensure that both the ships, the enablers of those ships thwarting European and UK sanctions, are hurt at this time and that we ensure that the attempts to circumvent the sanctions that we put in place previously and of course to avoid Russia using its oil revenues to continue to fund its war  that we bear down on those issues.
Cyber war is now a daily reality. One where our defences are constantly being tested

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden
To be honest, not at any point did I think this was going to become global, Ms Hamouda said. She said she had received videos and messages from people in diverse places such as Canada, Argentina, and Romania.
It was reported that four bodies were then found along with three survivors, who were two Belgians and an Egyptian. A fourth and fifth person were later found alive. It is understood they had been in the water for more than 30 hours.
Scotland still has a wind warning, although the last of the Met Office's rain warnings ended at 11.59pm on Sunday. But strong winds persist and rain from high ground will reach rivers, with more than 200 flood alerts remaining in England and Wales.
Booking.com said searches for accommodation in the city more than doubled in the three months to the end of October compared with the same period last year.
Tackling those protests could take officers away from frontline duties, and because the proposed site is not close to other embassies, could prove harder to reach in an emergency, he warned.
Sending European instructors to train Ukrainian military directly on Ukrainian territory is a matter of time, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, Minister of Justice Olha Stefanishyna said.

"Of course, we are discussing the training of Ukrainian military. Today we see this as an element of equipping Ukrainian brigades. We are providing the brigades with the necessary equipment, they must be provided with training and equipment. I think it is a matter of time before training takes place on Ukrainian territory," Stefanishyna told journalists in Kyiv on Monday.

She said this issue is absolutely pragmatic and is being discussed with European partners.

As reported earlier, the French newspaper Le Monde, citing its own sources, reported that classified discussions about sending Western troops and private defense companies to Ukrainian soil have resumed in anticipation of the possible U.S. refusal to support Kyiv after newly elected President Donald Trump takes office.

Before this, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said there is still no consensus among EU member states on the issue of sending instructors to train Ukrainian troops directly on Ukrainian territory, not ruling out that this will happen in the future.
"What the Zionist regime did in Gaza and Lebanon is not a victory, it is a war crime. Now they have issued a warrant for their arrest. This is not enough," Khamenei said, according to remarks published by the state-run IRNA news agency.
The charities don't have a problem whatsoever coming to us to ask for grants every single day of the week, so they don't have a problem, he added. I don't know what Ed Sheeran's problem is, nor this other chap who I've never actually heard of personally, but anyway, I don't know what his problem is, but nevertheless, there is famine raging, and this is partly because of the climate change issues, because there's been there's either no rain whatsoever and it's baking dry, or there's so much rain that the earth can't soak it up.
I've had it before with Lisa Snowdon  we were in the dance-off [lots of] times  it's awful, but you pick yourself up, you go out, smash the dance-off, and hopefully stay in the competition. It's there as a nice little buffer, otherwise, she probably would have gone home five weeks ago, and we wouldn't have seen the amazing stuff that she's actually been able to do.
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held meetings dedicated to international work until the end of 2024.

"I held several meetings today on international work until the end of the year. Communication with partners, our meetings and our narratives. What should strengthen Ukraine. Europe, America, the Global South, other parts of the world," Zelenskyy said in a video address in the evening.

The president said Ukraine and partners should be together and that this war can really be ended fairly.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the UK government for its decision to impose sanctions against 30 oil tankers and several Russian insurance companies.

"I am grateful to the UK for its strong decision to sanction 30 tankers  a significant part of the shadow fleet transporting Russian oil  and several Russian insurance companies. This shadow fleet generates tens of billions of dollars, funding Russia's war machine, while posing severe environmental risks," Zelenskyy said on the X social network on Monday.

The president said the UK leadership underscores the importance of consolidated action. At the European Political Community summit in July, leaders agreed to tighten sanctions on the shadow fleet.

"So it is crucial that this work continues, with other partners, particularly the EU, joining efforts to counter this illicit network. As long as Russian oil revenues remain unchecked, the war risks prolonged aggression, and Moscow lacks incentive to pursue peace. Cutting off this financial lifeline is essential to limiting Russias capacity for aggression," Zelenskyy said.

As reported, the UK has included 30 oil tankers in the sanctions lists against Russia, according to updated data from the British government on sanctions.
An exhibition dedicated to Edouard de Max (1869 - 1924), internationally renowned Romanian actor and member of the prestigious French Comedy, will be opened, on December 1, from 4:00 p.m., at the National Theater Museum in Bucharest, informs Agerpres.

According to a TNB press release sent to AGERPRES on Monday, Edouard de Max, known for his innovative approaches and unconventional spirit, made a remarkable contribution to the Parisian theater scene during the Belle Epoque.

Following the opening, the public is invited to participate in a guided visit to the permanent exhibition "Queen Maria at the theater", made within the project "Innovative exhibition with restored cultural goods from the collection of the TNB Museum".

At the National Theater I.L. Caragiale, the public can also benefit, on the occasion of Romania's National Day, from TNB's Guided Tours, which this month reach the spectacular figure of 2,000.

The holiday program includes three guided tours at 1:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. We will visit the backstage of the scenes, the set and costume workshops and the actors' cabins. The guide who will reveal to the visitors some of the secrets of the biggest theater in Europe, Ionut Corpaci, will complete the experience with stories from the history of the National Theatre.

Starting at 17:00, the festive atmosphere will be completed by a light projection of the national flag on the facade and the stage tower of the National Theatre.

In the evening, from 7:00 p.m., at the Media Hall, the audience is awaited by the actor Vitalie Bichir, who proposes a foray into the world of Ion Creanga. A retrospective-initiative route, occasioned by a few pages from "Childhood Memories" and pages from "Children's Teacher" (co-author Ion Creanga).

At most events, with the exception of the show for children, at the Media Hall, access is free within the limits of available seats, in the order of registration. To register, it is necessary to purchase tickets with a value of 0, from the TNB Ticket Office or online.
Romania aims to contribute to creating a safe and fair environment for all women, regardless of nationality, culture, or social status, according to a message from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) sent on Monday, marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Thus, the MAE reaffirms its commitment to promoting and protecting the rights of women and girls, both nationally and internationally.

As a member state of the Human Rights Council (2023-2025) and the Commission on the Status of Women (2024-2028), Romania seeks to promote the rights of women and girls, considering their protection essential for the development of a just and inclusive sciety.

"Romania continues to support international initiatives in the women's rights area, working closely with international partners to strengthen cooperation and the exchange of best practices in combating gender-based violence and promoting equality of opportunity," the Romanian ministry points out.

The MAE shows that the promotion of these objectives internationally is materialised, at the national level, through the adoption of the National Strategy for Promoting Equal Opportunities and Treatment between Women and Men and Preventing and Combating Domestic Violence for the period 2022-2027. This strategy represents an important step in strengthening an effective legislative and institutional framework that ensures the protection of women and girls, as well as their access to justice, education, and support services.

November 25 was designated by the United Nations General Assembly as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The purpose of this day is to raise awareness of the fact that women worldwide face violence, including rape, domestic violence, and other forms of abuse, while also highlighting that the scope and true nature of this phenomenon often remain hidden.

In 2024, Romania celebrates ten years since it signed the "Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence."
The Ministry of Finance (MF) rejected, on Monday, all the bank offers received during the auction for a 41-month state bond issue, through which it intended to raise 600 million RON, considering them at an unacceptable level of the offered price.

The banks participating in the auction submitted bids totaling 197.1 million RON.

The Ministry of Finance (MF) has planned, in November 2024, loans from commercial banks in the amount of 5.7 billion RON, to which the sum of 795 million RON can be added through additional sessions of non-competitive offers, related to bond auctions.

The total amount, of 6.495 billion RON, is 95 million RON higher than the one that was scheduled in October 2024, of 6.405 billion RON, and will be intended for refinancing the public debt and financing the state budget deficit.
Independent candidate Calin Georgescu, who took a surprise lead in the first round of Romania's presidential election, denied on Monday accusations that he would be an extremist, but said that he is simply "a Romanian who loves his country", informs Agerpres.

"I am accused of extremism - this is false, completely false, I am just fully committed - with all my heart, with my life, to the Romanian people," he said in a message streamed live on his YouTube channel.

Gorgescu, who entered the second round of the presidential election in pole position, said that the current political class has disappointed the electorate for 35 years and compared his success to the events of the 1989 Revolution. Regarding Romania's orientation, he commented that "there is no East or West, there is only Romania."

On the living standards of his fellow nationals, he said that "suffering does not come from Brussels alone, but also from our souls."

Calin Georgescu thanked the 2,120,404 people who voted for him and said that the result is seen all over the world.

"From the homeland and from the other Romania, from across the borders, your voice has now been heard all over the world, not just in the country. Everyone has been reminded of the power of our people, as we did in December 1989. We regained our dignity and we fought to restore the cult of honor and dignity. We said it again that we decide what is best for us and not what others want us to be our good," he said.

Georgescu remarks that the politicians "are the only ones who did not understand what happened."

Addressing directly his contenders in the first round of the presidential election, he said: "Ladies and gentlemen politicians, you looked at statistics, at the polls, countless polls, you made and continue to make defamatory statements, you tossed offenses at each other, but what's worst is that you offended the Romanian people for 35 years and you continued to do so today, when you said that you did not understand how this happened. You do not understand, because the Romanian people has reborn. The desire for dignity that had been lost in all these years has revived in them."

The presidential candidate said that he is accused of extremism, "of having ties with countries near or far", which he dismissed as completely false.

"I am dedicated with all my heart, with all my life, to the Romanian people. Folks, there is no East or West, there is only Romania and the peace of our people. Our economic and social stability comes from an absolutely necessary neutrality. That is why today we need social peace. We do not have to choose whose side we are on. We must be, above all, on our own side and look after our own needs. We remain devoted to European values, but above all we need to be devoted to ourselves and our families, our children, our ancestors," he stressed.

Calin Georgescu also had a message for his opponent in the presidential runoff, Elena Lasconi.

"You have nothing to be happy about. The people are not happy with what the politicians have done in these years. Including you, you were and are still part of this political project that has driven us into the current disastrous state," he argued.

Calin Georgescu (independent) topped the electorate's choices in the first round of the presidential elections held on Sunday, reaping 2,120,404 votes (22.94%), according to data released by the Permanent Electoral Authority after centralizing all the minutes.
The National Liberal Party (PNL) candidate for the presidential elections, Nicolae Ciuca, resigned on Monday from the position of president of the National Liberal Party, informs Agerpres.

"Dear Romanians, thank you for your trust! I am resigning from the position of president of the PNL", Nicolae Ciuca said in a video message.

He emphasizes that "the traditional parties, even with many programming errors, are the ones that must keep Romania united".

Also, Nicolae Ciuca says that the Liberal National Party is aware of the enormous stakes of these days.





"We have to change a lot, but we cannot change two things: our Euro-Atlantic option and the protection of what we, the Romanians, are. A faithful people, who do industry, IT and agriculture, also deal with crafts, have a resource of intelligence enormous, wants to protect and raise the local capital and has never lost hope Romanians, we understood what you wanted to convey to us! Despite the mistakes we made, we learned the lesson that the electorate conveyed to us and we will respect the decision of the Romanians. I thank all the citizens for their vote and I assure you all my respect!", concluded Nicolae Ciuca.
The first round of the presidential elections ended on Monday, at 7:00 AM Romanian time, at all 950 polling stations organised abroad, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (AE) officially announced.

The last polling stations where voting ended abroad were those organised in Vancouver, Canada, and in the locations on the West Coast of the United States - San Francisco, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Las Vegas, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, Seattle.

Due to time zone differences and the specific voting schedule, the voting abroad for the presidential elections lasted 78 hours, relative to Romania's time: from Friday, November 22, 1:00 AM Romania time, until Monday, November 25, 7:00 AM Romania time, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE).

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs organised 950 polling stations abroad for the presidential and parliamentary elections this year, through Romania's diplomatic missions and consular offices.

According to the AEP website, by Monday, at 7:00 AM, 821,703 Romanian voters had cast their ballots in the diaspora - 817,476 on supplementary lists and 4,227 by mail.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte discussed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the war that Russia is waging against Ukraine, noting Ankara's strong support for Kyiv.

As reported by the alliance's headquarters on Monday, the discussion took place in Ankara during Rutte's one-day visit to Turkey on Monday.

"The Secretary General and President Erdogan addressed Russia's war in Ukraine. Mr. Rutte commended Turkiye for its firm support of Ukraines defence industry with the ammunition, artillery and aid it needs, also by playing a key role in initiatives like the Black Sea Grain Deal and other diplomatic efforts," the statement reads.

The Secretary General also noted Turkey's commitment to the alliance's collective security, stressing that Turkey has the second-largest army in NATO and spends more than 2% of its GDP on defense.

Rutte also met with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Minister of National Defence Yasar Guler, addressing a range of issues during the meetings, including Turkey's contribution to NATO security, defense industrial cooperation, the situation in the Middle East, terrorism, and Allied support for Ukraine.
BEIRUT  Hezbollah fired about 250 rockets and other projectiles into Israel on Sunday, wounding seven people in one of the militant group's heaviest barrages in months, in response to deadly Israeli strikes in Beirut while negotiators pressed on with cease-fire efforts to halt the all-out war.

Some of the rockets reached the Tel Aviv area in the heart of Israel.

Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on an army center killed a Lebanese soldier and wounded 18 others in the southwest between Tyre and Naqoura, Lebanon's military said. The Israeli military expressed regret, saying that the strike occurred in an area of combat against Hezbollah and that the military's operations are directed solely against the militants.

Israeli strikes have killed over 40 Lebanese troops since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, even as Lebanon's military has largely kept to the sidelines.

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the latest strike as an assault on U.S.-led cease-fire efforts, calling it a direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts to end the war.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. Hezbollah has portrayed the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups.

Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes at Hezbollah, and in September the low-level conflict erupted into all-out war as Israel launched airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon and killed Hezbollah's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

The Israeli military said about 250 projectiles were fired Sunday, with some intercepted.

Israels Magen David Adom rescue service said it treated seven people, including a 60-year old man in severe condition from rocket fire on northern Israel, a 23-year-old man who was lightly wounded by a blast in the central city of Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv, and a 70-year-old woman who suffered smoke inhalation from a car that caught fire there. In Haifa, a rocket hit a residential building that police said was in danger of collapsing.

The Palestine Red Crescent reported 13 injuries it said were caused by an interceptor missile that struck several homes in Tulkarem in the West Bank. It was unclear whether injuries and damage were caused by rockets or interceptors.

Sirens wailed again in central and northern Israel hours later.

Israeli airstrikes without warning on Saturday pounded central Beirut, killing at least 29 people and wounding 67, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.

Smoke billowed above Beirut again Sunday with new strikes. Israel's military said it targeted command centers for Hezbollah and its intelligence unit in the southern suburbs of Dahiyeh, where the militants have a strong presence.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,700 people in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanons population.

On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombardment in northern Israel and in battle following Israel's ground invasion in early October. Around 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from the country's north.

The European Unions top diplomat called Sunday for more pressure on Israel and Hezbollah to reach a deal, saying one was "pending with a final agreement from the Israeli government. U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region last week.

Josep Borrell spoke after meeting with Mikati and Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who has been mediating with the group. Borrell said the EU is ready to allocate $208 million to assist the Lebanese military.

But Borrell later said that he did not see the Israeli government interested clearly in reaching an agreement for a cease-fire" and that it seemed Israel was seeking new conditions. He pointed to Israels refusal to accept France as a member of the international committee that would oversee the cease-fire's implementation.

The emerging agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon below the Litani River in accordance with the U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the monthlong 2006 war. Lebanese troops would patrol with the presence of U.N. peacekeepers.

With talks for a cease-fire and hostage release deal in Gaza stalled, freed hostages and families of those held marked a year since the war's only hostage-release deal.

Its hard to hold on to hope, certainly after so long and as another winter is about to begin," said Yifat Zailer, cousin of Shiri Bibas, who is held along with her husband and two young sons.

Around 100 hostages are still in Gaza, at least a third believed to be dead. Most of the rest of the 250 who were abducted in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack were released in last year's cease-fire.

Talks for another deal recently had several setbacks, including the firing of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who pushed for a deal, and Qatars decision to suspend its mediation. Hamas wants Israel to end the war and withdraw all troops from Gaza. Israel has offered only to pause its offensive.

The Palestinian death toll from the war surpassed 44,000 this week, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.

On Sunday, six people were killed in strikes in central Gaza, according to AP journalists at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah.
BEIRUT  An Israeli airstrike that killed three journalists and wounded others in Lebanon last month was most likely a deliberate attack on civilians and an apparent war crime, an international human rights group said Monday.

The Oct. 25 airstrike killed three journalists as they slept at a guesthouse in southeast Lebanon in one of the deadliest attacks on the media since the Israel-Hezbollah war began 13 months ago.

Eleven other journalists have been killed and eight wounded since then, Lebanons Health Minister Firass Abiad said.

More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon, and women and children accounted for more than 900 of the dead, according to the Health Ministry. More than 1 million people have been displaced since Israeli ground troops invaded while Hezbollah has been firing thousands of rockets, drones and missiles into Israel  and drawing fierce Israeli retaliatory strikes.

The group said the U.S. government should suspend weapons transfers to Israel because of the militarys repeated unlawful attacks on civilians, for which U.S. officials may be complicit in war crimes.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the report.

President Joe Bidens administration said in May that Israels use of U.S.-provided weapons in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but that wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.

The journalists killed in the airstrike in the southeastern town of Hasbaya were camera operator Ghassan Najjar and broadcast technician Mohammed Rida of the Beirut-based pan-Arab Al-Mayadeen TV, and camera operator Wissam Qassim, who worked for Hezbollahs Al-Manar TV.

Human Rights Watch said a munition struck the single-story building and detonated upon hitting the floor.

Israels use of U.S. arms to unlawfully attack and kill journalists away from any military target is a terrible mark on the United States as well as Israel, said Richard Weir, the senior crisis, conflict and arms researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Weir added that the Israeli militarys previous deadly attacks on journalists without any consequences give little hope for accountability in this or future violations against the media.

Human Rights Watch said that it found remnants at the site and reviewed photographs of pieces collected by the resort owner and determined that they were consistent with a JDAM guidance kit assembled and sold by Boeing. The company produces JDAMs at its St. Charles plant.

The JDAM is affixed to air-dropped bombs and allows them to be guided to a target by using satellite coordinates, making the weapon accurate to within several meters, the group said.

In November 2023, two journalists for Al-Mayadeen TV were killed in a drone strike at their reporting spot. A month earlier, Israeli shelling in southern Lebanon killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and seriously wounded other journalists from Frances international news agency Agence France-Presse and Qatars Al-Jazeera TV on a hilltop not far from the Israeli border.
Senior Airman Roque Ray Cruz Santos, 24, was found dead near a Guam beach on Nov. 24, 2024. (U.S. Air Force)

A U.S. airman who failed to return home from a fishing trip was found dead Sunday morning near a Guam beach, according to the Air Force.

Senior Airman Roque Ray Cruz Santos, 24, was reported overdue from his outing around 5 p.m. Saturday, sparking a search-and-rescue operation around Family Beach, about 2 miles north of Naval Base Guam, said 36th Wing spokesman Tech. Sgt. Eric Summers.

Searchers found Santos body at 7:53 a.m. Sunday, Summers told Stars and Stripes by email Monday.

Weather conditions in the area Saturday included a moderate risk of rip currents, winds between 10 and 20 mph and waves between three and five feet, according to the National Weather Service.

No further information, including a possible cause of death, was provided by the wing. The incident remains under investigation, Summers said.

Roque was an integral part of the Team Andersen family, the wings commander, Brig. Gen. Thomas Palenske, said in a Sunday news release. I want to extend my deepest condolences to Roques family during this difficult time.

Santos, a fuels service center controller with the 36th Logistics Readiness Squadron at Andersen Air Force Base, first arrived on Guam in March 2022.

His performance quickly earned him recognition as a standout performer, the news release said.

At Andersen, Santos started out as a fuels facility technician but later moved up to a fuels service center controller position, where he managed 27 refueling technicians and completed more than 2,000 refueling operations.

His efforts contributed to his flight winning the 2022 Wing Large Team of the Year Award and being named the No. 1 Fuels Management Flight in Pacific Air Forces, according to the release.

The entire 36th LRS team is in mourning over the loss of one of our own, the squadrons commander, Maj. Stephen Mouton, said in the release. Roque was our brother, a beloved member of the team and always committed to serving with honor and integrity as a controller. We will continue supporting Roques family and legacy, and expressing our thoughts and prayers to them, his friends, and all of Team Andersen during this difficult time.
Protesters wave German flags and shout outside the main gate of Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, on Nov. 24, 2024. The demonstration was the second one held since a Spangdahlem airman accused of killing German national Michael Ovsjannikov was acquitted last month. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)

SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany  Hundreds protested for a second time outside this base in rural Germany following last months murder acquittal of an American airman, a decision that has prompted a German states legal review of its actions in handing the case to the U.S. military.

On Sunday afternoon, an estimated 200 people marched to the main gate chanting Dont protect the killer. You protect the killer. Shame on you. Shame on America.

Turnout was smaller than it was a week after Airman 1st Class Grant Harrison was found not guilty Oct. 11 of killing German martial arts athlete Michael Ovsjannikov last year.

Ovsjannikov was stabbed to death near his home in Wittlich on Aug. 19, 2023, in the early morning hours as Pig Fest, an annual street fair, was winding down.

A jury found Harrison not guilty of unpremeditated murder after witnesses gave conflicting testimony about a confrontation with Ovsjannikov involving Harrison and another airman, Staff Sgt. Robert Cain II.

Some marchers at a demonstration Nov. 24, 2024, outside Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, implored U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to intervene on behalf of a German killed in a 2023 confrontation with an American airman. Germany ceded jurisdiction in the case and Airman 1st Class Grant Harrison was found not guilty by a U.S. military court last month. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes) Marchers head toward Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, on Nov. 24, 2024, to protest a U.S. military court's verdict in the killing of Michael Ovsjannikov. The victim, a martial arts athlete from Wittlich, was stabbed to death Aug. 19, 2023. Airman 1st Class Grant Harrison was acquitted last month of all charges in Ovsjannikov's death. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)

I used to be close friends with Americans for many years, said protester Nadja Mantaj, of Wittlich. Now Im not sure anymore if I want them to stay here.

Mantaj, 29, grew up with Ovsjannikov, who was 28 when he died. She said the marchers want a statement from the Americans at the very least and possibly an apology.

The 52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem hasnt commented publicly on the verdict but released a statement last week about the protest.

As guests in our host country and neighbors to those in the surrounding community, Spangdahlem Air Base recognizes and respects the rights of individuals to peacefully, safely and lawfully assemble and express their opinions, the statement said.

The German government also hasnt offered an opinion on the ruling but the case has prompted a legal review, the Rheinland-Pfalz state justice ministry said last week.

The process German authorities followed in handing over jurisdiction in the case to the U.S. military is under scrutiny, ministry spokesman Philipp Sturhan said, adding that state justice minister Herbert Mertin will present findings to a committee on Dec. 12.

Germany has primary jurisdiction in cases involving a U.S. service member and a German citizen, according to a supplementary provision to the 1951 NATO Status of Forces Agreement.

Protesters march toward Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, on Nov. 24, 2024, in reaction to a U.S. airman's acquittal last month in the killing of Michael Ovsjannikov. A martial arts athlete from nearby Wittlich, Ovsjannikov was fatally stabbed Aug. 19, 2023, during a confrontation with Airman 1st Class Grant Harrison, who was assigned to Spangdahlem. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes) Protesters blow whistles during a demonstration outside the main gate of Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, on Nov. 24, 2024. The protest was the second one held in the wake of a U.S. airman's acquittal in last year's killing of German national Michael Ovsjannikov in nearby Wittlich. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)

Germany has up to 21 days to withdraw the waiver, however, if essential interests of the German administration of justice are at stake, such as a crime by a U.S. service member against a German government institution, said Mohamad El-Ghazi, a criminal law professor at the University of Trier.

The German judiciary has so far had great confidence in the U.S. judiciary, he said. Often, higher penalties were imposed than German criminal law would have allowed.

Harrison faced a maximum punishment of life in prison if convicted of unpremeditated murder. He was also found not guilty of aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon and obstructing justice.

A transient aircraft journeyman with the 726th Air Mobility Squadron, Harrison was 26 when the trial concluded.

The local outrage that followed the verdict has fixated on a purported confession by Harrison during his initial interrogation with German and U.S. military law enforcement.

In March, the defense filed a motion to suppress his statement, said Grover Baxley, who represented Harrison. After a three-day hearing in April, the military judge in June ruled the statement inadmissible, Baxley said.

No evidence was presented that Harrison had been informed that he was suspected of murder, manslaughter or any other offense involving death, Baxley said.

A suspect cannot freely, knowingly, and intelligently waive their right to remain silent if they are not made aware of the crime of which they are suspected, Baxley said.

About 200 people protest outside Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, on Nov. 24, 2024. A Spangdahlem airman was acquitted last month by a U.S. military court in the 2023 stabbing death of a German man in nearby Wittlich. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes) A protester holds up a photo of stabbing victim Michael Ovsjannikov during a march at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany on Nov. 24, 2024. The Spangdahlem airman accused of killing him was acquitted last month in a U.S. military court. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes) A second demonstration prompted by the verdict in last year's stabbing death of German national Michael Ovsjannikov was held at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, on Nov. 24, 2024. The protesters demanded changes that would require Germany to retain jurisdiction in criminal cases involving U.S. service members and German victims. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)

Trier chief prosecutor Peter Fritzen disputed Baxleys assertion, stating that Harrison was expressly informed during the initial interrogation by German criminal police officers that they were investigating a homicide and that he was suspected of having something to do with the homicide.

The 52nd Fighter Wing said Oct. 30 that the military judge determined Harrisons statement was not given voluntarily.

The documented ruling is not publicly available and must be requested under the Freedom of Information Act, the wing statement said. The FOIA release process is often lengthy and documents may include substantial redactions.

During Harrisons court-martial, Cain testified that Ovsjannikov punched him in the temple, dazing him. The next thing he remembered was waking up on his back with Ovsjannikov on top of him and Harrison standing close by with a knife, he said.

The only DNA evidence linking Harrison to the killing was specks of his and the victims blood on one of his shoes.

A witness who had been drinking that night and testified at the court-martial to seeing the fight said it was Cain and not Harrison who killed Ovsjannikov. No other witness blamed Cain for the killing.

At Sundays protest, a loudspeaker played a recording purporting to be Harrisons written confession. Protest leader Aljona Mantaj said she received it from Ovsjannikovs parents, who were at the court hearing and also at the protest Sunday.

Aljona Mantaj said demonstrators want changes so Germany maintains jurisdiction in criminal cases involving U.S. military personnel.

If an American boy kills a German, then you cant give the case to Americans, she said. It should be a German judge, not an American.
As one of the regions with the strongest cultural industry strength, most vibrant innovation, and highest level of international openness in the country, the development of the cultural industry in the Yangtze River Delta has always drawn significant attention. At this year's Yangtze River Delta International Cultural Industries Expo, the "Major Projects in the Cultural Tourism Industry for 2024" were announced. Among the 40 major projects presented, which have strong leading and demonstration effects in promoting the integration of culture and tourism, these projects cover 29 cities in the Yangtze River Delta with a total investment exceeding 120 billion yuan. Meanwhile, the cultural industry in the Yangtze River Delta leverages its advantages as a hub for the convergence of rivers and seas and as a gateway to the Asia-Pacific region, showcasing its pioneering role in opening up to the outside world. In 2022, the total import and export value of cultural products in the Yangtze River Delta reached 47.123 billion USD, accounting for 26.1% of the national total. In the list of key national cultural export enterprises and projects for 2023-2024, the Yangtze River Delta has 110 enterprises and 26 projects selected, representing 30% and 22.6% of the national totals, respectively. Data shows that the scale of the cultural industry in the Yangtze River Delta continues to expand. In 2023, there were 23,955 cultural enterprises above designated size in the region, with operating income reaching 4438.4 billion yuan, accounting for 34.27% of the national total. The total added value of the cultural industry in the Yangtze River Delta grew from 1,220.05 billion yuan in 2018 to 1,629.004 billion yuan in 2022, with its share of the national cultural industry added value increasing from 29.63% to 30.29%. Notably, among the "Top 30 Cultural Enterprises in the Country" released for sixteen consecutive sessions, the total number of cultural enterprises from the Yangtze River Delta has exceeded one-third of the national total, demonstrating advantages in development quality and efficiency. At this year's expo, Anhui Province highlighted "Culture+" and "Internet+", showcasing new formats, technologies, scenarios, and consumption models in cultural technology integration, including generative artificial intelligence, digital creativity, data space, immersive experiences, and cultural equipment. This demonstrated the latest achievements of our province in promoting the cultural industry to "break barriers, shine brightly, innovate through reform, and yield results through projects." Empowered by digital technology, the cultural industries of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui display strong resilience and vitality. In terms of overall scale, leading enterprises, innovative achievements, new formats, and cultural trade, they rank among the top in the country.

Source: Anhuinews.com


The authorities are working to return the legislative provision on the possible seizure of property of corrupt officials who have agreed with the investigation, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, Minister of Justice Olha Stefanishyna said.

"We in the government are concerned, as are our European partners. But we were talking about two priority laws that were adopted fairly quickly one after the other. We are working to bring this norm back," Stefanishyna told journalists in Kyiv on Monday, answering a question Interfax-Ukraine whether European partners were concerned about the Ukrainian parliament cancelling the provision on possible confiscation of property of corrupt officials who made a plea bargain with the investigation.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, this situation is "a technical ricochet, not a political exception to the article."

As reported, on October 29, the Verkhovna Rada improved the issue of concluding plea bargains with the investigation on recognizing guilt in criminal proceedings for corruption-related offenses and criminal offenses related to corruption. In particular, according to the law, in the event of a plea bargain (in corruption-related crimes), a punishment in the form of confiscation of property may be imposed. It was noted that the adoption of the law, among other things, was necessary for Ukraine to participate in negotiations on joining the European Union and to receive EUR 4 billion under Ukraine Facility.

On November 14, the European Commission agreed to allocate EUR 4.1 billion to Ukraine under Ukraine Facility.

On November 20, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in its entirety bill No. 11410 on depriving traitors of Ukraine of state awards. This document, among other things, abolished the norm that regulated that in the event of release from probation due to conviction on the basis of a plea agreement for a corruption criminal offense, an additional penalty in the form of confiscation may also be imposed.
U.S. and South Korean air force F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters train over the Korean Peninsula on July 12, 2022. (Trevor Gordnier/U.S. Air Force)

SEOUL, South Korea  The South Korean air force plans to disperse its newest fleet of F-35A Lightning II stealth jets throughout the country, rather than at just one base, to better respond to North Korean threats, according to local media.

Seoul agreed to purchase the 20 F-35As, expected to be operational by 2027, from the United States for nearly $2.9 billion in December. It also agreed to buy $271 million worth of munitions for the aircraft that month.

The country received its first 40 F-35As from a $7 billion deal in 2019.

The new aircraft will be assigned to several, unspecified installations instead of operating out of Cheongju Air Base, which is home to the current F-35 fleet, unnamed officials said in a Yonhap News report Monday.

South Koreas air force in an emailed statement declined to comment on the report Monday, citing operational security.

The F-35 developed by Lockheed Martin comes in three variants: the A model performs conventional takeoffs and landings; the B model is capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings; and the C model is designed for arrested landings on aircraft carriers.

The U.S. Air Force has already shifted its aerial assets in South Korea during the past year as part of a broader plan to improve its military posture.

Nine F-16 Fighting Falcons from the 8th Fighter Wing out of Kunsan Air Base, roughly 115 miles southwest of Seoul, were assigned to the 36th Fighter Squadron at Osan Air Base, about 30 miles south of the capital, as part of a yearlong trial in June.

The trial is a way to see if the additional F-16s would increase our training effectiveness while also increasing our combat capability if deterrence fails, 7th Air Force commander Lt. Gen. David Iverson said in a news release at the time.

Starting in January, the Air Force will also be retiring all 24 A-10 Thunderbolt IIs in South Korea and upgrading its F-16s in the country to modernize its fleet.

The fourth-generation F-16s will receive new avionics systems and other pivotal upgrades to mimic the capabilities of fifth-generation aircraft, the 7th Air Force said in a news release Nov. 13.

U.S. and South Korean F-35s frequently conduct joint exercises over the Korean Peninsula. In June, Marine Corps F-35Bs and South Korean air force F-35As took to the skies for the first live-fire demonstration with a B-1B Lancer bomber in seven years.
(Do Van Kien/Stars and Stripes)

Saigon, Vietnam, May 5, 1968: Army of the Republic of Vietnam soldiers guard a captured and blindfolded Viet Cong fighter in a jeep. End of April 1968 the VC and North Vietnamese launched an attack shelling more than 120 provincial capitals, towns and allied military installations across South Vietnam and battled government troops inside the capital city of Saigon. The offensive  dubbed the May Offensive or Little Tet  would last until the end of May.

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A T-38 unmanned surface vessel operates in the Arabian Gulf, Dec. 4, 2021. (David Resnick/U.S. Navy)

The United States is arming the Philippines with advanced sea drones as part of an effort to bolster an ally threatened by Chinas territorial claims and growing maritime power.

The state-run Philippine News Agency published a photograph Wednesday of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin checking out a T-12 Mantas unmanned surface vessel a day earlier in Puerto Princessa on the countrys western island of Palawan.

Manila has been in a standoff with Beijings coast guard and maritime militia over disputed South China Sea territory west of Palawan.

The Philippine navy has four T-12s along with another type of sea drone  the T-38 Devil Ray  Marine Capt. Joshua Estrada, a liaison officer at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, said by email Friday.

More unmanned vessels will be provided to the Philippines, Austin said at the Western Command headquarters on Palawan, according to the news agency.

We expect to see many more platforms like [the T-12] delivered with the $500 million in [foreign military financing] that I announced during my visit in July, to help ensure that the Philippines has the capabilities and means to defend its rights and its sovereignty throughout its exclusive economic zone, he said in the agencys report.

Austin didnt say how many additional sea drones the U.S. will provide or how much each of the vessels cost.

The United Kingdom in January 2020 agreed to buy five T-12s, along with sensors, equipment, spare parts, training and technical support for about $2.3 million, Naval News reported at the time.

Austin watched a drone boat in action off Palawans coast, according to the news agencys report.

When the T-12 was on display out there  a fundamental part of that is the ability to command and control that using cyber capabilities, he said.

The electric-powered T-12 is 12 feet long and can carry a 140-pound payload and launch from ship or shore, according to Florida-based manufacturer Martac.

The T12 has the capability of long duty cycles performing the dull, dirty and dangerous missions, the companys website states, listing missions such as mine countermeasure, search and rescue, security, swarming, and electronic warfare and intelligence.

Ukrainian drone boats and missiles have inflicted heavy damage on Russias Black Sea fleet since late 2022, and that success has caught the eye of U.S. officials.

Deploying large numbers of cheap drones into a relatively confined battle space such as the Taiwan Strait or the seas near China could make those spaces no-go territory or escalate the costs of operating there to prohibitive levels, said James Holmes, chair of the maritime strategy program at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I.

The Pentagons Replicator program, announced last year, envisions such a capability, he told Stars and Stripes for an April 12 report.

If the Joint Force, along with our allies, can seal off the straits along the first island chain, it will have corralled Chinas navy and air force and can strike at them with missiles and drones within their own home waters, Holmes said. Thats a wicked problem for Beijing.

But former Navy Capt. Jan van Tol, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a nonprofit defense-policy think tank in Washington, D.C., said Russian electronic warfare and physical barriers have reduced the effectiveness of Ukrainian sea drones.

However, the unmanned vessels could be effective in narrow straits and other geographically constrained areas, he said by email Friday.

Where the ranges are comparatively small, smaller and cheaper kinds of drones could have significant effects in that a comparatively large number of them could overwhelm target defenses, cover significant portions of the anticipated maritime battlespace and, importantly, influence an enemys risk calculus, he wrote.
U.S. and Japanese troops fire High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, and M270 multiple rocket-launchers during the Keen Sword exercise on the northern island of Hokkaido, Oct. 24, 2024. (Rodney Frye/U.S. Marine Corps)

TOKYO  U.S. forces plan to dig in on Japans southernmost islands and in the Philippines if China invades Taiwan, according to a Japanese news agency.

The deployments would happen under a plan being prepared by the United States and Japan, Kyodo News reported Monday, citing anonymous sources familiar with U.S.-Japan relations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has stated his intent to reunite the self-governing and democratic island with mainland China, by force if necessary.

A Marine littoral regiment armed with HIMARS  High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems  would be sent to Japans southwestern Nansei islands, between Okinawa and Taiwan, according to Kyodos sources. Japanese forces would provide logistical support to the Marines.

Littoral regiments typically consist of about 2,000 Marines and are intended to be able to rapidly deploy to islands, coastlines and observation posts along chokepoints.

In November, the Okinawa-based 12th Marine Regiment was transformed into the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment. The 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment was launched in Hawaii in March 2022. The service plans to establish another littoral regiment on Guam.

The 12th Marine Littoral Regiment will integrate with the Joint Force and the capabilities of our allies and partners, supporting deterrence efforts, and remaining prepared to respond to potential crises, 1st Lt. Isabel Izquierdo, a spokeswoman for the Okinawa-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, told Stars and Stripes by email Monday.

Meanwhile, a U.S. Army multidomain task force would deploy to the Philippines under the plan reported by Kyodo. They operate in the air, land, sea, space, cyber and information domains.

U.S. Army Pacifics 1st Multi-Domain Task Force at Joint Base Fort Lewis-McChord, Wash., has sent troops to train in Japan in recent years.

Japans Ministry of Defense and U.S. Army Japan did not immediately respond to questions emailed Monday about Kyodos report.

Any Marine would look at a map of Taiwan and surrounding area and suggest putting missiles nearby, said retired Marine Col. Grant Newsham, a senior researcher with the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo.

Nansei Shoto (Japans southernmost islands) and northern Philippines practically have signs in them saying put missiles here, he said by email Monday. Even non-military types can figure it out.

Missile deployments could help break a blockade of Taiwan, but their real use is in the event of an all-out fight or as deterrence, Newsham said.

The reported joint operations plan demonstrates a higher degree of willingness of both nations to defend their interests - by fighting, if necessary, he said.

Stars and Stripes reporter Hana Kusumoto contributed to this report.
Many Ukrainians are essentially ignoring Trumps recent negative comments to instead focus on how Trump was the first U.S. leader to directly sell lethal weapons to Ukraine. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post)

KYIV, Ukraine  As Ukraine prepares for the looming uncertainty of a new U.S. president, officials and business executives here are coming up with ways to sell Donald Trump on the idea that a strong Ukraine is useful to his political goals  and expressing cautious optimism that he may act faster and more decisively than President Joe Biden.

Kyiv hopes to convince Trump that Ukraine is not a charity case but a cost-effective economic and geostrategic opportunity that will ultimately enrich and secure the United States and its interests. Ukraine hopes that by embracing Trumps transactional approach to diplomacy  including offering American companies lucrative business opportunities  the new president will help ward off Russias advance.

Hopes that Trump will help end the war in a way Kyiv deems fair persist among officials despite views expressed by Trump and many in his inner circle that the conflict is costing U.S. taxpayers too much money and must be brought to a swift end. Such rhetoric has stirred fears that Trump will abruptly cut U.S. support for Ukraines military and push it to cede territory to Russia.

But officials here describe their frustration with the Biden administrations slow rollout of aid. Many Ukrainians are essentially ignoring Trumps recent negative comments to instead focus on how Trump was the first U.S. leader to directly sell lethal weapons to Ukraine.

During Trumps first term, Ukraine got Javelin missiles  the shoulder-fired antitank weapons that the Obama administration had long refused to sell  which helped thwart Russian forces from seizing the capital in early 2022. Trump later pointed to the sales, the second of which came after his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky became a key point in his impeachment scandal, to claim he was tougher on Russian President Vladimir Putin than Democrats were.

The first weapons that Ukraine received from the United States came from a president who hates Ukraine, said Dmytro Kuleba, who served as Ukraines foreign minister until September. He said that despite Trumps unpredictability, his presidency could usher in an era of positive change for Ukraine.

To win Trumps support this time around, Kyiv will need to create similar situations when supporting Ukraine will be a projection of Trumps strengths, Kuleba said. If his goal is to project strength and to say eventually that Im better than Biden, that Biden failed and I ended [the war], then selling out Ukraine is not the way forward.

Ukrainians saw the Biden administrations restrained approach toward aid as damaging to U.S. credibility as a global security guarantor. They also grew frustrated that Biden expressed support for Ukraine publicly but that when it came down to key weaponry decisions, his team took a conservative approach, expressing fears over Russian retaliation.

In recent weeks, the Ukrainians have begun pitching a new era for Americas Ukraine policy involving peace through strength. They hope that message will resonate with Trump in a way it did not with Biden.

Ukrainian opposition lawmaker Volodymyr Ariev said he expects that Trump will check out every penny we spent in Ukraine as American aid, not necessarily because he opposes Ukraine but because he is engaged in a broader feud with the Biden administration.

If Trump wants to make America great again, its in his direct interest to protect Ukraine from being swallowed by Russia because this could be really a point of no return for the United States image as worldwide supervisor for security, he said.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraines presidential office, said it will be up to Kyiv to explain to Trump the political pragmatism behind supporting Ukraine.

We need to provide representatives of the Trump administration, and Mr. Trump himself, with the most comprehensive information about the logic of the process, he said. You spend a small amount of money today to support Ukraine  on weapons, finances and so on  investing and producing. You completely nullify Russias military potential, and after that, you dominate.

I can barely imagine Trump playing along with someone like Putin, he added.

Still, much has changed since Trump approved sending Javelins to Ukraine.

The president-elect is surrounded by an almost entirely new entourage  including Vice President-elect JD Vance, who as a senator voted against U.S. aid to Ukraine, and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who has supported Ukraine with Starlink internet access but also mocked Zelensky and cast doubt on the U.S. role in the war.

Full-scale war has been raging in Ukraine for nearly three years, Kyiv is demanding membership in NATO  the military alliance Trump has threatened to quit  and Putin, responding to Bidens recent decisions to loosen some military restrictions on Ukraine, has ramped up threats that he could intensify and expand the war.

Much of Ukraines ability to sway Trumps views on next steps, observers say, will rely on Zelenskys personal ability to convince him.

A lot is going to fall on Zelenskys shoulders, said Scott Cullinane, head of government affairs for Razom, a U.S.-based nonprofit that supports Ukraine. Hell have to take on that role of becoming that personal interlocutor with Trump.  And at this point, Im not sure any other person or personality can do whats required except for him.

Zelensky appears to have already embraced that reality. He spoke with Trump by phone immediately after he won the election earlier this month  a conversation that followed a September meeting in which he presented to Trump his victory plan, which includes a section on Ukraines natural resources.

Ukraine is framing its reserves as fruitful business opportunities for Americans. It points to its natural gas storage, the largest in Europe, and the presence of minerals, including lithium, as potentially game-changing for microchips and electric car industries  something that might be of interest to Musk and his electric car business, as well.

Control of lithium is the control of the future economy, said Volodymyr Vasiuk, an expert in Ukrainian industry who advises Ukraines parliament on economic matters. It is better for the Western world if these materials remain in the hands of a fairly friendly country like Ukraine, he said.

Ukraine should take advantage of Trumps business approach to foreign affairs and position itself to make deals with U.S. companies to mine its reserves, he said, especially for lithium. The largest such reserve is located in the central part of the country, far from current front lines.

In total, the country has enough lithium to produce 15 million electric car batteries, though one of the sites is already under Russian occupation and another is close to the front line, Vasiuk said.

The Ukrainian gas market is the most lucrative in the world, said Oleksiy Chernyshov, CEO of state-owned NaftoGaz, who will travel to the United States to meet with American companies in the coming weeks. Im confident U.S. companies have a great future in Ukraine now  not tomorrow.

The Trump administration, he said, is made up of people with more business expertise.

I think its great they might consider that. We are speaking about millions of dollars of contracts immediately, he said.

The message has already reached some U.S. Republicans.

Speaking on Fox News last week, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who has repeatedly visited Ukraine throughout the war, described Ukraine as home to trillions of dollars of rare earth minerals.

Ukraine is ready to do a deal with us, not the Russians, he said. So its in our interest to make sure Russia doesnt take over the place.

Anastacia Galouchka contributed to this report.
The Ukraine-NATO Council on November 26 will discuss missile attacks, strengthening air defense systems, equipping Ukrainian brigades and mobilizing financial support, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, Minister of Justice Olha Stefanishyna said.

"We know exactly what to expect from NATO  this is a traditional concern. But for us, the Ukraine-NATO Council platform is a platform that allows us to promptly inform allies and receive operational information and their assessments of the situation, which allows us to form a comprehensive picture," Stefanishyna told reporters on Monday in Kyiv, answering a question about expectations from the Ukraine-NATO Council meeting. The Deputy Prime Minister said on November 26, missile attacks in general, strengthening the air defense capabilities of Ukraine, equipping Ukrainian brigades, as well as mobilizing financial support of at least $40 billion per year, which was guaranteed to Ukraine at the NATO Summit in Washington, will be discussed. As reported, the Ukraine-NATO Council will meet on November 26 in connection with Russia's first use of an experimental ballistic missile on Ukrainian territory.
U.S. soldiers from 1st Platoon, Alpha Battery, 1-57 Air Defense Artillery Regiment train with a Man-portable Air Defense System during exercise Southern Shield in Romania on Nov. 19, 2024. (Leara Shumate/U.S. Army)

An American air defense platoon has been monitoring NATOs eastern flank for more than a week from an undisclosed location in Romania, as part of an exercise that coincides with what Romanian officials say are ongoing drone incursions likely launched by Russia.

Parts of Romania near the border with Ukraine have seen persistent violations and some Romanian lawmakers are calling for the alliance, and potentially U.S. units, to start shooting the drones down.

Such decisions are well above the pay grade of the U.S. soldiers on the ground at the air defense site, who told Stars and Stripes in phone interviews that their work with Romanias armed forces reflects U.S. commitment to NATO and its reassurance mission.

The Southern Shield exercise, scheduled to end Tuesday, also puts the capabilities on display of a platoon that was reactivated about a year ago in Germany, along with the rest of the 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment.

Two platoons from the regiments Alpha Battery were quietly deployed eastward in the fall. The platoon known as the Juggernauts was sent to Romania, while the other was sent to Poland. Both took over existing rotational deployments.

Capt. Kurt Blumeyer, Alpha Batterys commander, said the Juggernauts have exceeded expectations during the Romania exercise.

Our NATO partners can see that within a year, we can rapidly stand up additional capabilities if it becomes necessary, Blumeyer said. These guys have demonstrated that.

In Romania, the Juggernauts normally operate from the sprawling Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base. But for the Southern Shield exercise, they relocated their Avenger systems on short notice.

Once there, they integrated their systems into the Romanians layered air defense network to deal with a mock short-range air defense threat.

We are a chess piece that our battalion commander is able to utilize wherever he sees that we need to be used, said Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Eickmeyer, the Juggernauts platoon sergeant.

Whether units like the Juggernauts could one day switch from deterrence to active defense is an open question. NATO has maintained that the suspected Russian violations lack clear hostile intent.

U.S. soldiers from 1st Platoon, Alpha Battery, 1-57 Air Defense Artillery Regiment, known as the Juggernauts, set up an Avenger atop a hill during exercise Southern Shield in Romania on Nov. 15, 2024. (Kyle Kimble/U.S. Army) A soldier from 1st Platoon, Alpha Battery, 1-57 Air Defense Artillery Regiment, conducts training on the Avenger defense system during Exercise Southern Shield in Romania, Nov. 19, 2024. (Gabbi McElyea/U.S. Army) U.S. Army Col. Hailey Bairu, commander of the 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, directs soldiers' attention to a potential defensive position during exercise Southern Shield in Romania on Nov. 15, 2024. (Leara Shumate/U.S. Army)

But critics say that doesnt change the fact that the alliances airspace is being repeatedly compromised. And while the initial incidents reported involved only drone debris, they appear to be evolving into direct incursions into NATO airspace.

Last month, without mentioning Russia, Romanias Defense Ministry said it had deployed two F-16 jets and two Spanish F-18s after a drone was detected inland in the southeastern county of Constanta, home to the Mihail Kogalniceanu base, where many U.S. and allied units operate.

Shortly afterward, Romanian lawmakers drafted government-backed legislation that would allow air defense units to shoot down drones that illegally breach the countrys airspace. Current domestic law prohibits destruction of aircraft flying over the country.

The bill stipulates that allied systems present in Romania could also participate in any action, in agreement with collective defense treaties, according to Reuters.

Romanias defense minister also has joined his counterparts across the eastern flank in calling for a NATO-wide response to repeated violations of their airspace.

Ann Dailey, a policy researcher at Rand Corp., said that without such a response, not only could the incursions start resulting in significant damage or loss of life, but Russia could also exploit the inaction by purposely violating NATO airspace.

Historically, Russia uses a sort of boil-the-frog approach to inuring NATO nations against some of their activities, and if they dont experience pushback then they just keep dialing up the heat, Dailey said in a phone interview. So it is incredibly important that NATO responds to these incursions.

Under international law, nations have sovereignty over their airspace. Shooting down a drone may not be considered an act of war but rather an act of enforcement  or in NATOs case, collective self-defense.

However, shooting down airborne threats could pose danger to civilians and infrastructure in some cases. The weapons used by air defense systems also are much more expensive than the drones that have so far illegally entered Romanian airspace.

Most of the drones involved in the incursions fly very slowly and at low altitude, meaning they are more difficult to detect with traditional ground-based radars, especially radars conceived and developed to deal with missiles and fast objects flying into the air, said Federico Borsari, a resident fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis.

Both Dailey and Borsari said NATO must develop new capabilities to deal with the airspace threats.

Units like the Armys air defense artillery still can target a host of threats, including more destructive missiles. The American soldiers in Romania said their presence in the country and exercises like Southern Shield allow them to act quickly in the event of a flashpoint.

What we are doing is setting the conditions that if needed, we already have the muscle memory to work with our allies for a common operating picture, said Lt. Col. Andre Ruff, commander of the 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment.

Juggernauts platoon leader 2nd Lt. Gabbi McElyea agreed.

Our platoon likes to get out there and get into the field and train as best we can so were prepared for whatever comes our way, McElyea said. Were out here becoming more combat-ready should that call come down to us.
Georgia Army National Guard soldiers enter a CH-47 Chinook helicopter during a training mission in western Iraq on Oct. 30, 2024. They are part of a coalition to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. U.S. forces have repeatedly come under attack by militants in the two countries over the past year. (Tyler Becker/U.S. Army)

U.S. forces are fighting Iranian-backed proxies in Syria frequently as they come under militant attacks that analysts say have been aided by the Syrian government.

Dozens of those rocket, missile and drone attacks have focused on a strategic American base at a gas field in northeastern Syria near the Iraq border, a de facto territorial dividing point between forces backed by Iran and the U.S.-led coalition to defeat the Islamic State group.

Mission Support Site Conoco has been attacked about 40 times since October 2023, U.S. Central Command said in a statement this month.

Many of those attacks have taken place in recent months, after U.S. and Iraqi officials announced the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq and in the aftermath of Israels campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Soldiers assigned to the 37th Infantry Brigade of the Ohio Army National Guard fire an M777 howitzer during an exercise at Mission Support Site Conoco in Syria in December 2022. Conoco has been attacked about 40 times since October 2023, U.S. Central Command said. (Julio Hernandez/U.S. Army)

Conoco, a dusty outpost about 5 miles from an airfield controlled by the Syrian regime, has become the front line for an Iranian proxy attempt to pressure U.S. forces to leave Syria altogether, said Charles Lister, the director of Syria and Countering Terrorism and Extremism programs at the Middle East Institute.

Some of the attacks appear to be directly facilitated by the Syrian regime, said Lister, citing unidentified official U.S. sources.

The U.S. has repeatedly hit back with artillery strikes, mostly targeting Iranian proxies. But its also struck Syrian government positions, Lister said.

Were not just looking at war in Gaza, were not just looking at war in Lebanon, but the U.S. is actually fully engaged in a hot conflict right now, involving Iranian proxies and the Syrian regime in eastern Syria, Lister said.

On Friday, the Pentagon said U.S. forces had been attacked 125 times in Syria and 79 times in Iraq since October 2023, according to Reuters.

CENTCOM did not respond to earlier Stars and Stripes questions about how frequently the U.S. was responding to militant attacks and whether Syrian government locations were among those being targeted by American artillery fire or other retaliatory strikes.

Although groups linked to Syrian President Bashar Assads government attacked U.S. forces over the past year, the regime didnt take a very active role, said Renad Mansour, a senior research fellow and director of the Iraq Initiative at the London-based think tank Chatham House.

An AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter takes off for a mission in July 2024 at Irbil Air Base in Iraq. U.S. forces are part of a coalition to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. American service members have repeatedly come under attack by militants in the two countries over the past year. (Joseph Kumza/U.S. Army)

But the Syrian government and other groups could be changing their thinking as it becomes clear that are just no red lines for Israel from their perspective, and that they are also at war, and Israel will attack the Syrian regime, Mansour said.

A U.S.-led coalition in Iraq and Syria is working to prevent a resurgence of ISIS. About 900 U.S. service members and an undisclosed number of contractors are operating in Syria, where they support local Kurdish forces.

An additional 2,500 American military forces are in Iraq, the Defense Department said in September. That same month, the White House announced an agreement with Iraq to wrap up the U.S. military mission there next year, though it didnt specify whether the agreement would mean a full troop withdrawal.

Some of those attacks in Iraq and Syria over the past year have killed or seriously injured American military personnel. Eight U.S. service members suffered traumatic brain injuries and smoke inhalation from an Aug. 9 militant drone attack at Rumalyn Landing Zone in northeastern Syria.

Days earlier, four U.S. troops and a defense contractor were injured in a rocket attack Aug. 5 at al Asad Air Base in Iraq.

And three soldiers were killed and dozens more injured in a one-way drone attack at an American outpost in Jordan just across the Syrian border on Jan. 28.

Soldiers assigned to the 44th Infantry Brigade of the New Jersey Army National Guard fire an M121 120 mm mortar system in northeastern Syria on Oct. 16, 2024. U.S. forces have come under attack by Iran-backed proxies in Syria more than 120 times in the past year. (Kyle Marr/U.S. Army)

CENTCOM seldom has announced the attacks or U.S. retaliation against the groups responsible for them. But earlier this month, the command revealed a series of recent U.S. retaliatory strikes against militia groups in Syria for attacks on American service members and facilities.

Those actions included a Nov. 12 strike targeting a weapons bunker and logistics headquarters of an unnamed Iranian-proxy group for an attack on U.S. and coalition forces at Patrol Base Shaddadi in northeastern Syria.

Last month, the command said the base at Shaddadi had been attacked 22 times since October 2023.

The militant attacks and U.S. response have followed a cyclical, tit-for-tat pattern, said Michael Knights, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute and expert on military and security affairs in Iran, Iraq and the Gulf states.

For the third time this year, were probably in a cycle where (militant groups are) going to keep pushing the envelope, Knights said. And then were going to crack them a couple of times and then theyre going to stop again for a while. Thats where we are right now.
Smoke rises over Beirut's southern suburbs on Nov. 25, 2024, after Israeli airstrikes. (AFP/Getty Images/TNS)

(Tribune News Service)  Israel and Hezbollah inched closer to signing a ceasefire deal that may be concluded in the coming days, according to officials and people familiar with the matter, even as the two sides continued to fire artillery and rockets at each other.

Israels security cabinet is expected to vote on an agreement Tuesday, and passage is considered likely, according to an Israeli official, who asked not to be identified discussing internal deliberations. That could pave the way for the U.S. and France, which have mediated the talks, to announce it immediately, the official said.

U.S. and French officials on Monday both said there had been significant progress but cautioned that there was still work to be done. Earlier Monday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the two sides were still working through procedural elements and nothing is negotiated until everything is negotiated.

We are close to a deal, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Michael Herzog, told Israels Army Radio on Monday, adding that some final points still needed to be addressed. It could happen within days.

Axios reported earlier that the security cabinet would convene Tuesday to approve the deal.

The U.S. would help oversee enforcement of a 60-day suspension of hostilities during which Hezbollah fighters would move north of the Litani River, about 19 miles away from the Israeli border, two Israeli officials said. The enforcement requires monitoring that Hezbollah militants also dont bring any more Iranian weapons into Lebanon. Israel reserves the right to respond if it sees breaches of the agreement that arent properly addressed  one aspect of the deal that received significant pushback.

The Israeli shekel strengthened 1.7% against the dollar on Monday  its best performance in around a month  and oil prices dropped on optimism a deal would ease tensions in the Middle East.

Still, there have been similar predictions by other Israeli and U.S. officials in recent weeks about an agreement being imminent, and it remains unclear if Hezbollah will accept a deal. Over the course of the separate war in the Gaza Strip, U.S. officials frequently said in public a deal was close, only to have the negotiations scuttled by disagreements.

The Iran-backed group has been severely weakened after two months of increased Israeli sabotage, air strikes and ground incursions in southern Lebanon. But its still able to fire rockets into Israel on a daily basis and put up some resistance against Israeli ground forces.

On Sunday, Hezbollah fired at least 250 rockets and drones into Israel, wounding several people, and the Israeli air force struck targets in Lebanon.

In Israel, a far-right coalition member, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, came out against the proposed truce. He said it would be a missed opportunity to crush Hezbollah, a militia group that is ideologically committed to Israels destruction. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may still be able to secure cabinet support even without Ben-Gvirs approval.

The two sides have been in conflict since Hezbollah began striking Israeli territory in October last year in solidarity with Hamas. Both Hezbollah and Hamas  which triggered the ongoing war in Gaza with its attack on southern Israel  are designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S. and many other countries.

Amos Hochstein, a White House envoy for the Middle East, was in Lebanon and Israel last week to try to clinch a ceasefire before President Joe Biden hands over to Donald Trump in January. Another U.S. envoy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Daniel Shapiro, was in Israel on Sunday and Monday for what local media said were talks on future security arrangements in Lebanon.

Last week, one of Hezbollahs main political allies, Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri, said there was progress but there were still technical details to resolve.

Israel also wants the Lebanese army, which is separate from Hezbollah, to deploy in the south of Lebanon, beefing up a contingent of United Nations peacekeepers and helping to ensure the militant group doesnt operate there.

The Israeli government wants the right to resume strikes in Lebanon in the event of infractions by Hezbollah. The Lebanese government and Hezbollah have pushed back at that demand.

Around 2,500 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli strikes and the ground offensive in the past two months, while 1.2 million people  more than a fifth of the population  have been displaced. About 50 Israeli troops have been killed in combat in southern Lebanon.

Tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced from both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border. Netanyahus cabinet has made enabling the return of northern Israelis to their homes a priority, something that cant happen without an end to fighting with Hezbollah.

Talks between Israel and Hamas over a ceasefire in Gaza, meanwhile, have stalled for months. Though the conflicts are connected, theres little sign a deal over Lebanon would increase the chances of a truce in Gaza.

Hezbollah initially said it wouldnt stop attacking Israel until there was a ceasefire in Gaza, but it softened its position as it suffered military losses.

Hezbollah folded on this demand, due to the heavy drubbing it took, Zeev Elkin, a member of Israels security cabinet, said to Tel Aviv radio station 103 FM.

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A gavel rests on the judges bench in the courtroom of the 39th Air Base Wing legal office at Nov. 14, 2019, at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. (Joshua Jospeh Magbanu/U.S. Air Force)

(Tribune News Service)  A former U.S. Navy officer has been sentenced for conspiring to steal over $850,000 in military gear and selling it to buyers in other countries, federal officials said.

Richard Allen, 53, pleaded guilty Aug. 29 to conspiracy and six counts of money laundering. Now, hell serve 18 months in prison followed by three years of federal supervised release, the United States Attorneys Office said in a Nov. 21 news release.

Allen was also required to pay $100,000 plus any sum obtained through forfeiture and directed to restitution.

The maximum penalties Allen faced were 125 years in prison and a fine of $3.5 million, court documents said.

Mr. Allen has unequivocally accepted responsibility for his actions. He realizes that he made very poor decisions, Melissa Larsen, Allens attorney, said in court documents.

Allen  who served the U.S. Navy for more than 20 years before retiring  began the scheme while stationed at Naval Weapons Station in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he had unfettered access to warehouses, court documents stated.

Using his access, Allen stole $856,433 worth of Navy gear and supplies, including uniforms, winter gear, flame retardant shirts and pants, soft body armor, goggles, infrared flag patches, Navy SEAL Trident insignia and Small Arms Protective Insert plates, according to court records.

Then, Allen and his co-conspirators sold the military gear to buyers in over 50 countries, including Russia and China, authorities said.

Court documents revealed Allen used an email address hosted on a Russian server to communicate with buyers, even telling one buyer he could make a wish list.

He accessed military base police radio codes to monitor activity and make sure the thefts succeeded, authorities said.

Allen was driven by greed to not only steal and attempt to profit from his crime, but to endanger the very national security he was sworn to uphold, Special Agent Michael Krol said in the release.

Even after retiring, Allen kept directing the conspiracy and receiving payments for it, according to the release.

One of Allens co-conspirators, Matthew Thomas Deleo, was arrested in December 2015. He pleaded guilty to three charges in 2018 and was sentenced to time served (approximately 19 months), 3 years of supervised release and ordered restitution in the amount of $866,582.97, court documents said.

The scheme was investigated by Naval Criminal Investigative Service-Northeast Field Office; Defense Criminal Investigative Service-Northeast Field Office; Homeland Security Investigations; Department of Commerce, Office of Export Enforcement-Boston Field Office; and the FBI, according to court documents.

While the ramifications of this conspiracys actions can never fully be known  what with official U.S. Navy gear disseminated to foreign nations  the sentence in this case communicates the gravity of Richard Allens betrayal to the country he once honorably served, said U.S. attorney Zachary Cunha.

Sheriffs official stole from grandma to dine out and go clubbing in Vegas, feds say

Mail-theft schemes leader found with USPS keys and 50 stolen checks in shoe, feds say

Federal worker lured 21-year-old wife on deadly dinner date, feds say. Hes sentenced

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Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, Minister of Justice Olha Stefanishyna does not see significant changes in the U.S. stance on inviting Ukraine to NATO.

"These were very lengthy deliberations that lasted almost 20 years. I do not see that anything has changed much at this stage, and before the elections [in the United States] and now. I can confirm that the American administration generally supported this decision, but we were clearly guided by the fact that Ukraine should be invited to NATO. Namely, expressing the U.S. position both to strengthen us politically and for a real solution would not have had any effect," Stefanishyna told journalists on Monday in Kyiv, commenting on the Bloomberg publication that the United States has changed its mind about inviting Ukraine to NATO.

Earlier, Bloomberg reported that the administration of U.S. President Joseph Biden had changed its mind about inviting Ukraine to join the North Atlantic Alliance NATO, despite the fact that it was considering the possibility of a public call for an official invitation.
The judge imposed a prison sentence of seven years, but suspended six years on a number of conditions, including that he engage with addiction services and fully cooperate with his mental health care plan

Brian McKee (29) of St Aongus Park, Tallaght, Dublin 24, pleaded guilty to criminal damage by arson to a house at Heather View Lawn, Tallaght on July 27, 2018. PIC Collins Courts

A man has been jailed for a year for setting fire to his partners family home, causing it and two adjoining houses to be demolished.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Brian McKee (29) of St Aongus Park, Tallaght in Dublin, pleaded guilty to criminal damage by arson to a house at Heather View Lawn, Tallaght on July 27, 2018. He has no previous convictions and has not come to garda attention since this incident.

Garda Josh Doran previously told Joe Mulrean, BL, prosecuting, that on the morning in question, McKees partner woke to find him standing at the bottom of her bed covered in blood and with a cut to his stomach.

McKee had been home all evening and had been minding his child while she went out with friends. The court heard that when his partner returned home, he believed she was giving him the cold shoulder before she went to bed.

McKee, who had not drunk in a few months, drank a can of Coors Light and some gin from the bottle in order to knock himself out and sleep. He believes that he may have also taken cocaine.

McKee was seen by neighbours just after 5am standing outside the house holding a long-bladed knife and was covered in blood. His partner and child left the house and went to the house next door. The gardai were called, and just as they arrived, witnesses saw that the house in question was on fire.

Gda Doran said that he heard a crashing noise coming from inside the house and found McKee lying at the bottom of the stairs, unconscious. Gda Doran pulled McKee out of the house and was then informed by McKee that his child and someone called Brian were still in the house.

By this time, the house was engulfed in fire, and gardai attempted to enter the house. McKee took off his clothes and attempted to run into the house.

The gardai were still of the belief that a child was in the burning house and had to tackle McKee to the ground and have him detained in a patrol van.

The court heard that the fire spread through the attic to a neighbouring house, which was severely burnt and had smoke and fire water damage.

The house on the opposite side had radiated heat and smoke damage.

All three houses were privately owned and had to be knocked to the ground and rebuilt. The owners of the house are the parents of McKees partner who were away in Spain at the time.

Garda technical experts stated that the fire started on the couch in the living room. Pictures of the houses were handed into the court.

McKee was interviewed twice and answered all questions. He was asked by gardai if he had set fire to the house, to which he replied, Id say so. He said that he could not remember lighting the fire and described it as completely foggy, like a haze.

A victim impact statement was read to the court by counsel from the son of one of the adjacent houses, which was damaged by the fire. It said: I was living in the house with my parents, partner and child so we could save for our first home. We had bought furniture for our new home which we stored in the attic. The attic was the first part of the house to catch fire.

We had to take our baby out of its cot and go outside due to the fire. This was the worst year of my life.

The owner of one of the adjacent homes read his own victim impact statement, which stated, My wife and I (lived in) one of the the three houses destroyed by the fire.

We lost family belongings which cannot be replaced, and we ended up out of pocket, which caused arguments within the home.

I had to take time off work unpaid, which caused difficulties, and I lost out on wages of 2,600.

The man said that his home insurance did not cover the entire cost of repair, and he had to pay 11,000.

Gda Doran agreed with James Dwyer, SC, defending, that this case had a difficult procedural history and that the plea was of benefit and entered in advance of a trial date.

Mr Dwyer said his client began drinking at the age of 12 and began to take drugs in his mid-teens. He has also undergone rehabilitation in the past and supplied urine analyses, which were negative for drugs.

Counsel said McKee had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and has suffered from mental health issues. Medical reports and letters describing McKee as a hardworking, kind and a caring man were handed into the court.

Mr Dwyer said his client is living with his family and has their support. He said he has demonstrated that he has stayed out of trouble since this incident and described it as a once-off. He said McKee has insight and understanding and is a decent young man.

Judge Pauline Codd sentenced McKee today. She noted that he had a long history of psychiatric difficulties, including Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder, which had been aggravated by his cocaine and alcohol misuse.

This was a most serious offence and involved very serious recklessness, she said. Its accepted he did not intend to harm anybody or the property. But he was in a state of self-induced psychosis on the night.

She said that to set fire to a house in which his partner and child were present, a terraced house where it spread to two neighbouring houses, involved criminality of a high degree.

The fright of being woken up in the middle of the night with your house on fire cannot be understated, she said.

She took into consideration a letter from his estranged partners parents, who wrote to highlight the hard work he had done on his mental health and the bond he has with his child.

She imposed a prison sentence of seven years, but suspended six years on a number of conditions, including that he engage with addiction services and fully cooperate with his mental health care plan.

An amount of 3,000 he had brought to court is to be paid to the neighbour whose home insurance had not covered the full cost of rebuilding.
Peter O'Malley came to attention of gardai after his actions were uncovered by the FBI

A former HSE manager who distributed depraved child abuse images and expressed a fantasy about raping a two-year-old girl has been sentenced to six years in jail.

Peter OMalley, (47) of Hawthorn Place, Ballinrobe in Co Mayo, originally from The Neale, pleaded guilty to 10 sample counts of a 36-charge indictment of possession and distribution of depraved child abuse imagery on the online app Kik at Castlebar Circuit Court.

OMalley, held a senior managerial post in the HSE and was central to the setting up of Covid testing centres in Mayo and Roscommon during the pandemic.

He was a formerly in charge of the HSE orthotics department in Mayo, Galway and Roscommon and ran several private clinics in Mayo and Galway.

OMalley had been charged with 36 separate counts relating to his illegal and depraved online activity which began in 2020 and spanned a 22-month period.

Details of the category 1 images exchanged, and the horrific and graphic messages sent by OMalley, were laid out by Judge Eoin Garavan at todays hearing.

Detective Garda Paula Griffin of Mayo Protective Services Unit had previously told the court gardai received information from the FBI based in Philadelphia and a joint investigation into OMalley was co-ordinated between them.

The court heard OMalley became the facilitator or administrator of an online private group on Kik and would only allow admittance if he was sent three videos or five images of a sufficient graphic nature by prospective members.

Online conversations OMalley, had with other users on the Kik app, included him asking another user if he could rape his eight-year-daughter.

On another occasion, he engaged in conversations of extreme depravity with a user and discussed in graphic detail raping a young child.

OMalley expressed a desire to inflict injury on a two-year-old through violent abuse and wanting to make her cry.

During a search of OMalleys home in October 4, 2021, four devices were seized, including two mobile phones and a tablet belonging to the accused, as well as a work phone belonging to the HSE.

OMalleys personal phone held 128,791 images and approximately 70pc of which were of a pornographic nature both legal and illegal.

In total, 249 images included child abuse images, 62 of which were of category 1, which include child rape.

The category 1 images included content of children from three-years-old to 17 engaged in sexually explicit activity or witnessing it, of which there were children being abused by adults.

Some of the images included young children visibly crying or screaming.

The category 2 images included content in which children were exposed.

In the course of online conversations, OMalley expressed to other members of the group his preference for early teens or pre-pubescent children.

OMalley also engaged several teenage girls in explicit conversations.

Judge Garavan said by facilitating the group, OMalley had created a market for the abuse material which caused children somewhere in the world to suffer.

He said OMalley displayed an obsession with pornography and paedophilia and he and the other members of the group were effectively a type of paedophile ring.

Judge Garavan said other members of the group would get their kicks from discussing the abuse of their own children- a feature he said would cause anybodys heart to break.

He said he found the imagining the fact children were crying and screaming in the images most disturbing.

Judge Garavan said that although OMalley was co-operative to a certain degree with gardai it was hard to accept he had genuine remorse.

He said children were abused to such an extent it amounted to torture and he was certain they were physically and emotionally traumatised.

Judge Garavan, found OMalleys offending was on the lower end of the upper-range or the upper end of the mid-range in terms of sentencing.

Notwithstanding the repulsive and reprehensible nature of his crimes, OMalley was entitled to some mitigation due to his guilty plea and the fact he had no previous convictions and was now a pariah to all.

Judge Garavan praised the good work of the FBI and the gardai in bringing OMalley to justice

Setting a headline sentence of nine years, he said OMalley was entitled to 25pc remission leaving him with a sentence of six years and nine months.

He suspended the last nine months and ordered OMalley to take part in a sex offenders rehabilitation programme.

O'Malley will be subject to post-release supervision for a period of three years. He will have to have prior approval from gardai or the Probation Services before he owns, uses, or accesses a smart phone or other digital device.

He will be obliged to provide gardai with all email addresses he uses and must permit gardai to inspect these devices at any time.

Dressed in a white shirt, navy tie and navy suit trousers, OMalley sat with his head bowed and spoken only to say he accepted the post release terms of his sentence.
The pensioner had suffered stress when he saw well-known publican Charlie Chawke shot in 2003

A pensioner who went to well-known publican Charlie Chawkes aid after he was shot during a botched robbery more than 20 years ago was allegedly caught with amphetamines for sale and supply in a Lidl car park.

Oliver McDonald (66) of Kilmurray, Ballinagar, is alleged to have had the drug for sale and supply at the Lidl car park on Main Street, Tullamore, Co Offaly on September 14 last.

The court heard previously that the estimated value of the seizure was 630.

Amphetamines are stimulants in either powder or tablet form that users can either sniff or swallow.

When his case was called in court on Wednesday, Sgt Richard Thornton informed the court that he was still awaiting instruction from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the case.

If the DPP directs that the case is dealt with in the District Court, the maximum sentence that can be handed down is a fine and a sentence of up to 12 months in prison.

Innocent publican Charlie Chawke

If, on the other hand, the Director rules that the case should be heard in the Circuit Court, the maximum sentence does not apply.

Sgt Thornton sought and was granted an adjournment in the case to January 2.

Aisling Maloney, defending solicitor, had previously sought statements in the matter and had revealed that her client was undergoing cancer treatment.

Pensioner McDonald had previously told how he suffered stress after he was present when publican Charlie Chawke was shot.

In October 2003, Mr Chawke was shot in the leg following a botched robbery at his south Dublin pub.

The pub owner tried to seize the weapon as the robber approached and was shot.

Following the terrifying ordeal, Mr Chawkes leg had to be amputated above the knee.

Gunman Frank Ward was given two life sentences after he pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious harm to Mr Chawke and robbery of 48,652 in cash and cheques.

His sentence was later reduced on appeal to 20 years and he was released in 2018.

In an interview given last year, Mr Chawke said the horror attack still affects him to this day.

He added: Im still getting on, Ive a good family and they look after me so everything isnt too bad.

Its great to be alive  It was terrifying of course. I was nearly dead. I thought I was gone  but the doctors saved my life ... Ive had a good life since.
The racers were followed by dozens of spectators vehicles that blocked traffic passing them out on the N7 and M3

SULKY racers caused traffic chaos on motorways in Dublin last weekend in a series of illegal races  which are a favourite of Irish gangland figures.

The racers were followed by dozens of spectators vehicles that blocked traffic passing them out on the N7 and M3.

In highly dangerous manoeuvres, trailing cars drove side-by-side within inches of each other as passengers hung out the windows to get a better view.

Filming the races and shouting at the sulky pilots, they had to duck back in at times to avoid colliding with other spectators.

A convoy of high-powered SUVs were seen driving on the median and across slip roads to stop other motorists from trying to overtake the rolling road-block.

One race took place in darkness on Saturday evening, just after 7pm, between Rathcoole and Clondalkin on the N7 when the route would typically be busy.

Vehicles caught up in the racing

Another was staged the day before in daylight hours on the M3 where vehicles waited at junction 5 to spread across both lanes and the emergency lane as the sulkies came down the slip road.

The brazen racers and their followers went ahead with races even though the roads were busy with regular traffic at the time.

Such events are usually held between midnight and dawn to avoid the attention of gardai and regular road users.

Meanwhile, a senior gangland figure is taking part in the Young Guns sulky racing contest involving competitors from Ireland and the UK.

The well-known criminal cant be named because he is currently before the courts on serious drugs charges, but regularly posts about his horses on social media.

Sulky races on the N7 between Clondalkin and Rathcoole

The trotting ponies can change hands for in excess of 100,000 with significant sums of cash staked on races.

Although not considered as being of high-value outside sulky racing, one Limerick based drug dealer is known to have offered 85,000 for a prized pony.

Many of the horses are considered too young to be galloped on roads, according to animal welfare campaigners.

The races have become a key networking event between gangsters across Ireland and in the UK.,

Sulky racers on the N7 between Clondalkin and Rathcoole

Sulky racing has been cited in various cases taken by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) as how different individuals became known to each other.

This summer, property belonging to prominent sulky trainer William McInerney was seized by the Bureau.

In the case against McInerney, the trainer was described by CAB as a member of the McCarthy mob with close ties and associations with hierarchy of the gang.

He was known as a sulky trainer and jockey by other members of the gang and trained the horses at the property.

It was stated by CAB that sulky races are very often illegally organised events utilised by criminal elements to launder criminal funds through gambling and horse sales.

The property had been used by Limerick mob boss Eds Carthys gang to launder drugs cash 12 years ago.

The rural property at Kealderra, Bodyke, Co Clare included a house, 20 stables and 18.5 acres of land, and was bought for 223,000 in 2012 by the trusted associate of McCarthy.

McInerney had claimed in garda interviews the money came from various business deals and sales, but didnt challenge the original CAB case.

The Bureau stated that during the investigation a complex money laundering scheme using various bank accounts and people in Ireland and Spain was dismantled.

In another CAB case surrounding a car firm set up in Limerick to launder drugs money, it was shown how the top players knew each other through a shared interest in sulky racing.

It brought together criminals from a variety of backgrounds and from both sides of the deadly Limerick underworld feud, with connections spanning the UK and Europe.

A leading figure in the infamous Dublin-based Monkey Gang is known to have an interest in a horse which featured in another controversial race staged on the M3 motorway last year.

Kinahan cartel foot soldier Nathan Biggie Little is another enthusiast who has posted photos of horses and sulkies to his social media account.
Not only would their clothes be burned, but also the trailer or wagon they lived in.

A PROMINENT Travellers rights campaigner has opened up about her communitys harrowing ritual of burning the belongings of a loved one after they die.

Not only would their clothes be burned, but also the trailer or wagon they lived in.

Advocate Catherine Joyce has been working with Travellers and championing their human rights for nearly 40 years in west Dublin.

The humanitarian is married to Michael Collins, who famously played Johnny Connors in the hit RTE soap Glenroe.

I think for Travellers, theyve adapted it from out of what was the necessity, explains Catherine on the custom of burning belongings.

TB was very prevalent in Ireland, so everything was burnt. But from anybody that died from TB.

But Travellers who lived on the side of the road would have taken that literally and said we have to get rid of everything as a memory of this person.

So they were burnt, not only the clothes and whatever was belonging to that person, but theyd also burn the trailer or caravan or wagon that they lived in.

And there was two things about it. I often question it myself, like, how can poor people afford to replace that trailer? I would question it myself.

Catherine confirms that a house a dead Traveller lived in might not be burned down, but their relatives would still have problems living in the property.

You dont burn the house, but I think rather than burning the house, Travellers would move away, she explains.

Like, if it was a local authority, ... no other Traveller would ever live in the house again, but like settled people, they are starting to wake their dead at home as well now.

So, then that piece of that tradition is slipping for some families.

Catherine maintains that Travellers make up only a tiny part of the population  at just 0.1pc.

If you think of that community and how many people know each other within that community... if I sold my trailer to you and you said, well, Ive seen your mother in the trailer... that will cause conflict within the Traveller community, she argues.

As a way of avoiding that conflict, just get rid of it.

She recalls on RTEs The Meaning Of Life how she first started working with Travellers when she was 15.

I didnt expect to be working with Travellers. That wasnt a career path that I was looking at, but I think once I started to learn about the injustice that Travellers were suffering, about the racism and discrimination that we experienced... then it was just something that I couldnt drop.

It was like something that was born and I had to get to do something about it, she says.

Catherine explains to Joe Duffy that she was born in Dublin, a daughter of Mike Joyce and Ally Ward, who had 14 children. Catherine was in the middle, the first girl after seven boys.

They lived in houses; they lived in wagons. They lived in wagons and tents on the side of the road. They lived in trailers, they lived in Travellers sites. They lived on the side of the road on a field, she reveals.

The accommodation in Traveller life was always a constant part of us growing up, and it didnt matter where we lived and it didnt matter the type of accommodation  the roof over the head was the important thing and that was always the responsibility of my father to make sure that we had somewhere to live and that we had money to keep us going.

We didnt have everything, but we didnt want for anything.

My father was a very good worker.

He worked all his life, he had a good work ethic, which I think he instilled in most of us.

He worked originally with picking scrap on the dump and then he worked as a driver for Posts and Telegraphs, now An Post.

She got married when she was 17 years and three months, which was 38 years ago this year.

After having their first child, Catherine and her husband Michael raised her four youngest siblings after her parents died at young ages  her father at 54 and her mother at 49.

Catherine also recalls how her husband broke into TV.

I think it was Wesley Burrowes who was the [Glenroe] writer then... he started to look at how they could explore the inclusion of Travellers in the storyline for Glenroe.

So he wrote Liam Heffernans character which was Blackie Connors and then as a result of that and later on they wrote the actual storylines around Travellers into the Glenroe storyline.

The Meaning of Life is available on the RTE Player
Hundreds of protestors took to the streets of the midlands town to voice their concerns

A large crowd turned out to voice their angst against government plans to open a temporary accommodation facility which is set to take in 1,000 single male asylum seekers over the coming weeks.

Hundreds of protestors attended a rally in Athlone yesterday against proposals concerning the opening of IPAS centre in the midlands town.

Homeowners living in a midlands town have vowed to sell up and relocate elsewhere if government plans to house 1,000 male asylum seekers inside a temporary accommodation facility goes ahead.

Hundreds of protestors took to the streets on Sunday to voice their growing indignation against plans to house 1,000 male asylum seekers at a temporary accommodation facility by telling government leaders: Athlone says no.

That was the defiant message delivered by a large group of demonstrators who took part in a march through Athlone to the proposed 11-acre site in Lissywollen.

A large crowd turned out to voice their angst against government plans to open a temporary accommodation facility which is set to take in 1,000 single male asylum seekers over the coming weeks.

Tensions surrounding the Department of Integrations decision to utilise a site at the rear of an existing direction provision centre and the towns Department of Education offices has intensified since its initial announcement six weeks ago.

A number of incandescent local authority meetings have followed over the intervening period, conversations which climaxed last Thursday when five councillors announced plans to launch High Court proceedings against the move.

Athlone Mayor Frankie Keena, together with councillors John Dolan, Kevin 'Boxer' Moran, Aengus O'Rourke and Paul Hogan have instructed their legal advisors to lodge papers with the High Court to commence a judicial review of the Section 181 order issued by Minister Roderic O'Gorman to commence the development of the new facility.

A GoFundMe page designed to cover the cost of the quintets legal action has so far amassed 37,000, monies a number of those who attended yesterdays protest revealed they had already donated to.

We have a daughter and a daughter in law in the creche just beside it, said one local woman.

We dont want 1,000 men coming in here, no way. We dont know where they are coming from. They (government) are not listening and Simon Harris doesnt care.

Others, meanwhile, who also spoke to the Irish Independent revealed they were contemplating selling up and moving elsewhere if their calls go unheeded.

I am in Garrycastle and this is going on weeks here and no one has batted an eyelid, said Michelle Macken.

I will be selling up and going to Spain. I have a lovely house up in Garrycastle, but I would not live there. If this is down the road from me, I will be gone.

Fiona Milton, Deborah O'Sullivan and Alan Milton at yesterday's protest.

She was joined by fellow protestor Deborah OSullivan who said she had talked her sister out of moving back home, such was her unease at the contentious plans

There was a number of new houses being built here and my sister was talking about buying one as she lives in New York, Ms OSullivan remarked.

Our people are nervous as it is. I told her to stay away from it and on top of that there is a lot of elderly people living in the area.

Those concerns were ones which were echoed by two other local women, Chloe Farrell and Rita Duddy.

We are not racist, but what the Government is doing would make you very racist, said the latter. Its just too many single men.

In a Department of Integration circular which was conveyed to local politicians a number of weeks ago, senior officials told of how the proposed facility had been earmarked to accommodate all 1,000 international protection (IP) applicants in tented and modular accommodation.

The first 100 of those are expected to arrive over the next two to four weeks, moves which sparked others to likewise voice their displeasure at the proposals.

I am really, really concerned, said local woman Fiona Milton.

We just live behind it and I am really concerned because we dont know who these people are. As it is we are terrified to walk in Athlone, but this will make it extra terrifying for all the people of Athlone.

"We have no trust in the Government to find out who these people are. They are just not listening to our concerns and our community is lost.

The plans have been a hot topic in Athlone throughout the General Election campaign. A Fianna Fail candidate who has been criticised for social media posts about immigration has claimed comments made on Tik Tok should not be considered political statements.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin has said he disapproves of comments posted by an account owned by Longford-Westmeath hopeful Dympna Cunniffe.

Her TikTok account posted a number of messages supportive of the local campaign to block an asylum seeker accommodation centre in Athlone.

But she has now accused the media of mispresenting her. Among her comments was one asking: Would you want your children walking to school adjacent to the coming and goings of 1,000 asylum-seekers awaiting background checks from countries dubbed high risk as per government documents?
The bank said a survey it commissioned shows that seven out of 10 people report having experienced attempted financial fraud

Fraudsters are more active than usual ahead of Black Friday. Photo: Getty

PTSB has warned consumers to be on their guard for fraudsters in advance of Black Friday and the pre-Christmas shopping period.

The bank said a survey it commissioned shows that seven out of 10 people report having experienced attempted financial fraud.

It said a new app feature it launched for its banking customers that detects fraud messages and scam websites has led to a sharp fall in fake website clicks by its customers.

The bank said Black Friday and pre-Christmas shopping period a key target for fraudsters as transaction volumes increase sharply.

PTSB said its ongoing Reflecting Ireland research shows that 71pc of people report having experienced attempted financial fraud.

Some 27pc of those surveyed said they fell victim to the fraud.

This rises to over a third of younger adults. The bank advised customers to watch for fake ads.

Customers can be duped by clicking on fake ads for high value goods being sold at artificially low prices.

These ads can direct them to fake websites designed to capture their card details, PTSB said.

It called on consumers to watch for fake websites.

Many genuine websites are mimicked by fraudsters with similar web addresses and the same look and feel. These are also designed to capture card details.

It said people can be vulnerable to fake SMS text messages pretending to come from banks.

These are designed to con people into sharing sensitive information, such as passwords and PINs, that can be used by fraudsters.

It said customers should never click on links in an SMS or WhatsApp message.

Shoppers were advised to only buy from websites that they can trust and verify.

The advice from the bank is to look for features that signify they are doing business with a genuine website, such as a verifiable company name, address and phone number.

PTSB said it has seen a 55pc reduction in the number of customers responding to fake websites following the introduction of PTSB Protect last year.

This is despite a 13pc increase in the number of fake websites being created.

PTSB Protect helps to prevent customers falling victim to fraudulent scams by alerting them if they receive a text message containing a fraudulent link or blocking them from accessing a suspicious website on their mobile device.

As PTSB Protect is an opt-in service, the bank is urging customers who have not yet opted in to do so as soon as possible, in advance of Black Friday and the pre-Christmas shopping period, a key target period for fraudsters.

PTSB said that on Black Friday last year, it processed over 1.3 million card transactions, 44pc more transactions than its daily average.

Black Friday is later this week. Chief operating officer at PTSB Peter Vance said that scams are getting more sophisticated.

This means consumers need to continue to be on their guard more than ever.
UPDATE: Gardai have confirmed Eoghan has been found safe and well Eoghan is described as being approximately five feet tall with a slim build. He has brown hair and blue eyes.

Gardai are appealing to the public for help finding a missing 12-year-old boy.

Eoghan OReilly has been missing from the Springfield area of Tallaght, Dublin 24, since Sunday evening, November 24.

He is described as being approximately five feet tall with a slim build. He has brown hair and blue eyes.

When last seen, Eoghan was wearing red and black Montirex tracksuit and a black jacket with a fur hood.

Anyone with any information on Eoghans whereabouts is asked to contact Tallaght Garda Station on 01 666 6000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station.
Photos show smoke rising from a damaged structure in an area of barren trees

A DHL cargo plane crashed on approach to an airport in Lithuania's capital and skidded into a nearby house Monday morning, killing a Spanish crew member, officials said.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.

The head of the country's firefighting service said that the plane skidded a few hundred metres and photos showed smoke rising from a damaged structure in an area of barren trees.

A surveillance video from a nearby company showed the plane descending normally as it approached the airport, and then exploding into a huge ball of fire behind a building. The moment of impact could not be seen in the video.

Rescue workers sealed off the area, and fragments of the plane in the companys trademark yellow color could be seen amid wreckage scattered across the crash site.

The plane crashed into a house near the Lithuanian capital Vilnius (AP)

The cargo aircraft was carrying four people when it crashed at 5.30am local time. One person, a Spanish citizen, was declared dead and the other three crew members  who were Spanish, German and Lithuanian citizens  were injured, said Ramunas Matonis, the head of communications for Lithuanian police in an email.

Matonis added that the circumstances of the accident were still being investigated.

Residential infrastructure around the house was on fire, and the house was slightly damaged, but we managed to evacuate people," said Renatas Pozela, chief of the Fire and Rescue Department.

One eyewitness, who gave her name only as Svaja, ran to a window when a light as bright as a red sun filled her room, and then heard an explosion followed by flashes and black smoke.

I saw a fireball, she said. My first thought is that a world (war) has begun and its time to grab the documents and run somewhere to a shelter, to a basement.

Lithuanians public broadcaster LRT, quoting an emergency official, said two people had been taken to the hospital after the crash, and one was pronounced dead.

The person who was killed was a member of the flight crew but not a pilot, officials said. Firefighters freed two pilots from the cockpit, one of whom was more seriously injured, according to the General Commissioner of the Lithuanian Police Arunas Paulauskas.

Paulauskas told a news conference that the cause of the crash was under investigation. He said officers went to the hospital to interview the crew members.

He added that investigators were considering possible causes including technical failure and human error, and have not ruled out the possibility of a terrorist act.

The Lithuanian airport authority identified the aircraft as a DHL cargo plane arriving from Leipzig, Germany, which is a major freight hub.

Flight-tracking data from FlightRadar24, analyzed by the AP, showed the aircraft made a turn to the north of the airport, lining up for landing, before crashing a little more than 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) short of the runway.

The crash happened just before 5:30 a.m. Weather at the airport was around freezing temperature, with clouds before sunrise and winds around 30 kph.

DHL Group, headquartered in Bonn, Germany, did not immediately return a call for comment.

The DHL aircraft was operated by Swiftair, a Madrid-based contractor. A representative from the company said it not have any immediate comment.

The Boeing 737 was 31 years old, which is considered by experts to be an older airframe, though thats not unusual for cargo flights.
White House allows Ukraine to use ATACMS missiles for self-defense in Kursk area

Kyiv has the right to use American ATACMS missiles in Kursk area if necessary for self-defense, White House adviser John Kirby said on Monday.

The U.S. media said, citing Kirby, Ukraine can use ATACMS for self-defense in case of urgent need, and such situations are observed in Kursk area.

He said Washington had previously modified the rules for the use of missiles by Ukraine, and now Kyiv can use them for strikes against specific types of targets in Russia. The reports do not specify what specific types of targets are being discussed.

Earlier this month, The New York Times, citing sources, reported that U.S. President Joe Biden authorized the use of ATACMS missiles by the Ukrainian military to strike Russian territory.

The head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, also announced the lifting of restrictions on Ukraine's use of American weapons for strikes deep into Russia.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed at least one Irish citizen was on board

Yachts and boats are docked in the marina at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada after a tourist boat sank off Red Sea coast (REUTERS/Stringer)

Egyptian authorities say 17 people are missing, including foreigners, and 28 have been rescued after a tourist boat sank in the Red Sea (Red Sea Governorate)

There was at least one Irish citizen on a yacht which sunk off the coast of Egypt this morning as a rescue operation continued to search for 17 missing people.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that it is providing consular assistance to the family members of the Irish citizen(s) on board, but did not confirm the number or whether they are still missing or safe.

Four British tourists are also feared to be among those missing.

The tourist yacht Sea Story sank in the Red Sea following warnings about rough seas, Egyptian officials have confirmed.

The governor of the Red Sea region, Amr Hanafy, said rescuers saved 28 people from the vessel south of the coastal town of Marsa Alam, and some were airlifted to receive medical treatment.

Hanafy said 31 tourists of various nationalities were on board along with 14 crew.

Yachts and boats are docked in the marina at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada after a tourist boat sank off Red Sea coast (REUTERS/Stringer)

The governorate received a report shortly before dawn on Monday of a distress call made from the yacht, which had left Marsa Alam for a five-day journey.

It was not immediately clear what caused the four-deck, wooden-hulled motor yacht to sink. But the Egyptian Meteorological Authority on Saturday warned about turbulence and high waves on the Red Sea and advised against maritime activity for Sunday and Monday.

A person answering the phone at the company that operates the yacht, Dive Pro Liveaboard in Hurghada, Egypt, told The Associated Press they have no information and hung up.

According to their website, the Sea Story was built in 2022 and can hold 36 passengers.

The Egyptian military was coordinating rescue operations with the governorate.

Many tourist companies have stopped or limited traveling on the Red Sea due to the dangers from conflicts in the region.
The 64-year-old U2 star went on a drink and drug bender while on tour in Australia in 1993 and was so out of it he missed a gig.

U2 star Adam Clayton has revealed for the first time he sought help for his alcohol and drug addiction in rehabilitation clinic The Priory.

While the millionaire bassist has previously opened up about how Eric Clapton helped him beat his drink and drug demons, this was the first time he revealed he had sought help in the British rehab clinic favoured by celebrities.

The 64-year old went on a drink and drug bender while on tour with U2 in Australia in 1993 and was so out of it he missed a gig.

Adam with Phil Coulter

Clayton makes his admission when the table is turned on him while hosting his new TV series Ballroom Blitz.

Aideen OBrien, a daughter of famed showband legend Brendan OBrien of The Dixies  who became addicted to alcohol after he was forced to give up live music after being electrocuted on stage  asks the star about his sobriety.

It was a real struggle, says Adam. I had gotten to the point, where I knew something was wrong but it wasnt until I missed a gig that it was really wrong.

And then it was I dont want to lose music, music was the only thing that [gave] me anything.

I was lucky because a friend of mine knew Eric Clapton and they organised a call and he was pretty hardcore about it.

He wasnt soft at all. He was youve got to get yourself into The Priory; theyll take care of you.

Clayton admits many people will be surprised that despite being a member of one of the worlds biggest rock bands hes fronting a series about showbands.

I think when the idea was first put to me, this is an era of music that I didnt know much about and it directly preceded punk in Ireland, and that was the vehicle that allowed you the freedom to develop and write songs and perform, he says.

On my journey Im keen to learn more about Irelands first pop stars, and the reasons for both the rise and the fall of Irish showbands.

From the 1950s to the 1970s over 600 showbands packed out 1,000 ballrooms nationwide.
Overall youth vaping rates in New Zealand have dropped more than 50 per cent over the past three years, a new survey shows.

The 2024 ARFNZ/SPANZ/NZAIMS Vaping in New Zealand Youth Survey, released today, reveals that vaping among students in Years 9 to 13 has dropped considerably, with 12 per cent vaping in the last seven days - down from 27 per cent in 2021.

The survey also shows that 3 per cent of Year 7 and 8 students had vaped in the last seven days. This is the first survey to look at the prevalence of vaping across both intermediate and secondary schools, including students as young as 10 years old.

Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ Chief Executive Letitia Harding said she is pleased with the overall results as they show that tighter regulations and on-the-ground education are having a positive impact.

"Since 2017 we have been strongly advocating for tighter regulations to prevent the uptake of youth vaping - thats seven years of battling vaping, but weve finally got some wins.

"Though were seeing lower rates of youth vaping overall, we cannot take our foot off the pedal."

Unfortunately, vaping has increased among older students, Harding said.

In the 2021 survey, 17 per cent of Year 12s and 13 per cent of Year 13s had vaped in the last seven days. This survey reported that 20 per cent of Year 12s and 26 per cent of Year 13s had vaped in the last seven days.

"This tells us that students who were in Year 10 in 2021 have continued to vape, and we are now capturing their habits as Year 13s in this survey," she said.

"These are the students that have fallen through the cracks - and the ones we need to continue to support."

Of those students who had vaped in the last seven days, nearly half of those reported that vaping is harming their health, with 23 per cent of those vaping daily and 42 per cent vaping several times a day, Harding said.

"Even more alarmingly, some youth are waking in the middle of the night just to vape."

Maori students have the highest weekly vaping rates - nearly twice the rate of NZ European students - followed by Pacific students, Harding said.

Foundation Medical Director Professor Bob Hancox said the survey results contain both good and bad news.

"Vaping rates among younger students have fallen dramatically, which suggests that the regulations and educational efforts to reduce youth vaping have been effective.

"However, vaping has increased among older students and rates in Year 13 students are now twice as high as 2021," he said.

"This shows that older students are finding ways to get around the regulations."

More than a quarter of Year 13 students vaped in the last week, with many consuming high nicotine doses, Professor Hancox said.

"It is alarming that so many report symptoms of nicotine addiction."

The findings highlight the need for further tightening of the regulations, continued education, and targeted interventions for young people addicted to vaping, Professor Hancox said.

"We need to do everything we possibly can to avoid a new epidemic of nicotine addiction among a generation of young people."
New research has found reading for pleasure with children when they are young can help them in difficult circumstances  and its never too late to make a difference.

The AUT-led study Relationships Between Reading For Pleasure And Childrens Wellbeing In Aotearoa New Zealand looked at the pandemic lockdown experience of 2421 children from the Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) study who were 11 years old at the time.

Those who had positive attitudes towards reading, had more engagement with reading, and were reading earlier in life, reported better general health and wellbeing during lockdown. They also felt more supported and more connected with others in their bubble.

When children were read with in their early years, they reported their wellbeing during lockdown was more positive  even when adjusted for household income and ethnicity, said Associate Professor Ruth Boyask, lead researcher of the study and Director of AUTs LitPlus research group.

It may be that this is due to the relationship and bonding that happens when adults read with children, and it is also likely that the language element is important  supporting the development of cultural identity, critical thinking and understanding of their world.

Three-fifths of the children had symptoms of depression and anxiety during lockdown, and the early positive experiences with reading did not help with that. However, reading together with others while in their bubbles was associated with less depression.

Dr Boyask said the research also tells us the benefits of reading are not equally accessible to all children, with beneficial reading experiences more likely in high income households, where there are more resources to support childrens reading for pleasure, and amongst European ethnicities, who appear to engage more in reading for pleasure.

Families need access to reading resources that reflect the cultural make-up of their children, and public resources for reading  like libraries and schools  can be used to equalise differences in opportunity, she said.

To gain insight into the statistical findings, the LitPlus researchers held focus groups with 15 young people who were of a similar age during the pandemic.

AUT Senior Lecturer John Milne led this focus group phase of the research and said the children reported feeling better and calmer after reading, and that this had benefits for other aspects of their lives, including their social relationships.

These children said that during lockdown they found friends within the texts, and that they could identify with the situations of the characters when their real-life friends were distant and engagements with peers were largely virtual. Their reading material provided a topic for conversation with others who shared their bubble.

They believed their reading helped them during lockdown, in some cases comparing how well they coped in comparison with friends and families who were not readers, Dr Milne said. As children move into adolescence, reading may help them overcome their problems.

Associate Professor Ruth Boyask said the benefits of reading for pleasure are numerous and far-reaching.

International research shows that children who read for pleasure are more likely to have advanced vocabulary development, enhanced school performance and more developed brain function, she said.

They demonstrate more prosocial behaviour at school, fit in better through connecting with others, and make healthier choices around eating and smoking.

Dr Boyask said society also benefits as individuals who engage in literary reading are more than twice as likely to participate in volunteer or charity work, more likely to vote, as well as having a higher reading proficiency.

It is clear that reading with other people, talking about reading and relating ones own experience to what is being read, has great benefits for wellbeing.

AUTs LitPlus research group focuses on children and young peoples enjoyment of and motivation for reading. Its report Relationships Between Reading For Pleasure And Childrens Wellbeing In Aotearoa New Zealand was made for the Ministry of Social Development with funding from the Children and Families Research Fund. The research was done in association with Manukau Institute of Technology and with the support of the National Library of New Zealand.

The University of Aucklands Growing Up in New Zealand is NZ's largest longitudinal study of child health and wellbeing, following the lives of more than 6000 rangatahi and their families.
An online tool developed by scientists at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland allows for detailed monitoring of the nations coastal erosion from satellite imagery.

Around a map of New Zealand, dark red lines show the beaches eroding the most and clicking into any individual line gives detailed information going back to 1999.

The data is updated once a month.

This tool is a game-changer for anyone involved in coastal science or management, said Professor Giovanni Coco, of the School of Environment.

Online beach monitoring for the whole of New Zealand is now a reality.

The tool, called CoastSat New Zealand, can be used to monitor shoreline changes, assess coastal erosion, and support conservation efforts. For now, the tool is for specialists since more investment and tweaking would be needed for a version for the public.

Software engineer Nick Young of the Universitys Center for eResearch and Coco built on the work of scientists at the University of New South Wales, who created an open-source software toolkit that pulls beach position data from publicly available satellite imagery.

Erosion hot spots exist in places such as Port Waikato while other places are accreting, such as Whatipu.

As coastal areas face increasing pressures from climate change and human activity, tools like CoastSat New Zealand are essential for informed decision-making, said Coco.

Google Earth Engine gives access to a growing archive of publicly available satellite imagery, providing the opportunity for global-scale analyses stretching back decades, Australian scientists led by Dr Kilian Vos said in a paper explaining their work.

This project was made significantly easier by Kilian Vos providing the data and code freely online, said Young.
B201s architectural brilliance has been recognised at the 2024 New Zealand Architecture Awards, alongside a project in the Bay of Plenty by Professor Anthony Hoete.

The University of Aucklands B201 building has come out a winner again, as one of the 23 projects to be recognised as the best of New Zealands architecture in 2024.

Te Kahui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects 2024 awards were announced on November 22 with sustainability an important theme in a number of categories. B201 (Jasmax, with architect Chris Scott) was a winner in the Education section.

One of New Zealands most sustainable refurbishments and a world-leading exemplar of low-carbon design, the judges said those creating the buildings design also sought to elevate the mana of Waipapa Marae and the Fale Pasifika, connecting them confidently into the heart of the campus.

B201 was described as a highly effective collaboration between Ngati Whatua Orakei, the University and multidisciplinary artists Haumi, and this is evident in the integrated artwork that appears to prioritise dialogue with place in its acknowledgement of whenua, mana whenua, marae and fale.

With exemplary execution of long-pondered masterplan moves, the project masterfully repurposes a tough brutalist structure to transform the cultural precinct, reaching out to connect across and below Symonds Street into the academic heart of the University. In synergy with established street trees, the mesmerising zig-zagging ara moana form of the atriums hybrid timber roof structure works impossibly hard to covertly provide light, shade, ventilation and acoustic treatment.

B201 has received one of New Zealands highest-ever Greenstar ratings and its low-carbon design and adaptive reuse aspire to set new benchmarks for sustainable educational environments.

Professor Anthony Hoete (Ngati Awa, Ngati Ranana) from the School of Architecture and Planning was also a winner for the University, in two categories, the Small Project Architecture section and the Heritage section for Whare Mimiru. Hoete worked with former University staff member Dr Jeremy Treadwell, now at Waikato, for the project.

They used a traditional Maori construction technique, mimiro, to rebuild a historic Bay of Plenty whare tipuna (ancestral house), Tanewhirinaki.

Originally constructed in the 1870s on Opeke marae, Tanewhirinaki was destroyed in the 7.8 magnitude earthquake of 1931. Despite the iwi salvaging key carvings and preserving them in sheds on the marae for nearly 90 years, three subsequent attempts to rebuild the whare failed due to the loss of matauranga (knowledge) required for its reassembly.

To address this, the researchers designed a new timber structure using the mimiro technique, ensuring it met modern earthquake standards. This innovative approach utilised digitally cut timber portals with interlocking compression joints instead of bolts, alongside ropes that were used to pull the structure to the ground like a tent.

Partnerships between architects and mana whenua were well represented in this years winners.

So many projects came from completely different walks of life, but used the vehicle of architecture to explore the potential of partnership between cultural groups. It was epic, said jury convenor Caro Robertson.

Buildings were lauded for their manakitanga (care), inclusiveness, and sense of history, as well as their efforts in sustainability.

Winners were chosen from a shortlist of 48 outstanding projects and spread across 11 different categories.

They were judged by a panel of architects, including Robertson, co-director of Spacecraft Architects; Ari Stevens, associate at Athfield Architects; educator Julie Stout; and Patrick Kennedy, founding partner of Melbourne studio Kennedy Nolan.

Robertson referred to buildings creating lovely spaces that are supportive of culture and narratives. These are buildings formed to carry out our daily activities, our work, our play and also our self-expression.

Front L to R: Timothy Howarth (Beca), David Doherr (Barnes Beagley Doherr), Matthew Ballard (BBD), Chief Property Officer Simon Neale, Property Services, Rebecca Irwin (Jasmax). Back L to R: Evan Fenwick (Precon Project Management); Alistair Allan, Property Services Project Manager; Tristram Collett, Property Services, Assoc Director Planning and Development; Guillem Ferrer (Hawkins); Sanjay Nand (Hawkins)

Big winner earlier in month

On November 8, the B201 Redevelopment Project Team, the Universitys Property Services Team and it partners and collaborators, was crowned the Barker & Associates Supreme Excellence Award Winner 2024, the highest honour at the Property Council of New Zealands Auckland Property People Awards, after also winning the Best Team Award.

The judges said the project was groundbreaking in transforming the 50-year-old Human Sciences Building into a cutting-edge 26,500m educational space. It was celebrated for its exceptional collaboration, commitment to innovation and unrelenting focus on achieving a strong sustainability outcome.
The weeks leading up to Christmas can be stressful for many Kiwi families, with rising costs and tighter budgets making it harder to put nutritious meals on the table.

Thats where Stoney Creek Hunt for Good comes in, helping to ease the burden by transforming responsibly harvested wild venison into high-quality mince that nourishes communities in need.

In 2024, it achieved a major milestone, surpassing its first-quarter 2025 goal by producing over 1000kg of mince - enough to provide 6750 servings to families around New Zealand.

For founder Jasper Osborne, the work is deeply personal.

Weve seen firsthand how tough things can get for families, especially at this time of year. Our mission is simple: to ensure more whanau have access to healthy kai that helps ease the burden on families' budgets. Theres no better feeling than knowing the work were doing is helping to take the pressure off.



Hunt for Good founder Jasper Osborne, Hunt for Good volunteer Dyllan Turnball and Bill Osborne - Board of the Hunt for Good Charitable Trust.

Osborne said their efforts arent just about providing meals - theyre about making a tangible difference for organisations and the people they serve.

One such partner, Under the Stars, which feeds the homeless and those in need in Tauranga, shared the impact of the venison donation.

We are super grateful to Hunt for Good for their generous venison donation! This is going to make a huge difference to our organisation, being able to provide good quality protein in our meals without it costing the earth. Thank you so much for partnering with us, said Ani Stace from Under the Stars.

She said this collaboration ensures vulnerable individuals have access to nutritious, high-quality kai - a necessity, especially as the holiday season approaches.

While the focus is on helping families, the journey wouldnt be possible without the support of key partners like Stoney Creek, which has joined forces with Hunt for Good to make this vision a reality.

Its durable, purpose-built gear allows the team to operate in challenging conditions and ensures every effort is carried out with care for the environment.



Bill Osborne, a board member of the Hunt for Good Charitable Trust, delivers to the Tauranga Community Food Bank.

Stoney Creek owner and CEO Brent McConnell also shared his excitement.

Were absolutely stoked to join forces with Jasper and the team on the ground. Stoney Creek Hunt for Good is providing a great natural food source for Kiwi families and communities that are in need, especially as we head into the challenges of the holiday season. Here at Stoney Creek, were all about experiences, providing for people, and protecting those things were passionate about. This is our way to give back to the communities that support us.

The Hunt for Good team is such a good bunch, with a strong mission and purpose. This project tackles the pressing issue of deer numbers in rural areas, and its putting an incredible, tasty food source into the hands of people who will genuinely benefit from it. My wife Juanita and I, along with our entire Stoney Creek team, are proud to support this cause that makes a meaningful difference on so many levels.

As families across the country prepare for the festive season, Stoney Creek Hunt for Good remains committed to providing nutritious venison mince to those who need it most.

With continued support, it is not just feeding people - it is creating connections, reducing waste, and ensuring a brighter, healthier future for Kiwi communities.

For more information or to donate, please contact: info@huntforgood.co.nz or www.huntforgood.co.nz
Javier Almellones Malaga Monday, 25 November 2024, 14:44 Compartir

You don't need to leave Malaga province to find quality products. An Iberian acorn-fed ham, a matured cheese made from goat's or sheep's milk, a quality vintage red wine or a bottle of extra virgin olive oil fresh from pressing. All of these can be found in Malaga. However, not all of them can always be found in the grocery stores in every village, town or city across the province. For this reason, over the next five weeks here are 11 markets, fairs and events where the key players are the local products, made in Malaga, most of them under the promotional brand Sabor a Malaga.

Sausages, homemade sweets, honey, jams or Malaga moscatel sultanas are some of the other tasty products that can be found at these markets and fairs. Here are 11 possibilities in the coming weeks to fill your larder, and your stomach as you taste a few samples on these excursions.

1 30 November and 1 December Fiesta del Pan Duro in Valle de Abdalajis

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Festivals that revolve around food are making a strong comeback. Valle de Abdalajis has opted this year to bring back the Fiesta del Pan Duro (literally 'the hard bread festival') with many culinary activities, but also with a market of artisan producers, in which there will be many representatives from the village itself, from the Guadalhorce Valley region and from other parts of the province of Malaga. This is an ideal event not only for some festive food shopping but also to learn more about the cuisine of yesteryear where nothing was wasted.

2 30 November and 1 December Benaojan cured meat fair

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This event is now in its twentieth year in the village of Benaojan, which has been known for more than a century for the production of all things pork. Although years ago the main focus was on quantity, in recent years a decisive step has been taken towards quality, which is evident in this annual event, where it will be possible to buy directly from local producers the different sausages and other pork products that are made there. Besides buying sausages from local companies, there will also be other local products such as cheeses and sweets. The festival will be held on both Saturday and Sunday with live musical performances.

3 1 December Purple Carrot Fair in Cuevas Bajas

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This gastronomic event, which revolves around a seasonal and endangered tuber, is also celebrating its twentieth anniversary. Although the 'mora' carrot is the protagonist, this gastro-themed festival also offers a good opportunity to buy other products from this village and the local area at a reasonable price to fill the larder in preparation for Christmas. Among the most curious products is a meat-based stuffing made from chicken, ham, breadcrumbs and egg, among other ingredients.

4 From 4 to 9 December The great 'Sabor a Malaga' fair

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Throughout the December bank holiday weekend - and even two days before - Malaga city's Paseo del Parque will once again be the setting for one of the most important gastronomic and trade events for products made in the province. Specifically, from Wednesday 4 to Monday 9 December, this emblematic space in the centre of the Costa del Sol's capital will be the venue for the gathering of numerous producers who have signed up to the Sabor a Malaga promotional brand and they will be selling directly to customers at the stands. Christmas sweets, cold and cured meats, cheeses, liqueurs, early harvest extra virgin olive oils and wines are just some of the products that will be on sale during this massive event in the centre of Malaga. In addition, as in previous years, there will be various activities to promote Malaga's cuisine, such as live cooking demonstrations and live music.

5 From 5 to 9 December Taste of Manilva

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It will again coincide with the Gran Feria Sabor a Malaga, but this event is already more than consolidated and has its own audience and fanbase. Now in its seventh year, it will once again be held under a marquee in the iconic Plaza de la Vendimia (this urban space will have a new image for the occasion). Over the course of five days, local products can be sampled and bought. In addition to the quality moscatel wine produced in this municipality in Malaga, many others can also be found both in the village and in its immediate surroundings, including some villages in the Serrania de Ronda and the Western Costa del Sol itself. As well as being able to buy products for Christmas at different stalls, visitors will be able to try some free samples.

6 7 December Genalguacil agricultural and handicraft market (monthly)

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Every first Saturday of the month the so-called 'museum village' in the Serrania de Ronda hosts a gathering where you can buy artisan and agro products in a great atmosphere, thanks to live music and other parallel activities. For the month of December the event organisers have announced that it will have a Christmas theme. The market is held from 1pm to 8pm in the village's main square.

7 7 December Pig slaughter festival in Farajan

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The first year was a great success and the organisers expect at least a repeat of that success. Lovers of Iberian ham have an unmissable event in the village of Farajan in Malaga province. In the heart of the Genal valley the second outing for this festival is being held in the holiday weekend, offering visitors the opportunity to get to know and then buy some of the hams and sausages made from chestnut-fed igs. The three producers linked to this mountainous area, Langenal, Dehesa de los Monteros and Alto Genal, will be there. Alongside them, there will be other producers from the Serrania de Ronda and the surrounding area. There will also be a re-enactment of the traditional slaughter, food tastings and live music.

8 15 December Malaga cheese market in Coin

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Lovers of artisan cheeses made in Malaga, mainly goat's cheese, but also some made from sheep's milk, have a good option to buy them directly from those who make them at two markets scheduled for the third weekend of December. On Sunday 15 December, there is a new gathering of Malaga producers to be held at the Guadalhorce agri-food market, located at the entrance to Coin town. Although a similar event was already held on 17 November, this December date is especially recommended for buying artisan cheeses made in the province of Malaga due to its proximity to the Christmas holidays.

9 8, 9 and 10 December Benalauria handicrafts and gastronomy fair

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On the second weekend of December, one of the most important gastronomic events in the Serrania de Ronda region takes place in the village of Benalauria. This is the Handicrafts and Gastronomy Fair, which has been going since 1999 and has only been interrupted by a global pandemic. There you can buy everything from the organic preserves and jams of La Molienda Verde (a local company) to payoya goat's cheese and high quality sausages. As well as a large market, there will be many activities related to food throughout the weekend. This will be the 24th edition of this themed festival where you can buy many products from the Genal Valley.

10 22 December Cuevas del Becerro agro artisan market

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Another monthly event in December that is ideal for filling the larder with products from Malaga is the one offered by the village of Cuevas del Becerro. This season the agro-artisan market, which used to be held monthly, has become quarterly or seasonal. The next market will be held on the last Sunday before Christmas, 22 December. This market sticks to its principles of being a little 'alternative', where you can buy many organic and artisan products directly from those who make them. In addition, there will be a good atmosphere, with live music and other activities related to the market itself.

***Other possible events, but not yet confirmed, are the cheese markets or fairs that could take place in San Pedro de Alcantara (Marbella) and Estepona (between 12 and 15 December). Local products will also be available for purchase at other events in the coming days, such as the Christmas Market and Migas Festival in Torrox, the Fiesta de las Mozas in Tolox, and Christmas markets planned in various towns in Malaga (Gaucin's Christmas Fair is confirmed as running on 30 November and 1 December 11am-7pm with live music and children's activities).
Cristina Vallejo Monday, 25 November 2024, 10:58 Compartir

SUR has had access to a home whose location cannot be revealed, nor can the identity of its occupants who are still under threat. The flat has been rented by Betania, an association that houses women who are victims of gender-based violence. It is not the only house designed for this purpose in Malaga or in Andalucia.

Those who work for Betania - psychologists and social workers - have lost count of how many women have passed through the doors of the flats they run. They arrive because they are referred by the police, a hospital, another association or on their own initiative after searching the internet for a place to stay.

However, not all women who contact Betania are admitted to one of their homes. Before any decision is taken, they are interviewed to assess their situation, whether they have a social support network, because if they have family or friends with whom they can live, this is the preferred option. In this case, the legal counselling team, psychologists, social workers, accompany the victim externally.

If the woman is alone or cannot find adequate support in her own circle she moves in to the home. Sometimes, depending on the degree of danger she is in or if her aggressor is very close, she is taken to a flat in another city. The most vulnerable women, those who are most alone and most at risk, live in Betania houses.

They usually arrive with almost nothing but the clothes on their backs, so the first thing they are given are the basics: shelter, clothes for them and their children, toiletries etc. From there, they are given moral and psychological support and company. The intervention team puts together a multidisciplinary jigsaw in order to rebuild the broken victims.

"They don't see themselves as victims, they don't believe it could be happening to them. They also blame themselves with irrational ideas, justifying the aggressor"

Laura Rodriguez, the psychologist at the house that Betania has opened to SUR, explains that many women enter a phase of denial: "They don't recognise themselves as victims, they don't believe that this could be happening to them. They also blame themselves with irrational ideas, justifying the aggressor, identifying themselves as the trigger for the aggression they have suffered. Their emotions can go from euphoria, joy and well-being to mourning for the break-up of the relationship."

Sometimes they wonder how they can miss someone who scares them. Sometimes they may not recognise themselves as victims even if they identify violence in other women, because then they would have to ask themselves how they could have accepted such a situation.

Of all ages and social classes

There are women who open up immediately, who start talking about everything that has happened to them, but there are others who find it very difficult. Each woman, each case, is different. This is what the Betania team coordinated by Martha Valencia insists. In reality, the only characteristic shared by the victims is that they are women: all ages, nationalities, social classes and educational levels.

As such the intervention process "depends on the degree of awareness that each woman has about what has happened to her", says social worker Ana Gaona: "There are people who have felt trapped until the trigger that led them to flee happened. But there are other women who don't even know what gender-based violence is. In a patriarchal structure, many behaviours are naturalised."

"Psychological violence is at the root of all abuse. The abuser shapes the woman's behaviour"

"Psychological violence is always at the root of all abuse. The abuser shapes the woman's behaviour. That is why they look for justifications for their aggressor's attitude and therefore blame themselves," Rodriguez explains. The feeling of guilt reaches the point where women say that they are harming the aggressor, says Angela Guzman: "He is going to jail and it is my fault", they say. The victim sees herself as the executioner.

And that is not the only reason why women sometimes regret having reported their aggressor. As Martha Valencia points out, the authorities will question the victim's testimony because they often do not have sufficient training to deal with the issue. "If the violence is visible, if there is a bruise, then there is no problem, but if it is not visible, if it is invisible violence, if it is economic, psychological, the first option tends to be not to believe the victim or to minimise the situation, to play it down", they say. And that is the manipulation to which she has been subjected by her aggressor, the 'gaslighting', that process that consists of making her doubt everything, even her memories and the information provided by her senses.

When the authorities doubt a testimony, "the little strength that has been gathered to denounce disappears and so does all the intervention work that has been done with the victim to teach her to identify the facts"

"The little strength that has been gathered to denounce disappears, as well as all the intervention work that has been done with the victim to teach her to identify the circumstances, the facts, the irrational ideas, the responsibility, the guilt and the triggers of the conflict," says the psychologist. All the professional work done to deactivate what has been the only thing the woman has heard for years ("you're lucky I still love you", "what would you do without me?"or "I really liked you before"), this silent manipulation, the result of which is the total loss of the woman's self-esteem and even her identity. Many come to Betania and do not know who they really are, who they were before they met their abuser and who they want to be, because for too long they have only been waiting for the aggressor's validation to try to prevent his violence.

That is why they are given a routine at home so that they can relearn how to live. At the beginning, many do not know how to be independent. Martha Valencia explains that depending on each woman's situation there are two types of resources, flats, for them: comprehensive care, in which the victim is "released" as she improves (some women arrive and do not even want to go out on the street, nor do they have the strength to go to a job interview or to carry out basic procedures) and semi-autonomy, which are offered to women with less deterioration or who are at a more advanced stage in their process of recovering their self-esteem.

Going out the front door

The team that manages the houses has the fundamental mission that these are places where tranquillity and emotional stability are guaranteed. So they work to ensure that all the women, who may come from different cultures and different generations, live together in harmony, that they treat each other with familiarity and the same goes for the professionals who look after them.

Ana Gaona says that women who have experienced similar situations and who are living together create mutual help groups. It helps them to share experiences and to realise that they are not the only ones to have suffered violence, which reinforces their testimonies. Although she also recognises that there are cases in which no progress is made and that they are referred to other instances so as not to harm the recovery of the rest of the users.

The women are initially admitted for six months, but the Betania team avoids 'false healing' and sometimes they stay for up to two years in the flats

The women who enter these houses stay for six months, according to the contract that is signed. However, the Betania team tries to prevent the women from engaging in 'false healing', so they sometimes spend up to two years in the shelters. "Recovery is not something that is achieved in six months, the process is slower, because we want them to have a job, emotional stability and housing when they walk out of the door," says Valencia.

They also want them to have gone through all the necessary stages to ensure that they do not fall back into the same situation: to live their single life to the full, not experience loneliness, so that, in the future, they can choose their partners based on completeness, not because of loneliness or need. Otherwise the relationships they would build would start again from inequality and they tend to repeat patterns, to fall back into the hands of manipulative people.

Ana Gaona says that the work is very demanding and that they have to be very "aware" of the situation of the women they attend to: "I said to one of them: 'There's something wrong with you'. And what was wrong with her was that she had gone back to her abuser". That's exactly what shouldn't happen.
J. F. Alonso Monday, 25 November 2024, 16:00 Compartir

Brihuega has gained notoriety in recent years for its lavender fields, so 'Instagrammable' in summer, especially at harvest time, when thousands of people fill the streets. Even now there are still plenty of visitors browsing in the various shops open all year round where they sell essential oils, perfumes, creams, gels and liqueurs made from the plant.

However, Brihuega is more than lavender. There is a lesser-known reason for visiting this village that is, quite literally, hidden underground: a well-preserved labyrinth of some seven to eight kilometres of galleries and tunnels. These are the so-called 'Arab caves', carved out in the 10th and 11th centuries, in which a temperature of between 12 and 13 degrees Celsius is maintained all year round. They were used in times of siege as an escape route beyond the town's fortified walls or simply as a refuge.

In these villages and towns in this part of Guadalajara province in Castilla-La Mancha there is an abundance of tuff rock, a very porous limestone rock that is easy to excavate (to be called tuff, the rock must be made of over 75% volcanic ash). In Brihuega you can only visit about 500 metres of the cave system, but the experience is well worth it. The entrance (3 euros) is in the Plaza del Coso , and these passageways take us into another world filled with huge storage jars, which were built in situ as it would have been impossible to carry them through the corridors, and memories of many eras and many wars. There are no more vineyards or wars, but the charm of the place remains in every nook and cranny.

J. F. A.

Visitor info: Contact: Lavandana. 676 35 54 49 or 699 45 57 86.

Admission: three euros.

The Plaza del Coso has had this name since at least the 16th century, perhaps derived from the Arabic word 'zoco' (meaning souk, market). This square has always been the site of the market, and in the past also of the so-called Carcel de Carlos III , located in the same place where the tourist office now stands. Next to it are the Fountains of the Coso , which were also built by the monarch himself in gratitude for the assistance of the locals during Spain's War of Succession. Opposite are the town hall and the entrance to the Arab Caves, "used since time immemorial to preserve oil, wine, drinking water and all kinds of foodstuffs", according to an information panel at the entrance.

Besides the caves, there is plenty for tourists to discover at this time of year in Brihuega without having to endure the summer heat. In the historic quarter is the castle of Piedra Bermeja and the church of San Felipe (13th century). There is even time to go to the hamlet of Civica , 11 km from Brihuega, next to the CM-2011 road, so popular on social media as it is often compared to Cappadocia in Turkey for its cavehouses in the rockface.

Zoom Entrance to the church of San Felipe J. F. A.

Civica was once inhabited by the Romans, and in the 15th century some hermits probably occupied the caves carved out of a tuff rockface that is also striking as you approach it by car. The modern era of the hamlet began in 1939 when it was bought by a small group of families. In the '50s and '60s, the local priest Don Aurelio began to cut into the rock, perhaps with some notion of using the caves for religious purposes, a shrine, a retreat. Then, however, he crossed paths with Eduarda, who became his housekeeper and with whom he had a long relationship. Worldly life led him to build two bars into the tuff rock that stayed open for a long time and can still be visited.

Four years ago, Jaime, a resident of Barriopedro, a nearby hamlet of just 20 locals, bought the place where Aurelio traded, and he is trying to restore it little by little. For two euros he shows tourists the caves he has restored to date and tells them the fascinating history of the hamlet and the vertical wall that has been hollowed out by different people since time immemorial.
In developed countries, inclusive architecture is the standard. There, a ramp is part of the overall accessibility concept, including wider doors, convenient elevators, sound and visual cues. Ukraine has the potential to implement these standards, but achieving this requires not only changing building regulations, but also transforming people's mindset.

Ukraine stands on the threshold of changes that could greatly impact the lives of people with disabilities. However, physical barriers, inaccessible infrastructure, and social perceptions continue to pose significant challenges. Millions of people find themselves excluded from active participation in public life. In Ukraine, it is difficult to overcome the stereotype that people with disabilities are mostly confined to their homes due to the inaccessibility of urban environments. How can they navigate the streets, where the first obstacles are too high curbs, stairs, or subway stations' ramps which are nearly impossible to manage alone? Should they expect a kind-hearted bus driver to step out, install a ramp, and guide a wheelchair passenger ahead of the queue? Even in the capital, one must choose a route based only on newly built subway stations equipped with elevators. Why are there so many wheelchair users at international airports, where even elderly people seem not helpless, but happy? Apart from the government's care, they are accepted in society and lead fulfilling lives: there are no barriers to education, development, work, or travel.

Unfortunately, over the past decade, Ukraine has grown accustomed to seeing young people in wheelchairs or with prosthetics who, after enduring the horrors of war, continue to fight for the right to reintegrate into society. They often do not need our empathy; in their eyes, there is more courage than in ours, and even greater determination to take action. "I put on my prosthetics and keep moving... to prove to people like me that everything is possible," says a 26-year-old hero. The likelihood of an increasing number of people with disabilities is quite high. Therefore, the best way for the government and society to express gratitude is by creating a supportive and accessible environment, first and foremost for those heroes who, fortunately, returned alive but with significant limitations.

Before overcoming physical barriers in cities, it is crucial to reconsider the social model, to understand how important it is to recognize and respect people with special needs, and to encourage their contribution to society. What needs to change in social, economic, or political conditions to fully realize the rights of people with disabilities? This includes eliminating discrimination, ensuring equal opportunities, accessibility, and effective social inclusion. Both conscious and unconscious discrimination remains widespread. For instance, economic discrimination is evident in rejections during employment. However, unconscious discrimination, which stems from ignorance or stereotypes, is even more damaging. Separate entrances to buildings, specialized transportation, or isolated spaces create the impression that people with disabilities should live "separate lives."

Ukraine is gradually joining the global movement for inclusion, but the road is long and arduous. Most of our cities remain inaccessible. The lack of ramps, elevators, and convenient public transportation forces people with special needs to stay at home. This is not just physical isolation but also a form of social discrimination. Since hostilities continue, the number of veterans with disabilities is set to grow. Therefore, Ukrainian society must accept this new reality, adapt to the challenges, and turn them into opportunities for development and progress.

International practices show that infrastructural changes can not only ease mobility but also alter society's attitude toward people with disabilities. In many countries, the lack of accessible environments is considered a significant violation of human rights.

Sweden has created an extensive accessibility database covering over 8,000 venues, from museums to cafes;

has created an extensive accessibility database covering over 8,000 venues, from museums to cafes; Canada actively introduces audio guides, Braille scripts, and adaptive programs for winter sports;

actively introduces audio guides, Braille scripts, and adaptive programs for winter sports; Germany is known for its accessible public transport, including buses with ramps and a special passenger support system;

is known for its accessible public transport, including buses with ramps and a special passenger support system; Japan has integrated digital services for people with hearing impairments, facilitating communication even in emergency situations;

has integrated digital services for people with hearing impairments, facilitating communication even in emergency situations; Spain has a high level of physical accessibility and offers discounts for tourists with disabilities;

has a high level of physical accessibility and offers discounts for tourists with disabilities; Singapore is dedicated to the principles of accessibility. According to a study by the World Economic Forum, Singapore has the best infrastructure for wheelchair users, equipped with specially designed buses and lifts in all public transport systems.

Inclusivity begins not with ramps but with a reconsideration of societal values. Ukraine has the chance to become a country where people with disabilities will feel not just part of the community but its full-fledged creators. Changing people's attitudes is key to building an inclusive future where everyone can realize their potential. Are we ready to overcome our own stereotypes and work together to create a barrier-free country? A society that knows how to hear and consider the needs of each individual becomes stronger. A ramp is just one example of how architectural solutions can change consciousness. Accessibility is not only about buildings; it is about attitude.

All new public facilities should be designed according to international accessibility standards. PanteonX Charitable Foundation, operating in Spain and Ukraine, in partnership with NavigArt, a leading manufacturer and supplier of navigation and barrier-free solutions, is launching an ambitious project to adapt hospitals and important institutions for people with disabilities in Lviv, Kyiv, and Dnipro. The project seeks to implement European best practices in Ukraine, with the aim of restoring and creating a barrier-free urban environment as well as a cultural space. This initiative is part of a larger mission: together we can make Ukraine a place where everyone can live comfortably, regardless of their physical abilities.
Future out-of-town fans, take note: stepping into Bills country means stepping into the heart of one of the NFLs most passionate fan bases.

As planes from Kansas City touched down in Buffalo earlier this month ahead of the Buffalo Bills matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, Southwest employee and Bills Mafia member Monica Lewis recorded herself delivering customers a memorable welcome to the Queen City.

In a now viral video, Lewis is seen sitting at the Baggage Service Office desk as she gets on the intercom and says, The Kansas City Chief fans just landed, and were gonna give them a good old welcome to Buffalo, New York. Bills Mafia, lets go.

Watch Lewis' video here

After announcing where they can pick up their luggage, Lewis played Bills' fight song, Shout!

As customers came to pick up their luggage, Lewis played another Bills Mafia song.

When those Chiefs fans were ready to head back home, they were not off the hook just yet. Lewis asked some Kansas City fans to sing the Bills' fight song to obtain their boarding passes.

Lewis told WIVB News 4, the majority of Chiefs fans knew it was all in good fun.

She said she wanted to let them know that the Buffalo Bills have the best fans in the league.
Syracuse, N.Y.  On Aug. 12, a group of friends stole a Hyundai Sonata and sped to Parkside Commons, an apartment complex on Syracuses East Side.

The four teens, the oldest only 16, were armed with several guns, including one semi-automatic rifle, police said.
The woman who inspired one of the most famous Thanksgiving songs of all time is dead at age 83.

The Associated Press reports Alice Brock died Thursday, a week before this years turkey holiday, in Provincetown, Massachusetts. A cause of death was not announced, but Arlo Guthrie, whose song Alices Restaurant Massacree was inspired by Brock, said she had been in failing health.

This coming Thanksgiving will be the first without her, Guthrie wrote in a Facebook tribute Friday. Alice and I spoke by phone a couple of weeks ago, and she sounded like her old self. We joked around and had a couple of good laughs even though we knew wed never have another chance to talk together.

Guthrie, the son of legendary folk musician Woody Guthrie, reportedly met Brock in 1962 when he was attending the Stockbridge School in Massachusetts and she was the librarian. They became friends and he would stay with her and her husband at a converted Stockbridge church that became the Brocks main residence.

Alices Restaurant Massacree (also referred to as Alices Restaurant Massacre) recounts the story of how Arlo Guthrie was arrested when he and a friend were helping the Brocks throw out the trash on Thanksgiving Day 1965 and threw the garbage down a hill because the city dump was closed. They were charged with illegal dumping, jailed and fined $50. The incident reportedly made Guthrie ineligible for the draft, and the entire tale was woven together into a Vietnam War protest song.

You can get anything you want at Alices Restaurant / You can get anything you want at Alices Restaurant / Walk right in its around the back / Just a half a mile from the railroad track / You can get anything you want at Alices Restaurant, Guthrie sang.

Arlo Guthrie performs as part of the 50th Anniversary of "Alice's Restaurant" tour at Long Center on February 21, 2016 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Amy E. Price/FilmMagic via Getty Images)FilmMagic

The 18-minute song appeared on Guthries debut album, Alices Restaurant, which went on to sell more than a million copies. There are few traditional Thanksgiving songs, but Alices Restaurant Massacree became a hallmark of the holiday with many radio stations playing it in its entirety on Thanksgiving Day for decades.

The song also inspired the 1969 movie, Alices Restaurant, which starred Guthrie as himself with a cast that included Pat Quinn, James Broderick and Pete Seeger.

Alice Brock, born Alice May Pelkey in New York City, was running The Back Room restaurant in Stockbridge at the time, though the song never names the restaurant. She also worked at two other restaurants in her career, and went on to write a book, My Life as a Restaurant, plus collaborated with Guthrie on a childrens book, Mooses Come Walking.

We worked together on various projects. During the next few decades we remained friends while our lives kept us busy. She was a no-nonsense gal, with a great sense of humor, Guthrie wrote.
Comedian Jimmy Carr is headed to the U.S. in 2025 with his stand-up tour, Laughs Funny.

The U.K. comic, known for his quick-fire one-liners and dark humor, will bring the tour to several cities, including Huntington at The Paramount on June 25 and New York City at the Beacon Theatre on June 27.

Other stops include Atlantic City, Boston, Providence, Cleveland and New Haven. A complete list of Carrs tour dates is available here.

Tickets can be purchased online through Ticketmaster or secondary market platforms such as Vivid Seats, SeatGeek and StubHub, which offer verified tickets with buyer guarantees. These platforms may offer below-face-value pricing and availability for sold-out shows.

Carr, widely recognized for his deadpan delivery and edgy jokes, has built a career spanning over two decades with numerous television hosting roles and stand-up specials. He is best known in the U.K. as the host of 8 Out of 10 Cats and The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, among other shows. He has released 12 stand-up comedy specials, including Netflixs Natural Born Killer (2024).

In addition to his live shows, Carr has also made several appearances on the Netflix comedy roster and performed alongside other major comedians at events like the Netflix is a Joke Festival and the Roast of Tom Brady in 2024.
Syracuse, N.Y.  A firefighter injured his arm during a house fire Sunday evening in Syracuses Strathmore neighborhood, officials said.

The fire at 119 Beverly Road was reported at about 6 p.m.

Firefighters arrived to find smoke throughout the house, and fire in the basement, according to Deputy Fire Chief Nick Pagano. He said it only took a few minutes to put out the initial blaze.

But the fire had spread through the interior walls and old exhaust system in the house. The home was originally built in 1890, county records show.

Multiple extra engines were called to the scene to assist with the fire. At one point, flames appeared on sections of the roof.

It took about an hour and 50 minutes to fully put out the fire.

The fire dealt severe damage to the second and third floors, Pagano said. That could be a sign the fire got a head start and had been going for a time before residents called 911, he said.

One firefighter injured his arm and was treated on scene by paramedics, Pagano said. He was later taken to the hospital.

Pagano did not immediately have more information about the injury, but anticipated the firefighter would be on leave for a time.

The people living inside the house were able to get out on their own, Pagano said. Firefighters helped rescue a few pets.

Four people were displaced by the fire. They received assistance from the American Red Cross.

The fire was determined to have started in the houses basement, according to a news release late Sunday evening from the Syracuse Fire Department. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Staff writer Jon Moss covers breaking news, crime and public safety. He can be reached at jmoss@syracuse.com or @mossjon7.
Syracuse, N.Y.  A cross-country storm system could slam Upstate New York just in time for Thanksgiving, and lake effect snow is likely to follow over the weekend.

The details are unclear, and meteorological computer models arent in agreement, but meteorologists are urging anybody traveling for Thanksgiving to keep an eye on this storm.

All of New York is under a hazardous weather outlook, the National Weather Services early alert that bad weather is possible over the next few days.

If the storm reaching the West Coast now hits the Northeast  and thats not a certainty yet  it could bring rain or snow on Thanksgiving and Friday. A blast of cold air will follow, which could bring lake effect snow into the weekend.

Before all of that happens, Upstate could see some rain Tuesday and Wednesday, and some lake effect snow on the Tug Hill plateau.

For Thanksgiving Day, there are a couple of competing scenarios. One commonly used meteorological computer model predicts the center of the storm moving up along the East Coast in the middle of the week. That would bring snow early Thursday and a mix of rain and snow later in the day to Upstate New York.

Another model shows the low pressure storm center staying farther to the south, which would limit rain and snow for Upstate New York.

For now, there is just too much uncertainty to provide details on this system, the weather service said.

Those details should become clearer over the next couple of days as new data pours in and the models adjust.

What looks more certain is that very cold air will descend on Upstate New York from northern Canada in the wake of the storm system. High temperatures over the weekend will barely reach freezing, with lows dipping into the low 20s.

This would be the first real winter temperatures the region has seen this season, the weather service said. The exact direction of the flow is still uncertain, but there will be potential for accumulating lake effect snow starting Friday and lasting through the weekend.

The Great Lakes are ice-free and warm, so any cold winds blowing across them have the potential to generate heavy lake effect snow.
Winter has arrived in war-torn Ukraine: how UNHCR helps people stay warm in their homes through the cold months

Author Iryna Tymchyshyn, KYIV

 UNHCR/Iryna Tymchyshyn

UNHCRs winter response is underway to support people during the challenging winter season as they face increased hardship due to damaged homes and energy infrastructure across the country.

As millions of people in Ukraine are bracing themselves for the third winter since the Russian full-scale invasion, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has stepped up efforts to deliver assistance and help people stay warm during the winter months.

With energy and other critical infrastructure being heavily damaged by relentless Russian aerial attacks, risks of prolonged power cuts are looming over people living in big cities and in rural areas in the frontline communities.

One of Ukraines biggest electricity plants in Kharkiv was heavily damaged by Russian airstrikes in March 2024.  UNHCR/Iryna Tymchyshyn

Alongside the authorities and other humanitarian actors, UNHCR is prioritizing its winter response and has already started delivering various forms of assistance aimed to help people stay warm in their homes and get through the cold months.

UNHCRs winter response priorities

In coordination with the Government of Ukraine, and as part of the broader inter-agency winter response plan, UNHCRs winter response aims to support 625,000 war-affected people with specific vulnerabilities, including internally displaced people and people remaining in frontline areas where access to critical services is severely disrupted. This is possible thanks to funding from UNHCRs top donors including the United States of America, Germany, the European Union, Norway, and France, as well as private donors  but more support is needed.

Winter brings an additional level of hardship for people in Ukraine, who have already endured so much during 1,000 days of brutal full-scale war. For those living in frontline areas and those displaced from their homes, the coming months will be particularly tough. Thats why we are working tirelessly with our partners to deliver support, including cash assistance, heaters, and home insulationto contribute to some stability and comfort, even in these harsh conditions, says Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCRs Representative in Ukraine.

Cash assistance and energy support

To support war-affected peoples ability to cover increased energy and heating costs during the winter, UNHCR aims to provide 550,000 people with winter cash assistance. In frontline areas where hostilities are ongoing or have recently ended, UNHCR will support 70,000 families with winter cash assistance of a total value of $37 million in cooperation with the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine. Another winter cash programme is implemented together with the Ministry of Social Policy and the Pension Fund, to help 57,000 particularly vulnerable families across the country buy solid fuel or cover other heating costs during the heating season.

As Russias attacks on critical energy infrastructure has destroyed over 60 per cent of Ukraines energy generation capacity, alternative energy sources will be key to survival this winter. Contributing to the government-led effort to build energy capacities, UNHCR will provide 420 generators and 2,400 portable power stations to the most affected communities to keep critical services operational during winter.

During his visit in July, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi handed over ten generators to local representatives from frontline communities in the Kharkiv region.  UNHCR/Iryna Tymchyshyn

Keeping homes warm

While Russian attacks continue to damage or destroy civilian homes, making them livable and warm again remains one of UNHCRs key priorities. Where damages are not substantial, UNHCR helps to insulate roofs and attics, and install doors and modern triple glazed windows to ensure that houses as well as collective sites hosting many vulnerable displaced people can retain heat. This also helps to save energy and reduce heating costs, which tend to soar during the cold months.

Taisiia and her husband Vasyl in Zaporizhizhia region have already benefitted from UNHCRs support and received a Rapid Thermal Kit with easy-to-use materials to help insulate their rented home. The older couple have fled their home in the frontline town of Orikhiv, located close to the frontline. Preparing for winter adds an extra layer of stress for Taisiia and her husband, who are already struggling to make ends meet in displacement.

UNHCR and its NGO partner Proliska helped displaced Taisiia to insulate her rented home to prepare for winter.  UNHCR/Viktoriia Tiutiunnyk

We still want to return home even though our house is destroyed. It was the warmest and safest place for us. Hopefully, now having it insulated, this house will be much warmer and will remind us of home a bit, said Taisiia.

Each Rapid Thermal Kit includes items which are traditionally used by people in Ukraine to improve home insulation: reflective insulation screens, transparent plastic sheet for window repairs, foam draft blocker, and building tape. During the winter season, UNHCR plans to support over 41,000 people by creating better living conditions and insulating homes and common spaces, including in collective sites hosting people who were forced to evacuate from frontline communities due to intensified Russian attacks.
10 Things to Know About Feeding the Future

On tonights episode (Monday, 25 November) of the television series 10 Things to Know About Teagasc scientists feature in an episode on Feeding the Future.

Presenter Amy Hassett, 10 Things to Know About on RTE One (left) with Teagascs Alberto Ramos Luz.

Join us for the 10th series of 10 Things to Know About on RTE One in November 2024!

This episode explores the future of sustainable food production. Seafood is a crucial component of global food systems, and this episode investigates innovative seafood farming techniques, such as 'bubble curtains' that protect salmon from harmful algal blooms and projects that mimic natural marine ecosystems to turn waste from one species into food for another. The episode also delves into research seeking to repurpose food waste into valuable plant-based proteins to tackle the European protein shortage.

Finally, in this episode, we meet Irish apple growers embracing modern techniques to expand local production, reduce reliance on imports and take a significant bite of the apple market!

Dr Alberto Ramos Luz, who is leading research projects to support the development of the apple growing industry in Ireland features in this episode. Alberto, a Research Officer in the Horticulture Development Department at Teagasc, based in Oak Park, explains: In the episode, we showcase our research supporting the Irish apple industry by selecting varieties suited to Ireland, improving tree management for efficiency and quality, and aligning agronomic performance with consumer preferences. Our goal is to provide more profitable ways to grow apples in Ireland and increase the availability of high-quality Irish apples.

Tune into Mondays episode of 10 Things to Know About Feeding the Future (Monday, November 25, 2024 at 8.30pm on RTE One).

For more information on tonights episode, watch the short clip below
TL;DR: A new administration is taking over Washington DC, and business executives are eager to cultivate favor with President-elect Donald Trump. Known for his tight inner circle, execs wonder how to approach Trump and build a relationship with him. But it seems Apple CEO Tim Cook has cracked the code.

In the complicated world where US politics and business intersect, Apple CEO Tim Cook has managed to forge a unique and influential relationship with President-elect Donald Trump.

This relationship, cultivated through strategic interactions and shared interests, serves as a blueprint for other tech leaders  albeit one that may be difficult to replicate.

Cook's approach to building a rapport with Trump has focused on direct engagement, bypassing traditional lobbying channels. Instead of delegating interactions to government relations executives or lobbyists, Cook personally reached out to Trump through phone calls and private dinners. This hands-on approach allowed Cook to establish a connection with Trump, which many other corporate leaders have struggled to achieve.

One of Cook's key strategies was to focus on areas where Apple's interests aligned with Trump's agenda. By identifying common ground, Cook was able to foster a mutually beneficial relationship, and during Trump's first term, Cook successfully advocated for Apple's interests in several high-stakes policy discussions.

For example, in 2017, as Trump was formulating a tax-cut plan, Cook seized the opportunity to propose that Apple would increase its US investments if allowed to repatriate $250 billion in overseas cash at a reduced tax rate. This proposal aligned with Trump's economic goals and was later cited by Trump as a success story of his tax policy.

Cook's most significant victory came in 2019 when Apple faced a potential 10 percent tariff on imports from China. Worried about the impact such tariffs would have on iPhone prices and Apple's competitive position against foreign rivals like Samsung, Cook personally lobbied Trump. His efforts paid off when the Trump administration announced it would scale back its tariff plan, exempting a range of electronics, including the iPhone.

Then there was the time Trump visited an Apple manufacturing site in Austin, Texas, with Cook. Although the plant had been operational for years under a contractor, Trump claimed credit for its opening  a statement neither Cook nor Apple corrected.

Trump has publicly praised Cook for his direct engagement strategy. "That's why he's a great executive because he calls me and others don't," Trump said in 2019.

Congratulations President Trump on your victory! We look forward to engaging with you and your administration to help make sure the United States continues to lead with and be fueled by ingenuity, innovation, and creativity.  Tim Cook (@tim_cook) November 6, 2024

Even before Trump's recent electoral victory, Cook resumed his engagement efforts. On a podcast in October, Trump mentioned that Cook had reached out regarding Apple's legal challenges in Europe. "I'm not going to let them take advantage of our companies," Trump reportedly assured Cook.

Despite these successes, replicating Cook's playbook may prove challenging for other executives. Few companies possess the brand recognition and influence of Apple or its CEO. According to industry insiders, gaining access to Trump's inner circle is particularly difficult without an existing relationship.

Ron Williams, former CEO of health insurer Aetna and current board member at companies such as Warby Parker, told the Wall Street Journal that engaging with political leaders has both benefits and risks. "Anytime you can build a relationship with someone, you are advantaged," Williams told the publication. However, he cautioned that such engagements require careful consideration of potential outcomes.

Williams shared his experiences of providing fact-based insights to government officials during his tenure at Aetna. "Developing relationships takes time and strategy," he said, advising executives to weigh whether direct engagement or working through intermediaries is more effective.

Some executives are turning to trade groups or hiring lobbyists with established connections to Trump's circle. Others are considering proposing ideas directly to new government entities like the Department of Government Efficiency led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Alternative strategies are also being explored. One technology CEO plans to leverage venture capital investors within Trump's orbit rather than rely solely on traditional lobbying firms.

However, not all efforts have the desired results. FedEx chairman Fred Smith recounted to the WSJ his attempts to influence Trump's views on globalization and tariffs without success. Despite their differing perspectives, Smith described Trump as "a very nice fellow, one-on-one."

As corporate leaders navigate these dynamics, Cook's approach remains a reference point. In a recent social media post congratulating Trump on his win, Cook signaled his intention to continue their relationship: "We look forward to engaging with you and your administration."
What just happened? In a tradition going back many years, Samsung has once again created an ad that has the sole purpose of throwing shade at rival Apple. This time, it's Cupertino's lack of a foldable device that's primarily being mocked. And while it's long been rumored that a foldable iPhone is in development, it may not launch until 2027.

Samsung's 'Simon Says' advert begins with a jab at Apple's "think different" slogan, noting that the company doesn't like to think too different when it comes to the upgrades added to its latest iPhones. There are few differences between the iPhone 16 and iPhone 15, but then many phone makers, including Samsung, often push out devices with incremental upgrades.

The ad also pokes fun at Apple users, suggesting they have a sheep mentality when it comes to buying Apple products, repeatedly upgrading even when the latest devices have almost no new features.

If you try to fit in, you won't stand out.





  

 #UpgradeYourUpgrade with #GalaxyAI pic.twitter.com/WtfWDFIVd2  Samsung Mobile US (@SamsungMobileUS) November 21, 2024

One area where Samsung can claim to be different from Apple, of course, is the Korean firm's foldable devices: the Z Fold and Z Flip.

The ad finishes with the line "Nobody should wait for innovation." The first Galaxy Fold  when it didn't have a Z in the name  launched late in 2019. It was delayed by months after reviewers with pre-release units found the screens were breaking due to debris making its way underneath the display via the center crease.

Reports of Apple working on a foldable iPhone go all the way back to 2018. But in June this year, market intelligence company TrendForce said a folding iPhone will probably not launch until 2027 at the earliest. Analyst firm Omdia recently repeated that release year in its own prediction. It believes there will be a 7.9-inch to 8.2-inch folding iPhone in 2027, and 13-inch and 18.8-inch foldable iPad Pro models launched in 2029.

This is the second Apple-mocking ad from Samsung in six months. The backlash to Apple's ill-conceived iPad Pro ad in May that showed a giant press slowly lowering, crushing a number of musical instruments, classical sculptures, books, paints, games, cameras, and more, prompted an apology. The company also decided not to run the ad on TV.

Meet the new iPad Pro: the thinnest product we've ever created, the most advanced display we've ever produced, with the incredible power of the M4 chip. Just imagine all the things it'll be used to create. pic.twitter.com/6PeGXNoKgG  Tim Cook (@tim_cook) May 7, 2024

It didn't take long for Samsung to capitalize on Apple's mistake. A few days later, the Galaxy-maker released "UnCrush," which you can see below.

Samsung's history of Apple-targeting ads include the advert deriding ten years of iPhones from 2017, which featured a reference to the still-controversial notch. There was also one for the Galaxy S3 from a few years earlier, and a whole series of ads taking aim at the iPhone 12 Pro Max's cameras. Google also got in on the act with several iPhone-mocking ads last year.
Another week, another record was broken by the top cryptocurrency in the world, Bitcoin, as it is now sitting comfortably at the $90,000 threshold and was close to breaking the $100,000 valuation leading this edition of CryptoWatch. Moreover, there was also the former chief technology officer of FTX, Gary Wang, who was not given a prison sentence after his recent hearing.

Lastly, get updated on the latest top coin prices available in the market after another massive week of improvements led by Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and more which are enjoying a significant rise.

Bitcoin is Close to Achieving $100k, Now Lounging at $90k

The cryptocurrency industry is booming in the market, with Bitcoin significantly leading the charge as it was seen rallying yet again last week and was close to achieving a $100,000 valuation. This massive climb by Bitcoin also reached a new all-time high at around $99,000 but was only a few hundred dollars short of breaking the wall as the market closed last weekend.

It was seen as an impressive feat after significantly climbing in the market last early November and according to the report by Bloomberg (via Yahoo Finance), its rise is still tied to President-elect Donald J. Trump's massive rise.

Many are expecting that Bitcoin will soon break the $100,000 threshold after a significantly promising rally in the market only last week, and it is now closing into the new record expected by year's end.

Read Also: 5 Tips Every iPhone Bitcoin Trader Needs to Hear

Former FTX CTO Gary Wang Avoids Jail Time

The former FTX CTO Gary Wang has successfully avoided jail time after he was given by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan a free pass following a recent hearing in Manhattan, New York. Wang is known for his significant help to Bankman-Fried in defrauding FTX customers and investors by creating the program that allowed the former CEO to steal as much as $8 billion.

Reuters reported that SBF's close ally was the last to know about the fraudulent actions by the executive, centering on the crimes that were being committed under everyone's noses, back when FTX was still operating.

Wang, like Caroline Ellison, was known for testifying against Bankman-Fried during last year's hearings and his testimonies helped in convicting the former CEO. However, unlike Ellison, Wang was not given a sentence to serve behind bars.

Top Coin Prices in the Market Now

Towards the last week of November, the cryptocurrency market saw another significant rise in the market for the third consecutive time, with Bitcoin and Ethereum leading the massive rally. Based on the charts by CoinMarketCap, all coins in the top ten list saw promising numbers over the past seven days except for the stablecoin USDC which saw a slight dip.

That being said, Cardano which took the ninth spot on the list was the top-performing crypto with a 42.98 percent climb over the past week.

Bitcoin (BTC) - Price: $98,260.18 | 9.04 percent increase over the past seven days Ethereum (ETH) - Price: $3,473.91 | 13.79 percent decrease over the past seven days Tether (USDT) - Price: $1.00 | 0.06 percent decrease over the past seven days Solana (SOL) - Price: $252.40 | 4.15 percent increase over the past seven days Binance Coin (BNB) - Price: $664.26 | 7.96 percent decrease over the past seven days
The fight between the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Google is drawing its conclusion, and both sides are set to make their closing arguments in front of the court regarding the antitrust complaint. It is known that the Justice Department has suggested that Google breakup its search engine dominance in the market by selling its Chrome browser and having it operated by a separate entity.

Moreover, Google is also accused of its monopolistic tactics in many facets of its business including its online advertising program which allegedly prioritized revenue over its customers.

Google Is Set to Make Closing Arguments in DOJ Antitrust Case

Google is now on the last leg of its antitrust case against the US Department of Justice over at Alexandria, Virginia, and according to AP News' report, both sides are now scheduled to make closing arguments this Monday, November 25. This would be the last chance for both sides to prove their cases in front of US District Judge Leonie Brinkema who will later rule on the case.

This lawsuit is known to be the US DOJ's complaint against Google's advertising technology and operations which the prosecution claimed to be an "illegal" monopoly that saw the company earn significantly over the years.

Should Judge Brinkema rule against Google in the case, it will be branded as engaging in a monopolistic manner that will further stretch the case to decide on ways to break down this behavior.

Google's Monopoly to be Broken Down With Chrome's Sale

One of the previous suggestions by the US DOJ to the court was to have Google sell Chrome as part of the "breakdown" of the company's monopolistic behavior in the market. However, not only that, Mountain View is also targeted by the US Justice in selling its digital ads technology which would lead to the company losing hundreds of billions in revenue per year, as a result of their focus on generating money instead of prioritizing customers.

Google and its Massive Antitrust Cases Faced

Google is no longer new to facing antitrust complaints with its massive operations in the world, but most especially here in its home country as it allegedly focuses on monopolistic approaches to its many operations. It was only this September that Google lost to a complaint lodged by Epic Games claiming that the company practiced anti-competition on its Play Store, with the judge ruling towards opening the Android app marketplace.

It is also important to note that the start of the Fall season also had Google facing a lawsuit filed by the US DOJ for its alleged dominance in digital advertisements against the industry. The Justice Department regarded that Google operated on an "unlawful monopoly" which saw it earn a whopping $200 billion in 2023 on ads alone and prioritized profits over its customers.

However, the DOJ did not stop there as they were looking to break down Google's monopolistic operations by having the company sell Chrome to a separate entity that targets its search engine dominance. There are no decisions yet made on this case by the Virginia court, but this also remains Google's last chance to convince the authorities about keeping its company and products as a whole.
Cyber threats persist to plague British businesses, with cyberattacks having resulted in an alarming 44 billion ($55.08 billion) revenue loss over five years, according to Howden, an insurance broker.

The report, a first of its kind, which covered Britain's private sector, also cited the rising threat to organizations after more than half (52%) of businesses reported at least one attack during this period.

The Financial Impact of Cybersecurity Breaches

According to Howden's research via Reuters, the losses of cyberattacks have been averaging 1.9% of a firm's revenue. Companies making above 100m in revenue are the most vulnerable as they attract cybercriminals due to the high revenue levels.

The losses extend beyond direct loss of revenues since there will be an impact on operational continuity, reputation, and client trust, according to the reports.

"Cybercrime is on the rise, with malicious actors continuing to take advantage of cybersecurity vulnerabilities, particularly as firms become ever more reliant on technology for their operations," Howden's head of UK cyber retail, Sarah Neild said.

Most Common Types of Cyberattacks and Their Relative Rate

The most significant attacks against systems come from compromised emails, accounting for 20%. Data theft appears as the second-highest at 18%, indicating how hackers' tactics are shifting. This often happens from unsecured systems due to a lack of proper cybersecurity defense mechanisms.

Astonishing Cybersecurity Gaps

With such clear threats looming, numerous businesses do not possess strong cybersecurity protection. A survey summarizes fundamental weaknesses:

61% of businesses use antivirus software.

Only 55% are network firewalls.

These statistics reveal a gaping chasm in preparedness that leaves organizations vulnerable to potential breaches. Furthermore, this majority cited cost constraints and a lack of internal IT resources as the reasons for this lack of protection.

Understanding the Survey

The research is based on a survey conducted by YouGov in September involving 905 private-sector IT decision-makers across the UK. The detailed analysis here throws light on the pressing need for companies to focus more on cybersecurity.

Improving Cyber Defense of UK Businesses

A business needs to have a proactive approach to fight against cyber attackers and sustain their operations:

Advanced cyber tools need to be invested in such as endpoint protection, firewalls, and data encryption. Moreover, there should be staff education to recognize phishing attempts and other cyber threats.

Businesses should also conduct periodic audits of the systems to identify and remedy weaknesses. It's also important to engage in cyber insurance to cover potential financial losses from attacks.

The trend for cyberattacks could continue since in Q2 2024, UK businesses were under cyberattack every 44 seconds.

According to Tripwire, there were 180, 714 cyberattacks on average from April to June 2024. This is considered record-breaking since in 2023, the cyberattacks happened every 40 seconds.

Alarmingly, the malicious actors are not from the UK. Most of the remote attackers reportedly came from China while the rest were split among the US, India, Brazil, and Russia. More importantly, the entities should be aware that most attacks were connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

Experts believe that the surge of attacks originated from IoT devices since they often lack strong security, making them a perfect target among hackers.
BAE Systems and Rocket Lab are the two new recipients of separate contracts from the US Department of Commerce which will grant both companies the funds needed to supply the country's focus on expanding its aerospace programs. An almost $60 million contract is now being finalized by Commerce that will be split between these two companies in helping US military and space's advancements.

The goal is to expand more of the F-35 program with a new semiconductor from BAE Systems, while Rocket Lab will help in supplying components for satellites and spacecraft for the US.

BAE Systems, Rocket Lab to Get US Commerce $60M Grant

Reuters reported that Commerce is now on the verge of finalizing an almost $60 million contract for BAE Systems and Rocket Lab to receive new government subsidies for essential components of US aerospace programs.

First off, BAE Systems will receive a $35.5 million grant that will increase its production in New Hampshire by four times to create semiconductor chips that are needed for advancing F-35 fighter jets. This latest grant would allow BAE Systems to speed up its modernization timeline by twice the original track, and help the Pentagon in its upcoming purchase of 2,500 F-35 fighter plans worth $1.7 trillion.

Next, Reuters claimed that Rocket Lab's SolAero Technologies Corp. will see a $23.9 million subsidy that would boost its solar cell production by half the original time for the next three years. These solar cells are essential to offer a way to gather power from the Sun for US satellites and spacecraft previously used on Artemis, James Webb Space Telescope, and more.

Biden Administration's Chip and Science Program

It was also revealed in the report that Commerce Secretary, Gina Raimondo, revealed that the department is now racing over time to complete 'as many agreements' under President Biden's renowned 'Chips and Science' program worth $52.7 billion. Secretary Raimondo regarded that the department is looking to accomplish this before President-elect Donald J. Trump steps into the White House by January 20.

Trump is notorious for the massive changes taking place once he steps into office, particularly with the massive US tariffs for international companies coming into the country.

BAE Systems and Rocket Lab's Work with US

It is not the first time that both companies received contracts from the US government to expand more on its various programs that will help the country in different aspects of defense, space, and more. BAE Systems previously received a $450 million agreement from NASA to create a new ocean color instrument for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

On the other hand, Rocket Lab is a prominent company that has been working with the US government and NASA on various projects including solar energy power for spacecraft, CAPSTONE, and more. The company also supplied the US Space Force's previous missile warning satellites with solar cells to gather energy from the Sun and keep it powered on its stay in orbit.

These two contractors have been significant partners of the United States for its many projects and both are tapped yet again for advancing various programs under POTUS Biden's Chips and Science Program. The latest contract for both companies will offer an almost $60 million grant for different projects, with both tasked with significant programs to accelerate aerospace ventures in the country.
The largest South Asian country, India, remains stern on its plans to pursue its antitrust case against Apple after turning down its request to investigate its anti-competitive behavior in the nation. This means that Apple's antitrust case against iOS' App Store dominance in the country and for allegedly exploiting its significant position to undermine its customers, developers, and more.

It was revealed that this case against Apple dates back to 2021, but Cupertino wanted India to suspend the investigations for now as the Indian watchdog reportedly shared 'commercial secrets' with other companies.

India Pushes for Apple App Store Antitrust Case

India's regulator, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), recently denied Apple's request to hold the country's investigation regarding the antitrust complaint against the company, Reuters reported. This was revealed by a recently seen internal order from the Indian watchdog by the news publication after Cupertino asked the country's authorities to "withhold the revised report."

This follows up on India's antitrust complaint against Apple that stems back to three years ago which also involved another Big Tech company, Match, best known as the owner of the online dating site, Tinder.

Because of this, India's CCI senior officials are now moving toward reviewing the investigation report on Apple and making their decisions on the final ruling that will conclude the antitrust case in the country.

Apple Wants India to Suspend Investigations

According to the report, Apple wants India to suspend reviewing the investigation report as Cupertino previously complained against the main plaintiff, Together We Fight Society (TWFS), an Indian non-profit. Cupertino claimed that TWFS did not comply with the directives to ensure that old investigation reports were destroyed.

Moreover, Apple complained about the CCI for disclosing 'commercial secrets' to competitors that should have been redacted, and the second most valuable company argued against taking action against TWFS for non-compliance.

As per the CCI's investigation, Apple was said to have 'exploited' its dominant position on the market on iOS app stores, but Cupertino brushed off these allegations claiming that Google and Android are the more dominant in the country.

Apple App Store Antitrust Complaints

Apple and its App Store dominance have been a massive focus by global authorities for its alleged anti-competitive behavior and monopolistic tactics that hurt its users, developers, and partners in the process. In the United States alone, it is expected that Apple will have to fight for its business 'for many years' against the Justice Department for its 'iPhone dominance' which trumps the competition.

Moreover, the ramping Digital Markets Act (DMA) from the European Commission is one of the top threats against Apple's operations in the region, particularly as it previously asked Cupertino to apply changes to its business or face significant fines. It is known that Apple has been given a 'gatekeeper' status for its operations, including its App Store dominance that long prevented third-party payment platforms and app marketplaces for EU users.

That being said, Apple is also facing hot waters over at Asia with Japan and South Korea's ramping campaign against Cupertino's monopolistic behavior, with the company also facing antitrust complaints. Another massive Asian country is known for its antitrust complaint against Apple, with India recently denying its request to halt the investigation and continuing for now.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. A court hearing was held in Azerbaijan in connection with the selection of a preventive measure for Gahraman Mammadov, Trend reports.

Gahraman Mammadov is accused in a criminal case investigated by the State Security Service of Azerbaijan under Articles 12.1, 206.3.2, 206.3.3 (smuggling outside the country) and 341.1 (abuse of power or excess of authority) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.

By the decision of the Baku Military Court, a preventive measure in the form of arrest for a period of 4 months was selected for Mammadov.

According to available information, Mammadov previously held various positions in structures subordinate to the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, and his last place of work was the Azerbaijani Embassy in Saudi Arabia, where he held the position of military attache.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. The Middle Corridor is the most favorable route for transporting green ammonia from Kazakhstan to the European market, Ainur Tumysheva, Investment Director of the Hyrasia One project and regional representative of SVEVIND Energy in Kazakhstan, told Trend in an exclusive interview.

Tumysheva laid it all on the line about the Hyrasia One project, nestled in Kazakhstans Mangystau region. The plan is to roll up their sleeves and build a plant that will churn out green hydrogen, which will then be transformed into green ammonia for the long haul. The German-owned SVEVIND Energy Group is rolling up its sleeves and making strides, hitting several key milestones over the past year.

"We have been engaged in the Hyrasia One project for the last three years. Although we remain in the preliminary phase, we have achieved considerable advancement. We have finalized pre-FEED (pre-front-end engineering and design work and activities)studies with Technic Genesis, initiated our environmental and social impact evaluations, and are currently obtaining requisite permits and resources," she said.

The investment director stated that Hyrasia One is an environmentally sustainable project, with its developers dedicated to complying with international environmental standards, including those established by the World Bank (WB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

She made it clear that the environmental and social assessments for the project, which are in full swing, touch on a myriad of issues like biodiversity, water usage, archaeological matters, and the migratory habits of birds and bats. These are all pieces of the puzzle to make sure the project hits the nail on the head when it comes to the highest ecological standards.

"We are committed to having minimal environmental impact while constructing and operating the project. This is crucial for both securing financing and fulfilling our commitment to green energy development," Tumysheva explained.

As the project rolls along, Hyrasia One is also putting the wheels in motion for transportation logistics concerning its green ammonia product. The director pointed out that the end game, green hydrogen, will be transformed into ammonia to make it a walk in the park for transport.

"Green ammonia serves as the energy carrier for long-distance transportation. We have performed a comprehensive transport and logistics evaluation with our partner, Deutsche Bahn, examining the current infrastructure corridors linking Kazakhstan to Europe and Asia," she said.

As Tumysheva points out, the best bet for getting green ammonia to Europe is the Middle Corridor, which sails over the Caspian Sea and winds its way through Azerbaijan.

"We have evaluated the technical feasibility of utilizing the Middle Corridor for the transportation of green ammonia and determined that it is a viable option. This will rely on obtaining long-term, binding take-or-pay agreements with purchasers in Europe. If demand originates in Europe, it is quite probable that the ammonia will transit through Azerbaijan," Tumysheva stated.

She further underscored that the project's success hinges on forging robust agreements with European consumers to guarantee a steady demand for green ammonia, thereby validating the investment in transportation infrastructure.

Tumysheva pointed out that Kazakhstans commitment to renewable energy is another key element of the Hyrasia One project and the country has set ambitious goals to reduce its carbon emissions as part of its obligations under the Paris Agreement. Kazakhstan aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2060 and is rapidly developing renewable energy projects, particularly wind and solar power.

"At present, renewable energy sources account for about 6.5 percent of Kazakhstans national grid, and the government aims to increase that to 15 percent by 2030. Kazakhstan has tremendous potential for renewable energy, especially wind and solar. The countrys geographical conditions are ideal for large-scale renewable electricity generation," Tumysheva said.

She believes that Kazakhstan is sitting pretty to turn into a regional hotspot not just for green hydrogen, but also for green electricity. She pointed out the recent handshake between Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan to kick the tires on the idea of building an electricity transmission link to ferry green energy to the EU.

"Both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have fantastic wind resources, and weve been measuring these resources for the past two years. These conditions could make the region a major player in the global renewable energy market," she said.

Tumysheva also addressed the broader potential for renewable energy projects in the region. She mentioned that SVEVIND Energy has developed large-scale projects in Arctic Sweden, including Europes largest onshore wind park. However, Hyrasia One in Kazakhstan is currently SVEVINDs only green energy project outside of Europe.

"Given the excellent wind and solar conditions in Kazakhstan and the surrounding region, there is significant potential for future renewable energy projects, not only in Kazakhstan but also in neighboring countries," Tumysheva said.

Tumysheva stressed that the Hyrasia One project is SVEVIND's current priority, even if the area has long-term expansion potential.

"For now, the Hyrasia One is the only major project we are developing in this region, but theres clearly significant potential for future investments in renewable energy across Central Asia," she said.
Police arrest 170 after floating blockade of Australian coal port



Sydney, Nov 24 (AFP) Nov 24, 2024



Australian police arrested 170 climate activists over the weekend after their floating blockade briefly disrupted activity at one of the world's largest coal ports.

The fleet of kayaks, paddle boards and inflatable boats blocked the entrance to the Port of Newcastle, which exports millions of tonnes of coal each year.

Police said on Sunday evening that 156 adults and 14 youths had been arrested and charged with offences including "disruption of a major facility".

Protest organiser Rising Tide said it had briefly blocked a coal ship from entering the terminal, while the port operator said shipping was temporarily paused.

"I'm risking arrest and I encourage everyone who can to join me to fight for the future of my generation," demonstrator Niamh Cush, 16, told the crowd before paddling out.

"Get out there, be rascals and fight."

A succession of Australian states have passed strict laws in recent years targeting climate protests, drawing condemnation from civil rights organisations.

Climate protester Deanna Coco was jailed for 15 months after blocking traffic on Sydney's famed harbour bridge, although her sentence was later quashed on appeal.

Australia is the world's second-largest coal exporter, behind Indonesia, and has the third largest coal reserves in the world, according to official figures.

The Port of Newcastle, about two hours' drive north of Sydney, lays claim to being the largest coal export port in the world.

Each year it exports more than 100 million tonnes of coal, according to official figures.
Indian author Ghosh wins top Dutch prize



Amsterdam, Nov 25 (AFP) Nov 25, 2024



Acclaimed Indian author Amitav Ghosh has won the coveted Dutch Erasmus Prize for his writings on climate change and its impact on humanity, especially on the Indian subcontinent.

Ghosh "has delved deeply into the question of how to do justice to this existential threat that defies our imagination," the prize committee said in a statement.

The Erasmus Prize, due to be presented by Dutch King Willem-Alexander on Tuesday, is awarded for an "exceptional contribution to the humanities, the social sciences or the arts, in Europe and beyond."

The winner receives a cash prize of 150,000 euros ($157,000).

The Praemium Erasmianum Foundation, which awards the prize, noted that Ghosh had described how the effects of climate change have been "inextricably linked" to human destiny on the Indian subcontinent.

It cited his work "The Hungry Tide", which portrayed how rising sea levels were devastating life in the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest.

The 68-year-old's work is also political, with "The Great Derangement" setting climate change in the context of war and trade.

"Through understanding and imagination he creates space for hope, a prerequisite for change," said the prize committee.

Born in Kolkata, Ghosh has won several literary prizes, including the 2018 Jnanpith Award, India's top award.
16 dead, seven missing in Indonesia flood: disaster agency



Jakarta, Nov 25 (AFP) Nov 25, 2024



Flash floods and a landslide struck Indonesia's Sumatra island over the weekend, killing at least 16 people, the national disaster agency said.

The military and rescue officials have been deployed to the four affected areas in North Sumatra province.

"In total, 16 people died and seven more people are missing," the spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency or BNPB, Abdul Muhari, said in a statement Monday.

Karo district suffered from the most casualties with five people killed and five more still missing after floods hit a resort area on Saturday.

The rest of the victims are spread in three other districts in the province: Deli Serdang, South Tapanuli, and Padang Lawas.

Homes, mosques, and public facilities were also damaged.

Muhari said Deli Serdang and Karo have been repeatedly hit by flash floods and landslides.

"This year alone, these two districts have been hit by disaster three times and twice respectively," he said.

He warned Indonesians to avoid visiting outdoor tourism spots in areas near water during the rainy season.

Indonesia has suffered a string of recent extreme weather events, which experts say are made more likely by climate change.

In May, at least 67 people died after a mixture of ash, sand, and pebbles carried down from the eruption of Mount Marapi in West Sumatra washed into residential areas, causing flash floods.
Beeches thrive in France's Verdun in flight from climate change



Fleury-devant-Douaumont, France, Nov 25 (AFP) Nov 25, 2024



An assisted migration of beech trees in need of protection from climate change is bearing its first fruits in France after 13 years, with saplings now gracing the former World War I battlefield of Verdun.

Some of the beeches, planted in 2013 after two years in the nursery, now stand three metres (10 feet) tall as they loom out of the fog in their reddish-brown autumn colours on what 100 years ago was a shell-blasted hellscape.

"What's crucial is the survival rate, which here we've got up to more than 90 percent" -- a big improvement on the 80 percent usually considered the marker of a successful plantation, said geneticist Brigitte Musch.

"We shouldn't get ahead of ourselves, they're only about 10 years old", she added -- a harsh frost or overgrowth with clematis is still capable of wiping out the young trees.

Experts from the French forestry authority (ONF) check up on the saplings regularly to ensure they are growing, healthy and holding up against local wildlife.

The plot of beeches less than one hectare (2.5 acres) in size is part of a scheme to "migrate the genes" of trees in danger of dying in France's south, where the climate is growing increasingly dry and unable to support them.

Musch, head of genetic resources at the ONF, remembers how the project emerged at a 2011 meeting from the idea of climate analogues.

Using UN climate experts' data and knowledge about where seeds can best grow, the method allows forestry experts to plot on a map which areas will have a hospitable climate in future for different types of trees.

The map of France for 2050 is alarming for lovers of the majestic beech, which can live for several centuries and spread their shady crowns as high as 40 metres.

Other traditionally widespread trees like oak are also in danger of disappearing from many French regions as the climate changes.



- Massive bombardment -



In Verdun, the beeches have made it through the first trials of their new home, taking root in chalky soil long ago packed hard and filled with metals and toxic substances by the intense bombardments of WWI.

"On average, six shells fell on every square metre (11 square feet) here. This was right on the front line in 1916. It was so rough that it had to be levelled with diggers just so we could get around," said Milene Mahut, a local ONF official.

After 1918, the forest was replanted with resinous trees like pines -- in part thanks to seeds sent as war reparations by Germany -- and later by deciduous trees, especially beech and sessile oak.

Now the new lines of beeches fleeing the south are arriving, outpacing the usual rate of tree migration.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that oak and beech naturally migrate about 100 kilometres (60 miles) in 500 years.

That is around 10 times slower than the pace at which the climate is changing, according to the ONF -- highlighting the need to give the trees a helping hand.

Musch, who wrote her thesis on oak and beech recolonisation of Europe after the last ice age around 10,000 years ago, has dug into her research to mimic the natural process.

The beech fascinates her for its ability to "grow on rocks battered by the wind, bring in biodiversity, and even be invasive" as a species.



- 'Promise of rebirth' -



The ONF project has been baptised Giono after French author Jean Giono, whose book "L'Homme qui Plantait des Arbres" ("The Man who Planted Trees") tells the story of a shepherd bringing a mountain back to life with thousands of new trees.

Giono himself fought in the battle of Verdun, in which hundreds of thousands of men were killed and wounded on both the French and German sides over the course of 10 months.

Oak acorns and beechnuts from remarkable specimens have been collected in France's Provence, Sarthe, Allier and Deux-Sevres regions since 2011.

The Meuse region that is home to Verdun has been chosen for the new plantings for its less dry climate and relatively mild winters.

Climate change has also meant that some local species like spruce are suffering, including from attack by bark beetles.

"There's no single solution to climate change -- assisted migration is just one of them," Musch said.

Mahut, caring for the new beeches on their little plot, sees the growing trees as "a promise of rebirth" for the grievously mistreated land.
Gyatt, skibidi and rizz are words that people who remember home phones tend to avoid using in public, partly to avoid their misapplication.

Step in Jacinta Allan, self-described mum, Bendigo local and premier of Victoria, whose Instagram has taken a noticeable pivot towards the youth vote.

Batting for the youth team: Premier Jacinta Allan at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi in September, spruiking the Boxing Day Test. Credit: Jai Narula

This, of course, comes with some translation risks, as evidenced in a post riddled with young-person slang that disappeared into the ether on Monday.

The post  here on Sunday, gone on Monday  featured someone playing Minecraft while a narrator talked about Victoria building lots of houses.
Six months before an underworld figure was gunned down in front of diners on a busy inner Sydney street, an equally brazen plot to kidnap him in broad daylight ended with a ute crashing through a pizza shop.

Nedal Acherkouk, on Friday evening, was cornered by cloaked assassins in the forecourt of a Surry Hills service station.

The poncho-clad pair concealed their faces, eyes and bodies before ambushing the 31-year-old with pistols as he sat in a blue car at the BP service station on Cleveland Street.

It was outrageous, police said, that diners had to flee gunshots as Acherkouk scrambled for safety.
The ABCs head of radio has moved to calm unrest and admonish poor behaviour within staff ranks as angry listeners flood the broadcaster with complaints about the surprise dumping of the Sydney stations Mornings presenter Sarah Macdonald.

Amid speculation that former Q+A presenter Hamish Macdonald is the frontrunner to replace her, employees told the Herald about festering concern that the radio divisions new bosses, both from commercial music stations, misread the ABC audience.

Outgoing ABC Mornings radio presenter Sarah Macdonald (left). Is that her replacement on the right? Credit: SMH

Listeners are still contacting the station with complaints four days after Macdonald revealed her exit. They say they are angry, disgruntled, sad and bewildered. One described the decision as an act of ABC self-sabotage. One called themselves an ABC disbeliever, another said they were shocked and disgusted.

The last thing we want is commercial radio. Shame! said another. Others asked for the decision to be reversed. They also criticised the mooted departure of weekend presenter Simon Marnie, who is still in discussions with management.
Melburnians faced steamy conditions thanks to near-record and lasting humidity after fog caused air traffic chaos, leading to dozens of flight cancellations.

The city was contending with unusual weather on two fronts on Tuesday: thick fog blanketed it for a second consecutive morning, and humidity levels in Victoria were at almost-record levels.

Walking in the humidity at the Royal Botanic Gardens fern gully on Tuesday. Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Michael Efron described the humidity as incredibly high.

Because it was combined with instability, it meant a risk of showers and thunderstorms in parts of Melbourne on Tuesday afternoon, coinciding with a steamy top temperature of 25 degrees, he said.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. As part of a joint project between Azerbaijans National Assembly and the expert platform Baku Network, Azerbaijani MPs Tural Ganjaliyev and Sevil Mikayilova held discussions with renowned environmental activist, CEO of the Global Legislators Organization for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE), and prominent advocate for social justice, sustainable development, and climate change Malini Mehra, Trend reports.

The discussions centered on the importance of COP29, a key global event held in Azerbaijan, with a focus on the nation's role as chair and the critical actions required to combat global climate change.

"I've been leading Global Legislators for the past decade, but at the same time, Ive been actively working in London, where I've been the Mayor of Londons Commissioner for Sustainable Development for the last eight years. So, I have worked at different levels and in different regions. This gives me a unique perspective to view things more holistically. I try not to stick to a single viewpointwhether it's civil society, business, or government. My goal is to bring together the different views of stakeholders and create consensus-based models," Mehra said.

She also shared her first visit to Azerbaijan in May this year: "Ms. Mikayilova, it was a pleasure meeting you at the General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in March. This was the first time we heard about Azerbaijan in the context of your preparations, as your country had less time than any other chairmanship to organize the event. I remember watching a video presentation about Azerbaijan in March in Geneva, at the International Conference Center, which was impressive. Honestly, most people had no idea where Azerbaijan was, what the people were like, or the culture. It was an incredibly strong presentation, leaving a vivid first impression. In May, I came here because the Globe Legislators play a special role under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. We are the contact points within the UN system for parliamentarians. Our job is to organize the parliamentary pavilion, provide support to MPs, help them understand the negotiation process, identify key issues, and figure out how they can engage with this work in their parliaments. My trip in May gave me a better understanding of whats happening here.

This was my first contact with Azerbaijan, and like everyone who comes here, I was struck by the beauty of the city. Baku is an incredibly beautiful city. Its very clean and pleasant. The people here are polite and friendly. The city is easy to navigate, and for me, personal safety is an important factor.

Baku is a very safe city for women and girls. And when Im asked about my main impression of Azerbaijan or Baku, I always say, "This is a country and a place I could send my daughters to without accompaniment, easily. I would say: go, enjoy, and you will be safe. Everything will be fine".

Mehra also expressed her admiration for the COP29 motto: "Not words, but actions"  a call for action beyond mere discussion.

"Often, we discuss things, make statements, and reflect, but what have we actually done? This is the most important question we must first ask ourselves, and then ask others. Only by doing so can we achieve effectiveness. When talking about Azerbaijan's chairmanship of COP29, several key aspects distinguish it from previous presidencies. First of all, it is the first chairmanship under which the so-called troika (COP28, COP29, and COP30) process has been formalized. Previously, the process of transferring authority between presidencies was rather informal. However, now this system is formalized, significantly improving coordination between initiatives.

This coordination involves not only procedures but also the interaction between initiatives from different presidencies. For example, when one presidency launches a particular program or partnership, the question arises: who will monitor its implementation? Who will be responsible for ensuring that it achieves its goals?" Mehra noted.
The mother of former Australian drug convict Schapelle Corby said she could not stop crying when she heard the five remaining members of the Bali Nine drug smuggling syndicate might be returned to Australia, saying, theyve done their time, bring them home.

Rosleigh Rose Corby, who visited Schapelle over the almost 10 years she spent in Kerobokan prison for smuggling marijuana to Indonesia, said she had met all five remaining prisoners and they all seemed polite, lovely boys.

Bali Nine prisoner Matthew Norman (right), his father Michael and Matthews partner, Anita, at the jail in 2017. Credit: Amilia Rosa

Dont get me wrong, they did the wrong thing, but some of the boys helped Schapelle a lot when she was going through a hard time, and most of them had very lovely families who cared a lot, Corby said.

Some of them were so young. Matthew [Norman] was just so young. You know, he just didnt understand. Norman was 18 when he was arrested.
New government charges, reducing diplomatic staff and offloading Melbournes wholesale fruit and vegetable market have all been quietly canvassed by the state government as Treasurer Tim Pallas looks for ways to stop Victoria sliding deeper into debt.

Ahead of the release of the Allan governments mid-year financial report for the 2024-25 financial year, The Age has confirmed Treasury has considered a raft of measures to help offset an extra $1.5 billion promised to hospitals since May and further blowouts on the Metro Tunnel budget.

Sources say there is a strained relationship between the offices of Treasurer Tim Pallas and Premier Jacinta Allan over ways to reduce Victorias debt. Credit: Getty Images

Four government sources, speaking anonymously to detail confidential discussions, said budget repair had increasingly become a point of contention within the Allan government.

They said the relationship between the offices of Premier Jacinta Allan and Pallas had been strained as they negotiated the budget process and also the release of the governments Economic Growth Statement by the end of 2024.
Property prices in Sydney and Melbourne are tipped to fall by up to 5 per cent next year, even as Australia-wide home prices are expected to record a moderate rise.

The average capital-city property price across Australia is predicted to rise by 1 to 4 per cent, SQM Researchs Housing Boom and Bust Report 2025, published on Monday, forecast.

While that increase would be driven by smaller capitals, Sydney and Melbourne are expected to decline further, with both forecast to fall between 1 and 5 per cent over the year.

It assumed the Reserve Bank would cut the cash rate by between 0.25 percentage points and 0.5 percentage points by the middle of the year.
The Trump-Vance transition lawyers continue to constructively engage with the Biden-Harris administration lawyers regarding all agreements contemplated by the Presidential Transition Act, Brian Hughes, a Trump transition spokesperson, said in a statement responding to queries about the status of negotiations with the Biden administration. Transition efforts help the president-elect with the complex task of taking over the federal government, including selecting thousands of potential political appointees. Previous transitions, including Trumps before his first term, have signed the agreements. Linda McMahon, a co-head of Trumps transition team, has said it intends to sign the agreements with the Biden administration, even though it has repeatedly missed deadlines to do so. Credit: Kenny Holston/The New York Times Trumps transition team, formally known as Trump Vance 2025 Transition Inc, has revealed nothing about how much money it hopes to raise, who has contributed to the fund or how it is spending the money. The current Trump transition, like its predecessors, is set up as a dark money non-profit. Those groups typically do not have to disclose their donors, even to the IRS. But unlike Trumps team this year, earlier transitions accepted financial support from the General Services Administration, which oversees much of the transition process. In exchange for that federal money, they agreed to conditions that other dark-money non-profits do not have to follow, such as capping individual contributions at $US5000 and disclosing the names of their donors.

The 2016 Trump transition, which did sign the agreement with the General Services Administration, had about 120 employees and ultimately disclosed raising $US6.5 million and receiving $US2.4 million in federal reimbursements. Trump used office space in Trump Tower to interview candidates during the transition, and filings show his transition spent $US258,000 on rent and utilities, though not who was paid. Loading In 2018, that transition donated $US150,000 in leftover money to another dark-money non-profit, the 45 Alliance, which was meant to help Trumps appointees and reportedly held a reception for them at what was then Trumps hotel in Washington. The 2016 transition also paid about $US1.8 million in legal fees, much of which was spent after Trump had been sworn in as president. In late 2017, for example, the transition challenged the governments decision to hand over its emails to Robert Mueller, who was then the special counsel, during his investigation of Trumps ties to Russia. The group also fought legal battles with New Jerseys attorney-general, which sued it for failing to register properly as a non-profit with the state. That transition was eventually wound down and, as required by its settlement with New Jersey, donated the last of its funds to a charity, according to Kory Langhofer, a lawyer for the 2016 transition. The transition chose the Wounded Warrior Project, a non-profit that helps veterans. That charity said it had received $US17,478.

Leading up to this years election, Trumps campaign and groups supporting it raised more than $US1 billion, according to federal records, including more than $US100 million apiece from three billionaires: Timothy Mellon, Elon Musk and Miriam Adelson. Howard Lutnick, the other leader of Trumps transition, was picked for secretary of commerce. Credit: AP But opportunities to curry favour with large contributions do not end on election day. A traditional post-campaign target has been the presidential inaugural committee, which, as an entity separate from both the campaign and the transition, raises money to fund the parties held to celebrate the handover of power. In 2016, Trump raised $US107 million for his inaugural committee, including from 30 donations of $US1 million each. The attorney-general of the District of Columbia later sued, accusing the inaugural committee of misusing funds, including by overpaying for space at Trumps Washington hotel. The suit was settled for $US750,000. As with campaign donations, contributions to inaugural funds are regulated by the Federal Election Commission, which requires the inaugural committee to file detailed lists of donors. It also prohibits donations from foreign nationals.

Transition funding is not regulated by the FEC. And IRS rules permit the non-profits in question to accept donations from foreigners without public disclosure. Loading Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service, which studies transition operations, said disclosure rules were intended to keep donors from using the transition fund to seek favourable treatment privately from the incoming administration before it even begins. The transition government is a little like setting up the universe, pre-Big Bang, Stier said. Its a lot of influence. The Trump transition was registered in Florida in August by Jacob Roth, a lawyer for the Dhillon Law Group, a prominent Republican firm. This month, Roth also registered Trumps inaugural fund in Florida, and the inauguration group began seeking individual donations, from $US50,000 to $US1 million, a fundraising flyer reviewed by The New York Times shows.

Roth did not respond to a request for comment. Because the transition has also failed to sign a separate agreement with the Justice Department, the FBI has been unable to conduct background checks needed to grant appointees security clearance. As a result, the transition is reportedly using private firms to vet candidates, leaving open the possibility that federal law enforcement may never properly review Trump appointees. Loading The Trump transition has also left unsigned a memorandum of understanding with the White House that outlines how appointees and other staff members can gain physical access to federal agencies and classified information before Inauguration Day on January 20. That agreement is contingent on the transition submitting and posting publicly an ethics plan that complies with federal law, including an explicit statement about Trumps own plans to avoid potential conflicts of interest. It has so far not done so. Experts on presidential transitions say lawmakers did not appear to have anticipated that a presidential candidate would decline millions of dollars from the federal government or refuse to post an ethics code.

In theory, the IRS could audit the Trump transition and ask it to provide information on its contributors, but even if it did, the agency would not make those names public. Brian Galle, a Georgetown University law professor who studies non-profits, said he was sceptical that the IRS would conduct an audit. Given the political sensitivity of this organisation, Galle said, Id say the odds of their being audited are zero. This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. The Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), held in Baku this year, will be remembered not only as a pivotal moment in global climate diplomacy but also as a testament to Azerbaijans growing influence in international politics. The outcomes of the conference, dubbed the "Baku Leap" by the global community, established a strategic foundation for future climate actions. The decisions made at COP29 opened new avenues in the fight against climate change from both technical and diplomatic perspectives.

A historic new financial target was set at COP29, reinforcing global efforts to combat climate change. Under this new target, developed nations are committed to providing $100 billion annually to developing countries to fight climate change, with the sum set to rise to $300 billion by 2035.

This financial goal is vital, particularly for nations in the Global South, which are most affected by the climate crisis exacerbated by the industrialization of developed nations. COP29 marked a breakthrough in addressing their needs and ensuring equitable financial support.

Negotiations over the financial target faced challenges due to the reluctance of some developed countries, particularly the US and the EU, to commit to substantial financial obligations. However, this historic agreement was reached through pressure from the international community and a compromise by developing nations.

The new financial target represents a crucial step forward in strengthening global efforts to combat climate change and support developing countries. However, for the target to be achieved, it is essential that developed countries honor their commitments and allocate funds in a transparent and equitable manner.

This new goal will also allow developing nations to make progress in areas such as green energy, sustainable infrastructure, and clean technologies. According to the World Bank, developing countries require approximately $4 trillion in annual investments to address climate change. The new target represents an important step in meeting some of this need.

To ensure the new financial target is met, transparency and accountability mechanisms will be put in place. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will oversee the process, ensuring that funds are distributed fairly and that the actual impact of these financial flows is measured.

COP29 also provided a key platform for resolving long-standing disputes over Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. While this issue was not resolved at COP28, intensive discussions in Baku led to agreements on paragraphs 6.2, 6.4, and 6.8 of the article.

Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement involves the creation of a carbon market that allows countries to turn carbon emissions into tradable commodities. Under the new mechanism, if developed countries exceed their carbon emission limits, they can purchase carbon credits from other nations. On the other hand, developing countries can earn additional income from this market without using their own emissions quotas.

For example, if a countrys carbon emissions limit is 500 million tons per year but it only produces 400 million tons, it can sell the remaining 100 million tons to other countries. This trading mechanism not only boosts the economic potential of developing nations but also contributes to reducing global carbon emissions.

Paragraph 6.8 covers non-market approaches, fostering cooperation in areas such as technology transfer, afforestation, and climate adaptation. This approach strengthens mutually beneficial relations between both developed and developing countries in global climate policy.

Under the new agreements, a global carbon market will function under the control of the UN. This oversight mechanism will ensure that countries fulfill their obligations and prevent any potential misuse.

The outcomes of Bakus COP29, particularly the financial target of $300 billion and the agreement on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, mark a historic turning point in the global fight against climate change.

The decisions made in Baku will provide greater support to the countries most affected by climate change. Moreover, the conference once again demonstrated Azerbaijans significant role in global climate diplomacy and further solidified the countrys position on the international stage.

COP29 will go down in history as an exemplary event in the fight against climate change, both for its organization and for its results. These decisions will play a key role in building a more sustainable world for both present and future generations.

However, Western political pressuresparticularly from the US and EUshaped the climate agenda leading up to and during COP29. This political influence primarily sought to undermine Azerbaijan's growing role in energy security and international diplomacy.

The absence of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen from COP29 was seen as a reflection of the EUs unconstructive stance toward the event. Her absence was perceived as a political signal, suggesting that the EU was indifferent to Azerbaijans role on the international stage.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also sought to divert attention from Azerbaijans climate agenda during the conference, raising human rights issues and meeting with opposition figures. These actions were seen as attempts to overshadow the conferences core objectives.

Baerbocks social media posts on X sparked significant debate on climate change during the event, where she sharply criticized both developing countries and major emitters like China and Saudi Arabia, labeling them as "new rich emitters." She also accused Azerbaijan of supporting certain parties in climate negotiations. However, her statements raised deeper concerns about the EU's commitment to climate action.

"We are at the heart of a geopolitical game at COP29, with some countries dependent on fossil fuels. Unfortunately, the arena for these games is made up of some of the poorest and most vulnerable countries. The EU understands its historical responsibility. But climate finance and emissions reductions must go hand in hand. We cannot turn a blind eye to the exploitation of poor countries by new rich emitters," Baerbock wrote.

Her remarks revealed a reluctance to take a leadership role in the global fight against climate change, while shifting responsibility onto others. The Paris Agreement clearly states that developed countries must provide financial support to developing nations in their efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change. However, Baerbock said little about the role of Germany and the EU in this regard, instead focusing on criticizing developing countries and emerging emitters.

Article 9 of the Paris Agreement outlines the financial obligations of developed countries to support developing countries, and by 2025, a collective financial commitment must be defined that exceeds previous targets. Baerbocks comments seemed to ignore these commitments, shifting focus elsewhere.

The phrase "Support for the Presidency" refers to Azerbaijans role as chair of COP29. However, Azerbaijan has sought to play a balanced and constructive role in the event. According to 'The Guardian', Azerbaijan held closed-door negotiations with key countries such as the US, China, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Brazil, and the EU, aiming to reach a unified position on critical issues like increasing climate financing and gradually phasing out fossil fuels.

As a result, an agreement was reached to raise the climate finance budget from $250 billion to $300 billion. This highlights Azerbaijans significant efforts in shaping the outcomes. Yet, questions remain: Where was the EU in these negotiations? Why did European leaders like Ursula von der Leyen not participate in such critical discussions? Their absence raises serious concerns about the sincerity of the EU's commitment to meeting its financial obligations.

The criticism of "new rich emitters," primarily aimed at China and Saudi Arabia, undermines the spirit of cooperation in addressing global climate challenges and fosters mistrust between nations. Europe, which played a central role in the industrial revolution and is largely responsible for the current climate crisis, must take on a greater share of responsibility. The Paris Agreement clearly calls for this.

COP29 proved to be an important test for global cooperation in the fight against climate change. Azerbaijan, as a neutral and balanced mediator, sought to reach agreements between all parties. However, the primary responsibility lies with developed countries, which must take concrete steps to fulfill their financial commitments and lead the way in solving global climate problems. Harsh statements and accusations on social media will not solve this pressing issue. On the contrary, such approaches only erode trust and hinder global collaboration.

Bakus official delegation demonstrated a constructive and pragmatic approach to these pressures. During COP29, Azerbaijan presented its climate strategy and provided the international community with detailed information on its green energy projects, particularly in Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur, which were highly praised.

Despite the political pressure, Azerbaijan managed to keep the discussions focused on the core climate agenda. The agreements reached at COP29 further cement Azerbaijans role as a key player in both regional and global climate policy.

The political pressure from the West also served to underscore that Azerbaijan must continue to assert its position on the international stage. What happened at COP29 highlights the importance of Azerbaijans strategic decisions, not only in the areas of energy and climate but also in global geopolitics.

In 2023, Azerbaijan was a key energy supplier to the European Union, exporting 12 billion cubic meters of natural gas. At COP29, agreements were made to significantly boost this energy flow, alongside ambitious plans to expand renewable energy production. By 2030, Azerbaijan aims to generate 30 percent of its energy from renewable sources, supported by 10 new wind and solar projects in the Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur regions. The countrys commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 was met with strong support from the international community.

Despite facing considerable pressure at COP29, the Azerbaijani delegation demonstrated a competent and measured stance, ensuring that discussions remained focused on the main agenda. Key agreements were reached at the international level on both Azerbaijan's energy and climate policies, reinforcing the countrys strategic position globally.

The political pressure exerted by Western nations at the conference underscored the need for Azerbaijan to assert an even stronger position in future international negotiations. The events of COP29 highlighted the importance of Azerbaijan's strategic decisions, not only in the energy and climate sectors but also in the broader geopolitical landscape.

Azerbaijan, under the leadership of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, played an influential role at COP29, not just as the host country but also as a leading mediator in global climate diplomacy. By maintaining a neutral stance, Azerbaijan facilitated key discussions between parties, reinforcing its position as a key player in global green energy policy and the fight against climate change.

The success of COP29, which was organized at Azerbaijans initiative, further cemented the country's rising global authority. Participating nations praised Azerbaijan's role in the event, recognizing it as a responsible and constructive partner in international climate efforts.

COP29 will go down as a pivotal moment in global climate diplomacy, particularly with the agreement on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and the establishment of a new financial target aimed at tackling climate change. These outcomes have laid a foundation for meaningful progress on the climate agenda.

Beyond technical and financial commitments, COP29 demonstrated the critical importance of political will and diplomatic efforts in addressing global climate challenges. Azerbaijans hosting of this historic event contributed significantly to international climate diplomacy and played a key role in advancing the global push for a sustainable future.

In conclusion, the success of COP29 further solidified Azerbaijan's growing influence on the world stage, enhancing its strategic importance in both energy and climate policy. The decisions made in Baku will serve as a roadmap for addressing climate change for years to come, marking a critical moment in the fight for a sustainable future.
China's Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory under construction

Xinhua) 08:10, November 25, 2024

This photo taken on Nov. 23, 2024 shows the acrylic sphere of the central detector of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) being cleaned in Jiangmen, south China's Guangdong Province.

The main part of the central detector has been constructed recently.

As one of the world's most powerful experiments to uncover neutrino mystery, JUNO is expected to operate for at least 30 years. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

Staff members work at the construction site of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) in Jiangmen, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 22, 2024.

The main part of the central detector has been constructed recently.

As one of the world's most powerful experiments to uncover neutrino mystery, JUNO is expected to operate for at least 30 years. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

Staff members work at the construction site of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) in Jiangmen, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 22, 2024.

The main part of the central detector has been constructed recently.

As one of the world's most powerful experiments to uncover neutrino mystery, JUNO is expected to operate for at least 30 years. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

Staff members work at the construction site of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) in Jiangmen, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 22, 2024.

The main part of the central detector has been constructed recently.

As one of the world's most powerful experiments to uncover neutrino mystery, JUNO is expected to operate for at least 30 years. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

This photo shows the central detector of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) under construction in Jiangmen, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 22, 2024.

The main part of the central detector has been constructed recently.

As one of the world's most powerful experiments to uncover neutrino mystery, JUNO is expected to operate for at least 30 years. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

A staff member works at the construction site of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) in Jiangmen, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 22, 2024.

The main part of the central detector has been constructed recently.

As one of the world's most powerful experiments to uncover neutrino mystery, JUNO is expected to operate for at least 30 years. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

This photo taken on Nov. 22, 2024 shows the acrylic sphere of the central detector of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) in Jiangmen, south China's Guangdong Province.

The main part of the central detector has been constructed recently.

As one of the world's most powerful experiments to uncover neutrino mystery, JUNO is expected to operate for at least 30 years. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

Researchers Ma Xiaoyan (R) and Zhao Jie check the acrylic sphere of the central detector of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) in Jiangmen, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 23, 2024.

The main part of the central detector has been constructed recently.

As one of the world's most powerful experiments to uncover neutrino mystery, JUNO is expected to operate for at least 30 years. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

Staff members pose for a group photo at the construction site of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) in Jiangmen, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 23, 2024.

The main part of the central detector has been constructed recently.

As one of the world's most powerful experiments to uncover neutrino mystery, JUNO is expected to operate for at least 30 years. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

Staff members rest at the construction site of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) in Jiangmen, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 23, 2024.

The main part of the central detector has been constructed recently.

As one of the world's most powerful experiments to uncover neutrino mystery, JUNO is expected to operate for at least 30 years. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

Staff members check the installation of the central detector of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) in Jiangmen, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 22, 2024.

The main part of the central detector has been constructed recently.

As one of the world's most powerful experiments to uncover neutrino mystery, JUNO is expected to operate for at least 30 years. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

This photo taken on Nov. 22, 2024 shows the acrylic sphere of the central detector of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) in Jiangmen, south China's Guangdong Province.

The main part of the central detector has been constructed recently.

As one of the world's most powerful experiments to uncover neutrino mystery, JUNO is expected to operate for at least 30 years. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

Researcher Zhao Jie (2nd L) and Italian expert Monica Sisti (1st R) discuss the cleaning of the acrylic sphere of the central detector of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) in Jiangmen, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 22, 2024.

The main part of the central detector has been constructed recently.

As one of the world's most powerful experiments to uncover neutrino mystery, JUNO is expected to operate for at least 30 years. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

Staff members work at the construction site of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) in Jiangmen, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 23, 2024.

The main part of the central detector has been constructed recently.

As one of the world's most powerful experiments to uncover neutrino mystery, JUNO is expected to operate for at least 30 years. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
HANGZHOU, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Beer tastes better when chilled, oranges are always sold in red mesh bags, and human fetuses grimace at the flavor of kale but smile for carrots. The scientific explanations for these quirky phenomena can be found in 10 innovative studies honored at the annual Pineapple Science Award on Saturday in Hangzhou, the capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. A watermelon forgotten in a freezer unexpectedly sparked a wave of inspiration for Professor Sun Licheng's team at Westlake University. Through a series of exploratory studies, the researchers mimicked the structure of the watermelon-rind membrane to develop high-performance artificial bio-inspired anion-exchange membranes with promising industrial applications. This innovative scientific achievement, born from a seemingly mundane moment, earned the team the "moment of inspiration" award at the event. The rind membrane refers to the thin, green outer layer of watermelon skin. When frozen and peeled, it is about 75 microns thick -- roughly the diameter of a human hair, said Dr. Liu Qinglu, a member of Sun's team. Liu added that testing revealed that it is an efficient ion-transport layer, a crucial element in creating nature-inspired electrochemical systems. The discovery would not have been possible without the team's enduring curiosity regarding unexpected phenomena, said Liu. Through ultrasound scans, researchers from Durham University in Britain found that human fetuses can taste and smell flavors in the womb. Interestingly, they can respond to the taste of carrots with facial expressions resembling smiles, while the taste of kale elicits grimaces of dislike, according to Beyza Ustun, a member of the research team. Scientists believe the findings provide valuable insights into the development of taste and olfactory receptors, as well as related perceptions and memory formation in humans. The study on fetal taste preferences finally won the Pineapple Science Award in medicine. This year's Pineapple Science Award recognized a range of intriguing studies that explored the scientific principles behind curious phenomena. Winners also included research on why the "baby smell" is so appealing, which type of paper cuts skin most easily, how spiders manipulate fireflies into emitting mating signals to lure prey, and the secret of how the unique smell of humans helps mosquitoes choose their next meal. "It is particularly important to combine science with interest. Only with interest can one gain the motivation to seek answers and develop a spirit of truth-seeking and scientific inquiry," said Fu Xinhua, a professor with Huazhong Agricultural University. Guided by the Zhejiang Association for Science and Technology and organized by the Zhejiang Science and Technology Museum, the Pineapple Science Award is a public science communication initiative. Launched in 2012, it takes place annually to celebrate imaginative scientific research and discoveries. Each year, 10 winning projects are selected across disciplines such as psychology, physics and mathematics. Notably, all awarded studies are based on academic findings published in scientific journals.
Photo: Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to President of Suriname Chandrikapersad Santokhi, Trend reports.

"Dear Mr. President,

On behalf of myself and the people of Azerbaijan, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to you and your people on the occasion of the national day of the Republic of Suriname.

Your visit to Baku to participate in COP29 holds a special place in the history of Azerbaijan-Suriname relations. I fondly recall our meeting held in the atmosphere of mutual trust and sincerity.

We place great importance on our interstate relations and cooperation with Suriname. To further develop economic and trade relations, a delegation of Azerbaijani experts stands ready to visit your country.

I am confident that, in line with the interests of our peoples, we will continue our joint efforts to strengthen the bonds of friendship between our nations and expand our cooperation both bilaterally and multilaterally.

On this festive occasion, I convey my best wishes to you and extend my hopes for lasting prosperity and peace for your friendly people," the letter reads.
World wants India to lead International discourse





Former Indian Ambassadors Sujan Chinoy, Ajay Bisaria, and TCA Raghavan engaging in a panel discussion with Samira Sood during a session on concluding day of Orange City Literature Festival at Chitnavis Centre, on Sunday. (Pic by Anil Futane)

Staff Reporter :

India must see its own growth with optimism and confidence because world is placing its long-term bets on India and we will be at the forefront of International discourse, observed Sujan Chinoy, Director General of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses and former Ambassador of India to Japan and Mexico, while speaking at a panel discussion on The Changing Face of Indias Foreign Relations: From Neighbours to Global Players at Orange City Literature Festival at Chitnavis Centre on Sunday. Ajay Bisaria, former Ambassador to Pakistan, Canada, Poland, and Lithuania ; and TCA Raghavan, former High Commissioner of India to Pakistan also were part of the panel moderated by Samira Sood, senior journalist. Its not so much about India aspiring to be a major power, it is about the world already regarding India as a major power since it values Indias civilisational legacy, added Sujan Chinoy while explaining the context behind expanding role of India at global stage. TCA Raghavan, however, advised a cautious approach.

He said, Aspirations of becoming a global player are alright but we should not let our ambitions cloud our thinking and make us imagine a situation which does not exist. He said that the country need to prioritise solving domestic issues first. We face serious issues of distribution of resources, development, malnourishment, and education. If we address these effectively, our role in the world will establish on its own without having to make a claim to be a global player, he added. Ajay Bisaria shed light on various challenges of India like managing domestic issues, managing neighbourhoods and taking care of global interests. India needs to tackle all challenges simultaneously. As a aspiring major power, Indias instinct is to stabilise the periphery, he explained. He also said that India offering itself to be available for any peace building in global conflict is a right step towards becoming a major power. During a discussion regarding India-Canada relations in the light of recent expulsion of Indian diplomats, Ajay Bisaria called it a mistake on Canadas side. He said, Canada is not a new Pakistan, but Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, is a new Bhutto.

He explained, unlike Pakistan, the tensions between India and Canada are confined to government-to-government relations. Donald Trumps victory in recently concluded US Presidential elections received mixed reactions from the panel. Chinoy said, There will be reduced evangelism on human rights and democratic freedom. But at the same time, there is likely to be increased transactional pressure on India with regard to trade and investment issues. Ajay Bisaria suspected that India might have to face tough times with regard to tariffs and immigration issues. He also warned that USA was entering a very uncertain and disruptive phase of its history and India should be very careful to be drawn into close relations with it. The attendees to the panel discussion were comprised of many youngsters reflecting increasing keen interest in International relations among the youngsters.
Addiction treatment facility itself suffering from system





By Bhavana Aparajita Shukla :

a few shocking incidents came to light at de-addiction centres in different parts of the country. In one of the incidents, a patient died at a de-addiction centre in Tiruchy and it was reported that incorrect treatment was administered to the patient. This is not an exceptional case. Tamil Nadu is one of the states that records highest number of alcohol-related problems. But it was found that Chennai lacks proper de-addiction facilities. In major cities, most of these centres were run by NGOs. In Bhopal, more than a dozen centres are being operated by private parties and their charges some around Rs 10,000 to 12,000 per month is beyond the capacity of several families. In a State where drug menace is on upward direction and recently, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Gujarat along with Bhopal police uncovered a massive drug manufacturing racket in Bhopal. Team seized record breaking quantity. Drugs worth over Rs 1,800 crore seized from the factory near Bhopal.

Alcohol cases are not going down its hangover. Even Opposition party Congress had remarked the State with a tag Udta Madhya Pradesh. Amid all these, news from the Government hospital in Bhopal that JP Hospital will have an addiction treatment facility, gave a ray of hope to several addiction inflicted poor families some around three months ago. This information hit the headlines like there will be no need to visit private centres, JP is going to start Addiction Treatment Facility, Councilor etc will be present. This was a welcome step. It will not only address the issue of exorbitant fees but it also gave hope of specialised treatment. Talking to The Hitavada, expert, Dr Dinesh Chouksey said, Treatment facilities that demands a full time psychiatrist as patients experience both physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms to handle with this qualified medicos presence is must otherwise results may be fatal, as experts opinions. So to run a centre is very sensitive task that needs proper infra as well manpower. Due to lack of expert care, many such centres rely on Antabuse drug to reform the addicts that need a great caution and monitoring, said the expert.

It was expected that government run center will address all such concern. But now, the facility is being started at JP Hospital, in absence of a specialised team (as The Hitavadas report found) is being seen as a jolt to expectations of many. Innocent poor families visiting the hospital hoping their dear ones will get rid of addiction soon. But absence of experts has delayed co-ordination between two departments highlights addiction of administrative empathy and recklessness is chronic in our system that need a proper and timely treatment. A prolonged medical complication is associated with substance abuse. But to manage prolonged derailment of project, we need a system rehabilitation center.

Addiction is treatable

According to National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Addiction is a treatable, chronic disease that can be managed successfully. This agency compares addiction to chronic diseases like diabetes or heart disease. To say the disease can be managed implies that it will not be overcome, it will simply be brought under control to some degree. This is a change of emphasis from rehabilitation onto treatment only, and with that shift came the pharmaceutical handlings, to help manage addiction. While, rehabilitating a former drug user involves first getting the person off drugs, then repairing the damage done by the drugs and the addicted lifestyle. Deaddiction Centre means a centre established under sub-section (1) of section 71 of the Act for treatment and care of persons who are addicted to alcohol or other drugs with the availability of various supporting medical care services or a unit attached to a well equipped general hospital for the treatment and care of persons addicted to alcohol or other drugs, which lead to behavioural changes in a person.
CBI arrests two postal officials demanding bribe





The Hitavada State Bureau

Balodabazar/Raipur,

In a significant crackdown on corruption, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the premier anti-corruption agency of India, arrested a Mail Overseer and a Sub-Divisional Inspector of Posts (SDIP) in Chhattisgarh. The two were caught red-handed while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 37,000 from a complainant, a Branch Post Master in Deosundra, Balodabazar district. CBI registered a case against the accused on November 23rd, following a complaint lodged on 19 November by the Branch Post Master. It was alleged that during an inspection of the Deosundra Post Office conducted by the Mail Overseer and SDIP on 22 October, certain irregularities were purportedly found in the complainants discharge of duties. The complaint further revealed that on 11 November, the Mail Overseer summoned the complainant to the office of the SDIP in Balodabazar, where a bribe of Rs 60,000 was demanded to settle the matter and avoid action. Upon the complainants plea, the accused agreed to accept the bribe in two instalments - Rs 40,000 upfront and Rs 20,000 later.

The SDIP endorsed the demand and assured the complainant that no harm would come to her if the amount was paid. Acting swiftly, the CBI laid a trap and apprehended the Mail Overseer red-handed while accepting Rs 37,000 as part of the bribe on November 23rd. The money was recovered on the spot. Both the accused were arrested and were presented before the Court. CBI has initiated searches at the residential and official premises of the accused to uncover further evidence. Officials have confirmed that the investigation is ongoing, focusing on potential systemic corruption in the postal department.
CM Dr Yadav to visit British Parliament





Staff Reporter :

Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadavs UK tour begins. On Monday, he will visit the British Parliament and engage Indian diaspora and friends of MP in investment discussions

Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadavs UK tour has begun, aiming to establish the State as a prominent player on the global investment stage. The tours primary objectives include attracting foreign investment, promoting global industrial cooperation and engaging the Indian diaspora in the States progress. Dr Yadav will visit British Parliament on Monday where he will be welcomed and accompanied by British MP Baroness (Sandip K Verma). He will then tour the Parliament with MP Baroness Verma and pay homage to Mahatma Gandhis statue at Parliament Square, Westminster. The Chief Minister will host a lunch at a private hotel, St James Court in honour of British MPs including Baroness Verma, Kulveer Singh and Bob Blackman. He will also meet with British representatives and discuss investment opportunities in Madhya Pradesh.

Dr Yadav will then visit Kings Cross site in London, where he will meet with administrative and trade representatives from Madhya Pradesh, as well as Dr Param Shah from FICCI and CEO of Kings Cross Management, Tom Goodall. They will discuss industrial investment opportunities in the State. Dr Yadav, in the evening will take a cruise on the River Thames and later engage in investment-related discussions with the Indian diaspora and friends of MP at the Royal National Hotel in London. He will also host a dinner for the guests.
CONGRESS SLIDE





EVEN as the MahaYuti celebrates its unprecedented victory in the Maharashtra Assembly elections against a disjointed Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), devastation of the result is yet to ring into the corridors of the Congress party. Apart from its pathetic excuse of blaming the election process and the electronic voting machines, there is no concrete response from the Grand Old Party despite the humiliation in its so-called bastions. The Congress is back to square one in Maharashtra and continues to wander into the wrong lane with no safety gear. After the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress had emerged as a key player in Maharashtra with odds heavily stacked against the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies. It was the leading player in the MVA seat-sharing formula and the State was set for another direct fight between the two traditional rivals. However, the decimation of the MVA has killed all hopes of a revival of Congress as it lost all gains of the general elections. The worst-ever performance in Maharashtra has left the party on the brink of an implosion with no capable leader to take control.

The Congress was a victim of its own arrogance and overconfidence in Maharashtra as it tried to play the big brother in the MVA but failed to quell rebellion in its own ranks. With no clear strategy to woo the electorate and factionalism reaching alarming proportions, the party went back to the same old save the Constitution narrative but failed miserably. All through the period between the Lok Sabha elections and Assembly polls, the Congress remained in denial of the swift change in the MahaYutis strategy. There was no planning or strategy to take on the BJP and the silent might of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Grappled with infighting, the Congress leadership resorted to the bravado of keeping the allies NCP (Sharad Pawar) and Shiv Sena (UBT) waiting till the last minute before hammering out a seat-sharing equation and paid heavily with a devastating defeat. The Congress contested 108 seats and returned with a paltry 16 seats registering a poor strike rate of 15.8.

Despite the rallies by senior leaders Mr. Rahul Gandhi, Ms. Priyanka Gandhi and party chief Mr. Mallikarjun Kharge the Congress campaign never took off. The party think-tank decided to stick with the Constitution narrative and kept flashing the Red Book during speeches. It was an idea whose shelf-life was over immediately after the Lok Sabha elections yet the Congress refused to acknowledge the ground reality. With such an unresponsive senior leadership, the party candidates were left to fend for themselves and came up a cropper against the BJPs election machinery. What the Congress leadership in New Delhi is inexplicably ignoring is the bickering and professional rivalry among netas in Maharashtra. It is a disarray which the Gandhis can ignore at their own peril.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. Azerbaijan's contribution to the global fight against climate change through the successful hosting of COP29 will be discussed for years to come, said Sahiba Gafarova, Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament, Trend reports.

Speaking at todays plenary session of the parliament, Gafarova emphasized that the high-level organization of the prestigious COP29 conference not only reinforced Azerbaijans image as a leader in addressing both regional and global climate issues but also increased the country's ambitions for hosting further important international events.

As part of COP29, on November 16 and 17, a Parliamentary Meeting was held jointly organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Parliament of Azerbaijan. The event was attended by 95 delegations from 67 countries, representing national parliaments, inter-parliamentary organizations, and various institutions, in total 345 parliamentary representatives.

Opening the meeting, I particularly highlighted one point. I noted that Azerbaijan, long before being chosen as the host country for COP29, had placed climate-related activities and the 'green' agenda at the center of its national plans under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev.

By taking voluntary commitments, implementing renewable energy projects, and creating green energy zones, our country has demonstrated persistence and determination on the path of further development.

I also emphasized that parliamentary cooperation is of special importance for the exchange of knowledge, experience, and best practices. We must continue to improve our legislation and encourage governments to more effectively mobilize their efforts.

During the event, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Parliament of Azerbaijan and the International Parliament for Tolerance and Peace.

In the Azerbaijani parliament, 15 bilateral meetings were held with the heads of international parliamentary organizations and parliaments that arrived in Baku to participate in COP29 and the Parliamentary Meeting. During discussions with the heads of parliaments, the Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Vice President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the President of the Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly, the Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations, Baroness Scotland, the 76th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Theresa May, the Prime Ministers of Albania, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Tonga, Zimbabwe, co-chairs and members of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, and other high-ranking officials, opinions were exchanged on the successful organization of COP29 and the Parliamentary Meeting and the discussions held at these events," added Gafarova.

To note, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which run until November 22, opened at the Baku Olympic Stadium on November 11. It was the largest event organized by Azerbaijan to date, and the first time in the region that it was held in Azerbaijan.

Within COP29, the highest level event - the summit of world leaders on climate action - was held on November 1213.

The main expectation from COP29 was to agree on a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantitative Goal (NCQG) on climate finance. The COP29 chairmanship launched 14 initiatives that include linkages between climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals, including green energy corridors, green energy storage, harmony for climate resilience, clean hydrogen, methane reduction in organic waste, action on green digital technologies, and other topics.

In addition to being a top priority that creates the conditions for action, creating climate finance will also help fulfill the 1.5C pledge by bringing everyone together.

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 and 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 otherwise decided by the parties, COP is held annually. The first COP event was held in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Mah Cabinet MahaYuti may go for 21-12-10 formula





MUMBAI :

A DAY after the landslide victory, the Mahayuti partners have internally started a discussion about the Government formation, and as per sources, a formula of 21-12-10 based on the number of seats won is being worked upon. Mahayuti has won a record 230 seats of which 132 were won by the BJP, Shiv Sena 57 and NCP 41. Sources said the parties have arrived at the probable formula of 21-12-10 for the induction of ministers in the new Cabinet. Of the total 43 ministers, BJP will have a lions share with 21 ministers, 12 to Shiv Sena and 10 to NCP. The Mahayuti has held a preliminary discussion on the Cabinet formula and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar are expected to visit Delhi to discuss with the BJPs Central leadership, including Home Minister Amit Shah. Sources said that the ministerial posts would be distributed pointed out that the Congress State unit chief Nana Patole managed to win with a wafer thin margin of around 200 votes in Sakoli seat. The BJP-led Mahayuti, which also comprises the Shiv Sena of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and NCP of deputy CM Ajit Pawar, on Saturday retained power in the State by bagging 230 of the 288 Assembly seats.

The Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadis dream of wresting power fizzled, with the Opposition combine managing to garner just 46 seats. The BJP bagged 132 seats, the Shiv Sena won 57, while the NCP got 41 seats. In the MVA, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) candidates won 10 seats, Congress won 16, while Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) won 20 seats. Answering a query on the States next Chief Minister, Bawankule said the decision would be taken by the Mahayuti leaders and the BJPs parliamentary board. The selection process would be in-line with the alliances plans for governance, he added. Notably, the Mahayutis landslide in Maharashtra will leave the State Assembly without a leader of Opposition as no party outside the ruling alliance has been able to get the mandatory minimum 29 seats. Bawankule referred to the Congress previous successes, particularly in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year, claiming the Opposition party had been misleading the people. The Congress succeeded in fooling the people during the Lok Sabha campaign, but it failed to repeat that success in this Assembly election, he said.

Targeting Patole, he said the Congress leader was dreaming of becoming the Chief Minister, but he has just about managed to win his seat with the help of postal votes. If he does not learn a lesson from this outcome, he may not be there in the House after the next Assembly poll, Bawankule said.

The Maharashtra BJP chief said the party plans to launch a major membership drive in the State. Our goal is to enrol 1.51 crore primary members. We want individuals active in the social and religious sectors to join. This will aid in expanding our membership. The newly inducted members will gain insight into Government schemes and policies, thereby fortifying our presence in the State, he said. Asked about Islamic scholar Sajjad Nomanis reported appeal to Muslims to vote for the MVA and his subsequent apology, Bawankule said some individuals tried to divide society on religious lines to target the BJP.

These tactics appeared to have worked in their (Opposition) favour in the Lok Sabha polls. But when the public recognised that the Congress had aligned itself with such divisive figures to hinder the BJPs return to power, their sentiments shifted. The efforts of the Congress and other Opposition parties fell flat, he said. With people giving a decisive mandate after rejecting such designs, Nomanis apology holds no significance now, the BJP leader said. The people of Maharashtra chose to stand by the ek hai toh safe hai motto advocated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he asserted. Acknowledging Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanaths popularity among Maharashtra voters, Bawankule said there was tremendous demand for the formers rallies, including on the final day of campaigning on November 18. However, these requests could not be fulfilled as Adityanath had rallies scheduled in Jharkhand, where the second phase of Assembly polls were held on November 20. Be it Lok Sabha polls or State elections, the demand for Adityanaths rallies is very high, Bawankule said.

Mahayuti leaders to decide CM: Bawankule

MUMBAI,

Nov 24 (PTI)

MAHARASHTRA BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Sunday, said leaders of the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the BJP leadership will decide who will be the next Chief Minister of the State. Addressing a press conference here, Bawankule said all sections of the society supported the BJP in the Maharashtra Assembly polls and rejected the Congress. He
MVA rout rooted in leadership failure, seat-sharing woes, playing same old tunes





By Sagar Mohod :

Unable to carry forward the winning strategy employed during the Lok Sabha polls, Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a total rout in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, leaving political pundits working overnight to decipher the mandate. Most of all, the downturn of Congress is something that is quite shocking as post Lok Sabha result, it found itself basking in glory only to bite the dust six months later in the crucial Assembly elections. Even the staunch Congressmen have no ready-made answers as to what went wrong. The stalwarts of Congress in State, Prithviraj Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat, were swept in the MahaYuti wave. Thorat was Congress Legislature Party leader in Maharashtra Assembly and Chavan is one of its tallest leaders and former Chief Minister. Hence, these two losses would sting the party most. Not to mention the fate of Nana Patole, President, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), hanged in balance till the last ballot was counted. It was almost game over for Patole, but the postal ballot count saved him the ignominy of defeat in the polls.

His defeat would have been more crushing for the Congress. Congress high command was never in picture from the day one, as it was arm-twisted by its alliance partners during seat distribution to lacklustre campaign by leadership that cost the MVA dearly. During Lok Sabha, Congress had won 13 seats in Maharashtra and its vote share was 16.92 per cent which nosedived by almost 6 per cent that resulted in major drawback for the grand old party. An analysis shows that Congress lacks a commanding figure in State who has pan-Maharashtra base. Patole, who was trying to put up an aggressive posture saw brakes being applied by party high command on him at behest of alliance partners, particularly Shiv Sena (UBT). As Patole was refusing to cede crucial seats where he was sure Congress had advantage, only to find himself sidelined by party high command during seat sharing talks.

And the man tasked with adjustment with alliance partners, Thorat, was himself humbled from his stronghold in Western Maharashtra. Though Congress tried to match BJPs strategy by deputing experienced leaders from neighbouring States to oversee the election process, they were lone warriors while the saffron party leaders brought along their entire election machinery from Madhya Pradesh and that worked wonders. Compared to BJP, Congress stuck to old tape of Constitution in danger, rather than sticking to ground reality, identifying pressing issues of people, and hence it fell aside. One more striking point is that MVA, especially Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharad Pawar), lacked formidable candidates as their bigwigs crossed over to Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar faction respectively. These big leaders of two regional parties also took away the party cadre with them leaving newcomers with little scope to establish their grip.

During the seat sharing talks for Assembly election, both Shiv Sena and NCP (SP) were trying to dominate Congress, they seemed to be wary of latters growing stature in Maharashtra. So the seat sharing talks got stalled particularly over Nagpur South and Ramtek Assembly constituencies as Shiv Sena (UBT) was insisting on fighting these seats despite being aware of fact that its party base does not exist here. In Ramtek, Shiv Sena (UBT) cut a sorry face as its official nominee could not even save the deposit. Had the constituency gone to Congress then perhaps Rajendra Mulak could have sailed through. In absence of party symbol, he lost out to Shiv Senas (Shinde) Adv Ashish Jaiswal. BJPs well-oiled election machinery is envy of any party and Congress now finds itself in totally demoralised state. Atleast now, Congress needs to back its leaders who have mass connect. One significant point is in of 16 seats that Congress won from Maharashtra, nine seats were from Vidarbha.
Vidarbha skipper Sharma goes to RCB for a whopping Rs 11 crore





By Anupam Soni :

MAKING him the costliest buy from Vidarbha till date, Virat Kohlis Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) picked Twenty20 skipper Jitesh Sharma for a whopping Rs 11 crore in the IPL auction underway in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Sunday. A former player with Punjab Kings, the India stumper was released by the franchise and it proved to be a blessing for the talented Vidarbha lad. From his base price of Rs one crore, Sharma was finally picked for Rs 11 crore after intense battle among franchisees. It were Chennai Super Kings, who started the bidding and subsequently Lucknow Supergiants and Delhi Capitals raised the amount. RCB quoted a price of Rs 7 crore and at this juncture, Right to Match card was employed by Punjab but RCB raised the amount to 11 crore and Punjab surrendered. Now, very much in the Twenty20 scheme of things for India, Sharma, who was part of the team that defeated South Africa recently, was even the Vice-Captain of the Punjab outfit. He played 14 matches last season and did well in the limited opportunities that he got. He was also with Mumbai Indians in the past.

Punjab, who finished at the bottom in the last edition and had released all but two uncapped players, also showed keen interest in Sharma during the auction. Last year, India pacer Vidarbha Express Umesh Yadav and big-hitter Shubham Dubey went for Rs 5.80 crore each. Yadav and Dubey were picked by Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals respectively. Sharma has now fetched almost double the previous top deals. Till the filing of report, three of the other ten Vidarbha players in fray were sold out. India player and a professional for Vidarbha, Karun Nair (DC) was picked for Rs 50 lakh and Atharva Taide (SRH) for Rs 30 lakh while all-rounder Yash Thakur was bagged by Punjab Kings for a decent sum of Rs 1.60 crore.
Winter session from today All party meet: Govt seeks smooth conduct, Cong for debate on Adani issue





Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju and Union Minister of State Anupriya Patel arrive for the all-party meeting ahead of Winter session of the Parliament, in New Delhi on Sunday. (PTI)

NEW DELHI :

THE Opposition on Sunday asked the Centre to allow discussions in the Parliament on the US prosecutors bribery charges against the Adani Group even as Union Minister Kiren Rijiju made it clear that the matters to be taken up in the two Houses will be decided by their authorised committees with the consent of the respective Chair. Following the customary all-party meeting on the eve of the Parliaments Winter Session commencing Monday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rijiju told reporters that the Government has appealed to all the parties to ensure smooth conduct of business in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Forty-two leaders from 30 parties attended the meeting which was chaired by senior BJP leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

On Congress demand to hold discussions on the Adani issue on priority apart from a host of other matters, including the Manipur unrest, Rijiju said the business advisory committees of the two Houses will take a call on the subjects of parliamentary business with the consent of the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Rajya Sabha chairman. Raising the matter at the meeting, Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, dubbed the Adani issue as a scam, saying the Government should not reject or ignore their demand on any technicality as it concerns Indian institutions and investors. Congress leader Pramod Tiwari also said the Government should set aside other businesses to take up a discussion on the issue on priority. It is a grave issue involving the countrys economic and security interests as over Rs 2,300 crore were allegedly paid by the company to politicians and bureaucrats to get favourable deals for its solar energy projects, the Rajya Sabha MP said. Raising the Manipur violence, Gogoi said the ruling dispensation jailed the Jharkhand Chief Minister (Hemant Soren) and made changes in Jammu and Kashmir for a variety of reasons, but kept its faith in Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh despite his alleged involvement in violence. The matter must be debated in the Parliament, he said.

The Winter Session is scheduled to be held from November 25 to December 20. At the meeting, two BJP allies from Adnhra Pradesh -- Telugu Desam Party and Jana Sena Party -- raised the issue of pending implementation of the promises made during the division of the State in 2014 under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganiation Act, saying the Parliament should know their present status. We want the Government to put the status on record, TDP leader Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu told PTI, noting that while some promises have been fulfilled and some are being taken up, a few still remain unfulfilled. Jana Sena leader Balashowry Vallabhaneni spoke on similar lines. The Polavaram irrigation project has come to a standstill, Devarayalu said, adding that the Parliament must also discuss disaster management as so many southern cities are getting affected due to heavy downpour triggered by climate change. Asked about his partys stand on the Adani issue, Devarayalu said more details need to come out but added that his party does not want the States brand image to be harmed.

The meeting was attended by BJP President J P Nadda, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, DMKs Tiruchi Siva, Akali Dals Harsimrat Kaur Badal and LJP (Ram Vilas) MP Arun Bharti, among others. Siva asked the Centre to withdraw the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which the government is keen to table in the session despite opposition by several Muslim organisations. Bharti raised the issue of Bihar being hit frequently by floods and sought a relief package, besides demanding that the lateral entry provision should be given a constitutional status to safeguard the interests of SCs and STs. The Government has listed 16 bills for consideration in the Winter Session. The bills pending in the Lok Sabha include the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which has been listed for consideration and passage after a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) of the two Houses submits its report on it to the Lower House. The panel is mandated to submit its report on the last day of the first week of the Winter session. The Opposition members in the panel are demanding an extension in the timeline to submit its report. Accusing the JPC Chairman and BJP MP Jagdambika Pal of bulldozing the committees meetings, the opposition members sought the intervention of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Commenting on the matter, Rijiju said there is a provision to extend the tenure of the JPC but as of now, there have been no discussions on it. He also underlined that the business advisory committee of the Lok Sabha is the right platform to discuss the issue of extending the JPCs timeline. .

As many as eight bills, including the Waqf (Amendment) Bill and the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, are pending in the Lok Sabha. According to a Lok Sabha bulletin, two bills are pending with the Rajya Sabha. A Rajya Sabha bulletin said an additional bill -- The Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak -- passed by the Lok Sabha is pending with the Upper House. A set of proposed bills to implement simultaneous elections in the country are not part of the list yet, though some reports suggested that the government is likely to bring the proposed legislation in the coming session.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. In a world grappling with geopolitical upheaval, economic turbulence, and the ever-looming threat of climate catastrophe, Azerbaijans hosting of the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was more than just a logistical challengeit was a geopolitical statement. Against the backdrop of international intrigue and relentless pressure, Baku emerged as a beacon of diplomatic resilience, innovation, and leadership, delivering a summit that rewrote the playbook for global climate policy.

The Baku Finance Goal: Climate Funding Reimagined

At the heart of COP29s legacy lies the landmark Baku Finance Goal, an audacious commitment that mandates developed nations to mobilize at least $300 billion annually for climate funding in developing countries by 2035. This figure not only surpasses previous targets by $50 billion but also sets a new benchmark for global climate finance.

European Commissioner for Climate Action Wopke Hoekstra captured the moment succinctly, calling COP29 the dawn of a new era in climate finance, and describing the Baku agreement as a watershed moment for the global fight against climate change. Yet this triumph was no accidentit was the culmination of months of intense backroom negotiations, deft diplomatic maneuvering, and an unwavering focus on shared goals.

Azerbaijan Under Fire: Weathering an Information War

From the outset, Azerbaijan faced a calculated barrage of disinformation campaigns aimed at derailing COP29 and tarnishing its role as host. These efforts were spearheaded by nations reluctant to increase their financial commitments, with Washington and Brussels leading the charge.

In the U.S., the Biden administrationpreparing to transition power to President-elect Donald Trumpused the summit to sow chaos, leaving a minefield of unresolved climate issues for the incoming administration. Across the Atlantic, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen boycotted the summit entirely, an act designed to downplay its significance and undermine developing nations bargaining power.

But perhaps the most conspicuous provocations came from German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. Representing the Green Party, Baerbock ironically veered far from her ecological mandate, opting instead to weaponize unrelated issues such as human rights and visa disputes. Her actions served to distract from the summits core agenda and complicate Azerbaijans role as host, raising questions about the sincerity of her partys commitment to climate justice.

Bakus Diplomatic Jiu-Jitsu: Turning Challenges into Triumphs

Azerbaijan maintained its course despite the external noise. Leveraging its position as a bridge between East and West, Baku rallied developing nations to demand accountability from the worlds largest economies. This collective pressure forced the United States, the European Union, and other economic heavyweights to make concessions, culminating in the adoption of the Baku Finance Goal.

The summit wasnt just a victory for Azerbaijanit was a game-changer for global climate policy. By putting concrete financial obligations on the table, COP29 underscored the principle that global challenges require collective solutions. It also showcased how skillful diplomacy can transform an underdog into a power player on the international stage.

What Comes Next? The Road Ahead

The decisions made in Baku mark a turning point, but they also underscore the daunting road ahead. Climate change is a ticking clock, and the commitments made at COP29 must translate into swift and decisive action.

For Azerbaijan, the success of the summit was more than an organizational triumphit was a statement of intent. Baku proved that even under relentless pressure and geopolitical sabotage, it could deliver a world-class forum with outcomes that matter. The lessons from COP29 will resonate far beyond the Caspian Sea, serving as a blueprint for future negotiations and a reminder that vision, resolve, and unity can overcome even the most formidable obstacles.

The Legacy of Bakus Diplomacy: A Triumph of Unity Over Division

COP29 in Baku stands as a resounding testament to the power of diplomacy and solidarity in addressing global challenges. Azerbaijan demonstrated that sovereignty and independence are not barriers to effective international engagement; on the contrary, they are catalysts for progress when paired with vision and resolve.

The achievements of COP29 transcend the billions pledged for climate finance. They embody a collective shift toward meaningful action against the climate crisis, proving that even in the face of adversity, a nation can rise above external noise to deliver transformative outcomes.

As Bakus example illustrates, when nations prioritize fairness, responsibility, and cooperation, they can bridge divides and chart a sustainable course for the future. The legacy of COP29 is not just a triumph for Azerbaijanits a beacon of hope for the world, a rallying cry that unity and decisive action can surmount even the most pressing global challenges.

The Stage for Diplomacy Amid Geopolitical Chess

In global politics, every move is calculated, every event a piece on the chessboard. Yet COP29 in Baku showcased how, despite calculated provocations and strategic roadblocks, common sense and constructive dialogue can prevail. Against a backdrop of intrigue and sabotage, the summit not only met expectations but exceeded them, affirming that sound diplomacy is the antidote to even the most insidious attempts at disruption.

Propaganda vs. Pragmatism

Azerbaijan faced a concerted smear campaign from the moment of its announcement as the host of COP29. Western media, politicians, and NGOs launched a barrage of criticism, echoing a familiar script: accusations of human rights violations, democratic deficiencies, and deviation from so-called "civilized standards."

This rhetoric was neither new nor surprising. Western power centers use this same playbook against nations that assert their independence and achieve success on their own terms. But in Azerbaijans case, these attacks rang hollow.

First , Bakus selection was not imposed but unanimously endorsed by 200 member countries of the UNFCCC, underscoring the international communitys confidence in Azerbaijans organizational capabilities.

, Bakus selection was not imposed but unanimously endorsed by 200 member countries of the UNFCCC, underscoring the international communitys confidence in Azerbaijans organizational capabilities. Second, Azerbaijan has consistently proven itself as a reliable host of high-profile global events, from cultural festivals to geopolitical summits.

The criticism was less about reality and more about punishing Azerbaijan for its independent patha path that defies Western narratives and resists attempts at external control.

Why Was Baku Targeted?

The reasons are clear. Azerbaijans steadfast defense of its national interests and confident position in global affairs challenge the traditional power dynamics that many Western nations seek to maintain. Baku's defiance of foreign-dominated narratives makes it a prime target for disinformation and political pressure.

The West's chronic inability to address its own role in the climate crisis amplified this frustration. Developed nations, particularly in the United States and Europe, have long sidestepped their responsibility for carbon emissions, preferring instead to deflect blame onto others. Azerbaijans successful hosting of COP29 exposed this hypocrisy, forcing the focus back onto substantive issues like climate financingprecisely what many in the West had hoped to avoid.

The Bigger Picture: Lessons from Baku

COP29 was more than a summit; it was a case study in how a nation, through diplomatic acumen and principled leadership, can turn adversity into advantage. It highlighted the failure of propaganda when confronted with constructiveness and collaboration. Most importantly, it underscored the potential for smaller nations to lead on the global stage, proving that size and power are no match for vision and determination.

The legacy of COP29 is a triumph of diplomacy over division, action over rhetoric, and unity over discord. Its a reminder to the world that in tackling existential challenges like climate change, the only way forward is together.

A Masterclass in Diplomacy and Pragmatism

In the face of relentless attempts to undermine its credibility, COP29 in Baku emerged as an undeniable triumph. Over 75,000 participants from across the globe lauded the summit's impeccable organization, streamlined logistics, and the creation of an environment that fostered productive dialogue. Azerbaijan's ability to deliver a seamless, high-impact event has set a new benchmark for global climate diplomacy.

A Defining Moment: Historic Funding Commitment

The summit's most groundbreaking achievement was the agreement to channel $300 billion annually to developing countries for combating climate change. Nearly 200 nations endorsed this landmark decision, demonstrating the power of diplomacy to resolve even the most intractable global challenges. It was more than just a financial commitmentit was a symbol of collective action at a time when the world needs unity more than ever.

Azerbaijans leadership was pivotal in steering this agreement to fruition. Acting as a bridge between developing and developed nations, Baku unified the voices of underrepresented countries and effectively pressured wealthier states to step up. For years, developed nations had evaded their responsibilities under climate agreements. In Baku, that era of complacency came to an end.

Discrediting the Propaganda Machine

Attempts to damage Azerbaijan's reputation in the run-up to COP29 were unsuccessful. The organizers of these smear campaigns found themselves in a difficult situation when the international community exposed the baseless accusations. Reality, as demonstrated during the summit, contradicted the narratives propagated by detractors.

These attacks didn't derail Azerbaijan; instead, they made it stronger. Its commitment to constructive engagement and transparent diplomacy resonated on the global stage. The outcome? This outcome serves as a resounding validation of Azerbaijan's principled approach to international relations.

Azerbaijans Rising Global Profile

The success of COP29 serves as a powerful testament to Azerbaijans ability to navigate complex international dynamics with finesse. It also highlights the transformative role of constructive diplomacy in addressing pressing global challenges. Azerbaijan has established a benchmark for accountability and cooperation by fulfilling its promises and adhering to its core values.

This summit wasnt just about climateit was about leadership. Azerbaijan proved that fairness and integrity could triumph over disinformation and bias. For critics, COP29 offered an undeniable lesson: Azerbaijan is not just a participant on the global stageits a key player capable of driving transformative change.

A Blueprint for Global Diplomacy

COP29 in Baku stands as a shining example of how strategic thinking and skilled diplomacy can overcome even the most formidable obstacles. Azerbaijans demonstration of sovereignty and independence didnt isolate it but rather amplified its role as a trusted partner in global negotiations. The summits outcomes underline a universal truth: global challenges demand collective action.

The "Baku Finance Goal"the commitment to allocate hundreds of billions annually for climate initiativesmarks a watershed moment in the fight against climate change. This bold step will shape global climate policy for decades, serving as both a challenge and an inspiration for future summits.

A Legacy of Hope and Action

Critics of Azerbaijan saw COP29 as a critical moment. For the world, it was a beacon of hope. The summit reminded us that collaboration, pragmatism, and strategic vision could dismantle barriers and build bridges. The summit resoundingly declared that we cannot tackle environmental crises in isolation and that global solidarity is not a luxury, but a necessity.

As the follow-up of COP29, the message from Baku is clear: progress is possible when nations unite behind shared goals. The summit didnt just outline a roadmap for climate actionit inspired a renewed sense of purpose and responsibility.

Bakus success is more than a diplomatic victory for Azerbaijan; it is a call to action for the global community. Now, the world must take this momentum forward, building on the foundation laid in Baku. The opportunity for transformative change is hereand its up to all of us to seize it.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. Govhar Bakhshaliyeva has been awarded the Shohrat Order, Trend reports.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed a relevant decree in this regard.

Guided by paragraph 23 of Article 109 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, I decree:

To award Govhar Bakhshaliyeva with the Order Shohrat for her fruitful activity in the public-political life of the Republic of Azerbaijan and merits in the development of science, the decree reads.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. Araz-2024 joint tactical exercise involving the special forces of the Azerbaijan Army's Land Forces and the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (SEPAH) Ground Forces is being held near the settlement of Aslanduz in the Ardabil province of Iran, Trend reports via the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense.

"Prior to the exercise, a command-staff meeting was held with the participation of senior members of the delegations from both countries, during which the sequence of the stages and episodes of the exercise was determined and safety regulations were communicated.

Following that, the opening ceremony of the Araz-2024 joint tactical exercise was held. After the ceremony, the military personnel got acquainted with the area where the exercise to be held," the ministry said.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. Azerbaijan has showcased its increasing global significance by effectively hosting the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), the political analyst Azer Garayev said in an interview with Trend.

"Climate change is one of the most serious global challenges of the 21st century, affecting not only ecosystems but also the world economy, social justice, and international security. He stressed that combating climate change requires not only scientific research but also strong political will and international cooperation.

COP29 served as a platform for making crucial decisions. Azerbaijan's role in hosting the event in Baku underscored its position in the fight against climate change and showcased the country as a reliable and modern global partner. The event was not only a space for making essential decisions for the future of the planet but also a platform where Azerbaijan delivered its message to the world," he said.

The political analyst pointed out that one of the major takeaways from COP29 was the substantial uptick in global financial backing for tackling climate change.

"World leaders at the summit approved an annual allocation of $300 billion to support developing countries, a substantial rise from the previous $100 billion.

This funding will be used to assist countries vulnerable to climate change, support the transition to renewable energy, and prevent natural disasters.

The fund will primarily target regions like Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. The financing will also provide small island nations with access to technological and infrastructural solutions to combat climate change. Additionally, the funding will support the development of green technologies and innovative solutions for reducing carbon emissions," he added.

Garayev also shed light on a few other pivotal calls made during the COP29.

"Article 6 of the Paris Agreement was fully approved at COP29, alongside the historic establishment of a comprehensive fund to address losses and damages in developing countries, including small island nations, least-developed countries, and African states. A key decision was also made in line with Article 13 of the Paris Agreement to create biennial transparency reports and provide financial and technical support for capacity-building in developing nations. In addition, several significant documents were adopted, such as the Gender Equality and the Fight against Climate Change, the Global Adaptation Goal, and the Sharm El-Sheikh Mitigation Ambitions and Implementation Work Program, the political analyst said.

Garayev illuminated that COP29 was not merely a mirror reflecting Azerbaijans vibrant commitment to tackling the tempest of global environmental challenges but also a stage where its remarkable orchestration of events danced gracefully in the spotlight.

"The successful conclusion of the event has enhanced Azerbaijans international standing, further proving that the country is an essential host for such important global gatherings. The high level of organization, participation of more than 70,000 guests, and the critical decisions made during and leading up to COP29 contradict the smear campaigns by certain Western media and political groups that sought to undermine Azerbaijan's image.

Baku has solidified its reputation as an ideal hub for international events, with the country's proven organizational expertise further cementing this position. The successful hosting of COP29 reaffirmed that Azerbaijan is the right choice for such high-profile gatherings. Beyond its geographical advantages and cultural heritage, Azerbaijan has demonstrated a strong commitment to actively addressing global challenges. Despite attempts to tarnish its image through slanderous campaigns, the event showcased the growing strength of Azerbaijan's global standing.

COP29 further elevated Azerbaijan's international profile, highlighting Baku's crucial role not only in combating climate change but also in fostering global cooperation. By successfully hosting the event, Baku sent a powerful message to the international community: Azerbaijan is a mighty and forward-thinking partner in tackling the world's most pressing issues," Garayev concluded.

To note, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) occurred from November 11 through November 23 in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. It encompassed connections between climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals, such as green energy corridors, green energy storage, climate resilience, clean hydrogen, methane reduction in organic waste, initiatives on green digital technologies, and more subjects.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. Azerbaijan has maintained its economic growth and further strengthened its position as a leading country in the region, said Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Sahiba Gafarova at todays plenary session of the parliament, Trend reports.

The development strategy of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev ensures the dynamic development of the countrys economy. Thanks to consistently implemented well-thought-out reforms and strategic initiatives, Azerbaijan has maintained its economic growth rate and further strengthened its position as a leading state in the region, she pointed out.

According to her, the country has seen significant progress in key sectors of its economy.

"Azerbaijan plays an important role in ensuring global energy security. Alongside this, as I have already mentioned in connection with the COP29 conference, our country is implementing large-scale projects in the field of transition to green energy.

Great attention is being paid to the non-oil sector, especially industries such as agriculture, tourism, and technology, which further strengthens the countrys economic independence and expands its development prospects," emphasized the speaker.

Gafarova noted that the restoration of the liberated territories and their reintegration into the countrys economy are priorities of Azerbaijans national agenda.

"Thanks to targeted investments and infrastructure projects such as 'smart city' and 'smart village,' Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur are becoming centers of progress and innovation. Our compatriotsformer internally displaced personsare returning to their homeland."

She highlighted that significant attention is being given to the social sector, with notable improvements in people's well-being, alongside increases in wages and pensions.

"Access to high-quality healthcare and education is being ensured," the speaker added.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. The delegation led by NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary-General for Operations, Burcu San visited Azerbaijan to participate in the academic conference on the 30th anniversary of Azerbaijan's Joining NATO's Partnership for Peace Programme, Trend reports, referring to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

Chief of the International Military Cooperation Department, Colonel Elchin Abdullayev met with the NATO delegation.

The meeting discussed the current situation regarding the implementation of the commitments set in the Individually Tailored Partnership Programme (ITPP), which is considered the main legal basis for cooperation with NATO, and the participation of Azerbaijani servicemen in international security missions.

Discussions were also held on the training of various types of troops declared by the Azerbaijan Army to the NATO Operational Capabilities Concept (OCC) Joint Force and the contributions of the military personnel serving in various headquarters and structures of the Alliance within the framework of the Partnership Staff Post Concept.

During the meeting, also attended by Head of the Mission of the Republic of Azerbaijan to NATO, Jafar Huseynzada, it was emphasized that Azerbaijan is a reliable partner of NATO, and a detailed exchange of views was held on the future prospects of cooperation.

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Indias multi-alignment diplomacy

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Ahongshangbam Newken Singh

Foreign policy is the sum total of principles, interests and objectives which a State formulates in conducting its relations with other States. Similarly, each State has its foreign policy through which it tries to develop relations with other Nations at international level.

Due to changing nature of the contemporary world every country has changed their foreign policy once in a while. For instance, China wolf warrior diplomacy, belt and road initiative (string of pearls policy), ironically, US sanction diplomacy. Looking from Russia-Ukraine war to west Asia conflict (Israel-Palestine) conflict it is not easy for Indias security managers and diplomats to make this complex game work in New Delhis interest. Now India is shifting its policy toward Multi-Alignment Diplomacy. India is now implementing a multi-alignment strategy that stands in stark contrast to earlier approaches it has employed in its international relations. Indias multi-alignment began with the end of the cold war in 1991.

India embraced all sorts of organisation ranging from the G20 and QUAD to BRICS, BIMSTEC and SCO. This strategy is the consolidation of and approach that has evolved for at least a decade, which is judged by Indian foreign policy making elite as the best means to achieve what they perceive as its core interest and ideals in an increasingly uncertain global context. This new multi-alignment diplomacy is not the product of Modi doctrine but the full-scale utilization of this diplomacy starts specially when Narendra Modi Government came into power.

MULTI ALIGNMENT AND NON-ALIGNMENT, ANTI COLONIAL

The foreign policy and grand strategy of India are gradually emerging as crucial topic of interest in the contemporary international system, along with the prospective rise of India as a major power. Shifting toward multi-alignment diplomacy have positive as well as negative impact on Indias foreign policy.

Indias nuanced multi-alignment strategy balance relation with Russia amid global geopolitical challenges, emphasizing diplomate finesses, economic cooperation and strategic engagement to reinforce bilateral resilience and navigate international complexity effectively.

Due to Indias Multi-Alignment diplomacy India can play smooth international politics by managing P5 countries (USA, Russia, France, Uk, China) of UNSC. Shifting of Indias policy to multi-alignment here is question comes on dilution of non-alignment and anti-colonial ethos as we have seen Indias stand on Israel Palestine conflict. In this time of great power politics, the legacy ideal of non-alignment and anti-colonialism are seen as baggage.

In this new era of international politics, India seems to have moved away from its role as a champion of anti-colonial struggle. Instead, it embraced over value a part defined by narrow interests. India shifting towards multi-alignment is a transition from value based to transactional diplomacy. However, this shift toward transactional diplomacy is not unique to India. Globally, foreign policies are increasingly guided by constructed economic and strategic interest.

WHY INDIA SHIFTED TO MULTI ALIGNMENT

Indias desire to emerge as a great power has also play a crucial role. India do not want to give up on China to lead the Global South. India multi-alignment strategy has become a cornerstone of its foreign policy, reflecting its nuanced approach to global geopolitics.

India exercise multi-alignment diplomacy through Bilateral relation, multiple forum or organisation like BRICS, QUAD, SCO, G20, BIMSTEC, etc. QUAD for to provides a pathway to a free, open and inclusive Indo pacific. SCO and India-US 2+2 dialogue contribute to India external security insight. Forum like BRICS underscore the perspective of the developing world, with the objective of reforming the UN to face new global challenge.

Indias multi-alignment diplomacy helps to maintain Indias strategic autonomy by balancing relationship with various global powers. For Instance, Balancing Russia and the west, Navigating the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Balanced Approach to the Israel Hamas conflict, Middle East diplomacy and Indias bilateral relation also more strengthening multi-alignment diplomacy. Through this diplomacy India is now maintaining its global geopolitics by balancing East and West.
Pambei-led UNLF seeks suggestions-3

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Contd from previous issue

IMPHAL, Nov 25: Although plebiscite is the most democratic means of resolving the Manipur-India conflict, the Government of India rejected the proposal from the very beginning, said the Central Committee of Pambei-led UNLF.

It said that the Manipur-India conflict can never be resolved without participation of the people of Manipur.

Even though the liberation movement has been progressing rapidly, there are certain chronic weaknesses.

The Central Committee elaborated that there is weakness in the ideological foundation of revolutionary groups and they are unable to overcome this weakness.

Revolutionary groups are still unable to unify or form a united front.

Erosion of peoples faith in the revolutionary groups due to the Government of Indias divide and rule policy and their own misdeeds.

Extortion in the name of the liberation movement, putting undue burden on the people by way of excessive taxation and pursuit of personal interest and wellbeing by some wayward or corrupted revolutionary cadres are some other chronic weaknesses.

Abuse of power and use of terror tactics upon the people by revolutionary groups and the failure of the 60 years old revolutionary movement to draw international attention are also chronic weaknesses of the revolutionary organisations, it said.

Although the revolutionary movement has been facing huge challenges, our spirit of nationalism is still very strong. The only problem is our inability to give a proper political direction to the spirit of nationalism, the Central Committee said.

It announced that the outfit has taken a decision to hold a comprehensive political dialogue with the Government of India on the issue of Manipurs sovereignty.

The ceasefire agreement signed between the Government of India and the outfit was an outcome of the unfolding geo-political dynamics in South Asia and South East Asia.

India has intensified its efforts to build strong security partnership with Myanmar and other South East Asian countries. Indias diplomacy in Myanmar covers supplying arms and other logistics to the military junta to crackdown on rebel groups.

At the same time, India has tactfully taken ethnic tribal groups (Chin-Kuki-Zo conglomerate) who settle on either side of the border and the Government of India has been using these ethnic groups to suppress the revolutionary groups of Manipur, it said.

If one takes into account the fact that the Government of India sent invitation in the last week of September 2024 to several resistance groups of Myanmar to come to New Delhi, it cannot be said that the India-Myanmar (military junta) relationship is very cordial although there are new development in the defence and trade ties between the two, it remarked.

Given the changing security and strategic configuration in South East Asia, particularly WESEA, the liberation movement of Manipur needs to change its strategies and tactics without giving up the ultimate goal of Manipurs sovereignty, the Central Committee asserted.

Military offensive against Indian armed forces alone cannot bring a tangible solution to the Manipur-India political conflict within a short time. It is essential to explore other means apart from the armed struggle. Holding political dialogue with the question of restoring Manipurs sovereignty as a pre-condition is a non-violent means of achieving the intended goal, the Pambei-led UNLFs Central Committee asserted.

It went on to claim that the Government of India has expressed its willingness to accept the insurgency movement of Manipur is a political conflict, not a law and order problem.

At the same time, it must be understood that there is no military solution to the Manipur-India conflict. It was the Government of India which came up with a proposal for political dialogue to resolve the conflict and the outfit took this opportunity to raise National issues, it said.

Recalling that the outfit and the Government of India signed a peace agreement on November 29, 2003. The peace agreement was only a preparatory step for a comprehensive political dialogue and it was not a final agreement, the Central Committee clarified.

There is no question of the outfit giving up its arms or surrendering to the Government of India just because the two sides have signed a peace agreement, it said.

The Central Committee asserted that the outfit will never agree to any solution except on restoring Manipurs sovereignty and the same position was placed before the Government of India ahead of signing the peace agreement.

The outfit decided to sign the peace agreement in order to create a peaceful environment for a comprehensive political dialogue, it said.

The comprehensive political dialogue is a process of dialogue based on mutual respect in which all outstanding issues are accommodated.

The dialogue will be held at the political, bureaucratic and military levels as demanded by the unfolding circumstances and necessity.

The comprehensive political dialogue will focus on three areas; exploring a peaceful political solution to the Manipur-India armed conflict, determining the future Manipur-India relation after correcting the historical wrongs done in the past, and bringing a mutually beneficial solution which would lay foundation for peace and progress, the Central Committee elaborated.

It said that the outfit would certainly seek peoples approval in every phase of the political dialogue.

The Central Committee maintained that the ongoing conflict is between the people of Manipur and the united front of Kuki-Zo communities, not between Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities.

It was a handful of Kuki-Zo leaders who aggravated the conflict after misleading the common people and bringing in armed mercenaries from Myanmar and their principal goal is creation of an independent Zionist or theocratic Christian State in the Indo-Myanmar region.

They are financing their movement by planting poppies and manufacturing opium, it said.

After cleansing Churachandpur and Moreh of Meiteis, armed Kukis are now working hard to take control of Jiribam by driving out Meiteis from the western border region. The armed Kukis are dreaming of taking complete control of the States economy by capturing Jiribam, it continued.
Koireng-led UNLF shares thoughts-III

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Contd from previous issue

IMPHAL, Nov 25: To be able to take the responsibility together with a sense of sacrifice, building unity among the Meiteis is imperative. On the other hand, given the respective aspirations of the indigenous people/communities, building unity will not be easy. Therefore, at this crucial juncture of Manipur and its indigenous people, the realization of the historical destiny of interdependent coexistence becomes imperative so as to defeat together the evil designs of Indias divide and destroy policy, read the statement issued by the Koireng-led UNLFs Central Committee.

Second, the main responsibility of defeating Indias plan of hijacking the National struggle by the India-created Kuki-Meitei ethnic conflict falls on the revolutionary organisations. Because, the main task of sharpening the irreconcilable contradiction between Manipur and India (since 1949) falls on the revolutionary organisations and the main task of sharpening the National contradiction must be to engage the Indian armed forces and other supporting arms of the alleged Indian colonial rule.

Therefore, engaging the Indian armed forces in all possible ways is the path to liberate Manipur from the alleged Indian colonial rule and also to save the indigenous people/communities from the floodgates of illegal immigrants.

Third, Indias trap is to distract the revolutionary organisations to the Kuki-Meitei laan so as to puncture the core issue of sovereignty and independence of the Manipur-India Conflict.

Therefore, in this India-sponsored Kuki Laan the Meiteis should not conduct exclusively from a Meitei-centric perspective, because that would tantamount to helping the Indian plan to break-up Manipur.

Meiteis should be conscious about their historical responsibility of building the foundation for inter-dependent coexistence among the indigenous people/communities, it said.

It then called upon todays Meiteis to be the Manipur Macha capable of taking their historical responsibility.

Fourth, in order to revive the economy shattered by Indias anti-Manipur conspiracy, some absolutely necessary steps should be taken, such as: (1) To reduce the huge outflow of money on imports from India, except essential commodities and construction materials, all other non- essential items should be restricted; (2) to ban construction companies to bring non skilled labour from India; (3) to ban Indian companies from mining Manipurs mineral resources; (4) to spread the campaign for Chinjak ta Meepan Taangdaba (self reliance on food).

A mass movement for laying the foundation of Manipurs new economy shall create a collective culture of interdependent coexistence and development among all the indigenous people and communities of Manipur, said the Koireng-led UNLFs Central Committee.

In the wake of the bloodshed caused by the India-created conflict and the resultant extreme hardships, the common people have openly voiced that they want to exist as free and independent people.

This desire for independence is the outcome of Indias repressive policies.

The repressive method that India will employ to suppress the cry for independence will in turn create conditions that will strengthen the revolutionary forces, it said.

Thus, we firmly believe that along with other factors maturing, our revolutionary forces will acquire the strength to overthrow the alleged Indian colonial rule, it asserted.

This is the dialectics of liberation, the historical force that overthrew colonialism in the world. This is the historical process that will happen in Manipur and other parts of WESEA.

However, the important question is, if the revolutionary forces fail to take conscious action to build revolutionary unity and consolidate indigenous people/communities, the historical opportunity will be missed and the outfit is acutely aware of it, the Central Committee continued.

Today, Indian colonial policies of repression have turned Manipur into a mass graveyard, created chaos, cries of mourning and the peoples sufferings reverberate everywhere, people have no work, cannot harvest paddy, and common people are starving, it alleged.

It went on to allege that all these are the intended effects of Indias colonial repression to subject the people of Manipur into submission to eternal colonial slavery.

The unfolding situation is a historical moment that is prompting us to take the National stand for an independent Manipur so that our indigenous people/communities can coexist together and build a socialist society, the Central Committee asserted.

On the occasion of the outfits 60th anniversary, the Central Committee extended warm greetings with revolutionary salute to all party cadres and members, officers and private soldiers of MPA and the Manipuri diaspora spread across the world.

It also greeted all the uprooted victims of armed Kuki aggressors lodged in relief camps, comrades in enemy prisons, and handicapped victims of torture by Indian armed forces.

The Central Committee further conveyed best wishes to all the revolutionary organisations of Manipur fighting together against the alien rule, fraternal revolutionary organisations of WESEA, civil society organisations, Meira Paibi Emas, and student organisations

The Central Committee also offered the highest revolutionary respect to the departed founding leaders, party cadres, all the patriots of Manipur who laid down their life fighting the enemy, and to all compatriots who lost their life due to inhuman torture by Indian armed forces.

The outfit will continue the National struggle even more vigorously and relentlessly along the path they have shown until final victory, it concluded.


Unfolding script under War on Drugs drive Unanswered questions

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Nothing is right. The incident occurred on November 20, as per the Makhan Village Authority. The incident came to light or rather came to the knowledge of The Sangai Express and other Imphal based media houses on November 23. On November 24 Chief Minister N Biren took to X pledging action against poppy growers, ostensibly in reaction to what happened at Makhan village. And what did happen on November 20 ? According to Makhan Village Authority, a 30 member team of police personnel led by the Additional SP of Kangpokpi police had to beat a hasty retreat after they were confronted by the aggressive and well armed poppy growers. The police team accompanied by volunteers of Makhan village were on their way to destroy the poppy plantation at Makhan village. According to the VA of Makhan village the poppy cultivators, identified as Kuki groups and individuals had encroached on the land of Makhan village and started the poppy cultivation and it was against this that the police team and village volunteers had proceeded to the spot to raze the plantation to the ground. Reports carried in other publications said that the police team had to walk for hours to reach the site of the poppy cultivation and yet other news reports on the same incident dubbed the cultivators as a group of nomads. After the BJP led Government came to power after dislodging the Congress in the 2017 Assembly elections, the War on Drugs campaign was launched in 2018 amidst much fanfare and publicity and while numerous poppy plantations were destroyed and razed the ground, there was never, ever any report of the Government going beyond the exercise of targeting the poppy fields. It was with a reason why The Sangai Express had always maintained that the Government would need to do more and find out who has financed the poppy cultivation. Who markets them, who buys the harvest poppy plants or pods or any part of the poppy plant are questions which have been raised before, long before Manipur went up in flames on May 3, 2023. Yet no answer has been forthcoming and this was what was stupefying. War on Drugs cannot and should not be understood only within the context of the number of poppy plantations being destroyed but should involve unmasking the people behind the whole exercise of financing the poppy plantation, buying them from the farmers or the tillers of the soil, packaging them and taking them for sale to the market, the drugs market. Raising these questions was in vain for no answers came and the best that the people would have heard as follow up stories of the drive against poppy plantations would have been the arrest of some cultivators and two or three village chiefs. The result of such a ham handed approach is there for all to see in the manner in which the police had to beat a hasty retreat when challenged by the poppy growers on November 20 with the incident coming to light or hitting the pages of the newspapers only on November 23.

The Government would seriously need to demonstrate that their intent is more than coining catchy slogans such as War on Drugs and if one goes by the not so recent past there is not much to write home about. It was as recently as January 2023 that drugs worth about Rs 3.35 crore were seized from a police vehicle at Pallel on the Imphal-Moreh route. It was sensational no doubt, for the drugs were seized from a police vehicle and the story went viral but like so many other cases, no one knows what has happened after that. The cops arrested with the drugs may be in jail, but what about the follow up ? Rs 3.35 crore is a huge amount by any standard and it is hard to believe that the arrested cops would have had the resources to get it from the source and try to smuggle it out without backings. The question, who are the big fishes involved in this drug trade has never ever been spelt out though this is not the first time that The Sangai Express has raised this question. Earlier in 2022 Kangpokpi police seized drugs worth Rs 31.8 crore along the National Highway making it the biggest drug seizure case in the district back then. A police Head Constable along with two others were arrested. Like other drug related stories there was no further follow up story. What has happened ? Is this the script of the War on Drugs campaign ? Only the Govt can answer.
Photo: Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. On November 25, Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, made a phone call to Donald Trump, President of the United States of America, Trend reports.

During the conversation, President Ilham Aliyev congratulated Donald Trump on his re-election as President of the United States. The President of Azerbaijan emphasized that this decisive victory reflects the strong support and trust of the American people in the political course pursued by President Donald Trump.

The head of state underlined that President Donald Trump's activities will play an even more significant role in ensuring global security.

The head of state noted that during his first presidential term, Donald Trump paid special attention to strengthening friendship and cooperation between Azerbaijan and the United States. President Ilham Aliyev expressed hope for joint efforts to further advance bilateral relations.

President Donald Trump, in turn, expressed his deep gratitude to President Ilham Aliyev for the sincere congratulations. Donald Trump stressed the importance of working together through joint efforts to develop cooperation between the two countries.
All the six candidates fielded by the Left Front in the recently concluded by-elections whose results were announced on Saturday lost their deposits, proving that the people of West Bengal have rejected the Left parties. The CPI-M had tried to capitalise on the situation that had cropped up following the rape and murder of a doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, but its plans have fallen flat. Some people owing allegiance to the party even demanded resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

But it is evident that the people of West Bengal have rejected them. The pathetic performance of the party is shown starkly when the election results are analysed. In Sitai, Mr Arun Kumar Barma of Forard Bloc got 3317 votes and only two votes among the postal ballots taking the total to 3319. He lost his deposit. In Madarihat, Mr Padam Oraon of RSP got 3399 votes and only 13 postal votes taking the total to 3412 votes. He lost his deposit. In Naihati, CPIM (ML) candidate Mr Debajyoti Majumdar who had been supported by the CPI-M got 7574 votes and 19 postal votes taking the total to 7593 votes. He lost his deposit. In Medinipur, Mr Mani Kuntal Khamari of CPI got 11,863 votes and 29 postal votes taking the total to 11,892 votes. His deposit, too, was forfeited.

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In Haroa, Piyarul Islam of ISF got 25,673 votes and 11 postal votes taking the total to 25,684 the highest by a LF backed candidate. He also lost his deposit. In Taldangra, Mr Debkanti Mahanti of CPIM got 19,381 votes and 49 postal votes taking the total votes to 19,430. His deposit has been forfeited. In this years Lok Sabha elections, only Mohammad Selim and Sujan Chakraborty could save their deposits and the deposits of all the other CPI-M candidates were forfeited. Political analysts said the CPIM is paying a very heavy price because of its wrong policies.

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To counter Trinamul Congress the party had allied with the Congress, ISF and is accused of having secretly supported the BJP in several elections. In 2016 CPIM had entered into electoral alliance with Congress and got 31 seats, its lowest since 1972. The Politburo after this poll debacle had said the decision of the party was not in consonance with the decision of the Central Committee of the party which had spoken about maintaining equidistance from the Congress and BJP. in 2021 Assembly election , the CPIM failed to get a single seat and now the party has only one Rajya Sabha member from the state, namely, Mr Bikas Bhattacharya.
Ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, the BJP has repeatedly accused the state government of antiHindu bias, citing incidents in Murshidabads Beldanga and neighboring Bangladesh. However, the state government, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has initiated several projects to develop the Loknath Temple in Chakla as a prominent global tourist destination. Reports suggest that Chief Minister Banerjee has taken a personal interest in this endeavour. Sri Sri Loknath Brahmachari is revered in both India and Bangladesh, with millions of devotees worldwide.

Despite being a Hindu saint, Loknath Baba believed in universal harmony and attracted followers from diverse faiths. TMC leaders have pointed out that no prominent BJP leader, either from Delhi or West Bengal, has ever visited the Loknath Temple or announced any central assistance for its development. In contrast, Chief Minister Banerjee has allocated Rs 29 crore for the temples transformation into a major pilgrimage site. Recently, the temple authorities organised a grand Mangal Deep Prajvalan ceremony, attracting lakhs of devotees from India and Bangladesh. While several high-profile TMC leaders attended the event, no BJP leaders were present.

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The West Bengal government participated in this years Mangal Deep Prajvalan ceremony in Bangladesh, conveying a message of goodwill to millions of devotees. For the first time in India, a massive Mangal Deep lighting ceremony was held at Loknath Babas birthplace in Chakla. Loknath Baba was a staunch believer in religious harmony, worshiping in temples, mosques, and churches. This vision inspired the tradition of Mangal Deep Prajvalan. Swami Paramatmanandaji, head of the Panchayati Mahanirvani Akhara in West Bengal, welcomed the governments initiative but urged the state to protect other ancient temples in the region. BJP leader Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato criticised the initiative as a political gimmick ahead of the 2026 elections, questioning the TMCs stance on the alleged persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh.

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Trinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee will preside over the meeting of the national working committee of the party tomorrow. The meeting will be held at her Kalighat residence. Mr Abhishek Banerjee, national general secretary of the party, will be present at the meeting. This will be the first meeting attended by Mr Banerjee after his return from abroad following treatment of his eyes.

It was learnt that a reshuffle of the party is likely to be the key issue in the meeting. Mr Banerjee had discussed about the reshuffle with Mr Subrata Bakshi, party ststae president and Rajya Sabha member. This list has been given to Miss Banerjee and it will be released after getting a final nod from her. It was learnt that the party is leaving no stone unturned to streamline the organisation in view of the election of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and the Assembly election in 2026. The party is very clear in its approach that those leaders having good public image will be given the responsibility to lead the party while the leaders with tarnished image and who work only for their own growth will be dropped.

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It has been seen that many leaders who work seriously in the panchayat, civic or Assembly election did not work seriously during the Lok Sabha election in 2024. The party, it was learnt, has prepared a list of such leaders. Miss Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee have repeatedly told the leaders that there is no place for complacency and intense contact needs to be built with people. The overwhelming success of the party in the recently concluded by-elections has encouraged the rank and file. The victory of six candidates has shown how close knit the organisation of the party upto the booth level had worked in mobilising people to cast their votes.

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The party is also going to highlight the deprivation of the state by the central government, how, despite repeated requests, the Centre has not released money earmarked for the state government. Mr Banerjee is likely to launch Nabajoar Jatra, a mass contact programme, from February and it is like to be discussed at the meeting. With the Winter session of Parliament due to commence shortly, the strategy of the party during the session will also be discussed.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. A meeting between the First Deputy Minister of Emergency Situations of Azerbaijan, Lieutenant General Rafail Mirzoyev, and the Minister of Civil Defense, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters of Russia, Lieutenant General Alexander Kurenkov, was held in Moscow, Trend reports.

The prospects for cooperation in the field of prevention and elimination of consequences of natural disasters and man-made accidents were discussed at the meeting.

The successful implementation of the joint Action Plan for 2024-2026, signed by the parties at the beginning of the year in Baku, was noted at the meeting. As part of this agreement, Azerbaijani specialists visited the Center for Conducting Special Risk Rescue Operations of the Russian Emergencies Ministry "Leader", took part in a seminar on international search and rescue operations based on the "Centrospas" detachment and the Noginsk rescue center, as well as in the events of the XV International Salon "Integrated Security - 2024". Also in September, an observation of exercises to eliminate a simulated accident and oil spills in the northern part of the Caspian Sea was conducted in Astrakhan.

It was also noted that during the year, with the support of the International Civil Defense Organization, three joint scientific and practical conferences and two advanced training courses were held through the relevant universities of the Russian Emergencies Ministry.

The importance of expanding cooperation between the departments of the two countries next year was emphasized at the meeting. In this regard, at the end of January next year, the Russian Emergencies Ministry plans to hold interdepartmental experimental and research exercises "Safe Arctic - 2025" in Arkhangelsk, in which the Azerbaijan Emergencies Ministry intends to participate as an observer.

Kurenkov noted during the meeting that this will not only allow testing modern approaches and technologies in the fight against natural and man-made disasters in the Arctic, but will also become a source of new interesting ideas for preparing for the joint international exercises "Caspian-2026".

The meeting emphasized the great potential for mutually beneficial cooperation within the CIS. It was noted that the Azerbaijani side positively evaluates the initiative to raise the meetings of the Interstate Council for Emergency Situations of Russia and Belarus to the level of ministers.

The parties noted that cooperation within the International Civil Defense Organization is one of the important aspects of interstate relations in the field of emergency situations.
Bollywood couple Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal have completed five months of marital bliss and the two are celebrating it in Tuscany, Italy.

Sonakshi took to Instagram stories, where she shared a few glimpses from their getaway. In one photo the two are posing next to a store called DESII, which the actress circled and wrote: Couple celebrating 5th month(versary) on 4th honeymoon Vibe h vibe hai vibe hai.

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She added the song Vibe by Diljit Dosanjh playing in the background.

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Zaheer too took to his Instagram, where he shared a video of Sonakshi in a store. The actress is heard hilariously asking her husband to stop filming her.

Zaheer captioned: The stalker becomes the salkee.

He then shared another video featuring his wife walking in a hooded jacket. The two even went to an interactive museum. Sonakshi is heard saying I love you to Zaheer as he asks about her experience, where she is seen bursting into laughter.

The last story had a video featuring the two going on a road trip with Sonakshi mouth-syncing rapper Badshahs song Mercy as Zaheer filmed the actress.

Sonakshi and Zaheer tied the knot on June 23 in Mumbai after 7 years of dating. They first met at a party hosted by Bollywood superstar Salman Khan. Interestingly, both Sonakshi and Zaheer started their careers with Salman.

While Sonakshi made her debut opposite Salman in the box-office phenomenon Dabangg, Zaheer made his debut with Salman Khans home production Notebook. The couple reportedly dated for 7 years, and lived together for a year before tying the knot.

Zaheer is an actor, and made his debut in 2019. His father Iqbal Ratansi has businesses in jewellery and real estate, and is a childhood friend of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan which explains Zaheer making his debut with Notebook, produced under the banner of Salman Khan Films. His sister Sanam Ratansi is a celebrity stylist.

Meanwhile, on the work front, the actress is set to share the screen with her husband in Tu Hai Meri Kiran The two have previously worked together in the film Double XL, which also starred Huma Qureshi, and a music video titled, Blockbuster.
Actress Dipshikkha Nagppal, known for her role in the popular show Megha Barsenge, is using her platform to raise awareness about mental health. In a recent interview, she emphasized that mental health issues can affect anyone, regardless of their status or success.

She believes that when celebrities speak openly about their struggles, it helps break the stigma and encourages others to seek the support they need.

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Mental health doesnt discriminate, Nagppal shared. No matter how successful or wealthy you are, it can affect anyone. When celebrities talk about it, it sends a powerful message that seeking help is okay. Recognizing the need for help can truly change your life.

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Nagppal opened up about her own experience with mental health struggles, particularly during a challenging time in her life. She sought professional help from renowned therapist Dr. Anjali Chhabria during her divorce.

At the time, she was struggling with how to relate to her children, and her reactions were often filled with frustration and anger.

I had always wanted kids, so I couldnt understand why I was reacting this way, she recalled. My doctor explained that my emotional struggles were affecting how I interacted with them. I was a new mother, and there was no one to guide me through what I was going through.

According to Nagppal, therapy played a crucial role in transforming her relationship with her children. It helped me build a beautiful bond with them, she said. Thats why my advice to others is not to wait until youre upset or depressed to seek therapy. Even when youre feeling happy, therapy can help you understand yourself better and grow.

Dipshikkha Nagppal pointed out that when we talk to friends and family, its often difficult to find someone who truly listens without offering unsolicited advice or imposing their own perspective. Therapy offers a safe space to talk without judgment, helping you make sense of your thoughts and feelings, she explained. Its important to seek expert help to lead a fulfilling, meaningful life.
Rajkummar Rao recently broke all records with the blockbuster horror-comedy Stree 2. Led by Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurrana, and Abhishek Banerjee, the film emerged as the biggest Hindi film of all time. Notably, the title inaugurated the 600-crore club for the Hindi Film Industry. However, following the immense success rumours started that Rajkummar Rao had hiked his fees. In a recent conversation with The Indian Express, the actor dismissed the claims saying he is not stupid to burden his producers.

Following the unprecedented success amassed by Stree 2, rumours surfaced that Rajkumar Rao had hiked his fee to 5 crores. I read different figures every day. Im not stupid to burden my producers. Being a part of the biggest blockbuster is not going to change me as an actor. Money is just a by-product of my passion. I want to work all my life so I keep looking for roles that surprise me, excite me, challenge and help me grow.

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Advertisement View this post on Instagram A post shared by prime video IN (@primevideoin)



Talking about the film, the actor also reflected on his hit two-word dialogue from the film series, Bicky, Pleaj. Rajkumar said, I just delivered it differently and now its a trump line to cajole a friend or a partner into doing something, The journey of chills started for Rajkumar in 2011, with Ragini MMS. My character, Uday, is as scared as anyone would be in real life when he realises the house is haunted. I enjoy imitating life.

Fused with referential humour, a message, impeccable acting, and a gripping storyline, the Stree film series has emerged as a beloved franchise of the horror-comedy franchise. With its content-driven formula, the title outran major films like Jawan, Gadar 2, and Pathaan to wear the crown of the biggest Hindi film.

Also Read: Malaika Arora reveals relationship status after Arjun Kapoor confirms being single

Stree 2 is the sequel to Amar Kaushiks 2018 blockbuster and is the second instalment of the Stree film series. Meanwhile, it is the fifth title in Maddocks Supernatural Universe. Meanwhile, the makers have already confirmed the third instalment. Developed in around 60 crores, the milestone is particularly impressive as Stree 2 is not a very high-budget film. Additionally, the film doesnt star any mainstream big-name actor as the lead.

On the work front, Rajkumar Rao had a glorious year. The actor delivered Stree 2, Mr and Mrs Mahi, Srikanth and Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video.
Rashmika Mandanna and Vijay Deverakonda have given netizens major goals. Even though the duo has not explicitly confirmed their relationship, their several public appearances together sparked dating rumours. The duo sparked dating rumours after their electric chemistry on-screen gave fans butterflies. Vijay and Rashmika shared the screen in Geetha Govindam and subsequently in Dear Comrade. Their magnetic on-screen connection led fans to root for their real-life pairing. Now, days after Vijay confirmed being in a relationship, and snaps of their lunch date went viral, Rashmika shares marriage plans.

Recently, Rashmika was in Chennai for the launch of Pushpa 2 special track, Kissik. During the event, the host enquired if she wanted a husband from within the industry or outside it. Rashmikas response left everyone including Allu Arjun in splits.

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The host probed Would you marry someone from the film industry or should your husband be someone from outside the industry? If you give us some clarity, well find out you the boy. To this, the Animal actress replied, Everyone knows about it. Her response stirred waves of cheers from the crowd. She added, I know what answer you want, I know it well, leaving everyone in splits. Trying to get more information, the host asked her to enlighten him as he was unaware of what she meant. To this, Rashmika responded, Lets not delve into that right now, Ill tell you later, personally.

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Would you marry someone from the film industry or not?#RashmikaMandanna : EVERYONE KNOWS ABOUT IT!! pic.twitter.com/PH7GIZykCn  Gulte (@GulteOfficial) November 24, 2024



This comes after, the Arjun Reddy actor confirmed his relationship status in a recent interview. Previously, when probed about his dating life, the actor would give vague responses or meticulously dodge the question. During his recent interview with Curly Tales, the actor candidly announced, I am 35 years old. You think I will be single?. The response stoked fans curiosities about his dating life, leading them to link Vijay with Rashmika.

Sharing his idea of love, the actor revealed, I know what it feels like to be loved, and I know what it is to love. I dont know unconditional love because my love comes with expectations, so clearly my love isnt unconditional. Critiquing contemporary romantic notions, he added, I feel everything is over-romanticized.

Also Read: Pushpa 2 track Kissik: Allu Arjun and Sreeleela bring in the electric number

On the work front, Rashmika Mandanna is gearing up for the release of the sequel film Pushpa: The Rule. The highly-anticipated title is going to hit theatres on December 5. Moving ahead, the actress plate is full with back-to-back projects. These include- Kubera, Chhavaa, Sikandar, Thama, Rainbow, and The Girlfriend. On the other hand, Vijay last made a cameo appearance in Nag Ashwins Kalki 2898 AD. The actor is currently busy with his untitled film VD12.
An actress who had announced that she is withdrawing her complaints in the sexual harassment case against seven individuals, including Malayalam film actors Mukesh M and Jayasuriya said that she was doing so because she was distressed about not getting support to prove her innocence in a POSCO case filed against her.

In a conversation with ANI, she said, I boldly came to this case because I have faced a lot of atrocities in Malayalam film industry 15 years ago that I concealed because I gave priority to my childrens education and also I was scared.. So even I acted in more than 16 Malayalam films, then nobody didnt, you know, try to give me association. member in AMMA (Association of Malayalam Movie Artists). They didnt give me a membership. Then I thought of being here in Kerala.

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She said, I had left Kerala and went to Chennai. For 15 years I was not in film industry, then I came to live here in Kerala. I was living here peacefully. Then suddenly I heard that our chief minister is declaring that if anybody is abused, if they come forward, we will take an action about them.

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Atrocities are still going on, when I came to know, I felt very bad. So I thought that for tomorrows welfare, I have to come forward and tell the truth. Then I disclosed everything and some about seven prominent actors. And I was, even I had a very good support from the government, and even I too cooperated with them the actress said.

A case was filed against the actress under the POSCO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act on a complaint made by one of her relatives who alleged that the actress misused her and took her to some place offering roles in movies. The actress later claimed innocence and said that the POSCO case against her was false and she failed to receive support from the government to prove the same.

In between, one girl, my cousin, registered a case about the POSCO case. It was a fabricated case, and I felt so shocked because it is from my cousin, first cousin She has come to my house three days. It is true. That time I was at a location. I used to go early morning, 6 am to the shoot location, and used to return at 8 oclock. When they came, my children were there, my servants were there. She is telling that the second day I took her, to some hotel and I sold her to sex media. On the second day, I was at the location only, and the same second day, she had gone with my children to beach, shopping mall and all. They came late, nine oclock only. So all the proof I have, but no one called me.

The actress continued, I became distressed because my children are also a little worried, my parents and my relatives, they were worried about the POSCO case. I gave a complaint, a counter-complaint to the police Station where the case was registered. And then I gave a complaint to the SP. Then I gave a complaint to the DGP. I sent a mail to Chief Minister. Then even I sent a mail to Prime Minister regarding its a fabricated case.

The actress had accused actors Mukesh M, Jayasurya, Maniyanpilla Raju, and Idavela Babu of both verbal and physical abuse during their collaborations on film projects. The Justice Hema Committee report highlighted the sexual harassment allegations faced by some members of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) executive committee.

She said that she decided later to take the complaint back as, I realized the government is not with me. This social media bullying is going on, and the government is still silent. And being accused, I have right to know about the status of the case. Nobody is ready to respond to what is the status. And theyre not responding to my phone also. Then I thought that its better to give up on the case. I decided to give up all the cases. I decided to revoke the cases.

Only because of, no other things, because of POSCO, I want to get justice. And I want to reveal my innocence about this POSCO. I want to get justice. And I want to reveal my innocence about this case. Ill wait for three days if I get any response from any other high officials regarding the POSCO, I will proceed. I have all the clips. But that I will not give it now because Im keeping it for trial. So now I am giving up these cases only because I need justice. I want to reveal my innocence about this POSCO case. And she has to be questioned, the actress said.

In August this year, the Kerala Police registered an FIR against actor and Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) MLA from Kollam, Mukesh M. FIR has been registered against actor Mukesh, CPI (M) MLA from Kollam constituency. The FIR was registered on the basis of the complaint of an actress, Kerala Police told ANI.

The police also added that another FIR has been registered against Actor Jayasurya on the complaint of the same actress, under section 354 which deals with intent to outrage modesty. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) had taken the statement of the actress.

Speaking to ANI, the actress detailed her experiences, alleging a range of misconduct. Once, as I was coming out from the toilet, Jayasurya hugged me from behind and even kissed me forcefully After that, Idavela Babu expressed his interest in a sexual relationship with me, she claimed.
Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta on Monday hit out at the Aam Aadmi Partys education model in Delhi, calling it a flop show and said that an expose campaign regarding the same will be launched on the coming Thursday by the saffron party.

Gupta has accused the Delhi government of allegedly exploiting the concept of education revolution to construct school buildings, engaging in irregularities during construction, embezzling money, and eventually abandoning these structures.

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The BJP leader informed that in a bid to expose the alleged corruption of Delhi government, state unit chief of the saffron party Virendra Sachdeva, North West Delhi MP Yogendra Chandolia, himself and the partys legislators lead a significant protest outside the School of Specialized Excellence (SOSE) in Dariyapur Kala village of North West Delhi on November 28.

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Addressing a press conference here, Gupta alleged that the AAP has found a new way to make money through means of construction.

He further alleged that the AAP drafts massive plans under its education policy, allocates billions of rupees in the budget, constructs multi-story school buildings, embezzles funds, and quietly withdraws from projects.

Gupta also condemned an order to shut down 29 Bal Pratibha Vikas Schools, and further said that classes from 6th to 10th grade in these schools have already been discontinued, while Grade 11 will be discontinued in the 2024-25 academic year, and Grade 12 in 2025.

The BJP leader criticised the AAP government for allegedly allocating crores of rupees in the budget under the guise of an education revolution, but failed to utilise the buildings effectively.

Citing the academic results of government schools, Gupta claimed that in 2022-23, around 272,448 students were admitted to Class 9, of which 88,409 failed. In 2023-24, out of 277,280 students, 101,331 failed. Similarly, in Class 11, as many as 54,755 out of 214,744 students failed in 2022-23, and 51,914 out of 218,843 failed in 2023-24, he added.

He alleged that a total of 296,409 students failed in Class 9 and 11 over the past two years, and they were expelled from schools, pressured to join correspondence education programs.

According to Guptas claims, Delhi government spent Rs 45 crore constructing a SOSE school building in Dariyapur Kalan village, yet no students have enrolled, and no staff has been appointed in 1.5 years, while the school now remains shut, with its premises abandoned.

He further added that in Delhis Shahbad Dairy areas, a school building was constructed in 2020 at a cost of Rs 50 crore for 6,000 students, which was inaugurated by then Deputy CM Manish Sisodia in January 2020. However, the building was vacated due to waterlogging caused by poor construction quality.

Gupta claimed that repairs were carried out, but the building remains unused, and it was after complaints from BJP MP Yogendra Chandolia, the Lieutenant Governor ordered the Delhi Governments Vigilance Department to investigate the matter.

The BJP leader further claimed that, similarly in Pitampuras Kohat Enclave, Rs 50 crore was spent on constructing a building for the Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar School of Special Excellence, intended for 2,000 students. Despite its heavy promotion, the school currently has only 200 students enrolled, Rohini MLA added.

Gupta raised questions on the Delhi governments education policy, under which nearly 300,000 students have allegedly failed over two years, despite the state government boasting about its schools outperforming private ones.

Gupta questioned how a government failing to provide basic infrastructure and staff, claimed that its education model was world-class.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday questioned the FIR filed against his party MP Zia ur Rehman Barq in connection with the Sambhal violence.

When our MP (Barq) was not present in Sambhal on Sunday, how could the police lodge an FIR against him for triggering violence? he asked. This riot was orchestrated by the BJP government. Immediately after the court passed the order, police and the district administration reached Jama Masjid for the survey, he said.

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The police, however, said Barq was given notices for giving inflammatory speeches earlier as well.

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Reacting to the incident, the Samajwadi Party (SP) legislator said, The incident carried out by the police administration in Sambhal has shocked the entire humanity and tarnished the image of the state and the country. Yesterday, I was not even present in the state. I had gone to Bengaluru to attend the meeting of the India Muslim Personal Law Board, but a case was registered against me.

He called it a conspiracy of the police administration.

When the public does not know when you are coming for the survey, what conspiracy will they do? As part of the conspiracy, they have used weapons and killed five of our innocent people and injured many others, Barq added.

The SP MP also demanded that a case of murder be registered against these officers and they be put behind the bars.

The DM and SP should be suspended so that people get justice and no one dares to indulge in such illegal incidents against the Constitution, he added.
Proceedings of both the Houses on the first day of the Winter session of Parliament were adjourned till November 27 following disruptions by members of opposition parties who demanded urgent discussions on the issues of bribery allegations levelled against the Adani Group by the US Department of Justice and Manipur violence.

First day of the Third Session of the 18th Lok Sabha commenced with the protests by the Congress and other opposition parties, demanding a discussion on Manipur violence and bribery charges against the Adani Group.

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The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day amid uproar by the opposition parties on various issues. The Lower House will meet again at 11 am on Wednesday.

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There will be no session on Tuesday, November 26  the Constitution Day. A special function will be held to mark the beginning of the year-long celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution on Tuesday. President Droupadi Murmu, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will address the function at the Central Hall of the Samvidhan Sadan or the old Parliament building.

Deputy Speaker Sandhya Ray adjourned the House for the day immediately after the resumption at 12 noon. Earlier, the House was adjourned after tributes were paid to departed members of House.

The Rajya Sabha also began with disruptions. The proceedings resumed after brief disruption, with Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar urging Opposition leaders to maintain peace and follow order in the House.

The upper house was earlier adjourned till 11.45 am, and then later, for the day after the Opposition pressed for a debate on the indictment of Adani by US authorities in a bribery case.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar rejected all 13 notices received under Rule 267 saying they do not conform to the directives of the Chair.

We are in a very particular period  75th year of adoption of the Indian Constitution, he said.

Obituary References were made by the Rajya Sabha Chairman made Obituary References on passing away of former Members of the House.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his customary address to the media before the start of the session, slammed the INDIA bloc for repeatedly disrupting parliamentary proceedings.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said Constitution should be kept away from politics.

The Constitution should be kept away from politics since it remains a social document and a source of social and economic change. The Constitution is our strength. It is our social document. It is because of this Constitution that we have brought about social, and economic changes and have given respect to the deprived, poor and backward people of the society. Today people in the world read the Constitution of India, understand its ideology, and how at that time we exercised the right to vote to all classes, all castes without any discrimination. Therefore, the basic spirit of our Constitution gives us the strength to unite everyone and work together, he said.

Meanwhile, LoP in the Rajya Sabha and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has written to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, seeking to suspend todays scheduled business. The suspension would allow for discussion on forming a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to investigate alleged misconduct by the Adani Group.
As the Winter Session of Parliament commences Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for meaningful and constructive debates while taking a swipe at the Opposition for their alleged disruptive behavior.

In his customary address to reporters outside Parliament just before the commencement of the Winter Session, PM Modi emphasised the importance of respecting democratic values, working in harmony, and setting an example for future generations through healthy discussions in the Houses.

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The voters of India are dedicated to democracy, their faith in the Constitution and the Parliamentary system is unshakable. It is our duty to live up to their expectations. The only way to achieve this is by engaging in healthy and insightful discussions on every subject, the Prime Minister said.

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PM Modi expressed the hope that the Winter Session, scheduled till December 20, would be very fruitful, and urged all the members to work with zeal and enthusiasm.

The PM also noted that the session coincides with the beginning of the 75th year of the Constitution, which will be marked by celebrations in the Samvidhan Sadan on Tuesday.

The Prime Minister took a sharp dig at the Opposition, accusing a handful of members of repeatedly disrupting Parliamentary proceedings and disregarding democratic principles.

Some people who have been rejected by the public are trying to control Parliament through hooliganism by a handful of people The people of the country take note of all their actions and when the time comes, they punish them.

They (some opposition members) neither respect democracy nor understand the aspirations of the people. They do not have any responsibility towards people, they are unable to understand them and the result is that they never live up to the expectations of the people.

Highlighting the global attention India has garnered, PM Modi added, The world is looking at India with hope. Our behavior in Parliament should strengthen this respect at the global level.

Opposition Congress pushes for discussions on issues of Adani, Manipur and farm distress

Meanwhile, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi urged the government to address pressing issues affecting the country.

Speaking to reporters, Gogoi called for discussions on the Adani bribery allegations, the Manipur crisis, and farmer distress.

My only request is that the government does not try to run away from severe issues affecting the country in terms of economy, social justice, and law and order. Parliament is as much for passing bills as it is for discussing the important issues affecting the Indian public, Gogoi said.
After BJP won 7 out of the 9 assembly seats in the by-elections in Uttar Pradesh, decks have now been cleared for the crucial bypolls of Milkipur assembly seat in Ayodhya .

The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court of Justice Pankaj Bhatia on Monday has approved the withdrawal of the petition filed regarding the by-election here after rejecting the petition challenging the election of Awadhesh Prasad in 2022 assembly polls. Former BJP MLA Baba Gorakhnath had filed a petition, challenging the election of Awadhesh Prasad of Samajwadi Party from Milkipur seat in 2022. He said that there are discrepancies in the nomination papers of Awadhesh Prasad.

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Later after Awadhesh Prasad was elected to Lok Sabha from Ayodhya seat on SP ticket, the Milkipur assembly seat fell vacant. But due to the petition by-elections could not be held along with 9 other seats. But Baba Gorakhnath filed an application to withdraw his petition.

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In this case, on Monday, the Lucknow bench of the High Court has approved the withdrawal of the petition and this has cleared the way for Milkipur by-election.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. A total of 828 indicators of cyberattacks against government entities in Azerbaijan were identified in the third quarter of this year as a result of the analysis of cyberattacks conducted by the State Service for Special Communication and Information Security, Trend reports via the service.

Blocking the aforementioned indicators prevented APT (Advanced Persistent Threat) cyberattacks, which were developed and specifically targeted at government institutions.

"Out of these cyber threats, 439 were identified based on internal investigations, while 389 were based on reports from government agencies," the service explained.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Expressing concern over the widening of conflict in West Asia, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said India has been in regular touch with both Israel and Iran at the highest levels to advocate restraint and enhance communication.

He said the situation in the region is concerning not only in the context of what has happened and what may still come.

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India unequivocally condemns terrorism and hostage taking. It also regards large scale civilian casualties in military operations to be unacceptable. International humanitarian law cannot be disregarded. In immediate terms, we should all support a ceasefire. India has also extended relief directly and through UNRWA. In the longer term, it is imperative that the future of the Palestinian people be addressed. India favours a two-State solution, the Minister said at the Rome Mediterranean Dialogue 2024 in the Italian capital.

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He said that as far as Lebanon is concerned, there is an Indian contingent like Italy, that is part of UNIFIL.

With regard to the Gulf of Aden and the northern Arabian sea, Indian naval ships have been deployed since last year to protect commercial shipping. Given our capacity to engage various parties, we are always willing to contribute meaningfully to any international diplomatic endeavours, he added.

On the conflict in Ukraine, he noted that it is well into its third year. The continuation of this conflict has serious destabilising consequences, including for the Mediterranean.

What is clear is that no solution is going to emerge from the battlefield. India has consistently held the view that disputes in this era cannot be settled by war. There must be a return to dialogue and diplomacy; the sooner the better. This is a widespread sentiment in the world today; especially in the Global South, he added.

Mr Jaishankar pointed out that since June this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has personally engaged leaders of both Russia and Ukraine to this end. This has included his visiting Moscow and Kyiv.

Our senior officials remain in continuous touch. We firmly believe that those who have the ability to explore finding common ground must step up to that responsibility, he added.

Referring to the relevance of India to the Mediterranean, he noted that Indias annual trade with the Mediterranean nations is about $ 80 billion.

We have a diaspora here of 460,000. About 40% of that is in Italy. Our key interests are in fertilizers, energy, water technology, diamonds, defence and cyber. India has significant projects underway as airports, ports, railway, steel, green hydrogen, phosphates and submarine cables. Our political relations with the Mediterranean are strong and our defence collaboration is growing including more exercises and exchanges, he added.

On Indias trade with West Asia, he said that with the Gulf alone, it is in the range of $ 160-180 billion annually. The rest of MENA adds about another $ 20 billion. More than nine million Indians live and work in West Asia.

Whether it is energy, technology, industrial projects or services, we have big stakes. It is also a region to which we are connected in history, culture and security, the minister added.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday held talks with UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Rome on a range of issues, including the developments in the Indo-Pacific and the conflict in West Asia.

Started the day by meeting FS @DavidLammy of UK, in Rome today. Appreciate the steady momentum in India UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Discussed deepening cooperation in technology, green energy, trade, mobility, as well as ongoing developments in Indo-Pacific and West Asia, he wrote on X after the meeting.

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The two ministers are in Italy for the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting for which India has been invited as a guest country.

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The meeting took place days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The two countries have already announced their commitment to resume negotiations on an ambitious Free Trade Agreement (FTA) soon.

India has also decided to open two new Consulates General of India in the UK in Belfast and Manchester.

The G7 meet will be held at Fiuggi. Dr Jaishankar is also scheduled to meet his counterparts from some other countries on the margins of the G7 meet.
In a meeting held in Mumbai on Sunday, Shiv Sena leaders passed a resolution unanimously electing Eknath Shinde as the legislative party leader.

The resolution was moved by Shiv Sena leader Uday Samant in the party meeting chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

After the meeting of Shiv Sena leader, Uday Samant said that the party leaders have decided to give all authority to Eknath Shinde to decide on the cabinet and swearing-in process.

CM Eknath Shinde has been unanimously elected as the leader of the party We have given all authority to Eknath Shinde to decide on the cabinet and swearing-in process, Uday Samant told ANI.

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Following the meeting, party leader and newly elected MLA from Aurangabad West, Sanjay Shirsat, said, There are chances that the Mahayuti leaders will head to Delhi tomorrow Every party worker wants their party leader to be the CM, but the final decision lies with Ekanth Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis, and Ajit Pawar.

Meanwhile, party leader Rahul Shewale also said that all the newly elected MLAs unanimously nominated CM Eknath Shinde as their leader.

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This decision comes after the ruling Mahayuti alliance, of which Shiv Sena is a part, resounding victory in the recently concluded Maharashtra assembly election.

The Mahayuti alliance comprises Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).

The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance secured a landslide victory in the Maharashtra assembly polls by winning 230 (BJP-132, Shiv Sena-57, NCP-41) out of a total of 288 seats.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a major setback. The Shiv Sena (UBT), led by Uddhav Thackeray won only 20 seats; Congress managed 16, and the NCP (SCP) led by Sharad Pawar won just 10 seats.

The BJP demonstrated an impressive strike, winning 132 out of the 148 seats it contested in Maharashtra. The partys allies, the Shiv Sena and NCP factions, also performed well.

The Maharashtra assembly elections were held on November 20, and the results were declared on November 23.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday met with beneficiaries of the Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme, where he expressed his gratitude to them for the historic win of the Mahayuti alliance in assembly polls.

Addressing the gathering, CM Shinde said that the government will soon increase the amount to Rs 2100 as promised.

I am with you all, I thank all Majhi Ladki Bahin for electing me. You all chose Mahayuti, as we promised we will be giving Rs 2100 to all my sisters. This government is yours and you choose this government again. I feel blessed you all came here and gave me blessings. This is a common peoples government and we are working for the growth of Maharashtra, CM Shinde said.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought replies from the Union Ministries of Electronics and Information Technology, Science & Technology on measures to stop misuse of Artificial intelligence (AI).

The top rights panel recently passed an order after taking cognizance of a petition filed by human rights lawyer Radhakanta Tripathy in this regard.

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The petition sought NHRCs intervention on the misuse of Artificial Intelligence (AI) stating that such misuse is leading to violation of rights to health, life and liberty.

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The issues raised by the human rights activist are of a serious concern, as the innocent people are being cheated and exploited by the criminal mind persons with the help of modern technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI). From the official website of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, it can be seen that the Ministry vide publication dated 11.11.2024 has invited Call for project proposals in Cyber Security by 12.12.2024. However, the issues raised in the complaint require a broader consideration and appropriate legislations the NHRC said in its order.

The petition cited instances of sexual exploitation of girls/women in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh where seven tribal girls were allegedly subjected to gang rape by the accused as they called the victims by cloning of voice with the help of Artificial intelligence (AI). The accused used voice changing app, posing him as a woman professor, and thereafter, three males raped the 7 tribal girls with promise of issue them scholarship.

Citing instances of digital fraud whereby several persons hard earned money are lost and the critical database of the nation remains under constant threat , Tripathy sought for the intervention of the NHRC to recommend the Center and State Governments to formulate policies regarding the Digital platforms including the Policies for the Artificial Intelligence. He also requested the Commission to take the issues of misuse of AI urgently to save basic human rights of the people.
The Uttar Pradesh Police has filed an FIR against Samajwadi Party MP Zia-Ur-Rehman Barq and local SP MLA Iqbal Mehmoods son Sohail Iqbal, accusing them of instigating a mob that clashed with security personnel during a court-ordered survey of the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid here.

The violence on Sunday resulted in injuries to at least 15 policemen and leading to the arrest of 25 individuals so far. Additionally, at least four people lost their lives in the clashes, police said.

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Our sub-inspector Deepak Rathi who got injured yesterday has filed a complaint against 800 people. Zia-Ur-Rehman Barq (Samajwadi Party MP) and Sohail Iqbal (MLA Iqbal Mehmoods son) have been made accused. He said they instigated the mob. Barq was given notice earlier too. He had given provocative speeches earlier too and he was told not to do so 15 policemen have been injured in the incident, Sambhal SP Krishna Kumar Bishnoi said.

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The officer further informed that 25 people have been arrested so far and assured all the accused will be arrested and legal action will be taken against them.

Meanwhile, District Magistrate Rajender Pensiya has announced prohibitory orders under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Outsiders, including members of social organisations and public representatives, will not be allowed to enter the district border without prior permission of a competent official, he said.

Opposition blames BJP government

The violence has triggered sharp criticism from the Opposition, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi holding the BJP government responsible for the deaths that occurred.

In a post on X, he wrote, The biased and hasty attitude of the state government on the recent dispute in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, is extremely unfortunate. My deepest condolences to those who lost their loved ones in the violence and firing. The administrations insensitive action without listening to all parties further vitiated the situation and resulted in the death of many people  for which the BJP government is directly responsible.

The violence erupted on Sunday morning as police conducting a court-ordered survey of the Mughal-era mosque faced stone pelting and arson by a mob. The police used tear gas and lathi-charge to disperse the miscreants, who also set some vehicles ablaze.

The survey, ordered by a local court, relates to a petition claiming the mosque was built on the ruins of the Harihar temple.
The clash between the International Criminal Court (ICC) and Israel over arrest warrants for key Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, brings to the forefront a longstanding debate about accountability, self-defence, and international justice. At the heart of this dispute is the charge that Israeli actions in Gaza may constitute war crimes, alongside charges and warrants by ICC against Hamas leaders for crimes against humanity.

However, the response to these allegations reveals deep divisions within the international community, particularly between nations supporting Israels right to self-defence and those advocating for the unyielding application of international law. The ICC, in seeking arrest warrants for Israeli officials, claims there is reasonable evidence to suggest that their actions in Gaza, including deliberate attacks on civilians, starvation as a weapon of war, and mass killings, may constitute war crimes. This move follows accusations against Hamas leaders for their role in the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel, which resulted in significant loss of life and hostage-taking.

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While the ICCs mission is to hold perpetrators of war crimes accountable, the response to its actions has been far from uniform. Israel, not being a signatory to the Rome Statute, rejects the ICCs jurisdiction and accuses the prosecutor of drawing false equivalences between Israel and Hamas, a group Israel designates as a terrorist organisation. The Israeli governments firm stance is rooted in its belief that it is acting in self-defence, particularly after Hamas initiated an attack on Israeli soil, resulting in the deaths of hundreds and the capture of hostages. Israel argues that its military operations are lawful under international law, designed to dismantle Hamass military infrastructure and protect its citizens. This narrative of self-defence is echoed by key allies, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, which have expressed outrage over the ICCs move, framing it as an unjust attack on a democratic state defending itself against terrorism. However, this justification raises critical questions about the proportionality of Israels response and the humanitarian consequences of its actions.

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The high civilian toll in Gaza, which has reportedly surpassed 35,000 deaths, challenges the notion that self-defence can justify indiscriminate military actions that disproportionately affect civilians. Supporters of the ICCs move argue that no party to a conflict should be above the law, and international justice must transcend political alliances. At the same time, European reactions have varied, with some nations like France and Belgium reiterating the importance of the ICCs independence and its role in combating impunity. These countries insist that crimes committed in Gaza, regardless of the perpetrator, must be prosecuted at the highest level. Yet, the simultaneous pursuit of warrants for both Israeli and Hamas leaders has led to concerns over creating a false equivalence between a state actor engaged in military operations and a militant group that uses terror as its strategy.
The escalation in the Ukraine conflict, marked by Russias unveiling of a new intermediate-range ballistic missile, represents a significant shift in the dynamics of global warfare. This missile, capable of reaching speeds of Mach 10 and evading most Western defense systems, sends a chilling message to Nato and the West at large. While its immediate target may have been a military-industrial site in Ukraine, its true mission appears to be much broader: to demonstrate Russias advanced weaponry and to underscore the potential consequences of further Western involvement in the conflict. Russian President Vladimir Putins emphasis on the missiles ability to bypass the cutting-edge Patriot systems and its hypersonic nature highlights the growing disparity between Western and Russian technological capabilities in modern warfare.

The missiles design is a direct challenge to Natos defensive strategies, showcasing Russias capacity to strike swiftly and with overwhelming force. This event is not just about weaponry; it is about signaling Russias readiness to escalate the conflict and its belief that it holds the upper hand in certain domains of warfare, particularly where advanced missile technologies are concerned. This missiles introduction is especially concerning because it is not a one-off. It forms part of a broader trend in which Russia appears intent on developing a full arsenal of weapons designed to counter Natos military edge.

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Mr Putins rhetoric, combined with the missiles capabilities, suggests that the West is entering a dangerous arms race, where the risks of miscalculation could be catastrophic. As Nato continues to support Ukraine, Russia may be seeking to ensure that any further escalation carries immense costs, not just for Ukraine but for the entire Western alliance. The missiles potential to carry nuclear warheads only heightens these concerns. While the missiles current use appears limited, its underlying message is clear: Russia is willing to ramp up the threat of nuclear warfare if it feels cornered. By boasting of the missiles ability to target multiple warheads at once, Mr Putin is reminding the West of the grim possibilities that lie ahead should the conflict intensify.

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For Nato, this is a stark reminder of the thin line between conventional warfare and nuclear escalation, one that could be crossed at any moment. What makes this development particularly unsettling is the growing sense of urgency within Russias leadership. The missiles deployment came shortly after Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory using US weaponry, and the use of such a powerful weapon speaks to the high stakes Russia now perceives in the conflict. With each new weapon or threat, Mr Putin is signaling a willingness to escalate the war and to redefine its boundaries. In the face of these advancements, the response from Nato will be critical. As Russia continues to push the boundaries of conventional and nuclear warfare, the alliance must navigate the delicate balance of supporting Ukraine while avoiding a broader war with Russia.
The Indian agritech landscape has significant growth potential to emerge as an institutional innovation for bridging the technological gap and the country currently has 19 agritech soonicorns and 40 minicorns, that are embracing emerging technologies like AI and developing innovative business models, according to a new RBI paper.

Although only a single unicorn is identified in the Indian agri-tech landscape, the total number of agri-tech soonicorns (ready to become unicorns) and minicorns is estimated at 19 and 40, respectively, said the paper titled Agri-Tech Startups and Innovations in Indian Agriculture by D Suganthi, Jobin Sebastian and Monika Sethi.

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A survey of agri-tech startups shows that they benefit from governments funding support, research and development and state support in the form of digital infrastructure.

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Indias agri-tech ecosystem witnessed a huge surge in investor interest. With investments increasing from $370 million in 2019 to $1.25 billion in 2021.

The investor interest moderated thereafter, mirroring global trends.

Global funding to agri-techs reached a peak of $10.9 billion in 2021 and 2022, thereafter moderated sharply to $5.2 billion in 2023.

As regards the share of agri-tech companies by funding, the US holds the highest share (43.2 per cent), followed by China (14.4 per cent), Canada (12 per cent) and India (8.5 per cent). The Indian agri-tech ecosystem has, thus, garnered a significant share of global funding, the paper said.

The central government promotes agripreneurship and innovation through initiatives that reduce regulatory barriers, develop innovation-driven infrastructure facilities, and promote active collaboration among entrepreneurs.

It plays a significant role in building a robust ecosystem for nurturing innovation and facilitating agri-tech mainstreaming by developing agri-stack, the paper stressed.

Emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), big data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, remote sensing, biotechnology, drones, robotics and automation are being employed by several startups.

The policy support rendered by the government in the form of Digital India, Make in India, startup funds and accelerator and incubator-support initiatives, further accentuated by opportunities generated during the pandemic, have been essential facilitators of agri-tech startups growth.

According to the paper, despite the progress made so far, agri-techs in India face challenges in scaling up their operations. The sustainability of agri-techs is directly proportional to the adoption of modern technologies by the farmers.

The lack of adequate funding, fragmented land holdings and longer time to revenue matrix are the major factors hindering their growth prospects, it added.
Driven by 5G service expansions, the mobile broadband services revenue in the Asia-Pacific region is likely to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.2 per cent from $229.6 billion in 2024 to $296.2 billion in 2029, according to a new report.

It will mainly be driven by the growing availability and adoption of 5G services across several countries, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company

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The unique mobile user penetration of the population in Asia-Pacific will reach 82.9 per cent in 2029, driven by mobile network coverage expansions, particularly in underserved countries and promotional/discounted plans offered by operators to drive subscriber growth.

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According to the report, in developed Asia, the number of mobile users will increase at a sluggish CAGR of 0.4 per cent, due to saturated nature of these markets.

In emerging Asia, on the contrary, the number of mobile users will grow at a faster rate, supported by the growing availability of affordable handsets and local governments efforts to improve and extend mobile networks coverage.

With 5G services already available in most of the developed countries like China, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, India, and Korea, and set to be launched soon in emerging markets like Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, revenue prospects for the mobile data segment will remain strong throughout the forecast period, said Sarwat Zeeshan, telecom analyst at GlobalData.

Government support for 5G expansion will also strengthen the mobile data services market in the region.

Taiwan, Singapore, China, South Korea, and Japan are the key 5G markets in terms of 5G subscriptions as a percentage of total subscriptions.

Taiwan will have 94.6 per cent of mobile subscribers on 5G by 2029, thanks to the governments efforts to promote 5G technology in the country.

APAC has also become the centre of a technological race for 5G+ supremacy, said Zeeshan.
A memorial ceremony honouring forced labour victims, including Koreans, at an old Japanese mine complex kicked off on Sunday as planned, with South Korea boycotting it over Tokyos pick to send a senior official with hard-line views on history to the event.

South Koreas foreign ministry did not attend the memorial ceremony, in response to Tokyos decision to send Akiko Ikuina, a Parliamentary Vice Minister at Japans foreign ministry, as the government representative to attend the ceremony, Yonhap news agency reported.

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The decision was seen as stoking doubt over Japans sincerity in honouring the victims given that Ikuina has visited the Yasukuni Shrine, regarded as a symbol of Japans militaristic past, and has been a source of tension, with South Korea strongly opposing visits or offerings made by Japanese government officials.

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A committee overseeing the ceremony pushed ahead with the memorial at 1 p.m. on Japans Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture, attended by Ikuina, as well as regional and civic group officials, including the governor and mayor of Niigata and Sado.

Of the approximately 100 planned attendees, around 30 seats were left vacant due to the boycott of the Korean delegation.

During the ceremony, Ikuina delivered a speech notably omitting any mention of forced labour and exited the venue without responding to reporters questions.

Sado City Mayor Ryugo Watanabe described the boycott by the Korean side as regrettable.

Nine of the eleven family members of the Korean victims are already in Japan, and they are set to hold a separate event at 9 a.m. on Monday honouring the victims at a site near the mine complex that used to be a dormitory for Koreans.

The memorial ceremony, which will be attended by South Koreas top envoy in Japan, is expected to comprise an address honouring the victims and a silent tribute, followed by laying wreaths for the victims.

South Koreas foreign ministry said Sunday that holding a separate ceremony honouring the forced labour victims reflects the governments firm resolve not to compromise on historical issues with Japan.

Japan has promised to host a memorial event as a condition for Seouls consent to the locations designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with Sundays memorial marking the first such event.

More than 1,500 South Koreans are estimated to have been forced to toil at the Sado gold and silver mines during World War II when Korea was under Japans 1910-45 colonial rule.

Seoul has stressed to Tokyo the importance of holding the ceremony to honour the victims in a sincere manner, requesting the attendance of a high-level official, possibly at a vice minister level.

However, the lack of details about the ceremonys arrangements, even in the days leading up to the event, has sparked speculation in Seoul that negotiations with Tokyo may not have gone smoothly.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. The captain of the "Air Arabia" aircraft operating the MoscowSharjah flight requested an emergency landing at Heydar Aliyev International Airport, Trend reports.

This decision was made due to the sudden deterioration of the health condition of one of the passengers on board.

The "Airbus A320" aircraft successfully landed at Baku Airport at 6:54 PM local time. In response to the incident, the airport's relevant services were placed on high alert.

The emergency medical team promptly provided on-site assistance to the passenger. He was then taken to the hospital for evaluation of his condition.

It should be noted that Heydar Aliyev International Airport has all the necessary infrastructure and a highly professional team in line with modern requirements to respond quickly to emergencies and ensure the safety of passengers.

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Jordans Minister of Government Communications Muhannad Mubaidin said the shooting incident that occurred at dawn on Sunday in the Rabieh area is considered a terrorist attack against public security forces.

An individual opened fire on a patrol in Rabieh near the Israeli embassy in Amman, prompting a security force to move to the site and locate the shooter, who attempted to escape, Jordan Public Security Directorate said early Sunday.

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The shooter was pursued and cornered by security forces, prompting him to open fire. Security personnel responded and shot dead the assailant.

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Three security officers received minor injuries and were transported to the hospital for treatment, according to the directorate, Xinhua news agency reported.

Commenting on the attack, Mubaidin said any attempt to harm national security or attack public security officers would be met with the full force of the law, adding that any criminal who attempts such actions will face just retribution.

Investigations into the attack remain ongoing.
With an aim to bolster research environment in the country, the Union cabinet has approved One Nation One Subscription (ONOS), a new central sector scheme for providing country-wide access to scholarly research articles and journal publication.

Under this scheme, 30 major international journal publishers have been included in One Nation One Subscription. All of the nearly 13,000 e-journals published by these publishers will now be accessible to more than 6,300 government higher education institutions and central government research institutions.

The cabinet meeting chaired by PM Narendra Modi was held in Delhi on Monday.

The government said that this initiative will open a goldmine of knowledge available in top quality scholarly journals to nearly 1.8 crore students, faculty, researchers and scientists of all disciplines, including those in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. This will encourage core as well as interdisciplinary research in the country.

The scheme will be administered through a simple, user friendly and fully digital process. For this, a total of about Rs 6,000 crore has been allocated for three calendar years, 2025, 2026 and 2027.

One Nation One Subscription will build on and further enhance the scope and reach of the range of initiatives undertaken by the government over the past decade in the domains of education, for maximizing access to quality higher education for the youth of India, the cabinet statement said.

This is in line with the goals of Viksitbharat@2047, National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF).

The Department of Higher Education will have a unified portal One Nation One Subscription through which the institutions will be able to access the journals. The ANRF will periodically review the usage of One Nation One Subscription and publications of Indian authors of these institutions.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. An event called "Shusha City Days" will be held in Abu Dhabi, Trend reports via the unified public procurement online portal.

Azerbaijan's Shusha City State Reserve Department public legal entity has started preparations for the event.

The entity has entrusted the event's organization to Laguna Group LLC, signing a contract worth 182,115 manat ($107,130).

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Monday morning opened in green for Indian markets, with the Sensex and Nifty posting considerable gains following the right-wing victory in the Maharashtra Assembly elections over the weekend. The Mahayuti coalition won 234 out of 288 seats, with 132 for BJP, 57 for Shindes Shiv Sena, and 41 for Ajit Pawars NCP, among the prominent parties. In morning trade, both Nifty and Sensex rose at least 1.6 per cent.



Sensex kept itself above the 80,300 level, a welcome relief in the October bear run triggered by the FII selloff. Nifty was back above the 24,000 mark. Both indices had inched to the green on Friday, too, ahead of the poll results.

Sentiment is expected to remain positive following the BJP-led alliances significant victory in the Maharashtra assembly elections, along with a rally in global markets, said Vikas Jain, research head at Reliance Securities.

Despite Adani stocks falling en masse last week following the US indictment of alleged bribery and fraud regarding solar contracts of Adani Green Energy, all of them traded in the green on Monday morning, except for the news media arm NDTV.

ALSO READ | Innocent unless and until proven guilty: Adani denies US allegations of bribery and fraud

Over the weekend, Kenya cancelled multimillion-dollar energy deals with the Adani Group, and Bangladesh reportedly began investigating Sheikh Hasina-era bilateral purchase agreements with major conglomerates, including Adani.

The group, led by industrialist Gautam Adani, clarified on Saturday that the group did not enter any binding agreement to operate the Nairobi airport.

Adani Group on Monday also revealed that its profits and cash reserves and profits were enough to handle debt obligations and also service its growth plans in a presentation to investors.

The conglomerate said they had total cash balances of Rs 53,024 crore at September-end. This exceeded the amount needed to service the long-term debt repayments for the upcoming 28 months, they said. Adani Group also talked about its liquidity position, stating, Adani portfolio companies have sufficient liquidity to cover all debt servicing requirements for at least 12 months.

Looking further east, China markets opened low on Monday morning, with trade war fears bearing down on the regions. The blue-chip CSI300 index fell to its five-week low, the Shanghai Composite index hit a three-week low, and the Hong Kong markets saw their lowest levels in two months.
The highly anticipated Allu Arjun-starrer, Pushpa 2: The Rule, is gearing up for its big screen release, almost three years after the release of the well-received Pushpa: The Rise. On Sunday, an event was held in Chennai, ahead of the release of the song Kissik, featuring Sreeleela. The song was composed by Devi Sri Prasad, who, during the event, took a dig at producer Ravi Shankar for always complaining about the music production.

ALSO READ | Pushpa bows down to no one but will do so for you: Allu Arjun to fans at 'Pushpa 2' trailer launch

"Ravi sir, you've been blaming me saying that I didn't deliver the song or the background score on time. I know you love me. Where there is love, there are complaints as well. But, I think you have more complaints about me than love. Even now, I came to the venue 20-25 minutes ago. They asked me to wait to make an entry for the camera. I am shy. I am shameless only when I'm on stage. Off-stage, I'm the shyest person you'll meet. I could hear the song Kissik being played, so I came running. As soon as I arrived, you said, 'Wrong timing, sir. You're late'. What can I do?"

Devi Sri Prasad on Pushpa 2: The Rule

The music director, who could not hold back his excitement for the second instalment of the film, said, You all celebrated Pushpa 1 as a festival after its release. For Pushpa 2, you have made it a festival even before the release. Thanks to all across the world for making Pushpa 1 a blockbuster. For everyone, God provides a great chance in their career. I got my peak with Pushpa 1, and I am excited for the second part.

Prasad called the movie the best film in recent times. He praised Allu Arjun for his performance, lovingly calling him "Bunny", referencing the 2005 comedy of the same name, in which Arjun played the lead role and Prasad composed the music for. I want to tell you one thing. I told it after watching the first half. Pushpa: The Rule will be the best film in recent times. I was mind-blown after watching the second half as well. Bunny, I have to tell you one thing in the presence of all of them here. You have shown your Viswaroopam (universal form) in the film. I am speaking as someone who watched cinema, fell in love with it, and came into the industry for the same. I am now talking as a cinema fan. Bunny, you have done a great job.

Prasad is known for his musical contributions to films like Singam, Villu, Puli, Arya, Gabbar Singh, and many more. His recent works include the films Rathnam and Kanguva. Prasad will also be the music in-charge for Adhik Ravichandran's upcoming film Good Bad Ugly, slated for a January 2025 release, and Chandoo Mondeti's Thandel, starring Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi.

Pushpa 2: The Rule, directed by Sukumar, and starring Rashmika Mandanna, Fahadh Faasil, Jagapathi Babu, Dhananjaya, Rao Ramesh, Sunil, and Anasuya Bharadwa, will hit the big screens on December 5.
Aaditya Thackeray, son of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray was elected as the legislature party leader at a meeting of the newly elected party MLAs in Mumbai on Monday.

Aaditya defeated Milind Deora of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in the recent assembly elections from Worli.

Former minister Bhaskar Jadhav was elected the party group leader in the state assembly, while Sunil Prabhu was named the party's chief whip.

In the prestige assembly elections, the first since the Shiv Sena suffered a vertical split, the Uddhav Thackeray faction won only 20 out of the 95 seats it contested. The rival faction led by outgoing Chief Minister Eknath Shinde won 57 of the 81 seats it contested.

Shindes Sena is a constituent of the ruling Mahayuti while Thackerays faction is an ally of the opposition Congress and the NCP (SP).

Aaditya has served has the minister higher education, tourism and environment in the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government. In 2020 he was made the guardian minister of Mumbai Suburban district.

He made his electoral debut in 2019 when he contested and won from the Worli seat, thus became the first member from the Thackeray family to contest and win elections.

In 2014 elections, however, his winning margin considerably reduced to 8,801 votes from 67,427 votes in the 2019 elections.
Delhis air quality improved slightly on Monday, with the air pollution levels dropping below the 300-mark on Monday morning. As per the Central Pollution Control Board, the national capital recorded an AQI of 281 on Monday morning.



#WATCH | A thin layer of smog engulfs the area around Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) as the AQI remains in 'Poor' category, in parts of Delhi, as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). pic.twitter.com/Fb6lWBhgCd  ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2024

According to CPCB, the average AQI recorded in Delhi was 318 at 4pm on Sunday. According to reports, none of the 38 monitoring stations in the national capital recorded an AQI in very poor category on Monday morning, a huge departure from severe pollution levels in the past week.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.

#WATCH | Delhi: A layer of smog envelops Delhi's Dhaula Kuan as the AQI remains in 'Poor' category as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). pic.twitter.com/6JpfBBnLHr  ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2024

As many as 15 of Delhi's 39 monitoring stations recorded an AQI in the 'very poor' category. Shadipur had the worst AQI with a reading of 353, PTI reported.

The improvement in air quality comes as the Supreme Court is set to hear a plea on curbing air pollution levels in Delhi. The apex court had ordered the Delhi government not to relax GRAP IV restrictions without its permission.

Delhi has been grasping for breath since the end of October and the Supreme Court came down heavily on the Delhi government and police for poor implementation of firecrackers ban and other measures to curb pollution in the national capital. After the air quality levels dropped to severe category, the Supreme Court ordered the implementation of GRAP IV restrictions in the national capital. The Court also appointed lawyers at 13 entry points to Delhi to monitor the implementation of restrictions.
Tariq Hameed Karra, the chief of the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee, has called on the Union government to honour its commitment to restoring statehood and constitutional guarantees to Jammu and Kashmir.

Speaking at the party headquarters in Srinagar, Karra said the demand is not a protest but a request to uphold the promises made by the BJP government in 2019.

ALSO READ: Omar Abdullah's powers curtailed? MHA to issue new rules for smooth governance in J&K

We strongly demanded that our rights and guarantees, which were snatched away in 2019, be restored, he said. Statehood and constitutional guarantees were promised to us, but those promises have only become empty words.

He said the restoration is a repeated promise from the Union government that is yet to be fulfilled.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modis assurance during his visit to Srinagar on September 19, the JKPCC chief reminded the government that statehood should be restored "as soon as possible".

ALSO READ: Restoration of statehood for J&K possible only if Ganderbal-like terror strikes end: BJP leader Ashok Koul

Expressing his disappointment, he said the delay in delivering on this promise is an affront to the aspirations and democratic rights of the people.

This voice from Srinagar is being sent to the deaf and blind who choose to ignore it, he said. He said the governments dismissive attitude cannot persist indefinitely.

He pointed out the directives from the Supreme Court, urging the government to prioritise holding elections in Jammu and Kashmir and restoring statehood as soon as possible. If you cannot uphold your promises as a moral responsibility, then at least respect the directions of the Supreme Court, he said.

He said the frustration over the delays in fulfilling commitments made to Jammu and Kashmir is increasing as the region continues to seek clarity on its political future.
Kerala BJP Prabhari Prakash Javadekar has extended support to BJP state president K Surendran, dismissing rumours that Surendran would resign over the Palakkad by-poll loss. Speculation had arisen that Surendran expressed willingness to step down, but the central leadership reportedly rejected it.



The Palakkad by-election saw a dramatic triangular contest among the LDF, UDF, and BJP, with UDFs Rahul Mankoottathil emerging victorious. BJPs C Krishnakumar came in second position but failed to collect maximum votes even in traditional BJP and RSS strongholds, despite the party ruling the Palakkad municipality. The BJP also faced a decline of over 10,000 votes compared to the previous election.

I am amazed at the logic of some sections are asking whether BJP office bearers will resign?

With this logic, Pinarayi Vijayan has to resign after LDF defeat in elections

With the same logic, Congress president, Mallikarjun Kharge has to resign after losing elections in  Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) November 25, 2024

Ahead of a state-level BJP meeting to discuss the defeat on November 26, Javadekar tweeted, accusing the LDF and UDF of spreading resignation rumours. Nobody is resigning; neither party has sought anybodys resignation. I think this will settle the matter, he posted. An hour after his first tweet, Javadekar once again tweeted that he was amazed at the logic of some sections asking whether BJP office bearers would resign.

With this logic, Pinarayi Vijayan has to resign after LDF defeat in elections. With the same logic, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has to resign after losing elections in Maharashtra and Haryana. This is absurd, he posted.

Nevertheless, the Palakkad loss has exposed internal dissent within the BJP. National council member N Sivarajan criticised Krishnakumars candidacy and blamed Surendran for the debacle. Palakkad municipal chairperson Prameela Sasidharan echoed these sentiments, stating that repeated nominations of Krishnakumar alienated voters.

Krishnakumar, who previously contested in the Palakkad Lok Sabha and Malambuzha Assembly elections, faced backlash for being a recycled candidate.

Surendran defended the selection process, claiming it involved multiple consultations with different stakeholders in Palakkad. While Surendran denied submitting his resignation, he accepted moral responsibility for the loss, stating he would follow the central leaderships decisions. Surendran also issued a strong warning against public statements by BJP leaders criticising the state leadership.

Surendran also stated that the saffron party does not have members who covet seats and added that Krishnakumar had initially been reluctant to contest in Palakkad but agreed at the request of the central leadership.

The Palakkad poll debacle, however, has clearly cost Surendran a significant opportunity to strengthen his position within the Kerala BJP.

Moreover, the deeply rooted issues now emerging from Palakkada BJP strongholdcould have ripple effects in the coming days and months. And Surendrans leadership is likely to face intense scrutiny as the party gears up for local body elections, where it aims to deliver a stellar performance.
Accepting the West Bengal governments plea challenging the CBI probe into the alleged custodial torture of two women protesters who took part in Nabanna Abhijan march, the Supreme Court constituted a Special Investigation Team to investigate the case on Monday. The SIT will submit a weekly progress report on the probe to the Calcutta High Court.



Hearing the state governments plea, a bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan constituted a three-member SIT comprising senior police officials from West Bengal, including two women officers, to probe the allegations. The officers were chosen from a list of seven officers submitted by the state government in the court.

The apex court directed the SIT to submit a report on the progress of the investigation to the Calcutta High Court on a weekly basis. The SC also directed the High Court to constitute a separate bench for the case.

Accepting West Bengals plea, the SC observed not all cases can be transferred to CBI and it could demoralize state police. "Routine entrustment of investigation of matters to CBI not only leads to burden on the premier investigating agency of the country, it has a very serious demoralizing impact on the officers of the state police. It may not be prudent to proceed on the premise that senior officers allocated to West Bengal cadre are incompetent or inefficient to hold a fair, independent and dispassionate investigation and find out the truth, Live Law reported quoting the bench.

Earlier this month, the Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI probe into the alleged custodial torture of two women who took part in a protest against the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. The bench ordered the probe after it found discrepancies in the medical reports of protesters.

The complainants, Rebeka Khatun Molla and Rama Das, were arrested on September 7 and remained in the custody of Falta Police Station until their judicial remand was ordered by the Diamond Harbour court the next day, PTI reported.

Citing the discrepancies in the medical report, the HC division bench noted while the report of the medical officer of Diamond Harbour sub-correctional home states hematoma on both of Das' legs, the examining doctor of Diamond Harbour Medical College and Hospital recorded no external injury. Holding prima facie trauma occurred on the petitioner, the HC ordered a probe by an independent agency.
As Jammu and Kashmir transition from a state to a Union territory, the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) is set to release new rules to define the roles and powers of the chief minister, cabinet, ministers and administrative secretaries.



Reports indicate that these rules have been drafted after consultations with relevant stakeholders. However, the MHA's got delayed due to elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. The new rules aim to address specific details to ensure smooth governance.

While the powers of the lieutenant governor, including control over the home department and All India Services, have already been outlined, the new rules will further clarify the responsibilities of other officials, such as Heads of Departments (HoDs) and District Development Commissioners (DDCs). It will establish procedures for officer transfers, project approvals, post creation, and recruitment policies.

Until the new rules are formalised, the legislative assembly will continue to operate under the old regulations that were in place when Jammu and Kashmir was a state. The upcoming budget session, scheduled for January- February 2025, will also adhere to these old rules.

Once the new rules are implemented, the government anticipates smoother and more efficient functioning at all levels. These rules are intended to promote clear, transparent, and organised governance as Jammu and Kashmir continues as a Union territory.

When the new rules take effect, the elected government led by Omar Abdullah will have a clearer understanding of its jurisdiction. These rules will remain in place until statehood is restored to Jammu and Kashmir. Currently, the lieutenant governor controls key aspects of governance, which limits the elected governments ability to make independent decisions.

Despite efforts to assert its authority, the Abdullah-led government has felt constrained due to these limitations. The government is eager to fulfil the promises made to the public during the elections, particularly regarding relief from rising power bills due to smart meters and job creation.
The winter session of the Parliament will begin on Monday where the controversial Waqf Act (Amendment) Bill is likely to be discussed.

Besides the Waqf Bill, the centre will also table multiple other bills, including the Banking Laws amendment bill, the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, the Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, the Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill and the Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, the Railways (Amendment) Bill.



The session is likely to be stormy as the Opposition has decided to seek discussion on the Manipur and Adani indictment issue. During the all-party meeting convened by the government, the opposition asked the Centre to allow discussions on the US prosecutors' bribery charges against the Adani Group. Union minister Kiren Rijiju made it clear that the matters to be taken up in the two Houses will be decided by authorised committees with the consent of the Chair.



The opposition has demanded that Gautam Adani be arrested and a probe be initiated against him.



The floor leaders of several opposition parties of the INDIA bloc would meet on Monday morning at the office of the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge to chalk out their joint strategy for the upcoming winter session of parliament.



Besides Adani and Manipur, the opposition will also corner the government on the price rise.



The meeting also comes two days after the BJP-led alliance won the Maharashtra assembly elections, while the INDIA Bloc won the Jharkhand assembly polls.


Empowered by the landslide victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance in the Maharashtra Assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi came down heavily on the opposition and said those rejected by people are trying to disrupt and take control of proceedings in the Parliament.

#WATCH | Delhi: PM Narendra Modi says, "Some people who have been rejected by the people are constantly trying to control the Parliament through hooliganism by a handful of people. The people of the country count all their actions and when the time comes, they also punish them. pic.twitter.com/qUhCsb2Ae6  ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2024

The winter session of Parliament began on Monday. The house proceedings were adjourned till noon after paying respects to departed MPs. Members of the treasury bench raised Ek hai to safe hai slogan when Modi walked into the Lok Sabha.

Earlier, addressing reporters ahead of the session, Modi slammed the opposition for disrupting Lok Sabha proceedings and said such handful of people were punished by people at the appropriate time. "There should be a healthy debate in the Parliament but, unfortunately, certain individuals are trying to control Parliament for their own political gains, resorting to disruptions and chaos," PTI reported quoting Modi.

#WATCH | #ParliamentWinterSession | Prime Minister Narendra Modi says "The last phase of 2024 is underway and the country is preparing for 2025. This Session of Parliament is special in several ways and the most important thing is the beginning of the 75th year of the pic.twitter.com/lRgEy6lPr3  ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2024

PM charged, Those who have been continuously rejected by the people 80-90 times do not allow discussions to take place in the Parliament. They neither respect the spirit of democracy nor do they understand the importance of people's aspirations.

He added, "Though their tactics ultimately fail, the people watch their behaviour closely and deliver justice when the time comes. Modi added the ongoing session is important as country will celebrate 75 years of the Constitution on Tuesday. The Centre aims to pass 16 bills, including the contentious Wakf amendment bill this session.

Our new friends should get oppourtunity (to speak), they are there in all the parties. They have new thoughts to take India ahead. The world is looking towards India with a lot of hope, Modi said.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. Kazakhstan is exploring the possibility of oil supply growth through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline from the current 1.5 million tons to 20 million tons, the country's Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Almassadam Satkaliyev said during a meeting in the local parliament today, Trend reports.

"The BTC route is currently one of the promising directions. Both we and our Azerbaijani partners are interested in developing and systematically increasing the volume of Kazakh oil supplies in this direction.

For 2024, the supply of Kazakh oil through BTC is planned at 1.5 million tons. We are exploring the potential for increasing shipments along this route to up to 20 million tons per year," he explained.

According to the minister, with the growth of oil production and the introduction of new offshore projects, in the medium term, the ministry, together with KazMunayGas company and other stakeholders, is working on developing additional transportation routes, including those along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route.

To note, Kazakhstan, aiming to diversify its oil export routes, began shipments through BTC last year.

The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and KazMunayGas signed an agreement to transport 1.5 million tons of Kazakh oil annually through this route. Its exports were launched in April 2023.

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Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navanirman Sena (MNS) is facing an existential crisis after the party's disastrous performance in the recently concluded Maharashtra Assembly Elections. MNS, which contested in 125 seats and won none, may even soon lose its railway engine symbol.

As per the norms of the Election Commission of India, a party that fails to secure at least six per cent of the total votes polled in the general election to the LS or the legislative assembly of the state will be derecognised. Such parties are simply declared as registered-unrecognised parties.



Since MNS failed to clear the criteria, the ECI will likely send a notice for de-recognition and revoke the party symbol. According to former principal secretary of state legislature Anant Kalse, the MNS cant now claim the partys symbol as it did not win a single seat and will have to choose from free symbols allotted to independents by ECI.



MNS spokesperson Sandeep Deshpande said the party is looking into the matter. "We will consult our legal team," he said on the impending symbol loss.



In the 2019 elections, the MNS had won Kalyan Rural but the sitting MLA Pramod (Raju) Patil lost to Shinde Sena's Rajesh More by 66,396 votes. The party's performance was so disastrous that Raj's son Amit Thackeray ended up third in Mahim in his debut electoral politics. He contested against sitting MLA Shiv Sena (Shinde) candidate Sada Sarvankar and Sena (UBT) candidate Mahesh Sawant who won by a margin of 1,316 votes.



Political analysts have panned Amit's debacle, stating the MNS launched him without any groundwork or preparation, which ended in a humiliation for both Raj and Amit Thackeray.



The party's performance has been coming down after each election. In its first political battle in the 2009 Assembly elections, MNS contested 143 seats, winning 13. In both 2014 and 2019, it won only one seat each. The vote share was 5.71 per cent in 2009. It fell to 3.15 per cent in 2014 and 2.25 per cent in 2019. This time, it was a mere 1.55 per cent.



The party decided to contest in the 2024 Assembly elections alone, opting not to repeat its Lok Sabha strategy of supporting the Mahayuti.



The MNS candidates, however, became a decisive factor in determining the winners in Mumbai, inadvertently helping Shiv Sena (UBT). The Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Sena won 8 of the 10 seats in Mumbai. Of the total 20 seats across the state, 10 wont by Sena (UBT) were decided by margins smaller than the votes secured by MNS candidates.


The anti-Waqf protests in Karnataka has once again exposed the internal rift within the Bharatiya Janata Party. The bypoll debacle has only intensified the factional feud, where both factions have sought the intervention of the high command.

On Monday, Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, who is leading the rebel faction against state BJP chief B.Y. Vijayendra, flagged off a month-long protest from Bidar to oppose the Waqf Board's alleged attempt to usurp farmers' land and the lands belonging to Hindu temples, schools and government buildings. The rebel BJP leaders who held a public rally in Bidar visited the two villages of Dharmapura and Chatnalli, reportedly aggrieved by the Waqf Board notices.

>> Karnataka BJP MLA Yatnal's supporters launch month-long anti-Waqf march

The state BJP had planned a three-day statewide tour by three teams headed by Vijayendra and LOPs R. Ashok and Chalavadi Narayanswamy, starting December 4. But Yatnal's open dissidence by organising a parallel protest along with former ministers Ramesh Jarkiholi and Arvind Limbavali, former MP Pratap Simha and Kumar Bangarappa, has left the saffron party leaders furious.

State BJP general secretary P. Rajeev admitted that the state leaders had tried their best to ''advise" Yatnal, but in vain. "Yatnal's behaviour has caused huge embarrassment to the party and we will soon complain to the high command," he said.

>> BJP stages protests in various districts of Karnataka over alleged Waqf encroachments

Incidentally, BJPs Bidar district chief has filed a police complaint against the Yatnal faction's protest, stating that a group of people was "misusing" the the BJP symbol and banners during the waqf protests.

BJP, Congress in war of words

IT minister Priyank Kharge, citing newspaper reports, accused the previous BJP governments of issuing more number of Waqf notices to farmers than the Siddaramaiah government did.

"BJP is playing foul in the Waqf issue. The BJP government had issued (waqf board) notices to farmers. So, this BJP protest is not for the farmers, but against Vijayendra," mocked Kharge.

>> Karnataka: Allocation of 2,750 acres of govt land for Muslim burial grounds stirs row

Further, the Congress minister demanded to know why the BJP government had notified 2,865 acres of land as "waqf property" between 2019 and 2020.

As many as 1,735 farmers were given Waqf-related notices and flagged 4,720 acres as "Waqf" during the BJP rule in the state, said Kharge, adding that a committee headed by Kumara Bangarappa had given directions to update the land as waqf property in the Bhoomi (land records) app.

"Will BJP leader Bommai, who had termed waqf lands as "Allah's property" have an answer to my question? Or will BJP's A team and B team, which are embarking on separate tours, tell the truth about the waqf land to the people?," asked Kharge.

>> Karnataka: Warring BJP factions announce separate rallies against Waqf

Leader of the opposition in Assembly R. Ashok, meanwhile, alleged that the Congress leaders were misleading the people on the waqf issue.

"The BJP government had formed the Anwar Manippady committee to study the encroachment of Waqf properties and based on the committee report, notices were issued to the encroaches. If any officer has wrongly issued notices to farmers, the current Congress government is free to take action against the officers," said Ashok, adding that the same Manippady report had details of land grabbing of waqf lands by several Congress leaders.
Prohibitory orders are in place near the Shahi Jama Masjid in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal after violence broke out on Sunday following an ASI survey of the Mughal-era mosque. The district administration issued orders barring entry of outsiders till November 30 in the area after three people were killed in the violence.

The order issued by District Magistrate Rajender Pensiya late on Sunday came into force with immediate effect on Sunday. "No outsiders, other social organisations or public representatives will enter the district border without the permission of the competent officer," said the order.

#WATCH | UP: Security heightened at Sambhal's Shahi Jama Masjid where an incident of stone pelting took place when a survey team arrived to conduct a survey of the mosque yesterday pic.twitter.com/ySEVozmaxE  ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2024

Meanwhile, security has been tightened near the mosque premises with extra police force deployed for the purpose. Videos from Sambhal showed police personnel patrolling the area armed with two-way radios for communication, security batons, flashlights, firearms, vehicle barriers and metal detectors. Internet services have also been suspended in Sambhal tehsil for 24 hours and schools shut for Monday.

Also read: 3 killed, over 20 cops among injured as violence erupts in UPs Sambhal during mosque survey

The violence broke out on Sunday after a group of people protested the survey of the mosque. They clashed with security personnel who resorted to tear gas and batons to disperse the mob. Three people were dead and over 20 police personnel were injured.

The protesters also torched vehicles and pelted the police with stones.

"Shots were fired by miscreants... the PRO of the superintendent of police suffered a gunshot to the leg, the circle officer was hit by pellets and 15 to 20 security personnel were injured in the violence," Divisional Commissioner (Moradabad) Aunjaneya Kumar Singh said on Sunday,

While two deaths were due to bullet wounds from countrymade pistols, the reason for the third death is unclear.

However, the survey of the mosque was, however, successfully completed despite the chaos on Sunday. The survey was ordered by a local court on November 19 following a petition claiming that a Harihar temple had stood at the site. The area has been on the boil since then.

Survey report on November 29

Senior advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain said the survey report will be submitted before the court by November 29. He added that all features were examined, and the videography and photography as directed by the Court were completed.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday dismissed Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder Dr S Ramadosss claim of a secret meeting with Gautam Adani. The Chief Minister, pointing to an earlier explanation by the state electricity minister, asked not to twist things.



The minister has already provided an explanation. Please dont twist things. He doesnt seem to have any work other than releasing statements every day. I cannot keep responding to each of his statements, Stalin said when asked what he had to say about Ramadosss claims of his secret meeting with Gautam Adani.

The chief minister was answering questions from the media at the inaugural event of Vizhuthugal, an initiative for the differently abled in his Kolathur constituency.

On Thursday, senior Ramadoss, in a statement, demanded an explanation from Chief Minister MK Stalin for the Adani group having ties with Tamil Nadu Power Generation and Distribution Company (TANGEDCO). Ramadoss demanded an explanation after Adani group chairman Gautam Adani was indicted in a bribery and a fraud case by a court in the USA.

In his statement, Ramadoss said that Adani had held a secret meeting with Stalin at the chief ministers residence in Chennai on July 10. What was the purpose of this secret meeting? The government must explain the reasons behind the secret meeting between Stalin and Adani.

He also said that the government must order an inquiry into the companies, including TANGEDCO, which gave subsidies to the Adani group. Ramadoss also recalled the accusations against Adani by a US court that he raised investments to the tune of Rs.25,500 crores in the US by showing contracts for various power projects in India, including Tamil Nadu.

Earlier, Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji had clarified, saying, TANGEDCO has no commercial association with Adani group. He said that the arrangements had been established with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), which is a central government agency, to procure 1,500 megawatts of power to fulfil Tamil Nadus electricity demands.

I wish to emphasise that the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board has conducted no commercial dealings with the Adani group for the past three years. While numerous states are referenced in the reports from the US, Tamil Nadus reference appears merely in a single line, Senthil Balaji said.

Hours later, PMK leader Dr Anbumani Ramadoss came out strongly against the Chief Minister, asking him to apologise for ridiculing his father. He is a senior leader who was the reason behind the caste-based reservations, at least five times, across India. He is the only senior politician in India who commands respect for his stature. Ramadoss never wanted to be in power and worked only for the welfare of the people. If he had not supported the DMKs minority government in 2006, it would not have completed its full term. If he had not asked us to withdraw the case in the Madras High Court, MK Stalin couldnt have managed to get space by the Marina to bury his father Kalaingnar, Anbumani said.
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) founder-leader Thol Thirumavalavan seems to have turned down an invitation to take part in the Ambedkar book launch along with actor-politician Vijay, scheduled to be held on December 6. Thirumavalavan has indicated his inability to participate in the event citing the current political situation, sources say.

According to sources in the event management team which is organising the book launch event, Thirumavalavan has declined to participate in the event and suggested that the event team organise separate events for him and Vijay, if they wish to.

The book on B.R. Ambedkar, titled Ellorukkumana Thalaivar Ambedkar is a compilation of articles written by Ambedkar, put together by VCK deputy general secretary Aadhav Arjun.

Arjun had recently stirred up a controversy when he spoke against the ruling DMK government and welcomed actor Vijays idea of a coalition government saying that the VCK was the first to moot the idea. He wrote this on X, immediately after Vijay announced that his party is open for a coalition government.

Arjuns tweet and the political deliberations sparked rumours that the VCK is planning to quit the ruling DMK alliance and look for a new political formation in the state. However, Thorumavalavan immediately put to rest the talks about VCKs shift from DMK alliance. He, however, did not decline his interest in participating in the event along with Vijay.

Two weeks later, now, after Thirumavalavan met the chief minister during an event in his constituency, sources in the VCK said that he will not participate in the book launch event as it might strain the VCKs equations with the DMK. It is said that the DMK seniors had advised Thirumavalavan on the consequences and the optics of him sharing the dais with Vijay.

In fact, after the Villupuram event, M.K. Stalin in a letter to his party cadres had said: I know the mind of my dear brother Thirumavalavan. He also shows true affection to me as an elder brother. He is aware of my resolute actions.

Thirumavalavan had time and again for the past one month clarified that he will not quit the DMK alliance. The DMKs decision to not accommodate Ramadosss PMK, which is VCKs political rival, has also appeased Thirumavalavan, sources say.

On the other side, Thirumavalavan will take part in DMKs third national conference of All India Federation for Social Justice, scheduled to be held in Delhi on December 3, along with the INDIA bloc partners.
The recently concluded Maharashtra Assembly Elections ended up being a downer for both Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray-led MNS. While Shiv Sena (UBT) got 20 seats in the Maharashtra elections, the MNS ended up being a total dud, not winning a single seat from the 128 seats they contested.

The existential crisis faced by both parties - one failing to get enough votes to qualify as a political party and the other losing its tag of 'real Sena' - had raised questions as to whether or not they will join hands. Especially since the ideologies of both parties are rooted in Marathi identity.

Also read: Raj Thackeray's MNS to lose its engine symbol? EC may soon send a derecognition after election rout

When asked about a potential merger between the cousins which will help stop the division of Marathi votes, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut had a rather tactical answer. "This is not a question limited to Raj Thackeray or Uddhav Thackeray. Everyone who loves Maharashtra must come together. Even if it is Prakash Ambedkar," said Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP.

Stressing that all of them had to contribute to the development of Maharashtra, Raut said "all these political parties should remain one for the Marathi people."

"Ambedkar had warned that if the Marathi people do not stay together, Maharashtra and Mumbai will become of the Hamals and Patiwalas and that is exactly what is happening today," he said, adding that the current state of Maharashtra is such that all those who are worried need to come together.

MNS candidates have played a major role in determining the success of many candidates of Shiv Sena (UBT), especially in Mumbai. The Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Sena won 8 of the 10 seats in Mumbai. Of the total 20 seats across the state, 10 won by Sena (UBT) were decided by margins smaller than the votes secured by MNS candidates.
Mumbai, Nov 25 (PTI) The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) on Monday raided suburban Kalyan's Paresh Jewellers and seized 1,610 grams of fake gold jewellery.

The jewellery worth over Rs 1 crore marked with spurious hallmark symbols, including BIS logo and without the hallmark unique identification digit, was seized, as per a statement.





Ghana commissions USD 447-mn standard gauge executed by Afcons

EPC entity Afcons on Monday said Ghana has commissioned a USD 447 million standard gauge between Tema and Mpakadan executed by it.

Ghana President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo commissioned the 100-km line aimed at revamping and modernising the country's infrastructure, as per a statement.





Bombay CA Society in tie-up with NISM

The Bombay Chartered Accountants' Society on Monday announced a tie-up with Sebi-promoted National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM) to foster financial literacy and strengthen capital markets through research initiatives and workshops.

The partnership includes plans for capacity building, specialised training programs, workshops, research initiatives and similar joint initiatives, as per a statement.
New Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) A total of 853 Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers have taken VRS in the last 10 years, Parliament was informed on Monday.

Of this, 383 IRS (Income Tax) officers and 470 IRS (Customs & Indirect Taxes) officers have taken retirement under VRS during 2014-2024, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

In a separate reply, he said 2,746.49 kg of gold has been seized at airports in Kerala by Customs department and DRI during FY20 to FY25 (up to October 31, 2024).

The seized gold is disposed of after following due procedure, he said.

During the last five financial years and current financial year (up to October 31, 2024), 112.62 kg of gold of international origin has been seized by the Kerala police and handed over to Customs under the provisions of CrPC 1973/BNSS 2023 and the Customs Act, 1962, the minister said.

As per RBI data on financial frauds in respect of amount over Rs 1 lakh and based on the date of occurrence, amounts involved in fraud cases in commercial banks and all India financial institutions have declined from Rs 9,298 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 3,607 crore in 2022-23 and to Rs 2,715 crore in 2023-24, he said in a separate reply.
New Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) Agricultural solutions provider UPL and CH4 Global announced a strategic partnership on Thursday to distribute a seaweed-based feed supplement in five major markets, including India that could reduce cattle methane emissions by up to 90 per cent.

The multi-year agreement targets India, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, which together account for more than 40 per cent of the global cattle population, the UPL said in a regulatory filing.

The partnership will focus on distributing CH4 Global's Methane Tamer product, a feed supplement derived from Asparagopsis seaweed, through UPL's existing distribution networks and feed formulations.

"Methane is almost thirty times as harmful for global warming than CO2," UPL Chairman and Group CEO Jai Shroff said.

"Recent reports show the highest levels in 8,00,000 years, so its reduction must be our top priority."

The initiative comes as the livestock industry faces increasing pressure to reduce its environmental impact. Enteric methane from cattle digestion is currently the largest human-driven source of methane emissions globally.

CH4 Global President and CEO Steve Meller said the partnership with UPL would help accelerate the global adoption of methane reduction solutions in livestock farming.

Neither company disclosed the financial terms of the agreement.

The partnership aims to create specific business models for each target market, integrating Methane Tamer into UPL's existing feed products while leveraging the company's market presence and customer relationships.
Washington, Nov 25 (PTI) Globalisation, enormous opportunities in the US and a large Indian diaspora community are the main attractions for Indian students coming to America for higher education, especially in STEM, according to educationists.

"The growth of the Indian youth and their enthusiasm for education and the opportunities in the United States are very much a pull," Marvin Krislov, President of Pace University, told PTI in an interview.

A recent report by the International Educational Exchange revealed that last year, India surpassed China as the top place of origin for international students, with a record 3,31,602 Indian students in the US in 2023-2024. This was a 23 per cent increase from the previous year.

"There's a large Indian-American community that is part of the attraction. People enjoy having those close connections to the Indian community. There are also just enormous opportunities and so many Indians have come here and gotten their education. Some of them have stayed at least for a while and have had enormous success," Krislov said.

According to the report, Indian enrolments increased primarily at the graduate (1,96,567, +19 per cent) and Optional Practical Training (OPT) academic levels (97,556, +41 per cent).

According to Raj Echambadi, President of Illinois Tech, there are two fundamental reasons for this.

"One, from a US educational perspective, the quality of the Indian students is extraordinarily high. Close to about 60 per cent of them, about 2,00,000 of them are in the graduate programmes in the US out of the 3,30,000 (Indian students in the US).

"Because our undergraduate infrastructure in India is phenomenal and most of these students are in STEM fields, so there is a natural fit That fit is what is driving a lot of admissions towards Indian students," Echambadi told PTI in an interview.

"The second broader reason is from the US perspective. When you think about the two major countries, it has been China and India. Roughly about 60 per cent of the student base in the US international student base comes from these two countries. Obviously, over the last few years, there has been a very strong relationship between the Indian government and the US government and it has not been the same (with China). That is actually what is accounting for this disparity, if you will," he added.

The number of Indian students coming to the US is growing fast as compared to three other countries -- Australia, United Kingdom and Canada -- towards which Indian students gravitate, Echambadi said.

"(This) reveals a thirst for globalisation on the part of the Indian students. They want to globalise and seek global opportunities. They realise seeking education from outside (their country) is actually a surefire way for them to go forward," he said in response to a question.

The number of Indian students at Illinois Tech has more than tripled over the past five years, with more than 2,000 currently on campus in Mies (Main) Campus, Moffett Campus, and downtown campus in Chicago. This represents a growth of 69 per cent from five years ago, according to Echambadi.

Krislov said there is enormous enthusiasm for Indian students at Pace University.

"We have over 2,000 Indian students right now, and I have close ties with the consulate here and we go to India every year. I just, in fact, came back from India. There's a lot of plus reasons why we have done so well with Indian students at Pace," he said.

"It is wonderful to send Indian students to America. But we also wanted to have more of reciprocity and that's something that we've been working on at PACE for quite a while," Krislov said, adding that Pace University is working with the O P Jindal Global University.

"We have a very strong relationship with O P Jindal. We send faculty and students there. They send faculty and students to us sometimes for shorter periods. We're also developing relationships with other universities. When I'm over there, I visit other universities and we try to assess the fit between our students and faculty and their students and faculty," he said.

"I think there's going to be more and more reciprocity in the coming years, and I think that's exciting for everyone. It makes the educational experience better for our students, and I think it also can lead to really productive research and collaboration," he added.

Echambadi said the United States is best positioned as a viable destination for Indian students in the near future.

"Indian students benefit at the end because they are going to get quality options  and it is going to push them forward," he said.
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Moscow, Nov 25 (AP) The Russian military have captured a British national fighting alongside Ukrainian troops in Russia's partially occupied Kursk region, state news agency Tass reported Monday, citing unidentified sources in the law enforcement.

The man was identified by Tass and other media as James Scott Rhys Anderson. Tass quoted him as saying that he had served as a signalman in the British army for four years and then joined the International Legion of Ukraine, formed early on in Russia's nearly 3-year-old war against its neighbour.

In Ukraine, Anderson reportedly served as an instructor for Ukrainian troops and was deployed to the Kursk region against his will. Tass published a video of the man saying in English that he doesn't want to be here.

The report couldn't be independently verified, but if confirmed it could be the first publicly known case of a Western national captured on Russian soil while fighting for Ukraine.

The UK Embassy in Moscow and the Russian Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. (AP)



AMS
Jerusalem, Nov 25 (AP) The Israeli ambassador to Washington says that a cease-fire deal to end fighting between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah could be reached within days.

Ambassador Mike Herzog told Israeli Army Radio on Monday that there remained points to finalize and that any deal required agreement from the government. But he said we are close to a deal and that it can happen within days.

Among the issues that remain is an Israeli demand to reserve the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations under the emerging deal. The deal seeks to push Hezbollah and Israeli troops out of southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah did not adhere to a UN resolution that ended the 2006 war between the sides that made similar provisions, and Israel has concerns that it could stage a Hamas-style cross-border attack from southern Lebanon if it maintains a heavy presence there. Lebanon says Israel also violated the 2006 resolution.

It is not clear whether Lebanon would agree to the demand.

The optimism surrounding a deal comes after a top US envoy held talks between the sides last week in a bid to clinch a deal.

Hezbollah began attacking Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after Hamas' raid on southern Israel, setting off more than a year of fighting. That escalated into all-out war in September with massive Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon and later an Israeli ground incursion into the country's south.

Hezbollah has fired thousands of rockets into Israeli cities and towns, including some 250 on Sunday.

_

Here's the Latest:

Iran's supreme leader says Netanyahu should be sentenced to death'

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  Iran's supreme leader has suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be sentenced to death for his role in the ongoing wars in the Gaza Strip against Hamas and in Lebanon.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the remarks Monday during an event in which he spoke to members of the Basij, the all-volunteer arm of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

Khamenei referenced the International Criminal Court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Israel's former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

What the Zionist regime did in Gaza and Lebanon is not a victory, it is a war crime. Now they have issued a warrant for their arrest. This is not enough! Khamenei said, according to remarks published by the state-run IRNA news agency. Netanyahu and the criminal leaders of this regime must be sentenced to death.

The International Criminal Court at the Hague does not issue death sentences.

Khamenei also insisted those in Iran's self-described Axis of Resistance, like the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah, would be stronger after the war.

The idiots should not think that bombing houses and hospitals in Gaza and Lebanon is a victory, he said. The enemy has not become winner in Gaza and Lebanon, and it will not be winner. (AP)

AMS
Lahore, Nov 25 (PTI) Pakistans Punjab province of over 120 million people remained cut off from the rest of the country following the second consecutive day of a protest march of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) with police arresting hundreds of its workers.

With the blockade of main roads within Lahore and other parts of the province, people are struggling to procure fresh vegetables, fruits, and other perishable items, including milk.

People are ruing shortages of fruits and vegetables caused by reduced supply from areas outside Lahore following road closures with containers.

Bus operations remained suspended for the second day from Lahore to other cities that affected millions of commuters.

It is feared that the situation might further worsen if the PTI protests continue for another few days.

Citizens are also questioning the logic to close intra and inter cities roads while the major protest is taking place in Islamabad.

The Punjab government said on Monday that roads would be opened following the end of PTI protests.

"We can't leave the people of Punjab at the mercy of the PTI protesters, therefore, we have to take stringent steps to protect the life and property of the people," Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari said.

On the other hand, the PTI says more than 3,500 party leaders and workers have been arrested by police in Punjab and Islamabad.

"Dozens of PTI workers have been injured and over 3,500 party leaders and workers arrested during the clashes with police en route to Islamabad," a PTI senior official said in a statement.

He said the party's long march towards Islamabad will continue till the release of their supreme leader Imran Khan and other political prisoners from jail and the independence of judiciary.

Former premier Khan has been in jail since August 2023 in multiple cases.
Kathmandu, Nov 25 (PTI) Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on Monday said no agreement on loan would be reached during his upcoming official visit to China.

The prime minister will begin an official visit to China on December 2 at the invitation of the Chinese government.

During a meeting with former prime ministers and foreign ministers at the Prime Ministers Office at Singhdurbar, Oli claimed the Belt and Road Initiative signed with China was not a loan-based agreement and there was no need to discuss now whether or not to seek a loan from China.

"We take loans or grants based on our national interests as and when we need them from any country or agency. We should not be swayed by the baseless rumour that loan is being taken to entrap the country, Oli further clarified.

We have a long and friendly relationship with China. I am visiting the northern neighbour to make the friendship further multi-dimensional."

Irrespective of the country we chose for our first visit, we keep sovereignty, independence and freedom as well as national welfare along with global welfare in top priority, pointed out the prime minister, adding that his visit would be successful.

Oli dismissed the rumour that major ruling partners CPN (UML) and Nepali Congress have a dispute over the agenda of his visit.

Olis remarks came in the wake of speculations that Nepali Congress favours grants from China under BRI whereas CPN UMLs priority is to seek loans under the arrangement.

I urge all my friends to remain assured that we will work for Nepal's interests and world peace," the prime minister's secretariat cited Oli as saying.

Oli informed the participants in the meeting that effective implementation of the past agreements with China, expansion of the transmission line, export of Nepali products to China, and other related issues of cooperation would mainly come up during his high-level meeting in Beijing.

Oli said Nepal had the same friendly relations with another neighbour, India, and underlined the need to take benefit of the cordial ties with both countries for Nepal's economic development.

"No one should take such matters as a 'card' against any country as the official visit of the head of the government will be based on the needs and decisions of the country, Oli clarified.

Sharing his views at the discussion, former prime minister and Chairperson of CPN (Maoist Centre) Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' said though he broke tradition by visiting China first in the past he had no intention to play the "China card".

Prachanda emphasised the effective implementation of the agreements signed with China last year when he was the prime minister.

Foreign Minister Dr Arzu Rana Deuba said preparations were underway on the issue of 'agenda' by the two ruling parties regarding the prime minister's upcoming visit to China and all the agendas would be finalised soon.

She said there was no dispute between the two parties regarding the visit as projected in the media.

However, Deuba was not present during the discussion as he was out of Kathmandu Valley while former prime ministers Jhal Nath Khanal and Madhav Kumar Nepal.

The former chairman of the Council of Ministers Khilraj Regmi, former foreign ministers Ishwar Pokharel, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Bhesh Bahadur Thapa, NP Saud, Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani, Dr Bimala Rai participated in the meeting.
Lahore, Nov 25 (PTI) A policeman was killed and 70 others injured while many personnel were taken "hostage" when former prime minister Imran Khan's supporters clashed with police in different parts of Pakistan, particularly in Islamabad, the Punjab government said on Monday.

The 72-year-old former premier issued a "final call" on November 13 for nationwide protests on November 24, denouncing what he termed as the stolen mandate, the unjust arrests of people and the passage of the 26th amendment, which he said has strengthened a dictatorial regime.

His supporters resumed march towards Islamabad on Monday after an overnight stop on the way amid stiff resistance by the authorities to foil their attempt to enter the national capital and stage a sit-in at the D-Chowk, located close to several important government buildings: the Presidency, the PM Office, the Parliament, and the Supreme Court.

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari at a press conference here said the condition of five personnel was critical after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters clashed with the police in Punjab and Islamabad.

At least 70 policemen have been injured and one killed in clashes, she said.

"Constable Mubashir lost his life in a clash with the PTI workers. To those who call them a political party, I ask them if they will say it after this. Imran Khan's supporters taking police officers hostage... is this politics," the minister asked.

Bokhari said Khan's wife Bushra Bibi was setting this country on fire. "Bushra is inciting the Pashtuns (Pathans) to get her husband released."

Khan has been implicated in dozens of cases since his government was dismissed through a no-confidence motion in 2022. He has been in Adiala Jail at Rawalpindi since last year facing over 200 cases.

Bokhari said Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz instructed police officers to remain unarmed.

However, the PTI came armed from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to wreak havoc and instigate violence, she said.

Bokhari said KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur's province was burning yet he was trying to set Punjab on fire.

"The PTI wants dead bodies to achieve its objectives. However, the State will act with patience and restraint," she said and added that Pakistan could never prosper with Imran Khan in charge.

The PTI, on the other hand, said over 3,500 party leaders and workers were arrested by police in Punjab and Islamabad.

"Dozens of PTI workers have been injured and over 3,500 party leaders and workers arrested during the clashes with police en route to Islamabad," a senior PTI leader said.

He said the party's long march towards Islamabad would continue till the release of PTI founder Imran Khan and other political prisoners from jail and the independence of the judiciary was restored.
Dhaka, Nov 25 (PTI) Bangladesh police on Monday arrested Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, a leader of the Hindu group Sammilita Sanatani Jote, from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport area in Dhaka.

"Das was detained in line with a request from (regular police)," spokesman of the Police's Detective Branch Rezaul Karim said.

Karim said Das would now be handed over to the concerned police station for subsequent legal procedure.

Das was detained at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Karim said, without giving details of the charges for which he was arrested.

Bengali-language newspaper Prothom Alo reported that Das was a leader of ISKCON, which recently expelled him.

ISKCON leaders in Bangladesh were not immediately available for comments, but the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council condemned the detention, saying it could affect the country's image abroad.

Citing Sanatani Jagran Jote's key organiser, Gaurang Das Brahmachari, Bdnews24 news portal said that Das was supposed to go to Chattogram by air from Dhaka.

On October 30, a case was filed against 19 people, including Das, at Chattogram's Kotwali Police Station, accusing them of disrespecting Bangladesh's national flag in Chattogram's New Market area during a rally of the Hindu community.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people from the Hindu community took to the streets at the Cheragi Pahar intersection in the port city, demanding the immediate release of Das.

Similarly, the Hindu community members in the capital blocked the Shahbagh intersection late in the evening, protesting the arrest.
Samos (Greece), Nov 25 (AP) Eight people, including six children, died when a small boat carrying an unspecified number of migrants sank off the coast of the Greek island of Samos, officials said on Monday.

In a separate incident on a different island, an elderly man died as a group of 27 migrants made landfall in a small boat, the coast guard said. Nobody was reported missing.

The coast guard said 36 survivors from the first incident were found on a rocky shoreline on Samos, while three others were rescued earlier. It was not immediately clear whether anyone else was still missing. The nationalities of the people on the boat were not known.

A patrol vessel, a lifeboat, a navy ship, a helicopter and land crews were searching for potential missing people, as survivors were unable to provide an exact number of how many migrants had been on the boat, the coast guard said. Authorities confirmed the recovery of the bodies of six children and two adult women.

Greece's Minister for Migration Nikos Panagiotopoulos deplored the incident and pledged tougher action against organised migrant-smuggling groups.

The shipwreck on Samos, with the loss of eight innocent lives, including six children, fills us with sadness and anger, he said. The unscrupulous criminals who trade in human lives will meet with our determination to eradicate (their activities).

Samos and other islands in the eastern Aegean Sea serve as key transit points for migrants entering the European Union illegally from the nearby Turkish coast.

Migrant crossings have increased in recent months, with Greek officials attributing the rise to ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.

Also Monday, the coast guard said one elderly man died during the disembarkation of a group of 27 migrants from a small boat on the eastern island of Lesbos. The other 26 migrants were found in good health and nobody was reported missing. The causes of the man's death were unclear.

According to United Nations data, more than 54,000 people have entered Greece illegally so far by sea or land this year. Most arrive in small boats from Turkiye, although there has been an increase in Mediterranean crossings from Libya  a longer and riskier journey.

In the whole of 2023, almost 49,000 people arrived in Greece illegally. (AP) PY

PY
Thane, Nov 24 (PTI) A 26-year-old personnel from the Maharashtra Security Force (MSF) was stabbed by a woman after he nabbed her for stealing from a passenger at Thane railway station, an official said on Sunday.



MSF guard Aniket Kadam was on patrolling duty on platforms 9-10 when the incident took place on Thursday, he said.

After being alerted by a commotion, Kadam chased a woman, identified as Jainab Memon, and detained her for allegedly stealing from a passenger.

Just then, her husband tried to intervene but the security personnel caught him as well saying he too was involved in the crime, the official said.

When Kadam was taking the couple to the police station, the woman pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the waist. The injured MSF guard, however, did not let the woman flee, though her husband, Zahir Memon, escaped.

Kadam was taken to a hospital and he recorded his statement after recovery, the official said.

Zahir was arrested the next day, said an official from Thane Government Railway Police.

Police have pressed attempted murder charges against the accused, the official added.
Porbandar, Nov 25 (PTI) The body of a 31-year-old fisherman, who died in a Pakistani jail last month, was handed over to his family in his native village of Nanavada in Gujarat's Junagadh district, officials said on Monday.

Haribhai Sosa, a resident of Porbandar, had been imprisoned in Karachi for over three years after he was apprehended by Pakistani security forces in early 2021. He was arrested near the international maritime border while fishing in the Arabian Sea.

According to officials, Sosa died of heart failure on October 25 while in the jail in Karachi on October 25.

The body was handed over to Indian authorities at the Attari border in Punjab and flown to Ahmedabad from where it was transported to Nanavada village by road on Sunday night.

Sosa, along with other fishermen, was intercepted by the Pakistan Marines while fishing off the Porbandar coast and taken to Karachi, said Ashish Vaghela, the Fisheries Officer from Porbandar

"The provisional postmortem report provided by Pakistani authorities confirmed that Sosa died of heart failure," he said.

Sosas sentence was completed in July 2021. Still, he was not released, despite a 2008 bilateral agreement between India and Pakistan stipulating that such convicts should be repatriated within a month of serving their sentence and after their nationality is confirmed, said activist Jatin Desai, who has been working for the welfare of Indian fishermen.

According to Desai, five Indian fishermen died in Pakistani custody in 2023, and three have died so far this year. Over the past decade, a total of 26 fishermen have lost their lives in Pakistani jails, Desai said.

He said 212 fishermen, mostly from Gujarat, and some from Maharashtra and Diu, are currently lodged in Pakistani jails.
Mumbai, Nov 25 (PTI) Following are the top stories from the Western Region at 1700 HRS.















BOM15 MH-SHIV SENA-LD CM POST

* Shinde should continue as CM, says Sena leader Mhaske invoking Bihar arrangement





Mumbai: Shiv Sena spokesperson Naresh Mhaske on Monday cited the Bihar model to assert that Eknath Shinde should continue as the chief minister of Maharashtra, where the ruling Mahayuti has scored a landslide victory in the assembly polls. *















BOM8 MH-AJIT PAWAR-ALLIES

* Discussions on among Mahayuti allies for govt formation: Ajit Pawar





Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP head Ajit Pawar on Monday said discussions were underway among the Mahayuti partners to finalise a formula for the new government formation in the state. *





BOM7 MH-HC-BMW ACCIDENT



* BMW hit-and-run case: HC refuses to release accused Mihir Shah on ground of 'illegal' arrest









Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday refused to release Mihir Shah, the main accused in a BMW hit-and-run case, on the ground of "illegal" arrest. *















BOM16 MH-AADITYA THACKERAY

* Aaditya Thackeray elected Shiv Sena (UBT) legislature party leader





Mumbai: Former Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray was on Monday elected the Shiv Sena (UBT) legislature party leader at a meeting of the party legislators in Mumbai. *















BOM17 MP-EURASIAN GROUP-MEET

* India hailed for anti-money laundering efforts at Eurasian Group meet





Indore: India was lauded for its efforts to implement measures against money laundering and terror financing on the first day of the 41st plenary meeting of Eurasian Group (EAG), which began in Madhya Pradesh's Indore on Monday, an official said. *

















BOM12 MH-RAUT-RE-ELECTION

* Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls





Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs). *



















BOM18 MP-CHEETAH-CUBS

* Cheetah Neerva gives birth to cubs in MP's Kuno National Park





Bhopal: Cheetah Neerva has given birth to cubs at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district, the state forest department said on Monday. *













BOM13 MH-CONGRESS-SHUKLA-VIOLATION

* Congress accuses Rashmi Shukla of poll code violation; demands EC action





Mumbai: The Congress on Monday demanded that the Election Commission take action against IPS officer Rashmi Shukla for allegedly violating the model code of conduct during the Maharashtra assembly elections by meeting Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. *













BOM9 MH-MNS-SYMBOL

* MNS at risk of losing recognition, symbol after drawing blank in Maharashtra polls





Mumbai: The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is at risk of losing its status as a recognised political party and its railway engine poll symbol after its dismal performance in the recently concluded state assembly election, where it failed to win even one seat. *
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. Kazakhstan continues to discuss the possibility of oil shipments via the Baku-Supsa pipeline, Almassadam Satkaliyev, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of Kazakhstan, said in a report during the government hour in the parliament, Trend reports.

"Discussions are underway regarding the Baku-Supsa pipeline. The pipeline has a capacity of 5 million tons per year, with potential delivery volumes of up to 3 million tons annually. The use of this route is still under consideration and discussion," he emphasized.

The minister also highlighted that Kazakhstan is considering increasing oil exports via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, from the current 1.5 million tons to as much as 20 million tons per year.

In total, Kazakhstan plans to export 55.4 million tons of oil through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) in 2024, 8.6 million tons via the Atyrau-Samara pipeline, 1.1 million tons to China, 3.6 million tons through the port of Aktau, and 50,000 tons by rail.

Additionally, Russian oil transit to China is expected to reach 10 million tons, with 200,000 tons to Uzbekistan.
Kolkata, Nov 25 (PTI) The Trinamool Congress will raise the issue of the ongoing unrest in Manipur during the winter session of Parliament, demanding a detailed debate and urgent intervention of the central government while focusing on seeking answers through discussions rather than disruptions.

At its national executive meeting, chaired by party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the TMC decided that its MPs will highlight the broader unrest in Northeast India during the winter session, which began on Monday, emphasising the need for focused attention on restoring peace and stability in the region.

"We will seek answers from the government on the ongoing unrest in Manipur. We want a debate and want the Centre to intervene. But we want discussions and are not in favour of disruptions," a senior TMC leader said after the meeting.

More than 250 people have been killed, and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kuki-Zo groups since May last year.

The violence escalated after three women and three children from the Meitei community went missing from a relief camp in Jiribam district following a gunfight between security forces and suspected Kuki-Zo militants, which resulted in the deaths of 10 insurgents on November 11. The bodies of the six missing individuals were found in the following days.

According to party sources, economic issues will also feature prominently in the TMC's parliamentary interventions.

"The party is set to raise concerns about the rising cost of living, the increase in fertiliser prices, and the suspension of funds for housing schemes and MGNREGA. These issues reflect the neglect of the most vulnerable sections of society and demand immediate redress," senior party leaders said.

The TMC's comprehensive approach signals its intention to hold the government accountable while steering clear of disruptive tactics in Parliament. Party insiders described this strategy as an effort to focus on constructive dialogue to address critical national and regional challenges.

Another key focus of the TMC's agenda is women's safety, with the party expressing dissatisfaction with the delay in implementing the Aparajita Bill, which aims to curb violence against women, despite being passed in the assembly.

"To demand its immediate enforcement, TMC's women wing will organise marches across all blocks on November 30, from 2 pm to 4 pm, followed by sit-ins on December 1," TMC leader and state minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said after the party's national executive meeting.

She also said that after December 10, a 15-member delegation comprising five women MLAs and ten women MPs will meet the President to submit a memorandum urging swift implementation of the law. The party will also send a letter to the Governor in this regard.

In the backdrop of public outrage over the rape and murder of an on-duty doctor in RG Kar Hospital, the West Bengal Assembly unanimously passed the 'Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) 2024' in September.

The 'Aparajita Bill' introduces severe penalties for sexual offences, including death penalty for perpetrators whose actions result in the victim's death or leave her in a vegetative state. Those convicted of rape will face life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Patna, Nov 25 (PTI) RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday squarely blamed the BJP, which rules the adjoining Uttar Pradesh, for the eruption of communal tension over the survey of a mosque in Sambhal district.

The former Bihar deputy CM alleged that the incident was aimed at "polarisation, along communal lines, across the country" and warned the saffron party against "trying similar tricks here".

"What is happening in UP is deplorable. We see a complete lumpenisation by the Yogi Adityanath government of police and administration which no longer seems to be concerned with the rule of law," alleged Yadav, who is now leader of the opposition in the Bihar assembly.

Talking to reporters on the winter session's inaugural day, he accused the BJP of clearly having nothing to do with growth and progress.

"The BJP intends to get votes by polarising voters. It is trying to do that across the country, and what has taken place in UP is a part of that strategy. But it would be better to refrain from such tricks in Bihar," the RJD leader claimed.

Asked about the controversial remark of Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan that Muslims did not vote for the JD(U), the RJD leader said, "He clearly does not have a mind of his own. When he was with us, he used to hammer and tongs at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Now that his party is in the NDA, he has begun to speak the BJP's language."

Lalan's remark, "Muslims vote for a party that did nothing for them", perceived to be aimed at the RJD, also drew a sharp reaction from Yadav.

The RJD leader said, "It was during the chief ministership of our founding president Lalu Prasad a ministry for minority affairs was set up in Bihar. Moreover, while in power, we too did a lot for the upper castes, but we also had the decency to avoid complaining that they never vote for us."
New Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) The contribution of tourism sector to the countrys gross domestic product (GDP) for 2022-23 stood at five per cent, the government informed Parliament on Monday.

In a written response in the Lok Sabha, Union Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat also said that in 2023, the total foreign tourist arrivals stood at 9.52 million.

Among these, tourists who travelled for leisure holiday and recreation accounted for 46.2 per cent while the share of Indian diaspora was 26.9 per cent, according to data shared in the response.

The minister said as per the third Tourism Satellite Account, 2015-16, the

percentage contribution of tourism sector to the countrys gross domestic

product (GDP) for 2018-19 stood at 5.01 per cent, while the share for 2022-23 was five per cent.

For 2020-21, it was 1.50 per cent and 1.75 per cent for 2021-22.

In response to another query, the minister said that to facilitate the visit of foreign nationals to come to India for medical treatment, the government has extended e-medical visa or e-medical attendant visa facility to people of 167 countries.

He was also asked whether the government has conducted any recent assessments

or studies to analyse the impact of increasing airfares on domestic tourism and if so, the details thereof.

"No such studies have been conducted by the Ministry of Tourism to analyse the impact of increasing airfare on domestic tourism," the minister said in his response.
Jammu, Nov 25 (PTI) A march by shopkeepers and labourers against a proposed ropeway project along the trek route leading to the Vaishno Devi shrine took an ugly turn on Monday as some protesters clashed with police at the Katra base camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district.

Police said the law and order situation had escalated and talks were being held to defuse the situation.

Officials said one policeman was injured after being manhandled by the protesters.

Amid slogans of "Bharat Mata ki Jai", hundreds of protesters held a march and sit-in in Katra town, the base camp for pilgrims visiting the shrine atop Trikuta hill.

The protesters, who had initially called a 72-hour strike, extended it by 24 hours late on Sunday.

The strike called by shopkeepers and pony and palanquin owners began on November 22 after the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board announced plans to proceed with the Rs 250-crore ropeway project between Tarakote Marg and Sanji Chhat along the 12-kilometre route.

The shopkeepers and labourers are fearful that the project, proposed to be completed in two years, would render them jobless.

During Monday's protest, tension escalated when a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) vehicle attempted to pass through the town while the protesters were holding the dharna.

Some protesters turned violent, hitting the vehicle and breaking its windshield, the officials said.

The vehicle was moved back with police intervention, prompting clashes during which some protesters threw bricks at the cops, they added.

Senior Superintendent of Police (Reasi) Paramvir Singh said, "The law and order situation has become challenging and we are trying to handle it. Officers are in talks with the protesters to resolve the issue."

The protesters are demanding that the project be shut down or compensation for all those likely to be affected.
New Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) With complaints handled annually growing from two lakh in 2014 to over 25 lakh in 2024, Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Monday said the Centre's grievance redressal system has witnessed an unprecedented increase in public trust.

The minister discussed several governance-related matters during a meeting with the principal secretaries of states general administrative department (GAD) here.

During the meeting, the Minister of State for Personnel addressed several concerns regarding administrative challenges and the development of civil servants.

In response to concerns about the lack of exposure for officers at the deputy secretary and joint secretary levels, Singh emphasised ongoing efforts to address this gap.

The meeting served as a platform for fostering knowledge exchange and collaboration among administrative leaders, with a focus on capacity building, technological integration and reforms to enhance governance, a Personnel Ministry statement said.

Highlighting the importance of grievance redressal mechanisms, the minister noted that the centralised system has witnessed an unprecedented increase in public trust, with complaints handled annually growing from two lakh in 2014 to over 25 lakh in 2024.

This surge demonstrates the government's ability to address citizens' concerns more effectively and in a timely manner, the statement said.

Singh underscored the critical need for regular interactions to empower civil servants in meeting the evolving challenges of governance.

He reaffirmed the government's commitment to transparency, integrity, accountability and efficiency, as reflected in initiatives like Mission Karmayogi, which has institutionalised capacity building for civil servants at all levels.

One key suggestion was the creation of a mentoring framework where senior officers could guide younger batches, helping them benefit from the knowledge and experience of their seniors.

The minister acknowledged this proposal and highlighted the importance of mentorship in shaping future leaders within the civil service, the statement said.

The conference explored several key topics vital to governance and administrative reforms, with a focus on the increasing role of technology in administration.

A major highlight was the implementation of centralised grievance mechanisms, which have greatly enhanced public trust in the system's responsiveness, the statement said.

Sessions at the conference aimed to provide civil servants with the tools needed for contemporary governance.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) presented key personnel reforms and a discussion on Mission Karmayogi (capacity building program) illustrated its transformative impact on civil services.

Singh emphasised the need for states to adopt technologies like face recognition systems to improve administrative efficiency.

The conference saw participation from almost all the states and Union Territories.
Noida, Nov 24 (PTI) A woman was duped of Rs 34 lakh here in a case of "digital arrest" by cyber criminals who threatened her with fake notices by the Enforcement Directorate, officials said on Sunday

The fraudsters claimed that a parcel is being sent from Mumbai to Iran in her name containing five passports, two debit cards, two laptops, 900 US dollars and 200 grams of narcotics, they said.

The victim received a call form the fraudsters on around 10 pm on August 8, she said in her complaint.

The Gautam Buddha cyber crime police station has registered a case and started investigation in the matter, Inspector-in-charge Vijay Kumar Gautam said.

According to the complaint of Nidhi Paliwal, a resident of Sector-41, the fraudsters sent her a complaint via WhatsApp and asked her to send Rs 34 lakh.

An accused also video called her on Skype with the video switched off, Paliwal said in her complaint.

Inspector Gautam said the accused also sent two notices of Enforcement Directorate (ED), in which serious allegations were made against the victim. A probe on the matter is underway, he said.
New Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) Lok Sabha members attending the Winter Session of Parliament beginning Monday will have the option of marking their attendance using a digital pen on an electronic tab.

Electronic tabs will be kept at four counters in the lobby of the Lok Sabha chamber as part of Speaker Om Birla's initiative to make Parliament paperless.

"Physical attendance registers will continue to be kept at the counters. However, members are advised to use the tab as a preferred choice and help make Parliament paperless," the Lok Sabha Secretariat said.

Officials said the members would have to first select their names from the drop down menu on the tab, affix their signatures with the help of the digital pen, and press the 'submit' button to register their attendance.

A team of engineers from the National Informatics Centre will be deployed at each counter for technical assistance.

Members have to mark their attendance in the register to avail of their daily allowance when Parliament is in session.

Earlier, Lok Sabha members marked their attendance using a mobile app.
Russia duped hundreds of Yemeni men to travel to Russia and then forcibly sent them to the front lines in Ukraine, the UK-based Financial Times (FT) reported on Sunday.

The mercenary operation is being facilitated by the Houthi terror group in Yemen, highlighting the growing ties between Moscow and the Houthis.

Yemeni recruits who traveled to Russia told FT that they were tricked into traveling to Russia after being promised a job with a generous salary and even Russian citizenship. But when they arrived in Russia via a Houthi-linked company, they were forcibly inducted into the Russian army and sent as cannon fodder to the front lines in Ukraine.

The forced Yemeni recruits joined about 12,000 North Korean soldiers on the battlefront against Ukraine, as well as mercenaries from Nepal and India.

The report quoted Farea al Muslimi, an expert on the Gulf region at Chatham House, as saying that few of the Yemeni mercenaries have any training and most dont want to be there.One thing Russia needs is soldiers, and its clear the Houthis are recruiting, [for them] Muslimi said, describing it as an overture to Moscow. Yemen is a pretty easy place to recruit. It is a very poor country.

Nabil, one Yemeni recruit, told FT that he was part of a group of about 200 Yemenis conscripted into the Russian army in September after arriving in Moscow. He said that some had military training but many did not and were tricked into traveling into Russia and signing enlistment contracts they couldnt read.

Nabil said that he was lured to Russia after he was promised employment in the fields of security and engineering. His goal was to earn enough money to complete his studies.

But several weeks later, he found himself with four other Yemeni recruits in a forest in Ukraine -without proper winter clothing  carrying wooden planks through a mine-infested forest.

We are under bombardment. Mines, drones, digging bunkers, another Yemeni recruit said, adding that one of his fellow recruits attempted suicide and was hospitalized.

Abdullah, another Yemeni recruit, told FT that he traveled to Russia after he was promised a $10,000 bonus and $2,000 per month, plus Russian citizenship, to work in the drone manufacturing industry.

I signed it because I was scared, he said, describing his handlers as scammers who traffic in human beings.

When he arrived in Moscow, he and his fellow Yemeni recruits were driven to a facility five hours away and forced to sign an enlistment contract written in Russian under the threat of a man who spoke simple Arabic and shot his pistol over their heads when they initially refused to sign.

Abdullah said that many of the Yemenis in his group died in Ukraine. It was all a lie, he lamented.

US diplomats say that the alliance between the Kremlin and the Houthi terror group, which was unimaginable before the war in Ukraine, is indicative of how Russia is willing to expand that conflict into new theaters.

US special envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking confirmed that Moscow has active ties with the Houthis and is holding a discussion on transferring weapons to the terror group.

We know that there are Russian personnel in Sanaa helping to deepen this dialogue, he said. The kinds of weapons that are being discussed are very alarming, and would enable the Houthis to better target ships in the Red Sea and possibly beyond.

Weve seen reports that there are discussions around [anti-ship missiles] and other types of lethal equipment that would augment what the Houthis are already able to do, Lenderking added.

Regarding the Yemeni recruits, Lenderking said: I would say that it definitely concerns us, he said. It is part of this trend, and its not something that would necessarily surprise us.

Maged Almadhaji, the head of the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies, a Yemen-focused think-tank, said Russia too is taking an interest in any group in the Red Sea, or in the Middle East, that is hostile to the US.

Abdullah was one of 11 Yemeni recruits who left Russia for Yemen via Oman earlier this month, thanks largely to the efforts of the International Federation of Yemeni Migrants, who pressured the Yemeni government after a public outcry.

Ali Al-Subahi, the chair of the Federations board, said This is a humanitarian issue that unites all Yemenis, regardless of political affiliation. He stressed that hundreds of Yemenis are still in Russia. We are following up on their removal from the battlefields, he said.

YWN readers should not expect protests on the streets and university campuses of Western countries in response to this alarming humanitarian issue. Why? Because the perpetrators are not Jews or Israelis.

Russia is not the only country in the Axis of Evil to take advantage of the poverty of Yemenis. Iran has been sending them to fight against Israel and has long taken advantage of the poverty in the country to bribe the Houthis into attacking Israel.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
Former President Donald Trump announced Saturday that his cabinet is now officially complete following the nomination of Brooke Rollins as Secretary of Agriculture. Rollins, a former White House aide and key figure in Trumps first administration, will replace outgoing Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Rollins, the founder and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, was instrumental in advancing Trumps domestic agenda during his first term. She now joins a robust lineup of high-profile appointees ready to advance the former presidents America First vision as he prepares for his second term.

Trumps finalized cabinet includes a mix of former administration officials, political allies, and new faces. Here is the complete list of appointments and nominations:

White House Chief of Staff: Susie Wiles

Susie Wiles Secretary of State: Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio Secretary of Defense: Pete Hegseth

Pete Hegseth Homeland Security Secretary: Kristi Noem

Kristi Noem CIA Director: John Ratcliffe

John Ratcliffe Director of National Intelligence: Tulsi Gabbard

Tulsi Gabbard National Security Adviser: Michael Waltz

Michael Waltz Attorney General: Pam Bondi

Pam Bondi HHS Secretary: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator: Dr. Mehmet Oz

Dr. Mehmet Oz Surgeon General: Dr. Janette Nesheiwat

Dr. Janette Nesheiwat OMB Director: Russ Vought

Russ Vought U.N. Ambassador: Elise Stefanik

Elise Stefanik Border Czar: Tom Homan

Tom Homan VA Secretary: Doug Collins

Doug Collins Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE): Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy White House Press Secretary: Karoline Leavitt

Karoline Leavitt Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon

Linda McMahon Secretary of Energy: Chris Wright

Chris Wright Secretary of Labor: Lori Chavez-DeRemer

Lori Chavez-DeRemer Secretary of Agriculture: Brooke Rollins

Notably, Trumps list includes several controversial figures, such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vocal critic of vaccine mandates, and Pete Hegseth, who has faced allegations of misconduct. The nominations are expected to spark heated confirmation battles in Congress.

Former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz is notably absent from the finalized list, having withdrawn his name from consideration for Attorney General after facing significant opposition. Trumps team also faced pushback over the selection of Lori Chavez-DeRemer as Secretary of Labor, with some conservative business groups expressing concerns about her labor-friendly stance. In contrast, far-left progressive commentator Cenk Uygur praised the choice, calling it a move that stole the Democrats thunder by being pro-labor.

As Trumps health nominees prepare for confirmation, some former Trump health officials have raised concerns about vaccine policy. Nominees such as RFK Jr., a leading vaccine skeptic, and Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, a vocal advocate for vaccination, present potential policy tensions within the administration. Observers are closely watching how these dynamics will unfold under the new administration.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
As technological and medical advances are made every day, medical shailos are becoming more and more complex and require more and more practical knowledge to answer.

In addition to a vast halachic knowledge, one needs to be an expert in modern medicine and modern technology in order to answer many questions that come up. Even world-class talmidei chochomim often do not have this practical knowledge available to them to answer the most intricate of medical shailos.

So where do these questions get sent? Where do Rabbanim go to acquaint themselves with the modern medical field? Where can residents call when such shailos arise?

Enter the Refuah BHalacha Center, which was recently created by Rav Avrohom Yaged shlita, who has studied this area of halacha for many years under leading Poskim and has authored a comprehensive sefer on this topic, to provide the needed guidance both to the general public and to young and aspiring Rabbanim. Assisting Rav Yaged in this endeavor and providing lay leadership are Reb Yaakov Domb, and Reb Yaakov Cohen, who have received valuable help from numerous prominent askanim including R Itche Rosenbaum, Rav Nosson Nussbaum of Tomchei Tzedakah, R B. Moskowitz, and R Yaakov Wenger. Wellpoint NJ Community Health Care has also recognized the importance of the medical guidance provided by the Center and stepped up to become a sponsor.

The Center is under direct leadership and guidance of two of Klal Yisroel most respected Poskim, Rav Yaakov Forchheimer shlita and Rav Noach Isaac Oelbaum shlita, and is staffed by distinguished Rabbanim who have spent years studying halacha as it relates to modern medicine. These esteemed Rabbanim who are experts in the specialized field of medical halacha are making themselves available to the community and to Klal Yisroel at large to answer their shailos, both big and small, on this complex topic. With much caring and sensitivity, they will guide residents every step of the way as they navigate whatever medical issue they are going through, and provide them with the chizuk and peace of mind of knowing that their ruchnius needs are being cared for.

In an exciting development, the Center has launched a hotline where residents can call with their medical shailos at any time and receive clear guidance. The Centers Rabbanim are already answering the phone of the new hotline at most hours of the day, with more hours being added as the Center grows to meet the needs of the community.

The shailohs that come in run the gamut of medical halacha, ranging from life-and-death situations to simple questions, such as when it is permitted to take Aspirin on Shabbos or what a woman who had a baby should do about Shabbos candles if she is being in a hospital over Shabbos or yomtov. Each shailoh is treated with utmost seriousness, with the caller being given clear guidance from the Rov.

A key aspect of the Refuah BHalacha Center is that it acts as a bridge between patients, Rabbanim and doctors, ensuring that communication is open between these three groups and that everyone is on the same page in regards to the halachic issues at hand. Problems often arise when there is a gap or lack of communication between doctors and Rabbanim, or between patients and doctors, and this issue is being addressed through the lines of communication created by the Center. To this end, the Center is in the process of creating a large database of medical professionals and specialists in many fields, as well as Rabbanim who are able and willing to be in regular contact with those doctors. Warm relationships have already been forged with many doctors, and many more are being engendered for the benefit of all parties involved.

With an eye towards the future, the Refuah BHalacha Center is also focused on training the next generation of Rabbanim on what they need to know about medical halacha in order to be better able to serve their communities. They will be offering various shiurim to young and aspiring Rabbanim and interested Kollel yungaleit, on relevant topics, which will raise an awareness of crucial medical knowledge as it pertains to halacha.

For example, a shiur is set to start on the complex topic of fertility in halacha, delivered by one of the leading Poskim of Lakewood and an expert in this field. Many young and aspiring Rabbanim have signed up for this course. Other topics that will soon be covered in shiurim, include end of life issues and mental health.

The Center is also working with the many chesed organizations in Lakewood, who have all welcomed their opening with open arms. Together, they form a partnership, with the chesed organizations providing for all of a patients physical needs and the Medical Refuah Center providing for their ruchnius needs, thus helping each patient in the most effective way.

Last Motzoei Shabbos, a lchaim was held in the offices of Madison Title to mark the official launching of the Refuah BHalacha Center. The gathering was attended by many leading Rabbanim, including Rav Forchhiemer and Rav Oelbaum, who made the trip from New York to Lakewood especially to attend, as well as Rav Yitzchok Unsdorfer of Khal Shvilei Dovid in Oak and Vine; Rav Micha Cohen of Khal Kol Yaakov in Oakley Hills-Jackson; Rav Shraga Sender, Rov of Cedarwood Hills; Rav Shraga Malinowitz, Rov of Hampshire Hills; Rav Moshe Dovid Grossman, Av Bes Din of the Bais HaVaad; and many others.

Also in attendance were many askanim and communal activists, including noted askan Rabbi Chaim Shaul Jurkanski, Rabbi Yehoshua Brodsky of Chai Lifeline, R Lipa Schwartz of Misameach, Hatzolah of Central Jersey, representatives of Bikur Cholim, Chesed of Lakewood, and more.

At the lchaim, Rav Yaged succinctly related the goals and aims of the Center and said that it is truly inspiring to see so many dedicated Rabbanim, askanim and talented individuals joining forces and putting their kochos together to help people with their spiritual needs in their most vulnerable time.

Rav Sender also spoke briefly and said that having a place for people to reach out to and receive halachic guidance in all situations is a tremendous Kiddush Hashem.

For more information or to speak to one of the esteemed Rabbanim, the Refuah BHalacha Center can be reached by calling 732-755-0851.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law granting debt forgiveness to new army recruits who enlist to fight in Ukraine.

The measure, whose final version appeared on a government website Saturday, underscores Russias needs for military personnel in the nearly 3-year war, even as it fired last week a new intermediate-range ballistic missile.

According to Russian state news agency Interfax, the new legislation allows those signing up for a one-year contract to write off bad debts of up to 10 million rubles ($96,000). The law applies to debts for which a court order for collection was issued and enforcement proceedings had commenced before Dec. 1, 2024. It also applies to the spouses of new recruits.

Russia has ramped up military recruitment by offering increasing financial incentives, in some cases several times the average salary, to those willing to fight in Ukraine.

The strategy has allowed the military to boost its ranks in the conflict zone while avoiding another mobilization order. A partial mobilization in September 2022 sparked an exodus of tens of thousands of Russian men, who fled the country to avoid enlistment.

The intense and drawn-out war has strained Russian resources. Putin in September called for the military to increase its troops by 180,000.

The U.S., South Korea and Ukraine say North Korea sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia in October, some of whom have recently begun engaging in combat on the front lines, piling more pressure on Ukraines also weary and overstretched army.

The AP sees wreckage of Russias new experimental missile

The push for recruits coincides with the firing of a new intermediate-range ballistic missile at Ukraine on Thursday. Putin said it was in response to Kyivs use of American and British missiles capable of striking deeper into Russia.

Ukraines Security Service showed The Associated Press on Sunday wreckage of the new experimental ballistic missile, which struck a factory in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

The fragments of the missile called Oreshnik - Russian for hazel tree, and which the Pentagon said is based on Russias RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile - have not been analyzed yet, according to security officials on site in an undisclosed location in Ukraine. The AP and other media were able to see the fragments before they were taken by investigators.

Charred, mangled wires and an ashy airframe the size of a large snow tire was all that remained of the weapon, which can carry either conventional or nuclear warheads.

It should be noted that this is the first time that the remains of such a missile have been discovered on the territory of Ukraine, said an expert with Ukraines Security Service, who identified himself only by his first name Oleh because he wasnt authorized to discuss the issue with the media.

Ukraines Main Intelligence Directorate said the missile was fired from the 4th Missile Test Range, Kapustin Yar, in Russias Astrakhan region and flew for 15 minutes before striking Dnipro. The missile had six warheads, each carrying six submunitions. The peak speed was 11 Mach.

The U.S. needs to get ahead of escalation, says incoming national security adviser

In light of the missile strike, U.S. President-elect Donald Trumps incoming national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said Sunday that the incoming administration wants to get both sides to the table and is concerned about escalation.

Waltz made clear on Fox News Sunday that he has met with Bidens national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, to discuss U.S. policy and options in Ukraine, and the Florida congressman assured that those conversations will continue.

For our adversaries out there that think this is a time of opportunity, that they can play one administration off the other, theyre wrong, Waltz said. We are hand in glove. We are one team with the United States in this transition.

Waltz seemed to endorsed Bidens decision to send antipersonnel mines for Ukraine forces to use in the conflict. It is a step towards somewhat solidifying the lines, and we also needed to stop Russian gains, Waltz said.

The congressman also emphasized Trumps desire for the conflict to end quickly. Trump, who has praised Putin over the years, avoided throughout the campaign setting conditions for an end to the conflict, suggesting he would be open to considerable annexations of Ukraine. Waltz avoided discussing any terms Trump might pursue once he takes office.

The president-elect has been very concerned about the escalation and where its all going, Waltz said. We need to bring this to a responsible end. We need to restore deterrence, restore peace and get ahead of this escalation ladder, rather than responding to it.

In other developments:

 Moscow sent 73 drones into Ukraine overnight into Sunday. According to Ukraines air force, 50 drones were destroyed and four lost, likely having been electronically jammed.

 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Russian forces over the past week had struck Ukraine with more than 800 guided aerial bombs, about 460 attack drones and more than 20 missiles.

 In Russia, the Defense Ministry said that 34 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight into Sunday in four regions of western Russia, including Kursk, Lipetsk, Belgorod and one over the Oryol region.

(AP)
Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte said Saturday she has contracted an assassin to kill the president, his wife and the House of Representatives speaker if she herself is killed, in a brazen public threat that she warned was not a joke.

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin referred the active threat against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to an elite presidential guards force for immediate proper action. It was not immediately clear what actions would be taken against the vice president.

The Presidential Security Command boosted Marcos security and said it considered the vice presidents threat, which was made so brazenly in public, a national security issue.

The presidential security force said it was coordinating with law enforcement agencies to detect, deter, and defend against any and all threats to the president and the first family.

Duterte, a lawyer, later tried to walk back her remarks and said they were not an actual threat but only an expression of concern over an unspecified threat to her own life.

If I expressed the concern, they will say thats a threat to the life of the president? she said.

Why would I kill him if not for revenge from the grave? There is no reason for me to kill him. Whats the benefit for me? Duterte told journalists.

Under the Philippine penal code, such public remarks may constitute a crime of threatening to inflict a wrong on a person or his family and is punishable by a jail term and fine.

The Philippine Constitution says that if a president dies, sustains a permanent disability, is removed from office or resigns, the vice president takes over and serves the rest of the term.

Marcos ran with Duterte as his vice-presidential running mate in the May 2022 elections and both won with landslide victories on a campaign call of national unity.

The two leaders and their camps, however, rapidly had a bitter falling-out over key differences, including in their approaches to Chinas aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea. Duterte resigned from the Marcos Cabinet in June as education secretary and head of an anti-insurgency body.

Like her equally outspoken father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, the vice president became a vocal critic of Marcos, his wife Liza Araneta-Marcos and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, the presidents ally and cousin, accusing them of corruption, incompetence and politically persecuting the Duterte family and its close supporters.

Her latest tirade was set off by the decision by House members allied with Romualdez and Marcos to detain her chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, who was accused of hampering a congressional inquiry into the possible misuse of her budget as vice president and education secretary. Lopez was later transferred to a hospital after falling ill and wept when she heard of a plan to temporarily lock her up in a womens prison.

In a pre-dawn online news conference, an angry Sara Duterte accused Marcos of incompetence as a president and of being a liar, along with his wife and the House speaker in expletives-laden remarks.

When asked about concerns over her security, the 46-year-old suggested there was an unspecified plot to kill her. Dont worry about my security because Ive talked with somebody. I said if Im killed, youll kill BBM, Liza Araneta and Martin Romualdez. No joke, no joke, the vice president said without elaborating and using the initials that many use to call the president.

Ive given my order, If I die, dont stop until youve killed them. And he said, yes, the vice president said.

Amid the political divisions, military chief Gen. Romeo Brawner issued a statement with an assurance that the 160,000-member Armed Forces of the Philippines would remain nonpartisan with utmost respect for our democratic institutions and civilian authority.

We call for calm and resolve, Brawner said. We reiterate our need to stand together against those who will try to break our bonds as Filipinos.

The vice president is the daughter of Marcos predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, whose police-enforced anti-drugs crackdown when he was a city mayor and later as president left thousands of mostly petty drug suspects dead in killings that the International Criminal Court has been investigating as a possible crime against humanity.

The former president denied authorizing extrajudicial killings under his crackdown but has given conflicting statements. He told a public Philippine Senate inquiry last month that he had maintained a death squad of gangsters to kill other criminals when he was mayor of southern Davao city.

(AP)
The owners of a Colorado funeral home who let nearly 190 bodies decay in a room-temperature building and gave grieving families fake ashes pleaded guilty on Friday to corpse abuse.

Jon and Carie Hallford, who own the Return to Nature Funeral Home, began storing bodies in a decrepit building near Colorado Springs as far back as 2019 and gave families dry concrete in place of cremated remains, according to the charges. The grim discovery last year upended families grieving processes.

Plea deals reached between the defendants and prosecutors call for Jon Hallford to receive a 20-year prison sentence and Carie Hallford to receive 15 to 20 years in prison.

Over the years, the Hallfords spent extravagantly, prosecutors say. They used customers money and nearly $900,000 in pandemic relief funds to buy laser body sculpting, fancy cars, trips to Las Vegas and Florida, $31,000 in cryptocurrency and other luxury items, according to court records.

Last month, the Hallfords pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges in an agreement in which they acknowledged defrauding customers and the federal government. Under the agreement, prosecutors could request sentences of up to 15 years in prison for the couple.

Even as the couple lived large, prosecutors said the bodies at their funeral home were decomposing.

The bodies were laying on the ground, stacked on shelves, left on gurneys, stacked on top of each other or just piled in rooms, prosecutor Rachael Powell said. She said the family members of the bodies that were discovered have been intensely and forever outraged.

The Hallfords each pleaded guilty to 191 counts of corpse abuse for the bodies found decaying and two instances where the wrong bodies were buried.

They also agreed to pay restitution, with the amount yet to be determined. Additional charges of theft, forgery and money laundering would be dismissed under the agreements.

Crystina Pages son, David, died in 2019 and his body languished in the funeral homes building until last year.

He laid in the corner of an inoperable fridge, dumped out of his body bag with rats and maggots eating his face for four years, Page said outside the courtroom after the hearing. Now every moment that I think of my son, Im having to think of Jon and Carie, and thats not going away.

Sentencing was set for April 18.

Six people with objections to the plea agreements had asked prior to Fridays hearing to address the court. They considered the length of the sentences under the plea deal insufficient given the Hallfords conduct, prosecutors said.

Judge Eric Bentley said they would get a chance to speak prior to the sentencings. If the judge rejects the plea agreement, the Hallfords would be able to withdraw their guilty pleas and go to trial.

Carie Hallford told the judge that while she didnt visit the building as much as Jon: I knew how bad it was and chose to do nothing about it.

At the close of Fridays hearing, Bentley revoked a bond that had allowed Carie Hallford to remain free while the case was pending. She was handcuffed in the courtroom while family members of the deceased applauded.

Jon Hallford already was in custody, and was in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffed for the hearing.

Last month, the Hallfords pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges in an agreement in which they acknowledged defrauding customers and the federal government.

Jon Hallford is represented by the public defenders office, which does not comment on cases. Carie Hallfords attorney, Michael Stuzynski, declined to comment.

Over four years, customers of Return to Nature spread what they thought were their loves ones ashes in meaningful locations, sometimes a planes flight away. Others carried their urns on cross-country road trips or held them tight at home.

The bodies, which prosecutors say were improperly stored, were discovered last year when neighbors reported a stench coming from a building in the small town of Penrose, southwest of Colorado Springs.

Authorities found bodies too decayed for visual identification. The building was so toxic that responders had to wear hazmat gear and could remain inside only for brief periods.

The discovery of the bodies at Return to Nature prompted state legislators to strengthen what had been among the laxest funeral home regulations in the country. Unlike most states, Colorado didnt require routine inspections of funeral homes or credentials for the businesses operators.

This year, lawmakers brought Colorados regulations up to par with most other states, largely with support from the funeral home industry.

(AP)
Sobs of relief broke out in a federal courtroom in Kansas on Monday as dozens of people whose life savings had been embezzled by a bank CEO learned that federal law enforcement had recovered their money.

I just cant describe the weight lifted off of us, said Bart Camilli, 70, who with his wife Cleo had just learned theyd recover close to $450,000  money Bart began saving at 18 when he bought his first individual retirement account. Its life-changing.

In August, former Kansas bank CEO Shan Hanes was sentenced to 24 years after stealing $47 million from customer accounts and wiring the money to cryptocurrency accounts run by scammers. Prosecutors said Hanes also stole $40,000 from his church, $10,000 from an investment club and $60,000 from his daughters college fund and lost $1.1 million of his own in the scheme. Deposits were jettisoned into the ether, said prosecutor Aaron Smith.

Hanes Heartland Tri-State Bank, drained of cash, was shut down by federal regulators and sold to another financial institution. Customers savings and checking accounts amounting to $47.1 million were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which paid off their losses.

But there were still 30 shareholders of the community-owned rural bank Hanes helped found  including his close family friends and neighbors  who thought they lost $8.3 million in investments: well-planned retirements were upended, funds for long-term eldercare gone, education funds and bequests for children and grandchildren zeroed out.

On Monday the shareholders stood to cheer federal Judge John W. Broomes in Wichita after he told them, one at a time, that theyd be paid back in full. The FBI recovered the funds from a cryptocurrency account held by Tether Ltd.

During an earlier sentencing hearing, these victims had called Hanes a deceitful cheat and a liar, and pure evil.

Margaret Grice came to court Monday figuring shed get $1,000 back. Instead, she learned shed be recovering almost $250,000, her entire 401(k).

Im just really thrilled, she said. I can breathe.

Prosecutors said Hanes, who was the CEO of Heartland Tri-State Bank in Elkhart, Kansas, lost the money in a scam referred to as pig butchering, or the way pigs are fattened before slaughter. In the scam, a third party gains a victims trust and, over time, convinces them to invest all of their money into cryptocurrency, which immediately disappears. U.S. and U.N. officials say these schemes are proliferating, with scammers largely in Southeast Asia increasingly taking advantage of Americans.

Hanes started buying what he thought was $5,000 in cryptocurrency in late 2022, communicating with someone who had reached out on WhatsApp, according to court records. A few months later he transferred over his church and investment club funds. Records show the scam accelerated in the summer of 2023, when Hanes wired $47.1 million out of customer accounts in 11 wire transfers over just eight weeks. Each transfer, he thought, was necessary to end the investment and cash out, court records said. He watched, on a fake website, as the money appeared to grow to more than $200 million.

He was to take some of the money, and the rest of the money was supposed to go back to the bank, his attorney John Stang explained. Now its fiction, it didnt exist. We all know that now  It failed big time.

Hanes, who was not in court Monday, apologized at an earlier sentencing hearing.

From the deepest depth of my soul, I had no intention of ever causing the harm that I did, he said. Ill forever struggle to understand how I was duped and how what I thought was just getting the money back was making it worse.

Prosecutors said Hanes wasnt just the victim of a scam, he crossed a line when he began taking customers money and violating banking regulations. He pleaded guilty to embezzlement by a bank officer in May.

His prominent standing in his hometown of 2,000 made it easier for him to get away with it, a Federal Reserve System investigation found; he had been on the school board, volunteered as a swim meet official, and served on the Kansas Bankers Association.

He also was a banking leader beyond his rural community. In recent years, he testified to Congressional committees about the importance of local banks in farming communities, and he served as a director for the American Bankers Association, which represents almost all banking assets in the U.S.

On Monday, prosecutors said the FDIC wanted to be paid back for the insurance claims it reimbursed to bank customers. But Judge Broomes said the economic circumstances of shareholders who became insolvent because of a fraud scheme justified paying them back first, before the FDIC recovers anything.

Hanes, 53, may be in his late 70s when he is released and is unlikely to be able to pay the FDIC the $47.1 million still owed.

In a court filing, Hanes and his attorney tried to explain what had happened.

Mr. Hanes made some very bad choices after being caught up in an extremely well-run cryptocurrency scam, they said. He was the pig that was butchered.

(AP)
by Rabbi Yair Hoffman

Today the 24th of Cheshvan is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Dovid Kviat zatzal, one of my Rebbeim. In honor of the yahrtzeit is some Torah that he said. May his neshama be a meilitz yosher for us all.

What happens when the doctor says that a sick person must eat something forbidden? Does he recite a bracha or not?

Many of us are familiar with the verse in Tehillin (10:3) Botzea beireich niaitz Hashem  A thief who blesses blasphemes Hashem. The Gemorah uses this verse to describe someone who blesses on stolen food. The Mishna Brurah (196:3), based on the Rambam and Poskim, rules that it is not only stolen food to which this verse can be applied  but also to someone who purposefully eats non-kosher food.

THE RAMBAMS VIEW

The Rambam (1138-1204) in Hilchos Brachos 1:19 rules that one who eats any forbidden item , whether purposefully or in error, makes neither a beginning bracha nor an after-bracha.

THE RAAVADS VIEW

Interestingly enough, the Raavad (1125-1198) argues on this principle of the Rambam!

He writes that the Rambam made a great error here, and that the Gemorah in Brachos 45a only states that it is Zimun that is forbidden. But a beginning Bracha or an after-bracha  why shouldnt they recite it? They are deriving hanaah  benefit!

EXPLAINING THE MACHLOKES

My Rebbe, Rav Dovid Kviat zatzal, a Rosh Yeshiva in Mirrer Brooklyn, one of the last of the Alter Mirrers  those who were in the Mirrer Yeshiva and travelled to China to remain throughout the war, provides the following explanation (see Sukas Dovid on Kesuvos 81a-82b):

It appears that they are arguing on the essential nature of what Chazal enacted a blessing upon. The Rambam holds that they enacted the blessing upon the hanaah  the benefit one receives from the [food] item. Therefore, since the food item is forbidden, and the benefit one receives from the food item is likewise forbidden  we do not recite a bracha. This is true even if it was beshogaig  by accident  because, at the end of the day, the benefit he received from the food item is forbidden to him.

The Raavad holds that the blessing was ordained upon the benefit he receives in being satiated, no longer hungry. That is the intestinal benefit, so to speak. Therefore, the fact that he is now full and no longer hungry is not, in its essence, forbidden. He would, therefore, recite a blessing. This is the Raavads intention when he writes, But a beginning bracha or an after-bracha why shouldnt they bless  since they benefitted?

According to this explanation, even the Rambam would hold that a blessing would be recited regarding:

A dangerously ill sick person who is required to eat something forbidden

A dangerously ill person who is required to eat on Yom Kippur

The reason is that since in these cases it is permitted for him to eat in these circumstances, it is a permitted benefit, and the [food] item is considered like a chaifetz shel heter  a permitted item. The reason is that he is performing a Mitzvah  as the Torah states (Vayikra 18:5), And you shall live by them and he is obligated to eat. We see this indication in the words of the Shulchan Aruch (Siman 196) as well, where he rules like the Rambam, but also rules that one who is forced to eat on Yom Kippur must bless.

THE BACHS VIEW

The Bach (1561-1640), however, in Siman 204, differentiates between the two cases. He writes that a dangerously ill person recites a blessing when he eats on Yom Kippur because the essential character of the eating is actually permitted. Whereas in regard to something non-kosher, the item itself is forbidden. The Bach thus holds that one DOES NOT RECITE A BLESSING when a doctor tells you to eat something non-kosher.

ANALYZING THE BACH

One must say that the Bach holds that the bracha comes on the actual item, because if you recite it on the benefit from the item  the benefit is fully permitted and he is actually fulfilled a Mitzvah since he is performing vchai bahem  and you shall live by them.

The Shulchan Aruchs view is that the bracha is recited on the hanaah  the benefit, and the benefit is fully permitted. Indeed, in Shulchan Aruch OC 204:9, the Mechaber (1488-1575) holds that a sick person who ate something forbidden must make a first bracha and an after-bracha.

Perhaps the issue is dependent upon the concept of whether the leniency of VeChai Bahem is that the prohibition is pushed aside (dchuya) or permitted (hutrah). [See Teshuvas HaRashba #786, Rosh, end of Yuma]. If it was just pushed aside  then it would still be considered a prohibition and one would not recite a blessing. If it was made permitted (hutrah) then it would be considered an Item of a Mitzvah  and one would recite a blessing.

But this is not so clear, because, nonetheless, since the benefit is permitted  and he is performing a Mitzvah, then why should he not recite a blessing if the blessing is on the benefit? It would seem that the opinion of the Bach is more cogent if we say that the blessing is on the item itself.

THE TAZS VIEW

The Taz (OC 196:1) writes that one who by mistake eats something forbidden does make an after bracha, because it is like a dangerously ill person who recites a blessing on a forbidden food.

THE ARUCH HASHULCHANS QUESTION ON THE TAZS VIEW

The Aruch HaShulchan (OC 196:6) cites the Taz and disagrees with him. He writes that his words are quite strange, for regarding a shogaig, a mistaken eating, granted that he is not chayav for it  but at the end of the day, he did consume something forbidden and this is not within the confines of a bracha. But regarding a danger  he is eating something permitted, as the Torah permitted it to him. It is actually like completely permitted food, and how does one compare to the other?

RAV KVIAT ZTLs ANSWER FOR THE TAZ

It would appear that the Taz holds that in both cases, the food item itself is forbidden. Nonetheless, since he did not do an avairah  he is obligated to bless on his hanaah  the benefit he received. When one makes a mistake, it is not considered a prohibition, and even though he needs a kaparah  an atonement even in a case of a mistake, regarding reciting a blessing we follow the gavrah  the person himself. Therefore, the whole time he did not violate an aveirah, he is obligated to recite a blessing on his hanaah  even if the actual hanaah is a forbidden one.

OVERVIEW OF RAV KVIAT ZTL

Rav Dovid Kviat ztl, a Slonimer Chassid, was also a Rosh Yeshivas Rosh Yeshiva. His Seforim were the first stop that Roshei Yeshiva and Maggidei Shiurim looked at when formulating their own shiurim.

He was a member of Agudas Yisroels Rabbinic Committee. He was Rosh Yeshiva in the Mirrer Yeshiva in Brooklyn. He was the Rav of the Agudah of 18th Avenue But mostly, Rebbe was a living, breathing embodiment of a Sefer Torah personifying the highest ideals of Gadlus BaTorah, Yiras Shamayim, and Ahavas Yisroel.

Rav Kviat was a mechanech par excellence. Like Rav Elchonon Wasserman zatzal, he taught the first year Bais Midrash shiur. His remarkably cogent and precise explanations combined with his patient and loving demeanor were the ideal tools of a mechanech. His impact on his Talmidim was profound. Many went on to become Roshei Yeshiva and prodigious Talmidei Chachomim themselves.

Prior to the Rebbes appointment in the Mirrer Yeshiva in Brooklyn, Rav Chaim Shmulevitz zatzal had expressed his shock that Rav Kviat was not yet employed in a prominent Yeshiva in America. What? he said, Reb Dovid was yet a Gadol HaDor while he was in Shanghai!

The author can be reached at [email protected]
Israel has reportedly agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to the Kan public broadcaster. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now focused on framing the agreement as advantageous to Israel, rather than as a compromise, should the Iran-backed terror group approve the deal.

The proposed truce includes provisions allowing Israel to maintain its right to conduct military operations along the Lebanon-Syria border, Kan reported. This is seen as a critical element for Israel to continue countering arms smuggling and other threats in the region.

Last week, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem confirmed that the group had reviewed the ceasefire proposal and submitted its response, leaving the next steps in Israels hands.

If approved, the ceasefire would mark a significant de-escalation in hostilities, which have seen rising tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border. Both sides are expected to make announcements once the agreement is finalized.

Israel has not yet officially commented on the specifics of the reported agreement, and it remains unclear how Hezbollah will respond to the finalized terms.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Syrian opposition media report that an Iranian Mahan Air flight en route from Tehran to Damascus on Thursday was forced to turn around following an Israeli warning.

The plane reportedly returned to Iran after pilots, under orders from higher authorities, decided against landing in Syria. According to the reports, the aircraft was carrying ammunition and planned to land at a Russian-controlled airport in Syria. However, Russian officials allegedly blocked its landing, fearing a potential Israeli airstrike.

On the same day, another flight reportedly returned to Tehran under similar circumstances. Syrian opposition sources claim such incidents have become increasingly frequent in recent weeks, highlighting heightened tensions over Iranian supply routes in the region.

Mahan Air has long been a focus of international scrutiny. The U.S. Treasury Department designated the airline as a terror supporter in 2011, citing its ties to Irans Quds Force and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The airline is accused of facilitating the transport of weapons and personnel for Iranian military operations across the Middle East.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
A group of Republican senators has reintroduced the Anti-BDS Labeling Act, legislation that would require all goods made in Israel, including those produced in Judea and Samaria, to be labeled Made in Israel. The move comes as part of ongoing efforts to counter the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which targets Israeli products.

The Senate bill, reintroduced by Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and John Boozman (R-Ark.), mirrors legislation introduced in the House by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.). The House passed the bill on Sept. 18, 2024, with a 231-189 vote.

Left-wing activists abuse country-of-origin labels in order to stigmatize products made in Israel, Cotton said. Our bill will defend the integrity of the Jewish state by ensuring that Israeli products may proudly bear the label Made in Israel.

The bill aims to block the Biden administration from reverting to policies under the Obama and Clinton administrations, which required goods made in Yehuda and Shomron to be labeled Made in the West Bank. Former President Donald Trump reversed that policy during his first administration, aligning U.S. trade treatment of these goods with broader support for Israel.

The Anti-BDS Labeling Act reinforces U.S. policy, ensuring that goods produced in Israel are accurately labeled while blocking federal funds from supporting the discriminatory BDS movement, Tenney said. This legislation reaffirms our commitment to our greatest ally, Israel.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Iran was not directly involved in the abduction and murder of Chabad shaliach Rabbi Tzvi Kogan, Hyd, Israeli media outlets reported on Monday.

Although initial reports indicated that Iran was behind the heinous abduction and murder, Israeli security sources now estimate that the terror cell was directed by a different terror organization, possibly Hamas or Islamic Jihad.

Israeli intelligence blog Intelli Times reported on Sunday that Tehran directs a terror affiliate [Unit 400] that is linked to its Quds Force that dispatches Uzbek nationals with Shiite-Iranian heritage on terror missions to kill Jews or Israelis. According to the report, Unit 400 was likely involved in Rabbi Kogans murder.

The UAE confirmed on Monday that the murder suspects they arrested on Sunday are Uzbek nationals but apparently Irans Quds Force is not the only terror organization that recruits Uzbeks.

Emirati Ambassador to the US Yousef Al-Otaiba issued a statement on Sunday condemning the murder and saying that Rabbi Kogans death was a crime against the UAE.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
The United Arab Emirates on Monday released photos and the names of the three suspects in the murder of Rabbi Tzvi Kogan, Hyd.

The photos show the suspects bound and blindfolded and identified them as Makhmudjon Abdurahim, 28; Azizi Kamlovich, 33; and Olimpi Tohirovich, 28.

The Emirati Interior Ministry said that all three suspects, who were arrested in the country on Sunday, are Uzbek nationals. Although initial Israeli reports estimated that an Iranian terror cell that commonly recruits Uzbek nationals to target Jews and Israelis was responsible for Rabbi Kogans murder, Israeli media outlets reported on Monday that security officials now estimate that Iran was not behind the murder.

Army Radio reported on Monday afternoon that the suspects had fled to a third country. In a cooperative Gulf State operation, they were arrested in that country and extradited to Abu Dhabi.

The Emirati statement added that the three suspects have already undergone initial interrogations but did not provide any details revealed in the probe. It is estimated that the Emirati government will seek the death penalty for the suspects.

The statement [written in Arabic] did not mention Rabbi Kogans Jewish or Israeli identities, referring to him only as the Moldovan resident Zvi Kogan. [Rabbi Kogan, Hyd, held Israeli and Moldovan citizenship. The UAE said that he entered the country with his Moldovan passport.]

In contrast, a statement issued by Emirati Ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba said that the UAE mourns for Rabbi Zvi Kogan, and emphasized that the UAE welcomes everyone and embraces peaceful coexistence and rejects extremism and fanaticism of every kind. However, the statement also did not mention Rabbi Kogans Israeli roots.

Maariv reported on Monday morning that the three suspects arrested by Emirati authorities on Sunday are members of the main cell that carried out the abduction and murder.

The report quoted a security source as saying that the local police in the Emirates acted with determination and commendable professionalism. Approximately 24 hours after the complaint was received, the investigators managed to trace the terrorists and successfully located the vehicle and then the body.

However, initial reports about the incident on Motzei Shabbos said that Israeli security officials were furious with their Emirati counterparts as they failed to act after the incident was reported to the police in Dubai and Abu Dhabi on Thursday and only took action after the intervention of Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. Azerbaijan has officially launched a series of economic incentives to support activity in the areas liberated from occupation, said Mikayil Jabbarov, the countrys Minister of Economy, at the discussion of the 2025 state budget in the Azerbaijani Parliament, Trend reports.

Jabbarov revealed that tax and customs exemptions have already been applied to the tune of over 3 million manat ($1.7 million).

Financial assistance for utilities is being transferred directly to the bank accounts of entrepreneurs. We have started subsidizing social insurance contributions and loan interest. A credit guarantee mechanism has also been put in place.

This year, 108 million manats were generated from privatization, achieving 103 percent of the annual target. To improve the financial health of large state-owned enterprises and attract private investment, steps are being taken to reduce the state's share in these companies.

Further measures to reduce state involvement in large public enterprises are underway, including the preparation of a new law on the management and privatization of state assets.

In connection with the implementation of the First State Program for the Great Return to the liberated territories, Jabbarov noted that two new industrial parksAghdam and the Araz Valley Economic Zonehave already incorporated a total of 46 enterprises. He also announced plans to invest $232 million in these projects, creating over 4,300 new jobs, the minister said.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Monday said that a Lebanon ceasefire is a big mistake.

Ben-Gvirs statements came after reports on Sunday that Israel agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire with Hezbollah, pending final approval. Subsequent reports on Monday afternoon said that Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire and an announcement will be made after Israels security cabinet approves the deal on Tuesday.

The agreement with Lebanon is a big mistake, Ben-Gvir stated. Its a historic missed opportunity to eliminate Hezbollah. I understand all the constraints and justifications but it still is a serious mistake. We have to listen to the commanders fighting on the battlefront, listen to the heads of the local authorities. Davka now, when Hezbollah is beaten and yearns for a ceasefire, we cannot stop.

As I warned in the past in Gaza, I warn now: Mr. Prime Minister  its still not too late to stop this agreement! We must continue until complete victory!

Ben-Gvirs opposition to the deal was echoed by other coalition members and even opposition leader Benny Gantz, who said on Monday that Israel should only agree to a ceasefire if it permits the IDF to take military action in case of violations, adding that Israel cant trust the UNIFIL or European forces on the Lebanese army.

It is common knowledge that Hezbollah has long infiltrated the Lebanese army.

However, Israeli sources claim that Israel already received a guarantee from the US for freedom of action in the case of violations of the deal.

Moshe Davidovich, the head of the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council, slammed reports of a deal, saying on Monday to 103FM: An abomination, a disgrace, and reckless conduct  as if we are experimental lab mice. An absurd agreement that will cause hundreds of young families to leave the Galil. I am ashamed and embarrassed that we are being treated this way.

Who are they signing a deal with? [A reference to the fact that the Lebanese authorities cant or wont control Hezbollah]. Residents wont return because they dont have the financial means to stay outside their homes.

He emphasized: Im not a war person and I dont want to conquer Lebanon. They found things three days ago that caused me to become defensive. I propose a very simple thing: to safely return the residents of the north to their homes and to push Hezbollah back 10 kilometers. We are still waiting and we still dont understand how we can return home.

Channel 14 News reported earlier on Monday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has revealed his strategy regarding a ceasefire in recent closed discussions.

Netanyahu said: Theres a risk that the Biden administration will carry out unilateral actions against Israel similar to the end of the Obama period. Therefore, the right thing to do now is to go for a deal with Lebanon subject to a US guarantee that we can respond to any violation.

Netanyahu clarified: The basic condition is that we will decide what constitutes a violation. In the meantime, the reservists will rest, and we will replenish the missing arms.

He also referred to another important aspect of a possible ceasefire: In addition, there is a need to disconnect the arenas. The moment we sign a ceasefire with Hezbollah, despite the fact that they constantly link it to a similar ceasefire in Gaza  we defeated them and unraveled the ties between them. This way, Gaza will remain isolated and the pressure to reach a hostage deal will increase.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
A tragic accident occurred on Monday afternoon in Jerusalem when an 8-year-old Arab girl was fatally struck by a bus on Rechov Shimon HaTzadik.

Emergency teams from Magen David Adom (MDA) rushed to the scene, where they found the girl trapped beneath the bus, unconscious. Despite rescue efforts, MDA paramedics were forced to pronounce her dead at the scene due to the severity of her injuries.

The police have launched an investigation to determine the circumstances of the accident.

Shimon Zaltz, an emergency medic from MDA, described the scene: The girl was trapped under the bus, unconscious, without a pulse, and not breathing, suffering from multi-system trauma. While rescue efforts were underway, we conducted medical evaluations, but her injuries were critical, and sadly, we had to pronounce her death at the scene.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Israel and Lebanon have agreed to the terms of the ceasefire agreement to end the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, a senior US official told Axios on Monday.

The parties have yet to announce the agreement, but the security cabinet is expected to approve the deal on Tuesday, an Israeli source reported.

We think we have a deal. We are at the goal line but havent crossed it yet. The Israeli cabinet needs to approve the deal on Tuesday, and something can always go wrong by then, said the US official.

The report adds that the draft ceasefire agreement includes a 60-day transition period during which the Israeli military will withdraw from southern Lebanon, the Lebanese army will deploy in areas close to the border, and Hezbollah will move its weapons from north of the Litani River.

Lebanese sources told the Al-Hadath newspaper that a decision to end the war definitively has been made, awaiting an announcement to that effect. The Americans have informed Lebanese officials that the announcement on ending the war is expected within hours.

Channel 12 reported on Monday that IDF leaders told Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that the time is ripe for a ceasefire.

Channel 14 News reported earlier on Monday that Netanyahu has revealed his strategy regarding a ceasefire in recent closed discussions.

Netanyahu said: Theres a risk that the Biden administration will carry out unilateral actions against Israel similar to the end of the Obama period. Therefore, the right thing to do now is to go for a deal with Lebanon subject to a US guarantee that we can respond to any violation.

Netanyahu clarified: The basic condition is that we will decide what constitutes a violation. In the meantime, the reservists will rest, and we will replenish the missing arms.

He also referred to another important aspect of a possible ceasefire: In addition, there is a need to disconnect the arenas. The moment we sign a ceasefire with Hezbollah, despite the fact that they constantly link it to a similar ceasefire in Gaza  we defeated them and unraveled the ties between them. This way, Gaza will remain isolated and the pressure to reach a hostage deal will increase.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
Barclays has been fined 40million over secretive payments to Qatari institutions during the 2008 global financial crisis.

The Financial Conduct Authority had previously handed Barclays a 50million fine as the regulator in 2022 branded the lender 'reckless and lacking integrity' for failing to disclose 322mllion in 'advisory fees' paid to a Qatari firm, allegedly in return for a 4billion investment.

While Barclays announced the cash injection by Qatar, it did not disclose the fees it had paid.

The FCA, which had been investigating the group since 2013, said on Monday it would now only fine Barclays 40million after the bank decided not to contest the regulator's findings with an Upper Tribunal appeal.

Barclays said in a statement that while the lender 'does not accept the findings' of the regulator, it 'wishes to draw a line under' the investigation.

The bank earmarked a provision to cover the financial penalty in 2022, so it will suffer no material financial impact.

Barclays raised 4billion from Qatar during the 2008 global financial crisis

Barclays said: 'Notwithstanding the difference of view, Barclays has concluded that the interests of the bank, its shareholders and other stakeholders are best served by withdrawing the References.'

The FCA said it recognised the case was' made in the context of very large and complex capital raisings that took place many years ago under considerable market pressure'.

The capital raise was made at a time of 'national importance', the regulator added, with Barclays desperate to avoid a bailout in 2008 like rivals Natwest and Lloyds.

It also noted that none of the current Barclays board or senior management were involved in the 2008 fundraise.

Four Barclays execs, including former boss John Varley, became the first British bankers to face criminal charges over financial crisis-era conduct when they were taken to court in 2019 over their role in the fundraising.

The FCA said: 'The most recent executive leadership, with the support of the current Barclays board, has made significant progress in implementing changes to Barclays' systems and controls.'

Steve Smart, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, added: 'Barclays' misconduct was serious and meant investors did not have all the information they should have had.

'However, the events took place over 16 years ago and we recognise that Barclays is a very different organisation today, having implemented change across the business.

'It is important that listed firms provide investors with the information they need.'
Rachel Reeves said in her Budget speech that becoming Britains first female Chancellor showed young girls that there should be no ceiling on their ambitions.

So her critics say it is a bitter irony that her 25billion National Insurance tax raid  and particularly the lowering of the threshold at which the levy kicks in  will take its heaviest toll on female workers.

Those in the firing line include hair salons  a service Reeves made the most of ahead of the Budget as she dyed her hair red before reverting to a chestnut shade, closer to her original colour.

Industry groups say those working part-time in the sector, where nine out of ten are women, will be the first people to be let go as firms grapple with higher payroll costs.

Budget cuts: Chancellor Rachel Reeves dyed her hair red ahead of the Budget before reverting to a chestnut shade, closer to her original colour

About 90 per cent of our industry is female and 65 per cent are part-time, said Millie Kendall, head of the British Beauty Council.

Baroness Altmann, a pensions minister under David Cameron, said: Its women that will be disproportionately impacted by these changes. Its really puzzling that this seems not to have been sufficiently considered.

Sarah Willingham, boss of bar chain Nightcap and a former Dragons Den investor, said: If you employ lots of people that work part-time hours, for instance mums, then these people are going to become a lot more expensive to hire.

'This Budget disproportionately targets sectors that are recruiting these women.
Barclays has been fined 40million after raising cash from Qatar.

Regulators said the move was reckless and lacked integrity.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) told the banking giant that it should have provided more details about an emergency cash injection that helped it avoid a taxpayer bailout during the 2008 financial crisis.

The Government took large stakes while bailing out Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland as the industry teetered on the brink of collapse more than a decade ago.

The Treasury is still a major shareholder in NatWest, as RBS is now called, with a stake of just under 11 per cent.

Barclays stayed out of taxpayer hands, however, as it raised 11.8billion through two share sales to foreign investors in 2008.

Regulators said Barclays should have provided more details about the 40m cash it raised from Qatar that helped it avoid a taxpayer bailout during the 2008 financial crisis

As part of the rescue package, Barclays paid 322million worth of advisory fees to a Qatari state-backed firm that helped organise the deal, allegedly in return for a 4billion investment. But other shareholders were not told about the fees.

The FCA launched an investigation into the fundraising in 2013 but it was held up by a probe by the Serious Fraud Office.

The FCA fined Barclays 50million in 2022 over the scandal but the bank appealed.

And its challenge at the Upper Tribunal was due to begin yesterday with former boss John Varley appearing as a key witness  but it was dropped by the bank at the last minute.

The FCA yesterday reduced the fine to 40million while declaring that Barclayss conduct in its October 2008 capital raising was reckless and lacked integrity.

Steve Smart, the FCAs joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said: Barclays misconduct was serious.

However, the events took place over 16 years ago and we recognise that Barclays is a very different organisation today.

A Barclays spokesman said it does not accept the FCAs findings but wished to draw a line under the issues.

The bank also said it had earmarked funds to cover the financial penalty in 2022, so it will suffer no material financial impact from the fine.

Barclays decision finally closes the book on a legal battle which left the reputations of both the bank and the FCA hanging in the balance.

Varley, who ran the bank from 2004 to 2011, became one of the first British bankers to face criminal charges over financial crisis-era conduct when he and senior colleagues were taken to court by the SFO in 2019 over their role in the fundraising.

But Varley, Roger Jenkins, Thomas Kalaris and Richard Boath were ultimately acquitted. Charges against Barclays itself were also dropped before the trial.
OVO Energy boss Stephen Fitzpatrick has given up control of the flying taxi start-up he founded as part of a 40million rescue deal.

Bristol-based Vertical Aerospace has secured an emergency cash injection from US investor Mudrick Capital that will allow it to survive until the end of next year.

The deal will see Fitzpatricks stake fall from 70 per cent to 20 per cent and he will remain on the board in a strategic role.

Mudrick Capital, founded by American financier Jason Mudrick in 2009, is the majority shareholder with a 71 per cent stake.

Rescue deal: Bristol-based Vertical Aerospace has secured an emergency cash injection from US investor Mudrick Capital that will allow it to survive until the end of next year

The future of Vertical Aerospace, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and employs around 300 staff, has been in the balance for months.

The deal includes 20million in upfront funding and an additional 20million, that will be reduced by any amounts raised from third parties.

It also includes the option for Fitzpatrick to invest a further 20million.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. The Azerbaijani government has outlined a budget plan for 2025 focused on implementing the priorities set by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, with a strong emphasis on social-economic development, national security, and post-conflict reconstruction, and the budget for 2025 reflects the country's commitment to the goals of the Strategy for Socio-Economic Development of the Republic of Azerbaijan (2022-2026), which includes plans for rebuilding Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur, reintegrating territories liberated from occupation, and ensuring the safe return of displaced persons, the countrys Finance Minister Samir Sharifov said, Trend reports.

In his address to the Azerbaijani Parliament on November 25, Sharifov emphasized that two-thirds of the proposed state budget expenditures, totaling 27.7 billion manat ($16.2 billion) out of an overall 41.4 billion manat ($24.3 billion) for 2025, will be designated to finance the aforementioned priority areas.

"Specifically, 4 million manat [$2.3 million], or 9.7 percent of the total state budget expenditures, has been allocated to support the activities outlined in the First State Program for the Great Return.This funding will also continue efforts to develop residential areas and villages in the region.

The budget is packed to the gills with hefty investments aimed at beefing up the nations military might, security, and defense framework, with 8.4 billion manat [4.9 billion], or 20.3 percent, designated for the modernization of the military and the defense sector.

This represents an increase of 1.27 billion manat [747 million], or 17.8 percent, compared to the 2024 forecast, and a rise of 2.54 billion manat [1.49 billion], or 43.4 percent, over the executive indicator for 2023," Sharifov concluded.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. Azerbaijan Railways CJSC has woven a new thread into the tapestry of collaboration with the Chinese Xi'an International Port, creating a bridge of opportunity across vast landscapes, Trend reports.

In a meeting held today at Azerbaijan Railways's headquarters, Chairman Rovshan Rustamov emphasized the growing cooperation in cargo transportation along the Middle Corridor, particularly highlighting the landmark event of the first export shipment being sent from Baku to China via rail.

Rustamov pointed out that this landmark development opens the door to a new chapter in the economic and transport ties between Azerbaijan and China. He stressed that increasing cargo transportation in both directionsfrom East to West and vice versawould enhance the efficiency of the Middle Corridor. AZD has thrown its hat in the ring, eager to ramp up collaboration with China under the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Transport Corridor.

Azerbaijan Railways is also implementing key projects aimed at transforming the country into an international transport and logistics hub, with plans to boost cargo flows along international corridors that pass through the country. The expansion of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line, increasing capacity to five million tons per year, is expected to further strengthen East-West cargo shipments.

Sun Yimin, Director of the Xi'an International Port Management Committee, and Yuan Xiaojun, the General Director of Xi'an Free Trade Port Construction and Operation Co. Ltd., affirmed their dedication to enhancing collaboration with Azerbaijan's transportation and logistics entities, including Azerbaijan Railways. They emphasized the significance of enhancing partnership to augment cargo volumes along the Middle Corridor.

The inaugural export block train from Baku to Xi'an comprises 62 40-foot containers, with the cargo being transported via Kazakhstan to Xi'an Port, one of China's largest dry ports. Under the project, it is envisaged that 15,000 tons of export cargo, or 600 containers, will be delivered to China by the end of the year.

Since the dawn of 2024, Azerbaijan has welcomed 280 block-train container shipments from China, with intentions to roll out the red carpet for over 300 by years end. By 2025, the number of block-train shipments is set to skyrocket, more than tripling to hit the 1,000 mark.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, November 25. The President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin will make a state visit to Kazakhstan on November 27 at the invitation of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Trend reports.

As part of the visit, high-level negotiations will take place, and the heads of state will also participate in a video conference in the framework of the 20th Forum of Interregional Cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia.

The next day, on November 28, a session of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is expected to take place under the chairmanship of the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The delegations of the participating countries will discuss relevant issues of regional and international security. A number of documents will be adopted following the meeting.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is a regional international organization in the field of collective security involving several post-Soviet states. The proclaimed goals are: "strengthening peace, international and regional security and stability, and protecting the independence, territorial integrity, and sovereignty of member states on a collective basis, with priority given to political means for achieving these goals."
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. Azerbaijan has made large payments for orchards and other crops within the framework of state-supported agrarian insurance, Trend reports via the Agrarian Insurance Fund.

The information states that farmers and farms affected by various events in the Aghstafa and Samukh districts received the payments.

Insurance payments were issued in connection with losses from hurricanes, hail, floods, and other events.

Thus, Kur Fruit Company LLC, located in the Aghstafa district, was paid 214,170 manat ($125,984) for the damage caused to cherry, apple, pear, and peach orchards.

The storm severely damaged the cherry, apple, pear, and peach orchards of Kur Fruit Company LLC, located in Poilu village in the Aghstafa district. The Agrarian Insurance Fund received the report, sent experts to inspect the farm, assessed the damage, and paid the orchards a record amount of 215,170 manat ($126,571). This is the largest insurance payment for damage to orchards in Azerbaijan.

Floods affected the watermelon, sunflower, and barley fields located in the Karabajli village of the Samukh district. After investigating the incident, the Agrarian Insurance Fund paid the farmers 94,500 manat ($55,588) for watermelon fields, 24,500 manat ($14,411) for barley fields, and 39,600 manat ($23,294) for sunflower fields. The payments for watermelons and sunflowers are the highest insurance amounts for these plants.

A hurricane in May of this year seriously damaged cherry, peach, and plum orchards in the Garayeri village of the Samukh district. This event led to an agrarian insurance payment of 25,049 manat ($14,734) for the orchard's damage.

Therefore, the Agrarian Insurance Fund held an event on November 23 to provide insurance payments to farmers in the Aghstafa and Samukh districts affected by natural phenomena.

Leading representatives from the Samukh district executive authority, the Shamkir and Goranboy branches of the Agrarian Insurance Fund, and the state agrarian development centers participated in the events, presenting extensive information about agrarian insurance and payments to farmers affected by natural phenomena.

Moreover, it was noted at the event that as a result of unstable weather conditions and numerous natural phenomena observed this year in most regions of the country, significant damage was caused to farms and sown areas, and crops were flooded. Agstafa and Samukh districts were among the farms most severely affected by these events.

The executive authority of the Samukh district noted that the region's difficult climatic conditions often lead to natural phenomena and damage to farms. They encouraged the farmers to utilize the favorable terms of the state-provided agrarian insurance to safeguard themselves against such incidents.

Addressing the event, Imran Jumshudov, advisor to the chairman of the board of the Agrarian Insurance Fund, noted that the number of farmers benefiting from agrarian insurance and insurance payments is growing rapidly.

During the first nine months of the current year, the Agrarian Insurance Fund provided insurance payments to farmers totaling 3.8 million manat ($2.2 million). It is expected that this amount will exceed 6 million manats by the end of the year. In total, the Agrarian Insurance Fund has made insurance payments to farmers totaling more than 10 million manats ($5.8 million).

The event noted that the state subsidizes agricultural insurance, paying half of the premiums to support the farmer.

The event presented insurance payments to farmers affected by natural phenomena. Farmers and farm managers receiving payments stated that the insurance payment provided them with excellent support, and they are quite satisfied with the work of the agrarian insurance mechanism.

The farmers' questions received detailed answers and explanations.

To note, at present the Agrarian Insurance Fund allows insuring 48 crops, which include cereals and technical crops, melons, and orchards. The Agrarian Insurance Fund insures almost all fruit crops planted in the country.

Detailed information on the products and risks covered by agricultural insurance, as well as on premiums, can be obtained on the Agrarian Insurance Fund's website at www.asf.gov.az and through the plant insurance calculator on the website page. Farmers can also get information about agrarian insurance by calling the fund's call center at 1,651 and insuring their farm.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. Within COP29, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between SOCAR Green, a subsidiary of the Azerbaijan State Oil Company (SOCAR), and US-based Schlumberger (SLB) for the development of geothermal energy projects in the country, Trend reports via SOCAR Green.

We are pleased to announce that within COP29 a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between SOCAR Green and SLB for the development of geothermal energy projects in Azerbaijan, the information notes.

The document was signed by SOCAR Vice President Afgan Isayev and President of SLB's New Energy division Gavin Rennick.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and Community Jameel have formalized a strategic partnership to tackle critical global challenges, including poverty, disease, hunger, and climate change, across IsDB member countries, which collectively represent a population of over 2 billion people, Trend reports via the IsDB.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by IsDB Group Chairman H.E. Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser and Mohammed Jameel KBE, Founder and Chairman of Community Jameel. The agreement builds on a longstanding collaboration between the two entities, including a 2022 initiative to embed policy labs in governments, announced during the IsDB annual meetings in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

The partnership will focus on addressing food security and sustainable urban design, developing innovative responses to public health threats, and leveraging data-driven evidence for policymaking. The collaboration extends to key institutions like the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), the Jameel Institute, and the Jameel Clinic A.I. Hospital Network to integrate advanced research and technology into solutions for pressing issues.

Through the Jameel Institute, the partnership will work to enhance health policies, improve disease understanding, and strengthen connections between governments, research institutions, and communities. The Jameel Clinic A.I. Hospital Network will introduce advanced artificial intelligence tools to mainstream healthcare facilities.

To address the impacts of climate change, the Jameel Observatory will be instrumental in developing data and forecasting tools to mitigate risks in agriculture and pastoralism, ensuring food security for IsDB member nations.

The MoU underscores the shared commitment of IsDB and Community Jameel to creating sustainable solutions for global development challenges, fortifying resilience across diverse sectors, and improving lives in vulnerable communities.

Follow the author on X: @Lyaman_Zeyn
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. The revenues of Azercosmos OJSC from providing satellite and telecommunication services (to 50 countries) amounted to $13.9 million from January through September 2024.

Data obtained by Trend from the country's Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communications of Azerbaijan indicates that Azercosmos OJSC's revenues from the export of services amounted to 74 percent of its total revenues.

In September 2024 alone, Azercosmos OJSC exported services valued at $1.5 million to 40 countries.

During the reporting period, the OJSC exported satellite and telecommunication services to Great Britain (for $4.4 million), Luxembourg ($2.9 million), the UAE ($736,600), Pakistan ($208,600), Turkiye ($493,900), and Russia ($488,100).

However, revenues from Azercosmos OJSC from satellite and telecommunication services amounted to $19.8 million in 2023 (by 25.56 percent, or $6.8 million less than in 2022). The OJSC implemented the export of satellite and telecommunication services to Great Britain (by $5.8 million), Luxembourg ($4.1 million), the UAE ($1.6 million), Germany ($1 million), and Nigeria ($724,900).

To note, according to the results of 2022, the revenues of Azercosmos OJSC from the provision of satellite and telecommunication services amounted to $26.6 million.
We're not surprised that most local media didn't pick up this item . . . However, the power move deserves attention given that MAGA & new appointments have vowed to undertake similar reforms in the nation's capital.

Check-it . . .



Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach today led coalition of 19 state attorneys general in a letter urging U.S. military leaders to stop using unlawful and immoral racial quotas for recruitment and admission to military academies.



Racism has no place in the U.S. government, especially not in the United States military. The Supreme Court has made clear what the Constitution requires. While the Biden administration diverted resources from military readiness and national security in order to make headlines, we are hopeful the Trump administration will make the U.S. military great again by judging its recruits on their merits and on the content of their character rather than the color of their skin, Kobach said.



In the letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the coalition writes that racial quotas undermine military readiness and effectiveness.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

AG Coalition: The U.S. military must cease its unlawful use of racial quotas
Tonight, for close readers, insomniacs and our shift worker pals we share one more look at pop culture, community reporting and top headlines inspired by our favorite Angel and her enduring body of work.



Check TKC news gathering . . .

Cowtown Lights Shine

'What a bright time:' Holiday lights across Kansas City area this season Your guide on where to see holiday lights this season.

Workers Earn Local Support

'Our hearts are with them': Riverside community offers support as layoffs from parts suppliers loom Employees at various part suppliers in Riverside are feeling the effect of layoffs as the General Motors Fairfax plant begins its re-tooling.

Midtown Housing & Upcoming Toy Train Replacement

Luxury townhomes to take place of Disney family's old church a block from KC Streetcar The Westminster Congregational Church stood off Walnut Street for more than a century before it was torn down. Luxury townhomes will go up.

Sustainable Local Holidays?!?

KC man comes up with environment-friendly fix for a holiday problem "What are you going to do with your old lights? Throw them away?" asked Peter Jones.

Shopping Bonanza Begins . . .

More than 45,000 people explore KC Holiday Boutique Organizers estimate more than 45,000 people checked out the more than 350 vendors inside the Overland Park Convention Center for the KC Holiday Boutique.

Angels Forever . . .

Candice Swanepoel's new look at Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2024 Candice Swanepoel made a jaw-dropping return to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show catwalk on Tuesday night after a six-year hiatus.

Podcast To Save Planet?!?

Joe Rogan rants against Biden, Zelensky for trying to 'start World War III' Rogan slammed Biden for recently approving the Ukrainian president's request to use US-made long-range missiles against Russia to fight off the Kremlin's invasion.

Treating TDS For Realz

Blinken questioned for State Department hosting in-house therapy sessions after Trump win Secretary of State Antony Blinken received a fiery letter from Rep. Darrell Issa after it was reported that the State Department held therapy sessions following Trump's win.

GOP Might Limit MAGA Again

The 6 senators who could be key to Hegseth's Pentagon confirmation Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump's pick to head the Pentagon, is facing a tight Senate confirmation as questions continue to swirl around his suitability for the job. The Army veteran and former Fox News host will need to alleviate concerns around allegations of sexual assault, graphic details of which emerged in a police report released Wednesday....

Iran From More Low-End Missiles

Iran is preparing to 'respond' to Israel, says adviser to Supreme Leader Iran is preparing to "respond" to Israel, Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to the country's supreme leader, said in an interview published by Iran's Tasnim news agency on Sunday.

MAGA Against Worsening Eastern Europe War

Trump 'incredibly concerned' about escalation of munitions in Russia-Ukraine conflict, aide says Incoming national security adviser says eastern Ukraine fighting akin to 'World War I trench warfare'

Some Worship Almighty Algorithm

This church has an AI Jesus for confessions: 'It gave me so much advice' St. Peter's Church in Lucerne, Switzerland is using an AI hologram of Jesus to take confessions from worshippers, as seen in a wild video blowing up online.

Holiday Fun Better Than Sharing Memes?!?

It's Puzzling The weather is cooling down and the holidays are approaching. Give these sustainably USA-made puzzles from Kansas City Puzzle Company.

Grigs Get Us Ready With Thanksgiving Week Forecast

Kansas City weather: Big drop in temperatures Monday A cold front will move through the Kansas City region overnight, bringing a dramatic drop in temperatures.

And this is the OPEN THREAD for right now.
Industry leaders from Google, Ambition Loop, and Azerbaijan Railways joined Azercell to explore corporate responsibility, innovative solutions, and collaborative approaches to advancing sustainability

Azercell Telecom LLC organized a panel discussion titled The Role of Corporations in Driving Sustainability, bringing together leading experts, corporate innovators, and sustainability advocates to discuss the critical role of businesses in shaping a sustainable future. The event featured insights from both global and local leaders, emphasizing the importance of corporate responsibility, innovative solutions, and collaborative efforts in addressing climate challenges.

The panel included Shirin Aliyeva, Chief Legal and Data Strategy Officer at Azercell, Aybaniz Ismayilova, Head of Communications Department at Azerbaijan Railways, Adam Elman, Sustainability Director at Google EMEA, and Gonzalo Munoz, Co-founder of Ambition Loop. Movlan Pashayev, S3 Regional CEO, served as the moderator, facilitating a discussion on how corporations can lead by example in environmental stewardship and align efforts with stakeholders to drive meaningful progress in sustainability.

The session explored various aspects of corporate sustainability, including the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in tackling global climate goals. Adam Elman from Google highlighted how AI is being utilized to provide actionable insights, enhance predictive capabilities for adapting to climate change, and optimize high-impact applications to support sustainability initiatives.

Representing NGOs at the panel, Gonzalo Munoz from Ambition Loop addressed the importance of collaboration across industries, geographies, and sectors, stressing the need for diverse representation and partnerships to achieve transformative change.

Local examples of sustainability leadership were also discussed. Shirin Aliyeva presented Azercells ESG strategy and highlighted the company efforts to enhance energy efficiency and integrate renewable energy solutions, including the deployment of 35 green base stations in the Karabakh region, which rely on renewable energy for 60% of their operational time. Azercells active participation in global initiatives such as the UN Global Compact and the GSMA Climate Action Taskforce was noted, showcasing the companys dedication to inspiring broader industry efforts toward sustainability.

Aybaniz Ismayilova shared Azerbaijan Railways recently launched ESG report, outlining the companys commitment to decarbonizing local rail transport through alternative energy resources and digital innovations. The environmental benefits of rail transport were highlighted as part of its broader sustainability agenda.

The panel concluded with a call to action for corporations, governments, and NGOs to unite efforts in accelerating progress toward global climate goals. Azercell reaffirmed its commitment to sustainability, leveraging innovation and partnerships to drive positive change and contribute to a greener future.
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, November 25. The Committee on International Affairs, Defense, Security, and Migration of the Kyrgyz Parliament (Jogorku Kenesh) has given the green light in the second reading to a draft law aimed at ratifying the agreement with Azerbaijan regarding cooperation in the migration arena, the statement of Kyrgyzstan's Parliament said, Trend reports.

The agreement seeks to weave a tapestry of collaboration and governance, threading together the vital strands of migration between the two nations.

Specifically, it will polish the quality of statistical data, lay the groundwork for smooth sailing in operational interactions regarding the stay of Kyrgyz citizens in Azerbaijan, and speed up the flow of information on labor migrants.

To note, the agreement was signed on April 24 this year between the Government of Azerbaijan and the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan in Baku within the framework of the state visit of President Sadyr Zhaparov to Azerbaijan.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Chef Amy to discuss healing and Alaska Native traditional foods

Photo courtesy of Matanuska Experiment Farm and Extension Center

Amy Foote, left, and Jodie Anderson harvest Tlingit and Haida potatoes, traditional Alaska Native foods that were served to patients at Alaska Native Medical Center.

Join the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service and chef Amy Foote for a lunch and learn session titled Finding Healing in Alaska Native Traditional Foods. Foote is director of cuisine for NANA Management Services and formerly was the executive chef at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage.

Participants can join Foote in person at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Matanuska Experiment Farm and Extension Center, 1509 Georgeson Road, Palmer, or via Zoom from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 9. The discussion will center on Alaska Native traditional foods and healing, both personally and for our communities.

Register via the Zoom link if you plan to attend either in person or via Zoom. You will receive an email with a link to join the class. If you are unable to attend the class but would like to listen in later, you may still register, and all registrants will receive a recording of the class.

Feel free to bring your lunch if you plan to attend in person.

For more information, contact Melissa Clampitt at mrclampitt@alaska.edu or 907-745-3551.

Accommodation requests related to a disability should be made five business days in advance to Clampitt. Language access services, such as interpretation or translation of vital information, will be provided free of charge to individuals with limited English proficiency upon request to amnorris2@alaska.edu.

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By Nicole Lyons, November 25, 2024

During an academic year with a record number of international students studying in the U.S., the University of Central Missouri (UCM) is the leading institution for international students in Missouri, as reported by the Open Doors 2024 Report on International Educational Exchange.



The annual Open Doors report, published by the U.S. Department of States Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Institute of International Education (IIE), was released on Nov. 18 as part of International Education Week. The 2023-24 census includes international students attending classes full-time or part-time on U.S. college and university campuses and students pursuing post-study work opportunities on Optional Practical Training.



The report shows that the total number of international students at U.S. colleges and universities reached an all-time high of more than 1.1 million in 2023-24, a 7 percent increase from the previous academic year. There was an 8 percent increase in graduate students, while there was a modest 1 percent decrease in undergraduate students.



As we celebrate 75 years of Open Doors, we are thrilled to report that this year marks a record high of international students in the United States, IIE CEO Allan Goodman said. International students enrich our campuses, foster cultural exchange, and contribute significantly to our economy, and we remain dedicated to supporting these bright minds and ensuring that the U.S. continues to be a premier destination for global education.



The number of international students in 44 states increased year over year. Among the top 10 states hosting international students, three Midwestern states saw the greatest growth: Missouri (+35%), Michigan (+14%) and Illinois (+13%).



Missouri ranked 10th in the nation for international students, with almost 33,000 studying in the Show-Me State during the 2023-24 academic year. The majority of students came from India, followed by China, South Korea, Nepal and Nigeria. UCM was the top Missouri institution for international students in 2023-24, welcoming more than 6,000 students.



UCM's Open Doors ranking isn't a number; it is a testament to UCM's academic rigor and, more so, the positive, welcoming, supportive community our students belong to--even before they arrive on campus, said Phil Hull, director of International Student Services at UCM. We're certainly proud that UCM has achieved this distinction, but I am most proud of the staff, faculty and students who make it possible.



International students accounted for 6 percent of the total U.S. higher education population and, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, contributed more than $50 billion to the U.S. economy in 2023. Missouri saw $1.1 billion of that financial benefit. UCM was the No. 2 higher education institution for economic impact in Missouri with $149.6 million supporting 679 jobs, second only to Washington University with $322.2 million and 3,537 jobs.



At 3,935 students, Missouri ranked No. 26 for students studying abroad, with the leading destinations being Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, Ireland and Costa Rica.



Open Doors also recognized UCM as part of its 75th anniversary. The university was awarded the Open Doors 75 Seal of Excellence for reporting data to the organization since 1949. UCMs first report showed 13 international students in 1949, which has grown exponentially to 6,069 in 2024.



UCM is committed to providing affordable access and opportunity to international students in its academic programs, said Tim Crowley, UCM provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. Our success in meeting the needs of the international market in the 2023-24 academic year was the culmination of several successive years of double-digit international student enrollment growth. Our faculty and staff worked hard to achieve this milestone and this public recognition of their efforts is well deserved. UCMs international footprint is significant and we look forward to expanding to new markets in the coming years and welcoming international students from more countries.



UCM was also recently recognized by StudyAbroadAide, a leading provider of resources for international students, for being in the top 26 percent of the World University Rankings 2025 for International Students. The annual rankings seek to identify and celebrate the top-tier institutions that provide exceptional educational experiences for international students. The 2025 ranking marks a 4 percent improvement from 2024.



The World University Rankings take into account both the percentage of the international student population and the institution's academic reputation. These two metrics are used to determine the scores of each institution, followed by the ranking process.



For more information about International Student Services at UCM, visit ucmo.edu/iss.
| By Monica Castillo Maggiano

Its pretty common for a university president to be invited to attend events. Its uncommon, however, for one to be featured at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Contemporary Craft Show, but thats exactly where University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, was Nov. 14-17.

The Philadelphia craft show is in its 48th year and featured one-of-a-kind works from artists across the United States and visiting artists from Italy. All told, 195 artists representing 13 categories oif art and design were chosen by a jury and invited to present their work.

Having his metalworks selected to be displayed at a craft show was a first for Jarrell, who is a member of the Blacksmith Guild of Central Maryland and has been working with metal since he was about 10 years old and living on his parents Eastern Shore farm.

I have always wanted to compete in a juried art show because the competition from the professional artist world is strong, said Jarrell, whose exhibition included 42 items. It was great to be selected, and the experience was exceptional.

President Jarrell discusses his metalwork with a visitor during the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Contemporary Craft Show.

A few UMB colleagues traveled to Philadelphia to see Jarrells work firsthand.

I collect some American crafts and attend local shows such as the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and American Craft Made and Artscape, both in Baltimore, but this was my first time attending the Philadelphia Museum of Arts show, said Irma Robins, MBA, JD, deputy general counsel.

Dr. Jarrell forges delicate interpretations of nature from iron, she added. His work is amazing. His exhibition showed a beautifully presented retrospective  everything from a delicate strand of ivy on a slate tile to an almost Dr. Seuss-like landscape of flowers and fruits, bursting with different shapes, tones, and colors. People came by and were immediately engaged.

Jarrells work uses the structures of flowers and other plants as inspiration for new pieces; he also draws inspiration from his mothers award-winning embroidery works. It took him over a decade to develop the new forging techniques used in his art.

Dr. Jarrells talent and creativity were on display at Philadelphia craft show, said John D. Sorkin, MD, PhD, professor, Department of Medicine, UMSOM. He mixed standard blacksmithing techniques with new techniques that he has pioneered. He used crayons to add color to his iron sculptures and demonstrated that the old saw that blacksmiths can't work with pipes is untrue. He showed that pipes can be used to create beautiful flowers. He was inspired by a needlepoint created by his mother to create a three-dimensional floral sculpture.

Jarrells forging of hollow round tubes is quite different from the forging of solid bars, the material usually used in traditional blacksmithing. He approached the challenge to create delicate, complex forms found in nature with curiosity and determination. In fact, Jarrells novel techniques for forging metal are being shared with other blacksmiths in his new book, The Art of the Forging Tube, which was co-written by David Hammer, an amateur blacksmith from Virginia whom he worked with to create the hammers and tools used for forging tube.

Jarrell says blacksmithing began as a skill he learned to repair farm equipment, and over time it became an outlet for creativity. He is an artistic blacksmith and can often be found before dawn  and before coming to the UMB campus  in his workshop.

Jarrell has created several pieces that are well-known to UMB faculty, staff and students. He created a mace holder for the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), a mace and mace holder for the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON), and a mace holder for the 2010 inauguration of Jay A. Perman, MD, as UMB president.

In addition, he crafted the decorations surrounding the green wall in the UMSON building, the UMSON Deans Medals, the UMB Distinguished University Professor medals, and the Davidge Elm Tree window art  along with Ukrainian blacksmith Anatoliy Rudik  that is installed in the SMC Campus Center.

I had great support during the show from my wife, Leslie, and my long-trusted assistant, Clara Woodly, Jarrell said. I think they enjoyed it as well. Quite a few UMB people showed up, as did my family with our grandchildren. I hope it will be a longstanding memory for them.
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BJP govt responsible for deaths of Muslims in Sambhal: Rahul Gandhi

Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi Monday November 25, 2024 blamed the Adityanath led BJP government for the violence and the consequent deaths of Muslims in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh

Monday November 25, 2024 2:28 PM , ummid.com with inputs from Agencies

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi Monday November 25, 2024 blamed the Adityanath led BJP government for the violence and the consequent deaths of Muslims in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh.

In a statement released today, Rahul Gandhi, senior Congress leader - who is MP from Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh, also expressed concerns over, what he said, the biased and hasty attitude of the administration that led to the violence in the Muslim dominated city.

The biased and hasty attitude of the state government on the recent dispute in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh is extremely unfortunate. My deepest condolences to those who lost their loved ones in the violence and firing. The administration's insensitive action without listening to all parties further vitiated the situation and resulted in the death of many people - for which the BJP government is directly responsible, Rahul said.

Rahul Gandhi also called for immediate intervention of the Supreme Court of India in the matter.

BJP's use of power to create rift and discrimination between Hindu-Muslim communities is neither in the interest of the state nor the country. I request the Supreme Court to intervene in this matter as soon as possible and provide justice, he said.

Survey of Sambhal Jama Masjid

Four Muslims have been killed during the protests Sunday November 24, 2024 over the survey of ancient Jama Masjid in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh which turned violent.

Sambhal has been tense since the last week (November 19, 2024) a session court ordered a survey of the Jama Masjid in response to a petition claiming that the ancient place of worship was built during Mughal era (1526) after demolishing a temple.

Ironically, the petition was filed on November 19 and the court passed the order to make a survey on the same day. The session judge appointed an "Advocate Commissioner" and directed him to carry out an initial survey at the mosque, which was done the same day and asked him to submit a report by November 29, 2024.



Clashes between the protesters and security forces took places between the second round of the survey of the ancient masjid Sunday November 24, 2024.

Purported video footages surfaced after the violence showed security forces resorting to firing.

Eyewitnesses also claimed the Muslims were killed in Police firing. The UP police however denied the claim.

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Jamiat demands 50L compensation for Sambhal youths killed in Police firing

Jamiat Ulama i Hind, one of the largest representative bodies of Indian Muslims, has demanded INR 50 lakh compensation for the Muslim youths killed in Police firing

Monday November 25, 2024 11:59 PM , ummid.com News Network

Sambhal (Uttar Pradesh): Jamiat Ulama i Hind, one of the largest representative bodies of Indian Muslims, has demanded INR 50 lakh compensation for the Muslim youths killed in Police firing.

A delegation of Jamiat i Ulama, which held meetings with senior police officials, including District Collector, Superintendent of Police and SDM Monday November 25, 2024, protested the use of excessive force and the arbitrary arrests of innocent individuals.

The Jamiat also demanded fair and impartial judicial inquiry into the incident, immediate suspension and strict action against police officers responsible for murders of citizens, and arrest of Vishnu Jain for his role in inciting violence.

The Jamiat delegation which was led by its General Secretary Maulana Hakimuddin Qasmi highlighted disturbing details of the incident.

Citing reports the Jamiat delegation said that during a survey of the Sambhal Jama Masjid, four Muslim youths lost their lives due to police firing.

Subsequently, several men and women from the community were unjustly detained. But shockingly, no action has been taken against Vishnu Jain, lawyer who allegedly led provocative slogans that escalated the situation into violence. Instead, the victims' community is being targeted with indiscriminate arrests, raising serious concerns about bias and misuse of authority, the Jamiat said.

Sambhal Jama Masjid Survey

Sambhal has been tense since the last week (November 19, 2024) a session court ordered a survey of the Jama Masjid in response to a petition claiming that the ancient place of worship was built during Mughal era (1526) after demolishing a temple.

Ironically, the petition was filed on November 19 and the court passed the order to make a survey on the same day. The session judge appointed an "Advocate Commissioner" and directed him to carry out an initial survey at the mosque, which was done the same day and asked him to submit a report by November 29, 2024.



Clashes between the protesters and security forces took places between the second round of the survey of the ancient masjid Sunday November 24, 2024.

Purported video footages surfaced after the violence showed security forces resorting to firing.

Eyewitnesses also claimed the Muslims were killed in Police firing. The UP police however denied the claim.

Leader of Opposition (LoP) and Congress MP from Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh Rahul Gandhi said the BJP government is directly responsible for the deaths of Muslim youths in Sambhal.

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Meet 3 ICC Judges who issued warrant against Netanyahu

Read the brief profiles of the three ICC judges - Judge Nicolas Guillou, Judge Reine Alapini-Gansou and Judge Beti Hohler, who were part of ICC Pre Trial Chamber I that issued warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu

Monday November 25, 2024 7:53 PM , ummid.com News Network

[(T) ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan. (From R to L) Judge Nicolas Guillou, Judge Beti Hohler and Judge Reine Alapini-Gansou.]

The Hague: A panel of three judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) refusing to budge despite all kind of pressure tactics and blackmailing issued arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu who is currently heading the far right Zionist brutal regime in Israel on Nov 21, 2024.

The panel of three judges, known as Pre-Trial Chamber I, issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu over a range of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Along with Netanyahu, the ICC also issued the warrants against former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif.

The Israeli Occupation Forces have said Deif has been killed, but Hamas has so far not confirmed the Israeli claim.

Nonetheless, the ICC warrant against Netanyahu is historic as it indicts the notorious Israeli Prime Minister on the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, West Bank and other occupied Palestinian lands.

Baring the United States and few of its allies, majority of the world leaders - including the United Kingdom and France, have welcomed the ICC warrant against and have even vowed the arrest Netanyahu in case he visits their countries.

The ICC arrest warrant against Netanyahu was issued exactly six months after Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan made his recommendations in this regard.

Karim is a British lawyer specialising in international criminal law and international human rights law. He has served as Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) since 2021.

Here is a brief profile of the three judges - Judge Nicolas Guillou, Judge Reine Alapini-Gansou and Judge Beti Hohler, who were part of ICC Pre Trial Chamber I that made the history.

Judge Nicolas Guillou

Judge Nicolas Guillou, from France, is the president of the Pre-Trial Chamber I, which issued the arrest warrant against the Israeli leaders.

He began his term on 11 March 2024.

Guillou previously spent four years as a Pre-Trial judge at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers. He also served as chef de cabinet to the president of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (2015-2019) and liaison prosecutor at the US Department of Justice (2012-2015).

Between 2006 and 2012, Guillou worked for the French justice ministry as deputy head of the commercial law section, adviser to the minister on criminal Affairs and diplomatic adviser to the minister.

Judge Reine Alapini-Gansou

Judge Reine Alapini-Gansou, from Benin, is the second vice president of the ICC and a member of Pre-Trial Chamber I.

She was a member of the Pre-Trial Chamber that issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in March. On 13 November, a court in Moscow ordered her arrest in absentia over what the court said was an illegal arrest warrant issued for Putin.

Alapini-Gansou began her term as an ICC judge on 11 March 2018.

Prior to joining the ICC, Alapini-Gansou served as chair of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, Africa's primary human rights body (2009-2012) and special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders in Africa (2005- 2009 and 2012-2017).

In 2011, she was appointed as a judge at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, the worlds oldest international court.

Alapini-Gansou has served as a Pre-Trial judge in many cases, including situations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Mali, Myanmar, Bolivia and Belarus.

Judge Beti Hohler

Judge Beti Hohler, from Slovenia, is a member of Pre-Trial Chamber I.

She was appointed to the chamber in October, following a sudden request for leave by her predecessor, Romanian judge Iulia Motoc, on health grounds.

Hohler is also a member of Trial Chamber V at the ICC, currently presiding over the Prosecutor v Alfred Yekatom and Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona case.

She began her term as an ICC judge on 11 March 2024. Prior to this, she served as a trial lawyer in the Office of the Prosecutor at the ICC.

Before joining the ICC in 2015, Hohler was an adviser for the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo.

In February 2015, she wrote a legal and policy briefing commenting on Palestines accession to the ICC.

In her analysis, Hohler explained the legal consequences of Palestines membership, how Israel may challenge the court and the extent of the courts jurisdiction over Israelis and non-Palestinians.

She concluded that with Palestines accession to the statute, the legal framework has changed and the parties to the conflict would be wise to accept and respect that.

Hohler began her career in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where she served at the Court of Appeals before working as a senior associate at a law firm.

She regularly trains judges and advocates. Hohler is also co-founder of the Institute for International Legal and Advocacy Training in The Hague.

[With inputs from Middle East Eye.]

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'Mini Moon' departing today to revisit Earth in January 2025

The Mini Moon - which is accompanying Earth since September and set to depart today i.e. Nov 25, 2024, is set to revisit Earth January next year

Monday November 25, 2024 5:37 PM , ummid.com News Network

[Representative image]

The Mini Moon - which is accompanying Earth since September and set to depart today i.e. Nov 25, 2024, is set to revisit Earth January next year.

2024 PT5 Moon

The mini moon is actually 2024 PT5, an asteroid about the size of a school bus at 33 feet (10 meters).

It came close to Earth on September 29, 2024 .

When the "Mini Moon" first whizzed by Earth on Sept 29 this year, it temporarily trapped by our planets gravity and started orbiting the globe.

The 33-foot asteroid, designated 2024 PT5, has been accompanying Earth for the past two months and is now set to break free on Monday Nov 25, 2024, succumbing to the stronger gravitational pull of the sun.

2024 PT5 next visit to Earth

2024 PT5 will return for a brief visit in January 2025, allowing scientists to gather more insights, according to KSL.

When the 'New Moon' returns in January 2025, it will pass as close as 1.1 million miles of Earth, maintaining a safe distance before it zooms farther into the solar system while orbiting the sun, not to return until 2055.

The space rock - 2024 PT5, was first spotted in August by astronomers at Complutense University of Madrid using a powerful telescope located in Sutherland, South Africa.

"By the time it returns next year, it will be moving too fast  more than double its speed from September, to hang around," said Raul de la Fuente Marcos.

NASA will track the asteroid for more than a week in January using the Goldstone solar system radar antenna in California's Mojave Desert, part of the Deep Space Network.

Current data suggest that during its 2055 visit, the sun-circling asteroid will once again make a temporary and partial lap around Earth.

'Temporary Moons'

These mini moons, dont stick around for long  they might hang out for a few weeks or months, or two months as in case of 2024 PT5, before breaking free and continuing their journey around the sun.

Scientists find mini-moons really interesting because they give us a chance to study near-Earth objects up close and learn more about how our solar system works, according to Earth.com.

2024 PT5 is part of the Arjuna asteroid belt  a group of space rocks that follow orbits similar to Earths, about 93 million miles from the sun.

The PT5 asteroid, also known as 2024 PT5 is part of the Arjuna asteroid belt, a group of asteroids 93 million miles away from our planet with an Earth-like orbit, Earth.com said.

Planets with more than one Moon

Our Earth has only one Moon and there is a scientific explanation for the same . But apart from Earth there are planets that have more than one Moon.

Moons are either gravitationally captured if they are within the planets Hill sphere radius, or theyre formed along with a solar system.

Small planets like Mercury and Venus have a small Hill sphere radius, which is why they cannot experience a large gravitational pull. Any potential moons likely get pulled by the sun.

Planets like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune have larger Hill sphere radii and are farther from the sun, making it easy for them to attract and keep more moons in their orbit.

According to a recent study , Saturn has a total of 145 moons  a maximum by any planet in our solar system.

In terms of number of moons, Jupiter is second with 95 Moons.

Also, 121 of the 145 moons that Saturn has are irregular moons.

Irregular moons are characterised by their large, elliptical, and inclined orbits compared to regular moons. They tend to clump together into orbital groups based on the tilt of their orbits.

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A United Nations University (UNU) hub has officially found a home in the United States, hosted by the City College of New York (CCNY) on November 5.

A Memorandum of Understanding, signed between CCNY President Vincent Boudreau and UNU Rector Tshilidzi Marwala, formalized the joint enterprise.

Named R-SIRUS, standing for Remote-Sensing and Sustainable Innovations for Resilient Urban Systems, CNHI News shared that the Hub will use the country's leading edge in science and technology to address challenges facing all major urban areas in the world.

It's a form of collaboration between CCNY and the UNU Institute for Water, Environment, and Health, based in Toronto. The UNU R-SIRUS Hub links CCNY's leading work on remote sensing and urban systems with UNU's global efforts to help achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Through climate challenges, water and energy issues in cities, and social inequalities, the Hub promotes the resilience and sustainability of cities. It underscores the improvement of inclusion and equity in urban development, providing a global model for sustainable transformation.

First UN University Hub in the US

The Hub will work on three sectors; namelyResearch and Development, Education and Capacity Building, and Policy and Advocacy. Each of these pillars links scientific research with practical solutions, allowing collaboration between academic policymakers, and the city authorities.

During the launch ceremony, dignitaries highlighted the importance of New York City as a base for driving sustainable urban transformation. Ambassadors also emphasized the global climate crisis's need for local and international collaboration.

UNU-INWEH Director Kaveh Madani praised the Hub for combining UNU's global reach with CCNY's local expertise, positioning it as a model for other cities.

Apart from academic excellence, Yahoo Finance also reported that the Hub will focus on environmental justice and underserved communities. Its Policy and Advocacy pillar will develop actionable urban policies that are equitable and sustainable. The effort will pull experts from CCNY's Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership as well as other stakeholders to ensure a holistic approach to city challenges.
Photo: Press service of the President of Kyrgyzstan

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, November 25. President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov and Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations, Trend reports.

Zhaparov met with Van der Bellen in Vienna as part of his official visit to Austria. The two leaders held a one-on-one meeting, during which they discussed key issues on the bilateral and international agenda, with a focus on enhancing political cooperation and strengthening ties between the two countries.

President Van der Bellen emphasized the importance of maintaining a steady dialogue between Austria and Kyrgyzstan to build mutual trust and foster joint initiatives.

In turn, President Zhaparov expressed his appreciation for the invitation to visit Austria, noting that this marked the first official visit in nine years, a milestone in advancing Kyrgyz-Austrian relations.

He highlighted the significant potential for expanding collaboration and affirmed Kyrgyzstan's readiness to engage in active partnership.

The presidents expressed optimism that the talks would lead to new opportunities for joint projects across various sectors.
A rising share of students entering US colleges are unprepared for the reading skills expected when they get to college.

Now, this has become a concern for elite universities because professors in such institutions often complain that students cannot read long texts. As a result, there is an increased reduction in the amount and complexity of assigned readings from instructors to accommodate the needs of students, thereby underlining issues about the lowering of standards and effects on students' critical thinking.

Declining Reading Skills of US College Students

Al Dia News reported that several factors contribute to the decline in reading proficiency among students.

For one, high school practices often emphasize standardized testing over deep, analytical reading, leaving students unprepared for the demands of college. Many students report never having read a full book in high school, relying instead on summaries or excerpts.

Other than that, constant exposure to digital content that provides brevity and speed has made them short attention span people who can't sit through long-form texts. One last factor is that the pressure of academic and extracurricular activities compels them to prioritize other activities over developing reading habits.

Read more: North Carolina Lawmakers Mandate American History Reading in Public Colleges

Effects of Poor Reading Skills on Professors

The effects of low levels of reading in higher education are dramatic. According to The Atlantic, professors must dumb down and lessen the amount of reading to keep up with students' abilities. In this, the positive effect upon the students is to be able to control their workload but at the cost of the richness of knowledge. Therefore, the development of critical thinking, analysis, and synthesis skills, all vital to professional and academic well-being, is jeopardized.

For institutions, these concerns should be addressed through long-term solutions by educators and policymakers. The high school curricula must have complete texts and require critical analysis to prepare the students for college.

Reading and analysis within digital tools can also fill the gap since it could increase access and interest in reading. Lastly, making reading for enjoyment rather than a chore may help instill this habit as long as one lives.
National campaign for #16Days of activism

(Pictured L-R) Niamh Kavanagh, Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Manager and Rebecca Connolly, Sexual Violence and Harassment Prevention and Response Programme Coordinator, University of Galway. Photo: Aengus McMahon

#NoExcuse. UNiTE to end violence against women

University of Galway is joining with 15 third level education institutions in Ireland as part of the global campaign - 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.

The campaign gets underway today Monday November 25th - the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

The initiative will highlight the urgent need to eliminate violence against women and girls, underscored by this years theme: Every 11 Minutes, a Woman is Killed. #NoExcuse

Dr Helen Maher, Vice President of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, said: Universities have a responsibility not only to educate but to create safe and inclusive spaces for all. Our campaign on gender-based violence reflects our commitment to raising awareness, supporting survivors, and fostering a culture of respect and accountability. This is informed by research, policy and practice to ensure a comprehensive and collective approach to build a community where everyone feels safe and valued.

Niamh Kavanagh, Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Manager at the University of Galway, said: The University of Galway was delighted to collaborate with Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and SVH (Sexual Violence and Harassment) colleagues from 16 higher education institutions across the country to have a meaningful sectoral response for this campaign.

The 16 Days of Activism campaign runs until December 10th (Human Rights Day). It was launched in 1991 by the Womens Global Leadership Institute as a call to prevent and eliminate gender-based violence worldwide.

Now, with the backing of the United Nations Secretary-Generals UNiTE by 2030 to End Violence against Women campaign, universities, organisations, and individuals around the globe are joining the cause.

University of Galway calls upon students, staff, and the wider community to participate in these 16 Days of Activism to foster a world where no woman or girl lives in fear of violence.

How to Get Involved:

Promote Zero Tolerance: Use your voice to spread a message of zero tolerance for violence against women and girls.

Engage Leaders: Advocate for policies that enforce zero tolerance towards violence and protect womens rights.

Support Local Womens Organisations: Donations and volunteer support are critical to the success of these organisations.

Share Awareness Using #NoExcuse: Amplify the message on social media, in schools, workplaces, and communities.

The national campaign at third level includes University of Galway; Atlantic Technological University; Dublin City University; Dundalk Institute of Technology; IADT- Institute of Art, Design and Technology; Mary Immaculate College; Munster Technological University; Maynooth University; South East Technological University; Technological University Dublin; Technological University of the Shannon; University College Cork; University College Dublin; University of Limerick; Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Trinity College Dublin.

Read more about University of Galways 16 days of Activism against Gender Based Violence schedule of events here: https://www.universityofgalway.ie/equalityanddiversity/sexualviolenceandharassmentpreventionandresponse/16daysofactivismagainstgenderbasedviolence/

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Pakistan and Belarus on Monday signed eight memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and key trade agreements, aimed at strengthening bilateral trade and economic ties

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Nov, 2024) Pakistan and Belarus on Monday signed eight memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and key trade agreements, aimed at strengthening bilateral trade and economic ties. They were signed during the Pakistan-Belarus Business Forum.

Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan and Belarusian Minister for Energy Aleksei Kushnarenko, witnessed the signing of these documents between the two sides.

The signed agreements include distribution agreement, five-year cooperation agreement between JCS Bellakt and Nutrifood & Pharmaceuticals and a Supply agreement for Cooperation between JSC Minsk Motor Plant and Shahzad Trade Links for product supply in 2025.

The Memorandum of Intentions also between JSC Belshina and Shahzad Trade Links for tire sales in the Pakistani market and veterinary drug supply Contract agreement between JSC BelVitunipharm and Mustafa Brothers.

The Logistics Cooperation MoU between RUE Beltamozhservice and the National Logistic Corporation and Pharmaceutical Cooperation MoU between RUE Belmedpreparaty and Bio Medical System for pharmacy registration and supply also signed.

Meanwhile on the occasion, metal Supply contract between JSC Beltsvetmet and Raas International Trading for 2025 and agricultural machinery Cooperation MoU was also signed between JSC Tractor Works and Green Corporate Initiative.

Addressing the forum, Jam Kamal Khan underscored the need for enhancing bilateral trade between Pakistan and Belarus

through trade diversification, emphasizing the untapped potential in sectors such as food, pharma, textiles, logistics, and energy.

He highlighted that the current trade volume does not reflect the economic capabilities of the two countries.

Prior to the forum, a productive sideline meeting between Jam Kamal Khan and Aleksei Kushnarenko set the tone for the day. During the meeting, the two ministers discussed avenues for bilateral cooperation and agreed to establish working groups for energy and industrial collaboration.

They also decided to participate in two upcoming events: the FoodAg on Processing conference in Lahore in February 2025 and the Russian Industrial Forum in Belarus in June 2025.

Jam Kamal Khan extended a formal invitation to Kushnarenko to attend the FoodAg event.

Addressing the forum, Minister Aleksei Kushnarenko emphasized the strong demand for Belarusian products, such as agricultural machinery, industrial goods, and dairy products, in Pakistan.

He noted a reciprocal interest in Pakistani light industrial goods and food products in Belarus.

The existing cooperation potential allows us to set and achieve ambitious goals for advancing economic, trade, and humanitarian ties between our countries, Kushnarenko said.

He expressed confidence in the forum fostering new joint ventures in trade, industrial production, agriculture, healthcare, and education.

Jam Kamal Khan lauded the growing relationship between Pakistan and Belarus, citing the complementarity of their economies.

He emphasized the need to reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers to enable meaningful market access. This forum reflects the shared commitment to advancing our trade and investment ties, he said.

The minister also highlighted the longstanding diplomatic relationship between the two countries, including high-level visits and mutual participation in international forums such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Kamal acknowledged Belarusian tractors as a household name in Pakistan, symbolizing durability and strength.

He called for expanding this cooperation to other sectors, including agricultural machinery and the automotive industry.

Furthermore, he highlighted Pakistans potential as a trade and transit hub, given its large population and rich natural resources.

With the signing of these agreements and the discussions at the business forum, both sides expressed optimism about achieving new heights in bilateral trade and investment.

The ministers reiterated their commitment to sustaining the momentum by exploring additional opportunities and overcoming existing challenges.

This forum marks another step forward in the journey of strengthening Pak-Belarus ties, showcasing a mutual vision for economic growth and regional connectivity.
The number of Roshan Digital Accounts has reached 757,587 with an addition of over 11000 new accounts by the end of October 2024 while the total amount funded in the RDAs so far reached near $ 9 billion

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Nov, 2024) The number of Roshan Digital Accounts has reached 757,587 with an addition of over 11000 new accounts by the end of October 2024 while the total amount funded in the RDAs so far reached near $ 9 billion.

According to the statistics issued by the State Bank of Pakistan, Non residents Pakistanis seeking to undertake banking, payment and investment activities in the country opened 757,587 Roshan Digital Accounts till October 2024 and the accumulative amount received in the accounts totaled as $ 8,953 million.

The total RDA deposits, on the current monthly growth rate, would easily cross the $9 billion mark in November 2024. As many as, 11,336 new Roshan Digital Accounts were opened and $ 204 million has been received in the month of October 24 by Non residents Pakistanis.

RDA is a major SBP initiative for providing innovative banking solutions for millions of Non Resident Pakistanis (NRPs), including Non-Resident Pakistan Origin Card (POC) holders, and they could make transaction in different currencies including USD, PKR, EUR, GBP, etc.

RD Accounts are available in both foreign currency and Pakistani Rupees while funds utilized locally included funds transfers to non repatriable accounts, cash withdrawals, bill payments, merchant transactions, fee payments, mobile top ups, etc.

The SBP figures showed local utilization of $ 5,686 million till October 2024 while an amount of $ 1,674 million was repatriated.
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ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Nov, 2024) The world is observing the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, today, while women in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) continue to suffer from Indian state terrorism, injustice, atrocities, fear, agony and the pain inflicted by India.

According to a report released by Kashmir Media Service in connection with the day, India has weaponized draconian laws to target the sanctity and dignity of Kashmiri women.

Particularly after the illegal actions of the Indian BJP government on August 5, 2019, the Indian army, paramilitary forces, police personnel, and their agencies have used legal cover to openly pursue their agenda by targeting, detaining, and passing derogatory remarks about Kashmiri women while ignoring their social, political, economic, human, and other rights.

The report stated that 2,353 women have been martyred, and 11,265 molested and disgraced by Indian troops in the occupied territory since 1989. Indian state terrorism has rendered 22,980 Kashmiri women widowed in the past 36 years. It added that over three dozen women, including 65-year-old Aasiya Andrabi, Naheeda Nasreen, Fehmeeda Sofi, Aashiya Bano, Aafreena, Nigeena, Ishrat Rasool, Munira Begum, Sarda Begum, Safeeqa Begum, Rubeena Nazir, Nusrat Jan, Shabroza Bano, Mudifa, and Sheema Shafi Waza, have been illegally detained in infamous Tihar Jail and other prisons in India and IIOJK for more than seven years.

In 2024, Indian troops arrested several women during house raids based on fabricated cases, including the wife of a nomad, Aqam Din, and Gulshan Naaz, wife of Talib Shah, in Rajouri, Poonch, Samba, and Kathua districts of the territory.

The report highlighted that India is using rape as a weapon of war in IIOJK to humiliate Kashmiris. Incidents like the Kunanposhpora mass rape, the Shopian double rape and murder, and the Kathua rape and murder remain glaring examples. Around 100 women were gang-raped by Indian troops during a cordon-and-search operation in Kunanposhpora, Kupwara district, on the night of February 23, 1991. Two women, Aasiya and Neelofar of Shopian, were abducted, gang-raped, and subsequently killed in custody on May 29, 2009. An 8-year-old Muslim girl, Aasifa Bano, was repeatedly gang-raped by Indian policemen and communal Hindus affiliated with right-wing organizations in the Kathua area of Jammu in January 2018.

The report stated that Kashmiri women are mentally tortured through the killing, arrest, and enforced disappearance of their loved ones. It urged global human rights bodies to intervene and stop India from committing heinous crimes and gross human rights violations against Kashmiri women.

Meanwhile, All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders Zamruda Habib, Yasmeen Raja and Farida Bahenji, in separate statements, appealed to the international community to use its influence to halt the ongoing Indian state terrorism, injustice, and atrocities against women in IIOJK.
Provincial Information Minister Azma Bokhari has condemned actions of Tehreek-e-Fasad", accusing the group of martyring a police officer and severely injuring 70 other officers

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Nov, 2024) Provincial Information Minister Azma Bokhari has condemned actions of Tehreek-e-Fasad", accusing the group of martyring a police officer and severely injuring 70 other officers.

At a press conference at the DGPR, she said, "Bushra Bibi, this is not a jungle where you can act like a Sultana Daku to free your husband." Azma Bokhari said that Bushra Bibi was inciting Pashtuns to attack the state, leading armed mobs, and adding a religious veneer to their aggression with chants of Allah-ho- Akbar. She criticized her for posing as a guardian of Islamic values while lacking even basic knowledge, such as properly reciting Durood Sharif.

Azma Bokhari asserted that the PTI and its armed factions were seeking casualties to advance their disruptive political agenda. "Life continues as normal across Punjab. Not even a bird has stirred here," she said and emphasized that commercial and social activities remain uninterrupted in the province.

Azma Bokhari condemned continued violence by Tehreek-e-Fasad on the second day of unrest, which included torching police vehicles and attacking officers. "These attacks led to martyrdom of officer Mubashir and severe injuries to 70 others, including constable Wajid, who was shot in the neck and legs.

A Frontier Corps officer was also shot in the leg," she added and highlighted a tweet by a PTI-affiliated poet that mentioned the martyrdom of police officers and capture of seven others.

She alleged that Gandapur had requested 1,500 plain-clothes police officers, a tactic she described as provocative. Azma Bokhari remarked, "I do not believe the youth of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would resort to violence or harm anyone; this behavior is the sole characteristic of the Taliban and PTI."

She argued that PTI seeks to provoke the state into using force against them, while knowing the state would never do so. If even one of their members gets a scratch, they will create an uproar domestically and internationally, she stated.

Expressing concern for the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azma Bokhari lamented their suffering under such a leadership. She noted stark contrast between the crowds Gandapur attracts and lack of support for Bushra Bibi. She also criticized silence of leaders like Aleema Khan, who have disappeared from public view.

She questioned why the children of these leaders such as Ibrahim, Qasim, Suleman, and Tyrian do not join the protests. When they face harm themselves, only then they and others will begin to remember basic rights, she remarked.
Rio de Janeiro, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Nov, 2024) Brazil's agriculture minister on Monday threw his support behind national meat suppliers that have halted deliveries to Carrefour supermarkets in a growing row related to Mercosur trade negotiations.

Carlos Favaro told the GloboNews broadcaster he was "happy with the attitude of our suppliers," which since last week have been snubbing retailers in Brazil operated by the French supermarket group.

The supply disruption was triggered after Carrefour's CEO Alexandre Bompard last week told French unions his supermarket chain would "not sell any meat coming from Mercosur" in its French outlets.

The row is linked to France's opposition to finalizing a European Union trade deal with Mercosur amid protests from French farmers who fear the pact would open the door to unfair competition.

The Mercosur bloc includes Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Favaro said: "If for the French, Carrefour doesn't want to buy Brazilian meat, then Carrefour won't be buying Brazilian meat to put on its shelves here in Brazil either."

Carrefour Brazil confirmed in a statement it was being affected by the suppliers' decision.

A source at major meat supplier JBS told AFP on condition of anonymity that, since last Friday, "the company took the decision to suspend beef supplies" to Carrefour-run outlets in Brazil.

Supplies "are completely suspended and will continue to be suspended" until the French boss of Carrefour goes back on his position, the source said.

The Carrefour CEO's announcement sparked indignation in Brazil, with the government and the powerful meat industry accusing France of trade "protectionism" and smearing the quality of the country's meat exports.

Brazilian media are calling the disrupted meat deliveries to Carrefour supermarkets a "boycott" and many Brazilians online have applauded it.

- Carrefour seeking 'solutions' -

Carrefour Brazil said in a statement on Monday: "Unfortunately, the decision to suspend the supply of meat impacts our customers."

While a spokesman for the company stressed that "there is no lack of meat in the shops," the latest Carrefour statement said it was seeking "solutions that will enable us to resume the supply of meat to our stores."

Carrefour Brazil noted that it served "millions of customers" in the country, and had a workforce of more than 130,000 employees.

The developments in Brazil come as French farmers continue protests to press Paris to block the Mercosur deal.

Next week, the Mercosur countries are to hold a summit in Uruguay, with discussions to include progress on the trade accord with the European Union, which has been negotiated since 1999.

French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated his strong opposition to the deal when he attended a G20 summit in Brazil last week.

The European Commission, however, is intent on swiftly concluding the accord, whose contours were agreed in 2019. Germany and Spain, too, have expressed impatience to see the deal done.
(@Abdulla99267510)

Boeing 737, operated by DHL, burst into flames after striking building near Vilnius

VILNIUS: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-Nov 25th, 2024) A DHL cargo plane collided with a residential building near Vilnius while attempting to land in the Lithuanian capital.

The reports said that the plane had departed from Leipzig, Germany, and was bound for Vilnius Airport.

The incident took place amid freezing temperatures, which posed significant challenges during the landing attempt.

The Boeing 737, operated by DHL, burst into flames after striking the building. Emergency responders managed to extinguish the fire, but two individuals sustained severe injuries and were rushed to a hospital.

Tragically, one succumbed to their wounds during treatment, while the other remains in critical condition.

The authorities have not yet confirmed whether the victims were part of the aircraft's crew or residents of the impacted building.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation, though adverse weather conditions are suspected to have played a role. Aviation experts noted that the Boeing 737, a 31-year-old aircraft, is considered to have an aging airframe but is commonly used for cargo operations.
Tokyo, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Nov, 2024) The United States is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of an emergency over Taiwan, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported.

They will be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations.

A US Marine regiment which possesses the multiple-launch HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) would be deployed along Japan's Nansei island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said.

From an early stage, if a Taiwan contingency becomes highly imminent, temporary bases will be set up on inhabited islands based on US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations, the report added.

Japan's military is expected to mainly engage in logistical support for the marine unit, including supplying fuel and ammunition, it said.

Kyodo added that the US Army would deploy Multi-Domain Task Force long-range fire units in the Philippines.

The Japanese and Philippines defence ministries were not immediately available for comment.

The US embassy in Manila declined to comment.

Asked about the report on Monday, Beijing's foreign ministry said that Taiwan is an "inalienable part of China's territory".

"China firmly opposes relevant countries using the Taiwan issue as an excuse to strengthen regional military deployment, provoke tension and confrontation, and damage regional peace and stability," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

China is building up its military capacity while ramping up pressure on self-governed Taiwan.

Washington has been strengthening alliances in the region, while infuriating Beijing with regular deployments of ships and fighter jets in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, November 25. The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) will build 9 schools in Kyrgyzstan, Trend reports.

The bill on the ratification of the corresponding grant agreement with the EDB was approved in the third reading by the Committee on International Affairs, Defense, Security, and Migration of the Kyrgyz Parliament.

The agreement was signed on July 23, 2024, in Bishkek. The bill was initiated by the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers.

The agreement outlines the procedure for the grant provision, under which the EDB will finance the construction and material-technical outfitting of 9 schools in Kyrgyzstan. In return, Kyrgyzstan will fulfill its obligations under the intergovernmental agreement to ensure the successful implementation of the project.

The construction funding will come from the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development, within the grant amount. Upon completion of construction and equipping the schools, the EDB will transfer them to Kyrgyzstan on a non-refundable and non-returnable (grant) basis.

Established in 2006, the Eurasian Development Bank is a multilateral development bank. The bank aims to promote economic growth in its member states with an authorized capital of $7 billion.

As of August 2024, the EDB's investment portfolio in Kyrgyzstan amounted to $217.5 million, covering 9 projects across 3 sectors: 2 in energy, 6 in the financial sector, and 1 in construction.


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Planet Earth is parting company with an asteroid that's been tagging along as a "mini moon" for the past two months.

The harmless space rock will peel away on Monday, overcome by the stronger tug of the sun's gravity. But it will zip closer for a quick visit in January.

NASA will use a radar antenna to observe the 10-meter (33-foot) asteroid then. That should deepen scientists' understanding of the object known as 2024 PT5, quite possibly a boulder that was blasted off the moon by an impacting, crater-forming asteroid.

While not technically a moon  NASA stresses it was never captured by Earth's gravity and fully in orbit  it's "an interesting object" worthy of study.

The astrophysicist brothers who identified the asteroid's "mini moon behavior," Raul and Carlos de la Fuente Marcos of Complutense University of Madrid, have collaborated with telescopes in the Canary Islands for hundreds of observations so far.

Currently more than 3.5 million kilometers (2 million miles) away, the object is too small and faint to see without a powerful telescope. It will pass as close as 1.8 million kilometers (1.1 million miles) of Earth in January, maintaining a safe distance before it zooms farther into the solar system while orbiting the sun, not to return until 2055. That's almost five times farther than the moon.

First spotted in August, the asteroid began its semi jog around Earth in late September, after coming under the grips of Earth's gravity and following a horseshoe-shaped path. By the time it returns next year, it will be moving too fast  more than double its speed from September  to hang around, said Raul de la Fuente Marcos.

NASA will track the asteroid for more than a week in January using the Goldstone solar system radar antenna in California's Mojave Desert, part of the Deep Space Network.

Current data suggest that during its 2055 visit, the sun-circling asteroid will once again make a temporary and partial lap around Earth.
At least 22 Somali citizens died when two migrant boats capsized off the coast of Madagascar over the weekend, Somalia's Information Minister Daud Aweis said.

Madagascar's Port, Maritime, and River Authority (APMF) said the boats had set sail from Somalia for the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte on Nov. 2, a journey of several hundred kilometers.

On Saturday, the port authority reported that local fishermen discovered the first boat drifting on Friday near Nosy Iranja. They rescued 25 people, including 10 men and 15 women, but seven occupants died, the authority said.

A second boat carrying 38 people arrived at Madagascar's Port du Cratere, according to APMF. The maritime authority did not disclose a death toll for the second boat but confirmed the rescue of 23 people.

Somali Information Minister Aweis, citing information from his counterparts in Madagascar, confirmed the total death toll at 22.

"They were about 70 Somalis, 22 of them died. One boat was carrying 38 people and the other boat was carrying 32 people," Aweis said on state-owned television late on Sunday.

In recent decades thousands of people have attempted to make the crossing to Mayotte, which has a higher standard of living and access to the French welfare system.

Mayotte is officially part of France, although Comoros claims it.

Aweis said Somalia will investigate where the boats sailed from, terming those who organized the trip as criminals involved in illicit immigration.

"This is also a message of warning to those who want to immigrate illegally before they go and die in such manner. It is unfortunate people still go despite danger," he added.

In early November, at least 25 people died off Comoros islands after traffickers capsized their boat.
Australia's government has withdrawn a bill that would give a media watchdog power to monitor digital platforms and require them to keep records about misinformation and disinformation on their networks.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said Sunday that the government was unable to drum up the support needed to pass the legislation. The opposition spokesman, David Coleman, said the bill "betrayed our democracy" and amounted to "censorship laws in Australia."

"Based on public statements and engagements with senators, it is clear that there is no pathway to legislate this proposal through the Senate," Rowland said.

The bill would have granted the Australian Communications and Media Authority power over digital platforms by approving an enforceable code of conduct or standards for social media companies if self-regulation fell short.

"This bill would have had the effect of suppressing the free speech of everyday Australians, as platforms would have censored online content to avoid the threat of big fines," Coleman said said in a statement.
Strikes carried out by Israel in recent weeks in Syria have significantly weakened Iranian-backed militant groups, though they continue to pose a threat, experts say.

Since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, and the ongoing hostilities between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israeli strikes in Syria have become more frequent, according to monitoring groups.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which has researchers across Syria, reported last week it has documented over 150 Israeli strikes in Syria so far in 2024. The strikes have hit targets belonging to Iranian-backed militias in several Syrian provinces, according to SOHR.

Iran, a key backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assads government, has built a significant military presence in Syria in recent years, supported by dozens of proxy groups, including Hezbollah and several Iraqi militias.

Last week, the Syrian government blamed Israel for an attack in the ancient town of Palmyra in central Syria that killed at least 36 people and wounded 50 others. SOHR, which gave a much higher figure on casualties, said one of the strikes targeted a meeting involving some commanders of Hezbollah and the Iraqi group al-Nujaba.

Both Hezbollah and al-Nujaba are U.S.-designated terrorist organizations.

The Israeli military declined to comment on the attack, but it has previously acknowledged conducting strikes against Iranian-linked groups in Syria.

Phillip Smyth, an expert on Iranian-backed militias, said the Israeli strikes are demonstrative of their goals to degrade the leadership elements within Lebanese Hezbollah and other pro-Iranian militant groups in Syria.

This would include those in Lebanon and Syria, particularly the latter, given how Hezbollah still needs to command its 3,000-7,500 [militants] that currently occupy the country, he told VOA.

These types of strikes eliminate people who are irreplaceable in other respects, Smyth said. They are loyal, are part of the early generations of leadership and have a good amount of control over a very closed organization.

Another Israeli strike earlier this month hit a suburb near the Syrian capital, Damascus, killing at least 15 people, according to Syrian state media.

The Israeli military said the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group was the target of that attack, adding that it inflicted significant damage to the terrorist organizations command center and to its operatives.

Ahmed Rahal, a former Syrian military general who defected from the army in 2012, stated that such attacks have created new dynamics for Iran and its proxies in Syria.

Iran has moved some of its military advisers out of Syria, he told VOA, noting that, recent strikes against Islamic Jihad and even elements of the Syrian military show that Israel isnt only targeting Iranian and Hezbollah forces but anything it deems a threat.

Local media reports in Syria last week said that amid increased Israeli strikes, Iran transported some of its proxies from Syria to Iraq, including at least a dozen high-ranking military advisers who had been deployed in Damascus and Palmyra.

Seth Frantzman, an adjunct fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, offers a different explanation for the movement of Iranian proxies in the region.

Iran may be moving proxies around Iraq and Syria in order to threaten Israel and may feel the need to move them more often so that they preserve operational security in case of Israeli retaliation, he told VOA.

Iran also likely wants to mobilize proxy forces in case of a ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah so it can increase threats to Israel on other fronts, Frantzman said.

Iran's Foreign Ministry recently said there has been no change in the status or number of their military advisers in Syria.

Other experts argue that as long as pro-Iranian militias control the Iraq-Syria border, Israeli strikes are unlikely to prevent Tehran from sending weapons to Hezbollah and other proxies.

These strikes may briefly disrupt the transport of men and weapons between Iraq and Syria, but these groups have shown their ability to adapt and resume their activities quickly, said Omar Abu Layla, director of Deir Ezzor 24, a news and research network focused on eastern Syria.

Zana Omer in Qamishli, Syria, contributed to this story, which originated in VOAs Kurdish Service.
Several Chinese filmmakers won top prizes in Taiwans prestigious Golden Horse Awards on Saturday. Some winning films that focus on sensitive topics like COVID-19 and LGBTQ issues are actually banned in China.

See the full story here.
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, November 25. This year, the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will adopt an intergovernmental program to secure the Tajik-Afghan border, CSTO Secretary-General Imangali Tasmagambetov said in an interview with Belarusian media, Trend reports.

According to Tasmagambetov, Afghanistan remains a key focus for the CSTO. While the situation in the country has somewhat stabilized and is slowly moving toward peace, the presence of terrorist organizations in Afghanistan remains a serious concern.

"The signing of this program will allow CSTO member states to jointly secure this border area, thus enhancing the safety of Central Asian countries," he stated.

Tasmagambetov also reminded that during last year's CSTO Collective Security Council meeting in Minsk, chaired by Belarus, important documents were adopted to strengthen the organization's crisis response system. These agreements enable rapid implementation of decisions and swift responses to emerging crises.
Somali scholars, politicians and traditional leaders from across the Horn of Africa gathered in Djibouti on Monday for a three-day forum on strengthening regional stability.

The annual forum, the eighth of its kind, was organized by the Heritage Institute for Policy Studies in Somalia, an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan research group in Mogadishu. Mursal Saney, executive director of the institute, said the forum is providing an opportunity for Somalis from across the region to discuss issues of concern.

We have invited nearly 300 delegates including regional experts to provide them an opportunity to discuss and exhibit constructive ideas on how the Horn of Africa region can strengthen its stability and the importance of rule of law, Saney said.

This years forum comes at a time of growing tension between Somalia and Ethiopia over a port deal Addis Ababa signed in January with Somaliland, a breakaway region. Mogadishu sees Somaliland as a part of Somalia.

The deal so far, in the form of a memorandum of understanding, gives landlocked Ethiopia a 50-year lease for a Red Sea port from Somaliland in exchange for possible recognition of Somalilands independence. The deal has angered Mogadishu, which has described it as an assault on Somalias sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Ethiopia maintains that it does not infringe on Somalia's sovereignty.

Somaliland declared its independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991, following the collapse of the military government led by late dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Somalia has never accepted Somalilands secession, nor has Somaliland received international recognition.

In July and August, two rounds of talks between Ethiopia and Somalia, mediated by Turkey, failed to solve the dispute, with Somalia demanding Ethiopia withdraw from the deal. The issue has raised fears of fresh conflict in the Horn of Africa region.

Because of its strategic location in the region and the fact that it is coming out of a conflict era, Somalia is thirsty for peace and regional stability, respecting the international law and the rule of law, Somali Foreign Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi said at the start of the forum.

Also on Monday, Mumin Hassan Barre, Djiboutis minister of justice and religion, said experts attending the forum should contribute to the well-being of the region.

We see experts that know the region well, and I think the peace, stability and the solution of the regions problems lie in the hands of its people, including the experts who gathered here, Barre said.

Somalis representing Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia are attending the event, as well as those from across the region and the diaspora communities in the United States, Europe and elsewhere.

Mohamed Sheikh Nor contributed to this report. Some information came from Reuters.
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Israel continues its airstrike campaign on Lebanon in what Israel says are ongoing operations against Hezbollah. This, as Hezbollah launches more rocket attacks into Israel. VOAs Arash Arabasadi has this story.
The United States is close to securing a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants, according to officials from the White House and the State Department.

Speaking to reporters during a press call on Monday, national security spokesperson John Kirby described recent talks in Beirut led by U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein as "constructive," adding, "We believe that the trajectory of this is going in a very positive direction."

In New York on Monday, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said negotiations toward a ceasefire, aimed at ending the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Lebanese Shia militia, are "moving forward" but have not been finalized."

He added that Israel would retain the ability to strike southern Lebanon under any agreement.

Ahead of a U.N. Security Council meeting, Danon said he expected Israel's Cabinet to convene on Monday or Tuesday to discuss the cease-fire deal.

We will make sure that we will have the ability to neutralize any threat that will not be dealt [with] in southern Lebanon. I hope that the Lebanese army will take care of that in the future, but if they will fail, again, we will be there, Danon said.

Meanwhile, Lebanon's deputy speaker, Elias Bou Saab, said there are no major obstacles to implementing a U.S.-proposed cease-fire deal, which requires Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon and Lebanese troop deployment within 60 days.

A five-nation committee, chaired by the United States and including France, will oversee the process, according to Bou Saab.

At the State Department, officials declined to comment on the details and terms of the ceasefire proposal but acknowledged that significant progress has been made toward an agreement.

We don't believe we have an agreement yet. We believe we're close to an agreement. We believe that we have narrowed the gap significantly. But there are still steps that we need to see taken, spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a briefing on Monday, without specifying what those steps are.

Earlier on Monday, Israeli forces carried out airstrikes on Beiruts southern suburbs in attacks that followed Israeli warnings for people to leave the area.

The Israeli military said in its warning that Hezbollah militants were operating in Haret Hreik, and a short time later at least two strikes sent heavy smoke rising into the sky.

An Israeli military spokesperson said the strikes targeted Hezbollah military command headquarters.

The attack came a day after Hezbollah militants fired about 250 rockets and other projectiles into Israel in response to an Israeli attack on Beirut that killed at least 29 people.

Some of the Hezbollah strikes reached the Tel Aviv area in the heart of Israel and wounded seven people. The assault was one of the largest Hezbollah has mounted since it started firing on Israel more than a year ago in support of Hamas militants, who attacked Israel in October 2023 and have been warring with Israel in Gaza since then.

The fighting has caused a humanitarian crisis, displacing hundreds of thousands.

On Monday, the United Nations World Food Program announced that it has provided emergency aid to more than a half-million people in Lebanon since the conflict began. The WFP said it plans to reach 1 million people and is continuing to work tirelessly to deliver critical assistance to affected communities.

But Josep Borrell, the European Unions foreign policy chief, dampened hopes for a halt to the fighting.

I am not convinced it is going to happen, Borrell told reporters Sunday evening after a day of meeting with Lebanese officials. I do not see the Israeli government interested clearly in reaching an agreement for a cease-fire.

Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and captured about 250 hostages in their October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the current war in Gaza. Israel says it believes Hamas is still holding 101 hostages, including 35 the military says are dead.

Israels counteroffensive in Gaza has killed at least 44,235 Palestinians, according to the territory's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.

Hamas and Hezbollah have been designated as terror groups by the United States, the United Kingdom and other Western countries.

Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
Israels Cabinet unanimously voted Sunday to boycott the countrys oldest newspaper, Haaretz, citing its critical coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict and comments by the outlets publisher calling for sanctions on top government officials.

In a statement on Sunday, the office of Shlomo Karhi, the communications minister, said that his proposal against Haaretz had been unanimously approved by the other ministers.

We will not allow a reality in which the publisher of an official newspaper in the state of Israel will call for the imposition of sanctions against it and will support the enemies of the state in the midst of a war and will be financed by it, the statement said.

The proposal will end government advertising in the left-leaning newspaper, owned by the Schocken family, and cancel all subscriptions for state employees and employees of state-owned companies.

We advocate a free press and freedom of expression, but also the freedom of the government to decide not to fund incitement against the state of Israel, the statement from the communications ministers office also said.

Widely respected internationally, Haaretz has been critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his current rightwing coalition government. The newspaper has also provided critical coverage of the Israel-Hamas war and investigated abuses allegedly committed by the Israeli military.

In a statement on Sunday, Haaretz accused Netanyahu of aiming to dismantle Israeli democracy.

Like his friends Putin, Erdogan, and Orban, Netanyahu is trying to silence a critical, independent newspaper. Haaretz will not balk and will not morph into a government pamphlet that publishes messages approved by the government and its leader, the statement said.

To justify the governments boycott of Haaretz, the office of Karhi, the communications minister, pointed to comments made by Haaretz publisher Amos Schocken at a news conference organized by the newspaper late last month in London.

In the speech Schocken called for international sanctions on Israeli leaders. He also accused the Israeli government of imposing a cruel apartheid regime on the Palestinian population and said it was fighting the Palestinian freedom fighters, that Israel calls terrorists.

Following pushback, Schocken clarified that he was not referring to Hamas but rather was referring to Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli government has faced criticism over its press freedom record throughout the Israel-Hamas war, which has been the deadliest on record for journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ.

As of Monday, at least 137 journalists and media workers have been killed in the war, including 129 Palestinians, two Israelis and six Lebanese, according to CPJ data.

On top of that, Israeli authorities shuttered Al Jazeeras West Bank bureau in September and Israel offices in May.

Officials said the closings were needed because Al Jazeera was a threat to national security. Press freedom groups rejected those claims as false.

Last week, Israeli lawmakers voted to extend the laws duration to six months, and increase the laws main provision  a broadcasting ban on any foreign media outlet deemed detrimental to national security by the security services  from 45 days to 60.

Netanyahus government is openly targeting media independence and pluralism in Israel, Anne Bocande, editorial director at Reporters Without Borders, said in a statement last week.

The free press in a country that describes itself as the only democracy in the Middle East will be undermined, Bocande added.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday described a public threat by the vice president to have him killed by an assassin as a criminal plot and vowed to fight it, in a looming showdown between the country's two top leaders.

Vice President Sara Duterte said Saturday in an online news conference that she has contracted an assassin to kill the president, his wife and the speaker of the House of Representatives if she herself is killed, in a threat she warned was not a joke.

The national police and military immediately boosted the security of the president, and the justice department said it would summon the vice president for an investigation. The National Security Council said it considered the threat a national security concern.

The vice president, a lawyer, later tried to walk back her remarks by saying it was not an actual threat but an expression of concern about her own safety over an unspecified threat.

"Why would I kill him if not for revenge from the grave? There is no reason for me to kill him. What's the benefit for me?" Duterte told journalists.

"That criminal plot should not be allowed to pass," Marcos said in a televised statement, without mentioning Duterte by name. "I'll fight it."

"As a democratic country, we need to uphold the rule of law," Marcos said.

Marcos ran with Duterte as his vice-presidential running mate in May 2022 elections and both won landslide victories on a campaign call of national unity. In the Philippines, the two positions are elected separately.

The two leaders and their camps, however, soon had a bitter falling out over key differences, including in their approaches to China's aggressive territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea. Duterte resigned from the Marcos Cabinet in June as education secretary and head of an anti-insurgency body.

On Monday, Justice Undersecretary Jesse Andres said in a news conference that Duterte would be subpoenaed to face an investigation.

Andres called the vice president the "self-confessed mastermind" of a "premeditated plot to assassinate the president." All government resources and law enforcement agencies would be mobilized to identify the alleged assassin and determine criminal accountability, he said.

"We have to maintain order in a civilized society by adherence to the rule of law and we will apply the full strength and force of the law on this," Andres said.

Under Philippine law, such public remarks may constitute a crime of threatening to inflict a wrong on a person or their family and are punishable by a jail term and fine.

The Philippine Constitution says that if a president dies, sustains a permanent disability, is removed from office or resigns, the vice president takes over and serves the rest of the term.

The vice president is the daughter of Marcos' predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, whose police-enforced anti-drug crackdown when he was a city mayor and later president left thousands of mostly petty drug suspects dead in killings that the International Criminal Court has been investigating as a possible crime against humanity.

Like her equally outspoken father, the vice president became a vocal critic of Marcos, his wife Liza Araneta-Marcos and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, the president's cousin, accusing them of corruption, incompetence and politically persecuting the Duterte family and its supporters.

Last month, the vice president told reporters her relationship with Marcos had "gone so toxic" that she has imagined "cutting his head."

Her latest tirade was set off by the decision by House members allied with Romualdez and Marcos to detain Duterte's chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, who was accused of hampering a congressional inquiry into the possible misuse of Duterte's budget as vice president and education secretary. Lopez has been detained in a hospital after being traumatized by a plan by legislators to temporarily detain her in prison.
A Romanian hard-right NATO critic and leftist Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu appeared in dead heat after the first round of presidential elections on Sunday, partial tallies showed, in a shock result threatening Romania's staunchly pro-Ukraine stance.

After nearly 93% of votes were counted, Calin Georgescu, 62, was at 22%, while Ciolacu had 21%, suggesting they will likely qualify to face each other in the second round, due on Dec. 8.

A center-right contender, Elena Lasconi, was running second, behind Georgescu, among the hundreds of thousands of voters living outside Romania, with about 50% ballots cast there counted. But that margin might not be enough to win her a spot in the final race after all votes are tallied, observers said.

Romania's president has a semi-executive role that gives him or her control over defense spending -- likely to be a difficult issue as Bucharest comes under pressure to uphold NATO spending goals during Donald Trump's second term as U.S. president while trying to reduce a heavy fiscal deficit.

Some opinion polls had Georgescu running at around 5% of the vote in the run-up to the election, after barely registering in earlier polls.

Political commentator Radu Magdin said the difference between his single-digit popularity and Sunday's result was without precedent since Romania shed communism in 1989.

"Never in our 34 years of democracy have we seen such a surge compared to surveys," Magdin said.

Campaigning focused largely on the soaring cost of living, with Romania having the EU's biggest share of people at risk of poverty.

Ciolacu had courted voters with a promise of generous spending and no tax hikes, despite Romania running the European Union's largest budget deficit at 8% of economic outlook, while offering a sense of security in policy stability at a time of a war next door.

Formerly a prominent member of the hard-right Alliance for Uniting Romanians party, Georgescu has called NATO's ballistic missile defense shield in the Romanian town of Deveselu a "shame of diplomacy."

He has said the North Atlantic alliance will not protect any of its members should they be attacked by Russia.

"We are strong and brave, many of us voted, even more will do so in the second round," Georgescu said standing alone on Sunday evening outside a residential building near capital Bucharest.

Lasconi, a former journalist, joined the Save Romania Union (USR) in 2018 and became party head this year. She believes in raising defense spending and helping Ukraine, and surveys suggest she would beat Ciolacu in a runoff.

Romania shares a 650-kilometer (400-mile) border with Ukraine and since Russia attacked Kyiv in 2022, it has enabled the export of millions of tons of grain through its Black Sea port of Constanta and provided military aid, including the donation of a Patriot air defense battery.

Villages on the border with Ukraine have seen a barrage of drones breaching national airspace although no casualties have been reported.

One political commentator said Russian meddling to give Georgescu an edge could not be ruled out in the election.

"Based on Georgescu's stance towards Ukraine and the discrepancy between opinion surveys and the actual result, we cannot rule (that) out," said Sergiu Miscoiu, a political science professor at Babes-Bolyai University.

Outgoing two-term president Klaus Iohannis, 65, had cemented Romania's strong pro-Western stance but was accused of not doing enough to fight corruption.

"It will be a tight run-off, with the Social Democrat leader more vulnerable to negative campaigning due to him being an incumbent PM," Magdin said.
Ukrainian officials said Monday a Russian attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv injured at least 19 people.

Oleh Syniehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region, said on Telegram that Russian forces hit a courtyard in central Kharkiv, damaging more than 40 houses.

In Ukraines Odesa region, Governor Oleh Kiper said a rocket attack hit the city of Odesa and that there were casualties.

Another Russian attack, in the Zaporizhzhia region, injured a child and damaged several houses, according to Governor Ivan Fedorov.

Mykolaiv Governor Vitaliy Kim said Monday on Telegram that Russian drone attacks targeted energy infrastructure and disrupted electricity services.

Ukraines air force said Monday it shot down 71 of more than 140 Russian drones used in the latest string of overnight attacks.

These Russian strikes on Ukrainian lives can be stoppedwith pressure, with sanctions, by blocking the occupiers access to the components they use to manufacture the means of this terror, by providing arms packages for Ukraine, and with a determination that must be unwavering, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Russias Defense Ministry said Monday it shot down 23 Ukrainian drones in overnight attacks.

Russian air defenses downed eight of the drones over the Kaluga region, the ministry said, along with seven over Kursk, five over Bryansk and three over Belgorod.

Officials in Kaluga said falling drone wreckage damaged an industrial facility.
Qatar said earlier this month that Hamas political leaders have left its territory and several of them have gone to Turkey. That prompted protests last week from Washington, which warned the Turkish government not to give them sanctuary. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
ACCRA, Ghana (AP)  In a sprawling secondhand clothing market in Ghana's capital, early morning shoppers jostle as they search through piles of garments, eager to pluck a bargain or a designer find from the stalls selling used and low-quality apparel imported from the West.

At the other end of the street, an upcycled fashion and thrifting festival unfolds with glamour and glitz. Models parade along a makeshift runway in outfits that designers created out of discarded materials from the Kantamanto market, ranging from floral blouses and denim jeans to leather bags, caps and socks.

The festival is called Obroni Wawu October, using a phrase that in the local Akan language means "dead white man's clothes." Organizers see the event as a small way to disrupt a destructive cycle that has made Western overconsumption into an environmental problem in Africa, where some of the worn-out clothes end up in waterways and garbage dumps.

"Instead of allowing (textile waste) to choke our gutters or beaches or landfills, I decided to use it to create something ... for us to use again," said Richard Asante Palmer, one of the designers at the annual festival organized by the Or Foundation, a nonprofit that works at the intersection of environmental justice and fashion development.

Ghana is one of Africa's leading importers of used clothing. It also ships some of what it gets from the United Kingdom, Canada, China and elsewhere to other West African nations, the United States and the U.K., according to the Ghana Used Clothing Dealers Association.

Some of the imported clothes arrive in such poor shape, however, that vendors dispose of them to make room for the next shipments. On average, 40% of the millions of garments exported weekly to Ghana end up as waste, according to Neesha-Ann Longdon, the business manager for the Or Foundation's executive director.

The clothing dealers association, in a report published earlier this year on the socioeconomic and environmental impact of the nation's secondhand clothing trade said only 5% of the items that reach Ghana in bulk are immediately thrown out because they cannot be sold or reused.

In many African countries, citizens typically buy preowned clothes  as well as used cars, phones and other necessities  because they cost less than new ones. Secondhand shopping also gives them a chance to score designer goods that most people in the region can only dream of.

But neither Ghana's fast-growing population of 34 million people nor its overtaxed infrastructure is equipped to absorb the amount of cast-off attire entering the country. Mounds of textile waste litter beaches across the capital, Accra, and the lagoon which serves as the main outlet through which the city's major drainage channels empty into the Gulf of Guinea.

"Fast fashion has taken over as the dominant mode of production, which is characterized here as higher volumes of lower-quality goods," Longdon said.

Jonathan Abbey, a fisherman in the area, said his nets often capture textile waste from the sea. Unsold used clothes "aren't even burned but are thrown into the Korle Lagoon, which then goes into the sea," Abbey said.

The ease of online shopping has sped up this waste cycle, according to Andrew Brooks, a King's College London researcher and the author of Clothing Poverty: The Hidden World of Fast Fashion and Second-hand Clothes.

In countries like the U.K., unwanted purchases often end up as charity donations, but clothes are sometimes stolen from street donation bins and exported to places where the consumer demand is perceived to be higher, Brooks said. Authorities rarely investigate such theft because the clothes are "seen as low-value items," he said.

Donors, meanwhile, think their castoffs are "going to be recycled rather than reused, or given away rather than sold, or sold in the U.K. rather than exported overseas," Brooks said.

The volume of secondhand clothing sent to Africa has led to complaints of the continent being used as a dumping ground. In 2018, Rwanda raised tariffs on such imports in defiance of U.S. pressure, citing concerns the West's refuse undermined efforts to strengthen the domestic textile industry. Last year, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said he would ban imports of clothing "from dead people."

Trade restrictions might not go far in either reducing textile pollution or encouraging clothing production in Africa, where profits are low and incentives for designers are few, experts say.

In the absence of adequate measures to stop the pollution, organizations like the Or Foundation are trying to make a difference by rallying young people and fashion creators to find a good use for scrapped materials.

Ghana's beaches had hardly any discarded clothes on them before the country's waste management problems worsened in recent years, foundation co-founder Liz Ricketts said.

"Fast forward to today, 2024, there are mountains of textile waste on the beaches," she said.
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, November 25. The 2024 Economic Forum of the United Nations Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) will be held on November 26-28 in Tajikistan's Dushanbe, Trend reports, via the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the country.

The forum will focus on the theme "Green Development in the SPECA Region".

SPECA, established in 1998 by the United Nations, aims to promote economic development and strengthen regional cooperation. Over the years, the program has concentrated on key issues such as sustainable trade, digitalization, water resources, energy, and transportation.

The previous SPECA Economic Forum, held in Baku on November 21-22, 2023, was centered around the theme "Transforming the SPECA region into a connectivity hub with global outreach". After Azerbaijan, the presidency of SPECA was handed over to Tajikistan.
No, not them. Photo: Chris Reardon/MGM+

Spoilers follow for the third season of From through the finale episode, Revelations: Chapter Two, which aired November 24 on MGM+.

Rejoice, From fam! Finally, our collective nightmare is over: Jim Matthews is dead.

This conspiracy theory-peddling, wife-doubting wet blanket of a man probably didnt deserve to die as brutally as he does in season finale Revelations: Chapter Two, with his throat ripped out in front of his teenage daughter, Julie. But also, its very in line with Jims whole aggrieved-dad-trying-to-prove-his-worth deal that instead of listening to Julies urgent pleas and escaping with her, he took a swig at a taunting baddie like an absolute aggro moron and ended up getting murdered for his trouble. Every supernatural series, from Midnight Mass to Yellowjackets, needs a character resistant to the shows inner eeriness to deliver persistent conflict, and Eion Bailey and his great head of hair played amusement-park engineer Jim with the exact right amount of wearisome square-mindedness. But From loves a cliffhanger and loathes complacency, making Jims death the appropriate end to a season that pulled off the double whammy of explaining very little while also bombarding us with new villains of all types.

From, which was recently renewed, has spent its three seasons so far avoiding answers. Instead, the series prefers to regularly introduce additional enigmas into its central town that somehow keeps drawing in new residents despite being a nightmarish place that might be a parallel dimension, a pocket universe, purgatory, or even hell. Season one of the MGM+ series from creator John Griffin established both the smiling monsters that hunt and consume the towns residents and their guiding rule: Like vampires, the creatures sleep during the day and only come out at night. If the humans stayed inside their homes, military vet and sheriff Boyd Stevens (Harold Perrineau) insisted, then theyd be safe to live another day and try to figure out how to get home. Season two expanded the world, introducing ruins in the forest that housed a blood-borne pathogen, an evil music box that allowed monsters to attack humans in their dreams, and even a way out of the town, with Jims wife, Tabitha Matthews (Catalina Sandino Moreno), stepping into a tree trunk and transporting to Maine. Resolution, From fans thought, was just around the corner.

But by the time Froms third season brought Tabitha back to town, it became pretty clear that this show has no real intentions of introducing short-term solutions into its long-term plan. (Griffin and series producer Jeff Pinkner have declined to say how many seasons of the show they have in mind, and cast members say they dont know either.) That kind of wheel-spinning can be infuriating in a genre show; think of how the second season of Yellowjackets eventually became too unwieldy or how certain episodes of Lost (one of Froms clear inspirations) felt inessential. But what From does so well is refuse to look too far forward; there are no split timelines here and no reassurances that everyone will eventually be okay. The series has an exquisite sense of present presence, one thats guided primarily by how this cast of characters will react to obstacles and aggressions that transform and amplify day by day. And in this years ten episodes, From just kept careening forward, giving its ensemble opportunity after opportunity to play the fear, mania, desperation, loyalty, and love that comes out of surviving horrible things together.

To recap this season: The vampirelike monsters learned how to torture. Someone (or something) claiming to be Jim and Tabithas dead son started calling them on their landline in a home that has no discernible power or telecommunications sources. There were evil cicadas buzzing around, a sentient instant camera taking pictures on its own, a possibly nefarious ventriloquist dummy, and an evil ghost lady in a kimono. Amid all this, From was also willing to blow up its own established characterization and rules. While making it seem like were never going to get full explanations, that approach also feels like a sign of brazen confidence. No one is safe in this world  as the monsters tell Boyd, You think this place cant break you? Lets see  and From emphasized that theme this season with a series of gutting turns.

Boyd, after being forced by the monsters to watch as they spent hours ripping apart Tien-Chen, one of the communitys most beloved members, turns into a torturer himself, hammering the manipulated-by-monsters Elgin for information about where Boyds daughter-in-law, Fatima, is being restrained. Fatima, the always-sunny resident whose positivity was a salve for new arrivals in town, became pregnant with a mysterious entity that in the finale was revealed to be a new monster. It was a goopy mass of flesh that, after being birthed, grew in record time into another version of the smiling redheaded monster that Boyd killed in season two. A tree-trunk portal that seemed to take people out of town instead sent its traveler into the wall of the abandoned pool that sits in the middle of the town, which mysteriously has no accompanying motel; we watched him bleed tears in his final moments of life. You want hope? From seemed to sneer at us. Have a face full of concrete instead.

Its all agonizing stuff, but it provides the forward progress From needs to keep us watching. On one level, From is about all its myriad inexplicable things, from the dog that playfully chases Boyd around the forest outside town (whos feeding it?) to the nocturnal creatures that walk around the cabins where the town grows its food to whatever the hell the word anghkooey has to do with the towns seeming power to reincarnate. These details and threads keep the redditors buzzing! But the reason we care about any of this absurdity is these characters and how acutely they show us the effort thats required  and the emotional toll it takes  to rebuild a society that is constantly at risk of collapse, to get up each day and keep trying to make sense of the senseless. The seriess horror, fantasy, and sci-fi flourishes are entertaining; yet, theyre always in service of that quest and these relationships. And all of that brings us back to Jim, whose death is a major disruption of the shows status quo.

When people on From die, they tend to be either unnamed extras or characters on the outer ring of the seriess milieu whose deaths affect those on the inner ring. Waitress Sara becomes an outcast for accidentally killing her brother; priest Father Khatris death makes Boyd realize the towns emotional health isnt as stable as he thought; Deputy Kenny gets nihilist for a while after both his father and mother are murdered by the monsters  that sort of thing. The Matthews family of Jim, Tabitha, teen daughter Julie, and young son Ethan werent just our entry point into the series as the group that arrives in town and experiences all its oddities as we do; they were also plot drivers. Tabitha attracted the ghosts of dead children; Julie got possessed; Ethan became best friends with the towns longest-tenured resident, Victor; and Jim used his engineering background to build a radio tower and try and find out whos responsible for the town. As Tabithas connection to the towns ghosts intensified, it felt like Jims season-three arc diminished to nagging his wife about the weird shit happening to her  but what was easy to miss is how Jims constant questioning was interpreted as a threat by the monsters we havent seen yet.

Who mocked Jim through the RVs radio and on the phone by pretending to be his dead son? Who was keeping tabs on Jim and the Matthewses from afar, and why were they considered so dangerous compared with the towns other residents? Because these intermittent warnings were so infrequent, they felt secondary to the monsters we knew and saw all the time and easier to categorize as less important. Revelations: Chapter Two chastises us for that complacency and for thinking that anyone on From is essential enough to keep on the board.

Killing Jim is a big swing and so is how its presented: with an emergent new baddie in a snazzy yellow suit saying meta things like, Knowledge comes with a cost, and Julie in a time loop, desperate to undo whats happened to her family. Will she succeed? We wont know until the fourth season, which could theoretically expand on Julies time-travel shenanigans to provide a conduit for Baileys character to return in some form. Recall, though, that Ethan tried to dissuade Julie from her plan by suggesting that altering the past has unique consequences. (No one can change a story once its been told.) Even if From does somehow bring Jim back from the dead, its willingness to off him in such a grisly and devastating way marks a new boldness from a series that has been consistent in its willingness to make any outcome feel possible.

An earlier version of this piece misidentified series producer Jeff Pinkner. It has been corrected.
Look, credit where its due: Yellowstone is still capable of putting out a pretty good episode! Three Fifty-Three is leaps and bounds above the first two of this final half-season, actually managing to consistently hold my attention for the whole hour. It makes you wonder why more of the show cant be like this.

I hate to say it, but part of the reason this episode works so well is that it ditches the Texas crew (as well as the other ranch hands) entirely, telling a story laser-focused on the characters who truly matter at this point: Beth, Kayce, Jamie, and Sarah Atwood. Rip, Monica, and Tate all show up in the slightly unnecessary opening ten-minute flashback, but even theyre absent from the rest.

As promised, Jamie is already hard at work on undoing his late fathers legacy. That requires the cooperation of Steven Rawlings, the lieutenant governor stepping up to replace John at the top. The two solidify their partnership during a meeting that turns into a scheming session where both men agree on a plan: override the revoked Market Equities lease and take control of the land through eminent domain, a strategy Jamie once opposed. As Lynelle Perry points out, its clearly an abuse of state authority, no matter how much Jamie insists that this development will be huge for Montanas economy. Soon Bozeman could be the new Jackson Hole, she warns him.

A lot of this is pretty ironic considering the massive (and polarizing) real-life influx of tourists that Yellowstone has brought to Montana. And look, I dont know much about eminent domain or conservation easements, so I cant make any judgments about the realism of this type of political maneuvering. But what matters here is that Jamies plan is moving forward successfully. Its only unfortunate for Johns old assistant Clara, who makes the principled decision to turn down Rawlingss chief of staff opportunity after witnessing the corruption. But at least she earns the trust of Lynelle, who may have a job for her.

From here, the narrative shifts to Kayce, who efficiently gets his fathers cause of death changed to undetermined after paying a visit to the coroners office. Its kind of ridiculous how stubbornly the medical examiner clings to her initial conviction that it was a suicide, especially considering how many signs of foul play they find just from glancing at the body again for a minute. They find multiple signs of struggle quickly, including bruises along his neckline and forehead, abrasions on the tops of his toes, and other marks and indentations on his legs. And Kayces description of his military training for handling sleeping targets seems to confirm a likely reality: A team of three men entered Johns house, knocked him out, and planted the evidence to make his murder look like a suicide. We saw it earlier in this very episode.

Detective Dillard opens back up the investigation and, at Kayces urging, holds a press conference about it. It does seem fishy that John would drive to the livestock office for his service pistol and bring it back to the governors mansion, though Jamie insists to Rawlings that this is all circumstantial at best. The speech that follows is even more consequential than the press conference: Rawlings addresses the assembly as the new governor and boldly points out Johns illegal actions, announcing the reinstatement of the lease and the invoking of eminent domain. The timing might be sketchy, but it goes over well with the assembly. The only twist, really, is the governors declaration that Jamie will recuse himself from any investigation into his fathers death, something that could endanger any chance of him controlling the Dutton land.

Jamie is spiraling, and its not just because of this latest news. Kayce finally visits his office to confront him about Johns murder, throwing him onto the desk. Ive been waiting for these two to reunite for a while  the show has often downplayed its sibling relationships for some reason  and now is a particularly raw time, with Kayce fresh off staring at his fathers corpse. And I like that Jamie manages to temporarily convince his brother of his possible innocence, for once really stretching his acting muscles and committing to a lie. I could never do that to you, he says, and you can imagine how much itll hurt once Kayce realizes he did.

Things are looking grim for the ranch, and for once we get to see Beth really wrestle with the likelihood of a worst-case scenario outcome. With John dead, she can finally see the man clearly and realize how few options he left his family. Chief Rainwater comes to pay a visit, laying out the bleak road ahead dealing with the Department of the Interior but offering his services in any way he can. There was a time when Rainwater wanted this land desperately for himself and his tribe, but it seems likelier every day that neither the tribe nor the Duttons will own it in the end.

An open offer to be used is exactly the kind of opportunity Beth would usually seize on, and Rainwater does put forth some ideas of partnerships that could lengthen their partial hold on the land. But she doesnt see much of a path forward now, either. Its striking to see Beth in this mode, musing about how the fantasy world of the ranch destroyed her father and so many others. Theres no preserving this place, only prolonging its collapse.

With only three episodes to go in Yellowstone, its refreshing to get some real consideration of what it would be like to lose somewhere that many people call home  and to see Beth near rock bottom, hopeless and grieving and full of rage. But the biggest stakes-raising drama happens in the final sequence, after Sarah buys a burner phone but fails to get in contact with the contract killing company.

Sarahs confrontation with Jamie would be the highlight of a normal episode, the definitive moment when something shifts between them and things can never truly be the same. She tries to calm him down and assure him that nobody can connect him with the assassination, that the governor has no actual power to recuse Jamie. But her attitude pisses him off, especially the idea that she selflessly took on all the risk for Jamie while he only faces accessory after the fact, so he slaps her in the face. She slaps right back, as expected, and storms out. Theres no pretending only one of these people manipulated the other; both are deeply selfish and greedy, and Jamie got just as much out of their arrangement as Sarah did.

Except, in the end, that arrangement gets her killed. Jamie calls Sarah almost immediately after she leaves to apologize, and they do make up. But moments after saying You have nothing to fear, Sarah is getting gunned down at a stop light in broad daylight. Its a pretty shocking moment, especially because this show doesnt kill people off that often these days. But even outside that ending, Three Fifty-Three provides some solid evidence that Yellowstone still has some gas left in the tank. Lets see if we can keep that going for the last three.

The Last Roundup

 The flashback at the beginning at least connects the previous episodes flashback (Beth and Rips date in Amarillo) with the present-day timeline when we see Beth and Kayce each sense something deeply wrong when their father dies. Again, though, I wouldve preferred we just see all this stuff in the premiere instead.

 I actually cant believe there was another get a room scene with Tate disgusted by his parents kissing. I feel like Im getting Punkd at this point.

 Kayce gently knocks out one of the technicians for a moment just to illustrate what he learned in the military. What the fuck? Sorry.

 Beth snarling you leave him to me made me laugh. She seemed genuinely worried her one brother would take away her opportunity to kill her other brother.

 Mo stops by and dispenses some wisdom to Kayce about how eventually choosing between his family and the ranch will feel like fate. But I do kind of wish these two could have one conversation where Kayce is the one asking about Mo. But how about you, man? Howve you been?

 Congratulations to Kevin Costners body double, whos getting a surprising amount of work this season.

 We dont take cash. Oh, thats not my problem. Youll figure it out. Youll sort of be missed, Sarah.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, November 25. Uzbekistan's foreign trade turnover volume with the UAE reached $472.2 million from January through September 2024.

Data obtained by Trend from Uzbekistan's Statistics Agency indicates a 0.76 percent decrease compared to the same period last year ($475.8 million in JanuarySeptember 2023).

The UAE made it into the top 20 countries with the biggest foreign trade turnover volume in Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan's exports to the UAE totaled $179.9 million, which is 5.8 percent less than over the year ($191.1 million in JanuarySeptember 2023).

The volume of imports from the UAE to Uzbekistan reached $292.3 million from January through September 2024. This figure has increased by 2.6 percent year-on-year ($284.7 million in JanuarySeptember 2023).

Meanwhile, Uzbekistan's foreign trade turnover volume amounted to $48.2 billion from January through September 2024. This figure indicates a 7.7 percent growth year-on-year ($44.7 billion in JanuarySeptember 2023).
Protesters in Rome and Palermo march against femicide.

Italys anti-violence helpline 1522 received 48,000 calls and text messages in the first nine months of 2024, an increase of 57 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The figures, released by Italy's ministry of equal opportunities, showed a surge of women seeking help in the aftermath of the brutal murder of university student Giulia Cecchettin last November, in a case that sparked a major debate on femicide in Italy.

The 1522 helpline - which is free, anonymous and active 24 hours a day - is designed as a first response to the needs of victims of gender-based violence and stalking.

Rallies against gender-based violence

An estimated 150,000 people joined a rally in Rome on Saturday to condemn violence against women, with thousands also taking to the streets of the Sicilian capital Palermo.

The marches against femicide and patriarchy were organised by the Non una di meno (Not one less) feminist movement ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, held annually on 25 November.

Activists in Rome staged a topless march in homage to Ahoo Dayraei, a female Iranian student who stripped to her underwear in an anti-hijab protest at a university in Tehran.

Demonstrators also burned a photograph of Italy's right-wing education minister Giuseppe Valditara after he claimed that a rise in rapes and sexual violence in the country was linked to irregular migration.

Valditara made the controversial remark last week during the presentation of the Giulia Cecchettin Foundation, set up in memory of the 22-year-old student whose former boyfriend Filippo Turetta is currently standing trial on murder charges.

Non una di meno activists in Rome carried a banner containing the names of the 106 women killed in Italy in the year since Cecchettin's murder on 11 November 2023.

There were 99 women killed in Italy between 1 January and 18 November 2024, which equates to one woman killed every three days, state broadcaster RAI News reports.

Orange the World

The facade of Palazzo Chigi, the seat of Italy's government, was illuminated with orange lights on Sunday night as part of the Orange the World campaign to end violence against women.

Italy's culture ministry is also adhering to the international campaign by lighting up museums, archaeological parks and state cultural sites in orange on Monday night.

Photo credit: Fabrizio Maffei / Shutterstock.com.
Metro A will stay open until usual time at night after 6 December.

Rome's Metro A line will resume its normal operating hours at night from 6 December, after eight months of maintenance works forced the subway to close early.

Since last April the subway line has closed at 21.00 from Sunday to Thursday, with the subway route served by shuttle buses, while the weekend service has stayed operating until the normal time of 01.30.

From 6 December the Metro A will be active from 05.30 to 23.30 from Sunday to Thursday, and from 05.30 to 01.30 on Fridays and Saturdays.

The resumption of normal opening hours on Rome's main subway line comes ahead of the Vatican's Jubilee Year 2025 when more than 32 million pilgrims and tourists are expected to arrive in the Eternal City.

Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri said the works to replace the subway tracks, which were 30 years old, were "necessary to address the significant increase in demand for public transport" expected next year.

In July 2022, the entire Metro A line closed early for a year and a half, reopening last December, in order to carry out maintenance works and replace rail tracks.

However the job was not completed and Gualtieri warned at the time that further closures would be expected in spring 2024 to finish the works on the last Ottaviano-Battistini stretch of the line.

Rome prepares for Jubilee Year

There are multiple public works projects underway in the capital, leading to traffic chaos and leaving tourists disappointed to find landmarks such as the Trevi Fountain under scaffolding.

The city recently renovated several key subway stations and is nearing completion of a major overhaul of its entire tram network.

Earlier this month Gualtieri insisted that the city was on track to complete its Jubilee projects on time, including a new underpass near the Vatican which is set to open on 20 December.

Photo credit: DedMityay / Shutterstock.com.
David Raleigh

A man who pleaded guilty to careless driving causing his cousins death on the morning of his wedding, was today given a fully suspended 18-month jail sentence and a five-year road ban.

The groom, Myles Miley Harty, (20), from Askeaton, Co Limerick, died after his best-man and cousin, Shane Harty, lost control of a car they were in and hit a wall, ditch and telephone pole.

The car became airborne and inverted after hitting the wall and telephone pole which smashed through the cars front windscreen and impacted with Myles Hartys head, killing him instantly.

Following his arrest, Shane Harty admitted to gardai that he had been speeding and showing off while he drove Myles Harty and another cousin Daniel Harty to a 24-hour shop in Rathkeale situated near their homes in Askeaton, Co Limerick.

The car left the Askeaton to Rathkeale road and landed on its roof sometime between midnight and 1am on August 21, 2021, Limerick Circuit Criminal Court heard.

Shane Harty was initially charged with one count of dangerous driving causing Mr Hartys death. However, a week prior to his trial, the State accepted his plea of guilt to a lesser offence of careless driving causing Mr Hartys death, which carries a sentence of a maximum of two years in jail and or a 10,000 fine.

Myles Hartys was due to wed Kate Quilligan at St Munchins Church, Limerick City later on that day.

When Gardai put it to Shane Harty that there is no doubt that at the time you lost control of the car you were speeding, he agreed and replied, no doubt.

Shane Harty, (21), of Tola Park, Shannon, Co Clare, also told gardai he regretted everything and he would have driven a lot slower if he had the opportunity to go back in time to the morning in question. He added: Im sorry it happened, it shouldnt have happened.

A garda forensic collision investigator who examined the scene said he was not able to determine the exact pre-collision speed of the car, but he said the circumstances involved strongly suggested that (the car) was traveling above the speed limit of 80kmh.

No other vehicle was involved, the road conditions were good, and the car was in good working order, it was heard.

Shane Hartys Skoda Octavia travelled a total distance of 22.9 metres from where it left the road to where it ended up on its roof.

Kate Quilligan wrote in her victim impact statement, which was read to the court: Every morning I wake up I relive the nightmare of that day. It will never leave my mind. It should have been the happiest day of my life...it has shattered so many lives and robbed our son, Miley, of his father.

Margaret and Myles Harty snr, parents of the deceased, wrote that their lives would never be the same. They said Myles was preparing for his wedding day, but he never got the chance to celebrate his special day.

Myles always had a big beautiful smile on his face, he is a big loss for us all...He went out that night and told us, Ill be back in five minutes, but he never returned.

Shane Harty wrote letters of apology to Ms Quilligan and the deceaseds family and stated he had lost his best friend in the collision and that he wished he could turn back time.

Shane Hartys barrister, senior counsel Brian McInerney, had asked sentencing judge, Colin Daly, to consider a number of mitigating factors in his judgement.

Mr McInerney said Shane Harty was genuinely remorseful, he had no previous convictions, he had a clean drivers licence on the night; he had cooperated with gardai; and he had no traces of alcohol or drugs in his system at the time of the collision.

Whatever sentence is imposed by the court, he (Shane Harty) has a heavy burden, he is already serving a life sentence of that burden every waking moment of his life, Mr McInerney said.

Judge Daly said no sentence would bring Myles Harty back to his family.

After extending his sympathies to Myles Hartys family, the judge concluded: Shane Harty will have to live with this for the rest of his life. Im quiet sure that living with the consequences will ensure Shane Harty will change his attitude to speed.
Michael Bolton

Green Party Senator Pauline O'Reilly says she feels the level of frustration from disabled people and carers towards the Government.

Ms O'Reilly was speaking following an exchange between Simon Harris and Charlotte Fallon, a worker with St Josephs Foundation on Friday that went viral.

During a canvass, Ms Fallon said carers "were ignored and the Government has done nothing for us. The exchange continued before the Taoiseach shook his head and walked away.

Speaking to Breakingnews.ie, Ms O'Reilly condemned the Taoiseach for his action, and says she feels the level of frustration from disabled people.

"It beggars belief that you would speak to anybody like that. We are all experienced politicians, and you wouldn't speak to anybody like that.

"I have no explanation for it, I can't fathom it at all.

"I do think there is a level of frustration amongst not just carers but disabled people in Ireland.

"We in the Green Party intend to put in a basic income for carers, like we did for artists."

The General Election campaign has seen Fine Gael and Fianna Fail criticise their coalition partner, despite spending almost five years in Government together.

Ms O'Reilly said the intentions of the two larger parties were clear from the moment Michael O'Leary appeared at an event for Fine Gael TD Peter Burke.

"With Michael O'Leary, we are not exactly his favourite party. Nobody knew he would sink to the depths he did at having a go at public service workers.

"The way we look at it is, we are the only ones who are trying to actually support people in the transition to a greener future with money and financial support.

"Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, and indeed any of the other parties haven't shown a willingness to do that."

Despite the ongoing messages on climate change, the latest poll shows the Green Party on three per cent.

The party said the coalition almost fell during negotiations with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael over the establishment of a multibillion euro climate and nature investment fund in 2023.

The Galway West candidate says the Greens are needed in the next government to deal with climate issues.

"We knew it would be challenging, that is why it took a long time to negotiate the Programme for Government.

"Almost everything we had put in the Programme for Government was over the line in the end.

"We stood our ground. You only have to look at the example of the land hoarding tax: the Greens stood firm on it, and we did get our own way.

"What you have with the Greens is people who will stick with it, even when it is challenging to get something over the line, and stand firm.

"Of course it was challenging, it was challenging the whole time in Government, but we were constructive at all times."
Sonya McLean

A man who beat his partner so badly he checked she was breathing afterwards and later threatened to cut her throat and eat her liver has been jailed for three years.

Ian Doyle (33), who was on bail at the time for assaulting a different partner, did not let the woman leave the house for nearly a week following a sustained attack on her in her home in February 2023.

Her four-year-old daughter was asleep upstairs at the time of this first beating.

The woman needed medical attention, but he refused to let her leave the house and instead supplied her with paper stitches and painkillers which he had bought at a nearby pharmacy.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that after the first attack, the woman tried to leave the house with her young child, but Doyle forced her back inside. The court was shown CCTV footage of this incident.

On another occasion when the little girl requested food, the woman attempted to go downstairs and prepare her a meal, but Doyle pushed the woman down the stairs, causing a wound that she had from the earlier assault to re-open and bleed again. The child witnessed this second attack.

Garda Claire McLoughlin told Patricia McLaughlin SC, prosecuting, that while Doyle kept the woman in the house, he took control of her mobile phone. He allowed her to call her mother daily, as the woman was in a habit of doing this, but he monitored the call.

He also allowed the woman to contact her social worker, but he sent this key worker text messages from the victims phone - purporting to be the victim.

Gda McLoughlin said the woman only managed to call for help when Doyle left the house to attend a court hearing and didnt take the womans phone with him.

The first attack took place on a Saturday night and the woman only managed to call her friend for help the following Friday.

Hospital

This friend took her to hospital, but Doyle was there when they arrived. In the hospital, he kissed the woman and held her hand in front of medical staff, showing concern for her well-being.

Judge Orla Crowe was provided with a booklet of photographs of the house taken by gardai after the woman managed to report the attacks.

The photographs showed blood splatter all over the house from the front door handle, to the bathroom walls, to the staircase, a blood-stained towel, bedsheets, pillows and clothing.

She was also given a booklet of the womans injuries which were ultimately taken a week after the first assault.

Doyle, of Cashel Avenue, Crumlin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting the woman causing her harm and threatening to kill or causing serious harm to the woman on dates in February 2023. Charges of assault causing harm and false imprisonment were taken into consideration.

A victim impact statement was handed into court but not read out. The woman no longer lives in Ireland.

Previous convictions

Doyle has 74 previous convictions for offences including assault, public order, violence in a garda station and possession of articles with intent to cause harm. He is currently serving a three and a half year prison term for assaulting a different partner and is due for release in April 2026.

Gda McLoughlin said gardai arrived at the womans home on February 18th, 2023 following an anonymous call about a disturbance there.

They spoke to the victim, whom the garda described as intoxicated and spoke with Doyle. The woman was not injured and told gardai she was fine. The officers also checked on the womans four-year-old daughter who was asleep upstairs.

The woman later told gardai that after they left, Doyle became agitated and aggressive towards her. She described him as foaming at the mouth before he booted her straight into the chest and landed her across the room.

She said he was booting her all over and she was afraid for her life. She was afraid he would kill her before he dragged her up onto a chair.

Gda McLoughlin said Doyle then took a swinging kick into the right-hand side of her head and the next she could recall was waking up on the ground.

Doyle told her he had to check her stomach to make sure she was breathing  I thought I had killed you, he said.

It was at this point that the woman tried to leave the house with her child, but Doyle prevented her from doing so. He kept her then in the house for a number of days until she was ultimately able to call her friend.

Judge Crowe said the attacks occurred within the context of an intimate relationship but accepted that it was a new relationship, having only started the previous month.

She noted evidence that Doyle began asserting his control over the woman before the assault by trying to pair their phones and demanding that the woman change her phone for one he had bought her. Doyle ultimately smashed the womans phone when she refused to take this new phone as he had suggested.

She noted from the photographs before the court that there was blood splatter throughout the house and that the photographs of the womans injuries, taken a week later, show extensive bruising over her entire body and a very deep cut to her head.

Judge Crowe said Doyle provided the woman with medication after the assault, that made her feel dazed and he refused to let her go to the hospital. She noted that the threat he issued to cut her throat and eat her liver were in the days after the first assault when the woman began to feel better.

The judge said when the woman successfully managed to get help, Doyle followed her to the hospital and purported to be a loving partner.

It is an inherently very serious offence, Judge Crowe said, before she noted that the pleas Doyle entered dont capture the whole offending.

It went on for a protracted period of time and was carried out by a man who was on bail for assaulting another partner, the judge continued.

She took into account that the victim impact statement outlined that the woman was in terrible fear and that she had suffered both medical and psychological trauma.

This assault in her home was unwarranted and unjustified, Judge Crowe said before she described Doyles actions as cruel  in that he didnt allow her out of his control.

She said he subjected the woman to a very frightening series of events which was documented in the photographs from her home with blood dotted around the house.

Judge Crowe said the CCTV footage showed him bringing her and her child back into the house when they tried to escape.

He showed utter disregard to another human being for her dignity and rights and the dignity and rights of her child. It is a very sad state of affairs, Judge Crowe said.

She set a headline sentence of five years which she reduced to three years and six months having taken into account that Doyle had pleaded guilty, although she noted that it was a late plea and that the woman had to come to court for a pre-trial hearing.

Judge Crowe suspended the final six months of the term on condition that Doyle engage with the Probation Service for two years upon his release and engage with any courses they recommended particularly in relation to violence against intimate partners.

This sentence is to be consecutive to the current sentence he is serving for assaulting a different partner, which is due to expire in April 2026.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can contact Womens Aid (24-hour freephone helpline at 1800-341 900, email helpline@womensaid.ie) or Mens Aid Ireland (confidential helpline at 01-554 3811, email hello@mensaid.ie) for support and information.

Safe Ireland also offers a number of local services and helplines at safeireland.ie/get-help/where-to-find-help/. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.
Both WLR FM and Waterford Chamber of Commerce hosted election debates last week, with a key issue raised in part one of WLRs debate being farming.

When asked to speak on the topic by moderator Damien Tiernan, Conor McGuinness said: We need to see an end to the demonisation of farmers and put supports in place to secure the future of the family farm. Farmers, as opposed to any other sector, are being routinely blamed for climate change and the climate crisis in Ireland.

Labour candidate Sadhbh ONeill disagreed with McGuinness assessment, saying that "nobody is demonising farmers".

What I heard there from Conor is really disappointing," she added, "because it is possible to be on the side of farmers and family farmers, and to want to protect their income and future generations of younger farmers without having to sacrifice our environment or water quality."

Matt Shanahan added: I would absolutely say the farming sector has been vilified."

He said the vilification is coming largely from environmental lobbyists, to which Mr. Tiernan asked: Is it coming from the likes of Sadhbh?

Shanahan replied: "Very much so... I want farmers to be treated properly and I want just transition for farmers, theyre certainly not getting that."

ONeill responded: I have been demonised, because its easy to scapegoat people. The science is uncomfortable and inconvenient. It's inconvenient to think about the agricultural model, which has generated so much wealth in Ireland, to be the cause of pollution and emissions I have not demonised farmers ever.

Mary Butler was asked by Mr Tiernan, "Have you been part of this demonisation of farmers?"

No I havent, she replied, and Fianna Fail sees the family farm as central to rural Ireland's vitality.

Independent Aaron Joyce added: It seems we can burn coal in factories in China, but cow farting in Ireland is a problem? I have a massive issue with the climate change agenda."

Meanwhile, during Waterford Chambers pre-election debate, moderated by Paul Nolan, candidates were asked if they have any redline issues.

Mary Butler said: I always find youre better off working inside of government trying to deliver, than putting down redline issues.

John Cummins similarly commented: You achieve things in government by working together with one another."

Mary Roche said her redline issue is balanced regional development, whilst Independent Killian Mangan said his was decentralisation.

The full debates can be viewed on the 'We Are WLR' and Waterford Chamber of Commerce YouTube channels.
After four years in the Seanad, John Cummins is seeking to go one step further and get elected to the Dail. The Fine Gael Senator ran unsuccessfully in 2020 but this year as the sole Fine Gael candidate, Cummins seems quietly confident about his hopes of electoral success.

The Senator objected to the notion that Waterford is being left behind, "I know that's a narrative that is out there. But I much prefer to talk up Waterford rather than talk it down. Look at the achievements that have been achieved over the last decade and more, and look to the future and what can be achieved over the next number of years," he urged voters.

"I was elected when I was 21 to the council, some 15 years ago. When I think back to where Waterford was 15 years ago and look at where it is now, it's hugely different. Back at that time, our local and our national economies were broken. We had unemployment reaching 20%, we now have full employment in Waterford. There's been 6,000 additional state-supported jobs added in Waterford in that time."

"When I think back to the Viking Triangle, it was a derelict area of our city - it is now one of the best areas, with one of the best museums probably in the country."

"Think back to times when our city's quays, just outside here, were flooding and are now being protected by state-of-the-art flood protection. Look at health and the huge investment in our primary and secondary schools in education as well."

Cummins believes that the current Fine Gael - Fianna Fail government has delivered change for Waterford during its term and helped to accelerate the development of the South East region leading to "huge strides being made in Waterford over the last number of years."

"So I choose to be optimistic about our city and county and everything that it has to offer," he said, "I love our county and its people. I really think that we need to talk up our county because if we don't do it, nobody else is going to do it for us."

"I'm not saying for one second that we have enough investment," he said, "I will always fight for more investment for Waterford, because our people deserve it."

Challenged on Fine Gael's track record on the issue of 24/7 cardiac care at UHW, Senator Cummins said, "I don't need to give the people of Waterford a history lesson in cardiac care, but at the same time, we have to acknowledge what [Taoiseach] Simon Harris did. Simon Harris approved the second cath lab for Waterford when he was Minister for Health. That second cath lab is now operating. It means that our [waiting] lists in Waterford have gone hugely down and 19 and a half full-time equivalents were approved in April of this year and the staff recruitment is underway in order to try and get the service to 8-to-8 on a seven-day per-week basis."

The North Quays project

Asked if his achievements as a Senator have been limited to small-scale achievements, Cummins pointed to the North Quays development project as an example of his ability to deliver tangible results.

"I have driven that project forward at every opportunity, working with the developers at various different times, with Michael Walsh, with the council, with the departments."

"At every point along the way," Cummins says he faced doubters about the project.

"I was told we wouldn't knock the grain silos; they were knocked. I was told we wouldn't be able to CPO [compulsory purchase order] the lands; they were purchased. I was told we wouldn't be able to get planning permission; we got planning permission. I was told we wouldn't get the developer on board to develop it; we have Harcourt Developments, and I was told [the] Government wouldn't invest the money required to unlock the site; 170 million in government funding is being delivered to the North Quays outside of this window.

"So that's probably the biggest project in Waterford and I've been involved in it from the start. I would like to think that that's one thing that people can take back over the last number of years and think of all the times that I spoke about that project, and think about all of the involvement that I've had in it. I would point to that as something that I've been centrally involved in."

Senator Cummins said that projects such as the North Quays "don't just happen" because Waterford deserves the investment, "It happens through hard work. It happens through being in the right place to be able to influence things. It happens by getting the support of your party and government to be able to deliver on those items and that's what I've been involved in."

"You put it to me at the very start that I was a grafter, but I've only been involved in small ticket things. I'm pointing to the biggest ticket thing being delivered in Waterford at this moment in time, and saying that I've been centrally involved in it."

Asked how he would grade his performance during his term as a senator, Cummins laughed, "Well, I was a teacher, so you always try and mark down a student so that there is room for improvement - but I'll avoid the grading part!

"What I would say is, I think I've been a very effective member of the Senate. I've operated as a kind of de facto Fine Gael TD because we didn't return a TD at the last election. I've been a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, I've worked with all parties and none, on that committee to bring forward innovative solutions, in terms of housing."

Cummins added, "I think I've done a huge amount of work, but obviously I want to do more and I feel I can achieve more as a TD for Waterford."

WATCH FULL INTERVIEW: HERE
David Cullinane TD is the Sinn Fein spokesperson for Health and is running in the General Election race in Waterford. A staunch member of the opposition in the Dail, Cullinane topped the poll in 2020 following his party's "mistake" not to run two candidates in the last election. This time he is hoping to secure two Sinn Fein seats in his home constituency.

One of the most prominent Sinn Fein TDs, Cullinane was asked if he thinks that Waterford has been left behind by the current government.

"I think the people of Waterford certainly believe that Waterford does not get its fair share. I believe that we have to fight harder than other regions and other counties - unfairly so. I think part of the problem is we haven't had a senior minister of cabinet for an awfully long time, but you shouldn't need to have a minister to get what a county or a region deserves."

"If you look at all of the big ticket issues, which have impacted on Waterford [such as] the hospital, even getting to the point of the second cath lab was a battle where people had to take to the streets. We had to keep fighting with ministers to get that over the line, we see it with the North Quays, eventually the money came, but it was a long battle again to get that funding.

"We're seeing it still with 24/7 cardiac care, we can't seem to get that over the line. The government, and the local ministers here and politicians, have committed to it but it still hasn't been delivered. [We are seeing it] most recently, with the airport - which really frustrates people because I've been dealing with this issue for an awful long time."

Cullinane says that the delays in funding for projects in Waterford are seen as a representation of the "attitude towards Waterford".

"It shouldn't have to be that way, that we have to fight and fight for resources, but we do. That's why we need to send strong, capable TDs to Leinster House to stand up for Waterford and deliver for Waterford."

Sinn Fein is aiming to be part of the next government, and part of that ambition is seeking to elect two TDs in Waterford, Cullinane said.

"We're standing two candidates this time, myself and Connor McGuinness.

"My first challenge is to win two seats for Sinn Fein in Waterford," he said, "We obviously want to win as many seats as possible statewide. That will put us in a position to form a government.

"I believe that the electorate deserves a choice, the electorate deserves an alternative, and Sinn Fein is giving the people that choice," he said.

Cullinane sees himself as the best bet for a senior Minister elected in Waterford.

He believes that Waterford "is the engine of the South East" and says "if we win two seats here in Waterford and I am a senior minister, we can deliver for Waterford but also for the entire South East. Because if you deliver for Waterford, you also deliver for the entire region."

To put fuel into the engine of the South East, Cullinane says that Waterford needs to be a hub for international investment through the development of offshore wind.

"If we want to meet our climate action targets, I believe that we should strive to be a carbon-neutral city and a carbon-neutral region," he said.

In doing so, he believes Waterford can attract FDI; "Investors are smart. Multinational companies, when they make investments, are looking at the next generation. They're not going to lock themselves into areas that are still dependent on fossil fuels. So it's in our interest to be world leaders in this area."

"We have to do more in relation to renewable energy, and for me, we have a very unique opportunity here in the South East. We have Rosslare Europort and we have Waterford Port."

Cullinane hailed the "huge potential" in developing offshore wind and said it would result in "hundreds of millions of euros of additional money coming into Waterford."

He also said: "We have an opportunity to have a different government that would represent ordinary working people; that will deal with the housing crisis because a lot of young people are locked out of a chance of owning their own home; will build a world-class health service, which is not beyond us in a wealthy country. We've always been conditioned to accept or normalize failure in all of these areas, and I don't believe that that's the height of our ambition."

Cullinane is promising an ambitious future for the county, and following the furore following his controversial celebrations in 2020 when he was filmed chanting "Up the Republic, up the Ra, and Tiocfaidh ar la", Cullinane said he could "guarantee that if I am elected this time, that that won't be part of my celebration".

WATCH FULL INTERVIEW HERE
Dr Ronan Cleary is contesting the General Election in Waterford for Aontu.

The General Practitioner and Tramore resident has criticised the government's spending as "inefficient" and supports his party's policy to improve efficiency in government spending by adding another junior minister to the department of the Taoiseach, but would this add more expense and bureaucracy to decision-making and cost analysis decrease government efficiency? Cleary disagreed, saying he believes that a junior minister with responsibility for the efficient spending of public money would "concentrate the minds of civil service, senior civil servants, but also ministers holding the different portfolios."

Cleary's party has pointed to the 31 people in the International Protection Procurement Service as understaffed and seeks to create an expanded Border Agency of the same magnitude as Lithuanias 4,000-person agency, which at the average public sector salary (52,000) could cost the Irish taxpayer more than 200,000,000 every year, based on CSO figures. Dr Cleary believes this would be a worthwhile investment into the country's control of its borders.

Having been the Chair of Doctors for Life through the abortion referendum, Dr Cleary opposed the referendum but said that "nobody is proposing now that we go back to the days when the eighth amendment was in place".

"That's not to say that, if there was a referendum again tomorrow, I wouldn't campaign on a pro-life issue," he said.

"I think it's about limiting the damage of the removal of the Eighth Amendment. It's about putting pro-life policies in place. So nobody has to have an abortion due to socio-economic circumstances."

He wants to "bring in an economy that is based around the family, the Irish family and bringing in tax incentives for people to have larger families. It's all very well bringing in immigrants to increase our GDP, And there is a place for that. But at the same time, we also have greater growth of the native population."

To help farmers, Dr Cleary is hoping to introduce a minimum price for beef in Ireland, "One of the last votes of the 33rd Dail was Aontu trying to bring in the Equitable Beef Pricing Bill, which would stop the soft cost selling of beef to food processors and supermarkets and also the food barons. Irish beef is the best in the world, it is second to none."

"People might say that there's no leeway or there's a lack of a profit margin, well, you can rest assured Aldi, Lidl, and SuperValu do make profits in the tens of millions on the backs of Irish produce, including Irish beef."

"Also, we can't have a green agenda and the Mercosur deal - the idea of culling the Irish herd by 250,000 and then shipping beef up from Brazil and Argentina, is completely absurd and has to be disregarded."

Dr Cleary also called for the renegotiation of the Common Fisheries Policy, to give Irish fishermen higher quotas in Irish waters.

WATCH FULL INTERVIEW HERE
Deputy Marc O Cathasaigh is a TD for the Green Party and is running as a General Election candidate in Waterford.

Deputy O Cathasaigh spoke to Waterford News & Star Editor Mary Frances Ryan and waterford-news.ie about the cheaper prices of public transport, the development of Waterford Airport, and his love of bicycles.

This is part of a series of interviews with the General Election candidates in Waterford. You can watch the full interview below.
Minister Mary Butler is contesting the General Election for Fianna Fail in Waterford.

Minister of State at the department of Health with a responsibility for older people and mental health, she spoke to Waterford News & Star editor Mary Frances Ryan and waterford-news.ie about her belief that Waterford is not being left behind, her work to achieve incremental progress on cardiovascular care coverage at UHW and her love of shoes!

This part of a series of interviews with the General Election candidates in Waterford. You can watch the full interview below.
We joined Deputy Matt Shanahan's team on the campaign trail as this short general election run-in nears its close and we draw nearer to forming our new government.

Tramore

On Friday evening last, whilst Deputy Shanahan was canvassing in the west of the county, the Waterford News & Star joined his canvassing team who were busy spreading the word in Tramore.

Shanahans team, which included local Independent councillors Joe Conway and Blaise Hannigan, took to the doorsteps to gauge the feeling of voters and appeal for an Independent vote this coming Friday.

We joined Matt Shanahan's team on the campaign trail in Tramore and Dunmore East.

There were few who were willing to confront the knocks on what was a cold night in Tramore. The response was positive, however, from those that did answer.

A significant amount of residents who obliged the knocks said they would support Shanahan on account of his endorsement from Conway and Hannigan, two popular figures in the Tramore area.

There was, however, also an aura of confusion amongst a handful of residents, with some saying, Whos running from around here?" and I havent a clue who Ill vote for.

Another said that only two of the other candidates came to their door in the past number of weeks: Mary Butler and one of the Sinn Fein candidates.

We need an Independent, Shanahans canvassers said to residents on the night and generally locals showed enthusiasm to voting so, with one resident particularly displeased by one of the opposition party TDs.

Waterford Airport was mentioned a number of times and Palestine was also raised on the night.

Matt Shanahan and his team canvassing in Dunmore East.

Speaking to the News & Star during the canvass, Cllr Blaise Hannigan said that he had covered approximately 99.2% of the Tramore area to endorse Shanahan.

He added that cost of living was the dominant issue during his canvassing efforts over the last number of weeks.

Anyone who came out was totally positive, and I mean that sincerely, he said. I think I got maybe eight Sinn Fein houses, which is totally ok, and so I asked for number two. I got a lot of houses who said they were disillusioned with politics, especially with the main parties.

Cllr Conway said: People may say the Independents cant achieve anything, but they can by virtue of the fact that they can point out again and again how frequently the government has let down Waterford and the south east.

During the campaign trail, Deputy Shanahan has received support from a majority of the eight Independent councillors on Waterford Council. Former Fine Gael councillor Declan Doocey has also supported him in the west of the county.

Dunmore East

The following afternoon, we joined Deputy Shanahan and his team for a canvas in Dunmore East.

Once again, few came to the doors, resulting from a mixture of very poor weather, homes being empty, and perhaps a jaded attitude towards canvassers as the election campaign draws to a close.

The tattered and wilting leaflets of other candidates, who had already passed through the area, sat at the front doors and hanging from the letter boxes of a number of homes, which were not lived in or which had been vacated for the winter months.

Shanahan and his team added their own literature to houses which appeared occupied, dropping leaflets with a written note on each through letter boxes.

Those who did answer were met with a similar opening message from Deputy Shanahan each time:

Im the man who started the Hand on Heart campaign in Waterford for cardiac care. Im also the man who kept the rescue helicopter in Waterford when government tried to bring it to Cork.

Residents who appeared less interested in engaging, were asked by Shanahan or his team to Scan the QR code on the leaflet over a cup of coffee to see the parliamentary work that has been done.

The code brings up a list of Shanahans social media accounts, his website and his Oireachtas profile.

Just as during the previous night in Tramore, most responses were neutral or positive.

The uncertainty of voting Independent was mentioned by one resident, who said: Weve always heard that Independents have a hard time because theyre not one group.

Shanahan replied: Thats true but you dont need Independents in one group because it would be quite fragmented. What you need is a solid group of Independents, maybe six, seven or eight, who are aligned on principal policy, just like a party.

Another spoke out on the lack of funding for South East Technological University, whilst others mentioned the difficulty for young adults to acquire housing.

I think the younger people who need housing are a missed generation, one individual said.

Shanahan said at one doorstep: Are you aware of the work Ive been doing? to which the reply was: Im aware of a lot of the things that have not been done.

One voter, who wasnt initially aware of Shanahans work, said plainly: Yes, Ill vote for you, when Shanahan mentioned his commitment to cardiac services.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, one resident said they would be voting, but not for Shanahan, feeling aggrieved by the lack of delivery on 24/7 cardiac care. They said that Shanahan promised to deliver the project in 2020 but failed.

Shanahan replied: I never promised to deliver it, I promised to fight for it. Youll never find a sentence or an audio bite where I said Id promise to deliver it. That was put out by opposition parties.

WATCH INTERVIEW WITH MATT SHANAHAN HERE
Located in the public space of the Apple Market in Waterford city, the Brno-Waterford Gateway opened last week, offering a real-time, unfiltered livestream, inviting people of different cultures to meet above borders and differences.

The area is now home to a dolmen shaped portal, which will connect to another portal in the city centre of Brno in the Czech Republic. The Gateway was officially opened on Friday, November 22, at 3pm.

The portal follows in the footsteps of the recent Dublin portal to New York City, which despite an initial shaky start and perhaps some overexcitement from certain users, the idea caught on and created an endless amount of memorable, light-hearted moments between those facing each other face on from across the globe. Waterford has now adopted the idea, and we caught up with locals a few days after the official launch, to get an update on how it is being received.

Kenza and Anne

Kenza was very excited about the addition to the Apple Market, saying, I remember there was also one in Dublin where you could see people in New York. I think its amazing!

Kenza also offered to give the viewers in Brno a display of the best of what Waterford and Ireland has to offer with an Irish dance for them to enjoy!

Anne said: The technology is amazing and its lovely for the area. We have friends in Czech Republic so we were going to contact them and organize to see each other; I think it would be amazing!

Members of the Caulfield and Fenlon families added: I think its deadly. Were from New Ross and Id like to see one in Wexford. Next year Id like to see one linked to Australia, because everyone has so many friends and family there.

Jodie Wall and Sophie Swift

Jodie Wall said: I think its amazing we love it!

Sophie Swift added: This is my third time visiting it!
By Jonathan McCambridge, PA

A review of governance procedures in Sinn Fein prompted by child safeguarding concerns should deliver a report before Christmas, party president Mary Lou McDonald has said.

The party has been beset by a series of controversies in recent months, regarding allegations of inappropriate behaviour involving party members and elected representatives.

Last month, party president Ms McDonald announced a complete overhaul of the partys governance procedures, as she apologised for its handling of a sex crime investigation into a former press officer.

Michael McMonagle, 43, from Limewood Street in Derry, was sentenced at Derry Crown Court to nine months in custody and nine months under statutory supervision, after pleading guilty to a series of child sex offences.

Former Sinn Fein press officer Michael McMonagle was jailed last month (Liam McBurney/PA)

The case plunged Sinn Fein into controversy as the party faced questions about safeguarding, and how two other party press officers provided references for McMonagle, while he was under police investigation, for a subsequent job with the British Heart Foundation.

On the Pat Kenny show on Newstalk, Ms McDonald denied a suggestion that the review had become chaotic.

She added: We had a series of challenging events which had to be dealt with.

In the course of that, and I would say in each of those cases, I ensured accountability and consequences for people whose behaviour was not up to standard.

In the course of that, a number of gaps in our oversight mechanisms emerged and as the leader of the party I have moved to correct that.

I will, I hope, have a report back from that process this side of Christmas.

Ms McDonald also said she had not watched the Disney+ show Say Nothing, which portrays the murder and secret burial of Jean McConville by the IRA in 1972.

She was asked if she believed she should watch the show, which features actor Josh Finan as Gerry Adams, the former Sinn Fein leader.

Jean McConville was abducted and secretly buried in 1972 (Family handout/PA)

Ms McDonald said: No, I dont believe so.

I think what people recognise is that now in the year 2024, heading into 2025, 26 years on from the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, entire generations have been born and have grown up on an island that is peaceful.

I think that is something to be celebrated. I take great heart and great pride in that, and the past has to be acknowledged, but the past is the past.

Despite persistent allegations, Adams has always denied being a member of the IRA or having any involvement in the abduction and murder of Ms McConville.

In 2014, he was arrested by detectives investigating the murder. He was questioned for four days before being released without charge.
James Cox

Comments from Taoiseach Simon Harris and Minister Roderic O'Gorman in last week's leaders' debate were insulting to the families who suffered bereavements during the Covid pandemic, according to a care advocate.

During the debate, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald mentioned her meetings with Care Champions, a family-run advocacy group for all people who need care support in the community.

The group also campaigns for residents and their families in care homes, and they are pushing for a statutory inquiry into the handling of the Covid pandemic, while the Government has insisted it will be a non-statutory inquiry.

Mr Harris said he had met a member of the group while campaigning. However, Majella Beattie from Care Champions told BreakingNews.ie that their regular requests for meetings with the Taoiseach have gone unanswered.

Ms Beattie said: "The Government is running away from it, the cheek of Simon Harris in response to that question when he said 'I met someone from Care Champions'. He met one family member on the canvass trail, he has consistently refused to meet with us. Why are they running away? We are a pleasant group, we just want dignity for our loved ones' memory."

'Political games'

She said the families represented by Care Champions have no interest in being involved in "political games".

"This inquiry will happen, because like the Stardust families and other groups down the years, we'll continue to campaign and some day a Taoiseach will stand up in the Dail and apologise to families for denying them access to the truth, denying our loved ones their right to their story being told.

"Families have to be central to the inquiry. Mary Lou McDonald has met with us and spent a lot of time with our families, Peader Toibin has met with us, People Before Profit has met with us, and I'm impressed to see that Sinn Fein has our five key asks in their health manifesto."

At the debate, host Katie Hannon asked the 10 party leaders if they favoured a statutory Covid inquiry.

The main difference from a non-statutory inquiry is that statutory inquiries benefit from legal power, which gives the chair the powers to require the production of evidence and the attendance of witnesses.

The three leaders from the government coalition, Mr Harris, Tanaiste Micheal Martin and Mr O'Gorman, all reiterated they favoured the evaluation process which has been put forward.

Ms Beattie criticised Mr O'Gorman for using the term "witch hunt", which she said has been repeated by many politicians and is "offensive to bereaved families".

Roderic O'Gorman is in favour of a non-statutory Covid inquiry, along with his former coalition partners. Photo: PA Images

"Roderic O'Gorman repeated the other night the term 'witch hunt'. It's such an offensive comment to people who have been bereaved. All families want to know is what happened to their loved ones. Private facilities, in particular, do not fall under the Freedom of Information Act, so they can't even get records.

"These questions are ripping families apart since they lost their loved ones. These aren't just numbers, just old people... they're people who made our communities, and they deserve the end of their story told in its truth.

"We're not looking to point fingers, we want to sit down and look at the decisions and the policies that were made, why they were made, see where they want wrong, acknowledge the failures and put in place procedures and a fit for purpose complaint system.

"We believe the enquiry should be human-rights led.

"Our message to Micheal Martin and Simon Harris is: We're not playing your political games, it's offensive and insulting to use words like 'witch hunt', and just repeating how well we did. When we visit the graveyard, we don't think about that, we're going because our loved ones are there and many of them died prematurely and alone. It doesn't matter if it was six weeks, a month, or a year, before their natural time, it doesn't matter, they had a horrific time before their deaths."

Care Champions is a family-run advocacy group for all people who need care support in the community.

Care Champions has supported over 10,000 families in total, after the group was formed just before the Covid pandemic.

"Our families were initially raising issues that some nursing homes were denying window visits from the outset, they weren't able to find out how their loved ones were.

"Other families were seeing, often through the window, that their loved ones were losing weight, looking unwell, not managing well. When the initial tragedies occurred at places like Delgin House [Co Louth] and St Mary's [Co Dublin], we were raising concerns very quickly.

"The bereaved families were often the ones who had been advocating from the outset. We were highlighting to government 'this isn't working, the toll of prolonged isolation is having a hugely negative impact on our loved ones'.

"At that point, they had removed all essential services so our loved ones were not getting physiotherapy, basic treatments for their mobility...a lack of speech and language therapy can lead to deterioration in swallowing food.

"Families were finding that they weren't being heard. People were dying and often our loved ones weren't informed they had Covid, or people had been told there was no Covid in the homes and their loved ones were fine.

"Our loved ones were dying in challenging circumstances with families in the dark. Then, when families were advocating for loved ones to be taken to hospital, they were often told 'we're not allowed to transfer them, hospitals won't take them', so people without Covid were denied medical treatment."

The group formed a committee and made submissions to various agencies, including the health committee and Nphet.

Ms Beattie said they quickly discovered there was no complaint system for nursing homes, especially those in the private sector.

People don't leave their human rights at the door of a nursing home or a hospital.

"We've got families who are constantly wondering, 'did they know they were loved? Did they know we hadn't abandoned them? Were they in pain?'

"We know that in many nursing homes, staff were down to maybe one nurse and one care assistant for a home, and the consequence of that had to be that 90 per cent of the residents who were sick didn't receive the appropriate care. These questions are haunting families.

"We've had three taoiseachs since 2020, none of them have agreed to meet with us despite consistent requests. As families, we want change, and we don't want our experience to happen to another family, the policies that failed us continue to fail people.

"We see nursing homes closing around the country presently, older people's voices are still not being heard. People don't leave their human rights at the door of a nursing home or a hospital."

Ms Beattie said her group's two main requests are a care partner system like the one in place in Northern Ireland, and a "human rights-led, statutory Covid inquiry".

A care partner is a defined practical role to provide additional support to people in care homes, and it allows "for individualised support tailored to meet the needs of the patient", according to the NHS.

The Government has said the Covid inquiry could resemble the Scally report, which looked into the CervicalCheck scandal.

However, Ms Beattie said families believe only a statutory inquiry can address the handling of the pandemic.

"The decision-makers should not have a choice about whether to attend an inquiry and give the information that we all need. We are all getting older, and we will likely face another pandemic at some point.

"We want to tell our stories, but we want our records so it can be done properly.

"There is generational harm caused by this, all the way down to grandchildren. We had to make our own memory wall.

"Our loved ones are frozen in time. There have been illnesses that some families believe were down to stress, others haven't been able to go back to work, there have even been marriage breakups, it has caused such devastation and pain. People are blaming themselves, 'why didn't I know Covid was there? Why didn't I force myself in?' Obviously they couldn't, but they're taking on this guilt.

"When you have the truth you can deal with it, but not having the full story is torture.

"Until the Government acknowledge it, it's such a slap in the face. Every time we reach out to government, we want to come to the table. We want reform, a care partner system, a complaints system, in their memory."

Ms Beattie said Care Champions has also supported 200 staff members from nursing homes, hospitals and care homes. She said their voices should also be heard in a Covid inquiry.
Apple Cider Vinegar, one of the most anticipated streaming television series of 2025, brings to the screen one of the most extraordinary  and fascinating  stories in recent Australian history: that of Belle Gibson, a wellness advocate who was swept up in a series of scandals, initially for fraudulent claims about charitable donations, and later exposed for falsely claiming to have cancer.

Who is Belle Gibson?

Belle Gibson emerged in the public spotlight in 2013 as the author of the lifestyle app The Whole Pantry, which was an instant hit and was voted Apples Best Food and Drink App that year. A book deal followed, plus a high-profile life as a cancer battler and philanthropist.

Kaitlyn Dever as Belle in Apple Cider Vinegar. Credit: Netflix

As with many alternative health advocates, Gibson hit all the popular touchstones, including the consumption of raw milk and the rejection of vaccination science. But there was another side to the story: that the malignant brain cancer that underwrote her career as a wellness advocate  and her claims that she was successfully treating it with diet, exercise and alternative medicine  was a complete fabrication.
People in NSW who were fined for breaching public health orders during the pandemic will be reimbursed after the government received legal advice the infringements could be invalid.

The NSW government will repay almost $5.5 million worth of fines to those who have already paid and will withdraw unpaid ones.

Police patrol Bondi Beach during a COVID lockdown in August 2021. Credit: Renee Nowytarger

Around 36,000 fines were issued for alleged contraventions of health orders during lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.

A November 2022 court ruling said some fines were invalid because they did not include a sufficiently detailed description of offences. The NSW Commissioner of Fines Administration subsequently withdrew four types of public health order fines.

Loading

According to the NSW Customer Service departments annual report, $36.3 million in fines were reversed in 2023 following the commissioners decision.

At the time the government said the remaining 23,539 fines would not be withdrawn as they had a clearer explanation of the offences which they were issued for.

But the remaining fines have now been officially withdrawn.

The COVID-19 public health orders were issued in a complex and rapidly changing environment and necessarily underwent frequent revisions to manage the evolving public health situation, Revenue NSW said in a statement.

Commissioner of Fines Administration Scott Johnston said Revenue NSW would be reaching out to affected customers in the coming days.

AAP
If you believe Bluey then backyard cricket and a Christmas swim are non-negotiables of a Brisbane Yuletide celebration.

But if youd rather just kick back and eat like royalty in air-conditioned splendour, then lunch or dinner at a hotel or restaurant may be just the ticket.

Not only will you avoid arguments over who has to stand guard over the barbie, theres no mountain of washing up to contend with once the rellos have scarpered.

From seafood feasts to lavish roasts with all the trimmings, heres 14 of the best Christmas Day lunches in Brissie. All were available at the time of publication, but get your reservation in quick as most will sell out.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. The development of 13 percent in the mining sector will not be possible until the issue of Iran's accession to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is resolved, Deputy Head of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Mohammadreza Bahraman told local media, Trend reports.

According to him, attracting investments totaling 55 billion euros is essential for the development of the mining sector. All development initiatives for the mining sector should be delegated to the private sector. The private sector has the capacity to draw both domestic and foreign investment.

Bahraman asserted that the business sector is endeavoring to safeguard its partnerships during conversations with foreign entities, notwithstanding the challenges posed by sanctions. The primary issue is that financial transfers encounter stringent limitations, such as those imposed by the FATF. The FATF has thrown a wrench in the works, driving up Iran's trade costs and putting a damper on large companies' willingness to do business with the country. This pickle goes beyond the sanctions the US has thrown at Iran, and it's high time Iran gets its ducks in a row to sort it out.

The Iranian government should immediately develop a program to get off the FATF blacklist. Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture can play a supporting role in this direction, he said.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is an intergovernmental body that regulates the rules for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. At the last meeting of this organization, Iran was warned that if the country's program of steps is not improved, Iran may be added to the list of non-cooperative countries. Iran has complied with 37 out of 41 FATF steps.

The remaining four steps or conventions fall under the scope of the legislation. "Amendments to the Law on Combating Money Laundering," "Amendments to the Law on Combating the Financing of Terrorism," "Accession to the International Convention on Combating Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo)," and Accession to the International Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) have been drafted by the Iranian government and sent to the parliament. Although the four conventions were approved by the parliament and sent to the Advisory Council, the CFT conventions and the Palermo Convention have not yet been approved by the mentioned council.

The FATF was founded in 1989 at the behest of the G7 group to address money laundering. The organization comprises 37 members, with its administration situated in Paris.



Since 2007, Iran has been designated as a high-risk jurisdiction by the FATF, with formal sanctions enacted on Tehran since 2009. Consequently, nations needed to exercise prudence in financial and banking transactions with Iran. Since 2016, diplomatic initiatives have postponed the implementation of retaliatory actions on Iran.



The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) designated Iran as a non-cooperative country (blacklist) on February 21, 2020.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
And AustralianSuper, the industrys largest, could be fined $27 million over its failure to consolidate more than 90,000 members accounts, costing them almost $70 million, in another case brought by the corporate regulator. While the funds are variously declining to comment, blaming external contractors, or apologising and saying they have already addressed the issues, superannuation critics smell blood. Liberal senator Andrew Bragg, the opposition assistant spokesman for home ownership, says the sectors board model, in which union and industry representatives oversee funds rather than typical corporate directors, is no longer fit for purpose. There is an unmanageable conflict of interest between the interests of unions and workers, Bragg says. And there is the cavalcade of Labor politicians, how do they get these positions? Cbus, for example, is chaired by former Labor treasurer and current party president Wayne Swan. Don Russell, a former senior adviser to Labor prime minister Paul Keating, chairs AustralianSuper. HESTA, an $88 billion fund for the health and community sector, is chaired by Nicola Roxon, a Rudd-Gillard era minister. Bragg says the sector has created a perception that it operates in line with modern governance standards. It has taken the CFMEU issue to expose that, he says.

Bragg is referring to the litany of allegations of underworld infiltration and corruption revealed in this mastheads Building Bad series that led the federal government to appoint a barrister to take over the CFMEU. That barrister, Mark Irving, KC, said in August he wanted a clean sweep of serving CFMEU representatives from the Cbus board but reappointed one who resigned, Jason OMara, alongside Crumlin and a union lawyer, Lucy Weber. There are no allegations against any of those individuals. Super Consumers Australia chief executive Xavier OHalloran, whose group represents people with superannuation accounts, says the partisan debate over Cbus should not be the main focus. The skills and competence of these boards are really important, and that should be the primary focus, OHalloran says. What we have seen in the UK, the regulator has a role in determining a fit and proper person, to determine who should be on the board. Thats not something the regulator [APRA] here does. They [unions and industry groups] make their own picks, and we think that could be improved, that there should be greater rigour.

But while OHalloran would like to see improvements to board regulation, and perhaps the introduction of more independent directors, he also confirms the industry superannuation sector is largely beating its retail competitors. And there is evidence they are delivering on the goals Paul Keating had in mind when he set up the superannuation system: ensuring comfortable retirements and reducing the burden, over time, of the aged pension on federal government coffers. The federal 2023 Intergenerational Report shows government spending on Aged and Service pensions will fall from 2.3 per cent of GDP to 2 per cent by 2063, because of superannuation, even as the population ages. Misha Schubert, chief executive of the lobby group for industry super funds, argues their performance shows the board model is working. The shared governance model of this type of fund  whether they arose from an industry, company or the public sector  was created with a clear and single purpose, she wrote earlier this year. To serve the fund members whose retirement savings they safeguard and grow.

They do so by deeply understanding their members and the workplaces in which their members work  they know exactly whose money it is they are stewarding. The law governing superannuation funds, Schubert notes, requires directors to comply with high standards of performance and act in members best interests. Alongside the labour representatives, big superannuation boards are balanced with employer heavyweights. Cbus board employer directors, for example, are all nominated by Master Builders Australia and include that organisations chief executive, Denita Wawn. Its a similar story with AustralianSuper, whose employer directors include AiG chief executive (and former Liberal staffer) Innes Willox, as well as a number of other directors aligned with the employer group that originally represented manufacturing firms. A Cbus spokesman said in a statement that having equal employer and employee representation on its board had ensured its success for 40 years, and it was pleased to welcome the three new directors.

After applying a comprehensive fit and proper persons test the Cbus board confirmed the appointment of the three directors who share a determination to generate the strongest, sustainable financial returns for members and deliver the best possible service, the spokesman said. Loading The fund previously apologised to its members over the claim delays, said it was implementing a compensation process and co-operated with ASIC. Swan, the Cbus chairman, told the Today show last week that many of the criticisms of the fund were completely inaccurate and blamed a contracted service provider for the insurance delays but apologised to affected members families. I can assure you, from the minute I became aware of this as chair of the board, I worked with the board to resolve it as quickly as possible, he said. AustralianSuper has apologised for the multiple accounts issue. We found this mistake, we reported it, we apologised to impacted members, we paid them back, and weve improved our processes to prevent it happening again, a spokesman said.
We heard Jenny say, Mark put the gun away, and I remember the ice-cold shot of adrenaline and the sound that escaped my mouth akin to that of someone whose been kicked in the gut. It was the knowledge that after eight weeks of meticulous safety planning, eight weeks of predicting and staying ahead of his behaviour in the most terrifying game of cat and mouse, he was about to do everything we thought he was going to do to us, to somebody else. Jennifer Petelczyc and daughter Gretl Petelczyc. Those are the last words I heard Jenny say as I frantically called triple zero, while mum continued to listen to what was going on in Jennys house. While speaking to the police, I heard mum scream, and then she was wailing. The last thing mum heard was two gunshots before the phone went dead.

Speaking ahead of the 16 Days in WA rally at Forrest Chase, Ariel said Jennys second daughter was down the road at the shops when she received a text from Gretl telling her to call police. When she arrived home, Bombara fatally shot himself. She described her father as a dictator who physically and emotionally abused her and displayed constant coercive and controlling behaviours towards her mother, including isolating her mother and criticising her. Its a heavy burden women carry, blaming themselves for mens violence, an utterly unfair, twisted weight we feel because the system doesnt protect us and puts the onus on women to manage mens behaviour rather than holding perpetrators accountable, she said. We werent the ones to pick up that gun, yet we must live the rest of our lives paying for his crimes. Ariel said her mother had tried to convince herself the abuse was not that bad because Bombara never hit her.

Mark Bombara. He was overtly sexist, racist and homophobic to anyone who didnt look or act like him, she said. He thought women were less than dog shit, and he made it clear in front of his daughters. Oh but hes not a violent man, people would tell me. It is the ultimate act of abuse, deciding to orphan your children by murdering their mother and killing yourself because she no longer wants to live under your control.

Ariel then criticised the police response to her and her mothers attempts to flee Bombara. After trying unsuccessfully to convince the police to take any action to protect us against him, back in March, we had to disappear. I knew the only way to make sure he couldnt kill us was to make sure he couldnt find us, and he still managed to inflict maximum damage, utter devastation, she said. WA Police conducted an internal investigation into Jennifer and Gretls death, including their earlier responses to Ariels concerns about her father, but it is not yet known whether it will be made public. Hundreds of people joined the 16 Days in WA march through the city around midday. Speaking after the event, Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence Minister Sabine Winton spruiked her governments efforts, including the system reform plan aimed at improving information sharing between agencies; skilling up people working in the sector; and improving risk assessment and risk management.

Ariel said her fathers horrific crimes had filled her with a sense of duty to do everything in her power to prevent a similar scenario from playing out again. She said she believed in the reform being embarked on by the WA government in the domestic violence space, so long as there was a commitment to adequately fund it. I believe that we as a collective have the power to make a real difference, but to do so, we need to believe in victim-survivors and their right to be heard and supported, she said. I fought for eight weeks against every person that tried to convince us we were overreacting, the police who dismissed us, the people who said, Oh, but he doesnt rape you or hit you, so it cant be that bad. All I can ask is, do you believe me now?
More than 3 million medium-density homes including townhouses, duplexes and triplexes can be built across Australian capital cities, fresh analysis shows.

Of these, almost 60 per cent would be located within two kilometres of existing train stations, according to the CoreLogic and Archistar report, The Missing Middle: The Greatest Opportunity for Medium-Density Development.

Melbourne had the largest opportunity to accommodate new homes, with an additional 1,163,118 potential medium-density dwellings that could be built.

That was followed by Sydney, which had the potential to build an additional 934,428 medium-density homes.
Ressence presents the limited-edition TYPE 8 Indigo, a watch born out of the brands exploration into the ancient Japanese craft of indigo dyeing.

With each thread, a story unfolds,

The hand traces moments anew,

The delicate art of Indigo holds

Time weaves its path in threads of blue

TYPE 8 Indigo  Ressence

This exceptional watch is Ressences contribution to The Indigo Project, an initiative led by its longtime partner, Shellman in Tokyo, to celebrate the renewal and expansion of their retail space at Isetan Shinjuku department store, becoming the largest luxury watch destination in Japan.

The TYPE 8 Indigo tells the story of time in vibrant blue, showcasing the delicate beauty of natural indigo through the intricate application of silk thread. Much like the growth rings of a tree marking the passage of years, the dial design evokes the flow of time in a visually captivating manner.

Chosen for its expansive dial surface, with only Minute and Hour discs, the TYPE 8 allows the indigo- dyed silk thread to take centre stage. For the first time, Ressence collaborated with Swiss Arts & Metiers artisans to craft the dial, resulting in an organic yet structured pattern. The indigo pigments reveal a spectrum of shades, from electric blues to nearly black tones, creating a vibrant, ever- evolving watch that offers something new with each glance.

TYPE 8 Indigo  Ressence

Applying thread to a dial is an uncommon practice in watchmaking, and for Ressence, this marks the first time we have incorporated an 'Arts & Metiers' craft into one of our watches. says Benoit Mintiens, Founder of Ressence. A 0.2mm-diameter and 2.5 m-long Indigo silk thread was selected to cover the dial in a spiral pattern, symbolising the natural rhythm of time."

The silk thread

Ressence's journey to create the TYPE 8 Indigo began with a commitment to authenticity. This led to the choice of thread as the ideal medium to showcase the true essence of natural indigo. Ressence partnered with Buaisou, a company based in Kamiita-cho, Tokushima Prefecture, the heart of indigo dyeing. Buaisou cultivates their own indigo plants and manages every aspect of the dyeing process in- house, ensuring the highest quality and respect for tradition.

Face of TYPE 8 Indigo  Ressence

A legacy of indigo

Indigo is said to be the oldest dye known to mankind. Indigo dyeing is a centuries-old Japanese craft, renowned for its deep warm hue, known as 'Japan Blue.' Believed to be introduced to Japan via the silk trade of India or through the ancient cultures of China, its production in the Land of the Rising Sun began as early as the 6th century. The indigo plant, Indigofera, an annual plant in the Fabaceae family, is prized for its colour and medicinal properties. Its leaves are harvested and fermented over months to produce "Sukumo," the natural pigment that has been a cornerstone of Eastern art and textile.

The Process

On a standard TYPE 8, the distance between the dials external surface and the inside of the sapphire is only 0.25mm, so the titanium dial is carved out to accommodate the thickness of the thread, ensuring a flush fit beneath the sapphire. Due to technical constraints, some areas of the dial cannot allow for a 0.2mm reduction in thickness. As a result, two grey pockets are visible on the outside of the main minute dial. Any exposed areas are finished in neutral grey PVD, allowing the vibrant indigo hues to stand out even more.

Making of TYPE 8 Indigo  Ressence

Arts & Metiers

The delicate task of placing and bonding the silk thread to the titanium components was expertly carried out by a renowned Geneva-based atelier. Each dial requires two days of meticulous work by a skilled craftswoman. The thread is applied in a single piece, spiralling from the outer edge inward, following the contours of the cavity. To preserve the silk's natural visual effect, special bonding materials are used to prevent glue from seeping into the fibres and altering the colour.
The World Customs Organization (WCO), in partnership with the customs administration of Cote d'Ivoire, organized from November 11 to 13, 2024 in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, a monitoring mission on the implementation of gender equality and diversity (GED) in Customs.

This mission was completed under the framework of the West Africa Security Project (WASP), more specifically under its component dedicated to gender equality and diversity (GED). This project, funded by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, is a collaboration between the WCO and the German Central Customs Administration. Its objective is to promote a working environment that respects differences and guarantees equal treatment and opportunities in partner Customs administrations. This project also supports these administrations in the development and implementation of dedicated GED action plans.

During the mission, the WCO team, composed of experts from the Togolese Revenue Office, the Benin Customs Administration and the WCO Regional Capacity Building Office (BRRC) for the West and Central Africa, held various working sessions with the Directors and managers of the different departments of Cote dIvoire Customs as well as the administrations gender cell. The objective of these meetings was to discuss the update Cote dIvoire Customs GED action plan as well as the implementation of the various activities of this plan up to date.

On the sidelines of these working sessions, a meeting was also held with the Association of women in Cote dIvoire Customs (Amicale des Femmes des Douanes Ivoiriennes - AFDI) and UN Women. The aims of these meetings were to take stock of the impact of the national seminar targeting small and medium-sized businesses and women entrepreneurs organized on July 8 and 9 in Abidjan in collaboration with UN Women, the WCO and Cote dIvoire Customs, as well as on the activities carried out following this event.

As a result of the discussions during the working sessions, recommendations were identified, aimed at enabling all personnel of Cote dIvoire Customs to fully embrace the concept of GED.

The WCO looks forward to continuing its collaboration with the Cote dIvoire Customs administration in implementing the recommendations following this GED mission.

For further information on this activity and the wider WCO work on GED, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex named their second child after their great-grandmother, Elizabeth II - Prince Harry' s daughter was named Lilibeth. However, royal observers are still arguing that Her Highness was actually thinking of her grandson's chosen one, Meghan Markle.

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The debate has become especially heated after the scandals in the palace related to Harry and Meghan. British experts have shed light on the relationship between the former actress and the monarch, the Daily Mail reports. Queen Elizabeth warmly welcomed Markle as part of her extended family.

Despite the tension between the Duke and Duchess and other family members, the crown princess even invited the American to celebrate Christmas together at Sandringham Palace in 2017 - even before Harry and Meghan officially tied the knot. It's worth noting that Kate Middleton, the wife of William's eldest grandson, received an invitation to spend Christmas Eve together only after the wedding.

The Queen's inner circle noted that Elizabeth II saw Markle as "a breath of fresh air for the monarchy." She tried to do everything possible to make Meghan as much a part of the royal family as possible, inviting Harry's beloved to the Commonwealth Day service that took place two months before their wedding.

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While many people associate Christmas markets with big cities like Vienna or Krakow, there is one special place that is gaining popularity every year among travelers looking for an authentic holiday experience. We are talking about Gdansk, Poland, a small port city that offers one of the best Christmas markets in Europe.

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Gdansk attracts tourists not only for its accessibility but also for its unique atmosphere. Here, among the old buildings and narrow streets, a real winter fairy tale unfolds. The Gdansk Christmas Market is a great alternative to traditional tourist routes.

This is a place where you can feel the true spirit of Christmas, enjoy the unique atmosphere and find unique gifts for yourself and your loved ones. If you are looking for an unforgettable experience, be sure to visit Gdansk during the holiday season, The Mirror advises.

An unknown pearl of Europe

The picturesque Polish port city of Gdansk becomes a real holiday paradise during Christmas. It is home to one of the best "underrated" Christmas markets in Europe, characterized by its atmospheric atmosphere and unique offers. Thanks to its convenient location, the flight to Gdansk takes only two hours, and its accessibility makes it an ideal choice for a winter trip.

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Gdansk is famous for its support of artists and designers, which creates a unique fair atmosphere. Numerous chalet-style stalls offer handmade ceramics, wooden jewelry, and clothing made from recycled materials. It is a place where tradition meets modernity.

Delicacies for everyone

At the fair, you can taste many traditional Polish dishes, including pierogi - dumplings with various fillings. In addition, visitors can enjoy aromatic drinks to warm up in the winter weather.

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Festive events continue throughout the fair season. The theater hosts performances, concerts and interactive events. Every Wednesday, Christmas hits are performed on stage, and themed challenges are created for families, such as guessing 12 traditional dishes for Christmas Eve.

On Thursdays and Fridays, Santa Claus appears on stage, giving visitors a fairy-tale atmosphere. And winter dance parties add dynamics to the festive evenings.

Three main locations of the fair

Christmas factory. Here visitors can create their own gifts.

Festive assembly. A unique room with decorated Christmas trees, a fireplace and Santa's throne is the perfect place for fairy-tale photos.

Artistic Cafe. A space to relax with hot drinks and a selection of books.

The fair is located in three areas of the city: Przedbramie, Tkacka, Armory of Arts and Crafts. There are stalls with Christmas treats and souvenirs.

The Gdansk market was ranked second in the ranking of the best Christmas markets in Europe last year, which confirms its popularity among travelers. The Christmas market in Gdansk is open from November 24 to December 23, which allows tourists to plan their trip at the most convenient time.

Subscribe to OBOZ.UA channels in Telegram and Viber to keep up with the latest events.
Mayo skincare brand, Ella & Jo, has expanded into the UK retail market, according to Business Post.

The Ballina-based business was founded by Niamh Ryan and Charlene Flanagan in 2017. The pair met through working on roadshows about skincare. Ella & Jo was born when Ryan and Flanagan had the idea to create a makeup brush cleanser.

Ella & Jo prides itself on bringing joy back into the skincare market. The brand offers a wide selection of colourful products for a spa-like experience, Ryan told Business Post.

The name is a combination of Ryans skincare clinic, Ella Beauty, and Flanagans married surname, Jones.

To date, the brand employs a staff of 15. By the end of next year, Ryan and Flanagan aim to have 25 staff. Additionally, the duo hopes to expand further internationally.

Ella & Jo began with the support of Local Enterprise Office Mayo. When they were ready to scale up, Enterprise Ireland reached out. Enterprise Ireland provided the entrepreneurs with strategic support and a market discovery grant for the UK.

In addition, Ella & Jo was fortunate enough to sign TV presenter Cat Deeley as a brand ambassador shortly before she began fronting This Morning on ITV.
Ballina will find out on Friday next if it is to become the European Volunteering Capital in 2026.

The North Mayo capital is one of just three European towns shortlisted for the prestigious title alongside Maia in Portugal and Rzeszow in Poland. Before being shortlisted, Ballina was also the sole Irish entry to the process.

Ballina Municipal District, together with Volunteer Ireland, Mayo Public-Private Network, Mayo Volunteer Centre and Ballina 2023 have been working together to secure the title.

A delegation will travel to the announcement ceremony in the current Volunteer Capital of Trento in Italy next Friday.

A jury of volunteering representatives from civil society, the private and for-profit sector, as well as EU institutions has assessed candidates ahead of the announcement.

If Ballina is successful in its efforts, it will have benefits for tourism and the volunteering sector in the area. The title was held by Sligo in 2017.
Cllr Michael Clarke has said the lack of housing is one of the main issues being raised on doorsteps in the Sligo-Leitrim constituency where is he a candidate for Independent Ireland.

"I meet people every week that, given the housing situation in Ireland, will probably never own their own home. We, as a people cannot accept this, we must have an available pathway to every Irish citizen to be able to buy their own home.

"We have the fifth richest economy in the world but we cannot adequately house this generation of young Irish people. Its not good enough that our political system has created this situation that our people can't aspire to own their own home."

Cllr Clarke, who was first elected to Sligo County Council in 2009 as an Independent councillor, says he is happy to now be part of Independent Ireland, an alliance of Independent TDs and councillors who will work together at local and national level. In the build-up to the general election, he has been working with Michael Fitzmaurice TD and Ciaran Mullooly MEP.

"We are determined to change things. The only way to address the housing crisis is to adopt a comprehensive plan that increases housing supply, reduces costs and improves access. We have created a detailed housing policy that you can find on the Independent Ireland website. I encourage you to read in full.

"By way of summary, firstly and importantly we need to declare a housing emergency.

"We will better incentivise vacant property development - there are 166,000 of those in the country; increase funding for community and social housing, reform mortgage lending and reduce VAT on building materials that will benefit everyone.

"We also need to totally reform and streamline the planning guidelines to speed up building and allow people to build on their own land."

Cllr Clarke said he has been working with builders and council officials for the last 15 years and wants to now bring that experience to Dail Eireann.

"I have worked to deliver houses across Co Sligo in places like Mill View and St Farnans Drive in Dromore West, 77 houses at Seville on Finisklin Road, the Tannery at Cairns Hill in Sligo town and Connolly Park in Tubbercurry. I am also currently actively supporting development of a large number of houses in Ballisodare and Ballymote.

"As someone that can get things done, your support for me on election day will give me the ability to get this implemented at a national level to support the people of Sligo, Leitrim and South Donegal."
Members of the public are encouraged to have their say about the renovation of the Old Garda Barracks on Walsh Street in Ballina at a workshop taking place this week.

Head of the Ballina Municipal District Declan Turnbull told councillors at the recent municipal district meeting that funding of 200,000 had been received under the THRIVE scheme for the regeneration of the building.

Castlebar-based Taylor McCarney Architects have been contracted as consultants to start planning and designing the next phase.

The project is currently at the consultation phase and Mr Turnbull is hopeful the council can progress it to a point where they can apply for Strand 2 funding under THRIVE in the new year.

Fine Gael Cllr John OHara welcomed the update.

It is great to see something happening with this and it will be a community hub for the whole town, he said.

Fine Gael Cllr Jarlath Munnelly said it was a good example of where European Union funding can make a difference to a local area.

A workshop will take place at the Ballina Civic Offices this Wednesday from 2 to 4pm and from 5 to 7pm. Representatives of Taylor McCarney will be present to discuss the project and all feedback is welcome, with a focus on themes of culture, arts, community engagement and future needs.
Allentown, PA (18103)

Today

Mainly cloudy, mild, and mainly dry after some morning fog and drizzle taper off. .

Tonight

Mostly cloudy, a bit breezy, and mild; perhaps a spotty shower.
An international team of scientists led by a Japanese scientist has created a plastic that completely dissolves in seawater faster than other types of plastic and even paper. It is cellulose diacetate, or bioplastic, which has been used in everyday life for more than a century.

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The discovery provides new opportunities in the fight against ocean pollution, say experts from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in the United States, who conducted the study. The article with the results was published in the journal ACS Publications, according to the official website of the institute.

The scientists emphasized that cellulose diacetate is a natural polymer found in the walls of plant cells, especially in cotton or wood. It has been around since the late 1800s and is used in everything from sunglass frames to cigarette filters (the most common use), photographic film, and a million other things in people's daily lives.

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The study found that this cellulose diacetate is the fastest-degrading type of plastic in seawater - technically classified as a bioplastic - with a simple modification called "foaming" that makes it porous.

"We have translated fundamental knowledge into the design of a new material that both meets consumer needs and biodegrades in the ocean faster than any other plastic material we know of, even faster than paper. This is a great success story in a field that often focuses on the negative aspects of plastic pollution rather than working towards a solution," commented Colin Ward, senior author of the study.

It is noted that during a 36-week test, cellulose diacetate foam placed in continuously flowing tanks of seawater lost 65-70% of its original mass. Compared to another common plastic found in every ocean, polystyrene foam showed zero degradation over the same period.

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Ward and other WHOI scientists collaborated with bioplastics company Eastman, which contributed to this and previous studies by supplying materials, funding, and serving as co-authors.

The study was conducted in a controlled environment in a laboratory using continuously flowing seawater from Martha's Vineyard Bay near Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Scientists were able to control light, temperature, and other variables to recreate the dynamic conditions of the ocean.

In January 2024, the results of a previous 16-week WHOI study were released. In it, the scientists used the same seawater tank and compared eight different straws made of cellulose diacetate (CDA), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), polylactic acid (PLA), polypropylene (PP), and paper.

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For example, straws made of PLA and PP showed no measurable signs of degradation, while others degraded up to 50%. When comparing the then-prototype CDA foam straw with a solid CDA straw, the researchers found that the former degraded 190% faster than the latter (15 times faster than a paper straw).

The WHOI emphasized that already, thanks to the success of the study with foamed cellulose diacetate, Eastman has launched a biodegradable and compostable tray to replace conventional polystyrene trays used for meat packaging, which do not biodegrade under any natural environmental conditions, on land or at sea.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, scientists have discovered microplastics in layers of sedimentary rocks dating back to the first half of the 1700s, when they simply could not exist. The new discovery demonstrates the destructive ability of microplastics to penetrate even environments that have not been touched by modern humans.

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The long-awaited Kia Tasman SUV will go on sale in 2025 as a cheap model in its segment. The car has been fully declassified with all the details, and now the Korean pickup has been made more practical.

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Theottle showed his view on the future development of the Kia Tasman line. In his renders, the Kia pickup truck has turned into a frame SUV with a fully enclosed body. For many buyers, this is a more practical design, but at the moment it is known that the manufacturer has no plans to launch this option on the market.

The Kia Tasman 2025 pickup truck will compete against the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux on the market, with powerful engines and an unusual design.

The company has already almost completely declassified the appearance of the pickup before the premiere. The design is eye-catching and fits well with the geometric body style. There will be a choice of a four-door version or a long cargo platform with a short two-door cabin.

The engines of the Kia Tasman 2025 are represented by a powerful 2.5-liter gasoline engine with 281 hp and a 2.2-liter diesel engine with 210 hp. The car will be offered with a transmission with different driving modes, and all-wheel drive can be locked forcibly. The price of Kia Tasman is expected to be up to $30,000.
BOOK LAUNCH INVITATION: Public Sector Communication in the Digital Age

When: Tuesday, 26 November 2024 Where: Donald Gordon Auditorium



Donald Gordon Auditorium, School of Governance, Wits Parktown Management Campus, 2 St David's Place. Start time: 12:30 Enquiries: kemantha.govender1@wits.ac.za RSVP: https://wits-za.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xRZQ7vwtS7i4RsN_gXEYQg#/registration

'Public Sector Communication in the Digital Age' book launch.

The Wits School of Governance and the University of Johannesburgs Centre for Data and Digital Communications invite you to the launch of the book Public Sector Communication in the Digital Age, published by UJ Press. Co-edited by Mandla J. Radebe, Karabo Sitto-Kaunda, and Elizabeth Lubinga, this insightful publication addresses the shifting dynamics of communication within the public sector in the digital era. We are excited to be joined by some of our distinguished contributing authors, including Professor Themba Maseko, Head of the WSG, who will share their perspectives and key contributions to this timely work. We look forward to your participation in what promises to be an engaging and thought-provoking discussion.
Toolbox for academia and industry engagement

The Wits Innovation Centre (WIC) partnered with Afretec to workshop practical steps of collaboration.

The importance of Academia-Industry collaboration cannot be overstated. This joint initiative between the WIC and the African Engineering and Technology Network (AFRETEC) resulted in a comprehensive guide that serves as a foundation to strengthen ties between academia and industry in Africa.

A two-day workshop held in Braamfontein, South Africa, brought together academics, small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs), and industry representatives for a series of enlightening keynote addresses and discussion sessions.

Delegates from across Africa participated, highlighting the need for more African case studies in entrepreneurship, the necessity for African investors committed to continental economic growth, and the recognition of Africa's unique cultural approach to entrepreneurship. The collaboration with AFRETEC proved invaluable, as representatives from various AFRETEC institutions contributed valuable contextual insights.

The workshop kicked off with a keynote address from Wits alumnus Dr Craig Wing, a global speaker and futurist. Wing's extensive experience in emergent futures thinking, business model development, and startup consultancy set the stage for discussions on the role of education in society. He encouraged delegates to look beyond traditional academic confines and explore innovative ways for academia and industry to engage. Panellist Mitchan Adams, founder and CEO of AIONS Creative Technology, expanded on this theme, discussing future job creation and self-employment opportunities. He urged attendees to embrace analytics and software knowledge as essential tools for the future.

The workshop aimed to outline practical steps for fostering collaboration between academia and industry. Significant progress was made in identifying key areas for engagement, including:

Facilitating knowledge exchange and creating knowledge repositories.

Conducting comprehensive market analysis, including friction points, alignment, and communication strategies.

Establishing legal frameworks to support collaborative relationships.

Implementing key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics with feedback loops.

Promoting and disseminating the results of collaborative efforts to stakeholders within the quintuple helix.

Humanities is key to understanding STI

The second day featured Dr McLean Sibanda, a thought leader with extensive experience in investment management, science and technology, and infrastructure development in Africa. Sibanda provided valuable insights into the African landscape, discussing the challenges and opportunities for collaboration. He emphasised the importance of aligning the agendas of all stakeholdersgovernment, academia, industry, and societybefore embarking on collaborative efforts. He also highlighted the need to incorporate the Humanities to better understand the context in which science, technology, and innovation (STI) emerge.

Sibanda noted that the ambition for improved Academia-Industry collaborations aligns with the Science, Technology, and Innovations Strategy for Africa (STISA-2024) and the African Union's Agenda 2063, which aims to accelerate Africas transition to an innovation-led, knowledge-based economy. He suggested several industry support mechanisms that could enhance collaboration, including:

Research and Development (R&D) Programs, exemplified by the partnership with Telkom, culminating in the Industry Solutions Lab initiative.

Technology Transfer and Commercialisation, as demonstrated by Wits' success in replacing a WHO product with the homegrown SmartSpot, recognised for its significant social impact by the Innovation Prize for Africa.

Development of enabling infrastructure.

People are key

A recurring theme throughout the workshop was the significance of people in fostering collaboration.

Beyond technological trends and academic theories, a shared vision, mutual trust, and commitment from all parties are essential for creating impactful collaborations. The insights gained from this workshop will serve as a foundation for future initiatives aimed at strengthening the ties between academia and industry in Africa.
50 years ago, a fossil skeleton of Australopithecus africanus, which became known worldwide as Lucy, was found in Ethiopia. To mark the anniversary of the discovery, scientists decided to tell more about how this iconic species lived and died.

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In particular, they shared their thoughts on the last hours of the most famous human ancestor's life. According to the researchers, Lucy was afraid of death, LiveScience writes.

Lucy's story

Lucy the Australopithecus lived about 3.2 million years ago. Her skeleton was unearthed by paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson and his team on the International Afar Research Expedition in 1974 in Gadar, Ethiopia.

After two weeks of careful excavation, the team of researchers found dozens of fossilized bones. Together, these bones accounted for 40% of the skeleton of a human ancestor, making it the most complete skeleton of an archaic human species ever found, experts say. The discovery changed the study of ancient human relatives.

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One of the members of the expedition, Pamela Alderman, suggested naming the skeleton "Lucy" after the Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."

"And it just became a cult name. The name Lucy became known to everyone," Johanson emphasized.

Researching a human ancestor

3D muscle modeling has shown that Australopithecus africanus had powerful leg muscles to stand up straight and climb trees. That is, Lucy could probably straighten her knees, extend her hips, and stand up straight like modern humans.

Lucy is often depicted as hairy, with hair on her head. But evidence suggests that she was not. Studies show that the human ancestor was hairless.

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According to the scientists, the loss of body hair in early humans was likely influenced by a combination of factors  thermoregulation, delayed physiological development, attracting sexual partners, and protection from parasites.

The last days of life

"I suspect that the last day of her life was full of danger," said Donald Johanson.

What researchers miss is that Lucy may have been looking warily over her shoulder, at saber-toothed cats or hyenas, and not even realizing that this was her last day on Earth.

Her last day may have been filled with socializing, but it also involved a relentless search for food. Probably, the constant fear of predators dominated, the scientists suggested.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Scientists have for the first time purposefully captured minke whales for a short time to test their hearing. The study of two young males is being conducted amid concerns about the impact of ocean noise on some of the largest and most intelligent animals on Earth.

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The results of the experiment surprised scientists. Scientists suggest that these marine creatures can hear at much higher frequencies than expected, NBC News reports.

In 2023, researchers captured two young whales off the coast of Norway and applied gold-plated electrodes to their skin with suction cups to study their brain waves while playing sound at different frequencies. Each young whale was at least 3.5 meters long and weighed about 1 ton.

Finally, scientists were able to make all the necessary observations and they surprised them.

"It was a bit shocking. They have ultrasonic hearing, which we think is probably related to avoiding killer whales as a primary predator because they use echolocation signals to hunt their prey at the same frequencies," said Dorian Houser, director of conservation biology at the National Marine Mammal Foundation and lead author of the study.

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The surprising findings come amid growing concern about the effects of ocean noise from sources such as marine sonar, oil and gas exploration, and ship traffic, which can alter marine mammal behavior, cause hearing loss, and even kill them, the scientists emphasize.

According to the researchers, the new information could change what noisy activities are allowed in the ocean under the Marine Mammal Protection Act or lead to restrictions on some equipment.

The study also closes a chapter of deep divisions in the whale research community, experts say. After all, scientists have never before captured minke whales or tested their hearing.

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Some scientists and activists strongly opposed the research effort out of fear that the whales would be stressed and might even die during their short stay in captivity.

However, a group of scientists assured that the whales would not be harmed, as they chose small whales for the study, which are easier to catch and later release.

Brandon Southall, a scientist and consultant who helped develop acoustic impact criteria for marine animals for federal regulators, said the new study did not measure the lowest ranges of whales' hearing abilities, which is more difficult because of the way neural signals operate in animal bodies.

However, he noted that low-frequency sounds, such as ship propellers or pile driving on the seabed for wind farms, travel long distances in the ocean and are likely to harm marine mammals.

Dorian Houser said the minke whale listening project is on hold. However, he would like to continue this topic if he can secure funding.

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Xac minh 'than y' chua ung thu bang phuong phap 'truyen nang luong' "Than y" Nguyen Van Kien (trai) lam viec voi co quan chuc nang - Anh: Cong an cung cap Ngay 28-2, ong Nguyen Tuong Duy - chu tich UBND xa Hai Yang (huyen ak oa, Gia Lai) - cho hay ang phoi hop cac co quan chuc nang xac minh truong hop nguoi xung...

An Giang lien tiep xuat hien mua trai mua

Mua bat chot giua cao iem ma kh khien nguoi dn bat ngo. Theo ng Luu Van Ninh, Gim oc i Kh tuong Thuy van tinh An Giang, nguyn nhn cua hien tuong ny l do nhieu ong nhiet oi trn cao trong ieu kien La Nina ket hop cua ra pha Nam khoi khng kh lanh...
Commenting on the lack of ammunition for Russian biathletes, two-time Olympic champion Olga Zaitseva suggested that everyone should be patient until the best time comes. The 46-year-old ex-biathlete, who has been a member of the State Duma since September 2024, advises "to take into account the realities."

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"I think that at such a difficult time for the country, we should not be outraged by the lack of ammunition. Of course, there is a problem. Ammunition is expensive and requires significant financial resources to purchase, especially for athletes who are undergoing individual training. I don't want to scold the athletes who raise this issue, because we need to understand which organization is responsible for providing ammunition to a particular athlete and not forget the realities of the current situation in the world," Zaitseva said in an interview with Vseprosport.

Zaitseva also expressed confidence that no one will allow regression in the development of Russian biathlon.

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"We will have a great way to develop this industry for biathletes. Our athletes have always fired Russian ammunition. Only a few athletes who work with foreign barrels shoot foreign ammunition. Russian-made sporting rifles are best suited for Russian ammunition. No one will ever allow a regression in the development of Russian biathlon. It is an expensive winter sport, number one, and it has a deep history and important applied value. So there is no catastrophe," Zaitseva said.

In response, users attacked Olga, asking when the easy time will come.

"Hard times" in Russia are a kind of norm. It's good that during her speeches there were no problems with ammunition or salt", "Soon there will be questions about why such accurate people are not at the front", "When will there be an easy time for the country? For 100 years they have been saying "we have to be patient", or maybe the problem is in the Soviet system, it is flawed and meaningless", "But the 'serfs' have become smarter than before. They don't wait for anything, they just go to developed countries and live there," fans write.

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As OBOZ.UA reported, this summer, Zaitseva made absurd accusations against Ukrainians after it became known that our athletes would not shake hands with Russians at the 2024 Olympic Games. The former biathlete demanded that Ukrainian athletes be friends with representatives of the aggressor country.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
This photo taken on Nov. 21, 2024 shows stuffed panda toys by SeeU Panda at a cultural and creative product store in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. [Xinhua/Xu Bingjie]
The state will pay UAH 1000 to pensioners, people with disabilities, and those receiving social assistance as part of the "Winter ePidtrymka" program. The money will be available at the Ukrposhta offices.

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As explained by the company, the funds will be paid from December 2024 to February 2025, including in the frontline areas. The support will be available at the beginning of the month along with pensions and social benefits.

Ukrposhta noted that two million pensioners and people with disabilities of groups I and II will be able to receive the assistance. The money will be available through postmen, as well as stationary and mobile post offices.

The list of citizens who will receive assistance through Ukrposhta will be compiled by the Ministry of Social Policy. They will not be able to apply through the Diia app  the company will explain how to apply later.

The assistance will have to be used by March 2025. The money can be used to pay for

utilities and mobile communication services;

purchase of food, household chemicals, medicines, and other Ukrainian-made goods at Ukrposhta branches;

subscriptions to periodicals (newspapers and magazines) and postal products.

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"Thanks to our extensive network, we will ensure the delivery of state aid to millions of Ukrainians - pensioners, recipients of social assistance, subsidies, and others  especially in the most remote villages and on the front line. That is, where it is most difficult to use digital means or where there are no banking institutions and terminals. Those who need this support the most live there, and we will help them use this assistance and deliver medicines, food, goods, and help pay utility bills," said Ihor Smilianskyi, CEO of Ukrposhta.

As OBOZ.UA reported earlier, even fraudsters took advantage of the decision of the Ukrainian authorities to pay UAH 1000 of financial support to citizens. They started spreading fake messages on the Internet to gain access to Ukrainian bank accounts.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and in Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Ukraine's Ambassador to Brazil Andrii Melnyk believes that the time before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, scheduled for January 20, will be the most difficult for our country in its history. This is due to the fact that Trump is likely to want to fulfill his promises to end the war.

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He said this in an interview with Radio Liberty. According to the diplomat, the decision will most likely be made by the day of Trump's inauguration.

"Believe me, my feeling is that these next eight weeks will be the most responsible and difficult in the history of Ukraine after 1991. That is, we need to decide now. When the day of the inauguration comes, I'm afraid that by then the decision will have been made, and then it will be more difficult for us," Melnyk emphasized.

The ambassador believes that Ukrainian diplomacy should actively work with Trump's team to avoid a situation where decisions on Ukraine will be made without Ukraine. According to Melnyk, Kyiv needs to develop several scenarios for ending the war.

Over the next eight weeks, all channels should be used-from diplomatic to family and religious-to ensure that Ukrainian diplomacy works not only in Washington but also at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence.

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"In order to really disrupt what we expect, we need to work through several scenarios there, what could happen. The worst thing would be if some decisions are imposed on Ukraine over our heads," the ambassador added.

As a reminder, Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to help end the Russian-Ukrainian war. For its part, Russia is seeking to seize as much land as possible before the inauguration of the new US president.

Earlier, it was reported that Trump could surprise the world by concluding a peace deal that would be beneficial for both Ukraine and the United States. The point is that economic benefits, not geopolitical ambitions, may become the main priority of the new head of the White House.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, Trump's future national security adviser Mike Waltz assured that the president-elect's team is cooperating with the current White House administration on issues related to the war in Ukraine.

Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber . Do not fall for fakes!
On Friday, workers at the Stellantis-owned Vauxhall van plant in Luton spoke with a reporting team from the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) leafleting with the article, Defeat Unites collusion with Stellantis and Labour government! Organise rank-and-file action to defend jobs!

Both the Luton plant 30 miles north of London and the other Stellantis plant in Ellesmere Port, north-west England producing electric vans have a closure threat hanging over them, directly threatening 2,500 jobs.

WSWS reporting team distribute leaflet to Vauxhall workers at Luton plant, November 22, 2024

Stellantiss chief executive Carlos Tavares renewed the threat on October 14. Vauxhall workers have been kept on tenterhooks, with the company holding onsite meetings this coming Tuesday where a decision is due to be announced.

The Unite union was silent for over a month before General Secretary Sharon Graham issued a pro-forma statement November 17. She said that the union was working with the Labour government over the concessions demanded by Stellantis and other transnationals, including Ford and Nissan, to the UK quota of production of electric vehicles.

The confirmation of Unites corporatist agenda to work with Stellantis followed widespread opposition expressed by Vauxhall workers at Luton reported by the WSWS against the silence maintained by their union. This has only been broken by Unite to pre-empt calls for action and pit workers at both sites against their class brothers and sisters facing the same jobs massacre in the US and Europe.

Over 200 leaflets were taken up by workers on the shift change at the Luton plant, who responded with enthusiasm to the call from the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC), which explains:

The campaign against layoffs must be on a world scale because every industry operates using globalized production and supply chains. There is no such thing anymore as a German or American car. Instead, modern vehicles are a product of the coordinated labour of workers in dozens of countries, regardless of whether the corporate headquarters are in Wolfsburg or Detroit.

After previous campaigns at the plant with IWA-RFC statements, Luton workers said the articles were being accessed online and shared among coworkers. They discussed the programme of demands to fight for workers independent interests against the profit drive of the competing auto transnationals.

Several workers had already written in to the WSWS expressing an interest in the IWA-RFC and stating they had no confidence in the Unite union. One worker said the articles and statements have been widely read and praised by everyone and we are all talking about them.

Handfuls of leaflets were taken by workers to make sure it was widely distributed to their coworkers in the plant. One described the atmosphere inside the factory as ready for a fight and widespread anger at Unite over its extended silence over threatened plants and jobs.

The WSWS article makes the critical point that the most divisive intervention is by Unite General Secretary Graham in fostering economic nationalism, setting workers against each other. It states: Unites overriding strategy is corporatism: an alliance of the union bureaucracy with company boardrooms and the Labour government to make British car manufacturing internationally competitive. This economic nationalist programme has led to the virtual destruction of the car industry and a never-ending race to the bottom.

An assembly line worker asked about the threatened closure of the plant said, That Carlos Tavares is a greedy bastard. I dont even know if Ill have a job by Christmas. Its an awful situation for everyone working here to face. These people have no heart.

Another assembly line worker responding to the call for a unified international struggle of car workers said, I know Stellantis are having this big meeting soon in Paris. I think a lot of our livelihoods are going to be on the line. I agree that this is an international problem and therefore the struggle itself is global.

One experienced worker described conditions within the plant: Its a horrible place to work. Unite is terrible. Not only have they been useless, but it feels like theyre in bed with the company. Theyve done hardly anything about these planned closures and theyve basically kept us in the dark. The communication between workers, management and the union is basically non-existent.

Another pointed out a health and safety representative, who stood speaking to another member of the WSWS reporting team, and who promoted Unites credentials as a pro-worker and internationalist trade union.

The air quality is terrible inside because we constantly have the engines running. Sometimes there are clouds of black smoke everywhere [the Luton plant still produces petrol and diesel vans, switching to EV from the start of 2025 alongside production of ICE vans]. Its freezing inside the factory but were not allowed heaters because weve been told they cost too much to run, though there are about four heaters in the union office. Honestly, the union and health and safety reps have done nothing.

A section of workers were not even aware of the plant meetings on November 26 and thanked WSWS reporters for informing them. I didnt even know this was happening. Thats how little Unite tells us. Its like they dont even exist sometimes.

Once again on the role of Unite, another assembly worker said, Thank you for mentioning Unites role in this mess. Its good to know there are some people who are actually talking about this.

One worker who had signed up for the IWA-RFC expressed his agreement with the demands of the statement, especially the mistreatment of agency workers who he said get fired over the slightest issue. He was scathing on the cosy relations between Unite and the company.

Another said of the call for the international unity of car workers to defeat the onslaught on jobs. it would be very important if we could establish that.

Another summed up decades of sell-outs by Unite, and its forerunner the Transport and General Workers Union: Rubbish, they have sold us out for years.

In further discussions workers raised that a rank-and-file organization would need to stand up against the combined pressure of the union and management. This underlines the fact that Vauxhall workers must turn to a force that is more powerful than the bureaucratic pro-company apparatus by opening lines of communication between both UK plants and Stellantis workers globally to leverage their strength by developing a joint strategy.

The WSWS statement makes the following critical point:

United and effective action by Stellantis workers worldwide can only be achieved by the rank-and-file in direct opposition to the economic nationalism and corporatism of the trade union bureaucracy. Whether Unite in Britain or the United Auto Workers (UAW) in the US, the trade unions today are led by pro-company stooges whose salaries and expense accounts place them in the top 1 to 5 percent of income earners.
On the night of November 25, Ukrainian drones attacked the Typhoon plant in Kaluga, which belongs to the Russian military-industrial complex. This company produces radar equipment for the Russian army.

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This was reported by the head of the Center for Countering Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko. As can be seen in the footage published online, there is a severe fire at the enterprise.

According to Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the Center for Countering Information, the Russian plant "Typhoon" produces communication systems, electronic intelligence, and radar equipment, as well as components for surveillance and guidance systems used on military equipment.

In addition, the plant produces parts for air defense systems, aircraft, and missile systems, and maintains and modernizes equipment in service with the Russian army. The plant also produces electronic modules and specialized equipment for the integration of various military systems.

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Also, according to monitoring channels, a serious fire broke out at the Kaluganafteprodukt oil depot in Kaluga as a result of a UAV attack. This oil depot belongs to the Rosneft structure and is engaged in the wholesale sale of fuel.

The Crimean Wind monitoring group has also identified the coordinates of the impact: 54.5386, 36.3216.

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The governor of the Kaluga region, Vladislav Shapsha, confirmed the attack, claiming that 8 drones were allegedly shot down. According to him, the debris caused a fire at an industrial facility, which was allegedly later extinguished.

Earlier it was reported that on the night of November 25, explosions occurred in Kaluga and Kursk region in Russia. Thus, sirens and explosions were heard in the Kursk region, and local authorities warned of a missile threat. Some hostile Telegram channels claimed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly used ATACMS.

As a reminder, on the night of November 24, the territory of the terrorist country of Russia was attacked by kamikaze drones. Kursk, Lipetsk, Belgorod and Orel regions were under attack. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that the air defense forces allegedly destroyed 34 Ukrainian airplane-type UAVs.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
With a January 5 date fast approaching for the layoff of 1,100 workers at the Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex, demands are growing for a real fight to defend jobs. The layoffs are indefinite and will have a devastating impact with many younger workers who only recently obtained full-time positions being laid off.

An autoworker on the assembly line inside the Toledo Jeep plant [Photo: FiatChrysler_NA]

The United Auto Workers supposed historic contract in 2023 opened the door to a jobs bloodbath starting with the firing of thousands of Temporary Part-Time workers (TPTs) also known as supplemental workers. UAW President Shawn Fain and other officials claimed they would be rolled over to full-time work if they voted to ratify the agreement.

The UAW bureaucracy has done nothing as layoffs mount at Stellantis plants across the US, already totaling some 4,000 just since September. Instead, Fain and his PR department have promoted their phony Keep the Promise campaign, which consists of filing impotent grievances against Stellantis and empty talk of strikes. The campaign served primarily as a platform for the UAW to promote the presidential campaign of Kamala Harris. Since the defeat of Harris, UAW officials have made it clear there will be no strikes for months, if at all.

With rank-and-file anger boiling, Fain recently visited locals at the Sterling Heights Assembly plant north of Detroit and in Toledo in an attempt at damage control. At these meetings Fain sought to pin responsibility for the 2023 sellout at UAW Vice President Rich Boyer, claiming he had allowed Stellantis to run roughshod over the collective bargaining agreement. In fact, both Fain and Boyer were well aware at the time they signed the 2023 contract that Stellantis planned thousands of layoffs.

Fain and other UAW officials have also sought to blame the Stellantis job cuts on mismanagement by Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, claiming the Portuguese-born executive is hostile to American workers. This ignores the fact that Stellantis is threatening to axe 2,500 jobs at its Ellesmere Port and Luton plants in the United Kingdom and cut as many as 12,000 jobs in Italy. Earlier this year, Stellantis closed its giant engine plant in Bielsko-Biala, Poland after scrapping plans to build a second EV model in Poland.

More fundamentally, these cuts are part of a global assault on auto jobs by the transnational corporations, including last weeks announcement by Ford that it is eliminating 4,000 jobs in Europe, including 2,900 in Germany. This follows the threats by VW to close plants, lay off tens of thousands of workers and slash wages by 20 percent in Germany.

Rather than opposing the job cuts and seeking to mobilize workers, the UAW bureaucracy is collaborating with management to tamp down opposition. In response to the Stellantis layoffs, one UAW official posted on Facebook, Why isnt the union and Stellantis doing more to get the older employees to retire? Bigger bonus? Offering early retirement, etc

A World Socialist Web Site reporting team spoke to workers at the Toledo Assembly Complex who build the Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Gladiator, explaining that workers had to mobilize independently of the UAW to oppose the job cuts through the building of rank-and-file committees. In particular, WSWS supporters stressed the need for an international strategy based on uniting the struggle of US autoworkers with their brothers and sisters globally against the divide and conquer strategy of the corporations and the pro corporate union bureaucracies.

The team distributed hundreds of copies of the latest WSWS Autoworker Newsletter containing a statement in opposition to the Stellantis job cuts. Many workers, particularly younger workers, said they would be personally impacted by the layoffs.

Workers expressed deep anger at the refusal of UAW President Fain and local UAW leaders in Toledo to organize any serious resistance to the continuing wave of mass layoffs.

One worker told the WSWS, People dont agree with it. They rolled over a bunch of people in March and they are about to be laid off. I didnt talk to anyone who went to the union meeting last Sunday, but people are upset that a lot of workers are about to lose their jobs. I definitely feel the UAW should be doing more.

The WSWS campaigners explained that the installation of the Trump administration signaled a further stepping up of the class war against workers by corporate America. While a number of workers said they had voted for Trump, out of disgust for the Biden administration, they had done so with little enthusiasm. One worker said, either way we are in trouble the next four years.

Another worker said, I want a third party. We can see what Trump has in mind because everywhere he goes hes with Musk, who said he would fire workers if they went on strike. He wants to cut trillions from the budget. We need money for Social Security and schools not for tanks in the Middle East.

A worker at the Toledo plant with more than a decade seniority told the WSWS, A lot of workers are really depressed and the atmosphere at Jeep is somber. He added, Workers are unsure about their futures and putting out resumes. They are thinking about second careers, or the older ones are retiring.

It looks like were allowing in an oligarchy. Its like they are using AI and robotics to make us expendable. At the same time, theyre trying to burn us out; working us six days a week nine hours a day. Some departments are working Sundays for the first time in I dont know how long.

Management is really uptight and really trying to push out the cars before the holidays. The rumor is they might lay us all off after Thanksgiving or Christmas, not just the 1,100 going on indefinite layoff on January 5.

Fain was going around trying to unionize other companies like Mercedes in Alabama, where the UAW lost the vote, but they were seemingly oblivious to what was going on with all the jobs being lost at Stellantis and other Big Three companies. A lot of people wanted to challenge Fain at the union meeting about our jobs being taken away.

Kokomo Transmission Plant workers on July 19, 2023

I consider myself an independent. The Democratic Party has totally changed and it is totally out of touch with workers. All people want is peace and to support their families, and to have time with their families. They dont want war or being controlled.

Responding to the call by the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees for a global campaign against the job cuts, he added, This looks like a global restructuring of the auto industry. Stellantis is going ahead with the job cuts because their model of high profitability through overpricing vehicles is not working. But Ford, GM and the other automakers are not far behind.

I heard that VW is cutting jobs too. We should unite around the world to fight these job cuts. All over the world we are seeing microchip shortages, supply issues, companies trying to control the EV market, like Tesla, and the working class being dismantled. My friends are being laid off indefinitely on January 5 and we need to stop it.

Layoffs are continuing at Stellantis plants in Michigan and Indiana. Some 250 workers were just laid off at the Indiana Transmission Plant in Kokomo, Indiana. Another 500 workers at the Kokomo Casting Plant are currently laid off. Stellantis also recently cut 400 jobs at the Detroit Assembly Complex-Mack and is cutting another 400 at an adjacent logistics facility. In suburban Detroit, there have been a series of layoffs at Sterling Heights Assembly and at least 1,300 have been laid off at Warren Truck out of a planned 2,400 cuts.

A member of the Stellantis Kokomo Rank-and-File Committee reported, Every TPT who was flipped to full time is now gone. They were let go about eight weeks ago. Thats almost 2,000 in all the different plants. Per this contract, every single one is out of a job. Their seniority date was changed when they were flipped to full-time. So, for them, this is an indefinite layoff with no call back rights after four months.

She continued, People are getting laid off who I thought would never get laid off. These are indefinite layoffs and it could be a year to 18 months before they are called back. They have gone back to July 2014 in hiring dates. They are doing away with all of the second shift.

Everyone has one year of unemployment and SUB pay (supplemental unemployment benefits), but many have used part of that during voluntary layoffs earlier. Some are afraid they wont have anything left.

A real fight against layoffs can only be carried out through a rebellion by workers on the shop floor against the pro-company UAW apparatus. Worker interested in more information about building or joining a rank-and-file committee should send in the form below.
At the opening Friday evening of her new exhibition entitled This Will Not End Well, at the Neue Nationalgalerie [New National Gallery] in Berlin, US artist and photographer Nan Goldin condemned both Israel and Germany for their role in the genocide in Gaza and its extension into Lebanon.

At the start of her 14-minute speech to a packed audience (excerpts available here and here), Goldin called for four minutes of silence in remembrance of the victims of the conflict in the Palestinian territories and Lebanon, as well as civilians killed in Israel.

Goldin exhibition in Berlin

Referring to her own Jewish background, Goldin explained that My grandparents escaped pogroms in Russia. I was brought up knowing about the Nazi Holocaust. What I see in Gaza reminds me of the pogroms that my grandparents escaped.

Speaking one day after the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity, Goldin noted that the ICC is talking about genocide. The UN is talking about genocide. Even the Pope is talking about genocide.

In Germany, however, anyone who spoke this truth, whether Palestinian, Jew or German, faced cancellation. Yet were not supposed to talk about this as genocide. Are you afraid to hear this, Germany? Goldin demanded to know.

Goldin went on to address directly the claim that criticism of Israel and Zionism amounted to antisemitism. Anti-Zionism has nothing to do with antisemitism she said to cheers, noting that the campaign to conflate the terms increasingly endangered Jews who had previously regarded Germany as a refuge from antisemitism.

She went on to argue that Islamophobia was being ignored in Germany, the home of the largest Palestinian diaspora in Europe. Yet protests are met with police dogs and deportation and stigmatization, she continued.

She continued her criticism of Germany, which along with the US continues to provide weapons to Israel and give unstinting support to the fascist ranks of the Netanyahu government. To tremendous applause from the audience, Goldin declared that Never again means never again for everyone, referring to the phrase Never again, the central conclusion drawn in Germany from the Nazi annihilation of six million Jews in World War II.

Following Goldins speech, Neue Nationalgalerie director Klaus Biesenbach immediately sought to counter Goldins message. He took to the stage, claiming that while he respected Goldins right to express her opinion, the main responsibility for the suffering in Gaza rested with Hamas. His speech, however, was largely drowned out by audience chants of Free Palestine.

This is a major event.

Goldin is a prominent figure in the global art community. Indeed, in 2023, she was described as the most influential person in the art world in ArtReviews Power 100 list of such individuals.

Nan Goldin [Photo: Candice Bretiz]

The well-known photographers courageous speech in Berlin has sent shock waves through the political and cultural establishment in Germany and beyond. Like the boy in Hans Christian Andersens tale who blurts out that the emperor has no clothes, Goldin in her speech at one blow exposed all the main lies and odious slanders developed by the Israeli and German governments to cover up the massacre of Palestinian men, women, children and babies taking place in Gaza.

Already prior to the opening of This Will Not End Well, a lifetime retrospective of Goldins work, the Berlin museum, fully aware of the artists stance on Israel and Gaza, had organised a symposium clearly aimed at damage control.

Without Goldins knowledge, the museum proposed a symposium talk with the title Art and Activism in Times of Polarisation: A Space for Discussion on the Middle East Conflict (at a later date changed to the nebulous title Vagueness and Avoidance in Times of Genocide).

In the event, when it became clear that the symposium panel would include prominent pro-Israeli and pro-Zionist supporters, Goldin expressed her opposition to the symposium and a number of planned speakers pulled out.

Once again, in ritual fashion, political Berlin issued its denunciations following Goldins remarks Friday. Germanys Culture Minister Claudia Roth, a leading figure in the official campaign to gag opponents of genocide, condemned Goldin for her unbearably one-sided political views. Roth, who is clearly not appalled at the mass murder of civilians in Gaza and Lebanon declared she was appalled at the way people in the audience chanted slogans like Free Palestine.

Roths comments were echoed by Berlin Senate culture minister, Joe Chialo, who along with Roth has been in the front lines of cutting funding to anti-Zionist artists and is currently overseeing massive cuts to the culture budget in Germanys capital.

Green Party leader Roth is part of a government complicit in the genocide and war crimescrimes deemed recently by the Human Rights Watch group to amount to ethnic cleansingcommitted in Gaza.

When asked if the German authorities would comply with the arrest warrant issued last Thursday for war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu by the ICC, to which Germany is one of the most important financial contributors, a spokesman for chancellor Olaf Scholz (Social Democratic Party, SPD), made clear that the German government would refuse. He responded, I find it hard to imagine that arrests could be carried out in Germany on this basis.

Goldins intrepid comments on Friday reflect the outrage of masses of people across the globe shocked by the images of utter devastation and suffering that emerge on a daily basis from Gazawith tens of millions having taken to the streets in protests and demonstrations worldwide.

For decades young people in postwar Germany were instructed, in the wake of the Holocaust, that the intentional and systematic annihilation of an entire people could not and would not be repeated. Never Again! was the clarion call. This, however, is exactly what is taking place in Gaza with the full complicity of the US, Germany and numerous other governments. Only the mass mobilisation of the working class on an international scale, based on a socialist program, can put an end to the capitalist system, the root source of genocide and fascism.
On Monday, the Berlin Senate, a coalition between the Christian Democrats (CDU) and Social Democrats (SPD), announced specific reductions in next years budget. The cuts total over 3 billion ($3.146 billion) and affect almost all areas.

Demonstration by public sector employees in Berlin, March 2023

Some 660 million ($692 million) is to be slashed in the mobility, transport and environment sector alone, which accounts for almost 20 percent of the total budget.

The 29 ($30.40) ticket giving a months access to Berlins public transport system, which has only been available since July, is being withdrawn. The ticket was an affordable alternative to the overpriced regular tickets and was therefore in high demand. In October, there were 210,000 subscribers to the monthly ticket, and the trend was rising.

With outrageous cynicism, the Senator (state minister) for Economic Affairs and former Mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) justified the move by saying she had to weigh the ticket against the free school ticket for over 300,000 children, free school meals and daycare.

The price of the social ticket for public transport, which people on extremely low incomes can claim, will be more than doubled. Instead of the previous 9, it will cost 19 in the future. Giffey called the increase a very, very small amount.

SPD Berlin Co-Chair Nicola Bocker-Giannini commented that Berliners could now plan securely, adding with undisguised cynicism, It was important to us that the social city be preserved.

Funding for all environmental projects, which was never more than a drop in the ocean, is also falling victim to the cuts. This includes, for example, the purchase of electric buses for Berlins transit system BVG and the promotion of a public bike rental system. Also to be cut is funding for traffic safety and the expansion of tram lines. Funds for the protection of water safety are also being slashed.

In the education budget, 370 million ($388 million) has been cut. 14 million will be cut from the urgently needed expansion of daycare centers, almost 100 million will be slashed due to the cancellation of the planned construction of two new primary schools, and Studierendenwerk (Student Support Services) will see its funding cut by around one-third.

In the cultural sector, 12 percent of the total budget has been slashed. Renowned theaters, such as the Deutsche Oper, the Volksbuhne, the Komische Oper and others, will be forced to cut back their programs. The Berliner Ensemble will cut at least five productions over the next two seasons, as Artistic Director Oliver Reese has already announced. Even funding for the world-renowned Berlinale film festival has been cut by half.

Protests against the brutal cuts are already underway. A protest concert titled Berlin ist Kultur (Berlin is Culture) took place last Tuesday. The Berliner Ensemble, the Deutsche Oper, the Rundfunkchor (Radio Choir) and the Grips-Theater among others took part.

The list goes on and on. Funding for youth work, swimming pools, homeless services and much more is being drastically reduced or eliminated completely. Housing subsidies are being cut by around 150 million in a city that is suffering from skyrocketing rents and a housing shortage like no other in Germany.

In the area of domestic affairs and security, the cuts affect disaster relief and the fire brigade. However, the police and the judiciary have been left completely untouched. Benjamin Jendro, spokesperson for the police union in Berlin, was satisfied, declaring, It seems as if the CDU and SPD have listened to us and left the lawnmower in the garage for 2025. At the beginning of the legislative period, the CDU-SPD Senate had declared that a top priority was beefing up domestic security.

Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) and his Senate not only defend the radical cuts against all criticism, they praise the austerity as a model for other states and the federal government. SPD Berlin state parliamentary leader Raed Saleh commented on the cuts that had been decided, saying it was the job of politicians to ensure peace and stability. We have all just experienced at the federal level how it doesnt work, where a whole coalition has failed on the budget.

While the State Poverty Conference and other initiatives have called for protests against the austerity measures, the policy of cuts is supported by all parties represented in the Berlin House of Representatives. The Liberal Democrats (FDP) and far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) have praised the cuts and called for further measures, such as an administrative reform, i.e., job cuts in public services and savings in the area of immigration and the granting of asylum.

Timid criticisms on the part of the Greens and the Left Party are intended to conceal the fact that they too have made massive cuts every time they have been in the Senate for the last 25 years. Daniel Wesener, former finance senator under Giffey, in a state government that included the SPD, the Left Party and the Greens, had even boasted to the Berliner Zeitung that his policy was directed against the population. You wont see a finance senator bearing flower garlands, the Green politician declared.

The criticisms from the public services trade union Verdi are also nothing more than hot air, used to divert the widespread resentment against the Senate. After the planned cuts were announced, Verdi declared its solidarity with other actors in civil society in protest against the planned austerity measures by the Berlin Senate.

Verdi Regional Director Andrea Kuhnemann said, We will not allow ourselves to be blackmailed by supposed practical constraints that were created by the same parties that are now presenting the cuts as having no alternative. ... If the CDU and SPD want to go back to the Sarrazin years, when this city was being starved of funds, they would have to expect resistance.

The Sarrazin years and the years since have shown that resistance does not come from the trade unions. Together with the SPD and other governing parties, the trade unions have helped to enforce every austerity diktat. At the Charite and Vivantes state-owned hospitals, the BVG public transport system, the municipal cleaning services and other public enterprises, they work closely with the Senate and management to push through wage cuts and privatisation against the workers.

In announcing the cuts, the Senate made it clear this was only the beginning of even more extensive austerity measures. Finance Senator Stefan Evers (CDU) said further savings would be made in the two-year budget for 2026 and 2027. It must be clear to everyone: there will be no more [money], said Evers.
25 years ago: ASEAN meets in Manila, Philippines over the contested Spratly and Paracels islands

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) met November 29-30 in Manila, Philippines to discuss the strategically important Spratly and Paracels islands located in the South China Sea. Members at the joint summit included China, the Philippines, Japan and South Korea. A proposal written by the Philippines outlined a code of conduct for member nations over the islands, calling for a halt to any new occupation of reefs, shoals and islets in the disputed area to ensure peace and stability in the region.

From the beginning, the agreement was stillborn. China refused to sign any document that included the Paracels, which were claimed not only by China, but by many other countries, including Taiwan and Vietnam. The Chinese government suspected any international body overseeing the territorial dispute would serve Washingtons interests as opposed to its own.

Map of the disputed Spratly islands

Once the agreement officially failed, the underlying national interests of ASEAN members exploded into the open. Riolo Golez, in the Philippine House of Representatives, accused China of plotting to conquer the Philippines, stating the China blob is already close to Philippines shores with Chinas recent territorial claims to Scarborough Shoal, an island just north of the main Spratly islets and about 120 miles west of the Philippine island of Luzon.

The inflammatory tone from Manila was being fueled by the United States. During the South East Asian Security Conference in July, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright made clear the intentions of the American government, saying we cannot simply sit on the sidelines and watch. Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher was more frank in his accusatory remarks, saying, China is claiming the entire area in the South China Sea. This is a blueprint for war on the part of Beijing.

Washington attempted to sow fears of a full-scale Chinese military buildup. US imperialism sought to fortify its strategic military alliance with the Philippines to control vital sea lanes and project hegemony across the South China Sea. To strengthen its own claims to these potential resource-rich islands, Orlando Mercado, the Philippine defense secretary said, Our country is weak, is extremely vulnerable to external threats and needs this alliance (with the United States) in order to protect our national interests.

Although most of the Spratlys consist of uninhabited islands, reefs and sea mountains, scattered across 800,000 square kilometers in the South China Sea, rich fishing spots, the potential of lucrative oil reserves and control over sea lanes make this location a significant flashpoint in world politics. Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines claim portions of the islands, based on the proximity to their shores, while China and Taiwan claim complete ownership over the archipelago. Every coastal country, except Brunei, has stationed soldiers and small military bases. China occupied seven out of the 10 reefs and Taiwan controlled one of the largest islands, Taipung (Itu Abu).

50 years ago: British Parliament outlaws IRA, grants police emergency powers

On November 29, 1974, the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Prevention of Terrorism Acts. The laws made membership or support for the Irish Republican Army (IRA) illegal and gave sweeping powers to the police to arrest anyone suspected of association with the IRA without a warrant.

Other powers granted under the Acts included increasing surveillance of anyone traveling between Ireland and Britain. Police gained the power to arrest, detain and search anyone traveling across the border on the suspicion of terrorist activity.

UK Home Secretary Roy Jenkins, who introduced the anti-IRA legislation to Parliament

Since 1969, the British Army had occupied Northern Ireland to repress the growing movement for civil rights for the Catholic minority and for Irish reunification. To resist the occupation many thousands joined or supported the IRA in a struggle against dictatorial military rule.

In August of 1971, the British military imposed a policy of mass internment in Northern Ireland. Anyone suspected of association with the IRA was arrested, held in large camps, and often tortured. Thousands of northern Irish youths were rounded up and thrown into detention centers under the policy.

The British occupation brought with it killings of Irish civilians by British soldiers, including the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre where 14 unarmed protesters were shot and killed and many more wounded. In 1973 the Northern Ireland parliament, known as Stormont, was abolished and direct British rule was imposed.

Under conditions of military occupation and the abolition of basic political rights, the IRAs struggle for Irish unification took on the form of a guerrilla war that included terrorist bombings. By November 1974, these included bombing attacks in English cities like London and Birmingham. These attacks included the November 21 Birmingham pub bombings that killed 21 people and injured 182.

The bombings provided the pretext for the British government to launch its major repression of the IRA and political support for Irish nationalism in general. It was in the immediate aftermath of the bombings that the Terrorism Acts were introduced in Parliament.

The Acts led to six Irish workers living in Birmingham to be falsely convicted of conducting the bombing and sentenced to life in prison. The men, known as the Birmingham Six, had been forced by British police to sign confessions under torture. It would not be until 1991 that their convictions were overturned and they were released from prison.

A statement by the Trotskyist movement in Britain at the time, the Workers Revolutionary Party, explained that the terrorist methods of the IRA would only result in the suppression of the rights of workers by British imperialism both in Ireland and Britain. The statement read, If the first victims of these provocations are innocent workers in Birmingham, the next victims could indeed be the right of workers to organize strikes and demonstrate to defend their standard of living from capitalist attack.

75 years ago: Cominform calls for overthrow of the Tito regime in Yugoslavia

On November 29, 1949, the Communist Information Bureau (Cominform) issued a resolution calling for the overthrow of the regime in Yugoslavia headed by Tito.

The Cominform, founded in 1947 by Stalin and consisting of representatives from a number of European parties loyal to his regime, declared in the resolution that the struggle against the Tito regime is the international duty of all Communist and Workers Parties.

Tito (on right) and other leaders of the Yugoslav Partisans

The resolution, titled, The Communist Party of Yugoslavia in the power of murderers and spies, was an expression of Stalins struggle to subordinate Yugoslavia, which had diverged from the policies of the Kremlin bureaucracy on a number of issues under Titos rule, including the support given by the latter for anti-fascist partisans in Greece.

After years of attempting to subordinate Yugoslavia via political pressure, this new resolution was part of a shift by the Stalinist regime in its attitude towards the Tito regime. A Cominform resolution published on June 28, 1948, prescribed the purge of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CYP) leadership.

The November 1949 resolution by contrast demanded the complete overthrow of the regime as necessary to bring Yugoslavia to heel. It contained a denunciation of the CYP as comprised of assassins and hireling spies, while Yugoslavia as a whole was described as an anti-communist police state of a fascist type.

As described by the Militant, the US-based Trotskyist newspaper of the time, the resolution amounted to a formal declaration of war upon Yugoslavia. These are not just empty words but orders issued by the Kremlin. Actions must of necessity follow orders.

Despite the intensity of the conflict, Tito remained a Stalinist in his political program and record. He defended the anti-Marxist program of socialism in one country, first elaborated by the Soviet bureaucracy as an expression of its nationalist orientation and defense of its own privileges. Tito continued to uphold the persecution of Trotskyists, who opposed the Soviet bureaucracy from the standpoint of a socialist and internationalist defense of the perspective of world socialist revolution.

100 years ago: British land troops in Egypt

On November 25, 1924, Lord Edmund Allenby, the British Special High Commissioner of Egypt, sent warships to Alexandria and landed troops in Egypt after Sir Lee Stack, the British Governor-General of the Sudan, was assassinated on November 19 by a group of nationalist students while being driven through Cairo. Egypt and Sudan at the time were a single polity under the control of British imperialism.

British imperial officer Edmund Allenby

Allenby issued a set of draconian demands to the Egyptian government, including the payment of a humiliating indemnity of 500,000. The previous day British forces had seized the Customs House in Alexandria and succeeded in forcing the government to pay the sum. But the head of state, Zargul Pasha, was reluctant to accede to other British demands, and refused to take responsibility for the assassination. With the presence of warships and the threat of a further invasion by British troops, he submitted his resignation to King Fuad I and was replaced by Zeiwar Pasha.

The Egyptian parliament voted to appeal to the League of Nations. In the words of the New York Times, however, Britain had declared a sort of Monroe Doctrine concerning Egypt and the Sudan and she would in all probability resent any outside interference with what she considers her rights there. The next day the League of Nations rejected the appeal from the Egyptian parliament.

Press reports at the time indicate a fear in Egyptian government circles that British conduct in the crisis would spark a national uprising. Allenby was a veteran imperialist military and political leader, particularly in the war against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East and the British seizure of Palestine, and he had been instrumental in suppressing the Egyptian Revolution of 1919-20.

The British arrested four members of Zargul Pashas cabinet on suspicion of conspiracy on November 27 and British troops surrounded an Egyptian unit in Sudan, which said that it would only move on orders from King Fuad. Two hundred troops mutinied in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan and killed one British and two Syrian physicians. The next day, the British suppressed the mutiny, and with the help of the Egyptian government, were able to restore its rule throughout the country.

In 1925 the assassins of Stack were hanged.
In an outrageous act of censorship, administrators at Condell Park High School have banned a student from attending his Year 12 formal this Thursday because he wore a Keffiyeh scarf to a graduation event in September.

The thirteen-month long Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza has been accompanied by a sweeping assault on anti-war opposition in Australia and the other imperialist countries complicit in the mass murder. Even in that context, the attack on a 17-year-old for merely having worn a scarf is particularly vindictive.

It is all the more striking, given the location and its demographics. Condell Park, near Bankstown, is a working-class area with consistently higher rates of joblessness and poverty than state averages. As with much of south-western Sydney, it has a large Middle Eastern and Islamic population, and opposition to the Israeli genocide is overwhelming.

Sydney school students protest Israels genocide, December 2023

The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) joins the condemnations of this attack from the student, his family and working-class youth more broadly.

The IYSSE, as the youth wing of the Socialist Equality Party, calls for the widest opposition, including protests, to demand that this discrimination is overturned. We particularly appeal to teachers and staff to dissociate themselves from this attack and take a stand in defence of their students!

Above all, what this incident yet again demonstrates is the need to build a political movement of the working class against the Gaza genocide, war and the accompanying attacks on basic democratic rights.

The account of the youth and his family provided to the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) is damning. The student of Palestinian descent wore the Keffiyeh to the September graduation ceremony, during which they were encouraged to wear cultural garb associated with their national backgrounds.

According to the Herald, Photographs from the September event show other students wearing other cultural artefacts, including feathered cloaks and garlands, over their graduation gowns.

Despite this, the 17-year-old was singled out. Staff members allegedly told him that wearing the scarf constituted a prohibited political statement. He was barred from posing for graduation pictures in the Keffiyeh with fellow students and senior staff, who instructed him twice to remove the item of clothing.

The teenager told the Herald, I kept explaining that its a cultural thing that I wear on special occasions, but they kept saying that I was making a political statement in a public school and I cant do that.

They said it wouldnt be the smartest decision to keep it on and that I wouldnt want to get on the wrong side of the higher-ups so close to the end of the year.

That last comment is highly significant, demonstrating that the issue is not simply overzealous and censorious school staff, but official policy.

That is also shown by what came next. Rather than admitting that they had overstepped the mark, the school officials doubled down. It was two weeks after the graduation ceremony that the student was called into a senior staff members office and told that he had been barred from the formal.

Significantly, the student and his family are not backing down. They are taking a stand in defence of their own civil liberties, and those of students, youth and the working class generally. Representatives of the family wrote to the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Education demanding an apology and that the boy be permitted to attend his formal.

That not forthcoming, the family has filed a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission alleging discrimination.

In comments to the Herald, the boys sister correctly stated: The keffiyeh is a centuries-old garment worn by my family, grandparents, great-grandparents and many others in the Palestinian community. The public school system, which should be an inclusive environment, should not be punishing children because of their cultural background.

Since the genocide began, there have been reports of students and staff in public schools in NSW, as well as the neighbouring state of Victoria, being prohibited from wearing pins and other items expressing solidarity with the Palestinians.

These attacks come directly from the NSW Labor government. With bombs raining down on Gaza, in November last year the Department of Education issued a policy statement entitled Supporting the school community during the current conflict in the Middle East.

It insisted that schools needed to adopt an objective, i.e., a neutral position on the genocide. While the policy does not explicitly prohibit the wearing of Palestinian symbols, it is clear from the actions of the Condell Park High administration and other instances of suppressing opposition to the Israeli slaughter that it has how they have been instructed to interpret it.

The very notion of impartiality concerning genocide is offensive. The inevitable logic of such a position, if projected back in history, would have been to turn a blind eye to the worst crimes of capitalism, such as the Holocaust.

The purported neutrality, moreover, is a sham. Since day one of the Israeli offensive, official Australian institutions, from federal and state governments down, have supported the Zionist terror campaign, while delegitimising all opposition. This has been led by the Labor government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the state Labor administrations, especially in NSW and Victoria.

They have continually vilified opposition to the genocide as antisemitic, falsely conflating hostility to the Israeli war crimes with anti-Jewish prejudice.

This has been the cover for a full-scale offensive aimed at banning anti-war sentiment generally. Young people have been a particular target. When school students staged strikes against the genocide last year, they were denounced by state and federal Labor MPs, while the mainstream media provided airtime for Zionist leaders to denounce the children as human shields and to threaten menacingly that all red lines had been crossed.

Earlier this year, university students established encampments protesting the ongoing mass killings. Albanese slandered them as divisive and hateful, declaring that they did not have a place in society. That was a green light for attacks by the police and university administrations.

Most recently, two students at Western Sydney University were violently arrested by cops on campus merely for protesting the genocide. A third student was arrested early in the morning at her house, in a clear act of intimidation. All were fitted up on bogus charges with harsh bail conditions imposed.

While lying about protests being a threat to safety and community harmony, governments are themselves going on the offensive, including with xenophobic attacks on Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims. The push to restrict the wearing of the Keffiyeh is plainly discriminatory. If anyone suggested that another item of clothing be barred because it was associated with an ethnic, national or religious group they would rightly be condemned as racists.

More is involved, though, than racial discrimination. The genocide in Gaza, which has now expanded into Lebanon and includes US-Israeli attacks on Iran, is part of a developing global war. Just as the Labor government supports the mass slaughter of Palestinians, so it is preparing for Australia to play a frontline role in a US war against China aimed at asserting the hegemony of the American banks and corporations.

This is a program that is incompatible with democratic rights. It requires the suppression of anti-war sentiment, which is growing and will continue to spread as the reality of a global conflagration between the major powers becomes evident to broader layers of the population.

The IYSSE states bluntly that what young people face is the breakdown and bankruptcy of the whole capitalist set-up. This is a system that offers you nothing but genocide, war and the prospect of nuclear catastrophe, combined with ever greater social inequality, poverty, climate destruction and authoritarianism.

The fight to defend basic civil liberties and end war must be combined with the struggle against capitalism. This means mobilising the social and political power of the working class to fight for the socialist transformation of society.

Socialism means working people democratically controlling the wealth they produce to meet social need, not the profits of the banks and the billionaires. It means a society of genuine democracy and civil liberties and the peaceful advancement of humanity, not wars for markets, resources and profits.

We urge you to contact the IYSSE to discuss these issues and join this fight for a future.

Get in touch with the IYSSE:

Email: iysseaus@gmail.com

Facebook: facebook.com/IYSSEaustralia

Twitter: @IysseA

Instagram: @iysse.aus
Bowing to pressure from the Tamil Nadu state government, the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU)the national trade union federation led by the Stalinist Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPMabruptly terminated the militant 37-day strike of some 1,500 permanent workers at Samsung Indias Tamil Nadu household-appliance manufacturing plant on 15 October 2024.

The workers were led to believe that they would return to work on October 17. But the South Korean-based transnational company has taken advantage of the CITU/CPM betrayal to intensify its anti-worker campaign. To date, only a fraction of the workers have been recalled. Those that have been, have been forced to undergo training sessions during which managers have browbeat them and sought to enlist them in a phony, management-created workers committee.

Samsung India workers during their 37-day strike in Sept.-Oct., 2024. First they were barred by a court injunction from going within 500 meters of the strike-bound plant. Then police stormed their rallying point and tore down their tent.

The CITU completely surrendered to the fiercely pro-business DMK state government, without winning any of the workers demands for reducing the work-day and onerous management oversight or increasing their miserable wages. It even abandoned the demand that it claimed was the central issue in the strikeformal registration of the SIWU (Samsung India Workers Union) by the Labour Ministry, which is supposedly a statutory right under Indian labour laws.

The Samsung workers are now at the mercy of a vindictive management. When the workers who participated in the strike showed up at the factory gate on October 17, they were told by the Samsung management that they will first have to go through mandatory week-long training sessions in batches of 150 workers at a time. So far, only around 450 workers have been allowed back into the factory.

The CITU scuttled the strike under conditions where it was becoming a major flashpoint for the class struggle in Tamil Nadu and across India. Under pressure from Indias far-right, Narendra Modi-led central government and global investors, the DMK government was resorting to ever more brazen and violent police repression to break the strike. This risked provoking a broader worker mobilization.

An additional factor in the CITUs complete surrender was the DMK government making it clear to the CPM and the smaller Stalinist Communist Party of India (CPI), both of whom are in a long-time political alliance with the DMK, that their nominal criticisms of the polices action were not in the interest of the alliance, and that the DMK could well sever its ties with them.

The CITU has celebrated its rotten betrayal to Samsung management and to the Tamil Nadu DMK government as an historic victory. A victory that, according to long-time CITU functionary and SIWU leader Muthukumar, the world is looking at with wonder and supposedly made the workers happy.

In contrast to the entirely phony picture of victory that Muthukumar has painted, Samsung workers have expressed their anger and bitterness at the CITUs backstabbing in discussions with WSWS reporters.

With the company doubling down post-strike on its refusal to recognize the SIWU, the Stalinists have cravenly appealed to management to recognize that they can be its best partner in containing worker unrest.

Thus, Muthukumar, who the CITU imposed as SIWU president without any rank-and-file vote, posted a statement on social media that combined vague, hollow threats of consequences if management didnt back away from its hard line with an obsequious plea for cooperation to boost production.

CITU workers want peace, wrote Muthukumar, and we are guiding them to help them in production, so we hereby declare that it is the duty of Samsung management to preserve this industrial peace after long struggle without prejudice.

This declaration is entirely in keeping with the utterly rotten role that the Stalinist-led CITU has played for decades. It has isolated and betrayed one militant workers struggle after another, particularly in Tamil Nadu, which has become a major manufacturing hub in India. In 2010, for example, the CITU made the 7,000 workers at the Taiwanese-based Foxxcon and the 3,000 workers at the Chennai-area plant of the Chinese-owned BYD corporation completely surrender to management despite their having waged weeks-long strikes.

In the case of the Samsung strike, the CITU did nothing to mobilize support for it among workers in the massive Oragadam-Sriperumbudur industrial-belt in which it is locatedlet alone seek to make it the spearhead of a broader working-class mobilization against the poverty wages, precarious contract employment, and the brutal working conditions that prevail across India. Muthukumar and his fellow Stalinist functionaries didnt even organize a common meeting or action with the nearly 100 permanent workers at a nearby Samsung-supplier, SH Electronics, who were in the midst of a months-long strike to protest the dismissal of 12 workers for forming a union affiliated to the CITU.

Instead, the CITU leaders urged workers to make appeals to the DMK-led Labour Ministry and courts, claiming they could be pressured to intervene on their behalf.

In fact, the strike demonstrated the exact opposite. The government, courts and police were in cahoots with Samsung.

As the Samsung workers strike erupted on September 9, the management obtained a court-order prohibiting strikers from picketing within 500 metres of the companys premises. The CITU obediently agreed to this and erected a protest-tent far away from the plant. CITU leaders also ordered the workers not to speak to outsiders such as the WSWS reporters, promising that the the CITU leadership would solve all the problems of the workers.

As the strike persisted, the DMK and central BJP governments became increasingly agitated, with various officials issuing strident warnings that it was damaging India and Tamil Nadus reputation among investors. Police were increasingly set upon the strikers, to intimidate and harass them.

All the while, the CITU, CPM and CPI leaders sat on their hands. They issued no more than the most timid criticisms of the police and even more importantly their DMK allies, whom they urged to be reasonable.

Adding insult to injury, having bowed to the DMK government and called off the strike without winning any of the workers demands, the state leaders of the CPM, CPI, and the Tamil nationalist VCK met with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on October 26 to thank him for his intervention to resolve the Samsung Electronics workers strike amicably.

The treacherous role of the CITU flows from the reactionary Stalinist politics of the CPM and the CPI. Despite their claims to be parties of the working class striving for socialism, they have functioned as an integral part of the capitalist political establishment for decades. They have provided crucial support to the Indian bourgeoisie in its drive to transform India into a cheap-labour haven for global capital and in its attempts to advance its predatory interests through a strategic partnership with Washington aimed at China.

While isolating and suppressing militant worker struggles, the CPM, CPI and their Left Front work to tie the working class to the parties of big businessincluding the Congress Party, long the bourgeoisies preferred party of national government. They have participated in and supported one right-wing, anti-worker government after another, nationally and in the states. This includes backing both DMK and AIADMK-led governments in Tamil Nadu.

They try to justify their alliances with the Congress Party and regional bourgeois parties like the DMK on the grounds that they are secular alternatives to the Hindu supremacist BJP. Yet these parties all have a long record of conniving with communalism.

In those states where the CPM-led Left Front forms the government, previously in West Bengal and now in Kerala, it has pursued pro-investor policies, including banning strikes in the IT sector and in Special Economic Zones.

What the Stalinist politicians and trade union bureaucrats vehemently oppose is workers breaking from capitalist politics and the state-regulated, pro-employer collective bargaining system, and mounting a counteroffensive against poverty wages, contract employment and brutal working conditions based on the methods of class struggle. The inevitable intervention of the state on the side of the employers must be met with the systematic mobilization of workers power, uniting workers disparate struggles across Tamil Nadu, India and internationally.

Such a movement can only develop if it is animated by a socialist-internationalist perspectivethe fight for the independent political mobilization of the working class, rallying the rural toilers behind it against the Indian bourgeoisie, its state apparatus and all its political representatives and for socialism.

The CITU has proven itself to be an instrument not for asserting the class interests of the Samsung workers, but for demobilizing them and for upholding brutal worker-exploitation on behalf of the DMK government and the transnational Samsung.

That is why Samsung workers should take matters into their own hands by establishing an independent rank-and-file committee. Such a committee, in contradistinction to the CITU-led SIWU, should strive to unite permanent, contract and temporary workers at the plant in a common struggle. This must be coupled with a strategy to mobilize the social power of the working class against Samsung management and the Indian state, political establishment and ruling class which stand behind them, and against the brutal exploitation and economic insecurity that confronts all workers.

Rank-and-file committees must be built across Tamil Nadu and India, and special appeals made to Samsung workers in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, in South Korea and around the world.

Such a network of rank and file Committees should become a part of the IWA-RFC (International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees), a new organization of working class-struggle, that unites workers in North America, Europe, Asia and around the world against the global corporations, imperialist war and the capitalist system.
Israel has responded to last weeks arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant by intensifying its rampage throughout the Middle East.

Smoke rise from Israeli airstrikes on civilian buildings in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. [AP Photo/Hassan Ammar]

On Saturday, an Israeli airstrike killed at least 29 people and wounded more than 68 in the Basta al-Fawqa neighborhood of Lebanon. That day, 84 people in Lebanon were slaughtered in Israeli bombardments, with dozens more killed on Sunday.

To date, 3,754 people have been killed and 15,626 wounded in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since October 2023, according to the health ministry. Nearly one-quarter of Lebanons population has been forced from their homes.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that Saturdays airstrike was an attempt to kill Mohammad Haidar, a Hezbollah military commander, but the attack was unsuccessful. Firass Abiad, Lebanons health minister, said that the strike targeted a multi-story building that was home to at least 45 people.

Beirut, the capital, woke up to a horrific massacre, as the Israeli enemys air force completely destroyed an eight-story residential building with five missiles on Al-Mamoun Street in the Basta area, Lebanons official National News Agency reported.

Ongoing strikes on Sunday caused massive destruction over a large geographical area, reported the NNA. A series of violent strikes are targeting Haret Hreik, Bir al-Abed, and Ghobeiri in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Al Jazeeras Zein Basravi reported that Saturdays strike marks at least the fourth Israeli strike this week carried out in central Beirut. He added that the Israeli attacks involved multiple strikes, no warning, on an area that is densely populated with missiles meant to penetrate deeply.

Among those struck in the attacks were Lebanese troops, at least one of whom was killed. While the Israeli military is nominally targeting Hezbollah, and not the Lebanese government, Israeli politicians are openly advocating strikes on Lebanese government buildings. The Lebanese government is allowing Hezbollah to operate freely. Its time to take strong action against its infrastructure and assets, said Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz.

Israeli media publications are going even further, with an op-ed in the Maariv newspaper suggesting the bombing of Lebanons parliament building. The parliament building is part of Hezbollahs political infrastructure and could serve as a refuge for its members, wrote military analyst Avi Ashkenazi.

The massive bombardment of Lebanon has been accompanied by the expansion of the ethnic cleansing campaign in Gaza. The Israeli military issued a new set of expulsion orders for the Shujaiya neighborhood in northern Gaza, forcing large numbers of people to flee. Social media posts showed hundreds of people leaving the neighborhood in donkey carts and on foot.

Avi Dichter, a member of Israels security cabinet, made clear that Israel intends to occupy Gaza for years. Gaza will never be a threat to the state of Israel, no matter how long it is going to take. ... I think that we are going to stay in Gaza for a long time. ... I think most people understand that that will be years, he said.

The latest mass expulsion orders are part of a systematic campaign, known as the Generals Plan, to fully ethnically cleanse northern Gaza by withholding food and supplies and to treat all those who remain as enemy combatants subject to be killed.

The escalating war against Lebanon and ethnic cleansing campaign in Gaza are accompanied by sweeping domestic repression inside Israel itself. Over the weekend, the Israeli government levied sanctions against Israels oldest newspaper, Haaretz. Earlier this month, Haaretz published an editorial accusing the Israeli military of conducting an ethnic cleansing operation in the northern Gaza Strip.

Israels genocidal rampage in Gaza is relentlessly targeting healthcare and humanitarian workers. Palestines Wafa news agency reported that Israeli bombings in Gaza have killed more than 1,000 doctors and nurses. Over 310 other medical personnel were arrested, tortured, and executed in prisons, medical sources told WAFA, adding that Israeli troops prevented the entry of medical supplies, health delegations, and hundreds of surgeons into Gaza.

In a statement Friday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that 2024 has become the deadliest year on record for humanitarian workers, with 281 aid workers killed globally, the vast majority of them by Israeli forces in Gaza.

Humanitarian workers are being killed at an unprecedented rate, their courage and humanity being met with bullets and bombs, said Tom Fletcher, under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator. This violence is unconscionable and devastating to aid operations. States and parties to conflict must protect humanitarians, uphold international law, prosecute those responsible, and call time on this era of impunity.

Amid the perpetual bombings and mass starvation in Gaza, there are continuing reports of Israeli forces carrying out mass summary executions. The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reported:

Among the numerous atrocities committed by Israeli forcesranging from bombing homes with residents inside, to mass killings of displaced civilians in shelters, and the targeting of gatherings and vehiclesEuro-Med Monitors field team documented harrowing incidents of direct killings and extrajudicial executions of civilians by Israeli soldiers, carried out with no justification whatsoever.

The Euro-Med team documented the killing of Khaled Mustafa Ismail Al-Shafai (58) and his eldest son Ibrahim (21) by Israeli forces. They were shot inside their home in Beit Lahia in front of their family on Wednesday, 13 November 2024.

On Tuesday, the International Criminal Court issued warrants for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. US officials responded by condemning the ICC, with the White House saying it was discussing sanctions against the ICC proposed by Republican senators, at least one of whom has threatened military retaliation against countries cooperating with the ICCs case.
Join the fight against the jobs massacre! Join the UPS Workers Rank-and-File Committee by filling out the form at the end of this article.

United Parcel Service trucks are seen parked at a distribution facility, Friday, June 30, 2023, in Boston. [AP Photo/Michael Dwyer]

UPS has announced that it will be closing its Commerce City, Colorado facility on January 15 of next year, laying off 404 employees. Almost all the job losses are in package processing, with three in revenue recovery, according to a WARN notice submitted to the Colorado state government.

Management says that half of the facility will be closed to allow for renovations to bring new automation technology into the distribution center, with plans to bring it back online in 2026.

The company claims it will try to reallocate as many workers to other locations as possible during the transition. Members of the Teamsters will also reportedly have bumping rights, allowing them preference in applications to other open positions. However, the company has made no statement on how many workers will be able to find new jobs while the facility is closed.

Whatever the case may be for individuals, UPS is carrying out massive job cuts, utilizing new automation technology. Through its Network of the Future plan UPS plans to close or automate 200 locations around the country and destroy tens of thousands of jobs through massive cuts to its labor force.

In announcing the cuts, management stated that the facility would reopen as an enhanced facility, i.e., with a much smaller workforce.

With a full year of renovations ahead at a major distribution site in a metropolitan area of three million people, UPS is likely preparing to implement extensive automation that will render much of the current workforce redundant.

Nando Cesarone, president of the companys U.S. operations, told investors earlier this year, Network of the Future is targeting all activities for automation within our four walls. These building consolidations and automations yield real savings. For example, well have fewer feeder runs. Well be able to eliminate both a.m. and p.m. ground and air feeds in many, many locations.

In total, UPS is seeking to cut operational costs by at least $3 billion by 2028. So far this year UPS has closed 45 operations, including nine full buildings, and reduced package capacity by one million parcels. These reductions are part of a campaign to realign operations with lower demand and slash thousands of jobs through automation. UPS has already increased the amount of packages handled by automation in some form to 63 percent, a figure that is slated to grow rapidly.

Elsewhere around the state, Boeing also announced that it will be laying off 63 people next January across seven locations in its Colorado operations, following a strike by 33,000 machinists and layoff of thousands of workers during the strike. Bus drivers at the Roarking Fork Transportation Authority, serving towns around Aspen, Colorado, filed notice to strike on January 1, 2025.

Predictably, Teamsters officials have said nothing about the facility closure, as has been the case with virtually every closure or renovation since it rammed through a contract last year under false pretenses. The bureaucrats called off a national strike at the last minute to announce the deal, which they called an historic victory. It contains no meaningful protections against the job losses, and UPS itself has cited the labor certainty provided by the contract as critical to their automation plans.

However, the UPS Workers Rank-and-File Committee, formed to transfer power from the bureaucrats to workers themselves, has repeatedly warned about the cuts and called for a campaign in defense of jobs. In April, the Committee issued an open letter to Teamsters General President Sean OBrien accusing the union of deliberately concealing knowledge of the cuts.

We workers have every right to take all action deemed necessary to protect our jobs, regardless or whether your choose to sanction them or not, the statement concluded. If you will not fight the layoffs, then get out of the way so that UPS workers can do it ourselves.

Instead, on the same day that UPS announced the closure, Teamsters President Sean OBrien met with Republican lawmakers about how we can advance a bipartisan agenda that supports the creation of good union jobs and holds political and corporate elites accountable. In reality, the Teamsters are meeting with the most ruthless representatives of the political and corporate elite to coordinate attacks on the working class and ensure the bureaucracys future under the Trump regime.

This is a continuation of the bureaucracys open courtship of Trump and the extreme right over the course of the past year, culminating in OBriens appearance at the Republican National Convention and the unions official neutrality in the US presidential election, widely understood as a de-facto endorsement of Trump.

This party of open fascists and capitalist representatives is embarking on an aggressive program of assaults on the rights and living standards of the working class. While OBrien meets with congressional Republicans, Trump is assembling a cabinet of fascists, billionaires and anti-science nut jobs to dismantle the remaining vestiges of public health, social services and regulations on businesses, deploy the military to deport millions of immigrants and rule as a dictator from day one, in his own words.

A post on X by the Teamsters about the discussion was responded to with several comments calling OBrien a scab, a rat and a class traitor.

At the same time, if Trump was able to win votes from sections of the working class, including at UPS, this is above all due to the open indifference of the Democratic Party to economic questions such as the rising cost of living, as well as President Bidens personal identification of the Democratic Party with major sellout contracts. This includes a contract imposed on railroad workers in 2022, in which OBrien himself played a crucial role by refusing to call a strike.

As the World Socialist Web Site commented following OBriens appearance at the Republican National Convention, the bureaucracy is a natural base of support for fascism because it is deeply hostile to the working class, with the internal regimes of the unions run as bureaucratic dictatorships.

Politically, the bureaucracy is dominated by nationalism and anticommunism, which expresses its mortal fear of the revolutionary threat posed by the working class.

In the wake of Trumps victory, significant sections of the bureaucracy have expressed their willingness to work with Trump. In particular, major unions have applauded Trumps appointment of Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer as secretary of labor. The Oregon Republican, defeated for reelection this month, combines right-wing policies with a support for the PRO Act, a bill which the bureaucrats see as key to shoring up their institutional and financial stability.

The decisive question in the coming period is the independent mobilization of the power of the working class to fight the corporate attacks on living standards and basic democratic rights. Workers at UPS and around the world must develop rank-and-file committees, coordinating their work on a global scale, to leverage this power in a fight against both the sellout bureaucrats and the lurch towards dictatorship by the corporate parties.
Only three weeks after his narrow but decisive victory in the 2024 presidential election, President-elect Donald Trump has rapidly selected virtually every nominee for the top positions in his incoming government, including all his cabinet secretaries, all his top White House staff and many top sub-cabinet positions.

President-elect Donald speaks Todd Blanche, his personal lawyer turned deputy attorney general. Fascist Sebastian Gorka is in the back right with the red tie. [AP Photo/Curtis Means/Dailymail.com]

Trumps choices confirm the fundamental character of the incoming government as one of, by and for the financial oligarchy. This is not just a phrase, but a literal description of a government whose leaders consist of aides and acolytes of the billionaire Trump, employees of the billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch, proprietor of Fox News, and a half dozen other billionaires allied with Trump and Murdoch, including the richest man in the world, Elon Musk.

Perhaps the most important feature of the new administration is its extreme personalism. Personal loyalty to Trump, the Fuhrer principle in all but name, has been one of the main criteria for selection, especially to positions in the White House and the Department of Justice, which Trump aims to wield as a weapon against his political opponents.

The nominees for the top four posts at the Department of Justice are all former or current legal representatives for Trump. Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was a Trump attorney during his first impeachment trial in 2020, is tapped for US attorney general, replacing Matt Gaetz, Trumps initial pick.

Bondis top two deputies would be Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, who represented Trump in the federal case arising from the January 6, 2021 attempted coup. The solicitor general would be John Bauer, who argued Trumps side before the Supreme Court last summer, resulting in the notorious decision in Trump v. United States that an American president has absolute immunity from prosecution for any official actions, no matter how violent, illegal or unconstitutional. Trump will be covered by that blanket immunity as soon as he takes the oath of office on January 20.

The White House staff is headed by Susie Wiles, manager of Trumps presidential campaign, with anti-immigrant fascist Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff. Will Scharf, another Trump lawyer, will be White House secretary, handling the flow of paper, while Sergio Gor, a partner of Donald Trump Jr. in publishing books glorifying Trump, will be White House personnel chief, in charge of vetting nominations for lower-level positions.

Two more fascists will hold influential White House policy positions. Tom Homan, author of the family separation policy for arrested immigrants in the first Trump administration, will be border czar. Sebastian Gorka, a member of the Hungarian fascist Order of the Vitez, was booted out of the first Trump White House in 2017 because he was considered too extreme. He will be terrorism adviser in the second Trump White House.

Four other cabinet nominees were members of the House of Representatives who served on Trumps defense team against impeachment in the 2020 Senate trial. Elise Stefanik of New York will be UN ambassador, John Ratcliffe of Texas will be CIA director, Lee Zeldin of New York will be EPA administrator, and Doug Collins of Georgia will head the Department of Veterans Affairs.

An entire group of cabinet and sub-cabinet officials are being imported from the America First Policy Institute, which was co-chaired by pro wrestlings Linda McMahon, chosen as secretary of education, and run by Brooke Rollins, a former Trump White House domestic policy adviser, picked as secretary of agriculture.

The Fox News employees and pundits are equally numerous, while also overlapping with the Trump loyalists. These include longtime talkshow hosts like Pete Hegseth, nominated to head the Pentagon; Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman-turned-Trump advocate, nominated as director of National Intelligence; former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, chosen as ambassador to Israel; former Trump White House aide Scott Turner, picked for the Department of Housing and Urban Development; former congressman and reality TV star Sean Duffy to head the Department of Transportation; and Dr. Janette Nesheiwat for surgeon general.

Trump picked former Democrat and anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services, rewarding him for abandoning his independent presidential campaign to endorse the Republican. The other top positions in healthcare are being doled out to equally extreme enemies of public health: celebrity TV doctor and defeated Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; COVID lockdown and masking opponent Dr. Martin Makary to run the Food and Drug Administration; anti-abortion doctor and former Republican Congressman Dave Weldon to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Multiple media sources reported Sunday that Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a leading advocate of the let it rip COVID-19 policy and co-author of the anti-public-health Great Barrington Declaration, would be picked to run the National Institutes of Health.

While these figures are ideologically committed to the destruction of public health, there are profound social reasons for this wrecking operation, rooted in the profit interests of the super-rich. For the top one-hundredth of one percent who rule American society, all federal spending on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education, food stamps and other services to working people, their children and their retired parents represent a deduction from the wealth that could be funneled into their own pockets.

This social layer is directly represented in Trumps cabinet, in the person of half a dozen billionaires, led by the richest individual, Elon Musk, with a current estimated fortune topping $300 billion (many billions of which depend on government contracts or subsidies). Musk and gen-tech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy have volunteered to form Trumps Department of Government Efficiency, whose stated goal is to slash $2 trillion in federal spendingmore than a quarter of the budgetand eliminate hundreds of thousands of federal jobs.

A billionaire will hold the key position of Secretary of Treasury: hedge fund boss and former Democrat Scott Bessent, chosen after wrangling between Musk and even more powerful Wall Street interests. They opposedas voiced by the editorial page of the Wall Street Journaleconomic-policy disruption for its own sake.  Steady and knowledgeable economic policy hands are needed if Mr. Trump wants to succeed.

In particular, the Journal was concerned that the incoming Trump administration should ensure the extension of his 2017 tax cuts for the rich, which are set to expire early in 2025. There were also concerns that rival billionaire Howard Lutnick, Musks proposed Treasury chief, was too committed to promoting crypto currency investment through his Cantor Fitzgerald brokerage firm. Lutnick was given the Department of Commerce as a consolation prize.

Other billionaires in the cabinet include fracking mogul Chris Wright for the Department of Energy (There is no climate crisis, he declared last year); North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, an IT billionaire, for the Department of Interior; and Linda McMahon for the Department of Education.

There is no precedent in American historynor likely in the modern history of any country in the worldfor a government so completely in the grips of great and utterly parasitic wealth. As the World Socialist Web Site explained in its initial analysis of Trumps election victory, the coming to power of a second Trump administration represents the violent realignment of the American political superstructure to correspond with the real social relations that exist in the United States.

That this is a class question, and not merely the product of Trump, is demonstrated in the response of the Democratic Party, the nominal opposition within the framework of the capitalist two-party system. While President Joe Biden combines senility and servility in promising the smoothest transition to the second Trump administration, congressional Democrats are spreading complacency.

Democratic New York Representative Tom Suozzi, speaking to CNN Saturday, said Americans should calm down about the incoming administration. If everybodys going to explode and freak out over every single thing, then youre never going to be able to focus on the things that really matter, he said. Weve got to pick our battles.

Outgoing Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told a Democratic Party meeting Thursday, We cannot be mesmerized by the worst things that we see happening. He added, We will be inclined to react with shock by some things which are done precisely with the intent of shocking us. We need to move very quickly through the shock.

What this counsel means is that the Democratic Party leaders intend to ignore the millions of immigrants being targeted for mass round-ups, imprisonment and deportation. They intend to stand by and pick our battles while Trump proceeds to erect a dictatorial regime in America. Or as Senator Amy Klobuchar put it, appearing on ABCs This Week on Sunday, They have the votes.  In the end, its going to be the Republicans in the US Senate, their decision about whether they want to put these people in place.

The sole concern of the Democratic Party is preserving its war policy, in particular, the US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine. In its final weeks, the Biden administration has focused on a major escalation of the conflict, which threatens nuclear war, with the authorization of Ukraines use of long-range missiles provided by the US to target cities deep inside Russia.

As for the corporate media, it is already assuming its place as the propaganda voice and apologist for the new administration. The word fascist has dropped out of the vocabulary of the pro-Democratic Party wing, despite its prominence during the final stages of the election campaign. This is all the more remarkable as Trump names one fascist after another to top positions in the new regime.

The opposition to the policies and actions of the next Trump administration will not come from within the structure of corporate politics but rather from below, from the working class. Explosive class battles are on the agenda, because tens of millions of working people will not accept the destruction of jobs, living standards, social services and democratic rights which the American ruling class is hell-bent on imposing.
Evidence came to light last week showing that more than 80,000 people could be removed from Australia to as-yet-unnamed third countries, which would be paid to take them under the Labor governments latest immigration deportation bill.

Mass deportations on such a scale would rival in their size and brutality those being proposed by US President-elect Donald Trump, given the difference in population size between the US and Australia.

Trump confirmed last week that he intends to declare a national emergency and use the US military and national guard forces to deport millions of migrants as soon as he takes office next January 20.

Asylum seekers protesting in Punchbowl, Sydney, Australia

Like capitalist governments internationally, Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses administration is heading down the same path. It is once again seeking to outbid the Liberal National Coalition in its anti-immigrant measures. These are designed to demonise refugees, international students and other foreigners and make them scapegoats for the worsening cost-of-living and housing crisis that is hitting millions of working-class households.

With bipartisan support by the Coalition, Labors deportation bill passed the House of Representatives last Wednesday. It was supposed to be examined in a rushed one-week inquiry by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, which held a hearing last Thursday evening.

At that hearing, Home Affairs Department officials conceded that the bill could affect far more people than the 246 released from immigration detention prisons last November. Those releases came after the High Court finally ruled, after two decades, that the indefinite detention of people who could not be deported constituted unconstitutional punishment without a court order.

The bill would authorise the Australian government to pay third countries to accept non-citizens on a removal pathway, regardless of whether those countries were signatories to the international Refugee Convention barring removal to face death or persecution.

Michael Thomas, the Home Affairs Departments group manager of immigration compliance, revealed that those on a removal pathway included:

An estimated 75,400 people with no valid visa in the Australian community.

4,452 people on bridging visa E, so they can make acceptable arrangements to depart Australia.

986 people in immigration detention.

193 in community detention.

246 on bridging visa R (BVR), released as a result of the High Courts NZYQ ruling that indefinite detention is unlawful.

A further 96 people on BVRs that predated that supreme court decision.

Officials claimed that most of the 80,000 could return to their home country, and thousands did so voluntarily. However, legal and human rights groups testified that if passed, the Migration Amendment Bill 2024 would allow governments to dump refugees and migrants in countries where they could be warehoused indefinitely, potentially in inhumane conditions.

The bill would permit Australian governments to make third country reception arrangements by paying foreign governments to detain deported people. The Albanese government already does this on the remote Pacific island of Nauru, where it reopened the detention camp last year.

The bill would immunise Australian governments from any liability for harm, injury or death caused by such overseas detention, which has led to numerous deaths, some by suicide, over the past two decades.

In the past, some civil liability claims have succeeded. In 2017, an agreement was reached between detainees imprisoned on Papua New Guineas Manus Island and the then Coalition government, following a claim of unlawful detention and negligence. Other refugees secured court orders to be brought to Australia to access urgent, lifesaving treatment unavailable in Nauru or Manus Island. Some cases are ongoing.

The bill would give governments extraordinary powers to effectively reverse refugee protection findings made by tribunals or courts and continue imposing punitive visa conditions on asylum seekers who remain in Australia.

The bill would further allow the Albanese government to quickly re-detain, either domestically or in Nauru, people released as the result of the High Courts NZYQ ruling. It could claim that they could now be re-incarcerated for the purpose of likely deportation.

Currently, asylum seekers who reach Australia by boat can be sent to Nauru. The new provisions extend this power to bridging visa R (BVR) holders.

By ministerial decree, via regulations, the Labor government also has begun re-imposing police-state curfews and ankle bracelet monitoring on ex-detainees, defying yet another High Court ruling this November 6 that these measures too amounted to unconstitutional punishment.

In another bill, the Albanese government is proposing to give immigration ministers powers to ban mobile phones in migration detention facilities, cutting off detainees from communications, including family contact and support.

In the UK, the Starmer Labour government is similarly executing plans to deport at least 14,500 people deemed to be illegal migrants, exceeding the two previous six-month records set during Conservative government rule of 13,410 in 2018 and 14,389 last year. Sir Keir Starmers government has signed returns agreements with countries such as Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Serbia and Georgia.

This is part of a wider poisonous agenda to divide working-class people and pit them against each other along national and ethnic lines under conditions of declining living standards, a deepening economic and social crisis and a plunge into war. Right across Europe, governments are outdoing each other with reactionary moves against refugees and democratic rights.

Labors bill is not an aberration. Like the Keating Labor government, which became the first in the world to impose mandatory detention on asylum seekers in 1992, this Albanese government is spearheading an assault on one of the most defenceless sections of the international working class.

This bill is reminiscent of the last Labor governments Malaysian solution, which sought to dump refugees in a country that had not signed the Refugee Convention. Prime Minister Julia Gillards legislation was struck down by the High Court in 2011 for breaching the requirements of the Migration Act at the time, not to remove asylum seekers to countries where there was no protection against removal to face harm.

In response, that Labor government went further. In July 2013, then led again by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, it declared that no asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australian waters would ever be permitted to settle in the country. That set a global precedent for a blanket ban on refugees. Asylum seekers were transported to primitive detention camps in Papua New Guineaone of the worlds most impoverished countries.

Such measures violate one of the most fundamental legal and democratic rightsthe right to flee repression and seek asylum from persecution, without punishment or discrimination. The Refugee Convention formally enshrines these rights, together with core rights to freedom from arbitrary detention and other human rights abuses, the provision of essential health and education facilities, and access to the courts by refugees to challenge their treatment.

Legal and human rights groups representatives denounced the latest bill at Thursdays Senate committee hearing. Josephine Langbien, associate legal director of the Human Rights Law Centre, for example, testified that the bill allowed people removed to be separated from their families sending them to permanent exile in third countries against their will.

In an earlier media statement, Langbien pointed out: This will expand Australias disastrous offshore detention regime, under which people have died and suffered conditions amounting to torture. She added: Despite multiple High Court rulings, the government is intent on further punishing this small group of peopleand potentially impacting thousands of others in the process.

Despite such objections and widespread opposition throughout working-class immigrant communities, the Albanese government is escalating its nationalistic offensive, including by vowing to keep slashing the number of international students in the country.

This is being accompanied by a filthy propaganda campaign throughout the corporate media depicting formerly detained refugees as murderers and rapists, and blaming students and immigrant workers for the worsening affordable housing crisis.

Vulnerable members of society, including those brutalised by years in detention, are being vilified to impose authoritarian measures. This is setting precedents for use throughout the working class as a whole, as social conditions keep deteriorating and billions of dollars are poured into military spending amid the US-backed Gaza genocide and the lurch into wider war against Russia and China.
Russian commanders are likely planning to advance to the southeastern part of Dnipropetrovsk oblast to support the Kremlin's goal of capturing the entire Donetsk oblast. This could include operations in the southern and eastern parts of Dnipropetrovsk region to cut off Ukrainian lines of communication and encircle positions in Donetsk region.

ADVERTISIMENT

Russian troops, already close to the border of Dnipropetrovsk region, may move north to engage Ukrainian forces in southwestern Donetsk. This is according to a report by the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

If successful, this could lead to the ousting of Ukrainian forces from the areas southwest of Pokrovsk, west of Kurakhove, and northeast of Velyka Novosilka. To do so, the Russians would have to cover or bypass Velyka Novosilka and block the T0518 road. The enemy can use water obstacles to further advance, for example, by moving from Rivne to Velykomykhailivka (Dnipropetrovs'k) along the Vorona River. If they succeed in capturing Velyka Novosilka, the offensive could continue to Novopavlivka across the Mokri Yaly River.

This offensive is not likely to be a direct attack on the Dnipro region in the short term, but the Kremlin is seeking to capture significant territory south of the Dnipro. In particular, Z-channels have repeatedly called on the Kremlin to launch an offensive in southeastern Dnipro region to put pressure on the Ukrainian army in the Pokrovsk-Kurakhove area.

ADVERTISIMENT

Russia's plans to seize Donetsk region through the occupation of part of Dnipro region demonstrate the Kremlin's desire to capitulate Ukraine and destroy its sovereignty.

The documents of the Russian Ministry of Defense, which appeared online on November 20, indicate the intention to divide Ukraine into three parts: full annexation of the occupied territories of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Crimea, creation of a pro-Russian puppet state in Kyiv under Russian military occupation, and division of the western territories among neighbors.

Dnipropetrovsk oblast has not been annexed by the Kremlin, but the limited advance of Russian troops may become the basis for future operations to occupy this oblast and other regions.

Units from Russia's Central, Eastern, and Southern Military Districts are conducting simultaneous offensives in Donetsk Oblast, having achieved some tactical progress. Perhaps the Russian command is learning from its mistakes after three years of war, although the effectiveness of this learning is not yet clear. The offensive in the Pokrovske direction and north of the Kurakhivske reservoir has involved large forces, including the OMU, the 51st Army, and other units. These coordinated actions differ from previous operations when Russian forces operated separately in different areas. However, even with increased mutual support, operations in the Donetsk region have not yielded significant results, and problems with command and interoperability of forces remain an obstacle to progress.

Earlier, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine reported that Russia's main task for the fall and winter period has not changed: reaching the administrative borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The aggressor's strategic goal - full control over Ukraine - also remains unchanged.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Are you a striking postal worker? We want to hear about the issues youre fighting for and how you think you can win your struggle. Email us at canadapostworkersrfc@gmail.com or fill out the form at the end of this article. All comments will be kept anonymous.

With Monday marking ten days since 55,000 Canada Post workers walked off the job nationwide, the entire trade union bureaucracy is working overtime to isolate and ultimately strangle the strike, so that it does not become the catalyst for a broader working class challenge to capitalist austerity, the criminalization of worker struggles, and war.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has left strikers isolated on picket lines, giving them strict orders not to talk to anyone, while the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) has remained silent on the looming attacks on postal workers democratic and social rights being prepared by the Liberal government and Canada Post management.

Striking postal workers outside the Albert Jackson Processing Centre, in east end Toronto

The strike began with workers demanding real wage increases, a halt to the destruction of jobs and conditions through automation, a stop to management bullying, and for job security amid a major onslaught by the Crown corporation on full-time employment. Discussions taking place within ruling circles behind the scenes make clear that Canada Post management would like to eliminate tens of thousands of full-time jobs, replacing them with either part-time positions or precariously employed gig workers. They also intend to roll out dynamic routing, an AI-driven process that will spell the end of route ownership for postal workers and produce a massive increase in workloads as routes are revised each day.

Describing the Crown corporations increased reliance on temporary workers with no rights, which was facilitated by the 2018 contract CUPW agreed to after the Trudeau government illegalized a campaign of rotating strikes, a Montreal striker told the World Socialist Web Site,

Ive been here for nine years, and I started at a way lower wage than people that were already there and started as a temporary. Everyone starts as a temporary. But, you know, the wages after the last strike [in 2018] literally went down seven dollars. It takes lets say, four or five years to get your first raise and then every year you get a little raise. But the thing is, youre going to take seven years before you catch up to the people. So for myself, it took me four or five years to get my first raise and then its going to take me another seven years to get to the max wage.

Canada Post pleads poverty, citing losses in the region of $3 billion since 2018. This is a drop in the bucket compared to the massive sums expended by the Trudeau Liberal government on enriching the corporate elite through tax cuts and other subsidies, as well as the tens of billions invested on rearming the military and waging war around the world. As a Montreal letter carrier told the WSWS,

Even though they emphasize the extent of the deficits at Canada Post, the top executives continue to give themselves big bonuses, over $100,000 annually. I dont even make that much. I have two jobs right now and I work full-time at Canada Post. Its just not enough. With the cost of living, rent, a child... I need a second job. Ive also heard that workers in Vancouver are in a similar situation: their job at Canada Post is their second job.

The issues confronting postal workers are common to workers throughout all economic sectors. Moreover, as with major struggles over the past two years by education support workers, port workers, and rail workers, the government has been meddling in negotiations for months and the threat of a strike ban imposed by government fiat looms large.

The CLC has not published a single statement since the beginning of the strike. Canadas principal trade union federation, which frequently boasts that it represents more than 3 million workers in over 50 unions, has nothing to say to the striking postal workers, who are engaged in a fight not just over their own jobs and conditions, but to defend the very idea of well-funded public services. This silence flows from the fact that the CLC and its constituent union bureaucracies are partners of the ruling elite as it enforces its class-war agenda of imperialist war abroad and savage attacks on the democratic and social rights of the working class at home.

The CLC has been one of the key props of the Liberal government over the past nine years, and frequently boasts about the role it played in brokering the governmental alliance under which the union-sponsored NDP propped up the minority Liberal government for two-and-a-half years ending this September. CLC President Bea Bruske has continued to applaud Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet as a worker-friendly government as they have spent billions of dollars on waging war in Ukraine against Russia, backed Israels genocide of the Palestinians, and imposed across-the-board austerity for public spending. Her predecessor, Hassan Yussuff, was on such good terms with Trudeau that the Prime Minister appointed him to the Senate, Canadas upper house of parliament, on his retirement from the CLC.

The last statement issued by the CLC with any relevance to the postal workers struggle came on November 12, when it managed to rouse itself to issue a pro-forma criticism of Liberal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnons decision to end lockouts at the ports of Montreal, Vancouver, and Quebec City by imposing binding arbitration. The CLC labelled MacKinnons draconian step merely a troubling step, as if the decision was out of character. It declared, Imposing binding arbitration or back-to-work legislation undermines workers rights to collective bargaining, weakening their ability to fight for fair wages and safe workplaces. Political interference tips the scales toward employers and sets a dangerous precedent. Canadas unions believe lasting solutions come from fair negotiations, not government-imposed deals. The government must let collective bargaining take its course to protect the rights of all workers.

The cynicism contained in these few lines is breathtaking. The shutting down of the port workers struggles did not set a new precedent, but marked an intensification of the non-stop assault by the Liberal government on workers rightsthe same Liberal government that the CLC and its individual member unions have championed since 2015. Events underscoring this include the banning of the 2018 strike by 50,000 postal workers, the 2021 Port of Montreal strike by 1,150 workers, the 2023 strike by over 7,000 west coast dockers, and the 2024 strike by 9,300 workers at CN Rail and CPKC. The latter two instances of government strikebreaking involved the Labour Minister using the same anti-democratic section of the Canada Labour Code, Section 107, as was used against the port workers this month.

Whats more, allowing collective bargaining to take its course has resulted in one round of concessions after another throughout the economy over the past 40 years. The collective bargaining process places numerous hurdles in the way of workers who want to wage a genuine struggle against the never-ending demands for concessions and speed-up from the bosses and political establishment.

The ongoing postal workers struggle is illustrative of this fact. CUPW participated in over 100 bargaining sessions for a full year before a strike could go ahead, leaving postal workers to labour for many months under expired contracts. During this time, Canada Post management and their corporate advisors flaunted their plans openly to savage worker rights as they prepare the Amazonification of the postal service. Since August, they have done this with the support of a federally appointed mediator, and MacKinnon has participated in meetings himself. Now, with the strike finally under way, it is the tender mercies of the collective bargaining process that prevent workers in other branches from launching solidarity strikes, even though the issues of defending workers right to strike against government intervention, protecting public services, and achieving decent-paying, secure jobs are of immediate concern to every worker.

On the first day of the strike, the Teamsters, which represents delivery workers at the Canada Post subsidiary Purolator, issued a statement claiming that the Purolator workers would not handle packages marked Canada Post during the strike. This gesture does virtually nothing to prevent major commercial customers switching to Purolator and other private delivery services as the strike goes on, undermining Canada Posts financial position and providing it with further justificationfrom a capitalist profit perspectivefor the huge concessions it is seeking to extort from postal workers.

Since the issuing of this token statement, neither CUPW President Jan Simpson nor the Teamsters union leadership has said anything about how delivery workers can support the strike and help secure its victory, let alone provided a strategy to defy government strikebreaking.

Striking postal workers who recognize that they must take matters into their own hands by seizing control of their contract struggle from the CUPW bureaucracy have come together to establish and build the Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee (PWRFC). The PWRFC urges postal workers to broaden their struggle to other sections of workers to build a worker-led industrial and political movement against government-backed austerity and concessions, and imperialist war, which drains societys resources for public services. As the PWRFC declared in a resolution adopted at its November 10 public meeting that anticipated the course of the strike,

We call on postal workers and all workers throughout the delivery and logistics sectors to join and build the Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee. We fight to: 1. Achieve postal workers demands, including a 30 percent pay rise to make up for years of concessions and for workers control over the deployment of new technologies. 2. Broaden our struggle to other sections of workers across Canada in order to defy a back-to-work law or any other anti-democratic state-imposed strike ban. 3. Launch a political struggle that rejects Canada Post being run as a profit-making enterprise, and makes our contract fight the spearhead of a worker-led counteroffensive in defence of fully funded public services and workers rights, and against austerity and war.
Kenworth tractor and Great Dane Trailer [Photo by MobiusDaXter / CC BY-SA 4.0

Trailer manufacturer Great Dane announced earlier this month that 155 workers would be laid off at its Danville, Pennsylvania factory early next January. The company blandly asserted that it has done everything within [its] power to retain its employees and keep operations running smoothly, but the layoffs were necessary due to a prolonged freight recession and the need to adjust  manufacturing capacity to align with current market demands.

The company has declared these layoffs a temporary setback and has confidently reaffirmed its commitment to its own corporate growth. It will be offering resume and interview training, as well as other employment resources to those impacted by the layoffs. Finally, it said that it hopes to recall all of the employees laid off at a future date.

The Danville plant is one of Montour Countys largest employers, and the single largest manufacturing employer in the county. Occurring right before the holidays, the layoffs will have catastrophic economic repercussions for the area, which has been rocked by deindustrialization over decades.

Its funny because not even six months ago [Great Dane] gave us a whole speech about job security and theres nothing we should worry about, said one worker at the Danville plant in response to the announcement. Another worker commented that the trailer manufacturer was doing the layoff all wrong and laying off people thats got 5, 10, 20, 30 years in but peoples got six months theyre keeping them.

Workers at nearby plants offered condolences to those impacted, while family members expressed concern on social media. There goes my Christmas present, stated one family member in response to a social media post.

Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Great Dane is one of the largest manufacturers of truck trailers in the world, employing approximately 5,000 people worldwide, and generating approximately $1.6 billion in revenue. In the United States, the company has manufacturing plants in Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas, Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska and Wisconsin. In Pennsylvania, Great Dane purchased its Danville factory in 2002, which was formerly a Stricks Eastern Van factory.

The company also operates a second factory in Pennsylvania, located in nearby Elysburg where workers on social media have also expressed nervousness about a lack of work.

Montour County is a largely rural area southwest of Pennsylvanias Wyoming Valley region, where the cities of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre are located. Montour County has a per capita income of $43,700 and a 9.6 percent poverty rate. The living wage for one adult with three children is $59.30 an hour.

Montour County Commissioner Rebecca Dressler, echoing Great Danes fraudulent pledges of assistance, offered concern and empathy to these workers and their families. Dressler has stated the boards commitment to fostering an environment that promotes job growth and will continue to explore all avenues to bolster economic opportunities in [the] county.

The local official said that Montour Countys priority is to ensure that these workers have the resources and support they need in the meantime, and that our community remains strong through this temporary setback. These are empty platitudes. Whatever is being offered will be inadequate in comparison to the loss of livelihood the corporations workers now face.

The corporate politicians of both the Republican and Democratic parties have refused to issue statements concerning the layoffs. This includes Republicans such as Lynda Schlegel Culver in the Pennsylvania 27th Senate District, which includes the county, and Mike Stender in the Pennsylvania 108th Representative District. At the federal level, this includes Republican Dan Meuser in the Pennsylvania 9th Congressional District and Democratic Senators John Fetterman and Bob Casey, Jr.

The Danville layoffs follow a pattern occurring globally, with millions of layoffs driven by corporate cost-cutting over the past two years. The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry has seen a drastic increase in WARN notices, which are required to be filed when an employer with 100 or more employees plans to close a plant or engage in layoffs. As of mid-November, there had been 74 WARN notices filed in Pennsylvania in 2024. For context, there were 69 WARN notices filed throughout all of 2023.

Other large layoffs announced in Pennsylvania recently include a Boeing facility in Smithfield, affecting 101 workers; a BVPV Styrenics plant in Monaca, affecting 140 workers (the plant is set to close completely in early 2026); and a Bowery Farming facility in Bethlehem, affecting 104 workers. In October, 420 workers at CabinetWorks near Harrisburg were given layoff notices which are set to take effect in December.

The coordinated layoffs at non-union and unionized facilities alike demonstrates the unions collaboration with the corporations in boosting their bottom lines at the expense of workers.

The freight, trucking, and logistics industry has experienced a loss of thousands of jobs. This week, several companies announced 1,277 jobs will be lost and six distribution factories will be closing their doors. A slew of major corporations, including PepsiCo, CJ Logistics America, Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling LLC, Amazon and Trademango Solutions announced the elimination of 2,400 jobs in recent days.
Given the prospect of the United States withdrawing its support for Kyiv after Donald Trump takes office, Paris and London have intensified secret talks about sending their troops to Ukraine. They are also discussing the possibility of creating private defense companies on its territory.

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Le Monde writes about this with reference to its own sources. It is noted that these "essentially classified delicate debates" resumed after the visit of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to France on November 11.

"Discussions are underway between the UK and France on defense cooperation, in particular intending to create a 'hard core' between the allies in Europe, focused on Ukraine and European security more broadly," a British military source told Le Monde.

Earlier, the discussion of sending troops to Ukraine was initiated by French President Emmanuel Macron at a meeting of allies in Paris in February, but it was strongly opposed by some European countries, led by Germany.

"However, this scenario has not been buried yet. In recent weeks, it has even resumed, according to our information, thanks to the visit of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to France on November 11," the article says.

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It is noted that the Ministry of the Armed Forces and the Elysee Palace have not yet given the official green light to send troops or private service providers. But such proposals have been "on the table" for several months.

Among them is the proposal from Defense Conseil International (DCI), the Ministry of Defense's main operator for monitoring French arms export contracts, which is 55 percent owned by the French state.

"DCI would be ready to continue training Ukrainian soldiers in Ukraine, as it is already doing in France and Poland. If necessary, it could also maintain the French military equipment sent to Kyiv," the article says.

The resumption of discussions about sending Western troops or private contractors comes at a time when Ukraine has received permission from the United States to use long-range missiles in Russia. However, according to the newspaper's sources, the Ukrainians cannot use the British Storm Shadow missiles, as well as the French Scalp missiles, without some form of Western support on the ground.

"The missile has to be programmed before it can be loaded onto the Su-24 bomber that Ukraine has," the publication notes.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, France has confirmed that Ukraine has been granted permission to use its missiles to strike at the territory of the Russian Federation. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that there are no "red lines" in supporting Ukraine.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and in Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
The troops of the aggressor state of Russia are suffering heavy losses in the battles in the Russian Kursk region, where the Ukrainian Defense Forces are conducting an operation. The ratio of losses between Ukraine and Russia is approximately one to seven (more losses for the occupiers).

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This was stated by Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Anatolii Barhylevych during a telethon on Sunday, November 24. According to him, the Russians suffer enormous losses in this area, many times more than the Defense Forces.

"The enemy's losses are one to six, one to seven. These are enormous losses," Barhylevych said.

It should be noted that in a recent interview with Glavkom, Bargylevich said that as of November 2024, the losses of Russian troops in the Kursk direction amounted to almost 21 thousand soldiers. Almost 8,000 of them have been killed, and more than 700 occupants of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been captured. More than a thousand pieces of enemy weapons and military equipment were destroyed.

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According to him, in total, about 50 thousand elite enemy troops are fighting in the Kursk region, including marines and airborne troops, and almost 11 thousand North Korean troops have been brought there.

"For them (Russians  Ed.), this is a fundamental issue, the Kursk region. Intense fighting is going on there. Compared to other areas, the fighting in Kursk is quite heavy. Everyone understands that not just infantry is fighting there, but elite Russian infantry and paratroopers. But we are holding our positions there. We are conducting maneuver battles, holding the territory and, believe me, quite successfully," the Chief of the General Staff said.

Bargylevich also said that there are more than 11,000 soldiers from North Korea in the Kursk region. The DPRK military has already engaged in combat with Ukrainian soldiers.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, on November 24, the General Staff informed that since the beginning of the full-scale war, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have inflicted significant losses in manpower on the Russian army  730,740 occupiers were killed and wounded. About 1,020 invaders were added to this list during the last day's fighting.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Actor Alison Brie will cut the ribbon to kick off the 98th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Eugene Gologursky/Getty Tom Turkey by Macy's float during 96th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 24, 2022 in New York City. Tom Turkey by Macy's float during 96th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 24, 2022 in New York City.

The 98th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Parade is right around the corner!

Every year, over 3 million people gather in New York City to watch the spectacle, and nearly 30 million tuned in last year from the comfort of their homes, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It's a time-honored tradition filled with live performances, larger-than-life balloons and unforgettable floats.

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The festive event, taking place on Nov. 28, begins with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and this year, actress Alison Brie will be holding the scissors.

"I feel like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is like definition monoculture," the GLOW star told PEOPLE in October 2024. "I can just picture the huge Snoopy balloon. It's etched into my brain, [for] as long as I can remember. So, I'm so excited to be doing that."

In addition to Snoopy, viewers can expect to see new character balloons and floats. Not to mention a performance by the Radio City Rockettes and appearances by the Wicked cast and Santa Claus.

Here's everything to know about the 2024 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, including what time it starts, how to watch and who's performing.



When is the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade?

Ralph Bavaro/NBC via Getty Tom Turkey float at the 93rd Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 28, 2019 in New York City. Tom Turkey float at the 93rd Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 28, 2019 in New York City.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will take place on Nov. 28, 2024.

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Like in years past, the parade will step off from West 77th Street and Central Park West and make its way to Macy's Herald Square via Sixth Avenue.

How can I watch the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade?

ara Howe/NBC via Getty Al Roker, Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb hosting Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in November 2023. Al Roker, Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb hosting Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in November 2023.

The three-and-a-half-hour event  hosted by Today show's Hoda Kotb, Savannah Guthrie and Al Roker  will air on NBC and Peacock from 8:30 a.m. to noon in all time zones.

For those busy prepping the turkey at that time, there will be an encore presentation of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade at 2 p.m. ET/PT.

Simultaneously, Telemundo is offering coverage of the parade exclusively in Spanish, hosted by Carlos Adyan and Andrea Meza.

Who will perform at the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade?

John Lamparski/Getty Idina Menzel performs with the Young Peoples Choir during the 93rd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 26, 2019 in New York City. Idina Menzel performs with the Young Peoples Choir during the 93rd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 26, 2019 in New York City.

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The 2024 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will feature a stellar lineup of performers.

Idina Menzel will sing a song from her upcoming Broadway musical Redwood aboard the Bronx Zoos Wondrous World of Wildlife float.

Meanwhile, T-Pain will perform on turkey brand Jennie-O's float.

"I can't wait to make my debut," the rapper said in a statement, per CBS News. "I've got some surprises up my sleeve to help make it a happy turkey day and celebrate the start of the holiday season!"

In front of Macys iconic Herald Square flagship store, Jennifer Hudson, Kylie Minogue and Billy Porter are expected to wow the viewers with their vocals.

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Other notable performers include Ariana Madix, Bishop Briggs, Charli D'Amelio, Chloe Bailey, Coco Jones, Dan + Shay, Dasha, Jimmy Fallon & the Roots and Kylie Cantrall.

What floats will appear in the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade?

Eugene Gologursky/Getty The LEGO float at the 94th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 26, 2020 in New York City. The LEGO float at the 94th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 26, 2020 in New York City.

Float master John Cheney and a team of over 30 others work tirelessly at the Macy's Parade Studio in Moonachie, N.J., ahead of Thanksgiving to create out-of-this-world rolling masterpieces.

On Nov. 28, audiences will see new floats grace N.Y.C.'s famous streets.

Parade creative director Brendan Kennedy took NBCs Dylan Dreyer behind the scenes at the Moonachie warehouse, where he shared the first looks of a Pasta Knight float from Rao's Homemade and a super sweet Candy Cosmos float from Haribo that features a golden gummy bear in an astronaut suit.

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During the interview, Dreyer also called out a few jaw-dropping material stats, revealing that 2,000 gallons of paint, 200 pounds of glitter and 300 pounds of confetti were used for the 2024 floats.

Meanwhile, Kennedy revealed to ABC7 Eyewitness News that it took over 100 hours to create Netflix's Wednesday float, where, per usual, Wednesday Adams is up to no good.

"She's playing a joke on her little brother, Pugsley, and sending him down the parade route in a sheet pan of rotten vegetables," he quipped.



What balloons will appear in the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade?

James Devaney/Getty 'Paw Patrol' balloon at the 97th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 23, 2023 in New York City. 'Paw Patrol' balloon at the 97th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 23, 2023 in New York City.

There aren't just more floats in this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, there are more balloons, too!

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Fans of Spider-Man will be happy to learn that the superhero, after a brief hiatus, will be making a comeback and Minnie Mouse will make her balloon debut alongside four other new character balloons, including Marshall from PAW Patrol and Goku from Dragon Ball.

For those who are lifetime parade fans, Beagle Scout Snoopy, Ronald McDonald and the Pillsbury Doughboy will also be floating through the streets of Manhattan.
Denmark has long trailed its Nordic neighbors in attracting foreign shoots to its shores, but that might be about to change.

The countrys government is to introduce a production rebate scheme worth 125M krone ($17.5M) to overseas productions. Expected to launch in 2026, the hope is it will be put Denmark in the frame for more film and TV shoots that the likes of Sweden, Iceland or Norway might otherwise snag and turn the European country into a production powerhouse.

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The Danish government noted that the Swedish scheme amounts to about half of the new offer, with the Norwegian scheme also far smaller.

The actual shape of the scheme is yet to be determined, but Minister of Culture Jakob Engel-Schmidt will begin a dialog with industry leaders to create the system. What is known is productions shot in Denmark will have some costs incurred during production reimbursed.

Denmark has a huge strategic interest in laying the groundwork for strong film and TV productions, said Engel-Schmidt. Its crazy that a series like Miss Smillas Sense of Snow, which takes place in Greenland and Denmark, has been filmed in Latvia, Lithuania and Iceland, all of which have production discounts. Its a waste of jobs, Danish storytelling tradition and exposure of our fantastic kingdom.

Engel-Schmidts team noted that Netflix has previously stated it has 16 planned productions in Sweden, six in Norway and only three in Denmark during the 2024-26 period.

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Thats why Im proud that we are now taking a big step towards making Denmark a European powerhouse for film and TV productions. And who knows, maybe the next version of the hit series Emily in Paris will involve the main character moving to Copenhagen?

Minister of Cities and Rural Districts Morten Dahlin added that film and TV productions help showcase Denmark abroad, and would attract tourism and revenue from abroad. It is therefore enormously good news for both Danish film and TV production and for Danish tourism that we can now introduce a discount on productions shot in Denmark, he added.

The Danish government noted the cultural contribution levy on international streamers is expected to generate 98M krone next year, and that extraordinary film support has been dished out this year to the tune of 40M krone.

Production rebates already exist in all other European countries (except Luxembourg), meaning this relief system is well overdue in Denmark, which is known for creating the Nordic noir genre and shows such as The Killing, Nordland 99 and The Bridge.

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I am very pleased that Denmark will now become a more attractive country for production of films and series, said Anna Porse Nielsen, Director of Denmarks Producers Association.

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Denmark has approved the launch of a tax incentive to lure international TV and films, joining the ranks of all other Nordic countries which each have a rebate program.

Denmark has been lagging behind other European countries such as France, Germany and Czech Republic due to its lack of tax incentive. In spite of its vibrant creative community and home to many critically acclaimed directors such as Susanne Bier, Lars van Trier, Nicolas Winding Refn and Thomas Vinterberg, Denmark is currently the only country in Europe, along with Luxembourg, to not have a rebate program in place.

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The Danish incentive, which will kick off in 2026, will tap into an annual envelop of DKK 125 million ($17.5 million)  twice the amount allocated to foreign productions in Sweden and significantly larger than in Norway. The rebate on eligible expenses is expected to be 25%.

The new head of the Danish Producers Association, Anna Porse Nielsen, told Variety that the percentage rate and other parameters will be decided on before the end of the year. The incentive will kick off no sooner than 2026 because the budget for 2025 has already been voted.

Nielsen said the new incentive has been supported by many creatives and industry figures, including local talent such as Borgen (pictured) star Birgitte Hjort Srensen.

We have such a qualified industry in Denmark, with world-acclaimed directors, actors and producers and crews who have been trained to work at the high standards, so its about time we get an incentive to attract international productions, said Nielsen. The executive added that it took this long for the country to approve this initiative because the Danish politicians has traditionally been reluctant to support specific industries; but since Denmark is now the last country without an incentive scheme it has become a matter of competitiveness and the industry in Denmark is grateful for finally getting political support.

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Denmarks minister of culture Jakob Engel-Schmidt said in a statement that the country has a huge strategic interest in paving the way for strong film and TV productions.

I think its crazy that a series like Miss Smillas Feeling for Snow, which takes place in Greenland and Denmark, has been filmed in Latvia, Lithuania and Iceland, all of which have production rebates. Its a waste of jobs, Danish storytelling tradition and exposure of our fantastic kingdom, said Jakob Engel-Schmidt.

Thats why Im proud that we are now taking a big step towards making Denmark a European powerhouse for film and TV productions. And who knows, maybe the next version of the hit series Emily in Paris will involve the main character moving to Copenhagen?

Morten Dahlin, the minister for urban and rural affairs, said Film and TV productions help to showcase Denmark abroad, so that we can attract tourism and income to the entire country to an even greater extent.

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Netflix currently has 16 planned productions in Sweden, six in Norway for 2024-2026, while only three are planned in Denmark.

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Prince Harry is taking a page out of his wifes book for his Dec. 4 appearance in New York City while Meghan remains in L.A.

Eric Charbonneau/Archewell Foundation via Getty Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex at San Basilio de Palenque during The Duke and Duchess of Sussex Colombia Visit on Aug. 17, 2024 in Cartagena, Colombia Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex at San Basilio de Palenque during The Duke and Duchess of Sussex Colombia Visit on Aug. 17, 2024 in Cartagena, Colombia

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle both have planned appearances next week  albeit on separate coasts.

The Duke of Sussex, 40, will join Andrew Ross Sorkin for a conversation at The New York Times DealBook Conference on Wednesday, Dec. 4 in New York City, according to a spokesperson. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, the Duchess of Sussex, 43, is expected to attend the 2024 Paley Honors Fall Gala the same day, where shell help honor Tyler Perry with The Paley Honors Award, which is The Paley Center for Medias highest honor. While both Harry and Meghan were on the hosting committee for their friend Perry, only Meghan will attend the event.

Alberto Rodriguez/Variety via Getty Meghan, Duchess of Sussex at the 2024 CHLA Gala held at the L.A. Live Event Deck on Oct. 5, 2024 in Los Angeles, California Meghan, Duchess of Sussex at the 2024 CHLA Gala held at the L.A. Live Event Deck on Oct. 5, 2024 in Los Angeles, California

Related: Meghan Markle Justifies Her Political Engagement: 'Paid Leave ... Is a Humanitarian Issue'

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In his appearance alongside Sorkin, Harry is actually following in Meghans footsteps. In November 2021, Meghan was interviewed by Sorkin as part of The New York Times DealBook Online Summit, where she joined a conversation called Minding the Gap about how women can reach economic and professional parity.

During the conversation, Meghan called paid leave a humanitarian issue and spoke about how, from a young age, she always stood up for what was right, alluding to, at just 11 years old, calling out Procter & Gamble for a sexist commercial that advertised its Ivory dishwashing soap solely to women. After writing a letter to the company, it changed the slogan from Women all over America to People all over America.

Even before I had any sort of privilege in my life  when my life and my lifestyle were very, very different  I always stood up for what was right, she said.

NYT DealBook Summit Meghan Markle speaking at the DealBook Summit in 2021

She also spoke to Sorkin about selling homemade scrunchies when she was young, saying, I remember the feeling of knowing that I had done something. I had invested in myself and done this labor and been compensated for it. Theres a sense of pride that comes from that.

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Elsewhere in the conversation, Meghan said, Theres nothing wrong with talking about a womans success or her ambition or her financial prowess  and added that men should be a part of the conversation, too.

SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, attends the "Keynote: Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen," during the SXSW 2024 Conference and Festivals at the Austin Convention Center on March 8, 2024, in Austin, Texas Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, attends the "Keynote: Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen," during the SXSW 2024 Conference and Festivals at the Austin Convention Center on March 8, 2024, in Austin, Texas

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Related: Meghan Markle Says Tabloids Should Come with a 'Warning Label Like Cigarettes'

At one point in the conversation, Meghan urged Sorkin not to read tabloids, because I dont think thats healthy for anyone. She added, Hopefully, one day they come with a warning label like cigarettes do. Like, This is toxic for your mental health. 

During the appearance, Meghan wore a poppy pin, which members of the British royal family traditionally wear each November to honor those who have lost their lives in war. Photographer Calla Kessler said of the accessory I asked her about the poppy. Its for Remembrance Day, to honor armed forces members, noting that Prince Harry served in the British Army for 10 years.

Harry and Meghans separate, bicoastal appearances on Dec. 4 are reflective of their new dynamic, which a friend told PEOPLE in October is like a twin-track approach. Prince Harry is focused on his philanthropic efforts, while Meghan is leaning into entrepreneurial projects and commercial ventures  though they still have many projects theyre working on together.

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The Duke and Duchess have now hit their stride as individuals  not just as a couple, a royal source told PEOPLE. The Duke appears focused on his patronage work, and the Duchess focused on her entrepreneurial track. The source added, But there will be joint efforts around those cause-driven areas of work."



RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP via Getty Prince Harry (2nd R), Duke of Sussex, speaks with his wife Meghan Markle, flanked by Colombia's vice-President Francia Marquez (L) and the director of the National Centre for the Arts Xiomara Suescun attend a show at the centre in Bogota on Aug. 15, 2024 Prince Harry (2nd R), Duke of Sussex, speaks with his wife Meghan Markle, flanked by Colombia's vice-President Francia Marquez (L) and the director of the National Centre for the Arts Xiomara Suescun attend a show at the centre in Bogota on Aug. 15, 2024

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The shift also reflects their commitment that one of them always stays behind in California with kids Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3. What we are seeing is a functional and healthy relationship with two working partners, not the contrary, the source said of the couple.
The Merry Gentlemen sets a perfect holiday setting for viewers, making them curious about its gorgeous filming locations. Directed by Peter Sullivan, the rom-com follows a Broadway dancer who returns to her hometown to save her parents bar. She stages an all-male revue to avoid the bar from closing down and meets the love of her life along the way.

Heres a detailed article on where The Merry Gentlemen is filmed.

List of The Merry Gentlemens filming locations where it was shot

The Merry Gentlemen features multiple locations including Ephrata in Pennsylvania, Santa Clarita in California, and Herald Square in New York.

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Below is a detailed description of where different scenes from the movie were exactly filmed:

NYC, New York: The film begins by introducing Ashley, residing in New York. She later gets removed from the dance troupe, The Jingle Belles. Saddened by the news, a nostalgic Ashley longs for a holiday season. At that time, a brief shot showcases The Bennett Memorial in Herald Square, New York.

Golden Oak Ranch: Most scenes from The Merry Gentlemen use Disneys Golden Oak Ranch setting in Santa Clarita, California. The ranch has served as a popular destination for filming numerous popular projects over the years. The projects include WandaVision, HBOs Westworld, and more.

Many spots from the ranch collectively bring Sycamore Creek to fruition. The fictional place is the hometown of Ashley, which she returns to, to save her parents bar business. In the beginning, the ranchs Block Gs art deco movie theater also turned into a city Broadway theater, where the main leads introduction takes place.

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Additionally, Lukes rustic barn, where a brief romantic moment also takes place between the main leads, is also set in a similar ranch.

Ephrata, Pennsylvania: The establishing shots and scenic beauty of the fictional town Sycamore Creek that the audience witnesses from afar is reportedly of Ephrata, Pennsylvania. The beautiful town gives a northeastern vibe to the perfect Christmas movie from a wider shot.

The post The Merry Gentlemen Filming Locations: Where Was It Filmed? appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
PREMIERE

Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham attended the premiere of upcoming BBC animation Tiddler at the Sea Life London Aquarium on Sunday. Waddingham, who voices the narrator in the half-hour film, posed with some of Tiddlers fishy friends ahead of the screening.

The animation, from production company Magic Light, also features the voices of Lolly Adefope, Jayde Adams and Rob Brydon with child actors Reuben Kirby and Theo Fraser in the lead roles. Based on the childrens book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, it is directed by Andy Martin and Alex Bain. It is set to premiere in the U.K. on the BBC and iPlayer on Christmas Day.

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EUROVISION

The 2025 Eurovision Song Contest is set to go ahead in Basel, Switzerland after the citys residents voted to use $40 million of taxpayer money for producing the all-singing, all-dancing extravaganza. After Swiss entry Nemo won this years contest, the country confirmed back in August that Basel, its third most populated city, would serve as the location for nexts year competition. According to reports, however, one of Switzerlands right-wing parties won enough support to hold a referendum on whether or not taxpayer funds should be used to pay for the event, which requires an enormous amount of security as well as logistics. According to France24, residents have now overwhelmingly voted in favor of funding the contest with taxpayer money, with 66.6% in favor. Voter turnout was 57%.

POWERFUL PROGRAMMING

Australian pubcaster ABC has inked a deal with Banijay Rights for a slate of scripted and factual content, led by the upcoming Bergerac reimagining starring Damien Molony (The Split, Brassic). The package includes Welsh crime drama The One That Got Away, period piece The Hardacres, Grantchester season 10 and documentary series Picasso.

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Bergerac, based on the 1980s BBC series that starred John Nettles, features Molony in the titular role alongside Zoe Wanamaker as his mother-in-law Charlie Hungerford and Philip Glenister as Arthur Wakefield. BlackLight TV produces the six-parter. The One That Got Away, also from BlackLight TV, centers on a murder investigation in Pembroke Dock that reopens old cases and reunites former lovers. Series stars Elen Rhys and Richard Harrington, with Catherine Tregenna penning the script. Period drama The Hardacres follows a working-class Yorkshire familys social climb in the 1890s. Claire Cooper and Liam McMahon lead the cast as Mary and Sam Hardacre. Playground produces in association with Screen Ireland, Red Berry Productions and Newgrange Pictures for Channel 5.

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When you think of Kentucky, it won't be long before you start dreaming of bourbon. The state is practically synonymous with the spirit  according to Kentucky Tourism, Kentucky is home to more barrels of bourbon than people. With all the pride that Kentuckians have over their iconic whiskey, it might be surprising to learn that the state does not recognize the liquor as its official drink. The state beverage is actually milk -- a shockingly non-controversial decision in the government.

In 2005, a senator and dairy farmer named Joey Pendleton proposed that milk be recognized as the official drink of the Bluegrass state. It passed with flying colors amongst Kentucky's government, with a unanimous vote in favor in the Senate and only five "nays" in the House. Kentucky is actually one of 22 states that proudly boast milk as their official drinks, although we aren't sure how many of those Americans are actually drinking a glass of milk with dinner each night.

In addition to milk, Kentucky also recognizes Ale-8-One as the state's official soda of choice. The popular zero-sugar ginger ale was first made in Winchester, Kentucky in 1926, and has been a source of state pride ever since. In 2001, Kentucky's government dubbed July 13 "Ale-8-1 Day," and in 2013, it became the state's official soft drink, carefully distinguishing itself from milk's title of "official drink."

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Read more: How To Make 30 Classic Cocktails: An Illustrated Guide

Kentuckians Once Petitioned To Change The State Drink

Milk pouring out of glass bottle into glass cup - Jose A. Bernat Bacete/Getty Images

If you're confounded by Kentucky's state drink, you're not alone. Some residents of Kentucky feel that milk does not properly represent their home state, and in 2017, a Change.org petition went around the internet, with hopes of changing the state drink to bourbon. The petition page points out that out of every U.S. state, Kentucky ranked 27th in milk production at the time -- though in 2023, it was actually the 26th (via Federal Milk Marketing Order Program). Petitioners believed that "cow juice" does not produce a whole lot of money or excitement for the state.

The stats support this idea: 95% of bourbon made worldwide comes from Kentucky. In 2023 alone, the state's bourbon industry supplied over 23,000 Kentuckians with jobs and generated $9 billion, per Spectrum News 1. There is even a one-day bourbon "school" located in Versailles, Kentucky where you can tour Woodford Reserve distillery and get your fill of this special type of whiskey.

The Change.org petition, which has since closed, earned just over 2,800 signatures and was even picked up by several news outlets . Sadly, the movement received little attention from Kentucky's state government officials. As of the time of publication, milk remains Kentucky's official state drink  although that could change if enough impassioned residents continue to advocate for bourbon's long-awaited recognition.

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Welcome to Checking In, a review series in which our editors and contributors rate the best new (and revamped) luxury hotels based on a rigorousand occasionally tongue-in-cheek10-point system: Each question answered yes gets one point. Will room service bring you caviar? Does your suite have its own butler? Does the bathroom have a bidet? Find out below.

This is the ideal perch for F1 fans.

In three words: Unexpected gulf oasis.

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The basics:

Raffles Al Areen Palace is in the southern half of island nation Bahrain, which means its a fair drive to the main drags of Manama, but the F1 track that draws so much attention is right next door. Its a series of 78 self-contained villas ranged on an almost 33-acre site, each with their own pool and indoor-outdoor dining areas (come summertime, the mercury can regularly hit six figures) There are one-, two- and three-bedroom configurations, though theyre very similar in layout. A former Banyan Tree property, it was gut-renovated for three years, reimagining every element before it reopened under the Raffles flag just under a year ago.

The best room:

Other than bedrooms, theres not much difference between the villas herebut opt for one thats closer to the main pool and building for convenience, but still tucked away, like 106 & 107 or 404 & 406.

The Rundown

78 self-contained villas vanish over a massive 33-acre site.

Greeted by name at check-in?

Yes, and every time I encountered any staffer they knew who I wasno mean feat when there are almost 80 rooms and the propertys running at 70 percent occupancy, as it was when I was in residence.

Welcome drink ready & waiting? Bonus point if it wasnt just juice.

Yes. A fresh pineapple, passion fruit and mint mocktail, but I was impressed when a bottle of my go-to Pinot Grigio arrived at my room after the GM spotted Id always default to a glass of that white at meals.

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Private butler in the room?

Yes. And Kavi was one of the best butlers Ive encountered in years, a seasoned pro with more than a decade of experience. He was responsive via WhatsApp and thoughtful, too: On my last night, noticing Id ordered Middle Eastern food at every meal, he offered to ask the chef to cook up a Bahraini dinner for me, with local dishes that werent on the menu. The result: a delicious assortment of spreads and dips plus an okra stew and chicken biryani-style main. It was the best last supper I could have imagined.

Sheet thread count 300 or higher?

Double that: 600-thread count Mascioni Hotel Collection sheets, and crisply comfy to boot. Shout out, too, to the monogrammed silky pajamas which I desperately wanted to slip into my bag to take home, as well as the faux leather slippers.

Heated floor in the bathroom or bidet? Or both.

Yes, there was a bidet; no five-star hotel in the region would design a bathroom without one.

Are the toiletries full-sized?

Yes. Theyre the standard La Bottega Ortigia Ambra. Its a pity there was only one set, though, as there were two showersone indoor, one outside. It would have been thoughtful to leave toiletries in both and avoid having to cart them out to shower alfresco. If only I hadnt be solo: The outdoor shower had two nozzles, not quite close enough to be intended for just one person.

Every room is the best room at this all-villa stay.

Private pool for the rooms exclusive use?

Yes. Every villa comes with its own pool and Jacuzzi at its center, plus a daybed and towels. The main pool was splashier, with water features and a bar, and you can swim through to the indoor pool without leaving the water (another nod to midsummers scorching temperatures). Truly, though, there was never a need for a dip anywhere other than in complete privacysince the walls around each villa were more than six feet high, you can skinny dip with abandon.

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Worth spending Friday night in the lobby bar?

Yes, though it wouldnt be Friday hereafter all, the weekend starts on Thursday night. Theres a Writers Lounge, one of the Raffles signatures, with a pool table and a few armchairs. Its no scene, this is a place you come to hide away rather than mingle, but its a relaxing alternative to the villa.

Caviar on the room service menu?

Yes. The special occasion menu features Kaviari Ossetra Caviar. A classic choice.

Would you buy the hotel if you could?

Yes. Its not as conveniently located as some of the other luxe spots here, which are much closer to Manama and the old town, Muharraq, which is also the site of the airport. Thats partly the point, though: Coming to this property is about holing up, hiding out and unwinding. The service, design, and food were all top notch.

The Verdict

An under-rated top hotel in an under-rated oasis.

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Bahrains an underrated destination in the Gulf, overlooked by its flashier neighbors like Qatar or Dubai. It also has long associations with horse-racing (the royal familys been breeding purebred Arabians for more than 200 years) and F1, not to mention being the source of the worlds best natural pearls, which thrive in the waters off its coast (cultured pearls were banned here in the 1920s, not long after the technique was invented). Its also one of the more liberal regimes here, albeit with its own issues, and theres a strong international vibe to everyday life (as a former British protectorate, English is widely spoken by almost everyone). The major market for this hotel is undoubtedly wealthy Saudis and expats living in the Kingdom, as Bahrains a short drive over a causeway for the weekend, but Id strongly recommend it as part of any long-haul trip to the region.

Average daily rate: $897

Score: 10



What Our Score Means:

1-3: Fire your travel agent if they suggest you stay here.

4-6: Solid if youre in a pinchbut only if youre in a pinch.

7-8: Very good. Wed stay here again and recommend it without qualms.

9-10: Forget booking a week. When can we move in permanently?

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A 26-year-old woman named Sheyla Mayumi Condor Torres went missing last Wednesday. She left her home in the Santa Anita district, east of Lima, and strangely did not show up at her uncle and aunts restaurant, where she worked as a cashier. Her family began looking for her that same night, but at the district police station they were told that she was already of age, that she had surely gone off with some boyfriend and that she would be back soon. These things happen. Her mother, Elsa Torres Vivanco, insisted, but the police chief refused to file the parents complaint. Shocked by the polices negligence, she continued to investigate on her own. She had a bad hunch.

On Friday, a friend of Sheylas logged into her computer and noticed that she had left her WhatsApp open. Her last conversation had been with a man named Darwin Condori. The messages revealed that he had invited her to his house, in the Comas district, and that she had accepted because she wanted to meet his dog. She told him that she would only stay until 4 p.m., but he insisted on having a drink. Those would be the last images of Sheyla, captured by security cameras: entering the Las Praderas condominium, carrying a small white dog, in the company of a thin man with a serious look on his face.

The victims family returned to the Santa Anita police station, hoping that having concrete information about her possible whereabouts would raise the alarm and that law enforcement would begin searching for her. But the officer in charge told them that it was not his jurisdiction and that they should go to the police station closest to the spot where she was last seen. At the Santa Luzmila police station, the obstacles continued. Officials tried to dissuade the parents, telling them that if their daughter showed up after all, the parents could face a defamation suit. By that time, it was already known who Darwin Marx Condori Antezana was: a 25-year-old, third-class non-commissioned officer who had belonged to the Terna Groupan intelligence regiment with camouflage skillsand was currently part of the Green Squadron, a police unit that fights petty crime and small-scale drug trafficking.

In the meantime, a police officer telephoned Darwin Condori to ask about Sheylas whereabouts. He excused himself, saying that she had left home on Wednesday afternoon. The victims relatives would later claim that the call alerted him and gave him time to escape. It was not until early Sunday morning, after a complaint from some neighbors of the Las Praderas condominium in Comas about a foul odor coming from one of the towers, that they entered the policemans house. It was Elsa, the mother, who found the dismembered remains of her daughter in a suitcase under the bed and in a package in the bathroom. There was no trace of the murderer.

They didnt pay attention to me. Maybe we would have gone that day. I already knew where my daughter was. Only God knows if I would have found her alive, laments Elsa, destroyed by the pain. The police raided the apartment and arrested a woman who was renting one of the rooms as well as five men, all of them students at the Public Naval Technological Higher Education Institute. They claim that they had been at a meeting and had not noticed anything strange in the apartment. They were later released by order of the Prosecutors Office.

Outrage grew when Darwin Condoris background became public news. In early 2023 he was denounced by three women, who claim that they were drugged and raped by him and by another police officer. One of them even told her tragedy on television, without showing her face. That time Condori only spent two weeks in jail and then continued patrolling the streets. We have waited to get to this situation, for that young lady to be killed, for her to be dismembered. I dont know why the justice system, why the judge hasnt done anything, why they only detained him for 15 days, released him and he rejoined the police force, said one of his victims.

In the district of Comas, a mass march was held to protest the murder of Sheyla Condor and also the actions of the police officers who hindered the investigation. Feminist organizations raised their voice on social media to underscore that they do not feel safe with the institution that should be protecting them. The former Minister of Women, Gloria Montenegro, said in this regard: The Police is unfortunately contaminated. It is a sexist and misogynistic institution, and even more so in rural, Andean areas. Women who arrive at the station after being beaten are told to go home, nothing more.

On Tuesday morning Darwin Condori was found dead, tied to a TV rack inside a hostel in the district of San Juan de Lurigancho. He had a deep wound on one of his wrists. His badge and documents were on a nightstand and he left a letter that has not yet been made public. His weapon was not found. A video was leaked on social media, showing the police officers finding him, cutting the belt that tied him, placing him on the bed, and later taking him to a hospital where his death was confirmed. Experts feel that the scene was contaminated and that the police should have waited for the forensic experts and the prosecutor on duty.

The incident has raised suspicions in Sheyla Condors family, who will report the police for various irregularities. It must be verified whether it was a deliberate murder, that is, whether there was a murder to silence him or, on the contrary, whether it was a suicide, said the victims lawyer, Aaron Aleman. The journalist Manuela Camacho, herself a victim of harassment, has also been clear about her suspicions: Nothing fits in the death of the non-commissioned officer who committed femicide, and it will not be enough to silence us. We want to know who his accomplices were, who covered it up and what else he knew that it was so urgent that it not be known. We are fed up with the police minimizing our complaints. They do not watch out for us, they do not look after us, but they do protect themselves, she said.

Sheyla Condor was buried on Tuesday in her home land of Tarma, in the province of Junin, in the Angel de La Paz cemetery. As for Darwin Condori, the Ministry of the Interior has ordered that the remains of the non-commissioned officer not receive any kind of honor and, in addition, police officers have been prohibited from attending the burial.

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Imagine a place where blue icebergs glisten, puffins fly through the air, and whales jump out of the water  a destination with some of the most epic views on Earth that will take your breath away. Kenai Fjords National Park is that kind of place, and its home to nearly 40 glaciers.

Ive been dreaming of visiting Alaska for most of my life, and when Pursuit Collection invited me for a hosted trip, I leaped at the chance. This last summer, I flew from Tulsa, where I currently reside, to Anchorage and drove to Seward to spend five days in Kenai Fjords National Park.

The drive to the park was one of the most scenic areas I have ever visited. The landscape was mesmerizing  mountainous and green, and the distant peaks were covered in snow. While in Alaska, some days were moody and grey, and others were partly cloudy.

When to visit the park

Seward Harbor during the summer

June through September is the summer tourist season and the best time to visit the Kenai Peninsula. Summers have longer days, and when I visited in June, it felt like the sun never entirely set  which kept me out exploring for long hours.

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Since the tourism season has a small window, its a good idea to start planning six to eight months in advance. For example, if you want to visit in June, begin booking accommodations and tours in November and December.

What to pack for a summer trip to Kenai Fjords National Park

If youre thinking its cold in Alaska, even in the summer, you are correct. From June through September, temperatures can range from the 40s to the low 70s degrees Fahrenheit. This part of Alaska has a maritime climate, and it rains often. It is cold and damp, so youll want to bring quick-drying layers and warm clothes.

Pack for sightseeing and outdoor adventures. I got away with bringing a carry-on and my backpack for a five-day trip.

If youre unsure what to take, check out my Alaska packing list.

How to get there

Kenai peninsula highway

Its quite the journey to get to Kenai Fjords National Park  it took me almost 24 hours from the Lower 48.

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Fly into the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and pick up a rental car. Depending on what you plan to do in the area, youll have more freedom to drive around and go sightseeing if you rent a car. Its about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Anchorage to Seward.

Youll want to map your route to Seward on your cell phone before leaving Anchorage. Cell phone reception is limited once you leave the city and drive south toward the coast.

You can also take the train from Anchorage to Seward if you dont want to drive. Book your ticket for the Coastal Classic route online. It is roughly a four-and-a-half-hour trip from Anchorage to Seward via the Alaska Railroad.

Where to stay

Seward is a small town, but during summer, there are many accommodation options. While exploring Kenai Fjords National Park, I stayed at the Windsong Lodge just outside Seward and the Kenai Fjords Wilderness Lodge on Fox Island.

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The wilderness lodge on Fox Island is roughly a forty-minute ferry ride from Seward Harbor across Resurrection Bay. It is one of the most amazing lodges I have ever stayed at. It is all-inclusive, meaning meals and some activities are included in your stay. Not to mention that your cabin is steps from the water. I even saw a sea lion swimming in the cove during my early morning walk along the beach.

Things to do at Kenai Fjords National Park

Rock formations in Kenai Fjords National Park

While on a boat tour of the park with Kenai Fjords Tours, the captain shared that this national park is one of the most remote in the U.S. In 2023, less than 400,000 people visited its faraway landscape.

Most people will stop to hike around the Exit Glacier area without opting to get into more remote parts of the park via a boat tour. Dont make that mistake  a boat tour is where you can see the most spectacular views, multiple glaciers, and impressive wildlife.

Cruise around the Kenai Fjords

Northwestern Glacier / Mountainous views

Kenai Fjords Tours offers six tour options ranging from four to eight hours. Take a six-hour dinner cruise around Resurrection Bay and look for killer whales, humpback whales, and other local sea life. Or book an eight-hour boat tour to the Northwestern Glacier through the Gulf of Alaskas Harding Gateway.

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I was blown away on my boat tour to the Northwestern Glacier. Ill never forget the glaciers' blue color and thundering sound when they calve. It was precious to see the harbor seals floating on chunks of icebergs in the fjords, and I loved seeing all of the waterfalls cascading over cliffs. I saw humpback whales, elephant seals, marbled murrelet, murres, killer whales, and even a blue whale. It was magical, and I didnt want the day to end.

Hike to Exit Glacier or the Harding Icefield

The Exit Glacier

Exit Glacier is the only place in the park accessible by road. It is located twelve miles outside of Seward. The Nature Center has a small parking area, and the trails start there. Keep in mind that this is a popular attraction, and parking can be limited if youre driving your rental car. If you dont rent a car, plan to catch the local shuttle or call a taxi.

There is no cell phone reception there, so be sure to plan ahead. Dont forget to download trail maps for offline use.

For an easy one-mile day hike, walk the Glacier View Loop Trail. You can continue on the Glacier Overlook Loop Trail to get even closer to Exit Glacier. If you combine the two trails, its about 2.2 miles round trip.

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For a longer and more strenuous day hike, check out the Harding Icefield Trail. Its 8.2 miles out and back. Along this route, youll trek through the temperate rainforest and alpine meadows and get spectacular views of the parks iconic Harding Icefield, said to be over 23,000 years old. It is through Bear Country, so be mindful and carry bear spray (you can buy it in town).

Sea kayak and look for wildlife

A few outfitters offer guiding services in Seward, but I went sea kayaking with Sunny Cove Kayaking. They provide tours from Seward, Fox Island, and inside Kenai Fjords National Park. Guests can also do multi-day kayaking and camping trips with them.

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During my trip, I stayed at the Kenai Fjords Wilderness Lodge on Fox Island for a few days and went on a half-day kayaking trip. We launched in Halibut Cove and paddled in and out of the coves in Resurrection Bay. I saw waterfalls, sea otters, purple starfish, and a bald eagle. It was so much fun, and Ill cherish the memories forever.
The jet reportedly crashed in a residential area near Vilnius airport in the early hours of Monday, Nov. 25

Lithuania Fire and Rescue Service/Anadolu via Getty A cargo jet crashed in Vilnius, Lithuania on Nov. 25, 2024 A cargo jet crashed in Vilnius, Lithuania on Nov. 25, 2024

One person has died and three people have been injured after a cargo jet crashed in Lithuania, according to multiple news reports.

In the early hours of Monday, Nov. 25, a Swiftair Boeing 737-400 operating on behalf of DHL "crashed in a residential area short of the runway while attempting to land in Vilnius" after departing from Leipzig, Germany, live air traffic site Flightradar24 posted on X (formerly known as Twitter).

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The Associated Press reported that the aircraft crashed at 5:30 a.m. local time, citing Ramunas Matonis, the head of communications for the Lithuanian police.

DHL confirmed in a statement to PEOPLE that one of its aircraft had "made a forced landing about one kilometer from VNO Airport."

"There were a total of four people on board and our thoughts are with them and their relatives. The cause of the accident is still unknown, and an investigation is already underway," a spokesperson said in the statement.

According to the AP, the plane "skidded into a house" after the crash, adding that a Spanish crew member had died in the incident. Three additional crew members  from Spain, Germany and Lithuania  were injured, per the outlet.

PETRAS MALUKAS/AFP via Getty A cargo jet crashed in Vilnius, Lithuania on Nov. 25, 2024 A cargo jet crashed in Vilnius, Lithuania on Nov. 25, 2024

Lithuania's prime minister, Ingrida Simonyte, held a meeting following the crash and said there had been no victims in the residential area where the plane hit. According to local newspaper Lietuvos Rytas, 12 residents were evacuated from a two-story house.

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"The most important thing is that despite the fact that the incident happened in a residential area, victims of people living there were avoided," the prime minister said in a translated message on the Government of the Republic of Lithuania's website.

PETRAS MALUKAS/AFP via Getty A cargo jet crashed in Vilnius, Lithuania on Nov. 25, 2024 A cargo jet crashed in Vilnius, Lithuania on Nov. 25, 2024

Fire and rescue chief Renatas Pozela said of the crash, Residential infrastructure around the house was on fire, and the house was slightly damaged, but we managed to evacuate people, per the AP.

According to Reuters, a DHL spokesperson said that "the aircraft [carried] regular parcels. We do not have any information that any of them were suspicious."

PETRAS MALUKAS/AFP via Getty A cargo jet crashed in Vilnius, Lithuania in the early hours of the morning on Nov. 25, 2024 A cargo jet crashed in Vilnius, Lithuania in the early hours of the morning on Nov. 25, 2024

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The country's prime minister, Simonyte, added of the incident on Monday, "Vilnius City Municipality takes care of people, we will help it as much as it is needed. The services are doing their job. I strongly request you to trust the abilities of the investigating authorities to conduct the investigation professionally and within the optimal time."

"Only these investigations will answer the questions about the real causes of the incident, speculations and conjectures will not really help to determine the truth," Simonyte said.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

PETRAS MALUKAS/AFP via Getty A cargo jet crashed in Vilnius, Lithuania in the early hours of the morning on Nov. 25, 2024 A cargo jet crashed in Vilnius, Lithuania in the early hours of the morning on Nov. 25, 2024

"Flight operations are continuing in Vilnius while authorities respond to the crash," Flightradar24 posted on X, adding that the aircraft was 31 years old.

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According to the AP, the "weather at the airport was around freezing at the time of the crash" and winds had been around 18 mph.

Swiftair and the Lithuanian police and fire department didn't immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE.


JAMESTOWN, Ky. (FOX 56)  One person has been flown to a trauma center and another was reportedly treated by emergency personnel for multiple injuries at a marina after both of them fell over 100 feet from a cliff in the Low Gap area of Lake Cumberland on Sunday morning.

Russell County Search and Rescue wrote on Facebook that around 7:20 a.m. on Sunday, crews responded to cries for help in the Low Gap area of Lake Cumberland.

1 in hospital with life-threatening injuries after Tates Creek Road shooting

Upon arrival, first responders reportedly found two people who had fallen off a cliff face.

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Russell County rescue officials said one person fell around 150 feet before coming to rest against a tree, and the other person fell an estimated 200 to 250 feet and was in critical condition.

Our skilled rope rescue technicians, along with two EMS personnel, scaled the rock face to reach both victims, Russell County Search and Rescue wrote on Facebook. They set up a rope system to lower one patient in a Stokes basket down to a waiting boat, which then transported the individual to the nearest marina. From there, EMS transported the patient to a helipad for immediate airlift to a Level 1 trauma center.

(Russell County Search and Rescue) (Russell County Search and Rescue) (Russell County Search and Rescue) (Russell County Search and Rescue)

The second person who fell was secured in a harness and helped down the cliff where a separate boat was waiting, taking them to a marina where emergency personnel treated him for multiple injuries, including a possible ankle injury and facial trauma, rescue team members said.

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Russell County Search and Rescue officials said multiple agencies, including Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, the Kentucky State Police Department, park rangers, and Russell County Emergency Management, helped with the operation to recover the pair down from the cliff to get treatment.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 56 News.
A man and his girlfriend were arraigned Monday in Akron Municipal Court after the mans one-year-old daughter was found in critical condition at the Red Roof Inn in Springfield Twp, according to CBS affiliate WOIO.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Jason Santos, 37, and Jamilee Hunt, 36, pleaded not guilty Monday, and the judge set their bonds at $1 million each.

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Santos and Hunt were both charged with endangering children and obstructing official business.

A release from the Springfield Twp. Police says officers were called to the hotel for an unresponsive infant around 9:30 pm Friday.

Officers said they found the one-year-old girl unresponsive on the bed in Santos and Hunts hotel room and began CPR. According to police, the girl showed signs of severe trauma and extensive bruising.

The one-year-old was transported to a local hospital.

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(RUSH, Colo.)  The El Paso County Sheriffs Office (EPSO) said a 12-year-old student is facing charges after allegedly bringing a gun to a school in the Miami-Yoder School District.

On Thursday, Nov. 21 at around 12:43 p.m., EPSO responded to the school after they received a call from an employee who said a school security officer had detained a student after finding a gun in the students backpack.

Upon arrival, deputies initiated an investigation, secured the handgun, and ensured the safety of the school, students, and staff.

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According to EPSO, the student showed the gun to another student while riding the bus home on Wednesday, Nov. 20. After being notified, school security and staff searched the students locker and found the handgun in the students backpack.

Courtesy: FOX21 News Chief Photojournalist Dez Rowe Courtesy: FOX21 News Chief Photojournalist Dez Rowe Courtesy: FOX21 News Chief Photojournalist Dez Rowe Courtesy: FOX21 News Chief Photojournalist Dez Rowe

The student was then located, removed from class, and escorted to a secure location. The weapon was not loaded, as the student had found it unloaded at home before taking it to school.

This situation highlights why it is crucial for parents to regularly check their childrens belongings before and after school, said El Paso County Sheriff Joseph Roybal. It is crucial to stay informed about your childs communications, whereabouts, friendships, and any potential access to contraband or weapons.

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Deputies responded to the 12-year-olds home and met with them and their parents. The student is now facing several charges including; Unlawfully Carrying a Concealed Weapon, Illegal Possession of a Handgun by a Juvenile, and Unlawfully Carrying a Weapon on School Grounds.

I am grateful this issue was quickly addressed without incident, thanks to the prompt actions of the Miami-Yoder School District and my deputies, Roybal added. Their swift response ensured no harm occurred, and my deputies conducted a thorough investigation. Ensuring the safety of our schools is a top priority for my Office. We will continue closely monitoring and investigating incidents like this and remain fully committed to protecting schools throughout El Paso County.

According to EPSO, officials at Miami-Yoder School District have confirmed communication with parents regarding the incident.

Last week, on Friday, Nov. 22, a concerned parent contacted FOX21 News and claimed parents had not received any information regarding the incident besides a school automated message saying there was a gun at the school. When the parent reached out about the situation, according to the email sent to FOX21, a staff member replied that the notification was sent as soon as the investigation was complete and that there would be no more updates due to there being no threat, and therefore, there would be no emergency meeting.

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FOX21 News has reached out to Miami-Yoder Schools but has not heard back. We will update this article as we learn more.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
Tornatores, says chef/owner Denny Tornatore, does not suffer for customers.

The small dining room  just 36 seats  is full most nights, largely with regulars who, for 15 years, have folded the place into the College Park community  and spot-washed a lot of red sauce from their shirts.

From now until Dec. 23, though, Tornatores Restaurant & Italian Market is going to be even busier than usual. Last week, Tornatore announced hed be closing the place.

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It was a shock for many, specifically because this old-school Italian joint is consistently busy.

But in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, he says, consistently busy doesnt necessarily translate to profitable.

For the first 12 years, it was great, Tornatore says. But now, with food and labor costs where theyre at, Im super busy just to stay open. My employees are doing very well, which is great, but Im not in the restaurant business to break even.

Hed been considering the idea for some time, he says. Working 80 hours a week and barely seeing his children (Izzy, 16, and Leah, 9) has taken a toll. Stress, he says, was giving him health issues. So, when his landlord let him know shed be selling the plaza and he learned that rent was set to triple, he decided to pull the trigger.

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I had to make a change.

Tornatore, one of seven children (he has six sisters), grew up in a small town outside of Syracuse, where his family farmed onions. It wasnt a legacy he wanted to perpetuate, but farming, if nothing else, builds a foundation for hard work. Especially in upstate New York, where its done mostly in the cold.

My house was right next to an Italian restaurant called Grazianos. I spent a lot of time there, watching Tony Graziano [in the kitchen]. I wanted to be like him.

When one of his sisters made the move to Orlando (eventually, they all did), Tornatore followed and opened an Italian deli in Deltona, which he ran for three years before landing in the kitchen at Apopkas popular Cafe Positano. He stayed there for a decade.

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I was the manager, the bartender, and I learned a ton about Amalfi Coast-style cooking from the chefs, he says, but eventually, the entrepreneurial itch returned. The intent was to open his own place, but the folks at Positano made an offer of partnership.

In 2010, the location that would eventually become Tornatores opened as Cafe Positano Pizzeria.

It looked different than the other locations, but it was pretty much their menu, he says.

Four years later, he bought them out.

I had a year to change the name  that was part of the deal  but I was running out of money and learning hard lessons as I went. And thats when Restaurant Impossible came along and changed my life in one day.

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In 2015, in an episode titled The Ambush, the popular Food Network show flipped its usual script, with host Robert Irvine surprising Tornatore with a guerilla-style makeover.

I didnt know they were coming, Tornatore says, though hed met the producers a year before and been turned down for the show. They got such a real reaction out of me.

More importantly, the restaurant changed its name to Tornatores that same day. And the episode was a smash.

We got slammed, he says.

It was worldwide advertising. And because were in Orlando, and people are coming to go to Disney World, they see this show around the world and decide they have to come to Tornatores. It was life-changing.

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In fact, the show was so popular that Irvine has returned four times, which has helped keep them in the spotlight.

I wouldnt have made it without him, Tornatore says of Irvine. From there, we just took off.

Then came the pandemic.

Food started costing so much that we were going to have to change our prices to where they needed to be to make money, he says. I needed to change the ambiance.

Tornatore closed for dine-in for three months, during which time they remodeled. He hired Jason Wolfe, a K Restaurant alumnus, to head the kitchen. He closed for lunch. Tornatores was set for a fine-dining relaunch.

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But, it was all a big mistake, he says. Jasons food is incredibly delicious, but closing for lunch cost us a ton of revenue, and I lost all my delivery business. No one wants to get a $40 steak to go.

Tornatore pivoted back to what he knew  the old-school Italian hed grown up with  and went back into the kitchen himself.

I dug myself out of the hole for about six months, got us back to where we were and weve been kicking ass ever since, but this year has been a grind. Labor costs are through the roof. Food costs are through the roof. Were still full, but Im turning people away, and I cannot afford to. I need more seats. I need a bar.

News that his beloved landlord was leaving was the final blow.

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Tornatores will remain open until Dec. 23  Its going to be a madhouse, he chuckles. Probably the best month ever had.  but hell have the place until Feb. 1 and will continue doing catering jobs, Dolce Far Niente dinners, and his popular Charcuterie Academy events.

After that, he says, hell find a ghost kitchen and continue working while figuring things out.

Wine, cheese, chocolate and charcuterie classes make for tasty good time

We have some opportunities to explore and some time to figure out which directions wed like to go.

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He also plans on taking some time off.

I want to get my energy back, spend some time with my kids, have a beer at 2 oclock on a Wednesday afternoon if I want to, he says, laughing.

But the lead-up to all that will be filled with emotion, which creeps into his voice as he thinks about it. The outpouring of love and support since his social media announcement, he says, has been nonstop.

I could cry, he says. Its unbelievable. In 15 years, Ive watched kids who had their first job here grow up and go on to have their own careers and families. I cant tell you how many locals from the neighborhood walk up here a couple of times a week. I know them all. Its going to be very emotional and sad for all of us, but Im prepared.

Find me on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com, For more foodie fun, join the Lets Eat, Orlando Facebook group.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  2025 will mark the 30th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing.

We remember and honor those 168 who lost their lives on April 19, 1995, when a bomb went off in front of the Murrah building in downtown Oklahoma City.

168 Days to remember those lost in the OKC bombing: Peachlyn Bradley. Image courtesy Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum.

We want to remember Peachlyn Bradley, while honoring those who survived and thanking those changed forever.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
A suspect wanted for murder in Tennessee was caught in Atlanta last week following an eight-month-long manhunt.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Demetrio Ceballos, 18, was taken into custody on Nov. 18, according to the U.S. Marshals. He was found in Atlanta and captured without incident.

It was revealed that Ceballos was wanted in connection to the murder of Rozelle White.

According to officials, on March 25, White was shot to death in the 4400 block of Millbranch in Memphis, Tenn.

TRENDING STORIES:

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On Sept. 27, a warrant for first-degree murder and aggravated assault was issued for Ceballos.

The Memphis Police Department Fugitive Apprehension Team began searching for Ceballos. The investigation led to Ceballos location in Atlanta. The USMS Two Rivers Violent Fugitive Task Force assisted in the search.

He awaits extradition back to Shelby County, Tenn.

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CHICAGO  Little Village community leaders are fed up and want solutions after three separate shootings in less than 24 hours Sunday left two people dead, including a teenager, and three others wounded in the neighborhood on Chicagos Southwest Side.

Police are still searching for suspects in all three shootings and had nobody in custody for any of them as of Monday morning.

Baltazar Enriquez of the non-profit Little Village Community Council says the rash of violence is a byproduct of lack of community investment.

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Its very heartbreaking when the Little Village community is on fire and all we have is a bucket of water, Enriquez told WGN. So this is a product of the disinvestment, when they dont invest in our schools, when they dont invest in our children.

Off-duty CPD officer exchanges gunfire with armed offenders on South Side, police say

And if this continues, Enriquez added, businesses could choose to close early or leave the community altogether, creating even more disinvestment.

Not only brazen, but its scary, he said of the shootings. A lot of the businesses are closing earlier. They usually close at 8, 9 oclock at night. Now theyre closing at 7.

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So theyre going to lose money, the employees are going to lose hours, and we all lose.

2 dead, 3 wounded

The latest shooting Sunday happened around 10:45 p.m. in the 2300 block of South Washtenaw Avenue, according to police. A 22-year-old man was standing outside a church when he was shot by an unidentified offender driving in a black sedan.

Woman shot near Macys in downtown Chicago; witnesses speak

Police say the victim was shot twice in the arm and once in the chest and was taken to an area hospital in fair condition.

Just under seven hours before that, around 4 p.m. Sunday, a 43-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman were shot in a drive-by incident in the 4000 block of West 26th Street.

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Police say a dark-colored sedan pulled up and an unknown offender fired multiple shots from inside the vehicle, hitting the man numerous times throughout the body and the woman once in the left leg.

The woman was taken to an area hospital in good condition. The man, who has not yet been identified, died from his injuries after being taken to an area hospital in critical condition.

In the early-morning hours Sunday, at around 1:30 a.m., a 16-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy were standing on the sidewalk in the 2600 block of South Avers Avenue when they were shot, according to police.

The 16-year-old, later identified by the Cook County Medical Examiners Officer as Jesus M. Sanchez of Chicago, was shot in the abdomen and later died at an area hospital. Police say Sanchez was outside a relatives home, about a half-mile from his own home, when he was shot.

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The 15-year-old was shot in the back and taken to an area hospital in good condition.

Investigators have not disclosed a motive for why the two teenagers were shot while standing on a sidewalk.

Ive been an outreach worker, a youth mentor, all my life, 22nd Ward Ald. Michael Rodriguez said. Ive worked on this issue, and weve just lost too many kids to senseless acts of violence.

 This is blocks from my house, where my 12-year-old and 6-year-old were sleeping (Saturday) night. This is unacceptable. Weve got to redouble our efforts.

Rodriguez also made a plea to the public to come forward and report anything they might know about such violent crimes.

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Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines

Clearance rates are down in the city. I think thats partly due to the public, he said. People calling in, sharing information about what mightve happened in these heinous crimes.

We look to the public for a partnership, and thats how we solve crimes here in the City of Chicago.  If you have any information on this senseless act of violence, please call 911 or Area Four detectives, who are working diligently on this case.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
COLUMBIA, Ky. (FOX 56)  Two people were found dead and a firefighter was taken to the hospital after battling a fire that fully engulfed a house in Columbia in the early hours of Sunday morning.

1 flown to trauma center, 1 treated at marina after falling over 100 feet from Lake Cumberland cliff

The Columbia Adair County Fire Department posted on Facebook that just after 12:15 a.m. on Sunday, crews were dispatched to the 1700 block of Bull Run Road in response to a 911 call about a structure fire.

Authorities said the two-story structure was fully engulfed in flames, and one of the three vehicles in the driveway was also on fire when crews arrived at the scene.

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Authorities said a total of 17 firefighters worked for over five hours keeping the fire contained.

Once the fire was cooled down & having communicated with family and neighbors in the area, it was determined that there were two people unaccounted for, fire department officials said. Firefighters then completed extensive overhaul on the home and located two bodies within the home.

Read more of the latest Kentucky news

While at the scene, a firefighter was reportedly taken to TJ Health Columbia for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 56 News.
Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the opposition leader who declared himself the winner of Venezuelas controversial presidential elections on July 28  a claim supported by voter tally sheets collected after the vote , has reiterated his intent to return to the country and take office as president on January 10, 2025  the scheduled date for the transfer of power. The Biden administration also remains confident that a political transition will take place on that day, according to sources within the White House.

We are fighting, raising our voices  the voices of all Venezuelans abroad, Gonzalez Urrutia declared, in what was perhaps one of his most direct statements about returning to Venezuela following his forced exile two months ago. In an interview with W Radio, he also revealed plans to embark on a tour across Latin America, though he did not specify the timeline or which countries he intends to visit.

Typically cautious in his remarks, Gonzalez Urrutia was unequivocal this time about his determination. He refrained from disclosing details about how he plans to re-enter Venezuela but emphasized: Everyone is committed to ensuring Venezuelas reconstruction begins on January 10. To do so, we are relying on the support and backing of every one of you, wherever you may be.

The political landscape has become increasingly tense since Donald Trumps victory in the United States and, more notably, his appointment of Marco Rubio as Secretary of State. This development has fueled a new round of coded messages, threats, warnings, and appeals between Nicolas Maduros government and the opposition, signaling the gravity of the looming political shift. Washingtons recognition of Gonzalez Urrutia as Venezuelas legitimate president-elect has added yet another layer to these exchanges.

After a period of relative silence, the rhetoric of opposition leadership  especially from Maria Corina Machado  has taken a notably resolute tone. The message being sent is that it is not willing to negotiate timelines with the ruling party. Machado, who shares a strong rapport and a similar outlook with Marco Rubio on Venezuelas situation, appears committed to fully leveraging the political potential of international sanctions against the Maduro government. This approach has enraged Chavismo  the governing force  and unsettled some factions within the opposition itself. On Friday, the Venezuelan prosecutors office announced charges against Machado, accusing her of supporting a recent U.S. sanctions package targeting the regime.

In a rare moment of bipartisan agreement, Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. reached consensus on the BOLIVAR Act, legislation that formalizes sanctions against Venezuela and imposes severe penalties on those engaging in business with the Maduro regime. Meanwhile, Gonzalez Urrutia has pledged to return to Caracas, while Machado has called for a nationwide and international protest on December 1.

Machado, along with Magalli Meda, a prominent leader of the opposition party Vente Venezuela, has urged Venezuelans to participate in a demonstration by painting their hands red  a symbol referencing the ongoing repression in the country. We must act now. This December 1 will be a unique, unprecedented, and courageous protest, Meda declared. The world will turn its attention to the cause of a nation determined to fight to the end.

On social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), opposition figure Ivan Simonovis  who was a political prisoner of the Chavista regime for over 15 years  and retired U.S. military officer Erik Prince have rallied behind the call for action, promoting hashtags warning of the regimes impending downfall and referencing potential political negotiations for Maduros removal from power.

Chavista leadership has responded to these declarations with escalating threats. On the same day as Medas announcement, authorities intensified surveillance around the Brazilian embassy in Caracas, where six prominent opposition leaders, including Meda, have taken refuge. Reports of police patrols, drone flyovers, and power outages at the embassy highlight the regimes efforts to clamp down on dissent as the opposition ramps up its campaign for change.

The Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which maintains firm control over the National Assembly, is currently debating a law modeled after the U.S. Bolivar Act, similarly named the Liberador Simon Bolivar Act. This proposed legislation seeks to impose lifetime political disqualification and revoke the citizenship of individuals who have advocated for or facilitated international sanctions against Venezuela. The measures would include confiscating passports and stripping these individuals of their nationality.

Jorge Rodriguez, president of the National Assembly, has taken aim at opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, calling him that old coot and claiming he will spend the rest of his days abroad. His sister, Delcy Rodriguez, vice president of Venezuela, echoed the hardline stance, asserting that within Chavismo, nobody is willing to negotiate with fascism.

Diosdado Cabello, the regimes second-in-command and Minister of the Interior and Justice, issued a particularly pointed warning, inviting Gonzalez Urrutia to return to Venezuela via the Simon Bolivar International Airport: We have a welcome committee ready for him; were polishing his handcuffs. Nicolas Maduro himself, during a televised address, warned opposition figures not to underestimate the strength of this revolution. Dont try it  you will regret it.

In response, Maria Corina Machado has argued that such drastic measures by Chavismo signal not strength but weakness. Maduro, however, appears very sure that he will be inaugurated as president for another term on January 10.

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Two men have been arrested and charged with a 2022 North Jersey murder in which theyre accused of ambushing a man outside his home, authorities said Monday.

Kedrick Chatmon, 37, and Lamare R. Walker, 45, were nabbed Thursday at their New Jersey homes, the Monmouth County prosecutors office said in a press release.

The two men were accused of killing Marques Mills at his home in Neptune Township on May 14, 2022, around 11 p.m.

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Mills, 39, had just started driving away from the home when at least two people jumped out of bushes near the home and opened fire on his vehicle, according to reports at the time. Mills was transported to a local hospital but succumbed to his wounds.

He had a troubled past, but he was turning his life around, his father, George Mills, told the Asbury Park Press at the time. He was doing well.

Chatmon was arrested in his hometown of Keansburg, and Walker was collared in his hometown of Barnegat, the prosecutors office said. They were formally charged with one count each of first-degree murder and first-degree murder conspiracy, taken to Monmouth County jail and will have detention hearings on Dec. 3.

Authorities did not publicly speculate on a motive for the attack.
Sir Keir Starmer has ruled out calling a general election after a petition calling for another vote was signed by more than two million people.

I would like there to be another general election, the petition reads.

I believe the current Labour government have gone back on the promises they laid out in the lead-up to the last election.

Sir Keir says hes not surprised many people want an election re-run (PA Wire)

Asked about the petition on ITVs This Morning programme on Monday, Sir Keir dismissed calls for an election by saying that it is not how our system works.

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He said: Look, I remind myself that very many people didnt vote Labour at the last election.

I am not surprised many of them want a re-run.

The government must respond to all petitions with over 10,000 signatures, and petitions reaching 100,000 signatures are considered before parliament.

The petition comes amid growing backlash over Labours budget, which has sparked controversy for hikes to national insurance and extension of inheritance tax to include farms, among other unpopular proposals which aim to fill the spending black hole.

Among the famous faces to have shared the petition are billionaire Trump-ally Elon Musk, who has repeatedly criticised Sir Keir since he came to power, and British actor Michael Caine.

Who wants to call a general election?

The petition was only set up on November 20, but has already received over 2,184,000 signatures at the time of writing.

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The majority of signatories to the petition are concentrated in Conservatives or Reform safe seats.

Many of the names in these seats may seem familiar, as vocal critics of the current Labour government. The MPs in constituencies where the petitions have received the most signatures include leader of the opposition Kemi Badenoch, former leadership hopeful James Cleverly, and topping the list, Alex Burghart.

The petition is highly popular among constituents of Reform leaders Richard Tice and Nigel Farage, with 9,550 signatures between the two constituencies.

However, over a million signatures have come from constituencies with a Labour MP.

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The Labour MP representing the most constituents calling for a general election is Kevin McKenna, with 4,609 constituents signing the petition.

Mr McKenna won his constituency of Sittingbourne and Sheppey by just 355 votes in July.

The constituency had a low voter turnout of just 51.9 per cent and was historically Conservative.

It is likely that his narrow win made many residents unhappy in an area with high Tory support; but even so, it is unclear whether those signing the petition would be able to oust Mr McKenna in another election.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer dismissed the petition on ITVs This Morning today. (ITV)

No Labour seat has seen more than 6 per cent of constituents sign the petition.

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However, this discontent may still cause some concern for Labour MPs with small majorities. In the Derbyshire Dales, Labour MP John Whitby won by 350 votes, and over 4,426 of his constituents have signed the petition to call an election. MPs in Ribble Valley, Middlesborough South, and Redditch face a similar dilemma.

A high number of constituents in South Norfolk have also signed the petition in South Norfolk, where Terry Jermy is the Labour MP.

Mr Jermy has faced recent pressure following the farmers protests, as his constituency is being eyed by the Tories and has 408 farm holdings.

Even some constituents of Labour leaders have signed the petition calling for a new election, with over 3,000 signatures in Deputy PM Angela Rayners seat.

Discontentment from abroad

At least 14,276 of the signatures were from people based outside the United Kingdom, according to self-declared locations required in the petition forms.

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Thousands of signatures came from the United States, Spain, France and Australia.

The petition has also received hundreds of signatures from Thailand, UAE and Cyprus.

There are even five signatures reported from the Vatican City, where the Pope resides.

Only British citizens and UK residents are allowed to sign this type of petition to be considered by Parliament.

However, the rapid scale of the petition may make it more difficult to verify the identities of the two million-plus signatories. The Independent has reached out to the government to confirm how many of the signatures are verified.

This is not helped by non-citizens such as billionaire Elon Musk promoting the petition, saying on X that the people of Britain have had enough of a tyrannical police state.
The girl was wearing a bright pink jacket and was reportedly clutching a note with a name and phone number on it

Texas Department of Public Safety 2-year-old girl at the U.S.-Mexico border. 2-year-old girl at the U.S.-Mexico border.

A 2-year-old girl from El Salvador was picked up at the U.S.-Mexico border, telling authorities that she had traveled there to find her parents, according to a report.

The child was among a group of over 200 migrants  60 of them unaccompanied minors  attempting to cross the border in Maverick County, Texas, according to an official statement from a spokesperson with the Texas Department of Public Safety shared on Sunday, Nov. 24.

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The department also released footage of the girl  who was wearing a bright pink jacket  telling police that she was traveling by herself.

Did you come by yourself? an officer can be heard asking her in Spanish. She confirms with a nod, and also says that she is going to her mom and dad who are in the United States.

Related: Nicki Minaj Came to the U.S. at 5 Years Old, Plus More Celebs Who Shared Their Emotional Immigration Stories

The girl can also be seen holding a small yellow piece of paper, which had a name and phone number on it, according to TDPS.

PEOPLE has reached out to the Texas Department of Public Safety for further information but has not received an immediate response.

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A second video shared the same day by the department featured dozens of underage minors, many shivering in light sweatshirts, stating their ages and countries of origin.

Im Brendon from El Salvador, one boy says. Another younger child says he is 12 years old and headed to Los Angeles.

The unaccompanied minors reportedly ranged from 2 to 17 years old, according to the statement.

Related: Donald Trump Confirms Plan to Declare a National Emergency to Carry Out Mass Deportations

The footage comes during a time of much uncertainty regarding the future of U.S. immigration policy.

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to deport millions of undocumented residents, even claiming he would use the National Guard and military resources to assist in a mass deportation program.

Experts have stated that the proposed deportation plan could cost anywhere from ten to hundreds of billions of dollars and would affect one in every three families across the U.S.


SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV)  As Christmas is nearly a month away, many people are looking to start their holiday shopping. Whats a better way to start than with some Black Friday deals?

Below is a list of stores and their hours in Central New York.

Which major retailers will be closed for Thanksgiving this year?

Best Buy: 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.

BJs Wholesale Club: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Costco: 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Destiny USA: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Some store hours may vary.

Dicks Sporting Goods: 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Fingerlakes Mall: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Finger Lakes Priemum Outlets: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Black Friday 2024: Best deals on Apple, Dyson and more

Kohls: 5 a.m. to 12 a.m.

Macys: 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Marshalls, Home Goods, TJ Maxx: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Old Navy: 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Destiny USA location open till 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

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Target: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Some locations are open till 11 p.m.

Sangertown Square: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Walmart: 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.

The best Black Friday deals under $100 of 2024  headphones, TVs, smart home and more

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSYR.
Secretary William F. Galvin on Monday announced that there was a significant drop in voter turnout for the 2024 presidential election in several Massachusetts communities after he received official certified voting results from all 351 cities and towns.

While the Nov. 5 election had the second-highest number of ballots cast in Massachusetts history with 3,512,866 voters participating, Galvin said the turnout represents a drop in participation from the 2020 election, in which 3,657,972 ballots were cast at the height of the pandemic.

The turnout in Massachusetts appears to reflect a national trend, with a significant drop in participation in several of our cities, especially those with larger minority populations, and a slightly smaller rise in turnout in the more rural and suburban areas of the state, Galvin said in a statement.

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Chelsea saw a 16.7% drop in the number of ballots cast, when compared with the 2020 election, while Everett, Randolph, Revere, Malden, Lynn, and Boston all saw a decrease of more than 10% from that election, according to Galvins office.

In Boston alone, turnout declined by nearly 30,000.

While the decrease from 2020 may be partially attributed to differences in voting behavior and lifestyle since the height of the pandemic, a comparison to the 2016 election also shows a drop in participation among Bay State cities, Galvins office added.

From 2016, Amherst, Lawrence, Holyoke, Chelsea, and Everett all saw decreases of more than 10% in the number of votes cast.

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Galvin noted that the number of registered voters in Massachusetts currently sits at a record high at over 5 million.

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NewsNation wants its viewers to know the cable-news outlet is keeping an eye on them, no matter how complex the headlines may get in the weeks ahead.

The Nexstar-backed network is making a slight tweak to its slogan that it thinks carries outsize meaning. Starting Monday, NewsNation will tout itself as delivering News For all Americans instead of News for All America. As Thanksgiving approaches, the network hopes to emphasize that welcomes everyone to its screens, not just viewers who may have partisan leanings.

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I think thats the foundation, hearing from the people, says Cherie Grzech, president and managing editor of news and politics for the network, which relaunched as NewsNation in 2020 after operating for years as WGN America, based on the Chicago superstation. In months to come, she says, expect producers to look for ways both in series and in potential town halls that will allow us to hear first and foremost from people versus the politicians or the parties, getting takes on what the most important issues are and reactions and feedback to policies being put into practice. Brian Entin, a senior national correspondent, spent weeks traveling across I-80 and nine different states, showing how individual voters and groups are more complex than simple red or blue labels.

NewsNations overall audience remains noticeably smaller compared to more established rivals such as Fox News Channel and MSNBC, but executives continue to see a chance to grow audience, and think theyve been able to seize notice over the course of the 2024 election cycle. NewsNations total-day viewership rose nearly 10% in the third quarter compared to the second, while its viewership among adults between 25 and 34 was up nearly 20% over the same time period. Two of the networks evening shows, hours led by Chris Cuomo and Ashleigh Banfield, have seen audience counts grow in recent months.

Now, all the network must do is build on it  not necessarily an easy task.

Subscribers to NewsNation are projected to fall almost 7.3% in 2024, according to data from Kagan, a market-research unit of S&P Global Intelligence, as more traditional cable viewers cut the cord in favoro of streaming. The company sees total NewsNation subscribers falling to 62.6 million in 2024 from 67.5 million last year. NewsNation says it is in in 92% of all subscribing homes and has more than 64 million subscribers, citing data from Nielsen.

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NewsNation raised some eyebrows earlier this month when it was the first to call the presidential race for Donald Trump. NewsNation relied on Decision Desk HQ, a voting-analysis firm that has moved away from the exit polls upon which many mainstream news outlets count in favor of forecasting built on demographic trends, turnout estimates and other kinds of data.

I think we made a decision that we were going to trust them, and we did our homework prior to that night, says Grzech. We allowed them to make the calls.

Still, its clear executives liked the alliance. Bill Sammon, a former senior editorial executive at Fox News Channel who served as a liaison between NewsNation and Decision Desk HQ, was recently named a senior vice president at Nexstar Media, where he will oversee news coverage of the nations capital for both the cable network and its sibling The Hill. Sammon, left Fox News in 2021 after the outlet came under scrutiny for making an early but accurate call for President Joe Bidens victory in Arizona in the 2020 presidential election.

The call does elevate our profile and it gives us some market distinction in terms of the lawmakers and decision makers we are trying to book, says Chris Stirewalt, the political analyst who hosts The Hill Sunday on the network.

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The race call was the most recent of what Sean Compton, Nexstars president of network, says is a series of seizing moments that include a Republican party primary debate late last year as well as a town hall with soon-to-be Vice President J.D. Vance. It sure creates more sampling and awareness for the network, he says, and he expects NewsNation to do more of the same in 2025.

Road trips by correspondents, town halls and alliances with voter-analysis organizations cost money, but Compton says NewsNation has been profitable since Day One. Nexstar does not break out results for the network in its quarterly reports to Wall Street.

The executive recognizes that NewsNation has more steps to tread. The reality is we are a toddler. We are only a couple of years old, he says. But Election Night, he says, offers a chance to bring new viewers to the fold. We had a good Election Night, and if it has gotten better, I don t want to curse the damn thing.

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Nov. 25Police arrested Kimberly Anne Bonilla, 42, for first-degree driving while intoxicated after receiving a report of an intoxicated driver at 3:55 p.m. Friday at 906 W. Front St.

Police arrested Robert William Finch, 42, for driving while intoxicated after a traffic stop at 10:06 p.m. Friday at South Broadway and East Main Street. A blood draw was completed with a search warrant.

Police arrested Eleazar Contreras, 23, for fourth-degree driving while intoxicated and fifth-degree possession after a traffic stop at 3:24 a.m. Saturday near the intersection of East Fifth Street and South Broadway.

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3 arrested on warrants

Deputies arrested Cory Craig Bailey, 41, on Houston and Winona county warrants after a traffic stop at 2:47 a.m. Saturday on Interstate 35 near milepost 14.

Deputies arrested Nixon Yang, 42, on an Anoka County warrant after a traffic stop at 10:55 p.m. Sunday on Interstate 35 near milepost 20. He was also cited for driving after revocation.

Police arrested Tamera Lynn McLaughlin, 57, on a Mower County warrant after a traffic stop at 11:14 p.m. Saturday on Interstate 90 near milepost 157 after receiving a report of a vehicle going eastbound in the westbound lane.

Juvenile cited for e-cigarette

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Police cited one juvenile for possession of an e-cigarette device on school property at 8:39 a.m. Friday at Albert Lea High School, 2000 Tiger Lane.

Identity theft reported

Police received a report at noon Friday in the Law Enforcement Center of an individual who had received a letter stating someone had tried to apply for unemployment under his name.

Thefts reported

Police received a report of a theft totaling about $460 at 5:29 p.m. Friday at 2708 Bridge Ave.

A Dewalt impact driver was reported stolen at 7:10 p.m. Friday at 1721 W. Main St.

A red and white tricycle and a yellow and blue play grocery cart were reported stolen out of the front yard at 4:21 p.m. Sunday at 424 E. Seventh St.

Assault reported

Police cited Amanda Sue Evans, 46, for fifth-degree assault after a reported fight at 1:48 a.m. Sunday at 1318 E. Main St.
Federal officials are preparing for what may be the "busiest Thanksgiving travel period on record" - and are warning travelers looking to head out of town.

The agency said it may need to actually slow down air traffic during the Thanksgiving holiday travel period due to air traffic controller shortages, and possible weather delays, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Roughly 31 million people are expected to fly over the Thanksgiving holiday period, according to the trade association Airlines for America.

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FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said that slowdowns are most likely to occur in the New York area, where the agency has had trouble keeping up with demand for air traffic controllers.

During the Thanksgiving travel period, we will use traffic flow management initiatives to deal with any staffing shortages on that particular day in this airspace, and we expect to have some of those shortages. So, were working diligently to make sure that that can operate as efficiently as possible, Whitaker said at a Thursday press conference at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport just outside Washington DC.

The FAA is warning passengers that record air travel is expected over the holiday season (AP)

The agency is expecting November 26  the Tuesday before Thanksgiving  to be its busiest travel day for air traffic. Whitaker said if the slowdowns are needed, they'll like happen that day and will be put in place to ensure travelers' safety.

These initiatives keep the system safe, and people should know that safety is never at risk. If we are short on staff, we will slow traffic as needed to keep the system safe, he said.

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FAA data from May showed that it is still about 3,000 controllers short of its targets. In September, the agency announced it had hit its goal of hiring 1,800 controllers in 2024, but it's unclear how many controllers the agency will lose their year to attrition and retirements, according to CNN.

In addition to the staffing issue, the weather may also cause some disruptions to Thanksgiving air travel.

Whitaker said that the agency is "closely watching the weather, which is of course the biggest source of delays, and we'll do our best to work around that."

Travelers moving through Charlotte, North Carolina, may also run into slowdowns as service workers at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport strike for better pay and conditions.

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The Transport Security Administration expects to screen 18.3 million travelers from Tuesday until December 3, a 6 percent increase over last years numbers.

The Transport Security Administration expects to screen 18.3 million travelers from Tuesday until December 3, a 6 percent increase over last years numbers (AP)

The TSA also warned that anyone trying to bring leftovers back with them should be sure what they're carrying is properly packed.

The agency said anything solid can go through a checkpoint, but if it a traveler can "spill it, spread it, spray it, pump it or pour it" and it's larger than 3.4 ounces, then it should be stored in a checked bag.

As always, it wont just be the skies filled with holiday travelers, but Americas roads as well.

AAA predicts that approximately 80 million travelers will hit the road this week and drive 50 miles or more to make it to a celebration. Thats an increase of 1.7 million over last years travel numbers.

Thanksgiving is the busiest holiday for travel, and this year were expecting to set new records across the board, from driving to flying and cruising, Stacey Barber, Vice President of AAA Travel, said in a statement. Americans reconnect with family and friends over Thanksgiving, and travel is a big part of that. AAA continues to see travel demand soar post-pandemic with our members looking for new adventures and memorable vacations.
Army investigators are offering a $15,000 reward for information on the theft of dozens of pistols, night vision goggles and a thermal optic that have been missing from Fort Moore, Georgia, since earlier this year.

The Armys Criminal Investigation Division posted a reward notice last week, which identified even more gear missing from the facility than originally indicated in a May 16 report. In that report, 31 M17 handguns were noted as missing from the installations Crescenz Consolidated Equipment Pool, according to an Army release.

Since the pistols were reported missing, investigators in late August and early October found that two sets of Enhanced Night Vision Goggles and an AN/PAS 13D Thermal Optic were also unaccounted for.

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Married Army officers convicted of stealing millions of military equipment

The division could not provide additional information at this time, as the investigation is ongoing, CID spokesman Mark Lunardi told Army Times.

Tipsters can anonymously report information through a link provided by Army CID. The cash payout for military or federal employees is based on whether the information leads to a conviction.

According to the notice, the pistols may have gone missing between March and the date of the May report.

The Army is fielding the M17 pistol as the standard issue sidearm to replace the M9, both chambered in 9mm. The pistol is part of a Modular Handgun System, which includes an optic, adjustable hand grips and a holster.

SIG SAUER, Inc. announced the delivery of the 100,000th M17 and M18 for the Modular Handgun System program to the U.S. Military, ahead of schedule, and surpassing the performance standards and requirements since the official contract award in January 2017.

The AN/PAS 13D thermal optic is used with the M2 .50 caliber and 7.62mm M240B machine guns. The Enhanced Night Vision Goggle, meanwhile, is the Armys newest night vision device, fielded with thermal capability and the ability to link wirelessly to other weapon optics.

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In July officials arrested an Army National Guard military police officer  who also served as a supply specialist  investigators allege stole military-grade equipment from New York-based units before selling the gear to the public.

Gordon Reynolds, previously assigned to the 272nd Military Police Detachment in Auburn, New York, was charged in the scheme.

Police recovered thousands of dollars worth of equipment from Texas, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida and New York, according to a release.

Also in July, Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Christopher Hammond was sentenced to three years in prison following a conviction on six charges connected to money laundering, theft of government property and wire fraud.

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Hammond and his wife, Army Maj. Heather Hammond, were both arrested in May 2022 and found guilty in an April 2023 jury trial on charges of stealing $2 million in government gear and selling the equipment over a two-year period.

Heather Hammond was later acquitted in a second trial.
David Morales, the former Spanish military man who spied on Julian Assange during the latters stay at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, falsified official documents and provided false evidence to the judge who is investigating him for having recorded the WikiLeaks founders conversations with his lawyers, which Morales then relayed to the CIA. Spains central tribunal Audiencia Nacional is asking the Madrid courts to investigate Morales for allegedly falsifying official documents and committing procedural fraud, according to a court document to which EL PAIS has had access.

After denying any connection with the events, Morales  who is the owner of UC Global S.L., the company that was in charge of security at the Ecuadorian embassy in London  asked to testify in January 2020 before Judge Jose de la Mata, and claimed that it was the former Ecuadorian ambassador in London, Carlos Abad, who had ordered him to secretly record the Australian cyber activists conversations. This confession came a few weeks after the diplomats death.

Morales presented as evidence an alleged email from former ambassador Abad, dated January 27, 2018, in which he asked Morales to place a microphone in the embassys meeting room. He claimed that it was placed for a test and then removed. But police reports and expert reports presented by Assanges legal representation have shown that the alleged email and other official documents provided by Morales were falsified.

Lawyers for Assange and several other individuals who were spied on asked Judge Santiago Pedraz, the judge currently in charge of the case, to expunge this email and other falsified documents from the proceedings.

Traces of manipulation

A police document has confirmed that the emails allegedly exchanged between former ambassador Abad and Morales are not in the email inbox of the owner of UC Global S.L. The former military mans computer was seized after his arrest in September 2019, shortly after an investigation by EL PAIS revealed the audios and videos recorded secretly over the course of several months. The evidence provided by this newspaper supported the complaint filed by the activist against the owner of UC Global S.L. The experts reports now conclude that there are clear signs of manipulation.

Morales also presented in his defense an alleged document from the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which seven Ecuadorian officials serving at the time, including two former ministers, have described as false. This document has also been excluded from the investigation.

The alleged falsifications by Morales of official documents and even of the ambassadors signature are not new. In 2018, Abad filed a complaint against the former military officer and his lawyer for falsifying his emails and signature in the context of a labor law trial in Spain against a UC Global S.L. employee. The diplomat reproached Morales for his actions with a message: I take this opportunity to tell you that in 27 years I had never seen something so poorly done; even amateur hackers are better at phishing [sending emails impersonating someones identity]. Once again, Mr. David, I fail to understand what you are trying to achieve with such crude and nefarious falsifications as those you or your employees are carrying out.

Among those who were spied on by the audio and video cameras installed by Moraless workers at the embassy was the former ambassador himself, who according to Morales false email was the one who ordered him to record the conversations. The diplomat was dismissed by the government of Lenin Moreno and later died of lung cancer in Quito.

Fidel Narvaez, the first secretary of the embassy at the time, recalls the clashes that Abad had with the employees of the Spanish security company. The ambassador always suspected that they were overstepping the professional line, he says.

Morales contradictions in this case reached their climax when he presented a USB memory stick with several recordings from the hidden microphone in the embassy meeting room, a device whose existence he had consistently denied.

Since his arrest in 2019, Morales has been released pending trial and is being investigated by the Audiencia Nacional for alleged crimes against privacy, violation of attorney-client privilege, misappropriation, bribery and money laundering.

Following his expulsion from the Ecuadorian embassy and imprisonment, Assange, 52, was released on June 25 of this year after reaching a deal with the United States Department of Justice in which he pleaded guilty to a violation of the Espionage Act and accepted a five-year prison sentence that he had already served in Londons Belmarsh prison.

investigacion@elpais.es

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A Buddhist monastery in Thailand is under investigation after authorities discovered more than 40 bodies on site which were allegedly used for meditation practices, police said Sunday.

Forty-one cadavers were found at Pa Nakhon Chaibovorn monastery in Thailand's Phichit province on Saturday, a senior police officer told AFP.

"The bodies were accompanied with death and body donation certificates," he said, adding that so far no charges have been filed.

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He said police were reaching out to relatives of the deceased to confirm that the bodies were donated willingly.

"We are trying to make sure that none of the dead bodies were stolen," said the officer who requested anonymity.

The search came days after police discovered 12 bodies at another monastery in neighboring Kamphaeng Phet province on Wednesday, according to Thai local media.

The head of the Phichit province monastery, Phra Ajarn Saifon Phandito, told Thai PBS television channel that the use of corpses was part of a "meditation technique" he developed.

"Many of the people who come to learn are abbots and all these monks... pass on the knowledge," he said. "I don't know how many have adopted my technique."

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He also told another local TV station that "practitioners meditate in pavilions that hold coffins with the human remains."

Kom Pattarakulprasert, director of the Phichit Office of Buddhism, told the Bangkok Post that the inclusion of bodies in meditation was unusual.

"I asked Phra Ajarn Saifon Phandito if there were any cadavers and was told that there were none," Kom told the outlet. "But when journalists discovered the 41 bodies, I was taken aback by the conflicting stories. I will discuss whether this practice is appropriate with the local head of the clergy."

Phichit police said they are working with authorities in other provinces to investigate how widespread this practice is.

Baking an ancient bread in Tennessee

The cream of the crop in butter

Serving up home-cooked dog food
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trumps pick to head the Pentagon, is facing a tight Senate confirmation as questions continue to swirl around his suitability for the job.

The Army veteran and former Fox News host will need to alleviate concerns around allegations of sexual assault, graphic details of which emerged in a police report released Wednesday. His untested status in running a major agency is also under scrutiny.

Though no GOP senator has yet to openly oppose him, several have given lukewarm responses to Trumps pick  with only four Republicans needed to side with Democrats in opposing Hegseths nomination to tank his chances.

Whats more, this weeks failed nomination of former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to be U.S. attorney general has shown that even with a GOP majority in both chambers next year, the incoming Trump administration may not get everything it wants without opposition when it comes to controversial Cabinet picks.

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Here are the six Republican senators that could be key to his confirmation:

Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst

A Senate Armed Services Committee member, Ernst has appeared to take issue with the sexual assault allegations against Hegseth, which she says require discussion.

Any time there are allegations, you want to make sure they are properly vetted, so well have that discussion, Ernst, a National Guard and Army Reserve veteran, told Politico.

Ernst  who has publicly shared that a boyfriend had sexually assaulted her while she was a student at Iowa State University, as well as the revelation that she was sexually harassed in the military  has been vocal in her criticism over how the military handles sexual assault among service members.

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She also was the lone Republican to vote against then-Gen. John Hyten for Joint Chiefs vice chair after allegations of sexual assault emerged during his confirmation.

In addition, she wants Hegseth to explain his comments that women should not serve in combat roles.

Even a staff member of mine, she is an infantry officer  she is a tough woman, so he is going to have to explain it, Ernst told reporters last week.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski

Murkowski, one of the few remaining moderate Republicans left in the Senate, most frequently bucked Trump in his first term and said she didnt vote for him in 2016, 2020 or 2024.

She also was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

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And Murkowski said shes going to do what everybody should do on all of these [nominations] is, lets see what the incoming brings.

Whats more, Murkowski is reportedly one of the four senators that Gaetz could not get on board for his nomination as attorney general with the former congressman on Thursday pulling his name from consideration. Her rejection of Gaetz could foreshadow how shell vote when its Hegseths turn to be grilled.

North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer

Also a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Cramer has been the most vocally negative GOP lawmaker over the choice of Hegseth related to his sexual assault allegation.

Its a pretty big problem, given that we have, you know, we have a sexual assault problem in our military, he told reporters Thursday.

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But he would not say if the new details of the allegation, released in the 22-page police report, would affect his vote.

You know, this is why you have background checks. This is why you have hearings. This is why you have to go through the scrutiny. Im not going to prejudge him, but yeah, its a pretty concerning accusation, Cramer said.

Maine Sen. Susan Collins

Collins, who along with fellow moderate Murkowski has been a thorn in Trumps side, has not publicly criticized Hegseth but instead urged for the Senate confirmation process to play out.

Clearly were going to have to have a full background check and Senate committee investigation and public hearings, which is standard, Collins said this week when asked about the allegation against Hegseth.

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But in a bellwether for how she might lean as the former Fox News commentator makes his way through the nomination process, Collins was among the GOP senators that opposed Gaetzs nomination, ultimately sinking his chances.

Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell

The current Senate minority leader, McConnell is being closely watched for how hell vote on Trumps more contentious Cabinet nominees, including Hegseth.

The soon-to-be-83-year-old, now the longest-serving Senate GOP leader in history, has often clashed with Trump as the two differ on their defense and foreign policy outlooks. McConnell believes in U.S. strength abroad and international alliances, while Trump favors a populist and isolationist stance.

Whats more, McConnell has said he will focus on foreign policy and defense in his final two years, announcing Thursday that hell chair the Appropriations Committees defense subcommittee next year. With that new role in mind, he will likely be extra critical of Trumps choice to lead the Defense Department.

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And while its unclear whether he will seek reelection in 2026, not running for another term gives him room to make decisions without the threat of a midterm election hanging over his head.

The Kentucky Republican so far has mostly stayed quiet on Trumps Cabinet picks, only asserting that the Senate must do its due diligence.

Each of these nominees needs to come before the Senate and go through the process and be vetted, McConnell said Wednesday at the American Enterprise Institutes annual gala.

Utah Sen.-elect John Curtis

A wildcard in the process, Curtis is a former Democrat who has not commented on Hegseths pending nomination but has made it clear that the Senate, not the incoming administration, should have control in confirming or rejecting Trumps Cabinet nominees.

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Curtis, who also is reportedly one of the four senators that opposed Gaetzs nomination, is against Trumps idea to bypass Senate confirmation for his nominees and instead use a recess appointment to quickly install them.

Senator-elect Curtis believes that every president is afforded a degree of deference to select his team and make nominations, Corey Norman, Curtiss chief of staff, said in a statement to KSL TV on Thursday. He also firmly believes in and is committed to the Senates critical role to confirm or reject nominations based on information and insight from confirmation hearings.

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ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now)  Maryland State Police (MSP) said it is investigating after a car struck and killed a 7-year-old boy who fell out of a car window in Anne Arundel County on Sunday.

Just before 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 24, troopers responded to the scene in the area of Interstate 97, north of MD Route 32.

MSP said a preliminary investigation revealed that a woman was driving a 2011 Mazda 3 north on I-97 when her 7-year-old grandson, who was in the rear passenger seat, opened the window and fell out of the car, landing in the roadway.

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Then, an oncoming Honda Civic hit the boy and drove off, according to MSP.

Police identify woman hit, killed by car in Accokeek

Investigators are searching for a 2016-2019 Honda Civic that may have damage to the front left wheel well.

Police encourage anyone with information to contact the Maryland State Police Glen Burnie Barrack or trooper Bunger, at gregory.bunger@maryland.gov.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
HARTFORD, Conn (WTNH)  Millions of dollars in federal aid from the Justice Department is headed to western Connecticut to help fight the opioid crisis, members of the states congressional delegation announced Monday in Hartford.

They gathered at a harm reduction group called The Drop, where theres a wall covered with photos of people who helped or were helped in the fight against opioid addiction.

Were here today to announce a $7 million grant from the Department of Justice to help us keep pushing down overdose death rates here in Connecticut, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) said.

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Connecticut to get $7 million federal grant to help expand opioid response

They hand out clean needles, Narcan, fentanyl testing strips and even sandwiches. Whatever it takes to keep someone from dying of an overdose.

Every overdose reversed, every life reclaimed, every family uplifted reminds us of why we do this work, Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services Colleen Harrington said.

This grant from the Department of Justice will help in seven cities and towns such as Winsted, Torrington, Watertown, Greenwich, Stamford, Norwalk, and Bridgeport.

Some of the money will go toward programs that make sure that when people with addictions get released from prison, they get the support they need to continue their recovery. The transition is a time when many relapse. Some of the money also goes towards programs that make sure people with addictions never get arrested at all.

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Weve brought together law enforcement teams and behavioral health partners to deflect individuals away from the criminal justice system and connect them with the lifesaving support that they need, Director of Community Engagement for the McCall Behavioral Health Network Lauren Pristo said.

McCall Behavioral Health Network will do that work.

Connecticut is about to end its third straight year with fewer fatal overdoses, meaning fewer names on headstones and more photos on the wall.

Some of the real heroes are here, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) said while pointing at a wall. Some of the real heroes are people who are living in recovery right now because of the hard work on harm reduction and other kinds of efforts.

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Even with those efforts, Connecticut will likely see a thousand fatal overdoses this year alone.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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When Napoleon invaded Egypt, he brought dozens of scientists with him.

Astronomers, mathematicians, and naturalists spent three years studying the country.

Napoleon's invasion failed, but it led to some groundbreaking scientific work.

It's been a year since Ridley Scott's "Napoleon" debuted. It earned three Oscar nominations, including for visual effects and costumes. The film had epic battles and sulky moments from Joaquin Phoenix, who portrayed the general.

But the movie didn't cover much about Napoleon Bonaparte's interest in science, which had a profound impact on France's intellectual pursuits following his reign.

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When Napoleon invaded Egypt in July 1798, he brought more than just tens of thousands of soldiers. He also recruited more than 150 scientists, known as savants, to accompany him.

They arrived "with the aim of both study and exploitation," according to one archaeologist .

A little more than a month later, on August 23, 1798, the scientific society called the Institut d'Egypte, which still exists today, held its inaugural meeting in a lavish palace in Cairo and appointed Napoleon as its first vice president .

Napoleon wanted to use the country's natural resources, history, and culture for France's benefit. He urged the savants to focus on projects such as improving bread ovens, purifying the Nile's water, and brewing beer without hops.

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The scientists' tasks were made more difficult because the ship carrying much of their surveying and scientific equipment had sunk . Then, after a series of defeats in Egypt, Napoleon returned to France in 1799 and left many of the scientists stranded.

Despite setbacks, the engineers, mathematicians, naturalists, and others spent nearly three years surveying, documenting, and collecting things as varied as antiquities, mummified remains, and animals largely unknown to the West.

Their work led to some novel discoveries, helped formalize sciences such as archaeology, and spurred an infatuation with Egypt that's continued ever since.

1. The discovery that chemical reactions are reversible

Greco-Roman remains near Wadi El Natrun, the area where Claude-Louis Berthollet saw natron. Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

Before the chemist Claude-Louis Berthollet's realization, the concept that chemical reactions could be reversible wasn't universally accepted.

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But Berthollet found strong evidence to support the idea while studying the salt deposits in the lakes of the Natron Valley.

Natron, a naturally occurring salt, covered the limestone in the lakes. Ancient Egyptians had used the substance to preserve mummified bodies because it absorbed moisture and dissolved fat.

Berthollet observed that the limestone, which contained calcium carbonate , chemically reacted with salt, aka sodium chloride, to produce natron, made of sodium carbonate.

In laboratory conditions, chemists knew that the exact opposite reaction was possible, which led Berthollet to reasonably conclude that chemical reactions were reversible and that heat and different amounts of a substance could determine which way the reaction went.

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2. A more formal approach to archaeology

Dominique-Vivant Denon's drawing of the Edfu Temple. The people give a sense of the huge scale of the monuments. Art Media/Print Collector/Getty Images

In Napoleon's time, archaeology wasn't yet a formal science . Most savants had little experience with artifacts. Sand still buried some temples that had yet to be excavated.

Dominique-Vivant Denon, an artist and writer, was awed by the ancient monuments he saw. He went back to France with Napoleon and quickly published a book with his descriptions and drawings called "Travels in Upper and Lower Egypt."

At the time of Napoleon's invasion, travelers had long known of Alexandria, Cairo, and other parts of Lower Egypt. The Great Pyramids and the Sphinx were famous. But Upper Egypt wasn't as well known.

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That changed when the savants arrived. "The whole army, suddenly and with one accord, stood in amazement  and clapped their hands with delight," Denon later wrote.

His drawings and descriptions of the temples and ruins at Thebes, Esna, Edfu, and Karnak proved immensely popular. Many were depicted in fashionable paintings and inspired decor trends.

Since he'd had to capture everything in short bursts of time, Denon had pushed for two commissions of savants to return and better document the monuments.

Napoleon's architects and engineers made careful drawings and took measurements of a large number of monuments. Others attempted to measure the pyramids. (Napoleon never shot them with cannons, in case you were wondering.)

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3. Jules-Cesar Savigny created a new way to classify insects

Jules-Cesar Savigny's intricate drawings of arachnids from the Description de l'Egypte. De Agostini Editorial via Getty Images

Just 21 and a botanist by training when he arrived in Egypt, Jules-Cesar Savigny collected invertebrates such as worms, bees, spiders, snails, and flies. He also took specimens of starfish, coral, and sea urchins.

When he was back in France, Savigny needed to organize the 1,500 species of insects he'd brought from Egypt. There didn't yet exist a systematic way to distinguish one species of moth or butterfly from another. So Savigny invented one.

Surprisingly, the bugs' mouth parts had sufficient differences to allow Savigny to separate them into species. He pored over the tiny jaws of the insects and drew more than 1,000 images of specimens, some of which were only a centimeter long.

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Savigny applied the same rigor to arachnids, worms, and other animals that lacked backbones. Some of his classification methods are still in use today.

4. The discovery of a new species of crocodile that took 200 years to confirm

Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire's depiction of the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) from the Description de l'Egypte. De Agostini Editorial via Getty Images

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Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire was convinced there were two species of crocodiles in the Nile.

Like Savigny, Geoffroy was a prolific collector. While in Egypt, he studied bats, mongooses, tortoises, and more.

One reason Geoffroy was able to dissect and stuff so many specimens was that he'd purchased an 11-year-old enslaved boy, whom he trained to help with his work.

Geoffroy closely examined so many different kinds of animals that he started to see patterns between even very different species. It led to his theory of a " unity of plan " or "unity of composition" a kind of quasi-evolutionary idea that Charles Darwin would reference decades later.

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Geoffroy's theories often irritated his fellow naturalists, including when he attempted to demonstrate that a mummified crocodile he'd taken from Egypt represented a separate species.

Its jaw was completely different from the Nile crocodile, Geoffroy said. Plus, it was less aggressive. One had even been on display in Paris. "It took pleasure in being patted; and anyone might, without the least danger, open its mouth, and place his hand between its teeth," one account said.

His colleagues didn't believe him. More than 200 years later, however, the biologist Evon Hekkala and a team of researchers analyzed the DNA of modern crocodiles and some of Geoffroy's mummies to confirm his suspicions. Indeed, they showed that two separate species swam in the Nile: Crocodylus niloticus and Crocodylus suchus.

5. The advent of ophthalmology

An engraving from the Description de l'Egypte showing the interior courtyard of a house. Science & Society Picture Library via Getty Images

The French physicians who accompanied Napoleon encountered unfamiliar illnesses in Egpyt. One disease that traveled with them back to Europe was something they called Egyptian ophthalmia. Now known as trachoma, it can cause itchy, swollen eyes and lead to blindness.

It became so prevalent that physicians all over Europe started studying the disease. Geoffroy, who contracted it, was "totally blind" for weeks , he wrote.

Up to that point, ophthalmology wasn't a formalized branch of scientific research, but the race to find the origin of this disease laid the groundwork for its creation.

Eventually, the British physician John Vetch realized the pus from an infected eye could spread the disease. Knowing it was contagious, Vetch developed methods of prevention and treatment that are considered milestones in the history of ophthalmology.

6. The Rosetta Stone helped Jean-Francois Champollion decipher hieroglyphs

The Rosetta Stone is housed at the British Museum. Fox Photos/Getty Images

For centuries, no one could read hieroglyphs, the pictorial writing that covered many Egyptian monuments.

When the French found the Rosetta Stone during their invasion, they knew it could serve as a kind of translation key.

Deciphering hieroglyphs would allow scholars to read the writing on scores of other ancient Egyptian texts and monuments.

In 1801, the British were negotiating for France's surrender. One stipulation was that the British would take the antiquities and the savants' collections, which included the Rosetta Stone.

Geoffroy told the British that the savants would "destroy our property" before they handed it over; "we will disperse it in the Libyan sands, or we will throw it into the sea," he said. They were allowed to keep their notes and collections but not the slab.

Three texts were inscribed on the stone in Egyptian hieroglyphs, an Egyptian cursive script derived from hieroglyphs, and ancient Greek. Since the three were identical, the Greek writing could help researchers decipher the hieroglyphs.

It took two decades for the French scholar Jean-Francois Champollion to translate them. Champollion made use of a copy the French savants had made of the slab and published.

The Rosetta Stone is in the British Museum. Egypt has been trying to get it back, calling it a "spoil of war."

7. The invention of an engraving machine that sped up the printing process

Just one of the many detailed engravings added to the Description de l'Egypte, this one of a mosque in Cairo. Science & Society Picture Library via Getty Images

When the savants returned to France, many worked on compiling the multivolume book "Description de l'Egypte," which amounted to 7,000 pages encompassing what they'd seen and studied in Egypt.

To save some of the laborious work of engraving, the engineer Nicolas-Jacques Conte created a machine that automated part of the process.

To print the hundreds of illustrations, engravers first had to transfer them to copper plates.

For plates with monuments, Conte's machine could engrave the sky in the background. The engraver could program it to create clouds as well.

What originally would've taken six to eight months could be completed in just a few days.

It was still a massive undertaking and considered to be the most ambitious work of France in the early 19th Century. The first volume wasn't printed until 1809. The final volume came out in the late 1820s, nearly a decade after Napoloen's death.

8. The science of geology flourished

Fossil shells found by Francois-Michel de Roziere from Description de l'Egypte. De Agostini Editorial/ICAS94/Contributor via Getty Images

Many savants were tasked with documenting the natural history of Egypt. The mining engineer Francois-Michel de Roziere had the difficult job of describing the country's rocks and minerals.

Decades before Napoleon's invasion, many naturalists started adopting Carl Linnaeus' two-word system for naming plants and animals. But rocks and minerals lacked a similar widely accepted language.

To accurately capture the nuances of the granite or shells he saw, Roziere painstakingly described their textures, layers, and colors. One description referenced "transparent quartz, yellowish feldspath, and black schist."

He also understood the importance of including illustrations of the rocks, which made them much easier for other savants to identify. In the Description de l'Egypte, his 15 plates contained more than 100 colorful illustrations of porphyry, basalt, and other rocks and fossils.

Though Napoleon didn't use the geological knowledge his savants gathered in Egypt, some argue that his invasion spurred the creation of military geology. Soon, scientists were surveying unfamiliar terrain during campaigns and using their knowledge for engineering projects.

9. An attempt to date Egyptian antiquity

The Dendera zodiac is in the Louvre. JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images

While working on the Rosetta Stone, Champollion decried the removal of another piece of ancient Egyptian history from the country.

During a quick visit to the Dendera Temple, Denon had sketched the ceiling, where ancient Egyptians had carved zodiac signs, Egyptian constellations, and other figures into the stone. Other engineers made more detailed drawings of the intricate design.

In 1821, a French expedition dynamited part of the temple and took the zodiac ceiling to France. Champollion worried that the removal of the zodiac would lead to the "complete destruction" of the rest of the ceiling and stripped the artifact of important context.

French scholars debated whether they could use depicted features such as eclipses to date the zodiac's creation. At the time, no one knew exactly how far back in time human history stretched. Some estimated the zodiac dated back further than 5,000 years BC. Others suggested more recent dates such as 800 BCE. Champollion thought deciphering hieroglyphics would offer a more reliable dating method than an interpretation of the ancient sky.

More recent dating techniques put the Dendera zodiac at about 50 BC, around Cleopatra's era. One researcher called it "the only complete map that we have of an ancient sky" from that era. It remains in the Louvre Museum in Paris.

This story was originally published on December 2, 2023, and most recently updated on November 14, 2024.

Read the original article on Business Insider
MANCHESTER, N.H. (WPRI)  Annette Roberge can finally call herself a college graduate.

The 90-year-old Manchester, New Hampshire, woman crossed the stage to get her diploma over the weekend 50 years after finishing her degree.

Im still on cloud nine, Roberge said. I cant even put it into words. It was exhilarating, it was awesome, it was beyond anything I couldve possibly imagined.

She began taking classes at New Hampshire College, which is now Southern New Hampshire University, in 1972  one year after her husband of 20 years was killed in Vietnam.

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She completed several night and weekend courses before it had to take a back seat for her five kids and two jobs.

Roberge worked as an insurance agent and finished as a lunch lad at a nearby school. At age 75 she retired, but for the woman who loved learning, she knew something was missing from her life.

When her daughter started poking around, she learned her mom had enough credits for an associates degree in business administration.

Never give up on learning, what you learn, can never be taken away from you, Roberge said. Dont let it just sit there, do something, make it work, and never give up on a dream.

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Roberge isnt satisfied with her associates degree and plans to start working toward her bachelors degree in January.

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All 95 people on board the plane managed to get out of the aircraft unharmed after it landed in Turkey, per multiple reports

Orhan Cicek/Anadolu via Getty A photo of an Azimuth Airlines plane A photo of an Azimuth Airlines plane

The passengers and crew onboard a Russian passenger jet are celebrating a narrow escape.

On Sunday, Nov. 24 at approximately 9:34 p.m. local time, the engine of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft operated by Azimuth Airlines  which had departed from Sochi in Russia carrying 95 people  caught fire after its arrival at Antalya Airport in Turkey, the Associated Press reported, citing Turkeys transportation ministry.

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Video footage of the incident was published by the aviation news website, Airport Haber, on X (formerly known as Twitter), and showed passengers exiting the plane via its emergency slide as smoke and flames billowed from the aircraft.

According to Reuters, all 89 passengers and six crew members were safely evacuated from the plane, per the ministry.

Mustafa Ciftci/Anadolu Agency via Getty A photo of the Antalya Airport sign A photo of the Antalya Airport sign

The Turkish newspaper, Hurriyet Daily News reported that the blaze was extinguished by emergency teams minutes after an emergency call was made, according to the country's Transport and Infrastructure Ministry.

"After landing at Antalya airport at 9:34 p.m., an emergency call was made by the aircraft pilots due to the fire. The fire was quickly intervened by our ARFF teams at 9:36 p.m., a statement read, the newspaper reported.

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"Work is underway to remove the plane from the runway and landings at the airport have been canceled until 3 a.m. [local time]. Take-offs from the airport are carried out from the military runway, a statement added at the time.

Russia's Federal Aviation Authority, Rosaviatsiya, is investigating the incident, per Reuters. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, AP reported.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Live air traffic company Flightradar24 said on X that the aircraft was 7 years old and there had been "strong and gusty winds" in the area at the time of the incident.

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According to the Hurriyet Daily News, the same aircraft had an emergency landing on Oct. 16 amid reports of a hydraulic fluid leak and sparks as it landed at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow. The outlet stated all 102 passengers and six crew members were unharmed in the incident at the time.

Turkey's Transport and Infrastructure Ministry and Azimuth Airlines didn't immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  In preparation for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, AAA, the Auto Club Group, will launch a free Tow to Go service to prevent impaired driving.

According to AAA, more than 57,000 calls from drivers with car trouble are expected over the holiday weekend.

The program offers a safe ride for would-be impaired drivers and their vehicles, AAA said.

It is free for those who need it, but AAA asks that the program be used as a last resort.

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Tow to Go is available starting Wednesday, Nov. 27 at 6 p.m. and will go on until Monday, Dec.2 at 6 a.m.

Tow to Go serves as the last line of defense in keeping impaired drivers off the road, said Mark Jenkins, spokesman, AAA- The Auto Club Group.If you plan to consume alcohol or drugs this weekend, make plans for a safe ride home first. If your plans fall through, you can call AAA, and well get you to a safe place.

The program is available in the following states:

Florida

Georgia

Iowa

Michigan

North Dakota

Nebraska

Tennessee

Wisconsin

Denver, Colorado

Charlotte, North Carolina

Fort Wayne/South Bend, Indiana

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According to AAA, nationwide, AAA expects Thanksgiving travel to set new records with an estimated 71.7 million Americans expected to take a road trip.

The ride is offered to non-customers and customers for one person and their vehicle to a destination within 10 miles.

Appointments cannot be scheduled in advance, according to AAA.

To use the Tow to Go program, call 855-286-9246.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
I guess if millions of American voters can put a man famous for bragging about sexual assault back into the White House, its too much to expect his Cabinet appointments to be held to a higher standard.

It seems like an eternity, but it was only seven years ago that the #MeToo movement exploded. Supercharged by revelations about Harvey Weinsteins one-man reign of sexual terror, the moment seemed to signal a permanent change in the way society treats men who harass and assault their colleagues and subordinates.

So many important men were pushed from their lofty perches that it would take this entire column to name them all. The sheer number of men on the left and right who considered it their birthright to demean and assault women still shocks the conscience. It seemed that wed come to a consensus as a society that men who cross boundaries of decency should pay a hefty price, even losing jobs, no matter their political affiliations.

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Why is it, then, that credibly accused sex offenders or harassers are being considered for some of the most important jobs in the country, if not the world?

Read more: Abcarian: Nancy Mace's shameless exploitation of America's first transgender congresswoman

Its bad enough that men such as Elon Musk, Matt Gaetz, Pete Hegseth and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are believed by so many people to be unqualified for the jobs President-elect Donald Trump wants them to do. Worse yet, they have all been accused of sexual misconduct.

Gaetz, who withdrew his name from consideration as attorney general under pressure last week, has been investigated by the Department of Justice and the House Ethics Committee for alleged criminal behavior that includes sex trafficking involving underage girls. He denies any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime, although his buddy Joel Greenberg is serving an 11-year prison term after pleading guilty to, among other crimes, sex trafficking a minor, stalking, wire fraud and identity theft.

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Hegseth, the Fox News star who has been nominated for defense secretary, paid off a woman who accused him of raping her in a Monterey hotel room in 2017. Last week, Monterey police released a 22-page report on the alleged assault, which did not lead to criminal charges and which Hegseth denies. But it did lead to a settlement and nondisclosure agreement.

Kennedy, the anti-vaxxer nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, was accused this year of groping and harassing a young woman who worked for him as a live-in babysitter in 1999. After she went public, Kennedy texted her that he had no memory of the events she described. I apologize sincerely for anything I ever did that made you feel uncomfortable or anything I did or said that offended you or hurt your feelings, he wrote.

Musk, whom Trump has put in charge of streamlining the federal government, is the defendant in a lawsuit filed by eight former SpaceX employees who claim they were fired in retaliation for raising concerns about sexual harassment and discrimination at the company. The Insider reported that SpaceX paid a flight attendant $250,000 in 2018 to settle a sexual misconduct claim after she accused him of exposing himself to her and offering to buy her a horse in exchange for an erotic massage. He has denied the accusations.

Were at a point in our history when men behaving badly toward women is not just excused but accepted and, it seems to me, even prized in certain circles. Call it the revenge of the bros.

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A Pew Research Center study this year found that nearly 40% of young adults ages 18 to 29 say they get their news from online influencers, who are overwhelmingly male and lean right. And 65% of those who get their news from influencers say it helps shape their understanding of news and politics. That's especially scary when you think of how many Trump-friendly men, like Joe Rogan, Theo Von, Adin Ross and Andrew Schulz, have millions of followers.

Read more: Commentary: Donald Trump has a chance to become a true education president

I am not going to argue that journalists are more likely than podcasters to hold politicians feet to the fire when they lie, because I shouldnt have to. You know they are. And its why politicians would always rather be interviewed by a popular podcaster than a network or cable news anchor.

In fact, Bloomberg described Rogans interviews in general  and specifically with Trump, who spent three hours on Rogans program in the waning days of the presidential campaign  as chummy, digressive, conspiratorial, adulatory and rarely oppositional.

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On the podcast, Trump spewed his usual lies about the 2020 election, immigration, foreign policy, Vice President Kamala Harris  at least 32 false claims by CNNs estimate  and was basically slobbered over by Rogan.

I liked how you called them little rocket man was a typically incisive Rogan comment, in response to Trump talking about his close relationship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

Happily, the rise of the "your body, my choice" bro culture does not sit well with many young women.

The San Francisco-based polling firm Change Research found that young American voters have a larger gender gap than any other generation. In 2023, the firm found that more than half of millennial and Gen Z women reported that they would consider it a red flag if their male partner listened to Rogan. Other red flags included a male partner saying there are only two genders or using the phrase All lives matter.

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And maybe those of us who are disgusted that the Trump administration is shaping up as a haven for men who mistreat women will take some solace in this: The vast majority of young women  76%  said it was a red flag if a male partner identified as a MAGA Republican.

I hate to put the burden on young women, but sisters rising up against sexism could save us yet.

Bluesky: @rabcarian.bsky.social. Threads: @rabcarian

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The controversial forensic scientist Jose Antonio Lorente, who has spent more than two decades analyzing the DNA of the alleged bones of Christopher Columbus and his relatives without publishing any conclusive data, has indefinitely postponed the presentation of his findings. The announcement came via a statement from Lorente himself, shared with EL PAIS on Monday by his institution, the University of Granada.

A documentary titled Columbus DNA. His True Origin, which aired on Spains public broadcaster on October 12 and featured Lorente, argued that the most likely hypothesis about Columbus origins was that the explorer was not a Genoese Christian but a Jew born in modern-day Spain, from a family of Valencian silk weavers. This claim faced heavy criticism from the scientific community due to the total lack of evidence. Lorente responded to the backlash by promising to reveal the complete and detailed scientific results at a November press conference.

Now, the narrative has shifted. The international scientific team led by Professor Jose Antonio Lorente has made the decision to publish absolutely all the DNA data obtained in this research, reads the statement, dated November 20. The original idea was to publish only the most relevant data, but the scientific team is convinced that publishing all the information is the best alternative so that all the data can be accessible to anyone, which will facilitate future studies and comparisons. It adds: The large amount of data that is being included in the publication makes the scientific work to be published especially dense and complex, so we are working intensively to be able to meet the necessary requirements and publish it as soon as possible.

In 2001, high school teacher Marcial Castro, from Estepa, Seville, suggested that Lorente analyze the DNA of Colombus alleged remains, which were housed in the Seville Cathedral. Lorentes team obtained permits and, in 2003, exhumed the supposed remains of Columbus, along with those of his son Hernando, interred in a nearby tomb. They also examined the alleged remains of Diego Columbus, the navigators brother, discovered in a former Carthusian monastery in Seville that had been repurposed as a pottery factory. At the time, Lorente claimed to have assembled a prestigious team of collaborators and promised results by 2004,

Geneticist Angel Carracedo, from the University of Santiago de Compostela, was one of those collaborators. But when he saw that the DNA of the alleged remains of Christopher Columbus was extremely degraded, he withdrew from the project. Mark Stoneking, from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, similarly distanced himself. In the two decades since, Lorente has not published any scientific findings but has starred in two documentaries. The first, Enigma Columbus, aired on the Discovery Channel on October 12, 2004. Without showing any proof, Lorente declared in 2006 that there was no doubt the bones in the Seville Cathedral belonged to Columbus. In Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic, there are other human remains, which are claimed to belong to the navigator.

The supposed bones of Christopher Columbus, as found in 2003 in the Cathedral of Seville. Miguel Botella

Although no comprehensive study has yet been published, the documentary aired on Spanish television last month made world headlines. Columbus probably Spanish and Jewish, study says, was the headline of a BBC story. Columbus was a Sephardic Jew from Western Europe, study finds, reported Reuters. In his latest statement, Lorente announced that his findings will be available in an indexed scientific journal and accessible, directly and free of charge, to anyone interested in the subject, but refrained from providing a specific timeline.

Experts have been waiting for results since 2003, including Antonio Alonso, one of Spains foremost authorities on forensic genetics. After watching the documentary, the expert questioned its findings. Unfortunately, from a scientific point of view, no assessment can be made after watching the documentary, since it does not provide any data on what has been analyzed. My conclusion is that the documentary Columbus DNA does not show the DNA of Columbus at any given moment, and scientists do not know what analysis has been undertaken.

Alonso  who had been awaiting Lorentes promised press conference on the results  believes his latest statement is telling. The statement confirms that the investigation lacked transparency and that DNA results had not been previously presented to the scientific community, as denounced by forensic and ancient DNA professionals at both national and international levels. According to the statement, it appears that the DNA research isnt even fully documented, says Alonso, whose expertise includes identifying victims of the 2004 Madrid train bombings and investigating claims babies were stolen under the Franco dictatorship in Spain.

Over the past few weeks, historians and geneticists have discredited both the very approach of the various unfounded hypotheses about Columbus birthplace, as well as the lack of rigor of the conclusions based on DNA studies on the biogeographic origin, Alonso continues. From my point of view, public television  responsible for broadcasting the documentary, which announced it on [the popular Spanish show] La Revuelta and aired it in prime time as the documentary that was going to rewrite history  should be the most interested in clarifying as soon as possible all the doubts that have been cast on this investigation and, if necessary, it should promote transparent and truthful communication about Christopher Columbus DNA data.

After the documentary garnered worldwide attention, some of the worlds leading experts criticized Lorentes approach. Johannes Krause, director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, told EL PAIS that he did not intend to comment on any research presented in a television documentary. If I did, I would also have to comment on aliens, the flat Earth theory, Atlantis, and other pseudoscience, he said.

David Reich, from Harvard University, was also blunt. We need the data to be available, otherwise it is impossible to know if the conclusions are correct, he explained. Before we can take such a claim seriously, all the evidence and data must be published. He added: It would be preferable for an independent laboratory, one that isnt tied to a television documentary, to analyze the DNA and confirm the results.

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Students wait for a bus outside Lane Tech College Prep High School in Chicago. Teen birth rates have been falling for decades, but abortion bans threaten to undo that progress, experts say. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Houston OB-GYN Dr. Hillary Boswell says she has seen how abortion bans affect teenage girls: More of them are carrying their pregnancies to term.

These are vulnerable girls, and its just heartbreaking to see the number of pregnant 13-year-olds Ive had to take care of, Boswell said, referring to the change since Texas prohibited abortions after six weeks in September 2021. In June 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Texas enacted a total abortion ban.

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They would come in, and they would be very distressed, said Boswell, who spent the past decade treating underserved women and girls at community health clinics. Not being able to help them get an abortion when they wanted one, she said, was so hard  and so against everything that I trained for.

In the year after Texas began implementing its six-week abortion ban, teen fertility rates in the state rose for the first time in 15 years, according to a study released earlier this year by the University of Houston.

Overall, the increase in teen fertility in Texas was slight: only 0.39%. But the University of Houston researchers said the change was significant, because it reversed a 15-year trend and because the national teen fertility rate declined during the same period. They also noted that the increases were larger for Hispanic teens (1.2%) and Black teens (0.5%), while the rate for white teens declined by 0.5%.

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So far, the Texas data is the first evidence that abortion bans might lead to an increase in teen births. But as abortion restrictions have spread post-Roe  13 states now have total bans, including Idaho  some providers and other experts predict that other states will see increases. If so, the nations nearly 30-year trend of declining teen births could be in jeopardy.

Boswell and other providers note that teens are having a harder time accessing contraception and abortions  and they fear the incoming Trump administration could make it even more challenging for teens, whose pregnancies are riskier and who disproportionately sought abortions before the Supreme Court overturned Roe.

In a lot of ways, Texas is sort of a microcosm of what were going to see in other parts of the country, said Dr. Bianca Allison, a pediatrician and assistant professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Historically, it has always felt like young people  those who are minors but of reproductive potential  are left out of the conversation of reproductive autonomy and rights.

Access to telehealth, abortion pills

People seeking abortions have been relying on the broader availability of telehealth for medication abortions, which now account for nearly two-thirds of all abortions. The number of abortions in the U.S. has increased since the fall of Roe, largely because more people are using the easier-to-access method, according to the Society of Family Planning.

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But the Trump administration could make it harder to procure the pills by reversing a U.S. Food and Drug Administration policy that allows them to be sent through the mail. Some anti-abortion groups want the Trump administration to enforce the Comstock Act, a long-dormant 1873 law they believe could be used to make it a federal crime to send or receive abortion medication.

States also could require in-person physician visits for abortion medication, effectively barring patients from accessing it via telemedicine.

And Louisiana last month began classifying mifepristone and misoprostol  the two medications used in nonsurgical abortions  as controlled substances, making it a crime to possess them without a prescription. A Texas state lawmaker has proposed similar legislation in his state.

I would absolutely predict that we will see a reversal in our progress of reducing teen pregnancies, said developmental psychologist Julie Maslowsky, an associate professor at the University of Michigan who studies adolescent reproductive and sexual health.

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If someone does not want to be pregnant, they should have all the options available to them to prevent pregnancy, Maslowsky said. And the majority of teens do not desire a pregnancy.

Teenage girls tend to have less money, less access to transportation and less independence than adult women. That makes it harder for them to cross state lines for abortion care, or to obtain and pay for abortion medication. A medication abortion can cost as much as $800, according to Planned Parenthood.

Many teens have trouble ordering abortion medication online because they dont have credit or debit cards or a safe place where the pills can be mailed, said Rosann Mariappuram, senior reproductive rights policy counsel at the State Innovation Exchange, a nonprofit that advocates for progressive policies. Abortion funds that help people who cant afford the care have been struggling to keep up with demand.

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Thirty-six states require parental consent or notification before a minor can get an abortion, creating another barrier. And teens are more likely to have irregular menstrual cycles, which makes them less likely to notice a missed period. Overall, about a fourth of women might not realize theyre pregnant at six weeks, which is the gestational time limit for abortions in Florida, Georgia, Iowa and South Carolina.

It's just heartbreaking to see the number of pregnant 13-year-olds I've had to take care of in the last three to four years.

 Dr. Hillary Boswell, Houston OB-GYN

In addition, a law in Texas that went into effect in April mandates that family planning clinics get parental consent for minors seeking birth control. Lawmakers in Oklahoma and Indiana have argued that IUDs and emergency contraceptives are types of abortions, and thus should not be covered by insurance or shouldnt be available, said Mariappuram.

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That conflation of contraceptives with abortion care is just evidence that theyre coming for contraception, she said.

Health risks, diminished prospects

Teenage girls from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to become pregnant. There have been persistent racial disparities in the national teen birth rate, with rates at least twice as high among Black, Hispanic and Native American girls. And while the average age of a girls first menstrual period has been declining for all girls, the trend is particularly pronounced among racial minorities.

These downstream impacts [of abortion restrictions] are not the same for everyone, said Mayra Pineda-Torres, an assistant professor of economics at Georgia Tech who specializes in gender and inequality. The reality is that, still, there is a racial component here that may be exacerbating racial inequalities or this inability to access abortion services.

Teenage motherhood often derails a girls education and diminishes her long-term financial prospects. And pregnancy poses particular health risks for teens: They are more likely to experience serious complications, including blood pressure-related disorders such as preeclampsia, and their babies are more likely to be born underweight. For those reasons, the American Academy of Pediatrics says teens should have access to legal abortion care.

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But to abortion opponents, teen pregnancies and births are preferable to teen abortions. Joe Pojman, founder and executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life, said the state has programs designed to help families, including teen parents, take care of their children.

[The program] teaches them a variety of things, like how to manage a budget, how to apply for a job, how to basically make that child self-sufficient to be able to function, Pojman told Stateline.

We dont want to encourage a child to be responsible for taking the life of her own unborn child, he said.

Last month, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a lawsuit with fellow Republican attorneys general in Kansas and Idaho that asked a Texas judge to order the FDA to reinstate restrictions on mifepristone. They argued that lower teen birth rates harmed their states by shrinking their population, costing them federal money and congressional representation.

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But some studies suggest the opposite. The federal government cites research showing that teen pregnancy costs taxpayers about $11 billion per year because it leads to more public spending on health care and foster care, higher incarceration rates of teen parents children, and lower levels of education and income.

Pregnancy is not benign, said Allison, the North Carolina pediatrician. Its not a joyful, welcome thing for a lot of people across the country.

Stateline, like the 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. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Follow Stateline on Facebook and X.

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Donald Trump spoke at the March for Life rally in January 2019 during his first term as president. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

The 2024 election results created complicated new realities for reproductive rights in the U.S., with Americans even in a few red states overwhelmingly voting to protect the right to have an abortion while also overwhelmingly electing anti-abortion representatives in state houses, courts, Congress and the White House.

With a Republican trifecta coming to the nations capital in January, anti-abortion activist groups are planning for the first potentially friendly presidential administration since the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization decision overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated a 50-year federal right to terminate a pregnancy. They aim to end other federal and state protections while vastly expanding restrictions on reproductive health care.

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Though many anti-abortion leaders are skeptical of President-elect Donald Trumps commitment to their cause, they say they are willing to compromise to maintain influence in his administration. Some groups are strategizing how to end-run Trumps campaign pledge not to enact any federal abortion bans  by heavily restricting medication abortion or trying to ban a common abortion procedure.

I dont think we have a champion here for pro-life causes, said longtime anti-abortion organizer Rev. Patrick Mahoney. What we have here is someone who will not work against us and try to crush us. We will not see pro-choice federal judges.

The director of the Christian Defense Coalition and the chief strategy officer of Stanton Public Policy Center told States Newsroom that he is not a supporter of Trump and disagrees with his rhetoric on immigrants. But Mahoney said he is happy Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris lost. The vice president had vowed to try to restore federal abortion rights and throughout her career has advocated for reproductive rights. As California attorney general, she prosecuted anti-abortion activists charged with illegally recording abortion providers about a decade ago.

We can have an opportunity now to begin the second phase after Roe was overturned, Mahoney said. We knew overturning Roe was only a starting line, not a finishing line.

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Live Action president Lila Rose was one of the few prominent anti-abortion leaders who called out Trump before the election, after he criticized Floridas six-week abortion ban and vowed to veto a federal ban. In late August, Rose told Politico she would write in a presidential candidate and would encourage her millions of followers to do the same if Trump did not change course. On her podcast, the millennial activist recently revealed that she met with Trump and asked him to say he would vote against Floridas abortion-rights amendment, which he did. Days before the election, Rose endorsed Trump on X.

Live Action did not respond to an interview request.

Nationally, three out of 10 abortion-rights measures failed: Floridas proposed amendment had the highest threshold to clear, but got 57% out of the required 60% of the vote. It would have reversed the ban that reproductive rights advocates say has decimated abortion access in the Southeast.

Another anti-abortion leader willing to compromise with the incoming president and Congress is Steven Aden, general counsel at Americans United for Life, the policy shop behind many state and federal abortion restrictions. Aden said he was disappointed the Republican Party removed from its platform a previous commitment to a federal ban.

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However, he said his group was still able to inject critical language into the current platform that effectively supports states establishing fetal personhood through the U.S. Constitutions 14th Amendment, which grants equal protection under the law. The platform also says Republicans will oppose Late Term Abortion, a political term used to refer to abortions in the second and third trimesters, the rarest but most restricted types of abortions in the U.S.

We had direct input into the Trump campaign and framing the pro-life language in the party platform, Aden told States Newsroom. The platform language was much pared down, but we believe that the pro-life language preserves the essence of the partys position on the pro-life issue, and were proud of that, and look forward to continuing to work with the incoming Trump administration.

Federal reproductive rights protections in question

Early into his term, Democratic President Joe Biden began reversing blocks on federal funding domestically and globally for reproductive health organizations that also provide or refer for abortions. Leading up to and following the Dobbs decision, the Biden administration loosened restrictions to the medication abortion regimen, a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol, which has become the most common way of terminating pregnancy in the U.S. during the first trimester. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowed abortion medication to be obtained via telemedicine and dispensed directly at pharmacies.

Nearly half the country has partially or fully banned abortions. But abortion numbers have risen since before Dobbs, researchers have reported, attributing the increase in part to expanded access to telemedicine abortion and to more people using online abortion clinics that mail abortion drugs from states with so-called shield laws to those with bans.

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Anti-abortion groups Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and Students for Life of America recently unveiled memos asking the Trump administration to pull regulatory levers that especially target abortion drugs.

Under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, regulations could include:

The FDA reinstating medication abortion restrictions, such as requiring multiple in-person appointments and revoking telemedicine. Or altogether revoking the 2000 approval of mifepristone.

Reversing guidelines that under the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, emergency departments at hospitals enrolled in Medicare  even in states with abortion bans  must offer pregnant patients the medical treatment necessary to stabilize an emergency medical condition. This law is the subject of an ongoing lawsuit deferred by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year. In sharp contrast to the mainstream medical community, anti-abortion advocates argue these guidelines are unnecessary and would allow doctors to broadly interpret a health emergency to mean anything.

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When asked about stories of alleged denied care, maternal deaths, and doctor confusion related to state abortion bans, Aden chalked up the problem to a misinterpretation of state laws, which he said should be clarified to address these problems, while noting several times, Im not a doctor. Americans United for Lifes recommended health-exception language in part says abortion should be allowed to preserve the life of a pregnant woman or to address a serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.

Thats a health exception with teeth, Aden said. It doesnt allow for a free-ranging, quote unquote, mental health exception that would swallow the rule.

Funding a study on the potential health effects of abortion pills in the water system from patients miscarrying in their toilets after taking medication abortion drugs. Anti-abortion leaders like Mahoney said they were disappointed with Trumps pick for HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has previously said he supports abortion rights. But Mahoney said hes hoping to appeal to Kennedys skepticism of FDA drug approvals. How do chemical abortions being flushed down the drain affect our water supply? Were definitely going to push hard on that, Mahoney said.

Revoking a rule requiring health clinics that receive federal family planning Title X grants to offer referrals for abortion clinics, which is also the subject of an ongoing federal lawsuit. It is already prohibited to use federal funds for abortions unless the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or has become fatal. Activists also want to defund Planned Parenthood, the largest reproductive health center network, and extend tax credits to anti-abortion pregnancy centers.

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Trumps pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which manages the countrys largest health programs, is Dr. Mehmet Oz, who opposes abortion.

The U.S. Department of Justice could:

Enforce part of the 19th century Comstock Act to prohibit the mailing of abortion-inducing drugs. Aden said enforcing this law would likely mean cracking down on online abortion clinics like Aid Access.

Revoke or refuse to enforce the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, enacted because of the sometimes-violent anti-abortion protests of the 1980s and 1990s. One of several activists sentenced to prison for staging a clinic blockade in Washington, D.C., Lauren Handy was also involved in obtaining aborted fetuses outside the same clinic. Trump had indicated he would potentially pardon Handy and fellow blockaders. Activists have said they will also ask the DOJ to investigate the doctor at the abortion clinic from where Handy obtained the fetuses, of whom she and other activists have accused, without evidence, of infanticide.

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The U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs could:

Revoke policies that expanded abortion access for veterans and members of the Military.

The U.S. Agency for International Development could:

Reinstate the so-called Mexico City Policy, which barred federally funding international organizations that provide or refer for abortions.

As they brace for the potential impact of Dobbs without a federal safety net, reproductive justice activists are working to expand access and fight anti-abortion laws, while also protecting new state wins. The election results did not change the fact that most people want abortion access, said Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Womens Law Center, during a recent media press briefing organized by the progressive Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

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Donald Trump won the election, but so did abortion, and people need to hold this incoming administration to its word that it would not restrict abortion, Graves said. We have to square the idea that millions of people in the United States voted for reproductive freedom  but they also will be experiencing a situation that will become even more dire, and that people will feel scared and hopeless in this period.

Arguments for a national abortion ban

Aden said AUL would support a federal dismemberment bill, referring to a proposed ban on a common second-trimester abortion procedure known as dilation and evacuation, or D&E. This procedure involves dilating the cervix and removing the contents of the uterus, typically performed beginning around 12 weeks. It would be a way to effectively get a 12- or 15-week ban without calling it that.

Despite its safety and efficacy record, the D&E procedure has been banned in several states, over the objection of the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Its part of an old anti-abortion playbook, which under Republican President George W. Bush resulted in a federal ban on another later abortion procedure  dilation and extraction, or D&X  by reframing it as partial-birth abortion, which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld in 2007s Gonzales v. Carhart decision.

Abortion foes describe D&Es as a gruesome procedure, or as Aden puts it, tearing 13-week-old humans apart limb from limb. Anti-abortion doctors recommend more risky and invasive procedures like C-sections, even when the abortion is medically indicated.

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If D&Es are banned, there would be fewer options for later abortions, which are sometimes necessary, said reproductive-health legal expert Rachel Rebouche, dean of Temple University School of Law in Philadelphia. She noted that some of the U.S. Supreme Court justices have indicated support for abortion restrictions for reasons of preserving fetal dignity rather than preserving maternal health.

That litigation, from the anti-abortion perspective, depends on saying the fetus is a person with rights that attach at a certain point, if not from conception, Rebouche told States Newsroom. Dobbs opens the door wide open for those kinds of regulations.  But the question is, is there a role for the federal government to enact a nationwide ban that would curtail the rights of states that have not gone the way of Idaho or Texas or others?

Aden said that for now AUL will be more focused on the incremental approach to abortion restrictions, as well as calling for expanded child and prenatal tax credits and other social supports. The attorney, who was 11 when Roe was decided in 1973, is expecting another half-century of litigation over abortion with the hopes that one day the U.S. Constitution gives personhood rights to the unborn, regardless of the stage of that pregnancy. Aden said a so-called Human Life Amendment is likely impossible in the near term, needing approval from two-thirds of both houses of Congress. He said U.S. culture is not there yet.

It would require a cultural sea change in the way that the majority of Americans view human life in the womb, Aden said. Thats our second generational goal. Having won our first generational goal of overturning Roe, wed love to see the day when every life is welcomed and protected in law. And if thats through a constitutional amendment, then were here for that.

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It took two hours for Greenfield police to evict Joseph Zeugner from the home he lived in for nine years.

It didn't matter that the house flippers who purchased the property didn't go through the court's eviction process.

It didn't matter that police officers didn't have the power to carry out evictions at all.

Zeugner, a 47-year-old landscaper, became homeless that July. He had no car. No place to go. Just a backpack and his dog, Biggie Paws.

Joseph Zeugner and his dog, Biggie Paws, were illegally evicted from their Greenfield residence.

What happened to Zeugner is an illegal lockout, said Brittany Schoenick, an attorney with Legal Action of Wisconsin. She's representing Zeugner in a lawsuit against the new property owners.

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Zeugner was a tenant of the previous homeowner and was entitled to a legal eviction process, she said.

Joe really suffered two big losses, Schoenick said. He became homeless that day, with no notice, and then he lost all of his belongings.

Illegal lockouts can take many forms. Instead of going through the proper eviction process, a landlord changes the locks, shuts off the water or cuts the electricity to try to force their tenant out.

A recent Business Insider investigation found that reports of illegal evictions are on the rise in many cities.

Schoenick said that's also the case in Milwaukee County. Last year, Legal Action worked on 17 cases of illegal lockouts in the county. That doubled to 35 cases in 2024.

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The Greenfield Police Department declined to comment on Zeugner's case.

Zeugner said the sudden incident derailed his life. He moved from place to place. He lost landscaping jobs. He lives in Milwaukee now with a relative and is trying to secure a regular income.

Zeugner said he lost his daughters baby pictures, his birth certificate, his tools, furniture and years of research tracing his familys history in Croatia to the U.S.

Everything that meant something is gone, Zeugner said.

Joseph Zeugner was evicted from his residence by Greenfield Police Department without a court ordered eviction.

Police don't have the authority to conduct evictions

For years, Zeugner lived on West College Avenue with his friend, who owned the home, and the friend's nephew, James Gerber. Zeugner said he paid the electric, Wi-Fi and garbage bills.

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Gerber confirmed to Public Investigator that Zeugner was allowed to live at the residence.

Earlier this year, the home fell into foreclosure.

In June, Ziauddin Khan purchased the property at a Milwaukee County sheriffs sale through his company, Azan Khan LLC. He and his business partner planned to quickly flip the home, Khan told Public Investigator.

Khan said he was surprised to find someone living in the home and suspected Zeugner was staying there illegally. He and his partner called Greenfield police before knocking on the door July 25.

Body camera footage shows that responding officers Tanner Kaczmarek and Christopher Moglia arrived on the scene and informed Khan and his partners that the property was a "flophouse" and Zeugner was a "drug addict" who lived there with the previous owner.

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During the four-minute interaction with Khan and his partners, the officers didn't inquire whether they had gone through a proper eviction process with the courts.

Had they called Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office, they would have learned that no eviction occurred.

In addition, federal law allows tenants to stay in a foreclosed home for a minimum of 90 days. Schoenick, the attorney, said Zeugner qualified as a tenant due to his "in-kind services," such as maintaining the lawn and home for the eight years.

Instead, responding officers repeatedly told Zeugner the sheriff's office already evicted him and that he was trespassing.

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"They have the right to come in and say you need to leave," Moglia told Zeugner. They can take everything here and throw it in the garbage because it's all theirs now."

Police do not have the legal authority to evict people. In Wisconsin, thats the sheriffs job.

The Greenfield Police Department's policy manual, for example, states that police officers "will not participate in eviction actions" unless they are assisting sheriff's deputies.

The footage also shows the police officers advising Khan to change the locks immediately and discouraging him from storing Zeugner's belongings.

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Eventually, Zeugner hands over the keys, and Khan says he will change the locks that day, the footage shows. Zeugner spends the next hour messaging friends to try to find a place for him and his dog to stay the night.

Khan denied Zeugner's request to stay in the home for one more night, the body camera footage shows. Instead, Khan and his associates agreed to store Zeugners belongings in the garage for up to three weeks, which the officers acknowledged.

Khan told Public Investigator he paid for Zeugner and his dog to stay at a hotel for a couple days, gave him $200, and offered him a job, which Zeugner refused.

"I was trying to help him," Khan said.

Police threaten to arrest Zeugner during second interaction in August

About two weeks later, Zeugner returned to the house to pick up his belongings on the agreed-upon date, text messages show.

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Zeugner arrived to find his belongings thrown into heaps on the driveway, not stowed in the garage.

His televisions were missing. His couch was torn and strewn on the lawn along with his mattress. His landscaping tools worth an estimated $9,000 were nowhere to be found, he said.

Zeugner dialed Schoenick, while Khan called Greenfield police.

Moglia, the police officer, responded again.

In the body camera footage, Moglia and Khan deny that Khan previously agreed to hold Zeugner's belongings for three weeks.

The footage then shows Schoenick, on speakerphone, asking whether Zeugner had received a proper eviction notice.

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Only the sheriffs office can carry out an eviction," Shoenick says.

Yeah, they did it already," Moglia replies. "I dont have that case number because I dont work for the sheriffs department.

Later in the nine-minute body camera footage, an unidentified officer also asks Moglia if Zeugner was legally evicted.

Moglia responds: "That's what I hear. I'm not talking with this attorney anymore."

At another point, Khan admits he hasn't filed an eviction suit, according to the footage.

"There is no eviction," Khan said, footage shows. "He is not supposed to be here."

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However, Moglia continues to tell Zeugner that he was evicted.

If you come back, youre going to be arrested," Moglia says.

Schoenick, the attorney, told Public Investigator the confusion "just speaks to how rushed this process was."

"It sounds like the owners didn't know the proper procedure, (and) Greenfield police didn't follow proper procedure," she said.

More: Illegal lockouts are on the rise in Milwaukee County. Here's what you should know

Victims of illegal lockouts are at a disadvantage

Tenants in Zeugner's shoes are in a difficult situation, Schoenick said. It falls on them to prove they were wrongfully evicted from the property. Police are likely to chalk up the situation to a civil matter and say they can't get involved, Shoenick said.

Often, the only option is for tenants to sue the property owner. However, many tenants can't afford to go through that trouble, and many attorneys dont want to take on these cases, Schoenick said.

Those who choose the legal route have to prove damages by listing every item they lost and the cost.

Meanwhile, tenants who attempt to enter the property to retrieve their belongings risk arrest for trespassing, Shoenick said.

The burden really shifts to the victim in this case, she said.

State Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee) frequently hears about illegal lockouts, also called "self-help evictions" or "extrajudicial evictions."

In last year's legislative session, Clancy and other representatives introduced a package of 22 bills meant to ease the burden of evictions on renters. The proposals included allowing small claims court to hear illegal lockout cases, providing tenants the right to an attorney, and extending the timeframe for curing evictions.

None of the bills passed. But the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors recently funded $250,000 toward the Legal Aid Societys Right to Counsel Program, which provides free legal representation to tenants facing evictions.

Clancy intends to prioritize tenants during the next legislative session, he said.

"It seems to be happening more now, and I don't know why that is, except perhaps because we started putting some protections in place," Clancy said.

Gina Lee Castro is a Public Investigator reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at gcastro@gannett.com.

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Public Investigator answers your questions

Government corruption. Corporate wrongdoing. Consumer complaints. Medical scams. Public Investigator is a new initiative of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and its sister newsrooms across Wisconsin. Our team wants to hear your tips, chase the leads and uncover the truth. We'll investigate anywhere in Wisconsin. Send your tips to watchdog@journalsentinel.com or call 414-319-9061. You can also submit tips at jsonline.com/tips.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Greenfield renter became homeless after illegal lockout, lawsuit says
Nov. 24LOS ALAMOS  It's been decades since the U.S. Department of Energy wrapped up a cleanup of a Los Alamos canyon and declared it safe for public recreation.

Starting in the 1940s, Acid Canyon was used as a dumping ground for radioactive liquid waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory, including tritium and isotopes of plutonium and uranium. The last release into the canyon was in 1964, according to a U.S. Department of Energy fact sheet.

In the 1970s, surveys found two areas with excessive levels of radionuclide concentration, and in following years, contaminated soil and rocks  390 cubic yards  were excavated from the site and placed in a radioactive waste disposal area at the lab.

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A final report on cleanup progress in the 1980s found the levels of radionuclides were low enough to be within the Energy Department's cleanup standards and "protective of human health and the environment." In the years since, Acid Canyon has become a recreational area and a major hub for the Los Alamos County Trail System.

But lingering levels of plutonium have more recently attracted additional scrutiny, raising questions among some state lawmakers and prompting a researcher to call recently for the state to adopt its own standards for plutonium contamination in waterways. The issue has emerged as the Los Alamos lab is ramping up production of plutonium pits, the hollow spheres of plutonium that trigger explosions in nuclear warheads.

Lab officials continue to say the canyon poses no danger to hikers and others who use the trails.

'Dirtiest place I know of'

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Earlier this year, chemist and Northern Arizona University professor emeritus Michael Ketterer analyzed samples from the site and reported plutonium had been detected in water, sediments and plant ash at levels he called "unusually high."

"If you made a heat map of the whole continental United States, this is the dirtiest place I know of from the standpoint of plutonium concentration," Ketterer said. "This might not be the largest one. I mean the dirtiest one from the standpoint of the highest plutonium concentrations that I know of, that basically [the] public can just walk right up to and look at and touch."

With the help of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Ketterer took samples of soil, water and plants from a few locations around Acid Canyon, which he then analyzed using mass spectrometry. He looked in particular at the proportions of two main isotopes, plutonium-239 and plutonium-240, in each sample, which he said can begin to answer questions about where and when the contamination originated.

When he took samples in July, he said, a trickle of water was running through the canyon.

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Plutonium is not considered particularly mobile in water, Ketterer said, as it is thought to attach to sediments. However, he added, flash flood conditions could transport those sediments.

"It's just appalling," he said of the contamination. "I'm kind of shocked that this has been sitting there for decades."

In an August news release, Ketterer said he had measured plutonium in concentrations as high as 86 picocuries per liter in water, 78 picocuries per gram in sediments and 5.7 picocuries per gram in plant ash.

Los Alamos National Laboratory officials have said the measurements aren't a surprise.

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Director Thom Mason pushed back against claims the plutonium levels at Acid Canyon are unsafe.

Mason said in a Sept. 4 news release the levels measured by Ketterer were "consistent" with those recorded and reported by the Energy Department, but he argued news articles on the researcher's findings left out certain information.

"The levels are well within the agencies' defined safe exposure ranges at less than 0.1 millirem/year, which is many times lower than the DOE public dose limit of 100 millirem/year," Mason wrote. "To help put this level of exposure in perspective, the average person living in the Los Alamos area receives about 400 millirem per year of radiation from non-Laboratory sources like radon, and about 300 millirem per year from things like average consumer products and medical and dental procedures."

Some canyon visitors wary

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The Acid Canyon area was transferred to Los Alamos County in 1967.

A county spokesperson said there was no indication from the federal government the levels of plutonium found there earlier this year were hazardous.

"At this time, Los Alamos County still has not received any notification from our regulators or DOE indicating that Acid Canyon is unsafe," county spokesperson Leslie Bucklin wrote in a recent email.

Google reviews of the canyon trail frequently extol its scenery and convenient location. But other reviewers were wary about the recently publicized plutonium levels.

On a recent weekday, the Acid Canyon loop was quiet during the morning chill. A thin ribbon of water was frozen, with bubbles racing underneath.

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A cyclist passing through the area said he uses the trail once or twice a week. The man, who declined to give his full name, said he has lived in the area for 15 years. He had heard about the report but wasn't overly concerned about contamination  the lab is typically "very cautious" about such hazards, he said.

"I generally feel safe using the trail," he said.

Heather Berkovitz, an out-of-state visitor, was taking a morning hike through the canyon.

Berkovitz said her community, 45 minutes outside Flint, Mich., experienced a "domino effect" after corrosive water leached lead into the water supply. That contamination has only spread, Berkovitz said.

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She "wouldn't be surprised" to hear about contamination downstream of LANL, Berkovitz said.

"[With] all those things happening in my community," she added, "I could see why residents would be concerned."

Comparisons to Rocky Flats

At a meeting of the New Mexico Legislature's interim Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee earlier this month, the manager of the Energy Department's Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office reiterated Ketterer's measurements weren't unexpected.

"I'm happy to share that Dr. Ketterer's findings actually align with our own sampling results that confirm our findings that Acid Canyon has been, and remains safe for recreational use," Jessica Kunkle said.

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Ketterer remains concerned about the levels of plutonium he found. He presented his findings to lawmakers on the committee. He advocated for the adoption of a new water standard for plutonium, in line with a similar standard in Colorado.

"It's worth comparing it to the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge in Colorado," he said, referring to an area that was once part of the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons manufacturing facility. The plant was shut down in the early 1990s and is now a federal Superfund site.

"There's a large area on that open space that was released to the public and turned into a wildlife refuge by an act of Congress," Ketterer said. He added the levels of plutonium on the refuge are much lower than those at Acid Canyon.

Ketterer has measured levels of plutonium contamination at Rocky Flats, according to a June report by the nonprofit news organization Colorado Newsline.

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He wrote in a federal court affidavit in May, as part of a lawsuit seeking to halt development of a trail system in the area, "Rocky Flats plutonium is being dispersed under episodic high-wind conditions prevalent at the site, from contaminated source areas on the [Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge], and is being transported eastward towards non-Federal lands and populated areas," Colorado Newsline reported.

Officials with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, asked for comment on contamination at the refuge, did not immediately provide information.

"Sure, maybe from the standpoint of somebody going up there with a teaspoon and starting to eat dirt, 1,300 [picocuries per gram] makes sense as a remediation standard," Ketterer told The New Mexican. "But 1,300 is not protective of the water. ... It's as simple as that. The place is too dirty to be protective of the water quality in Acid Canyon, and it is not protective of the natural resources. The plutonium is also uptaken into the plants, which exacerbates the fire danger."

Asked to comment on Ketterer's call for state plutonium standards, New Mexico Environment Department spokesperson Drew Goretzka wrote in text message the agency doesn't have a starring role when it comes to regulating nuclear material.

"Nonethless, certain areas of regulatory authority, such as water quality, have been delegated to NMED," Goretzka wrote. "Water testing at Acid Canyon has shown plutonium levels are within safe limits for recreational use."

'Worth doing a deeper dive'

The Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee's vice chairman, Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, appeared surprised by Ketterer's findings.

"We've been hearing about some issues for a long time," Steinborn said. "Of course, people who live and work on this, you're experts in all of it. But Acid Canyon is kind of a new one. ... I guess somebody who named it knew that there was bad stuff there, right?"

He had several questions about existing regulations and testing for plutonium.

"It's startling to be told this and given this data, so it's probably worth doing a deeper dive," Steinborn said.

Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, said she frequently hikes in the area. She was skeptical that Los Alamos residents felt cleanup efforts were insufficient.

"It's interesting to see that someone has parachuted in now, contending it's not clean," she said. "It has been tested and tested and cleaned and cleaned for some period of time now, and I think the residents of the community are reasonably comfortable with that cleanup effort."
A Milwaukee police squad in front of the Municipal Court downtown. (Photo | Isiah Holmes)

The Wisconsin Examiners Criminal Justice Reporting Project shines a light on incarceration, law enforcement and criminal justice issues with support from the Public Welfare Foundation

Wisconsins municipal courts issued more than 27,000 arrest warrants and writs of commitment against people who failed to pay local ticket fines between January 2023 and August 2024, according to a report from ACLU of Wisconsin.

The extensive use of these tools, which include jailing people for failing to pay fines or forcing them to appear at a court date in 173 of the states 219 municipal courts (reflecting the number of courts which responded to the ACLUs open records requests for data) create a tiered local justice system, the report found. People who can afford a fine simply pay it and move on while those who cant afford the fine must deal with the shockwaves a stint in jail can send through their lives.

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In 2023, the report states, Wisconsin municipal courts collected more than $35 million in fines.

Carceral sanctions for failure to pay municipal forfeitures create an unequal system of punishment: one for those with financial means and one for those without, Dr. Emma Shakeshaft, the ACLU attorney who wrote the report, said in a statement. People who are able to pay a municipal court ticket can address the citation without ever having to step in court or think about the ticket again. People who cannot pay the citation amount in full experience increased court and law enforcement involvement and a long series of harmful consequences that create barriers to well-being, employment, and community involvement.

The report found that during the time period the ACLU assessed, Wisconsin municipal courts had more than 50,000 active warrants and commitments for people failing to pay fines. The data also showed the punitive actions were disproportionately used against people of color. In Milwaukee, which houses the states largest municipal court and employs three full-time judges, 71% of warrants and 49% of commitments issued between January 2023 and August 2024 were issued against Black residents.

Even a short time in jail can have huge consequences for a persons life, the report states, causing people to miss work or to be unable to care for family members over something as trivial as a municipal fine.

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Monetary sanctions harm individuals and their families, the report states. Not only do these fines, fees, surcharges, and forfeitures have a more severe and disproportionate impact on those without access to financial resources, but they also cause harmful short- and long-term collateral consequences.

Among the consequences of jail time for unpaid tickets are drivers license suspensions, caregiving emergencies, loss of employment, loss of housing and detrimental health impacts, the report found. Overall, this leads to less household resources, limited social mobility, and negative financial consequences.

The report also notes that using incarceration as the teeth of enforcement against minor violations is more expensive in the long term because of the expense to law enforcement and local jail staff.

Municipalities have a number of other tools available to collect these debts under state law, including the ability to intercept taxes, garnish wages and levy bank accounts via the state debt collection agency, use a private debt collection agency, issue a civil judgment, transfer unclaimed property, issue a drivers license suspension, or issue an arrest warrant for incarceration.

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A number of recommendations for municipal courts are made in the report, including eliminating the use of commitments and warrants in these cases, appointing legal counsel to people during hearings, reviewing and removing old warrants that are still active in local systems and improving data collection.

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Following the release of an audit critical of the Milwaukee County Jail, activists and mothers of two people who died in the facility on Monday called for changes and the inclusion of public input as solutions to the problems identified in the audit are crafted.

Casey Serrano of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression said the process that produced the audit by Texas-based firm Creative Corrections was "opaque" and included insufficient input from the community and those directly affected.

The audit highlighted systemic issues including suicide watch practices termed "dangerous," challenges administering mental health care, poor leadership oversight, the ongoing critical staffing shortage and inmate crowding, the Journal Sentinel reported last week.

Casey Serrano of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression speaks Monday during a press conference about the audit of the Milwaukee County Jail while mothers of two people who died in the facility look on.

"The Milwaukee Alliance is particularly concerned with the insufficient suicide watch monitoring, lack of use of force protocols and overcrowding," Serrano said during a press conference.

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Looking on were the mothers of 21-year-old Brieon Green, who strangled himself with a phone cord while in a booking area, and 20-year-old Cilivea Thyrion, who choked to death on an adult diaper while housed in a special needs pod.

"I pray from here on out that families will get the justice and accountability they need to move forward, and that no other family has to go through what we have went through," said Green's mother, Laquita Dunlap. "I'm grateful that they're trying to fix up the jail so stuff like this won't happen in the future, but it should already have been in play."

"My son deserves to be here, and I still want accountability. I want justice," she added.

Serrano called for a town hall with Sheriff Denita Ball where community members and people who are incarcerated can weigh in before "corrective strategies" are written.

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A Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department spokesperson last week told the Journal Sentinel that for many of the audit's recommendations, the Sheriff's Office had made changes or was in the process of making changes. The Sheriff's Office oversees the jail.

Changes included training new officers on the front end regarding suicide awareness and prevention and mental health care in addition to alternative booking area restraint benches and the development of a special housing unit team specially trained to monitor the most critical areas of the jail, according to the spokesperson.

The audit, commissioned by the County Board, stemmed from six in-custody deaths between 2022 and 2023, including two confirmed suicides.

Vanessa Swales of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this story.

Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Changes called for in wake of Milwaukee County Jail audit
Justice Gatson, a longtime reproductive justice activist based in Kansas City, opposed Missouri's Amendment 3, saying it didn't go far enough in ensuring abortion access for everyone (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).

Supporting Amendment 3 was never an option for Justice Gatson.

As the leader of the Reale Justice Network, a reproductive justice organization based in Kansas City, she had a simple explanation for her decision: the amendment didnt go far enough in expanding abortion access.

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So when voters approved Amendment 3  which lifts Missouris near-total abortion ban but allows legislators to regulate the procedure after viability  Gatson didnt stand by.

The day after the election, she was among a number of organizers and activists who released an accountability plan called Whats Next.

The initiative demands a comprehensive legal strategy to dismantle as many barriers to abortion access as possible before Donald Trump moves back into the White House, and it calls on the community to help fund abortion access across the state.

Whats Next is really about holding the space of accountability and pushing and demanding that a legal effort is made to close these holes, Gatson said.

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Chief among the groups concerns are current parental notification requirements for minors trying to access abortion and a ban on Medicaid funding for abortion.

We really want access for anybody who needs it in our state, Gatson said, No matter what.

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Less than 24 hours after voters approved Amendment 3, Planned Parenthood Great Plains and Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, two leaders in the campaign behind the amendment, sued the state in the hopes of quickly bringing back abortion access to statewide clinics.

The Planned Parenthoods did not respond to any of the specific concerns outlined in the Whats Next plan. Instead, they reiterated in a joint-statement that Missourians have been living under severe restrictions and outright bans on abortion care for several years.

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As expert providers of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care, the statement continued, We are focused on making the necessary preparations to realize the peoples right to access abortion in Missouri again as soon as possible.

The reproductive justice ballot initiative that never was

On the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade in January 2023, Gatson stood before more than 50 people in Kansas City and announced her intentions to draft an initiative petition aiming to lift every restriction on abortion.

It had been six months since Missouri enacted a trigger law that banned nearly all abortions, with exceptions only for medical emergencies.

Emblazoned across the shirts of those standing beside Gatson were five words: I am more than Roe.

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In the coming months across the nation, similar refrains were growing louder as several states, like Missouri, announced campaigns to protect or restore reproductive rights with viability provisions that divided abortion-rights groups.

Fetal viability is the time in pregnancy when a fetus can survive on its own outside the womb without extraordinary medical interventions. While viability is generally considered to be about the mid-point in pregnancy, between 20 and 24 weeks, there is no exact gestational definition.

Abortions later than 20 weeks account for fewer than 1% of all abortions in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease control and Prevention. Often, they are the result of diagnoses of fetal anomalies, growing health complications with the mother or an inability to access an abortion sooner, an issue thats increasingly become commonplace in the south, where bans force women to travel states away to access the procedure.

Sandra Thornhill, a reproductive justice advocate and social justice doula, speaks during a policy day as part of during Black Maternal Health Week on April 16 inside the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).

Those opposed to viability language say it continues to create barriers for the most vulnerable people, often those in rural areas, those living in poverty and those with medical complications that arise later in pregnancy. Access to earlier abortions remained particularly tenuous for many communities of color, where people are more likely to be uninsured or underinsured and where there remains a distrust in medical professionals due in part to the history of medical exploitation of minority communities in the U.S.

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The courts didnt protect us, Gatson said. Reproductive justice advocates have been saying that the whole time.

The term reproductive justice was coined in 1994 when 12 Black women joined together to voice concerns that reproductive rights were not extending to under-represented communities. Their work has since grown into a national movement that dreams of a future beyond the typical Roe-centered goals of reproductive-rights leaders who are typically tied to more established organizations like Planned Parenthood.

Pamela Merritt, a longtime reproductive justice organizer based in the St. Louis area, was part of the initial conversations that eventually evolved into what became Amendment 3.

At the time, Merritt said she was the only Black woman at the table, and she encouraged the other coalition members to involve Gatson, who had already announced her own initiative petition effort.

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A partnership never emerged, and the coalition  headed by the ACLU of Missouri, Abortion Action Missouri, Planned Parenthood Great Plains and Planned Parenthood Great Rivers  remained majority white-led.

Merritt eventually stepped away from the coalition when the organizations decided to move forward with an initiative petition that included viability language. Merritt said before she left, she was told she was trying to make perfect the enemy of good in her push for language that would have legalized abortions at any point in pregnancy.

The language of inclusion and diversity and equity is very much at the forefront of progressive organizations, leadership and their strategies, said Merrit, who now serves as executive director of Medical Students for Choice. The actual work of it isnt.

At the end of the day, coalition leaders said they chose the initiative petition they felt had the best chance of both expanding reproductive rights and passing with majority approval in Missouri.

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Amendment 3 ultimately passed with 51.6% of the vote. Of the nearly 3 million votes cast, more than 95,000 yes votes edged out those hoping to defeat it.

Merritt said she didnt want Amendment 3 to fail because of the optics and political legacy that would follow in the wake of a loss. But she reiterated that Roe didnt serve women of color or those living in poverty in the same way it served others.

Its those stories that fuel the reproductive justice fight.

Black leaders like [Gatson] are being asked to fall in line for the good of their community, Merritt said It feels like an absolute repeat of every issue of erasure in power, resource-guarding behavior, and its frustrating because were being put in this ethical fix.

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Gatson said she was blind-sided by the initiative petition chosen by the coalition. She didnt attend the coalitions signature-gathering launch party that took place at a community center in one of Kansas Citys historically Black neighborhoods. Nor did many people of color.

The Reale Justice Network in a February press release announced its reproductive justice workers could not support the measure, which followed in the footsteps of Roe by offering up the most impacted people as a sacrifice for others.

Had it not passed, Gatson was preparing to bring forward an initiative petition that has been a few years in the making, with the guidance of the national Ballot Initiative Strategy Center: one that didnt include gestational limits on abortion. Instead, she said, the Amendment 3 win felt like an erasure of grassroots reproductive justice efforts.

Sandra Thornhill, a reproductive justice advocate and social justice doula based in St. Louis, said it felt as if the lessons of Roe were being swept under a rug.

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We have to shoot beyond the moon. We gotta shoot for the next galaxy, Thornhill said. Because what we know is that the enemies out there who dont want us to have our autonomy, who dont want us to have access, who dont want us even have choice, they are going to do what they have always done.

A different landscape under Trump

The initial lawsuit filed Nov. 6 by the Planned Parenthoods is ambitious, with the goal of immediately striking down more than a dozen of the states current abortion restrictions, commonly referred to as TRAP laws.

During a press conference the day of the lawsuit filing, Richard Muniz, interim President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, did not specifically say whether parental notification will be challenged in the future, but implied there are more lawsuits to come.

Planned Parenthood officials have said if a judge grants their emergency injunction, they hope to start providing abortions at three clinic locations across the state again after Dec. 5, when the amendment goes into effect.

But there are still many barriers standing in their way. This includes a tight timeline of court hearings and the impending legislative session where Republicans have vowed to continue to attempt to restrict access and even put forward a second amendment seeking to again ban the procedure.

Pamela Merritt, executive director of Medical Students for Choice, is a longtime reproductive justice activist based in the St. Louis area (photo submitted).

Anti-abortion, anti-democracy politicians are going to try to stomp us out, Mallory Schwarz, executive director with Abortion Action Missouri, told a crowd gathered in St. Louis following Amendment 3s win on election night. Theyre going to try and fight us in court, theyre going to file new attacks in Jefferson City.

The coalition now faces two Republican trifectas: one in Washington, D.C., and the other in Jefferson City, all but guaranteeing an uphill battle to restore access in a timely manner.

And while the coalition will be watching the GOP administrations, Gatson will be among those watching the coalition.

Its going to require tight and aggressive legal strategy, period, she said. And they owe it to the community.

After the election, Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong, the Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, said on a national press call that the labor of reproductive justice workers was not over.

It was an urging to recognize and uplift people of color in the abortion space.

We must trust Black women to build an intersectional movement until the principles of reproductive justice become a reality, Simpson said. A world where we go beyond restoring the federal right to abortion and achieve a future where everyone has the human right to maintain personal, bodily autonomy: Have children, not have children and parent the children that we do have in safe and sustainable communities.

Black families continue to suffer higher rates of infant and maternal mortality in Missouri where Black mothers are 2.5 times more likely to die within a year of pregnancy than white mothers.

Merritt said these outcomes are part of the reason she is speaking up.

For 50 years, the reproductive health rights and justice movement has held a lot of our tension in our disagreements behind closed doors because we had a well-funded, vicious opposition coming at us, she said.

But times have changed.

This year, it was the Amendment 3 campaign  backed by more than $31 million in donations  that far out-fundraised the anti-abortion opposition. This time, Merritt said, it was the establishment reproductive rights groups holding the power.

Reproductive justice is the path to liberation, Merritt said.  If it isnt centering the people most impacted by oppression, thats not reproductive justice, thats political theater, and we need to call it out.

Let us know what you think...
Former Admiral James Stavridis joins Andrea Mitchell Reports to examine the escalating war in Ukraine. Stavridis emphasizes the importance of international coordination and the challenges ahead as the conflict enters the critical phase.
Bishop William Barber speaks at a press conference on Nov. 25, 2024. (Photo: Christine Zhu/NC Newsline)

A coalition of North Carolinians gathered at the Legislative Building on Monday to highlight what they called the anti-democratic policy violence contained in a 131-page bill approved last week by Republican legislative supermajorities.

The General Assembly shepherded Senate Bill 382 through both legislative chambers last week, framing the measure as a third round of relief to western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene.

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Lawmakers made the legislation public only an hour before it went to debate in the House on Tuesday. The Senate passed it on Wednesday.

Only 13 pages of the bill, however, are about disaster relief funding. The rest target myriad topics which Democrats frame as last-minute power grabs in the lame duck session before Republicans lose their supermajority in the state House of Representatives in January.

Click here to read a summary of the bill.

Without their current supermajorities in both houses, GOP legislators will likely not be able to override Democratic Gov.-elect Josh Steins vetoes as easily as they have with Gov. Roy Cooper.

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The people of North Carolina will witness the brazen seizing of power by the House and Senate Republicans, Rep. Maria Cervania (D-Wake) said. It is a frenzied attempt to steal power while they can.

The bill now sits on Coopers desk.

The coalition was led by former Goldsboro pastor and current President and Senior Lecturer of Repairers of the Breach, Bishop William Barber, and joined by an array of progressive advocacy groups including Forward Justice, the NC Poor Peoples Campaign, Democracy NC, Blueprint NC, the NC Black Alliance, and others.

Barber, who gained national attention a decade ago for leading weeks of Moral Mondays civil disobedience at the Legislative Building in protest of the then-Republican majoritys actions, denounced the current legislature for performing what he described as a coup and a cover-up leading to policy violence in the new bill.

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He condemned Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson for clearing out the Senate gallery as spectators gathered to watch floor debate and voiced their displeasure. He also blasted lawmakers for pushing through the document as a conference report to avoid publicity and the possibility of amendments from their Democratic peers.

The corrupt legislative leadership in Raleigh is trying to change the structure of government, Barber said. It is an attempt by a supermajority to use that majority to thwart the will of the voters, and they are doing it in a lame duck session.

Barber and other advocates applauded the three House Republicans who voted against the bill last week: Majority Whip Karl Gillespie (R-Macon), Rep. Mike Clampitt (R-Swain), and Rep. Mark Pless (R-Haywood), all of whom represent districts in western North Carolina.

To some, this defiance from party lines meant even Republicans were aware of the power grab.

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There is no room to play with the disaster thats happening in western North Carolina, even if you try to come back and remedy those three individual lawmakers who told the truth the first time, Advance Carolina executive director Marcus Bass said.

Barber encouraged people of all backgrounds and political parties to return to Jones Street next week and fill the galleries as the legislature convenes on Dec. 2. He also encouraged a mass mobilization of North Carolina on Dec. 9.

That way, theyd be able to show their opposition to the injustices brought forth by Senate Bill 362.

We are calling for all people of moral consciousness who know how wrong this is to be in the gallery, Barber said. Were calling on everybody in this state who disagrees with this kind of aggressive power grabbing that is not democratic.
KYODO NEWS - Nov 25, 2024 - 22:00 | All, World

The Group of Seven foreign ministers began their two-day talks in Italy on Monday, with the first day's sessions focusing on the Middle East amid tensions between Israel and Iran.

On the second day of the meeting, discussions are likely to center on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, now involving North Korean troops, and the situation in the Indo-Pacific region, where China has shown increasingly provocative behavior, Japanese officials said.

The G7 is working on an outcome document, the officials said, which is expected to underscore its unity in addressing global challenges ahead of the inauguration in January of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, seen as a skeptic of multilateralism.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani is presiding over the gathering in the suburbs of Rome, attended by Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, who took office in October, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their other G7 counterparts.

In the Middle East, Israel engaged in a tit-for-tat exchange of attacks with its longtime adversary Iran last month and continues to be embroiled in conflict in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon with Hamas and Hezbollah, both backed by Tehran.

The G7 has called for an immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, the release of all hostages and humanitarian assistance for people in Gaza, while condemning the Palestinian militant group's attack on Israel in October 2023.

Meanwhile, the G7 countries have adopted differing stances on the International Criminal Court's issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes.

Britain and France have expressed support for the independent judicial body's decision, while the United States, which is not an ICC member, has rejected the move and Germany has withheld judgment on the matter.

As for Ukraine, Moscow's aggression has entered a new phase, with the United States and South Korea recently confirming that North Korean soldiers are participating in combat operations in Russia's western border region of Kursk.

The G7 talks also follow Trump's reelection on Nov. 5, raising uncertainty about his commitment to international cooperation under his "America First" policy prioritizing protectionism and unilateralism.

The G7 groups Italy, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United States, plus the European Union.

Related coverage:

G7 defense chiefs oppose status quo change in East, South China seas
WisCovered.com is operated by the Wisconsin Office of Insurance (OCI) to inform consumers seeking health insurance about their options, including BadgerCare and the Affordable Care Act's health insurance marketplace (Screenshot | WIsCovered.com)

People are getting health coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) at a pace that approaches recent record-breaking years for the landmark federal health care law enacted 14 years ago.

In the first two weeks of November, when the annual open enrollment period to buy health insurance through the ACAs platform Healthcare.gov began, nearly half a million previously uninsured people in the U.S. signed up for coverage, according to the federal government. More than 2.5 million have renewed coverage that they purchased a year ago.

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Were incredibly busy, said Adam VanSpankeren, navigator program manager for Covering Wisconsin, a nonprofit that helps people looking for insurance. Theres a lot of anxiety and people have concerns about the future of the ACA, but its not stopping them from getting coverage.

Covering Wisconsin is federally funded and subcontracts with 44 navigator agencies across the state  part of a program established under the ACA to guide people in assessing their options and choosing an appropriate health plan.

Health insurance is really complicated, VanSpankeren said in an interview. Navigators were included in the law to provide people on the ground to explain to people how this works and how you sign up.

Wisconsin health care coverage resources

Covering Wisconsin, at https://coveringwi.org/, is a federally funded navigator that provides guidance for people to assess their health insurance options, including through the federal health insurance marketplace.

The Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) and the Department of Health Services (DHS) outline options through https://wiscovered.com a joint website.

OCI also has a website that consumers can visit to find which ACA-approved insurers are operating in their region of the state: https://oci.wi.gov/Pages/Consumers/FindHealthInsurer.aspx.

In Wisconsin, the official marketplace for ACA-approved health insurance plans is at https://healthcare.gov.

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To help spread awareness of coverage under the ACA, the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) has been distributing information to community agencies, including local libraries and county health departments.

Ensuring that everyone has access to high quality and affordable insurance on Healthcare.gov has been a priority of our office, said OCI communications director Susan Smith. Last years open enrollment period was the highest ever in Wisconsin, with over 254,000 people getting coverage.

The open enrollment period to purchase health insurance for 2025 through the marketplace began Nov. 1. Through Nov. 16, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), 48,564 Wisconsin residents signed up.

While thats lower than the same period a year ago, when nearly 59,000 people had enrolled, VanSpankeren doesnt find that difference significant this early in the enrollment period.

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People who enrolled last year are automatically renewed if they dont change plans, and their enrollment numbers arent listed yet, he said. The full open enrollment period ends Jan. 15, 2025. For coverage starting Jan. 1, 2025, the deadline to enroll is Dec. 15.

Expanding health coverage

Enacted in 2010 and fully implemented four years later, the ACA instituted new standards for health insurance plans, including barring insurers from denying health insurance coverage or increasing premiums for people due to pre-existing health conditions.

The law required insurers to cover young people up to age 26 under their parents health plans, and required coverage for preventive care such as vaccines.

It also expanded the federal Medicaid program to cover families with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty guideline. Under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2012, Medicaid expansion was made optional, with states deciding whether or not to take part. Wisconsin is one of 10 states that has not done so.

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Healthcare.gov, the health insurance marketplace, was a central element of the ACA, because uninsured Americans are mainly people who dont get coverage from an employer or through programs such as Medicaid.

Most people get insurance from their jobs, but there are still millions and millions of people who dont, VanSpankeren said. Those include self-employed people and people with multiple part-time jobs and no health coverage. They also include people whose employers dont offer insurance or offer plans that require employees to pay more than they can afford for coverage.

Under the ACA, plans sold directly to individuals and families must cover a list of essential health benefits. The federal health care marketplace requires insurers who participate to offer plans meeting the federal standards.

Having a government marketplace that sets minimum standards protects consumers, VanSpankeren said.

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Theres a lot of bad actors with bad products  insurance plans that dont meet the ACAs standards, he said. Without Healthcare.gov to vet participating plans, you have kind of a Wild West scenario.

Outside the marketplace, unscrupulous operators, often from out of state, misrepresent the plans they sell, sometimes even switching peoples coverage without their knowledge, said Smith of OCI. OCI and insurance regulators from other states are working with CMS to address what is still a national challenge, she said.

Safe in 2025; after that, uncertainty

VanSpankeren said people enrolling this year are asking Covering Wisconsin navigators about what theyll have to pay in the new year. The recent election is also on the mind of many.

They want to know if a change in administration means anything for their plan, VanSpankeren said. Current provisions in the law remain in effect through 2025, so we can reassure people everything theyre doing today for the next year is good.

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Those provisions include enhanced tax-credit subsidies based on a persons income that lower the cost of their health insurance premiums purchased on the marketplace. Those increased subsidies were first introduced in 2021 and extended in 2022 through the end of 2025.

Beyond next year, however, ACA advocates are worried about their future.

Republicans, who will hold majorities in both houses of Congress starting in January, and President-elect Donald Trump have been openly hostile to the health law and tried repeatedly in Trumps first term to end it without success.

On Friday, Protect Our Care, a national campaign to support and strengthen the ACA, highlighted a series of analyses looking at the impact of ending the subsidies after 2025. Protect Our Care also cited the ambition of Congressional Republicans to block their renewal.

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KFF, a nonprofit health policy research, polling, and news organization, reported in a study in July that 92% of people covered under the ACA were subsidy recipients.

In a study published Nov. 14, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities called for Congress to act by the spring of 2025 to give insurers time to set their rates for open enrollment a year from now.

If Congress allows the improved tax credits to expire, nearly all marketplace enrollees, in every state, will face significantly higher premium costs, the center stated.

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The Air Force awarded Boeing a $2.4 billion contract Thursday to buy 15 more KC-46A Pegasus refueling tankers.

The KC-46 award, which covers the tankers 11th lot, will bring the number Boeing has on contract to 168 worldwide, the company said in a release.

Boeing has delivered 89 KC-46s to the Air Force since 2019, as well as another four to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. Israel is buying four KC-46s from Boeing, with delivery starting in 2025.

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The work on the 15 KC-46s, which are built at Boeings factory in Everett, Washington, should be complete by the end of June 2028, according to the Pentagon. The Air Force plans to buy 179 KC-46s across 13 lots, though the service could buy more as an interim solution as it retires the KC-135.

The KC-46 is taking on an increasingly important role in the Air Forces fleet as the service modernizes and retires older tankers. The services last KC-10 Extender, which was at Travis Air Force Base in California, was decommissioned in September.

In October, the Air Force deployed a squadron of KC-46s to the Middle East for the Pegasus first full operational deployment.

While the KC-46A has operated in [the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility] previously, this deployment is building the foundation for sustained KC-46A expeditionary operations, Maj. Andrew Doenitz, commander of the 305th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, said in a release on the deployment.

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But what the services future fleet might look like remains in flux. The Air Force wants to introduce a future tanker dubbed NGAS, or next-generation aerial refueling system, in the 2030s. NGAS could have a blended wing design and stealth capabilities and is intended to be a more survivable tanker capable of operating in contested airspace against a major adversary such as China.

However, the Air Force has several other key fleet areas that also need modernization as the service faces a major budget crunch. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall cautioned earlier this month that the service may not be able to afford a combination of the NGAS tanker, a future fighter known as Next Generation Air Dominance and autonomous drone wingmen called Collaborative Combat Aircraft.

For years, the KC-46 program has been troubled by cost overruns, quality problems and issues with its remote refueling vision system, racking up billions of dollars in charges for Boeing. Most recently, Boeing reported a $661 million charge on the KC-46, which was caused in part by a lengthy machinist strike.

Boeing also received another contract, worth nearly $1.7 billion, from the Navy on Thursday to provide seven P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.

These additional seven P-8s will bring the number on contract for the Navy up to 135 and to 207 worldwide. The United States, United Kingdom, Australia, India, Norway, New Zealand, South Korea, Germany and Canada are now P-8 customers for Boeing, and 170 Poseidons are now either delivered or in service worldwide.
A spokesperson for Charlotte Douglas International Airport said the hub will "ensure a smooth travel experience" as the airport expects more than 1 million travelers this week.

Lindsey Nicholson/Getty Images TSA security check with long lines and crowds of people at Charlotte International Airport, North Carolina TSA security check with long lines and crowds of people at Charlotte International Airport, North Carolina

Airport workers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) went on strike Monday to protest poverty wages just as the busy Thanksgiving holiday week kicked off.

Service workers at the North Carolina airport, including cabin cleaners, wheelchair attendants, lavatory workers, trash truck drivers, and ramp workers, officially went on strike at 5 a.m. ET on Monday, the Service Employees International Union confirmed to Travel + Leisure. Workers are employed by ABM and Prospect Airport Services, which American Airlines contracts with.

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Striking workers say they are unable to afford basic necessities like housing. Most striking workers make between $12.50 and $19 per hour, which the union said is below the living wage for the area.

I understand that passengers are worried that they may not be able to make it home for the holidays. But I have to worry that my family wont even have a home this Thanksgiving, Laura Kelly, a striking wheelchair agent, said in a statement shared with T+L. We dont want to go on strike, however my family deserves a safe place to lay their heads at night.

As part of the strike, several hundred workers are expected to walk off the job and continue throughout Monday, according to The Associated Press, however CLT told T+L in a statement that they will "ensure a smooth travel experience."



"There are no impacts at this time, and CLT is prepared to welcome record-breaking Thanksgiving holiday passengers," a spokesperson for the airport said.



At CLT alone, more than 1 million passengers are expected to pass through the airport between Thursday, Nov. 21, and Monday, Dec. 2, marking the busiest Thanksgiving on record there, according to the airport.

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A representative for ABM told the AP it would make efforts to minimize disruptions, while Prospect Airport Services told the wire service last week the company recognizes the seriousness of a potential strike during the holiday travel season.

At ABM, we appreciate the hard work our team members put in every day to support our clients and help keep spaces clean and people healthy, the company told the AP in a statement.
A family is finally getting answers to a nearly 80-year mystery behind the death of their loved one during an encounter with Alabama police.



Hattie DeBardelaben was killed by police officers on March 23, 1945, when they showed up at her home in Autaugaville, a town near Montgomery. Although some of her family members, including her youngest son, witnessed the tragic encounter, her seven children have never talked about it  a fact that left her grandchildren with lots of questions, according to AL.com.

Hatties granddaughter, Mary DeBardelaben, spent years searching for answers about how her grandmother died in police custody. Her search came up empty until Oct.26, 2024, when she received federal documents with details about the case.

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Mary received the documents from the National Archives and Records Administration, which released the information under the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act  an act signed in 2019 by then-President Donald Trump that established an independent review board to investigate and disclose information about cold cases from the period between 1940 and 1979.

Although the documents gave Mary the answers shed been looking for, she couldnt help but grieve the violent circumstances surrounding her grandmothers death.

I cried for three days straight when I got the documents and read descriptions of what happened to her, Mary told CNN. I was drained, I just couldnt function.

According to the federal documents, four officers arrived at their home on March 23, 1945, claiming to be looking for illegal whiskey. Hattie told officers she didnt have whiskey, but they searched her home anyway. During the search, one of the officers hit one of Hatties nephews.

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When she asked them to stop, officers then turned their aggression to Hattie, hitting her and knocking her into a pot of boiling water, as CNN reports. Police put Hattie and her youngest son, Edward, in the back of a police car, where she died on the way to the jail house. An undertaker testified that Hatties head sagged when she was brought in, suggesting that her neck was broken.

After seeing the evidence collected in the case for themselves, Hatties grandchildren now understand why their parents couldnt bring themselves to talk about what happened.

Seeing that, Im sure, was so traumatic for my father, and was one of the reasons that he never said a single word, nor did he or his other six sisters and brothers, ever had a conversation with us about what took place, Dan DeBardelaben, one of Hatties grandsons told AL.com. It was a combination of fear and just the trauma being traumatized from an event like that.

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The use of artificial intelligence is soaring among tech companies, and while it can be hugely beneficial, the downsides are alarming. A report from the Guardian has found that some major firms are perhaps underreporting the pollution that their AI activities create.

What's happening?

Analysis by the Guardian found that in-house data centers of huge companies like Google, Microsoft, and Apple are likely producing far more planet-warming pollution than previously reported.

The publication noted that between 2020 and 2022, company-owned data centers were possibly producing as much as 7.62 times more pollution than what official records show.

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Amazon was described as the worst polluter by the Guardian, producing more than twice as much pollution than Apple, the second company on the list.

"It's down to creative accounting," a representative from Amazon Employees for Climate Justice told the publication. "Amazon  despite all the PR and propaganda that you're seeing about their solar farms, about their electric vans  is expanding its fossil fuel use, whether it's in data centers or whether it's in diesel trucks."

Why is pollution from AI concerning?

A report from Morgan Stanley research, cited by the Guardian, detailed that data center pollution is expected to reach a global total of over 2.75 billion tons of carbon dioxide pollution by 2030.

For all the good that AI can do, such as helping produce more weather-resistant crops and assisting with conservation efforts, that's a lot of pollution, and that will only serve to make a number of the problems it's being deployed to solve much worse.

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Carbon dioxide pollution traps heat inside the atmosphere, leading to rising temperatures that can exacerbate extreme weather conditions, destroy crops, negatively impact animal habitats, and make life more uncomfortable  or even deadly  for humans.

What's more, this marks another example of greenwashing by huge companies, which are outwardly stating their intentions to reduce their polluting impact but are still engaging in activities that produce excessive planet-warming pollution.

Do you worry about companies having too much of your personal data?

Click your choice to see results and speak your mind

What can be done about AI-related pollution?

Scientists are working on ways to reduce the polluting impact of data centers, with researchers at the University of Texas coming up with a cooling system that could reduce energy usage by as much as 65%.

But keeping a watchful eye on the activities of major companies is important to hold them accountable for their planet-damaging actions.

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It might be worth reconsidering what services you utilize from these companies  as difficult as it may be because of their ubiquity  as few things can instigate change as much as shifting consumer attitudes.

Giving eco-friendly brands your business and attention is a great way to show that responsible climate practices can result in profits.

Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
MARSHALL COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT)  The families of two Albertville students killed in a wreck last week are asking for help with funeral expenses.

GoFundMes made by family members say 15-year-old Jovana Morales and 13-year-old Tamy Carmelo were killed in an Albertville wreck on Nov. 20.

Austin High School Senior killed in wreck near Toyota Field

Morales family wrote She attended Albertville City Schools. She lived with her mom and sister, who could really use this help for funeral expenses during this difficult time. She is now remembered as a beloved daughter, sister, and friend. We appreciate any help and prayers! Thank you.

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Carmelos mom wrote My 13-year-old daughter Tamy Carmelos life was tragically taken in the car accident that happened Wednesday morning. My mother, Demetria Vasquez, and I, Elidia Ramirez, are heartbroken. Tamy was a student at Albertville School. She has left a void in the hearts of our family, friends, and classmates. Were seeking support to cover funeral expenses. Any donation, prayer, or share is deeply appreciated. May God bless you for your kindness.

Assistant District Attorney Adam Culbert said 18-year-old Yeismin Ramirez was charged with manslaughter and two counts of assault for the wreck. ALEA confirmed that Ramirez was driving the vehicle.

According to the Marshall County Coroner, a 15-year-old girl died from her injuries sustained in the crash at Huntsville Hospital Thursday. This is the second teenage girl who died from this wreck after a 13-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency added that a 17-year-old was also injured and taken to a local hospital for treatment.

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Huntsville International Airport announces new non-stop flight to New York airport

ALEA said the crash happened on Blessing Road near Arley Lacy Road, about two miles north of Boaz.

Albertville City Schools said Wednesday before the second teenager died that all four of the teens in the wreck were students in the school system. School officials confirmed the 13-year-old was a middle school student, two of the students were Albertville High School students and one was an Albertville Innovation Academy student.

The school system also released a message after the death of the second student on Thursday. You can read that statement below.

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It is with a heavy heart that I share an update about the recent car accident involving four of our students. This evening, we received the devastating news that a second student has passed away from their injuries. Our entire school community is grieving this loss, and our thoughts are with the families of both students we have lost, as well as with those who are still recovering. This is an incredibly difficult time for so many, and we want to remind everyone that no one has to go through it alone. Superintendent Bart Reeves

The Beulah Fire Department, Albertville Fire Department, Albertville Police Department, and Marshall Health Systems all responded to the scene of the crash.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Aledo is holding its Municipal Caucus across the city to nominate candidates for the City Council, Clerk, Treasurer and Mayor on Monday, December 2.

Residents can participate in the caucus for Alderman at one of four locations starting at 7:00 p.m. Races for the Clerk, Treasurer and Mayor will take place at 8:00 p.m. Each caucus will be held on one property per ward, but the political parties will meet in different spaces.

WARD 1

For Alderman  4-year term

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Citizens Party  St. Catherines Parish Hall, 400 N. College Avenue, Gymnasium, 7 p.m.

Democratic Party  St. Catherines Parish Hall, Room No. 01, 7 p.m.

WARD 2

For Alderman  4-year term

Citizens Party  Aledo Fire Station, 211 SE Third Street, Community Room, 7 p.m.

Democratic Party  Aledo Fire Station, Conference Room, 7 p.m.

WARD 3

For Alderman  4-year term & 2-year unexpired term

Citizens Party  Apollo Elementary School, 801 SW Ninth Street, Cafeteria, 7 p.m.

Democratic Party  Apollo Elementary School, Gymnasium, 7 p.m.

WARD 4

For Alderman  4-year term

Citizens Party  Senior Citizens Center, East Room, 137 W. Main Street, 7 p.m.

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Democratic Party  Senior Citizens Center, West Room, 7 p.m.

CITYWIDE

For Mayor, City Clerk, City Treasurer  4-year term

Citizens Party  Senior Citizens Center, East Room, 137 W. Main Street, 8 p.m.

Democratic Party  Aledo Fire Station, Community Room 211 SE Third Street, 8 p.m.

The nominees of the Caucus will go onto the Consolidated Election, which will be held on April 1, 2025. Click here for more information.

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This is an adapted excerpt from the Nov. 24 episode of "Velshi."

There is a crucial story playing out in Oklahoma right now, which has become ground zero in the escalating national battle over the role of religion in public schools.

Earlier this month, Oklahoma Education Superintendent Ryan Walters issued an email directing public school districts to show students a bizarre video of himself praying for President-elect Donald Trump. He also encourages students to join him in that prayer.

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The video was aimed at promoting his newly launched Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism, housed within the states Education Department. Walters claims the office will carry out Trumps educational agenda, including the Freedom to Pray initiative.

The directive sparked instant backlash, with at least seven school districts in Oklahoma refusing to comply with the order. Those seven districts have the backing of state Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who is a Republican. A spokesperson for Drummonds office said, Not only is this edict unenforceable, it is contrary to parents rights, local control and individual free-exercise rights.

Walters move comes at a time when Oklahomas education system ranks as the second worst in the country, according to U.S. News & World Reports 2024 review of public education.

His crusade is part of a broader campaign by Christian nationalists to reshape public education in America. It involves a familiar slate of actors, including the Alliance Defending Freedom, the Christian legal nonprofit that led the charge in overturning Roe v. Wade and is actively working to demolish the wall between church and state.

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Critics say that their two-pronged strategy, undermining secular public education while paving the way for publicly funded religious schools, is part of a well-funded effort to fuse Christian nationalism into the fabric of American society.

The first prong seeks to attack secular public education by promoting Christian symbolism and prayer in schools, along with religious-infused curricula. In Louisiana, for example, a new law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments was blocked earlier this month by a federal judge and will remain on hold until the case is argued in January. Similar legislation has been introduced in at least six states. Meanwhile, on Friday, the Texas State Board of Education approved a Bible-infused curriculum set to take effect next year. It joins a number of states that have done so, including South Carolina.

The second prong seeks to create publicly funded religious charter schools, now seen as the first phase in the larger fight to do away with the U.S. Education Department, which the far right sees as a woke cartel. At the heart of this fight is a proposed charter school in Oklahoma, the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. If approved, it would become the nations first publicly funded religious charter school. The Alliance Defending Freedom recently petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case after Oklahomas highest court deemed it unconstitutional.

St. Isidore is also being represented by the Notre Dame Religious Liberty Initiative, which is closely linked to conservative legal mind Leonard Leo, co-chairman of the Federalist Society, who has long been seen as the chief architect behind the Supreme Courts current conservative supermajority.

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Andrew Seidel, author of American Crusade: How the Supreme Court is Weaponizing Religious Freedom, views this moment in Americas timeline as a crucial crossroads for the future of church-state separation:

Schools are the last bastion of church-state separation, and they have been the target of Christian nationalists and the shadow network for decades. In 2022, they got a change in the personnel on the court, thanks to [Leonard] Leo.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett was herself a Notre Dame University law professor for 15 years and worked closely with key figures now involved with the schools Religious Liberty Initiative. Two years after the schools Religious Liberty clinic was launched, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade  a month later, the same clinic funded a trip for Justice Samuel Alito to be honored at a gala in Rome.

These connections underscore the tight-knit network of donors and conservative activists working to advance their Christian nationalist goals. Under Chief Justice John Roberts, the court has increasingly ruled in favor of religious claimants compared to prior eras.

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Key decisions, such as the 2022 Carson v. Makin case, have set precedents requiring states with voucher programs to include religious schools, further eroding the long-cherished American principle of separation of church and state. Even states such as Arizona, Florida and Texas have expanded voucher programs, redirecting public funds to religious schools.

Proposals to teach Christian history while banning books on racial injustice and LGBTQ+ themes are becoming more widespread and are expected to intensify during Trumps second term.

The Founding Fathers, who themselves experienced religious persecution, crafted the First Amendment to ensure that America would be a nation where religious freedom could thrive, without government interference.

Reflecting on the dangers of state-imposed religion, Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1802:

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I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.

Today, that foundational principle is being directly threatened by far-right forces that have found a home in Trumps Republican Party, like Oklahomas Education Department and its leader, Ryan Walters.

If you look closely at Walters prayer video, you might notice a mug sitting on his desk. Its a small detail but one that unmistakably signals the coming battle. Inscribed on the mug is Si vis pacem, para bellum, a Latin phrase that translates to If you want peace, prepare for war.

Allison Detzel contributed.

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CORRECTION (Nov. 22, 2024, 4:15 p.m. ET): A previous version of this piece incorrectly stated when Notre Dames Religious Liberty Clinic was launched. It was established in June 2020, not June 2022.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  Police in Montgomery County arrested a woman Monday for a crash that killed a Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) Water employee in September.

The Montgomery County Department of Police (MCPD) said that officers arrested 35-year-old Dori Campbell of Silver Spring.

Photo of crew supervisor, Ernest Joseph Dyson. (Courtesy: @WSSCWaterNews)

Police say that Campbell was driving on New Hampshire Avenue around 4:40 a.m. on Sept. 8 when she hit 39-year-old Ernest Joseph Dyson of Clinton.

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Dyson was working for WSSC Water at the time of the crash. He died there.

Montgomery County police: WSSC Water employee hit, killed by intoxicated driver

MCPD said that Campbell was driving 10 mph over the posted speed limit and had a half-empty bottle of alcohol in the front passenger seat of her car. Her blood alcohol content was 0.19, which police said is over two times the legal limit.

Officials charged Campbell with negligent manslaughter by vehicle, negligent homicide by vehicle while under the influence, driving on a suspended out-of-state license and driving an uninsured vehicle.

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In a statement on Monday, WSSC Water general manager and CEO Kishia Powell said WSSC Water will never forget Dyson, who worked there for nearly 18 years.

Powell also said the company will seek legislation in the 2025 Maryland General Assembly to improve employee safety in work zones.

Ernests death is a sad reminder of the risks our front-line water heroes face serving our 1.9 million customers, Powell said, in part. The bill, Ernest Dysons Law, will help keep our essential workers safe by using speed control systems in our work zones  similar to those used in highway work zones throughout Maryland. We look forward to working with our state representatives to pass this critical legislation, which will save lives.

In a statement sent to DC News Now, Dysons family said he was kind and generous.

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Ernest loved his family, friends and fellow coworkers. His kindness and generosity will be remembered by all those that loved him. Although we are saddened that Ernest is not with us, we are relieved that the person that caused the death of my son is in custody. The Dyson Family

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With Republicans determined to make her arrival in Congress a spectacle, Sarah McBride is decidedly shutting it down as a distraction from their agenda.

Americas first openly transgender member of Congress has been far from the most vocal candidates on the Democratic side after their party sustained losses in the Senate and presidential races, while seeing the balance of power change little in the House.

But McBride, an incoming representative from Delaware, now finds herself in the center of the House GOPs crosshairs.

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Republican officials unveiled a bill that would specifically bar transgender women from using the womens restrooms on Capitol Hill, a move that the resolutions author Nancy Mace has said was explicitly aimed at McBride.

Sarah McBride is the first openly transgender candidate elected to Congress (REUTERS)

Mace, a bomb-thrower in the House GOP caucus, is now resorting to nodding along as a Fox News host openly taunted McBride and other transgender officials such as assistant health secretary Rachel Levine, as she contends for the spotlight after GOP victories in congressional and presidential races.

She posted a video of herself ripping down transgender flags around the Hill, she raged about trans people on social media in hundreds of posts within a matter of days, and she filed legislation to ban trans people from bathrooms that align with their gender at any federal facility nationwide.

I know thats not a woman! Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy said in her interview with Mace on Sunday, referring to Levine.

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Campos-Duffy and Mace repeatedly linked the congresswomans effort to ban McBride and other transgender people on the Hill from using the bathrooms of their respective gender identities to Maces survival of sexual assault.

They repeatedly referred to transgender women as men in the interview, and Mace also fired back at a Democratic congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who accused her of putting society on a path towards women and girls facinginspections of their genitalia before they are admitted into restrooms.

The Republican from South Carolina said that accusation was disgusting.

That's really disgusting, and to say that about me, a survivor of rape and sexual abuse? Mace remarked to Campos-Duffy.

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But McBride is largely staying above the fray.

While she did make appearances on Sunday news shows this week, she did so while vowing to respect any resolutions governing restroom use passed by House Republicans in the Capitol.

Theres certainly been a lot of noise around me, but Ive remained focused, she said in an interview on MSNBCs The Weekend.

When asked about Democratic Reps. Moulton and Suozzi's comments regarding trans athletes, Rep.-elect @SarahEMcBride (D-DE) says:



"Every bit of time and energy that is used to divert the attention of the federal government to go after trans people is time and energy that is not pic.twitter.com/u0PKH0ir11  Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) November 24, 2024

It is an attempt to distract from what they are actually doing, she added. Every single time we hear them say the word trans, look what theyre doing with their right hand. Look at what theyre doing to pick the pocket of American workers, to fleece seniors by privatizing Social Security and Medicare.

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McBride told Face the Nation on CBS that she ran for Congress in response to the experience she had caring for her late husband during his cancer battle.

We both knew how lucky we were, said the incoming congresswoman. We knew how lucky Andy was to have health insurance that would allow him to get care that would hopefully save his life. And we both knew how lucky we were to have flexibility with our employers.

She continued: That allowed Andy to focus on the full time job of getting care, and me to focus on the full time job of being there by his side to care for him, to love him, to marry him, and to walk him to his passing.

I have witnessed change that once seemed so impossible to me as a kid that it was almost incomprehensible -- not only become possible, but become reality.



Hope can be challenging in this moment, but I've learned that nothing is truly impossible. pic.twitter.com/2ARw1ixSwu  Sarah McBride (@SarahEMcBride) November 24, 2024

Some conservative members of McBrides party  unhappy with Kamala Harriss stunning election defeat against Donald Trump, and the blame being tossed around over the failure of Democrats to turn out younger voters and working-class voters  have urged the Democratic Party to abandon support for transgender rights in the wake of the 2024 election, echoing rhetoric that emerged from Republican officials and right-wing groups.

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One of them was Tom Suozzi of New York, famous for taking back his district for the Democrats after his predecessor lost it to disgraced former congressman George Santos.

The Democrats have to stop pandering to the far left, he told The New York Times after Harriss defeat. I dont want to discriminate against anybody, but I dont think biological boys should be playing in girls sports.
KYODO NEWS - Nov 25, 2024 - 08:12 | All, Japan, World

The U.S. military will set up temporary bases along Japan's southwestern Nansei island chain and the Philippines to deploy missile units in the event of a Taiwan contingency, sources familiar with Japan-U.S. relations said Sunday.

The deployment of the missile units will be incorporated in the first joint operation plan for the United States and Japan to cope with a contingency involving Taiwan and China, which regards the self-ruled island as its own, to be formulated in December.

The U.S. Marine Littoral Regiment, which possesses a multiple-launch High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, will be deployed along the island chain stretching from the Japanese prefectures of Kagoshima and Okinawa toward Taiwan, according to the sources.

From an early stage, when a Taiwan contingency becomes highly imminent, temporary bases will be set up on inhabited islands of the island chain, based on U.S. military guidelines for dispatching Marines in small formations to several locations.

The Japan Self-Defense Forces is expected to mainly engage in logistical support for the marine unit, including supplying fuel and ammunition.

The U.S. Army will deploy the Multi-Domain Task Force's long-range fire units in the Philippines. The MDTF is designed to operate in a multi-domain environment, including air, land, water, space, cyber, and information.

In February 2023, the United States and the Philippines agreed to increase the number of bases available for U.S. military use in the Philippines from five to nine. These bases are expected to be utilized during a Taiwan contingency.

Japan and the United States have been strengthening defense cooperation and boosting the interoperability of the SDF and the U.S. military in the face of threats from China's military buildup, as well as North Korea's nuclear and missile development and growing military ties with Russia.

In July, Japan and the Philippines signed a bilateral defense agreement to facilitate joint exercises for closer security cooperation.

Related coverage:

Japan to regularly take part in joint drills with Australia, U.S.

Japan, U.S. vow solid alliance under respective new gov'ts

U.S., Chinese military officers discuss operational safety
Officials in Laos have released the names of three tourists  including one American  who died of suspected methanol poisoning from drinking tainted alcohol.

James Louis Hutson, 57, of the US, and Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20 and Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21, both Danish, were staying at the Nana hostel in Van Vieng, approximately two hours north of the nation's capital Vientiane, when they became ill.

Three other tourists have also died from suspected methanol poisoning in the town last week, according to the BBC.

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Van Vieng's governor, Bounchan Malavong, visited the hostel where the tourists were staying and assured the public that an investigation would be launched to find those responsible for the deaths.

Both of the Danish women were found unconscious in their room on November 13. The night prior they had visited a bar in the city, according to local media. The women were sent to a hospital for treatment but died overnight of sudden heart failure, according to medical staff.

Tourists walk past the closed Nana Backpackers hostel in Vang Vieng, Laos, where six tourists died from suspected methanol poisoning by way of tainted alcohol (AP)

Hutson died the same day the women were found unconscious. When he did not come out of his room, hotel staff entered and found him dead on his bed. Empty drink glasses were found in his room. He had no bruising or other signs of foul play, according to local media.

The hostel has since been closed pending the investigation as two of the other tourists who died  a pair of Australian women, Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both 19-years-old, and a British woman named Simone White had taken free shots at there before they went out for the night.

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The manager of the hostel has denied knowing anything about the poisonings, noting that the same night the tourists died that 100 other guests were served drinks and suffered no ill effects.

Methanol can be fatal if ingested, even in amounts as small as 25 milliliter, or less than 1 ounce. Nevertheless, the substance is sometimes added to alcoholic drinks because it is cheaper than typical consumer alcohol.

The father of Bianca Jones  one of the Australian women who died  has urged the government in Laos to "investigate this to the fullest extent, to make sure this incident doesn't happen again," Nine News reported.

"We can't have the passing of our daughter .... not lead to change to protect others," he said.

Vang Vieng is known to backpackers as a party town with incredible scenery. It has long served as the final stop for the Banana Pancake backpacking trail between Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam (AP)

Vang Vieng is known to backpackers as a party town with incredible scenery. It has long served as the final stop for the Banana Pancake backpacking trail between Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, according to the BBC.

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Hostel rooms are cheap in the city  less than $10  and buckets of beer can be half that cost, according to the broadcaster.

Officials in Laos have worked to clean up the town's image to make it more family-friendly, but the location is still well-known for providing cheap services to international travelers.

Southeast Asia in particular is among the worst places in the world for methanol poisoning, according to Doctors Without Borders. The medical association reports that thousands of methanol poisoning incidents occur in the region every year.
Nov. 24The American Legion Post 49 is still open despite someone hacking into their social media accounts and telling people it was closed, Post Cmdr. Richard Anaya said.

The post's websites and Facebook page were corrupted. Misinformation was posted that is "detrimental to our Post and the American Legion," Anaya said.

He said someone replaced the Post symbol with an inverted American flag and made disparaging remarks about the post.

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It is unclear exactly what remarks were made.

The hacker had put on the post's social media accounts that the post was closing down, which "is far from the truth."

Post 49 is "alive and active," Anaya told the Journal.

Anaya said he has reached out to an Albuquerque Police Department detective who has yet to get back to him.

If anyone has any questions about the situation, they can call 505-296-4224 or visit the Post at 11005 Central Ave NE, he said.

American Legion Post 49 is the largest American Legion Post in New Mexico with over 950 members and serving veterans in Albuquerque and across New Mexico plus supporting Albuquerque youth programs.
MASSENA, N.Y. (WWTI)  The American Red Cross is aiding three people after a Sunday morning fire in St. Lawrence County.

Volunteers from the Central and Northern New York Chapter of the American Red Cross provided immediate emergency aid to three people after a fire on State Route 420 in Massena.

Tugboat Robinson Bay donated to Great Lakes Maritime Academy

The Red Cross provided financial assistance which can be used for necessities such as shelter, food and clothing to three adults. Volunteers are also offering health services, comfort kits containing personal care items, and blankets.

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In the coming days, Red Cross staff and volunteers will remain available to help those affected by the fire as they navigate the road to recovery.

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AMES, Iowa  The Ames Police Department is looking to fill five open police officer positions.

The department has started ongoing recruitment, holding tests bi-monthly for potential candidates in a bid to find more recruits.

Were Here for You initiative gives 500 Thanksgiving dinners to employees

So the idea is every two weeks we do a testing process so people can apply and then we will test on a Friday morning, do physical fitness testing, written testing in the afternoon, well do oral board interviews, and then were going to continue this process until hopefully, we can fill the positions, said Major Jason Tuttle, the Public Information Officer at the Ames Police Department.

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Once a recruit is hired, they need to attend the police academy and complete additional training before they can start patrol.

Just because we hire somebody doesnt mean that at that point we can put them in on a shift by themselves. And so theyll have to go to the academy, which is 17 weeks long. They have to go through field training with us, which is another 12 weeks. And so thats a long period of time, Major Tuttle said.

The next round of testing is set for December 6th, with applications due this Wednesday, November 27th. To apply visit the city of Ames website.

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Mexico is under mounting pressure to address Chinas influence on cross-border trade with its North American neighborsand the fate of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) may depend on it.

Both president-elect Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have been banging the drum about the potential acceleration of transshipments from China making their way into the U.S. and Canada.

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Lawmakers and trade enforcement officials in Washington have also been looking into the matter in recent months. With new tariffs on China-made goods likely on the way, the country may be developing other avenues into the U.S. market that will allow its products to evade heavy dutiesincluding setting up manufacturing operations to finish goods made with Chinese inputs, they believe.

Trump said throughout his campaign that he plans to invoke a six-year review of USMCA in July 2026, with the goal of renegotiating a deal that better protects American interests and industry.

Notably, Mexico replaced China as the biggest trading partner to the U.S. in 2023but the country has also dramatically upped its trade with China. Freight analytics platform Xenetas data showed China-to-Mexico container trade grew by more than 26 percent between January and July of this year, after growing by a total of 33 percent in 2023.

Trade between China and Mexico has been in the spotlight during 2024 due to suspicions it is being used as a backdoor into the U.S. to avoid import tariffs, Xeneta chief analyst Peter Sand wrote in a blog post on Friday. If this is true, then the arrival of Donald Trump for a second term in the White House could have significant implications given his stance on increasing tariffs on imports from both China and Mexico.

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Trump has been unwavering on his proposal to up tariffs on China when he takes office, and his protectionist attitude toward the Asian superpower comes as no surprise given the actions he took during his first term. But recently, hes also floated the idea of hitting Mexican goods with tariffs of up to 100 percent if the country doesnt get a handle on the border crisis.

With concern solidifying around Mexicos role as a pipeline for Chinese products, the president-elect may have another reason to adopt a trigger-happy stance on dutiesand a review of USMCA.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum hit back at the assertion during a Friday morning press conference. In the meetings we have with Canada and Trump, well show that the idea that [Chinese] products are entering through Mexico is false, she said. One day earlier, she also responded to president-elect Trumps plans for mass deportations of migrants, saying, In case there are deportations, we are going to receive Mexicans and we have a plan for that.

Sheinbaum is simultaneously trying to assuage Canadas anxieties about the future of the three-way trade pact.

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She met with Trudeau on the sidelines of the G20 leaders summit in Brazil last week, and the Prime Minister said he brought real and genuine concerns about Chinese investment into Mexico directly to Sheinbaum, according to Canadian outlet GlobalNews. While he would prefer that Mexico remain a part of USMCA, Trudeau said Canada may have to look at other options if the country cant adequately address concerns about Chinas influence and the risks posed by transshipment.

Ideally, though, Trudeau hopes the continental bloc can remain a united North American market.

Other Canadian lawmakers are pushing to cut Mexico out of the trade deal altogether, expressing a desire to form a new bilateral trade agreement with the U.S. instead.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has been among the most vocal leaders behind a potential USMCA takedown. Ford held a call with 13 other Canadian territorial and provincial premiers last week, uniting them in a mission to push for a U.S.-Canada agreement now, not in 2026, according to Canadian news network CBC.

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Theyve had an opportunity to fix these concerns for years and they just dont want to, Ford said of Mexico. So theyve shown their cards, and well do a bilateral trade deal with them, and a separate one with the U.S.

While his time in the Oval Office is winding down, President Joe Biden is also on Sheinbaums list of hopeful allies.

Bidens presidency has been plagued by concerns about mass migration, but he views the trade relationship with Mexico as a point of prideespecially with regard to the countries renewed commitment to co-production and Western Hemisphere sourcing.

The Mexican president met with Biden at the G20, where he congratulated her on her recent election victory.

The two leaders underscored the importance of maintaining cooperation on migration, security and tackling the scourge of transnational criminal violence, and economic issues, building on the strong bilateral partnership between the United States and Mexico, the White House wrote.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar admitted to George Stephanopoulos Sunday that she is of course concerned revenge will be part of Trump attorney general nominee Pam Bondis mission should she be confirmed. I hope thats not the case, she continued.

Klobuchar also acknowledged that the idea of Trumps previous nominee Matt Gaetz running a department of 115,000 law enforcement officers was absurd, considering he was under investigation for sex trafficking until this week.

On Pam Bondi being named President-elect Donald Trumps pick for attorney general, Sen. Amy Klobuchar says: Does it concern me that revenge would be part of her mission? Of course, it does. https://t.co/BmKAnicgCb pic.twitter.com/fKPC5RpgLz  This Week (@ThisWeekABC) November 24, 2024

Pam Bondi will have a hearing and will be able to make her views clear, she said. I think the things that I look at is, is someone competent, and are they going to uphold the law? It is so important. Its the lead law enforcement officer for our country.

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Stephanopoulos also played an August 2023 clip in which Bondi forewarned Trumps political opponents, The Department of Justice, the prosecutors will be prosecuted  the bad ones. The investigators will be investigated. Because the deep state, last term for President Trump, they were hiding in the shadows. But now they have a spotlight on them, and they can all be investigated, and the house needs to be cleaned out.

Trump announced Bondi as his second nominee for attorney general only hours after Gaetz removed himself from consideration. I am proud to announce former Attorney General of the Great State of Florida, Pam Bondi, as our next Attorney General of the United States. Pam was a prosecutor for nearly 20 years, where she was very tough on Violent Criminals, and made the streets safe for Florida Families, Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Then, as Floridas first female Attorney General, she worked to stop the trafficking of deadly drugs, and reduce the tragedy of Fentanyl Overdose Deaths, which have destroyed many families across our Country, he continued. She did such an incredible job, that I asked her to serve on our Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission during my first Term  We saved many lives!

Bondi was Floridas first attorney general from 2011 to 2019. She then worked on Trumps impeachment defense team in 2019 before she moved on to work as a fundraiser for the Republican Ballard Partners. In 2024, she was named the chair of the America First Policy Institute.

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In that respect, PBS News Hour White House Correspondent Laura Barron-Lopez said Friday, shes significantly more qualified than Gaetz. Bondi is also definitely a Trump loyalist, Barron-Lopez added, and is likely to be confirmed relatively quickly because she has much more Republican support.

The post Amy Klobuchar Worries Revenge Will Be Part Of Pam Bondis Attorney General Mission| Video appeared first on TheWrap.
The Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839) and AMPTP have reached a tentative deal for a new three-year contact.

TAG, which represents an estimated 5,000 artists, technicians, writers and production workers in the animation industry, began bargaining with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on Aug. 12 and continued intermittently since then. The Master Agreement expired in August but was extended while bargaining was underway.

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The guild announced on Monday that the tentative deal includes AI protections that include notification and consultation provisions, increases to the health and pension funds (consistent with those in the IATSE Basic Agreement that was negotiated earlier in the year), as well as wage increases of 7% in the first year, 4% in the second year and 3.5% in the third. TAG also reported that it includes protections for remote work, improved terms for new media, new bereavement leave terms, additional sick days and recognition of Juneteenth as a holiday.

A TAG membership meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, and additional details about the tentative agreement are expected to be shared as part of that meeting and following the meeting. A ratification vote is in the process of being scheduled.

As with Hollywoods other recent labor negotiations including the WGA and SAG-AFTRA bargaining that led to last years historic double strike, a central issue for the Animation Guild was Gen AI protections amid worries about potential job displacement.

The IATSE Basic Agreement that was ratified in July also includes basic AI guidelines. Some members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees felt those guardrails were not enough, though 86% voted to ratify the contract. The Animation Guild sought to expand those terms.

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The Animation Guild was also pushing for better pay and job security at a time when unemployment is high amid industrywide contraction.

After weeks of negotiations that covered months in the calendar, Im very proud of the agreement that we reached with the studios for our new contract, said TAG business rep Steve Kaplan in a released statement. Not only have we seen the inclusion of the advancements in the industry realized by the other unions and guilds, but we were able to address industry-specific issues in a meaningful way. I am incredible proud of the almost one hundred TAG members that volunteered their time and efforts to work through these negotiations. Our Table and Support Team members were stalwart in their resolve to achieve all that we could during these discussions. As always, this new agreement gives us a solid foundation to work with as we work to keep our industry strong over the next three years.

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The Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839) has a tentative deal with the major Hollywood studios.

With less than two weeks left until the current contract expiration and after multiple extensions, the bargaining unit announced Monday that it had finalized another three-year agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

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Among the provisions secured in the latest contract are increases to health and pension funds, wage increases, AI protections, and more. Next, the contract will go to Animation Guild members for a ratification vote.

After weeks of negotiations that covered months in the calendar, I am very proud of the agreement that we reached with the studios for our new contract, TAG Business Representative Steve Kaplan said in a statement Monday. Not only have we seen the inclusion of advancements in the industry realized by the other unions and guilds, but we were able to address industry-specific issues in a meaningful way.

As Deadline previously reported, artificial intelligence and staff protections were the top priorities for the Animation Guild as talks continued over the past several months. According to the guild, the new contract achieves a framework for staffing minimums for writers, among other craft-specific gains.

There were no details on the AI protections gained, though its expected that the full contract will be made available, at least to members, prior to the ratification voting deadline.

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Donald Trump couldnt be clearer. He intends to abolish the Department of Education. He stated during the election campaign that one thing Ill be doing very early in the administration is closing up the Department of Education in Washington, DC, and sending all education  back to the states.



Some are wondering why he would bother. Created 45 years ago in the dying days of Jimmy Carters administration, the Department is one of the smaller Cabinet-level federal agencies. With a mere four and half thousand employees, abolishing it will hardly drain the Washington swamp.



The Department oversees a mere 4 percent of total federal spending. Given that the US government is currently running up a trillion dollar deficit every hundred days, closing it will not make much of a dent to borrowing, either.



Even if Trump is able to deliver on his promise (expect fierce push-back from various vested interests in Congress), a great deal of the Departments $240 billion annual budget is still going to be spent. Programmes to support low income students and children with disabilities will continue, albeit administered by the states, rather than Washington.



So why then is Team Trump so fixated on closing down this one Department in particular?



Over the past four decades, the Department has increasingly interpreted its mandate to ensure equal access to education in the most woke way possible. Its edicts encourage a form of ideological indoctrination in the classroom.



Trump refers to the Departments abuse of your taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate Americas youth with all sorts of things that you dont want to have our youth hearing. Indeed, for decades, ordinary Americans have sat back and watched a small radical fringe take over their public education system and academia. They did nothing as woke professors promoted a self-flagellating ideology that sees everything in terms of race, gender and oppression.



What started as political correctness 30 years ago has morphed into an explicitly anti-Western, anti-white, anti-heterosexual belief system. Middle America has had enough of it.



Team Trump is targeting the Department of Education not primarily to reduce government waste, but to end government woke.



But it might have important implications for what happens to the federal government more broadly.



Nowhere in the US Constitution is there any mention of the myriad of federal agencies that have been established since the New Deal. Yet hundreds of federal agencies have been created, with often limited accountability to Congress and the de facto ability to decide public policy on their own.



For years, conservatives have complained about the growth of this administrative state, but done little about it. If Trump does actually close down the Department of Education, it sets an important precedent. It shows that the alphabet soup of agencies can be thinned out.



Not even Ronald Reagan was willing to abolish a department that only came into existence on the eve of him taking office. Here at last is a new, uncompromising kind of conservatism that really is prepared to push power back to the states, not just talk about it.



With Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy appointed to the new Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge, it is surely only a matter of time before the new administration questions the need to have a federal Housing Department or a Small Business Administration.



Close down one federal department or agency, and it will make little difference to the deficit or the size of government. If Musk were to deconstruct dozens of departments or agencies, it would.



Also significant is the fact that the Supreme Court, for the first time in more than half a century, is inclined to rule against federal agencies that have assumed powers not specifically granted to them by Congress.



America is preparing to celebrate her 250th birthday in 2026. If Musk has his way, we might be about to see the American Republic return to a more originalist interpretation of the Constitution and the elimination of vast swathes of bureaucracy.



When Trump talks about sending all education work and needs back to the states, he evidently does not intend to leave power lingering in the hands of state officials, some of whom are even more woke than those in Washington. He clearly expects parents to be given more power.



Trump is the most pro-school choice president in history. As president, he has said, I will establish the national goal of providing school choice to every American child living in poverty  If we can put a man on the moon, dig out the Panama Canal and win two world wars, then I have no doubt that we as a nation can provide school choice to every disadvantaged child in America.

A school choice revolution is already underway in America. Over the past three years, a dozen different states have given families control over their childrens share of local education tax dollars, so that they can spend it on education as they see fit. Trump now seems to want to extend school choice so that every family in every state can allocate their share of the school budget to a school of their choice.



He clearly appreciates that parent power is the only way to raise standards. America spends more on education than almost any other nation on earth. Public school spending per student in America stands at almost $16,000  yet America, according to the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) rankings, is rated at a lowly 34th for maths, behind even Vietnam and Portugal.



Trump, the businessman, perhaps appreciates the extent to which public education funding across much of America is spent for the convenience of those of the education payroll, rather than the students.



Abolishing the Department of Education and giving every family a legal right to allocate their share of funds is the only way to change this.

Douglas Carswell is the President & CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, one of the leading school choice advocacy groups in the US

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An anxiety drug is being voluntarily recalled over a mislabeling error that could be possibly life-threatening," according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Some packages of clonazepam were labeled with the incorrect dosage strength and National Drug Code (NDC), which is the FDA's identifier for drugs, according to Endo, Inc., the drug's manufacturer. Endo originally issued a recall over the error in July but expanded it on Nov. 18.

The issue was caused by a third-party packager, the company said.

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"Our own quality investigation identified a potential label inaccuracy at a third-party vendor, leading to this expanded recall of to a limited number of product lots that were packaged earlier this year," Linda Huss, an Endo, Inc. spokesperson, told USA TODAY.

Clonazepam, also known by its brand name Klonopin, is a drug used to anxiety, seizures and panic disorder. Though entirely legal when prescribed by a medical professional, it is illegal federally, including in Wisconsin, to unlawfully possess Klonopin.

Here is what to know about the Clonazepam recall.

What types of Clonazepam are being recalled?

According to Endo, Inc.s recall, the Clonazepam being recalled is in cartons containing 60 tablets that are packed into 10 blister strips, containing six tablets each.

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To know if your pills are part of the recall, check if the package's lot number or NDC match up with any on the list provided by the FDA.

What are the risk factors of the recalled drug?

Children and adults who consume the higher dose could be at increased risk of "adverse events," including significant sedation, confusion, dizziness, diminished reflexes, ataxia, and hypotonia, Endo, Inc. said.

The company also warned of additional side effects for patients with specific risk factors.

There is reasonable probability for significant, possibly life-threatening, respiratory depression especially for patients with concomitant pulmonary disease, patients who have prescribed dosing near maximal dosing, and patients also taking other medications that could cause additional respiratory depression, the recall notice said.

Has anyone gotten sick over the mislabeling error?

As of Nov. 18, when Endo, Inc. issued its recall, the company said it has not receive any reports of adverse events related to the recall.

What should you do if you have the recalled drug?

The pharmaceutical company said the following precautionary measures should be taken if you have any of the recalled Clonazepam:

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Distributors and retailers should stop dispensing the recalled product. It is highly recommended that the product be returned to the place of purchase or to contact Inmar.

Consumers are encouraged to discontinue using the drug.

If you are a consumer that may have taken an incorrect dose of Clonazepam it is advised to contact your doctor.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Clonazepam, or Klonopin, recall over mislabeled packages: What to know
KYODO NEWS - Nov 25, 2024 - 13:39 | All, Japan

The Osaka High Court on Monday upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced a doctor to 18 years in prison for the consensual killing of a woman with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a rare neurological disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, in 2019 in western Japan.

The defense for 46-year-old Yoshikazu Okubo had argued that finding him guilty of murder would violate the Constitution's right to self-determination. But the high court rejected the appeal, stating that the Constitution presumes the right to life but does not recognize a "right to seek assistance from others to end one's life."

Okubo was found guilty by the Kyoto District Court in March of administering a lethal dose of a sedative to Yuri Hayashi, 51, in her Kyoto apartment on Nov. 30, 2019, at her request. ALS is a progressive neurological condition for which there is currently no cure or treatment.

In the ruling, Presiding Judge Hidenori Nagai highlighted what he called Okubo's disregard for life and deemed a prison sentence unavoidable based on the fact that he had acted solely after a 15-minute interview with Hayashi without conducting a medical examination or confirming her intentions.

Okubo conspired with former doctor Naoki Yamamoto, 47, to administer a fatal dose of drugs to Hayashi, who was later rushed to a hospital before dying, according to the ruling. Yamamoto has also been given a prison sentence and is appealing.

In Japan, euthanasia is not legally recognized.

Okubo was also found guilty of killing Yamamoto's 77-year-old father, Yasushi, in 2011, in conspiracy with Yamamoto.

Related coverage:

Doctor given 18 yrs for consensual killing of woman with ALS
Former Michigan GOP Chair Kristina Karamo campaigns in Lansing on Aug. 27, 2022. | Allison R. Donahue

After a ruling in February from a Kent County judge found that Kristina Karamo had been properly ousted from her role as chair of the Michigan Republican Party, the Michigan Court of Appeals has upheld an order barring Karamo from acting as the partys chairperson.

Ever since she was expelled from the position as chair at a special meeting on Jan. 6, 2024, Karamo has argued her ouster was invalid, filing a motion with the Court of Appeals in June to overturn her removal.

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However in its decision Friday, the Court affirmed the Michigan Republican State Committees special meeting was valid, and members had properly removed Karamo, writing in its opinion Karamo has not identified any errors in the trial courts application of the law to the undisputed facts.

20241122_C371299_39_371299.opn

Karamo challenged the procedures taken to call the Jan. 6 special meeting alongside the attendance of proxy members in establishing a quorum for the meeting. However, the trial court which initially decided the case found that because Karamo had not called a special meeting after a third of the state committees members had requested one, those members could call it themselves under the partys bylaws. The Court of Appeals opinion later states, There was also no evidence that the members who appeared in person at the meeting on January 6, 2024, mishandled the proxies, with the partys bylaws allowing a quorum to be established through members present or proxy.

The undisputed evidence showed that 71 members of the 107 total regular members appeared at the meeting held on January 6, 2024, which plainly constituted a quorumOf those members who appeared, 45 appeared in person and were allowed to vote on the motion to remove Karamo as chairperson of the State Committee. The members held the vote, and 40 of those 45 voted to remove Karamo, which was more than the required 75% of the in-person and voting members. Consequently, given the undisputed evidence, the members who appeared at the special meeting held on January 6, 2024, validly removed Karamo as chairperson of the State Committee as a matter of law, the Court of Appeals wrote in its opinion.

Following Karamos removal, the party selected Pete Hoekstra, a former U.S. representative and ambassador to the Netherlands, as the partys new chair. However, with President-elect Donald Trump set to nominate Hoekstra as U.S. ambassador to Canada, the party will likely need to find a new chair in the coming year.
The state Appellate Court has given organized labor another layer of protection in a decision that says members of government employee unions have absolute immunity from claims like defamation for assertions they make when pressing grievances against employers.

The decision is based in part on the states anti-SLAPP statute, a law written to block lawsuits intended to intimidate people who exercise free speech rights. It is a win for Vincent DeGray, a civilian employee of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, who filed a grievance through his union claiming he was wrongly passed over for promotion.

In his grievance, DeGray claimed that Michael and Mary Robinson, a husband and wife who were also civilian academy employees, were biased against his union activism and had a quid pro quo arrangement with the job candidate who won the promotion. The Robinsons sued DeGray, arguing that he made false statements against them at the grievance hearing and in a related legal proceeding.

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In its decision, the Appellate Court concluded that DeGray had absolute immunity for allegations made during the grievance process and that the key elements of the suit against him should be dismissed under Connecticuts anti-SLAPP law. The 2018 law was intended to block lawsuits filed with the purpose of restraining first amendment rights, like speech, by scaring off those being sued with the prospect of expensive litigation. SLAPP stands for strategic lawsuits against public participation.

Whats more, under the law, the Robinsons could be liable for the substantial legal expenses DeGray incurred defending himself from their suit. Over four years the suit was filed in Superior Court, it went to the state Supreme Court on a legal question, was sent back to the Superior Court and appealed to the Appellate Court.

The Robinsons attorney declined to discuss the case and it was unclear whether it would be appealed again.

DeGrays lawyer, Jon Schoenhorn, called the appellate decision a strong endorsement of collective bargaining.

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It stands for the proposition that unions, especially public employee unions, have an absolute right to file grievances and pursue grievances, he said. And management personnel cannot intimidate unions by suing union members just because they participated in the union grievance process.

Its also a warning that, if you are suing someone for exercising their Constitutional rights, you are putting yourself in the position where you are going to end up paying a lot of legal fees for the person you are suing.

The legislature enacted the anti-SLAPP law during what was a national movement to block spurious suits by well-heeled groups such as developers trying to quiet opposition to construction projects and wealthy interests seeking to dial back aggressive newspaper coverage.

Schoenhorn said the appellate decision is the first time the law has been upheld as a protection of the union grievance procedure.

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The decision says that, under anti-SLAPP law, the suit against DeGray should be dismissed because government union members grieving their bosses have total, first amendment immunity from being sued for their assertions when speaking in a government preceding on a matter of public concern.

It is possible that the protection could be extended to private unions in Connecticut because of the state Constitutions recognition of private unions.

The state AFL-CIO filed a brief with the Appellate Court supporting DeGrays contention that the Superior Courts improperly denied his motion to dismiss the Robinsons suit under anti-SLAPP law. The union argued, according to the Appellate decision, that protecting public employees against retaliatory lawsuits for exercising their right to engage in mandatory union grievance procedure is precisely the type of ill that (anti-SLAPP law) was designed to prevent.

The union lawyer could not be reached.
(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook joined more than 20 corporate leaders in discussions with Chinas premier Monday, as global companies grapple with potential trade disruptions and economic uncertainty.

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Cook, whos visiting the country for at least the third time this year, joined top executives of global firms including Rio Tinto Plc, Corning Inc. and Charoen Pokphand Group in a meeting with Li Qiang, state media reported. Chinese corporate chiefs including the heads of Lenovo Group and ICBC also attended the event, which discussed supply chain and trade issues.

The meeting, in which about two dozen executives took part, marked the first high-level meeting between foreign corporations and a senior Beijing official since Donald Trump won a second four-year term. Companies worldwide are bracing for the president-elects threat to hike tariffs on Chinese goods.

The gathering of business leaders, which took place before a supply chain expo in Beijing starting Tuesday, was earlier reported by Bloomberg News.

It went on for over an hour and felt pretty scripted, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing a private event. Li, at one point, quoted Adam Smiths view that the propensity to truck, barter and exchange was inherent in human nature, the people said.

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Li also told the executives to send any feedback to him, saying he would take it seriously, one of the people said. The premier didnt mention Trump or tariffs, another person said.

In a separate report by the official Xinhua News Agency, Li said Beijing is against decoupling and urged efforts to maintain the stability of the global supply chain. He also vowed to continue developing the Chinese economy.

Disruptions to trade are a source of concern especially for Apple, which makes the majority of its iPhones through Foxconn in the country and counts China as its biggest market after the US.

The Apple CEO was in the capital just last month, when he promised to keep investing in the country and also underscored its vital role in the iPhone makers global operations.

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Cook on Monday made it a point to emphasize the importance of the Chinese supply chain during brief remarks carried by a social media account linked to state broadcaster China Central Television. I value them very highly. We could not do what we do without them, Cook said in response to a question about Apples Chinese partners.

Beijing this year has taken a more active role in encouraging foreign investment, as the economy remains mired in a post-Covid funk.

AmCham China  represented by President Michael Hart at the meeting with Li  said the discussions focused on opportunities to strengthen supply chain resilience and expand bilateral and multilateral engagement. This is the first time that AmCham China has met with a Chinese premier since May 2022.

Li last held a roundtable with foreign business executives ahead of the China International Import Expo in Shanghai earlier this month. Since Trumps election victory, he has picked several China hawks for top posts in his new administration.

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Also present at the meeting were Thai billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont, Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. Chairman Matsumoto Masayoshi, Robin Zeng of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., and Li Dongsheng, the chairman of TCL Technology Group Corp.

Over the weekend, Nvidia Corp. honcho Jensen Huang was in Hong Kong receiving an honorary doctorate.

--With assistance from Colum Murphy, Phila Siu, Catherine Wong and Alan Wong.

(Updates with details throughout)

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2024 Bloomberg L.P.
APPLETON, Wis. (WFRV)  The Appleton Police Department has provided more information about a disturbance involving a weapon on Sanders Street early Sunday morning.

Public Information Officer Meghan Cash reported that officers were dispatched to the 1800 block of South Sanders Street in the early hours of Sunday. Upon arrival, they found a man inside the residence suffering from gunshot wounds.

Deputies in Wisconsin make 17 drug and OWI arrests of the weekend

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Lifesaving measures were performed, but the victim, identified as 74-year-old Daniel Juedes Sr. of Appleton, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Additional officers pursued a man who fled the scene in a vehicle. The chase led onto State Highway 441 and continued to Interstate 41. After stopping the vehicle, the man attempted to flee on foot but was apprehended.

The suspect, identified as 45-year-old Gregory Juedes of Kaukauna, was taken into custody. He faces charges of:

First-degree intentional homicide

Vehicle operator fleeing/eluding an officer

Resisting/obstructing an officer

Gregory Juedes has not been formally charged in the Wisconsin Circuit Court system at this time, though that is expected to change in the coming days.

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The Appleton Police Department expressed gratitude to the community for their patience during the investigation. They emphasized the importance of conducting a swift, thorough, and meticulous investigation to ensure justice in this case.

Drivers identified in Wisconsin crash that sent a 23-year-old to the hospital with life-threatening injuries

Anyone with additional information is encouraged to contact the Appleton Police Department at (920) 832-5500.

No further details have been provided.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
After sifting through our newspaper's archives for old images of Thanksgiving in Central Texas  and choosing four historical pictures for this column  I searched for stories that contained the words "Thanksgiving message."

Most of them were short. Many from the distant past consisted of calls to attend the church of your preference. Some were meant to be humorous, but only a few of those have aged well.

Then I stumbled across this unsigned editorial from Thursday, Nov. 23, 1995, that  setting aside some of the myths about the holiday's origins and meanings  fits our occasion.

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I offer it in a condensed form:

Thanksgiving is good.

It brings families and friends together and briefly slows down life's frenzied pace. Autumnal colors outside blend into sweet-smelling kitchen fragrances, forming a canopy of comfort.

And we count our blessings.

In addition to commemorating a celebration of survival, Thanksgiving provides the opportunity, as the lyrics of the old song admonishes, to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative.

The turkey trot in 1934 in Cuero, a town now about a two-hour drive southeast of Austin. The town, which supported a large turkey farming industry, is the site of the Cuero Turkey Festival, usually staged a few weeks before Thanksgiving.

It is a national day of gratitude. While it may be observed differently depending on individual circumstance, there is a figurative  if not actual  bowing of heads to acknowledge the harmony, the love, the achievements, the joy surrounding loved ones even if they are not readily apparent.

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The national feasting day also can be characterized as a national mental health day. Briefly shifting our view of life to soft focus is beneficial. People who have lived long enough know that those who toast life with a glass that is half full rather than half empty have more to celebrate.

There is a long list of axioms to confirm that notion. Abraham Lincoln is credited with one of the most familiar: "You are about as happy as you make up your mind to be." Another is: "What happens is less important than how you respond to it."

Late American-Statesman photographer Neal Douglass took this shot of a turkey being carved for a picnic in 1946. Several family turkey farms thrived just outside Austin in the 20th century.

Everyone knows someone who has endured terribly trying times by finding something praiseworthy.

In addition to personal blessings, it is good to remember that there are a variety of things right with the world.

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(The unsigned editorial writer goes on to list some hope from news in the Middle East and in Congress, as well as wishes for progress on subjects such as crime and disease. It goes against the intent of the original editorial to point out that those problems have not exactly diminished during the intervening decades.)

In Central Texas, as elsewhere, volunteers turn out to feed those who might not otherwise have somewhere to go or something to eat on Thanksgiving Day.

Even longtime Austin mayor Tom Miller, the big man in the center, got into the ritual of pardoning a turkey on Thanksgiving. Here he poses with hands from the Janes Bar Nothing Ranch in 1946.

To be sure, there are plenty of problems that remain to be solved, but there will be time to focus and work on those tomorrow. Just for today, view your world through the lens of thankfulness.

Oh, and don't mess with Mr. In-Between, either.

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Thanksgiving is good because it reminds us that life is good, even when it is not easy.

You have our hope for a warm, pleasant day.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin archives: Editorial from 1995 focuses on Thanksgiving goodness
An area teacher was placed on leave after accusations from students.

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A spokesperson for the district said that on Nov. 22 administration was made aware of an accusation involving a Springboro Junior High School teacher.

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The individual was placed on paid administrative leave, pending an internal investigation by the district. The families directly involved were already contacted by the district on Friday, the district said in a statement to families.

There has been no involvement with the Springboro police as the district said the accusations have not been determined to be criminal in nature.

The district said anyone with questions is asked to contact Springboro Schools at 937-748-3960 and if you have direct concerns, visit their Student Safety reporting website.

The name of the teacher or what they are accused of doing was not included in the statement from the district.

We will continue to follow this story.

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Nov. 24 (UPI) -- A former county treasurer in Arizona has pleaded guilty to stealing over $38-million to pay for upgrades on her personal ranches, purchase at least 20 vehicles and pay for personal items for herself and her family, the Justice Department announced.

Elizabeth Gutfahr, 62, the elected treasurer of Santa Cruz County between 2012 and 2024, pleaded guilty on Thursday to embezzlement, money laundering and tax evasion charges, officials said. She served in that position for a decade, and during that time transferred funds from Santa Cruz County bank accounts to her personal Wells Fargo Bank account, as well as a Bank of Montreal account, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

"I wire transferred the Santa Cruz County funds from the County's Savings Account and Checking Account for the purpose and as an essential part of carrying out the scheme to defraud to fraudulently obtain the funds for my personal use, all without authorization," Gutfahr admitted, according to court documents. "I agree I owe restitution in the amount of $38,712,100.00."

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The Justice Department said the scheme involved nearly 190 wire transfers. Gutfahr subverted the two-step approval process by using the credentials of a subordinate Santa Cruz County employee so that Gutfahr could both initiate and approve the wire transfers.

"Additionally, to cover up the scheme, Gutfahr falsified accounting records, cash reconciliation records, and reports of the County's investment accounts to conceal the millions of dollars that she had stolen from Santa Cruz County. Gutfahr also failed to report any of the stolen funds as income for tax purposes," the Justice Department said.

Gutfahr has been released from custody and ordered to surrender her passport. She is scheduled to be sentenced in February and could face up to 35 years in prison if convicted in addition to paying restitution to Santa Cruz County

Noting the irony of an employee who oversees the County's money instead stealing it, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri said:

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"We expect public officials to serve as stewards of the government ... not to loot it," Argentieri said.

Gutfahr also used fake business accounts to help conceal the illegal funds transfers.

"These account names were materially false and fraudulent representations to intentionally conceal the fact that I was wire transferring Santa Cruz County funds to my Wells Fargo and BMO Accounts to embezzle the County's funds," Gutfahr said, according to her plea agreement.

The former treasurer wants "to take responsibility for the harm she has caused to Santa Cruz County," her attorney, Joshua Hamilton said in a statement.

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"She knows that by pleading guilty, and accepting the punishment she will face as a result, she is taking a step in the right direction to be accountable for her actions. She will work to remain on that path for the rest of her life."

Santa Cruz County has sued the state of Arizona over its alleged lack of oversight.
This story was originally published Oct. 8, 2014.

It was sensational then. And it is still sensational: the Phoenix trunk murders.

People still take tours of sites related to the grisly murders. Writings on the killings have proliferated.

The case had it all: sex, violence, infidelity, jealousy. Winnie Ruth Judd, a young medical secretary, was convicted of killing her two roommates, chopping up limbs and stuffing them into steamer trunks.

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The three were said to have been fighting over a man. Some historians believe Judd couldn't have committed the murders on her own, and some argue she was innocent.

The public was riveted.

"These were the times of Pretty Boy Floyd and the Dillinger gang and Baby Face Nelson and Al Capone," said Marshall Trimble, the official state historian. "In a way, it was kind of a diversion for people. They enjoyed these things like going to the movies. You could forget about your own troubles."

The case continues to mystify. A letter that surfaced at the Arizona Historical Society, posted online to the Arizona Memory Project, documents her confession to her attorney, according to the site.

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She wrote from a Florence prison and told her attorney that her friend, Anne, had driven her crazy by taunting her about her fling with the man she also dated. The letter contends that she spent an entire night waiting with a gun and a knife to kill the friend, and Judd wound up killing both roommates.

She then spent two hours putting Anne's body in a trunk, left for work and returned to do the same with the second victim, Sammy. But she was too heavy, so she used knives from the kitchen to cut her up and stuff the remains in the trunk, according to the letter.

Arizona has made national headlines for a slew of gory tales. Here is a look at some of the most notorious historical murders.

James Gibson murdered along the Apache Trail

Murdered: James Gibson

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When: 1917

Where: East Valley along the Apache Trail

The story: A man named Starr Daley approached Gibson and his wife, Florence, during a pit stop on their travels. He shot Gibson in the back, raped Florence and forced her to drive him into Mesa the next day. He admitted the crime to law enforcement. Residents rushed the police car that was taking Daley to jail, dragged him out and hanged him.

The killing is significant because it prompted the state to reinstate the death penalty, which had been outlawed years earlier.

Agnes Anne LeRoi, Hedvig 'Sammy' Samuelson killed in 'trunk murders'

Murdered: Agnes Anne LeRoi and Hedvig "Sammy" Samuelson

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When: 1931

Where: Central Phoenix

The story: One of Arizona's most famous murder investigations opened when officials found trunks in Los Angeles stuffed with hacked-up body parts. They belonged to LeRoi and Samuelson, and their roommate, Winnie Ruth Judd, was the prime suspect.

She was convicted of killing them in their home amid a fight over a man and stuffing their remains into steamer trunks that she shipped with her on a train to California.

She was sentenced to death but was later committed to the Arizona State Asylum in 1933. She escaped seven times over several decades and was paroled in 1971. She died in 1998.

Newly engaged couple killed in desert off Scottsdale Road

Murdered: Joyce Sterrenberg and Tim McKillop

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When: 1962

Where: A dirt trail off Scottsdale Road

The story: William Macumber spent half his life in prison for a double murder he insisted he never committed, only to be freed after 37 years when evidence that led to his conviction came into question. The final details of the murders remain a mystery to many.

Police found Sterrenberg and McKillop dead in the desert off Scottsdale Road on a May morning in 1962. Their bodies lay a few feet from their car. They had bullet wounds in their heads.

The couple had just announced plans to get married. They were 20 years old.

The night of the murders, they celebrated a family birthday, drove to some model homes near Dreamy Draw, bought a milkshake and drove down a dirt track east of Scottsdale Road.

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Police arrested Macumber years after the couple's murder, following testimony from his wife that he told her he killed them. He was released from prison in 2012 but was back in prison after being arrested in Colorado on charges of sexually assaulting a young female relative.

4 women, 3-year-old girl murdered at Mesa beauty college

Murdered: Beauty school students and customers

When: 1966

Where: Rose-Mar College in Mesa

The story: On a Saturday morning, 18-year-old Robert Benjamin Smith walked into the beauty school and forced the women and child to lie in a circle on the salon floor. He shot them one by one.

The Mesa High School senior said he did it to make a name for himself.

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He was sentenced to life in prison.

The case gained national attention, particularly when a 1967 issue of "Good Housekeeping" cited Smith and other mass murderers as evidence for the need for tougher gun laws.

Man famed for Miranda rights fatally stabbed in Phoenix

Murdered: Ernesto Miranda

When: 1976

Where: La Amapola Bar, a former dive at Second and Jackson streets. The joint was known as "Deuce" and advertised itself by a small neon sign that read: "Dancing."

The story: Miranda, whose case led to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision on Miranda rights, was stabbed to death over a $2 poker bet at the bar, according to Associated Press articles at the time.

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His killer was never convicted.

Miranda's 1963 conviction for kidnapping and raping a woman was thrown out because the officer did not read him his rights before he confessed. The Supreme Court case that followed established the law requiring those rights to be read.

Republic reporter Don Bolles killed in car bombing

Murdered: Don Bolles

When: 1976

Where: Clarendon Hotel in Phoenix

The story: The Arizona Republic investigative reporter went to the hotel to meet a source who promised information on some state politicians' connection to the mob. He waited in the lobby, but the source never showed. When he returned to his car and keyed the ignition, a bomb blew up his vehicle. He died in the hospital after 11 days.

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That triggered a flood of journalists from the Investigative Reporters and Editors organization to surge into Arizona to investigate the facts leading to Bolles' death.

Phoenix contractor Max Dunlap was convicted of ordering men to kill Bolles. He died in prison in 2009.

'Hogan's Heroes' actor found dead in Scottsdale apartment

Murdered: Bob Crane

When: 1978

Where: Winfield Place Apartments in Scottsdale

The story: Crane, former star of "Hogan's Heroes," a TV comedy set during World War II, was in the Valley to perform in a play. Someone beat him to death in his apartment, possibly with a camera tripod, and wound an electrical cord around his throat. Police suspected that a friend, John Carpenter, had killed him, but they didn't have the DNA evidence.

Crane's death gained national attention not only because of his role as an actor but also because police found that he had filmed and photographed pornography.

2 Purolator guards murdered on I-17 in armored van

Murdered: Russell Dempsey and Cecil Newkirk

When: May 24, 1977

Where: Interstate 17 north of Phoenix

The story: Two Purolator guards, Dempsey and Newkirk, left Phoenix in an armored van. At the Bumblebee Road exit on Interstate 17, they were stopped by the Polands, who were disguised as highway patrolmen. Michael and Patrick Poland took the guards captive and removed close to $300,000 in cash.

On May 25, 1977, the Polands put the guards into canvas bags, took them across Lake Mead, and dumped them into the water. The bodies surfaced three weeks later. The Polands were later convicted and executed.

Roberta Moormann killed by her son at the Blue Mist Hotel

Murdered: Roberta Moormann

When: Jan. 13, 1984

Where: Blue Mist Motel

The story: Robert Moormann, 35, was serving time at the Arizona State Prison in Florence for a kidnapping conviction in Coconino County. In January 1984, Moormann was given a 72-hour furlough from the prison to visit his adoptive mother, Roberta.

Moormann met Roberta at the Blue Mist Motel in Florence on Jan. 13, 1984, and ended up smothering her in her hotel room. Moormann then dismembered her body and wrapped her remains in plastic garbage bags to dispose of them.

Moormann disposed of the bags at several store's dumpsters, including a restaurant where he asked if he could dispose of animal remains in their dumpster on the morning of Jan. 14, 1984.

Robert Moormann was granted a compassionate furlough from the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence in 1984 to visit with his adoptive mother. It was during that time at the Blue Mist Motel that Moormann killed his adoptive mother.

Restaurant owner George Johnson recognized Moormann from when he worked as a guard at the Arizona State Prison. Suspicious of Moormann's request, Johnson called the police, who later arrested Moormann in the same motel room where he had murdered his mother.

Police soon found Roberta's head and other remains wrapped in plastic bags in garbage cans beside the motel. Other wrapped remains were discovered in trash cans at a cafe next to the motel and at a drive-in restaurant a few blocks away.

Moormann was found guilty of first-degree murder on April 4, 1985, and given the death penalty on May 7, 1985. Judge Richard Yoylston of Pima County Superior Court said the crime was "heinous and cruel."

13-year-old murdered after being kidnapped on newspaper-delivery route

In May 1984, Christy Ann Fornoff, 13, was murdered while collecting for her paper route in Tempe. She was a carrier for the Phoenix Gazette.

Murdered: Christy Ann Fornoff

When: May 9, 1984

Where: Tempe

The story: The 13-year-old disappeared on the evening of May 9, 1984, while collecting money on her newspaper-delivery route at a Tempe apartment complex. Within hours, police were combing the complex with canine units as Fornoff's parents and neighbors knocked on doors.

Two days later, Don Beaty, the complex's maintenance man, was seen standing over Fornoff's body, which had been wrapped in a sheet and laid next to a garbage bin.

Beaty was arrested on May 22, 1984, and charged with murder and sexual assault. He was executed on May 25, 2011, by lethal injection.

Larry Pritchard killed on camping trip at Apache Lake

Murdered: Larry Pritchard

When: Feb. 23, 1987

Where: Apache Lake

The story: Pritchard was camping near Apache Lake in 1987, and was invited to have dinner and drinks with another camper, Robert Comer, and his girlfriend. Comer shot and killed Pritchard. He and his girlfriend then went to another campsite where they hogtied a camper to a car fender and raped another camper.

Comer was executed on May 22, 2007.

Employees, monks killed inside Buddhist temple in Waddell

Murdered: Temple employees, monks, a nun and her nephew

When: Aug. 10, 1991

Where: Wat Promkunaram Buddhist Temple in Waddell

The story: Nine people were found shot in the back of the head at the Buddhist temple near Luke Air Force Base.

Johnathan Doody and Allessandro "Alex" Garcia were arrested in connection with the murders. Garcia would plead guilty to avoid the death penalty and was sentenced to 271 years in prison. Doody was convicted of murder and sentenced to 281 years in prison.

Because of the forced confession, Doody's conviction was overturned in 2008 and again in 2011 by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He went back on trial in August 2013, but that resulted in a mistrial. In a subsequent trial, Doody was found guilty of nine counts of first-degree murder, nine counts of armed robbery and one count each of burglary and conspiracy to commit armed robbery. He was sent back to prison.

Melanie Bernas, Angela Brosso murdered by the 'Canal Killer'

Murdered: Melanie Bernas and Angela Brosso

When: 1990s

Where: Phoenix canals

The story: Two young women, Melanie Bernas and Angela Brosso, were last seen along canals in Phoenix before they went missing. Days later, their bodies were found dumped near or in the canals, mutilated and barely identifiable.

Bernas was a junior at Arcadia High School. She had gone for a bike ride near her home. Brosso, 22, had also gone for a bike ride and hadn't returned to her apartment.

The case had been a mystery for years. Police arrested Bryan Patrick Miller in January 2015, and he was convicted and sentenced to death in 2023.

Yarmila Falater stabbed by her 'sleepwalking' husband 44 times

Murdered: Yarmila Falater

When: 1997

Where: Phoenix

The story: Scott Falater, a quiet, churchgoing electrical engineer, stabbed his wife 44 times, then held her head underwater in their backyard pool. He never denied this. But he said he was sleepwalking at the time and couldn't be held responsible for Yarmila's death.

At the trial, he said he was devastated about her death. "Personally, it's something that's going to haunt me forever," Falater testified.

He told jurors that Yarmila was his high school sweetheart, that the two vowed to be together through eternity.

"There was no way I could do that, not intentionally," Falater said, sometimes breaking down in tears. "I loved her. I don't know what I would do without her."

Scott Falater, a quiet, churchgoing electrical engineer, stabbed his wife 44 times, then held her head underwater in their backyard pool.

But the prosecutor painted a different picture, of a marriage troubled by Scott's desire for more children and Yarmila's disaffection to the family's Mormon faith. Prosecutor Juan Martinez also noted that Yarmila was found without her wedding ring on and that Falater was aware enough to recognize and calm his dog.

The jury agreed and found the 43-year-old guilty of killing his wife. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Ira Pomerantz's wife pleads guilty to his murder

Murdered: Ira Pomerantz

When: January 2000

Where: Phoenix

The story: The torso of 60-year-old Pomerantz was found in a garbage bin in January 2000 shortly after Pomerantz was fatally shot.

His wife, Valerie Pape, originally was charged with first-degree murder, but she pleaded guilty in 2002 to second-degree murder under a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Police found a receipt in her purse showing she had purchased a saw at a hardware store weeks before the killing.

After her arrest in January 2000, news reports detailed Pape's strained marriage, big debts and her relationship with another man.

Robert Fisher accused of blowing up home to cover up family murders

Murdered: Mary, Brittney and Bobby Fisher

When: April 10, 2001

Where: The Fisher family home in Scottsdale

The story: Robert William Fisher's wife, Mary, 38, and their two children, Brittney, 13, and Bobby, 10, were murdered inside their Scottsdale home on April 10, 2001. Police suspect Robert Fisher then blew up their Scottsdale home in an attempt to cover up the murders.

His disappearance prompted a massive manhunt in Arizona. Ten days later, Marys vehicle was located in the mountains near Payson. With the vehicle, the family dog Blue was found along with an Oakland Raiders hat. Robert Fisher was recorded wearing the hat by security cameras in his last confirmed sighting at an ATM.

For nearly two decades, he was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, but he was removed in 2021 even though the FBI Phoenix Field Office said that Fisher remains at large.

5 people killed in arson-for-hire cover-up

Murdered: Tammy Lovell, Jacob Lovell, Cassandra Lovell, Steven Duffy and Shane Duffy

When: Feb. 21, 2006

Where: Mesa

The story: On Feb. 21, 2006, William Craig Miller killed five people in an attempt to cover up his involvement in an arson-for-hire case.

Steven Duffy and his girlfriend, Tammy Lovell, were set to testify against Miller and had helped Scottsdale police in the arson investigation. Duffy had helped Miller burn his home in Scottsdale.

Miller shot Duffy and Lovell execution-style before killing Lovell's children, Jacob and Cassandra, and Duffy's younger brother, Shane.

Miller was convicted in 2011 and sentenced to death.

Travis Alexander murdered in his home by stalker Jodi Arias

Murdered: Travis Alexander

When: June 2008

Where: Alexander's Mesa home

The story: Alexander, 30, was found dead in the bathroom of his Mesa home in June 2008. He had been shot in the head, stabbed nearly 30 times, and his throat was cut from ear to ear. His body sat there for five days before it was discovered by friends.

The friends told police that Alexander had a stalker named Jodi Arias. Then police found Alexander's camera in the washing machine of the townhouse and were able to recover photographs: Alexander and Arias in various sexual poses. Arias was arrested a month later at her grandparents' home in northern California and charged with first-degree murder. Her trial, which began in January 2013, was televised and quickly became a social media spectacle. Arias was convicted of the murder and later sentenced to life in prison.

White supremacist murders girlfriend, members of her family

Murdered: Lisa Mederos, Amber Mederos, Lilly Mederos and Jim Hiott

When: May 2, 2012

Where: Lisa Mederos' Gilbert home

The story: On a May afternoon in 2012, a shooting rampage at a home in a sedate Gilbert neighborhood left four adults and a toddler dead.

Avowed white supremacist J.T. Ready had killed his girlfriend and members of her family before taking his own life.

Police reports would later indicate that Ready and Lisa had been arguing the night of May 1, then again the next day about noon. Ready accused Lisa of breaking something he owned.

Amber was planning to pick up her sister, Brittany, for lunch at Joe's BBQ in downtown Gilbert. Amber arrived with her daughter Lilly and fiance Jim.

Then the gunshots started.

Police believe Ready shot either Amber or Lilly first near the front door. Lisa called police. Investigators concluded she was still on the phone when she edged around a corner and came into Ready's view. He shot her, too. Jim was talking on his phone outside the house. Police believe he may have walked toward the front door after hearing the gunshots, but turned to run when he saw Ready emerge, armed. Ready fired three times. The third bullet hit Jim in the back of the head. Ready then raised the handgun to his own head, just above his right ear, and fired.

The whole shooting took perhaps less than a minute.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona true crime stories: The state's most notorious murders
ARKANSAS CITY, Kan. (KSNW)  Governor Kelly has announced that Arkansas City is one of four Kansas communities that will share $1.1 million for road safety.

The funding comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which supports the U.S. Department of Transportations Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Program.

Leveraging federal dollars to supplement state and local investments in vital infrastructure is essential to economic growth, said Gov. Laura Kelly in a news release. The Safe Streets and Roads for All program provides our communities with the resources needed to build, operate, or maintain critical infrastructure. I appreciate the Legislatures continued support of this initiative, as it represents a true bipartisan win for Kansas.

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The federal funds will be combined with nearly $265,000 in matching funds from the Kansas Infrastructure Hub and Build Kansas Fund and over $22,000 in local community matches.

Garden City officer hurt in crash during pursuit

We are thrilled to see so many Kansas agencies being awarded Safe Streets and Roads for All funds. These plans and demonstration activities will provide local agencies with a list of actionable items they can focus on for years to come, said Vanessa Spartan, chief of transportation safety at the Kansas Department of Transportation. Kansas is lucky to have so many local agency partners who are working to improve transportation safety.

This grant represents a significant improvement in the safety and well-being of our residents, said Nick Rizzio, municipal project manager for the City of Arkansas City. By analyzing accident patterns and addressing the factors contributing to crashes, we are taking proactive steps to create safer streets for everyone  drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians alike.

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Arkansas City will receive $240,000 in federal funds, $57,000 in Build Kansas funding, and $3,000 in local contributions. Other recipients include the City of Ogden, Dickinson and Osage counties. Ogden will receive $150,000, Dickinson will receive $240,000, and Osage County will receive $740,000.

For more about the Build Kansas Fund, visit the Kansas Infrastructure Hub website.

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KYODO NEWS - Nov 25, 2024 - 20:58 | All, Japan, World

Toyota Motor Corp. is considering closing the sales base of its Chinese joint venture in Beijing and consolidating it with another base in Tianjin as part of restructuring efforts amid intensifying competition with local brands, sources familiar with the matter said Monday.

The restructuring at Tianjin FAW Toyota Motor Co. will not involve a reduction in production, and the automaker will continue launching new products in China to pursue growth, as the country remains one of its strategically important markets, the sources said.

The plan comes as Japanese automakers, including Toyota, face challenges in maintaining profitability in the world's largest auto market, as strong local competitors like BYD Co. continue to capture market share with more affordable electric vehicles.

Toyota saw its profit in China fall more than 30 percent in the six months through September as its local vehicle sales fell 13.7 percent for the Toyota and Lexus brands, its earnings reports showed earlier this month.

At the earnings press conference on Nov. 6, Toyota Chief Financial Officer Yoichi Miyazaki warned of its business outlook in China, saying, "The current price competition in China could intensify further."

The automaker is rebuilding its strategy in China, he said, adding that it is working to produce cars more tailored to the needs of Chinese consumers in the next couple of years.

Tianjin FAW Toyota Motor, a joint venture between Toyota and local automaker China FAW Group, had approximately 700 dealerships as of the end of August.

It sells the locally built Corolla sedan, RAV4 sport utility vehicle and bZ4X electric car, among other products.

Related coverage:

6% of Nissan employees in U.S. to retire early in restructuring

Nissan to ax 9,000 jobs, cut global output as U.S. business falters

Honda to end production of "Super Cub 50" motorcycle in May 2025
The U.S. Army has received the first of its new High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES) aircraft, based on the Bombardier Global 6500 bizjet. Set to supersede a varied fleet of turboprop intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms, HADES will fly higher, faster, and farther, and for longer periods, while carrying a bigger sensor payload. Before that happens, though, the first aircraft will need to be outfitted with its mission system and sensors  a process currently on hiatus after a protest over the contract award.

Aujourd'hui, #BombardierDefense a livre la premiere plateforme #Global6500 a @USArmy pour le programme #HADES.



Nous faisons progresser les capacites de #ISR aeriennes de prochaine generation avec une portee, une vitesse et une fiabilite inegalees. @ISRTaskForce pic.twitter.com/SP3ePle5Ae  Bombardier (@Bombardier) November 25, 2024

The first HADES aircraft was formally handed over today at the Bombardier Defense facility in Wichita, Kansas, in a ceremony attended by the companys vice president, Steve Patrick, as well as Army Lt. Gen. Anthony Hale, Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, or G-2, and Andrew Evans, HQDA G-2s ISR Task Force Director.

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Speaking at the handover today, Evans said: We are proud of the partnership with Bombardier Defense and the mission-focused professionals in the State of Kansas. We remain excited about the opportunities we can unlock by pairing the performance, versatility, and reliability of the Global 6500 with modern payloads aligned to priority intelligence requirements. HADES is the centerpiece of the Armys collection strategy, and the Global 6500 is the system that brings that strategy to life. This aircraft gives us the range, payload capacity, speed, and endurance to deliver timely, relevant, and responsive capabilities for the full spectrum of Army and Joint collection requirements.

A group shot in front of the first HADES prototype aircraft at the Bombardier Defense facility in Wichita, Kansas, today. Bombardier

Integration work on the HADES aircraft is being undertaken by Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), under an initial $93.5-million contract, although this could eventually rise to $991.3 million over 12 years. Its also not clear how many HADES aircraft will be completed, although the Army has mentioned plans to buy a fleet of at least 14 jets, and potentially as many as 16.

HADES is the centerpiece of the Armys long-promised aerial ISR transformation strategy, Hale said in August of this year when SNC was named as the lead system integrator. HADES allows the Army to fly higher, faster, and farther, which directly impacts our ability to see and sense deeper, delivering an organic capability in line with the Secretary of the Armys number-one operational imperative  deep sensing.

As Hale referenced, the Global 6500s range and speed performance will allow it to transit faster to farther-flung operating areas and, once there, to remain on station longer, or switch to other taskings. As we have discussed before, this could be especially relevant for future contingencies in the Pacific theater.

A rendering of a fully equipped HADES based on the Global 6500 airframe. Bombardier

Thanks to its high-altitude performance, the sensors on board the HADES are also able to see further thanks to increased lines of sight.

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All in all, putting these sensors and capabilities on a modern bizjet platform should help to make it less vulnerable and effective, at least when compared with a legacy turboprop type. Vulnerability is a major concern when looking at the kinds of air defense threats the Army is likely to face in a future high-end fight against a near-peer competitor like China or Russia.

HADES will allow our formations to see and sense farther and more persistently, providing an asymmetric advantage over our adversaries in large-scale operations and multidomain operations, Army Brig. Gen. David Phillips, head of the services Program Executive Office for Aviation, said in a statement this summer.

The full scope of the sensors on HADES remains unclear, but we do know that Raytheons Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar System-2B (ASARS-2B) will be central to its deep-sensing capabilities.

The ASARS-2B can produce synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery, in the form of highly detailed ground maps that can be obtained even through cloud cover, smoke, or dust, and both day and night. Furthermore, a ground-moving target indicator (GMTI) function allows the radar to spot and track the movement of vehicles. This is especially useful for real-time targeting and mapping out so-called patterns of life in a particular area.

A generic example of GMTI tracks overlaid on top of a SAR image. Public Domain

Very likely, the full HADES sensor suite will include electro-optical and infrared cameras, plus signals intelligence (SIGINT) systems. Data sharing and communications capabilities will also be central to its mission.

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While the aircraft handed over to the Army today is the first that will be outfitted as a HADES platform, further Global 6500s and other bizjets are already being operated for ISR, as a mixture of contractor-owned and operated aircraft. Ultimately, some of these could end up being reconfigured as HADES aircraft.

Among the Armys bridging aerial ISR assets is the Army Theater Level High-Altitude Expeditionary Next-Generation Airborne ISR-Sensor (Athena-S), under which SNC was contracted to convert another two Global 6500s, and another pair of Global 6500s converted by MAG Air and L3Harris under the Athena-Radar effort.

A Bombardier Global 6500 in the process of being converted into an Army Theater Level High-Altitude Expeditionary Next-Generation Airborne ISR-Radar (ATHENA-R) aircraft. L3Harris



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Meanwhile, a Leidos-owned Bombardier Challenger 650 is already being operated by the Army as the Airborne Reconnaissance and Targeting Exploitation Multi-Mission Intelligence System (ARTEMIS), while the L3Harris Airborne Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare System (ARES) makes use of a Global 6000 airframe.

All these initiatives are expected to feed into the HADES program, helping define the final configuration of the aircraft and its sensors.

Today, the Army operates more than 40 different crewed fixed-wing ISR aircraft, including RC-12Xs, MC-12Ss, and EO-5Cs. With that in mind, its unclear to what degree these can all be replaced by the HADES, even if the Army buys the full 16 as has been suggested as a possibility.

An RC-12X Guardrail Common Sensor (GRCS) aircraft. U.S. Army

There are other questions, too, concerning the survivability of the HADES aircraft, especially in the kinds of high-end conflict that could be fought in the future against a near-peer adversary. After all, HADES, despite its performance advantage, is far from stealthy. Even with the improved capabilities of its sensors, it may very well have to get within range of longer-range air defense systems to gather intelligence. Deeply integrating it with a larger force will be key to its survivability, if it can survive at all in some circumstances.

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On the other hand, HADES is also just one element of a broader ISR architecture that the Army is now developing. This is a family of systems known as the Multi-Domain Sensing System (MDSS) and will likely include various uncrewed platforms, including high-altitude glider-like drones and balloons designed to operate in the stratosphere.

Exactly when the Army will start to receive any of the planned MDSS capabilities is unclear and the timeline for the conversion of the HADES aircraft also remains unclear at this point.

A graphic the Army previously released showing a notional operational view (OV) for how its planned MDSS system of systems, including crewed ISR aircraft, might be employed in conjunction with other assets. U.S. Army



Last month, it was reported that L3Harris had protested the Armys decision to award SNC the contract to conduct integration work on the HADES.

We carefully reviewed the information during the Armys debrief process, which led us to challenge the HADES decision and request further analysis to ensure the proposal received an equitable evaluation, an L3Harris spokesperson told Breaking Defense in a statement. Our goal remains to ensure that mission operators receive the lowest risk and most capable solution available for an increasingly complex security environment, they added.

A rendering of the rival L3Harris-Leidos-MAG Aerospace proposal for HADES which lost out to the SNC solution. L3Harris

The formal protest means the U.S. Government Accountability Office is now reviewing the Armys contract decision, something that is expected to delay work on the HADES program.

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SNC says the protest is over a minor administrative issue and that its not technical in nature.

Speaking today, Evans admitted that were in a hole, but said it was not unexpected. When youre dealing with a potentially multi-billion dollar program like HADES, you would expect that your proposal was fully vetted, fully reviewed. And thats what industry is doing at this point, theyve asked the GAO to look at that just to make sure that all ts were crossed and is were dotted. And we welcome that, because thats what keeps us on the right side of these contracts.

The GAO is due to deliver its verdict before Dec. 26.

While there are likely more hurdles ahead of it, todays delivery of the first HADES prototype is a significant milestone, as the Army looks forward to introducing its next-generation crewed fixed-wing ISR jet.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT)  A suspect turned himself into police in connection to a shooting that left Johndarius Ward dead in October.

Birmingham police seeking assistance in homicide investigation

Jaylin Horn, 25, of Bessemer, is in custody of the Jefferson County Jail after officers obtained a warrant for capital murder. Horn is being held with no bond. On Nov. 20, officers released surveillance video seeking public assistance to identify a subject. Later that evening, Horn turned himself in.

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Ward, 26, was shot and killed in the 800 block of 3rd Avenue West at 3:10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 5.

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BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  The Arvin Police Department has located a teenage girl who was missing.

A 13-year-old girl who was last seen on the 100 block of B Street has been located, Arvin police said.



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ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WSPA)  A Weaverville man will serve up to 10 years in North Carolina prisons after a Buncombe County jury found him guilty on several felony assault charges Friday.

According to a release from the Buncombe County District Attorneys Office, 29-year-old Joshua Dalton Phillips was convicted of first degree kidnapping, felony assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, felony assault inflicting serious bodily injury, felony assault by strangulation and several related misdemeanors.

Reports state deputies responded to a home on Ballard Branch Road on July 17, 2023 following reports of a trespasser on the property. Deputies spoke with the caller, Phillips then-wife Pearl Phillips, and Phillips on the scene and left after determining no trespassers were on the property.

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On the same day, around 11:40 p.m., officials with the Reems Creek Fire Department responded to the same home following reports of a person experiencing chest pain, according to the release.

Once on scene, EMS found Pearl alone on the front porch and suffering from several severe injuries. She was taken to Mission Hospital where she was treated for multiple facial fractures and severe blunt force trauma to the head, face, neck and upper body.

According to the release, Pearl told hospital staff and law enforcement she was beaten and strangled by her husband throughout the day.

At the trial, Pearl testified that Phillips made up the story about the trespasser and intended to use it as a cover for her murder, a crime he told her he intended to commit. She said Phillips forced her at gunpoint to go along with the fictitious story to 911 and to put on clothes and makeup the hide injuries she suffered from being systematically strangled and struck with a wooden cane throughout the day.

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Pearl told the jury Phillips refused to let her leave the home and took her phone and car keys to prevent her from calling for help.

Pearl said she was able to call 911 after Phillips left the room for a few minutes.

The jury returned a guilty verdict after a five-day trial. Phillips was sentenced to serve an active prison term of 92 to 123 months for first degree kidnapping to be followed by a consecutive 26 to 44 month sentence in the felony assaults.

Phillips was also ordered to have no contact with Pearl after his release.

The Buncombe County D.A.s office thanks Pearl Phillips for the powerful testimony she presented to the jury last week. A victim can show no greater courage than to confront her abuser at a public trial and Pearl Phillips courage last week offers a model for all victims who seek to hold abusers accountable for criminal acts of domestic violence, District Attorney Todd Williams said.

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ATTLEBORO, Mass. (WPRI)  Attleboro officials announced Monday that the recently declared Water Supply Emergency will remain in effect well into next year.

The declaration will last through May 14, 2025, and could extend beyond that depending upon the amount of precipitation received in upcoming weeks or months.

As part of the emergency, the city is continuing its mandatory ban on non-essential outdoor water use, including lawn watering, power washing, car washing, and pool filling.

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Exceptions include water use necessary for public health and safety, regulatory compliance, or essential business operations.

Although recent rains have helped a little, we need a substantial amount of rain to replenish our water supply and get it back to where it needs to be, Mayor Cathleen DeSimone said. It is important for everyone in the Attleboro community to understand that, in the absence of heavy rainfall, it will take months to recover from this drought.

More Information: Attleboro water restrictions

Attleboro Water Superintendent Kourtney Allen told 12 News that the reservoir at Manchester Pond is at its lowest level in 40 years.

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On Nov. 19, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) declared a water supply emergency for the city. Allen said this declaration allows Attleboro to expedite its interconnection line with Mansfield, which will supply 250 to 500 gallons of water daily.

Additionally, the city expects to finalize an interconnection with Pawtucket by early December. That connection will provide up to 1 million gallons daily for approximately $35,000 a week.

RELATED: Rain brings temporary relief from brush fire risk

Attleboro is also working to reestablish groundwater wells and plans to dredge some reservoirs to increase storage capacity.

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We have been planning to dredge for a while and hope to begin that work in 2025, Allen explained. Increasing our water storage capacity and adding additional sources of water like groundwater wells will help make our water supply system more resilient in times of drought.

DeSimone urged residents to take simple steps to conserve water, such as turning off faucets while washing hands, brushing teeth, or doing dishes.

We can save thousands of gallons of water every day, DeSimone said. We are in a serious situation, and we all need to do our part to conserve water.

Its not over: Attleboro mayor urges residents to keep conserving water

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With the incoming Trump administration's opposition to EVs and plans to eliminate the EV tax credit, demand for a sustainable future is likely to decline. This, in turn, will inevitably lead to higher gasoline consumption, bringing its own set of negative consequences.

EV demand would slow and gasoline use would rise

When President-elect Trump expressed his intent to eliminate the $7,500 EV tax credit, auto stocks took a hit. According to Joseph Shapiro of the University of California, Berkeley, and Felix Tintelnot of Duke University, this policy change could reduce future EV demand by 27% and decrease annual EV registrations in the U.S. by 317,000 vehicles.

MILL VALLEY, CA - JULY 03: A customer pumps gas into his car at a Chevron gas station on July 3, 2014 in Mill Valley, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

As a result of lower EV adoption, gasoline consumption in the U.S. is estimated to increase by 155 gallons in the first year, with 7 billion more gallons being used over the coming decade. Compared to the 136 billion gallons of gas that the U.S. currently uses in a single year, that would only amount to a 5% increase.

Related: Federal EV tax credit at risk  how much does it really drive sales?

The EV tax credit significantly increased sales of eligible EVs

Studies show that the tax credit does have a pretty big impact on EV sales overall. In a recent article, we found that "credit-eligible models sold at about 1.4 times the rate of ineligible vehicles. So far in 2024, that equates to about 14,400 vehicles sold for a credit-eligible model, on average. Ineligible models sold an average of 4,000 fewer vehicles in that same period."

Rivian R3X Rivian

Even without the looming EV tax credit death, demand for electric vehicles has still slowed down recently with many quoting price and range anxiety as the main factors in keeping them from making the switch. Even rental agencies like Hertz are negatively affected by their fleets of electric vehicles due to high repair costs and depreciation, especially with Teslas.

Related: Hyundai Ioniq 9 debuts at LA Auto Show as the brand's biggest EV yet

The death of the tax credit is unlikely to kill EVs

As time goes on though, EVs will start getting better and cheaper, a fact that is clearly reflected in the recent 2025 Chevrolet Blazer EV. Even if Elon Musk thinks an affordable electric car is a silly idea, it looks like other manufacturers see their potential.

2025 Chevrolet Blazer EV SS Chevy

Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas echoed that sentiment, saying that While a slowing of EV adoption can provide valuable time for some legacy players to catch up, we still expect EV penetration to keep rising long term as innovation and scale will bring lower cost and higher performance products."

Final thoughts

It goes without saying of course that an administration's promises do not always amount to deeds. While it's likely that Trump will follow through with removing the tax credit, it's never a guarantee until that signature hits the paper.

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What's your take on this issue? Will Trump really do away with the EV tax credit and if he does, how much of an adverse effect will it have on overall sales?

Related: Jaguar rebrand: Ditching legacy for Exuberant Modernisma risk worth taking?
The family of a comatose pensioner who had part of her skull removed after a road accident in the US has claimed that insurers told them she must fly home to Britain against medical advice.

The Scottish pensioner, called Jane, was struck by a large vehicle while walking in St Louis, in Missouri, on Nov 1.

She was left with a severe brain injury and underwent multiple surgeries, including a craniectomy to remove a piece of her skull, her daughter Catriona Rubens said.

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However, AXA Partners, with whom Jane had a travel insurance policy, allegedly threatened to withdraw cover unless she was repatriated by Nov 27  against medical advice her family received that she should not fly until her skull was repaired.

Ms Rubens, a solicitor at the claims firm Leigh Day, wrote in a social media post that the family were told Janes medical cover would otherwise be stopped.

But the insurer then moved the deadline to Nov 24  meaning the family reluctantly agreed. Ms Rubens claimed that they were given less than 24 hours to make the decision about her mothers care.

Following complaints, the repatriation has now been delayed, The Telegraph understands.

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Ms Rubens said: This already hellish situation has been made immeasurably worse by the approach taken by AXA, including refusing to take account of medical advice from neurologists that it is not in Janes best interests to fly at this stage of her injury.

Zero empathy

The hospital where Jane is likely to be sent told the family that they had not received any scans or medical records.

The family claims a call handler told them that they couldnt speak to a manager, as no manager was available.

When the family asked for a call back to be arranged with someone more senior or an underwriter, they were told this wasnt possible, Ms Rubens has alleged.

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She said: We have been shown zero empathy, customer care or reasonableness from AXA at one of the darkest times of our lives.

Call handlers refused to let the doctors overseeing Janes care speak to AXA Partners medical team, the family has claimed.

Her neurologists believe she should not fly until her craniectomy is reversed, which will not happen for several months. Her doctors provided evidence to support the family, but this did not change the insurers position.

Terms and conditions for similar travel insurance policies include terms which state that any expenses incurred for medical treatment after a patient has refused to be repatriated will not be covered.

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An AXA Partners spokesman said: We are sorry for the distress Ms Rubens and her family have experienced when making a claim and we sympathise with their situation.

We have spoken with Ms Rubens family and will remain in contact with them over the coming days to support them. Our medical team and Ms Rubens treating doctors will agree the best course of action going forward.

We are considering all available options and the welfare of Ms Rubens and her family remains our priority.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Firefighters try to put out a huge fire engulfing a slum area in Manila, the Philippines on Nov. 24, 2024. At least 2,000 families were left homeless after a huge fire tore through a residential community in the Philippine capital on Sunday, local authorities said. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

MANILA, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- At least 2,000 families were left homeless after a huge fire tore through a residential community in the Philippine capital on Sunday, local authorities said.

Firefighter Alejandro Ramos of the Manila City Fire Department told reporters that the blaze, which broke out in the morning in Manila City, destroyed around 1,000 homes made of light and combustible materials.

The Philippine Air Force used helicopters to drop water over the burning colony of illegal settlers by the Manila Bay.

The Philippine Coast Guard also sent four fire boats to help contain the blaze.

Around 30 firetrucks converged at the scene to help control the blaze.

However, Ramos said that strong winds blowing from the bay contributed to the rapid spread of the fire.

He said that the narrow streets hampered efforts to control the fire. Fleeing residents crowded the streets, making it difficult for firefighters to penetrate the colony.

The Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office declared the fire out at 2 p.m. local time.

So far no fatalities have been reported, although some firefighters sustained injuries.

An investigation is underway to look into the cause of the fire. 

Residents evacuate with their belongings as a huge fire engulfs a slum area in Manila, the Philippines on Nov. 24, 2024. At least 2,000 families were left homeless after a huge fire tore through a residential community in the Philippine capital on Sunday, local authorities said. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

Residents evacuate with their belongings as a huge fire engulfs a slum area in Manila, the Philippines on Nov. 24, 2024. At least 2,000 families were left homeless after a huge fire tore through a residential community in the Philippine capital on Sunday, local authorities said. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

Residents evacuate with their belongings as a huge fire engulfs a slum area in Manila, the Philippines on Nov. 24, 2024. At least 2,000 families were left homeless after a huge fire tore through a residential community in the Philippine capital on Sunday, local authorities said. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

Residents evacuate with their belongings through the window of their home as a huge fire engulfs a slum area in Manila, the Philippines on Nov. 24, 2024. At least 2,000 families were left homeless after a huge fire tore through a residential community in the Philippine capital on Sunday, local authorities said. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

A drone photo shows a fire engulfing a slum area in Manila, the Philippines on Nov. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

A drone photo shows a fire engulfing a slum area in Manila, the Philippines on Nov. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

A helicopter from the Philippine Air Force drops water to put out a fire engulfing a slum area in Manila, the Philippines on Nov. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

Firefighters try to put out a fire engulfing a slum area in Manila, the Philippines on Nov. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

Residents use a makeshift boat to evacuate with their pet dogs and their belongings as a fire engulfs a slum area in Manila, the Philippines on Nov. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

A drone photo shows a fire engulfing a slum area in Manila, the Philippines on Nov. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)
Axios CEO Jim VandeHei clearly isnt a fan of Elon Musks new catchphrase that X users are the media now, with VandeHei calling bulls during a recent press gala. On Monday morning, Musk laughed in response, saying whatever.

If you missed it, heres what VandeHei had to say about Musk and the media in front of the National Press Club last Thursday:

Everything we do is under fire. Elon Musk sits on Twitter every day  or X today  saying like, we are the media, you are the media. My message to Elon Musk is: bulls. You are not the media.

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VandeHei continued: You having a blue check mark, a Twitter handle, and 300 words of cleverness, doesnt make you a reporter. You dont do that by popping off on Twitter. You dont do that by having an opinion. You do that by doing hard work.

Prior to co-founding and leading Axios, VandeHei was the co-founder of Politico and was a political reporter for the Washington Post.

VandeHeis comments hit Musks radar on Monday, with the X owner responding to a post that included video of his speech; the video also showed MSNBCs Joe Scarborough lauding what VandeHei had to say, calling it extraordinary content that needed to be said.

Musk didnt feel the same way.

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Yeah, whatever lmao, Musk posted on X, the platform he bought in 2022, in response.

He added: You are the media now. And legacy media knows it.

Yeah, whatever lmao.



You are the media now.



And legacy media know it. https://t.co/TWemmwMoqd  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2024

Musk has been using that phrase  you are the media  a lot following the 2024 election, including several times last week.

The X boss  who also runs Tesla, SpaceX, and will co-head the next Trump Administrations new Department of Government Efficiency  has leveraged the phrase while hes been simultaneously critical of the mainstream media in recent weeks.

The reality of this election was plain to see on X, while most legacy media lied relentlessly to the public, Musk posted a few days after the election. You are the media now.

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While some celebrities and media pundits have ditched X following the election, his platforms daily user base in the U.S. has remained steady in recent weeks, thanks to an uptick in new downloads.

The post Axios CEO Calls Bulls on Elon Musks Claim That X Users Are The Media: Blue Check Doesnt Make You a Reporter appeared first on TheWrap.
This is an adapted excerpt from the Nov. 23 episode of "Ayman."

For the first time in history, the International Criminal Court issued landmark arrest warrants against a major ally of the United States. On Thursday, the ICC issued warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, along with Hamas military leader, Mohammed Deif. (Israel has said it killed Deif earlier this year.)

The worlds highest criminal court, which is made up of 124 countries  including all 27 members of the European Union  is now saying that if Netanyahu or Gallant set foot on the territory of a state party, that state party has an obligation to arrest them and transfer them to the Hague.

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Its worth noting that the U.S., despite playing a critical role in establishing and operating the United Nations War Crimes Commission, the World War II tribunals at Nuremberg and Tokyo, and more recent international tribunals, is not a signatory to the ICC. Neither is Israel.But the jurisdiction of the ICC extends beyond member states and its word carries tremendous weight. The language in Thursdays ruling is devastating. The warrants state that Netanyahu and Gallant bear responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts, as well as the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.

No one who has closely followed this war over the past 14 months would be surprised by these charges, especially that Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war. Multiple human rights organizations and aid groups have been sounding this alarm from the beginning.

But theres more obvious proof that, as the ICC states, Israel knowingly deprived the civilian population of food, water, medicine and other medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity  they said they would.

Two days after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel that killed more than 1,200 people, then-Israel Defense Minister Gallant announced to the world a complete siege of the Gaza Strip that would allow no food, water, electricity or fuel to 2.3 million Gaza residents. That means Israels leaders essentially announced last October that they would do what the ICC just filed arrest warrants for them doing.

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In a press release outlining its arrest warrants, the ICC said there are "reasonable grounds" to believe Netanyahu and Gallant "intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity."

As expected, Netanyahu denounced the courts announcement and claimed that it was antisemitic. Former Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth responded to that accusation on X, writing: Netanyahu cheapens the concept of antisemitism to try to save himself. At a point when Jews around the world need to rally support against antisemitism, Netanyahu throws them under the bus by equating antisemitism with criticism of his own war crimes.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz wrote that Netanyahu Brought the ICC Ruling on Himself and Now Hes Whining About Antisemitism.

But how the international community has reacted is also critical in all this. The European Unions foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that all E.U. member states should respect the courts decision and implement it. Nations including France, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Canada and South Africa all said they would meet their commitments under international law.But how did the United States  the country at the center of the rules-based international order that it helped build in its image, the country whose current president, after four years of Donald Trump turning away from that international order, pledged to put human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy  react?

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By slamming the court and calling its ruling outrageous. In a statement, President Joe Biden said the U.S. would always stand with Israel against threats to its security.

Threats to its security? Netanyahu and Gallant are being charged with using starvation as a weapon of war, not with defending itself. Theyre being charged with doing what Gallant publicly announced they would do. Biden knows all about Israel restricting aid to Gaza; he built a $230 million pier off of Gazas coast because of it  a pier that collapsed faster than American credibility on the international stage.

The charges also include crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts. One recent study from Oxfam found that more women and children were killed in Gaza by the Israeli military in one year than in any other conflict in decades, including Russias devastation of Ukraine.

It's worth remembering how Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken reacted when the ICC charged Vladimir Putin with war crimes in 2023. The president and the secretary of state welcomed those charges and urged the international community to comply with them.But make no mistake, the hypocrisy and depravity here is bipartisan. Last March, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, called the ICC arrest warrant for Putin a giant step in the right direction for the international community. But on Thursday, Graham called the ICC a rogue and politically motivated organization. And on Friday, he threatened to impose sanctions on any U.S. ally that enforces the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.

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The hypocrisy even turned to hostility for fellow Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, of Arkansas. The ICC is a kangaroo court and Karim Khan is a deranged fanatic, Cotton wrote on X, referring to the ICC prosecutor. Woe to him and anyone who tries to enforce these outlaw warrants. Let me give them all a friendly reminder: the American law on the ICC is known as The Hague Invasion Act for a reason. Think about it.

Yes, think about that: A prominent Republican senator and ally of Trump threatening military action against the International Criminal Court in order to defend American-funded alleged war criminals.

In 2020, Biden campaigned on restoring Americas standing in the world and respecting international norms and his administration promised to champion human rights. The actions of this past week alone have put an exclamation point on his failure to do so. Its also exposed American hypocrisy and its weakened influence in the world. And soon Biden will hand the keys to the White House to Trump, a man who has said he wants to end the Israel-Gaza war but makes no promises about human rights or international norms, and brings along a threat of more fire and fury.

Allison Detzel contributed.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Backpage co-founder Michael Lacey has been released from prison on bail, following a federal court ruling last Thursday. Lacey is in the process of appealing his conviction on one count of international concealment money laundering, for which he has been sentenced to five years in federal prison. Under the court's recent ruling, he may now wait out the resolution of that appeal a somewhat free man.

This is clearly good news for Lacey, who had been in federal custody since September 11. It's also good news for anyone who cares about free speech and about justice, considering the complete civil liberties nightmare that Lacey's prosecution has been. (See Reason's recently released documentary about the whole saga"Classified: The War on Backpage.com"for more.)

Unfortunately, Lacey's former colleagues Jed Brunst and Scott Spear will remain behind bars as their appeals play out. Lacey, Brunst, and Spear had asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for permission to post bail while they await the conclusion of their appeals casesa process that could take years.

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Last week, the appeals court granted Lacey's request while denying a similar request from Brunst and Spears. "Brunst and Spear have not shown that their appeals raise a 'substantial question' of law or fact that is likely to result in reversal or a new trial on all counts of conviction, or a sentence with a term of imprisonment less than time served plus the expected duration of the appeal process," the court held.

By contrast, "Lacey has shown that his appeal raises a 'substantial question' of law or fact that is 'fairly debatable' and that, if determined favorably to him, is likely to result in reversal on the single count of conviction," states the court's order. Moreover, "Lacey is not likely to flee or to pose a danger to the safety of any other person or the community if released."

The 9th Circuit sent Lacey's case back to U.S. District Court Judge Diane Humetewa to set Lacey's bail amount. Humetewawho presided over Lacey's 2023 trialset Lacey's bail at $1 million. She has yet to determine the conditions of his release, but a hearing is scheduled for December 2.

"Lacey's appeal raised several issues, including the fact there was no concealment in the 2017 transfer of money to Hungary that resulted in the charge against him," notes Stephen Lemons at Front Page Confidential, a site dedicated to defending the Backpage 3. "Lacey filed timely notices with the government and paid all relevant taxes on the funds," Lemons writes.

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Six defendants were scheduled to go on trial in 2023, but Jim LarkinLacey's longtime partner in the newspaper business and the co-founder of Backpagecommitted suicide just before the trial started. Five defendants ultimately were tried, with two totally acquitted.

A jury convicted Lacey of just one of the 86 counts against him and acquitted him of just one count. Jurors were hung on the other charges, and Humetewa declared a mistrial.

Humetewa later acquitted Lacey of many of the remaining charges against him. But there are still 34 outstanding counts on which federal prosecutors could try Lacey again.

"Earlier this year, prosecutors filed notice with the court that they intend to retry Lacey on the outstanding counts, but they later signaled their intention to await the outcome of the appeals process before going forward with a retrial," writes Lemons.

More Sex & Tech Links

 An Indianapolis police officer is facing felony charges after allegedly "secretly recording sexual encounters with women while on duty and in uniform, at times using his department-issued laptop to film the illegal videos."

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 Amazon is investing $4 billion in Anthropic, an artificial intelligence startup founded by former research executives of OpenAI.

 "Learn to code" isn't quite the sage advice it used to be.

Today's Image

Reston, Virginia | Yesterday (ENB/Reason)

The post Backpage Founder Michael Lacey Released on Bail appeared first on Reason.com.
Foot bridge over Lochsa River in Idaho. (Photo: Getty Images)

Deep in Idahos Clearwater Mountains, along the beautiful Lochsa River, is a stand of ancient cedar trees. These trees stand hundreds of feet tall and are hundreds of years old. They have seen a lot of American and Idaho history.

They were standing long before Europeans arrived in these mountains, back when the Nez Perce traveled through the Clearwater Mountains along what they called the Road to the Buffalo, the route they used to travel from their Idaho home to the buffalo hunting grounds in Montana. They were standing when explorers Lewis and Clark passed by less than mile away on their 1805-06 historic trek across North America to the Pacific Ocean. These trees were standing in 1877 when Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce were fleeing the U.S. Cavalry in their heartbreaking effort to reach the safety of Canada. Conservation historian Bernard DeVoto camped under these trees in the late 1940s while working on his editing of the Lewis and Clark journals. After DeVotos death, this grove of cedar trees was named the DeVoto Memorial Cedar Grove, and his ashes were spread on this site.

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Its no accident that these old cedar trees are still standing. They remain standing because they are on public lands. Public lands, in which every American has a stake. Surrounding forests, not on public lands, tell a far different story.

A few miles to east of the DeVoto Cedar Grove are lands that once belonged to a railroad company. In the 1860s, railroad companies were given vast tracks of lands in the West to facilitate settlement efforts and ease the way for possible cross country railroad routes. Only a few such routes panned out, so the railroads eventually sold much of their timber lands to private timber companies. These companies, out to maximize profits for shareholders, ravaged these forests, brutally logging these landscapes and leaving behind eroded hillsides, polluted streams, and miles and miles of stumps. Even today these denuded lands continue to dump sediment into the headwaters of the Lochsa River.

A few miles to the west of the DeVoto Cedar Grove are forest lands that ended up owned by another entity, this time the state of Idaho. Forests owned by the state are mandated to be managed to produce the maximum revenue for the school system. This means logging. Lots of logging. The state lands west of the DeVoto Cedar Grove are a jumbled maze of logging roads and clearcuts. Any old trees once there are long gone.

Besides his work on the Lewis and Clark journals, Bernard DeVoto is best known for his conservation advocacy in Harpers Magazine in the 1940s. It was here that DeVoto blew the whistle on the efforts by the national livestock associations to turn all of Americas public lands over to individual states and eventually private ownership. DeVotos writing galvanized opposition that helped defeat that effort at that time.

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But bad ideas die hard. Theres always remained smoldering efforts by private entities and the politicians in their pocket to somehow get their hands on public lands. The effort is back again. Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador a filed a friend of the court brief supporting Utahs effort to dispose of public land to state ownership. While purportedly focused on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, which provide unmatched wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities to all Americans, Utahs lawsuit raises the question of whether the federal government can hold lands in perpetuity at all. If this effort were to succeed, you can bet the national forests would be next on the politicians wish list.

Idaho sold off about one third of the land it received from the federal government upon statehood. Had Idaho gotten more land, it would have simply sold more of it. It has generally been a short step from state ownership to private ownership. And private ownership has meant, for stands of old forests like the DeVoto Grove on the Lochsa, a quick trip to the nearest sawmill and money in the owners pocket. Millions of acres of old growth forest, and the wildlife, clean water, and recreation opportunities supported by these forests, are gone forever by this route.

We in the West know what state or private ownership means for forests. Stumps, and lots of them. Both entities manage forests to maximize dollars generated. In contrast, public lands mean trees hundreds of years old, superb wildlife habitat, clear, clean water, and unmatched recreation opportunities. And our heritage. You would be hard pressed to find many areas owned by states or private corporations where short-term monetary gains are sidelined for the sake of protecting a place of history like the DeVoto Cedar Grove.

This commentary was first published by the Idaho Capital Sun, which like NC Newsline, is part of the national States Newsroom network.
Donald Trumps plan to ban transgender people from the military would have a devastating effect: At least 15,000 members would be forced to leave.

Military charities, such as the Modern Military Association of America, warn the ban would hurt every branch of the armed forces at a time when they are struggling to recruit. Sources told The Telegraph that people will be forced out at a time when the military cant recruit enough people.

Only the Marine Corps is hitting its numbers for recruitment, and some people who will be affected are in very senior positions, the source said.

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Trump banned transgender people from the military during his first term, but the ban was lifted by President Biden after his inauguration. Around 2,200 service members were diagnosed with gender dysmorphia at that time, but today there isnt an exact number of transgender people in the military because of privacy policies.

The president-elects nominee for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, has attacked the military as suffering from a long-term infection of radical left wing social justice policies. In his 2024 book, The War on Warriors, he wrote that affirmative action posts have skyrocketed, with firsts being the most important factor in filling new commanders. We will not stop until trans-lesbian Black females run everything!

That sentiment is in line with Trumps own thinking, as he has complained about woke generals and is reportedly planning to sign an executive order to create a warrior board that would allow him to easily purge the military of leaders he doesnt like.

Trump also plans to use the military to go after the enemy within, which encompasses his political enemies and anyone who stands in his way, and to carry out mass deportations. Both plans already have opposition from military leaders themselves, meaning that Trump will want to replace those leaders with more pliant sycophants. If he and Hegseth get their way, the next president will have dictator-level control of the military.


LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  The home invasion suspect facing charges for sparking a police shooting that left a homeowner dead appeared in a Las Vegas courtroom Monday morning after refusing to show up twice.

Las Vegas Justice Court Judge Amy Wilson set bail for Alejandra Boudreaux, 31, of Seattle, Washington, at $1 million. Boudreaux was ordered to appear by any means necessary after failing to show twice last week.

The danger posed to our community I do believe is significant in this case, Judge Wilson said before setting bail.

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Boudreaux is facing charges of home invasion with the use of a deadly weapon, assault domestic violence with the use of a deadly weapon, child abuse/neglect, and disregard for the safety of others resulting in a deadly shooting.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said Monday that a voluntary manslaughter charge was not appropriate for Boudreaux.

Alejandra Boudreaux appears in court on Nov. 25, 2024, on home invasion and assault charges in a police shooting that left Brandon Durham, 43, dead. (KLAS)

At one point, a marshall escorted Boudreaux out of the courtroom to wait until her hearing was called because she lifted her shirt showing her breasts, and was also staring at the Durham family seated in the courtroom. Family members were there on behalf of Brandon Durham, 43, who was shot and killed by LVMPD Officer Alexander Bookman on Nov. 12 inside his home.

Boudreaux also mouthed, Im sorry Brandon.

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Police responded to Durhams home after he called 911 and said someone was attempting to enter his home.

Alejandra Boudreaux, 31, of Seattle, Washington, faces charges of home invasion, assault, child abuse and disregarding safety of personal property following the events of Tuesday, Nov. 12, inside 43-year-old Brandon Durhams home. (LVMPD/KLAS)

According to court documents, when officers arrived, they found damage to several vehicles near the home and a broken window to the home. They also heard banging and screaming and upon entering the home, police video showed Durham and Boudreaux wrestling over a knife and Officer Bookman firing his weapon several times, killing Durham.

The reality of it though is we very much feel like [Boudreaux] shouldve had a partner sitting next to him. Officer Bookman belonged in that courtroom today, civil rights attorney Cannon Lambert said on Monday. Shes representing the Durham family on this matter.

Lambert referred to Boudreaux using a male pronoun, although Boudreaux identifies as a transgender woman.

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Officer Bookman is on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation. When asked whether Bookman would face charges, Wolfson said, There was a loss of life. I want to be careful. I want to be diligent. I want to be fair.

Speaking on behalf of the Durhams family, Lambert said justice is seeing officer Bookman arrested.

He had an idea as to who belonged in the house, who owned the house, and who he shouldve been shooting at. Explain it, make it make sense to me. How he shot the homeowner who called him for help, Lambert said.

The 8 News Now Investigators learned Bookman responded to Durhams home the day before the deadly encounter. Durham had called 911 then to report Boudreaux for trespassing after she refused to leave his home. The district attorney confirmed that interaction.

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Its undisputed that officer Bookman and another officer were at the Durham residence approximately 24 hours before. Had interaction to a certain degree with both Mr. Durham and defendant Boudreaux, Wolfson said.

Boudreaux, who has a criminal history in Florida and identifies as a transgender woman, is currently on suicide watch at the Clark County Detention Center and is scheduled for another court hearing on Dec. 16.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
Standing behind a table bristling with guns and drugs at Baltimore Police Headquarters, officials on Monday touted the takedown of what they said were four criminal organizations comprised of at least 39 people, as evidence of improving law enforcement coordination.

The gangs operated in Southwest Baltimore and primarily dealt in drug trafficking, but were also associated with violence, officials said.

Families have been devastated by this level of organized crime, said U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume, a Democrat who represents Baltimore. The organizations that are being taken down today, if left unchecked, wouldve engaged in more murder, more drugs, more disarray in this city.

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Dubbed Operation Tornado Alley, the nearly year-long investigation resulted in the seizure of 65 guns, approximately 10 kilograms of drugs  heroin, fentanyl and cocaine  and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from members of the group, officials said. Many of the proceeds resulted from predawn raids at 16 residences last week.

The guns seized included untraceable, build-them-at-home ghost guns and firearms featuring devices that convert semi-automatic weapons into machine guns, said Toni M. Crosby, special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Baltimore Field Division. She called the proliferation of the conversion devices, known as Glock switches, as a massive threat to public safety.

Crosby added that ATF agents determined the guns recovered in the case were linked to 47 shootings, saying that law enforcement would continue to look into connections between those implicated in the gang cases and the shootings.

This investigation is ongoing, said Baltimore States Attorney Ivan Bates, whose office is prosecuting 38 indictments stemming from the takedowns.

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Bates, a Democrat, said his prosecutors wrote approximately 150 warrants and affidavits, for such things as wiretaps, allowing detectives with the Baltimore Police Department to surveil suspects 24 hours a day, seven days a week. At times, Bates said, investigators learned of imminent acts of violence and interceded before anyone got hurt.

We identified targets who planned to impact violence on a mass level, but as a result of proactive investigation, numerous violent incidents were prevented, Bates said, saying officers stopped an armed robbery, broke up a turf war and intervened before one of the alleged gang members was shot dead in a contract killing.

Drug trafficking, Bates added, goes hand-in-hand with our homicides and nonfatal shootings.

According to authorities, one gang operated in the 2000 block of West Pratt Street in Carrollton Ridge. Another group was based in the 1700 block of Lemmon Street in Union Square. A third crew had set up shop in the 2800 block of Edmondson Avenue in Mosher. The last organization operated in the 500 block of Millington Avenue in Milhill.

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Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said the investigation began as a probe by his departments Group Violence Unit into one organization, but grew bigger and bigger as detectives uncovered more information via wiretaps.

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Those implicated in the gang cases range in age from 16 to 61, Worley said. The alleged members have been arrested a combined 220 times. He said 12 were repeat offenders.

Authorities have yet to arrest 15 people charged in the cases, Worley said.

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Bates said charges ranged from drug possession and distribution to carjacking and conspiracy to commit murder.

The states attorney credited the office of Maryland U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron for assisting his prosecutors in obtaining a wiretap for the drug organizations. Barrons office secured federal indictments against two people following the gang sting.

Barron said the gang cases exemplified a new approach from his office in which his prosecutors are getting our nails dirty.

Operation Tornado Alley is just the latest example of the impactful work the city states attorneys office and Baltimore Police Department can accomplish when the feds take a leadership role and provide the teamwork, the tools and the resources that they need, Barron said. This investigation never gets off the ground with a wire without States Attorney Ivan Bates. He contacted me for help and we went to work.

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Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott described the takedowns as reaffirming his administrations Group Violence Reduction Strategy, which seeks to arrest offenders and provide people likely to be trigger pullers or shooting victims resources so they can change course.

This is what GVRSs accountability component looks like, said Scott, a Democrat, describing teamwork and early prosecutor involvement in police investigations as key. We will not tolerate violence or behaviors that lend themselves to future violence like drug trafficking and carrying illegal guns.

Scott and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, also a Democrat, said increased collaboration between federal and local authorities has been critical to bringing down homicides and nonfatal shootings in Baltimore. Both killings and shootings have seen year-over-year declines.

Together, we are writing a new chapter in our story of public safety, Moore said.

Have a news tip? Contact Alex Mann at amann@baltsun.com, and x.com/@alex_mann10.
International bestselling author Barbara Taylor Bradford died at her home Thursday, her publishing house confirmed.

She was 91.

The writer died following a short illness and was surrounded by her loved ones, HarperCollins UK said in a post on Facebook.

"Barbara Taylor Bradford was a truly exceptional writer," HarperCollins CEO Charlie Redmayne said. "For 45 years, she was a huge part of our company and a great, great friend  we will miss her so much."

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With the deepest and heartfelt sadness, it is confirmed that international bestselling author Barbara Taylor Bradford... Posted by HarperCollins Publishers UK on Monday, November 25, 2024

Bradford was perhaps best known for her debut novel, "A Woman of Substance." After being published in 1979, the book went from bestseller to superseller within its first year and stayed on The New York Times' list for 43 weeks, the company said.

She wrote 40 novels throughout her life, each of which became a worldwide bestseller. More than 91 million copies of her books have been sold to date, published in more than 40 languages and in 90 countries, according to the publishing house.

"Working with a storyteller as remarkable as Barbara for over 20 years was a huge privilege but also a huge amount of fun. Perennially curious, interested in everyone and extraordinarily driven, she loved writing and the conversations we had about her characters were unfailingly the best hours of my week," said Lynne Drew, Barbaras long-term publisher and editor at HarperCollins. "Im so proud to have been her publisher for over 20 years  working with her has been one of the great thrills of my career, and I and everyone at HarperCollins will miss her greatly."

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Bradford started writing at just 7 years old and sold her first short story to a magazine at 10, HarperCollins UK said. Born and raised in Leeds, she left school at 15 to work at the Yorkshire Evening Post, where she later became its first woman's editor at 18. Two years later, she moved to London to become a columnist and editor.

She met and fell in love with her husband, Hollywood film and television producer Robert Bradford, in 1961. They married two years later and moved to New York, spending 55 years together until he died in July 2019, according to HarperCollins UK.

Bradford worked with her husband to adapt 10 of her books for television. One of the most well known was the TV adaptation of "A Woman of Substance," which starred Jenny Seagrove and Liam Neeson. The series was nominated for two Emmy awards and boasted 13.8 million viewers on its premiere date, setting a record for Channel 4 in the United Kingdom in 1985 as its highest-ever audience, HarperCollins UK said.

"Success never diluted her warmth and humor or her ability to relate to everyone she met, whether a cleaner or a princess," Seagrove spoke of Bradford. "She never, ever forgot that she was just a girl from Yorkshire that worked hard and made good. RIP dear friend."

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Bradford was awarded five honorary doctorates of letters during her career, was an ambassador for the National Literacy Trust in the U.K., and served on the Board of Literacy Partners in the United States for six years, according to HarperCollins UK.

She was awarded an Order of the British Empire for her services to literature in 2007 by the late Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace, the publishing company said.

"[Bradford] was a legend in so many ways, but chief among them was her utmost professionalism and dedication to her craft. She never missed a deadline and if she said she was going to deliver her book on a Thursday, thats when it would arrive," said Jennifer Enderlin, president and publisher of St. Martins Press. "Barbaras novels would always transport you. She was the definition of A Woman of Substance."

Bradford will be buried alongside her husband at Westchester Hills Cemetery, New York, after a private funeral, HarperCollins UK confirmed.

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She was recently asked what would be on her epitaph, according to her publishing company. Bradford replied, "She made her dreams come true."

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
ATHELSTANE, Wis. (WFRV)  Authorities in Marinette County say one man was arrested Sunday morning after he allegedly fired a gun at a vehicle.

According to a release from the Marinette County Sheriffs Office, deputies responded at 10:51 to Smiley Road in the Town of Athelstane after a caller reported a man firing a handgun into the ground near their vehicle which had multiple passengers inside.

Officials say that after the man allegedly shot at the vehicle, he walked to a nearby home and armed himself with a shotgun.

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Deputies, along with several respondents from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources were able to set up a perimeter at the location.

Disturbance leads to early morning pursuit in Appleton, suspect in custody

The Marinette Special Response Team and BearCat, the Marinette County Drone Team, and the Wisconsin DNR Drone team were called to the scene and were able to observe the man walking back and forth in a driveway near the incident while still armed with the long gun.

While using the armored rescue vehicle, members of the Marinette Special Response Team were able to contact the man and take him into custody without any further incident.

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The Marinette County Sheriffs Office says it is referring 1st Degree Recklessly Endangering Safety charges to the Marinette County District Attorneys Office.

No other information is available at this time and an investigation into the incident remains ongoing.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
As the Chicago Bears continue to face massive hurdles in Springfield over plans to build a domed stadium next to Soldier Field, the team said Monday it has reached an agreement over property taxes for the 326 acres of land it owns in Arlington Heights that has tripped up plans to build a new stadium in the northwest suburb.

Team officials said they had agreed on a memorandum of understanding involving the amount of taxes to be paid for the former site of the Arlington International Racecourse. The village and local school boards still need to approve the agreement, which could happen next month. While it does not guarantee the team will build a stadium in Arlington Heights, the deal does shift some momentum back toward the suburban site and keeps the teams options more open than before.

The Chicago Bears remain focused on investing over $2 billion to build a publicly owned enclosed stadium on Chicagos lakefront while reevaluating the feasibility of a development in Bronzeville, Bears officials said in a team statement released Monday.

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That being said, we remain significant landowners in Arlington Heights and establishing a framework for potential future development planning, financing and property tax certainty has been a priority since the land was purchased. We continue to have productive conversations with the village and school districts and are aligned on a framework should we choose to explore a potential development.

Details of the deal were not released Monday. The Bears and the suburban taxing districts have been at loggerheads over the valuation of the Arlington Heights property, which the Cook County Board of Review set at about $125 million. The Bears have countered with appraisals ranging from $60 million to $71 million and categorizing the property as vacant residential land, which gets taxed at 10% of market value. Local school officials have said the land should be valued at $160 million and classified for commercial use, which puts it into a 25% tax bracket.

Despite those differences and the teams focus on building a new stadium in Chicago, the Bears has never closed the door on the Arlington Heights site, especially as the lakefront proposal has withered due to opposition from state leaders.

Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes called the deal a significant step.

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Weve had productive conversations with the Bears and the school districts, and we believe were in agreement on a framework for moving forward on the previously unresolved tax issues, Hayes said. I do anticipate this agreement would be formalized in the near future. It outlines a more clear path forward.

In addition to the site next to Soldier Field and the Arlington Heights property, which the team purchased last year, another site the Bears are looking at is the land once occupied by Michael Reese Hospital in Bronzeville near Lake Michigan.

Chicago Bears and Soldier Field: What to know about the possible stadium move  or transformation

The Bears previously dismissed the old Michael Reese site as being too small and said the site also was unworkable because its next to Metra train tracks that pose a security risk, all of which Hayes pointed to as reasons he is bullish on Arlington Heights.

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If the Bears come back, its going to be a much easier road, Hayes said about the suburban site, adding he hopes progress is made between the taxing bodies and the team in the first half of next year. Were on the same sheet of music. All sides are ready to pursue the opportunity when the Bears turn back in our direction. Im encouraged something could happen in the spring to enable a new stadium in Arlington Heights.

After the Bears released their statement, the three local school districts  Community Consolidated School District 15 in Palatine, Arlington Heights-based Township High School District 214 and Palatine-based High School District 211  released a joint statement of their own Monday: We continue to believe Arlington Heights remains an incredible opportunity, and we have a common understanding with the team on how to create a framework for potential development, financing, and property tax certainty in Arlington Heights that works for all parties. We look forward to future conversations.

The Bears bought the 326-acre former Arlington Park in 2023 for $197 million and announced plans for a $2 billion enclosed stadium as part of a $5 billion mixed-use development.

Chicago Bears show renderings for enclosed stadium complex in Arlington Heights, but say theyd expect some public funding for surrounding entertainment district

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But after new team President Kevin Warren took over that year, he said that local schools proposals for taxes on the site were a deal-breaker, and turned the teams attention back to the city. With Mayor Brandon Johnsons support, the team earlier this year proposed contributing $2 billion toward a $3.2 billion enclosed, publicly owned stadium to replace Soldier Field. That $3.2 billion figure doesnt include the $1.5 billion in infrastructure money funded by the public that the team says would be needed to fully realize its vision for a year-round venue and surrounding park space.

Gov. JB Pritzker and legislative leaders have thrown cold water on the idea, saying the state has priorities other than providing major funding to a private business.

Both the lakefront and Arlington Heights plans would involve public dollars, something lawmakers have been cool on for both sites. But some northwest suburban state lawmakers said the recent developments were encouraging.

Democratic state Sen. Mark Walker of Arlington Heights said that despite the teams agreement with the school districts, bigger financial issues as to how the project would be paid for still need to be resolved. Team officials have said they would need public funding to help pay for infrastructure such as new expressway ramps for the Arlington Heights site.

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A previous proposal for a payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, in which the long-term taxes would be addressed, would require state legislation. But funding concerns could be exacerbated by a projected state budget hole of nearly $3.2 billion for the next fiscal year that would prevent the lawmakers from granting significant taxpayer subsidies. The concerns also include Johnsons struggles to balance his proposed $17.3 billion budget, with aldermen earlier this month voting unanimously to spike his plan to implement a $300 million property tax hike.

I would think that the local communities, especially Arlington Heights, have more flexibility on providing property tax relief than would the city (of Chicago) at this point, said Walker. But the issues of capital and state funding are still out there and  my guess is that the Bears would have to find another source for the big capital.

State Rep. Mary Beth Canty, who has continued to advocate for the Bears to move to Arlington Heights, called the memorandum of understanding a positive step forward.

I think this is a great opportunity and I think that they could do a lot of good here. They have the opportunity to be really good neighbors, Canty, an Arlington Heights Democrat, said of the Bears. Ill be anxious to see what the boards have to say when they go over it in their meetings as Im sure theyll be required to do. But I think everybody is coming to the table thinking positively and also thinking about what does the community need, what does the community want and how can we deliver on those things in a way that moves everyone forward.

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The agreement would cover taxes going forward, but the Bears continue to appeal the teams 2023 tax bill to the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board. The team also demolished the former race track stadium to lower its taxes, leaving the site vacant.

Suburban school officials have always doubted the taxes were the determining factor in the teams decision to play in Arlington Heights since they offered less than the estimated $9 million tax bill, a relatively small amount in what would be a multibillion-dollar deal.

The taxes were raised after Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi raised the propertys assessed valuation to near the sites $197 million purchase price. Ultimately, the assessor would have to approve any agreement on taxes.
This photo taken on Nov. 22, 2024 shows a view of Aswan, Egypt. Aswan, a southern Egyptian city on upper Nile River, is one of the country's famous tourist destinations. It boasts rich cultural and natural tourism resources, attracting visitors from around the world every year. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

This photo taken on Nov. 22, 2024 shows a view of Aswan, Egypt. Aswan, a southern Egyptian city on upper Nile River, is one of the country's famous tourist destinations. It boasts rich cultural and natural tourism resources, attracting visitors from around the world every year. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

Tourists take sightseeing boats on the Nile River in Aswan, Egypt, Nov. 22, 2024. Aswan, a southern Egyptian city on upper Nile River, is one of the country's famous tourist destinations. It boasts rich cultural and natural tourism resources, attracting visitors from around the world every year. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

This photo taken on Nov. 22, 2024 shows a view of Aswan, Egypt. Aswan, a southern Egyptian city on upper Nile River, is one of the country's famous tourist destinations. It boasts rich cultural and natural tourism resources, attracting visitors from around the world every year. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

Tourists visit the Philae temple complex in Aswan, Egypt, Nov. 22, 2024. Aswan, a southern Egyptian city on upper Nile River, is one of the country's famous tourist destinations. It boasts rich cultural and natural tourism resources, attracting visitors from around the world every year. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

This photo taken on Nov. 22, 2024 shows the residential areas along the Nile River in Aswan, Egypt. Aswan, a southern Egyptian city on upper Nile River, is one of the country's famous tourist destinations. It boasts rich cultural and natural tourism resources, attracting visitors from around the world every year. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

A girl collects clothes at a Nubian village in Aswan, Egypt, Nov. 24, 2024. Aswan, a southern Egyptian city on upper Nile River, is one of the country's famous tourist destinations. It boasts rich cultural and natural tourism resources, attracting visitors from around the world every year. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

This photo taken on Nov. 22, 2024 shows a view of Aswan, Egypt. Aswan, a southern Egyptian city on upper Nile River, is one of the country's famous tourist destinations. It boasts rich cultural and natural tourism resources, attracting visitors from around the world every year. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

A man takes photos of the sunset view of Aswan, Egypt, Nov. 22, 2024. Aswan, a southern Egyptian city on upper Nile River, is one of the country's famous tourist destinations. It boasts rich cultural and natural tourism resources, attracting visitors from around the world every year. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

This photo taken on Nov. 22, 2024 shows the sunset view of Aswan, Egypt. Aswan, a southern Egyptian city on upper Nile River, is one of the country's famous tourist destinations. It boasts rich cultural and natural tourism resources, attracting visitors from around the world every year. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)
Belarus recorded a record high number of Shahed drones coming from Ukraine in the past 24 hours.

Source: Belaruski Hajun, an independent Belarusian military monitoring media outlet, on Telegram

Details: Monitors reported a record 38 Shahed drones entering Belarus in a single day, with at least one being shot down. Aircraft was scrambled four times. According to analysts, this sets a new all-time daily record for monitoring activity.

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Quote: "At least one Shahed drone reached Mazyr, with dozens of crossings through the 'Belarusian corridor.' Additionally, Shahed drones entered Gomel Oblast at least three times, near the Novaya Guta border crossing."

It was also recorded that nine drones returned to Ukrainian airspace.

Background: The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Ukraines defence forces destroyed 71 out of 145 Russian drones on 25 November, as 71 more were lost from radar.

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It's sometimes possible to forget in a chaotic world, but Russia's invasion of Ukraine drags on, as does Ukraine's defense against its aggressor. Overlooking that ongoing and bloody conflict is unfortunate since recent developments have heightened tensions between Russia and its allies on the one hand, and the U.S. and NATO on the other. Not least of these developments is the exiting Biden administration's belated decision to let Ukraine use American missiles against targets in Russialeaving an exhausted Ukraine, the new Trump administration, and the world to deal with the consequences.

Escalation After Escalation

"President Biden has authorized the first use of U.S.-supplied long-range missiles by Ukraine for strikes inside Russia," Adam Entous, Eric Schmitt, and Julian E. Barnes of The New York Times reported last week. "The weapons are likely to be initially employed against Russian and North Korean troops in defense of Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region of western Russia, the officials said."

The U.S. is also providing previously withheld antipersonnel mines.

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The mention of North Korean troops refers to a prior escalation as North Korea dispatched thousands of combat troops to Russia to assist its ally's war of aggression. Ukraine promptly took advantage of the loosened reins by striking a Russian military base with U.S.-made ATACMS missiles. Russia then upped the ante again with use of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile, threats to actually use nuclear weapons, and indications that it might strike an American military base in Poland. That last would be an explicit attack on NATO and require response by all its members.

Which is to say that the nasty, grinding, two-and-a-half-year-old invasion of Ukraine not only shows no end in sight but appears on the verge of spreading. And it's heating up at a time when the United States is in the process of transition from a lame-duck president of questionable mental capacity to a new administration which won't take office until January.

Belated Permission To Strike Back

Part of this timing can be laid on the Biden administration. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, that country's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other officials have begged for weapons andas importantpermission to use them as they see necessary. Instead, the U.S. and other western nations have selectively supplied arms, with hobbling restrictions on how and where they can be used.

"Mr Zelensky's frustration is understandable," The Economist observed in September. "In international law, the right of self-defence allows strikes on positions from which the aggressor's attacks are launched or enabled." The Economist added, "the real reason for Mr Biden's reluctance is almost certainly fear of Russian escalation. Yet so many supposed Russian red lines have been crossed that Mr Putin's warnings have lost much of their power."

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The result has been that Russia has largely been able to use threats of escalation and even of attacks on the West to define the terms by which Ukraine gets to defend itself. That's guaranteed a war that drags on, in which Ukrainians are encouraged to continue fighting but not allowed the means to do their best.

Nobody To Manage the Crisis

To finally loosen restrictions now that badly aging Joe Biden's chosen successor, Vice President Kamala Harris, has lost the election and the federal establishment is preparing for new civilian leadership and different policies, is bizarre. It feeds heightened international tensions when America is in a poor position to manage a new (or growing) crisis.

That leaves Europe and the rest of NATO to handle the conflict on its eastern border. The rest of NATO, to put it mildly, isn't really up to the job.

"The British militarythe leading U.S. military ally and Europe's biggest defense spenderhas only around 150 deployable tanks and perhaps a dozen serviceable long-range artillery pieces," Max Colchester, David Luhnow, and Bojan Pancevski of The Wall Street Journal reported last December. "France, the next biggest spender, has fewer than 90 heavy artillery pieces, equivalent to what Russia loses roughly every month on the Ukraine battlefield. Denmark has no heavy artillery, submarines or air-defense systems. Germany's army has enough ammunition for two days of battle."

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NATO leadership is well aware of this problem, noting last month that "the combined wealth of the non-US Allies, measured in GDP, is almost equal to that of the United States. However, non-US Allies together spend less than half of what the United States spends on defence."

President-elect Donald Trump has made an issue of this mismatch, bluntly threatening to refuse to defend countries that don't meet military-funding obligations. That might be quite a trick with neighbor Canada, potentially the worst freeloader of the bunch; in an assessment leaked to The Washington Post, Pentagon analysts say Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told NATO officials his country "will never" spend NATO's required 2 percent of GDP on defense.

But even if Trump successfully prods European allies to take more responsibility for dealing with threats on their own continent, that's months and years in the future. In the meantime, tensions are rising with a caretaker administration in Washington, D.C. and hollow militaries among most NATO nations.

Ukrainians May Be Too Exhausted To Benefit

Perhaps the people growing most tired of a war that drags on, consuming soldiers who are hobbled in how and where they strike the enemy, are Ukrainians.

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"Ukrainians have grown increasingly skeptical of quick accessions to NATO and the EU," finds Gallup, which sees "rising fatigue with the war and strains on Ukraine's relationships with key allies in the West."

Importantly, "an average of 52% of Ukrainians would like to see their country negotiate an end to the war as soon as possible," according to the polling firm. By contrast, "nearly four in 10 Ukrainians (38%) believe their country should keep fighting until victory." That's down from the beginning of the war, when 73 percent wanted to fight until Ukraine had won.

Encouraging Ukrainians to fight, but with their hands tied, for two-and-a-half years has ground down the country's people, wealth, and will. The Biden administration waited not just for an inopportune moment in terms of domestic politics to loosen restrictions on Ukraine's defense efforts; it waited so long that Ukrainians might no longer be in a position to benefit from the changed rules.

Whether or not Ukraine can take advantage of loosened strictures, or Europeans are ready to contain the conflict to their east, the war in Ukraine is escalating. We're stumbling towards greater danger.

The post Belated Loosening of Restrictions on Ukraine Leaves World Stumbling Towards Greater Danger appeared first on Reason.com.
A manager at a restaurant in Belmont is facing felony charges after allegedly embezzling over $200,000, police said this weekend.

It happened at Nellies Southern Kitchen, which is owned by the Jonas family, of Jonas Brothers fame.

Jonas familys Nellies Southern Kitchen debuts Las Vegas restaurant

According to the Belmont Police Department, Joy Nichols Auten, the famous brothers aunt, was arrested and charged with five felony counts of embezzlement by an employee.

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Detectives said Auten withdrew $251,986 from a business account between 2016 and 2020 when she only needed to cover about $29,000 in unpaid tips.

BPD says at least $93,039 in cash was deposited into Autens personal bank account. Its not clear what happened to the rest of the money.

The downtown restaurant is a big draw for business.

The Jonas Brothers helped put Nelles on the map, which was closed on Monday.

The eatery also helps neighboring businesses.

With the holidays coming up, seems like there are a lot more tourists coming in, Louis Coria, co-owner. We have a lot more people in downtown walking around.

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Local attorney Brent Ratchford said its not unusual to see family members charged with stealing from a business.

Its going to be people who are close by, Ratchford said. People who have a lot of trust. Family members, very close kin.

He said Auten may avoid prison because police can only show she pocketed less than $100,000.

He said that could be a good thing.

A defendant in prison cant work to repay the business.

The DA is going to have to balance the thought of, Do I want the money back and punish, or do I just want to punish? Ratchford said.

Nelles will be open on Tuesday.

This was a deliberate and calculated act that significantly impacted a beloved business in our community, said Belmont Police Chief Boyce Corky Falls.

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Falls said the department is still investigating. The department is asking anyone with more details to call 704-825-3792.





(VIDEO: Only going to get worse: Neighbors concerned after Belmont transportation bond doesnt pass)
Campaign signs for former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the respective GOP and Democratic presidential nominees, appear Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, on Mount Desert Island in Maine. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)

An oracle erred badly. The most impressive results were turned in by a little-known company in Brazil. A nagging problem reemerged, and some media critics turned profane in their assessments.

So it went for pollsters in the 2024 presidential election. Their collective performance, while not stellar, was improved from that of four years earlier. Overall, polls signaled a close outcome in the race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

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That is what the election produced: a modest win for Trump.

With votes still being counted in California and a few other states more than a week after Election Day, Trump had received 50.1% of the popular vote to Harris 48.1%, a difference of 2 points. That margin was closer than Joe Bidens win by 4.5 points over Trump in 2020. It was closer than Hillary Clintons popular vote victory in 2016, closer than Barack Obamas wins in 2008 and 2012.

There were, moreover, no errors among national pollsters quite as dramatic as CNNs estimate in 2020 that Biden led Trump by 12 points.

This time, CNNs final national poll said the race was deadlocked  an outcome anticipated by six other pollsters, according to data compiled by RealClearPolitics.

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The most striking discrepancy this year was the Marist College poll, conducted for NPR and PBS. It estimated Harris held a 4-point lead nationally at campaigns end.

Oracle of Iowas big miss

In any event, a sense lingered among critics that the Trump-Harris election had resulted in yet another polling embarrassment, another entry in the catalog of survey failures in presidential elections, which is the topic of my latest book, Lost in a Gallup.

Comedian Jon Stewart gave harsh voice to such sentiments, saying of pollsters on his late-night program on election night, I dont ever want to fucking hear from you again. Ever.  You dont know shit about shit, and I dont care for you.

Megyn Kelly, a former Fox News host, also denounced pollsters, declaring on her podcast the day after the election: Polling is a lie. They dont know anything.

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Two factors seemed to encourage such derision  a widely discussed survey of Iowa voters released the weekend before the election and Trumps sweep of the seven states where the outcome turned.

The Iowa poll injected shock and surprise into the campaigns endgame, reporting that Harris had taken a 3-point lead in the state over Trump. The result was likened to a bombshell and its implications seemed clear: If Harris had opened a lead in a state with Iowas partisan profile, her prospects of winning elsewhere seemed strong, especially in the Great Lakes swing states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

The survey was conducted for the Des Moines Register by J. Ann Selzer, a veteran Iowa-based pollster with an outstanding reputation in opinion research. In a commentary in The New York Times in mid-September, Republican pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson declared Selzer the oracle of Iowa. Rachel Maddow of MSNBC praised Selzers polls before the election for their uncanny predictive accuracy. Ratings released in June by data guru Nate Silver gave Selzers polls an A-plus grade.

But this time, Selzers poll missed dramatically.

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Trump carried Iowa by 13 points, meaning the poll was off by 16 points  a stunning divergence for an accomplished pollster.

Even the mighty have been humbled by Trumps victory, the Times of London said of Selzers polling failure.

Selzer said afterward she will be reviewing data from multiple sources with hopes of learning why that (discrepancy) happened.

It is possible, other pollsters suggested, that Selzers reliance on telephone-based surveying contributed to the polling failure. Phone polling alone  isnt going to reach low-propensity voters or politically disengaged nonwhite men, Tom Lubbock and James Johnson wrote in a commentary for The Wall Street Journal.

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These days, few pollsters rely exclusively on the phone to conduct election surveys; many of them have opted for hybrid approaches that combine, for example, phone, text and online sampling techniques.

Surprise sweep of swing states

Trumps sweep of the seven vigorously contested swing states surely contributed to perceptions that polls had misfired again.

According to RealClearPolitics, Harris held slender, end-of-campaign polling leads in Michigan and Wisconsin, while Trump was narrowly ahead in Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Nevada.

Trump won them all, an outcome no pollster anticipated  except for AtlasIntel of Sao Paulo, Brazil, a firm about which little is known, as The New Republic noted.

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AtlasIntel estimated Trump was ahead in all seven swing states by margins that hewed closely to the voting outcomes. In none of the swing states did AtlasIntels polling deviate from the final vote tally by more than 1.3 points, an impressive performance.

AtlasIntel did not respond to email requests I sent requesting information about its background and polling technique. The company describes itself as a leading innovator in online polling and says it uses a proprietary methodology, without revealing much about it.

Its founder and chief executive is Andrei Roman, who earned a doctorate in government at Harvard University. Roman took to X, formerly Twitter, in the elections aftermath to post a chart that touted AtlasIntel as the most accurate pollster of the US Presidential Election.

It was a burst of pollster braggadocio reminiscent of a kind that has emerged periodically since the 1940s. That was when polling pioneer George Gallup placed two-page advertising spreads in the journalism trade publication Editor & Publisher to assert the accuracy of his polls in presidential elections.

Underestimating Trumps support again

A significant question facing pollsters this year  their great known unknown  was whether modifications made to sampling techniques would allow them to avoid underestimating Trumps support, as they had in 2016 and 2020.

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Misjudging Trumps backing is a nagging problem for pollsters. The results of the 2024 election indicate that the shortcoming persists. By margins ranging from 0.9 points to 2.7 points, polls overall understated Trumps support in the seven swing states, for example.

Some polls misjudged Trumps backing by even greater margins. CNN, for example, underestimated Trumps vote by 4.3 points in North Carolina, by more than 6 points in Michigan and Wisconsin as well as Arizona.

Results that misfire in the same direction suggest that adjustments to sampling methodologies were inadequate or ineffective for pollsters in seeking to reach Trump backers of all stripes.

W. Joseph Campbell, Professor Emeritus of Communication, American University School of Communication

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Though President-elect Donald Trump has waffled on how his administration might handle abortion policy, anti-abortion activists are already exerting a pressure campaign for the incoming Trump administration to take a hardline approach and undo many of the policies set in place by the Biden administration.

Still, with two months left before Biden leaves office, there are some areas where legal scholars and attorneys suggest the outgoing administration could still take action, even if the impact may be narrow or short-lived.

There were a bunch of things that the Biden administration did do, said Jennifer Dalven, head of the ACLUs Reproductive Freedom Project. The question is what will be undone, and how quickly and can we fight it.

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The outgoing administration has leveraged its authority to secure abortion access in some cases and pressed state governments to do the same. But it can do little to maintain those protections beyond Trumps January 20 inauguration. Many policies  for instance, supporting military members who need to travel for abortion  could be quickly rescinded.

Abortion opponents have called for, at a minimum, a reprisal of Trumps first term, in which he appointed anti-abortion judges, barred Planned Parenthood from participating in the federal family planning known as Title X, and directed his Department of Justice to challenge guidance from the Food and Drug Administration that expanded availability of medication abortion drug mifepristone. They have also pushed for the undoing of Biden policies that supported abortion access.

Anything that the federal or state governments can do to support both abortion providers and funds  be it financially or otherwise  to get through the transition to an administration that will be hostile to abortion and reproductive rights in general, they absolutely should, said Molly Duane, an attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, a legal advocacy group.

One way, many legal scholars said, could be by enforcing existing policies. In one of its most high-profile efforts to protect abortion, the Department of Health and Human Services has argued that the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act  known as EMTALA  requires that most hospitals provide abortions if they constitute the appropriate stabilizing care in an emergency. Hospitals in violation of EMTALA can face financial penalties.

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Abortion opponents have challenged that argument, with multiple cases still making their way through the courts. But even over the past two years, the federal government has levied only a few penalties against hospitals, despite receiving numerous complaints of alleged violations. The government announced a streamlined complaint process this past May to address cases more quickly.

The Center for Reproductive Rights is waiting for federal responses regarding multiple complaints. Two were filed in August by women in Texas who could not get timely care for their ectopic pregnancies  which are life-threatening, nonviable and only treatable with abortion  until the pregnancies ruptured, putting them at risk of death. Another, filed on October 30, is on behalf of a woman whose water broke prematurely and who did not receive hospital care until she was septic. The typical timeline to address an EMTALA complaint is a few months.

The big thing we are wanting for our clients is some accountability for the harms that theyve suffered, Duane said. All three, she said, are straightforward cases.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declined to comment about how the department might approach outstanding EMTALA complaints, which are handled by its subsidiary, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

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But time is running out. Legal experts and public policy observers have said they anticipate the new administration walking back the Biden administrations interpretation of EMTALA and arguing that it does not protect abortion even in medical emergencies. Dr. Mehmet Oz, Trumps pick to head CMS, has said he does not support abortion at any point in pregnancy. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Trumps selection for HHS secretary, has been less consistent on his abortion views, but has been open to meeting with anti-abortion groups and lawmakers.

No pro-life law prevents emergency intervention and abortions necessary to save the life of a mother, said Marjorie Dannenfelser, head of SBA Pro-Life America, an influential anti-abortion group.

Legal scholars also pointed to other potential policy levers the Biden administration could pull, if not to secure abortion rights then to at least expand access to the procedure in some states and strengthen access to reproductive rights more broadly.

In August 2022, HHS and CMS jointly instructed states to consider developing Medicaid pilots that might use funds from the insurance program  which is jointly funded by federal and state governments, but regulated on individual state levels  to help cover expenses people incur when traveling to these states for abortions. (Legally, federal funds cannot be used to pay for abortion itself, though state funds sometimes can be.) Abortion-related travel can be cost-prohibitive for people who cannot legally access the procedure in their home states.

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Those are sticky. Its not like they persist forever, but it might even give a year or multiple years before the Trump administration could roll them back, said Elizabeth Sepper, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law who specializes in health law. That would be really helpful to get some of those costs defrayed.

But that proposal has yielded little interest from states, even as some are scrambling to get approval for other new Medicaid proposals. Carly Sfregola, a spokesperson for the National Association of Medicaid Directors, said the organization was unaware of any state applications to use Medicaid funds to cover abortion-related travel. HHS also did not answer questions about whether the government might remind states it is looking for proposals.

Even faced with a hostile administration, some reproductive rights policies will not disappear immediately.

Abortion opponents have called for the reversal of a rule that took effect this summer to ensure that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which safeguards patient medical records, applies to records of patients abortions. But the process of undoing federal rulemaking is complex and will take at least months.

Advertisement Advertisement

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That could also matter for another federal rule proposed in October, which would strengthen insurance coverage of contraceptives, including over-the-counter birth control, as mandated by the Affordable Care Act. By law, the proposed rule must be open to public comment before it can be finalized and implemented. The comment period ends December 27  leaving just under a month to finalize it before the presidential transition.

The post Heres what the Biden administration can do about abortion before Trump takes office appeared first on The 19th.

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A group of doctors joins abortion rights supporters at a rally outside the Supreme Court on April 24, 2024, as oral arguments on Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States are underway in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

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Though President-elect Donald Trump has waffled on how his administration might handle abortion policy, anti-abortion activists are already exerting a pressure campaign for the incoming Trump administration to take a hardline approach and undo many of the policies set in place by the Biden administration.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement

Still, with two months left before Biden leaves office, there are some areas where legal scholars and attorneys suggest the outgoing administration could still take action, even if the impact may be narrow or short-lived.

There were a bunch of things that the Biden administration did do, said Jennifer Dalven, head of the ACLUs Reproductive Freedom Project. The question is what will be undone, and how quickly and can we fight it.

The outgoing administration has leveraged its authority to secure abortion access in some cases and pressed state governments to do the same. But it can do little to maintain those protections beyond Trumps January 20 inauguration. Many policies  for instance, supporting military members who need to travel for abortion  could be quickly rescinded.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement

Abortion opponents have called for, at a minimum, a reprisal of Trumps first term, in which he appointed anti-abortion judges, barred Planned Parenthood from participating in the federal family planning known as Title X, and directed his Department of Justice to challenge guidance from the Food and Drug Administration that expanded availability of medication abortion drug mifepristone. They have also pushed for the undoing of Biden policies that supported abortion access.

Anything that the federal or state governments can do to support both abortion providers and funds  be it financially or otherwise  to get through the transition to an administration that will be hostile to abortion and reproductive rights in general, they absolutely should, said Molly Duane, an attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, a legal advocacy group.

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One way, many legal scholars said, could be by enforcing existing policies. In one of its most high-profile efforts to protect abortion, the Department of Health and Human Services has argued that the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act  known as EMTALA  requires that most hospitals provide abortions if they constitute the appropriate stabilizing care in an emergency. Hospitals in violation of EMTALA can face financial penalties.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement

Abortion opponents have challenged that argument, with multiple cases still making their way through the courts. But even over the past two years, the federal government has levied only a few penalties against hospitals, despite receiving numerous complaints of alleged violations. The government announced a streamlined complaint process this past May to address cases more quickly.

The Center for Reproductive Rights is waiting for federal responses regarding multiple complaints. Two were filed in August by women in Texas who could not get timely care for their ectopic pregnancies  which are life-threatening, nonviable and only treatable with abortion  until the pregnancies ruptured, putting them at risk of death. Another, filed on October 30, is on behalf of a woman whose water broke prematurely and who did not receive hospital care until she was septic. The typical timeline to address an EMTALA complaint is a few months.

The big thing we are wanting for our clients is some accountability for the harms that theyve suffered, Duane said. All three, she said, are straightforward cases.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declined to comment about how the department might approach outstanding EMTALA complaints, which are handled by its subsidiary, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement

But time is running out. Legal experts and public policy observers have said they anticipate the new administration walking back the Biden administrations interpretation of EMTALA and arguing that it does not protect abortion even in medical emergencies. Dr. Mehmet Oz, Trumps pick to head CMS, has said he does not support abortion at any point in pregnancy. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Trumps selection for HHS secretary, has been less consistent on his abortion views, but has been open to meeting with anti-abortion groups and lawmakers.

No pro-life law prevents emergency intervention and abortions necessary to save the life of a mother, said Marjorie Dannenfelser, head of SBA Pro-Life America, an influential anti-abortion group.

Legal scholars also pointed to other potential policy levers the Biden administration could pull, if not to secure abortion rights then to at least expand access to the procedure in some states and strengthen access to reproductive rights more broadly.

In August 2022, HHS and CMS jointly instructed states to consider developing Medicaid pilots that might use funds from the insurance program  which is jointly funded by federal and state governments, but regulated on individual state levels  to help cover expenses people incur when traveling to these states for abortions. (Legally, federal funds cannot be used to pay for abortion itself, though state funds sometimes can be.) Abortion-related travel can be cost-prohibitive for people who cannot legally access the procedure in their home states.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement

Those are sticky. Its not like they persist forever, but it might even give a year or multiple years before the Trump administration could roll them back, said Elizabeth Sepper, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law who specializes in health law. That would be really helpful to get some of those costs defrayed.

But that proposal has yielded little interest from states, even as some are scrambling to get approval for other new Medicaid proposals. Carly Sfregola, a spokesperson for the National Association of Medicaid Directors, said the organization was unaware of any state applications to use Medicaid funds to cover abortion-related travel. HHS also did not answer questions about whether the government might remind states it is looking for proposals.

Even faced with a hostile administration, some reproductive rights policies will not disappear immediately.

Abortion opponents have called for the reversal of a rule that took effect this summer to ensure that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which safeguards patient medical records, applies to records of patients abortions. But the process of undoing federal rulemaking is complex and will take at least months.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement

That could also matter for another federal rule proposed in October, which would strengthen insurance coverage of contraceptives, including over-the-counter birth control, as mandated by the Affordable Care Act. By law, the proposed rule must be open to public comment before it can be finalized and implemented. The comment period ends December 27  leaving just under a month to finalize it before the presidential transition.

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The Biden administration is charging full steam ahead on efforts to revitalize the domestic semiconductor ecosystem.

The Commerce Department said on Monday it plans to award BAE Systems $36 million in grants to upgrade its New Hampshire semiconductor facility, allowing the company to quadruple production of chips used in military aircraft and commercial satellites.

Meanwhile, Commerce will also give Rocket Lab $24 million for its New Mexico facility that produces chips that can withstand large doses of radiation.

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The agency has allocated $36 billion of the $39 billion in available funding through the chips program, and finalized awards for more than $10 billion of the $36 billion, a Commerce official told Semafor.

Id like to have really almost all of the money obligated by the time we leave, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo recently told Politico.
(The Hill)  President Joe Biden pardoned turkeys Peach and Blossom on Monday for the traditional presidential pardon ahead of Thanksgiving, which marks the start of Bidens last holiday season at the White House.

This event marks the official start of the holiday season here in Washington. Its also my last time to speak here as your president during this season and give thanks and gratitude. So let me say to youits been the honor of my life, I am forever thankful, the president said.

The national Thanksgiving turkeys Peach and Blossom are pictured before a pardoning ceremony with President Joe Biden on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

The two turkeys he pardoned will head to the Minnesota Agricultural Interpretive Center to serve as education ambassadors. They took a two-day trip from Minnesota for the event, which involved listening to Livin on Prayer on the way, Biden quipped.

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Peach wants to speak a little bit here, the president joked when the turkey made a bit of noise at the podium.

He said that Peach is 41 pounds and loves to eat hot dish and tater tots and that his dream is to see the Northern Lights.

He lives by the motto, keep calm and gobble on, Biden said.

Meanwhile, Blossom loves to eat cheese curds and watch boxing, and his dream is to visit each Minnesota lake.

Lives by the motto, no foul play, just Minnesota nice, Biden said of Blossom.

Why is Thanksgiving so late this year?

He noted that the previous turkeys he pardoned during his presidency were named Peanut Butter and Jelly, Chocolate and Chip and Liberty and Bell.

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The president is set to travel to Staten Island later on Monday for a Friendsgiving event with members of the Coast Guard.

May we use this moment to take time from our busy lives and focus on what matters most, our families  our friends and our neighbors. And the fact that we are blessed to live in America, the greatest country on earth, the president said with the newly pardoned turkeys by his side.

No matter what, in America, we never give up, we keep going, we keep the faith, Biden said.

Biden is expected to celebrate Thanksgiving in Nantucket, which is a tradition for the first family.

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There is a great old movie, a black and white classic called "Advise and Consent." I make sure to watch it at least once a year, not just because of the incredible cast that includes Charles Laughton, Henry Fonda, Gene Tierney, Walter Pidgeon and Franchot Tone, but because it is incredibly relevant six decades after it debuted in theaters. It's about the tug and pull of politics in D.C. and a brutally honest examination of how the sausage is made.

The title refers to the process by which presidential nominees make it through the sausage grinder, the requirement that the Senate must "advise and consent" to the executive's choices. While most Americans believe a president should be able to fill his administration with people of his choosing, we also believe the legislature acts as a necessary brake on some executives' "runaway trains."

In "Advise and Consent," the president nominates an extremely controversial candidate for secretary of state, a man who is widely suspected of having communist sympathies. I won't reveal the surprise ending but suffice it to say that the machinations of those who oppose this nominee cause a good man to commit suicide.

I remember thinking of that movie when Brett Kavanaugh was being grilled by the woman who just lost the last election, treated as if he were an actual rapist instead of the target of some aging high schooler's failing memory of "laughter" and "I think Brett was there in the room."

I was angry because it seemed as if there was very little "advice" coming from the Senate, and hardly any evidence on which it could deny its "consent." Fortunately, a majority of senators, including the deeply courageous Susan Collins of Maine, confirmed Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Fast-forward six years. A new president-elect, who happens to be the same president who picked Kavanaugh (what a world, eh?) has announced that he wants a controversial congressman from Florida to be his next attorney general. And I am grateful that the sausage grinder exists.

Matt Gaetz is virtually no one's idea of a qualified nominee. The man is a graduate of William and Mary Law School, a fact that must have the ghost of Thomas Jefferson pulling out his sepulchral hair. He practiced law for less than two years in a civil firm, has no criminal law experience and was briefly suspended for not paying certain administrative fees but was later reinstated, according to USA Today. He has spent most of his adult professional career in Congress, representing Florida's 1st Congressional District since 2017.

MAGA loves him because they see him as the pit bull who will get Donald Trump whatever he wants. They are right that he is a pit bull and that he is a Trump sycophant who will do anything within his power to ingratiate himself to the once and future president.

He is also a man who, unlike Kavanaugh, has been credibly accused of sexual assault and sex trafficking. While the Justice Department investigated him and chose not to pursue a prosecution, the House Ethics Committee seemed poised to issue a damning report about Gaetz's activities, until he resigned after being picked as Trump's AG nominee.

Some have suggested Trump chose Gaetz to prevent him from having to deal with a highly embarrassing report. I doubt that. Trump is not in the business of making life easier for other people. There is always an angle for him, in whatever actions he takes.

I think that he chose Gaetz to show the country that he could. That's it. He picked one of the least qualified attorneys in the world, to head one of the most important law enforcement agencies in the world, because he could.

I also think that he chose him because he saw a devoted ally, and possibly someone who could be easily manipulated into doing what he wanted him to do. Gaetz is basically Stephen Miller, the anti-immigrant wunderkind, just with a lot of greasy hair.

As you can tell, I am not a fan of Gaetz. But even if I were, I would very much be a fan of advise and consent. While senators like Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar and Maisie Hirono were incredibly unfair and hostile towards Kavanaugh, I respected the process by which he was vetted. He had the character to survive. Gaetz does not.

I sincerely hope Trump does not try and make Gaetz a recess appointment, even though I doubt he'll have that opportunity. The American people have a right to see Gaetz in all of his gory, I mean glory, and watch as the sausage grinder does its work. Even the MAGA senators won't deny us the show.

And until that starts, I'm going to pop in my DVD of "Advise and Consent" to remind myself that history always repeats itself. Hollywood just makes it look a lot prettier.



(COMMENT, BELOW)

Christine M. Flowers is a lawyer and columnist.
Li Hongzhong, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and vice chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, meets with foreign representatives attending the Communist Party of China in Dialogue with Political Parties of Central and Eastern European Countries 2024 in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) should enhance exchanges between political parties and legislative bodies, said Li Hongzhong, vice chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee on Monday.

Li made the remarks when meeting with foreign representatives attending the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Dialogue with Political Parties of Central and Eastern European Countries 2024 in Beijing.

Li, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, noted that both sides should implement the important consensus reached between Chinese and CEEC leaders, improve practical cooperation, and enhance exchanges between political parties and legislative bodies.

Foreign representatives commended CPC's achievements, and expressed their willingness to strengthen exchanges and dialogue with China, deepen cooperation in various fields to achieve common development. 
If you need a break from getting ready from all the busyness that this weeks Thanksgiving brings, a local iconic chain is giving a price break on a classic item.

Big Boy restaurants are celebrating its iconic Big Boy burger with a deal. On Tuesday, the Big Boy burger is 99 cents when you buy a Pepsi product. At 99 cents thats 90% off the regular price of $10.49.

The classic Big Boy double patty burger sanwich is 99 cents on Tuesday.

Big Boys classic burger features two beef patties, on a sesame seed bun with American cheese. Theres no limit and the offer is available for dine-on or carry out at all participating locations according to a news release.

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More: Spatchcock turkey: What is it and why you should spatchcock a turkey this Thanksgiving

In addition to the 99 cents burger deal, Big Boy will award one customer four tickets to the Dec. 15 Detroit Lions game against the Buffalo Bills.

Big Boy Restaurant was founded in 1936 in Glendale, California. Based in Southfield, the Big Boy Restaurant Group operates and manages Big Boy and Bob's Big Boy restaurant franchises, with most in Michigan. Other locations are in California, Ohio, Nevada, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Thailand.

For locations offering the burger deal visit bigboy.com/post/big-on-specials.

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Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter. Subscribe to the Free Press.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Big Boy offers 99 cent classic burger discount, Lions giveaway Tuesday
Former President Bill Clinton said this weekend he had a feeling all the so-called swing states would vote together during this past election, and he wasnt surprised that Donald Trump won his bid for the presidency.

At least this time, there is no question that he actually won both the popular vote and the Electoral College, Clinton said, referring to Trump losing the popular vote in 2016 when he faced Clintons wife, Democrat Hillary Clinton. In 2024, Trump won all seven swing states: Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Nevada.

In the interview with Jonathan Capehart that aired on MSNBC over the weekend, Clinton suggested the late intervention of FBI director James Comeys investigation into his wifes private email server she used while she was secretary of state helped Trump win. Hillary Clinton said last month in an interview that Vice President Kamala Harris had a better shot at the presidency than her because she didnt have Comey waiting in the wings to kneecap her.

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That didnt matter, however, for Harris, because she ultimately lost to Trump earlier this month.

Theres been a lot of change for people to digest, Bill Clinton said, a lot of economic adversity and upheaval, a lot of political upheaval, a lot of social developments. And if you think about it, some of the votes that happened in the last election are people who are just exhausted by uncertainty and tired of carrying it around. And that always helps the right.

In that same interview, Bill Clinton responded to Trumps Cabinet picks, saying Trump is interested in loyal people.

We have to listen to Donald Trump, Bill Clinton said. Hes been very forthright about how to use the law. Hes interested in people who are loyal to him 100% of the time, no matter what the issue, no matter what the facts, no matter who gets hurt.

Related...
Former President Bill Clinton discusses why Democrats lost and where the party goes next with MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart. "We have to figure out how to protect our channels of communication to small-town and rural America from the ease with which the Republicans trigger their fears," Clinton says.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC)  Folks with Rochester Regional Health celebrated the passage of new legislation Monday, which allows certain team members to be granted peace officer status.

Peace officers will be specifically trained employees who enforce safety protocols within RRH facilities. They will also respond to emergencies and offer support to victims in urgent situations.

This is couples with things like added cameras, new lighting in parking lots and security training for team members.

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This milestone is not just about responding to threats; its about creating an environment where everyone feels secure. Where our team members can focus on delivering compassionate care and our patients can heal without fear, said VP of safety and security Tim Tull.

Assemblymember Harry Bronson sponsored the bill.

(WROC/Alec Richardson)

Monroe County receives over $1M to fight opioid epidemic

RRH previously installed a security screening system at Rochester General Hospital called Evolv, which uses artificial intelligence to detect concealed weapons on visitors.

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Nov. 24 (UPI) -- A California milk producer has voluntarily recalled its raw milk after a sample tested positive for avian flu, the state said Sunday.

Bird flu has been detected in a retail sample of raw milk produced and packaged by Fresno County-based Raw Farm, LLC. The California Department of Public Health warned consumers in a statement on Sunday to avoid consuming any from the same lot, No. 20241109 with a "best by" date of Nov. 27.

The U.S Food and Drug Administration has previously warned people about the dangers of consuming raw milk. At the state's request, Raw Farm company issued a voluntary recall of the affected product: cream top, whole raw milk.

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In May, state food regulators warned that "Raw milk can carry dangerous germs such as Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, Campylobacter and others that cause foodborne illness, often called 'food poisoning.'"

Raw milk products are not pasteurized, a heating process that kills bacteria and viruses. The state said pasteurized milk remains safe.

Raw milk is defined as that which comes from from cows, sheep, and goats - or any other animal -- that has not been pasteurized to kill harmful germs, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Retailers have been notified to take affected products off of their shelves, and anyone in possession of the product will be able to pursue a refund from the location where the milk was originally purchased, according to the state.

No illnesses had been reported as of Sunday evening, officials said.
(NEXSTAR)  Bishop T.D. Jakes experienced a slight health incident while wrapping up his sermon at the Potters House of Dallas on Sunday, the church confirmed in a statement.

Video clips shared widely on social media from the livestreamed service show the 67-year-old bishop and motivational speaker seated onstage in a chair, speaking to the audience.

I still love to preach. I aint tired of preaching, he says before wiping his forehead with a cloth.

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Chuck Woolery, former host of Wheel of Fortune and more, dies

After sharing a few more words, Jakes begins to pray but suddenly freezes. He then appears to convulse slightly as several people rush onstage.

A voice could be heard over the speakers asking the crowd to pray as Jakes received assistance. The livestream seemingly ended moments later.

In this file photo, T.D. Jakes speaks at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church on April 15, 2022, in Stonecrest, Georgia. Jakes experienced a health incident while delivering a sermon at the Potters House of Dallas on Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

The Potters House said in a statement that Jakes received immediate medical attention following his powerful hour long message.

Bishop Jakes is stable and under the care of medical professionals, the statement continued. The entire Potters House family is grateful for the outpouring of love, prayers, and support from the community. Thank you for your understanding and continued prayers.

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The church has not announced any changes to upcoming services following Sundays incident.

Jakes founded The Potters House in 1996. The non-denominational, multicultural church has more than 30,000 members, according to its website.

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Dallas pastor T.D. Jakes appeared to experience a health scare during his Sunday morning sermon, prompting churchgoers to rush to his aid.

In a viral video, Jakes, while delivering his hour-long sermon at the Potters House in Dallas, was seen lowering his microphone and trembling before being assisted by those around him.

The church has not confirmed whether Jakes was hospitalized or provided details about the cause of the incident, but they released a statement on Instagram, stating that Jakes is "stable and under the care of medical professionals."

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Jakes established the 30,000-member megachurch in Dallas, Texas, in 1996.

TD Jakes' daughter shared an update

Sarah Jakes Roberts, daughter of Bishop Jakes, and her husband, Toure Roberts, who regularly deliver sermons at the Potter's House and co-pastor ONE | A Potter's House Church in Los Angeles, shared an update on Instagram, assuring followers that Bishop Jakes is doing well.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Bishop T.D. Jakes stable after health incident in pulpit
With Black Friday just around the corner, major retailers in Texas are unveiling their highly anticipated sales. Shoppers can expect discounts before, during, and even after Thanksgiving.

According to Google Trends, popular searches show Texans are particularly interested in deals from Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart.

Heres a localized look at what these retailers are offering for holiday shoppers across the Lone Star State.

When is Black Friday 2024 this year?

Each year, Black Friday takes place the day after Thanksgiving, which means some of the best deals and sales ahead of the holidays will be on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024.

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What time do stores open Black Friday?: See shopping hours, what's closed and what's open in Indiana.

Walmart+ Membership and Black Friday 2024

Walmart shoppers can score the Walmart+ annual membership at a 50% discount ahead of Black Friday this year. Patrons get early Black Friday deal access, free delivery, free shipping, fuel discounts and more. Early Black Friday savings began on Nov. 11.

What are early Walmart Black Friday 2024 deals, sales right now?

Walmart's early 2024 Black Friday deals began online on Nov. 11, including beauty products, clothing, cookware, toys and more. More Black Friday deals beginning online Monday, Nov. 25 when you shop Walmart's early Black Friday sale.

What Black Friday Deals do Walmart+ shoppers get?

Starting online at noon EST, Monday, Nov. 25, Walmart+ members can save on several items, including:

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Blackstone Original 2-Burner 28-inch Propane Griddle - $147 (Save $50).

Dyson V11 Extra Cordless Vacuum Cleaner - $349.99 (Save $250).

Flybar Disney Bluey 6V Bumper Car Ride On Toy - $69 (Save $50).

Cate & Chloe 18k White Gold Hoop Earrings with Swarovski Crystals - $15.99 (Save $99.01).

Restored - 11.6-inch Apple Macbook Air Bundle - $194 (Save $81).

TCL 65-inch 4K UHD Smart TV with Roku - $228 (Save $301).

My Arcade GameStation Pro Atari Retro Video Game System - $69 (Save $30).

Best Choice Products Pre-Lit Holiday Inflatables - $74.99 (Save $125).

Shop more Walmart Black Friday deals

When does Walmart Black Friday 2024 start in Texas? What are store opening hours?

Walmart will be open at 6 a.m. local time on Black Friday, Nov. 29, 2024.

What are early Amazon Black Friday 2024 deals and sales right now?

Amazons early Black Friday deals are already active, with sales running until the big show starts Nov. 21. Amazon Black Friday Week's deals include:

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Select Amazon devices at 55% off (Amazon Fire Smart TVs, Kindles, Ring doorbells, Beats headphones)

Levi's offering denim at 50% off

OROLAY offering 50% off apparel

Amazon's early 2024 Black Friday deals

Story continues after photo gallery.

Amazon Prime Membership and Black Friday 2024

Amazon shoppers have three pricing models for Amazon Prime memberships that include:

Amazon Prime membership $14.99 per month. $139 per year. Prime Video membership is $8.99 per month.

Prime Student membership $7.49 per month. $69 per year.

Prime Shipping Only Plan (invitation only) $14.99 per month.



Sometimes a free trial up to 30 days may be available. Free trials require a current, valid credit card. Some payment options are unavailable, including:

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Amazon.com Corporate Line of Credit.

Checking accounts.

Pre-paid credit cards.

When does Amazon Black Friday Week 2024 start?

Amazon Black Friday Week starts at 12:01 a.m. PST, Thursday, Nov. 21, through 11:59 p.m. PST, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024.

What are early Best Buy Black Friday 2024 deals, sales right now?

Best Buy's early 2024 Black Friday deals currently sit at 407 items, with new in-store and digital doorbusters every Friday through Dec. 20. Official Black Friday deals will start Nov. 21, with doorbusters on Nov. 22 and Nov. 29. Sales from the website include:

Save $200 on select KitchenAid stand mixers.

Save up to $130 on select Sony headphones.

$579.99 for Samsung 75-inch Crystal UHD 4K Smart Tizen TV.

Save $550 on Samsung Galaxy Book 3 (sale price: $999.99).

Save $320 on HP 2-in-1 Chromebook Plus Laptop (sale price: $379).

Save $750 on LG 48-inch Class A2 Series OLED 4K TV (sale price: $549.99).

Save $90 on Toshiba 43-inch C350 4K Smart TV (sale price: $189.99).

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Story continues after photo gallery.

Best Buy Membership and Black Friday 2024

Best Buy higher-tier members of the My Best Buy Memberships loyalty program have early access to doorbuster deals every Thursday. Options include:

My Best Buy Free .

My Best Buy Plus: $49.99 per year.

My Best Buy Total: $179.99 per year.

When does Best Buy Black Friday 2024 start in Texas? What are store opening hours?

Best Buy hours will vary by location on Black Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. Check with your local store for details.

Shop Best Buy early Black Friday deals

What are early Target Black Friday 2024 deals, sales right now?

Target's early 2024 Black Friday deals started dropping every Sunday on a weekly basis Nov. 3 and will run throughout the 2024 holiday season. This week's deals include Apple product discounts on favorites such as AirPods, Apple Watches, and iPods; Disney clothes, toys, bedding, and decor at 25% off; and Lego building sets at a 20% discount.

Target Membership and Black Friday 2024

Target shoppers can sign up for a free Target Circle membership and learn about the program's daily Target Circle deals dropping every day from Nov. 1 through Dec. 24. Plus, Target is offering a Holiday Price Match Guarantee.

When does Target Black Friday 2024 start in Texas? What are store opening hours?

Target will be open at 6 a.m. local time on Black Friday, Nov. 29, 2024.

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'Deadpool & Wolverine' is streaming: Here's how much it costs to watch the highest grossing R-rated film on Disney+.

 Purchases you make through our links may earn us and our publishing partners a commission.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Black Friday 2024 deals, sales near me: Shop Walmart, Amazon doorbusters
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, call the suicide prevention hotline at 988. National Alliance on Mental Illness Utah: namiut.org

SANTAQUIN, Utah (ABC4)  The body of a Santaquin man who had been missing since Friday, Nov. 22, was found on Sunday evening.

The family of Tom Galloway posted the update on social media shortly after noon on Monday, three days after the 30-year-old was reported missing. He was found in Goshen, Utah, a small town about seven miles east of Santaquin.

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The family extends their sincerest gratitude to every single person who helped spread the word and joined in the search for Tom over these difficult days, the family statement reads. Your support, compassion, and efforts have meant so much to them during this challenging time.

Galloways family said he was the life of the party, describing him as being outgoing and animated. He had a love of musical theater, his cats, and horror movies. In the wake of his passing, his family said they want to highlight the importance of mental health and suicide awareness.

If you or someone you know is struggling, please know that you are not alone, the family said. Help is available, and your life matters deeply.

Those looking for immediate support can call or text the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. Additional resources can be found through the National Alliance on Mental Illness Utah at namiut.org or through the Utah Suicide Prevention Coalition at utahsuicideprevention.org.

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To help support Galloways loved ones, a GoFundMe has been established. According to the family, all proceeds will go to Galloways husband and will help with the costs of the funeral and the celebration of 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 ABC4 Utah.
ISLAMABAD, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday reaffirmed his country's commitment to protect the rights of women, provide them with a safe and enabling environment, and reduce gender-based violence.

"We need to empower women by providing them with education, focusing on their skill-building and ensuring their financial independence. It is also essential to raise awareness about women's rights and eliminate violence against them," the president said in his message on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

He said that Pakistan stood committed to the cause, aligning its national efforts with this global call to action, adding the government of Pakistan has been making meaningful efforts to end violence against women.

"We have enacted laws to protect women against sexual violence and harassment at workplaces. Pakistan has also established family protection centers and women's crisis shelters and increased access to counseling, helplines, and legal aid," he said.

Highlighting that the country still has a long way to go, Zardari noted that violence continues to limit women's access to education, employment, and equal opportunities, particularly for those in vulnerable communities.

There is a need to increase investments in prevention strategies, survivor support, and systemic reforms to address grave violations of human rights, the president said. 
JEFFERSON COUNTY (KSNT)  Kansas health officials issued a water boil advisory for part of Jefferson County on Monday.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) said in a press release the boil water advisory was issued for Rural Water District #10 customers after a water main break caused a loss in system pressures. The KDHE says the advisory will be in effect until the risk of bacterial contamination is resolved.

Another water boil advisory remains in effect for Jefferson County. The KDHE issued an advisory at 11:40 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 22 for the Perry Place Mobile Home Park. The KDHE said the advisory was issued after a waterline break that resulted in a loss of pressure in the water system.

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Fight Night takes over West Ridge Mall

Residents are encouraged to follow these steps while the advisory is in effect:

If your tap water appears dirty, flush the water lines by letting the water run until it

clears.

Boil water for one minute prior to drinking or food preparation or use bottled water.

Dispose of ice cubes and do not use ice from a household automatic icemaker.

Disinfect dishes and other food contact surfaces by immersion for at least one

minute in clean tap water that contains one teaspoon of unscented household

bleach per gallon of water.

Water used for bathing does not generally need to be boiled. Supervision of children

is necessary while bathing so that water is not ingested. Persons with cuts or severe

rashes may wish to consult their physicians.

If you have any questions regarding this situation, you can call the water system at 785-597-5613 or call the KDHE at 785-296-5514.

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Local restaurants and other establishments that serve food can send questions to the Kansas Department of Agricultures food safety and lodging program at kda.fsl@ks.gov or by calling 785-564-6767.

For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News.
A judge on Monday found a Boston man guilty in connection with a violent and cruel attack on a woman who didnt say good morning to him.

Ian Atkinson, 33, of Dorchester, waived his right to a jury trial and was convicted of assault and battery and assault with a dangerous weapon after he attacked and tried to hit a 59-year-old woman with his car on the morning of July 13, 2023, according to Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Haydens office.

Officers responding to a report of an assault on Balsam Street in Dorchester on the morning of July 13 spoke with a woman who said she was watering her lawn when Atkinson, who is unknown to her, walked by and allegedly started cursing at her for not saying good morning to him.

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When people say good morning to you, you should say hi you crazy (expletive), Atkinson said, prompting the victim to take out her cellphone and videotape him, according to Haydens office.

Home security surveillance video obtained by police showed Atkinson punching the victim at least seven times in the head and throwing her against a fence, according to prosecutors. The video then showed Atkinson get into his Mercedes, put it in reverse, and swerve in the victims direction before driving away.

The victim was bleeding profusely from her nose when police arrived at the scene of the attack. She suffered a broken nose, contusions to her head and face, and a subconjunctival hemorrhage of her left eye.

Atkinson, who was wearing a GPS monitoring device at the time of the attack, was arrested several days later.

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For this victim, a pleasant summer morning descended into a violent and cruel ordeal for the most inexplicable of reasons, Hayden said in a statement. But, even as she was being attacked, she had the presence of mind to record video, and that decision, along with her brave testimony, provided enough evidence for the judge to make his decision. I join all the members of the community in thanking this survivor for her courage.

Suffolk Superior Court before Judge Michael Doolin sentenced Atkinson to two years in state prison followed by two years of probation.

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The Boston Police Department took part in a significant drug bust this past weekend.

On Saturday, November 23, around 12:30pm, officers and members of the Drug Control unit conducted a search warrant at 119 Wrentham Street in Dorchester as a part of an ongoing drug investigation.

The search resulted in the capture of narcotics, including crack cocaine, a substantial amount of fentanyl, and a large, undisclosed amount of cash.

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After conducting the search, police arrested Cleifit Cruz, 33, of Dorchester on multiple drug charges, including:

Trafficking a Class A Substance (Fentanyl)

Possession with Intent to Distribute a Class B Substance (Crack Cocaine)

Cruz is awaiting to be arraigned at Dorchester District Court.

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
HONOLULU (KHON2)  Ocean Safety Bureau officials have posted Box Jellyfish warning signs at Salt Pond Beach Park, advising beachgoers to avoid swimming in the area.

Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news

Officials are urging the public to heed all posted warning signs for their safety.

Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You

For the latest updates on ocean conditions and safety, visitors can speak with a county lifeguard at any lifeguard station, visit www.safebeachday.com, or contact the Ocean Safety Bureau at 808-241-4984.

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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 KHON2.
These are volatile times on the Colorado River, even if water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell are relatively stable.

The rules expire at the end of 2026 that spell out how much water stays in the nations largest reservoirs and who would be forced to take cuts when theres not enough to go around.

And while everyone agrees that we need to use a lot less water to match a river that now produces a lot less water, negotiations have been at a standstill for months over who should shoulder those cuts, and when.

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But things have taken a turn, maybe for the better. Maybe worse. Its too early to know.

Thats what makes it so volatile.

Arizona mentioned the nuclear option

First, Arizona officials spoke frankly during a public meeting about the elephant in the room: a compact call.

Thats what might happen if the Upper Basin states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming fail over time to deliver enough water to the Lower Basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada, as spelled out in a foundational agreement guiding river allocations, the Colorado River Compact.

If the Upper Basin cant deliver 75 million acre-feet over 10 years  which might happen in 2027, thanks to several years of lower-than-historical releases  the Lower Basin could make a call for the water, which in theory could decimate Upper Basin allocations to produce them.

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I say in theory because its never happened. And its anyones guess how competing legal theories on these cuts would play out in the Supreme Court, where they most certainly would go.

But everyone knows a protracted court battle is the nuclear option for the river. Thats why most talk about a compact call has occurred outside of well-broadcast meetings.

All the Upper Basin heard was saber-rattling

Arizona spent most of its meeting hawking a proposal to have the Lower Basin shoulder all water cuts in decent times, with the Upper Basin joining in on cuts only when reservoir levels fall dangerously low.

State water leaders argued that the Upper Basin would have to give up much less water under that plan than under a compact call.

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They noted multiple times that the goal was to avoid a courtroom.

But representatives from farms, tribes and cities also affirmed that Arizona should sue to protect their rights if there was no other option.

And the Upper Basin has already said no, empathically, to any additional cuts, arguing that climate change has already their available water.

Its no wonder that all our upstream brethren heard from the meeting was saber-rattling.

Reclamation finally offered tea leaves to read

Then, two days later, the federal Bureau of Reclamation shared a high-level overview of the alternatives it plans to analyze as this process moves forward.

The information released so far isnt detailed enough to know how any of these options might play out. But folks are now frantically reading the tea leaves, trying to decipher what Reclamations cryptic word choices really mean.

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Whats clear is that none of the key players proposals will be studied in their entirety.

Opinion: How Trump, Congress could change Arizona water

Not the Lower Basins, which Arizona spent most of its meeting touting. Nor the Upper Basins plan, which essentially says the Lower Basin should handle all future mandatory cuts.

Nor ideas from tribes, environmental groups or academics, which land somewhere in between.

Reclamation is instead picking and choosing elements from various plans to carry forward in its alternatives.

More detailed information is expected in December, likely at an annual Colorado River conference that attracts all the key players.

What does that mean for the Colorado River?

It is sorely needed, considering how closely Reclamation has held its cards to the vest.

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The bureau has not offered the necessary parameters to help guide negotiations, which is part of the reason why talks have broken down.

It needs to set much clearer expectations, particularly on cuts and a compact call. Because in the absence of clarity, and with time running short, all sides are now hedging their bets.

Arizonas future would certainly be bleak, given the cuts that are needed to stabilize the system and presuming that happens strictly by priority of water rights, without the Upper Basins help.

Central Arizona Project, which supplies water for metro Phoenix and Tucson, would effectively be zeroed out, and much of Yumas irrigation water, which supplies the nation with greens and winter veggies from roughly January to March, would be lost.

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In the absence of assurances that the worst-case wont happen, lots of folks  not just those in Arizona  are now calculating whether their situation would be any worse, should this thing wind up in court.

Because thats where many see it going if Reclamation cant break this logjam.

And if that happens, the 40 million people who rely on the Colorado River for water will lose.

Joanna Allhands writes opinions primarily about Arizona water and the Colorado River. Reach her at joanna.allhands@arizonarepublic.com or on X, formerly Twitter, @joannaallhands.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona raises nuclear option for Colorado River water talks | Opinion
Pakistani police have arrested constable Mohammad Wali in connection with a 2023 suicide bombing at a mosque in a police complex in Peshawar. The bombing killed 101 peoplemostly police officersand injured 250 others. Officials said Wali is a member of the Pakistani Taliban and provided the bomber with a police uniform and a map of the compound.

The post Brickbat: Inside Job appeared first on Reason.com.
A British man has been taken prisoner while fighting for Ukraine in Russias Kursk region, Russian state media has reported.

Russian state media outlet TASS said the man was 22-year-old James Scott Rhys Anderson, a former British soldier, citing a military source.

The British Foreign Office confirmed it was supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention.

In a video circulating on Russian media, a man identifies himself as James Scott Rhys Anderson and said had previously fought in the British Army before flying to Poland and taking a bus to the Ukrainian border. It is not clear whether he was speaking under duress.

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The man says he was born in May 2002. He sits in front of a dark background and appears to respond to questions about his background and why he chose to fight for Ukraine. The video is heavily edited, with sharp cuts in various places.

People of various nationalities, often former soldiers, have fought against Russian forces in Ukraines International Legion, bolstering Kyivs armed forces in the conflict.

Kyiv launched an incursion into Russias Kursk region in August, taking Moscow and even its own allies by surprise. It said at the time that the operation was necessary because Russia had been planning to launch a new attack on Ukraine from the region. It said it was aiming to create a buffer zone to prevent future cross-border attacks.

The Kursk offensive was the first ground invasion of Russia by a foreign power since World War II.

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Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia has deployed nearly 50,000 troops to Kursk in response. A US official told CNN that Russia has amassed a large force of tens of thousands in the region, including recently arrived North Korean troops.

This is a developing story. It will be updated.

CNNs Ivana Kottasova and Svitlana Vlasova contributed reporting

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
A new report from Brookings, released on Thursday, November 21, 2024, expresses concern that the incoming second Trump administration may undermine the significant efforts of the Biden administrations Department of the Interior, led by Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo), to address the legacy of federal Indian boarding schools.

With President-elect Donald Trump set to retake office in January, it is imperative that the steps President Biden and the Interior Department have taken do not wither on the vine. Given the destructive legacy of Trumps last term for Indian Countryas well as the anti-diversity, assimilation-centric rhetoric he and his proxies expressed on the 2016, 2020, and 2024 campaign trailsit will be essential for congressional, state, philanthropic, and private sector actors to take steps to secure future investment and policy change to promote Native American welfare, prosperity, and self-actualization, the authors of the report wrote.

Never miss Indian Countrys biggest stories and breaking news. Click here to sign up to get our reporting sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning.

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The report co-authored by Robert Maxim (Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe) and Glencora Haskins calls on the federal government to commit to investments in Indian Country that reflect the profound trauma, economic damage, and social harms caused by the Indian boarding schools. These institutions, which sought to forcibly erase Native cultures and languages, left a lasting impact on tribal communities.

The report begins by highlighting President Joe Bidens historic apology issued last month for the federal government's role in the Indian boarding school system, which spanned over 150 years and was part of a systematic campaign of cultural assimilation.

In addition to providing an overview of the history of federal Indian boarding schools, the report examines the Federal Indian Boarding School Investigative Report, Volume II, released by the Department of the Interior in June 2024. It also touches on current efforts to invest in Native American education across Indian Country today.

Maxim and Haskins argue that a widespread lack of awareness about the boarding schools' dark history is creating barriers to new investment in tribal education and cultural revitalization. Maxim, in an email to Native News Online, emphasized that the general public remains largely unaware of the extent of harm inflicted on Native students at these schools, and how that history continues to affect Native communities.

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With Donald Trump set to re-take the presidency in January, we think there is now a real risk that efforts by the federal government to grapple with the legacy of the Boarding Schools may come to a halt. In the piece, we discuss the harmful impact of Trumps assimilationist rhetoric on the campaign trail, his promises to dismantle DEI-related policies, as well as problematic policy actions from his last administration, such as his so-called patriotic education commission, Maxim said in his email.

The report addresses how most schools in the country dont teach Native American history after 1900 that results in a misinformed public when it comes to Native American issues today.

Moreover, the current wave of anti-DEI policies and other efforts to suppress aspects of U.S. history in schools and public discourse threaten recent gains such as the boarding schools report. Examples of these policies include the first Trump administrations patriotic education commission, state efforts to ban so-called divisive concepts in educational settings, and proposals such as Project 2025s plan to cut funding for woke schools. Each of these ideas puts emerging efforts to teach Native American history at risk. the report states.

The report cites the Biden-Harris administrations historic levels of investments into Indian Country since taking office. However, the authors stress the need for a continuation of the efforts to keep investing into Indian Country, create awareness of the most historical issues that still affect Native Americans today.

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To do so, Congress should pass an Indigenous Education for All law that ensures Native American history, including 20th and 21st century history, is taught at all schools that receive federal funding, the report suggests.

READ the REPORT

About the Author: "Levi \"Calm Before the Storm\" Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert was awarded Best Column 2021 Native Media Award for the print\/online category by the Native American Journalists Association. He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at levi@nativenewsonline.net."

Contact: levi@nativenewsonline.net
CANBERRA, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Australia must urgently establish a national institute to coordinate the national response to climate change, the country's top scientists have said.

The National Committee for Earth System Science (NCESS), part of the Australian Academy of Science, an NGO, on Monday recommended that the federal government establish an Australian Institute for Earth System Science.

Under the model proposed by the NCESS, the institute would be responsible for the long-term national oversight, strategy and implementation of Australia's climate science research.

The NCESS warned that Australia will struggle to achieve net-zero emissions, mitigate the risks from natural disasters and ensure water security and ongoing agricultural success unless the nation's approach to climate science research is updated.

"A unifying agency is needed to address the critical gaps in our understanding of Australia's climate and the impacts of change, and to support and engage the excellent individual researchers we have," Andy Pitman, chair of the NCESS and Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, said in a statement.

Establishing the new institute was the first of 14 recommendations in a 10-year plan for Australian Earth system science released by the committee on Monday.

Pitman said that Australia must have ambition, organization and leadership to answer questions such as how best to support the net-zero transition, where in the country is most at risk from abrupt changes in weather and climate and how the exposure of cities to climate extremes can be managed.

"By implementing the recommendations in this plan, Australia can build the foundations for far more robust and actionable climate intelligence," he said.

The 10-year plan called for Australia to work with regional neighbors in the Pacific and beyond to confront weaknesses in existing climate projections and boost the understanding and management of climate risks. 
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  A Brutus Buckeye statue on Ohio State Universitys campus was damaged overnight.

According to police, the Brutus statue outside of College Traditions on West Lane Avenue was vandalized at approximately 3:15 a.m. Sunday.

Update: Watch Brutus revenge against suspected statue vandalizer

College Traditions manager Kelly Dawes said the university and Columbus police are investigating.

The Brutus the Buckeye statue that was vandalized sometime overnight on Nov. 23 at College Traditions on West Lane Avenue in Columbus near the Ohio State University campus. (COLLEGE TRADITIONS)

The shoes of the Brutus the Buckeye statue that was vandalized sometime overnight on Nov. 23 at College Traditions on West Lane Avenue in Columbus near the Ohio State University campus. (COLLEGE TRADITIONS)

Hes a staple at our store, and theres literally thousands and thousands of people who come by and get their picture taken with him, Dawes said.

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Thousands passed by College Traditions Saturday as the Buckeyes played another top-five match against Indiana, but it took just one person to destroy the fiberglass statue, spending nearly 10 minutes recording himself doing so.

He took him down Lane Avenue, in the middle of the street, kicking and just, it was awful, Dawes said. It was awful, and then he picked him up and threw him down. He picked him up and he threw him against our Woody (Hayes) statue.

Dawes said the statue is insured.

Buckeyes remain No. 2 in AP rankings heading to Michigan game

Im just hoping we can find out who did it and we can prosecute them because its just, its not right, she said. It was, it was brutal on Brutus.

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The vandalism comes during Michigan Week, the teams last home game and regular season game of the 2024 campaign.

For this to happen on our biggest week of the year coming up, Michigan week, its just really it saddens me, Dawes said. Its hard to take.

This is the second time since 2022 that Brutus was damaged. In January 2022, the statue was hit by a skidding car.

Hes a lot worse off now than he was after the car, so Im just hoping that they can restore him, Dawes said.

According to the 2022 report, the shop acquired Brutus in 2008 as part of Brutus on Parade, an initiative by the university to raise money for the William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library  known now as the Thompson Library.

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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 NBC4 WCMH-TV.
A photo of Birmingham-Southern College's campus. The school announced its closure earlier this year. (Birmingham-Southern College Communications Department)

The trustees of Birmingham-Southern College said in statement Monday that a purchase agreement with Miles College to purchase the campus of the shuttered liberal arts school expired at 3 p.m. on Monday.

It was not immediately clear what led to the announcement or if the sale of the BSC campus to Miles was off. A message was left with Miles College Monday afternoon.

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The purchase agreement between the schools was executed on Sept. 25 and set for a closing date of Oct. 25. The price of the sale was not disclosed.

The BSC community has great respect for Miles College, its students, faculty, staff, and alumni, and appreciates both the shared roots and the alignment of missions, the news release said. But to meet its commitments to lenders and other creditors, the BSC Board of Trustees is obligated to sell the 192-acre campus property as quickly as possible.

The closing date was pushed to Nov. 25, according to BSCs release. Miles College had requested another extension on Nov. 15 to Dec. 24, but the request was declined, according to the trustees. No reason was given.



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BSC, a private liberal arts college, announced its closure earlier this year amid mounting debts, enrollment decline and a failure to secure a loan from the state to stay in operation. The Alabama Legislature in 2023 passed a law that could provide funding to the school, but the state treasurer declined to provide the loan. An attempt to amend the law this spring to require the loan to be made was unsuccessful.

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Students prepare to ride bicycles in the gymnasium at Will-Moore Elementary School in Bismarck during a celebration of the All Kids Bike program on Nov. 25, 2024. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

Gov. Doug Burgum flashed his biking acumen and his inner child during the states rollout of the All Kids Bike program Monday.

The program, funded through a $1.5 million state grant in collaboration with private donors, aims to teach every kindergartener in North Dakota how to ride a bicycle during physical education class.

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Were the first state in the entire country where every school building is going to have the All Kids Bike riding opportunity, Burgum told students of Bismarcks Will-Moore Elementary School on Monday.

The All Kids Bike program provides more than two dozen bikes to each school along with helmets, equipment, storage racks and lesson plans to ensure every student will be able to ride a bike upon completion of the course. Schools with smaller student enrollment received fewer bikes and equipment, an All Kids Bike program spokesperson said.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum rides a bike in the gymnasium at Will-Moore Elementary School in Bismarck after celebrating the statewide implementation of the All Kids Bike program on Nov. 25, 2024. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

Jill Vallejo, principal at Will-Moore Elementary School, said shes been with the school for three years and, in her first year, only 10 kids participated in a bike to school event around the nearby Capitol. She said she now needs more adults to help chaperone the bike ride due to the increased interest.

In our neighborhoods, its really good for our kids to have that independence and that freedom to bike around and get where they want to go, Vallejo said. A lot of our students have never rode a bike, dont own a bike, and then we have a high population of new families to America who have never experienced any of those things.

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She added bike riding also gives students the opportunity to be outside and off their electronics.

Through All Kids Bike, 223 North Dakota elementary schools received bikes and other program materials, according to an organization news release. The program includes schools in tribal communities and private schools.

When I was a kid, I loved riding bike, Burgum said. I kind of borrowed my older sisters bike and learned to ride on that, but I wasnt big enough to reach the seat so I had to stand up to pedal.

Burgum also told the students bike riding is a great way to stay active and in shape. He challenged city leaders around the state to start thinking about adding more bike riding options for residents instead of catering to cars and trucks.

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Other places that are colder and snowier than North Dakota, places like Finland, all the kids your age would all be riding their bikes to school, all year round, Burgum told the students. When they go out to plow the roads, you know what they plow first? They plow the bike paths first so the kids can get to school safely, even in the wintertime.

Students ride bicycles in the gymnasium at Will-Moore Elementary School in Bismarck on Nov. 25, 2024, during an event to celebrate the statewide implementation of the All Kids Bike program. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

More than 1,500 schools nationwide participate in the All Kids Bike program, which began in 2018, said Lisa Weyer, executive director.

She said the cost per school is about $9,000 for the bikes, equipment and storage units.

Statistics show that only one in four kids will ride a bike and we wanted to reverse that, she said. Obviously, the health benefits, the focus, the energy, the confidence that bike riding does, its more than just a bike.

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Weyer said shes hopeful other states will take note of the programs progress and implement the All Kids Bike program.

Across all 50 states, more than 150,000 students have learned to ride bicycles per year due to the All Kids Bike program, according to a news release about the organization. More information on All Kids Bike can be found at www.allkidsbike.org.

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PICKETT COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN)  A Pickett County man has been taken into custody after a investigation revealed that he used social media to share child sexual abuse material, officials said.

In October, special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) Internet Crimes Against Children squad, Pickett County authorities and the office of 13th Judicial District Attorney General Bryant reportedly began investigating 26-year-old Rodney William Griffin, of Byrdstown.

Pall Mall man charged with sexual exploitation of minor

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Authorities reported the investigation began after officials received a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which claimed child sexual abuse material was sent from a Snapchat account.

At some point during the investigation, officials learned that the account belonged to Griffin. He is accused of using the Snapchat account to send more than 100 files of child sexual abuse material from June through July.

CRIME TRACKER | Read the latest crime-related reports from across Middle Tennessee

On Nov. 20, the Pickett County Sheriffs Office charged Griffin with one count of sexual exploitation of minor. He was booked into the Pickett County Jail on a $250,000 bond.

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No additional details were immediately released.

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SACRAMENTO, California  California Democrats will lose a state Senate seat to Republicans after a powerful labor union campaigned against the longtime Orange County lawmaker.

State Sen. Josh Newman on Monday conceded to former GOP Assemblymember Steven Choi after the Republican opened up an insurmountable lead of more than 6,000 votes.

"With the most recent ballot updates, the numbers have made it clear that my campaign no longer has a viable path to a positive outcome in this election," Newman said in a statement.

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Newman  the most endangered purple-district Democrat in the Senate  faced opposition from an unusual source: AFSCME 3299, which represents 30,000 University of California employees. The union went after Newman after he didnt support a bill that would have amended the state constitution to protect UC worker rights.

The group spent big boosting Newmans Democratic opponents in the March primary. When that effort failed, it shifted to attacking the senator directly during the general election  even if that meant boosting Newmans Republican rival.

The move drew a sharp rebuke from Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire, who recently called it morally bankrupt.

State Democrats spent more than $3.8 million to protect Newman. But the most recent redistricting drew him into a largely unfamiliar area in which many voters were new to him, making Chois campaign a bit easier.

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This is not the first time Newman has been unseated by angry interest groups. In 2018, voters frustrated by the Legislatures decision to raise the states gas tax recalled the senator  who had voted for it  and replaced him with a Republican. He won back his seat in 2020 and went on to chair the Senate Education Committee.

Choi said in a statement he was honored to be elected and that he was "excited to get started in shaping policies that will strengthen the future of California."

Republicans celebrated Choi's victory, with Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones saying he was proud to expand the caucus to 10 members in the 40-seat chamber. "With this strengthened team, well continue fighting to deliver real results and fix California," he said in a statement.

Newman in his concession congratulated Choi and wished him the "very best of luck as he prepares to serve the constituents of the 37th District as their State Senator."

"Politics, especially in todays hyper-polarized environment, can be a mean and messy business," Newman said. "But I still believe that public service is among the noblest of callings."
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A frightened teller filled a brown paper bag with cash Friday morning and a bank robber ran from the scene, according to the Bullhead City, Arizona, Police Department.

Police arrested 40-year-old Marcus Leson Davis of Winnetka, California, after the robbery. Davis was booked into the Mohave County Jail, facing robbery charges. He also faces charges related to an outstanding felony warrant for robbery in Pennsylvania, according to Bullhead City police.

Police were called to Mission Bank in the 1400 block of Palma Way at about 11 a.m. Friday. An investigation determined a male suspect handed a threatening note and a brown paper bag to a teller. The suspect ran out of the bank when the teller gave him the bag with some money inside. Police did not disclose how much money was taken.

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Officers responding to the call chased a suspect and made the arrest. The money and the note were recovered, according to Bullhead City police.

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Washington Countys first Name a Snowplow contest last winter was so popular that Public Works officials decided to do it again.

Residents are invited to help name two more of the countys 26 snowplows; name suggestions can be submitted until Dec. 20.

County staff will review the submissions and bring forward the top ideas for voting from the public in January, when a winner will be selected.

Any submissions that include profanity or other inappropriate language will not be considered, Washington County officials said.

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Names can be submitted online at www.surveymonkey.com/r/WCNameAPlow or submitted in person or through mail at Washington County Public Works North Shop, 11660 Myeron Road N., Stillwater, MN 55082.

Last years big winners were Plowabunga (433 votes) and Taylor Drift (405 votes). Plowabunga was dispatched to the southern half of the county for the most part; Taylor Drift worked in the northern part of the county.

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This photo taken on Nov. 21, 2024 shows stuffed panda toys by SeeU Panda at a cultural and creative product store in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

A staff member introduces stuffed panda toy products via livestreams at a studio of the Panda Factory headquarters in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 20, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A staff member makes stuffed panda toy parts out of sheepskin at a workshop of Panda Factory in Heze, east China's Shandong province, March 12, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua)

A quality inspector (R) advises a stylist on the modification of a stuffed panda toy at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A researcher tests a stuffed panda toy's sensing vocal parts at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Stylist Liu Xianlin refines a stuffed panda toy at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

This photo taken on Nov. 21, 2024 shows a stuffed panda toy at a cultural and creative product store in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

A staff member cleans a stuffed panda toy before packing up at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A stylist refines a stuffed panda toy at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Visitors look at the stuffed panda toys by Panda Factory at the Paris Design Week in Paris, France, Sept. 5, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua)

Stylists refine stuffed panda toys at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A girl selects stuffed panda toys at a cultural and creative product store in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

A staff member shows a stuffed toy made in the image of 6-month-old giant panda "Fubao" at the headquarters of the Panda Factory in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 20, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A staff member cleans a stuffed panda toy before packing up at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A quality inspector checks stuffed panda toy products at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A staff member prepares to take pictures of a stuffed panda toy made in the image of 6-month-old giant panda "Fubao" at the headquarters of the Panda Factory in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 20, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A stylist assembles a stuffed panda toy at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Staff members transport the packed panda toys at the workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Wang Bo (R), a senior product developer, and Xiang Tao, a staff member of the research and development department, discuss revising the design draft of a giant panda toy at the Panda Factory headquarters in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 20, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Staff members shoot a short video of a stuffed panda toy made in the image of a 22-day-old panda cub at the Panda Factory headquarters in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 20, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A staff member assembles a stuffed panda toy at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A staff member cleans a stuffed panda toy before packing up at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A staff member introduces stuffed panda toy products via livestreams at a studio of the Panda Factory headquarters in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 20, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A staff member cuts sheepskin used for making parts of stuffed panda toys at a workshop of SeeU Panda in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2024. In recent years, taking famous giant pandas like He Hua, Meng Lan, Xiang Xiang and Fu Bao as prototypes, companies such as "SeeU Panda" and "Panda Factory" have designed stuffed panda toys with high similarity to real pandas using 3D modeling and other technologies.

So far, more than 50,000 customized simulated panda toys have been sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world by these firms. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)
St. Mary of the Woods, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)  Sisters of Providence (SOP) is offering two volunteer opportunities for teens in December.

According to a media release, SOP is Calling all youth! Calling all youth!

12 to 18-year-olds are invited to make a difference with the Sisters of Providence and healthcare residents at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana.

Team of Mercy starting new wellness program

The Congregation has scheduled two volunteer opportunities for December.

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Saturday, Dec. 7, from 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 14, from noon-5 p.m.

Its a chance to visit with elder sisters and help them with activities, including Bingo, exercise, baking, and more.

To sign up as a volunteer, register online at TeenVolunteer.SistersofProvidence.org or contact Sister Joni Luna at 361-500-9505.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyWabashValley.com.
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia  Canadas military chief is working to soften the expected blowback from President-elect Trumps return to office, with Canada trailing the majority of NATO allies in reaching the targeted 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) for defense spending.

NATO allies not spending enough on defense is a major feature of Trumps criticism of the alliance, slamming those countries as being in default, threatening to withhold U.S. commitments to mutual defense and taking credit for getting members to speed up their spending during his first term.

Clearly the United States wants Canada and needs Canada to do more, our answer is yes. Im in complete agreement, we need to do more, Canadas minister of defense, Bill Blair, said in an interview with The Hill on the sidelines of the Halifax International Security Forum over the weekend.

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We used to figure  theres not going to be an amphibious landing in Canada, in all likelihood, or a tank battle in Saskatchewan. We used to think it would be bombers coming over the pole, he said.

But now its cruise and hypersonic missiles and ballistic missiles and there are other forms of conflict: cyberattacks, challenges with space, attacks on critical infrastructure all of which means, we recognize we have to do more here at home.

Canada is on track to reach 1.76 percent of GDP on defense spending by 2030, a policy that U.S. lawmakers have criticized in no uncertain terms as unacceptable.

This includes Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), chair of the House Intelligence Committee, who called Canadas failure to reach 2 percent the greatest threat to NATO and cast Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus leadership as arrogant on the issue.

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Blair called those statements unfair, and he and other Canadian policymakers were well aware that they need to ramp up spending faster.

What I have discovered, and even conversations I had with the congressional delegations here  they had been very clear to me, as they were last year, and they have been for some time  that they have an expectation that Canada is going to spend a lot more money on defense, he continued.

We know we have to do that, and we are going to do that, but I could use some help in doing that.

Blair said that help includes navigating the bureaucracy in Washington to invest tens of billions of additional dollars in made-in-America military equipment, which will require approval from Congress.

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And I said I need some help navigating that because I want to go fast, and this all takes time. I also want to be efficient, and it also costs money.

While Trudeau committed earlier this year that Canada would reach 2 percent spending on defense by 2032, Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), the incoming chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, warned that Trump would respond with a big guffaw to that timeline.

Canada will say, Well, were working on this.  Were kind of looking at 2032. I dont speak for the president-elect of the United States  but if he were in this room, you would get a very large guffaw from him on talking about 2032, he said on a panel at the Halifax Forum.

After Risch met with the defense minister over the weekend, he said that any disagreements are de minimis, and spoke in favor of Canadas commitment to getting to 2 percent.

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We discussed the timeline for that happening, and I can tell you that theyre in full agreement that they want to get there as quickly as they can, he said.

And Canadian officials are hopeful about reestablishing a working relationship with Trump and his administration.

They note that Trump announced his nominee for U.S. ambassador to Canada  former Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra  as one of his first foreign envoys, signaling the administrations priorities. Trumps choice of experienced national security figures, such as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) for secretary of State and Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) for national security adviser, is adding to the optimism.

More controversial is Trumps nomination of Pete Hegseth for secretary of Defense and his opposition to women serving in combat. Conversations about his divisive remarks drew pushback at the Halifax forum from the chief of Canadas armed forces, Gen. Jennie Carignan, the first woman to hold the position.

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After 39 years of career as a combat arms officer and risking my life in many operations across the world, I cant believe that in 2024 we still have to justify the contribution of women to their defense and to their service in their country, she said.

Blair, in particular, has focused on efforts to recruit more women and minorities into Canadas armed forces, warning the military faces a death spiral over recruitment and retention issues.

Our militaries are more effective when women are meaningfully involved at all stages of planning and in carrying out missions, Blair said during an event acknowledging 13 women officers from 10 NATO countries participating in the conferences Peace With Women Fellowship.

In each of your commands youve demonstrated the very best that our countries have to offer.

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Blair is one of a few high-level Canadian officials that also served during the first Trump administration, serving as minister of public safety at the time and coordinating with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

That period of U.S.-Canada relations was tested by Trumps personal attacks on Trudeau; high-stakes negotiations to develop the North American free trade agreement; and the COVID-19 pandemic upending travel and commerce across the U.S.-Canadian border, where 400,000 crossings can occur daily.

I worked with the Trump administration in the previous Trump administration, we worked very well together, he said.

Canada understands it has to do more on defense. We are going to make those investments.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
CANFIELD, Ohio (WKBN)  Reports said police early Saturday arrested a Lisbon man who led officers on a chase to state Route 11.

Kylar Brown, 23, was booked into the Mahoning County Jail on charges of failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, a fourth-degree felony; operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, a first-degree misdemeanor; and several traffic offenses.

He is expected to be arraigned later Monday in Mahoning County Area Court in Canfield.

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Reports said an officer on patrol at about 12:30 a.m. Saturday spotted a car driven by Brown traveling well over the speed limit while going west on East Main Street. The officer went to follow and the car turned down Neff Drive, then pulled into a drive, reports said.

Reports said the car backed out of the drive and drove west on Neff Drive, then went across four lanes of traffic at East Main Street and Fairground Boulevard and got onto state Route 11 south.

The officer continued chasing until the car stopped at mile marker 33, reports said. Brown was taken out of the car at gunpoint and taken into custody. Reports said he smelled like alcohol so he was taken back to the police department to take a sobriety test.

Reports said Brown took a breath test which showed his blood alcohol content at .143. In Ohio, a driver is considered legally drunk if their BAC is .08.

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Health officials are sifting a new state database for the impact of the 2023 state law allowing the use of recreational marijuana, including a rise in the number of cannabis-related emergency room visits. Photo by Wesley Farnsworth/U.S. Air Force.

Cannabis-related emergency room visits climbed steadily through July 2023, when recreational use was first legalized in Maryland, but have never reached that peak again, fluctuating up and down in the months since.

That was just one of the findings of a new Maryland Health Department interactive dashboard that tracks cannabis-related ER visits, poison control calls and substance use treatment as well as data on marijuana use by age, gender, race and county.

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Despite the wealth of data, one thing the dashboard does not show are the reasons why people are going to the ER after consuming cannabis. But state health officials and public health officials said they are still excited to have the data, which they call a first step to understanding the impacts as recreational cannabis use becomes more normalized following legalization.

We need data to know whats happening, said Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman, deputy secretary for public health in the state health department. This dashboard is really trying to help us understand what are the adverse health effects that we are seeing.

Maryland allowed use of medical marijuana in 2014. Voters approved a referendum to legalize cannabis for adult use in November 2022, but the law did not go into effect until July 2023.

The new dashboard has data on emergency room visits beginning in 2019, with monthly admissions bouncing between 384 and 657. But admissions started rising steadily from 500 in November 2022, when voters approved legalization, and continued through July 2023, when they hit 928.

Cannabis-related emergency room visits rose steadily  until July 2023, when recreeational use was legalized in the state. Graphic courtesy Maryland Health Department dashboard.

Since then, however, emergency room visits related to cannabis use have fluctuated between about 750 visits per month and almost 900 visits per month. In October, the last month for which data is available, there were 814 visits  down from the peak but still 4.8% higher than October 2023.

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When you look at the time trends, they [the increases] actually precede the legalization, right? said Dr. Johannes Thrul, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health whose research involves substance use and cannabis. I would not feel comfortable saying that this is an effect of legalization.

But while the data shows an increase in cannabis related emergency room visits since legalization, the current data lacks information on why people are going to the ER after consuming cannabis.

We dont have that, Kalyanaraman said. And thats an area that, going forward  we can build on it and our understanding of it  We dont have all the answers from this data, but we wanted to put it out so that others could look at it, ask questions and work with it.

For Thrul, knowing why people go to the ER after consuming cannabis is a helpful data point, as incidents can span a variety of reasons, from someone getting injured while under the influence of cannabis to people going to the ER out of anxiety and paranoia, common side effects of cannabis use.

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Some of those [ER visits] can be acute cannabis intoxication. Like people eat an edible, the effects dont come right away, then they think they should eat more. They do thatand then theyre in too deep, he said. And then they get acute paranoia, anxiety, those types of things.

I think thats a lot of it, Thrul said. Probably what were seeing here reflected in the dashboard is people overdoing it. Having a negative experience, a hard time in terms of anxiety, paranoia.

But Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, fears that the increase of emergency room visits may be due to increased automobile accidents and injuries occurring as a result to some of the side effects of cannabis use, such as reduced coordination and altered senses.

You should anticipate, with anything that results in altered senses, more challenges with people in automobile crashes, falling off of bikes, distracted walking with results in pedestrian injuries, Benjamin said. Youre going to see more injuries overall.

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Kalyanaraman said that such data could be incorporated in the future, as recreational cannabis becomes more integrated in the state.

He also said that the department does not yet know why cannabis-related ER visits vary by location. For example, Baltimore City had the second-highest rate of people going to the ER for cannabis related reasons in 2023, with 2,140 visits, or a rate of 378.6 visits per 100,000 city residents.

Medical marijuana has been allowed in Maryland since 2014, recreational use since 2023. Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images.

Allegany County posted the highest rate for 2023: Its 324 cannabis-related ER visits translated to a rate of 481.6 per 100,000 residents. Caroline County, with fewer than 10 visits, had the lowest rate in the state, at 59.5 visits per 100,000.

While there is still more to understand about recreational cannabis effect on public health post legalization, Kalyanaraman said that he wants adults to understand that there are still health drawbacks to cannabis, and they need to use it carefully.

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We want people to understand that while adult-use is legalized, it still has health effects and adverse health effects, and can still cause problems, Kalyanaraman said.

Both Benjamin and Thrul agree that from a public health standpoint, the least safe way to consume cannabis is through smoking.

From a public health perspective, we dont want anyone smoking anything, because it also results in significant lung disease over time  a range of inflammatory conditions in the lungs, puts you more at risk of for infectious diseases, Benjamin said.

As for Thrul, hes recommendation for people using cannabis is to take it slow.

The harm reduction around cannabis is go slow, he said. Wait for the effects to develop, and then decide if you want to do more, rather than overdoing it and then regretting the consequences.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH)  This week on Capitol Report, the panel discusses President-elect Donald Trumps pick of Connecticuts Linda McMahon as education secretary.

Plus, Democratic leaders vow to protect undocumented immigrants in our state.

CAPITOL REPORT

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Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Lithuanian authorities confirmed that the pilot killed when a DHL-contracted cargo plane went down in a residential area near the airport in the capital, Vilnius, early Monday was a Spanish citizen.

The three survivors pulled from the wreckage were Spanish, German and Lithuanian, the authorities said.

Vilnius Emergency Medical Mobile Brigades Service Igor Lukasevas head said the pilot was found unconscious and subsequently pronounced dead at the scene. The others were taken to the hospital, all with multiple injuries.

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Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Clinic said one of the injured was in a critical condition.

A 34-year-old Lithuanian on board told rescuers that he was traveling in the main cabin of the plane, while the other three were flying up front in the cockpit.

However, ambulance doctor Bozena Jerenkivc, who was the first on the scene, told LRT Radio that the three who escaped were more easily rescued because the cabin in which they were seated was not engulfed in flames.

"It was lucky that that cabin was separate from the source of the flames. And we were lucky that no people were engulfed in flames."

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DHL Lithuania confirmed the stricken aircraft belonged to Swiftair, a Madrid, Spain-headquartered carrier operating on behalf of DHL.

"At this moment, we can only confirm that today, at around 5.30 a.m., a plane of Swiftair, a third-party carrier under DHL contract, flying from Leipzig Airport to Vilnius Airport, made a forced landing about 1,000 yards away from the airport," DHL spokeswoman Ausra Rutkauskiene told Lithuania's Elta news agency.

"The cause of the accident is not yet known and an investigation is underway," said Rutkauskiene adding that the aircraft was carrying routine cargo and that the manifest showed nothing out of the ordinary.

"We have no information on anything that might raise suspicion. These were regular import goods that we transport on a daily basis."

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She stressed that the personnel on board were regular, reliable and experienced crew.

"These are the people who had flown many times before."

The Boeing 737-476 en route from Leipzig in Germany crashed on Zirniu Street near its destination of Vilnius Airport at about 5:30 a.m. local time, the airport said in a statement.

The aircraft hit a two-story residential building causing an explosion and fire and 12 people had to be evacuated from the house, according to a statement from Fire Protection and Rescue Department, a division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The blaze took firefighters from six fire trucks two hours to bring under control.

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The office of Prime Minister Indrida Symonyte said an emergency meeting had been held on the crash and officials were informed that the residential fire was contained and that affected residents had been safely evacuated.

Police, along with the General Prosecutor's Office, have launched an investigation into the crash, while a separate probe is being spearheaded by the Ministry of Justice.

"The most important thing is that despite the incident occurring in a residential area, there were no casualties among the local residents," Symonyte said in a statement.

"The Vilnius City Municipality is taking care of the people, and we will support them as much as needed."

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Rescue work delayed the departure of several aircraft, and one plane's landing was diverted to the Latvian capital of Riga, the Vilnius Airport said.

Planes were able to land and depart from Vilnius normally as of 7:20 a.m., according to airport officials.
A DHL cargo plane flying from Leipzig in Germany crashed near the Vilnius Airport in Lithuania on the morning of Nov. 25, leaving one crew member dead and two injured, local media reported.

The plane crashed a few kilometers south of the runway and hit a house, catching on fire. Three remaining people on board survived the crash, and 12 people were evacuated from the damaged house, according to authorities.

The Boeing 737-476(SF) plane, operated by a DHL contractor Swiftair, crashed at about 5.30 a.m. local time south of the capital, officials said.

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Lithuanian authorities said it was too early to draw conclusions about the cause of the crash and that an investigation was underway.

Two DHL shipments flown from Lithuania to Leipzig caught fire in a warehouse earlier this year, with Western security officials reportedly suspecting Moscow of a sabotage plot. The fires could have led the cargo planes to crash if the fires happened during the flight.

Arunas Paulauskas, head of the Lithuanian Police, told the media that the Nov. 25 crash was "most likely due to a technical fault or a human error."

"The plane was landing and failed to reach the runway, these are the facts," he said, adding that terrorism "cannot be ruled out."

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Read also: Lithuania blocks and fortifies bridge to Russias Kaliningrad exclave

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An aircraft flying from the city of Leipzig on behalf of German logistics giant DHL crashed near Vilnius airport on Monday, with at least one person killed, according to police.

The person who died was a Spanish citizen, a police representative told the ELTA news agency.

Three other people who were on the plane were wounded and taken to hospital, the BNS news agency reported, citing emergency services. There were reportedly only four people on the aircraft.

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The head of the Lithuanian rescue service, Renatas Pozela, said at a press conference that the plane crashed a few kilometres from the airport, skidded several hundred metres, and its debris hit a residential building. The area is not densely populated.

Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas said the aircraft missed the house "by chance." Following the crash, a fire broke out, and 12 residents were evacuated from the building.

Pozela said that the fire had been contained and was no longer spreading.

Investigations are under way to determine whether the crash was due to "technical problems," the head of the National Crisis Management Centre said, adding it is too early to say anything more precise.

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DHL said that the plane had been attempting an emergency landing.

A terrorist attack could not be ruled out, Lithuania's police chief told reporters.

"This is one of the versions that needs to be investigated and verified. There is still much work ahead of us," Arunas Paulauskas said at a press conference.

Many of the plane's parts were scattered after the crash, a Lithuanian radio journalist reported from the accident scene in the Liepkalnis district. Numerous emergency service vehicles and personnel were at the location.

Germany had issued warning to logistics firms

At the end of August, German security authorities started warning about "unconventional incendiary devices" being sent by unknown individuals using parcel service providers.

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At the time, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, known by its German acronym BfV, and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) issued an alert about the apparent threat to companies in the aviation and logistics sector.

The warning was reportedly linked in security circles to an incident at the DHL logistics centre in Leipzig, which serves as the company's global hub. In July, a package sent from the Baltic States, which reportedly contained an incendiary device, is said to have caught fire there.

The warning from BfV and BKA did not mention Russia. Nonetheless, security sources have reportedly not ruled out a connection, given the increasing cases of Russian sabotage in Germany.

There was no initial information about any link between Monday's crash and a possible sabotage event.
An aircraft flying from the city of Leipzig on behalf of German logistics giant DHL crashed near Vilnius airport on Monday, with at least one person killed, according to police.

The person who died was a Spanish citizen, police said. Three other people who were on the plane - another Spaniard, a German and a Lithuanian - were wounded and taken to hospital. There were reportedly only four people on the aircraft.

The head of the Lithuanian rescue service, Renatas Pozela, said at a press conference that the plane crashed a few kilometres from the airport, skidded several hundred metres, and its debris hit a residential building. The area is not densely populated.

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The aircraft missed the house "by chance," said Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas. Following the crash, a fire broke out, and 12 residents were evacuated from the building.

Pozela said that the fire had been contained and was no longer spreading.

Investigations are under way to determine whether the crash was due to "technical problems," the head of the National Crisis Management Centre said.

German investigators are also taking part, with staff at the Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation set to arrive on Monday evening, a spokesman for the Transport Ministry told journalists in Berlin.

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DHL said that the plane had been attempting an emergency landing.

There is no evidence so far that the crash was the result of sabotage or a terrorist attack, Lithuanian Defence Minister Laurynas Kasciunas told journalists. The investigation could take "about a week," he said.

Earlier, Lithuania's police chief said a terrorist attack could not be ruled out.

Emergency services were first alerted to the crash at 5:31 am (0231 GMT). Many of the plane's parts were scattered after the impact, a Lithuanian radio journalist reported from the accident scene in the Liepkalnis district.

Germany had issued warning to logistics firms

At the end of August, German security authorities started warning about "unconventional incendiary devices" being sent by unknown individuals using parcel service providers.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement

At the time, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, known by its German acronym BfV, and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) issued an alert about the apparent threat to companies in the aviation and logistics sector.

The warning was reportedly linked in security circles to an incident at the DHL logistics centre in Leipzig, which serves as the company's global hub. In July, a package sent from the Baltic States, which reportedly contained an incendiary device, is said to have caught fire there.

The warning from BfV and BKA did not mention Russia. Nonetheless, security sources have reportedly not ruled out a connection, given the increasing cases of Russian sabotage in Germany.

There was no initial information about any link between Monday's crash and a possible sabotage event.
BANGKOK, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's employment growth remained stable in the third quarter of 2024 as jobs in the non-farm sectors expanded despite an ongoing decline in the agricultural sector, official data showed on Monday.

The Southeast Asian country's labor force slightly dipped 0.1 percent year-on-year to 40 million individuals in the July-September period as employment in the agricultural sector contracted 3.4 percent, mainly due to the impacts of flooding, according to the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC).

Meanwhile, employment in non-farm sectors expanded by 1.4 percent, driven by growth in transport and storage services, which recorded a 14 percent increase, followed by a 6.1 percent expansion in accommodation and food services, the NESDC said in a statement.

The kingdom's unemployment rate stood at 1.02 percent in the third quarter, up from 0.99 recorded in the same period last year and representing 410,000 unemployed individuals, the state economic planning agency said.

Looking ahead, facilitating the transition of the workforce to modern industries is one of the key focus areas as traditional sectors face challenges in adapting to changing market demands, leading to job losses, reduced overtime, voluntary resignations and early retirements, said NESDC Secretary-General Danucha Pichayanan.

Under the government's promotion plans, new investments, mostly in emerging industries, are expected to create around 170,000 jobs for Thai workers. Providing the workforce with the necessary skills is crucial in seizing these opportunities, Danucha told a news conference. 
(Bloomberg) -- French grocer Carrefour SAs decision to not sell any meat in the country produced by the South America trading bloc known as Mercosur is drawing the ire of government officials in Brazil.

Most Read from Bloomberg

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Brazils lower house has decided to vote on a new bill to enforce economic reciprocity this week in response to the French protectionism, according to Lower House Speaker Arthur Lira. The proposal establishes that Brazil wont be part of any trade deal that can impact or set restrictions on its exports, when other countries or bloc signatories dont adopt equivalent instruments in their legal framework.

Its not possible that the CEO of a major group like Carrefour doesnt recant from a statement of practically not buying animal proteins from South America, said Lira at an event in Sao Paulo on Monday. Brazil, the National Congress, entrepreneurs and the population must clearly answer him.

Last week, Carrefour Chief Executive Officer Alexandre Bompard said in a statement that the retailer is committed to not marketing any Mercosur meat in France in solidarity with domestic farmers. The move comes amid protests by French farmers against a European Union free trade agreement with Mercosur, a bloc formed by Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

The deal would give South American meat suppliers broader access to the French market. In his letter, Bompard said the deal between the European Union and Mercosur threatened to overflow France with meat not respecting its requirements and standards.

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Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro endorsed a decision from Brazilian beef producers to suspend sales to Carrefour SAs local unit in retaliation to the supermarket operators move.

We will not tolerate untruths on Brazilian products. Brazil is very responsible with the quality of what it sells to our Brazilian consumers and those from all over the world, said Favaro in a post on X, former Twitter.

Companies suspending sales to Carrefour include JBS SA, the worlds largest producer, and Minerva SA, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. The Brazilian meat producers retaliation against Carrefour was first reported by local media.

The French retail companys subsidiary in Brazil acknowledged in a Sunday statement that the boycott is likely to affect customers. Carrefour has more than 1,000 outlets in Brazil, which makes up for more than 20% of its global sales, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Atacadao SA, which operates Carrefour stores in Brazil, fell as much as 5.5% in Sao Paulo before erasing most losses. JBS shares trimmed losses after falling as much as 1.2%, with Minerva down by 1.1%.

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JBS and Minerva declined to comment.

On Saturday, 44 industry groups in Brazil signed a letter condemning Carrefour CEOs decision, adding the move shows a protectionist approach that contradicts the role of a global company with operations in diverse and interdependent markets.

Brazilian meatindustry group ABPA said Carrefours Bompard made an unreasonable statement by saying that meat produced in the South American nation doesnt comply with French rules. Producers are awaiting clarification from Carrefour to recognize Brazilian meats quality and sustainability, ABPA President Ricardo Santin said in an interview Monday.

--With assistance from Clarice Couto and Gerson Freitas Jr..

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(Adds ABPA president comment in last paragraph)

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CASS COUNTY, Texas (KETK)  The Cass County Sheriffs Department issued a missing person alert for a 30-year-old man last seen on Friday.

According to a release, Omar Daniel Zambrana Flores was last seen at around 4 a.m. on Friday leaving his residence without a vehicle on CR 2913 in Hughes Springs. Flores is a Hispanic man and is 5 foot 9 inches.

Picture of Omar Daniel Zambrana Flores, courtesy of the Cass County Sheriffs Office

Picture of Omar Daniel Zambrana Flores, courtesy of the Cass County Sheriffs Office

Anyone who knows his whereabouts is asked to contact the sheriffs office at 903-756-7511.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com.
Sen. Bill Cassidys (R-La.) vote to impeach President-elect Trump could come back to haunt him ahead of his 2026 reelection bid.

Cassidy was one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump in 2021, and he has at times been vocally critical of the president-elect. Trump, in turn, has bashed him as a A TOTAL FLAKE and a stiff.

A Cassidy campaign spokesperson confirmed to The Hill that the senator is running for reelection, though he hasnt made a formal announcement yet. Some Republicans already expect the Louisiana senator to face a primary challenge, as his vote and past remarks receive renewed scrutiny.

Its a major problem for Cassidy, Republican political consultant Scott Wilfong said.

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Wilfong said that around the state, hes noticed Cassidy is everywhere all the time and has made it a priority to deliver for the local governments.

Wherever he was four years ago, Bill Cassidy is at least 50 percent better off politically than he was then, Wilfong said. Is that enough to get through a Republican primary? I dont know.

Republicans are bracing for a potentially heated primary as Cassidy, a two-term moderate Senate Republican, gears up for reelection. He irked members of his party when he voted alongside six of Senate Republicans to convict Trump, prompting the state party to censure him.

Weeks after the 2022 midterms  in which Republicans and several prominent Trump-backed candidates lost key races  Cassidy pushed back against the idea Trump was the leader of the GOP. The Louisiana Republican evaded saying whether he would endorse the president-elect during the 2024 election, only saying that he planned to vote for a Republican for the presidency of the United States.

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Cassidy will hardly be the only Trump skeptic in next years Senate majority. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) also voted to convict Trump in 2021, while Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) has criticized the president-elect and earlier this year said he wouldnt back Trump.

But Trumps decisive win this month, coupled with the states ruby-red politics, is raising questions around whether voters  and the incoming president  will look past the controversial vote enough to give Cassidy another shot at six more years in the Senate.

Many Louisiana Republicans expect Cassidy to get a primary challenger, with some already signaling interest.

State Treasurer John Fleming (R) told the Shreveport Times he would likely mount a bid, noting I think Im viewed as the leading candidate, especially with President Trump being elected.

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Greg Buisson, a strategist for Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmetta (R), told The Hill that Skrmetta is considering a Senate run, with a decision expected between the first and second quarter of next year.

Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) invited speculation into a potential bid when he wrote on the social platform X on Friday, Media: Cassidys campaign team notes that no incumbent U.S. senator has lost in a primary in the past 200 Senate elections across the country Me: Well, you can go ahead and check that box.

Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), who was redistricted out of his congressional seat and is leaving Congress after this session, has also been floated as a challenger. There have also been some murmurs around whether former Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) could jump in on the Democrats side.

I still hear people taking Bill Cassidys name in vain over that impeachment vote, and to a lot of voters thats going to be the single issue that defines him despite all the other good things he has done, said James Hartman, a Republican consultant. I think thats going to be the biggest albatross around his neck. I dont know that the Trump folks are going to forgive him even enough to stay out of it.

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Cassidy, for his part, has brushed off concerns over the impact his impeachment vote could have in 2026.

No. I mean, it is what it is, and Ive done a good job for the state, Cassidy told The Hill last week. And good policy is good politics.

And if I have a challenger, I have a challenger. But I cant stay up awake at night worried about that, he said. Theres a wonderful scripture I quoted earlier that The days own troubles be sufficient for the day. And so, I got enough to worry about.

One dynamic that will make Cassidys next Senate race different from 2020s is how voters cast their ballots. Louisiana operated under a jungle primary system, in which every candidate running for an office was listed under the same ballot, regardless of party. If no candidate outright won at least half of the vote, the top two finishers ran against each other in the general election.

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Those electoral systems tend to offer a more favorable terrain for moderate candidates, since it forces contenders to court both Republicans and Democrats. But Louisiana is changing to a primary system for certain offices by 2026, including for Senate, where Democrats and Republicans vote in separate primaries, with unaffiliated voters allowed to cast their ballots in either one.

Those primaries generally encourage candidates to run toward their bases and then pivot toward the center in a general election, making it harder for more centrist candidates to break through. Cassidy notably was against changing the states electoral system, citing the price tag associated with it and arguing Louisianans didnt support it.

Cassidys team for its part has projected confidence, with the spokesperson noting he has the most cash on hand at the beginning of an election cycle of any incumbent senator in Louisiana history and that no sitting senator has lost their primary since hes been in the Senate. His latest available federal campaign filing shows the senator with close to $6 million cash on hand.

The Louisiana senator has in recent months projected a positive tone in regards to Trump, saying in a statement in June after meeting with Trump and his colleagues, I was elected to work for Louisiana and the United States of America. I commit to working with President Trump if he is the next president  and it appears he is going to be  to make things better for all.

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Cassidys campaign also pointed out his record voting alongside Trump while he was in office. The Louisiana senator voted in line with incoming president 89 percent of the time, including 94 percent of the time during the first half of Trumps first presidency and 83 percent between 2019 and 2020, according to FiveThirtyEight.

While Cassidy could be a top target within his own party, Republicans will still need him as Trump looks to confirm many of his nominees  including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Health and Human Services secretary  as Cassidy is the chair of the Senate HELP Committee.

Amid speculation around Cassidys reelection and whether Trump could get involved, the Louisiana Republican has offered positive remarks on some of the president-elects nominees, and hes also expressed an openness to do recess appointments if Democrats play hardball  a possible olive branch to Trump.

Mary-Patricia Wray, a political strategist whos worked with Democrats and Republicans, said that while she sees politicians who have diverse opinions as a marker of authenticity, when you want to win an election, you have to be aware that you are vulnerable in the middle and on the flanks when you take very divergent viewpoints from your partys mainstream.

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Looking at the United States Senate over the next couple of years, and particularly in the next six months, a lot of senators are going to have to ask themselves some questions about how their behavior on things like  Senate confirmation will affect them in their elections, she said.

Updated: 12:25 p.m. ET

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WATERTOWN, N.Y. (WWTI)  In a reversal of course, the United States Customs and Border Protection will consider the community-supported Cloverleaf property to build its new Border Patrol facility.

In an announcement from United States Senator Charles Schumer, months of advocacy has gotten CBP to consider the Cloverleaf property to the pending environmental review.

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The Cloverleaf property is currently owned by the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority.

Following our repeated efforts to make them reconsider their too-narrow focus on potential sites, CBP has wisely heeded the communitys calls to add the Cloverleaf property as a potential site for a new Border Patrol Facility. By getting the CBP to do a full public meeting in the North Country, I made sure the Thousand Island and St. Lawrence River community had voices heard loud and clear throughout this process. And when it seemed CBP was unwisely not properly considering the Cloverleaf property, which local leaders believe is best to ensure the North Countrys environment and tourism economy as well as CBPs mission; I was proud to lead the charge to get them to reverse course. United States Senator Charles Schumer

CBP had wanted to go forward with putting the new station at Blind Bay. However, a number of politicians and the public had been opposed to it. There had been in-person public meetings to let residents voice their concerns.

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BEDFORD, Ohio (WJW)  It was a celebration of life honoring a Bedford baby, killed in a house fire last month.

Original Swensons in Akron temporarily closed

Family, friends and neighbors came together for a balloon release Saturday to remember the life of Jovohn Harris.

The two-month-old was trapped by smoke and flames inside the home on Forbes Road. The infant and an adult were trapped.

The baby died at the scene. A 7-year-old child who escaped from the fire alerted neighbors for help, most likely saving a life.

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2 dead in Shaker Heights: Police

The Browns organization is also supporting the family.

The cause of the fire has not been released.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
Channel 2 Anchor Justin Farmer announced his decision to make a career change after 17 years at WSB-TV.

Farmer, an Emmy-winning journalist and Edward R. Murrow recipient, anchors Channel 2 Action News at 4 and 6 p.m.

He was born and raised in Atlanta and has covered some of the most significant local and national news stories during his broadcast career. Farmer has also made a meaningful impact in our community supporting several local charities and community partners.

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After a lot of discussion, its hard to say goodbye to Justin, said Marian Pittman, President of WSB-TV and CMG Content. His commitment to covering local news in North Georgia is second to none and we wish him the best as he takes on a new path in his career. I want to thank Justin for his dedication to WSB-TV and for his almost two decades of service to our viewers.

Im deeply grateful to WSB-TV and our viewers, said Farmer. It has been such a privilege to be with you in our great city and state sharing the moments that have shaped our lives.

Farmer is moving into the financial industry. Ive been an active investor for a long time and Im turning that passion into a profession in leading a specialized firm in Atlanta, Farmer continued.

While Farmer takes a new direction, he will still serve viewers on Channel 2 Action News as a special contributor on economic, financial, and political stories that impact Georgians and the community.

Farmers last day of full-time anchoring at WSB-TV Channel 2 will be Nov. 26, 2024.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

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Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Workers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport's key unions went on strike Monday morning, just days before a million travelers were expected to pass through the airport for Thanksgiving holiday travel.

Workers with American Airlines contractors ABM and Prospects called the strike a "last resort" after what they claimed were "unfair labor practices" by the airport.

The union workers carry out various of services at the bustling hub airport from cleaning cabins and emptying trash to escorting disabled passengers.

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"I am tired of struggling and living paycheck to paycheck," Dorothy Griffin, an ABM employee, told WBTV. "Sometimes, I can't even order a week's worth of groceries after I pay my bills because I barely make anything. I'm late on my rent payment right now because my paycheck just didn't cover it."

The airport is expecting to see a 7% increase in traffic from last year. According to the Airports Council International, Charlotte was the country's ninth busiest airport in 2023 and is a major hub for American Airlines.

"Airport service workers make holiday travel possible by keeping airports safe, clean, and running," said the Service Employees International Union, which is connected to the striking units, according to Fox Business.

"Despite their critical role in the profits that major corporations enjoy, many airport service workers must work two to three jobs to make ends meet," a union statement said.
A Charlotte police officer was taken to a hospital to be treated Sunday morning after a motorist hit the officers vehicle in uptown Charlotte, police said.

CMPD said the injuries were not life-threatening.

The crash happened shortly after 11 a.m. in the 300 block of East Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Police did not immediately release further details.
When it rains, it pours inside the apartments of a crumbling Chelsea building  forcing one resident to wear a helmet in his bathroom to prevent parts of the ceiling from hitting him.

Our lives are miserable  we live in danger, said longtime tenant Waleed Said to The Post, describing how he would put on a bike helmet for years when he entered his bathroom. I could have died because of the ceiling collapsing on my head.

Said and other residents of 136 W. 28th St. in the typically tony Manhattan neighborhood claim their New Jersey-based landlord, Frank Ng, has purposefully let the property decay to a dangerous state that has left them fearful for their lives with constant leaks, floods, collapsed ceilings, heat outages  and for six months this year, no water.

Tenants of a crumbling Chelsea building say they are being tortured by building disrepair. Matthew McDermott

Five of the tenants have stuck out a multiyear courtroom odyssey to sue Ng for letting the building decay to such a degree that it has racked up 325 housing violations in the past two years alone and he has been forced to pay city agencies more than $130,000 for repairs, fees, violations and settlements.

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They may soon get some relief when a city housing-court judge rules whether Ng is in contempt of orders to make repairs or face more steep penalties.

The tenants suit claims that the neglect amounts to harassment and is intentional  to drive out longtime residents.

Said, who was a lawyer in his native Egypt, keeps meticulous notes on his landlords actions  and alleged inactions  in an accordion-style folder.

Hes not doing repairs, hes not following court orders, Said, 55, told The Post. And hes getting away with it.  Its really a nightmare.

Resident Waleed Said says he has been forced to wear a helmet in his bathroom to avoid getting hit by pieces of ceiling. Matthew McDermott

Huge chunks of apartment ceilings have fallen down in the past thanks to the landlord ignoring issues, tenants say. Sabrina Ho

Fernando Garotti, a flight attendant and resident at the building for more than 25 years, said the previous landlord was always reasonable with repairs.

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But since Ng bought the property for $14 million as part of a three-lot deal in 2007  with the other two sites now developed with towering mid-block hotels  he said his life has been filled with chaos.

In my over 15 years of practice, Ive seldom seen a landlord have such little regard for the law and the wellbeing of his tenants, said lawyer Altagracia Pierre-Outerbridge, who is repping some of the tenants. Hundreds of serious violations and a refusal to cure them. Despite being on trial for contempt, this landlord persists in flouting the law.

Tenant Fernando Garotti says his life is filled with chaos because of building issues. Peter Senzamici/NY Post

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Ngs lawyer, Thomas Berinato, declined to comment to The Post on the pending litigation.

In letters to the court, Ng claims that he has been attempting to complete repairs but is facing difficulty in accessing the apartments, saying the tenants have sometimes been hostile to the workmen. He even singled out Garotti as being an issue.

They look at us like were the scum of the Earth, said Bonnie Zijic, a resident for 20 years and whose family used to run a tropical plant shop, Plant House, directly across the street. They messed with the wrong people.

Bonnie Zijic, a resident for 20 years, says of the landlord and his cohorts, They messed with the wrong people. Peter Senzamici/NY Post

The tenants said they decided enough was enough after a massive rainstorm in 2020, which sent a waterfall of stormwater cascading through ceilings across nearly every floor in the five-story building, a result of longtime unaddressed issues with the roof.

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Water poured through ceiling-mounted light fixtures, and the electricity was cut to avoid a potential blaze.

A 2020 rainstorm sent a waterfall through the whole bulilding, residents say. Waleed Said

It took more than four years for Ng to complete major repairs to their apartments, tenants told The Post.

Tenants on the top floor said that around a third of their apartments ceilings crashed in.

It didnt just happen one day, you know, one rainstorm, said Sabrina Ho, who has lived on the top floor of the building for more than 13 years and says she complained about her leaky ceiling for a decade. It was leaking over years and years.

Tenant Sabrina Ho wasnt home during the storm but returned to find nearly all of her apartments ceilings destroyed. Sabrina Ho

Ho is also a flight attendant  the New York to Hong Kong route  and luckily wasnt home for the storm.

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She said that when she returned, she found huge slabs of her ceiling all over her apartment  including on her bed where she would have been sleeping.

It took nine months for Hos ceiling to be fixed, she said.

Ho said huge chunks of ceiling had fallen all over the apartment. Sabrina Ho

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Her neighbor and fellow flight attendant, Garotti, 53, was home and fast asleep at the time.

He said he woke up to find his ceiling collapsed in his bedroom and kitchen.

I lost my mattress, clothing, oven, fridge, he said. There was over a foot of water inside my home.

Eventually, Ngs daughter came by to assess his damage, Garotti said. She was toting a Ferragamo bag and wearing Chanel shoes at the time, he said.

It took over nine months for the landlord to patch Hos ceiling. Sabrina Ho

He said she told him,  Its all cheap Ikea furniture.

She said what happened was my fault and nothing to worry about, he claimed.

On the second floor, Saids bathroom ceiling also collapsed during the storm, just moments after he stepped out of the room.

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He said he took to wearing a helmet before entering for four years, till his ceiling was be repaired.

Said said the landlord told him,  This isnt a five-star hotel.

Said told The Post, We live in danger. Matthew McDermott

A lawyer back in Egypt, Said has kept meticulous notes on his landlord throughout their legal saga. Peter Senzamici/NY Post

 if you keep calling 311 and the Fire Department, youre just delaying the repairs. 

Ho said, Thats why after [the storm] happened, we decided: Why dont we come together, because we all have the same problem.

In just the past two years, the residents have lodged 349 complaints with the citys Housing and Preservation Department, who are responsible for enforcing housing regulations.

In just the past two years, the building has racked up 325 open city housing violations. Sabrina Ho

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Records from HPD show a staggering 325 open housing violations  91 of which are considered immediately hazardous  ranging from cockroach and mice infestations, snarled flooring, busted bathtubs and toilets, broken self-closing fire doors, mold, broken windows and fire escapes and exposed wires to failing plumbing.

Documents also show a staggering number of HPD work orders  more than $67,000 in total  plus nearly $33,000 in fees, mostly related to the building joining the Alternate Enforcement Program in 2021, a special housing inspection scheme reserved for some of the citys worst offenders.

Tenants are suing their landlord for contempt, saying that he is deliberately slow-walking repairs. Waleed Said

In 2022, Ng settled a separate lawsuit with HPD for $12,000 which stipulated that all violations  especially including heat and water issues  be resolved within three months of the agreement or more fines would ensue.

HPD did not respond to a Post request for comment.

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The building also has accrued just under $20,000 in fines from the city Buildings Department for loose facade bricks  including involving a crumbing 2-by-3-foot piece of decorative arch they were fined for in 2023  and other dangerous hazards, such as illegally storing wooden planks on the roof.

In total, the landlord has paid city agencies more than $130,000 for repairs, fees, violations and settlements to date. Sabrina Ho

But despite the tenants efforts in court and the $131,000 in fines and work paid by the landlord to the HPD and DOB, the residents say their apartments remain in disrepair.

Heat and water problems are still occurring  and have gotten worse, they said.

At a court hearing Friday, the buildings superintendent admitted during cross-examination that he did not take any action on a court order until at least six months later, according to a lawyer in the courtroom.

Zijic, Garotti and Said sit outside of Manhattan housing court after an October hearing. Peter Senzamici/NY Post

Ive lost over 100 days of work waiting for [the landlord] to arrive to do work, said Garotti, whose airline route includes long flights to Brazil.

While Hos ceiling might be patched, she said heavy rain still means flooding in her top-floor unit.

She said she cant figure out where the water comes from.
MOSCOW/KIEV, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Russia is considering possibly deploying medium-range and short-range missiles in Asia if U.S. missiles appear in the same region, local media reported Monday, citing Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

"The appearance of such U.S. systems in any region of the world will determine our next steps, including in the field of organizing a military and military-technical response," Ryabkov told reporters when asked whether Russia is considering the possibility of deploying medium-range and short-range missiles in Asia.

The diplomat also said that U.S. bases in Europe, including those where tactical nuclear weapons are deployed, are not excluded as potential targets for Russia in the event of a hypothetical military conflict.

General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Monday announced that the Ukrainian forces launched a series of overnight attacks on "important facilities" in three regions of western Russia.

An oil depot in the Kaluga region was struck during the attack, the General Staff said in a statement on Facebook, adding that outcomes of strikes on other targets in the Bryansk and the Kursk regions are still being assessed. 
China has achieved a groundbreaking milestone by developing the Haiwei GD11000, the "world's first machine capable of laying submarine cables at record depths."

The cutting-edge system can deploy cables more than 11,000 meters (36,089 feet) below sea level, making it suitable for the Challenger Deep, the deepest part of the ocean in the Mariana Trench, claimed Chinese media reports on Monday.

"Haiwei GD11000 could conduct marine scientific research 'at the maximum depth of all the oceans in the world'" said the chief scientist on the project, Li Wenhua, a professor at the university's marine engineering college.

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The Challenger Deep, located 200 miles southwest of Guam, marks a critical maritime boundary. Until recently, cable-laying technology had its limits, with the previous depth record at 7,054 feet set in July by Italian cable manufacturer and installation service provider Prysmian.

However, Haiwei GD11000, an independent development led by Dalian Maritime University and domestic technology enterprises, has broken this barrier, ushering in a new era of underwater research and engineering, according to a South China Morning Post (SCMP) report.

Haiwei GD11000: Testing the tough waters

The equipment completed its first significant field test in October onboard the Ocean Geology 2 research vessel, deploying cable 36,840 feet deep while conducting operations in the South China Sea.

By demonstrating its stability and operational ability, the machine also made it possible to use cable-controlled underwater robots for seabed inspection, sampling, and marker placement.

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"This fully validated its stability and operational capability," reported SCMP, quoting a Dalian Maritime University press statement.

"The optical cable winch system  designed to deploy, recover, and tow large systems such as cable-operated underwater robots  serves as an indispensable piece of equipment for deep-sea resource exploration and development," noted SCMP.

Per the researchers, the Haiwei GD11000 is designed for more than meets the eye. The technology is a crucial tool for resource exploration in harsh seas and marine scientific study.

The ultra-thin cable, with a diameter of less than 34mm (1.3 inches), transfers more than 51 kilowatts of power, allowing for safe, efficient operation at working loads exceeding 15 tons.

Chinese military advantage and research support

The technology also holds strategic importance for the Chinese military.

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"Being able to use the underwater trench could potentially give the Chinese military a way to break through the 'second island chain'  a strategic collection of Pacific bases forming a line of defense for mainland America," noted the SCMP report.

Wenhua noted that Haiwei GD11000 has a "speed of up to 120 meters per minute (393 feet per minute)." He underlined the machine's importance in advancing research at the ocean's deepest points.

Future deployments "will provide technological support for China's marine scientific research efforts and deep-sea resource exploration," the university stated in the press release.

The "China's first and the world's only all-depth optical cable winch system" marks a turning point in ocean exploration and the Asian giant's technological aspirations by pushing the limits of underwater engineering.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) called out President-elect Donald Trump for nominating Matt Gaetz to be attorney general after the pick prompted widespread backlash.

Trump tapped Gaetz as his choice to head the Department of Justice earlier this month amid the House Ethics Committees open investigation into the congressman over allegations of sexual misconduct, including accusations of sex with a minor at a 2017 party.

Gaetz withdrew his nomination last week, saying on X (formerly Twitter) that the controversy over his nomination was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vances transition into the White House.

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I remain fully committed to see that Donald J. Trump is the most successful President in history, he added in the Nov. 21 post. I will forever be honored that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and Im certain he will Save America.

While appearing on ABCs This Week on Sunday, Christie  once part of Trumps inner circle  called Gaetz an abominable pick while giving props to Trumps other Cabinet nominees.

Theres a number of these nominees that are actually quite good. Doug Burgum, Ive known him for a long time. He will do a really solid job, Christie told host Jonathan Karl, referring to the governor of North Dakota who is Trumps pick to run the Interior Department.

He went on to praise former White House aide Brooke Rollins as Trumps choice to lead the Department of Agriculture, noting shes a bright woman who will do a really good job at agriculture.

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Christie then claimed to Karl that theres too much hysteria over Trumps Cabinet nominees before slamming him for nominating Gaetz.

Matt Gaetz was an abominable pick, and it was Donald Trump over-reading his mandate, Christie said. Well, he got smacked back. So well see what happens.

Shortly after Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration last week, Trump nominated former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to be the next attorney general.

Pam was a prosecutor for nearly 20 years, where she was very tough on Violent Criminals, and made the streets safe for Florida Families, Trump wrote in a Nov. 21 post announcing his choice.

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Watch a clip from Christies appearance below.

Chris Christie claims Matt Gaetz was an abominable pick and it was Donald Trump 'over-reading his mandate.' pic.twitter.com/k85QzTBybL  Simon Ateba (@simonateba) November 24, 2024

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PEORIA, Ill (WMBD)  This weeks featured artist on the CI Proud Concert Series is Taylor Steele of Taylor Steele and the Love Preachers

Taylor Steele and the Love Preachers are a four-piece Americana band based in Effingham, Illinois. The band consists of Taylor Steele on lead vocals, acoustic resonator, and electric telecaster, James Stewart on lead guitar and vocals, Garrett Burris on bass and vocals, and Kyle Heynen on drums and vocals.

Taylor Steele started singing when she was a young girl, joining her family on stage singing old-time country music, 60s/70s bar band blues, and classic rock, she lists a few of her musical inspirations as Sly and the Family Stone, Bob Dylan, and Van Morrison

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Taylor and the Love Preachers sophomore album, High Feeling, was released earlier this year and is available wherever you stream music. If you are interested in booking the band, you can reach out to thelovepreachers@gmail.com.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CIProud.com.
An office sits vacant in San Francisco in October 2022. The city is one of several across the country offering incentives to convert unused office space into housing. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Read more Stateline coverage of how communities across the country are trying to create more affordable housing.

Nearly a fifth of office space across the country sits empty, a record high vacancy rate thats expected to keep growing.

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Seeking both to boost their economies and ease their housing shortages, cities are taking steps to encourage the conversion of unused office space into much-needed housing. They include reductions in approval times, exemptions from affordable housing rules and changes in building code requirements. Some cities and states also are providing tax incentives or subsidies to developers.

Cities need to focus on making conversions feasible by removing unnecessary regulatory barriers, said Alex Horowitz, project director of the Housing Policy Initiative at The Pew Charitable Trusts.

The U.S. is short millions of homes, and office vacancy rates are at record highs. It makes all the sense in the world to convert underused commercial space into housing, but the cost per square foot is just too high.

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Purchasing and converting an office building for residential use costs an average of $685 per square foot. Buying a completed multifamily property costs an average of $600 per square foot, while building a new multifamily development costs about $588 per square foot.

Regulatory hurdles  such as outdated building codes, minimum unit sizes and natural light requirements  push up costs. Cities are trying a variety of ways to overcome these obstacles.

From coast to coast

In September, Minneapolis peeled away several regulations in an effort to encourage conversions, including removing public hearing requirements, requiring less intensive traffic studies, and exempting converted buildings from the typical requirement that 20% to 30% of units be rented at below-market rates.

San Francisco has waived certain planning and building code requirements as well as real estate transfer taxes for downtown conversions that are approved before 2030.

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Seattle in July approved exemptions for commercial-to-residential conversions from certain design development standards and from housing affordability requirements.

New York Citys Office Conversion Accelerator program provides a single point of contact for office building owners to streamline conversions, from zoning questions to permitting.

And Denver last year launched an adaptive reuse pilot program to make it easier and faster to get conversions approved by the city.

Jon Gambrill, managing director of global architecture firm Genslers Denver office, said that converting the top 16 buildings identified by the firm and city leaders into housing could add more than 5,000 units to the downtown area.

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It makes all the sense in the world to convert underused commercial space into housing, but the cost per square foot is just too high.

 Alex Horowitz, project director of the Housing Policy Initiative at The Pew Charitable Trusts

Atlanta, Denver, Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle stand to benefit the most from converting underused offices to housing, according to a June Urban Institute analysis.

Still, conversions have made little dent in the housing crisis so far.

Between 2016 and April 2024, office-to-multifamily conversion projects created more than 22,000 apartments, according to CBRE, a commercial real estate services and investment firm. The 169 projects planned or underway are estimated to produce another 31,000 apartments over the next several years. Despite the growth, that total is less than a half-percent of total U.S. apartment inventory.

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During a June presentation by Seattles Office of Planning and Community Development, city leaders estimated that they expect fewer than a dozen conversion projects to result in 1,000 to 2,000 new housing units over seven years.

Money matters

Cities and states also are trying to promote conversions by offering incentives and funding.

New York Citys 2025 budget included a new incentive for conversion of commercial properties to rental housing, offering up to a 90% tax exemption for projects with at least 25% affordable units.

Chicago has committed $151 million for developers to transform four office buildings into 1,000 apartments, about a third of which would have affordable rental rates.

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Washington, D.C., provides 20-year tax abatements for commercial-to-residential conversions through its Housing in Downtown initiative.

The District of Columbia led the nation in adaptive reuse from 2021 to 2024, creating 5,820 new housing units from office properties, followed by New York (5,215 units) and Dallas (3,163 units), according to RentCafe, an apartment search website.

California in 2022 approved $400 million for office-to-residential projects.

Commercial-to-residential legislation has hit some hurdles.

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California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in October vetoed legislation that would have provided financial incentives for developers, including the option for local governments to allocate up to 30 years of property tax revenue to support affordable housing conversions. It also would have fast-tracked the approval process for conversion of office buildings into residential or mixed-use developments.

Newsom objected to changes in labor practices including the issuance of stop-work orders for violations and procedures for contesting violations.

And in Colorado, a bill that would have offered refundable tax credits up to $3 million per commercial-to-housing project starting in 2026 failed in the legislature earlier this year.

Still, experts expect housing conversion efforts to increase across the country.

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All Americans, particularly underserved communities, need homes they can afford, said Pews Horowitz. But outdated rules make it harder to create deeply affordable housing.

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Reggio Emilia, a city in Northern Italy, will soon have a beautiful new pedestrian square filled with benches, trees, and fountains. The kicker is that the square was, until recently, a drab parking lot.

As detailed by Phys.org, the new square is part of a European Union-wide project called sustainable urban mobility plans that aims to make urban areas more pleasant for residents by limiting vehicle congestion, reducing air and noise pollution, and improving road safety.

Simply put, SUMPs are about using clever ideas to claw back congested urban areas for people from cars, making it easier for folks to go carless and reduce the amount of carbon belched into the air.

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According to Phys.org, Reggio Emilia is one of 16 European cities participating in a program called Park4SUMP. The program helps communities use data to develop parking plans that nudge people to walk and use public transport instead of driving.

The goal is to free up at least 10% of public space devoted to parking while pumping 10% of revenues generated from paid parking into better, more sustainable transportation options for everyone.

"This is an important part of our general strategy for improving the quality of life in Reggio Emilia," engineer and mobility planner Alberto Merigo said, per Phys.org.

Building more parking in cities tends to attract more cars, which creates more traffic congestion and more pollution. Coming up with more intelligent ways to foster moving around a city can help end that cycle.

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Town planners interested in implementing a SUMP can use a tool called PARKPAD that relies on surveys, data, and workshops to see what happens when they reduce parking.

Hard data about the benefits of reducing space for parking lots is important because, as one PARKPAD researcher said, "In people's minds, parking is a very emotional subject." Politicians often fear backlash from voters and business owners if they advance plans to convert parking to pedestrian-friendly zones.

However, according to the English government research organization Transport for London, people using public transportation, riding bikes, and walking spend 40% more money in local shops than motorists do. This means more walkability in cities doesn't just help the climate, but it helps the long-term financial sustainability of local businesses, too.

U.K. National Active Travel Commissioner Chris Boardman agreed, telling Forbes, "Walkable high streets make for vibrant, happier, and healthier communities, which is good for business."

Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
NEW ORLEANS, La. (KTAL/KMSS)  The names of Patsy Shaw, Patience Jorum, Joanna P. Moore, Margaret Jones, Harriet Taylor, and Sallie Henderson would have likely been lost to history had it not been for a homeless shelter in post-Civil War New Orleans that cared for homeless, elderly women who had previously been enslaved.

Thanks to a book written in the early 1900s, we can now look back at our own Louisiana history and see where women helped one another get off the streets and find peace.

While remembering the early years of an Old Ladies Home in New Orleans that would later be known as Faith Home, Joanna P. Moore stated that after the Civil War, some of the saddest cases in the homeless community in Louisiana were that of the old freed women women out with years of slavery.

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Joanna wrote that these women were usually rag pickers, and had a little but where they lodged at night, and ate old scraps they had begged during the day.

Joanna stated that there was on Old Ladies Home in New Orleans after the Civil war, but women of color were not allowed. And there were no alms for the poor in the freedman and freedwoman homeless communities.

These old people you sometimes found on the streets, because for some reason they had been turned out of their little corner and had nowhere to go. Sometimes the police took them up and lodged them in the parish prison, wrote Joanna. But because these people were guilty of nothing, save age, poverty and sickness, the police did not keep this vulnerable group of people in prison for long.

Joanna wrote that people had tried to collect money for a suitable home before 1878, but in 1878 she called together those whom (she) thought the most interested, both (black and white) friends.

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For several weeks, the group of friends all asked their Maker for help.

In Jan. 1879, a house was found and the first story of the home was made ready for elderly, homeless women. The second story of the house was for the missionaries who were to help.

I first prayed for someone to take care of and to cook for these pilgrims, wrote Joanna. Katie Lewis was the answer to this prayer. I wish you could have seen her. She was about seventy years old, tall and as dignified as a queen, and wore her turban as gracefully. While a slave she was a head cook and general manager in the home of a rich planter.

Joanna said that Katie came to the home and said shed had a vision that she needed to come and cook for the elderly women, which she called those little babies.

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Katie herself was elderly, but she said she had good health and knew how to cook and wanted to help in this low-ground of sorrow.

Katie stayed for years.

Joanna said the very first woman that Faith Home helped was Sallie Henderson, who moved into the home on Feb. 1, 1879.

She had been unkindly treated so long that she thought no one loved her, and I am sure she did not love any one.

Joanna described Sallie as being cross, sick, old, and dirty. She also said Sallie had great difficulty parting with her old, worn, dirty clothes.

Poor Sallie had several bags of them. I succeeded in burning some of them, but it almost broke her heart. I offered her nice new garments, but she preferred the old rags, because she said I am used to them.

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Joanna said the issue was common with most of the women who stayed at the home.

She also wrote that there were a few real saints in the group of women.

Within a month after opening their doors, Faith Home was caring for five women.

They had a motto written above a mantle in the home that said The Lord will provide. Money arrived from around the city and donors in northern states.

The first year we sheltered 22 weary pilgrims; none of them were well; six were cripples, one blind and two unable to leave their cots were cared for like babies, wrote Joanna.

Harriet Taylor was addicted to alcohol when she was first brought to the house. Harriet was convinced that she would die if she stopped drinking. She found sobriety and became a caretaker in the home, too.

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Margaret Jones was a hundred years old when she came to Faith Home. She couldnt walk.

I wish you could have heard her say for every favor she received, I thank you, Master Jesus, and often with tears of gratitude rolling down her withered cheeks she would turn and thank the one who brought the gift from Jesus, wrote Joanna.

Harried helped take of Margaret.

Joanna said that some people did not feel empathy for others. He did not see the immortal soul that now shines in glory, Joanna wrote about a driver who would not allow an old blind woman named Lucy in his carriage because she was so dirty. Lucy was taken to Faith Home and even one of the people who worked there were afraid that Lucy would bring dirt and disease into the home.

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Lucys life completely changed. Lucy finally had a home on earth, and according to Joanna, Lucy dreamt of a home in heaven.

Patsy Shaw was a literate woman who was raised in Virginia. She and her husband were sold and eventually auctioned off in New Orleans, where they were temporarily separated. After the Civil War, when the grown children that Patsy had helped raise couldnt take care of her anymore, they brought Patsy to Faith Home.

Patience Jorum was quite course when she arrived at the home. She would take her staff and strike the others if they offended her, wrote Joanna, who was broken-hearted about Patiences struggle.

More than forty women moved in while Joanna was at Faith Home. She wrote that she wished she could write about more of them, and she said that anonymous letters with money often arrived. She wrote letters about the work being done, and she published reports at the end of each year.

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Joanna also wrote of a lesson she learned at Faith Home.

You must love before you can comfort and help.

Joanna also said she had hoped to accomplish three things when she started the home. She wanted to care for the aged poor, to teach greater faith in Gods promises, and to teach people the Bible plan of giving. Joanna described that plan as to lay by from their income a portion to the Lord as He had prospered them, each according to his ability

As of 1914, Joanna was still helping freedwomen. She succeeded in her efforts for more than fifty years before she died.

Today we know the story of Joanna, Katie, Sallie, Patience, Patsy, and Lucy because of a book written by William Hicks. History of Louisiana Negro Baptists describes the formation and growth of early black churches in Louisiana between the years of 1804 and 1914.

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Black Baptist church history also ties in directly with the history of the white Baptist church in Louisiana.

It also ties in with the civil rights movement in Shreveport, Louisiana.

This story is the first in a series of articles that will highlight kind souls who defied racial tensions and made positive differences in Louisiana after the Civil War and before the corresponding civil rights movement.

Sources:

The Atlanta University Publications, No. 16, copyright 1912 by Atlanta University. Edited by W. E. B. DuBoise, Ph. D., pp. 100.

History of Louisiana Negro Baptists From 1804 to 1914: Electronic Edition. Written by William Hicks, B. A., D. D.; National Baptist Publishing Board, Nashville, Tennessee.

Jaclyn Tripp took the lead on this article.

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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 KTALnews.com.
WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) While he faces mounting medical bills, the Wichita Falls community and beyond showed their support for local radio host Keith Vaughn.

With rock music blaring and custom cars, old and new, lining the Castaway Cove parking lot, the support for Vaughn fell in the air. In Vaughns honor, all of the money from the car show registration is going towards his medical bills. At the end of the event, he even got to choose the winner of best in show.

MSUs Kappa Sigma Box-A-Thon raises funds for Faith Mission

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It was an event tailor-made for a rock and car enthusiast like Vaughn, and he felt right at home.

I dont know how many times somebody had said, you know, we waste funerals on the dead. Why dont we show them how much we love them when theyre alive, Vaughn said. So, I kind of take it this is that event for me. This is kind of my memorial service. It means a lot. And Ill take it with me the rest of my life. Ill never forget this.

Though Vaughn said he feels like it was a memorial service, he hopes to continue his broadcast career while he fights his medical issues.

One of the event organizers, Brian Marks, said in a Facebook post that $7,833 had been raised for Vaughn.

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KIGALI, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda on Monday called for ambitious, just, and enforceable global rules to end plastic pollution and safeguard the health of people and the planet, according to the country's Ministry of Environment.

As negotiators convene for the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5), Rwanda reiterated its commitment to achieving a legally binding treaty to address the urgent global plastics crisis, the ministry said in a statement.

"For two decades, Rwanda has demonstrated its commitment to tackling plastic pollution through bold national policies and regional leadership. We are now taking these homegrown innovations to the world," Rwanda's Minister of Environment Valentine Uwamariya was quoted as saying.

She emphasized the importance of collective global action, urging the global community to "unite behind an ambitious and enforceable treaty that delivers a future free from plastic pollution."

According to the statement, Rwanda is calling for a treaty that considers the full life cycle of plastic materials, reduces plastic production to sustainable levels, promotes circular economies, and fosters the adoption of sustainable alternatives.

Rwanda also underscored the need for ambitious and measurable targets, equity and inclusion, as well as a multilateral fund to provide implementation support.

With negotiations at INC-5 marking the final stage of the treaty development process, Rwanda urged all stakeholders to seize this opportunity to secure a historic agreement that addresses the root causes of plastic pollution and protects humanity and the environment, the environment ministry noted.

The fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, tasked with developing a legally binding international instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, runs from Monday to Sunday, at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center in Busan, Republic of Korea. 
Another public survey finds that most Hoosiers support reforming the state's cannabis laws in favor of legalization. (Getty Images)

A coalition pushing for safe and regulated cannabis reform published survey findings from a conservative-linked pollster in which an overwhelming number of Hoosiers supported legalization.

Seventy percent of registered voters surveyed, or 871 responses out of 1,252 Hoosiers, either strongly or somewhat supported legalization for Hoosiers over the age of 21, compared to 27% who opposed the idea. Safe and Regulated Indiana, a new Republican-backed group, released the results Monday.

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This survey confirms what we already know. Hoosiers are overwhelmingly united behind safe and regulated marijuana policy, said Joe Elsener, spokesperson for Safe and Regulated Indiana, in a release. Indiana voters strongly support legalization for adults 21+ and taxing and regulating marijuana just like alcohol. They want responsible legalization because they know it means safer streets, shutting down drug dealers, and keeping tax revenue here in our state.

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Lawmakers have long resisted the idea of legalizing marijuana use statewide, even with a growing bipartisan push to reconsider the drug. Gov. Eric Holcomb has pointed to the need for reform at the federal level, where its categorized alongside heroin and ecstasy, while Gov.-elect Mike Braun has said he supports access for medical cannabis users.

All of Indianas neighbors  Illinois, Michigan, Ohio  have legalized recreational marijuana for adults. Kentucky legalized medical cannabis.

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However, the survey identified few drawbacks for politicians who support legalization, finding that just 16% of respondents were less likely to politically support someone who voted to legalize the drug. In contrast, 58% of survey takers said they were more likely to support a politician if they supported legalization.

This survey shows that there is a clear political benefit for supporting marijuana legalization, regardless of party affiliation, Elsener continued. This issue will continue to gain momentum as more and more everyday Hoosiers unite around thoughtful, safe and regulated policy.

Louisiana-based Causeway Solutions conducted the survey between Oct. 30 and Nov. 3, combining live dial and text-to-web surveys. The identified margin of error is +/- 2.8%, according to the company, which has Republican ties.

IN Statewide Survey

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SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI)  Dozens of migrants are in U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody after a boat was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard off the San Diego coast on Saturday.

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Sea Otter (WPB 87362) was patrolling the waters off San Diego on Saturday when they reported they made contact with a 33-foot boat that was operating without navigation lights about seven nautical miles off the coast of Point Loma.

Oceanside road closed due to possible sinkhole: police

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The Coast Guard says the Sea Otters boarding team, along with members of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), boarded the boat and found 37 migrants aboard.

The migrants were taken to Ballast Point and transferred into CBP custody. The Coast Guard says 30 were of Mexican nationality, two were of Salvadoran nationality, three were of Guatemalan nationality, and one was of Colombian nationality, along with one U.S. citizen who was reported to be the operator of the vessel.

No other information was immediately 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 FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.
Wintry-ish weather has arrived. Will it stay frosty through Thanksgiving in Palm Beach County?

That's an important thing to know since a record 4.5 million Floridians are expected to travel 50 miles or more, according to AAA, part of an astounding 80 million travelers during the holiday this year. What will they be driving or flying through?

Sorry, no cozy sweaters are needed for the holiday in Palm Beach County. Forecasters expect a mild Thanksgiving this year, according to the National Weather Service and AccuWeather forecasters, although we could see cooler weather and some thunderstorms later that weekend.

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 Tropics watch, Nov. 20: Remnants of Sara bringing heavy rain to Florida. Coldest temps since last winter coming

Parts of the rest of the country may not be as fortunate. If your flight or road trip take you out of state, expect "rain, wind and even a bit of snow" starting the weekend before Thanksgiving, when rain and mountain snow hit the West Coast and a slow-moving storm moves over the Northeast to cause delays or cancellations at airports.

"One storm over the eastern half of the country is forecast to spread rain and snow showers across the Great Lakes, while periods of rain dampen areas from the Ohio Valley southward into Arkansas and Tennessee," AccuWeather said.

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"Rain could then advance toward the major Northeast cities along the Interstate 95 corridor Wednesday."

Florida and Palm Beach County weather forecast for Thanksgiving week

6-10 day temperature outlook for Nov. 25-29, 2024.

Above-normal temperatures are expected across much of the southern and eastern portions of the continental U.S., according to the NWS' Climate Prediction Center. And while a "generally wet" pattern is predicted across most of the country thanks to a mid-level trough moving across the Central Rockies, "near to below-normal precipitation is favored across portions of Florida and the Rio Grande Valley" next week.

In the weekend after the holiday and into the next week, much of the U.S. (besides Florida) will see cooler temps but Florida could see rain from the trough progressing eastward and interacting with moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, forecasters said.

6-10 day precipitation outlook for Nov. 25-29, 2024.

What's the Florida and West Palm Beach weather forecast leading up to Thanksgiving?

Western Panhandle: Saturday through Tuesday is expected to be "bone-dry," the National Weather Service in Mobile said.

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Panhandle, Tallahassee, Big Bend: Cool and dry weather is forecast for the area, with a possibility for frost this weekend. But temperatures are expected to be back into the 70s, with morning lows in the 50s by the start of next week, the National Weather Service Tallahassee said. "Rain chances throughout the entire period are negligible," the agency said. The first of two more cold fronts next week won't actually be that cold but a second may bring rain Thanksgiving Day through Friday morning and cooler temps Friday.

Northeast Florida: Dry and cool weather will continue through this weekend with mid-30s possible inland Saturday night. Warmer temps are expected by Monday and Tuesday, with highs in the 70s and "chilly overnight lows in the upper 40s to 50s," according to the National Weather Service in Jacksonville. But an amplified upper trough pushing into the area Thursday or Thursday night will increase the chances for showers and colder air again next weekend.

Florida East Coast: Expect a breezy weekend. "The dry weather will continue" for the next week or so, the National Weather Service in Melbourne said. Highs into "the mid- to upper 60s Saturday," with temps moving back into the low to mid 70s Sunday and the mid 70s to low 90s next week.

South Florida: Thanks to an area of high pressure over the area and the entry of a cool air mass, South Florida may see the coolest overnight lows since late February, with lows dropping "into the 40s around Lake Okeechobee and interior southern FL, with the remainder of South FL in the 50s, early Friday (Nov. 22) through Sunday," according to the National Weather Service in Miami. Warmer temps will return early the next week, forecasters said. "Conditions are expected to remain benign and rain-free through the end of the week into the beginning of next week," the NWS said.

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West Coast: The National Weather Service Tampa Bay expects lows in the 40s through Sunday morning, with highs moving back into the high 70s and 80s by Tuesday. Skies should be sunny and clear. Thanksgiving forecast: Sunny, with a high near 80.

Forecast:

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 64. North wind around 5 mph becoming west in the afternoon.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 53. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 71. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming south in the afternoon.

Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 64. South wind around 5 mph.

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 75. South wind 5 to 10 mph.

Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 67. South wind around 5 mph.

Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 75. West wind 5 to 10 mph.

Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 64.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 74.

Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 68.

Thanksgiving Day: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 76.

Follow National Weather Service Mobile on X, formerly known as Twitter

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Forecast:

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 64. Northwest wind around 5 mph.

Saturday Night: Clear, with a low around 39. Calm wind.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 70. Calm wind.

Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 48.

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 75.

Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 57.

Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 79.

Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 57.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 76.

Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 59.

Thanksgiving Day: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 76

Follow the National Weather Service Tallahassee on X, formerly known as Twitter

Forecast:

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 62. West wind 7 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 16 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 43. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 69. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 47.

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 74.

Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 52.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 79.

Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 59.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 76.

Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 60.

Thanksgiving Day: Mostly sunny, with a high near 79.

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Forecast:

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 65. Northwest wind around 10 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 44. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 71. Calm wind becoming north-northeast around 5 mph.

Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 54. Calm wind.

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 75. Calm wind becoming northeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Monday Night: Clear, with a low around 57. Calm wind.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 77. West northwest wind around 5 mph becoming east in the afternoon.

Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 60. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph.

Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 76. West northwest wind around 5 mph becoming northeast in the afternoon.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 63. East-northeast wind around 5 mph becoming south-southwest after midnight.

Thanksgiving Day: Sunny, with a high near 79. South southwest wind 5 to 10 mph.

Follow the National Weather Service Melbourne on X, formerly known as Twitter

Forecast:

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 68. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 48. North northwest wind around 5 mph.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 74. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming east-northeast in the afternoon.

Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 61. East wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 78. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming east in the afternoon.

Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 62. East wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 79. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming northeast in the afternoon.

Tuesday Night: Clear, with a low around 62. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.

Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 79. North northwest wind around 5 mph becoming east-northeast in the afternoon.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 66. East-northeast wind around 5 mph becoming southeast after midnight.

Thanksgiving Day: Sunny, with a high near 81. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon.

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Forecast:

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 68. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 47. Calm wind.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 76. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph in the morning.

Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 59. Calm wind.

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 78. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 60. Calm wind.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 80. Calm wind becoming north-northeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 61. Calm wind.

Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 80. Calm wind becoming northeast around 5 mph in the morning.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 63. Calm wind.

Thanksgiving Day: Sunny, with a high near 83. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the morning.

Follow the National Weather Service Melbourne on X, formerly known as Twitter

Forecast:

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 70. Northwest wind 11 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 61. North wind 5 to 10 mph.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 74. North wind 7 to 9 mph becoming east in the afternoon.

Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 70. East wind around 8 mph.

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 77. East wind 8 to 10 mph.

Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 72. East wind 7 to 10 mph.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 79. Northeast wind 6 to 10 mph.

Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 71.

Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 79.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 73.

Thanksgiving Day: Sunny, with a high near 80.

Follow the National Weather Service Miami on X, formerly known as Twitter

Forecast:

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 70. North wind 5 to 9 mph.

Saturday Night: Clear, with a low around 53. Northeast wind 3 to 6 mph.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 76. Northeast wind 5 to 7 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon.

Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 60. North wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable.

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 80. Northeast wind around 7 mph.

Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 62. Northeast wind around 6 mph.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 81. Northeast wind around 7 mph.

Tuesday Night: Clear, with a low around 62.

Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 81.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 64.

Thanksgiving Day: Sunny, with a high near 81.

Follow the National Weather Service Miami on X, formerly known as Twitter

Forecast:

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 70. North wind 6 to 8 mph.

Saturday Night: Clear, with a low around 48. Light north-northeast wind.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 76. East-northeast wind 3 to 5 mph.

Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 56. Light east-northeast wind.

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 80. East-northeast wind 3 to 6 mph.

Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 59. North-northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 81. North northeast wind 3 to 6 mph.

Tuesday Night: Clear, with a low around 59.

Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 81.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 62.

Thanksgiving Day: Sunny, with a high near 83.

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Forecast:

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 69. North northeast wind around 11 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 53. East-northeast wind 6 to 8 mph.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 73. East-northeast wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable.

Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 58. North wind around 7 mph becoming east after midnight.

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 78. East wind around 6 mph becoming north in the afternoon.

Monday Night: Clear, with a low around 60. Northeast wind around 7 mph.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 78. Northeast wind 6 to 9 mph becoming north-northwest in the afternoon.

Tuesday Night: Clear, with a low around 62.

Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 79.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 64.

Thanksgiving Day: Sunny, with a high near 78.

Follow the National Weather Service Tampa Bay on X, formerly known as Twitter

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This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida, West Palm Beach Thanksgiving weather forecast
Nov. 25 (UPI) -- A married couple who ran a Colorado funeral home have pleaded guilty to corpse abuse for storing nearly 200 decomposing bodies inside their facility.

Jon and Carie Hallford, ages 44 and 47, respectively, pleaded guilty Friday in an El Paso County courtroom and face up to 20 years in prison when sentenced on April 18, 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen told reporters following the hearing.

The pair ran the Return to Nature funeral home, and police began investigating them in October 2023 after members of the public reported a foul odor coming from their facility in Penrose, Colo., located about 34 miles southwest of Colorado Springs.

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Upon searching the facility with a warrant, authorities uncovered some 190 corpses in various states of decompositions, some of which dated back to 2019, officials said.

"Obviously, this case has been a huge, emotional struggle for all of the families that are present," Allen said, ABC News reported.

He continued that the victims of their crime may never recover from having their trust violated.

"The impact on these family members has been immense" he said, adding that it wa an honor "to achieve justice for them."

The pair were arrested in Oklahoma in early November, prompting Colo. Gov. Jared Polis to issue a statement expressing relief that those responsible would face charges.

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"I know this will not bring peace to the families impacted by this heart-wrenching incident, but we hope the individuals responsible are held fully accountable in a court of law," he said in a statement on Instagram.

Last month, the Hallfords each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a related case.

According to the federal prosecutors, the pair admitted they misled families to believe that their deceased loved ones were either buried or cremated.

As part of their scheme, they also conspired to defraud the U.S. Small Business Administration of more than $800,000 in COVID-19 pandemic relief funds.

Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date, the Justice Department said, adding that both defendants face up to 20 years in federal prison in the federal case as well.
Caleb Benjamin Davis is a Ph.D. candidate and Max-Kade-Fellow in Germanic Languages and Literatures at the Ohio State University, studying semiotics and narrative in childrens picture books from the Nazi period.

In the full light of day on a recent Saturday afternoon, neo-Nazis marched through the streets of the Short North.

Now, read that again. Neo-Nazis walked about haplessly past restaurants, apartments, hotels and LGBTQ+ establishments, reciting obscenities that mirrored the perpetrators of one of the most tragic events in human history.

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Scenes where white men tout flags with swastikas while shouting racist, antisemitic epithets are an unoriginal carbon copy of the scenes that played out in the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany. As we all know, this type of rhetoric led to a world war, genocide and the attempted extermination of Jews, homosexual men, sex workers, gender non-conforming individuals, Sinti/Roma, disabled people and several other ethnic and political minorities.

In 1945, after the defeat of the Wehrmacht by the United States, the UK, USSR and France held war crimes trials in Nuremberg, Germany. Among those charged and found guilty of aiding and abetting the Nazi killing machine was the editor-in-chief of the antisemitic newspaper Der Stuermer. The editor-in-chief, Julius Streicher, was a vehement antisemite and a steadfast and unapologetic Nazi up until the very moment his sentence was carried out in 1946.

Germanys current constitution was informed by the crimes perpetrated by the Nazis, which paved the way for laws that prohibit the discriminatory language uttered and the exact types of displays that occurred in the Short North on Sunday. The presentation of the swastika today in Germany is illegal, just like language that incites genocide.

The events in the Short North were shocking to the nation. Yet, this kind of antisemitism and fascist cosplay was not the first time this has occurred in Columbus in the recent past.

Columbus is no stranger to neo-Nazis, displays of fascism

On May 5, 2023, neo-Nazis attempted to halt a drag show at Land-Grant Brewery in Franklinton, shouting, No transgenders on our streets.

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On Dec. 3, 2022, the Proud Boys, another far-right group, succeeded in stopping drag queens from reading to children at the First Unitarian Universalist Church in Clintonville. Members of the group were seen openly strutting with assault rifles through the residential streets of the neighborhood.

In the fall of 2021, while crossing the street, I was confronted with a neo-Nazi graffiti tag on a light post at the corner of Longview and High that read: Heil Hitler.

Unbeknownst to many in our community is the fact that a well-documented neo-Nazi and antisemitic message board called the Daily Stormer (the English translation of Der Stuermer) is registered in Worthington, Ohio. Its founder, Andrew Anglin, grew up in Columbus and graduated from Worthington Kilbourne High School. The message board openly denies the Holocaust and even calls for a second genocide of the Jews.

From 2017 coverage: Worthington native becomes neo-Nazi propaganda machine

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It is worth considering why these events continue to occur in and around Columbus, and I think its far past the time we reckon that they may continue to happen.

As a community, we should also reflect on why neo-Nazis feel they are welcome on our streets to begin with and how dangerous the world becomes when communities get apathetic.

Caleb Benjamin Davis is a Ph.D. candidate and Max-Kade-Fellow in Germanic Languages and Literatures at the Ohio State University, studying semiotics and narrative in childrens picture books from the Nazi period.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus should be concerned about neo-Nazis in our midst | Opinion
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  An opportunity to get a layer of protection for free is underway and could help roughly half a million people affected by Columbus data leak. But at the last update, the victim count still dwarfed sign-ups.

After attempting a ransomware attack on servers for the City of Columbus, the hacking group Rhysida pivoted to instead publicly leaking around three terabytes of data on the dark web in August. Despite Mayor Andrew Ginther saying the released files were encrypted or corrupted, cybersecurity researcher Connor Goodwolf showed NBC4 they were accessible and contained personal data from city employees and the public alike. City Attorney Zach Kleins response was to file a lawsuit against the whistleblower, which has since been dismissed.

Brutus statue vandalized near Ohio State campus

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In previous data breaches like the Equifax hack that affected millions of Americans, free credit monitoring came as an optional prize thanks to a class-action lawsuit. But in Columbus case, it was actually city leaders that offered free credit monitoring  originally intended for their employees  to anyone whose data was potentially exposed. A signup portal for the service provided by Experian has been active for at least two months; it was extended Monday until March 31, 2025 (it was initially going to close on Nov. 29). The city was ready for a large group, budgeting up to $1,644,348 for the protection.

But as of the beginning of November, a startlingly low percentage of the estimated 500,000 people affected by Columbuss hack have taken the city up on its offer. Department of Technology Director Sam Orth told the city council that a combined 16,500 city employees, civilians and minors signed up, or around 3% of the possible victims. Thats even after assurances that the program wouldnt exclude victims from participating in either of the two class-action lawsuits leveled against the city.

Some victims have also reported real-world damage possibly stemming from the data leak. At least a dozen Columbus police officers told their chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police that their bank accounts were drained in August, a few weeks after the initial ransomware attack. Separately, one of the main plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against the city  an undercover officer alleged their cover was at risk of being blown. A former Franklin County employee also told NBC4 his credit score was damaged after the hack.

Buckeyes remain No. 2 in AP rankings heading to Michigan game

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To receive the free credit protection, go to columbus.gov/cyber or call 833-918-5161 with the code B129833. While confirming one persons specific information is inside the leaked data can be difficult, experts like SecureCybers Shawn Waldman have previously recommended that its better to still take action.

I generally tell people even outside of this incident, to already assume that all of your information has been compromised anyway, Waldman said. I would contact all three credit bureaus and do whats called freezing your credit.  If youve got notifications that you can turn on, like your credit cards and your bank accounts, have them start notifying you about every transaction.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
To coincide with Columbus Day earlier this year, a Spanish documentary reported that the famed explorer was possibly of Sephardic Jewish ancestry, sparking a heated debate about his genetic lineage.

Many were skeptical of its claims, though. Soon after the documentary was released, scientists pointed out that the team behind it did not make the raw genetic data public for re-analysis, in keeping with standard practice. The documentary had another shortcoming: Though it showed that Columbus paternal and maternal lineage were compatible with Sephardic Jewish ancestry, it didnt establish that he had clear Sephardic Jewish ancestry. To understand what this means and why it mattersto Columbus lineage and to our own understanding of ancestral heritage more broadlyits important to establish some fundamentals of genetics.

Paternal ancestry is generally traced through the Y chromosome, which holds an unbroken line connecting men to their male predecessors. Similarly, maternal ancestry passed through DNA in the mitochondria and inherited only from a mothers egg links people to their female ancestors. These are important data. Mitochondrial DNA was the basis for the African Eve hypothesis that humans only recently left Africa to populate the world, while Y chromosome descent patterns point to Genghis Khans fecundity across much of Asia. But both of these theories relate to broad population-wide questions, not points of individual ancestry. For that, these two genetic markersthe ones the Columbus documentary relied onare not sufficient.

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In order to describe genetic makeup going back generations, scientists look for a series of patterns of variation in our DNA called haplogroups. Arranged through a combination of letters and numbers denoting different branches of genetic lineage, haplogroups can help us be much more precise when trying to determine someones genetic background.

To illustrate this, consider my own maternal lineage, haplogroup U2b, which is commonly found in South Asia. It tracks with my recent ancestry, which is from Bangladesh. On the other hand, my paternal lineage, R1a, is found in South Asia at about 20 percent frequency but in Poland and Russia at 40 percent to 50 percent frequency. Looking at just my paternal lineage, one could say that my lineage is compatible with Slavic ancestry. It is, but this assertion ignores that a single genetic data point does not capture the complexity of human population history.

When it comes to famous figures, however, media outlets often elide this complexity, and not just for Columbus. In 2010, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Adolf Hitler may have had Jewish and African Roots. The truth was murkier. Hitlers paternal lineage, E1b1, is compatible with Jewish and African ancestry, just like Columbus J2 haplogroup is compatible with Sephardic Jewish ancestry. But if you look at a map of where in the world E1b1 is concentrated, the highest frequencies are among Somali people in the Horn of Africa. Therefore, a more accurate headline would have mentioned Hitlers Somali heritage, not the broader African label.

Further complicating matters, E1b1 is widely distributed across North and East Africa, and it is found in appreciable proportions in Southern Italy, Southern Spain, and the Balkans. In Austria and Southern Germany, the frequency of E1b1 is 5 percent to 10 percent. This is far lower than the proportion in Somalia (80 percent), Egypt (40 percent), or Kosovo (45 percent). All to say that after you dig a little deeper, saying Hitler had possible Jewish and African roots is misleading. The paternal ancestry of Europeans along the Y chromosome is complicated and entangled with African populationsalong the southern edge of the Mediterranean and Near Eastern ones to the east, and even with Sub-Saharan populations.

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But if Y chromosomes and mitochondrial DNA only get us so far in determining an individuals roots, are there other tools at our disposal? In short, yes: The ultimate clue to Hitlers forefathers can be found through a combination of ancient DNA, genetic material extracted from remains, and archaeology.

Right after the end of the last Ice Age, 11,700 years ago, the Natufian culture of the Levantstretching from present-day Israel to Syriasettled down and began to farm. Other populations likely learned farming from them or were descended from them. For this reason, archeologists view the Natufian people as essential to understanding the course of human history. More recently, geneticists have retrieved DNA from the Natufian people and confirmed that they contributed a substantial proportion of the ancestry of modern-day Middle Easterners.

When researchers looked at the Natufians Y chromosomes and determined their paternal lineage, they all came back to the E1b1 haplogroup. Hitlers ancestry therefore does not have an answer in the recent past, with Jewish or African heritage, but the deep past, with the rise and spread of farming cultures during the Neolithic period. The distribution of E1b1 today can be better understood as the product of interactions between migrants and native populations over the last 10,000 years, first as farming spread across Europe resulting in the genetic imprint of people from the Eastern Mediterranean across Europe, and second as social and political transformations triggered by the arrival of Indo-Europeans from the Eurasian steppe. DNA variations are like a palimpsest of these events, and we come to understand it better as we pull back the layers in a multidisciplinary fashion, using archaeology and genetics, among other tools.

The same can be done to my DNA. My paternal lineage, R1a, is widely distributed from Scotlandclan MacDonald are all R1ato Bangladesh. How could this come to be? Again, by looking at ancient DNA and with the help of archaeology, we have a good sense. About 5,000 years ago, a group of agropastoralists began to spread into Europe from the east. These mobile people did not settle down in large villages, like their Neolithic predecessors, nor did they build massive structures like the megaliths constructed by earlier inhabitants of Europe. They are called Corded Ware, for their pot style, in Eastern Europe, and Single Grave in Germany because of their burial tradition. In Scandinavia, these agropastoralists are called Battle Axe, because they were buried with battle axes. Now, however, we know that all of them were genetically the same people. They were a mix of native European farmers and intruders from the Pontic steppe, where Russian and Ukrainian armies are now clashing.

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At the same time that the agropastoralists were driving their cattle westward, another group was following rivers deep into the heart of Eurasia. By 2,200 BC, 800 years into their eastward journey, these people had settled in the southern Urals and lower Volga, astride the modern boundary between Europe and Asia. Called the Sintashta for the site where their archaeological remains were first discovered, these people herded cattle, sheep, and goats. They also domesticated the modern horse, all of which (with the exception of the Mongolian wild horse) descend from those found in Sintashta sites 4,200 years ago. Why were they domesticating horses? Because they were inventing a two-wheeled war chariot. First, they fought each other, but within several centuries of its invention the Sintashta chariot was found in the Middle East and in Europe. It seems likely that Sintashta warbands spread all across Eurasia, but many of them ended up settling down in Iran and the Indian subcontinent, intermarrying with the locals, and imposing their language.

That, in short, is how it came to be that I was born speaking an Indo-European language in Bangladesh, Bengali, and carrying a Y chromosomal lineage that is also common in Europe.

The same sort of narrative applies to Christopher Columbus. It is true that his paternal lineage, J2, is very common among Sephardic Jews. But J2 is distributed from eastern China to Spain. In Spain, its frequency is 10 percent in the overall male population and 25 percent in Sephardic Jews. In Northern Italyhome to Columbus notional birthplace, GenoaJ2 is also 25 percent in frequency. A simple inspection of the frequencies of the J2 haplogroup should raise doubts about the Columbus documentarys claims.

But the broader story of J2 seems to be that it is associated with uplands of the Middle East, eastern Turkey, and western Iran. The haplogroup began to spread in all directions more than 5,000 years ago due to the migrations of men from the metal-working Kura-Araxes culture that once flourished in the region. J2 seems to have spread westward in the Mediterranean with repeated migrations via sea, perhaps being involved in the foundation of the Minoan civilization on Crete 4,000 years ago. The high frequency of J2 in southern Spain points to the later impact of Phoenician colonies, like Cadiz, Seville, and Cartagena. Sephardic Jews, as a people of mixed origins with both Western and Eastern Mediterranean ancestry, would naturally have a high fraction of J2. (The same is true of Ashkenazi Jews in Northern Europe.)

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Though it is still possible that Columbus recent ancestors were Jews, it seems more likely that they shared the same deep ancestors, with both Northern Italians and Sephardic Jews being the products of the world after the collapse of Rome.

To be fair, when you are given a genetic result for someone famous or historical, the answer isnt necessarily that you need to look into the history and find the real, deep history. There is a simple way to detect if Christopher Columbus was Jewish: look at his whole genome. Those who have availed themselves of services like 23andMe and Ancestry obtain proportions of ancestral origins (you are 12 percent Sardinian), which the companies obtain by combing through lots and lots of data. Instead of two data points, as the Columbus documentarians used, they look at hundreds of thousands of genetic markers, capitalizing on the full force of modern statistics. Had the documentarians gotten a good-quality DNA sample and compared it to Sephardic Jews alive today using Ancestry-style analysis, they would have gotten a more convincing result.

Though we now have the technology to explore many questions about our genetic heritage, we dont always have the data necessary to settle them. If we could retrieve high-quality DNA and do modern genome sequencing, the mystery around the ancestry of famous figures would be immediately resolved. Even if we did, thoughand the Russians do currently have a few of Hitlers bones and teethmy hunch is that the boring answer would turn out to be correct. Hitler was probably Austrian German, Columbus a Northern Italian.

Over the next few years more and more studies and press reports on the genetics of famous people will be released. When they do, the best approach will be to just cut through the buzz and see if any details align with what you might expect from simple consumer genomics tests. Be skeptical, then, that future documentaries will capture the wealth of information our genetic past actually holds if they come bearing extraordinary claims.

Read more at The Dispatch

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  A federal jury found a Columbus man guilty of forcing drug addicts into prostitution through violence.

Ricco Maye, 42, was accused of leading drug, sex trafficking and financial fraud conspiracies, while attempting to obstruct justice and tampering with witnesses. The three-week trial concluded last week with Maye being found guilty on all 14 charges, which included two counts of sex trafficking of children by force, fraud, or coercion, nine counts of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, attempt and conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and tampering with a witness, victim or informant.

Woman killed in I-270 crash in Hilliard involving four vehicles

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Court documents and trial testimony detailed that Maye used individuals to buy and sell drugs, sell women for sex, and fraudulently apply online for COVID-19 relief funds. Proceeds from all the crimes went to the defendant.

The U.S. Attorneys Office Southern District of Ohio said that beginning in at least 2018, Mayes drug trafficking organization distributed narcotics to addicts in street-level quantities. He regularly purchased narcotics from supply sources both inside and outside of Ohio and used addicts to help sell the drugs in Columbus. In addition to cash, Maye would accept stolen goods, gift cards, Social Security numbers and other items as payment for the drugs.

Maye initially gave drugs to women for free and later manipulated their addiction by requiring them to earn drug money through prostitution. Maye then provided the means for the women to engage in prostitution  frequently obtaining hotel rooms, having the women driven to the hotels, providing phones and directing internet prostitution ads. Maye collected the prostitution proceeds, enforced specific rules on the women and punished the women through physical violence.

Ricco Lamonte Maye

Maye was also found guilty of providing fentanyl which resulted in an overdose death. In November 2018, Maye communicated with the victim in the hours before his death. The victim had been obtaining cocaine from Maye off and on for years and sought to obtain cocaine from him again in this instance but received a fatal dose of fentanyl instead.

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Columbus woman charged with robbery allegedly left jail ID card in stolen purse

Trial testimony also detailed that Maye used violence against victims as part of overseeing his drug trafficking organization, including stomping victims out, smacking them, punching them, breaking their bones and knocking out their teeth.

In a financial conspiracy, Maye and other defendants filed for and received more than $30,000 in fraudulent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. Maye kept all or a portion of the others benefits.

Maye attempted to obstruct the ongoing investigation into his sex trafficking and other criminal activities and conspired to tamper with witnesses. Mayes obstruction of justice included his directing the threatened murder of a potential government witness.

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Three of Mayes charges, distributing a controlled substance, which resulted in one mans death, drug trafficking, and sex trafficking by force, come with a maximum sentence of life in prison. The other charges are punishable by up to 20-30 years.

Maye was one of 10 people charged in the conspiracy case. The full list includes:

Name Also Known As Age City Ricco L. Maye Roscoe 39 Columbus Airrika N. Anthony 33 Columbus Nicole L. Groves Nikki 32 Columbus Kevin E. Pearson 58 Columbus Jasmine R. Weather Jazmine, Jazmyne, Jaz 23 Columbus Jacob M. Capan Jake 28 Pickerington Danielle C. Ferguson Dani 31 Columbus Vincent N. Morrow V 39 Columbus Ashleigh A. Davis Snowflake 28 Chillicothe Victor Blake Slim 60 Columbus

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
RUTHERFORD COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN)  More than a week after Jonathan Mohawk Hamilton was struck and killed while riding his bike, community members honored his memory with an Afterlife party at a Smyrna pub.

He was so bright in his own universe, and he shined bright, Mohawks sister, Sarah Hamilton, said. His style was so out there, he didnt follow the social norms of society or anything, and he loved to have a good time.

ORIGINAL STORY: Bicyclist killed in crash on Old Nashville Highway in Rutherford County

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Gathering at The Front Street Pub on Sunday, Nov. 24, loved ones shared memories of Mohawk singing karaoke; riding his bike; and having genuine conversations with his neighbors, friends and family.

The first few days were hard, really rough, but all the love and support thats been shown and all the people that are coming out of the cracks, its just really blown up, Sarah told News 2.

According to Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP), the 43-year-old was riding his bike down Old Nashville Highway, near Creekmont Drive, when he was hit by a 2022 Nissan Sentra around 6:15 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 15. Following the initial collision, his bike reportedly landed in the road and was struck by two SUVs.

PREVIOUS: Smyrna pub honors bicyclist killed in crash

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Now, Mohawks family and friends are pushing for more safety precautions on Rutherford County roads. More specifically, they want additional lights to be installed around the area where the crash took place. Mohawks sister is also pleading with drivers to be more vigilant.

Just slowing down and having that situational awareness when theyre driving. This could have been definitely prevented, Sarah said.

A member of Families for Safe Streets Nashville, Chuck Isbell, also spoke at Sundays event, sharing a petition urging Tennessee lawmakers to make state roads less deadly. Isbell has been pushing for lower speed limits ever since his 13-year-old son was hit and killed by a speeding driver in Rutherford County on Halloween night four years ago.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

Meanwhile, THP said no charges are pending in connection with the crash that led to Mohawks death.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
Ten years ago, in an effort to address language barriers, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department implemented a policy to have an authorized list of interpreters, ensuring every resident's constitutional rights are met and protected.

A decade later, the department is not living up to its own standards.

The issue was raised during an October meeting with the department's General Orders Board, which regulates IMPD's own guidelines.

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"A 10-year-old policy is not what we're striving to be," Deputy Chief Richard Riddle told IndyStar.

Police in the state's largest city have seen diverse population growth over the past decade, increasing the number of interactions officers have with limited English speakers.

"It's incumbent upon us as the police department that we are following through with basic communication for the people we serve," Riddle said.

But that communication, critics say, is often lacking. At the street level, that could mean police responding to calls struggle to communicate with the people they're there to help.

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Just last week, the department said part of a delay in getting info out to the public about a 6-month-old kidnapped in a stolen vehicle was due to a language barrier.

At its worst, that lack of communication could lead to people's constitutional rights being violated.

Deputy Chief Richard Riddle explains language pamphlet use to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police General Orders Board on Nov. 19, 2024.

More transparency or more work? IMPD pilots traffic stop program to gather more data

Evan Dominguez, a Marion County Public Defender, was recently representing a client who was interrogated by investigators without an authorized interpreter present.

A qualified interpreter from an authorized list is required per the department's policy whenever officers are taking formal statements or interrogating a suspect with limited English language proficiency.

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During the trial this summer, Dominguez questioned investigators about that list and his client's interrogation.

Instead of having a translator not associated with the investigation available, he said a Spanish-speaking officer conducted the interview to assist an English-speaking detective.

"They said, 'I didn't even know that general order existed,'" Dominguez said during the October board meeting. "Both the officer and detective stated, 'We were not aware of any such list,' and that, 'This is the way it's always been done.'"

In a Tuesday meeting, General Orders Board members stated they wanted the department to come into better compliance with the policy.

Officers use a hotline and flash cards to overcome language barriers

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police have a phone line that officers can call and have 24/7 access to most languages.

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Sgt. Randy Diaz, who recruits for the department along with being a language access coordinator and who focuses on immigrant outreach, said individual districts are also provided language pamphlets officers can use when out on patrol.

"But does every officer have them when they're patrolling?" Civilian board member Lahny Silva asked Diaz.

"I cannot answer that," Diaz said.

"So, we're not equipping our officers on the street with the tools they need to be effective and to also protect people's constitutional rights?" Silva asked.

Civilian board member Lahny Silva questions Sgt. Randy Diaz about options for officers who face language barriers in an Indianapolis Metro Police Department General Orders Board meeting, Nov. 19, 2024.

Lt. Richard Stratman said for the downtown district, as an example, there were about 70-80 pamphlets available at roll call, but it's ultimately up to each officer if they want to grab them. The pamphlets are not issued equipment. Lt. Christine Carver added some areas in the city are more prone to have language barriers than others.

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"There have been discussions internally where officers who are bilingual can help in a pinch," Riddle added, "But when it comes to interrogations and court proceedings, we'd like to get somebody else involved so there's no bias, right?"

Delays, testing issues stall progress for authorized list

In Tuesday's meeting it was said there is no current authorized interpreter list or even training to authorize officers to be on a list.

Sgt. Clayton Portell told the board Diaz was "working toward that."

Diaz said he's researched and spoken to many police agencies in the country to see which programs Indianapolis could use to get officers authorized to interpret and translate.

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He attempted to get the ball rolling in 2022 and again this year, but due to delays from vendors who could test officers, he hasn't been able to move forward.

The department has a few officers who speak either Spanish, Creole, Burmese or Chin.

Diaz, who has been with the department for 14 years, said as far back as 2016, immigrant communities didn't have too many officers they could go to for an understanding of the country's laws, but added he's gone to more than 20 churches, schools, and organizations to bridge the gap for IMPD this year alone.

The original order was authorized in 2014, under Richard AJ "Rick" Hite's administration as police chief. The board will review an update on compliance at its next meeting in January 2025.

Indianapolis Metro Police Department General Order 9.17 addressing language access services program was established in 2014. Now, 10 years later, the department's General Orders Board is discussing updates to the order.

Jade Jackson is a public safety reporter for IndyStar. Contact her at Jade.Jackson@IndyStar. Follow her on Twitter @IAMJADEJACKSON.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis police struggle with interpretation for investigations
HANGZHOU, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The first edition of China's low-altitude economy expo has unveiled cutting-edge tech innovations and demonstrated new directions for industry development.

Held by the China Air Transport Association in Shaoxing, east China's Zhejiang Province, from Saturday to Monday, the exhibition showcased over 500 drones, electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and helicopters, according to the association.

The low-altitude economy is an economic concept that relies on low-altitude airspace, involving low-altitude flight, air tourism, passenger transportation, general aviation services, and scientific research and education.

Among the new products and technologies displayed at the expo, a tethered drone drew attention. Due to its ability to hover for a long period of time, the drone, powered by a hundred-meter-long tethered cable, has the potential to be used in emergency communication, lighting and traffic assistance.

According to its developer, the product has achieved a maximum tethered height of about 300 meters and a maximum endurance of 24 hours, and can operate stably under special conditions, such as 4,000 meters above sea level and strong winds.

"With the rapid development of drones, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, 5G communication and artificial intelligence technologies, China's low-altitude economy has entered a new phase of widespread application," said Xiang Jinwu, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering at the expo.

The size of China's low-altitude economy as of the end of last year was estimated at more than 500 billion yuan (about 69.52 billion U.S. dollars), with its scale expected to rise to 2 trillion yuan by 2030, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China. 
The Congressional Black Caucus PAC has vowed to expose what it calls a dangerous agenda from extreme Republicans following the GOPs success at the ballot box this year.

The PAC announced Monday that it plans to fight back against any proposed legislation aligning with Project 2025.

The CBC will hold the line to protect Americans from the danger of extremist Republicans and their hate-filled Project 2025 agenda, the PAC said in a memo Monday.

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In the streets, the courtroom, and in Congress, the CBC will build coalitions with Americans of goodwill to fight for a fair economy and defend freedom. House and Senate Republicans should be on alert, we will expose and define their dangerous, reckless agenda out the gate  Americans will have a clear-eyed-view of the stakes next November.

The PAC added that the caucus has a mandate to fight for economic and social justice.

The groups stance against Project 2025 isnt surprising  every member of the CBC is a Democrat. Both the caucus and its PAC have pushed back against the conservative blueprint, often highlighting the impact it would have on Black Americans.

But with the largest CBC class in history, the PAC hopes the caucus can successfully push back on Republicans agenda.

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The CBC will have 62 members in the 119th Congress, the most since its inception 53 years ago.

The caucuss full front line  including its chair, Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.)  won reelection this year. Meanwhile, multiple candidates made history, such as Rep.-elect Janelle Bynum, who will become the first Black woman to represent Oregon.

The PAC is hoping the election of Sens.-elect Angela Alsobrooks (Md.) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (Del.) will allow for success in the upper chamber.

But the PAC will also lean on five CBC members who will be ranking members in committees: Rep. Gregory Meeks (N.Y.) on Foreign Affairs; Rep. Bobby Scott (Va.) on Education and the Workforce; Rep. David Scott (Ga.) on Agriculture; Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.) on Homeland Security; and Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.) on Financial Services.

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While Republicans control Washington, House Republicans will again hold just a narrow majority, the PAC said.

With the leadership of Hakeem Jeffries, the CBC and House Democrats will seek common ground, expose extreme Republicans dangerous agenda, and fight to rebuild Americas social compact that means the dignity of work is respected, opportunities for wealth are created, and American freedoms are protected.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH)  Officials are expanding and enhancing Connecticuts opioid response strategies. State lawmakers and the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services will announce federal grant funding Monday morning.

The $7 million grant is coming to Connecticut from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Saving a Generation: What is being done to combat the fentanyl crisis in Connecticut

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Officials said the money will be used to bolster community-based opioid overdose response efforts in western Connecticut. This includes reentry services along with support for drug-impacted children.

The funds will also be used to expand drug analysis to understand emerging threats in the supply and enhance deflection efforts involving law enforcement, first responders, and hospitals.

The project will initially focus on seven pre-selected sites in both urban and rural parts of western Connecticut.

According to officials, these areas will be chosen based on overdose rates and population diversity.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com.
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW)  A 36-year-old man is facing multiple charges after allegedly raping a woman at an Horry County Budget Inn in 2020, according to police records obtained by News13.

Jagandeep Singh of Conway was charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping. Online records show he was booked into the J. Reuben Long Detention Center Friday morning and released to home detention on a $20,000 bond.

Horry County police responded to the Conway Police Department on Sept. 18 for a past sexual assault, according to an incident report. The victim told the arriving officer she was sexually assaulted by Singh at the Budget Inn off Highway 501 sometime in 2020.

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The woman said she knew Singh from a previous job at a restaurant in Myrtle Beach, according to the report. When Singh was showing her the rooms, he closed the bedroom door and allegedly raped her.

The victim told officers she was scared to report this due to Trump being in office and that the police were working with immigration, the report said. She felt that she would have gotten deported if she reported this.

* * *

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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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW.
Campaigners have hit out at a woefully inadequate financial package for developing nations agreed at Cop29  with one charity condemning it as a death sentence for millions.

A $300bn (239.5bn) deal to help combat the impact of global warming was announced at the summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.

It falls far short of the $1.3 trillion that developing countries were asking for, but is three times the $100bn a year deal from 2009 that is expiring.

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UN climate chief Simon Stiell hailed it as an insurance policy for humanity, while energy secretary Ed Miliband described it as a critical 11th-hour deal at the 11th hour for the climate.

But Christian Aid said people who needed a life raft had been given a plank of wood instead. And the charity WaterAid said it was a death sentence for millions and a mere fraction of what was needed.

COP29 Climate Summit (AP)

Lesley Pories, lead policy analyst for WaterAid, said: While experts touted needs around one trillion dollars annually for the new collective quantified goal (NCQG), an agreement for $300bn was reached  a mere fraction of the finance we all know is desperately needed.

They said that from hurricanes and flash flooding to wildfires and worsening drought, the global water crisis was a growing tragedy and that it was deeply shameful that  governments could not set aside their differences for the sake of the most vulnerable.

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Jasper Inventor, head of the Cop29 Greenpeace delegation, said: The agreed finance goal is woefully inadequate and overshadowed by the level of despair and scale of action needed.

Our true opponents are the fossil fuel merchants of despair and reckless nature destroyers who hide snugly behind every governments low climate ambition, he said. Their lobbyists must be disallowed and leaders need to summon the courage to get on the right side of history.

But Joe Biden said that while substantial work remained to be done, the conference had set an ambitious international climate finance goal.

While some may seek to deny or delay the clean energy revolution thats underway in America and around the world, nobody can reverse it  nobody, the US president said.

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Friends of Earth head of policy Mike Childs credited the UK delegation for playing a productive role in the talks, but warned that they failed to solve the question of climate finance.

Instead they have again kicked the can down the road. Developing countries are being hammered by climate extremes now, predominantly fuelled by the current and historic polluting activities of rich nations, like the UK.

A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion said Cop29 has failed, adding: The clue is in the name.

Next year countries will try for the 30th time. What is clear is the era of oil and gas must end: fast, fairly and forever.

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While the fossil fuel industry thrives, billions suffer. Rich nations must stop imposing loans on the poorest who have done the least to get us where we are today, and instead provide grants. Anything less is a death sentence for the planet and people on it.

The Cop29 climate conference in the Azerbaijan capital had been due to finish on Friday but ran on as negotiators from nearly 200 countries struggled to reach a consensus on a climate funding plan for the next decade.

The outcome is reflective of the harder geopolitical terrain the world finds itself in, said Li Shuo of the Asia Society. He cited Trumps recent victory in the US  with his promises to pull the country out of the Paris Agreement  as one reason why the relationship between China and the EU will become more consequential for global climate politics.

The Cop29 text included a call for all parties to work together using all public and private sources to get closer to the original trillion-dollar-per-year goal by 2035. That means also pushing for international megabanks, funded by taxpayer dollars, to help foot the bill.

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It is also a step toward helping countries create more ambitious targets to limit or cut emissions of heat-trapping gases that are due early next year. That is part of the plan to keep cutting pollution with new targets every five years, which the world agreed to at the UN talks in Paris in 2015; the Paris Agreement set the system of regular ratcheting up climate-fighting ambition as a way to keep warming under 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. The world is already at 1.3C and carbon emissions keep rising.

Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report
Astronomers just got closer to unravelling the mystery of 'glitching' pulsars

The most powerful cosmic-ray electrons and positrons ever detected slamming into Earth's atmosphere carry energies so high they can only have come from relatively close by, new research has revealed.

We're quite safe and protected down here on Earth's surface, shielded by an atmospheric bubble, but our planet is under constant bombardment from cosmic rays.

We don't know a lot about these powerful particles hurtling through space. But an observatory in the desert of Namibia is bringing us a little bit closer to understanding their origins.

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The H.E.S.S. Observatory has detected electrons and positrons with energies up to 40 teraelectronvolts. Collectively, these are known as cosmic ray electrons, or CRe.

These are extremely rare, but their energy suggests they all emanated from the same corner of the Milky Way as the Solar System  and possibly even from the same source.

It's going to be a while until we know where they did come from, if we ever do, but the paucity of candidates within the specified volume of space may narrow it down a little.

"This is an important result," explains astrophysicist Kathrin Egberts of the University of Potsdam in Germany, "as we can conclude that the measured CRe most likely originate from very few sources in the vicinity of our own Solar System, up to a maximum of a few 1,000 light-years away, a very small distance compared to the size of our galaxy."

An artist's impression of H.E.S.S. capturing light from particles slamming into Earth's atmosphere. ( MPIK/H.E.S.S. Collaboration

CRe represent a very small proportion of all cosmic ray particles, and are thought to emerge from extreme objects in space  things like supernova remnants, the immediate vicinity of black holes, and ultradense stars such as pulsars. Scientists think these objects accelerate cosmic ray particles to high energies and send them out zooming through the Universe.

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When they slam into Earth's atmosphere, they are, briefly, traveling a little faster than the speed of light in the atmospheric volume. This creates a phenomenon called Cherenkov radiation  the luminal equivalent of a sonic boom. This radiation is very faint; and it's this faint Cherenkov radiation that H.E.S.S. was designed to detect.

It's not only CRe that cause this phenomenon in the atmosphere. Gamma rays create a similar effect. This makes identifying CRe somewhat challenging.

"CRe are electrons, thus charged particles forming matter, whereas gamma-rays are photons, that is light," astronomer Mathieu de Naurois of the French National Center for Scientific Research told ScienceAlert.

"Gamma rays travel straight in the Universe, thus allowing us to pinpoint the sources, whereas electrons have chaotic trajectories, as they interact with the magnetic field. Both produce electromagnetic showers or particles when they enter the atmosphere, and are very difficult to distinguish from each other."

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To identify high-energy CRe, the researchers had to pore over H.E.S.S. data, identifying CRe candidates. Their final list of candidate events probably also includes some gamma rays; but the pool is large enough to draw some statistical inferences.

The energies range up to 40 teraelectronvolts, more powerful than any CRe we've detected hitting Earth to date.

CRe detections with energies higher than a teraelectronvolt are very rare. That's because, as they move through space, they lose energy rapidly.

"In synchrotron radiation, charged particles interact with the interstellar, galactic field. They acquire a spiral trajectory around the magnetic field lines, and radiate electromagnetic radiation, from radio up to X-rays. By doing so, they lose energy," de Naurois said.

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"In the so-called 'Inverse Compton Scattering', a charged particle interacts with ambient light. They interact with a low-energy photon and give most of their energy to it. The process is called 'Inverse Compton' because it is the reverse of the Compton scattering, in which a high-energy photon scatters off an electron from the medium and boosts it to high energy."

Since the CRe lose energy so quickly, the candidate events must have traveled from nearby space to remain so powerful by the time they reach Earth. We can't track them to a source; their trajectories are too unpredictable; but there's something else about their energies that may be a clue. There's a distinct lower cut-off point at 1.17 teraelectronvolts.

"The fact that the change of slope is sharp indicates that it's only a handful of cosmic sources, if not only one, that produces these electrons," de Naurois explained.

"Otherwise the energy spectrum would be the superposition of the contributions of different sources with breaks at different energy, resulting in a much smoother curve."

An image of a Wolf-Rayet star called WR 124 taken using the Hubble Space Telescope and released in 2015. ( ESA/Hubble/NASA/Judy Schmidt

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Because the volume of space from which these CRe could have emerged is so small, that means the pool of potential sources is also small. Candidates include a supernova remnant called the Monogem Ring; a dying star of the Wolf-Rayet type called 2 Velorum; or a pulsar like Vela or Geminga.

But it's also possible that the source is a supernova remnant so old that it has dissipated and faded from view. We just have no way of knowing right now.

Nevertheless, this extraordinary work brings us a step closer to understanding how the Universe is energized. The team plans to investigate further to see if they can identify a preferred direction from which the CRe arrive.

It's going to be tricky, but the potential rewards are high, and the increased candidate pool will be invaluable to the study of CRe going forward.

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"Our measurement does not only provide data in a crucial and previously unexplored energy range, impacting our understanding of the local neighborhood, but it is also likely to remain a benchmark for the coming years," de Naurois says.

The research has been published in Physical Review Letters.

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A bill has been proposed by Welsh lawmakers to introduce a small visitor levy that could see visitors to the country paying up to 1.25 per night by 2027.

Finance secretary Mark Drakeford introduced the bill on Monday, 25 November for consideration by the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament, who will scrutinise and vote on the legislation. A final decision may not be made until 2025.

The Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc (Wales) Bill proposes that people staying overnight in Wales will pay a small charge, with the money raised being reinvested in local tourism activity and infrastructure.

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The legislation will give local communities the power to decide on whether they want to introduce a levy into an area, giving them an opportunity to generate additional revenues.

This will include funding towards cleaning beaches, maintaining parks, footpaths and toilets, raising revenue for public services and investing in sustainable tourism.

The government estimates that if all Welsh local authorities choose to introduce a visitor levy, it could generate up to 33m a year.

The bill currently proposes that the levy would be set up at 75p per person, per night for those staying in hostels and on campsites.

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A 1.25 tax would be charged per person, per night to people staying in all other accommodation types.

The levies are to be introduced based on what each authority thinks is best for their community, and the earliest that the taxes may be introduced could be 2027 after consultation processes with local residents have been completed.

Along with the new tourism tax, the legislation would also require the creation of a list of all visitor accommodations in Wales, which will be introduced by 2026 to support the collection and administration of the levy.

Visitor levies have been introduced in other areas of the country, such as Manchesters City Visitor Charge of 1 per room, per night that was introduced in April 2023.

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A tourism tax has also been introduced in popular tourist destinations across the world that have been impacted by large amounts of overtourism that are affecting natural landscapes and the lives of locals.

In April this year, Venice became the first city in the world to charge admission for daytrippers. The 5 (4.26) charge to enter the historic centre of Venice started a 29-day trial to control visitor numbers on busy days until mid-July.

In September, the Highland Council in Scotland also started a consultation process on introducing a tourist tax for overnight visitors to re-invest in infrastructure.

In Wales case, economy secretary Rebecca Evans that the proposal is all about preparing for the future.

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Our intention is to bring about a sense of shared responsibility between residents and visitors, to protect, and invest in, our local areas.

Drakeford said: This Bill is rooted in the principle of fairness. We know tourism makes an important contribution to the Welsh economy and to Welsh life. We want to ensure its long-term sustainability.

Thats why we believe it is fair visitors contribute towards local facilities, helping to fund infrastructure and services integral to their experience. Visitor levies are common around the world, benefiting local communities, tourists and businesses  and we want the same for Wales.

Money raised through a levy would be retained by local authorities and re-invested back into their local areas to support local, sustainable tourism. Its a small contribution that could make a big difference.

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Not all Welsh lawmakers are happy with the bill, however, as they have voiced concern over whether it could discourage the amount of visitors the country receives.

Andrew RT Davies MS, leader of the Welsh Conservatives, said: Weve been absolutely clear from the start that this policy is the wrong one for Wales.

A tourism tax will risk jobs at a time when businesses are being clobbered by Labour, it will impose red tape, and it will work against its own aims by encouraging visitors to use more council-maintained attractions and services.

Our tourism industry should be nurtured by the Welsh Government, not hamstrung by new taxes.

For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calders podcast
This is a breaking story about the federal sex crime case against Bad Boy Records founder Sean Diddy Combs. Come back for new developments.

Friday, Nov. 22, rap mogul Sean Diddy Combs was due in court for a hearing on his fourth request at bond. As we await for the judges decision, heres what we know about the chances of Combs being released.

As previously reported by The Root, the mogul requested he be released on $50 million bond to be on house arrest in his New York home with special restrictions including limited phone access, around the clock security and supervised visitation for a pre-approved list of family members.

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In the renewed bail motion, Combs attorneys argued he should be granted his freedom for the same reason former Abercrombie&Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries was granted a $10 million bond and home detention on similar charges.

Prosecutors opposed the motion, arguing the nature of both cases are substantially different citing the allegations of Combs using violence, firearms and coercion to protect and promote his role in the alleged sex crimes. They also argued that unlike Jeffries, whose alleged criminal conduct concluded in 2015, Combs has continued to defy the law to present day.

The defendants criminal conduct, including acts of obstruction, has persisted through the present - the conduct charged against Combs extends through 2024. And even since being charged, Combs has continued his obstructive conduct, including by repeatedly flouting the orders of this Court and the rules and regulations of the BOP, wrote prosecutors.

Despite his request for bond being denied three times, Combs managed to secure a legal win from U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian when he ordered the Feds to delete any photographs taken of Combs legal notes which were taken during a raid of the Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn after he was arrested.

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The judge did not issue a response to Combs latest attempt at freedom though his decision is expected this week.

Diddys Federal Indictment

On Monday, Sept. 16, the 54-year-old rap mogul was arrested in Manhattan by federal authorities, six months after they raided his two homes in Los Angeles and Miami. His indictment was unsealed the following morning, revealing charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and engaging in interstate transportation for prostitution. The allegations against Combs include sexual abuse, physical abuse, bribery and various drug offenses.

The most notable claims stem from his so-called freak off sex parties, where prosecutors allege women and men were drugged and forced to perform sexual acts at Combs pleasure. He was also accused of using video footage to blackmail the victims into compliance.

These allegations were first brought forth by ex-girlfriend and Bad Boy Records signee Cassandra Cassie Ventura in a civil suit that accused him of sex trafficking, human trafficking, sexual battery, sexual assault, and other allegations. Combs quickly settled the suit within 24 hours, but lawsuits from other associates have quickly followed in the months since. Most recently, Houston attorney Tony Buzbee announced hes representing over 100 plaintiffs who came forward with claims of rape, sexual exploitation and sexual assault against the rapper.



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While many of the suits since 2023 have been civil, this federal case has Combs facing criminal charges. He has pleaded not guilty, and was denied bail. His trial is scheduled for May 2025.

As we wait for more developments check out our previous coverage on Combs case:

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After recuperating in Hawaii from her shattering defeat by Donald Trump, Kamala Harris is heading home.

As she contemplates her political future, she may have an unlikely role model in mind.

At 60-years-old she is relatively young by the standard of US politics. Her predecessor Joe Biden will be leaving office at 82, and will be succeeded by 78-year-old Mr Trump.

Ms Harris could mount another run for the White House or instead attempt to become California governor. In conversations with allies, she has ruled nothing out and insists she is staying in the fight.

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To that end, she could look to the example of Richard Nixon.

The comparison may seem bizarre  the 37th president, over whom the Watergate scandal casts a permanent shadow, is viewed as one of the USs great political villains by many Democrats.

Several people, Ms Harris among them, have spoken of him as a 20th-century Trump.

But like Ms Harris, Nixon is a former California senator who mounted an unsuccessful run for the White House while serving as vice-president.

Kamala Harris and husband Doug Emhoff campaigning in California. She polls very highly in her home state - David McNew/Getty Images

He then fought an ill-fated battle to become California governor, before making a stunning return to Washington.

He was inaugurated as president in 1969, after the media had written him off for good in countless political obituaries.

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Politico reports that Ms Harris has been telling her advisers and allies the same thing: she is keeping her options open, whether for another crack at the presidency in 2028, or a campaign to become California governor in two years when Gavin Newsom will step down at the end of his second term.

Several individuals in the vice-presidents inner circle have said she will spend the winter charting a course forward, taking stock after a few short months where she was catapulted to the top of the Democratic ticket before being heavily defeated by Mr Trump.

On Jan 6, like Nixon, she will have the humiliating experience of certifying her own election defeat in Congress.

After Nixons defeat, he was left in a political purgatory before deciding to throw himself back into the fray by unsuccessfully challenging Democrat Pat Brown in the California gubernatorial election.

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That loss was the lowest moment of his political career until Watergate, when figures connected with his administration attempted to bug the Democratic National Committee ahead of the 1972 election, and he desperately tried to block the investigation.

Nixons career ended in ignominy over the Watergate scandal - Wally McNamee/Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

Nixon was constantly badgered about his presidential ambitions on the campaign trail in California. There was no morning, afternoon, or evening that I did not deny that I was planning to use the governorship as a stepping-stone to a presidential candidacy in 1964, he later recalled.

The fact that those questions are already being asked of Ms Harris is a warning sign of how she could damage her political prospects by leaving her options open.

Nixon downplayed the loss of the governor race  losing California after losing the presidency [is] like being bitten by a mosquito after being bitten by a rattlesnake  but lashed out at the press in his concession speech.

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Just think how much youre going to be missing, he told reporters. You wont have Nixon to kick around anymore.

Predictably, it was seen as sour grapes by the press, who responded with a flurry of political obituaries of the man who would go on to win a 49-state landslide a decade later.

Barring a miracle, his political career ended last week, Time Magazine wrote.

Sympathetic media

Ms Harris does not have the resentful streak of a character such as Nixon. She is famously prone to calorie-free word salads rather than outbursts against the press, and has had much more sympathetic media coverage than the Republican.

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Moreover, she seems more likely to ride the coat-tails of her presidential defeat to a victory in California than Nixon could.

Recent polling, conducted before her loss to Mr Trump, showed that some 46 per cent of California voters were very likely or somewhat likely to vote for her in a gubernatorial election.

Although she will have to undergo a primary battle if she were to try to replace Mr Newsom, Ms Harris  an attorney general and senator in the state before becoming a vice president  would dwarf potential competitors in name recognition and, most likely, fundraising ability.

If successful, she will be running in a state where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans two-to-one and which has not elected a Republican since the days of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is the last Republican governor of California - Reuters/Gus Ruelas

She still has a long career ahead of her, Democratic strategist Kate Maeder told The Hill.

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Shes young for politics in this country, and I think that folks are really excited to see what she does next, because shes built such a powerful following around her, and I think that that will carry through.

At the same time, it seems unlikely that Ms Harris could use a potential California campaign as a springboard to the presidency.

Nixon had ended up working as a lawyer after his California defeat  a career that was lucrative but stultifying.

If all I have to do is practise law then Ill be mentally dead in two years and physically dead in four, he predicted.

By the time he returned to sew up the Republican nomination in 1968 he saw off a series of competitors relatively easily, despite a last-ditch challenge from Ronald Reagan at the party convention.

Law and order message

In the election that year, he beat Hubert Humphrey  himself a vice-president  by hammering home a law and order message as riots consumed American cities in the Vietnam War period. Mr Trump tried, and failed, the same tactic in 2020.

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Ms Harris, by contrast, faces a new generation of Democratic talent should she seek to return to the fray in 2028.

Among those who appear to be putting their names forward for the party nomination include Mr Newsom, Josh Shapiro, the Pennsylvania governor, and Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, among others.

The Democrats deep bench would be intimidating in any cycle, but particularly so for a candidate who has the black mark of being defeated by Mr Trump while losing every swing state and the popular vote in the process.

I cant conceivably imagine the party turning to her a second time, one Democratic strategist said.

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Despite this, Ms Harris does seem to have the support of core Democrat voters, at least for now.

A survey by Echelon Insights asked a Democrat-leaning subset of 1,010 voters which politician they would vote for if a party primary was held today.

Ms Harris was the top choice, with the second-most popular answer from voters being that they werent sure who they would choose.

Nixons career may have ended in ignominy: he was famously forced to deny he was a crook as Watergate consumed his administration and, in the less partisan politics of the 1970s, would have been impeached and convicted if he had not stepped down first.

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In doing so, he became the only president to give up the White House in US history.

But before that, he had two presidential election wins, one of them a landslide, and a string of domestic and foreign policy successes.

Despite the similarities, the highs and lows of Nixons career look far beyond Ms Harriss best and worst moments, and those to come.

Even before winning the White House, the Republican had found his feet as Ms Harris never has, burnishing his reputation as Dwight D Eisenhowers vice-president as he appeared on the world stage alongside Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev among others.

Insofar as Ms Harris has had a profile as vice-president, it has proved a liability  as Mr Bidens border tsar, for example.

And although Nixon went on to lose in 1960, it was an extremely close fight against John F Kennedy in his youthful prime, rather than a drubbing by a 78-year-old Donald Trump.

If Ms Harris were to follow the very rarely-travelled path to the White House forged by Nixon, her chances of pulling off a comeback seem slim, verging on non-existent.

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The brothers will appear before a judge, who will weigh a habeas corpus petition

AP Photo/Nick Ut Lyle, left, and Erik Menendez Lyle, left, and Erik Menendez

Lyle and Erik Menendez are expected to appear virtually in court on Monday, Nov. 25 as a judge will weigh evidence that could potentially lead to the brothers' release from prison.

The brothers, who are serving life sentences for the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, previously submitted a habeas corpus petition in their bid for freedom after decades behind bars.

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The petition included evidence intended to bolster their claims that they suffered sexual abuse at the hands of their father. A judge will weigh those claims at Monday's hearing, which is being held at courthouse in Los Angeles. The Associated Press reports that the brothers will appear virtually.

The judge could potentially grant the brothers release immediately, but it's also possible he takes time to consider the request. The AP reports that a hearing regarding a separate resentencing request is scheduled for Dec. 11.

Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon said in October that he would recommend that the brothers be resentenced to 50 years to life, making them immediately eligible for parole.

Lyle and Erik, who were 21 and 18 at the time of the murders, do not deny killing their parents, but they have claimed that they fatally shot Jose and Kitty because they were in fear for their lives. They were sentenced to life without parole in 1996 following a second trial.

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The habeas corpus petition included a letter that Erik sent to his cousin months before the murders that mentioned the alleged sexual abuse committed by Jose. The petition also featured an affidavit from former Menudo member Roy Rossello, who claims Jose raped him.

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.

Another potential avenue for the brothers' release is clemency from California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon previously announced that he supported Lyle and Erik's clemency bid. However, Gascon recently lost reelection to former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman.

In a press release, Newsom said he would wait for Hochman's recommendation before deciding on clemency, noting that "voters have entrusted District Attorney-elect Hochman to carry out this responsibility."
Editors Note: This article was published by the twice-weekly newsletter The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak on Nov. 23, 2024, and has been re-published by the Kyiv Independent with permission. To subscribe to The Counteroffensive, click here.

For a brief period just over 30 years ago, Ukraine possessed the third-largest nuclear arsenal in the world. Its missiles could reach targets more than 10,000 kilometers away in just 25 minutes. But in 1994, after the breakup of the Soviet Union, the newly independent country gave up all its nuclear weapons. In return, it signed the Budapest Memorandum alongside the United States, Britain, and Russia, which obligated them to provide security assurances.

All illusions were shattered when one of the guarantor countries waged war against Ukraine, first in 2014 and then in a full-scale invasion in 2022.

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The nuclear threat in Ukraine has been rising. On Nov. 20, Russian President Vladimir Putin lowered the country's legal threshold for a nuclear strike, allowing the possibility of a nuclear response to a conventional attack. Putin made the change after U.S. President Biden authorized Ukraine to use American-made missiles to strike inside Russia.

The fundamental issue behind a potential Ukrainian nuclear program is the sense of betrayal: by Russia, for invading, and by the West, for failing to uphold its security assurances.

Ukrainian officials continue to assert that the country has no plans to develop nuclear weapons and prefers a peaceful path. However, a recent poll showed that a majority of Ukrainians support the idea of returning to nuclear status. They see it as a means to deter Russia. If Ukraine is excluded from NATO and U.S. military aid, they believe restoring nuclear capabilities could bolster sovereignty independently.

Read also: Opinion: Nuclear escalation fears cant override Ukraines right to defend itself

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Last week, The Times of London speculated that Ukraine could build a basic nuclear bomb within a few months if the Trump administration stopped providing military aid. The spent nuclear fuel stored at Ukrainian power plants could be used to create a weapon similar to the "Fat Man" bomb dropped on Nagasaki during WWII.

"Statements about Ukraine's nuclear capabilities are made either by total ignoramuses or by Russian provocateurs... As a person who worked on this issue continuously in parliament, I can assure you 100% that the Ukrainian government has never raised the issue of using nuclear weapons at any level," former Ukrainian Minister Yurii Kostenko told The Counteroffensive.

Kostenko, the former environment and nuclear safety minister, also led Ukraine's delegation for nuclear disarmament in the 1990s. After announcing its commitment to nuclear disarmament, Ukraine saw new prospects for its future. In 1992, the U.S. was even prepared to offer NATO membership as a security guarantee.

But Moscow had other plans. Under immense Russian pressure, Ukraine didnt destroy its nuclear weapons independently. Instead, it handed them over to the Kremlin for destruction.

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"From the very first minutes of the negotiation process on Ukraine's nuclear disarmament, one thing became clear: in the minds of the Russians, the Soviet Union had not collapsed  it had merely transformed. Russia, or rather the Kremlin, still saw itself as having the right to control the actions of its former republics, as it had before," Kostenko recalled.

The ex-minister explained that due to the Soviet-era mindset of the Ukrainian government at the time  considering Russia as a big brother  Kyiv ultimately surrendered over 170 intercontinental missiles, more than 40 strategic bombers, and thousands of nuclear warheads to Russia. It was a fatal mistake.

In the 1990s, it was estimated that Ukraine could have restored its nuclear potential in five to seven years. According to Harvard nuclear disarmament expert Mariana Budjeryn, it would take a similar timeframe for Ukraine to rebuild such capabilities now, assuming the war ended and sufficient financial resources were available.

However, this is purely theoretical  the situation is far more complicated.

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To develop a nuclear weapon requires two key ingredients: significant financial resources and advanced technology. Today, Ukraine's economy is largely sustained by foreign aid, and its clear that Kyiv wont be able to use Western funding to develop nuclear weapons. Finding the necessary funds within its own reserves is also highly unlikely, as other countries typically spend at least a billion dollars annually to maintain their nuclear capabilities.

"If you look at the financial capabilities of the Ukrainian state budget, it couldn't even finance the maintenance of the Ukrainian armed forces even non-nuclear ones," Kostenko said.

U.S. President Bill Clinton (L), Russian President Boris Yeltsin (C), and Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk (R) pose for a photo after having signed the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances.(Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Even if Ukraine could secure the funds to produce nuclear weapons, there remains the technical and engineering challenge.

Ukraine has been involved in the production of nuclear weapons in the past. For example, manufacturers based in Ukraine produced one of the first Soviet intercontinental missiles. According to Budjeryn, Kyiv still retains some institutional knowledge of nuclear physics and certain industrial capacities inherited from the Soviet era. But much of this expertise and infrastructure has been lost over time.

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Ukraine is one of the most nuclear-dependent countries in the world, with nuclear energy accounting for more than half of its electricity production. Currently, there are four nuclear power plants in operation in Ukraine, and another, Chornobyl, has been decommissioned since 1986.

Uranium and plutonium can be used to make nuclear fuel. Plutonium almost doesnt exist in nature, and its production requires a special kind of reactor thats not easy to build or conceal.

Uranium, on the other hand, is a natural resource, and Ukraine has large reserves of this ore. It was from this material that the first Soviet warheads were produced. However, Ukraine is not a country capable of producing enriched nuclear fuel, even for peaceful purposes. Before the full-scale invasion, Ukraine bought nuclear fuel from Russia but has since switched to purchasing it entirely from the United States. And this is far from the highly enriched uranium needed for weapons development.

Read also: Opinion: With soaring interest rates and stagflation risks, Russia will face deep economic crisis regardless of wars outcome

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Ukraine is a part of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). If it begins producing nuclear fuel for weapons, the IAEA will likely discover it. Ukraine would then need to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The only country to have done so is North Korea. Since then, it has been one of the most sanctioned countries in the world, which has severely impacted its economy. If Ukraine withdrew from the treaty, it could face a similar fate, the former nuclear safety minister believes.

"North Korea has been under sanctions for 12 years, Iran is under sanctions, and Ukraine will be under sanctions. The question is who will bring us shells, missiles, especially for air defense, because every day Russia shells peaceful cities," Kostenko said.

To develop nuclear weapons, Ukraine would need specialized infrastructure it currently lacks. Uranium enrichment requires centrifuges  machines that spin at incredibly high speeds to separate isotopes. This is a highly complex and costly process, involving thousands of centrifuges, the distribution of which is strictly regulated worldwide.

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Uranium can be enriched secretly by moving the production process underground, as Iran has been attempting to do for years. But even if Ukraine were to move all its production underground, its unlikely the development of nuclear weapons could stay secret for long. Both Russian and Western intelligence services are more active than ever in the country. While Russian intelligence seeks to exploit vulnerabilities in Ukraines defenses, Western agencies are closely monitoring the course of the war.

"The Ukrainian military has still managed to keep operations secret in several instances. The surprise in the Kharkiv region during the counteroffensive and in the Kursk region are examples. It is possible to maintain such secrecy for short periods," said Budjeryn.

Even if Ukraine managed to keep its nuclear production secret, nuclear warheads alone are insufficient. Ukraine would need delivery systems to fire the weapons. Typically, nuclear forces consist of three components  ballistic missiles, nuclear submarines, and strategic bombers  collectively known as the nuclear triad. At present, Ukraine has no submarines in service, and its bombers have been transferred to Russia. This leaves the only viable option: to develop long-range missiles.

"A prototype of a short-range ballistic missile has already been developed, but we have yet to see whether there is any mass production of these systems, or how these systems might be used, for example, in a deterrence strategy with conventional or nuclear warheads," explained Budjeryn.

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Even if Ukraine developed these systems, its unclear that nuclear weapons would guarantee peace. The presence of nuclear weapons hasnt always prevented conflict. For instance, India and Pakistan are both nuclear powers, yet their conflict has persisted for decades, with nuclear warheads failing to act as a deterrent. Kostenko is convinced that developing nuclear weapons, even if feasible, is a futile idea that would lead nowhere, as Ukraine lacks the capacity to compete with Russia's nuclear arsenal, the largest in the world.

"Why do we need nuclear weapons? Even if we were to reach a certain level of production, we would never be able to compete with Russia in terms of nuclear power to protect ourselves from a Russian savage wielding a nuclear club," the former minister remarked.

Ultimately, the idea of a domestic nuclear program is less about policy than a signal to the world. Talk about this issue reflects Ukraines grief and anger over once having the means to deter war on its land  and, after giving it up, being left vulnerable to death and destruction due to promises unkept.

Editors Note: The opinions expressed in the op-ed section are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Kyiv Independent.

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LOS ANGELES, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Public health officials in the western U.S. state of California confirmed on Sunday that the bird flu virus was detected in a retail sample of raw milk produced by a local dairy farm.

The Santa Clara County Public Health Department, which has been testing raw milk from local retailers as part of a monitoring program for H5N1 avian influenza, said in a news release that the county's public health laboratory identified the H5 virus in samples of raw milk produced by Raw Farm LLC on Nov. 21.

The County immediately notified the California Department of Public Health, said the news release, adding that the raw milk was voluntarily recalled by the company and the state has advised the public to not consume the contaminated raw milk.

The California Department of Public Health on Sunday warned the public to avoid consuming one batch of cream top and whole raw milk produced and packaged by Raw Farm LLC of Fresno County.

"No illnesses associated with this lot of raw milk have been reported," said the agency.

Public health officials said they are urging customers to "immediately return any remaining product to the retail point of purchase" and are also notifying retailers to remove the affected raw milk from their shelves.

H5 bird flu is widespread in wild birds worldwide and is causing outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows with several recent human cases in U.S. dairy and poultry workers, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.

The agency confirmed a human infection with H5N1 bird flu in a child in California on Friday. It is the first reported avian influenza H5 virus infection in a child in the United States.

So far, 55 human cases of H5 bird flu have been reported in the United States during 2024, with 29 in California, according to data released by the CDC.

The CDC's risk assessment for the general public is low. However, people with exposure to infected or potentially infected animals, such as birds, dairy cattle, or other animals, or to environments contaminated by infected birds or other animals, are at higher risk of infection. 
Non-Crime Hate Incidents are defined by the Home Office as any incident where a person is alleged to have been involved in an act which is perceived by someone else to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards people with a particular characteristic. No crime need have been committed  or even be alleged. Any person can file a complaint with the police  whether they were involved or not. There need be no objective measure of hostility, as merely the perception is sufficient.

The logging of incidents have come under fire, after a report by Policy Exchange revealed that police forces are estimated to be spending well over 60,000 hours a year on them. Imagine the number of burglars, thugs and drug dealers that the police could catch in that time.

Last week the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper MP made clear that policing priorities should be neighbourhood policing. but also some of the most serious violence: violence against women and girls and knife crime  the most serious crimes that we face.

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These priorities align with polling carried out earlier this year which found that the public thought the polices top priorities should be murder and violent crime (65 per cent), rape and sexual assault (56 per cent), burglary and robbery (27 per cent) and terrorism (26 per cent). Online hate crime (and not the far lower threshold of NCHIs) was considered a priority for only 7 per cent of respondents.

The origins of Non-Crime Hate Incidents can be found in the 1999 Macpherson Inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence. The Inquiry recommended that the police formally log racist incidents that did not reach the threshold of being a criminal offence and that non-crime incidents and criminal offences should be recorded and investigated with equal commitment.

It is remarkable that Macpherson concluded that, as unpleasant as racist acts obviously are, incidents which Parliament has not prohibited as criminal offences should be investigated by the police with equal vigour as those which are. Such choices raise fundamental questions as to both the purpose of the police and what their priorities should be  particularly in a world of potentially limitless demand and highly constrained resource.

Subsequently expanded to cover other types of hate incident such as disability, NCHIs became entrenched in policing practice through the College of Policings 2014 Hate Crime Operational Guidance. Following a successful legal challenge in 2021, the previous Government exercised its statutory power to introduce a new Code of Practice for the recording of NCHIs in 2023. But protections the Code of Practice attempted to introduce have been largely ineffective.

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This year an inspection by His Majestys Inspectorate for Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services showed that police forces are willing to ignore entirely  and in fact to act contrary to  the Code of Practice. The Inspectorate found that twenty-five percent of the case files they examined had been incorrectly recorded by the police.

That police forces are failing to get it right on Non-Crime Hate Incidents is no surprise  their long-term track record in this domain has been similarly poor. In 2021, Merseyside Police were rightly criticised for producing a false and misleading advertising campaign which contained the slogan BEING OFFENSIVE IS AN OFFENCE. Quite clearly, the officers responsible, apparently from the local policing team on the Wirral, were entirely wrong in their understanding of the law.

The impact of Non-Crime Hate Incidents is three-fold. They are a distraction from police officers focusing on what should be the core mission of policing  to fight crime; they risk having a chilling effect on freedom of expression; and they risk curtailing the employment prospects of members of the public through inappropriate disclosures of NCHIs through enhanced DBS checks.

Police forces choose to be highly secretive in their approach to NCHIs. Few forces publish either their policies or data on how many NCHIs they record. What data does exist shows that there is very wide variation in rates of reporting between police forces.

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Essex Police records NCHIs at double the rate per officer of the estimated national average, three times that of the Met, four times that of Greater Manchester and ten times that of West Yorkshire. Is there really ten times more hate in Essex than West Yorkshire?

Two years ago, few had heard of the term two-tier policing  and indeed police chiefs and new Government Ministers continue to vigorously deny its existence. Yet it is their failure to recognise that levels of inconsistency  both between forces levels of NCHI recording and when compared to other incidents, such as the failure to act when individuals chanted for jihad at a political rally on the streets of London  which fuel these accusations.

As part of setting policing back on the track towards focusing on the priorities of great swathes of the British public, the Government should abolish the entire Non-Crime Hate Incident regime. The public are rightly asking questions of the PCCs and police chiefs who have allowed such a regime to be prioritised over fighting crime  for those responsible their time is up.

David Spencer is the Head of Crime and Justice for Policy Exchange and a former Detective Chief Inspector with the Metropolitan Police

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EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  El Paso County will be winding down migrant services that it offers and is planning to close its Migrant Support Services Center at the end of December, the County announced on Monday, Nov. 25.

The move is largely being driven by uncertainty surrounding the new federal administration led by President-elect Trump that will be taking office in January, the County said in its news release.

Since 2022, the Federal Emergency Management Agency sent the County approximately $29 million in Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) funds to the County to help asylum seekers traveling through the El Paso community, the County said.

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No local tax dollars have been spent assisting asylum seekers, the County added.

Now, the County is taking what it is calling precautionary measures due to the uncertainty of support and funding under the new Trump Administration, the County said.

Starting January 2025, the new FEMA Shelter and Services Program (SSP) for humanitarian response will take effect which means rather than advancing funds to communities, it is on a reimbursement basis for eligible expenses, the County said.

As a result, costs incurred by the County for humanitarian efforts beginning Jan. 1 may not be reimbursed if the new administration redirects or repurposes funds within the program, the County said.

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Opened in October 2022, the Migrant Support Services Center was established by El Paso County to provide crucial support to individuals seeking asylum in the United States, the County said.

The center facilitates travel coordination for asylum seekers directly released by the Department of Homeland Securitys Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), offering humanitarian support and a vital lifeline during their journey into the United States, the County said.

Operating as a 365-day service from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., including holidays, the center was initially designed to aid single adults released by CBP. However, it has expanded its services to include families when local non-governmental organizations reached capacity, ensuring that no asylum seeker is left without assistance or released to the streets, the County said.

Since launching operations in October 2022, the County has assisted more than 115,000 asylum seekers. It has provided financial support to five shelters  the Rescue Mission, the Opportunity Center for the Homeless, the Salvation Army, Sacred Heart Church, and World Victory, using FEMA Funds.

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This achievement underscores the critical role the center and the County have played in the lives of tens of thousands, highlighting its pivotal position in the ongoing effort to humanely welcome and support those in desperate need. The El Paso region has been recognized nationally and internationally by immigration advocates as a model for collaboration, communication, and coordination in addressing asylum seeker humanitarian efforts, the County said.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
*Attached video: Groundbreaking medication helping dogs live longer

(WJW)  Its the time of year again that dog owners in Ohio must purchase a county dog license.

The Ohio Revised Code says that dog owners of a pet of more than three months of age are legally required to purchase a county dog license.

Man headed to prison has sweeping election victory

Cuyahoga County

In Cuyahoga County, open enrollment for dog licenses is Dec. 1  Jan. 31, 2025. Tags were mailed out starting on Dec. 1, according to the Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter.

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According to Cuyahoga County, a one-year license costs $20, a three-year license costs $60 and a permanent license costs $200.

Mahoning County

Dog license season is December 1 through February 29 in Mahoning County. Licenses renewed during this time period are $20. Licenses renewed after the February 29 deadline double in price, according to Mahoning County.

Stark County

In Stark County, dog licenses can be purchased between Dec. 1 and January 31, 2025.

Licenses cost $14 for a single year, $42 for a three-year license and $149 for a lifetime license.

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Summit County

In Summit County, licenses will be available for purchase from Dec. 2 through Jan. 31, 2025, according to a press release. Dog license renewal applications were mailed beginning December 2, 2024.

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A single-year license costs $18, a three-year license costs $54 and a permanent license is $180.

We offer several convenient ways to purchase a 2025 dog license. Pet owners can pay online, by mail, or in-person at one of 16 neighborhood locations, including local license bureaus, pet shops, and hardware stores, Fiscal Officer Kristen Scalise said. A county dog license will provide legal proof of ownership and keep you in compliance with Ohio law.

Click here to apply for your Summit County dog license and for more information.

Dog license information for other Northeast Ohio Counties:

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A Connecticut couple is accused of running an elaborate theft ring at Lululemon stores in multiple states, stealing nearly a million dollars from the company. Jadion Anthony Richards and Akwele Nickeisha Lawes-Richards are both charged with organized retail theft under a Minnesota law signed by Gov. Tim Walz only last year.

The case comes as retailers say the tide is gradually turning on what had been described as an epidemic of shoplifting.

Richards, Lawes-Richards and a third unidentified person worked together at Lululemon stores in Roseville and Woodbury, Minnesota, to walk away with thousands of dollars in merchandise, according to the criminal complaint.

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Police say more than $50,000 in Lululemon goods were found in suitcases left behind in the suspects hotel room in Bloomington.

The total loss to Lululemon with Richards, Lawes-Richards and their group (the company) identified so far is closer to $1,000,000, court documents say.

Investigators say Richards would make a small purchase, get a receipt, and then return to the sales floor, meeting up with Lawes-Richards and the other accomplice, who entered separately. Richards and Lawes-Richards would then remove a sensor from an item on the sales floor and put it onto an item Richards had just purchased.

They would then allegedly stuff thousands of dollars in Lululemon merchandise into Lawes-Richards clothing, then all leave together. When the stores theft alarm would beep, the complaint says, Richards pretended to believe he had set off the alarm: While staff inspected his purchased item and removed the sensor the alleged thieves placed on it, the two accomplices walked out of the store with the stolen goods. Lululemon employees didnt stop them, believing Richards purchased items had set the sensors off.

Jadion Anthony Richards, left, and Akwele Nickeisha Lawes-Richards - Ramsey County Sheriff's Office

Richards was released last week on $100,000 bond. Lawes-Richards is free on $30,000 bond. Both were ordered to appear in court on December 16.

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Both suspects face a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, a $35,000 fine, or both, if convicted, according to the charging documents.

Richards and Lawes-Richards were both assigned public defenders. Requests for comment from CNN to their attorneys were not immediately returned Monday. The criminal complaint says both denied committing any theft when first confronted by police. They have not entered pleas.

Suspects monitored by company for months

The police were assisted by an organized retail crime investigator for Lululemon, court documents say, indicating the company had been following the couple for months across stores in Minnesota, Colorado and Utah. The company told investigators they would cash in after returning to Connecticut and New York, allegedly using a series of complicated exchanges at Lululemon stores to get cash for stolen merchandise.

We are deeply committed to creating a safe and secure environment for our people and guests, Lululemon asset protection vice president Tristen Shields said in a statement. This outcome continues to underscore our ongoing collaboration with law enforcement and our investments in advanced technology, team training and investigative capabilities to combat retail crime and hold offenders accountable.

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High-profile cases of retail theft in recent years have prompted both lawmakers to crack down with tougher penalties and retailers to ramp up their efforts to investigate thefts on their own. In May, CNN reported a Home Depot theft ring was discovered with the help of a monthslong investigation by the corporations internal security force, ending in a SWAT raid on a home where $150,000 in stolen goods were found.

The Ramsey County Attorneys Office says this is the first case they are prosecuting under Minnesotas new organized retail theft law, according to a statement provided to CNN affiliate KARE.

We will do everything in our power to hold these defendants accountable and continue to work with our law enforcement partners and retail merchants to put a stop to retail theft in our community, the county attorneys office said.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY)  The Chesapeake Police Department received their largest police academy class in five years on Monday.

While theyve faced a few departures, 29 recruits of the 78th Chesapeake Police Academy class have completed their first week of training.

Over 30% of the recruits happen to be women.

The police department expressed well wishes to the recruits in a social media post as they continue their journeys towards becoming officers.

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The next academy starts on March 31, 2025.

If interested in serving the City of Chesapeake, click here for more information.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  Firefighters in Washington, D.C., were called to the Embassy of Canada after a fire broke out early Monday morning.

In a post on X shortly before 6 a.m. on Nov. 25, the DC Fire and EMS Department (DCFD) said crews were called to the 500 block of Pennsylvania Ave. NW for a fire in the basement.

Jay-Z attends Commanders-Cowboys game at Northwest Stadium

Once on the scene, first responders located the fire in the utility closet. Officials said the fire was confined to the electrical panel.

D.C. firefighters on the scene of a fire at the Canadian Embassy on Nov. 25. (Photo Courtesy: DC Fire and EMS)

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Vito Maggiolo, a spokesperson with the DCFD, said the sprinkler system played a key role in containing the fire before crews arrived.

The fire caused a small amount of damage, and no injuries were reported.

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EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  El Paso Police and Crime Stoppers of El Paso need your help in finding a hit-and-run driver who was involved in a crash earlier this month that killed two women along Interstate 10 in Downtown El Paso.

At about 12:30 a.m on Saturday, Nov. 16, two women attempted to cross Interstate 10 West from south to north near the Downtown exit. As the women were crossing an exit ramp, a vehicle on the ramp struck the women. Moments later, another vehicle struck one of the women and dragged her to the parking lot of the Holiday Inn Express at 409 E. Missouri.

2 pedestrians struck, killed in apparent hit-and-run along I-10

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That second driver momentarily stopped and then fled the scene, according to police and Crime Stoppers.

The first driver remained at the scene and called for emergency assistance. Investigators found security video that captured the vehicle that fled.

That vehicle is described as a silver-colored minivan. Witnesses described the driver as a heavy-set Hispanic man with a short white beard. The women were Hispanic. One was believed to be in her early 30s and the other in her mid- to late teens.

Neither of the women survived the crash and died at the scene.

Investigators are still working on confirming their identity and notifying family. Anyone with any information on the identity of the driver that fled should call Crime Stoppers of El Paso immediately at (915) 566-8477 (TIPS) or visit online at www.cselpaso.org. You will remain anonymous, and if your tip leads to an arrest, you may qualify for a cash reward.

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A Crown Point man avoided a prison term Friday for a plea deal in a 2021 shooting and later exposing himself to a McDonalds co-worker in an unrelated incident.

Devyn D. Sandifer, 21, pleaded guilty to battery resulting in serious bodily injury, a Level 5 felony, and battery resulting in bodily injury, a misdemeanor.

For the shooting, he was sentenced to 532 days in prison, however, that was canceled out by time already spent on home detention.

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Sandifer will have to complete at least 75% of his remaining sentence  22 months in the Lake County Community Corrections Program and 1.5 years probation.

For the groping case, he will serve another year separately on probation.

Court documents show Sandifer, then 18, knocked out the front tooth of a male just before 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 21, 2021, on the 7700 block of Grant Street in Merrillville.

The victim said he left work to surprise his girlfriend and saw her getting out of a car with Sandifer. When he was talking to her, Sandifer sucker-punched him, knocking his tooth out and they started fighting.

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Sandifer left. Soon after, his car came back and someone fired eight shots at the victim, hitting him in the thigh.

Crown Point Police were called on June 2, 2023, to McDonalds, 501 E. 109th Ave. where the general manager recounted the 16-year-old girls story.

Sandifer had kissed her, exposed his penis, grabbed her neck and slapped her buttocks as she repeatedly told him to stop. The incident was captured on camera.

Lets go to the bathroom and have sex, he told her, or asked her to perform a sex act, she told police.

mcolias@post-trib.com
TEHRAN, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Monday described the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) last week for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as "insufficient."

He made the remarks in a meeting with members of the Basij voluntary force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps in Tehran, according to a statement published on his website.

"The arrest warrant for Netanyahu is not sufficient. Death sentences should be issued for him and criminal Israeli leaders," the Iranian leader said.

No one considered the Israelis' bombing of houses, hospitals and public gatherings in Gaza and Lebanon as a sign of their victory, Khamenei added, expressing confidence that despite the continuation of its "war crimes" in Gaza and Lebanon, Israel would not be the victorious side.

He stressed that Israel's "crimes" in Gaza and Lebanon would further strengthen the resistance.

The ICC last week issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of committing "crimes against humanity and war crimes" between at least Oct. 8, 2023, and May 20, 2024, in Gaza. 
President-elect Donald Trump visits a cryptocurrency-themed bar called Pubkey in the West Village on Sept. 18, 2024 in New York City. Trump embraced crypto after the young and wealthy community that invests in cryptocurrency supported his campaign. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Republican Sen. Brandon Smith of Hazard was an early booster of cryptocurrency mining to create jobs and use excess electricity as Kentuckys more traditional coal mining industry declined.

Smith successfully led an effort in 2021 to pass tax breaks to incentivize cryptocurrency miners to locate in the state. The next year his company, Mohawk Energy, began turning an industrial park warehouse in Letcher County into a space where crypto companies could put thousands of computers to mine Bitcoin. In Smiths vision, former coal miners, veterans and other locals would be hired and trained to maintain and repair the technology, gaining expertise that would extend beyond the crypto world.

Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard, speaks during the July Interim Joint Committee on Natural Resources and Energy. (LRC Public Information)

But now Smith and his company are embroiled in a lawsuit with their Chinese partner. Its not the only crypto deal that has gone sour for Kentuckians.

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An effort by an Ashland company to locate a Bitcoin miner in Elliott County also ended up in a federal lawsuit.

Anna Whites, the Frankfort-based lawyer representing Sen. Smiths Mohawk Energy, told the Lantern shes represented Kentucky companies in two other cases that set up host facilities where a Chinese company mined Bitcoin for a few months, only to suddenly disappear, taking the Bitcoin with them and leaving behind a massive electric bill, unpaid rent for the space.

In some cases they would take their equipment, and in some cases theyd leave it because, kind of like cell phones, the equipment gets outdated pretty quickly, Whites said. Not just in Kentucky, but in Texas and some other states that also had low power rates, weve seen that.

The Bitcoin world seems to be full of cowboys, Whites said.

Looking for electricity

Generally, cryptocurrency mining operations involve clusters of high-powered computers that solve complicated mathematical equations that help secure online transactions of the cryptocurrencies through a digital ledger called the blockchain. In the case of the popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin, mining companies are rewarded for solving the equations with Bitcoin itself.

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Running the computers for Bitcoin mining can be incredibly power-intensive; Bitcoin mining across the globe is estimated to use as much power as entire countries. So when China cracked down on cryptocurrency mining in 2021, citing the industrys financial instability, Chinese cryptocurrency miners flocked across the United States looking for cheap electricity to power their machines.

Many of them eyed Kentucky. Domestic players also have capitalized on cheap U.S. power, including Kentuckys largest coal producer: Alliance Resource Partners has mined and accumulated Bitcoin worth more than $40 million, according to an earnings call with investors last month.

This kind of mining can be very lucrative; the price of a single Bitcoin neared $100,000 last week, surging since the election victory of President-elect Donald Trump who has promised to ease regulations on cryptocurrencies. The crypto industry backed Trump and congressional candidates in this months election with tens of millions of dollars in political spending.

Crypto prices are volatile. The value of a Bitcoin dropped from $64,402 in November 2021 to less than $17,000 by the end of 2022. A Bitcoin was worth almost $100,000 at the end of last week. (Getty Images)

Smith had high hopes when he spoke last year to Kentucky Educational Television that the cryptocurrency venture would not end as, he said, so many ribbon cuttings in Eastern Kentucky have with the company leaving. I would like to do something to restore that, to let people know that not everybody is like that, Smith told the public television broadcaster.

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But so far those hopes, at least for cryptocurrency mining, have not panned out in Letcher County.

From crypto promise to legal turmoil

According to court filings, in March 2022 a company now known as HBT Power, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based HTX and formerly known as Huobi, was looking for electricity to power thousands of Bitcoin mining machines worth millions of dollars.

The company found a match in Smith and Mohawk Energy, signing a contract in May of that year to use the warehouse in Jenkins. Whites, the attorney for Mohawk Energy, said HBT Power helped pay to upgrade the warehouse facilities including a new electrical substation to handle the high amounts of power consumption.

HBT Power would keep the mined Bitcoin as profit. Mohawk Energy would get a share of that profit along with having HBT Power pay rent and electricity bills for Mohawk Energys warehouse.

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But as of now, those machines have not been turned on. They remain unused in the Letcher County warehouse as the court battle continues.

HBT Power sued Mohawk Energy in November 2023, alleging Mohawk Energy didnt install proper electrical infrastructure to service the machines. For its part, Mohawk Energy has accused HBT Power of failing to pay rent and labor costs as agreed. They also disagree on who owns the thousands of specialized computers remaining in the warehouse, with HBTPower accusing Mohawk Energy of trying to sell off the machines.

In a December 2023 filing by Mohawk Energy, Whites wrote the assumption was the Chinese company realized that U.S. utility rates are too high for it to make much money under current bitcoin pricing and for that reason, refused to commence mining at the Mohawk facility.

Huobi simply made a bargain it believes now is a bad one, and wants to get out of it without paying the funds it owes, Whites wrote in that filing.

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Attorneys for HBT Power didnt respond to emails sent by the Lantern requesting an interview about the litigation.

Whites has said its not the only cryptocurrency mining operation in Kentucky involving Chinese partners to have gone awry.

WIRED, which was the first to report Smiths legal dispute with the Bitcoin mining company, also reported a company called Biofuel Mining, formerly co-owned by Smith, is also caught up in litigation by business partners that Whites says are also from China. Biofuel Mining was planning to gasify municipal waste to turn into electricity that could then be used to mine Bitcoin.

The Artemis Power Tech facility, which neighbors think is a crypto mine, sits among the Wolfe County woods, power lines connecting it to a nearby substation. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer)

Disputes over power

As reported by WIRED, the litigation between HBTPower and Mohawk Energy reflects a larger trend in recent years with Bitcoin miners. According to the CEO of a cryptocurrency mining consulting firm, Chinese miners were looking for available power and space for excess machines following Chinas crackdown on the industry. In a rush to capitalize on higher Bitcoin values, per WIREDs reporting, smaller overseas mining operations entered deals with companies in rural America without either side doing due diligence on the specifics of the deals.

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The value of a Bitcoin dropped from $64,402 in November 2021 to less than $17,000 by the end of 2022.

Winston Ma, an adjunct professor at the New York University School of Law and author of a book about the blockchain, in an email told the Lantern that long-term power contracts for crypto mining operations have always been tricky for Chinese crypto players in the United States and elsewhere since Chinese-tightened regulations forced them to move their mining operations to overseas markets.

The renewable energy push has made energy supply tighter in many markets, and the latest AI boom is squeezing the energy supply significantly, further disrupting the power supply-and- demand balance, Ma wrote.

In the case of the Elliott County crypto operation located near the Little Sandy Correctional Complex, Ashland-based Hensyn Resources has sued Bitcoin miner Horizon Mining for contractual damages. Horizon Mining declined to make payments to Hensyn Resources after complaining of higher-than-expected electricity costs, according to court filings.

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Monica Sturgill, listed as a managing member of Hensyn Resources on LinkedIn, previously told the Lantern another Ashland company shes affiliated with was trying to locate cryptocurrency mining operations by electrical substations as a business opportunity. One facility suspected to be a cryptocurrency mine in Wolfe County that Sturgill helped locate generated noise complaints from neighbors of the facility.

Sturgill did not respond to a text message requesting an interview about the Hensyn Resources lawsuit. Tom Mills, a representative of Horizon Mining, did not return a phone call asking about the lawsuit.

Another booms and bust industry?

Kentucky utilities in recent years have signed a number of electricity contracts to supply power to cryptocurrency mining projects in rural counties, though its not always clear if the mining facilities are operational or backed by overseas investors. Cryptocurrency mining operations usually appear nondescript, consisting of metal structures with mining machines hooked up to an electrical line.

Interest from cryptocurrency mining companies in locating to Eastern Kentucky has also tapered off, according to an electricity utility.

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After receiving hundreds of inquiries from cryptocurrency miners a few years ago, only a few projects have since come to fruition, Sarah Nusbaum, a spokesperson for Kentucky Power told the Lantern.

Kentucky Power has signed contracts offering discounted electricity rates for two cryptocurrency mining operations in its service area covering 20 Kentucky counties.

As attorney general, Daniel Cameron opposed incentives for a crypto mining company that his office said would have threatened other ratepayers with higher costs. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Matthew Mueller)

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Kentucky Power is asking a Franklin Circuit judge to overturn a decision by the state Public Service Commission rejecting a cryptocurrency mining deal. Concerns that vast power usage could drive up costs for ratepayers sunk the utilitys request for incentives for a Chinese company Ebon International that wanted to launch a massive Bitcoin mining operation next to the utilitys lone natural gas-fired power plant in Lawrence County. Environmental advocates and then-Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Republican, raised objections, and the utility regulator ultimately rejected the incentives.

As Bitcoins value soars coinciding with the industry gaining a friend in the White House, its unclear whether higher prices will spark a resurgence of interest in operating crypto mines in Kentucky. Almost all of the 21 million Bitcoins already have been mined. When the finite supply runs out, Bitcoin miners are expected to make money by collecting transaction fees.

Looking to cryptos future in Kentucky, an environmental advocate and economic developer in interviews with the Lantern raised caution flags.

Lane Boldman, executive director of the Kentucky Conservation Committee, compared foreign investment in cryptocurrency mining to concerns some state legislatures have raised about foreign ownership of farmland. She questions whether cryptocurrency mining is the best use of Kentuckys electricity and whether the potential benefits for Kentucky justify the demands on power and water to cool the computers, along with the risks posed by some Bitcoin mining companies lack of transparency.

Lane Boldman

Theres a lot of questions that need to be asked, and Im not clear how well theyre being vetted, Boldman said. You dont want to create a situation out of desperation that creates more risk and exposes an electricity base even more so.

Colby Kirk, president and CEO of the regional economic development organization One East Kentucky, acknowledged Smiths good intentions with Mohawk Energys venture into cryptocurrency.

Kirk said he fielded numerous inquiries from cryptocurrency miners when he first started at One East Kentucky in 2022. A lot of these crypto projects, theyre kind of just, Plug in, you set it and forget it, Kirk said. I dont think any of them have really materialized at the level that, you know, anyone hoped they would. That market is just such a volatile market.

Kirk says hes not against cryptocurrency mining  but he noted the operations often dont create substantial long-term employment.

At a time when the region is trying to move beyond extractive type of industries, he wonders if crypto mining would have booms and bust cycles similar to coal mining. Hed rather provide jobs that can create generational, sustainable wealth for families.

Have a cycle that generates wealth over the years versus something that we plug in, and it makes wealth for people who live hundreds or thousands of miles away and theres not a lot of jobs locally associated with that, Kirk said.

By contrast, larger industrial-scale Bitcoin mining operations elsewhere in Kentucky are more successful, ranging from a McCracken County operation that sold earlier this year to one of North Americas largest Bitcoin miners, to an Bitcoin mining operation in a former Marshall County steel mill that launched in 2019.

Meanwhile, the court case between Mohawk Energy and HBTPower remains in arbitration.

Whites said she believed Mohawks Energy idea to incorporate cryptocurrency mining was a good one, something to boost employment.

But it all fell apart, she said.

Even without a cryptocurrency miner at the warehouse, Whites said Mohawk Energy remains primarily a technology repair and training site.

While it was offered as a host facility as well, during the height of Bitcoin mining, that time has come and gone and Mohawk is renewing its focus on technology repair, Whites said.

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A man was seriously injured during a crash in Colchester over the weekend when he lost control of the motorcycle he was riding after eluding police.

The crash occurred Saturday at 7:38 p.m. on Route 16 where a 34-year-old Tolland man was reportedly driving a Triumph TT600 recklessly and at a high rate of speed as he approached a Y-shaped intersection, according to Connecticut State Police.

State police said he was heading east toward the Windham Avenue intersection where he lost control and continued straight into the parking lot of Colchester Florist and crashed. The man was given medical aid by responding police and medics before being airlifted to Hartford Hospital via LifeStar, according to state police. His condition was not immediately clear.

State police did not provide any additional information about what led to the motorcyclist reportedly eluding police prior to the crash.
As Cuba has grappled with electricity failures and natural disasters, Americans with family on the island and tourists considering visiting have been mobilizing to provide much-needed aid. For both groups, the situation has been cause for worry, extra precautions and planning.

In the past few weeks, Cuba has struggled with nationwide blackouts, two major hurricanes and a 6.8 magnitude earthquake  blows to an already weakened infrastructure. Residents have been left without power for hours a day, and access to food, medicine, water and fuel  already scarce  has become even more of a challenge.

Now, just about a month after the initial grid collapse, both tourists and family members are channeling their frustration and concern into action  sending supplies from both overseas and in person.

A street is lit by car lights during the third night of a nationwide blackout in Havana on Oct. 20, 2024.

Marissa Diaz, a Cuban American content creator, and her husband, Yoel, are a primary provider of aid to their family in Cuba, and during the first round of blackouts weeks ago, their family struggled to preserve food and medicine without any power.

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Electricity blackouts are certainly not uncommon in Cuba, said Diaz, who's based in Phoenix; her family lost power for up to eight hours a day following the power collapse. Its just to the degree that it was at this point.

Though the couple regularly pay for cellular data for their family to prevent communication losses during regular, shorter power outages, recent packages to the island have included nonperishables like coffee, instant noodles, dried seasonings, powdered milk, first-aid items like ibuprofen and bandages, and solar-paneled flashlights and phone chargers.

Its really hard for Americans to try to understand the quality of life in Cuba, she said. Theres so much scarcity.

I think all of that has a negative effect on the tourism sector of Cuba, added Diaz, whos critical of the countrys government. Americans are reminded that, yes, there is a dictatorship in Cuba. Yes, Cuba is a communist country.

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Stephanie Herchak, from Orr Lake, Canada and a frequent visitor to Cuba, recently returned from a trip despite travel advisories against going from Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, citing shortages, the effects of the storms and increased crime.

Aware of the increasingly dire conditions, Herchak brought food and sanitary items to hand out to locals, though she didnt stray far from the resort where she was staying with her partner.

All the houses and things that weve driven by are just shambles with no windows or anything, people with no power, she said.

Herchak, who stayed at the Sanctuary by Grand Memories in Santa Maria, said she didnt experience power outages at the resort while she was there. In a phone call with NBC News, resort staff confirmed they have not had blackouts and use their own generators.

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But Herchak said she heard from many locals and hotel staff she spoke with that power was still out for hours at a time in residential areas.

Reddit pages and several Facebook Cuba travel groups have become home to conversations on the situation in Cuba; some share concerns regarding upcoming trips and others share rare glimpses into current conditions, even encouraging visitors to reconsider their vacation. Many ask for advice on which goods are most needed by locals.

Cuba's energy grid suffered a complete blackout after Hurricane Rafael made landfall.

Over the last few years, more and more people who are going to Cuba are looking for ways to help, said Rebecca Shoval, program director for Not Just Tourists New York City, a volunteer effort that has connected underserved countries with hard to find resources for over 30 years. This year, theyve sent a "record number" of shipments to Cuba, according to the organization.

Avi D'Souza, executive director of Not Just Tourists Toronto, said the organization has sent 475 suitcases of supplies this year  62% more than in 2023 and the majority of it to Cuba. In bulk, they've sent 298,000 lbs of medical supplies and equipment via container, 24% more than last year, he said.

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Shoval explained that tourists are given suitcases filled with medical supplies to bring to drop-off locations on the island.

Anthony ImBoden, of Ontario, is one of many who expressed concerns and asked questions on a public Reddit forum regarding his upcoming vacation to Cuba. A diabetic whose insulin needs to be refrigerated, ImBoden asked for tips on how to travel with  and preserve  his medication through the power outages.

A vacationing couple brings a suitcase of medical supplies to a drop-off location in Cuba.

Even though a Canadian travel advisory encourages visitors to exercise a high degree of caution in Cuba due to shortages of basic necessities including food, medicine and fuel," ImBoden said hes taking [the concerns] with a grain of salt.

While some people told him not to go, Imboden said his diabetes is well controlled and its a risk he's "willing to take.

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The Cuban government has blamed U.S. sanctions as well as the effect of the pandemic on tourism for the tougher economic conditions on the island, while the U.S. has blamed Cubas centrally planned, communist economy. Cubas lack of hard currency has affected its ability to import basic necessities.

Recent travelers like Monica Joseph  who stayed at an Airbnb in Cuba just before the massive outage  noted a feeling of safety in more tourist-centered areas like Havana, the capital. Though she did not experience blackouts herself, she did speak to many residents who described an inability to find goods like soap or sanitary products.

Monica Joseph recently came back from a visit to Cuba.

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Joseph, who lives near Washington, D.C., said she was told that it was a bit better to be in the city" but would have "issues" outside of Havana.

The conditions outside of cities and tourist areas are a source of frustration for Cuban Americans like Mailen Rodriguez, 23, a kindergarten teacher from Houston who emigrated from Cuba when she was seven years old.

It was bad in 2007, but now its even worse.  Back then, I dont ever remember sleeping without any light. Now, when I went in October, the [blackouts] were four to five hours every single day, Rodriguez said, asking why tourists arent affected.

Why is it only affecting the people in the provinces that are scared to speak up and protest?

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The Cuban government didnt respond to a request for comment on whether tourist areas are being given priority for electricity power and on countries' travel advisories warning of current conditions on the island.

When Rodriguez visited Cuba in October, she brought her family basic necessities like toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, shampoos, razors, clothing, shoes, and cooking seasonings  emphasizing that this was a luxury not afforded to many Cubans.

The people that have relatives over here, thankfully, they have a source of income, they have money for food, for any necessities, Rodriguez said. But if you dont have family outside of the island, youre kind of stuck  its really hard to get any resources.

Carl Eaton, director of the Orange County California Chapter of Not Just Tourists, has become more aware of the needs in Cuba through his work.

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People who live in Cuba love Cuba, and they want to stay there because they love the island. However, a lot of people are reaching the end of the rope, Eaton said, mentioning that more people are trying to leave; the country has seen record migration out of Cuba.

For tourists who want to help, Cuba is probably one of the easiest countries in the world as far as aid warrants. They need the help, and theyre not going to discourage anybody from bringing supplies into the country, Eaton said. The big thing is to get through to the traveler that this is something that they can do, where they can make a difference.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Culinary Union workers say they are in it for the long haul as the strike at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas nears the two-week mark with workers pushing for a new five-year contract and better pay.

Debra Wilby is beyond frustrated over what she describes as corporate greed.

Weve talked with guests and people just walking by and they all seem to support us. Its not fair what we are dealing with, with these corporate companies not doing right by their employees, Wilby shared.

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On Thursday, the strike escalated when a staged demonstration led to 57 culinary union members getting arrested and Virgin Hotels taking matters into their own hands by adding makeshift walls around the property to block the view of the strike from its guests.

In addition to playing loud music in an attempt to obstruct the outside noise from coming in.

They tried to make it where they drowned us out, but they just made more noise and brought more attention to us, server Alain Lopex said.

Cook, Rosemarie Mecca said even with the obstacles put in place by the hotel, she and her fellow co-workers refuse to back down.

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Were still here and we got higher signs to go over their walls. Weve resorted to being at the main entrances where they have to see us, instead of along the sidewalk, Mecca said.

The Culinary Union shared that because of Virgins lack of staff right now, the hotel has resorted to hiring people from, off the street to do the jobs of these trained professionals. Paying them close to double what their full-time employees would typically make.

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UPDATE as of 3:35 p.m. :

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WTAJ)  More information surrounding the death of a 17-year-old Greater Johnstown High School student has been released.

An arrest was made in the early morning hours of Monday, Nov. 25, according to Cambria County District Attorney Greg Neugebauer.

Kaden Woodring, 17, was charged with one count of General Criminal Homicide, two counts of Aggravated Assault, one count of Recklessly Endangering another Person and one count of Receiving Stolen Property.

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He is currently in the Cambria County Prison after being denied bail due to the nature of his charges. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 26. The investigation is ongoing.

ORIGINAL STORY:

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WTAJ)  A 17-year-old Greater Johnstown High School student was killed in a shooting Sunday, according to Cambria County District Attorney Greg Neugebauer.

Police, EMS and the coroners officer were dispatched to the 100 block of Sheridan Street Sunday, Nov. 24 at 11:49 p.m. for a gunshot victim. She was found in the homes basement with a gunshot wound to her abdomen. While the identity of the victim has yet to be released, the Greater Johnstown High School shared a statement surrounding the student who was shot and killed.

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We are in a state of shock as we grieve the loss of our student, Amy Arcurio, Superintendent, shared in a statement. We are respectful to her family and our entire Trojan community as we try to understand this tragedy.

This is a developing story, please check back for updates and download the WTAJ app to receive breaking news notifications.

Arcurio went on to note that students will have access to grief counselors who will remain at the school throughout the week. Cambria County Coroner Jeff Lees noted that an autopsy will be performed on Tuesday, Nov. 26. The incident was determined to be isolated and there is no danger to the public.

Johnstown police noted that the investigation is still active. Stick with WTAJ on air and online as we learn more.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTAJ - www.wtaj.com.
Ryan Kobayashi was in Los Angeles to search for his missing daughter Hannah at the time of his death on Sunday, Nov. 24

After days of searching for his daughter, Hannah Kobayashi's father was found dead over the weekend in Los Angeles. Although a cause of death has yet to be confirmed, his family tells PEOPLE they believe he killed himself amid a mental health emergency.

He died of a broken heart, says Larie Pidgeon, 45.

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Ryan Kobayashi, 58, was recently retired and had joined his extended family searching for his 30-year-old daughter, who vanished earlier this month after missing her connecting flight at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and sending "alarming" texts to loved ones.

Weve been searching tirelessly, Pidgeon says. I think it just became so overwhelming for him driving the streets, going to Skid Row and seeing where his daughter could possibly have ended up."

Pidgeon suspects that as time "went on and on and on," Ryan's mental health deteriorated.



We really want everyone to know that he fought so hard, she adds. Imagine if it was your daughter.

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Related: Missing Woman Seen on Video with Stranger After She Didnt Get on Connecting Flight, Family Says

At 4 a.m. local time on Sunday, Nob. 24, the Los Angeles Police Department responded to a parking lot near LAX for a death investigation.

A spokesman previously PEOPLE that law enforcement was called to the area for "an apparent suicide." A cause of death has not yet been determined by the L.A. County medical examiner, but online records show that an examination has been scheduled.

The family confirms the parking structure is near the hotel where the family has been staying.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Pidgeon remembers her brother-in-law as "one of the kindest, most sensitive souls Ive ever had the privilege of knowing."

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He was just so good, she says. He was a teddy bear. Through this whole process hes just been thanking everyone endlessly with gratitude and love."



LAPD Hannah Kobayashi Hannah Kobayashi

The family wants to dispel any rumors that he had anything to do with his daughters disappearance and says they do not believe he was lured to his death, according to Pidgeon. Police have not publicly accused anyone of wrongdoing in Hannah's case.

He wanted to do everything he could, Pidgeon tells PEOPLE of Ryan. He showed up when it mattered the most.



Related: Aunt of Woman Who Disappeared Before Flight in L.A. Pleads 'Don't Forget About Her' During Rally

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Despite the loss, the grieving family continues searching for Hannah, who has been missing since Nov. 11.

We are holding onto hope and turning to our community for help. Now, more than ever, we need you," read a message shared by loved ones on a Facebook page dedicated to finding Hannah. "The search for our beloved Hannah must continue with the same love and determination that Ryan would have wanted. We need your help, we need your strength.

"She is still out there, and we believe that together, we can bring her home," the message continued.

Pidgeon tells PEOPLE that the family will also keep searching. Were still here, she says. Were a family doing the best we can now with two tragedies. So please be kind."

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.


A Hawaii woman's father who flew to Los Angeles looking for her after she was reported missing has been found dead near Los Angeles International Airport.

The body of Ryan Kobayashi, 58, was found in a parking lot on Sunday, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner. Los Angeles Police Department officials said they responded to reports of a body in the 6100 block of Century Boulevard about 4 a.m. Sunday and discovered someone dead of an apparent suicide.

Kobayashi was in Los Angeles looking for his daughter, Hannah Kobayashi, 30, who was last seen at LAX on Nov. 8 and last contacted her family by phone Nov. 9, according to an LAPD news release.

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Relatives confirmed Ryan Kobayashi's death in a Sunday statement, saying they had "endured a devastating tragedy."

"After tirelessly searching throughout Los Angeles for 13 days, Hannahs father, Ryan Kobayashi, tragically took his own life," according to the statement. "This loss has compounded the family's suffering immeasurably."

The family has urged the public to "maintain focus on the search for her. Hannah IS still actively missing and is believed to be in imminent danger. It is crucial for everyone to remain vigilant in their efforts to locate Hannah."

Volunteers organize as they prepare to hand out missing person fliers of Hannah Kobayashi, who was last seen at Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 8. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Kobayashi boarded a flight in Maui on Nov. 8 headed to New York City with a stop at LAX but never made it to New York, her family told USA Today.

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She landed at LAX but missed her next flight, appearing instead to visit the Grove shopping center, where she went to a Nike event Nov. 10, her family told USA Today. The next day, Kobayashi apparently went back to LAX but didnt board a flight. Later that day, she sent what her family called strange text messages.

Read more: Woman sends cryptic message, misses flight from LAX then disappears, family says

LAPD spokesperson Charles Miller confirmed that the department is investigating Kobayashi's disappearance as an "active missing person case" but declined to specify details about the investigation. No updates were available Monday morning.

Kobayashi's sister, Sydni, told The Times that her sister's friend has reached out to the family about "strange" text messages Kobayashi reportedly sent.

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Kobayashi texted her friend about her ID being stolen and expressed concern that someone she thought she loved was trying to take her money.

"She seemed like it was someone else or she was just totally out of it," Sydni said. "It just didnt seem right because its not how she normally texts."

Kobayashi was supposed to meet up with her aunt and spend time with family in upstate New York, according to her sister.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  Monday on the Daily 8, were looking at an attack at a Grand Rapids Township fire station, a new ice rink coming to Holland, how you can get a Taylor Swift signed guitar and more.

You can watch the full Daily 8 for Nov. 25, 2024, in the video player above or check out any of the stories mentioned below:

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Each weekday, the Daily 8 brings you the top eight stories we are keeping an eye on in and around West Michigan.

Join us again Tuesday for the Daily 8.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
Days before Parliament votes on the controversial assisted dying Bill, the Government itself is divided. Thats despite being told to remain neutral on the issue. Its another example of Keir Starmer and Labour doing politics poorly.



Kamal and Camilla ask: Why let such a contested subject be rushed through via a private members bill? And can we really have an informed discussion about assisted dying when palliative care in the UK is so bad?



Plus, 2 million people have signed a petition calling for another general election. Kamal and Camilla take a look at the reaction and why voters feel betrayed.

Watch episodes of the Daily T here. You can also listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe to The Daily T newsletter for updates.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Hunting is hereditary and I'm astonished that a half-million hunting licenses are issued annually in Minnesota and I don't know any hunters: it means that I'm an outsider, an oddball.

Men hunt for the same reason they fish, in order to escape the company of women. Minnesota is a state of thousands of lakes and each one gives men an opportunity for refuge, sitting in a rowboat or a fishing shack out on the ice where nobody will say, "When are you going to clean out the garage?" Or "You keep talking about going to teacher conferences at the kids' school but when is this going to happen if ever?" or "Why do you insist on dribbling coffee down the front of the kitchen cabinet and not wiping it up?"

Not many women fish because they know they can buy excellent salmon, tuna, or halibut for a tiny fraction of the cost of a boat and motor and trailer and a pickup to tow it. Ever compare salmon and northern pike? God created pike for cat food.

I've been a member of various minorities in my life, having grown up fundamentalist among people who didn't drink or dance or go to movies or use the Lord's name in vain, and in college I joined a microscopic minority of people who write limericks.



Minneapolis is great. Have you seen it?

The streets go from Aldrich to Zenith.

It's the birthplace of Prince,

Than whom no one since

Has been any hipper, I mean it.

The city is good for the sickly.

The streets are numerical, strictly,

And alphabetical

All so that medical



Teams can get to you quickly.

I am in the minority of Americans who read newspapers that subscribe to a code of objectivity. Our number is shrinking, and I can imagine the day when readers give up curiosity in favor of self-affirmation. I don't wish to see that day and so I'm grateful to be in the minority of octogenarian Americans. We are out of touch and don't know who the contemporary celebrities are, which one discovers is a loss one can easily live with. It gives you more room to focus on the natural world, birds, trees, little kids, the sun and stars.

I am one of the million-and-a-half Episcopalians in America, whose membership has been declining for years. We don't know why but we don't spend much time worrying about it either.

I don't go to church because I'm a good person. I'm not, and I know that because I don't hunt or fish so I spend more time around women and women are quite aware of human failings and when they give you a righteous glance, you can feel it. No, I only know how to imitate goodness, and when I sit in church and say the prayers and sing the hymns and listen to Scripture, it takes me out of the world and into the universe. And I feel united to the people around me, young, old, men, women, Black, white, all of us fragile, mortal, heading in the same direction.



My friends assembled to carry

Me to the town cemetery,

A gust of wind blew,

And the ashes all flew,

Leaving nothing of Gary to bury.

My memory was kept

By the sexton who swept

Up the dust. G od heal

My soul. He is real

And now I am imaginary.



I wrote it in church during the sermon, which, G od forgive me, lost me on a sharp turn, but when I look to my right, I see the chapel where, 29 years ago this week, I held my lover Jenny's hands and we made our vows. I'm an old man in love and, independent though we be, we are a happy couple.

I pray for you and yours. Be kind to others. Don't be like the fellow of Bellingham so stubborn that there was no telling him. His wife said, "My dear, I wish you weren't here."

He ignored her and she wound up selling him.

Garrison Keillor is an author and radio personality. His latest book is "Cheerfulness". Buy it at a 38% discount! by clicking here. Sales help fund JWR.
SIEM REAP, Cambodia, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia has transformed land that was once minefields into fertile grounds for farming, urbanization, and development, lifting millions out of poverty, Prime Minister Hun Manet said here on Monday.

In his opening speech at the Siem Reap-Angkor Summit on a Mine-Free World, Manet said Cambodia's economy, which grew at an average rate of around 7 percent annually before the COVID-19 pandemic, has thrived on the de-contaminated land.

"About 80 percent of the cleared land is used for agriculture, while the remainder is used for housing and development, including construction of critical infrastructure, to enhance connectivity across our nation, allowing our economy to thrive to this day," he said. "Moreover, it has enabled millions of international tourists, including investors, to visit Cambodia."

Manet recalled that once a land of peace, 54 years ago, Cambodia was drawn into the geopolitical conflicts of the Cold War, and a land that hosted magnificent heritages such as Angkor Wat then saw some of the most heartbreaking tragedies, including a series of carpet bombings, a genocide, and decades of civil wars.

"Millions of Cambodian lives were lost and thousands of square kilometers of Cambodia's land became littered with landmines and other explosive remnants of war," he said.

He said although the kingdom achieved full peace in 1998, the shadow of landmines continued to loom large and posed dire threats to human lives and post-war recovery.

He added that with the unwavering support of the international community, from 1992 to date, Cambodia has cleared over 3,000 square kilometers of landmines, destroying over 1 million anti-personnel mines and 3 million explosive remnants of war.

Casualties have plummeted from an average of over 4,300 per year in 1996 to fewer than 100 annually in the past ten years, he said.

"We have declared 15 of the 25 capital cities and provinces as mine free," Manet said. "Nevertheless, our journey is far from over. We still have over 1,600 square kilometers of contaminated land, which is affecting the lives of approximately 1 million people."

The Cambodian leader said the Southeast Asian country has turned its tragic history into a powerful lesson for the world, advocating against the use of anti-personnel mines and highlighting their long-term consequences.

"Cambodian mine action community has continued to share our best practices, transferring our hard-earned expertise to others facing similar challenges including, among others, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member states," he said. 
NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D. (KCAU)  Girls wrestling has continued its upward trajectory in the state of South Dakota as well as around Siouxland, with one Dakota Valley student-athlete earning an opportunity to show her skills on the world stage, embracing the chance to represent the United States.

Dakota Valley freshman Kenzie Scott has earned an opportunity to compete for the United States at the International Wrestling Tour Tournament in the Netherlands. Scott, who is the only South Dakota athlete on the team, will wrestle with the lone United States team competing.

A chance that has come from the product of her hard work and dedication to the sport.

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It means a lot, especially if I win matches. I think it just goes to show how much girls wrestling has improved in South Dakota and how far its come. So Im really excited for it. Scott said.

She works really hard. She puts in some extra time, and I know if theres an opportunity to go do it, shes going to do it. Kenzies father, Tanner Rasmussen added.

Scott and the team will head to the Netherlands on April 15th.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Dan Schneider in 2014. - Credit: Matt Sayles/Invision/AP Photo

Dan Schneiders defamation suit against the makers of the bombshell docuseries, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, will be allowed to continue, a California judge ruled late last week.

On Friday, Judge Ashfaq G. Chowdhury rejected a motion brought by the plaintiffs  led by Warner Bros. Discovery, Sony Pictures Television, and directors Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz  to toss Schneiders lawsuit under Californias anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuits against public participation) laws. Those laws are meant to deter lawsuits that could impede on free speech, especially on matters of public concern.

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Judge Chowdhury, however, ruled that Schneiders case was not brought on frivolous grounds, simply to harass defendants, adding that it was not the type of baseless lawsuit that the anti-Slapp statute was designed to weed out.

The judge also said: Hes suing Defendants about a documentary they made about him, that focuses on his activities, and, which a reasonable viewer might conclude makes damning implications about his conduct.

Schneider sued the makers of Quest on Set back in May. The five-part series featured many former child actors sharing allegations of abuse and misconduct while working on popular Nickelodeon shows during the Nineties and 2000s, many of which Schneider created and oversaw. There were several allegations leveled at Schneider, including gender discrimination, overlooking actors of color, making inappropriate jokes, and asking employees for massage. (Schneider acknowledged and addressed these claims in an apology after Quiet on Set aired.)

The show also featured allegations tied to two convicted sex offenders who worked on some of these programs, Brian Peck and Jason Handy. No such allegations were ever leveled against Schneider, but he claimed that Quiet on Set, both the series and trailer, falsely implied that he was a sexual abuser. The original lawsuit described the series as a hit job and claimed the defendants had destroyed Schneiders reputation and legacy through the false statements and implications.

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While the defendants, in their motion to dismiss, argued that Quiet on Set did not accuse Schneider of sexual abuse, Judge Chowdhury said Schneiders lawyers persuasively argued that the defamation can be implied, that the trailer and documentary state or imply Schneider sexually abused children who worked on his show and that Schneider was a child sexual abuser, and how the ordinary viewer understands the trailer and documentary to be defamatory.

Lawyers for Schneider and the defendants did not immediately return Rolling Stones request for comment.

Interestingly, the defendants nearly succeeded in getting the lawsuit thrown out on anti-SLAPP grounds in an earlier ruling. As Variety notes, Judge Chowdhury previously said in a tentative ruling that Schneider had failed to provide any evidence as to the falsity of the alleged defamation. That prompted Schneiders lawyers to issue a declaration on his behalf in which he asserted that he had never sexually assaulted or sexually abused a child.

In the ruling issued last week, Judge Chowdhury said Schneider had since shown that his claim has at least minimal merit, and has pointed to a substantial amounts of evidence that could support his theory of implied defamation.

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WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ala. (WKRG)  A Daphne man was killed and a teenager was seriously injured after a head-on collision in Washington County over the weekend, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

Embattled former VA Commissioner says Alabama needs to do better for vets

The ALEA said the deadly crash that happened around 7:40 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23, near the 36-mile marker of U.S. 45, involved two vehicles:

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1997 Dodge Ram 1500 driven by a 54-year-old Daphne man

2008 Nissan Sentra driven by a 19-year-old from Deer Park

According to crash reports, the Ram and the Sentra collided head-on.

Officials said the Daphne man, who was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, was pronounced dead at the scene. The 19-year-old was seriously injured in the crash and taken to USA Hospital in Mobile for treatment.

Coden man sleeping in cargo trailer after fire

The crash is currently under investigation by ALEAs Highway Patrol Division.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  Dozens of children gathered with their new families at the D.C. Superior Court on Saturday, Nov. 23, to celebrate the finalization of their adoptions.

The annual event occurs in 400 communities nationwide, including Washington, D.C., on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Former President Bill Clinton designated November as National Adoption Month in 1995.

During the event, families have their adoptions finalized. The celebration is designed to raise awareness of the thousands of children in the United States awaiting adoption from foster care.

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Every child deserves to know the unconditional love of a permanent home. During National Adoption Month, we honor all the wonderful families that grow through adoption, we remind our foster youth and adoptees that we are right by their side, and we rededicate ourselves to ensuring that every child has the opportunity to reach their full potential, said Joe Biden, in a proclamation on National Adoption Month.

How TSA plans to handle busiest Thanksgiving ever

Robert Washington and his wife, Michelle, attended Saturdays event with their two-year-old son, Brion, whom they adopted when he was just a month old.

I was like, at the age of 62, becoming a parent? It has been so rewarding. It is the absolute best decision I have ever made in my life, Robert told DC News Now. This is my little man right here, for life.

Robert and Michelle Washington, with their son, Brion, at Saturdays Adoption Day event. (Zach Coleman/DC News Now)

The Washingtons chose to adopt Brion, their biological grandson, after learning that he was born and was in the hospital and in need of a caretaker.

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We wanted him to have a forever home and not filter through any system, said Michelle. Its an experience I would never ever trade for the world because we have someone who loves us unconditionally, and we love him unconditionally.

Robert had one piece of advice for anyone who feels compelled to make a difference but feels they may be too old.

Dont ever say that you are too old, he said. If you want to stay young, if you want to be well taken care of, look out for that child who cant look out for themselves.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
School shootings across the country remain on the rise, but districts in New England are taking new steps to prevent these tragedies.

Boston 25 took a closer look at schools in Massachusetts to analyze how theyre stepping up security.

Security consultant Todd McGhee has worked with the Marie Philips Elementary School in Framingham for years  installing new safety measures that are often overlooked.

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Unsuspecting monitors and clocks throughout the school easily disguised critical messaging systems that can flash warnings in case of emergencies.

Short, quick communications so that the community is not wondering what in the world is going, McGhee explained.

A longtime Mass. State Trooper, McGhee now consults critical infrastructure like airports, stations, and schools about how they can best protect those inside.

Marie Philips Elementary is just one school on the campus of the Learning Center for the Deaf.

While their challenges are different from other schools, McGhee believes they set an example for what schools across Massachusetts will soon do.

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We dont want to fortify the schools where it looks like Fort Knox, said McGhee. This is just a great example where weve leveraged low-level technology to serve a real security function.

Some additional changes McGhee installed were interior crash bars for doors, thumb latch locks, connecting rooms, and protective mesh in windows.

McGhee even showed construction paper to block door windows looking into classrooms.

He added, Criminals are lazy. So, if they dont see an opportunity, theyre going to move on.

The security consultant also installed panic buttons across campus to notify police to an emergency as fast as possible.

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With one touch of a button, we can put the campus on lockdown, McGhee told Boston 25. There are messages that go directly to text messages on mobile phones, on desktops, on laptops, as well as notifying law enforcement.

McGhee has analyzed dozens of schools and says most arent as up to speed as Marie Philips Elementary.

Were moving not at the pace that Id like to see, McGhee added, referencing statewide school security.

These changes at home are coming in the wake of yet another school shooting tragedy.

Two students and two teachers were killed at Apalachee High School in Georgia.

CNN reports as of November, there have already been 76 school shootings in the US. The nation is on pace to surpass any other year in history. (School shootings in the US: Fast facts | CNN)

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Roughly a third of those shootings have occurred on K-12 school grounds.

While McGhee has focused on the security defense, Dr. Ron Kessler has examined the mental health crisis in adults and adolescents nationwide.

Kessler is a professor of Healthcare Policy at Harvard Medical School. He studies mental health disorders in in adults, and how they grow in children.

The health care system in America is broken, Kessler told Boston 25. Many of these kids, the majority of these kids, dont get help.

Kessler fears disruptive, loud students are getting the most counseling in our classrooms  oftentimes not the ones who need it most.

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Kessler asked, How do you find the kid whos that quiet kid living with extreme pain? Who is going to act out either against themselves or against others?

He claims common mental disorders usually begin around the age of 13.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education offers mental health professional development for districts across Massachusetts.

As stated on their website, Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) offer educators guidance and support on building comprehensive school mental health systems that address the holistic needs of students.

A full list of state programs for all districts can be found: (https://www.doe.mass.edu/sfs/mental-wellness/)

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Parents in Dedham told us they hope to see mental health and security improvements in all Massachusetts districts.

Its a huge concern, said Daniel Mongeon, a parent of a Dedham Middle School student. He said, Well, we have this drill today, an active shooter drill. And its presented as very commonplace. Thats concerning.

McGhee urged districts to create transparency and easy communication to safeguard their students.

He finished, Youre building trust and rapport with me as a parent while my children, while my child is attending the school.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education also provides national resources that can be found: Mental and Behavioral Health and Wellness Supports - Student and Family Support (SFS)

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Monday's episode of 'People Magazine Investigates,' airing at 9/8c on ID, looks at the disturbing deaths in the Dallas area

LM Otero/AP Photo Shanon Dion poses holding a photo of her mother Doris Gleason

Shannon Dion was a devoted daughter to her 92-year-old mother, Doris Gleason.

Every Sunday, the duo would attend church together.

But on Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016, their day of worship and prayer turned tragic.

When Dion showed up at Tradition-Prestonwood, a luxury independent living facility for seniors in North Dallas, she found her mother dead inside her apartment.

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She was stunned.

The funeral home arrives, and I tell them that I would like the jewelry off her body, she says in an upcoming episode of People Magazine Investigates. Titled "A Serial Killers Playbook," the episode premieres Monday, Nov. 25 at 9/8c on ID. (An exclusive clip is shown below.)

They point to the kitchen countertop where there are these two rings. I said, 'Where is the necklace?'

Dion was referencing an Italian, guardian angel necklace that her mother wore all the time, but was nowhere to be found.

Related: How an Accused Serial Killer Allegedly Snuck into Senior Living Facilities to Murder 22 People

Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News via AP Billy Chemirmir Billy Chemirmir

We start looking and the necklace is missing. I dont know what it was that drove me, but I went to my mothers purse and got her billfold because there was cash we had just taken out the Friday before, and here it is Sunday morning. There was no cash.

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Dion said she noticed that her mothers front top dresser drawer was ajar. She also realized that rings and other jewelry were missing.

Thats when I knew something was wrong, she says.



AP Photo/LM Otero, Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News/Pool via AP Chemirmir victims Lu Thi Harris, Leah Corken, Mary Brooks Chemirmir victims Lu Thi Harris, Leah Corken, Mary Brooks

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Dion said authorities dismissed her claims that something was amiss, saying there was no evidence of foul play.

But in 2018, Dions suspicions were confirmed when she got a call from police: It turned out that Gleason was a victim of serial killer Billy Chemirmir, a former health care worker who'd moved to the United States in 2003 from Kenya, who preyed on mostly elderly women living in upscale senior living facilities around Plano and Dallas between 2016 and 2018.

Related: Suspected Texas Serial Killer, Accused in Deaths of 18, Indicted in Murders of 4 Elderly Women

Dallas County Jail Billy Chemirmir

He would often dress as a maintenance worker or health care aid and kill his victims before robbing them. Because the victims were between 76 and 94, their deaths weren't thoroughly investigated, with most people believing that they had died of natural causes.

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His deadly deeds came to light after he attacked 91-year-old Mary Bartel in her ground floor apartment in Preston Place Retirement Community in Plano on the morning of March 19, 2018.

Bartel, who survived the attack, told police about a man knocking at her door, barging in and then forcing her to lie down on her bed. He then grabbed a pillow and attempted to smother her before fleeing with her jewelry.

The attack led police to canvas the complex and learn that the son of a resident reported a stranger loitering in the parking lot a few days earlier.

Chemirmir's victims

The man wrote down a license plate for the strangers Nissan Altima.

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The car belonged to Chemirmir.

Chemirmir was arrested in the parking lot of his Dallas apartment complex the following day after authorities watched him toss into the dumpster a distinct red wooden jewelry box with Asian markings.

Legal papers found in the jewelry box led them to the home of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris, who was found smothered to death in her bedroom.

He was convicted of killing two elderly women, including Harris, NBC5 reported.

Chemirmir, 50, was found murdered in his Texas prison cell by his cellmate in September 2023, per the Associated Press.



People Magazine Investigates: A Serial Killer's Playbook premieres Monday, Nov. 25, at 9/8c on ID.


Tel Aviv  Israel said a barrage of hundreds of rockets was fired at the north of the country Sunday by Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in neighboring Lebanon. The assault came after days of devastating strikes by the Israel Defense Forces, which said it was targeting Hezbollah sites around the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Israeli officials said there were some injuries caused by the Hezbollah rocket fire, but many of the weapons were intercepted by Israel's advanced missile defense systems.

The IDF's intense assault on Hezbollah saw it send missiles slamming into buildings in longtime Hezbollah strongholds around Beirut over the weekend, killing dozens of people, according to Lebanese health officials.

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Hezbollah started launching rockets at Israel in support of its Gaza-based Hamas allies the day after they sparked the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory with their Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack.

Israel's exchange of fire with Iran's most powerful so-called proxy group has been escalating in recent days despite yet another U.S. diplomatic push for a cease-fire.

American and Israeli officials said over the weekend, even as the death toll mounted in Lebanon, that a truce agreement between Hezbollah and Israel could be imminent.

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Mike Herzog told Israel's Army Radio on Monday that a cease-fire deal could be reached "within days."

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The deal in the works "is supposed to distance Hezbollah, to allow the residents of the north [of Israel] to return to their homes," he said, referring to the Israeli government's long-stated objective of enabling tens of thousands of residents to come back to homes abandoned close to the Lebanese border amid the Hezbollah rocket fire.

He said that if a deal was reached, Israel would maintain the right to respond to "disturbances" going forward. He said some, unspecified points still needed to be finalized in the negotiations, but added: "We are close to a deal," and "it can happen within days."

In lieu of any agreement thus far, tension remained high across Lebanon on Monday, where the health ministry said Israeli's offensive against Hezbollah had killed more than 3,750 people as of Sunday, left some 15,630 more wounded and displaced about 1.4 million people from their homes. Many of the casualties have been women and children, according to the ministry.

Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon, Nov. 25, 2024. / Credit: Thaier Al-Sudani/REUTERS

All school and university classes in Beirut were cancelled by the nation's education ministry until January, citing safety concerns in the wake of Israel's devastating strikes over the past week.

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That includes one of the deadliest strikes on central Beirut to date. Carried out over the weekend, the IDF attack killed more than 80 people, according to the Lebanese health ministry.



The IDF said it was targeting Hezbollah weapons and fighters embedded within the civilian population and infrastructure around Beirut.



Beirut resident Abeer Darwich disputed that, claiming Israel had "attacked peaceful people in their homes."

Baking an ancient bread in Tennessee

The cream of the crop in butter

Serving up home-cooked dog food
MERCER, Pa. (WKBN)  A Grove City teenager is facing rape charges following a report of an incident in June.

Read next: Grove City man who worked as teacher facing child sex abuse material charges

According to a criminal complaint, a teenage girl accused Hunter McElroy, 18, of raping her at Memorial Park in Grove City.

The girl said she had been with McElroy and another person at the park, and when the other person left, McElroy asked her to sit in the back of his vehicle so they could talk. Once there, she said McElroy pushed her down and held her down, while she tried to push him off of her.

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The girl said McElroy then raped her and told her not to tell anyone.

She said she didnt initially report the rape because she was confused and scared about what happened.

Police questioned McElroy and said he gave conflicting statements about what had happened but later admitted to forcing himself on the girl and said he admitted to knowing what he did was wrong but that he acted out of uncontrolled sexual arousal, the complaint stated.

McElroy is charged with rape, aggravated indecent assault, corruption of minors, indecent assault and open lewdness. He is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.

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Just in time for your summer vacation, Delta Air Lines has a new nonstop flight coming to the Jacksonville International Airport (JAX).

The airline will operate a direct flight from JAX to Austin, Texas, starting on May 7, 2025.

The inbound flight will leave Austin at 8:55 a.m. and arrive at JAX at approximately 12:35 p.m.

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[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

Read: Holiday travel with kids: Top survival tips

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The outbound flight will leave JAX at 1:15 p.m. and arrive in Austin at approximately 3:00 p.m.

Delta offering daily nonstop flights to Austin, one of our largest unserved markets, is a huge win for our business and leisure communities, Jacksonville Aviation Authority (JAA) CEO Mark VanLoh said in a news release.

Right now, Delta offers nonstop flights from Jacksonville to Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, New York and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

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SIEM REAP, Cambodia, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Siem Reap-Angkor Summit on a Mine-Free World was held here in northwest Cambodia's Siem Reap province on Monday, discussing actions to build a safer and more peaceful world from mines.

The summit brought together delegates from more than 150 countries, which are state parties to the Mine-Ban Convention, known as the "Ottawa Treaty."

Speaking at the opening session of the summit, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said although Cambodia achieved full peace in 1998, the shadow of landmines continued to loom large and posed a dire threat to human lives and post-war recovery.

He said that to date, Cambodia has cleared over 3,000 square kilometers of landmines, destroying over 1 million anti-personnel mines and three million explosive remnants of war (ERWs).

"We have declared 15 of the 25 capital cities and provinces as mine free," Manet said. "Nevertheless, our journey is far from over. We still have over 1,600 square kilometers of contaminated land, affecting the lives of approximately 1 million people."

Cambodia is one of the countries worst affected by landmines and ERWs. An estimated 4 million to 6 million landmines and other munitions have been left over from three decades of war and internal conflicts that ended in 1998.

According to an official report, from 1979 to June 2024, landmine and ERW explosions claimed 19,830 lives and either injured or amputated 45,242 others in Cambodia.

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, under-secretary-general of the United Nations and executive secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), said the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will remain out of reach for affected communities if the landmine threat is not fully addressed.

"In the face of new and ongoing conflicts, we must ensure that our commitments translate into practical, sustained support for countries in need," she said.

Alisjahbana said the United Nations stands ready to reinforce and expand its support to mine-affected countries.

"Together, we can achieve a world free from landmines and a prosperous future for generations to come," she added.

Ly Thuch, a senior minister and first vice president of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), said the summit reflected a shared determination to rid the world of the cruel and lingering legacy of landmines.

"This summit is not just a meeting of nations but a collective reaffirmation of our unwavering commitment to peace, human dignity, and solidarity," he said.

"Together, we stand at the crossroads of history, where the painful memories of conflict are being replaced by a future built on hope, resilience, and peace," Thuch added.

The summit will last till Nov. 29. 
BYRON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD)  A 19-year-old was hospitalized after crashing his vehicle into a parked vehicle in a Byron Township neighborhood early Sunday, deputies say.

Around 4 a.m., the Byron Center man was headed north on Whistlevale Drive SW when he crossed into the opposite lane and hit a vehicle that was parked, according to the Kent County Sheriffs Office. The 19-year-old had been driving at a high rate of speed, deputies said.

He was the only person in the vehicle and was seriously injured, according to the sheriffs office. Arriving first responders gave first aid and then he was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

Deputies say alcohol was a factor in the crash.

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COLUMBIA COUNTY, Wis. (WFRV)  Deputies in central Wisconsin had a busy weekend working to keep citizens safe, making or assisting with 17 drug- or impaired-driving arrests.

Between Friday and Sunday, the Columbia County Sheriffs Office conducted numerous traffic stops that resulted in warnings, citations, and arrests.

Drivers identified in Wisconsin crash that sent a 23-year-old to the hospital with life-threatening injuries

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Below are some of the criminal operating while intoxicated (OWI) and drug-related arrests made over the weekend:

David Radtke, 34, of Baraboo

Operating while intoxicated with a passenger under 18

Possession of THC

Possession of drug paraphernalia

Brandon Hendrickson, 42, of Fitchburg

Possession of methamphetamine

Possession of drug paraphernalia

Deon Noyce, 28, of Madison

Possession of methamphetamine

Possession of drug paraphernalia

Felony bail jumping

Eric Centeno-Rocha, 30, of Pardeeville

Operating while intoxicated (second offense)

Resisting/obstructing

Failure to install ignition interlock

Tiffany Saviano, 30, of Madison

Operating after revocation

Failure to install ignition interlock

Marsha Funmaker, 51, of Merrillian

Possession of narcotics

Possession of drug paraphernalia

Jacob Shin, 25, of Deforest

Operating while intoxicated (first offense)

Possession of THC

Lucas Mathews, 27, of Oregon

Operating while intoxicated (second offense)

Possession of THC

Possession of drug paraphernalia

Joshua Westra, 40, of Waupun

Operating while intoxicated (first offense)

Possession of drug paraphernalia

Tonya Hogan, 50, of Baraboo

Possession of Schedule II narcotics

Possession of drug paraphernalia

Violation of probation

John Seiler, 57, of Baraboo

Possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine

Possession of drug paraphernalia

Felony bail jumping

Carrying a concealed knife

Violation of probation

Sarah Lewis, 36, of Baraboo

Operating while intoxicated (second offense)

Possession of narcotics

Peter Otterstrom, 35, of Watertown

Operating while intoxicated (third offense)

Possession of LSD

Possession of THC

Possession of drug paraphernalia

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The Columbia County Sheriffs Office says results like these highlight the importance of their dedication to proactive traffic enforcement.

Each of these impaired drivers was a potentially fatal crash waiting for the right circumstances to happen, said Columbia County Sheriffs Captain David Clark. We are dedicated to ensuring these people that made the dangerous decision to consume alcohol or drugs and then operate a motor vehicle are held accountable for their actions.

Deputies urge individuals who have been drinking or using drugs to find a safe and sober way home.

An OWI is expensive and can lead to jail time; putting your life and the lives of innocent motorists at risk just isnt worth it, added Clark.

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BearCat, drones used to arrest man in Marinette County following a shooting incident

All charges listed are accusations of criminal conduct where probable cause existed for an arrest. Some individuals have yet to be formally charged in the Wisconsin Circuit Court system.

No additional details were provided.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
The identity of the woman who was found dead on Highway 601 in Cabarrus County earlier this month has been released, and one person is in custody in connection with her death.

The Cabarrus County Sheriffs Office gave an update on the investigation Monday. The victim was first discovered near the Rocky River bridge on Nov. 4.

According to the sheriffs office, the victim was identified as 33-year-old Iltride Dade.

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Dade was reported missing by family members on Nov. 2 in Orange County, Florida, which is in the Orlando area. The sheriffs office said, She was known to be in the company of her boyfriend, Jacques Hans-Jerome, at the time she was reported missing.

CCSO said Hans-Jerome was a long-haul truck driver, and Dade had joined him to Concord while on his driving route.

The sheriffs office says Hans-Jerome was arrested and charged with unlawful concealment of a death. Hes being held at the Cabarrus County Detention Center on a $1 million bond.

The sheriffs office didnt say how they cracked the case, but investigators were looking for help in identifying the victim in the weeks after she was first found. Detectives shared photos of her jewelry and distinct clothing in the hope that someone would recognize them.

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PREVIOUS COVERAGE >> Authorities need help identifying woman found dead in Cabarrus County

Its not clear how Dade died at this time.

This is a developing story, check back for updates.

(VIDEO: Alexander County murder suspect requests to be released, attorneys say)
Family members of one of the four young victims of a deadly mass shooting and arson in Lancaster earlier this month are mourning their loss and, at the same time, celebrating the 21 years they had with their loved one.

Matthew Montebello, a talented musician who was studying medicine, was among three other victims  Edwin Garcia, as well as siblings Christine Aca-ac and Janvi Maquindang  allegedly shot and killed by a housemates scorned ex-boyfriend, 19-year-old Miguel Sandoval, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department.

The violence unfolded on Nov. 16, with deputies responding to a home in the 44500 block of Tabler Avenue in Lancaster just before 1:30 a.m. on reports of a shooting.

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The home was engulfed in flames and heavy smoke when first responders arrived at the home.

Crews with the L.A. County Fire Department were able to get the blaze under control and discovered five victims, three of whom suffered gunshot wounds and were declared dead at the scene. Another victim who also suffered gunshot wounds died at the hospital.

The fifth victim, the 16-year-old sister of Aca-ac and Maquindang, was physically uninjured. She hid in a closet during the incident and called 911.

Investigators initially believed the young adults had been having a party, but now say the alleged 19-year-old gunman came into the home while everyone was sleeping.

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Authorities said that Sandoval fled the home after the shooting and was arrested hours later.

Celeste Montebello, Matthews mother, said they had just celebrated the 21-year-olds birthday six days before the tragic incident.

Matthew Montebello seen in this undated photo. (viewer image) Matthew Montebello seen with his mother and brother in this undated family photo. (viewer image) Matthew Montebello seen in this undated photo. (viewer image) Detectives and L.A. County Fire Department arson investigators were seen combing the area for evidence at 7 a.m. Saturday. (KTLA) A suspect is in custody following a deadly shooting and subsequent arson fire in the Antelope Valley on Nov. 16, 2024. (Don Luis Meza) A suspect is in custody following a deadly shooting and subsequent arson fire in the Antelope Valley on Nov. 16, 2024. (Don Luis Meza) A suspect is in custody following a deadly shooting and subsequent arson fire in the Antelope Valley on Nov. 16, 2024. (Don Luis Meza) A suspect is in custody following a deadly shooting and subsequent arson fire in the Antelope Valley on Nov. 16, 2024. (Don Luis Meza) A suspect is in custody following a deadly shooting and subsequent arson fire in the Antelope Valley on Nov. 16, 2024. (Don Luis Meza) A suspect is in custody following a deadly shooting and subsequent arson fire in the Antelope Valley on Nov. 16, 2024. (Don Luis Meza) A suspect is in custody following a deadly shooting and subsequent arson fire in the Antelope Valley on Nov. 16, 2024. (Don Luis Meza)

The house is a safe place for us, supposedly, and for someone to go there and do this to him while they were sleeping, it hurts, she told KTLAs Jennifer McGraw.

Just one year apart, Matthews brother Andrew said they were best friends and that the pain is unimaginable.

Parts of me have died or are dying, he said. I dont think Im ever going to be the same.

Andrew said that Matthew was an origami master, a math whiz, highly creative and had garnered many accolades, even as a child.

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Full of personality, very smart, very quirky, Celeste added.

While trying to navigate the unbearable pain of the loss of Matthew, Celeste and Andrew said they had one last message for the person who took away their family member.

I want this evil man to know that you failed, he didnt succeed in doing this, Celeste told KTLA.

She added that while Matthew is gone, he will live on in others. Her sons kidneys are going to one of her friends to try and save her life.

It means I can see my friend every day, God willing, if the surgeries are successful, she said.

GoFundMe campaigns for the families of Matthew Montebello, Edwin Garcia and siblings Christine Aca-ac and Janvi Maquindang have been organized to help with the costs of laying their loved ones to rest.

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The case is scheduled to be presented to the L.A. County District Attorneys Office for filing consideration on Nov. 25.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call LASDs Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Anonymous tips can be provided to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Nov. 25Scott Denny spent most of this fall in Portland's homeless shelter.

But a few weeks ago, the 63-year-old moved into his own apartment in Winter Landing, a new affordable housing development in the West End.

The development has 52 units for people ages 62 and up or who are disabled. The building next door, the Equinox, has 43 affordable housing units available for low-income families.

Both Winter Landing and the Equinox are part of the Mercy Hospital renovation that was mostly completed last fall. The project aimed to create a campus of market-rate, affordable and workforce units all on one large parcel of land and was a combined effort by Redfern, New Heights, Portland Housing Authority and Community Housing of Maine. There is a large courtyard on the property shared by all the buildings.

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Denny is one of 19 people who moved from the city's homeless shelter into the new development over the last few weeks.

In October, after losing his housing, living in his car for a month, and eventually crashing it, Denny said, he went to the shelter. He had never been homeless before. He went to college, was married, raised four kids and worked for more than a decade managing a drug store in Vermont.

Going to the shelter felt strange, he said. He felt like he'd lost his independence.

"When you have control of your life, things go pretty smooth, but when you lose that control it's tough. Things get bad quick," he said.

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After two months of living at the shelter, Denny said his caseworker told him about Winter Landing. He doesn't have a Section 8 housing voucher and can't get one because the federal government put a freeze on the program in July when it ran out of allocated funds. He is retired but collects $1,575 a month in Social Security. His rent at Winter Landing is $1,122 a month and he has to pay for electricity and internet, but he decided to try and make it work.

Denny said he felt nervous at first about living on such a tight budget but moving into his own place felt like regaining some control over his life.

"Moving here feels like getting some independence back, and some quiet and calm," he said.

Denny said his case manager comes by regularly with a box of food and helps him out with budgeting.

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Joshua Ruitto, Portland's director of housing and community services, said that type of support for residents is crucial.

"I've seen people fail when they have nobody to fall back on or reach out to. Having that support system in place when somebody moves in is crucial," he said.

Winter Landing had 15 units reserved for people coming directly from the city shelter.

The development also has 15 project-based housing choice vouchers available for disabled people  so instead of individuals having to apply for those vouchers, they were automatically offered them when they leased their apartments if they met the criteria. Because those vouchers were designated for the project before the voucher freeze went into effect, they could still be used, according to Cullen Ryan, executive director of Community Housing of Maine, an affordable housing developer in Portland.

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For those 15 initial spots, Ruitto and others looked for people who had been in shelter for 180 days and were disabled or 62 and older. Staff made a list of everyone who fit that criteria, then went around and talked to them, trying to identify who didn't have a housing plan yet.

By late October, they had a group of 13 people who all signed leases on the same day. The city supplied them with furniture and helped them move in, according to Ruitto.

So far, 20 people exiting homelessness have moved in since the development opened in October, 19 from the shelter and one from the city's Housing Opportunities for People in Encampments (HOPE) program.

Almost all of the units, 46 of the 52, have been leased, said Ryan. He expects the remaining six to be leased by the end of the year.

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"People will never know who is who within the building and I think that's the most important feature," said Ryan. "Nobody ever needs to think of any of the people living in these buildings as homeless because they are housed and they're a part of the neighborhood now."

Ryan said he saw people break down in tears when moving in.

"Housing is transformative. I have seen people looking 10 years younger after finding housing. Having a stable place to sleep at night changes your life," he said.

Several units at the nearby Equinox are reserved for families coming from the family shelter. Mike Guthrie, Portland's family shelter director, said he expects those families to move in over the next few weeks.

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Ryan said he also hopes to lease several units at the Equinox to people participating in the McAuley Residence program, a transitional housing program for women recovering from substance use disorder.

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STATE DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS The state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands awarded 68 agricultural lots on Hawaii island Saturday during a gathering at Keaukaha Elementary School attended by 200 beneficiaries and their families. From left, state Rep. Darius Kila, state Sen. Kurt Fevella, Oahu Commissioner Sanoe Marfil, DHHL beneficiary Gabriel Kealoha, DHHL Director Kali Watson and East Hawaii Commissioner Michael Kaleikini posed for a picture at the event.

STATE DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS The state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands awarded 68 agricultural lots on Hawaii island Saturday during a gathering at Keaukaha Elementary School attended by 200 beneficiaries and their families. From left, state Rep. Darius Kila, state Sen. Kurt Fevella, Oahu Commissioner Sanoe Marfil, DHHL beneficiary Gabriel Kealoha, DHHL Director Kali Watson and East Hawaii Commissioner Michael Kaleikini posed for a picture at the event.

Hawaiian beneficiaries of the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands have been awarded 68 agricultural lots on Hawaii islandthe departments largest agricultural lot offering since the late 1980s.

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Some 200 beneficiaries and their ohana gathered Saturday at Keaukaha Elementary School to celebrate DHHLs awarding of 16 1-acre subsistence agricultural lots in Honomu as well as 32 2-acre subsistence lots and 20 5-acre agricultural lots in Makuu.

Gabriel Kealoha, DHHL beneficiary, said Saturday at the event, This is very important because as somebody who was a beneficiary from my parents as well, both my parents passed away and Im a beneficiary on my moms one, so this is very important for me to give to my baby because both my parents, my grandparents and now I get this awarded land for my baby to have this opportunity in the future, and its very exciting. I did not expect it.

Established by Congress in 1921 with the passage of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, DHHL carries out Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana oles vision of rehabilitating Native Hawaiians by returning them to the land.

DHHL has traditionally awarded residential, agricultural or pastoral homestead lots to beneficiaries under 99-year leases costing $1 a year, and lessees have to pay for their own house.

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Subsistence-ag lots, a relatively new homestead model that DHHL began awarding in 2023, offer lots that are less than 3 acres and in close proximity to existing infrastructure in planned communities. This model allows small-scale farming for home consumption or supplemental income through commercial sales. If beneficiaries opt for commercial activity, they must create a farm plan, like a business plan, and cultivate at least two-thirds of the land.

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DHHL Director Kali Watson said in a statement, Ohana are built on the aina and it is the departments commitment to keeping our families in Hawaii and on the land. It is DHHLs goal to offer diverse homesteading options and these agricultural lots serve as solutions to addressing the wait-list.

Thousands of applicants are on DHHLs waitlist, including many who have been on it for decades. Watson said the project is a reflection of the diversity of DHHLs options for homesteaders, and the awarding of subsistence and farm lots is exciting because it provides an opportunity to not only have a place to grow your food as well as raise livestock but also build a house.

Watson added, Its been over 35 years since we did this the last time and so we plan to do more of these (agricultural and subsistence-ag lots ).

Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, who in 2022 championed Hawaii lawmakers giving DHHL a historic $600 million to primarily produce homesteads for beneficiaries, said in a statement, This momentous occasion marks an exciting milestone for DHHL beneficiaries, providing not only the opportunity to build homes but also to cultivate a future grounded in food sovereignty and self-sustainability.

The Hawaiian homesteading program run by DHHL includes management of more than 200, 000 acres of land statewide. DHHL plans to offer another 40 subsistence agricultural lots for development in Honomu within the next two years. Altogether, DHHL has more than 1, 600 lots planned for homesteads across Hawaii island, including La i Opua, Kaumana, Honoka a, Palamanui and Pana ewa.
A DHL cargo plane crashed into a house in Vilnius, Lithuania, a month after European intelligence agencies warned that Russia was attempting to sabotage cargo flights with small bombs.

Authorities said the Boeing 737 crashed early on Monday as it tried to land at the airport, exploding and killing one of the pilots and injuring three others.

The plane ploughed into the courtyard of a house, spreading burning debris that set the building alight. All the residents survived, a spokesman for the Lithuanian governments National Crisis Management Centre said.

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The plane had taken off from Leipzig in Germany, where intelligence agents warned last month that small bombs had been loaded onto DHL flights.

Credit: Mantas Fabijonavicius

German politicians called for a thorough investigation of the crash.

Konstantin von Notz, the chairman of the German Parliamentary Intelligence Service Commission, said: Given the known acts of sabotage using incendiary devices on DHL cargo, as well as Leipzig airport, this accident must be immediately and thoroughly investigated.

However, despite the timing of the crash, Laurynas Kasciunas, Lithuanias defence minister, said there were no initial indications that a bomb or sabotage had caused it.

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He added: So far, there are no signs or facts that this is a sabotage or terrorist act. There really arent any. It is said that there was some kind of external influence on the plane.

Investigators are examining the flights black boxes to retrieve data on the possible causes of the crash. Mr Kasciunas added: Whether it is a technical error or pilot error, we will have to wait a bit. The investigation may take a week.

Lithuanias defence minister said there was no indication of sabotage despite previous warnings of Russian intervention - Petras Malukas/AFP via Getty

Emergency services said all those in the house were unharmed - Mindaugas Kulbis/AP

Photographs from the crash site showed smoke rising from a smashed two-storey house. By the side of the property lay the broken cockpit and engine of the plane.

A video from a light industrial yard appeared to show the planes last moments. The plane flies slowly into view in the background, appearing to descend normally until it crashes into a residential area and sets off a huge explosion.

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Teltonika security camera

We were woken by an explosion. Through the window, we saw the wave of explosions and a cloud of fire, like fireworks, Stanislovas Jakimavicius, who lives near the crash site, told AFP.

DHL said in a statement: We can confirm that today, at approximately 4.30am Central European Time, a Swiftair aircraft, operated by a service partner on behalf of DHL, performed an emergency landing about one kilometre from Vilnius Airport while en route from Leipzig Airport.

Delfi, a Lithuanian news website, said that the plane crashed at 5.31am local time. It said the pilot who died was Spanish.

The cause of the crash, which killed at least one crew member, is under investigation - Mindaugas Kublis/AP

Ingrida Simonyte, Lithuanias prime minister, urged people to refrain from jumping to conclusions.

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Darius Jauniskis, the countrys state security department chief, also said it was too early to speculate on the causes of the crash, adding: We cannot rule out the case of terrorism. We have warned that such things are possible, we see an increasingly aggressive Russia ... but we cannot make any attributions or point fingers yet.

Later in the day, Annalena Baerbock, Germanys foreign minister, suggested that Russia might be to blame.

We must now seriously ask ourselves whether this was an accident or whether it was another hybrid incident, she said.

The term hybrid is commonly used to describe attacks that do not use conventional military tactics, such as sabotaging infrastructure or launching cyberattacks.

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Since Russias invasion of Ukraine in 2022, European countries have often used the term to describe actions against them that they believe originate from Moscow.

Boris Pistorius, Germanys defence minister, said later in Berlin there were no findings as yet that indicated there had been an explosive charge on the aircraft that could have caused the crash.

Last month, German police said a small incendiary device had exploded at a DHL warehouse in Leipzig before a package had been due to be loaded on a flight.

UK counter-terrorism police are also investigating a similar device that caught fire in a warehouse in Birmingham in July after being flown on a DHL flight from Leipzig.

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The devices originated in Lithuania, on Russias border. Like its Baltic neighbours, the country is a member of both the EU and Nato, but it also has a large ethnic Russian minority and is thought to have been infiltrated by Kremlin agents.

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A DHL cargo plane crashed near the Lithuanian capital early on Monday, killing one of four people on board, local officials said.

The plane, which had been traveling from Leipzig, Germany, crashed in Liepkalnis, on the outskirts of the capital, Vilnius, the Lithuanian airport authority said in a statement posted on social media. The flight had been expected to land at Vilnius Airport, officials said.

PHOTO: The wreckage of the DHL cargo plane is seen at the crash site near Vilnius International Airport, Lithuania, on Nov. 25, 2024. (Lukas Balandis/BNS via Reuters)

"City services are currently on-site, along with a fire truck and a command team from Vilnius Airport," the short statement said. "Airport operations are not disrupted at this time."

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The jet was a Boeing 737-476 operated by Swiftair, according to Flightradar24, an aircraft tracker.

PHOTO: The wreckage of the DHL cargo plane is seen at the crash site near Vilnius International Airport, Lithuania, on Nov. 25, 2024. (Lukas Balandis/BNS via Reuters)

Emergency responders were notified at 5:28 a.m. that the plane had crashed near a building, the Vilnius Fire and Rescue Department said. Photos and videos taken near the crash site appeared to show a residential area.

First responders reached the crash location, which is a little more than half a mile from the airport, within about six minutes, according to Bozena Jerenkovic, a medical doctor who was part of the emergency team on site.

One of the pilots was pronounced dead at the scene and the other was transferred to a local hospital in critical condition, Jerenkovic told ABC News. It appeared that the cockpit had been separated from the plane's fuselage, she added.

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The Lithuanian National Crisis Management Center confirmed to ABC News that the pilot is in critical condition. The other two people who were injured in the crash are doing OK, the National Crisis Management Center said.

PHOTO: Lithuanian Emergency Ministry employees work near the place where a DHL cargo plane crashed into a house near the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, Lithuania, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (Mindaugas Kulbis/AP)

Thirteen people were evacuated without injuries from a nearby residential building, she said.

It appeared to be "nothing short of a miracle" that there were survivors of the crash, which was followed by a huge fireball, said Vidas Kaupelis, an aviation expert in Lithuania.

Kaupelis, who listened to a recording of the pilots communicating with on-the-ground controllers prior to the crash, said there was also a clear indication that there was no sense of emergency. The pilots and the controllers appeared to run through a simple approach routine during the approximately five minutes they spoke, according to Kaupelis.

PHOTO: Smoke billows following a DHL cargo plane crash in Vilnius, Lithuania, Nov. 25, 2024. (Andrius Sytas/Reuters)

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He speculated that the crash may have come as a surprise to even the pilots, as it appeared to have happened just seconds after their communication with the controllers. If they had been dealing with major issues, like a fire or technical problems, they likely would have communicated about it with the flight controller, he said.

As emergency crews worked in the area near Zirniu Street, which the airport identified as the crash site, departures were delayed at Vilnius Airport, according to a statement. One incoming flight was diverted to Riga, Latvia, officials said. Air traffic resumed by about 7:20 a.m., the statement said.

ABC News has reached out to DHL, which is based in Bonn, Germany, for comment.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Monday it's sending a team of U.S. investigators to Lithuania to assist in the investigation, which is being led by Lithuanian authorities.

ABC News' Jessica Gorman and Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.

DHL cargo plane crashes in Lithuania, killing 1, local officials say originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
(Bloomberg) -- A DHL cargo plane flying from Germany to Lithuania crashed close to Vilnius Airport, killing a crew member and injuring three others, according to police.

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The Boeing 737-400, which took off from the eastern German city of Leipzig, went down close to a residential home in the Lithuanian capital at about 5:30 a.m. on Monday, the police said. Fourteen people were evacuated from a damaged building as firefighters put out the blaze.

Authorities in the Baltic nation said an investigation was under way to determine what caused the crash, which occurred about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the runway. The aircraft, owned by Spanish carrier Swiftair SA, slid for a few hundred meters, they said. The pilot who was killed was a Spanish national.

The police pushed back on an earlier DHL assessment that there was an emergency landing. Preliminary information from one survivor also suggested that there was no smoke or fire inside the aircraft that could have caused the incident, said Arunas Paulauskas, the chief of the Police Department. German and Spanish experts will be joining the investigation.

The authorities urged calm and signaled that there is no initial information suggesting an act of sabotage. Still, Lithuanian officials are in touch with foreign partners as they investigate every scenario, including terrorism or sabotage, according to the nations intelligence chief, Darius Jauniskis.

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In All Directions

We see a more aggressive Russia, foreign partners have also spoken about it publicly, speaking about threats of sabotage acts, Jauniskis said after meeting with Lithuania President Gitanas Nauseda. We cant reject this scenario, but so far we cant make any attributions or point fingers at anyone because theres no such information.

European and US intelligence officials had previously warned that Russia may be plotting to plant incendiary devices on planes. In August, Poland arrested four people linked to a sabotage group, whose activities included sending parcels containing camouflaged explosives and dangerous materials via courier companies to countries in the European Union and the UK.

At the moment, we dont see any indications that the accident was caused by external factors, Paulauskas said. After reviewing a number of video recordings, the preliminary assessment is that the plane was not falling, but rather landing, and there are no visible signs of external damage.

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German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said German and Lithuanian authorities are investigating in all directions, including a possible hybrid attack.

The fact that we, together with our Lithuanian and Spanish partners, now have to seriously ask ourselves whether this was an accident or, after last week, another hybrid incident, shows what volatile times we live in, even in the middle of Europe, Baerbock said in the Italian town of Fiuggi, at the sidelines of a Group of Seven foreign minister meeting.

Vilnius Airport said operations arent currently disrupted.

The Boeing first entered service in Australia as a passenger aircraft in 1993, according to data by tracking website planespotters.com. The jet was converted into a cargo plane in 2015. Swiftair operates both freight and smaller passenger planes and is a contractor to DHL.

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--With assistance from Benedikt Kammel, Torrey Clark and Arne Delfs.

(Updates with detail, comments from second paragraph.)

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This photo taken on Nov. 24, 2024 shows a view of Ormana, Antalya, Turkiye. Having recently been recognized by the United Nations as one of the "Best Tourism Villages," Ormana, a tranquil village nestled in the mountains of southern Turkiye, is poised to capitalize on the growing trend of ecotourism. (Mustafa Kaya/Handout via Xinhua)

ANTALYA, Turkiye, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Having recently been recognized by the United Nations as one of the "Best Tourism Villages," Ormana, a tranquil village nestled in the mountains of southern Turkiye, is poised to capitalize on the growing trend of ecotourism.

A total of 55 villages worldwide received this honor, with Ormana being the sole representative from Turkiye.

Home to just 600 residents, this mountain village is renowned for its stunning landscapes, rich history, and unique culture, offering a serene escape from the bustling urban centers and crowded beaches along Turkiye's southern Mediterranean coast.

"Ormana is promoting conservation, cultural preservation, and community engagement," said Fikret Canbas, the village's head, in an interview with Xinhua.

Following the UN award, "foreign potential visitors are incessantly calling our phones for inquiries, asking about our accommodations," Canbas noted, highlighting the village's growing appeal to tourists.

One of Ormana's most distinctive features is its "Button Houses," traditional stone homes that have stood for over four centuries.

"The unique design of these houses, built with bonding timbers, features a wooden frame that recurs at specific intervals. The stones are held in place by the timber, which is reinforced by vertical cedar pieces, giving the houses their 'buttoned' appearance," Canbas explained.

These houses, with their enduring craftsmanship, provide a glimpse into the architectural ingenuity of past generations.

"The village has a history of 850 years. The oldest house is 450 years old. There are over 300 Button Houses in the village, most of which are considered part of its historical heritage," said Tolga Ozguven, a village native and tourism promoter.

The influx of tourists over the past decade has brought significant economic benefits to Ormana, allowing local businesses such as small hotels, craft shops, and restaurants to thrive.

According to Ozguven, the community is now managing tourism in a way that prioritizes sustainability to preserve Ormana's charm and ecological integrity.

Annual festivals are another highlight of the village, featuring performances, craft exhibitions, and culinary delights.

"These events not only celebrate the region's heritage but also strengthen the sense of community among locals and visitors," Canbas said.

Tourists visiting Ormana are encouraged to immerse themselves in village life. Local families often open their homes to visitors, offering an authentic experience of traditional Turkish hospitality, he added. 
Vilnius, Lithuania  A DHL cargo plane crashed early Monday near the airport in Lithuania's capital, killing one person, authorities said as they searched for clues to what caused the tragedy. Lithuanian officials, who in the past weeks have been investigating incendiary devices allegedly sent on Western-bound cargo planes, stopped short of linking the crash with that investigation.



"It is premature to associate it with anything or to make any attributions," State Security Department chief Darius Jauniskis told reporters.



Images from the crash site in the capital Vilnius showed debris from the plane and packages on fire scattered across the residential area, which had been cordoned off by the emergency services.

Firefighters work at the crash site of a cargo plane near Vilnius International Airport in Vilnius, Lithuania, Nov. 25, 2024. / Credit: Lithuania Fire and Rescue Service/Anadolu/Getty

"We cannot rule out the case of terrorism. We have warned that such things are possible, we see an increasingly aggressive Russia... but we cannot make any attributions or point fingers yet," Jauniskis said.

U.S. and European law enforcement agencies have been working together for weeks to investigate whether incendiary devices that detonated in July at DHL logistics hubs in Germany and Britain were part of a larger operation directed by Russian military intelligence agencies, the highest level of the Russian government, or by outside individuals acting in the interests of Russia, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to CBS News in early November.



According to the Lithuanian police, the plane, flying from the eastern German city of Leipzig, skidded several hundred yards before hitting the residential house that was set on fire, along with smaller buildings and a car.



Renatas Pozela, head of the firefighting and rescue department, said one person from the plane's four-member crew died in the crash that happened as the plane came in to land in Vilnius.

Smoke billows following a DHL cargo plane that crashed near the airport in Vilnius, Lithuania, Nov. 25, 2024. / Credit: Andrius Sytas/REUTERS

Head of National Crisis Management Centre Vilmantas Vitkauskas said the residential building was successfully evacuated, with its 12 residents moved to safety.



German logistics company DHL said the cargo aircraft was operated by its partner SwiftAir and had made an "emergency landing" in Lithuania.



"We can confirm that today, at approximately 4:30 am CET, a Swiftair aircraft, operated by a service partner on behalf of DHL, performed an emergency landing about one kilometer [about half a mile] from VNO Airport [Vilnius, Lithuania] while en route from LEJ Airport [Leipzig, Germany] to VNO Airport," it said in a statement.



Lithuanian police Chief Arunas Paulauskas said investigators had gone to the hospital to talk to the pilots.



It was not immediately clear what caused the crash.



Earlier this month Lithuania said it had carried out arrests as part of a criminal probe into the sending of incendiary devices on Western-bound planes.



Polish and Lithuanian media said the devices, including electric massagers implanted with a flammable substance, were sent from Lithuania to the U.K. in July and could be behind a lorry fire outside Warsaw.



U.K. anti-terrorism police said last month that they were investigating how a parcel burst into flames at a depot earlier this year, after a similar case in Germany that officials blamed on Russia. The Lithuanian president's chief security advisor said this month that Moscow had been behind the incidents.



"We know who the source of these operations is. It is Russian military intelligence," Kestutis Budrys told Ziniu radio. "We cannot let this go unanswered as it will only escalate into the new kinds of actions."



Poland and Lithuania, both NATO members bordering Russia who have been major allies of Ukraine amid that country's efforts to fend off Russia's full-scale invasion, have frequently warned about Russian-inspired sabotage on EU soil.

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The 2025 Homeland Threat Assessment published at the end of October said the U.S. continues to be concerned about threats to aviation and air cargo systems, including the "potential use of the air cargo supply chain to ship concealed dangerous and potentially deadly items."

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration said in a statement in October that it was continually adjusting its security posture as necessary and would "promptly share any and all relevant information with our industry partners, to include requirements and recommendations that help them reduce risk."

"Over the past several months, as part of a multi-layered security approach, TSA worked with industry partners to put additional security measures for U.S. aircraft operators and foreign air carriers regarding certain cargo shipments bound for the United States, in line with the 2021 TSA Air Cargo Security Roadmap," the TSA's statement noted at the time.

Baking an ancient bread in Tennessee

The cream of the crop in butter

Serving up home-cooked dog food
Right before Donald Trump is set to start his second presidency, Senate Democrats have come to a deal with Republicans to confirm a dozen judges nominated by President Joe Biden. This is partially interesting because several Republicans assisting with the Trump transition process have been missing votes.

However, four of Bidens nominees were pulled from consideration. The four appeals court nominees pending in the Senate include: Ryan Young Park, Julia M. Lipez, Karla M. Campbell and Adeel A. Mangi. Mangi would have been the Americas first Muslim American appeals court judge.

However, he has faced opposition from Republicans and some Democrats over his connections to numerous groups, which includes a criminal justice organization that advocates for people who are imprisoned and a law school center for Muslim and Arab Americans.

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CNN reported that earlier this month, Trump encouraged Senate Republicans to refuse any judicial confirmations in Bidens final week while the upper chamber was under Democratic control. Republicans have not been able to block the nominees outright when members of their caucus are absent.

Trumps Vice President-elect, JD Vance, called Grace ChongCFO of Steve Bannons podcast organizationa mouth breathing imbecile when she alerted him about Republicans not showing up.

When this 11th Circuit vote happened, I was meeting with President Trump to interview multiple positions for our government, including FBI Director, Vance said, implying that FBI Director Christopher Wray may be replaced.

This is just the latest development to determine who controls the countrys federal courthouses. Lawmakers are also dealing with resistance against a bill that would increase the number of federal judges across the nation, as several Democrats dont want Trump to assign more judgeships.

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The bill, which is called the Judges Act, passed unanimously in the Senate over the summer. It was stalled last week in the House as lawmakers took a break for the Thanksgiving recess. The bill would create 66 judgeships across the country over a decade.

According to the Washington Post, the chief judge of the Southern District of New York requested for lawmakers to move swiftly since judges are needed to deal with the rising growing caseload in federal courts.

The Southern District of New York, like most federal courts across the country, is feeling the strain of the federal judgeship shortage, Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain explained in a statement.

Passing the Judges Act, which would add two much-needed judgeships to our district and provide much-needed relief to additional districts across the country over a period of several years, is essential to ensuring timely access to justice and preserving public trust in our federal courts.

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Dems have been working diligently to confirm as many judges as they can before Trump takes office. Trump managed to appoint 237 federal judges during his first term, making the federal judiciary conservative.

Biden has tried to match this and selected mostly liberal judges for the federal bench who are more diverse than past picks.

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Sean "Diddy" Combs' trial date on sex crimes charges has been set for May 5, 2025

Matt Baron/Shutterstock Sean 'Diddy' Combs Sean 'Diddy' Combs

Sean "Diddy" Combs will celebrate Thanksgiving from Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center after being arrested on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Breakfast starts at 6 a.m. every day and will consist of fruit, cereal and breakfast pastries on Nov. 28, per the planned Thanksgiving Day food menu from the prison that PEOPLE obtained.

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Lunch is typically served at 11 a.m. at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center and will include turkey roast or hot & sour tofu. Traditional Turkey Day sides like mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, cranberry sauce, turkey gravy and dinner rolls will be served. Plus, assorted holiday pie will be available, too.

The prison offers peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, potato chips, whole wheat bread and fruit for dinnertime, which is served after the 4 p.m. headcount.

Related: Diddy Will Be Eating 'Breakfast Cake' on His Birthday in Jail  Here's What Else Is on the Menu

The disgraced music mogul is awaiting trial after pleading not guilty but being denied bail by two different federal judges. In September, he was indicted on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution.

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.

Combs attorneys filed a new motion for bail on Nov. 8 claiming that the prosecutions case is thin. The motion argues that there is evidence that some of the criminal accusations were part of a decade-long consensual relationship, per the motion obtained by PEOPLE.

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His most recent bail hearing was on Friday, Nov. 22 and a judge is meant to decide the week of Thanksgiving if Combs will be granted bail but a decision has not been made as of midday Monday, Nov. 25.

During the hearing, a defense attorney told the judge that Combs would live in a three-bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan if granted bail.

The moguls trial is scheduled for May 2025.


The Snohomish County Sheriffs Office has arrested an Arlington man for the August death of a California woman.

According to a release sent out Monday, detectives arrested a 56-year-old man for the murder of 37-year-old Katie McQueen of Mariposa, California.

Deputies say they responded to the suspicious death near Lake Stevens on August 20, 2024.

After months of investigating, they said the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab was able to make a positive DNA match.

According to the release, there was a fight between the woman and the man, which ended with him allegedly stabbing her in the neck.

The man has been arrested for second-degree murder.
The Democratic National Committee announced on Monday that it will hold its chairs election on Feb. 1, an early indicator of the partys direction following Kamala Harris stinging loss this month.

The contest will be held at the committees winter meeting at the National Harbor in Maryland that begins on Jan. 30 and culminates with the election on Feb. 1. Throughout January, the DNC will host four candidate forums, some of which will be in-person and others of which will be virtual.

The election  which has drawn two announced contenders so far, Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Chair Ken Martin and former Maryland Gov. Martin OMalley  will mark the first contest Democrats will weigh in on after their bruising losses in 2024. Other candidates are still seriously considering bids, including Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler, Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha.

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The DNCs Rules and Bylaws Committee will meet on Dec. 12, where members are expected to vote on the chair election process. In 2021, the committee set requirements for candidates to gain access to the ballot by submitting at least 40 signatures from DNC members. The same threshold will be used for candidates to appear at the four forums in January.

As my time as Chair comes to a close and we prepare to undertake the critical work of holding the Trump Administration and Republican Party accountable for their extremism and false promises, we are beginning to lay out the process for upcoming DNC officer elections in the New Year, DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, who will not be seeking reelection, wrote in the letter to DNC members. The DNC is committed to running a transparent, equitable, and impartial election for the next generation of leadership to guide the party forward.
MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. (WHNT)  The Florida doctor who is accused of removing the wrong organ from a Muscle Shoals man surrendered his license to practice medicine in Alabama.

On Monday, the Alabama Medical Licensure Commission accepted the full surrender of Dr. Thomas Shaknovskys license to practice medicine in Alabama following the death of Bill Bryan.

One injured in Harvest shooting, Madison County Sheriffs Office investigating

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The license commission said Dr. Shaknovsky has been licensed in Alabama since 2016. He is accused of removing Bryans liver instead of his spleen during what was meant to be a splenectomy.

Because of this, Bryan died.

In October, the Medical License Commission suspended Dr. Shaknovskys license, citing concerns that his continuation in practice might constitute an immediate danger to his patients and the public.

The suspension was initiated after the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners filed a complaint against the doctor.

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Our duty is to ensure that physicians licensed in Alabama meet the highest standards of patient care and professionalism, said William M. Perkins, Executive Director of the Board of Medical Examiners. When a physicians actions jeopardize patient safety, we act decisively to safeguard the public.

The Medical Licensure Commission has the authority to issue, suspend, and revoke medical licenses for practitioners of medicine and osteopathy in Alabama.

70-year-old William Bill Bryan and his wife Beverly were visiting their rental property in Destin, Florida, on Aug. 19 when Bill felt pain on his left side.

Beverly, a retired nurse, said a doctor at the medical facility diagnosed a spleen issue and insisted on performing surgery on it.

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We called Bills doctor, here at home in Northwest Alabama, and he told Bill that he would have surgeons here in North Alabama waiting when we got home, Beverly explained. She said she tried to convince the doctor in Ascension Sacred Heart to let her take Bill back to Alabama, or have him transported but was told Bill would bleed to death if he was moved.

According to Joe Zarzaur of the Zarzaur law office, instead of removing Bills spleen, the doctor removed his liver on Aug. 21. Bill died on the operating table.

A pathologist reportedly told Beverly a bag labeled spleen contained Bills liver. Beverly said a medical examiner then performed an autopsy and confirmed Bill still had his spleen.

On Sept. 24, the State of Florida Department of Health ordered the emergency suspension of the doctors license in the state of Florida.

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Documents from the State of Florida Department of Health state that Dr. Shaknovsky was accused of a second botched surgery on May 12, 2023. The document said a 58-year-old man was scheduled to have surgery on his adrenal glands due to a mass on one of the glands.

During the surgery, the State of Florida Department of Health said Dr. Shaknovsky removed a portion of [the patients] pancreas instead of the adrenal gland.

The department of health said the doctor documented in the operative report that he removed the patients left adrenal gland. A pathologist who reviewed the tissue a year later determined that it was pancreatic tissue.

Because of the removal of the wrong tissue, the State of Florida Department of Health said the patient suffered from long-term, permanent harm as a result of Dr. Shaknovskys error.

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The doctor was said to have been practicing medicine for 14 years. Zarzaur claims, however, that the same doctor was involved in another wrong-site surgery within the past two years, with the previous case being settled at the same facility in 2023.

Everyone knows you cant live without your liver. Its about the same thing as if they had pulled out your heart. His heart, Beverly said. I know Im not the only wife whos lost her husband suddenly, but the loss of my Bill was exceptionally unnecessary and brutal.

The Walton County Sheriffs Office says it is working with the medical examiners office and the Office of the State Attorney to review the facts involving the death of William Bryan to determine if anything criminal took place.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  The countdown to Thanksgiving is officially on and many people are preparing for large gatherings with friends and family.

However, before you make your plans, many health experts in Memphis want you to visit them first to receive your vaccinations.

Just days before Thanksgiving as many gear up for shopping, meal prepping and serving, Memphians should also be bracing for a greater chance of spreading illnesses during gatherings with family and friends.

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Well, we have had the injections, for Covid and for the flu, tourist Steve Bell said. Also, were always washing our hands. Yeah, were obsessed with that sort of thing.

One thing thats already making people sick is walking pneumonia.

Experts offer travel tips for busy holiday week

The reason its (walking pneumonia) making such a splash right now is because were seeing so much of it, said Le Bonheur Medical Director of Infection Prevention Dr. Nick Hysmith. And theres a lot of theories out there as to why that is. Im of the opinion that were still seeing a lot of diseases post-COVID that are sort of resurging.

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Walking pneumonia is a mild lung infection. Symptoms include a sore throat, sneezing, cough, mild chills and a low-grade fever.

Luckily, a lot of those kids and a lot of those adults arent getting terribly sick enough to be admitted to the hospital, Dr. Hysmith said.

Health experts are also keeping a close eye on COVID, the flu and RSV.

Were seeing some RSV already, Dr. Hysmith said. Quite a few of our kiddos have been admitted with RSV and were seeing quite a bit of that come through our emergency department.

After a recent surge, the number of COVID cases has declined.

We had a little surge in COVID about a month or so ago in August, Dr. Hysmith said. But were not seeing a ton of that right now, either.

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And theres good news about flu cases.

Were not seeing a ton of influenza right now, Dr. Hysmith said. We do have some sporadic cases across the community as we tend to do this time of year.

Farmers donate thousands of pounds of sweet potatoes of Thanksgiving

When it comes to Thanksgiving safety, if youre sick stay home, wear a mask and increase ventilation.

I think that if you havent gotten your influenza vaccine, youve still got time to get that and get the immunity before the flu season hits, Dr. Hysmith said. Get that RSV vaccine if you are of that age group and get your kids immunized as well.

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Food for thought for a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

Just dont let your guard down but also dont panic either, Dr. Hysmith said. Sort of stay right in the middle.

Doctors say getting your shots early will not only help protect you but your entire family during the upcoming holiday season.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
In the week after the 2024 presidential election, the coins value jumped 250%. (Image: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Rockets arent the only thing Elon Musk is sending into the stratosphere.

After a three-year plummet, dogecoin is blasting off again, jumping 250% since the election of Donald Trump  part of a broader wave of optimism in the industry, due to Trumps courting of crypto advocates during his campaign.

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Trumps informal appointment of Musk to what he calls the Department of Government Efficiency  D.O.G.E for short  also helped pump the dog-themed meme coin.

This isnt the first time Musk, who styles himself as the Dogefather, has fueled interest in dogecoin.

In May 2021, its price shot up in anticipation of Musks guest appearance on Saturday Night Live. During one skit, Musk played a financial analyst in conversation with a Weekend Update host, who repeatedly asked him, What is dogecoin? After some obfuscation, Musks character finally admitted that it was a hustle. The price of the coin went into a freefall. Just over a year later, it had shed over 90% of its peak value.

The losses hit small investors hard. In 2022, one of them filed a class action lawsuit against Musk for market manipulation and insider trading, though the case was dismissed in August 2024.

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Why has dogecoin  a meme coin that was never meant to be taken seriously as an investment  seen such extreme swings in value?

Were all in this together

Dogecoin was launched in 2013 to spoof bitcoin and a slew of other cryptocurrencies that were claiming to disrupt the traditional world of finance. Two strangers from across the globe met online, copied the code of an existing coin, and branded it with the already popular Doge internet meme  a picture of a Shiba Inu dog surrounded by fragments of broken English: wow much coin.

Although their main goal was to make the coin pointless and undesirable, it became one of the most popular and enduring cryptocurrencies on the market.

Following dogecoins previous surge in 2021, I studied how its fervent network of influencers and everyday investors worked together to draw tremendous attention  and capital  to the joke currency.

To understand the appeal of these absurd investments, you have to look at the time and energy that users invest into these networks and the rewards, both financial and social, they get in return.

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Meme coins are collaborative enterprises. Members of these online communities have an economic incentive to become outspoken boosters: The more the value of dogecoin rises, the more their investments grow. But they also receive social validation from other meme coin investors when they pump up the coin.

In other words, behind every meme coin is a collective of strangers on a communal mission to make more money.

Dogecoin and its imitators have been described by their leadership as crypto movements, shared journeys and community-owned projects. Beyond branding the assets with culturally resonant images, whether its a Shiba Inu dog or Pepe the Frog, successful crypto ventures are characterized by complex webs of trust. Trust in the technology. Trust in its potential for future appreciation. And trust that those holding power in the networks wont exploit the rest.

This loyalty is woven among a global network of users who collaborate around the clock to promote their coin and demonstrate their unwavering commitment to its success.

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In times of price appreciation, the collective buzzes with elation.

During price dips, community members mutually reinforce their comrades  and their own  beliefs that this is just a bump in the road and that their collective efforts will eventually lead to a handsome payoff. Even in the coldest of crypto winters, this ritualistic behavior helps these speculative communities endure. Community serves as a substitute for financial loss.

The investment strategies in these communities  and the conviction in their payoff  involve repeating and reposting what others have said, like any traditional internet meme.

Trolling traditional valuation

The real value of meme coins cannot be understood in the same way as traditional assets, such as stocks and physical commodities. These types of assets have fundamentals, such as a companys financial statements, or public demand for basic goods, from coffee to oil.

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Conversely, the fundamentals of meme coins are reflected in their network activity, such as daily active users, and less concrete metrics, such as social sentiment and mindshare  how much public awareness a coin has generated compared with its rivals.

Of course, the valuations of traditional assets are also affected by these social factors. The difference is that meme coins offer little by way of productive activity. They add nothing to the economy. Occasionally, their leadership will build financial services around them, but these are generally added as afterthoughts, especially as a way to drum up more speculative excitement.

Meme coins troll the traditional conventions of valuation and mock the edicts and dogmas of mainstream investors.

And thats exactly the point.

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Participation in meme coin communities  or any crypto community, for that matter  entails embracing an alternative economic experience. They are speculative sandboxes for playing outside of the conventional rules of investment.

Who let the Doge out?

Musk is the quintessential meme coin influencer.

As the richest man in the world, hes viewed by many as a paragon of savvy investing. His massive following extends far beyond dogecoins social network. And his promotional efforts are playful  so playful that the judge in his class-action case dismissed his dogecoin tweets as mere puffery and that no reasonable investor could rely upon them.

Dogecoin previously reached the peak of its memetic momentum when Musk appeared on Saturday Night Live. Now, instead of sitting at the Weekend Update news desk cracking jokes, hes sitting in Trumps office advising the president-elect. In other words, dogecoins memetic resonance has ascended from pop culture to politics, helping it capture a bigger slice of the publics mindshare.

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While dogecoin has specifically benefited from Musks proximity to Trump, the broader crypto market is leaping with optimism for a crypto-friendly administration. Speaking at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in July, the GOP candidate ensured hed make the United States the crypto capital of the planet. After pouring $131 million into this election cycle, the crypto industry can now claim 274 pro-crypto members of the U.S. House of Representatives and 20 pro-crypto U.S. senators.

Between Musk buddying up with Trump and a shifting regulatory environment, the dog can once again run free.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Project Summary:

This story is part of KXANs Preventing Disaster investigation, which initially published on May 15, 2024. The project follows a fatal car crash into an Austin hospitals emergency room earlier that year. Our team took a broader look at safety concerns with that crash and hundreds of others across the nation  including whether medical sites had security barriers  known as bollards  at their entrances. Experts say those could stop crashes from happening.

AUSTIN (KXAN)  A months-long KXAN investigation into vehicles crashing into hospital emergency rooms has one member of Congress pushing for increased security on a federal level that, experts say, could save lives.

As a result of (KXAN investigative reporter) Matt (Grant)s important study about safety at area health care facilities, I contacted the General Services Administration about safety at federal facilities, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, said.

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett during an interview with KXAN (KXAN Photo/Robert Lovelace)

In a sit-down interview with KXAN, Doggett said he is continuing to push for a sweeping security review of federal facilities. This comes after we found more than 300 crashes nationwide in the past decade at medical centers, following a deadly incident at St. Davids North Austin Medical Center in February. In June, Doggett first told KXAN he would look into what can be done on a federal level.

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Beyond medical centers, there were more than 30,000 vehicle crashes into any building accessible to the public, according to data compiled by the nonprofit Storefront Safety Council since 2014. During that same timeframe, there were an average of 2,600 fatal incidents every year  meaning the actual number of deaths is likely higher.

These accidents happen 100 times a day, said SSC co-founder Rob Reiter, an advocate of crash-rated bollards. And they happen where we live, work, play and shop  More people die in these storefront crashes than die in weather events in the United States every year.

These things are foreseeable, Reiter added. Theyre predictable. And theyre preventable.

In June, Doggett sent a letter to the GSA, which oversees more than 8,600 federally owned and leased in buildings in the country. Citing the in-depth investigative reporting of Matt Grant at KXAN, along with growing security concerns in recent years, Doggett wrote: These troubling incidents have increased calls for action to require the installation of safety bollards or posts to prevent vehicles from crashing into buildings.

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The government leases or owns 1,200 buildings in our five-state region, which includes: Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. The most number of buildings by far  more than 800  are located in Texas.

Not all federal buildings are owned by GSA. Some are owned and maintained by the occupying government agencies, a spokesperson said.

Given the number of smaller facilities that may be leased for services, such as Social Security and veteran health care, I want to ensure that adequate safety measures are erected at all locations providing federal services, Doggett wrote in the letter dated June 11.

Texas cities, congressman consider hospital safety changes after KXAN crash investigation

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The following month, Doggett followed up. In a July 12 letter, he again referenced our investigation and asked for a review of federal facilities in the southwestern U.S. to determine if bollards are needed. Doggett also specifically requested information for Travis, Williamson and Hays counties.

The GSA leases or owns 1,200 buildings in the five-state region that includes Texas, which has more than 800. (KXAN Graphic/Wendy Gonzalez)

There are some leased spaces around town that I think do present those issues, Doggett said. Ive urged the GSA, General Services Administration, to take a look at those.

KXAN surveys federal sites amid calls for safety review

KXAN also started reviewing those sites. In recent days, we visited 10 federally-leased buildings in Austin. While most were designed so security barriers arent needed, we found at least three without bollards, or where doorways were only partially protected, including buildings housing the Social Security Administration, OSHA and the IRS.

A medical building in Austin housing an IRS office had doorways unprotected by bollards (KXAN Photo/Matt Grant)

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A building housing an Austin OSHA office had doorways and windows unprotected by bollards (KXAN Photo/Matt Grant)

We found an IRS office located inside of a medical building, with an unprotected front entrance, directly across from where a drunk driver crashed into St. Davids North Austin Medical Center in February, killing herself and seriously injuring five.

Reiter reviewed our photos and said this is a concern.

EXPLORE: KXAN investigates hospital security after deadly Austin ER crash

The IRS and SSA referred our questions back to the GSA. OSHA did not respond. KXAN attempted to contact the building owners for the three locations Reiter said appeared vulnerable. We either could not locate ownership contacts or did not hear back.

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While it is difficult to eliminate all potential risks, including those posed by vehicles, GSA-owned and leased facilities incorporate countermeasures, building design features, or natural barriers to help mitigate these risks, a GSA spokesperson said.

READ: U.S. Rep. Doggetts letters to GSA along with the agencys responseDownload

In response to Doggetts inquiries, GSA Acting Associate Administrator Kusai Merchant said the GSA already uses more than 14,000 barriers of various types throughout the country. That total includes around 1,000 in the greater southwest region, including Texas, he said.

GSA shares your concerns regarding the safety of employees and visitors to facilities under GSAs custody or control, Merchant wrote. GSA partners closely with the Department of Homeland Securitys Federal Protective Service (FPS), the Department of Justices Marshals Service and others to ensure the safety of the occupant agency personnel and visitors within GSA-controlled facilities.

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The GSA said bollards could be recommended at high-risk buildings, which are reassessed every three years, and that the security level determines the specific countermeasures recommended for the facility. Those measures could include perimeter setbacks, bollards, blast protection and visitor screening.

Regarding the security status of Central Texas facilities, Merchant told Doggett that for security reasons, GSA prefers to discuss these with you directly.

GSA has been in contact with Rep. Doggett, and shares his concerns regarding the safety of employees and visitors at facilities under GSAs custody or control, a GSA spokesperson told KXAN. GSA has a thorough review process to assess whether a facility requires bollards or other security measures and continually reassesses its facilities to address evolving risks. For security reasons, GSA cannot disclose the specific details of this review process.

Doggett, meanwhile, wants to see that review expedited.

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I think, in view of the increased number of accidents, deaths and injuries from lack of safety bollards, that GSA needs to act now, Doggett said.

The fact that youre involved, pointing out these challenges and suggesting what the solution can be can save lives and make a difference to so many of our neighbors, he said of KXANs reporting.

KXAN asked the GSA if its currently conducting a review of federal facilities in our region at Doggetts request. The agency responded that at this time its review schedule has not changed.

Regarding GSA-owned and leased buildings, while we cannot share specific review schedule details, said a spokesperson, please note that the review cycle to assess whether a facility requires bollards or other security measures remains as strategically planned at this time.

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The GSA did say, however, that it appreciates the attention to employee and visitor safety stemming from KXANs reporting.

KXAN Reporter Sarah Al-Shaikh, Graphic Artist Wendy Gonzalez, Director of Investigations & Innovation Josh Hinkle, Investigative Producer Dalton Huey, Director Robert Lovelace, Investigative Photojournalist Chris Nelson and Digital Director Kate Winkle contributed to this report.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
Update, 5:19 p.m.:

OGDEN, Utah (ABC4)  New details have been released on the officer-involved shooting in Ogden on Sunday.

At around noon on Nov. 24, Ogden Police responded to a residence on the 900 block of 1050 North Street. The caller reportedly asked officers to stand by while she collected belongings from the home.

Shortly after officers arrival, the callers estranged husband  a 45-year-old man  was described by police as acting confrontational and uncooperative.

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3 Utah children missing since 2022 found living with FLDS Church, returned to mother

As the officers and caller entered the home, the man reportedly grabbed and brandished a gun. One of the officers on scene then fired his weapon, striking the man, police said.

Medical personnel responded to the scene as officers provided first-aid until their arrival. Despite these efforts, the man was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The Weber County Critical Incident Team will conduct an independent investigation into this incident. The identity of the deceased has not been released at this time.

No further information is currently available.

Original Story:

OGDEN, Utah (ABC4)  A domestic violence incident resulted in an officer-involved shooting in Ogden on Sunday, Nov. 24, according to Ogden Police.

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Man found guilty of imperfect self-defense almost 2 years after Salt Lake County killing

Details regarding the incident are limited at this time. Police are expected to conduct a press conference Sunday afternoon regarding the details of the shooting and the events leading up to it.

This is a developing story. ABC4 will update this post as new information becomes available.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
YANGON, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese song competition recently held in Yangon offered Myanmar students an opportunity to enhance their language skills while celebrating cultural exchange.

The event was organized under the supervision of the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar and the Center for Language Education and Cooperation.

The competition supports Myanmar students' Chinese learning and gives them a chance to showcase their talents, Kyi Shwin, rector of the Yangon University of Foreign Languages, told Xinhua on Sunday.

Competitions like this provide students opportunities to engage beyond the classroom, allowing them to connect with a broader audience, which greatly benefits their development, he said.

"I hope to see more of these competitions organized in the future," he added.

Cho Cho Myint, principal of Bowen Chinese School and organizer of the event, said: "This is the first time a Chinese song competition has been held in Myanmar and it is an incredible opportunity for students."

They can see that learning Chinese goes beyond lectures; it can also happen through music, she said.

"I am delighted to see so many Myanmar students participating alongside Chinese students. Music brings people closer together, and I am truly happy to witness this connection," she added.

The competition attracted over 100 students from Chinese schools across Myanmar. Participants were divided into three groups based on age -- children, teenagers and youth -- with 45 students receiving awards.

A first-prize winner, Nan Phyusin, 18, expressed her excitement. "This competition allowed me to showcase my talent on stage. Singing is both my happiness and therapy, and this event gave me the opportunity to share that with others."

"During the event, I also witnessed how Myanmar people can sing Chinese songs very well, which helps strengthen the cultural relationship between the two countries," she said.

17-year-old Aung Thiha Han, who won third prize, shared his experience. "This competition gave me the chance to make friends with students from schools across the country, including those who traveled from other regions and states."

"Speaking Chinese continuously while preparing for the competition helped me improve my language skills. When studying becomes dull, I find learning through music a highly effective and enjoyable way to progress," he said.

Myintzu Han, 21, who earned a special award, said: "I listen to Chinese songs every day, which helps me improve my tone, pronunciation and word arrangement. Singing makes me happy, and I never get bored with learning Chinese this way."

"At the competition, seeing so many talented competitors, even those younger than me, motivates me to improve and aim higher. I truly admire their skills and was inspired by them," she said.

The competition showcased the benefits of learning Chinese through music while fostering cultural exchange and building confidence among participants, said the principal of Bowen Chinese School. 
President-elect Donald Trumps eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, has reportedly emerged as the most influential figure in his transition team, encouraging his father to nominate often controversial personnel to top cabinet posts regardless of their qualifications or experience relevant to the role.

The incoming 47th president is known to value loyalty above all else and prefers to keep matters within the family, although which of his children hold the biggest sway tends to vary.

While his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner were prominent advisers during his first term, Don Jr is currently the most commanding voice in his fathers ear at Mar-a-Lago this time around, Reuters reported.

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It was Don Jr who urged the former president to pick Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate during this years presidential campaign. Despite Vances past comments about childless cat ladies sparking controversy during the election campaign, the two candidates together beat the Democrats to clinch victory on election night.

Now, Don Jr is understood to have flexed his muscles most recently by blocking Trumps former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from rejoining his second administration, having taken exception to the latter since his fathers first term.

The reality this time is we actually know what were doing, Don Jr told Fox News earlier this month when asked about the transition process.

And its about surrounding my father with people who are both competent and loyal.

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In addition to ensuring candidates are willing to bend the knee, Don Jr is seeking out contenders who embrace an anti-establishment worldview, including protectionist economic policies, and who believe in cutting down military interventions and overseas aid.

Not all of his recommendations have been taken up, however, with Trump preferring Florida Senator Marco Rubio for secretary of state over Richard Grenell, who was previously his ambassador to Germany and a firm favorite of his son.

President-elect Donald Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr at the election night watch party in Florida. Don Jr has emerged as the biggest familial influence during the transition (AP)

And at least two of Don Jrs personal picks for the cabinet, health secretary nominee Robert F Kennedy Jr and national intelligence director nominee Tulsi Gabbard, are expected to endure rocky confirmation hearings in the Senate and be grilled over past controversies.

Kennedy is an environmental activist who has spread misinformation on vaccines while Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman, has implied that Russian President Vladimir Putin had valid grounds for invading Ukraine and raised eyebrows when she met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the midst of his bloody crackdown on dissidents in 2017.

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Should either or both be blocked from taking office, Don Jr could find his standing diminished accordingly, although he recently hinted to Fox Business that Trumps transition team has back-up plans in place should that occur.

The rise of Susie Wiles from Trump campaign manager to White House chief of staff has also meant that the former president is no longer quite so dependent on his family for counsel as he once was, Wiles having managed to instil a greater degree of order and discipline within his operation than was evident prior to her arrival.

Stuff is really buttoned down, a member of Trumps current team told Reuters of her impact.

He may not need the family this time like he used to.

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Rather than join the administration in an official capacity himself, Don Jr is due to join conservative venture capital fund 1789 Capital once his father is sworn into the Oval Office on January 20.

But he will reportedly continue to host his politics-themed podcast, popular with the MAGA movement, and advise his father on an informal basis.
HONOLULU (KHON2)  Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a part of our daily lives, from chatbots answering customer service queries to powerful algorithms powering the apps on our phones.

But despite AIs rapid growth and increasing capabilities, theres something fundamental that most of us dont fully understand: how AI learns.

Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You

Nicole Cacal, AI expert and founder of Forbes Ignite, a former consultancy for Fortune 500 companies, has been at the forefront of this field for years.

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Her work brings together business, technology and design; and shes observed how AI has evolved in a way that is both exciting and, in many cases, confusing.

Cacal believes we are just starting to scratch the surface of AIs potential and, at the same time, grappling with its unknowns.

Have you seen the docuseries Whats Next? The Future with Bill Gates on Netflix? In the first episode, Gates meets with todays greatest innovators in AI technology and discovers that AI has begun learning woke up and humans have no idea how AI is learning.

So, KHON2.com explored this discovery with Cacal.

Cacal highlighted a crucial issue: the reality that humans dont fully understand how AI learns.

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The problem is that AI has woken up, so to speak; and we dont understand how it learned that way, Cacal explained. Its like were sitting here with this incredibly powerful technology, but we dont know exactly how it got to where it is today.

The awakening of AI

For years, AI has been under the radar, with slow progress in the background. It wasnt until recently, thanks to consumer-facing technologies like chatbots and ChatGPT, that AI gained public attention.

Cacal noted that these tools, like chatbots and ChatGPT, have made AI more accessible, which has led to rapid development and a sudden leap in its abilities.

Weve been in the AI space for decades; but it wasnt until recent years, thanks to things like chatbots, that AI really woke up, Cacal said. Its no longer just a niche technology used by researchers; now, its something we interact with daily. And thats part of the reason it feels like AI is evolving so quickly.

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However, the more accessible AI becomes, the more questions arise about how it learns, what it knows and whether we can trust it.

In the docuseries, Gates interviews experts who admit that AIs learning process is still largely a mystery.

Its a powerful tool, one of Gates colleagues said in the episode. But we dont truly understand how its learning. We dont know what inputs are shaping its decisions.

This lack of understanding, Cacal argued, is a big deal.

Its one thing to use AI for basic tasks, like typing out a message or asking a question, she said. But when it comes to more complex decisions  like who gets a loan or which job applicants are chosen  its essential that we understand how these systems are learning.

The implications of not understanding AIs learning process

The fact that we dont fully understand how AI learns has profound implications especially in terms of its influence on society.

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Cacal explained that one of the biggest risks of AIs current trajectory is the potential for it to reinforce existing inequalities. AI is a tool that can either exacerbate existing social problems or help solve them, she says. It all depends on how we develop it.

Cacal believes that AIs ability to influence consumer behavior and social dynamics is a double-edged sword.

On one hand, AI could democratize access to information and wealth-building opportunities.

But on the other hand, if left unchecked, it could widen existing socioeconomic gaps.

The technology is powerful; but without intentional development, AI could lead to unintended consequences.

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We need to be intentional about how we develop AI, Cacal stressed. Its not just about creating something cool or new. Its about creating something that serves humanity in a responsible way.

A key part of AI development is understanding biases. But Cacal doesnt believe we should aim for bias-free AI. Instead, she advocates for explicit bias in AI. This means knowing exactly what the AI is looking at and why.

Bias is inevitable in AI because humans are the ones programming it, she explained. But we need to be clear about what those biases are. We need an AI that we can control, thats agreeable with our standards of ethics, morality and law.

The need for AI transparency

Cacal is a strong advocate for AI transparency, but transparency alone isnt enough. To guide the future development of AI, we need to understand how our inputs are training the AI.

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Before we even talk about transparency, we need to understand how our prompts, our questions and our actions are shaping AIs learning, she said. If we dont know that, then were essentially playing with a time bomb.

She compared AI development to design. In her work, Cacal often talks about design as a process of creating solutions within constraints.

If you design something without constraints, youre just guessing, she said. When you approach AI with design thinking, you can better understand what youre designing for, what the goals are, and how to achieve them.

By thinking about AI design, we can start asking the right questions and ensure that were creating systems that are not only functional but ethical.

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We need a co-creative process, Cacal added. It cant just be a top-down approach where only a few people are making decisions about how AI should work. The community should have input.

Cacal believes that when more people understand how AI works and how its being developed, we can demand better, more inclusive solutions.

If we involve more people in the process, were more likely to create AI that benefits everyone, not just a select few, she saic.

The role of education in AI interaction

One of the biggest challenges, Cacal saic, is ensuring that we teach people how to interact with AI in a productive way.

The more we interact with AI, the more were going to have to learn to communicate with it effectively, she explained. AI is like a tool, but the way we use it depends on how we ask questions and how we frame our inputs.

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Cacals point about the future of education is crucial. As AI becomes more integrated into our lives, we will need new skills to work alongside it.

Just like learning to communicate with people, we need to learn to communicate with AI, Cacal said. Its not about how AI learns, its about how we learn to interface with it.

Cacal foresees a future where education systems evolve to teach these new skills.

We may see new majors and courses focused on how to work with AI, she said. Its not just about technical skills anymore. Its about learning how to ask the right questions, how to design systems and how to think critically about the tools were using.

A co-creative future with AI

While some are worried about the rapid development of AI, Cacal is optimistic about the potential for AI to improve lives. That is, if its used correctly.

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I truly believe that AI has the power to elevate human capabilities, she said. If we learn to use AI responsibly, we can enhance our critical thinking and creativity.

However, theres a catch. If we want AI to be a force for good, we need to ensure that its developed with a clear, intentional purpose.

AI is not a cure-all, Cacal cautionsed. Its a tool. And like any tool, it can be used for good or ill. Its up to us to decide how we wield it.

As AI continues to grow and develop, our relationship with it will evolve as well. Cacal emphasized that this relationship must be built on understanding, intention and collaboration.

We have to create a future where humans and AI work together, she said. Its not about controlling AI. Its about guiding it in a way that benefits all of us.

Shaping the future together

As AI continues to wake up, its clear that its development will have profound implications for society.

But as Cacal pointed out, understanding how AI learns is just the first step. The real challenge lies in how we interact with this technology and how we design it to reflect our values.

Were at a crossroads, Cacal added. We can either let AI develop on its own, with little understanding of how it works; or we can take an active role in shaping its future. The choice is ours.

You can click here to learn more about Cacal and her work.

For now, the key is to approach AI development with intention, transparency and inclusivity.

Get news on the go with KHON 2GO, KHONs morning podcast, every morning at 8

If we can do that, we just might create a future where AI doesnt just learn on its own. It will learn to work with us, for the betterment of humanity.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KHON2.
Donald Trump is quickly consolidating and expanding his power. Trump has promised to be a dictator on day one of his administration. Trump has also demonstrated, repeatedly, that he will rule as an autocrat who will crush all those individuals and groups that he and his MAGA agents and other allies deem to be the enemy within. Trump has been remarkably transparent and direct about how his rule will be driven by revenge, retribution and corrupt unlimited power.

The Democrats, the mainstream news media and others who are searching for some desperate hope in this time of extreme dread and peril are currently fixated on whether Trump has a mandate for his agenda because he did not win 50 percent of the popular vote. Ultimately, Trump and his MAGA forces do not care about democratic legitimacy and the popular will. They are autocrats and authoritarians (and fascists) who impose their will on the public.

To that end, Trump is selecting people for his Cabinet and other senior administration positions whose first qualification is loyalty to him. Their professional qualifications, competence and belief (or lack thereof) in the basic tenets of real democracy, the Constitution and the rule of law are of little, if any, importance.

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The manifestly incompetent Trump 2.0 Cabinet members and other senior appointees are being joined by very serious and very dangerous ideologues. As shown by Project 2025, Agenda 47 and other documents and planning, these people have spent years and decades studying how to destroy the American government and democracy as a way of advancing their revolutionary and reactionary project to tear down the social safety net, social democracy and the bureaucratic/deep state with the goal of bringing the country back to the Gilded Age (if not before) when rich white men, big business, White Christianity and other antidemocratic forces ruled largely uncontested. The grossly unqualified Trump officials will be the camouflage and distraction  to aid and enable  the work of the second, smaller group of ideologues. Both groups will be extensions of Trumps will and the worst aspects of his personality, impulses, emotions and mind.

Those Americans who voted against Donald Trump and MAGA are collectively shell-shocked and wounded emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. This is especially true for the resistance and their news media and opinion leaders who got high on the hopium, having convinced themselves, contrary to the abundance of the evidence, that there would be some great groundswell of support for Kamala Harris and the Democrats. Trump would be stopped because the American people are fundamentally decent or American Exceptionalism would kick in or suburban white women and the Dobbs decision! would spark a backlash or, at the very least, how could anyone possibly want to return to the Trump years? Of course, none of this happened.

In all, these fantasies and fictions about America and the character of its people have collided with the reality of what America actually is, with all of its historical and current deep ugliness as embodied by Trumps victory over Kamala Harris. During these last few weeks, I have experienced several moments where more familiar strangers, those people we encounter as part of our daily routine but have never spoken to before, are saying hello and seem to be seeking out conversation and comfort from others.

As reported by The New York Times on Thursday, the shock and disappointment are so great that many members of the anti-Trump pro-democracy movement (aka "the Resistance") are feeling like giving up:

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In the days after Donald J. Trumps electoral victory, thousands of people revived the grass-roots movement that opposed his first term in office. Marchers in Manhattan took over streets carrying a block-wide banner that read, We Wont Back Down. Activists in Los Angeles and Chicago decried Mr. Trumps abortion and immigration policies and vowed to descend on Washington to protest his inauguration in January. But participants noted that Mr. Trump had not appeared to be swayed by protests, petitions, hashtag campaigns or other tools of mass dissent. Many have been calling for a fresh playbook. I thought the first womens march would be a turning point, said Laura Bartek, a 45-year-old nurse from Virginia, referring to the protest  with nearly half a million people  that took place after Mr. Trumps 2017 inauguration. To be here eight years later with these signs, Ms. Bartek said during a recent protest in Washington, it breaks my heart. I keep getting emails to sign petitions, said Leslie Mac, a digital strategist and communications expert who works with grass-roots organizations. These people coming to the White House dont care about petitions. They dont care how many people sign them. They dont care what they say. The first Trump presidency spawned the largest protests the country had seen in half a century. But not everyone wants to participate in another four years of mass movement work. When Womens March shared information about an upcoming rally on Instagram, one person responded, No im tired, yall have fun though. (Womens March later hid some of the pushback and limited who could respond to a handful of posts.)

The Age of Trump shows no sign of being over any time soon. It is an epic of the worst type that we the Americans are trapped inside of  now by choice.

In an attempt to make better sense of Trumps surreal second election, our collective emotions and where we go from here, I recently spoke with Alan Jenkins and Gan Golan. They are the co-writers of 1/6: The Graphic Novel. (Issue number 3 is available now.) Jenkins is a Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School where he teaches courses on Race and the Law, Communication, Law, and Social Justice, and Supreme Court Jurisprudence. Before joining the Harvard faculty, he co-founded and led The Opportunity Agenda, a social justice communication lab that harnesses the power of media and popular culture to move hearts, minds and policy. Golan is an artist, bestselling author, grassroots activist, organizer and one of the lead designers of The Peoples Climate March, which was one of the largest climate mobilizations in history.

This is the first of a two-part conversation.

How are you feeling given the election and Trumps return to power? Were you surprised by his victory?

AJ: As weve been saying all along, the shadow of autocracy and bigotry will be with us as a nation for years, whoever our next president is. Thats why Trump is depicted mostly in shadow in our series. One of the main messages in our books is that we always must work to protect democratic values and institutions, year in and year out. Now we know what well be facing.

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GG: Shocked but not surprised. There have been so many off-ramps not taken and yet here we are. If there is a silver lining to defeat, its that we have a chance to dig deep, learn lessons and make major course corrections that may aid us in the future. Here is one important lesson: Democrats have been undercutting their own progressive grassroots movements for decades, while Republicans have been nourishing theirs. Which strategy succeeded? I think the results are in.

How are you sleeping?

AJ: Ill quote John McCain after he lost to Barack Obama in 2008: I slept like a baby sleep for two hours, wake up and cry, sleep for two hours, wake up and cry.

GG: Lets just say that my family members who are bothered by my *consistent* snoring are getting a nice break these days.

What are you doing with those emotions to process them if anything? To balance out the worry tank and the hope tank?

AJ: Our graphic novel series is about loss and grief, but also about hope, resistance and reconstruction. That balance has always sustained me through tough times.

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GG: We tend to believe we need hope to inspire action when its more the reverse. It is action that inspires hope. Ive kept working with people at the grassroots level and been thinking of how we can weather the storm and protect people and still make forward progress where we can.

We are still doing an autopsy of the 2024 election. What role do you believe that racism and sexism played in the outcome?

AJ: Research and experience tell us that both conscious and subconscious bias created a much steeper hill for Harris to climb. The hill was surmountable, in my view, with a more compelling narrative and a bolder, more transformative set of ideas. But theres no question that it was a far higher obstacle to victory than either Biden or Trump faced.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

GG: The role of racism, sexism and transphobia as a factor in our electorate is undeniable. Full stop. But this was still a winnable election for the Democrats. We are in a populist moment and this was a change election. The Harris campaign had an opportunity to break from Biden on Gaza and also push forward a strong progressive vision rooted in popular economic policies.

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That didnt happen. Trump brought faux-populism while the Democrats brought no populism and that doomed them.

Of course, its not all on Harris. Biden couldnt communicate his own successes as he had a mute button on. Then he waited too long to step aside, depriving the Democrats of a wider field of new candidates and a longer campaign run. This is another example of the Democrats holding on to power and failing to create a strong transition to a new generation. We saw this with RGB refusing to step down and then Trump appointing her successor. They forgot that your legacy is secured by the next generation, not your own and they have failed to make that transition. In tumultuous times, those new leaders often come from outside the establishment, not inside and Democrats have been very resistant to that.

Alan, you are a legal scholar and advocate for democracy. What role does the law and our democratic norms and traditions have when confronted by an elected autocrat who has promised to be a dictator on day one?

AJ: One of the lessons of Trump 1.0 is that democratic norms and traditions can and will be ignored by this president. Institutions, however, are made up of people and its up to us to ensure that they hold. That means countering the tremendous pressure that will be put on them by Trump and his allies, supporting independence and insisting on equal accountability. This will also be a supreme (no pun intended) test of our judiciary, which is the only branch of our federal government that the Framers of the Constitution insulated from public pressure. During the last administration, the courts (including judges appointed by Trump himself) occasionally stood up to him, but more often let him ride roughshod over the Constitution. Those of us who are lawyers are going to have to push judges to live up to their allegiance to the law and to our countrys highest values.

Trump's return to power has echoes of the end of Reconstruction and the rise of Redemption and Jim and Jane Crow. I feel like we are in some twisted simulation and pocket of the multiverse where it is "Idiocracy" and "They Live" mixed with "Robocop", "Brazil", Octavia Butlers novels and "Groundhog Day."

AJ: There are a lot of parallels between now and the end of Reconstruction when our nation walked away from its commitment to equal justice and redefined the Civil War as a disagreement among friends instead of a battle for freedom and the soul of the nation. Whether we spend another century wandering in the wilderness of tyranny and bigotry is, in part, up to us. We can never stop working toward a more perfect union, even when prospects look bleak. Without the work of Redemption-era and early 20th century activists like W.E.B. DuBois, Ida B. Wells and Charles Hamilton Houston, the modern Civil Rights Movement never could have happened.

GG: We are definitely in a dystopian fiction mashup. Artists and storytellers are often our early warning system and theyve been sounding the alarm bells for years. Leaders and activists are also visionaries and storytellers. Their vision for a better society, which we might have taken for granted in our own lives  like, the weekend, or the womens vote, or interracial marriage  was at one point practically science fiction. It then took organizing to bring those visions into being as part of our daily, lived experience. That is the work we are being called to do: To re-envision what democracy needs to be, then do the hard work to make it a reality. The future is not yet written and we cant miss the opportunity to define what happens next.
Special Counsel Jack Smith has moved to drop two major federal cases against President-elect Donald Trump: the investigations into his alleged interference of the 2020 Presidential election, as well as the mishandling of classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago residence.

Smith filed his decisions Monday in a six-page legal document, noting that per the constraints of the U.S. Constitution, a sitting president prosecuted  and thats including an elected president.

It has long been the position of the Department of the Justice that the United States Constitution forbids the federal indictment and subsequent criminal prosecution of a sitting president, Smith wrote. But the Department and the country have never faced the circumstance here, where a federal indictment against a private citizen has been returned by a grand jury and a criminal prosecution is already underway when the defendant is elected president.

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The filing continued: After careful consideration, the Department has determined that OLCs prior opinions concerning the Constitutions prohibition on federal indictment and prosecution of a sitting president apply to this situation and that as a result this prosecution must be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated.

Trump was facing two federal cases, which were both brought on by the special counsel nearly a year ago. One was for his alleged meddling in the 2020 Presidential election, and the other was for the classified documents found at Trumps Mar-a-Lago home that he allegedly refused to turnover to the U.S.

The president-elect also promised to fire Smith upon his impending return to the Oval Office. Trump subsequently celebrated the news later on Monday afternoon.

These cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought. Over $100 Million Dollars of Taxpayer Dollars has been wasted in the Democrat Partys fight against their Political Opponent, ME. Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before, he wrote on Truth Social. It was a political hijacking, and a low point in the History of our Country that such a thing could have happened, and yet, I persevered, against all odds, and WON. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

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During an appearance on CNN earlier on Monday, the networks chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid weighed in on Smiths move, saying he is simply following the proper protocol as it relates to the cases and Trumps presidential status.

This must be devastating for the special counsel, Jack Smith. He was brought in to handle these two cases, but the fact is that there is internal Justice Department guidance that says you cannot indict or prosecute a sitting president, Reid explained. And they had to discuss with leadership of the Justice Department, Well, what do you do with a pending case against a president-elect? And a source familiar with this thinking tells me, Look, Smith is a rules guy. He wants to follow the procedures, the practices of the Justice Department, which is why he is moving to dismiss this case.'

Reid then pointed out that while its too little too late now, the Republican-ruled Supreme Court could have made a difference in the matter if they would have responded to Smiths previous request to involve the panel of judges on whether or not Trump should be given immunity in the election subversion/Jan. 6 case.

Whats interesting about this case is this is the case where the Supreme Court had to answer the question of whether the former president  at the time, former President Trump  had any immunity to shield him from some of the charges in this case, because his lawyers argued that some of the allegations were related to his official conduct, Reid said. And the Supreme Court took roughly seven months to weigh in on that question. Of course, they did rule that he had some immunity to protect him from prosecution.

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But if the Supreme Court had weighed in when Jack Smith initially asked them roughly a year ago last December It is possible that the special counsel could have had time to bring some case, depending on what would remain after the Supreme Courts analysis, she continued. But the Supreme Court again waiting seven months to reveal the answer to that question, making it virtually impossible that the special counsel could bring this case. And this was really the only federal case that they could have realistically brought against Trump before the November election.

Trump is set to be inaugurated at Americas 47th president on Jan. 20, 2025.

The post Donald Trumps Election Interference, Classified Docs Cases Dropped by DOJ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
President-elect Donald Trump has endorsed Floridas Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis to replace Matt Gaetz in the US House of Representatives.

Gaetz stepped down from his seat in the House earlier this month after Trump nominated him to lead the Department of Justice. He withdrew his bid for attorney general last week as allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug mounted. The House Ethics Committee was reportedly set to release a highly damaging report on their investigation into these allegations just two days after Gaetz resigned.

The committees investigation is now over given Gaetzs resignation. They also have not released the report, despite pressure from lawmakers. Gaetz, who has denied all wrongdoing, said he would not return to Congress.

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Now, Trump has announced his favorite pick to replace Gaetz.

Jimmy Patronis, picture speaking at a Republican rally, has served as Floridas CFO since 2017 (Getty Images)

A fourth generation Floridian from the beautiful Panhandle, and owner of an iconic seafood restaurant, Jimmy has been a wonderful friend to me, and to MAGA, Trump wrote on Truth Social. As your next Congressman, Jimmy would work tirelessly alongside of me to Grow our Economy, Secure our Border, Stop Migrant Crime, Strengthen our Incredible Military/Vets, Restore American Energy DOMINANCE, and Defend our always under siege Second Amendment.

Should he decide to enter this Race, Jimmy Patronis has my Complete and Total Endorsement, he added. RUN, JIMMY, RUN!

Patronis resigned as Floridas CFO on Monday afternoon and declared he intends to run for Gaetz seat. He also responded to Trumps endorsement on X: Put me to work, Mr. President. @realDonaldTrump I am here to serve.

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis set dates for the seats special election on Friday. The primary election will take place on January 28, and Gaetzs successor will be elected on April 1.

Patronis, a long-time ally to the president-elect, has served as Floridas CFO since 2017. He is married with two children and owns a seafood restaurant in Panama City.

In January, the CFO promoted a state bill that would have helped Trump, whose Mar-a-Lago residence is in Florida, pay his mounting legal fees.

The Freedom Fighters Fund would have provided up to $5 million in financial support to Florida residents running for President who face legal, partisan, political attacks by the Department of Justice or State Attorneys, The Washington Post reported.

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The bill was ultimately withdrawn earlier this year after DeSantis threatened to veto it.

Meanwhile, Gaetz could be considering new career options. The team at Newsmax, a right-wing media network, has made it clear they would like Gaetz to jump on board and potentially host his own show, The Independent reported last week.

The former lawmaker also joined Cameo, a platform where users can pay celebrities to create personalized videos.

I have joined cameo, Gaetz previously told The Independent. I hope to bring people joy.
Donald Trump will remove all transgender members of the US military from their posts, according to reports.

The president-elect will use an executive order to make the move and it could come as soon as his first day in office, The Times reported.

It will lead to the dismissal of thousands of service personnel at a time when the US armed forces are struggling to meet recruitment targets.

In his first term, Mr Trump banned transgender people from joining the US armed forces but those already in post were allowed to keep their jobs. The ban was reversed by Joe Biden.

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Under the reported new proposals transgender people would also be banned from joining the military.

These people will be forced out at a time when the military cant recruit enough people, a source familiar with Mr Trumps plans told the newspaper.

Only the Marine Corps is hitting its numbers for recruitment and some people who will be affected are in very senior positions.

Undermine readiness

Some Military charities criticised the proposals on Sunday night.

Should a trans ban be implemented from day one of the Trump administration it would undermine the readiness of the military and create an even greater recruitment and retention crisis, not to mention signalling vulnerability to Americas adversaries, said Rachel Branaman, executive director of Modern Military Association of America, which campaigns on behalf of LGBT+ military personnel and veterans.

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Abruptly discharging 15,000-plus service members, especially given that the militarys recruiting targets fell short by 41,000 recruits last year, adds administrative burdens to war-fighting units, harms unit cohesion, and aggravates critical skill gaps, she added.

There would be a significant financial cost, as well as a loss of experience and leadership that will take possibly 20 years and billions of dollars to replace.

Around 2,200 service personnel had been diagnosed with gender dysmorphia when the previous ban was lifted but privacy policies mean the exact number of transgender service personnel is not known, according to the Pentagon.

The move comes after the president-elect nominated Fox News host Pete Hegseth, who has criticised weak and effeminate military leadership, as his defence secretary.

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Paulo Batista, a transgender analyst in the US navy, said it could take years to fill job vacancies caused by any ban.

I have four years left on my contract, he said. But you take 15,000 of us out  theres more but thats the number that is always mentioned  thats 15,000 leadership positions, every one of us plays a vital role.

There are junior enlisted personnel to high-end officers. You pull one of us out, that means others have to cover. These jobs could take months or even years to fill.

Mr Trumps spokesmen did not comment when contacted by the newspaper.

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Nov. 25 (UPI) -- President-elect Donald Trump has announced his nominations for his Cabinet, but his proposal for confirming them breaks longstanding norms.

As the Republican-led U.S. Senate voted for a new majority leader -- ultimately selecting Sen. John Thune -- Trump demanded members must support recess appointments. This would circumvent the advice and consent role of the Senate in confirming those nominees.

Trump said the purpose of leaning on recess appointments is to confirm his appointments more quickly.

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"Any Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner," Trump said on social media.

The Recess Appointments Clause of the Constitution allows the president to make "temporary appointments" when the Senate is not in session. In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the U.S. Senate must be in recess for at least 10 days for the president to make a recess appointment.

Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for U.S. Attorney General. File Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI

"It is generally accepted that the Clause was designed to enable the President to ensure the unfettered operation of the government during periods when the Senate was not in session and therefore unable to perform its advice and consent function," the clause reads.

Dr. Meena Bose, dean of Hofstra University's public policy program and director of presidential studies, told UPI that Trump's proposal for recess appointments does not fit what is intended by the Constitution.

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen outspoken vaccine opponent Robert F. Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services in his administration. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI

"It short-circuits the Constitutional process," Bose said. "It's not meant to be a substitute for the Senate's role in the advisory and approval process."

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Many of the nominees Trump seeks to appoint lack expertise relevant to the position they hope to fill. Several are mired in allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct, have a history of signal boosting disinformation and conspiracy theories or have vowed to dismantle the very agencies they would control.

President-elect Donald Trump has proposed a new office, the Department of Government Efficiency, to be co-chaired by Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk (shown) and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Pool Photo by Allison Robbert/UPI

The standard confirmation process involves vetting of the nominees including a background check by the FBI. Nominees also face a public hearing, allowing senators to grill them about their qualifications and any findings that could put their candidacy in question.

Cabinet members, particularly those involved with national intelligence and defense, are granted high-level clearance and access to sensitive information. It is important for the Senate, and the public, to know if they could be compromised by foreign agents, organized crime or other entities that could undermine the operations of the executive branch and the safety of the American people.

WWE co-founder and former onscreen personality Linda McMahon is President-elect Donald Trump's choice to lead the Department of Education, an agency he and allies have threatened to close. File Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI

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Information about financial problems, sexual misconduct or other items considered scandalous would also be considered potential leverage points for entities seeking to influence a Cabinet member.

"Normally, not all of the president's team makes it through," Stephen Farnsworth, political science professor at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia, told UPI. "Senators, even senators of the president's party, often turn down one nominee or threaten to do so and that nominee withdraws their candidacy."

It is rare for the Senate to vote down a presidential appointment. According to the U.S. Senate's website, it has typically given great deference to the president to select the Cabinet.

Former President George H.W. Bush's choice for secretary of defense, John G. Tower, was rejected by the Senate in 1989. It marked the first time since the administration of President Dwight Eisenhower in 1959 that a nominee was rejected.

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Tower's appointment was undone by concerns about his alcohol use and sexual misconduct.

Trump had three nominees withdraw during his first term: Andrew Puzder for secretary of the Department of Labor, Dr. Ronny Jackson for secretary of Veterans Affairs and Chad Wolf for secretary of Homeland Security.

Former President Barack Obama had three nominees withdraw, and President George W. Bush had two. Obama and Bush each served two terms.

Those withdrawals account for a small percentage of Cabinet nominees who do not make it through. Farnsworth said that although the Senate confirms most nominees, it tends to be thorough vetting them.

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"Normally there's a good deal of deference, but the Senate is not just a rubber stamp," Farnsworth said. "If the Senate chooses to stand down and let the president fill his cabinet with recess appointments, it begs the question of what role the Senate serves," he said.

"But the president-elect's proposal basically argues that the Senate should just step away from its Constitutional obligations."

Cabinet nominees need a simple majority, 51 votes, to be confirmed.

At least some Cabinet members are typically confirmed on the day of inauguration. It can take weeks for all of the Cabinet positions to be confirmed.

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Trump has also proposed a new office, the Department of Government Efficiency, to be co-chaired by Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

A president cannot unilaterally create an executive agency, but can create new offices of advisers and external commissions. After Sept. 11, 2001, President George W. Bush created the Office of Homeland Security. In 2002, it became the Department of Homeland Security with the passage of the Homeland Security Act.

There are limits to how much authority an office created by the president can wield, Bose said.

"There are pretty strict rules on how much authority they have to request information from Cabinet-level departments," Bose said. "Once you move outside of the Senate-confirmed positions or established White House offices there is greater public scrutiny about who is advising the president."

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The creation of a Department of Government Efficiency also raises questions of ethics and transparency. Musk has received tens of billions of dollars through U.S. government contracts via his aerospace company, SpaceX, and automotive company Tesla Motors.

Musk has detailed the objectives of the Department of Government Efficiency in numerous posts on his social media platform X. Trump also described the role of the office on social media, saying will "dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures."

"There are questions about conflicts of interest that are certainly reasonable," Bose said. "We're kind of in uncharted territory. [Trump's proposal] gives more authority than the Constitution allows the president to do. You have two people who are in the private sector but have a big public presence."

"How will they be able to get the information needed to make any sort of objective assessment of government agencies?" she asked rhetorically.
Borussia Dortmund managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke wants to find consensus with all club members regarding a contested sponsorship deal with German arms company Rheinmetall.

Of 855 members who voted on Sunday at the annual general meeting, 556 backed a motion to end the partnership as soon as possible or at least when the three-year deal expires.

The result is not binding on the Bundesliga club. Watzke, while praising what he described as a dignified discussion on the topic, told the annual shareholders' meeting on Monday that only 0.25% of the 215,000 members had voted against the Rheinmetall partnership.

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"I would like to know in full how the members feel about this," Watzke, who is stepping down this year, told the assembly in Dortmund.

Following the announcement of the sponsorship deal in May, there was heavy criticism from pacifists, human rights organizations and parts of the fan base.

Rheinmetall is Germany's largest arms company and has seen strong growth amid Russia's war in Ukraine and the general arms boom.
BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- During his third visit to the Chinese mainland this year, Apple CEO Tim Cook said he highly values Chinese suppliers. Analysts believe this has demonstrated the importance of China's supply chain and market for the American company.

"I am so proud that Apple has an exhibit here with our partners. We could not do what we do without them," Cook said on Monday ahead of the second China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE), scheduled from Tuesday to Saturday in Beijing.

At the expo's main venue, Cook visited the joint booth of Apple's four Chinese suppliers, which will exhibit components and technologies involving flexible production lines, green technology and optical products. He highlighted innovations in the Apple supply chain.

Despite challenges including external uncertainties, China remains an indispensable part of Apple's global supply chains. Out of Apple's 200 major suppliers worldwide, over 80 percent have set up factories in China, contributing to the manufacturing of a wide range of Apple products.

During his visit to Shanghai in March, Cook reiterated the company's long-term commitment to the Chinese market when he opened Apple's biggest retail store on the Chinese mainland.

"There's no supply chain in the world that's more critical to us than China," Cook said, noting that Apple will strengthen its long-term cooperation with its Chinese supply chain partners and work closely with them in the fields of green and smart manufacturing to achieve win-win results.

While visiting Beijing last month, Cook pledged to continue investing in China in areas such as supply chains and research and development.

Experts say China has unparalleled advantages in manufacturing, while its growing research and development capabilities are also contributing to the attractiveness of China's industrial and supply chains.

Bai Ming, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said China's innovation-driven development strategy will help the country become more important to the growth of global tech giants, such as Apple.

Zhang Jianping, vice president of the China Research Association of Social and Economic System, said as the world's largest manufacturing hub and a country with a complete industrial system, China has continuously encouraged innovation, which helps advance the high-quality development of its foreign trade.

CISCE, the world's first national-level exhibition focusing on supply chains, will gather industry leaders and experts from around the world and help promote global cooperation in industrial and supply chains.

This year's expo will see the participation of more than 600 companies worldwide. Foreign exhibitors account for about a third of the total, with U.S. companies contributing the largest share of overseas participants. 
CHIPPEWA VALLEY  The Department of Public Instructions release of report card data for 2023-24 shows how schools are operating across the state, including districts in the Chippewa Valley.

Data compiles a number of information, including test participation, proficiency in English language arts and mathematics, growth and more. For an overall score, school districts are typically measured from four priority area scores which look at achievement, growth, target group outcomes and on-track to graduation data.

The compiled data of multiple school districts overall scores out of 100 in this region include:

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* Menomonie Area: 62.1

* Eau Claire Area: 67.3

* Chippewa Falls Area Unified: 67

* Altoona: 70.3

* Augusta: 63.2

* Bloomer: 65.6

* Cadott Community: 64.5

* Eleva-Strum: 61.9

* Fall Creek: 77.9

* Mondovi: 66.2

* Neillsville: 58.4

* Osseo-Fairchild: 60.6

* Stanley-Boyd Area: 64.3

* Chetek-Weyerhauser: 63.8

* Colfax: 64.4

* Elk Mound Area: 76.9

* Hudson: 72.9

* Ellsworth Community: 70.7

All districts listed were categorized as meeting state expectations in regards to the state report. For many districts that averaged above a 70 on the overall score, such as the School District of Altoona, the report categorized them as exceeding state expectations.

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The state report cards are one of many measures that the School District of the Menomonie Area uses to monitor student success, said School District of Menomonie Superintendent Joe Zydowsky. While I am pleased that the SDMA meets expectations on this years report cards, work toward the districts mission of preparing all students to become lifelong learners, caring individuals, and responsible citizens is never finished Academic growth and achievement in Menomonie can be attributed to hard work by our teachers, support staff and students, as well as partnerships and support from local families, business partners, and the greater community.

School report cards provide a snapshot in time of student achievement and growth, said Eau Claire Area School District Superintendent Mike Johnson. These evaluations offer valuable insights into the progress and development of students across various academic areas. At the Eau Claire Area School District, we take pride in our ability to meet and exceed the expectations set forth by the Wisconsin Department of Instruction.

For English language arts (ELA) and mathematics achievement scores, Eau Claire showed results which were comparatively higher than state averages. Data for these achievement scores typically come from three testing areas: the forward exam, for third through eighth grade; the pre-ACT, for ninth and 10th grade; and the ACT, for 11th grade.

Continuing, Johnson said, We understand that academic growth is a continuous process. Our district employs data-driven instructional strategies to monitor student progress and adapt teaching methods to meet individual needs. The ECASD is committed to providing a high-quality education that supports the diverse needs of our students.

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For the Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District, a score of 67 shows continued growth from scores in years prior, as they had a 65.6 last year and 64.6 the year prior.

Our steady progress reflects the dedicated efforts of our educators and students, said Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District Superintendent Jeff Holmes in a press release. Were particularly proud that all eight of our schools met or exceeded state expectations, with one school significantly exceeding expectations and three others exceeding expectations.

Continuing, Holmes said, While we celebrate these improvements, we remain committed to our strategic initiatives focusing on academic excellence and student success. Our goal continues to be ensuring every student who graduates is prepared to achieve their personal goals and make a positive impact in the world.

Reacting to the state data, Heidi Eliopoulos, School District of Altoona Superintendent, said, It is good to see our name alongside a label like exceeding expectations  that is a good feeling. My initial reaction is that I am extremely proud of our staff and the work that they have been doing over the past few years and the commitment they are showing to our students.

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For Altoona, data on ELA and mathematics achievement was also higher, notably towards mathematics. The aim for many districts is to get desired scores, achieve above the state average and also close the achievement gap between student groups, which is looked at through data year round.

The accountability report cards come out kind of late considering when we take the assessments that build into them; were taking these assessments way back in March and April and the accountability reports come out in November, said Eliopoulos. However, we look at a variety of different sources of data throughout the year: some norm-referenced assessment, some local assessments, and especially specific to our math, across our entire system we are seeing measurable growth in the area of math when we look at all of our sources of data. What we are seeing on the accountability report reflects our other sources of data, so it reinforces that. While overall math achievement is up across the district, we are also seeing the achievement gap starting to close in this area. That is hard to do, so it is exciting to see that what we are doing is working and our work in this area is paying off.

It feels great to be labeled (exceeding expectations), however I would say this is a step and not the destination, she said. Our aim is continuous growth That means that we are going to have to continue overall focus, raising up all students and continue our work on closing the achievement gaps that we are experiencing.
BOYNTON BEACH  The driver of a Lexus that struck and killed three members of a Greenacres family at nearly 100 mph in July was at more than twice the legal threshold for intoxication, according to an arrest report made public Thursday.

Dawn Michele Howard, 54, of suburban Boynton Beach, is facing charges of vehicular homicide and DUI manslaughter in the July 10 deaths of Yanela Almaguer, Alejandro Alex Cordovez and their oldest son Diego, 10. Their youngest son, Fabio, 2, was the only survivor.

The crash took place on Military Trail near Miner Road in suburban Boynton Beach, near where the family had found its first apartment in the United States after emigrating from Cuba several months before. They had lived with family in Greenacres before the wreck.

Yanela Almaguer, Alejandro Cordovez and their older son Diego, 10, were killed in a car accident on July 10, 2024. Their younger son, Fabio, 2, was the only survivor in the car.

During a hearing Thursday, Circuit Judge Daliah Weiss set Howard's bail at $375,000. She had been booked into a county jail a day earlier and remained there as of Friday morning, court and jail records show. She will be on in-house arrest complete with a GPS monitor if she posts bond.

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Howard also faces a related charge for assaulting a police officer while she was at Delray Medical Center hours after the wreck, court records show. An attempt to reach an attorney who was present in court Thursday on Howard's behalf was not immediately successful.

Fatal wreck: PBSO IDs two deputies who died, one who was injured in crash along Southern Boulevard

PBSO: Lexus traveled at 108 mph seconds before wreck

Investigators reported that Howard was driving at 97 mph when she crashed a 2022 Lexus into the rear of the Volkswagen Jetta driven by Cordovez with Yanela Almaguer by his side and his two sons in the back seat.

Cordovez, 46, was driving the family in a Volkswagen Jetta northbound on Military Trail about 7:30 p.m., when the Lexus SUV made a sweeping left-hand turn, accelerating at about 110 mph onto the road that has a 45-mph speed limit, according to Howard's arrest report.

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As the two vehicles approached Miner Road, the Lexus accelerated to 108 mph when the traffic light changed to yellow. Howard hit the brakes when she saw the Jetta in front of her but given the extremely high speed and her delayed reaction, the collision was unavoidable, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office report states.

The Lexus was traveling at 97.6 mph at the time of the wreck, the report estimated. Its front section pushed itself into the Jettas trunk and passenger compartment.

The impact sent the Jetta rotating to the side of the road before its rear collided with a power pole. The Lexus overturned and came to a stop on the swale facing southwest.

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Paramedics pronounced Almaguer, 43, dead at the scene and rushed Cordovez and Diego to Delray Medical Center, where they succumbed to their injuries. Fabio sustained a broken right leg.

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First responders told sheriff's investigators that Howard was possibly impaired. She was making confused and irregular statements, had very watery and bloodshot eyes, and was slurring her speech.

Paramedics said she became irate, argumentative, refusing to cooperate while being treated and neglected an arm that might have been broken, deputies said.

Separate blood draws taken hours after the collision revealed Howard had blood-alcohol levels of 0.199 and 0.133, the arrest report said. Florida's legal threshold for intoxication while driving is 0.08.

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Family members mourn Cuban couple and their son

Yanela Almaguer, Alejandro Cordovez and their older son Diego, 10, where killed in a car accident on July 10, 2024. Their youngest son, Fabio, 2, was the only survivor.

Corodovez, Almaguer and their two sons were just starting their new life in the U.S. when the wreck robbed them of their future, said Arsenio Almaguer, Yanelas older brother, who lives in Greenacres.

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Arsenio had waited 40 years to reunite with Yanela and last year he requested that they come from Cuba through the parole program. Yanela and Alex dreamed of sending their sons to college and came to the U.S. to give them opportunities they had never had on the Caribbean island about 200 miles from Miami.

In March, the couple had rented their first apartment in suburban Boynton Beach and their sons were already enrolled in school.

The crash wrecked the familys life, Arsenio said.

Arsenio, his wife, Hilda, and his 11-year-old son have been taking care of Fabio since the crash. The family has asked Fabios grandmother to come to the U.S. to help raise him.

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He asks for Mami, Papi and Dieguito, Arsenio said. I dont know what to say. I try talking about another thing, but he remembers. He remembers the names, everything.

Valentina Palm covers Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Greenacres, Palm Springs and other western communities in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. Email her at vpalm@pbpost.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @ValenPalmB. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: PBSO: Driver was drunk in July crash that killed 3 on Military Trail
Authorities have identified a person of interest in a fatal, allegedly intentional hit-and-run crash in the parking lot of BMO Stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles late last week that claimed the life of a teenage boy.

The deadly Nov. 22 encounter started, according to investigators with the California Highway Patrol, started around 4:30 p.m. with an altercation between a group of 40 bicyclists and a motorist in a blue BMW on Figueroa Street, north of Martin Luther Jr. King Boulevard.

Details are limited and its unclear what led to the confrontation, but the situation continued into the parking lot of BMO Stadium, on Exposition Park property, where he was struck by a separate vehicle, identified as a black Honda sedan, CHP said in updated news release Sunday evening.

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The teen, identified by family members as Jonathan Flores, was declared dead at the scene.

Police tape seen around a bicycle after a fatal hit-and-run crash in the BMO Stadium parking lot on Nov. 22, 2024. (KTLA) People seen holding one another after a deadly hit-and-run claimed the life of a 16-year-old boy in Exposition Park on Nov. 22, 2024. (KTLA) People seen holding one another after a deadly hit-and-run claimed the life of a 16-year-old boy in Exposition Park on Nov. 22, 2024. (KTLA) A small memorial near the site of Jonathan Flores death on Nov. 22, 2024. (KTLA) Cyclists seen in the parking lot of BMO Stadium in this undated photo. (KTLA)

A day later, on Nov. 23, CHP detectives issued a search warrant at an L.A. residence believed to be associated with the suspect where they seized two vehicles, a blue 2021 BMW sedan and a black 2018 Honda Accord.

During the investigation, a 28-year-old Hispanic male from Los Angeles was identified as a person of interest who is believed to have been the driver of the Honda Accord at the time it struck and killed the 16-year-old juvenile, CHP added.

It is unclear if the 28-year-old has been taken into custody.

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Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, said that a crime like this would not happen if there were stricter punishments for hit-and-runs.

Devastated Southern California family of man, 21, killed in mass shooting, arson speaks out

The penalties for hit-and-run, road rage are laughable, the community activist told KTLA. Its a misdemeanor with only a few days in jail. Youre talking about a major, not only felony  it should be  but loss of life and yet we have such lax enforcement.

Investigators are urging anyone with information about the involved driver or the investigation itself to contact CHPs Major Crime Unit at 323-644-9550 or the L.A. Communications Center at 323-259-3200 after normal business hours.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Three drones were allegedly shot down in Kaluga, Russia, on the night of 24-25 November, while Russian authorities reported that the wreckage of one of the drones fell on premises belonging to an industrial firm and started a fire.

Source: Vladislav Shapsha, the governor of Kaluga Oblast; Russian Telegram channels

Details: Shapsha said that at night, on the outskirts of Kaluga, Russian air defence forces allegedly destroyed three UAVs.

The Russian governor added that a fire had broken out at the site where the UAV wreckage fell on an industrial firms premises.

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This year, countries in the international drone coalition will allocate 1.8 billion to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Source: Ukraines Defence Minister Rustem Umierov, as reported by European Pravda

The minister revealed that this decision was communicated by partners from Latvia, which co-leads the drone coalition with the United Kingdom.

Quote: "This decision will enable Ukraine to enhance its technological edge on the battlefield and more effectively destroy the enemy."

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Umierov recalled that on 31 October, the coalition's governing group held its first meeting in Riga, bringing together representatives from 17 countries: Australia, the UK, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand, Poland, France, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Ukraine.

Specifically, Latvia will allocate 20 million this year to the drone coalition, with at least 10 million directed toward domestic procurement and 5 million for joint coalition purchases.

Additionally, Ukraine signed an agreement with Latvian partners to train Ukrainian military personnel in drone piloting programs.

Background:

In June, the UK and Latvia, on behalf of the drone coalition, announced a tender to supply Ukraine with FPV drones worth 352,000.

In July, member countries of the drone coalition signed a Memorandum of Understanding, establishing a joint fund of 45 million.

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The international drone coalition is planning to gather 1.8 billion euros ($1.8 billion) by the end of 2024 to support Ukraine, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov announced on Nov. 25.

"This decision will allow Ukraine to strengthen its technological advantage on the battlefield and destroy the enemy more effectively," Umerov said.

An allied initiative, co-headed by the U.K. and Latvia, was launched in January to bolster Ukraine's arsenal of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which became a crucial capability on the battlefield. Nearly 20 countries joined the coalition as of late November.

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Riga will allocate 20 million euros ($21 million) this year for the effort. Umerov did not specify how much money other countries will allocate to the drone coalition.

Ukraine is also working to scale up domestic production, aiming to produce at least 1 million drones in 2024. Kyiv employs long-range drones to strike deep into Russian territory, targeting military infrastructure such as airfields and logistics, as well as oil refineries and depots.

Read also: Better late than never: Israeli companies finally reach out to Ukraine to help fight Iranian drones

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) spoke out against President-elect Trumps nomination of former Fox News host Pete Hegseth as Defense secretary, calling the nomination an insult to the Department of Defense.

Its frankly an insult and really troubling that Mr. Trump would nominate someone who has admitted that hes paid off a victim who has claimed rape allegations against him, she said on a Sunday Face the Nation appearance. This is not the kind of person you want to lead the Department of Defense.

Hegseth was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2017. An attorney for the Army veteran and former co-host of Fox Newss Fox & Friends Weekend has acknowledged the woman received a financial settlement to quiet the allegations.

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Duckworth lost both of her legs and some mobility in her arm when serving in Iraq. The Purple Heart recipient said she plans to raise questions about the allegations in the nomination process. Duckworth was also among some of the first women to fly combat missions as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot.

She also slammed Hegseths military experience compared to his appointed job, saying Trumps decision to tap the Fox News host shows his lack of understanding of the military. Hegseth served in combat but never held a command position.

Remember that the Pentagon is 3 million servicemen and women and civilians. It is over a $900 billion budget, Duckworth said. Hes never run anything anywhere near to that size.

Hegseth has also advocated against women in combat roles, comments Duckworth has also spoken out against.

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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO)  One of the two men accused in a deadly shooting at Dunham Park over the summer appeared in court Monday morning.

Sioux Falls police investigate weekend homicide

Walter Stewart pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, attempted murder and 2 counts of aggravated assault.

In court Monday, the state said it will not be pursuing the death penalty in this case.

A jury trial has been set for the week of February 24th.

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The second man accused in the case, Lamount Burks Jr, is behind bars in Anderson County, South Carolina. He was arrested last week when a license plate reader caught his car and alerted authorities that he was wanted in South Dakota.

Back on August 25th, four people were shot and 29-year-old Josh Allen Jr. was killed.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
The Nashville Farmers' Market hosted a "Friendsgiving" celebration on Nov. 21 that drew dozens of residents and local business, civic and political leaders to come together as one community.

Presidential elections results were on the mind of several attendees and speakers, but so was the influx of neo-Nazi groups to the city over the summer, resulting in a confrontation between group members and the Metro Council.

The Metro Human Relations Commission, an arm of Nashville-Davidson County Government, organized the event and launched a new campaign called "Humans Over Hate." The inaugural dinner was named in honor of the late restaurateur Randy Rayburn, who died earlier this year and was influential in city and state politics while also being known for his hospitality.

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"If one is hospitable, theres no place for hate," said Davie Tucker, executive director of the human relations commission, to the gathering.

Metro Human Relations Commission held the inaugural Randy Rayburn Friendsgiving dinner at the Nashville Farmers' Market on Nov. 21, 2024. Commission Executive Director Davie Tucker addresses the gathering.

Tucker told me that night, and shared with the audience, that he was also concerned about marginalized groups hating others because of differences of opinion or acts of incivility. This was not just preaching to the choir, but rather finding a way to be present with diverse groups of people. And it's not easy work.

Compromise, contradictions and disagreement are part of the USA's DNA

The farmers' market dinner was a meaningful part of the week after I returned from a trip to Memphis at the request of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center to speak to medical students about civil discourse.

Metro Human Relations Commission held the inaugural Randy Rayburn Friendsgiving dinner at the Nashville Farmers' Market on Nov. 21, 2024. Nashville Vice Mayor Angie Henderson speaks to the group. Next to her is At-Large Council Member Zulfat Suara.

I was last there for a similar talk in 2019 as part of The Tennessean's Civility Tennessee campaign, which began just before Thanksgiving 2017.

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The title of my talk on Nov. 20 was "How to Develop a Citizenship Mindset: The Evolution of Civility." This is important because the term "civility," while acceptable to some, can be off-putting to others who feel it is an excuse to silence dissent.

But as I have written in this publication before, the true origins of civility reside in the role of the citizen to uphold, challenge and sustain society.

Opinion: Avoid a political battlefield at your holiday dinner table. Follow these tips.

The United States is a nation built on compromise, challenged with contradictions, and hewn by disagreements that often get us to a better place in terms of expanding the rights of all citizens, not just some. There are political pendulum swings and also opportunities to try again building "a more perfect union," to quote the preamble of the U.S. Constitution.

Seven tips to create a civil discourse and citizenship mindset

Over the years, in my research and interactions with people, I have collected nuggets of advice to help people achieve respectful discourse while maintaining their dignity.

The Tennessean Opinion and Engagement Director David Plazas speaks to hundreds of medical students at University of Tennessee Health Science Center on the topic of civility on Nov. 20, 2024.

Here are seven tips for fomenting civil discourse that I shared with the UTHSC medical students:

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Make it intentional Create the right conditions Seek common ground Stay positive Know when to disengage Don't give up In person is better than social media

At the heart of all of it is a choice  to engage and set boundaries, to express one's sense of agency and show empathy toward others, and, most important, to be present.

The UTHSC students were especially interested in No. 2 and 5.

Organizing conversations among ideologically diverse people transparency about ground rules and expectations, thus, creating the right conditions. Many different civic groups, including Braver Angels, practice methods to doing so by bringing ideologically diverse citizens together in conversation. Just like playing a board game or a sport, the rules are there to make sure the players are accountable to each other and a moderator or conversation leader can act like a referee.

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No. 5 on disengaging is about recognizing that not every conversation will be successful, and some space may be required before returning to the task. On the other hand, sometimes, it also means moving on, especially to avoid harassment, bullying and insults. The goal is to aspire to be respectful, and, thankfully, in my experience, there are more people who are seeking this aim than not.

Self-care matters and so does practicing a daily discipline of hope

What made the Humans Over Hate event so special was that it was local, full of neighbors and fellow residents committed to wanting to build a better place for all city residents. I suggested to the students to start making progress within their own communities to start.

I know many people in my own circles who say they want to turn off the news completely or figuratively sleep through the next four years.

Taking breaks for one's self-care is fully understandable. At the same, our neighbors need us and we need them.

Metro Human Relations Commission held the inaugural Randy Rayburn Friendsgiving dinner at the Nashville Farmers' Market on Nov. 21, 2024.

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We benefit from creating a daily discipline of hope, being present in the community, fighting bad policy or ideas, standing up for our rights, and listening to and supporting our neighbors.

Nurturing a democratic republic, and the layers from municipality to state to federal, requires regular maintenance, not just a tune-up every four years during a presidential election.

As the holiday season continues, may you many opportunities to build community.

David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee. He is an editorial board member of The Tennessean. He hosts the Tennessee Voices videocast and curates the Tennessee Voices and Latino Tennessee Voices newsletters. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or tweet to him at @davidplazas.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville 'Friendsgiving' event reminds us to choose love | Opinion
Is meatloaf on your Thanksgiving dinner menu? If so, consider making Donald Trumps Mothers Meatloaf.

The dish, said to be a favorite of the president-elect, has the traditional tomato sauce topping, and is best when served alongside mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy, according to a post on One for the Table: Food, Politics and Love.

The recipe for Donald Trumps Mothers Meatloaf  also called Mrs. Trumps Meatloaf, Trumps Moms Meatloaf, Trumploaf and Trumps Favorite Meatloaf on Pinterest and other recipe sites online  calls for two pounds of ground beef, a Spanish onion, red bell pepper and green bell pepper, among other traditional meatloaf ingredients. The site says the recipe was submitted by Donald Trump.

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In a December 2017 Palm Beach Post story, society columnist Shannon Donnelly, whos covered Trump and his life on Palm Beach for years for the Palm Beach Daily News, said his favorite meal was the following: crabmeat cocktail to start, then either Mrs. Trumps Meatloaf (his mothers recipe) or chopped steak with mashed potatoes and gravy.

Due to public demand we are making Trump Loaf for everyone! Yep thats right, its not just for the President  its for you too! #trumploaf #makingmeatloafgreatagain#meatlofgirls pic.twitter.com/4ZSBRMnR4i  Ruth Ann's Restaurant (@RestaurantRuth) June 15, 2023

In a March 2024 story, the owners of Ruth Anns Restaurant in Columbus, Georgia, told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer newspaper that they created a meatloaf dish inspired by Trumps mothers meatloaf. The restaurant had been on the list of possible campaign stops in June 2023.

Mary Heisey, owner of Ruth Ann's Restaurant, told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer that the staff was prompted to make a dish the former president liked when it was announced that Trump would be appearing at the (2023) Georgia GOP Convention in Columbus. Trump never made it to Ruth Anns, however: He ended up visiting a Waffle House instead.

Since Trump wasnt coming to Heisey, Heisey decided to go to him. She went to the Waffle House with a piece of meatloaf from Ruth Anns Restaurant, told him she made his mothers meatloaf and gifted it to the former president. The moment was caught on camera and went viral on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, in June 2023. A check online on Nov. 24, 2024, shows meatloaf on Ruth Anns Restaurant menu  though there is no mention of the former president or his mother.

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To see the recipe for Donald Trumps Mothers Meatloaf, click on this One for the Table post.

Wow! Trump was surprised with a special gift inside the restaurant.



Someone made him a meatloaf, which was Trumps late-mothers homemade meatloaf recipe. pic.twitter.com/slWpLjpuBb  The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) June 10, 2023

Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network-Florida. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump meatloaf or Mrs. Trumps mothers meatloaf among his fave meals
BEIRUT, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab said on Monday that a ceasefire deal with Israel has become close after a meeting of the Parliament Bureau.

"We are approaching the ceasefire moment. This week or in the next ten days, there will be a decisive position," Bou Saab said, according to the Lebanese official National News Agency (NNA).

"We are optimistic, there is hope, but we cannot be certain with someone like (Benjamin) Netanyahu," he added, noting that the final decision for a ceasefire in Lebanon will be taken according to developments in the war field.

The meeting of the Parliament Bureau was chaired by Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri and was also attended by Bou Saab, parliamentary secretaries Hadi Abou Al-Hosn and Alain Aoun, commissioners Michel Moussa, Karim Kabbara, and Hagop Pakradounian, as well as Secretary-General of Parliament Adnan Daher, the NNA reported.

Earlier in the day, Israel's state-owned Kan TV News reported that a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon is expected to be announced this week.

Meanwhile, Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon said that Israel is moving towards a ceasefire with Lebanon.

"We haven't finalized it yet, but we are moving forward," he said.

Since Sept. 23, the Israeli army has intensified its air attack on Lebanon in an escalation of conflict with Hezbollah. Israel further initiated a ground operation across its northern border into Lebanon in early October. 
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN)  The Dayton Police Department is warning the community of the uptick in fraud, relating to EBT.

In a post from Dayton Police, authorities are wanting area residents to stay vigilant of staying safe when using their EBT card.

Skimming device | Dayton Police Department

According to police, it is suggested EBT users take a look at the card reader before inserting their card. A photo by the department shows a skimming device placed over what an unsuspecting customer could find attached to the card reader.

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How brushing scams could target you around the holidays

If the card reader appears to be tampered with you should immediately call the store manager and police. You should not hand your EBT card to the cashier.

Police encourage EBT users to frequently change their PIN number, as well as have most up-to-date version downloaded of the ConnectEBT app to lower the risk of becoming subject to EBT fraud. The app allows customers to lock their card in between transactions.

Customers who are able to are also encouraged to use their EBT card for online food purchases.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Corinn O'Brien, A+ Vice President of Policy, speaks at the Education Opportunity Summit on Nov. 22 in Birmingham, Alabama. O'Brien advocated for a change to the state's almost three-decade old funding formula. (Jemma Stephenson/Alabama Reflector)

BIRMINGHAM A prominent Alabama education group Friday called for changes to the states method of funding schools, a topic that legislators have been discussing for several months.

Speaking at the Alabama Opportunity Summit in Birmingham, a gathering of educational stakeholders in the state including educators, advocates and policymakers, Corinn OBrien, vice president of policy at A+ Education Partnerships, said alterations to the formula could free up more money for schools.

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This is the thing that is the once in a generation legislative victory that we believe will truly transform our schools and provide the opportunities that Alabama students need and deserve, she said.

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A+ Education Partnership, an education advocacy organization, was among the hosts for the Alabama Opportunity Summit on Friday. The group has also been working with legislative budget chairs on potentially changing the state funding formula.

Alabama has traditionally underfunded public education, due to strict property tax caps dating from the end of Reconstruction that limit local spending on schools, as well as limits on assessments of property. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Alabama spent $11,819 per pupil in 2022, below the national average of $15,633.

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The proposed changes would not alter taxation. Instead, they would rework the states current method of distributing revenues, called the K-12 Foundation Program, which was adopted in 1995.

Under the foundation program, money is allocated based on units and how much resources like teachers cost.

Lawmakers have been meeting in a joint legislative commission throughout the year to study the current funding formula. Lawmakers have set four guidelines: that funding aligns with student needs; that all districts see increased per-pupil funding; that school systems receive more flexibility in allocating the funding they receive through the states funding formula and that systems will retain control over local funding, without money shifting from one district to another.

Lawmakers and education officials have been considering a shift to a model known as a weighted student funding formula. In such a formula, schools would receive a base amount of money, with extra money allocated for students with special needs or those facing economic disadvantages.

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OBrien cited research from Bellwether, an education organization that worked on proposed changes to the formula, that said that money from the Education Trust Fund allocated for learning needs is only $133.2 million, compared to $5.3 billion allocated for all students, such as nurses and the foundation program.

She said that a poll of 500 people performed by A+ around a year ago showed that 66% of respondents supported modernizing the way schools are funded in the state, according to Mark Dixon, president of A+.

The discussions of the changes come on the heels of voters rejecting proposals to increase local property taxes for school districts in the state. Autauga County residents voted down a 7 mill property increase earlier this month, according to the Montgomery Advertiser. Trussville voters earlier this year rejected a 12.9 mill increase, according to WTVM 13.

In response to a question from an audience member, OBrien said that the failed tax referendums from around the state didnt necessarily indicate that a desire for modern school funding had changed, saying those votes were about tax increases.

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We believe this is possible without additional taxes, she said.

OBrien said later in the day that there were conversations around whether changing the formula would require a constitutional amendment. Nearly all of Alabamas tax revenues are earmarked for specific purposes. A 1947 constitutional amendment requires all but a small fraction of the states income tax to pay teachers salaries.

There are people looking to figure out exactly things that might need to be adjusted and changed as we speak, she said.

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Egyptian authorities said Tuesday that eight more people had been found after a tourist boat carrying a dive group sank early the previous morning off the country's Red Sea coast. Four more people were found alive  two Belgians and one Egyptian and one Swiss national  bringing the total number rescued from the capsized luxury yacht to 32.

Four others were found dead, Red Sea Governate authorities said Tuesday, and eight people were still missing amid an ongoing search operation.

The Red Sea governorate initially said 45 people were on the boat but later revised the figure down to 44, including the 13 crew and 31 tourists of different nationalities.

A file photo shared online by the Red Sea governate of Egypt shows the Sea Story luxury yacht, which authorities said had capsized early on the morning of Nov. 25, 2024. / Credit: Red Sea Governate/Facebook

The luxury yacht Sea Story capsized early Monday morning after setting sail Sunday from Port Ghalib Marina, near Marsa Alam on Egypt's Red Sea coast, for a diving trip that was scheduled to last until Friday, when the boat should have docked in Hurghada.

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The regional Red Sea control center received a distress signal at 5:30 a.m. local time on Monday from a member of the Sea Story crew, regional authorities said in a statement, and search and rescue teams were immediately dispatched to the location.

Red Sea Governor Maj. Gen. Amr Hanafi said some of the survivors were airlifted from the site for medical treatment, while the remaining survivors were assisted on rescue vessels until a military frigate arrived to transport them back to shore.

A man rescued from the capsized yacht Sea Story off Egypt's Red Sea coast is assisted by emergency responders, Nov. 25, 2024, in an image provided by the Red Sea Governate. / Credit: Red Sea Governate/Facebook

The governor said military aircraft and naval units were still searching Monday for the 16 left missing, and the survivors were receiving medical care as required.

The cause of the accident and the nationalities of the victims had not been confirmed as of Monday afternoon in Egypt. Hanafi said the boat was inspected in March and there were no issues; the boat obtained a license for a year.

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According to The Associated Press, the Egyptian Meteorological Authority had warned that high seas were expected on the Red Sea Sunday and Monday, and advised against maritime activity for both days.

Lowrider cars celebrated as cultural symbol among Mexican Americans | 60 Minutes

UATX says it fights college censorship culture with a focus on free speech | 60 Minutes

Homan blasts Biden immigration policies during trip to U.S.-Mexico border
El Pueblo director Iliana Santillan (File photo)

One group of North Carolinians for whom the election is likely to have a significant impact is the immigrant community. With President-elect Trump promising a wave of mass deportations and our state legislature plowing ahead with legislation to force local sheriffs to partner with federal immigration control officials, a new period of uncertainty and upheaval for thousands of families (and the businesses that rely on immigrant workers) appears to be in offing.

Despite all this, voter surveys indicate that Trump did better with Latin American voters than some had expected  a fact that illustrates how diverse the Latin American community is. Earlier this week, NC Newsline got a chance to discuss this situation and whats likely to come next with the leader of one of our states leading Latino issues advocacy organizations  the executive director of El Pueblo, Iliana Santillan.
The 80-year-old experienced a hip injury after an unidentified man shoved him off the train just seconds before the automatic doors closed

Getty The Grand Central Subway Station in New York City The Grand Central Subway Station in New York City

The New York Police Department (NYPD) is on the hunt for a man who shoved an 80-year-old man onto a subway platform in Manhattan.

On Wednesday, Nov. 20, the elderly man was boarding a train at the Grand Central-42nd Street subway station from Lexington Avenue around 4:30 p.m. local time when an unidentified younger man began to argue with him, NYPD officials confirmed to PEOPLE on Sunday, Nov. 24.

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In a video shared by the NYPD, the younger man can be seen yelling and quickly shoving the 80-year-old out of the subway car. After the automatic doors shut, the younger man stands on the train as it leaves the platform.

"The unidentified individual pushed the male victim off the train, causing him to fall onto the northbound platform," police said in a press release, detailing that the elderly man injured his hip in the incident.

NYPD/X Security camera footage shows the alleged assailant standing in a subway car. Security camera footage shows the alleged assailant standing in a subway car.

Emergency medical personnel took the injured man to New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital, and he is now in stable condition, police said. The alleged assailant, meanwhile, stayed on the train and "fled to parts unknown," they added.

Detectives shared an image of the younger man, along with a description, as they asked for the public's help in locating the attacker.

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"The sought individual is described as a male with light complexion, approximately 6' 3" and 210 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt, brown hat and black headphones," the press release states.

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.

This incident is the latest of several injuries and deaths that have happened in N.Y.C.'s subway system in recent years. Back in March, a representative for the NYPD confirmed to PEOPLE that a man died after being pushed onto the train tracks at East Harlem's 125th St. station.

The NYPD said the act was "unprovoked," adding that the train could not stop in time and struck the victim, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The suspect, a 24-year-old male, was later taken into custody.

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That same month, a man accused of pushing his girlfriend onto a subway track after a domestic dispute was charged with attempted murder and felony assault. The 29-year-old woman was struck by a train at the Fulton Street station in downtown Manhattan, police told PEOPLE at the time.

Additionally, last month, local outlets including ABC 7 New York reported that an 82-year-old woman was pushed onto subway tracks at a station in Flushing, Queens, but no suspect was caught in that case.



Anyone with information about this most recent attack has been asked to contact the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).


FRANKLIN COUNTY, Mo.  An elderly man is dead and three teenagers are seriously injured following a collision on a service road just off Interstate 44 in St. Clair, Missouri.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrols crash report, the collision occurred around 9:10 p.m. Saturday on North Service Road near Marcus Drive.

The highway patrol said a 2010 Mazda 3 and a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee were traveling on the service road; the Mazda was headed west while the Cherokee was going east.

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The report says the driver of the Mazda was not paying attention and crossed the center line into eastbound traffic. The front left of the Mazda struck the front left of the Cherokee.

Second man arrested in womans St. Louis death after Clayton abduction

The Mazda was knocked into a spin and went off the side of the road. The Cherokee struck and came to rest on top of a guardrail.

EMS pronounced the driver of the Mazda dead just after 10 p.m. while en route to the hospital. He was 76. The 18-year-old driver of the Cherokee and the two passengers, ages 17 and 15, suffered serious injuries.

According to the report, the 76-year-old was wearing his seat belt at the time of the collision; the three teens in the Cherokee were not.

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CORRECTION: A prior version of this story incorrectly stated the Cherokee crossed the center when, in fact, it was the Mazda. We regret the error.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
Elon Musk is already identifying specific government employees with fake jobs as he recommends mass firings as co-chair of Donald Trumps newly-created Department of Government Efficiency.

The billionaire re-shared a post last week that highlighted Ashley Thomas, a little-known director of climate diversification at the US International Development Finance Corporation. The original poster shared a screenshot of Thomass role, writing, I dont think the US Taxpayer should pay for the employment of a Director of Climate Diversification (she/her) at the US International Development Finance Corporation.

Musk captioned his re-shared post: So many fake jobs.

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Thomass role is anything but fake. Her work involves finding innovations that serve the countrys interests, an agency official told the Wall Street Journal, including bolstering infrastructure and agriculture against extreme weather events  which are on the rise due to the ongoing climate crisis.

Thomas, 37, holds engineering, business and water science degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Oxford, and works for a federal agency that partners with private companies to finance ways to improve living standards in developing countries, according to the Journal.

Donald Trump tapped Elon Musk, the worlds richest man, to co-lead the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency (Getty Images)

Musks remark sparked a flurry of responses, with some defending Thomas while others mocked her.

A tough way for Ashley Thomas to find out shes losing her job, one user posted, according to the Journal.

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You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about and dangerously targeting a person who works an honest job to provide for their family, civil rights activist Michael Skolnik said.

An official with the US International Development Finance Corporation told The Independent the agency does not comment on individual personnel positions or matters.

Musk and Ramaswamy also penned an op-ed for the Journal last week explaining their plan for the Department of Government Efficiency.

They claimed their department will be guided by a pair of Supreme Court rulings that legal scholars have warned will turn the courts into weapons against federal regulations that right-wing groups have spent years trying to undermine, The Independent previously reported.

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We are focused on delivering cost savings for taxpayers, they wrote. The Skeptics question how much federal spending DOGE can tame through executive action alone.

They point to the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, which stops the president from ceasing expenditures authorized by Congress, they continued. Mr. Trump has previously suggested this statute is unconstitutional, and we believe the current Supreme Court would likely side with him on this question.

Musk and Ramaswamy appear utterly ignorant of federal laws that mandate clear and strict procedures for repealing regulations, administrative law expert and George Washington University professor Richard Pierce told The Washington Post on Sunday.

The Independent has contacted Musk for comment.
Elon Musk has shared his own disbelief that the government efficiency department Donald Trump tapped him to lead is real.

The worlds richest man and SpaceX owner, who holds billions of dollars in government contracts through his companies, appeared to mock the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in a post on X.

I still cant believe @DOGE is real, he said, followed by two laughing emojis.

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But I think its actually going to work, he added.

Musk will head up the newly-created department in Trumps second administration alongside venture capitalist Vivek Ramaswamy.

Under Musk, the new office  which will operate outside of government  will advise on gutting federal departments and which staff should be fired if it deems they are a massive waste.

MAGA congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has also been tapped to chair a House subcommittee that will work in tandem with DOGE.

Musk, who holds billions in government contracts through his companies, will take up the advisory role in Trumps administration (AP)

The panel will recommend firing government bureaucrats and will provide transparency and truth to the American people through hearings, according to Greene.

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It will operate under the House Oversight Committee, chaired by Republican congressman James Comer of Kentucky.

When he announced the new department earlier this month, Trump vowed that Musk and Ramaswamy would pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.

The president-elect characterized the department as an advisory board that will provide guidance outside of government.

This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people! Musk said off the back of the announcement.

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In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, Musk and Ramaswamy said they want to reduce annual federal spending by at least $500 billion.

Elon Musk shared his own disbelief about DOGE in a post on X (@elonmusk/X)

They specified they would cut $1.5 billion earmarked for international organizations, another $535 million to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds hundreds of locally owned public radio and television stations, and another $300 million for progressive groups like Planned Parenthood.

Musk has said he would recommend cutting the nations budget by at least $2 trillion  or roughly one-third.

The Tesla CEO spoke about his intentions to slash federal spending and the potential impacts of the plans on the campaign trail.

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At a virtual town hall event on October 26, Musk warned that if Trump was reelected, their plans for the economy would likely call for temporary hardship for Americans.

We have to reduce spending to live within our means, Musk said at the time. And, you know, that necessarily involves some temporary hardship, but it will ensure long-term prosperity.
KUNMING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Each year from November to March, Cuihu Park in central Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, transforms into a haven for migratory birds.

Thousands of black-headed gulls travel from far distant places, such as Siberia, and gather in a city famous for its all-year spring-like climate. The striking red-beaked, white-feathered gulls draw crowds of visitors to Kunming.

For 58-year-old Lyu Guoqiang, this season marks his annual return to the park -- not as a tourist, but as a volunteer bird protector.

"Every morning, I patrol the lake, watching over the gulls," Lyu said. "If we spot a sick bird, we take a boat to rescue it and send it to a wildlife rescue station. We also educate visitors on proper feeding practices -- encouraging them to use grain formulated for the birds' health."

Lyu has volunteered as a bird protector for six years. The park employs a seasonal team of six to 10 guards like Lyu to take care of the black-headed gulls, said Chen Wen, office director of Cuihu Park.

A Kunming native, Lyu's connection to the black-headed gulls runs deep. "I've loved these birds since childhood," he said. "I used to photograph them, then I brought my children, and now I bring my grandchildren to see them."

The gulls began wintering in Yunnan in the 1980s. Lyu has noted a decline in their numbers at Cuihu Park over the past decade -- but sees this as a positive sign.

"The improved urban environment has created more habitats for them," he explained. "Now, the gulls are also found in places such Dianchi Lake and Erhai Lake in Dali."

According to Chen, many residents share a deep affection for the gulls, much like Lyu. Among them, the story of an elderly man and the gulls that took place in the 20th century still resonates deeply.

Wu Qingheng, a childless man who lived alone, developed a unique bond with the black-headed gulls. Each day, Wu walked more than 10 kilometers to the lake to feed the birds, dedicating over half of his monthly pension to buying their feed. He continued this routine for years, until his death.

"Though the 'seagull elder' passed away more than 20 years ago, his connection with the gulls has become a cherished legacy," Chen said. "In 2006, a statue was erected in the park in his honor."

According to Chen, Cuihu Park, known as the "eye of Kunming" to local people, is also home to a growing diversity of birds -- including egrets, nightingales and common moorhens. The number of bird species observed in the park has increased from 25 three years ago to the current 95, and includes eight protected species.

"Birds are the best indicator of the environment," Chen noted, adding that the growing diversity of birds is a testament to the improvement of the local ecological environment.

Notably, more bird lovers have joined in ecological conservation efforts. Li Weiwei, a researcher at the Kunming Institute of Zoology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is one of those to contribute to this improved biodiversity.

In 2021, she and her team worked with Cuihu Park staff in creating a floating bird island to provide roosting habitats for herons and other aquatic birds. They expanded this initiative in 2024, adding a nocturnal island for forest birds and herons.

"The bird islands help counter urban wildlife habitat fragmentation. In the future, we will implement more ways of creating micro-habitats for birds in different ecological environments," Li said, adding that they've also introduced many bird-friendly plants, like golden bell trees, to the park.

Li believes that the protection of birds cannot rely solely on the efforts of scientists. Li said what is required is the raising of public awareness and the involvement of all citizens in the biodiversity conservation quest.

In 2019, Li and other scientists took the lead in developing a portable device for environmental DNA collection. Using the device, scientists can infer the presence and diversity of organisms by collecting trace amounts of DNA present in the environment.

"We hope to engage the public in joining testing efforts for biodiversity conservation," she said.

Li was also involved in the establishment of an on-site museum at the park, which features interactive exhibitions, science popularization activities and AI-powered bird identification.

Li revealed that they have established four high-definition cameras in the park that can be rotated 360 degrees to monitor the activities of birds in real time 24 hours a day, with footage displayed on a screen in the museum.

"Visitors can watch live footage and learn about bird species through AI technology," she said.

"Public awareness is key to biodiversity conservation," Li added. "By involving citizens, we can foster greater understanding and urgency for protecting these ecosystems." 
Elon Musk criticized the F-35 program on Sunday.

Musk's comments come as he prepares to advise Trump on government efficiency in 2025.

The GAO expects the F-35 program to cost about $2 trillion over its entire lifespan.

Elon Musk, who's set to start advising President-elect Donald Trump on government efficiency in 2025, criticized the Pentagon's F-35 program in two social media posts on Sunday.

The billionaire reposted a video montage of coordinated drone swarms on X, writing: "Meanwhile, some idiots are still building manned fighter jets like the F-35."

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He added a "trash can" emoji to his post.

When another X user defended the F-35's capabilities, Musk responded that the prized jet is a "shit design."

Meanwhile, some idiots are still building manned fighter jets like the F-35  

pic.twitter.com/4JX27qcxz1  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2024

In another post, Musk said: "Crewed fighter jets are an inefficient way to extend the range of missiles or drop bombs. A reusable drone can do so without all the overhead of a human pilot."

"'Stealth' means nothing", he added, saying that it's "laughably easy" to shoot down fighter jets.

Musk has made similar arguments several times over the years.

Mauro Gilli, a senior researcher in military technology at the Center for Security Studies of the Swiss university ETH Zurich, told BI that Musk was echoing valid criticisms of the F-35 program.

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But, he said, there were many problems with Musk's line of thinking.

Gilli acknowledged that the F-35 program has had well-documented cost and time overruns. But those problems are not primarily down to them being crewed aircraft, he told BI.

"The primary source of costs and problems was the electronics and, in particular, the software," he said.

And that would only get more expensive with a drone equivalent, he added.

"A drone operating within enemy airspace will not be remotely controlled," Gilli said. "It will need to have a very high level of autonomy."

This requires even more costly and complex electronics and software than even a piloted aircraft, he suggested.

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According to Gilli, Musk's suggestion is to rely on something that has "so far been the primary source of cost and time delays. And so there is no reason to believe that these drones would be any cheaper."

Musk's emphasis on a "reusable" drone also means it would need all the same stealth capabilities as an F-35 in penetrating enemy airspace and evading air defenses, Gilli said, making his comments about stealth a moot point.

A target for DOGE?

It's unclear if Musk intends to use his new position to impact any plans or costs for the F-35, the Pentagon's most expensive fighter program to date.

But he mentioned Defense Department spending in a column in The Wall Street Journal that criticized federal government budgets.

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"The Pentagon recently failed its seventh consecutive audit, suggesting that the agency's leadership has little idea how its annual budget of more than $800 billion is spent," Musk wrote in the column with Vivek Ramaswamy, who is to lead Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency with him.

Musk and Ramaswamy wrote that the intention of their department is to eliminate the "sheer magnitude of waste, fraud, and abuse that nearly all taxpayers wish to end."

As for the F-35, costs for the Lockheed Martin-developed stealth jet have hit about $485 billion, after a 10% bump this year due to what the Pentagon said was a need to improve its engine cooling.

Around 1,000 of the planes have been delivered to the US military and its allies, out of a total of over 3,000 aircraft planned for production over the F-35 program's lifetime.

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The jet's operational lifespan is estimated to last until 2088, and the Government Accountability Office thus expects the F-35 program to cost over $2 trillion to produce and sustain.

Musk did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider, but he's said before that the US should consider remote-piloted alternatives to manned jets, both to keep up with the rise in drone warfare and also to help Air Force procurement stay competitive.

In response to Musk's tweets, a Lockheed Martin spokesperson told BI that the F-35 is "the most advanced, survivable and connected fighter aircraft in the world, a vital deterrent and the cornerstone of joint all-domain operations."

"As we did in his first term, we look forward to a strong working relationship with President Trump, his team, and also with the new Congress to strengthen our national defense," they added.

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Meanwhile, a Pentagon spokesperson told BI: "We have combat capable aircraft in operation today and they perform exceptionally well against the threat for which they were designed."

The spokesperson added: "Pilots continually emphasize that this is the fighter they want to take to war if called upon."

Read the original article on Business Insider
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  Police say a man armed with a hammer broke into a Wendys before dawn Monday, but ran away after an employee hiding in an office fired a gun through the door.

According to reports, MPD responded to 6260 Winchester Road just after 2 a.m. An employee told officers that she was in her office in the back of the business when she heard glass breaking from the front of the store.

Man in custody after shots fired at Lakeland apartments

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The woman said she immediately closed and locked the office door, and moments later, she heard the suspect walking near it.

She then grabbed her Glock and fired one shot through the office door, police say.

The drive-through window at Wendys was broken out. Photo by WREG

MPD said when they reviewed surveillance footage, a man wearing a grey hoodie, grey sweatpants, gray sneakers, black face mask, and armed with a hammer could be seen breaking the drive-through window and climbing through.

 See more breaking news, local news and weather from WREG.com for Memphis and the Mid-South.

 Sign up for WREG newsletters and have the latest top stories sent right to your inbox.

The suspect was then seen walking toward the back of the store near the office and then climbing on the countertop, pulling out wires to disable the alarm system.

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Thats when the employee fired her gun.

Police say the suspect heard the shot, got off the counter, and jumped back through the drive-through window, fleeing the scene.

MPD says no shooting victims were located at area hospitals after the incident. No charges were listed against the employee.

WREG reached out to Wendys for comment. The company replied:

On behalf of Wendys of Tennessee, we take the safety of our employees very seriously and are glad that no one was injured in this incident. We are cooperating with law enforcement and cannot comment further on the situation. Thank you.

If you have any information that could help police, call CrimeStoppers at 901-528-CASH.

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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 WREG.com.
Equipment at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) is increasingly deteriorating due to the actions of the Russians, and the power plant itself is in disarray.

Source: Petro Kotin, the director of Energoatom, Ukraines state-owned nuclear company

Quote from Kotin: "There is practically no plant. There is a military base there, with military personnel and incomprehensible staff."

Details: Petro Kotin emphasised that the transmission of data on what is happening at the ZNPP must resume as soon as possible to the official operator Energoatom, the state regulator and the IAEA.

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Kotin added that the ZNPP had not had a single incident in 40 years of operation while it was controlled by Ukraine. However, after the Russians seized it, it became a threat.

Background:

The IAEA is calling for the immediate withdrawal of the Russian military and other personnel from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and the return of the plant to the control of the Ukrainian authorities to ensure its safety.

The ZNPP was repairing one of its six reactors after a small water leak was detected from an impulse line, which is part of the reactor's cooling pump support system.

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Near the cafeteria of the Rayburn House Office Building, right next to the trash bins, is a drab room with rows of cubicles wistfully called the "Departing Member Center."

After every election, sitting members of the House who are retiring or lost their race are relegated to this sad wing for their final weeks in office. At the same time, incoming members show up for a freshman orientation that culminates in gleefully picking out paint colors, drapes and furniture for the offices they will occupy for at least the next two years.

The transition period is a thorny time on Capitol Hill, occupied simultaneously by anticipation and resignation. Attention is showered on wide-eyed new members flooding the halls while those departing are rather ungraciously shunted aside in their final days.

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A staffer for one California House member called it "the Congress experience at its worst."

Even outgoing Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank)  elected Nov. 6 to serve as California's next U.S. senator  was told he had until last Wednesday to vacate his House office.

Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), center, welcomes incoming Democratic senators in his Washington office. From left, Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Ruben Gallego (D-Md.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.). (Mariam Zuhaib / Associated Press)

I walked back to do a staff photo in my House office, and my name had already been taken off the wall, he said. So there was this blank space on the wall. I'm like, oh my God, they've taken my name!

Like most, he was wholly unimpressed by the temporary digs offered in the departing member center. He has a separate basement office that he described as "totally luxurious" by comparison.

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Fortunately for Schiff, he will take over outgoing Sen. Laphonza Butlers space when she and her team leave next month.

Incoming House members met early Thursday morning at the Capitol for the 119th congressional office lottery, a tradition that started with the 60th Congress in 1908.

Members were called at random to approach a polished wooden box holding numbered chips that determined the order in which they would get to choose an available office suite. Those with the lowest numbers would get first pick.

It was a moment of competitive levity at the end of their whirlwind two-week orientation  but also one of high stakes. It determined whether their staff would work in a spacious suite with window views of the National Mall and a short walk to the Capitol building, or be stuck with something far less impressive and convenient.

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Rep.-elect Craig Goldman (R-Tex.) was up first. He got 48.

Oh, that hurts! Rep.-elect Sam Liccardo (D-San Jose) jokingly heckled from the sidelines. Enjoy the basement!

Rep.-elect Sam Liccardo (D-San Jose) speaks after a news conference to introduce newly elected members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Nov. 15 in Washington. (Mariam Zuhaib / Associated Press)

Members cheered in unison when one of their colleagues pulled a low number, and groaned when they pulled a high number.

Rep.-elect Luz Rivas (D-North Hollywood) pumped her fists and did a sign of the cross as she walked up to the lottery box. She got 43.

Rep.-elect Laura Friedman, (D-Glendale) posted a selfie with Rivas on X as the process got underway, calling it "the Capitol's equivalent of a sporting event."

When it was Liccardos turn, he did an arm wave  he later said veteran members of Congress had told him there was a tradition of dancing for good luck. But he winced as he looked down at his chip: 47.

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I finished better in the election, he said.

Rep.-elect Lateefah Simon (D-Richmond) attended but didnt participate in the lottery. She said she had submitted a request to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for an accessible office that could meet the needs of people with disabilities. On Wednesday, Johnson approved her request, giving her an office on the first floor of the Longworth House Office Building.

Im a disability advocate, the only disabled person in this class, and I ran on that, said Simon, who was born legally blind. What a wonderful way to start my process here at the Capitol, being able to say to the disability community  your needs will be accommodated.

Read more: Just 314 votes separate candidates in one of nations closest House races, with more ballots to go

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Candidates in races that havent been called yet could not participate in the lottery. In California, two races remain too close to call. Rep. John Duarte (R-Modesto), who is up against Democrat Adam Gray, had a lead of just 210 votes Friday afternoon. Democrat Derek Tran was beating incumbent Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Seal Beach) by 480 votes.

Duarte's spokesman Duane Dichiara said it's strange that the timing of California races being called and the regular churn of Congress don't sync.

The Departing Member Center is on the ground level of the Rayburn House Office Building. (Andrea Castillo / Los Angeles Times)

"The way to deal with it would be to make California count their ballots in a reasonable time period," he said. "It should integrate with how Congress actually works and not just be at the whims of the county registrar."

Tran attended the new member orientation, but Gray did not. In 2022, when Duarte and Gray were separated by 564 votes, both attended the orientation.

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When it comes to choosing an office, Liccardo said that if Gray and Tran beat the incumbents, they would take over their offices.

Its actually a blessing in disguise, he said. We're all very jealous of Derek Tran because hes probably got it in the bag  and hes got a nice suite, too.

Simon will represent the district currently represented by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), who is retiring. Lees staffers have moved out of her coveted office with a view of the Capitol and are now working out of cafes, Simon said.

Its crazy, right? she said. Theres really no place for them. They have a lot of ingenuity in trying to figure out how to finish the work.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
(WJET/WFXP) As we move further into the digital age and access to the internet becomes more important, several local elected officials announced laptops are being awarded to four Erie County organizations as part of a nationwide effort to improve their access to the internet.

Elected officials including State Senator Dan Laughlin and State Representatives Bob Merski and Pat Harkins announced the funding for the Union City Area School District, Corry Higher Education Council, Erie County Public Library and the Arts Council of Erie County. Each organization was awarded the following:

YMCA of Greater Erie making changes to benefit local families

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Union City Area School District, 80 laptops.

Corry Higher Education Council, 75 laptops.

Erie County Public Library, 70 laptops.

The Arts Council of Erie County, 20 laptops.

Laptops for the Erie County Public Library will be available for the public to use for on-site for research, job applications, and other essential online tasks along with being integrated into the librarys digital literacy programs.

We all know how important broadband internet is in our daily lives, and this funding will increase access to technology devices, the cost of which is preventing broadband use, said Laughlin.

Erie earns third straight 100 on Human Rights Campaigns Municipal Equality Index

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Access to technology is no longer a luxury; its a necessity in todays world, Harkins said. These laptops will provide invaluable resources to Erie residents, helping them develop digital skills, search for jobs and access online educational opportunities. Im proud to see our community benefiting from this important state initiative.

The grants were funded through the federally backed ARPA Digital Connectivity Technology Program and were part of a $20 million competitive grant process to Pennsylvania public-facing community institutions and parts of local governments to purchase devices, mainly laptops.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Today, Ethel Kennedy was buried in Arlington National Cemetery alongside her husband, the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy.

"Today, Mummy was laid to rest next to Daddy at Arlington National Cemetery. Her extraordinary life and enduring legacy will continue to guide and inspire us," wrote Ethel and Bobby's daughter Kerry Kennedy on social media. "We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of love and support during this time."

Today, Mummy was laid to rest next to Daddy at Arlington National Cemetery. Her extraordinary life and enduring legacy will continue to guide and inspire us. We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of love and support during this time.



Photographer: @kennerly pic.twitter.com/TDLi2BwEWB  Kerry Kennedy (@KerryKennedyRFK) November 25, 2024

Ethel passed away earlier this year at the age of 96 after suffering from a stroke.

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"It is with our hearts full of love that we announce the passing of our amazing grandmother, Ethel Kennedy. She died this morning from complications related to a stroke suffered last week," read a family statement shared on X (formerly Twitter) by her grandson Joe Kennedy III. "Along with a lifetimes work in social justice and human rights, our mother leaves behind nine children, 34 grandchildren, and 24 great-great-grandchildren, along with numerous nieces and nephews, all of whom love her dearly."

In recent months, Ethel's children have publicly feuded, as several of them spoke out first against their brother Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s presidential campaign and later his endorsement of President-elect Donald Trump, but today, they put their differences aside to pay tribute to their mother.

Pool - Getty Images

This service marks the third memorial for the Kennedy family matriarch. One week after her passing, her family gathered on Cape Cod for a funeral mass at Our Lady of Victory, in Centerville, Massachusetts, a fitting send off for a devout Catholic.

Then, she was eulogized with a service in Washington, D.C. at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle at which President Joe Biden spoke.

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"For over 50 years, with Ethel's own iron will and moral courage, she gave it everything she had," he said. "We're a better nation and a better world because of Ethel Kennedy." Former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton also paid their respects, as did Martin Luther King III.

Pool - Getty Images

Today marks a third and final tribute, and perhaps fittingly, Ethel's burial took place on the anniversary of President Kennedy's own funeral; he was laid to rest on November 25, 1963. Ethel and Robert's gravesite is right next to that of President Kennedy, his wife Jackie, and two of their children, Patrick and Arabella.

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(Bloomberg) --

Most Read from Bloomberg

The European Union has only seen limited progress in recent weeks in negotiations with China over a comprehensive deal to replace tariffs on electric vehicles, according to people familiar with the matter.

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China and the EU are continuing technical talks after discussions in Beijing earlier this month where both sides touted some progress. However, not much has changed since those talks and there has been minimal engagement between the two sides, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

China hasnt yet moved toward the EUs strict requirements on ensuring that any arrangement is enforceable and matches the effect of the anti-subsidy tariffs the bloc adopted last month, the people added. Member states also havent been informed of any significant progress, according to a diplomat familiar with the state of play.

The two sides have been exploring an agreement on so-called price undertakings  a complex mechanism to control prices and volumes of exports, used to avoid tariffs. Brussels and Beijing also remain at odds over the possibility of agreements with individual carmakers, including European firms that have joint ventures with Chinese companies.

The EU argues that such deals would be compliant with World Trade Organization rules while Beijing insists on negotiating an umbrella agreement led by a Chinese trade body. Discussions with a small group of European carmakers with joint ventures in China are continuing, the people said.

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Spokespeople for the European Commission declined to comment.

German broadcaster N-TV reported earlier that the EU and China were nearing an agreement to replace the duties, citing remarks by a European Parliament lawmaker. Shares of Chinese carmakers rose Monday after analysts at Morgan Stanley said the negotiations bode well for the nations EV makers.

Talks have mostly focused on establishing a communication mechanism between Brussels and Beijing, as well as avoiding the risk of so-called cross-compensation, whereby any minimum import prices on EVs are offset by sales of other goods such as hybrid cars and accessories, Bloomberg previously reported.

The EU adopted additional definitive tariffs of up to 35% last month on top of an existing 10% rate, and those will stay in place for the next five years without an alternative agreement. China has threatened to respond to the EV levies with tariffs of its own on dairy, pork and brandy. On Monday, the EU asked the World Trade Organization for consultations on Chinas measures related to brandy.

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--With assistance from Michael Nienaber.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
The European Commission on Monday announced it was challenging provisional Chinese tariffs on imports of EU brandy at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Beijing is acting on insufficient evidence and China has not proven that EU imports threaten the Chinese brandy industry, the Brussels authority said.

China imposed the punitive measures on European brandy in the wake of the European Union's tariffs on the import of electric cars from China.

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Beijing criticized the EU move on electric vehicles on China as protectionist and said that Brussels was in violation of WTO rules.

Trade relations have been worsening between China and the EU as economic competition and political tensions grow between both sides.

In July, Beijing started an investigation into EU pork products. Anti-subsidy investigations are also ongoing for certain imports of European dairy goods.

Brussels meanwhile has used new powers to investigate Chinese companies for evidence of unfair state subsidies in their bids for public tenders on projects in the EU.

EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said the WTO challenge shows that the EU executive arm will protect the European economy "from unfounded accusations and misuse of trade defence measures."

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According to the commission, China has 10 days to respond to the formal WTO challenge to find a time and format for consultations on the brandy tariffs.

Should no suitable time and format be decided, a WTO panel may decide on the issue.
Police patrol outside the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center, home of the Colorado Supreme Court, in Denver. Voters in Colorado and two other states embraced measures earlier this month that reflect a get-tough approach to crime. (Chet Strange/Getty Images)

The outcomes of seven ballot measures in Arizona, California and Colorado reflect the stricter approach to crime thats been seen across much of the country recently, with voters and policymakers driven by concerns over rising retail theft, homelessness, fentanyl misuse and challenges in police recruitment and retention.

Voters have decided in recent years that they prefer to adopt progressive changes to the criminal justice system somewhat less aggressively, said Dan Schnur, a former Republican strategist and a political communications professor at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Berkeley.

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Voters are always course correctors. Theyre always adjusting and readjusting, trying to calibrate policy exactly the way they want it, Schnur said. Its not uncommon for them to try to pull back on a reform effort that they think might be going too far.

This year, local and state leaders in blue and red states  including California, Georgia, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont  shifted away from more liberal initiatives aimed at reining in police powers and reimagining criminal legal systems. They have instead embraced harsher penalties for offenses such as retail theft and possession or distribution of certain hard drugs, added more felony and misdemeanor offenses requiring cash bail, and moved to prohibit local governments from altering police traffic stop policies.

Kentuckys Republican-controlled legislature this year enacted a sweeping anti-crime bill over Democratic Gov. Andy Beshears veto. House Bill 5 increases the number of crimes classified as violent and stiffens penalties for them, outlaws street camping, and provides retailers who confront shoplifters with new protections from liability.

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Then this month, voters in Arizona, California and Colorado overwhelmingly backed ballot measures to increase prison time for certain crimes, revoke bail for others and crack down on illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

While national crime data is notoriously difficult to track and understand, violent crime and property crime across the United States decreased in 2023, continuing a downward trend since the higher crime rates of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the FBIs latest national crime report. Still, some individual cities and neighborhoods might be seeing higher crime rates, which could explain Americans views on the issue.

Opinions on crime in the United States have improved over the past year, according to Gallups annual crime survey. Fewer people compared with last year believe national crime has increased or consider crime an extremely or very serious problem  but a majority of U.S. adults, 56%, still do.

Perceptions are heavily influenced by political affiliation, the survey showed. While 60% of Democrats believe crime has gone down over the past year, 90% of Republicans think it has increased.

Rethinking theft and drug crimes

In California, voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 36, a measure that increases penalties for specific drug-related and theft crimes and that also reclassifies certain drug offenses as treatment-mandated felonies. This reclassification will allow judges to impose mental health or drug treatment requirements. Those who complete treatment would have their charges dismissed, while those who fail to meet the requirements could face up to three years in prison.

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Its not the hope or the intention to send a bunch of people to jail or prison who are using drugs. The goal is to incentivize people to engage in treatment again, said Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig, one of the measures authors, in an interview with Stateline.

The measure aims to address issues such as retail theft, homelessness, substance use disorders and fentanyl distribution, Reisig said.

Under the new law, people convicted of theft at least twice may face felony charges on their third offense, regardless of the stolen items value. Additionally, those caught distributing fentanyl while armed with a loaded firearm will now face felony charges and up to four years in prison. Previously, possessing fentanyl and a loaded firearm was punishable by up to one year in jail.

Our strong belief is that this will send a deterrent message to others that there are consequences again, Reisig said.

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The measure also received substantial support from law enforcement agencies across the state, although it remains unclear how departments might adjust their enforcement policies. Still, Reisig said, the measure will provide law enforcement with some real, meaningful tools to address specific crimes.

With options for increased sentencing and mandated treatment, Prop. 36 could provide tools to address repeat offenses more effectively, Sacramento Police spokesperson Sgt. Dan Wiseman wrote in an email to Stateline.

Proposition 36 partially reverses some changes made in 2014 by another ballot measure, Proposition 47, that reduced certain theft and drug crimes from felonies to misdemeanors to address prison overcrowding. But Reisig said that this is not a complete rollback.

It was drafted to be more down the middle and just kind of bring the pendulum back to center mass, he said. Were not reinventing the wheel. Were just bringing back something that had proven success, and I think all of California is going to benefit.

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But some Democrats and criminal justice advocacy groups have argued that the measure could reintroduce drug war policies and result in longer prison sentences.

California voters also rejected Proposition 6 by a close margin, 53%-47%. The measure would have amended the state Constitution to prohibit forcing inmates into labor as punishment. The proposal originated from a state task force examining whether California should provide reparations to Black residents.

In contrast, voters in more conservative states such as Alabama and Tennessee have approved measures in recent elections to abolish involuntary servitude in their prisons. In a similar effort, Nevada voters this year approved a measure repealing constitutional language that permitted slavery and involuntary servitude as forms of criminal punishment.

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Schnur said Proposition 6 could have been rejected in part because California voters might have carried anti-criminal sentiment over from one ballot measure to the other.

Because Prop 36 passed by such a large margin, its entirely possible that many voters were already thinking in a more restrictive way about criminal justice policy, and those feelings may have moved over into their vote against Prop 6, Schnur said.

Restricting bail, recruiting police

In Colorado, voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment put on the ballot by the state legislature that makes first-degree murder suspects ineligible for bail if prosecutors can demonstrate a strong enough case.

Previously, the state constitution allowed only people charged with capital offenses to be denied bail. This change restores bail policies that were in place before Colorado repealed the death penalty in 2020.

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Voters also backed a pair of measures placed on the ballot through a signature-gathering campaign led by Advance Colorado, a conservative political group.

One measure requires people convicted of certain violent crimes, including second-degree murder, aggravated robbery and sexual assault, to serve at least 85% of their sentence  up from the previous 75%  before becoming eligible for parole.

The other ballot measure directs the legislature to allocate $350 million from the states general fund to help local law enforcement agencies hire additional officers, provide training and bonus pay, and establish a $1 million death benefit for the families of first responders  including police, firefighters and EMTs  killed in the line of duty.

The approval of that measure could deepen Colorados $1 billion budget deficit, though the financial impact will depend on how quickly lawmakers implement the program. Since the measure does not specify a timeline, legislators may choose to allocate the funds gradually rather than all at once in the next budget year, according to Kristi Burton Brown, Advance Colorados executive vice president.

Linking illegal immigration and fentanyl

Arizona voters overwhelmingly passed two criminal justice measures this year: One mandates life imprisonment for people convicted of child sex trafficking; the other goes after both illegal immigration and the sale of fentanyl not made in the United States.

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Proposition 314 grants law enforcement the authority to arrest noncitizens who do not have legal authorization to enter or live in the United States. The law specifically targets people attempting to enter or who have entered Arizona outside official ports of entry.

This measure expands police powers to address illegal immigration at the state level. Under Proposition 314, unauthorized entry into Arizona will become a Class 1 misdemeanor for a first offense and a felony for subsequent offenses. The measure also allows state judges to order deportations.

However, portions of the law cannot take effect until a court  likely the U.S. Supreme Court  rules on the constitutionality of a similar law in Texas. If the Texas law is upheld and remains enforceable for at least 60 days, Arizonas law could then go into effect. The law now is awaiting an appeals court decision, which is expected to itself be appealed to the Supreme Court no matter the ruling.

And the measure adds a new state felony penalty for selling fentanyl manufactured outside the country that results in another persons death.

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Some critics argue that it could lead to racial profiling and heightened community tensions, while supporters claim it will bolster border security and reduce crimes linked to illegal immigration.

Immigration enforcement is usually a federal responsibility, and some critics also have raised concerns about the additional financial and operational burden local law enforcement agencies may face.

Some local police departments contacted by Stateline were unsure of how the measure would be enforced, noting that they are waiting for further direction from state officials.

The Phoenix Police Department said in an email to Stateline that it would continue its current enforcement practices, which prohibit officers from asking about immigration status during traffic stops unless required by state law and consensual contacts with the public, according to department spokesperson Sgt. Mayra Reeson.

Under existing policies, Phoenix officers may only transport people to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement if they are wanted for a criminal immigration violation and have no pending state criminal charges, or if the person has only a civil immigration violation, which includes being in the country without legal authorization, and consents to the transport.

The ACLU of Arizona has vowed to explore all options to block the implementation of Proposition 314, calling it unconstitutional and harmful.

This story is republished from Stateline, a sister publication to the Kentucky Lantern and part of the nonprofit States Newsroom network.
* The 100,000th China-Europe freight train departed from southwest China's Chongqing Municipality last week, a significant milestone in the development of the service that facilitates economic and trade exchanges between China and Europe.

* More than 50,000 types of goods have been transported via China-Europe freight train service, reaching 227 cities across 25 European countries and over 100 cities in 11 Asian nations.

* Over the years, cities across China -- particularly hinterland hubs such as Chengdu, Xi'an, Urumqi, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Ganzhou, Kunming and Hefei -- have joined the China-Europe freight-train network, solidifying inland China's connection to global markets.

CHONGQING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- European and Chinese businesses, along with relevant government departments, are preparing a welcoming ceremony to mark the historic arrival of the 100,000th China-Europe freight train, which is scheduled to reach Duisburg, Germany, this week.

The train, loaded with goods including electronics, vehicles, auto parts, machinery and household appliances, departed from Chongqing Municipality in southwest China last week, marking a significant milestone in the development of the railway service that enhances economic and trade exchanges between China and Europe.

The 100,000th China-Europe freight train, coded X8083, departs from the Tuanjiecun Station in Chongqing, southwest China, Nov. 15, 2024. (Xinhua/Xing Guangli)

In March 2011, the China-Europe freight train (Yuxin'ou) service was launched from Chongqing to Duisburg, establishing a direct overland trade corridor between China and Europe.

Over the past 13 years, this service has brought substantial benefits to people in countries along its routes, improving logistics and connectivity across the Eurasian continent while advancing high-level opening up in China's inland regions.

FROM LANDLOCKED TO LINKED

Watching the departure of the 100,000th train, Kang Qinbin from Lifan Technology, a motorcycle and automobile manufacturer headquartered in Chongqing, recalled the company's memorable experience as one of the first clients of the China-Europe freight train in March 2011.

The 100,000th China-Europe freight train, coded X8083, waits for departing at the Tuanjiecun Station in Chongqing, southwest China, Nov. 15, 2024. (Xinhua/Tang Yi)

"The service solved our logistical challenges," Kang said, explaining that before the service's launch, exports from Chongqing were transported either by the slow maritime routes through coastal regions or by expensive air freight.

Since the freight train's inception, the transit time for Lifan's products bound for Eastern Europe has been cut by over 50 percent, enabling the company to secure a strong presence in overseas markets.

Over the years, cities across China -- particularly hinterland hubs such as Chengdu, Xi'an, Urumqi, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Ganzhou, Kunming and Hefei -- have joined the China-Europe freight-train network, solidifying inland China's connection to global markets.

An aerial drone photo shows trains for China-Europe freight service at Manzhouli Railway Port in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 20, 2024. (Photo by Huang Xu/Xinhua)

Today, more than 50,000 types of goods, including Chongqing's machinery and electronics, Sichuan's ornamental plants, and Jiangxi's daily necessities and furniture, are transported via the service, reaching 227 cities across 25 European countries and over 100 cities in 11 Asian nations.

So far, the service has transported over 11 million twenty-foot equivalent units containers of goods, valued at more than 420 billion U.S. dollars, according to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (China Railway).

Wei Wei, a logistics official from China Railway's Nanchang branch, highlighted the critical role these trains play in fostering economic cooperation between China's inland regions and the rest of the world.

MUTUAL BENEFITS

The benefits of the China-Europe freight trains extend beyond China, fostering growth in countries along its routes.

In Duisburg, Germany, the service has created new logistics activity, new industries, as well as new industrial parks and commercial centers, generating over 20,000 local jobs.

This photo taken on Sept. 24, 2024 shows a view of the Duisburg port in Duisburg, Germany. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo)

Markus Teuber, China affairs commissioner of the City of Duisburg, has closely followed the development of the service between China and Duisburg on behalf of the Port of Duisburg.

Teuber said that, initially, there were doubts about the feasibility of such a complex logistics project, however, the operations over the years have proven to be a success, fostering improved trade between Germany and China, offering both ecological and economic benefits for companies in both countries.

"The train connection has definitely led to a win-win situation for both countries," he said, adding that he is confident that the service will continue to thrive, as its benefits for imports and exports remain strong, and more companies are recognizing its value.

Markus Bangen, CEO of Duisburger Hafen AG (Duisport), a German company running the port of Duisburg, said that the railway service is strengthening ties between Europe and China, opening up a new international transport market that benefits both economies. Duisburg's profile is steadily growing as a key stop on the railway, attracting investment, creating job opportunities and driving growth in the logistics sector, he added.

The train service is playing an increasingly important role in stabilizing global supply chains in a complex geopolitical environment, he noted.

An aerial drone photo shows a train for China-Europe freight service pulling out of Tongjiang North Railway Port in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 9, 2024. (Photo by Wu Yunan/Xinhua)

"The China-Europe freight-train network connects domestic and international regions, establishing a comprehensive logistics system that spans the Eurasian continent," said Zhang Xiaotao, head of the School of International Trade and Economics at the Central University of Finance and Economics.

"It has strengthened trade ties and promoted deeper economic integration across Eurasia," Zhang said, adding that the network is expected to become more sophisticated, offering diverse services.

An aerial drone photo shows the 100,000th China-Europe freight train, coded X8083, departing from the Tuanjiecun Station in Chongqing, southwest China, Nov. 15, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Quanchao)

Li Chao, a spokesperson for the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said that "the 100,000th China-Europe freight train is just the beginning."

"The China-Europe freight-train service is expected to continue improving and expanding. The NDRC, in collaboration with China Railway and other relevant parties, will focus on boosting efficiency, enhancing safety management, diversifying transport routes and driving innovation. Efforts will also be intensified to accelerate the expansion of the international cooperation network, fostering the safe, stable and high-quality development of the China-Europe freight train network," Li said.

(Video reporter: Zhao Yufei, Wu Kunpeng, Li Aibin, Zhao Xiaoshuai, Wang Qiwen, Xing Guangli, Bu Ji'ao, Li Jieqiong; Video editors: Zhang Li, Wei Yin)
The former sheriff of Letcher County, Kentucky, pleaded not guilty on one count of murder of a public official during an arraignment Monday.

Mickey Stines, 43, is accused of fatally shooting District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, in Mullins chambers on Sept. 19.

Honorable Kevin R. Mullins.

A grand jury indicted Stines on Thursday on the single count of murder of a public official. Prior to the indictment, Stines pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder.

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At Monday's hearing, Judge Julia Adams decided to keep Stines in jail, where he is held without bond because of community safety concerns, security concerns and because he is charged with a capital offense.

Former Letcher County Ky. Sheriff Shawn "Mickey" Stines looks over at the prosecutors during a hearing at the Morgan County Courthouse in West Liberty, Ky., Oct. 1, 2024.

Mullins was shot multiple times in his chambers in Whitesburg and died at the scene. State police have said the shooting occured after an argument with Stines. The attack was captured on security video, which showed Mulins crawling on the floor, scrambling for cover.

Authorities have not publicly disclosed a motive in the deadly shooting.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
An Ocean County school district said the judge should not have issued a ruling pertaining to a law she sponsored when she was an assemblywoman. (Getty Images)

A New Jersey judge is not required to recuse herself from a case touching on a 2020 law she helped shepherd through the Legislature as an assemblywoman, an appellate panel ruled Monday.

The three-judge panel found Judge Joann Downey, who oversees workers compensation cases, is able to judge a case centered around a 2020 law she sponsored, one that lowered the bar for essential workers to receive workers compensation benefits following a COVID-19 infection. Downey served three terms in the Assembly as a Monmouth County Democrat before losing reelection in 2021

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A judges personal knowledge of or experience with certain legislative history does not necessarily render the judge biased or unable to make a fair judgment in the matter, the judges wrote Monday.

The 2020 law extended a rebuttable presumption to essential workers that assumed any contractions of COVID-19 were related to their duties, enabling such workers to more easily obtain benefits following an infection.

The case in question involves the estate of a teacher for the Ocean Township School District who died after contracting the virus. Her estate argues it is entitled to workers compensation benefits under the law, which did not explicitly list teachers as essential workers.

Attorneys for the district argued Downey improperly issued a pretrial decision in the estates favor. They said she ruled based on an interpretation of the law she developed as a legislator rather than on evidence presented to the court.

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The district had asked the appellate court to remand the case for trial under a different judge to avoid the appearance of bias, reviving an earlier request for her recusal that Downey denied.

The appeals court rejected those arguments, finding Downeys decision was based on the record and her legislative past did not unduly influence her.

Her knowledge of the law and lawmaking was not extrajudicial knowledge but rather judicial knowledge that many judges take with them to the bench, the judges wrote.

The panel also discounted arguments that charged Downey could be called as a witness in the case, noting courts are generally disinterested in a single legislators beliefs about the correct interpretation of a statute.

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The rules of professional conduct for workers compensation judges, who are a part of the Department of Labor and not the Judiciary, spell out conditions for recusal, but they do not require judges to step back from cases touching laws they enacted.

They do, however, require recusal where a judges impartiality or the appearance of the same may be reasonably questioned.

Citing court rules, Downey declined to comment Friday, before the decision was published.

The appellate ruling affirmed Downeys determination that teachers are covered under the statute. Though the statute creating the rebuttable presumption did not explicitly name teachers, it contained language allowing the government to expand coverage to groups of workers not specifically identified.

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The appellate panel found New Jerseys Office of Emergency Management added teachers to the list when it adopted guidance from the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Administration that named teachers as essential employees.

Even if the statute did not identify teachers as essential employees, it nevertheless encompassed any other employee the governing authority deemed essential, the court found.

The district could still overcome the presumption by showing the teachers COVID-19 infection was unrelated to her work.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong (D) addresses immigrants, rights groups and concerned citizens at a public meeting to discuss the uncertain future following President-elect Donald Trump's win in the election on November 12, 2024 in Stamford, Connecticut. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

This story originally appeared in Stateline.

Officials in blue states are vowing to build a firewall of reproductive health protections as they anticipate federal and state attacks on abortion access under the Trump administration.

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Were going on offense, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, a Democrat, told Stateline. We are in an unprecedented war on American women and patients. State attorneys general, particularly my colleagues and I who support abortion rights and reproductive freedom, have been building this firewall for some time now.

President-elect Donald Trump has said he would leave abortion access up to individual states in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Courts 2022 Dobbs ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and dismantled the federal right to abortion.

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But even in states with strong abortion protections, such as Connecticut and Massachusetts, lawmakers and other officials are already discussing ways to stave off legal challenges from various quarters, including federal agencies under a Trump administration and anti-abortion lawmakers in conservative states.

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What were watching is this interplay between protective states and the Trump-Vance administration, and what impact that administration will have on state laws and access to sexual and reproductive health care, said Candace Gibson, director of state policy at the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization focused on advancing reproductive rights.

Its going to be an interesting time.

Targeting abortion pills

Tong said one of his biggest concerns is that legislative efforts and legal challenges from anti-abortion lawmakers in red states could lead to nationwide restrictions on the medication mifepristone. Its one of two drugs most commonly used in medication abortion, which now accounts for nearly two-thirds of all abortions.

If you ban that, it will be nothing if not a nationwide ban on abortion, he said.

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Conservative-led states could follow the example of Louisiana, which passed a law in its most recent legislative session to classify mifepristone and the drug misoprostol as controlled substances. Both are used in medication abortions as well as to treat other conditions, such as life-threatening postpartum hemorrhaging. Since Louisianas law took effect, hospitals in the state have pulled mifepristone and misoprostol from obstetric hemorrhage carts and instead stored them in passcode-protected cabinets outside of labor and delivery rooms. Its a move some physicians worry could waste precious time in emergency situations.

Last week, Republican state Rep.-elect Pat Curry filed a similar bill in Texas. Conservative lawmakers in North Carolina hastily passed a law in 2023, overriding Democratic Gov. Roy Coopers veto, that included additional restrictions on dispensing abortion medication. That law has been mired in lawsuits.

But last month, Democratic attorneys general in 17 states and the District of Columbia asked a federal appeals court to uphold a ruling that North Carolina cant impose restrictions on mifepristone that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said are medically unnecessary.

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Meanwhile, anti-abortion groups released a Make America Pro-Life Again Roadmap last week, outlining their plans to hammer away at abortion access at federal and state levels, including an emphasis on challenging mifepristone access.

We have a siege engine ready for these legal walls that well face at some state legislatures and legislative levels, and also at federal levels, said Kristan Hawkins, president of the anti-abortion organization Students for Life Action, on a media call last week.

Hawkins said legislators in nine states  Arizona, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming  would be filing bills targeting the sale or distribution of medications that can be used for abortions.

Arizona state Rep. Rachel Jones, a Republican, said on a recent call with media that she plans to target abortion pills in her fight against Arizonas new constitutional amendment protecting abortion access, which voters approved earlier this month.

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There are other ways, at the front of this, to encourage women to make a different decision before they even go into that abortion clinic, before they order the pills, to stop the ability to be able to do that so easily through the mail, Jones said. She said she plans to educate her legislative colleagues on how to combat the big push for medication abortion.

Bolstering shield laws

A number of states have passed shield laws designed to minimize the legal risks for people who provide or access abortions. But just eight states  California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington  protect abortion providers from legal action regardless of where their patient is located.

For example, telehealth providers in states including California, Massachusetts and New York prescribe abortion medication to patients in states where abortion is banned. Shield laws attempt to protect those providers from prosecution.

State shield laws havent seen many challenges yet, but they could be coming, said Gibson, of the Guttmacher Institute.

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Attorneys in the reproductive justice division of the Massachusetts attorney generals office are looking at ways to further strengthen the states shield law. With the incoming Trump administration, they anticipate more efforts from conservative prosecutors and attorneys general to mount legal challenges with the expectation of a friendlier federal atmosphere.

My office, including through our Reproductive Justice Unit, will continue to ensure that Massachusetts remains a leader in advancing access to care, protecting our health care rights, and addressing disparities, while working in collaboration with my counterparts across the country, said Massachusetts Democratic Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell in a statement to Stateline.

Regional impact

Officials in blue states also are shoring up protections for contraceptive access, digital privacy and emergency abortion care in hospitals. For example, in Maryland, Democratic lawmakers passed a sweeping online data privacy law in April, in an attempt to limit how tech platforms and phone apps can gather and use consumers personal data, including reproductive health data.

Connecticut and Massachusetts are among the states looking at ways to strengthen their laws to protect reproductive emergency care if the Trump administration reverses current federal guidelines that say abortion is covered under the hospital emergency care law known as EMTALA.

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Policymakers understand these state bans on abortion access arent just state bans, that they have a regional impact as well.

 Candace Gibson, Guttmacher Institute

If the Trump administration says hospitals are no longer federally required to provide abortions as part of emergency reproductive care, Tong said, even patients in a state such as Connecticut could be affected. Without state requirements, religiously affiliated hospitals, for example, could refuse to terminate pregnancies in situations where a patients life or health could be at risk.

Gibson said she expects to continue seeing more state lawmakers filing contraception protection bills in upcoming legislative sessions. In Virginias most recent session, Democratic lawmakers passed a bill to guarantee access to contraception, though it was vetoed by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

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Earlier this year, Campbell, of Massachusetts, organized a working group of Democratic state attorneys general and others to collaborate on how to use shield laws and other legal and legislative tools to protect abortion rights.

Theres been an increase in collaboration conversations amongst different state policymakers, Gibson said in an interview with Stateline. I think policymakers understand these state bans on abortion access arent just state bans, that they have a regional impact as well.

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The Federal Aviation Administration has launched an investigation after two planes clipped wings at Bostons Logan International Airport on Monday.

An American Airlines Boeing 777 destined for Heathrow Airport in London was being towed when it struck the wingtip of a Frontier Airlines Airbus A321 that was parked at the gate, according to the FAA.

The FAA noted that the incident happened in an area that was not under air traffic control.

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In a statement, Frontier said 200 passengers heading for Dallas Fort Worth International Airport were on the plane at the time of the contact but that there were no reported injuries. American also reported no injuries, noting passengers deplaned shortly after.

It wasnt immediately clear if the incident had an impact on any scheduled flights.

There were no reported injuries.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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Gov. Phil Murphys administration has requested state departments identify cuts to reduce expenses by 5% as New Jersey faces a growing structural budget deficit. (Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor)

Gov. Phil Murphys administration has ordered a pause to some pay raises for state workers, limits on new hires, and spending cuts to bridge structural deficits in the state budget, according to emails reviewed by the New Jersey Monitor.

The emails, sent last week and in early October, come amid an annual budget that calls for New Jersey to spend $2.1 billion more than it takes in through taxes and other revenue sources. Built-in cost increases and expiring one-shot revenue sources are set to expand the structural to more than $3.8 billion next year.

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To conserve state resources, effective immediately and with limited exception, the State will be pausing approvals for discretionary salary increases for departmental employees, including outstanding requests, Tim Hillman, Murphys chief of staff, said in a Nov. 21 email to cabinet members first reported by ROI-NJ.

Raises required by law, a court order, or union collective bargaining agreements could still be applied, Hillman said. Though hirings and onboardings already in progress could continue, Hillman asked department heads to limit new hiring to critical positions.

A separate, early-October email sent from the office of Tariq Shabazz, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, told department heads that they would get preliminary budget targets around Oct. 4 for the next July-to-June fiscal year and they would be expected to identify savings equal to 5% of that target.

Each agency will be required to submit budget savings for the upcoming budget fiscal year, the email says.

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The budget office could approve smaller spending reductions in some circumstances, the email adds.

The governors call for cuts follows years of spending swells that saw New Jerseys annual budget rise from $34.7 billion in fiscal year 2018  the final budget under Gov. Chris Christie  to $56.6 billion this year.

Much of that increase has come from increased state support for pensions and school aid, which have added roughly $8.2 billion to New Jerseys annual spending compared to Christies final year in office. Expanded tax credits and rebates, like the $3.5 billion Anchor tax relief program, have also boosted the states expenses.

The next state budget will be Murphys last of his second term. He is barred from seeking a third consecutive term next year.

Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin welcomed the news that the Murphy administration is seeking lower spending for the next fiscal year. (Hal Brown for New Jersey Monitor)

Murphys appeal for belt-tightening was well received by at least some legislators, including a top Statehouse budget official.

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Im not really shocked that hes doing this. I actually think its the right thing to do, even if revenues come in strong, said Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin (D-Essex), the chambers budget chairwoman.

Through September, New Jerseys revenue met targets and was up 4.3% year-over-year, fueled mostly by strong personal income tax collections.

Republican officials welcomed spending reductions but worried a staffing freeze could worsen services at some already hard-to-reach offices.

Sen. Doug Steinhardt (R-Warren), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, said hed prefer more targeted cuts  including to budget add-ons requested by lawmakers  over 5% reductions across the board.

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Just stop spending money on programs you dont need, Steinhardt said. If you werent pissing it away in the first place, you wouldnt need to just demand broad-brushed cuts here and broad-brushed cuts there.

The administration did not identify any specific targets for cuts in its Oct. 1 email, though it noted some expenses, like debt service, could not be reduced.

Pintor Marin said she does not anticipate Murphy would back cuts to property tax relief programs.

I think hes going to care about helping seniors and helping people with their taxes in order to make New Jersey more affordable, she said.

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State governments are generally required to balance their costs and their revenue. When expenses exceed tax collections, the state can fill the gap using surplus, as New Jersey is doing this year.

New Jersey is forecasted to end the fiscal year with roughly $6.2 billion in reserves, from about $8.2 billion on July 1.

The nascent Stay NJ property tax relief program requires New Jersey to maintain a surplus equal to at least 12% of spending to avoid a pause, though lawmakers overrode that provision using budget language in the current fiscal year, when reserves added up to 10.9% of spending.

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The program is one source of escalating costs New Jersey faces in the coming years. It will add $100 million in costs in the fiscal year that begins July 1 and is expected to cost roughly $1.2 billion annually once it goes into full effect in 2026.

New Jerseys newly enacted corporate transit fee  a non-marginal 2.5% surtax on corporations with income of at least $10 million  will expand New Jerseys deficit by about $1 billion after its revenue becomes dedicated to NJ Transit in the coming fiscal year.

The governor is due to deliver his annual budget address in late February.

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Claim:

A statue of Jesus Christ in Mumbai, India, began dripping holy water that believers collected and drank but was later proven to be leakage from a clogged toilet.

Rating:

Rating: Mixture

What's True:

Famed superstition debunker Sanal Edamaruku investigated and found the water dripping from the statue was leakage from a nearby sewage pipe. This, in turn, led to his exile to Europe after Catholic groups brought charges against him for allegedly violating India's "Blasphemy Laws."

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What's Undetermined:

The claim specifically ascribes the leaking water to a "clogged toilet," a detail that could not yet be verified with a primary source. Snopes has reached out to Edamaruku to learn more.

A claim that a statue of Jesus Christ in Mumbai, India, mysteriously began dripping holy water from its feet, causing some to believe it was a divine miracle, circulated online in November 2024.

According to a Reddit post, believers began to collect and even ingest the water, only for it to later be shown to be the result of a clogged toilet.

One user commenting on the Reddit thread said, "To be fair, that water was almost surely imbued with the miracle of life. Microbial life, yes, but it was imbued."

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This claim has circulated previously, including in a post on X in April 2024 and multiple Reddit threads from 2019, prompting a user to comment, "Full of vitamins B and M."

(Sad_Stay_5471 on Reddit)

While the claim that the occurrence was a miracle was debunked when the water was proven to be leaking sewage water is true, we've rated this as a mixture of true and undetermined because the leak was allegedly the result of a clogged toilet, but we have not yet been able to independently verify this specific detail with a primary source.

However, the events surrounding the Jesus statue in Mumbai were widely covered by the media back in 2012, primarily due to the controversial aftermath of the debunking.

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When the statue outside the Church of Our Lady of Velankanni in Mumbai began drawing the attention of Catholics as a potential miracle site, Indian rationalist Sanal Edamaruku was asked to investigate for a segment on India's TV9.

In a 2012 interview with New Scientist, a weekly science and technology publication, Edamaruku explained his findings.

I had a close look at a nearby washroom and the connected drainage system that passed underneath the concrete base of the cross. I removed some stones from the drain and found it was blocked. I touched the walls, the base and the cross and took some photographs for documentation. It was very simple: water from the washroom, which had been blocked in the clogged drainage system, had been transmitted via capillary action into the adjacent walls and the base of the cross as well as into the wooden cross itself. The water came out through a nail hole and ran down over the statue's feet.

Edamaruku was a known debunker at the time, having previously made headlines for challenging a Hindu fakir who claimed he could "kill anybody with tantric chanting" to do so on live television.

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According to the BBC:

As both were guests in the studio, the fakir was put to the test immediately. The channel cancelled all subsequent programming and he began chanting on the spot. But as the hours passed a note of desperation crept into his raspy mantras. For his part, Edamaruku, president of the Indian Rationalist Association, showed no sign of discomfort, let alone death. He merely chortled his way through this unconventional (and unsuccessful) attempt on his life.

The same BBC report also mentioned Edamaruku's activities in the 1990s when "Edamaruku visited hundreds of villages replicating the apparently fabulous feats some self-proclaimed holy men became renowned for  the materialisations of watches or 'holy' ash  exposing them as mere sleight of hand."

Despite his past experience in debunking religious miracles, his appearance on TV9 sparked outrage from Catholic organizations in India, and they filed charges against him, citing Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code, which outlines a punishment of "imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both" for "Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs."

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Fearing prosecution, Edamaruku fled to Europe in 2012 and has lived there ever since. He told The Guardian at the time, "The Catholic archbishop of Bombay, Oswald, Cardinal Gracias, has said that if I apologise for the 'offence' I have caused he will see to it that the charges are dropped. This shows that he has influence in the situation but he will not use it unless I apologise, which I will not do as I have done nothing wrong."

In 2013, he told the public radio program "The World," "I never ever believed that such a thing would happen in India. I never, ever thought that doing something to promote scientific temper and educate people against superstition would be taken as a crime in India."

Snopes reached out to Edamaruku to verify the specifics of the story, including the claim that the leak was caused by a clogged toilet, and will update this article and its rating if and when we learn more.

Snopes has fact-checked many reports of so-called miracles, including a Jesus statue allegedly opening its eyes, a church being physically moved by the hand of God and spilled salt forming an image of Jesus.

Sources:

- YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaqIBpK62Yo. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

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---. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUqhq9MuRG8. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

"A Rationalist Fights to Disprove Miracles in India." The World from PRX, 15 Aug. 2013, https://api.theworld.org/stories/2013/08/15/rationalist-fights-disprove-miracles-india.

AsiaNews.it. Water from the Cross of Irla. Indian Atheist Accuses Church Of. https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Water-from-the-cross-of-Irla.-Indian-atheist-accuses-Church-of-manufacturing-miracles-for-money-24218.html. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

#author.fullName}. "Miracle Buster: Why I Traced Holy Water to Leaky Drain." New Scientist, https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21428714-000-miracle-buster-why-i-traced-holy-water-to-leaky-drain/. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

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India Code: Section Details. https://www.indiacode.nic.in/show-data?actid=AC_CEN_5_23_00037_186045_1523266765688&orderno=331. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

McDonald, Henry. "Jesus Wept  Oh, It's Bad Plumbing. Indian Rationalist Targets 'Miracles.'" The Guardian, 23 Nov. 2012. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/23/india-blasphemy-jesus-tears.

"The Indian Miracle-Buster Stuck in Finland." BBC News, 2 June 2014. www.bbc.com, https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26815298.


President-elect Donald Trump made a lot of promises on the campaign trail about what hed do if granted a second term in the White House.

Now that hes got it, we were reminded of a promise he made at a Wisconsin rally in early October and a claim that came along with it that we thought was worth fact-checking.

At an Oct. 6, 2024 rally in Juneau, Trump told the audience hed cut energy and electricity costs for Americans in half within a year of taking office.

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Why did that matter to his supporters gathered to see him?

I hate to say it, with your Democrat governor, you have some of the highest electricity prices and highest energy costs, he said. Its just about at the top in Wisconsin.

Does Wisconsin really have some of the highest electricity prices and energy costs in the nation? In short, no.

Lets dig in.

Wisconsins energy costs are not some of the highest

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for evidence of his claim. That said, there are a couple ways to examine it  well start with the big picture first.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration tracks these costs nationwide. According to its most recent state-by-state ranking of total energy expenditures per capita, from 2022, Wisconsin ranked 24th out of all 50 states plus Washington, D.C.

Former President Donald Trump speaks to a rally crowd at the Dodge County Airport in Juneau Oct. 6.

At just about the middle of the pack, thats hardly the highest. Alaska, Wyoming and North Dakota top that list.

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What about looking only at electricity prices?

To do that, we have to unpack a key distinction about the way those prices are reported. First, there are electricity rates, which in Wisconsin are set by the Public Service Commission and allow utilities to generate revenue on top of the cost of the electricity they provide.

Thats different from personal electricity costs, which are reported on monthly electric bills and take into account how much electricity a person consumes and, in some cases, the time of day or month the electricity is being consumed.

The Energy Information Administration also reports the average electricity rate by state in cents per kilowatt hour. In August, the most recent month for which data is available, the average electricity rate for Wisconsin residential customers was 17.57 cents per kilowatt hour.

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Thats the 14th-highest in the nation, tied with Pennsylvania. Connecticut, Hawaii and California top the list.

Wisconsins ranking is not just about at the top, as Trump claimed  in fact, its not even in the top quarter of states. It is slightly higher than the U.S. average, though, which in August was 16.63 cents per kilowatt hour for residential customers.

The states average residential electricity rates have historically been higher than the U.S. average, according to the Public Service Commissions June 28, 2024 draft Strategic Energy Assessment.

But its not clear Trump was referring to electricity rates, since his previous comment was about cutting peoples bills in half.

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In terms of Wisconsins average residential electric bills, those have remained consistently lower than other states during the past decade, according to the Public Service Commissions energy assessment. In 2022, for example, Wisconsins average bill was $106.94, compared to a national average of $135.25.

So, pretty much any way you slice it, Wisconsins electricity and energy costs are not some of the highest in the country.

And Trumps statement takes another hit by attempting to tie the costs to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. While Evers appoints commissioners to the Public Service Commission, hes not involved in rate-setting.

Our ruling

Trump claimed that with your Democrat governor, you have some of the highest electricity prices and highest energy costs. Its just about at the top in Wisconsin.

False

By a few different measures, Wisconsin is not just about at the top of the nations electricity and energy costs. Even when looking at the states average electricity rate, which is slightly higher than the national average, its not even in the top quarter of states.

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And, Trump errs by tying energy costs to Evers, who is not involved in rate-setting.

We rate this claim False.

Sources

USA TODAY, Donald Trump wins the election in stunning political comeback, Nov. 6, 2024

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Recap: Donald Trump speaks for nearly two hours at rally in Juneau, Wisconsin, Oct. 6, 2024

U.S. Energy Information Administration, Rankings: Total Energy Expenditures per Capita, 2022, accessed Nov. 19, 2024

Email with Meghan Sovey-Lashua, Public Service Commission of Wisconsin

Email with Chris Hubbuch, Wisconsin Energy Institute

Email with Britt Cudaback, office of Gov. Tony Evers

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U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric power monthly: Average Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector, accessed Nov. 19, 2024

Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, draft Strategic Energy Assessment, June 28, 2024

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Donald Trump wrong that Wisconsin energy costs are 'at the top'
By Gram Slattery

(Reuters) -Republican President-elect Donald Trump says he plans to fundamentally alter the U.S. relationship with NATO during his second four-year term and rapidly bring the war in Ukraine to a close. On the campaign trail, he floated sending armed forces into Mexico to battle drug cartels and slapping expansive tariffs on friends and foes alike. Here is a look at the foreign policy proposals Trump has pledged to advance once he takes office on Jan. 20: NATO, UKRAINE AND EUROPEAN ALLIES Trump has said that under his presidency, America will fundamentally rethink "NATO's purpose and NATO's mission." He has pledged to ask Europe to reimburse the U.S. for "almost $200 billion" in munitions sent to Ukraine, and he has not committed to sending further aid to the eastern European nation. Trump cut defense funding to NATO during the latter part of his first term, and he has frequently complained America was paying more than its fair share. On the war in Ukraine, he has said he would resolve the conflict even before his inauguration. However, he faces legal restrictions on negotiating with foreign leaders before taking office, and he has made little tangible progress on the issue since winning the Nov. 5 election. He told Reuters in an interview last year that Kyiv may have to cede some territory to reach a peace agreement. Two Trump advisers told Reuters in June that they had presented a plan to end the war in Ukraine by conditioning any further weapons aid on Kyiv agreeing to sit down with Moscow for peace talks. Vice President-elect JD Vance has signaled preliminary support for freezing battle lines at their prevailing positions as part of a negotiated settlement. While Trump signaled in early April that he would be open to sending additional aid to Ukraine in the form of a loan, he remained mostly silent on the issue during contentious congressional negotiations over a $61 billion aid package later that month. CHINA, TRADE AND TAIWAN Trump frequently threatens to impose major new tariffs or trade restrictions on China as well as on some European allies. His proposed Trump Reciprocal Trade Act would give him broad discretion to ramp up retaliatory tariffs on countries when they are determined to have put up trade barriers of their own. He has floated the idea of a 10% universal tariff, which could disrupt international markets, and at least a 50% tariff on China. Trump has called for an end to China's most favored nation status, a status that generally lowers trade barriers between nations. He has vowed to enact "aggressive new restrictions on Chinese ownership of any vital infrastructure in the United States," and the official Republican Party platform calls for banning Chinese ownership of American real estate. On Taiwan, Trump has declared that it should pay the U.S. for its defense as, he says, it does not give the U.S. anything and took "about 100% of our chip business," referring to semiconductors. He has repeatedly said that China would never dare to invade Taiwan during his presidency. MEXICO AND NARCOTICS Trump has said he would designate drug cartels operating in Mexico as foreign terrorist organizations and order the Pentagon "to make appropriate use of special forces" to attack cartel leadership and infrastructure, an action that would be unlikely to get the blessing of the Mexican government. He has said he would deploy the U.S. Navy to enforce a blockade against the cartels and would invoke the Alien Enemies Act to deport drug dealers and gang members in the U.S. Civil rights groups and Democratic senators have pushed for the repeal of that act, passed in 1798, which gives the president some authority to deport foreign nationals while the country is at war. The Republican Party platform also calls for moving thousands of troops deployed overseas to the U.S.-Mexico border to battle illegal immigration. CONFLICT IN ISRAEL After first criticizing Israeli leadership in the days after its citizens were attacked on Oct. 7, 2023, by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Trump has said Hamas must be "crushed." While his rhetoric has been bellicose, he has proposed few policy solutions, besides saying he would be tougher on Iran, which is closely linked to groups classified by the U.S. as terrorist organizations, including Hamas. Trump also says he would seek to deport all "resident aliens" who are Hamas sympathizers. "Resident alien" is a legal term used to describe U.S. permanent residents, also known as green card holders. CLIMATE Trump has repeatedly pledged to pull out of the Paris Agreement, an international accord meant to limit greenhouse gas emissions. He pulled out of it during his term in office, but the U.S. rejoined the accord under Democratic President Joe Biden in 2021. MISSILE DEFENSE Trump has pledged to build a state-of-the-art missile defense "force field" around the U.S. He has not gone into detail, beyond saying that the Space Force, a military branch that his administration created, would play a leading role in the process. In the Republican Party platform, the force field is referred to as an "Iron Dome," reminiscent of Israel's missile defense system, which shares the same name. WORLD WAR THREE Trump frequently warned that there would be a third world war if he did not win the election, a line that became a central part of his stump speech in the final months of the campaign. "I'm telling you and I've made a lot of predictions and this is not a prediction because it's so bad. I don't want it to be a prediction. We're heading into World War Three territory," Trump said during a Fox News town hall in early September. The former president often referenced Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and ongoing tensions between Taipei and Beijing when making that prediction.

(Reporting by Gram Slattery; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Ross Colvin, Sandra Maler, Howard Goller, Deepa Babington and Jonathan Oatis)
BERLIN, Conn. (WTNH)  One month after Robert Sharkevich Senior lost his life while responding to the Hawthorne Fire in Berlin, his family still has a difficult time finding the words to describe their immeasurable loss.

My brother is looking down, said Roberts brother Gary Sharkevich, all this support for my brother.

The pain is still pretty, pretty intense, said Karen Letizio, Roberts sister.

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His brother and sister said Sunday at Casa Mia in Berlin their grief was overshadowed by love.

Hundreds came out for a fundraiser for Sharkys immediate family, his wife, three sons and daughter.

Celebrate his life, you can tell by the legacy he left behind and also to help Joanne and the boys because its going to be a struggle now to pick up the pieces, said Casa Mia Owner Maria Guglielmi. All we needed to do was say it was for Robert Sharkevich and the rest fell into place.

New norm: Official warns brush fires will become commonplace as Hawthorne Fire keeps burning

Tickets were $50 per adult and $25 for children and included a buffet, soft beverages and a cash bar. Local businesses also showed their support through thousands of dollars in donations including 85 raffle baskets.

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Among the prizes, were photo collages of the veteran firefighter showcasing his time with both Hartford and Wethersfield and also his time as a friend, uncle, and Papa.

Overwhelming right now to see the amount of people, said Gary.

Sharing some food together, dessert, laughter, hearing the good stories about my brother Robert which always helps to try and get us through this, Karen said.

The fundraiser at Casa Mia went from noon to 4pm Sunday.

If you are interested in donating, you can reach out to the family at this Instagram or donate to their GoFundMe Page.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com.
A Nubian man stands on the steps of a brightly-painted Nubian house at the Nubian village of Gharb Sohail in Aswan, Egypt, Nov. 24, 2024.

Gharb Sohail, a Nubian village lying along the west bank of Nile, is a popular tourist destination in Aswan where visitors have the chance to know Nubian's unique cultures, traditions, crafts and food. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

Nubians enjoy leisure time at a cafe at the Nubian village of Gharb Sohail in Aswan, Egypt, Nov. 24, 2024.

Gharb Sohail, a Nubian village lying along the west bank of Nile, is a popular tourist destination in Aswan where visitors have the chance to know Nubian's unique cultures, traditions, crafts and food. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

Children ride a camel at the Nubian village of Gharb Sohail in Aswan, Egypt, Nov. 24, 2024.

Gharb Sohail, a Nubian village lying along the west bank of Nile, is a popular tourist destination in Aswan where visitors have the chance to know Nubian's unique cultures, traditions, crafts and food. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

This photo shows a view of the Nubian village of Gharb Sohail in Aswan, Egypt, Nov. 24, 2024.

Gharb Sohail, a Nubian village lying along the west bank of Nile, is a popular tourist destination in Aswan where visitors have the chance to know Nubian's unique cultures, traditions, crafts and food. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

A Nubian man sits on the steps of a brightly-painted Nubian house at the Nubian village of Gharb Sohail in Aswan, Egypt, Nov. 24, 2024.

Gharb Sohail, a Nubian village lying along the west bank of Nile, is a popular tourist destination in Aswan where visitors have the chance to know Nubian's unique cultures, traditions, crafts and food. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

Tourists visit the Nubian village of Gharb Sohail in Aswan, Egypt, Nov. 24, 2024.

Gharb Sohail, a Nubian village lying along the west bank of Nile, is a popular tourist destination in Aswan where visitors have the chance to know Nubian's unique cultures, traditions, crafts and food. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

This photo shows a view of the Nubian village of Gharb Sohail in Aswan, Egypt, Nov. 24, 2024.

Gharb Sohail, a Nubian village lying along the west bank of Nile, is a popular tourist destination in Aswan where visitors have the chance to know Nubian's unique cultures, traditions, crafts and food. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)
Germany has a problem with violence against women, according to Family Minister Lisa Paus.

"Almost every day there is a femicide," the Green Party politician told dpa in an interview for Monday's International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which raises awareness of the problem.

"Every day, around 400 women become victims of domestic violence," she added. Demonstrations and events are planned in several cities to promote an end to violence against women.

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"A turnaround is needed, along with a strong Violence Assistance Act to enshrine the right to protection and advice for all those affected by gender-based and domestic violence," Paus demanded. She said she continues to advocate for cross-party support for the legislation, which Paus developed in close coordination with other ministries, state governments and associations.

To pass it through the Bundestag or lower house of the German parliament, broad support from the conservative opposition is needed. The centre-left coalition of the Social Democrats, Greens, and the Free Democrats collapsed just over two weeks ago.

"The protection of women must not depend on party political calculations," said Paus. "To women who experience violence and fear for their lives, it is completely irrelevant who governs."

Recent rise in violence against women

Recently, Paus, together with Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and the Federal Criminal Police Office, presented figures showing that more and more women in Germany are affected by violence. Particularly serious are attempted and completed homicides explicitly targeting the female gender - so-called femicides. In 2023, 938 girls and women were victims of attempted or completed femicides, in which 360 women and girls died.
(KRON)  Renowned Napa Chef Thomas Keller announced the closure of one of his Yountville restaurants on social media on Monday.

Chef Keller, also owner of The French Laundry, took to his Instagram to share that La Calenda will be closing the eatery.

La Calenda said the restaurant is a community-driven restaurant where traditional Mexican cuisine and fixtures meet for a fun, family-friendly environment.

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La Calendas restaurant announced on its Instagram, it is with a heavy heart that our restaurant group has decided to close La Calenda at the end of this month. This decision has not been made lightly, and we are acutely aware of the challenges it presents.

Santa Rosa German restaurant announces closure after 8 years

The famous chef said the closure was due to not seeing a viable path forward with Napa Valleys loss of local traffic and the economic downturn that occurred this year.

The last day of operation will be Dec. 1 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Chef Keller said the staff is looking forward to toasting with patrons.

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Keller thanked all of the restaurants staff and chefs who have worked at the eatery in the departure post.

In addition to The French Laundry, Chef Keller has many ventures in Yountville: Bouchon Bistro, Bouchon Bakery, Ad Hoc + Addendum and RO Restaurant & Lounge.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
Editor's note: The article was updated with the latest election results.

Calin Georgescu, a far-right critic of Romania's pro-NATO and pro-Ukraine policy, is set to enter the presidential run-off vote after a shock result in the first round on Nov. 24.

Georgescu is leading the polls with 22.94% and roughly 99.95% of the vote counted, followed by two pro-Western candidates, Elena Lasconi of the center-right Save Romania Union (USR) at 19.17% and center-left Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu at 19.15%.

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George Simion, the leader of the far-right AUR Alliance, who has been banned from entering Ukraine over "systematic anti-Ukrainian activities," is projected to come in fourth with 13.87%. The second round of the vote is scheduled to take place on Dec. 8.

The surprise outcome signals a possible shift within a country at NATO's eastern frontier that has been staunchly supportive of its Ukrainian neighbors throughout the full-scale war. Romania's head of state has a significant influence in some areas, such as foreign policy.

Georgescu has previously called for an end to Romania's support for Ukraine and lambasted the presence of a NATO missile defense station in Romania as a "shame on diplomacy."

Romania took a decisively pro-Ukraine stance under Ciolacu and outgoing President Klaus Iohannis, providing military, humanitarian, and economic support. The country is a key conduit for Ukraine's agricultural exports and has recently provided Ukraine with a Patriot air defense system.

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Romania shares a 610-kilometer (380-mile) border with Ukraine. Russian drone wreckage has been found on the Romanian side of the border on several occasions following Moscow's drone strikes against Ukraine, forcing Bucharest to ramp up security measures in the area.

Georgescu, who has a strong presence on the TikTok social network, was considered a marginal candidate by previous surveys and was not often listed among the top presidential hopefuls.

He ran as an independent candidate while a former member of the AUR. Georgescu left the party in 2022 after being criticized by his fellow party members, who said his overtly pro-Russian and anti-NATO views damaged the party's image.

Georgescu also lauded Romania's World War II-era fascist leader, Ion Antonescu, as a national hero.

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He served as a special rapporteur in the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and worked as an expert in sustainable development and the environment sector.

Read also: Romanias Defense Ministry proposes downing drones violating its airspace

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Pretty Please

As Donald Trump's second presidential transition hurtles forward, his plan to mass-deport undocumented immigrants is causing farmers to panic  and, tellingly, to beg for exemptions.

As Reuters reports, farming groups and their GOP allies are urging the president-elect to make exemptions for undocumented agricultural workers in his mass deportation campaign promise.

While former acting ICE director and current "border czar" pick Tim Homan has made no indications of any groups being targeted besides undocumented immigrants with criminal records, farmers are still worried. Given their financial incentives to keep employing people who lack legal status, it's not hard to see why.

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Nearly half of the United States' two million farm workers are, per the Agriculture Department, lacking in legal work authorization. Farmers hire them because undocumented workers are cheaper to employ  a see-no-evil situation in which consumers also benefit because cheap labor keeps food prices down.

With undocumented farmworkers potentially being targeted in the vague incoming immigration raids, lobbying groups are proposing expanded legal pathways to help undocumented agricultural workers attain visas.

"We need the certainty, reliability, and affordability of a workforce program and programs that are going to allow us to continue to deliver food from the farm to the table," John Hollay of the International Fresh Produce Association told Reuters.

Ice Ice Baby

During his last turn at the head of ICE, Homan became infamous for defending the first Trump administration's cruel family separation policy. In light of his second incoming stint with the president-elect, some farmer advocates are using that rhetoric against the proposed policy.

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In an interview with Newsweek, dairy farmer Jennifer Tilton Flood of the Flood Brothers Farm in Maine said that because her family's facilities are located close to the United States' border with Canada, it's "within the control" of Customs and Border Patrol. As such, that department could potentially act "without due diligence" to deport the people who work there.

"There is a great chance for families to be broken apart," Flood said. "A lot of my team are raising Americans at home."

"There is a lot of concern," the farmer continued, "and there's a lot of panic."

Despite this outcry, Trump's soon-to-be border czar is making no promises for exemptions.

"We've got a lot on our plate," Homan told Reuters.

More on cruel Trump policies: Trump's Health Guy Linked to Measles Outbreak That Killed Dozens of Children
The United States, and most other nations with a robust economy where fast food took hold and never let go, has a sophisticated food safety program in place to protect citizens against tainted food. Foreign objects, food-borne illness, and other harmful things can very easily find its way into the food supply  particularly in fast-food staples like ground beef, chicken, and vegetables used as toppings  so there are many government agencies and industry watchdogs that thoroughly test raw materials before they're distributed. And yet, despite all those measures and checks, food can still become infected with inedible materials, bacteria, and viruses. The safety measures restaurants neglect the most come into play, too. Usually, after a few unfortunate victims get their meal ruined or get sick (or even sometimes die), fast food companies and their suppliers will spring into action and issue a recall.

Because they all serve so many people on a daily basis, recalls can affect millions of people. Here are some of the biggest, most widespread recalls in fast food history, the result of utter disasters but which happened quickly enough to prevent more chaos and tragedy.

Read more: The Many, Many Ingredients That Are Packed Into McDonald's Fries

Deadly E. Coli In The Beef At Jack In The Box

Hand holding burger in front of Jack in the Box - foodiecutie08 / Instagram

Washington state's Department of Health logged a spike in reported cases in January 1993 among Seattle children of hemolytic uremic syndrome, a blood disorder that causes clotting, diarrhea, and kidney failure. One thing all patients had in common: They'd eaten Jack in the Box hamburgers, from which they'd contracted HUS-causing E. coli, a food-borne bacteria. Within weeks, E. coli infections were noted in Idaho, Nevada, and California, and all 700-plus very sick people had eaten at a Jack in the Box. By the time the outbreak was controlled, with thousands of pounds of infected meat recalled by the company, four children died.

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Federal food safety investigators figured out that animal waste had contaminated Jack in the Box's meat supply at one of six slaughterhouses run by the Von Corporation. E. coli present in meat can also be easily killed off by cooking beef at a high enough temperature. In the aftermath of the deadly scandal, several public health departments came forward with evidence that they'd warned Jack in the Box locations to cook meat to an internal temperature of 155 F, while the chain went with the federally-advised heat of 140 F  any higher made them taste unpleasant, customers reportedly said.

Jack in the Box, the fast food chain that everyone now visits at midnight, took a severe hit to business in early 1993. Sales declined by 35% and hundreds of employees were laid off.

Kangaroo And Horse In The Burger Meat At Jack In The Box

Jack in the Box location by mountains - Bauer-griffin/Getty Images

Neither the meat of kangaroo or horses is widely eaten or considered acceptable in much of the United States. Not to mention how when people order hamburgers, they're led to believe that they're about to eat just beef. In summer 1981, Jack in the Box participated in a large-scale recall of its beef patties because they weren't entirely made of beef  some kangaroo and horse flesh had gotten into the mix. In the early 1980s, about 7% of American beef was imported, and one of Jack in the Box's suppliers was Profreeze, which sourced much of its product from farms in Australia. Profreeze discovered that some of the meat it had bought and targeted for Jack in the Box's American stores  and already distributed in some cases  contained a fair amount of horse. In Australia, meat inspectors determined that more shipments intended for U.S. restaurants were made up of a mixture of beef and kangaroo meat (which is actually pretty tasty).

The checks came too late; the Department of Agriculture determined that horse and kangaroo had almost certainly been used in Jack in the Box burgers in 1981. To prevent that from happening anymore, the Department of Agriculture seized and prevented from distribution 545,000 pounds of ground beef and patties, all of which tested positive for the presence of horse.

E. Coli In The Slivered Onions At McDonald's

McDonald's Quarter Pounder in box - Smith Collection/gado/Getty Images

If you ranked every burger on the McDonald's menu, the Quarter Pounder with Cheese would land a high spot. In late October 2024, McDonald's wouldn't allow about 20% of its American locations to sell its signature Quarter Pounder line of burgers owing to a possible E. coli contamination. The Centers for Disease Control linked consumption of that particular sandwich with the 49 people who fell ill with hemolytic uremic syndrome  with symptoms that include diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach cramping  in late September and early October, caused by contraction of E. coli, in 12 states, with the highest concentration of cases noted in Colorado and Nebraska. One person died after eating a Quarter Pounder.

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Investigations and lab tests determined that the likely source of E. coli were the slivered onions that McDonald's uses on the Quarter Pounder with cheese and similar sandwiches. The regions experiencing the outbreak were serviced by vegetable processor Taylor Farms. Not only did McDonald's ask hundreds of restaurants to stop serving Quarter Pounders, but Taylor Farms voluntarily recalled all of the onions produced in a specific period of time. The veggie was pulled from many McDonald's as well as Pizza Hut, KFC, Taco Bell, and Burger King outlets. By the time the recall went into effect, 90 individuals in 13 states had become ill. Within a few days of getting the onions out of its network, McDonald's once again started selling the Quarter Pounder.

E. Coli In The Burgers At Burger King

Whopper with bites taken out of it by Burger King cup - Matt Cardy/Getty Images

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For a few dicey and potentially dangerous days in 1997, Burger King's name was wholly inaccurate because the chain couldn't sell burgers. About 700 locations in the United States sold primarily BLTs and ham and cheese sandwiches because a large supply of its beef was recalled by supplier Hudson Foods. In June 1997, about 20 people in Colorado contracted the food-borne illness E. coli, and the outbreak was linked to meat processed at a Hudson-controlled plant in Columbus Nebraska.

In August 1997, Hudson initially pinpointed 20,000 pounds of tainted product, and took them out of the supply line. A day later, it removed another 20,000 pounds of affected product. After inspectors from the U.S.D.A. arrived for a separate inspection, a total of 1.2 million E. coli-laced beef had been identified, removed, and essentially recalled before it could be distributed. Authorities then discovered that Hudson routinely used older meat, possibly tainting supplies further, leading to a recall of 25 million pounds of beef. In September 1997, a scandal-weathered Hudson was purchased by Tyson Foods. All in all, 1,650 Burger King outlets in 28 states were affected by the recalls in some way.

E. Coli In The Green Onions At Taco Bell

A bunch of green onions on a wooden cutting board - Stefania Pelfini, La Waziya Photography/Getty Images

Between November 20 and December 6, 2006, a total of 71 people grew seriously ill after dining at Taco Bell. According to the Centers for Disease Control, those sick with food-borne illness had eaten at various Taco Bells throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Three-quarters needed hospitalization and 11% were diagnosed with kidney failure associated with hemolytic uremic syndrome.

Taco Bell hired an independent laboratory to test its food from the impacted region for the presence of E. coli, but the results pointed to the havoc-wreaking element to be present in the green onions used on some of the chain's menu items. In response, Taco Bell ordered a recall, asking all 5,800-something of its United States outlets to stop using green onions in its daily activities. Public health officials in New Jersey asked Taco Bell to throw away its existing stock and to test its employees for E. coli infection. Taco Bell's decision to get rid of green onions to avoid sickening any more people became a permanent one. As of 2024, Taco Bell still doesn't offer green onions on any of its menu items.

Uninspected Beef From Sick Cows At Jack In The Box And In-N-Out

Dirty cows with ear tags - 279photo Studio/Shutterstock

In January 2008, the Humane Society of the United States released a video purporting to depict evidence of both animal cruelty and unsafe meat processing practices. Footage secretly obtained at a plant operated by the Westland/Hallmark Meat Packing Company in Chino, California, included scenes of employees kicking visibly ill cows and employing forklifts to move animals that couldn't or wouldn't walk into the slaughterhouse. While that's certainly scandalous material, it also represented a possible public health crisis because of the nature of the cows abused. Animals that are unable to walk are known in the beef industry as downer cows, and based on the suspicion of illness like mad cow disease, they must be inspected by a veterinarian before they're allowed to be slaughtered and their flesh enter the food supply.

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Just three weeks after the Humane Society's expose, Hallmark/Westland had ordered a recall of 143 million pounds of beef which had been produced across a two-year span. Most of that meat had been distributed to some very large operations, including the National School Lunch Program and fast food giants Jack in the Box and In-N-Out. The cost of the recall, along with the various fines and costly lawsuits that resulted from the scandal, forced The Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company to end operations in February 2008.

Plastic In The Chicken At Subway

Hand holding Subway chicken sandwich - subway_australia / Instagram

One of Subway's most enduring and bestselling menu offerings is its Roasted Chicken sandwich. It's made with patties formed out of real chicken breast and rib meat and sent to individual Subway restaurants fully prepared and ready to serve and eat. In 2015, one of Subway's poultry suppliers, West Liberty Foods, worked in tandem with the U.S.D.A.'s Food Safety and Inspection Service to recall a massive shipment of grilled chicken patties distributed to locations in the fast food sandwich chain in Illinois, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Texas.

After Subway lodged multiple complaints from customers who had discovered pieces of white plastic in their sandwiches made with chicken breast patties, the recall began. Investigators figured out that the compromised meat was all processed at a single West Liberty plant on February 4, 2015 and sent to Subway outlets in 25-pound boxes. The total amount of unsellable, maybe dangerous to consume, and ultimately recalled chicken breast patties: 34,075 pounds.

Metal Shavings In The Beef At Taco Bell

Nachos with beef and other Taco Bell items - The Image Party/Shutterstock

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What's really in Taco Bell beef isn't entirely meat  it's mostly fillers, binders, and seasonings. But while most Taco Bell customers assume the inexpensive product isn't going to be top-notch, they also aren't going to expect to find something inedible and potentially dangerous in an old fave from Taco Bell's Decades menu, or the soft taco or Crunchwrap Supreme. In the fall of 2019, one Taco Bell customer from an undisclosed location complained of finding numerous small pieces of metal in their beef-based meal. The federal USDA-run Food Safety and Inspection Service then fielded complaints about possibly contaminated Taco Bell items from three other diners.

The beef in the affected product was traced back to supplier Kenosha Beef International of Ohio, which had made the meat filling between September 20 and October 4 of 2019. As more metal shavings may have contaminated more food earmarked for the chain, Taco Bell recalled all of the meat processed at Kenosha Beef during that one particular period of time. The total amount of beef recalled was 2.3 million pounds from 21 states. Nobody became sick or injured from the meat, either before or after the recall took place.

Hepatitis In The Strawberries At Tropical Smoothie Cafe

Pink Tropical Smoothie Cafe drink sitting on a table - nattycupcakez / Instagram

In early fall 2016, a moderate outbreak of hepatitis A emerged in several mid-Atlantic states along with a few isolated cases in the South and the West Coast. Over the span of the crisis, 143 people tested positive  of which 56 required hospitalization  for hepatitis A, a contagious disease that affects the liver with symptoms that include yellow eyes and skin, pain in the abdomen, and abnormal bowel movements.

Health departments from the states of those affected, in conjunction with the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control, launched an investigation and conducted interviews with some of the patients and found that 129 of 143 people had consumed a product made with strawberries at a Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, or West Virginia, before August 8, 2016. The ingredient responsible for the illness: strawberries used in many drinks at Tropical Smoothie Cafe, all of which had been imported from Egypt by the International Company for Agricultural Production and Processing. Tropical Smoothie Cafe participated in a recall of the Hepatitis A-tainted berries from its East Coast locations and immediately switched to a different strawberry supplier.

E. Coli In The Lettuce At Wendy's

Wendy's hamburger prominently featuring lettuce - Francis Dean/Getty Images

According to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control, in summer 2022, there was a rise in cases of E. coli infection across Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Initial reports suggested that 37 people fell sick, and that number quickly grew to 109 over six states, with 52 individuals seeking hospitalization for severe GI symptoms. More than 80% of those affected shared a data point: They'd recently eaten at Wendy's restaurants.

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Before the CDC could conclusively determine what exactly at Wendy's made everyone get so sick (fortunately, no fatalities were reported), the fast food chain figured out that its lettuce was to blame. Within two days after the first reports of E. coli were filed, Wendy's had stopped using lettuce and recalled the vegetable from its locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.While lettuce was off the menu and out of the kitchen at many Wendy's spots, Consumer Reports advised Americans to avoid anything with the leafy green vegetable at the restaurant nationwide altogether.

Parasites In The Salads At McDonald's

McDonald's salad topped with grilled chicken - Stephen Chernin/Getty Images

A fast food salad is supposed to be the healthier option  a big bowl of vegetables and grilled chicken seems like a solid nutritional choice over chicken nuggets, burgers, and fries. But in 2018, several hundred people became very sick after choosing something supposedly more heart-healthy at McDonald's. In May 2018, reports began to file in to public health agencies about food-borne illness, and over the next two months, the FDA ultimately confirmed more than 500 cases of Cyclospora Cayetanensis, a brutal condition that causes severe gastrointestinal and digestive discomfort.

The parasite enters the body through contaminated water or food, and those who got sick had eaten salads at McDonald's made with a prepared romaine lettuce and carrot blend distributed by supplier Fresh Express. A sample of the carrots used in the blend tested positive for the parasite that causes Cyclospora Cayetanensis, which prompted a recall of salad mix at 3,000 McDonald's restaurants located in 14 states.

Plastic In The McNuggets At McDonald's Japan

McDonald's chicken McNuggets in box with Japanese writing - Rick Siu/Shutterstock

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U.S.-based fast food companies who do business internationally have borne the brunt of significant and necessary recalls. In January 2015, McDonald's Japan conducted one of the farthest-reaching recalls in contemporary fast food over the back-to-back discoveries of two inedible and reasonably dangerous substances in its product.

First, one customer reported finding small pieces of blue plastic inside their order of Chicken McNuggets. Processed at a facility operated by Cargill in Thailand, that supplier denied responsibility for the compromised McNuggets. McDonald's Japan acted quickly nevertheless, recalling about one million ready-to-eat McNuggets from the Cargill plant before they could be distributed to its restaurants. That recall was completed over the course of one day. Later that same week, another customer at a different McDonald's, in Misawa, Japan, uncovered a different foreign body in their McNuggets. This time, it was a chunk of vinyl material. The previous recall would have caught any more vinyl-laced McNuggets, but to err on the side of caution, McDonald's Japan briefly stopped the sale of all Chicken McNuggets.

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Ryan Kobayashi, father of a 31-year-old Maui woman who vanished in Los Angeles nearly two weeks ago, was found dead near LAX early Sunday morning, officials confirmed.

Ryan and other family members traveled to Los Angeles to search for his daughter, Hannah Kobayashi, who disappeared shortly after missing a connecting flight at LAX.

On Monday, Nov. 18, Ryan spoke with KTLA in hopes of reaching his daughter. I miss her, he said. Just want her to know that, and just want her to reach out  anything.

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Hannahs family has not heard from her since Nov. 10, and her last known location was in downtown Los Angeles near the Pico Metro Station on Nov. 11.

On Sunday, Nov. 24, Los Angeles Police said officers responded to the 6100 block of Century Boulevard around 4 a.m. Sunday for a report of a death in the area.

While LAPD did not release any details about the cause of death, a nonprofit that is believed to be aiding in the search provided a statement on behalf of the family.

The Kobayashi family endured a devastating tragedy today, wrote the RAD Movement. After tirelessly searching throughout Los Angeles for 13 days, Hannahs father, Ryan Kobayashi, tragically took his own life. This loss has compounded the familys suffering immeasurably.

Ryan Kobayashi is seen here at a rally on Nov. 21 held for his daughter, a 31-year-old Maui woman who vanished in Los Angeles in early November. (KTLA) Family members of Hannah Kobayashi seen in downtown L.A. holding a rally and passing out flyers on Nov. 21, 2024. (KTLA) Hannah Kobayashi seen at LAX on Nov. 8, 2024, in a surveillance photo obtained by family members. (viewer image) Hannah Kobayashi seen in L.A. in a surveillance photo obtained by family members. (viewer image) Family members of Hannah Kobayashi seen in downtown L.A. holding a rally and passing out flyers on Nov. 21, 2024. (KTLA) Family members of Hannah Kobayashi seen in downtown L.A. holding a rally and passing out flyers on Nov. 21, 2024. (KTLA) Family members are asking for the communitys help searching for Hannah Kobayashi, 31, of Maui, who missed her connecting LAX flight and hasnt been seen or heard from since Nov. 10. (Larie Pidgeon) Hannah Kobayashi seen in this undated photography. (viewer image)

Hannahs family did not immediately provide a statement of their own, but the RAD Movement said they are urgently pleading with the public to maintain focus on the search for her.

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Hannah IS still actively missing and is believed to be in imminent danger, added the nonprofit. It is crucial for everyone to remain vigilant in their efforts to locate Hannah.

The RAD Movement also asked the public to refrain from contacting any family members and to allow them space to grieve.

The trauma they are enduring is profound, and they now face the additional burden of grieving the loss of their familys pillar and navigating next steps, said the nonprofit.

Hannah is described as 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighing about 140 pounds and has brown hair and eyes, and fair skin with freckles.

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Her aunt, Larie Pidgeon, said Hannah was traveling from Maui to New York City to visit family, but when she missed her connecting flight in Los Angeles at 11 p.m. on Nov. 8, she decided to go to The Grove for a Lebron James event.

When she returned to LAX days later, Pidgeon said that was when she started sending her alarming text messages.

She mentioned feeling scared, and that someone might be trying to steal her money and identity, her aunt said. Strange, cryptic messages  things about the matrix, it was so unlike her. And then all of a sudden, no more communication.

Her family believes the 31-year-old is in danger, and with each day shes missing, is begging to keep her name out there.

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The RAD Movement said that if you see Hannah, please call 911 immediately and obtain a photo if possible.

The nonprofit said that in accordance with the immediate familys wishes, all information, tips and media inquiries are to be directed to The RAD Movement via text to 619-904-0840 or emailed to radthemovement@gmail.com.

If you or anyone you know is struggling with mental health or thoughts of suicide, please seek immediate professional help by calling the nationwide mental health crisis hotline by dialing 9-8-8 on your phone.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
The father of a missing Hawaii woman has died by suicide, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

At 4 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to the 6100 block of West Century Boulevard near the Los Angeles International Airport for a death investigation, a police spokesperson said.

The investigation revealed Ryan Kobayashi, 58, the father of Hannah Kobayashi, had died of suicide, police said.

Ryan Kobayashi, who lived in Honolulu, and other members of his family were in Los Angeles searching for Hannah Kobayashi, who had taken a flight from Hawaii, where she lived, to Los Angeles on Nov. 8. She was en route to New York City but had less than an hour to get to her departure terminal and missed a connecting flight, her aunt Larie Pidgeon has said. Her family said Hannah Kobayashi decided to explore the area while she waited for another flight.

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On Nov. 10, Hannah Kobayashi was recorded at a Nike event at The Grove shopping center, about 12 miles north of Los Angeles International Airport, but her family said that in the coming days, they received concerning text messages from her phone.

Hannah Kobayashi.

In the last message, on Nov. 11, Hannah Kobayashi mentioned feeling scared, and worried that someone might be trying to steal her money and identity, Pidgeon said.

Family members quoted one of the texts, according to a video report from NBC affiliate KHNL of Honolulu: I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds for someone I thought I loved.

A Nov. 15 Facebook post by the RAD Movement  a San Diego County missing persons nonprofit group  said security video in the area of Pico Boulevard and Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles shows Kobayashi with someone, sparking concern.

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In the footage, it is evident that Hannah does not appear to be in good condition and she is not alone, the post said. Due to the ongoing and active nature of this investigation, we are unable to share any further details at this time.

Its not clear when the video was recorded.

Theres reason to believe through video surveillance that Hannah is not OK, Pidgeon said a week ago, adding that the family did not want to speak about specifics because they did not want to hinder the investigation.

A Los Angeles police spokesperson said Monday that there was no further information available and that the investigation is ongoing.

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If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Police responded to a call about an "apparent suicide" at the same location where Ryan Kobayashi died after traveling to L.A. to look for his daughter Hannah

The father of missing Hawaii woman Hannah Kobayashi has died in Los Angeles two weeks after her disappearance, officials said.

Ryan Kobayashi died in a parking lot on Sunday, Nov. 24, the L.A. County medical examiner confirmed. He was 58.

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No information on the cause of death was provided by the medical examiner.

Per local TV stations KTLA, KNBC and KABC, citing police, the elder Kobayashi's body was found in a parking structure near Los Angeles International Airport around 4 a.m. local time on Sunday.

An L.A. police spokesman tells PEOPLE that law enforcement was called to the area on Sunday morning for "an apparent suicide" after a caller "indicated [that] it looked like somebody had fallen or jumped from the seventh [story of] a parking structure."

The spokesman said the identity of the person was not yet available but more information was likely to be released later on Monday, Nov. 25.

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The medical examiner's department didn't immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE.

ABC 7 Ryan Kobayashi Ryan Kobayashi

Related: Missing Woman Seen on Video with Stranger After She Didnt Get on Connecting Flight, Family Says

A GoFundMe organized on behalf of Li Jaena, Ryan's fiancee, paid tribute to him as "a truly remarkable person who lit up every room with his positivity and kind heart."

"We are raising funds to support the Kobayashi family and provide assistance to Li during this unimaginable time," reads a description on the page, set up by Emi Ko.

Courtesy of Larie Pidgeon Hannah Kobayashi Hannah Kobayashi

"Ryan Kobayashi flew to Los Angeles immediately after learning of Hannahs disappearance. Tragically, Ryan is no longer with us, leaving us all heartbroken and at a loss for words," organizers wrote.

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"He has been living his absolute worst nightmare, since Hannahs disappearance, and now, with his passing, our family is grappling with unimaginable grief," the message added.

LAPD Hannah Kobayashi Hannah Kobayashi

Hannah's aunt Larie Pidgeon previously told PEOPLE that the 30-year-old had left Maui on Nov. 8 and was supposed to make a connecting flight to New York City at LAX, but missed it because of her tight layover.

Pidgeon said Hannah had contacted another aunt, Geordan Montalvo, and told her she missed her flight and was trying to rebook.

The missing woman was said to have then gone to a bookstore around noon on Nov. 9 and that evening she went back to LAX, telling Montalvo that trying to get on another flight was a "nightmare" but that she was still trying to get there.

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The family said they have confirmed sightings of Hannah at LAX the following day  but started to receive concerning messages from her on Nov. 11.

"I think someones trying to steal my identity. Im really scared," Hannah texted at the time, among other worrying messages, according to her family.

Hannah's last pinned location was at LAX around 4 p.m. local time on Nov. 11, Pidgeon told PEOPLE. That day, the family got a confirmed sighting of Hannah and an unidentified person getting on the train, but she hasn't been seen since reportedly exiting at Pico Station.

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Ryan, her dad, was among the family members who traveled to L.A. amid the search for his missing daughter.

While speaking to a crowd at a rally near Crypto.com Arena, close to where Hannah was last seen, Pidgeon urged people on Thursday, Nov. 21: Please, please do not stop saying her name, Hannah Kobayashi.

Ryan also appeared at the rally, calling his daughter a beautiful girl inside and outside."

"Just reach out, if you can at all," he said.
Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Deputy Prime Minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Ye)

BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang met with Deputy Prime Minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel in Beijing on Monday.

Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, noted that China and Luxembourg represent a fine example of harmonious coexistence and win-win cooperation between big and small countries. He said that under the strategic guidance of their leaders, the two countries have maintained sound momentum in the development of bilateral ties and achieved fruitful outcomes in cooperation on multiple fronts.

China is ready to continue being a good friend that offers mutual support, and a good partner in seeking common development, he said. It is willing to deepen cooperation constantly in such fields as the Air Silk Road, industrial and supply chains, scientific and technological innovation, and green transformation, and it stands ready to work together to oppose protectionism, aiming to share the opportunities and dividends of open cooperation, he added.

Bettel said that Luxembourg is committed to extending cooperation frontiers with China constantly, and to enhancing cooperation in such fields as finance, logistics and new energy. The country is willing to play a positive role in promoting Europe-China cooperation, he added. 

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Deputy Prime Minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Ye)
Editors Note: This story contains discussion of suicide. Help is available if you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters.

In the US: Call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Globally: The International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide have contact information for crisis centers around the world.

The father of a Hawaii woman who went missing two weeks ago was found dead on Sunday, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

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Ryan Kobayashi had traveled to Los Angeles to help find his daughter, Hannah Kobayashi. The 30-year-old woman was last heard from on November 11, three days after she didnt board a connecting flight to New York City during a layover at Los Angeles International Airport.

Ryan Kobayashis body was found Sunday around 4 a.m. on West Century Boulevard, the LAPD confirmed to CNN  at an address near the airport. The Los Angeles County medical examiners office determined he died by suicide.

The Kobayashi family said the devastating tragedy only adds to their anguish.

After tirelessly searching throughout Los Angeles for 13 days, Hannahs father, Ryan Kobayashi, tragically took his own life. This loss has compounded the familys suffering immeasurably, the family said in a statement released through a nonprofit group helping with the search for Hannah Kobayashi.

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As you can imagine, the family is devastated, Hannah Kobayashis aunt, Larie Pidgeon, told CNN. She said Ryan died of a broken heart.

Since Hannahs disappearance, the elder Kobayashi had spoken to the media on behalf of his family and sought help from the public to find his daughter.

Hannah loved to travel. She loved photography, art, music. I wasnt too close with her  growing up. We hadnt had contact for a while, Ryan Kobayashi told CNN in an interview last week. Im just trying to make up. Im trying to get her back. Thats my main focus.

In their statement, the Kobayashi family urged the public to maintain focus on the search.

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Hannah IS still actively missing and is believed to be in imminent danger. It is crucial for everyone to remain vigilant in their efforts to locate Hannah, the statement read.

In another statement released by Pidgeon, the Kobayashi family said they have been overwhelmed by the immense outpouring of love and support during this profoundly difficult time.

Every step you take, every poster you hang, every message you share, and every act of kindness brings us closer to finding Hannah. We cannot thank you enough for standing by us through this journey, the family said.

Family received suspicious text messages

Hannah Kobayashi - Courtesy Sydni Kobayashi

Hannah was supposed to visit her aunt in upstate New York, her sister Sydni Kobayashi previously told CNN.

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She and her ex-boyfriend had planned a trip to New York when they were still together, according to her sister. Since the tickets couldnt be refunded, they decided to keep their tickets but change seats and travel separately, she added. The ex-boyfriend, unlike Hannah, boarded a connecting flight to New York City from Los Angeles.

CNN obtained a photo which appears to show Hannah getting off her flight at the Los Angeles airport. The next day, she was spotted at a Taschen bookstore at The Grove, a shopping mall in Los Angeles, her sister said.

She then sent a Venmo payment to two people whose names the family did not recognize, according to her sister.

A video was posted on YouTube on November 10, showing Hannah at the LeBron XXII Trial Experience, an event held at the Nike store in the same shopping center. A photo of the event was also posted on her Instagram account, her sister said.

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In the days after the 30-year-old missed her flight, family and friends received a series of suspicious texts from her phone.

On November 11  the last day anyone heard from the missing woman  her mother texted her, asking whether she made it to New York. Hannah responded no, her sister said. She also sent messages to a friend saying she didnt feel safe, and someone was trying to steal her identity and funds, according to screenshots her sister sent to CNN.

Deep Hackers wiped my identity, stole all of my funds, & have had me on a mind f**k since Friday, one message to a friend said.

Another message said, I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds, followed by one saying, For someone I thought I loved.

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On November 15, the LAPD missing persons unit made a poster about Hannahs disappearance, saying she was last seen at the airport. It said she has freckles on her face and a tattoo on her forearm.

On November 17, in a statement posted to Facebook, Sydni Kobayashi said the family had obtained surveillance footage showing her sister around the downtown Metro train station near Crypto.com Arena, although it was unclear exactly when the footage was taken.

In the footage, Hannah is not alone and does not appear to be in good condition, the family wrote on Facebook, saying they are unable to share further details.

CNNs Veronica Miracle, Elizabeth Wolfe, Michelle Watson, Maria Aguilar Prieto and Chris Boyette contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Originally appeared on E! Online

Content warning: This story discusses suicide.

The family of Hannah Kobayashi is grieving a massive loss.

Nearly two weeks after the Hawaiian native went missing in Los Angeles Nov. 11, her father Ryan Kobayashi has died in an apparent suicide in the California city, authorities told NBC4.

The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to NBC4 Los Angeles that Ryan, 58, had jumped off a parking structure near Los Angeles International Airport at around 4 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 24.

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Ryan had been in Los Angeles to assist in a search for Hannah, 31, who was last seen in surveillance footage boarding a Metro station near Crypto.com Arena Nov. 18, her family told NBC4. He had attended a vigil for her on Nov. 21 nearby, telling reporters, Were trying to get our boots on the ground to find out what happened.

Its every parents nightmare, he added to NBC4 at the time. We dont know where to start, where to begin. Its like a grain of sand in the ocean.

More from E! Online

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Hannahs father also told reporters he felt hopeful toward finding his daughter. Prior to her disappearance, Hannah had begun sending her family members out-of-character text messages, including one where she described she had undergone a very intense spiritual awakening, and expressing anxiety over someone attempting to steal her money or identity.

That's when everything started getting fuzzy and we're starting to lose contact with her, Hannahs aunt Larie Pidgeon told KITV News Nov. 14. This is so unlike Hannah, she's very responsible.

Hannah Kobayashi/Instagram

The Haiku, Maui native had planned a trip to New York for a concert, photography gig and a family visit, arriving at LAX from Hawaii Nov. 8. After missing her connecting flight, she left the airport to explore Los Angelesincluding attending a LeBron James event at The Grove Nov. 10. Although she returned back to the airport Nov. 11, she never boarded her flight, Pidgeon previously confirmed to E! News.

The LAPD also previously confirmed to E! News that there is an ongoing missing person investigation for Hannah.

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We will not stop until we find you, you have so many family, you have so many friends who love you so, so, so much, Larie told KITV. If you're feeling scared or if you feel alone, you are not. We are with you.

(E! and NBC4 News are part of the NBCUniversal family.)

If you or someone you know needs help, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
The father of a 30-year-old Hawaii woman who went missing in Los Angeles just over two weeks ago has been found dead in a parking lot near the citys airport, authorities said.

Ryan Kobayashi, the father of Hannah Kobayashi, was found dead by patrol officers responding to a call for a death investigation around 4 a.m. on Sunday, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to HuffPost.

His official cause and manner of death were not available through the Los Angeles County coroners office as of Monday morning, though a group searching for his daughter posted a statement on Facebook saying he had died by suicide.

Volunteers put up flyers for missing Maui woman Hannah Kobayashi outside Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday. Wally Skalij via Getty Images

This loss has compounded the familys suffering immeasurably, the statement said before urging people to keep searching for the missing 30-year-old.

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Hannah IS still actively missing and is believed to be in imminent danger. It is crucial for everyone to remain vigilant in their efforts to locate Hannah, the statement read.

Ryan Kobayashi, 58, played an active role in the search for his daughter. He was seen passing out flyers on the streets and had represented his family in media interviews.

Were just hoping that she is safe and healthy and alive, he said in an interview earlier this month withABC 7 News. And if anybody knows anything, wed just really appreciate any kind of help.

Hannah Kobayashi went missing on Nov. 8 after getting off a plane in Los Angeles. Wally Skalij via Getty Images

As previously reported, Hannah Kobayashi was last heard from on Nov. 8 when her family said she left the Los Angeles International Airport during a short layover while heading from Maui to New York City with her ex-boyfriend.

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Kobayashi and her ex had reportedly purchased nonrefundable flight tickets before they broke up, and her former boyfriend completed his trip to New York and has been cooperative with the investigation, her family has said.

Two days after Kobayashi was seen exiting the plane in Los Angeles, her Instagram account was updated to include a photo of a sign at The Grove shopping center in LA. There was no caption with the photo.

Her family said they had received a strange message from her phone number claiming that someone might have been trying to steal her money and identity, Larie Pidgeon, Kobayashis aunt, posted on Facebook.

Kobayashi was last seen on surveillance video near a downtown Metro train station on Nov. 11, accompanied by an unknown person, her family said.

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If you or someone you know needs help, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for mental health support. Additionally, you can find local mental health and crisis resources at dontcallthepolice.com. Outside of the U.S., please visit the International Association for Suicide Prevention.

Related...
The father of missing Maui woman Hannah Kobayashi has been found dead in Los Angeles as the desperate search for the 30-year-old continues.

Ryan Kobayashi, 58, was found dead in the early hours of Sunday in a parking lot near LAX airport, according to the Los Angeles Police Department, NBC Los Angeles reported. He is believed to have died by suicide.

Just a few days earlier, Ryan was handing out missing persons flyers to people in the streets of LA as he said he would do everything in his power to find his daughter.

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Shes a wonderful person who brings joy to so many people, he told reporters at the time.

Ryan had traveled to LA to help search for his daughter, who has been missing since November 8 when she stopped over at Los Angeles International Airport on her way from Hawaii to New York City.

Hannah was set to meet her aunt Geordan Montalvo and her aunts husband Bob in New York and they all had tickets to go to a concert on November 12 together. The vacation was described as a bucket list trip.

Hannahs father Ryan Kobayashi was found dead in a parking lot near LAX, police said (Fox News)

But, the 30-year-old missed her connecting flight at LAX on November 8.

The following day, she was spotted at a bookstore at The Grove, a popular outdoor mall in LA. One day later, she was seen at a LeBron James event.

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On November 11, surveillance video captured her at a downtown Los Angeles Metro stop with a person not known to her family.

Hannah Kobayashi, 30, vanished while traveling from Hawaii to New York City (Sydni Kobayashi/Facebook)

Larie Pidgeon, Hannahs aunt told KTLA 5 her niece did not look well. She is not safe, and she is not alone, she said.

Her family previously told the Daily Mail that police had waited 10 days after Hannah went missing to contact them as they condemned the slow-moving investigation.

Before she disappeared, Hannah had sent cryptic texts to a friend saying she had been tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds to someone I thought I loved.

Her sister, Sydni Kobayashi, described the texts as really weird. Hannah added that she was scared and couldnt come back home.

Hannah Kobayashi in security footage from LAX airport (Facebook)

Then the texts suddenly stopped.

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Hannah is 5ft 10ins and weighs about 140 pounds. She has brown hair and eyes, and fair skin with freckles.

The search for Hannah continues.

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.
The search for a missing Hawaii woman has turned tragic after her father, who flew to Los Angeles to search for his daughter, fell to his death from a parking garage near the airport, according to police.

Ryan Kobayashi had spent 13 days looking for daughter Hannah, 30, who vanished after she missed a connecting flight to New York on Nov. 8, a nonprofit working with the family told KTLA news.

His body was found at about 4 a.m. Sunday in what authorities believe was an apparent suicide, NBC Los Angeles reported.

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This loss has compounded the familys suffering immeasurably, a nonprofit working with the family to find Hannah told KTLA in a statement.

The group urged the public to continue searching for Hannah while the family grieves the loss of its pillar.

Hannah Kobayashi was scheduled to fly from Hawaii to New York to visit her aunt upstate. But instead of catching her connecting flight in Los Angeles, surveillance footage showed her leaving the airport and taking the metro downtown.

The next day, she was spotted on a TikTok video at The Grove shopping center, and then she sent a Venmo payment to two unknown people, according to KTLA. On Nov. 11, her mother texted her and asked if shed made it to New York.

Hannah Kobayashi was last seen on November 8 at LAX Airport after missing a connecting flight from Maui to New York.

She wrote back saying no, and sent messages to friends saying she didnt feel safe and that someone was trying to steal her money and identity.

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I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds. From someone I thought I loved, she wrote.

Other messages didnt sound like her, using words like hun that she never used. A photo was posted to her Instagram on Nov. 11, but nobody has heard from her since, her family said.

Ryan Kobayashi represented the family in media interviews as they searched for Hannah.

Were just hoping that she is safe and healthy and alive, he said earlier this month. And if anybody knows anything, wed just really appreciate any kind of help.

If you or a loved one are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing or texting 988.
Chicago Ald. Daniel Solis had been secretly cooperating with the FBI for more than a year when he received an unexpected voicemail that surely caught the attention of agents listening in from the wire room.

Danny, its Mike Madigan, said the unmistakable voice on the June 2017 message. Would you call?

It turned out the powerful Democratic House speaker wanted Solis to set up a meeting where he could pitch the developers of a West Loop condo building in Solis 25th Ward on hiring his private law firm to do real estate tax appeals, according to testimony Monday in Madigans federal corruption trial.

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Solis called the speakers law firm two minutes later. On the call, played for the jury in court, the alderman waited on hold for a moment while the ominous classical piece Hall of the Mountain King played in the background. Madigan then picked up and asked about the development.

Do you know the developer? Solis said, seeming somewhat surprised in the speakers interest. Do you know the, uh, people there?

No, but Id like to, Madigan responded.

Madigans out-of-the-blue request, which came at a time when Solis undercover work was focused on then-Ald. Edward Burke, took the investigation in a new direction and helped lead to one of the central allegations of the case: that Madigan used the power and influence of his public office to squeeze developers for business for his private law firm.

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The alleged West Loop scheme was just one facet of a blockbuster six hours of testimony Monday from Solis, the prosecutions star witness who spent his first full day on the witness stand taking the jury through his own legal and personal issues and his unprecedented decision to flip and go undercover for the feds.

Chicago Tribune  Telephone conversation between Michael Madigan and Daniel Solis on June 23, 2017

Before getting to Solis cooperation, prosecutors walked him through many of the allegations contained in a bombshell FBI search warrant affidavit that was inadvertently made public in 2019, including Solis involvement with a number of Chicago political power players.

Over nearly three hours, the jury heard about Solis sexual trysts at massage parlors, procuring erectile dysfunction pills from friends, an affair with his Chinese translator, a bag of cash handed over at a hotel in Shanghai, a breakup with his wife, and near financial ruin  all while he was heading up the City Councils powerful Zoning Committee.

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Solis testified about his sister, Democratic political consultant Patti Solis Doyle, who he said offered to split a $100,000 payment with him from the developer of the Nobu Hotel, who needed Solis help with zoning.

She said she could split it with me, Solis said. I told her I couldnt do it. It would be illegal.

Solis testified he also received $200,000 for referring his sister to another friend, Brian Hynes, who wanted her on board with his company Vendor Assistance Program, which made tens of millions of dollars buying up unpaid bills from the state and then collecting the late fees.

And then there were other friends, such as Juan Gaytan, the influential head of Monterrey Security, who showered Solis with perks such as a trip to Las Vegas and tickets to Bulls and Bears games that Solis never declared on any ethics reports, according to his testimony.

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I made a mistake, Solis said when asked why he accepted the favors. I thought they were my friends and I was wrong.

Solis highly anticipated testimony  which could stretch well into December  has provided a fascinating dive into one of the biggest public corruption cases in Chicagos sordid history. Its the culmination of a saga that began nearly eight and a half years ago, when FBI agents confronted Solis at his home in June 2016 and showed him evidence theyd gathered of his own misdeeds.

Madigan, 82, of Chicago, who served for decades as speaker of the Illinois House before stepping down in 2021, faces racketeering charges alleging he ran his state and political operations like a criminal enterprise.

He is charged alongside Michael McClain, 77, a former ComEd contract lobbyist from downstate Quincy, who for years was one of Madigans closest confidants. Both men have pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.

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Solis has so far come across as soft-spoken, testifying in a voice so quiet hes been reminded several times to move closer to the microphone. After telling the jury Monday that he originally sought massages due to lower back issues, he at one point stood up on the witness stand for several minutes to stretch, remaining on his feet and leaning forward into the mic as he continued to answer questions.

When U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey asked if he wanted to take a short break, Solis responded, No, no, Im good.

When a prosecution witness has a checkered past like Solis, prosecutors frequently ask about the alleged wrongdoing early in their testimony. Fronting the information strategically aims to take the sting out of it, rather than let defense attorneys seize on it during cross-examination.

But rarely does a witness come with quite so much baggage.

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Solis testified that Roberto Caldero, a college buddy of his who became a lobbyist and consultant, would call Solis for help when his clients had problems with the citys red tape. At the same time, Caldero connected Solis with free tabs of Viagra and  to the obvious amusement of at least one juror  erotic massages.

Why didnt you just get a prescription? MacArthur asked.

It was more convenient and quicker than contacting my doctor, Solis said.

Why was it, do you think, Mr. Caldero was willing to do those things for you? MacArthur asked.

He wanted to influence me in his requests, Solis said.

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The back-scratching continued: Solis tried to get a loan from a bank that needed help with expressway signage; his sons graduation party was hosted and paid for by developer Fred Latsko; he got a six-figure off-the-books loan from a businessman who wanted Solis help connecting him with then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

But the most dramatic revelations came from Solis testimony about his time in China.

Solis said hed visited China and Taiwan multiple times from 2005 to 2013, mostly in his capacity as a public official, to understand the 2008 Olympic Games effect on Beijing when Chicago was trying for its Olympic bid, for example, or to learn about Chinese culture in order to better support Chinatown.

Shortly after a trip in 2009, Solis  who was married  began an affair with his translator, Bing Tie. He said Tie introduced him to developer Lumeng Li, who was interested in projects in Chinatown. Tie and Solis accompanied Li on a tour of his properties in different Chinese cities.

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At one point, he was in a Shanghai hotel room with Tie and Li. On the bed, Solis saw a briefcase full of Chinese cash, he said. It was $10,000, Solis said based on what Tie told him.

I think (Li) was giving it to me to influence me in the work he was trying to do in the States, Solis testified.

Tie took the suitcase off the bed and used the money to buy furniture for the condo Solis was renting from her, he testified.

She gave me her receipts for everything, he said.

Solis marriage began to fall apart in 2010 after his wife learned of his affair, Solis testified. They were separated for a few years, during which time Solis paid his wifes rent and his sons private school tuition as well as his own expenses, Solis testified. The house he and his wife shared had been foreclosed on, putting his credit in the gutter, he said.

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By 2013 he was getting calls from bill collectors, one of whom he lied to and said he was out of a job, he testified.

I was exasperated, he said. I think I was about to go into a meeting.

Solis past caught up with him in June 2016, when two FBI agents came knocking on the door of Solis South Loop condo, showing him evidence of his misdeeds.

I was shocked, I was afraid, I was nervous, he told jurors.

He contacted Hynes to get a recommendation for an attorney, and within just a couple of days decided to cooperate fully with the government. His unprecedented run as an FBI mole got him an unprecedented deferred prosecution deal that will leave him without a criminal conviction and continuing to draw a pension.

Solis said he did not focus on Madigan for the first year of his cooperation, though the jury has not heard specifically that he was busy gathering information on Burke, who was convicted of an array of corrupt schemes and is now serving a two-year prison sentence.

Then Madigan called him about the Union West project. I was reading an article about a proposed real estate development at Washington and Sangamon, Madigan said. The way the article read, it seemed to say that that was in your ward.

Later in June, at the FBIs direction, Solis called Madigan and said he was arranging a meeting that week with the developers.

I think they understand theyve got some issues that they still have to deal with me in terms of zoning, Solis on the June 23, 2017, call, which was played in court. I think they understand how this works, you know, the quid pro quo, the quid pro quo.

Madigan sounded a bit caught off guard by the remark, but answered OK.

Solis testified the quid pro quo remark was an ad lib, not something the FBI told him to say.

I dont know, it was dumb, he said. I thought it was too blunt, but what I was trying to say to him was we could have this meeting, he could probably get business from them, and I could work on the zoning support.

About a month later, just before the meeting between Madigan, Solis and the Union West developers, Madigan pulled Solis into his private office and closed the door.

Over the phone you made a comment that there was a quid pro quo, Madigan said in a hushed voice.

Oh, Im sorry, Solis said.

You shouldnt be talking like that, Madigan said. Youre just recommending our law firm because if they dont get a good result on their real estate taxes, the whole project will be in trouble.

Which is not good for your ward.  So you want high-quality representation.

While questioning Solis, MacArthur noted that weeks had elapsed between Solis use of the phrase and Madigans rejection of it. And she framed Madigans remarks as Madigans attempt to coach Solis on how to handle the meeting in a way that would benefit the speaker.

Were you the one recommending the developer hire Mr. Madigans firm? she asked.

No, Solis said.

What concerns did you have that the developer get a good result on real estate taxes? she asked.

None, Solis said.

Video of that meeting, which lasted more than half an hour, was played for the jury Monday afternoon.

From the videos played Monday, it was not always clear where Solis camera was hidden on his body. While the audio was often sharp, the videos were erratic, treating jurors to a lengthy view of the drop ceiling in Madigans law office and a close-up look at Solis hands fidgeting with a napkin.

Every so often, though, Madigan swooped into frame, and jurors saw him stern or scowling or studying a map of Chinatown with a look of intense concentration.

In front of the developers, Madigan was polished and professional, remarking the West Loop was a booming area that he drives through on his way into the city.

So youre going to do your project and, and, and wed like to talk to you about the real estate taxes, Madigan said.

After the meeting, Solis continued to check in with Madigan about whether his firm had gotten the Union West business. He testified Monday he understood he should not move forward with the zoning approvals until Madigan gave him the nod.

Did he, the head of the powerful Zoning Committee, actually need Madigans permission to do that? MacArthur asked.

No, Solis answered.

On Sept. 11, 2017, Madigan and Solis talked again about the Union West project. Solis told Madigan on the call, which was played for the jury, that he was prepared to go forward with the zoning request. But had the developers officially hired Madigans firm?

Umm, you know, you should go ahead and process that, Madigan said.

OK, Solis said.

OK Danny, very good, Madigan replied.

Solis testified that meant Madigan was giving him the go-ahead to approve the zoning changes that would benefit Union West.

Around the same time as the Union West matter, Solis told Madigan about an effort to build a development on a parking lot in Chinatown. But there was a hitch: The land was owned by the state, and would have to be transferred to the city before the project could go forward.

While the project proposal was real, Solis testified, the FBI had specifically instructed him to bring it up with Madigan as part of a ruse.

Chicago Tribune  Telephone conversation between Michael Madigan and Daniel Solis on September 11, 2017

Prosecutors played calls and videos for jurors in which Solis told Madigan about the nuts and bolts of the matter, which involved many layers of bureaucracy and had been the source of some political controversy in Soliss ward.

To make matters worse, Madigan was dealing with a political firestorm of his own, butting heads frequently with then-Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican.

In mid-September, Madigan told Solis in a secretly recorded phone call that the Chinatown matter would be handled by McClain  a man who, until that moment, Solis had never heard of. Madigan wanted Solis to tell the developer, Ray Chin, to expect McClains call.

What you want to do is convince the state to turn that (land) over to the city, he said Id like to have (the developer) talk to a man named Mike McClain.

Madigan couldnt be seen as directly supporting this, otherwise Rauner would harpoon it, Madigan said.

You cant have me around the situation. Right? Madigan said. I mean, anybody in the Rauner administration hears that Im involved, theyre gonna go in the opposite direction.

Chicago Tribune  Telephone conversation between Michael Madigan and Daniel Solis on September 13, 2017

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com

mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com
CHICAGO  Former Ald. Daniel Solis will resume testifying Monday in the corruption trial of ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan about his bombshell turn as an FBI mole.

Solis, 71, the former 25th Ward alderman and longtime head of the City Councils influential Zoning Committee, took the witness stand late last week to begin what will be a fascinating dive into one of the biggest public corruption cases in Chicagos sordid history.

His testimony  which could stretch well into December  will include clandestine video recordings Solis made in face-to-face meetings with Madigan, where the longtime House leader and head of the state Democratic Party allegedly used his official influence to shake down developers for business for his private tax appeal law firm.

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Jurors will hear Madigan in his own words, telling Solis on a recorded call that he would go to then-Gov.-elect JB Pritzker about a lucrative state board position for Solis, allegedly as a reward for Solis bringing big-time developers to the speaker.

It will also feature recorded conversations in which Madigan allegedly beseeched Solis for help in getting the speakers son, insurance broker Andrew Madigan, business with a Pilsen-based nonprofit group that had received millions of dollars in state funds.

There could also be mention of some of the more periphery figures from the sprawling investigation, including his sister, longtime Democratic political adviser Patti Solis Doyle, Chicago attorney Brian Hynes and other politicos from lobbyist and fundraiser Victor Reyes to former U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez.

Madigan, 82, of Chicago, who served for decades as speaker of the Illinois House before stepping down in 2021, faces racketeering charges alleging he ran his state and political operations like a criminal enterprise.

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He is charged alongside Michael McClain, 77, a former ComEd contract lobbyist from downstate Quincy, who for years was one of Madigans closest confidants. Both men have pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.

Solis testimony is the culmination of a saga that began nearly eight and a half years ago, when FBI agents confronted him at his home in June 2016 and showed him evidence theyd gathered of his own misdeeds.

The feds had been prepared that day to raid Solis City Hall offices. Instead, he flipped, offering what prosecutors have described as singular cooperation that helped bring down not only Madigan, but another Chicago political giant in former Ald. Edward M. Burke.

Lawyers for Madigan and McClain, meanwhile, will have plenty of ammunition to bring to what is expected to be a lengthy and grueling cross-examination.

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Unlike in last years trial of Burke, in which Solis was called as a defense witness, hell be subjected to a much broader line of questioning this time around, with the defense probing not only Solis unprecedented deferred-prosecution deal, but also episodes from the FBIs investigation into his own misdeeds that could prove personally embarrassing.

In his opening statement to the jury last month, Madigan attorney Tom Breen painted Solis as a BS-er with a decrepit personal and professional life, someone who lied to cut a sweetheart deal with the feds that not only will keep him out of prison, but also help him maintain a fat city pension.

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Two in-house investigators at U.S. intelligence agencies recently quit their jobs. Theres growing fear in Washington that they could be the start of an exodus  or a purge  of government watchdogs.

A wave of departures by inspectors general would give President-elect Donald Trump the opportunity to nominate or appoint people of his choice to the watchdog posts  leaving dozens of federal departments, agencies and offices subject to oversight by people who would owe their positions to Trump.

In the wake of Trumps election, CIA Inspector General Robin Ashton and Intelligence Community Inspector General Thomas Monheim revealed they plan to leave government in the coming weeks. Neither cited Trumps victory as a basis for the decision, but the timing of the announcements troubled some longtime advocates for IGs.

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I'm very disappointed that the two IGs have resigned, said former Justice Department Inspector General Michael Bromwich. My view is that when things get tough, IGs should not resign, but instead redouble their efforts to do their jobs. Doing a tough job in difficult circumstances is what they bargained for. I think preemptively resigning makes things too easy for the incoming administration to avoid oversight. To prematurely run for the exits, in my view, that is not the way to handle the responsibility.



Trump frequently clashed in his first term with some IGs, who are responsible for investigating alleged misconduct by the government, and his team briefly floated a plan to call on all of them to resign, though Trump never did. This time around, Trump allies have urged the president-elect to clean house and remove from their positions all watchdogs appointed by other presidents, though its unclear if Trump will do so.

I really hope that people that have a backbone don't resign, said Kathryn Newcomer, a professor of public policy at George Washington University and co-author of a book on IGs. Thats very worrisome.

Spokespeople for Ashton and Monheim did not respond directly to questions about whether Trumps return played any role in their decisions to resign, which were first reported by the Project on Government Oversight. Both departing officials have spent decades in the federal government. But critics say the outgoing IGs shouldve announced their departures sooner and given the Biden administration the chance to nominate and confirm replacements.

Trump allies have called to replace all IGs

More than 70 inspectors general serve in posts at agencies across the federal government, tasked with ferreting out waste, fraud and abuse, and investigating alleged misconduct. They generate thousands of reports each year and claim to have identified hundreds of billions of dollars in potential savings.

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Inspectors general drive efficiency and effectiveness, said Diana Shaw, a former acting IG at the State Department. If you dont have IGs, nobody is minding the store.

Some Trump allies have urged the president-elect to install his own appointees in the watchdog posts  about half of which are subject to Senate confirmation. About 10 of the posts are currently filled by officials installed or confirmed during Trumps first term. Another 10 are vacant.

People involved in drafting the conservative Heritage Foundation blueprint Project 2025 have advocated for wholesale replacement of inspectors general and suggested they could be viewed as part of the deep state Trump has crusaded against.

In a new administration, would you rather have some fresh eyes on programs or Miss IG Debbie DC, who's been around for half a decade, and is up to the same old stuff, Heritage Oversight Project Director Mike Howell said in a training video obtained by ProPublica and Documented. Fresh eyes, fresh administration, makes for better oversight, and, you know, better political management of the bureaucracy.

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But other conservative activists oppose a major overhaul of the IG ranks, arguing that many key revelations about waste and corruption in government have come from IG reports and that treating the jobs as typical political posts would undercut the credibility of their work.

"It seems more likely that there may be a demand for IG resignations or outright firings this time around, but if  going forward all IGs are merely political appointees, then whats the purpose of having IGs? It's a fig leaf at that point with no real independence, said Jason Foster, founder of the whistleblower group Empower Oversight. The value of IG objectivity would be destroyed, and their offices would just be a duplicate bureaucracy that should probably be replaced by better and more effective legislative branch-controlled oversight agencies."

A spokesperson for the Trump transition team did not respond to questions about his plans for the inspectors general and whether he agrees with those calling for a broad purge.

While Trumps election has led to concern among many federal government workers, particularly over his plans to dismantle civil service protections, the worries in the IG workforce are particularly acute.

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Everyone is just a nervous wreck, said a staffer in one IG office, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly.

Trumps tense first-term relations with IGs

Trump has had an uneasy history with inspectors general from the outset of his first term. Days before Trump took office in 2017, a transition team staffer reached out to several IGs and said they could continue in their jobs temporarily while a search for replacements was underway. Talk of a wholesale replacement of IGs  which would buck longstanding precedent  caused some alarm on Capitol Hill, and Trumps team quickly backed down, describing the action as an error by a junior aide.

I've spoken with the general counsel at the White House on this topic, House Oversight Committee Chair Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said at a February 2017 hearing with several inspectors general. I think it is safe to say that that was a mistake. They wish it hadn't happened. It is not their approach. It's not their intention.

During a span of six weeks in 2020, Trump ousted five inspectors general. He sacked Michael Atkinson, the intelligence communitys chief watchdog, after Atkinson referred to Congress a whistleblower complaint about Trumps efforts to link Ukraine aid to an announcement of an investigation into the Biden family. Trump also removed an IG overseeing pandemic relief programs and another at the State Department.

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It was like an earthquake through the IG community, Bromwich recalled. People said, Oh my God, why are we being focused on all of a sudden?

Trump and his allies have also signaled that he intends to be more insistent in his second term that his appointees and even rank-and-file government workers show loyalty to him and his administration.

Many in the IG community have their eyes on whether Trump moves to push out Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz. He was nominated by President Barack Obama and served through the first Trump term and through Joe Bidens presidency. Several of Horowitzs reports have provided fodder for Trumps complaints about sloppy surveillance practices, leaks to the media and signs of anti-Trump sentiment among some at the FBI.

But Trump and his allies have griped that Horowitz stopped short of concluding that political bias affected Trump-related investigations. The president-elect and GOP lawmakers have also faulted the DOJ IG for taking too long  sometimes years  to complete sensitive investigations.

The Grassley factor

One member of Congress has been viewed for decades as the patron saint of inspectors general on Capitol Hill: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). His voice could be critical to whether Trump winds up taking or ignoring some conservatives advice to wholesale oust IGs. In addition, several former aides to Grassley, such as former Judiciary Committee counsel and conservative firebrand Mike Davis, hold positions of influence in Trumps orbit.

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Grassley has repeatedly clashed with presidents of both parties when he has perceived them to be intruding on IGs independence. And he has called for case-by-case explanations when an inspector general is removed, something that might be difficult for Trump to offer in a government-wide purge. Legislation co-sponsored by Grassley and passed in 2022 requires the president to inform Congress of the substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons before firing or removing an IG. The law also prevents Trump or any president from naming as an acting IG someone who isnt already working as or for such a watchdog.

Asked Wednesday whether Trump should pursue a broad ouster of IGs, Grassley replied bluntly: No. He should not.



I guess its the case of whether he believes in congressional oversight, because I work closely with all the inspector generals and I think Ive got a good reputation for defending them. And I intend to defend them, the Iowa Republican added.

When Trump lashed out at IGs during his first term, Grassley publicly urged him to ease up, arguing that they were actually advancing his agenda of accountability for the sprawling federal government.

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I encourage Pres Trump 2view IGs as helpers 2hold bureaucracy accountable+draining swamp, Grassley wrote on X in 2020.

However, last week, Grassley sent every inspector general in the federal government ademand for information about sexual harassment settlements involving employees of the watchdog offices. The move seemed to raise the possibility he could be gathering data that Trumps team could use to target specific IG offices.

A spokesperson for Grassley did not respond to a request for comment, but advocates for the IGs expressed hope that the long-serving senator will temper whatever plans Trump may have to upend the watchdog operations  some of which were first set up in the late 1970s.

I know from personal experience that Sen. Grassley has been a strong proponent of IGs for forever, Bromwich said. I would think that he's going to be consistent with the beliefs that he has advanced throughout his career, rather than bowing to the whims of Donald Trump and some of his people, he will fight to keep the IGs independent.  That will be telling, whether Senator Grassley exercises that influence.
AKRON, Ohio (WJW)  Members of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force arrested the suspect in the rape of a child in March. He has now plead guilty.

Sher Bahadur Bhujel, 28, of Akron, is accused of raping a child younger than 15, according to a news release from U.S. Marshals.

The heroes credited with saving lives in Baltimore bridge collapse

Authorities obtained a warrant for his arrest on the morning of March 25 and found him early on March 26 while surveilling an address along Alphada Avenue in Akron, according to the release.

As Bhujel tried to leave in his vehicle, officers blocked him in and took him into custody.

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The Akron Police Department and members of our task force acted quickly to make an arrest in this case, less than 24 hours after the warrant was issued, U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott is quoted in the release. Cases like these, where the victim is a child, the task force works relentlessly until the fugitive is apprehended.

Local school employee resigns after private text goes public in class: I-Team

Bhujel was charged in Akron Municipal Court with felony counts of rape, sexual battery, sexual conduct with a minor and gross sexual imposition, court records show.

Bhujel pleaded guilty to three counts of rape on Nov. 18, according to court documents. One count of rape and two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor were dismissed by the court, according to the documents.

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Bhujels sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 30 at 1:15 P.M.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
The News in Brief Monday, November 25, 2024

The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) issued a strong warning on November 22 ahead of protests planned in Tbilisi on November 24. The Ministry cautioned organizers and participants against actions that could disrupt the first session of the 11th parliamentary convocation, warning of severe legal consequences for violations.The statement specifically addressed opposition parties' plans to march from Republic Square to the Parliament building. It emphasized that blocking strategic or essential state facilities, including the Parliament, is a criminal offense under Article 222 of the Criminal Code, punishable by up to two years in prison for individuals and up to four years for group offenders. The Ministry cited a recent government resolution identifying the Parliament and Government Administration buildings as sites of strategic importance."Otherwise, the police will take all appropriate legal measures to prevent illegal activity," the MIA stated.President Salome Zourabichvili sharply criticized the Ministry's announcement, arguing that such measures undermine citizens' constitutional right to assembly and protest. She labeled the warnings as indicative of "Russian-style governance" and accused the government of infringing on fundamental freedoms.Giorgi Gakharia, former Prime Minister and leader of the Gakharia-For Georgia party, urged the diplomatic corps in Georgia to boycott the first session of the 11th Parliament. At a press briefing, Gakharia specifically appealed to US and EU ambassadors, asking them not to attend the session as a stand against what he described as fraudulent election results.Gakharia argued that participation would legitimize an election he claims was marred by systematic violations, including breaches of voter privacy, manipulation of election commissions, and misuse of citizens' personal data. He stated that resolving the ongoing political crisis requires a full, independent investigation into these alleged irregularities.
China plays a significant role in global poverty alleviation through its development model and international partnerships, said an Indonesia-based expert. #GLOBALink
Firefighters walk near fire hoses set up to protect homes and cabins threatened by the Lava Fire near Lake Cascade on Sept. 11. (Clark Corbin/Idaho Capital Sun)

Working for the Bureau of Land Management as an initial attack firefighter during my summers in college, you would learn pretty fast how to properly move the hose to quickly fight the flame. During my last summer, our engine had a firefighter on our crew whose only experience was digging lines and not moving water. One night we were trying to quickly catch a growing wildfire, but our new crewmate kept getting tangled in the hose.

Federal forest managers seem to be tangled in their own hose reel as they attempt to manage escalating fire concerns. Inundated with too much federal land, overwhelmed with bureaucratic red tape, and heavily reliant on distant oversight federal forest managers are failing to adequately manage their wildfires. Idaho Congressman Russ Fulcher alongside U.S. Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch recently wrote to the U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore saying: The scale and severity of these incidents can be attributed to inadequate federal preventative measures and delayed response times.

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In the Boise and Payette national forests, the Lava Fire continues to consume precious public timber resources, amounting to almost 100,000 acres of federal and state-managed land. Even at the end of fire season nearby complex fires still intensify the severity of the situation, though containment has increased. As of September, the state is facing an estimated $45.8 million bill for wildfire expenses for 2024 (not including the recent fires that burned in October) compared to $14.6 million in 2023.

A portion of this increased expenditure can be attributed to the large fires on federal lands that were not promptly contained and grew into large complex fires. Idaho Gov. Brad Little said: They [the federal government] have got to do more containment, and theyve got to do more management. The Idaho Legislature will need to decide in the coming session if they will pre-fund the emergency fire suppression fund. If they choose to not increase funding, the Idaho Department of Lands will need to wait until 2026 for a supplemental request.

Defenders of the federal governments role as public land managers only need to look at the findings of the Congressional Budget Office to realize that they are poor managers of our forest resources. Less than 1/3 of the fires start on federal lands, but these grow hotter and larger than five times the average size of non-federal fires. Slow containment, poorly managed, unhealthy forests, and excessive lands overwhelm federal managers, and Western states, like Idaho, continue to bear the consequences.

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First, federal officials need to prioritize quick containment and that can only be accomplished if personnel and experience match the need. In July of 2024, federal wildfire managers increased to a Preparedness Level 5, signifying all hands on deck. But according to reports from on the ground, there were not enough hands to meet the need (despite finally hitting the hiring goal of 101% in July). As of July 2024, 2,417 nationwide requests for necessary fire resources had gone unmet, with a critical lack of experienced firefighters.

A wildfire helicopter flies over the U.S. Army wildfire base near Lake Cascade and the Lava Fire on Sept. 11. (Clark Corbin/Idaho Capital Sun)

In the past three years, the U.S. Forest Service has lost 45% of its permanent employees, meaning in-fill into these positions is from firefighters with less experience. A firefighter serving on the fires in Idahos Boise National Forest said: There were not enough firefighters to fill the crews to catch them all. The new fires are all big now too, but hardly anyone is on them.

Second, under-utilized and poorly managed forests define federal lands in the West, accompanied by the excessive and binding red tape for project initiation. Federal managers need to utilize the best available science to remediate the excessive fuel loads and accelerate management projects. Harvesting is one tool in which the states excel far beyond any federal program. For every dollar spent on federal lands, the payback is $0.73, but states earn $14.51 per dollar spent, with a much smaller land base. Not to mention that new growth of trees is less than half of the number of trees that are dying every year, and harvesting only accounts for 11% of the tree mortality, the rest is attributed to disease and fires. Leaving federal forests to rot or burn is an economic waste and an even bigger environmental tragedy.

Finally, the federal government is overburdened with Western land that goes unutilized and unmanaged. The federal government owns 45% of lands in the lower 11 contiguous Western states, contrasted with the 4% ownership in the Eastern states. Utahs recent lawsuit against the federal governments hoarding of unappropriated federal land is a positive assertion that Western lands need the influence of state management and resources, not outsourcing to bureaucratic management on the East Coast.

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State officials have demonstrated their superior protection of our forest and wildland resources as the federal government continues to get tangled in its own hose reel. Fires will continue to rage out of control unless the federal government learns from the Western states how to properly steward Western lands with sufficient and experienced personal, efficient, and scientific forest management practices, and finally by reappropriating land back to the citizens and communities who live and work near these resources.

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The Lower Monumental Dam is on the Snake River in Washington state. (Getty Images)

A trio of federal agencies are considering whether to pursue additional environmental guidelines for the Columbia River.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bonneville Power Administration and the Bureau of Reclamation are conducting the review to comply with an agreement reached late last year after litigation by regional Native nations and environmental groups.

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Environmental groups and tribes are holding out hope the agencies will recommend the removal of Snake River dams, which seemed likely only a few years ago. But, with Republicans set to control Congress and the White House in less than two months, its unclear what will happen.

The guidelines at the center of the debate are collectively called the Columbia River System Operations Environmental Impact Statement.

Despite the dense, bureaucratic name, the document is important because it shapes many crucial aspects of the Columbia Rivers management  including how much water is used by dams to generate hydroelectricity versus how much passes over their spillways to help young salmon safely make it to the ocean.

The federal agencies began work on the current environmental impact statement in 2016 and finalized it in 2020.

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Groups had anticipated the 2020 environmental impact statement to finally settle the conflict over four dams on the Lower Snake River. They produce about 5 percent of the regions electricity but contribute to salmons struggles by preventing endangered fish from reaching historic spawning grounds.

However, the 2020 document did not recommend their removal. Native nations and environmental groups sued.

The recent litigation came after more than three decades of legal battles over the governments efforts to save endangered salmon runs, which environmental groups argue are inadequate.

Following the 2020 litigation, the Biden administration in 2021 stepped in, halting this most recent round to give parties time to negotiate an agreement.

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The Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement, reached in 2023, paused litigation for five to 10 years. It also mandated the government review the recent environmental impact statement, conduct new research and potentially produce a supplement to the document that would change the governments stance on issues like Snake River dam removal.

To get a stay in that litigation, we agreed to some things, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Tom Conning said. And one of those things is environmental compliance.

That compliance could lead to a supplemental environmental impact statement or the slightly less significant step of a supplemental environmental assessment. Or it could lead to nothing at all.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a supplemental environmental impact statement is required when an agency makes substantial changes to the proposed action that are relevant to its environmental concerns or when there are substantial new circumstances or information about the significance of adverse effects that bear on the analysis.

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In a follow up email, Conning said the agency is looking at things that have changed since 2020, specifically citing:

changes to the Columbia River systems 14 federal dam and reservoir projects;

species that have since been listed by the Endangered Species Act;

changes in Columbia River flows from the pending Columbia River Treaty with Canada; and

newly published research.

When asked if the agencies are considering Snake River dam removal, Conning said the dams are a part of the Columbia River system, but the agencies are looking at the system as a whole and not necessarily individual projects.

Earth Justice lawyer Amanda Goodin said her organization expects to find out what approach the agencies are taking through a notice of intent from the trio by the end of this fall.

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Its currently unclear how the January transition from the Biden administration to another Trump presidency will impact the agencies decision-making.

Goodin said its likely it will have some effect, but the specifics remain to be seen.

She noted removing the Snake River dams  when combined with significant investment in areas like Lewiston, Idaho, that would lose local revenue  would be a win for environmentalists, Native nations and the regions economy.

But Goodin added that decision documents that came out of the last Trump administration showed no interest in that kind of win-win solution. And, in fact, (they) were pretty fine condemning salmon to extinction.

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The Corps Conning said the coming change in administrations will not change anything the agency is doing.

Right now, we dont (expect) basically any impact, he said. Its not like we can really speculate at this point what the incoming administration or the next Congress might do.

Republicans, who will control the presidency and both the chambers of Congress after January 2025, have opposed Snake River dam removal.

During his first term, President-elect Donald Trump showed a clear preference for cutting environmental protections for fish and ecosystems, instead increasing the amount of river water available across the West for farming.

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Thats a stance he doubled down on while campaigning this summer, The Columbian reported last month.

To Goodin, the stakes of the federal agencies potential action could not be higher  or more time sensitive.

The science has made clear that we are in an extinction crisis and that we really have to act with urgency here if we dont want to lose some of these (salmon) runs, she said. We dont really have time for half measures. We dont really have time for inaction.

And if the federal government decides to not live up to its obligation and not to keep moving forward with the agreement, she continued, then anythings on the table  anything that we can do to buy the fish more time, anything that we can do to keep this moving forward.

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Whatever the agencies decide on Snake River dam removal, Goodin acknowledged that issue will ultimately have to be decided by Congress.

This article was first published by The Columbian through the Murrow News Fellow program, managed by Washington State University.
Ken Ritter

Associated Press

LAS VEGAS  Federal water officials made public on Wednesday what they called necessary steps for seven states and multiple tribes that use Colorado River water and hydropower to meet an August 2026 deadline for deciding how to manage the waterway in the future.

Today we show our collective work, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton said as she outlined four proposals for action and one no action alternative that she and Biden's government will leave for the incoming Trump Administration  with formal environmental assessments still to come and just 20 months to act.

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The announcement offered no recommendation or decision about how to divvy up water from the river, which provides electricity to millions of homes and businesses, irrigates vast stretches of desert farmland and reaches kitchen faucets in cities including Denver, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles.

Instead it provided a bullet-point sample of elements from competing proposals submitted last March by three key river stakeholders: Upper Basin states Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming, where most of the water originates; Lower Basin states California, Arizona and Nevada, which rely most on water captured by dams at lakes Powell and Mead; and more than two dozen Native American tribes with rights to river water.

Theyre not going to take the any of the proposals, said Sarah Porter, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University. The federal government put the components together in a different way ... and modeled them to provide near-maximum flexibility for negotiations to continue.

One alternative would have the government act to protect critical infrastructure including dams and oversee how much river water is delivered, relying on existing agreements during periods when demand outstrips supply. But there would be no new delivery and storage mechanisms, the announcement said.

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A second option would add delivery and storage for Lake Powell and Lake Mead, along with federal and non-federal storage to boost system sustainability and flexibility through a new approach to distributing water during shortages.

The third, dubbed cooperative conservation, cited a proposal from advocates aimed at managing and gauging water releases from Lake Powell amid shared contributions to sustain system integrity."

And a fourth, hybrid proposal includes parts of Upper and Lower Basin and Tribal Nations plans, the announcement said. It would add delivery and storage for Powell and Mead, encourage conservation and agreements for water use among customers and afford the Tribal and non-Tribal entities the same ability to use these mechanisms.

The no action option does not meet the purpose of study but was included because it is required under the National Environmental Policy Act, the announcement said.

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In 2026, legal agreements that apportion the river will expire. That means that amid the effects of climate change and more than 20 years of drought, river stakeholders and the federal government have just months to agree what to do.

We still have a pretty wide gap between us, Tom Buschatzke, Arizonas main negotiator on the Colorado River, said in a conference call with reporters. He referred to positions of Upper Basin and Lower Basin states. Tribes including the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona have also been flexing their long-held water rights.

Buschatzke said he saw some really positive elements in the alternatives but needed time to review them in detail. I think anything that could be done to move things forward on a faster track is a good thing, he said.

Democratic U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado said in a statement the alternatives underscore how serious a situation were facing on the Colorado River.

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The only path forward is a collaborative, seven-state plan to solve the Colorado River crisis without taking this to court, he said. "Otherwise, well watch the river run dry while we sue each other.

Wednesdays announcement came two weeks after Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris lost the election to Republican former President Donald Trump, and two weeks ahead of a key meeting of the involved parties at Colorado River Water Users Association meetings in Las Vegas.

Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network advocacy group, said snapshots offered in the announcement underscore the uncertainty that is swirling around future river management as a new administration prepares to take office.

The river needs basin-wide curtailments, agreements to make tribes whole, a moratorium on new dams and diversions, commitments for endangered species and new thinking about outdated infrastructure, he said.

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Buschatzke declined to speculate about whether Trump administration officials will pick up where Biden's leaves off. But Porter, at the Kyl Center, said the announcement shows an expectation of continuity.

The leadership is going to change, but there are a lot of people who have been working on this for a long time who will still be involved in the negotiations and modeling, she said.
As open enrollment for Affordable Care Act plans continues through Jan. 15, youre likely seeing fewer social media ads promising monthly cash cards worth hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars that you can use for groceries, medical bills, rent and other expenses.

But dont worry. You havent missed out on any windfalls. Clicking on one of those ads would not have provided you with a cash card  at least not worth hundreds or thousands.

But you might have found yourself switched to a health insurance plan you did not authorize, unable to afford treatment for an unforeseen medical emergency, and owing thousands of dollars to the IRS, according to an ongoing lawsuit against companies and individuals who plaintiffs say masterminded the ads and alleged scams committed against millions of people who responded to them.

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The absence of those once-ubiquitous ads are likely a result of the federal government suspending access to the ACA marketplace for two companies that market health insurance out of South Florida offices, amid accusations they used fraudulent ads to lure customers and then switched their insurance plans and agents without their knowledge.

In its suspension letter, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) cited credible allegations of misconduct in the agencys decision to suspend the abilities of two companies  TrueCoverage (doing business as Inshura) and BenefitAlign  to transact information with the marketplace.

CMS licenses and monitors agencies that use their own websites and information technology platforms to enroll health insurance customers in ACA plans offered in the federal marketplace.

Suit names long list of defendants

The alleged scheme affected millions of consumers, according to a lawsuit winding its way through U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that seeks class-action status.

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An amended version of the suit, filed in August, increased the number of defendants from six to 12:

TrueCoverage LLC, an Albuquerque, New Mexico-based health insurance agency with large offices in Miami, Miramar and Deerfield Beach. TrueCoverage is a sub-tenant of the South Florida Sun Sentinel in a building leased by the newspaper in Deerfield Beach.

Enhance Health LLC, a Sunrise, Florida-based health insurance agency that the lawsuit says was founded by Matthew Herman, also named as a defendant, with a $150 million investment from hedge fund Bain Capitals insurance division. Bain Capital Insurance Fund LP is also a defendant.

Speridian Technologies LLC, accused in the lawsuit of establishing two direct enrollment platforms that provided TrueCoverage and other agencies access to the ACA marketplace.

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Benefitalign LLC, identified in the suit as one of the direct enrollment platforms created by Speridian. Like Speridian and TrueCoverage, the company is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Number One Prospecting LLC, doing business as Minerva Marketing, based in Fort Lauderdale, and its founder, Brandon Bowsky, accused of developing the social media ads that drove customers  or leads  to the health insurance agencies.

Digital Media Solutions LLC, doing business as Protect Health, a Miami-based agency that the suit says bought Minervas fraudulent ads. In September, the company filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors in United States Bankruptcy Court in Texas, which automatically suspended claims filed against the company.

Net Health Affiliates Inc., an Aventura, Florida-based agency the lawsuit says was associated with Enhance Health and like it, bought leads from Minerva.

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Garish Panicker, identified in the lawsuit as half-owner of Speridian Global Holdings and day-to-day controller of companies under its umbrella, including TrueCoverage, Benefitalign and Speridian Technologies.

Matthew Goldfuss, accused by the suit of overseeing and directing TrueCoverages ACA enrollment efforts.

All of the defendants have filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit. The motions deny the allegations and argue that the plaintiffs failed to properly state their claims and lack the standing to file the complaints.

Defendants respond to requests for comment

The Sun Sentinel sent requests for comment and lists of questions about the cases to four separate law firms representing separate groups of defendants.

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Three of the law firms  one representing Brandon Bowsky and Number One Prospecting LLC d/b/a Minerva Marketing, and two others representing Net Health Affiliates Inc. and Bain Capital Insurance Fund  did not respond to the requests.

A representative of Enhance Health LLC and Matthew Herman, Olga M. Vieira of the Miami-based firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, responded with a short message saying she was glad the newspaper knew a motion to dismiss the charges had been filed by the defendants. She also said that, Enhance has denied all the allegations as reported previously in the media.

Catherine Riedel, a communications specialist representing TrueCoverage LLC, Benefitalign LLC, Speridian Technologies LLC, Girish Panicker and Matthew Goldfuss, issued the following statement:

TrueCoverage takes these allegations very seriously and is responding appropriately. While we cannot comment on ongoing litigation, we strongly believe that the allegations are baseless and without merit.

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Compliance is our business. The TrueCoverage team records and reviews every call with a customer, including during Open Enrollment when roughly 500 agents handle nearly 30,000 calls a day. No customer is enrolled into any policy without a formal verbal consent given by the customer. If any customer calls in as a result of misleading content presented by third-party marketing vendors, agents are trained to correct such misinformation and action is taken against such third-party vendors.

Through Riedel, the defendants declined to answer follow-up questions, including whether the company remains in business, whether it continues to enroll Affordable Care Act clients, and whether it is still operating its New Mexico call center using another affiliated technology platform.

Lawsuit: COVID-19 relief package made scheme possible

The suspension notification from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services letter cites several factors, including the histories of noncompliance and previous suspensions. The letter noted suspicion that TrueCoverage and Benefitalign were storing consumers personally identifiable information in databases located in India and possibly other overseas locations in violation of the centers rules.

The letter also notes allegations against the companies in the pending lawsuit that they engaged in a variety of illegal practices, including violations of the (Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations, or RICO Act), misuse of consumer (personal identifiable information) and insurance fraud.

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The amended lawsuit filed in August names as plaintiffs five individuals who say their insurance plans were changed and two agencies who say they lost money when they were replaced as agents.

The lawsuit accuses the defendants of 55 counts of wrongdoing, ranging from running ads offering thousands of dollars in cash that they knew would never be provided directly to consumers, switching millions of consumers into different insurance policies without their authorization, misstating their household incomes to make them eligible for $0 premium coverage, and stealing commissions by switching the agents listed in their accounts.

TrueCoverage, Enhance Health, Protect Health, and some of their associates engaged in hundreds of thousands of agent-of-record swaps to steal other agents commissions, the suit states. Using the Benefitalign and Inshura platforms, they created large spreadsheet lists of consumer names, dates of birth and zip codes. They provided those spreadsheets to agents, it says, and instructed them to access platforms linked to the ACA marketplace and change the customers agents of record without telling the client or providing informed consent.

In doing so, they immediately captured the monthly commissions of agents  who had originally worked with the consumers directly to sign them up, the lawsuit asserts.

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TrueCoverage employees who complained about dealing with prospects who called looking for cash cards were routinely chided by supervisors who told them to be vague and keep making money, the suit says.

When the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began contacting the company in January about customer complaints, the suit says TrueCoverage enrollment supervisor Matthew Goldfuss sent an email instructing agents do not respond.

How it started

The lawsuit states the scheme was made possible in 2021 when Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The act made it possible for Americans with household incomes between 100% and 150% of the federal poverty level to pay zero in premiums and it enabled those consumers to enroll in ACA plans all year round, instead of during the three-month open enrollment period from November to January.

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Experienced health insurance brokers recognized the opportunity presented by the changes, the lawsuit says. More than 40 million Americans live within 100% and 150% of the federal poverty level, while only 15 million had ACA insurance at the time.

The defendants developed or benefited from online ads, the lawsuit says, which falsely promised hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars per month in cash benefits such as subsidy cards to pay for common expenses like rent, groceries, and gas.

Consumers who clicked on the ads were brought to a landing page that asked a few qualifying questions, and if their answers suggested that they might qualify for a low-cost or no-cost plan, they were provided a phone number to a health insurance agency.

There was a major problem with the plan, according to the lawsuit. Customers believe they are being routed to someone who will send them a free cash card, not enroll them in health insurance. By law, the federal government sends subsidies for ACA plans to insurance companies, and not to individual consumers.

Scripts were developed requiring agents not to mention a cash card, and if a customer mentions a cash card, be vague and tell the caller that only the insurance carrier can provide that information, the lawsuit alleges.

In September, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the claims. In addition to denying the charges, they argued that the class plaintiffs lacked the standing to make the accusations and failed to demonstrate that they suffered harm. The motion also argued that the lawsuits accusations failed to meet requirements necessary to claim civil violations of the RICO Act.

Miami-based attorney Jason Kellogg, representing the plaintiffs, said he doesnt expect a ruling on the motion to dismiss the case for several months.

The complaint also lists nearly 50 companies, not named as defendants, that it says fed business to TrueCoverage and Enhance Health. Known in the industry as downlines, most operate in office parks throughout South Florida, the lawsuit says.

Complaints from former employees and clients

The lawsuit quotes former TrueCoverage employees complaining about having to work with customers lured by false cash promises in the online ads.

A former employee who worked in the companys Deerfield Beach, Florida, office was quoted in the lawsuit as saying that senior TrueCoverage and Speridian executives knew that consumers were calling in response to the false advertisements promising cash cards and they pressured agents to use them to enroll consumers into ACA plans.

A former human resources manager for TrueCoverage said sales agents frequently complained that they did not feel comfortable having to mislead consumers, the lawsuit said.

Over two dozen agents came to me with these complaints and showed me the false advertisements that consumers who called in were showing them, the lawsuit quoted the former manager as saying.

For much of the time the companies operated, the ACA marketplace enabled agents to easily access customer accounts using their names and Social Security numbers, change their insurance plans and switch their agents of record without their knowledge or authorization, the lawsuit says.

This resulted in customers original agents losing their commissions and many of the policyholders finding out they suddenly owed far more for health care services than their original plans had required, the suit states.

It says that one of the co-plaintiffs health plans was changed at least 22 times without her consent. She first discovered that she had lost her original plan when she sought to renew a prescription for her heart condition and her doctor told her she did not have health insurance, the suit states.

Another co-plaintiffs policy was switched after her husband responded to one of the cash card advertisements, the lawsuit says. That couples insurance plan was switched multiple times after a TrueCoverage agent excluded the wifes income from an application so the couple would qualify. Later, they received bills from the IRS for $4,300 to cover tax credits issued to pay for the plans.

CMS barred TrueCoverage and BenefitAlign from accessing the ACA marketplace.

It said it received more than 90,000 complaints about unauthorized plan switches and more than 183,500 complaints about unauthorized enrollments, but the agency did not attribute all of the complaints to activities by the two companies.

In addition, CMS restricted all agents abilities to alter policyholders enrollment information, the lawsuit says. Now access is allowed only for agents that already represent policyholders or if the policyholder participates in a three-way call with an agent and a marketplace employee.

Between June and October, the agency barred 850 agents and brokers from accessing the marketplace for reasonable suspicion of fraudulent or abusive conduct related to unauthorized enrollments or unauthorized plan switches, according to an October CMS news release.

The changes resulted in a dramatic and sustained drop in unauthorized activity, including a nearly 70% decrease in plan changes associated with an agent or broker and a nearly 90% decrease in changes to agent or broker commission information, the release said.

It added that while consumers were often unaware of such changes, the opportunity to make them provided significant financial incentive for non-compliant agents and brokers.

But CMS restrictions might be having unintended consequences for law-abiding agents and brokers.

A story published by Insurance News Net on Nov. 11 quoted the president of the Health Agents for America (HAFA) trade group as saying agents are being suspended by CMS after being flagged by a mysterious algorithm that no one can figure out.

The story quotes HAFA president Ronnell Nolan as surmising, maybe they wrote too many policies on the same day for people who have the same income or theyre writing too many policies on people of a certain occupation.

Nolan continued, We have members who have thousands of ACA clients. They cant update or renew their clients. So those consumers have lost access to their professional agent, which is simply unfair.
Bagpipers played a moving tribute during a final salute at a viewing for fallen Pittsburgh Battalion Fire Chief John Walsh.

Family, friends and fellow firefighters showed up in the hundreds throughout the day at William Slater Funeral Home in Scott Township Sunday to pay their respects to the beloved firefighter and family man who died in the line of duty earlier this week.

He was such a great guy and an awesome uncle, said Rich Baur, Walshs nephew. Todays been really great seeing the support from the community. Its been very helpful to our family.

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The 60-year-old battalion chief collapsed while commanding the scene of a house fire in East Hills Wednesday. Walsh later died at the hospital. His family believes he suffered a heart attack.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Pittsburgh Fire Battalion Chief John Walsh dies while in command of fire in East Hills

The firefighter served the department for 37 years. Family members said theyre humbled and honored by all the support, adding he was doing what he loved.

Hes been a firefighter his whole life, Baur said. He loves to do it. Its his passion.

Those who knew and worked with Walsh at Fire Station 8 in East Liberty describe him as a loyal friend and mentor.

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His colleagues were saying he was an excellent leader, and he was an inspiration to other people that he worked with and a lot of the young firefighters that came up with him had a lot of respect for him, Baur said.

Walshs SUV with Station 8 was parked outside the funeral home draped in a black ribbon in honor of the fallen battalion chief.

Walshs nephew said he knew how dedicated his uncle was to the firefighting community but up until this moment never realized the depth of his impact.

The world has lost a great man, a great firefighter, someone that truly cared about Pittsburgh, cared about his city, cared about helping people, cared about his family, Baur said.

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Two firefighters will be standing watch over the battalion chiefs body overnight until his funeral procession on Monday morning, which will go from the funeral home to St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland.

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With his nomination of a pro-union Republican as Secretary of Labor, president-elect Donald Trump has emphasised his determination to make working-class Americans, long a reliable source of Democratic votes, a Republican constituency. Trumps nominee, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, was one of the few Republicans in the House of Representatives who sided with trade unions on a number of policy issues.

With his trademark erratic capitalisation, Trump declared on his social media platform Truth Social: Loris strong support from both the Business and Labor communities will ensure that the Labor Department can unite Americans of all backgrounds behind our agenda for unprecedented National Success  Making America Richer, Wealthier, Stronger and More Prosperous than ever before! This follows Trumps decision to offer Teamsters president Sean OBrien a speech at the Republican National Convention last summer.

Trumps pro-labour gestures are politically shrewd. His election as president in 2024 depended on support from working-class white voters and a growing share of Hispanic and black working-class voters. In this years election, 45 per cent of members of households with a union member voted for Trump  up from 40 per cent in 2020 and 42 per cent in 2016. He won voters from households that make less than $100,000 a year, while Kamala Harris won households earning more than that.

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But Trumps pro-labour gestures, like his protectionism and his opposition to low-wage immigration, have alarmed members of the older Reagan-Bush Republican establishment and its corporate allies. The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, a corporate-funded front group, failed to derail Trumps decision to appoint Chavez-DeRemer with a press release entitled: Business Group Alarmed by Rumored Candidate for Secretary of Labor. After Trump announced the nomination, the libertarian Wall Street Journal editorial board condemned it: Trumps Labor Choice: Unions Over Workers. The New York Post complained: Trump just picked a total turkey to run his Labor Department.

Libertarian zealots and corporate flacks insist that trade unions are parasitic on individual workers, whose true friends are their bosses.

But most Americans, including most Republicans, disagree. According to a 2024 Gallup poll, 70 per cent of Americans approve of trade unions. Indeed, since 1936, public support for unions has fluctuated between 50 and 75 per cent, dipping to 48 per cent only once during the 2009 global economic crisis. A 2023 poll by the AFL-CIO showed that 52 per cent of Republicans supported labour unions, along with 69 per cent of independents and 91 per cent of Democrats.

In breaking with the radical anti-union sentiment of American conservatives since the Reagan era, Trump is returning to an older Republican tradition. The Republican party has always included many employers hostile to worker power in any form. But for most of the 20th century, the partys leaders sought working-class votes by acknowledging the legitimacy of organised labour and collective bargaining.

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With the exception of 1964, when the Republican party nominated the unpopular libertarian presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, who went on to be crushed at the polls, every Republican platform from 1920 to 1996 declared its support for collective bargaining, at least in principle.

From 1923-1929, under three Republican presidentsHarding, Coolidge, and Hoover  the Secretary of Labor was James J Davis, a steelworker and a union member. A Welsh immigrant himself, Davis promoted border controls to reduce immigrant competition with American workers, a goal of organised labour from the 19th century until the late 20th.

The equivalent today would have been the nomination by Trump, not of Chavez-DeRemer for Secretary of Labor, but of Teamsters president Sean OBrien himself.

It was only in the late 20th century that the Republican party became explicitly hostile to the very existence of organised labour. One reason was the influx of conservative former Democrats from Southern states, and the resulting elevation of Right-wing Texans like the two Bushes, Tom DeLay and Dick Armey.

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After the Second World War, the states of the former Confederacy had encouraged corporations to close factories in the unionised Northern states and open new ones in the South by enacting anti-union right-to-work laws. This strategy of smokestack chasing helped the Sun Belt boom. But it is no substitute in the long run for a growth model based on prosperous worker-consumers and adequate investment in education, infrastructure and public services.

The anti-labour forces in the Republican party also include small business owners and libertarian donors. The business model of many small business owners depends on low wages, so they are threatened by any reform that increases the ability of workers to bargain for higher pay  not only unionisation, but also higher minimum wages and the restriction of cheap immigrant labor.

This explains why, at a time when Republican voters as a whole favour reducing both illegal and legal mass immigration, lobbyists for small business in Washington insist that the federal government must expand their supply of foreign indentured servants (guest workers) if the flow of illegal immigrant workers to farms, ranches, factories, hotels, and other industries is cut back.

Meanwhile, most major Republican donors are ideological libertarians who are hostile to organised labor and worker bargaining power in any form. Until recently, wealthy libertarian donors to the party tended to be based in the financial industry of Wall Street, while Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and managers have favoured the Democratic party.

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But Trump has attracted some dissident tech tycoons, including Elon Musk, whose dislike of organised labour appears to be so intense that he, along with Jeff Bezoss Amazon, is engaged in litigation claiming that the 1936 National Labor Relations Act is unconstitutional. While grovelling before Chinas communist dictatorship to retain access to Chinese labour, Musk has contrasted Chinas unfree serfs unfavourably with free American workers: [Chinese workers] wont just be burning the midnight oil, they will be burning the 3am oil, they wont even leave the factory type of thing, whereas in America people are trying to avoid going to work at all.

During a conversation with Musk in August, Trump made the mistake of praising him for supposedly firing workers who went on strike  which is illegal under US labour law. The United Auto Workers (UAW) union immediately filed charges, demanding an investigation by the National Labor Relations Board, the same New Deal-era labour agency which Musk and Bezos are seeking to destroy.

Trumps strategic blunder does not seem to have dented working-class enthusiasm for him in the election a few months later. One reason is that only 6 per cent of private-sector workers are unionised today. Non-union workers may not care much about technical disputes involving organised labour. Instead, many will identify their economic interests with the health of the industries in which they work  including industries like oil and gas, coal and highway construction which Democrats have targeted because of their environmental effects.

In addition, on issues like transgender policies and abortion, both unionised and non-unionised workers tend to be more socially-conservative or moderate than professional labour leaders who are closely aligned with the Democratic party. Even during the height of anti-union sentiment under Reagan and the two Bushes, Republicans appealed to many working-class voters by promising job creation and opposing social-issue progressivism.

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It is possible that Chavez-DeRemer will end up marginalised and powerless in a second Trump administration shaped by the anti-union animus of libertarian donors and owners of cheap-labour businesses. But the long-term realignment in which the Republican party replaces the Democrats as the party of the non-college-educated multiracial working class seems certain to continue.

Michael Lind is a contributor to Tablet, a fellow at New America, and the author of Hell to Pay: How the Suppression of Wages is Destroying America

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(Bloomberg) -- When Brandon Johnson was elected mayor of Chicago, the progressive politician was received with nervous caution from the citys business leaders whod lost patience with his predecessor.

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But over the intervening 18 months the relationship has deteriorated from frosty to hostile. Business leaders are already working to curb his power, setting the stage for a challenge against him in 2027.

Johnson, a former organizer with the citys powerful teachers union, had already alienated many of Chicagos economic leaders by proposing a series of taxes on the rich. But its a fight over schools thats turned behind-the-scenes sniping into political action.

Executives from firms including GCM Grosvenor and Citadel threw their cash behind candidates for a new elected school board this month. Their money helped helped defeat six of 10 union candidates, delivering a blow to Johnson and the teachers union that propelled him to City Hall.

We have to make Chicago an attractive place for people to want to come, and instead, people are fleeing, said Pete Kadens, who made his fortune in the solar and legal cannabis industries before co-founding Hope Chicago, a nonprofit focused on post secondary education. The business community really understands that, and theyre invested. For the next couple years, I think theyre going to fight, theres going to be a lot of pushback on Johnsons agenda.

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Businesses had already turned against former Mayor Lori Lightfoot  the first openly gay Black woman to lead the city  for her failure to curb violence in the wake of the pandemic. Johnson, who is also Black, surprised pundits when he beat her  the first mayor of Chicago to lose a reelection bid since 1983. But less than two years into his government and his approval rating has sunk to below 30%.

Jonsons battle with schools started earlier this year, when he was caught up in a debate over whether to end school choice and move away from investing in selective enrollment, magnet and charter schools  coveted establishments that provide academically-advanced programs.

He was later engulfed in a dispute between the district and the teachers union over how to pay off a debt that sparked a surprise budget deficit this year.

On one side is Johnson and the unions, who first proposed borrowing $300 million to pay the debt. On the other are powerful donors fighting to keep city finances in check and ensure school choice.

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The turmoil is adding to concerns about the citys inability to close another $1 billion hole in its finances at a time wealthy residents continue to flee to Florida, Texas and Tennessee.

Griffins Views

Billionaire Ken Griffin, who relocated his Citadel financial conglomerate to Miami in 2022, weighed in on the debate in an interview at the Economic Club of New York last week.

The mayor of Chicago is a former member of the teachers union, negotiating with the teachers union, Griffin said. The taxpayers and the children are left out in the cold.

Citadels Chief Operating Officer Gerald Beeson was among business leaders that donated to support candidates running against the ones backed by the Chicago Teachers Union, contributing $5,000. 2Fi Investments Chief Executive Officer Jim Frank, whos on the board of nonprofit Chicago Public Education Fund, put up more than $100,000 together with his wife.

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Michael Sacks, a prominent Democratic donor and chairman of GCM Grosvenor, and his wife gave more than $69,000.

Chicago is transitioning to an elected school board, with voters able to select 10 members in the Nov. 5 election. The remainder are appointed by the mayor.

While full donation records wont be public until the end of the year, initial data showed that the CTU spent the most  $2.4 million  and lost the most seats.

This election was a referendum on the mayor and on the leadership of the teachers union, said Hugo Jacobo, a consultant at L2 Strategies, who started Chicago Democrats for Education, a political action committee that funded non-CTU backed candidates.

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To be sure, the union still holds a majority on the school board, at least until 2026, when voters elect all 21 members. CTU President Stacy Davis Gates said billionaires poured millions into the race and failed.

Chicagoans elected a mayor and a board that is committed to transforming our education system to end generations of inequity and provide quality public education in every neighborhood, she said in a statement.

Chicago and Illinois have been struggling with persistently high crime, population declines and high-profile corporate departures that also include Boeing Co. and Caterpillar Inc. In the past five years, the state has lost almost $42 billion in adjusted gross income, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

Approval Ratings

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While crime rates have declined 11% this year, Johnsons popularity has continued to slip. In May, on the anniversary of his first year as mayor, his approval ratings stood at just 28%, according to a poll for Crains Chicago Business by political consultants M3 Strategies.

The business community, the philanthropic community and the civic community are rallying together, working together to solve the challenges that currently are not being solved at City Hall, said Jennifer Guzman, executive director of Rise Chicago, a non-partisan voter engagement group backed by leaders including Ira Weiss, a founding member of Hyde Park Venture Partners. If we dont have a different outcome in 2027, then I think we have some cause for concern.

Even before the current troubles, the citys schools were already struggling. While enrollment increased over the past year, fueled by a wave of migrants, the number of kids in schools is still about 10% below pre-pandemic levels.

Its critically important that we have a strong public school system here in Chicago, because it does help attract talent, said Terry Duffy, CEO of Chicago-based CME Group Inc., the USs largest derivatives exchange.

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The debate over school choice was a major driver of donations. David Weinberg, the board chairman of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, gave $26,900 personally to five candidates. Thats on top of $74,000 that the INCS and its PAC donated.

Melinda Young, a program manager at Airbnb Inc. who has lived in Chicago since 1999, said she would leave the city if selective-enrollment options werent available. Didem Greco, who owns DCG Realty with her husband, said that shifting funding away from gifted and magnet schools would be another blow for the already struggling real estate market as families flee to the suburbs.

The better the school district, the property values increase because theres more demand for the housing, she said.

The school board race also attracted cash from independent expenditure committees, which can fund ads without providing directly to candidates.

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The one set up by the Urban Center Action counted donations from billionaire Joe Mansueto, founder of Morningstar Inc., and Paul Finnegan, chairman of Madison Dearborn Partners. INCS also set up one, which spent $2.3 million and saw inflows from Jim Walton, an heir to the Walmart Inc. fortune.

Kadens, who didnt contribute to the races, said its hard for Johnson to stand against the CTU.

He needs their capital to be able to run his administration and then in his mind to get elected again, which in my mind is not going to happen, Kadens said.

--With assistance from Shruti Date Singh.

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Part of a busy Richland County road was closed Sunday afternoon as crews battled a fire at a dump, according to the Columbia Fire Department.

Farrow Road was closed in both directions north of the junction with Interstate 20 at Exit 72, the fire department said at 4:05 p.m.

The 2-alarm fire was at the GFL Environmental waste disposal site at 7800 Farrow Road, according to the fire department.

Members of the Columbia Fire Department respond to a fire.

Members of the fire department responded to the dump shortly before 3:15 p.m., officials said. The rapid spread of the fire prompted officers on scene to call for a second alarm  dispatching more resources, and all hands were battling the flames, according to the fire department.

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Smoke could be seen in the sky above the dump, according to the fire department.

At about 5:10 p.m., the fire department said that the fire was contained, but crews remained on the scene and continued to continue to work.

There were four workers at the facility when the fire broke out but no one was hurt, and no other injuries were reported.

There was no word about how the fire started, and information about how long it was expected to take to get the blaze extinguished and the road reopened was not available.

The cause of the fire will be investigated by the Richland County Fire Marshal, and the South Carolina Department of Public Health is also being contacted because the fire happened at a waste disposal facility, officials said.

There was no word if the fire will affect trash and recycling pickup this week.

This is a developing story, check back for updates.
Indiana's Supreme Court justices easily won retention with about 70% support of voters  about the same as in earlier, uneventful and uncontested retention elections. (Getty Images)

A few weeks ago, Indiana voters cast ballots that included at least a few  and in Marion County, several pages of  judicial candidates. Judicial races are usually unopposed and uneventful, but this year was a little different. I offer five takeaways.

Supreme Retention

Indiana Supreme Court justices face retention elections after two years on the bench and every ten years after that. The Indiana State Bar Association releases results of a survey from Indiana lawyers, but the elections seldom generate public attention.

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But this year brought a social media campaign urging Hoosiers to vote against the retention of three justices whose ruling last year upheld a statute restricting abortion.

The justices easily won retention with about 70% support of votersabout the same as in earlier, uneventful and uncontested retention elections. Chief Justice Loretta Rush had the most votes (71%) while Justice Mark Massa had the fewest (69%). In contrast, two Arizona Supreme Court justices were retained with only 58 or 59% of the vote in the face of opposition over their recent decision in an abortion case. In 2012, Justice Steven David garnered 69% of the Indiana vote despite opposition from the right over an opinion he authored about the right of Hoosiers to resist unlawful police entry into their homes.

Although no Indiana justice has lost a retention election, voters in other states have occasionally ousted justices over unpopular rulings. Three Iowa justices were not retained in 2010 largely in response to a decision on same-sex marriage.

Female Judges Preferred by Marion County Voters

Eighteen Marion County judgesnine men and nine womenwere on the ballot for retention. Every female judge earned 72-74% yes votes. With one exception, the male judges garnered 67-69% yes votes. Judge Jose Salinas received 72% yes votes.

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The average, with Salinas included, was a nearly 5% edge73.4% to 68.7%for the female candidates.

Female judges generally fared a few points higher than male judges in St. Joseph County, although Judge Jamie Woods (a man with a unisex name) fared better than Judges Jeffrey Sanford and Mark Telloyan.

Experiments have suggested a partisan political dimension to how people view judges.

Another Good Year for Republican Judges

In all but a few counties, judges run for a six-year term in a partisan election. The Democratic label presents challenges for any candidate outside a few Indiana counties, and the same holds true in judicial elections. As reported by the Indiana Citizen, Democratic judges won just four racesthree in Monroe County and one in Perry County; all four candidates were unopposed.

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Republicans were unopposed in more than 70 races. They also knocked off two Democratic incumbent judges and took two open seats held by Democrats.

In Vanderburgh County, however, former Democratic State Rep. Ryan Hatfield won the nonpartisan race for Circuit Court after a costly campaign.

Democrats Competing for Judgeships in Hamilton County?

Hamilton County had three uncontested judicial elections (all Republicans) in 2024. That seems likely to change in the not-so-distant future.

Hamilton County was one of only 11% of counties where the Trump margin decreased in 2024 over 2020. The Republican candidates for president and governor each took less than 52% of the Hamilton County vote.

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As a purely partisan matter, merit selection with appointments by the governor may look more appealing to Republicans, who have held the governors office since 2005. Regardless of politics, as an earlier column asked, why should Hamilton County, with a population of more than 350,000, elect its judges if St. Joseph County, with some 80,000 fewer residents cannot? A federal case challenging how Indiana structures its judicial elections in three of the states most diverse counties was argued in September and remains pending before the Seventh Circuit.

Woeful Turnout, Lack of Diversity in Lawyer Election

The 61% of eligible Hoosiers that voted on November 5 puts Indiana in the bottom ten of the fifty states. But another November election of importance for judicial selection had much lower turnout.

Nearly 4,400 lawyers in District 1 were sent electronic ballots to select an attorney member of the Judicial Nominating Commission. The seven-member JNC  three attorneys, three non-attorneys, and the Chief Justice  interviews and selects finalists for vacancies on the Indiana Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.

With fewer than 24% of attorneys casting a ballot, Steve Williams won with 340 votes. In more than 50 ballots over 50 years of voting, white men have won every election except once, in 2020. Nearly every attorney member has come from the plaintiffs bar.

Appointments of non-attorney members by governors of both parties have been considerably more diverse.

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, holds talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel in Beijing on Monday.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that the bilateral relations have achieved long-term and steady development since the establishment of diplomatic ties more than 50 years ago.

China speaks highly of Luxembourg's positive and practical policy toward China, and stands ready to work with Luxembourg to consolidate political mutual trust, enhance complementarity, create new growth points for green development cooperation, increase people-to-people exchanges and push for further progress in bilateral relations, he said.

Wang noted that next year marks the 50th anniversary of China-EU diplomatic relations. China and the EU are partners not rivals, he said, expressing the hope that the EU side will uphold its strategic autonomy. China is willing to work with Luxembourg to promote the sustained and sound development of China-EU relations, Wang said.

Bettel said that Luxembourg firmly adheres to the one-China principle and looks forward to closer cooperation with China. As one of the founding members of the EU, Luxembourg is willing to enhance EU-China mutual trust and promote EU-China partnership.

Bettel noted that China is a major country worthy of trust, voicing the hope that China will play a bigger role in world peace and stability. 
CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP)  The United States of America and Massachusetts flags have been lowered to half-staff after the death of former State Representative Gloria Lavera Fox.

Governor Maura Healey has ordered the flags to be lowered to half-staff on November 14th. The order was issued to honor longtime former state lawmaker Rep. Fox of Roxbury, who died at the age of 82.

Man diagnosed with Crohns disease running across Massachusetts for childrens hospital

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Fox was a Democrat and was first elected to the House back in 1985 and served until 2016 as the longest-serving female member of the House and the branchs only African-American woman.

The flags are lowered to half-staff on all state buildings until sunset on Tuesday, December 10th, the date of interment.

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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  Two men from central Florida were arrested Monday on felony charges related to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the building while Congress was certifying the 2020 election results.

Jarod Hawks, 43, of Port Orange, and John Padgett, 40, of Edgewater, were accused of attacking law enforcement, among other offenses, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

The pair was caught on camera using a large metal object to attack a police line that was attempting to fend off the mob, the release stated. They continued to attack police as the crowd closed in and helped take down a barricade, according to the DOJ.

Later in the day, Hawks and Padgett used a large object as a shield and battering ram against another police line, the release said. They were accused of using the large object to attack officers and break the police line.

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Hawks and Pagett are charged with assault on a federal officer, civil disorder, and assault on a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon, which are all felonies. They also received misdemeanor charges of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, obstructing or impeding passage through or within the grounds or any of the Capitol buildings, and engaging in an act of physical violence in the grounds or any of the Capitol buildings.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Floridas Surgeon General is recommending against adding fluoride to community water systems.

The recommendation came as part of a warning posted on the Florida Health Departments website.

Surgeon Joseph Ladapo cited concerns, including a potential Neuro-psychiatric risk from fluoride exposure.

Read: US towns plunge into debates about fluoride in water

The recommendation conflicts with advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Dental Association.

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Dental experts say fluoride reduces dental decay by strengthening tooth enamel.

Read: What to know about Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trumps pick for health secretary

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a campaign rally at Legends Event Center on Dec. 20, 2023, in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trumps pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, share commonalities that spark controversy, including vaccine skepticism, conspiracy theories, and challenges to public health norms.

In an announcement that sent shockwaves through Washington, Trump tapped Kennedy for a top federal health position, responsible for overseeing the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among others.

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Gov. Ron DeSantis had recommended that Ladapo serve as the chief health official in Trumps administration. A day after Trumps victory in the 2024 presidential election, DeSantis took to X, formerly Twitter, to encourage users to spread the word.

Retweet if youd like to see this man  Dr. Joseph Ladapo  serve as the Secretary of HHS in the new Trump administration, the Republican governor wrote, posting an image of Ladapo.

Both Ladapo and Kennedy have faced criticism not only for pushing conspiracy theories but also for questioning COVID-19 vaccines, which have curbed spread of the deadly virus that has claimed millions of lives.

After Kennedy dropped out of the presidential race and later endorsed Trump, the president-elect promised to let Kennedy go wild on health.

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For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health, Trump wrote on X, announcing Kennedy as his nominee for HHS secretary.

Mr. Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!

Although Kennedys nomination has drawn national scrutiny, Ladapos own track record in Florida offers insight into the challenges ahead.

Gaetz and Kennedys fate

As it stands, its uncertain whether the U.S. Senate will confirm Kennedy.

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Even though the anti-vaccine nominee has the advantage with Republicans controlling the Senate following the 2024 elections, some GOP members have raised concerns about Kennedy leading HHS.

Floridas former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz. (Photo by Saul Loeb-Pool/Getty Images)

Another controversial Trump Cabinet pick was former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, nominated for attorney general. Before Gaetz withdrew in the face of multiple allegations of illicit drug use and sexual relations with underage women, Charles Bullock III, a political science professor at the University of Georgia, tied Kennedys fate to Gaetzs.

The test of whether the Senate is willing to reject Trump nominees will come on Matt Gaetz, Bullock told the Florida Phoenix. If Gaetz is confirmed, then RFK Jr. and all of the others will also be approved.

If Gaetz is rejected, then it is possible that some other nominations may also be in jeopardy, Bullock continued. Who would be the most vulnerable? Hard to say, but RFK might fail to clear the bar because of his previous stands favoring access to abortion which could cost him some GOP support coupled with his anti-vax stands that will hurt him with Dems.

Vaccine skeptics face confirmation challenges

Kennedy has been a vocal critic of COVID vaccines, spreading misinformation about their safety and effectiveness. Another vaccine skeptic, Ladapo, has also long been known for his pushback against COVID vaccinations.

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Ladapo, who heads the Florida Department of Health, has faced criticism for spreading misinformation about COVID shots. His agency even published guidance recommending against vaccinating children.

In a phone conversation with the Phoenix, Dr. Jeffrey Goldhagen opined that Ladapo should not be surgeon general of the state of Florida because his background and skill set are not relevant to a public health position.

Dr. Ladapo has spread lies, misinformation on scientific information about vaccines, not just COVID, but also other vaccines as well, said Goldhagen, professor of pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine (where Ladapo holds a teaching position).

And so, the impact of his policies and Gov. DeSantis policies have been devastating in the state. In particular, the policies related to COVID vaccines resulted in the deaths and suffering of thousands of people in Florida.

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It wasnt an easy path to becoming the states top health official, as Ladapo faced a tough confirmation process. While many Florida Democrats publicly lambasted Ladapo, he was confirmed by the Florida Senate in the Republican-led Legislature in 2022.

Ladapo was confirmed again in 2023 for a second term; every Democrats in the Senate voted against him.

Dr. Joseph Ladapo talks to reporters after the Florida Senate confirmed him as state surgeon general on Feb. 23, 2022. (Photo by Imani Thomas/Florida Phoenix)

Considered a polarizing figure, Kennedy is also expected to face a challenging confirmation process, as some critics believe his divergence from mainstream medical advice could threaten public health.

As for conspiracy theories, Kennedy has claimed that COVID-19 could have been ethnically targeted to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people, a statement he later said was taken out of context, according to The Associated Press.

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Kennedy has even repeated the debunked claim that childhood vaccines cause autism, according to KFF Health News, notwithstanding extensive research refuting the link between vaccines and autism. And the former independent presidential candidate founded Childrens Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group.

Ladapo has opposed mask mandates, warned young men against COVID vaccines, and appeared on X22 Report, a far-right podcast known for spreading QAnon-related conspiracy theories and misinformation, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

If confirmed, both Ladapo and Kennedy could simultaneously lead top health agencies, raising questions about public health in Florida and the broader implications for future health policy in the nation.

Its a dangerous situation at the current time, potentially to get more dangerous under an RFK [Jr.] administration, Goldhagen said.

Vaccine hesitancy

Ladapos stance on public health has contributed to increased vaccine hesitancy in Florida, leading to an overall drop in routine childhood vaccination rates and even a measles outbreak, according to Goldhagen.

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And it will actually get worse if Kennedy is confirmed as HHS secretary, Goldhagen warned.

In the two years before Ladapo took office, the vaccination rate had been dropping slightly each year, according to an NPR report. After his appointment, it dropped nearly by 3% in two years.

Its demonstrated that he [Ladapo] is willing to disseminate misinformation about vaccines that have in part resulted in the decrease in vaccination, Goldhagen said.

But as far as children are concerned, parents get to make the final decision as to whether to vaccinate their children based on accepted medical and scientific information, Goldhagen added.

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He pointed to a measles outbreak earlier this year in South Florida, arguing the states handling of it violated every premise of public health approach to addressing measles outbreaks.

While Goldhagen didnt elaborate, several public health experts criticized Ladapo for opposing proven public health measures and lacking urgency.

The state health department allowed unvaccinated children to attend school during the outbreak at Manatee Bay Elementary School in Broward County, defying public health protocols, according to NPR.

Ladapo did not urge parents to vaccinate their unvaccinated children or quarantine them. Instead, he left the decision up to the parents as to whether to send their kids to the school.

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Im flummoxed about this, Dr. Ali Khan, dean of public health at the University of Nebraska, told NPR. Ive never heard of a surgeon general who didnt at least advocate for best public health practice.

Even Scott Rivkees, Ladapos predecessor as state surgeon general, weighed in. If you have an outbreak, try to get [unvaccinated] people vaccinated within three days of exposure, Rivkees said.

During Ladapos Senate confirmation hearing in 2022, Democratic members walked out because they felt he refused to answer significant questions about vaccine effectiveness or acknowledge disrespect toward a Democratic senator.

State Sen. Lauren Book, a South Florida Democrat. (Florida Channel screenshot)

Lauren Book, the Democratic leader in the Senate at the time, repeatedly asked Ladapo whether he regretted refusing to wear a face mask during the pandemic while meeting with state Sen. Tina Polsky, who was immunocompromised while undergoing treatment for cancer.

I have sympathy for her and for other people who are diagnosed with serious conditions, Ladapo said during the hearing. I think its important to recognize that. Despite the politics of our environment, its a human thing. I sincerely wish her the very best.

Book emphasized that Ladapos actions disrespected Polsky and the Senate as a whole. And I am asking you, do you regret the way you treated our colleague? Book demanded.

Although she pressed Ladapo to answer her direct question, he deflected instead, prompting a furious Book to walk out of the committee meeting room. Her Democratic colleagues followed suit.

Mixed reactions to HHS pick

Following Trumps announcement, Kennedy expressed gratitude through a social media post, emphasizing his commitment to Make America Healthy Again.

We have a generational opportunity to bring together the greatest minds in science, medicine, industry, and government to put an end to the chronic disease epidemic, Kennedy said via X.

Vice President Kamala Harris had commented on the potential of Kennedy leading the health agency during her unsuccessful presidential run, saying he is the exact last person in America who should be setting health care policy for Americas families and children.

Meanwhile, several congressional Republicans have raised concerns about Kennedy as HHS secretary.

Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif., told ABC News, All my kids are vaccinated, and I hope hes not going to move against one of the most life-saving technologies in the history of the world. When asked whether Kennedy was the right pick, Duarte said, I dont know.

As reported by ABC News, Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, laughed when asked to comment on the nomination, saying, Its the presidents prerogative. I am not a senator.

Still, Sarasota-area GOP U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan was elated by the news and posted a photo of a meeting he had with Kennedy.

Great visiting with @RobertKennedyJr and @drmarkhyman this week! Buchanan wrote on X. We discussed the chronic disease epidemic and the importance of preventive medicine. I look forward to working with Bobby to Make America Healthy Again as Chairman of the Health Subcommittee on @WaysandMeansGOP.

GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana praised Kennedy in an X post, claiming he has championed issues like healthy foods and the need for greater transparency in our public health infrastructure.

I look forward to learning more about his other policy positions and how they will support a conservative, pro-American agenda, said Cassidy, a physician and the incoming chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
Susan Lorincz was sentenced on 25 years in prison on Monday for fatally shooting her neighbor Ajike "AJ" Owens through a locked door.

The sentencing came after Lorincz was found guilty in August of first-degree felony manslaughter with a firearm. Lorincz had faced up to 30 years in prison.

The incident occurred in Ocala, Florida, on June 2, 2023.

MORE: New video shows interrogation of Florida woman accused of fatally shooting neighbor

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"I find that the shooting was completely unnecessary," Judge Robert Hodges said. "In this case, Ms. Lorincz was behind the door. The door was locked. She had already called law enforcement. They were en route. She knew they were en route. She was in a relatively safe position. For some reason, she went into her room and found a gun."

Hodges continued, "She could have stayed in the room and put another locked door between her and Ms. Owens, but she came back out, put herself in front of the door, and at the time she fired the gun through the door, she was safe."

"There was no indication that she did not understand what she was doing of that shooting a person was against the law," the judge also said.

PHOTO: Susan Lorincz at her sentencing hearing in Ocala, Fla., Nov. 25, 2024. (Pool via ABC News)

Owens' family, who had called for the maximum penalty of 30 years, spoke outside the courtroom on Monday evening after Lorincz was sentenced.

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Pamela Dias, Owens' mother, told reporters that the family is "pleased" with the 25-year sentence.

"As I stated, and as the judge stated, this shooting -- this killing, this death of a mother, a daughter, a friend -- should have never happened, but we got justice today and now we truly can forge ahead on the journey of true healing," Dias said.

Locked door in shooting of Ajike Owens a focus of testimony in Susan Lorincz manslaughter trial

Lorincz, who is white, shot Owens, a Black mother of four, in the presence of her young son. Owens had approached Lorincz's door following a dispute about her children playing near Lorincz's home, according to a June 6, 2023, statement from the Marion County Sheriff's Office.

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During her sentencing hearing, Lorincz recounted various disputes she had with Owens and her children prior to the shooting and claimed that she was "terrified" of Owens. She also denied calling Owens' children racial slurs.

"I'm so sorry that I took AJ's life. I never intended to kill her," Lorincz said in a statement directed at Owens' mother and children.

"I am just profoundly sad. Not only did a mother die, but a daughter, a sister," Lorincz said. "I think of your family's loss and know how hard it is to lose someone you love."

Asked about Lorincz's apology, Dias said, "Susan's apology was a last-ditch attempt to save herself. It wasn't sincere. She never showed remorse. As I stated before, her remorse that she showed, if any, at best, was for herself."

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"It was a lackluster apology," she added.

PHOTO: Photo released by attorney Anthony D. Thomas shows Ajike Owens, a 35-year-old mother of four from Ocala, Fla. (Anthony D. Thomas via AP)

Dias shared a victim impact statement during Monday's hearing, where she called for Lorincz to be held "fully accountable" for the fatal shooting.

"Susan's reckless act of manslaughter rendered my four grandchildren motherless," she said. "Sadly, Titus, Africa, Israel and Isaac have to live their remaining lives as a motherless child."

"Our pain and suffering didn't end when we buried Ajike. Our pain and suffering didn't end when Susan was found guilty of manslaughter. Our pain and suffering won't end with today's sentencing. Our pain and suffering will last a lifetime," she added.

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Susan Lorincz, woman who fatally shot neighbor Ajike Owens through door, found guilty

Meanwhile, Lorincz's legal team called a host of family and friends who testified on behalf of Lorincz, highlighting her Christian faith, her role as a caretaker for her sister and her dedication to taking care of her nephew, as well as various examples where she supported her friends.

Her sister Ellyn Lorincz testified about alleged sexual and physical abuse that the sisters experienced at the hands of their father and a psychologist testified about Lorincz's "chronic PTSD" diagnosis.

Lorincz's legal team asked the judge to consider probation and said that Lorincz would benefit from PTSD treatment. The prosecution said that the department of corrections offers mental health treatment and argued that "PTSD was not a driving force" in this case.

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Lorincz's attorney, Amanda Sizemore, declined to comment in response to a request from ABC News.

PHOTO: Video released by the Marion County Sheriff's Office shows detectives interrogating Susan Lorincz on June 6, 2023, moments before she is arrested for the fatal shooting of her neighbor, Ajike 'AJ' Owens. (Marion County Sheriff's Office )

After a jury found Lorincz guilty on Aug. 16, Judge Robert Hodges said that Lorincz would be held in the Marion County jail without bond until her sentencing.

Ahead of Lorincz's sentencing hearing, Owens' family shared a statement with ABC News through their attorney, calling for the judge to assign "the maximum penalty under the law."

They said that while the guilty verdict was an "important step," they were still seeking "justice" in the form of sentencing.

PHOTO: Booking photo provided by the Marion County, Fla., Sheriff's Office shows Susan Louise Lorincz. (Marion County Sheriff's Office via AP)

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Lorincz pleaded not guilty to the charges she was facing in court.

During the trial, her defense team argued that she should be found not guilty because she was acting in self-defense. They said that she feared for her life.

Meanwhile, prosecutors argued that Lorincz should be found guilty because she fatally shot an "unarmed" Owens through a "locked" door.

Florida woman sentenced to 25 years in fatal shooting of neighbor Ajike Owens originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON)  A Flywheel taxi crashed into a concrete utility pole Sunday night in San Francisco, the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) said. The pole was resting on a building.

The collision happened around 9:26 p.m. at the intersection of 14th and Castro streets. The person driving the taxi at the time of the crash ran away, SFFD said.

Video from the Citizen App (above) shows the taxi at the scene, along with the damaged pole.

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SF cable car sevice to be temporarily replaced by buses

A Flywheel taxi crashed into a pole Sunday night on 14th and Castro streets. (Citizen App)

No passengers were inside the taxi at the time of the crash. According to SFFD, traffic lights at the intersection were shut down due to the crash.

No other information was immediately available. KRON4 reached out to the San Francisco Police Department for more information. We are waiting to hear back.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  Former United States Senator Fred Harris, a Democratic leader in 1976 and Presidential Candidate passed away on Saturday.

Former Senator Fred Harris, Image courtesy KFOR

Fmr. Senator Harris served eight years in the State Senate and chaired the Democratic National Committee helping to unify the party in the 1968 convention. State leaders praised Harris and his contributions advocating for equality and dedication to Native American issues.

Former U.S. Senator and Presidential Candidate Fred Harris

Fmr. Senator Fred Harris was 94 years old.

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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 KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
A South Carolina food company expanded its recall of chicken, pork and beef products after an outbreak of listeria sicknesses, including at least one infant death in California.

Yu Shang Food, based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, originally recalled 4,589 pounds of Asian-themed ready-to-eat foods on Nov. 9, three weeks after the USDA-Food Safety and Inspection Service found listeria in finished product from Yu Shang and environmental samples.

READ MORE: Your burger joints beef might be among 167,000 pounds recalled on E. coli concerns

Over the next 11 days, the listeria illnesses were linked with Yu Shang. So, Yu Shang added another 67,651 pounds Thursday to the recall. Click to see a full list of the 23 products recalled.

Yu Shang Food Braised Beef Shank

READ MORE: A deadly E. coli outbreak and a carrot recall involving Publix, Walmart, Kroger and others

Working in conjunction with public health partners, FSIS determined that there is a link between the ready-to-eat meat and poultry products from Yu Shang Food, Inc. and an illness cluster, the USDA said.

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That cluster was in California, which the CDC said had seven of the 11 people officially counted in the outbreak. Because most people recover from foodborne illnesses without medical attention, outbreak official illness counts usually are well under the actual number of people sick.

Yu Shang Seasoned Pork Snout Meat

In pregnant women, listeria can cause miscarriages and stillbirths.

In California, one pregnant person and their twins were sick and both infants died, the CDC said. Listeria was found in a sample from the mother and from one of the twin infants, but it could not be found in a sample from the other infant. Because of this, only the mother and one twin are included as confirmed cases in this outbreak. One other listeria illness was reported in an infant who was sick and recovered.

The other four people counted were in Illinois (two), New Jersey and New York (one each).

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Among the eight people interviewed, seven people shopped in person and online at markets where Yu Shang food products are sold, the CDC said. Two people specifically reported eating Yu Shang brand ready-to-eat chicken products.

Yu Shangs Seasoned Chicken Quarter Leg

If you have any of the recalled products, throw them away or return them to the store for a full refund.

Any questions about this recall can be emailed to ling16099@yahoo.com or asked of Yu Shang Plant Manager Ling Li at 864-310-6313.

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SYDNEY, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- A man drowned on Monday while swimming in a national park in southern Sydney, police said.

Police in the state of New South Wales (NSW) said in a statement that the man died after being pulled unresponsive from a swimming hole in the Royal National Park approximately 25 km south of central Sydney on Monday afternoon.

Emergency services were called to Winifred Falls, a popular swimming spot in the national park, following reports of a drowning at about 2:35 p.m. local time, NSW Police said.

Ambulance paramedics and police officers attended the scene and found a man had been pulled from the water.

"The man was treated at the scene by paramedics, but he could not be revived," NSW Police said."The man, who is yet to be formally identified, is believed to be aged in his 20s."

Police have established a crime scene and commenced inquiries into the circumstances of the man's death.

A man in his 40s drowned in January at Wattamolla Beach, another swimming spot in the national park 6 km southwest of Winifred Falls. 
Rhode Island Community Food Bank CEO Andrew Schiff goes over the annual status report on hunger inside his organization's Providence distribution center on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)

Nearly two in every five households across the Ocean State struggle to afford adequate meals for their families, according to a new report from the Rhode Island Community Food Bank.

The six-page report released Monday found an average of 38% of Rhode Island households in the last year were considered food insecure. It also noted that food pantries in the state served an average of 84,400 individuals per month between January and September of this year  a 9% increase from the same period in 2023. That puts need at an all-time high, said Community Food Bank CEO Andrew Schiff.

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Speaking at a town hall-style meeting inside the organizations Providence distribution center Monday morning, Schiff attributed the spike to high living costs and a meal gap resulting from inadequate coverage by federal programs.

This is the essence of food insecurity, he said.

Schiff gave a brief overview of the report before taking part in a discussion with Economic Progress Institute Executive Director Weayonnoh Nelson-Davies and with the executive director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Newport, Heather Hole Strout. A mother whose family relies on the MLK Centers food pantry also spoke.

A single adult needs an estimated $39,741 a year to meet basic needs in the state, according to the Economic Progress Institutes 2024 Rhode Island Standard of Need report  more than double the $14,580 suggested by the federal poverty level.

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A single parent of two children would have to spend roughly $83,000 per year to afford rent, utilities, transportation, child care and health care. They would have to have an annual income of $99,000 to meet those basic needs, according to the Economic Progress Institutes report.

How many single-parents are making that $99,000 a year? Nelson-Davies asked the crowd. Not a lot.

Around 78% of Rhode Island single-parent households with two children make less than that required income, according to the Economic Progress Institute.

Oftentimes, Schiff said, low-income families have to make the choice between paying for food or shelter  with housing always being the priority. That means meals are often skipped.

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Low-income residents in Rhode Island missed more than 42.2 million meals in the last year, the food banks 2024 report states.

Even a family of five using federal meal benefits can struggle to keep up with Rhode Islands high cost of living. Such is the case of Imani Hepburn-Vaughn, who moved to Newport in 2022 from Pensacola, Florida, when her husband was transferred by the U.S. Navy. She told the crowd that the move with their three children was a culture shock, especially when she saw the $8 price of a bag of sweet peppers at the grocery store  something that was only $3 back in Florida.

What we were accustomed to eating back home, we couldnt do that here Hepburn-Vaughn said. The money just wasnt stretching.

But she was able to get fresh produce after she was referred to the food pantry at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Newport. She admitted she was almost too proud to go to the center.

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Its very empowering to be self-sufficient and then going to not being it, it can feel very painful, said Hepburn-Vaughn, who gave birth to a fourth child after moving to Rhode Island. Coming to MLK, I was very hesitant  I wasnt sure how I would be received. But Im two years in, so we can assume it went well.

Hepburn-Vaughn said she stops by the MLK Center every weekend to get fresh produce. The centers volunteers are able to fulfill the order, but Strout, its executive director, told the crowd that demand at the food pantry has doubled since 2023.

Weve never seen anything like that and honestly, thats just not sustainable  its scary, Strout said.

Imani Hepburn-Vaughn of Newport, second from left, speaks about Rhode Islands high cost of living during a town hall discussion at the Rhode Island Community Food Bank on Monday, Nov. 25, 2025. To her right are Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center Executive Director Heather Hole Strout, Economic Progress Institute Executive Director Weayonnoh Nelson-Davies, and Rhode Island Food Bank CEO Andrew Schiff. At far left is Lisa Roth Blackman, the food banks chief philanthropy officer. (Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)

The increase in food demand also proved to be a problem for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, which saw rows of empty shelves at its Providence distribution center during the summer.

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Ahead of Thanksgiving, most shelves were stocked. Things stabilized after the United States Department of Agriculture revamped its meal delivery system, along with seasonal donations from farms and more funding to purchase food in bulk, Schiff told Rhode Island Current after the town hall.

But to ensure demand at food pantries goes down, Schiff said Congress must increase the federal governments Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits through the Farm Bill currently under consideration.

My worry is that Congress will actually cut SNAP benefits in the Farm Bill, which will only send more people to food pantries and only increase the meal gap, Schiff said.

Initial projections in October show the state faces a $400 million shortfall for the fiscal year that starts July 1, 2025. Nelson-Davies expressed concerns over the potential for cuts to Medicaid into Rhode Islands fiscal year 2026 budget.

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And thats the opposite of what we need right now, Nelson-Davies said.

However, Nelson-Davies said she is optimistic public pressure could make state leaders find new sources of revenue and at least maintain existing services as they look over the budget early next year.

Were a small state and Im always thinking about how we can be a model for the nation  a lot of states are going to feel the impact, she said. These are real families, real people impacted.

Pallets of produce and other perishables sit inside one of the Rhode Island Community Food Banks refrigerators. (Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)

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Forcibly silenced. Man files lawsuit against Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners

CABARRUS COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  A lawsuit has been filed involving a Cabarrus County man who is accusing the county of silencing him and violating his First Amendment rights following an incident earlier this year at a Board of Commissioners public meeting.

The lawsuit, announced by the Liberty Justice Center, was filed on November 21 by James Campbell regarding the April 15, 2024 incident when Campbell asked the board to investigate corruption involving the local Department of Social Services offices.

After the board claimed he violated meeting policy by reading off a list of names of employees who he stated had failed his family, he was ordered to be removed from the meeting.

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Commissioners interrupted Campbell and had four deputies escort him out the video shows.

PREVIOUS: Cabarrus Co man escorted out of meeting for violating public participation policy

Government officials cannot restrict the publics right to free speech just because government employees dont want to hear criticism. The First Amendment protects all Americans fundamental rights to discuss matters of public concern at public meetings, to criticize the actions of government officials, and to petition the government for redress of grievances, said Buck Dougherty, Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center in a released statement. We are proud to take a stand for Mr. Campbells rights, and we ask the Court to hold the Board accountable for abusing the First Amendment to stifle criticism of county employees.

Im pretty sure because I was an African American man speaking up on the issue they decided to flex their muscle and take me out, Campbell said.

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Commissioners say his removal was not racially motivated and pointed to a policy that limits what citizens can say in the public comment period.

Just because I was thrown out, youre not going to silence my voice, Campbell said.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Ford Motor Co. and the YMCA of Memphis & the Mid South have announced plans to construct the new "YMCA Early Learning Center at BlueOval City."

The Stanton facility will serve as a childcare hub for the entire West Tennessee region by providing care for as many as 175 children, from ages 6 weeks to 5 years old. It will also provide afterschool care programs and meals to school-age children, as well as accommodate employees by offering hours tailored to their work schedules, according to a news release issued Monday.

Access to high-quality affordable childcare is one of the most important components in workforce development, Ermal Faulkner, Ford site director for BlueOval City and electric vehicle sites, said in a news release. We spent months listening and learning from local families as we designed a childcare center that will help improve the quality of life for employees, Tennessee College of Applied Technology students and other community members.

Rendering of the new YMCA Early Learning Center at BlueOval City in Stanton, which is set to open in 2026.

Where will the new YMCA facility be located? When will it open?

The 15,500-square-foot, state-of-the-art center will be located off Tennessee Highway 222 in Stanton, less than a mile from BlueOval City. It will feature dedicated childcare rooms and a multipurpose room for activities. The new YMCA facility is slated to open in 2026.

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BlueOval City sits in an area where access to childcare has been especially challenging following the pandemic, Dave Bratcher, senior vice president of West Tennessee for the YMCA of Memphis & the Mid-South, said in a news release.

FORD'S BLUEOVAL CITY: Inside a West Tennessee group's push for Ford to sign a community benefits agreement

How did Ford and YMCA of Memphis & Mid-South make this project happen?

Ford collaborated with the YMCA to gather input from residents to help form the development of the facility and bring together important investors for the project. The new YMCA Early Learning Center at BlueOval City is being made possible through a 5-acre donation from Beth Wall Flanagan. The parcel has been part of the familys farm since the early 1830s.

The Wall family, through Meux Hill LLC, is proud to help advance the mission of the YMCA, Wall Flanagan said. It was an easy decision for our family to expand the legacy of YMCA support that began with my great-grandfather, John Farley.

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WEST TENNESSEE PREPARES FOR FORD: Why Stanton mayor says Ford's delay in production is a good thing for the tiny West TN town

Public and private funding support for construction and ongoing operation of the YMCA center totals $7 million so far. It includes:

$2 million for construction support funded by the Tennessee Department of Human Services

$1.7 million for the multipurpose gymnasium funded by the Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development through a Connected Community Facilities grant

$1 million to offset the cost of childcare for Fords Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center employees and cover the cost of water and wastewater depreciation expenses funded by Fords Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center at BlueOval City

$1 million for onsite programming funded by BlueOval SK

$1 million for construction support funded by Universal Logistics Holdings

$300,000 for construction support funded by Ford Manufacturing.

We recognize affordable, quality childcare is a barrier for many working parents, and BlueOval SK is committed to being part of the solution, BlueOval SK CEO Michael Adam said in a news release. Were proud to support the YMCA and its programs that help meet the needs of families throughout West Tennessee through a variety of services.

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Corey Davis is the Collierville and Germantown reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Corey.Davis@commercialappeal.com or 901-293-1610.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Ford, YMCA announce new childcare center near BlueOval City in West TN
Jeh Johnson, a former secretary of homeland security under President Barack Obama, schooled Donald Trump on Sunday as he shared a lesson on enforcement in response to the president-elects mass deportation plan.

So, to this idea of mass deportation, that would be the equivalent if you tried to deport everyone in this country who is undocumented, of the population of two New York Cities, which could not happen in my lifetime, said Johnson in an appearance on Meet the Press.

Johnson reacted to NBC News reporting that Trump plans to roll out his major campaign promise of deporting millions of undocumented immigrants along with other executive actions on Day 1 of his presidency.

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Johnson, when asked how complicated itd be for the president-elect to roll out the deportation plan, told host Kristen Welker that someone should pass a law banning executive orders on the first day of a new administration.

Because the reality is executive orders drafted by transition teams without the input of the affected agency before the Cabinet secretary is even confirmed are not great ideas, Johnson explained.

He then referred to Trumps travel ban in 2017, a move that barred people from several Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States, before pointing fingers at himself.

I was involved in the transition 16 years ago and Guantanamo Bay is still open, noted Johnson of Obama issuing an executive order to close the facility in the early days of his first term.

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He stressed the need for enforcement priorities in an administration regardless of who is president.

Start with the criminals, start with the national security threats, recent border crossers. Tom Homan knows that. I know he knows that because he used to work for me, said Johnson of Trumps pick to be border czar in his second term.

He continued, And Id rather see ERO go after the criminals versus somebody whos been in this country 12 years, committed no crimes, has children who are U.S. citizens. And thats the reality of enforcement and thats  Im sure that will be the reality of enforcement even under a President Trump.

Enforcement and Removal Operations, or ERO, is the division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) responsible for the arrest and removal of undocumented immigrants.

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Moments later, Welker told the shows panel that it could be a little bit tougher for Trump to tackle his agenda as Republicans control the House by a very narrow margin.

Stephen Hayes, editor of The Dispatch, said this could make it somewhat tenuous for Trump.

But I think that argues in favor of Donald Trump being aggressive on executive actions, he added.

He said he ran on tariffs. He ran on mass deportations. We know that these are issues that he cares about viscerally in a way that he doesnt care about some other issues viscerally. I expect him to go as far as he possibly can in those two areas.

Related...
President-elect Donald Trumps decision not to do background checks on his Cabinet picks could come back to haunt him, a former FBI assistant director for counterintelligence said in an MSNBC interview on Sunday.

"Be careful what you ask for, you might get it. If you want an FBI vetting process that tells you risk and threat qualifications and competency and reputation, you're going to get it, and he may not like the answers, Frank Figliuzzi told MSNBC host Alex Witt.

Last week, CNN reported that Trumps transition team is bypassing standard FBI background checks for some of his Cabinet picks, instead relying on private investigation companies to vet candidates. Thorough background checks have long been a norm used by incoming presidents when choosing their Cabinet.

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A number of allegations against some of Trumps nominees have surfaced in recent weeks, most notably a rape allegation against Pete Hegseth, who was tapped to lead the Department of Defense. Trumps transition team says they were unaware of the allegations before Hegseths nomination.

Not wanting further information like this to be made public is possibly why Trump is avoiding background checks altogether, Figliuzzi said.

President Joe Biden or members of Congress could order the investigations instead, he added.

"With regard to why President Biden or the Senate Judiciary Committee might want to do this now, I do have an answer for that: The answer is they can do it," he argued, pointing to a 1963 law that states presidents can request investigations into nominees from the FBI. If Trump isn't going to comply with the existing protocols and practices, then we should comply with it and ask the Senate and the White House to request it now."

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Despite widespread scrutiny about the dubious pasts of some Trump nominees, at least four of whom have allegations of sexual misconduct against them, a top GOP Senator dismissed the need for FBI background checks in an ABC News interview on Sunday.

When asked whether we should do away with FBI background checks for Cabinet members, Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., responded: Certainly."

"What the American public cares about is to see the mandate that they voted in delivered upon, Hagerty said.
LETCHER COUNTY, Ky. (WJHL)  The former Letcher County sheriff accused of killing a district judge in his chambers in September appeared in front of a packed courtroom on Monday, the same building in which the alleged murder took place.

Shawn Mickey Stines was indicted on Nov. 21 on a new charge of murder of a public official in the death of district judge Kevin Mullins.

He was arraigned in person on the new charge at noon on Monday. News Channel 11 livestreamed the court appearance live on WJHL.com.

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Retired Judge Julia H. Adams presided over the arraignment. A new judge will take over the case in the near future.

Stines entered a not-guilty plea on Monday for the murder of a public official. Adams said after significant consideration, she would not admit Stines a bond as of Monday.

Stines attorneys said they hoped to later file for an adversarial bond, to which Adams told them they had every right to do.

Jackie Steele, the prosecutor for the 27 Judicial District told News Channel 11 after the arraignment that not granting Stines bond is routine for cases like his.

Hes charged with the capital crime in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Steele said. Hes not entitled to bond under the constitution and rules.

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Its unlikely (that people with these charges get bond), but certainly we believe that Mr. Stines is someone who, given his past history, that hes someone that presents a very compelling case for bond, said one of Stines defense attorneys, Jeremy Barley.

Stines defense team, comprised of husband and wife duo Jeremy and Kerri Bartley and Jimmy Cox, also filed a motion to preserve evidence, which Steele did not object to.

Its typical in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, as it is anywhere, we have to preserve evidence so the defendant can look at that evidence and not just take our word for it, Steele said.

Stines was arrested after Mullins was fatally shot inside the Letcher County courthouse on Sept. 19. At the time, Stines was charged with first-degree murder.

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Stines pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder charge on Sept. 25.

Jeremy Bartley urged for the presumption of innocence on Stines behalf, despite evidence that has already been presented.

We do not concede that this thing is a manslaughter case, Bartley said. We do believe that we will put on a full defense that we will urge for an acquittal.

Stines defense hopes to keep the court proceedings in Letcher County.

Were gonna have to address the elephant in the room concerning venue, and I believe were standing right where this case should be heard, Bartley said.

Jeremy Bartley claims there is not a corner of Kentucky that has not heard of Stines case, and he thinks it is best if the case is heard among the former sheriffs peers.

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Steele told News Channel 11 that he could not speak to a motive in the case and said he could only answer questions related to the court process.

Stines retired from his position as sheriff at the end of September. Before announcing he would retire, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and Kentucky General Counsel S. Travis Mayo sent Stines a letter formally asking that he resign.

The entire arraignment can be viewed 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 WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.
BENNETTSVILLE, S.C. (WBTW)  Former McColl Police Chief Bob Hale has returned to a familiar setting  rejoining Bennettsvilles force for the fourth time in his career days after his abrupt resignation.

South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy records obtained by News13 show that Hale began his job on Monday. Hale and McColls four other officers all stepped down Nov. 21.

Hale, who was hired in June 2023, outlined his reasons for leaving in a lengthy Facebook post, citing repeated acts of harassment and personal attacks on his character by an unnamed member of the towns council.

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Hale also said a significant amount of money was cut from our already depleted budget by the same Councilman upon his arrival to his elected position. He said he repeatedly asked for funding to modernize equipment, enhance training, and increase staffing levels to no avail.

As for the future of the McColl Police Department, Mayor George Garner said he has received some applications for the police chief position already. In the meantime, he said the Marlboro County Sheriffs Office is required to help cover the town, though the sheriffs office is also short-staffed.

Garner said he thinks the problem will lead to longer response times for calls in the town. He said he has contacted the city of Bennettsville to get help but that the two municipalities do not currently have an agreement in place and that the city council would have to approve the request.

Hale began his South Carolina law enforcement career in Bennettsville, working there from September 2007 through Jan. 31, 2015. He also was there from June 28, 2015 to April 22, 2016 and July 22, 2019 to June 15, 2023, according to state records.

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* * *

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.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW.
A former Kentucky sheriff accused of killing a county judge in his chambers two months ago has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder of a public official.

Mondays arraignment was the first time defendant Shawn Mickey Stines, 43, was at the Letcher County Courthouse since state District Judge Kevin Mullins was shot to death in his chambers there.

Stines, shackled and wearing a baggy dark gray jail uniform, did not speak or show any emotion during the hearing. The plea was entered for him by his defense attorney, Kerri Bartley.

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Stines, who was the county sheriff when the alleged crime unfolded, has since resigned. His replacement, Billy Jones, was in the courtroom Monday but did not speak as part of the proceedings.

The indictment, handed up Thursday by a grand jury, does not shed any new light on a possible motive for the shooting.

Stines could face the death penalty if convicted.

Video played in court last month showed the fatal shooting of District Judge Kevin Mullins in his chambers. - Kentucky Court of Justice/AP/File

Stines preliminary hearing last month was held more than 100 miles from Letcher County because the courthouse was temporarily closed following Mullins killing. Because of the close community ties of both the suspect and the victim, the case is being handled by a special prosecutor and a retired judge appointed by the state.

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The defendant shall not be admitted to bond at this time, state Judge Julia H. Adams said.

Authorities responded to the Letcher County courthouse on the afternoon of September 19 to find Mullins, 54, had suffered gunshot wounds, Kentucky State Police said at the time. Stines surrendered to authorities at the scene.

At last months hearing, prosecutors played surveillance footage from Mullins chambers that appeared to show the judge crouching behind his desk as a man identified as Stines shoots him multiple times. As Stines prepares to leave the room, he appears to see Mullins moving under his desk and fires several more shots.

Defense attorneys did not deny Stines shot Mullins but suggested he was in the midst of an extreme emotional disturbance, arguing a first-degree manslaughter charge would be more appropriate than murder.

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Surveillance video not shown in court captured the former sheriff calling his daughter on his phone before asking to see Mullins phone, which the judge gave him, Kentucky State Police Det. Clayton Stamper testified at last months hearing.

The full video shows Stines opened fire seconds after looking at the judges phone, Stamper testified, noting Stines had tried to call his daughter from both phones. Phone records, Stamper said, showed calls previously had been made from the judges phone to Stines daughter.

Both men had eaten lunch with a group prior to the shooting, Stamper said. And while no witnesses observed any anger between them, witnesses told investigators about one exchange:

I was told that the judge made a statement to Mickey about, Do we need to meet private in my chambers? Stamper said.

CNNs Dakin Andone contributed to this story.

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SUZHOU, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met with Senior Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong on Monday in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province.

He, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said the two sides should focus on the new positioning of bilateral relations, make full use of cooperation platforms such as the Suzhou Industrial Park, and work together to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries.

Noting that Singapore-China relations have been deepening with strong development momentum under the guidance of the two countries' top leaders, Lee said Singapore is willing to work with China to push for new development in major cooperative projects, and further consolidate and upgrade bilateral relations.

The two senior officials also attended the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park High-Quality Development Forum on Monday. The two sides comprehensively reviewed the achievements of the park in the past 30 years, and mapped out the direction and focus of cooperation for its next stage.

They agreed the two countries should give better play to the pioneering role of the park, deepen institutional reform, and work together to build a world-class science and technology park that is open and innovative.

They also witnessed the signing of cooperation documents. 
Former Trump White House official Olivia Troye has issued a stark warning for women entering the incoming administration.

TheTrump White Houses chauvinistic male-dominated culture will be exacerbated by the presence of Elon Musk, JD Vance, Donald Trump Jr., Matt Gaetz, Pete Hegseth, and other bros in positions of authority or influence, Troye, who served as former Vice President Mike Pences national security adviser, wrote on her Substack on Thursday.

It will be an intimidating environment, but stay true to your values, even when it is uncomfortable or unpopular. Remember, you have only yourself to face in the mirror every day.

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Since leaving the administration, Troye has become an outspoken critic of Trump and campaigned on behalf of his Democratic rival Kamala Harris in 2024.

In her post, Troye also urged women to seek out female allies and warned that they would face the male gaze and locker room talk in the administration. The latter phrase is a reference to Donald Trumps defense after the Access Hollywood tape, in which he said a recording of him bragging about groping women was exaggerated macho banter.

Its beyond time for Olivia Troye to go back to doing whatever the hell she was doing before she threw her integrity in the toilet to get her face on liberal television because she clearly has no idea what shes talking about, Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told The Independent.

Former Trump administration official Olivia Troye warned women joining the administration of a bro culture and locker room talk (EPA)

President Trump just selected the first female Chief of Staff in history and Im greatly looking forward to serving as the youngest Press Secretary in history. He has also chosen several other women to serve in his Cabinet, and there will be thousands of strong, independent women who fill the ranks across his Administration. President Trump empowers women and anyone who has their head on straight can see that.

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Multiple members of and nominees in the new administration have been accused of sexual misconduct towards women, including Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk, and since-withdrawn attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz. They have all denied wrongdoing and have not been charged with any crimes related to the allegations.

A jury found Trump liable for sex abuse against former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll.
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WHLT)  A Forrest County man was convicted of firing shots at his neighbor.

Forrest and Perry Counties District Attorney Lin Carter announced that Richard James Mahl was convicted of aggravated assault and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon on Thursday, November 21, 2024.

Forrest County deputies responded to a location on Bill Smith Road on January 7, 2023, due to shots being fired. The victim, who was unharmed, informed deputies that his neighbor, Mahl, fired shots at him five or six times.

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Two teens charged with shooting into Hattiesburg home

According to Carter, the investigation revealed that Mahl was constantly causing trouble with most of his neighbors on Bill Smith Road, and deputies had been dispatched many times in the past due to threats Mahl had made to his neighbors for disturbing the peace.

The victim told deputies he was driving his tractor down the road to his property when Mahl confronted him and began making threats. A brief argument ensued, and the victim drove away. The victim said he heard gunshots, turned around and saw Mahl shooting at him.

Forrest County deputies said they recovered the shell casings and executed a search warrant on Mahls home, where they discovered pistol ammunition that matched the shell casings they recovered. Authorities said they also discovered that Mahl had displayed a pistol at a delivery driver and made threats several weeks before this incident.

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Carter said Mahl is a habitual offender, having two previous convictions in St. Tammany

Parish, Louisiana. He will be sentenced at a later date.

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A soldier from Fontana has been charged with murder in the death of another soldier at Fort Irwin in San Bernardino County.

Spc. George Cornejo, 26, is accused of killing Spc. Andrew P. Smith on Oct. 28, military officials said in a press release.

Smith, 27, was found injured in his residence that day and later succumbed to his wounds, officials said when announcing his death. The Rye, New York, native had been stationed at Fort Irwin for more than two years.

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The manner and possible motivation for the alleged murder were not released.

Cornejo has been in pre-trial custody since Oct. 29, and hes expected to be transferred to the Naval Consolidated Brig in Miramar.

A preliminary hearing will be held to determine if Cornejo will be tried by court-martial.

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The Star-Telegram has been reporting on childhood vaccines, like the vaccines that protect against polio, measles, whooping cough, and other diseases.

Although the majority of children in Tarrant County are protected against these diseases, there has been a decline in the number of children who are fully vaccinated.

Heres a summary of what we learned from our reporting, in five visuals. We focused on the vaccination rate for the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, because measles is a highly contagious disease.

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The majority of Texas kids were vaccinated last year.

But we did notice some changes during the pandemic. The number of kindergartners starting the school year up-to-date with the MMR vaccine declined nationwide, statewide, and in Tarrant County.

In the Fort Worth area, the biggest dip occurred in the Fort Worth school district, the countys largest.

Students in Fort Worths school district experienced a steeper decline than students in most of the other 10 largest school districts in the state and the other districts considered major urban districts. Only Austins school district is experiencing a similar decline. Some school districts, like Dallas, have seen a decline but have improved their vaccination rates in recent years.

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The reason for the dip? There was an increase in parents asking for conscientious exemptions for their children, meaning they did not want to vaccinate their kids for reasons of conscience. (Vaccine experts note that not all parents who ask for conscientious exemptions are entirely opposed to vaccines.)

But the biggest change in Fort Worth was in the delinquent category  those who havent gotten their shots, but whose parents also havent asked for an exemption.

Dr. Christina Robinson, an associate professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Centers medical school, said the increase in unvaccinated students could be an indicator that children are unable to get regular access to preventive care.

When I see the delinquency rate for kindergartners, I dont think vaccine hesitancy, said Robinson, who is also the director of UNT HSCs pediatric mobile clinic. Through the clinic, Robinson treats thousands of kids who dont have health insurance or who have other barriers to health care.

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Was it truly that they had a shift in perception of vaccines, or was it a lack of access? she asked.

We want to hear from you. Please send us your questions about vaccines and well get you answers. If your family has had trouble accessing vaccines, or has other feedback on the medical system, please let us know. You can call, text or email reporter Ciara McCarthy at cmccarthy@star-telegram or 817-203-4391, or you can fill out our survey.
Four people have been displaced just days before Thanksgiving after a fire in Hyde Park.

According to Boston Fire, crews were called to a large multi-family building on Hyde Park Ave around 11:15 p.m. for a blaze on the first floor.

Fire crews were able to quickly stop the fire from spreading to the 2nd floor with an aggressive attack from the interior and using ground ladders.

Four residents have been displaced and there are no injuries to report.

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The cause of the fire is under investigation.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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Fox News contributor Leslie Marshall slammed Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trumps pick for defense secretary, on Sunday after the details of a sexual assault allegation against him were made public.

But Marshall first took aim at former Fox News host Hegseths alleged history of infidelity, a crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

With all due respect to my former colleague, we know that there were three cases of adultery for Pete Hegseth, and it is relevant, Marshall said on Fox News MediaBuzz. And the reason why its relevant is, Article 134 of the UCMJ considers adultery against the military, which the Department of Defense is part of. You cant lead an entire organization and all these people if you cant lead by example, one.

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Marshall, who said she is a rape victim, then homed in on the sexual assault allegation that was recently made public.

Its very difficult for a woman to go in and have a rape kit done. Its physically, mentally and emotionally very difficult to go through that process, as I have, Marshall said. Somebody doesnt go into the hospital and subject herself to that. And I have to say, I, as a woman and as a victim, I believe the victims, and this is a problem for me. ... And then on top of that, although Pete has an incredible military career, he doesnt have the leadership career in the military that I feel the Department of Defense requires as their head.

By contrast, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) dismissed the allegation as a potential distraction on ABC News This Week on Sunday.

All these are ... are allegations, Hagerty said.

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Dont let these allegations distract us. What we need is real, significant change. The Pentagon has been more focused on pronouns than they have lethality the past four years. We need to get back to business, and I think Pete is just the person to do it.

Hagertys stance aligns with that of many Republicans, who have opted not to publicly speak out against Trumps controversial Cabinet picks.

The alleged assault occurred in 2017 in Monterey, California. Hegseth has denied the allegation through his attorney.

Trumps communications director, Steven Cheung, indicated that the allegation would not impact Hegseths position.

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Mr. Hegseth has vigorously denied any and all accusations, and no charges were filed. We look forward to his confirmation as United States Secretary of Defense so he can get started on Day One to Make America Safe and Great Again, Cheung previously told HuffPost.

Hegseth has never held a senior military role and has made multiple controversial comments  including arguing that women should not be allowed in combat roles in the military and pushing for alleged war criminals to be pardoned. He also has a tattoo sometimes linked to extremism.

Related...
HANOVER, New Hampshire (WJW)  Two fraternity members are being charged months after the death of a Dartmouth College student.

According to the Hanover Police Department, Won Jangs body was recovered from the Connecticut River on July 7, 2024.

Baker Mayfield sues fathers company for $12 million

Jang, a member of Beta Alpha Omega, attended an off-campus party the night before hosted by Alpha Phi Sorority members.

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At one point during the party, attendees decided to swim in the Connecticut River during a heavy rainstorm.

Many left the water as the storm worsened. Police say no one noticed that Jang was missing.

His family later told police that he could not swim.

FORECAST: Enough snow to shovel  when & where

Jangs cause of death was determined to be drowning, according to the New Hampshire Chief Medical Examiners Office.

The toxicology report revealed Jangs blood alcohol concentration at the time of death was .167.

Beta Alpha Omega fraternity members Matthew Catrambone and Samuel Terry have both been charged with a misdemeanor for providing alcohol to individuals under 21.

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A fraudster conned the taxpayer out of 24,000 by illegally renting out their social house for years.

The fraud was uncovered in 2022 after the local authority informed social housing provider L&Q that another person had registered for council tax at the property.

It triggered an investigation that later found the claimant was in fact a homeowner who had relocated for work and had rented the property out, L&Q said.

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Investigators used information provided by estate agents to track down the fraudster.

The tenant was ordered to pay 24,843 in unlawful profit and rent arrears, as well as 2,500 towards legal costs.

L&Q, one of the UKs largest housing associations, said it had so far this year uncovered 67 cases of council housing fraud. The total cost to the taxpayer is estimated at 2.8m.

It reported in May that it had recovered 143 homes last year.

The figures come after the Tenancy Fraud Forum revealed in August that as many as 5,800 social housing properties are being illegally let out across Britain.

The cost to the public purse of the illegal rentals could be as high as 244m, research by the campaign group found.

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Those subletting social housing properties are committing a criminal offence and can be prosecuted by local authorities, although in many cases councils prefer just to evict.

Social housing, which is usually built with government funding, is available at a cheaper rate than market rents, meaning there is another cost to the taxpayer. Nearly three million renters in social housing rely on housing benefits to pay their rent.

Nicola Evans, tenancy fraud manager at L&Q and a member of the board at the Tenancy Fraud Forum, said: It is so important that we dont let people get away with it.

We can often think something is happening, we can often know something is happening, but it is not always possible to prove it.

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L&Q said it uses posts from online platforms, as well as tip-offs from building staff and the public, to identify illegal subletting.

Ms Evans added that beyond the cost to the taxpayer, tenancy fraud can be linked to organised crime and human trafficking.

She said: There can be other things going on as well. Organised crime groups are linked to tenancy fraud, human trafficking, modern slavery, all those kinds of things. There could be other criminal aspects going on.

Between 2022 and 2023, 204 tenancy frauds were reported by housing associations, according to data released by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) in response to a Freedom of Information request.

It comes amid complaints that online booking platforms are not sharing critical information on benefit fraud with investigators.

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Stephanie Toghill, vice chair of the Tenancy Fraud Forum and housing investigator at Islington Council, previously told The Telegraph that councils were struggling to get data for law enforcement.

In 2022, Ms Toghills previous employer, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, joined forces with Airbnb to help gain access to critical information that could be used to identify fraudsters.

Airbnb said it has a clear process for local authorities to report listings.

A Ministry for Housing spokesman said: Landlords monitor their social housing, and a tenant who sublets the whole of their property risks committing an offence and potential eviction.

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We are introducing a short term lets registration scheme to help give councils greater oversight and control of housing in their areas.

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Have you had free solar panels installed on your home? Email money@telegraph.co.uk

The sales pitch seemed promising enough  free solar panels and a guarantee of dirt-cheap electricity bills.

Still, Judy Clemenson was sceptical when representatives from A Shade Greener came knocking at her door in 2015, offering to install the panels on her roof.

I know what a hard sell is and I thought, Why do they need to do this hard sell? the 58-year-old, from Derby, told The Telegraph.

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Yet she ignored her gut instinct and signed on the dotted line  a decision she, like hundreds of other A Shade Greener customers, now regrets.

The company  which claimed to be Britains largest solar panel installer but has since stopped new installations  is currently at the centre of an investigation with the energy watchdog Ofgem.

Homeowners claim they are trapped in 25-year leases and forced to shell out exorbitant fees to stop pigeons roosting under the panels  costs they believed would be taken care of by A Shade Greener.

The company vehemently denies allegations of wrongdoing and says anybody who agreed to have its solar panels installed are landlords not customers. It also says that it has no legal responsibility in relation to the pigeons or bird guards.

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A Facebook group dedicated to complaints about the company has wracked up 1,800 members  many of whom have been threatened with legal action by the company over their negative reviews. Politicians have even raised the issue in the House of Commons.

A former employee from A Shade Greener said the firm used a direct marketing company that they claimed deployed aggressive tactics to encourage homeowners to sign up to the deals. It appears many homeowners didnt understand the full terms of the contract.

The former employee said: I thought that was quite problematic. So did quite a few others.

The company said it provided leaflets and sales materials to landlords when they signed up which made clear their responsibilities.

Panels in over 70,000 roofs

Offering so-called rent-a-roof schemes, A Shade Greener boomed in popularity during the 2010s when door-to-door solar panel sales were commonplace. It is run by Stewart Davies, the ex-chairman of Darlington FC.

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The company took advantage of the Governments Feed-in Tariff scheme which enabled solar panel owners to sell unused energy to electricity suppliers.

In signing contracts with A Shade Greener, customers gave up any right to this money, because they didnt own the panels. However, homeowners did benefit from the free installation and cheaper bills as the house would use electricity from the panels directly.

Within a few years the company had installed panels to over 70,000 roofs. But soon after the complaints began to mount.

Rent-a-roof schemes became popular during the 2010s - Richard Newstead

For Mrs Clemenson, who had the panels installed in May 2015, the main issue was that the panels attracted a flurry of pigeons who are drawn to their warmth and shelter.

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Last year, her neighbours complained they kept finding dead birds on their property. Mrs Clemenson contacted the company asking them to install bird guards. She was told she would have to pay the expense herself  for which she says she was quoted 1,200.

She said: My neighbours rang me up crying a week and a half ago. Theyve both been very, very ill, and they think it is the mess that they are getting from the dust and the pigeons.

So I am paying now, actually, out of my own pocket to have these bird guards put up, just to protect my neighbours.

A Shade Greener said that providing bird guards was not a service which was either promised or provided free-of-charge and that there is no legal obligation for them to do so.

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A spokesman continued: The information provided to landlords includes why birds may choose to nest in certain areas, other things they can do to deter them and options available to the landlord for the installation of deterrents.

Mrs Clemenson soon joined the Facebook group of complainers, becoming an administrator in September 2023  at which point she received a legal complaint from A Shade Greener concerning her involvement in the group.

It advised her that the company would be pursuing her for defamation, and accused her of being personally responsible for posts which were inaccurate, negligent, incite illegal action and are defamatory. She denies these claims.

Mr Davies sent her a friend request on Facebook, alongside two personal messages in which he said that he wanted to increase communications between A Shade Greener and Mrs Clemenson.

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The homeowner said that she felt uncomfortable after receiving the messages on social media.

A Shade Greener estimates its solar panels had saved Mrs Clemenson 10,263.36 on her energy bills. It said she has been involved in many campaigns and movements to incite harm against the company and its employees.

Mrs Clemensons complaints are echoed by Ralph Wilson, whose late mother Valerie Wilson had the panels installed in 2014. She was 74 at the time and signed a 25-year lease.

Once she had moved into care, Mr Wilson turned off the panels as the house was vacant.

At that point, he alleges the company said he had no right to switch off the panels, despite his safety concerns.

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He claimed the solar panels also made the sale of his mothers property more difficult  a claim denied by A Shade Greener.

He said: This is only going to get bigger and bigger. There are more and more of these properties. I despise them and their practices. Despise isnt really strong enough.

A spokesman for the company said Mr Wilsons mother had saved 9,467.52 on her bills as a result of the panels, according to their estimates.

Accusations being urgently investigated

Issues for A Shade Greener are thought in part to have begun as Feed-In Tariff schemes became less generous. In 2012 the rate was cut from 43p per kilowatt hour to 21p. It dropped again to less than 5p in 2016, which was the same year the company stopped installing free solar panels. Then in 2019, the subsidy was dropped entirely.

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For solar panel leasing companies, such as A Shade Greener, this meant that growth stagnated.

Jim McMahon MP alleged in the House of Commons earlier this year that thousands of people are affected by the issue and that solar panel lease companies were not clear enough about the terms and conditions.

The Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero said the accusations were being urgently investigated by Ofgem.

A spokesman said: These are concerning allegations and Ofgem is urgently looking into the accusations levelled against the company. If it finds any act of non-compliance, we will not hesitate to support Ofgem in using all its powers appropriately.

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The Telegraph understands that meetings have been held with Jonathan Brearley, Ofgems chief executive. A spokesman said the watchdog was continuing its inquiries.

The news will no doubt be welcomed by Stephen McKay and his daughter, who has been left with scaffolding on her home for more than a year after mistakenly removing her A Shade Greener solar panels to repair the roof.

Mr McKay claims that when the 16 panels were removed, they realised that a third of the roof tiles were missing, and had been replaced with a plastic covering. He paid a roofer 5,000 to restore it to a water-tight condition in May last year.

He claims that it wasnt until after this that they realised the panels were owned by A Shade Greener.

He offered to buy out the lease, and claims he was quoted 12,000-21,000 for the rest of the lease, and 9,000 for alleged damage to the solar panels.

Mr McKay said: At one stage I said, cant I just pay off the lease and buy myself out of it? They gave me a figure and then they said: We want to put the panels back on.

The father added that he now feels he is in deadlock with the company.

A spokesman for A Shade Greener said: During the four years in residence until May 2023, Ms McKay enjoyed the benefit of the free electricity being provided and never raised any concerns or made any enquiries regarding the solar system in situ.

They added: We are currently up against a small minority of landlords who are aggrieved with the A Shade Greener companies. Their collective grievances are similar to each others and all of the complaints mentioned are known to be active members of the same group.

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BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Caihong-4 (CH-4) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has become the first large civil UAV in China to receive a special airworthiness certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

According to the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics, the developer of the Caihong series of UAVs, efforts to secure a standard airworthiness certificate for the CH-4 UAV are progressing in an orderly manner.

The CH-4 previously obtained an authorized flight certificate for large civil UAVs from the CAAC Northeast Regional Administration in 2021.

The Caihong, or Rainbow, series of UAVs have pioneered civil aviation innovations in China, including emergency communications, marine monitoring, and artificial rain enhancement, while conducting regular flight operations.

China's UAV industry has averaged more than 20 percent annual growth in recent years, becoming a new driver for the world's second-largest economy. 
By Tassilo Hummel

PARIS (Reuters) -Far-right leader Marine Le Pen issued a new threat on Monday to bring down France's coalition government in a no-confidence vote, after talks with Prime Minister Michel Barnier failed to satisfy her party's demands for budget concessions.

Le Pen said nothing had changed following the discussions, and she was not optimistic a compromise on the belt-tightening 2025 budget bill could be reached.

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"Nothing appears less certain," she told reporters.

Reflecting the growing risk that Barnier's government could fall, the premium investors demand to hold French bonds over German ones flirted with highs not seen in over 12 years.

The Senate started debating the bill on Monday following its rejection by lawmakers in the National Assembly after leftist lawmakers heavily revised it the lower house, adding tens of billions of euros in tax hikes.

Opposition parties are threatening to topple Barnier's government over the budget, and his fragile coalition relies on tacit support from Le Pen's National Rally party for its survival.

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The government is seeking to squeeze 60 billion euros ($62.85 billion) in savings through tax increases and spending cuts to reduce the deficit to 5% of economic output next year from over 6% this year.

National Rally has said it will support efforts to oust the government if its demands are not met. Le Pen said last week her party opposes increasing the tax burden on households, entrepreneurs or pensioners, and that so far these demands were not reflected in the budget bill.

Barnier is already struggling to keep the 2025 budget within the government's deficit targets after making pension concessions to conservative lawmakers and granting some ministries slightly bigger budgets after they complained.

Budget minister Laurent Saint-Martin acknowledged on Monday that the budget deficit might be slightly higher than the 5% of output originally foreseen.

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LEGAL PROBLEMS

Le Pen's own political future is also under threat, with prosecutors seeking a mandatory five-year ban from politics for her alleged role in an embezzlement scheme. Le Pen denies the allegations.

Some analysts have suggested her legal problems may accelerate her plans to bring down the government,

Barnier's struggles to secure approval for the budget have fuelled speculation he will invoke article 49.3 of the constitution, which allows the text to be adopted without a vote. Such a move could trigger a no-confidence motion against the government.

"It is true that we find very little quality in this budget and very little time for the government to try to increase its qualities and reduce its defects," Le Pen said.

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An official in Barnier's office described his talks with Le Pen as "constructive, courteous and frank".

Barnier was also due to meet other political leaders on Monday to seek a compromise on the budget bill. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the overall budget on Dec. 12.

($1 = 0.9547 euros)

(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; Additional reporting by Elizabeth Pineau and Leigh Thomas, Writing by Makini Brice and Gabriel Stargardter, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Christina Fincher)
MADISON  In the weeks following the November general election that saw Wisconsin choose both Republican former President Donald Trump and Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin the state will now shift its focus to a spring race that will will determine the state Supreme Courts ideological balance.

In April, liberal Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford is expected to face off against Waukesha County Circuit Judge Brad Schimel, a former Republican attorney general. No other candidates have entered the race.

Crawford and Schimel are vying for the seat being vacated by liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, the court's current longest-serving justice. Her retirement sets up another battle for control of the state's highest court just two years after more than $50 million was poured into a race that created a liberal majority for the first time in more than a decade. As she departs, the same partisan interests are expected to create another expensive battle for control of the court.

Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford and Waukesha County Circuit Judge Brad Schimel are expected to run in 2025 for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Announcing her retirement plans, Walsh Bradley, who has served on the court since 1995, said "it's just time to pass the torch (and) bring fresh perspectives to the court."

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Schimel was elected to lead the state Department of Justice in 2014 and lost his 2018 reelection bid to Democrat Josh Kaul by less than a percentage point the same year Democratic Gov. Tony Evers defeated Republican former Gov. Scott Walker. Before leaving office, Walker appointed Schimel to the Waukesha County Circuit Court.

Before being elected to the Dane County Circuit Court in 2018, Crawford was a partner with the Pines Bach law firm, where she worked on cases related to voting rights and represented Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin in a case that sought to expand abortion access. Prior to that, she worked as a prosecutor and as legal counsel in state government.

Crawford was endorsed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin on Nov. 20. In a statement. DPW chairman Ben Wikler said the state's high court had made "significant progress in restoring the fairness and impartiality of the court that was lost under the previous far-right majority, striking down unconstitutional legislative maps, increasing access to the ballot box, and restoring balance in a previously unchecked Legislature."

Republian Party of Wisconsin chairman Brian Schimming said "it's no surprise that Dane County liberal activist Susan Crawford received the endorsement of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin."

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"In April 2025, Wisconsinites will have the opportunity to restore the rule of law by flipping the state Supreme Court," Schimming said.

Liberals currently hold a 4-3 majority on the court.

During her 2023 campaign, Justice Janet Protasiewicz put reproductive health access front and center, announcing in TV ads that she supported abortion rights. She defeated former Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly by 11 percentage points.

Since Protasiewicz joined the court, the new liberal majority ordered new electoral maps that narrowed Republicans' longtime majority in the state Legislature. The court also will soon determine the future of abortion access in the state, grounded in a challenge to a 19th Century law that was thought to almost entirely ban it.

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In a statement, the Schimel campaign said "leftist judges in Wisconsin and around the country are failing to enforce our laws," and called the Nov. 5 election "a repudiation of the lefts radical agenda that made life more dangerous and expensive for Wisconsinites."

"From opening the border, to releasing criminals on our streets, to rogue judges on Wisconsins Supreme Court breaking norms to advance their radical agenda. Brad Schimel is a judge of the people who will stop the madness and defend what is right," the statement said.

The Schimel campaign painted Crawford as a candidate who would cater to the "elites in Madison."

"The liberal overreach of Wisconsins Supreme Court has done enough damage in a short span  Brad Schimel will fix it," the campaign said.

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Crawford, the Schimel campaign said, would use her position on the state's high court as a "liberal rubber stamp" who could lead the court to rule in favor of curbing or eliminating the state's school voucher program and its 2015 law banning private companies from requiring non-unionized workers to pay dues to their workplace union, known as "right to work."

In a statement, Crawford said the state needs a court that is "committed to upholding the rights and freedoms of all Wisconsinites."

"Ive spent my career standing up for Wisconsin values like safe communities, reproductive rights, clean air and water, and fair elections. As a prosecutor, I took on tough cases to hold criminals and sex offenders accountable and bring justice to victims. As an attorney, I fought for working people, families, and teachers when their rights were threatened and being trampled on," she said. "Now, as a circuit court judge, I work every day to deliver justice impartially, keep our communities safe, and treat everyone fairly under the law."

The results of the Nov. 5 election "dont change the Courts responsibility to give fair hearings in cases of statewide importance," Crawford said.

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"More than ever, we need a majority of justices who care about protecting the rights of Wisconsinites and upholding the law and our Constitution impartially, without a political agenda," she said.

Candidates have until Jan. 1, 2025, to enter the race. Supreme Court justices are elected to 10-year terms in Wisconsin.

Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin turns to a battle over the Supreme Court ideological control
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Family and friends of the man who was shot and killed by a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer gathered Saturday to call for justice.

On Tuesday, Nov. 11, LVMPD Officer Alexander Bookman shot and killed Brandon Durham, 43, after Durham called 911 to report a home invasion. The shooting, captured on body camera video, shows Durham breaking the door, running down a hallway and then shooting Durham 14 seconds later as Durham struggles over a knife with the alleged intruder, Alejandra Boudreaux, 31.

Police were called to the home the night before after Durham said Boudreaux refused to leave, the 8 News Now Investigators first reported. Bookman was one of the responding officers to that call. It remained unclear how Bookman interacted, if at all, with Durham or Boudreaux on the first call.

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The same officer who killed my friend knew who my friend was, said Trey Fredrick, who said he was a close friend of Durhams. He had contact with Durham the day before.

Fredrick referenced an 8 News Now Investigators report that Bookman was at the same residence hours earlier for an incident involving the same people.

Brandon Durham, 43, was shot and killed by a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer after calling 911 during a home invasion. Durham called police the day before about a woman who refused to leave, records said. (Durham family)

Audio of the 911 call from the Nov. 11 incident obtained by 8newsnow.com captured Durham asking the 911 operator to hurry the [expletive] up and telling the dispatcher that he didnt think [hed] be alive by the time officers arrived.

We want to be able to trust the police. We dont want to be anti-police, but they have to do their part and protect us no matter the situation, said Elizabeth Glover, a sociologist and chairwoman of the criminal justice division of the NAACP.

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Boudreaux, of Seattle, Washington, is accused of breaking into the home and attacking Durham, police said. In the seconds before the shooting, Durham and Boudreaux struggled over a knife, video from Metro police shows.

Supporters carried signs and wore T-shirts Saturday to honor Durham as they marched in Downtown Las Vegas. One of the individuals marching was Minister Stretch Sanders, who called for more training for law enforcement officers.

Im the son of a police officer, so this isnt any anti-police message; this is about realness, Sanders said.

A vigil for Durham is set for Nov. 30.

Metro was continuing its investigation into the incident. The department announced Bookman was on routine paid administrative leave.

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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 KLAS.
PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now)  The holiday season is here! With Thanksgiving just days away, the Prince William County Fire and Rescue System is reminding the community to be cautious when frying a turkey.

Officials said during the holiday season, house fires and fire-related injuries increase due to increased cooking. The fire department said Thanksgiving is the peak for cooking fires, followed by Christmas and Christmas Eve.

DMV Chef highlights importance of side dishes for Thanksgiving

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According to the fire and rescue system, one contributor to holiday cooking fires is frying a turkey. Even though the cooking method is popular, officials said it is dangerous due to burn hazards, including the following:

Hot oil can spill or splash over onto the flame igniting a fire.

Fryers designed for outdoor use with or without a stand are prone to collapse, causing major hot oil spills.

Cooking oil is combustible.

Steam can result from hot cooking oil being exposed to snow or rain, causing splattering of hot oil and leading to burns.

The use of turkey fryers in close quarters poses a burn hazard to children and others in the home, as the oil inside the fryer can stay dangerously hot for hours after use.

Do not use in, on, or under a garage deck, breezeway, porch, barn or any structure that can catch fire.

If you plan on frying your turkey this year, the fire department advises people to use an oil-less turkey fryer.

Fire officials said the leading cause of kitchen fires is unattended cooking. To keep you and your loved ones safe, the Prince William County Fire and Rescue System encourages the community to Look when you cook.

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To avoid a fire sparking in the kitchen, officials encourage residents to:

Stay in the kitchen when you are frying, boiling or grilling food.

Turn off the stove if you leave the kitchen, even for a short period of time.

If you are simmering, baking, or roasting food, check it regularly.

Keep anything that can catch fire away from the stove.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
The foreign ministers of Group of Seven (G7) countries are expected to agree to increase diplomatic pressure on China over the country's support for Russia's 'war machine' in Ukraine, Bloomberg reported on Nov. 25, citing an early draft of a communique seen by the publication.

The draft communique, which vows to introduce "appropriate measures consistent with our legal systems, against actors in China and in other third countries," is still in development as G7 foreign ministers meet in Italy on Nov. 25-26, Bloomberg reported.

If adopted, the language of the communique would mark an escalation among G7 allies, with an April communique simply calling for China to "ensure" that it stops supporting Russia with dual-use goods.

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The reported draft communique comes as G7 allies attempt to increase pressure, as well as support for Ukraine, ahead of the January inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump  who has repeatedly criticized U.S. aid to Ukraine and vowed to get the U.S. "out" of the war as soon as possible. The draft communique is also expected to reaffirm the G7's "unwavering commitment" to Ukraine.

The escalatory tone comes as Western allies have reportedly accused China of militarily supporting Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Reuters reported on Sept. 25, citing European intelligence sources, that Russia has secretly established a development and production program in China for attack drones to be used in the war.

The EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell reportedly informed European nations of "convincing" evidence of Chinese production "of lethal aid" to Russia, the German media outlet Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported on Nov. 15, citing three EU officials.

According to the draft communique, G7 allies will also "continue to apply significant pressure on Russian revenues from energy, metals and other commodities through the effective implementation of existing measures and further actions against (Russia's) shadow fleet"  referring to Moscows efforts to evade sanctions on the $60-per-barrel oil price cap imposed two years ago.

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Earlier on Nov. 25, the United Kingdom sanctioned 30 oil tankers of Russia's "shadow fleet" that carried billions of dollars worth of oil and oil products last year.

Draft communiques are often subject to revision before a final draft is approved.

China has repeatedly claimed to have positioned itself as neutral in the Russia-Ukraine war, but has simultaneously deepened economic ties with Moscow and backed the country against Western sanctions.

Earlier in July, NATO's then-Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that allies agreed that Beijing is a "decisive enabler" of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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Read also: UK targets 30 tankers in its largest sanctions package against Russias shadow fleet





Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) leading economies plan to reach a common position on the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at their meeting on Monday.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who is hosting the two-day conference in the small Italian town of Fiuggi, said he does not think reaching a consensus on the arrest warrant will be difficult.

"It's not an immediate and actual problem. I don't think Netanyahu will come to Italy or anywhere else," he told the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera before the meeting.

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The ICC issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Netanyahu and the recently dismissed Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, as well as the Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif, for alleged war crimes relating to the conflict in Gaza.

Israel's allies have criticized the decision. Member states of the ICC are generally obliged to enforce the arrest warrants, though there is disagreement over how to handle Netanyahu's case.

In addition to the Middle East crisis, the war in Ukraine and the implications of Donald Trump's re-election as US president for the international order are among the main topics on the agenda for the meeting, which is the final one between the G7 foreign ministers for this year.

Tajani told the Corriere della Sera that he was in favour of a peace conference on Ukraine with the participation of the United States and Russia as soon as possible.

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Russia fired a new medium-range missile at Ukraine last week in a new escalation of the conflict that has now been ongoing for over 1,000 days.

In recent days, Ukraine has reportedly fired at military targets in Russia with ATACMS missiles from the US that can travel up to 300 kilometres and Storm Shadow cruise missiles from the United Kingdom.

The G7 foreign ministers are also to discuss the threat to the self-governing island democracy of Taiwan, which the Chinese Communist leadership in Beijing regards as its territory.

Italy holds the presidency of the G7 until the end of the year. The group's other members are the US, Canada, the UK, Japan, France and Germany. Next year, Canada is due to take over the presidency.
The Italian towns of Fiuggi and Anagni are set to become a theatre of international diplomacy for two days as they host the G7 meeting of foreign ministers.

It is the second G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting to be hosted in Italy in 2024 and the first summit after Donald Trump's re-election to the White House.

The return of the Republican candidate to one of the world's most important seats foreshadows scenarios that are not too reassuring, but G7 countries are keen to show they hope to maintain strong ties with Washington.

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"The United States remains our main ally in promoting international stability in the world," the Italian deputy prime minister Antonio Tajani said on Monday at a summit in Brussels.

Tajani said it was necessary for the EU to take the lead internationally and be more autonomous, while working to keep the new Trump administration committed to the transatlantic partnership.

On the table of the G7 in Lazio are the big international issues. The five sessions will discuss the situation in the Middle East and the serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the political balance in the Indo-Pacific and the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Ukraine at the G7 table: 'Support and closeness to Kiev'

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andrij Sybiha will be present at the meeting in Fiuggi and Anagni, as announced by the head of the Farnesina last week on the sidelines of the Italy-Ukraine Business Forum.

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"A thousand days after the start of the Russian invasion, with tens of thousands of dead on both fronts due to a wicked choice by President Vladimir Putin, as the country chairing the G7 we wanted to promote a declaration of support and closeness to Kiev by the heads of government," the deputy prime minister said at the conclusion of the Forum last Wednesday.

"We are witnessing a very violent Russian offensive and we are sure that this closeness to the Ukrainian people is important," he added.

Crisis in Gaza is 'a priority'

According to Tajani, the crisis in the Middle East is a priority for the Italian presidency.

"We must keep the dialogue open with all the actors, asking them to exercise restraint and to work towards a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon and the release of hostages'.

Sfollati nel campo di Deir al-Balah, Gaza, in fila per la loro razione di pane, 21 novembre 2024 - AP Photo

Tajani insists on the need to continue supporting the Unifil mission. For the Farnesina it is necessary "to promote a credible political horizon for the region that guarantees peace and security."

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The aim of the ministers from Italy, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America is to strengthen the role of the G7 in contributing to international stability and finding solutions to global crises.

European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are set to participate in the group's work.

Discussions are also planned on the stability of the Indo-Pacific, trade with China and the situation in Georgia following the recent elections.

For the Italian foreign minister, it is necessary to "maintain an open constructive dialogue with the Georgian authorities, while at the same time demanding clarity on the irregularities reported during the vote."

The sessions will end on Tuesday afternoon with a press conference at which the final statements will be presented.
Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) leading economies are trying to reach a common position on the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at their two-day meeting in Italy.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who is hosting the conference in the small town of Fiuggi, said on Monday he does not think reaching a consensus on the arrest warrant will be difficult.

"It's not an immediate and actual problem. I don't think Netanyahu will come to Italy or anywhere else," he told the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera before the meeting.

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The ICC issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Netanyahu and the recently dismissed Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, as well as the Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif, for alleged war crimes relating to the conflict in Gaza.

Israel's allies have criticized the decision. Member states of the ICC are generally obliged to enforce the arrest warrants, though there is disagreement over how to handle Netanyahu's case.

The United States is the only member of the G7 that is not a party to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC.

Netanyahu could face arrest if he travels to member states, according to the country's top diplomat.

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"The German government abides by the law, because nobody is above the law," Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on the sidelines of the meeting in Italy.

In addition to the Middle East crisis, the war in Ukraine and the implications of Donald Trump's re-election as US president for the international order are among the main topics on the agenda for the talks on Monday and Tuesday.

Tajani told the Corriere della Sera that he was in favour of a peace conference on Ukraine with the participation of the United States and Russia as soon as possible.

Russia fired a new medium-range missile at Ukraine last week in a new escalation of the conflict that has now been ongoing for over 1,000 days.

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In recent days, Ukraine has reportedly fired at military targets in Russia with ATACMS missiles from the US that can travel up to 300 kilometres and Storm Shadow cruise missiles from the United Kingdom.

The G7 foreign ministers are also to discuss the threat to the self-governing island democracy of Taiwan, which the Chinese Communist leadership in Beijing regards as its territory.

Italy holds the presidency of the G7 until the end of the year. The group's other members are the US, Canada, the UK, Japan, France and Germany. Next year, Canada is due to take over the presidency.
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- A 31-year-old man was fined 20,000 Brunei dollars (15,000 U.S. dollars) after pleading guilty to charges involving the possession of smuggled cigarettes and vape pods in Brunei, local media reported on Monday.

According to the local daily Borneo Bulletin, the man will have to serve 20 months' imprisonment in default of payment. The contraband, which included 47 packets of various cigarette brands and three vape pods, was confiscated during an operation conducted by the law enforcement of Brunei's Royal Customs and Excise Department.

According to Brunei laws, the production and sale of tobacco are strictly forbidden in the sultanate, and heavy duties are imposed on imported cigarettes. Those convicted of tobacco smuggling will face hefty fines or imprisonment. 
The Group of Seven (G7) countries plan to intensify pressure on China by adopting stronger language in a communique concerning Beijing and pledging new measures in response to China's support for Russia.

Source: Bloomberg, as reported by European Pravda

Details: G7 foreign ministers meeting in Italy on Monday and Tuesday are expected to pledge to take "appropriate measures consistent with our legal systems, against actors in China and in other third countries" that support Russia's "war machine". This is stated in a preliminary draft of the communique, which has been seen by Bloomberg.

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If adopted, this wording would represent an escalation from the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in April, which urged China to stop supplying dual-use goods to Russia. In July, NATO referred to China as a "decisive enabler" of Russia's war against Ukraine.

Communiques often change before the final version is published. The wording may still be adjusted.

Background:

Last week, European Union foreign ministers discussed this matter, and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned that China's assistance to Russia "will and must have consequences".

The EU External Action Service previously confirmed that there were indications that China was producing drones for Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.

Reports indicating that China is assisting Russia with drones surfaced in September.

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Georgia authorities are searching for an inmate who walked away from a work detail program last week.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

The inmate, identified as 43-year-old Broderick Brown walked away from the Troup County Work Release Program on Nov. 19.

According to Troup County officials, Brown was originally charged with leaving the scene of an accident, striking a fixture, and driving on a suspended license.

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Hes now tacked on an escape charge.

TRENDING STORIES:

Anyone with information or who knows where Brown may be is urged to contact the Troup County Sheriffs Office at 706-883-1616 or Crime Stoppers at 706-812-1000.

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Observers proposed several explanations for President-elect Donald Trump's flabbergasting nomination of former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz as attorney general, which ended last Thursday, eight days after it was announced. Those theories were superficially plausible but ultimately unsatisfying. The explanation that best fits the facts is that Trump tends to act on impulse without regard to foreseeable consequences. While that tendency is worrisome in a chief executive, it means that some of his most alarming plans for a second term may come to naught, frustrated by his own lack of foresight and strategic acumen.

By picking a widely disliked legislator with scant legal experience and skeletons that had been tumbling out of the closet for years, some journalists surmised, Trump was prioritizing personal loyalty above all other concerns. According to this theory, Trump was determined to install a lackey at the top of the Justice Department so he could use its formidable resources to deliver on his threats to investigate, prosecute, and imprison his political enemies once he was back in power.

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, Trump's wealthiest and bounciest supporter, thought the choice was brilliant. "Matt Gaetz has 3 critical assets that are needed for the AG role: a big brain, a spine of steel and an axe to grind," Musk wrote in an X post two days before Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration by the Senate, where enough Republicans had expressed skepticism or outright opposition to make his confirmation highly unlikely. "He is the Judge Dredd America needs to clean up a corrupt system and put powerful bad actors in prison. Gaetz will be our Hammer of Justice."

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According to two other takes on the nomination, Trump picked Gaetz precisely because of his well-known liabilities. In one version, Trump was daring Republican senators to defy his will, making his confirmation an early test of their obeisance. In another version of this theory, Trump knew that Gaetz probably would not be confirmed but was hoping the nomination would make his other controversial picks, including a Fox News host as secretary of defense and an anti-vaxxer as secretary of health and human services, seem decent by comparison. Or maybe it was all an elaborate scheme to ensure that whoever replaced Gaetz would be readily confirmed by relieved senators.

Gaetz's 59-year-old replacement, Pam Bondi, certainly looks well-qualified compared to him. Bondi, who is 17 years older than Gaetz, earned a degree from Stetson University College of Law in 1990 and was admitted to Florida's bar the following year. She worked as a prosecutor in Hillsborough County for more than 18 years before running for attorney general in 2010. She served two terms in that office, from 2011 to 2019, and later worked as a foreign lobbyist.

Gaetz, by contrast, is a 42-year-old graduate of William & Mary Law School who briefly worked for a law firm in Fort Walton Beach before entering state politics in 2010, two years after he was admitted to the Florida bar. The Tampa Bay Times identified seven cases that Gaetz tried as a private attorney. While that list may not be exhaustive, it gives you a sense of his experience.

Gaetz's clients included Okaloosa County, two motorists cited for speeding, a restaurant disputing a worker's compensation claim, an aircraft maintenance company that was sued for negligence, a party in a child custody dispute, and a plaintiff seeking to recover less than $15,000. Gaetz also racked up two wins as an appellate attorney, one involving a skydiving business that had been barred from operating on a farm, the other involving a challenge to an attorney hired by Walton County without the public notification required by state law.

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That skimpy legal background pales beside Bondi's extensive experience in criminal and civil cases, which much more closely resembles the typical background of prior U.S. attorneys general. At the same time, Bondi, who spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention and represented Trump during his first impeachment, is undeniably a Trump loyalist.

Trump's picks for other high-level Justice Department positions likewise pass the loyalty test but have much stronger qualifications than Gaetz. His pick for deputy attorney general is Todd Blanche, a former federal prosecutor and defense attorney who represented Trump in his New York criminal case. Trump has chosen D. John Sauer, a former Missouri solicitor general who represented him in the Supreme Court case that resulted in a favorable decision regarding presidential immunity, as U.S. solicitor general.

If Trump wants to staff the Justice Department with lawyers who will do their best to implement his whims, this is the smart way to do it. Neither Bondi, Blanche, nor Sauer needed the Gaetz example to make them look qualified. And while nominees like Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health and human services might benefit from the comparison, it seems equally likely that the Gaetz flop will embolden Republican senators to take their "advice and consent" role seriously.

The Gaetz nomination, in short, turned into an embarrassing defeat for Trump with no obvious upside. What was Trump thinking? The question probably gives him too much credit.

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The New York Times, citing "two people briefed on the matter," reported that Trump settled on Gaetz during a two-hour flight from Washington, D.C., to West Palm Beach on November 13. The passengers included Gaetz, Musk, incoming White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and Boris Epshteyn, a legal adviser who played a key role in Trump's attempts to reverse the 2020 election results.

"Mr. Gaetz's name first came up on the flight up to Washington," the Times said. "It came up again on the flight home, after Mr. Trump found all of his various options including [Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey] and two top corporate lawyersto be lacking." The Times noted that the announcement of Gaetz's nomination "was issued from Mr. Trump's planesent not from the Trump transition team by email, as has been the case for all other appointments, but on his own social media platform, Truth Social." After Gaetz's withdrawal, the Times reiterated that Trump "picked Mr. Gaetz almost on a whim."

That characterization is consistent with the impulsiveness that Trump has frequently displayed as president and as a candidate. When Trump proposed shooting protesters or migrants in the legs, declared that he had the unilateral authority to impose or lift COVID-19 lockdowns, speculated about the potential benefits of bleach treatments in warding off the coronavirus, or dismayed pro-life activists by saying "there has to be some form of punishment" for women who obtain abortions, he seemed to be saying whatever popped into his head without any consideration for practicality. Likewise when he pitched heavy tariffs at rates that varied widely from one comment to another or proposed eliminating taxes on tips, overtime pay, and Social Security benefits.

Why should we assume that Trump gave any more thought to the Gaetz nomination? The explanations that variously portray Gaetz as Trump's "Hammer of Justice," Caligula's horse, or a sacrificial lamb all hinge on the idea that Trump had a clever plan. His track record does not inspire much confidence in that assumption.

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As in his first term, Trump's capriciousness is both a character flaw and a saving grace. Although he seems determined this time around to surround himself with advisers who are disinclined to question his worst instincts, that does not necessarily mean he will follow through on threats such as mass deportation, ruinous tariffs, or turning the criminal justice system against his critics.

"Matt is a deeply gifted and tenacious attorneywho has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice," Trump said when he announced the nomination. "Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans' badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department."

That plan fell apart in record time for predictable reasons. Trump picked Gaetz despite the widely publicized sexual allegations against him, the other charges of ethical violations, his reputation in the House as an obnoxious showboat, and his scant legal experience. That choice does not reflect well on Trump's thoughtfulness or political dexterity, which are qualities he will need to deliver on the worst of his promises.

The post The Gaetz Flop Suggests That Trump Is Still His Own Worst Enemy appeared first on Reason.com.
DENVER (KDVR)  Gas prices in Denver are dropping just in time for one of the busiest travel holidays of the year, according to GasBuddy.

On Monday, GasBuddy, the mobile app that helps users find the cheapest gas stations, released its weekly gasoline price update.

In the last week, gas in Denver has fallen 10.5 cents per gallon, averaging $2.70 a gallon as of Monday, according to the companys survey of 844 stations in Denver. The cheapest gas station in Denver was priced at $2.22 per gallon on Sunday and the most expensive was $3.52.

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On Monday at 6:50 a.m., Gas Buddy said the Shell gas station on South Tower Road in Aurora had the cheapest gas at $2.22.

Ski resorts see early Thanksgiving crowds, boosted by November snowfall

This may be good news for those traveling for Thanksgiving. According to AAA, an estimated 79.9 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more for turkey day. Of those travelers, AAA said 71.7 million people will drive, so the downward trend in gas prices is welcome news.

If you are traveling outside of Denver, and even Colorado, be prepared for higher prices. According to GasBuddy, the national price of gasoline hasnt declined by much in the past week  only 1.4 cents. The average price of gas in the U.S. as of Monday is $3.01 per gallon.

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For now, were just pennies away from the national average falling to $2.99, but for a third year, we may again fall short. As Americans prepare to hit the road for Thanksgiving, were seeing the lowest national average price of gasoline since 2021, with a far better economic picture than when gas prices were last this low, said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy in a press release.

Outside of Denver, gas prices are still trending downwards.

See the latest traffic conditions in Denver on FOX31

According to GasBuddy, Fort Collins saw an 8.3 cents drop from the last week to $2.68 a gallon. Colorado Springs is averaging $2.71 a gallon after a 10.5 cents drop. Colorado overall has an average gasoline price of $2.83 a gallon, down 8 cents.

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To find the cheapest gas near you, visit GasBuddys 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 FOX31 Denver.
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When Donald Trump first took office, his presidency unleashed a wave of bigotry and violence. Throughout his first term and ahead of our most recent presidential election, he championed legislation that targeted women, immigrants, people of color and LGBTQ+ communities.

But, since he was first elected in 2016, something powerful has happened. Gen Z has helped transform how social movements are organized and amplified.

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In 2018, high schoolers mobilized at least 1.2 million people for March For Our Lives protests across the country, demanding an end to gun violence, according to estimates from organizers at the time. In 2019, youth climate activists coordinated more than 1,100 strikes in every state in the country, according to the Washington Post. By 2020, Gen Z had rewritten the playbook for digital organizing. We transformed Instagram from a photo-sharing platform into a comprehensive hub for mutual aid coordination, political education, and more. Progressive information accounts  like ours (@theslacktivists)  worked to drive voter registration, too. Alongside accounts such as @impact and @genzforchange, we worked to mobilize voters ahead of the 2020 election. As Trump prepares to return to the White House, were getting ready to fight back as digital organizers and changemakers who have learned how to win.

We also know that part of the battle lies within younger generations. Over the past several years, many young people have been drawn toward Trumps message or disengaged entirely, choosing not to vote or participate. This moment demands actionnot just to win the next election but to re-engage our generation and rebuild trust in collective change.

Weve spent the past 8 years building massive political power. Heres how well use it to push forward in the next four years and beyond:

1. Building power at the state and local level

By 2028, Gen Z and Millennials are expected to become the majority of the U.S. voting population. in the U.S. When we elect strong, progressive state and local leaders like governors, city councilors, state legislators, attorneys general and school board members, real change happens in our daily lives.

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Regardless of who was in control at the federal level, city and state governments have moved their communities forward on issues like economic equality, climate action, and criminal justice:

More than two dozen states have established minimum wages that are higher than the federal minimum wage since 2014, some reaching over $15, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Meanwhile, the federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25/hour since 2009. In 2021, Louisville, Kentuckys mayor directed the local government to prioritize purchasing of electric and hybrid vehicles to support efforts to transition to an electric municipal fleet, and in 2020, Portland, Oregon set a target of net-zero carbon emissions before 2050.

Strong local leaders can also help protect vulnerable communities from harmful federal policies. During Trumps first term, dozens of cities including Santa Fe and Minneapolis affirmed their sanctuary policies for undocumented immigrants. When federal LGBTQ+ protections were rolled back, school boards in Philadelphia and Chicago committed to maintaining safeguards for trans students.

In 2025 and 2026, there are important local elections happening around the country. These races often have low turnout, which means that each vote is even more impactful.

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Beyond turning out in local elections, we need to elect Gen Zers into public office. Leaders like 26-year-old NYC Council Member Chi Osse and 25-year-old Illinois State Rep. Nabeela Syed are proving the impact our generation can have in local government.

TL;DR: Get involved in city and state politics  maybe even run for office. Find out when your next local elections are, support a campaign, and commit to voting.

2. Supporting progressive ballot initiatives

Voting for politicians isnt always enough to achieve the change we want to see. Enter: ballot initiatives, which allow us to vote on policies, laws and funding that directly impact our communities.

While Democrats lost big on the federal level this year, a number of progressive ballot measures won across the countryeven in red states.

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 In seven states, abortion rights were protected.

 Nebraska voters legalized medical marijuana.

 Missouri raised the minimum wage to $15.

Progressive policies are generally popular, and ballot measures give us a powerful tool to pass themeven in states controlled by Republicans.

Whats more, we can use ballot measures to build even more electoral power. This year, high school students in Albany, CA succeeded in getting a ballot measure passed allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in municipal and school board elections. With this win, Albany joins other cities that grant some voting rights to younger teenagers, giving Gen Z more say in policies that affect them.

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TL;DR: Join or start groups in your area to get progressive measures onto the ballot for the next election cycle. Then, get out the vote to make sure the policies you care about pass.

3. Amplifying grassroots movements

What seems to have been forgotten in the noise of Trumps second win is that politics is about people, not just the politicians we elect. When our leaders fail us, we turn to our communities.

Community resilience can come from grassroots organizations and mutual aid networks providing essential services, advocacy, and support. Post-Roe, abortion funds have helped people get care, like the Florida Access Network, which provided $400,000 to support 1,500 people in 2023. After the 2021 winter storm in Texas, CrowdSource Rescue says it assisted over 17,000 Houston residents with food, shelter, and supplies.

In 2016, for many, mutual aid was a lesser-known concept. This time around, we know how to rapidly mobilize resources. Since the 2020 presidential election, weve utilized grassroots organizing to boost youth voter turnout through peer-to-peer texting, social media, and on-the-ground outreach. Weve mastered digital strategy, trained thousands of young activists, and built networks capable of raising millions of dollars for people in need.

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TL;DR: Find a local organization or mutual aid network working on issues you care about. Volunteer your time, donate when you can, share resources, and build relationships.

Where do we go from here?

Power isn't given  it's built. Our past wins havent been accidents or luck. Hard work, intentional organizing, mass movements and coalition-building made us successful. Our future wins wont be any different.

If 2016 and 2020 were about building an army to mobilize against Trump, 2024 is about using that army to persuadepersuading voters to participate, believe in collective action, and demand change from their elected leaders. Its about showing people how progressive policies will benefit them.

The new challenges ahead are serious. Supreme Court decisions have granted Trump even more unchecked power, and we still have to contend with a Republican trifecta, and terrifying plans laid out by more than 100 conservative groups (see: Project 2025).

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We know people are tiredtired of being told to fight, and tired of fighting itself. But stepping back risks everything weve built. And, this time, we are starting this fight with an arsenal of resources: Organizers in every state, digital networks reaching millions, tested strategies for winning, established mutual aid infrastructure, and deep community relationships.

What makes Gen Z different isn't just our digital native status  it's our understanding that change requires sustained, strategic action at multiple levels. Weve turned TikTok trends into GOTV outreach efforts, Instagram stories into mutual aid networks, and X into real-time organizing hubs.

The coming years have the potential to test our democracy in ways we haven't seen before. But we're prepared to leverage our power.

Stay up-to-date with the politics team. Sign up for the Teen Vogue Take

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Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue

More great activism coverage from Teen Vogue:
It has been a hectic few days for pub owner Michael Westwood. When he launched a petition last Thursday calling for another general election, he felt he would be chuffed if it attracted 2,000 signatures. It has since racked up well over two million, and counting.

His motivation? The sense he harbours, and believes others share, that we were lied to by [Prime Minister Sir Keir] Starmer and his cronies to get into power.

His petition phrases it slightly more diplomatically. I believe the current Labour Government have gone back on the promises they laid out in the lead-up to the last election, it reads.

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Four days after the petition went live on the UK Parliament website, the West Midlands small business owner can hardly find time to get his work done amid all the interest in his attempt to hurry democracy along.

So what lies does he think the British public has been told? Mainly [Starmer] promised growth, promised money for certain sectors, none of which has come to fruition at all.

It was the recent Autumn Statement, in which Labour announced a significant rise in public spending, financed by tax rises and higher borrowing, that prompted him to act. With the Budget increasing the minimum wage, increasing [employers] National Insurance contributions, the knock-on effect is there are going to be a lot of redundancies next year across the UK, he predicts. Companies across the UK are going to go, Where are we going to find that extra bit of meat on the bones to pay for it?

Michael Westwood, a West Midlands small business owner, and the man behind the petition, can hardly find time to get his work done amid all the interest in his attempt to hurry democracy along

Westwood, 40, has three pubs in the West Midlands and supplies beers, wine and spirits to the drinks industry via his wholesale firm, The Jinja Beer Company. He voted Conservative on July 4 (because better the devil you know), but is not a self-avowed tribal voter.

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He was not expecting support for his petition to snowball in the way it has. Even Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X (formerly Twitter)  who is making a habit of weighing in on British politics  appears to back it. The people of Britain have had enough of a tyrannical police state, he declared on X on Sunday, with characteristic hyperbole.

Whether the petitions two million signatories are indeed all people of Britain is unclear. To sign the petition, you need only tick a box to confirm you are a British citizen or UK resident, provide a name, email address and postcode. Petition data reportedly suggests many of those appearing to back it are in foreign countries. And some have wondered whether bots  automated programmes which can carry out a command thousands of times  might be responsible for some of the signatures, although the House of Commons has said the system has checks in place to stop this.

It is also worth noting that at this years general election, which delivered a Labour landslide, about 19 million people voted for other parties. Some 9.7 million voted Labour. And the 2.3 million who had supported Westwoods call for a re-run by late Monday afternoon still paled in comparison to the total of 6.1 million who signed a petition to revoke Article 50 and remain in the European Union in 2019. You cannot seriously read public sentiment off the back of a petition, cautions polling guru Professor Sir John Curtice.

Still, recent research points to unrest among even Labour voters. By early October, almost half were already disappointed with Starmers government, according to YouGov polling. Six in 10 Britons disapproved of the partys record so far, while only three in 10 Labour voters felt it had done as well as they had hoped.

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A snap YouGov poll after the Budget found only 20 per cent of the public believed it would leave the country better off, compared to 38 per cent who thought it would make things worse. A quarter said they expected it would make no difference. None of which makes for reassuring reading for Labour, whose honeymoon seemed to end almost as soon as the plane left the runway.

But perhaps this wasnt surprising, given the relative lack of excitement surrounding the partys return to power under Starmer. It wasnt like 1997, where Labour was voted in on a wave of massive enthusiasm, says James Frayne, founding partner at Public First, a policy research agency. This was very different.

Unlike in the heady Britpop era, there were few celebrities bestowing their blessing on a fresh-faced new Labour leader this summer; no 2020s version of Cool Britannia. Among the partys supporters, the overriding emotion was relief more than euphoria. And among the floating voters who helped Labour to victory, a sense of profound weariness was tempered by a timid hope that surely Starmers administration couldnt do any worse than the previous gruelling years of Conservative chaos.

[Peoples] hope was there would be change of sorts, says Frayne. There was some optimism born of a belief that the last Tory government was uniquely and historically incompetentand that once we got rid of that lot, things would inherently be better.

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Labour encouraged this idea, he says. Their manifesto was simply called Change, speaking to the very real desire among the public to see the back of the Tories after 14 years.

But change had to come quickly and decisively to satisfy a restive electorate  more quickly than was perhaps ever going to be feasible. Not least when Labour has, as Frayne points out, inherited the same set of challenges the Tories were grappling with: lack of growth, a struggling NHS, a broken border control system, and so on. Unsurprisingly, theyre finding it very difficult to make headway, he says.

Lacking the Cool Britannia factor: unlike Blairs epoch-defining win in 1997, the overriding emotion among the Labour faithful at Starmers election victory was relief more than euphoria - Getty Images

Westwoods complaint that Labour has not created growth after less than five months in office hints at how little time voters are willing to give politicians to turn things around. That so many seem to agree with him (its astronomical, says Frayne of the petitions support) arguably speaks of something else, too: a broader lack of trust in politics itself.

The 41st British Social Attitudes report, based on data collected in Autumn 2023 and published in June this year by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), found trust and confidence in Britains system of government had hit a record low. Some 45 per cent of the public said they almost never trust governments of any party to place the needs of the nation above the interests of their own political party. This was 22 points above the figure recorded in 2020 at the height of the pandemic. The report noted a sharp rise in disenchantment among those who had voted to leave the EU.

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Sir John agrees trust did indeed decline after Brexit failed to deliver what many of its supporters seemingly hoped it would. But the roots of this public disenchantment stretch back much further, he believes. Its quite a long story, he says. It really starts with [Conservative prime minister Sir] John Major and the whole sleaze story.

If the hope was that the sleaze associated with the ruling Tories in the Nineties would be swept away in the New Labour revolution, ushering in a new era of trust in politicians, it didnt last. Six years later, the Iraq War disillusioned large swathes of the Labour faithful. The MPs expenses scandal, exposed by The Telegraph in 2009, only compounded the damage to public trust in politicians.

According to Sir John, it did largely recover in subsequent years  only to decline again around the time of the Brexit impasse (when the Conservatives struggled to get a deal through Parliament and, critics argue, deliver on the results of the referendum). With the delivery of Brexit, it went [back] up, he says.

The perceived failure of Brexit to deliver the promised benefits is not the only cause of the more recent fall in confidence, reflected in NatCens social attitudes report.

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Generally people were disillusioned because they had lost trust in government [after] the way the pandemic was managed, but also partygate, and then with Liz Truss and [her mini-] budget and a lot of the ways the Conservatives were running things, says Katie Crabb from NatCen.

The success of smaller parties, such as Reform and the Greens (who won five and four seats respectively at the general election), reflects the mood of a public increasingly unwilling to keep giving mainstream parties another chance. Unless Starmer can create a compelling narrative and restore trust during this parliament, we could be facing a changed political landscape next time around, experts believe.

We foundbefore the election that people thought, Im going to vote Labour but its going to be my last throw of the dice with mainstream politics, says Frayne. [There was] this sense that well give this lot a go, but if it doesnt work out I dont know who Im going to vote for next time. So you can imagine an uptick for Reform and independent [candidates in the future]. You can imagine politics going in a very different direction now.

Back in the West Midlands, Westwood is realistic about what his petition might achieve. I dont expect there to be a general election off the back of it, he says. But he hopes it will at least give people a voice and a chance to express something.

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Starmer, unsurprisingly, has ruled out an election re-run. I remind myself that very many people didnt vote Labour at the last election, he told ITVs Good Morning Britain on Monday. Im not surprised that many of them want a rerun. That isnt how our system works. There will be plenty of people who didnt want us in in the first place. So, what my focus is on is the decisions that I have to make every day.

Yet he and the other leaders of mainstream parties in Westminster may wish to heed one common refrain that Westwood now repeats: that politicians of all stripes have lost touch with the man on the street.

Additional reporting by Ben Butcher

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(Bloomberg) -- Germanys business outlook slid in November, remaining subdued due to the collapse of the government and the threat of trade tariffs following Donald Trumps re-election as US president.

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An expectations gauge by the Ifo institute and its measure of current conditions fell, pushing the overall index down to 85.7 from 86.5 a month ago. Thats worse than the 86 reading that economists had forecast.

The German economy is floundering, Ifo President Clemens Fuest said Monday in a statement. Companies were somewhat skeptical again about the coming months.

Europes biggest economy is facing a second straight year of contraction as long-standing struggles among its industrial and car giants are compounded by political turmoil and the danger that Trumps return will rock global trade.

Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel has warned that Trumps levies could cost Germany 1% of output and that, as a result, the economy could also shrink in 2025.

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Thats been a concern in German manufacturing for some time now, Fuest told Bloomberg Television later Monday, calling readings from that sector weak.

This month, the only bright spot comes from consumption, he said.

Surveys by S&P Global last week showed German private-sector activity contracting at a quicker pace in November than in October, as the services index joined manufacturing below the 50 mark that separates expanding from shrinking output.

Third-quarter gross domestic product, which defied expectations of a recession, was also revised down on Friday. The statistics agency said a drop in exports held back growth that was driven by spending from consumers and the government.

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The Bundesbank doesnt hold out much hope for 2024. It predicts stagnation in the final three months before a mild recovery next year.

Elections scheduled for February may herald a change in policy. Calls are growing for Germany to loosen its limits on borrowing to help boost investment and overhaul crumbling infrastructure.

Indeed, theres likely to be appetite among investors for additional German debt after the discipline the country has displayed in recent years.

A possible boost to growth could come from a reduction in corporate taxes. Fuest, though, reckons that alone wouldnt significantly improve Germanys fortunes.

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What we need is a more comprehensive agenda that would include over-regulation of the economy and include the supply of energy, he said. It would have to cover other areas in the economy, and particular labor supply. A lot of companies are concerned they will not find the workforce and that is why they dont invest in Germany.

--With assistance from Joel Rinneby, Kristian Siedenburg and Craig Stirling.

(Updates with more Fuest comments starting in sixth paragraph.)

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2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Yamandu Orsi, the presidential candidate of left-wing opposition coalition the Broad Front, delivers a speech after winning the presidential election in Montevideo, Uruguay, Nov. 24, 2024. Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou on Sunday recognized the opposition candidate Yamandu Orsi as president-elect, who will succeed him in the 2025-2030 period after Orsi won the second round of the presidential elections against Alvaro Delgado. (Photo by Nicolas Celaya/Xinhua)

MONTEVIDEO, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou on Sunday recognized the opposition candidate Yamandu Orsi as president-elect, who will succeed him in the 2025-2030 period after Orsi won the second round of the presidential elections against Alvaro Delgado.

Delgado of the National Party also recognized Orsi of the left-wing opposition coalition the Broad Front as president-elect.

"I want to send from here, with all this coalition government, with all these actors of the coalition, a big hug and a greeting to Yamandu Orsi and to the Broad Front," Delgado said in his speech alongside the leaders of the ruling coalition in the capital Montevideo.

"We can congratulate the winner with sadness but without a guilt complex, we must respect the sovereign decision above all things," he added.

President Lacalle Pou said on X that he called Orsi "to congratulate him as president-elect of our country." 

Yamandu Orsi, the presidential candidate of left-wing opposition coalition the Broad Front, delivers a speech after winning the presidential election in Montevideo, Uruguay, Nov. 24, 2024. Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou on Sunday recognized the opposition candidate Yamandu Orsi as president-elect, who will succeed him in the 2025-2030 period after Orsi won the second round of the presidential elections against Alvaro Delgado. (Photo by Nicolas Celaya/Xinhua)

Yamandu Orsi, the presidential candidate of left-wing opposition coalition the Broad Front, delivers a speech after winning the presidential election in Montevideo, Uruguay, Nov. 24, 2024. Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou on Sunday recognized the opposition candidate Yamandu Orsi as president-elect, who will succeed him in the 2025-2030 period after Orsi won the second round of the presidential elections against Alvaro Delgado. (Photo by Nicolas Celaya/Xinhua)
Germany's minister for women, Lisa Paus, decried statistics on domestic violence in the country and demanded that lawmakers pass legislation to protect women and offer more services to victims.

"Almost every day there is a femicide," the Green Party politician told dpa in an interview for Monday's International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which raises awareness of the problem.

"Every day, around 400 women become victims of domestic violence," she added. Demonstrations and events are planned in several cities to promote an end to violence against women.

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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday also backed the legislation, and said Germany's Cabinet intends to approve a corresponding draft of the Violence Assistance Act on Wednesday.

The new measures are aimed at protecting women who are the victims of violence, as well as funding for services. But it remains unclear whether the legislation will have a majority in parliament.

"There must be more women's shelters and counselling services, reliably funded. Victims of violence need a right to protection," the chancellor, a centre-left Social Democrat, wrote in a post on X.

Scholz's coalition with the Greens has been ruling as a minority government since the chancellor sacked former finance minister Christian Lindner of the business-friendly liberal Free Democrats (FDP) earlier this month.

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Early elections are expected to be held in February.

Paus said she continues to advocate for cross-party support for the legislation, which Paus developed in close coordination with other ministries, state governments and associations.

"A turnaround is needed, along with a strong Violence Assistance Act to enshrine the right to protection and advice for all those affected by gender-based and domestic violence," Paus demanded.

To pass it through the Bundestag or lower house of the German parliament, broad support from the conservative opposition is needed. The centre-left coalition of the Social Democrats, Greens, and the Free Democrats collapsed just over two weeks ago.

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"The protection of women must not depend on party political calculations," said Paus. "To women who experience violence and fear for their lives, it is completely irrelevant who governs."

Recently, Paus, together with Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and the Federal Criminal Police Office, presented figures showing that more and more women in Germany are affected by violence.

Particularly serious are attempted and completed homicides explicitly targeting the female gender - so-called femicides. In 2023, 938 girls and women were victims of attempted or completed femicides, in which 360 women and girls died.

"The government must ensure that perpetrators are stopped and women are protected," Christa Stolle, head of the German chapter of the women's rights organization Terre de Femmes, said in a statement.

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She noted the most dangerous moment for a woman is when she separates from a violent partner. This, she said, is still underestimated by authorities and the German judiciary.

"The sad reality: many femicides could have been prevented if the women had been better protected," she said.
The German Federal Public Prosecutor's Office on Monday brought charges against four alleged members of Hamas, arrested late last year, for membership in a foreign terrorist organization.

The office in the western city of Karlsruhe said they have been active for years as foreign operatives of Hamas and "held important positions within the organization with direct links to leaders of the military wing."

Three of the men were arrested in the German capital Berlin and one in the Dutch city of Rotterdam last December. They have been in pre-trial custody since then.

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The men are accused, among other things, of being involved in establishing and maintaining weapons depots for Hamas in Europe.

The prosecutor's statement said the militia members set up the storage sites in various European countries some time ago in order to prepare for possible attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe.

"The association considered the Israeli embassy in Berlin, the US air base in Rammstein or the area around the Tempelhof airport in Berlin to be possible targets," it said.

According to the statement, one of the men established a depot of ammunition and firearms in Bulgaria in early 2019. A few months later he allegedly cleared a weapons stash in Denmark and brought a pistol from it to Germany.

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He reportedly travelled to Bulgaria again in August 2023 to check on the depot.

"Between June and December 2023, all of the accused, in varying combinations, set out from Berlin on multiple occasions to search for a cache of weapons in Poland. Ultimately, they were unable to locate it," the prosecutor's statement read.
The executive committee of Germany's centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) nominated Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday as the party's top candidate in upcoming early elections, following a tough and controversial internal debate.

Participants at the meeting of the SPD's 33-member leadership committee in Berlin told dpa of the decision. The SPD's rank-and-file members are due to confirm Scholz's candidacy at a national party conference on January 11.

Over the past two weeks, SPD politicians and party functionaries have waged an intense public debate over the political future of the chancellor, who has overseen a squabbling coalition government and suffered from poor approval ratings in polls.

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Some figures in the SPD had pushed for Scholz to be replaced for the upcoming election campaign with Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, who is widely viewed as the most popular minister in government.

Last Thursday, Pistorius renounced a candidacy and pledged his support for Scholz, which cleared the way for Scholz's nomination. The defence minister was among the 33 members of the party executive who voted on Monday.

Early elections are expected to be held in February following the collapse of Scholz's three-party coalition, which broke apart amid bitter debates over how to close major shortfalls in the 2025 government budget.

Scholz is the third chancellor candidate to be put forward by his party for the upcoming election on February 23, after conservative bloc leader Friedrich Merz and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck for the Greens.

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On December 7, the executive board of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) are set to nominate party leader Alice Weidel as its chancellor candidate. This means that for the first time there will be four chancellor candidates in a federal election.

SPD trailing in polls

Polls suggest the SPD may be headed for a historically poor result in the nationwide election, with recent surveys placing support for the party at between 14% and 16%.

That would be a major slide from the 25.7% the Social Democrats earned in 2021, and a bitter disappointment for a party that has been a major player in German politics for more than a century.

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The conservative bloc made up of the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU), and their Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) sister party, have a clear lead in the polls with between 32% and 37%.

That has made opposition leader Merz the favourite to replace Scholz as chancellor in the next government.

The SPD also trails the AfD in most polls.

Recriminations over fractious debate

The public - and at times bitter - debate over Scholz's political future has been polarizing within the party, with some in the SPD warning of serious damage to the party's standing with voters.

Party leaders came in for harsh and direct criticism at a gathering of the SPD's youth wing, the Young Socialists, over the weekend.

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The leader of the Young Socialists, Philipp Turmer, accused SPD co-chairs Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil of leadership failure and spoke of a "shit show" in the party.

Esken accepted the criticism, acknowledging that the party "didn't really present a good picture when nominating [its] candidate for chancellor."

Klingbeil, on the other hand, defended the party leadership's approach in a recent interview on Deutschlandfunk public radio: "My claim to leadership is that you listen to the party, that you hold debates, that you think in different scenarios."

At the same time, Klingbeil called on the party to look ahead to the upcoming election and unite behind Scholz: "Now it is everyone's duty to flip the switch and make sure we start the election campaign."

Chance of a Scholz comeback?

When Scholz was formally nominated as the SPD's top candidate back in May 2021, the party was also mired in similarly poor polling results between 14% and 16% nationally.

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But his candidacy surged over following six months, eventually capturing the chancellorship by leading the Social Democrats to a first-place finish in the September 2021 election.

Many pundits credit the comeback at least in part to stumbles by the CDU/CSU's candidate at the time, Armin Laschet, who was caught on camera laughing and cracking jokes while visiting areas of Germany's Ahr valley that had been devastated by deadly flooding.

SPD strategists are again hoping for stumbles and mistakes by the CDU/CSU challenger this time around, and are seeking to frame the upcoming campaign as a personal duel between Scholz and Merz.

The Social Democrats have accused Merz of holding backward-looking political views and have sought to score points with voters with Scholz's experience in government and certainty on issues.

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Merz, who has spent years in German politics but never held a ministry post, is seen as gaffe-prone and not particularly personally popular with voters.

In terms of popularity ratings, however, the chancellor continues to fare worse than Merz in the polls.

In the most recent opinion poll from public broadcaster ZDF, which surveyed voters last week, Scholz was named the seventh most popular politician in Germany, while Merz was in fifth place.

Pistorius once again was viewed as the most popular politician in the country by a wide margin.
Ukraine will receive two IRIS-T short- and medium-range air defence systems from Germany by the end of 2024.

Source: Major General Christian Freuding, Head of the Planning Staff and the Special Task Force for Ukraine at Germany's Federal Ministry of Defence, in a conversation with journalists in Kyiv, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Freuding stated that in recent days, Germany had supplied Ukraine with artillery howitzers, tanks and Marder infantry fighting vehicles and launched an attack drone programme.

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"The next IRIS-T SLM (medium-range) and SLS (short-range) systems should arrive in Ukraine in the coming days and weeks, before Christmas," the German major general announced.

"But our support will continue after Christmas, and after 1 January, and after 21 January, and after 23 February, the date of the federal elections proposed in Germany," he vowed.

Background:

In early September, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany had ordered a total of 17 IRIS-T air defence systems for Ukraine. These are eight medium-range systems (SLM) and nine short-range systems (SLS).

By early October, Ukraine had received four IRIS-T SLM and three SLS systems. Subsequently, the German Ministry of Defence announced the delivery of two more SLM and SLS systems. Additionally, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in a conversation with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, promised that Berlin would ship another IRIS-T system by the end of the year.

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Authorities in Germany are drawing up plans to use metro stations as air raid shelters in response to the growing risk of war with Russia.

The Federal Office for Civil Protection is looking at public buildings that could be converted into bunkers and plans to develop an app to help the public find shelters, Bild newspaper reported.

The German public would also be encouraged to set up shelters at home, such as in basements. Germany has been scaling back its public bunker network since 2007, when the authorities decided they were no longer necessary.

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But Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine, Moscows hybrid war campaign on Europe and Putins threats to attack countries giving armed support to Kyiv have forced a rethink.

There are currently only 579 public shelters in Germany  which has a population of 84.4 million  and they only have enough space for around half a million people.

Ralph Tiesler, the head of the Federal Office for Civil Protection, has warned that it could take an entire generation to build a new bunker network, creating a need for quicker solutions.

Ralph Tiesler, head of Germanys civil protection, is seeking public buildings that could be used as bunkers - DPA Picture Alliance/Alamy Stock Photo

Officials have responded by starting to create a list of metro stations, offices and public buildings that could be used as shelters in an emergency.

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A civil protection app, which provides a live map of the closest available shelters across Germany, is also being developed, along with a public information campaign on how citizens can protect themselves.

The opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) party has criticised Germanys preparedness for Russian air attacks and called for the new bunkers to be installed as soon as possible.

Even though we hope that this situation doesnt arise, we must be prepared to protect the public in the event of an emergency, said Andrea Lindholz, a CDU MP. We need to significantly increase the capacity in Germany.

She cited the example of neighbouring Poland, where all new buildings will require access to shelters from 2026.

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According to the news website Notes From Poland, a study last year found the country only has room for 300,000 people in its official bomb shelters. But Poland has already identified temporary shelters, such as metro stations and tunnels, which can protect the entire population.

The British research society Subterranea Britannica says there are 276 bunkers across the United Kingdom, which are designed to protect the public in the event of a nuclear attack.

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An additional meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, also known as the Ramstein format, may take place in December, with one of the options being talks at the highest level.

Source: Major General Christian Freuding, Head of the Planning Staff and the Special Task Force for Ukraine at Germany's Federal Ministry of Defence, in a conversation with journalists in Kyiv, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The German general said that negotiations are currently underway on the format of the meeting, and the possibility of holding a meeting at the level of state leaders, with the participation of US President Joe Biden, is also being considered.

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"I hope that in December, before Christmas, a Ramstein-format meeting will take place with the participation of the outgoing Biden administration. There is ongoing discussion about whether the meeting will be held at the level of leaders or defence ministers," Freuding said.

The general does not consider the fact that the US president and executive branch are due to change in January to be a problem for the negotiations. On the contrary, he believes it will help reaffirm the commitment to continue supporting the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Germany is known to have handed over a package of aid and is preparing to deliver new air defence systems.

Freuding also stressed the need for a face-to-face meeting, not just a video call.

"We support this Ramstein-format meeting taking place offline, regardless of the level of representation agreed upon. We are convinced that a meeting before the change of the US government would be very useful and would give a clear signal to our partner countries that we will continue our support for Ukraine regardless of what happens in the US," he explained.

Previously: Germany announced the transfer of two more IRIS-T air defence missile systems to Ukraine by the end of the year.

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Serhii Boiev, the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defence for European Integration, and Nils Hilmer, State Secretary at the German Defence Ministry, have discussed cooperation in the production of air defence systems and armoured vehicles.

Source: press service for Ukraines Defence Ministry, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The defence ministry said the talks took place on the sidelines of the 16th International Security Forum in Halifax, Canada.

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This annual conference is one of the most influential and representative global platforms for discussing security and defence issues.

During the meeting, the parties exchanged information about plans for cooperation in 2025 and discussed specific types of weapons that could be supplied.

Quote from Boiev: "We discussed the possibility of deeper German involvement in supplying heavy armoured vehicles to Ukraine."

More details: Boiev also proposed that his German counterpart consider enhanced cooperation between Ukrainian and German defence companies in the production of air defence systems and armoured vehicles.

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Background:

On 18 November, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius confirmed media reports about plans to supply Ukraine with 4,000 drones equipped with artificial intelligence and capable of hitting targets at great distances.

On 20 November, the German government reported the delivery of another batch of military assistance to Ukraine.

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German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has called for full clarification following Monday's crash of a DHL cargo plane travelling from Germany to Lithuania.

Authorities in both countries are currently investigating "in all directions," Baerbock said on the fringes of a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in the Italian town of Fiuggi, 60 kilometres east of Rome.

In addition to a technical failure, Baerbock did not rule out the possibility of a deliberately caused crash.

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The minister emphasized that authorities in both countries were currently examining all possibilities in their investigations.

"This underlines the times we are living in," Baerbock said, referring to several recent "hybrid attacks" on individuals or infrastructure in Europe.

Protecting critical infrastructure is therefore particularly important now, she stressed.

Baerbock did not make any direct accusations against individuals or states following the crash.

However, with regard to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, she added: "The Russian president will not do us the favour of taking into account that Christmas is just around the corner or even the German parliamentary elections."

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Baerbock is taking part in a meeting of the Group of Seven foreign ministers in Italy.

The cargo plane that took off from Leipzig was an aircraft belonging to the Spanish airline Swift Air, which was travelling on behalf of DHL.

The aircraft crashed in the early morning as it came to land at the airport in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, close to a residential building. One Spanish crew member was killed.
The executive committee of Germany's centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) nominated Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday as the party's top candidate in upcoming early elections, following a tough and controversial internal debate.

Now the party will have to try and unite behind Scholz in the three months before the elections, which are expected to be held on February 23.

Despite poll numbers that point to major losses in parliament, Scholz has stated that his goal is to close the large gap with the opposition conservative CDU/CSU bloc and maintain the SPD's standing as the largest single party.

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"What we want to achieve is pretty obvious: just like last time (...) we want to be ahead," he said.

Debate over ditching the chancellor

Over the past two weeks, SPD politicians and party functionaries have waged an intense public debate over the political future of the chancellor, who has overseen a squabbling coalition government and suffered from poor approval ratings in polls.

Some figures in the SPD had pushed for Scholz to be replaced for the upcoming election campaign with Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, who is widely viewed as the most popular minister in government.

The public - and at times bitter - debate over Scholz's political future has been polarizing within the party, with some in the SPD warning of serious damage to the party's standing with voters.

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On Monday, Scholz would not answer questions about why he would be a better candidate than Pistorius: "We don't discuss things like that in the SPD," he told reporters. "We have decided together that we want to move forward."

Scholz said he's long been friends with Pistorius and had called him to Berlin to become defence minister. Now he said the pair will "run this election campaign together and win."

At the press conference on Monday, following the vote by the party's 33-member leadership committee in Berlin, Scholz was notably flanked by Pistorius as well as the SPD's two national co-chairs, Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil.

Last Thursday, Pistorius renounced a candidacy and pledged his support for Scholz, which cleared the way for Scholz's nomination. The defence minister was the party executives who voted on Monday.

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The SPD's rank-and-file members are due to confirm Scholz's candidacy at a national party conference on January 11.

Esken on Monday vowed to run a short, crisp and feisty election campaign waged on behalf of working people who fear for the security of their jobs and income. Scholz's "principled and determined manner," she said, again makes him "the right man for the chancellorship."

Four candidates to vie for Chancellery

Early elections became likely following the collapse of Scholz's three-party coalition, which broke apart amid bitter debates over how to close major shortfalls in the 2025 government budget.

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Scholz is the third chancellor candidate to be put forward for the upcoming election on February 23, after conservative bloc leader Friedrich Merz and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck for the Greens.

On December 7, the executive board of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is set to nominate party leader Alice Weidel as its candidate for the post. This means that for the first time there will be four candidates running for chancellor in a German federal election.

SPD trailing in polls

Polls suggest the SPD may be headed for a historically poor result, with recent surveys placing support for the party at between 14% and 16%.

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That would be a major slide from the 25.7% the Social Democrats earned in 2021, and a bitter disappointment for a party that has been a major player in German politics for more than a century. The SPD also trails the AfD in most polls.

The conservative bloc made up of the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU), and their Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) sister party, have a clear lead in the polls with between 32% and 37%.

That has made opposition leader Merz the favourite to replace Scholz as chancellor in the next government.

Chance of a Scholz comeback?

When Scholz was formally nominated as the SPD's top candidate back in May 2021, the party was also mired in similarly poor polling results between 14% and 16% nationally.

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But his candidacy surged over following six months, eventually capturing the chancellorship by leading the Social Democrats to a first-place finish in the September 2021 election.

Many pundits credit the comeback at least in part to stumbles by the CDU/CSU's candidate at the time, Armin Laschet, who was caught on camera laughing and cracking jokes while visiting areas of Germany's Ahr valley that had been devastated by deadly flooding.

SPD strategists are seeking to frame the upcoming campaign as a personal duel between Scholz and Merz.

The Social Democrats have accused Merz of holding backward-looking political views and have sought to score points with voters with Scholz's experience in government and certainty on issues.

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Merz, who has spent years in German politics but never held a ministry post, is seen as gaffe-prone and not particularly personally popular with voters.

In terms of popularity ratings, however, the chancellor continues to fare worse than Merz.

In the most recent opinion poll from public broadcaster ZDF, which surveyed voters last week, Scholz was named the seventh most popular politician in Germany, while Merz was in fifth place.

Pistorius once again was viewed as the most popular politician in the country by a wide margin.
GIRARD, Ohio (WKBN)  A third-grade student from Girard living with epilepsy is doing his part to spread a little cheer while raising awareness.

Parkers Purple Promise is selling dog tags and key chains with purple ribbons for $1 each at Prospect Elementary this week. It is the second year of the fundraiser.

Parker Ramsey, 9, was diagnosed with epilepsy when he was 2 and a half years old. He has been seizure-free for about three years.

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The money he raises goes toward the purchase of low-sensory toys and copies of the book The Abilities in Me: Epilepsy, all of which will be donated to Akron Childrens Hospital.

Weve been doing this to help raise money so we can buy toys, and were raising awareness so we can give toys to kids at the hospital so they can be happy, Ramsey said.

Last year, the fundraiser brought in about $1,300.

Ramsey has almost met that goal already, and theres still a day of sales left to go.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang attends a symposium with representatives of enterprises and organizations participating in the second China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE), in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Ye)

BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- China will continue to take concrete actions to ensure stable and unimpeded global industrial and supply chains, Premier Li Qiang said Monday.

Li made the remarks while attending a symposium with representatives of enterprises and organizations participating in the upcoming second China International Supply Chain Expo.

Present at the symposium were representatives of Apple Inc., Rio Tinto, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. and the US-China Business Council, among others.

Highlighting their full confidence in the Chinese economy and optimism about the huge potential of the Chinese market, corporate representatives said foreign firms in China are willing to expand their investment and deepen their development in the country, strengthen cooperation on global industrial and supply chains, and achieve win-win results.

Li said with the in-depth development of economic globalization, global industrial and supply chains have expanded gradually over the past few decades, promoting the rapid growth of the world economy and benefiting all parties.

While global economic growth now lacks momentum, certain protectionist acts and moves that overstretch the concept of security continue to damage global industrial and supply chains, pushing up corporate costs further, reducing economic efficiency and hindering common development, he said.

Li called for firm efforts to safeguard stable, unimpeded global industrial and supply chains, as well as the common interests of all parties.

The premier noted that China has achieved generally steady economic growth and made further progress this year, saying that more efforts will be made to step up counter-cyclical adjustment and promote sound economic development.

China will accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system, and provide solid support for the efficient operations of global industrial and supply chains, Li said.

Efforts will also be made to strengthen the integration of sci-tech and industrial innovation and to better integrate into international innovation cooperation, he said.

China will promote high-standard opening up steadfastly, expand market access further, and welcome more foreign enterprises to engage in industrial cooperation in the country, the premier said.

He expressed the hope that enterprises continue to support economic globalization firmly, deepen the international division of labor and cooperation, and work together to make global industrial and supply chains more dynamic, resilient and efficient. 

Chinese Premier Li Qiang attends a symposium with representatives of enterprises and organizations participating in the second China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE), in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Ye)
This week, Azerbaijan has hosted the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, also known as COP29. Its main objectives are to agree on a financial framework for climate change mitigation and adaptation, and to present national plans for meeting the terms of the Paris Agreement. This includes limiting global heating to 1.5C, a limit that we have, though temporarily, already passed.

Though the credibility of these annual gatherings is fading, multi-million dollar agreements are essential to accelerating urgently needed climate mitigation measures. A great many people are already suffering the consequences of climate intertia: millions of climate refugees, embattled sectors of the economy, and the population of the Valencian Community in Spain, to name a few.

Leer mas: Valencia floods: Our warming climate is making once-rare weather more common, and more destructive

Climate justice for the most vulnerable

The +1.5C and +2C limits reflect ecological tipping points that, if exceeded, could trigger irreversible consequences on a global scale.

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As we approach these tipping points, the social impacts of climate change multiply and worsen, prompting calls to address climate change from a climate justice perspective, which takes into account the different responsibilities for the problem, as well as the unequal impact it generates.

A perverse inequality unerpins the climate fight. Those who contribute most to the problem  who have benefited most from it and have the most scope for action to curb it  suffer the least from its negative consequences, and therefore have the least incentive to solve it. Conversely, those who are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change have the least capacity, either to mitigate or adapt to them.

While we debate ecological thresholds, many regions of the planet  and their inhabitants  are already undergoing irreversible transformations.

The EUs role

The European Union (EU) has positioned itself as a key player in the climate fight. Its climate policy aims to reduce net emissions (relative to 1990) by 55% by 2030, and to be carbon neutral by 2050.

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Additionally, the EU, its Member States and the European Investment Bank are, in combination, the worlds largest contributors to climate financing  they expect to raise $100 billion in 2025 alone.

However, not all that glitters is gold. In our recent study  pending publication in the journal Mitigation and adaptation strategies for global change  we assessed the EUs climate responsibility to decide whether its policies meet the criteria of climate justice. We have concluded that the EUs efforts lag far behind their responsibilities.

To reach this conclusion, we used the global remaining climate budget  the amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) that can be emitted before a limit is exceeded  to estimate what the EU would be entitled to on a per capita distributional basis.

We have also reconstructed the EUs historical (1850-2050) emissions, using available data and EU climate policy projections.

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To do this, we assessed the EUs greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets in ten different scenarios. These start from five different base years to begin computing the EUs carbon budget: 1850 (since Western European industrialisation), 1990, 2000, 2015 (since the Paris Agreement) and 2021 (without considering past emissions). For each of these periods, the carbon budget has been estimated taking into account two limits: +1.5C and +2C.

In general, the further back we start our calculations, the higher the EUs share of responsibility in the overall budget, and the higher its consumption of the budget allocated in 2020. This can be explained by the EUs high level of GHG emissions between 1850 and 2020 compared to other regions of the world  the EU only accounted for 8% of the worlds population between 1950 and 2020, but emitted 22% of all net GHG emissions (based on consumption) in this period.

Our results show that in seven scenarios, the EU has already used up its budget, and in the other three it will do so in the next few years. In the most favourable scenario  limiting warming to +2C without considering pre-2021 emissions  the EU will have used up almost double its climate budget by 2050. In the most unfavourable  limiting warming to +1.5C without considering pre-2021 emissions  it has already used its budget more than five times over. These are all in the hypothetical case of actually reaching carbon neutrality in 2050.

EU climate impact from 1990 to 2050, consumption. In blue: GHG emissions. In orange: budget consumption in the +1.5C scenario and base year 2021. In green: budget consumption in the +2C scenario and base year 2021. The red dots indicate the point at which the budget limit is exceeded in each scenario. Adapted from Suarez-Eiroa et al. (2024)

This has two immediate implications. Firstly, European climate policy  probably the most ambitious on the planet  is not designed to meet the global climate budget. If even the most advanced climate policy does not take its share of the global budget, we will struggle to limit global heating to 1.5C or 2C.

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Secondly, the EU going over its budget means that its policy is not built on principles of climate justice, and engages in behaviour that could be considered abusive towards the communities most affected by climate change. Other academics have highlighted this as a new and ongoing form of colonial inequality.

Climate justice for COP29

Other countries  such as the US, Russia, Canada and the UK  are also over their climate budget. Their prosperity has come at a cost, and created a problem that now affects everyone. Beyond its planetary impacts, climate change affects people and is, fundamentally, a social issue. If we do not make this social dimension a central point of debate, we will struggle to enact policies that account for climate justice.

Two ideas can help integrate climate justice into COP29. First, we need to impose more ambitious targets that consider not just ecological limits, but also the uneven impacts of climate change. Second, the nations of the Global North have emitted disproportionate amounts of GHGs since the Industrial Revolution. States with the highest climate debt have a moral obligation to finance global climate action, both in terms of mitigation and adaptation.

We therefore urge COP participants to bear in mind the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities promoted by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and to act accordingly.

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Este articulo fue publicado originalmente en The Conversation, un sitio de noticias sin fines de lucro dedicado a compartir ideas de expertos academicos.

Lee mas:



Brais Suarez Eiroa receive funding from Xunta de Galicia (ED481B-2023-011)

David Soto-Onate receives funding from the Spanish State Research Agency (Ref: TED2021-131826A-I00).
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (WSAV)  A Glynn County Board of Education member has been indicted on charges related to money laundering, according to a federal indictment.

The grand jury indictment filed in November 2024 alleges that Audrey Gibbons was a money mule and charges her with conspiracy to commit money laundering. The indictment said that Gibbons jointly opened and maintained bank accounts and a limited liability company (LLC) with Penny Hunter.

The company, One Way Automotive Rentals LLC, was formed on behalf of the man accused of fraud schemes throughout the indictment, the indictment said. It also said that Gibbons provided payroll and prepared and submitted tax filing on behalf of One Way Automotive Rentals LLC.

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Dive team uncovers human remains in Glynn County pond

Asaad Amir Hasuan, also known as Dante Fredrick, is accused of perpetrating fraud schemes against the friends and family of his fellow inmates in the Glynn County Detention Center and the Telfair State Prison.

Along with Fredrick, Gibbons and Hunter, six others are listed in the indictment. They are Deborah Danielstunstill, Destinee Lecount, Beverly Fredrick, Lakisha Easton, Jasmine Warren and Manuel Joseph Rocha.

Gibbons and Hunter allegedly received and transferred over $700,000 in proceeds obtained through wire fraud. The indictment said that on separate occasions, the joint account received a $125,000 and $135,000 wire transfer with fraudulent listings.

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You can read the full indictment here:

Glynn-Co-BOE-Federal-IndictmentDownload

This is an ongoing case. Stick with WSAV for updates as we learn more.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSAV-TV.
Google's northwest Omaha data center just recently started operations, though it is not finished, a company spokesman said Monday. It is among Nebraska's three data center project sites that over five years has seen nearly $4.4 billion in capital investment. This year's investment was reported to be $930 million, the company said at a media event. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)

LINCOLN  Now five years since Google built a physical presence in Nebraska, the tech giant on Monday announced its latest annual spend on infrastructure across the state: $930 million.

The 2024 capital investment makes for a total so far of about $4.4 billion in Nebraska data centers to help meet growing demand for Google Cloud, artificial intelligence innovations and services such as the companys search, maps and workspace programs, said spokesman Dan Harbeke.

The Google data center near State Street and Blair High Road in Omaha became operational in the last few months. A developer representing Google controls about 460 acres there, but the tech titan declined to provide details of further growth plans. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)

Just within the past few months, he said, Googles sprawling data center site in northwest Omaha became operational but is not finished growing.

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Its newest data center project in Lincoln remains under construction on roughly 580 acres. And the original Google campus in Nebraska, a Papillion project that broke ground on 275 acres in late 2019, has continued to expand in various ways.

Were effectively continuing to build out those footprints, said Harbeke, regional head of public policy and external affairs. We are not announcing any new sites this year but we are announcing continued growth and expansion across all three sites here in Nebraska.

Workforce development funds

Also during a news event Monday, Google announced a different kind of investment  philanthropic donations to support workforce development. Such contributions are separate and in addition to construction improvements, Harbeke said.

Google.org, for instance, granted $250,000 to the University of Nebraska Foundation to support AI research and education across its campuses.

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Earlier this month, Googles philanthropic arm also provided Creighton University with a $250,000 grant to support the private universitys efforts to prepare students for expanded uses of artificial intelligence.

Google Public Sector CEO Karen Dahut speaks in Lincoln. (Courtesy of Google)

Company officials on Monday also described a $100,000 donation to the Lincoln Public Schools Foundations Spark Summer Camp program, which targets elementary school students interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics.

NU President Jeffrey Gold said the university gift underscores the shared commitment to harnessing the power of AI to ensure Nebraska is on the cutting edge of research, teaching and use.

Our hope is that this investment in Nebraska will lead to opportunities for economic growth and innovation, Gold said.

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Earlier this year, the university system announced a new undergraduate degree program in generative AI, a collaboration between the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Lincoln campuses. In addition, all four NU campuses are actively building AI-related programs and are using the new technology to drive teaching and innovation, according to a university statement.

Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird said investment in programs such as Spark underscores the Capital Citys growing reputation as a place for innovation and opportunity.

Google is helping to prepare Lincolns students and workforce for a rapidly evolving future, she said.

Google provides some memento buttons for guests at a 2022 event announcing a Nebraska expansion project. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)

Google officials declined to provide detail on how the $930 million breaks down between data center sites. They also declined to disclose the number of employees per site but in a media statement said more than 120 jobs for Nebraskans have been created since 2019, in a variety of full time and external supplier roles, including computer technicians, engineers, maintenance and food service jobs.

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Harbeke said Google has started to see worker mobility and advancement within the state and the Omaha metro area, which includes the more established Council Bluffs plant.

Were five years into our Nebraska footprint  youre seeing that movement among Googlers across these sites, which has been really neat to see, Harbeke said. One of the folks who is going to be leading our Lincoln campus worked out of our Papillion site.

Global advantage

U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., who joined Google officials Monday, said the Google technology investment gives the state a competitive global advantage.

These are the jobs of the future and theyre coming here to Nebraska, he said.

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Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., called Google a driver for secure U.S. infrastructure.

The importance of innovation in national security and AI between the public and private sectors cannot be understated and were working on that right here in Nebraska, he said.

Karen Dahut, CEO of Google public sector, said the Google data centers are essential to delivering cutting-edge products to a wide range of organizations that include government and educational institutions as well as the individual consumer.

The computer-filled hubs are the engines that power technology and make local and global connections happen 24-7, Google said in a report about data centers. They are where Gmail and YouTube videos live. They are what keep the internet up and running.

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We are grateful for the partnership from leaders across Nebraska as we have grown within the state, Dahut said. I look forward to exploring more opportunities to bring the power of Google Clouds technology to support the important missions of the public sector.

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Republican state Sen. Randy Fine, best known in Central Florida for his threats against UCF and Special Olympics, hinted at a congressional run Monday after President-elect Trump endorsed him to succeed Michael Waltz.

Trump last week tapped U.S. Rep. Waltz, R-St. Augustine Beach, to be his national security advisor and this week called Fine an America First Patriot on his Truth Social site.

Should he decide to enter this Race, Randy Fine has my Complete and Total Endorsement, Trump wrote on Sunday. RUN, RANDY, RUN!

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Fine has been reposting other endorsements for his potential congressional run ever since, including one from former Florida GOP Chair Joe Gruters outright predicting that The Hebrew Hammer is going to Congress!

Fine wrote on X Monday morning he was flying to Washington, D.C. to make news.

Fine, 50, does not live in District 6, which stretches from Mount Dora to Daytona Beach, but members of Congress dont legally have to reside in their district.

He would like to have the bigger stage of national politics, said Aubrey Jewett, a professor of political science at the University of Central Florida.

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The big question will be whether Trumps endorsement will clear the field, or if there will be some other potential challengers who actually live in the district, Jewett said. Because perhaps the one thing that might derail him or work against him in the primary is that he doesnt actually live there.

Fine, 50, of Melbourne, who made millions in the casino industry, lives about 75 miles south of Waltzs district.

But unlike state legislators, congressmembers are free to run for any seat. Waltz was criticized as a carpetbagger by former Ormond Beach Mayor Fred Costello in the 2018 GOP primary for living just across the street from the district boundary.

The seat is heavily Republican-leaning, with Waltz won reelection this month by about 30 percentage points.

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Fine was elected to the state Senate in his Brevard County district on Nov. 5 by about 19 points over his Democratic opponent, after having served eight controversy-filled years in the Florida House.

In 2019, he floated the idea of a 5- and 10-year potential shutdown of the University of Central Florida because of controversy over construction spending. He later said he was using hyperbole.

Fine, who is Jewish, twice called a Jewish Facebook commenter a Judenrat, a term used to describe Jewish Nazi collaborators.

He also threatened in a text to pull funding for Special Olympics over a feud with Brevard school board member Jennifer Jenkins and her support of masks in schools.

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Fine called Jenkins a whore and was suspended by Facebook after he posted her phone number and told residents to contact her.

Just last month, he was found in contempt of court for giving the middle finger during a video court hearing.

Fine has also been at the forefront of Gov. Ron DeSantis anti-woke culture wars, introducing legislation to strip The Walt Disney Co.s control of the Reedy Creek special district, ban critical race theory in public schools, and ban on gender-affirming care to transgender children.

Fine originally tried to target drag acts in the state by trying to insert them into a statute that mentions bestiality and sadomasochistic abuse.

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Fines loyalty to DeSantis led to brief speculation that he would be appointed by the governor to become president of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton last year.

But Fine has recently been on the outs with DeSantis, telling The New Yorker last year he was unhappy with the governors quietness around the rise of Nazism in the state following high-profile rallies of neo-Nazis in Orlando and elsewhere.

He also criticized DeSantis visit to Ireland, whose government has been critical of Israel, saying he was disappointed to see the governor go to what is clearly an anti-Semitic country that supports Muslim terror.

Jewett said Fines distancing himself from DeSantis and becoming closer to Trump was a smart strategic move.

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Fine switched his allegiance from Gov. DeSantis to President Trump in the Republican primary, and he was one of the few members of the Florida Legislature to do so, Jewett said. He took what was, at the time, a pretty bold step. And politically, it paid off.

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The North Carolina Legislative Building in Raleigh. (Photo: Clayton Henkel/NC Newsline)

Republicans in North Carolinas legislature recently passed a 131-page bill that makes myriad changes to how state government is structured and functions.

Senate Bill 382 was branded as a third round of relief to western North Carolina following Hurricane Helene. And although it does provide some additional regulatory changes and money, the vast majority of the bill is dedicated to those changes in government.

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Lawmakers made the bill public just an hour before it was debated last week in the House. It was approved by the Senate a day later.

Republican proponents of the legislation have defended it as providing needed fixes to a range of issues. Democratic opponents, meanwhile, have said it amounts to a last-minute power grab  redirecting power away from Democrats newly elected to office.

The bill currently sits on Gov. Roy Coopers desk. Cooper, a Democrat, has not publicly said whether he will veto it, but has blasted Republican lawmakers for prioritizing the bill over more comprehensive Helene aid.

It will face questionable prospects for a veto override in the House, where three Republicans voted against it.

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NC Newsline has read the bill in its entirety, attempting to compile all of the major changes it would make to government. Heres the list.

Elections

The State Board of Elections is transferred to be under the authority of the State Auditor (soon to be controlled by a Republican, Dave Boliek). The auditor can make appointments to the five-person board, rather than the governor.

Transfers the power to appoint chairs of county election boards from the governor to the auditor.

Shortens the amount of time a voter has after Election Day to correct their absentee ballot, from more than a week to two and a half days.

Creates a deadline of two and a half days after Election Day for voters who forget their ID to go to their county election office and present the ID for their vote to count.

Shortens the amount of time a voter has after Election Day to present an ID and verify a provisional ballot, from more than a week to two and a half days.

Requires county election offices to count absentee ballots on election night. Members cannot leave the place where ballots are counted except for unavoidable necessity.

Provisional ballots must be counted by county election officials within three business days after the election.

Shortens the amount of time for documentation of cured ballots to be received, from more than a week to two and a half days.

Moves the deadline up one week for voters to request a simultaneous absentee application and absentee ballot, from the Tuesday before Election Day to the second Tuesday before Election Day.

Judiciary

Removes two existing superior court judges at the end of their terms in 2029, and replaces them with two new judges who can be appointed by legislative leaders. (The judges being removed  Bryan Collins in Wake County and Todd Burke in Forsyth County  have ruled against legislative pushes in recent years.)

Requires nominees for a vacancy on the Supreme Court or Court of Appeals to be the same political party that the vacated judge was affiliated with. A Democratic vacancy would be replaced with a Democrat, and a Republican vacancy would be replaced with a Republican, regardless of who controls the governors mansion.

Allows the director of the judicial branch to hire a staff attorney or private counsel for legal services.

Attorney generals office

Bars the AGs office from participating in any legal argument that would result in a state law passed by the General Assembly being invalid.

Prevents the AG from taking a stance opposite of legislative leaders when they are involved in a lawsuit.

Exempts several state agencies from requiring the AGs permission before obtaining private counsel.

Eliminates requirement that the state provide any records necessary for a legal appeal to the AGs office without charge.

Eliminates requirement that the AGs office sign off on any settlement or compromise involving an employee of the judicial branch.

Executive appointments

Shortens the time the governors office has to make an appointment to fill a vacancy in the legislature, from 30 to 15 days. And removes the ability for the governor to reject the recommended appointee.

Creates additional requirements for a governors appointee to serve consecutive terms.

Highway Patrol

The highway patrol is made an independent department, removing it from the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Safety.

It will be led by the commander, appointed by the governor and approved by the General Assembly.

Grants the highway patrol the power to seize vehicles during investigations or retain those forfeited during investigations, a power previously held by the Division of Motor Vehicles.

Utilities and energy

Reduces the number of appointments the governor can make to the Utilities Commission from three to two; allows the state treasurer (soon to be Brad Briner, a Republican) to appoint one member.

Removes the governors power to designate the chairperson of the Utilities Commission, instead allowing its members to elect one.

Empowers the commission to develop emergency plans to deal with possible shortages of energy. Major electric, natural gas and oil companies operating in the state will also have to submit information about potential shortages.

The commission will make recommendations to the governor about action required to avoid future energy shortages.

Abolishes the Energy Policy Council, which advises the governor and legislature on policy issues related to domestic energy, environmental impact and economic development. Its duties are taken over by the Utilities Commission.

Lieutenant governors office

Removes the lieutenant governor (soon to be Rachel Hunt, a Democrat) from the legislative committee on energy crisis management. Previously they served as chair and could break a tie vote.

State superintendent of public instructions office

Removes the ability for the state superintendent (soon to be Mo Green, a Democrat) to appeal a final decision of the states charter schools review board regarding grants, renewals or revocations.

Removes the superintendents authority over school resource officer grants, instead moving it to the executive director of the Center for Safer Schools.

Hurricane Helene

Transfers $225 million from the states savings reserve to its Helene Fund, but the money will remain unspent until appropriated by the legislature.

Allocates $33.75 million for child care center grants, to fend off closures of centers in hurricane-impacted counties.

Allocates $25 million for debris removal.

Allocates $2 million for support to soil and water conservation districts in affected counties.

Allows water suppliers to temporarily operate non-community water systems in disaster-impacted counties without a permit for up to 59 days. They must comply with state treatment and quality standards.

Hurricanes Matthew and Florence

Allocates $50 million for ReBuild NC, which continues to face scrutiny as it runs a deficit and struggles to finish building replacement homes in eastern North Carolina.

Education

Allocates $7.8 million to western NC universities to offset losses from enrollment dips.

Allocates $5 million for rehabilitating or replacing Poe Hall at NC State, where PCBs have been found in excess of EPA standards.

Allows schools who receive money for an AI pilot program to use it on cameras, video management systems and alert protocols that utilize facial recognition and more.

Requires the Department of Public Instruction to report on the results of the AI pilot program to the legislature by June 2025.

Expands the eligibility for the SparkNC pilot program to all public schools.

Creates a program under the State Board of Education to develop advanced teaching roles and to link performance and professional growth to salary increases in select districts.

Transfers the Center for Safer Schools from the Department of Public Instruction to the State Bureau of Investigation.

Changes the requirements of the members on the State Board of Proprietary Schools appointed by the General Assembly. One member will be the owner or director of a school with less than 100 students, and one with more than 100. Previously, the two members could have annual enrollments between 100 and 750.

The chancellor of UNC-Asheville can use any remaining money from tuition grants at their discretion to help the university.

Allows teaching hospitals affiliated with but not part of UNC universities to establish their own police forces.

Department of Health and Human Services

The department can temporarily waive rules for prisons under a state of emergency or situation that poses a risk to the health or safety of prisoners or staff.

Public safety

Changes how long a person must go without violating a local ordinance in order to be found not guilty during a trial (from 30 days to a year). Also requires documented proof of good-faith efforts to seek public assistance.

Housing

Delays the 2024 state building code effective date for another six months, until July 1, 2025.

Changes the qualifications for the member of the Building Code Council appointed by the Speaker of the House, no longer requiring them to be a licensed attorney or specializing in construction law.

Miscellaneous

Makes the schools for the blind and deaf separate state agencies, governed by their own boards of trustees.

Changes how a political partys headquarters building fund be used, including to pay staff, repay donors, or fund legal actions.

Designates all parking spots at the deck under Halifax Street Mall for the legislature.

Makes changes to requirements for state employees multiple employer welfare arrangements.

Restricts the authority of local governments to rezone property in certain ways without the approval of the landowner.

NCGA_S382-PCCS25006-TC-8
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) on Sunday said he doesnt think Americans care who does the background checks on Donald Trumps cabinet picks  a standard practice for nominees to undergo before Senate confirmation hearings.

What the American public cares about is to see the mandate that they voted in delivered upon, said Hagerty in an interview with Jonathan Karl, host of ABC News This Week.

Trumps transition team has so far broken from the typical procedure for cabinet picks and hasnt agreed to necessary documents that would pave the way for FBI background checks, ABC News reported Sunday.

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The news comes as several of Trumps controversial cabinet picks have either facedquestionsovertheir backgrounds or been accused of sexual misconduct including former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who asked for his name to be withdrawn from consideration to be the president-elects attorney general on Thursday.

Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, Trumps pick to be defense secretary, has also faced allegations of sexual assault dating back to 2017.

A number of Hagertys Republican colleagues have pointed to FBI background checks when asked about the allegations against Hegseth including Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who said such a procedure would be helpful in the former TV hosts case.

Karl, later in his interview with Hagerty, asked the senator if he doesnt care about FBI background checks.

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Should we just do away with them, then you can go ahead and not do this? said Karl of a standard practice that has been around for decades.

Hagerty noted that hes been through the Senate confirmation process himself and the FBI needs to do the checks expeditiously before claiming that Americans have great concerns about how weaponized the agency has become.

They need to get on with this. Well get this done, he said.

Trump advisers reportedly proposed bypassing the vetting process  which the president-elects son-in-law Jared Kushner once hit a snag with  prior to the election.

Democrats have since introduced a bill that would codify the FBIs role in conducting background check investigations for cabinet officials and require Congress to be notified should the president overrule the FBI in giving such employees access to classified information, according to a press release.

Related...
Republican Senator Rand Paul has said he would break ranks and not support Donald Trumps terrible plans to use the military to carry out mass deportations.

The Kentucky lawmaker told CBS News Face the Nation on Sunday that he supports the president-elects plans to deport the 15,000 murderers and 13,000 sexual assault perpetrators but only through the normal process of domestic policing.

By contrast, Trumps idea to use the military for mass deportations is illegal and would create a terrible image, he said.

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I will not support and will not vote to use the military in our cities. I think its a terrible image, he said.

Im 100 percent supportive of going after the 15,000 murderers, the 13,000 sexual assault perpetrators, rapists, all these people, Paul said. But you dont do it with the army because its illegal.

He added: If they send the army into New York, and you have 10,000 troops marching, carrying semiautomatic weapons, I think its a terrible image, and I will oppose that. But its not that I oppose removing people. I just object to what has been against the law for over 100 years and thats using the army.

Senator Rand Paul said he would not support Trumps plans to use the military to carry out mass deportations (Face the Nation/CBS)

Last week, Trump appeared to confirm plans that he would use the military to carry out mass deportations of undocumented migrants when he takes office.

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Conservative activist Tom Fitton posted on Truth Social: GOOD NEWS: Reports are the incoming @RealDonaldTrump administration prepared to declare a national emergency and will use military assets to reverse the Biden invasion through a mass deportation program.

Trump quoted the message and wrote: TRUE!!!

Karoline Leavitt, Trump transition spokesperson and his incoming press secretary, previously confirmed that the president-elect will marshal every federal and state power necessary to institute the largest deportation operation of illegal criminals, drug dealers, and human traffickers in American history while simultaneously lowering costs for families.

Trump has vowed to use the military to carry out mass deportations (Getty Images)

Trump has selected Tom Homan, his former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to serve as a border czar to implement the plan, which will include law enforcement raids of workplaces.

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Homan is among the architects of Trumps first-term zero tolerance anti-immigrant agenda, including the practice of separating thousands of children from their families at the USs southern border with Mexico.

Americans support for deportations grew by 20 points from 2017 to 2024, according to a survey by CNN. The survey also found a 22-point rise from 2019 in the number of voters who believe that having an increasing number of people of many different races, ethnic groups, and nationalities in the US poses a threat to society.
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) on Sunday said staff at the Justice Department who worked on the cases the agency brought against President-elect Donald Trump should be fired immediately.

In an interview with NBCs Meet The Press, Schmitt said the DOJ has been weaponized against Trump during Joe Bidens time in office, baselessly claiming that both the president and Attorney General Merrick Garland sought to go after their chief political opponent, echoing the president-elect frequent talking points.

After the midterms Joe Biden said that there was no way President Trump would ever be back in the White House, Schmitt said. After that speech these zombie cases were resurrected.

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They all fell apart under the weight of the law. And so I do think there needs to be accountability, he continued.

NBCs Kristen Welker then asked Schmitt to clarify whether he wants to see special counsel Jack Smith and Garland prosecuted.

Well, no, Schmitt replied. I think accountability means first and foremost the people involved in this should be fired immediately. And anybody part of this effort to keep President Trump off the ballot and to throw him in jail for the rest of his life because they didnt like his politics and to continue to cast him as a quote unquote threat to democracy was wrong.

Trump was prosecuted by the DOJ over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election result and for his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office.

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Following Trumps reelection, Smith has already moved to wind down both cases and is expected to file briefs explaining how he will do by Dec. 2.

Smith is also reportedly preparing to resign from his role along with other members of his team ahead of Trumps inauguration, The New York Times reported earlier this month.

The Washington Post, though, on Friday indicated that Trump, who has repeatedly attacked Smith, wants to fire everyone who worked on the cases against him at the DOJ, including career attorneys at the department. The president-elect, according to the Post, also intends to use DOJ investigators to look for instances of fraud in the 2020 election in battleground states despite no evidence to support such a probe.

Bill Barr, Trumps former attorney general, said in December 2020 that the DOJ had not identified fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election.

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Following former Rep. Matt Gaetzs (R-Fla.) decision to withdraw his name from consideration as Trumps attorney general pick, the president-elect announced Pam Bondi, Floridas former attorney general, as his pick to lead the DOJ.

For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans - Not anymore, Trump said in a statement. Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again.

Related...
Some Republican senators are privately hoping that other controversial Trump cabinet nominees will follow Matt Gaetzs lead and drop out of the running, according to a report.

Gaetz bowed out of consideration to be Donald Trumps attorney general last Thursday following intense scrutiny over resurfaced sexual allegations from his past. The former congressman said he was unfairly becoming a distraction to the Trump administrations agenda.

Now some GOP lawmakers are turning their attention to Trumps cabinet picks of Pete Hegseth, tapped for defense secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr for health and human services secretary and Linda McMahon as education secretary, the Hill reports.

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Hegseth and Kennedy Jr are likely to face tough questions over sexual misconduct allegations, which they deny, at Senate hearings next year, while McMahon could be asked about accusations of failing to prevent the sexual abuse of teenage WWE workers.

My expectation, not just my hope, is that some of these people may be weeded out in the process before they ever get to a hearing, one Republican senator who requested anonymity told The Hill.

Trumps cabinet nominees face a grilling in the Senate hearings next year (Getty Images)

A president should have some level of deference to who he or she wants in positions that surround them, but that doesnt mean its a free card. It doesnt mean theres nothing were supposed to do, the senator added. Thats why the Constitution matters. It gives us the chance to advise and consent. We just need to make sure we do our jobs.

A second GOP senator, who also remained anonymous, said that focus was shifting to Hegseth and Kennedy Jr. There are clear signals from my colleagues that theres more trouble than just with Gaetz, the lawmaker told the outlet.

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They added that public hearings in which both Democrat and Republican senators interrogate nominees over sexual allegations would be awful for the Senate.

Pete Hegseth has been accused of sexual assault, which he denies (REUTERS)

Hegseths nomination to head up the Pentagon is in jeopardy following an allegation of sexual assault from 2017, which he denies.

A newly released police report revealed previously unreported details about the alleged assault which took place after a Republican womens conference at the Hyatt Hotel in Monterey, California, on October 8, 2017.

The woman at the center of the allegation told police that Hegseth physically blocked the door to stop her from leaving his hotel room and took her phone away, before sexually assaulting her, according to the report, seen by The Independent.

Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration of Trumps attorney general (REUTERS)

Hegseth has maintained that the encounter was consensual and, in the police report, he stated there was always conversation and always consensual contact between the two of them.

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His lawyer said Hegseth paid the woman in 2023 to head off the threat of a baseless lawsuit. No charges were brought against him.

Republican Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said there was a lot floating around out there when asked about the allegation against Hegseth.

We need to actually be able to visit with him face-to-face, and I know the committee will do a thorough vetting, she told the Hill.

RFK Jr is embroiled in a sexual misconduct allegation, which he denies (Getty Images)

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Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, also a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the charges against Hegseth are concerning to say the least and added it may be that this is a president who doesnt consider those kinds of behaviors to be concerning.

Meanwhile, vaccine-skeptic Kennedy Jr is embroiled in a sexual misconduct allegation by a former live-in nanny. Eliza Cooney told Vanity Fair in July that she was hired by Kennedy Jr and his then-wife as a part-time babysitter in 1994 to look after the couples four children. The alleged incidents took place years later.

In one instance, she recalled him moving his hand up and down her leg under the table during a meeting in his kitchen. In the back of my mind, I was hoping it wasnt what it actually was, she told the outlet.

Linda McMahon and her husband are accused of failing to prevent the sexual abuse of teenage WWE workers (AP)

In a separate encounter, she said a shirtless Kennedy Jr walked into her bedroom and asked him to rub lotion on his back. It was totally inappropriate, she told the magazine. At the time, Cooney was 23 and he was 45.

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Kennedy Jr has never been charged with any crime in connection to this incident.

And McMahon, Trumps pick to lead the Department of Education, was accused in October of enabling sexual abuse that occurred at WWE, which she co-founded with her estranged husband Vince.

The civil lawsuit details allegations of sexual abuse of underage boys by ringside announcer Melvin Phillips. It accuses the McMahons of allowing a rampant culture of sexual abuse.

A lawyer for McMahon branded the allegations as false, and she, her husband and Phillips do not face criminal charges related to these claims.
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NAIROBI  Alternative media outlets and influencers led the discourse on nationwide protests in Kenya on Instagram and Facebook, often outpacing legacy media outlets in reach and engagement.

Their performance comes against the backdrop of mass layoffs and major losses by the countrys largest legacy media companies  pointing to the evolution of news consumption in Kenya.

Analysis of around 28,000 news posts from between May and July on the Meta-owned platforms, by Nairobi research firm OdipoDev, found that popular celebrity news and lifestyle page Nairobi Gossip Club (NGC) was Kenyas leading source of news on Meta-owned platforms.

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NGC attracted the greatest number of video views, post engagements, and interactions on Instagram and Facebook, far surpassing legacy media brands. NGC had nearly 3 million more interactions in June than its nearest competitor, Citizen TV. Five alternative media outlets  including digital publishers Tuko, Mpasho and Kenyans.co.ke  were among the 10 leading media outlets by total interactions over the period on Facebook and Instagram.

Researchers partly attributed the trend to Metas adoption of a TikTok-style for you algorithm on Instagram. By prioritizing content discovery and engagement over follower counts, smaller pages can more easily compete with large, established media houses.

The average news consumer is not going online to look for news, the news finds them, the projects lead researcher Norbert Mburu told Semafor Africa. Alternative outlets are now at a place where they have significant mass reach, and influencers have trust.

He said legacy media companies would have to rethink how they present and package news content for digital audiences to maintain a foothold in the space, especially among younger people.

Know More

Kenyas two largest media companies  Nation Media Group (NMG) and Standard Group are both navigating financial downturns. In recent months, they both have undertaken mass layoffs citing evolving media consumption trends.

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Standard Group, Kenyas oldest media organization, recorded a net loss of Kes1.261 billion ($9.7 million) in 2023, widening from 865 million ($6.7 million) a year earlier. It announced layoffs of over 300 employees in June.

Nation Media Group posted a net loss of Kes572.2 million ($4.4 million) in the first six months of 2024, compared to a modest profit of Kes2.9 million in the same period last year. It also announced a restructuring effort targeting an unspecified number of employees. Like Standard, it cited the need to adapt to a changing media landscape.

Martins view

Considering the heightened need for information during the nationwide protests makes the performance of alternative media outlets far more impressive. It proves that, as in the US where podcast appearances and new media played a key role in the election of Donald Trump, alternative media and influencers have a crucial place in civic engagement and political mobilization in Africa.

Legacy media brands however still have a chance to reinvent themselves for a new age, and cater to digital audiences. One of the advantages they still hold over alternative outlets, Mburu noted, is the ability to set agendas that often form the basis of discussions and debates on social media.
TEHRAN, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Iran and Azerbaijan are staging a four-day joint military drill in the northwestern Iranian province of Ardabil, Sepah News, the official news outlet of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), reported on Monday.

Codenamed "Aras Joint Exercise," the drill, involving special units of the IRGC's Ground Force and the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, officially kicked off on Sunday.

Speaking on the sidelines of the drill on Monday, Vali Ma'adani, IRGC Ground Forces' deputy commander of operations, said the two countries' ground forces were the main focus of the exercise, "which is being held at the highest level of preparedness."

Ma'adani said the exercise aimed to strengthen bilateral relations, enhance cooperation between the two countries in the joint fight against organized illegal armed groups, ensure security along the shared border, increase the two sides' military capabilities, and foster defense collaborations at the operational and tactical levels.

Earlier this month, the Iranian and Azerbaijani naval forces staged a joint rescue and relief drill in the Caspian Sea. 
Entrance to the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee room in the Maine State House in Augusta. (Photo by Jim Neuger/Maine Morning Star)

Maine is expected to see an overall revenue shortfall in the coming years, however the gap is now projected to be smaller, according to updated predictions released by the Legislatures Revenue Forecasting Committee on Monday.

The latest gap projected for the states General Fund in the 2026-2027 biennium totals approximately $187 million, a roughly $450 million reduction from the committees projections in September, which estimated a shortfall of approximately $637 million.

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Finalized projections heading into the next legislative session are due on Dec. 1, however the committee did not indicate on Monday that any drastic changes are expected to their preliminary report.

Most of the gains are expected to come in the current 2025 fiscal year and can be attributed to a number of factors: extended tax filing deadlines following consecutive storms last winter, wage growth, higher than expected capital gains and corporate income tax, among others.

Still, the state is facing a shortfall that the incoming 132nd Legislature will be tasked to address in the biennial budget next year.

These projected revenues should not be seen as an opportunity for significant new spending, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills wrote in a statement on Monday. As my Administration has consistently warned, this next budget is going to be tight, and rather than create new programs, these revenues should be used to meet our existing obligations.

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Progressives and conservatives both within the Legislature and in the economic policy scene are already floating opposing suggestions for how to raise revenue.

Tax reform, spending cuts, and overall objections to using the rainy day fund

The progressive research organization Maine Center for Economic Policy would like to see reforms to Maines tax code to close the gap, while maintaining funding levels for education, health care and infrastructure. Meanwhile, the conservative Maine Policy Institute opposes tax increases of any kind and instead wants lawmakers to make spending cuts to address the shortfall.

In a recent policy brief, MECEP suggested adding new high income tax brackets and rates so people with the most wealth pay more of a fair share. Analyst Maura Pillsbury, who authored the brief, proposed a millionaires tax (a tax surcharge on income over $1 million), taxing unearned income, and ending offshore tax haven abuse, among other tax changes.

The revenue forecasts show that there is less of a structural gap to make up, but there still is a pretty significant gap, said MECEP analyst James Myall on Monday, following the latest projections. So I think the revenue options of that report are still really timely and useful and I think they help to reinforce that its pretty possible for the lawmakers to make up the gap and theres a number of ways they can do that.

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By contrast, Jacob Posik, director of legislative affairs at MPI, said the organization cautions against tax increases of any kind.

We would certainly prefer spending cuts over new tax increases, Posik said on Monday. When it comes to where to cut, Posik pointed to the states largest budget items: Health and Human Services and the Department of Education, specifically Medicaid expansion (which MPI and Republicans have historically opposed) and any bloat related to education spending. We would rather see the curriculum coordinator and DEI stuff go away before we start cutting teacher salaries, he said.

Aside from cuts, Posik said, If you made us king for the day and we could wave our magic wand, we would eliminate every penny of corporate welfare that exists in the state of Maine.

One thing both Myall and Posik agreed on: the Legislature shouldnt use the rainy day fund as a solution.

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Maines Budget Stabilization Fund, otherwise known as the rainy day fund, is at its statutory maximum of nearly a billion dollars. The maxed out fund and the surpluses Maine has seen in recent years were the focus of objections from both sides of the aisle to the governors proposed savings in the latest supplemental state budget passed in the spring.

Ultimately, lawmakers halved Mills proposed $107 million in savings in the budget plan that passed.

While the Legislature didnt agree with that proposal, the budgetary pressures still exist  programs continue to cost money while revenues are leveling off, Department of Administrative and Financial Services Commissioner Kirsten Figueroa wrote in a statement Monday. Lawmakers will need to contend with this fact, and we hope they agree with us that the priority should be to continue funding the programs they previously approved rather than trying to create more. This approach will be crucial to the long-term stability of the budget.

When it comes to using the rainy day fund, both Myall and Posik said it would be different if the country was in a recession and the savings could be used with the expectation that revenues would bounce back in the next couple of years.

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Those [funds] are supposed to be sitting in reserve for a 2008-style financial crisis, Posik said.

As outlined by state law, the budget stabilization fund may be expended only to offset a General Fund revenue shortfall, with a few exceptions, such as financing death benefits and food banks during emergencies.

If we just resort to using the Rainy Day Fund this year or this budget cycle and keep the expenses the same, theyll likely be facing the same thing in the next budget cycle, Myall said.

Myall and Posik also both pointed to the highway fund as a particular concern. The unsustainability of the highway fund has been a persistent challenge for decades, leading to a routine earmarking of transfers from the general fund.

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Those are kind of mandates that havent really addressed the underlying issue, Myall said, so I still think it would be good for lawmakers to be looking at, How do we make sure theres a continuing, sustainable source of funds into the highway fund?

Posiks concerns relate to late-night budget disagreements last session.

Last session, the Democratic majority on the Appropriations Committee, which sets the budget, tried to combine the general and highway funds, as well as reverse ongoing highway revenue that Republicans championed the year prior. When the Legislatures Democratic leadership opted to pass a baseline biennial budget last session without Republican support to avoid a government-wide shutdown, agencies that rely on the highway fund were still at risk of shutdown since it is separate from the continuing services budget.

After outcry from the governor as well as Republicans, Democrats on the committee walked those attempts back.

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We would certainly be worried if they moved in that direction again, Posik said, but I guess well see.

Lawmakers prepare for budget negotiations

Setting the biennium budget will be a major focus of the Maine Legislature as they begin work, although the governor will first present her proposal to serve as the starting point.

Come January, Mills wrote in a statement Monday, I intend to introduce a lean budget proposal that will honor  existing commitments to the greatest extent possible, with any new investments seriously limited. The State of Maine has enjoyed significant new revenues over the past several years, which has allowed for investments in important new programs that have benefited Maine people. Now the Legislatures focus must be on maintaining them as much as possible, not on growing the budget.

Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook) told Maine Morning Star that the state has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.

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We still have a lot of bills to pay now because of the past decisions already made by Democrats through their majority budgets, Stewart said. That means tough choices will still need to be made over the next eight months as we craft the next budget.

House Republican leadership directed Maine Morning Star to state Rep. Jack Ducharme (R-Madison), who in the 131st session served as a ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, regarding how theyd like to state to address the shortfall. While noting the decrease in the projected shortfall, Ducharme said it is a gap that budget gimmicks wont fill.

We should start by saving any projected surpluses in the current fiscal year to help close the structural gap, Ducharme said.

In his view, the gap requires cuts or increases in taxes. The majority party has to decide what their priorities will be, Ducharme said.

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Democrats maintained their majorities in both chambers on Nov. 5, however they lost a few seats to Republicans.

Ahead of Mondays projections, Speaker-elect of the Maine House of Representatives Ryan Fecteau (D-Biddeford) said he hopes to ensure initiatives championed in recent years  affordable housing gains, free school meals, free community college, fully funded municipal revenue sharing and education as set by state law  remain intact.

I think we really need to overcome some really significant challenges in these next two years, starting with the budget, that will be more complex than it has been in recent memory, Fecteau said. But its also not just about a budget. Its about the issues that people have grown tired of being unaddressed, and we need to be able to step up to the plate and solve them.

While President-elect of the Maine Senate Mattie Daughtry (D-Brunswick) said she and her leadership team are awaiting the updated projections in December, were really excited to work with our caucus to have the consensus driven agenda and mission.

Both incoming Senate Majority Leader Teresa Pierce (D-Falmouth) and Assistant Majority Leader Jill Duson (D-Portland) previously served on the budget committee.

The Senate leadership team said there is no doubt there will be long discussions and likely late nights when setting the budget, but that the end result will be balanced, as is constitutionally required.

Theres always struggle within budget, whether you have lots of funds coming in from different sources or whether its a little bit of a tightening, Pierce said. Weve been able to accomplish amazing historic things in the past with housing and construction and pay for people, and we want to continue to protect those things, but its important to have good information in front of us.

We know were strong fiscally but were going to know a lot more in the coming weeks.

Editors Note: This story was updated to include comments from Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart provided after publication.

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BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  On Monday, the governor of California will be in Kern County talking with local leaders and workers.

Newsom will be stopping at an undisclosed location in Kern County for his California Jobs First tour, which revolves around regional efforts on jobs and economic growth, the governors press office announced.

Newsom will make public statements around 11 a.m. You can watch a livestream of the event on the governors YouTube page, Facebook page or Instagram.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN)  A portion of a $2.54 million grant to the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC) will go toward building six new rental units in the Mahoning Valley.

The Glenwood Avenue Duplexes will receive $336,000 to build six new units for very low to moderate-income residents.

The rest of the grant money will go toward home repairs and down payment assistance with $1.5 million going toward repairing 150 units and $705,000 to help 30 homebuyers with down payment assistance of up to $18,000.

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YNDC worked with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnatis Affordable Housing Program, Huntington National Bank, Premier Bank, the City of Youngstown and The Raymond John Wean Foundation to secure the grants.

The projects are expected to be completed in 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 WKBN.com.
PEKIN, Ill. (WMBD)  The Tazewell County Health Department was recently the recipient of a $13,800 grant from the Community Foundation of Central Illinois that will help fund mental health first aid classes.

The curriculum teaches people how to properly help people with mental health issues.

JD Raucci is a communication and health education specialist for the health department and was recently certified to be a mental health first aid instructor.

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Tazewell County holding Mental Health First Aid Classes

He likes the program, saying it allows the ability to practice real-life situations.

Its not just saying this is what you should do. Its giving you an opportunity to really practice those skills so that you can help people having mental health challenges, he said.

Raucci added that the training is helpful for dealing with mental health problems in their early stages.

We dont diagnose, we dont treat these signs and symptoms, but we can provide resources to people to connect them to the help they need, he said.

The grant money will also fund eight free classes for community members to become trained in first aid in mental health situations.

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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 CIProud.com.
More than 40% of crop farmworkers were undocumented immigrants as of 2020, according to one estimate. Photo of strawberry picking, by Getty Images.



President-elect Donald Trump has promised to begin his second term with the largest mass deportation in history, making the jobs held by undocumented workers available to U.S. citizens.

Undocumented immigrants make up only 5% of the total labor force, according to the most recent federal data from the U.S. Census Bureau and analysis from the Pew Research Center. However, the share of undocumented workers across the nations food supply chain is at least 16%.

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A significant portion of food- and agriculture-related jobs are filled by immigrants, which include naturalized citizens, green-card holders, permanent residents, people on long-term temporary work visas, refugees, people who have received asylum and undocumented immigrants.

In some industries, the number is much higher. In Idaho, the third-largest dairy-producing state in the country, the Idaho Dairymens Association estimates that nearly 90% of the states on-site dairy workers were born outside of the U.S. Nationally, undocumented people made up roughly 45% of all hired crop farmworkers in 2017, but that number has declined to 41.2% in 2020, according to the USDA.

A study conducted by the Peterson Institute, released in September, found that mass deportation could affect agricultural labor and lead to a 10% increase in food prices.

If we lost half of the farmworker population in a short period of time, the agriculture sector would likely collapse, Mary Jo Dudley, the director of the Cornell Farmworker Program, told Investigate Midwest. There are no available skilled workers to replace the current workforce should this policy be put into place.

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This article first appeared on Investigate Midwest and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Investigate Midwest is an independent, nonprofit newsroom. Our mission is to serve the public by exposing the dangerous and costly practices of powerful agricultural corporations through in-depth, data-driven investigative journalism. Visit us at www.investigatemidwest.org.
The The Offshore Parity Act of 2024 would extend Louisiana state authority from 3 nautical miles to 9 miles offshore into the Gulf of Mexico.(Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority photo)

U.S. Reps Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge, and Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, are asking Congress to expand state waters along the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama coast further into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Offshore Parity Act of 2024 would extend Louisiana state authority from 3 nautical miles to 9 miles offshore into the Gulf of Mexico, giving all Gulf states the same nine miles of energy, fisheries and other resources to manage, Graves said in a press release.

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Their proposal would alter the Submerged Lands Act of 1953, which extended state waters 9 nautical miles into the Gulf but only for Texas and Florida.

Im not sure who was negotiating for us generations ago, but that is just ridiculous, Graves said.

This bill will empower us to manage our energy resources, protect our coastal communities, and strengthen our fisheries, Carter said in a statement. This is a critical step toward equality, ensuring Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama have the same authority over their waters as Texas and Florida.

The extension of state waters into the Gulf will lead to additional energy production revenue that will boost coastal restoration projects, Graves added.

The bill comes just as a new presidential administration looks to ramp up fossil fuel production dial back nationally on offshore wind power.
Greenville, S.C. (WSPA)  The Greenville Chapter of Guitars for Vets welcomes any veteran looking for community and healing.

The group is led by Michael Wagner, Navy veteran and music enthusiast and Kenny Wise Marine Corp veteran.

They meet Saturday mornings from 10-12 at the Rupert Huse veterans center in Greenville.

The group focuses on raising money as well. Fundraising helps to award guitars to veterans after 10 lessons at your own pace.

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You dont have to know how to play guitar or have a guitar to participate.

To get involved text (360) 434 7460. You can also contact Michael on Facebook at Guitars for Vets Greenville.

To learn more visit Guitars for Vets online

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSPA 7NEWS.
For decades, a costly problem has been worsening beneath Californias San Joaquin Valley: the land has been sinking, driven by the chronic overpumping of groundwater.

As agricultural wells have drained water from aquifers, underground clay layers have compacted and the ground surface has been sinking as much as 1 foot per year in some areas.

New research now shows that large portions of the San Joaquin Valley have sunk at a record pace since 2006.

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Never before has it been so rapid for such a long period of time, said Matthew Lees, the studys lead author.

Read more: Climate change identified as main driver of worsening drought in the Western United States

The study by Stanford University researchers is the first to quantify the full extent of land subsidence in the San Joaquin Valley, one of the worlds major farming regions, during the last two decades. The collapsing ground has damaged canals, wells and other infrastructure, requiring repairs that in some areas are now in the hundreds of millions of dollars .

Under Californias groundwater law, local agencies are tasked with combating the problem as they work toward plans to limit pumping and address overdraft by 2040.

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Measurements from satellites have tracked changes in the ground surface during much of the last two decades, but there is a gap in the data from 2011 to 2015. The researchers used data from GPS stations to document the declines in the land during those years, which enabled them to detail subsidence for the entire period from 2006 to 2022.

Much of the sinking has occurred in two large swaths of the valley, one around the community of El Nido and the other around the city of Corcoran. The research found that the declines averaged nearly an inch per year if spread across the entire San Joaquin Valley.

With these findings, we can look at the big picture of mitigating this record-breaking subsidence, said Rosemary Knight, the studys senior author and a professor of geophysics at Stanfords Doerr School of Sustainability.

The study , published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment, also presents ideas about how the sinking could be slowed or stopped through strategic recharging of aquifers.

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The findings underline Californias continuing struggle with a phenomenon that has been altering the landscape since the early 1900s, when wells and pumps began to proliferate in the valley.

In a famous 1977 photo , Joseph Poland, a U.S. Geological Survey scientist, stood next to a telephone pole with signs reading 1925, 1955 and 1977, marking how the ground level had fallen nearly 30 feet in the area near Mendota.

In a 1999 report , USGS researchers described the land subsidence in the San Joaquin Valley as the single largest human alteration of the Earth's surface topography.

The rates of decline slowed in the 1970s and '80s as newly built aqueducts brought river water to farmlands, and the sinking remained less pronounced into the early 2000s. That changed during the 2007-09 drought, which was followed by extreme droughts from 2012 to 2016 and from 2020 to 2022  droughts that research shows have been significantly worsened by global warming .

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Knight and Lees said the decrease in water deliveries from canals during the droughts, combined with the prioritization of water for environmental purposes and changes in agriculture, have contributed to the sinking over the last two decades.

They compared the total volume of valleywide subsidence since 2006 with measurements from 1944 to 1968  a portion of the half-century illustrated in Polands photo  and found the post-2006 period has brought the same amount of sinking, but over a shorter time.

History has repeated itself, Lees said. We did it again, and we got there faster.

Lees, a research associate at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, worked on the study when he was a geophysics doctoral student at Stanford.

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The researchers said in addition to damaging aqueducts and other infrastructure, sinking land threatens to affect the route of the states high-speed rail , and also worsens floods hazards as the topography shifts.

The problem is driven by groundwater overdraft, which occurs when the amount of water pumped out exceeds the amount of recharge. When clay layers in aquifers are drained and collapse, the loss of water-storing space is largely irreversible.

According to the researchers, overdraft of the valleys deep aquifers is causing much of the subsidence. These aquifers lie hundreds of feet underground, below shallow aquifers and clay layers, and they contain clay layers that are especially susceptible to compaction when water is extracted.

Many wells have been drilled 1,000 feet deep or more to supply farms, and these wells are drawing water from aquifers where much of the subsidence is occurring.

Workers drill a well on a farm near Terra Bella, Calif., in 2021. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

To slow or halt the sinking, the researchers say, its important to address the overdraft in the deep aquifers where clay layers are compressing. They say this could be done by reducing pumping from the aquifers or by recharging them using either natural pathways or wells that would allow for injecting water underground.

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We need to stop the overdraft of compacting aquifers, Knight and Lees wrote, suggesting that efforts be strategically targeted to the deeper parts of the aquifer system.

Directing water to the right places to replenish these deeper spaces requires detailed information about the valleys geologic features, including natural pathways where water can quickly travel through permeable sand, gravel and cobbles to reach aquifers. In parts of the valley, these channels can take in flows near the base of the Sierra Nevada, miles from where the land is subsiding, and funnel water to where it will help slow the sinking.

California recently mapped large portions of the valleys aquifers to reveal their webs of hydraulic connections. Using a helicopter equipped with a ground-penetrating electromagnetic imaging system, scientists have scanned up to 1,000 feet underground to map optimal areas for recharging aquifers  including channels left by ancient rivers that lie hidden beneath alluvial fans in the valley.

Read more: A decade after signing of California groundwater law, major challenges remain

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If we're going to continue pumping from the lower aquifer, we need to recharge in such a way that that recharge water reaches the lower aquifer, Knight said. You need to stop the overdraft in the part of the aquifer that's causing the subsidence, and that's the deeper part.

As part of Californias efforts to curb declines in groundwater levels, one partial solution that has been promoted by Gov. Gavin Newsoms administration and local water agencies is managed aquifer recharge  projects to replenish groundwater that involve a range of methods, such as building infrastructure to capture runoff during wet periods and shunt water to basins where it percolates into the ground.

Other methods include drilling injection wells that deliver water to aquifers or intentionally releasing floodwater on agricultural lands in areas where it can seep rapidly underground.

The scientists analyzed how much water would be needed to recharge portions of aquifers that are driving the subsidence problems, and calculated it would be about 680,000 acre-feet per year on average, an amount comparable to state estimates of how much water is available for groundwater replenishment in an average year.

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From a practical standpoint, Lees said, its not feasible to dedicate all the water to addressing land subsidence.

There are a lot of other very important priorities, and there are logistical difficulties in getting that water into the compacting parts of the aquifer system, he said. We have to be strategic with what we do with this recharge. Where subsidence is causing the most harm, we've got to try and get it to those compacting aquifers.

A section of the Friant-Kern Canal that was damaged by subsidence undergoes repairs in 2022. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Targeting places where subsidence is causing costly problems, Knight said, will mean focusing on areas, for example, where collapsing ground is going to damage an aqueduct or wells that communities rely on for drinking water, or where shifting ground is worsening flood risks.

The study has made me optimistic, Knight said. I think it could be addressed if you strategically target the areas where you want to stop subsidence.

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The findings add to a growing body of research being used by local water officials as they develop state-mandated plans for managing groundwater.

Under Californias Sustainable Groundwater Management Act , adopted a decade ago, land subsidence is one of several undesirable effects that local agencies must take steps to avoid, along with significant and unreasonable lowering of groundwater levels and degraded water quality, among others.

Another goal is preventing more household wells from drying up as water levels decline. According to state data, more than 5,000 wells have run dry in the last decade, and scientists warn that thousands more could be at risk unless stronger measures are put in place.

Read more: California cracks down on another Central Valley farm area for groundwater depletion

The latest study helps inform Californias efforts to address subsidence and underscores the importance of considering the different effects pumping has in shallow aquifers and deep aquifers, said Graham Fogg, a hydrogeology emeritus professor at UC Davis who wasnt involved in the research.

More recharge of deep aquifers is needed and can be done effectively, Fogg said, but will have to be done in concert with reduced pumping.

Recharge will help solve a lot of it, probably not more than half of the problem, Fogg said. The other half is going to have to be pumping reductions, and that's the painful part.

Researchers have projected that large portions of the Central Valleys irrigated cropland will need to be permanently left dry to comply with the restrictions. Experts with the Public Policy Institute of California have estimated that by 2040, the necessary pumping cutbacks could mean fallowing more than 900,000 acres of farmland.

On the positive side, valuable data to guide recharge efforts have emerged in recent years, including detailed information on the natural architecture of the aquifer system, Fogg said.

During the last two decades, the record-breaking pace of subsidence has coincided with the drilling of thousands of new agricultural wells , and as parts of California have had some of the fastest-declining groundwater levels in the world.

The water has been used to irrigate a wide variety of crops, including nuts, fruits, tomatoes, cotton and cattle-feed crops to supply dairies and feedlots. Growers have also planted vast orchards of almonds and pistachios .

Fogg said the latest research is sobering because it shows that California is still grappling with significant undesirable effects of subsidence.

At this point, there should be no excuse for this kind of subsidence to occur in the next 10 years, Fogg said.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
MEXICO CITY, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- At least six people were killed and a dozen others injured early Sunday when armed assailants opened fire at a bar in southeast Mexico's Tabasco state, local officials confirmed.

"Five people were found dead at the scene, while another succumbed to injuries after being taken to the hospital," Gilberto Melquiades Miranda, deputy prosecutor of the state Attorney General's Office, told a press conference.

Preliminary reports indicated a group of armed men entered the nightclub in the state capital Villahermosa in search of a person and shot at bystanders, the deputy prosecutor said, adding that authorities have ruled out the involvement of organized crime. 
Live traces of H5N1 bird flu have been found in batches of raw milk sold at retail stores across California, state regulators said on Sunday.

The virus was detected in a batch of raw or unpastured milk from Fresno-based brand Raw Farm, the largest producer of raw milk in California, via a sampling programme run by state health authorities.

Retailers were told to pull the product from their shelves, and consumers have been urged to discard the milk. No human infections have yet been linked to the product.

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As of Friday, 402 dairy herds in California had tested positive for bird flu  the largest outbreak in the US since the virus started spreading among cattle late last year.

At least 27 people have tested positive for H5N1 in the state, mainly dairy workers, although just days ago a child in California tested positive for the virus for the first time in US history with no known exposure to sick cattle.

Whilst pasteurised milk undergoes a rigorous heating process that kills bacteria and viruses such as H5N1, the raw variety can lead to a number of serious health risks, including infections like salmonella, E. coli, brucella, campylobacter and listeria.

For this reason US health agencies have long-since warned of the dangers of consuming raw milk. But a number of public figures  including incoming US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr (RFK)  continue to promote its consumption.

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RFK accused the US Food and Drug Administration of suppressing raw milk on X (formerly Twitter) last month. FDAs war on public health is about to end, he said.

Our citizens have the right to buy those products even though they have risks associated with them, said Kimberly Coates, a Republican state representative, during the passage of a Louisiana bill that legalised raw milk sales in August of this year.

Gwenyth Paltrow  actress and founder of the alternative health website Goop  is part of a growing number of wellness devotees who consume raw milk as a health food. Speaking on a podcast earlier this year, Paltrow said she drinks unpasteurised milk in her coffee every morning.

I drink raw farm dairy, and there are schools of thought that say drinking raw milk is better, because once you process it it makes dairy harder to tolerate, said Paltrow.

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The view is becoming popular in America, where raw milk sales have grown by 20 per cent over the last year despite the risk of H5N1 growing over the same period.

Both the FDA and Centre for Disease Control (CDC) are widely distrusted by Donald Trumps Make America Great Again (MAGA) wing of the Republican party, who argue the Government has no business in controlling what people choose to consume.

At least 202 disease outbreaks in the US have been linked to drinking raw milk since 1998, leading to 2,645 illnesses, 228 hospitalisations, and three deaths.

Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security

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Rep. Jim Haadsma (L) and Steve Frisbie (R) | Michigan House and campaign photos

State Rep. Jim Haadsma (D-Battle Creek) filed for a recount on Monday morning, after losing his bid for reelection by less than 100 votes.

Haadsmas attorney, Chris Trebilcock told Michigan Advance that they filed a petition for a recount Monday morning, which the Michigan Department of State confirmed.

While initial results of the election showed Haadsma losing to his Republican challenger, Calhoun County Commissioner Steve Frisbie, by 1,381 votes, an error attributed to two high-speed tabulators not combining vote totals led to approximately 2,800 absentee ballots not being counted. Absentee ballots were later retabulated, and the election was certified by the board of State Canvassers on Friday, with official results showing Frisbie up by 61 votes.

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A recount will confirm that the data transfer error involving the [Absentee Voter Counting Boards] for Battle Creek and all ballots that included a write-in candidate have been correctly counted. The Calhoun County canvass was not transparent so a hand recount will remove any doubt around it. This is a standard request when a race is this close. We trust that the hand recount will reach the correct result, Trebilcock said in an email.

Frisbie told the Advance Monday afternoon, that while Haadsma is certainly allowed under the law to petition for a recount, retabulating the ballots had not changed the result of the election.

Im confident that we will prevail in a recount and I look forward to serving in the Legislature in January, Frisbie said.
Germany has made mistakes in its effort to support Ukraine, including sending badly needed weapons "too late" to the country after Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Sunday.

Germany has "always been too late" with its weapons deliveries, Habeck told the German public broadcaster ARD's talk show "Miosga."

He lamented the delayed shipments of Leopard tanks and said this strategy is now repeating itself over the delivery of the Taurus cruise missiles, which Chancellor Olaf Scholz staunchly opposes.

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Habeck supports sending Kiev the Taurus systems but noted that caution and a cool head are needed on this.

The minister, who is also vice chancellor, did back Scholz's recent phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin, which provoked hefty criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and others.

Habeck wondered how you could be involved in discussions about the conflict if you don't talk to the warring parties. Scholz's conversation with Putin was the first time in two years the two had spoken on the phone.

Mistakes made with domestic heating law

A significant portion of the talk show was devoted to a controversial heating law in Germany which promoted heat pumps, but which received massive criticism throughout the country because of what many saw as a poor roll out.

Habeck, who is from the Green Party, admitted the government did not publish the subsidies available to homeowners for installing the pumps but blamed that on his coalition partners - the pro-business Free Democrats and surprisingly, he said, Scholz's Social Democrats. Habeck said they didn't want to publish the details. He warned opposition conservatives against reducing or cutting public subsidies supporting the changeover in case they win the election in February.
Germany has made mistakes in its effort to support Ukraine, including sending badly needed weapons "too late" to the country after Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Sunday.

Germany has "always been too late" with its weapons deliveries, Habeck told the German public broadcaster ARD's talk show "Miosga."

He lamented the delayed shipments of Leopard tanks and said this strategy is now repeating itself over the delivery of the Taurus cruise missiles, which Chancellor Olaf Scholz staunchly opposes.

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Habeck supports sending Kiev the Taurus systems but noted that caution and a cool head are needed on this.

The minister, who is also vice chancellor, did back Scholz's recent phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin, which provoked hefty criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and others.

Habeck wondered how you could be involved in discussions about the conflict if you don't talk to the warring parties. Scholz's conversation with Putin was the first time in two years the two had spoken on the phone.

Mistakes made with domestic heating law

A significant portion of the talk show was devoted to a controversial heating law in Germany which promoted heat pumps, but which received massive criticism throughout the country because of what many saw as a poor roll out.

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Habeck, who is from the Green Party, admitted the government did not publish the subsidies available to homeowners for installing the pumps but blamed that on his coalition partners - the pro-business Free Democrats and surprisingly, he said, Scholz's Social Democrats. Habeck said they didn't want to publish the details. He warned opposition conservatives against reducing or cutting public subsidies supporting the changeover in case they win the election in February.

Coalition did not break over egos

Habeck rejected the criticism that the German coalition fell apart because of overly large egos, saying the Constitutional Court's decision on the 2024 budget, outlawing the use of unspent coronavirus funds on other budget matters, was the reason.

In November 2023, the court ruled that Germany's strict debt rules do not allow the government to repurpose money originally borrowed during the coronavirus pandemic, when debt limits were suspended on an emergency basis, for climate change instead.

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That left Berlin scrambling to find 60 billion ($62.9 billion) it had planned to use.

That, Habeck said prevented the coalition from making progress. After that it then "struggled on" for another year.
Authorities have identified three people who were killed in a car wreck on Interstate 93 in New Hampshire on Sunday afternoon.

Troopers responding to a report of a crash on the Exit 2 offramp from I-93 in Salem around 2 p.m. found a 2012 white Kia Sportage that had veered off the road, traveled through a grassy area, and struck a culvert, according to New Hampshire State Police.

The driver of the Kia and two passengers were pronounced dead at the scene.

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The driver has been identified as Rodney J. Dore, 71, of Pelham. The passengers were identified as Anne J. Dore, 70, also of Pelham, and Lisana M. Alexander, 45, of Salem.

The offramp was closed while troopers conducted initial investigations before reopening around 6 p.m.

As an investigation continues, state police are urging the public with any information to contact Trooper Mark Lingerman at 603-223-4381 or mark.n.lingerman@dos.nh.gov.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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ST. LOUIS  It was another Sunday morning of sometimes heated but always civil political debate on Hancock and Kelley for Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024.

Republican consultant John Hancock and Democratic consultant Michael Kelley discuss the following topics:

Voters approved Amendment 3, lifting Missouris total abortion ban, nearly three weeks ago. But already, there are new abortion battles brewing.

After three months, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell, whos been elected to Congress, suddenly ends his effort to oust St. Louis County Councilman Dennis Hancock.

More than 7,000 signatures have been gathered demanding a state audit of the City of St. Louis and Mayor Tishaura Joness administration, amid the SLDC (St. Louis Development Corporation) ARPA fund grant debacle.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker moves ahead with plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a network of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations statewide, sending a message to President-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to end the EV mandate on day 1 of his presidency.

Trumps cabinet collage continues with Attorney General nominee Matt Gaetz, whos been called the worst AG nominee in U.S. history, withdrawing. The president-elect has nominated Pam Bondi in his place, as debate continues about multiple Trump cabinet picks.

President Joe Biden agrees to allow Ukraine to fire U.S.-made long-range missiles into Russia. Russia responds by unleashing a new hypersonic missile on Ukraine and by making new threats about using nuclear weapons.

Missouri State Senator Cindy OLaughlin makes history by becoming the first female Senate President Pro Tem.

Our quote of the week was from Missouri Republican Governor-elect Mike Kehoe, who reiterates that he is not a fan of spending taxpayer dollars on stadiums to keep the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals from leaving Missouri to play in new stadiums in Kansas.

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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 FOX 2.
Nearly three decades after 6-year-old JonBenet was found dead in her home in Boulder, Colorado, on Dec. 26, 1996, the identity of her killer remains a mystery.

A new three-part Netflix documentary series, Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey examines how the actions of law enforcement and the media at the time may have influenced the investigation.

Tips and leads have emerged in the case over the years, and experts are still piecing them together in the hopes of solving her murder.

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I believe this crime can be solved, Joe Berlinger, the documentarys director, tells TODAY.com.

JonBenet Ramsey was murdered at her home in Boulder, Colorado, in 1996.

Berlinger says he created the documentary partly to put some pressure on police to reexamine evidence from the original crime scene using todays more advanced DNA testing technology.

There were items that were tested, but the DNA technology back then was so primitive that its time to retest those items, he says.

Berlinger also says that in his view, the evidence presented in the documentary suggests that an outside intruder, not JonBenet Ramseys parents, committed the crime.

There is a disturbing amount of people in my mind who clinging to this theory that the Ramseys did it, he says. And I just hope that my reporting is so rock solid that I will change some hearts and minds on this subject.

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In December 2023, the Boulder Police Department brought together the Colorado Cold Case Review Team to examine the original homicide investigation.

One focus of the new investigation is DNA testing. While forensic testing was available in 1996, the science behind DNA testing continues to rapidly evolve, Boulder police said in a 2023 release, adding they are working with leading DNA experts from across the county to ensure the latest forensic techniques are used to analyze remaining DNA samples.

The review team also digitized and consolidated all the evidence collected over the years in the case, including more than 21,000 tips, more than 1,000 interviews, and samples of DNA, fingerprints, shoeprints and handwriting from more than 200 people, per the 2023 release.

The overarching goal is to look at the facts and evidence with fresh eyes and an open mind, armed with the latest developments in forensic science, Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said in the release.

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While the identity of her killer, or killers, remains to be discovered, certain facts about the circumstances of JonBenet Ramseys death are known, including her cause of death and the details of the injuries she suffered the night of Dec. 26, 1996.

Read on to learn more about what happened to JonBenet Ramsey, according to her autopsy.

What does JonBenet Ramseys autopsy say?

JonBenet Ramseys cause of death was asphyxia by strangulation associated with craniocerebral trauma, according to an autopsy released by the Office of the Boulder County Coroner on Dec. 27, 1996.

According to the autopsy, she suffered from ligature strangulation and had a deep ligature furrow, or an indentation from something being tied, reaching all the way around her neck. There was also a ligature around her right wrist.

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A length of white cord was found wrapped around the neck with a double knot in the midline of the posterior neck, and the cord had been cut on the right side of the neck and removed, the autopsy says.

JonBenet also had a scalp contusion, or bruise, as well as a fracture on the right side of her skull.

Other head injuries included subarachnoid and subdural hemorrhage, which are both types of bleeding in the brain, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

In addition, the autopsy notes abrasions on her right cheek, right shoulder, left lower back, and left lower leg.

The autopsy also notes an area of abrasion involving the hymen and distal right lateral vaginal wall, as well as a small amount of dried blood on parts of the perineum and labia majora.

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The report notes additionally that a toxicologic screening detected no drugs or ethanol in her blood.

What else did her autopsy find?

JonBenet was first examined at the Ramseys home by pathologist John E. Meyer on the night she was murdered on Dec. 26.

I initially viewed the body in the living room of the house, Meyer wrote in the autopsy. The decedent was laying on her back on the floor, covered by a blanket and a Colorado Avalanche sweatshirt. On removing these two items from the top of the body the decedent was found to be lying on her back with her arms extended up over her head.

He noted that Ramsey was just under four feet tall and weighed an estimated 45 pounds.

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The autopsy also noted that she was found wearing a yellow bracelet with the name JonBenet on one side and the date 12/25/96 on the other side. She also had a red ink line drawing in the form of a heart located on her left palm.

According to the autopsy, JonBenet was found wearing a long-sleeved, white collarless shirt decorated with sequins, as well as white long underwear.

Her underwear was urine stained, and in the inner aspect of the crotch, there were several red areas of staining, according to the autopsy.

Several items were turned over to the Boulder Police Department as evidence according to the autopsy, including fibers and hair, ligatures found on the scene, and clothing, as well as vaginal, rectal and oral swabs and smears.

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Pieces of evidence also turned over to the police included fingernail clippings, jewelry, samples of hair, eyelashes and eyebrows, and blood samples, among other items.

After Meyers initial examination of Ramsey at her family home, he conducted a full autopsy the following day, doing an internal exam of her body, including her lungs, heart, liver, musculoskeletal system, skull and brain.

JonBenet was buried on Dec. 31, 1996, in Marietta, Georgia.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
A pro-Russian critic of Nato has taken the lead in the first round of Romanias presidential elections, in a shock result that could upend its support for Ukraine.

Calin Georgescu, an ultra-nationalist who campaigned heavily on the Chinese social media network TikTok, came in first place with 23 per cent of the vote.

He now faces a run-off against Elena Lasconi, of the liberal Save Romania Union (USR), who finished in second place with a 19 per cent vote share.

Mr Georgescu has largely campaigned on TikTok

Clips on TikTok depict Mr Georgescu as a horseback riding, martial arts fighting anti-establishment figure

The first-round result is an earthquake for post-Communist Romanian politics because the polls had suggested that the incumbent centre-Left party led by Marcel Ciolacu, the prime minister, would easily win the race.

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Instead, Mr Ciolacus pro-EU Social Democrats party was knocked out after coming third.

Mr Georgescu, 62, said: Tonight, the Romanian people cried out for peace.

He added: And they shouted very loudly, extremely loudly. We are strong and brave, many of us voted, and even more will do so in the second round.

Romanias electoral authority last week urged Mr Georgescu to take down his clips that were clearly intended as campaign ads, but not labelled as such on TikTok

Mr Georgescu, a former UN human rights special rapporteur, has described Vladimir Putin as a man who loves his country.

Before Sundays election, he had been widely considered a fringe independent candidate who would only secure about 5 per cent of the vote.

The role of president in Romania grants significant decision-making powers on national security and foreign policy, meaning a victory for Mr Georgescu in the Dec 8 run-off would cause concern in EU and Nato circles.

Elena Lasconi, of the liberal Save Romania Union, finished in second place in the first round - Robert Ghement/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

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Romania shares a 400-mile border with Ukraine and has been a key player in support for Kyiv. It provides transit routes for Ukrainian grain supplies and has donated a Patriot air defence battery. Its Nato airbase is set to become the biggest in Europe.

Mr Georgescu, in addition to praising Putin, has described Romanias Nato missile defence shield in Deveselu as a shame of diplomacy.

Though he has not explicitly stated whether he supports Russias war, he has said that Romania should heed Russian wisdom when dealing with geopolitics.

There were suggestions that many Romanians cast their vote for Mr Georgescu as a protest against traditional parties - Andreea Campeanu/Reuters

Shortly before the vote, he launched a campaign on TikTok, where he has 285,000 followers, to call for an end to support for Ukraine and voiced scepticism of the benefits of Nato membership.

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In a 2021 interview, he claimed the alliance would not defend its members in the event of a Russian attack.

TikTok has been banned on British government devices over possible cybersecurity risks and for its links to Beijing, which has grown increasingly close to Moscow.

In response to the result, Cristian Pirvulescu, a political scientist, said: The far-Right is by far the big winner of this election.

Referring to the discrepancy between Mr Georgescus polling performance and the first-round result, Radu Magdin, an analyst, said: Never in our 34 years of democracy have we seen such a surge compared to surveys.

Marcel Ciolacu, the Romanian prime minister, had been a clear favourite to win the first round but was dumped out by voters - Andrei Pungovschi/AFP

The result was also a disaster for Romanias two incumbent parties, as Mr Ciolacus Social Democrats (PSD) and the centre-Right National Liberal party (PNL) were both knocked out in the first round. There were suggestions that many Romanians cast their vote for Mr Georgescu as a protest against traditional parties.

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The December run-off will be the first occasion in Romanias post-Communist history where the PSD does not field a presidential candidate.

Ion Marandici, an international relations expert at Rutgers University, said it was unlikely that TikTok was to blame for the shock result because of the age of its users.

He said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter: Georgescus rise is not due to TikTok as some have suggested [because] TikTok is mostly used by young people, who usually are not active voters and are not as conservative as Georgescu either. Georgescu did appear on several popular podcasts, though.

He also suggested that Mr Georgescus frequent appeals to traditional Christian values resonated with Romanian voters.

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He added: Georgescu adopted a mystical-religious discourse combined with anti-Western populism to appeal to a broad base of disillusioned voters seeking spiritual reassurance and simplistic solutions after the pandemic ended. He was also more eloquent than his opponents.

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Kamala Harris has been lying low since her defeat in the presidential race, unwinding with family and senior aides in Hawaii before heading back to the nations capital.

But privately, the vice president has been instructing advisers and allies to keep her options open  whether for a possible 2028 presidential run, or even to run for governor in her home state of California in two years. As Harris has repeated in phone calls, I am staying in the fight.

She is expected to explore those and other possible paths forward with family members over the winter holiday season, according to five people in the Harris inner circle, who were granted anonymity to discuss internal dynamics. Her deliberations follow an extraordinary four months in which Harris went from President Joe Bidens running mate to the top of the ticket, reenergizing Democrats before ultimately crashing on election night.

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She doesn't have to decide if she wants to run for something again in the next six months, said one former Harris campaign aide. The natural thing to do would be to set up some type of entity that would give her the opportunity to travel and give speeches and preserve her political relationships.



Most immediately, Harris and her advisers are working to define how and when she will speak out against Donald Trump and reassert her own role in the Democratic Party. Closing out her term as vice president, shes set to preside over certifying the November election she lost to Trump, and then appear at the once-and-future presidents inauguration on Jan. 20.

There will be a desire to hear her voice, and there wont be a vacuum for long, a person close to Harris said.

At the same time, Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, will have a long checklist to plow through before they leave the Naval Observatory for good.

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They have to decide whether theyll take up permanent residence at their home in Los Angeles, or establish a base elsewhere. No matter where Harris and her family live, some around her have expressed concerns about safety, as her Secret Service protection expires six months after stepping away.

Following her meteoric rise in Washington and California, there are internal questions about standing up a federal committee to raise money. It will be the first time in two decades that the former senator and career prosecutor will be out of public office. That means shell be standing up a personal office and nurturing her massive online presence without the organizing principle of day-to-day governing.

You just got to let them marinate in their own success, their own failures or their own mistakes or their achievements. This is personal, said Donna Brazile, a close ally of Harris and campaign manager for Al Gore, the last vice president who ran for president, lost, and never ran again. He instead made climate change the cause of his life.

Brazile recalled how Gore was given months before people demanded an answer about his next moves and that over the last few months Harris, despite her defeat, has earned a lot of political capital. You don't squander that by making snap decisions.

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While other Democrats have lost presidential races and been forced to regroup, none in the modern era inherited the nomination roughly 100 days before the election. Indeed, most of the prior losses occurred after a carefully planned, and often arduous climb to the top. Harris, 60, is comparatively young.

There is no one  no one  who actually can relate to what shes been through these last four months. No one, said Paul Maslin, the Democratic pollster. And I wouldn't begrudge her at all to take some time and figure this out.

But others close to Harris believe that the current news cycle and speed at which the Democratic Party might start making decisions will force Harris, who tends to deliberate for long periods, to make some early decisions.

In interviews with Harris aides and confidants, as well as Democratic luminaries, theres broad acknowledgment that Harris represents an X factor in the next Democratic primary. While some Democrats are dismissive of a 2028 run  and few, if any, prospective opponents would defer to her  Harris notched more than 74 million votes and was able to build goodwill among a large group of Americans.

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The good news for Harris, according to her allies, is that her standing in the party increased the longer that she ran her short campaign, which is rare in electoral politics. Her allies believe that the toxicity that surrounded John Kerry or Hillary Clinton after their losses is unlikely to taint Harris political future in the same way.



They point to her running a race as a more moderate candidate (a break from her 2019 primary run) as a boon to whatever choice she ends up making as the party seems poised to do its own writ large move to the center.

She proved a lot of skeptics wrong as a political athlete. And her standing with the public is as good as any Democrats with the name I.D. that she has, a Harris ally told POLITICO.

A snap poll of the 2028 field found Harris at 41 percent, a significant lead over the others: Gavin Newsom, Josh Shapiro, Tim Walz, Pete Buttigieg, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Gretchen Whitmer, JB Pritzker, Andy Beshear and several others who all were in single digits.

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But Harris advantages are not unique. Similar surveys taken in the two months after the 2016 campaign, for example, found Clinton with a large lead for 2020, with majorities of Democrats saying they wanted her to run in the next cycle.

I cant conceivably imagine the party turning to her a second time, said one Democratic strategist granted anonymity to speak candidly.

If she opts not to run in 2028, the earliest clues about her political future could come around whether she runs to succeed Newsom in California, a prospect POLITICO first reported in May. Her office pushed back strongly at the time. Yet the mere idea of her running again in California has frozen the field and kept some fundraisers on the sidelines.

While theres disagreement among people who know Harris well about what office she should run for, theres emerging consensus that she probably cant do both  compete for governor and then turn around and start a presidential campaign a few weeks later.

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The calendar alone would make that difficult, with the 2028 primary gearing up immediately after the midterm elections. Harris confidants also point to the demands on a governors time, and the expectation of the electorate that she would stay home and dig into the states mounting challenges around the high cost of living, homelessness and crime.

Its a real job, is how one of the people close to her put it, contending they were at first dismissive of the idea she might do it, but now feel like its possible.

And if she doesnt run for governor, Harris will have to consider the cost of staying out of an open race in a state where other high-profile offices are not likely to come up soon. Both Senate seats will be filled for the foreseeable future by relatively youthful incumbent Sens. Alex Padilla, 51, and Adam Schiff, 64.

Advisers and aides to several other candidates conceded that a gubernatorial run would almost certainly clear the field of serious challengers, leaving a mix of Democratic also-rans and unproven self-financed candidates to take her on.

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The state hasnt elected a Republican to the office since Arnold Schwarzenegger nearly 20 years ago, and Harris, who would be about 70 after two terms, could view the governorship as a capstone of her political career, or potentially pass on 2028 and still run for president in 2032 if theres an opening.

She is not someone who makes rash decisions. She takes, sometimes, a painfully long time to make decisions. So I would pretty much guarantee you she has no idea what her next move is, said Brian Brokaw, a former Harris aide who has remained close to her circle.

Could she run for governor? Yes. Do I think she wants to run for governor? Probably not. Could she win? Definitely. Would she like the job? I don't know. Could she run for president again? Yes, Brokaw said. "Would she have a whole bunch of skepticism from the outset, because she has run in a full-length Democratic primary where [in 2019] she didn't even make it long enough to be in the Iowa caucus, and then she was the nominee this year?

He added: On the other hand, people can learn a lot from their previous adversity, too.
Kamala Harris is keeping her options open as she looks to her future political career. Despite losing her whirlwind presidential bid, the vice president is reportedly staying in the fight.

Sources in Harris' inner circle told Politico that her path forward could be a possible 2028 presidential run, or a bid for governor of California in two years. Harris, they say, is expected to explore these and other options with her family over the winter holidays.

She doesnt have to decide if she wants to run for something again in the next six months, one former Harris campaign aide said. The natural thing to do would be to set up some type of entity that would give her the opportunity to travel and give speeches and preserve her political relationships.

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Since her election defeat, Harris has been unwinding in Hawaii with her family and senior aides. However, as one person close to the vice president said, There will be a desire to hear her voice, and there wont be a vacuum for long, a person close to Harris said.

Harris and her advisers are reportedly working on defining how and when she will speak out against Donald Trump and re-emphasize her role in the Democratic Party.

Among her final duties as vice president, she will certifying the November election she lost to Trump, and then appear at her political rivals inauguration on Jan. 20.

Harris and her advisers are working to define how and when she will speak out against Donald Trump.

There is no one  no one  who actually can relate to what shes been through these last four months. No one, said Paul Maslin, a Democratic pollster.

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Harris' historic ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket, 100 days before the election strengthened her presence within the party. Her aides and party insiders claim she represents an X factor in the next Democratic primary.

Still, as one Democratic strategist told Politico, I cant conceivably imagine the party turning to her a second time.

Vice President Kamala Harris may run to succeed California Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2026.

Should Harris opt out of a second presidential bid, the earliest inklings about her next political move will likely be related to a potential plan to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom. A potential Harris gubernatorial candidacy was first reported on by Politico in May, an idea to which her office dismissed.

An October poll conducted the University of California at Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and co-sponsored by The Los Angeles Times reported that 46 percent of registered voters in California said they would back Harris' in the 2026 gubernatorial election.

If Harris chooses to not run for governor, she will have to weigh the consequences of bowing out of an open race in a state where other high-profile offices are unlikely to become vacant soon. Both of Californias Senate seats will be filled for the foreseeable future by incumbent Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff .
The News in Brief Tuesday, November 26, 2024

On November 25, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili declared in a video address that the Georgian parliament had effectively ceased to exist after violating the Constitution. She criticized ruling party MPs, including Irakli Kobakhidze, a co-author of the Constitution, describing their roles as temporary.Zourabichvili expressed faith in Georgia's youth, asserting that the country's future lies in their hands. She called for preparation for imminent free and fair elections and emphasized the need for new political forces to take shape.She advised Georgians to focus on readiness rather than daily protests, relying on themselves and the support of international partners, who she assured would not abandon Georgia.Addressing talks about her travels abroad, Zourabichvili promised transparency about any trips and reaffirmed her commitment to staying in Georgia, preparing alongside the public for upcoming elections.Anatoli Gigauri, arrested during a rally on Rustaveli Avenue on November 24, was allegedly beaten by police, according to his lawyer, Lasha Tsutskiridze.The lawyer stated that Gigauri sustained visible injuries, including bruises and damage around his eye socket. "As he explained, the injuries were inflicted by several policemen before his arrest," Tsutskiridze said. The incident reportedly occurred just as Gigauri was being taken into custody.Tsutskiridze announced plans to formally request an investigation from the Special Investigation Service.
BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- A public prosecution has been initiated against Ling Chengxing, former head of China's State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, on charges of bribery and abuse of power.

Following the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP)'s designation, the Changchun Municipal People's Procuratorate in northeast China's Jilin Province recently filed a lawsuit against him with the Intermediate People's Court of Changchun, according to an SPP statement released Monday.

The lawsuit follows the conclusion of an investigation by the National Commission of Supervision into Ling's case.

According to prosecutors, Ling had exploited his position as vice governor of Jiangxi Province, as well as his roles in the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration and the China National Tobacco Corporation, to secure benefits for others and accept "extremely large" bribes.

He was also accused of abusing his authority at the state-owned tobacco corporation, causing "especially serious losses" to state assets and interests. 
AUSTIN (KXAN)  A woman in Hays County was sentenced Nov. 18 in connection with a charge for pretending to be an attorney licensed to practice law in Texas.

PAST COVERAGE | Dripping Springs woman charged with pretending to be a Texas lawyer

According to court documents, Nichole Elizabeth Humes was placed on deferred adjudication for five years after pleading guilty to a charge of falsely holding oneself out as a lawyer.

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The third-degree felony charge was based on alleged misrepresentations in November 2022.

Court documents showed Humes must also pay a fine of $1,500 and perform 250 hours of community service related to the sentencing.

In Texas, deferred adjudication is a type of probation that allows the person sentenced to keep the conviction off their criminal record.

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BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN)  Boardman High Schools beloved administrative assistant has won a statewide award.

Cheryl Dutko has been named the 2024 Ohio Administrative Assistant of the Year.

She was nominated by Associate Principal Anne Bott, who wrote, If there was a game show for administrative assistants, Cheryl Dutko would be the reigning champion, like Ken Jennings on Jeopardy.

Bott said Dutko knows her job and everyone elses, as well as how to make their school a special place. She praised Dutkos kindness and diligent dedication as she attends to the needs of nearly 1,300 people at Boardman High School.

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Dutko also received three additional letters of support  from a parent, a student and another staff member. They said she is the heart and soul of the building, keeps our school afloat and is one of the finest administrative assistants I have had the pleasure and honor to work with.

The district says Dutko has always been a part of Boardman Schools. She is a former PTA president and room mother. She is currently the treasurer for the Boardman Band and Orchestra Parents Organization, as well as a consistent volunteer, spectator and audience member.

Dutko will be honored at a ceremony in Columbus on Tuesday, Dec. 3.

The Ohio Association of Secondary School Administrators presents this award every year to recognize administrative assistants who make outstanding contributions to their schools.

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After six months of bargaining, the AFSCME Council 5 union reached a tentative agreement with Hennepin County for around 4,000 employees on Friday, promising more benefits and wage increases over the next three years.

Over 700 union members rallied at the Hennepin County Government Center on Nov. 12, calling for higher wages after employees called the county's opening offer "insulting" coming on the heels of Hennepin County commissioners proposing a 49% pay raise for themselves this summer, which was ultimately scrapped after public outcry.

On Friday, AFSCME Council 5 announced it had reached a tentative agreement with the county. The agreement includes a 4% wage increase for employees in 2025, 2026, and 2027, compounded annually. This is a significant increase from the county's opening offer of a 1%, 0.5%, and 0.5% increase over the next three years.

Nov. 12 rally at Hennepin County Government Center Max Hall, AFSCME Council 5

"This major agreement is a win for every AFSCME member and every family that relies on the critical services provided by Hennepin County workers," Bart Andersen, Executive Director of AFSCME Council 5, said. "Our union members fought hard at the bargaining table and away from the table for this agreement, and it delivers sector-leading benefits, competitive wages, and much-needed workplace improvements."

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Employees who decide to work night shifts will see an increase of $1.10/hour, and those who work weekends will also see a raise of $1.40/hour for local unions 34, 552, 2864, and 2938. Weekend pay will increase to $2.00/hour for Local 1719 workers.

The agreement also caps the amount employees pay for insurance deductibles at $500 for a single worker and $1,000 for a worker with their spouse and/or children.

The agreement will be sent to AFSCME members for a ratification vote.

"This tentative agreement proves that when working people are united behind our union values, organized, and encouraged to take action, we can improve our standards of living, our workplaces, and our communities. That is the power of being a union member," Andersen said.

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Hennepin County is the second largest employer where Council 5 represents workers, and this agreement is a victory not just for our union members but for residents of Hennepin County and all Minnesotans who benefit from the dedication and excellence of these workers.

Related: Hennepin County employees rally for higher wages, call opening offer 'insulting'
Rep. Delia Ramirez spent the lead-up to the presidential election absorbing Republicans pledge to mass-deport unauthorized immigrants and processing many Democrats rightward shift on the issue. She was also fearing for the fate of her husband and other undocumented loved ones.

For years, Ramirez and her husband, Boris Hernandez, navigated life as one of the millions of mixed-status households in the United States. When the 118th Congress convened after the 2022 midterms, Ramirez, a Democrat, was sworn in as the first Latina ever elected to Congress from Illinois  and the only member openly residing with an undocumented immigrant.

Ramirez will join a Republican-controlled Congress for a second term in January. Her experiences as the wife of an undocumented immigrant and daughter of immigrants who entered the United States through its southern border will help shape Democrats response to President-elect Donald Trumps expansive immigration agenda, which includes deploying the military to carry out the nations largest deportation effort.

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With less than 60 days until the presidential inauguration, Ramirez has been urging the Biden administration to take executive and administrative action to mitigate the impact of Trumps proposed policies. Her key concerns: the prospect of family separation and the ripple effects of mass deportations on the U.S. economy.

Were moving into what I believe to be one of the most dangerous policies this country has seen in a very long time, Ramirez said in an interview with The 19th. Trumps plans, she said, will cause a massive partition in the country, with lifelong effects for mixed-status families, who could become separated, and for communities that could see many of their members  and workforce  vanish.

Ramirez also said she believes federal policymakers havent had enough conversations about the impact of their approach to the LGBTQ+ asylum-seekers in this country  the fears and death threats that are very real, she said, and what it means to be deported back to a country that doesnt accept them because of either their gender or sexuality.

There are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. What happens to them doesnt stop with them; their removal has deep and lasting consequences for their spouses, children and the extended family networks in the United States. A 2023 Pew Research Center analysis of available data found that 5 percent of U.S. households include at least one person who is undocumented. Almost 70 percent of these households are considered mixed status  in other words, they are made up of authorized and unauthorized immigrants, as well as U.S.-born citizens. About 4.4 million U.S.-born children under 18 live with an unauthorized immigrant parent, the analysis says.

Migrants walk through an abandoned railroad in Jacumba Hot Springs, San Diego, California, in June 2024. (Qian Weizhong/VCG/Getty Images)

For Ramirez, speaking about the experience of these immigrants has been a constant part of her time in Congress. As the vice ranking member of the Committee on Homeland Security and a member of its subcommittee on border security and enforcement, Ramirez has had a front seat to the dehumanizing comments about immigrants from a lot of the same Republican lawmakers who will now help advance Trumps immigration agenda.

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Im the only member of Congress that was in a mixed-status family in this building, and it was emotional. I sat in rooms  continue to sit in rooms  with the very same committee that talks about my husband, my uncle and my brothers and sister-in-law as if theyre less than human; as if theyre criminals, Ramirez told The 19th from her office in Capitol Hill.

To be in the space to have such a personal connection to this experience with people that dont see the humanity of my own family is anything but easy, she said.

Ramirez has also criticized colleagues in her own party for negotiating a border bill that, among other things, would have made it harder for people to seek asylum in the United States and that didnt include a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, including those who were brought to the country as children, a group that Democrats have promised to shore up. A majority of these immigrants, a group known as Dreamers, are women.

In interviews at the time, Ramirez pointed out that negotiations about the bill didnt include any members of the Hispanic caucus, even though a majority of undocumented immigrants are from Latin America. More recently, she praised the Biden administrations program to create a pathway to citizenship for spouses of undocumented immigrants, but criticized its June order to restrict asylum eligibility at the U.S.-Mexico border.

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Its been a challenge to have some very critical and difficult conversations, oftentimes with my party, oftentimes publicly denouncing some of the policies that President Biden has implemented, Ramirez said.There is no doubt that Democrats certainly have a lot of work to do to actually understand immigration and how we define the policy solutions around it.

In the lead-up to Trumps second term, immigrants rights groups are asking the Biden administration to speed up the processing of applications for temporary protection programs. These include the renewal of residency permits for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, who are temporarily authorized to live and work in the United States under an Obama-era program whose validity has been and likely will be challenged by the Trump administration.

The groups have also pushed to speed up work permit renewals for refugees and asylum-seekers. Representatives from the Americans for Civil Liberties Union on Thursday publicly asked the Biden administration to help limit mass deportations by closing down Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities with egregious records of human rights violations and abuses and halt the ongoing expansion of detention centers.

Ramirez said she is working to encourage the administration to heed the advice of immigrants rights groups, though she wouldnt say which specific requests she is prioritizing to avoid derailing the work. We are directly engaging the administration in every possible way, in their face day to day, to encourage them, to demand of them to do everything they can between now and January, Ramirez said.

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She will bring back to Congress a passion for an issue rooted in her familys experiences with the nations immigration system  one both Democrats and Republicans agree is broken. Ramirez said immigration is engraved in my heart and my soul: Her mother left Guatemala and crossed the Rio Grande into Texas while pregnant with Ramirez. She said her mothers journey became more palpable during a visit to the border alongside other members of Congress.

I was walking through this detention center watching these women laying there with no beds, no chairs and those aluminum foil blankets. And one of them, a pregnant woman, ran to the window, to the glass, and whispered to me to help her, Ramirez recalled. That could not have been more real and more traumatizing for me. It was like I was seeing my own mother, and now Im the vice-ranking member of Homeland Security.

Her familys immigration story is a part of her biography that will become more salient given Trumps proposal to end birthright citizenship. Trumps Agenda 47, a document detailing the policies of his next administration, argues that the 14th Amendment has been misinterpreted and that it grants citizenship only to children of at least one parent legally authorized to reside in the United States.

Trump has promised to issue an executive order on the first day of his second administration to end citizenship rights to children born in the United States to undocumented parents. Ramirez has called the proposal un-American.

One of Trumps most talked-about plans, displayed in official placards at the Republican National Convention calling for Mass Deportations Now, represented a threat to Ramirezs own household until days before the election. Thats when her husband got a notice from the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services granting his petition for permanent residency as the spouse of a U.S. citizen.

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Hernandez was 14 when he immigrated to the United States in 2000 with his older brother, fleeing poverty in Guatemala. Ramirez said the process to legalize his status took three years and cost $15,000. The couple were granted an interview in March and after a turbulent summer and fall, received a final decision right before the election.

The news arrived by email, at 2:22pm, on that Sunday, Nov. 3, she said. After 24 years in this country, Boris is no longer undocumented. He is now a legal permanent resident. And thats important, and it was emotional, Ramirez added. With that said, our joy probably lasted about 10 minutes because it was really difficult for my husband to remain joyful when he began to make the calls to his family.

Delia Ramirez is seen in her kitchen with her husband, Boris Hernandez, and other family members. (Raul Juarez)

Hernandez has siblings who are living in the United States under the temporary permission given to them under the DACA program. Other siblings were not eligible, so they are in limbo  and certainly in this precise moment, living with so much fear, she said.

Then, there was this: One of Hernandezs brothers died on Election Day. When he was buried, Ramirez recalled being struck by the thought that he had reached a different kind of permanent status in the United States with his death.

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These experiences will shape her work speaking to members of both parties  and the broader public  about an approach to immigration that protects the nations role as a place of refuge, protects families and communities, and allows the country to continue to benefit from the labor of undocumented immigrants.

Congress has failed mixed-status families, immigrants and Americans for decades. My party and the Republican Party and a lot of people in this building have no idea what immigration and the process of immigration really is, Ramirez said. I have a responsibility to help educate and inform and bring people along into a space that for me is so obvious and clear because I live in it.

That work cant wait until Trump takes office.

Funny enough, she quipped, I literally have my sleeves rolled up right now.

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The post Her spouse was undocumented when she entered Congress. Trumps mass deportation plans are personal. appeared first on The 19th.

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Sean Diddy Combs walked into a New York City court room Friday, Nov. 22 hoping a judge will grant him an early release on bail. With this marking the third time Diddy has tried to get bail, theres a lot at stake for the disgraced Hip-Hop mogul facing sex trafficking and racketeering charges.



A judge is expected to rule on the matter sometime this week. If Combs is released, this means hell be spending the holiday season with his family. According to his lawyers, Diddy is set to stay in a three-bedroom Manhattan apartment until his trial begins next year if released. If not, all thatll be on Diddys Thanksgiving dinner plate are peanut butter sandwiches and chips in his jail cell, according to TMZ.

But heres the issue... even though Combs has been in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since his September indictment, theres been ongoing concerns about potential witness tampering. Matter of fact, thats partly why he was denied bond the first two times.

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Prosecutors say Combs has made relentless efforts to contact potential witnesses, including victims of his abuse who could provide powerful testimony against him. Although his attorneys deny this, itll be up to Judge Arun Subramanian to decide Diddys fate this time.

During Fridays two-hour bail hearing, Judge Subramanian told both the U.S. Attorneys office and the defense to gather more details on the matter in which Combs has been communicating from his jail cell, according to PEOPLE. Both sides had to submit this information by 12 p.m. Monday, Nov. 25 for the judge to make his decision.

In addition to putting up $50 million for bail, Diddy would also have to follow strict protocols ahead of his trail. Now, we must wait and see what the judge comes up with. His decision is expected some time this week.

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ODESSA, Texas(KMID/KPEJ)-Adult Protective Services investigates abuse, neglect, and exploitation of adults who are elderly or have disabilities and who live in the community. But the organization also improves the quality of life for underserved community members.

Were the fundraising leg of Adult Protective Services. We support APS by raising funds and giving them additional money that they are able to help the clients said, Janet Kincaid the Treasurer of Adult Protective Services.

APS helps any adult who has a disability or who is age 65 or older that is in a state of abuse, neglect, or exploitation may be eligible to receive adult protective services. They serve this population of the community by providing various services like bill assistance, household chores and much more.

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Helping replace roofs, there are things like a sanitation line that got clogged, gas line repairsa lot of home modifications. Weve done walk in shower like tub conversions because elderly get to a point in their lives where they cant do things without fallings or things that are going to endanger them said Kincaid.

If you suspect abuse or know anyone who needs assistance, please report it here.

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ANKARA, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Four people were missing on Monday in Turkiye's northern province of Ordu as heavy snowfall gripped much of the country since the weekend.

The four individuals were stranded in the Mesudiye district, the state-run TRT broadcaster reported, quoting Ordu Governor Muammer Erol.

The group, identified as Murat and Ferhat Gunay along with Hudaverdi and Baris Aslantas, had traveled to the Topcam area for hunting on Saturday, according to the governor.

The group informed their families that they were sheltering in a mosque and urgently requested assistance. However, rescue teams could not reach the area due to severe storms.

Communication with the stranded group had been intermittent and was eventually lost. "Our priority is to ensure the safety of both the stranded individuals and our rescue teams," Erol said, adding that the rescue operation involved 23 personnel and seven vehicles.

Snowfall and storms have caused road closures and accidents across Turkiye. 
CHICAGO  The sound of voices and instruments filled Holy Name Cathedral Sunday for a joyous occasion.

A special Mass was held to honor Holy Name Cathedrals 175th anniversary.

Today, it seems so appropriate to celebrate this anniversary on a day in which the church year comes to a close and we anticipate the beginning of a new church year with the first Sunday of Advent next week, Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago said.

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The church also took a moment to honor Cardinal Cupich whos celebrating 10 years as Archbishop of Chicago.

The cathedral was packed on that day as it was today. So I really feel very at home with these people who have welcomed me, Cupich said.

Thousands of parishioners came out to celebrate with the clergy as well.

SEE ALSO: Holy Name celebrates 175 years: The source and summit of celebration in Chicago

175 years is a long super time. The fact that its been a monumental part of our city has just been awesome to see, parishioner Killian Stevens said.

Holy Name Church was dedicated on Nov. 18, 1849. Its original building was lost in the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. Holy Name Cathedral was built four years later.

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Right now were celebrating 175 years as a parish and next Nov. 21, 2025, well celebrate 150 years as a cathedral, said Fr. Greg Sakowicz.

Today, Holy Name serves as a parish and the seat of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Their staff serves the spiritual needs of over two million Catholics in the Chicago area.

I actually showed up with my girlfriends just as a visitor, and the warm welcome we had from the current pastor at that time, he remembered our names, invited us back and weve all been parishioners ever since, Kimberlee Curnyn said.

Cupich said this milestone isnt just to celebrate the past, its also about looking ahead to how the parish will serve people for generations to come.

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Charles Romer, a retired oil company executive, and his wife Catherine were last heard from on April 6, 1980

First Coast News/YouTube Brunswick pond where suspected car belonging to missing couple was found Brunswick pond where suspected car belonging to missing couple was found

Authorities in Georgia announced that human remains found inside a submerged vehicle in a pond may be connected to a case surrounding a couple who went missing over 40 years ago.

Glynn County Police said in a news release that the remains were discovered on Friday, Nov. 23, in a pond between the Royal Inn Hotel and Interstate 95 on New Jesup Highway.

The police said that a group from Florida called Sunshine State Sonar found a Lincoln Continental, a vehicle that was similar in description to the one that Charles and Catherine Romer may have been driving when they were reported missing in April 1980.

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Related: Human Remains Discovered by Hiker in Utah Canyon: 'We Don't Know Exactly How Long They've Been There'

Investigators  with the assistance of the Camden County Dive Team  found one human bone in the vehicle and the pond is being drained to see if there are additional remains, said the police in its news release.

Glynn County Police added there is no conclusion on the identity of the discovered remains at the time being.

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The investigation is ongoing, concluded the polices statement. Those with information about the case should contact Glynn County Police.

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In an Oct. 9, 1985 story published in The New York Times, Charles Romer, 74, a retired oil company executive from Scarsdale, New York, and his wife Catherine, 76, were last heard from on April 6, 1980. At the time, the couple was leaving Miami Beach and heading to Scarsdale.

Related: Remains Found in Pa. Over 50 Years Ago Identified as Missing Girl, 14, Who 'Never Returned Home' from School

The newspaper reported that on April 8, 1980, the couple stopped at a Holiday Inn in Brunswick, Georgia. They unpacked their belongings in their hotel room and then disappeared. Among the items found in the room were tax returns and glasses and a bottle of Scotch; a bed was reportedly turned.

The couples car was never located, according to the Times, adding that Catherine Romer had jewelry valued between $60,000 and $80,000.

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Five years after the couples disappearance, a Westchester County surrogate declared Charles Romer dead, the newspaper reported. According to Romers two sons, their father left behind an estate worth $1.2 million.

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PEOPLE contacted the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, who is investigating the case along with Glynn County Police, on Monday, Nov. 25 for additional information.

Related: Woman Finds Bone of Missing Man She Knew as a Child: 'He Still Had His Whole Life Ahead of Him'

In a Nov. 23 Facebook post, Sunshine State Sonar, which describes itself as a sonar search and recovery unit, also shared the news about last weeks discovery of human remains in the Georgia pond. The unit said the operation involved them and various law enforcement agencies.

At this time, we will not be disclosing the identities of the victims or any specific details, read Sunshine State Sonars post. The investigation is ongoing and active. We extend our deepest sympathies to the victims' family during this difficult time.

Andy Mavromat, who formerly managed the Holiday Inn  now known as the Royal Inn  four years after the Romers disappearance, told NBC affiliate WTLV: I just hope, whatever happens, however it plays out, it brings closure for the family.
My husband and I went to Cap's Place, a historic Florida restaurant only accessible by boat.

We took a free boat ride to the restaurant, where I enjoyed some of the best seafood I've ever had.

I'd recommend Cap's Place to anyone looking for a unique night out in the Fort Lauderdale area.

As a lifelong Florida resident, I love visiting under-the-radar spots throughout the state.

Recently, I decided to visit Cap's Place Island Restaurant, just north of downtown Fort Lauderdale. The restaurant, which is listed on the US National Register of Historic Places, opened in 1928 as a restaurant and gambling den.

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Today, Cap's Place is known for its seafood fare, speakeasy ambiance, and, best of all, sending a boat to pick up and drop off patrons during operating hours.

Recently, my husband and I decided to experience the boat ride and grab some seafood at Cap's Place. I'd been to the restaurant before, though it had been years since my last visit.

Here's what the experience was like.

To get to Cap's Place, we headed to the docks in Lighthouse Point.

Cap's Place operates a boat that picks passengers up in Lighthouse Point. Linnea Bailey

Cap's Place, which is on a peninsula between Lake Placid and Florida's Intracoastal Waterway, ferries customers to the restaurant in a custom-built water taxi that can hold up to 25 people.

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To get to the restaurant in time for our 7 p.m. reservation, we drove through winding neighborhood streets until we reached Cap's Dock, marked with a wooden sign next to a marina.

We parked in the lot and made our way to the dock, where we admired the views of Lake Placid.

We were a little worried at first because the boat wasn't at the dock.

After a short wait, the boat arrived to pick us up. Linnea Bailey

We didn't see the boat at the dock at first, so we called the restaurant. The staff assured us the captain would be back shortly, and sure enough, the boat was at Cap's Dock within minutes.

When he arrived, the captain told us the boat makes trips back and forth to the dock all evening. If the boat isn't at the port, guests can trust it will return soon.

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On the boat, we enjoyed the views of Lake Placid and the homes lining its shore.

The short boat ride offered pretty views. Linnea Bailey

When we sat down, the boat felt cozy and elegant. The perimeter of the open-air cabin was lined with seating, and the entire area was covered by a small roof.

The ride to the restaurant, which took about 10 minutes, felt like traveling to a tropical island. The restaurant is surrounded by mangroves and just out of sight from Cap's Dock.

Along the way, we passed stately mansions, yachts anchored at private docks, and graceful birds flying above the calm water.

The boat ride was free (though tips are appreciated). We tipped $10 on both our rides, to and from the restaurant.

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Arriving at the dock at Cap's Place felt like stepping back in time.

After we arrived at the dock, we had a short walk to the restaurant. Linnea Bailey

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Even before walking up the path to Cap's Place, I felt like I'd arrived in old Florida  a time when the state's natural beauty ran wild. The only sound was the lapping of the water against the dock.

We followed a path made of wooden planks that led directly to the restaurant and bar at Cap's Place.

The bar, which was in a separate building, was filled with memorabilia, photographs, and newspaper clippings.

I loved soaking in the history of Cap's Place. Linnea Bailey

The restaurant is owned and managed by the three children of Al Hasis, who helped Captain Eugene Theodore Knight, or "Cap," found the restaurant nearly 100 years ago.

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At least one of the siblings  Talle, Ted, and Tom  can usually be found at the restaurant during operating hours.

As I walked into the bar, I noticed newspaper clippings, photos, nautical items, and art prints depicting the restaurant's long history hanging on the walls.

I loved learning about the restaurant's construction (it was originally built on a beached barge) and looking at pictures from the owners' childhood.

We ordered drinks and enjoyed the room's wood furnishings and twinkling lights.

The bar area felt cozy. Linnea Bailey

At the bar, we ordered two drinks and conversed with one of the owners, Tom.

As we drank, he told us stories about the restaurant's success during Prohibition, when smuggling alcohol from Bimini (a district in the Bahamas) was a known service.

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He also told us about some of the celebrities  such as Joe DiMaggio who he said had dined at Cap's Place.

We spent $30 on a vodka tonic and a glass of wine, including the tip.

Next, we headed to the restaurant for dinner and ate a delicious seafood feast.

The Maryland-style crab cakes were delicious. Linnea Bailey

When we moved to the restaurant, which is adjacent to the bar, Talle showed us to our table. The dining area, a spacious wood-frame building filled with large glass windows, offered beautiful water views.

We ordered an Okeechobee hearts-of-palm salad and another glass of wine. Cap's Place specializes in seafood, so we got the Maryland-style crab cakes and yellowtail snapper as entrees.

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It was some of the most delicious fare I've ever eaten. For dessert, we split a piece of key-lime pie, which was sweet and tangy.

We spent $150 on our dinner, including the tip.

After a short walk around the property, we caught the boat back to the dock.

We headed back home at about 10 p.m. Linnea Bailey

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At about 10 p.m., we headed to the dock and caught the boat back to the port.

Along the way, soft glittering lights from houses reflected on the water, and there was a nice breeze. It was a magnificent evening out.

I'd recommend Cap's Place to anyone in the Fort Lauderdale area, and I'm already planning our next visit.

I can't wait to go back to Cap's Place. Linnea Bailey

Since our dinner at Cap's Place, I've been telling everyone how remarkable this historic restaurant was. The boat ride, the food, and the owners of the restaurant were amazing.

Altogether, we spent about $200 on food, drinks, and tips. It's more than I'd normally pay for a night out, but it feels worth it for a place steeped in Florida history.

I can't wait to take the short boat journey and enjoy the delicious food at Cap's Place again.

Read the original article on Business Insider
ILLINOIS (WCIA)  An Illinois State Senator is working to pass legislation to improve the lives of children in state care.

Mattie Hunters legislation  the Kinship in Demand (KIND) Act  focuses on increasing support to relative caregivers and reducing barriers to permanency.

Anti-abortion groups sue Pritzker, other state officials over state law requiring insurance policies to cover abortion care

Current licensing procedures create unnecessary roadblocks to financial assistance for relatives serving as caregivers, Hunter said. Research shows children are better off when they can maintain connections to their families and traditions. We need to provide these families with the support they need to make this possible.

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House Bill 4781 works to improve family connections and outcomes for children in foster care. The bill would require the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to notify relatives within 30 days of a childs entry into care. Hunter said this will strengthen family engagement.

According to Hunter, relative caregivers must get the same license as foster parents in Illinois which creates a barrier to certification and financial support.

Under the KIND Act however, DCFS will create a special process tailored to relative caregivers. This will maximize access to federal funds and provide more financial resources.

Children deserve stability and should not have to grow up in different foster homes, Hunter said. With the KIND Act, we are making certification feasible for relatives willing to step into the caregiver role.

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On Thursday, the Senate passed House Bill 4781 with bipartisan support.

Inmate attacks two corrections officers at Sangamon Co. Jail

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said that assuming the House also passes the KIND Act, it will make life better for youth under the care of DCFS.

For too long, Illinois policy failed to recognize the valuable role played by relatives who step in to care for youth when DCFS removes these children from their parents, Nora Collins-Mandeville, director of Systems Reform Policy at the ACLU, said. The KIND Act corrects that flaw, recognizing the positive role these relatives play in the lives of children  whose lives have been disrupted  and provides the same resources to care for the child made available to foster parents who may well be strangers.

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Collins-Mandeville said research shows that keeping children with a relative rather than foster parents improves well-being.

Staying with a family member lessens trauma of family separation, reduces the number of times a child is moved, enhances permanency options if youth cannot be reunified, results in higher placement satisfaction for youth in care, and delivers better social, behavioral, mental health, and educational outcomes for youth than when they are placed in non-kin foster care, Collins-Mandeville said.

Because of these findings, Collins-Mandeville said the House of Representatives should vote on House Bill 4781 immediately.

We thank Senator Mattie Hunter for her stalwart leadership and relentless efforts to secure passage of the KIND Act. We urge the House of Representatives to act to concur with the Senate vote as soon as possible, Collins-Mandeville said.

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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 WCIA.com.
Illegal lockouts are on the rise in Milwaukee County, according to Brittany Schoenick, an attorney with Legal Action.

Landlords and property owners sometimes opt for illegal lockouts, also called self-help evictions, to save cash and time. However, it's illegal in Wisconsin.

In order to remove tenants from properties, Wisconsin law requires property owners to file for an eviction in court.

Still, landlords often hold the upper hand in this situation, Schoenick said. Here's what renters should know:

What is an illegal lockout?

An illegal lockout is an unlawful eviction. It comes in many forms. It can be landlords changing the locks or cutting utilities to try to force a tenant out. It can be city police ordering a person to leave their residence without proof of a court-ordered eviction.

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If an eviction hasn't been filed with the court, the landlord or property owner can't restrict the resident's access to the property.

More: 'It's an abuse of power': Greenfield police, property owner evict resident after foreclosure

What actions can residents take?

There isn't an immediate path for recourse against landlords who kick residents out without an eviction notice, Schoenick said. Usually, the only option is to hire an attorney and sue the landlord or property owner.

Legal Action of Wisconsin is taking on illegal lockout cases at no cost for those who qualify.

Residents can also file illegal lockout complaints with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. The department can help mediate the issue between the landlord and tenant and pursue enforcement action if needed, said department spokesperson Caleb Kulich.

Who can execute an eviction?

No matter where you are in Wisconsin, only the sheriff's office has the authority to evict a tenant. Nobody else  including police officers, property managers and landlords  can lock you out of your rental home.

How can I check if an eviction has been filed against me?

If you were served an eviction notice, you'd likely know it. Landlords must send tenants an eviction notice by certified mail or give it to them in person. If those options aren't possible, landlords must put the notice in a clearly visible location at the property and mail the notice to the tenant's most recent home address.

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Tenants can check if an eviction suit has been filed against them in court by entering their name on the Wisconsin Court Access Website, also known as CCAP.

How can tenants protect themselves from illegal lockouts?

Schoenick's main advice is to document everything. Screenshot text messages and emails from landlords. Wisconsin is also a one-party consent state for recording, so tenants can record their verbal conversations with landlords, too.

In cases where the locks are changed, take a video of the key not working.

Tenants can call the police if the locks were changed at their residence, but police may say it's a civil matter, Schoenick said. It may be helpful for tenants to keep a copy of their active lease agreement on their phone to show police.

Where can tenants in this situation go for help?

Legal Action of Wisconsin can offer legal advice, eviction prevention assistance and in-court representation in Milwaukee County and La Crosse County. Visit legalaction.org to apply or call 855-947-2529.

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There are several other groups tenants can reach out to for help, including Milwaukee Rental Housing Resource Center, Impact 211 or Community Advocates.

Gina Lee Castro is a Public Investigator reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at gcastro@gannett.com.

.

Public Investigator answers your questions

Government corruption. Corporate wrongdoing. Consumer complaints. Medical scams. Public Investigator is a new initiative of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and its sister newsrooms across Wisconsin. Our team wants to hear your tips, chase the leads and uncover the truth. We'll investigate anywhere in Wisconsin. Send your tips to watchdog@journalsentinel.com or call 414-319-9061. You can also submit tips at jsonline.com/tips.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Illegal lockouts are on the rise. What Wisconsin renters should know
I'm a professional baker who tried apple pies from the stores Kroger, Whole Foods, and Safeway.

In my opinion, Kroger and Safeway's pies were quite underbaked and didn't taste great.

Whole Foods had the best option, but I'd probably just opt to make my own dessert at home.

I compared apple pies from Kroger, Whole Foods, and Safeway.

Apple pie is a fall staple. Molly Allen

Apple pie is delicious any time of year, but it's especially tasty in the fall.

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Baking a pie from scratch can require a lot of effort, and sometimes, you may need to take a shortcut.

So I tried options from Kroger, Whole Foods, and Safeway to find the best grocery-store apple pie you can pick up in a pinch.

I purchased a 9-inch toffee apple pie from Kroger.

Kroger's apple pie was toffee flavored. Molly Allen

Kroger's bakery offered a toffee apple pie, and the label said it was freshly baked in the store.

Surprisingly, I didn't see any typical lattice apple pies. The only other option was flavored like brown sugar and maple, so I went with the toffee one.

The pie was underbaked and I thought it had a strange flavor.

Kroger's apple pie tasted a bit artificial. Molly Allen

The golden apple pie from Kroger looked very good, but cutting into it was incredibly difficult. It was soft and mushy, and it started to fall apart as I removed a slice.

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The bottom crust on this pie seemed underbaked, and the streusel topping was doughy. It certainly needed more time to cook. That said, it could've just been that someone took my particular pie out of the oven too soon.

The outer crust was good, but the rest of the pie's flavor fell flat for me. I thought the apple filling had an odd artificial taste, and the soft texture was unappetizing.

Whole Foods typically sells halves of 9-inch apple pies.

I had to buy two halves of a Whole Foods apple pie. Molly Allen

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When I arrived at Whole Foods, the only options were half pies. A bakery employee told me that the pies are baked in the morning, then are typically cut in half.

If you're looking for a whole pie, it's apparently best to call ahead in the morning and ask that one be set aside. I asked for two halves to be put in a box so I could take home an entire pie.

The pie tasted homemade.

Whole Foods' apple pie had a great flavor. Molly Allen

The flavor of Whole Foods' apple pie absolutely blew me away. It tasted homemade.

The crust was flaky and buttery. Even though the center wasn't quite fully baked, the filling still tasted fresh and flavorful with a slight crunch.

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The apples tasted fresh and had just a touch of sugar and cinnamon to enhance their flavor.

Other than the middle of the crust being a bit soft, it was a very good pie. Maybe the one I got was just taken out of the oven too soon.

I snagged an 11-inch apple pie from Safeway.

Safeway's apple pie was large and looked fantastic. Molly Allen

Safeway sells much larger pies, and I found both lattice and Dutch options. The raw pies apparently come to the store frozen and are then baked on-site.

I bought an 11-inch lattice pie.

Safeway's pie was beautiful, but it was underbaked and too sweet for me.

Safeway's apple pie let me down. Molly Allen

The apple pie from Safeway was beautiful, with a nice lattice topping. But it was tricky to cut  the slice fell apart as I removed it from the pie dish.

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The crust was underbaked and quite soggy in the middle, even though the outer portions had a nice golden look and crispy texture. I wondered if my specific pie was just not left in the oven long enough or not baked at an ideal temperature.

I also thought it tasted fairly bland and was not very flaky. Plus the filling tasted incredibly sweet to me, with an overwhelming cinnamon flavor.

Overall, each option was quick and convenient, but I'm not sure I'd buy any of them again.

If I had to buy one again, I'd choose Whole Foods' apple pie. Molly Allen

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It was easy to head into each store and find an apple pie when I visited in September. It was a bit trickier to get a whole one at Whole Foods, but the bakery employee I spoke to was incredibly helpful.

For each store, it's also possible to call ahead of time and ask the bakery to put a pie aside for you.

But I was disappointed that all three seemed to have an underbaked crust. It takes a lot of patience to bake an apple pie  at home, it can take close to an hour  but it seemed like each grocery story didn't leave the dessert in the oven long enough.

I thought Kroger and Safeway's pies tasted a bit too artificial, and their crusts did not impress me.

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If I needed to purchase a grocery-store apple pie again, I'd only consider Whole Foods' option because the flavor was so incredible. But in general, I'd probably just carve out the time to bake my own dessert at home.

This story was originally published on October 5, 2022, and most recently updated on November 25, 2024.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Nov. 24SANTA FE  New Mexico immigrant rights groups and Democratic state House Speaker Javier Martinez are advocating for state laws that would protect immigrants from the mass deportations promised by President-elect Donald Trump.

Friday at the Roundhouse, Martinez and representatives from Somos Un Pueblo Unido, El Centro de Igualdad y Derecho, Santa Fe Dreamers Project, New Mexico Immigrant Law Center and the Semilla Project announced policy proposals that include no state resources for enforcing federal immigration laws and restricting state and local governments from contracting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for civil immigration detention.

There are three ICE detention facilities in the state, and there may be an effort to expand those detention facilities by up to 1,000 beds, according to Teague Gonzalez, deputy director of programs, people and advocacy at New Mexico Immigrant Law Center.

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Mass deportations would negatively impact New Mexico's economy by reducing the work force in the oil and gas industry and the agricultural industry, according to Martinez.

"If the incoming president mass-deports millions of us, those industries in New Mexico will not only suffer; they will implode," Martinez said. He is an immigrant who moved to the U.S. from Mexico at age 7.

There are an estimated 60,000 undocumented immigrants living in New Mexico who pay more than $67.7 million annually in state and local taxes, said Zulema Chavero, citizenship coordinator for Somos Un Pueblo Unido. The immigrant rights movement in the state has grown more robust since the first Trump presidency, she said.

"We have gathered here today to show our strength and intention to work together to ensure state resources and funding we have helped generate through our labor in key industries and through our taxes are not used to increase deportations, separate families and destabilize small business and local economies," Chavero said.

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Thursday on on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" show, Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham reaffirmed her previous statements that New Mexico would resist Trump's push for mass deportations . The federal government should be investing more in border patrol agents and stopping violent crime, she said.

"Disrupting family status and the economy, inhumane, cruel, unfair, discriminate policies that are illegal on their face  we are not going to cooperate in any way in that effort," Lujan Grisham said.

Republican Party Chair of New Mexico Steve Pearce said Lujan Grisham needs to cooperate with Trump.

"Too many lives have been taken by violent criminals and fentanyl smugglers who have taken advantage of the open border. This disregard for our citizens must end," Pearce said in a statement.

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The legislative proposals from Martinez and the immigrant rights groups include limiting state employees' sharing of sensitive information with outside organizations to prevent drivers license data from in turn being shared with ICE through data brokers.

Somos Un Pueblo Unido and Focused Futures will publish a report in December that shows how third-party data brokers are selling information from New Mexico to ICE, said Marcela Diaz, executive director of Somos Un Pueblo Unido. The advocacy group is looking at how other states have tightened protections around their MVD data bases so it can make recommendations to the Legislature in January.

Another policy proposal is to make it easier for undocumented crime victims to get U-visa certifications. The U-visa is available to certain survivors of crime who are willing to cooperate with local law enforcement in prosecuting the people who perpetrated the crime. It can give someone employment authorization and a pathway to citizenship. It requires a certification, usually from local law enforcement.

The proposed bill would expand the limited number of certifying entities, said Gonzalez. For example, someone staying at a domestic violence shelter could take a statement from the police and the shelter would be able to do the certification.

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"There is a difference between border security and mass deportations," Martinez said. He charged that the majority of fentanyl being brought into the country is coming with U.S. citizens through legal ports of entry.

"I challenge the federal government to maybe start checking more of those big 18-wheelers that come across the border ... because that's probably where it's coming from. Yet we have been made the scapegoat," Martinez said.
BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China (CPC) in Dialogue with Political Parties of Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) 2024 event was held in Beijing on Monday, with China and CEEC agreeing to advance cooperation between political parties and improve ties.

Noting that the 2021 China-CEEC Summit outlined a blueprint for the development of China-CEEC relations, Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, said that the CPC is willing to work with CEEC political parties to deepen strategic and theoretical communication, tap into the potential of relevant cooperation platforms, and promote the quality and effectiveness of China-CEEC cooperation.

The foreign attendees said that China's development path has provided an alternative approach to development for the world, and that they are willing to strengthen exchange and dialogue with the CPC to enhance mutual understanding, and to promote the development of Europe-China relations.

The event was themed "China's Modernization and New Opportunities for China-CEEC Relations: Contribution of Political Parties" and attracted nearly 50 representatives of 19 political parties in 12 countries across Central and Eastern Europe. 
At Indias ports, action could be heating up.

On Nov. 23, The National Coordination Committee of Six Federations of Port and Dock Workers met in the Indian state of Goa to discuss their disdain for the fact that the government has failed to implement promises made in an effort to avert a previously threatened port strike.

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At the meeting, the group, which is made up of the All-India Port and Dock Workers Federation, the Water Transport Workers Federation of India, the Port Dock and Waterfront Workers Federation of India, the Indian National Port & Dock Workers Federation and Bharatiya Port and Dock Mazdoor Mahasangh agreed that a strike is now back on the table.

If the strike should happen, it would begin on Dec. 17 and would be indefinite. Ahead of that date, union bosses plan to hold protests at the ports on Dec. 5 as a show of their angst.

The potential strike comes as a result of a reported failure on the part of the Indian government to force state-owned ports to implement the provisions outlined in the previously agreed upon settlement, which ended threats over an August port strike. Without the implementation, workers dont reap the benefits of the negotiated contracts, particularly around increased wages and retirement benefits.

We dont know what is [the] reason for [the] delay, a member of the union said at the meeting.

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One representative from the All-India National Port and Dock Workers Federation said that the unions usually renegotiate workers contracts with the ports every five years. Typically, the agreed-upon settlement is then distributed to the ports, which are expected to put forth the required benefits to their respective employees. This time around, the Indian Ports Association (IPA) has failed to act since the final settlement was reached in late September, he said.

Strangely, for reasons best known to some people in IPA, [they] were supposed to circulate this [settlement]They did not do it, and we were kept under darkness. All the federations have written letter after letter, that already two months have elapsed and nothing is done. The only thing [they have to do] is forward this settlement to the respective ports, but they have not done it, he said. We are left with no option but to go for the indefinite strike from Dec. 17 onwards.

The main pieces of the issue center around wage adjustments, pensionary promises and a retroactive productivity linked reward (PLR) scheme, which was designed to give workers a boost in pay for the work they did from 2020 onwards.

A revised version of the PLR was approved by the Union Cabinet of the Indian government in October. However, Infra.com reported that the unions noted that some of the ports former employees, who had already been retired by the time the benefits came along, did not receive the retroactive rewards they were owed.

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It is painful to note that till today no action appears to have been taken by the concerned to conclude a settlement before the labor authorities under the [Industrial Disputes] Act on the PLR scheme as envisaged in the MoU, the unions reportedly said.

Retirees impacted by the governments purported lack of action on the pension-related pieces of the settlement still in limbo, as well as by the uncertainty over the PLR, have made plans to demonstrate at the ports on Dec. 10.

As a result of the Goa meeting, the unions have decided that they and their affiliates will pen letters to the state-owned ports chairs to demand that the PLR and wage adjustment settlements be fully implemented by Dec. 15. If the ports fail to meet those demands by that time, the strike will ensue.

The threat comes just after positive October reporting from Indias ports; the value of the countrys exports increased 17 percent year over year, a welcome sign for authorities keen on the double-digit growth after seeing slimmer margins of growth earlier in the year.
A Florida woman and TikTok influencer has been arrested after allegedly stealing hundreds of dollars worth of products from a Target store, Law & Crime reported. Though the scofflaw made it off the property, she was busted after showing off her haul on the social media platform.

Marlena Valez, 22, has been charged with one count of petit theft in excess of $100 but less than $750, which is a misdemeanor charge stemming from an Oct. 30 incident at a Target location in Cape Coral in southwest Florida. Loss prevention officers noticed Valez while she was in the store, but nothing appeared suspicious until she went to check out.

Once at the self-checkout register, the female suspect did not scan the items barcodes, instead scanning a false barcode with cheaper prices, Cape Corals police department explained in a statement. Sixteen items of miscellaneous household goods and clothing were stolen. The total loss of the stolen items was valued at $500.32. Officers verified this with Targets security cameras.

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Pictures of Valez were posted to social media, which led to a key tip. An anonymous caller saw the post on social media and gave a possible identification for the suspect, the statement explained. The anonymous caller also provided officers with Marlenas Instagram handle.

Once equipped with the suspects social media information, they discovered an astonishing display on Valezs TikTok profile. Marlena documents herself picking out items inside the store and placing them in her car after exiting the store, the statement continued. Marlena appears to be a content creator with almost 300,000 followers.

Police were able to identify Valez because she was wearing the same outfit and glasses in her TikTok videos as the suspect seen in Targets surveillance footage. She posted a video that day of herself going to Target, buying these items, and then taking them home with her, Mercedes Simonds, Cape Corals Police Public Information Officer, reported. Everything was documented.

Valez was arrested on Nov. 21 and released several hours later on a cash bond of $150. She is due to appear in court on Dec. 10.
DES MOINES, Iowa  The Were Here for You initiative brought together local auto dealerships to give 500 Thanksgiving dinners to employees.

Around 60 employees from the Dewey Auto and Stew Hansen Auto dealerships came together to prepare the meals. The dinner includes a turkey, stuffing, canned corn and green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, and pie.

Its the best feeling and for all these employees to come out and whats great is not just the employees, the employees brought their families too said Teri Saenz, the general manager for Dewey Ford and Dewey Dodge. So that way we are giving back, because we are nothing if we are not working together has a community. So, I couldnt be prouder to be able to be involved in the community we have here in Des Moines.

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These dinners were made possible through the Were Here for You initiative. Which buys local and gives back to local community members who are struggling.

New classes, programs offered through DMPS Community Education

Showing love to those who are having a rough time is the right thing to do, especially at this time of year, said Christie Houlahan, regional marketing manager for Ken Garff Automotive, the parent company of Hansen and Dewey auto groups. We want them to know we are here for them and that someone out there hasnt forgotten that they are important and not invisible. Perhaps this will help lift the pressures many may feel and show that were all in this together. 

Starting several years ago, the project was only supposed to last a few months, however the impact spread all over Iowa and into other states. Now, they come together to give back to the community several times a year.

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One of our biggest success stories is always right before school we try to give out anywhere from 800 to 1,200 backpacks to the local schools. All the employees get together, they bring their families out, and we just try to give back. We want to make sure when we say, we hear you, that we really hear you by giving back.

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TYLER, Texas (KETK)  Injuries have been reported following a stairwell collapse at the University of Texas at Tyler.

Police seize 83 pounds of weed, other drugs at Texarkana home after overdose investigation

According to the UT Tyler Department of Marketing and Communications, three people were injured at around 12:30 p.m. when the stairwell collapsed. Officials said construction workers were on the scene for a planned demolition, however something caused the stairwell to collapse.

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One of the employees heard a crack and a pop and then all the sudden he rode it down, the floor collapsed beneath him the next thing they knew, they were on the ground, City of Tyler Fire Marshal Joey Hooton said.

Tyler Fire Marshal Joey Hooten said a person was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries and the two others were treated on scene and released.

University officials said the stairwell connects the Hudnall-Pirtle-Roosth Building and Stewart Hall. However, most students are not on campus for Thanksgiving break. Now covered in rubble and broken concrete slabs, officials are now investigating what led to the early collapse.

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LAPD officers were in pursuit of an allegedly stolen Mercedes-Benz when it struck an uninvolved car

google maps Saticoy Street, where the crash occurred. Saticoy Street, where the crash occurred.

A woman was killed and three other people were injured after a police chase in the Los Angeles area ended in a crash.

According to reports from CBS News, NBC Los Angeles and KTLA, Los Angeles Police Department officers were chasing after a suspect who allegedly stole a Mercedes-Benz in Winnetka, Calif., located in the San Fernando Valley, on the afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 23.

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An LAPD spokesperson told the outlets that the car chase began when officers tried to pull over the Mercedes-Benz because the license plate did not match the description of the vehicle to which it was supposed to belong, LAPD officer Tony Im said, per FOX LA.

The driver  whom police identified only as a man in his 40s, per KTLA  allegedly took off at a high speed down a main street.

"They waited for backup and our airship to come and support them in that traffic stop, but suddenly that Mercedes took off at a high rate of speed," LAPD Detective Meghan Aguilar told CBS News.

"As soon as he began to drive erratically, giving the officers the indication that he realized that they were behind him, that's when we had to act accordingly," LAPD Deputy Chief Don Graham added to ABC 7.

google maps Saticoy Street, where the crash occurred. Saticoy Street, where the crash occurred.

The driver of the Mercedes sped away from police, and just one minute later, he crashed into a Tesla going through a green light at the intersection of Saticoy Street and Mason Avenue.

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"The light had turned green for the east and west traffic on Saticoy," Graham told KTLA. "The suspect vehicle crashed into the Tesla as it was heading southbound at a high rate of speed, and the Tesla then crashed into the other two vehicles."

Although bystanders told CBS that the driver of the Mercedes attempted to flee the scene after the crash, officers arrested him almost immediately, and he was transported to a local hospital for minor injuries, police said.

Authorities added that the Tesla driver, only identified as a woman in her 40s, died at the scene. Three people in the two other cars experienced minor injuries.

According to the outlets, the Mercedes could be seen flipped on its side after the crash, and the white Tesla was mangled.

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"It was bad," Maria Toribio, a local who witnessed the accident, told KTLA. "That was my initial reaction, my stomach started to churn."

This is the kind of tragedy that will live with this family forever, so close to the holidays," Graham told KTLA of the crash. "It is unfathomable to think about."

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Locals have identified the intersection where this crash took place as a frequent source of car accidents in the Valley. The Los Angeles Daily News reported in February that another major crash took place on Saticoy just a few blocks away, which left one man dead and another woman critically injured, per the L.A. Fire Department.

In 2021, CBS News reported that two people involved in yet another crash on Saticoy and Mason were hospitalized with severe burns after one vehicle hit several parked cars before catching fire.


Nov. 25With Anchorage streets mostly empty early on a November morning, dozens of workers at the new Amazon delivery station used tiny devices on their fingers to scan barcodes on packages. Details appeared on smartphones on their forearms, helping them organize the flood of shipments.

The daily Amazon Air cargo jet to Anchorage had arrived from Seattle the night before, and more than 15,000 boxes and envelopes would soon hit doorsteps in Southcentral Alaska.

Just outside, drivers began to fill delivery vans with packages.

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"Five minutes!" shouted Mitchell Cox, who manages the delivery teams, letting another wave of drivers know they'd soon be off for the day.

Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, opened its first delivery station in Alaska a year ago. It came well after the company had opened nearly 500 other delivery stations across the U.S.

But this one is unusual, company representatives say.

It gets its product from air deliveries, unlike delivery stations in the Lower 48 that get their packages from semitrucks.

Exactly how the facility will change Alaska's economy remains to be seen. A larger Amazon presence could naturally mean continued pressure on the brick-and-mortar retail industry that has struggled for years against rising e-commerce, an Alaska economist said.

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One thing is certain: Amazon package deliveries are growing in the state.

The delivery station last month marked its 3 millionth package delivery, said station manager Austin Empey.

"And it keeps getting busier, especially with holidays right around the corner," he said as boxes slid down conveyor belts and heavy metal blared from speakers.

14 packages for everyone annually

In a first, Amazon Air plans to soon fly two large cargo jets to Anchorage per day, bringing packages for the holiday season and helping speed up delivery.

The jets will help the delivery station move about 20,000 packages daily for several weeks over the holidays, Empey said.

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On normal days, the company delivers around 15,000 packages daily from Girdwood to around Big Lake, a region encompassing Anchorage, Wasilla and the state's urban heart.

That's about 14 packages annually for each person in the region including newborns, on average.

The company typically doesn't know what's inside. But electronics, dog food, beauty supplies and bottled water are commonly shipped through Amazon facilities, said Matthew Gardea, an Amazon spokesperson who led journalists on the tour of the station.

Some large shipments are obvious, Empey said.

"I've seen snow blowers, snow shovels, and during the summer, I saw more kayaks," he said.

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'Busy for sure'

The station goal is two-day delivery from time of order, he said. That service is included for Amazon Prime customers.

Before Amazon opened the station  a former Sears warehouse off Dowling Road near the Seward Highway  deliveries could take several days, even weeks, he said.

At the time, the company got packages to the region through its Amazon Air Gateway at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.

The gateway, similar to one at the Fairbanks International Airport, relies on third-party delivery contractors, such as the U.S. Postal Service.

Now, Amazon's delivery station in Anchorage has its own delivery drivers, more than 60 of them under two private contractors, Empey said.

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About 100 employees also work at the warehouse, sorting packages largely overnight.

The company will hire more workers for the holiday season, when warehouse employee numbers should grow to 150.

Warehouse workers start at $21.50 an hour, with flexible hours, health care starting at 20 hours, and financial support for higher education, Gardea said.

"We are busy for sure," Empey said.

Deliveries optimized with AI

The delivery station has multiple deadlines at each step, Empey said.

Getting the drivers out that day was looking "pretty tight," he said. "But we'll make it. We'll make it."

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Each package is tracked digitally, allowing shoppers to follow their package's journey by app. The computer system uses artificial intelligence algorithms to fine-tune sorting and delivery, Empey said.

Inside the station, lights brighten at certain bays after workers scan barcodes on packages, showing where to place them. Packages are sorted into smaller and smaller groupings, eventually down to the neighborhood and street, Empey said.

Amazon's computer system also builds routes for the driver, guiding package placement in the van for orderly removal.

"It calculates out the best route for efficiency and safety," Empey said. "So it will minimize left-hand turns. It will try to avoid areas that are known for heavy traffic at rush hour."

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"So literally, the drivers hit start on their device and it will say, 'Drive here, grab this package and drop it off. Drive to the next one, drop this one off,' " he said.

Packages aren't warehoused at the facility.

"Our goal is we don't want to store anything here," Empey said. "So all the packages that you see here will get out today."

The station's delivery times have improved since it opened, after new workers were trained and routing precision improved, Empey said.

Last winter's snow-clogged streets hindered vans too. Drivers carry shovels and other gear to dig out.

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"Weather is probably our biggest challenge," Empey said.

Pressure on retail, but a boost for some

The 90,000-square-foot building went through extensive upgrades after Amazon began leasing it a couple of years ago. It brings Amazon's investment in Alaska to $80 million since 2010, the company said.

Gardea said Amazon supports 400 independent sellers in Alaska that are largely small and midsize businesses, he said.

"More than 60% of Amazon sales are from small and medium-size businesses," he said.

Other economic benefits of Amazon's increased presence in the state include spending by Amazon job holders, increased activity at the airport, and gas stations selling more fuel, said Dan Robinson, a research chief at the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

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A bigger Amazon footprint will also mean continued pressure on the retail industry, where jobs have struggled for years, he said. The industry was particularly hard-hit during the pandemic's online shopping boost.

"To the extent that market continues to grow, then some retail dollars that have been going to our local retailers will shift to Amazon," he said. "That has happened for at least a decade, and when consumers can get it that much easier, then that trend likely continues."

Correction: This story has been updated with the correct square footage and ownership status of the Midtown Anchorage building that Amazon operates in. The company leases, rather than owns, the 90,000-square-foot building.
Elon Musk, tapped to lead Donald Trumps efforts to slash government spending and gut regulations, pushed employees to work hastily as Tesla piled up pollution violations, according to a report.

The Wall Street Journal obtained emails from Texas regulators to Tesla that allege the MAGA billionaires electric carmaker dumped toxic pollutants near Austin, Texasincluding untreated wastewater into the citys sewer.

The Journal also obtained a whistleblower memo sent this year to the Environmental Protection Agency by an environmental-compliance staffer at Teslas Austin plant who wrote, Tesla repeatedly asked me to lie to the government so that they could operate without paying for proper environmental controls.

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According to the documents obtained by the Journal, in 2022 Tesla dumped untreated wastewater filled with toxins from a 6-acre evaporation pond it built into the Austin sewage system without permission from local authorities. Employees at one point had found a dead deer in the pond, which contained sulfuric and nitric acids.

Earlier this year, Tesla was notified by local officials that it violated its municipal permit when it dumped more than 9,000 gallons of wastewater that was not correctly treated for pH, the Journal reported.

Tesla and Musk did not reply to the Journals requests for comment. Tesla did not immediately reply to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.

A general view of the construction site of the Tesla Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, U.S., October 25, 2021.

Musks space technology company, SpaceX, was also recently fined by federal regulators for dumping 262,000 gallons of wastewater on Texas wetlands without a permit, something SpaceX has denied.

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Sources familiar with Tesla managements thinking told the Journal that the C-suite at Musks biggest company dont consider environmental rules one of their top concerns.

Former employees told the newspaper that, at the carmakers Austin facility, managers have ignored workers who raised environmental concerns. Musk, they said, pushed employees to move fast, creating a management culture seemingly indifferent to the issues that were raised.

Musk has, for months, publicly complained that government regulations are a hindrance to his, and other, businesses.

In September, he tweeted that America is being slowly strangled to death by an accumulation of millions of regulations.

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Trump plans to let him take a chainsaw to the guardrails he loathes so much, appointing him alongside entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a commission, the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), that will proposed slashing as much as $2 trillion in government spending.

Ramaswamy suggested they want to delete entire government agencies, which could vastly curtail, or practically eliminate, the oversight of certain industries, depending on the extent of the cuts.

After Trumps victory, Musk tweeted, We finally have a mandate to delete the mountain of choking regulations that do not serve the greater good.

The world is suffering slow strangulation by overregulation. Every year, the noose tightens a little more.



We finally have a mandate to delete the mountain of choking regulations that do not serve the greater good. https://t.co/PJnEA4InAZ  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 13, 2024

The whistleblower letter sent to the EPA claimed that, in 2022, Tesla engaged in an elaborate ruse to make it seem like a faulty furnace door was working fine during a site visit from Texas Commission on Environmental Quality officials.

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The door wasnt closing and was leaking toxins into the air, pushing the floor temperature for factory workers up to 100 degrees. Tesla reduced the amount of fuel going into the furnace and temporarily closed the door, not running it at actual operating conditions and securing a passing grade in the process. The problem, they alleged, wasnt fixed until months later.

Outside Texas, where Tesla has been headquartered since 2021, the carmakers Fremont, California, factory violated its air-pollution permits 112 time in the past five years, leading regulators to claim the company has continuously failed to fix equipment to reduce the release of toxic chemicals, the Journal reported, citing the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

Tesla denies the allegations.
The German-born internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom, who is threatened with extradition to the United States, has suffered what he described on Monday as a serious stroke.

"I have the best health professionals helping me to make a recovery. I will be back as soon as I can," the 50-year-old wrote on X. "Please be patient and pray for my family and [me]."

The founder of the former internet platform Megaupload, real name Kim Schmitz, has lived in New Zealand since 2010.

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US authorities want to put him on trial for copyright infringement and money laundering. If convicted, he could face decades in prison.

In 2018, Dotcom had already stated that he had major health problems after "six years of stress" with regard to the legal disputes.

New Zealand's Minister of Justice Paul Goldsmith signed an extradition order in August - much to the annoyance of Dotcom, who was defiant. "I love New Zealand. I'm not going anywhere," he wrote on social media at the time.

One of his lawyers then announced his intention to take the case to the Supreme Court of New Zealand.

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The entrepreneur, who was born in the northern German city of Kiel in 1974, has been involved in legal wrangling for years. There have already been several proceedings up to the Supreme Court in Wellington to prevent his extradition.

Following investigations by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), it was shut down in 2012.
GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP)  An investigation has closed a busy Greensboro road.

According to Greensboro Police Department, Yanceyville Road is closed between Kalon Drive and Archergate Road, and the road will remain closed for an extended period of time because of a police investigation.

Police later clarified that this is a death investigation in the area of Lake Townsend, and the initial call came in just before 12:30 on Monday.

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Drivers should avoid the area or use caution.

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BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The second China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) will run from Tuesday to Saturday in Beijing.

As the world's first national-level exhibition focusing on supply chains, the expo will gather industry leaders and experts from around the world and help promote global cooperation in industrial and supply chains. The following is an overview of what to expect from this year's event.

WIDER PARTICIPATION

Themed "Connecting the World for a Shared Future," the expo, hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), will see the participation of more than 600 companies, up about 20 percent from the first expo in 2023, according to the CCPIT.

Foreign exhibitors will account for 32 percent of the total, compared with 26 percent a year earlier. U.S. companies will contribute the largest share of overseas participation, while the number of businesses from Europe and Japan will also increase significantly this year. Companies from countries participating in the Belt and Road cooperation will constitute 40 percent of foreign exhibitors at the 2024 edition.

Notably, to promote cooperation with less developed countries, China has invited many African enterprises to the expo and will provide free booths to help them showcase their products.

The expo's opening ceremony on Tuesday is expected to see the attendance of more than 1,000 global representatives, including political figures and business elites. It is estimated that the five-day event will attract a professional audience of about 200,000 in total.

BETTER SHOWCASE

Global industry leaders will exhibit their cutting-edge technologies and innovative solutions in supply chains at this expo in China's capital.

Maersk and Sumitomo Electric are expected to debut new products, while Siemens will bring world-leading industrial automation technology to the event. China Resources and Honeywell will present technologies in the environmental protection and carbon reduction fields, while Rio Tinto, Bosch, Baowu Steel and XPENG will jointly exhibit in the expo's smart vehicle zone.

The 2024 expo will introduce a new exhibition area dedicated to advanced manufacturing, adding to last year's clean energy, smart vehicle, digital technology, healthy life, green agriculture and supply chain service areas.

A complete global advanced manufacturing industrial chain will be showcased in the new area, focused on four categories -- R&D and design, application of new materials, key components and processing, and intelligent manufacturing and high-end equipment.

This year's expo will have Hungary as its guest country of honor. The Hungary Pavilion will showcase Hungary's leading industries, unique resources, cultural heritage, beautiful landscapes and national brand image.

CLOSER COOPERATION

The expo is expected to further strengthen global consensus on industrial and supply chain cooperation, helping businesses from across the world to integrate more effectively into the global supply chain.

"Given the coexistence of opportunities and challenges in industrial transformation and international expansion, the CISCE holds significant importance," said David Xu, president of Bosch China.

CISCE acts as a crucial bridge in fostering communication and collaboration across the entire supply chain, noted Li Zheng, chief strategy officer of WOLQE, a German company focused on incubating startups in the new energy sector.

In the course of the exhibition, seven thematic events will be held, featuring domestic and international guests engaging in in-depth discussions. Additionally, over 300 activities, ranging from breakfast meetings to business negotiations, will take place during the expo.

A Beijing initiative, which aims to promote stable and smooth global supply chains, will be released at the event, and a flagship report will be published, providing analysis of new supply chain trends and drawing a global map for 11 key industries, including humanoid robots, smart cars and integrated circuits.

As the first of their kind in the world, two new indices will also be launched to provide governments and businesses with clearer insights into global supply chain development trends and risks. 
Investigations are under way after a DHL cargo plane travelling from Germany to Lithuania crashed on Monday, killing one person and injuring three.

The head of the Lithuanian rescue service, Renatas Pozela, said the plane, which had set off from Leipzig, crashed a few kilometres from Vilnius airport and skidded on the ground several hundred metres. Its debris hit a residential building, causing a fire.

Pozela added that the area is not densely populated and the building's 12 residents were safely evacuated from the burning building.

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Police said the person who died was a Spanish crew member. The three others on board - another Spaniard, a German and a Lithuanian - were wounded and taken to hospital.

Emergency services were first alerted to the crash at 5:31 am. Many of the plane's parts were scattered after the impact, a Lithuanian radio journalist reported from the accident scene in the Liepkalnis district.

A spokeswoman for the Lithuanian rescue service told the Elta news agency that the aircraft - belonging to the Spanish airline Swift Air and under contract with DHL - was completely destroyed in the crash.

Lithuania and Germany not ruling out deliberate crash

Lithuanian and German authorities have launched investigations into the cause of the crash, with staff from Germany's Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation set to arrive to the site on Monday evening, a spokesman for the Transport Ministry told journalists in Berlin.

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The Lithuanian police chief Arunas Paulauskas said that officials had already spoken to one of the injured crew members in hospital. The man confirmed that nothing unusual such as smoke or a fire had happened before the crash.

Paulauskas said the aircraft had tried to land but did not reach the runway and the crash was "most likely due to a technical error or human error."

At the same time, when asked whether it could have been a terrorist attack, Paulauskas said such a scenario could not yet be ruled out: "This is one of the versions of the crash that needs to be investigated and verified. There is still a lot of work ahead of us."

Lithuanian Defence Minister Laurynas Kasciunas told journalists earlier that there was no evidence so far that the crash was the result of sabotage or a terrorist attack.

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Kasciunas called for patience, saying the investigation could take "about a week," as investigating officers would need to inspect the scene, collect evidence, evaluate the plane's data recorder and contents and speak to all surviving crew members.

Initial searches find no suspicious contents

The German logistics giant DHL said on Monday that there was no evidence of suspicious packages on board the aircraft.

"At this point in time, we have no information that indicates anything unusual or suspicious," said Ausra Rutkauskiene, the sales and marketing manager at DHL Lithuania.

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She added that the company would not comment further while the investigations into the cause of the crash are ongoing.

"We don't want to speculate," she was quoted as saying by Lithuanian media.

Rutkauskiene confirmed that the aircraft was transporting parcels for customers.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius also said his ministry has no information about a possible explosive device on board the DHL aircraft.

Germany had issued warning to logistics firms

At the end of August, German security authorities started warning about "unconventional incendiary devices" being sent by unknown individuals using parcel service providers.

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At the time, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, known by its German acronym BfV, and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) issued an alert about the apparent threat to companies in the aviation and logistics sector.

The warning was reportedly linked in security circles to an incident at the DHL logistics centre in Leipzig, which serves as the company's global hub. In July, a package sent from the Baltic States, which reportedly contained an incendiary device, is said to have caught fire there.

The warning from BfV and BKA did not mention Russia. Nonetheless, security sources have reportedly not ruled out a connection, given the increasing cases of Russian sabotage in Germany.

There was no initial information about any link between Monday's crash and a possible sabotage event.

Lithuanian and German officials open to any outcome

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda visited the site of the crash alongside Germany's ambassador to the Baltic republic Cornelius Zimmermann and his Spanish colleague Maria Nieves Blanco Diaz.

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"The investigation is still ongoing and is being carried out by experts in their field. I have no doubt that everything will be clarified and clarified in detail," Nauseda said earlier on Monday.

The Lithuanian president emphasized the need to be prepared for all possible outcomes: "We do not know what the conclusions of the investigation will be, but it is clear that we will never panic and make decisions that are not based on facts."

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said authorities in both countries are currently investigating "in all directions" and called for full clarification of the accident.

Speaking on the fringes of a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in the Italian town of Fiuggi, Baerbock did not rule out the possibility of a deliberately caused crash.

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"This underlines the times we are living in," Baerbock said, referring to several recent "hybrid attacks" on individuals or infrastructure in Europe.

Protecting critical infrastructure is therefore particularly important now, she stressed.

Baerbock did not make any direct accusations against individuals or states following the crash.

However, with regard to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, she added: "The Russian president will not do us the favour of taking into account that Christmas is just around the corner or even the German parliamentary elections."

Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting with the defence officials of France, the United Kingdom, Poland and Italy in Berlin, Pistorius also spoke of the dangers to logistics infrastructure: "It is now a matter of increasing sensitivity for certain freight shipments."

"At the same time, we also know that there is probably no such thing as 100% security in this field. But the gaps that exist and that we recognize must be closed," Pistorius said.
Iowa delegates met with a Costco-Taipei meat purchasing manager and U.S. Meat Export Federation staff on customer preferences and opportunities for meat exports into the Taiwan market. Pictured are Tim Kaldenberg with Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (second from left) Tim Ng with C K International (second from right) and Hayley Moss with Iowa Beef Industry Council (far right). (Photo courtesy of Iowa Economic Development Authority)

A delegation of industry leaders and Iowas deputy secretary of agriculture, Grant Menke, completed a trade mission to cities in Taiwan and Japan, countries that are critical trading partners for grain, meat and manufactured goods from Iowa.

Japan is Iowas second largest export market for meat (pork and beef) and for corn. Iowa companies exported $533 million in meat products and $367 million in corn to the country in 2023, according to a press release from the Iowa Economic Development Authority.

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Iowa exports primarily manufactured and value-added goods to Taiwan, with 2023 export estimates of $321 million. The country is also Iowas eighth largest soybean market and imported $87 million worth in 2023 and nearly $51 million worth of meat products from Iowa companies.

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Menke said in a statement the trip built Iowas longstanding friendships and partnerships with Japan and Taiwan, countries he said have strong, stable markets that deeply value and depend heaviliy on exports from Iowa.

The delegation included representatives from Iowa Beef Industry Council, Iowa Corn Growers Association, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, Iowa Pork Producers Association, Iowa Soybean Association and ag processing companies, who traveled to Tokyo and Osaka in Japan and Taipei, Taiwan with the deputy secretary.

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Menke said in the press release the visits and tours showed Japanese and Taiwanese innovation, offered insights on Iowa agriculture and confirmed the potential and desire for even greater volumes of Iowa ag exports to Japan and Taiwan in the future.

Iowa is an agricultural production powerhouse, so it is vital for our states farmers and agribusinesses to be able to share our abundance with the world through trade and to seek new market opportunities for Iowa ag products through participation in international trade missions, Menke said.

Strengthened relationships with international trade partners could become more important if President-elect Donald Trump implements the tariffs he campaigned on, which some fear could lead to another U.S.-China trade war.

Menke and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship declined to comment on potential tariffs.

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The overseas visit was organized by the Iowa Economic Development Authority, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agriculture Service and national trade councils.

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Irans supreme leader has called for the execution of Benjamin Netanyahu in the wake of the International Criminal Courts (ICC) arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared on Monday that an arrest warrant for Netanyahu is not enough  he should be sentenced to execution over alleged war crimes.

Addressing a group of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps generals and Basij militia forces in Tehran, he said: This is a war crime  the enemy has not achieved victory in Gaza or Lebanon. Bombing civilians homes in Gaza and Lebanon is not a victory.

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Attendees at the gathering chanted: Death to America, Death to Israel and Death to England.

Khamenei said: The fools should not think that just because they bomb peoples homes, hospitals, and communities, they have won. No, nobody considers this a victory.

A poster in Tehran depicts Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant as prisoners behind bars - Majid Asgaripour/Reuters

On Thursday, the ICC accused Mr Netanyahu, along with Yoav Gallant, his former defence minister, and Mohammed Deif, a Hamas commander, of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the Israel-Gaza conflict.

It means Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant are now at risk of being arrested in any of the 124 countries who are members of The Hague-based court.

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Israel claimed Deif was killed in an air strike in Gaza in July, but the ICC could not confirm this and issued its arrest warrant.

Britain has said it respects the court and ministers have refused to say if Mr Netanyahu would be arrested if he came to the UK. Germany signalled it would not detain him because of its Nazi past and special relationship with Israel, despite being a member of the ICC.

Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, pledged to defy the order to arrest Mr Netanyahu and instead invited him on a state visit.

As well as calling for the death penalty for Mr Netanyahu, Khamenei also claimed that Irans proxies across the Middle East, including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, were growing in strength, vowing to destroy Israel.

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Today, the resistance front is expanding, and tomorrow, this expansion will multiply several times, he said, despite Israeli assassinations of senior terror leaders in recent months and reports that Israel and Hezbollah are nearing a possible ceasefire.

Although risking possible reprisals for their posts, Iranians on social media criticised Mr Khameneis thirst for execution.

One user of X, formerly Twitter, posted: How disgusting is this perspective that [he] only knows the language of execution. Another said: Who will order your execution sentence?

In October, at least 166 people were hanged in Iran, the highest monthly figure in over 20 years, according to the Iran Human Rights organisation.

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Iran's supreme leader has called for the prosecution of Israel's political and military leaders amid an ICC arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei termed them 'captains of criminal Zionist regime' in a post on social media platform X. His remarks came at a time when Israel fumed at an alleged act of terror in the UAE. An Israeli Rabbi, who went missing on Thursday last week, was found killed in Abu Dhabi on Sunday morning. Israeli media reported that Iranian intelligence was following Zvi Kogan. Watch for more details.
The Israel Defense Forces continued its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza and in Lebanon, with Israeli attacks on targets nationwide including in the capital Beirut.

The strikes continue despite a cease-fire push fronted by President Joe Biden's White House as it prepares to hand power to President-elect Donald Trump.

Tensions also remain high between Israel and Iran after tit-for-tat long-range strikes in recent months and threats of further military action from both sides.





Latest Developments





Nov 26, 12:38 PM

Gaza's Civil Defense stops operating in Gaza City due to lack of fuel

Gaza's Civil Defense vehicles -- which serve emergency functions like search and rescue operations -- are no longer operating in Gaza City because the agency is out of fuel, it announced Tuesday.



Gaza's Civil Defense stopped operating in northern Gaza on Oct. 23.



More than 44,000 people have been killed and over 104,000 injured in Gaza since Oct. 7, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said Tuesday.





Nov 26, 12:38 PM

Israeli strikes hit Beirut, southern Lebanon, as ceasefire talks continue

At least seven people were killed and 37 were injured in Israeli strikes on the Dahieh area of Beirut on Tuesday as Israel continued to strike multiple areas throughout Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.



The strikes come amid reports of Israel and Hezbollah nearing a ceasefire agreement.

PHOTO: Smoke billows above Beirut's southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on Nov. 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Fadel Itani/AFP via Getty Images)

The Israel Defense Forces issued multiple evacuation orders for areas in the southern suburbs of Beirut and areas in southern Lebanon, including nine warnings about strikes in the Dahieh area of Beirut.



Hezbollah fired 45 projectiles toward Israel on Tuesday, the IDF said. One person was seriously injured after one of the rocket salvos landed in the Haifa and Krayot area of Israel, Israeli emergency services said.



-ABC News' Ghazi Balkiz and Jordana Miller





Nov 26, 9:55 AM

Israel strikes 20 targets in Beirut

Israel said it conducted strikes on 20 targets in Beirut, including components of Hezbollah's military and financial systems.



"Among the targets struck were a Hezbollah aerial defense unit center, an intelligence center, command centers, weapons storage facilities, an operations room, an artillery storage facility, and terrorist infrastructure sites," Israel said in a statement.



Israel also targeted Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association -- a nonprofit that gives out loans -- alleging it is used by Hezbollah to collect and store funds.



Israel had sent evacuation orders about 20 minutes before the strikes hit. The IDF said they are attacking Hezbollah in Beirut on "a large scale." Black smoke was still visible and covering part of Beirut hours later.



The strikes began just minutes before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to meet with his cabinet to discuss a cease-fire deal with Hezbollah.



Earlier Tuesday, there were three other strikes in Beirut.





Nov 26, 7:03 AM

Israel bombs Beirut suburbs again

Fresh airstrikes shook Beirut's southern Dahiya suburbs on Tuesday morning, with the Israel Defense Forces claiming to have targeted six Hezbollah targets including infrastructure sites used by the group's coast-to-sea missile unit.

PHOTO: Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes that targeted Beirut's southern suburbs on Nov. 26, 2024. (Ibrahim Amro/AFP via Getty Images)

The IDF said it struck around 30 Hezbollah targets in Dahiya over the past week. The suburb -- parts of which are close to the city's international airport -- is known as a Hezbollah stronghold and has borne the brunt of months of near-daily airstrikes on the Lebanese capital.



The strikes followed soon after an IDF warning for residents to evacuate parts of Dahiya.



Lebanese authorities said that 3,768 people in Lebanon had been killed by Israeli strikes as of Sunday.



-ABC News' Jordana Miller





Nov 26, 6:53 AM

Israel says troops reached Lebanons Litani River

The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday that its forces conducted operations near Lebanon's Litani River -- the waterway around 18 miles of the Israeli border which Israeli leaders have demanded serve as a buffer keeping Hezbollah units out of the country's south.



Reaching the Litani would mark the deepest penetration of Israeli forces into Lebanon since the IDF withdrew from the country in 2000. Israeli troops did not push up to the Litani in the 2006 war with Hezbollah.



Soldiers "raided several terrorist targets, engaged in close-quarters combat with terrorists, located and destroyed dozens of launchers, thousands of rockets and missiles and weapons storage facilities" in operations in the Litani River region, the IDF said in a post to X.



-ABC News' Jordana Miller





Nov 26, 3:51 AM

Lebanon death toll rises ahead of possible cease-fire

Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health said Tuesday that the death toll from Israel's military operations in the country had risen to 3,768 people as of Sunday.

PHOTO: This photo shows destruction at the site of an overnight Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh on Nov. 26, 2024. (-/AFP via Getty Images)

Another 15,699 people have been wounded since renewed fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah began on Oct. 8, 2023, the ministry said.



Israel continued airstrikes on Monday night and Tuesday morning even amid reports of an imminent cease-fire deal. Lebanon's National News Agency reported six people killed in multiple attacks in the southern Nabatieh Governorate.



IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee also issued fresh evacuation warnings for Beirut's southern Dahiya area on Tuesday morning ahead of planned airstrikes there.



-ABC News' Ghazi Balkiz





Nov 25, 6:06 PM

Details of Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire deal emerge

A cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah would begin soon after its announcement, with the aim of achieving a permanent cease-fire after 60 days, according to an Israeli source with knowledge of the potential deal.



The U.S. will head a committee, joined by French and Arab partners, to monitor and verify the implementation of the ceasefire, the source said.

PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears 'Good Morning America,' on May 21, 2024. (ABC News)

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a security cabinet meeting Tuesday to discuss the deal and hold a cabinet vote, Israeli officials said.



There is almost unanimous support in the cabinet for the U.S.-brokered cease-fire deal, and it is expected to be approved. Far-right leader Ben Gvir is expected to vote against it.



-ABC News' Jordana Miller





Nov 25, 4:13 PM

'We don't believe we have an agreement yet': State Department

The U.S. is hopeful that Israel and Hezbollah are close to a cease-fire deal, but striking a pact "is up to the parties, not to us," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a briefing Monday.



"We don't believe we have an agreement yet. We believe we're close to an agreement. We believe that we have narrowed the gap significantly, but there are still steps that we need to see taken, but we hope -- we hope that we can get there," Miller said.



Echoing comments earlier Monday by White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby, Miller emphasized that "nothing's final until everything's final."



"Oftentimes the very last stages of an agreement are the most difficult, because the hardest issues are left to the end," Miller said.



-ABC News' Chris Boccia





Nov 25, 4:13 PM

Israeli strikes kill 31, injure at least 62 people in Lebanon

Israeli forces conducted strikes Monday in the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital Beirut and in southern Lebanon as talks of a cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel continued on both sides.



At least 31 people were killed and 62 others injured in the strikes on southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said in a post on X.



-ABC News' Jordana Miller





Nov 25, 1:58 PM

No indication Netanyahu will call in cabinet and vote to approve Lebanon cease-fire

There are no indications that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to call in his cabinet and vote to approve the Lebanon cease-fire Monday night, Israeli officials told ABC News.



Netanyahu is planning a series of meetings Tuesday to discuss the Lebanon cease-fire deal, including talks with his minister of strategic affairs, former American ambassador Ron Dermer, along with his most senior defense officials.



Later in the afternoon, Netanyahu will hold a larger cabinet meeting that includes the far-right. That meeting may lead to a final vote to approve a deal, though that remains unclear. A deal can pass even if one of the two far-right leaders opposes it.



The cease-fire would last for 60 days, but would not require the Israel Defense Forces to withdraw right away.



-ABC News' Joe Simonetti and Jordana Miller

Click here to read the rest of the blog.
(Bloomberg) -- Israel is potentially days away from a cease-fire agreement with Lebanons Hezbollah, following a new round of shuttle diplomacy by a senior envoy for the outgoing Biden administration.

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We are close to a deal, the Israeli ambassador to the US, Michael Herzog, told Israels Army Radio on Monday, adding that some final points still needed to be addressed. It could happen within days.

The Israeli security cabinet is expected to meet on Tuesday and may vote on whether to accept a truce with Hezbollah, according to an Israeli official familiar with the matter.

The Israeli shekel strengthened 1.5% against the dollar on Monday  its best performance in around a month  and oil prices dropped on optimism a deal would ease tensions in the Middle East.

Still, there have been similar predictions by other Israeli and US officials in recent weeks about an agreement being imminent and it remains unclear if Hezbollah will accept a deal.

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The Iran-backed group has been severely weakened after two months of increased Israeli sabotage, air strikes and ground incursions in southern Lebanon. But its still able to fire rockets into Israel on a daily basis and put up some resistance against Israeli ground forces.

On Sunday, Hezbollah fired at least 250 rockets and drones into Israel, wounding several people, and the Israeli air force struck targets in Lebanon.

In Israel, a far-right coalition member, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, came out against the proposed truce. He said it would be a missed opportunity to crush Hezbollah, a militia group is ideologically committed to Israels destruction. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may still be able to secure cabinet support even without Ben-Gvirs approval.

The two sides have been in conflict since Hezbollah began striking Israeli territory in October last year in solidarity with Hamas. Both Hezbollah and Hamas  which triggered the ongoing war in Gaza with its attack on southern Israel  are designated as terrorist organizations by the US and many other countries.

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Amos Hochstein, a White House envoy for the Middle East, was in Lebanon and Israel last week to try to clinch a cease-fire before President Joe Biden hands over to Donald Trump in January. Another US envoy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Daniel Shapiro, was in Israel on Sunday and Monday for what local media said were talks on future security arrangements in Lebanon.

According to Army Radio, once Netanyahus security cabinet signs off on a truce, Washington will take it to Beirut, where government officials have been serving as intermediaries for Hezbollah. Last week, one of Hezbollahs main political allies, Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri, said there was progress but there were still technical details to resolve.

The US-drafted proposal entails an initial 60-day suspension of hostilities during which Hezbollah fighters would move north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) away from the Israeli border.

Israel also wants the Lebanese army, which is separate from Hezbollah, to deploy in the south of Lebanon, beefing up a contingent of United Nations peacekeepers and helping to ensure the militant group doesnt operate there.

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The Israeli government wants the right to resume strikes in Lebanon in the event of infractions by Hezbollah. The Lebanese government and Hezbollah have pushed back at that demand.

Around 2,500 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli strikes and the ground offensive in the past two months, while 1.2 million  more than a fifth of the population  have been displaced. About 50 Israeli troops have been killed in combat in southern Lebanon.

Tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced from both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border. Netanyahus cabinet has made enabling the return of northern Israelis to their homes a priority, something that cant happen without an end to fighting with Hezbollah.

Talks between Israel and Hamas over a cease-fire in Gaza, meanwhile, have stalled for months. Though the conflicts are connected, theres little sign a deal over Lebanon would increase the chances of a truce in Gaza.

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Hezbollah initially said it wouldnt stop attacking Israel until there was a cease-fire in Gaza, but it softened its position as it suffered military losses.

Hezbollah folded on this demand, due to the heavy drubbing it took, Zeev Elkin, a member of Israels security cabinet, said to Tel Aviv radio station 103 FM.

(Updates with details on security cabinet meeting.)

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Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, a hotbed of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement, intensified on Monday afternoon, as a potential ceasefire deal between Israel and the militants appeared to be close at hand.

The strikes on Ghobeiry, Haret Hreik and Tayyouneh came after evacuation warnings were issued by the Israeli military.

Videos showed a building of at least eight-storeys levelled to the ground in Tayyouneh. The loud explosion was heard across the city.

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A house was hit in Choueifat, an area outside of Hezbollah's stronghold, without prior warning, Lebanese security sources said.

The Israeli army said it conducted intelligence-based strikes on approximately "25 terror targets belonging to Hezbollah's Executive Council in Lebanon, including in Nabatieh, Baalbek, Beqaa Valley, Dahieh, and the outskirts of Beirut."

According to Israeli media reports, the Israeli Cabinet will approve an agreement for a ceasefire with Hezbollah on Tuesday evening. The text of this agreement to end more than a year of hostilities has been fully negotiated, they reported.

Lebanese government officials in Beirut have expressed optimism, but stressed that the decision now rested with Israel.

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A current draft ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel envisages full implementation of the deal agreed to at the end of the previous war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. Accordingly, the Lebanese army would be stationed in the border area with Israel to prevent Hezbollah fighters from returning.

Hezbollah has been targeting northern Israel with missiles and drones for more than a year in a show of support for allied militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Israel initially responded to shelling by Hezbollah with counter-attacks, but since September has launched massive airstrikes in the country and a ground offensive in southern Lebanon.

Heavy smoke billows after an Israeli air strike that targeted an area in Beirut southern suburb. Marwan Naamani/dpa
SAO PAULO, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Seventeen people were killed and more than 20 others injured on Sunday when a bus fell into a ravine in the eastern Brazilian state of Alagoas, said local authorities.

According to the fire department, the bus carrying 40 passengers lost control and plunged into the ravine in the mountains area of Uniao dos Palmares municipality.

The state government has vowed to provide full assistance to the victims' families and declared three days of mourning.

The cause of the accident is under investigation. 
Israel's military once again bombed buildings near the Lebanese capital Beirut on Sunday, a day after one of its strikes on a densely populated area in central Beirut killed at least 29 people, according to the latest tally from Lebanon's Health Ministry.

A dpa reporter counted at least eight loud explosions late on Sunday after several evacuation calls by the Israeli military to residents of the suburbs known as Dahieh. There was initially no details on possible damage or casualties.

Despite new efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Lebanon, the armed clashes between the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia and Israel's military have escalated in recent days.

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The Shiite militia meanwhile fired around 250 rockets at targets in Israel. In the south of Lebanon, fierce fighting broke out around the town of Khiam as Israel's air force intensified its attacks over the weekend.

An alert had been in place in many regions in Israel since Sunday, not only in the north of Israel, but also in the centre of the country and in the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv.

According to the Magen David Adom rescue service, at least six people were injured. In Petach Tikwa, east of Tel Aviv, houses were damaged. Sirens were heard again there in the evening.

84 killed across Lebanon on Saturday

At least 84 people were killed and 213 injured across Lebanon on Saturday, the country's Health Ministry said on Sunday.

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Of those, 29 were killed when a powerful Israeli airstrike flattened a multi-storey building in Beirut's Basta district, not far from the parliament and the government palace. Another 67 people were injured, the ministry said, adding that the toll could increase as rubble continues to be removed.

On Sunday, the Lebanese Army said one of its soldiers died and 18 others were injured in an Israeli attack on a military centre in southern Lebanon.

The army added in a statement on the social media platform X that the attack had targeted the outpost in the al-Amiriya area near the coastal city of Tyre.

The army did not specify the nature of the attack but said that the site was heavily damaged as a result.

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Lebanon's state news agency NNA reported that the post had come under Israeli artillery shelling and its depots caught fire as a result. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

EU's Borrell: More pressure needed for ceasefire

Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire repeatedly since the October 7, 2023 attacks. Israel launched a ground offensive to root the militia out of southern Lebanon in September.

The Lebanese army, however, remains neutral in the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah, but has recently found itself caught between in the crossfire.

Several Lebanese soldiers have already been killed since fighting between Hezbollah and Israel intensified in September.

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EU chief Josep Borrell has called for more pressure to be put on Israel and Hezbollah to achieve a ceasefire during a visit to the Lebanese capital.

Leaders "need to increase pressure on Israel & Hezbollah to agree to the US proposal for a ceasefire," Borrell wrote on X on Sunday after meeting with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati to discuss "urgent key steps to stop the conflict."

"The Israeli army has erased 37 entire villages in South Lebanon & continues to drop 1-ton bombs on central Beirut," he said. This must stop, as must Hezbollahs attacks on Israeli communities, Borrell added.

The US has been pushing for a ceasefire between the Shiite militia and Israel for weeks. Its mediator, Amos Hochstein, travelled to Lebanon and Israel again this week for negotiations.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Israeli cabinet will convene on Tuesday to approve a Lebanon ceasefire deal, a senior Israeli official told Reuters on Monday.

Another Israeli official told Reuters the cabinet would convene to discuss a deal that could be cemented in the coming days.

U.S. news website Axios reported earlier that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to the terms of a deal to end the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.

(Reporting by Emily Rose; Editing by Alex Richardson and Gareth Jones)
Israels cabinet unanimously voted to sanction the nations oldest newspaper, Haaretz, on Sunday citing its critical coverage of the war following the October 7 Hamas attacks and comments by the outlets publisher calling for sanctions on senior government officials.

Haaretz, which is widely respected internationally, has provided critical coverage of Israels war following the Hamas attacks on October 7, including investigations into abuses allegedly committed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as military operations expanded across Gaza and into neighboring Lebanon.

The proposal, put forward by communications minister Shlomo Kari, will end government advertising in the newspaper and cancel all subscriptions for state employees and employees of state-owned companies.

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Haaretz described the move as an attempt to silence a critical, independent newspaper.

In a statement following the vote, Kari wrote: We must not allow a reality in which the publisher of an official newspaper in the State of Israel will call for the imposition of sanctions against it and will support the enemies of the state in the midst of a war and will be financed by it, while international bodies are undermining the legitimacy of the State of Israel, its right to self-defense and are actually imposing sanctions against it and its leaders.

Amos Schocken, the newspapers publisher, drew criticism for referring to Palestinian freedom fighters during a speech at an event organized by the outlet in London on October 27.

It (the Netanyahu government) doesnt care about imposing a cruel apartheid regime on the Palestinian population. It dismisses the costs of both sides for defending the settlements while fighting the Palestinian freedom fighters that Israel calls terrorists, he reportedly said.

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Following widespread criticism of the comments in Israel, Schocken clarified his comments saying that he did not believe Hamas militants were freedom fighters.

In an editorial Haaretz said that Schocken was referring to Palestinians living under occupation and oppression in the West Bank.

Still, it said Schocken had erred by referring to anyone who deliberately harms and terrorizes civilians as freedom fighters, arguing that the correct term was terrorists.

In the speech Schocken also called for international sanctions on Israeli leaders as the only way to force the government to change course.

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In a sense, what is taking place now in the occupied territories and in part of Gaza is a second Nakba, he said. A Palestinian state must be established and the only way to achieve this, I think, is to apply sanctions against Israel, against the leaders who oppose it and against the settlers.

In addition to Schockens comments at the London event, Kari singled out the newspapers coverage of the war in his statement on Sunday.

The decision came in the wake of many articles that damaged the legitimacy of the State of Israel in the world and its right to self-defense, he said.

Haaretz slammed the move in a statement on Sunday, calling it another step in Netanyahus journey to dismantle Israeli democracy.

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Like his friends Putin, Erdogan, and Orban, Netanyahu is trying to silence a critical, independent newspaper, the statement said. Haaretz will not balk and will not morph into a government pamphlet that publishes messages approved by the government and its leader.

The move comes two months after the military raided and shut down Al Jazeeras office in Ramallah and six months after the government shut down the broadcasters operations inside Israel in May, prompting condemnation from the United Nations and rights groups.

On Friday, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said preliminary investigations showed at least 137 journalists and media workers had been killed covering the war, making it the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992.

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Israeli strikes this weekend on whats considered north Gazas main hospital have resulted in about a dozen wounded staff, including the barely operational medical facilitys director, amid the regions worsening humanitarian catastrophe.

For 50 days, Israeli forces have incessantly attacked the territorys northernmost region, which includes the towns of Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, walling the area off from the rest of Gaza in a way that has blocked most humanitarian aid from entering, rendering the north virtually uninhabitable.

Like the rest of Gaza, the Israeli military continues to attack the norths health care system, including Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, where only two doctors remain. An overnight drone strike on the facility damaged its generator and oxygen supply, as well as seriously injured hospital chief Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya while he was sitting in his office.

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, is treated by colleagues for his injuries following an Israeli strike. - via Getty Images

Speaking from a patient bed at his own hospitals intensive care unit, Abu Safiya said he was hit in the back and thigh by a kind of bomb hed never seen before: a quadcopter drone containing tiny pieces of metal shrapnel that can barely be seen by the naked eye.

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Right now, Im in need of an urgent consultation with a vascular surgeon due to the intensity of bleeding in the site of injury, he said in a recording shared by the Gaza Health Ministrys director general, Dr. Muneer Alboursh.

There are six pieces of shrapnel that penetrated the area of the thigh, and I believe they caused a tear in the blood vessels and veins, Abu Safiya continued. We are in critical need for [Israel] to allow entry of medical and surgical delegations in order for me to get treated and for other people to get treated.

                       .           .



Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is in critical condition due to severe internal bleeding pic.twitter.com/Xywc61cKyk  Dr.Muneer Alboursh . (@Dr_Muneer1) November 24, 2024

Kamal Adwan Hospital has faced constant, intense bombardment by Israeli forces who claim that Hamas militants hide among patients, something Palestinians, aid workers and media investigations have denied. The hospital has faced daily attacks for the past week, in what Abu Safiya described as the same scene [that] repeats and worsens.

Abu Safiya has tried to provide near-daily updates on the worsening situation at Kamal Adwan and war-ravaged North Gaza, where food, means of communication, and medicine are scarce. As of Friday, the hospital had 85 injured patients, eight critical cases in intensive care, 14 children in the pediatric ward and four newborns in the neonatal unit. Its unclear how the recent destruction of the fuel generator and oxygen supply will impact current patients.

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Israel allegedly transferred about 17 patients and caregivers on Saturday from Kamal Adwan to other hospitals in Gaza, according to COGAT, the Israeli government agency in charge of humanitarian aid in the territory. The Sunday statement made no mention of the Israeli militarys strikes on the hospital.

Just last month, Abu Safiyas 15-year-old son, Ibrahim, was killed in an Israeli drone strike in nearby Jabalia after surviving injuries from Israeli snipers on the militarys first raid last December on Kamal Adwan. Soldiers have also rounded up most of the hospital chiefs colleagues in detention camps and prevented Gaza Civil Defense workers from bringing ambulances to the north.

What is clearly happening is that the occupation wants to expel us from this health care facility, Abu Safiya said.

Burnt medical supplies are scattered in a storage room hit by an Israeli strike on Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, Gaza, on Oct. 31, 2024. Since Oct. 6, the Israeli military has conducted a sweeping air and ground assault in northern Gaza. AFP via Getty Images

Abu Safiya is among the many Palestinian health care workers who have been targeted since Israel launched its current siege on Gaza in response to the October 2023 deadly Hamas attack. In addition to indiscriminately bombing the territory of 2.3 million Palestinians, Israeli forces are also destroying the land and its people by completely collapsing the health care system.

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For more than a year, soldiers have invaded hospitals, abducted and killed medical workers, prevented sufficient medical aid teams from entering the territory, and spread hunger and disease via an ongoing aid blockade and the destruction of water and sewage systems.

These people, they target everyone. But I swear, this will not stop us from continuing our humanitarian work. We will keep on providing this service no matter what it costs us, Abu Safiya said. We are up till now appealing to the world and will keep asking, with the faint hope that there are people with a living conscience still out there.

Related...
WASHINGTON  Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday filed motions to drop all federal charges against President-elect Donald Trump regarding his mishandling of classified documents and his effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the lead-up to the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S Capitol.

Hours later, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan granted Smith's motion to dismiss the Jan. 6-related indictment, formally bringing to an end the case that alleged Trump unlawfully conspired to overturn his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden.

Trump was first indicted in June 2023 in a federal court in Miami on 37 felony counts related to mishandling classified documents that he took from the White House to his Florida home. They included willful retention of national defense information, making false statements, and conspiracy to obstruct justice. A Florida judge dismissed the case, but Smith's office had sought an appeal.

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Trump was separately indicted on four felonies in August 2023 for his attempt to reverse the 2020 election results: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.

Special Counsel Jack Smith arrives to announce the indictment of former President Donald Trump during a press conference on Aug. 1, 2023 in Washington, D.C.

The case was then put on hold for months as Trumps team argued that the case should be thrown out for multiple reasons, including that a former president cannot be prosecuted for his actions in office.

Trump has claimed that the prosecutions were politically motivated. He has never publicly conceded that his election claims were, in fact, false, and he pleaded not guilty in both federal cases.

The federal indictments of Trump marked an extraordinary moment in American history  the first-ever accusation that a president sought illegally to cling to power, mishandled classified information and attempted to obstruct a federal investigation.

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Their dismissal also marks a historic moment. Fifty years after lawmakers from both parties forced Richard Nixon to resign the presidency amid allegations of criminal conduct in office, half of American voters chose to return Trump to the presidency.

Trump's election victory means that the Justice Departments longstanding position that a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime will apply to Trump after he takes office on Jan. 20.

"That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Governments proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind," Smiths office wrote in Mondays filing.

The Governments position on the merits of the defendants prosecution has not changed. But the circumstances have," the special counsel added.

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The DOJ policy, which was adopted during the Watergate scandal, notes that Congress has the power to impeach a president if they commit crimes. It is designed to allow sitting presidents to perform their duties without being hindered by legal cases.

That legal position from DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel is the same one that helped Trump avoid being charged in connection with Robert Muellers special counsel probe during Trumps first presidency. Muellers team decided that they could not reach a final conclusion on whether they believed Trump committed a crime, since they could not charge a sitting president.

Charging Trump was not an option we could consider, Mueller explained in 2019. Now the same OLC opinion is preventing Smiths case from going forward.

Following Trumps re-election, the special counsels office was caught between two fundamental and compelling national interests, Smiths team wrote. On the one hand, the Constitutions requirement that the President must not be unduly encumbered in fulfilling his weighty responsibilities ... and on the other hand, the Nations commitment to the rule of law and the longstanding principle that [n]o man in this country is so high that he is above the law.

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Smith and his team plan to resign before Trump takes office, one source told NBC News earlier this month. Special counsel regulations require Smith to file a report to the attorney general explaining his charging decisions before he steps down.

Key help from conservative judges

Conservative judges on the Supreme Court handed Trump a sweeping victory in the case with its ruling on presidential immunity. The justices first took months to issue a decision, making it impossible for the federal judge in Washington overseeing the case, Chutkan, to conduct a trial before the election.

In a July ruling, they gave the president sweeping new immunity from prosecution, finding that all of a president's interactions with the attorney general were "absolutely immune" from prosecution. In a dissenting opinion, liberal justices argued that the ruling gave presidents the power to order federal criminal investigations of their rivals without legal consequences.

Two weeks later, the Trump-appointed federal judge overseeing the classified documents case, Aileen Cannon, threw out all of the charges against Trump accusing him of mishandling classified documents and attempting to obstruct the investigation.

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In a decision that legal experts widely criticized and that Smith vowed to appeal, Cannon found that Smith had not been properly appointed as a special counsel. The surprise ruling reversed decades of past rulings by both liberal and conservative judges.

In August, a new federal grand jury indicted Trump on the same four charges in the election case, alleging that Trumps false claims about mass voter fraud during the 2020 election were unsupported, objectively unreasonable, and ever-changing and that Trump knew that they were false. But Trump's re-election ended Smith's ability to move forward with those charges.

Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement, Todays decision by the DOJ ends the unconstitutional federal cases against President Trump, and is a major victory for the rule of law. The American People and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country.

Many Jan. 6 defendants have told judges they lament that they were "gullible" enough to fall for Trump's falsehoods, which were echoed by the president-elect's allies, Republicans in Congress and conservative influencers on social media.

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The Justice Department is focused on arresting the "most egregious" rioters before Trump returns to office. The president-elect has said he will pardon some undetermined portion of Jan. 6 rioters, whom hes called warriors, unbelievable patriots, political prisoners and hostages.

He is expected to walk through the lower west tunnel, where some of the worst violence of Jan. 6 took place, to be sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 2025.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Hours after Jack Smith threw in the towel on prosecuting Donald Trumps federal election interference case in Washington, a judge agreed Monday.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan granted Smiths motion to dismiss the Jan. 6-related indictment. The actions formally end the case that Trump illegally conspired to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden in the run-up to the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The special prosecutor motioned Monday to dismiss all charges against Trumpincluding separate allegations that he mishandled classified documentsnow that hes poised to return to the White House in two months with full immunity from prosecution.

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That decision is not a surprise. Smith followed a long-standing Department of Justice policy that bars it from prosecuting a sitting U.S. president, and it had become apparent that Trumps trial would not wrap before his inauguration on Jan. 20.

Smith cited this policy in his motion while remaining adamant that the governments case against its former president was rock-solid.

The Department of Justice has a long-standing policy that bars sitting presidents from being prosecuted at the federal level.

That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Governments proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind, the filing read. Based on the Departments interpretation of the Constitution, the Government moves for dismissal without prejudice of the superseding indictment.

Trumps legal woes, including his mishandling of classified documents, have subsided at the federal level.

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The 78-year-old Trump isnt totally out of the woods yet, however. He and others, like Rudy Giuliani, are still facing state charges related to election interference in Georgia. Since those charges arent federal, Trump cannot legally pardon himself or his pals from prosecution there.

Trump could also face chargesincluding the very ones Smith has motioned to have dismissedafter he completes his second White House term.
(Bloomberg) -- Japanese policymakers suggested setting a target of cutting emissions by 60% by 2035, according to a government panel held Monday.

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The government will consider to set the target as Japans new nationally determined contribution, a commitment by countries under the Paris Agreement to slash greenhouse gas emissions. Japans reduction is from 2013 levels.

Japan currently has a goal to reduce emissions by 46% by 2030. Reaching net zero by 2050 points to 60% emission reduction by 2035 and 73% by 2040, according to government officials from a joint panel meeting held by the trade and environment ministry. The government will take opinions from Mondays panel to further discuss the target.

Environmentalists have criticized Japan for its lack of action to boost renewables, and for strategies that dont take into account cumulative emissions. The country needs to curb emissions by about 80% by 2035 to help limit warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, according to a report by Climate Action Tracker, an independent group that grades national strategies.

Japan depends on natural gas and coal for most of its power mix, and has struggled to significantly replace fossil fuels with cleaner energy sources. Some members of Mondays panel  which included academics and officials from financial institutions  questioned whether Japans current trajectory is aligned with global climate goals.

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Japanese police have obtained an arrest warrant on Thursday for a Chinese teenager accused of vandalizing a Tokyo shrine with graffiti, seemingly mimicking an act at the same site earlier this year.

The alleged vandal was captured on security camera writing the word toilet in Chinese characters using a pen on a stone pillar at Yasukuni Shrine on the evening of Aug. 18. Police said they later found a selfie of the vandalism shared by the culprit on Chinese social media.

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Investigators noted that the suspect, who was accompanied by another person believed to be a family member, arrived in Japan and stayed in Tokyo days before the incident. He left for Hong Kong via Haneda Airport the following morning. Yasukuni Shrine honors war dead from the Sino-Japanese War as well as war criminals from World War II. A similar incident occurred at the same shrine in May when a Chinese man filmed himself defacing a stone pillar by spray-painting toilet on it. The suspect, Jiang Zhuojun, was arrested in July.

Trending on NextShark: Japanese police obtain arrest warrant for Chinese teen accused of defacing controversial Tokyo shrine

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An employee operates devices at a workshop of Yashilin Changsha (International) Silkworm Silk Intellectual Industry Project in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, Nov. 24, 2024.

Hunan has a long history of mulberry planting and silkworm farming. Nowadays, Hunan has leveraged its advantages in resources for sericulture and sped up intelligent transformation to drive this industry to rejuvenate.

As one of the intelligent programs, the Yashilin Changsha (International) Silkworm Silk Intellectual Industry Project, funded by Zhongjian Xinke Sericulture Biotechnology Industry Co., Ltd., has realized an industrialized and digital cultivation of silkworms with multiple self-developed production lines and workshops. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)

Employees collect cocoons at a production line of Yashilin Changsha (International) Silkworm Silk Intellectual Industry Project in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, Nov. 24, 2024.

Hunan has a long history of mulberry planting and silkworm farming. Nowadays, Hunan has leveraged its advantages in resources for sericulture and sped up intelligent transformation to drive this industry to rejuvenate.

As one of the intelligent programs, the Yashilin Changsha (International) Silkworm Silk Intellectual Industry Project, funded by Zhongjian Xinke Sericulture Biotechnology Industry Co., Ltd., has realized an industrialized and digital cultivation of silkworms with multiple self-developed production lines and workshops. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)

An employee works at a big data center of Yashilin Changsha (International) Silkworm Silk Intellectual Industry Project in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, Nov. 24, 2024.

Hunan has a long history of mulberry planting and silkworm farming. Nowadays, Hunan has leveraged its advantages in resources for sericulture and sped up intelligent transformation to drive this industry to rejuvenate.

As one of the intelligent programs, the Yashilin Changsha (International) Silkworm Silk Intellectual Industry Project, funded by Zhongjian Xinke Sericulture Biotechnology Industry Co., Ltd., has realized an industrialized and digital cultivation of silkworms with multiple self-developed production lines and workshops. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)

An employee collects cocoons at a production line of Yashilin Changsha (International) Silkworm Silk Intellectual Industry Project in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, Nov. 24, 2024.

Hunan has a long history of mulberry planting and silkworm farming. Nowadays, Hunan has leveraged its advantages in resources for sericulture and sped up intelligent transformation to drive this industry to rejuvenate.

As one of the intelligent programs, the Yashilin Changsha (International) Silkworm Silk Intellectual Industry Project, funded by Zhongjian Xinke Sericulture Biotechnology Industry Co., Ltd., has realized an industrialized and digital cultivation of silkworms with multiple self-developed production lines and workshops. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)

Employees collect cocoons at a production line of Yashilin Changsha (International) Silkworm Silk Intellectual Industry Project in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, Nov. 24, 2024.

Hunan has a long history of mulberry planting and silkworm farming. Nowadays, Hunan has leveraged its advantages in resources for sericulture and sped up intelligent transformation to drive this industry to rejuvenate.

As one of the intelligent programs, the Yashilin Changsha (International) Silkworm Silk Intellectual Industry Project, funded by Zhongjian Xinke Sericulture Biotechnology Industry Co., Ltd., has realized an industrialized and digital cultivation of silkworms with multiple self-developed production lines and workshops. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)

This photo shows a digital silkworm feed production line of Yashilin Changsha (International) Silkworm Silk Intellectual Industry Project in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, Nov. 24, 2024.

Hunan has a long history of mulberry planting and silkworm farming. Nowadays, Hunan has leveraged its advantages in resources for sericulture and sped up intelligent transformation to drive this industry to rejuvenate.

As one of the intelligent programs, the Yashilin Changsha (International) Silkworm Silk Intellectual Industry Project, funded by Zhongjian Xinke Sericulture Biotechnology Industry Co., Ltd., has realized an industrialized and digital cultivation of silkworms with multiple self-developed production lines and workshops. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)

Silkworms are pictured at Yashilin Changsha (International) Silkworm Silk Intellectual Industry Project in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, Nov. 24, 2024.

Hunan has a long history of mulberry planting and silkworm farming. Nowadays, Hunan has leveraged its advantages in resources for sericulture and sped up intelligent transformation to drive this industry to rejuvenate.

As one of the intelligent programs, the Yashilin Changsha (International) Silkworm Silk Intellectual Industry Project, funded by Zhongjian Xinke Sericulture Biotechnology Industry Co., Ltd., has realized an industrialized and digital cultivation of silkworms with multiple self-developed production lines and workshops. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)

Automated guided vehicles for transporting are pictured at Yashilin Changsha (International) Silkworm Silk Intellectual Industry Project in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, Nov. 24, 2024.

Hunan has a long history of mulberry planting and silkworm farming. Nowadays, Hunan has leveraged its advantages in resources for sericulture and sped up intelligent transformation to drive this industry to rejuvenate.

As one of the intelligent programs, the Yashilin Changsha (International) Silkworm Silk Intellectual Industry Project, funded by Zhongjian Xinke Sericulture Biotechnology Industry Co., Ltd., has realized an industrialized and digital cultivation of silkworms with multiple self-developed production lines and workshops. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)
WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL)New Jerusalem Baptist Church is celebrating Thanksgiving early with its annual pre-Thanksgiving meal.

This is the 15th year the church has hosted the meal with an open invitation for everyone from all walks of life to come together and share a free meal. Reverend Angus Thompson wanted to have the homeless, church members, and politicians all under one roof coming together.

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For Thompson, hosting the meal is about finding the community members who need help the most.

Many of them are by themselves, and this is a way for people to come out and associate with other people, hopefully to make brand new friends, Thompson said. And they realize theres a church somewhere in the community that will love them, appreciate them, and bring them closer.

Reverend Thompson also invited the Wichita Falls Health Department so those who needed the attention could get a flu or COVID-19 vaccination.

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Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Thanks to President Joe Bidens Justice Department, Donald Trump is headed to the White House, and his son Hunter might be headed to prison. And believe it or not, the drama will intensify shortly.

In a matter of weeks, the younger Biden is set to be sentenced in two different criminal courts. On Dec. 12, he will appear in federal court in Delaware, where he was convicted over the summer of buying a gun in 2018 while addicted to drugs. Several days later, he is set to appear before a federal judge in Los Angeles for sentencing on tax fraud charges, which he pleaded guilty to in September just as a trial was about to get underway.

There has been speculation in Washington for months about whether Biden will pardon his son. The question raises a host of considerations  legal, political, practical and historic  that cannot be easily disentangled or reconciled. But, in the end, should he do it?

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Particularly in the wake of Trumps victory, Biden is on strong ground  at a minimum  to commute any sentence of imprisonment for his son Hunter before he leaves office. Not a pardon exactly, but an important show of mercy.

A commutation would not wipe the slate clean like a pardon. It would not suggest Hunter Biden was innocent or deserved forgiveness for his crimes, but it would spare him potentially years behind bars and avoid further pain for the Biden family.

Its true that this would amount to a reversal for the president. Biden said repeatedly while he was still running for reelection that he would not pardon his son or commute any sentence, a stance the White House reiterated days after Trumps win.

But Biden may have good reason to change his mind  not least of all, because he was effectively ousted as the Democratic Partys 2024 presidential nominee and now must watch as Trump, who lies more prolifically and corrupted the pardon process more egregiously than any president in modern American history, will return to the White House.

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Lets start with a basic but important proposition: The cases against Hunter Biden probably would not have been brought against anyone else.

This is not to excuse any of Hunter Bidens conduct, but the gun charges have almost no real precedent, and the conduct underlying the tax charges is usually resolved by the Justice Department through repayment and/or fines.

The reason we are here is because Trump and his Republican allies effectively  and successfully  pressured Joe Bidens own Justice Department to prosecute his son.



In fact, there was a deal in place last summer under which Hunter Biden would have pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and entered a pretrial diversion program to resolve the gun case. Congressional Republicans balked, claiming that this was some sort of sweetheart deal, and the presiding judge in Delaware (a Trump appointee) effectively scuttled the agreement.

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Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, a registered Republican first appointed by Trump, then decided to pursue a broader and more aggressive set of charges against Biden without a plea deal. Attorney General Merrick Garland then designated him as a special counsel, which gave Weiss new powers and allowed him to charge the case in Los Angeles (outside of his home jurisdiction), which he would otherwise have been unable to do.

It is not yet clear whether Weiss will seek terms of imprisonment in either or both cases  and it is far from clear what the presiding judges will ultimately do when the sentencing dates arrive in a few weeks.

Under the relevant sentencing guidelines, Hunter Biden appears to face a year or more in prison in the gun case and two to three years in the tax case.

Those guidelines are not binding, but every federal sentencing judge is required to calculate and take them into account. Recent data indicates that about 40 percent of federal sentences end up within the guidelines range, but judges can take a wide array of considerations into account to deviate from the guidelines and sentence under the range that is otherwise recommended.

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It is possible that in Delaware  where Hunter Biden was convicted on the gun charges  the judge could sentence him to probation and/or a fine, particularly given the highly unusual nature of the charges. In that case, the president would not need to issue a pardon or commutation to save his son from prison time, and he could let the conviction stand.

Things are riskier for Hunter Biden in the tax fraud case in Los Angeles. It is more likely in that case that the judge would impose a term of imprisonment given the nature of the conduct, the amount of money at issue (prosecutors concluded that Biden had failed to pay $1.4 million in taxes) and the higher guidelines range as a result.

But if Hunter Biden gets a term of imprisonment in one or both cases, his father would be well within his rights to commute the sentence(s).

There would be no real precedent for Biden to weigh, but of course, there is no real precedent for any of this. The cases against Hunter Biden were ultimately the result of a Republican pressure campaign and Garlands decision to let Weiss pursue the cases as a special counsel. (The Justice Department declined to comment for this column.)

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Trump and his Republican allies would likely bristle at any intervention by Biden, but there is no reason to take their complaints seriously.



After all, Trump abused the pardon power more than any president in our lifetimes in order to protect his political allies. He pardoned Paul Manafort and Roger Stone and Steve Bannon. He pardoned a prominent Republican fundraiser and donors, as well as a bunch of former Republican members of Congress. He pardoned war criminals. And he pardoned family: his son-in-law Jared Kushners father.

As Trump left office with this pardon spree, there was intense criticism  in the media and among Trumps political opponents  but Republicans largely fell in line. It is hard to see how anyone who kept quiet during that period could credibly complain if Biden commutes a prison term for his son, which is not to say that it would not happen anyway.

As for Biden himself, he would have at least two political and practical considerations to weigh.

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The first is the question of what this would do for his legacy and for the political standing of the Democratic Party, but Biden may not care much about either. For one thing, his political legacy, at least at the moment, is already in tatters with Trumps ascent. And this is his son.

As for potential fallout for his fellow Democrats, Biden is probably not in a particularly charitable mood these days given his ousting as the partys 2024 nominee and the post-election recriminations that lay Vice President Kamala Harris loss at his feet.

The second and perhaps trickier question is whether a commutation (or a pardon on the charges) would lead the incoming Trump Justice Department to pursue Hunter Biden on additional charges of some sort.

It is not immediately clear what those charges might be, though Republicans have long posited (dubiously) that he could be charged under the Foreign Agents Registration Act in connection with his overseas political consulting work. Trump, for his part, has previously raged at the entire Biden crime family amid his vows of vengeance toward his political enemies. The only way for Joe Biden to eliminate that risk would be for him to issue a blanket pardon for his son  for instance, on any potentially unlawful conduct he may have engaged in prior to the date of the pardon  but that would be legitimately novel and could spark a real political firestorm.

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In the end, this will be an intensely and deeply personal decision for the president. His family  like many American families  has struggled through death, divorce and substance abuse, and a prison term for Hunter Biden would compound the tragedies theyve faced.

Under the circumstances, Biden could be forgiven for wanting to spend his remaining years quietly  and to do so with his remaining son by his side.
SULLIVAN, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)  An annual Thanksgiving tradition in Sullivan is set to make its return.

Joes Italian Foods is now preparing for its free Thanksgiving dinner. Owner Nora Leone said this event usually feeds up to 800 people every year. It will be at held at the restaurant from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

Leone said she loves giving back to the community that has given so much to her.

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Bob Baesler will match Red Kettle donations at Baeslers Sullivan location through the 27th

Ive got the resources, strength, and time to be able to coordinate such a large event like this, said Leone. It would not be possible out of your home or even out of a church. To be able to put this together with all of the volunteers that make it happen is just a great feeling.

Leone added that this is all made possible due to the donations of people within the community.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyWabashValley.com.
Originally appeared on E! Online

John Ramsey has tuned out those who think he is involved in his daughter JonBenet Ramseys murder.

Nearly 30 years after the 6-year-oldwho was daughter to John and mother Patsy Ramseywas found dead in the familys Boulder, Colorado, home, her father reflected on people who accused him of murdering her.

Once your reputation is tarnished, rightly or wrongly, it never goes back to pure white, Johnwho had once been a suspect in the case along with his wife, and son Burke, who was 9 years old when the murder took placetold People in an interview published Nov. 24. That's just life.

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The 80-year-oldwhose wife died in 2006 after a battle with ovarian canceralso emphasized that he was unfazed by people who had accused him of the 1996 murder.

It doesn't bother me, he continued. I mean, we were so overwhelmed by kind people and caring people, and that 5 percent or 10 percent is irrelevant, and I'm not worried about it.

More from E! Online

Although the young pageant stars murder was never solved, John believes it was a masked intruder who broke into the home of a 12-year-old girl nine months after his own daughters death. As he added to People, It couldve easily been the same person.

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Despite his own theory, John and Patsy quickly became the primary suspects in the case of their daughters death. The couple had called the police on the morning of Dec. 26, 1996, saying they had received a ransom note informing them of their daughters abduction.

It was just unbelievable," John reflected in the Netflix documentary Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey, describing the loss of his daughter as this horrible in-your-gut trauma.

Helen H. Richardson/ The Denver Post

The Ramsey family became the center of suspicion in the case after JonBenet was found dead eight hours after her disappearance in the basement of their Boulder home. John had found his daughter at around 1:30 p.m. tied up with duct tape over her mouth. Because he believed his daughter was still alive, he removed the duct tape and untied her, contaminating any evidence that could have led authorities to the killer.

As Boulder Police Detective Bob Whitson recalled in Cold Case, "There may have been some evidence on the duct tape if that wasn't removed.

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JonBenets autopsy ruled her death had been caused by strangulation and a blunt head trauma. In 1999, a grand jury in Colorado voted to indict John and Patsy for the murder of their daughter, however the district attorney declined to file charges against the parents, citing insufficient evidence, per CNN.

In 2008, a district attorney cleared the Ramsey family of any involvement in JonBenets death, due to new DNA evidence.

Keep reading for more details on the death of JonBenet.

A Contaminated Scene

After Patsy Ramsey called 911 at 5:52 a.m. on Dec. 26, 1996, to report that her daughter JonBenet Ramsey had been kidnapped, she and husband John Ramsey also reached out to a number of their friends, who came right over to support the couple. In turn, in addition to responding officers, there were people milling around the Ramseys' 5,000-square-foot home all day before John found JonBenet's body in the basement shortly after 1:30 p.m. "I should have removed all those people from the scene, that was a crime scene mistake," retired Boulder Police Detective Bob Whitson recalled in the Netflix docuseries Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey. "But, at the time, it looked like a legitimate kidnapping. So, I thought, Well, these are the support system for the Ramseys, and I let 'em stay." Not knowing she was dead when he found her, John said in the series he at first tried to untie the cord that bound her hands. The knots were too tight, he said, but he did remove a piece of duct tape that was covering her mouth and tossed it onto a blanket that had been with the body. He then carried her upstairs, which, according to investigators, ensured that the evidence collected from her body, the pajamas she was wearing, the tape, etc., was contaminated. "There may have been some evidence on the duct tape if that wasn't removed," Whitson said in the series.





Two Faulty Searches

Police who responded to Patsy's 911 call searched the three upper levels of the Ramseys' home, and the basement, but it wasn't until a detective suggested that John do another sweep of the house nearly eight hours later that her body was found in a part of the basement that used to be a coal room. "One of the cops did not open the door where JonBenet was lying," Fox News' Carol McKinley, who covered the case at the time, said in the Netflix series. "Major mistake, and I believe he lives with that to this day." Retired Boulder PD Commander John San Agustin noted in the series, "You never have someone outside of law enforcement doing a search." However, when John looked in the coal room, he said, "Her body was right there in front of me."





JonBenet Ramsey's Pageant History

In a pre-Toddlers and Tiaras world, the media incredulously spotlighted JonBenet's participation in children's beauty pageants, with most of the commentary being of the what-sort-of-mother-lets-her-child-parade-around-like-that variety. Having competed and performed at local events since she was 4, there were myriad photos of JonBenet wearing a full face of makeup and videos that became Rorschach tests for critics of the Ramseys who were looking for signs of sexual abuse or other trauma behind the child's precocious poise. And people who claimed to have diagnosed as much had no qualms saying it on TV, the Netflix series including a clip from Geraldo in which a woman identified as a "well-known expert in child abuse" described one of JonBenet's performances as masturbatory. (Host Geraldo Rivera was staging a mock trial on his show, during which a six-person "jury" found Patsy liable for her daughter's death. "I went to bed for about two days," she said in the 1998 documentary The Ramseys vs. The Media, "because I just was mortified.") Reflecting on his enthusiastic coverage of the case, Rivera told the Chicago Tribune in 2006, "Everyone I came in contact with was talking about the Ramsey case, whether it was my nanny or the people in the neighborhood or the guy that takes care of my koi pond." Even his mom wanted the details, he added, so "when it gets to that level, you know it has an interest thats almost universal."

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The pageant commentary painted the Ramseys as "delinquent parents," recalled Paula Woodward, an investigative reporter for KUSA Denver who covered the case from the beginning. She interviewed JonBenet's pediatrician at the time, the journalist said, "He told me, no, she's never had any sexual abuse in her life. He would have lost his medical license if he ever lied about that." In a 1997 interview, the doctor said there was "never any hint whatsoever of sexual abuse. I didn't see any hint of emotional abuse, or physical abuse. She was a very much-loved child." But, as seen on tabloid covers shown in the series, there was plenty of speculation that the child may have been abused in lieu of evidence to allege that she really was. "Let me address it very directly: I did not kill my daughter JonBenet," John told reporters during a May 1, 1997, news conference. "There have been innuendos that she had been or was sexually molested. I can tell you that those were the most hurtful innuendos to us as a family. They are totally false. JonBenet and I had a very close relationship. I will miss her dearly the rest of my life." Added Patsy, "I'm appalled that anyone would think that John or I would be involved in such a hideous, heinous crime. But let me assure you that I did not kill JonBenet and did not have anything to do with it. I loved that child with the whole of my heart and soul."





The Ramseys' Questionable Silence

JonBenet was laid to rest in Atlanta next to her half-sister Beth Ramsey (one of John's three grown children from his first marriage, she died in a car accident in 1992) on Dec. 31, 1996. By then, the family had a spokesperson releasing statements to the media and had hired a lawyer. Which, at the time, "smelled a little funny," Fox News' McKinley said in the series. "And we were like, 'What is going on?'" John said in the series, however, that their attorneys had advised them to be careful about anything they said or did. "But we gave the police everything they asked for," John said. "Blood samples, DNA samples, whatever they asked for. Records, all our credit card [records], anything they asked for, we gave it to them." Meanwhile, he added, "I would've been happy to die, quite frankly, to relieve the pain." But with the media filling in the blanks so long as the Ramseys remained silent, soon enough friends in Boulder advised them to grant an interview ASAP, John recalled. So he and Patsy sat down with CNN on Jan. 1, 1997.





"There is a killer on the loose," Patsy memorably said at the time. "I don't know who it is, I don't know if it's a he or a she. But if I were a resident of Boulder, I would tell my friends to keep your babies close to you. There's someone out there." Following the Ramseys' interview, then-Boulder Mayor Leslie Durgin said on TV that there was no visible sign of forced entry at the Ramsey residence and the cops were saying, based on where JonBenet's body was found, that "someone had to know the house. So, there isn't a crazed killer on the loose wandering the streets of Boulder." Listening to Durgin, "You would assume that she had information from the police that led her to feel comfortable saying that," recalled KMGH Denver investigative reporter Julie Hayden in the Netflix series, explaining why authorities' behavior in those early days also contributed to the cloud of suspicion growing around John and Patsy. The "implication from that clearly would be that it was somebody connected with the family."





Accusations That the Ramseys' Grieving Was Staged

Journalist McKinley recalled in the series thinking that the Ramseys made "an orchestrated appearance" at a Jan. 5, 1997, memorial for their daughter in Boulder. "It didn't seem sincere to me and it was almost like a performance," she added, singling out Patsy's big black sunglasses and all-black attire as a particularly notable touch. John barely remembered that day "'cause we were in shock, frankly," he said in the series, but any accusation that aspects of it were staged was "absolutely false."

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Information Run Amok

Local media were getting a lot of information from law enforcement sources, often crediting just one source if that's all they could get, several journalists noted in the series. And not all of it was factual. Charlie Brennan of the Rocky Mountain News admitted getting it wrong when he reported for the paper that John, a licensed pilot, had flown JonBenet's coffin to Atlanta in his own plane. "That was inaccurate," he said in the Netflix series. "It came from a source that I thoroughly trusted and had given me other solid information. That information was wrong, my source was wrong in that case, and that was a mistake."





DNA Results Go Unreported

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation's report stating that unidentified male DNA found on JonBenet's underwear and under her fingernails did not match her father or her then-10-year-old brother Burke Ramsey came back on Jan. 15, 1997. But police didn't share the findings right awaynot even with prosecutors. Police "were told that in January," John said in the series. "They kept that secret from the media and from the District Attorney for months." Stranger still, investigative reporter Woodward observed in the series, was that the info didn't leak to the media. "DNA results often leak in murder cases," she said, "yet when the one piece of evidence that clears them, or at least clears their DNA, comes back, there's not a leak about it." But, Woodward noted, early in the investiation there was "massive police leaking that Patsy Ramsey had written the ransom note." (The theory was duly reported on; multiple handwriting experts determined her writing and the letter did not match, retired Det. Whitson recalled in the series.) "They kept that secret," John said of the DNA findings, "because it conflicted with their conclusion that we were the killers."





Police vs. Prosecutors

Boulder Police Det. Steve Thomas took over leading the investigation into JonBenet's death in early 1997 and he zeroed in on her parents. In his 2000 book, JonBenet: Inside the Ramsey Murder Investigation, he detailed his theory that Patsy killed her daughter in a rage after the 6-year-old wet the bed, staged the scene in the basement and wrote the ransom note. He also said this to Patsy and John's faces on an episode of CNN's Larry King Live. They vehemently pushed back, Patsy ultimately saying, "God knows [what happened], and the truth is going to prevail." (The Ramseys filed an $80 million defamation lawsuit against Thomas and his publisher in 2001; it was settled for an undisclosed sum.) In the Netflix series, John said that Steve's theory "didn't pass the sanity test." "Patsy had just recovered from stage 4 ovarian cancer," John said. "She was grateful to be alive. Do you think that her child wetting her bed would be a big deal? No. She was happy to be alive and to have some more time with her children." Steve Thomas resigned from the case in protest in August 1998, accusing the district attorney's office of mishandling the Ramsey case. In a 2004 interview, Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter reflected on "a split" between his office and Boulder PD, noting, "Some Boulder Police people thought they knew who did it. And some of my people were convinced that it was an intruder that did it."





The Ramseys' New Champion

In 1997, the DA's office brought in retired detective Lou Smit to consult on the case. Smit died in 2010, but he detailed in video and audio diaries sampled in the Netflix series why he believed the Ramseys were innocent. There was "no motive, no evidence of bad character," he said in a 1998 recording, per the series. "There is evidence of an intruder. I say this over and over and over again. Nobody wants to listen." So when prosecutors opted to take their case against the Ramseys to the grand jury in September 1998, Smit tendered his resignation from the case. "He would have no part in trying to convict an innocent couple," Colorado Springs Police Department Investigations Commander Kurt Pillar, who considered Smit a mentor, said in the Netflix series. "That's how strongly he felt about this case." John recalled in the series, "We fully expected and were prepared to be indicted. 'Cause they were saying, 'You can indict a ham sandwich in front a grand jury,' it's a one-sided argument."

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More than a year later, District Attorney Hunter announced on Oct. 13, 1999, that his office didn't have the evidence to file charges against the Ramseysor anyoneat that time. He did not share the grand jury's recommendation with the public. "I feel at peace and to some extent proud of the fact that I weathered the storm and did the right thing," Hunter said in 2004, "based on the evidence." In 2008, his successor Mary Lacy publicly exonerated John, Patsy and Burke, citing the results of new touch DNA analysis. "To the extent that we may have contributed in any way to the public perception that you might have been involved in this crime, I am deeply sorry," the DA wrote in a letter to John, per NBC News. It wasn't until 2013 that the indictment was unsealed, revealing that the grand jury chose to indict John and Patsy on two counts each of child abuse resulting in death. Per the Denver Post, the document didn't accuse them of killing their daughter, but rather of permitting her to be placed in a dangerous situation that led to her death and of assisting a person who "committed and was suspected of the crime of murder in the first degree and child abuse resulting in death."





"We didn't know who did what," a member of the grand jury told the Boulder Daily Camera in January 2013. "But we felt the adults in the house may have done something that they certainly could have prevented, or they could have helped her, and they didn't." After the 1999 indictment was revealed, Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner said in a statement that it proved "the investigation pursued by the Boulder Police Department was, in fact, based on the information and evidence available." "There are no new leads," the statement continued. "While we believe at this point it is unlikely there will ever be a prosecution, the Boulder Police Department still holds out some hope that one day the district attorney and the Boulder Police Department will be able to put together a case worthy of presenting to a jury." The Ramseys' attorney Lin Wood said in 2013, per the Post, that the grand jury's decision in 1999 was "based on incomplete evidence." Its subject to the impression that criminal charges were warranted against the Ramseys," he said. "A full examination of the evidence unquestionably exonerates the Ramseys. This is inflicting a terrible miscarriage of justice."



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A formal request made by owners of Birch Bay Waterslides asking a judge to dismiss the lawsuit filed against the park owners after a visitor was severely injured on one of its slides was denied at a hearing Friday, Nov. 22, in Whatcom County Superior Court. At the same hearing, the judge allowed the injured visitor to sue three more parties, including Whatcom County Health and Community Services.

The park visitor, Larry Baker, was injured at the water slide park in August of 2023 when his legs went through the side of the Hairpin, one of the four main slides at the waterpark in Blaine.

Baker, who was 43 at the time of the injury, filed a civil tort lawsuit against the park owners May 9.

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The original lawsuit stated that Baker slid over a damaged or defective section, causing severe injury and other damages and accused the parks owners of negligence, stating that they had a duty to keep the common areas of its property safe and properly maintained for the benefit of the customers.

A photo from a Feb. 29, 2024, inspection report shows the damaged section of the Birch Bay Waterslides where a man was injured in 2023.

In a June response, the water park owners denied the claims, adding that Baker acknowledged and accepted the risk of severe physical injury when entering the park.

In October, the owners of Birch Bay Waterslides requested a judge dismiss the negligence claim entirely, court records indicate.

Plaintiffs claim is precluded by his signed acknowledgment and acceptance of Birch Bays terms and conditions as a prerequisite to his permissive use of the subject premises, including, in particular, Plaintiffs express waiver and agreement to hold Birch Bay harmless for such claims, the request states.

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That request was denied at Fridays hearing by Whatcom County Superior Court Judge Lee Grochmal, allowing the case to move forward.

At the same Friday hearing, Judge Grochmal agreed to allow Baker to amend the lawsuit against the owners of Birch Bay Waterslides by suing an additional three parties whose involvement in this matter was discovered after the original filing of the complaint and by changing the claim from negligence to gross negligence after further information was discovered, court documents show.

The three additional parties now facing the lawsuit include Safe Slide Restoration, Kingworks Consulting Engineers, and Whatcom County Health and Community Services (WCHCS), which lawyers for Baker say were directly involved in the inspection, maintenance, and repairs of the waterslide equipment at the waterpark, according to court documents.

A girl slides down a waterslide at Birch Bay Waterslides near Blaine in 2021.

It is also known that despite the excessive corrosion and decay observed by Plaintiffs experts on July 7, 2024, neither Safe Slide Restoration nor Kingworks alerted Birch Bay Waterslides to the existence of severe hazardous conditions, nor did they recommend appropriate repair of the same, court documents state.

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WCHCS is named in the lawsuit as having failed for at least four years of annual inspections to discover that Birch Bay Waterslides was not maintaining appropriate inspection records, and, in fact, affirmatively documented in their official inspection reports that the parks maintenance records were present and were well maintained, even though these records are believed to have never existed, court documents state.

While it is ordinary negligence for WCHCS inspectors to possibly forget to audit the parks maintenance records and neglect to include it in their inspection reports, it is serious negligence to document the existence of records that were never present at the facility at all, court records state.

Court documents also state a park patron who visited Birch Bay Waterslides one day before Baker experienced pain on the same Hairpin slide the day before Mr. Bakers injury.

That patron allegedly reported the issue with the slide to two separate employees at the park, specifically expressing concerns to them that the slide was coming apart, according to court documents.

The Snake, left, Corkscrew, Hairpin and Twister water slides drop riders into a pool at Birch Bay Waterslides.

Bakers lawyers further argue that facility inspections unequivocally found corrosion of water slide fasteners, missing and damaged fiberglass and a disdain for waterpark safety standards that existed for years before Bakers injury.

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Not only were these issues ignored by Birch Bay Waterslides itself, whose maintenance supervisor, Trevor Parson, should have alerted the park to the need for repairs, Birch Bay Waterslides third-party contractors failed to report and recommend repairs to Birch Bay Waterslides over a period of at least five years, court documents state.

The owners of Birch Bay Waterslides announced Nov. 14 that the waterpark will reopen for the 2025 summer season. It has been closed since Baker was injured there in 2023.

We took a quick pause to begin a planned renovation as our park turns 40 years old, the social media post announcing the reopening states. Weve been hard at work behind the scenes and look forward to sharing the improvements at the park as we begin our five-year plan for generations to come and celebrate their summer at Birch Bay Waterslides.
The Menendez brothers will not be home in time for Christmas.

A California judge ruled Monday that the Menendez brothers resentencing hearing will be pushed back from Dec. 11 to dates in late January.

The fate of the resentencing had been up in the air since the prosecutor who called for it, the Los Angeles district attorney George Gascon, lost his re-election bid earlier this month.

Gascon argued in a letterand in a subsequent news conferencethat the brothers, who gunned down their parents Jose and Kitty with shotguns in 1989 but claimed to be sexually abused by their dad, had served enough time for their crime.

Diane Hernandez, niece of Kitty Menendez, arrives to the Van Nuys Courthouse West, on the day of a hearing in the case of Erik and Lyle Menendez on whether to reconsider the first-degree conviction of the Menendez brothers in Los Angeles on Nov. 25, 2024.

It appears Erik, 53, and Lyle, 56, will now will have to wait to see if the new district attorney, Nathan Hochman, views their case as favorably as his predecessor. The moderate has pledged to give the case an in-depth review before he takes a stance on resentencing. He is set to be sworn in on Dec. 2.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom has so far declined to grant a clemency petition for the brothers, despite their attorneys petitioning him to. The Democrat said hell allow Hochman to review the case before he weighs in.

Joan VanderMolen, the 92-year-old sister to Kitty, spoke in court on Monday to ask that a judge free the brothers ASAP.

I love Erik and Lyle and I want them to come home, she told the judge, according to Variety. They never knew if tonight would be the night they would be raped. Its time for them to come home.

Monday was set to the first time the brothers were together in court since 1996, but Variety reported their courtroom stream from a San Diego prison failed and they never connected. Loved ones of the duo, including Eriks wife, Tammi Menendez, were spotted outside in and around the Van Nuys courthouse.

Tammi Menendez, Erik Menendez' wife, looks on at the Van Nuys Courthouse West, on the day of a hearing in the case of Erik and Lyle Menendez on whether to reconsider the first-degree conviction of the Menendez brothers in Los Angeles, California, Nov. 25, 2024.

A lottery was held to determine which 16 members of the public would be permitted inside the hearing. Those who snagged a seat were ordered to surrender their cellphones.

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Gascon pointed out last month that the brothers age at the time of the double slayingaged 21 and 18would make them eligible for immediate parole if they were to be resentenced.

The brothers have been proceeding with a habeas corpus petition that calls for a resentencing. Included in that petition is a letter that Erik sent to his cousin months before the murders that alleged his father was sexually abusing him, as well as separate allegations against Jose that were levied by the former Menudo member Roy Rossello.
Nov. 25 (UPI) -- A U.S. bankruptcy judge in Houston was expected to hear a challenge by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on the requirement to sell media platform Infowars to the satirical media outlet The Onion to help satisfy a multi-media judgment against him.

Jones is expected to argue to Judge Christopher Lopez that First United American Companies, an institution friendly to Jones, should have been awarded Infowars based on its monetary bid that was twice as much as The Onion, $3.5 million compared to $1.75 million.

Trustee Christopher Murray said The Onion, however, had a better bid because the Sandy Hook families' due money from the sales were willing to forgo a percentage for future revenue from The Onion's revamped parody Infowars. The Onion said it estimated bid calculated in future earnings is valued at $7 million.

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First American United Companies attorney Walter Cicack said there is no guarantee of such future revenues and naming The Onion the bid winner based on such projections amounted to "outright collusive bid rigging," according to NBC News.

The assets of Jones' Infowars and his parent company Free Speech Systems were up for sale, including his studio in Austin, Texas, to satisfy a $1.5 billion defamation judgment against him filed by families of the Sandy Hook shooting victims.

Jones' video archives, studio equipment, trademarks, websites and social media accounts were all up for grabs. Jones is currently appealing the judgment against him based on his free speech rights.

Jones had peddled the conspiracy theory that the shooting never happened and was a fabrication made up by anti-gun activists. He eventually acknowledged in civil court that the shooting did happen.
A top Canadian judge who helped to legalise assisted dying has been accused of bias after it was revealed her daughter is a right to die campaigner.

Elin Sigurdson, Judge Lynn Smiths daughter, worked for the advocacy group that filed the lawsuit which led to the practice becoming legal in 2016.

The case, Carter vs Canada, was brought by several parties, including the family of a woman who suffered with spinal stenosis and another woman who had ALS, who argued that they should be allowed to end their lives instead of continuing treatment.

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The supreme court went on to rule that laws prohibiting physician-assisted dying interfere with the liberty and security of those who have grievous and irremediable medical conditions.

Carter vs Canada was filed by advocacy group the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA), which had campaigned for years to give terminally ill people the right to end their lives medically.

Elin Sigurdson worked for BCCLA

The case is now being looked at by the UK as an example of best practice as the British government debates whether to legalise assisted death.

Judge Smith, the state supreme court judge, in 2012 ruled in favour of Carter.

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This sent the matter up to the Canadian supreme court which overturned laws banning assisted suicide in certain cases four years later.

However, an application to the Canadian supreme court claimed the case should be overturned owing to a web of connections between Judge Smith and the BCCLA.

The 2019 motion was filed by Roger Foley, a disabled man from Ontario who fears the legalisation of assisted dying was pushed through by biassed judges.

The Canadian supreme court refused to hear Mr Foleys motion on the grounds that it was not filed in time and he wasnt a party to the original case.

He continues to advocate against the legalisation of the practice as he believes disabled people are unfairly targeted.

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The allegations made in his motion have received new scrutiny as the UK considers opening up its own laws.

Mr Foleys motion states: The BCCLA knowingly manipulated the court system, along with complicit judges, to make euthanasia and assisted suicide legal in Canada.

This decision has been used to influence policies in other countries, and vulnerable people have been wrongfully put to death by it.

Sigurdson endorsed legalisation of assisted dying

The filings alleged that Ms Sigurdson worked with the BCCLA around the time of the Carter case, including directly with Joseph Arvay, the groups lead lawyer.

Ms Sigurdson, who is now a supreme court judge, was previously a barrister for Mr Arvays firm, Arvay Finlay, and the pair worked together on numerous cases.

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She also worked with Sheila Tucker, another Carter lawyer.

Ms Sigurdson publicly endorsed the legalisation of assisted dying and once posted on Twitter calling for people to support the right to die with dignity, the legal filing claims.

In February 2015 she congratulated the BCCLA legal team on its victory in the Carter case.

Judge Smith and Ms Sigurdson declined to comment.

UK to vote on assisted dying bill

The filings have come to light as MPs in the UK vote next Friday on a bill to legalise assisted dying.

As part of last years assisted dying inquiry which preceded the bill, MPs heard from Canadian experts including James Downar, a palliative care physician in Ottawa, who pointed to the Carter case as a model for the UK.

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The new findings raise questions over whether the path to legalising assisted dying in Canada serves as a legitimate example for the UK to follow.

The parallels between the Carter case and the current push for this [UK] bill are clear, said Mr Foley, accusing Kim Leadbeater and Christine Jardine, who are spearheading the bill, of recklessly advancing their own interests while disregarding the impact on those who are most at risk.

Judge Smith served on BCCLA board

In addition to her daughters work with the campaign group, Judge Smith served on the board of the BCCLA at various points and, from 1996-97, chaired the Law Foundation of British Columbia, the groups biggest external fundraiser.

The Foundation donated $389,500 to the campaign group last year, financial statements show.

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Founded in 1962, the BCCLA had published policy documents in favour of assisted dying as far back as 1988.

Both Judge Smith and her daughter later appeared in a film about the judgement called The Death Debate, made in partnership with the BCCLA, which appeared to celebrate the legalisation of assisted dying.

YouTube / TELUS STORYHIVE | The Death Debate - Assisted Death in Canada

Mr Foleys motion also claims Beverley McLachlin  then chief justice of Canadas supreme court, which had the final say on legalising assisted dying  gave the impression of bias owing to close ties to the BCCLA.

Ms McLachlin is said to have had a close relationship with both the president and director of the campaign group at the time.

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The motion alleges Ms McLachlin suffered from tunnel vision on the issue of assisted dying and claims she should have recused herself from the case, owing to her friendship with members of the BCCLA.

Andre Schutten of the Association for Reformed Political Action, which pushed back against legalising assisted suicide during the Carter case, told True North: As a human rights lawyer fighting for the full and equal protection of the law for persons with disabilities, I dont see justice done when there appears to be a conflict here.

He added that it would have been prudent for Judge Smith to have recused herself from the start.

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The final trial in the 2016 Pike County massacre case will be heard outside of the county.

Additionally, two defendants in the case who earlier admitted their guilt in the eight-person homicide will be formally sentenced Dec. 17.

Visiting Judge Jonathan Hein on Monday granted a request from George "Billy" Wagner III to move his trial, which had been scheduled to start Jan. 6.

Hein did not cite a new location, noting that he is in search of an "available courthouse with adequate facilities and staffing" and will need to reschedule lawyers' time.

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The ruling also did not address when the trial would start, except to note that "making the venue decision well in advance of trial reduces delay."

On the sentencing matter, Hein filed orders Monday to sentence Edward "Jake" Wagner at 11 a.m. Dec. 17, just after sentencing Angela Wagner at 9 a.m. on that date. The younger son of Billy Wagner earlier took responsibility for killing five of the eight Rhodens. Billy Wagner's wife admitted guilt in helping plan and cover up the homicides.

Wagner lawyers sought change of venue twice

Wagner's lawyers had argued that they needed a change of venue to ensure "a fair trial before a jury untainted by pretrial publicity."

Publicity in the case  in which Wagner is charged with eight counts of aggravated murder and 14 other charges related to the 2016 shooting deaths of seven members of Pike County's Rhoden family and one future member  was "so pervasive and prejudicial that an attempt to seat a jury would be a vain act," a September filing in Wagner's case asserted.

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In his Monday ruling, Hein concurred with that assessment, saying "the intense scope of media coverage in this case  and other closely related cases  was so pervasive that prejudice is presumed."

"The small population of Pike County and the intense media coverage leads the court to conclude that no jury could truthfully answer that they have no prior knowledge of the horrendous facts of this case," he wrote.

Wagner attorney Mark Collins, reached Monday, declined to comment. Prosecutors for the state of Ohio could not immediately be reached for comment.

Hein granted change of venues in two other cases

Wagner first sought a change of venue in November 2023. The visiting judge then handling the case rejected it.

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Hein, who took over Wagner's case in May of this year, granted change of venue motions in two murder cases in Darke County in early 2023. He is a retired Darke County judge.

He moved the cases after the Darke County sheriff posted about them on the sheriff's office's Facebook page. In November 2022, Sheriff Mark Whittaker wrote that "in the interest of public safety, I am compelled to inform the citizens of Darke County" that a suspect in each case had posted bond and been released.

The suspects' attorneys then requested new trial locations, citing the Facebook note.

Hein granted the requests, noting that the Facebook post expressed "opinions as facts" and "inaccurately stereotyped both defendants as threats to the public," court documents said.

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The case of Dean M. Baker, charged in a August 2022 homicide in Brown Township, was moved to Clark County. Baker was found guilty of murder in June 2023 and sentenced to 22 years.

The case of William L. Fields, charged in a October 2022 killing, was moved to Seneca County. Fields pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to four years in November 2023.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Judge: Billy Wagner murder trial will not take place in Pike County
Audience watch drama "the Phoenix hair clip" staged in a street in Tianjin, north China, Nov. 24, 2024. "The Phoenix hair clip" is a poem of famous poet Lu You in China's Song Dynasty (960-1279), describing his real tragic love story that had been adapted by artists into many versions of dramas.

Actors of Tianjin People's Art Theater staged the classic drama in a street in Tianjin to display artistic atmosphere of the city. (Xinhua/Li Ran)

An actor performs drama "the Phoenix hair clip" in a street in Tianjin, north China, Nov. 24, 2024. "The Phoenix hair clip" is a poem of famous poet Lu You in China's Song Dynasty (960-1279), describing his real tragic love story that had been adapted by artists into many versions of dramas.

Actors of Tianjin People's Art Theater staged the classic drama in a street in Tianjin to display artistic atmosphere of the city. (Xinhua/Li Ran)

Actors perform drama "the Phoenix hair clip" in a street in Tianjin, north China, Nov. 24, 2024. "The Phoenix hair clip" is a poem of famous poet Lu You in China's Song Dynasty (960-1279), describing his real tragic love story that had been adapted by artists into many versions of dramas.

Actors of Tianjin People's Art Theater staged the classic drama in a street in Tianjin to display artistic atmosphere of the city. (Xinhua/Li Ran)

Actors perform drama "the Phoenix hair clip" in a street in Tianjin, north China, Nov. 24, 2024. "The Phoenix hair clip" is a poem of famous poet Lu You in China's Song Dynasty (960-1279), describing his real tragic love story that had been adapted by artists into many versions of dramas.

Actors of Tianjin People's Art Theater staged the classic drama in a street in Tianjin to display artistic atmosphere of the city. (Xinhua/Li Ran)

Actors perform drama "the Phoenix hair clip" in a street in Tianjin, north China, Nov. 24, 2024. "The Phoenix hair clip" is a poem of famous poet Lu You in China's Song Dynasty (960-1279), describing his real tragic love story that had been adapted by artists into many versions of dramas.

Actors of Tianjin People's Art Theater staged the classic drama in a street in Tianjin to display artistic atmosphere of the city. (Xinhua/Li Ran)
At 3 a.m. last Friday morning, Michael Antreau parked his car along the grassy verge of Highway 205, covered himself with a sleeping bag, and went to sleep.

He stayed that way until about 10 a.m., despite the frigid temperatures until Nicky Stacy tapped gently on his car window. Michael has been living in a camper with his family, she said, and is a regular at the Hazel Green Food Project in Wolfe County.

I wanted to make sure I got here in time, he said. This helps out a lot.

Cars line up on a distribution day at the Hazel Green Food Project in Hazel Green, Ky., on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024.

He might have waited a few hours later, but by 10 a.m., the row of cars behind him extended at least half a mile down the highway.

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Its like that every single time, said Stacy, who founded the Food Project four years ago as her neighbors tried to pull out of the nightmare of COVID deprivation. People will be here all day.

As she talked, Stacys army of volunteers moved palettes of hand sanitizer and protein shakes to get ready for the stream of cars, while a few more sorted through a huge bin of apples.

The Food Project is an equal opportunity pantry: Stacy doesnt ask for family incomes and doesnt care which county you come from. The second and fourth Fridays of every month, cars start lining up early with license plates from all over  Morgan, Powell and Breathitt.

Nicky Stacy, founder of Hazel Green Food Project, works with volunteers to prepare to distribute food and other items in Hazel Green, Ky., on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024.

They may have jobs, Stacy said, but after all the bills have been paid and the medication bought, theres simply no money left for food.

Food and other household items are distributed at the Hazel Green Food Project in Hazel Green, Ky., on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024.

In turn, her recipients are happy for the smorgasbord of items she offers up. Last week it was mattresses from a motel being renovated, some office furniture and on Thursday, someone dropped off a load of shingles. Later on, it might be diapers or vegetables or canned goods.

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Most of it comes from the Christian Appalachian Project or Gods Pantry Food Bank, or wherever else Stacy has managed to cajole into donations. Earlier this week, she took a load of Nerf guns and Squishmallows stuffed animals to all 105 kids at Red River Elementary, where Stacy attended.

All is welcome and every bit goes back out the door.

Friday is the week before Thanksgiving, so Stacy has managed to scrape up enough donations to buy 150 frozen turkeys with all the fixings from the Save A Lot that she will distribute later on today at the elementary school.

The kids will ask me, You got us a turkey, right?  she said. No kid should have to worry about whether theyll have a Thanksgiving dinner.

Just forgotten

Nicky and her husband, Eddie, both grew up in the Hazel Green community, which stretches along the winding Red River and its emerald valley.

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The main town of Hazel Green is one like so many in Kentucky, still charming with its small farms and a few big Victorian houses, but a place that clearly peaked a long time ago.

One of those, the biggest brick one on State Street, belonged to state Sen. W.O. Mize, who in 1880, got state funding for the Hazel Green Academy, a handsome set of Italianate buildings above Main Street. Napoleon Bonaparte Hays, later Kentucky Attorney General, was the first principal.

The school was handed over to the Disciples of Christ Church, which operated it until 1983. The buildings still stand in disrepair, windows broken here, roof missing there.

Thats the fancy side of Hazel Green, says Nicky. She always felt like her side of the county, the one closer to the Mountain Parkway, suffered more, especially when the picturesque Red River spilled its banks and flooded peoples homes.

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Wolfe County didnt have coal. It was mostly made up of small farmers who survived on their annual tobacco production, which dried up after the tobacco buyout in 2004.

Counties like Wolfe and Owsley didnt have a coal hangover, they just didnt have much of any kind of jobs or economy on which to get by. Wolfe has a poverty rate of 36.8, according to the census, which is more than double the state average, and has the highest food insecurity percentage in the state at 22.8 percent.

These stats had always annoyed Nicky Stacy, all the while she was getting married and having her five children.

Were just forgotten, she said. I really believe that Eastern Kentucky is just forgotten.

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During COVID, the USDA started handing out food boxes, and Nicky and Eddie started handing them out. In 2021, the Red River flooded, and they started collecting supplies. Eddie works for Habitat for Humanity, and those organizers put the Stacys in touch with Gods Pantry, which coordinates food donations around the state.

Eddie Stacy loads pork sausage donated by JSW Farm Chop Shop for the Hazel Green Food Project in Hazel Green, Ky., on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024.

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With donations from Gods Pantry, she started giving away food at the Hazel Green Fire Department on Highway 205. As more people started coming, Fire Chief Arthur Vest, also the local magistrate, would move the fire trucks on distribution day so there was more room.

One day, Gods Pantry sent some folks from Anthem Healthcare to sign up the many elderly clients in the line for Medicare. They were so impressed they sent Stacy a check for $25,000. That allowed the Food Project to build a warehouse next door complete with a working kitchen and bathroom.

And now were outgrowing it, she said.

Despite keeping many balls in the air, Nicky is small, calm and kind; and the only frenetic thing about her is the constant beeping of her phone. Shes helped out by regulars like Herschel, who makes the coffee, and Jenny Vest, who makes Facebook Live videos to tell folks whats available on certain days.

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People feel comfortable with us and theyll tell us what they need, Vest said. We need more ... Every Kentucky lawmaker should come here and work  it should be mandatory.

Henry Tolson, with his dog, Wiener, volunteer at the Hazel Green Food Project on a distribution day in Hazel Green, Ky., on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024.

Henry Tolson has been a volunteer for two years. Hes 59, a former farmer and electrician for whom work has pretty much dried up. He gets about $30 a month in food stamp benefits. But he comes to help, along with Wiener, a Chihuahua mix tucked into his jacket.

I believe in giving back, he said. Hazel Green dont have nothing. Ive lived here all my life, and theyve never done nothing about it. It was all tobacco, when they done away with that, they done away with all the incomes.

If it wasnt for this place, I wouldnt make it, Tolson said. Thats why Im here because I want to pay it forward.

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They could mean anything from the fiscal court to the federal government, amorphous and largely uncaring. She is Nicky, who is taking care of them, every day, all the time.

If she was as tall as her heart is big, shed be 7 feet tall, Tolson said.

She needs more help because what shes doing is good for the country. If it werent for her, thered be a lot of little kids going hungry. Grownups, too. She doesnt do it for the recognition, she just does it.

Long lines

Hazel Green has two relatively big employers that flank the food project, Lion Apparel and the Chop Shop, a meat processing plant and retail meat store just down the road. Owner Jonathan Whitt takes in 1,000 head of cattle a week, sends it out all over the country.

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But pretty often, he sees Stacys name on his phone, and figures out what he can hand over to her.

Today its 300 pounds of sausage.

Eddie Stacy loads up the Food Project truck to take back to the line.

I call Jonathan a lot because we hear that the only protein people get is peanut butter, Nicky said. He has a heart to give to the community. Anytime Im running short, hes the first person I call.

Theres be a lot of hungry faces if she werent here, Whitt said.

Its now noon, and the line is ready to start. Drivers pop their trunks and the volunteers stand by the grouped pallets, ready to load drinks, hand sanitizer, shampoo, sausage and apples into the cars. It moves slowly but steadily.

Once Stacy is satisfied, she and Eddie get back in the truck to drive to Red River Elementary to unload the turkeys. Despite the snow day status, a few teachers showed up to set up tables and put together bags of stuffing, mashed potatoes and green beans.

Red River was built in 1964, but theres plenty of room for a student enrollment thats dwindled to about 105 kids in grades K-6. Class sizes are small, obviously, and everyone knows everyone else, so Stacy will often get word from the school about what a family might need.

Nicky Stacy, right, founder of Hazel Green Food Project, works with other volunteers to prepare to distribute Thanksgiving dinner fixings for community members at Red River Valley Elementary School in Hazel Green, Ky., on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024.

We all went here, so we all help, she said as cars slowly drove up to get their turkey and fixings. People are thankful, and Im thankful to be able to do this.

Shes also exhausted. She spends way more than 40 hours a week at the job for which she is still a volunteer. While she raises five kids. And at some point, an eternal question raises itself: Shouldnt there be a better, more systemic way to help people?

When asked about her prescription, Stacy says shed like to see COVID-era programs be brought back. Along with a winter feeding program the same way theres a summer feeding program. Theres not enough funding for a backpack program like Lexington has, which helps feed kids during long breaks.

She was called to Frankfort once to testify against proposals to add work or volunteer requirements to SNAP benefits. It died, but she hasnt seen too much more interest from lawmakers. To be fair, its a daunting problem; to be less fair, why bother when you know people like Stacy will pick up the slack?

People around here appreciate the Stacys and their incessant work. They leave $1 dollar bills in their mailbox, or drop off change in the food line to try to offset the costs.

But the need never ends, and Nicky Stacy wont stop.

I go to bed and get up and come back here, she said. I dont know ... someone has to do it.

On Thanksgiving Day, the Stacys will return back to the warehouse with their kids. Then a volunteer will start frying some turkeys outside while others gather in the kitchen to cook the rest of the meal. Theyll set up long tables, maybe 50 people in all.

Theyll serve the food, bow their heads and pray, in gratitude for the food and for each other and the work they do together.

Then the Stacys will go home, and Nicky will get ready for another Friday distribution, hoping and praying and begging she has enough for everyone who needs it.

To donate to the Hazel Green Food Project and talk with Stacy, go to the groups Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/HazelGreenFoodProject/.
Steve Bannon got out of prison exactly a week before Election Day. He was released before dawn and immediately headed to a remote studio to tape War Room, his podcast and streaming show, so as to waste no time getting back to his audience, the MAGA faithful. He had been in prison for almost four months for defying a subpoena related to the Jan. 6 insurrection; he had much to say.

In the immediate aftermath of the 2024 presidential election, I found myself thinking of Bannon, and how validated he must feel. Its hard to tell from exit polling what the whole story is behind Donald Trumps winwe wont have better data for monthsbut signs point to a substantial shift rightward among Latino and Black men, scrambling Democrats ideas of who was reliably in their voting bloc. Most of the entire country shifted right, in fact. Perhaps it pointed to a new kind of Republican coalition.

As the man who constructed the intellectual framework of the MAGA movement, Bannon had for years preached the importance of building a populist message with broad appeal across many demographics. His ideal GOP would keep its focus on battling the elites rather than get distracted by culture-war squabbles; scorn squeamish centrists too afraid of violating democratic norms to shake up or burn down the governing institutions; and reject the old ways of conservatism in favor of extreme isolationism. This, he prophesied, would lead to an unbreakable coalition that could fundamentally reshape the nations politics for the next half-century.

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During the first Trump administration, when Bannon had for a time served as the White Houses chief strategist, he indeed battled with the centrists and the establishment Republicans who slow-walked the presidents most chaotic plans; during the years after, he plotted a triumphant return of the MAGA movement. Now that he has that return in his sights, now that Republicans will have control of all three branches of governmentnow that the MAGA movement actually has the power Bannon has so long dreamed ofwhat will Trump do with it?

Thus, on the Wednesday after the election, I donned headphones and began a journey: one week of listening to War Room. This was no small venture. Bannons show airs for four hours a day, with a break in the middle, every day except for Sunday. I had over 20 hours to consume. But I had to know what Bannon, the architect of what had come to pass, would say about where he was going.

In the days following the election, the excitement on War Room was palpable. There was plenty of crowing about the greatness of the MAGA movement. There was praise and accolades for Trump as a kind of historic Great Mana spiritual descendant of Washington or Lincoln or even the Roman patrician Cincinnatus. There was fevered speculation about who would staff the next administration. (Im getting tired of winning already, Bannon said after Trump announced that Stephen Miller would be deputy chief of staff for policy.) And there was gloating about the horror and disappointment of the libs.

Youre all in the fetal position, Bannon said Monday morning, addressing the left. So Im going to give you something to really suck your thumbs about: We are in charge.

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I entered War Room because I wanted insight into how MAGA is thinking about its expanded coalition and its fight against any emerging liberal resistance in the coming Trump term. What I found myself more struck by was the extent to which Bannon is gearing up for a fight within his own party. The architect of MAGA sees victory, but he also sees weakness everywhere.

To Bannon, this is a time of potential peril: The party could set itself on the path for decadeslong powerbut only if it has learned to heed the lessons hes offering.

War Room does not air on YouTube; the show was kicked off the site in 2021 for spreading misinformation. But you can still find it (still spreading misinformation) on podcast apps, on Rumble, on Gettr, on the television channel Real Americas Voice, and on its website.

I chose to experience it on Apples podcast app, where its thumbnail art still features sinister pandemic imagery. But to get the full effect, I periodically checked in on the live video feed on the website. There, the perpetually unkempt Bannon, with his mane of silver hair, layered shirts, and Army-green barn coat, welcomes his guests via video feed from a desk in front of a fireplace mantel strewn with Roman Catholic iconography and a sign that reads: There are NO conspiracies, but there are NO coincidences. Stephen K Bannon. (Note: Bannon and War Room did not respond to requests for comment.)

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His show, usually filmed from a studio in his Capitol Hill row house basement, often opens with a clip from MSNBC before Bannon launches into a monologue countering or mocking the liberal hand-wringing. Hell occasionally display a chart or some merchandise hes promoting. Every once in a while, his border correspondent will roll footage of crowds of migrants. But mostly his show is bare-bones: angry patriots speaking into mics.

When I first tuned in, the day after the election, the content seemed predictable, almost boring. Bannon congratulated his audience and celebrated that they and everyone who worked so hard to stop the steal had made Trumps victory too big to rig. What you have accomplished will be written about in history books for decades and decades to come, Bannon declared. This is full-spectrum dominance.

But by the evening segment, Bannon was already looking ahead. He reminded his viewers of Trumps promises: the president-elect would investigate the Department of Justice officials who had investigated him; he would purge government departments of liberal civil servants; he would deport millions of people.

The celebrations were punctuated by ads, reminders, in an abrupt tonal shift, of the fear and anxiety that animates Bannons audience. Birch Gold, one of his top sponsors, urges viewers to invest in gold because elites want to use technology behind bitcoin for their own Orwellian purposes in order to dominate the economy by getting everyone to use central-bank currencies, which they control. A prepper company offers emergency food kits, with sinister warnings: The unthinkable continues. Most Americans know something is very, very wrong. The people in charge keep telling you that everythings fine and to stop noticing. But you know better. A tax service promises to help with your IRS problems; a debt-management service offers to protect you from creditors.

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Often, Bannon will toss the mic, virtually, to his 23-year-old co-host Natalie Winters, a blond Californian who has a side business selling a girlish right-wing clothing line. (This includes stickers that say America First in the Barbie font and T-shirts that read Set Boundaries, Build Walls.) Five years ago, she was kicked out of her sorority at the University of Chicago for transphobic commentary. During the week I listened to War Room, she joked at least a couple of times about Democratic activists being ugly; Bannon, who is 70, refrains from criticizing peoples looks.

At first, listening to the show, I was amused by the contrast. I heard Winters mock Democratic men for not paying on dates, and she joined Jack Posobiec, another right-wing activist, in jesting that liberal women on TikTok are on the wrong side of the hot/crazy matrix.

Bannon, on the other hand, generally gives the sense of being above the most vile aspects of the culture wars or petty attacks. He will violently declare his enemies revolting or tell the scumbags at the Pentagon to put it where the sun dont shine. But he also tends to acknowledge the intelligence and competence of certain enemies, profess admiration for the talents of certain (assumed-liberal) news reporters, and reserve his most scornful tone for the elites in power. Amid my hours of listening to his co-host and guests, this cooler tone often felt like a respite from Winters monologues. For example, Bannons musings on the 4B movement, in which women refrain from sex with men as a form of political protest, included framing it as comporting with the themes of Lysistrata and the rejection of traditional society. Winters declared that these womens concept of masculinity is forcing men to sit in a cuck chair and watch their country be destroyed.

Still, after adjusting to Winters more caustic style, I came to see her as a faithful internet-inflected iteration of Bannons particular politicsGen Z Bannon, even. We sell ourselves short, I think, when we spin the issue merely as Oh, its trannies in womens sports,  she said during a discussion of gender. The real issue, she explained, was an economic one: The liberal order was assaulting traditional gender norms because plummeting birth rates benefited the corporations that want massive immigration, the globalist organizations like the United Nations, the World Economic Forum. The logic was fully in line with Bannons own pet conspiracy theories about the elites.

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Its hard to know how many people are tuning in to War Room; there are no publicly available metrics. And its worth noting that the War Room team has an inconstant relationship with Trumps inner circle. Bannon himself was cast into the wilderness for a period in 2018 after Trump, angered over reports that Bannon had insulted Trumps children, attacked him as Sloppy Steve. Just last week, J.D. Vance publicly called a top executive of War Room a mouth breathing imbecile. But Bannons own reputation as a committed leader of the populist cause that propelled Trump to the White House twice has secured him a loyal audience that includes far-right legislators and influential MAGA friends alike. Those friends have helped War Room retain political relevanceand keep his powers of persuasion in motion.

In the week I listened to the show, I heard Boris Epshteyn, a top Trump adviser, congratulate Bannon as a warrior. William McGinley, Trumps choice for White House counsel, declared that the War Room posse really delivered the victory. Scott Bessent, Trumps treasury secretary pick, went on the show to pitch major bank deregulation in the next term. Kash Patel, whos in the running to be FBI director, came on to discuss the importance of overhauling the leadership of the intelligence agencies. Rudy Giuliani made an appearance, calling for a special counsel to investigate the weaponization of government during the Biden administration. Mike Davis, a Trump aide and online troll who is advising the president-elect on judicial picks, went on a number of times to discuss basically anything Bannon felt like grouching about.

Bannon keeps his audience up to date on internal Republican jockeying for influence and highlights his preferred people; urges viewers to make their opinions known to the power brokers; and pushes his guests to articulate how their MAGA dreams will actually play out.

How should that investigation commence? Bannon pressed Erik Prince, the Blackwater founder, in a Nov. 12 episode after the latter spoke at length about the need to launch investigations into DOJ officials and NGO workers who supported migrants coming across the southern border. Because we really want action, action, action. We want to take it from the theoretical to the practical. (Princes lackluster answer: Trump should order his acting attorney general to do it.)

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As time went on, as I listened to Bannon on my work commute and while folding laundry, it became clear to me that when it came to action in the second Trump era, Bannon has three concrete goals. First, and most important, the mass deportation of every immigrant lacking permanent legal status who arrived during the Biden administration. This is key to his entire philosophy, and what he sees as the crucial differentiation that sets right-wing populism apart from left-wing populism: Immigrants, along with elites, are the scourge of working-class people, according to Bannon. Its a broadly nativist pitch: Elites bring immigrants into the country to take jobs from working-class people, but immigrants should not be spared any mercy for unwittingly stealing jobs from real Americans. Bannon urged Trump to appoint a deportations czar to lead the campaign. Winters, at one point, dismissed the Republicans who focused on immigrant crime as thinking too small. Were not just removing criminals, she said on a Saturday morning show. Were removing a monolith, a group of people who really are the antithesis of the populist agenda that undergirds the MAGA movement.

Bannons second goal is to slash any federal government entity that would stand in the way of what Trump wants to do. Many of his guests agreed: career civil servants should be scrutinized, pockets of liberal resistance expunged, entire departments and even agencies wiped out. The intelligence agencies, the Justice Department, the administrative state all needed to be cleansed. Bannon cited as inspiration President Javier Milei of Argentina, while suggesting that Trump get rid of the Department of Education entirely. Weve got to purge the rot, Bannon said on a Monday morning. Maybe weve got to get rid of the FBI and build some other federal police force. Maybe weve got to deconstruct a bunch of the CIA. That will all come.

Third, Bannon wants investigations into the deep state for its crimes against Trump. This element of the to-do list is Bannons most chargedhe cant seem to decide if he is proposing prosecution for the sake of justice or retribution. (A sampling of his comments: Screw yourself, were not interested in a group hug; We live by grudges and vendettas; and You will pay a price for that. Its called justice, rough Roman justice.) One of Bannons primary proposals is to establish a special counsel to investigate special counsel Jack Smith, who led independent federal investigations into Trumps role in the Jan. 6 insurrection and his handling of classified documents. In Bannons words: The hunted are about to become the hunters.

Bannon has no tolerance for weakness on any of these three issues. And that means that on War Room, the battle for the heart of the Republican Party is just as urgent as the battle against the Democrats, if not more so. Bannon and his guests had choice words for the prominent lobbyist Jeff Miller (head of the swamp brigade), ousted Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (desperate for relevance), Trey Gowdy (a clown and dumb as a brick), and Mike Johnson (arguably worse [failures] than anything weve seen out of the Senate.).

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During the vote over the Senate majority leader, Bannon was incensed that Sen. Rick Scott, the MAGA pick, lost out to John Thune, whom Bannon called a McConnell puppet. Bannon rallied his viewers to inundate their senators with calls demanding that the vote record be publicized so that they could see exactly who had voted against Scott.

We didnt come all this waythis audience didnt put their shoulder to the wheelto have the victory become a Pyrrhic victory by putting someone like Thune in, Winters said. Lambasting Republican senators, she added: These people are the backbone, the epitome, of the right-wing resistance.

Bannons great victory on election night was over not the Harris campaign but the idea that Republicans needed to moderate their stances on immigration and far-right isolationism. As long as Trump keeps people out, keeps the country out of wars, stops funding others wars, cuts taxes, institutes tariffs, and encourages traditional family structures, Bannon believes that prosperity will return to the lower and middle classes.

Dont you understand the historical moment were in? Bannon asked the afternoon after the election. To get past race and past gender and past religion and past ethnicity and past color? To get down to it? Thats the beginning of what last night was.

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He mocked Romneys loss in 2012 and how Republicans had concluded that the party had leaned too hard right on immigration. It couldnt be the neoliberal, neocon policies of the Republican Partythat couldnt possibly be it, Bannon said sarcastically, with audible satisfaction.

Exit polling on Latino voting is still disputed; some data analysis found that while Latino men did shift rightward, a majority still voted for Harris. (Also, Latinos are not a demographic monolith.) But as Bannon understands it, where Trump succeeded was in conveying a dire situation to Black and Latino men: Millions of illegal alien invaders had flooded the country from the moment Biden took office. These new Republican voters, Bannon said, had correctly realized that Biden, Harris, the progressive left, the corporations, and the Wall Street barons had allowed immigrants into the country to create the cheapest wages possibleto basically  crush the Black and Hispanic working class.

Bannons time in prison, too, seems to have strengthened his confidence in this analysis, if he lacked any before. The young Black men and the young Hispanic men in that prison told me,  Theres no way she can win, he said on a Wednesday afternoon segment. Theyre not prepared to vote for the old. Kamala Harris represents a Democratic Party that has not delivered for their interests.

Richard Baris, a MAGA blogger and occasional War Room guest, said on the Wednesday evening show, I see nothing but opportunity here, noting that hed happily trade one National Review type for five Black guys and four Hispanic guys.

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A question Bannon asked was how Democrats would respond. Would they continue to hold on to established ways? Or would they swing toward their own version of populism? We dont need to help them with their autopsy, he concluded.

There is a glimmer of something universal in what Bannon says and feels about how much of the world is controlled by elites. That (as others before me have pointed out when assessing right-wing populism) is what makes it dangerous. Whereas liberal populists often push for more government intervention and regulation to make the lives of working-class people more sustainable, Bannon remains singularly fixated on getting rid of the most vulnerable people in American society. Were not amnesty people, Bannon said. The closest I ever heard him come to expressing any kind of empathy for immigrants whose lives he wants to uproot is when he called them victims and pawns in a very deadly and dangerous game.

Bannons entire worldview is also so tied up in misinformation that its impossible to extract a platform separate from it. His show, which was found to be one of the leading sources of misinformation during the COVID pandemic, has continued to churn out false claims about the 2020 election. Even with the 2024 victory, Bannon saw only further proof that the Democrats meddled four years ago to prevent a similar outcome. We are not going to back off the adjudication of the big steal, Bannon vowed the day after the election.

I am sure the 2020 election will start to feel less topical as time passes, but this belieftreated as a hard fact, conclusive evidence of the deep states powerwill continue to be cited as evidence, alongside fresh new examples of villainy, as a reason to distrust all facets of a functional government. Democrats are not just rivals in a democratic competition for Americas identity but crooks who need to be countered with similarly underhanded tactics.

Discussing one MSNBC segment after the election, Winters scoffed at the idea that Democrats were upholding democratic norms by conceding. They were patting themselves on the back because they werent doing a Jan. 6type riot, she said. No, what you guys are attempting to do is so much worse and so much more quote-unquote antidemocratic. She was referring to the efforts from liberal groups to resist authoritarian actions and mass deportations. Within this conspiratorial mentality, any liberal resistance to Trumpism is not a form of participation in the political systemits evidence of campaigns strategized by self-interested elites.

On Bannons show, viewers are warned that nongovernmental agencies, supposedly funded by liberal dark-money groups, will wage the information warfare element of the resistance.

He also predicts that the Biden administration will tank the economy to create chaos for Trump. Worse, Biden will maximize, till Inauguration Day, the number of immigrants who come across the border in order to establish a point of contact for the resistance.

The mainstream media, who Bannon said he hopes are cast to the fifth and sixth row of the White House briefing room to make space for new media and alternative media, are similarly a force to contend with. We saw what the media hurled against us in 2016, right? Winters said in a discussion of dark money in politics and getting rid of immigrants. The scary sob stories of the children and the little grandma. It is up to us to win the narrative battle.

The good news for them is theyll have more tools this time. In the past eight years, the courts have become increasingly conservative. McGinley, who will be Trumps White House counsel, promised on the Friday afternoon show that all the bureaucratic tactics the leftovers from the outgoing Obama administration deployed are not going to work this time. We are going to be prepared.

Bannon hates the left, theres no question, but his focus now seems to be on the RINOs whom he and his allies see as a threat from the inside. In 2023 Bannon pushed for Kevin McCarthys ouster as speaker of the House, which came through the work of his loyal ally Matt Gaetz. Bannon has more recently moved on to fighting for his camps control of the Senate.

Speaking on Bannons show on Monday evening, Peter Navarro called Thune and John Cornyn, the final two Republican candidates for Senate majority leader, bad, bad, anti-Trump dudes. Posobiec called on the War Room audience to dig up receipts on Thune and Cornyn and warned viewers not to trust solid red-state Republicans who put on a cowboy hat and theyll walk around, post some video of Oh, Im shooting a six-shooter, Im one of you  because theyll go in the Senate and they start cutting deals with the lobbyists.

I know people want to relax and celebrate and pop wine corks and pop the champagne, but its not time for that, Posobiec said on Tuesday morning, a week after the election. Its time to do the work. Because if you dont do that, the MAGA agenda, the America First agenda will be stolen under you like a rug.

Bannon has also personally urged his audience to call in and complain about the establishment Republicans, saying, This is unacceptable. These people are trying to block President Trump and what President Trumps trying to do.

Bannon has been careful to voice an exception for Trumps Cabinet picks, noting that while he thought Susie Wiles wasnt perfect as chief of staff, Trump deserved to have a say. (Its a very imperfect world were in, posse, he said, sounding a strangely conciliatory note. Even when we win, sometimes we dont win.) It was Congress he distrusted. The Senate, he insisted, was the bastion of the donor class.

This is where Bannon can apply pressure. He can set his listeners on to harassment campaigns. He can give most far-right legislators a platform and flatter and sway troublemakers, urging them on to wage ugly internecine battles. The Republican Party, the people who put millions in funding and endless hours of labor into the 2024 campaign, reelected Bannons populist hero. But that doesnt mean hell work with them.
Special Counsel Jack Smith is dropping the Justice Departments criminal election interference and classified documents cases against Donald Trump, according to motions filed Monday in D.C. court.

The cases were unlikely to see a trial or resolution given Trumps victory in Novembers election, and the incoming administrations imminent control of the Justice Department. Mondays motions by Smith mark the end of the governments furious and fraught saga seeking accountability for Trumps involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The future of the cases  especially the election inference case  were also in question given a July Supreme Court decision granting Trump, and all presidents, immunity from prosecution for official acts taken while in office.

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In July, Florida Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the DOJs classified documents case against Trump, claiming Smiths appointment as a special counsel was inherently unconstitutional. Trump stood accused of wrongfully retaining and mishandling hundreds of classified documents following the end of his first term.

Trump has vowed retribution on Smith and other prosecutors involved in criminal cases against him. As previously reported by Rolling Stone, the president-elect has spent his years out of office building an army of attorneys prepared to punish members of the DOJ and other law enforcement organizations involved in the myriad of investigations into Trump.

There are almost too many targets to keep track of, one Trump adviser told Rolling Stone.

Smith is expected to step down as special counsel before Trump is inaugurated in January, but its unlikely to prevent Trumps Justice Department  which will likely be helmed by former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi  from going after him and those who worked on the cases against Trump.

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The Justice Department under current Attorney General Merrick Garland has been widely criticized for waiting so long to bring charges against Trump, particularly related to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The Justice Dept and the court system failed to uphold the principle that no one is above the law, incoming Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) wrote after Smith move to drop the charges on Monday. DOJ by neglecting to promptly investigate the events of Jan 6, and the courts by willfully delaying progress of the case and providing immunity. The public deserved better.

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(Bloomberg) -- The US Justice Department ended its pursuit of criminal charges against Donald Trump, signaling a conclusion to the extraordinary federal prosecution of a former president whose reelection ensured hed be shielded from charges in the White House.

Special Counsel Jack Smith, who charged Trump with illegally conspiring to obstruct the 2020 election and with mishandling sensitive national security information after he left office, filed papers in court on Monday indicating the department would no longer move forward with either case against the president-elect.

The special counsels office sought to dismiss the election obstruction indictment against Trump in Washington. A few hours later, that motion was granted by US District Judge Tanya Chutkan.

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In the classified records case, prosecutors said they wont pursue an appeal to revive charges against Trump, but will press ahead with a challenge to a Florida federal judges dismissal of charges against his two co-defendants. The judge ruled earlier this year that Smiths appointment was unconstitutional and tossed out the case.

Justice Department policy bars the prosecution of sitting presidents, forcing Smiths hand to unnwind the cases against Trump after he won the election. Trump, who denied wrongdoing, said he would fire Smith and order the department to close the special counsels work if he won a second term.

Smith wrote that his office stands fully behind the merits of the election obstruction case but the departments prohibition on charging and prosecuting sitting presidents was categorical.

The decision to end the case does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Governments proof, or the merits of the prosecution, he wrote.

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The department asked the judge to dismiss the case without prejudice, leaving open the possibility it could be revived once Trump leaves office. Chutkan approved that request, writing that it was consistent with the governments understanding that the immunity afforded to a sitting President is temporary, expiring when they leave office.

Smith is expected to resign as special counsel before Trump is sworn in. It wasnt immediately clear which Justice Department office would take over the Florida prosecution, but once hes in the White House, Trump could order prosecutors to fully drop the appeal or to pardon the co-defendants, Waltine Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira.

Trumps latest pick to lead the Justice Department, former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi, was one of the attorneys that signed a friend-of-court brief backing Trumps position on appeal that Smiths appointment was unconstitutional.

Neither federal case against Trump came close to a trial. The notices on Monday represented a vindication of the legal strategy pursued by Trumps lawyers, who pushed for delays and later hearing dates at every turn as the clock ticked down to Election Day.

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Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement that the special counsels decision was a major victory for the rule of law.

Historic Indictments

Trump was the first former president indicted on felony charges. He also faced two state prosecutions, and the fate of those cases remains unsettled as he prepares to return to Washington.

A New York jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to a former adult film star who claimed to have had a sexual relationship with him. A judge has delayed sentencing in that case as he decides how to proceed. In Georgia, a prosecution over Trumps efforts to overturn the 2020 election have been on hold amid controversy about the lead prosecutors personal conduct.

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State prosecutors arent bound by the same rules as the Justice Department.

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith as special counsel to take over the two federal investigations after Trump formally announced his campaign for president two years ago.

The classified documents case came first. A Florida grand jury indicted Trump in June 2023 on charges that he unlawfully held onto a cache of classified documents and then conspired with two associates to stymie US efforts to get those materials back. US District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case after concluding that Smiths appointment and funding of the special counsel office were unconstitutional.

The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals hasnt scheduled arguments yet in the governments appeal of Cannons order. The department is expected to file its next brief as it presses ahead with the attempt at resurrecting the case against Trumps co-defendants.

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Election Obstruction Case

In August 2023, a grand jury in Washington returned the federal election obstruction indictment. Chutkan had set a trial for March. But the prosecution effort became mired in a fight over whether the former president was entitled to absolute immunity from charges he argued were related to his official duties.

In a decision split along ideological lines, the US Supreme Court held this summer that presidents are entitled to sweeping protection from charges related to their official duties. The parties were back before a district court judge this fall to fight over the precise contours of that immunity and whether any of the indictment could survive.

The Washington case wasnt officially over until Chutkan granted the governments motion to dismiss the indictment. Judges generally have little authority to rebuff prosecutors in such situations, especially before theres been a trial or any factual findings.

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During Trumps first term, a judge ordered a review of the Justice Departments move to drop a criminal case against a Trump ally, former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, but that happened after Flynn pleaded guilty. The case ended when Trump pardoned Flynn.

--With assistance from Chris Strohm.

(Updates with Chutkans order and details from court filings.)

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Donald Trumps election interference case and classified documents cases have been thrown out after special counsel Jack Smith applied on Monday for them to be dropped.

The move announced in court papers marks the end of the Justice Departments landmark effort to hold Mr Trump accountable for what prosecutors called a criminal conspiracy to cling to power in the run-up to his supporters attack on the US Capitol on Jan 6 2021.

Justice Department prosecutors, citing longstanding department guidance that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted, said the departments position is that the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated.

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That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Governments proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind, the prosecutors wrote in Mondays court filing.

Federal prosecutors also moved to abandon the classified documents case against Mr Trump. The announcement was made in an appeals court filing in Florida.

Empty and lawless

Mr Trump has cast both cases as politically motivated, and had vowed to fire Mr Smith as soon as he takes office in January.

In a statement on Truth Social, Mr Trump wrote: These cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought.

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Over $100 million of taxpayer dollars has been wasted in the Democrat Partys fight against their political opponent, me.

Nothing like this has ever happened in our country before.

They have also used state prosecutors and district attorneys, such as Fani Willis and her lover, Nathan Wade (who had absolutely zero experience in cases such as this, but was paid millions, enough for them to take numerous trips and cruises around the globe!), Letitia James, who inappropriately, unethically, and probably illegally, campaigned on getting Trump in order to win political office, and Alvin Bragg, who himself never wanted to bring this case against me, but was forced to do so by the Justice Department and the Democrat Party.

In a follow up post, he added: .It was a political hijacking, and a low point in the history of our country that such a thing could have happened, and yet, I persevered, against all odds, and won. Make America Great Again!

Legal threat over

US district judge Tanya Chutkan granted the motion to dismiss the federal election interference case on Monday evening.

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The move amounts to a predictable conclusion to a criminal case that just one year ago had been seen as the most perilous legal threat that he faced. It reflects the practical consequences of Mr Trumps victory, ensuring he enters office free from scrutiny over his hoarding of top secret documents and conduct that prosecutors said had jeopardised national scrutiny.

Responding to the move, Steven Cheung, Mr Trumps communications director, said: The American people re-elected president Trump with an overwhelming mandate to Make America Great Again. Todays decision by the DOJ ends the unconstitutional federal cases against president Trump, and is a major victory for the rule of law.

The American people and president Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponisation of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country.

Special counsel Jack Smith has applied for the charges to be dropped against Donald Trump - Jacquelyn Martin/AP

The decision was expected after Mr Smiths team began assessing how to wind down both the 2020 election interference case and the separate classified documents case in the wake of Mr Trumps victory over Kamala Harris.

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The Justice Department believes Mr Trump can no longer be tried in accordance with longstanding policy that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.

The 2020 election case brought last year was seen as one of the most serious legal threats facing the Republican as he vied to reclaim the White House. But it quickly stalled amid legal fighting over Mr Trumps sweeping claims of immunity from prosecution for acts he took while in the White House.

The US Supreme Court in July ruled for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, and sent the case back to Judge Chutkan to determine which allegations in the indictment, if any, could proceed to trial.

The case was just beginning to pick up steam again in the trial court in the weeks leading up to this years election. Mr Smiths team in October filed a lengthy brief laying out new evidence they planned to use against him at trial, accusing him of resorting to crimes in an increasingly desperate effort to overturn the will over voters after he lost to Joe Biden.

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DENVER (KDVR)  Two juveniles were arrested for allegedly firing multiple rounds from a gun while driving in Boulder County.

On Sunday at around 10:50 p.m., the Boulder County Sheriffs Office said deputies were near 119th Street and Oxford Road, north of Niwot, conducting increased traffic patrols. The sheriffs office said they had received several reports of people firing multiple handgun or rifle rounds from a moving car.

When in the area, deputies said they heard several gunshots, and the sheriffs office said one deputy saw a suspect in a vehicle fire the rounds as the car traveled northbound in the 8400 block of 119th Street.

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Driver suffers medical emergency, flips car into driveway with homeowner feet away

The sheriffs office said deputies pursued the car into Longmont. Eventually, the suspects stopped on their own in the 300 block of South Sunset Street and two juveniles were taken into custody.

The Boulder County Sheriffs Office said Longmont police assisted in the arrest.

The two juveniles were booked on the following charges:

Eluding

Reckless driving

Driving without a valid drivers license

Five counts of prohibited use of a weapon

Five counts of possession of a handgun by a juvenile

Possession of drug paraphernalia

Deputies said they recovered a handgun and several handgun rounds.

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Thankfully, no one was injured during the shooting. At this time, deputies said its unclear why the juveniles targeted that area and what the suspects were aiming at as they fired the rounds.

Anyone with additional information is asked to call the Boulder County Sheriffs Office.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
ASHEBORO, N.C. (WGHP)  FOX8 honors Kaitlyn Cline of Southwestern Randolph High School. Congrats, Ms. Cline!

If you know of an educator who is worthy of this nomination please fill out the nomination form here. Educator of the Week is sponsored by the North Carolina Education Lottery.

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The vice president and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee told her advisors and close allies, I am staying in the fight.

After a devastating and decisive loss to Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, Vice President Kamala Harris is keeping her options open about her political future once she leaves office next year.

Harris has told her advisors and close allies, I am staying in the fight, Politico reports. What that fight looks like, however, remains up in the air.

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According to Harris inner circle, the vice president is considering running for governor of California when Gov. Gavin Newsoms term-limited time in office comes to an end in 2026. Harris is also not ruling out running for president again in 2028. However, insiders told the news outlet that it is unlikely Harris can do both.

While Harris, who left Washington, D.C. last week to vacation in Hawaii with family and advisors, has plenty of time to decide on her next move, those close to the vice president make clear she will remain a critical voice against Trump and his incoming administration.

Politico notes that another option for Harris is setting up an independent entity as a former vice president, in which she would continue to travel across the country, deliver speeches, and maintain her political relationships in the event she seeks public office again.

Longtime Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, a close advisor to Harris, told Politico that the vice president has earned a lot of political capital as the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee. Though Harris lost the presidential contest, including the popular vote, she earned the most votes out of any Democratic presidential candidate other than President Joe Bidens total vote count in 2020.

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You dont squander that by making snap decisions, said Brazile.

According to a recent poll conducted by Puck News/Echelon Insights, Harris remains the favorite among high-profile Democrats in a potential 2028 presidential run. The vice president garnered 41% among those surveyed, far exceeding the average support for Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and others.

WASHINGTON, DC  OCTOBER 29: Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris waves during a campaign rally on the Ellipse on October 29, 2024 in Washington, DC. With one week remaining before Election Day, Harris delivered her closing argument, a speech where she outlined her plan for America and urged voters to turn the page on Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Democrats who spoke with theGrio in recent weeks about Harris chances in the 2028 presidential election expressed neutral or mixed feelings about a Harris comeback.

Certainly, Vice President Kamala Harris was an extraordinary candidate and is an extraordinary vice president, Rep. Yvette Clark, D-N.Y., told theGrio. The presumptive chair of the Congressional Black Caucus added, Only time can tell what the lay of the land will look like, should the opportunity arise  to identify that nominee. I dont think were in that space yet.

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Democratic strategist Joel Payne said he sees no why Kamala Harris doesnt have a place in the future of the Democratic Party, noting she had only 100 days to build a presidential campaign after President Biden dropped out of the race three months before Election Day.

She was put in an incredibly difficult situation, he told theGrio. [She] came up with a creative way to compete with Trump in the attention economy, raised money, brought the coalition of Democrats back together.

Despite Democrats pointing fingers at each other after Trumps victory, Payne added, I think Kamala Harris is a lot to be proud of. What befell Democrats this cycle, I think it would be short-sighted to just lay it at the feet of Kamala Harris.

Former Congressman Mondaire Jones, who lost his reelection bid in New Yorks 17th Congressional District to incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in November, told theGrio flatly, Harris should not run again.



Frankly, I think even before talking about who should be the nominee in 2028, we need to have some really tough, introspective conversations about who we are as a party and who we want to be as a party, said Jones.

More must-reads:
Kamala Harris could be the next governor of California.

Weeks after being defeated by President-elect Donald Trump, the former Democratic presidential nominee has told her inner circle she will keep all options open, according to Politico. That could include Californias 2026 gubernatorial race.

A University of California, Berkeley poll taken shortly before the election showed one in three Golden State voters said theyd be very likely to vote for Harris and and another 13% consider themselves somewhat likely to support her.

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Outgoing Rep. Katie Porter, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa are also considered potentially strong candidates for the job. Gov. Gavin Newsom has been elected twice and isnt eligible to run again.

Harris reportedly told associates shes staying in the fight after leaving her job as Vice President in January.

She got more than 74 million votes in her loss to Trump, despite having only 107 days to campaign after President Joe Biden, 82, ended his bid for reelection. Harris went to Hawaii to relax with family and senior aides after her defeat and is in reportedly no rush to decide on her next move.

Former Harris aide Brian Brokaw said told Politico his ex-boss is known to sometimes take a painfully long time to make decisions.

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Prior to serving in the White House, the 60-year-old Oakland native spent four years representing California in the U.S. Senate. Harris was the 32nd Attorney General of California from 2011 to 2017. She made that leap after spending seven years as San Franciscos Attorney General.

Biden tapped Harris as his Vice President after she competed against him for the Democratic Partys presidential nomination in 2020.

I picked her because she is smart and tough, Biden told Pennsylvania sheet metal workers in October. But most of all, I picked her because she has character and she has integrity.

_____
KUWAIT CITY, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Sunday that Egypt "stands with any Arab country facing aggression or threats from Israel," warning against dragging the region into a full-scale war.

Speaking at a press conference after his visit to Kuwait, Abdelatty criticized the international community's inaction that put the global system at risk amid Israeli aggression targeting women and children.

Reaffirming Egypt's commitment to international and regional efforts to end the aggression, he said, "the arrogance of power will not bring stability and security to Israel before the Palestinian people regain their legitimate and full rights."

He also noted a significant decline in revenues from the Suez Canal due to the escalation in the Red Sea that impacts global maritime traffic.

"The tensions in Gaza and Lebanon contribute to the militarization of the Red Sea, severely harming not only global trade but also Egypt's economy," he said.

The foreign minister applauded Egypt's "deep, historic, and strong ties with Kuwait at both official and popular levels," commending Kuwait's role in enhancing joint Arab action. 
Haley Kottler, campaign director for food access at Kansas Appleseed, answers questions during a Nov. 11, 2024, recording of the Kansas Reflector podcast in Topeka. (Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA  Haley Kottler is trying to remain optimistic about working with an emboldened GOP supermajority in the Legislature to address child hunger in Kansas.

Sure, Republicans have repeatedly enacted barriers for low-income families to access government-funded food assistance over the past 15 years, even as the rate of food insecurity rises. And voters in November strengthened the partys grip on both the House and Senate, empowering Republicans  and their conservative think tank benefactors  to advance an anti-welfare agenda.

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But Kottler, the campaign director for food access at Kansas Appleseed, believes most Kansans would support investments to fight child hunger.

She helped produce a new report from Kansas Appleseed that examines the benefits of providing universal free meals in public schools. She said on the Kansas Reflector podcast that while the state is a long way from providing universal free meals to school kids, especially with the current roster of legislators, smaller steps would put the state on the right path.

They include encouraging districts with a high concentration of low-income students to take advantage of a federal program that would pay for meals for all students, and persuading lawmakers to eliminate the copay for reduced-price meals, making them free, at a cost of $4-7 million per year to the state.

At the moment, Kottler said, Im trying to have a little bit of hope.

Were open to working with any legislator in the building, she added. Maybe come back to me in May and see if Im a little more pessimistic. But I just want to believe that our legislators know that theres poverty in their communities and would want to do something about it.

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The stakes are high. Hunger is rapidly rising in Kansas, especially among kids. Two years ago, one in seven children in the state went hungry. Now, one in five  or 130,000 Kansas kids  dont know where their next meal will come from.

About 48% of public school students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, and other families on the cusp of qualifying struggle to afford the cost. In 2019, the meal debt in public schools in Kansas was $4.5 million. By 2023, the figure had skyrocketed to $23.5 million.

To me, this is a crisis, Kottler said. This is an emergency. This is one of the only things I believe our Legislature should be coming to Topeka and focusing on, because our communities are hungry, our kids are hungry, and we should be doing everything we can to ensure that theyre not.

The Kansas Appleseed report on school meals was inspired by national discourse around the presidential campaign after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz became the Democratic nominee for vice president.

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The report links school meals to improved health outcomes, better test scores, fewer school absences and fewer behavioral referrals. If the Legislature wanted, it could eliminate child hunger in Kansas by providing universal meals in schools at a cost of about $300 million per year.

A more realistic first step is persuading school districts to enroll in the federal Community Eligibility Provision program, which provides free meals to all students in any district where 25% or more of students would qualify for free or reduced meals. Under the program, the federal government covers the cost at a rate of 1.6 times the percentage of students who would qualify for assistance. If 50% of of students would qualify, for example, the federal government would pay for 80% of the cost of universal free meals. And any district or individual school with 62.5% or more of students in poverty could provide universal free meals and be fully reimbursed.

Until last year, Kansas ranked last among states taking advantage of the Community Eligibility Provision, but more schools have signed onto the program. Just 34 schools participated during the 2022-23 school year, but 158 were enrolled for the 2023-24 school year.

The report identifies Wichita schools, with 46,000 students, as an opportunity. Of the 88 schools in the district, 58 would receive full reimbursement under the Community Eligibility Provision. If the district entered into the program, Kottler said, it would have a positive effect on the community.

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I live in Wichita, Kottler said. I see I see this every day. I see the kids that go home with their backpacks, and I hear from teachers that on Monday, those kids didnt have food on Sunday because the whole family utilized that backpack program.

Kottler said some school officials are concerned about joining the program because school funding is tied to free and reduced meal application forms, which dont need to be filled out if meals are already free. She said schools can work around that by still requiring families to fill out income forms during enrollment.

Other officials, including State Board of Education member Dennis Hershberger, have questioned why feeding children should be a responsibility of the government.

For Kottler, the answer is simple: This is our future.

You know, we get that argument a lot: Why should government pay for school meals, or, Why should this be a government initiative? But to me, that is the duty of the government  to ensure that our future generations can continue to thrive and continue to grow and live the American Dream that so many want to live, Kottler said.
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  A Kansas City landlord has been sentenced to life in prison after he stabbed his tenant more than 30 times, killing him in 2021, court records said.

Gordon McBeth was found guilty in September for the charges of second-degree murder and armed criminal action, according to Clay County courts.

View the latest headlines from Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas at fox4kc.com

McBeth was sentenced to life in prison in the Missouri Department of Correction. He was not granted a bond.

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According to court documents, McBeth showed up at his rental property on Oct. 22, 2021 to confront 28-year-old Darryl Gilland and his girlfriend. Court records said the couple messaged McBeth because the heat in the home near 62nd Street and North Topping Avenue stopped working.

Gillands girlfriend said McBeth became aggressive and started throwing things at her when he arrived at the house. Those same documents said she told police McBeth pulled out a large hunting-style knife, pointed it at Gilland, and verbally threatened him.

Thats when the woman said McBeth started stabbing Gilland, leading her to run away to a neighbors home.

Other neighbors heard her screams and ran to help. One of the neighbors said he found McBeth on top of Gilland with a knife. He pointed his gun at McBeth and ordered him onto the ground. Police said he held McBeth at gunpoint until officers arrived and arrested McBeth.

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Gillands girlfriend and another neighbor tried to help the victim, according to court records, but the victim died before emergency responders arrived.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
The Princess of Wales is hosting her annual carol service at Westminster Abbey in London Friday, Dec. 6

DANNY LAWSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Kate Middleton meeting emergency workers in Southport on Oct. 10, 2024 Kate Middleton meeting emergency workers in Southport on Oct. 10, 2024

Kate Middleton is reaching out to the families from the horrific knife attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.

The Princess of Wales has invited the families and survivors from the town of Southport to her Christmas carol service on Friday, Dec. 6.

Three children were killed in a July 29 mass stabbing at the yoga and dance class. The deadly attack also saw 10 others, including eight children, injured. The Princesss office at Kensington Palace has confirmed that families from the town have been invited to the concert at Westminster Abbey, on Dec. 6. The Sun was the first to report the story.

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Kate, who is recovering from her treatment for cancer, and Prince William, both 42, met the families of the three young girls who died, and others who were caught up in the tragedy  including the dance teacher who witnessed the horror  when they made a surprise visit to Southport in October. They also spent time with some of the emergency services who rushed to the scene on that summer day.

The Princess's trip to Southport was part of her gradual re-immersing in to royal duties since she announced on Sept. 9 that her chemotherapy treatment had ended.

Danny Lawson - WPA Pool/Getty Princess Kate and Prince William in Southport on Oct. 10, 2024 Princess Kate and Prince William in Southport on Oct. 10, 2024

Related: Inside Kate Middleton's Emotional Meeting with Families of Young Girls Killed at Taylor Swift-Themed Dance Class

The annual Christmas carol service has become something of a fixture in the royal calendar and December 6 will be the fourth time Princess Kate has hosted one. When it was announced, Kensington Palace said of the theme of the Together at Christmas service: "This year, Her Royal Highness wanted to celebrate the many people supporting those in need individuals who have inspired, counseled, comforted and above all else shown that love is the greatest gift we can receive.

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"This theme takes inspiration from the Christmas story, which encourages us to consider the experiences of others and the important human need of giving and receiving empathy."



Danny Lawson - WPA Pool/Getty Princess Kate and Prince William in Southport on Oct. 10, 204 Princess Kate and Prince William in Southport on Oct. 10, 204

The service  which is usually attended by William and Kate's three children Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6, as well as other members of the royal family  will be filmed and broadcast by ITV1 and ITVx on Christmas Eve, December 24.



Like other years, Kate has invited around 1,600 guests from around the U.K. who have worked for their communities and helped others in need. "This years service provides a moment to reflect upon the importance of love and empathy, and how much we need each other, especially in the most difficult times of our lives. The service will shine a light on individuals from all over the U.K. who have shown love, kindness and empathy towards others in their communities," Kate's office added in their statement.

Related: Kate Middleton's Carol Service Has Meaningful Theme After 'Tough' Year: Decoding What She Chose

Chris Jackson/Getty Princess Kate, with Princess Charlotte and Prince George at the the service on Dec. 8, 2023 Princess Kate, with Princess Charlotte and Prince George at the the service on Dec. 8, 2023

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The Prince and Princess of Wales issued a statement of sympathy after the Southport stabbings in July, which referenced their perspective as a fellow mom and dad.

"As parents, we cannot begin to imagine what the families, friends and loved ones of those killed and injured in Southport today are going through. We send our love, thoughts and prayers to all those involved in this horrid and heinous attack," said the message on July 29.
King Charles is hosting the Amir of the State of Qatar for a State Visit next week on December 3 and 4. And today, Buckingham Palace has announced that Kate Middleton will be among the royals taking part in the official welcome of the Amir and his wife.

Their Royal Highnesses The Prince and Princess of Wales will greet The Amir and Sheikha Jawaher at their residence, on behalf of The King, on Tuesday morning, Buckingham Palace said. The Prince and Princess of Wales will travel with Their Highnesses to Horse Guards Parade, where The Amir and Sheikha Jawaher will receive a Ceremonial Welcome. Kensington Palace has said, however, that the Princess is not expected to be at the State Banquet that evening.

The fact that Kate is taking part in the State Visit is a development from June this year when she did not participate in the State Visit for the Emperor and Empress of Japan. Then, she was receiving chemotherapy, which she announced in September that she had completed.

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It is tradition for the heir to the throne and their partner to welcome visiting dignitaries for a State Visit and travel with them to Horseguards Parade for an official welcome. William and Kate have performed this role since he became Prince of Wales. Following the State Visit, Kates next appearance will be at her carol concert on December 6, which is being televised on Christmas Eve.

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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  A severely hypothermic kayaker was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard after he fell into the waters of the Siuslaw River and was not able to help himself.

Officials said the Friday rescue took place near the mouth of the river.

The man, who was not identified, was taken by the Coast Guard to a hospital for further treatment. His condition is not known.

In their Facebook post, officials said: Bravo Zulu to Air Station North Bend and Coast Guard Station Siuslaw River for remaining semper paratus!

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
Voters make selections at their voting booths inside an early voting site. (Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)

Government without guardrails. That is our reality in Ohio and Washington.

All the constitutional checking and balancing in our rapidly vanishing democratic republic are effectively gone in our state and federal government. There is no separation of powers as a bulwark against abuse of power. In D.C., as in Columbus, the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government are on the same team jacked up on power.

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Proof, if any were needed, of the imminent demise of our democracy in the Buckeye State and the United States is coming in fast and furious. Ohio Republicans played the long game to lock in political dominance through gerrymandered districts and partisan elections of state supreme court justices. They succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. GOP supermajorities. No constraints. No meaningful opposition.

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Ohio Democrats can only lament the hard right turn the legislature has taken into the MAGA abyss while their state party wanders the wilderness in near irrelevance. Statehouse Republicans have free reign to do their worst  and they did, right out of the starting gate of the lame duck session: A whole slate of extreme, must-pass legislation that will serve no one except career-climbing right wingers.

But politicians who engineer voter-proof districts to manipulate their way to complete control are only accountable to their team. So Republican lawmakers looking to boost their MAGA bona fides rushed to propose more unwarranted voter hurdles to suppress more voting, hurried to inflict more abject cruelty to a tiny fraction of the population demonized relentlessly in 2024 Republican campaigns, and pushed for more Christian nationalism creep with required Bible breaks in the middle of public-school days.

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The top priority for legislators back from recess was not the health or welfare of Ohioans who are hungry and hurting and facing another rent hike, or working parents desperate for quality, affordable childcare, or the lowest paid workers in the state unable to afford necessities. Nope. The urgent bill Republicans had to pass first and speed to the governors desk was a bill to ban trans students from using single-sex bathrooms  a burning issue for no one on Main Street, Ohio.

But exploiting fear of a small transgender community polls well with the MAGA base and wins elections, all the incentive Ohio Republicans needed to prioritize a manufactured issue on bathroom access (based on nothing) and fold their shameful attack on vulnerable adolescents into an unrelated bill for quick passage  with the blessing of the religious rights most prominent and unchristian lobby in the state.

A flurry of last-minute, Fox News-inspired inanities will likely be enacted before the session ends with most Ohioans none the wiser  until its too late. But if youre still reading this, theres hope. Even with no guardrails or institutional checks and balances in state government to constrain runaway autocratic GOP rule upheld by an even more partisan state supreme court, you still have agency.

Even if Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court are committed to enabling and expanding the unchecked plenary powers of Donald Trump, affirming that the president-elect felon is essentially divorced from the Constitution, you still have agency.

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Even with the Republican trifecta governing the nation pledging allegiance to a man and not the law, handing a notoriously corrupt lawbreaker unilateral authority over every part of the federal government (that now runs independent of the White House), you have agency.

In the immediate aftermath of the 2024 presidential election, Stacey Abrams, two-time Georgia gubernatorial candidate and Democratic leader, spoke directly to those tempted to throw up their hands and tune out. For those who are disheartened, exhausted, and rightly terrified she had a message: the battle for decency and humanity (despite setbacks) is not futile. Remember progress  not just the pain.

But, counseled Abrams, unlike before, it is not enough to just resist the slide into authoritarianism in the nation and in state autocracies feeling their oats with new voter suppression measures and silly bathroom bans. We must do more than organize and persist against racism, sexism, homophobia, and those would do any of us ill, she said. This time we must insist.

We must insist on a government and leaders that respect us and our needs. And that doesnt just mean president and our federal government. Im talking about the zoning committees that are forcing higher rents because they refuse to adjust, and the school board where your children or the neighbors kids are being denied books and the truth

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No more polite acceptance or making excuses for prejudice. We have to demand better of ourselves and of our leaders. We must insist on fighting for our rights even if we think were going to lose. Because the record will show that we tried, that we filed lawsuits and lodged complaints  We made history report on our efforts.

So, believe in your own power to make change. Nov. 5 happened. But so did an organic grassroots effort by hundreds of thousands of Ohioans to end the egregious gerrymandering that Republicans retained. For now. But, concluded Abrams, we exist between elections, between these moments, between these harms. We are responsible.

We are the guardrails. The last check on government of, by and for the people. But, and this is key, only if we insist.

Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David Dewitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com. Follow Ohio Capital Journal on Facebook and X.

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The construction giant selected by Maryland officials to replace the fallen Francis Scott Key Bridge recommended itself for at least $64 million in contracts while serving as the construction manager for a Connecticut pier project, according to a state audit.

The process, during which Kiewit Infrastructure developed bid packages for subprojects that it occasionally bid on itself, alarmed auditors and Connecticut lawmakers overseeing the pricey redevelopment of a pier terminal in the Port of New London. In addition to opening up the opportunity for the Omaha-based contractor to apply for subcontracts with an unfair advantage over other construction firms, the arrangement also allowed for Kiewit to assess its own bids against competitors.

Kiewit did not immediately return a request for comment on its management of Connecticuts State Pier project. The firm received a $73 million contract in August for the first phase of design work to rebuild the Key Bridge, which plummeted into the Patapsco River after being struck by an adrift cargo ship. Six construction workers died in the March 22 collapse.

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The 2023 report by Connecticuts Auditors of Public Accounts said the global construction firm was awarded contracts to self-perform on six bid packages related to infrastructure improvements on the State Pier project, for which it served as the construction manager. Auditors reviewed two subprojects  worth more than $64 million  for which Kiewit selected itself to perform the work.

As construction manager, Kiewit developed the projects bid package strategy, qualitative criteria, and materials, auditors said, and if selected for a subcontract, was responsible for monitoring its own performance. The Connecticut Port Authority, which has the final say on selecting subcontractors, approved of Kiewits recommendation of itself in both instances. Reporting by the Connecticut Mirror found more instances of Kiewit recommending itself for contracts in the project, including in cases in which competing construction firms submitted lower bids to the state.

The design-build project to construct a new bridge across the Patapsco River is expected to total at least $1.7 billion, most or all of which is expected to be covered by federal funds.

The Maryland Transportation Authority, the state agency responsible for the old bridge and overseeing the rebuild, did not immediately return a request for comment on Kiewits history with Connecticut and oversight for the bridge project. Kiewit has previously done work for MDTA in the past and has amassed a large portfolio of bridge construction projects around the world. The construction giant had said it boasts a long track record of delivering complex, schedule-intensive work by leveraging its experience in bridge, marine construction and dredging.

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Negotiations with Kiewit over a guaranteed maximum price for the Key Bridge replacement will likely include more opportunities for other construction firms to participate in subprojects, MDTA officials said.

Have a news tip? Contact Dan Belson at dbelson@baltsun.com, 443-790-4827, on X as @DanBelson_ or on Signal as @danbels.62.
Joe Rogan has been accused of spreading Russian propaganda by a Ukrainian champion boxer after he claimed the countrys leaders and the United States risked starting the Third World War.

On Fridays episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, the podcast host said Joe Bidens decision to allow Kyiv to strike Russian territory with its long-range missiles was nuts.

Wladimir Klitschko, the former heavyweight world champion, challenged Rogan in a social media video message, saying that he was spewing Putins propaganda on his show.

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You talk about these American weapons that are being sent to Ukraine, which you believe will lead to the Third World War, youre repeating Russian propaganda. Putins Russia is in trouble, so Putin wants to scare you and people like you, Klitschko said.

Joe Rogan, left, is a vocal supporter of Donald Trump - Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

In an apparent reference to Donald Trumps Make America Great Again slogan, Klitschko told Rogan, a vocal supporter of the president-elect, that Putin wanted to make America not great, but quiet.

A great America is not an America that abandons countries that defend freedom with their lives, Klitschko told the comedian and UFC commentator, before daring him to invite him on the podcast to chat like free men.

Vitali Klitschko, Wladimirs older brother, is helping to defend the Ukrainian capital as mayor of Kyiv - Global Images Ukraine

Vitali Klitschko, Wladimirs older brother, was also a professional boxer and is now the mayor of Kyiv. Both brothers are enlisted in Ukraines military reserves.

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Rogan hit back at Mr Klitschkos video, resharing it with the caption: Does this make sense to anyone or just an attempt to get on the podcast?

During the recent episode, Rogan admitted that it was 100 per cent wrong for Putin to invade Ukraine but argued Mr Biden should not have been allowed to escalate a war after Americans had voted him out of office.

Right now theyre launching missiles into Russia. How are you allowed to do that when youre on the way out? Rogan said. The whole thing is nuts.

Zelensky says Putin is terrified. F--- you, man. F--- you, people. You people are about to start World War Three, he added.

@Klitschko

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Referring to Ukraines use of US and British-supplied long-range missiles in strikes last week, Rogan said that the whole thing is a proxy war it is f------ insane, repeating the Kremlin narrative that Nato was using the conflict in Ukraine to fight a war against Russia.

The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, started in 2009, is the most popular audio show in the US, with an average of 11 million listeners each episode.

Mr Trumps son, Donald Trump Jr, claimed last week that Mr Biden was specifically trying to incite a larger conflict before his father  who has repeatedly promised to end the war in Ukraine in one day  returns to office.

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It rises in a lonely wooded field in eastern Lockhart.

On a facade that faces East Market Street, one spies six windows wrapped around a simple portico. A stroll around the exterior of the two-story building reveals a sturdy structure that has survived several public roles and a long period of abandonment.

It is a Rosenwald School.

Built in 1923, it served segregated Black students from the area and their six teachers.

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When I first visited the grounds of the boarded-up school in 2016 for a story on historic Lockhart, I had never knowingly encountered any of the 527 Rosenwald campuses that were built in rural Texas with the help of the Julius Rosenwald School Building Program.

More on freedom colonies in Texas: 'We didn't let this place die': St. John Colony, Texas, endures for 150 years of grace

A total of 4,978 of these schools were constructed across the South during the early 20th century. They were built with matching grants from the fund set up in 1917 by the namesake Jewish merchant who led and partly owned Sears, Roebuck & Company, then the largest retailer in the U.S.

Rosenwald generated the fund at the suggestion of educator and civic leader Booker T. Washington, who urged self-sufficiency among African Americans and especially vocational education..

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Many of the schools, built on locally owned land with local planning and labor, were founded in freedom colonies of independent, land-owning African Americans for whom slavery was part of living memory.

I'm going out on a limb to guess that many readers  like myself in 2016  had never encountered a Rosenwald School, or the movement that inspired them. If you are curious, however, visit "A Better Life for Their Children," a magnificent photographic exhibit at the Bullock Texas State History Museum through Feb. 23.

Then keep your eyes open. The schools are everywhere, especially in East Texas. True, some have disappeared. Others have been abandoned. Still others have been converted into civic projects, like churches, museums or community centers.

Students and teachers at Jefferson Jacob School during the 1920s.

What will I see at the history museum?

The first thing the visitor notices inside the large first-floor gallery dedicated to temporary historical exhibits is the wide open spaces. Oftentimes, this gallery is packed with objects. "A Better Life for Their Children," in contrast, consists mostly of large black-and-white prints of photos taken by Andrew Feiler across the South and first exhibited in Atlanta.

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Localizing the images, Bullock's curators have added historical artifacts  here a desk, there a teacher's chair, over there, a pot belly stove, a lunch tray, a typewriter  preserved from Texas Rosenwald Schools.

In addition, the Bullock produced a large, useful map that visualizes the distribution of the schools in Texas.

Distribution map of Rosenwald Schools in Texas during the early- to mid-20th century. Note that the darkest areas comport more or less with the density of slavery in the 19th century, although counties near Houston that were home to many enslaved persons did not count as many schools.

To the left of the entrance, one finds a large photograph of Elroy and Sophia Williams taken by Feiler at the Hopewell School at Cedar Creek in Bastrop County. The couple holds a portrait of Sophia's grandparents, Sophia Veal and Martin McDonald, former slaves who acquired and donated the land for the school.

More on the Bullock Museum: Texas history museum dissects treaty that ended Mexican American War and changed the world

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"One of five Rosenwald Schools built in Bastrop County, Hopewell School opened in 1922 and served the town of Cedar Creek until the 1950s," a wall text explains. "Later, as former students, teachers and their descendants became aware of the schools historical significance, they rallied the community in an effort to save the building. Restoration work began in 2016, and today the former schoolhouse serves as a community center."

Nearby is the original portrait of Veal and McDonald from the 1920s.

"After emancipation, Martin McDonald farmed and raised livestock until he earned enough money to buy land," a wall text reads. "After his death, his widow Sophia Veal donated land for the construction of the Hopewell School in 1919. Although Martin never attended school himself, the donation provided educational opportunities for family and neighbors. Martin and Sophias daughter Artelia McDonald Brown was the schools first teacher, and her daughter Sophia Williams, attended as a student."

This kind of story  particular yet universal  is repeated throughout the exhibit. It is clear that, 100 years ago, Black parents, whose children were excluded from the white school system, wanted the best for their children's future. With the help of outside money, they built that future for them with their own hands and other resources.

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One of my favorite photos, typical of the period, shows the students and teachers at Jefferson Jacob School (19171957) n Jefferson County, Kentucky, neatly lined up on the steps to the building.

"Two teachers and 55 students were photographed in the 1920s in front of the Jefferson Jacob School," a wall text reads. "Early in the school building program, Booker T. Washington sent Julius Rosenwald photographs like this of schoolchildren and teachers standing proudly in front of their schools. Rosenwald was deeply moved by these images, and they contributed to his decision to expand the initiative."

Julius Rosenwald's portrait hangs at the Noble Hill School in Barstow, Georgia.

How did the schools schools come about?

Born to Jewish immigrants, Julius Rosenwald rose to steer Sears, Roebuck & Company and turn it into the worlds largest retailer. Born into slavery, Booker T. Washington became the founding principal of Tuskegee Institute, now Tuskegee University, in Alabama.

Rosenwald and Washington met in 1911. At that time, Black public schools in the South were usually in informal facilities with poor materials and operated on a tiny fraction of the money provided for educating white children. Many communities did not even have public schools for Black students. Rosenwald donated millions of dollars to build the new schools.

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More on freedom colonies: Clarksville and Wheatville were not Austins only freedmen towns

"Rosenwald and Washington, forging one of the earliest collaborations between Jews and African Americans, attacked this education challenge with originality and sophistication and created the program that became known as Rosenwald schools," the introductory text from the exhibit reads. "From 1912 to 1932, the Rosenwald schools program built 4,977 schools for African American children across 15 southern and border states. One final school was added in 1937. This program drove dramatic improvement in African American educational attainment and fostered the generation who became the leaders and foot soldiers of the civil rights movement."

Booker T. Washington's portrait hangs at Grey Columns, the residence of Tuskegee University President.

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How did the exhibit come about?

Of the original 4,978 Rosenwald schools, about 500 survive.

To tell this story through images, Feiler drove more than 25,000 miles, photographed 105 schools and interviewed dozens of former students, teachers, preservationists and community leaders in all 15 of the program's states.

This is not his first epic project about cultural history. Feilers work has been featured in the Smithsonian, Architect and Preservation magazines as well as on CBS This Morning, PBS, and NPR. His prints have been displayed in galleries and museums such as the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, and International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro, North Carolina.

More on Bastrop history: Bastrop, Texas: Find out what you don't know about this historic Austin neighbor

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"Andrew Feiler is a photographer and author and fifth-generation Georgian," a wall text reads. "Having grown up Jewish in Savannah, he has been shaped by the rich complexities of the American South. Feiler has long been active in civic life. He has helped create over a dozen community initiatives, serves on multiple not-for-profit boards, and is an active advisor to numerous elected officials and political candidates.

"His art is an extension of his civic values."

'A Better Life for Their Children'

When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Sunday through Feb. 23. The museum is closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

Where: Bullock Texas State History Museum, 1800 Congress Ave.

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Tickets: $9-$15 for admission to the museum, not just the exhibit

Info: thestoryoftexas.com

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Bullock Museum stages magnificent exhibit of Rosenwald Schools
JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The South African Police Service (SAPS) on Monday announced the arrest of 14 illegal miners who emerged from an abandoned mine in Stilfontein, North West province, after weeks underground in a standoff with police.

According to National Police Spokesperson Athlenda Mathe, the arrested illegal miners, all from Mozambique with a 14-year-old boy among them, came to the ground Sunday morning.

Mathe said that contrary to earlier claims that they were trapped underground, the illegal miners, who had been underground for weeks, were just refusing to come out due to fear of arrest, as proved by their resurfacing.

"They chose to come out late at night, thinking police are no more standing static," she said, adding that other illegal miners "ran back" into the mine shaft upon noticing the police presence.

It is believed that over 1,200 illegal miners remain underground, with more than 1,000 resurfacing intermittently in small groups over the past few weeks.

Meanwhile, the police welcomed a court judgment compelling the government to provide necessary emergency aid to the illegal miners, including water, food, blankets and medical assistance.

Mathe said police would continue monitoring and maintaining a presence outside the mine shaft.

Illegal mining has been rampant in South Africa for years, often involving miners from neighboring countries seeking gold.

The South African government launched the nationwide Operation Vala Umgodi (close the hole) earlier this year to crack down on illegal mining activities. 
KO OLINA, Hawaii (KHON2)  Ko Olina Resort employees distributed more than 4,000 Thanksgiving meals to those in need with the help of businesses looking out for their community.

Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You

Workers from Aulani, Four Seasons Resort, Marriotts Ko Olina Beach Club and others came together to participate in the 25th annual Thanksgiving Outreach program to prepare the hot meals.

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How to avoid spending all day in the kitchen this Thanksgiving

Leeward Community College students volunteered their time to cook 2,700 pounds of turkey, 270 pounds of ham, 600 pounds of rice, 400 pounds of corn, 100 pans of pumpkin pie and more than 100 gallons of gravy.

Once the food was prepared, UPS drivers delivered 450 trays of food to 25 locations from Waianae to Waipahu.

Were so fortunate to be celebrating 25 years of giving, and its incredibly fulfilling to see how this tradition has brought people together over the years. The spirit of aloha and giving back is at the heart of our resorts mission, and were grateful for the opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of so many. Sweetie Nelson, director of destination marketing for Ko Olina Resort

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Meals were distributed to 25 churches and veteran organizations on Saturday, Nov. 23.

The following organizations received meals:

Waianae/Makaha

Boys & Girls Club Waianae

Hale Wai Vista

Kahi Kolu

Waianae Boat Harbor & Puuhonua O Waianae

Kauhale Kamaile

Ohana Ola

U.S. Vets Paiolu Kaiaulu Transitional Housing

Sewers Beach Park/Middle Park/Pokai Bay

The Dairy/Cedar Homes

Waianae Assembly of God Makaha

Maili

Maili Church of God

Maili Bridge/Community Park

Nanakuli

Boys & Girls Club Nanakuli

City of Joy

Leeward beaches from Tracks to Black Rocks

Kapolei

Hale Moena

Kumuhonua Transitional Shelter

Seagull School Kapolei

U.S. Vets of Kalaeloa

Ewa

Boys & Girls Club Hale Pono Ewa Beach Clubhouse

Calvary Chapel Ewa

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church

West Loch Elderly Village

Waipahu

Lighthouse Outreach Center

Waipahu United Church of Christ

Stolen jewels, boa constrictors killing owners, check out Weird News here

Ko Olina Resorts Thanksgiving Outreach has been a yearly tradition since 1999. More information and information can be found on Ko Olina Resorts website.

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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 KHON2.
Kyiv City Military Administration has reported that debris has fallen on residential buildings in the Darnytskyi district of the capital due to an attack by Russian drones.

Source: Kyiv City Military Administration

Details: A balcony window on the eighth floor of a residential building in Kyiv's Dniprovskyi district caught fire as a result of a drone attack by the Russian armed forces.

Kyiv City Military Administration added that information about casualties is being established.

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At 00:16, Kyiv City Military Administration added that wreckage had fallen on a residential building in the Darnytskyi district.

Early reports indicated that there was no fire or casualties.

Later, Kyiv City Military Administration noted that drone wreckage had damaged cars at one location.

At 01:00, after reviewing the data, the information about the fire on a balcony in a multi-storey building due to a UAV attack was not confirmed.

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NAUGATUCK, Conn. (WTNH)  We are entering the holiday season, which is usually the deadliest time of the year on Connecticut highways.

On Monday, Governor Ned Lamont and Department of Transportation officials said their new technology to stop wrong way drivers is working.

How Connecticut officials are trying to put a stop to wrong way driving

Lamont was joined by Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto and Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioner Ronnell Higgins, among others.

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299 people have died on Connecticut roads this year including 13 who were killed in wrong way crashes, according to the DOT. Officials say speeding, intoxication and poor decision-making are factors that cause fatal accidents.

But now the state says new technology is turning the tide.

Officials spoke at a press conference in Naugatuck Monday morning. News 8 livestreamed it; the video can be viewed in the player above.

Last year the state passed a law to install wrong way driver warning technology on off ramps across the state.

The goal was to have 120 of them installed before the end of this year.

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On Monday, state officials announced they are ahead of schedule, with that new tech up and running at 125 high risk off ramps. They said that technology has already saved a number of lives.

Family of Madison man killed in wrong-way crash on I-95 in Westbrook remember girl dad

The goal is now to have the wrong way tech up at 135 off ramps by the end of this year.

The warning signals also record video and the state says it has hundreds of incidents where drivers saw the warning and turned around.

In Naugatuck, there have been more than 14 activations, and all of those drivers have safely turned around, Garrett Eucalitto, DOT Commissioner said. We call that a self correction. This is the second highest location next to Danbury.

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Gov. Ned Lamont said Wednesday night is the most dangerous time to travel.

Look out for somebody, if you think they shouldnt be driving, take the keys out of their hands, he said. Were doing what we can with technology, but the other 90 percent is up to you.

Eucalitto said the DOT is pausing all non-emergency road work this weekend to reduce potential accidents. The department has also added more trains to the Hartford line, so families have an alternative way of travel.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com.
Nov. 25AUSTIN  State Representative Brooks Landgraf (R-Odessa) has filed House Bill 268 to address the alarming rise in false emergency threats targeting schools and critical infrastructure. This legislation seeks to deter these dangerous hoaxes by increasing penalties and requiring offenders to reimburse the public for wasted emergency resources.

"In the last few years, our schools have faced a disturbing rise in hoax threats, including false reports of school shootings and bomb threats," Landgraf said in a news release. "These acts are not harmlessthey disrupt classrooms, traumatize communities, and place a financial burden on our law enforcement and emergency responders."

HB 268 updates the Texas Penal Code by elevating the penalty for hoax threats involving schools to a third-degree felony. It also empowers emergency responders to seek restitution for the resources expended in responding to false reports.

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"These hoaxes not only create chaos in our schools but also risk desensitizing the public to genuine threats," Landgraf added. "This legislation has a clear objective: to deter hoax calls, protect public safety, and ensure that our emergency responders can focus on real threats, not false alarms."

This proposal comes in response to a series of false emergency reports targeting Texas schools, including incidents in the Permian Basin that caused widespread panic and disrupted class days. By imposing stricter penalties and holding offenders financially accountable, HB 268 aims to safeguard students, educators and communities from the harmful consequences of these baseless threats.

The Texas Legislature will convene in January 2025, where HB 268 will be considered as part of Rep. Landgraf's ongoing efforts to enhance public safety and strengthen communities in West Texas.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)  Service workers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport have gone on strike during a busy week of Thanksgiving travel to protest what they say are unlivable wages.

Employees of ABM and Prospect Airport Services cast ballots Friday to authorize the work stoppage in North Carolina, which a spokesperson said began Monday morning.

Officials with Service Employees International Union announced the impending strike in a statement early Monday, saying the workers would demand an end to poverty wages and respect on the job during the holiday travel season.

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ABM and Prospect Airport Services contract with American Airlines to provide services including cleaning airplane interiors, removing trash and escorting passengers in wheelchairs.

Workers say they previously raised the alarm about their growing inability to afford basic necessities, including food and housing. They described living paycheck to paycheck, unable to cover expenses like car repairs while performing jobs that keep countless planes running on schedule.

Were on strike today because this is our last resort. We cant keep living like this, ABM cabin cleaner Priscilla Hoyle said in a statement. Were taking action because our families cant survive.

Several hundred workers were expected to walk off the job and continue the work stoppage throughout Monday.

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Most of them earn between $12.50 and $19 an hour, which is well below the living wage for a single person with no children in the Charlotte area, union officials said.

Charlotte Douglas International Airport officials have said this holiday travel season is expected to be the busiest on record, with an estimated 1.02 million passengers departing the airport between last Thursday and the Monday after Thanksgiving.

In addition to walking off the job, striking workers plan to hold a late-morning rally and a Strikesgiving lunch in place of the Thanksgiving meal that many of the workers wont be able to afford later this week, union officials said.

Airport service workers make holiday travel possible by keeping airports safe, clean, and running, the union said. Despite their critical role in the profits that major corporations enjoy, many airport service workers must work two to three jobs to make ends meet.

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ABM said it would take steps to minimize disruptions from any demonstrations.

At ABM, we appreciate the hard work our team members put in every day to support our clients and help keep spaces clean and people healthy, the company said in a statement last week.

Prospect Airport Services said last week that the company recognizes the seriousness of the potential for a strike during the busy holiday travel season.

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.

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SPRINGFIELD, Mo.  Here are last weeks health code violations for Nov. 18  Nov. 22.

ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE CINEMA  CITY View History

4005 S SOUTH AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/22/2024 12:15:00 PM  Re-Inspection; Result: Active

Priority item corrected. Air gap provided at pre-rinse sprayer.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

ASH GROVE SUNSHINE CENTER  COUNTY View History

310 N PERRYMAN AVE ASH GROVE Map it

11/18/2024 10:15:00 AM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No violations observed during inspection

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

AVANZARE ITALIAN DINING  CITY View History

3240 S FREMONT AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/21/2024 4:55:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

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Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 2

Observed: Two open employee drinks at make table in kitchen. Required: Employee drinks must have a lid and straw. Drinks removed and education provided.

Observed: Handwashing being used to store towels and plastic containers. Required: Handwashing sinks shall be easily accessible at all times and used only for handwashing. Items removed and education provided.

BABEL LLC  CITY View History

Map it

11/18/2024 2:30:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

-No violations cited during inspection.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

BEEF A ROO  CITY View History

1411 W KEARNEY ST SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/18/2024 3:15:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No violations observed during inspection

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

BIG EASY GRILL  CITY View History

3641 E SUNSHINE ST SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/20/2024 3:45:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Permitted with Reinspection

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Priority Violations Found: 1

Observed: No air gap provided on pre-rinse sprayer.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 1

Observed: No air gap provided on pre-rinse sprayer.

BOIS DARC SCHOOL CAFETERIA  COUNTY View History

10315 W STATE HIGHWAY T BOIS DARC Map it

11/20/2024 11:18:00 AM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

The bottom shelves in dry storage area should be adjusted higher (about 6 inches) to allow floor to be cleaned under them more easily. School has an issue with birds roosting and crapping on walk way to outside walk-in freezer, please make sure all food being transported is covered.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 1

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Observed: An area of ceiling about hand sink and some cabinets has not been painted.

BOYS & GIRLS CLUB  HENDERSON UNIT  CITY View History

835 W CALHOUN ST SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/20/2024 1:53:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No violations cited during the inspection.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

BUBBAS BBQ  CITY View History

504 N WESTBYPASS BYP SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/18/2024 3:14:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

The 3 priority violations cited were corrected prior to exit.

Priority Violations Found: 2

Observed: The chlorine solution at 3 vat was less than 10 ppm chlorine. Corrected by adding bleach to third compartment.

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Observed: The potato dicer had dried on food debris. Promptly put into sink to be washed.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 5

Observed: There was plastic wrapped turkey setting on floor of walk-in refrigerator. Put on shelf at my request.

Observed: The shelving in walk-in refrigerator was not clean.

Observed: There is a in drain line at 3 vat sink and one in water line to water heater in back room.

Observed: The chlorine test strips were expired.

Observed: There were 3 containers of insecticide being stored on same shelf with single service containers. Promptly relocated insecticides at my request.

CAFE CUSCO  CITY View History

234 E COMMERCIAL ST SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/20/2024 12:20:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No violations cited.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

CANTONESE KITCHEN  CITY View History

839 N GLENSTONE AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/19/2024 12:30:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No Violations cited.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

CASHEW STATION  CITY View History

620 E BATTLEFIELD RD SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/21/2024 12:40:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

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Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 1

Observed: The following areas are to be cleaned at an increased frequency: 1. Backsplash of soda fountain due to build-up of food debris. 2. Floor under and behind three compartment sink due to build-up of food debris.

CESARS OLD MEXICO, LLC  CITY View History

2627 E SUNSHINE ST SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/19/2024 3:20:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Priority Violations Found: 1

Observed: Multiple containers of refried beans cooked on 11/18/2024 tested above 41F in walk in cooler. All containers were voluntarily discarded. Education Given. Corrected on site.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

CHARCOAL GROUP, LLC  CITY View History

Map it

11/22/2024 1:40:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

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Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 1

Observed: Raw shell eggs being stored above ready-to-eat foods in the reach-in cooler. Required: Store shell eggs below ready-to-eat foods. Eggs were relocated and education provided.

CHARLEYS PHILLY CHEESE STEAK  CITY View History

2825 S GLENSTONE AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/20/2024 3:15:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Permitted with Reinspection

Priority Violations Found: 1

Observed: Mouse droppings under soda fountain machine in the cabinet. A re-inspection will occur.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 1

Observed: Dead mouse under the soda fountain machine in the cabinet. A re-inspection will occur.

CHERRY PICKER PACKAGE & FARE  CITY View History

601 S PICKWICK AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/18/2024 2:40:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No Violations Cited.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

CLASSICS COMPLEX LLC  CITY View History

1900 W SUNSET ST SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/21/2024 2:30:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

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Priority Violations Found: 1

Observed: One food utensil and several food containers found with cracking and chipping. Education given. Corrected on site.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 2

Observed: A sanitizer test kit was not available during the inspection. A sanitizer test kit shall be available during operation.

Observed: The bottom of the garage doors with daylight . All exterior doors need to be tight fitting.

COLLEGE STREET CAFE  CITY View History

1622 W COLLEGE ST SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/21/2024 12:00:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Discussed the requirement that a cooler with drink ice must be self-draining.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 1

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Observed: Storage shelves flaking paint and two shelves covered in plastic secured with duct tape.

CORNER 21 SPRINGFIELD LLC  CITY View History

1730 E REPUBLIC RD SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/21/2024 3:25:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Priority Violations Found: 2

Observed: Employee eating in food preparation area. Required: Employees shall not eat in food preparation areas. Education provided.

Observed: Knives being stored unclean on magnetic knife strip holder. Required: Utensils shall be stored clean to sight and touch. Knives and magnetic strip holder properly cleaned at the time of inspection.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

DANCING MULE COFFEE COMPANY  CITY View History

1945 S GLENSTONE AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/20/2024 10:35:00 AM  Re-Inspection; Result: Active

Priority violation has been corrected. They have a new cooler on order after the repair company came out. They are placing milk on time control until the new cooler is delivered.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

DANCING MULE COFFEE COMPANY  CITY View History

1945 S GLENSTONE AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/18/2024 9:15:00 AM  Routine Inspection; Result: Permitted with Reinspection

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Priority Violations Found: 1

Observed: Potentially hazardous items being held above 41F(2% milk 43F, whole milk 44F). Items were placed on time control or moved. A re-inspection will occur.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

DOMINOS PIZZA  CITY View History

491 E US HIGHWAY 60 EAST REPUBLIC Map it

11/21/2024 2:00:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Discussed discarding spatulas in disrepair.

Priority Violations Found: 1

Observed: Food debris on utensils in clean storage.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

EL MAGUEY  CITY View History

631 N GLENSTONE AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/20/2024 3:40:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Priority Violations Found: 4

Observed no designated Person-in Charge upon arrival of inspection. Education given. A manager arrived shortly after inspection began. Corrected on site.

Observed several ready-to-eat, potentially hazardous food items (diced tomato and onion mix, cooked carnitas, salsa, Chile Rellenos, cooked tamales) not dated. Education given. Corrected on site.

Observed an unlabeled spray bottle containing oven cleaner in the kitchen. Education given. Corrected on site.

Observed 0 parts per million bleach in the dish machine. Education given. Corrected on site.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 1

Observed debris build up in the ice machine. Education given. Ice was discarded and unit was washed, rinsed, and sanitized before completion of inspection. Corrected on site.

FAST BLACK SHEEP BURGERS  CITY View History

2420 E SUNSHINE ST SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/19/2024 4:00:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Permitted with Reinspection

Priority Violations Found: 1

Observed: Grilled onions held in a crockpot not being held at or above 135F. Grilled onions were voluntarily discarded. A re-inspection will occur.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 1

Observed: Food debris on the floor and under equipment throughout the kitchen areas.

FAST-N-FRIENDLY #16  CITY View History

501 W CHESTNUT EXPY SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/22/2024 2:45:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Priority Violations Found: 1

Observed 0 parts per million bleach concentration in the sanitizer bucket. Education given. Corrected on site.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 1

Observed no paper towels at the hand sink in the kitchen. Education given. Corrected on site.

FAST-N-FRIENDLY / BATTLEFIELD #15  CITY View History

3015 S SCENIC AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/18/2024 4:05:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Priority Violations Found: 1

Observed: X3 spray bottles found unlabeled and filled with blue and orange liquids. Employee notified and spray bottles were identified and labeled. Education provided and corrected on site. This is a repeat violation.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 1

Observed: Mouse droppings found in blue cabinets under soda dispenser. Employee notified and education provided. Areas are to be cleaned and sanitized and pest control frequency may need to be increased.

FIELDHOUSE GRILLE  CITY View History

2235 W KINGSLEY ST SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/21/2024 3:05:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 2

Observed: No paper towels available at either hand sink. A method for hand drying must be available at hand sinks.

Observed: The interior of the microwave found not clean. Increase cleaning frequency to eliminate buildup.

FIRE & ICE RESTAURANT  OASIS CONV. CTR  CITY View History

2546 N GLENSTONE AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/21/2024 4:25:00 PM  Re-Inspection; Result: Active

No violations observed during inspection.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

FIVE GUYS  CITY View History

1008 E BATTLEFIELD RD SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/18/2024 12:05:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

-No violations cited during inspection.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

FLAMING WOK  CITY View History

711 W KEARNEY ST SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/19/2024 2:23:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 2

Observed: One hand sink had a leak in drain line and the other had a faucet that would not shut off completely.

Observed: The rangehood was not clean.

HARDEES  CITY View History

3465 W CHESTNUT EXPY SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/19/2024 3:58:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Priority Violations Found: 1

Observed: Several food containers, several food utensils, and the microwave found being stored not clean. Education given. Corrected on site.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 2

Observed: Floors beneath soda syrup rack and shelving in the dry storage room found not clean. Increase cleaning frequency to decrease buildup.

Observed: Two soiled mops found being stored on the floor and in the mop basket. Allow soiled mop heads to properly air dry.

HARVEST RESTAURANT  COUNTY View History

8011 E STATE HIGHWAY AD ROGERSVILLE Map it

11/21/2024 5:30:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No violations cited.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

HUHOT MONGOLIAN GRILL  CITY View History

2825 S GLENSTONE AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/19/2024 3:02:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Permitted with Reinspection

Priority Violations Found: 1

Observed: Cooler at the end of the buffet line not cold holding potentially hazardous foods at or below 41F(garbanzo beans 62F, red potatoes 56F, and black beans 59F). Food Items were voluntarily discarded. A re-inspection will occur.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

ITS GREEK TO ME  CITY View History

2825 S GLENSTONE AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/20/2024 4:00:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Permitted with Reinspection

Priority Violations Found: 3

Observed: Mouse droppings found in backroom on the floor and up front under cash register area. Repeat violation.

Observed: Gyro meat on vertical spit temped 86F on the outer layer. Outer layer must be kept at 135F or higher unless placed on time control. The heater was turned off during the inspection. Repeat violation.

Observed: Gyro meat temped in warmer 96F. Gyro meat must be kept at or above 135F or kept on time control. Gyro meat was placed on time control today. Repeat violation.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 2

Observed: 2 dead mice found in glue boards in the back kitchen areas.

Observed: Back door with a gap at the bottom.

KING FOOD SAVER #20 DELI/SALAD BAR  CITY View History

335 N NOLTING AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/21/2024 1:40:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No violations observed during inspection.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

KUM & GO #1458  REPUBLIC View History

638 E US HIGHWAY 60 EAST REPUBLIC Map it

11/20/2024 12:05:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No violations noted.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

KUM & GO #488  CITY View History

1704 W NORTON RD SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/19/2024 10:20:00 AM  Re-Inspection; Result: Permitted with Reinspection

A work order has been placed for the open face cooler. A reinspection has been scheduled.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

KUM & GO #498  COUNTY View History

104 N MISSOURI BLVD ROGERSVILLE Map it

11/21/2024 11:00:00 AM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

KUM & GO #562  CITY View History

3449 W KEARNEY ST SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/20/2024 2:53:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Priority Violations Found: 2

Observed: Employee returned back to kitchen from taking a break without washing hands prior to putting on gloves. Education given. Corrected on site.

Observed: Five cans of cheese dip on the retail floor found with dents. Education given. Corrected on site.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 1

Observed: Floor under soda syrup rack found not clean. Increase cleaning frequency to decrease buildup.

KUM & GO #566  CITY View History

1701 W SMITH ST SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/20/2024 11:20:00 AM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Priority Violations Found: 1

Observed: Five cans of cheese and bean dip on the retail floor found with dents. Education given. Corrected on site.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

LOVECRAFT FARMS  CITY View History

2463 W SUNSHINE ST SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/19/2024 9:05:00 AM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No Violations Cited.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

LUCYS CHINESE FOOD II  CITY View History

2456 E SUNSHINE ST SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/18/2024 4:33:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 1

Observed: Ice machine deflector plate not clean.

MAGIC BEAN  CITY View History

519 S KIMBROUGH AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/19/2024 7:50:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No violations observed during inspection.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

MASO KITCHEN BAR  CITY View History

3653 E SUNSHINE ST SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/20/2024 5:00:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Discussed storing napkins 6 off floor.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 2

Observed: Box no napkins stored on floor. Corrected at time of inspection.

Observed: Using hand sink for a drink dump sink. Corrected at time of inspection.

MCALISTERS DELI  CITY View History

2445 N KANSAS EXPY SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/18/2024 12:25:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 3

Observed: Hand Washing sink next to 3 vat sink does not have paper towels. Corrected on site  Paper towels stocked.

Observed: Floor in kitchen area missing in places  Water has accumulated in some areas flooring is missing.

Observed: Mops sitting directly in mop sink  Must be places or hung to allow for air drying

NEIGHBORHOOD SUPER MERCADO DBA WOMMACKS  CITY View History

1130 N GRANT AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/19/2024 11:05:00 AM  Re-Inspection; Result: Active

Previous Priority Violation has been corrected.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

NORI JAPAN  CITY View History

2825 S GLENSTONE AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/20/2024 2:30:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 1

Observed: The outside of sauce containers inside walk-in cooler covered in debris/mold. Containers were removed and washed, rinsed, and sanitized. Corrected on site.

OCEAN ZEN  CITY View History

4117 S NATIONAL AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/22/2024 3:10:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Permitted with Reinspection

Priority Violations Found: 1

Observed: Not properly cold holding a potentially hazardous food when several potentially hazardous (PHF) food items were found being held at above 41F. (lettuce 56F, dressing 56F). Required: Maintain cold PHFs at 41F or below. Items discarded. A reinspection will be performed.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

OHANA JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE  CITY View History

310 W BATTLEFIELD RD SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/21/2024 2:00:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 1

Observed: The top of the dish machine has excessive food debris build-up. Required: Clean the top of the dish machine at a frequency to maintain free of debris build-up.

OVATIONS GSB ARENA-BEARS BOULEVARD WEST  CITY View History

685 S JOHN Q HAMMONS PKWY SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/19/2024 5:10:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No violations observed during inspection

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

OVATIONS GSB ARENA-MAIN KITCHEN  CITY View History

901 S NATIONAL AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/19/2024 7:15:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 1

Observed: Pipe under the hand washing sink by the 3 compartment sink has a leak; leak under the dish machine.

OVATIONS GSB ARENA-PRIME OVERTIME KITCHEN  CITY View History

901 S NATIONAL AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/19/2024 6:40:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No violations observed during inspection

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

PAPIS COCINA & CANTINA  REPUBLIC View History

808 S ILLINOIS AVE REPUBLIC Map it

11/21/2024 1:45:00 PM  Re-Inspection; Result: Permitted with Reinspection

Priority Violations Found: 1

Observed: Insufficient sanitizer in dish machine.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

PAPPOS PIZZERIA & PUB  CITY View History

900 E BATTLEFIELD RD SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/20/2024 5:00:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Permitted with Reinspection

Discussed using a scoop with a handle rather than a bowl for bulk ingredients, proper storage of employee medicine and cleaning bar soda machine more thoroughly.

Priority Violations Found: 1

Observed: Shrimp held at 43F, salami held at 43F, and hamburger held at 42F in walk-in cooler.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 3

Observed: Mold growth on white shield in ice machine.

Observed: Mold growth on white shield in ice machine.

Observed: No hot water at bar hand sink.

PASTA EXPRESS  CITY View History

3250 E BATTLEFIELD RD SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/19/2024 2:00:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Priority Violations Found: 1

Observed several ready to eat, potentially hazardous food items not dated in the walk-in cooler. Education given. Corrected on site.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 1

Observed excessive ice buildup in the walk-in cooler. Seal appears to be in good condition on the door. Education given.

PREFERRED FAMILY HEALTHCARE  CITY View History

2626 W COLLEGE RD SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/21/2024 10:50:00 AM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

ROCCOS PIZZA SOUTH SFD  CITY View History

4315 S NATIONAL AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/19/2024 1:45:00 PM  Re-Inspection; Result: Permitted with Reinspection

Salad prep cooler hasnt been fixed yet, repair person has been called and scheduled for service. Cooler is not being used to store potentially hazardous foods. A re-inspection will occur once cooler is fixed. Other priority violations had been corrected prior to re-inspection.

Priority Violations Found: 1

Observed: Salad prep cooler not cold holding at or below 41F (ambient temp. 58F). A repair company has been called and a service has been scheduled. The cooler is not being used for potentially hazardous foods. A re-inspection will be conducted after cooler has been fixed.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

SAMS SOUTHERN EATERY  CITY View History

1631 N GLENSTONE AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/18/2024 11:55:00 AM  Routine Inspection; Result: Permitted with Reinspection

Discussed importance of cleaning.

Priority Violations Found: 1

Observed Shrimp, Chicken tenders, Gumbo, and Rice at temperatures between 48-50F. Discarded potentially hazardous foods at time of inspection. Repair cooler to maintain a product temperature of 41F or below at all times.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 2

Observed floors underneath and behind equipment unclean. Monitor and clean on a more frequent basis. The doors and handles of both prep. table coolers were found not clean. Monitor and clean on a more frequent basis.

SIMPLE SIMONS PIZZA OF SPRINGFIELD  CITY View History

1317 W SUNSHINE ST SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/22/2024 2:15:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No violations cited during the inspection.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

SIMPLY DELICIOUS, L.L.C.  CITY View History

2340 W GRAND ST SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/21/2024 10:40:00 AM  Routine Inspection; Result: Permitted with Reinspection

Priority Violations Found: 1

Observed: Insufficient hot water rinse temperature of 116F.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

SPRINGFIELD SOUTHSIDE SENIORS  CITY View History

2215 S FREMONT AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/20/2024 1:20:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No violations sited at time of inspection.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

STARBUCKS COFFEE #29280  CITY View History

2616 S GLENSTONE AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/22/2024 1:39:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No violations cited at time of inspection.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY #62589  CITY View History

2817 N KANSAS EXPY SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/19/2024 11:10:00 AM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No violations cited during the inspection.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

STUSQUATCHS ROCKSTAR BBQ  CITY View History

2463 W SUNSHINE ST SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/21/2024 3:05:00 PM  Re-Inspection; Result: Active

-Reinspection Conducted. Two-Door Stainless Cold Holder is now producing adequate temperatures between 40.0-41.0F. Monitoring of units cold holding capabilities to continue to ensure that internal food temperatures do not exceed 41.0F. -No other concerns noted at time of inspection.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

SUNSHINE LANES-BAR AND SNACK BAR  CITY View History

1500 W SUNSHINE ST SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/22/2024 3:10:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Priority Violations Found: 1

Observed: Kitchen employee did not wash hands between accepting cash and reapplying new gloves for food preparation. Education given. Corrected on site.

Nonpriority Violations Found: 3

Observed: A sanitizer test kit was not available during the inspection. A sanitizer test kit needs to be available during operation.

Observed: Interior of the ice machine found not clean. Increase cleaning frequency to eliminate buildup.

Observed: The lid of the deep freezer in the basement found in disrepair. All equipment needs to be maintained and in good repair.

SUSHI DO LLC  CITY View History

901 S NATIONAL AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/19/2024 4:20:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No violations observed during inspection

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

TACO BELL #026065  COUNTY View History

405 E WALNUT LN WILLARD Map it

11/18/2024 1:30:00 PM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 1

Observed: The area behind soda nozzles was not clean.

TAQUERIA CACHANILLA  CITY View History

1938 S GLENSTONE AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/18/2024 3:22:00 PM  Re-Inspection; Result: Active

Priority violation had been corrected prior to re-inspection. Cooler ambient temp. 37F.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

THE ROOST (KKCJ, LLC)  REPUBLIC View History

2510 S STATE HIGHWAY MM REPUBLIC Map it

11/22/2024 1:20:00 PM  Re-Inspection; Result: Active

Priority item corrected. All foods held at proper temperatures.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

THE SUB SHOP  CITY View History

1721 E SEMINOLE ST SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/21/2024 11:05:00 AM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No violations cited at time of inspection.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

WALMART NEIGHBORHOOD MARKET #5693 DELI  CITY View History

1320 S GLENSTONE AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/19/2024 11:15:00 AM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No Violations Cited.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

WALMART SUPERCENTER #86 DELI  CITY View History

2825 N KANSAS EXPY SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/19/2024 11:53:00 AM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No violations cited during the inspection.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

WILLARD EAST ELEMENTARY  COUNTY View History

518 E KIME ST WILLARD Map it

11/18/2024 10:50:00 AM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No violations cited There is a small ice buildup on floor of walk-in freezer.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

WILLARD HIGH SCHOOL  COUNTY View History

515 E JACKSON ST WILLARD Map it

11/18/2024 11:41:00 AM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

No violations observed

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

WILLARD INTERMEDIATE SOUTH  COUNTY View History

630 S MILLER AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/19/2024 11:11:00 AM  Routine Inspection; Result: Active

The edges of produce table were a bit sticky.

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 1

Observed: There was a large buildup of ice on wall of walk-in freezer.

ZAYKA INDIAN CUISINE  CITY View History

311 S JEFFERSON AVE SPRINGFIELD Map it

11/21/2024 12:35:00 PM  Re-Inspection; Result: Active

No violations observed during inspection

Priority Violations Found: 0

Nonpriority Violations Found: 0

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HONOLULU (KHON2)  This Laulima family took in their niece and nephews, but are struggling as they have serious medical issues.

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Mom and Dad have four boys of their own, two are away in college, one works and helps with household expenses and their youngest helps care for his cousins.

Give this family of 9 a helping hand through the holidays

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A few years ago, Moms sister lost custody of her three children because of crimes against them by a household member.

Mom and Dad took in her two nephews and niece.

Both her nephews have muscular dystrophy. The older boy, 19, is confined to a wheelchair but their home is not wheelchair accessible, making it difficult to move around the house.

Doctors told them his life expectancy is only into his 20s.

The younger boy is five years old. Doctors said muscular deterioration will likely start around age seven. They recommended an experimental treatment that may prolong his life by several years.

Both Mom and Dad, who works full-time, alternate taking off quite a bit of work to bring him for treatment in California.

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They are determined to provide as much love, comfort and care to the boys and opportunities to their niece, who just turned 18 years old.

They would greatly appreciate learning toys for their younger nephew and a recliner chair, games and sensory items or toys for their older nephew.

A dresser or something to put her clothes in for their niece and a gift card to the mall would also be nice.

Mom and Dad could use pots, pans, an air fryer for quick and easy meals, grocery, Target, Walmart or Sams Club gift cards.

In the spirit of laulima, our many hands working together, lets help this family that is so lovingly dedicated to caring for their siblings children have a happy holiday season.

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Check out more news from around Hawaii

If you would like to help, visit the Laulima Giving Programs website HERE. Select Adopt A Family and fill out the submission form with the family code H240089-9.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KHON2.
Nov. 24Lawrence County is one of several counties in Ohio being targeted for the reintroduction of elk to the region.

Commissioner DeAnna Holliday said she recently attended a meeting on the subject in Columbus.

Holliday points out that the animals are native to the area and the hope is to reintroduce them in pockets that will "merge into a herd."

Along with mountain lions, gray and red wolves, fisher cats and bison, elk were among the species that were common in the eastern U.S. in the 1700s. But, by 1840, the last native eastern elk in Ohio was shot in Ashtabula County. The last eastern elk in the U.S. was killed in Pennsylvania in 1877 and the species was declared extinct three years later.

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Holliday said she attended the meeting with Bryan Dickess, of Mike's Archery, in Ironton, a store she said is one of the area's best kept secrets" and supplies hunters worldwide.

"He's a world-renowned hunter and is trying to make this happen," she said.

Holliday said the process will take some time and it is in the early stages of approval.

She said having elk in the area would be a draw, not just for hunters, but "also for sight seers."

She mentioned that Kentucky had a similar program, first releasing a few hundred elk, with a population now at about 1,700.

"That shows how conducive this area is for that kind of wildlife," she said.

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Commissioner Mike Finley pointed out that the same thing is being done in several counties in West Virginia.

The efforts there began in 2016, while elk have also been reintroduced successfully in Arkansas, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Michigan, Missouri and Virginia. Illinois and New York are considering feasibility studies on the matter.

The discussion on elk came in the commissioners reports at the end of the meeting, which was an abbreviated one, as far as business.

Also regarding hunting, Finley said thee Special Needs Youth Sportsmen, a nonprofit of which he is an organizer, recently had a hunting event, which he said was well attended.

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"We had good fellowship and fun," he said. "And the food was fantastic. And we're tickled to death to see everyone pull together in this community for it."

Holliday also pointed out that it is Youth Hunting Month and said her Facebook feed had been full of photos of youth hunters and their results.

Commission President Colton Copley said if anyone from elsewhere in the country saw his feed, they "would be amazed at the ginormous deer being hunted."

The commissioners said they are working to promote the county for hunting, as part of efforts to increase tourism.

In other business, the commission:

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Heard from the Lawrence County Family and Children First Council, who are hosting a community baby shower at the South Point Community Center on Dec. 6, in which various agencies will hand out information programs and door prizes and other items will be available.

Approved flood permits for the county.

Approved appropriations and transactions under $50,000, submitted by the acting administrator.

Approved correspondence from County Engineer Patrick Leighty to bring county roads up to Ohio Department of Transportation and Americans with Disabilities Act standards.

"I'm glad he on this," Finley said of Leighty." If we didn't bring them up to the standards, we would not be eligible for federal funds."
A sign captured outside of the Camino Real Regional Utility Authority on Dec. 19, 2023. NMED issued a notice of violation saying CRRUA failed to inform the agency or the public that all three arsenic treatment plants were bypassed and offline for a year, meaning that water with 'high levels of arsenic' were sent to customers. (Danielle Prokop/Source NM)

Attorneys for Sunland Park residents filed a lawsuit against a troubled Southern New Mexico water utility, a former operator and the city and county running it, alleging the sale of arsenic-contaminated water to the 19,000+ residents violated their civil rights.

The civil suit filed Wednesday in the Third Judicial District Court in Dona Ana County, comes nearly a year after the revelation from state agencies that the Camino Real Regional Utility Authority sent water with high levels of arsenic to residents, without telling the public.

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The lawsuit stems from the December findings from state regulatory officials that determined the authoritys arsenic treatment plants were offline and intentionally bypassed for more than a year, and no public notification was sent out.

Arsenic naturally occurs at higher levels in Southern Dona Anas aquifers, a remnant of ancient volcanic activity, but also gets concentrated due to some industrial activity, according to the consumer confidence report. The water pulled from the aquifers has levels of arsenic that violate federal drinking water legal limits, and must be treated to remove the mineral.

Drinking water with low levels of arsenic is associated with diseases such as diabetes, increased risk of cancers, and can contribute to heart and lung diseases and skin problems, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

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The standard for drinking water issued by the EPA is 10 micrograms per liter of arsenic, but the goal for human health is no exposure.

The 49-page complaint alleges that the utility, city, county and the utilitys former executive director failed in their duty to provide safe drinking water and were negligent in operating and maintaining the system or alerting the public to contamination from arsenic.

The lawsuit claims that officials ignored the unsafe levels of arsenic in drinking water, failed to correct them and that the failure to notify the public was a means of covering up the unsafe levels.

The complaint also listed out the harms the high levels of arsenic caused to residents, naming corroded pipes, water that made peoples eyes burn, a concern that using the water places people at risk, and increased bills when the utility flushed water from the system.

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The lawsuit also alleged unfair business practices, saying that since people paid to receive clean water but sold water that was contaminated and unsafe.

Dona Ana County declined to comment, citing the pending lawsuit. The City of Sunland Park confirmed the city had received the lawsuit, and also declined to comment.

Emails and calls requesting comment to the Camino Real Regional Utility Authority went unreturned Friday.

The utilitys former executive director, Brent Westmorelandsaid he has not retained a lawyer when reached by phone, and said he probably shouldnt get into any pending litigation, declining further comment. Westmoreland led the utility starting in 2015, and resigned abruptly after a series of water quality incidents in November 2023.

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One of the newer laws that impact the case is the 2021 New Mexico Civil Rights Act, which ended qualified immunity as a defense for public officials and allowed people whose state constitutional rights were violated to seek a civil lawsuit.

When a utility, like CRRUA, has an obligation to provide citizens clean drinking water, not to hide really important details about that water, like that it contains arsenic  that violates the New Mexico Civil Rights Act, said attorney Knut Johnson, an attorney from Singleton Schreiber, a firm representing Sunland Park residents.

The utility has a history of violating federal drinking water arsenic standards, the lawsuit stated. It included U.S. Environmental Protection Agency records showing the utility reported that its drinking water violated the arsenic standard every three months for the last decade. The levels were as high as three times the maximum level allowed.

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Johnson said laying out a timeline of arsenic violations and prior citations from state regulators as far back as 2016 shows a history of problems with clean drinking water and failures to warn the community.

It tells us what all the principal actors in the area knew about, and what they didnt do about it, including telling the public about it for many, many years, he said.

In recent months, the utility has posted tests showing the utilitys arsenic levels in the water are below the federal maximum limit, after repairs were made in January to the arsenic treatment equipment. Since April, the tests submitted to the state have been under the arsenic maximum limit.

Currently, attorneys represent five residents, but held a town hall in Sunland Park on Thursday to represent additional people. Nearly 40 people attended the listening session in the Dona Ana Community College lecture hall.

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Attorneys are seeking monetary damages but also asking the court to address the longstanding water quality issues.

We would like to secure compensation for the residents affected by the health and financial impacts of the contaminated water, Johnson said. And we want to demand corrective action, to ensure safe drinking water for Sunland Park, moving forward.
BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- At the recently-concluded G20 summit held in Rio de Janeiro, China laid out its actions for global development, and advocated for a fair and equitable global governance system, prompting the G20 to continuously play an exemplary role in striving for the development of all countries and the progress of the entire world.

As an important member of the G20 and the world's largest developing country, China has always been a firm advocate of global development.

Back in 2016 at the G20 Hangzhou Summit, development was brought to the core of the global macro-policy framework for the first time. Eight years on, Chinese President Xi Jinping expounded on China's actions and propositions in Rio de Janeiro aimed at promoting common global development with Chinese wisdom and strength.

China has been promoting the cause of global development with its own growth. China has lifted 800 million people out of poverty and met the poverty reduction target of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ahead of schedule. China's development is an important part of the common development of the world. "China has decided to join the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty," Xi said at this year's G20 summit.

China's story and dedication to global poverty alleviation have inspired many. "China is clearly demonstrating its commitment to the fight against poverty and its real support for the development of countries, especially those in the Global South," said Eduardo Relagado, a researcher at the International Policy Research Center of Cuba, after Xi's speech at the G20 summit.

True development means the common development of all countries. As a stellar example of this, China has always shared its development opportunities with others.

At the summit, China outlined eight actions for global development, which include pursuing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, implementing the Global Development Initiative, supporting development in Africa, and supporting international cooperation on poverty reduction and food security.

These actions are a testament to the fact that China will always be a reliable long-term partner of developing countries, and a doer and go-getter working for global development. "China is sharing its development experience with other countries through its development initiatives, which have helped to promote common development," said Straton Habyarimana, a Rwandan economic analyst.

History has shown that a just world of common development is impossible without a fair and equitable global governance system. At the summit, Xi elaborated on China's concept of global governance characterized by cooperation, stability, openness, innovation and eco-friendliness.

The Chinese president's vision drew plaudits from experts across the world. China plays an essential role within the G20 in pushing for a more just and equitable world order, said Ali Oguz Dirioz, an associate professor of international relations at Ankara's TOBB University.

As an important platform for international economic cooperation, the G20 is expected to play a greater role while global development is being confronted with multiple challenges.

The international community hopes that the group can adhere to its original founding aspiration, inject momentum into promoting world economic growth, and play a leading role in enhancing global economic governance. China is prepared to collaborate with all parties to achieve those goals. 
Discussions on deploying Western troops and private defence contractors to Ukraine have resumed in Europe after Donald Trump's victory in the US elections.

Source: Le Monde, citing European Pravda

Details: The debate is sensitive and classified, but according to the newspaper, the issue of deploying ground troops to Ukraine has once again been placed on the agenda of European leaders.

Although French President Emmanuel Macron sparked strong opposition when he brought up this issue in February, it appears that with the return of Donald Trump to power in the United States, the discussion has resurfaced.

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Le Monde reports that this topic was discussed on 11 November during British Prime Minister Keir Starmers visit to France. It was highlighted that neither London nor Paris are ruling out leading a coalition to support Ukraine.

Quote: "Discussions are underway between the United Kingdom and France on defence cooperation, including the creation of a core group of European allies focused on Ukraine and broader European security," a British military source told Le Monde.

On 23 November, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot also confirmed Frances strong and ongoing support for Ukraine in an interview with the BBC.

Asked if Frances support could extend to deploying ground troops to Ukraine, he responded: "We are not ruling out any options."

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Quote: "We will support Ukraine as intensely and for as long as necessary. Why? Because our security is at stake. Every time the Russian army advances by one square kilometre, the threat moves one step closer to Europe," he added.

However, Elie Tenenbaum, a researcher at the French Institute of International Relations, told Le Monde that sending ground troops could be technically feasible in the event of a ceasefire, with European soldiers deployed to ensure security in the region.

Background: Dutch General Rob Bauer, Chair of the NATO Military Committee, stated that if Western leaders were not constrained by the risk of Russia using nuclear weapons, they would have already deployed their troops to assist Ukraine in the war.

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Not since the Fourth Republic has French politics been in such flux. Following Junes reckless dissolution of the National Assembly, presidential authority has withered, parliament is in disarray and traditional political parties are in turmoil, while a hapless prime minister seeks to hold the country together. Yet the true key to Frances stability is Marine Le Pen.

At the head of the largest parliamentary group in the three-way-split National Assembly, Marine Le Pen is law and kingmaker extraordinaire. And the moment of proof has arrived. At stake is the all-important finance bill which has lurched from astronomic expenditure to stringent cuts. All of this against an economic and financial backdrop that makes Britain seem a paragon of Swiss-like stability and rectitude.

Despite his courteous and unflappable manner, premier Michel Barniers bill has been so amended and truncated as to make it inoperable and unacceptable to financial markets. But a constitutional prerogative allows him to ditch all disagreeable amendments without a vote, on condition he submit his government to a vote of confidence  the notorious article 49.3. The left-wing Nouveau Front Populaire has trumpeted its decision to vote against the government. Were Le Pens Rassemblement National to join them, the government would fall. A crisis of regime could follow.

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But will Le Pen dare take France to such a deep level of instability? She emerged from a meeting with Barnier refusing to accept clauses in the bill that increase the cost of living; Barnier apparently stuck to his guns. The stand-off has begun. Will Barnier activate article 49.3 in the coming weeks? Will Le Pen vote down the government?

Much of the political class is horrified that Le Pen can exercise such a hold over the country. Were not the parliamentary elections in July so organised as to keep the Rassemblement National out of power? Yet as Western political elites continue to discover when slamming the door on nationalist parties, they have a habit of clambering in through the window.

In the stand-off, 73-year-old Barnier has little to lose. After a long political career, he knew that accepting the premiership was a final roll of the dice.

By contrast the stakes are high for Le Pen. The electorate might see crashing the government as terminating Frances last semblance of stability, thereby tarnishing her long crusade for political credibility. And who would replace Barnier? Would President Macron finally appoint a Left-wing prime minister potentially at the beck and call of radical Jean-Luc Melenchons France Insoumise?

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Finally, there is the question of political timing for Le Pen. Her trial for misappropriation of EU parliamentary funds ends on November 27 with sentencing early next year. The prosecution is requesting five years imprisonment and withdrawal of her eligibility for political office.

Conspiracy theorists who are suggesting she is using this as a bargaining chip with Barnier are wide of the mark, given his incorruptibility. But a guilty verdict would cause uproar by stopping the leader of Frances largest political party, and the choice of 13 million voters at the last presidential election, from standing in 2027.

Le Pen will want a bright media spotlight shone on her potential courtroom martyrdom. Bringing down the government at this stage risks denying her that oxygen of publicity.

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In a historic first for the country, the Environmental Protection Agency last month ordered the replacement of lead pipes in drinking water systems within the next 10 years to combat toxic exposure that has endangered public health for decades.

The mandate could be a game-changer for cities like Gary, which struggles with aging infrastructure and economic disparities that intensify the dangers of lead exposure. With over two-thirds of Indianas estimated 55,000 lead service lines in Northwest Indiana, Gary is poised to benefit significantly from the $42.7 million in federal funding allocated to the state.

We have to get lead paint out of the housing, said Alan Walts, director of the Environmental Justice, Community Health and Environmental Review Division at the EPA. We still have a lot of work that we need to be doing together to reduce sources of lead exposure.

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Heres why the pipes are being removed, an overview of the plan for the removal and an explanation of what it will cost.

Why are Garys lead pipes being removed?

The Biden-Harris administrations updated Lead and Copper Rule calls for drinking water systems to find and replace lead pipes in schools, homes, and water mains within the next 10 years. The rule also tightens water testing and lowers the acceptable level of lead in drinking water.

The EPA estimates that this rule will reduce the lead exposures of up to nearly 1.2 million people every year and at least 178,000 children.

Lead can be a harmful neurotoxin that can have severe mental and physical development impacts in children, including brain damage and delayed development. In adults, lead can cause increased blood pressure, heart disease, decreased kidney function, and cancer.

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A 2024 Fair Housing report found that 57% of Black people in Indiana live in housing units built before 1980, when hazards like asbestos and lead paint were used to build houses. This makes areas like Gary, which has dozens of abandoned, older housing stock, much more susceptible to these toxic exposures.

Who is removing Garys lead pipes?

Indiana American Water, the states primary water utility company that serves more than 1 million residents, including 250,000 customers in Gary and Northwest Indiana, has an active lead service line replacement project.

American Water is currently reviewing the final Lead and Copper Rule Improvements and agrees that removing the risk of customer-side lead service lines over time is the right thing to do for the health, safety and peace of mind of our customers, an IAW spokesperson told Capital B Gary, adding that IAW has been replacing lead service lines in Gary since 2017.

A map from Indiana American Water shows state-funded lead service line replacement projects in Gary extend across the citys east and west sides, stretching along Broadway between 20th and 11th avenues.

When will they finish the removal?

According to the IAW spokesperson, there are an estimated 55,000 lead service lines across the entire state, with about two-thirds of those, or approximately 36,000, located in Northwest Indiana. Currently, there are three ongoing projects, totaling approximately $30 million, in Northwest Indiana that are expected to be completed next year. Indiana American Water offers an interactive tracker that lets residents identify and report lead service lines.

How much will it cost?

However, as lead service line replacements continue, the price may be stretching the pockets of low-income communities already overburdened by exposures. Earlier this year, Indiana American Water raised its rates, resulting in an additional $12 per month for customers by next year. This increase adds another financial strain for many Gary residents, whose average annual income is less than $40,000 and includes many who live on fixed incomes.

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Pulling folded papers out of her drawer, Nancy Johnson recalled when her water and sewage bills were around $100 per month for her two-person household. For nearly 50 years, she and her husband managed their expenses on their retirement income. But since their lead service lines were replaced, she has noticed a $50 increase in her monthly sewage bills  a change shes sure is affecting others, too.

It just started once we had the lines switched over, so this has really been an unexpected cost, she said. Were retired and dont go anywhere, so we can handle it, but it was really a shocker.



If utility rates continue to increase, Johnson said many Gary residents like her who are on fixed incomes will be stretched to the limit, once again having to prioritize risking their health over their finances.

Its probably going to be more difficult for those who have children and who have lower incomes. Because if you have children, youre already low income. I dont care if you make $100,000. Children cost a lot of money. Or if youre retired, and only have one [kid], if youre on Social Security, it really kills you.

The post Lead Pipes Are Being Removed From Gary. Heres What You Need to Know. appeared first on Capital B Gary.
More states are cracking down on "forever chemicals" that are permeating the environment at alarming rates.

In 2024, at least 11 states have enacted legislation regulating the use of PFAS, aka forever chemicals, in products like clothing, cleaning products, cookware, cosmetics, and menstrual products, according to Stateline. Some states have also passed measures that would require industries and companies to pay for clean-up and testing, disclose their use of PFAS in products, and encourage research for alternatives.

PFAS have been under fire lately because research has shown that thousands of chemicals that fall into the category, categorized as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, do not break down naturally and have been found in the bloodstream of 97% of Americans. They can have long- and short-term side effects, like increased risk of cancer and damage to the immune system, and they can also transfer from mothers to newborn babies.

Do you worry about having toxic forever chemicals in your home?

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Earlier this year, the EPA released new standards to limit PFAS in drinking water as more states continue their own crackdowns. For example, California has 19 PFA-related laws, according to Stateline, and while there has been pushback from many industries, plenty of companies have been willing to comply.

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"When California restricted PFAS in textiles, all of a sudden you saw companies like REI saying, 'We can, we're going to do that. We're going to move to alternatives,'" Sarah Doll, national director of Safer States, told the publication.

In total, 16 states have passed measures, per Stateline, and Maine is preparing to pass the first-ever total ban on PFAS in consumer goods, which would take effect in 2030. It does make an exception for "essential" PFAS, though, for which no alternative is available.

These measures and restrictions will help protect humans and the environment for years to come since these substances truly live up to their "forever" nickname. The less they're utilized, the less they'll work their way into our water, air, and food, leading to health issues across the board.

As governments crack down on PFAS, you can limit your own exposure by avoiding plastics, steering clear of non-stick cookware, seeking out PFA-free products, and encouraging your representatives to continue supporting legislation to protect people and the environment.

Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
At least 14 people were injured after a police chase that started in Pennsylvania ended in Ohio.

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Pulaski Township, Pa., Police were chasing a stolen U-Haul on Thursday, Nov. 21 when it crossed the state line and into Youngstown Ohio, CBS affiliate WKBN reported.

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The reported driver of the truck, 27-year-old Scott Pelton of Leavittsburg, was arrested around 6:55 p.m. in the 2000 block of McCartney Road after multiple agencies joined the chase.

Pelton rear-ended another car and refused to stop. The car followed Pelton, who refused to stop until he got to the parking lot of a feed store, according to Lt. Chad Adams with Pulaski police.

When police arrived at the parking lot, Pelton refused to get out of the car, according to Adams.

Pelton eventually crashed into the store, causing damage to the door, before driving away, CBS affiliate WKBN reported.

He then led police on a chase down U.S. 422 into Ohio, where he hit at least seven vehicles. He reportedly hit several vehicles while driving westbound on McCartney Road, as well as a utility pole and several vehicles parked at a car lot on McCartney Road. Reports also said a Pulaski Township officer told Youngstown police that Pelton almost hit a township cruiser during the chase.

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At least 14 people were injured, CBS affiliate WKBN reported, including two juveniles who were in a church van and the driver of the van, reports said.

Pelton is facing charges in both Ohio and Pennsylvania.

In Youngstown, he is being charged with two counts of felonious assault, a second-degree felony, and a first-degree misdemeanor charge of criminal damaging.

Pelton may also face charges because he reportedly had 30-60 tires in the back of the truck.

Anyone who transports more than 10 tires in the city without a license is subject to a felony charge, CBS affiliate WKBN reported.

In Pennsylvania, Pelton faces charges of fleeing and eluding, which is a third-degree felony. He will also face two misdemeanor counts of operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs; recklessly endangering another person; and reckless driving.

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It is unclear at this point if charges will be filed by Campbell and Coitsville police, who also participated in the chase.

Paperwork has been sent to the Mahoning County Sheriffs Office to have Pelton extradited back to Pennsylvania, according to Adams.

Pelton is expected to have an extradition hearing sometime next week in common pleas court.

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Nov. 25 (UPI) -- At least five people were killed as Storm Bert battered Britain with 80 mph winds and torrential rain, causing widespread flooding, cutting power to thousands of homes and businesses and wreaking road, rail and air travel chaos.

With 110 flood warnings, Wales was one of the hardest hit regions, with at least one person killed -- a man swept away as he walked his dog by the River Conwy. Footage circulating online showed rescuers using inflatable boats to rescue people and pets from streets and homes inundated after rivers burst their banks.

A elderly man died after his car entered a ford in Lancashire and another man was killed after his car was hit by a falling tree in Hampshire. Two men were killed in separate road crashes in Northamptonshire and Yorkshire.

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The U.K. Metrological Office said the storm system dumped more than 5 inches of rain in the 24 hours as of Monday morning.

Almost 1,200 flights out of London's Heathrow Airport were delayed, with as many as 300 cancelled. The Great Western Railway canceled trains in Devon, some routes through Tuesday, and between London and South Wales, which saw some of the worst flooding.

GWR services on all key routes remained suspended Monday due to flooding and fallen trees.

Engineers in Wales worked through the night Sunday to clear a landslip near Pontypool that closed the Newport to Shrewsbury line and National Rail issued dozens of cancellation and disruption alerts for services across the rest of the country.

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There was anger in South Wales over what locals and their representatives said was a lack of warning and preparedness for the damage and disruption wrought by Storm Bert in which Cwnmtillery and Pontypridd were also badly hit, with streets, homes and businesses in Pontypridd pictured semi-submerged.

The BBC quoted the Rhondda Cynon Taf Town Council leader as expressing shock that the dire conditions only warranted a "yellow" weather warning, saying an "amber" warning should have been in place.

Member of Parliament for Rhondda and Ogmore Chris Bryant and Plaid Cymru Senedd member for South Wales Central, Heledd Fychan, also complained that the warnings came too late.

Bryant said people were "utterly miserable" in his constituency, which includes Pontypridd, and that he could not comprehend why more high-level alert was not put in place Saturday night

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The Met Office denied the charges saying it forecast the storm well in advance and issued number of warnings. However, it pledged to carry out a comprehensive assessment of its performance.

Wales First Minister Eluned Morgan said she was talking with the central government in Whitehall regarding emergency funds for prevention to keep pace with the worsening climate in Wales.

"The severity and frequency of these events is something we all need to be aware of," she told the BBC. "Hundreds of millions of pounds have been put into flood defenses in Wales over the past few years," she added.
SALEM, Va. (WFXR)  The LewisGale Medical Center has welcomed a new CEO to aid medical services in the community.

Collin McLaughlin assumed the CEO role on November 1 and will be responsible for the day-to-day management and operations of the hospital in Salem.

The 506-bed facility offers care including cancer treatment, emergency medicine, cardiovascular care, and maternity services.

McLaughlin will help the hospital grow and attract services to better the needs of the community.

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Childrens Medical Center Martinsville announces closure after 55 years of practice

I am honored and humbled to join the LewisGale team, McLaughlin said. Its my goal to build on the outstanding care and patient experience the community has come to expect from LewisGales dedicated and compassionate healthcare professionals. The hospital has served the residents of Southwest Virginia for more than a century.

Before assuming his role in Salem, he served as CEO of Valley Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas Nevada. He led programs in stroke care, open heart surgery, and neurosurgery while overseeing the graduate medical education program of 90 residents and fellows.

Collin is a leader who genuinely cares about patients and colleagues like family, said Compton Biddle, chairman of the LewisGale Medical Center Board of Trustees. I am confident his leadership and steadfast commitment to outstanding clinical quality and a positive culture will help us raise the bar and improve lives in the Salem area and across southern Virginia.

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McLaughlin has a bachelors in management from Brigham Young University

(BYU) and a masters in health care administration from The George Washington University (GWU).

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv.
There's an easy way to enjoy a relaxing Thanksgiving at home if no one's willing to cook: Order takeout.

Whether you're craving a traditional holiday feast or fried chicken, Louisville residents and their guests have several options for eating in on Thanksgiving. Here's a look at where you can order your meal.

Cracker Barrel is offering Chocolate Pecan, Pecan, Apple Pecan Streusel, and All-American Apple Pie (no sugar added) from Oct. 29  Dec. 24. Pumpkin pies are available Nov. 17  25 (while supplies last).

WHAT: Multiple locations. Let Cracker Barrel do the cooking with its Heat N Serve meals that come chilled and ready to heat in two hours or less.

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Thanksgiving Heat n' Serve Feast . Turkey breast (two), cornbread dressing, gravy, cranberry relish, sweet potato casserole with pecans, green beans, mashed potatoes, sweet yeast rolls, pumpkin and pecan pies. Serves eight to ten ($169.99). Pre-order and receive a $10 bonus card when you schedule your pickup for Nov. 25 or 26.

Thanksgiving Heat n' Serve Family Dinner. Turkey breast, cornbread dressing, gravy, cranberry relish, sweet potato casserole with pecans, green beans and sweet yeast rolls. Serves four to six ($109.99). Pre-order and receive a $5 bonus card when you schedule your pickup for Nov. 25 or 26.

WHERE: Multiple locations

WHEN: Order must be placed 24 hours in advance and can be picked up Nov. 23-Dec. 1

MORE INFORMATION: crackerbarrel.com.

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More: The Cracker Barrel Thanksgiving 2024 menu is out now. Here's what you can order

Decade

A variety of dishes at Decade restaurant in Louisville's Butchertown neighborhood.

WHAT: The neighborhood restaurant located in the heart of Butchertown will be offering Thanksgiving take-home. Oven-roasted or fried turkey (10-to-12 pound or 12-to-15 pound), gravy, green beans, mashed potatoes, mac 'n' cheese, stuffing, baby carrots, autumn Spiced Snickerdoodle Cookies, choice of walnut or caramel ice cream. The 10-to-12-pound turkey serves two with 16-ounce sides and the 12-to-15 turkey serves four with 32-ounce sides.

WHERE: 1076 E. Washington St.

WHEN: Orders are needed by Nov. 23 with pickup on Nov. 26 and 27

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COST: $175 for two; $300 for four

MORE INFORMATION: decaderestaurant.com

Turkey Take Home Dinner To Go from Fork & Barrel restaurant in Louisville is $195 and feeds six people.

WHAT: Thanksgiving dinner to go. Meal includes turkey, gravy, cornbread dressing, cranberry sauce, country-style green beans, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, dinner rolls, and pumpkin pie.

WHERE: 1722 Frankfort Ave.

WHEN: Orders must be placed by Nov. 18 and will be ready for pickup on Nov. 27 between noon and 5 p.m.

MORE INFORMATION: Orders will be taken in increments of six for $195. You can also order sides only or just turkey and gravy. To place your order, email info@bethefork.com or call 502-907-3675, bethefork.com.

WHAT: Let Heitzman cook your Thanksgiving meal. Meals feed eight to 10 or 18. Also, order appetizers, prepared sides, and sweets.

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Ham Dinner: Baked honey-cinnamon ham, green beans, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, chicken gravy, bowtie pasta, dinner rolls, and choice of pumpkin or fruit pie (additional sides available).

Turkey Dinner: Oven-baked turkey, green beans, cranberries, bread dressing, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, turkey gravy, dinner rolls, choice of pumpkin or fruit pie (additional sides available).

WHERE: 9426 Shelbyville Road

WHEN: Orders must be placed by Nov. 14 and picked up by Nov. 27.

MORE INFORMATION: $190 for 8-10; $260 for 18 502-426-7736; heitzmanbakery.com.

WHAT: Serving a traditional Thanksgiving meal that includes a whole fresh herbed-brined turkey, southern-style stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, fresh cranberry sauce with orange, cinnamon, and Cointreau, green beans with garlic and almonds, glazed carrots, and pumpkin molasses pie.

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WHERE: 309 R Wallace Ave.

WHEN: Orders must be placed by Nov. 22 with delivery on Nov. 27.

MORE INFORMATION: $50 per person, with a four-person minimum. Call 502-896-0666 or visit homecuisineonline.com.

The Family Feast, available at Louisville Kroger stores, serves 8-10 people for $160. The Feast includes two main proteins, bone-in or boneless turkey and ham, and a variety of Home Chef's heat-and-eat sides.

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WHAT: Home Chef/Kroger offers four heat-and-serve Family Feast Bundes.

Thanksgiving Feast: The feast includes a Butterball turkey, boneless ham, stuffing, green bean casserole, maple pecan mashed sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and gravy. Serves eight to 10. $170.

Ham dinner. Bone-in or boneless ham, mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, maple pecan mashed sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce. Bone-in, serves six to eight, $85; boneless, serves four to six, $80.

Turkey dinner: Bone-in or boneless turkey, mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, maple pecan mashed sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce. Bone-in, serves six to eight, $90; boneless, serves four to six, $75.

WHERE: multiple locations

WHEN: Orders are needed 24 hours in advance until Nov. 26.

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MORE INFORMATION: Sides are offered a la carte in side-only bundles. Order meals at the deli, by phone at 877-894-3707, or online at kroger.com.

Martin's Bar-B-Que has two Thanksgiving offerings: The Major Feast with either a whole turkey or half ham for $264.99 (serving 12-15 guests), or the Small Gathering with either smoked turkey or smoked ham for $149.99 (serving 4-6 guests).

WHAT: Heat and serve Thanksgiving meals or order from an a la carte selection of smoked meats by the pound, seasonal southern sides, and fresh-baked pies.

Major Feast : Includes whole-smoked turkey or half-smoked ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green beans, broccoli salad, dinner rolls and dessert (fudge, pecan or sweet potato pie). Serves 12 to 15 ($264.99).

Small gathering: Includes smoked ham or smoked turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green beans, broccoli salad, dinner rolls, and dessert (fudge, pecan or sweet potato pie). Serves four to six ($149.99).

WHERE: 3408 Indian Lake Drive

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WHEN: Orders are needed by 2 p.m. Nov. 19 and will be available for pick-up November 25-27, 29-30.

MORE INFORMATION: Martins will be donating $5 from every Thanksgiving meal to benefit Dare to Care, The Nashville Food Project, James Island Outreach, and Jones Valley Teaching Farm. martinsbbqjoint.com/thanksgiving.

WHAT: Heat-and-serve Holiday Feast to-go. The heat-and-serve meal includes your choice of baked ham or roasted turkey, served with mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans or street corn, cranberry sauce, cornbread stuffing or macaroni and cheese, and Hawaiian dinner rolls.

WHERE: 4901 Outer Loop, #100,

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WHEN: Order must be placed by Nov. 26, then receive a time for pickup

MORE INFORMATION: This can be customized to serve a party of one, four, or eight. $16.79 (one); $63.99 (four); $125 (eight). Pre-order a feast for four or eight by 11:59 p.m. Nov. 8 and a free Pumpkin Bread Pudding will automatically be added to your order for pick up (serves eight). 502-357-0767; metrodiner.com/holiday-feast.

WHAT: Hand-rubbed and infused with Popeyes signature blend of zesty Louisiana-style seasonings, Cajun Turkey may be frozen, but its precooked, so all you have to do is thaw, heat, serve, and enjoy the flavor explosion. Popeyes holiday bird feeds between eight to 12.

WHEN: Customers will receive orders one to three business days after the order is shipped. $99 (plus sales tax) for online delivery orders

MORE INFORMATION: To order visit, the.cajunfix.popeyes.com. According to the website, delivery is free when you order online. thecajunfix.popeyes.com.

WHAT: Publix heat-and-serve Thanksgiving meal options:

Turkey Dinner . Turkey, old-fashioned cornbread dressing, Yukon gold mashed potatoes, cranberry orange relish, marshmallow delight, and homestyle gravy. Serves seven to 10, $69.99; serves 14-18, $139.99

Boar's Head Sweet Slice Boneless Ham Dinner. Boar's Head Sweet Slice Boneless Ham, sweet potato casserole and green bean casserole, marshmallow delight. Serves two to four, $49.99, Serves eight, $79.99.

Turkey Breast Dinner. Turkey breast, old-fashioned cornbread dressing, Yukon gold mashed potatoes, cranberry orange relish, marshmallow delight, and homestyle gravy. Serves seven to 10, $79.99.

WHERE: 2500 Terra Crossing Blvd.

MORE INFORMATION: Orders are needed by Nov. 26, and pickup time will be set up. publix.com/mc/order-ahead/order-holiday-meals.

A turkey and ham Thanksgiving dinner from Smokey Bones.

WHAT: Offering its regular menu and the Thankful pack that includes smoked sliced turkey breast, stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, garlic bread, and your choice of pumpkin or apple pie. Feeds 16-20. You can also buy sides and meat separately.

WHERE: 2525 Hurstbourne Gem Lane

WHEN: Nov. 28, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

MORE INFORMATION: Order in-restaurant or by phone by Thanksgiving (while supplies last). Carryout orders must be picked up by Nov. 28 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. 502-491-7570; smokeybones.com.

Varanese restaurant owner and executive chef John Varanese's turducken, a chicken stuffed in a duck stuffed in a turkey, surrounded by accompaniments, clockwise from bottom left: turducken gravy, bourbon cranberry chutney, traditional pork sausage stuffing, corn bread and sage stuffing pecan crumble-topped Amaretto sweet potato casserole and a side of green beans and onions. November 14, 2018

WHAT: Let Varanese prepare the Turducken dinner and side dishes for Thanksgiving. Turducken is a partially de-boned turkey stuffed with a de-boned duck that has been stuffed with a de-boned chicken. It is filled with cornbread, sage, and sausage stuffing, and roasted in the oven until golden brown. A variety of fresh sides are also available, including mashed sweet potatoes, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, green beans, turducken gravy, and cranberry chutney. Dessert, toffee marshmallow bread pudding serves eight ($20).

WHERE: 2106 Frankfort Ave.

WHEN: Orders must be placed by Nov. 23.

MORE INFORMATION: Turducken is $175 for 20 pounds (serves 18 to 20); $195 for 26 pounds (serves 25-30), and $18 per pound for roulade (4-pound minimum). Side dishes start at $14 per quart. To reserve your feast call, 502-899-9904; varanese.com.

The Corn Pudding served at the Village Anchor in Anchorage.May 7, 2015

WHAT: Offering a fully cooked Thanksgiving meal for six, twelve, or eighteen. The menu includes a turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, cornbread dressing, yeast rolls, Kevin's holiday-spiced cranberry sauce, and your choice of one pumpkin or Kerns Kitchen's Derby-Pie (your choice of one pie for groups of six or 12; two pies for groups of 18 or more).

WHERE: 11507 Park Road, Anchorage

WHEN: Orders are needed by noon Nov. 26 with pick up from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 27

COST: $43 per person

MORE INFORMATION: Gluten free options available. villageanchor.com/turkeytakeout.

WHAT: A variety of Thanksgiving meals available for pre-order. More options available online:

Thanksgiving Extravaganza. Roast whole turkey, maple bourbon ham with brown sugar citrus glaze, sea salt and cracked pepper green beans, creamed spinach, roasted butternut squash with cranberries and sage, creamy mashed potatoes, herb stuffing, cranberry orange sauce, shrimp trio platter, Antipasti platter, truffle and chive deviled eggs, spinach artichoke parmesan dip, vegetable crudites with hummus, butternut squash soup, brioche rolls. Serves 12 ($539.99).

Classic Roast Turkey Dinner. Roast turkey with gravy, sea salt and cracked pepper green beans, creamy mashed potatoes, herb stuffing, and cranberry-orange sauce. Serves four ($99.99), eight ($169.99), and 12 ($239.99).

WHERE: 4944 Shelbyville Road

WHEN: Meals must be ordered by Nov. 26 and can be picked up Nov. 22-28

MORE INFORMATION: Call 502-899-5545

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Restaurants with takeout for 2024 Thanksgiving in Louisville
ADRIAN  The Catherine Cobb Safe House hosted its ninth annual Everyday Heroes Celebration Event Nov. 19 at the Adrian Armory Events Center to honor individuals and groups who have shown courage, kindness and unselfish acts of heroism in the Lenawee County community. The event saluted heroes in 12 categories with 18 award winners.

The Heroes Advisory Committee of 10 community leaders met in early October to select the award winners, a news release said. The committee includes chair Lenawee County Sheriff Troy Bevier; Adrian Police Lt. Randy Spence; Adrian Fire Chief Aric Massengill; the Rev. Olivia Nickelson of the Family Worship Center; Laura Schultz Pipis, executive director of the Monroe/Lenawee United Way; Lenawee Community Foundation President and CEO Bronna Kahle; ProMedica Charles and Virginia Hickman Hospital emergency department social worker Danielle Ward; Tecumseh City Council Member Austin See; Jackie Bradley with the Lenawee Community Mental Health Authority; Lenawee County District Judge Laura J. Schaedler.

The Catherine Cobb Safe House recognized the awardees and nominees Nov. 19, 2024, at the domestic and sexual violence shelter's ninth annual Everyday Heroes ceremony at the Adrian Armory Events Center.

A total of 30 nominations were received. The only requirements were that the nominees be residents of Lenawee County, employed within Lenawee County, or the incidents must have taken place in Lenawee County, and the lifesaving acts or events must have occurred in 2023. Lifetime achievement can also be a consideration.

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Honorees were presented with engraved awards and certificates of honor from the Catherine Cobb Safe House. All proceeds from the event will go to benefit the Catherine Cobb Safe House's domestic and sexual violence programs, which include trauma-focused residential shelter and non-residential services.

The following descriptions of the award recipients and their selfless acts were provided by the Catherine Cobb Safe House. These were read during the ceremony. They have been edited lightly for clarity.

Animal Rescue Hero

Asam Acres (Chris Bergman and Christy Asam)

Chris Bergman

Asam Acres is not your typical farm. Sure, they are home to many animals, but what makes this farm special is that many of these animals have been rescued from homes that were not meeting their needs and even saved some from being sent to slaughter.

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Their farm is also now the home to Cows and Coffee, where the community can come and experience life on the farm. By opening their farm to the community, they have created an experience unlike any other in Lenawee County. People can stop in and wander around and engage with cows, horses, donkeys, pigs, chickens, fox, sheep and more.

They have not only been a sanctuary for the animals on the farm, but many people continue to come back regularly for they too find sanctuary on the farm.

Community Hero

My Cousin Vinny's Barbershop

Vincent Inclan

Since they opened, the barbers at My Cousin Vinny's Barbershop have provided a trendy place for community members to enjoy getting their hair and beards trimmed. The barbers have made a name for themselves as being kind, patient, talented and caring. Not only do they enjoy what they do, but they are passionate about making people feel good, and this passion extends well beyond those who can afford to stop in for regular cuts. For three years now, My Cousin Vinny's has opened its doors to children in the community who are getting ready to go back to school. They partner with local businesses and not only do they give free haircuts (over 300) that day, but they provide snacks and backpacks filled with school supplies, and they raise money to be donated to Associated Charities of Lenawee County. Their commitment to giving back to the community doesnt end their though. This year they provided free haircuts to the homeless and veteran communities by participating in Project Connect, a local resource fair for the homeless community. We are thankful for their community minded services.

Laura Haviland Human Service Professional Hero

De'Angelo Boone

Rev. De'Angelo Boone

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De'Angelo Boone has been advocating for change and working to make this community better since 2007. He has devoted much of his time to working with incarcerated individuals and the homeless population. He is the founder and senior pastor of City of Refuge Ministries International and the founder/director of the Meal Assistance Program. The Meal Assistance Program utilizes a mobile application and website to quickly get food to people in the Adrian area. MAP has multiple pantries located in the community to meet the needs of specific groups; families with children in school, college students and low-income housing residents. He also offers fresh food distributions throughout our community.

In addition to the MAP, Boone was instrumental in the formation of A3  the All About Adrian Resident Coalition, which started when he worked for Habitat for Humanity of Lenawee County. A3 strives to reshape the east Adrian community and to empower its residents. His list of volunteer work is extensive and includes the city of Adrians Human Relations Commission, Community Action Agency, ProMedica Charles and Virginia Hickman Hospital, the Adrian Dominican Sisters' Resiliency Committee and the Southeast Michigan Migrant Resource Council.

Boone works relentlessly in our community to raise awareness of diversity, equity and inclusion. His activities demonstrate his passionate advocacy for marginalized and disenfranchised communities.

Fire Hero

Adrian city and Madison Township firefighters Jeff Betz, Joel Dawson, Mike Dokho, Jack Hepler, Austin Rul and Dave Rincon

The Adrian and Madison Township firefighters are being honored for their courage, commitment and teamwork. These men responded to one of the most challenging calls, rescuing an unconscious adult from a basement during a fire in the home. Their ability to work quickly, efficiently and calmly without regard to the dangers they were putting themselves in is what makes this rescue stand out. They relied on their training and their trust in each other and were able to assess the situation, put a plan together and carry this adult up the stairs and to safety within less than eight minutes. We are honored to recognize them for their heroic efforts.

Adrian city and Madison Township firefighters, from left, Joel Dawson, Mike Dokho, Jack Hepler, Dave Rincon, Austin Rule and Jeff Betz, were presented with Fire Hero Awards during the Catherine Cobb Safe House's Everyday Heroes awards ceremony Nov. 19, 2024, at the Adrian Armory Events Center.

Youth Good Samaritan

Carrie Ausmus

Ausmus is currently attending Grand Valley State University in Allendale, but while she was in high school she was a member of the Lenawee County YOUTH Council. She helped with volunteer projects, grant making and making others feel welcome. Whenever the Lenawee YOUTH Council had a project, she was among the first to volunteer, to ask the question, How can we help?

Carrie Ausmus

Ausmus learned about the Imagination Library through her work with the YOUTH Council and Lenawee Community Foundation. At a retreat in the fall of 2021, the YOUTH Council decided to work to ensure local funding for the program and to enable participation of all children in Michigan. Ausmus took on this project as its leader. Her vision was to enlist support from the state to pay for 50% of the program and to help raise dollars locally so that we may continue to provide books to Lenawee County's youngest citizens and beyond.

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The LYC voted to request funds to be used to match an endowment for the Imagination Library. Ausmus helped present a proposal to the Lenawee Community Foundation board of directors. To proceed, she had to get board permission. She prepared a brief to explain why the program was important and the value of the endowment. The board unanimously voted to support the creation of the endowment. The next task was to craft a letter to raise funds for the match. Through the letter, nearly $75,000 was raised to ensure our children continue to receive books. Ausmus also created an amazing PowerPoint presentation for local government officials and civic groups. The presentation was made to the Kiwanis Club of Adrian and our state representative and senator at the time. House Bill 6431 was created, by then-Rep. Bronna Kahle to support the program on the state level. Ausmus also contacted the governor's office. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer even proposed $4 million in the budget to support the program.

Even though House Bill 6431 was not funded and Ausmus' goal to bring the Imagination Library to the whole state is not complete, she was able to leave a lasting impact on our community. Her leadership helped to create an endowment of $150,000 for the Imagination Library, ensuring thousands of Lenawee County's children will continue to receive books. As a result of Lenawee County's Imagination Library, 235,000 books have been distributed and nearly 6,000 children have graduated from the program. Over 1,000 are registered now.

Mental Health Ambassador Hero

Theresa Rupley

Theresa Rupley

Theresa Rupley is a lifelong resident of Adrian. She graduated from SHU with her bachelors degree in social work and received her master's degree from Eastern Michigan University. Since then, she has devoted her time to working with individuals who have been involved in the justice system and those who struggle with a substance use disorder. During her time with the prisoner reentry program, she helped prisoners find housing and connected them to resources for successful integration into the community. For the past eight years she has been the program coordinator for Recovery Court in Lenawee County. Here she creates a safe environment for those with participate in the program to grow and move forward.

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She carries her advocacy work into her personal life as an active board member at the Adrian Center for the Arts and Catherine Cobb Safe House. She also volunteered with the Knight Fund at the Lenawee Community Foundation where she reviewed and suggested grants that would positively impact the services available to vulnerable populations in our community.

Educator Heroes

Annie Howard, Adrian Public Schools

Annie Howard

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Annie Howard makes art come alive for every Adrian student she teaches. She is involved and helps ensure everyone has a place at the table. She was named 2019 Michigan Art Education, Middle Level Art Educator of the Year. She is active with many local organizations and helps with Artalicious. She has also served as the Michigan Art Education Association chair. Howard is a tremendous asset to the school and the community. Her smiling face, caring personality, and skill as an artist and teacher make her a favorite among students, parents, colleagues and everybody who has the pleasure of knowing her. Her ability to make art instruction come alive and her unique ability to connect with all students make her an exemplary educator. Her willingness to go the extra mile and put in time behind the scenes and go above and beyond what is required make her a hero. This community, particularly the students, is blessed to have Howard teaching them and creating incredible opportunities to show their talent and abilities.

William Ramsell, Tecumseh Public Schools

William Ramsell

William Ramsell serves as the math department chair at Tecumseh High School, where he teaches a range of math courses, including AP Pre-Calculus, Pre-Calculus, AP Calculus AB, and AP Calculus BC. A dedicated member of the district since 2011, he is actively involved in both the District Improvement Team and the PBIS Committee. Known for his popularity among students and staff, Ramsell is often one of the last teachers to leave campus each day.

He draws inspiration from his students, crediting their achievements as the driving force behind his commitment to excellence in teaching. Their success motivates him to continuously strive to be the best educator possible.

Law Enforcement Hero

Officer Matthew Hunkele, Blissfield Police Department

Blissfield Police Officer Matthew Hunkele

Officer Matthew Hunkele responded to a call and shortly after entering the house, encountered a man holding a large, claw hammer who began advancing toward him yelling, Shoot me. Hunkele ordered the other adults in the house to leave as he began communicating with the man trying to convince him to drop the hammer. The man kept approaching him, and he was finally able to deescalate the situation and convince him to drop the hammer when he was less than 5 feet away from him. Hunkele continued to talk with the man, was able to get him to surrender willingly and transported him to the hospital for psychiatric treatment.

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Hunkele exercised great restraint in a situation that could have resulted in a justified use of deadly force. His use of tact and calming demeanor convinced the man to drop his weapon, surrender peacefully and prevented an incident from ending tragically.

Medical Professional Hero

Kim Lopez

Kim Lopez has been with ProMedica for 22 years. She is a seasoned emergency department registered nurse and has taken it upon herself to be the emergency medicine safe space for the children that come into the emergency room. She purchases toys, primarily out of her own finances, for kids in hopes to diminish the fear they may experience by coming to the ER. Lopez is always a team player in the ER. When things are fast paced, she is there to support in any way she is able. Often it can become a very emotionally heavy space, and she is able to give a hug, share a laugh or just be present with co-workers. Her co-workers are honored to have her has a charge RN in the ER.

Lopez was not present for the ceremony as she was at work.

Justice/Court Hero

Lenawee County District Judge Laura J. Schaedler

Judge Laura J. Schaedler has been serving her community for over 40 years. Her early professional accomplishments include serving as a Lenawee County assistant prosecutor for nearly 30 years, acting as Tecumseh city attorney for 10 years and teaching as an adjunct faculty member at Adrian College and Siena Heights University. For the past 14 years shes led our courts as a Lenawee County district judge. Shes presided over many tough cases and always tries to find a way to improve the lives of the community and those who she encounters. Early on in her career as a judge, she recognized the need for more resources for those who enter her courtroom and are struggling with substance use/abuse. She became the catalyst for starting Sobriety Court for Lenawee County as an alternative program for individuals struggling with alcoholism. Since its inception in 2011, 200 individuals have successfully completed the program. Schaedler's commitment to helping those with addiction continues beyond her courtroom. She is the chair of Lenawee County's Face Addiction Now (FAN) chapter, which has recently implemented the Hope Not Handcuffs program as an effort to provide support and resources to those who are seeking help for their addictions. Schaedler also serves her community through memberships with legal and civic organizations and supporting the missions of local nonprofit organizations.

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Schaedler has been described as having a positive influence on those around her and being compassionate about her work and the people she touches every day. We are fortunate to have her as a leader in our community and are proud to call her our Everyday Hero.

Lenawee County District Judge Laura J. Schaedler accepts the Justice/Court Hero Award for her work presiding over the county's Sobriety Court during the Catherine Cobb Safe House's Everyday Heroes ceremony Nov. 19, 2024, at the Adrian Armory Events Center.

Faith Based Hero

Rev. Greg Burdine, Faith Baptist Church

Rev. Greg Burdine

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Rev. Greg Burdine is the senior pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Adrian and has been there since 1994. Burdine leads by example and makes everyone feel welcome, included and valued. He is passionate about sharing his faith and engages with his congregation daily through recorded messages that are posted to Facebook. He also records Sunday sermons so that those who cant attend in person still have the ability to participate in the service. Under his leadership, the congregation has expanded its reach and has undergone a recent expansion to accommodate their growing childrens ministry. Burdine regularly supports the Special Olympics and encourages outreach activities with local schools and nonprofits. The church often hosts events that are open to the public such as blood drives, Easter egg hunts and recently a celebration of their 50th year. He is a good, caring person looking to make our world a better place.

Family/Local Military Hero

Erika Behm

Erika Behm is the veteran navigator who serves Lenawee County through the Community Mental Health Partnership of Southeast Michigan. Her job, which also takes her to Monroe, Washtenaw and Livingston counties, is to connect veterans with services beyond those offered by Veterans Affairs. Much of her work in Lenawee County is focused on suicide prevention because the county does not have inpatient care for mental health or substance use.

In 2022, Behm and a small group came up with the idea to create a visual display that would help bring awareness to the reality of the veteran suicide rates. Organizers put out 22 American flags every day throughout the month of September. By months end, the result is a huge  and visually striking  field of flags, each with its own light, each representing a veteran who has been lost. This project has grown over the last two years and the number of these flag displays have grown to over seven.

In addition to bringing awareness to veteran suicide rates, she has helped organize a monthly breakfast for veterans. These breakfasts started with about 20 veterans and have grown to over 50 people getting together to enjoy lunch, share stories and provide resources and support to each other.

Local veterans credit Behm with supporting them through their toughest days and providing the support and resources they needed to help them through those dark days. She is a true hero to so many Lenawee County families.

Behm was unable to attend the ceremony.

 Contact reporter David Panian at dpanian@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @lenaweepanian.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Catherine Cobb Safe House honors Everyday Heroes
Fiscal revenue growth seen as sign of economic recovery gaining traction

08:27, November 25, 2024 By Wang Keju ( China Daily

China's tax revenue growth returned to positive territory in October for the first time this year, suggesting that the country's economic activity is picking up pace and gaining stronger momentum, analysts said.

The incremental policy package introduced recently by the world's second-largest economy, which includes measures to revitalize the capital market and stabilize the real estate sector, has played a pivotal role in driving positive changes in the country's tax revenue, they added.

According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Finance, China's general public budget revenue, which is the sum total of tax and nontax revenues, grew 5.5 percent year-on-year in October, marking a continued rebound in growth momentum.

In particular, the data showed that tax revenue recorded a year-on-year increase of 1.8 percent in October, the first positive growth so far this year, pointing to encouraging signs of improvement.

Yang Zhiyong, president of the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences, said the return to positive territory in terms of tax revenue is a clear indication that economic recovery is gaining traction. This provides a solid basis for the continuation of the current growth trajectory in the coming period, Yang said.

Meanwhile, the recent policy package has been crucial in bolstering business confidence and economic activity, ultimately translating into increased tax collection, Yang added.

According to the Ministry of Finance, one key development was October's significant increase in revenue from securities transaction stamp duty, which was 2.52 times the figure of October last year, driven by a notable improvement in market sentiment and a substantial expansion in stock trading volume.

The year-on-year decline in value-added tax revenue narrowed to 1.2 percent in October, a significant improvement over the minus 5.6 percent recorded in the first nine months of the year. The ministry added that personal income tax collection registered 5.5 percent year-on-year growth, marking the first positive increase since April.

An analysis by Galaxy Securities shows that the changes observed in last month's tax revenue data are broadly consistent with the optimizing supply-demand structure of the economy.

The increase in consumption tax and real estate tax revenues indicates that the demand side of the economy is steadily improving. Moreover, the moderation in the decline of corporate income tax and personal income tax is primarily attributed to the improvement in corporate profitability and cash flow, the institution said.

In addition to the developments in the tax revenue performance, the country's nontax revenue has also exhibited a strong surge.

Nontax revenue includes a wide range of sources such as administrative fees, fines and confiscations, income from the use of State-owned assets, and returns on State-owned capital.

The market is closely monitoring the growth in nontax revenue, because of the potential risks it poses to the business climate and market sentiment.

China's nontax revenue reached 3.42 trillion yuan ($472 billion) in the first 10 months of this year, up 15.3 percent year-on-year. The figure accounted for around 18.5 percent of the total public budget revenue during that period, compared with the 13.5 percent recorded in the first three quarters.

In October alone, the nontax revenue growth rate was 39.6 percent year-on-year, based on calculations made by GF Securities.

China's nontax revenue growth accelerated significantly in the first 10 months of the year, substantially outpacing the 1.8 percent annual target set at the beginning of the year, according to the analysis by Galaxy Securities.

The analysis showed that current nontax revenue has already exceeded the budgeted amount by around 400 billion yuan. Extrapolating from the total nontax revenue of 3.65 trillion yuan recorded last year, the full-year surplus in nontax revenue in 2024 could potentially reach close to 500 billion yuan.

At a news conference held in late October, the Ministry of Finance said the government has been proactive in utilizing various channels to activate and maximize the value of State-owned resources and assets, which has been a key driver behind the robust growth in nontax revenue in the first three quarters.

The ministry pledged to closely monitor the changes in nontax revenue and firmly refrain from imposing any excessive fees or charges, in order to further alleviate the burden on businesses.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing)
CCTV: Its reported that the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) held in Baku agreed on the new collective quantified goal. How does China view the results of the meeting and what role will China play in the implementation of the outcomes?

Mao Ning: On November 24, the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) was concluded in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan. After two weeks of tough negotiations, parties reached consensus on the new collective quantified goal, the operationalization of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and other issues. The outcomes of the meeting embody the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and demonstrate global effort and aspiration for climate response.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to COP29. President Xi Jinpings Special Representative, Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council Ding Xuexiang attended and addressed the World Leaders Climate Action Summit held during COP29. Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang also attended events hosted by China, including the High-Level meeting on Early Warnings for a Climate-Resilient Future and the Launch Conference of the International Zero-Carbon Island Cooperation Initiative. The Chinese delegation shared information on the Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization and Chinas achievements in climate actions, participated in consultations on various topics in a comprehensive and in-depth manner, contributed constructive plans for negotiations on key issues, and promoted all sides to expand common ground while resolving differences, making important contributions to reaching the outcomes of the meeting.

The new collective quantified goal reached at COP29 requires developed country Parties to take the lead in providing and mobilizing at least US$300 billion per year by 2035 for developing country Parties for climate action. It is a continuation of the commitment of mobilizing US$100 billion per year made by developed countries in 2009. The COP29 meeting also called on all actors to work together to enable the scaling up of financing to developing country Parties for climate action from all sources to at least US$1.3 trillion per year by 2035.

Climate finance is crucial to supporting developing countries climate response. China calls on developed countries to earnestly fulfill their obligations and responsibilities of providing funding support to developing countries to boost global climate actions. China will continue to enhance South-South cooperation and provide as much support as we can for the climate response effort of fellow developing countries.

Reuters: What is the latest update on the Chinese ship Yi Peng 3 that was anchored between Denmark and Sweden? Are you able to tell us whether the ship is staying voluntarily or if it is being detained and if the crew is being questioned?

Mao Ning: As I have learned, China maintains smooth communication with relevant parties of the incident through diplomatic channels. As for specifics about the Chinese vessel, I have no more information to share and would like to refer you to competent authorities.

KBS: In accordance with Chinas criminal law, the South Korean citizen detained for violating the anti-espionage law must stand trial within this year. Can you update us on the investigation progress?

Mao Ning: Im not familiar with what you mentioned. On the specifics about how the case is being handled, Id refer you to competent Chinese authorities.

TV Asahi: Last Friday, China issued its unilateral 30-day visa-free policy for Japan. Previously, Chinas stance was to jointly facilitate cross-border travel and require reciprocal visa exemption measures. Why did China change its stance?

Mao Ning: The Chinese government always attaches high importance to the facilitation of cross-border exchanges. We hope that Japan will work with us in the same direction and jointly facilitate cross-border travel between our two countries.

Rudaw Media Network: Iraq is an important economic and trade partner for China. Israel is threatening to attack regions in Iraq. Do you believe such an action could harm Chinas interests there? Has China taken any steps through the United Nations Security Council or other diplomatic channels to prevent such attacks on Iraq?

Mao Ning: China opposes infringement upon other countries sovereignty and security and opposes arbitrary use of force. As tensions in the Middle East are running high, relevant parties need to avoid further increasing the overall security risks in the region. The recent series of incidents once again highlight the urgency of realizing a ceasefire. The international community, major countries with influence in particular, need to play a constructive role and create necessary conditions for cooling down the situation in the region. China will continue to leverage its influence and contribute to keeping the region peaceful and stable.

AFP: A spokesman for Afghanistans foreign ministry posted on X today about an apparent meeting between top Taliban diplomat Amir Khan Muttaqi and Chinas special envoy for Afghan affairs Yue Xiaoyong. Can you tell us more about the content or outcomes of this meeting?

Mao Ning: I'll need to check with my colleagues.

Shenzhen TV: The Global Financial Leaders Investment Summit was successfully held from November 18 to 20 in Hong Kong. The annual meeting of the International Financial Forum was also held for the first time in Hong Kong from November 22 to 23. The two important meetings had the participation of senior financial officials as well as heads of financial institutions from a good number of countries and regions, and received widespread attention. Whats the Foreign Ministrys comment?

Mao Ning: We congratulate Hong Kong on successfully hosting these two important meetings in international finance, which represents a vote of confidence from the international community for Hong Kongs status as an international financial center, its business environment and development outlook. Facts prove that with the safeguards of One Country, Two Systems, the strong support of the nation and concerted efforts of all sectors, Hong Kong will maintain lasting prosperity and stability and it will better leverage its role as an international financial center. China welcomes companies and talents from across the world to invest, do business and tap full potential in Hong Kong. They will surely benefit from Hong Kongs development and One Country, Two Systems.

Reuters: The Biden administration is set to unveil new export restrictions on China as soon as next week, the US Chamber of Commerce said on Thursday. Does the Foreign Ministry have any comment on this?

Mao Ning: China is firmly opposed to the US overstretching the concept of national security, abusing export control measures and making malicious attempts to block and suppress China. Such moves seriously violate the laws of market economy and the principles of fair competition, disrupt international economic and trade order and the stability of global industrial and supply chains, and will eventually harm the interest of all countries. China will take resolute measures to firmly defend the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies.

China News Service: Its reported that on November 24, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko told TASS in an interview that Naturally, the issue of Taiwan is in the exclusive competence of our Chinese colleagues. However, we see that Washington, in violation of the one-China principle, is strengthening military-political contacts with Taipei under the slogan of maintaining the status quo, and increasing arms supplies. The goal of such obvious US interference in the regions affairs is to provoke China and generate a crisis in Asia to suit its own selfish interests. Whats Chinas comment?

Mao Ning: We noted the reports. The one-China principle is a prevailing international consensus and a basic norm governing international relations. China highly commends Russias just position of staying committed to the one-China principle and opposing the attempt of using Taiwan to contain China.

AFP: According to Japanese media, the United States is working with Japan on contingency plans for a possible future emergency involving Taiwan. These plans would see the United States deploy missile units on Japans Nansei Islands as well as in the Philippines. Is China aware of such plans and does it have any comments on the report?

Mao Ning: Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinas territory, and the Taiwan question is Chinas internal affair. The key to upholding cross-Strait peace and stability is to remain committed to the one-China principle. China firmly opposes relevant countries using the Taiwan question as an excuse to strengthen military deployment in the region, heighten tensions and confrontation, and disturb regional peace and stability.

Bloomberg: Lithuanias incoming Prime Minister Paluckas said he is open to restoring diplomatic relations with China three years after a trade dispute led to Beijing downgrading its ties. The incoming Prime Minister signals support for repairing ties by returning envoys to both capitals, but he stressed that his administration wont reverse course on current policies that include maintaining trade links with Taiwan. Does the Foreign Ministry have any comment?

Mao Ning: We noted relevant statement from the Lithuanian side. As is widely known, Lithuanias wrongful acts on issues concerning Taiwan are the root cause of the fraught relations between China and Lithuania. Chinas door remains open to dialogue and we hope that Lithuania will return to the right path of upholding the one-China principle, abide by the political commitments in the communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Lithuania, and accumulate enabling conditions for the normalization of bilateral relations.

Kyodo News: A follow-up to the question raised by TV Asahi. Has China asked Japan to offer visa exemptions for its nationals?

Mao Ning: We hope that Japan will work with us in the same direction and further facilitate cross-border travel between the two countries.

AFP: Taiwan defense ministry said today that it had detected a Chinese balloon passing over waters yesterday northwest of the island. This is the first such balloon it has reported since April. Can you provide details about the situation or do you have any comment?

Mao Ning: First of all, there is no such thing as Taiwan defense ministry and the question is not related to foreign affairs.

Global Times: Yamandu Orsi, candidate for the Frente Amplio (Broad Front), a coalition of major opposition parties was reportedly leading in the second round of votes in Uruguays presidential election. The candidate of the ruling National Party conceded defeat and the incumbent Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou has sent a congratulatory message to Yamandu Orsi on his election. Do you have any comment?

Mao Ning: We express congratulations for this smooth and successful presidential election in Uruguay and congratulate Mr. Yamandu Orsi on his election as the new president. China attaches high importance to growing relations with Uruguay and stands ready to work with Uruguay to further strengthen mutual political trust, deepen cooperation and exchanges in various fields, have closer communication and coordination in international and regional affairs, and work for the sustained and in-depth development of our comprehensive strategic partnership to the benefit of the two peoples.
WINDHOEK, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Namibia's President Nangolo Mbumba on Monday called on citizens to participate peacefully in the 8th Presidential and National Assembly elections set for Nov. 27, 2024.

In a message to the nation, Mbumba highlighted the importance of the upcoming vote, which will determine the 5th President and members of the 8th National Assembly and appealed to all Namibians to turn out in large numbers to vote.

"Your participation is a patriotic contribution to the consolidation of our democracy and the development of our motherland. I appeal to you to do so in a calm manner that is peaceful and respectful of one another, the relevant authorities and the laws of our Republic," Mbumba said.

He acknowledged the challenges of the past year, particularly the sudden passing of former President Hage G. Geingob while reaffirming the strength of Namibia's democratic processes.

"Our processes, systems and institutions were severely tested and remain firm. Thus we continue the culture of free, fair and peaceful elections," he said, praising the conduct of political party leaders, supporters, and all stakeholders throughout the election campaign period. "The climate in which you campaigned and freely expressed your views in favor of your political parties is a demonstration of the strength of the democratic foundations of the Namibian House."

He also expressed confidence in the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN), urging them to carry out their duties with fairness and integrity. 
TOPEKA (KSNT)  Are you wanting to feed your furry friends some of your Thanksgiving food this holiday? If so, you may want to think twice.

From small scraps of turkey to a piece of pumpkin pie, its important to know what is safe and not safe for your pets to eat.

KSNT 27 News spoke to Dr. Amy Guernsey-Youngblood, a veterinarian at University Veterinary Care Center, who said even the tiniest bit of Thanksgiving food can cause some major health issues for animals.

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The fattier the food I feel like the worse it is, Guernsey-Youngblood said. It can really wreak havoc on their GI system, giving them vomiting, diarrhea, and in worse case scenarios pancreatitis, truly, and that can be a life-threatening situation.

Sesame Street Live coming to Topeka

Its not only heavily fat concentrated foods that are bad for your pets. Any and all bones are strongly discouraged.

Also fractured teeth. We see a lot of that as well, Guernsey-Youngblood said. People think, you know, Im just going to give them this bone to chew on and then they come in here because theyve broken a really important tooth in their mouth.

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A small piece of white turkey meat may not cause exceptional harm for animals, but they should stay away from specifically the turkey skin, and any gravy or casserole dishes.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News.
Lithuania has delivered another military aid package to Ukraine, Lithuanias Ministry of National Defense reported on Nov. 24.

The aid package included generators, M113 spare parts, weapons, and ammunition, according to the ministry's post on X.

Lithuania continues its unwavering support for Ukraine, the ministry said. Whatever it takes for Ukraine to win. Solidarity remains steadfast.

Additionally, on November 23, the defense ministers of both countries signed a memorandum in Vilnius to establish a mechanism for supporting Ukraines security.

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The agreement includes Lithuanian funding for the production of Ukrainian long-range drones.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and his Lithuanian counterpart also reportedly discussed plans to equip Ukrainian brigades, provide ammunition, strengthen air defense, and expand defense industry cooperation between the two countries as "key priorities" for 2025.

Read also: Media: EU parliament speaker calls for sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda on Monday visited the site of the DHL cargo plane crash in Vilnius, which killed one person.

Nauseda was joined by Germany's ambassador to the Baltic republic Cornelius Zimmermann and his Spanish colleague Maria Nieves Blanco Diaz.

They also spoke to local residents about the accident near Vilnius airport. The mayor of city, Valdas Benkunskas, had previously visited the site.

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The plane, which was flying on behalf of German logistics giant DHL, crashed in the early hours of Monday close to a residential building. The person who died was a Spanish crew member, according to police and rescue services. No one was harmed on the ground.

The authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the accident. So far, there are no indications that it was a case of sabotage or a terrorist attack.

The cargo plane that took off from the eastern German city of Leipzig was operated by the Spanish airline Swift Air, DHL said as teams scoured the crash site for indications of the cause.

"The investigation is still ongoing and is being carried out by experts in their field. I have no doubt that everything will be clarified and clarified in detail," Nauseda said earlier.

The Lithuanian president emphasized the need to be prepared for all possible outcomes: "We do not know what the conclusions of the investigation will be, but it is clear that we will never panic and make decisions that are not based on facts."
Looming in the heart of Vilnius, Lithuania, Lukiskes Prison stands as a stark reminder of the countrys horrific past. Opened in 1904, this fortress of brick and stone has borne witness to some of Eastern Europes darkest historical moments, such as jailing political dissidents, who had fallen afoul of shifting political regimesfrom Russian Tsars to Soviet authorities.

Since then, the prison has undergone a transformation that would have been unimaginable to its former occupants. Today, known as Lukiskes Prison 2.0, it is an epicenter of culture and creativity, where immersive events, art installations, and music festivals take place within its once formidable walls. Lukiskes Prison offers a journey into the unexpecteda testament to the resilience of a place and the people determined to repurpose it, rather than tear it down.

In 2022, the infamous prison was thrust into the spotlight when it became a filming location in the fourth season of the Netflix series Stranger Things, used as a Soviet prison where Chief Jim Hopper is held captive.

From Imperial cells to Soviet stronghold

Before its Netflix cameo, the story of Lukiskes Prison began during the rule of the Russian Empire. Tsarist authorities constructed the prison to quell resistance in Vilnius, known for its cultural and political diversity. It was a crossroads of political empires for centuries and it grew to become a place where Lithuanians, Poles, Belarusians, Russians, and Jews coexisted within its borders. A safe haven for a melting pot of ethnicities, languages, religions, and political ideologies, Lithuania ultimately rebelled against Russian rule.

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During the early 20th century, Lukiskes Prison became a bleak home to political dissidents and criminals alike, cementing its reputation as a place of dread. Torture, rape, and murder occurred in this prison that housed both men and women. Their screams could be heard not only by other prisoners (as a warning) but to Lithuanians walking nearby. The penitentiary offered no privacy or care, but prisoners were allowed to shower once a week.

Possibly taken between 1904 and 1908, this photo may have been the first to capture Lukiskes Prison after it was built in the early 20th century. It shows two prison buildings with adjacent exercise yards and a portion of the prison wall. Photograph Courtesy Vinogradov, Aleksandr, 1905. Putievoditel po gorodu Vil nie i iego okriesnostiVilna: Tipografiia Shtaba Vilenskogo Voiennogo Okruga

Before the Electronic Age (the 1940s), guards kept an extra tight watch on prisoners, and its high walls and maze-like layout made escape nearly impossible.

By the time the Soviet Union took over in 1940, Lukiskes was already notorious. Under Stalins rule, it became even more crowded, as thousands of Lithuaniansnationalists, intellectuals, and those who refused to conform to Soviet ideologywere arrested and incarcerated here.

During the Nazi occupation of Lithuania, the Gestapo used the prison was used by the Gestapo to corale thousands of Jews and members of the Polish resistance before they were moved to Ponary (on the outskirts of Vilnius), where they were executed during World War II.

A new era and an unlikely transformation

Lukiskes continued its function as a high-security prison until its closure in 2019, when Lithuania was well into its independence from the Soviet Union, and the prison was seen as a relic of an era best left behind. According to tour guides, its conditions were subpar; cells were overcrowded, and ventilation was poor, according to tour guides.

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But instead of demolishing this bleak monument, Lithuania chose a different path. Recognizing the prisons historical significance and unique structure, Martynas Butkevicius and Povilas Ozelis won a public tender lease of the prison and reopened it as Lukiskes Prison 2.0. It was an opportunity to breathe new life into its empty halls. The idea was radical yet simple. Turn the prison, once a symbol of oppression, into a space for creativity and self-expression. This approach echoed the countrys desire to remember its past while embracing a future rooted in innovation and cultural exploration.

Lithuanians are happy about the transformation. Not only is it unlike anything else for tourists to experience, but our cultural heritage has been immortalized and reimagined in a spectacular way, says Milisenta Miseviciute , a Vilnius tour guide for nearly 20 years.

When visiting the abandoned prison, guests can explore the labyrinthine cell blocks and feel the chill of history in the air. Guides (some former prison guards) lead visitors through dark corridors and rows of cells with barred windowseach a stark, confining space barely wide enough for a simple bunk and small desk.

Some cells have been left untouched, but guests taking a tour have the opportunity to view a suicide room, which shows what it may have looked like after a prisoner took their lifenot an uncommon occurrence in this home of horrors and psychological tortures. During a tour, prison guides describe how isolation was used as a form of punishment, enhancing the oppressive atmosphere that grips visitors in this part of the prison.

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Prisoners were living in extremely small cells. Each person on average had only from 1.81 to 2.71 square meters of personal space. There was also poor-quality food, limited daylight from small windows, a 15-minute shower once a week, and only one hour of outdoor time in an enclosed yard, explains Martynas Butkevicius, co-owner of Lukiskes Prison 2.0.

Festivals and art in a haunting venue

In 2021, Lukiskes reopened its doorsthis time as a cultural venue. Today, it hosts a wide range of events, from art exhibits to live music performances from local artists such as Akli and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard.

Many of the prisons cell blocks are now transformed into makeshift galleries, showcasing modern art that often draws inspiration from Lithuanias history.

Lukiskes Prison was transformed in 2021, which included turning cell blocks into makeshift galleries. Now known as Lukiskes Prison 2.0., the former prison hosts art exhibitions and live music performances like this concert featuring the Doncaster-born rock star Yungblud. Photograph Courtesy Lunatikai

The complex, spanning nearly 200,000 square feet, is currently home to over 550 resident artists, working across various creative disciplines, including music, visual arts, design, dance, film, and handcrafts.

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As an artist who transforms everyday objects and gives them new meaning; Lukiskes Prison 2.0 is a perfect place for me to create. I am glad to be a part of the conversion, which will give this building new functions and change its story, says Lithuanian artist and Vilnius resident Jolita Vaitkute. When I first came to my current studio space, the prison canteen, I saw a possibility. Now, it has no other meaning than my studio  its already been converted into a bright and inspirational place.

Lukiskes starring role in Stranger Things

Beyond the art and music performances, the former prison doubles as a film set. In 2022, Lukiskes Prison became a filming location for the hit Netflix series Stranger Things. The prisons raw, Gothic aesthetic proved the perfect replica of what a Soviet prison would be like, allowing viewers to experience the sense of dread that Lukiskes once inspired in real life. For Lukiskes, this was more than just a cameo; it became a pivotal moment in its reinvention, introducing it to a global audience.

How to get to Vilnius and take a Lukiskes Prison tour

Americans who want to visit the famous prison will have to make a stop in Europe where there are direct flights to Vilnius International Airport via airlines such as British Airways, Lufthansa, and Ryanair. Travelers can fly to a nearby city like Frankfurt and then catch a short flight to Vilnius from there.

Visitors can grab a taxi or rideshare from downtown Vilnius to get to the prison. Its only two miles away. Visitors interested in a guided tour of the prison can purchase tickets in advance on the Lukiskes Prison 2.0 website. Two-hour tickets start at $16 (15 euros) for a day tour and $21 (20 euros) for a night tour. Afterward, guests can grab a beer and a snack at one of the food trucks stationed outside of the prison and contemplate the history and stories revealed during the guided tour.

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Visit this Facebook page for more information about upcoming scheduled events hosted at the prison.

Malika Bowling is an author and freelance writer based in Atlanta, Ga., and is the founder of Roamilicious, a food and travel website about adventurous experiences on the plate and around the globe. Follow her on Instagram.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) Tampa International Airport is expecting another busy travel period for Thanksgiving, after breaking airport records in 2023.

Between Nov. 21 and Dec. 2, TPA said they anticipate roughly 80,000 passengers each day to pass through Tampa. Over the 13-day period, this comes to around 1,040,000 travelers.

Busiest Thanksgiving ever: How the TSA plans to handle record air travel

However, the busiest travel day has come and gone, as TPA anticipated Sunday, Nov. 24, to have the most travelers. As of 11 p.m. that night, only 17% of flights experienced delays.

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As more passengers pack up to go meet family, parking garages are likely to fill up. Travelers are encouraged to book parking in advance.

Several projects to expand security checkpoints at Airsides A and E, and the shuttle replacement programs, are still undergoing construction, which may lead to longer wait times. Those traveling domestically should arrive two hours before their flight, and international travelers should be around three hours ahead of time.

Traveling for Thanksgiving? Winter storms possible across US during holiday week

Later this week, forecasters said possible winter storms may complicate Thanksgiving travel, as rain and snow sweep across the U.S. Through Tuesday, the National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for Nevada. The Midwest is also expected to see rain and snow early this week, while the East Coast will be impacted on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

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To monitor your flight status, visit TampaAirport.com.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Nov. 24NEW LONDON  Flashing lights. Screaming sirens. Water hoses and guns.

Fires, traffic stops and medical emergencies are by their nature chaotic situations, often filled with jarring sights, sounds and odors. But for individuals with autism, such interactions can be especially overwhelming.

In an effort to make interactions unfold more smoothly with residents diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), members of the New London Fire Department recently underwent training to gain a better understanding of the disorder and learn proper engagement and de-escalation techniques.

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The department partnered with the Southern Connecticut State University's Center of Excellence on the Autism Spectrum team, which provided general information on ASD, including those behaviors common with the autism, as well as strategies to better interact with those on the spectrum.

Fire Chief Vernon Skau said he reached out to the center simply to provide his firefighters with additional interaction tools.

"Anyone of us would be upset if it was our property or our family affected by an emergency, but when you add in the dimension of also being on the spectrum  it's difficult to appreciate how stressful that can be," he said.

"Autism" is an umbrella term used to describe a wide range of social learning disabilities that manifest differently depending on the individual, said Dr. Fred Volkmar, the center's director.

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"In an emergency, many might not understand instructions, or become overwhelmed with flashing lights or at a traffic stop," he said. "A firefighter might find someone with autism sitting at a fire scene looking dazed or out of it. They might try to run back into a burning home or have a seizure."

The likelihood of a first responder interacting with a person on the autism spectrum is increasing, according to a 2023 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that found the number of individuals diagnosed with autism increased between 2018 and 2020, from one in 44 children in 2018 to one in 36 children in 2020.

Volkmar said his center has worked with roughly 24 police and fire departments across the state in the last two years, either with individuals or, like in New London, entire departments.

Skau said firefighters from all four departmental shifts, including himself, took part in the two-hour autism sessions this month.

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"The classes really gave us an understanding of how difficult it can be for someone with autism and an appreciation of how important it is to be able to properly communicate with those individuals," he said.

Some of those techniques include speaking in low, non-threatening tones, moving slowly and explaining each step of a procedure.

New firefighter Lt. Al Mayo said his colleagues were able to put some of of their new knowledge into practice a lot sooner than any of them imagined.

"That same day we took the training, about 20 minutes later we were toned out to go to (an elementary school) for a child suffering a peanut allergy reaction  a child we learned had autism," Mayo said. "(The child) was fidgety and just couldn't sit still enough for us to put him on a stretcher. So, my guy made sure he wasn't loud and held out his arms. He ended up carrying the child out to the ambulance. It was perfect."

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In addition to the classes, first responders were introduced to the "blue envelope" initiative, a state Department of Motor Vehicles resource that includes communication instructions. A separate set of communications cards printed with simple images were also introduced.

"Those plastic gizmos work very well with people that need visual cues," Volkmar said. "They can simply point to an image if they're thirsty or need a bathroom."

Volkmar said younger autistic individuals can be particularly sensitive to unfamiliar stimuli, sometimes with tragic results.

"Kids tend to bolt or elope from a scene and there's been cases of them jumping out of cars or onto the path of a train," he said. "The number one cause of death for autistic children is accidents, and incidents of drowning are double the rate of the non-autistic population."

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The New London department was also provided with several sensory kits that can be stashed in a fire vehicle. The kits each contain noise-dampening headphones, fidget toys and other items designed to alleviate sensory overload in some individuals with ASD.

"It's gratifying when an emergency worker calls us after taking the classes and tells us about a successful interaction," Volkmar said.

j.penney@theday.com
A For Sale sign is seen on March 19 in Austin, Texas. Policymakers are watching for indications of what President-elect Donald Trump plans to do to ease housing costs next year after an election where voters were laser-focused on the economy. (Photo by Brandon Bell / Getty Images)

Americans hand over a huge chunk of their paycheck for a roof over their heads. Policymakers are looking out for indications of what President-elect Donald Trump plans to do to ease housing costs next year after an election where voters were laser-focused on the economy.

Housing accounted for 32.9% of consumers spending in 2023, making it the largest share of consumer expenditures, according to the most recently available data Bureau of Labor Statistics. And that was an increase of 4.7% from 2022.

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This year, many Americans still struggle to find affordable housing, whether they choose to rent or buy a home.

Theres a lot economists and housing advocates still dont know about what to expect from a second Trump term. Its unclear which campaign promises will find their way into administrative rules or legislation, even with a Republican trifecta  the GOP will control the White House and both chambers of Congress.

But policy experts, researchers and economic analysts are looking at Trumps record, his recent remarks on housing, and Project 2025  the conservative Heritage Foundations 900-page plan to overhaul the executive branch  for a glimpse of what may lie ahead.

Tariffs and the cost of building homes

Trump has spoken frequently of his proposed 60% tariff on goods from China, which he has said would create more manufacturing jobs in the U.S. Tariffs could be as high as

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20% on goods from other countries.

But housing economists and other experts say that could be bad news for building more affordable housing.

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Selma Hepp, chief economist for CoreLogic, a financial services company, said tariffs are one of her main concerns about the effects of a second Trump term.

One of the biggest concerns is not just lumber [costs], but the overall cost of materials, which have been going up, said Hepp, chief economist for CoreLogic, a financial services company.

Construction material prices have risen 38.8% since February 2020, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of October Producer Price Index data.

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Kurt Paulsen, professor of urban planning in the department of planning and landscape architecture at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, said building costs are already high from tariffs on Canadian lumber that Trump first imposed and that the Biden administration kept and increased.

It used to be in construction that you would get a bid from a contractor or a subcontractor or supplier and it would be good for 60 days. Now, the bids are good for like five days because you dont know where prices are going to be, he said.

Immigration policy and its effect on construction labor

Trump tweeted on Nov. 18 that he is planning to use the declaration of a national emergency as part of his mass deportation plan.

Besides disrupting lives, Trumps plan could have effects on what it costs to build housing, Hepp said.

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There is the cost of labor as well, if we do indeed have all these deportations. Thats a big, big concern, she said. A large share of labor in the construction industry obviously comes from immigrants. That is a huge issue for new construction and particularly new construction as it relates to affordable housing.

Foreign-born construction workers made up 3 million of the 11.9 million people who work in the construction industry in 2023, according to the latest American Community Survey data.

Trumps not in my backyard rhetoric

The former president hasnt always been clear on where he stands with zoning regulations and making way for more affordable housing in a wide variety of neighborhoods.

In a July Bloomberg interview, Trump spoke critically of zoning regulations and said that they drive up housing costs. But Trump also has a record of tending toward a not in my backyard, or NIMBY, approach to housing that maintained some of these zoning regulations. The Trump administration moved to roll back an Obama-era regulation that tied HUD funding to assessing and reducing housing discrimination in neighborhoods.

Let us know what you think...

Hell talk about reducing regulations on developers, but hell also use this NIMBYism talking about protecting suburbs from low-income housing and you really cant have it both ways, said Sarah Saadian, senior vice president of public policy and field organizing at the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

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Paulsen said Project 2025 embraces a pushback against anti-NIMBY approaches to expand multi-family housing.

What I read in the Project 2025 documents is a clear statement that says every local community and neighborhood should be able to choose the housing it wants to accept or not. The challenge of that is that if every community in every neighborhood can veto housing, then we just dont get enough housing and prices go up and prices and rents go up, he said.

A more punitive approach to homelessness

Last year, homelessness rose to its highest level recorded since the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development began collecting this information in 2007. The ending of pandemic safety nets that gave some households better financial stability and a lack of affordable housing supply contributed to the number of unhoused people, the report explained.

Trump has been outspoken on his view that homeless people should be off our streets. The president-elect has also proposed putting unhoused people with mental health issues into mental institutions.

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Theres a movement that I think is largely reflected in Project 2025 that says, actually, cities need more coercive policy tools to enforce public order and to require that someone whos camping take a shelter placement even if they dont want it, Paulsen said.

Saadian said that given the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson, which makes it easier to criminalize unhoused populations for sleeping outside, shes worried about a changing political environment where policies that prioritize stable housing over policing fall out of favor.

I think all of that just shows a culture shift in the political dynamic here that were definitely worried about, she said.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly calculated the increase of consumers spending on housing.

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A brush fire impacted Loop 202 eastbound on Sunday afternoon, temporarily closing down the freeway's off-ramp at McClintock Drive in Tempe, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

The ramp was reopened an hour and a half later.

ADOT advised drivers to use caution in the area.

Loop 202 Red Mountain eastbound at McClintock Drive: The off-ramp is closed due to a brush fire. Expect delays and use caution in the area. pic.twitter.com/c49Nyr2EYv  Arizona DOT (@ArizonaDOT) November 24, 2024

The off-ramp was first closed at 2:43 p.m. on Sunday.

Early images from the scene showed plumes of smoke ascending from the north shore of Tempe Town Lake.

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By 4:00 p.m., there was no longer smoke in the area, and it did not appear to be causing additional delays, according to ADOT's communications office.

Real-time highway conditions are available on ADOTs Arizona Traveler Information site at az511.gov, by calling 511 and through ADOTs Twitter feed, @ArizonaDOT.

This is a developing story. Check www.azcentral.com for updates.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Loop 202 east off-ramp reopened after brushfire
ABUJA, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian military on Monday claimed responsibility for killing a "significant number" of suspected terrorists in a series of airstrikes recently launched to root out criminal groups around the Lake Chad Basin.

Olusola Akinboyewa, the spokesman for the Nigerian Air Force, on Monday told reporters in the Nigerian capital of Abuja that the airstrikes Saturday targeted the enclaves of suspected terror groups at the Jubillaram area, located in the southern Tumbuns, near Lake Chad.

A suspected food depot of terrorists in the area was also destroyed during the air operation, Akinboyewa said, noting the military identified the strategic location through "meticulous intelligence efforts."

The location served as a critical food storage site and a sanctuary for terrorist commanders and fighters, according to him.

Akinboyewa said intelligence had previously linked terrorists in the location to recent attacks, adding aside from killing terrorists on-site during the recent raid, the military also ensured the "complete elimination" of fleeing hostile elements during mop-up operations, using cannons.

"The destruction of the terrorist enclave, including food storage facilities, severely disrupted their logistical operations, while the neutralization of a significant number of fighters diminished their capacity to launch future attacks," he said, without giving an exact number of suspected terrorists killed during the "successful operation."

Primarily aimed at combating the Boko Haram insurgency in the region, the Lake Chad Basin is covered by a multinational joint force, which consists of troops from bounding countries, including Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Benin, and Nigeria. 
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)  Social media was flooded with memories and condolences for the family of local disability rights advocate and Remarkable Women of the ArkLaTex finalist Lynn Stevens.

After reports of her death were confirmed, family, friends, and colleagues took to Facebook to share fond memories and final goodbyes with a woman many of them described as a warrior, servant leader, and great friend.

According to Stevens obituary on Dignity Memorial, Celebration of Life Services for Lynn Amber Nelson Stevens will be held on Saturday, November 30, at 10:00 am at First Baptist Church in Shreveport, with Minister Al Dyer and Pastor Lee A. Jeter, Sr. officiating.

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Stevens was a finalist for the national honor Remarkable Women; she was one of four area finalists.

In her feature interview, Stevens said, What we need in this community, right now, is for people to get involved, said Stevens. We have too many people saying look at all the problems, and theyre not willing to step up and help people.

Lynn Stevens recognized as Remarkable Women 2022 finalist

She overcame many obstacles in her life, but she never stopped working to help improve the conditions of others.

The Greater Shreveport Chamber named Stevens among its list of ATHENA International Leadership Award finalists in September 2024.

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In December 2022, former Louisiana Governor Jon Bel Edwards recognized her outstanding advocacy for those with disabilities by awarding her the Patsy Barrett Memorial Award.

Patsy Barrett was a human rights activist who initiated the GOLD Awards in 1982 to recognize people who work for equality, justice and dignity for people with disabilities. Ms. Barrett was also involved in policy development at the national level and she worked with leaders who helped formulate the Americans with Disabilities Act into Federal Law. Louisiana Office of the Governor (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 KTALnews.com.
Louisiana legislators passed a new bill that would allow lawmakers who are attorneys to continue to get automatic delays in court proceedings that interfere with their elected duties. (WES MULLER/LOUISIANA ILLUMINATOR)

Louisiana lawmakers approved a bill Friday with no opposition to give legislators who are also attorneys a special privilege to delay court proceedings if they interfere with their statehouse jobs.

Senate Bill 9 is a slightly more restrictive version of the legislative continuance law the Louisiana Supreme Court declared unconstitutional last month. It tightens up guidelines for granting legislators-lawyers court extensions for their outside law practices based on a conflict with their elected duties.

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The bill includes a new process for the legislators opposing counsel to appeal a lawmakers request for a court continuance on the grounds that it causes an unnecessary delay or a needless increase in the cost of litigation. A judge could also deny the continuance based on the grounds that it causes irreparable harm to the opposing party to delay the proceedings.

The period of time during which a legislator would be entitled to an automatic court extension is also shorter in the bill than it was under the defunct law. It would start 21 days before a legislative session convenes instead of 30 days prior. Any granted continuance would also delay court proceedings and deadlines for 45 days after a legislative session ends instead of 60 days.

Legislators would also be prohibited from using their privileged delays on court proceedings on time-sensitive issues such as child custody, protective orders and domestic violence cases.



The entitlement to a courtroom delay for legislative activity outside of a session or constitutional convention is also weaker in the new legislation. Judges will have more discretion to deny a request for a legislators extension over a committee hearing or other legislative work that takes place during the rest of the year.

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As long as Gov. Jeff Landry doesnt veto the bill, the new legislative continuance law should take effect some time over the next three weeks. Lawmakers also added a provision at the last minute to make it apply retroactively back to Oct. 25, about two weeks before the recent special session on taxes commenced.

The Supreme Court threw out the old legislative continuance statute because justices considered it to be too sweeping. It did not give opposing counsel or judges enough discretion to challenge a lawmakers request for a delay in a court case, they said in their ruling.

Shortly after overturning the old law, the court also issued its own set of rules to judges on handling legislator-attorney requests for court extensions in a more limited fashion. Legislators used those rules as guidance for crafting the legislation approved last week, said Sen. Greg Miller, R-Norco, sponsor of the bill.

The Supreme Court took up the matter of legislative continuances after two plaintiffs attorneys alleged state Sen. Alan Seabaugh and Rep. Michael Melerine, Republicans from Shreveport who share a law practice, were abusing the privilege earlier this year.

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The lawyers said Seabaugh and Melerines legislative extensions had unreasonably delayed resolution of their clients automobile accident lawsuit over six years. Justices sided with the plaintiffs attorneys and described Seabaughs unusual delays in the lawsuit as reprehensible.

Seabaugh became a state senator at the beginning of this year following 12 years in the Louisiana House of Representatives. Melerine took over Seabaughs House seat in January.

Seabaugh and Melerine voted for the legislative continuance bill.
A Letter of Intent between the Lytton Rancheria and Cadiz, Inc. was announced today, outlining the tribes plan to invest up to $50 million in a groundwater banking project in the Mojave Desert, known as the Mojave Groundwater Bank.

This $50 million investment will be the largest water infrastructure investment off tribal land by any Native American tribe in history. The arrangement empowers Indigenous communities to take a central role in decision-making and investment in crucial water projects.

Never miss Indian Countrys biggest stories and breaking news. Click here to sign up to get our reporting sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning.

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The partnership between Cadiz and Lytton marks a groundbreaking collaboration in water resource management, with tribes holding a majority ownership stake in the Mojave Groundwater Bank. The ownership structure of the deal empowers Indigenous communities to become part of the decision-making process and investments in vital water projects.

The Mojave Groundwater Bank will feature over 300 miles of pipelines connecting to California's water transportation network, delivering new sources of clean water supply and storage to underserved, disadvantaged, and tribal communities in the Mojave River Basin, the Colorado River Basin, and Californias Inland Empireregions that currently lack access to clean, reliable water.

The Mojave Groundwater Bank is a major clean water infrastructure project being developed by Cadiz in Californias Mojave Desert. Located at the base of a 2,000-square-mile watershed system fed by rain and snow from the New York and Providence mountains, the underground reservoir currently holds an estimated 30 to 40 million acre-feet of watermore than the combined storage capacity of Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the two largest surface reservoirs in the United States.

The Lytton Rancheria, which is headquartered in Santa Jose, Calif. and 550 miles from the project in southern California, the investment is more than a monetary investment in the tribes well-being. One strong selling point for the Lytton Rancheria is the anticipation other tribes will be able to use the Mojave Groundwater Bank water pipeline to supply other tribes that have had difficulty obtaining water.

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As a tribal government, we take our responsibility to be good stewards of the land and the environment seriously. Working with other tribal governments, Cadiz and other responsible environmental investors to develop a sustainable, responsibly managed water source in these shifting times is something we want to be involved in., Lytton Tribal Chairperson Andy Mejia stated, With tribal involvement in the direction and operation of this project, we can ensure that all people have a chance to benefit from this critical water resource."

For Cadiz Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Board Susan Kennedy, the project gives the tribe leverage to control its own destiny when it comes to their source of water supply.

This gives the tribe, instead of being a zero sum fight over existing water rights, they now own the biggest water source in southern California, Kennedy said to Native News Online. It gives them a lot of leverage to trade water north and south.

She said Cadiz is honored to create this groundbreaking partnership with Lytton to develop this important project for the benefit of underserved and Indigenous communities.

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Access to clean water will be the single greatest challenge many communities in California and the Southwest face in the coming decades. We are grateful for the chance to be part of the solution, Kennedy said.

Cadiz anticipates beginning construction of the Mojave Groundwater Bank in 2025, with initial water deliveries projected for as early as 2026.

About the Author: "Levi \"Calm Before the Storm\" Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert was awarded Best Column 2021 Native Media Award for the print\/online category by the Native American Journalists Association. He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at levi@nativenewsonline.net."

Contact: levi@nativenewsonline.net
COP29 participants walk past a banner that reads: "In solidarity with a Green World" on the opening day of the Climate Conference on Nov. 11, 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Credit - Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Im a climate and water scientist. For more than 40 years, Ive worked on trying to understand and communicate the complex climate threats facing the planet. In general, Ive always been an optimist: I believe that we can solve these challenges. But I also have to acknowledge both my growing worry that Im wrong, and the remaining steep obstacles in our path now made steeper by the recent U.S. election and the persistent failures of the worlds nations to commit to actions to adequately tackle the problem.

The scientific facts of climate change and the role that humans play in driving those changes are irrefutable and have been understood and tested for literally decadessome of the earliest warnings about the adverse effects of burning fossil fuels on the climate and the planet were actually made more than 150 years ago.

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Certainly, by the early 1980s, when I began work in this area, the risks were becoming clear. The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology commissioned a primer on climate change in 1976. The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held hearings in 1980 on the effects of carbon dioxide buildup in the atmosphere. That same year the JASON group, an independent body of scientists responsible for producing sensitive analyses for the U.S. energy, defense, and intelligence communities, publicly concluded it seems highly probable that continued increases in the world-wide use of carbon-based fuels will lead to significant climatic shifts in the 21st Century.

My own work on water resources predicted that continued emissions of climate pollutants would lead to dramatic changes in snowfall and snowmelt patterns, loss of soil moisture, changes in the timing of river runoff, and threats to water management. In 1989, my colleagues and I testified about the risks of climate change for California for the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. That committee included Senator Mitch McConnell, who, despite the clear science and early warnings, has since spent his long career delaying and blocking federal climate policies.

Even the fossil-fuel companies understood what they were doing, as internal research and memos show. James Black, then Exxons senior scientist, told a company top management committee in 1977 there is general scientific agreement that the most likely manner in which mankind is influencing the global climate is through carbon dioxide release from the burning of fossil fuels."

Yet the industry actively suppressed that research, while simultaneously secretly funding external groups to aggressively deny the science of climate change and sow doubt. These efforts have successfully provided cover for politicians to delay for decades the actions needed to phase out fossil fuels and expand non-carbon, climate-safe alternatives. Today, more fossil-fuel lobbyists than ever are attending and weakening the agreements at the annual U.N. climate summits, including the one just concluded in Baku.

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Were now experiencing the long-predicted consequences of that inaction and delay. Global temperatures are rising, extreme storms are worsening, food production and water supplies are threatened, and people are dying. And the economic and human impacts of even the relatively modest climate changes weve experienced so far are growing rapidly, with radical impacts hitting the insurance, real estate, and food sectors.

It seems there is no end in sight. The recent U.S. election has opened the door for the new Trump Administration to throw more sand in the gears of climate progress. Even the few political appointees and energy policies announced so far make it clear that at the federal level, the fossil fuel industry and its profits will be supported over a clean energy future.

The frustration my colleagues and I feel is almost palpable. Weve been warning of these issues for so long that most of the pioneers in this field are now retired or dead. After giving more than a thousand lectures, talks, testimonies, and interviews Im feeling old and worn.

Still, I cling to my optimism that the worst outcomes can still be avoided because I see positive signs of progress. The cost of non-carbon energy alternatives has fallen so low, it is now cheaper to shut down existing coal plants than to keep running them. In 2023, China built as much solar photovoltaics capacity as the entire world did in 2022. Clean energy is the leading form of new electricity generation in the U.S., with solar reaching record levels in 2023. In 2024, wind and solar will generate more electricity than hydropower. In early 2025, renewable electricity generation will surpass coal to become the largest source of electricity globally. Most encouraging, the growing efforts of younger generations to raise awareness and fight for action on climate, often at great personal cost, show they understand the stakes and care deeply about their future.

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I refuse to give up hope that the world will finally openly embrace science and act. Solar electricity powers my home and my car. I fly less often. I eat less meat. These are modest, personal choices but theyre not enough. I wont live to see either a successful resolution of the climate problem, or the worst of the consequences of failing to resolve it. But the next generation, and the ones that follow, will. Our leaders must act faster for there to be real progress. That requires that we hold accountable the powerful financial, fossil-fuel, and political interests who reap economic benefits in the short term while sowing climate destruction in the long term. I know we can. I hope we will.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
In the days following Election Day 2024, it was clear that Republicans would control the White House and the U.S. Senate, but there was still some lingering ambiguity about the U.S. House. As of last week, those doubts were resolved, and it became clear that the GOP would control all of the levers of federal power.

For Republicans, thats the good news. The bad news is that the partys majority in the lower chamber is poised to be frustratingly small.

As things stand, the House GOP will have 219 seats in the new Congress  one more than is necessary for a majority  though there are still three races that have not yet been decided. As a result, we know that the Republican majority will be between one and four seats. (If I had to guess, Id say that the GOP will eventually end up with 221 seats, but dont hold me to that.)

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At first blush, while Republican leaders are no doubt pleased to keep their majority, they have reason to be discouraged by the numbers: As of last week, the party had 221 seats in a chamber that has struggled to complete even the most basic legislative tasks. Indeed, thanks to its vanishingly small majority, the GOP hasnt even been able to pass some of its own bills, which House Democrats were powerless to stop.

But lets take a step further and note that while House Republicans have currently won 219 seats for the next Congress, that total includes:

Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who resigned last week and wont return to Capitol Hill;

Rep. Mike Waltz of Florida, whos giving up his seat to join Donald Trumps White House team; and

Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, whos giving up her seat to become the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

In the days following Election Day, House Speaker Mike Johnson reportedly pleaded with the president-elect not to raid his House conference for administration positions  not because they were unsuited for the jobs, but because the Louisiana Republican didnt want to see his conference shrink. Trump tapped a few members anyway.

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Yes, these members will probably  but not definitely  be replaced with other Republicans. But as the new Congress gets underway, the House GOP will have a tiny majority that will barely exist as some members give up their seats for Trump administration jobs.

Passing legislation will be incredibly difficult. Electing a speaker on Day One might pose some challenges, too. Watch this space.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Todays installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.

* With Matt Gaetz having resigned from Congress, there will be a special election in the Republicans Florida district on April 1, 2025. A variety of GOP candidates have already expressed an interest in running in the Jan. 28 primary, and given the districts partisan leanings, the winner of that Republican primary will be overwhelmingly favored to win.

* In Mississippi, there will be a runoff state Supreme Court election this week.

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* It took a little longer than expected, but Democratic Rep. Marcy Kapturs Republican rival on Friday called the incumbent congresswoman late last week to concede the race. Kaptur appears to have prevailed by less than 1% of the overall vote total.

* Speaking of the Buckeye State, Sen. Sherrod Brown lost his re-election bid this year by roughly four points  in a state that Donald Trump won by 11 points  but the Ohio Democrat has expressed an interest in another possible campaign, telling CNN that he hasnt ruled the states U.S. Senate race in 2026.

* The Democratic National Committee will need a new chair, and Martin OMalley has already thrown his hat into the ring. The current commissioner of the Social Security Administration also served as governor of Maryland and mayor of Baltimore.

* On a related note, the day after OMalley kicked off his DNC candidacy, Ken Martin, the Minnesota Democratic chairman, announced that hes running for the position, too.

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* In Georgia, term limits will prevent incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp from seeking a third term, though the states Republican attorney general, Chris Carr, kicked off his gubernatorial bid last week.

* How did ranked-choice voting in Alaska manage to withstand a repeal effort? Support from Native American voters appears to have been crucial.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
In the run-up to Election Day, Donald Trump was nearly as eager to attack the free press as he was to attack Kamala Harris. The Republican, for example, referred to journalists as the enemy of the people, media outlets as evil and news professionals as scum.

But the offensive wasnt just rhetorical. As regular readers might recall, Trump also made clear that he hoped to use governmental power to crack down on journalism he dislikes. Its why he invested so much time and energy talking about the FCC stripping TV networks of their broadcast licenses for airing coverage he disapproves of. We saw some abuses along these lines during his first term in the White House, and these tactics are almost certainly going to get worse in his second term.

Indeed, those tactics are unfolding during the transition process. The New York Times reported:

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President-elect Donald J. Trump on Wednesday instructed congressional Republicans to block the passage of a bipartisan federal shield bill intended to strengthen the ability of reporters to protect confidential sources, dealing a potentially fatal political blow to the measure  even though the Republican-controlled House had already passed it unanimously.

At issue is legislation called the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act  or PRESS Act  which hasnt generated much attention because it was supposed to be one of the years least controversial bills.

The basic idea behind the effort is straightforward: Early on in Attorney General Merrick Garlands tenure, he created a policy that prohibited federal prosecutors from going after reporters private information or forcing them to testify about their confidential sources.

The point of the PRESS Act is to codify Garlands policy into federal law.

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Few major pieces of legislation have passed the divided U.S. House with unanimous support, but this one sailed through the chamber without opposition. Why would far-right Republicans support such a measure? Because of the protections it would create for conservative media outlets.

Its why Tucker Carlson, among others, has been equally eager to tout the bill as anyone on the left.

So why was it, exactly, that the president-elect pointed to the legislation and issued an online edict that said Republicans MUST KILL the legislation? One possible explanation is that Trump did a detailed and thoughtful analysis of the bill and had concerns about how the policy would be implemented.

The far more likely explanation is that Trump saw a headline about protections for journalists, remember that he hates the free press, and responded reflexively without doing any research or even taking the time to understanding the bill at its most basic level.

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Either way, the result will probably be the same: A worthwhile bill that passed the House unanimously will likely die in the Senate because the incoming president issued a misguided order.

In case that werent quite enough, on the heels of Trumps directive, Brendan Carr  Trumps choice to lead the Federal Communications Commission  published an online item that read, Broadcast licenses are not sacred cows. These media companies are required by law to operate in the public interest. If they dont, they are going to be held accountable, as the Communications Act requires.

The Times reported last week that Carr would be positioned to drastically reshape the FCC, leading industry insiders to worry about him wielding the agencys power as a political weapon for the right.

The president-elect would no doubt be delighted to see exactly that.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Joe McKay tried everything medicine had to offer for the blinding headaches that began in the months after 9/11, when the former New York City firefighter spent weeks wading through the curtains of dust and smoke at the World Trade Center.

On his worst days, McKay was incapacitated by pain every few hours, feeling like someone had stabbed him in the eye with an ice pick. "It's the worst pain I've ever felt," he said.

He tried numerous prescription medications without lasting relief. Doctors diagnosed him with a condition called cluster headaches, also known as "suicide" headaches for the despair experienced by suffers.

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Then McKay heard about an unusual treatment that some cluster headache patients swore by: psilocybin, the psychedelic chemical found in "magic" mushrooms.

McKay called a friend who knew someone who used to go to Grateful Dead concerts, and, in his backyard in Monmouth County, N.J., took a nibble of a chocolate he was told contained psychedelic mushrooms. He felt a bit "blissful," and it seemed to help keep his headaches at bay. When the symptoms came roaring back, and nothing else seemed to work, he learned about a specific protocol for psilocybin developed via a grassroots effort from cluster headache patients, then tried again.

The next day, he felt the shadows of a cluster headache attack, but it never came. Same with the day after. McKay's headaches didn't return for a year.

The experience gave him something he hadn't had for a very long time: hope. "I can live with this," he thought. "I had something that worked."

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That's not how medicine is supposed to happen. Psychedelic drugs that are illegal aren't supposed to work better than prescription medications, backed by reams of research data.

But for McKay and many other people with cluster headaches, that's the reality.

Now, science is slowly catching up to what patients are experiencing in backyards all over the globe, and preliminary research is showing that, for some, psilocybin could be a game-changing treatment for cluster headaches. Scientific studies are vetting its potential  along with other psychedelic drugs  for other hard-to-treat conditions like mental illness.

When it comes to psilocybin and cluster headaches, some academics are aided by a grassroots, advocacy organization known as Clusterbusters (McKay is now on the board), which developed instructions on how to grow your own mushrooms from spores (legal to purchase in Pa., just not to grow), and a protocol for how to use low, non-hallucinogenic doses to treat and prevent cluster headaches.

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"There's really compelling evidence that [psilocybin] is efficacious and safe and seems to help people" with cluster headaches, said Dominic Sisti, associate professor of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania. "There's really no reason why we ought not look into it further."

'Prayed for death'

It's not clear what causes the crushing pain associated with cluster headaches, nor why psilocybin might help.

Research on cluster headaches suggests they may stem from a surge of certain chemicals near a nerve that transmits information between the face and brain, or from problems in the brain region known as the hypothalamus. This is also the region of the brain that psilocybin appears to act on, limited research on psychedelics is showing.

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Cluster headaches affect fewer than 1 in 1,000 adults  including Tom, a therapist in private practice in his mid-60s who works in Montgomery County. His headaches began in December, 2008, and are unbearable. In a 2020 survey, cluster headache patients reported the pain is worse than every other condition, such as unmedicated childbirth, kidney stones, and getting shot. "There were times where I prayed for death," said Tom, who declined to provide his last name to protect his professional license. "I prayed for God's mercy to take me out."

Over the years, he's tried various prescription medications, which would work for a while, until the headaches came thundering back.

He heard about people who used psilocybin, but as a recovering alcoholic, he was leery of illegal drugs that produced psychedelic experiences.

Psilocybin, MDMA (also known as Ecstasy or Molly), and LSD are all considered psychedelics because, at certain doses, users can hallucinate.

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Tom learned that firsthand, when he finally decided to give psilocybin a try in 2022. "I felt like the light was brighter. Colors were sharper, more vibrant."

He still uses psilocybin sometimes  as a way to stay pain-free for longer, and a complement to the multiple prescription drugs he takes, not as a way to get high. "I'm not over here partying and having a good time. For me, it's medicine, and I really do think of it as medicine," Tom said.

With the gaps in knowledge about psilocybin come gaps in understanding about its potential risks: Although the data suggest psilocybin is generally well tolerated, people who have bipolar disorder (or a family history of it) may exhibit more psychotic symptoms after taking psychedelics than people without that history.

Tom has only told a few people he takes "magic" mushrooms, and even hesitated sharing it with his neurologist. But the doctor didn't have a problem with it. "'I just won't put it in your record,'" he told Tom.

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"I was shocked," Tom said.

Research roadblocks

Psychedelics such as psilocybin and ayahuasca have been used medicinally for thousands of years in indigenous communities. But the U.S. has classified psilocybin as an illegal substance in the most restrictive category, along with heroin and LSD (another type of hallucinogen that research suggests could have some health benefits, including for cluster headaches). This makes it difficult to conduct research studies using psilocybin.

Despite this roadblock, scientists have managed to investigate the potential benefits of psychedelics, and generated early data showing they could help conditions ranging from depression to addiction to PTSD. In 2021, a clinic opened up in West Philly, offering psychedelic-assisted therapy.

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That said, psychedelics have a certain "hype bubble" around them at the moment, said Penn's Sisti. Some people claim the drugs will cure many ailments, although they have little (if any) supporting evidence.

And neither regulators nor most members of the public appear convinced they should be widely used as medicine. In August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve a treatment that combined MDMA with psychotherapy for PTSD, and on Election Day, voters in Massachusetts (a fairly liberal state) rejected a ballot measure to allow people to grow psilocybin at home.

The fact that psilocybin remains illegal to grow and use likely deters some cluster headache patients from trying it, writes Joanna Kempner in her 2024 book "Psychedelic Outlaws," about the cluster headache patient community. One advocate Kempner spoke with said she hears from many patients of color who worry about getting caught by police.

One cluster headache patient Kempner met was charged with a felony after police pulled him over for a traffic stop and found mushrooms in his car. (His sentence came with mandatory rehab and probation, no jail time, according to Kempner's account.)

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Early data

But many cluster headache patients who have benefited from psilocybin remain undaunted.

Over the years, Clusterbusters has pushed for rigorous research into psilocybin's benefits, even offering to fund the studies themselves, said Kempner, also associate professor in the Department of Sociology at Rutgers University, who lives in West Philly and has had migraines since she was a child.

The advocacy is starting to pay off. A 2015 Clusterbusters survey of 500 patients found people reported psilocybin worked as well as or better than most conventional medications, even at low (non-hallucinogenic) doses. "People keep reporting that psychedelics are the most effective treatment they've used, compared to all the other available legal treatments," said Kempner.

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A 2022 paper published in the scientific journal Headache tested psilocybin in 16 cluster headache patients using a randomized controlled trial  the gold standard in medical research  in which they received either psilocybin or a placebo. The research showed a "pulse" dosing schedule of psilocybin, similar to what Clusterbusters recommends (three doses, five days apart), appeared to reduce the frequency of attacks.

But the finding wasn't a slam dunk, as the results were not statistically significant  meaning, they could have been due to chance. This isn't a surprise, said Kempner, because only a small number of patients took psilocybin, too few to generate more convincing data. But when the study participants returned for a 2024 paper to repeat the pulse dosing six months later, the frequency of cluster attacks were cut in half  a finding that was statistically significant.

Still, research isn't confirming the "outrageously positive effects" people are reporting from psilocybin, said Kempner. That may reflect the difficulty of testing therapies for cluster headaches, she noted: The pain comes and goes, and many patients may not be willing to take the risk of getting a placebo drug while they're experiencing blinding pain, especially when they could grow the drug being tested at home. "It's such a hard disease to study," she said.

Despite all we still don't know about psilocybin and cluster headache, Kempner remains impressed by the data cluster headache patients have fought to get  and, even more, by how they used that advocacy to form a community.

Another way to serve

Psilocybin doesn't work for everyone with cluster headaches, but the advocacy around it has created a community of patients who can pick each other up when they fall, and offer hope that someday, somehow, they will get relief.

"The drugs themselves, the mushrooms themselves, have knitted together this incredible community of people who support each other," Kempner said. "That's what impresses me."

Now retired from firefighting, Joe McKay has devoted his life to what he considers new types of service.

When cluster headaches took his life away, and psilocybin helped give it back, McKay vowed to serve this new community, fighting to give people with cluster headache access to the medicine that helped him the most.

Even though psilocybin is illegal, McKay doesn't worry about talking to lawmakers or advocating for the right to use it. "For the people in my community, a lot of us, it's psilocybin or suicide," he said. "I shouldn't go to jail because I just want to be pain free." That said, he doesn't like being put in this predicament. "I don't want to be an outlaw, but I am."

To him, this work is an extension of what he did as a firefighter. "I took an oath of office to serve and protect the people. Every single cluster headache attack is a medical emergency. How do you not help?"
The tallest tower of the GM Renaissance Center would stay standing while two others would be demolished under a proposed revamp of the iconic yet struggling Detroit office complex that would cost $1.6 billion, including $250 million in public support.

Newly released plans for the five original RenCen towers would "right-size" the 5.5-million-square-foot footprint of the complex for a modern era of reduced demand for office space, according to a news release Monday from the automaker and Dan Gilbert's Bedrock real estate firm.

General Motors still owns the complex, but plans to leave next year when it relocates its global headquarters to Gilbert's new Hudson's Detroit building in the core of downtown.

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The plans call for taking down the two 39-story office towers closest to the Detroit River and removing the base of the complex, then using the new open space to improve riverfront access from downtown.

Conceptual rendering of proposed RenCen revamp.

The remaining three original RenCen towers  two more 39-story office towers and a 73-story Marriott hotel  would be renovated and repurposed.

Crain's Detroit reported that Bedrock is looking to transform one of the office towers into housing and keep the other as office space. The Marriott tower  the tallest building in Michigan  could become a mix of hotel rooms with housing at the top, according to the business tabloid.

The future of the RenCen has been in limbo since GM announced plans in the spring to move its headquarters to Bedrock's new Hudson's site development in late 2025 or early 2026. The automaker initially planned to lease two floors in the development's 12-story office building, but is now looking to take four floors.

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More: How Detroit's Renaissance Center got its name

Bedrock and GM are partnering on the redevelopment plan.

A source close to the plans says Bedrock has committed $1 billion to the $1.6 billion vision, with GM expected to contribute $250 million and an additional $250 million coming from potential public funding.

The redevelopment concept is the end result of a study of proposed redevelopment options by GM, Bedrock, the city of Detroit and Wayne County, according to the news release. Several possibilities were said to be analyzed by urban planners, architects, and engineers "to determine the best possible outcome."

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The RenCen has been home to GM's headquarters since the late 1990s, although the automaker is not the complex's only occupant. A GM spokesperson Monday said occupancy information for the two towers planned for removal  Tower 300 and Tower 400  was not immediately available.

Free Press Flashback: Detroit's Renaissance Center opens to champagne, hope in 1977

GM has significantly reduced the number of employees it keeps at the RenCen in recent years, from several thousand before the COVID-19 pandemic to under 1,000 as of the spring. Many of those employees were transferred to GM's Warren campus.

Bedrock has an option to buy from GM the original five RenCen towers complex, plus acres of parking lots to the east of the complex. However, it appears that Bedrock and GM intend to be partners in the RenCen's next chapter.

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"This iconic landmarks future is important to Detroit and Michigan, and our shared vision with General Motors ensures that its redevelopment aligns with Detroits economic advancement," Bedrock CEO Kofi Bonner said in a statement. Additionally, our collaborative approach makes certain that the reimagined Renaissance Center and the riverfront further augment and support the citys continued growth, benefiting the community and region at large.

A conceptual rendering shows fewer towers in the Renaissance Center's future.

Dave Massaron, GM's vice president of infrastructure and corporate citizenship, called Bedrock "the best possible partner" for the effort to redevelop the Renaissance Center.

Nobody has repurposed more buildings in Detroit than Dan Gilbert and his Bedrock team," Massaron said in a statement. "This is another chapter in their unprecedented commitment to building the best possible future for the city and Michigan.

The release from the companies says the proposal is "contingent" on the public financing.

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The original five RenCen towers opened in 1977. Two shorter, 21-story office towers were added to the complex in the early 1980s.

Those newer towers aren't owned by GM, but rather private investors that include Farmington Hills-based Friedman Real Estate, which also manages the two towers. One houses Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and is full; the other is about 10% occupied.

Jared Friedman, the firm's executive managing director, said that he considers the proposed $1.6 billion revamp a thoughtful plan that would better connect the RenCen to the city and take greater advantage of the riverfront.

Taking down the two towers and the complex's base would remove a lot of underutilized space, he said, and also help to stabilize the post-pandemic office space market in downtown Detroit. The one office-only tower that would remain could perhaps house the existing RenCen office tenants who are staying after GM leaves, he said.

What about the plan for state support?

At the end of the day, there was too much square footage at that site," Friedman said. "When it was built  almost 50 years ago at this point  it was really designed in a way for the city at that time."

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A battle is already brewing over the potential state financial support. Republican lawmakers have largely opposed issuing state-backed incentive packages for corporate projects since Democrats took over the state House and Senate in 2023.

Now, with Republicans set to retake the House, incoming Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, said Monday that GM should pay for the project without state money.

Theyre the ones leaving Michigan and leaving Detroit, so wouldnt it be a great part of GMs legacy to just pay to tear down the building and redevelop it?" Hall said during a livestreamed news conference on a road funding proposal in Lansing, in an apparent reference to recent GM job cuts  1,000 just this month  and the company's move out of the Renaissance Center.

How insulting is it to the taxpayers that these guys say, Were leaving Detroit, and we want you guys to pay to tear down the building on the way out? That is insulting.

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GM's layoffs this year have been across the company's global footprint, and the automaker employs 51,400 people in the state, company spokesman Kevin Kelly said Monday. "We remain committed to Detroit," he said, noting that the company now plans to occupy four floors of Gilbert's new Hudson building, rather than the previously announced two floors.

Conceptual rendering of promenade proposed for RenCen redevelopment.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, meanwhile, championed the redevelopment plan and potential public support for it.

"Dan Gilbert's plan gives us a path forward to preserve and reuse three of the towers and, at the same time, creates a beautiful expansion of public space on the Detroit riverfront," he said in a statement. "We will need a public/private partnership to get this done and avoid the decades of inaction that accompanied so many other Detroit landmarks, like Hudson's, Michigan Central, AMC Headquarters and the Packard Plant. I welcome Dan Gilbert's leadership in trying to prevent that fate for the Renaissance Center."

More: Experts: Under Trump, GM faces volatile future with more job cuts almost certain

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Craig Wilkins, an urbanist and associate professor of architecture at the University of Michigan, said the revamp offers a chance to improve upon the structures complicated history as a fortress that discouraged Detroiters from entering.

But the removal of towers and addition of a promenade represent only a minor step toward accessibility, he said.

Its not enough just to take down buildings and then replace it with a concrete walk or concrete plaza, Wilkins said. If theres no reason to be in the plaza, then thats just dead space. Yeah, its not a building, but its as useless as that building."

Conceptual rendering of promenade in proposed RenCen redevelopment.

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With the proposal only in the conceptual phase, Wilkins said he hoped to see adjustments.

 If you build it they will come  thats bad design, he said. You build it based on what people want, and this doesnt seem like its had any kind of input from anyone other than the developers and the architects.

Violet Ikonomova is an investigative reporter at the Free Press focused on local government and police accountability. Contact her at vikonomova@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Main RenCen tower stays, 2 others demolished, in proposed revamp
A majority of Americans are satisfied with Donald Trumps election victory and approve of the transition process into his new administration, according to a CBS/YouGov poll released on Monday.

According to the poll, 59 percent of respondents approve of the transition process and 55 percent are happy or satisfied with Trumps victory.

That support, however, is highly fractured on partisan lines, with 95 percent of Republicans optimistic or excited about Trump compared with just 15 percent of Democrats.

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A similar pattern appears regarding support for the Trump administrations top nominees, whose confirmation process has been marked with an unusual level of controversy.

Forty-four percent of people said Marco Rubio, tapped for Secretary of State, was a good choice, compared with 75 percent of Trump supporters. Health and Human Services nominee RFK saw similar margins, with 47 percent general approval and 80 percent support among Trump fans.

Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, meanwhile, saw slightly less support, garnering just a third of respondents overall who approved of the choice, with 64 percent approval from Trump supporters.

Americans are generally approving of Trumps election and transition process, according to the poll (AP)

The transition in the Trump administration has been unusual in a number of ways, including nominees without formal government experience and with serious accusations of misconduct being put into consideration for high-level positions.

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Last week, attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration amid the potential release of a House ethics probe into sexual misconduct allegations, which he denies are true.

Military veteran and former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, tapped to lead the Defense Department, meanwhile, was accused of sexual assault over a 2017 incident in California. Hegseth has denied wrongdoing, said the encounter was consensual, and did not face any criminal charges.

Other nominees, like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., have proved more controversial because of their views.

Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic without a medical background, has been nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, alarming doctors and public health experts.

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Others have raised questions about efforts like the administration-aligned Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a technically non-governmental effort led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to identify massive potential cuts in the federal budget.

Musk, the richest person in the world, through his companies like SpaceX, does billions of dollars of business with the federal government, and has considerable business interests at stake in matters of federal regulation and enforcement, making his position at the DOGE is an unprecedented one.
BERLIN, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Germany's largest steelmaker, ThyssenKrupp Steel, announced plans on Monday to cut 5,000 jobs by 2030 and an additional 6,000 through transfers to external service providers or the sale of business activities.

The sweeping restructuring plan will reduce its workforce from around 27,000 to 16,000 employees in response to rising costs and declining competitiveness.

The company cited weak demand in the steel industry and intensified competition as the primary reasons for the move, and aims to lower labor costs by an average of 10 percent over the coming years to achieve competitive cost levels, according to its statement.

"We take our responsibility very seriously and want to create long-term prospects for as many of our employees as possible," said Dennis Grimm, the company's CEO. He emphasized the need for overall capacity reductions alongside cost-cutting measures to adapt to evolving market conditions.

As part of the restructuring, ThyssenKrupp is set to decrease its production capacity from the current 11.5 million tonnes to around nine million tonnes. This reduction aligns with the company's shipment levels from the previous year and reflects future market expectations. The closure of its processing site in Kreuztal-Eichen is also part of the restructuring plan.

Despite these changes, the company reaffirmed its commitment to a green transformation, including plans to complete the first direct reduction plant in Duisburg and explore the use of an electric arc furnace to further reduce carbon emissions.

Hendrik Wuest, minister-president of North Rhine-Westphalia state -- where Thyssenkrupp Steel's headquarters is located -- described the job cuts as a shock to thousands of families and a significant blow to Germany's industrial sector. In an interview with the German newspaper Rheinischen Post, he urged the company to take its social responsibility seriously and work towards a fair agreement with social partners.

Germany's Economy Minister Robert Habeck called for stronger support for the country's steel industry in light of the announcement, according to the German Press Agency. 
Editors note: The video aired on Friday, Nov. 22.

THE BRONX, N.Y. (PIX11)  NYPD officers shot a man armed with a gun who allegedly took a shooting stance at cops in the Bronx on Friday, police said.

The shooting happened after the officers responded to a 911 call about a large dispute involving a gun at 755 White Plains Road around 3:10 p.m., according to NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell.

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When they respond to the rear of 755 White Plains Road, the video shows us two of the perpetrators coming through a gate as our police officers pull up in a car. At this time, the perpetrator pulls a weapon, a 9mm, loaded, takes a shooting stance at our officers, Chell said.

The officers opened fire and shot the suspect twice in the leg, Chell said. The suspect was hospitalized. A gun and knife were recovered at the scene.

On Sunday, the NYPD announced that the suspect, identified as Chase Lackard, 19, was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and menacing police officers.

The police chief Lackard was previously arrested in Manhattan and indicted on a gun charge this past September.

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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.

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A man accused of threatening to shoot up a packed movie theater in Danvers over the weekend was presumably singing lyrics to a rap song, his attorney argued in court on Monday.

Ryan Muldoon, 34, of Lynn, was arraigned Monday in Salem District Court on charges of assault with a dangerous weapon, threats to commit a crime, and disturbing the peace. A plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf.

Officers responding to the AMC Theater inside the Liberty Tree Mall at 100 Independence Way just after 3 p.m. learned Muldoon had allegedly threatened at least two other patrons in a theater, according to the Danvers Police Department.

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Essex County Prosecutor Brittney Fraine told the court that Muldoon threatened at least two victims, stating that he was going shoot up the place [theater].

The victims also told police that shortly after sitting down in the theater, they heard Muldoon threaten, Im going to shoot all of you in the head, according to Fraine.

When Muldoon was taken into custody, police said that he was not in possession of a firearm or any weapons.

Muldoons lawyer argued that an assault charge requires more than a statement and told the judge that Muldoon had headphones and was rapping song lyrics before the start of the movie.

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The assault part is nothing more than a statement. I read the police report over. I dont any threatening gesture, any threatening behavior, any eye contact with a menacing look, Muldoons attorney told the court. Its just a statement. That alone is not enough to be an assault with a dangerous weapon. There was no weapon found on him, there was no weapon found in the vicinity of where was sitting.

Fraine called Muldoons statements violent threats to an open theater, noting visibly distraught families were seen leaving the theater. She also argued that his statements werent protected by the First Amendment.

Muldoons attorney also argued that it wasnt her client who disturbed the peace, it was instead the act of police turning the lights on and escorting him out of the theater that upset the moviegoers.

The police response happened on a weekend that featured the debuts of the highly-anticipated Wicked and Gladiator II films. A photo an onlooker shared with Boston 25 News showed multiple police cruisers parked outside the theater.

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AMC is working closely with Danvers police on an investigation into the incident.

Im at Salem Superior Court where 34 yr old Ryan Muldoon of Lynn is charged w/threatening to shoot up the AMC Danvers during showing of Wicked. Police did not find any weapons. Def says he may have been singing rap lyrics. Hearing underway. @boston25 pic.twitter.com/NU66Cz9DrP  Bob Ward Boston 25 (@Bward3) November 25, 2024

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SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA)  The Spartanburg County Sheriffs Office said they have arrested a man for kidnapping his girlfriend after an argument.

Deputies said the victims mother made the call after 32-year-old Dawk Dawkins kicked down the door and forcefully removed the victim from the home.

The mother told deputies that her daughter was stay with her due to domestic issues with Dawkins and was ignoring his calls. Dawkins showed up to the mothers home and kicked the door down.

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Dawkins proceeded to grab the victims arm, forcing her out of the home and back to their original residence.

Deputies said they went to Dawkins home at Fowler Road and were able to locate Dawkins and the victim. The victim told deputies that she was in fear and was terrified of Dawkins.

The victim also told deputies that she dead bolted the door and refused to answer when he showed up to her mothers house, resulting in Dawkins kicking the door down.

The victim said that due to her fear, she was unable to resist Dawkins.

Dawkins was arrested and charged with malicious injury to property, kidnapping, domestic violence and burglary.

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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  A man is facing federal charges for allegedly trying to export aerospace gear from Oregon to Russia, the United States Attorneys Office for the District of Oregon announced.

Fifty-seven-year-old Sanjay Kaushik of Delhi, India, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Portland on Nov. 20 on several charges including conspiring and attempting to export controlled aviation components and a navigation and flight control system from Oregon to Russia through India, which violates the Export Control Reform Act, authorities said. Kaushik is also charged with making false statements in connection with an export.

The incident began in September 2023, when Kaushik allegedly conspired with others to illegally obtain aerospace technology from the United States for entities in Russia, authorities said.

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The U.S. Attorneys Office said the aerospace parts were purchased under the false pretense that they would be supplied to Kaushik for his company in India, when they were actually destined for Russia.

In one instance, Kaushik and his co-conspirators bought an Attitude and Heading Reference System  a device that provides navigation and flight control data for aircraft  from an Oregon-based supplier.

Those components require a license from the Department of Commerce in order to be exported to certain countries, including Russia, officials explained.

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To get the export license, Kaushik and his co-conspirators falsely claimed his company was the end purchaser and that the component would be used in a civilian helicopter.

After obtaining the AHRS component, the device was ultimately detained before it was exported from the United States, authorities said.

Kaushik was arrested in Miami, Florida Oct. 17, 2024, on a criminal complaint and arrest warrant issued by the United States District Court for the District of Oregon.

Kaushik made his first federal court appearance in Oregon Nov. 22 where he pleaded not guilty. He was ordered detained pending a seven-day jury trial scheduled to begin Jan. 21, 2025.

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If convicted, Kaushik faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million for each count in the indictment.

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A man was charged in connection with last weeks bomb hoax outside the U.S. Embassy in London, authorities from the U.K. said Monday.

Daniel Parmenter, 43, was charged and taken into custody Monday, after appearing at Ealing Magistrates Court. He was arrested at his home Sunday.

The legal developments come after U.K. police on Friday carried out a controlled explosion of a suspicious package that they discovered outside the U.S. Embassy.

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We can confirm that the loud bang reported in the area a short time ago was a controlled explosion carried out by officers, Londons Metropolitan Police wrote Friday in a post on social platform X.

Police initially suspected the package to be a bomb but said they no longer thought so after blowing up the package.

Business at the U.S. Embassy on Friday was impeded by the bomb hoax. Public appointments, including for visas and passports, were canceled Friday, and officials said they would contact applicants to reschedule.

The Associated Press contributed.

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A 22-year-old Tennessee man charged in the brutal slaying of an Arizona woman was extradited to the desert on Sunday and booked into jail, officials said.

Sencere Hayes was arrested on Nov. 11 in Hamilton County, Tennessee. His capture came more than a year after the body of 22-year-old Mercedes Vega was found in the backseat of a burning car along Interstate 10 outside Tonopah.

He faces a first-degree murder charge, as well as three felony charges for kidnapping, armed robbery and car theft. Hayes made an initial appearance in court Monday morning and his bail was set at $2 million.

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Officials have not said whether homicide detectives had identified any additional suspects tied to the killing and have not elaborated on how detectives tied Hayes to Vega's death.

A photo of Mercedes Vega is displayed at the Silent Witness conference in Phoenix on Nov. 24, 2023.

Prosecutor Kirsten Valenzuela, assistant bureau chief of the capital litigation unit of the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, said in court that investigators have "strong evidence" of Hayes' involvement. She said the investigation was "ongoing" and involved "other individuals."

She said Hayes has two pending misdemeanor cases involving firearms in Tennessee. Valenzuela said Hayes was previously convicted of a felony in Georgia.

Hayes spoke little throughout the hearing but said he felt the bond set on his release was "unconstitutional."

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Maricopa County Sheriff Russ Skinner called Vega's murder a "horrific crime" in a statement on Monday. Officials said investigators continue "complex work on this investigation."

This arrest is a testament to our detectives and law enforcement partners' unwavering dedication and commitment to ensuring justice for Mercedes Vega and her loved ones," Skinner said. "While there is still much work to be done, in collaboration with state, local and federal partners, we hope this arrest brings Mercedes family one step closer to finding closure."

What happened to Mercedes Vega?

Deputies responded to reports of a burning car on the shoulder of Interstate 10 near Tonopah on April 17, 2023.

At the scene, law enforcement found a Chevrolet Malibu ablaze and Vega's body inside the vehicle  roughly 60 miles west of her Tempe home.

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Prior to her death, Vega worked part-time as a dancer at a club, NBC News reported in April. Her family said she planned to quit dancing, open a gym, and become a personal trainer.

A flyer made to inform the public about Mercedes Vega at Rio Salado Park in Tempe on Oct. 17, 2023.

Flyers distributed by Vega's family and friends said she was last seen the night before her death as she walked to her car in the parking garage at the apartments where she lived.

A medical examiner report ruled Vegas death a homicide, citing the cause of death being due to the burns she suffered and smoke inhalation. According to the report, blunt force trauma and gunshot wounds also contributed to her death.

Gloves and bleach were found in the front of the car and lighter fluid was in the backseat, the medical examiner wrote in the report.

Family, friends spent months begging for answers

Family and friends of Vega gathered at Phoenix police headquarters in downtown Phoenix last year as part of a news conference with Silent Witness, where they pleaded for answers and evidence.

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Erika Pillsbury, Vega's mother, cried during the news conference as she tried to make sense of her daughter's death.

I miss her so much, Pillsbury said. She was so bright. She was such a beautiful, sweet, kind soul. She didnt deserve this. She didnt deserve what happened to her. It just doesnt seem real that shes gone. She was mine and the person that did this had no right to take her away.

Makenzie Lockhart read a letter addressed to her deceased friend as tears ran down her cheek during the event.

God, I miss you, Lockhart said. I never ever in my life thought that there would be a world that you werent in. You were robbed of your life and your future. We, your family and friends, were robbed of watching your future, and it cant just be for nothing. Ill be damned if these vile, evil people will get away with what they did to you.

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Reporter Perry Vandell contributed reporting to this article.

Reach the reporter at sasha.hupka@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X: @SashaHupka. Follow her on Instagram or Threads: @sashahupkasnaps.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Man charged in Mercedes Vega killing extradited to AZ
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)  A man is facing charges and a school was damaged following a high-speed chase, the Genesee County Sheriffs Office said Monday.

Shawn Oconnor, 35, is accused of leading police on a high-speed chase that began in the City of Batavia due to traffic violations. Police chased Oconnor onto Route 63 North into the Village of Oakfield, where he is accused of hitting a deputy patrol vehicle in the parking lot of Oakfield Central School.

The school, located on Lewiston Road in Oakfield, sustained damage due to Oconnor allegedly hitting multiple objects.

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He is charged with second-degree criminal mischief, third-degree unlawful fleeing, second-degree reckless endangerment and over a dozen traffic violations.

He was held in custody, and more charges are expected to be filed, police said.

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Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here.

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DALLAS TWP., LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)  Police have extradited a man from Washington D.C. after they say he committed a burglary in Dallas Township.

On November 11, the Dallas Township Police Department said they extradited Anthony D. Carver from Washington, D.C. Prison to Luzerne County to face charges for a 2019 burglary.

Investigators stated Carver allegedly stole several firearms and other items from a home in the Back Mountain.

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Rikers Island inmate faces cooking oil theft charges in Pa.

Carver is charged with the following:

Burglary

Criminal trespass

Theft by unlawful taking

Carver was taken to the Luzerne County Correctional Facility.

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A 43-year-old man has been charged with a bomb hoax outside the US embassy in London.

Daniel Parmenter, of Kildare Terrace, Bayswater in west London, appeared at Ealing magistrates court on Monday, the Metropolitan Police said.

Police were called to reports of a suspicious package at the embassy in Nine Elms, south-west London, at 8.40am on Friday and a controlled explosion was carried out.

Parmenter was arrested on Sunday and is next scheduled to appear in court at the Old Bailey on Dec 23.

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The Metropolitan Police said there is no link between the alleged hoax and a number of other bomb scares seen in recent days.

There was travel disruption at Gatwick Airport when the south terminal was closed to new passengers for four hours on Friday.

Sussex Police deployed its bomb disposal unit because of the discovery of a suspected prohibited item in luggage.

Later, the force said the package had been made safe, and two people who were detained were allowed to carry on with their journeys.

There were also security alerts at a bus station in Glasgow, Euston railway station and Chester bus station.

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HARARE, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday urged creditors and development partners to help the southern African country address its external debt, which is undermining economic development.

In his keynote address at the seventh high-level structured dialogue platform forum in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital, Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe had made tremendous progress in implementing economic, public sector, and governance reforms to pave the way for the successful resolution of the country's 21 billion U.S. dollars debt, made up of 13 billion dollars in external debt and 8 billion dollars in domestic debt.

He said the successful implementation of the arrears clearance and debt resolution strategy is key for Zimbabwe to unlock new concessional external financing that is critical for achieving economic development.

"Since the establishment of the structured dialogue platform process in 2022, we have registered tremendous progress, with growing consensus, trust, and confidence in this initiative," Mnangagwa said. "I call for the continued support of the international financial institutions, development partners, our creditors, and the international community for the arrears clearance and debt resolution process."

The arrears clearance and debt resolution process is being championed by African Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina while former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano is the high-level facilitator.

Mnangagwa reiterated Zimbabwe's commitment to the successful resolution of the arrears clearance and debt resolution process, pointing out that access to external concessional financing will be key for long-term funding of the country's development projects.

He said to anchor the implementation of further economic reforms under the debt resolution process, the Zimbabwean government is currently negotiating a Staff Monitored Program (SMP) with the International Monetary Fund.

Speaking at the same event, Adesina said the IMF staff mission is expected to prepare the framework for the SMP during its routine staff mission to Zimbabwe in January next year.

He lamented that years of Western sanctions on Zimbabwe have worsened the country's debt and called for concerted efforts to urgently resolve the debt crisis.

"The 21 billion dollars debt of Zimbabwe, of which the bulk is arrears, has made arrears the new debt stacked like piles of sandbags on the back of Zimbabwe. We all agree we must play our part to correct this anomaly and give a new lease of life to this nation and its people, so Zimbabwe can run again," Adesina added. 
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  D.C. police said a man who was critically injured in a shooting in Southeast on Wednesday has died.

Police said that on Nov. 20, just before 7:30 p.m., officers responded to the 5500 block of B St. for a shooting.

There, they found 28-year-old Christopher Robinson of Southeast, suffering from gunshot wounds.

3 displaced after house fire in Southeast DC

He was unconscious and not breathing.

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Responders took Robinson to the hospital, where he died on Friday, Nov. 22.

The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) encourages anyone with information to call 202-727-9099 or text a tip to 50411. MPD currently offers a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for a violent crime committed in the District.

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A man is facing criminal charges after police say he made threats to moviegoers at a theater in Danvers on Sunday afternoon.

Ryan Muldoon, 34, of Lynn, is slated to be arraigned Monday in Salem District Court on charges of assault with a dangerous weapon, threats to commit a crime, and disturbing the peace, according to the Danvers Police Department.

Officers responding to the AMC Theater inside the Liberty Tree Mall at 100 Independence Way just after 3 p.m. learned Muldoon had threatened at least two other patrons in a theater, police said.

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While police didnt offer any details on the nature of the alleged threats, they did note that Muldoon was not in possession of a firearm or any weapons.

Muldoon was taken into custody at the movie theater.

Boston 25 News has learned that AMC is now working closely with Danvers police on an investigation into the incident.

The police response happened on a weekend that featured the debuts of the highly-anticipated Wicked and Gladiator II films.

A photo an onlooker shared with Boston 25 News showed multiple police cruisers parked outside the theater.

Additional details will likely be revealed when Muldoon faces a judge.

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Man flees on 3 tires, says he doesnt know where he got the Jeep : Police

ELYRIA, Ohio (WJW)  A 55-year-old Lorain man is facing multiple charges after police said he was spotted driving on three tires and then led officers on a slow-speed chase.

According to a report from the Elyria Police Department, Larry James Fisher II, 55, first caught the eyes of police shortly before 2 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 22, in the area of State Route 57 when they reported that he did not properly yield to a police officer responding to a call with lights and sirens activated.

Ex-casino dealer in Cleveland accused of stealing

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Police said, Fisher was weaving and driving at a slow speed when he allegedly merged directly in front of the police officer. Thats when police said, the officer noticed the silver Jeep was missing the front tire and was driving on its rim.

Credit: Lorain County Jail

According to the report, the police officer attempted to pull over the Jeep, but the driver, later identified as Fisher, continued to drive at speeds of approximately 5-10 miles per hour. At one point, police said he accelerated to a top speed of 30 miles per hour.

Additional officers arrived in the area to shut down intersections as the slow-speed chase along SR 57 continued for about two miles, read the report. Eventually, Fisher came to a stop near North Ridge Road where police said he complied with officer demands and was taken into custody.

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In the report, officers said, they observed Fisher to have glossy eyes, be unsteady on his feet, and to have slurred speech. In addition, police said, Fisher did not know who owned the vehicle he was driving and said he was unsure where he got it.

Fisher stated that he saw the vehicle in the city of Lorain, got inside, found the keys and started driving. Fisher stated that at some point, the tire blew out and was aware that he had been driving on the rim, read the report. Due to Fishers intoxicated state, he was unable to provide a clear account of events or specifics of exactly where he took the vehicle from.

Fisher was booked into the Lorain County Jail and charged with failure to comply, OVI, failure to reinstate license, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, and unsafe vehicles.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo.  Police have identified the victim of a deadly shooting on Sunday as a missing teen who had disappeared only a day prior in Independence, Missouri.

According to the Independence Police Department (IPD), at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday, 19-year-old Preston Bell was last seen being forced into a Chevrolet Malibu near South Brookside Avenue and East Wilson Road in Kansas City, Missouri.

Driver dies after being run over by ambulance in ATV crash

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The following day, on Sunday, Nov. 24, officers with the Kansas City Police Department were dispatched to the area of I-435 and Truman Road on reports of an abandoned car. However, it was determined that the car, which was found parked on the southbound exit ramp of I-435, was associated with Bells missing persons case.

Officers then approached the car and found a man dead from gunshot wounds in the backseat. IPD was called to the scene, and detectives later confirmed the man was Bell.

Independence police said there is no suspect in custody at this time; however, investigations are ongoing.

Mom says Independence police pointed gun at teen son, mistaking him for chase suspect

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If you are anyone you know has information regarding this missing persons turned homicide case, police ask that you call the TIPS Hotline anonymously at (816) 474-8477.

This is a developing story. Stay tuned at FOX4 News for the latest updates and information.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  An investigation is underway after a man was found shot dead inside a vehicle Sunday night at a shopping complex in Antioch.

Metro officers responded just after 10:30 p.m. to a parking lot in the 1300 block of Bell Road, where the victim was discovered.

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The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) later identified the victim as 39-year-old Hwarang Joo, adding that he was the owner of a chicken restaurant in the complex.

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Authorities reported Joo had just left his business and was inside his Volkswagen SUV when gunfire erupted shortly before 11 p.m.

Joo was hit by the gunfire and the Volkswagen accelerated before crashing into a dental office, police said.

On Monday, Nov. 25 around 5 a.m., the vehicle was extracted from the building and loaded onto a tow truck. News 2 video from the scene show the car severely damaged, with a smashed front-end and broken windows.

CRIME TRACKER | Read the latest crime-related reports from across Middle Tennessee

Officials have not shared any information about a suspect, but say they will review surveillance footage from nearby businesses.

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Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463. Callers can remain anonymous and qualify for a cash reward for up to $5,000.

No additional details were immediately released.

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 Find todays top stories on WKRN.com for Nashville, TN and all of Middle Tennessee.

This is a developing story. WKRN News 2 will continue to update this article as new information becomes available.

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WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  Wichita police confirm that a man in his 40s was shot and transported to the hospital in critical condition.

The man was found in a rolled-over vehicle around 10 a.m. Monday at Topeka and Pine in downtown Wichita. Police said two people were in the car. The other person was not hurt.

Microsoft outage impacts Outlook, Teams, more

Investigators are still looking for a person of interest, and the circumstances leading up to the shooting are still under investigation.

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MILAM COUNTY, Texas (FOX 44)  A Thorndale man has been sentenced to 19 years confinement in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) after pleading guilty to Sexual Assault of a Child.

The Milam County District Attorneys Office says 56-year-old Harlan Wayne Sekaquaptewa, of Thorndale, was sentenced by Judge John W. Youngblood after pleading guilty to this second-degree felony. This occurred in the 20th Judicial District Court of Milam County.

The D.A.s Office says the maximum punishment for a second-degree felony is 20 years incarceration. These incidents were investigated by the Milam County Sheriffs Department.

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Two held in theft and cashing of lottery tickets

District Attorney Elect Brian Price prosecuted the States cases and stated,

We are very pleased with the sentence handed down today by Judge Youngblood. The defendants actions caused irreparable harm, and todays sentence reflects the serious nature of these crimes. In speaking with the victim and her family after sentencing, they were very pleased with this outcome. Our thoughts and prayers will be with them as they begin to try to heal from this.

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DARKE COUNTY, Ohio (WDTN)  A man was hospitalized after a crash this morning.

According to the Darke County Sheriffs Office, the crash occurred around 1:01 a.m. as deputies were dispatched to the intersection of Willowdell Road and Pearl Street.

A preliminary investigation indicated that after failing to navigate a curve on Willowdell Road at Pearl Street, the driver of a black Toyota Corolla travelled off the road and crashed into two trees.

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21 year old dies in US-127 crash

The man received treatment at the scene before being transported to two area hospitals. The man was last transported with non-life threatening injuries. Alcohol is considered a factor in the crash.

The Darke County Sheriffs Office, who are continuing to investigate the crash, were assisted at the scene by Osgood Rescue and Osgood Fire.

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CHICAGO  A man was killed and a woman was wounded after a shooting Sunday afternoon in Little Village.

Chicago police said the shooting happened at around 4 p.m. in the 4000 block of West 26th Street.

A 43-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman were standing on the sidewalk when a dark-colored sedan drove up. Thats when someone inside the sedan fired multiple shots toward the two victims. The vehicle then drove off in an unknown direction, according to investigators.

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16-year-old boy killed, 15-year-old boy wounded in Little Village shooting overnight, Chicago police say

Police said the man was shot multiple times and taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in critical condition. He later died from his injuries. The woman, meanwhile, was shot once in the left leg and taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in good condition.

No arrests have been made and Area Four Detectives are investigating.

This is the secondly deadly shooting reported in Little Village on Sunday. The first one happened at around 1:30 a.m. when police said a 16-year-old boy was killed and a 15-year-old boy was wounded after being shot in the 2600 block of South Avers Avenue.

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GWYNN, Va. (WAVY)  The United States Coast Guard is searching for a man who was last seen sailing off from the Salty Bottom Blue Oysters in Gwynn on Sunday.

Timothy Henderson Pirate Daddy (Courtesy: U.S. Coast Guard)

Timothy Henderson Pirate Daddy. (Courtesy: U.S. Coast Guard)

The man, identified as Timothy Henderson, also known as Pirate Daddy, departed from Salty Bottom Blue Oysters in Gwynn around sunset in a 10-14 foot black aluminum John Boat and was headed for Hole in the Wall, officials said.

If you have any information please call the sector Virginia command center at 757-505-6508.

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Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.

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Visitors pose for photos with a giant panda mascot of China's stand at the autumn edition of Romania's Tourism Fair in Bucharest, Romania, Nov. 22, 2024. China's stand attracted visitors at Romania's Tourism Fair, which is held here from Nov. 21-24, as China has expanded its visa-free policy to nine additional countries. (Photo by Cristian Cristel/Xinhua)

Kresic views the expanded visa-free policy as a reflection of China's increasing openness to the world.

ZAGREB, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government's decision to extend its visa-free policy to nine additional countries, including Croatia, has been warmly received by Damir Kresic, managing director of Croatia's Institute for Tourism.

Speaking to Xinhua on Monday, Kresic described the move as "definitely good news" that is expected to encourage more Croatian and European travelers to visit China.

"I think that every visa-free policy helps tourism to develop, especially on an international level, so it is definitely good news," said Kresic from the Zagred-based Institute for Tourism, which specializes in research and consultancy services in tourism.

China announced on Friday that ordinary passport holders from nine more countries -- Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Estonia, Latvia, and Japan -- will enjoy visa-free entry on a one-year trial basis starting Nov. 30, 2024. This brings the total number of countries eligible for visa-free access to China to 38.

Tourists from Switzerland pose for a group photo in front of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, or Qiniandian, at the Tiantan (Temple of Heaven) Park in Beijing, capital of China, July 9, 2024. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

Under this arrangement, visitors can enter China without a visa for stays of up to 30 days for purposes such as business, tourism, family visits, exchanges, and transit.

Kresic emphasized the psychological advantages of such policies, noting that visa waivers make destinations feel "freer and more accessible" to travelers. "The waiver of visas reduces the psychological barriers that people have in some way," he said.

China's growing reputation as a nation capable of executing major projects has also fueled interest among Croatians, according to Kresic. He cited the Peljesac Bridge project, which connected Croatia's mainland with the Peljesac Peninsula on the country's southern Adriatic coast for the first time in history.

People take souvenir photos in front of the Peljesac Bridge in Komarna, Croatia, on Aug. 29, 2023. The Peljesac Bridge in the south of Croatia, built by a Chinese consortium led by the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), connects the Croatian mainland with the Peljesac peninsula, giving the country a continuous land link that bypasses Bosnian territory. (Xinhua/Li Xuejun)

Moreover, Kresic views the expanded visa-free policy as a reflection of China's increasing openness to the world. "This is China's way of saying to the international community: You are welcome, you are all invited," he noted.

The policy also strengthens bilateral relations between China and Croatia, which are already on good terms. "The latest visa-free policy certainly contributes to even better relations," Kresic said.

Meanwhile, Kresic welcomes more Chinese tourists to Croatia, which has received as many as 300, 000 Chinese tourists annually before the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Although we are still not at pre-pandemic levels, we are getting closer. I believe that we will have more and more tourists from China," he said. 
GRAND RAPIDS TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD)  A driver has been acquitted of criminal charges following a 2023 crash that left his two daughters and a friend dead.

A jury on Friday found Daniel Heffron not guilty of three misdemeanor counts of moving violation causing death.

The crash happened in the middle of a severe thunderstorm on Aug. 24, 2023, on 18 Mile Road NE in Spencer Township in northeastern Kent County. Investigators say Heffron lost control, crossed the centerline and crashed into a westbound SUV, which then hit a tree.

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The crash killed front-seat passenger Karissah Marie Kleynenberg, 21, of Gowen. Heffrons daughters, 1-year-old Natalie and 3-year-old Juliana, who were in car seats in the back seat, were also killed. Heffron himself was seriously injured.

Friends and family said Karissah Kleynenberg was an exceptionally hard worker and made everyone smile. (Courtesy)

An undated courtesy photo of Juliana Rose Heffron, 3, and Natalie Mae Heffron, 1.

The driver of the SUV sustained minor injuries.

Heffron was charged in April of this year, with investigators saying witnesses reported he was driving at a high rate of speed before the crash, despite heavy rain and strong winds.

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BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN)  A man will serve time behind bars after pleading guilty to a string of thefts in Boardman this fall.

Read next: Marshals looking for fugitive known to frequent Youngstown area

Lewis Brown, 35, pleaded guilty in court to eight separate theft cases in Boardman that took place from September through October of this year. Each charge was a misdemeanor for theft of less than $1,000.

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In numerous instances, those at the stores where items were stolen told police they recognized Brown from prior incidents, reports state.

Brown was sentenced to 180 days in jail with 70 days suspended and credit for 20 days already served. He also was ordered to serve an additional 60 days for probation violation.

He was ordered to pay restitution to the stores he pleaded guilty to stealing from, including Dollar General, Giant Eagle and Burlington Coat Factory, according to court records. Combined, he owes thousands of dollars in restitution.

He will serve two years of probation and must stay off store premises.

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*Attached video: Previous coverage of Ryan Kelloggs arrest

ORANGE, Ohio (WJW)  The Northeast Ohio man accused of targeting his neighbors with antisemitic graffiti appeared in court for his arraignment on Monday, once again pleading not guilty.

Ryan Kellogg, 37, of Orange Village, was indicted earlier this month on two counts of menacing by stalking, one count of ethnic intimidation and one count of vandalism.

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Ryan Kellogg

He was arrested on October 27 after police said Kellogg returned to a home that had been vandalized with a swastika, and began spray painting it again, according to a news release. A police officer allegedly caught him in the act, and surveillance video linked Kellogg to the scene, police said.

During the Monday arraignment, Kellogg pleaded not guilty and his bond was set for $100,000, according to court documents.

Baker Mayfield seeks $12M in lawsuit against his fathers company, alleges breach of contract

According to court documents, Kellogg was also ordered to have no contact with the victims and ordered to be put on house arrest.

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Kelloggs first pretrial is set for Dec. 11 at 9 a.m.

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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN)  A man serving a 15-year sentence for his role in the 2014 shooting death of a man on the South Side has asked a judge to be released early from prison.

Bralin Allen, 36, filed the pro se motion, meaning it was filed without a lawyer, in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court before Judge Maureen Sweeney.

Allen is serving a 15-year prison sentence after he pleaded guilty May 25, 2016, to charges of voluntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony; felonious assault, a second-degree felony; and firearm specifications.

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He was accused of taking part in the April 1, 2014, murder of Maurise Kerns, 24.

His brother, Breandre Allen, 37, pleaded guilty to the same charges and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Two other people were also charged and sentenced for their roles in Kerns death.

Police said a woman lured Kerns to a vacant home at Idora and Utilis avenues on the South Side, where he was shot and killed.

Police said Kerns was killed because he was thought to be involved in the shooting of one of the brothers a couple of weeks before his death.

Breandre Allen was shot in the foot during the exchange of gunfire that left Kerns dead, reports said.

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At the time of the murder, police lauded Detective Sgts. Dave Sweeney and his partner, the late Detective Sgt. John Perdue, for the work they did on the case. The pair worked almost 30 hours with no sleep to arrest the Allen brothers and close the case.

Sweeney is still on the force and is now a patrol supervisor.

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MEMPHIS, Tenn.  A man was sentenced to 65 years in jail for brutally murdering his girlfriend back in 2022, but he is now requesting a motion for a new trial, according to online court information.

On Monday, 38-year-old Michael Lurry was sentenced to jail for first-degree murder, theft of property $60,000-$250,000, criminal attempt carjacking, and criminal attempt theft of property $2,500-$10,000.

In August, a jury convicted Lurry of first-degree murder after testimonies from 16 witnesses and DNA evidence provided by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Prosecutors say Lurry deliberately ran his girlfriend over with her car, causing fatal injuries. The victim was identified as 38-year-old Toneshia Hardeman.

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Hardeman died the same day as the incident.

Man wanted for shooting 2 people caught with stolen gun: MPD

After Lurry ran Hardeman over, he abandoned her car in a lot before attempting to carjack a civilian. When that plan failed, he stole a delivery drivers semi-truck.

Before the murder trial, Lurry pleaded guilty to the truck theft.

According to the Shelby County Criminal Justice System Portal, he will appear back in court on December 18 after a motion was requested seeking a new trial.

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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN)  A man accused of holding a person at gunpoint in a Boardman hotel in 2020 and later shooting at a car was sentenced Monday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to five to six years in prison.

Judge Anthony DApolito handed the sentence to Richard Armstrong, 46, who pleaded guilty Oct. 28 to abduction, a second-degree felony; robbery, a second-degree felony; and being a felon in possession of a firearm, a third-degree felony.

Prosecutors recommended a sentence of six to seven and a half years in prison; however, Judge DApolito said when Armstrong made his plea that he will sentence Armstrong to five years after Armstrong made the proposal in an effort to resolve his case.

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Armstrong has been in the county jail since he was arrested in the case in August 2020. It is expected he will be released from prison next August.

One reason the case has taken so long is because of competency issues on Armstrongs part.

Armstrong was arrested on Aug. 17, 2020, after he was seen walking with a gun in the 5300 block of South Avenue shortly after someone took a shot at a pickup truck in broad daylight. He was also a suspect in an armed robbery at a nearby hotel several hours earlier.

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NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY)  After committing sexually-charged crimes against three women within two days, a man in Norfolk will spend most, if not all, his remaining life in prison. He was sentenced on Nov. 22.

Previous Coverage: Man assaults three women within two days in Norfolk

On May 29, 2022, 32-year-old Ryan Kearney trespassed into the first womans home after her husband left for work. After sneaking in through the unlocked back door and removing his shoes, he snuck up on the woman while she was showering and raped her as her son slept in a separate room. Police said Kearney also stole the victims husbands watch during the assault.

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The following day, Kearney went to another house that a woman was using as a short-term rental. After the woman fell asleep on the back porch, she awoke in the middle of the night to Kearney assaulting her. She hit her assailant before running inside and chasing him off with her gun, a release states.

Right after fleeing, Kearney wasted no time before he snuck into a third home through a partially opened garage. He snuck into a womans bedroom while her family was sleeping under the same roof.

The woman woke up to his movements, and originally mistook him for her father before she heard an unfamiliar voice. She screamed before he was able to cover her face and kicked Kearney in the groin.

As her parents came running to check on her, Kearney was able to escape through the garage.

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One of the officers who responded to the third womans house recognized Kearney from the houses doorbell camera footage, as the officer had just seen him at a nearby convenience store.

Officers were able to find Kearney off East Little Creek Road  he was wearing the first victims husbands watch when he was taken into custody.

The charges against Kearney as a result of the Norfolk Polices investigation led to three separate proceedings this year:

In March, a jury found Kearney guilty, in the first victims case, of object sexual penetration, attempted forcible sodomy, forcible sodomy, statutory burglary with the intent to commit rape and attempted rape.

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In August, for the case of the third victim, after already failing to convince a jury of his innocence in his first case, Kearney was requested to be tried by a judge instead of a jury. However, the judge still found Kearney guilty of statutory burglary with the intent to commit rape.

Lastly, in October, with both convictions for his first and third victim, Kearney entered a plea agreement instead of moving forward with a trial for his second victims case. He was found guilty of object sexual penetration and his plea agreement called for a maximum active prison sentence of 10 years on that charge alone.

On Nov. 22, Kearney was sentenced for all his charges by Judge Everett A. Martin Jr., who presided over Kearneys jury trial. Judge Martin sentenced Kearney to serve 70 years in prison plus three years of post-release supervision.

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI)  An investigation is underway after a 49-year-old man was shot and killed Sunday night in Providence.

The victim was identified as Keith Singleton.

Col. Oscar Perez said officers were called to Monticello Street just before 7:30 p.m. and found a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

He was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

This is the citys 11th homicide of the year. At this time, there is no suspect in custody.

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MEMPHIS, Tenn.  A man is held in jail on a nearly $900,000 bond after police say he was caught with a stolen gun and wanted for shooting two people at a wing restaurant on Lamar Avenue last month.

Jeremy Gray, 28, is charged with criminal attempt first-degree murder, aggravated assault, employment of a firearm with intent to commit a felony, reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, vandalism $1000 or less, theft of property $1000-$2500, violation of seatbelt law, and improper violation of registration.

On October 11, Memphis Police Officers say they responded to Boston Fish and Wings restaurant at 2711 Lamar Avenue regarding a shooting.

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Man in custody after shots fired at Lakeland apartments

A shooting victim told police two men were fighting at the restaurant and one of them pulled out a gun and started shooting. That is when the shooting victim was grazed in the face by one of the bullets and the back window of his truck was shattered.

Officers say while they were still on the scene, dispatch informed them that another shooting victim had arrived in critical condition at Methodist University by private vehicle. The victim was later taken to Regional One Hospital for further treatment.

On October 15, officers say they were able to get a statement from the victim who says he was at Boston Fish and Wings picking up an order before the shooting. He claims the suspect walked into the restaurant behind him and said, I told you Id find you in the mound.

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MPD says the two men then began to fight. The suspect pulled out a gun and fired several shots, striking, both victims and two vehicles on the lot, according to police. The victim told officers he did not wait on paramedics and that he was dropped off at the hospital instead.

During that time, police say Jeremy Gray was developed as a possible suspect.

On October 23, Gray was identified in a photo lineup as the responsible shooter at the restaurant.

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On November 22, officers say they conducted a traffic stop on a black Infiniti with an unreadable license plate. Officers say when they made contact with the driver, Jeremy Gray, he was not wearing a seatbelt.

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Gray was found to have multiple warrants and was placed under arrest at that time. While officers searched his vehicle, a Glock 17 Gen4 handgun was found in the glove box. Police say the handgun was reported stolen from a vehicle parked at the Oak Court Mall back in May.

Jeremy Grays bond is set at $892,500. He is scheduled to appear in court on Monday morning.

Gray is also facing a felony arrest domestic violence case stemming from January 31, 2023, where he was accused of firing shots at his girlfriends car while she was driving away. He was charged with aggravated assault and employment of a firearm with intent to commit a felony.

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BUCHAREST, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Nicolae Ciuca, the presidential candidate of Romania's National Liberal Party (PNL), announced his resignation as party leader on Monday following a poor performance in the first round of the presidential election.

Ciuca emphasized in a video message the importance of traditional parties in maintaining Romania's unity but admitted the need for significant reforms within the PNL.

Ciuca described the election outcome, where the PNL candidate secured just eight percent of the vote, as a failure for the leadership team.

Prominent party members, including Dan Vilceanu, called for a complete overhaul of the leadership and immediate withdrawal from the ruling coalition with the Social Democratic Party (PSD). 
MANCHESTER, Conn. (WTNH)  The Manchester community is holding its annual leadership conference for young men of color.

The intention, organizers said, is to build the boys confidence and teach them valuable skills.

The conference is taking place Monday and Tuesday at the Manchester Memorial Hospital, where 60 young men of color in grades nine to 12 are listening to wise words from community leaders who look like them.

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Kelvin Sims, with the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, said its just for us to be a role model. Somewhere they can go, ask questions, to people that look like them, act like them and are like them. Most of us have grown up in similar situations as these kids.

Officers with Manchester Police Department, Rotary International and Kappa Alpha Psi have partnered together to offer the two-day leadership conference. This is the fourth year of the event.

This happened to come to us over a conversation about how the youth are being lost in the community, said Kate Sims, with Rotary Internationals diversity, equity and inclusion unit.

Organizers said the hope is to build confidence in the young men and let them know that success is obtainable.

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This is the second year Emanual Sampel has attended the program.

You can learn a lot of important stuff about life, he said. What to do  they also talk about making your businesses and stuff like that.

In addition to learning to be a leader, the youth will also head outdoors on the ropes with police officers. Its an exercise Captain Jon Laughlin said builds trust.

The biggest things is that they see us as humans, he said. As human beings, not just police officers. I think thats the biggest thing we strive for.

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NEW YORK  Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams announced Monday that he would resign in December, ahead of President-elect Donald Trump taking over the White House.

Trump said earlier this month that he plans to nominate Jay Clayton as the new U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Today is a bittersweet day for me, as I announce my resignation as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. It is bitter in the sense that I am leaving my dream job, leading an institution I love that is filled with the finest public servants in the world. It is sweet in that I am confident I am leaving at a time when the Office is functioning at an incredibly high level  upholding and exceeding its already high standard of excellence, integrity, and independence, Williams said in a statement.

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That success is due to the career attorneys, staff members, and law enforcement agents of this Office. Working with them during my tenure has been a privilege of a lifetime. They are worthy custodians of this Offices tradition of doing the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons. They are patriots. They are my family. And I will miss them dearly.

In addition to making history as the first Black U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York when President Joe Biden nominated him in late 2021, Williams, 44, is one of the youngest ever to hold the position.

Williams has overseen several historically significant prosecutions. He brought the ongoing public corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams  the first against a sitting New York City mayor in the modern era  and secured the convictions of fallen FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried for one of the largest-ever financial frauds and ex-New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez for taking bribes while head of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In a statement, Williams said he would step down on Dec. 13. Deputy Manhattan U.S. Attorney Edward Kim will become the acting U.S. attorney after his departure.

Clayton, a longtime corporate lawyer and Trumps former chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission, has no experience with criminal prosecutions.

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(Bloomberg) -- Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday expressed alarm over troubling threats against him after Vice President Sara Duterte spoke of arranging for his assassination in case she gets killed, as the rift between both leaders deepened.

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If its that easy to plan the assassination of a president, how much more for ordinary citizens? Marcos said in a recorded video, without naming Duterte. Such criminal attempts should not be ignored, the president said, adding that he will resist such moves.

As a democratic country, we need to uphold the rule of law, he said.

Duterte, daughter of former leader Rodrigo Duterte, said in a briefing Saturday that she had spoken to an unidentified person about assassinating Marcos, his wife Liza, and his cousin House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she gets killed. The vice president later said her remarks were taken out of context, as she was also concerned about her own security.

The development marks a turning point in the ongoing feud between the Philippines most powerful politicians, who teamed up in the 2022 election. The Marcos-Duterte alliance was rocked by policy differences before it collapsed earlier this year when the vice president quit Marcos cabinet. There are also tensions about a congressional inquiry into the thousands of deaths that occurred when Rodrigo Duterte was president and cracked down on drugs.

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The National Bureau of Investigation expects to soon serve a subpoena to the vice president so she can explain her side.

The premeditated plot to assassinate the president as declared by the self-confessed mastermind will now face legal consequences, Justice Undersecretary Jesse Andres said in a briefing.

We are tapping our law enforcement agents to investigate the whereabouts and the identity of this person or persons who may be plotting against the president, Andres said. Sara Duterte is not immune from any lawsuit and she faces many possible legal liabilities, he added.

Duterte, who attended a hearing at the House of Representatives, told reporters that she will counter moves against her in response to Marcos statement on Monday and that she will gladly answer any questions when the subpoena is served.

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She also criticized the continuing House hearing. We dont expect justice anymore in this country. This is clear political harassment. This is clear political persecution, she said.

Marcos allies in congress have been scrutinizing Duterte over her offices alleged misuse of funds, which she denies. The vice president has also said lawmakers were trying to build a case to impeach her.

It would not have led to this kind of drama if only the legitimate questions in the Senate and House of Representatives would have been answered, Marcos said. I wish that these events will end in a peaceful way that will bring us to the truth.

(Updates with comments from VP Duterte and justice official.)

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The Marine Corps has officially hit full operational capability on its new sniper rifle a year ahead of schedule.

The Corps chose the Mk22 Mod 0 Advanced Sniper Rifle, manufactured by Barrett Firearms, a company widely known for their groundbreaking work in developing the .50 caliber sniper rifle, as a changeable, multi-barrel rifle to replace two existing long rifles and give shooters three caliber options within their main shooting platform.

Those caliber options include the standard 7.62mm, the .300 Norma Magnum and .338 Norma Magnum. The caliber diversity allows shooters to select a munition for specific missions that might require more distance or more penetrating power. The rifle uses a 10-round magazine.

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Marines to field mulit-barrel sniper rifle to replace two existing weapons

Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Virginia, announced the milestone on Nov. 19, according to a release. The designation means that all Marine infantry and reconnaissance units, as well as associated schools, have been outfitted with the new rifle and received new equipment training on the system, officials said.

Marine Sgt. Jacob Wright, scout sniper with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, coaches a Republic of Korea Marine on the Mk22 Mod 0 Advanced Sniper Rifle (Cpl. Joseph Helms/Marine Corps)

The bolt-action precision rifle, meanwhile, is one part of a system that includes a bipod, sound and muzzle flash suppressor, as well as a caliber agnostic 7x35 Precision Day Optic.

Marines like the ability to conduct caliber conversions at their level, and the fact that they only have one rifle instead of the two it replaced, said Kevin Marion, a logistics management specialist with Marine Corps Systems Command. This shift improves operational efficiency, reduces the logistical burden on units and lightens the individual Marines load.

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The additional barrels and design of the rifle also allow for less maintenance time spent on weapons repairs, experts said in the release.

[Replacing a barrel] was impossible with previous systems, where a condemned barrel would render the weapon unusable, directly affecting mission readiness, said Brian Nelson, Mk22 project officer, Marine Corps Systems Command. Now, the Mk22 ensures that even if a barrel fails, Marines are still mission ready.

The rifle replaces both the Mk13 Mod 7 and the M40A6 sniper rifles currently in use. The Marine Corps noted in budget request documents at the inception of the program that they intended to purchase 250 Mk22 Mod 0 rifles.

The Army announced in 2021 that it would also replace its M107 sniper rifle and M2010 enhanced sniper rifle with the Mk22 Mod 0. At the time, the Army sought to purchase 2,800 Mk22 Mod 0 rifles by 2026.

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The M40A6 is a heavily modified version of the original M40, which fires a 7.62mm round and was first fielded during the Vietnam War. The A6 model began fielding in 2016.

The Corps selected the legacy, Accuracy International/Remington Arms-manufactured Mk13 Mod 7 in 2018, chambered in .300 Winchester Magnum. U.S. Special Operations Command fielded an earlier variant.

The Mk22 traces its origins to a SOCOM program aimed at improving sniper rifle options for individual shooters. SOCOM officials first reported seeking a new precision sniper rifle in a late-2009 announcement. The command awarded the contract for the Mk22 Mod 0 in 2019.

The Mk22 weighs 15.2 pounds, according to the company website. The Mk13 Mod 7 and M40A6 weigh 11.4 pounds and 16.5 pounds, respectively. Both use a five-round magazine.

The Mk22s effective firing range is 1,500 meters, while the effective firing ranges of the M40A6 and Mk13 Mod 7 are 800 meters and 1,300 meters, respectively.

All three legacy rifles are bolt-action.
(WKBN)  The Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force is offering a reward for information that would lead to the capture of a wanted fugitive.

Read next: Grove City man who worked as teacher facing child sex abuse material charges

Marshals say Daryl Hall, 38, is wanted for a federal release violation.

Hall is described as a Black man, standing 6 feet tall and weighing approximately 230 pounds. Hall is known to frequent the Youngstown and Cleveland areas.

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Those with information on Hall are asked to contact the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force at 1-866-4WANTED, or send a tip through the Marshals website.

Tipsters can remain anonymous, and reward money is available, according to a news release from the Marshals.

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A Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspector checks out one of two reactors at the Vogtle power plant that came on line in Georgia, the only nuclear power plants built in the U.S. in decades. Photo courtesy Nuclear Regulatory CommissionPhoto courtesy Nuclear Regulatory Commission

In their commentary, Maryland must not incentivize more nuclear power, Jorge Aguilar and Tim Judson trot out the normal arguments against nuclear power, and some of their concerns are valid. What they fail to recognize is that except for the two recently completed Vogtle plants, the 93 reactors operating in the USA today are all of 1970s technology.

In the last 50 years, the technology has made huge strides. Comparing the new generation of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) to those now operating is like comparing todays super computers to the IBM 360 system of the 1970s with its tape drives, vacuum tubes and punched card input. No comparison.

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Todays nuclear industry has designed a new generation of power plants that, among other attributes, are:

Factory assembled rather than field assembled, dramatically reducing the cost of production models.

Shutdown-safe without pumps or off-site power required.

Many operate at low pressures which reduces the hazards and higher costs for the old 2,200 psi plants.

Operate at temperatures nearly twice that of the current operating reactors, which produces higher pressure steam and nearly 40% more thermal efficiency.

Available to be used for process heat as well as electric generation.

Designed to be combined to meet the incremental power needs of a user from 100 MWe (megawatts electric) to 1,000 MWe.

Designed to have a smaller footprint than the prior designs and can be located on old coal power plant sites where much of the electric infrastructure already exists.

However, SMRs face two hurdles. First, is that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is not accustomed to the new technologies and is struggling to determine how to review and license these new plants. Secondly, we must build prototypes of each of these innovative designs to know how easy they are to build, the projected cost of the nth model, and their actual operating efficiencies. Russia and China already have SMRs operating. We are behind.

Unfortunately, with electric deregulation in the 1990s, most electric utilities are no longer able to commit to the new plants and take the risk of the new technologies. Fortunately, data centers have stepped forward to underwrite the first commercial plants designed by innovative firms like TerraPower, Kairos Energy and X-Energy.

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If the NRC can move expeditiously, these first plants will be in operation by 2030. Indeed, the SMRs will not make a substantial impact on total power generation in the USA until the 2040s. We could have begun building the prototypes 10-15 years ago. If we had, the most efficient plants would now be in mass production. A missed opportunity.

It is also worth noting that since the Three Mile Island Unit 2 accident in 1979, we have had about a collective 4,500 years of accident-free nuclear plant operation in the USA. That is a very strong industrial safety record. Without diminishing the severity of the TMI accident, no one was killed or injured and there was no property damage other than to the plant itself; hardly the worst industrial accident ever, as often claimed by those opposed to nuclear power.

What has inspired the high-tech industry seeking to build out their data centers to go with nuclear is that it is the only viable, CO2-free power source that is reliable 24 hours per day. Solar panels only produce output for about six hours per day and wind turbines average full power output for about 33% of the time.

For a 1 gigawatt data center, 4 gigawatts of solar panels would be required and battery storage for three-quarters of the output to keep the center operating around the clock. With small modular reactors, the same data center could be reliably powered with 11 modules of 100 MWe each. One module could be on standby or undergoing maintenance or refueling while the other 10 meet the 1 GW demand.

A mix of wind, solar and small modular reactors is the ideal for a carbon-dioxide-free energy sector. Maryland should endorse nuclear plants in its energy portfolio.
A Massachusetts man was arrested after authorities say he led troopers on a high-speed, multi-town chase in a car that was stolen in New Hampshire on Monday morning.

Troopers patrolling the southbound side of Interstate 93 spotted a Mercedes that was reported stolen in Derry just before 10 a.m., according to Massachusetts State Police.

State police say the troopers initiated a pursuit, which spanned several communities along the southbound side of Interstate 495, as well as Route 2.

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When the chase reached speeds as high as 90 mph, troopers terminated their pursuit and used the Mercedes built-in GPS to track the vehicle, according to state police.

The driver of the Mercedes, 40-year-old Methuen native Andrew McInnes, was later located in West Boylston and taken into custody.

It wasnt immediately clear what charges McInnes faces or when hell be called to court.

An investigation is ongoing.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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The Healey administration is aiming to eventually limit shelter costs to $350 million per year compared to the more than $1 billion dollars spent this fiscal year.

Governor Healey announced her plan on Friday that would bring significant changes over the next 19 months.

It includes winding down the use of 56 hotels and motels across the state and cutting down the shelter stay limit from nine months to six months.

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Those steps will come with increased resources for finding long-term housing.

Healey is proposing that the rental stipend families can receive under states HomeBASE program increase from $15,000 per family per year to $25,000 per family per year.

The landlord gets payments from HomeBASE. As a familys income increases, the goal is to get their income so theyre no longer dependent on HomeBASE, said Jeff Thielman, President and CEO of the International Institute of New England.

The state intends to slash the 7,500-family limit across shelter system to below 3,500.

To make the Governors plan work, the shelter system and all of us who work in it, have to work faster than we are right now, said Thielman.

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The plans to further limit shelter stays would need the approval of lawmakers.

If approved, families considered more capable of supporting themselves could potentially face 30-day shelter limits.

I think moving to a six-month limit is going to be tricky, said Thielman. There is a shortage of available units all across the state.

Thielman said most of the migrant families his organization is working with in the shelter system have been temporarily paroled into the country for humanitarian reasons.

He said many have applied for or have received temporary protective status.

President-elect Trump has said he plans to end those legal entry programs.

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Its highly unlikely that President Trump will have the ability to revoke someones lawful status, said Thielman.

Trump has said that the more than one million migrants who are in the U.S. under Humanitarian Parole will be subject to deportations.

While Massachusetts is not a sanctuary state, it has eight sanctuary cities.

Mayors in those communities and Governor Healey have all said that they will not target people based on their immigration status.

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
Zakaria Suleiman Alloush (2nd L), who fled Syria with his family in 2013, is seen with his family at his war-damaged apartment in Homs, central Syria, on Nov. 14, 2024. According to UN data, more than 400,000 Syrian refugees had returned from Lebanon to Syria as of Sept. 23. For al-Khalif, Alloush and their fellow Syrian returnees, the path to rebuilding lives in a war-torn homeland remains fraught with obstacles. (Photo by Monsef Memari/Xinhua)

by Hummam Sheikh Ali

DEIR BA'ALBA, Syria, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Mohammad al-Khalif, a Syrian fleeing to Lebanon in 2012 with his family, recently made the arduous journey back to his hometown of the Deir Ba'alba neighborhood, one of the conflict flashpoints back in the early years of the Syrian civil war, in Syria's central province of Homs.

Married with six children -- four sons and two daughters born between 2009-2024 -- al-Khalif told Xinhua he had established a semblance of normalcy in Lebanon throughout the years, by taking odd jobs and receiving assistance from the United Nations.

"We were living (in Lebanon). Life was difficult, but we've managed," he said.

However, the onset of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon shattered that fragile stability. Fearing for his family's safety, al-Khalif felt having no choice but to return to Syria under "difficult circumstances."

"Life was hard, and the war there added new difficulties. It's displacement after displacement," he lamented.

The way back home was not easy and pleasant, as al-Khalif and his family had to charge through constant Israeli shelling on Lebanon to reach the other side of the border. The journey, which normally takes three hours, is now stretched to 12.

And after finally returning to his home in Syria, al-Khalif was shocked to discover that the house once he resided in is now windowless and doorless, with no water or services. "We're trying to fix it, but it's difficult without help," he said.

Having been back in Syria for about a month, al-Khalif now finds himself in a new hassle -- getting a proper job. "In Syria now, we are safe. There is no fear of war. But I worry about my children and my wife. I fear I won't be able to provide them with a good life, with food and drink," he said.

Zakaria Suleiman Alloush, 47, has a similar story. He fled Syria in 2013 with his family, seeking safety in Lebanon. For years, he supported his five children, aged 11 to 22, through agricultural and other strenuous work.

"We left our home (in Syria) with sadness," Alloush recalled. But as the Israel-Hezbollah conflict escalated, Lebanon no longer felt safe. War, violence, and displacement -- the tragic circumstances he had fled in Syria -- played out again in Lebanon, a place he had believed would provide sanctuary.

Returning to Syria brought little solace. The familiar places he once knew were gone, reduced to rubble. "Our homes, the familiar landmarks we grew up with... nothing remained," he said. "It's a feeling of severe pain."

Like al-Khalif, Alloush struggles with rebuilding. "Our homes need everything -- doors, windows, heating. We also need food and aid," he said.

According to UN data, more than 400,000 Syrian refugees had returned from Lebanon to Syria as of Sept. 23. For al-Khalif, Alloush and their fellow Syrian returnees, the path to rebuilding lives in a war-torn homeland remains fraught with obstacles.

Across Syria, the deep scars of a civil war that began over 13 years ago remain stark. Residential buildings are filled with gaping holes where windows once were, their facades marred by years of conflict; Families are draping sacks and tarpaulins over the empty frames, attempting to shield themselves from the crawling winter; The makeshift coverings are fluttering in the wind.

Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh on Sunday, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said the government needs to continue "to do what it has done best so far, and to provide protection and security for those who are returning."

"We need to see that the international community lives up to its responsibility and increases its funding to Syria in this very critical situation," he added. 

Zakaria Suleiman Alloush, who fled Syria with his family in 2013, opens the door to his war-damaged apartment in Homs, central Syria, on Nov. 14, 2024. According to UN data, more than 400,000 Syrian refugees had returned from Lebanon to Syria as of Sept. 23. For al-Khalif, Alloush and their fellow Syrian returnees, the path to rebuilding lives in a war-torn homeland remains fraught with obstacles. (Photo by Monsef Memari/Xinhua)

Mohammad al-Khalif (5th L), a Syrian fleeing to Lebanon with his family in 2012, is seen with his children and elderly parents in his war-damaged apartment in Homs, central Syria, on Nov. 14, 2024. According to UN data, more than 400,000 Syrian refugees had returned from Lebanon to Syria as of Sept. 23. For al-Khalif, Alloush and their fellow Syrian returnees, the path to rebuilding lives in a war-torn homeland remains fraught with obstacles. (Photo by Monsef Memari/Xinhua)

Mohammad al-Khalif (3rd L), a Syrian fleeing to Lebanon with his family in 2012, is seen with his children outside his war-damaged apartment in Homs, central Syria, on Nov. 14, 2024. According to UN data, more than 400,000 Syrian refugees had returned from Lebanon to Syria as of Sept. 23. For al-Khalif, Alloush and their fellow Syrian returnees, the path to rebuilding lives in a war-torn homeland remains fraught with obstacles. (Photo by Monsef Memari/Xinhua)

Mohammad al-Khalif (2nd R), a Syrian fleeing to Lebanon with his family in 2012, is seen with his children in his war-damaged apartment in Homs, central Syria, on Nov. 14, 2024. According to UN data, more than 400,000 Syrian refugees had returned from Lebanon to Syria as of Sept. 23. For al-Khalif, Alloush and their fellow Syrian returnees, the path to rebuilding lives in a war-torn homeland remains fraught with obstacles. (Photo by Monsef Memari/Xinhua)
CHICAGO  If the life and times of Chicago Alderman Daniel Solis a decade ago were pitched as the plot of a daytime soap opera, it might be rejected as too fantastical.

Sexual trysts at massage parlors, procuring erectile dysfunction pills from friends, an affair with his Chinese translator, a bag of cash handed over at a hotel in Beijing, a breakup with his wife, and near financial ruin  all playing out over a period of several years when Solis was chair of the City Councils powerful Zoning Committee.

Solis complicated back story began to emerge Monday in the corruption trial of former House Speaker Michael Madigan, where Solis, who agreed to become an FBI mole in 2016 after being confronted with some of the salacious details, is the prosecutions key witness.

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So far, Solis has walked the jury through many of the allegations contained in a bombshell FBI search warrant affidavit that was inadvertently made public in 2019, including Solis involvement with a number of Chicago political power players.

Among them: Solis sister, Democratic political consultant Patti Solis Doyle, who he said offered to split a $100,000 payment with him from the developer of the Nobu Hotel, who needed Solis help with zoning, according to Solis testimony.

She said she could split it with me, Solis said. I told her I couldnt do it. It would be illegal.

Solis testified he also received $200,000 for referring his sister to another friend, Brian Hynes, who wanted her on board with his company Vendor Assistance Program, which made tens of millions of dollars buying up unpaid bills from the state and then collecting the late fees.

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Solis also testified about other friends, such as Juan Gaytan, the influential head of Monterrey Security, showering him with perks like flights and hotels in Las Vegas and tickets to Bulls and Bears games that Solis never declared on any ethics reports.

I made a mistake, Solis said when asked why he accepted the favors. I thought they were my friends and I was wrong.

Solis, 71, the former 25th Ward alderman, took the witness stand late last week to begin what will be a fascinating dive into one of the biggest public corruption cases in Chicagos sordid history.

His testimony  which could stretch well into December  will include clandestine video recordings Solis made in face-to-face meetings with Madigan, where the longtime House leader and head of the state Democratic Party allegedly used his official influence to shake down developers for business for his private tax appeal law firm.

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When a prosecution witness has a checkered past like Solis, prosecutors frequently ask about the alleged wrongdoing early in their testimony. Fronting the information strategically aims to take the sting out of it, rather than let defense attorneys seize on it during cross-examination.

But rarely does a witness come with quite so much baggage.

Solis testified that Roberto Caldero, a college buddy of his who became a lobbyist and consultant, would call Solis for help when his clients had problems with the citys red tape. At the same time, Caldero connected Solis with free tabs of Viagra and  to the obvious amusement of at least one juror  erotic massages.

Why didnt you just get a prescription? Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur asked.

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It was more convenient and quicker than contacting my doctor, Solis said.

Why was it, do you think, Mr. Caldero was willing to do those things for you? MacArthur asked.

He wanted to influence me in his requests, Solis said.

The back-scratching continued, he said: Solis got a loan from a bank that needed help with expressway signage; his sons graduation party was hosted and paid for by developer Fred Latsko; he got a six-figure off-the-books loan from a businessman who wanted Soliss help connecting him with Emanuel.

But the most dramatic revelations came from Soliss testimony about his time in China.

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Solis visited China and Taiwan multiple times from 2005 to 2013, mostly in his capacity as a public official, to understand the 2008 Olympic Games effect on Beijing when Chicago was considering its Olympic bid, for example, or to learn about Chinese culture in order to better support Chinatown, Solis said.

Shortly after a trip in 2009, Solis  who was married  began an affair with his translator, Bing Tie. He said Tie introduced him to developer Lumeng Li, who was interested in projects in Chinatown. Tie and Solis accompanied Li on a tour of his properties in different Chinese cities.

At one point, he was in a Shanghai hotel room with Tie and Li. On the bed, Solis saw a briefcase full of Chinese cash, he said. It was $10,000, Solis said based on what Tie told him.

I think (Li) was giving it to me to influence me in the work he was trying to do in the States, Solis testified.

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Tie took the suitcase off the bed and used the money to buy furniture for the condo Solis was renting from her, he testified.

She gave me her receipts for everything, he said.

Soliss marriage began to fall apart in 2010 after his wife learned of his affair, Solis testified. They were separated for a few years, during which time Solis paid his wifes rent and his sons private school tuition as well as his own expenses, Solis testified. The house he and his wife shared had been foreclosed on, putting his credit in the gutter, he said.

By 2013 he was getting calls from bill collectors, one of whom he lied to and said he was out of a job, he testified.

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I was exasperated, he said. I think I was about to go into a meeting.

Madigan, 82, of Chicago, who served for decades as speaker of the Illinois House before stepping down in 2021, faces racketeering charges alleging he ran his state and political operations like a criminal enterprise.

He is charged alongside Michael McClain, 77, a former ComEd contract lobbyist from downstate Quincy, who for years was one of Madigans closest confidants. Both men have pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.

Solis testimony is the culmination of a saga that began nearly eight and a half years ago, when FBI agents confronted him at his home in June 2016 and showed him evidence theyd gathered of his own misdeeds.

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The feds had been prepared that day to raid Solis City Hall offices. Instead, he flipped, offering what prosecutors have described as singular cooperation that helped bring down not only Madigan, but another Chicago political giant in former Alderman Edward M. Burke.

Lawyers for Madigan and McClain, meanwhile, will have plenty of ammunition to bring to what is expected to be a lengthy and grueling cross-examination.

Unlike in last years trial of Burke, in which Solis was called as a defense witness, hell be subjected to a much broader line of questioning this time around, with the defense probing not only Solis unprecedented deferred-prosecution deal, but also episodes from the FBIs investigation into his own misdeeds that could prove personally embarrassing.

In his opening statement to the jury last month, Madigan attorney Tom Breen painted Solis as a BS-er with a decrepit personal and professional life, someone who lied to cut a sweetheart deal with the feds that not only will keep him out of prison, but also help him maintain a fat city pension.

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Earlier Monday, jurors got their first look at a secretly recorded video of the then-powerful House speaker soliciting business for his law firm from the developer of a Chinatown hotel project.

Were not looking for a quick killing here, Madigan said near the end of the August 2014 meeting, which was recorded on a hidden camera by developer See Wong, who was cooperating with the FBI. Were interested in a long term relationship.

Before the video was played, Solis testified hed arranged the meeting at Madigans request.

At the time, Solis was not cooperating. In fact, the meeting took place nearly two years before the FBI confronted him with evidence of his own wrongdoing, leading to Solis decision to go undercover himself.

The charges against Madigan do not allege anything illegal occurred during the 2014 meeting. But a state-owned parcel of land discussed by Madigan and the developers would later become a key focus of prosecutors, who allege Madigan used it as a way to squeeze the developer for business.

In the video, which was taken more than a decade ago, a much younger looking Madigan came into the office carrying a bottle of water and shook Wongs hand. Also in the room was Vincent Bud Getzendanner, Madigans law partner. The developer, Kin Chong, who spoke only Chinese, was mainly off screen.

Madigans face appeared intermittently as he made small talk about Chicagos Chinatown and how it compared to others on the West Coast. After a few minutes, Solis came in with two assistants and some coffees. They then got down to brass tacks, with Madigan explaining his firm and what they do.

We do quite a few hotels and, uh, we have a little different approach to representation on hotels than the other law firms that do the work, Madigan said. And, and Bud can explain background, but it does make a difference in terms of the results that you get from the assessor.

After Madigans partner gave a lengthy spiel about the firms approach to reducing property taxes, talk turned to a the Chinatown parking lot along the Red Line on Wentworth Avenue.

Solis told the jury he was not expecting the parking lot to come up.

In the recording, Solis jumped in and explained that the parking lot was part of a corridor of land once owned by Tony Rezko  the longtime influence peddler who was convicted of corruption as part of Operation Board Games, the federal investigation that took down Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Oh yeah, Madigan said when Solis brought up Rezko.

After Wong spreads a map on the table, Madigan appeared to study it. Is this owned by the state? the speaker asked at one point.

The parking lot? Yes, Solis said.

What, what about that vacant land? Madigan asked. This is east of the CTA. This is Clark Street.

The conversation then turned back to the hotel project, which was a proposed Best Western with about 60 rooms. After a lot of talk about how much Madigans firm might save them in taxes, Solis jumped in again.

There is no better firm than this firm in terms of doing real estate taxes in the state, Solis said. I think thats not only my opinion, its across (the board).

After making his comment about a quick killing, Madigan also extolled the virtues of his firm.

And in terms of the quality of representation in terms of this law firm we dont take a second seat to anybody, he said.

As the meeting broke up, Wong said the developer wanted to take a picture with the speaker. The video showed Madigan standing together with the others on the screen of Wongs cell phone as he took the photo.

After Madigan left, Wong and Solis walked to the elevators of the Madigan & Getzendanner offices on North LaSalle Street. Wong told the alderman that Chong would love to give the business to Mr. Speaker but the zoning change was critical.

If he works with the speaker, he will get anything he needs for that hotel, Solis said. And hes gonna benefit from being with the Speaker.

Before they parted, Solis told Wong, I like your shoes.

After the video concluded, Solis testified that the zoning change requested by the developers passed his committee. But the Best Western ever never built, he said.

____
Nov. 25 (UPI) -- A large fire swept through a shanty town near the port area of Manila in the Philippines on Sunday night, destroying about 1,000 homes and leaving more than 8,000 people homeless.

Authorities said no deaths have been reported in the massive fire in the Isla Putting Batso neighborhood of the Tondo district, while a cause remained under investigation. The shanty homes, which were built virtually next to each other, helped the intense blaze jump from structure to structure, Manila's disaster management office said.

Fire engines appeared on the streets while fire boats arrived from Manila Bay to fight the fast-spreading blaze. The Philippines Air Force also employed two helicopters to scoop up water from the bay to pour on burning homes.

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Isla Putting Bato near the Manila port is one of the capital's biggest slum areas with more than 650,000 residents.

Manila Mayor Maria Sheilah "Honey" Lacuna-Pangan encouraged residents to apply for emergency aid while the government developed a response to the large fire.

"Please be patient," Lacuna-Pangan said to residents during a visit to the fire-struck area, according to CNN. "We will keep coming to deliver help. No one wanted this to happen.

"We will help all of you. Don't lose hope. Let's help each other out ahead of Christmas time. We really hope to get you back to your homes."
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPMs Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.

The Undisclosed Sex Assault Settlement Wasnt Enough?

With Matt Gaetz out, Pete Hegseths nomination for secretary of defense comes under closer scrutiny. Its not just the sexual assault allegation he settled in 2017  and failed to disclose to the Trump transition team  thats cause for concern.

If we use the Trump II trifecta of retribution, corruption, and destruction as the analytical framework, Hegseth probably best slots in under the destruction theme. He is someone with nowhere near the management experience expected of someone running the Pentagon; he is eager to root out wokeness in the military; and he comes to the job with a passel of other right-wing notions and agenda items.

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A sampling of the latest reporting on Hegseth:

TPMs Hunter Walker: Hegseth Railed Against Insidious Security Measures That Kept Far-Right Extremists Out Of Armed Forces

WaPo: Pete Hegseths Army unit in Iraq was rocked by a war-crimes case after he left

WSJ: How Hegseth Cultivated an Image That Caught Trumps Eye

I should note that the MAGA impulse towards destruction is closely connected to the corruption threat. Grifters prey on the chaos, the breakdown of normal policies and procedures, and the undermining of watchdogs and other accountability mechanisms. The enormous amount of money coursing through the Pentagon is ripe for even further abuse than weve become accustomed to.

Trumps Second Choice For AG: Pam Bondi

To help you familiarize yourself with former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi:

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Philip Bump: Pam Bondi has shown how willing she is to use her authority to help Trump

WaPo: Pam Bondi, Trumps AG pick, said prosecutors will be prosecuted

Politico: Is she on our side?: Jan. 6 defendants and allies puzzle over Bondi nomination

Greg Sargent: Matt Gaetzs withdrawal from consideration as Donald Trumps attorney general is unquestionably a big victory for the rule of law. But now that Trump has put forth Pam Bondithe former Florida attorney general whose loyalty to Trump is almost as slavish as Gaetzsit raises a question: Why assume shell be any less wedded to his agenda of unleashing the Justice Department on his enemies and otherwise reducing it to a tool of his most corrupt designs and whims?

Point Of Clarification

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) seemingly settled the confusion about whether he only resigned from the current Congress but might return in the new Congress, having already been re-elected before his resignation. I do not intend to join the 119th Congress, Trumps failed presumptive nominee for attorney general said in an interview.

Matt Gaetz Is Now On Cameo

After announcing he would not return to Congress, Matt Gaetz appears to be trying out a new career option: creating personalized videos for his fans on Cameo.NBC News

JD Vances Just Reward

(Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Its comical watching Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, a first-term senator, being tasked with steering the most controversial Trump nominations  like Gaetz and Hegseth  through the Senate.

The Trump II Clown Show

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

WaPo: Trump health picks largely untested in fighting disease outbreaks

Project 2025 Is Back, Baby!

Just making sure you didnt miss Donald Trumps bait-and-switch of disavowing Project 2025 toward the end of the presidential campaign when it was controversial and then immediately turning back to it for appointees to his new administration:

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TPM: Project 2025 Would Like Its Cabinet Now

NBC News: Trumps transition team turns to Project 2025 after disavowing it during the campaign

NYT: Trump Picks Key Figure in Project 2025 for Powerful Budget Role

Joyce Vance: Project 2025: Its On (Predictably)

Trump Transition Miscellany

Politico: Trump team barred from agencies amid legal standoff

NYT: Trump Is Running His Transition Team on Secret Money

WaPo: Sharp elbows and raised voices: Inside Trumps bumpy transition

Trump Prosecution Watch

Jan. 6 case: Trump plans to fire Jack Smiths team and assemble investigative teams within the Justice Department to hunt for evidence in battleground states that fraud tainted the 2020 election, the WaPo reported.

Hush money case: Trial judge cancels Trumps sentencing for now.

RUDY!

With a motion for civil contempt already looming over him in Washington, D.C., another judge on Friday warned Rudy Giuliani that on pain of contempt he must comply with requests from the Georgia election workers he defamed to surrender his assets squirreled away in an increasingly controversial storage unit on New Yorks Long Island.HuffPost

Sign Of The Times

Almost every week, small white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups have been descending on downtowns, gathering in public parks or rallying on the grounds of state houses and courthouses across the country.NYT

Fair Winds and Following Seas

PHILADELPHIA, PA- JULY 10, 2014: The SS United States is slowly rusting away in Philadelphia. The ship has been docked at a pier on the Philadelphia waterfront for 17 years and has been the target of numerous save our ship schemes, all of which have failed. (Photo by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Every time I take I-95 through Philadelphia, I crane for a view of the S.S. United States, the largest U.S.-built ocean liner, rusting away at a pier on the Delaware River since 1996. She still holds the record for fastest transatlantic crossing, in both directions. Built at the tail end of the era of ocean liners, she cruised at 35 mph.

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Repeated efforts to rehabilitate the S.S. United States over the decades have all failed and she will soon be towed to waters off the coast of Florida and sunken as a manmade reef. Photographer Stephen Mallon went aboard for NPR recently; and even though she was long ago stripped of her fittings, his photos show she still carries herself with a certain dignity.

Do you like Morning Memo? Let us know!
Matt Gaetz took to social media over the weekend and toyed with the idea of running for Florida governor.

Gaetz spent his first weekend after a failed bid to become President-elect Donald Trump's pick for U.S. Attorney General making videos for $500 each on Cameo and responding to supporters on his X account, the social media website formerly known as Twitter.

Former Florida Rep. Anthony Sabatini said in tweet on Saturday that Gaetz will be the next governor of Florida. Gaetz responded with an image of the Florida state flag.

Gaetz previously said he was not interested in running for governor, but that was before the events of the last two weeks. Gaetz resigned from Congress after Trump named him as Attorney General, but his Senate confirmation was weighed down by allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use that were set to be detailed in a House Ethics Committee report. Gaetz vehemently denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

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Another supporter tweeted Gaetz could be appointed as a special counsel in the Justice Department to investigate corruption in the department, or be appointed to fill Marco Rubio's U.S. Senate seat when he leaves to lead the State Department  the conservative magazine the National Review reported last week that a source close to Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would not appoint Gaetz to the seat  or run for governor.

Thanks for the advice.



Some interesting ideas!  https://t.co/KEf9u1cqIF  Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 24, 2024

Gaetz reposted the tweet with a comment saying "some interesting ideas!"

In a third tweet Monday morning, Gaetz had a message most Floridians would support.

"If I run for Florida Governor, it will be on a platform to outlaw frost," Gaetz said.

So true.



If I run for Florida Governor, it will be on a platform to outlaw frost. pic.twitter.com/1BRjkN5cil  Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 25, 2024

Is Matt Gaetz still in Congress?

Gaetz resigned from the current 118th Congress and in his resignation letter said he did not intend to take his oath of office in the 119th Congress that will be seated in January. Some have wondered if Gaetz could technically still take up his office in the new congress. But on Friday Gaetz ended speculation saying he will not return to Congress in the next session.

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Im still going to be in the fight, but its going to be from a new perch. I do not intend to join the 119th Congress, Gaetz said in a livestreamed interview on The Charlie Kirk Show.

Matt Gaetz investigation

Gaetz had been under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. Gaetz has vehemently denied the allegations and, in September, sent the House Committee a letter refuting the allegations.

The probe centers around allegations that he had sexual relations with a minor and paid for her travel after he was allegedly introduced to her by Joel Greenberg, a one-time friend who is serving an 11-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to sex trafficking in 2022.

Gaetz's resignation from Congress immediately ended any investigation by the committee, but the committee could still release their findings.

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Files containing statements from witnesses that gave damaging testimony against Matt Gaetz were hacked last week. The hacked files include an unredacted deposition of a woman who reportedly had sex with Gaetz when she was 17 years old.

Greenberg's attorney, Fritz Wermuth, notified other attorneys in the case that unredacted documents were accessed by an "unauthorized third party" on Nov. 18.

"The exhibits included, for instance, unredacted copies of the deposition transcripts of (three witnesses),' Wermuth wrote in the email.

One of the witnesses named was the woman who was 17 at the time of the party. Other witnesses in the case said that she had "access to the bedrooms in the Dorworth Residence to engage in sexual activities" as well as "alcohol, cocaine, ecstasy also known as molly, and marijuana," according to publicly available court documents.

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Several of the witnesses in the defamation case have also testified to the House Ethics Committee. Florida Attorney Joel Leppard told ABC News on Monday that he represents two women who testified to the committee that Gaetz paid them for sex through Venmo, and one witness said she saw Gaetz having sex with her then 17-year-old friend at a Florida house party in July 2017.

Simultaneously, a court fight is playing out in Central Florida over whether three witness statements that reportedly place Gaetz at a Lake Mary-area "sex party" on July 15, 2017, can be released to the public.

The statements are from the 17-year-old at the center of the scandal involving Gaetz, and two other women.

The statements came during depositions and affidavits in a defamation lawsuit between Greenberg's family and the alleged host of the party, Christopher Dorworth, a former state representative and lobbyist.

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Dorworth dropped the lawsuit earlier this year, but a filing for attorney fees by Greenbergs attorney included the witness affidavits. The full statements have remained sealed, and there is a pending issue on whether the full statements will be made part of the court record.

Gaetz said in his interview with Kirk that the news of the investigation was a smear campaign to bring up false "years old" allegations of the "most salacious, and clickbaity flavor possible."

"In this case, those allegations were coming from sources that Merrick Garland's DOJ had already deemed not credible," Gaetz said. "Like if the things in the House Ethics report were true, I would be under indictment and probably in a prison cell, but of course, they're false."

Gaetz said when you test allegations against other testimony and evidence, they fall apart "very quickly." He also questioned the political motivations of the Republicans on the House Ethics Committee and said they were loyal to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who Gaetz led the charge to force out of the speakership last year.

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"I was dealing with a politically motivated body," Gaetz said. "They didn't like me because of what I did to Kevin McCarthy. All of them were all hand picked by Kevin McCarthy, and they had an axe to grind."

Who is Matt Gaetzs father?

Matt Gaetz is the son of veteran politician Florida Sen. Don Gaetz.

Sen. Don Gaetz was re-elected to the Florida Senate in November, beating weekly newspaper publisher Lisa Newell, with 187,182 votes (65%), to Newell's 102,722 votes (35%).

Its the second go the Republican businessman has taken in the Florida Legislature after a 10-year stint in the Florida Senate from 2006 to 2016, where Gaetz reached the top post of Senate President. He also chaired the Triumph Gulf Coast Board, and served as Superintendent of Okaloosa Public Schools.

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Don Gaetz started his career as a hospital administrator in Jacksonville, before he founded VITA Healthcare Corporation. He sold that business for nearly half a billion dollars in 2004.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Matt Gaetz Florida governor run speculation begins
Mayor Brandon Johnson said Monday he planned to restore scores of unfilled Chicago Police Department positions tasked with implementing the federal consent decree into the 2025 city budget following weeks of backlash that his plans to cut those vacant jobs would endanger police reform efforts.

In a statement, the mayors office said Johnson would introduce a budget amendment adding back the 162 vacancies he originally slashed in next years budget plan  jobs spread throughout the Police Department, including the offices of constitutional policing and community policing. The U-turn is the latest instance of the mayor reversing course on a controversial provision in next years budget, which faces a $1 billion hole, including backing down on an original proposal for a $300 million property tax hike.

My administration is taking significant steps forward to fully support the implementation of CPDs consent decree reforms and ensure effective constitutional policing, Johnson said in the statement. The investments we are making in our balanced budget reflect our commitment to improving community policing and a better, stronger, safer Chicago. We see progress in key areas. As I have always said, we have a commitment to reform, and we will continue to make the investments to fund our obligations under the consent decree.

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Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul had warned Johnson that the mayors move to slash those roles would risk the city being held in contempt of court for failing to comply with the order, according to a copy of the letter that was obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request this month. That same day, Maggie Hickey, the independent monitor assessing the citys compliance with the consent decree, warned that slashing the positions would be a devastating blow to CPD reform.

On Monday, in a move clearly designed to quell the criticism, the same mayoral release quoted the attorney general as saying he supported Johnsons turnabout.

I appreciate that the concerns that I expressed regarding the proposed cuts to CPDs budget were heard and addressed, and I am encouraged by the positive conversations I had with the corporation counsel, Raoul said in the mayoral statement. Immediately following Raouls comments earlier this month, Johnson had defended his record on the consent decree but did not otherwise indicate an openness to changing his mind.

Even Johnsons handpicked head of police, CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling, had suggested he fought against the proposed cuts. He said last week he did not want to break that momentum and I want to make sure that we keep going in the right direction toward consent decree compliance. In the Monday statement from the mayors office, Snelling said reversing those cuts would continue the progress the Department has made.

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The Chicago Police Department has thus far made sluggish progress in complying with the binding court order that came about more than five years ago following the Chicago police murder of Laquan McDonald. Hickeys latest report covering the first half of 2024 found the city is fully complaint with just 9% of its requirements, up from 7% in the previous monitoring period. Secondary compliance  which means cops have been trained on the policies  was at 37% of monitorable provisions in the same period, up from 35% compared with the last report.

Johnson ran for mayor in 2023 on a platform of police reform. But a nearly $1 billion fiscal gap in his second budget season is forcing him to try to make up the deficit without angering various City Council factions who have become increasingly fed up with his rocky tenure thus far.

It remains unclear precisely what the 162 positions were or how much deeper the budget crisis will get with the mayors decision to restore them. Johnsons statement was silent on both issues.

Johnsons initial $2.1 billion Chicago police budget plan for next year called for cutting 456 vacant positions, including 358 civilian positions, many of which were dedicated to reform efforts. The proposal slashed staffing for the Office of Constitutional Policing and Reform by 57%, from 65 positions to 28. Established by interim CPD Superintendent Charlie Beck in 2020, the office was meant to combine all of the functions tied to consent decree efforts under one office, including training, professional counseling and reform management.

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CPDs training division, which trains recruits for service and current employees for promotions, would shrink by some 27% under Johnsons initial proposal, taking it to 237 employees.

The professional counseling division that provides mental health care and other assessments for CPD employees would have dropped by about the same percentage, from 35 to 25 employees. The reform management group responsible for tracking reform efforts consistent with the consent decree would shrink from 19 to 17 under the original proposal.

The Office of Community Policing would have seen its staffing dip from 141 to 55 employees, a decrease of 61% under Johnsons first proposal. That office coordinates with other city departments to create a more cohesive partnership between CPD and the neighborhoods they serve, according to the departments 2023 annual report.

Aside from Raoul and Hickey, several aldermen and outside groups expressed serious concerns about the impact the cuts would have on CPDs reform efforts and its bottom line, arguing the civilian consent decree employees are often paid less than sworn officers and that their work would help the department lessen police misconduct cases that end up costing the city millions of dollars annually.

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The most recent warning came Monday morning from one of the citys oversight agencies, the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, which urged the council to reverse course.

While acknowledging the citys severe budget challenges, CCPSA President Anthony Driver noted in the commissions annual budget analysis that slowed reform efforts means more suffering and higher costs. Just as the City has not proposed cutting staff that generate revenue, the City should not cut staff whose work is essential to improve police practices, reduce harm, and reduce the costs associated with bad or unconstitutional policing.

Most of the budget cuts came from the transformational civilian positions the department added just last year to help with investigations, training, services for crime victims, analyzing data and developing policies. Of the 456 vacant positions that were eliminated, 358 were civilian jobs. Cuts to the constitutional policing or training offices, CCPSA warned, would undercut efforts to reduce harm to civilians and reduce lawsuits.

In the long run, the proposed cuts may cost much more than they save, the report concluded.

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A coalition of policing and consent decree advocates applauded the mayors reversal Monday. The group of eight, including Driver and the citys former executive director for constitutional policing and reform Robert Boik, said, We cannot afford to relent on police reform or risk the city being held in contempt of court for not meeting the Consent Decree mandates.

The consent decree roles have hardly been the only aspect of the mayors $17.3 billion spending plan that has drawn complaints. His proposed $300 million property tax hike was resoundingly shot down 50-0 this month, and a proposed 35% hike on the city liquor tax has drawn similar enmity.

Intent on upping the pressure, a group of 14 aldermen who are often mayoral critics commissioned an online poll that stated 18% of respondents had a favorable or somewhat favorable view of the mayor.

The poll, from the firm Change Research, was online, only in English and sought responses from more than 800 Chicagoans by targeting certain Facebook and Instagram users. It was also sent directly to voters via text message. Aldermen who commissioned the poll were some of the most conservative-leaning members of the council, including Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th; Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th; and Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd. The group has been pushing for further cuts to city spending amid the city budget talks.

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According to the poll, 78% of respondents who said they were familiar with their alderman said they would be more likely to vote for another candidate if their current alderman voted for a $150 million property tax increase without prioritizing other options to balance the city budget, and 67% said they would blame Johnson  not council members  if a budget failed to pass before the end of the year. While respondents favored across-the-board cuts over fresh taxes, the results showed most thought the city was spending too little on mental health services, addressing housing costs and homelessness, and public safety.

Chicago Tribunes Jake Sheridan and Sam Charles contributed.
State Sen. John McGuire, shown here campaigning with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in Louisa County in May, won his first election in Virginia's 5th Congressional District earlier this month. (Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)

Three weeks after being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, Virginia state Sen. John McGuire, R-Goochland, has yet to resign his seat in the Virginia Senate, an unusual delay that has raised questions about the transition of power and the scheduling of a special election to fill his vacancy.

McGuire, who defeated Democrat Gloria Witt in Virginias 5th Congressional District earlier this month after unseating U.S. Rep. Bob Good, R-Farmville, in one of the most expensive GOP primaries nationwide this year, is slated to be sworn into Congress in January.

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However, his continued hold on his Senate seat, representing the 10th District, is drawing attention because most state lawmakers resign soon after winning federal office to allow for a smooth succession process. The State Board of Elections is set to certify the results of the Nov. 5 election on Dec. 2.

Under state law, a special election date must be set within 30 days of a vacancy or notification of it, whichever occurs first.

Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, is expected to set a date for a special election to fill McGuires seat once his resignation is official.

Were still waiting for a formal resignation letter so we can go ahead and call for a special election, JoNathan Collins, a spokesman for Lucas, told The Mercury Monday.

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McGuire did not respond to several phone calls and text messages seeking comment. Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle, R-Hanover, said Monday that he expects a special election to be set for Jan. 7, the day before the General Assembly convenes for its 20205 session. He did not elaborate further.

Democrats hold a slim 21-19 majority in the Senate. If McGuires vacant seat remains unfilled by the start of the legislative session in January, Republicans will face an additional loss in their numbers.

David Richards, a political science professor at the University of Lynchburg, said that he doesnt see a strategic reason for why McGuire would delay resigning his seat.

Im chalking this up to paperwork delays or something like that, Richards said. Im not going to pretend to know what McGuire is thinking, but this does seem to fall in line with the fairly loose way he ran his campaign, both in the primary and in the general election.

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McGuire, Richards said, often seemed to be using a different playbook than the normal one, whether because he has his own ideas or simply is unfamiliar with what he needs to do, it wasnt clear. My hope is that he gets up to speed once he gets to D.C. in 2025 and will figure out how to be an effective voice in Congress for the 5th District.

The 10th Senate District, which spans 11 localities, stretching from Lynchburg in the west to the Richmond suburbs in the east, leans Republican. McGuires departure has set the stage for a hotly contested race, particularly among Republican hopefuls eager to retain the seat in the GOP column.

Last week, District Republicans announced the process for selecting their nominee in the upcoming special election. The local GOP committee scheduled a mass meeting for Dec. 12 at 5:30 p.m. to choose the partys candidate. Unlike a firehouse primary, the mass meeting format allows registered Republicans in attendance to vote directly. The location for the meeting has yet to be finalized.

Among the first of the six Republicans to announce their bids for McGuires seat was former state senator Amanda Chase, who had served in the body for eight years and lost her 2023 GOP primary for her Chesterfield-based seat to Sen. Glen Sturtevant.

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Because the law requires state legislators reside in the district they represent, Chase has moved from her former home in Chesterfield County to Appomattox County.

Shayne Snavely, Chases former aide who worked on her bid for the Republican nomination for governor three years ago, has also declared his intention to run.

And so have Jean Gannon, a Powhatan County real estate appraiser and longtime Republican activist, and Duane Adams, the chairman of the Louisa County Board of Supervisors, who ran for the Republican nomination in the district in 2023 but lost to McGuire.

In more recent weeks, Luther Cifers, a businessman from Prince Edward County, and Bryan Hamlet, the chairman of the Cumberland County Board of Supervisors, have also launched their campaigns in District 10.

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The lone Democrat who has filed to run in the Republican-leaning district is Jack Trammel, a college professor from Louisa County who in 2014 unsuccessfully ran against Republican Dave Brat in Virginias 7th Congressional District.

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Meadville Police Departments newest K9 member will receive a bullet- and stab-protective vest thanks to an anonymous donation, according to an announcement from Lodge 97 of the Fraternal Order of Police, the union that represents the departments officers.

We cant thank them enough, Office Daniel Palka, Canons handler, said in a phone interview Friday. We couldnt be happier.

The vest, which will be specially fitted for Canon, comes from Vested Interest in K9s Inc., a nonprofit based in East Taunton, Massachusetts.

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Palka learned of the organization via other K9s in regional departments that had received similar vests, including a former Meadville K9. The department expects the vest to be delivered in approximately 10 weeks.

Palka said its reassuring to know Canon will have a vest available when the situation calls for it.

Sometimes we put them in a situation that can well save a human life, he said, so its good to know hell have that protection just like we do when were out there.

Canon began service with the department in May with a ceremonial swearing in during a Meadville City Council meeting that Mayor Jaime Kinder described as an oath of pawffice.

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Now about 21 months old, Canon recently passed the 20-month minimum to receive a vest from Vested Interests in K9s, which has provided vests to more than 5,800 of the roughly 30,000 K9s across the country, according to the Lodge 97 press release. The vests weigh 4 to 5 pounds, are valued at $1,800, and can be sponsored with single donations of $985, according to the nonprofit.

As he awaits the arrival of the new vest, Canon continues to adapt smoothly to work as a K9, according to Palka, part of which involves socialization with children and other members of the public who are excited to interact with him.

Hes doing great, Palka said. Hes working good, his training is going fantastic.
Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly attacked her ex-colleague Pete Hegseths marriage history but still defended him against sexual assault allegations.

Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trumps pick for defense secretary, worked at Fox News alongside Kelly from 2014 to 2017. Kelly appeared on The Charlie Kirk Show, telling the far-right influencer she doesnt recommend marrying Hegseth  before defending him against allegations of sexual assault.

Im gonna be honest, like looking at his marital history, its not an example of fidelity, Kelly told Kirk. Im just gonna be honest and admit that upfront.

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Hegseth married his first wife Meredith Schwarz in 2004 before their divorce five years later. Then, while married to his second wife Samantha Deering, Hegseth had a child with Jennifer Rauchet, a Fox producer at the time.

Pete Hegseth was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Monterey, California in 2017 (Getty Images)

Hegseth and Deering split in 2017. He married Rauchet, who no longer works at Fox, two years later.

However, having difficulty in ones personal relationship, especially after having served two tours - which its not uncommon for these combat vets to come back and not be able to navigate their love lives all that well - is much different than being a rapist, Kelly continued.

Hegseth was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Monterey, California in 2017, two months after divorcing Deering. The woman said Hegseth took her phone, blocked the door to a hotel room and refused to let her leave before assaulting her, according to a police report of the incident released Wednesday.

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Hegseth paid the woman as part of a non-disclosure agreement because he was concerned hed get fired from Fox News over the allegation, The Washington Post reported. Despite the payment, he has maintained the encounter was consensual.

The veteran has denied all wrongdoing, and local authorities cleared him after investigating the incident.

The matter was fully investigated and I was completely cleared, Hegseth said.

Meanwhile, Hegseth is also facing backlash over a tattoo with reported links to white supremacy.

Hegseth has the phrase Deus Vult tattooed on his bicep, which has been used by white supremacists. Deus Vult is Latin for God Wills It, and was a rallying cry for Christian crusaders in the Middle Ages. The tattoo previously resulted in Hegseth being flagged as a possible Insider Threat by a fellow service member due to its associations with white supremacy, the Associated Press reported.

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Steven Cheung, Trumps communications director, previously defended the tattoo.

Mr. Hegseth has the necessary experience and qualifications to implement President Trumps pro-America policies, and none of these left-wing media concocted falsehoods will work to stop that mission, Cheung said.
Erik and Lyle Menendezs efforts to reduce their life-without-parole prison terms have been in limbo after the ouster earlier this month of Los Angeles Countys top prosecutor, who recommended a new sentence that could clear the way for the brothers release.

That uncertainty will remain  for now  after a judge ruled Monday that a Dec. 11 resentencing hearing should be delayed in part to give the county's new district attorney time to review the case.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic, who also said he needed more time to review the recommendation, rescheduled the hearing for Jan. 30 and Jan. 31.

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In a statement after the hearing, incoming district attorney Nathan Hochman said the delay would provide sufficient time to review what he described as an extensive case file and consult with prosecutors, defense lawyers and relatives.

"I look forward to thoroughly reviewing all the facts and the law to reach a fair and just decision, and then defend it in court, he said.

The brothers were scheduled to make their first court appearance in years, but the remote feed from the San Diego prison where they are incarcerated was hampered by technical issues. Two of their aunts testified during Monday's status conference, making what a lawyer for the siblings described during a brief news conference as "impassioned pleas" for Erik and Lyle to be sent home.

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon.

Erik's stepdaughter said Monday that their family remains united in their effort to bring the siblings home. While the judge's delay was not "the outcome we had hoped for," she said in a statement, "we remain optimistic that it represents a step forward in securing their freedom."The siblings have served 35 years for the shotgun murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, at the familys Beverly Hills home on Aug. 20, 1989.

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Last month, outgoing Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said he supported reducing their sentences to 50 years to life  a reduction that would make them eligible for parole immediately.

A judge is responsible for rejecting or supporting Gascons decision.

The recommendation came after a specialized unit within Gascons office that aims to implement reform-minded resentencing laws reviewed the brothers case.

While their crimes were brutal and premeditated, Gascon has acknowledged, the brothers have been model prisoners. Theyve paid their debt to society, he said, and no longer pose a public safety risk.

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Gascons decision was applauded by many members of the Mendendez family, who have advocated for the mens release and pointed to the horrific abuse the siblings said they suffered at the hands of their father.The brothers supporters have described the killings as a desperate act of self-defense  an allegation that echoes the defense laid out by the brothers legal team during their two murder trials in the 1990s.

Prosecutors said the allegations of abuse were a false attempt at covering up what authorities described as the brothers true motive  ensuring access to their familys multimillion-dollar estate.

The first trial ended with hung juries after they could not deliver a unanimous verdict. The brothers were convicted of first-degree murder during their second trial.

Gascon has acknowledged that his recommendation remains polarizing within his own office, with some prosecutors believing the abuse allegations and others arguing the brothers should remain behind bars for the rest of their lives.

Nathan Hochman on Oct. 10 in Los Angeles.

In addition to a resentencing, the brothers have also sought their freedom through a request for clemency from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and a petition that seeks to challenge their convictions.That petition, filed in May 2023, includes what Geragos has described as evidence that Jose Menendez was abusing Erik Menendez in the months before the siblings killed their parents.

Both efforts remain ongoing.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
This photo shows the damage caused by Israeli airstrikes in Yohmor, southern Lebanon, Nov. 25, 2024. At least 36 people were killed and 17 others injured on Monday in Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, according to the official National News Agency (NNA). Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon killed 25 people, including nine in the village of Maarakeh, three in the village of Ain Baal, two in the town of Ghazieh, 10 in the Tyre district, and one in the village of Yohmor, the NNA reported, adding that the airstrikes also injured 17 people in Tyre. (Photo by Maher Kamar/Xinhua)

BEIRUT, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- At least 36 people were killed and 17 others injured on Monday in Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, according to the official National News Agency (NNA).

Israeli airstrikes on the eastern Lebanese governorate of Baalbek-Hermel killed 11 people, including eight in a residential apartment in the village of Nabi Chit and three others in Hermel, the NNA reported.

Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon killed 25 people, including nine in the village of Maarakeh, three in the village of Ain Baal, two in the town of Ghazieh, 10 in the Tyre district, and one in the village of Yohmor, the NNA reported, adding that the airstrikes also injured 17 people in Tyre.

Also on Monday, Hezbollah targeted Shraga Base, the administrative headquarters of the Golani Brigade Command, north of the occupied city of Acre, with a barrage of rockets, the NNA reported.

Hezbollah also hit Israeli forces in two moshavim in northern Israel, and in the Malkiyeh settlement, the report said, adding that Hezbollah targeted an Israeli force sheltering in a house in Al-Bayada during its withdrawal, destroying the structure and inflicting multiple casualties among the force.

On Monday, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on social media platform X condemned constant strikes on the Lebanese Armed Forces as "a flagrant violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and international humanitarian law, which limits the use of violence against those not participating in hostilities."

UNIFIL also urged all parties involved in the conflict to address their differences through negotiations instead of violence.

The Lebanese army said the Israeli military has been repeatedly targeting its soldiers recently. In the latest attack on Sunday, an Israeli airstrike targeted a Lebanese army post in the Ameriya axis on the Qlaileh-Tyre road in southwestern Lebanon, killing one soldier and injuring 18 others.

Since Sept. 23, the Israeli army has intensified its air attack on Lebanon in an escalation of conflict with Hezbollah. Israel further initiated a ground operation across its northern border into Lebanon in early October. 

This photo shows the damage caused by Israeli airstrikes in Yohmor, southern Lebanon, Nov. 25, 2024.

At least 36 people were killed and 17 others injured on Monday in Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, according to the official National News Agency (NNA).

Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon killed 25 people, including nine in the village of Maarakeh, three in the village of Ain Baal, two in the town of Ghazieh, 10 in the Tyre district, and one in the village of Yohmor, the NNA reported, adding that the airstrikes also injured 17 people in Tyre. (Photo by Taher Abu Hamdan/Xinhua)

This photo taken on Nov. 25, 2024 shows the damage caused by Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. At least 36 people were killed and 17 others injured on Monday in Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, according to the official National News Agency (NNA). (Str/Xinhua)

Smoke rises following Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Nov. 25, 2024. At least 36 people were killed and 17 others injured on Monday in Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, according to the official National News Agency (NNA). (Str/Xinhua)

This photo taken on Nov. 25, 2024 shows the damage caused by Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. At least 36 people were killed and 17 others injured on Monday in Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, according to the official National News Agency (NNA). (Str/Xinhua)

This photo taken on Nov. 25, 2024 shows the damage caused by Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. At least 36 people were killed and 17 others injured on Monday in Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, according to the official National News Agency (NNA). (Str/Xinhua)

Smoke rises following Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Nov. 25, 2024. At least 36 people were killed and 17 others injured on Monday in Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, according to the official National News Agency (NNA). (Str/Xinhua)

This photo shows a convoy of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in Sidon, Lebanon, Nov. 25, 2024.

On Monday, the UNIFIL on social media platform X condemned constant strikes on the Lebanese Armed Forces as "a flagrant violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and international humanitarian law, which limits the use of violence against those not participating in hostilities." (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)

This photo shows a convoy of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in Sidon, Lebanon, Nov. 25, 2024.

On Monday, the UNIFIL on social media platform X condemned constant strikes on the Lebanese Armed Forces as "a flagrant violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and international humanitarian law, which limits the use of violence against those not participating in hostilities." (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)
Erik and Lyle Menendezs infamous case was back in front of a judge Monday, with the brothers listening in on the phone during a status hearing regarding their habeas corpus petition, which was filed last year for a review of new evidence not presented at trial.

Judge Michael Jesic allowed testimony from two of the brothers' aunts -- their mother's sister, Joan VanderMolen, and their father's sister, Terry Baralt -- due to health concerns.

The aunts "both made impassioned pleas with the judge to send the brothers home," defense attorney Mark Geragos told reporters after the hearing, calling it a "moving experience."

PHOTO: Joan VanderMolen, the sister of Kitty Menendez, arrives at the Van Nuys West Courthouse to attend a status hearing on the murder conviction of Lyle and Erik Menendez on Nov. 25, 2024 in Van Nuys, California. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images)

"No child should have to endure what Eric and Lyle had at the hands of their father," VanderMolen said to the judge. "It breaks my heart that Kitty knew and did nothing about it."

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VanderMolen, who turns 93 on Tuesday, said she loves her nephews and lamented that "they never knew if tonight was the night they would be raped. ... No child should have to live day by day knowing that at night their dad would come and rape them. ... It's unconscionable."

VanderMolen, however, acknowledged her brother opposes the siblings' release.

PHOTO: Joan Andersen VanderMolen, sister of Kitty Menendez, speaks on whether to reconsider the first-degree conviction of the Menendez brothers in Los Angeles, Nov. 25, 2024. (Daniel Cole/Reuters)

The 85-year-old Baralt said, "We miss those who are gone, but we miss the kids, too. I would like to see leniency. Thirty-five years is a long time. They have rehabilitated and done lots of good things."

Asked by the prosecution if she knew what the brothers had done, she calmly replied that they killed their parents.

PHOTO: In these booking photos taken Oct. 10, 2024, Erik and Lyle Menendez are shown. (CRDC)

Jesic pushed back the next scheduled hearing -- which is regarding the brothers' resentencing recommendation -- from Dec. 11 to Jan. 30 and Jan. 31.

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Jesic said he needs time to go through 17 boxes of files on the case and said he wants to give the newly elected Los Angeles district attorney, Nathan Hochman, ample time to get up to speed.

MORE: New LA DA Nathan Hochman speaks out on Menendez brothers' fight for freedom

Hochman, who is set to take office on Dec. 2, said in a statement that the delay "will provide me with sufficient time to review the extensive prison records, transcripts of two lengthy trials and voluminous exhibits, as well as consult with prosecutors, law enforcement, defense counsel and victim family members. I look forward to thoroughly reviewing all the facts and the law to reach a fair and just decision, and then defend it in court."

Geragos told reporters, "By Jan. 30 or 31, we're hoping that by the end of that, or sometime sooner, that we will, in fact, get the brothers released."

PHOTO: Mark Geragos, defense attorney of Erik and Lyle Menendez, arrives to the Van Nuys Courthouse West, in Los Angeles, Nov. 25, 2024. (Daniel Cole/Reuters)

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PHOTO: Tammi Menendez, Erik Menendez' wife, and Erik Menendez' stepdaughter walk near the Van Nuys Courthouse West, in Los Angeles, Nov. 25, 2024. (Daniel Cole/Reuters)

Monday's hearing was delayed 40 minutes due to challenges with trying to get Lyle and Erik Menendez to be available in court via video. After several attempts, the brothers were able to listen to the proceedings on the phone.

A lottery drawing was held for 16 public seats in the courtroom. Dozens of members of the public arrived early in the morning to wait for a chance to witness the hearing.

PHOTO: People receive a number in hopes of watching the proceedings in court at the Van Nuys West Courthouse before a status hearing on the muder conviction of Lyle and Erik Menendez on Nov. 25, 2024 in Van Nuys, California. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images)

The case began in 1989, when Lyle Menendez, then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, fatally shot their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in the family's Beverly Hills home. The defense claimed the brothers acted in self-defense after enduring years of sexual abuse by their father, but prosecutors alleged they killed for money.

The first trial, which had separate juries for each brother, ended in mistrials. In 1996, after the second trial -- during which the judge barred much of the sex abuse evidence -- the brothers were convicted and both sentenced to two consecutive terms of life without parole.

PHOTO: Erik Menendez and his brother Lyle (R) listen during a pre-trial hearing, Dec. 29, 1992, in Los Angeles after the two pleaded innocent in the August 1989 shotgun deaths of their parents, Jose and Mary Louise Menendez. (Vince Bucci/AFP via Getty Images)

MORE: What's next for the Menendez brothers? A look at their life in prison, 3 paths to freedom

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Two new pieces of evidence are at the center of the brothers' habeas corpus petition.

One is allegations from a former member of the boy band Menudo, who revealed last year that he was raped by the brothers' father, Jose Menendez.

The second piece is a letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin eight months before the murders detailing his alleged abuse from his father. The cousin testified about the alleged abuse at trial, but the letter -- which would have corroborated the cousin's testimony -- wasn't found until several years ago, according to the brothers' attorney.

PHOTO: Erik Menendez with his attorney Leslie Abramson and his brother Lyle Menendez in Los Angeles, March 9, 1994. (Ted Soqui/Sygma via Getty Images)

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As the habeas corpus petition moves through the courts, the brothers have two other potential paths to freedom.

One path is through resentencing. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon announced last month he was recommending the brothers' sentence of life without the possibility of parole be removed, and they should instead be sentenced for murder, which would be a sentence of 50 years to life. Because both brothers were under 26 at the time of the crimes, they would be eligible for parole immediately with the new sentence.

PHOTO: Erik Menendez, left, and is brother Lyle, in front of their Beverly Hills home, Nov. 30, 1989 . (Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

The DA's office said its resentencing recommendations take into account many factors, including rehabilitation in prison, and abuse or trauma that contributed to the crime. Gascon praised the work Lyle and Erik Menendez did behind bars to rehabilitate themselves and help other inmates.

Shortly after Gascon's announcement, he lost his race for reelection to Hochman. The incoming DA said he plans to read through the evidence before showing his support for resentencing.

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The other possible path to freedom is the brothers' request for clemency, which they've submitted to California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Last week, Newsom said he'll defer to Hochman's "review and analysis of the Menendez case prior to making any clemency decisions."

ABC News' Alex Stone, Matt Gutman and Ashley Riegle contributed to this report.

Menendez brothers listen to court hearing on phone as aunts testify on their behalf originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
A decision on whether to resentence brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez for the shotgun killings of their parents was delayed Monday until after the holidays.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic said he needed more time to consider the matter and scheduled a second hearing for Jan. 30.

The brothers, who were convicted of murder with special circumstances for the 1989 killings of Jose and Kitty Menendez, are serving life terms without the possibility of parole. Their attorneys are seeking to vacate their convictions and have them sentenced for manslaughter, which would set them free, while outgoing Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascon is seeking a new sentence that would make them eligible for parole.

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With the two brothers attending Monday's hearing via a web link, Jesic allowed two family matriarchs  the oldest sisters of Jose and Kitty Menendez  to provide testimony in person.

"My feeling is 35 years is a long time, especially when you are 18 and 21," testified Terracita Menendez Baralt, 85, the oldest sister of Jose Menendez. "I think it's time for them to come home."

Joan VanderMolen, Kitty Menendez's oldest sister, 93, told Jesic that no child should have to endure the sexual abuse the brothers suffered at the hands of their father. At the heart of the bid to get the brothers free is new evidence related to the abuse.

"No child should have to endure what Erik and Lyle lived through at the hands of their father. It breaks my heart that my sister Kitty knew what was happening and did nothing about it, that we knew of," she testified. "They never knew whether this would be the night they would be raped. It's time for them to come home."

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In addition to hearing the aunts' heart-wrenching testimony, Jesic noted that he also had 17 boxes to review from the 1989 murder case. That, along with his reasoning that the newly elected district attorney should have a say in the brothers' fate, led him to push back a hearing on resentencing from its original Dec. 11 date to Jan. 30 and Jan 31.

Although Gascon filed a motion to give the brothers a new sentence of 50 years to life, the motion will not be heard until after he leaves office. Incoming L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman, who unseated the incumbent with a pledge to be tougher on crime, has said he needs time to review that case before voicing his opinion.

Judge Jesics decision to continue the hearing on the resentencing motion to January 30-31 will provide me with sufficient time to review the extensive prison records, transcripts of two lengthy trials and voluminous exhibits, as well as consult with prosecutors, law enforcement, defense counsel and victim family members," Hochman said in a statement. "I look forward to thoroughly reviewing all the facts and the law to reach a fair and just decision, and then defend it in court."

Monday was the first time in decades the brothers have appeared in court, albeit remotely from the San Diego area prison where they are being held. They could be heard in the Van Nuys courtroom but not seen.

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Geragos and Clifford Gardner started the ball rolling last year by filing a petition to vacate the brothers' conviction, arguing that newly uncovered evidence bolstered the brothers' allegation of sexual abuse against their father, Jose.

That habeas motion included a letter Erik Menendez sent to his cousin in December 1988  eight months before the killings  that appeared to corroborate the claims of abuse. It also included a declaration from Roy Rossello, a member of the boy band Menudo, who alleged that Jose Menendez raped him in 1984 when he was 13 or 14 years old.

The two brothers were convicted of murder with special circumstances, a charge that is punishable in California only by life without parole or the death penalty. The 1989 killings, and the televised trial that followed, have sparked documentaries, movies and television series that have made the brothers two of the most publicly recognizable convicts.

Geragos said the brothers' conviction should be thrown out in light of the new evidence, which could set them free immediately for the killings at 722 N. Elm Drive or result in them being resentenced on a lesser charge.

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Ultimately, it is "in the hands of a respected judge," Geragos said.

Only 16 seats in the courtroom were available for the public Monday, and about three dozen people lined up in the early morning hours for a chance to snag a spot.

Due to the popularity of two recent shows, the Menendez case has captured the attention of a whole new audience unfamiliar with the case as it unfolded in the 1990s. Tourists still linger outside the Elm Drive Mediterranean mansion where the pair killed their parents as the likes of Kim Kardashian visit them in prison.

The brothers have pursued appeals for years without success, but now they could have a path to freedom.

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Read more: D.A. investigating new molestation evidence in Menendez murders, in victory for brothers

In 1989, Erik and Lyle Menendez bought a pair of shotguns with cash, walked into their home and shot their parents while they watched a movie in the family living room. Prosecutors said Jose Menendez was struck five times, including in the back of the head, and Kitty Menendez crawled on the floor wounded before the brothers reloaded and fired a final, fatal blast.

During their trials, prosecutors repeatedly showed horrific images of shattered features of Kitty Menendez while her husband was on a blood-soaked sofa after being blasted at close range.

Prosecutors would argue the slayings were driven by greed and the brothers' desire to get their parents' multimillion-dollar estate.

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But during the trials, Erik and Lyle Menendez detailed what they said were years of violent sexual abuse at the hands of their father.

Gascon said he would also support a bid for clemency from Gov. Gavin Newsom for the brothers.

But Newsom said he would delay any decision on clemency until Hochman gives his input after reviewing the thousands of pages of evidence in the case.

Geragos maintains case law involving a San Francisco district attorney from a few years ago means the incoming district attorney cannot pull back what the predecessor did on the resentencing motion. "Once you push the door open, you cannot shut that door," Geragos said.

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More than 20 relatives of the brothers have pleaded for them to be released. More than a dozen family members were also present as Gascon announced his decision last month to seek to reduce the sentence.

Read more: Relatives of Erik and Lyle Menendez urge D.A. to resentence the convicted brothers

There is no question that the brothers killed their parents, but Gascon has said the issue is whether the jury heard evidence that their father molested them, and whether that evidence might have affected the outcome of the trial.

Evidence of sexual abuse, including testimony from friends and relatives of the family, was included when the siblings were first tried with separate juries, which ended with the jurors unable to reach unanimous verdicts.

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But when they were tried again in front of a single jury, the jurors did not hear much of the testimony supporting their allegations of sexual abuse. The two were convicted of first-degree murder in March 1996.

The brothers' work leading rehabilitation programs while in prison also factored into the decision to make them eligible for parole, Gascon said.

The two have been engaged for years in prison programs to help inmates deal with trauma and assist those who have physical disabilities. Both have earned college degrees.

"I will never imply that what we're doing here is to excuse their behavior. ... If you get abused, the right path is to call the police," Gascon said. "Even though they didn't think they would ever be let free, they engaged in a different journey  a journey of redemption and a journey of rehabilitation."

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Read more: The Menendez brothers still face hurdles to freedom: 'This is not a whodunit case'

If the judge does eventually agree to resentence the pair, their fate would still rest with the parole board, which will decide whether to release them. Newsom could also veto the parole board's decision.

Kitty Menendez's 90-year-old brother, Milton Andersen, criticized the decision to seek new sentences for the killers. He said Gascon had refused to meet with him to discuss his decision before announcing it to the media.

"Mr. Andersen has been left in the dark, forced to learn crucial updates about his sisters case through the media, rather than being treated with the dignity and respect he deserves," said Andersen's attorney, Kathy Cady.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Erik and Lyle Menendez virtually appeared in California court on Monday, marking their first public appearance since 1996. However, theyll have to wait longer than anticipated for their next legal update.

The pair appeared before Judge Michael Jesic via audio only, due to a technical difficulty preventing video display. He determined that next months planned resentencing hearing will instead be postponed until Jan. 30 and 31, 2025, according to local reports.

Judge Jesic made the move in order to give himself and Los Angeles District Attorney-elect Nathan Hochman time to review the case and the supposed new evidence (Hochman will be sworn in on Dec. 2). Apart from the usual suspects, 16 people were allowed into the Van Nuys courtroom on Monday, selected by random draw.

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Most recently, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week he would not be making any clemency decisions until D.A.-elect Hochman has a chance to do an official review of the case.

The Governor respects the role of the District Attorney in ensuring justice is served and recognizes that voters have entrusted District Attorney-elect Hochman to carry out this responsibility, Newsoms office said in a statement to TheWrap. The Governor will defer to the D.A.-elects review and analysis of the Menendez case prior to making any clemency decisions.

That update itself came after Hochman explained his point of view on the Menendez Brothers case, particularly how his stance differs from that of outgoing D.A. George Gascon, who recommended resentencing and parole eligibility for the pair in October.

Youve really got to get beyond the Netflix documentary, Hochman told Good Morning America earlier in November. If you decide this case based on just viewing a Netflix documentary, you are doing a disservice to the Menendez brothers, to the victims family members, to the public.

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Part of the problem with the Gascon timing of his decision is theres a cloud over that credibility. Is it a just decision, or was it a political ploy? he further questioned. There will be no cloud over whatever decision I do.

Lyle and Erik, now 56 and 53 years old, respectively, have been imprisoned since being found guilty of the 1989 double murder of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. Both were initially given life sentences without the possibility of parole in 1996, the last time they appeared in court.

As all three of the above officials have noted, the renewed public interest in the case can be attributed to Ryan Murphys Netflix series Monsters: The Erik and Lyle Menendez Story, as well as other similar docuseries out this year.

The post Menendez Brothers Resentencing Hearing Pushed to January to Give Judge, DA Time to Review appeared first on TheWrap.
A hearing on whether Lyle and Erik Menendez should be given a chance at parole has been postponed to January.

Judge Michael Jesic said that he needed more time to get up to speed on the case, and would not be ready by Dec. 11, which had been the date for the hearing.

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The judge also wants to give Nathan Hochman, who will be sworn in as Los Angeles district attorney on Dec. 2, a full opportunity to weigh in. He set new dates of Jan. 30 and 31.

The brothers are serving sentences of life without parole for murdering their parents, Jose and Kitty, at their Beverly Hills home in 1989. District Attorney George Gascon asked last month to seek to reduce their sentences to 50 years to life, which would make them eligible for parole.

The Menendez family has lobbied for them to be released, arguing they were victims of sexual abuse. Jesic heard testimony on Monday from Joan VanderMolen, Kitty Menendez 92-year-old sister, as well as Teresita Baralt, Joses 85-year-old sister.

Mark Geragos, the Menendez brothers attorney, asked that they be allowed to testify now, due to concerns about their health and ability to appear at a later hearing.

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I love Erik and Lyle and I want them to come home, VanderMolen told the judge. They never knew if tonight would be the night they would be raped. Its time for them to come home.

Baralt also said: Thirty-five years is a long time. I think its time for them to come home.

Geragos has also been urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to grant clemency to the brothers, though Newsom has said he will wait for Hochman to weigh in on the proceedings.

The brothers were also expected to watch the proceedings by remote feed form the Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. The status conference was delayed due to technical difficulties with the WebEx feed, and the brothers were unable to connect.

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Gascon was defeated in the Nov. 5 election. Hochman criticized Gascons handling of the case during the campaign, and has said that he will review the case with fresh eyes once he takes office.

The Menendez case has attracted renewed attention since Netflix released Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story in September.

The status hearing on Monday drew a massive crowd of media and onlookers at the Van Nuys courthouse. Court staff held a lottery to allow 16 members of the public to sit in the courtroom.

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The Menendez brothers have waiting nearly three decades, and now theyll have to wait a little longer to hear their fates.

Erik and Lyle Menendez appeared in front of a judge for the first time in 28 years at the Van Nuys Courthouse on Monday through a screen  they attended virtually from their San Diego prison. Also in the courthouse were 16 members of the public who had to win a lottery on Monday morning to gain access to the hearing.

At that hearing, a judge with the Los Angeles County Superior Court decided to postpone the resentencing hearing until Jan. 30 and 31. It was originally scheduled for Dec. 11.

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Were hoping that by the end of that, or sometime sooner, that we will in fact get the brothers released, Mark Geragos, the attorney representing the brothers, told reporters outside the courthouse after the hearing.

Mondays hearing, a status hearing on that resentencing, started at about 10:30 a.m. Members of the Menendez family, including the brothers aunts, were in attendance.

Teresita Baralt and Joan Andersen VanderMolen, the sisters of Jose and Kitty Menendez respectively, both testified during the hearing.

A courtroom sketch shows Teresita Baralt, older sister of Jose Menendez, testifying during a hearing on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (Mona Edwards)

The hearing was scheduled after L.A. County District Attorney George Gascon announced he supported resentencing for the brothers last month. He also said he would support clemency, which would come from the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom.

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A wrench was thrown into the institutional support for the brothers when voters in L.A. County decisively elected Nathan Hochman to take Gascons place in charge of the prosecutors office.

District Attorney-elect Hochman told KTLA shortly after his election victory that he hadnt yet decided if he would continue the offices support of resentencing.

Nathan Hochman on the KTLA 5 Morning News on Nov. 6, 2024.

Heres my approach, whether its the Menendez case or quite honestly any case: You have to do the hard work, he told KTLA in an exclusive interview. You have to look, in that case, at thousands of pages of confidential prison files, you have to review thousands of trial transcripts from months-long trials and you have to speak to the prosecutors, law enforcement and the defense counseland the victims families.

Newsom has since said that he will wait until the district attorney-elect reviews the case before he makes a decision on clemency.

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The brothers have spent nearly 35 years in prison for the shotgun killings of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills mansion.

The killings have never been in question  the pair admitted to brutally shooting their parents  but maintain that they acted in self defense after their father sexually abused them.

Newly discovered evidence surfaced last year pointing toward their claims having some weight. Roy Rossello, former member of the boy band Menudo, has accused Jose of molesting him, and a letter written by Erik to his cousin just before the killings detailed the sexual assaults.

The brothers were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 1996.

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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 KTLA.
A judge in California has delayed a scheduled resentencing hearing for Lyle and Erik Menendez at the brothers first hearing since they were sentenced to life in prison for murdering their parents in 1989 and the latest step in their bid to regain freedom.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic said at a Monday status hearing the resentencing date, originally scheduled for December 11, would be pushed to January 30. Jesic said he rescheduled the hearing to give the new district attorney time to review the case.

Current Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon was resoundingly voted out of office earlier this month and will be replaced by Nathan Hochman next week. Gascon recommended resentencing for the brothers in October, which could allow them to be released from prison after almost 30 years.

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The brothers, currently incarcerated in San Diego, appeared virtually for the status hearing  their first court appearance since their 1996 conviction. Technical issues prevented them from being shown on video.

The two men were last seen in public during the second trial for the murder of their parents. After their first trial ended with two deadlocked juries, they were found guilty in a second trial and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The judge imposed strict restrictions on the courtroom for Mondays hearing: No cameras were allowed in court.

Sixteen seats in the court were offered to the public via lottery in the hours before the hearing, according to a news release from the Los Angeles Superior Court.

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Sisters of both victims testified in favor of resentencing the brothers Monday. Joan VanderMolen, the sister of Kitty Menendez, said, Its time for them to come home, and began to tear up in court.

No child should have to endure what Erik and Lyle did, VanderMolen, who the brothers attorney Mark Garagos said will celebrate her 93rd birthday Tuesday, told the court. No children should have to live in fear day by day that their dad would come and rape them.

Jose Menendezs sister, Terry Baralt, 85, said she would like to hug them and see them and not have to visit a jail to do so.

Throughout their two trials, the brothers have not disputed they killed their parents. Instead, they argued they killed them in self-defense after suffering years of sexual, emotional and physical abuse. Prosecutors, meanwhile, said the killings were premeditated, committed so the men could obtain their parents multimillion-dollar estate.

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The push to reexamine the case began in 2023, when a Peacock docuseries featured another alleged victim saying he was raped by Jose Menendez  the brothers father. Attorneys for the Menendez brothers filed a habeas petition asking the court to reconsider the conviction and sentence in light of new evidence from the other alleged victim and from a letter Erik wrote about the abuse prior to the killings.

In October, Gascon filed a motion recommending a judge resentence the siblings, which could allow them to be released immediately.

Not only have they worked on their own self-improvement, but they have done a lot of work to better the life of those around them, which that part is unusual, Gascon told CNN. I believe they have served enough time.

Speaking after the Monday hearing, Geragos said that he hoped they would be released from prison at the end of January.

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Garagos described VanderMolen and Baralts testimony as extremely moving in an evening interview with CNN. The brothers are clearly not at risk for committing any violent act going forward, and the victims are here articulating, under the California constitution, that they want them released, he said.

If the brothers are released, they will likely continue to engage in prison rehabilitation and reform, Garagos said. I see them continuing to do that work. They both express that thats exactly what they like to do and make it their lifes work, he said.

Erik Menendez, left, and Lyle Menendez. - California Department of Corrections

How we got here

The decades-long legal proceedings stem from 1989, when Jose Menendez, an executive at RCA Records, and his wife, Kitty Menendez, were shot and killed in their Beverly Hills home. Lyle was 21 years old and Erik was 18 years old. Lyle called 911 and said, Someone killed my parents.

The two men were arrested in March 1990 and accused of first-degree murder. They both went to trial in 1993, each with a separate jury. The proceedings were broadcast on Court TV.

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The brothers defense attorneys argued the brothers were afraid for their lives after experiencing years of abuse, especially at the hands of their father. Both defendants took the stand to testify about the abuse they experienced and said their father had threatened to kill them if they did not keep the abuse secret. Prosecutors, meanwhile, argued the killings were planned in advance and that the brothers sought financial gain.

Both juries deadlocked and could not come to a verdict.

In 1995, the brothers retrial began  this time with one jury and no camera in the courtroom. Much of the defense evidence about sexual abuse was excluded, according to defense attorneys. Both brothers were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Since then, the two men have been model prisoners by all accounts, Gascon said in an interview with CNN in October. The brothers have participated in victim impact programs, workshops and events, and created multiple programs to help those in need around them, according to the resentencing motion filed by Gascon.

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After not seeing each other for decades, the brothers were reunited in 2018, when Lyle was transferred to the same housing unit of a San Diego prison as Erik.

Teresita Baralt, the older sister of victim Jose Menendez, speaks before Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic. - Mona Edwards/Reuters

A Peacock docuseries, Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, was released in 2023, prompting calls to review the brothers sentences. The series features the account of Roy Rossello, a former member of the boy band Menudo, who claims he was raped by Jose Menendez  then the head of RCA Records  in the mid-1980s, when he was 13 or 14 years old.

The Menendez brothers filed a habeas corpus petition shortly after the docuseries was released, citing Rossellos allegations as well as a letter from Erik Menendez to his cousin that they say references the abuse. I never know when its (sic) going to happen and its driving me crazy. Every night I stay up thinking he might come in, Erik wrote in the 1988 letter. The letter, discovered in 2018, was not presented at either of the two trials, the petition says.

In October, Gascon recommended the brothers be resentenced, saying he supports the resentencing of the brothers to life with the possibility of parole  which normally would mean 50 years to life in prison. But because the crimes happened when the brothers were under 26 years old, under California law they would be eligible for youthful parole.

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The district attorney said in October that shifting attitudes about sexual abuse and trauma have changed public perception of the case.

There is no question that a jury today would look at this case probably very differently than a jury did 35 years ago, he told CNN.

The case has also received renewed attention because of a television series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. Erik Menendez has criticized the brothers depiction in the series as dishonest and demoralizing.

Netflix also released a documentary on the Menendez case last month, featuring both men discussing what led to the killings.

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Mondays hearing attracted fans who have followed the documentaries and media coverage of the case and hope to snag a seat in the courtroom. Elena Gordon, who said she first became interested after reading a book about the case, told CNN she came to the courthouse to experience what I believe it is a historical moment for Southern California.

I would love to see justice in its purest form, carried out, whatever that may mean, whether they get out or not, she said.

People wait in line to get into the Van Nuys Courthouse West ahead of the status hearing. - Daniel Cole/Reuters

What comes next

Gascons failed reelection bid has cast some uncertainty over the Menendez brothers fate. Hochman, the incoming LA County district attorney and a former federal prosecutor who campaigned on a tougher stance against crime, will take office in early December. Hochman has said he needs time to review the confidential prison files, trial transcripts and extensive exhibits, as well as consult with prosecutors, defense attorneys and family members of the victims.

Before I can make any decision about the Menendez brothers case, I will need to become thoroughly familiar with the relevant facts, the evidence and the law, Hochman said in a statement.

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In an interview, Hochman said he would move as expeditiously as possible to review the case.

If I ask for a delay, it wont be a delay for delays sake because I think the Menendez brothers, the victim family members, the public deserve to have a decision done as soon as it can be done in a thorough manner, Hochman told CNN.

There are other ways the brothers could be released. Gascon also wrote letters to Gov. Gavin Newson supporting the brothers in a bid for clemency, which could free the brothers immediately. But Newsom has delayed any clemency decision until Hochman reviews the case, according to a news release from his office.

This story is based on reporting from Nick Watt, Jason Kavarik, and Alicia Park in Los Angeles and Jean Casarez in New York. It was written by Zoe Sottile in New York. CNNs Eric Levenson, Cindy Von Quednow, Dalia Faheid, and Taylor Romine contributed to this report.

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Judge Michael Jesic said he needed more time to review evidence before considering the brothers' potential resentencing

Lyle and Erik Menendez will have to wait until the New Year to find out if they will be released from prison when a judge postponed a scheduled resentencing hearing to January.

Judge Michael Jesic said during the preliminary hearing on Monday, Nov. 25, at Van Nuys Courthouse West in Los Angeles he needed time to review "17 boxes" of evidence.

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As a result, Jesic rescheduled the Dec. 11 hearing on potential resentencing to Jan. 30 and 31. The brothers, who are serving life sentences for the 1989 murders of their parents Jose and Kitty, did not appear virtually after it was believed they would.

The postponement came a day before the deadline for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office to submit a response to Menendez brothers' habeas corpus petition, which cited evidence meant to support their longstanding claims that Jose had sexually abused them.

Ted Soqui/Getty Erik, left, and Lyle Menendez Erik, left, and Lyle Menendez

A spokesperson for the brothers' attorney Mark Geragos tells PEOPLE it is unlikely a resolution for the habeas corpus petition would occur before the January dates.

The court did hear testimony from the brothers' aging family members, including Joan VanderMolen, Kitty's sister, who supports Lyle and Erik's potential release.

Apu Gomes/Getty Kitty Menendez's sister, Joan VanderMolen Kitty Menendez's sister, Joan VanderMolen

Lyle and Erik were sentenced to life without parole after they were convicted of murder in 1996, following two trials, the first of which ended in a mistrial. The case has always attracted nationwide attention, which has been renewed following the recent releases of a Netflix documentary and scripted series.

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.

CAROLINE BREHMAN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Mark Geragos Mark Geragos

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon has previously announced that he would recommend the brothers be resentenced to 50 years to life, which would make them immediately eligible for parole.

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Gascon also said he supported their request for clemency from California Gov. Gavin Newsom. But the governor has said he would wait for the recommendation of district attorney-elect Nathan Hochman, who defeated Gascon in the November election, before making a decision on clemency.

The habeas corpus petition features a letter that Erik sent to a cousin before the murder referencing alleged abuse committed by Jose. It also included an affidavit from former Menudo member Roy Rossello, who has said he was raped by Jose.
A metro Atlanta man faces assault charges after an incident on Wednesday.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

According to Forsyth County deputies, it happened early Wednesday morning in the city of Milton.

Officials said Jose Chavez, got upset and fired a gun at the victims. The FCSO said no one was hit.

Chavez then traveled to Forsyth County. Milton police requested Forsyth County deputies help in locating the suspect.

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After hours of gathering information and sifting through surveillance video, Chavez was spotted getting into a vehicle. Forsyth County deputies initiated a traffic stop.

Apparently, Mr. Chavez follows FCSO on social media and realized he just needed to pull over, because he was going to jail either way, the sheriffs office said.

The suspect pulled over and was turned over to the Milton Police Department.

Chavez was arrested and booked into the Fulton County Jail. According to jail records, hes charged with two counts of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and reckless driving.

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Nov. 25Changing demands in the state's economy are met with apprenticeship programs, according to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. That's why she proclaimed last week National Apprenticeship Week, joining in on celebrations nationwide for the 10th anniversary of the weeklong recognition of apprenticeships.

"The advancement and wellbeing of New Mexico depends upon its ability to expand opportunities in its workforce that are inclusive of individuals who have been historically underserved, marginalized and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequity in their chosen fields," the governor said in her proclamation.

This year's National Apprenticeship Week theme was "Celebrating 10 Years of Engagement, Expansion and Innovation."

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Since the U.S. Department of Labor launched National Apprenticeship Week a decade ago, more than 1.4 million people around the nation have participated in the week's events.

The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions hosted its own events last week, including workshops on how employers can start registered apprenticeship programs and a career fair.

NMDWS Secretary Sarita Nair said in a statement the state's elected officials have enabled "tremendous progress in expanding apprenticeship opportunities over the past two years."

Most recently, the 2024 Legislature passed a Workforce Development and Apprenticeship Trust Fund, a way for the state to channel money to apprenticeship and training programs. The fund started with a $30 million appropriation, and its spending policy is $5 million for the first two years and $3 million annually after that.

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"Through partnerships with the construction and clean energy industries, we're not only creating pathways to high-quality, sustainable careers, but also launching new apprenticeship programs to support young people and underrepresented populations to enter those fields," Nair said.

There are 62 registered apprenticeship and career pathway programs in New Mexico. The programs cover a variety of fields, like trades, education, health care and technology. There are 2,585 apprentices participating in the programs, according to NMDWS.

A full list of the apprenticeship programs, including qualifications and salary information, can be found online at www.dws.state.nm.us/apprenticeship.
People take part in a rally to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Nov. 25, 2024. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for action to end violence against women and girls. "The epidemic of violence against women and girls shames humanity," Guterres said in a message for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, observed on Nov. 25. (Photo by Gayan Sameera/Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for action to end violence against women and girls.

"The epidemic of violence against women and girls shames humanity," Guterres said in a message for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, observed on Nov. 25.

Every day, on average 140 women and girls are killed by someone in their own family. Around one in three women still experience physical or sexual violence. And the situation is getting worse, he said.

The UN chief stressed that crises of conflict, climate and hunger have inflamed inequalities, adding that horrendous sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war.

The United Nations Spotlight Initiative and the UNiTE by 2030 to End Violence against Women initiative call on all of us to join forces to end the scourge of violence against women and girls, he said, calling for urgent action for justice and accountability, and support for advocacy.

"Almost 30 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action promised to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls -- it's beyond time to deliver," the UN chief noted. 

(241126) -- JAKARTA, Nov. 26, 2024 (Xinhua) -- People take part in a rally to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in Jakarta, Indonesia, Nov. 25, 2024.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for action to end violence against women and girls.

"The epidemic of violence against women and girls shames humanity," Guterres said in a message for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, observed on Nov. 25. (Xinhua/Veri Sanovri)
The city of Las Cruces, New Mexico, has reached a $20 million settlement with the family of a grandmother fatally shot by a police officer last year, according to The Associated Press and local media.

Felipe Hernandez, then working for the Las Cruces Police Department, fatally shot Teresa Gomez, 45, in her car in October 2023. Her family filed a lawsuit in federal court against the city, the police chief, and three members of the police force.

The settlement is the citys largest agreement in a civil lawsuit, according to CNN affiliate KFOX14. The parties reached a settlement on November 7, according to a court filing. CNN has reached out to the city and an attorney representing the Gomez family for comment.

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This settlement should be understood as a statement of the Citys profound feeling of loss for the death of Gomez and of the Citys condolences to her family, the city of Las Cruces said in a news release sent Friday, according to AP.

Hernandez, who was fired from the police department months after the shooting, faces a second-degree murder charge, court records show. He has pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled to begin June 2. CNN has reached out to Hernandezs attorney for comment.

Gomez was sitting in her car when Hernandez accused her and her passenger of trespassing, footage from the officers body-worn camera shows. He then shouted commands laced with the F-word at her and threatened to arrest her, tase her and make her life a living hell if she didnt comply with his plan to investigate, the footage shows.

After Hernandez approached Gomez on a bicycle as she sat in her car, Gomez told him she had been visiting someone at the address and said she was looking for her misplaced keys, the body-camera footage shows. Gomez and the officer discussed why she and the passenger were parked outside a public housing complex  a place Hernandez said the passenger was not supposed to be. Gomez said multiple times she was unaware of any visitor rules, the video shows.

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After Hernandez repeatedly asked Gomez to leave her car, Gomez stood outside it for a while, answering some of the officers questions, the video shows. Her passenger was never asked to get out or questioned in a similar way.

The grandmother eventually found her car keys and, with the officers permission, sat back in the drivers seat, according to the video and the lawsuit.

Half a minute later, she engaged the engine and, with her car door still open, shifted into reverse, pulled back, then put the car into drive, the video shows.

Hernandez shouted stop! three times, then fired his gun several times, the video shows.

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The lawsuit alleges Gomez presented no threat of any physical injury to Hernandez or anyone else and Hernandez left her to bleed out in her car as he turned away from her gasping body to retrieve his bicycle and flashlight.

The suit claims Las Cruces has adopted a de facto policy of indifference to the escalation of encounters between its officers and the public and it it allows officers to use deadly force in situations in which there is no threat of great bodily harm or death posed by the subject receiving deadly force.

The complaint also alleges city employees disproportionately use excessive force against people of color  like Gomez, who was Hispanic.

Gomezs sister, Angela Lozano-Gutierrez, previously told CNN the video of her mothers encounter with Hernandez was shocking.

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We may never get the apology we need, Lozano-Gutierrez said. Were just trying to cling to each other, and we just keep telling ourselves: She would want us to continue to live to be happy.

CNNs Alisha Ebrahimji contributed to this report.

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NEW MEXICO (KRQE)  The New Mexico Health Care Authority (HCA) received $18.6 million of Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funds to help New Mexicans stay warm and safe during this winter season.

LIHEAP is a federal program administered by the Health Care Authority and currently provides utility assistance to 30,219 lower-income households across the state.

Story continues below

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The LIHEAP program also contracts with the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority to assist individuals with weatherization costs, including weather stripping, windows, furnaces, water heaters, cooking stoves, caulking, and insulation.

People can use the LIHEAP Eligibility Tool, to identify if they may be eligible for the program. New Mexicans are encouraged to apply for LIHEAP online at Yes.NM.gov, call HCA at 800-283-4465, or visit their local HCA field office.

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Rep. Eliseo Alcon (Courtesy New Mexico Legislature)

New Mexico state Rep. Eliseo Lee Alcon (D-Milan) has resigned due to health concerns, the lawmaker said Monday.

Alcons resignation is effective immediately to focus on his health, according to a news release published from New Mexico House Democrats.

In a brief telephone interview Monday, Alcon said he was placed on hospice care last week because his treatment for liver cancer isnt working.

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Who knows, maybe I can beat the son of a gun, he said.

Alcon has been in the House for 15 years and won reelection this month, taking 59% of the vote and beating Republican challenger Paul Spencer. Alcon in June won a three-way primary race for the Democratic nomination for the seat.

Ive served the public for a lot of years but I think its time for me to go, he said.

Alcon, who received a Bronze Star for his service as an Army combat medic during the Vietnam War, was the chair of the House Labor, Veterans and Military Affairs committee.

Also a retired magistrate judge, Alcon was the second-most senior member of the House Judiciary Committee.

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Alcon also previously headed the Consumer and Public Affairs Committee, according to the news release.

Alcon was elected to the House in 2009, according to the Legislatures website.

House District 6 takes up parts of Cibola and McKinley counties in northwestern New Mexico extending to the Arizona border, including parts of Grants and Thoreau.

The Cibola and McKinley County Commissions will each make a nomination to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to replace Alcon, according to state law. She will then appoint one of those nominees to carry out the remainder of his term.

Alcon said he would like the person who replaces him to above anything else, be someone who thinks of the people from my community.

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House Democrats said Alcon advocated for policies to support New Mexicos veterans and their families, strengthen the states economy and protect the environment.

House Speaker Javier Martinez said Alcon helped deliver huge wins for veterans, active service members, and all the people of New Mexico.
(NEXSTAR)  On Monday, many Outlook users signed on to start their week only to encounter problems with some Microsoft apps like Outlook and Teams. However, services have now been largely restored.

User reports on Downdetector show issues with Microsoft 365, Teams, Outlook, and the Microsoft Store began around 5 a.m. ET on Monday.

In a series of posts to X, the Microsoft 365 Status account explained that at around 2 a.m. ET, it was investigating an issue impacting users attempting to access Exchange Online or functionality within Microsoft Teams calendar.

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Later on, the account said a recent change was believed to have caused the interruptions. At around 9 a.m. ET, a fix was deployed and progressing through the affected environment.

Have a turkey this size? You need to start thawing today

Late Monday morning, Microsoft said a fix had been deployed to nearly all of the affected environments. Progress continued until early in the afternoon when Microsoft reported that it was facing delays in our recovery efforts and taking immediate action to address them.

At around 3:30 p.m. ET, Microsoft posted to X that it had completed additional actions and was seeing some recovery.

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Were continuing to monitor the service while we complete other workstreams intended to fully resolve the issue, the company wrote.

By 6 p.m. ET, outage reports on Downdetector for the impacted Microsoft services began to drop off. Microsoft issued another update around 9:30 p.m. ET, saying that most users and core services have recovered following our mitigation efforts, and it expects full restoration soon.

This outage comes just two months after another impacted thousands of people using Outlook, Teams, cloud services, Skype, SharePoint, and more. In that outage, Microsoft blamed a third-party ISPs managed environment for the issues.

Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield seeks $12M in lawsuit against his fathers company

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Earlier this year, Microsoft was seemingly at the center of another widespread outage that impacted banks, media companies, hospitals, and airports. The initial issue was traced back to CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company that had pushed out an update to several million Microsoft computers, disrupting their operating systems.

Among the hardest hit by that outage was Delta Air Lines, which claimed in a recent lawsuit against CrowdStrike that their operations were crippled for several days. Delta canceled about 7,000 flights over a five-day period during the peak summer vacation season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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MIDVALE, Utah (ABC4)  A deliveryman was dropping off a package in Midvale Sunday morning when a suspect allegedly jumped in the drivers seat of his vehicle and fought him over the car keys, according to the Unified Police Department.

George Chambers, 45, was arrested on Sunday, Nov. 24, for attempted aggravated robbery after police located him just over a mile and a half away from the alleged crime scene.

Around 11:20 a.m., police were informed of a possible carjacking near 7800 Candlestick Lane. However, the victim was gone by the time they arrived. Police later located and detained Chambers near 400 W 7200 S while addressing a transient problem.

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3 Utah children missing since 2022 found living with FLDS Church, returned to mother

Court documents say the police contacted the victim who then positively identified Chambers as the suspect. The victim said he noticed Chambers smoking nearby when he left his vehicle to drop off a package. When he returned, Chambers was allegedly in his drivers seat.

The victim said he then entered his car through the passenger door and Chambers began hitting and kicking him as they fought over the car keys. The man said he eventually got Chambers out of his car and drove away from the scene.

Police said they noticed two red lumps on the right side of the victims forehead along with a busted lip which they said was consistent with being in a physical struggle.

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The suspect allegedly told police a variation of the deliverymans story saying he got into the drivers seat of the vehicle trying to get somewhere safe and was assaulted by the deliveryman.

Court documents say Chambers has two other pretrial warrants, one of which is for third-degree felony retail theft. For this reason, police are suggesting he be held without bail.

Chambers was booked in the Salt Lake County jail.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
Milwaukee officials announced plans to offer $10,000 for outside police officers to transfer and work in the city, as it attempts to meet state requirements on police staffing.

The incentive plan will last four weeks and require officers to commit to working four-years in the citys police department. The plan joins several efforts by city officials to increase its police force, as state pressure from Wisconsin 2023 Act 12 dictates the city grow its number of officers.

I believe we should, and, in fact, weve got an obligation to do this, said Mayor Cavalier Johnson at a Monday press conference announcing the plan. Ill say it plainly. We need more police officers  and I want there to be more police officers.

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Wisconsin 2023 Act 12 is a funding law that grants the city more state funding but also requires it to grow its police force to 1,725 officers within 10 years of the citys new sales tax going into effect earlier this year.

In-state officers who transfer will be required to complete an abbreviated police academy training of eight weeks focused on policing in Milwaukee, said Leon Todd, the executive director for the city's Fire and Police commission, which mainly handles recruitment. Out-of-state officers who transfer will be required to complete the full six-month police academy.

The transferring officers' pay will be equivalent to their years of service, according to an agreement between the city and the Milwaukee Police Association, the union for the department's rank-and-file officers.

Todd said some of the funding for the program will come through Wisconsin Act 12 sales tax funding.

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Lateral programs like this have been used by other cities in Wisconsin and nationally as a way to attempt to recruit more officers, according to a city memo on the topic.

In Wisconsin, the memo said Wauwatosa offered a $5,000 signing bonus for transfers. Nationally, Seattle offered up to $50,000 for experienced officers and Portland offered $25,000, but the memo noted the city still struggled to find applicants.

The memo also included information from the Police Executive Research Forum, which said to be wary of lateral recruitment due to the way it can intensify competition between departments over the pool of potential hires.

Act 12 created a difficult task for the city, as interest in becoming a police officer has waned nationally following the murder of George Floyd in 2020 in Minneapolis and subsequent public unrest over that.

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Its a difficult recruiting environment nationwide, Todd said Monday.

However, theres some signs that could be changing. The Police Executive Research Forum, a police issue research organization, reported in 2023 police agencies reported an increase in sworn staff for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The stakes are high for the city if it doesnt meet its state-mandated recruitment requirements, which also include staffing of the citys fire department.

Under Wisconsin Act 12, Milwaukee will lose 15% of its shared revenue from the state if it does not maintain the number of police officers and the daily staffing level in the Fire Department minimally at the numbers from the previous year. City officials and alders said at a November committee meeting that $37 million in shared funding is on the line with the requirements.

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The city met that requirement this year and projections show it will make it in 2025, officials previously told the Journal Sentinel.

Todd said Mondays announcement was part of a broader effort to meet those requirements. The city recently changed its testing process for police recruitment; began accepting applications year-round, after previously accepting during windows; and expanded its recruitment staffing and marketing efforts.

The city also recently launched an employee referral program, offering $500 to city employees who refer people who apply to be a police officer.

At the citys Public Safety and Health Committee on Nov. 14, the citys elected officials raised concerns over the state of police recruitment and the potential to lose millions if they dont meet the requirements.

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Who knows whats going to work? said Alderwoman Milele Coggs during the meeting. And do we have time to wait a year to see if these classes get to 65 or not?

This year, the citys three recruitment classes have fallen short of its goal to bring on 65 recruits in each. The citys 2025 budget funded the same number of classes and recruits.

David Clarey is a reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at dclarey@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee hoping to draw police with $10,000 transfer bonus
If youve been on Milwaukees RiverWalk recently, you mightve noticed something new. Three murals now adorn downtowns beloved staple  with another on the way in the coming months.

Erica Green, director of public space initiatives at Milwaukee Downtown BID #21, told the Journal Sentinel in an email the locations of the new murals were selected based on their position on the RiverWalk and proximity to downtown neighborhoods.

The RiverWalk truly sits at the heart of downtown, Green said. "Long-term, these murals will serve as creative, delightful experiences that propel both pedestrian and waterway traffic."

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The effort began this summer, after the Downtown Placemaking Task Force sent out a public request for proposals for the new murals.

Artists submitted ideas and were vetted with a thorough review process, which included interviews and some concept revisions, according to Green.

Each of the artists is either based on the Milwaukee area or has strong Milwaukee ties, reflecting Milwaukee's strong creative community, Green said. The mural designs they created are diverse styles and truly do reflect the RiverWalk and Milwaukee as a whole in creative, visually stunning ways.

Three of the four murals are completed, with work on the final set to begin next spring.

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Heres what the artists behind the murals had to say about their inspirations, design process, connections to Milwaukee and more:

New mural "Buoyancy" by Brian Kaspr on the Milwaukee Riverwalk at Wells Street

Buoyancy  Brian Kaspr

Milwaukee native Brian Kaspr has long wanted to make an artistic mark on his hometown. When I found out about the call I simply had to apply, he said.

On top of wanting to have a mural in Milwaukee, Kaspr said he appreciated the openness of the taskforces call.

The request was, really, what do you as an artist want to do here?' Kaspr said. And that sounds exciting when the leash is let out a little bit, and there's some trust involved in the process.

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Kaspr said he worked with the taskforce to release a survey that asked very pointed questions to guide some of the murals imagery  which yielded over 140 responses, according to Green.

We wanted to hear from people who live, work [and] have businesses in our downtown area, Kaspr said. Milwaukee as a whole too, of course.

Situated across from the Bronze Fonz, Kasprs mural is a vibrant-colored collage full of nods to the city, including kayaks, the Hoan Bridge, local flowers and patterns from indigenous tribes around the state.

Kaspr said the new RiverWalk art creates a distinct sense of place and and will foster a sense of pride among the community and visitors alike.

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I love being a part of that, he said.

You can find Buoyancy at 740 North by 3L Living.

Milwaukee mural artist Janson Rapisarda paints a mural on the Juneau Bridge Tower on the E Juneau Ave bridge on Friday November 1, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wis. The mural is par of Milwaukee Downtown BID #21 initiative to install four new murals along the Milwaukee Riverwalk.

Glimmer Pursuit  CERA Street Art

Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design alum Janson Rapisarda, who works under the name Cera Street Art, was really excited to work in the city.

Rapisardas excitement was partly because he loved the orientation of his murals site. Its a pretty busy area, and I felt like the work was just going to showcase so well on such an iconic location, a bridge tower, he said.

The mural features a man carrying a music case in one hand and a lantern pointed towards the Milwaukee skyline in the other.

I've been trying to showcase in my work, and especially on this piece, the feeling of searching for something in yourself and searching for a light in your path, Rapisarda said.

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The citys rich local music scene  which features more than a dozen different-sized venuesalso contributed to Rapisardas vision.

I really like the idea that this could be a Milwaukee local right now, who's just seeking their path, seeking their fortune along what they're trying to do in life, he said.

Rapisarda added that hes looking forward to seeing how viewers construe the mural. I always really get excited about how other people interpret it, he said. I'm always open to different interpretations too.

You can find Glimmer Pursuit at the Juneau Bridge Tower.

New mural "Luminous Waters" by Unnaturell Design Co. on the Milwaukee Riverwalk at Knapp Street

Luminous Waters  Unnaturell Design Co.

Thyla Arden, who co-founded Unnaturell Design Co. with Ayda Rose, told the Journal Sentinel in an email the duo applied for the project because of the stunning canvas the RiverWalk offers.

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Integrating the natural flow of water and creatures into our work has often been central to our designs, so the Milwaukee RiverWalk, with its rich biological heritage, was immediately appealing, Arden said.

Arden said the duos goal was to create a mural that would inspire residents and visitors to reconnect with the unique river ecosystem that Milwaukee proudly preserves.

Arden and Rose hoped to honor the citys beauty and abundance by including a variety of local flora and fauna throughout their mural, including the great blue heron, honeybees, foxes and anemone flowers.

The flowing water design running through the mural unifies these elements, mirroring the river itself and connecting each detail into a cohesive, dynamic scene, Arden said.

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The murals color-scheme itself is also an ode to the city. The rich jewel-toned palette and bold visuals embody Milwaukees artistic spirit, celebrating the citys standing as both a cultural and wildlife haven, Arden said.

Plus, the mural includes several different interactive elements.

Weve included four photo op spots within the mural and encourage residents to take pictures and explore their own creativity at the site, Arden said.

You can find Luminous Waters at the Knapp Street Bridge.

Vessels of Milwaukee  La Bang Studio

Christina Vang, founder of La Bang Studio, is the artist behind the upcoming fourth addition to the RiverWalk murals.

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Vang is from Milwaukee, which was part of the inspiration behind applying to the project. The Milwaukee downtown area and RiverWalk were a big part of my young adult life, she said.

Vang said she loves the public and community engagement aspect behind painting murals. I always love considering the people that live or can play in wherever the mural site is, she said.

Vangs mural will be at the Marcus Performing Arts Center, 929 N. Water St. The murals location in particular has inspired some elements of her display. I see theaters as containers for different stories, different experiences, Vang said.

This one specifically will have plants that are local and native to Milwaukee or Wisconsin, things to do with the river itself and then containers for different art, she said, adding that the mural will also feature other nods to Milwaukee.

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Vessels of Milwaukee will be the fourth installment in Vangs Vessels series. One can be found on the Jungle Theater in Minneapolis and the other two installments are underway at an affordable housing unit in Saint Paul, Minnesota, according to Vang.

Each vessel and its contents symbolize a unique story; collectively, they represent the grand tapestry of the human experience, she said.

Vang is set to begin working on Vessels of Milwaukee in spring 2025.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee has new RiverWalk murals. Heres what to know about them
Drones have attacked the Typhoon plant, which is part of the Russian defence industrial base, in the city of Kaluga, Kaluga Oblast, Russia.

Source: Andrii Kovalenko, Head of the National Security and Defence Council's Center for Countering Disinformation, on Telegram

Details: Kovalenko said that this plant produces communication systems, electronic intelligence and radar equipment and manufactures components for surveillance and guidance systems installed on military equipment.

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Typhoon also produces parts for air defence systems, aircraft and missile systems, and maintains and improves equipment in service with the Russian military.

       .    Telegram- pic.twitter.com/I8LjEtT0sg     (@ukrpravda_news) November 25, 2024

In addition, the plant produces electronic modules and specialised equipment needed to integrate various military systems.

Background: Earlier, Russian Telegram channels reported that drones had been shot down in Kaluga on the night of 24-25 November. The governor of Russia's Kaluga Oblast said that the wreckage of one of the drones fell on an industrial facility, causing a fire.

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CHICAGO  Chicago police are searching for a missing 83-year-old man who suffers from dementia.

Police said Carlos Rodriguez was last seen at around 4:30 p.m. Saturday leaving Community First Hospital in Portage Park with his elderly wife who also suffers from dementia.

LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland

Police found Rodriguezs wife in the 5000 block of West Bell Plaine.

Rodriguez is 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs 130 pounds. He also has brown eyes and brown hair.

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Anyone who sees him or knows of his whereabouts should call police at 312-746-6554.

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT)  A missing Birmingham man was found shot to death inside a vehicle Sunday night.

Birmingham police issued a critical missing person alert Saturday morning for Dontrell Gooden, 20, who was reportedly last seen on November 22 in a vehicle near the Crestwood area wearing a black Nike hoodie, black jeans and red Jordans.

Birmingham man, 22, dies day after shooting

During their search for Gooden Sunday night, officers discovered a vehicle in the Brumitt Heights area matching the one Gooden was reportedly last seen driving. Officers discovered Gooden inside the vehicle with an apparent gunshot wound.

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He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Birmingham Police Department is asking for anyone with information regarding Goodens disappearance or death contact them at 205-254-1764 or call Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The negotiation over a deal on ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon "is going in a very positive direction," a spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council (NSC) said Monday, stopping short of providing details.

NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told reporters during a news-of-the-day gaggle that with active involvement by the U.S. government, discussions toward securing the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire that will lead to both Israeli and Lebanese nationals returning home along the border "were constructive, and we believe that the trajectory of this is going in a very positive direction."

"Nothing is done until everything is done. Nothing's negotiated till everything is negotiated," Kirby said, adding that "we need to keep at the work to see it through, so that we can actually get the ceasefire for which we've been working for so long and so hard."

If reached, the ceasefire deal will hopefully halt the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah since Israel began a ground incursion into Lebanon in October. CNN quoted a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying Monday that the Israeli cabinet will vote on a ceasefire deal on Tuesday, and that the deal is expected to pass.

Amos Hochstein, the U.S. envoy tasked with mediating the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, said last week in Beirut that a ceasefire was "within our grasp," according to CNN. Hochstein added a caveat by saying that it was ultimately "the decision of the parties" whether or not a deal may be agreed upon.

Faced with repetitive requests for disclosing some of the deal's specific contents, ranging from the duration of the ceasefire to a reported clause of U.S. supervision to guarantee no violation by both sides, Kirby simply rejected to reveal any of them, other than saying that the "conversations that Amos had in the region were constructive."

"For me, all that gets into the parameters of the deal itself," Kirby said in reference to the press reporting mentioned by participating journalists at the gaggle. "I'm just not going to go there." 
Editors note: Identifying and sensitive information has been removed from this article after updated information was released by the sheriffs office.

UPDATE (10/25/2024): The Monroe County Sheriffs Office said they have found the 16-year-old who went missing from West Henrietta this weekend.

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STARKVILLE, Miss. (WJTV)  A young Arkansas couple drove 330 miles to Mississippi States Animal Health Center in order to help an injured Goldendoodle.

According to Dylan McCay and Emily Roberts, the 10-month-old puppy was hit by a car and left stranded on Acklin Road in Conway, Arkansas. They saw a social media post about the dog and drove a short distance to hep the abandoned puppy.

Her temperament was wonderful. I had my hazard lights on, got out and she was trying to scoot over toward me, McCay said. She put her head on my lap as Im trying to call emergency hospitals. The whole time, shes just wanted to be loved on.

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In the pouring rain on Halloween night, McCay loaded the Goldendoodle, now named Maple, into his car. Both of her hind leg femurs were fractured and exposed, one entirely coated with mud.

The most common dog names in Mississippi

The couple rushed Maple to Greenbrier Animal Hospital in Conway where Dr. Eric Schrand, a 2022 MSU Doctor of Veterinary Medicine graduate, recognized the severity of the puppys injuries and called MSU. After unsuccessfully trying to admit Maple to surgeons in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Memphis, Tennessee, Schrand urged the couple to drive more than 330 miles for care at his alma mater.

We were just going to do it, Roberts said. We tried a few local places, but a lot of places were closed, or they werent the most competent to do the surgery that needed to be done. We felt like it was something that needed to be done right for her quality of life.

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MSU College of Veterinary Medicine Chief of Small Animal Surgery Dr. Michael Jaffe and second-year surgical resident Dr. Weston Beamon spoke to Schrand in Conway, who had originally suggested amputation due to the open-fracture wounds and possibility of infection. Jaffe and Beamon went into the five-hour surgery with the mindset to save both legs. After piecing the legs together with five screws, two pins and one bone plate in each leg, the surgery was successfully completed.

The couple used their wedding funds on Maples surgery.

Emily Roberts and Dylan McCay celebrate Maples recovery at Mississippi States Animal Health Center. McCay and Roberts found Maple on the side of the road after being hit by a car on Oct. 31. The Conway, Arkansas, couple drove to MSU for an extensive surgery to repair her hind legs, which had open fractures to both femurs. After three weeks of rehabilitation and physical therapy, McCay and Roberts reunited with Maple to bring her home. (Photo by Amelia Andersson via MSU) Mississippi State College of Veterinary Medicine and MSU Animal Health Center faculty and students prevented a puppys leg amputation with a five-hour surgery. After piecing the legs together with five screws, two pins and one bone plat in each leg, the Goldendoodle will walk and have a normal life. From left, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine third-year student William Greer of Poplarville, Certified Veterinary Technician Ashlee Reed, 10-month-old Goldendoodle Maple, and MSU Surgical Resident Dr. Weston Beamon. (Photo by Tom Thompson via MSU) Dylan McCay walks Maple around Mississippi States Wise Center, home of the College of Veterinary Medicine, after picking her up from MSUs Animal Health Center. CVM faculty performed an extensive five-hour surgery repairing Maples hindlegs after she was hit by a car. After more than three weeks, McCay and his fiance Emily Roberts picked up Maple to bring her home to Conway, Arkansas. (Photo by Amelia Andersson via MSU) Mississippi States Animal Health Center reunites Maple with her owners. From left, MSU Chief of Small Animal Surgery Dr. Michael Jaffe, Dylan McCay, Maple, Emily Roberts, third-year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine student Will Greer of Poplarville and Surgical Resident Dr. Alex Chu. (Photo by Amelia Andersson via MSU) MSU Surgical Resident Dr. Weston Beamon, right, comforts Goldendoodle Maple after a successful surgery to repair two broken femurs in her hind legs. Third-year DVM student William Greer of Poplarville and Certified Veterinary Technician Ashlee Reed assist in stabilizing Maple post-surgery. (Photo by Tom Thompson via MSU) MSU CVM Chief of Small Animal Surgery Dr. Michael Jaffe says goodbye to his patient Maple after more than three weeks of working on her case. Maples owners, Dylan McCay and Emily Roberts, met with the CVM medical team and picked up their puppy from MSUs Animal Health Center on Sunday [Nov. 24] to bring her home to Conway, Arkansas. (Photo by Amelia Andersson via MSU)

She was walking on both legs two days after surgery, Jaffe said. Shes a tough little girl. Shes getting stronger now and building that muscle back. Shes got a long way to go, but shes going to do it.

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Since finding Maple, McCay and Roberts have put their wedding planning on hold, but they still hope to get married in spring 2026. To offset Maples nearly $15,000 in surgical costs, the couple set up a GoFundMe page.

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A Missouri circuit court judge on Monday declined to restore access to gender-affirming care for minors in the state, ruling in a 74-page judgment that a law banning children from accessing medical care is constitutional.

The Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act, which bars medical professionals from providing hormone therapy and puberty blockers to anyone younger than 18, was signed into law by Republican Gov. Mike Parson in 2023.

It also bans gender transition surgeries for minors (which are exceedingly rare), bans prisons and jails from providing gender-affirming surgeries, and prohibits Missouri Medicaid from covering similar treatments for adults.

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Judge Robert Craig Carter of the 44th Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri disputed the findings of medical experts in his ruling, citing a total lack of consensus on the medical ethics of treating gender dysphoria.

The evidence from trial showed that the medical ethics of gender dysphoria treatment for children and adolescents are entirely unsettled, he added.

Carter also suggested that treating gender dysphoria could be a slippery slope to depriving the Missouri legislature of its ability to regulate drugs.

Any person  including a minor  would be able to obtain anything from meth, to ecstasy to abortion so long as a single medical professional were willing to recommend it, he warned.

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Lambda Legal, a national nonprofit that advocates for LGBTQ civil rights, together with the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, argued the law is discriminatory on the basis of sex and therefore violates the Missouri Constitution.

In a joint statement Monday, the organizations said they were extremely disappointed in the ruling and pledged to appeal.

The courts findings signal a troubling acceptance of discrimination, ignore an extensive trial record and the voices of transgender Missourians and those who care for them, and deny transgender adolescents and Medicaid beneficiaries from their right to access to evidence-based, effective, and often life-saving medical care, the statement said.

This ruling sends a chilling message that, for some, compassion and equal access to health care are still out of reach.

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Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R), meanwhile, defended the law at trial and cast Carters ruling Monday as a victory for banning child mutilation.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of a similar law in Tennessee next Wednesday in United States v. Skrmetti.

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Judge Craig Carter, a Wright County judge serving in Cole County for Missouri's gender-affirming care trial, listens to testimony. "There were so many binders of evidence that were piled so high on the bench that the courts vision was at times obscured," he noted in his ruling Monday (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).

Missouris restrictions on puberty blockers and hormone treatment for transgender minors are constitutional and may remain in place, Wright County Circuit Court Judge Craig Carter wrote in a 74-page ruling Monday.

Soon after the ruling became public, the ACLU of Missouri and Lambda Legal promised to appeal.

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The states restrictions on gender-affirming care, passed by state lawmakers in 2023, not only bar minors from beginning cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers and undergoing gender transition surgeries. It also blocks the state from paying for gender-affirming care for adults through Missouri Medicaid and care in state prisons.

Many providers in Missouri have ceased offering gender-affirming care for minors, including patients that had begun prescriptions prior to the laws effective date.

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Plaintiffs in the case  which include gender-affirming health care providers, transgender minors and their families  had the burden to prove the statute clearly and undoubtedly violates a constitutional provision, the judge wrote. And because plaintiffs challenged the law in its entirety, they had to prove that there is no set of circumstances under which the provisions would be valid.

Carter determined the challenge did not clear the high bar on multiple arguments, but the overarching debate looked at medical consensus on gender-affirming care.

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His ruling focuses on a U.S. Supreme Court precedent that allows lawmakers broad discretion in areas fraught with medical and scientific uncertainty. Carter concluded that there is an almost total lack of consensus as to the medical ethics of adolescent gender dysphoria treatment, granting the state legislature authority to ban the care.

Regarding the ethics of adolescent gender-affirming treatment, it would seem that the medical profession stands in the middle of an ethical minefield, with scant evidence to lead it out. he wrote.

During the nine-day trial, which took place at the end of September, experts on both sides opined on the availability of scientific research on gender-affirming care. Carter notes that plaintiffs agreed that standards of care were based on scientifically low-quality evidence. Expert witnesses for plaintiffs said during trial they still felt there was enough to justify the area of treatment.

The witnesses at trial varied in credibility, with some of the states experts discussing research that had been retracted. Solicitor General Joshua Divine, representing the state and defending the law, argued that the scientific community had only dismissed his experts findings because of cancel culture.

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Carters judgment does not cite the states most controversial expert but does rely on the testimony of Jamie Reed, who was permitted as a fact witness instead of an expert on the topic. Reed was called to testify in order to establish facts on gender-affirming care in Missouri.

Reed, whose public affidavit in February 2023 inspired the passage of the restrictions, testified that Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Childrens Hospital treated many patients with mental health problems without comprehensive psychological evaluations.

There was disagreement during the trial over whether treatment from a licensed therapist was enough to warrant gender-affirming medical care or if a psychologist or psychiatrist should be a requirement.

Plaintiffs did not have a witness from the Transgender Center, apart from patient testimonies, so Carter concluded that Reeds testimony was unrebutted.

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Importantly, he also found Reed credible.

Her testimony does not arise from any ideological or other bias, Carter wrote. In fact, she is married to a transgender individual.

Reed is the executive director of a small advocacy group called the LGBT Courage Coalition, which opposes gender-affirming care for minors. Her partner is stopping testosterone treatments and detransitioning, an article published the day before Reeds testimony announced.

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In contrast to his views on the states witnesses, Carter wrote he has concerns with deferring to the organizations relied on by plaintiffs, such as WPATH, which self-describes itself as an organization committed to advocacy.

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WPATH, which stands for the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, is a professional organization that sets standards for gender-affirming care. During the trial, the state questioned whether WPATH was stifling research with outcomes contrary to its worldview.

Apart from these concerns, Carter said three witnesses were particularly compelling: Chloe Cole, a young woman who transitioned as a minor in California and since stopped treatment and has spoken publicly about her regrets, along with bioethicist Farr Curlin and plastic surgeon Patrick Lappert, both who emphasized potential side effects of gender-affirming care.

Because the risks were high for gender-affirming care, the treatment couldnt be compared to experimental treatments with few known side effects, Carter wrote, and allowing teenagers to opt into an experimental treatment is dubious.

If we dont let a 16-year-old buy a six pack of beer and a pack of smokes, or let an adult buy those items for them, should we allow the same kid/parent team to decide to change a teenagers sex forever? Carter wrote in his ruling.

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The ACLU of Missouri and Lambda Legal said in an emailed statement that the judgment mirrored the states brief, and a transcript of the trial has yet to be completed.

The courts findings signal a troubling acceptance of discrimination, ignore an extensive trial record and the voices of transgender Missourians and those who care for them, and deny transgender adolescents and Medicaid beneficiaries from their right to access to evidence-based, effective, and often life-saving medical care, the legal organizations said in a joint statement.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a social media post that the national mood on this issue has moved significantly since we launched our investigation.

The state has a role to play, he said, to determine what systems need to be in place to protect kids and ensure that the adults and patients understand the lack of science and medicine behind certain recommended procedures.

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Commissioner of Education Karla Eslinger speaks during a State Board of Education meeting (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).

The latest round of student test scores show fewer Missouri public school districts and charter schools in jeopardy of losing accreditation, though this years data wont immediately affect how schools are graded.

Based on annual performance report scores released Monday for the sixth iteration of the Missouri School Improvement Program, or MSIP6, there were 343 districts and charters that improved when compared to an average of their scores over the previous two years.

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A total of 71 districts and charters scored in the provisionally accredited range, and four charter schools scored below 50%, which is the unaccredited range.

Its something that weve been waiting for. Ever since the pandemic, we have looked at scores (and seen declines), Commissioner of Education Karla Eslinger told reporters in a press conference. Finally were starting to see the fruits of our labor. Were starting to see where we are making progress.

MSIP6, which launched in 2022, has been lauded as more rigorous and descriptive than prior versions of the program. Previously, many districts scored above 90%, whereas now their scores are more evenly distributed along a bell curve.

The score is a snapshot of student performance in end-of-course exams and statewide standardized tests along with an assessment of district continuous improvement plans.

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The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education originally planned to base classification decisions on scores this year but will instead make decisions from three-year composite scores. Districts accreditation cannot be lowered from MSIP6 scores until 2026.

Based on composite scores for the three years of MSIP6 data, two charter schools are in the unaccredited range. The State Board of Education will determine accreditation status based on other factors, like superintendent qualifications and financial health.

Lisa Sireno, assistant commissioner of the Office of Quality Schools, told reporters the department switched to composite scores for classification this spring.

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Theyre more stable measures as they contain more data, she said. They are less susceptible to extreme changes from year to year.

For smaller districts, a composite can protect them from volatility while the individual score gives a look at the last school years work.

Craig Carson, assistant superintendent of learning of the Ozark School District, said it is autopsy data.

This is data that tells you about where youve been, he told The Independent. The data we really use are the day-to-day data inside our classrooms.

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Ozark is part of the Success Ready Students Network, which is a group of school districts compiling alternative methods of accountability. This year, the districts are showing the first draft of their plan, in the form of informational dashboards available on their websites.

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We are using a descriptive (report) that is found on our website, and it gives so much more information to our public about how our students are doing in the day to day, and it really emphasizes growth, Carson said.

He believes that the next iteration of the Missouri School Improvement Program will spring from work the Success Ready Students Network is doing.

We are now building the momentum we need to really involve real-world learning with competency-based education and make sure that every student leaves being success-ready, he said. The excitement around that and the synergy of those school districts are creating, that will eventually turn into what MSIP7 will be.

Similar to Carson, Maplewood Richmond Heights School District Superintendent Bonita Jamison reiterated that the scores are a limited look at a district.

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That data only tells one story, and there are stories that are not seen and reflected in those numbers, where the impact on the lives of children and their families are profound, she said.

Benchmark assessments serve the district better to see needs and fill them quickly, she said.

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Maplewood Richmond Heights is one of the top-scoring districts this year, amassing 97% of points possible. Just three others fared better.

She points to shared accountability and ownership from the entirety of the districts staff  including a custodian who doubles as an attendance monitor to encourage parents to get children to school.

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She has theories why other schools didnt score as well, mainly a teacher recruitment and retention crisis hitting poorer, urban schools hard.

Eslinger, in last weeks press conference, told reporters that teacher vacancies make performance and improvement challenging.

We know that with fewer educators, more and more courses across the state are being taught by student teachers and by folks that are substitutes that maybe have not really been trained on the specific content area, she said. Weve got work to do there.

In 2024, 37% of Missouri educators in their first year of teaching were inappropriately certified for the course they were teaching and over 10% over courses were taught by someone inappropriately certified.

This story has been updated to include a map of scores and clarify accreditation ranges.
State Treasurer Vivek Malek is urging public pension systems to adopt policies to prevent the use of retirement assets for political contributions. (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent)

Every public pension program in Missouri should adopt policies against making political contributions from retirement funds, State Treasurer Vivek Malek wrote in a letter sent Monday to system managers.

In the letter, Malek wrote that contributions this fall by funds set up to pay pensions for sheriffs and prosecutors to the campaign committee promoting passage of Amendment 6 were deeply concerning.

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Using the money contributed by taxpayers and employees for political purposes rather than market investments does not help the funds pay current and future benefits, Malek wrote.

In fact, these expenditures imprudently risk system resources and erode the publics trust, Malek wrote.

The letter, sent to 90 state and local pension funds, comes just a few days after the 11-member Board of Trustees of the Missouri State Retirement System voted to prohibit the use of its pension funds for political contributions.

Malek is a trustee of MOSERS because of his office. The policy change was presented to the board by MOSERS staff after inquiries from Malek.

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During the meeting, Malek said the retirement system should be focused on maximizing the return on its investments to pay benefits.

All public employee retirement systems in Missouri, including MOSERS, should not expend any funds supporting or opposing ballot measures or the election of candidates for public office, Malek said. Keeping MOSERS free from such activities upholds the trust of those we serve and reinforces our commitment to remaining focused solely on our fiduciary responsibilities.

State Rep. Dirk Deaton, a Republican from Noel who is also on the MOSERS board, said last week he intends to file legislation barring political contributions from public pension funds.

Amendment 6, defeated with 61% of voters opposed, would have imposed fees on criminal cases to fund pensions for sheriffs and prosecutors. On Oct. 2, the Missouri Sheriffs Retirement System contributed $30,000 to the campaign, followed on Oct. 8 by a $50,000 contribution from the Prosecuting Attorneys and Circuit Attorneys Retirement System.

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The fees that had funded the two pension systems were declared unconstitutional in 2021. To shore up its finances, state lawmakers this year appropriated $5 million in general revenue to the sheriffs fund.

The various pension funds for state, local and University of Missouri employees hold about $100 billion in net assets and some could, if any substantial portion were used for politics, provide far more than any other potential donor. That is why strict policies are needed, Malek said.

Recent expenditures of public pension funds in direct support of a ballot measure merit serious consideration of the appropriate use of these funds and a thoughtful response that safeguards our public pension systems mission, the letter states.

After the MOSERS action, The Independent sent inquiries to five retirement systems authorized by state law. The sheriffs and prosecutors systems did not respond to emails seeking comment on the MOSERS action.

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The three largest  for educators and public school employees; for local government employees; and for Department of Transportation and Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers  all said long-standing policies and state law already prohibit the use of retirement funds for political donations.

MOSERS had $8.9 billion in net assets on June 30, according to the latest annual report. It provides benefits to the largest number of former state employees, but it is not the wealthiest retirement fund created in state law.

That distinction belongs to the system providing benefits for former educators and school district employees, known as PSRS/PEERS, which held $55 billion in assets on June 30, 2023.

PSRS/PEERS has long had a board policy that prohibits systems funds from being used for political purposes, Executive Director Dearld Snider said. The systems have never used and will never use systems funds to make contributions to political campaigns or ballot initiatives.

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The local government system, known as LAGERS, has about $11 billion in assets.

It has been a longstanding practice of LAGERS to not use system assets for political purposes, spokeswoman Elizabeth Althoff wrote in an email.

The retirement system for Missouri Department of Transportation workers and Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers has $3.7 billion in assets. Known as MPERS, it is maintained as a separate system because it is mainly funded by fuel taxes and vehicle fees, as are the agencies it serves.

MPERS does not have a specific policy mirroring the MOSERS action and is unlikely to consider one, fund director Scott Simon wrote in an email.

What we do have are governing statutes that provide all assets of the fund are dedicated to and held in trust for the members and the purposes set forth in our governing statutes, Simon wrote. Nowhere in those statutes does it authorize the use of assets for political purposes (i.e., candidates, ballot initiatives, etc.).
Republicans will maintain control of the House of Representatives, solidifying the GOPs power in the White House and both chambers of Congress. Abortion rights were a focal point for the Democratic Party, with many candidates vying for congressional seats saying they would vote to restore the federal right to abortion if elected.

Most Republican candidates who won their races said the issue should be left to the states, echoing President-elect Donald Trumps rhetoric. Trump has said he would not sign a federal abortion ban if such legislation lands on his desk.

The GOP gained control of the Senate, and it became clear last week that the party maintained a majority in the House, our D.C. Bureau reported. Republicans flipped several seats, including two in Pennsylvania and one each in Colorado and Michigan.

Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican with a history of anti-abortion positions, said Tuesday that the party has been working behind the scenes to plan an America first agenda. So far, abortion policy has not been mentioned in detail.

Democrats running on abortion rights did pick up some lower chamber seats: one in California, one in Oregon and three in New York, for example. But even in states where voters backed abortion-rights measures  Arizona and Colorado, to name a couple  Republican congressional candidates still bested their opponents.

Heres a glance at how Democrats and Republicans fared in some races where reproductive rights were key:

Colorado

More than 60% of Colorado voters approved a abortion-rights measure that will strike down a decades-old ban on the use of public funds for abortion. At the same time, residents in Congressional District 8 voted to unseat U.S. Democratic Rep. Yadira Caraveo, who supports abortion rights. Republican Representative-elect Gabe Evans won at least 49% of the vote to Caraveos 48%, according to Colorado Newsline. Crime and immigration appear to have been a major factor in the competitive race. In an October debate, Evans said he supports abortion in the cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother, and opposes a national ban.

Michigan

Abortion wasnt directly on the ballot in Michigan this year, unlike during the 2022 midterms. Former state GOP Sen. Tom Barrett defeated former state Democratic Sen. Curtis Hertel in a bid to represent the 7th Congressional District, Michigan Advance reported. Hertel released an ad in September featuring a woman sharing her abortion story after having an ectopic pregnancy and painting Barrett as too extreme for Michigan.

Barrett opposes abortion rights and sponsored anti-abortion bills in the state Senate. His campaign strategist told the Advance that he would be focused on preserving the Hyde Amendment, a provision that prevents the use of federal funds for abortion in most cases, and protecting funding for anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers. Barrett told the Detroit Free Press that Congress has a role in securing conscience protections for doctors who dont want to provide abortions  statutes like this already exist  and in making it illegal for minors to travel across state lines for abortions without parental consent. Idaho and Tennessee have made the latter a crime, though both laws were blocked by the courts.

Nebraska

A ballot measure set to ban most abortions after the first trimester succeeded in Nebraska, while one that would have allowed abortion up to fetal viability with exceptions for the health and the life of the mother failed. The issue factored into the race for Nebraskas 2nd Congressional District, where U.S. Republican Rep. Don Bacon emerged victorious against state Sen. Tony Vargas, a Democrat who backed the abortion-rights measure. Nebraska Examiner reported that Vargas stressed abortion rights and reproductive health, and Bacon softened his stance on the issue while campaigning. The incumbent, who supports exceptions for rape, incest or to save the mothers life, has cosponsored legislation that would give fetuses personhood rights.

Wisconsin

Republican businessman Tony Wied won his race against Democrat OB-GYN Kristin Lyerly for Wisconsins conservative 8th Congressional District. Former U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher resigned from Congress this spring, opening the office up, Wisconsin Examiner reported. Wied garnered 57% of the votes to Lyerlys 43%, according to the latest AP tally. Lyerly emphasized her background in obstetrics care and advocacy for reproductive rights throughout her campaign. Wied has said he supports the U.S. Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and that abortion policy should be decided by state lawmakers, Examiner reported.

California

Democrat George Whitesides defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Garcia in Californias 27th Congressional District, an area that includes Santa Clarita. The Associated Press called the race on Tuesday. Whitesides painted Garcias opposition to abortion rights as extreme, according to the AP. Whitesides told CalMatters he would back a federal law codifying abortion rights, while Garcia said he wouldnt support a federal ban. California Democrats emphasized abortion while campaigning, hoping the issue would help them win back the House.

Michigan

Most voters in the state elected Donald Trump to the White House, and Republicans flipped control of the Michigan House, ending the Democratic Partys trifecta. But U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten, a Grand Rapids Democrat, won reelection with 54% of votes to Republican Paul Hudsons 44%. Scholten was first elected to Congress in 2022, when the majority of Michigan voters approved a reproductive rights amendment. Last month, she told Michigan Advance that abortion was easily in the top one or two issues that I hear about from voters. Hudson downplayed the issue while campaigning but said he supports IVF and didnt back a national ban.

Minnesota

U.S. Representative-elect Kelly Morrison, an OB-GYN, won Minnesotas only open seat in Congress. She will represent the states 3rd Congressional District, Minnesota Reformer reported. Tad Jude, her GOP opponent, once called every abortion a tragedy. Morrison is set to be the only OB-GYN elected to Congress who supports abortion rights, according to NBC News.

Oregon

U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a Republican who has waffled on her abortion stance while in office, lost reelection to Democrat Janelle Bynum, Oregon Capital Chronicle reported. On Thursday morning, AP called the race for Bynum, who will be the first Black Oregonian elected to Congress. Bynum and Chavez-DeRemer sparred over abortion during an October debate. Im never pro-choice enough for the left, Chavez-DeRemer said last month. Im never pro-life enough for the right.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed for peaceful parliamentary proceedings shortly before opposition lawmakers demanded a debate about billionaire Gautam Adani, forcing proceedings to be adjourned.

Mallikarjun Kharge, president of the Indian National Congress and leader of the opposition in the upper house of the parliament, demanded a debate about Adani as the winter parliamentary session kicked off Monday. Opposition lawmakers in the lower house of the parliament could also be heard calling for a discussion on the matter before proceedings were adjourned until Wednesday.

The prime minister warned the opposition against disrupting proceedings, telling reporters shortly before the session began that there should be healthy debate. Some members were trying to control the parliament for their own political gains, he said.

The opposition  which has more than doubled its seats in the parliament after the June election result  had promised to raise the issue after US allegations last week linked Adani, who is considered to be a close ally of Modi, and other top executives to a $250 million bribery plot.

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The whip from the Indian National Congress introduced a motion in the parliament on Monday for a discussion on the bribery charges and the prime ministers friendship with Adani. More protests are likely during the winter parliamentary session, which lasts until Dec. 20.

The calls from the opposition follows a bruising election defeat in Maharashtra state, home to the financial capital Mumbai. Results on the weekend showed Modis Bharatiya Janata Party swept the polls with more than two-thirds of the seats in the local legislature.

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AVON PARK, Fla. (WFLA)  A mother and daughter duo were arrested over the weekend for stealing roughly $100,000 from a non-profit childcare center in Avon Park, the Highlands County Sheriffs Office announced Monday.

Tikia Robertson, 50, the former director of the Avon Park Community Child Development Center and her daughter, Wilneisha Gammage, 27, are facing charges of fraud for their questionable transactions.

Mom accused of shooting teen daughter at McDonalds in South Florida

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Deputies were alerted of the theft when a new treasurer at the childcare center discovered suspicious transactions from the books dating back to January 2023.

When Robertson was confronted about the transactions in May 2023, she resigned from her position, as an internal investigation began, officials said.

The sheriffs office launched a criminal investigation in August 2023 and found that Robertson wrote more than 80 fraudulent checks to Gammage between Jan. 15, 2020, and Dec. 29, 2022, totaling $93,116.02.

Third Florida deputy dies days after SUV crash that killed fellow motormen

It was also discovered that Gammage used the company credit card to pay her car payment, car insurance, and Verizon account several times, charging a total of $5,754.92.

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According to HCSO, a total of $98,870.94 was stolen from the non-profit center.

Robertson and Gammage were each charged with fraud to obtain more than $50,000, grand theft of over $20,000 but less than $100,000, illegal use of credit cards, and uttering a false instrument.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Activists to Protest the Expansion of the War in Ukraine on the Steps of the United States Capitol Building

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Christian Defense Coalition

Nov. 24, 2024



WASHINGTON, Nov. 24, 2024 /Standard Newswire/ -- The Christian Defense Coalition will display a banner with the message; Congress: "NO Missiles For Ukraine!"



The protest will be on Monday, November 25, at 11:30 AM on the southeastern steps of the US Capitol. (The House of Representatives Steps.)



These actions come in response to President Biden authorizing Ukraine to use long-range US missiles in Russia and releasing billions of dollars in military funding by Inauguration Day.



The Christians Defense Coalition calls these actions by the Biden Administration "reckless" and an "expansion of the war in Ukraine."



Rev. Patrick Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition and longtime anti-war activist, states;

"The actions of President Biden to authorize the use of long-rage missiles in Russia are reckless and a tragic expansion of the war in Ukraine. Instead of providing billions of dollars for new military aid and supplies, the Biden Administration should be putting together the framework of a peace plan to end the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.



"Last month, The Wall Street Journal, citing intelligence and undisclosed sources, reported a grim milestone: about one million Ukrainians and Russians have been killed or wounded since the war began. The majority of the dead are soldiers on both sides, followed by Ukrainian civilians.



"The United States needs to lead the way in bringing this bloodshed to an end instead of providing weapons and long-rage missiles. It is especially unconscionable for Joe Biden to be expanding the war in Ukraine while he is a lame duck President.



"Congress must step in to end this madness and move forward with a framework of bringing peace to the region."

Rev. Mahoney recently won a federal lawsuit which opened the US Capitol steps to peaceful demonstrations and free speech activities.



For more information or interviews call



Rev. Patrick Mahoney at 540.538.4741



SOURCE Christian Defense Coalition


CAIRO, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- A total of 17 people, including tourists and Egyptian crew members, were missing after their safari boat sank off the northern area of Marsa Alam city at the Red Sea, the Egyptian Red Sea Province said on its official Facebook page on Monday.

The boat initially carried 45 people, including 31 tourists and 14 crew members.

Amro Hanfy, governor of the Red Sea Province, told Xinhua that 28 survivors had been found and dispatched by airplane for medical care.

"Intensive efforts are underway in search for the missing in coordination with the armed and naval forces," noted Hanfy.

The governor added that frigate El-Fateh and airplanes are continuing to comb the area.

He urged people nearby to avoid the accident spot so that the rescue team could carry out their duties.

According to initial information, the boat sank near a coral reef in north Marsa Alam. The control center in the Red Sea province received a distress signal from a crew member on Monday from a boat named "Sea Story" around 5:30 a.m. local time (0330 GMT).

The boat, on a diving trip, left Port Ghalib in Marsa Alam on Nov. 24 and was scheduled to return to Hurghada Marina on Nov. 29. 
We are now learning more about what happened right before Osceola County deputies say a mother held her 14-year-old daughter underwater - killing her.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

New court filings reveal it all started with an argument with Kelsey Glovers roommate after Glover refused to give insulin to her daughter, Giselle.

The mothers roommate told investigators Glover took her daughter off insulin medication.

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The roommate says that Giselle Glover was ill, vomiting, not eating and feeling weak. She said she had a hard time drinking water.

The roommate told deputies when she confronted Kelsey Glover about the need for medical care, the mother refused.

Thats when the roommate says Kelsey Glover grabbed the girls hair and held her underwater in the bathtub.

The roommate says she tried to resuscitate the girl, but the mother pushed her out of the bathroom and threatened her with a hammer.

Osceola County Sheriffs Office said late Friday, Glover now faces a first-degree murder charge after the Medical Examiners Office concluded Giselle died from drowning by homicide.

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Giselle Glovers father started a GoFundMe Friday to try to raise money so the family can bury the 14-year-old in Virginia.

Also, on the GoFundMe, he wrote a heart-wrenching final letter to his daughter.

He spoke of the moments he lost with her like walking her down the aisle and sharing a daddy-daughter dance.

He called this the most unimaginable challenge in this world.

He described her as daddys princess. He wrote of how she had a heart full of love, was beautiful inside and out. He said she was intelligent and strong.

From the moment you were born, you were the strongest soldier God ever created. You never let your type 1 diabetes define you or hold you back, he wrote.

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In new documents the state filed, prosecutors say the mother poses a threat to the community.

Prosecutors want her to remain in jail until trial.

A hearing to determine that was set to happen Friday afternoon, but the defense asked for it to be postponed until December 4.

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A Florida woman was arrested following a dispute with a Lyft driver and his passengers in a McDonalds parking lot, which resulted in her pulling a gun and accidentally shooting her own daughter, cops say

Melissa Valbrum, 32, threatened to shoot and kill three people who were trying to get into the rideshare after a misunderstanding, according to police, before firing and hitting her own child.

Valbrum now faces three charges following the Miami-Dade incident on Friday: aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, battery and culpable negligence inflicting personal injury. She appeared in court on Sunday.

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According to Miami-Dade police, officers were called out to the McDonalds in Pinewood following reports of "a dispute where a firearm accidentally discharged" by a woman. The bullet had struck the womans 15-year-old daughter in her left shoulder, according to a police affidavit seen by The Independent.

Melissa Valbrum was arrested following a dispute outside a McDonalds in Miami, where she allegedly pulled a gun but shot her teenage daughter by accident (Local 10)

According to the arrest affidavit, the teenager and her mom were in the restaurant along with another group prior to the incident.

When a Lyft arrived, one member of a group waiting on the ride told police they were pointing outside to alert the group the Lyft had arrived. Valbrums daughter said a member of the group was pointing at Valbrum.

This led to an argument inside the restaurant that later continued outside. By that time, the three members of the group were inside the rideshare.

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Valbrum then allegedly retrieved a gun from her vehicle and began threatening to "shoot and kill" all three of them while pointing the firearm in their direction, the affidavit stated. As the Lyft drove off, the passengers heard a gunshot and saw the teen had been shot.

Valbrum was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, battery and culpable negligence inflicting personal injury following the incident on Friday. She appeared in court on Sunday (Miami Dade Corrections)

The Lyft driver told police that Valbrum was acting "extremely aggressive" while pointing a gun at him and other members of the group. He also told police that he saw Valbrum reach inside his car and allegedly assault one of the passengers  also a minor.

Valbrum denied that she had pulled out the gun and threatened the passengers, later telling officers that the weapon had been on her waistband during the incident and it "accidentally fell," causing it to go off and shoot her daughter.

The police affidavit also noted that police watched surveillance and phone video of the incident that showed Valbrum with a gun in her hand while knocking on the rear passenger window of the Lyft.

Valbrum was arrested and booked into Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

On Sunday, a judge ordered her to stay away from all of the victims and set her bond at $22,000, which she posted.
Monkeys flown into the UK for laboratory testing were so badly injured that their crates were smeared with blood, photographs suggest.

The long-tailed macaques endured journeys of up to 25 hours from Mauritius and Vietnam, transported in cramped wooden crates too small for them to stand upright.

After quarantine in the Netherlands, the macaques were driven to Brussels airport before being flown to Manchester airport.

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Activists, who said the animals would have been terrified on the journeys, slated the cruel conditions and the fact the UK still conducts experiments on primates.

(Animal Rights)

Long-tailed macaques are the main primate species used in toxicology tests for drugs and chemicals by research organisations for pharmaceutical and chemical companies, as well as by universities. Dogs, pigs and rodents are also used.

Toxicity testing involves placing monkeys in restraining devices and dosing them with drugs or chemicals through a tube inserted into their stomachs (gavaging). The substances may also be injected, often without anesthetic, or inhaled. This may be daily, and studies show side effects include vomiting, convulsing, internal bleeding and death.

Importing monkeys is quicker and easier than breeding them in the UK, insiders say.

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The photos, which were brought to light in freedom of information requests by the Dutch-Belgian group Animal Rights, sparked renewed criticism over the ethics of animals in research.

Group members who tracked the journeys of the planes and vans believe the monkeys were destined for a drug developer. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

A macaque with blood on the crate (Animal Rights)

The FOI replies revealed that one animal, imported on 28 May, suffered an anal prolapse  a potentially fatal condition.

A Belgian animal welfare inspectors checklist stated no animals were wounded, yet photos appear to show an injured monkey with the condition.

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On another occasion, blood was seen in a monkey crate transported on 30 April, but the injury was deemed minor.

UK Home Office guidelines state that sick or injured animals should not normally be considered fit for transport.

In July last year, 80 long-tailed macaques were transported in a planes hold at just 10C, despite warnings from Flemish officials that such conditions were unsuitable. Officials also flagged that prolonged loading times in Brussels risked causing significant stress to the primates.

Crates carrying macaques. Some details are blacked out for legal reasons (Animal Rights)

In a separate case, a monkey died on a flight to New York after reportedly suffering an adverse reaction to sedation. The animal was among hundreds flown from the Netherlands, France, and Spain. In 2021, more than one monkey died en route to the US.

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Animal rights organisation Action for Primates described these cases as the tip of the iceberg, highlighting that between July 2022 and May 2023, 10 flights from Mauritius and Vietnam delivered macaques to the UK via European airports.

Research confirms air travel as a major stressor for primates. According to Ned Buyukmihci, emeritus professor of veterinary medicine and adviser to Action for Primates, flight-related stress could exacerbate injuries, leading to severe pain, shock or even death.

Last year, 80 long-tailed macaques were flown in a planes hold that was just 10C (Animal Rights)

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Sarah Kite, co-founder of Action for Primates, said: Shipped as cargo, primates are forced to spend many hours confined in small single transit crates and may have to endure poor ventilation, unfamiliar and loud noise, temperature fluctuations and delays en route as they are shipped around the globe.

However, the Understanding Animal Research organisation says experiments involving non-humans have provided many treatments for conditions such as cancer and diabetes as well as human vaccines. It argues that hundreds of millions of human and animal lives have been saved or improved as a direct result of research on animals.

A spokesperson for Cheshire Animal Rights Campaigns and Animal Welfare Party called on Manchester airport and shareholders to end monkey imports.

An airport spokesperson said that, like other airports, it could not take a stance on the import of any cargo, adding: There are clear laws, set by government, that define what can and cannot be brought into the UK as cargo, and it would not be appropriate for the airport to act independently of those laws.

More than 10 shipments were imported in a year (Animal Rights)

The Belgian government said: In our opinion, there was no failure. An assessment of the situation was made and what seemed to be the best option for the animals was acted upon.

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They said the injured monkeys were otherwise in good condition, adding: It was decided that  given the short duration of the transport  it was better to allow the animals to travel.

They added that on arrival no further problems were found and the inspector reminded workers to avoid low temperatures in future.

A separate freedom of information request has shown 2,118 primates were imported last year, and UK government statistics show there were 2,169 procedures on primates.

An animal welfare inspector stated no animals were wounded (Animal Rights)

While they are not believed to have received the monkeys in the latest incident, some of the leading institutions conducting animal research include the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, the Francis Crick Institute, University of Edinburgh, UCL, the Medical Research Council and Imperial College London.

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A spokesperson for the governments Animal and Plant Health Agency said: Its upsetting to receive reports of animals in distress; we always take reports of breaches in animal welfare regulations very seriously and we are looking into the exact details of this case.

When animals are transported, it is the responsibility of the vet in the country of origin to decide if the inspected animal is fit to travel.
If Donald Trump has his way, his diverse cast of Cabinet picks will soon be duking it out gladiator-style for his amusement, Axios founder Jim VandeHei said Monday.

The flurry of Cabinet nominees Trump has announced have very different views on key issues such as abortion, labor unions, and the economy, and VandeHei suggested on Morning Joe that the potential for conflict was a feature, not a bug.

Unlike most people, he enjoys conflict, VandeHei said Monday. I think he often incites conflict. He loves it to play out in front of him so he can ultimately be the decider.

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Some of the president-elects picks are likely to face intense scrutiny, with former Rep. Matt Gaetz having already been forced to withdraw due to investigations into his alleged sexual misconduct and illegal drug use.

Other nominees, such as Trumps nominee to head the Department of Defense, Pete Hegseth, have been criticized as being unqualified, white Republican senators have expressed concern that Trumps choice for director of national intelligence, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, is too sympathetic to Russia.

He doesnt care if people dont like any of these picks, VandeHei said. He doesnt care if you dont like their personality, their background.

Stoking disagreements keeps Trump unpredictable, which he likes because he thinks it gives him an upper hand, VandeHei added.

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There will be all kinds of conflict, publicly and privately. That is the nature of the Trump operation, he said.

MSNBCs Jonathan Lemire agreed that Trump seemed to enjoy people fighting in the Oval Office during his first termso much so that he would call aides to his desk and pit them against one another.

Now some of that was for West Wing jockeyingwho was up and who was downbut thats what he would make a decision from. Often the last voice he heard would be the one that would carry the day.

Five of Trumps picks this time around, however, do have something in common: Theyre some of the key architects behind Project 2025, the far-right policy agenda that Trump tried to distance himself from during the campaign.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN)  Reports said a mother and son Sunday afternoon were booked into the Mahoning County Jail after a woman said the son threatened her and strangled her.

Read next: Man dies in Mercer County crash on Route 19: PSP

Alonzo Jackson, 30, was scheduled to be arraigned Monday in municipal court on third-degree felony charges of strangulation and being a felon in possession of a firearm and a fifth-degree felony charge of obstructing official business.

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His mother, Rolanda Tucker, is charged with obstructing official business.

Reports said police were called about 2:05 p.m. to a South Avenue gas station, where a woman said she argued with Jackson at a nearby apartment on East Midlothian and that Jackson strangled her and pointed a gun at her.

The woman ran out of the apartment and to the gas station, where she called police.

Police went to the apartment where they found Jackson and Tucker, reports said. Reports said they asked Jackson to open the door and come into the hallway, but he would not step outside the apartment.

As officers moved in to try and grab Jackson, he called for his mother and Tucker appeared behind him, reports said. Jackson began mouthing words to her and inclining his head behind him like he was trying to tell her something, reports said.

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Police saw the grip of a pistol in Jacksons back pocket and it looked like his mother was moving toward the pistol, reports said. One officer managed to grab Tucker, but Jackson broke away from two officers at the door and tried to run away before he was shot with a stun weapon and taken into custody, reports said.

Police did find a gun on Jackson and took it for evidence, reports said.

Jackson is not allowed to have a gun because of a 2010 conviction in Mahoning County Juvenile Court for aggravated robbery.

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WAGENER, S.C. (WJBF)  South Carolina Highway Patrol is on the scene of an accident.

It happened shortly before 8:30 Monday morning on Washington Road at Festival Trail in Aiken County.

According to the Aiken County Sheriffs Office the intersection is currently blocked in both directions.

A Sheriffs Office spokesperson says a motorcycle and another type of vehicle are involved in the accident.

No word yet on possible injuries.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJBF.
HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT)  The Gibson County Sheriffs Office (GCSO) arrested a Mount Carmel man on multiple charges.

GCSO says on November 24, at 11:32 p.m., Gibson County Central Dispatch received a call from the Mount Carmel Police Department notifying it of a single vehicle accident where a truck had struck a utility pole and then fled the scene. Mount Carmel advised that it had followed the debris field to the state line, and it was unable to locate the vehicle.

Single vehicle accident leads to arrest of Fort Branch man

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Deputies say at 11:44 p.m. Gibson County Central Dispatch notified deputies that a Gray 2005 Dodge Pickup with Illinois tags had driven past a dead end and into a field past the 500 block of East Warrick Street.

According to GCSO, upon arriving in the area, deputies located the Gray 2005 Dodge Pickup belonging to Brian McCoy, 41, of Mount Carmel, in the field and searched the area. Deputies say McCoy was found in an extreme state of intoxication. At that point, deputies say they began a DUI investigation that necessitated McCoy being medically cleared for admittance to the Gibson County Jail. McCoy allegedly tested .23 as the result of a certified blood test at a local emergency room.

Henderson man faces child sex abuse charges

Deputies say once the investigation was completed, McCoy was transported to the Gibson County Jail where he was charged with:

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Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated-Endangerment

Operating While Intoxicated with a BAC over .15

Disorderly Conduct

Leaving the Scene of an Accident

Criminal Mischief

Resisting Law Enforcement

(Courtesy: Gibson County Sheriffs Office)

Eyewitness News. Everywhere you are.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW).
The weather will continue to warm up for most of New Mexico as snow moves into the Northern Mountains.

Westerly flow is increase across New Mexico and will be at its strongest tomorrow. This westerly flow will be bringing warmer than average temperatures to most of New Mexico. These warmer temperatures will not be lasting very long though. A backdoor cold front will begin making its way into New Mexico Tuesday Evening. The front will not move into central New Mexico until Tuesday.

This cold front will be bringing breezy to windy conditions to eastern and central New Mexico. The front will also bring a drop in temperatures. Thursdays high temperatures will be 10-15 degrees cooler than Tuesdays High Temperatures. Thursdays temperatures will be below average for this time in November.

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The upper level jet is also drawing moisture into New Mexico. The began yesterday and will continue through Wednesday. The moisture will bring snow to the northern mountains. Due to the amount of forecasted snow, the National Weather Service has issued an advisory and a warning. The Advisory is for the Tusas Mountains including Chama where 5-10 of snow is expected above 8500. This advisory will go into effect at 11p.m. November 25th and expire at 5p.m. November 27th. A Winter Storm Warning is in place for the San Juan Mountains from 11 p.m. November 25th through 5 a.m. November 28th. 8-25 of snow is possible above 10000.

Spotty rain will accompany the mountain snow. This rain will reach as far south as the metro and will be the heaviest on Wednesday.

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MOGADISHU, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations in Somalia on Monday called on authorities to ramp up investment in the fight against gender-based violence in the country.

James Swan, acting special representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia, also called for the adoption of legislation to criminalize gender-based violence in compliance with international human rights obligations to which Somalia has already subscribed.

"This will ensure that persons who commit crimes are held accountable and survivors have access to justice," Swan said in a statement issued in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, at the start of the annual global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign.

The global theme for this year's campaign is "Unite! Invest to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls."

The campaign also calls on governments worldwide to share how they are investing in gender-based violence prevention.

Addressing gender-based violence requires financial and material resources with a particular focus on protecting women, children, persons with disabilities, and minorities who are the most vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence, Swan said.

Throughout the 16 days, Swan said, the UN in Somalia will work with the government and civil society to highlight the need to end gender-based violence with an emphasis on the need to speed up the legislative process for enacting laws to protect women and girls.

The campaign aims to increase awareness, stimulate advocacy efforts and share knowledge to end violence against women. 
Ukrainian lawmaker Maksym Tkachenko said that his earlier statement about 150,000 internally displaced persons (IDP) returning to occupied territories was only his assumption, not based on real data, Ukrinform reported on Nov. 25.

"There is no such data. This was my unfounded and emotional assumption," Tkachenko told Ukrinform.

"I spoke incorrectly, so I'm taking back my words," said the lawmaker who serves on a committee focused on human rights and the liberation of occupied territories.

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Tkachenko previously said during an interview with Ukrinform published on Nov. 24 that 150,000 IDPs have already returned to Russian-occupied territories, including 70,000 who have come back to the southern city of Mariupol.

Tkachenko now explained that individual IDPs are forced to travel to occupied territories for various reasons, but "it is by no means about hundreds or even tens of thousands, and general verified statistics cannot even theoretically exist."

An estimated 3.7 million IDPs live in Ukraine as Russian aggression and occupation have driven them out of their homes. Many of them face difficulties securing housing and employment.

The problem of mass displacement in Ukraine continues to grow as Russia's ongoing advance in the east leads to more civilian evacuations. Russia now occupies around 20% of Ukrainian territory.

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Read also: Nearly 22,000 civilians have been evacuated from Kharkiv Oblast in 6 months, governor says

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, right-wing grifter and loyal Trump attack dog, appeared on Fox News on Sunday to lay out her vision for which parts of the federal government will stay and which parts will go after the Department of Government Efficiency is done with its work.

Its all over, said the far-right representative, who is set to chair a new congressional subcommittee to work with DOGE. Every single government department program, grant program, contract, it is everywhere. Were going to have to go into all kinds of buckets. And thats how Ill be separating things on the Oversight subcommittee on DOGE. Well be looking at everything from government-funded media programs like NPR that spread nothing but Democrat propaganda; well be going into grant programs that fund things like sex apps in Malaysia, toilets in Africa, all kinds of programs that dont help the American people.

Greenes ire is badly misplaced but unsurprising. NPR has been a punching bag for Rush Limbaughadjacent conservatives for years, even though it receives only 1 percent of its funding directly from the federal government. Billionaire Trump surrogate and X owner Elon Musk even went so far as to briefly classify NPR as state-affiliated media, after which the outlet stopped posting on X. The sex apps in Malaysia Greene mentioned is likely referring to the app known as JomCare, meant to offer harm-reduction services to gay men. As for the toilets in Africa, she may be referring to broad cuts to USAID funding.

While Greene is particularly outspoken in her bigotry, her rhetoric is merely echoing what Trump has been saying the entire campaign, and its why he appointed Musk and Vivek Ramswamy as co-chairs of DOGE, which as a reminder, isnt a real government agency. They want to root out the enemy withinand that just happens to be anyone or anything that isnt MAGA-core.
Tacoma-based MultiCare health system has entered into a settlement agreement after an investigation found a lack of appropriate interpreter services for two patients with hearing and visual impairments.

U.S. Attorney for Western Washington Tessa Gorman announced Friday that MultiCare will change procedures and set aside more than $2 million to compensate patients who did not receive such services, a violation of civil rights.

Multicare, in a statement Friday evening sent to The News Tribune in response to questions, stated via email that it is committed to providing robust translation and interpretation services to every member of the communities we serve, inclusive of all language support needs. We want all patients to be able to communicate with their care teams and have a clear understanding of their medical care.

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An investigation involving the U.S. Attorneys Office and U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) revealed that the two patients did not receive appropriate interpreter services before and after surgery.

The patients will each receive $100,000, and family members of each patient who had to serve as interpreters for the patients are each being compensated with $40,000, according to a news release Friday.

This settlement with MultiCare not only compensates those whose rights were violated, it also ensures better care in the future for patients who are deaf and deaf-blind, Gorman said in the release.

Gorman added that the health system will assign a point person responsible for providing appropriate assistive devices and ensuring the health system has resources, including three interpreter firms, who can be called on to ensure effective communication with all patients.

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MultiCare also will provide training to staff about assessing and meeting the communication needs for such patients, the release stated, as well as make public information about its available interpretive services.

The agreement includes reporting every four months to the U.S. Attorneys Office and HHS about requests for assistive devices or interpreters and how those needs were met, the release stated, and is in place for three years.

Details of case and new fund established

An investigation was launched in 2020 after the U.S. Attorneys Office received a complaint that a patient with visual and hearing impairments did not receive interpretive assistance at multiple appointments both before and after surgery, the release stated.

While that investigation was underway, a second deaf-blind patient reported that his rights were also violated when MultiCare failed to provide appropriate communication aids both before and after his surgery, the release added.

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In both cases, relatives accompanying the patients stood in as interpreters.

The release added, While not admitting fault, MultiCare acknowledges that there may be additional patients whose rights under the (Americans with Disabilities Act) were violated.

As a result, the health system will launch a $2 million fund and seek to identify any patients who failed to receive appropriate interpreter services, the release stated.

A third-party claims administrator will then allocate the settlement funds based on the harm suffered by each complainant, the release added.

The U.S. Attorneys Office will review the allocations after the claims have been submitted and reviewed.

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In addition to the settlements to claimants, MultiCare also will pay $95,000 to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

MultiCare, in its email Friday, told The News Tribune that it had recently significantly expanded our language support services in a number of significant ways.

According to the health system, those improvements include centralizing its interpreter services program, adding 14 ADA coordinators and a data analyst, expanding its services support availability to 24 hours-seven days a week, and Implementing updated mandatory staff training regarding language access services.

The health system said it also is deploying Auxiliary Aid Kits  a reusable Pocket Talker (portable hearing aid), magnifier, whiteboard, and flashcards for patients with hearing or vision loss, and/or speech impediments  to our patient care areas.

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According to the U.S. Attorneys Office, this is the eighth such settlement in the past eight years in Washington state tied to failure to provide interpreter services for patients in a health care setting.

Other such cases involved PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, Washington, University of Washington Medical Center  Northwest in Seattle, and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington among others, according to Fridays release.
The Cornelius Fire Department says no one was hurt in a fire in Mount Mourne Sunday morning.

These are some pictures the department posted showing the response along Irish Road.

This neighborhood is just off Lake Norman.

Firefighters say it was a two-story home.

Cornelius helped the Mount Mourne Fire Department, among other crews, fight the fire for about three hours until it was under control.

The cause is under investigation.

RELATED STORY: Firefighter injured battling house fire in east Charlotte
(WTAJ)  Multiple men have been banned from casinos across the Commonwealth after leaving children in hot cars in the parking lot so they could go inside and gamble.

During its monthly meeting, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board voted to place five men on the involuntary exclusions list for leaving minors unattended so they could gamble at sportsbook, slot machines, and table games.

A male patron left two minors, ages 6 and 13, unattended in a vehicle parked on a street near Live! Casino and Hotel Philadelphia, while the outside temperature was 92 degrees, for 13 minutes while he gambled at the sportsbook;

A male patron left a 14-year-old unattended in a vehicle in the parking lot of Live! Casino and Hotel Philadelphia for 7 hours and 12 minutes while he gambled at table games;

A male patron left a 6-year-old unattended in a vehicle in the parking lot of Hollywood Casino Morgantown for 30 minutes while he gambled at slot machines;

A male patron left an infant unattended in a vehicle parked in the parking lot of Rivers Casino Philadelphia, while the outside temperature was 91 degrees, for 5 minutes while he gambled at the sportsbook;

A male patron left an 11-year-old unattended in a vehicle in the parking lot of Mount Airy Casino Resort for 1 hour 40 minutes while he gambled at table games.

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In addition to the in-person casino exclusion lists, another four people were placed on the iGaming involuntary exclusion list.

Two individuals together created 5 separate online accounts using the personal information of other individuals;

An individual used an online gaming account and illegally requested and received chargebacks to a credit card totaling $3,250;

An individual used an online gaming account and illegally requested and received chargebacks to a credit card totaling $5,800.

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.

The Board also issued $70,000 in fines that involved Video Gaming Terminal (VGT) Operator Licensees.

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TA on Linglestown Road in Harrisburg and Loves Travel Stops on Harrisburg Pike in Carlise were fined $37,500 and $32,500 respectively. The Board said they both failed to have a Board-certified credentialed employee in their VGT rooms.

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE)  The Albuquerque Fire Rescue responded to a house fire in southeast Albuquerque Saturday night.

According to AFR, firefighters responded to the Lacay Apartments near Lead and University before 10 Saturday night. They arrived to find one of the buildings was on fire.

Story continues below

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The complex was evacuated, with the fire being controlled within 15 minutes. AFR said one apartment had heavy fire, smoke, and water damage. While no firefighters or civilians were injured, AFR said about 10 people were displaced due to the fire.

The Red Cross was called to help those people, and officials are investigating the cause of the fire.

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UPDATE 11/25/24 2:23 p.m.: The Muscogee County Sheriffs Office released further details Monday afternoon on Operation Strictly Business.

The sheriffs office says multiple validated gang members from the Bloods and Gangster Disciples were arrested.

The 11-month investigation resulted in the seizure of $2,298,599 worth of illegal drugs:

467.1 lbs Marijuana with a street value of $2,118,730

6.7 lbs Mushrooms with a street value of $33,714

318 Oxycodone pills with a street value of $9,540

2,336 Xanax with a street value of $23,560

200 Mushroom Bars with a street value of $33,000

31.1 grams Fentanyl with a street value of $3,110

2,029 THC Cartridges with a street value of $80,725

12.8 grams THC Oil with a street value of $320

59.5 Unknown pills

33.2 grams Cocaine with a street value of $3,320

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Ten firearms were also recovered, with one Glock switch and two Draco rifles.

According to MCSO, these suspects are facing the following charges:

Jorge Mendoza:

Trafficking Marijuana

Possession Of THC With Intent to Distribute

Improper Tag



Jonathan Provo:

Conspiracy to distribute



Dalvin Ferrell, aka Spudd:

Trafficking Marijuana

Conspiracy to distribute  2 counts

Unlawful Possession of a Weapon  Machine Gun

Possession Of a Firearm During the Commission of a Crime

Possession Of Firearm by A Convicted Felon

Possession Of Psilocybin with Intent to Distribute

Possession Of Xanax with Intent to Distribute

Possession Of Oxycodone with Intent

Possession Of THC Cart with Intent



Dequindre Snelling, aka Sakk:

Trafficking Marijuana

Conspiracy to distribute  2 counts

Possession of Firearm During the Commission of a Crime-2 Counts

Possession Of Firearm by A Convicted Felon  2 counts

Possession Of Marijuana with Intent to Distribute

Possession Of Firearm by A Convicted Felon

Possession Of Psilocybin with Intent to Distribute

Possession Of Xanax with Intent to Distribute

Possession Of Oxycodone with Intent

Possession Of THC Cart with Intent

Possession Of Drug Related Objects

Mendoza was arrested in Coweta County by Muscogee County Sheriffs Office and Coweta County Sheriffs Office. According to MCSO, Mendoza was in possession of: 298 pounds of Marijuana with a street value of $1,351,710.00, 7,000 Pre-Rolls with a street value of $60,000.00, 2,000 THC Cartridges with a street value of $80,000.00 and $102,500.00 in US Currency seized.

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Ferrell, Snellings and Provo were all arrested following the execution of five search warrants. Involved agencies include Muscogee County Sheriffs Office, along with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Gang Task Force, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Fort Moore Southern Field Office (CID), Coweta County Sheriffs Office, Lee County Sheriffs Office and Russell County Sheriffs Office.

Thirty-five felony warrants have been issued. Additional charges are pending and additional arrests are expected.

Operation Strictly Business comes on the heels of Operation Sweet Silence. Both stings targeted gangs and the drugs that provide the money that fuels criminal street gang activity.

During the Operation Sweet Silence press conference, said Muscogee County Sheriff Greg Countryman. I urged the players who were involved in drug trafficking, gang violence and other crimes, not to get too comfortable. Thats my same message to you today. Do not get too comfortable.

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Multiple agencies, including the newly formed GBI West Georgia Gang Task Force were involved in the investigation.

I have worked this area for many years, several of my agents have not. So, they were aware of just how  and its kind of cliche saying  but how wild, wild west it is in some areas of Columbus, said GBI Gang Task Force Special Agent in Charge Jeremy Dockings. So, it was very eye-opening to them, and myself, as well, said GBI Gang Task Force Special Agent in Charge Jeremy Dockings said. I have worked this area for 18 years and even I was shocked at some of the areas we were working in.

This investigation crossed the state line into Alabama and even stretched as far west as California.

There was a reference earlier that maybe some drugs are not as bad as others, said Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones. Well, its interesting to me that all these black rifles and firearms are out here. If its not harmful, what are all of those guns doing out here? They go hand in hand.

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What you see here is not what was seized in Alabama, said Russell County Sheriff Heath Taylor. We have all of it over there, so it goes much further than what you see here in front of you.

Sheriff Countryman issues the following warning.

So, even when we were running Operation Sweet Silence, this investigation was still fluid. We wanted to finish Operation Sweet Silence and finish up this one, but there are other operations we are also working on now. There are investigations and players we have been looking at for a long, long time. There will be many more operations following this one.

Two of the men arrested were verified criminal street gang members. The top gang investigator in the Muscogee County Sheriffs Office says Dalvin Ferrell is in the Bloods and Dequindra Snellings is a member of Gangster Disciples.

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COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL)  The Muscogee County Sheriffs Office is holding a press conference Monday morning on the results of Operation Strictly Business.

According to MCSO, the operation is a part of a continued effort to dismantle criminal gang enterprises in Muscogee County and nearby areas.

The operation brought in a number of gang members with various felonies.

The press conference is set to start at 11 a.m. A video of the conference is available above.

WRBL spoke with some of the officials in attendance. You can watch those interviews below:

Related Coverage

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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 WRBL.
On Friday, The War Zone broke the news about a multi-drone incursion of the U.S. Air Forces master fighter base in the United Kingdon, RAF Lakenheath. Since then, we have received information that the incursions were more widespread, occurring around multiple bases. Now we have confirmed that the drones are back near RAF Lakenheath as well as RAF Mildenhall, which is a very concerning development to say the least.

A U.S. defense official confirmed to us this morning that the drone flights have resumed near both installations. While RAF Lakenheath houses primarily squadrons of F-15E Strike Eagle and F-35A Joint Strike Fighters, RAF Mildenhall hosts strategic surveillance aircraft and aerial refueling tankers. There are claims that F-15E Strike Eagles were launched to investigate from the air during the RAF Lakenheath today. We received the same information during the first incursions last week, although we cannot confirm the fighters involvement in the response, flight tracking information posted online does appear to support this.

U.S. airmen assigned to the 48th Operations Group pose for a photo at RAF Lakenheath, England, Aug. 26, 2024. The base is home to F-15E and F-35A squadrons. Photo by Senior Airman Renee Nicole S.N. Finona

The original incident at Lakenheath was not an isolated one. Similar drone incursions happened around the same time at RAF Mildenhall and RAF Feltwell between Nov. 20 and Nov. 22, according to USAFE.

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U.K. Ministry of Defense provided TWZ.com a statement Monday morning as well, stating, in part:

We employ multi-layered and credible force protection measures, we will not go into specifics and it would be inappropriate to comment further on operational security matters, however, we can confirm we are working closely with USVF [U.S. Visiting Force), Police and other partners to respond to recent events]

Further details remain limited at this time, but clearly these events are going to result in a more expansive response by the U.S. Air Force and the United Kingdom. What that will look like remains unclear.

RAF Lakenheath (Google Earth)

There is much about these events that we do not know. While the number of UASs fluctuated and they ranged in size/configuration, according to the USAF, exactly what their configurations were remains unclear as does their specific pattern of operations. We also dont know what drone awareness capabilities are deployed to these bases and when they were installed, if so. Regardless, this is turning out to be major string of events that is going to require a very robust response in terms of technical capabilities and resources to investigate and potentially mitigate. We should see that response taking shape in the hours and days to come.

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TWZ has led coverage over many years on the major threat drones pose to military installations, infrastructure, VIPs and more. These latest incidents in the U.K. come 11 months after a similar rash of drone incursions occurred over Langley AFB in Virginia, a story TWZ exclusively broke in March. The USAFs highly sensitive Plant 42 in Palmdale has also become a major drone incursion hotspot since then. Just last week another major scare occurred over a major Army testing area. There have also been real fears that Russia may attempt to strike NATO airfields with drones, which has led to major alert posture changes at some facilities.

Regardless, the Langley drone incursions were a turning point of sorts, with this issue now being taken far more seriously, after being largely brushed aside for years, even though the threat had displayed itself multiple times over some of the most sensitive U.S. facilities and assets.

This is a rapidly developing story, and we will update you as soon as we get more information.

Update: 5:47 PM Eastern 

Col. Jack R. Arthaud, commander of the 48th Fighter Wing, RAF Lakenheath, addressed the drone incursions in a Facebook message to the wing.

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You are most likely aware that we have experienced several sUAS or small drone sightings across the tri-base area since 20 Nov. They are being actively monitored and have not impacted base residents or infrastructure.

If you see anything suspicious, to include sUASs or drone activity within the tri-base area, please contact either local police or Security Forces. The Liberty Wing is taking all appropriate measures to safeguard RAF Lakenheath, RAF Feltwell and residents.

Meanwhile, the FBI is continuing to look into the drone incursion over Picatinny Arsenal, a story we broke last week.

At the moment, were working with our federal, state and local partners on the matter, spokesperson Amy Thoreson told us Monday afternoon. Unfortunately, I dont have many details to provide, but if that changes, I will absolutely let you know.

Contact the author: Tyler@twz.com
Earths celestial companion is leaving. Well, not its natural satellite, but a temporary mini-moon captured by Earth's gravity is escaping its orbit.

This mini-moon is actually a harmless asteroid dubbed 2024 PT5.

It was discovered on August 7 by the NASA-funded space rock detection system Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), which is based in Hawaii, Chile, and South Africa.

Earths gravitational pull ultimately captured this celestial visitor for a brief stay from September 29 until November 25. However, the asteroid's orbit will bring it near Earth again in January before eventually returning to the depths of the solar system.

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During this January close fly, NASA is expected to conduct radar observations of the 33-foot (10-meter) asteroid. The follow-up observations will reveal its exact origin.

https://twitter.com/NASAJPL/status/1841571229670768716

Part of the Moon

Astronomers have seized this two-month opportunity to study 2024 PT5.

Using observations from the Gran Telescopio Canarias in Spain, researchers have determined that 2024 PT5 is likely a natural object.

Reportedly, this min-moon might have originated from the Moon itself. The asteroid is hypothesized to be a lunar ejecta. A large celestial body, like an asteroid or comet, could have struck the Moon with immense force, ejecting lunar rocks and dust into space.

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A portion of the ejected rocks settled in the Arjuna asteroid belt, a secondary asteroid belt. Interestingly, this belt orbits the Sun like Earth.

With the right trajectory and speed, some of these rocks from the belt can be pulled into Earth's gravitational field, temporarily orbiting our planet as a "mini-moon."

For an asteroid to be captured, it must approach Earth within 2.8 million miles (4.5 million km) at a slow speed of 2,200 mph (3,540 km per hour).

Asteroid to return again in 2055

The object is currently invisible as it is over 2 million miles (3.5 million kilometers) away. It's far too dim to be seen with the naked eye or even powerful amateur telescopes. Only large, specialized telescopes can glimpse its faint light.

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In January, the asteroid is expected to harmlessly pass from near Earth at a close distance of 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers).

As per ABC News, NASA will keep a watchful eye on the asteroid for over a week using the Goldstone solar system radar antenna in Californias Mojave Desert. Its brief encounter with our planet may offer a valuable glimpse into the mysteries of our solar system.

After this, it will disappear deep into the solar system with its next Earth encounter in 2055.

In late September, the space rock was captured by Earth's gravity and began partially orbiting our planet in a not-so-perfect horseshoe-shaped path. However, by the time it returns in January next year, it will be moving too quickly to be captured again.

This isn't Earth's first mini-moon. Earth captured near-Earth objects in temporary orbits in 1981 and again in 2022.
KHARTOUM, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher met with Sudan's military leadership on Monday to discuss critical aid delivery amid the country's ongoing conflict, officials said.

Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council Chairman Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan urged authorities to collaborate with UN agencies to ensure humanitarian assistance reaches those in need, according to an official statement.

The meeting, held in Port Sudan, focused on strategies to address the humanitarian crisis triggered by fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since mid-April 2023.

Fletcher emphasized the importance of strengthening UN-Sudan partnerships to overcome aid distribution challenges. Sudan's acting foreign affairs undersecretary, Omar Issa, described the discussions as "positive and fruitful."

The conflict has devastated Sudan, with over 27,120 deaths and more than 14 million people displaced, according to tracking organizations.

Fletcher arrived in Port Sudan on Saturday for his first humanitarian mission as the newly-appointed Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. He assumed the role on Nov. 18. 
Along with my colleagues and fellow audit commissioners Martin Arpo and Hermione Cronje, we have begun the external audit of NABU. This is the first such evaluation since NABUs establishment in 2015. As such, I would like to share our vision regarding the goals, process, challenges, approach, current status, and next steps of this important engagement.

Lets start with the goal: We are here to independently assess NABUs performance. Is NABU meeting expectations and what can be done to improve its effectiveness?

We will evaluate NABUs effectiveness from March 6, 2023 (when the current NABU director was appointed), up to November 18, 2024 (the date our commission approved its methodology for conducting the audit).

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The aim of this audit is to provide the Ukrainian people with a clear assessment of NABUs current standing and produce a report that will serve as a guide for future improvements. Our focus is on objective findings and actionable recommendations for enhancing processes rather than simply assigning labels of success or failure.

While we will address weaknesses in institutional processes, it is crucial to differentiate between the dedicated public servants at NABU, who tirelessly combat corruption, and the organization as a whole. We are committed to viewing the processes objectively from an external perspective to create a roadmap for institutional development.

Conducting an external audit reflects Ukraine's serious commitment to anti-corruption efforts at this critical moment in history. This commitment is recognized by Ukraines international partners, as this audit represents a significant structural benchmark for Ukraine in the 2024 Memorandum with the IMF. The Commission was engaged by the Ukrainian government based on its determination to establishing a robust anti-corruption system, and we are dedicated to supporting Ukraine in this endeavor.

Audit can mean different things to different people. When some people think of an audit, they think of a financial audit, which assesses financial reports and accounts. Others may think of a compliance audit, which assesses whether an organization is following some standard and often is presented in a "yes/no" format. Measuring the degree of effectiveness, though, is a more complicated matter and more closely resembles whats called a performance audit. We auditors identified a relevant benchmark and will measure NABUs performance against that benchmark. In this case, we will be assessing whether NABU processes are aligned with international best practices.

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The strength of this Commission lies not only in our external expertise but also in the extensive local experience within our team. This combination of international expertise and local insights through the Secretariat is vital. Both perspectives will be essential for conducting a thorough independent external audit.

Our vision how to measure the effectiveness of an anti-corruption agency

The task at hand is highly complex. As this is the first audit, we needed to identify objective criteria and develop a methodology from scratch to evaluate NABUs effectiveness over a period of more than 1,5 years. Defining objective criteria to measure effectiveness, especially for an organization like NABU, presents significant challenges as there is no uniform, internationally accepted list of benchmarks to measure the effectiveness of an anti-corruption agency.

We are committed to a systematic, evidence-based approach which will ask the right questions, identify the right evidence, and provide the right insights, and a roadmap for improvement. Our aim is to be tough, but fair.

In developing the criteria and methodology, we based our approach on international standards and good practices in government performance auditing and evaluation, and by using anti-corruption standards and principles from various international instruments. In October, we conducted our first mission in Kyiv, holding consultative meetings with NABU and other key anti-corruption stakeholders in Ukraine. We also hosted a listening forum with civil society organizations to gather their perspectives. We initiated the information-gathering process from NABU and we used this information to finalize our methodology.

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We have identified five dimensions of effectiveness for an anti-corruption investigative agency like NABU: Detecting and Investigating High-Level Corruption; Integrity, Accountability and Transparency; Leadership, Strategy, and Resource Management; Interagency Coordination; and International Cooperation. These dimensions are based on international standards and principles from a number of sources identified in our methodology document. There are certain essential principles that affect NABUs effectivenesssuch as institutional and organizational independencethat permeate all dimensions and will be evaluated across all five dimensions.

To evaluate NABUs effectiveness, we developed a weighted rating model that will enable us to conclude whether NABUs performance in each dimension and overall has been highly effective, substantially effective, moderately effective, or ineffective. Detecting and Investigative Corruption is NABUs core activity and is accordingly given a higher weight. The dimension of Integrity, Accountability and Transparency is also given a higher weight, as NABU must hold itself to the highest standards to be a credible and trusted watchdog.

I understand that the issue of leaks of law enforcement information is a significant concern for Ukrainian society. I want to assure you that we will be evaluating the protection of sensitive investigative and operational information, as well as guarantees for whistleblowers.

Recently we approved and published the methodology and criteria, which includes comprehensive details about our evaluation approach, principles, processes, evaluation key indicators, and the steps we will take to reach our conclusions. You can find that document at the official page of the Commission.

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We will soon be back in Kyiv to gather evidence, and we expect to complete our final report this spring.

Before I get back to work, let me assure you that our audit will provide a thorough and objective evaluation of NABUs effectiveness, offering actionable recommendations to enhance its anti-corruption efforts and support Ukraine's commitment to a robust institutional framework. We encourage you to stay tuned as we share updates on our progress and findings throughout this important journey.
Nov. 25State Rep.-elect Nicole Chavez learned she'd never like speed dating but overall had a good time.

She told the Journal this following a luncheon hosted by commercial real estate association NAIOP last week. It was an opportunity for attendees to meet with elected officials and talk about whatever was on their minds.

In a speed dating-like style, elected officials rotated around tables in 15-minute segments to chat with community members. Nearly three dozen elected officials, both local and state, participated in the event.

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NAIOP New Mexico President Karl Smith said it was the second time the real estate organization hosted a similar event. It allows for a more organic discussion as opposed to something like a panel that can be very prescribed, he said.

Sen.-elect Nicole Tobiassen agreed and told the Journal after the luncheon it was nice to talk to people in a relaxed atmosphere. She's the Republican-elect for Senate District 21, which covers Albuquerque's Northeast Heights.

"It's always good when we get to meet business leaders. It's a great group of business leaders that we don't always get access to," Tobiassen said.

Also a Republican legislative-elect for Albuquerque's Northeast Heights, but in the House rather than Senate, Chavez said she heard many of the same concerns from people as she did when she was campaigning. People are worried about public safety and crime, she said, and the event prompted more discussion and thoughts on how to fix it.

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"I'm hoping that we can work bipartisanly," Chavez said.

Both amicable and more contentious conversations floated around the ballroom of Sheraton Albuquerque Uptown during the luncheon.

In one conversation the Journal listened in on, Brad Allen, principal of the Allen Sigmon Real Estate Group, and Paul Silverman, CEO of Geltmore, talked taxes with Sandoval County Assessor Linda Gallegos.

Specifically, they talked about instituting caps on commercial tax increases. Silverman proposed the same 3% tax increase cap that residential buildings have with a yearslong phase-in process. Gallegos said she would support having the commercial cap, though she doesn't agree with the percentage Silverman proposed.

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"You'll get a lot of pushback from us if you try to do it in any way that is going to actually harm us," Silverman said.

In another conversation, Silverman and Allen pondered ideas with Bernalillo County Commissioner Walt Benson for local economic development, including trade port corridors. The county has invested and garnered significant funding for a trade port corridor along Interstate 40.

Benson said that'll be huge for local economic development.

Smith told the Journal everything won't get solved in a day but the kind of dialogue that happened at the luncheon helps everyone get different perspectives and ideas.

"All of the people that came from the government side, from the elected official side, it speaks well about their willingness to participate with NAIOP New Mexico," he said. "It speaks well about NAIOP New Mexico's willingness to engage with them."
The Nao Trinidad, a replica of one of the first ships to sail around the world, is leaving St. Augustine.

According to a news release, it will not be back to the North American continent.

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The ship is returning to Spain for routine maintenance.

Its also going to tour Europe.

The replica was built in 2018 in Spain. Its made of fiberglass and wood.

While in Florida, it was docked at the St. Augustine Municipal Marina.

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Pediatrician works with a preschooler and parent on early child reading skills in the national Reach Out and Read program. (Courtesy of Reach Out and Read)

OMAHA  A national early literacy program that has announced plans to at least triple its reach in Nebraska  and to serve 10 million children across the U.S. by 2030  has a personal Husker connection.

The nonprofit, called Reach Out and Read, uses a model that works through pediatricians and routine well-child visits to get books into the hands of preschoolers. The idea is to better prepare youngsters for school while at the same time building healthier bonds by involving parents.

Marty Martinez of Boston is CEO of the national nonprofit Reach Out and Read. The organization seeks to grow the early child literacy program across the nation, including Martinezs home state of Nebraska. (Courtesy of Reach Out and Read)

Leading the effort and the 35-year-old organization is Omaha-born Marty Martinez, who has lived in Boston the past 25 years and most recently served as that citys chief of Health and Human Services.

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Martinez, who helped push Boston through COVID-19s social and economic challenges, said that as a public health expert and dad of a 6-year-old, he recognizes the impact school readiness and healthy relationships have on kids.

He said science shows that a childs brain is about 80% adult size by the time they are 3 years old. Engaging a child with a book, reading aloud, describing images and interacting helps spark the brain and prepare the child for lifelong learning, he said.

Youve got to integrate books and language at the earliest stage possible, said Martinez.

Unique endorsement

Reach Out and Read is the only national pediatric literacy model endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, its leadership says, and has unparalleled access to families and children through the near-universal reach of pediatric well-child visits and partnerships with tens of thousands of doctors.

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Martinez, who took the CEO reins of Reach Out and Read in 2022, described its model as simple: We integrate childrens books and we train the doctor.

In Nebraska, the program started at OneWorld Community Health Centers in 2000 and has since expanded to 35 sites. This fiscal year, nearly 39,000 children were served in the state during about 77,000 well-child visits.

Nearly 53,000 books were distributed to those Nebraska families.

Under the expansion plan, the Nebraska program is merging with the larger Iowa program to become the new Reach Out and Read Midwest affiliate. The goal is to reach more than 360,000 children under the age of 5 across both states by 2030.

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This past year, Nebraska and Iowa served about 120,000 kids through Reach Out and Read, a spokeswoman for the organization said.

Child engaging with a book at a One World Community Health Center in South Omaha. (Courtesy of Reach out and Read)

The emphasis for the new Midwest affiliate is on children in low-income households and children of color.

Already the organization offers books in 28 different languages.

Parents exposed to the program are more likely to read with their children daily, according to the programs research. And those children demonstrate improvements in language development. The nonprofit says books are beneficial even for families that do not read.

Funding comes from a variety of sources  Martinez said the organization is in the public budget of 26 cities and states across the country.

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In Nebraska, donors include Buffett Early Childhood Fund, Elevance, Janet Kahler, Lozier Foundation, Nomi Health, Better World Books and Nebraska Children and Families Foundation/Nebraska Growing Readers Initiative.

Urban and rural stretch

While the bulk of Nebraska sites are in the urban centers of Omaha and Lincoln, Martinez said the goal is to reach more into rural areas as well. More staff is to be hired.

(Courtesy of Reach Out and Read)

The program paves the way for all children, regardless of background, to develop foundational literacy skills and strengthen the essential relationships needed for a successful future, said Kristin Christensen, the newly hired Midwest program manager.

Martinez went to South Omahas Spring Lake Elementary School before graduating from Ralston High School, Nebraska Wesleyan University and Tufts University in Massachusetts, where he obtained a masters degree in urban and social policy.

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Having many siblings and cousins still in Nebraska, Martinez, 47, and his husband and son visit often.

Reach Out and Read has been thriving in some of the biggest clinics and places in the country, Martinez said, and he would like to see more impact in his home state.

Were really excited to move it forward, he said. There is so much room to grow.

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North Dakota Rep. Lisa Finley-DeVille, D-Mandaree, speaks during a presentation about the proposed Maah Daah Hey National Monument at the North Dakota Heritage Center and State Museum on Nov. 22, 2024. (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)

A group of North Dakota tribal citizens and conservation advocates are calling on President Joe Biden to make roughly 140,000 acres of undeveloped federal land in western North Dakota a national monument.

The proposed Maah Daah Hey National Monument would preserve land recognized as sacred by members of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation and other Native cultures, advocates said during a Friday press conference at the North Dakota Heritage Center and State Museum.

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Maah Daah Hey means grandfather, long-lasting in the Mandan language.

With its close proximity to President Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the area is popularly remembered for its ties to the former president and cowboy culture.

The country should honor Native historical and cultural ties to the land as well, said Michael Barthelemy, director of Native Studies at Nueta, Hidatsa, Sahnish College in New Town.

What were proposing, as part of this national monument, is a reorientation around that narrative, Barthelemy said. When you look at the national parks and you look at the state parks, oftentimes theres a singular perspective  as Indigenous people, we kind of play background characters.

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The monument would include 11 different plots of land along the Maah Daah Hey Trail between the north and south units of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Badlands Conservation Alliance Executive Director Shannon Straight likened the proposal to stringing together the pearls of the Badlands.

The tribal councils of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, the Spirit Lake Nation and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe have passed resolutions supporting the creation of the monument.

It is important that the Indigenous history of the North Dakota Badlands is formally recognized, state Rep. Lisa Finley-DeVille, D-Mandaree, said during the presentation. If created, the Maah Daah Hey National Monument would also allow Indigenous people to reconnect to our ancestral lands.

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The land is managed by the United States Forest Service. Turning the 11 plots into a national monument would protect them from future development, according to the groups proposal.

The land is surrounded by oil and gas development, maps included in the proposal show.

In addition to being an area of significant cultural heritage for Native tribes, its also home to sensitive ecosystems, unique geological features and fossil sites, the proposal indicates.

Dakota Resource Council Executive Director Scott Skokos said Friday the group has visited Washington, D.C., twice so far to speak with President Bidens administration  including the U.S. Forest Service, Department of the Interior, United States Department of Agriculture  about the proposed monument.

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The reception has been pretty good, Skokos said.

He said the group hopes to see action from Biden on the monument before he leaves office in January, but is also open to working with President-elect Donald Trumps administration on the project.

We believe this is a good idea, regardless of whos president, Skokos said.

Advocates said the designation would not impact recreational access to the land, and that cattle grazing would still be permitted.

In a statement to the North Dakota Monitor, U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., called the proposal premature at best. He said he was not convinced the proposal had sufficient local support from North Dakota residents and worried the project would lock away land as conservation.

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Any proposal should have extensive review as well as strong support from local communities and the stakeholders who actually use the land, he said.

When asked for comment, the North Dakota governors office provided this statement from Gov. Doug Burgum, who Trump has chosen as the next Department of Interior secretary: North Dakota is proof that we can protect our precious parks, cultural heritage and natural resources AND responsibly and sustainably develop our vast energy resources.

To learn more about the proposal, visit protectmdh.com. The website also includes a petition.

Presidents can designate federal land as national monuments under the Antiquities Act of 1906. The first land to receive this status was Devils Tower in Wyoming, which Roosevelt proclaimed a national monument that same year.

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Should Maah Daah Hey become a national monument, itd be the first of its kind in North Dakota.

Like the SC Daily Gazette, North Dakota Monitor is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. North Dakota Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Amy Dalrymple for questions: info@northdakotamonitor.com. Follow North Dakota Monitor on Facebook and X.
The habitat for a colony of native birds has been saved in Tacoma, thanks to local conservationists. The birds are called purple martins, and they are North Americas largest swallow.

Crews from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are removing about 1,200 polluted pilings from Ruston Way that once supported a sawmill on Tacomas waterfront. Attached to those pilings, were wooden nest boxes and plastic gourds made by humans for the purple martins.

Purple martins migrate to the Dickman Mill Park, Titlow Beach, and Chambers Bay areas in the spring from Brazil. According to Metro Parks Tacoma, the city is home to about 16% of the states population of these birds.

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DNR will finish removing the creosote-soaked pilings from Dickman Mill in February. Once the project is complete, conservation staff from Point Defiance Zoo will put in new 6x6 posts and reinstall the birds nests before they migrate back to the area.

Purple martins are important and valued here in Tacoma and we are dedicated to monitoring and protecting them, said zoo conservation coordinator Zach Hawn in a news release. They are a species that restores balance to our ecosystem, and we want to continue to provide that habitat that is essential for the success of these colorful, playful birds.

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium has been working with purple martins since it launched a community monitoring program in 2013. Volunteers are trained in how to collect data about the local birds and their behavior and are asked to monitor one of the three locations at least twice a month.

All the data is shared with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), which lists purple martins as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need because of their low population in the state and vulnerable nesting sites. The designation means human intervention is necessary for the birds to succeed.

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No comprehensive population survey has been done to learn exactly how many purple martins nest in Washington, but conservationists estimate 600 adult birds migrate annually. A statewide comprehensive survey has been proposed in Washington for 2026 or 2027.

To learn how to volunteer with the community monitoring program, click here.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in his country. They talked on how to put an end to the Russo-Ukrainian war.

Source: Communications Department of the Turkish President, writes DHA, as reported by European Pravda

Details: According to the statement, the discussion focused on "what can be done to end the Russian-Ukrainian war," as well as the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

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Erdogan was joined in the meeting by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defence Minister Yasar Guler, Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, and Chief Presidential Adviser on Foreign Policy and Security Akif Cagatay Klc.

Rutte stated that he talked with Erdogan about "growing challenges to our collective security  including the threat of terrorism, the war in Ukraine, and the crisis in the Middle East."

"In an increasingly unpredictable world, Turkiye makes invaluable contributions to our Alliance, reinforcing deterrence on our Southern flank," Rutte said.

Background:

Media reports recently suggested that Erdogan's "peace plan" for Ukraine envisages a freeze on hostilities at the parties' current positions and postponing the discussion of Kyiv's accession to NATO for at least 10 years as a concession to Putin.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made it clear that he does not support the US decision to allow Ukraine to use US ATACMS missiles in Russia.

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Defence officials from Germany, France, Poland, Italy and the United Kingdom met in Berlin on Monday to discuss measures to strengthen security and defence in Europe.

Germany and other NATO countries plan to boost arms production within Ukraine in response to Russia's escalating actions in the war, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said afterwards.

The development and procurement of drones controlled by artificial intelligence is a priority, he said, as well as better cooperation to help in ammunition production.

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"Ukraine must be able to act from a position of strength," Pistorius said.

He said that Russia's invasion of Ukraine had "taken on an international dimension," referring to the estimated 10,000 soldiers from North Korea that Russian President Vladimir Putin has brought into the country to train and fight in Ukraine.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov was connected to the meeting for half an hour.

Russia's targeting of Ukraine with a new medium-range missile, which has security implications for all of Europe, played a role during discussions, Pistorius said.

The German defence minister said that Russian actions in Ukraine affect people in Germany and other NATO countries: "Russian threats are always directed at us at the same time."

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Pistorius said that regardless of whether 2%, 2.5% or 3% of gross domestic product is spent on defence in the future, the goal of NATO countries is to "close the capability gaps" in order to ensure effective deterrence.

French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said that France would deliver the Mistral short-range air defence system to Ukraine in the coming weeks.

"We need to think about our approach to security and defence over the next 10 to 15 years," he said of European initiatives.

NATO's 2% spending target must be met, but it was also important to use the money properly, he said.

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Polish Defence Minister Wadysaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said that his country would spend 4.2% of its GDP on defence this year and that this figure would be increased to 4.7% next year.

"Today we are facing the greatest threat since the Second World War. Today we still have time. Soon time will really run out," he said.

The ministers also met against the backdrop of the looming US presidency of NATO critic Donald Trump.

Trump, who is set to be inaugurated on January 20, has demanded that Europe invest significantly more money in its own security and is expected to cut military aid to Ukraine.

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Following recent approval from Washington and London, Ukraine has begun using US-made ATACMS missiles and British Storm Shadow cruise missiles to target military sites in Russia.

Putin responded by ordering a missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, which has a population of over 1 million, with a new medium-range missile on Thursday morning.

He hailed the test of the Oreshnik missile and said it would go into mass production. Moscow says the rocket flies at hypersonic speed, making it impossible for anti-aircraft systems to intercept. Experts say that the rocket could technically also be equipped with nuclear warheads.
Cordell Howze will spend the rest of his life behind bars for the brutal slaying last year of a Black transgender woman.

The Neenah man told Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge David Swanson that he was taught to accept people for who they are, and that he has found new purpose since he was arrested in connection with Cashay Henderson's Feb. 26, 2023, shooting death in her Milwaukee apartment.

The judge, however, said Howze was callus and without mercy, and described Henderson's killing as "an execution."

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A Milwaukee County jury convicted Howze, 35, in June of first-degree reckless homicide and possession of a firearm in her killing. Her death came as part of a disturbing string of killings in 2022 and 2023 involving Black transgender women that shook Milwaukees LGBTQ community.

Ada Henderson (left), the sister of Cashay Henderson, a black trans woman murdered in her home in Milwaukee, is consoled by Clorissa Wright-Thomas, a publicist with CommunityX during a press conference at Diverse and Resilient headquarters on North Holton Street in Milwaukee on June 14, 2023.

Here's what prosecutors say happened to Cashay Henderson

Firefighters discovered Henderson inside her apartment near 29th and Villard with gunshot wounds while responding to a fire.

She was shot twice.

Police were able to stitch together a digital roadmap of Howze's actions that night and connect him to the slaying. Among the evidence was videos that was captured by neighbors' security cameras, business surveillance systems and even a county bus.

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The more graphic evidence came from the killer's own cellphone. He recorded footage from inside Hendersons home moments after the shooting. One video showed Henderson's body at his feet, while he made off with Henderson's Rolex watch and credit cards.

"What the defendant did  is beyond the ability to articulate," Assistant District Attorney Grant Huebner said. "He didn't just kill her. He tried to erase her dignity and humanity."

Swanson rejected a request by Howze's attorney Stephen Sargent to give Henderson a chance at parole at some point. Sargent described the case as "a crime of passion, not of hatred."

A poster of Cashay Henderson, a black trans woman murdered in her home in Milwaukee, is set up during a press conference at Diverse and Resilient headquarters on North Holton Street in Milwaukee on Wednesday.

Cordell Howze's criminal past factored into his life sentence

Howze had been in custody at the Winnebago County Jail for about a month before Henderson's death for violating terms of his extended supervision from a prior felony conviction. He was jailed Jan. 28, one day after allegedly fleeing police, according to the jail and online court records.

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Howze testified in his own defense at trial, and admitted to recording video inside the apartment, but said he was "conducting an investigation" into what happened to her.

Howze was released Feb. 24, just two days before Hendersons death and three days before Winnebago County prosecutors filed charges against him in connection with the January fleeing incident.

Who were the other victims in Milwaukee?

Brazil Johnson, a graduate of Rufus King High School and Milwaukee Area Technical College, was found fatally shot near North Teutonia and West Garfield avenues on June 15, 2022. No arrests have been made in her death. The FBI in January released an image of a person they believe may have information in the killing.

Chyna Long grew up in Milwaukee and attended Washington High School, but was living in Chicago the last eight years. She had been visiting Milwaukee to comfort her father over the death of his brother when she was killed Oct. 8, 2023. Antonio S. Currin, 29, has been charged with first-degree reckless homicide and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in connection with her death. His trial is Feb. 17.

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On May 28, Clayton Hubbird pleaded guilty to first-degree intentional homicide on the day his trial was to begin in the death of Regina "Mya" Allen. Allen was just days from her 36th birthday when she was shot outside her apartment Aug. 29, 2022, in Milwaukees Avenues West neighborhood. A judge sentenced Hubbird, 33, to a prison term of 23 years.

How to help

According to the Human Rights Campaign, at least 32 transgender or gender non-conforming people died by homicide in the U.S. in 2023. The majority of those victims are Black and Latina transgender women.

Diverse & Resilient offers trauma-informed support for the LGBTQ community statewide. To talk to an advocate, call or text the statewide warmline at 414-856-LGBT (5428).

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Neenah man gets life for killing Black transgender woman
Um, Actually

Famed astrophysicist and science fiction pedant Neil deGrasse Tyson doesn't think very highly of multi-hyphenate billionaire Elon Musk's desperate desire to deliver humanity to Mars.

During a chat with Bill Maher  who has plenty of quibbles with the plan himself  last week, the pair took aim at Musk's plan to make humanity "interplanetary" by establishing a city on the Red Planet.

"I dont see it happening until governments judge that its geopolitically in our interest," deGrasse Tyson told Maher, as quoted by The Hill. "But I believe president-elect Trump has some interest in Mars, so you might have another conversation in a couple of months."

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"At some point, somebody has to pay for it, and just being interested in something is not the same thing as paying for it," he added.

Maher reiterated a long-held criticism, arguing that we've got plenty of fires to put out on Earth  so why abandon it in favor of a hostile planet that isn't currently capable of hosting life?

"How badly would we have to ratfuck Earth before its worse than a place thats 200 below zero with no air and no water with six months to reach it?!" Maher argued.

"Preach it! Preach it!" Tyson replied, egging him on.

Slinging Martian Mud

Tyson argued that going to Mars was a terrible value proposition to venture capitalists, charging that it would lead to people dying, cost "$1 trillion," and have zero return on investment.

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"Thats a five-minute meeting," he said. "And it doesnt happen."

Unsurprisingly, Musk didn't take kindly to the televised discussion, taking to his echo chamber of X-formerly-Twitter to vent his frustrations.

"Wow, they really dont get it," he tweeted. "Mars is critical to the long-term survival of consciousness."

"Also, Im not going to ask any venture capitalists for money," Musk claimed. "I realize that it makes no sense as an investment. Thats why Im gathering resources."

The mercurial CEO then went on to bury any willingness to have a meaningful discussion by blasting out nonsensical far-right talking points.

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"The real problem is that Neil decided to grovel to the woke far left when he got hit with a #MeToo," an incensed Musk screeched. "You can avoid being canceled if you beg for forgiveness and push their nonsense ideology."

Enemy Mine

It's far from the first time Tyson has criticized Musk, sometimes rashly. Earlier this year, the astrophysicist landed in hot water after arguing that SpaceX hadn't done anything "that NASA hasn't already done."

Several weeks later, Tyson was forced to walk back his overgeneralizing and inaccurate statement.

On his "StarTalk" channel last month, Tyson admitted that "SpaceX has been advancing the engineering frontier of space exploration, especially with the spectacle of the returning of the first stage back to Earth so that you can reuse it."

"Good luck, SpaceX," he said at the time. "Godspeed to you!"

More on Mars: Scientist Says NASA Lander May Have Accidentally Killed Life on Mars
KIGALI, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda started the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Monday, calling for joint efforts to tackle gender-based violence.

This year's national theme is "All for GBV-Free Families," with an emphasis on family cohesion and the collective responsibility in preventing conflicts and tackling gender-based violence.

Speaking at a high-level dialogue to discuss solutions to eliminate all forms of GBV in communities in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, Rwandan Minister of Gender and Family Promotion Consolee Uwimana said collective efforts are needed to stop gender-based violence.

The dialogue sought to promote family-centered approaches, strengthening community-based interventions and structures to prevent all forms of violence.

Stressing the need to foster peaceful families, Uwimana called for timely reporting of cases of gender-based violence and asked each person to act as another's watcher.

Roughly 736 million women, or about one in three, have experienced physical or sexual violence at least once in their lifetime, with most cases perpetrated by current or former intimate partners, according to the latest UN report.

Jennet Kem, the UN Women representative in Rwanda, said the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is not just a time to reflect but a time to act and keep acting.

"We must unite in our commitment to ending violence against women and girls. Together, we can build a future where every woman and girl in Rwanda, and across the world, can live in safety, dignity, and freedom. The time for change is now. Let's continue to work towards a society where violence against women is a thing of the past," she said.

Kem underlined that the key to ending violence lies in the synergies of action from communities, government, civil society, media, and ultimately, all people.

"There is power in collective action. When governments, organizations, and individuals come together, a huge difference can be made. The commitment to ending GBV must be unwavering, and this means taking proactive steps at every level, from grassroots efforts to national policies to foster a culture of respect, equality, and safety," she said. 
HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT)  November is Epilepsy Awareness Month, and while just about everyone may have heard of the condition, few people know much about it.

Neurologist Dr. Allison Weaver from Ascension Saint Vincent joined Shelley Kirk in the Eyewitness News Studio on Friday to help the public understand epilepsy better.

You can view the full 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 Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW).
Newport News City Council on Tuesday is expected to vote on an ordinance that would prohibit people from possessing, carrying or transporting firearms in buildings owned or used by the city government.

The city currently prohibits the open carrying of firearms in city buildings and facilities. Still, it does not prohibit a concealed carry permit holder from bringing a concealed weapon. City code states that No person shall openly possess, carry or transport any firearm, ammunition for a firearm, or any components or combination  and goes onto list various prohibited locations. The proposed ordinance amendment removes openly from the text so that it reads, No person shall possess, carry or transport any firearm 

In addition to government-owned buildings, the new rules would apply to any recreation or community center facility operated by the city government or by any authority or local governmental entity created or controlled by the city.

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In buildings not owned by the city, or by any authority or local governmental entity created or controlled by the city, the new rules would only apply to the part of the building that is being used for a governmental purpose and when such building is being used for a governmental purpose.

The council meeting is at 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, at 2400 Washington Ave.

The prohibition wont apply to authorized law enforcement officers, authorized military personnel in the performance of their lawful duties, security guards employed by the city or any authority or local government entity created or controlled by the city in the performance of their lawful duties. It would also not apply to exceptions mandated by state law.

The proposed ordinance would allow lawfully possessed firearms and ammunition that are stored out of sight in a locked private motor vehicle lawfully parked on city property or on a public street.

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Virginia adopted a numerous pieces of gun safety legislation in 2020, when Democrats controlled the House, Senate and executive branch. One of those bills gave localities the ability to ban firearms in government buildings, public community centers, and parks, as well as at permitted events.

City spokesperson Kim Bracy wrote in an email response to questions about the proposal that Newport News is committed to ensuring a safe environment for both the public and our employees. She said the city is dedicated to its practice of assessing safety vulnerabilities and addressing them within the framework of the law.

The security landscape has evolved, particularly in the government sector, and we are responding proactively, she said.

The Virginia Citizens Defense League, a pro-gun rights organization, issued a news release opposing the proposed ordinance, critiquing it as an infringement on gun owners right to carry a firearm for self defense.

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The organization did, however, praise one change made in the proposed ordinance, which crossed out public parks from a list of places prohibiting firearms.

The proposed ordinance allows security personnel and law enforcement to deny entry to people violating the new gun rules and direct the violators to leave. Those who fail to leave after being directed may face trespassing charges.

Josh Janney, joshua.janney@virginiamedia.com
NBC News justice and intelligence correspondent Ken Dilanian and former federal prosecutor Ankush Khardori join Jose Diaz-Balart to discuss President-elect Donald Trumps Justice Department picks, specifically Pam Bondi for Attorney General and Todd Blanche for Deputy Attorney General. Khardori, a senior writer at Politico Magazine, also shares why he believes President Biden should commute any prison sentences for his son Hunter.
Another private company will soon try its hand at sticking a landing on the moon for NASA.

Cedar Park, Texas-based Firefly Aerospace was one of several companies that won contracts under NASAs Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which aims to pay companies to provide a ride to the moon for its experiments.

Astrobotic Technology of Pittsburgh was the first company to launch under the program with its Peregrine lunar lander this past Janaury atop a United Launch Alliances Vulcan rocket. That spacecraft ultimately didnt make it to the moon.

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A month later, though, Houston-based Intuitive Machines completed the deal with a mostly successful landing of its Nova-C lander Odysseus, making it the first commercial company to ever land on the moon.

Both of those companies have more missions planned to the moon under NASAs CLPS program, but Firefly is likely to be next up with is Blue Ghost lander, which had completed environmental testing at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory last month.

Blue Ghost aced environmental testing and proved the lander is performing 100% as expected, which is a testament to the incredible Firefly team, said Firefly Aerospace CEO Jason Kim in a press release. This team has gone above and beyond with innovative testing approaches to ensure Blue Ghost is flight ready.

It had since been moved back to the companys Texas faciities and is prepping for shipment in mid-December to Florida where it will get processed for a launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket aiming for a six-day window as early as mid-January from Kennedy Space Centers Launch Pad 39-A.

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The company has dubbed this mission Ghost Riders in the Sky, the first of three task orders under CLPS so far.

It will have a 45-day trip to the moon, and aim for a landing in Mare Crisium, located on the northeast quadrant of the moon as seen from Earth. There it will operate its payloads for 14 days. It has 10 payloads lined up for NASA including experiments around lunar subsurface drilling, sample collection, lunar dust mitigation and X-ray imaging of Earths magnetic field.

Once the vehicle loses daylight it will measure how regolith acts during lunar dusk, and then the spacecraft will attempt to remain active several hours into the lunar night as temperatures drop.

NASA awarded Firefly $93.3 million for this initial CLPS contract in 2021.

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Its up to each commercial lunar provider to line up their own rocket ride to space and provide the mission support including communication. They can line up additional customers beyond NASA as well to help defray costs.

While we know there will be more challenges ahead, Im confident this team has what it takes to softly touch down on the lunar surface and nail this mission, Kim said.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI)  Providence Mayor Brett Smiley reached an agreement with the citys school department to pay millions of dollars to help with school funding.

The settlement was signed Friday morning, just days after a judge announced both parties reached an agreement.

They have been at odds about how much Providence should increase education funding to comply with the Crowley Act  the law that governs school districts under state takeover.

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Providence schools have been under state control since 2019.

In the video above, Boston Globe columnist Dan McGowan joined Kait Walsh on 12 News This Morning to discuss what comes next.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com.
BOSTON (WWLP)  Nine people were arrested during an investigation into the 18th Street Gang in and around Boston.

The Department of Justice in Boston said four men were arrested on Thursday with federal drug offenses and an additional five individuals were arrested for various state crimes including drug trafficking, child abuse crimes and unlawful possession of ammunition.

Chicopee police investigate shooting that left two injured

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It is alleged that approximately 100 grams of suspected cocaine and approximately $25,000 cash were recovered from Angels residence on Nantucket during a search at the time of his arrest.

The identity of the four men charged with distribution of and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl:

Orlando Mancia , a/k/a Intruso (22) of Everett, who is an alleged member of the 18 th Street Gang On October 15th, Orlando Mancia allegedly sold approximately 500 pressed fentanyl pills to a cooperating witness in Everett. Mancia again on October 23rd allegedly sold another 500 pressed fentanyl pills along with cocaine to the cooperating witness in Everett.

Tony Cartegena-Chacon (46) of Chelsea Cartegena-Chacon allegedly distributed and possessed with intent to distribute over 40 grams of fentanyl.

Hector Luis Santana Guzman , a/k/a DJ Black (33) of Lawrence

John Angel (31) of Nantucket It is alleged that approximately 100 grams of suspected cocaine and approximately $25,000 cash were recovered from Angels residence on Nantucket during a search at the time of his arrest.



Fentanyl continues to devastate lives across Massachusetts, and the defendants arrested yesterday allegedly pumped this poison into North Shore communities for a profit, said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. These charges represent the continued close working relationship across federal, state and local law enforcement to relentlessly investigate, identify and disrupt criminal organizations and our efforts to protect our communities from lethal narcotics.

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With this operation, the FBIs North Shore Gang Task Force has removed alleged drug traffickers accused of pushing deadly poison onto our streets, hoping to avoid detection, said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division. This case highlights how the FBI and our partners at every level are working together to target criminals wreaking havoc and mayhem, just to make money and a name for themselves on the street.

The arrest of these individuals, including a known 18th Street gang member, for dealing fentanyl in the North Shore of Boston is a critical step in combating the devastating impact of illegal drugs in our communities, said James M. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives. Fentanyl continues to claim lives at an alarming rate, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to holding accountable those who profit from this deadly substance. By working collaboratively with our federal, state, and local partners, we are sending a clear message: we will not tolerate the distribution of dangerous narcotics that endanger the lives and safety of our citizens.

The identity of the five individuals charged with various crimes including drug trafficking (including fentanyl and cocaine), child abuse crimes (including rape of a child, posing a child in a state of nudity and possession of child pornography) and unlawful possession of ammunition:

Elvin Martinez (23) of Everett

Marlon Eduardo Varela (20) of Everett

Fidel Alexis Orellana (21) of Cheslea

Bryan Molina (21) of Chelsea

Luis Borja (20) of Chelsea

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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Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP.
Nov. 25A longtime state legislator has resigned due to health concerns.

Democratic Rep. Eliseo Alcon of Milan is immediately stepping down to focus on his health, according to a Monday morning news release.

The incumbent recently won the race to maintain his seat in the 2024 general election.

Alcon has served in the House since 2009. He sponsored or cosponsored nearly 200 bills during his time in the Legislature.

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Chair of the House Labor, Veterans' and Miliary Affairs Committee and a disabled veteran himself, House Speaker Javier Martinez, D-Albuquerque, said in a statement Alcon "helped deliver huge wins for veterans, active service members and all the people of New Mexico." Alcon in 2019 received a Bronze Star for his service as a combat medic in the Army during the Vietnam War.

House Democrats also highlighted Alcon's work to strengthen New Mexico's economy and protect the environment.

"As a veteran and retired magistrate judge, Rep. Alcon brought a remarkably diverse perspective to lawmaking. We will miss him dearly," Martinez said.

To fill the seat, the Cibola and McKinley County Commissions will each make a legislative nomination to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, according to the news release. It'll be up to Lujan Grisham to appoint one of those people to carry out the rest of Alcon's term, which lasts two years.
President-elect Donald Trump still hasnt disclosed the donors behind his transition efforts, causing concern among Democrats and political experts about the peaceful transfer of power, The New York Times reported Sunday.

Trump is also yet to sign several Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) required to facilitate a transfer of power, a White House official told reporters on Thursday. The documents place limits on private transition fundraising in exchange for $7 million in federal funding to help with the transition.

Without Trump's commitment to financial transparency, any private donor, including foreign nationals, can contribute to his transition efforts without their names or companies being disclosed.

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When the money isnt disclosed, its not clear how much everybody is giving, who is giving it and what they are getting in return for their donations, Heath Brown, a professor of public policy at John Jay College of Criminal Justice told The Times. Its an area where the vast majority of Americans would agree that they want to know who is paying that bill."

Until the MOU is signed by Trump, the current administration cannot provide briefings or security clearances for incoming officials, a typically arduous process.

"We require these background checks of ... drug enforcement agents. We require [them] of first-time prosecutors for the federal government. Why wouldn't we get these background checks for the most important job in the United States government?" Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

Under the Presidential Transition Enhancement Act, which Trump himself signed into law in 2019, incoming presidents are required to develop and publicly release ethics plans for their transition teams prior to the election. The law also restricts the amount a person can donate to a Presidential transition to $5,000.

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Trumps transition team leaders, Linda McMahon and Howard Lutnick, have both repeatedly said the president-elect will sign the documents, the Times reported. But Trump has already missed two deadlines for doing so, including the release of his transition ethics plan and entering a MoU with the White House regarding access to federal employees, facilities, and documents, by Oct. 1.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., warned that Trumps refusal to enact a smooth transition is threatening the American public. On Thursday, she wrote the Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA), which manages the transition of power, a letter expressing her concern.

"The Transition remains unbound by donor contribution limits and disclosure requirements, and is relying on private donors rather than federal funds  opening Trumps team to financial corruption with no public transparency even before he takes office," the letter reads. "In effect, President-elect Trump is undermining his administrations ability to manage urgent national security threats, health and safety threats, and serious conflicts of interest starting on day one of his presidency."

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., also took a jab at Trumps secrecy.

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What do you bet Trumps transition is being funded by a bunch of looters and polluters, out to loot our country and pollute our country? he wrote in a post on X.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that President Joe Biden has offered Trump and his team the assistance needed to make sure that happens in a way that is peaceful, obviously, and efficient, but the president-elect has yet to officially begin the transition process. She added that Trumps team have what they need/"

Those conversations continue, and we want this to go smoothly, and thats what were trying to get to, Jean-Pierre said.

Brian Hughes, a Trump transition spokesperson, told The Times that the president-elect lawyers "continue to engage with the Biden-Harris administration lawyers regarding all agreements contemplated by the Presidential Transition Act."
Sabrina Singh, spokesperson for the Pentagon, has stated at a briefing that the US Department of Defense has seen no signs suggesting that North Korean troops are present in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine or are heading in that direction.

Source: Ukrinform news agency; the website of the Pentagon

Quote from Singh: "Don't have any indications that there are DPRK soldiers in Ukraine."

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Details: The spokesperson noted that the Pentagon could confirm the presence of North Korean troops in Russia's Kursk Oblast, which borders Ukraine. However, Singh stated that no movements of units with North Korean troops into Ukrainian territory have been recorded.

Background:

On 7 November, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that North Korean soldiers fighting on Russia's side in Kursk Oblast had suffered losses.

In the third quarter of 2024, a record number of North Korean citizens came to Russia, citing training as the purpose of their trip amid reports of North Korean soldiers being deployed to participate in the war against Ukraine.

The US State Department stated that Russia's success on the battlefield using North Korean troops would depend on the level of their integration into the Russian military.

Last week, the US confirmed that North Korean troops had participated in combat operations in Kursk Oblast for the first time.

In addition, according to The New York Times, a 50,000-strong group of Russian and North Korean troops is preparing to launch a large-scale counteroffensive in Kursk Oblast.

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Several viral social media posts claim that Tennessee has banned same-sex and interracial marriages.

Tennessee just passed a bill banning same sex marriage and interracial marriages. Hope youre proud of yourselves MAGA women and white women who couldnt be bothered, reads one Threads post. Here goes the United States into a Christo-fascist Taliban abyss.

A similar post trended this week on Reddit. The TN house just passed a bill designed to start a ban on same sex and inter-racial marriages, it reads.

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The claim is false. Earlier this year, Tennessee lawmakers passed legislation that allows individuals to decline to perform marriage ceremonies, but it does not ban same-sex or interracial marriage. Existing Supreme Court precedent protects the right to same-sex and interracial marriage nationwide, and in 2022 President Joe Biden signed a bill codifying the right to same-sex marriage into federal law.

In February 2024, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed House Bill 878, which amended a section of the Tennessee legal code specifying who can legally perform a marriage ceremony in the state. The bill added a single sentence to the section: A person shall not be required to solemnize a marriage. Under the updated language, no individualincluding religious officials, state judges, and county clerkscan be forced to administer a marriage against their will. The bill does not explicitly address same-sex marriage, however, the clause allows officials to refuse to perform a marriage for any reason, including religious objections.

While the updated Tennessee law would allow a public or religious official to refuse to personally participate in a marriage ceremony for any reason, states cannot universally deny the right to marry to same-sex or interracial couples. The court ruled in the 1967 case Loving v. Virginia that restrictions on interracial marriage violated the 14th Amendments Equal Protection Clause.

In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment protects marriage as a fundamental liberty, including the right to same-sex marriage. In December 2022, President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, which further engrained broad protections for same-sex and interracial marriage into federal law.

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NAIROBI, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Kenya plans to establish a carbon market, allowing public and private entities to trade emission reduction units, offsets and mitigation outcomes, an industry official said Monday.

Kenya has already set up a technical structure to supervise the development of carbon projects and promote participation in carbon markets, according to Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), a member of the multi-sectoral technical committee (MSTC), a high-level group charged with creating the framework for the country's carbon market.

"The initiative is expected to catalyze the growth of Kenya's carbon economy, paving the way for the country to monetize its climate actions through the sale of carbon credits," said Peter Njenga, managing director and chief executive officer of KenGen, in a statement issued in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

Njenga noted that KenGen has already earned a cumulative 6.9 million carbon credits from six Clean Development Mechanism projects registered under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. He revealed that the projects include the Olkaria II Geothermal Expansion, the Redevelopment of Tana Hydro Power Station, and the Ngong Wind Project.

KenGen said that it aims to strengthen Kenya's position as a leader in climate action and green energy.

Njenga added that the MSTC will play a critical role in driving investments into climate projects and ensuring compliance with national and international regulations. 
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could face arrest if he travels to Germany, according to the country's top diplomat.

"The German government abides by the law, because nobody is above the law," Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Monday on the sidelines of a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Fiuggi, Italy.

On Thursday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and the recently dismissed Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

State parties to the ICC, which includes Germany, are obliged to execute arrest warrants issued by the court.
Gov. Kristi Noem presents her fiscal year 2025 budget address to the South Dakota Legislature on Dec. 5, 2023, at the Capitol in Pierre. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

Gov. Kristi Noem signed an executive order Monday and signaled the preparation of a legislative package to strengthen internal controls in South Dakota state government after several cases of allegedly criminal state employee conduct.

Noem did not directly mention any of those specific cases in the executive order or a news release.

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We are taking enhanced measures to strengthen the fortitude of our financial infrastructure and make sure that we are taking care of taxpayer dollars, Noem said in the news release. And we will guarantee that state employees are responsible stewards for the people that they serve.

The executive order requires state employees to participate in training covering the concepts of public trust, duty to act, internal controls, conflict of interest and a service mindset for the citizens of South Dakota. The commissioner of the Bureau of Human Resources and Administration will develop the program. State employees and supervisors will take the training on an annual basis.

Noem said her four cornerstones approach to strengthening fiscal oversight also includes more support for the State Board of Internal Control  including hiring an additional internal control officer, which Noem said shes already done  and enhancements to policies, procedures, systems and technology.

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Noem did not release any specific legislative proposals but indicated her legislative package would include clearer and stronger accountability measures. Noems office did not immediately respond to further South Dakota Searchlight questions about the legislation and training program.

Noem will deliver her annual budget address next week, and the annual legislative session will begin in January. Thats the same month the governor is expected to be formally nominated as President-elect Donald Trumps secretary of Homeland Security.

Separately, state Attorney General Marty Jackley has said he plans to propose legislation this session, which would include requirements for state employee supervisors to report questionable employee behavior to his office, protections for whistleblowers, stronger protections for the state auditor, and transparency requirements for reporting on allegations of state employee misbehavior.

State departments have also told lawmakers theyre making their own improvements, and that impending technology changes to the accounting and motor vehicle systems will provide more accountability. Meanwhile, the head of a legislative audit committee has said further legislative proposals addressing internal controls may have to wait until pending criminal cases are resolved and lawmakers have complete information.

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Jackleys office has brought charges against several former state employees recently.

A former state Department of Social Services worker pleaded not guilty in August to stealing an estimated $1.8 million from the departments Division of Child Protection Services over the course of 13 years. She allegedly created and approved fraudulent financial support orders for children.

In the state Department of Revenue, a deceased former employee allegedly used her position to create 13 fake vehicle titles used to secure $400,000 in loans, according to the Attorney Generals Office. The office filed charges in a related case last month against two other former employees  one who allegedly created a false vehicle title to claim she had a trade-in vehicle, allowing her to avoid some excise taxes, and another employee who allegedly failed to report the situation and cooperate with law enforcement. The two women have pleaded not guilty.

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Norfolk, Va. (WAVY)  Ahead of Thanksgiving, travel experts are expecting a flurry of people hitting the skies. AAA projected 7.5 million air travelers this holiday season, surpassing 2019s record of 7.3 million passengers.

At Norfolk International Airport on Sunday, flights were cruising smoothly with no delays.

We were only concerned because of the weather, said Clare Callaghan, a Roanoke resident. I mean, they said it was going to be really windy in Boston today and we thought the flight might be delayed, but its on time and they should be here shortly.

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Some travelers, like Jennifer Cruz, didnt expect to have it as easy. She and her family were flying to Colorado.

Im a little nervous, especially because of the snow and all of that. And its super cold, so well see how it goes, she said.

Despite the weather conditions, Cruzs daughter, Julianna, was feeling positive. She was excited for the snow and her first flight.

Although its business as usual at ORF on Sunday, other travelers expressed uneasiness towards the holiday season.

Im really glad that Im getting back home to New York before the holidays hit, said Elizabeth Pearlstein. Because its going to be rough one.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN)  Those who need help paying to heat their home this winter will soon be able to sign up for assistance through the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Low Income Energy Assistance Program offers a one-time payment to help people pay their heating bills.

People aged 60 or older and people with disabilities can sign up for assistance beginning on Dec. 2. All other eligible households can start applying on Jan. 2.

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According to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, residents who meet the following criteria may be eligible:

Have at least one U.S. citizen or non-citizen who meets the eligibility requirements

Have income equal to or less than 130 percent of the federal poverty limit

Be responsible for their heating cost

The Low Income Energy Assistance Program program provided approximately $48 million to help more than 134,000 households pay their heating bills from December 2023 through March 2024.

Click here for more information on the program and how to apply.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS17.com.
South Central Judicial District Judge Jackson Lofgren presides over a hearing Jan. 19, 2024, in Bismarck. (Amy Dalrymple/North Dakota Monitor)

An attorney representing North Dakota in a lawsuit challenging its ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors asked a state judge on Monday to throw out the case.

Special Assistant Attorney General Joseph Quinn presented two main arguments: that the plaintiffs dont have the right to bring the lawsuit, and that the state has presented enough evidence for the judge to rule in its favor without requiring a trial.

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The law, signed by Gov. Doug Burgum in April 2023, makes it a crime for medical professionals to provide gender-affirming treatment to anyone under the age of 18. It contains an exemption for adolescents who had been receiving treatment before it took effect.

Three families with transgender children and a pediatric endocrinologist filed suit over the ban in September 2023. They allege the ban violates their parental freedoms and medical autonomy, and that it discriminates against children with gender dysphoria because it prevents them from accessing treatments available to kids with other medical conditions. The plaintiffs also claim that the law is unconstitutionally vague and puts medical providers at risk for prosecution because it does not sufficiently explain when its exemptions apply.

In his June order on a motion to temporarily halt enforcement of the law, South Central Judicial District Judge Jackson Lofgren concluded the ban is not unconstitutionally vague and that patients who were being treated before the law went into effect can receive any medical care for the treatment of gender dysphoria.

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Quinn argued Monday that the three plaintiff families dont have standing to bring the lawsuit because their kids were all receiving treatment before the ban, and therefore qualify for the exemption and arent affected by the law. Quinn also said that because Lofgrens order clarified how to apply the law, the endocrinologist plaintiff, Dr. Luis Casas, also does not have standing to sue.

Brittany Stewart  an attorney for Gender Justice, one of the groups representing the plaintiffs  said that in spite of Lofgrens order, none of the children of the plaintiff families have been able to access gender-affirming care in North Dakota since the ban took effect in April 2023. Minors with gender dysphoria, even those who were receiving treatment prior to the ban, must go out of state to receive medical treatment or do without it altogether, she said.

Were here today because the plaintiffs in this case have suffered and continue to suffer actual injury, she said.

Stewart added that Casas is not only representing himself in the case, but also the interests of his current and future patients  including minors who may have a gender dysphoria diagnosis but have never been able to access gender-affirming care because of the ban.

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Quinn argued that the safety and effectiveness of gender-affirming medical treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapy is disputed and that North Dakota has wide discretion to legislative areas of medical and scientific uncertainty and that the law is necessary to protect kids.

Parental freedoms are never absolute, he added, and the state can step in on behalf of parents when its in the best interest of the public.

Quinn also argued the law does not discriminate against transgender children because the state of North Dakota does not recognize being transgender as a protected status.

The plaintiffs have maintained throughout the lawsuit that every major medical association in America accepts gender-affirming care as safe and the standard treatment for gender.

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Tanya Pellegrini, another attorney representing the plaintiffs, said the lawsuit should be allowed to go to trial because of the extensive, disputed and technically complex evidence involved in the case  which includes testimony from numerous expert witnesses.

Quinn said that the fact that the plaintiffs and state have conflicting evidence should not be taken as a reason to let the case go to trial, but as proof that the efficacy and safety of gender-affirming care is not settled science  and therefore reason Lofgren should rule in favor of the state.

Pellegrini also said theres evidence some North Dakota lawmakers approved the ban at least in part because of personal bigotry toward LGBTQ people, pointing to testimony made by legislatures during hearings on the bill and statements by lawmakers deposed for the lawsuit.

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Lawmakers openly discussed wanting to drive LGBTQ people and their supporters from their own homes in North Dakota, and that is exactly what the law accomplishes, she said.

If bigotry was the motivation for passing the law, she reasoned, the state does not have an interest in defending it. If the state disputes this claim, the parties should at least be allowed to hash out their arguments at trial, she said.

Quinn said the plaintiffs only have evidence that a few lawmakers have expressed anti-transgender views, and that theres no proof the majority of state lawmakers who voted in favor of the law felt similarly.

Lofgren said he will take the motions under advisement.

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The lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial in January.

North Dakotas ban on gender-affirming care passed North Dakotas Republican-dominated Legislature with more than two-thirds approval in each chamber.

The law makes it a class A misdemeanor to administer gender-affirming treatments like puberty blockers or hormone therapy to a minor. Anyone found guilty of doing so could face up to 360 days in jail, fines of up to $3,000 or both. Medical professionals also fear a violation of the ban could jeopardize their medical licenses, according to records filed in court.

The law also makes it a class B felony to perform transition-related surgery on a minor. Anyone convicted of doing so could face up to 10 years in prison, a maximum $20,000 fine or both. Experts have testified in the case that medical professionals do not perform such surgeries on minors in North Dakota.

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North Korea is expanding a key weapons production complex that assembles KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles used by Russia against Ukraine, Reuters reported on Nov.25, citing researchers at the U.S.-based James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) and satellite images.

Moscow launched around 60 North Korean KN-23 missiles in 2024, CNN reported last week, citing an unnamed Ukrainian defense official. This accounts for nearly one-third of the 194 ballistic missile strikes tracked by Ukraines Air Force.

August and September saw a surge in these attacks, with Ukrainian officials publicly identifying the KN-23 as a significant threat.

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The facility, known as the February 11 plant, is part of the Ryongsong Machine Complex in Hamhung, the second-largest city in North Korea.

The plant was the only known manufacturer of KN-23 missiles, said Sam Lair, a research fellow at the CNS.

Previously released videos by North Korean state-controlled media showed that the complex produced everything from tank wheels to rocked motor cases, Lair added.

According to October satellite images, an additional assembly building is under construction, as well as a new housing facility that may be intended for workers, the think tank's analysis showed.

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The new assembly building is about 60 to 70% the size of the previous one where the missiles were assembled, Reuters reported. The researchers also suggested that the entrances to some of the complex's underground facilities had been improved.

Moscow and Pyongyang signed a strategic partnership agreement in June, pledging to provide military support to one another if either country comes under attack. The Russian parliament ratified the defense treaty in October, amid reports that North Korea was sending troops along with weapons to aid Moscow's war against Ukraine.

Pyongyang has sent an estimated 10,000 troops to Russia, many of whom are stationed in embattled Kursk Oblast and are engaged in combat, a Pentagon spokesperson said during a Nov. 12 briefing.

Read also: North Korea received anti-aircraft missiles, oil from Russia in exchange for troops, reports say

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Ukraines General Staff has reported that over 11,000 North Korean military personnel are stationed in Russia's Kursk Oblast and they have participated in combat against Ukraine's defence forces.

Source: Radio Svoboda, citing Anatolii Barhylevych, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, speaking during the national joint 24/7 newscast

Details: Barhylevych also detailed the nature of the North Korean military personnel whom Russia has already deployed to Kursk Oblast.

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Quote from Barhylevych: "These are mostly general military units.

They are disguised as the indigenous population of the Far East. They also have the appropriate documents and have been trained to conduct operations in the European sector."

Previously: South Korea's National Intelligence stated that North Korean soldiers who had previously been sent to Russia were now in Kursk Oblast and were "already engaging in combat operations" against Ukraine.

Bloomberg reported that North Korea may send up to 100,000 troops to support Russia's war in Ukraine.

Background:

On 7 November, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russian forces in Kursk Oblast, Russia, had already suffered losses.

A record number of North Korean citizens arrived in Russia in the third quarter of 2024, citing "training" as their reason for travel amid reports of North Korean troops being deployed to participate in the war against Ukraine.

The US Department of State said that Russia's success on the battlefield using the North Korean military would depend on the level of their integration into the Russian army.

Last week, two US officials confirmed that North Korean troops had been involved in combat operations in Russia's Kursk Oblast for the first time.

The New York Times reported that 50,000 Russian and North Korean soldiers were preparing to launch a large-scale counteroffensive in Russias Kursk Oblast.

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People hang out outside St. Vincent de Paul Dining Hall, which offers meals to people in need, especially those experiencing homelessness, in Salt Lake City on Saturday, May 25, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)

A town hall held Thursday night was advertised as a meeting to discuss the vision for a 30-acre transformative campus meant to house and rehabilitate up to 1,200 of Utahs homeless at a time  a project that state leaders are currently working in secret to choose a property for somewhere along the Wasatch Front.

But instead, the forum  hosted by the advocacy group Solutions Utah  included two lengthy and passionate presentations by Randy Shumway, chairman of the Utah Homeless Services Board, and Joseph Grenny, co-founder of The Other Side Academy, focused on something much bigger: how Utahs homeless system needs to change.

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Shumway (who holds a position leading the states powerful body that distributes crucial funding and oversees the states homeless service providers) and Grenny (whose nonprofit offers an accountability-based residential training program where criminals, homeless and substance abusers can change their lives) presented how they think Utah could do better in its efforts to help the states most vulnerable.

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To a room full of homeless service providers and community members at the Thomas S. Monson Center in Salt Lake City, Shumway said Utahs homeless system needs to undergo a shift  both in philosophy and measured results  to better serve and rehabilitate Utahs homeless. Another top homeless official, state homeless coordinator Wayne Niederhauser, was in the audience.

Tonight my entire thesis is that we have been measuring the wrong things, Shumway said. And the result is that in many ways we have misdiagnosed the root problems, weve misdefined it, and not surprisingly we have misresolved  yes, thats a made up word  but we have misresolved the root problem.

Randy Shumway, chair of the Utah Homeless Services Board, speaks during a town hall on homelessness at the Thomas S. Monson Center in Salt Lake City on Nov. 21, 2024. (Katie McKellar / Utah News Dispatch)

Shumway said the root problem shouldnt be defined as homelessness, because the natural inclination then becomes to solve homelessness with bricks and mortar.



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When in reality, he said, a better definition would be trauma. He argued Utahs homeless system should first and foremost focus on addressing and treating whatever trauma  whether it may be a loss of a job, medical issues, mental illness, addiction, or what have you  along with providing a safe place to live.

Shumway acknowledged that the forum was advertised as one that would explore the 1,200-bed homeless centralized campus, which the Utah Homeless Services Board has told state officials must be built by Oct. 1, 2025. But, he said, neither Joseph or I feel equipped to come in and talk about a physical facility.

Because it is just that, a physical facility, he said. What weve got to create are solutions that encircle individuals to help them improve in life.

Showing a slide with a list of local headlines focusing on the 1,200-bed campus  which would include the largest homeless shelter the state has ever seen  Shumway said the media too often focuses on the physical facilities rather than the human crisis that is actually surrounding this population.

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He acknowledged that, yes, we are exploring a transformative, centralized campus. But, he said state officials are a long way off from actually building that campus. Were just not there yet. We are in the data finding, the data collection phase. But I cant emphasize enough the bricks and mortar is not going to solve the problem. Its a human crisis, and so weve got to be talking about human solutions.

This is not a bed crisis. This is a human crisis, Shumway said. And we have to therefore take a human first approach.

Joseph Grenny (left), co-founder of The Other Side Academy, and Randy Shumway, chair of the Utah Homeless Services Board, speaks during a town hall on homelessness at the Thomas S. Monson Center in Salt Lake City on Nov. 21, 2024. (Katie McKellar / Utah News Dispatch)

Grenny, during his presentation, said Shumways call for a human first focus is a central thesis at The Other Side Academy  and at The Other Side Village, a tiny-home community for the chronically homeless, at 1850 W. Indiana Ave. in Salt Lake City thats been under construction for years and is now getting closer to opening.

Grenny argued its bigoted, condescending and deeply flawed to believe people experiencing homelessness, no matter their situation, arent capable of working to improve their own lives.

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There is enormous potential in even the most marginalized populations, he said. Theyre capable of extraordinary things. But we need to believe in them until they hurt. We need to believe in them and hold those expectations until the stress of our expectations helps them to reach beyond their perceived current limits.

Human first versus Housing First

Shumways call for a human first approach contrasts with a model that homeless providers in Utah have used for years known as Housing First, which prioritizes placing people experiencing homelessness in permanent supportive housing as a first step, then offering services including substance abuse and mental health treatment.

However, Shumway said chronic homelessness in Utah has grown. The states 2023 point-in-time count, which took place on a single night in January that year, identified 1,004 people who met the states definition of chronic homelessness, making up 27% of the total number of people experiencing homelessness that night, according to a state report. That was up 96% from the 512 people experiencing chronic homelessness during the 2019 point-in-time count.

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Shumway made his case for why I think a fundamental change in philosophy and strategy  regardless of physical facilities  is key to coming to the rescue of this population.

He pointed to the guiding principles document the Utah Homeless Services Board recently voted to adopt, meant to bolster Utahs existing plan to tackle homelessness.

That document includes a framework titled The Pathway to Human Thriving thats meant to help homeless service providers identify current needs and what incremental progress should focus on based on an individuals situation. It organizes needs (mental health, substance use, employment, physical health, housing, legal issues and social issues) based on whether an individual is struggling, surviving or thriving.

Using that framework, state officials are also implementing a know by name system that provides each individual a care plan that is based on this pathway to human thriving, Shumway said.

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As the state of Utah, we are no longer defining success as mere food and shelter, Shumway said. We are defining success thats helping each and every individual realize the dignity that is inherent in each of us. We are in the business of improving human lives, and thats how were going to measure success.

He said leaders also must align and coordinate with homeless providers and other stakeholders around the state on common objectives, metrics and systems.

A successful model will include health care to the individuals on the street. Itll include a campus of various shelter options, including tiered, low barriers, sanctioned shelter, he said. Itll have a heavy, heavy emphasis on efficacious wraparound services with safety, accountability, rewards and appreciation to help individuals as they make improvements.

Shumways legislative priorities

In his presentation Shumway included a slide listing eight legislative priorities for state leaders to focus on. Some are already being implemented, while others havent yet been pursued. Shumway noted, however, that they were not fully fleshed out and acknowledged that at least one may be considered controversial.

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They included:

Ensure the Salt Lake City Police Department consistently enforces the law

Integrate the know by name care program statewide

Predictable, ongoing revenue for operations and wrap-around services

Transformative centralized campus

Allow intercept and diversion to mandate shelter, treatment, and even involuntary commitment for those posing very high risk to themselves and others

Implement criminal justice reform that focuses on healing and lasting recovery

Drug-free zones at shelters, and transitional and permanent supportive housing

Accountability for transitional, permanent supportive, and long-term subsidized housing programs through outcome-based funding

Calls on Salt Lake City to do more

Shumway zeroed in on Salt Lake City, in particular, arguing that the fentanyl crisis is particularly sharp in Utahs capital city. He also said the city should do more to consistently enforce its anti-camping ordinances as well as more aggressively go after drug dealing  even more so than current efforts, which already involve the DEA, the Salt Lake County Sheriffs Office and Salt Lake City Police Department.

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One of the very worst things we do for individuals experiencing trauma is unsanctioned camping, Shumway said, adding that allowing people to camp on the streets leaves them vulnerable to dangerous situations, including violence, sexual assault and drugs.

Shumway argued police have to kindly, humanely and very consistently enforce the law, though he acknowledged crackdowns on camping have been met with pushback, including concerns around civil rights.

I have heard comments like, we cant criminalize homelessness Shumway said. No, but we can criminalize criminality. We need to come to the rescue of people who are being preyed upon.

He said hes also heard arguments that you cant force somebody who is shelter resistant, which he dismissed as an indefensible argument.

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Thats like saying you cant force somebody in a school zone to not speed because theyre school zone speed resistant, he said. No. Society operates on law and order.

Shumway said that while well-intentioned people think theyre being humane by allowing on-street camping to persist, he argued the opposite, that were being inhumane by allowing this to continue.

The reality is that the chaos and instability that were experiencing on our streets is hurting our most vulnerable the absolute worst, he said. It is perpetuating the root problems that theyre experiencing.

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall has argued that Salt Lake City does enforce its anti-camping ordinances, but she has also repeatedly pointed out that shelters have been operating at max capacity, making it difficult to provide places for everyone to go. For years she has also been urging the state and other cities to help increase shelter capacity  and plans to build the 1,200-bed homeless campus is the most significant step toward answering that call. However, its deadline isnt until next fall.

Additionally, Mendenhall has said the fentanyl crisis is an issue thats bigger than any one city, including Salt Lake City, can tackle, while also pointing out that Salt Lake City police are already working alongside the DEA to seize drugs and arrest dealers.

Still, Shumway argued the Salt Lake City Police Department (which has a roughly $120 million budget) should be doing more to stop being a petri dish for really, really bad behavior that is harming our most vulnerable population the worst.

There are municipalities that are doing much more with much less, he told Utah News Dispatch in an interview after his presentation. We need to stop providing excuses for why we have to live in an environment in chaos and lawlessness that is creating so much harm  and instead start coming up with reasons why we can create predictability and safety, particularly for those who are suffering the most.

All this costs money. Will they ask for more from the 2025 Utah Legislature?

Shumway told Utah News Dispatch hes working with Niederhauser (a former Utah Senate president who now works on behalf of the governors office to negotiate for funding for homeless services) to tackle his listed legislative priorities.

I think a lot of them can be accomplished in the 2025 session, he said. Yes, we are meeting with legislators constantly.

He didnt provide specifics, but he pointed to one priority  to provide predictable, ongoing revenue for operations and wrap-around services  as one issue Niederhauser has been working on.

Niederhauser told Utah News Dispatch in an interview after Thursdays forum that he is indeed working on a dedicated funding stream for homeless services. In past years, Niederhauser said he has advocated for dedicating a portion of the states profits on alcohol toward homelessness, but he said that proposal didnt get traction.

Having been in the Legislature I know when to give up and move on to something else, he said.

So now, he said hes exploring possibly pursuing other ideas, like perhaps an optional local sales tax increase that the Legislature could authorize a locality like Salt Lake County or any county in the state to enact.

So those types of things are being discussed, he said. A dedicated funding stream  with accountability.

All the priorities Shumway has outlined will take resources  and money  Niederhauser acknowledged. This isnt going to be cheap, he said. Were going to need the resources to make it happen.

Its not clear yet, though, what the Legislature will do.

Regarding the larger, philosophical goals Shumway discussed, Niederhauser said he doesnt think its a 180-degree change from the direction Utahs homeless system is already heading. He said one of the things state officials are working on with the know by name pilot program in Weber County is the consistency and the intensity of case management.

Where theres strong case management, he said, you have better outcomes.

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President-elect Donald Trump picked some of his long-time loyalists to round out his 15 cabinet positions. NBC News correspondent Vaughn Hillyard, former RNC Chairman Michael Steele and University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service Dean Victoria DeFrancesco Soto join Jose Diaz-Balart to weigh in on how the cabinet is taking shape, as well as President Biden's final turkey pardoning at the White House.
PHNOM PENH, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Ministry of Women's Affairs, in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), on Monday launched the "GBV Safe App" to combat violence against women and girls in the Southeast Asian country.

The mobile app is an important advancement in Cambodia's efforts to provide those who experience violence easy access to information, support and care, said a joint press release.

It provides easy access to essential information such as awareness about gender-based violence and sexual harassment, the press release said, adding that it links users to a network of essential services, including hotlines, legal aid, and psychosocial counseling.

"The GBV Safe App is a testament to our commitment to leverage technology to combat gender-based violence," said Cambodian Minister of Women's Affairs Ing Kantha Phavi.

"This app provides women and girls with information and resources to seek help when they need it most. It is a crucial step towards creating a safer and more equitable society for all," she added.

Sandra Bernklau, UNFPA representative to Cambodia, stressed the importance of the app, saying that it has created a tool that can make a real difference in the lives of women and girls in Cambodia.

The app is free to download on Android devices via the Google Play Store and will soon be available on the Apple App Store for iOS devices, the press release said. 
Nourish Food Bank distributed nearly 500 Thanksgiving meals to clients between the Murfreesboro, Smyrna and the Nashville/Glencliff locations, the week before Thanksgiving.

Each location distributed about 166 meals.

Tamara Schermerhorn with Regal Rexnord smiles and laughs as Heather Crissey, the Intake & Wraparound Service Specialist at Nourish opens the back of a clientOs vehicle so that Schermerhorn can place all the components for a Thanksgiving turkey dinner into the clientOs SUV at Nourish food bank on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024.

According to the Nourish website, the nonprofit provides food to approximately 3,000 people a month, throughout the year that are experiencing economic and food crisis, in the community.

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This year Nourish got help from employees at Regal Rexnord, in La Vergne, who volunteered to distribute the holiday meals at the Murfreesboro location.

Mary Kilpatrick, with Regal Rexnord picks up bags of Thanksgiving sides to be distributed to clients along with a turkey at Nourish Food Bank, in Murfreesboro, on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024.

Not only did Regal Rexnord employees volunteer for the Thanksgiving distribution, but employees volunteer at Nourish quarterly throughout the year.

Donations of food, hygiene items, infant Items, feminine products, cleaning and laundry supplies can be dropped off at the Murfreesboro location and HUB during normal business hours.

Lori Schmidt, with Regal Rexnord picks up a turkey to give to a Nourish Food Bank client, in Murfreesboro, on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. Nourish provided nearly 500 Thanksgiving dinners to clients over their 3 locations.

Monetary donations can be given through Venmo @Nourish-FoodBanks or through a link on its website.

Betsy Eastman with Regal Rexnord is all smiles as she delivers the components for a Thanksgiving turkey dinner to the vehicle of a client at Nourish Food Bank, in Murfreesboro, on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, as Heather Crissey, the Intake & Wraparound Service Specialist at Nourish talks with the client and accepts their slip to receive the Thanksgiving meal.

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This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Thanksgiving meals distributed at Nourish Food Bank locations
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY)  Norfolk Public Schools is looking for community members to join the new Long-Range Facility Plan Steering Committee. The committee is part of a larger initiative to modernize the school systems facilities.

A letter sent to parents and community stakeholders states the school system has faced ongoing financial challenges due to a decline in students. Over the past decade, Norfolk Public Schools student body has decreased by more than 400 students annually. The schools have room for 37,000 students, but less than 27,000 students are currently enrolled. This initiative aims to optimize resources by creating well-resourced learning spaces for those students currently enrolled.

The initiative also aims to modernize Norfolk Public Schools facilities, more than half of which are more than 50 years old. A 2019 Facility Condition Assessment found that there are nearly $500 million in facility needs.

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Norfolk City Council OKs design work for new Maury High

The committee will meet between three and five times before June 2025 to review data and explore options for optimizing the systems school portfolio.

To apply to join the committee community members can fill out the survey on the Norfolk Public Schools website.

Norfolk Public Schools say there will be ways to get involved later in the process as well, including community meetings and focus groups.

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE)  The University of New Mexico (UNM) Police Department is investigating a shooting after they said surveillance footage shows someone firing a gun.

According to UNM, police were monitoring video of the Yale Parking Structure near UNM Hospital around 3 a.m. on Sunday when a male was seen on the top floor.

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UNM Police said the man was holding a gun and fired one shot into the ground. Officers responded and said the suspect fled from them in a gray Jeep Grand Cherokee going east on Lomas. They have not been able to locate the vehicle or the suspect.

Anyone with information is being asked to call UNM Police.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
Conneaut Township, PA (WJET/WFXP) An Ohio teenager is facing criminal charges after Pennsylvania State Police said he crashed his car in Crawford County while fleeing from Ohio State Police.

According to PSP Meadville, that crash happened on Nov. 9 along Phelps Road in Conneaut Township when 19-year-old William Smith of Andover, OH was fleeing from OSP at a high rate of speed.

Fairview man arrested after short late night police chase

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Police said Smith was heading south on Phelps Road just south of U.S. Highway 6 when he lost control, crossed into the other side of the road and struck an embankment causing to the car to overturn.

Police said the car suffered disabling damage and suspect Smith suffered minor injuries from the crash before being released to police.

PSP: Mercer resident scammed out of $19,000

Smith is now facing charges of felony fleeing along with misdemeanor criminal trespassing, evading arrest, flight to avoid, disorderly conduct and accidents involving damage to a vehicle along with other summary charges.

Smith is being held in the Crawford County Prison with bail set at $20,000 cash.

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OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  The Office of the Attorney General Gentner Drummonds office announced on Monday, the support of the passage to the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA).

Drummonds office alongside a coalition of 31 state attorneys general are urging Congress to address the growing crisis of youth mental health linked to social media.

SEC fines OU $200,000 after fans rush onto field

Our youth are spending untold hours a day on social media platforms without proper safeguards to protect them from toxic content and addictive algorithms, said Drummond.

There are commonsense measures that need to be taken to protect our children from harm when they are online.

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The coalition highlighted several key provisions of KOSA that would enhance online protections for minors:

Mandatory default safety settings: Requiring platforms to automatically enable their strongest safety protections for minors rather than burying these features behind opt-in screens.

Addiction prevention: Allowing young users and their parents to disable manipulative design features and algorithmic recommendations that keep children endlessly scrolling.

Parental empowerment: Providing parents with new tools to identify harmful behaviors and improved capabilities to report dangerous content.

According to the AGs office, the push for federal legislation is at the forefront after investigations and lawsuits have been launched against social media platforms targeting underage users.

The following states joining are the attorneys general of Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont and Wyoming.

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Read full letter here.

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Oklahoma finds itself near the very bottom of the list when it comes to the health of its women and children, looking at factors including social and economic, physical environment, clinical care, behaviors and health outcomes.

According to the 2024 Health of Women and Children Report, Oklahoma is ranked 47th among the 50 states for maternal and child health. The report, compiled by the United Health Foundation, looks at 123 measures of health from 33 sources and tracks the health of women and children nationally and state by state over time.

Some of the more concerning findings in the report are Oklahoma's lack of access to maternal health care, the state's rate of uninsured women and the state's maternal mortality rate. The report also found firearm deaths for children ages 1 to 19 are increasing, and Oklahoma has some of the highest rates of adverse childhood experiences and child victimization.

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Dr. Angela Hawkins, an OB-GYN and vice chair of Oklahoma's Maternal Mortality Review Committee, said she believes the report paints an accurate picture of where the state stands when it comes to maternal and child health.

"We've got huge access issues, insurance issues. Outcomes could definitely be better," Hawkins said. "We don't have enough physicians in the state. I think we rank just as low in terms of number of obstetric providers, compared to other states, for the number of women of reproductive age."

Dr. Hiren Patel, United Healthcare's chief medical officer for Oklahoma and Texas, said the report and its rankings are "not meant to scare" anyone living in or thinking of moving to Oklahoma. Instead, the organization hopes to raise awareness about issues affecting women's and children's health.

"One of my professors famously told me an ounce of data is equal to a pound of cure," Patel said. "Data is important, so we encourage leaders to engage in the data-driven discussions about solutions to the challenges that are revealed in this report, including the need to better support the patients and providers in many areas of health, such as maternal care and mental health."

Where does Oklahoma stand on maternal and child mortality?

With the state's poor ranking for overall health, it likely comes as no surprise that Oklahoma has some of the higher mortality rates for women and children.

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Here's where the state ranks in these categories, according to the report:

33rd for maternal mortality rate, with 29.6 deaths per 100,000 live births

39th for mortality rate for women ages 20-44, with 161.8 deaths per 100,000 women

37th for child mortality rate for children ages 1 to 19, with 36 deaths per 100,000 children

41st for infant mortality rate, with 7 deaths per 1,000 live births

43rd for neonatal (the first 28 days of life) mortality rate, with 4.5 deaths per 1,000 live births

According to the latest report from Oklahoma's Maternal Mortality Review Committee  which uses a rolling three-year maternal mortality rate rather than yearly  if you remove COVID 19-related deaths from the equation, the state's maternal mortality rate actually decreased between 2019-21 and 2020-22.

As part of compiling its annual report, Hawkins said each year the committee reviews pregnancy-associated deaths that occur during or within one year of pregnancy. The committee determines if the death was pregnancy-related, and if so, if it was preventable.

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More than half, 52.5%, of pregnancy-associated deaths between 2017 and 2021 were pregnancy-related, the committee determined. Of those, 78% were preventable.

Hawkins said just because a death was deemed "preventable" doesn't mean a doctor or mother made a mistake that resulted in the death.

"When we say preventable, we say that there are things we can do to improve blood bank access, there are things that we can do to improve healthy transitions from rural areas to larger hospital systems," she said. "So when we say preventable, we say, 'Yes, this could have been done better,' but because of this, that or the other, not necessarily that a mistake was made."

The most common causes of pregnancy-related deaths during the period were hemorrhage, infection and cardiac conditions, which each made up a quarter of deaths.

Oklahoma_maternity_deserts

Women living in Oklahoma's maternity care deserts are in a 'lose-lose situation'

On top of being a state with higher maternal mortality rates, Oklahoma is one of the worst states for access to maternity care, with 12.3% of Oklahoma women living in a county considered a maternity care desert with no hospitals or birth centers offering obstetric care, and no obstetric providers.

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In fact, more than half of Oklahoma's counties are considered maternity care deserts, which are largely clustered together, and another quarter have low access to maternity care. Only 23 of Oklahoma's 77 counties have full access to maternity care, meaning there are two or more hospitals or birthing centers offering obstetric care, or at least 60 providers offering obstetric care.

These "desert" counties are also the state's more rural areas, which Hawkins said "has a huge impact." Oklahoma women living in maternity care deserts were, on average, 29.9 miles away from maternity care. That means they're traveling 4.5 times farther than those living in areas with full access.

"When you have a woman who has to go to a doctor's office that's two hours away ... they can't make that trek that many times, taking off work and trying to find child care and all the things that go along with that," Hawkins said. "And so they opt to get minimal care and check in occasionally just to make sure everything looks OK."

"You can't blame them," Hawkins added, "because it's a lose-lose situation for the mom. It doesn't mean that she doesn't want to have a healthy pregnancy."

Is there a solution to Oklahoma's maternity care desert crisis?

There's no "aha," easy fix for this problem, Hawkins said, because it's multifaceted.

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Dr. Patel pointed out that some prenatal appointments could be done via telehealth, but broadband access is also limited in rural areas of Oklahoma.

Rural hospitals are closing because they can't cover their overhead expenses, between having a limited number of patients already and a large portion of them being on Medicaid resulting in low reimbursement rates for the hospitals.

It's also an active struggle to convince physicians to practice in rural areas, especially in Oklahoma where Hawkins said OBs are unsure what they're allowed to do in certain emergencies for pregnant patients due to the state's restrictive abortion ban.

A survey of 258 obstetricians in Oklahoma found 58% have considered or are planning to leave Oklahoma, and 79% feel unable to practice evidence-based medicine in the state.

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"They hesitate to do things that they otherwise used to do without question," Hawkins said. "You know, whether it's something like a molar pregnancy or an ectopic pregnancy or even a miscarriage, physicians didn't hesitate to know what they needed to do for those patients in the past, and now they question, 'Do I need to call risk management? Do I wait?'"

But there are potential solutions in the works, like the Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act, which was introduced in the U.S. Senate in April but has not been voted on yet.

The bill would provide funding to counties in maternity care deserts to train physicians to recognize obstetric emergencies, treat pregnant patients or transfer when necessary and purchase things like ultrasound or fetal monitoring equipment.

Health insurance access and poverty rates improving in Oklahoma

Oklahoma's rate of uninsured women  16.3%  has been decreasing since the state expanded Medicaid, but it's still one of the highest in the nation.

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Similarly, 7.3% of Oklahoma children are uninsured, making the state 44th in the nation for uninsured children.

Uninsured women and children often forgo routine medical care that keeps them in good health and rely on costly emergency departments.

Oklahoma's high rate of uninsured women also leads to more women becoming pregnant while having conditions that are out of control, like diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and thyroid issues, Hawkins said.

"We have great coverage when they get pregnant, but if they're not seeing a physician prior to getting pregnant ... they come into pregnancy, and we're playing catch-up on all these things that can make pregnancy much more risky," Hawkins said. "And so access to health care even prior to pregnancy, is a big part of our problem with maternal morbidity, poor outcomes and even maternal mortality."

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Like uninsured rates for women, poverty rates for children are seeing a decrease in Oklahoma. But still, nearly 20% of Oklahoma's women and children are living in poverty, placing the state at 43rd in the nation for both measures.

"We are higher than the national average, but it's trending down," Patel said. "Which is important ... We know that it negatively affects the physical health, the development for the kids, the educational achievement for children."

How did we get here and what can we do about it?

Oklahoma ranks poorly in plenty of categories when compared to the rest of the nation: education, poverty and quality of life.

But looking specifically at the health of women and children, how did we get to such a low point?

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It's largely a matter of the state historically not prioritizing health, Hawkins said.

"It took us forever to expand Medicaid," Hawkins said. "We were one of the last states to do so. Health care bills often get put on the back burner during legislative sessions. It's not their priority. And so I really just don't think that we have prioritized the health of Oklahomans historically, and now we are really behind the ball."

Moving forward, Hawkins said she hopes to see a shift in the Oklahoma Legislature to finding solutions.

"Everything in the Legislature right now is focused on attacking women's health care," Hawkins said. "'How can we incarcerate women with substance use disorder? Let's make having an STD a felony.' ... I feel like we need to start focusing on solutions more than, 'Who do we punish next?'"

Patel said the issues addressed in the United Health Foundation report are "not going to get fixed overnight."

"It will take everyone working together holistically to address these challenges," Patel said. As a physician, he said he would encourage Oklahomans to seek out preventative care as often as they can.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma ranks among worst for maternal health amid health care gaps
One man is dead and another wounded after a shooting in Burlington last night, according to a news release from the Burlington Police Department.

Burlington Police responded to the 500 block of S. Seventh Street for reports of a shooting on Sunday, November 24 at about 10:19 p.m. Officers responded and found two men with gunshot wounds. They immediately began providing emergency medical aid to the victims.

One man was taken to the Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center, then later taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to be treated for his injuries. The second man was pronounced dead on the scene, the release said.

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Criminal Investigation detectives responded to the scene to assist with the investigation. The incident remains under investigation and no arrests have been made. The Des Moines County Sheriffs Office and the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigations are assisting in the investigation.

Anyone with information about this incident should call the Burlington Police Department at 319-671-7001 or Crime Stoppers at 319-753-6835.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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CANBERRA, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has ordered a nationwide review of bullying at schools.

Jason Clare, the minister for education, on Sunday said he has written to state and territory counterparts to recommend an expert-led review of current school responses to bullying.

He said that the review will be funded by the federal government and report back with options to develop a national standard on bullying to better protect students across the country.

"The investigation will look at what is working and what needs strengthening, before reporting to education ministers with options for the development of a national standard," Clare wrote.

"This would inform policies across jurisdictions and sectors to provide children and parents confidence that no matter where their child goes to school, if they're experiencing bullying, it will be managed in an appropriate way."

It comes after 12-year-old Charlotte O'Brien died by suicide in September after experiencing bullying at her Sydney school. Shortly after her death, O'Brien's parents revealed that her dying wish was to raise awareness about the bullying crisis in schools.

According to the Australian Council for Educational Research, an NGO, one in six Australian students experience bullying at school.

The government of New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, earlier in November committed to creating an anti-bullying policy for all its schools.

Clare said in his letter that a national approach to bullying would build on Australia's proposed world-first social media ban for children younger than 16.

Legislation for the social media ban has been introduced to the federal parliament and is expected to be passed into law within days. It will take effect at least 12 months after the legislation is passed. 
PANAMA CITY  Nov. 12 marked the anniversary of the St. Andrew Bay Yacht Club fire.

St. Andrews is one of the most prestigious yacht clubs on the Northern Gulf Coast. It also is one of Bay Countys oldest and most prestigious buildings. The cause of the fire remains unknown to this day, though club leadership has said there was no foul play involved.

The News Herald spoke to Commodore Michael Wynn in March to discuss the rebuilding of the club's main building. Wynn explained that one club member had this to say after the fire: The clubhouse was just a building; the Yacht Club is about the people.

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On Aug. 12, the yacht club posted a Facebook update to remember the fire.

The November 2023 fire may have taken our clubhouse, but it didnt take our spirit, the Facebook post says. Our members are rallying together, excited to build an even better facility that will continue to be the heart of our community. Were looking forward to a bright future and many more unforgettable moments at St. Andrew's Bay Yacht Club.

Now, at the one-year mark, Wynn remains enthusiastic and grateful to the club membership and board, whose dedication and commitment continues to be inspiring.

"It's been really beautiful," he said.

St. Andrews Bay Yacht Club's sailing center is seen in Panama City, Fla., Nov. 13, 2024.

The club has engaged an architect and shown plans for the new yacht club building to membership. More detailed plans will be shown in December.

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The club remains adamant on breaking ground on the new building in 2025. Meantime, the sailing center, which was not damaged in the fire, has been remodeled and remains open and serving guests.

Previous Coverage: After the fire: St. Andrews Bay Yacht Club focused on revitalizing this coming summer

Wynn said the insurance process went smoothly. He credits Vice Commodore Brian Neubauer with helping the sailing center renovation and thus allowing all insurance funds to go toward the new building.

Membership created and is curating a website, www.lovestabyc.com, that provides building information and assists with fundraising. The fundraising effort, dubbed "Love the Club," aims to raise at least $1 million.

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The new building, the website says, "will continue to be anchored in tradition, and like its predecessor, will be built for generations."

Jim Ross contributed

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Panama City, Florida: One year after the yacht club fire
GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA)  One person was killed Monday morning in a wreck in Greenville County.

The Greenville County Coroners Office said it was called Monday morning to 2062 Piedmont Highway, near White Horse Road, for a wreck involving a tractor trailer.

According to the State Highway Patrol, the wreck occurred when a tractor trailer went off the left side of the road, hitting a concrete wall and then a building. The driver of the truck was pronounced dead at the scene.

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The Greenville County Coroners Office identified the man that died as Peter J. Bouharoun, 66, of Simpsonville.

The wreck remains under investigation by the coroners office and South Carolina Highway Patrol.

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FLOYD, NY (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY)  An accident Friday night in the town of Floyd set two vehicles on fire and left one person dead, according to Oneida County Sheriffs.

Oneida County Sheriffs were called to the eastbound lane of Route 49 in the Town of Floyd at approximately 10:30 pm on Friday, November 22. According to sheriffs, a deputy was driving eastbound on Route 49 when he noticed a vehicle approaching him traveling westbound in the eastbound lane. According to the deputy, the vehicle nearly hit another vehicle twice  once when it attempted to pass them and another time when it passed by.

According to the deputys account, they then attempted to stop the vehicle, but it struck another truck a short distance later. That truck was driven by 64-year-old Franklyn Hummel of West Virginia. The collision caused both vehicles to catch on fire.

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Sheriffs say the deputy attempted to get the driver out of the first vehicle but was unable to do so before the fire overcame the vehicle. Hummel was able to get out of his vehicle with the deputys help.

The driver of the first car died as a result of the accident. Sheriffs say their identity will be determined by the Onondaga County Medical Examiners Office.

Hummel was evaluated at the scene. Sheriffs say that he suffered no injuries.

Oneida County Sheriffs were assisted at the scene by:

the New York State Police,

the New York State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit,

the Onondaga County Medical Examiners Office,

the Floyd Fire Department,

the Holland Patent Fire Department,

the Stittville Fire Department,

the Oriskany Fire Department, and

AmCare Ambulance of Rome.

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The incident is still under investigation. Sheriffs are asking anyone who may have seen a gray 2022 Ford Explorer to call the Oneida County Sheriffs Office at 315-765-2725.

This incident is still under investigation. We will provide more information as it becomes available.

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ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR)  With one week left before the deadline, FEMA is advising residents to apply for assistance after Hurricane Helene.

December 2 is the last day for anyone in Virginia affected by Hurricane Helene to apply for FEMA assistance.

Survivors can apply through the following methods:

Visiting a Disaster Recovery Center

Going online to DisasterAssistance.gov

Downloading the FEMA mobile app

Calling the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362. The helpline is available seven days a week in most languages. If you use video relay service, captioned telephone service, or others, give FEMA your number for that service.

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Individuals Bedford, Bland, Carroll, Giles, Grayson, Lee, Montgomery, Pittsylvania, Pulaski, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise, and Wythe counties and cities of Galax and Radford, have one week left to apply for FEMA assistance.

FEMA offers reimbursement opportunities for Helene victims, learn more

FEMA wants to remind people that grants do not have to be repaid, are non-taxable, and do NOT affect benefits including Social Security and Medicaid.

You may be eligible for assistance with temporary housing, home repairs, personal property losses, and other disaster-related needs.

FEMA grants do not have to be repaid. FEMA assistance is non-taxable and will not affect eligibility for Social Security, Medicaid, or other benefits.

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For more information visit, www.fema.gov/disaster/current/hurricane-helene

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When Holly Clark saw the river rising on Saturday night, she was wary but not overly concerned.

Like other residents on the banks of the Taff in Pontypridd, South Wales, she was used to seeing the river rise and fall with the rain.

Only the Met Office issued the lowest-level yellow weather alert over Storm Berts effects, and Natural Resources Wales, the body responsible for flood monitoring, issued no warnings.

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But in just 15 minutes on Sunday morning, the house she lives in with her two-year-old daughter and her partner was inundated as the river rose faster than shed ever seen before.

With no time to prepare, she was forced to carry her daughter through knee-deep water and pass her to neighbours on higher ground so she could be taken to safety.

Firefighters pump water from Sion Street in Pontypridd - Matthew Horwood/Getty

When she returned to the property on Monday, the ground floor of Ms Clarks home was coated in mud, and her daughters recent birthday presents were destroyed. She says she will not go back.

Everything that weve worked so hard for is gone  within a matter of 15 minutes, she said.

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The floodwaters may have been an act of nature, but Ms Clark is angry that her family were not given any warnings, and no other assistance was on hand.

We had nothing, absolutely nothing, she said. We are all possibly having to be cleaning this out now for the next six to 12 months. Right before Christmas.

Firefighters at work at a street by the River Taff, in Pontypridd - George Thompson/PA

Her sentiments were echoed by several residents The Telegraph spoke to on Monday cleaning up their homes in the wake of Storm Bert, which left four dead and hundreds of homes flooded across the country.

Residents on nearby Sion Street, which also overlooks the river, said they received text alerts warning of flooding when they were already ankle-deep in water.

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Paula Williams, who lives in a property on the street, said there had been no sign of action from the council.

They knew this storm was coming. They could have just dropped a handful of sandbags down in the street Friday or Saturday, she said.

Where were the council sandbags, asks Paula Williams, seen inside her flooded house in Pontypridd - George Thompson/PA

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The town is still recovering from Storm Dennis, in 2020, when at least 158 properties in the area were flooded. And they fear lessons have not been learnt.

On Monday, a clean-up operation was under way as residents ripped out ruined carpets and a thick layer of mulch was hosed down from roads and walls.

After the floods come the finger-pointing. First, the council came for the Met Office, who have been accused of downplaying the severity of the storm after issuing a yellow weather warning.

One of our concerns probably is the fact that the Met Office, while they did issue warnings of a storm coming, it was only a yellow warning, which is the lower of the three stages, said Andrew Morgan, leader of the Rhondda Cynon Taf council. We were expecting it to go to amber, but it didnt.

The Met Office has said Storm Bert was well forecast, 48 hours in advance and that the warnings covering Wales highlighted the potential for homes and businesses to flood and a danger to life.

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But it is not the first time it has been criticised for over or underestimating the scale of a coming storm.

Earlier this year, the Royal Meteorological Society warned that almost daily yellow weather warnings meant there was a risk that people would become complacent, and start to ignore them.

Staff help with the flood clean-up at the Rheola pub in Porth, near Pontypridd - George Thompson/PA

Prof Hannah Cloke, at the University of Reading, said there needed to be a review of weather warnings.

But she suggested that there may have been a failure on the ground to understand when a yellow weather warning can be serious.

It could be that the warnings were too cautious, or it could be that even senior people on the ground dont properly understand the information that they are being given, she said on Monday.

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It is problematic if people dont take action because a yellow weather warning is not seen as concerning enough.

The Met Office has said it would carry out a full assessment of the forecast and warning strategy.

An aerial view of flooded Pontypridd Lido - Matthew Horwood/Getty

Most residents in Pontypridd on Monday focused their anger on Natural Resources Wales (NRW).

The body, the Welsh equivalent to the Environment Agency, has overall responsibility for river flooding, and issues alerts based on its monitoring systems.

But there are now questions being raised about whether it was up to the task, given the late hour at which those warnings arrived on Sunday.

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Mr Morgan questioned whether the body would have been better prepared with staffing levels and readiness if a higher alert had been issued by the Met Office.

I will be writing to NRW with a number of questions and queries that residents have raised, he said.

Whether there were appropriate levels of staffing over the weekend will be some of the questions we are asking.

He said the council could see NRWs own rainfall monitors record rainfall levels that went past the levels of Storm Dennis in the early hours of Sunday but did not trigger a major incident alert.

Like its English equivalent, NRW says it faces swinging terms cuts in funding from the Government that have forced it to cut more than 250 jobs in a bid to save 13 million from its budget.

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A review in the wake of Storm Dennis found that staffing levels during the floods had been too low, leading the agency to bring more people on to the team.

Whether all those staff would have worked this weekend, I just dont know, said Mr Morgan.

He added that the council had given out more than 8,000 sandbags over the weekend.

Jeremy Parr, the agencys head of flood management, has said saving every property from flooding is not possible, an increasingly familiar sentiment among UK authorities.

We cannot afford to defend everywhere all of the time, he told a Senedd committee earlier this year.

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His comments were echoed on Monday by Eluned Morgan, the Welsh first minister, after a visit to some of the worst affected businesses in Pontypridd on Monday.

Climate change is making a difference to the frequency of these storms, and that is something clearly that we have to be vigilant of, and assess to what extent we can protect every home in Wales, she said.

The residents of Pontypridd are left asking whether or not they are among the homes the Government deems worth saving.

NRW said that in response to the weather warnings, it had increased our out-of-hours staffing numbers over the weekend to provide resilience to our duty officers and ensure that we could operate a 24/7 service.

It added that it had ensured messages around the potential flood risk were shared with those living in at-risk areas.

A spokesman said: We issued media releases and social media posts on the developing flood risk in the run-up to the weekend and also delivered media interviews where requested.

In the days before Storm Bert, our five-day public flood risk outlook on our website also advised that significant flooding was possible across Wales on Saturday and Sunday.

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ONSLOW COUNTY, N.C. (WNCT)  One Onslow County community is mourning the loss of one of its volunteer firefighters.

Johnny Goines died over the weekend after responding to a call for the Verona Volunteer Fire Department.

One of the firefighters that worked alongside Goines said that he is going to miss how he made everyone laugh. Goines was 69 years old when he died, serving 50 of those years as a volunteer.

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Even when he wasnt an active member, Goines would still help out. Late Friday night, the Verona Fire Department got a call for a crash. Goines went to the scene and directed traffic. Shortly after leaving, Goines was found unresponsive in his car on his way home.

The memorial service is set for Wednesday where Goines will be loaded onto one of the fire trucks and driven around the district. Its tradition for a firefighters last ride. Theyll have help from the North Carolina Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

Hes going to be missed throughout the community and as well as, the fire department. And were going to miss Johnny. But, the biggest thing that were going to miss is the laughs that he would bring, because every time he hit, he had a new one every time we come up. Lieutenant of Verona Fire Department Kevin Davis said.

That service is going to be at Verona Baptist Church Wednesday. Visitation starts at 1 p.m. and the funeral is at 2 p.m.

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This week, President Joe Biden authorized Ukraine to strike inside Russia using longer-range American missiles. Its an overdue, relatively small escalation after Russias bigger escalations and relentless attacks, letting Ukraine partially take the gloves off. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy officially requested this in May, and presumably asked in private before that. It will help Ukraine hinder Russias war machine by striking ammunition depots, weapons manufacturing, airfields and other military targets.

The apparent cause is the U.S. election. President-elect Donald Trump has long shown a strong affinity for Russian leader Vladimir Putin, and reacted to Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 by gushingly calling it savvy and genius. In subsequent years, Trump, his incoming Vice President-elect JD Vance and top surrogate/donor/adviser Elon Musk have all advocated a peace plan for Ukraine that amounts to give Putin what he wants. While Biden's lifting restrictions on Ukraine is probably too late to make a big difference, it could cause some disruption to Russias war effort and improve Ukraines position before Trump tries to force them into a Russia-friendly deal.

Knowing that the United States is about to have a pro-Putin president makes Bidens caution look awful in hindsight, but it looked excessive at the time as well. Caution made sense early in the war, since we didnt have a good read on Russian capabilities. And keeping NATO forces out of direct combat with Russia still makes sense, since that could trigger an escalatory spiral that spins out of control, or at least undermine political support for Ukraine in NATO countries. But in early 2024, after two years of war, it was apparent Russia was doing everything it could think of to defeat Ukraine, and wasnt keeping a large military capacity in reserve.

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Except, of course, for nuclear weapons, but those are checked by mutually assured destruction and the global nuclear taboo. Russia fears World War III, just like everyone else, as well as alienating the large countries it still gets along with, namely China and India. Russia has never attacked weapons shipments on their way to Ukraine, showing that no matter their rhetoric, their actions respect NATO deterrence. By contrast, Israel has bombed Hezbollah-bound weapons shipments inside Syria for years.

But Russia bluffs a lot. They annexed occupied parts of Ukraine, and declared that any counterattack would cause nuclear war. Ukrainian forces kept coming, took some territory back, and Russia did little in response.

They convinced Elon Musk that a Ukrainian attack on Russian ships off the coast of Crimea would cause WWIII, and Musk cut off Starlink internet services to thwart a Ukrainian sea drone attack in progress. Shortly after, Ukraine hit Russian ships near Crimea without using Starlink, and Russia did little in response.

Ukraine has used U.S.-provided missiles to attack Russian military targets in occupied parts of Ukraine. Theyve used Ukrainian-made drones to attack inside Russia, including an airbase nearly 2,000 kilometer (about 1,243 miles) from the Ukrainian border. In response, Russia didnt do anything it wasnt already doing.

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There is a possibility that longer-range strikes with U.S. missiles would require U.S. satellites for targeting, but since Russia didnt offer a response to U.S. missile strikes on Russian forces in Ukraine or Ukrainian strikes inside Russia, its unlikely that Ukrainian strikes with U.S. missiles inside Russia represents such a red line that theyd risk everything over it.

As a matter of international law, Ukraine using U.S. missiles to attack inside Russia is cut-and-dry. Russia started the war without provocation, and could stop at any time but chooses to continue. As the clear aggressor, Russia is in material breach of the U.N. charter, and under the right of self-defense, Ukraine is legally allowed to fire at Russian military targets, including inside Russia.

And Russia is responsible for a much bigger escalation this year, with thousands of North Korean troops joining their war effort. Russia had already been using Iran-provided drones and North Korea-provided artillery shells in Ukraine, much as Ukraine is using weapons from NATO countries. But the North Korean troops are the only foreign state forces to directly intervene.

After Bidens announcement and Ukraines first use, Russia launched a new ballistic missile at the densely populated Ukrainian city of Dnipro, which Putin claimed was in retaliation for Ukraine shooting American (and British) missiles into Russia. It reportedly injured at least three people and damaged some buildings. The Ukrainians are unsurprisingly shrugging, since Russia shoots missiles, kamikaze drones and glide bombs at them every night, usually causing more damage. Two days before the ballistic missile attack, Russian drones killed 12 civilians and injured 13 more.

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So while the missile technically represents an escalation, its mostly more of the same: attacking Ukrainians in an attempt to terrorize them into submission. For mourners, the weapon Russia used to kill their loved ones doesnt matter. And if Russia could use these weapons to defeat the Ukrainian military and enable Russian ground forces to overrun the country, they would.

The new weapon is an intermediate range (about 620 miles to 1,860 miles) ballistic missile called an Oreshnik, capable of carrying nuclear warheads (though this one wasnt), and was at least as much nuclear saber-rattling against the West as an attack on Ukraine. For that reason, Russia probably wouldve used it anyway at some point, finding some excuse. Theres no intimidation factor from a new weapon if you dont show it off.

A day after the launch, Putin announced that Russia will mass produce the Oreshnik, and develop a whole line of similar missiles. Thats mostly a bluff, at least in the short term, since Russian defense manufacturing is already strained trying to feed the war in Ukraine, but it does represent yet another nuclear threat.

The response has to be a hard no. The U.S. has nuclear-armed ballistic missiles, too, and Russia knows it. Giving in to these sort of threats shows that nuclear extortion works, encouraging more.

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If the West bends now, and later tries to take a stand, that raises the risk of an accidental spiral, because the earlier acquiescence could make Russia think that if it goes closer to the brink, the West will back down again. Calling the bluff is nerve-wracking, but a necessary strategic choice.

Russias loud rhetoric  but relatively small action in response to Ukraines attack inside Russia with U.S. missiles  suggests that this red line was always fake. The ability never wouldve handed Ukraine victory on its own, but it would have improved their military position. If Trump cuts U.S. aid to Ukraine and pushes them to surrender to Russia as expected, Bidens hesitancy to authorize it will go down in history as a painful what-if.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to ramp up oil and gas production by, among other things, opening more public land to drilling and fracking. He has also promised crystal clean water. The problem is that those two goals are often at odds.

Trumps drill, baby, drill agenda hinges on proposed legislation that would make it easier to greenlight energy projects: the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024. Currently under consideration in the Senate, the bill proposes sweeping changes to energy development. It would prioritize speedy approval over thorough review of environmental impacts, including threats to water quality. And it would shorten the time allowed to file legal challenges to energy projects  from six years to just 150 days  making it harder for local communities to challenge government agencies and have their voices heard.

The mastermind behind this legislation is Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.), a longtime friend of the fossil fuel industry. Manchin and Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the bills cosponsor, have touted the legislation as an all of the above approach that would advance renewable energy as well as fossil fuels. Indeed, the bill would boost renewables by speeding approval of transmission lines that connect solar and wind farms to electricity users. But the environmental benefits of this legislation would be far outweighed by the expansion of fossil fuel development and new threats to the safety and quality of water resources.

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The risks are especially high in the Great Lakes Region, which contains 21 percent of the worlds surface freshwater. The Energy Permitting Reform Act would vastly expand drilling for fossil fuels on public lands, increasing the likelihood of spills, leaks and toxic runoff that can harm crucial freshwater resources. It would allow private corporations to claim thousands of acres of public lands  owned by the American people  for mining and storage of toxic mine waste. This toxic waste leaches acid into streams and aquifers, imperiling fish and wildlife. And the bill would extend the length of drilling permits, prolonging communities exposure to pollution from fossil fuel development.

So far, concerns raised by environmental advocates have not halted the progress of this dangerous legislation. Manchin has moved the bill through the chamber swiftly and strategically. In August, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources advanced the legislation in a bipartisan 15-4 vote.

It is likely that the bill could reach the Senate floor during the current lame-duck session before the next Congress is seated. When Republicans take full control of Congress in January, the bill is even more likely to pass.

There is still time to stop this harmful legislation. The fact is, we dont need to loosen regulations on fossil fuel production. The U.S. is already the largest producer of oil and gas in the world, despite environmental protections and restrictions on drilling on federal lands.

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We need standalone commitments to renewable energy, not legislation that locks us into further dependence on fossil fuels. And we need to preserve the hard-won environmental regulations that protect the crystal clean water on which all life depends.

Jill Ryan is the executive director of Freshwater Future, a nonprofit organization based in Petoskey, Michigan that works to safeguard the waters of the Great Lakes region.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Here we go again.

Just as he did during his first presidency, Donald Trump is taking aim at an immigration program known as temporary protected status or TPS. It allows about 1 million people from nations in turmoil to stay here until conditions in their home countries improve.

Speaking about the status of many Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, Trump said last month Absolutely Id revoke it. And Id bring them back to their country.

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Americans should consider the impact of ending the temporary protected status program. Besides the humanitarian consequences, the move will be costly for U.S. citizens. It will increase the size of the undocumented population and could spur more illegal migration. And theres no guarantee that migrants who lose TPS will leave or be deported anyway.

Currently, when a country is beset by natural disaster, civil war or extreme violence, the Secretary of Homeland Security can grant TPS to people from that country who are already in the U.S. Think of almost any country in crisis  Afghanistan, Lebanon, Venezuela, Ukraine  and its probably on the TPS list. Migrants with TPS, including people who entered illegally, can temporarily live and work here without fear of deportation.

For these folks, TPS has been a lifeline. That could all change if the president-elect makes good on his promise to end the program. Uprooting longtime residents will disrupt migrant families and communities while deporting people to dangerous countries could amount to a death sentence.

Look at Haiti, which in recent years has suffered civil unrest, gang violence, earthquakes and hurricanes. Sending migrants back into such dire conditions would likely constitute a violation of basic human rights.

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Many Americans may not realize that they, too, could be affected if Trump ends TPS. According to a 2019 study by University of Southern California researchers, TPS-holders paid federal, state, and local taxes estimated at $4.6 billion a year. That figure is certainly higher now, as the program as expanded since then.

Were Trump to wind down TPS, those contributions would dissipate at the same time the government will be spending more to arrest, detain, and remove people. The Miami Herald has pointed out that ending TPS would hurt the president-elects adopted state of Florida the most, as it is home to the countrys largest population of TPS holders.

Ironically, stripping TPS from its beneficiaries will have the unintended effect of increasing the number of people here illegally. Thats because once people lose the programs protection, they will join the ranks of the countrys 11 million undocumented migrants. This in turn could lead to an uptick in illegal immigration.

Studies have shown that remittances by TPS holders help stem the flow of unauthorized arrivals, as the money sent home eases the pressures driving such migration.

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Any plan to end the TPS program is especially ill-conceived because it is unclear whether our government will be able  logistically and diplomatically  to return people to places like Syria and Venezuela. Instead, TPS holders may wind up in detention camps with the bill for their ongoing care footed by taxpayers.

TPS holders are currently living productive lives, working in our agriculture, construction, and hospitality sectors. What will really be gained by taking away their lawful status?

Critics of TPS call it amnesty and complain that it allows migrants to stay here permanently. Not true. The program does not offer anyone a green card or a pathway to citizenship. Nor does it go on endlessly; it lasts for up to 18 months and must be renewed by the federal government. Over time TPS designations have ended for multiple countries as their conditions have improved.

To be clear, TPS is not a loophole exploited by migrants. It was created by Congress and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in 1990. The statutory language says that it cannot be revoked without an assessment by U.S. government agencies that conditions in the designated country are safe for deportees. Attempts to brush aside this legislative intent would constitute improper overreach by the executive branch.

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The next president will have great discretion to set his immigration agenda. Yet ending TPS would be chaotic, inefficient and expensive. Migrants from troubled nations would pay the price if this protection were revoked  and so would many Americans.

Raul A. Reyes is an attorney and contributor to NBC Latino and CNN Opinion.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
ISLAMABAD, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The foreign ministers of Pakistan and Belarus on Monday reaffirmed their commitment to promoting mutually beneficial cooperation, terming the bilateral relations as important, the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

In a meeting between Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov, the two sides expressed satisfaction at the momentum of bilateral exchanges and high-level visits between Pakistan and Belarus.

The ministers also discussed key regional and global developments, including the situation in the Middle East, the foreign ministry statement said, adding that they also expressed their support for a peaceful resolution to conflicts and underlined the need for a coordinated approach to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

The two sides emphasized the importance of enhanced cooperation in international and regional organizations to advance mutual interest and to jointly address global challenges, said the statement. 
Its time to name the Politician of the Year. Who had the greatest impact on American politics in 2024?

Last year, the winner was former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who succeeded in paralyzing the House for much of that year.

Gaetz won as the embodiment of politicians with little interest in governing. He instead delights in dysfunction and bad behavior. Last week, a scandal surrounding allegations of sexual misconduct ended his nomination to be attorney general.

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This year, President-Elect Donald Trump is obviously a front-runner for Politician of the Year as the winner of the presidential election. Trump is back at the top of political power despite two impeachments, a massive civil fraud verdict, 34 felony convictions, three other indictments and a verdict that he is liable for a sexual assault. But the impact of his second win is yet to be known.

The impact of this years winner is known due to her heroic sacrifice, already the stuff of political legend.

This years prize goes to Liz Cheney. The former congresswoman soared sky-high above politics-as-usual in Washington by taking a principled stand that cost her power, friends and the money that comes with status in the capital.

Like a living Joan-of-Arc, she defiantly rejected orders from the rich and powerful to close her eyes to all wrongdoing and get in line up behind Trump.

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Trump responded to her with what some saw as a threat, under the guise of attacking her for supporting past wars, by musing what would happen if Cheney were sent into battle herself and had nine barrels shooting at her.

The violent image spoke to the bravery displayed by Cheney  her figurative strength under fire. A principled conservative, a genuine Republican die-hard, her rebukes cut deeply into Trumps psyche.

His attack on Cheney was more explicit than the menacing language he had unleashed against former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley. After it was reported that Milley made approved phone calls to calm world leaders after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Trump said that in the old days, the punishment would have been death.

Trump was more violent in his imagining for Cheney because she stood apart from other critics by joining with Democrats to impeach him as a matter of her loyalty to the Constitution.

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That led trump to deride her as sick person, and use her as an example of what happens to his critics.

I was responsible for her defeat  and by the time we finished she got the lowest vote in this history of politics, he said.

Trumps subsequent mention of rifles aimed at Cheneys head came after she made a public appearance at the side of Trumps rival for the White House, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Cheney had joined Harris for an event in Ripon, Wisconsin, the birthplace of the Republican Party. Seated with Harris, she called on other Republicans to turn away from Trump and acknowledge him as a threat to the nations constitutional order.

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Cheney declared: I have never voted for a Democrat, but  Donald Trump was willing to sacrifice our Capitol, to allow law enforcement officers to be beaten and brutalized in his name, and to violate the law and the Constitution in order to seize power for himself.

I dont care if you are a Democrat, Republican or independent, that is depravity, and we must never become numb to it, she said.

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) is another Republican who served on a Trump impeachment panel and was one of 10 Republicans who voted for impeachment. A military veteran, he later spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and said there is a time to transcend party lines.

Kamala Harris shares my allegiance to the rule of law, the Constitution, and democracy, he said. Whatever policies we disagree on pale in comparison to those fundamental matters of principle, decency, and fidelity to this nation. If you believe in defending democracy, I urge you. Make the right choice. Vote for our bedrock values. Vote for Kamala Harris.

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Former Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) also spoke out against Trump as a threat to preserving our democracy.

Beyond his anger at Cheney and other dissident Republicans, Trump has classified his opponents in the Democratic Party, such as former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as the enemy within.

When he was cautioned that such a phrase is ominous, Trump responded to Foxs Howard Kurtz: I think it is accurate.

Trump is similarly full of threats for John Kelly, his former chief of staff. Kelly became a target after he told the New York Times that Trump prefers the dictator approach to government.

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Trumps spokesman said the retired four-star general had beclowned himself. That was along the lines of his response when other first-term officials criticized Trump. He dismissed their assessments as trivial and responded that when youre fired  they say bad things.

With Trump winning the White House for a second time, it is obvious that many Americans do not share Cheneys fear of Trump engaging in vengeful attacks on opponents and damaging the constitutional order.

Time will tell, as they say, about Trump and political retribution.

But a concrete show of patriotic courage in standing up for America  no matter what the future holds  is clear evidence that the Politician of the Year award belongs to Liz Cheney.

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Juan Williams is an author and a political analyst for Fox News Channel.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Since Donald Trumps election and the Republican capture of the Senate, we have seem many headlines saying Democrats are racing to confirm judges.

And yes, we made progress with last weeks Judge-a-Rama. The Senate is on track to confirm an exceptional number of stellar nominees put forward by President Biden. But there is still much more to be done and we are running out of time.

It was good to see Senate Majority Leader Schumer (D-N.Y.) keep senators working late to move nominations in the week before Thanksgiving.

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But now the Senate is in recess and wont be back until December for just three more weeks of the lame duck session. A number of critical nominations  including most importantly, nominees for the circuit courts of appeals  must have votes.

Circuit courts of appeals are the courts just below the Supreme Court. They decide tens of thousands of cases a year that affect the lives, health and well-being of all of us. Each circuits jurisdiction covers multiple states. The four circuit nominees awaiting votes account for 16 states (plus Puerto Rico) combined.

There are reports that Senate Democrats have cut a deal with Republicans to abandon efforts to confirm these circuit court nominees. If this is true, it is a travesty.

It is a travesty for the more than 100 million people covered by these courts. And it is a travesty for the signal it sends about the commitment to the long, hard fight we have ahead of us against the nominees that we know Trump will put forward over the next four years, with a demonstrated commitment not to justice for all but rather to protecting the rich and powerful.

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Its important to understand the contrast between the exceptional nominees that may be left behind and the kind of nominees we can expect to see from the incoming Trump administration.

The circuit court nominees on the calendar include Adeel Mangi, a talented litigator who has done pro bono work supporting religious freedom, for the Third Circuit Court of Appeal; Sixth Circuit nominee Karla Campbell, who has devoted a career to protecting the rights of workers; Fourth Circuit nominee Ryan Park, who defended the University of North Carolinas affirmative action admissions policy and First Circuit nominee Julia Lipez, who currently serves as a Maine Superior Court Justice and has worked with survivors of sexual trafficking.

Contrast that with Trumps appellate judges:

Former Clarence Thomas clerk and Fifth Circuit James Ho wrote a ruling that upheld a Texas bounty hunter law that allows people to file lawsuits for damages against anyone who helps someone obtain an abortion

Conservative ideologue and Fifth Circuit Trump judge Andrew Oldham, joined by Trump judges James Ho and Kyle Duncan, threw out a Mississippi law and ruled that absentee ballots must be actually received by state officials by election day, seriously harming the use of absentee ballots across the country.

Voting rights opponent and Eighth Circuit Trump judge David Stras ruled that neither the NAACP nor private individuals can sue to protect their rights under the federal Voting Rights Act.

Trump D.C. Circuit judge Justin Walker wrote an opinion that threw out federal rules setting fuel efficiency standards for tractor-trailers as part of the effort to combat greenhouse gases.

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These are the stakes. Trump ordered Republicans in the Senate to stop confirming Bidens judicial nominees during the lame-duck session. The Senate Republicans dutifully obeyed their dear leader.

Now we will see if we have what it takes to fight back.

I have seen firsthand what Schumer can make happen. During my 10 years as a mayor in the state of New York, I often said that the best thing that could happen to you is to have Chuck Schumer as your senator. Hes proven himself to be tenacious and resourceful when necessary.

We believe that now it is necessary again. We must win this fight for fair-minded judges who uphold the rights of all of us, not just the rich and powerful.

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Svante Myrick is president of People for the American Way.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
President-elect Donald Trump speaks in extremes. If he wants to distance himself from someone in his orbit, hes never heard of him. When talking up the executive orders he plans to issue on his first day in office, he used a recent favorite tic of his, crowing that theyll be like nothing youve ever seen. And when claiming his electoral win earlier this month, Trump declared that America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate.

But the further weve gotten from Election Day, the less credible Trumps claim to a historic win has become. Despite that increasing clarity (or perhaps because of it), his allies have gone into overdrive in claiming a massive mandate for Republicans to do whatever it is Trump wants to do over the next four years. The underlying message to Americans: Whatever comes next, its exactly what you asked for  so theres no use in complaining.

Trumps campaign has been calling his popular vote win, the first for a Republican since 2004, a landslide that grants him a historic mandate from the masses. Instead, his popular vote lead has instead been shrinking as more votes have been tallied. He has not won a majority of the countrys votes, according to the most recent tally from NBC News. And much of the data available shows that Trumps win likely had more to do with people opting to stay home this year than a massive swing in his favor.

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Moreover, Trumps unprecedented win is in, in fact, very precedented. The New York Times Peter Baker rightly noted that his roughly 1.6% win over Vice President Kamala Harris is one of the smallest margins of victory since the 19th century. Theres nothing special about 2024s results compared with Joe Bidens 4.5% win in 2020, let alone Ronald Reagans double-digit blowout in 1984.

Trumps team prefers to compare his win to Bill Clintons victory in 1992, as they did in an email blasted out to reporters on Friday. Clinton benefited from a three-way race against incumbent President George H.W. Bush and eccentric billionaire Ross Perot that let him win the Electoral College with only a plurality of the votes cast. He then used his 43% popular win to claim a mandate for change, having toppled Bush and ending 12 years of Reaganite policies.

Narratively speaking, Clintons claim makes total sense. But voters, in all their wisdom, have fallen into a strange cycle: They will support the presidential candidate deemed most likely to represent change, only to move quickly to punish them for any sign of hubris. Every new administration since Clinton has seen its party hold a trifecta in Washington during its first year in office and claim a mandate to shake things up. It has not fared well in most instances.

Clintons attempts to enact major reforms to health care backfired to the point that he spent the next six years triangulating his way into serious cuts to the social safety net. President George W. Bush saw a wider margin of victory in his 2004 re-election campaign and held onto Congress. But he was still left reeling politically after attempting to privatize Social Security in 2005. President Barack Obama managed to push through the Affordable Care Act, but the public response to that success provided him with a hostile Republican Congress for the final two-thirds of his tenure.

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In each of those cases, the election winner won a larger margin in the popular vote than Trump did. Arguably, none of them had policy proposals  proposed or enacted  that did more to disrupt the status quo than what Trump has in the works. Its a big bet on the idea that Trump (or Republicans generally) will face no repercussions for taking a hard turn to the right then flooring it to the far edges. Trumps selection of Cabinet members offers sufficient evidence that he has no eye toward coming off as moderate or restrained.

But the Pew Research Centers polling hasnt found a massive surge in support for his policies. A survey conducted in the week after the election found only a small majority  53% total  are picking up what Trump is putting down. That includes 27% of respondents who say they strongly approve of his plans and policies for the future and 25% saying they somewhat approve. But when you drill down into the details of Trumps plans on immigration, for example, the illusion of a mandate evaporates as the supposed popular support erodes.

The muddled, middling nature of Trumps claim to a mandate only exacerbates the uncertainty of how far hell be able to push the country without backlash. Political scientist Julia Azari recently wrote that presidential claims to a mandate arent always successful but have historically been connected to unprecedented expansions of presidential power. This could be a recipe for overreach, as it often has been for modern presidents. Or it could be a way to give an unchecked executive the veneer of following the popular will.

The latter is surely what Trumps incoming loyalists are counting on, as they prepare to enact any number of draconian budget cuts or human rights violations grounded in the supposed approval of a majority of Americans. The same goes for the Republican lawmakers who seem willing to cede all authority over spending or keeping the White House from overstepping its bounds. But the blank check from voters that Trump is trying to cash is a forgery that cant be allowed to be deposited into our collective memory bank. The will of Donald Trump should never be confused for the will of all Americans.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
On Nov. 5, voters in red and blue states alike delivered historic election results and rightfully rejected marijuana and psychedelic legalization ballot measures. In Florida, legalization was defeated by 4 points despite pro-marijuana groups investing over $150 million in the race. North Dakotans refused legalization by 5 points, giving addiction to marijuana its third loss in a row in the state. South Dakotans, too, rejected marijuana for the second time, and by 11 points. In Massachusetts, despite being outspent by more than 10-to-1, voters shot down psychedelic drug legalization, the new frontier for addiction-for-profit schemes, by 14 points.

Even though pro-marijuana interests spent hundreds of millions to sell Americans on legalization, the voters didnt buy it. This is as close to a mandate as weve received on this issue. Americans have seen addiction in their homes and deaths on college campuses. As we approach a new Congress, lawmakers should take note: Drug legalization isnt just unpopular, its bad policy.

Many marijuana legalization proponents believed the green rush would result in permanent cultural normalization of marijuana and THC drug use and widespread policy changes. The industry didnt count on peoples lived experience influencing their no votes. Parents around the country have watched their children suffer the consequences of marijuana use.

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Young people are learning that, despite what theyve been told, marijuana is addictive, and its use can create mental instability and long-term physical health problems. Communities of color have not benefited from legalization  just 2 percent of the marijuana industry is made up of Black-owned businesses. Meanwhile, the illicit market is alive and thriving in legal states, emergency room visits and hospitalizations are up, drugged driving crashes are a major concern, the list goes on.

Since 2022, only three out of ten recreational legalization ballot measures have been successful. Changes in attitudes toward marijuana shed light on the industrys failure to expand. According to Gallup, the number of Americans who think that marijuana has a positive effect on users fell by 10 points (53 percent to 43 percent) between 2022 and 2024.

The reason for this dramatic shift in sentiment is clear: as marijuana use increases, Americans are seeing the negative impacts firsthand. Todays 99 percent THC potency marijuana is an entirely different drug than the 1970s Woodstock Weed. According to the CDC, 30 percent of marijuana users meet the clinical definition for having a cannabis use disorder. Marijuana use also increases the odds of developing mental and physical health issues, including psychosis, schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, worsening PTSD symptoms, certain cancers, heart disease and stroke.

As recently reported in depth by The New York Times, regular marijuana use can often lead to Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome, a life-threatening condition that causes scromiting (screaming and vomiting, simultaneously). With more Americans today using marijuana daily than alcohol, the drugs devastating effects are touching communities and families across the country.

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Most concerning is legalizations impact on marijuana use among adolescents. This month, one of the largest studies on marijuana legalization ever conducted found that recreational legalization results in a 13 percent increase in youth marijuana use. Another study found that teen marijuana addiction rates increase at a 25 percent faster rate after state-level recreational legalization.

Unfortunately, these findings are not surprising. There are now more marijuana dispensaries in our country than McDonalds restaurants. The pot industrys ubiquity in legal states and relentless advertising of child-friendly THC products like gummy candies are, of course, harming our kids.

It seems voters have awakened to the reality of marijuana, but Congress needs to learn these stories. Lawmakers need to listen to the voters clear message about how legalization is a failed public policy.

Members of Congress need to follow the science on marijuana, not the legalization lobby funded by Big Tobacco that has worked overtime to spread disinformation about pot on Capitol Hill. They are pushing for the SAFE Banking Act, corporate marijuanas top priority. This bill would supercharge the industry, defy the will of voters opposing legalization, and pave the way for massive corporate investment into marijuana.

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The industry has also advocated for pushing pot on veterans, despite the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs strongly recommending against marijuana as a treatment for PTSD, stating in a 2023 report that research to date does not support cannabis as an effective PTSD treatment, and some studies suggest cannabis can be harmful.

The same corporate, addiction-for-profit players are lobbying Congress to liberalize psychedelics, too. These lobbyists are attempting to convince lawmakers to again ignore the science by pushing to legalize MDMA-assisted PTSD therapy, despite the drug being rejected by the FDA.

Massachusetts voters rejected psychedelics just this month; there is no voter mandate to legalize or normalize drug use. Members of Congress should follow the research on harmful drugs like marijuana and psychedelics. Instead of advocating for expanding access, Congress should be laser-focused on understanding the reality of marijuana.

Lawmakers may be tempted to follow what they believe to be a popular political issue. But the shifting winds of public opinion are beginning to align with the science, and its bad news for the marijuana industry. In the 119th Congress, members must educate themselves on this crisis and reject drug commercialization at every turn. Our childrens futures depend on it.

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Pete Sessions represents the 17th District of Texas. Kevin Sabet, Ph.D., is president and CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has announced that the Russian attack on the city of Dnipro with an Oreshnik experimental ballistic missile will be discussed at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Wednesday, 27 November.

Source: Sybiha on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda

Details: He noted that "upon Ukraines urgent request", the OSCE will discuss Russia's escalating use of intermediate-range ballistic missiles in its aggression against Ukraine at a special joint meeting of the Permanent Council and the Forum for Security Co-operation.

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Quote: "Russia poses the greatest threat to security in the OSCE region. Its unacceptable actions demonstrate that only Moscow seeks to expand the war. They must be condemned and stopped. We will use every international platform and mechanism to increase global pressure on the aggressor."

The OSCE remains one of the few pan-European organisations where Russia retains membership. However, since the organisation requires consensus for all decisions, Moscow continues to block any resolutions it opposes.

Background:

Earlier, reports indicated that due to Russia's first use of an experimental ballistic missile, which the Russians named Oreshnik, a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council will take place on 26 November.

Sybiha stressed earlier that Kyiv hopes for "concrete, meaningful results" after the NATO-Ukraine Council.

At the same time, Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, noted that the meeting will focus on support for Ukraine in general.

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(Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)

Yoo hoo, Ryan Walters!

While youre seemingly attempting to woo President-elect Donald Trump by spouting off divisive rhetoric, creating unnecessary committees and issuing asinine edicts, Oklahomas real education needs are continuing to be ignored.

The actual grownups in the room, meanwhile, are trying to have constructive conversations about how to improve test scores and academic outcomes and about whether cell phones should be in schools. Those are conversations that our esteemed state superintendent seems to be using his hall pass to skip in favor of focusing his days on spreading propaganda.

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Like other parents, I am alarmed right now by the indoctrination Walters seems to want to impart to our young children.

Wasting our resources to create a do-nothing Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism? Check.

Causing unnecessary panic by portending the doom of the U.S. Department of Education, long before its final swan song? Check.

As a parent, those publicity stunts were easy to ignore. They were outside the classroom.

But then came Walters authoritarian-like edict insisting that my children  and hundreds of thousands like them  be shown a video of the superintendent spewing dissension and hate, and bringing inflammatory rhetoric into our classrooms.

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The short video features Walters attacking the radical left and claiming patriotism is being mocked and a hatred for the country pushed by woke teachers unions. If that wasnt bad enough, the cherry on top is a prayer designed to pay homage to a certain overly tan leader who has a cult-like following.

It didnt stop there, though. Walters demanded the video be shown to school children as young as 3!

The irony is this edict came from a Republican. A member of a state party whose members swear that they believe in limited government, parental empowerment, local control and preventing the indoctrination of our youth.

Or at least they used to.

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Excuse me for a second while I pause to have a good belly laugh. Id sure like to know who at the State Department of Education thought this propaganda was a good idea and espoused Republican values.

Whats even more infuriating, though, is that Walters seems to be operating under the mistaken belief that hes omnipotent, and hes better equipped than me  and the local officials Ive elected  to decide how to teach my children about politics. Or to teach anybody elses children about politics.

Guess what? Hes not. Full stop.

This is the time of year to give thanks, so let me express my gratitude that we have an attorney general and school leaders  including Walters fellow Republicans  with backbone and common sense.

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Reaction to the video edict was swift and just.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond swatted Walters away like an annoying gnat and told district leaders that Walters has no authority to force schools to show the video.

Leaders of some of Oklahomas largest districts also quickly rebuffed Walters efforts and told him in no uncertain terms that it aint happening. Its not clear if they could face any political ramifications for ignoring Walters order.

Its also not clear how many districts did show the indoctrination video in an effort to appease their wannabe overlord.

The bigger problem is we shouldnt be putting school leaders into this position in the first place. Their job is to ensure quality academic outcomes, not navigate fraught political waters.

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The fact that some Republicans feel emboldened to try to politicize our classrooms is not good.

Political conversations should be happening outside classrooms, schools and administration buildings.

Our lawmakers, meanwhile, are putting districts in the middle by shirking their responsibility and failing to rein in Walters antics. Most are shrugging their shoulders at these shenanigans.

Seriously, its time to focus on doing whats best for Oklahomas children, because I can assure you that my early-elementary-age kids are not being brainwashed by Walters made-up leftists at school.

Theyre busy learning how to read, add and subtract and about our solar system.

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On Election Day, their school held a mock election. But their ballot had ice cream versus popsicles and extra recess versus reading with a flashlight. Not Trump versus Kamala Harris.

Ryan Walters is not a word on their spelling lists, nor someone they come home asking about.

We need to keep it that way.

If we want to have respectful conversations about academic outcomes, Trump or education policy, by all means lets. But those are conversations the adults in the room should be having.

Why on earth would we want to involve a 4-year-old?

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Pakistans police on Monday fired tear-gas shells and used baton charges as thousands of supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan tried to storm the capital at protest seeking his release.

Around 8,000 protesters marching from Khans stronghold province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and led by his wife fought pitched battle with police in riot gear in the suburbs of Islamabad, officials and the party said.

Pakistans government deployed thousands of police officers and paramilitary troops and put the capital under a perpetual lockdown since Saturday as Khans supporters threatened to release him by force.

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The protesters began their march from the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province backed by the regional government on Sunday and spent the night on the highway around 50 kilometres from Islamabad, Khans party said.

Police confronted them as soon as they tried to march into the capital on Monday.

At least 50 protestors and 20 officers were hurt in clashes. Police said marchers pelted the officers with stones.

Islamabad remained tense as Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko arrived in the capital for a three-day state visit to sign economic and energy deals, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said.

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Last month, workers for Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Pakistan Movement for Justice, PTI) clashed with riot police and rallied in the capital as Pakistan hosted a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.

Khan has been in jail since August 2023 and is facing trial for allegedly inciting violence on May 9 of that year - the day when his supporters went on a rampage and attacked military installations.

Khan denies the allegations. All of his convictions have been either suspended or overturned in recent months.

Supporters of the former Prime Minister and chairman of opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, gather to attend a protest demanding his release, in Peshawar. Khan, currently imprisoned, called on his supporters to participate in a 'peaceful protest' at D-Chowk emphasizing the need to oppose what he termed the 'illegal' nature of his imprisonment. Hussain Ali/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
It could only be among the rogues' gallery surrounding President-elect Donald J. Trump that a shady character from Florida's recent past like Pam Bondi would be considered "confirmable" or "somewhat less controversial," though admittedly it's hard to dispute that Bondi compares favorably to the impish Matt Gaetz. The Trump era, it seems, will require much grading on a curve.

There was a time not so long ago when an occasion like Trump's nomination of Bondi to lead the Department of Justice  or his nomination of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio to be the next secretary of state  would mushroom into its own prolonged, scandal-tinged news cycle, rather than be interpreted as some sort of cunning end-run around his critics and a nod to moderation. Imagine that: The elevation of chameleon-like figures with notoriously wafer-thin convictions was once regarded as suspect.

In Bondi, Trump found his elusive made-for-television plaintiff's attorney, a person willing to absorb hypocrisy, absurdity and whatever other effluent to defend the dear leader. The case for Bondi centers on her history as Florida's former attorney general, the first woman elected to that position, and certainly on paper that is a sterling mark, at least as compared to Gaetz's marginal legal experience and sordid past.

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In practice, Bondi was a standard partisan Republican  waging an early battle, for example, to block the popular Affordable Care Act  who often veered into Florida-typical ridiculousness. Although Bondi was an eager advocate of the death penalty, her zealotry had some curious limits: She once rescheduled an execution to accommodate a political fundraiser. She was no champion of the state's celebrated but much-beleaguered open-records laws. And she was no friend to Florida consumers: Most famously, Bondi sat on her biscuit and accepted a $25,000 check from Trump rather than investigate his raggedy and scammy Trump University, about which her office had received complaints from bilked Floridians.

Once out of office, that quiet fealty to Trump transformed into something much more public. Bondi became a lieutenant and public attack dog in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results  another low moment that in a slightly less depraved timeline might have disqualified him, and anyone associated with the conspiracy, from any sort of public office, much less the most important ones in the nation.

Bondi also swan dove into the swamp, working as a lobbyist for Florida powerhouse firm Ballard Partners, the kind of revolving door Trump's make-America-great movement is supposed to oppose. There is not a populist bone in Bondi's body, save for her loyalty to a professed one.

Alas, America is Florida now, and so, like Florida, there is no personal failing too discrediting, no lie too big, no scandal too repulsive or legally problematic: Trump can nominate the ridiculous Bondi  who once had to settle a bitter custody dispute over a St. Bernard she was accused of stealing from a pair of Hurricane Katrina victims  and be viewed as turning down the temperature.

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Like Rubio, whose recent transformation from widely discredited lightweight into sober-minded and Serious Person was neck-twisting, the perception that Bondi is an obviously confirmable choice for attorney general is risible. In 2020, Bondi was no marginal Trump advocate: She embraced the whole of his lies about the 2020 election, feeding unfounded doubts about the outcome and standing shoulder to shoulder with the leaky Rudy Giuliani outside the Four Seasons Total Landscaping.

That spectacle once looked like the sadly comical end to the Trump movement, the discrediting of the posse of cranks he'd assembled in a desperate bid to remain in power. For Bondi, it instead became her chief qualification in this resurgent Trump era.

Nate Monroe is a Florida columnist for the USA Today Network. Follow him on Twitter @NateMonroeTU. Email him at nmonroe@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Pam Bondi is yet another shady Florida character tapped by Donald Trump
No industry was more adversely affected by mandatory closures in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic than restaurants, but in March 2020, the City of Tacoma targeted an obscure policy related to their only lifeline: takeout and delivery.

Since then, the citys Environmental Services department has denied restaurants the ability to use commonplace delivery services like DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub unless the business is equipped with a large, in-ground gravity grease interceptor, a plumbing device that can cost around $100,000 to purchase and install.

Rolls House, a Korean restaurant in the South End featured in a recent News Tribune investigation into the citys grease-trap policy, continues to struggle due in part to that requirement.

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Owner Sandy Jang opened his business March 8 with his sister, who had run a successful food truck in Portland. They saw Tacoma as a golden opportunity and chose a former teriyaki restaurant in a neighborhood sorely lacking in local dining options. Their menu offers reasonably priced dishes that travel well: stir-fried yakisoba, bento boxes, burritos with beef bulgogi.

They never anticipated that the city could exert such control over their business model.

Tacomas delivery rule is neither written into city code nor in any of the citys fats, oil and grease policy documents. Commissary kitchens have been hamstrung by the same restriction, even if the kitchen is home to a single business that sells food off site, such as a food truck or farmers market vendor.

The menu at Rolls House includes Korean-inspired burritos and rice bowls, foods well-suited to takeout and delivery. Tacomas DoorDash refusal has made it difficult to make money at his new South End restaurant, said owner Sandy Jang.

Its unusual to have that be part of the decision tree for what size a grease interceptor should be, said Eric Thompson, a regulatory compliance manager at Schier Products, a Kansas-based manufacturer.

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He and his team work with thousands of municipalities across the country on FOG prevention, and they could not think of another jurisdiction that prohibited food delivery in that way. Some, including Tacoma, have a similar rule for drive-thrus, which can increase the pace of food sales and thus FOG, he said.

Generally speaking, they recommend avoiding minimum requirements, which cast too-wide a net and minimize the nuances of different restaurants. By this logic, he continued, every restaurant that meets the minimum could have a drive-thru, or offer third-party delivery.

DO A FEW DOORDASH ORDERS EQUAL HIGH-VOLUME?

Tacoma holds that restaurants on DoorDash or similar platforms are not beholden to onsite seating and therefore considers them to be high-volume, city spokesperson Maria Lee said in an email. She confirmed that the interpretation was adopted around the onset of the pandemic as popularity for [delivery] services took off.

The apps are not a new phenomenon. UberEats and DoorDash have been around for a decade, and Grubhub for two. Sales and survey data also show that COVIDs impact on their embrace was more like an energy drink than a fitness regimen: a quick boost rather than a long-term benefit.

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Prior to 2020, delivery was the least popular order method at quick-service restaurants, trailing the equal split of drive-thru, carryout and dining in. A burst of delivery fizzled by mid-2021, and the ratio was back to normal by early 2022.

At full-service restaurants, delivery accounted for just 6% of sales pre-pandemic, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report published in January 2024, and consumers continued to choose on-site dining over all other options throughout the pandemic and into 2022. Delivery climbed above 10% of sales for the first time, but total revenue still sagged below 2019 levels.

In other words: The pandemic shifted where and how consumers spent their food dollars, but it didnt lead to a boon for restaurants. Delivery today is a slightly bigger slice of a pie thats only gotten smaller.

Restaurants, forced to close in the early days of the pandemic, turned to takeout and some to delivery, but those orders never usurped consumer preference for on-site dining at full-service restaurants, sales data shows.

For many independent restaurants, services like DoorDash, the U.S. leader with 32 million active monthly users, are free advertising  a way to get in front of customers they might not otherwise reach, with the goal of eventually converting them into a regular. Some use the apps to cover daily lulls or seasonal downturns, but for others, delivery keeps the business afloat.

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Meanwhile, plenty of restaurants eschew delivery entirely because the third-party companies typically take up to 30% of the sale, which can nullify a restaurants profit margin, or because a cardboard box just doesnt work for their food or their brand.

RESTAURANTS ALREADY HAVE CONTROL

Lee said the city asked some tech companies if they would entertain working with the local jurisdictions to set limits for restaurants to meet the citys per-hour meal allotment. Per current rules, any restaurant that might sell more than 40 meals in an hour is technically required to have a minimum 1,000-gallon, in-ground tank.

Unfortunately, DoorDash declined to partner with the City of Tacoma on this idea, she wrote in an email.

DoorDash told The News Tribune in a statement that its mission is to empower local merchants, and our policies in Tacoma and around the country are consistent with that mission. The spokesperson confirmed that the company does not have Tacoma-specific policies, but added that it is happy to work with our merchant partners and local lawmakers to find policy solutions that allow more small businesses in Tacoma to succeed.

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Shawn Madison, the citys only dedicated FOG employee, has explained the rule in emails to restaurant owners, reviewed by The News Tribune: Now that there are 100s of professional [delivery drivers] driving the streets waiting for orders, its no longer limited to the number of seats in the dining room. He has also advised that they could circumvent the rules by hiring their own driver, something that increasingly few restaurants do.

The city did not make Madison available for an interview for this article. Lee responded to The News Tribunes questions for the Environmental Services team by email.

At Manuscript and Dialogue, a brunch and dinner destination in Tacomas Stadium District, owner Eda Johnson emphasized that not only can she easily control the order rate on delivery platforms, its also necessary to maintain the integrity of the restaurant.

She can, for example, set the system to only accept three orders in a 15-minute window. A fourth order would be pushed to the next slot, and the customers wait-time would adjust accordingly.

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I have the power to change those settings as I see fit, she said, but I will always want to prioritize quality and ensure that the people dining in-person are also still getting the best experience.

Dave Flatman, co-owner of Busy Body on Sixth Avenue, also ran into the delivery roadblock when the bar applied for a catering license with the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. What Busy Body really wanted was to fulfill private-party orders, but the citys definition of catering, as with delivery, is black-and-white: catering equals high-volume.

Madison told him he could get around the catering rules by offering large orders in disposable pans for takeout, according to emails reviewed by The News Tribune.

GREASE TRAPS ARE NECESSARY, BUT FOLLOW-THROUGH IS LACKING

In August, The News Tribune reported that small restaurants in Tacoma felt they were being unfairly targeted by the citys grease-trap requirements.

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In defense of its policy, environmental staff has insisted that businesses neglect cleanings. An analysis by The News Tribune this fall revealed that Tacoma inspects grease interceptors only as required by the Environmental Protection Agency and hardly ever issues violations. Some restaurant owners have agreed to particular cleaning regimens as a kind of probationary period but say the city rarely follows up.

Grease interceptors are necessary to prevent FOG from clogging the public sewer system, but there are multiple ways to achieve that goal. Hydromechanical machines can be more easily installed under sinks, or even below-grade in a kitchen, and they usually cost just a few thousand dollars. If a kitchen needs more than one, thats a feasible solution, according to several engineers.

The city has argued that the larger, in-ground tanks, which are usually made of concrete and necessitate additional permits and excavation work, are more reliable and dont need to be cleaned as frequently as their smaller counterparts. Experts say that a properly sized grease interceptor depends on several factors that vary from restaurant to restaurant. The calculation should consider seating capacity, kitchen setup, hours of operation and the food itself. Good housekeeping, including training staff to limit sending FOG down the drain in the first place, is also essential.

The longer FOG sits in an interceptor, the harder the solids layer, which falls to the bottom, becomes. The chemical compounds can also produce hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas sometimes nicknamed sewer gas, as outlined in the Environmental Protection Agencys National Pretreatment Program.

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The cost to pump one every six months might reach $1,500, according to a report from Monitoring and Management Services, a Tennessee-based company that provides FOG-data collection services to local governments and utilities. A quarterly pump, on the other hand, might run $250 to $350.

Tacoma contends restaurant grease traps are vital. Is its oversight of them lacking?

A PRESSING ISSUE FOR TACOMAS SMALL RESTAURANTS

In July, Jang emailed his District 5 councilman, Joe Bushnell, pleading for help. Bushnell responded promptly the next morning and said he would forward the email to his team and they should be reaching back out to you soon.

In September, Jang told The News Tribune that he had not heard from anyone in Bushnells office or otherwise from the city. He said he was considering trying to sell his business.

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Bushnell responded to Jangs July email on Oct. 24 after a reporters request for an interview, which the councilman declined after sharing the request with Lee.

In his email, which Lee forwarded to The News Tribune, Bushnell cited his experience at the Washington Hospitality Association, where he served as a local government liaison for almost five years, and his current role as vice chair for the Tacoma-Pierce County Board of Health.

Restaurants like yours make our neighborhood a better place to live, and as a city we are continuously seeking ways to support our business community so everyone in Tacoma can have a higher quality of life, he wrote.

He said he had discussed a variety of grease trap issues, including the delivery question, with his peers and Environmental Services staff. He repeated an idea that Madison and others have stressed in previous conversations with The News Tribune: If only the city could stop aspiring restaurant owners from signing a lease or purchasing a property before consulting with city staff, such problems could be avoided.

We want every restaurant owner to have all the facts before they select a location so they can make financial decisions on the front end and build all required infrastructure into their business plan. Your story is an example of how changes to your business plan can trigger new requirements, and having information up front would have helped you examine all the options for your business, wrote Bushnell. I will continue to keep your story front of mind when we explore policy options related to grease interceptor education.

He also pointed to city loan programs, staffs willingness to offer technical assistance and the option to apply for a variance for physical or space constraints. He alluded to ongoing talks with city staff about possible flexibility for businesses but made no mention of meaningful changes to the delivery rule.

Tacomas requirements on grease interceptors left Sandy Jang feeling powerless over his own business. After struggling for nine months, even if he were granted an exception, he said it might be too little, too late.

Lee told The News Tribune that Rolls House is welcome to apply for an exception with a business plan that shows how it will limit delivery orders and its grease-trap cleaning schedule. She also said the city recognized that the cost and logistical challenges of installing a gravity grease interceptor can be significant, but the policy aims to balance environmental protection with economic development.

The challenges faced by some small business owners suggests a need for ongoing dialogue between the city and the business community to explore potential solutions that support both objectives, she said.

At the beginning of 2024, Environmental Services also moved the FOG program from its compliance team to program coordination.

With that, discussions were had regarding potential changes to the FOG program, added Lee.

Jang said an exception has not been offered to him as a solution. After a challenging year, he feels its too little, too late.

For the industry writ-large, deliverys long-term appeal remains murky. Many restaurants have a love-hate relationship with the apps, and attempts to thwart their power  such as Seattles minimum $5 fee to buoy gig workers pay  have discouraged both customers and business owners.

At the end of the day, entrepreneurs like Jang say they want to make that decision for themselves.
JAKARTA, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's regional elections, which include provinces, cities, and regencies, are set to be held on Wednesday in 545 regions.

"Technically, the regional elections are ready to kick off. Logistical needs have been distributed to all polling stations. We ask all people to celebrate the election festivity," Chairman of Indonesia's Election Commission Afifuddin said in a press conference in Jakarta on Monday.

Indonesia's regional elections are held once every five years. This year marks the first time the Southeast Asian country will conduct elections simultaneously in all regions. Previously, different regions followed varied electoral schedules.

The 545 positions up for election include 37 governors, 93 mayors, and 415 regents. Every voter will cast two ballots: one for a governor and the other for either a mayor or a regent.

Afifuddin said polling stations will operate from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, with vote counting commencing immediately afterwards and continuing until Dec. 16. The commission has not yet confirmed the exact date for the announcement of the final results. 
Kissing, one of humanity's most universal symbols of affection, has a surprisingly primal origin, according to a new study. Researchers suggest that kissing evolved from grooming behaviors in great apes, shedding new light on this seemingly instinctual act.

Dr. Adriano R. Lameira, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of Warwick, proposes that modern kissing originates from the "groomer's final kiss" observed in great apes.

In this behavior, apes use protruded lips and a suction motion to remove debris or parasites from each other's fur. As humans evolved and lost their body hair, this hygienic ritual transformed into a symbolic gesture of trust and social bonding.

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Unlike other theories that link kissing to feeding behaviors, breastfeeding, or compatibility tests via sniffing, the grooming hypothesis uniquely fulfills the form, function, and context of modern kissing.

"The 'groomers last kiss' was the only step of grooming that remained unchanged for millions of years, until it ultimately became the only remaining condensed version of what had been a central social ritual," says Lameira.

Cultural and historical roots

The act of kissing is deeply embedded in human history and culture. Archaeological evidence from Mesopotamia, dating back 4,500 years, describes kissing in romantic and familial contexts. Clay tablets from this period depict kissing as both a sexual act and a form of emotional connection.

However, the practice may predate recorded history, with some researchers hypothesizing that Neanderthals and early humans exchanged kissesand oral microbesover 100,000 years ago.

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Despite its ancient roots, kissing is not universal across cultures. A 2015 study revealed that only 46% of the societies sampled included romantic kissing in their customs, suggesting that while the behavior is widespread, it is also shaped significantly by cultural influences.

Lameira believes the transition from grooming to kissing coincided with significant evolutionary shifts. As humans lost their fur over millions of years, the hygienic purpose of grooming diminished, leaving behind a ritualistic act.

The "last kiss" of grooming, with its strong emotional and social undertones, persisted as a symbol of affection. This theory highlights the evolutionary resilience of behaviors that promote bonding and trust. Evolution doesnt discard what works, notes Lameira.

Alternative theories and criticisms

While the grooming hypothesis offers a compelling narrative, it is not the only explanation for kissing. Some researchers argue that kissing could have roots in behaviors like premasticationparents feeding chewed food to infantsor in mate selection, where potential partners exchange scents to assess compatibility.

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Others highlight that kissing may not have a singular origin and is instead a blend of instinctive and culturally adapted behaviors.

Lameira says, "Theres a higher parasitic load on the ground, so grooming is more important for terrestrial apes than arboreal ones. That suggests kissing could have only evolved after our ancestor left the trees and hit the ground, so to speak, putting us at least 7 million years ago."

"A few million years later, we started losing our coat. At that point, we no longer needed a hygienic behavior to show affection, but we held on to a crystalized artifact of grooming that could be used as a symbol," she concludes.

The study has been published in Evolutionary Anthropology.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JHmm6YG53I&t=4s
Lawmakers are navigating partisan divides as they seek to pass a bipartisan disaster aid bill by the end of the year.

Republicans and Democrats appear to agree on the main issue at hand: the need to replenish funds for communities recovering from disasters.

But they disagree on whether to allocate funds toward programs for the Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency  creating hurdles for what would otherwise be easily agreed-upon legislation.

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It needs to be a very robust package. We understand that. We agree with that, House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told reporters last week.

Where we have some disagreement at this point is some of the programmatic  adds the administration wants and theres some things we think they left out that they ought to consider, he said.

Asked what he would like to see in the package, Cole said more infrastructure, less programmatic money.

However, he added that he hopes lawmakers will be able to come up with bill text by the first week in December, with a package passing by the end of the year.

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I think it would be a good way to end this year  is to get out of here with  a disaster relief bill attached to a CR, he said, referring to a continuing resolution (CR), a stopgap funding measure that would prevent a government shutdown.

Major storms in recent months, including hurricanes Helene and Milton, have depleted the nations Disaster Relief Fund, which pays for response to and recovery from major disasters.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell told lawmakers this week that the fund has dwindled to less than $5 billion. Thats down from $11 billion in October.

If the fund runs out entirely, the U.S. will still be able to respond to immediate emergencies, but it will not be able to pay for longer-term recovery projects.

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This would hurt efforts to rebuild infrastructure in places like Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas in the wake of the recent hurricanes, as well as Hawaii, which is still recovering from last years wildfires.

This week, the White House put forward a $98 billion proposal to replenish the nations disaster aid  jump-starting negotiations on Capitol Hill.

That bill included $40 billion for the disaster relief fund itself, as well as $24 billion in assistance for farmers, $12 billion for grants through the Department of Housing and Urban Development and $8 billion to repair highways, roads and bridges.

It also contains $4 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency for water system upgrades, hazardous waste cleanup and air monitor repairs; $3 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services for health care and social support in affected areas; and $1 billion for the Department of Education to help restart schools, help with staffing shortages and provide mental health support.

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The top-line figure received a lukewarm reception from Republicans.

Its very clear that we need to have a disaster relief package. Whether $98 billion is the right number or not I dont know. Theres some provisions that I have questions about, said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Others, like Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), want to see it reduced.

I think that, as always, that can probably be pared down a bit, quite a bit, said the lawmaker, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee. I think it can be clearly reformed and potentially pared down rather substantially.

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But the GOP took more issue with the specifics.

I think we need to scrub it and make sure we dont have extraneous things in there for education.  I think some of it will fall out, said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), top Republican on the Senate subcommittee that crafts annual funding for the Education Department.

Pressed about the administrations request for the department, Capito said those kinds of things, I think we need to really look at, and thats what were in the process of doing.

I think some of it will fall out, she added.

Meanwhile, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said he would want to add tax cuts to the legislation.

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They dont include the disaster tax relief which theyve always done for prior disasters, so that needs to be in there, he told The Hill.

Its also not clear whether disaster aid will be tied to a potential funding stopgap, as leadership continues to plot next steps on spending.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said she thinks any forthcoming disaster aid package should move as a stand-alone measure, rather than being tacked on to a larger government funding deal.

If we could go Dec. 20 and do that, thats possible, DeLauro told The Hill. But, she added, lawmakers ought to do the disaster at the earliest possible moment.

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Lawmakers expressed optimism that they would be able to reach an agreement  whatever form it takes.

I actually have high confidence in [Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.)] and Sen. Collins, Cole said, referring to the top appropriations senators.

Rosa DeLauro and I worked together famously for many, many years. So its something we can do, he added.

Mychael Schnell contributed.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A pedestrian died Monday morning after they were hit by a freight train traveling through South Los Angeles.

The collision happened around 7:20 a.m. near the intersection of Florence Avenue and Graham Avenue in the Florence-Firestone neighborhood.

The pedestrian was hit by a Union Pacific freight train and was declared dead at the scene.

Union Pacific, the second-largest railroad operator in the U.S. and one of the most prominent in the world, confirmed to KTLA that a pedestrian was struck and killed by one of its trains, adding that the crew onboard was uninjured.

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A spokesperson said the company was working with local authorities to understand what led up to the incident.

The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department and the L.A. County Fire Department were among the agencies to responded to the scene.

Trespassing on train tracks is the leading cause of rail-related deaths in the United States, according to the Transportation Department. It is a misdemeanor in California that can result in jail time or hundreds of dollars in penalties.

Video posted to the Citizen app shows the scene where a pedestrian was hit and killed by a freight train in South Los Angles on Nov. 25, 2024. (Citizen App)

Where on the tracks the collision happened is unclear, but the nearby intersection is at-grade, meaning at street level, and is protected only by crossing gates and lights.

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The DOT urges pedestrians to always expect a train when near tracks, as they dont always follow a set schedule, dont always sound warning horns when approaching a crossing and can take upwards of a mile to come to a complete stop.

Even when you are not standing directly on the tracks, you risk being hit by a train by being on railroad property, the DOT says.

The identity of the person killed has not been released.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO)  The Pennington County Commission violated several of South Dakotas open-meeting laws last year, according to a state panel.

The South Dakota Open Meetings Commission on Monday found that the Pennington County Commission broke the executive session exemption when it discussed a wage request from the highway superintendent that was opposed by the county human resources director.

The state commission voted 4-1 that a violation occurred.

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Minnehaha sitting out new winter road report system

The state commission also found that the Pennington County Commission violated another portion of the open-meetings laws by formally voting, 3-2, in public session to turn down the highway superintendents request.

The state commission voted 5-0 that a violation occurred because the highway superintendents salary wasnt listed on the meeting agenda.

Two members of the Pennington County Commission, Travis Lasseter and Deb Hadcock, brought the complaint.

The Pennington County Commission will be punished with a public reprimand.

Five states attorneys comprise the state commission. Turner County States Attorney Katelynn Hoffman said wages arent one of the purposes that state law says are appropriate for a public board to discuss in executive session.

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Pennington County highway superintendent Joe Miller made a written request seeking wage adjustments for his assistant superintendent and himself, while the countys human resources director, Carol Bancroft, opposed the increases. The county commission received those documents beforehand and then considered them in executive session as part of Millers performance review.

State law doesnt allow discussion of wages in executive session, according to Hoffman. They became at fault when they allowed the behavior, she said.

The county commissioners then voted down the superintendents request in public session. The state commission found that action was also a violation because the item hadnt been on the agenda.

The state commission however found 5-0 that the Pennington County Commission didnt violate state open-meetings laws when the direction was given in executive session to the human resources director to conduct a government-wide wage analysis.

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In other action Monday morning, the state commission found that:

 The Carlyle Township Board of Supervisors in Beadle County failed to post an agenda in advance of a meeting last October. The vote was 5-0 that a violation occurred. Terry Koerner and Todd Koerner filed the complaint.

 The Sturgis City Council violated executive session law by going into executive session on May 6, 2024, without stating a purpose and on February 16, 2024, when the council improperly considered in executive session whether to hire a city manager or a city administrator. The votes were 5-0 that violations occurred. Tammy Bohn filed the complaint.

 The Lead city council didnt violate open meeting laws when it voted to support legislation for a community center and authorized a city employee to travel to Pierre to lobby for it. The vote was 5-0 that a violation didnt occur. Gordon Phillips filed the complaint, arguing that the agenda item, labeled Community Center Update, didnt notify the public that a vote would be taken.

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 The Charles Mix County Commission failed to post an agenda in advance of its May 23, 2024, meeting. The vote was 5-0 that a violation occurred. Jeff and Jolene Stewart filed the complaint.

 The Tripp City Council failed to post an agenda in advance of a special meeting where the resignation of the police chief was accepted. City attorney Mike Fink acknowledged that an error occurred and said the vote was re-taken at the next meeting. And I dont think this is going to happen again, Fink said. The vote was 5-0 that a violation occurred.

 The Green Valley Sanitary District complaint was deferred for more research, after the state commission members couldnt find a requirement in state law that a sanitary district must vote at an official public meeting in order to take action. Steve Myers filed the complaint after three trustees obtained a $200,000 loan for the district without taking formal action at a public meeting. The districts attorney, Erica Olson, argued on Monday that open-meetings laws dont apply to sanitary districts.

The commission discussed possible dates for the next meeting but didnt reach a decision.

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HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM)  A Pennsylvania state lawmaker is proposing a bill that would implement a mandatory death penalty for illegal aliens convicted of murder.

State Representative Eric Davanzo (R-Westmoreland) says he plans to introduce the bill while citing cases across the country where those who have entered the United States illegally have been convicted of serious crimes.

Davanzo specifically cited the case of Laken Riley, a University of Georgia student who was killed by a Venezuelan man earlier this year after he unlawfully entered the country. He also cited the search for Brazilian native Danelo Cavalcante in Pennsylvania after he escaped the Chester County prison following a conviction for killing his ex-girlfriend.

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At a time when the Federal government has demonstrated an unmistakable aversion to countering this ever-increasing surge in illegal immigration and some district attorneys of this Commonwealth refuse to honor Immigration and Customs Enforcements detainers, drastic measures are needed to deter violent crime and illegal migration, promote justice for victims and their families, and ensure uniformity in punishment, said Davanzo in a memo to House members. I believe that any individual who unlawfully enters this country and commits a murder should face the most severe consequences under our laws. This legislation demonstrates that the House of Representatives is, unlike the Federal Government, willing to protect its citizens and ensure justice for victims.

In Pennsylvania, the death penalty can only be applied in cases where a defendant is found guilty of first-degree murder if aggravating factors are present in the conviction.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said last year we would block the death penalty during his administration and called for the practice to be abolished.

The Commonwealth shouldnt be in the business of putting people to death. Period, said Shapiro in 2023.

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Attorney General-elect Dave Sunday said during his 2024 campaign that he would seek the death penalty.

Since 1976, three people have been executed by lethal injection in Pennsylvania with the last being in 1999, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. There are currently 95 people sitting on Pennsylvanias death row, the most recent being added in May 2023.

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PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now)  Police in Greenbelt are investigating after a man was shot during an attempted carjacking at the Beltway Plaza Mall on Saturday.

According to the department, at around 4 p.m. on Nov. 23, officers were on the scene after a man was shot in the rear parking lot of the mall.

An investigation revealed that three teenage boys approached the man as he was getting in his car, pointing a gun at him and demanding his car keys. When he did not comply, they shot him in his lower body and fled on foot towards Berwyn Heights.

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Surveillance cameras captured the trio, as seen below.

Police said these individuals are connected to the attempted carjacking/shooting that took place at Beltway Plaza Mall on Saturday afternoon. (Courtesy: The Greenbelt Police Department)

Officers applied two tourniquets and other lifesaving medical care to the man before taking him to the hospital. As of Monday morning, he is in stable condition at the local hospital and is expected to recover, according to police.

Police encourage anyone with information to contact detective Rodas Flores at 240-542-2137 or at orodas-flores@greenbeltmd.gov. Tipsters can also call the department directly at 301-474-7200.

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With Matt Gaetz forced to pull his own nomination for attorney general, savvy Washington observers call it a win for norms. I think it shows that Donald Trump cannot get anything he wants, said a law professor in Politico the morning after. Yes, well, too bad that not getting what he wants has never taught Trump a lesson about anything. In fact, Trumps typical response to being denied what he wants is even more outrageous demands.

He respects that reaction in others, which is why hes collected this Suicide Squad of Cabinet nomineesalmost all of whom have a record of failing upward in one way or anotherin the first place. For the members of this new administration, favor-trading is their most obvious skill and slick morals the defining character trait. In a normal situation, these things would be blots on a resume. In the Trump world, consequence-free bad behavior is the resume. Hell, given the propensity of Trump administrations to become a snakepit, its also a survival skill.

The Gaetz withdrawal elevated Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general who fits in this pattern as well. Her tryout took place in 2013, when she took in a tidy $23,000 campaign donation from Trump, not six days after she announced that her office was reviewing allegations of fraud against Trump Universitya review that coincidentally resulted in no further comment or action. Shes an old hand at sliding within the greasy gears of Trumpworld.

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But if Gaetz and Bondi represent the acolyte capable of taking the average guignol and making it grand as fuck, Trumps abiding interest in promoting the most corrupt and unfit is most clear in the case of Pete Hegseth, a surprise pick to run the Department of Defense who is likely unfamiliar to most Americans. Hes a steady fixture on Fox Newss Fox & Friends, the in-flight geek show on Trumps Air Force One, but youd be forgiven if youd missed himhes not featured during the week, hes on the weekend show that you probably didnt know existed.

Hes also now fighting off a sexual assault scandal that is absolutely not a surprise, at least to me.

The last time I saw Hegseth was in 2019. We were friendly from having crossed paths in cable news greenrooms over the years, and I was wooing him for a glossy magazine piece. He was clearly interested in the attention, perhaps in more ways than one. Fox News wound up nixing my proposed profile, and that was wise. Even on the set of Fox & Friends, hes a loose cannon eager to provoke (throwing axes with dangerous abandon, bragging about his refusal to wash his hands). He was considerably looser after martinis and bourbon. I was stone-cold sober. The hug goodbye lingered; his emphasis on how good it was to see me left me with a buzzy sense of unexpressed energy.

Now we know his hands can get very dirty. In 2017, a woman identified as Jane Doe made a police report that described Hegseth committing sexual assault. There are some superficial similarities to my evening (the drinks, the flirting, the slippery nature of a late-night boozy chat). Of course, the broad outlines of that interaction are overly familiar to any woman whos ever had a friendly conversation with a man convinced that his self-assessed attractiveness and charisma (and maybe enough drinks) will slip him under the iron gate of no. If women told friends about these things every time they fell short of assault, wed never shut up about anything else. According to reports, in fact, Hegseths nomination is already very much on the minds of the Pentagons women. Said one unnamed Pentagon official to CNN, I imagine there is already profound fear and anxiety among women in uniform.

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Hegseth later agreed to pay Doe an undisclosed sum in exchange for a nondisclosure agreement. In the police report, he copped to almost every untoward detail of her story with the important exception of locking her in his hotel room and taking her phone. He insisted to police that Doe was cognizant of what was happening and that, in his opinion, the contact was always consensual and she was comfortable with it. In an amazing bit of unintentional and evocative honesty, he granted that the woman showed early signs of regret before leaving.

I suspect that Hegseth would sincerely swear on a stack of Trump-branded Bibles thatin the crudest termsshe wanted it or was asking for it, both of which mean something very different from consent. I can believe he feels blameless. For men like Hegseth and Donald Trump, consent is a meaningless term. Why does one need consent for taking whats already yours?

Hegseth appears to believe that male sexual aggression is more than acceptable behavior; its to be celebrated. Writing about Trumps refusal to back down from the grab her by the pussy footage, he lauded Trump for not playing by the rules of a game that was stacked against himand against all patriotic Americans. That unironic (and, OK, historically supported) merging of American values and victimizing women also makes sense of what Hegseth told a hotel employee who was called to break up a loud argument by the hotel pool between him and Jane Doe shortly before they wound up in his hotel room. According to the employee, a heavily intoxicated Hegseth yelled that he had freedom of speech.

Prior reporting surfaced the nondisclosure agreement; it barely dented MAGAworlds enthusiasm for Hegseth. His attorney framed the whole thing as an attempt at blackmail Hegseth settled only because he might be targeted by the #MeToo movement and lose his job at Fox News. You know, consequences. As of this writing, the scuttlebutt in the news transom suggests that Hegseths footing might not be as firm as it was from the off. Perhaps the police report will embolden his critics and weaken his support from the Trump team.

Gaetzs departure from the scene may, for some, suggest a reassertion of norms, a breaking wave of backlash that might sweep Hegseths nomination away with the Florida sex pest. Ill be happy to be proven wrong, but I think not. Hegseth might survive based on the same reasons that Trumpworld has been hitherto unmoved by protests (made on both the right and left) that Hegseth is singularly unqualified to run the Pentagonthe countrys largest employer, a nation within a nation with its own mail delivery service, judicial code, legal system, and health care delivery apparatus. Seizing what others would deny you or say you dont deserve is the whole point of Trumpism. Hegseths sexual misconduct isnt a drawback to be judged against his lickspittle loyalty, its an essential part of the audition.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) Hundreds of pets said cheese this weekend all in the name of a good cause.

The Siouxland Humane Society held their annual Paws `N Claus winter photoshoot, where professional photographers volunteer their time to take pics of animals and their owners.

The event serves as a fundraiser for the Humane Society, which helps provide necessities for the shelter.

Siouxland Humane Society officials say this year photographers were busier than ever.

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Rock Valley family one step closer to moving into Habitat for Humanity home

So last year we had a few spots Saturday, Sunday afternoon. This year we booked every spot of every day, which was great. So we were fully booked and had some walk-ins, which is just really awesome, said Maddy Nettleton, the director of development with the Siouxland Humane Society.

Throughout the year Siouxland Humane Society holds other fundraisers like Pets On Parade, but Nettleton said this event holds a special place in her heart.

At my other ones, I dont have the time to always talk to people about their pets and pet the dogs and cats. And I have the time to do this at this, so just being able to interact and pet the dogs and cats and all the above, thats why I love it, said Nettleton.

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Nettleton said she appreciates the support from the community for this years Paws `N Claus.

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ANKARA, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a phone call on Sunday with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, discussing bilateral relations and regional and global issues, according to Erdogan's office.

During the phone talk, Erdogan said the two sides aimed to enhance cooperation in various fields, particularly the expansion of bilateral trade volume.

Meanwhile, Erdogan pledged that his country will continue to contribute to the peace process.

Turkiye, which maintains good relations with both Ukraine and Russia, has been acting as a mediator between the two countries since their conflict broke out in February 2022.

On Wednesday, Erdogan said the U.S. decision to allow Kiev to deploy its long-range missiles for strikes inside Russia is "a move aimed at fueling the war."

"It appears to be a move aimed at fueling the war, ensuring it does not end, and even encouraging its spread," Erdogan told reporters on his flight back to Turkiye from Brazil, where he attended the Group of 20 summit, according to a report by semi-official Anadolu Agency. 
The Philippines' top two officials are beefing so hard that one threatened to assassinate the other.

Vice President Sara Duterte said on Saturday that she'd spoken to a hitman to kill her boss and his wife.

She said that if she were to be killed, the hitman would carry out her orders.

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte openly threatened on Saturday to assassinate the country's president, marking the deepest fracture yet in an alliance they once formed for the 2022 election.

Duterte made the threat in reference to unspecified potential harm that could befall her, saying she'd spoken to a hitman in case anything happened to her.

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"Don't worry about my security because I've talked with somebody," said Duterte, who spoke at an online press conference from a dark room in the Philippines' House of Representatives.

Her remark came amid a 45-minute string of expletives and criticisms she directed at President Ferdinand "Bong Bong" Marcos, accusing him and his allies of incompetence and corruption.

"I said: "If I'm killed, you'll kill BBM, Liza Araneta, and Martin Romualdez,'" Duterte said in Tagalog. She was referring to Marcos, the First Lady, and the Speaker of the House.

"No joke, no joke," she added in English. Duterte also said she had "given the order" to the hitman not to stop until the trio were dead.

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Meanwhile, Marcos' office said on Saturday that it would boost the president's security.

"Any threat to the life of the President and the First Family, regardless of its origin  and especially one made so brazenly in public  is treated with the utmost seriousness," it said in a statement.

Eduardo Ano, national security advisor to the president, added that authorities considered Duterte's threat a "matter of national security."

In a statement on Monday, Duterte downplayed her threat, saying it had been "maliciously taken out of logical context." She did not clarify what she meant.

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But she also blasted the national security council, saying that its responsibilities related to the safety of the country, not a vice president's remarks about a president.

A partnership doomed from the start

In the Philippines, the vice president and president are elected separately and don't necessarily hail from the same party or ideology, though Duterte and Marcos positioned themselves as running mates.

Both rose to power as the legacies of their fathers loomed large in the Philippines. Duterte's father, Rodrigo Duterte, was president from 2016 to 2022 and earned himself a controversial "strongman" reputation for his hardline war on drugs.

Marcos' father, Ferdinand Marcos Sr., was a dictator who ruled the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, enacting martial law in 1972 to extend his grip on power.

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The pair's families forged an alliance in 2022, uniting Duterte's base in the south and Marcos' voters in the north to secure a general election victory. They had vowed at the time to unite the country.

"It was really out of convenience," Ronald Holmes, who teaches political science at De La Salle University in Manila, told Business Insider. "There was nothing between them in the past that would've bound them."

Their partnership ruptured quickly after their win, as they disagreed on diplomacy and governance, like how to deal with a rising China.

As Marcos formed his cabinet, Duterte was also assigned the Department of Education instead of the national defense portfolio she had been gunning for. She resigned from the post two years later, in June.

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Lawmakers then announced an investigation into her department, after Duterte faced accusations of improperly using funds and amid reports that students were faring poorly.

More overt signs of the pair's crumbling partnership emerged in October, when Duterte said in a press conference that she and Marcos had joined forces as running mates simply to win the election.

She said at the time that she had recently dreamt of Marcos and "wanted to cut his head off."

Impeachment may prove difficult

But her remarks on Sunday were more than references to dreams and jokes  they were an overt threat to the security of her nation's leader.

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"This is no longer rhetoric," Jorge Tigno, a professor of political science at the University of the Philippines Diliman, told BI. "When you threaten the president, that's no longer a rhetorical statement. It's even worse when, afterward, you say it's not a joke."

Holmes said the likeliest course of action from the central government would be an impeachment attempt against Duterte based on her remarks.

Such an endeavor may prove turbulent. The motion must pass through the Philippines' House of Representatives and then the Senate, which is due for a change-up in the coming 2025 midterm elections.

"Conviction in the Senate at this point might be pretty difficult because you have about a third of the Senate who can be thought of as allies of the vice president," Holmes said.

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Should impeachment fail, it's unclear what will happen within the Marcos administration. It is due to govern until the Philippines' next election in 2028.

Tigno said that Duterte, devoid of significant leadership roles, should have little effect on Marcos' running of the country.

However, he worries that the elite infighting will catapult national politics into further toxicity. The Philippines, with 117 million people, is Southeast Asia's second-most populated nation, and has been one of Washington's key allies as the US seeks to compete against China's growing influence in the Indo-Pacific.

"We could end up with what they have now in the US. A polarized system, a polarized situation between the Duterte and the Marcos camp," Tigno said.

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"But it's not a question of a 'good vs evil' kind of polarization. It's more of one elite group competing for power and position against another elite group," he added.

Spokespersons for Duterte and Marcos did not respond to requests for comment sent by Business Insider.

Read the original article on Business Insider
ALBANY  Phoebe is one of the first health systems in Georgia to join a national initiative aimed at improving health outcomes by improving health equity. The American Hospital Associations Health Equity Roadmap is a framework to help hospitals and health systems eliminate structural barriers that may make it more difficult for certain individuals to reach their highest potential for health.

While we have always focused on improving access to care and providing high-quality care to everyone, earlier this year we embarked on a formal journey to meet specific benchmarks that will help us achieve a higher level of health equity, Jen Williams, Phoebe Putney Health System's Chief Diversity, Inclusion and Community Benefit Officer.

Phoebes first step was to complete the AHAs Health Equity Transformation Assessment, an action taken by only seven other hospitals in Georgia. The assessment is designed to help hospitals establish a baseline and to provide a structure for continuous improvement toward transforming to a more equitable and inclusive health care system. Based on the results of the baseline assessment, Phoebe implemented a strategic plan, embarking on a journey to a sustainable and equitable ecosystem of health care within the community over the next four years.

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To help guide the health system on that journey, Phoebe developed its own definition of health equity, which says that Phoebe ensures every person has an equitable opportunity to reach and maintain an optimal level of individual health and wellness, regardless of any social drivers of health.

We must understand that all patients may not start on equal footing," Williams said. "Some may not have access to transportation to get to a doctors appointment. Others may not be able to afford medication needed to manage a chronic condition or they may have a language barrier that prevents them from understanding a doctors instructions.

"Our commitment to health equity means we are committed to finding ways to overcome those challenges, so we can ensure that every patient truly gets the individualized care and service they need.

That commitment is leading to stronger community partnerships. Phoebe is in the process of developing a Community Partner Board focused on health equity, and earlier this year it hosted a Community Resource Fair attended by about 20 local social service agencies.

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We wanted our social workers and care teams to learn about these organizations and make connections with them so that we can better connect our patients to the resources they need, Williams said. We recognize that were not alone in this journey. Were getting more involved in the community, and were excited to work with individuals, nonprofits and government entities to address some of these social drivers of health.

Phoebe also has increased its community involvement by sponsoring official Phoebe Family volunteer opportunities with area nonprofit organizations. Last fiscal year, Phoebe worked with eight organizations and offered four hours of paid time off for employees to participate in approved volunteer events. This fiscal year, Phoebe is expanding the number of volunteer events and partner organizations and has set a goal of 550 official volunteer hours for its employees.

Phoebe also is collecting more data to help understand and respond to health inequities and social drivers of health. As part of the federal governments focus on health equity, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will require hospitals to collect new sociodemographic data to help reduce disparities.

Information is great, but its what you do with information that makes it meaningful," Williams said. "Were going to put this data to good use. We hope it will help us see trends and identify certain neighborhoods or groups where we may need to focus disease-specific prevention or management efforts.

Tackling inequities in our health care system is a big job that can seem daunting, but our goal is really pretty simple. We just want to do our part to make our community healthier.
The presidential pardon of the Thanksgiving turkey has become an annual event, but the peace pact between the fowl and the White House is a relatively new thing. And in fact, a few presidents actually ate their guests!

The first president to unofficially pardon a turkey was Abraham Lincoln, who instructed the White House to save a bird given to the president. Lincolns son had grown fond of the bird (and the president was a big animal lover).

But Lincoln didnt start a tradition, and neither did President Harry S. Truman, who is often credited as the father of the presidential turkey pardon. (National Constitution Center)

Heres a look back from Truman to Biden.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower seems highly pleased with the 43-pound Kentucky colonel turkey presented to him at the White House on Nov. 17, 1954. (Photo: Bettmann/Corbis/Getty Images)

Eisenhower with the 40-pound, broad-breasted tom turkey presented to him on Nov. 19, 1956. (Photo: Bettmann/Corbis/Getty Images)

President John F. Kennedy admires a 55-pound turkey, which wears a sign reading Good Eating, Mr. President!, on Nov. 19, 1963. (Photo: Bettmann/Corbis/Getty Images)

President Lyndon B. Johnson was presented with this 40-pound broad-breasted white tom turkey on Nov. 16, 1967. (Photo: Bettmann/Corbis/Getty Images)

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President Richard Nixon gives the annual pardon to a Thanksgiving turkey on Nov. 19, 1969. (Photo: Wally McNamee/Corbis/Getty Images)

President Gerald Ford is presented with a Thanksgiving turkey on Nov. 20, 1975. (Photo: U.S. National Archives)

First lady Rosalynn Carter and first daughter Amy Carter pardoning a turkey on Nov. 21, 1978. (Photo: Jimmy Carter Presidential Library & Museum)

President Ronald Reagan and the annual pardoning of the Thanksgiving turkey on Nov. 21, 1988. (Photo: NY Daily News via Getty Images)

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President George H.W. Bush pardoning a Thanksgiving turkey on Nov. 24, 1992. (Photo: Ron Edmonds/AP)

President Bill Clinton looks on as turkey industry executive Robert Strickler holds a 50-pound turkey presented to the president on Nov. 23, 1994. (Photo: Wilfredo Lee/AP)

Clinton with a 35-pound turkey, wearing a White House visitor's pass, which was presented to him on Nov. 27, 1996. (Photo: Doug Mills/AP)

Clinton, holding his nephew Tyler, 6, pardons a turkey on Nov. 22, 2000. (Photo: Kenneth Lambert/AP)

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President George W. Bush pardoning a turkey on Nov. 19, 2001. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

President George W. Bush pardoning a turkey on Nov. 17, 2004. (Photo: Ron Edmonds/AP)

President George W. Bush in the Rose Garden of the White House on Nov. 22, 2006. (Photo: Chuck Kennedy/MCT via Getty Images)

President Barack Obama, with daughters Malia, far right, and Sasha, pardons a turkey on Nov. 25, 2009. (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

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Obama, with Sasha and Malia, pardons a turkey on Nov. 23, 2011. (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

Obama, with Sasha and Malia, pardoning a turkey on Nov. 21, 2012. (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Obama, with his daughters, at the turkey pardoning ceremony on Nov. 26, 2014. (Photo: Larry Downing/Reuters)

Obama pardoning a turkey on Nov. 25, 2015. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)

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Obama after pardoning a turkey, as the presidents nephews Aaron Robinson and Austin Robinson watch, Nov. 23, 2016. (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

President Donald Trump at the turkey pardoning ceremony, as son Barron Trump and first lady Melania Trump look on, Nov. 21, 2017. (Photo: Jim Bourg/Reuters)

U.S. President Donald Trump gives a presidential 'pardon' to the National Thanksgiving Turkey Butter during the traditional event with first lady Melania Trump (R) in the Rose Garden of the White House Nov. 26, 2019 in Washington. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

First lady Melania Trump (R) looks on as US President Donald Trump gives the National Thanksgiving Turkey "Corn" a presidential pardon during the traditional event in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, on November 24, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

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President Joe Biden pardons the turkey 'Peanut Butter' during the White House Thanksgiving turkey pardon in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC on November 19, 2021. (Olivier Doulliery/AFP via Getty Images)

U.S. President Joe Biden pardons Chocolate, the National Thanksgiving Turkey, as he is joined by the 2022 National Turkey Federation Chairman Ronnie Parker and Alexa Starnes, daughter of the owner of Circle S Ranch, on the South Lawn of the White House November 21, 2022 in Washington, DC. Chocolate, and the alternate, Chip, were raised at Circle S. Ranch, outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, and will reside on the campus of North Carolina State University following today's ceremony. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

President Joe Biden pardons the National Thanksgiving turkey Liberty during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House on November 20, 2023 in Washington, DC. The 2023 National Thanksgiving Turkey and its alternate Bell, were raised in Willmar, Minnesota and will be housed at the University of Minnesota after their pardoning. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

U.S. President Joe Biden (R) pardons the National Thanksgiving Turkey Peach, alongside Chair of the national turkey federation John Zimmerman and his son Grant during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House on November 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Peach, and the alternate turkey Blossom, were raised in Northfield, Minnesota, and continue a White House tradition going back to the Truman administration in 1947. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

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Nov. 25A long-awaited piece of outdoors infrastructure that will connect some of the most vibrant parts of the city together is coming together, though officials said it will be years before it's completed.

The Rail Trail is a seven-mile walking and biking trail that will go through Barelas, Old Town, Downtown and connect to the preexisting Bosque Trail. The Rail Trail is also a part of a Sawmill streetscape project and Central Avenue project to create a more welcoming path to enter Downtown.

The Sawmill streetscape and a bridge into Downtown are expected to be completed by mid-2025, and the city hopes the entire Rail Trail will be walkable by 2028.

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This year, the city will temporarily pause Rail Trail construction during the holidays, from late November to late December.

Building the trail

Designer Antoine Predock started working on the project almost 10 years ago, according to Paul Felhau, executive senior associate at Antoine Predock Architect PC. Predock will not see the project finished as he died in March, but his team continues his work.

"Getting all the budgets straight and getting them actually constructed will take quite awhile but rest assured it all does make sense," said Felhau.

Antoine Predock Architect PC is designing Rail Trail, the intersection at Central Avenue and First Street in Downtown and consulting with the Sawmill streetscape project.

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Veree Simons is the principal architect at Antoine Predock Architect PC. She is in charge of the Rail Trail Project.

She said key design elements Rail Trail will unify all construction projects. First, the trail path will be done in a uniform earth tone through all seven miles, and the second element is gateways, which are essentially large arches at each neighborhood along the path.

The underpass improvements will include a 25-foot lit-up tumbleweed as a gateway and Sawmill will have a saw blade-patterned archway, according to Simons

All nine neighborhoods along the trail will receive a unique entrance gate to highlight unique aspects of that community, said Simons.

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"When you are driving on Mountain, for example, you'll say 'Oh, that's the Rail Trail,'" said Simons.

The Rail Trail will also be a public art project with "hot spots" designed by local artists, said Felhau, though the company has yet to start searching for the artists.

Simons said safety on the Rail Trail is at the forefront of Antoine Predock Architect PC design. Lighting, signage and understanding circulation patterns can all improve public safety, she said.

"It is all about transparency because if you can be seen, if you can see, you feel safer," said Simons.

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The hope is that the Rail Trail will be so frequently used that it will deter settling or camping because of the high foot and bicycle traffic, said Simons. In 2023 New Mexico ranked No. 1 for pedestrian traffic fatalities, according to a report from the Governors Highway Safety Association.

"This project would take people and bikes away from roads and allow them to get around safely," said Jennifer Jackson, the city's Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency's deputy director.

The trail is being designed as a coherent whole, but is being funded and built in segments. It will ultimately have multiple funding sources.

The Downtown segment got funding awards from the Department of Transportation in 2022, which is why Sawmill development started after Downtown.

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Officials are still determining funding sources for other parts of the Rail Trail, such as an extension from Mountain to Bellamah NE.

"It is a short segment but it will connect Sawmill to Old Town," said Jackson. "We're hoping that each segment has independent utility for that neighborhood."

The city is hoping to get a large federal award for sections in Old Town, which still need impact studies before construction begins around there.
This story was originally published on MyNorthwest.com

Ground has been broken for a new homeless village in Pierce County, but its drawing some protests.

The project, called the Good Neighbor Village, will provide nearly 300 permanent homes for chronically homeless people, according to reporting in the Tacoma News Tribune (TNT).

A ceremony took place at the site at 176th Street and Spanaway Loop last week. Along with Pierce County officials, the event brought out a handful of protesters. Spanaway Concerned Citizens continue to protest the village, citing environmental concerns. After the county approved the project, the group filed an appeal in Thurston County Court.

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WSDOT: Massive project will disrupt traffic for 3 years as crews work to repair I-5

The Tacoma Rescue Mission heads up the village. Its executive director, Duke Paulson, acknowledged the challenges the project has faced. He described the process to TNT as intimidating and emotionally taxing. Paulson emphasized the effort to embrace the community. We want to be good neighbors to those around us, he said. In the long run, we are partners with them.

The village will require residents to pay rent, work, and adhere to community guidelines.

MyNorthwest News: Four Washington State Patrol cars struck by suspected impaired drivers in King County

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An area resident, Debbie Clark, felt the county expedited the permitting process for political reasons. She told TNT, These are not the kind of people that are wanting to better themselves. Clark was concerned about the impact on property values.

Clark said she was also worried about the potential displacement of wildlife, including black bears, and the impact on local oak trees.

The village is modeled after a community in Austin, Texas. Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier has prioritized the project. His attorney spent some time in Austin and said the village was quiet and peaceful. We felt safer there than we do in our own neighborhood in West Tacoma, he said.








An aircraft flying from Leipzig on behalf of the DHL logistics firm crashed near the Vilnius airport, killing at least one person and wounding three, the BNS news agency reported, citing an emergency services spokeswoman.

Initial reports indicated there were four people on the plane and all the reported casualties came from the aircraft. The injured three have been taken to hospital.

Early reporting said the plane had crashed into a residential building, but later the head of the National Crisis Management Centre told Lithuanian radio that the cargo plane crashed next to a residential building.

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Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas said the aircraft missed the house "by chance" and crashed into the courtyard. Following the incident, a fire broke out, and 12 residents were evacuated from the building.

Investigations are underway to determine whether the crash was due to "technical problems," the head of the National Crisis Management Centre said, adding it is too early to say anything more precise.

Many of the plane's parts were scattered, reported a Lithuanian radio journalist from the accident scene in the Liepkalnis district. There are only a few houses in the area and it is not densely populated, he said.

Numerous emergency service vehicles and personnel are at the location, which is about 4 kilometres from the Lithuanian capital's airport.

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Preliminary data from the rescue service indicates that emergency crews were informed at 5:28 am (0328 GMT) that a cargo plane had crashed into a building. It is said to be a two-storey residential house that is on fire.

The head of the Lithuanian DHL subsidiary confirmed to Lithuanian radio that the plane belonged to a contractor of the company.

Germany had issued warning to logistics firms

At the end of August, German security authorities started warning about "unconventional incendiary devices" being sent by unknown individuals using parcel service providers. At the time, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, known by its German acronym BfV, and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) issued a corresponding alert to companies in the aviation and logistics sector.

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The warning was reportedly linked in security circles to an incident at the DHL logistics centre in Leipzig, which serves as the company's global hub. In July, a package sent from the Baltic States, which reportedly contained an incendiary device, is said to have caught fire there.

The warning from BfV and BKA did not mention Russia. Nonetheless, security circles have reportedly not ruled out a connection, given the increasing cases of Russian sabotage in Germany.

There was no initial information about any link between Monday's crash and a possible sabotage event.
An aircraft flying from Leipzig on behalf of the DHL logistics firm crashed into a residential building near the Vilnius airport, killing at least one person and wounding three, the BNS news agency reported, citing an emergency services spokeswoman.

Initial reports indicated there were four people on the plane and all the reported casualties came from the aircraft. The injured three have been taken to hospital.

Numerous emergency service vehicles and personnel are at the location, which is about 4 kilometres from the Lithuanian capital's airport. The accident's cause was not immediately known.

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Preliminary data from the rescue service indicates that emergency crews were informed at 5:28 am (0328 GMT) that a cargo plane had crashed into a building. It is said to be a two-storey residential house that is on fire.

The head of the Lithuanian DHL subsidiary confirmed to Lithuanian radio that the plane belonged to a contractor of the company.

Germany had issued warning to logistics firms

At the end of August, German security authorities started warning about "unconventional incendiary devices" being sent by unknown individuals using parcel service providers. At the time, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, known by its German acronym BfV, and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) issued a corresponding alert to companies in the aviation and logistics sector.

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The warning was reportedly linked in security circles to an incident at the DHL logistics centre in Leipzig, which serves as the company's global hub. In July, a package sent from the Baltic States, which reportedly contained an incendiary device, is said to have caught fire there.

The warning from BfV and BKA did not mention Russia. Nonetheless, security circles have reportedly not ruled out a connection, given the increasing cases of Russian sabotage in Germany.

There was no initial information about any link between Monday's crash and a possible sabotage event.
Authorities in Lithuania are refusing to rule out the possible involvement of Putins intel operatives after a DHL cargo jet smashed into a house in the country, killing one person.

The Kremlin has reportedly launched a bizarre campaign of terror, targeting DHL across Europe, including allegedly placing incendiary devices hidden in packages that were due to be loaded into cargo planes operated by the courier company, which was founded in San Francisco.

New CCTV captures DHL flight QY5960 as it nose dived moments before landing at Vilnius International Airport.



The crew member who died during the crash was a Spanish citizen, the police confirmed to the Elta news agency later on Monday morning. The other three crew members pic.twitter.com/VhBBX5cEyo  Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) November 25, 2024

The Boeing jet which crashed Monday started its journey in Leipzig, Germany. The city has been the site of three previous attacks apparently orchestrated by Kremlin agents. In July, on three separate days, fires broke out in packages bound for a DHL cargo plane due to leave the city.

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On Monday, the DHL cargo plane lost control on approach to Vilnius Airport in the Lithuanian capital andjust a mile from the runwayskidded through a wooded area before smashing into the two-storey building at around 5.30am local time Monday (22:30 Sunday EST).

One person, a male crew member, died. The two pilots and all of the residents in the house survived. I saw a fireball, a witness told an AP reporter at the scene. My first thought is that a world (war) has begun.

Authorities suspect Putin had a say in the incident

Lithuanian Police Commissioner General Arunas Paulauskas said investigators are considering the possibility of a terrorist act. This is one of the versions that must be studied and checked, he said.

The incident follows suspicious blazes that targeted courier companies in Poland, Germany and the U.K. as part of a Europe-wide campaign against infrastructure which Western intelligence agencies believe is being orchestrated by Russian operatives.

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Polish authorities went on the record to confirm that they believed foreign intelligence saboteurs were involved in the bizarre firebomb plots. Prosecutor Katarzyna Calow-Jaszewska said earlier this month that bad actors had been involved in sending parcels containing hidden explosives and dangerous materials.

As far as the most recent incident goes, outgoing Lithuanian prime minister, Ingrida Simonyte, has urged people not to point the finger.

 A Swiftair Boeing 737-400 operating for DHL crashed while approaching Vilnius Airport, Lithuania, from Leipzig, Germany. The aircraft narrowly missed a residential building, and all 12 occupants were safely evacuated. Via @airwaysmagazine



Flight data pic.twitter.com/HcwPYtTOxp  RadarBox (@RadarBoxCom) November 25, 2024

In the current geopolitical context, we look at every incident differently than before, but I ask you to refrain from jumping to conclusions, she said in a statement on social media.

The police commissioner said it was too early to say what brought the plane down but said it was more likely something less nefarious than a Russian attack. Reports so far suggest there was no evidence of an explosion before the plane went down.
Armenia continues its provocative activities in the region by purchasing lethal weapons from India and France. Many view such actions from the Armenian side as an act of revanchism and a continuation of its irredentist foreign policy. It is worth noting that Armenia was once the most militarised country in Europe, spending the largest portion of its GDP and human resources on the military. Only recently, following the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war, did Armenia become the second most militarised country in Europe, after Ukraine.

To be more clear, Armenia has pursued such a foreign policy for over 30 years, and as a result of this policy, Armenia provoked a war in the South Caucasus in 2020, which led to its defeat. However, instead of taking a lesson from the humiliating defeat and relinquishing its provocative policies, Yerevan blamed Russia and its "outdated" weapons, which comprised 94 per cent of the Armenian arsenal. Armenia then sought to alter the sources for the purchase of weapons. Consequently, Yerevan doubled its military budget, which is expected to reach $1.7 billion for the first time in its history. Additionally, the military budget comprises six per cent of its GDP, a very high percentage compared to other countries.Soon, countries aiming to boost their defence industries, like India and France, offered their products to Armenia.Since 2020, Armenia has signed numerous contracts with these countries. Recently, media outlets reported an agreement with France to purchase Caesar howitzers and with India to purchase ATAGS (Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System) howitzers. According to the information, after testing six ATAGS, Armenia ordered 78 howitzers and requested some modifications. Naturally, this information concerns Azerbaijan. Many in Baku are evaluating Yerevan's attempts to determine if Azerbaijan has a response.

Speaking to Azernews, military expert Terlan Eyvazov noted that despite the Armenian Defense Ministry's aspiration to purchase lethal weapons from India and France, this will not be easy to acquire them. For example, it will take a year and a half for Armenia to acquire Caesar howitzers.

These weapons are not products that can be assembled in advance and stored in a warehouse. They are manufactured strictly after an order is placed. Besides, due to the disadvantages of the weapons, their integration also takes time. The biggest disadvantage of ATAGS howitzers for Yerevan is that Armenia is a mountainous country. Although these weapons have long-range capabilities, they are very heavy, which is inconvenient for a country with predominantly mountainous terrain. Now, Armenia is asking India to reduce their weight. The fact that these weapons are mentioned in the press does not mean that they are ready and will be delivered to Armenia immediately. Their production and delivery will take a considerable amount of time, the expert said.

As for their capabilities and Azerbaijans response, Terlan Eyvazov noted that ATAGS and CAESAR howitzers are high-quality and have a long range. Additionally, the shells of the howitzers are 155 mm and can hit targets at a distance of over 40 km.

However, Azerbaijan is also taking measures against this. Even before the 44-day war, Azerbaijan had purchased DANA howitzers from the Czech Republic. After the war, Azerbaijan acquired DITAs, a more modern version of DANA, which outshines ATAGS. Azerbaijan even demonstrated these weapons at the arms exhibition held in Baku this year. Furthermore, media outlets reported that Baku ordered Nora B-52 howitzers from Serbia, which surpassed the French Caesar, T. Eyvazov added.

Regarding Armenia's attempt to change the balance of power in the region, Terlan Eyvazov noted that it was in vain. He added that despite the Armenian press's attempts to hide it, the Armenian army lost 70 per cent of its arsenal in the war that took place four years ago. Additionally, due to Armenian soldiers abandoning their positions and fleeing, many of their weapons fell intact into the hands of the Azerbaijani army.

The destroyed weapons belonging to the Armenian army are now displayed in an open-air museum in Azerbaijan. The weapons captured as trophies have been incorporated into the Azerbaijani arsenal. Therefore, Armenia is still engaged in replacing the weapons it lost. Considering that Azerbaijan is closely monitoring events in the region and taking adequate steps, it means that despite all of Armenia's efforts, a change in the balance of power in Armenia's favour in the region is unlikely in the coming years, Terlan Eyvazov concluded.
MOSCOW, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Vologda region is ready to explore its potential to enhance economic, trade and cultural cooperation with China, acting governor Georgy Filimonov has said.

The Days of the Vologda Region event was held in China last week, aiming to strengthen interregional and business cooperation with China, Filimonov told Xinhua in a recent interview.

The event featured business activities in Beijing and Shanghai, and the Russian delegation visited Xi'an and Suzhou, he added.

Chinese provinces are crucial to the Vologda region's foreign trade, Filimonov said. "China ranks third in (the region's) foreign trade turnover, accounting for 11 percent."

"The vast potential in bilateral trade and economic relations, as well as cultural and people-to-people cooperation, remains significantly underestimated and largely unexplored," Filimonov said.

The acting governor said a cooperation agreement between the Vologda region and China's Jiangsu province was signed earlier this year, and additional plans are underway to enhance bilateral cooperation and exchanges in various areas.

"We are currently working on the creation of a trade representative position in China," he said, stressing that the role would provide the region with opportunities to "further unlock the potential for economic cooperation."

Filimonov also called for joint efforts to strengthen tourism cooperation. "The goal is to showcase the tourism potential of our homeland so that our Chinese partners can explore the region's historical and cultural heritage," he said. 
Nov. 25FROSTBURG  The Parris N. Glendening Recreation Complex, one of the most popular recreational areas in the city of Frostburg, is getting an upgrade.

New playground equipment will be installed at the park in January and should be ready for play as soon as the work is complete, according to city officials.

The old equipment, which was removed last week, was nearly 20 years old and nearing "maximum life" for such equipment, Brian Vogt, the city's director of parks and recreation, said.

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Playground equipment is typically replaced after 20 years of use due to deterioration and new safety standards.

"It was the oldest playground in town," Vogt said.

Plans for new playground equipment from the company GameTime Inc. were finalized during October's mayor and council meeting.

Funding came from Program Open Space, which is administered by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Additional money was pulled from COVID-19 relief funding and matched by GameTime Inc.

"That allowed us to basically double the amount of playground equipment we could get," said Vogt.

The new playground will look drastically different and provide more physical activities for children due to its larger size.

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"Definitely an upgrade," Vogt said. "Playground equipment has changed quite a bit in 20 years."

Much of the new equipment will provide a safer space for children to climb and exercise.

Vogt said that safety concerns for children were the No. 1 concern for getting the playground replaced.

"(The children) will have a new playground that we don't have anywhere else in town," said Vogt.

The playground will also have several new slides and state-of-the-art climbing gyms.

In the future, Vogt said that there aren't many big projects planned for Glendening, however, several small projects focused on maintenance and upkeep will keep the area looking fresh.

Andrew Creelman is a reporter for the Cumberland Times-News. To reach him, call 304-639-4403 or email acreelman@times-news.com.
UPDATE, 11/25: The body of Tom Galloway was discovered Sunday night, Nov. 24.

ORIGINAL STORY: SANTAQUIN, Utah (ABC4)  The family of a man who has been missing since Friday, Nov. 22, is asking the public for help finding him.

Tom Galloway, 30, was last seen on Friday, just after 7 a.m. when he left for work. Other than a brief conversation with his brothers around noon that day, his family hasnt heard from him since Friday either.

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LEARN MORE: What should you do if someone goes missing?

An image of Tom Galloway, 30, who was last seen on Nov. 22, 2024. His family is seeking help in their search for him. (Courtesy: Samuel Galloway) An image of Tom Galloway, 30, who was last seen on Nov. 22, 2024. His family is seeking help in their search for him. (Courtesy: Samuel Galloway) An image of Tom Galloway, 30, who was last seen on Nov. 22, 2024. His family is seeking help in their search for him. (Courtesy: Samuel Galloway) An image of Tom Galloway, 30, who was last seen on Nov. 22, 2024. His family is seeking help in their search for him. (Courtesy: Samuel Galloway) An image of Tom Galloway, 30, who was last seen on Nov. 22, 2024. His family is seeking help in their search for him. (Courtesy: Samuel Galloway)

We want to bring him home. But if thats not possible, we just want to know where he is, Toms parents, Michelle and Dave Galloway, told ABC4.com on Sunday.

Toms family said he loves musical theater, his cats, and horror movies. His parents described him as outgoing, animated, and the life of the party.

Tom drives a green Kia Soul with the license plate number T780B. The car has several stickers on the back referencing Harry Potter, Wonder Woman, and The Little Mermaid. Tom also has several identifying tattoos, including Jack Skellington and paper airplanes on his arms.

Tom Galloway, 30, who was last seen on Nov. 22, 2024, drives a green Kia Soul with several stickers on the back. (Courtesy: Samuel Galloway)

Tom Galloway, 30, who was last seen on Nov. 22, 2024, has several tattoos. (Courtesy: Samuel Galloway)

Tom Galloway, 30, who was last seen on Nov. 22, 2024, has several tattoos. (Courtesy: Samuel Galloway)

Tom Galloway, 30, who was last seen on Nov. 22, 2024, has several tattoos. (Courtesy: Samuel Galloway)

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Tom Galloway, 30, who was last seen on Nov. 22, 2024, has several tattoos. (Courtesy: Samuel Galloway)

Friends and family members have spent the past several days searching for Tom near Santaquin, Utah, where he lives. They have also expanded their search further north into Utah and Salt Lake counties.

He didnt pack any bags, he didnt take anything with him, Michelle Galloway said. Either he isnt  wasnt able to come home because someone harmed him or took him, or he made a really, really, really bad decision that he cant come back from.

Anyone with information on Toms whereabouts has been asked to contact Santaquin Police and reference case number 24SQ04545.

Toms parents said he lost a job he loved back in April. They told ABC4.com that Tom suffers from anxiety and depression  and they said that those are some mitigating factors.

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Tom, we love you. We dont care about where youve been or why youve been gone, we just want you home, his mother said.

So much love, Tom, please  please come home, his father added.

Toms parents have asked people to keep an eye out for Tom and his car. Those searching for Tom have created a Facebook page to provide updates on their efforts.

What to do when speaking to law enforcement about a missing person

More than 600,000 people go missing each year in the United States, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

Here are some suggestions to keep in mind if someone you know goes missing.

Utah officials suggest taking notes on interactions with law enforcement to keep track of details such as officer names, dates and times of interactions, the case number, and what the officers say.

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When working with local law enforcement to report a missing person, it is recommended one shares as much information as possible about the missing person, including but not limited to:

Full name or nicknames.

Recent photos.

Date of birth and age at the time they disappeared.

Gender/sex.

Detailed physical description (including unique scars or tattoos).

Date of disappearance.

Medical conditions.

Last known location.

Social media accounts.

Additional resources

For more information, the Department of Public Safety has a page on its website dedicated to resources for missing persons, as well as pages to view missing persons from Utah.

Additional hotlines and resources originally compiled in a 2021 guidebook are available below:

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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 ABC4 Utah.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha will visit Warsaw on Tuesday, 26 November, to meet with his Polish counterpart Radosaw Sikorski.

Source: Polish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pawe Wronski in a comment to PAP, as reported by European Pravda.

Details: According to Wronski, the ministers will discuss the situation in Ukraine, bilateral relations and the consequences of the recent Group of Five meeting in Warsaw.

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A press conference between Sybiha and Sikorski will be held on Tuesday afternoon, after which the parties will begin negotiations.

The Polish Foreign Ministry spokesperson stressed that the topic of the Volyn massacre will also be raised during the meeting, as well as the issue of transatlantic ties and possible changes in US policy. [The Volyn tragedy was a series of events that led to the ethnic cleansing of the Polish and Ukrainian populations in 1943 during World War II. It was part of a long-standing rivalry between Ukrainians and Poles in what is now Ukraine's west. Poland considers the Volyn tragedy a genocide of Poles  ed.].

Previously: The meeting in the format of the Group of Five, or Weimar Triangle+, took place in Warsaw on 19 November. It was attended by the heads of diplomacy of Poland, Germany, France, Italy, who were present on the spot, and Spain and the UK, who participated remotely.

The Ukrainian foreign minister was invited but could not attend the meeting.

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Background: The Polish foreign minister said that the largest EU countries are ready to provide financial and military assistance to Ukraine if the US cuts its support under the new administration led by Donald Trump.

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AKRON, Ohio (WJW)  A 14-year-old is injured after a shooting in Akron on Saturday, police said.

According to a press release from the Akron Police Department, officers responded to the area of the 700 block of Eugene Street just after 9:55 p.m.

Microsoft outage impacts Outlook, Teams, more

When they arrived at the scene, officers found the 14-year-old with gunshot wounds. The teenager was then taken to the Akron Childrens Hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries, the release said.

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According to the release, investigations are currently underway.

Baker Mayfield seeks $12M in lawsuit against his fathers company, alleges breach of contract

Police ask that anyone with information about the shooting call the Akron Police Department Detective Bureau at 330-375-2490 or 330-375-2Tip.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now)  Detectives in Prince Georges County are working to learn what led to a deadly shooting in Capitol Heights on Sunday night.

According to the Prince Georges County Police Department (PGPD), shortly before 8 p.m. on Nov. 24, officers responded to the 5000 block of Lee Jay Court for a shooting. This is where the Hillside Heights Apartments are located.

Once on the scene, officers found 21-year-old Christian West, of Hyattsville, outside suffering from gunshot wounds.

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Man dies after fire erupts in Prince Georges County home, fire officials investigating

He was taken to the hospital, where he died.

Detectives are still working to determine a motive, and as of Monday, Nov. 25, no suspects were in custody.

The police department said it is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information that leads to an arrest and indictment in this case.

Anyone with information is asked to call homicide detectives at 301-501-2512, Prince Georges County Crime Solvers at 866-411-TIPS, or enter a tip online.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Anti-Semitism is sometimes called the oldest hatred, but on the streets of London and other British cities it was until recently still comparatively unfamiliar.

Since October 7th last year, however, Jews in this country have endured thousands of vile attacks, often in connection with marches and other protests against the war in Israel, Gaza and Lebanon. Perhaps for the first time in recent history, British Jews have felt anti-Semitism to be a serious threat.

The police have been slow to respond to the scale of this hostility. They have shown culpable reluctance to pass even the most egregious cases on to the Crown Prosecution Service.

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Now Jews are fighting back. Gideon Falter, head of the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism (CAAS), says that his charity has been forced to bring private prosecutions when police refused to act. In effect, the CAAS is doing what ought to be the polices job.

Meanwhile, the notorious (and now abandoned) investigation by Essex Police into a year-old social media post by our columnist Allison Pearson has highlighted the colossal waste of police time on trivial incidents online. In Mr Falters words: Recent events show that the police do have the capacity and will to act when they want to, but they too often devote their resources to nonsense.

It is high time that recognising, pursuing and prosecuting anti-Semitism were made a top priority by the police and criminal justice system. As the late Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explained, this form of hatred is a virus that has mutated over time and now appears most conspicuously in the form of Anti-Zionism.

Jews were first hated for their religion, then for their race, and today for their state. Denying Jews the right to live peacefully in their own state, as Hamas, Hezbollah and various other Islamist organisations do, is the most dangerous present-day manifestation of anti-Semitism.

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The forces of law and order in this country are still turning a blind eye to this threat. Whether due to a lack of training or an unwillingness to risk confrontation, the police have failed to reassure the Jewish community that anti-Semitism has no place in Britain. The time left in which to do so is fast running out.

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Police in Independence are seeking the publics help to find a missing 19-year-old last seen Saturday night.

Preston Bell was last known to be in the 500 block of South Brookside around 8:30 p.m. being forced into a vehicle by unknown people. His family has been unable to reach him since, according to a Facebook post from the Independence Police Department.

A photo of 19-year-old Preston Bell, missing from Independence

The vehicle is described as a black Chevrolet Malibu, with Missouri plates RL4-C4B and a dent in the passenger door.

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Bell is a 59 white male, 140 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes. He was last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt with Senior 2023 on the front and black sweatpants. He has a full sleeve tattoo on his right arm and the word Pamela tattooed on his left arm, according to the post.

Preston Bell was seen getting into a car similar to this one.

Anyone who sees Bell or his car is asked to contact local law enforcement. Any information regarding his disappearance should contact Independence police at 816-325-7300.
ZAGREB, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government's decision to extend its visa-free policy to nine additional countries, including Croatia, has been warmly received by Damir Kresic, managing director of Croatia's Institute for Tourism.

Speaking to Xinhua on Monday, Kresic described the move as "definitely good news" that is expected to encourage more Croatian and European travelers to visit China.

"I think that every visa-free policy helps tourism to develop, especially on an international level, so it is definitely good news," said Kresic from the Zagred-based Institute for Tourism, which specializes in research and consultancy services in tourism.

China announced on Friday that ordinary passport holders from nine more countries -- Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Estonia, Latvia, and Japan -- will enjoy visa-free entry on a one-year trial basis starting Nov. 30, 2024. This brings the total number of countries eligible for visa-free access to China to 38.

Under this arrangement, visitors can enter China without a visa for stays of up to 30 days for purposes such as business, tourism, family visits, exchanges, and transit.

Kresic emphasized the psychological advantages of such policies, noting that visa waivers make destinations feel "freer and more accessible" to travelers. "The waiver of visas reduces the psychological barriers that people have in some way," he said.

China's growing reputation as a nation capable of executing major projects has also fueled interest among Croatians, according to Kresic. He cited the Peljesac Bridge project, which connected Croatia's mainland with the Peljesac Peninsula on the country's southern Adriatic coast for the first time in history.

Moreover, Kresic views the expanded visa-free policy as a reflection of China's increasing openness to the world. "This is China's way of saying to the international community: You are welcome, you are all invited," he noted.

The policy also strengthens bilateral relations between China and Croatia, which are already on good terms. "The latest visa-free policy certainly contributes to even better relations," Kresic said.

Meanwhile, Kresic welcomes more Chinese tourists to Croatia, which has received as many as 300, 000 Chinese tourists annually before the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Although we are still not at pre-pandemic levels, we are getting closer. I believe that we will have more and more tourists from China," he said. 
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (PIX11)  An 84-year-old woman reported missing has been found, the NYPD announced on Monday.

More Local News

Mercedes Vera was last seen around 9 a.m. on Saturday at 372 Blake Avenue, police say.

Vera is described as a Hispanic woman, approximately 48 and 105 pounds with white hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a red and brown sweater and black Puma sneakers, police say.

Vera was last seen Saturday morning, police say. (Courtesy of the NYPD)

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).

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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.
TEXARKANA, Texas (KETK)  An overdose investigation led to the arrest of 31-year-old man and the seizure of firearms and drugs including methamphetamine, marijuana and cocaine in Texarkana.

According to the Texarkana Police Department, an investigation began in September due to a drug-related death that led them to a house in the 2400 block of Laurel Street in Arkansas where narcotics were being sold.

OFFICIALS: Synthetic weed smuggled into Polk County Jail through USPS, warrants issued

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The police department reached out to Texarkana Arkansas Police Department and the Miller County Sheriffs Office, helping them serve a search warrant. Officials said in the Arkansas home on Laurel Street, 60.1 grams of methamphetamine and 138 grams of marijuana were found.

The resident of the home was identified as William R. May, 31 of Texarkana, and police said warrants for his arrest were obtained. During the investigation, police learned that May had moved to a home on the 4000 block of Colorado Street in Texarkana, Texas.

A patrol unit conducted a traffic stop on May and reportedly found him in possession of drugs. The Texas police department said they arrested him on his Arkansas warrants and took him to the Miller County Jail.

Texarkana PD said after his Nov. 5 arrest, they learned that more drugs were located in the Texas residence.

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A search warrant led to the seizure of 83 pounds of marijuana, approximately one pound of methamphetamine, half a pound of cocaine, several grams of Hydrocodone and Xanax pills, a large amount of TCH vape cartridges, Psilocybin candy and several firearms, the police department said.

Troup K9 officer receives medical kit donation

Courtesy of the Texarkana Police Department.

May remains at the Miller County Jail for the Arkansas charges and the Texas police department said additional charges are pending as the case is still being investigated.

The unique challenge of the twin cities straddling two states can make criminal investigations tricky. But this case shows how the dedicated officers from all surrounding agencies come together to get the job done, the Texas police department said. Working as one team to protect and serve our communityevery time, no matter the challenge. Thats teamwork at its best.

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Polish farmers, who staged a protest in the village of Medyka and blocked the Sheghini border crossing with Ukraine, have suspended their blockade, Ukraines State Customs Service reported on Nov. 24.

The protest lasted for just over one day, starting on Nov. 23.

The decision followed a meeting with Polish Minister of Agriculture Czeslaw Siekierski, during which farmers agreed to submit their demands by Nov. 26, with the minister promising a response by December 10.

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The blockade had restricted truck traffic from Ukraine, with only one truck per hour permitted from Poland to Ukraine. However, vehicles like buses, cars, humanitarian aid, and military convoys were allowed through.

Farmers were protesting the Polish government's failure to maintain the agricultural tax rate in 2024 at the same level as in 2023, according to RMF24.

They were also reportedly protesting over concerns about the European Union signing a free trade agreement with South American countries in the Mercosur bloc.

We want to put pressure on the government to prevent this agreement from being reached, said Roman Kondrov, a protest organizer.

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As of November 24, truck traffic at the crossing has been fully restored, according to Ukraine's State Customs Service.

Polish farmers have staged multiple protests at border crossings between Poland and Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war, including protests against Ukrainian agricultural imports in the EU.

Read also: War in Ukraine at decisive stage, risk of global conflict, Polands Tusk says

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
(Bloomberg) -- Polands biggest opposition party Law & Justice selected historian Karol Nawrocki to run in next years presidential election in a bid to hold on to the role as a counterweight to Prime Minister Donald Tusks government.

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Nawrocki, 41, a relatively little-known figure who has been leading the state Institute of National Remembrance, will compete against Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski. The pro-European Union Civic Platform picked Trzaskowski in a separate primary Saturday.

Securing the presidency is key for Tusks government, which vowed to restore the rule of law and bring Poland back toward the European mainstream. Its attempts have so far faced opposition from President Andrzej Duda, an ally of the former nationalist Law & Justice administration. Dudas second and final term ends in August 2025.

The weekends selections signal the start of the campaign ahead of the ballot expected in May. Law & Justice sought a candidate outside of its core leadership to help focus the campaign on the economy, party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski told a convention in the southern city of Krakow.

Security issues will also be paramount in the presidential race amid signs of escalation in Russias war against neighboring Ukraine in the past weeks.

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(Updates with comment from party leader.)

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Paul Mitchell, Vice President of Political Data, Inc., joined Inside California Politics co-host Nikki Laurenzo to discuss some of the trends within this latest election.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
(Graphic by Troy Becker/The Forum)

A new statewide poll shows North Dakotans largely support state involvement in providing free school meals, funding child care initiatives and helping build more affordable housing.

This support of big government expenditures comes despite a generally conservative political climate that favors curtailed spending and less government in North Dakota.

The poll, commissioned by the North Dakota News Cooperative, could also provide insight for legislators at the upcoming 69th Legislative Assembly on key areas of concern for state residents.

Large support free school meals

An overwhelming majority of respondents support state involvement in providing free school meals for children, with 82% in favor and 14% opposing. A total of 65% strongly favor providing free meals at schools.

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That support is generally high among all age groups with the most opposition coming from men over 55.

Within party affiliation, 95% of Democrats, 82% of independents and 76% of Republicans supported providing free meals at schools.

During the last legislative session, House Bill 1491 fell short of passing by one vote in the state Senate after passing the House. That bill would have provided free lunches for children from families at 200% of the federal poverty level  comparable to a family of three making around $60,000 at the time  and would have cost $6 million over the two years it was funded.

An earlier version of that bill had called for universal free school lunches  with a price tag of $90 million  but was modified to increase its chances of passing.

Yearning for more on child care

Broad support also appears to be growing for more state involvement in solving the child care crisis. Major workforce challenges persist, creating gaps between supply of child care spaces and strong demand. As more families move to the state to fill open positions, solving that crisis will be paramount to attract talent.

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A total of 61% of respondents support state involvement in childcare, with 31% opposed. Support here was slightly more mixed, with 34% strongly supporting state involvement, and 21% strongly opposed. Support and opposition remained generally steady across all age groups, though the most support comes from respondents between the ages of 18-34.

Among party affiliation, 82% of Democrats, 57% of Republicans and 55% of independent respondents favored the state doing more.

In 2023, the legislature passed House Bill 1540, which provided $66 million in state funds for helping to alleviate workforce and other child care challenges. At the time, some groups said it would take at least double or potentially triple that amount to really make a difference in addressing the crisis.

Respondents support affordable housing

People also want the state to tackle the affordable housing crisis, with 68% believing the state should give more support and 22% opposing that support. A total of 48% definitely believe the state should do more in this area.

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In mid-November, Gov. Doug Burgum released a proposed $96 million in recommendations for addressing housing needs. This included around $39 million for financing options to help cover gaps in developing single and multi-family homes, $23 million for grants toward rural and urban housing projects, and another $10 million for addressing homelessness.

The governor will submit the recommendations to the Legislature in December.

Split on school choice

For a question looking at whether North Dakotans would be in favor of using public dollars to support private schools, respondents were split: 45% in support, and 44% in opposition.

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The numbers were evenly split on those who strongly supported or opposed school choice as well: 27% strongly support school choice, and 28% strongly oppose.

The latest poll also shows a move away from the two major parties when it comes to party affiliation. Only 29% consider themselves staunch Republicans and only 11% strong Democrats, while 37% identified as independent.

Diving further into those numbers shows potentially where those trends are going: 47% of those between the ages of 18-34 consider themselves independent.

For women ages 18-54, 45% see themselves as independent from either major party.

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Among other poll questions related to government or government policy, North Dakotans took a generally positive view of state government. A total of 51% believe North Dakota lawmakers behave ethically compared to 35% who do not believe so.

On whether people see the state government as too big or not, the picture is mixed: 39% believe it is too big, and 38% do not believe so. A large chunk, at 23%, didnt know or refused to answer.

The North Dakota Poll surveyed 500 adults between Nov. 17-19, and has a margin of error of +/- 4.4%. The poll surveyed roughly equal numbers of men and women, as well as equally from the eastern and western halves of the state. The poll was conducted by national research firm WPA Intelligence.

The North Dakota News Cooperative is a nonprofit news organization providing reliable and independent reporting on issues and events that impact the lives of North Dakotans. The organization increases the publics access to quality journalism and advances news literacy across the state. For more information about NDNC or to make a charitable contribution, please visit newscoopnd.org.
What to expect: The new odor code, which takes effect on March 1, 2025, will require five or more people living within 150 feet (45.7 meters) of a business to file a complaint about odors within 30 days before an investigation is launched. The amended policy will also exempt retail and service businesses from the odor code regulation, while those still subject to the law will be allowed 30 minutes of continuous odor emissions per day, instead of the current 15 minutes. Speaking to the Willamette Week, Dong said he felt like the decoy or the bait for change. Nothing is going to happen to them, but a lot of things happen to me. It took part of my livelihood  a third of my income is from there, he said.
A refrigerant used in most fridges is considered highly flammable and could pose a potential explosion risk.

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As reported on News Center 7 Daybreak, Some repair companies wont work on most fridges because of the potential explosion risk posed by a highly common refrigerant.

Lenore Satterwaite told our sister station WSOC-TV in Charlotte about an explosion that happened in her North Carolina home last year.

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I just saw the refrigerator doors on the floor, holes in the wall, Satterwaite said. The whole wall was blocked in. The other side, too.

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While fire investigators werent able to confirm the cause of the explosion, they were able to determine that it came from inside the fridge.

It was a modern model that contained a refrigerant called R600a, which is used in most fridges and by many different manufacturers.

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Mike Maninno, who has worked in the appliance repair industry for more than 45 years, has seen the evolution of refrigeration.

In Maninnos early years, the common refrigerant was R12, a chlorofluorocarbon that was banned in the 90s for damaging the ozone.

After that, it was R134a, but the EPA is phasing that out because of concerns its bad for global warming.

Now the refrigerant of choice is R600a, which is considered efficient and environmentally friendly.

R600a is an isobutane, a flammable substance like what might be found in a cigarette lighter.

Im not saying these things are going to start exploding all over the country, but the potential is there that, you know, something catastrophic could possibly happen, Maninno said.

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Despite the potential, fridge explosions arent common. The Consumer Product Safety Commission only has a handful of complaints about them over the past few years.

Still, Maninno refused to work on fridges.

They can be potentially dangerous for the servicer, plus the homeowner, he said.

This risk doesnt just apply to the homeowner. Maninno said he worries about all the minifridges in college dorms.

Plus, there is a new trend on social media that is driving the popularity of makeup that needs refrigeration. Some parents are putting mini-fridges with R600a in childrens bedrooms.

You know, usually refrigerators are right next to their bed, he said.

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While its hard to avoid these appliances, here are some ways to protect you and your family from potentially dangerous fridge explosions:

Make sure you have good ventilation around your fridge. Dont jam it up against the wall.

Be careful smoking, lighting candles, or using any other open flames around them.

Think twice before trying any repair work on it yourself. And, if you do, be careful about tools that spark.

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The Brutus Buckeye statue was badly damaged outside a well-known store on the Ohio State University campus.

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The Brutus statue outside of College Traditions on West Lane Avenue in Columbus was vandalized around 3 a.m. Sunday morning, according to our news partner WBNS in Columbus.

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All that is left in front of the store are two fiberglass stumps. Those are the remains of Brutus ankles.

His battered figure now sits near the stores counter. It is missing a hand and has gashes across his head and body, WBNS reports.

The store owner is asking the alleged vandal to come forward.

It was a pretty brutal attack on Brutus, said Kelly Dawes.

The person who smashed Brutus against their Woody Hayes statue also caused it to suffer damage as well, WBNS says.

Hes been our welcome ever since. People just love getting their picture taken with him. Ive had several customers today who were very upset, Dawes said.

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Brutus remains standing with a quote, I get knocked down but I get back up again!

Michigan week is underway on OSUs campus as the Buckeyes host the Wolverines on Saturday at noon in Columbus.

Photo contributed by WBNS-TV

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Data centers in Ashburn, Va. Virginia is home to many data centers and Maryland jurisdictions are looking at ways to bring the facilities to the state, but the Prince George's County Council balked last week at a proposal to streamline the process. Photo by Gerville/Getty Images.

By John Domen

A bill to streamline the process for approving data centers in Prince Georges County enjoyed a relatively quiet path from introduction through committee hearings, but at a final vote last week the county council balked in the face of residents concerns.

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The bill was proposed earlier this year by County Executive Angela Alsobrooks as a way for the cash-strapped county to quicken the approval process and begin generating tax revenue  the way local governments in Northern Virginia already do.

But speakers who turned out at last Tuesdays council meeting, the final day of this years legislative session, raised concerns that a streamlined process would mean data centers could be jammed into any neighborhood with no recourse for the residents who live there.

It eliminates necessary public oversight and planning processes for large facilities with potential adverse environmental impacts, said Janet Gingold, with the Prince Georges County Sierra Club, during her Tuesday testimony. We need systems in place that will enable careful consideration of their location and design to mitigate their adverse impacts and to ensure that they do not disproportionately harm communities that are already overburdened.

The bill eliminates the only remaining opportunity for the planning board and the public to scrutinize the proposal to ensure that [it] aligns with county goals, meets local needs and includes design features to minimize that adverse impacts, she added.

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By curtailing public oversight for significant development projects like data centers, [the bill] undermines community involvement and government accountability, said Fort Washington resident Ron Weiss.

Economic development deputy chief administrative officer Angie Rodgers tried to ease residents concerns.

We arent anticipating data centers to pop up on every available parcel, she stressed. There are maps that show where these are likely to go.

Locations currently under study include land in the Brandywine area, not far from an existing power plant, as well as the Konterra section of Laurel. Theres also been discussions about building a data center at the site of the old Landover Mall just inside the Beltway, although infrastructure issues might make that site cost prohibitive.

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Other speakers raised concerns about the environmental impact of data centers, which consume massive amounts of energy.

Data centers already are imposing massive loads on the states  generating capacity and transmission grid, said Greg Smith, with Sustainable Hyattsville.

Some worried about the amount of energy needed to power the data centers, the impact they would have on electricity supplies and how that would impact the utility rates that local residents pay. Pollution and other environmental impacts were also brought up.

But those who supported the measure pointed to the massive budget deficit looming over the county next year, and in future years.

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We have not seen any industry that can provide taxable revenue needed for sustainable ecosystem like data centers, said Alex Austin, with the Prince Georges County Chamber of Commerce.

Council Vice Chair Sidney Harrison, the most vocal about the countys budget issues, expanded on that sentiment.

If you look at what Loudoun County has done, 42% of their local tax base is provided by data centers, Harrison said of the Northern Virginia county. Everyone in this room has a cellphone and a computer, thats where your data goes to  that goes to Virginia. So youre talking about a $1.3 billion industry that helps manage their local government.

But Councilmember Wala Blegay countered that those benefits come from having nearly 200 data centers operating throughout the county. Right now, Prince Georges County doesnt have any.

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Its increased revenue, Blegay said. But this is not a windfall of money.

Everyone in this room has a cellphone and a computer, that's where your data goes to  that goes to Virginia. So youre talking about a $1.3 billion industry that helps manage their local government.

 Prince George's County Council Vice Chair Sydney Harrison

A majority of the council sided with her, agreeing that a different approach to changing zoning rules to allow for data centers was needed. The council voted to hold the bill from a final vote, so more work can be done next year.

I believe that we will need to pass this bill eventually, said Council Chair Jolene Ivey, who bemoaned the long process involved in approving any construction. She pointed to the five years she said it took just to build a storage center in her district.

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But the first step would be to deal with making sure that they can get the energy that they need without it being a burden to homeowners, Ivey said.

She also urged the county to do an overlay zone that includes the public in deciding where they  will go, so everyone understands. And then this bill would make the most sense, because at that point, you know where theyre going.

 As part of Maryland Matters content sharing agreement with WTOP, we feature this article from John Domen. Click here for the WTOP News website.
MOSCOW, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Russia is expected to export 55-60 million tons of grain this agricultural season, a drop from 72 million tons last season, Russia's TASS news agency reported Monday.

"The total grain harvest will reach 130 million tons, including 83 million tons of wheat. This volume will enable Russia to export 55-60 million tons of grain this season (July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025)," Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev said in an interview.

Patrushev added that Russian farmers face difficult weather conditions this year, including spring frost damage in several regions, summer droughts, and heavy rains during the harvest season.

"Thanks to the advanced technological capabilities of our agricultural sector, we anticipate achieving a decent harvest. This will fully meet domestic market demands and sustain our high export potential for both raw materials and processed products," Patrushev added. 
Almost 100 years ago, in 1928, British explorer Bertram Thomas traveled along the southeast coastline of Oman observing and documenting the biodiversity. Along with his legacy, detailed notes of his 42-day trip remain. And now, a group of six adventurers have been given royal approval as they aim to follow in Thomas's footsteps to raise awareness of Omans natural heritage and biodiversity today.

Prince William, 42, teamed up with the heir to the Omani throne His Highness Theyazin bin Haitham, 34, today to launch the Jewel of Arabia Expedition. The two Princes made a joint appearance at the Royal Geographical Society in Kensington as they were announced as Co-Patrons of the expedition. Setting off on January 6 from Ras al Hadd, six adventurers will sleep under the stars on their 30-day route to Salalah by foot, camel and 4x4.

This exhibition will not only highlight Omans rich biodiversity and natural heritage, William said in a short speech. But it also symbolizes the enduring friendship between our two countries. Wishing the expedition team luck, the prince added, I wish I was able to join you, but Ill be following it very closely.

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Designed to raise awareness, the expedition will see the six participants joined by groups of young people to highlight the importance of the next generation as guardians of the natural world. The team will also make use of technology to reach a wide audience, with podcasts, film, social media and photography documenting their journey.

Expedition leader, explorer Mark Evans MBE, lived in Oman for more than 20 years and hopes to showcase the extraordinary country to the world.

Its actually a very simple lifestyle, he said of the trip to media outlets including T&C. You sleep on the sand, you dont have tents. If youve ever been to the desert youll know that when the sun goes down that incredible sky lights up with stars. Why would you want to zip yourself away from that, its utterly beautiful.

It just takes the whole thing to another level, Evans said of the patronage of the two Princes.

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The involvement of the two Patrons really does put a super bright spotlight on the messaging of innovation and young people engaging with biodiversity and sustainability. It just gives this incredible country its moment on the stage on a global platform.

When asked what was the main thing he would like people watching internationally to take from the expedition, Evans replied, I just hope they will use it to challenge their own stereotypes of the Middle East, because the Middle East is just a huge, diverse region.

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Princess Kate is continuing to support the families impacted by the deadly stabbing in Southport.

According to a report by The Sun published on Friday, Nov. 22, the Princess of Wales has invited child survivors of the fatal Taylor Swift-themed dance class attack to her Christmas carol concert in December.

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"They will reunite at Westminster Abbey on Dec. 6," the outlet reports, adding that the holiday event is Kate Middleton's first Together at Christmas concert since she underwent and completed preventative chemotherapy treatments for an unspecified type of cancer.

"The royal family has been a tremendous support to the families," a source told the publication. "The King met with survivors, then Kate took time out to meet them in private last month with Prince William.

"Now, she has personally ensured everyone is invited to her concert which, this year, will mean more to her than ever before," the source added.

Prince William, Prince of Wales and Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales speak to members of the emergency services during a visit to Southport Community Centre in Southport, north west England on October 10, 2024, where they met rescue workers and the families of those caught up in the Southport knife attack earlier this year.

In July, a 17-year-old boy carried out a deadly knife attack against attendees at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class for children ages 6 to 11. Three children diedBebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9and eight others were injured.

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In the wake of the attack, Swift shared her shock regarding the event and condolences for those impacted.

The horror of yesterdays attack in Southport is washing over me continuously, she posted at the time. "These were just little kids at a dance class.

Later, while touring in the U.K., Swift invited survivors backstage during her "Eras Tour" concert at Wembley in August.

Shortly after the attack, the Prince and Princess of Wales also shared their heartbreak for and support of the victims on social media, writing that as parents they could not "begin to imagine" what those impacted were experiencing.

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As parents, we cannot begin to imagine what the families, friends and loved ones of those killed and injured in Southport today are going through," they said at the time.

King Charles III reacts as he views the floral and balloon tributes for the victims of the Southport stabbings outside Southport Town Hall during his visit to meet local community and emergency services on August 20, 2024 in Southport, England.

In October, Princess Kate and Prince William met with the families of all three victims, as well as the girls' dance teacher, Leanne Lucas, who was injured in the attack while she tried to protect her students.

The royal couple also met with fire, ambulance and police services who responded to the attack, with a focus on first responders' mental health.

Ensuring emergency responders receive long-term mental health support following traumatic events is a cause close to the heart of The Prince of Wales, given his first-hand experience as an emergency responder while serving as a pilot with RAF search and rescue and East Anglian Air Ambulance," Kensington Palace said in a written statement at the time.

"The families have met the King, met Taylor Swift and now this wonderful concert," a source told The Sun in response to Princess Kate's recent invite. "But it is all unbearably tinged with the trauma they are still dealing with."
A man involved in Germany's right-wing extremist Reich Citizens movement was sentenced to prison on Monday for conspiring to stage a coup and kidnap Health Minister Karl Lauterbach.

The 62-year-old was sentenced to two and a half years in prison by a regional court in Frankfurt after being convicted of participating in the preparation of high treason as well as membership in a terrorist organization.

He was convicted of being part of the so-called Kaiserreichsgruppe, a sprawling group of conspirators from the fringe Reich Citizens movement who allegedly plotted the violent overthrow of Germany's democratic government during the coronavirus pandemic.

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Undercover police agents managed to infiltrate the group, and the first suspects were arrested in April 2022 during a series of high-profile police raids. News of the alleged plot attracted global media attention.

The 62-year-old defendant convicted on Monday had agreed to store the necessary weapons in his garage, among other steps to advance the alleged plot.

In his final statement to the court, the man said that he regretted his crime. He has been held in custody for about a year.
A man involved in Germany's right-wing extremist Reich Citizens movement was sentenced to prison on Monday for conspiring to stage a coup and kidnap Health Minister Karl Lauterbach.

The 62-year-old was sentenced to two and a half years in prison by a regional court in Frankfurt after being convicted of participating in the preparation of high treason as well as membership in a terrorist organization.

He was convicted of being part of the so-called Kaiserreichsgruppe, a sprawling group of conspirators from the fringe Reich Citizens movement who allegedly plotted the violent overthrow of Germany's democratic government during the coronavirus pandemic.

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The group's members are said to have drafted a multi-stage plot: First, they planned to destroy the country's power supply using bomb attacks, before kidnapping Lauterbach during a talk show. For this step, the group was allegedly prepared to kill the minister's bodyguards.

Finally, they planned to introduce a system of government based on the 1871 constitution of the German Empire.

The security authorities had been monitoring the group, including with undercover police agents, since late 2021.

The first suspects were arrested in April 2022 during a series of high-profile police raids. News of the alleged plot attracted global media attention.

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According to the presiding judge, the defendant convicted on Monday had lived comfortably before running into financial problems, which worsened with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

During this time, the judge said "he lost himself in the confusion of the internet." Not believing the German constitution to be legitimate, he allegedly developed an interest in various conspiracy theories.

The judge said he eventually came across a coronavirus support group, where he met a leading member of the Kaiserreichsgruppe in December 2021.

The defendant agreed to store the necessary weapons for the coup in his garage and assist in the power outage, among other steps.

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In his final statement to the court, the man said that he regretted his crime. He has been held in custody for about a year.

A trial against five other suspected members of the group has been ongoing at a regional court in the western German city of Koblenz since May 2023.
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD)  Non-profit applauded Gov. JB Pritzker for naming November Aviation Appreciation Month.

The Alliance for Aviation Across America applauds Pritzker as airports in Illinois have an annual economic income of $95 billion, said Steven Fong, a spokesperson for the alliance.

Peoria International Airport moves and rededicates sculpture

We thank Governor Pritzker for his leadership in recognizing the importance of general aviation and look forward to further working with him and other leaders to support this vital form of transportation, Fong said in a release

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Pritzker named November Aviation Appreciation Month because of the economic impact with both revenue and creating over 490,000 jobs in Illinois as well as the number of airports and landings in Illinois, Pritzker said in his proclamation.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNW)  The Kansas Department of Commerce has launched a new program to address housing and workforce issues in the state.

The Fostering Residential Advancement through Mentoring and Education (FRAME) grant program will provide $2 million in funding to qualified Kansas technical and community colleges to build and renovate residential homes and train students in skilled trades related to home construction.

Kansas has ushered in unprecedented levels of business investment, unlocking more workforce opportunities than weve ever seen before, but we dont want a housing shortage to limit our potential, said Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland. This new grant opportunity will help build more housing in Kansas and create more opportunities for skilled professionals to put down roots in our state.

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Arkansas City 1 of 4 communities receiving safety funding

A recent study conducted by the Kansas Department of Commerce and the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation showed a critical shortage of both housing and skilled workers to meet the demand. Statewide, contractors do not have enough labor to meet the demand for housing, and there is an urgent need for skilled labor.

We believe the FRAME grant program has the ability to transform communities across the state, Assistant Secretary of Quality Places Matt Godinez said. Not only will we see added housing, but we are creating a pipeline of skilled workers who are essential to the future of our economy.

The grant program offers $2 million in total funding, with individual awards ranging from $250,000 to $1 million per college. Applications are open for community and technical colleges with established construction programs.

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Applications are open from Dec. 1 through Feb. 14, with a webinar scheduled for Dec. 3. Award recipients will be notified in March.

To learn more about the FRAME grant, click here.

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV)  Upstate Medical University is expanding its efforts to support veterans by offering a new program to help student veterans interested in becoming doctors.

Upstate Medical University is paving the way for veterans in a new way.

We know that theres a healthcare worker shortage in Central New York and at Upstate Medical University we are always looking for opportunities to figure out how we can attract more people into our programs, said Robert Ruiz, associate dean of Student Admissions at Upstate Medical University.

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The Special Operations Forces to School of Medicine program, short for SOFtoSOM is geared towards veterans who served as medics in the Navy Seals, Marine Raiders, and other special operation forces who want to become doctors. Upstates Norton College of Medicine is now the fifth school in the country to offer the program.

The SOF program helps them prepare through research and mentorship programs and provided they successfully complete that program with some pre-recs requirements they are guaranteed an interview at a medical school. They still have to of course go through our review process but this is quite a substantial advancement for them and we are really excited because these individuals have a lot of the skills and attributes that were looking for in future physicians, said Ruiz.

Upstates four colleges also offer a wide variety of healthcare programs for students looking to pursue a different path, including veterans like Jack Pullano, who served as a senior airman in the U.S. Air Force from 2017 to 2021.

I felt like I got to learn a lot from not only people in the military but also being kind of submerged in another culture. It kind of just helped me build some characteristics and some traits that I brought with me to college, said Pullano.

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A graduate of Syracuse University, Pullano is a first-year student at Upstate, where he receives veteran education benefits.

The VA coordinators here on campus reached out to me at the beginning of the semester and I didnt really have any issues. The communication was amazing, said Pullano.

Offering a support system to students like, Pullano and other veterans. Pullano is hoping to continue to spread that support by becoming a Physical Therapist.

As a physical therapist you can impact someone, any patient that you interact with and that patient can go along and have an impact somewhere else and its kind of just like a confounding effect, said Pullano.

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Pullano says after he graduates, he would like to work as a Physical Therapist at Syracuses VA Medical Center.

Click here to learn more about the SOFtoSOM program at Upstate Medical University.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 story was originally published by ProPublica.

Wrapping his wife in a blanket as she mourned the loss of her pregnancy at 11 weeks, Hope Ngumezi wondered why no obstetrician was coming to see her.

Over the course of six hours on June 11, 2023, Porsha Ngumezi had bled so much in the emergency department at Houston Methodist Sugar Land that shed needed two transfusions. She was anxious to get home to her young sons, but, according to a nurses notes, she was still passing large clots the size of grapefruit.

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Hope dialed his mother, a former physician, who was unequivocal. You need a D&C, she told them, referring to dilation and curettage, a common procedure for first-trimester miscarriages and abortions. If a doctor could remove the remaining tissue from her uterus, the bleeding would end.

But when Dr. Andrew Ryan Davis, the obstetrician on duty, finally arrived, he said it was the hospitals routine to give a drug called misoprostol to help the body pass the tissue, Hope recalled. Hope trusted the doctor. Porsha took the pills, according to records, and the bleeding continued.

Three hours later, her heart stopped.

The 35-year-olds death was preventable, according to more than a dozen doctors who reviewed a detailed summary of her case for ProPublica. Some said it raises serious questions about how abortion bans are pressuring doctors to diverge from the standard of care and reach for less-effective options that could expose their patients to more risks. Doctors and patients described similar decisions theyve witnessed across the state.

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It was clear Porsha needed an emergency D&C, the medical experts said. She was hemorrhaging and the doctors knew she had a blood-clotting disorder, which put her at greater danger of excessive and prolonged bleeding. Misoprostol at 11 weeks is not going to work fast enough, said Dr. Amber Truehart, an OB-GYN at the University of New Mexico Center for Reproductive Health. The patient will continue to bleed and have a higher risk of going into hemorrhagic shock. The medical examiner found the cause of death to be hemorrhage.

D&Cs  a staple of maternal health care  can be lifesaving. Doctors insert a straw-like tube into the uterus and gently suction out any remaining pregnancy tissue. Once the uterus is emptied, it can close, usually stopping the bleeding.

But because D&Cs are also used to end pregnancies, the procedure has become tangled up in state legislation that restricts abortions. In Texas, any doctor who violates the strict law risks up to 99 years in prison. Porshas is the fifth case ProPublica has reported in which women died after they did not receive a D&C or its second-trimester equivalent, a dilation and evacuation; three of those deaths were in Texas.

Texas doctors told ProPublica the law has changed the way their colleagues see the procedure; some no longer consider it a first-line treatment, fearing legal repercussions or dissuaded by the extra legwork required to document the miscarriage and get hospital approval to carry out a D&C. This has occurred, ProPublica found, even in cases like Porshas where there isnt a fetal heartbeat or the circumstances should fall under an exception in the law. Some doctors are transferring those patients to other hospitals, which delays their care, or theyre defaulting to treatments that arent the medical standard.

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Misoprostol, the medicine given to Porsha, is an effective method to complete low-risk miscarriages but is not recommended when a patient is unstable. The drug is also part of a two-pill regimen for abortions, yet administering it may draw less scrutiny than a D&C because it requires a smaller medical team and because the drug is commonly used to induce labor and treat postpartum hemorrhage. Since 2022, some Texas women who were bleeding heavily while miscarrying have gone public about only receiving medication when they asked for D&Cs. One later passed out in a pool of her own blood.

Stigma and fear are there for D&Cs in a way that they are not for misoprostol, said Dr. Alison Goulding, an OB-GYN in Houston. Doctors assume that a D&C is not standard in Texas anymore, even in cases where it should be recommended. People are afraid: They see D&C as abortion and abortion as illegal.

Doctors and nurses involved in Porshas care did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Several physicians who reviewed the summary of her case pointed out that Davis post-mortem notes did not reflect nurses documented concerns about Porshas heavy bleeding. After Porsha died, Davis wrote instead that the nurses and other providers described the bleeding as minimal, though no nurses wrote this in the records. ProPublica tried to ask Davis about this discrepancy. He did not respond to emails, texts or calls.

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Houston Methodist officials declined to answer a detailed list of questions about Porshas treatment. They did not comment when asked whether Davis approach was the hospitals routine. A spokesperson said that each patients care is unique to that individual.

All Houston Methodist hospitals follow all state laws, the spokesperson added, including the abortion law in place in Texas.

'We Need to See the Doctor'

Hope marveled at the energy Porsha had for their two sons, ages 5 and 3. Whenever she wasnt working, she was chasing them through the house or dancing with them in the living room. As a finance manager at a charter school system, she was in charge of the household budget. As an engineer for an airline, Hope took them on flights around the world  to Chile, Bali, Guam, Singapore, Argentina.

The two had met at Lamar University in Beaumont. When Porsha and I began dating, Hope said, I already knew I was going to love her. She was magnetic and driven, going on to earn an MBA, but she was also gentle with him, always protecting his feelings. Both were raised in big families and they wanted to build one of their own.

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When he learned Porsha was pregnant again in the spring of 2023, Hope wished for a girl. Porsha found a new OB-GYN who said she could see her after 11 weeks. Ten weeks in, though, Porsha noticed she was spotting. Over the phone, the obstetrician told her to go to the emergency room if it got worse.

To celebrate the end of the school year, Porsha and Hope took their boys to a water park in Austin, and as they headed back, on June 11, Porsha told Hope that the bleeding was heavier. They decided Hope would stay with the boys at home until a relative could take over; Porsha would drive to the emergency room at Houston Methodist Sugar Land, one of seven community hospitals that are part of the Houston Methodist system.

At 6:30 p.m, three hours after Porsha arrived at the hospital, she saw huge clots in the toilet. Significant bleeding, the emergency physician wrote. Im starting to feel a lot of pain, Porsha texted Hope. Around 7:30 p.m., she wrote: She said I might need surgery if I dont stop bleeding, referring to the nurse. At 7:50 p.m., after a nurse changed her second diaper in an hour: Come now.

Still, the doctor didnt mention a D&C at this point, records show. Medical experts told ProPublica that this wait-and-see approach has become more common under abortion bans. Unless there is overt information indicating that the patient is at significant risk, hospital administrators have told physicians to simply monitor them, said Dr. Robert Carpenter, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist who works in several hospital systems in Houston. Methodist declined to share its miscarriage protocols with ProPublica or explain how it is guiding doctors under the abortion ban.

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As Porsha waited for Hope, a radiologist completed an ultrasound and noted that she had a pregnancy of unknown location. The scan detected a sac-like structure but no fetus or cardiac activity. This report, combined with her symptoms, indicated she was miscarrying.

But the ultrasound record alone was less definitive from a legal perspective, several doctors explained to ProPublica. Since Porsha had not had a prenatal visit, there was no documentation to prove she was 11 weeks along. On paper, this pregnancy of unknown location diagnosis could also suggest that she was only a few weeks into a normally developing pregnancy, when cardiac activity wouldnt be detected. Texas outlaws abortion from the moment of fertilization; a record showing there is no cardiac activity isnt enough to give physicians cover to intervene, experts said.

Dr. Gabrielle Taper, who recently worked as an OB-GYN resident in Austin, said that she regularly witnessed delays after ultrasound reports like these. If its a pregnancy of unknown location, if we do something to manage it, is that considered an abortion or not? she asked, adding that this was one of the key problems she encountered. After the abortion ban went into effect, she said, there was much more hesitation about: When can we intervene, do we have enough evidence to say this is a miscarriage, how long are we going to wait, what will we use to feel definitive?

At Methodist, the emergency room doctor reached Davis, the on-call OB-GYN, to discuss the ultrasound, according to records. They agreed on a plan of observation in the hospital to monitor bleeding.

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Around 8:30 p.m., just after Hope arrived, Porsha passed out. Terrified, he took her head in his hands and tried to bring her back to consciousness. Babe, look at me, he told her. Focus. Her blood pressure was dipping dangerously low. She had held off on accepting a blood transfusion until he got there. Now, as she came to, she agreed to receive one and then another.

By this point, it was clear that she needed a D&C, more than a dozen OB-GYNs who reviewed her case told ProPublica. She was hemorrhaging, and the standard of care is to vacuum out the residual tissue so the uterus can clamp down, physicians told ProPublica.

Complete the miscarriage and the bleeding will stop, said Dr. Lauren Thaxton, an OB-GYN who recently left Texas.

At every point, its kind of shocking, said Dr. Daniel Grossman, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco who reviewed Porshas case. She is having significant blood loss and the physician didnt move toward aspiration.

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All Porsha talked about was her devastation of losing the pregnancy. She was cold, crying and in extreme pain. She wanted to be at home with her boys. Unsure what to say, Hope leaned his chest over the cot, passing his body heat to her.

At 9:45 p.m., Esmeralda Acosta, a nurse, wrote that Porsha was continuing to pass large clots the size of grapefruit. Fifteen minutes later, when the nurse learned Davis planned to send Porsha to a floor with fewer nurses, she voiced concern that he wanted to take her out of the emergency room, given her condition, according to medical records.

At 10:20 p.m., seven hours after Porsha arrived, Davis came to see her. Hope remembered what his mother had told him on the phone earlier that night: She needs a D&C. The doctor seemed confident about a different approach: misoprostol. If that didnt work, Hope remembers him saying, they would move on to the procedure.

A pill sounded good to Porsha because the idea of surgery scared her. Davis did not explain that a D&C involved no incisions, just suction, according to Hope, or tell them that it would stop the bleeding faster. The Ngumezis followed his recommendation without question. Im thinking, Hes the OB, hes probably seen this a thousand times, he probably knows whats right, Hope said.

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But more than a dozen doctors who reviewed Porshas case were concerned by this recommendation. Many said it was dangerous to give misoprostol to a woman whos bleeding heavily, especially one with a blood clotting disorder. Thats not what you do, said Dr. Elliott Main, the former medical director for the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative and an expert in hemorrhage, after reviewing the case. She needed to go to the operating room. Main and others said doctors are obliged to counsel patients on the risks and benefits of all their options, including a D&C.

Performing a D&C, though, attracts more attention from colleagues, creating a higher barrier in a state where abortion is illegal, explained Goulding, the OB-GYN in Houston. Staff are familiar with misoprostol because its used for labor, and it only requires a doctor and a nurse to administer it. To do a procedure, on the other hand, a doctor would need to find an operating room, an anesthesiologist and a nursing team. You have to convince everyone that it is legal and wont put them at risk, said Goulding. Many people may be afraid and misinformed and refuse to participate  even if its for a miscarriage.

Davis moved Porsha to a less-intensive unit, according to records. Hope wondered why they were leaving the emergency room if the nurse seemed so worried. But instead of pushing back, he rubbed Porshas arms, trying to comfort her. The hospital was reputable. Since we were at Methodist, I felt I could trust the doctors.

On their way to the other ward, Porsha complained of chest pain. She kept remarking on it when they got to the new room. From this point forward, there are no nurses notes recording how much she continued to bleed. My wife says she doesnt feel right, and last time she said that, she passed out, Hope told a nurse. Furious, he tried to hold it together so as not to alarm Porsha. We need to see the doctor, he insisted.

Her vital signs looked fine. But many physicians told ProPublica that when healthy pregnant patients are hemorrhaging, their bodies can compensate for a long time, until they crash. Any sign of distress, such as chest pain, could be a red flag; the symptom warranted investigation with tests, like an electrocardiogram or X-ray, experts said. To them, Porshas case underscored how important it is that doctors be able to intervene before there are signs of a life-threatening emergency.

But Davis didnt order any tests, according to records.

Around 1:30 a.m., Hope was sitting by Porshas bed, his hands on her chest, telling her, We are going to figure this out. They were talking about what she might like for breakfast when she began gasping for air.

Help, I need help! he shouted to the nurses through the intercom. She cant breathe.

'All She Needed'

Hours later, Hope returned home in a daze. Is mommy still at the hospital? one of his sons asked. Hope nodded; he couldnt find the words to tell the boys theyd lost their mother. He dressed them and drove them to school, like the previous day had been a bad dream. He reached for his phone to call Porsha, as he did every morning that he dropped the kids off. But then he remembered that he couldnt.

Friends kept reaching out. Most of his familys network worked in medicine, and after they said how sorry they were, one after another repeated the same message. All she needed was a D&C, said one. They shouldnt have given her that medication, said another. Its a simple procedure, the callers continued. We do this all the time in Nigeria.

Since Porsha died, several families in Texas have spoken publicly about similar circumstances. This May, when Ryan Hamiltons wife was bleeding while miscarrying at 13 weeks, the first doctor they saw at Surepoint Emergency Center Stephenville noted no fetal cardiac activity and ordered misoprostol, according to medical records. When they returned because the bleeding got worse, an emergency doctor on call, Kyle Demler, said he couldnt do anything considering the current stance in Texas, according to Hamilton, who recorded his recollection of the conversation shortly after speaking with Demler. (Neither Surepoint Emergency Center Stephenville nor Demler responded to several requests for comment.)

They drove an hour to another hospital asking for a D&C to stop the bleeding, but there, too, the physician would only prescribe misoprostol, medical records indicate. Back home, Hamiltons wife continued bleeding until he found her passed out on the bathroom floor. You dont think it can really happen like that, said Hamilton. It feels like youre living in some sort of movie, its so unbelievable.

Across Texas, physicians say they blame the law for interfering with medical care. After ProPublica reported last month on two women who died after delays in miscarriage care, 111 OB-GYNs sent a letter to Texas policymakers, saying that the law does not allow Texas women to get the lifesaving care they need.

Dr. Austin Dennard, an OB-GYN in Dallas, told ProPublica that if one person on a medical team doubts the doctors choice to proceed with a D&C, the physician might back down. You constantly feel like you have someone looking over your shoulder in a punitive, vigilante type of way.

The criminal penalties are so chilling that even women with diagnoses included in the laws exceptions are facing delays and denials. Last year, for example, legislators added an update to the ban for patients diagnosed with previable premature rupture of membranes, in which a patients water breaks before a fetus can survive. Doctors can still face prosecution for providing abortions in those cases, but they are offered the chance to justify themselves with whats called an affirmative defense, not unlike a murder suspect arguing self defense. This modest change has not stopped some doctors from transferring those patients instead of treating them; Dr. Allison Gilbert, an OB-GYN in Dallas, said doctors send them to her from other hospitals. They didnt feel like other staff members would be comfortable proceeding with the abortion, she said. Its frustrating that places still feel like they cant act on some of these cases that are clearly emergencies. Women denied treatment for ectopic pregnancies, another exception in the law, have filed federal complaints.

In response to ProPublicas questions about Houston Methodists guidance on miscarriage management, a spokesperson, Gale Smith, said that the hospital has an ethics committee, which can usually respond within hours to help physicians and patients make appropriate decisions in compliance with state laws.

After Porsha died, Davis described in the medical record a patient who looked stable: He was tracking her vital signs, her bleeding was mild and she was said not to be in distress. He ordered bloodwork to ensure patient wasnt having concerning bleeding. Medical experts who reviewed Porshas case couldnt understand why Davis noted that a nurse and other providers reported decreasing bleeding in the emergency department when the record indicated otherwise. He doesnt document the heavy bleeding that the nurse clearly documented, including the significant bleeding that prompted the blood transfusion, which is surprising, said Grossman, the UCSF professor.

Patients who are miscarrying still dont know what to expect from Houston Methodist.

This past May, Marlena Stell, a patient with symptoms nearly identical to Porshas, arrived at another hospital in the system, Houston Methodist The Woodlands. According to medical records, she, too, was 11 weeks along and bleeding heavily. An ultrasound confirmed there was no fetal heartbeat and indicated the miscarriage wasnt complete. I assumed they would do whatever to get the bleeding to stop, Stell said.

Instead, she bled for hours at the hospital. She wanted a D&C to clear out the rest of the tissue, but the doctor gave her methergine, a medication thats typically used after childbirth to stop bleeding but that isnt standard care in the middle of a miscarriage, doctors told ProPublica. "She had heavy bleeding, and she had an ultrasound that's consistent with retained products of conception," said Dr. Jodi Abbott, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Boston University School of Medicine, who reviewed the records. "The standard of care would be a D&C."

Stell says that instead, she was sent home and told to let the miscarriage take its course. She completed her miscarriage later that night, but doctors who reviewed her case, so similar to Porshas, said it showed how much of a gamble physicians take when they dont follow the standard of care. She got lucky  she could have died, Abbott said. (Houston Methodist did not respond to a request for comment on Stells care.)

It hadnt occurred to Hope that the laws governing abortion could have any effect on his wifes miscarriage. Now its the only explanation that makes sense to him. We all know pregnancies can come out beautifully or horribly, Hope told ProPublica. Instead of putting laws in place to make pregnancies safer, we created laws that put them back in danger.

For months, Hopes youngest son didnt understand that his mom was gone. Porshas long hair had been braided, and anytime the toddler saw a woman with braids from afar, he would take off after her, shouting, Thats mommy!

A couple weeks ago, Hope flew to Amsterdam to quiet his mind. It was his first trip without Porsha, but as he walked the city, he didnt know how to experience it without her. He kept thinking about how she would love the Christmas lights and want to try all the pastries. How she would have teased him when he fell asleep on a boat tour of the canals. I thought getting away would help, he wrote in his journal. But all Ive done is imagine her beside me.

Mariam Elba and Lexi Churchill contributed research.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: ProPublica: Third woman dies under Texas abortion ban
The public prosecutor's office has demanded the maximum prison sentence of 20 years for the main defendant in the rape trial in the French city of Avignon because he had drugged and abused his wife for years and had her assaulted by strangers.

"Twenty years of a life is not nothing," Public Prosecutor Laure Chabaud said on Monday. "It is both a lot and too little given the seriousness of the offences that were committed and repeated."

Dominique Pelicot has confessed to the offences against his then wife Gisele in court.

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Gisele Pelicot, 72, estimates that she was raped around 200 times over a period of almost 10 years. As well as her ex-husband, who drugged her, 50 men are on trial - most of them also accused of aggravated rape.

Investigators suspect that around a dozen other men were involved in the offences, but they have not been identified.

Public Prosecutor Chabaud noted that Dominique Pelicot himself had admitted in court that he had acted without his wife's consent in order to subjugate an emancipated woman, according to his statement.

There were no boundaries for him, not even concerning his family members, Chabaud said. Investigators also found naked pictures of his daughter and his daughters-in-law at Dominique Pelicot's home, which were allegedly taken without their knowledge.

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The daughter fears that she was also drugged and abused by her father. The main defendant denied this several times in court.

"We have to question his sincerity," said Chabaud, stressing that Pelicot must be held fully accountable for his actions.

The senior citizen had been certified as a high criminal risk, he did not have sufficient self-reflection, he lacked empathy, and was stubborn and cold, Chabaud said.
RIGA, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission has approved a 4.5 million-euro (4.7 million U.S. dollars) allocation from the European Defense Fund to support Latvian military technology company Origin Robotics in developing an advanced unmanned targeting capability.

This innovation will significantly enhance the use of precision-guided munitions, the Latvian Defense Ministry announced Monday on its website.

The project is led by Origin Robotics, which specializes in developing autonomous unmanned systems, and involves partners from Lithuania and Germany. (1 euro = 1.05 U.S. dollar) 
Dominique Pelicot, the man who organized for more than 50 men to rape his unconscious wife, is fully responsible for his actions, a French public prosecutor told court after requesting the maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

Public prosecutor Laure Chabaud told the packed courthouse in Avignon, southern France, on Monday that the sentence would be long but not enough considering the serious nature of these acts.

There are many examples in history of criminals capable of presenting themselves in a charming light and who at the same time are capable of the worst atrocities. Dominique Pelicot fits this bill. He was an attentive husband, father and grandfather, Chabaud said.

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He suffers from no mental illness, so he is fully responsible for the acts he committed. We must ask ourselves about the future, which appears relatively bleak. His is considered incredibly dangerous, she added.

A huge crowd of journalists and supporters gathered in the courtroom inside Avignons Tribunal de Grande Instance on Monday morning for one of the final days of oral arguments in a case that has made headlines at home in France and around the world.

Gisele Pelicot leaves the courthouse in Avignon on November 19, 2024. - Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters

Pelicot has been accused of organizing for more than 50 men to visit his house in the southern French village of Mazan and rape his wife, Gisele Pelicot. Over a period spanning nearly 10 years, Dominique Pelicot used an online website and messaging platforms to seek out men from a radius spanning roughly 25 miles (40 kilometers). Pelicot has admitted to habitually drugging his wife with a strong sedative before allowing strangers to sexually abuse her.

Dominique Pelicot kept his eyes closed and looked down at the ground during the hearing. All 50 other defendants were also present in court, with many using face masks to conceal their faces from the cameras.

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The case has sparked a fervent debate about attitudes in France towards consent. The prosecutor highlighted the issue again in court on Monday, saying: We cant say in 2024 that because she (Gisele Pelicot) didnt say anything she consented.

There was nothing ambiguous about Gisele Pelicot that could make the men think she was giving her consent, Chabaud added.

Throughout the court case that began in September, defense lawyers for the accused have tried to undermine Gisele Pelicots claim that she was unaware of her husbands actions. Chabaud told the court on Monday that she didnt want to return to the question that keeps coming up, how is it possible that she didnt realize anything was going on?

For years, she tried to understand what was wrong with her, she had pains in her lower abdomen, vaginal discharge, hemorrhoids and so on. No analysis was able to determine the cause, the prosecutor added.

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Beatrice Zavarro, the lawyer for Dominique Pelicot, told journalists outside court after Monday mornings hearing that the request wasnt a surprise for us and had been entirely predictable.

Despite this, she said it was still difficult to tell a 72-year-old man such as Pelicot that he may have to spend the next 20 years in prison.

On December 20, judges are expected to hand down sentences in what is considered to be one of the darkest criminal cases in modern French history.

On the eve of the final hearing, protesters pasted posters outside the courthouse with the slogan 20 years for all, calling for all 51 defendants to receive the maximum sentence.

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Huge crowds attended a protest in Paris on Saturday calling for changes in societal attitudes towards consent. They carried placards with the slogan, shame must switch sides - a reference to a quote Gisele Pelicot made during court proceedings.

Saskya Vandoorne reported in Avignon, Niamh Kennedy wrote in London.

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Prosecutors on Monday called for the maximum 20-year sentence against Dominique Pelicot in a criticism of the French law for not being able to keep the self-declared rapist in jail for longer.

Since September, Pelicot, 71, has been in the dock in the southern city of Avignon with 49 other men for organising the rapes and sexual abuse of his former wife Gisele Pelicot. One man is being tried in absentia.

The case has appalled the French and sparked calls for a fundamental change in relations between men and women.

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Ms Pelicot has become a national and global figure in the fight against rape and chemical submission after her husband drugged her without her knowledge and invited strangers to sexually abuse her in their Provence home.

She has attended hearings throughout and insisted that they be held in public. Outside court, she said Monday was a day of great emotion.

Nov 25 marks UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Outlining the case against Pelicot, Laure Chabaud, prosecuting, criticised the French law for not being able to keep him incarcerated for a longer period as an orchestral conductor of mass aggravated rape.

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Twenty years is a lot because it is 20 years of a life... But it is both a lot and too little. Too little in view of the seriousness of the acts that were committed and repeated, she told the Vaucluse criminal court in Avignon.

Outside the court, feminists had daubed the words: Rape is rape. 20 years for each [defendant].

Ms Chabaud said: His search for pleasure was reflected in a desire to subjugate his wife, and to humiliate and even degrade, through his actions and words, the person he cherished most in the world.

The words un viol est un viol, which means rape is rape, were daubed on a wall outside the court - Christophe Simon/AFP

Given this, she said that at the end of his sentence [the accused should] be re-examined with a view to a possible detention order so that he could be kept behind bars longer.

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Pelicot has himself pleaded guilty and said he wants to go to prison for his crimes against his ex-wife of 50 years, which were all filmed and stored on computer hard drives.

The footage was discovered by police after he was caught filming up womens skirts in public.

Beatrice Zavarro, defending, said the sentence request was a harsh blow, despite the fact that Pelicot has pleaded guilty.

She said: Hes devastated, and its never easy for a man to hear that a 20-year sentence is being sought against him.

Prosecutors have also called for his alleged disciple, Jean-Pierre Marechal, 63, to be handed a 17-year sentence.

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Marechal, is not on trial for raping Ms Pelicot, but rather for using the same method to rape his own wife a dozen times, sometimes in the presence of Pelicot himself. He too has asked to be locked up for his crimes.

Prosecutors also called for sentences ranging from four to 11 years among the first 14 defendants beyond Dominique Pelicot.

Defence lawyers slammed the sentence demands as out of proportion.

Louis-Alain Lemaire, defending, said: I fear what will happen next... because asking for 10 years for people who, for the most part, have never been convicted, are all perfectly integrated people, is trial by public opinion.

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Jean-Francois Mayet, the other prosecutor, told the court that the trial would go down in French history.

This trial is shaking up our society in our relationship with each other, in the most intimate relationships between human beings, he said.

What is at stake, he added, is not a conviction or an acquittal but to fundamentally change the relations between men and women.

A sketch of Ms Pelicot in court while her former husband takes the stand - Valentin Pasquier/AP

Of the remaining accused, 35 completely deny taking part in a rape, arguing that they believed that the ex-husband claimed they were participating in consensual sex games in which she was only pretending to be asleep.

Dismissing that argument, Ms Chabuad said: In 2024, we can no longer say she didnt say anything, she agreed, thats from another age.

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The accused could not be unaware of the absence of consent, she said, also rubbishing some defendants claims that they thought that they could proceed because her husband said so.

They all had the option at some point to leave the situation if it did not suit them. They all decided to stay with the aim of pursuing their own personal satisfaction, she said.

Sentencing requests are slated to take three full days in the courts agenda, with prosecutors themselves estimating an average of 15 minutes per defendant.

Most, including the ex-husband, are charged with aggravated rape.

The facts, and the personality of each accused, were taken into account even in our sentencing demands, said Mr Mayet.

Outside court, Ms Pelicot said Monday was a day of great emotion - Yoan Valat/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

As 11 weeks of hearings drew to a close last week, Antoine Camus, Ms Pelicots lawyer, called for truth and justice to be rendered to the plaintiff as well as her three children, David, Caroline and Florian, her step-children Celine and Aurore, and her grandchildren.

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There were furious exchanges between Caroline and her father, who she accuses of drugging her and offering her for sexual abuse after photos of her in someone elses underwear were found on his computer.

Last week, she complained that she was the forgotten victim of the trial. Pelicot denies any abuse against her.

However, on Monday, Ms Chabaud said that while the aim of justice is not to leave a victim by the wayside, no evidence had been found to allow her suffering to be translated into legal terms.

The courts five judges will not issue their ruling on the sentences until late December.

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The calls came as France announced on Monday a new campaign to combat violence against women, including raising awareness about the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse.

Michel Barnier, the prime minister, said that health authorities would reimburse the purchase of drug detection kits in several areas of France on a trial basis. He gave no timeline for its implementation.

There will be a before Mazan, and an after Mazan just like there was a before and after #MeToo, said Salima Saa, the French equality minister.

However, womens rights groups last weekend dismissed government pledges to date as window-dressing.

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They are calling for a dedicated 2.6 billion budget and a stronger legal framework to tackle the problem.

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(WJET/WFXP) Pennsylvania State Police are investigating after a Mercer County woman was the target of a reported scam.

According to PSP Mercer, the 76-year-old resident received a call from the alleged scammers on Oct. 19 and was tricked into giving them $19,000.

Fairview man arrested after short late night police chase

No suspects have been named at this time and police continue to investigate.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT)  The Jefferson County Coroners Office is requesting assistance in identifying a man who was killed in a double homicide Thursday.

On Nov. 21, officers arrived to the 4400 block of 41st Place North around 6:29 p.m. and observed a male suffering from a gunshot wound at the back of an abandoned house. Officers searched the area and discovered a second male inside the abandoned house, also suffering from a gunshot wound. One of the two men was identified as Michael Carroll.

Victim in Birmingham double homicide identified

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The coroners office is describing the second victim as aging anywhere from 20 to 35-years-old. Hes described as being 511, 270 pounds, and was wearing a green hooded sweatshirt, gray sweatpants, brown shoes with white/black laces, with a metal chain necklace.

If you have any information, contact the coroners office at 205-930-3603.

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(Bloomberg) -- When winter rolls around, travelers predictably turn their attention to beaches. And this year, its the destination that comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean thats experiencing outsize demand from Americans planning a warm island vacation. Talk about trashing stereotypes.

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Puerto Rico has recovered overseas visitors (excluding those from Canada and Mexico) faster than any US state or territorya staggering 85% increase over its 2019 overseas inbound visitor levels as of 2023, according to an October study from the US National Travel and Tourism Office. There are now more daily flights from the US West Coast, and hotel bookings are 6% higher so far in this last quarter of 2024 year-over-year.

Its a trifecta of tourism growth: more visitors, but also longer stays and a higher spend that reached a record $9.8 billion in 2023, boosting small businesses as well as major brands. We dont have a slow season in Puerto Rico anymore, says Brad Dean, chief executive officer at Discover Puerto Rico.

Even if theyre not booking, people are dreaming about La Isla. By tracking flight searches for trips between November 2024 and February 2025, a measure of inspirational demand, tourism intelligence company Mabrian Technologies reports Puerto Rico is up 9% compared with the same period last year and leads Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and the Bahamas in the Caribbean proper. Only Costa Rica ranked higher in the wider region.

Dean attributes Puerto Ricos ongoing tourism growth to a strategic effort to reposition the islands brand as more than a sun-and-sea destination, starting back in 2018. That led to the Live Boricua campaign, which began in 2022 and leaned heavily on culture, history and cuisine and was, Dean says, a pretty bold departure in the way Puerto Rico was showcased to travelers. He adds that at least $2 billion in tourism spend is linked to this campaign.

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We [also] havent shied away from actively embracing the LGBTQ+ community, and that has opened up Puerto Rico to audiences that may not have considered the Caribbean before, Dean says.

Hotels are preparing to meet this growing demand: A number of established boutique properties are undergoing upgrades valued between $4 million and more than $50 million, including Hotel El Convento; La Concha, which will join the Marriott Autograph Collection; Condado Vanderbilt Hotel; and the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar.

Thats in addition to ultra-chic options that are coming online in 2025, including the adults-only Alma San Juan, with rooms overlooking Plaza Colon in the heart of Old San Juan, and the five-star Verano boutique hotel in San Juans trendy Santurce neighborhood. The beachfront Ritz-Carlton San Juan in Isla Verde will also be reopening seven years after Hurricane Maria decimated the island.

The travel industrys success is helping boost employment on the island, to the tune of 101,000 leisure and hospitality jobs as of September 2024, a 26% increase over pre-pandemic levels, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Efforts to promote Puerto Ricos provinces beyond the San Juan metro areasuch as surfing hub Rincon on the west coast, historical Ponce on the south coast and Orocovis for nature and coffee haciendas in the central mountainshave spread the demand to small businesses previously ignored by the travel industry.

Take Sheila Osorio, who leads workshops on Afro-Puerto Rican bomba music and dance at Taller Nzambi, in the town of Loiza, 15 miles east of San Juan; or Wanda Otero, founder of cheese-producing company Vaca Negra in Hatillo, an hours drive west of Old San Juan, where you can join a cheesemaking workshop and indulge in artisanal cheese tastings. The list of businesses involved in tourism has gone from 650 in 2018 to 6,100, many of which are artists and artisans, Dean says.

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While New Yorkers and Miami residents have always been the largest visitor demographic, Dean says more mainland Americans now realize that going to Puerto Rico means passport-free travel to enjoy beaches, as well as opportunities to dine in Michelin-rated restaurants, hike the only rainforest in the US and kayak in a bioluminescent bay.

Visitors from Chicago and Dallas, for example, have increased by approximately 40% from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, compared with the same period in 2022-2023, and more travelers are expected from Denver now that United Airlines Holdings Inc. has kicked off its first nonstop service to San Juan, beginning on Oct. 29.

Previously, beach destinations that were easy to reach on direct flights from Denver included Mexico, Belize and California, but now Puerto Rico joins that list with a 5.5-hour nonstop route that cuts more than two hours from the next-best option. Given United Airlines hub in San Francisco, it could mean more travelers from the Golden State in the near future, too.

In December, US airlines will have 3,000 more seats per day to the territory compared with the same period last year, for a total of 84,731surpassing even Mexico and the Dominican Republic in air capacity, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium. Luis Munoz Marin International Airport, the islands primary gateway, is projecting a record volume of 13 million passengers by yearendfar surpassing the 9.4 million it saw in 2019.

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As for Hinchcliffes floating island of garbage line, Dean says it was a terribly insensitive attempt at humor that transformed outrage into a marketing silver lining, with an outpouring of positive public sentiment and content on Puerto Rico all over social media. Success, as that old chestnut goes, may be the best revenge.

It was probably the most efficient influencer campaign weve ever had, Dean says, a groundswell of visitors who posted their photos and videos and said, This is the Puerto Rico that I know.

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JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WTAJ)  A Punxsutawney woman is facing up to a decade in prison after pleading guilty to social security fraud in federal court.

Patty Merlo, 66, pleaded guilty Monday to one count before United States District Judge Stephanie L. Haines, the United States Attorneys office said.

From May 2016 to January 2022, Merlo embezzled and converted $91,300 in Social Security payments for her own use, knowing it was money she wasnt entitled to, prosecutors wrote.

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Merlo is now facing a maximum of 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.

Sentencing was scheduled to happen in March 2025.

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.

The Social Security Administration  Office of the Inspector General conducted the

investigation that led to the prosecution of Merlo.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law banning the adoption of Russian children by citizens of countries where gender transitioning is legal, the Russian governments legal information website published on Nov. 23.

The law targeted at least 15 countries, including several in Europe, as well as Australia, Argentina, and Canada.

Additional legislation approved on the same day prohibits promoting child-free lifestyles and imposes fines of up to 5 million rubles (about $50,000) for spreading such messages, framed as part of a Western agenda to weaken Russia.

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These moves align with Russia's broader recent push for "traditional values," highlighted by past laws banning gender-transition procedures, LGBTQ+ information, and declaring LGBTQ+ activism as extremist.

Putin has increasingly criticized Western liberal ideologies, describing them as a threat to Russia.

The crackdown on dissent, activists, and independent media in Russia has escalated, especially since the war in Ukraine began in 2022.

In November 2023, Russian Supreme Court's decision to label the "international LGBT movement" as "extremist," has starkly intensified the challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community in general within the country.

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This ruling, emerging from a lawsuit by the Justice Ministry accusing the LGBT movement of inciting social and religious discord, has effectively jeopardized all forms of LGBTQ+ rights activism in Russia.

Read also: Moscow court issues arrest warrants for ICC judges involved in Russia-linked cases

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Nick Gorham, center, speaks to the Rhode Island Board of Elections at its meeting on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. To Gorham's right is his client, Joanne Miller, an independent candidate who lost her bid for the Warwick City Council. (Screenshot)

For the second time this election cycle, the Rhode Island Board of Elections grappled with opposing interpretations of a state law governing the rare occasions when a candidate drops out of a race after winning a primary.

The board ultimately voted Friday to dismiss a complaint filed by Joanne Miller, an unsuccessful independent candidate for Warwick City Council. But not before an hourlong debate attempting to decipher the intent behind the same obscure clause in state elections law they had looked at in September in a separate and also unsuccessful complaint involving the Rhode Island Senate District 8 race.

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The September complaint filed by independent state Senate candidate Cathyann Palocsik alleged errors were made in selecting a Democratic replacement for Sen. Sandra Cano, who ended her campaign two days after winning the Sept. 10 primary. The Rhode Island State Democratic Committee picked Lori Urso to be the partys replacement for Cano. Palocsiks attorney, Nicholas Gorham, argued that the Senate District 8 Democratic Committee should have nominated Canos replacement, not the state party.

Millers grievance instead focused on the name of her Democratic opponent in Warwicks City Council Ward 4 race being printed on the November ballot. Michael Penta dropped out a day after winning the primary; first-time candidate and bakery owner Salvatore DeLuise was picked to fill Pentos spot on the Nov. 5 ballot and won.

Miller filed her complaint on Nov. 14 against DeLuise, the Rhode Island Democratic Party and the Rhode Island Secretary of State. She argued that Penta didnt die, he just decided to withdraw amid plans to move to East Greenwich following a high-profile argument with Warwick Mayor Frank Picozzi, as first reported by the Boston Globe.

State law reads, The person so named shall be the nominee of the party for the office, and if in case of the death of a nominee time will permit, the secretary of state shall place the name of the nominee upon the election ballot.

The Rhode Island Board of Elections on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, dismissed a complaint on Friday contesting Warwick Democratic City Councilor-elect Salvatore DeLuises placement on the November ballot. (Screenshot)

The purpose of the comma

Theres no basis whatsoever as to why he was on the ballot, Gorham, who represented Miller in her complaint, told the elections board Friday. It couldnt be clearer, if its a death, and time is of the essence, you can put them on.

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But Angel Taveras, the attorney representing the Secretary of State, offered a different interpretation: A death is just one example cited in the 1947 law.

If you have any doubt, you can strike out that comma, those two commas, and the sentence will still make sense, Taveras said, referring to the state law. The exception is the case of death.

Taveras continued, Our job is that we read statutes in their entirety, and we make sure that makes sense.

What ultimately swayed the state elections board was the far-less-fuzzy argument over the timing of Millers complaint, submitted 10 days after she lost the general election to DeLuise by 53 votes, and more than two months after the primary. State election law requires objections to candidates eligibility to be submitted by 4 p.m. the day after nomination papers are filed; protests of primary results must be made within four days of the election.

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Miller blamed the lapse between DeLuises nomination and her complaint on confusion and miscommunication with state and local officials. She said she was shuffled between the state elections board, her local board of canvassers and the Secretary of States office without any clear answer on what to do or who to approach.

I am an independent, I dont have a whole bunch of lawyers or people behind me, Miller said. I substantially tried to find out what I needed to file.

She was joined on Friday by Gorham, who formerly served as a Republican state representative, along with Majorie Tudino, chair of the Warwick Republican City Committee.

Miller said she finally got clarity on what to do during the Nov. 14 recount for her race.

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But state law and court precedent is clear: Timeliness matters on election issues, and Millers conclusion was not enough to outweigh the clear legal doctrine of finality on long-completed elections results, said Ray Marcaccio, counsel for the state elections board.

Timeliness (or lack of) was also a key reason why David Petrarca, the attorney for DeLuise, sought to have Millers complaint tossed, according to a motion filed with the state elections board on Friday.

The elections board ultimately voted 5-0 to dismiss Millers complaint based on the timeliness issue. However, board member Randall Jackvony acknowledged the problems posed by the vague wording of the state statute governing the replacement process and complaints.

Setting a precedent that any little byzantine portion of the rules can prevent someone from being heard, it worries me, Jackvony said.

Cases warrant a closer look at law

John Marion, executive director for Common Cause Rhode Island, said the two disputes raised this election cycle warranted a closer look at the language of the entire law governing elections.

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It became very clear over the course of the last two months that the section of this state election law that deals with how candidates are replaced when they withdraw needs to be reexamined, Marion said in an interview on Monday. I think we need to go beyond just filling the one loophole that is used, we need to look at the whole scheme.

That could include everything from signature collection  already in the spotlight due to forgeries during the 2023 Congressional District 1 special Democratic primary  to recounts, and even the timing of the states primary elections, Marion said.

Miss Miller was in a time-pinch to appeal what occurred because Rhode Islands primary is the latest in the U.S., Marion said. Ultimately, if were going to kind of cut the Gordian knot, we need to start with the primary date.

An earlier state primary date would allow for more time to review complaints and honor recount requests before general election ballots have to be finalized and printed to send to overseas and military voters.

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Meanwhile, Miller is still contemplating whether to appeal the boards dismissal of her complaint to the Rhode Island Supreme Court  the same route Palocsik took, though the states highest court opted not to take up the case in that situation.

I have mixed feelings, Miller said in an interview Monday morning. I want us to all get on with our lives. But if some lawyer wanted to step up for me, I would probably say yes. Its more to give a warning to the higher-ups in the state that they need to follow the law.

Faith Chybowski, a spokesperson for the Secretary of States office, responded by email on Monday.

As expressed by legal counsel at the Board meeting on Friday, the R.I. Department of State remains confident that we acted in accordance with the law, Chybowski said.

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DeLuise, now City Councilor-elect, was busy preparing for the rush of holiday orders at DeLuise Bakery when reached by phone Monday morning.

I dont have any comment as far as the complaint, but as far as the dismissal, I am happy about it, he said. The main thing is, she didnt file the complaint in time.

Elections Board members Diane Mederos and Marcela Betancur were absent from the meeting.

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VILNIUS, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Investigators from Germany and Spain will join the Lithuanian authorities to find out what caused a DHL plane crash in Vilnius, Laurynas Naujokaitis, director of Lithuanian Justice Ministry's Transport Accident and Incident Investigation Division, said on Monday.

"We have information that the German safety authority has appointed four investigators to carry out the safety investigation, and they are currently on their way to Lithuania," Naujokaitis said, cited by the Baltic News Service (BNS).

Spain has also decided to send two experts for the investigation, he added, noting that they are also on their way to Lithuania.

Naujokaitis stressed that the investigation would focus solely on aviation safety and the probe could take at least a year.

According to the director, the U.S. aviation administration has also been informed of the crash as the plane was manufactured in the United States.

The Boeing 737-476 (SF) plane was owned by Spanish airline Swift Air. While flying from Leipzig, Germany, on behalf of German shipping company DHL, it crashed into a residential building near the Vilnius airport. A pilot was killed, and three others were injured in the incident. 
NORTHWEST FLORIDA (WKRG)  The race for Northwest Florida Congress Seat is losing competitors following Donald Trumps endorsement of Floridas Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis as his choice to replace former Congressman Matt Gaetz.

Coden man sleeping in cargo trailer after fire

The race has gotten smaller following social media posts from competitors announcing their decisions to withdraw from the race.

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State Rep. Michelle Salzman posted on X, encouraging leaders to get behind Patronis.

Salzmans post said, Politics is an ever-changing chessboard. Our first priority as elected officials should be our constituents. If we put them first, we all win! Jimmy has been endorsed by the leader of our party and that should be enough for us to get behind him. Congratulations @JimmyPatronis

Assistant Attorney Keith Gross shared that he plans to back Patronis as well.

Thrilled to back my fellow Panhandle patriot @JimmyPatronis and looking forward to him stepping up to represent us in Congress. Standing strong with @realDonaldTrump, the leader of our Republican Party, I am fully behind his pick for #FL01, Gross post said.

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Both State Rep. Salzman and Assistant Attorney Gross formerly announced plans to run for Gaetzs District 1 seat.

1 dead after Monday morning crash involving dump truck in Baldwin County, witness says

The posts backing Patronis leave State Rep. Joel Rudman and Former Escambia County Commissioner Gene Valentino in the race along with Patronis for the seat Gaetz vacated after Trump nominated him for the Attorney General position.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WSPA)  Now Serving has announced the distribution of 2,000 chef-prepared Thanksgiving meals to Asheville-area residents impacted by Hurricane Helene. The meals, prepared by chefs from The Scheffer Groups Asheville restaurants, will be distributed by The Food Connection from November 25 to November 27.

Now Serving is a a Raleigh-based non-profit that serves to connect restaurants and caterers with community to provide full meals to neighbors in need. Operating primarily in the Triangle region of North Carolina, it expanded its network to Asheville in response to Hurricane Helene.

Greg Lowenhagen, Executive Director of Now Serving, shared in a statement: After Helenes devastating run through North Carolina, we went to work to help ease some of the burden. We forged a new partnership with The Scheffer Group restaurants and Food Connection to provide meals in Asheville.

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In addition to Thanksgiving meals, blankets and warm clothes will be available to residents. Healthcare workers and first responders will also receive Thanksgiving meals.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSPA 7NEWS.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he thinks the mayor of Denver could be removed from office if he attempts to block President-elect Trumps plan for mass deportations.

I would say that the mayor of Denver, if hes going to resist federal law  which, theres a long-standing history of the supremacy of federal law  hes going to resist that, it will go all the way to the Supreme Court, Paul said Sunday on CBSs Face the Nation.

And I would suspect that he would be removed from office.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (D) has vowed to protect migrants in his community as the Trump transition team promises it will crack down on immigration after taking office, particularly in sanctuary cities.

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Sanctuary cities are municipalities that generally limit or prevent their local authorities from cooperating with the federal government in enforcing immigration laws.

In an earlier interview with Denverite, Johnston said he would use Denvers police force to stop federal forces from deporting migrants. In an interview Friday with 9News, he walked back those comments but said he believes local citizens will help stop the planned deportations.

Johnston said he would protest the deportations and would expect other residents would do the same.

Trump has tapped Tom Homan as his border czar, looking to move swiftly on immigration promises he made on the campaign trail. Johnston said he was not afraid of Homans claim that he would arrest leaders who disobey the federal government.

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I think the goal is, we want to be able to negotiate with reasonable people how to solve hard problems, Johnston said.

Paul said Sunday that he doesnt know if Johnston could face criminal prosecution for not complying with the Trump administration, but he will lose.

People need to realize that what he is  offering is a form of insurrection, where states resist the federal government, Rand said. Most people objected to that and rejected that long ago.

So, I think the mayor of Denver is on the wrong side of history, and really, I think will face legal ramifications if he doesnt obey the federal law,

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The Kentucky senator said he is supportive of Trumps immigration plan, particularly going after criminals.

However, Paul opposes using the military for deportations, saying it would be a terrible mistake.

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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Sunday in an interview that he opposes using the military for mass deportations.

What we know now about the immigration authorities who would have to be charged with rounding these individuals up, there are just 6,000 agents, 41,000 detention beds to carry out the assignment of rounding up millions of undocumented people, potentially. How do you suggest they implement it? CBS Newss Face the Nation anchor Margaret Brennan asked Paul.

And if this is a red line for you, in terms of using the military, would you vote no on the DHS Secretary Kristi Noem? she added, referring to President-elect Trumps nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

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I will not support and will not vote to use the military in our cities. I think its a terrible image, Paul replied.

On Monday, Trump signaled that his administration may use military assets to help him fulfill his mass deportation pledge.

Trump responded TRUE!!! to a Truth Social post from Tom Fitton, head of the conservative group Judicial Watch, who wrote that the incoming administration is prepared to declare a national emergency and will use military assets to reverse the Biden invasion through a mass deportation program.

Trump transition team spokesperson Karoline Leavitt has also said the president-elect will marshal every federal and state power necessary to institute the largest deportation operation of illegal criminals, drug dealers, and human traffickers in American history while simultaneously lowering costs for families.

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In his Face the Nation appearance, Paul said that he doesnt recommend to use the army in the deportations, but he would use the FBI, I would use [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], I would use Border Patrol.

If they send the army into New York, and you have 10,000 troops marching, carrying semiautomatic weapons, I think its a terrible image, and I will oppose that. But its not that I oppose removing people, Paul said later.

The Hill has reached out to the Trump transition team for comment.

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A disturbance call led to a Rapides Parish Sheriff's deputy and another person being shot on Thursday night, according to a news release.

Deputies had been sent to a facility in the 6400 block of Masonic Drive about 7 p.m. because of a disturbance between a patient and employees, reads a sheriff's office news release.

"Upon arrival, deputies attempted to de-escalate the situation with the patient, at which time the patient started fighting with the deputies," it reads.

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During the struggle, the unidentified patient got one of the deputies' weapon and shot the deputy in the upper thigh, it reads.

The other deputy then shot the patient in the torso.

2 schools: No injuries, damages after fire incidents at Bolton Academy, Alexandria Middle Magnet

Baby's death: Alexandria mother facing second-degree murder charge after death of 2-year-old child

"Medical aid was immediately rendered to the deputy and the patient," reads the release. "Employees of the facility also assisted."

An Alexandria Police Department patrol sergeant who had come to the scene to help took the wounded deputy to a hospital. The deputy was treated and later released.

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The patient was taken to a hospital by Acadian Ambulance and remains hospitalized. No information was released about the patient's condition.

The shooting is being investigated by the Central Louisiana Critical Incident Response Team, a group of certified investigators from several parishes, reads the release.

The team that responded Thursday night includes the Grant, Beauregard and Claiborne parish sheriff offices. An investigation is continuing.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Rapides deputy, patient shot after disturbance at Alexandria facility
WARNING: This story contains disturbing details about residential and boarding schools. If you feel triggered, here is a resource list for trauma responses from the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition in the U.S. In Canada, the National Indian Residential School Crisis Hotline can be reached at 1-866-925-4419.

ICT and the Rapid City Journals Amelia Schafer spent over five months researching life at the Immaculate Conception Mission School on the Crow Creek Reservation.

Amelia Schafer

ICT + Rapid City Journal

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STEPHAN, S.D.  On the northern prairies of the Crow Creek Reservation in central South Dakota sits a remnant of a dark period in American history, the federal boarding school era.

Abandoned buildings  dormitories and churches  that once housed hundreds of children each year now lie crumbling, awaiting demolition.

Peter Lengkeek, Chairman of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, stands outside of the Crow Creek Tribal School next-door to the former Catholic mission where remains were recently discovered. (Photo by Amelia Schafer, ICT/Rapid City Journal)

In mid-November 2023, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Chairman Peter Lengkeek and several others stood at the site of the former Catholic boarding school, the Immaculate Conception Mission, digging in search of a main water line break, trying to find the shutoff point.

Lengkeek had the idea to try and find the original blueprint for the nearly 74-year-old waterline. Searching through the blueprints, a small piece of paper sticking out of a pile caught their attention. The paper, a hand-drawn schematic of the waterline and street, identified something strange  a gravesite.

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The map was from the early 1900s, during the early years of the school, and on the left-hand corner, ever so lightly, someone had written the word graveyard. In 1900, the school received utilities identified as water works and a gasoline engine, which may be when the map was created.

No one had noticed it before, Lengkeek said. At first we thought these must be the wrong plans because our cemetery is across campus  but it all lined up.

Later, a member of the tribes historic preservation office visited the site and walked around in a clockwise circle. Odell Muggs St. John, Lengkeeks first cousin, told Lengkeek to grab some utility flags lying around from the waterline break and whenever St. John would stop, Lengkeek was to place a flag where he stood.

Muggs has a gift, Lengkeek said. Hes able to heal children and we rely on him to fix things for us. We rely on him to find sacred places like graves, alters, those kinds of things.

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When they finished the two men stepped back and looked at the site. The flags were lined up perfectly, six-foot rows, eight feet apart.

We knew right then and there that these were graves, Lengkeek said.

Later, a photo depicting 38 little white crosses matched what Lenkeeks cousin had found, confirming suspicions of a hidden gravesite separate from the school cemetery.

In 2023 the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe discovered 38 graves at a hidden gravesite at the former Immaculate Conception Mission in South Dakota. (Photo by Amelia Schafer, ICT/Rapid City Journal)

Indigenous children from across the United States came to the school, like other boarding schools, seeking an education. But many faced abuse and neglect, and all were forced to give up their culture and heritage in favor of an education guided by the partnership between the Catholic Church and the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs.

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The 38 graves are likely those of children who attended the school during its nearly 100-year run in the Stephan community on the Crow Creek Reservation in central South Dakota.

From 1887 to 1975, more than 1,000 children were taken, many by force, to the Immaculate Conception Boarding School. While many students came from the Crow Creek and Lower Brule Sioux tribes, children were taken from tribes across South Dakota and even as far as Wisconsin, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, North Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa.

This was part of a larger initiative to assimilate Indigenous children into European-American culture. As part of this, the Bureau of Indian Affairs allowed Christian missionaries to open new boarding schools across the United States, and in 1874 a group of Catholics in DC established the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, a Roman Catholic charity institution.

A time of turmoil and expansion

Chief Drifting Goose, leader of a band of lower Yanktoni people, reached out to the missionaries, known to the tribe as black robes, to try and establish a school on the Crow Creek Reservation, much like Chief Red Cloud did in creating the Holy Rosary Mission on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

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Drifting Goose and famous missionary Father Pierre-Jean De Smet met along the banks of the Missouri River and formulated a plan to create a Catholic mission school on some of Drifting Gooses land in the northern part of the reservation.

Thus, Immaculate Conception was born  the name was chosen by a wealthy donor named Katherine Drexel who supplied more than $660,000 in todays money in memory of her mother. Initially, Immaculate Conception was to receive from the government the equivalent of about $850 in todays money for each Lower Brule child boarding at the school and $1,600 for each Crow Creek child. With time, the school began accepting children from other tribes, despite not being given additional compensation for them. The amount grew over time, as did the schools attendance, even beyond maximum capacity.

A student is received into the sodality at the Immaculate Conception Mission around 1960. (Photo from "History of Immaculate Conception Mission")

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In 1929, financial records indicate the school was ordered to build an addition as constant overcrowding was causing health and safety concerns for children. In some school records, children are noted as having to share single beds due to overcrowding.

What originally began as an elementary school in 1887 soon grew into a full K-12 facility, with two students, Aurelia LaRoche and Martina LaFraomboise, graduating in 1938 after spending their entire educational careers at the school.

From its beginning to end, illness spread rapidly in the schools overcrowded conditions  in 1957, nearly all of the student and staff populations were infected with the flu.

The school frequently ran out of food and needed to supplement with whatever supplies workers could find. The clothing sent by the government for students, brown heavy suits and brown brogan shoes, was usually too small.

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Everything at the mission was exceedingly primitive, according to a book on the schools history written by former nun Sister Marmion Maiers.

Aside from illness, the school was set on fire six different times (only burning down twice) and was destroyed by a tornado twice. The second tornado in 1938 is noted to have torn up the cemetery, but it isnt clear which one, and injured 29 people. Extreme cold led to the deaths of some staff members, most notably one nun in the early years of the school who was unable to find her way back during a blizzard.

Students at the Immaculate Conception Mission school in the 1930s. (Photo from mission correspondence letters, Marquette University)

Marquette University in Milwaukee hosts a majority of records pertaining to the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions. Amy Cooper Cary, head of the Marquette Archival Collections and Institutional Repository, said that the university could not provide enrollment information that would contain private information such as student names and blood quantum but was able to provide microfilm from the school.

The Marquette website contains digitized correspondence letters between the mission and the Bureau of Indian Affairs from 1926-1932 excluding 1929 which was recently removed. These documents provide a glimpse into life at the school including multiple strange incidents.

Photo from the 'History of Immaculate Conception Mission' the caption reads: "Reverend Justin Snyder O.S.B. 1931-1943 entertained by Alex Thunder Horse."

Records from 1928 exposed correspondence regarding a 4-year-old Hunkpati Dakota boy named Clarence Little Eagle who was seemingly taken from his mother to a Sioux Falls orphanage following a request for help his mother made with the mission. The childs mother and a mission priest fought for his return, but subsequent financial records make no mention of Little Eagles whereabouts.

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In later years, financial documents contained letters from multiple community members calling for a mission doctor to be removed from the reservation over concerns of racism and malpractice, specifically that the doctor treated Indians like dogs.

The mission also seemingly took in children under the age of 7, though the Bureau of Indian Affairs only allowed it to house children age 7 and older.

Life in Stephan

Jennifer YoungBear, Roberta "Kay Bird" Crows Breast and Susan Paulson pose for a photo together at the site of the former Immaculate Conception Mission School. Paulson and Crows Breast attended the school in the 1960s. (Photo by Amelia Schafer, ICT/Rapid City Journal)

The 1950s were a turbulent time for the Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Nation in North Dakota. The creation of the Garrison Dam led to a major flood in 1953, consuming a quarter of the reservation and ruining homes, the tribal office and the hospital.

Susan Paulsons family, like many other Mandan Hidatsa Arikara families, made the tough decision to send their children off to boarding schools in South Dakota along the Missouri River.

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They made life so difficult that people thought, Well, this way theyll be going to a place where theyll be fed, Paulson said.

Susan Paulson of Bismark, N.D. attended Immaculate Conception from ages 7-13. Paulson was expelled after fighting back against the nun who had been abusing her. (Photo by Amelia Schafer, ICT/Rapid City Journal)

In 1957, Paulson and her cousins traveled over 400 miles south to South Dakota. Her cousins were enrolled at St. Josephs Indian School in Chamberlain, and Paulson was enrolled 35 miles north at Immaculate Conception.

For many students, school life was completely different than dorm life. While the school provided a good education, the dorms were a place of work, fear and sexual and physical abuse.

I learned a lot, and I had good grades, we had good teachers, and nuns were over there, you know. But it was dorm life that was terrible, said Roberta Kay Bird Crows Breast, a Mandan Hidatsa Arikara elder who attended the school starting in 1963. When we went back to the dorm, all we did was work. All we did was work.

Zachary King of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians said the manual labor and abuse at the schools led to his mother Alta Marie Bruce experiencing lifelong back problems.

Alta Marie Bruce attended the Immaculate Conception Mission from 1967-1971 from Belcourt, N.D. on the Turtle Mountain Reservation. Bruce died in 2020. (Photo Courtesy of Zachary King)

Bruce, also a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, was sent 400 miles from her reservation in northern North Dakota to Stephan, S.D., where she attended high school until graduating in 1971.

When I was a kid, I remember her talking about having to clean the bathrooms, scrubbing the floors down on her hands and knees, and one time she was kicked in the back (by a nun) really hard, King said. That lingered on and in her old age she really struggled with arthritis in her hands from being hit with rulers so much.

Paulson, now 72, was around seven years old when she enrolled in 1958. At the school, she and around 100 girls her age lived in the dorms with one nun, called a matron, responsible for their care.

A free spirit, Paulson has always moved to the beat of her own drum, something she said may have bothered the nuns.

One of the nuns, Sister Damien, began locking Paulson in a storage room alone during mealtime, occasionally leaving her there until 2 or 3 in the morning.

When they punished her, they really went overboard, said Crows Breast, 71.

Crows Breast, an elder from the Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Nation, came to Immaculate Conception in 1963 seeking reprieve from the rampant racism shed experienced at the public schools in Parshall, N.D., a town on the Fort Berthold Reservation with a significant non-Native population.

Roberta "Kay Bird" Crows Breast attended Immaculate Conception in the 1960s. Crows Breast came to the school seeking relief from the racism she'd experienced in Parshall, N.D. (Photo by Amelia Schafer, ICT/Rapid City Journal)

The racism was horrible, they made fun of Indians, and if they brushed past us theyd have to wipe us off of them, Crows Breast said.

At Immaculate Conception, Crows Breast witnessed abuse and neglect perpetrated on Indigenous children, like Paulson, by nuns at the mission.

Paulson and Crows Breast would go on to form a lifelong friendship.

A lot of people have no memories (of the school), but Kay Bird, she helps me to remember the details, Paulson said.

The two women recounted hearing stories of the belt line, where male students were forced to punish each other. Boys would be lined up in rows of two and the boy being punished would run through the line as both sides hit him with belts.

I never witnessed it, but I heard of it, Paulson said. They would talk about it in whispers.

Paulson remembers seeing a little boy from Mandaree, a community on her home on the Fort Berthold Reservation, who was bullied for having sores on his face.

Sister Damiens treatment of Paulson eventually escalated into physical violence.

When she was nine, Paulson and a few other students tried to run away from the school. It was winter, bitterly cold on the Great Plains, but the girls were determined to escape the abuse theyd been enduring.

Dressed in brown, denim dresses with big clunky shoes and brown stockings, the girls made a break for it, but it wasnt long before they realized theyd never make it home.

Paulson was over 400 miles away from home and one of her fellow runaways was 740 miles away from Chicago, from where shed been sent. With no hats, gloves or winter clothes and no way out, the girls turned back.

We were so far away from home it wasnt even funny, Paulson said. If we didnt turn back, wed probably have been frozen kids lying on the prairie somewhere; they wouldnt have found us until spring.

When they came back, the girls were beaten and reprimanded for trying to escape.

For a while, life went back to the way it had been. Paulson was responsible for laundering student bedding and had several other chores around the school.

Once, when Paulson was 13, she was walking down the stairs when Damien jumped on top of her in front of Paulsons friend, Crows Breast. Damien attacked Paulson, and Paulson fought back.

At 13 years old in 1964, Paulson was expelled from the school after standing up to Damien, who had been abusing her for seven years.

After Paulson left, Crows Breast remained at the school, coming back every year for the friends shed made.

My mom asked me why I didnt say anything to her about how bad it was, but I went back for my friends, she said. We became like family.

Many students never came home, and their stories and names are yet to be revealed to tribal leaders whove begun the search for students.

A broader struggle in identifying graves

From 1872 until the present day, over 32 Indian Boarding Schools have operated across South Dakota, bringing students from across the country.

So far, only roughly 50 graves have been identified in the state, though this number is expected to change as more former and still-operating schools begin their searches.

In 2008, Canada established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which operated until 2015, and was organized by parties of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.

The abandoned Immaculate Conception Church is slated for demolition sometime in the next year according to tribal leaders. (Photo by Amelia Schafer, ICT/Rapid City Journal)

The search for truth and healing picked up steam in 2021 when more than 215 childrens graves were discovered in Canada at the Kamloops Indian School, sparking an international trend of grave searches and wider education on the existence of boarding schools in Canada and the United States.

Around this time, Zachary King said, his mother Alta Marie Bruce began speaking to him and his siblings about what shed experienced at Immaculate Conception.

People just didnt talk about it, King said. There were people around here that had a good experience, and I think thats why maybe my mom didnt talk about it as much.

King said he felt his mom, who died in 2020, was afraid to speak about what happened to her because of the positive experiences she heard from others.

Some of the people that live around here theyve got big families, around 13 kids, and sometimes they werent able to feed them, so going to a place (like a boarding school) with three meals a day was huge, King said.

Now, the search for graves has spread into the United States and more specifically South Dakota. Schools such as Holy Rosary, now Mahpiya Luta, near Pine Ridge, S.D., and the former Rapid City Indian School have begun searching for and identifying graves. And while the Rapid City search has made great progress, work at the Immaculate Conception school is just beginning.

For tribal leaders, the search for answers is complicated. The Immaculate Conception Church is no longer in operation and the Sioux Falls Diocese and Bureau of Indian Affairs have provided little to no answers as to who the children are or how they died.

Someone, somewhere has these records, said Lengkeek, the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe chairman.

We were told that half of the archives went to Vermillion and half went to Augustana in Sioux Falls, Lengkeek said. But they wont let us in there to look.

The University of South Dakota was able to provide The History of Immaculate Conception by Sister Marmion Maiers to ICT and the journal through an interlibrary loan. The dissertation contains a detailed timeline of the mission but does not contain any information on student deaths.

The Immaculate Conception Church and mission no longer exist, and with their closings, death records have become even harder to find. According to the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, in a situation like this, death records should be housed in the diocese.

The Sioux Falls Catholic Diocese, which oversaw Immaculate Conception, did not respond to numerous requests from ICT and the Rapid City Journal for information.

Working to heal a nation

One year after the discovery on Nov. 9, Immaculate Conception Mission School survivors from North Dakota and South Dakota gathered in Stephan, S.D., alongside Crow Creek citizens to honor the children who died at the school and share their own stories.

In near-freezing temperatures and drizzling rain, elders and youth gathered at the newly discovered gravesite fenced off near the intersection of BIA-23 and Crow Creek Loop.

For decades, community members and former students had traversed this land unaware of the secrets lying beneath.

Paulson, Crows Breast and Paulsons daughter, Jennifer YoungBear, traveled four hours from Bismark, N.D., for the ceremony, joining a handful of other survivors who made the journey. It was an emotional reunion; many hadnt seen each other for decades since their time at the school.

I think that everybody that was supposed to be here was here, Lengkeek said. This is a step closer for my people to heal, and thats what Im really excited about.

Excavating the site will be difficult, Lengkeek said. Much of the land is now private property with trees overgrown on the site, but the tribe and the people havent forgotten the children.

A statue of the Infant of Prague now sits outside of the former Immaculate Conception Mission. The statue was formerly displayed outside the mission's auditorium before its destruction. (Photo by Amelia Schafer, ICT/Rapid City Journal)

On Oct. 25, President Joe Biden delivered the first-ever formal presidential apology for the federal boarding school era while visiting the Gila River Indian Community near Phoenix.

In his apology, Biden referred to the period as a sin on our soul.

After 150 years, the government eventually stopped the program (of boarding schools) but never formally apologized, Biden told the crowd. I formally apologize today as President of the United States of America for what we did. I apologize, apologize, apologize!

In July, a final investigative report from the Department of the Interior on Indian Boarding Schools called for the formal apology from the United States. It also recommended Congressional approval of a Truth and Healing Commission to further investigate boarding schools, a national memorial to acknowledge the painful history, and financial support for tribal programs, including repatriation, education, mental health support and community rebuilding.

Bruce, King said, coped with her trauma through her Anishinaabe culture.

She led a really remarkable life, King said. The culture was her outlet. She attended sweats, she sundanced. The culture is what got her through it.

In addition to providing avenues for healing, the Truth and Healing Commission bill would grant the authority to subpoena records from church-run schools, ICT reported in October. The bill is currently pending in Congress.

Being able to subpoena records from church-run schools would greatly aid the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe in their years-long struggle to obtain death records from the school and work toward identifying graves.

These children are ready now, theyre going to start showing up all over the United States because they want to go home, Lengkeek said. Theyve been here long enough and if theyre here any longer they wont be able to make it home. At least thats what we believe.

The discovery of the 38 graves isnt the first time the school has discovered unmarked graves, Lengkeek said.

In 2011 during the construction of the Crow Creek Tribal School, Lengkeek said three child-size caskets and bone fragments were found under the grounds that formerly belonged to Immaculate Conception.

(The children) theyre ready now, theyre ready to go home, Lengkeek said. We need to help them, we need to reunite them with their moms and dads, their siblings and their people.

This story is co-published by the Rapid City Journal and ICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the South Dakota area.

Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute $5 or $10 today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICTs free newsletter.
(WKBN)  While some are eager to leave 2024 in the rearview mirror, the Red Cross is rallying in the last stretch of the calendar to recover from the countrys second-highest number of billion-dollar disasters on record.

This years 24 major climate and weather events  each with losses exceeding $1 billion  are topped only by last years record-breaking 28.

To help, more than 120 Red Cross volunteers from Northern Ohio have been part of teams responding nonstop to provide shelter, food and other assistance to tens of thousands of people reeling from this years hurricanes, tornados, floods and wildfires  all while continuing to care for families still recovering from 2023s extreme disasters.

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Residents, businesses and first responders in the Valley rallied to help those impacted by Hurricane Helene, whose effects are still being felt. And now, the Red Cross is asking for more help ahead of Giving Tuesday on Dec. 3.

People can help through donations of money, blood, platelets or volunteer time.

The Red Cross says the need for food in 2024 has nearly tripled the 5-year national average, providing more than 7,000 meals and snacks.

Additionally, Red Cross International Services provided millions in aid to support relief efforts led by local Red Cross societies for 16 global climate disasters, such as this years drought in Mozambique, flooding in southern Brazil and Cyclone Remal in Bangladesh.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com.
Congressman Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, joined Inside California Politics co-host Frank Buckley to discuss President-elect Donald Trumps plan to begin mass deportations once he is in office.

Rep. Garcia also discussed the results of the election and what Democrats need to do to have better results in 2026.

He also discusses his new leadership position within the House Democratic Caucus, the new rules surrounding Representative-elect Sarah McBride, and his new YIMBY caucus within the house pushing for new housing across America.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
People visit the Tianyu Lights Festival in the suburb of Dallas, Texas, the United States, on Nov. 24, 2024. The event, running from Nov. 8, 2024 to Jan. 18, 2025, showcases stunning luminous art installations and nightly performances by acrobats and folk artists from China. (Photo by Dan Tian/Xinhua)

A father carrying a child on his shoulders enjoys the light show at the Tianyu Lights Festival in the suburb of Dallas, Texas, the United States, on Nov. 24, 2024. The event, running from Nov. 8, 2024 to Jan. 18, 2025, showcases stunning luminous art installations and nightly performances by acrobats and folk artists from China. (Photo by Dan Tian/Xinhua)

A mother carrying a baby sits on a luminous chair at the Tianyu Lights Festival in the suburb of Dallas, Texas, the United States, on Nov. 24, 2024. The event, running from Nov. 8, 2024 to Jan. 18, 2025, showcases stunning luminous art installations and nightly performances by acrobats and folk artists from China. (Photo by Dan Tian/Xinhua)

A dancer from China performs at the Tianyu Lights Festival in the suburb of Dallas, Texas, the United States, on Nov. 24, 2024. The event, running from Nov. 8, 2024 to Jan. 18, 2025, showcases stunning luminous art installations and nightly performances by acrobats and folk artists from China. (Photo by Dan Tian/Xinhua)
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD)  A pair accused of stealing several bottles of perfume from a Mount Pleasant cosmetics store also shoved an employee while running away from the business, an incident report said.

Officers with the Mount Pleasant Police Department responded to Ulta Beauty in Towne Centre on Sunday evening for a reported shoplifting.

A store manager told the responding officers that a man and woman entered the store, took two full bags of perfume, and pushed an employee while running out the front entrance without paying.

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The bottles were priced at about $100 each.

The employee who was assaulted told police that she approached the suspects after noticing them placing store merchandise in their bags. She asked the male if he needed any help, but she said the man told her to shut up and go away, according to the police report.

When the victim went to inform another employee, the male suspect began moving quickly toward her from behind and allegedly lowered his shoulder and pushed her into a display table while leaving.

The victim did not have any injuries. Police have not made any arrests.

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Nashua voters check in on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024. (Will Steinfeld | New Hampshire Bulletin)

The new law that will require hard proof of voter ID and citizenship to vote in New Hampshire just barely took effect  six days after the Nov. 5 general election.

But already, Republican and Democratic lawmakers are seeking to change it this legislative session.

Republicans are hoping to expand the law, known as House Bill 1569. It requires all voters to present ID at the polls or they wont be allowed to vote. And it requires that all new voters must present hard copies to prove their U.S. citizenship through a birth certificate, passport, or other documents.

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Rep. Bob Lynn, a Windham Republican and the architect of the existing law, is introducing legislation to extend the documentary requirements to absentee voters.

Lynn is also putting forward a bill meant to help people who cant afford to pay to obtain a copy of their birth certificate from another state  and allowing the Secretary of States Office to use databases to attempt to confirm the persons citizenship.

Democrats, meanwhile, are introducing a bill to repeal the law. They argue the new requirements will impose excessive burdens to vote and will disenfranchise people who dont have immediate access to identification and citizenship documents.

And looming over all legislation is a pair of lawsuits in federal court intended to overturn the law.

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After Gov. Chris Sununu delayed signing it so it would not affect the Nov. 5 election, the law will first take effect in spring 2025 for town meeting season.

Financial aid for citizenship requirement

Lynn says one of his bills is intended to make it easier for people to comply with the existing law.

Its not  despite the claims of some of the opponents of this  that the design is to suppress voting, he said in an interview. Thats the furthest thing we want to do. We want to try to make it as accessible as possible.

The bill requires a town clerk or town election official to reach out to the Secretary of States Office if a resident is trying to register to vote but does not have adequate documentation, according to a draft of the legislation provided to the Bulletin by Lynn.

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At that point, it shall be the responsibility of the secretary of state to make reasonable efforts to determine whether the person is a United States citizen, the bill states. The office may do that by accessing relevant and available in-state and out-of-state and federal databases that contain that information, the bill continues.

The bill does not specify which databases the state could use.

Lynn pointed to a database maintained by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services known as SAVE. It is designed to allow federal, state, and local agencies to verify immigration status and citizenship for applicants seeking licenses and benefits, according to its website.

In a statement Friday, a spokeswoman for the Secretary of States Office, Anna Sventek, said the office would likely need to rely on multiple databases if the bill passes.

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The Secretary of States Office is aware that there is not one single database that can be used to confirm the citizenship of every citizen, she said. We are aware of some Federal agencies that are able to confirm some information; if the bill passes, we will do a thorough review of available resources to help us verify citizenship.

The idea of directing the Secretary of States Office to use databases to help confirm voters citizenship is not new; last spring, Sen. James Gray proposed passing a version of HB 1569 that included that language. The bill, HB 1370, did not pass.

At the time, Gray said he had discussed a number of potential databases with the Secretary of States Office  including the states own records within the Division of Motor Vehicles  and believed the effort would resolve most voters challenges. But Secretary of State David Scanlan said separately that while a hotline could be done, it could also result in challenges.

Lynns bill does not require the Secretary of States Office to help in every case. If the request is made on Election Day, for instance, neither local officials nor the Secretary of State shall be required to expend such time or effort on citizenship verification as would unreasonably interfere with their other Election Day duties, the bill states.

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The second part of the bill would give financial aid to anyone seeking to obtain their birth certificate or other citizenship document. That person would need to sign an affidavit at their town offices swearing that they cannot afford to pay the fees; the town or city would then pay a voucher to cover the expense. The town or city would be reimbursed by the Secretary of States Office.

The new bill comes against the backdrop of the lawsuits that argue the new documentation requirements will disenfranchise people who cant afford to get their citizenship documents to register to vote  or simply do not have enough time before Election Day to do so. New Hampshires law is the only of its kind in the country to require hard proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections.

Lynn says the existing law, HB 1569, is constitutional and will stand up to judicial scrutiny on its own. But passage of the bill that directs database verification and provides financial aid may further weaken the plaintiffs case against the state, Lynn argued.

Its not a response to the lawsuit, he said. But you know, to the extent that we can do things to make it even more accessible for people who claim to be indigent or who  for some reason or other dont have documentation of citizenship, that we can provide other avenues for them to satisfy that requirement, Im all in favor of doing it.

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Lynns second bill next year would extend the documentary requirements to absentee voters, requiring those voters to either cast their absentee ballots in person with their IDs in hand or include photocopies of their ID. New voters to the state would need to include photocopies of all documents necessary for registration, including citizenship.

Democrats press for repeal

Democrats are hoping to move the state in a different direction. Rep. Connie Lane, of Concord, has submitted a bill to repeal HB 1569 and allow voters to continue using affidavits to register to vote if they do not have their physical proof of citizenship.

But Republicans have broadened their control over the House and Senate, with a 221-178 advantage over Democrats in the House, so Lane does not expect the repeal to succeed.

Democrats are bringing back other longstanding voting law efforts. One is a bill to pass no excuse absentee voting, which would allow New Hampshire residents to vote early without meeting the current list of reasons. Those include being out of town on Election Day, having a physical disability or illness, having a religious commitment, having an employment commitment, being a caregiver for an adult or child, being protected under a domestic violence order, and others.

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Republicans have opposed no-excuse absentee voting in the past, arguing it could lead to fraud and allow people to coerce others to vote a certain way.

I dont expect that its going to go really far, but I think we want to keep it on the radar, Lane said. Because it is something  at least for my constituents and others  it seems to be a popular thing.

Lane said Democrats would be pushing a bill to make it easier for overseas and military people to vote, by allowing them to vote online.

And she said she would also try to work with Republicans on legislation allowing online voting registration. In 2023 and 2024, lawmakers have come close to passing such bills, only for negotiations to fall apart at the last moment in committee of conference sessions.

Its not easy to register to vote in New Hampshire, and the Republicans dont like same day (registration) and theyve made it increasingly difficult to register on the same day, she said. So Im hoping we can come into whatever century were in now and help people do it online.
HAWKINS COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL)  An overnight fire in Hawkins County on Monday resulted in evacuations for nearby residents.

According to Hawkins County EMA, emergency crews responded to a fire at 1012 Pressmens Home Road shortly after midnight.

Malfunction during plant startup prompts more prominent emission at US Nitrogen, company says

The fire reportedly involved unknown chemicals and residents within a one-mile radius were asked to evacuate.

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The evacuation has since been lifted and no injuries were reported, the EMA reported.

The fire was contained to the initial building and did not spread into the connected trades building, according to the EMA.

EMA Director Jamie Miller provided the video below from an EMA units dash camera. The video shows one of many explosions that happened on the scene, Miller said.

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MCCOLL, S.C. (WBTW)  The town of McColl is embroiled in controversy after its entire police force announced plans to resign.

Mayor George Garner confirmed the resignations on Thursday. Among those leaving is Chief Bob Hale, who was hired in June 2023, who said Thursday in a Facebook post on Thursday that he wanted to exit quietly and with minimal attention.

Departing Police Chief Bob Hale / Courtesy town of McColl

However, I realized that Id be doing every citizen and future employee a huge disservice by not speaking truthfully about our departures, Hale said. I want to thank everyone for their support and prayers during my tenure in McColl. Please continue to pray for me and my fellow officers but more importantly please pray for one of the most underrated and special places in this entire state. Thank you for everything, McColl.

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Hale said in his post that his decision to resign was the result of repeated acts of harassment and personal attacks on his character. He cited the overall creation of a hostile work environment perpetuated by a specific Councilman, adding that he has experienced unwarranted and malicious behavior aimed at undermining my integrity and leadership.

In his post, Hale also said a significant amount of money was cut from our already depleted budget by the same Councilman upon his arrival to his elected position. He said he repeatedly asked for funding to modernize equipment, enhance training, and increase staffing levels to no avail.

This lack of investment hampered our ability to operate at the standard the citizens of the Town of McColl rightfully expect and deserve, he said in the post. The safety of the residents and the well-being of the officers should have been prioritized by committing the necessary resources to build a department capable of addressing the complexities of 21st-century policing. Sadly, this was not the case and the majority of my tenure as Chief of Police was spent clearing the names of my officers as well as myself, from the numerous falsehoods that were made against us.

Garner, when asked whether the resignations had anything to do with pay, said he thinks the department has the highest-paid certified officers in Marlboro County, working at $20 an hour.

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News13 attempted to contact all of the town council members  including Brian Blue, Ronna Kubas, Jody Stubbs, Clayton Cummings and David Garner  but was only able to talk to Harry Benjamin, who said he was shocked, just like everyone else by the departures.

Benjamin told News13 that he doesnt know what led to the resignations. He said he had read Hales Facebook post but does not know which council member Hale was referring to in his post. He also said a statement Hale sent to the town did not include many of the details included in Hales Facebook.

Responding to Hales comments about the budget, Benjamin said the town council makes decisions as a whole as opposed to one council member making decisions. He added that he wishes Hale the best.

As for the future of the McColl Police Department, Garner said he has received some applications for the police chief position already. In the meantime, he said the Marlboro County Sheriffs Office is required to help cover the town, though the sheriffs office is also short-staffed.

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Garner said he thinks the problem will lead to longer response times for calls in the town. He said he has contacted the city of Bennettsville to get help but that the two municipalities do not currently have an agreement in place and that the city council would have to approve the request.

Garner said he has also reached out to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to see if they can help out until McColl can get its department fully staffed again. He also said he hopes that once Larry McNeil returns as Marlboro County sheriff in January things will get back to normal.

Newly elected state Sen. JD Chaplin also weighed in on the situation with a statement to News13.

As the newly elected Senator, we will work with the County Sheriffs office to make sure every citizen and their property are safe and protected while this situation is resolved, he said.

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Its not the first time McColl has had a problem with staffing it police department. In May, a now-former police captain was accused of misconduct, assault and battery. Before that, the then-police chief resigned, citing a hostile work environment allegedly caused by Garner.

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A drive-in restaurant is temporarily closed after a car crashed through the building.

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A car crashed into Swensons Drive-In in West Akron late Saturday, according to a social media post.

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Akron Police told Fox 8 in Cleveland that a vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed when it went off the road. It hit a curb, traveled through the parking lot, and hit the building.

The restaurant shared pictures of the damage left behind. They also said there were no major injuries to any of its workers.

Swensons said their food truck will be open starting on Monday until the building reopens.

The crash remains under investigation.

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BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB)  Several restaurants around the Panhandle will be open and ready to serve Thanksgiving feasts to the community. Enjoy three-course meals, delicious desserts, and music with your family.

Reservations are required for most locations so reserve your spot today.

AJs Grayton Beach on 63 Defuniak St, Santa Rosa Beach will host a community outreach dinner to give back to the community on Nov 28, from 12:00  5:00 p.m. Live music from Alson Weeks will be from 12:00  4:00 p.m, followed by family karaoke at 5 p.m. Free donations will be accepted for those who can give.

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The Bay on 24215 US Hwy 331 will hold a dinner celebration on Thanksgiving from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. They are now taking reservations by phone at 850-622-2291.

Down Island on 2780 US Hwy 98 W, Santa Rosa Beach will have a three-course Thanksgiving meal on Nov. 28, from 11 a.m.  6 p.m. The cost is $55 for a three-course meal, $39 for an adult turkey plate, and $19 for a kids turkey plate.

LaCo Latin Kitchen on 10343 E. County Hwy 30A is serving up a traditional Thanksgiving buffet from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Its $59.50 per adult, $29.50 per child under 12, and kids 3 and under eat free with a paying adult. Call 850-231-4201 or email info@laco30a.com for reservations.

Old Florida Fish House on 33 Herons Watch Way, Santa Rosa Beach will host a Grand Thanksgiving Buffet with dishes from grilled mahi, fried shrimp, and much more.

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Sharkys Beachfront Restaurant on 15201 Front Beach Road, Panama City Beach will host their annual Turkey at the Tiki Thanksgiving Buffet on Nov. 28. The cost for adults is $32.95, for those aged 12 and under, it is $18.95, and for those aged 4 and under, are free. For an additional $15 you can add all-you-can-eat crab legs. The buffet kicks off at 11:00 am and goes until 6:00 pm. Call 850-235-2420 to make reservations.

Harpoon Harrys on 12627 Front Beach Road will have its Thanksgiving Buffet on Nov. 28 from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm. Adults are $49.95, Kids 4-11 are $24.95, and 3 and under are free. Make your reservations by calling 850-428-2006 as spots will be limited.

Runaway Island on 14521 Front Beach Rd, Panama City Beach will have a Thanksgiving buffet from 10:30 am to 6:00 pm. The cost is $34.95 per person and $20 for kids 12 and under. Call 850-634-4884 to make your reservation

Margaritaville on 16230 Front Beach Road, Panama City Beach will serve a traditional Thanksgiving meal. The cost for adults is $27.99, and for kids 12 and under, its $15.99. Call 850-235-7870 to reserve your Thanksgiving table.

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C-Level Seafood & Steakhouse on 8014 Front Beach Rd. Panama City Beach will host a special Thanksgiving buffet and dinners to-go. The cost is $45 for adults and $25 for children 8 and under. Call 850-233-3564 to reserve spots.

Grand Marlin of Panama City Beach on 5323 N Lagoon Dr. Panama City Beach will serve their a la carte menu along with traditional Thanksgiving features from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm. Call 850-249-1500 to reserve your seats.

Emerald Hub at Calypso III on 15900 Front Beach Rd. will have to-go dinners available with roasted turkey, cornbread stuffing, and more. Orders must be placed by noon on 11/25 & picked up on Thanksgiving Day between noon and 2 p.m. Dinner for two is $80 and family of four $150.

Dat Cajun Place on 2705 Thomas Drive will host a Thanksgiving Buffet from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The cost is $30 per person, $25 with military ID, $15 for kids 11 and under, and kids under 3 eat free. Call 850-588-5314 to make reservations.

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Hammerhead Freds on 8752 Thomas Drive, Panama City Beach will host a Joyeau Thanksgiving Buffet from 11 am to 5 pm. Adults are $30.95 and kids 12 and under are $15.95.

Ms. Newbys on 8711 Thomas Dr. Panama City Beach for a Thanksgiving feast for a chance to win awesome prizes, enjoy free bingo, and a Thanksgiving spread from 12 p.m to 3 p.m.

Dirty Dicks Crab House on 9800 Front Beach Rd, Panama City Beach is serving a three-course meal on Thanksgiving from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. for only $29.99. From seafood gumbo to key lime pie this is a treat you wont want to miss out on. To make reservations, call 850-230-3425.

Hotel Indigo Panama City Marina will join in the Tarpons dining room and Bayview room for a delightful Thanksgiving meal on Thursday with reservations available at noon or 2:30 p.m. Special plated features are brown sugar glazed ham, Mac n Cheese and a whole lot more will be served. Email ecpha_foodbeverage@stjoe.com to reserve.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to mypanhandle.com.
JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV)  The retrial for the man accused of killing a local community activist in 2022 has been set for December 9, 2024.

William Polo Edwards was arrested and charged in connection to the death of Better Men Society founder Robert Davis. He was denied bond by Judge Eleanor Faye Peterson in October 2023 after a mistrial was declared in his case.

Edwards is accused of killing Davis inside Shadow Robinsons Clinton home on May 1, 2022.

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Edwards was arrested in connection to the case after a chase in New Orleans, Louisiana, on May 3, 2022. He was indicted for murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm in Hinds County. Edwards pled not guilty.

William Polo Edwards wants judge to recuse herself from case

The state filed a motion on November 25, 2024, to dismiss information regarding Robinsons prior manslaughter conviction. She was the star witness during Edwards first trial and part of a love triangle involving Davis and Edwards.

The defense posed several motions in the case and asked the court to consider moving the trial to January 13, 2025. The state made a similar motion, which Peterson denied. She said it would not be until 2026 if they were to delay the trial.

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Edwards attorney, Brandon Dorsey, said he wants to thoroughly review all the data from the state. Dorsey also said geographical barriers have hindered him from speaking with his client, but he believes theyre prepared for trial.

Mistrial declared in William Polo Edwards case

In my recitation, I did make it make it known to the court that because of those geographical barriers, you know, it impacts my ability to adequately work with my plan go the facts of the case. And again, this case has a wealth of electronic data that, you know, you just need to hand it over that, stated Dorsey.

Edwards is currently being housed at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler, Mississippi.

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Peterson also informed the court that the retrial will not be livestreamed to avoid character slander of those involved in the case.

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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 WJTV.
Voters check in to vote at George Hanaford School in East Greenwich on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Laura Paton/Rhode Island Current)

Nearly 66% of Rhode Islands registered voters cast ballots in the Nov. 5 election, with the highest turnout in 16 years, according to certified results approved by the Rhode Island Board of Elections on Friday.

The boards 5-0 vote followed a report presented by Miguel Nunez, executive director for the elections board.

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More than 517,199 Rhode Islanders cast ballots in the 2024 election, which included presidential, state, and local races, along with ballot questions. Turnout slightly surpassed 2020, when 64% of registered voters participated in the election. In 2016, turnout fell just shy of 60%.

In 2008, the recent peak for voter turnout, 68% of voters participated.

The 2024 elections saw Rhode Island voters embrace early, in-person voting. One-third of ballots cast were during designated, early voting at polling places statewide  the highest share since the state began offering the option during the pandemic in 2020. Over half, 56%, of voters cast ballots in-person on Election Day, while 11% submitted mail ballots.

While still a new phenomenon in Rhode Island, only formally codified in law in 2022, early, in-person voting continues to grow in popularity, rising 13 percentage points from the 2022 general election. Mail ballots also increased slightly compared with 2022, from 9% to 11% of ballots cast.

Made with Flourish

However, voters arent as likely to actually put their mail ballot in the mail as two years ago. In 2022, nearly three-quarters of mail ballots were sent in through the United States Postal Service, while 20% were turned into board-certified drop boxes. This year, drop boxes became more popular, used by nearly 40% of voters who filled out mail ballots. Mail ballots received through USPS fell by 12 percentage points compared with 2022.

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Of the 156 mail ballots initially flagged due to signature mismatches or other errors, 67 were fixed by the voters who made the errors by the certification deadline.

Rhode Island is not among the 23 states that offer same-day voter registration; however, its the only state that lets unregistered voters vote for president and vice president if they show up at certain, designated polling places on Election Day. More than 9,000 people took advantage of their option to cast ballots in the top-of-the-ticket race on Nov. 5.

The final, certified results include seven state and local races for which recounts were conducted on Nov. 14 and 15. In all cases, the recounts affirmed the leading candidates as winners.

The board also separately approved results of a risk-limiting audit conducted Nov. 19 and 20, in which a sample of randomly selected ballots cast in the presidential race and one state legislative contest were reviewed to confirm the accuracy of voting equipment and ballot counting.

Board members Diane Mederos and Marcela Betancur were absent from Fridays meeting.

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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  A man living in Ridge Manor was arrested last week after police in California alleged he engaged in sexual acts with minors over 20 years ago.

On October 31, the Hernando County Sheriffs Office was contacted by a detective with the Huntington Beach Police Department, who stated four people came forward with claims that George Phillip Foord, 54, (engaged) in multiple sex acts with them while they were underage.

Huntington Beach detectives told deputies that Foord was still contacting some of the alleged victims and reportedly had sexually explicit images of them saved on hard drives, as well as physical images, in his home.

Deputies searched Foords home and a hotel room he was staying in. The evidence they collected will be sent to California.

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Foord was arrested on Thursday and taken to the Hernando County Jail, where he is being held on a $1 million bond. He awaits extradition to California.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Millions of US citizens will be traveling over the Thanksgiving period, but plans to visit loved ones and eat copious amounts of food could be hampered by flight cancellations or delays as they attempt to cross the country in one of the most busiest holidays for travel.

Weather is not expected to be as mild as it was last year, with winter weather forecast to impact large areas of the country next week.

This Thanksgiving season is expected to the the busiest on record, with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) expecting to screen 18.3 million people at US airports over a seven day period  6 per cent more than last year.

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With the TSA predicting that three million people will pass through airport security checkpoints on Sunday, with Tuesday and Wednesday then expected to be the next busiest air travel days across the Thanksgiving period, it is essential that you know your rights if not everything goes to plan.

If your flight is disrupted, there is still a chance that airlines will book you on the next available flight, or if the disruptions are so severe that it prevents you from traveling at all, there are plenty of compensation and commitments offered by US airlines that may make up for missing out on a turkey feast.

Here is everything to know about your rights when flying this Thanksgiving.

What are my compensation rights if my flight has been canceled or delayed?

If your flight is canceled, most airlines will rebook you on the first flight available to your destination at no extra charge.

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If this means you are significantly delayed, find out if another carrier has space and ask the first airline if they will endorse your ticket to the other carrier.

However, finding extra seats over holidays and peak travel times, such as Thanksgiving, can get tricky.

Those who booked onto a domestic flight in the US may not be able to receive compensation when their flights are delayed or canceled, as it is not required by law. Only those who are bumped from a domestic flight when it has been overbooked are legally required to receive compensation.

On international flights, passengers may be able to get reimbursed under Article 19 of the Montreal Convention, for expenses resulting from a delayed or canceled flight by flight a claim with the airline.

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If the claim is denied, you can escalate the matter in court if you believe that the carrier did not take all measures that could reasonably be required to avoid the damages caused by the delay.

What do airlines offer?

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has created a dashboard to show what airlines have committed to in the event that a flight is canceled or delayed. These 10 airlines account for approximately 96 per cent of the domestic scheduled passenger traffic.

If a cancellation or delay was under the airlines control, such as maintenance or crew problems, cabin cleaning, baggage loading, and fueling, there are certain amenities that passengers can claim. Bad weather is not under the airlines control so it will not count.

Commitments for controllable cancellations (DOT)

This could include rebooking your flight at no additional cost, meal vouchers if a flight has been delayed for three or more hours, hotel accommodation for overnight cancelations and credit/travel vouchers. However, what is offered will vary by airline.

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There are no federal requirements to look after a passenger who is waiting at an airport; each airline has its own policies about what it will do for delayed passengers.

If you find yourself delayed, speak to airline staff to see if they will pay for meals or a hotel room during the wait.

The DOT, however, warns that some budget carriers that offer very low airfares may not provide any amenities to stranded passengers.

Others may not offer amenities if the cause of delay was beyond their control or not their fault, such as bad weather.

Commitments for controllable delays (DOT)

Some flights can get delayed on the airport tarmac before taking off or after landing, but the DOT prohibits most US airlines from allowing a domestic flight to remain on the tarmac for more than three hours unless the pilot is doing this for safety or air traffic control advises that taxiing to the gate could disrupt airport operations.

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On both domestic and international flights, US airlines must provide passengers with food and water no later than two hours after the tarmac delay begins.

A traveler who incurs incidental expenses such as a rental car, hotel room, or meals due to a significantly delayed or canceled flight is not entitled to a refund of the incidental expenses.

What are my refund rights if my flight has been canceled or delayed?

An airlines compensation commitment does not impact your entitlement to a refund.

Regardless of the reason, if an airline cancels a flight it is required to provide a refund, including those with non-refundable tickets, ot if the passenger chooses not to accept the alternative offered, such as rebooking on another flight.

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A passenger who chooses not to travel after an airline makes a significant schedule change or significantly delays a flight is also entitled to a refund.

Airlines must automatically issue refunds without passengers having to explicitly request them or jump through hoops, and should be sending out the refunds within seven business days of refunds becoming due for credit card purchases and 20 calendar days for other payment methods.

What do if my flight is delayed?

Try and find out how late it will be, but this can sometimes be difficult as airlines estimate how long a delay will be if they are trying to fix an unforeseen issue or the weather is unpredictable.

TSA predicts Thanksgiving will be one of the busiest on record (Getty Images)

If your flight is experiencing a lengthy delay, it might be better to arrange another flight, as long as you dont have to pay a cancellation penalty or a higher fare for changing, the DOT recommends.

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While there is no rule requiring them to do this, if you find a flight with another carrier, ask your original airline if it will endorse a new ticket with the alternative airline, as this could save you money.

Government booking advice

The DOT recommends that those who are attending a family function this Thanksgiving to book an earlier flight than they need to to give themselves a little extra leeway.

It says that airline delays arent unusual, and planning ahead of time is the best way to try and avoid disruptions.

The DOT adds that when booking your flight, its important to remember that a departure earlier in the day is less likely to be delayed than a later flight due to a ripple effect of delays throughout the day.

Book a flight earlier than you need to give yourself leeway this Thanksgiving (Getty Images)

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Earlier flights are also beneficial as if your flight is delayed or canceled, you have more rerouting options throughout the day, whereas if the last flight of the day is canceled, you could get stuck overnight.

Passengers who are booking connecting flights are advised to be wary. The DOt says you should ask yourself what will happen if the first flight is delayed: will there be enough time to still get the second flight and are there other flight options from that destination just in case?

On the flip side, its important not to worry too much and stress yourself out over travel plans. Last Thanksgiving, fewer than 400 US flights were canceled during the seven-day period, which is about one of every 450 flights.

So far in 2024, airlines have canceled about 1.3 per cent of all flights.

Getting bumped

Overbooking a flight is not illegal  it is a business strategy by airlines to compensate for no-shows  but passengers can sometimes be bumped from the flight if the plane is full.

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The DOT asks those who are not in a hurry to give up their seats voluntarily, in exchange for compensation.

Those who are bumped against their will are often entitled to compensation and airlines are legally required to give the passenger a written statement explaining their rights.

However, if you are bumped involuntarily and the airline arranges substitute transportation that is scheduled to get you to your final destination (including later connections) within one hour of your original scheduled arrival time, there is no compensation.

If the airline has to substitute a smaller plane for the one it originally planned to use, the carrier isnt required to pay people who are bumped as a result.

For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calders podcast
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UMGC Europe Book Club observes Veterans Day on November 19, 2024 at 1200 CET via Zoom with a special feature on The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles. This compelling historical novel intertwines themes of literacy, democracy and intergenerational friendship, serving as a tribute to Veterans Day and honoring those who endured WWII. By exploring how literature became a source of connection during one of historys darkest periods, the novel underscores the enduring value of books as symbols of hope and freedom.

Janet Skeslien Charles masterfully interweaves real historical events and characters from the librarys wartime legacy into her narrative. The American Library in Paris was one of the few institutions that remained open throughout WWII, providing the source material for the novel. Dorothy Reeder, the librarys real-life director who appears in the story, held steadfast to the librarys mission, declaring that closing was never an option. Considering Nazi Germanys penchant for book burning, the American Librarys existence challenged the occupation through community literacy. The library staff persevered, despite great peril, fortified by a deep commitment to aiding soldiers and civilians. Even as the war intensified, the librarys volunteer service sent books to the front lines, providing comfort and solace to soldiers far from home. Established as a memorial for those who had fallen in WWI, the American Library carried forward its legacy, believing profoundly in the power of books.

Set in Nazi-occupied Paris, The Paris Library immerses readers in the world of Odile, a young French librarian. During the phony war and the bleak years after the fall of Paris, the doors of the American Library stay open, offering refuge and resilience through literature. As the library continues its circulation, Odile risks her own safety to protect the collection and provides banned books to Jewish patrons and French Resistance fighters. Through Odiles acts of defiance, Charles depicts how books can be agents of change and vehicles of comfort in times of unimaginable hardship. For Odile and her colleagues, the American Library is both a physical sanctuary and a symbolic democratic space.

Beyond its portrayal of WWII, The Paris Library emphasizes the theme of intergenerational friendship. In a parallel storyline decades after the war in a small town in Montana, Odile forms a close bond with her young neighbor, Lily. As Odile shares her experiences of war and survival, Lily gains insight into resilience and discovers how literature can offer perspective and guidance. It is through a shared love of the French language that Lily transforms into a bold young woman, and Odiles mentorship shapes the young girls dreams, taking her well beyond her small town. This intergenerational friendship illustrates the timeless value of shared stories and history, and how the past is always just a conversation away.

Flyer for UMGC Book Club (UMGC)

UMGC Europe Book Club selected The Paris Library to commemorate Veterans Day and to reinforce its mission of building a welcoming, inclusive community rooted in empathy and resilience. Whether youre a student, a military member, a veteran, or simply a book lover in our community, we invite you to join us in exploring this historical novel and engaging in meaningful conversation.

For more information, visit our Facebook page or email bookclub-europe@umgc.edu with questions about membership or upcoming events.
DALLAS TWP., LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)  Police in Luzerne County say they extradited a prisoner in Rikers Island to face charges in a cooking oil theft investigation.

According to the Dallas Township Police Department, on November 14, officers extradited Ronny Almanzar Jimenez from Rikers Island, New York, to face charges for a 2023 theft in Dallas Township.

Man charged after several guns stolen from Dallas Twp. home

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Police say Jimenez was involved in a cooking oil theft from a local business.

Jimenez is charged with the following:

Possessing instruments of a crime

Theft by unlawful taking

Loitering and prowling at night

He remains in the Luzerne County Correctional Facility.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com.
In a Sunday morning interview on WISN-TV's "Upfront," Assembly Speaker Robin Vos repeated calls for former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who he hired, then fired, to investigate the 2020 election, to be disbarred and "never allowed to practice law in Wisconsin again."

"I certainly hope Michael Gableman loses his law license. I hope he goes back to work at Home Depot, where he was working prior to working for us," Vos said. "As I look at what the Office of Lawyer Regulation is saying happened, it's an embarrassment for anybody who practices law."

The Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation filed a disciplinary complaint Tuesday alleging Gableman violated the Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys, including engaging in "disruptive behavior" during a court hearing, making false statements about the integrity of a judge and violating the state's open records law.

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More: Former Justice Michael Gableman faces disciplinary complaint tied to 2020 election probe

When a Journal Sentinel reporter previously asked Gableman if he worked at Home Depot before being hired by Vos in 2021 to lead the election review, he refused to answer. Gableman served on the state's highest court between 2008 and 2018.

Speaker Pro Tempore Kevin Peterson, left, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate President Chris Kapenga listen to Gov. Tony Evers deliver his State of State address, January 23, 2024 at the Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin. The Democratic governor laid out his priorities in front of the Republican-led Legislature.

According to the complaint, the Assembly paid more than $2.3 million for the investigation, which yielded a steady drumbeat of explosive court hearings and rulings in lawsuits over his desire to jail election officials and mayors who refused to be interviewed behind closed doors, and his decision to ignore requests from the public for records related to his probe.

The review never revealed any evidence of significant fraud or new facts related to the election not previously known.

Vos says Republicans will limit education spending in state budget

Vos hit on plenty of other subjects in the wide-ranging interview, including restructuring Milwaukee Public Schools, proposing tax relief for retirees using the state's $4 billion surplus, and requiring state employees to work in the office three or four days a week.

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"A lot of employees aren't working, or they're working only from home and not doing it very well with little supervision," Vos said.

Democrats responded to his interview by pointing out the state Legislature is only in session a few months out of the year.

"Rich stuff from a guy who adjourned the Assembly last February yet continues to draw a full-time salary," Democratic Party of Wisconsin communications director Joe Oslund said on X.

Vos also suggested Republicans would not allow a "massive increase" in K-12 and higher education spending in the upcoming two-year budget, after the state's last budget "had the largest increase in education spending in literally a generation," he said.

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"There are some parts of Wisconsin where people want to spend more money, and they have every right to do that. If they want to raise their taxes at the ballot box, I support that idea," Vos said. "The idea that we're going to do it for them and take the burden on for every single district ... that's just wrong for the state."

Over one in four public school districts in Wisconsin went to referendum in November, with nearly 78% approved by voters.

More: UW System funding ranks 43rd nationally. A big budget request would move it to middle of pack

More: Wisconsin legislators lay out priorities. Here's what to know from leaders of both parties.

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Vos said he wants the Assembly to again pass the "Monday count" bill, which failed in the Senate last session. Clerks have long asked for the ability to begin processing absentee ballots before Election Day to prevent delays, especially in Milwaukee, which can lead to perceptions of a late-night "ballot dump."

Vos said he wants to enforce that only U.S. citizens can vote, after voters approved a referendum adding that language to the state constitution. The author of the referendum previously told the Journal Sentinel that the idea was separate from requiring proof of citizenship to vote, like a passport, birth certificate or naturalization papers.

"We have to actually pass statutes that will say, 'How do we ensure when someone shows up to same-day register, that we know they're a citizen?'" Vos said.

Vos, a longtime target of Trump, voted for him in November

Vos has long been at odds with President-Elect Donald Trump over his efforts to pressure Vos to overturn the 2020 election in Wisconsin, and Trump helped fund a primary challenge against him. Vos endorsed Trump after he won the presidential primaries but had previously called his nomination a "suicide mission."

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On Sunday, Vos confirmed he voted for Trump on Nov. 5.

"I thought about the future of our country, the future of our state. And there's no doubt in my mind that Donald Trump being the president is a better option than either Kamala Harris or Joe Biden," he said.

Vos supported Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the primary.

Vos said he's confident that Republicans will control the Assembly for the rest of the decade, though the state's new legislative maps give Democrats a chance to pick up more seats in the Senate in 2026.

Vos said he plans to run in 2026.

He said, "2024 was a pretty hard year for Robin Vos: Two recalls, a primary, an independent whack job running against me in the fall. It was not an easy time, but hopefully most of that is behind me and now we can focus on all the good things that are left."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Robin Vos repeats calls for Michael Gableman to lose his law license
Nov. 25 (UPI) -- The pro-Russian nationalist candidate Calin Georgescu had racked up a definitive 350,000 vote lead in an upset in Romania's presidential election as counting in the first round wound to a finish Monday.

The "Tik Tok" candidate, so-called because he ran his campaign around the video-sharing social media platform, narrowly beat Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, who was the favorite, into third place behind the center-right candidate Elena Lasconi.

The pro-Europe Ciolacu was expected to win comfortably according to exit polls during Sunday's voting but with 99% of ballots counted Georgescu was ahead with 22.95 % of the vote, Lasconi on 19.17% and Ciolacu on 19.15% leaving Georgescu poised to take on Lasconi in a run-off election in two weeks' time.

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Turnout was about 52.4% -- about 9.4 million people -- with the country's diaspora playing a critical part, with a record 800,000 overseas Romanians taking part.

Heralding what he called "an amazing awakening" of the Romanian people Georgescu said the result was the biggest shake-up in Romanian politics since the end of Communist rule more than three decades ago.

"The 35-years-long economic uncertainty imposed on the Romanian people became uncertainty for the political parties today," he said after the polls closed on Sunday.

Georgescu, campaigned on cutting Romania's dependence on imports by boosting energy and food production prodiction through more support for farmers. He was also critical of the European Union and NATO saying membership of the institutions was not in the country's interest.

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In particular, he has sought to undermine NATO by suggesting the military alliance might not come to Romania's defense in the event it was attacked, as required by Article 5 of the founding treaty, and previously parroted claims by Putin that an "Iron Dome"-style U.S. missile defense system in the south of the country is more about confrontation than defense.

Georgescu has questioned Western military support for Ukraine in its battle to expel invading Russian forces, lauded Russian President Vladimir Putin and praised neighboring Hungary's populist conservatism, Euroskepticism and uncompromising stance on issues from migration to protectionism.

The apparent shift to the right follows summer European elections in which the far-right made big gains in France, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands and to a lesser extent in Germany and Romania.

In another tussle for hearts and minds between west and east, people in neighboring Moldova voted to join the European Union in a non-binding referendum in October by the narrowest of margins -- 0.8% -- amid allegations of widespread Russian interference and destabilization efforts.

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"Criminal groups, working with foreign forces hostile to our national interests, have attacked our country with tens of millions of euros, lies, and propaganda, using the most disgraceful means to keep our nation trapped in uncertainty and instability," Moldova's pro-EU president, Maia Sandu said after the vote.

"We have clear evidence that these criminal groups aimed to buy 300,000 votes -- a fraud of unprecedented scale. Their objective was to undermine a democratic process. Their intention is to spread fear and panic in the society."

Moldovan security agencies alleged Russia spent $108 million to get Moldovans to vote against closer ties with the EU and European lawmakers and elections monitoring groups have denounced what they alleged was widespread Russian vote-buying, cyber attacks and disinformation campaigns.

Prior to the referendum, MEPs passed a resolution condemning the escalating actions, interference and hybrid operations of a "plethora of malicious actors, including pro-Russian Moldovan oligarchs and Russia's state-funded RT network, in carrying out voter fraud schemes as well as cyber operations and information warfare."

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Western countries and Ukraine have been fighting an uphill battle for influence in the tiny landlocked country, bordered by Ukraine on three sides and Romania to the west, internally riven as it already is by the pro-Moscow breakaway Transnistria region where Russian boots have been on the ground for more than three decades.

The Council of Europe ruled in 2022 that Transnistria was Moldovan territory occupied by Russia.
Elena Lasconi, one of the two candidates in the Romanian presidential election, called for support for her candidacy to prevent Romania from returning to Russian influence.

Source: Elena Lasconi in her first public speech after the first round of elections, quoted by HotNews.ro and European Pravda

Details: Lasconi, the leader of the opposition Save Romania Union, warned that the country was in danger with Calin Georgescus sensational victory in the first round.

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Quote from Elena Lasconi: "We find ourselves in a historical confrontation between the past and the future, between the preservation of young Romanian democracy and Putinism, between love for the motherland and those who want to return Romania to the zone of Russian influence."

Lasconi said that Georgescu is an open admirer of Vladimir Putin and openly opposes NATO and the EU. She called for unity around her to destroy Moscow's dreams.

Quote from Elena Lasconi: "He is for the isolation of Romania, which he calls neutrality. He wants to destroy everything on which our prosperity rests. Without NATO, we will be at the mercy of Russia. If all the reformist forces rally around the Save Romania Union next Sunday, we can prove that we are stronger than what Moscow dreams of."

Lasconi said that her Union for the Rescue of Romania was not perfect, but it had never betrayed the values of the 1989 revolution, and independence from Russia and the European path were its dreams.

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With 100 per cent of the votes counted in the first round of the Romanian presidential election, Georgescu unexpectedly came in first place, followed by Lasconi in second.

Georgescu is one of the most vocal propagandists of anti-Western ideas in Romania, arguing that the EU and NATO do not adequately represent Romanian interests and claiming that Russia's war in Ukraine is manipulated by US military companies.

Lascani is known for criticising the current Romanian government for its inaction regarding Russian drones that occasionally crash on Romanian territory and has not ruled out a ban on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban from entering Romania.

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ROME, NY (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY)  A fire in the City of Rome early Sunday morning has police asking for the publics help in what caused it.

Police were called to the 400 block of East Bloomfield Street at approximately 2:40 am on Sunday, November 24 to assist the Rome Fire Department with a structure fire. Upon their arrival to 405 East Bloomfield Street, heavy smoke and flames were seen coming from the residence there.

According to Rome Police, the residence sustained substantial damage. Police also say all of the occupants of the residents were able to escape safely and sustained no injuries.

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During the course of the investigation, it was determined that the fire was caused under suspicious circumstances. Police are asking anyone in the area with video surveillance cameras to review their footage from approximately 2:40 am on Sunday.

Police are asking anyone with any information to contact the Rome Police Departments TIP line at 315-339-7744. You may also submit a fully anonymous tip online through the Mohawk Valley Crime Stoppers website, over the phone at 1-866-730-8477 (TIPS), or by using the P3 Tips mobile app.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WUTR/WFXV - CNYhomepage.com.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has suggested that if Ukraine had started its movement towards NATO in 2008, Russia would have launched a war against it earlier.

Source: Merkel in an interview with the BBC on the eve of the publication of her memoirs, as reported by European Pravda

Details: In the interview, Merkel strongly defended her decisions during her time in office. She believes that the war in Ukraine would probably have started earlier and been even worse than it is now.

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"We would have seen military conflict even earlier. It was completely clear to me that President Putin would not have stood idly by and watched Ukraine join Nato. And back then, Ukraine as a country would certainly not have been as prepared as it was in February 2022," Merkel said.

She also expressed concern about Vladimir Putin's new threats to use nuclear weapons.

"We must do everything possible to prevent the use of nuclear weapons," the former German Chancellor said.

"Thankfully, China also spoke about this a while back. We shouldn't be paralysed by fear, but we must also acknowledge that Russia is the biggest, or alongside the US, one of the two biggest nuclear powers in the world," Merkel added.

Background:

In a recent interview with Spiegel, Merkel said that Putin had no intention of attacking Ukraine at the beginning of his presidency and that his plan had evolved over the years, including in response to Western behaviour.

She also expressed her indignation at being made a scapegoat for the war in Ukraine.

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Russia could hand China technology that would cut into US undersea dominance, a US admiral said.

Adm. Samuel Paparo said that he expected Russia to also do the same for North Korea.

At a security forum, he said exchanges among Russia, Iran, North Korea, and China have intensified.

Adm. Samuel Paparo, the US Navy's top commander in the Indo-Pacific, said that Russia will likely give submarine technology to China that would undercut the US' undersea dominance.

Paparo, speaking at the Halifax Security Forum over the weekend, raised concerns about the two countries' military partnership.

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"I expect Russia to provide submarine technology to the PRC that has the potential of closing American undersea dominance," he said, using the acronym for the People's Republic of China.

Undersea dominance is key for the US, especially in the Indo-Pacific, which includes the waters around Taiwan and the South China Sea.

China has grown increasingly assertive in the region in recent months, repeatedly crossing into the airspace and waters of Taiwan, a key US partner, and carrying out maritime gray-zone operations against the Philippines, an ally the US is treaty-bound to defend.

While the US Navy has one of the world's largest submarine fleets, China has the largest maritime fighting force.

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At the same time, China has "helped rebuild Russia's war machine with 90% of its semiconductors and 70% of the machine tools that have rebuilt that war machine," Paparo said.

He described these bilateral military exchanges as a "certain transactional symbiosis" in which each country fulfills the needs of the others.

"This is a dangerous environment, and this is adding complexity to the environment itself," Paparo said, adding that the US needs to rethink its strategy in view of these exchanges.

He said that one way the US is already doing this is by sharing real-time intelligence with Japan and South Korea in their command and control networks and ballistic missile defenses.

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According to Paparo, Russia is not only exchanging military capability and technology with China but also with North Korea and Iran.

North Korea has provided Russia with artillery and up to 11,000 soldiers to help its army against Ukraine, while Iran has transferred ballistic missiles and Shahed drones to Russia to aid its war efforts.

In return, according to Paparo, Russia would likely provide missile and submarine technology to the North Korean state.

However, the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea appears to be putting a strain on Sino-Russian relations.

Kurt Campbell, the US deputy secretary of state, said last week that China is increasingly concerned about the alliance between Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin .

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He said that China has not directly criticized Russia, "but we do believe that the increasing coordination between Pyongyang and Moscow is unnerving them."

Read the original article on Business Insider
The News

Russia has recruited hundreds of Yemeni mercenaries to fight in Ukraine, the Financial Times reported, as the Kremlin increasingly looks to foreign troops to limit the impact of the war on the domestic population.

The men were seemingly recruited by a group linked to the Iran-backed Houthis, which promised them lucrative jobs and Russian citizenship, but they were instead sent to fight in Ukraine, some of the men told the FT.

Both Russia and Ukraine have struggled to recruit enough troops to replace their battlefield casualties; to avoid a costly and unpopular mobilization effort at home, the Kremlin has instead used more foreign fighters, including those from Nepal and India, as well as an estimated 12,000 North Korean soldiers.

The US special envoy for Yemen said Russia is discussing weapons transfers with the Houthis that could allow the group to more accurately target ships in the Red Sea. Since Israels war in Gaza began last year, the Houthis have attacked at least 90 merchant ships in an apparent show of solidarity with Hamas, another Tehran-backed group.
(Reuters) - Seven Ukrainian missiles and seven drones were destroyed overnight over Russia's Kursk, the governor of the region that borders Ukraine said on Monday, in what an analyst described as a "massive attack".

"Our air defence fighters repelled the attack of the Ukrainian Armed Forces last night," Kursk regional governor Alexei Smirnov wrote on his Telegram channel.

He did not provide further detail. The Russian defence ministry said in its morning update that a total of 23 Ukrainian drones were destroyed over the Russian territory. The ministry did not mention missiles in its statement.

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A pro-Russian military analyst Roman Alyokhin, who serves as an adviser to the governor, said on Telegram that "Kursk was subjected to a massive attack by foreign-made missiles" overnight.

"It was very loud and there were a lot of them (missiles)," Alyokhin said.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. It was not clear what weapons Ukraine used. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into the Kursk region in August, but has since lost more than 40% of the territory it had captured as Russian forces have mounted waves of counter-assaults, a senior Ukrainian military source told Reuters.

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After U.S. President Joe Biden allowed Kyiv to fire U.S.-supplied missiles at targets deep inside Russia, Ukraine last week fired U.S. ATACMS and British Storm Shadow cruise missiles into Russia.

Moscow responded with a strike on Ukraine using a newly developed hypersonic ballistic missile.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Lincoln Feast.)
Russian occupation forces are continuing to deploy drones to attack Ukraine, with Ukraines air defence intercepting 71 Russian drones (out of 145) on 25 November; another 71 drones had disappeared from radar.

Source: Ukraines Air Force on social media

Quote: "On the night of 2425 November (since 18:30 on 24 November) the occupiers deployed Shahed attack drones and other unidentified types of drones to attack Ukraine from Orel, Kursk, Millerovo and Primorsko-Akhtarsk in the Russian Federation and temporarily occupied territories in Crimea.

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Over the course of this period, the Air Forces air surveillance troops detected and tracked 145 enemy drones.

As of 11:00, air defence shot down 71 enemy drones in Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Poltava, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kherson oblasts.

Another 71 drones disappeared from radar, likely because of Russian electronic warfare systems; one drone crossed into Belarusian airspace."

Details: Over the course of 24 November, Russian forces deployed different types of drones, glide bombs and Kh-59/69 air-to-surface missiles in a repeat strike on Ukraine.

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Ukraines Air Force warns that in light of changing Russian drone use tactics, reporting of Ukrainian air defence operations might also change.

Previously, Shahed drone attacks always took place during nighttime, when it was dark outside. Now Russia is also deploying drone strikes during the day.

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The Kremlin has dismissed reports of discussions between Britain and France on sending soldiers to Ukraine.

A report in Le Monde, the French newspaper, claimed Britain and France had reactivated talks over sending Western troops and private defence companies to Ukraine.

However, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said that the report did not correspond with reality and had hit resistance in most European capitals.

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There is no unanimity of opinion among Europeans on this matter but, of course, some hotheads appear, he said.

Le Monde said sensitive discussions, most of which are classified had been relaunched in the wake of Donald Trumps presidential victory and potential window of withdrawal for Kyiv support, citing corroborating sources.

Emmanuel Macron, the French president, sent shock waves through Europe in February when he refused to rule out sending troops to Ukraine, a move that Germany strongly opposes.

However, Le Monde said that the prospect was far from being buried and had been revived in recent weeks with the visit to France of the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the Nov 11 ceremonies.

Dmitry Peskov said the Le Monde reports did not correspond with reality - Reuters

Sir Keir became the first prime minister to attend Armistice Day commemorations in France since Winston Churchill joined Charles de Gaulle to mark the end of First World War hostilities.

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According to Le Monde, a British military source said: Discussions are under way between the UK and France on defence cooperation, particularly with a view to creating a hard core of allies in Europe, focusing on Ukraine and European security in the broad sense.

On Saturday, Jean-Noel Barrot, the French foreign minister, called on the Western allies not to set and express red lines in their support for Ukraine. Asked about the possibility of sending French troops to the region, he said: We are not ruling out any option.

A diplomatic source said Mr Barrots comments simply reflected Mr Macrons unchanged position that nothing should be ruled out in the name of strategic ambiguity.

While no green light for sending conventional troops or private contractors has been given by the Elysee or French defence ministry, Le Monde said proposals have been on the table for several months.

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It cited one plan in which the state-controlled Defense Conseil International (DCI), the French defence ministrys main operator for monitoring arms contracts and transferring related military intelligence, would train Ukrainian soldiers and maintain French military equipment inside Ukraine, rather than abroad. France currently trains Ukrainian troops at home and in Poland.

The French newspaper said the DCI was approached by Babcock, its British counterpart already in Ukraine, to share its facilities.

In May, Babcock announced that work was underway to set up a technical support site in Ukraine, including the repair and overhaul of military vehicles.

A source said Mr Macrons position on sending troops to Ukraine remained unchanged - Sarah Meyssonnier/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

The collaboration proposal has not come to fruition to date, Le Monde added, but it would be consistent with the Biden administrations decision to lift a ban on private military companies in Ukraine earlier this month.

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US contractors can now operate there openly to maintain military equipment sent to Kyiv, whether from American or allied stocks, such as F-16s and Patriot air defence systems.

The reports come at a time when Ukraine has increased the use of long-range missiles. Joe Biden, the US president, gave Kyiv the green light to strike Russia with their Atacms ground-to-ground ballistic missiles earlier this month, which have a range of up to 300 kilometres.

Last week, a salvo of British-made Storm Shadows missiles hit a Russian command post in the Kursk region.

The strike caused Andrei Kelin, Moscows ambassador to the UK, to claim that Britain was now directly involved in the Ukraine war because this firing cannot happen without Nato staff, British staff as well.

Ian_Matveev/X

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France has remained tight-lipped about the use of the Scalp, its Storm Shadow equivalent. Speaking to the BBC, Mr Barrot reiterated his countrys position that Kyiv can only strike Russia in self-defence. To date, no Scalp strike on a military target in Russian territory has been made public.

Reports of the potential involvement of Western troops come as Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, demanded security guarantees from his allies ahead of any peace negotiations.

Details of Trumps peace plan for Ukraine were leaked earlier this month and envisage freezing the front line and creating an 800-mile demilitarised zone.

US forces would not be included in the peacekeeping mission nor fund it, according to the leaked document.

Let the Germans, British and French do it

A Trump team official told The Wall Street Journal: We can provide training and other support, but the gun barrel will be pointed at Europe.

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We are not sending the Americans to keep the peace in Ukraine. And we will not pay for it. Let the Polish people, Germans, British and French do it.

Elie Tenenbaum, a researcher at the French Institute of International Relations, said Western troops could potentially be sent to Ukraine once a ceasefire had been signed to guarantee the countrys security and Russias compliance.

Positioned in eastern Ukraine, these troops would not be backed up by Natos article 5, which obliges alliance countries to retaliate in the event of an attack, but by a currently undefined air and naval protection system.

The aim would be to have advanced hedgehog forces  also known as the tripwire model in English  responsible for enforcing a ceasefire, but also capable of preventing the relaunch of a large-scale offensive by Russia, Mr Tenenbaum told Le Monde.

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With the US withdrawing and Germany in political deadlock, France and the United Kingdom, the only two nuclear powers in Europe, would therefore play a key role, he said.

The Baltic States, Poland and the Scandinavian countries also seem to be essential candidates.

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SEOUL, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko issued a warning to South Korea against supplying lethal aid to Ukraine, saying that the move would "fully destroy relations" between the two countries.

"Seoul must realize that the possible use of South Korean weapons to kill Russian citizens will fully destroy relations between our countries," Rudenko told state news agency TASS Sunday. "Of course, we will respond in every way that we find necessary. It is unlikely that this will strengthen the security of the Republic of Korea itself."

The Republic of Korea is the official name of South Korea.

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Seoul has provided humanitarian and financial aid to Ukraine but has so far refrained from directly supplying weapons for Kyiv's defense against a Russian invasion that began in Feb. 2022.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said earlier this month, however, that Seoul would not rule out weapons support to Ukraine in the wake of North Korea deploying troops to Russia.

"As the North Korean military gains experience in modern warfare, it could become a serious problem for our security," Yoon said at a press conference on Nov. 7.

"So we will change the support level from the previous humanitarian nature depending on the degree of involvement of the North Korean military. We will not rule out weapons support to Ukraine," Yoon said.

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Washington and Seoul estimate that roughly 11,000 North Korean troops have been dispatched to the Kursk region of southwest Russia, where Ukrainian forces have occupied hundreds of square miles since a surprise incursion in August.

The U.S. State Department has confirmed that the North's troops had begun combat operations, while a Ukrainian media report over the weekend claimed that 500 North Korean soldiers were killed in an attack using British missiles.

RBC Ukraine, citing defense news publisher Global Defense Corp., reported Saturday that the soldiers were killed "as a result of the Storm Shadow missile strike on the Kursk region."

South Korea's National Intelligence Service told lawmakers last week that the North Korean troops have been assigned to Russia's airborne brigade and marine corps and are undergoing training in tactics including the use of drones.

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The NIS added that North Korea has sent additional long-range artillery systems to Russia, including 170mm self-propelled howitzers and 240mm multiple rocket launchers.

Moscow and Pyongyang have grown closer since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The two signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty in June, which includes a mutual defense clause that calls for mutual military assistance in the event either country is attacked.

South Korean officials have also raised concerns over Moscow sharing missile and nuclear technology with Pyongyang. Seoul's military intelligence said earlier this month that North Korea's new Hwasong-19 intercontinental ballistic missile, test-fired on Oct. 31, may have been developed with Russian technical assistance.

Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that North Korea could deploy up to 100,000 troops to aid Moscow in its war against Kyiv.
Russia's ground forces are now larger than they were at the time of beginning of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but their quality has declined since then.

Source: Admiral Rob Bauer, Chief of the NATO Military Committee, said this on Monday, European Pravda reports citing Reuters

Quote: "The quality of those forces has gone down," Bauer said, pointing to the state of equipment and level of training of Russian soldiers.

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"At the moment, the Russians are not the same threat as in February 2022, so we have a bit of time to prepare ourselves," he said, adding that this means increasing investment in the defence industry.

He also urged businesses to be prepared for a wartime scenario and adjust their production and distribution lines accordingly to be less vulnerable to blackmail from countries such as Russia and China.

"If we can make sure that all crucial services and goods can be delivered no matter what, then that is a key part of our deterrence," Bauer said.

It is worth noting that General Christopher Cavoli, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, believes that regardless of how the war in Ukraine ends, the Russian army will be stronger than it is now. "The Russian armed forces are learning, they are improving, they are applying the experience gained at war," Cavoli said.

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He called on NATO to quickly prepare for this threat, because Russia will be an enemy with serious military potential and "clear intentions".

Background: Bruno Kahl, Head of Germany's Foreign Intelligence Service, believes that Russia will be capable of attacking NATO territory within the next six years.

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Ivan Fedorov, Head of Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration, reported on the night of 24-25 November that a girl had been injured and an infrastructure facility in Zaporizhzhia damaged as a result of a Russian drone attack.

Source: Fedorov on Telegram

Quote from Fedorov: "The Russians are actively attacking Zaporizhzhia with Shahed drones.

An infrastructure facility has been damaged."

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Details: Fedorov clarified that early reports indicated there were no casualties.

Update at 01:07: Fedorov reported that a girl had been injured in the Russian attack.

Quote: "We currently know about one child who has been injured as a result of the Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia. She is a 16-year-old girl. Doctors are providing her with all the necessary assistance."

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Russian attacks across Ukraine injured at least five civilians, including a 13-year-old boy, over the past day, regional authorities reported on the morning of Nov. 25.

A Russian attack against the Koriukivka district of Chernihiv Oblast on Nov. 24 injured a 28-year-old man, according to Governor Viacheslav Chaus.

Three people were injured during Russian attacks on Kherson Oblast, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported. Three high-rise buildings and 22 houses were damaged.

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A Russian drone attack against the city of Zaporizhzhia overnight on Nov. 25 injured a 13-year-old boy, Governor Ivan Fedorov reported. Industrial facilities in the city were attacked.

Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Poltava, Zhytomyr, and Odesa oblasts were also attacked, but no casualties were reported.

Russia continued to attack Ukraine later during the day on Nov. 25, hitting the cities of Kharkiv and Odesa with missiles and inflicting additional casualties.

Ukrainian air defenses shot down 71 of the 145 Russian drones launched overnight, the Air Force said. Seventy-one other drones were "lost" across Ukraine, likely thanks to electronic warfare means, the statement read.

Read also: Russian attack on central Kharkiv injures 23

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
A senior Russian commander who was responsible for troops fighting in eastern Ukraine has been removed from his position, according to reports from several Kremlin-aligned news outlets.

While no official reason has been given for Col. Gen. Gennady Anashkin's apparent dismissal, a Telegram channel with close ties to the Russian Defense Ministry has alleged that he made up false claims about battlefield successes, particularly around Siversk in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk.

Anashkins appointment as commander of the army's Southern Group had never been officially announced by the ministry.

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But he had been named as acting commander on a list of participants at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in May that was published on the Kremlins website.

The Russian news outlet RBC reported that Anashkin was dismissed as part of a planned rotation, citing anonymous sources within the Defense Ministry on Saturday.

Mash, an online newspaper, also reported on its Telegram channel that day that Anashkin had been removed from his post.

No official confirmation of his dismissal has been published by Russian officials; NBC News has reached out to the Defense Ministry for comment.

However, Rybar, a popular Telegram channel close to the ministry, reported that Anashkin was removed from his post for false reports in the Seversk direction, using the Russian version of the region's name.

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Accusing Anashkin of non-existent successes, it said that some of the areas he was in command of had become synonymous with lies and unjustified losses.

Rybar receives funding for contracted work from the state-owned defense industrial organization Rostec. The company was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in June 2022.

Rybar relies on the connections and funding from Rostec, the U.S. government has said, adding that it encourages hate and violence in the United States.

Russia launched its largest airstrike on Ukraine in almost three months last week, Ukraine's commander in chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said at the time. He added that the Kremlin had also deployed tens of thousands of troops to reclaim territory in Russia's Kursk region that was seized by Ukraine in a surprise August incursion.

Russian forces fire a Howitzer toward Ukrainian positions during a mission in the Kursk region Sept. 9.

Putin also formally lowered the threshold for his countrys use of nuclear weapons last week.

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The updated document allows Moscow to launch a nuclear strike if attacked by a nonnuclear country, such as Ukraine, that is supported by a nuclear state, such as the United States.

It was formally approved the same day that Kyiv used its first U.S.-supplied long-range ATACMS missiles against Russia after the Biden administration allowed Ukraine to strike inside Russia using American missiles.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
At least 25 people were injured and 41 buildings damaged by a Russian missile strike in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Ukraine, overnight into Monday, Ukrainian authorities said, as Moscow's troops launched a fresh offensive effort in the region and claimed battlefield gains all along the eastern front.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram that the S-400 anti-aircraft missile impact in Kharkiv was part of a multi-pronged barrage against Ukrainian cities overnight. Kyiv, Odesa and Zaporizhzhia were also targeted. In Odesa, at least 11 people were injured by a missile strike, Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 145 drones, 71 of which were downed and 71 lost during flight. One UAV flew into Belarusian airspace, the air force said.

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The Russian Defense Ministry, meanwhile, claimed to have downed 23 Ukrainian drones over multiple regions. The ministry also said it downed eight ballistic missiles, though it did not specify their type.

PHOTO: A police officer stands at the site of apartment buildings hit by a Russian missile strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Nov. 25, 2024. (Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy/Reuters)

MORE: Ukraine and Russia launch overnight drone attacks amid missile strike tensions

Vladislav Shapsha, the governor of Kaluga Oblast which borders Moscow Oblast to the southwest, said falling drone debris sparked a fire at a manufacturing facility. Ukraine's General Staff, though, said its strikes destroyed the Kaluganefteproduct oil depot in the city of Kaluga.

"In total, since yesterday evening, Russia has used about one and a half hundred attack drones, aerial bombs and missiles against more than 10 of our regions," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram early Monday.

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"These attacks by Russia on Ukrainian life can be stopped," he added. "With pressure, sanctions, blocking the occupiers' access to the components they use to create the tools of this terror, arms packages for Ukraine and a determination that must be unwavering," he continued.

Only 19 miles from the Russian border, Ukraine's "second city" of Kharkiv has faced near-constant attacks since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in early 2022.

Russian forces failed to encircle and capture Kharkiv during the opening weeks of the invasion, but fighting has continued along the shared border throughout the conflict.

Ukraine's General Staff said in a post to Facebook on Monday that Russian forces launched assaults on the settlement of Kozacha Lopan, about 2 miles from the border and 16 miles north of Kharkiv.

PHOTO: This photograph taken on Nov. 25, 2024 shows damaged cars next to a destroyed building following a missile attack in Odesa, Ukraine. (Oleksandr Gimanov/AFP via Getty Images)

MORE: Russia increases Ukraine drone attacks by 44% since Trump election

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The Ukrainian Deep State Telegram military blogger reported that Russian forces also launched an amphibious operation across the Oskil River in the eastern Kharkiv region, where Russian troops have been pushing toward the strategic objective of Kupyansk.

The Russian force established a foothold on the Ukrainian-controlled side of the waterway, Deep State wrote. The blogger's claims could not immediately be verified.

Russia and Ukraine trade drone strikes as Zelenskyy calls on allies for 'unwavering' aid originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Russian forces attacked Odesa Oblast with two Iskander-M ballistic missiles on Monday, one of which was destroyed by Ukraines air defence.

Source: Air Force on social media

Quote: "During the day on 25 November, Russian occupiers attacked Odesa Oblast with two Iskander-M ballistic missiles, one of which was shot down by the air defence of Ukraines south."

Details: In addition, it is reported that five reconnaissance drones were also destroyed on the southern front  two Orlans and one each of Phoenix, Merlin-BP and Supercam UAVs.

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Background: Oleh Kiper, Head of Odesa Oblast Military Administration, reported that Russian troops had attacked the central part of Odesa, injuring 11 people and damaging civilian infrastructure.



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Russian forces attacked the central part of Odesa on the morning of 25 November, injuring 11 people and causing damage to civilian infrastructure.

Source: Oleh Kiper, Head of Odesa Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Telegram

Quote from Kiper: "Russian terrorists have carried out a missile attack on the centre of Odesa. People have been injured. Civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings, has been damaged."

Photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Telegram

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Details: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that it was the wreckage of a Russian missile that caused damage to civilian infrastructure in Odesa.

Photo: Oleh Kiper on Telegram

Kiper later reported that six people were hurt. One woman is seriously injured, while others are in a moderate condition. They are all at medical facilities.

PHOTO: OLEH KIPER ON TELEGRAM

"The missile strike caused damage to civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings, cars, a dental surgery, beauty salons, businesses, flower shops, and people's cars. Two educational facilities were also damaged: a school and the university's sports hall. The windows and doors have been smashed. Fortunately, the teachers and students were in shelters during the strike," he said.

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PHOTO: OLEH KIPER ON TELEGRAM

Update: At 13:45, Kiper reported that the number of injured had risen to 11.

Two people were treated on the spot. Eight of those injured are in hospital, and one other is being treated on an outpatient basis.

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BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Russia's land forces are bigger now than at the time of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 but their quality has decreased since, a NATO top military official said on Monday.

"The quality of those forces has gone down," the Chair of NATO's Military Committee, Dutchman Admiral Rob Bauer, said, pointing to the state of the force's equipment and the level of training of its soldiers.

"At the moment, the Russians are not the same threat as in February 2022, so we have a bit of time to prepare ourselves," he said, adding that this meant ramping up investments into the defence industry.

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold, editing by Tassilo Hummel)
COPENHAGEN  Volvos big XC90 three-row SUV gets a significant makeover for 2025, with a new interior, infotainment system and suspension and acoustic upgrades.

The interior changes feature handsome new materials and displays meant to bring Volvos carryover models in line with its new generation of electric vehicles, starting with the EX90 this year and smaller EX30 in 2025.

They all incorporate Volvos new Google-based infotainment system, which the Swedish brand plans to install in 2022-24-model XC90s via an upcoming over the air updates.

2025 Volvo XC90 SUV on the bridge conn ecting Denmark and Sweden.

Volvo calls the new model a 2025 and a half model, a designation I dont believe is recognized by sticks in the mud like U.S. regulators and insurance companies. Thats of no great importance. The new model is quieter and more advanced, a better version of the big people carrier currently in the pickup line at a Montessori near you.

I drove plug-in and mild hybrid versions of the 2025 XC90 through the coastal lowlands of Denmark and southern Sweden  and across the scenic bridge connecting them  for two days.

The updated XC90 should be on sale in the United States in the first quarter of 2025.

Volvo XC90 trim levels and prices

2025 XC90 B5 AWD mild hybrid, Core, 7-passenger: $58,450

2025 XC90 B5 AWD mild hybrid, Plus, 7-passenger: $62,550

2025 XC90 B5 AWD mild hybrid, Ultra, 7-passenger: $66,950

2025 XC90 B5 AWD mild hybrid, Plus, 6-passenger: $63,050

2025 XC90 B5 AWD mild hybrid, Ultra, 6-passenger: $67,450

2025 XC90 B6 AWD mild hybrid, Core, 7-passenger: $63,350

2025 XC90 B6 AWD mild hybrid, Plus, 7-passenger: $66,150

2025 XC90 B6 AWD mild hybrid, Ultra, 7-passenger: $70,550

2025 XC90 B6 AWD mild hybrid, Plus, 6-passenger: $66,650

2025 XC90 B6 AWD mild hybrid, Ultra, 6-passenger: $71,050

2025 XC90 T8 AWD plug-in hybrid, Core, 7-passenger: $73,000

2025 XC90 T8 AWD plug-in hybrid, Plus, 7-passenger: $75,800

2025 XC90 T8 AWD plug-in hybrid, Ultra, 7-passenger: $80,200

2025 XC90 T8 AWD plug-in hybrid, Plus, 6-passenger: $76,300

2025 XC90 T8 AWD plug-in hybrid, Ultra, 6-passenger: $80,700

Source: Volvo. Prices exclude $1,295 destination charge.

The 2025 Volvo XC90 SUV's Bowers & Wilkins audio system has stainless steel speaker grilles.

Driving impressions, exterior changes

The XC90 is a big, comfortable vehicle, available with six- or seven-seat accommodations

The narrow streets of European villages and farmland magnify its size, but direct responsive steering makes it easy to wrangle the big SUV down streets scaled for medieval horse carts.

The plug-in hybrid accelerates eagerly, hitting 60 mph in just 5.1 seconds. All-electric mode delivers satisfying performance in city centers and on the highway.
SALEM, Ohio (WKBN)  The Salem Police Department is warning citizens to be vigilant after multiple people have reported scam attempts.

The department warned that Salem residents have been the recent target of scammers impersonating the police department, claiming there is a warrant for their arrest.

If there was an active warrant for someones arrest, police visit their residence in person  they do not notify people of active warrants over the phone.

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Police remind residents not to provide personal information  including social security numbers, bank details or any other sensitive data  over the phone.

If you receive a fraudulent call, Salem police advises you to hang up immediately.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
West Coast salmon anglers and native tribes have even more reasons to be thankful this year, as they watch fish returning to places in California and Oregon that have been devoid of salmon and steelhead for decades. These returns are due to a massive dam removal project on the Klamath River  the largest of its kind in U.S. history  that re-opened access to roughly 420 miles of spawning and rearing habitat in the now free-flowing upper river and its tributaries. The fish are a reminder that dam removals, when chosen and conducted appropriately, can help restore dwindling salmon runs at a time when most stocks are declining throughout North America.

The most recent batch of good news came over the weekend, when the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced the first known return of coho salmon above the former Iron Gate dam site in Oregon. The portion of river where the former dams stood flows through Southern Oregon and Northern California on its way to meet the Pacific Ocean near Requa, California.

This map shows the four dams that were removed from the Upper Klamath for the sake of wild salmon and steelhead. Map by USGS

And this was only the latest example of fish returning to the upper river. On Oct. 16, Oregon officials announced that they had spotted chinook salmon swimming there for the first time in 112 years. By the end of the month, the Yurok Tribe had recorded more than 100 chinook spawning and even a few steelhead swimming in the upper river.

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The fact that the fish are going up above the dams now  it definitely shines a very bright light on the future, Ron Reed, a Karuk tribe member and salmon fisherman, told the Los Angeles Times last month. Because without those dams in place, we were looking at extinction. We were looking at dead fish.

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These returns werent a complete surprise. Weve seen similar successes following other recent dam removals, like on the Elwha River in Washington State. But the fish returning to the upper Klamath within a month of the dams being removed was sooner than many expected.

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The return of our relatives, the ciyaals [salmon], is overwhelming for our tribe. This is what our members worked for and believed in for so many decades, Klamath Tribes Secretary Roberta Frost told the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in October. The salmon are just like our tribal people, and they know where home is and returned as soon as they were able.

Iron Gate Dam was the lowest of the four Klamath dams (the one closest to the Pacific) slated for removal, and the last one to be deconstructed over the summer as part of the larger Kamath River Renewal Project. Although it will take years for the upper river to be fully restored, the physical work to remove the four man-made structures was completed by the end of August. California Gov. Gavin Newsom championed the successful project in an Oct. 2 announcement, a little over a month after Iron Gate Dam was removed in late August. Newsom said this was all done ahead of schedule and within the allotted budget.

It was also great timing for native salmon and steelhead, which typically return to their natal rivers in California and Oregon starting in August and September. These runs last through November and the fish typically spawn into December.

CDFW said Saturday that on Nov. 13, fisheries biologists watched seven coho (four males and three females) enter a hatchery on Fall Creek, which flows into the Klamath less than 8 miles upriver from the former Iron Gate dam site. Two of the salmon still had their adipose fins intact, which means they were most likely wild fish and not hatchery stock. (CDFW and other West Coast fisheries managers usually clip the adipose fins of fish reared in hatcheries so they can tell the hatchery fish from the wild ones.)

CDFW fisheries biologists take in one of the five hatchery coho salmon that returned to a tributary of the Upper Klamath in November. Photo by California Department of Fish and Wildlife

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To see coho successfully returning this quickly to this new habitat post-dam removal is exciting, CDFW senior scientist Eric Jones said Saturday. Weve already seen the chinook make it back and now were seeing the coho.

Read Next: Breach or Die: Its Time to Free the Lower Snake River and Save Idahos Wild Salmon

The Klamaths salmon and steelhead returns should be even better in the years to come, as the river continues to heal itself. In its announcement over the weekend, CDFW said that last week the agency released approximately 270,000 hatchery chinook salmon into the same creek where the coho salmon were spotted. Theyre also planning to rear around 75,000 coho salmon annually to be released in the years to come. The fish that survive their time at sea should start returning over the next two to four years to spawn in the Upper Klamath watershed.
SALTVILLE, Va. (WJHL)The Town of Saltville announced in a social media post that it has found a permanent pump to help restore residents water, which will arrive on Tuesday. The boil water notice is still in effect.

The Town of Saltville has been without water since Monday due to a faulty pump. A temporary pump was put in on Thursday but has been unable to keep up with residents water lines.

The post said the permanent pump will be picked up in Mississippi on Tuesday night and installed by a contractor on Wednesday.

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Those who did not lose water may experience a temporary outage while the permanent pump is being put in.

The town has contractors and engineers monitoring current conditions and asks that all residents conserve water. Those in need of water can pick up a donation at the Saltville Fire Department.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.
Never underestimate the power of a bad idea. In 2007, the statue that would forever come to be known as the Cardiff Kook ceremoniously landed at the entrance to the San Elijo State Beach campground on Coast Highway in Cardiff and became an early viral sensation. Instantly mocked by the community, the statue's been dressed up in costumes ranging from Buddy the Elf to Jesus Christ himself.

Not to be outdone, the neighboring coastal hamlet of Encinitas has taken it a step further with a statue of their own. This one, which was just approved by the Encinitas City Council, features an adorable lil baby cupid, Neptune Jr., riding on the back of a hammerhead shark.

Local community politics being what it is, of course there are people that are outraged. How dare a mythic Roman god ride on the back of the world's greatest apex predator?! What kind of blasphemy is this?

Encinitas shark-riding cupid sculpture approved despite criticism.https://t.co/4FZ322x20P  Middle Sea (@middlesea1) November 25, 2024

"Sharks are not play things. They're not pool toys," testified one outraged speaker at the city council meeting per a report from NBC 7 San Diego.

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It's a valid point. Sharks aren't play things nor pool toys. Although the thought of sharks in wave pools has crossed my mind ... maybe even some shark with frickin' laser beams on their heads, I don't know. But everyone can take a deep breath, the Neptune Jr. statue, which will be mounted to a pole at Leucadia Oaks Park, is only on loan from the artist and will be displayed for two years before being returned. All told, that's pretty minor considering the Cardiff Botanical Society paid $120,000 for the Cardiff Kook ... and nearly 20 years later it's still there.

Related: "Cardiff Kook" Attacked By Great White
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON)  One of San Franciscos most viral residents was locked in a jail cell on Monday. Neighborhood watchdog Ricci Wynne was booked into jail around 2 a.m. on suspicion of felony pimping, San Francisco jail inmate records show.

Wynne has legions of social media followers. Over the past three years, videos posted on his social media pages, RawRicci415, garnered hundreds of thousands of views.

The former drug dealer served time behind bars before he became an anti-crime and anti-drug activist. Wynne made a social media splash by using his cellphone camera to expose abysmal street conditions within neighborhoods and brazen open-air drug markets.

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KRON4 interviewed Wynne for multiple news stories, including stories about the rise of fentanyl in San Francisco, a wild carjacking he caught on camera, and the time he sought a job at City Hall. The 39-year-old influencer also appeared on Fox News national broadcasts talking about crime in San Francisco.

Ricci Wynne (KRON4 Photo)

Wynnes most recent X videos call on the citys newly elected mayor, Daniel Lurie, to make drug rehab programs mandatory. The videos include Wynne walking the streets and talking to homeless drug addicts. We have a long road to recovery here in San Francisco, he wrote. In September, he stood with Lurie at a campaign rally to voice his support for the mayoral candidate.

The San Francisco Standard reported that Wynne was arrested at San Francisco International Airport after he stepped off a flight from Miami. A police report states that he was traveling with a woman who was used for commercial sex work, the Standard reported.

When officers searched Wynnes apartment on Monday, they found nearly $80,000 in cash and incriminating messages on his cellphones, according to the Standard.

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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 KRON4.
Police have arrested a man accused of strangling a homeless woman earlier this year in Santa Monica.

Oscar Benn, a 27-year-old resident of Altadena, was arrested on Nov. 14 in connection with the brutal attack, which happened Sept. 22.

Benn is accused of attacking a 25-year-old woman who was new to the area and experiencing homelessness, leaving her with severe injuries from strangulation and facial trauma, according to the Santa Monica Police Department.

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Police found the victim on the 1400 block of Alley 5 around 12:30 a.m. Witnesses told investigators that the attack was unprovoked and the suspect repeatedly kick and punched the woman as she was on the ground.

The attack was captured on surveillance footage, which showed the suspect fleeing the scene. That video was later released to the public, but the man was not immediately identified.

Police are searching for a male suspect wanted in connection with a Santa Monica assault. (Santa Monica Police Department) Police are searching for a male suspect wanted in connection with a Santa Monica assault. (Santa Monica Police Department) Police are searching for a male suspect wanted in connection with a Santa Monica assault. (Santa Monica Police Department)

But a Nov. 3 tip to investigators led them to identify Benn as the alleged suspect. He was arrested near a Veterans Affairs facility in West Los Angeles on Nov. 14.

Investigators say Benn has a history of previous arrests for assault and burglary.

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The arrest of this individual underscores the importance of community involvement in solving crimes, the Santa Monica Police Department said in a statement. The Police Department would like to thank the public for their assistance, which was instrumental in bringing this suspect into custody.

Benn has since been booked into jail and is being held on $2.025 million bail. He has been charged with attempted murder and is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 18, jail records show.

Anyone with additional information about the suspect or the attack is encouraged to contact the SMPD watch commander at any time by calling 310-458-8427.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
The Satanic Temple announced Saturday that it was planning to start a religious release time program in Marysville Schools as the state legislature debates a bill that would require school districts to allow such programming.

The Satanic Temple, which is based out of Salem, Massachusetts, said on Facebook on Saturday that it was launching the Hellions Academy for Independent Learning (HAIL) at Edgewood Elementary in the Marysville Exempted Village School District beginning in December.

The Satanic Temple said in the social media post that it will offer off-campus religious instruction once a month, and promises to teach "self-directed learning, good works in the community, compassion and empathy, problem solving skills" and other skills.

Religious release time allows students to leave during the day for religious instruction, typically during an elective or lunch. LifeWise, a Hilliard-based organization that teaches students the Bible during the school day, is one of the largest users of religious release time in the state.

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More: What is LifeWise? What to know about the group teaching the Bible during school hours

Marysville Superintendent Diane Allen said Monday that while the Satanic Temple had contacted the district to ask questions, she was not aware of a set date when they were scheduled to begin a religious release program.

"We do offer release time during our non instructional periods, lunch, recess study hall, but we don't endorse any particular program, and enrolling in a program is a parent choice," Allen said.

House Bill 445, which is currently in the Ohio House Primary and Secondary Education Committee, would require Ohio school districts to adopt a policy allowing religious release organizations to operate in their district. Bill sponsor Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, told The Dispatch that he believed the Satanic Temple was attempting to scare legislators away from adopting the bill.

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"I'm not sure there's going to be a lot of parents out there saying 'Yes, send my kids to Satan,'" Click said. "I really just don't think that is going to be a reality, it's more of a publicity stunt."

The Satanic Temple could not be immediately reached for comment.

What is the Satanic Temple?

According to The Washington University in St. Louis, the Satanic Temple "is both a religion and a sociopolitical movement." Founded in 2013, the Satanic Temple is a reaction to conservative, traditionalist and organized religion. The Satanic Temple does not worship Satan or believe in the supernatural, the university says, but "rather promotes equity, empathy, and social justice."

The Satanic Temple is known for high-profile public campaigns "designed to preserve and advance secularism and individual liberties," according to the Temple's about us page.

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For example, it has claimed religious exemptions in Texas to abortion laws by saying "abortion rituals" are protected religious expressions, according to Texas State University. It also briefly installed a statue of Baphomet, a winged goat-headed occult deity, at the Arkansas statehouse to protest a Ten Commandments monument already on state grounds, according to the Associated Press.

Lawmaker calls Satanic Temple program 'publicity stunt'

Click said he doubted that the Satanic Temple's HAIL religious release group would be successful in recruiting families to participate in the program, and said that it requires a lot of work on a religious release organization's end to make them successful.

"They could have already done this and they haven't done it," Click said." So history tells us they're still not going to do it, and they might make an effort  I won't call it a noble effort  but they might make an effort."

More: Worthington Schools questions policy allowing LifeWise amid pending Statehouse legislation

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Click also said he doubted many parents will provide consent to their children for this kind of religious release instruction.

"Most parents really would rather see their kids doing good, healthy things rather than satanic things," Click said. "So I really am extremely skeptical."

Cbehrens@dispatch.com

@Colebehr_report

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Satanic Temple starting religious release time in Ohio schools
(Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia and its allies had two words they didnt want to see repeated in a COP29 deal: fossil fuels. The faction got their way after two weeks of bitter negotiations in Azerbaijan, reversing gains made in earlier climate talks and helping to knock this years proceedings off track.

Most Read from Bloomberg

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The Gulf state surprised the world at COP28 when it joined nearly 200 nations in agreeing to transition away from fossil fuels, but its been trying to walk that historic moment back ever since. The Arab Group will not accept any text that targets specific sectors, including fossil fuels, Saudi representative Albara Tawfiq made clear to delegates at this months United Nations meeting in Baku.

They got what they wanted. Negotiators passed a climate finance deal that will see developing countries get $300 billion annually by 2035 to combat global warming. But they didnt recommit specifically to move away from the dirty energy sources that compound the problem  something the US, European Union and other countries pressed for in exchange for the funds.

After three decades of being the main opposition at the annual climate talks, the Saudis have developed a sophisticated playbook, according to veteran negotiators. They are masters of the arcane and complicated rules that govern the COP process, said multiple people who participated in the closed-door debates, and used that skill to raise oblique objections to run down the clock and present poor compromises that were non-starters.

The Saudi Energy Ministry didn't respond to questions about the COP29 negotiations.

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Saudi Arabias increasing aptitude at navigating the byzantine bureaucracy of UN climate talks sets up a tough fight at next years COP30 in Brazil. After two years of being led by petrostates, the summit will turn to a progressive government who has made clear it wants to seek an ambitious deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions. But the meeting will also be reshaped by the incoming Trump administration which would, at the very least, be less engaged in the process and could even lend support to nations that want to further entrench fossil fuels in the global economy.

COPs function by consensus, meaning every country needs to agree for a deal to pass. Thats made it tricky for diplomats on the ground because any single country can derail the entire meeting. Many top negotiators have made pointed statements about the Saudis, but remain reluctant to call them out directly. And some, from countries such as Russia, India and Iran, are happy to stay quiet and let Saudi Arabia be the face of the fight to defend fossil fuels.

One crucial tactic the Saudis deployed this year, starting from the debate over the COP29 agenda itself, was to try and take the fossil fuel discussion off the table by arguing that talks in Baku were supposed to focus on a finance deal. Most negotiators see the two issues as intertwined, because climate change cant be tackled without cutting emissions, even if trillions of dollars are invested.

Alden Meyer, a senior associate at the think tank E3G, says the Saudis used a similar strategy at the UNs mid-year climate meeting in Bonn last year. Its negotiators argued that discussions could not start on pledges to cut emissions  known as the mitigation work program  because not enough progress was being made on adaptation goals, or targets that countries need to set for how they are going to manage the impacts of a warmer world.

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But when Meyer checked in on the adaptation goals, he found the Saudis were also stymying progress on those talks so they could hold up the mitigation work. Theyve just been a dog with a bone trying to block any discussion on mitigation, he said.

At COP29, the Saudis ultimately scored a partial victory by watering down a separate deal on implementing the outcomes of last years summit. Negotiators from Latin America and some small-island states refused to approve the document, which used the term transition fuels as a euphemism for planet-warming natural gas, and dropped any mention of the landmark agreement to transition away from fossil fuels. The debate will resume in Bonn next June.

Even as talks were underway in Baku, Saudi representatives were pressing the same point at the Group of Twenty meeting in Rio de Janeiro. The final communique reiterated COP28s outcomes, including a goal to triple renewable energy, but didnt say anything about fossil fuels. It was a concession to the Saudis, who offered to include some specific goals if leaders deleted the mention of fossil fuels, according to a person familiar with the G-20 talks.

In Baku, the Saudis also seized on the huge gulf between rich and poor countries over the finance goal to drive a wedge in the talks. In the second week, the Azerbaijani presidency put forward a draft text that offered $250 billion annually by 2035, which developing countries called a joke. Tawfiq, the Saudi delegate, spoke up at the plenary meeting where countries aired grievances. To the surprise of some island nations, he called for the sum to be doubled to $500 billion, much higher than the upper limit the US and Europe had indicated was possible.

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As negotiations came down to the wire, two powerful groups huddled at opposing ends of the stage. On the left, diplomats from the US, EU, United Arab Emirates and the Group of 77 countries gathered around Indias representative, who opposed a clause in the final draft text. On the right, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman and Chinas climate envoy Liu Zhenmin looked intently at a single phone screen, also discussing the document.

There would be no deal if the Saudis didnt acquiesce, and negotiators worried they would be even tougher to convince next year. Trumps return to power was top of mind for John Podesta, President Joe Bidens top climate adviser, given the US has been crucial in getting Saudis to agree on climate deals in the past.

Theres definitely a challenge in getting a greater ambition when youre negotiating with the Saudis, said Podesta. At the end of the day, I think they were instrumental in working with the [Azeri] presidency, working with all the parties, to make sure we actually got the result we wanted.

--With assistance from Alfred Cang.

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(File/Richard Ross/Getty Images)

COLUMBIA  The number of vacant teaching positions in South Carolinas K-12 schools has dropped, though it remains far above the number of openings reported before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an annual report released Monday.

It marks the first break in ever-increasing teacher shortages since 2019.

Teachers advocates cautioned that the report by the states Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement does not give the full picture of the states teacher shortage. With 71 of 75 surveyed districts responding, the numbers may not be 100% accurate, said advocates and the state superintendent.

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Still, going from more than 1,600 open positions to 1,043 in one year is still a big improvement, advocates and the state Department of Education said Monday. But theres more work to be done, they added.

Our goal is nothing less than a great teacher in every classroom, state Superintendent Ellen Weaver said in a statement.

The number of teacher vacancies fell nearly 37%, from 1,380 last fall to 872 this fall, according to the Supply and Demand Report.

The number of openings for classroom support positions dropped too. Last school year started with 233 vacant positions for librarians, counselors, psychologists and language pathologists. That number was down to 171 this fall, according to surveys conducted in September and October.

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It does look good, and it does look promising, said South Carolina Education Association Vice President Dena Crews.

However, the number of vacancies is still much higher than districts reported during the fall 2019 semester, before the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools online. That year, 555 teaching positions were vacant, CERRA reported.

Reports since then kept setting new records in vacancies.

One puzzler to the break in that trend is that districts reported fewer total teaching positions statewide: They wanted 51,400 teachers this school year, compared to 52,800 total slots at the beginning of last school year.

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That could come at least in part from fewer districts responding to the survey this year than last year, advocates said.

Or, the decrease in the number of teacher positions could come from districts deciding not to fill open roles. In some cases, those positions could have been funded with federal pandemic aid, which is drying up, the Palmetto State Teachers Association said in an emailed statement.

If thats the case, the impact on students could be devastating, especially in core areas for academic success, the statement said.

Districts had until this fall to designate their share of $3 billion in federal COVID aid but have until 2026 to spend it all.

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Because the report doesnt break down the data by school district, we just dont know the true reason for the decrease, Kathy Maness, president of the teachers advocacy group, told the SC Daily Gazette.

Thats one reason why we need to invest in a more robust data workforce system, Maness said.

The state Department of Education is working to create a more detailed report, Weaver said in her statement.

While this report provides an interesting snapshot of South Carolinas current teacher workforce at an aggregate level, detailed district level data is required for deeper analysis of trends in student enrollment and educator positions; teacher working conditions and exit survey data; and unique subject area, grade level, and geographic needs, she said.

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More detailed data could also give a better idea of why the number of vacancies has dropped, and why some teachers are continuing to leave the profession, advocates said.

An increase in pay likely helped.

Legislators included $200 million in the budget that took effect in July to raise the minimum pay for first-year teachers to $47,000, up from $42,500 last school year. The governors goal, which legislators have supported, is to get the base pay to $50,000 by 2026.

Legislators also extended state-paid yearly boosts for experience from 23 years to 28 years in the classroom, something teachers advocates have been requesting for years as a way of rewarding the states more veteran teachers.

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This years increases across the teacher salary schedule  which pays teachers according to their experience and degree level  brought the state-paid average to $57,250. Most districts pay more than the state-allowed minimums by adding local property taxes.

Pay isnt the only factor in keeping and attracting teachers, but it certainly contributes, said education association President Sherry East.

Some teachers who left amid the pandemics virtual learning might be returning to their classrooms, East said.

Districts reported that 335 of the teachers newly hired ahead of this semester were returning to the district after a gap of some kind, according to the report.

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Other districts may have filled positions with international or virtual teachers. That raised a point of concern for both teachers associations, since those teachers may not be the best equipped to teach students material, they said.

For instance, some districts contract with companies to livestream lectures to classrooms, but students lack the face-to-face instruction that is best for learning, the Palmetto State Teachers Association said.

Such classrooms are most likely reported as having a teacher, but the quality of instruction falls far short of what students need and deserve, the association said in a statement.

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The Legislature could take plenty more steps to continue reducing the number of vacancies, representatives for the advocacy groups said.

Legislators could revisit a proposal to make professional teaching certificates permanent, reducing the amount of bureaucracy teachers must contend with to renew their certification every five years. Or, they could create more wiggle room in teacher contracts, allowing them to back out after seeing their salaries without losing their teaching certificates, the associations said.

Limits on class sizes could help. So could yearlong, paid student-teaching programs, which would allow prospective teachers to get a better idea of what it takes to be a teacher before running a classroom on their own, East said.

I dont want people to think the teaching shortage is over, because its not, East said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday announced plans to put forward new measures aimed at protecting women who are the victims of violence, as well as funding for services.

"There must be more women's shelters and counselling services, reliably funded. Victims of violence need a right to protection," the chancellor, a centre-left Social Democrat, wrote in a post on X.

Scholz said that Germany's Cabinet intends to approve a corresponding draft of the Violence Assistance Act on Wednesday, although it remains unclear whether the legislation will have a majority in parliament.

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Scholz's coalition with the Greens has been ruling as a minority government since the chancellor sacked former finance minister Christian Lindner of the business-friendly liberal Free Democrats (FDP) earlier this month.

Early elections are expected to be held in February.

Minister for Women Lisa Paus on Monday appealed to opposition parties to back the proposed legislation: "The protection of women must not be dependent on party political calculations."

According to Paus, around 400 women in Germany are victims of intimate partner violence every day.
(Reuters) - Adani Energy Solutions said on Saturday that Kenya's cancellation of a $736 million transmission line project did not require it to make any regulatory disclosure under Indian stock exchange rules as it was within its ordinary course of business.

It said it was responding to a request for clarification from the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange after Reuters reported that Kenya's president had ordered the cancellation of the 30-year public-private partnership deal.

"Further, the Company hereby submits that there is no material impact of the Media Report on the operations of the Company," Adani Energy Solutions said in a statement.

President William Ruto also said on Thursday he had ordered the cancellation of a procurement process that had been expected to award control of Kenya's main airport to India's Adani Group.

U.S. authorities on Wednesday indicted Adani Group founder Gautam Adani and seven others, alleging they paid $265 million in bribes to Indian officials. The group denied the allegations.

Under the Kenyan international airport plan, worth nearly $2 billion, the Adani Group was to add a second runway and upgrade the passenger terminal in exchange for a 30-year lease.

Adani Energy Solutions said in its statement on Saturday that it was not involved in the deal to manage and upgrade Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta airport.

"The Company nor any of its subsidiaries have entered into any contract in connection with any airport in Kenya," it said.

(Reporting by Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexander Smith)
Scottish jails resemble a mini UN conference, an academic has claimed, amid calls to deport foreign criminals to ease overcrowding.

Jim Watson, a criminal justice lecturer at the University of the West of Scotland, revealed that during a recent visit to HMP Barlinnie in Glasgow, Scotlands largest jail, he had encountered inmates from all over the world.

Russell Findlay, the Scottish Tory leader, has suggested deportations as an alternative to mass prisoner releases being proposed by SNP ministers, to ease an overcrowding crisis.

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Plans to cut the proportion of sentences of under four years that offenders will serve, from 50 per cent currently to 40 per cent, are to be voted on at Holyrood on Tuesday.

If approved, it would mean between 260 and 390 inmates would become eligible for release in February.

Russell Findlay has suggested deportations as an alternative to mass prisoner releases - Jacob King/PA

Last week, Angela Constance, the SNP Justice secretary, confirmed that talks were ongoing with the UK Government about potential deportations, with powers over immigration reserved to Westminster.

There were 629 foreign nationals in Scottish jails at the beginning of October, figures show, with about half convicted of a crime and the others on remand.

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There are a number of foreign nationals held within Scottish prisons, Mr Watson told a BBC Scotland radio phone-in.

I was in Barlinnie last week. There were Mexicans, Vietnamese, Lithuanians, Albanians and various others from across the world. It was like a mini-UN conference almost.

Part of the problem is that when you try to extradite [deport] someone, it normally kicks in a human rights appeal.

A criminal justice lecturer said on a visit to HMP Barlinnie in Glasgow, he had seen inmates from all over the world - Danny Lawson/PA

The latest plans for a large-scale release of prisoners follows 477 being set free early in the summer.

However, it failed to solve overcrowding problems. Scotlands prison population was 8,253 at the start of November, against a target capacity of 8,007.

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David Threadgold, chair of the Scottish Police Federation, which represents front-line officers, said he was concerned that public confidence in the criminal justice system could be undermined by the SNP plans.

It does give me concerns from a policing perspective, he said. As police we are trying to be victim-led and provide victims of crime with the confidence initially to come to us and make that complaint.

Does that confidence wane if they dont have any confidence in the other end of the process?

He added: The model for dealing with the prison population crisis in Scotland seems to be that we will release people early, with clear evidence they will reoffend, only to fill that gap with more prisoners.

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It does not seem to me to be a model that is sustainable, and that causes great challenges for society and those dealing with the criminal justice system.

Ms Constance has said the latest changes could deliver a sustained reduction of around five per cent in the prison population. Exemptions will apply to those serving sentences for sexual offences or domestic abuse.

The prison population has continued to rise and is projected to reach critical levels again, she said.

Long-term action is necessary to deliver a sustained reduction to the prison population and support the effective functioning of prisons.

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As a judge deliberates whether to release Sean Diddy Combs on bond this week, the Thanksgiving Day meal at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center has been revealed.

The Grammy-winning hip hop mogul has been incarcerated at the federal detention center since his arrest on Sept. 16 for charges including racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty.

People obtained the menu for Thanksgiving this year at MDC, its a far cry from the tasty morsels he once served up at Justins, the Flatiron soul food restaurant he launched in the late 1990s.

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Breakfast in jail starts before sunrise at 6 a.m. and will consist of fruit, cereal and pastries.

Lunch, which begins at 11 a.m., will have a more traditional holiday fare including turkey roast or hot & sour tofu with sides like mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, cranberry sauce, turkey gravy and dinner rolls. A variety of pies will also be served for dessert.

After the 4 p.m. headcount, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, potato chips, whole wheat bread and fruit reportedly will be offered for dinnertime, the outlet reported Monday.

The Industry City-area facility, which has also been home to a number of high-profile inmates, including R. Kelly, Ghislaine Maxwell, Sam Bankman-Fried and most recently rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine.

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Combs most recent bail hearing took place Friday in Manhattan federal court with Judge Arun Subramanian expected to decide this week if bail will be granted.

The Ill Be Missing You star offered to put up $50 million and submit to 24/7 monitoring by a private security firm under home detention at an Upper East Side apartment without access to phones or internet.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Slavik said his actions while in custody had demonstrated he could not abide by any conditions of release.

Three judges have previously declined to let the 55-year-old out since his arrest.


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The children of a D.B. Cooper suspect handed over new evidence to the FBI because they think their dad was the culprit.

A parachute long hidden on family property in North Carolina is said to match the type used in the only unsolved skyjacking in U.S. history.

The suspect in question was arrested for a similar skyjacking just months following the D.B. Cooper event.

The children of convicted skyjacker Richard McCoy II believed their dear old dad may have been D.B. Cooper, the notorious (and notoriously unidentified) central figure in 1971s unsolved skyjacking. Its the only one in United States history, in fact, without an answeruntil, perhaps, now.

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Just months after the Cooper incident, McCoy was convicted of an incredibly similar skyjacking that also included a parachute jump. His children, Chante and Richard III (Rick), have long thought the clues added up.

They may now have evidence to back up their suspicions.

Chante and Rick had kept quiet out of consideration for their mother, Karen, who they believed was potentially complicit in both crimes. But as both parents are now deceased, the opportunity arose for the siblings to come forward with their suspicions. And, crucially, they seem to have hard evidence: a modified parachute that they (and amateur D.B. Cooper sleuth Dan Gryder) believe was used in the daring escape.



That rig is literally one in a billion, Gryder told Cowboy State Daily after releasing a series on YouTube about his suspicions. It was that YouTube series, Gryder said, that drew the FBI back into the case.

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According to Gryder, the FBI now has the parachute and harness that were once tucked away in a storage shed on family property in North Carolina, along with a harness and a skydiving logbook that Chante claims show D.B. Coopers movements near Oregon and Utah (the locations of the two skyjacking events). This is the first real movement from the FBI on the case since the bureau closed it in 2016even if some former personnel claimed it remained secretly open.

After receiving the new evidence, the FBI followed up with the family and searched the property where the parachute was stored for four hours with more than a dozen agents, according to Gryder. The unique alterations to the parachute may hold the key to the new evidences value in the 50-plus-year-old case. The FBI knows the original parachutes were altered by Earl Cossey, a veteran skydiver, who was working with the FBI until his murder in his home in 2013. If the new find matches what they already know, it could provide a boost in the search for the real D.B. Cooper.

The D.B. Cooper case has taken on a borderline mythical quality, with countless theories posed by amateur sleuths online, in books, and in documentaries. One 1990s bookD.B. Cooper: The Real McCoyeven claimed McCoy was the culprit, but the book was pulled from print after Karen sued, claiming libel.

On November 24, 1971, D.B. Cooperhe called himself Dan, but the media misreported the name as D.B.paid $18.52 in cash for a one-way ticket to Portland, and boarded Northwest Orient Flight 305 without offering any identification (due to a lack of regulations at the time).

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Holding a briefcase and a paper sack, Cooper passed a note to a flight attendant seated behind him halfway through the flight and whispered that she better look at the note since he had a bomb. Cooper opened his briefcase to reveal what appeared to be a bomb, and relayed his demands for $200,000, multiple parachutes, and a refueling truck waiting in Seattle so he could take off again, bound for Mexico City.

After Coopers demands were met, the scheduled 30-minute flight extended into a two-hour loop over the Puget Sound while ground crews prepared. Cooper released the airliners 35 passengers and some crew members, then dictated the flight path and aircraft configuration to the remaining crewdemanding specific speeds, flap angles, and more. With these negotiations complete, Cooper and the four remaining crew members took off again.

Somewhere still over Washington, Cooper then opened the rear staircase and parachuted from the plane, but the exact location and timing of that jump is unknown. Immediate searches yielded no evidence, and over the years, experts have been unable to determine an exact search area due to the multiple variables involved in the night jump.

One of the only real pieces of evidence left by Cooper was a $1.49 clip-on tie from JCPenney, which the FBI holds. Sleuths have sued the government for access to the DNA and the particles left on the tie, but to no avail.

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Having the actual parachute would expand the evidence in the case by vast amounts.

McCoy is an intriguing suspectone who was later passed over because many FBI personnel had come to believe that the real D.B. Cooper died in the jump by the time McCoy surfaced as a possibility. And McCoy didnt exactly match the physical description, as he was much younger27 years old at the timethan the original estimation of Coopers mid-40s age.

McCoy would have had the have the chops to commit the famous crime, though. He proved it in April of 1972, when he successfully pulled off the skyjacking of a United Airlines flight after demanding $500,000. He boarded the plane in Denver, and was able to get it diverted to San Francisco, have his demands met, and force the plane back into the air. McCoy then jumped from the plane over Utah and was arrested by the FBI within three days, thanks to an anonymous tip. That tip then led the FBI to a waitress who remembered serving him a milkshake at a roadside hamburger stand the night of the skyjacking, and a teenager who said McCoy paid him $5 to give him a ride from the stand into a nearby town. Eventually, they were able to match his fingerprints ones left on the demand note.

McCoy was arrested after the FBI raided his home. He was convicted and sentenced to 45 years in prison, but eventually broke out of a maximum-security prison and evaded capture for three months until he was shot by police in Virginia in 1974.

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The parachute offers the best chance at evidence that could potentially link McCoy to Cooper. This, Gryder said, will definitely prove it was McCoy.

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BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD)  On Dec. 7 Louisiana voters will have the chance to vote on a number of runoff elections and four constitutional amendments. PAR Louisiana helps break down both sides of the argument for each of the amendments through their constitutional amendment guide.

Amendment 1

Do you support an amendment to allow the supreme court to sanction a judge upon an investigation by the judiciary commission, and provide that the recommended sanction shall be instituted by the judiciary commission or by a majority of the supreme court, and to provide for the appointment of five members of the judiciary commission?

The Judiciary Commission of Louisiana looks into misconduct allegations by judges and recommends punishments to the Supreme Court. The Louisiana Supreme Court cant respond to allegations without recommendations from the commission. They investigate situations around willful misconduct, failure to perform duties, public conduct that damages the image of the court and possible felony charges and convictions.

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The commission is made up of nine members: one court of appeal judge selected by the Supreme Court, two district judges also selected by the Supreme Court, two attorneys who have practiced for at least 10 years selected by the Conference of Court of Appeal Judges, one attorney serving between 3-10 years, and three people who are not lawyers, judges or public officials picked by the District Judges Association.

The proposed amendment would expand the commission to 14 people. This would allow for the Louisiana Speaker of the House and President of the Senate to appoint two members each and for the governor to appoint a member. The amendment does not give any qualifications or restrictions for who those five people could be.

ARGUMENT FOR: Some believe the Judiciary Commission moves too slowly to address allegations, sometimes taking years to investigate complaints. Some also believe those on the commission are biased towards protecting judges who may have done something wrong. It would also give the Supreme Court more authority over ethics and discipline

ARGUMENT AGAINST: Increasing the commission size wouldnt make things move faster or be more transparent. Some also believe that the appointments from the governor and legislature could inject politics into the investigation process. Also, allowing the Supreme Court more authority to start up investigations raises concerns over due process since they are the ones who determine the discipline for any wrongdoings.

Amendment 2

Do you support an amendment to require that the legislature wait for at least forty-eight hours prior to concurring in a conference committee report or amendments to a bill appropriating money?

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This amendment stems from the 2023 legislative session, where the budget for the state was held up in conference committee  a closed door meeting where amendments to the bill are worked out  and the report was not released until the final minutes of the legislative session. Lawmakers were forced to vote on the multimillion-dollar budget within minutes without really knowing what was in it.

Some legislators were outraged at being put in that position to pass a budget so quickly to avoid launching a special session to complete the process.

The proposed amendment would require 48 hours between the release of the conference committee report and the official vote to concur in the amendments. This is a House rule, but the body often votes to waive the waiting period to keep the process moving. This would make it so they lawfully cannot waive the waiting period.

ARGUMENT FOR: Requiring the legislature to wait two days to review any changes to the appropriations bills (i.e. budget, capital outlet, judiciary budget, etc.) would allow more transparency in the process and make it so legislative leaders cant jam bills through the process in the eleventh hour.

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ARGUMENT AGAINST: Requiring a delay can create roadblocks to passing the main charge of their duties, which is a balanced budget. Lawmakers should have the chance to be flexible with their time and how they pass bills. If the conference committee report were to be released on the final day of the session, this rule would require a special session to be launched for the waiting period to be fully realized.

Amendment 3

Do you support an amendment to allow the legislature to extend a regular session in increments of two days up to a maximum of six days if necessary to pass a bill appropriating money?

While not legally tied to Amendment 2, it is closely related. This would allow the legislature to extend the regular session by two days at a time, up to six days extra, to have more time to review appropriations bills. Currently, the legislature can meet up to 60 working days in an 85-day period in even-numbered years. They can meet for 45 working days in a 60-day period in odd-numbered years.

ARGUMENT FOR: Allowing more time in the regular session to ensure all legislators understand what they are voting for regarding budgetary bills could lead to more fair and supported legislation. Extending the regular session by a couple of days is likely more cost-effective than a special session being called to complete the budget.

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ARGUMENT AGAINST: Some believe the legislature has plenty of time to pass a budget with enough time to review it without an extension. They could work to better prioritize their time in passing the money bills so they are not left to the last moment.

Amendment 4

Do you support an amendment to eliminate mandatory tax sales for nonpayment of property taxes and require the legislature to provide for such procedures by law; to limit the amount of penalty and interest on delinquent property taxes; and to provide for the postponement of property tax payments under certain circumstances?

Homeowners must pay property taxes to their local government unless there are exemptions. If someone doesnt pay their full taxes by the end of the year, the tax collector must put their property up for auction. The current owner has three years to pay back the taxes plus interest to get their house back. Currently, the taxing government gets the money from the auction of the home if the homeowner cant meet that three-year deadline, and the home goes to the person who won the auction.

The proposed change would make it so that should a person not pay all their taxes, their lien would be auctioned rather than the house. People can buy the debt to rack up interest and other financial gains. When the lien is bought, the local government is removed from the equation, and the debt payments are between the homeowner and the bidder.

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They still have three years to try to pay off the debt. The house is auctioned off at the end of the three years. Funds are taken from the auction to pay off the lien to the buyer, and whatever is left over goes to the homeowner rather than the local government.

ARGUMENT FOR: There is litigation in other states arguing that the current Louisiana process could be violating taxpayer rights. The tax lien process would better protect people and allow them to address their debt rather than see their property be auctioned off immediately.

ARGUMENT AGAINST: Louisiana has not been found to be in violation of the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, so it is not necessary to shift to a new system. Some believe the longer timelines for property investors could turn people off from wanting to invest in some areas. There is also concern that a new system could lead to new lawsuits.

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Police are asking for the publics help in finding a missing 14-year-old girl from Brighton.

Sariah Riley-Pimentel last seen in Norwood, Friday evening, November 22, Boston police say.

She is described as around a Native Hawaiian girl, 411 tall, thin, with long, straight black hair and brown eyes. She numerous scars on both her arms and a nose piercing on the left side of her nose. It is unknown at this time what she was wearing when she was last scene.

Sariah does suffer from mental health challenges and has ran away in the past. Boston police say that she may be in Revere, Massachusetts.

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If you have any information about Sariahs whereabouts, please contact 911 or Detectives at 617-343-4256, or anonymously contact the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS or text the word TIP to CRIME (27463).

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

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A semitrailer toppled off an Interstate 75 ramp in Tampa on Monday and crashed into an SUV, seriously injuring the driver, troopers said.

The crash happened shortly after noon as a 31-year-old Tampa man was driving a semi with a Conex trailer on the ramp from I-75 northbound to Interstate 4, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The left side of the semi struck the inside concrete barrier wall, causing the trailer to overturn, fall off the ramp and crash into a Jeep Grand Cherokee heading west on Hillsborough Avenue, also known as U.S. 92.

The Jeep driver, a 61-year-old Lutz woman, was seriously hurt and taken to a local hospital.

The semi driver was not injured.

The Highway Patrol did not release their names.
PETERSBURG  Virginia's senior senator says he plans to fight like hell to ensure that the pharmaceutical innovation cluster in Petersburg is protected from an incoming administration whose designated health cabinet secretary has been critical of the industry in the past.

Democratic Sen. Mark Warner admitted in a call last week with Virginia journalists that he still has due diligence to complete on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s background because all Cabinet appointees deserve a fair hearing. Kennedy, who abandoned his own White House dreams this year to endorse President-elect Donald Trump, is Trumps choice to be secretary of Health & Human Services.

Kennedys nomination has been met with political skepticism due to past statements he has made linking vaccinations to increased autism and other criticisms of the health industry. He has been especially critical of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, calling it a corrupt system and vowing to purge healthcare of anything that cant be patented by Pharma.

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While Kennedy has not singled out anything specific to the pharmaceutical cluster in Petersburg, Warner was succinct in letting the secretary-designee know that any action would be fought hard against. The senator noted broad bipartisan support behind funding its development and indicated it would not be wise to cut any of those dollars.

It would be short-sighted and just plain dumb if that funding was cut off, Warner said.

Kennedy

Petersburgs pharmaceutical cluster  AMPAC Fine Chemicals, Phlow Corporation and the nonprofit CivicaRx  was recognized by the U.S. Economic Development Administration in 2023 as a federal tech hub that advances the growth, innovation, and sustainability of the U.S.-based APM industry to re-shore safe and affordable medicines via innovative hybrid and continuous flow manufacturing technologies.

Millions of dollars have been poured into the development of the hub in the past decade in part because the U.S. sees drug manufacturing here as a sort of defense against intelligence infiltration by China, a world-leading pharmaceutical producer and exporter. China regularly exports $10 billion in drugs to the U.S., and given the tense political relations between the two countries, more attention has been given to shoring up onshore production and distribution.

Kaine: Cluster 'sells itself'

Warners fellow senator from the commonwealth sits on the Senate Health committee that will vet Kennedy and recommend yea or nay about the appointment. Sen. Tim Kaine said the fact that the Petersburg initiative to reboot the former Boehringer Ingelheim medicine-making plant that launched the current cluster took place during the first Trump administration should be a sign that Kennedy and the next Trump administration would not subject it to cuts.

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I do not assume that RFK as HHS secretary would get in the way of those plans, Kaine said. I think the value proposition of this tech hub really sells itself to the country, and I suspect the Trump administration will want it to succeed.

Kaine

Warner

Still, both senators said they will monitor developments for any potential red flags. If it does, Warner said, the administration will be in for a battle.

I will fight like hell to make sure the innovation that is taking place in Petersburg and Richmond around the bio and advance pharma stays where it is, Warner added.

McClellan

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It is not just the senators who will defend the cluster. Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Virginia, who represents Petersburg and Richmond in Congress, told The Progress-Index she has strong concerns about an RFK secretariat and hopes the next White House will not undermine the common-sense bipartisan efforts to gird the industry in central Virginia.

Under the Biden-Harris administration, we have made tremendous progress to improve public health outcomes and strengthen our domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities through strategic investments in communities like Petersburg, McClellan said. We continue working to onshore pharmaceutical manufacturing in a bipartisan manner to create new jobs, ensure national resilience, and safeguard public health.

On the ground? Silence

So, how do the ones affected most by any major tinkering feel about the future? If they are worried, they are not letting on, at least publicly.

Messages left for AMPAC and Phlow seeking comment were not returned. A spokesperson for Civica said the company does not comment on presidential appointments but reiterated the companys mission.

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At Civica, we remain focused on our mission to provide high quality and affordable generic medicines to patients, company spokesperson Liz Power said in an email. To that end, we continue to work to bring our new manufacturing facility in Petersburg online and are making good progress toward that goal. We have hired more than 100 people in the last year alone to work at the facility, where we will manufacture generic sterile injectable medicines, including commonly prescribed forms of insulin.

A spokesperson for Petersburg Mayor Sam Parham also declined to comment.

RFK Jr. has not been confirmed, and this is not a local issue at this time, Joanne Williams said in a text.

The industrys leading trade group, however, has weighed in.

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In a statement shortly after Kennedys nomination was announced, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America offered something of an olive branch to the Trump administration.

This industry is a crown jewel of the American economy, giving American patients more medicine choices than anywhere else in the world and supporting millions of high-paying, high-tech jobs around the country, the statement said. We want to work with the Trump administration to further strengthen our innovation ecosystem and improve health care for patients.

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Virginia leaders predict Petersburg pharma future under RFK Jr.
ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR)  Senator Mark Warner visited the Feeding Southwest Virginia headquarters in Salem on Saturday, where he helped donate over 1,000 pounds of food collected at the womens conference he hosted earlier in the day.

At Feeding Southwest, he sat with community leaders, city officials, and regional school administrators to discuss food insecurity.

He applauded the efforts of local programs working to feed those in need. Still, he emphasized that amid a changing presidential administration, local organizations cannot stop hunger independently without the help of federal programs like SNAP.

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Feeding Southwest celebrates partnership with key speakers

If [SNAP] gets cut, a whole lot of neighbors, some folks that you may not know are food insecure are going to go hungry, Warner said. I dont think most Virginians want their neighbors going hungry.

Those in attendance at the afternoon roundtable got the chance to pitch their ideas and experiences for Warner to take back to the Senate floor.

Earlier in the day, Warner toured Melrose Plaza, where the newly opened Market at Melrose ended a decades-long food desert in Northwest Roanoke.

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AUBURN, Ala. (WRBL)  U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville confirmed his office is closely monitoring the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) investigation into the removal of a bald eagle nest in Auburn. The nest, home to a bonded pair of eagles affectionately known as Jim and Pam, was destroyed on November 15 under a federal permit issued to Edgar Hughston Builder, Inc., sparking public outrage and demands for accountability.

In a letter to Auburn resident Jason Haynie, Tuberville emphasized the importance of protecting bald eagles, a national symbol of strength and freedom, and outlined the USFWS guidelines for nest removal. Nest removal is prohibited if adult eagles, visible eggs, or young are present, and the permit holder is responsible for confirming the nest is empty before removing it, Tuberville wrote. He also revealed that the case has been referred to the USFWS Office of Law Enforcement and encouraged residents with information to contact the USFWS tip line.

Hughston Homes, the developer behind the project, is moving forward with plans to build 46 homes on the 75-acre site near North College Street. The property, purchased in March 2024 for $760,000, is currently being cleared.

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Auburn District 3 City Councilwoman and Mayor Pro-Tem Beth Witten revealed she had a scheduled meeting with Hughston Homes to discuss alternatives to save the nest. However, before the meeting could take place, Witten said the developer removed the single tree on the property that housed the eagles nest.

The timing of their actions was incredibly disappointing, Witten said. This nest was an important part of our community, and we had hoped to explore ways to protect it. Amid mounting frustration, Witten has organized a public meeting to address the communitys concerns. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, November 26, at 6 p.m. at the Buston Training Center. Andrew Hopkins, raptor administrator at Auburn Universitys Raptor Center, will provide expert insight into the removals impact on local wildlife.

The nest, a fixture in the Auburn community since at least 2017, was well-known and beloved by residents. Its removal has drawn criticism of both the developer and the permitting process.

The USFWS issued the permit on October 30, 2024, requiring the developer to provide mitigation funding to the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ALDCNR) and to monitor eagle activity before and after the removal. However, questions remain about the enforcement of these guidelines and the timing of the nests destruction.

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Senator Tubervilles office has pledged to remain engaged as the investigation unfolds. Meanwhile, residents are encouraged to attend the November 26 meeting to voice their concerns and demand answers from local officials and wildlife experts.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRBL.
By Akbar Novruz



The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), part of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group, hosted several high-level sessions at COP29 in Baku, focusing on sustainable economic development, climate finance, and the private sector's role in green growth.



On November 18, ICD organized a session on financing women and youth-led businesses in post-conflict regions. Eng. Hani Sani Sonbol, Acting CEO of ICD, emphasized the importance of inclusive financing for long-term peace. Remarks were also made by Ms. Nigar Arpadarai, COP29 High-Level Champion, and Dr. Emin Huseynov, Special Representative of the President of Azerbaijan. The panel featured experts such as Dr. Sahar Nasr, Executive Director of the Zakat Fund, Ms. Jhale Hajiyeva, Executive Director of AMFA Azerbaijan, Dr Elvin Afandi, Division Manager of ICD and Mr. Dayanat Sadullayev, President of AMCHAM addressing the barriers women and youth face in accessing finance.



ICD also hosted two other key sessions. On November 16, a panel discussed leveraging multilateral climate funds to support sustainable projects through public-private partnerships, featuring experts like Dr. Mohammed Alyami, General Manager of the Development Effectiveness Office at ICD, and David A. Dodd, CEO of the International Sustainability Resilience Center. On November 19, a session explored how financial institutions can promote green finance, with participants including Dr. Fatih Yilmaz, Senior Fellow at KAPSAR,Mr. Shahin Mahmudzade, Executive Director at the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, Dr Elvin Afandi , Division Manager of ICD and Mr Nabil Kadri, Managing Director of BNDES.



ICD's participation at COP29 highlights its commitment to advancing sustainable development, green finance to private sector, and empowering marginalized business communities. Through collaborative initiatives, ICD continues to drive the role of the private sector in achieving global sustainability goals.
By James Davey, Muvija M

LONDON (Reuters) -Struggling British supermarket Asda said on Saturday veteran retailer Allan Leighton would return as executive chairman, more than two decades after he served as CEO when he turned around the business before selling it to Walmart.

Britain's third largest grocer, now majority owned by private equity firm TDR Capital, has been losing market share to rivals, including industry leader Tesco and No. 2 Sainsbury's, according to monthly data.

Leighton will succeed fellow veteran Stuart Rose, who has been chair since 2021 and in September assumed the executive responsibilities of co-owner Mohsin Issa.

Earlier this month, Rose said Asda had "slightly lost the plot", highlighting inadequate store standards, poor product availability and prices not as sharp as they have been in the past. But he said the business is fixable.

At the same time, Asda reported a 4.8% fall in third quarter like-for-like sales and warned that measures in the new Labour government's budget last month would cost the group 100 million pounds ($125 million).

Leighton served as Asda CEO from 1996 to 2001, driving a turnaround with then chairman Archie Norman before the business was sold to Walmart for 6.7 billion pounds. Leighton also served as president of Canadian retail group Loblaw and chairman of Britain's Co-op and the Royal Mail.

Asda said Rose will remain on the board to ensure an orderly transition before stepping down.

"I am delighted to be returning to the business which has always been a special place for me," Leighton said.

Gary Lindsay, managing partner of TDR Capital, said Leighton's "experience and understanding of Asda will stand us in good stead as he leads the business into the next stage of its development".

Walmart retains a 10% stake in Asda.

($1 = 0.7980 pounds)

(Reporting by James Davey and Muvija M, editing by Giles Elgood)
The holidays are coming up, but Student of the Week is still on, and students across Wisconsin are still going strong. This week, both of our nominees are high school seniors who spend many hours volunteering in their communities.

Read what the people who nominated these high school students say about them below, and then vote in our poll to determine who should take the title of Wisconsin Student of the Week. Plus, learn how to nominate a student for our weekly poll and what our schedule changes will be for Thanksgiving.

Shanya Dean, grade 12, Messmer High School

Shanya Dean

"Shanya Dean is a jack of all trades. Ms. Dean takes her academics seriously and strives to put her best foot forward daily. She strives in solely giving back to her community as well; she is an active participant in the National Honors Society where she completes a substantial amount of service hours such as coordinating Messmer's Blood Drive and encouraging students to vote. Ms. Dean is involved in dual enrollment, where she spends time taking college courses at Milwaukee Area Technical College earning college credits as a senior. Ms. Dean is also involved with The Greater Urban League Foundation, and also was just recently nominated as a All-In Milwaukee Candidate. Shanya takes PRIDE in being a Bishop, and will soon become an Eagle at Marquette University for Nursing in the fall of 2025. Messmer is proud to call you a Bishop, Shanya."

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-Melissa Hoeppner, counselor, Messmer High School

Madison Malo, grade 12, Notre Dame Academy

Madison Malo

"Madison Malo is highly intelligent and an amazing student. The world is Madisons classroom; curiosity, research, & discovery are ingrained in her DNA. Madison devours entire sections of Barnes & Noble with her voracious appetite for reading. However, Madison is more than just brains  she has an altruistic heart for helping animals and people. Madison's passion compelled her to volunteer at a local wildlife sanctuary and work part-time as a veterinary assistant, as well as work on members of her own menagerie. Madison is also the FEMA Youth Preparedness Council representative for the entire Midwest and will work at the national level to present to the FEMA board at a summit in Washington DC this summer. I have no doubt Madison will earn her DVM and fulfil her lifelong dream of becoming an outstanding exotic animal veterinarian."

-Becky Bain, college counselor, Notre Dame Academy

Student of the Week Poll, week 9

This week, our poll will remain open until Friday, Nov. 29, instead of Thursday. We will announce the winner online the same day at jsonline.com, postcrescent.com and greenbaypressgazette.com, and in our newspapers on Monday, Dec. 2. Happy voting!

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Do you work with youth and know someone who should be Student of the Week? Reach out to Debi Young, statewide education editor, at debi.young@jrn.com to get a link to the nomination form.

Rebecca Loroff is a K-12 education reporter for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. She welcomes story tips and feedback. Contact her at rloroff@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Vote in our ninth Student of the Week poll
AUSTIN (KXAN)  The sentencing hearing for Austin police officer Christopher Taylor, who a jury found guilty of deadly conduct last month, continued Monday morning.

In Texas, defendants have the right to have the judge or jury determine their sentence. In this case, Taylor chose the judge, so Judge Dayna Blazey will determine his punishment.

The sentence range for deadly conduct is 2-10 years and up to a $10,000 fine. Probation can also be an option if the individual does not have any prior convictions, which is the case for Taylor.

The case

Police shot and killed Mauris Nishanga DeSilva in a common area of his downtown Austin condo complex on July 31, 2019. Taylor and three other officers responded after 911 callers reported DeSilva walking around, holding a knife to his neck.

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You can view body camera video of the shooting here.

This week, defense attorneys will present witnesses to argue their cases on what they believe the sentence should be. Prosecutors held their portion mid-October. The sessions were split, Taylors attorneys said, due to scheduling conflicts both with the court and with counsel.

Throughout the trial, Taylors attorneys said he acted in defense of himself and others. The State argued DeSilva was undergoing a profound mental health episode and police did not have to shoot him.

Defenses first three witnesses wrap before noon Monday

The defense called three witnesses Monday:

Bruce Mills, former interim assistant city manager over public safety

Howard Williams, Texas State professor; State called him as a potential expert witness on the DeSilva case for grand jury proceedings

Rich Daugherty, Taylors former landlord and now close friend

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Mills testified that he did not see any issues with the officers response to DeSilva. Williams said that he did not find the officers actions to be criminally negligent, but referenced his previously written report that he noted a reasonable jury may disagree with that.

Daugherty spoke to Taylors character. You can find more details from Mondays testimony below on the social media platform X.

Good morning, we're now in the final stretch of the trial for APD officer Christopher Taylor. Defense will present sentencing witnesses today. Recap: Jury found Taylor guilty of deadly conduct, Judge Blazey will determine his sentence. @KXAN_News https://t.co/tIL96zdzOD  Brianna Hollis (@BriHollisNEWS) November 25, 2024

State brings Mike Ramos case into punishment phase

Last year, Taylor stood trial for murder in the 2020 death of Mike Ramos. That case ended with a hung jury, and the judge declared a mistrial. Additionally, the case later went to a subsequent grand jury, and that grand jury no-billed the case, so Taylor was never charged with a crime in that police shooting.

The majority of the States sentencing witnesses addressed this case.

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Evidence related to the Ramos case was not admitted during the trial phase of the DeSilva case, meaning jurors did not hear anything in court about the Ramos case and could not use the Ramos case in their decision-making process. Rules for information admitted during the punishment phase are different. For example, the criminal history of any party in a case can be brought up.

The Defense objected multiple times to the admissibility of any evidence from the Ramos case during the punishment portion. Blazey ultimately allowed the State to proceed, but said she would be the one to ultimately decide what weight to give said evidence. Reminder, Blazey is the trier of fact of this case, meaning she will determine Taylors sentence, not a jury.

Taylors attorneys said DeSilva had meth in his system the day he died and had a BAC of roughly .2. They also addressed Ramos criminal history, which includes 19 arrests in 22 years; and the fact the car he was in when police confronted him was stolen.

Officers who responded to the Ramos call alongside Taylor testified during the latter half of the day. Prosecutors had them walk through various tactical decision-making and threat assessments.

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When Taylors attorneys questioned the officers, officers said they did feel threatened by Ramos during the call.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
British tourists are among at least 17 people missing after a yacht capsized in Egypts Red Sea.

The Sea Story was carrying 31 tourists of various nationalities, and a crew of 14, when a distress signal was sent out shortly before dawn on Monday, Egyptian officials said.

Four Britons and two Americans were on board, according to Masrawy, a local media outlet, which cited sources on the city council of Marsa Alam, a coastal resort. A source confirmed to The Telegraph that Britons were among the missing.

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Amr Hanafy, the governor of the Red Sea region, said 28 people had been rescued from the shipwreck, south of Marsa Alam. Some were airlifted to safety, while others were transported on a warship.

He said: Intensive search operations are under way in co-ordination with the navy and the armed forces.

The Sea Story had embarked on a multi-day diving trip from Port Ghalib, in south-east Egypt, on Sunday. The vessel had been due to dock in the town of Hurghada, 124 miles north, on Friday.

An ambulance is seen at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada after the yacht sank - Reuters

The Red Sea governorate received a report of a distress call from the yacht at 5.30am local time (3.30am GMT).

It was not immediately clear what caused the four-deck, wooden-hulled motor yacht to sink, but the Egyptian meteorological authority had warned of high waves on the Red Sea and advised against maritime activity for Sunday and Monday.

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According to the ship makers website, the Sea Story was built in 2022 and could hold 36 passengers.

The Red Sea is a major tourist destination in Egypt. Many tourist companies have stopped or limited travel on the Red Sea because of dangers from conflicts in the region, including a year of attacks on commercial shipping by Yemens Houthi rebels.

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SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)  Our temperatures will go back and forth between warm and cool through Wednesday, but a cooler pattern will take over for good in all areas by Thanksgiving, and continue through Black Friday and the weekend.

Cold front #1 is on approach this morning and will bring an abrupt pattern change for many of you today. Temperatures will be in the 60s in most areas at sunrise, but the front will arrive in Texarkana by noon. Expect a high of 73 in Texarkana around lunchtime, but temperatures will fall into the 60s with a breezy north wind for much of the afternoon. In Shreveport/Bossier it will be warm until 2 p.m., winding up around 80 degrees, but turning breezy and cooler by 4 or 5 p.m.

The front will bring partly to mostly cloudy skies but it will likely lack rainfall in most areas with only a very slight chance (10-20%) of spotty showers in the Toledo Bend region of Texas and Louisiana between 2-7 p.m. Wind will turn to the northwest behind the front and gust up to 25 miles per hour for much of the day.

Futurecast outlook for the next 36 hours

It will turn cooler tonight with lows in the 40s, and Tuesday will be partly cloudy and dry with highs in the 60s. A quick warming trend will occur Wednesday with highs in the 70s and low 80s, then another front will arrive Thanksgiving morning.

Our Thanksgiving cold front will also lack rainfall, but a light rain shower cant be ruled out Thanksgiving morning before it turns breezy, mostly cloudy, and cooler for much of the day. Turkey Day highs will be in the 50s and low 60s.

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Expect a colder airmass to stick around on Black Friday with lows in the 30s Friday morning, and highs in the 50s Friday afternoon. Well likely stay in the 50s and low 60s with dry weather for the weekend.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTALnews.com.
At least five people have died as Storm Bert swept across the United Kingdom, causing power outages and widespread train and flight cancelations.

Dramatic footage that emerged over the weekend showed rivers in Wales, one of the hardest hit areas, bursting their banks to submerge low-lying streets and vehicles parked outside.

Rescuers waded through hip-deep water to rescue pets with an inflatable raft, while residents teamed up to manually remove water with buckets.

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Fatalities during the storm have been reported in multiple locations across Britain.

A man in his 60s died after a tree fell on a car in the south English city of Winchester on Saturday while another man, in his 40s, was killed in a crash in Northamptonshire, a central county, according to local police.

Further north, a 34-year-old man died in a single-vehicle collision in the early hours of Saturday, West Yorkshire Police said.

A man pours away water outside a flooded shop on Mill Street on November 24, 2024 in Pontypridd, Wales. - Matthew Horwood/Getty Images

British news agency PA Media also reported that two other people were killed as the storm battered the UK over the past few days. That included a body found in the search for a dog walker who went missing in floodwater on Saturday, it reported, citing North Wales Police.

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Another man in his 80s died after his car entered water at a ford in the northern county of Lancashire Saturday afternoon, PA Media reported, citing local police.

It was unclear whether all of these incidents were linked directly to the storm.

There have been 53 heavy rainfall reports across the UK, according to the European Severe Weather Database. Total rainfall in the last 24 hours reached over 130mm, the UK Meteorological Office (Met) reported, issuing multiple warnings against strong winds for central, southern and eastern parts of England, as well as Northern Ireland and western Scotland.

The storm is expected to clear from the far northeast early Tuesday, though risks of further downpours and strong winds remain across the south of the UK until Wednesday, the Met Office has warned.

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Some 300 flights in and out of London Heathrow Airport were cancelled over the weekend, with nearly 1,200 flights delayed.

People pour water out of the front garden of properties on Sion Street in Pontypridd, Wales on November 24, 2024. - Matthew Horwood/Getty Images

Train services connecting London and Swansea in Wales, as well as from Exeter to Okehampton and Barnstaple in the southwestern part of the country, were among a raft of routes that were canceled, according to Great Western Railway.

On Monday, Great Western Railway advised passengers not to attempt to travel as it had suspended train services on all key routes after flooding and fallen trees have blocked access at key locations.

Disruption is expected to last until at least the end of the day on Monday, it added in a post on X.

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Northern Rail reported severe disruptions for several services including in Lancaster, York and Sheffield in north of England.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks detected unplanned a spate of power outages in England and Scotland over the weekend, according to its website.

More than 60 flood warnings and alerts were reported in Wales alone for the past day, according to Natural Resources Wales.

Thank you to the emergency services who are working tirelessly to protect communities  my thoughts are with those impacted, Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote on X.

The cold front associated with Storm Bert will impact parts of western Europe, where orange warnings for high winds are in place for parts of Germany and France.

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The Trump teams delay in signing standard transition agreements is raising ethics and security concerns, as well as questions about the incoming administrations preparedness come Inauguration Day.

The president-elects transition team has not yet signed three memoranda of understandingagreements the incoming administration typically completes with the federal government and current administration to ensure a smooth transitionPolitico reported Sunday. This decision prevents Trump appointees from coordinating with the agencies they will run in a few months time.

Beyond undermining the incoming administrations preparednessand awareness of classified information on threats to national security and public healththe holdup means Trumps Cabinet picks have not undergone FBI background checks and that potential ethical and financial entanglements of the transition staffers helping the president-elect assemble his Cabinet remain unknown to the public.

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Richard Painter, a former Bush administration official, said of the delay: Until they sign this agreement, theyre not yet government employees. They can do anything they want. They can have any conflicts of interest they want. They could be taking money from foreign governments for all we know.

One of the agreements Trump has yet to sign would heavily restrict how much individuals and entities can donate to his transition effort. And, in a considerable break with tradition, Trump has so far refused to reveal who his transition donors are. Since foreign nationals can donate to presidential transitions, this raises definite red flags, as anyone could be trying to curry favorand influencewith Trump without the American people knowing.

Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to the Biden administration on Thursday, describing the president-elects teams refusal to sign agreements with the outgoing administration as an unprecedented decision and a threat to the American public, one that hamstring[s] incoming officials ability to govern responsibly.

All Americans share an interest in presidential administrations being prepared to handle the basic governance of executive branch agencies, public health and safety threats, and national security emergencies, Warren wrote.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, leaders and community members gathered Monday to celebrate the opening of a first-of-its-kind homeless shelter.

The Aston is the first non-congregate addition to the Districts adult homeless service system, meaning those who stay will be provided with semi-private rooms. Officials said the shelter will provide temporary accommodation and case management to individuals, couples, and adult families working toward finding permanent housing.

The transformation of our shelters is representative of a much bigger transformation of our entire homeless services system, said Mayor Bowser. We have reformed our systems so that we can meet people where they are and more effectively get people into permanent housing. And that is what we are doing again here at The Aston.

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The shelter was brought to life after the District purchased The Aston, which is a former college dorm, from George Washington University in August 2023 for $27.5 million. After, the Department of General Services completed significant renovations and upgrades to the building, including plumbing, mechanical, elevator and HVAC systems.

The department also enhanced the buildings life and safety system.

Covenant House Greater Washington holds annual Sleep Out to end youth homelessness

Officials said The Astons non-congregate housing model will serve these three main populations across D.C.:

Families without minor children, couples and other household configurations  including those of different genders  who need stable short-term arrangements. Individuals matched to a permanent housing resource through the Districts Continuum of Care who are working through their housing lease-up process. Residents such as those experiencing chronic homelessness who are transitioning from unsheltered settings or low-barrier shelters, whose service needs are best met in this type of setting.

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Services for residents include individualized case management, by Friendship Place. The organization will work with clients to develop their housing plans and provide navigation services that will support them in reaching their housing goals.

The Aston is a reflection of our mission to deliver compassionate, comprehensive services to people experiencing homelessness, said Jean-Michel Giraud, president and CEO of Friendship Place. Here, our participants will find both support and respect as they transition to a place they can truly call home.

Eligibility to reside at The Aston is determined through a Coordinated Assessment and Housing Placement system. The shelter will accommodate up to 50 people. Clients began moving in on Nov. 15.

Officials said the shelter is expected to scale to about 100 people over time.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL)  A Johnson City trio was arrested on Sunday after allegedly stealing from a flood-damaged home in Jonesborough, authorities reported.

According to the Washington County, Tennessee Sheriffs Office (WCSO), deputies responded to a reported burglary in the 400 block of Charlie Carson Road just after 2 a.m.

When they arrived, deputies spoke with Ray Woodfin, 55, who reportedly told police he was sleeping in a vehicle.

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Residents evacuated after overnight fire in Hawkins County

While speaking to Ray Woodfin, a man, identified by authorities as Kevin Woodfin, 36, walked out of the flood-damaged home and told police he was there to find change in the residence, the WCSO stated.

While speaking with the two men, deputies found Misty Bennett, 32, behind the home. She reportedly told police they all lived in Johnson City and were riding around looking at flood damage.

The homeowner then arrived on the scene and told deputies there had been several people entering the home over the past few nights, the WCSO reported.

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Custom-made boots, automotive parts and other items were allegedly found in a vehicle that belonged to the homeowner, according to the sheriffs office. A watch from the home was reportedly found in Kevin Woodfins possession.

Ray and Kevin Woodfin and Misty Bennett were charged with aggravated burglary and criminal conspiracy.

The trio was taken to the Washington County Detention Center and is held on a $30,000 bond each. Theyre set to appear in court on Monday.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.
(Bloomberg) -- Follow Bloomberg India on WhatsApp for exclusive content and analysis on what billionaires, businesses and markets are doing. Sign up here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modis allies have largely refrained from commenting on the USs shock bribery allegations against billionaire Gautam Adani, a sign of the strong political support he enjoys in India.

The tycoon, who founded the Adani Group and is considered a close ally of Modi, has invested across Asias third-largest economy, including in states run by the prime ministers coalition partners. Hes now accused by the US in a $250 million bribery plot involving Indian state officials and concealing it from American investors.

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Modis Bharatiya Janata Party lost its majority in the parliament after national elections earlier this year and was forced to turn to coalition partners to form a government. The parties are mainly regional groups, dominating in states like Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, which have major infrastructure projects spearheaded by the Adani Group. Their silence on the grave charges Adani faces show how hard it would be to initiate any kind of formal investigation into the port-to-energy conglomerate in India.

Part of his protection has to do with the fact that he is an integral part of how states run and even how diplomacy runs, said Neelanjan Sircar, an associate professor at Ahmedabad University. Its not just Adanis connection to Modi that has been beneficial to the billionaire but an intricate web of connections which he has throughout the political class, Sircar said.

The Janata Dal (United) and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Modis key regional parties in the eastern India state of Bihar, declined to comment on the US charges against Adani.

Modis biggest coalition partner, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, addressed the matter briefly in the local assembly on Friday, saying his government will study the indictment and act on it, the Press Trust of India reported. The local government will examine next steps, including the possibility of canceling the power-supply contract linked to the Adani group, state Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav told news agency Reuters.

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The US indictment has dominated the news since Thursday, with Modis rivals renewing questions on the prime ministers relationship with Adani and calling for federal and parliamentary probes into the bribery allegations. Opposition lawmakers demanded a debate about the businessman at the winter parliamentary session, which kicked off Monday, before proceedings were adjourned until Wednesday.

From ports to electricity and airports, Adanis infrastructure network not only dominates large parts of Indias economy, its also aligned with areas Modi has prioritized for development.

It wont be easy to initiate a probe against the Adani Group, said Amit Ranjan, research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore. It depends on how politically united the oppositions actions are, he said.

In Andhra Pradesh, the Adani Group last year announced plans to build a data center in Visakhapatnam, the largest city in the state, on top of the $2.4 billion already invested in the region in multiple sectors, like ports, logistics, and renewable energy. In October, Naidu met with executives from the company to discuss more investment opportunities in sectors ranging from ports and mining to tourism and AI.

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The Adani Group has also made substantial investments in states that are not governed by the BJP or its allies. In 2024, the group announced $5.1 billion worth of investments into data centers, cement units and power storage project in Tamil Nadu, a state that the BJP has never governed. In neighboring Telangana, which is currently controlled by the Indian National Congress, the group signed contracts this year for over $1.5 billion of investment.

The bribery allegations relate to a senior official in Andhra Pradesh before Naidu took power in the state in June. The Adani Group has denied the allegations and said it would seek legal recourse. Andhra Pradeshs former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who ran the state during the period mentioned in the indictment, denied any wrongdoing.

Naidu said Friday that the allegations have damaged the image of the state and was a very sad development, according to the PTI report.

--With assistance from Preeti Soni and Advait Palepu.

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(Updates with comments from Andhra Pradesh finance minister in sixth paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is shaking off doomsday predictions about what AI means for humanityinstead laying out how he sees the technology vastly improving businesses and the work-life balance of their employees.

Even Dimona fierce advocate of long-established career norms such as working hard, being prepared for anything, and working in the officesays future generations of employees could work a day and a half less every week, thanks to AI.

As well as the workweek shrinking from five to three and a half days a week, Dimon also predicts that staff in the future could live to 100 years of age.

Thousands of people at Americas biggest bank are already using the technology, Dimon told Bloomberg TV, adding that artificial intelligence is a living breathing thing that will shift over the course of history.

The technology may be utilized by JPMorgan for a vast range of areaserrors, trading, research, and hedging to name a fewarguably illustrating fears that AI will take the jobs of human counterparts.

Goldman Sachs predicts that approximately 300 million jobs will be lost to the technology, with around a quarter of the American workforce fearing in the future they will lose their roles to artificial intelligence.

But the advance of technology is also something societies have grappled with before, Dimon pointed out, adding that with AI and large language models there are also huge opportunities to improve living standards.

People have to take a deep breath, Dimon said. Technology has always replaced jobs. Your children are going to live to 100 and not have cancer because of technology, and literally theyll probably be working three and a half days a week.

Employees could scale back on their working hours, thanks to the technology being used to automate some of their activities, McKinsey found in a report published last year.

The report also found that generative AI and other emerging technologies have the potential to automate the tasks which take up 60% to 70% of employees time at the momentadding between $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion to the global economy every year.

And while businesses are still grappling with how quickly AI will transform their sector, arguments are already being made to reduce the number of days in the current working week.

A British study of 61 organizations, carried out by the University of Cambridge, saw a 65% reduction in sick days during a four-day working week, while 71% of employees said they had reduced levels of burnout. As a result, 92% of the companies on the program said theyd be keeping a three-day weekend.
A plane full of passengers was evacuated after a tourist made an apparent fake bomb threat at a Bangkok airport, local reports say.

An AirAsia flight saw 162 passengers and six crew members deplaned on Thursday, 21 November after the airport received an anonymous call claiming there was an explosive on the aircraft, police said at a press conference, The Nation reported.

A Singapore man was reportedly arrested a day later after police traced the phone number used for the threat and found him at Don Mueang Airports passenger terminal.

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The suspect reportedly admitted to making the call at around 2.47pm local time and said his motivation was stress over a family problem, the publication said.

He was sent to the Don Mueang police station and charged with overstaying his visa in Thailand by 28 days, with police adding that they are still investigating and could file more charges where applicable.

The plane that was due to leave Bangkok for Hat Yai City in the Songkhla province, was returned to a bay for thorough inspection.

After a search of the aircraft and passengers, authorities reportedly found no suspicious items and the emergency was called off later in the day.

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Flight FD3114 from Bangkok to Hat Yai was supposed to take off at 3.45pm but did not end up leaving until just after 8pm, causing an almost four-hour delay to the journey that should only take one hour, data from FlightRadar shows.

The incident comes after a string of apparent bomb hoaxes that disrupted journeys for hundreds of passengers last month, as Air India became a target for these threats.

Singapores military had to send out fighter jets after an Air India Express plane bound for Changi Airport received a bomb threat via email.

At least 10 flights received hoax bomb threats through email and social media messages in 48 hours from Monday to Tuesday, Indian media reported.

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One of these, an Air India flight from Delhi to Chicago, was forced to make an emergency landing at a remote Canadian airport.

An Air India Mumbai to London flight also had to be intercepted and escorted by RAF Typhoon jets following another threat on 17 October.

The Independent has contacted Don Mueang International Airport, AirAsia and the Thailand Tourism Police for further information and comment.

For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calders podcast
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO)  A 21-year-old Sioux Falls man is headed for prison for a crime spree involving two robberies, a stolen car and a stolen gun.

1 dead in 3-vehicle crash in Jackson County

Police arrested Bryan Archambeau a year ago this month, after he held up two stores and got away with alcohol and vape pens.

The case ended up in federal court. Monday a judge sentenced Archambeau to more than 10 years behind bars followed by supervised release.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KELOLAND.com.
TOPEKA (KSNT)  Its Thanksgiving week and many businesses are beginning to prepare for Black Friday and Small Business Saturday.

One local boutique located at West Ridge Mall hosted Pink Weekend as a way to not compete with big stores for the holiday shopping weekend.

But also, as a way to promote many local vendors around the capitol city.

Topeka Zoo Lights opens for holiday season

We hosted Pink Friday at my boutique but then we hosted Pink Weekend and invited vendors in and other small businesses so that they could promote their stuff, Cassandra Martinez, owner of Boss Babes Boutique, said.

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Martinez also tells 27 news to shop local small businesses first as they are what hold the community together and wouldnt be here without the communitys support.

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.
In yet another How could this be? moment for liberals and Never Trumpers of all stripes, were now seeing polls on the president-elects transition, and hes getting, you guessed it, pretty good marks. When asked by Pew recently whether they approve of the policies and plans for the future authored by the man who wanted Matt Gaetz to run the Justice Department and still wants a Putin fan-girl to be in charge of U.S. intelligence and a former congressman who pushed the idea that vaccines cause autism to lead the Centers for Disease Control, 53 percent of respondents said they do, while 46 percent said they disapprove.

More: Pew asked the same respondents whether they have warm or cool feelings toward Trump. Cold and very cold still combined to top warm and very warm, 47 to 42 percent, but his warm rating today is considerably higher than it was in 2016 or 2020.

This means one obvious thing: The independent voters whom the exit polls say he narrowly lost to Kamala Harris (4946, says CNN) have decided to give him a chance.

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And that, in turn, means something else. Our efforts to paint Trump as a sui generis extremist failed. All those warnings about the unique danger he poses to this country, so obviously true and dire to us, didnt really register with swing voters. Or maybe they registered to some extent, given how close the election was. But they didnt prove to be decisive. These voters see Trump as rude and crude, maybe, but they weigh his words and promises in pretty much the same way they weigh any other politicians; Trump does not, for these people, sit outside American political tradition at all.

And this has implications for the resistance to Trump 2.0. It will have to take an entirely different approach this time around.

Ill get to that, but first, an admission: I confess Ive been mystified by this lack of alarm. Ive said and written many times that I understand MAGA true believers better than I understand these swing voters. MAGA true believers at least recognize that Trump is unlike anyone else who has come down the pike in American politics in our lifetimes. This is one thing those of us who revile Trump have in common with those who adore him: We all understand that hes unique.

Its the people who dont see him as unique who have baffled me. I just havent understood how thats possible. My best guesses are as follows. One, theyre more cynical than the average voter and they think every politician is a corrupt liar, so Trump doesnt particularly stand out to them in either regard. Two, they just dont care about politics very muchwe always need to remember that there are a few million voters out there who pay attention to politics the way I pay attention to gymnastics; that is, for about a month every four years. Three, they either sort of like him personally or at least they like the fact that hes a successful businessman. Yes, narrow majorities have always thought of Trump this way, and one Biden official once told me that the view was just impossible to dislodge.

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Whatever the reason, there we have it. Their hair is not on fire about RFK Jr. They may have thought Gaetz was an odd choice, but theyre totally on board with Pam Bondi, who is clearly qualified on paper. People like us read The Washington Posts report Sunday that shes going to move to prosecute Trumps prosecutors, and we have convulsions. Dont misunderstand mewere right to. Bondi was an election denier and is a complete loyalist, and while we can hope that her years in the law have instilled in her some modicum of respect for the need for evidence, her political history gives us ample reason to suspect that shell carry out Trumps revenge agenda.

But its also apparently the case that swing voters dont care, at least not yet. And no amount of screaming on our part is going to make them care. We dont need outrage this time around. We dont need marches. We need facts. We need evidence. We need smart and aggressive lawyers who have the funds at their disposal to do what they need to do. We need Democrats who arent afraid and will repeat the facts and the evidence relentlessly, daily, hourly. And in the face of a right-wing media machine that, come 12:01 p.m. on January 20, will start pronouncing on how great everything in America suddenly is, we need mainstream journalism that will do the same.

Trump entered office in 2017 with a 45 percent approval rating. In four years, he never once topped 50 percent, according to Gallup. We should be prepared for him to start at 50 this time around.

If were right about Trump, hell start going down pretty fast. If a 60 percent tariff on Chinese goods turns that $300 tablet into a $420 one, if it raises prices on groceries and toys and clothes and refrigerators, people will notice. If he really does use the justice system for retribution, theyll notice that too. If he frees the January 6 hostages, hell pay a price. If he hands a chunk of Ukraine to the Kremlin and weakens NATO and aligns the United States of America with people like Putin and Orban, even those one-month-every-four-years voters will disapprove. If he has a political opponent arrested on spurious grounds, people will see through it. And if he starts rounding up fathers and mothers living in their communities in peace, I hope and suspect that many whove been telling pollsters theyd support Trumps mass deportation plans would change their minds.

We neednt lose our conviction that Trump is a dangerous extremist. That conviction is correct and will be proven so. But it will have to be proven through a democratic process: smart opposition, a vigorous press, persuasion of our fellow citizens. The person most likely to discredit Trump is Trump himself.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  Temperatures are expected to tumble slowly this week, with a sharp pattern change ahead to kick off December.

After rain, and highs in the mid 40s Monday, temperatures will take a big hit Tuesday, with another drop expected towards the weekend. By the end of the week, temperature falls will be sufficient enough to produce lake effect snow in parts of West Michigan.

Thanksgiving Day: Mostly cloudy and cool with a chance of snow late

Expect rain showers at the start of the week with snow showers for the end of the week.

While it likely will be cold enough for a few light snow showers to form on Thanksgiving Day, accumulating snow will likely hold off until colder air pours in Thursday night.

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Bills Blog: Breaking down the snowstorm of Nov. 17-19, 2022

High chance of incoming cold blast

There is high confidence cold air will begin pouring in by Black Friday. There is a very good chance this air will be cold enough to generate lake-effect snow showers and our first inch of snow this season for many in West Michigan.

Thanksgiving night into Black Friday is trending colder with slick conditions and snow.

Waves of cold air are expected to continue to roll in from the Arctic across the Great Lakes. This should provide several chances for accumulating snow as the month of December kicks off. There is high certainty we will see rounds of snow, but there is still a bit of uncertainty as to the exact timing of each wave.

Guess the total snowfall in Grand Rapids this winter to win a $250 gift card

A blast of cold air is looking increasingly likely to start the month of December.

Current forecast trends suggest a wave of energy sparking snow showers on Black Friday with a bit of a lull Saturday  and a new wave sparking more snow showers Sunday.

December is expected to open with several chances of snow

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For those with travel plans, stay with Storm Team 8 for the timing of each wave and the breakdown as to who is most likely to be impacted by each. Long-term trends are showing a cooler-than-average lean from Dec. 7-20 as well.

Storm Team 8 Forecast

For a look at what winter might bring, check out the full Storm Team 8 winter outlook.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
BRISTOL, Tenn. (WJHL)  State of Franklin Healthcare Associates (SOFHA) announced a new pediatric clinic has opened in Bristol, Tennessee.

Located at 109 Meadow View Road, Suite 3, in Bristol, Tennessee, SOFHA Pediatrics makes the organizations second clinic in Bristol.

We are thrilled to bring SOFHA Pediatrics to the Bristol community, SOFHA CEO Rob Slattery said in a news release. Dr. Mitoraj and Kelly Simcox have a proven record of excellence in pediatric care, and their expertise will allow us to better serve the healthcare needs of families in this area.

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SOFHA Pediatrics will start accepting new patients on Dec. 2.

The clinic will be open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon.

To schedule an appointment, call 423-968-4007.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch are on opposite sides of some of the biggest Supreme Court cases, but they were together Monday in a case that raised what they agreed was an important question: Does the Constitution provide for compensation when the government damages private property using its police power?

The issue arose in an appeal from Vicki Baker, whose Texas home police damaged to pursue a fugitive inside (Baker wasnt involved in wrongdoing). Had her home been razed to build a public park, she wouldve undoubtedly been entitled to compensation under the Fifth Amendments takings clause, Sotomayor wrote in a statement joined by Gorsuch. The clause says private property shall not be taken for public use, without just compensation.

But in this case, Sotomayor noted, police destroyed Bakers home for a different public benefit: to protect local residents and themselves from an armed and dangerous individual. She wrote that the appeal raised the serious question of whether the Takings Clause permits the government to destroy private property without paying just compensation, as long as the government had no choice but to do so.

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Notably, Sotomayors opinion wasnt a dissent from the courts refusal to take up Bakers appeal against the Texas city of McKinney. Rather, the justice wrote to highlight the importance of the issue in her (and Gorsuchs) view, but said it needs further development in the lower courts before the Supreme Court weighs in.

So if the issue comes back to the court after that further development, then there are at least two justices interested in taking it up. It takes four justices to grant review.

Subscribe to the Deadline: Legal Newsletter for expert analysis on the top legal stories of the week, including updates from the Supreme Court and developments in Donald Trumps legal cases.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
FLORENCE, S.C. (WBTW)  The South Carolina Department of Transportation has scheduled a drop-in public meeting next month to talk about a study focused of a dozen bridges along the Interstate 95 corridor in Florence and Dillon counties.

The planning and environment linkage study, which is due to be completed in March, will focus on an eightmile section of the highway from mile-marker 172 to mile-marker 180. The area includes two bridges over the Great Pee Dee River and 10 overflow bridges within the Great Pee Dee floodplain, SCDOT said.

This corridor is integral to the states freight network and is nationally significant as a freight and tourism corridor, SCDOT said.

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The Federal Highway Administration describes planning and environment linkages, or PELs, as a collaborative and integrated approach that considers environmental, community, and economic goals in the initial stages of transportation planning and uses the information, analysis, and products developed in the planning stages to inform the environmental review process.

According to SCDOT, the 12 rural bridges in the study at risk due to age, outdated design standards, and extreme weather events, jeopardizing safety, efficiency, and reliability along the I-95 corridor. They were all built between 1966 and 1967 and are nearing the end of their useful service life.

They need to be replaced to avoid multiple components falling into poor condition, as defined by the National Bridge Inventory rating method, SCDOT said.

SCOT said nearly 50,000 vehicles cross the bridges daily, with more than 22% of those being freight trucks.

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The meeting will be from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Dec. 12 at the Clemson Pee Dee Research Center, 2200 E. Pocket Road in Florence. SCDOT representatives will be available at the meeting to discuss the proposed project, but there will be no formal presentation.

SCDOT will accept public comments starting on Wednesday and continuing through Jan. 11. More information about the study is available on SCDOTs website.

* * *

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.
SOCASTEE, S.C. (WBTW)  A state review board next month will consider defeated Pee Dee senator Gerald Malloys request for a new election.

The election commissions Board of Canvassers is set to meet at 10 a.m. on Dec. 3 in Columbia. Malloy, a Hartsville Democrat whos served Senate District 29 since 2002, finished 278 votes behind Republican J.D. Chaplin.

A mandatory recount trimmed Chaplins margin to just 87, according to a Nov. 19 protest lodged with the state Election Commission naming the boards of elections in Chesterfield, Darlington, Lee, Marlboro and Sumter counties as defendants.

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Malloy and his team are asking the state Election Commission to schedule a new contest. The Senate meets Dec. 4 for reorganization and Chaplins name already appears on its website as the District 29 seat holder.

* * *

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.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW.
The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) has adopted a rule for reliability purposes requiring cryptocurrency mining facilities in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) region to register with the state and annually report details about their location, ownership, form of business, and demand for electricity.

The PUCTs new rule, adopted on Nov. 21, will mandate registration for virtual currency mining facilitiesdefined under existing law as "a facility that uses electronic equipment to add virtual currency transactions to a distribution ledgerthat have a total load of more than 75 MW and an interruptible facility load of at least 10%.

According to the PUCT, the new rule addresses the unique and growing energy demands posed by crypto-mining facilities on Texass grid reliability and electricity pricing. To ensure the ERCOT grid is reliable and meets the electricity needs of all Texans, the PUCT and ERCOT need to know the location and power needs of virtual currency miners, said PUCT Chairman Thomas Gleeson. This is another example of the PUCT and ERCOT adapting to support a rapidly changing industrial landscape. Most importantly, we will always take the steps necessary to ensure reliable, affordable power for all Texans.

Texas Bracing for Massive Upsurge in Large Flexible Load Demand

Texas has been bracing for a steep rise in power demand from consumers identified as large flexible loads (LFL), which are most commonly data centers, crypto mining facilities, hydrogen production facilities, and some industrial factories. ERCOT has warned that large electrical loads can pose unpredictable fluctuations when they rapidly shift their energy use, throttling power consumption up or downor even shutting off entirely. Without ERCOT's oversight that poses serious risks to grid stability.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently reported that ERCOTs LFL could total 54 TWh in 2025up almost 60% from expected demand in 2024. That compares to growth forecasts for load growth across all types of ERCOT customers from 464 TWh in 2024 to 487 TWh in 2025of only 5%.

[caption id="attachment_225965" align="alignnone" width="600"]

The Energy Information Administration estimates projected ERCOT energy demand from large flexible loads could surge nearly 60% by 2025, far outpacing the 5% growth forecast for overall customer load.Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), September 2024

The Energy Information Administration estimates projected ERCOT energy demand from large flexible loads could surge nearly 60% by 2025, far outpacing the 5% growth forecast for overall customer load. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), September 2024[/caption]

We assume that by the end of 2025, ERCOT will have approved operations of 9,500 MW of LFL demand capacity, which would be 73% more than is currently approved (5,479 MW of which 1,570 MW was approved over the past 12 months), the agency said. That expected demand from LFL customers would represent about 10% of total forecast electricity consumption on the ERCOT grid next year, it added. These facilities consume large amounts of electricity, both to run their computing equipment and to keep them cool. Some of the larger facilities can consume as much electricity as a medium-sized power plant, it noted.
Nov. 25 (UPI) -- A federal judge on Monday granted special counsel Jack Smith's request to drop all felony charges against President-elect Donald Trump in connection to his role in seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election, which lead to the deadly Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan agreed to dismiss the indictment against the president-elect without prejudice, which leaves open the possibility for the Justice Department to pursue the case again once Trump leaves office.

"Dismissal without prejudice is also consistent with the Government's understanding that the immunity afforded to a sitting President is temporary, expiring when they leave office," Chutkan, an appointee of President Barack Obama, wrote in her opinion.

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Chutkan penned her ruling hours after Smith filed requests to dismiss Trump's federal subversion case and a second case accusing the president-elect of mishandling classified documents at the end of his first term in the White House.

In his filing to Chutkan, Smith stood behind the strength of the Department of Justice's case, stating the government's position "on the merits of the defendant's prosecution has not changed. But the circumstances have."

On Monday, Special Counsel Jack Smiths office wrote that its intent to drop all four felony charges against President-elect Donald Trump will be consistent with the U.S. Justice Departments long-held tradition of not charging a sitting American president with a crime. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI

Recently, Smith indicated his intent to wrap up the two ongoing criminal cases against Trump and to then resign with his team before Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.

Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement that Monday's decision by the special counsel ends the "unconstitutional federal cases against Trump," characterizing it as a "major victory for the rule of law."

Special counsel Jack Smith (pictured in 2020) has now moved to drop all felony charges against President-elect Donald Trump in connection to his alleged role in seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Recently, Smith indicated his intent to wrap up the two ongoing criminal cases against Trump and to then resign with his team before Inauguration Day on January 20. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI

The president-elect was indicted in August 2023 on four felony counts for the alleged conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges and took the fight to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing presidential immunity.

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The former and future president made it clear that he intended to get rid of Smith once he takes office. During an October radio interview, Trump said that he will fire Smith "within two seconds" of becoming president again.

Demonstrators hold signs outside the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse as former president Donald Trump is arraigned on charges of election subversion, in Washington, D.C., in 2023. Special counsel Jack Smith has now moved to drop all felony charges against President-elect Donald Trump in connection to his alleged role in seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI

On Monday, Smith's office wrote that its intent to drop all four felony charges will be consistent with the Justice Department's long-held tradition of not charging a sitting American president with a crime.

"That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the government's proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the government stands fully behind," Smith wrote in a six-page filing adding that the Department of Justice's position is that the U.S. Constitution "requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated."

Smith's request comes days after New York Judge Juan Merchan ruled Trump's sentencing date for his 34 criminal convictions be put on hold, with Trump's attorneys arguing the case should be tossed outright as Trump returns to the White House.

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After Trump's November re-election win over Vice President Kamala Harris, Smith was torn between "two fundamental and compelling national interests," the Monday filing states.

Trump was indicted by a grand jury for the alleged criminal conspiracy to block and overturn results in the 2020 election won by President Joe Biden and Harris. Smith had overseen the case as well as a second criminal case in Florida involving the alleged mishandling of classified documents.

"On the one hand, the Constitution's requirement that the president must not be unduly encumbered in fulfilling his weighty responsibilities," Smith's team wrote, "and on the other hand, the nation's commitment to the rule of law and the longstanding principle that '[n]o man in this country is so high that he is above the law.'"

Federal regulations require a report from Smith summarizing the investigation into Trump's alleged crimes. However, it is unclear if it will be publicly available.

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"The American People and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system," Cheung said.

The two state cases against Trump in New York and Georgia will continue in legal proceedings that Trump, as president, will have no constitutional power in which to interfere.
Following Special Counsel Jack Smiths filing on Monday to dismiss the two federal cases against President-elect Donald Trump, the classified documents case and election subversion case, the judge overseeing the election case officially dismissed the felony charges against Trump.

The Government has moved to dismiss the Superseding Indictment without prejudice, Judge Tanya Chutkan said in her filing to confirm the dismissal. Kyle Cheney, a senior legal affairs reporter for Politico, shared the filing on social media.

Here, Defendant consents to the dismissal, the filing said, And there is no indication that the dismissal is part of a scheme of prosecutorial harassment' or otherwise improper.

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Rather, the government explains that it seeks dismissal pursuant to Department of Justice policy and precedent. ... The court will therefore grant the Government leave to dismiss this case.

Two years after bringing the indictments against the former president, Smith submitted a filing to the judge early Monday, asking for the election subversion case to be dismissed due to the unprecedented situation of Trump winning the 2024 presidential election. He also dropped his appeal to the classified documents case.

The presiding judge in the classified documents case dismissed the 40 criminal count charges against Trump in July due to Smith violating the Appointment Clause for not being appointed to special counsel by President Joe Biden nor confirmed by the Senate.

Smiths team said it was leaving intact charges against two co-defendants in the classified documents case  Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira  because no principle of temporary immunity applies to them, per the Associated Press.

Smiths motion to dismiss

In the filling on the election subversion case, Smiths office reiterated its claims that the law prohibiting a sitting president from being prosecuted is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the governments proof or the merits of the prosecution, which the government stands fully behind.

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This sets at odds two fundamental and compelling national interests: on the one hand, the Constitutions requirement that the president must not be unduly encumbered in fulfilling his weighty responsibilities, the filing added. and on the other hand, the nations commitment to the rule of law and the longstanding principle that (n)o man in this country is so high that he is above the law.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all the charges Smith initially brought against him, taking the case to the Supreme Court on the basis of presidential immunity. Following the Supreme Courts decision this summer giving a president broad immunity from prosecution for official acts they make while in office, Smith filed a new lawsuit against Trump.

George Washington University professor Jonathan Turley told Fox News that he knew a year ago there was a good chance Jack Smith would never see the inside of a courtroom for a trial in this case. It made this election the largest effective jury verdict in history by re-electing Donald Trump.

In a post on X, Utah Sen. Mike Lee reacted to Smiths announcement:

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All that has changed is that Trump won the election(.) And now Jack Smith is moving to dismiss(.) Isnt that tantamount to an admission that this was just politicized lawfare from the beginning?

All that has changed is that Trump won the election



And now Jack Smith is moving to dismiss



Isnt that tantamount to an admission that this was just politicized lawfare from the beginning? https://t.co/YUtXpeKH9p  Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) November 25, 2024

Before the case is officially dismissed, Judge Tanya Chutkan must review and approve Smiths request.
Andrew Weissmann, former top official at the Justice Department, Lisa Rubin, MSNBC Legal Correspondent, and Molly Jong Fast, Special Correspondent for Vanity Fair join Alicia Menendez in for Nicolle Wallace on Deadline White House with the news that the Special Counsel has motioned to dismiss both of it's cases against Donald Trump, winding down any proceedings ahead of Donald Trump returning to the White House in January.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  This week on The Spectrum:

After neo-Nazis marched in the Short North, NBC 4 spoke to experts who study extremism at Ohio State University. Hear what they said drives people to join radical hate groups.

Ohio House Republicans set party in-fighting aside to elect a new speaker. What are his top legislative priorities?

Two visiting journalists from Armenia experience Election Night in America. Hear how the outcome could affect their home country.

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Republican strategist Matt Dole and Democratic strategist Brian Rothenberg join the all-star roundtable to weigh in on who Gov. Mike DeWine could appoint to fill Vice President-elect JD Vances Senate seat.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
SAUKVILLE, Wis. (WFRV)  Officers in southeastern Wisconsin are investigating a crash after a Michigan man seen speeding on WIS 33 reportedly crashed into a Wisconsin Humane Society building.

According to the Saukeville Police Department, the crash happened around 6:30 a.m. on November 24 at the Ozaukee County Humane Society.

An officer reportedly noticed a vehicle speeding westbound on WIS 33 near Dekora Woods Boulevard. That vehicle then allegedly left the road and crashed into the front entrance of the Ozaukee County Humane Society.

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Neenah PD investigating suspicious death after man found behind residence

The driver, a 48-year-old man from Michigan, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to the hospital. The Humane Society has been notified about the incident, and there were no animals in the area of the building where the crash took place.

Saukville Fire Department Saukville Fire Department Saukville Fire Department Saukville Fire Department

Staff were onsite within minutes of notification, an emergency crew is securing the building, and a building inspector is onsite to ensure the building is safe to use. The most significant damage is to the animal arrivals area, which serves as the front desk for intaking stray animals, lost animal redemptions, surrender appointments, and more. That area will require extensive repairs. The WHS management team is working on a plan to reroute services from the main entrance area, and care for the animals inside the building has not been interrupted. Thank you so much to the first responders, volunteers, and our staff for making sure the building is safe  and the animals are getting lots of TLC today! Ozaukee County Humane Society

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The crash is still under investigation, and no additional information has been released.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP)  Students at Discovery Polytech Early College High School are taking strides toward higher education through an innovative partnership with Springfield Technical Community College (STCC).

Man diagnosed with Crohns disease running across Massachusetts for childrens hospital

The collaboration allows students to earn college credits while exploring STEM-focused academic pathways.

STCC professor Anthony Rondinelli teaches students from Discovery Polytech Early College High School (Photo courtesy of Springfield Technical Community College)

As part of the wall-to-wall early college program, students attend classes at STCC twice a week, riding a bus to the campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They take courses in specialized fields including:

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Business

Cybersecurity

Healthcare

Optics and Photonics

Mechanical Engineering Technology

Technical Arts

The program, which started in 2023, enables students to gain valuable academic experience, save on tuition, and get a head start on earning an associate degree or 60 credits toward a bachelors degreefor free.

Discovery is one of the Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnerships (SEZP) schools, a collaboration between Springfield Public Schools, the state, and the Springfield Education Association. This partnership began in 2020 with students from Springfield High School of Commerce earning college credits at STCC.

STCC instructor Sam Delore teaches Discovery students about laser technology (Photo courtesy of Springfield Technical Community College)

This program is truly transformative, said Discovery Principal Declan OConnor. Our students are immersed in a STEM environment that aligns with their passions for gaming, coding, digital media, and other technical fields. Theyre navigating real college experiences that prepare them for future academic and professional success.

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The program includes courses taught at STCC facilities, such as the newly opened Richard E. Neal Center for Excellence in Cybersecurity at Union Station. STCC President John B. Cook emphasized the unique opportunities the program offers. These students are not just taking classestheyre exploring programs that cant be found elsewhere in the region, Cook said. The partnership provides a head start and prepares them for the next steps in their academic journeys.

Senior student Izabelle Martinez, who has already earned 42 college credits, spoke about the programs impact, Its exciting to be on a college campus, she said. Were gaining experiences and networking with people in fields we aspire to join.

Discovery student Izabella Martinez (Photo courtesy of Springfield Technical Community College)

SEZP Chief of School Innovation Kelley Gangi explained that the programs academic pathways align with the Pioneer Valley Labor Market Blueprint, focusing on high-growth, high-wage careers. Programs like this ensure students are prepared for in-demand career paths, Gangi said. Whether they pursue degrees at STCC or other institutions, theyre building a strong foundation.

STCC Professor Anthony Rondinelli, who teaches computer basics, praised the students enthusiasm. They want to learn and are very receptive. This partnership is a fantastic opportunity for them, he said.

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While the program offers exciting opportunities, it also challenges students to manage college-level coursework. Michael Anderson, a Discovery student, acknowledged the discipline required. You have to think like a college student, he said. Its about staying focused and knowing the hard work will pay off.

This early college initiative supports STCCs mission to provide accessible, affordable education and foster pathways to higher education, particularly for underrepresented communities. Its also part of a statewide effort to enhance college readiness and close achievement gaps for students from diverse backgrounds.

Discovery students are already seeing the rewards, gaining confidence, and setting their sights on ambitious academic goals. Were learning how to be independent and take responsibility for our education, Martinez said. This program is opening doors for our futures.

To learn more about the program and STCCs offerings, you can visit their website.

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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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  The St. Helens School District, in a state of upheaval in recent weeks over sex abuse allegations against teachers and administrators, will hold a special school board meeting Monday night to appoint a new interim superintendent.

The 6:30 p.m. meeting is virtual only, district officials said. Those who wish to watch can do so online.

There is no school this week for students in the St. Helens district, which was planned before the sex abuse charges became public. Monday and Tuesday are scheduled for conferences. Wednesday and Friday are non-contract days and Thursday is Thanksgiving.

Why an interim superintendent

A total of six staff members with the St. Helens School District are under investigation by the Oregon Department of Human Services in an ongoing sex abuse scandal involving students as well as allegations of school administrators turning a blind eye to these crimes.

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Since the first of these allegations went public in mid-November, the St. Helens community  including parents, students and school staff  have rallied against what they claim to be the districts failure to protect its vulnerable students.

St. Helens police first began its two-month investigation into the schools sex abuse allegations in September.

TIMELINE: When St. Helens teacher sex abuse scandal began, latest investigations, whats next

After receiving reports of the alleged sexual abuse, St. Helens detectives immediately conducted interviews and obtained a subpoena for records related to the allegations, police said. Former student victims were identified, and additional potential victims were also identified.

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Following the investigation, Eric Stearns was charged with seven counts of second-degree sexual abuse and one count of third-degree sexual abuse, and Mark Collins was charged with two counts of second-degree sexual abuse and one count of attempted second-degree sexual abuse.

Both men were lodged in the Columbia County Jail on Tuesday, Nov. 12.

St. Helens High School teacher Eric Stearns appeared in court on Nov. 13, 2024. (KOIN)

Mark Collins appeared in Columbia County County on Nov. 14, 2024. (KOIN)

The St. Helens School District announced in a Facebook post Friday, Nov. 15, that the high schools principal Katy Wagner and the districts superintendent Scot Stockwell had been placed on administrative leave.

In the same post, officials also announced that school board chair Ryan Scholl had resigned from his position. The district added that, in the absence of a board chair, the role was left to vice chair Trinity Monahan.

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The following Thursday, Nov. 21, the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) announced that Principal Katy Wagner was under investigation for allegedly failing to report safety concerns to law enforcement.

The ODHS announced Friday morning that two more St. Helens High School employees were also being investigated on allegations of sex abuse, though they have not yet been named in a criminal investigation by St. Helens police.

3 more St. Helens school staff under investigation by ODHS amid ongoing sex abuse cases

The state department also said Superintendent Stockwell is under investigation for neglecting to report child safety concerns.

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One reason for the special meeting to appoint an interim superintendent on Monday stems from the fact that if an interim superintendent for the St. Helens School District isnt appointed within 14 days, the state will make a recommendation for the position.

KOIN 6 News will continue to follow this story.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
ST. LOUIS  Police are searching for the person who shot a 64-year-old man in north St. Louis.

Authorities say the man was walking on North Florissant Avenue near Montgomery Street around 7:15 p.m. Saturday when he heard gunfire and realized he had been shot in the leg.

He was taken to a hospital and is in stable condition.

Anyone with information is urged to contact St. Louis police.

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ST. LOUIS  A late-night shooting in St. Louis left two people dead and three others injured in an incident that unfolded just north of downtown. Police say the shooting occurred around 10 p.m. Sunday on the 700 block of Carr Street, near the Americas Center.

Authorities have confirmed one of the deceased victims is a 26-year-old man but have not released his identity. A second victim was a 20-year-old man who was transported to a local hospital but was later pronounced dead.

Two additional shooting victims, a 25-year-old man and another 26-year-old man, were transported to a nearby hospital, with the 25-year-old listed in critical condition. A woman was also grazed by gunfire and is in non-critical condition.

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Second man arrested in womans St. Louis death after Clayton abduction

Evidence from the scene suggests a chaotic exchange of gunfire. Witnesses reported seeing evidence markerslikely for shell casingsspread across two blocks, with some markers numbered as high as 77. Investigators have not provided details on suspects, and the investigation is ongoing.

Homicide detectives are handling the case. Police are expected to release more information as the investigation progresses.

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The decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, poses a test for the UK. Will our Government attempt to arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu? Or will it instead follow the law?

The Governments failure to make clear whether it intends to attempt to enforce the ICC arrest warrant is irresponsible and unjustifiable. The Government has no power under UK law to enforce the warrant and if it did arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu it would place the UK in breach of international law.

Most commentary on the ICC warrant has taken for granted that the British Government has a legal obligation to arrest anyone who is the subject of an ICC warrant. But in fact, as Lord Verdirame KC and I explain in a new Policy Exchange paper, Prime Minister Netanyahu, as the Head of the Government of Israel, enjoys absolute immunity from arrest under our law and under international law. The ICC arrest warrant does not override this immunity.

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The International Criminal Court Act 2001 was enacted, under the leadership of the Labour Government, to give effect to the UKs obligations under the Rome Statute, which established the ICC. The Act makes provision for an ICC arrest warrant to be enforced within the UK.

Section 23 of the Act addresses the important question of state or diplomatic immunity and its relevance to enforcement of an ICC warrant within the UK. What section 23 does, in the first place, is to limit the application of state or diplomatic immunity, so that it does not block the arrest of a person who has immunity by reason of his association with a state that is party to the Rome Statute.

If the President of France were to be targeted by an ICC arrest warrant, for example, the absolute immunity from arrest that he would otherwise enjoy would be qualified, because France is a party to the Rome Statute. But section 23 then goes on to make quite different provision in relation to a state that is not party to the Rome Statute. In relation to such a state, section 23 provides that state or diplomatic immunity will be qualified if, but only if, the ICC has obtained a waiver from that state. It is also possible for state or diplomatic immunity to be qualified if the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has made a resolution that overrides immunity.

Israel, like the United States, is not a party to the Rome Statute. The ICC has not obtained a waiver from Israel. There is no UNSC resolution. It follows that section 23 does not qualify state or diplomatic immunity, which means that this immunity prevents enforcement of an arrest warrant under the 2001 Act. Parliament made careful provision in 2001 to distinguish between states that were or were not party to the Rome Statute. It did so in order to reflect the terms of the Rome Statute, which require the ICC not to require a state like the UK to act inconsistently with another states immunities unless it has first obtained a waiver from the state.

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It is true that the ICC has not seemed very interested in respecting this limit. In the notorious case of The Prosecutor v Al-Bashir (2019), the ICC Appeals Chamber ruled that Jordan had acted wrongly in failing to enforce the arrest warrant that had been issued against the President of Sudan, which is not a party to the Rome Statute. The Court asserted, entirely implausibly, that as a matter of customary international law, a Head of State (or Head of Government) does not have immunity from arrest.

The ICCs 2019 judgment has been trenchantly criticised and for very good reason. Customary international law is made by states, not by judicial fiat, and the law remains that a Head of Government, like Prime Minister Netanyahu, enjoys absolute immunity from arrest. Parliament in 2001 distinguished between states that were party to the Rome Statute, where this immunity is qualified, and states that were not, where the immunity remains intact. The ICC has attempted to subvert the distinction, but it remains binding in UK law and in international law.

Our new Government has made much of its commitment to the rule of law. Its true fealty may instead be to a misguided understanding of international law, which champions expansive ideological interpretations even where they contradict the clear terms agreed by the UK.

In this case, an Act of Parliament gives force in our law to the UKs long-standing understanding of international law and thus disables the Government from enforcing the ICC warrant. The only honourable course of action for the Government is to admit that it has no power to arrest the Prime Minister of Israel.

Richard Ekins KC is Head of Policy Exchanges Judicial Power Project and Professor of Law and Constitutional Government in the University of Oxford

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After his first term, Tony Blair felt rueful about New Labours obsession with leading in the polls and resolved to push big reforms through faster even if they proved unpopular.

Nobody could accuse Keir Starmer of waking up each morning fixated on winning a daily popularity contest. After receiving a Blair-sized majority on the back of a ten-point lower vote share in a notably low turnout election  the so-called loveless landslide  Starmer and Labour have set about losing friends and alienating people at truly breakneck pace.

Their average poll rating has already declined from their already unimpressive 33.7 per cent election vote share to an average of 29 per cent now. Starmers personal chart tells an even starker story: he has plummeted from a net popularity rating of +11 in the immediate aftermath of the election to -38, according to the pollster More In Common.

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As I write, a parliamentary petition protesting against the Government, launched a couple of days ago by a chap called Michael Westwood, is about to go through two million signatures.

The Westwood petition is being mocked by Left-leaning commentators because it calls for there to be a new general election when Labour is only a few months into a five-year term it was duly elected to serve.

And indeed, Mr Westwood will not get his way however many signatures his petition attracts. This does not, however, mean that it is empty or meaningless. Because Westwood has captured a big idea in the simple and straightforward wording of his plea.

I would like there to be another General Election. I believe the current Labour Government have gone back on the promises they laid out in the lead up to the last election, he writes. And thats it.

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But its a bullseye. Because Labour did indeed get elected via a false prospectus. Hardly any of the key measures they have unveiled since coming to power were foreshadowed by them in the election campaign and many were actively discounted by senior Labour politicians.

This political sleight of hand has encompassed everything from taxation in general  Labour said its plans were fully costed, fully funded and required no tax increases  to expanding the use of hotels for illegal migrants in contravention of a promise to desist.

The winter fuel allowance has been withdrawn from 85 per cent of pensioners, student fees have been hiked, a new Tory law to guarantee free speech on campus scrapped and many thousands of prisoners released early, all without specific democratic cover.

Domestic energy bills were supposed to come down but have gone up. Farmers were led to expect no fundamental change to their tax treatment yet have just been dragged into a ruinous inheritance tax regime. Starmer was supposed to be a moderate, patriotic Prime Minister too.

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Yet hes paying Mauritius to take ownership of the Chagos Islands, while opening a dialogue about UK taxpayers funding reparations for slavery to various grifting Commonwealth regimes. And we still wait to learn what he knew about the Southport murders and by when and whether he has been straightforward about that.

The Budget itself meanwhile amounted to the biggest tax grab in living memory, partly justified by Rachel Reeves on grounds of her supposedly discovering a 22bn black hole in the public finances that the Office for Budget Responsibility has failed to locate during its own inspections of the books. Most voters will surely lean to the view that the likes of Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies were nearer the mark when they warned during the election that Labour would need to put up taxes.

What a bunch of fibbers then! At least when Blair got involved in a war on the back of a false prospectus it wasnt a war against the British people.

Some admirers of Starmer  and yes there are a few still out there  are seeking to make a virtue out of his plummeting ratings. They point out that he had already come out as an avowed admirer of the Thatcher approach to power of getting the tough stuff underway early and sticking with it  the total opposite to early Blair.

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It is true that in her own early years, the Iron Lady endured intense unpopularity over her monetarist and pro-free enterprise economic policies and much else besides. She famously declared herself not for turning and by the time of the 1983 election her unyielding nature was perceived as her greatest strength.

Is it possible that Starmer will be similarly vindicated and turn into the political Iron Man? Well, only if his central economic strategy of trying to tax the country into prosperity works for the first time anywhere it has ever been deployed.

It is much more likely that the tail-spin will continue and culminate in a shuddering impact with what the late John Prescott once allegedly referred to as terra cotta.

Mr Westwood, a publican by trade, clearly has his finger on the popular pulse. He has made an artless but devastating emperors clothes-style intervention. Starmer is down to his last fig-leaf and we are not even six months in.

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When Keir Starmer described his partys record in Wales as a blueprint for what Labour can do across the UK, he probably didnt intend it as a threat.

But as the western principality is subjected to the latest in a long line of Left-wing experiments  tourists may be charged for the privilege of visiting Wales in future, according to a new policy published today  it might be regarded as such. Wales has become a petri dish for social anthropology students curious to see what might happen if the more extreme elements of the students union is given free reign in at least one corner of the country.

The Welsh Government has already courted controversy by allowing various strands of Welsh civic society to press ahead with its ludicrous obsession with the decolonisation of Welsh history. Not previously known for his membership of the Ku Klux Klan, David Lloyd George, one of Waless most celebrated political figures, has nevertheless been targeted by publicly-funded anti-racist consultants.

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The former war-time prime ministers home in Llanystumdwy in rural Wales, which has been turned into a museum, will in future promote a multicultural, vibrant and diverse Wales. Think red non-binary dragons against a rainbow background.

But its the tourist tax that is worrying leaders of the countrys beleaguered hospitality industry. When visitor figures have yet to recover from the Covid pandemic and skills shortages are already pushing up wages costs (not to mention the new UK governments recent increase in employers national insurance contributions), there could hardly be a worse time to impose further disincentives on tourism.

The tax is envisioned as being relatively modest, added to visitors bills for overnight accommodation. The money raised would be spent  so ministers tell us  on improving facilities for tourists and hence increasing revenue as part of a virtuous economic cycle. And if you believe that, I have a talking steam engine with a baby dragon resting in its furnace to sell you.

The policy was part of an agreement between the ruling Labour administration and their nationalist rivals in Plaid Cymru, which should surprise no one. Welsh nationalism in its more extreme forms has a history of cultivating a warm welcome in the valleys for English incomers: remember that Not The Nine OClock News sketch from the 1970s? Come home to an open fire  buy a cottage in Wales.

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Rather than make Wales a vibrant, forward-looking part of the UK, devolution has turned it and its politicians inwards, fixating on dictating how people should lead their lives.

Of course, devolution was always intended by its enthusiastic and naive promoters as an opportunity to do things differently at a Welsh and Scottish level from the way things were done at Westminster. It was just never explained why different must always mean better.

Any Welsh citizens tired of being constantly used as the subjects of clever experiments by academics and activists who wouldnt get a foot in the door in Whitehall might, therefore, blame the principle of devolution itself for their plight. After all, wasnt the devolution project supposed to improve the standard of living for those lucky enough to live in those areas?

Yet in key areas of public policy  health, education, transport, etc  it is at least a challenge to produce empirical evidence that the promise of devolution has been realised.

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Confirming the Labour Partys role as the nations Human Resources Department and its instinct either to make everything free, forbidden or compulsory, the Senedd has already subjected Welsh motorists to a nationwide ban on driving above 20 mph (since adjusted to allow local authorities to decide on speed limits), a policy that was conceived and imposed by over-mighty climate change activists-turned-government advisers. The same minister who imposed the 20 mph policy also opposed scrapping tolls on the Severn Crossing on the dubious basis that it would be too car-friendly.

The Welsh Governments anti-car strategy and its new plans to charge visitors (mostly from the UK) to visit Wales are two faces of the same philosophy. Economic growth and a healthier environment for business are essential to improve standards of living for ordinary people. But under devolution, Welsh Labour sees both as disposable, depending on the political fashion of the here and now.

Keir Starmer take note: Wales under Labour is no blueprint; it is a warning. If he doesnt heed it, the rest of the nation will.

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JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV)  State Auditor Shad White (R-Miss.) sent a letter to Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann (R-Miss.) with his recommendations for K-12 education dollars.

Court agrees with ban on medical marijuana advertising in Mississippi

Mississippi spends a greater percentage of our K-12 budget on administrative costs than every other state in the South with the exception of Washington, DC. Even worse, K-12 administrative spending increased from 2006 to 2021 while the amount of inside-the-classroom spending went down and the number of students in K-12 schools decreased, said White.

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Auditor-White-Letter-to-Lt.-Governor-Hosemann-11.25.2024Download

The State Auditor proposed a bill that would require 50% of all new education funds to go towards teacher salaries. White said this would result in a $13,000 pay raise for teachers.

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Nov. 24ALBANY  The state Education Department has released the results of the 2023-24 student assessments, but SED officials say the results don't tell the entire story about student performance in English language arts, math and science.

Students in grades three through eight sit for the ELA and math assessments, while students in grades five and eight take the science assessment.

"The results provide information about students' academic progress and achievement, including specific skill and concept areas. However, results from these annual state assessments do not and cannot tell the whole story of student proficiency," SED spokesperson JP O'Hare said in a statement.

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O'Hare said the results can be used to determine whether there is a need for additional support in school, and can also help teachers in their instructional planning.

"The annual tests are intended to be one measure among multiple measures of student learning, and they are one tool of many used by educators to ensure students are getting the services and supports they need to prepare for career, college, and civic readiness," O'Hare said.

The following are results from local school districts, indicating the number and percentage of students who were considered proficient. Students must score at levels three or four to be considered proficient on the assessment:

JEFFERSON COUNTY

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Alexandria  ELA 3-8, 92 of 183 students (50%); Math 3-8, no data available; Science 5 & 8, no data available.

Belleville-Henderson  ELA 3-8, 86 of 214 students (46%); Math 3-8, 100 of 203 students (49%); Science 5 & 8, 33 of 73 students (45%).

Carthage  ELA 3-8, 454 of 1,276 students (36%); Math 3-8, 574 of 1,246 students (46%); Science 5 & 8, 182 of 424 students (43%).

General Brown  ELA 3-8, 234 of 529 students (44%); Math 3-8, 297 of 528 students (56%); Science 5 & 8, 83 of 195 students (43%).

Indian River  ELA 3-8, 107 of 283 students (38%); Math 3-8, 155 of 291 students (53%); Science 5 & 8, 143 of 372 students (38%).

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LaFargeville  ELA 3-8, 105 of 179 students (59%); Math 3-8, 131 of 180 students (73%); Science 5 & 8, 30 of 51 students (59%).

Lyme  ELA 3-8, 64 of 135 students (47%); Math 3-8, no data available; Science 5 & 8, 20 of 56 students (36%).

Sackets Harbor  ELA 3-8, 93 of 167 students (56%); Math 3-8, 88 of 166 students (53%); Science 5 & 8, 27 of 51 students (53%).

South Jefferson  ELA 3-8, 322 of 758 students (42%); Math 3-8, no data available; Science 5 & 8, 104 of 239 students (44%).

Thousand Islands  ELA 3-8, 202 of 345 students (59%); Math 3-8, 214 of 339 students (63%); Science 5 & 8, 68 of 129 students (53%).

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Watertown  ELA 3-8, 447 of 1,659 students (27%); Math 3-8, 577 of 1,625 students (36%); Science 5 & 8, 175 of 537 students (33%).

LEWIS COUNTY

Beaver River  ELA 3-8, 148 of 352 students (42%); Math 3-8, 173 of 337 students (51%); Science 5 & 8, 46 of 114 students (40%).

Copenhagen  ELA 3-8, 102 of 203 students (50%); Math 3-8, 140 of 203 students (69%); Science 5 & 8, 33 of 57 students (58%).

Harrisville  ELA 3-8, 46 of 119 students (39%); Math 3-8, no data available; Science 5 & 8, 8 of 25 students (32%).

Lowville  ELA 3-8, 272 of 535 students (51%); Math 3-8, 298 of 533 students (56%); Science 5 & 8, 78 of 164 students (48%).

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South Lewis  ELA 3-8, 190 of 442 students (43%); Math 3-8, 236 of 440 students (54%); Science 5 & 8, 58 of 142 students (41%).

ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY

Canton  ELA 3-8, 165 of 392 students (42%); Math 3-8, 243 of 382 students (64%); Science 5 & 8, 60 of 117 students (51%).

Clifton-Fine  ELA 3-8, 27 of 96 students (28%); Math 3-8, 37 of 100 students (37%); Science 5 & 8, 8 of 38 students (21%).

Colton-Pierrepont  ELA 3-8, 101 of 173 students (58%); Math 3-8, 108 of 173 students (62%); Science 5 & 8, 27 of 56 students (48%).

Edwards-Knox  ELA 3-8, 61 of 213 students (29%); Math 3-8, 75 of 213 students (35%); Science 5 & 8, no data available.

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Gouverneur  ELA 3-8, 178 of 592 students (30%); Math 3-8, 226 of 583 students (39%); Science 5 & 8, 67 of 184 students (36%).

Hammond  ELA 3-8, 36 of 92 students (39%); Math 3-8, 44 of 91 students (48%); Science 5 & 8, 12 of 28 students (43%).

Hermon-DeKalb  ELA 3-8, 57 of 162 students (35%); Math 3-8, 66 of 156 students (42%); Science 5 & 8, 18 of 67 students (27%).

Heuvelton  ELA 3-8, 100 of 234 students (43%); Math 3-8, no data available; Science 5 & 8, 28 of 75 students (37%).

Lisbon  ELA 3-8, 96 of 209 students (46%); Math 3-8, 113 of 210 students (54%); Science 5 & 8, 31 of 68 students (46%).

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Madrid-Waddington  ELA 3-8, 94 of 266 students (35%); Math 3-8, 127 of 267 students (48%); Science 5 & 8, no data available.

Massena  ELA 3-8, 473 of 1,041 students (45%); Math 3-8, 617 of 1,034 students (60%); Science 5 & 8, 139 of 338 students (41%).

Morristown  ELA 3-8, 48 of 122 students (39%); Math 3-8, 65 of 114 students (57%); Science 5 & 8, 8 of 32 students (25%).

Norwood-Norfolk  ELA 3-8, 113 of 388 students (29%); Math 3-8, 162 of 393 students (41%); Science 5 & 8, 52 of 141 students (37%).

Ogdensburg  ELA 3-8, 206 of 549 students (38%); Math 3-8, 242 of 525 students (46%); Science 5 & 8, 67 of 171 students (39%).

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Parishville-Hopkinton  ELA 3-8, 49 of 134 students (37%); Math 3-8, 70 of 134 students (52%); Science 5 & 8, 17 of 43 students (40%).

Potsdam  ELA 3-8, 289 of 507 students (57%); Math 3-8, 276 of 505 students (55%); Science 5 & 8, 63 of 141 students (45%).

St. Lawrence  ELA 3-8, 129 of 426 students (30%); Math 3-8, 184 of 423 students (43%); Science 5 & 8, 46 of 122 students (38%).
(Getty Images / ferrantraite)

By Anna West/VCU Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Va.  Federal and state lawmakers have introduced legislation to strengthen support for and better protect sexual assault victims on college campuses, but the progress has been stagnant.

A congressional bill introduced by a Virginia senator previously died and was reintroduced, but it is still in committee.

A bill in the General Assembly recently died, with the final decision to kill it happening just months after Liberty University received the largest fine ever issued for breaking the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Act.

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S.5086  SOS Campus Act

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., reintroduced a proposal in September after an earlier version died in the last session of Congress. This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965, which, among other things, created the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Act.

The act requires higher education institutions to provide support for victims of violent crimes and to make publicly available campus crime statistics and institutional policies for campus safety, according to the Clery Center.

Kaines bill would require schools that receive federal funding to appoint an advocate, independent of the institution, who guides victims of sexual assault throughout the process. This would include better connection to available resources, emotional counseling and protection for the student from more harm  such as disciplinary action or penalization for reporting the incident.

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The bill requires the advocate to report incidents to an investigative body and submit an annual report to the learning institution with the number of victims and how each resource was used.

The SOS Campus Act was referred to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, according to Kaine.

The inspiration for the legislation is to protect the rights of students to feel safe on campus, according to Kaine.

Thats why Ive worked on legislation, including the SOS Campus Act, to prevent sexual assault and support survivors, Kaine stated. I will keep working to garner support among my colleagues for the SOS Campus Act and work to get it passed and signed into law.

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HB 369  Sexual Misconduct Policies and Task Force

Del. Marty Martinez, D-Loudoun, introduced House Bill 369, which had similar objectives to Kaines bill, to update sexual misconduct policies and increase accountability for institutions.

The bill was introduced in the 2024 General Assembly session, but a Rules subcommittee continued the bill to the 2025 session. The bill was officially left in that committee on Nov. 18, effectively killing it.

The bill would create a task force which produced an annual climate survey, install a crisis center, establish a designated confidential adviser on all campuses and impose civil penalties for institutions that violate the proposed guidelines.

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The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia would appoint the task force, whose charge would be to create a base sexual misconduct campus climate survey, according to SCHEV communications director Bob Spieldenner. This survey would be distributed to all institutions across the state, which would be a routine task for SCHEV, he said.

Schools could tailor the survey with campus-specific questions before sending them to students, according to the bill. The results would be shared with SCHEV and posted online within about four months for public viewing, along with the institutions website.

The bill required for-profit, private institutions to have a designated crisis center with a confidential, independent advocate to provide support to victims of sexual assault and direct them on the next steps. This is something that nonprofit, private universities are already required to do.

The bill also created accountability on institutions to report alleged incidents and investigations. If an institution did not take any action after reasonable notice and opportunity for a hearing, then they would be fined up to $150,000 (or 1% of institutions annual operating budget, whichever is lower) for each violation.

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Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax, was a co-patron of the measure. The bill was a step toward the ultimate goal of every individual to feel safe at their school, he stated.

Virginias students have one job  to learn, Helmer stated. And as legislators, its our job to protect them when our schools wont.

Neither Martinez nor Helmer responded when asked if they had plans to reintroduce this bill or similar legislation.

Liberty University Shows Cracks In System

Liberty University, a Christian school in Lynchburg, reached a $14 million settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Education over Clery Act violations, according to Liberty University. The institution was required to make a $2 million investment into safety improvements.

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The U.S. Department of Education found, in an over 100-page report, that between 2016-2023, Liberty University failed to disclose information related to crimes, including sexual assaults, that occurred on campus.

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Getty Photos.

WASHINGTON, D.C.  With Congress failing to pass any meaningful immigration reforms, state legislatures are increasingly taking up the issue. But some police officials and immigrant-rights advocates say the harshest of those laws will further overstretch police and drive many immigrants further into the shadows.

Speaking last week at the National Immigration Forums annual Leading the Way conference, the leaders said that while it might sound like common sense to task local law enforcement with determining who might be here without authorization, the reality is a lot more complicated.

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According to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Texas and West Virginia already have laws on the books forcing local law enforcement to participate in deporting noncitizens. It adds that legislators in many others are seeking to join them. The federal courts have sharply limited enforcement of those laws after Texas last year passed Senate Bill 4, which challenges a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned much of an Arizona law that sought to put immigration enforcement into the hands of state authorities.

Limited personnel, resources

In April, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, signed Senate File 2340, which would make unauthorized immigration a crime under state law, give local law enforcement the power to enforce it, and allow state judges to order deportation or incarceration of the undocumented. As with Texass SB 4, that law has been stayed by the federal courts.

Speaking at the National Immigration Forum conference, Marshalltown, Iowa, Police Chief Michael Tupper cited a number of reasons why the law is bad for local police and their communities. One is a simple lack of resources.

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Every police department and sheriffs office in the United States right now is hiring, he said. For the last five years its been a constant battle to try to maintain staffing.

Tupper said he needs 50 officers, the city of 27,000 budgeted for 42, and he cant even keep those filled as the department scrambles to respond to more than 750 service calls each week.

SF 2340 would put local law enforcement on the front lines enforcing immigration law in Iowa and were a long ways from the border if you looked at a map lately, Tupper said. We just dont have the time to do that and we dont have the resources to do that. We all have concerns about just what this legislation will do and the unfunded mandates it will place on local governments.

Alexandria, Va., Sheriff Sean Casey agreed that law enforcement agencies across the country are understaffed, and he said it wasnt helpful when Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, vetoed bills that would have allowed police chiefs and sheriffs the authority to hire noncitizens such as lawful permanent residents and those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals  or DACA  program.

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Why wouldnt you trust your local chiefs and sheriffs to make their own hiring decisions? Casey asked. I thought we did a really good job crafting some pretty good legislation, but unfortunately, politics got in the way. I heard, How can a noncitizen tell a citizen what to do? I really found that to be unproductive, and I dont think its in the best interest of public safety, to be honest.

Living in the shadows

Perhaps even more harmful to public safety than stretching scarce law enforcement resources would be to scare large swaths of the community from interacting with cops for fear of deportation, the officials said.

Iowa might sound to outsiders like a lily-white state, but Tupper said his city was officially 25% Hispanic  and he thought the group made up closer to 40% of the citys population. On top of that, refugees from Southeast Asia are making up growing share of the populace, and the chief added that 50 languages are spoken in Marshalltowns public schools.

To have any part of that community afraid to approach the police makes the entire public less safe, Tupper said.

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Criminals are exploiting those fears, for example with domestic abusers telling their victims, You cant call the police because if you do, theyre going to deport you,' Tupper said. We cannot put local law enforcement in the shoes of federal immigration enforcement if we expect to keep our communities safe, because it actually does the opposite.

Reyna Montoya is herself a DACA recipient, with her family fleeing from Tijuana, Mexico to Arizona after Mexican police kidnapped her father in 2003. She founded and runs Aliento, which supports and advocates for the undocumented and mixed-status families.

She said that when former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was racially profiling residents in an improper attempt to enforce immigration law, immigrants would text each other reports of where police were so people could avoid them.

It meant for me and my mother deciding not to go to the grocery store, Montoya said. If it was on a Sunday, it meant not going to church. We werent going to risk getting a deportation proceeding. Typically, thats what would happen in our first face-to-face interaction with law enforcement.

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She said she knew many who didnt report crimes against them for fear that police would initiate deportation proceedings.

The reality is that the trust has been completely broken, Montoya said. Theres been so many undocumented immigrants that didnt report crimes that they were impacted by because of the fear that they would get deported.

Legal quandary

Tupper and Casey, the law enforcement officials, said they feared that if required to enforce immigration law, they didnt know how to keep their officers or deputies from engaging in noxious practices like racial profiling.

We do not know and we have not received any direction from the state of Iowa about how this law should be enforced, Tupper said.

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Then theres the prospect of a patchwork of inconsistent immigration laws across the states.

I also worry that we could end up having 50 different ways of dealing with immigration in the United States. Every state will do it a little bit differently, Tupper said. Do I, as the police chief of Marshalltown, Iowa, have to establish relationships with governments in Mexico and Central America because  if were forced to take people into custody  are we also going to be forced to get them back to their country of origin? Are local taxpayers going to be responsible for all of that?

SF 2030, might not be in effect, but its passage has already done serious damage, the chief said. Its scared immigrants into the shadows, and its created the impression among much of the public that Iowa cops are now de facto Border Patrol agents, Tupper said.

Even if the federal courts strike down the Iowa law, people in my community already think it exists and those kinds of conversations are going to continue, he said. Im not a politician. I was not involved in the writing of this law, but my belief is that the Iowa legislature and Gov. Kim Reynolds never expected that this law would actually take effect. I think it was presidential campaign-year politics and it was designed to rile up the base.

SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell speaks to Gov. Jeff Landry at a news conference Sept. 13, 2024, on the recovery from Hurricane Francine at Signature Aviation in Kenner. (Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator)

NEW ORLEANS  An Orleans Parish judge issued a temporary restraining order Monday against the Louisiana State Police, days after state troopers distributed flyers to homeless residents in the French Quarter warning them to vacate or else face legal action.

The order by Judge Ethel Julien bars state troopers and two other state agencies from engaging in sweeps of unhoused residents or seizures of their property. The order follows a request from two unhoused residents, Raymond Scott and Amanda Alfred, who are being represented by civil rights attorneys.

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Louisiana State Police, Mayor LaToya Cantrells office, the state attorney generals office and Gov. Jeff Landrys office did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Verite News.

This is the second restraining order filed against Troop NOLA  a contingent of state police operating in the city  in as many months.

Last month, ahead of three nights of Taylor Swift concerts at the Superdome, state troopers swept an encampment along Calliope Street against the wishes of city officials, who said the action would hamper their long-term plans to find housing for unhoused residents.

The city and State Police do not have a formal agreement dictating the terms of their relationship. At the time, State Police argued that the sweeps were within their jurisdiction because the encampments were located under state-owned highways.

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Days later, a judge ordered the State Police to halt the sweeps after Scott and Alfred filed suit against the state police. But that order expired, and the judge chose not to issue a long-term order, siding with state attorneys who argued that it was not necessary because the sweeps had already been completed.

A little over a week after that decision, state troopers began distributing the notices across the French Quarter.

Despite a seemingly productive dialogue among State and City partners about effective ways to collaborate on homelessness, the State is set to move forward with another round of sweeps, Councilmember Lesli Harris said Friday in a statement.

Earlier Monday morning, state troopers had spanned out across the Quarter to speak with unhoused residents. They pressed residents on how they planned to comply with the notice to vacate and where they planned to go outside of the French Quarter.

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One unhoused resident in a wheelchair convinced the troopers he didnt need to go to their state-sanctioned encampment on Earhart Boulevard, across from the Home Depot, because he would relocate to the 7th Ward, where a friend lived.

A state trooper told Verite News he was instructed to advise people on where to go and help transport them there, not to remove or destroy their belongings forcibly.

However, the temporary restraining order, which came midday, ended those efforts  at least until Dec. 3, when a court hearing on the matter is scheduled.

According to one observer, state troopers were swarming Latrobe Park near the French Market when the order was issued. Upon hearing of the order, the officers piled into their SUVs and drove off.

SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE

This article first appeared on Verite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
A stairwell connecting the ground and second floors of a 25-unit apartment complex being built on Central Street in Central Falls is shown on Nov. 14, 2024. The affordable housing site is being developed by the nonprofit Pawtucket Central Falls Development. (Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)

The phrase public housing conjures up visions of rundown, barracks-style buildings that increase crime and sink property values in otherwise idyllic neighborhoods.

But creativity comes out of crises, and a crippling housing shortage is forcing lawmakers and residents to reconsider negative stereotypes of publicly funded affordable housing developments. In Rhode Island, changing mindsets are driving what could be the first-in-the-nation state-level public developer of housing, seeded by a $10 million carveout from the $120 million state housing bond just approved by voters in the general election.

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Its been absolutely amazing to see the consensus taking shape on this, said Dan Denvir, co-founder of tenant organizing group Reclaim RI, and a leading proponent of a state public housing model. We have lawmakers, builders, businesses, all buying in. Its become abundantly clear that neither the for-profit sector nor the nonprofit sector will, on their own, build anything close to what we need.

Indeed, voters on Nov. 5 backed the historic level housing bond by an overwhelming 67%, the second-highest approval rating of all five state ballot questions. The page-long borrowing description, laid out as part of the fiscal 2025 budget, offers only a few words about public housing  specifically, it states that $10 million may be used to support a new program for public housing development.

But the intent by lawmakers is clear: Put the state in charge as overseer, developer, partial financier and part-owner of projects that fill the shortfall in affordable housing.

Still, questions linger. A state-commissioned report published in October offers a range of options, but no firm conclusions for how Rhode Island could prop up its own program.

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Meanwhile, the nascent Rhode Island Department of Housing, the most likely administrator of a state public housing arm, is trying to regain stability amid a revolving door of leaders. Gov. Dan McKee on Thursday named Deborah Goddard as the third permanent cabinet head in the agencys three-year existence, filling the position left open after Stefan Pryor resigned in June. Earlier this month, Deputy Housing Secretary Deb Flannery also submitted her resignation letter; her last day was Friday, Nov. 22.

Convincing skeptics to embrace state-mandated housing laws has not been easy. Even small tweaks to local zoning codes approved by the state legislature in recent years have faced resistance by municipal officials and planners.

House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi anticipates another battle over publicly subsidized housing developments.

Its not easy with advocates who want affordable housing, its not easy with the public who dont want any affordable housing, and its certainly not easy with the municipalities who also resist affordable housing, Shekarchi, a Warwick Democrat, said. We need communities to see that affordable housing is not the housing they have envisioned in their mind.

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Heres how Shekarchi proposes it would work: A state-administered revolving fund seeded with the $10 million from the housing bond would offer low-interest construction loans to developers that build mixed-income housing on publicly owned land. The construction loans would be repaid when the project reaches the permanent financing stage, while the mortgage and ongoing maintenance costs come from the market-rate rents.

A sign urging voters to support Question 3, the referendum for a $120 million housing bond, is on display before the Nov. 5, 2024, general election at 50 Washington Square in Newport. Voters overwhelmingly passed the bond, which includes $10 million to seed a revolving fund administered by a state-level public developer of housing. (Janine L. Weisman/Rhode Island Current)

Maryland county sets example

A version of this model has been used successfully in Montgomery County, Maryland, where the county council set up a $100 million revolving fund, administered by its public housing authority, starting in 2021.

Montgomery County is among the 14 cities, counties and countries with public or social housing programs examined in a newly published report commissioned by the Rhode Island housing department. State leaders hoped the 71-page report by New York Universitys Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy would help inform and advise them how to set up a publicly-funded, state run housing development program.

I wanted it to tell us how many units we need, where we need them and how much they will cost, Rep. June Speakman, a Warren Democrat and chair of the states 17-member Special Legislative Commission to Study Housing Affordability, said. People laughed when I asked that, but its what we need.

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Instead, the report presented to the legislative panel during its Oct. 17 meeting reads like a research paper, opening with a definition of public housing before delving into the ways in which places like Montgomery County, Hong Kong and Vienna, Austria, have directly involved their governments in housing development and financing.

Existing models offer some lessons for Rhode Island but are by no means a direct prescription to cure the Ocean States housing woes, said Melina Lodge, executive director of the Housing Network of Rhode Island, which advocates on behalf of nonprofit developers.

Housing development and land use as a whole is hyperlocal, Lodge said. What works in Montgomery County or what works in Singapore, it works for very specific reasons.

The report notes that higher market-rate rents in Montgomery County, an affluent suburb of D.C., help ensure the return on investment for public dollars in a way that may not work in Rhode Island.

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Which leaves unanswered what Lodge considers the most important question in the debate for a state public housing development program: Do the finances justify the risk? Or as she puts it, Does the math, math?

Housing financing is complicated, and in order for a housing development to be successful, it doesnt matter whos building it  a nonprofit, for-profit, government  the cost of development, the units, the revenues coming into that development have to work, Lodge said.

The report repeatedly describes the need to vet the risks and rewards of a public housing model, based largely on these unanswered financing questions.

Rhode Island must carefully consider whether there is a distinct, unmet need that a new public development entity could address more effectively than the current landscape of for- and nonprofit developers, the report states. This analysis should extend beyond merely identifying gaps; it should also assess the potential for a public entity to effectively bridge these gaps given the possible limitations such an entity would be likely to encounter.

Melina Lodge, executive director of Housing Network Rhode Island, speaks before a tour of a 25-unit affordable housing apartment complex in Central Falls on Nov. 14, 2024. At far left is Linda Weisinger, executive director for Pawtucket Central Falls Development and House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi. (Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)

Assessing political will

Dave Caldwell, another commission member, found the entire study rather underwhelming.

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I expected to see an example of what Rhode Island could do, Caldwell said. Instead, we got a college report on heres what other countries could do. It was an interesting read but not much else.

After decades of on-the-ground experience building luxury homes  Caldwell is vice president of North Kingstown-based Caldwell & Johnson Custom Home Builders, and former president of the RI Builders Association  Caldwell is fed up with what he sees as lots of talk and little action on the housing crisis. Hes open to a state revolving fund, or some other form of state-led public housing development, but only if theres follow-through.

Money is not the real critical thing stopping housing being built in Rhode Island right now, Caldwell said. Its political will.

Caldwell would like to see some of the $10 million bond allotment spent on building a test project, with the state partnering with a private or nonprofit developer to create mixed-income housing on publicly owned land. He has a few ideas in mind, which he declined to share, but thought the right place, with the right developer, could get shovels in the ground by this summer.

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Its become abundantly clear that neither the for-profit sector nor the nonprofit sector will, on their own, build anything close to what we need.

 Dan Denvir, co-founder of tenant organizing group Reclaim RI

But leaders whose seats in state government depend on success, arent quite ready for that.

If we do this wrong, it will have a detrimental effect, not only in Rhode Island but on the whole country, Shekarchi said. I dont mind being the first, but I want it to be done right. If right means doing it a little slower, I dont mind.

Especially because the state housing department just got the name of its next permanent secretary, a position many view as key to shaping the details of a state public housing program. McKees pick, Deborah Goddard, is slated to start Dec. 2, but must be confirmed by the Rhode Island Senate when it reconvenes in January.

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Dan Connors, who has served as the interim housing secretary since Pryor resigned in June, insisted that the leadership turnover and other unfilled positions had not stopped the department from making progress, including on the public housing idea. Of the 38 full-time positions budgeted for the department, 16 are vacant, according to Emily Marshall, a department spokesperson.

The department has two open positions advertised on the state government jobs website.

We are a young department, and we still have a long ways to go, but we have a lot of really good people working hard, Connors said. Although the team is not fully built out, the folks here are really talented.

Connors blamed the ordinary churn within the nascent department in part on the blurry boundaries between its authority and other agencies and departments that historically have led housing policy and funding decisions in the state.

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This department has not been set up for success, so some realignment or consolidation is really in order, Connors said.

Recognizing the problems with the original 2022 law that created the housing department, the legislature as part of its 2025 budget called for the housing department to review and recommend ways to streamline housing governance across the state. The report is due by Dec. 31.

Rethinking incentives

Separate from the structural woes, the business-backed Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council has pointed to flaws in the way the state incentivizes housing development, prioritizing projects that achieve multiple purposes, like historic preservation or commercial use, and focus on units for the lowest-income residents without attention on workforce or middle market housing. The result is that the state is not getting the return on investment needed to make a dent in the estimated 26,000-unit affordable housing shortage across the state, yielding a mere 1,500 new units from the $245 million spent on affordable housing from 2022 to 2024, per RIPECs Oct. 9. report. By those calculations, another $10 million for a state public development program would produce another 50-60 units. Setting up a new financing tool isnt enough; the rules by which that funding is spent also need to change, said Jeff Hamill, a public policy analyst for RIPEC.

For us, the public housing developer represents a more innovative approach, but the devil is really in the details, Hamill said. There are a lot of ways of doing public development.

I dont mind being the first, but I want it to be done right. If right means doing it a little slower, I dont mind.

 Rhode Island House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi

The Furman report also notes that the $120,000 per unit financing gap for new construction in Rhode Island  rising to $400,000 per unit for affordable housing  requires more than just state funding to close. The report stresses the importance of a capital stack that combines federal and state financing tools like tax credits and subsidies to combine with direct public investment.

But longstanding funding tools like the U.S. Department of the Treasurys Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program could be at risk under the incoming presidential administration and Republican-led Congress.

Connors declined to comment on how the Trump administration could impact federal housing programs, and in turn, Rhode Islands housing plight, except to say that department staff are doing our best to be prepared.

To Sen. Meghan Kallman, a Pawtucket Democrat, the prospect of a Trump presidency increased the need and urgency for the state to find its own housing funding. Kallman first introduced the idea of a state-funded public development arm on Smith Hill in 2022, though the legislation in its original form did not pass.

The need for the state to be creatively aggressive has increased substantially by a Trump presidency and a Republican trifecta, Kallman said. Having a state play a leading role in creating and maintaining housing is unusual, but these are not usual times.

Kallman recognized the structural and cultural hurdles Rhode Island must overcome to achieve its public housing development vision. But she was encouraged by the short turnaround  two years  from her initial, unsuccessful bill to what is now a dedicated carveout of bond money for a state-led housing development program.

Its no silver bullet, but an important piece of the puzzle, Shekarchi said.

The housing crisis is a 30-year-old crisis which is very complicated, Shekarchi said. The unraveling of that, or the correction of that, or the fixing of that, will be very complicated, too, and we need to look at and explore all the different ways to solve this.

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STATESBORO, Ga. (WSAV)  The Statesboro Police Department (SPD) is asking the publics help in their search for a wanted person.

Elaine Lynn Washington, 29, of Metter has an active warrant for Aggravated Assault through SPD. She is 5-foot-7 inches and she weighs 160 pounds. Washington also has brown hair and hazel eyes.

SPD suspects Washington may be driving a dark grey 2017 Nissan Rogue bearing the Georgia license plate, SGT2320.

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Anyone with information on her whereabouts is urged to contact Officer Blythe at 912-764-9911 or submit an anonymous tip through the SPD website https://statesboropd.com/ using the Submit a Tip link.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSAV-TV.
A teacher at a 17,000-a-year private school was sacked after he allowed his pupils to take off their face masks during the pandemic, a tribunal has heard.

Henry Howlett told students they could take their masks off if they felt anxious or uncomfortable during a school talent show in 2020, it was heard.

The teacher worked at Michael Hall in School in Forest Row, East Sussex, a Steiner school that follows the holistic belief that young children learn with their head, heart and hands.

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The tribunal heard he was fired for gross misconduct over the mask incident and after he took his students on an educational school trip without seeking appropriate consent forms from parents.

He sued for unfair dismissal and the tribunal has now upheld his claims after a judge ruled the school was in fact trying to save money.

The judge said his sacking was a dishonest, money-driven and opportunistic enterprise  which did not reflect the averred ethos of this school.

The tribunal, held in south London, heard Mr Howlett started working for the school in 2015.

The school, which is the oldest of its kind in England, follows the ethos of Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian social reformer who believed in learning through play and hands-on experience.

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The panel heard that the school faced challenges in 2019 and had been rated inadequate by Ofsted after the appointment of principal, Paul Farr.

The panel heard how on Oct 21 2021 the school hosted a school talent show, in which the attendees were asked to stay in their classes  or bubbles  wearing masks because of Covid.

An email was sent on behalf of Mr Farr to pupils which said: Obviously those students who cannot wear a face covering due to physical reasons or if they cause them distress will be exempt.

It was noted at this time, schools had the discretion to require face coverings if needed.

Outrage among some colleagues

During the talent show, a lot of Mr Howletts students were not wearing masks, it was heard.

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He informed that (sic) a number of students felt restricted by them, and they did not need to wear them, the tribunal said.

This sparked outrage among some of his colleagues and he was asked to attend a fact-finding meeting on the matter.

It was heard that during this discussion, he dismissed the matter as being neither urgent nor safeguarding issue.

He left the meeting midway through and a member of the senior leadership team warned him that this would amount to insubordination, a choice of word which the panel found to be unusual in the context of an informal chat.

The tribunal heard that in earlier that month, Mr Howlett arranged an educational school trip to Battle Abbey in East Sussex, which is the site of the 1066 Battle of Hastings.

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It was heard that at this time, the school had introduced a new system for parents to give their consent to such trips, which was regarded as being unreliable.

Days before the trip, the schools health and safety manager emailed Mr Howlett to say that four students did not have up to date consent forms.

That week, he emailed a member of the senior leadership team informing them of his intention to take the pupils to the abbey, and she told him to have a wonderful trip.

Mr Howlett read this email and regarded it as a sign-off so assumed it meant that the paperwork was in place.

The trip took place on the morning of Oct 15 and the health and safety adviser later realised the missing consent forms had not been secured.

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Mr Howlett did not have direct access to the system  so there was no way for him to check this.

Mr Farr suspended Mr Howlett on Oct 22. The teacher was called to a disciplinary meeting where he was asked if he told students they didnt have to wear masks.

In response, he said: Yes, but only if they felt anxious or uncomfortable about wearing it.

The tribunal said that the use of the word anxiety as opposed to distress may have caused his pupils not to wear masks.

Dishonest and opportunistic

Employment judge Denis Harley said Mr Howletts dismissal was an attempt by the struggling school to save money.

This dismissal represented a net saving in cash terms, at a time when the school was actively trying to save money, the judge added.

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The trip incident was used as a bolt-on to the mask issue to justify the dismissal of a member of staff, unpopular with management.

I consider this dismissal was not simply the result of an unfair process, or an inept investigation lying beyond the band of reasonable responses, but rather was a dishonest and opportunistic enterprise, which did not reflect the averred ethos of this school.

The panel ruled that an aspect which went unmentioned was the effect this episode had on the childrens education.

Their parents had paid for Steiner education, an important aspect of which was the ongoing support and development achieved from having the same teacher for a sustained period, he continued.

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This was taken from them. The pupils had no opportunity to say goodbye to their teacher. No reasonable school management would have overseen this process, in the given circumstances.

Mr Howlett will receive compensation at a later date.

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Storm Bert continues to bring widespread destruction to communities across the UK as more than 200 flood warnings and alerts remain in place.

Wales saw severe winds and flooding over the weekend, with homes left underwater and roads resembling rivers. Welsh first minister Eluned Morgan said the storm has been absolutely devastating.

At least five deaths have been confirmed across England and Wales since Storm Bert hit. A body was found on Sunday in the search for a 75-year-old man missing in the River Conwy, as four others died in fatal motor-related incidents.

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Severe travel disruption is also ongoing. Great Western Railway, which runs services between London and the West, has been forced to suspend many of its journeys - telling passengers to not attempt to travel on any routes.

Heres a map of current flood warnings and alerts in place across England and Wales:

In England, a severe flood warning has been issued for Billing Aquadrome and surrounding parks next to the River Nene in Northampton. Residents are advised this means there is a danger to life.

Two severe flood warnings previously issued for the River Monnow in south-east Wales for Monmouth and Skenfrith, have been lowered to warnings, meaning flooding is expected.

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A further 175 flood warnings and 231 flood alerts are in place across England and Wales. Those affected by warnings are advised to act now, while people in areas where flood alerts have been issued should remain prepared.

In areas with severe flooding, it is recommended residents stay in a safe place away from the water. They should be ready to evacuate their homes, follow the instructions of emergency services and move to higher ground if caught in a flash flood. More information is available on the governments website.

For the latest updates and information on Storm Bert, follow The Independents live coverage
SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO)  Cloud cover has, once again, been rather stubborn todaynot allowing temperatures to rebound all that much from the morning. Weve also had to keep an eye on the skies as a little moisture moves in.

Well continue to see some snow showers build into the region as we head through the evening and into the night. As quickly as the moisture moves in, itll be out by daybreak on Monday.

While accumulation totals arent expected to be all that high, we could see some light accumulation in the central and southern Black Hillsincluding the Custer and Hill City areas. Elsewhere, were looking at an inch or less to the northeast with localized areas getting slightly more.

Monday and Tuesday are looking like pretty nice days overall thanks to high pressure building into the region. By Wednesday, well watch for the chance to see some snow showers pass through KELOLAND. While impacts on the big travel day before Thanksgiving arent expected to be significant, youll want to keep that in mind all the same as you go about the day.

A few flurries are possible on Thanksgiving Day, but the big story is going to be what comes along during and after the turkey is carved: Cold weather. Black Friday through the weekend will feature well below average temperatures by day and by night. If youre going to do any shopping early in the day, prepare accordingly and bundle up.

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Well stay pretty chilly as we head into the second half of next weekend and even the start of next week.

Heres a look at your extended forecast:

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KELOLAND.com.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Teachers with Greater Albany Public Schools continue to strike Monday morning, but in six days, they could be losing their district-funded health coverage.

On Monday, the district announced plans to no longer cover the teachers health insurance starting on Dec. 1. According to the district, these insurance benefits are only available for active employees and ending coverage for non-working employees is a standard requirement.

Meanwhile, educators on strike say the district could choose to cover COBRA premiums for the teachers with funds already budgeted for health insurance.

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Local hiker missing for days in Mt. Hood National Forest

Dana Lovejoy, the president of the Greater Albany Education Association, called the districts announcement a pressure tactic against teachers at the bargaining table.

This District is trying to silence our voices by forcing teachers to have to go without access to the medical care our families count on, Lovejoy said. We have members whose children rely on life saving prescriptions and access to care. To jeopardize our welfare and that of our families in retribution for a strike their own actions catalyzed is abhorrent.

The GAEA also claims the announcement is an indication that the district does not intend to work with the teachers union to end the strike, but instead drag it out until December, in the hopes of starving teachers out.

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Women found guilty after firing gun at PDX in 2023

However, the Oregon Education Association  GAEAs parent union  has announced plans to cover COBRA costs for the teachers as the strike continues.

Management thought they could starve us out, but they cant, said Amanda Miles, GAEAs bargaining chair. They thought they could break us, but they didnt. We have learned how much stronger we are than we knew, and how firmly our community stands with us. Management is about to learn that Albany will no longer accept less for our students.

This development comes after the teachers union said they filed a complaint to the Oregon Department of Education, accusing the district of illegally engaging in pressuring parents to agree to Individualized Education Program plans that allegedly had less support for students.

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Students who have disabilities and need special education are required to complete IEPs each year, according to Disability Rights Oregon.

GAPS sent KOIN 6 News the following statement, in full:

We want to clarify inaccurate claims about insurance coverage for striking employees. GAPS is required to follow procedures set by the Oregon Educators Benefit Board (OEBB). Per OEBB rules, District-paid insurance benefits are provided only to active employees. Employees who are not actively working on the last contractual workday of the month, which is November 26, lose eligibility for District-paid insurance. This is not a decision unique to GAPS; it is a standard requirement applicable to all public school districts in Oregon.

The District respects the rights of teachers to strike and remains focused on reaching a fiscally responsible resolution at the bargaining table. While striking employees will lose District-paid insurance as of December 1st, they will have 45 days to apply for COBRA from OEBB, which offers retroactive coverage beginning December 1st. Additionally, the Oregon Education Association (OEA) has communicated that it will cover December COBRA premiums for striking members on a case-by-case basis determined by need, although this has not been confirmed in writing.

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If licensed employees return to work in December, the members insurance premium will be covered the month following their first day of work. So, if members return to work in December, their District-paid insurance premiums will begin in January.

GAPS continues to prioritize our students education and is committed to resolving this strike as quickly as possible to bring students and teachers back into classrooms.

Stay with KOIN 6 News as this story develops.

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Cloud cover will persist into the early parts of the week along with a backdoor cold front, temperatures will be cooler Monday afternoon. A better chance for rain and mountain snow moves into northern New Mexico beginning late Monday night, and this will continue into the middle of next week. Theres a little more uncertainty with how much rain will actually fall in the lower elevations, but places like Farmington, Durango, Taos, and Raton will have the highest chances for rain. While the mountains in northern New Mexico could see anywhere from a few inches of snow to nearly a foot.

Drier weather will return by Thanksgiving Day, but so will the colder temperatures. This colder and drier air will likely continue into next Friday as well.

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BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  A high school student organized an event Saturday aimed at putting a stop to gun violence in Bakersfield and to honor the marketplace murder victim who was shot Nov. 10.

Jalynn Hammond, the student who organized Stop the Gun Violence, expects this event to be just one of many more to come.

I was very passionate on a lot of things, but violence is obviously an ongoing thing in our community, and it meant a lot to me to do something so I decided to host the first Stop the Gun Violence event, said Jalynn Hammond.

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The event, which features many organizations from around Bakersfield, is also in part to remember Prince Michael Banner, the boy murdered at the Marketplace in November.

He was lighthearted, he was a kind and gentle spirit, he was calm, and reserved, said Princes mother, Quenesha Banner. He was goofy. He was my only baby. He was just loved by so many people.

Latest vote tally shows Perez leading challenger Salas in Supervisors District 5 race

Hammond, a 17-year-old student from Del Oro High School, is also a Kern High School District student board member, who recently founded a student club called Students for Change Bakersfield. The club promotes action against pressing issues in our community.

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Hammond says shes always believed in creating a path when one isnt visible.

I guess I just really have been raised on finding a way or making one, said Hammond. Also, its not about what you know, its who you know, so when I put those two mottos together, youve got the outcome of this.

While the pain still lingers, Banner says shell always remember her son for being the one who made her a mom.

He created motherhood for me and he made motherhood very easy and simple for me. He will always be remembered and loved and the people that showed up today and that continue to show up for us, shows me how much my son meant to the world and to his community, said Banner.

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ROME, NY (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY)  A welfare check in the city of Rome on Sunday led to an officer being dragged alongside a vehicle and an arrest, according to Rome Police.

On Sunday, November 24, Rome Police received information that a male  later identified as Lindell Reed  had been using drugs and alcohol for several days without sleeping and was acting erratic. Reed had allegedly been combative with officers in the past and was known to carry a knife. Police issued a be on the lookout order for Reed and his vehicle so a welfare check could be performed.

At approximately 11:20 pm on Sunday, Reed allegedly drove to the Rome Police Station on North James Street and began talking with officers. While officers were talking with Reed, they determined he was not fit to drive his vehicle. Before officers could further deal with Reed, he was allegedly able to get back to his vehicle and attempted to drive away.

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Officers then attempted to remove Reed from the vehicle, but he was able to put the car into drive and fled the scene. While Reed was fleeing southbound on North James Street, an officer became caught on the drivers side door of his vehicle. The officer was allegedly dragged approximately two blocks as he attempted to stop the vehicle. The officer was eventually ejected from the vehicle as Reed made a high-speed turn.

Officers in pursuit of Reed called off the pursuit after determining it wasnt safe to continue.

Reed and his vehicle were located at approximately 8:30 am on Monday, November 25. Patrol officers, along with the Rome Police Departments Special Response Team were able to take Reed into custody without further incident. He is currently being charged with:

Second-degree Assault on a Police Officer, a Class D Felony.

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The officer was transported to Rome Health for a lower-leg injury, among others. According to Rome Police, they are expected to make a full recovery.

Reed was held for arraignment in Rome City Court, and subsequently remanded to the Oneida County Jail in Oriskany on $10,000 bail. Police say more charges against Reed are expected.

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Support is growing for the creation of a new medical school at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, which would allow its medicine students to complete the entirety of their degrees in the Northland city

UMD's Medical School announced in October that it would shift to a four-year program starting in the fall of 2025 and expand its classes into a new downtown building. The expansion will allow medical students to complete all four years of medical school in Duluth instead of transferring to its Twin Cities campus as students currently do.

Supporters of the proposal hope that the move encourages students to stay in northern Minnesota, providing much-needed coverage in rural areas.

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We are excited for the opportunity to expand our MD program to include all four years of medical school training in Duluth Kevin Diebel, PhD, regional campus dean of the U of M Medical School, Duluth Campus, said. This will allow us to recruit, educate, and support students from the very start of their MD degree journey to graduation.

This resolution was presented to the Duluth City Council on Oct. 15 and unanimously passed. On Thursday, the Range Association of Municipalities and Schools (RAMS), which represents over 69 units of local governments, also wrote a resolution supporting this new expansion.

"I am writing to voice our support for the investment in a rural medical school solution at the University of Minnesota Duluth Campus," the letter written by RAMS said.

"Over the next five years, one in three rural practitioners will be leaving their profession. The medical school in Duluth focuses on training rural practitioners. Students receiving their education and training in NE Minnesota are critical to remaining here to live and work in the field of healthcare."

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One of the school's partners, Essentia Health, applauded RAMS's decision, saying it would expand medical training in Duluth and continue to prioritize the training and placement of rural practitioners.

We know providers are more likely to practice medicine where they do their training, Dr. Lisa Seeber, a family medicine physician at the Essentia Health-Virginia Clinic, said.

So many of the medical students in Duluth do their rotations in rural areas, including the Iron Range. Investing in a new medical school would enhance the universitys ability to recruit and retain students in Duluth, allowing us to prepare even more clinicians to care for patients in the communities we call home.
Nov. 24With her felony criminal caseload skyrocketing in 2021, state District Judge Melissa Kennelly of Raton wanted to know why. She ran some numbers, perused the files and recognized a pattern.

For instance, the Raton Police Department had threatened to kick in the door of one residence and call the state to take away the woman's child if she didn't open up. In another case, Raton police threatened to impound a car they wanted to search if the driver didn't give them access. Another drug case hinged on a search of the passenger's side of a car without consent. More than two dozen indigent defendants, she found, were charged with drug crimes based on the police discovery of the contraband.

All the searches were warrantless, meaning no judge had signed off beforehand. And that appeared questionable and even unconstitutional, surmised Kennelly, who spent six years as a police officer in Ohio.

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So Kennelly convened 30 hearings with defense attorneys and prosecutors to determine whether the evidence in the cases she identified should be suppressed.

In the end, she threw out the evidence in 10 of the cases, finding that the searches violated the defendants' constitutional rights. Another 13 were dismissed by prosecutors before the hearings. Typically, defense attorneys challenge such searches pretrial, but in these cases, the attorneys never raised the issue.

Last week, in the first ruling of its kind for New Mexico, the state Supreme Court ruled 4-to-1 that Kennelly hadn't overstepped her authority and had the inherent power as a judge to raise the suppression issue on her own.

"For more than one hundred years this Court has recognized the authority of courts to act to protect a defendant's fundamental rights. The district court did not tip the scale of justice; the court merely ensured its balance," states the opinion in responding to prosecutors who appealed six of the dismissals.

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Yet Justice Briana Zamora, in a dissent, contended Kennelly "strayed from (her) role as neutral arbiter into the realm of advocacy. Notwithstanding the district court's good intentions, these actions constituted an abuse of the court's discretion and created the appearance of bias or partiality."

The Supreme Court sent six cases back to the state Court of Appeals for further criminal proceedings.

But the legal battle had taken a toll. In 2023, Kennelly retired at age 47 after serving four years on the bench. She moved from Raton and no longer practices law.

"From a moral perspective, judges and attorneys are obligated to uphold well-established law, not engage in willful blindness when the law is being broken right in front of them by public officials or defend the official wrongdoing," Kennelly said in a statement to the Journal last week. "Looking the other way is easy; confronting it is uncomfortable and unpopular. I experienced a lot of fallout from confronting it." She didn't elaborate.

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Marcus Montoya, the 8th Judicial District Attorney based in Taos, told the Journal on Friday that his prosecutors who attended the 30 hearings "didn't even feel like there was a fair shot at being heard impartially."

Montoya blamed in part the scarcity of prosecutors and defense attorneys in his rural district, which includes Colfax and Union counties in northeastern New Mexico. With more attorneys and smaller caseloads, there would be more time to look at the facts of each case and weed out bad searches, he said.

"The higher success of valid searches and seizures then increases," Montoya said. "We are more vulnerable to these issues (of bad searches) because we simply don't have enough attorneys."

The defense attorneys involved in the 30 cases were hired by the state Law Offices of the Public Defender but are no longer on contract with the LOPD to represent indigent criminal defendants.

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"The Supreme Court has affirmed what has always been true: district judges can step in to protect constitutional rights. We're pleased that the Supreme Court has clarified this issue," said LOPD Appellate Defender Kim Chavez Cook.

Kennelly said she did notice some changes after she suppressed the illegally obtained evidence. The public defender contractors started filing more motions to suppress in appropriate cases and one Raton prosecutor initiated dismissals of others, but not all that "clearly stemmed from illegal searches." And, she said, "the police department appeared to stop the bad behavior."

Raton Police Chief John Garcia didn't return requests for comment last week.

Ruling started with child abuse care

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The Supreme Court ruling stemmed from the June 2020 arrest of Jennifer Vasquez of Raton, who was charged with possession of a controlled substance and abuse of a child (no death or great bodily harm.)

Raton police responded to a call from Vasquez's neighbor who reported that she was possibly being beaten by an unknown person and that her juvenile son was screaming for help. But after arriving at her home, they saw her outside with her son, not being beaten or threatened, and they appeared unharmed. After seeing a police car, they retreated into their home and didn't answer the door when police knocked.

One of the officers threatened to force entry into her home if she didn't let them in and, according to court records, the officer "further threatened to take Ms. Vasquez's child away for a 48-hour emergency hold by the state Children, Youth and Families Department, to gain entry."

Once inside, they spotted a plastic bag on the living room table containing a trace amount of a substance that appeared to be methamphetamine. But officers were looking for her boyfriend, who was wanted on a warrant, and asked to look around the home. Officers later obtained a search warrant from a magistrate judge to search the rest of the home for the boyfriend and drug evidence, based on what they saw earlier.

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When they returned they found the boyfriend, Christian Ortega, hiding in a closet, along with a small bag of methamphetamine, "drug paraphernalia, and signs of a dirty house."

As the case proceeded, Vasquez's defense attorney, who routinely handled about half of the criminal cases filed in the Colfax County District Court over many years, "didn't investigate the facts of the case or file a timely motion to suppress the evidence," Kennelly said.

"The Court takes judicial notes from its case management system that in the previous five years, this particular counsel filed a motion to suppress in only three cases out of the 350 assigned to him within that timeframe, the last being in 2018," Kennelly wrote in court records.

So Kennelly set a suppression hearing for the defense and prosecutors to consider the warrantless search, but the defense attorney didn't participate in questioning witnesses and wasn't able to explain why he had not raised any of the suppression issues on his own.

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"The trial court was concerned that a warrantless search of Ms. Vasquez's house violated her rights, but defense counsel failed to challenge the search," said Appellate Defender Chavez Cook. "The Supreme Court's decision reinforces that when a judge identifies a potential constitutional violation that isn't being addressed, they have the authority to raise the issue and invite the parties to present evidence and arguments on both sides in order to make an informed decision."

Kennelly, who was appointed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in 2019, served on the New Mexico Judicial Standards Commission and previously was an attorney for the 8th Judicial District Court. She earned a law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 2010 and had previously been a member of the New Mexico State Bar Ethics Advisory Committee. She served as the first female police officer in the Broadview Heights Police Department in Broadview, Ohio, outside Cleveland.

The Vasquez case was one of 30, which comprised about 20% of her criminal trial docket in Colfax County in August 2021, "in which I have recognized a pattern and practice by one municipal police department of violating indigent citizens' right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure as a means to address the community's drug problem," Kennelly wrote in suppressing the evidence in that case in early 2022.

In a "property functioning adversarial system, defense counsel spots the issue and files a motion to suppress prior to trial, the court conducts a suppression hearing during which the state bears the burden to prove that the search and seizure was reasonable, the court grants the motion to suppress evidence if the State does not meet its burden," she wrote. Most time, the criminal case is dismissed because "the fruits of the illegal search and seizure cannot be used as evidence at trial."

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But what happens, she asked, in a jurisdiction in which nearly all the criminal defendants are indigent and receive assistance of appointed counsel who routinely fail to raise suppression issues in favor of resolving cases by plea agreements? "The consequences of this combination of systemic failure are dire."

In a rural county, there might be no alternative defense lawyer representing indigents to take the case.

"Having once been a police officer myself, I recognized a pattern that is a familiar law enforcement tactic within some agencies, targeting certain people in the community, stopping them on unrelated pretenses, and shortcutting legal procedures to find drugs and make arrests," she wrote in her statement to the Journal.

She said she and other judges had suggested to defense attorneys involved "in a less formal way" that they needed to address the issue but that didn't happen. Clearing the "fatally flawed cases" from her docket would redirect resources to resolving murders, rapes and other violent crimes.

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She said she had expected the district attorney to "handle it differently to look at these cases, acknowledge the illegality, dismiss the tainted officers and train the officers."

Instead, Kennelly said, Taos-based prosecutors from the office dismissed them and properly acknowledged the illegality, but those from the 8th Judicial District Attorney's Office based in Raton "chose to fight it."

"As a result, all kinds of resources have been spent within multiple tribunals on unsuccessfully trying to prove the judge wrong instead of just doing the right thing and fixing the problems," she said.
Theres a slew of potentials for injury or death whilst surfing. Just to name a few  collisions with other surfers, collisions with ones own board, collisions with the bottom (reef, sand, rocks, etc.), encounters and attacks with marine wildlife like sharks and feisty seals and others

But with all those mentions of collisions, boats arent typically on the list.

Related: 15-Foot-Great White Shark Stalks Surfers: Stay Together! (Video)

That, unfortunately, is what happened to a surfer on the Gold Coast of Australia over the weekend. On Sunday, a man either in his 50s or 60s (different outlets are reporting different ages) was in the water for a dawn patrol session at Palm Beach when a small fishing boat, which was careening through the surf zone for some reason, struck him and caused severe injuries.

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CCTV footage captured the collision; see below.

Following the collision, the man was helped ashore where a group gathered to help and first responders arrived. Reportedly, the victim suffered life-threatening injuries to his leg and abdomen from the incident; he was rushed to the hospital, where he remains in stable condition.

Although boat collisions are a rarity for surfers, as mentioned above, they arent unheard of. In fact, earlier this year, Maui waterman Zane Schweitzer was hit by a boat while training for a paddleboard race. Not surfing, per se, but still. Schweitzer suffered lacerations from the propeller, and broke a few bones in his back.

So, its possible. Keep an eye out.

Related: Maui Waterman Zane Schweitzer Badly Injured in Boat Collision
BELL COUNTY, Texas (FOX 44)  Temple Police and Killeen Police team up to apprehend an individual in a vehicle pursuit.

Temple Police officers assisted the Killeen Police Department with the pursuit around 6:11 a.m. Sunday. The pursuit originated in Killeen and ended at the 800 block of W Central Avenue in Temple.

When Temple Police officers arrived, they assisted the Killeen PD officers with taking the individual into custody who fled from Killeen. The individual was transported to the hospital by EMS, but no injuries were reported during this incident.

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Killeen police report the incident started about 5:55 a.m. when officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop at the intersection of Atkinson Avenue and North W.S. Young Drive on a gray Dodge Ram pickup that did not have a rear license plate. The driver failed to stop for a time, later stopping in the 800 block of North W.S. Young.

KPD spokesperson Ofelia Miramontez said that after the stop, the driver did not cooperate and refused to get out of the vehicle after being told to do so several times. When officers tried to remove the driver, he put the vehicle in gear and accelerated with one officer in the back seat. The officer was forced to jump from the moving vehicle and was injured.

The driver headed toward Temple at speeds up to 75 miles per hour. Spike strips were deployed near 43rd Street and West Adams, resulting in the tires on the pickup being deflated. The vehicle was stopped on the West Central Avenue bridge in Temple.

Despite commands to exit the vehicle, the driver refused to comply. That was when the Temple Police Department SWAT team was deployed. They got into the vehicle and removed the suspect, who was then taken to Baylor Scott & White Medical Center.

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This case is under investigation. If you have any information on this case, you can contact the Killeen Police Department or the Bell County Crime Stoppers at 254-526-8477.

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COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL)  A suspect was taken into custody after a shooting at Milgen Road on Sunday evening, according to the Columbus Police Department.

Police say a 28-year-old male was left with non-life-threatening injuries. A female was arrested.

This was a domestic dispute, according to CPD. Police were called to the scene at 5:10 p.m.

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AUSTIN (KXAN)  A suspect is in custody after a SWAT callout near Del Valle on Monday, according to the Austin Police Department.

Police said law enforcement was issuing a warrant service for a suspect wanted on multiple felony warrants from APD and U.S. Marshals.

Austin police said the suspect is in custody, and there is no threat to the public.

The SWAT callout was in the 13000 block of Thome Valley Drive, which is in a neighborhood east of the airport.

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A police chase ended in a fatal crash on State Route 7 in Spanaway on Saturday.

A Washington State Trooper tried to pull over a driver on State Route 7 in Parkland, but the driver took off.

He kept going until he crashed into a pickup truck, leaving a passenger in his car, dead.

That suspect hasnt yet been booked into the Pierce County jail. A spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff says he is likely still in the hospital.

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After all, the crash that happened at this intersection was devastating.

Both drivers were seriously hurt. And one man is dead.

I saw just tragedy, said Lilly Afton, shaking her head.

A young neighbor was leaving home to go shopping nearby when she saw what remained after a police chase ended in a fatal crash.

I mean, I couldnt believe my eyes, Afton said. And the traffic? Miles.

According to the Pierce County Sheriffs Department, a state trooper spotted a speeding Lexus sedan on State Route 7 or Pacific Avenue South in Parkland late Saturday afternoon. He turned around, caught up to the Lexus, then activated lights and sirens. But the driver of the Lexus took off.

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Eventually that suspect lost control, went into oncoming lanes, sliding sideways into the corner of an F-150 pickup truck, said Sgt. Darren Moss Jr., spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriffs Department. The passenger who was in that suspect vehicle, which was a Lexus sedan, died there at the scene.

The pickup driver was badly hurt, too. The 44-year-old Tacoma man, taken to the trauma unit at Saint Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, with serious injuries. The suspect, a 24-year-old Tacoma man, remains hospitalized, too.

The next step in this investigation is waiting for the toxicology report to come in for the blood draw we did on the suspect driver, said Sgt. Moss.

It was quite a scene, said Jesse Hume.

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All of it is troubling to this neighbor.

I believe that the police have a reason to chase, Hume said. But I think theres certain reasons if you know that its going to turn into this, I think we should just stop.

The passenger who died is believed to be a 50-year-old man from Graham. We dont know his relationship to the driver.

That driver is now facing several charges, including second-degree murder, vehicular homicide and vehicular assault.

He will be booked into the Pierce County Jail when he is released from the hospital.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said Sunday she believes former Fox News host Pete Hegseth is inordinately unqualified to run the Pentagon after he was nominated to be the nations next defense secretary by President-elect Donald Trump.

Trumps transition team is actively courting lawmakers to help confirm Hegseth, a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, amid a growing scandal over past allegations against him of sexual assault. The media recently obtained details from a 2017 police report, in which an unidentified woman accused Hegseth of assaulting her at a political conference in California. Hegseth has insisted the encounter was consensual, noting no charges were filed against him. The woman was paid an undisclosed sum as part of a settlement in 2023.

Duckworth said, however, she was disconcerted with the nomination.

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Remember that weve just fought over a decade of fights  and overhauled the military and its treatment of military sexual trauma, Duckworth told CBS News Margaret Brennan on Sunday. Its frankly an insult and really troubling that Mr. Trump would nominate someone who has admitted that hes paid off a victim who has claimed rape allegations against him.

This is not the kind of person you want to lead the Department of Defense.

"He's just flat-out wrong," Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), a veteran who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, says about defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth's belief that women should not serve in combat roles.



"Our military could not go to war without the women who wear pic.twitter.com/BcXQHfgQ9D  Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) November 24, 2024

Duckworth is a veteran of the Iraq War. She lost her legs when her Black Hawk helicopter was attacked in 2004 and she was later awarded a Purple Heart for her service. In Congress, shes served as a fierce defender of veterans rights.

The senator went on to lambast Hegseths recent remarks in which he said the U.S. military should not allow women to serve in combat roles.

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It hasnt made us more effective, Hegseth said during a podcast earlier this month. Hasnt made us more lethal. Has made fighting more complicated.

Duckworth noted Hegseth hadnt served in senior military roles and his remarks demonstrated his lack of understanding of where our military is and how inordinately unqualified he was to lead the Pentagon.

Our military could not go to war without the 220,000-plus women who serve in uniform, Duckworth said. Hes been out there saying that, you know, women are not as strong.  The ones who are in those roles have met the same standards as the men and have passed the very rigorous testing.

And so hes just flat-out wrong, she went on. Our military could not go to war without the women who wear this uniform. And, frankly, Americas daughters are just as capable of defending liberty and freedom as her sons.

Related...
Tampa police are investigating a fatal shooting that occurred Monday afternoon on the 7700 block of North Florida Avenue.

Police said they were summoned to that area at 3:45 p.m. to reports of a shooting. They found a man with gunshot wounds who was pronounced dead on the scene.

Officers closed North Florida Avenue between East Hanlon and East Kirby streets while they investigated.

Drivers are encouraged to seek alternate routes to allow for the investigation, police said in a news release. Detectives are working to determine what led up to the shooting.

Anyone with information about the incident can call 813-231-6130 or submit an anonymous tip via Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay at 1-800-873-8477.

No other details were immediately available.
Colorado's second-highest court ruled on Thursday that the parents of children born with an inherited muscle degeneration disorder can sue the medical professionals who incorrectly told them prior to conception that the mother was not a carrier of the gene.
A French satellite giant backed by the British taxpayer is under fire over claims it is carrying TV broadcasts of Kremlin war propaganda, more than 1,000 days after Russias invasion of Ukraine.

French campaigners and Ukrainian activists have demanded Eutelsat, a Paris-listed satellite business in which the UK holds a 10pc stake, immediately halt transmissions of dozens of Russian channels.

In a question at the companys shareholder meeting last week, an investor asked why Eutelsat had not enforced the EU sanctions against Russian broadcast groups. Eutelsat has said it is in strict compliance with all rules.

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Eutelsat blocked several Russian and Iranian channels, including Moscows state broadcaster Russia Today, from its satellite services in December 2022 in response to EU demands and an order from French regulators.

However, other channels blacklisted by Brussels remain live and are carried via Eutelsats satellites as part of Russian pay-TV packages. French campaigners have claimed the channels include war propaganda.

In a response to the investor question, Eutelsat said it remained in talks with the French government officials and Arcom, the countrys telecoms regulator, over further potential bans. However, the technology company claimed it had not, to date, received any explicit recommendations or instructions from the French authorities.

It said it was fully committed to implementing all the European sanctions in force and added any relationship between its satellite services and the sanctioned channels was indirect.

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The shareholder, however, argued that in a statement in May EU officials had clearly stated that the freezing of economic assets meant that satellite capacity could not be made available to channels operated by the companies under sanction.

The British Government became a major shareholder in Eutelsat after it merged with UK satellite business OneWeb in 2023. Peter Kyle, the Technology Secretary, is represented on the companys board by a director.

The combined business has been billed as a rival to Elon Musks Starlink, although its shares have plunged since the deal. OneWeb operates a network of hundreds of low-orbit broadband satellites, while Eutelsat has dozens of larger communications and TV satellites.

Nezir Sinani, executive director of B4Ukraine, a coalition of advocacy groups demanding businesses cut ties with Russia, told The Telegraph: As a stakeholder in Eutelstat, the UK Government must demand the company cuts ties with Russia.

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The Telegraph first exposed how the British taxpayers OneWeb holding could leave it sharing in the profits of Russian TV broadcasts more than two years ago.

In a letter to Arcom sent earlier this month, four French campaign groups alleged that Eutelsat appeared to be broadcasting 34 channels and five radio stations that were linked to sanctioned Russian groups. Andre Lange, an academic who has co-ordinated the campaign, said the lack of action was completely ridiculous.

A Eutelsat spokesman referred The Telegraph to its answers to shareholders. A government spokesman said: Eutelsat group has assured the UK Government it is implementing all applicable sanctions against Russia adopted by the European Union. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and take every possible action to ensure these sanction regimes continue to be followed.

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TAYLOR COUNTY, Texas (KTAB/KRBC)  In this weeks episode of Big Country Politics, Taylor County Sheriff Ricky Bishop discussed what he aims to achieve during his fourth term and emphasized the need for border control to stem the flow of drugs.

Bishop is about to begin his fourth term as Taylor County Sheriff, serving the county for 12 years. To him, this means that not only do the employees trust what were doing, but the public is trusting what were doing and the goals that we have set forth for trying to protect the county, and they want us to continue that.

Taylor County voters reelect Sheriff Ricky Bishop for 3rd term

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Bishop has quite a list of tasks for the department, such as new computer systems for patrol vehicles and adding more patrolmen.

Weve got computers in those vehicles now, but theyre not operating 100% like they need to. The software is almost complete, and as soon as thats done, hopefully, within the next 60 days, well have that rolled out to everyone to make all the patrolmens jobs more efficient, Bishop shared. We still need to add more patrolmen to cover the growing population in the county. Right now, weve got 36 patrolmen, and ideally, we need about 16 more to cover the county more efficiently than we do. But, you know, we do a lot with very little, and were getting it done right now. Were able to keep the crime rate kind of under control with what weve got. 

He mentioned that they are aiming to raise salaries, noting they are nearly at their target.

Hopefully, in another year, well be where we need to be. Because, you know, when I took office in 2013, starting salaries were 25,000 a year at the jail and for deputies. And now weve gotten that to where the jail currently is at 53,000, and patrolmen are at 57,000, and hopefully next year, well be at approximately 56,000 for the jail and 62,000 for patrolmen, Bishop explained.

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The reality of fentanyl in Taylor County: Sheriff Ricky Bishop describes the crisis

Recurtiement measures have slowed down because, with salary and benefit increases, they are moving into the retention phase.

Our medical insurance and everything is really good, and with the salaries going up, were able to compete a little bit better with some agencies. Hopefully, one more year of salary increases, well be able to compete even better and attract even more people. So, I think were at the retention phase now. We need to be a little bit more of the attraction phase to get people here, Bishop shared.  For the last several months, the jail has been fully staffed. Theyve got a list of people in case people move or transfer. Im eight patrolmen short right now, but weve got 11 people that were going to send to the academy. One Academy started this week, and another starts in January, so thatll help fill up our patrol division, and well be fully staffed there.

During the Taylor County Sheriff election, candidates opposing Bishop claimed that morale was an issue. However, Bishop stated that even back in March, he had received no complaints about morale.

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Most of it was with some county government, mainly because of salaries and stuff. Everyone has seen the work that weve been doing and getting pay up, and everybody seems really happy with what weve been doing so far. Some new equipment weve been getting for people and just modifying uniforms and different things, and everyone seems really happy now and I havent received any issues about morale in months, Bishop explained.

FORUM: Big Country leaders shed light on the Fentanyl crisis

In August, we spoke with Bishop during the Confronting the Fentanyl Crisis special. Since then, he says not much has changed, and nothing will change until circumstances improve at the border.

This stuff is coming in too freely. I think we discussed before that fentanyl comes from China, goes to Mexico, and gets made into pills by people who have no chemistry experience. They dont know how to mix things properly, essentially, because they will take pills and crush them up, put them basically, put them in a big blender, start pouring fentanyl in until they decide thats enough, and then they start pressing out pills. You might have 2, 3, 4, or five pills that have zero fentanyl, some that have a little bit of one thats got the deadly dose in it. Thats why you never know when that one pill is going to kill you. Those that dont have enough fentanyl, people dont feel the high from it, so they start taking even more pills, where they might be taking 8 to 10, at a time, instead of one at a time, and and then thats when you can get in, get into your deadly doses, Bishop said.

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As officials from DPS and Border Patrol work to improve conditions at the border, Bishop states that there is a long journey ahead.

Their job is going to be tough on trying to get a lot of things changed and implementing some things on the border, but if they can do even probably half of what they would like to do on the border, then we should begin to see a huge difference in how drugs, illegals, smuggling, everything, is coming across the border. And hopefully, that can happen. If it doesnt, I think Im afraid things will probably get a lot worse before they get any better because there are even new reports of a new drug as close as East Texas that theyre calling Pyro now that is supposed to be 10 times deadlier than fentanyl, and Narcan wont fix the effects, Bishop shared.

Local & national law enforcement team up to fight fentanyl trafficking in Abilene

Bishop explained that they maintain a gang database, as mandated by the state, to identify any gang affiliations and relay that information to Texas DPS for monitoring purposes.

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We have had known cartel members here in the area, and you know, thats what the border is, open as it is. You never know whos coming across the border, whether its cartel members, known terrorists, or whoevers coming across. But somethings got to be done to control it, Bishop said. Once you control one thing, youll be able to control a whole lot more. If the US government can be able to do what they need to, theyre going to get a lot of buy-in from the state of Texas and everybody else just because of the problems that were having. The landowners are fed up. Everybodys fed up with whats going on because it affects everybody. We may not be seeing a lot of the illegals here, but were seeing the effects of the narcotics that are coming here, which are then hurting and killing people. Weve got to get something done.

This week, Bishop will participate in command and control training for widescale scenarios.

The alert, active shooter classes have been around for years, but since the events that happened in Uvalde, it has become mandated even more now that every peace officer in the state of Texas attends active shooter training every couple of years. Well, theyve added a new class now for command and control, for administrators and supervisors, to attend to be able to help manage that incident when something happens, whether its at a school, at a mall, or at a large event somewhere, Bishop explained.

Big Country Politics: Sheriff Ricky Bishop discusses school safety, jail improvements & livestock assistance

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These classes have emerged in response to the events in Uvalde, which have changed how first responders are trained and respond.

It shaped everything. Unfortunately, anytime a bad event happens somewhere; its going to shape how training happens, whether its law enforcement, fire, EMS, or anything, its going to change things, Bishop shared. It has changed the state drastically. There are even more classes now that are mandated, so hopefully, we can help prevent this or prevent it from being as bad again.

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CHATANOOGA, Tenn. (WATE)  Tennessee Bureau of Investigation reported Monday that a member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was arrested in Hamilton County.

Adelvis Rodriguez-Carmona, 30, was among four people arrested in a joint investigation by the TBI, the Hamilton County Sheriffs Office, the Chattanooga Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations to disrupt the work of human sex traffickers in the Hamilton County area.

Clinton Police, TBI investigating early morning fire that left 1 dead

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A TBI spokesperson said in a release that Rodriguez-Carmona is a known member of Tren de Aragua and is suspected to have committed violent crimes in New York City and Chicago. He faces the following charges:

One count of patronizing prostitution

One count of possession of marijuana for resale

One count of possession of Xanax for resale

One count of possession of crack cocaine for resale

One count of unlawful possession of a weapon

As of November 25, he is in custody at the Hamilton County Jail. His bond was set at $125,000. The investigation remains active.

According to the TBI report, The agencies were involved in an operation last week to disrupt the work of human sex traffickers in the Hamilton County area. During the operation, which involved the states Human Trafficking Task Force, authorities developed information leading to a local hotel where law enforcement encountered the individuals and confirmed them to be engaged in an illegal sex operation.

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KPD: West High Student charged after gun found on school property

Earlier in November, TBI Director David Rausch warned that Tren de Aragua had been spotted in metro areas across Tennessee. They are very violent, Rausch told lawmakers during a budget hearing. This is a group that was created in the prisons in Venezuela and they are here and they are in numbers here. He said the gang is known to be involved in crimes including human trafficking.

The Chattanooga Chief of Police John Chambers said in a statement on Nov. 18 that the department had, no evidence to indicate that the gang is actively operating in our city.

The Knoxville Police Department and the Knox County Sheriffs Office both reported that there are no active investigations involving the gang in Knoxville. KPD said they are not aware of any active members in Knoxville. Knox County Sheriff Tom Spangler said there are also no people identified with the gang in the countys correctional facilities.

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We will remain vigilant and keep you informed if there is a status change! Spangler wrote.

 See more top stories on WATE.com

The other individuals arrested are Wilimar Herrera Guedez and Rebeca De Los Juarez Lucena, each charged with one count of prostitution as well as Yidalbris Marcano Salas who was charged with one count of prostitution, one count of possession of marijuana for resale, one count of possession of Xanax for resale, one count of possession of crack cocaine for resale and one count of unlawful possession of a weapon.

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JOHNSTON, Ohio (WKBN)  Reports said a man was arrested Saturday evening after he hit another man in the head with a gun and the gun went off, wounding the man.

James Perry, 29, was booked into the Trumbull County Jail on a charge of felonious assault, a second-degree felony. He is expected to be arraigned in Trumbull County Central District Court.

Reports said deputies with the Trumbull County Sheriffs Office responded to a call about 6:50 p.m. for a report of a man shot in the head at a home in the 5700 block of state Route 193.

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When deputies arrived, reports said two men were standing in the driveway, one of them bleeding from the head.

Perry told deputies he was arguing with his brother-in-law, Michael Barrow, 21, and was holding a gun. When the argument got physical, Perry hit Barrow in the head and the gun went off.

Barrow had a cut on his head and was bleeding, reports said.

Reports said a witness told police that Perry was pointing the gun at Barrow and Barrow then got in Perrys face and began throwing hands. That is when Perry started hitting Barrow and the gun went off.

Deputies found the gun, a 9mm semiautomatic handgun, and took it for evidence.

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Barrow was cited on a domestic violence charge, a fourth-degree misdemeanor, for threatening both Perry and a witness, reports said. He was released on citation.

Reports said Barrow was taken by paramedics to St. Joseph Health Center in Warren for treatment.

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The death of music star Liam Payne. Sex trafficking allegations against Sean "Diddy" Combs. A deadly car crash involving an Instagram model. Many Americans have only recently learned of the drug known as "pink cocaine" from a deluge of celebrity horror stories. Joseph Palamar, an associate professor of population health at NYU Langone, would say they are late to the party.

"A lot of people just think it's this new powder that's going around," Palamar said. "It's a pretty pink powder, and everyone's starting to use it, when it really started increasing was around mid-2023."

The death of music star Liam Payne has thrust

"The chatter increases before a lot of poisonings occur"

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When Palamar first heard of pink cocaine, his team immediately scoured posts on Reddit as part of his research for the National Drug Early Warning System. The organization specializes in narcotics surveillance and collects data on drugs that could rise in popularity and lethality.

"We've looked at other drugs, and what we found ... is that a lot of times the chatter increases before a lot of poisonings occur," said Palamar.

Palamar explained there's a whole community called "Psychonauts," in which people use novel drugs or induce "altered states of consciousness" and post about their experiences. For drug use, Palamar equated it to a diary to alert people to the effects of drugs.

National Drug Early Warning System research shows how each Reddit post about

Standing in front of a chart that resembles a stock rally on Wall Street, Palamar explained how each Reddit post about pink cocaine represents a data point he uses to better predict drug trends and warn the public.

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"When we detect a trend, we alert everybody we could possibly think of," he said. "We alert departments of health, academics, people who use. We want to spread our information pretty widely in order to prevent use. It's concerning because it's already high, and it's increasing. We already have dozens of people talking about it per day."

The warning system first issued an alert on pink cocaine in February 2023, when researchers noticed a spike in chatter from Redditors. That chatter nearly doubled to more than 30 posts per day by the summer.

The National Drug Early Warning System sent out its first warning about

"It appears that the chatter on average is now higher," Palamar said. "It's more consistent. We don't have dips as low as previous years."

CBS News reached out to Reddit for a comment on the research. A spokesperson said its policies ban the buying or selling drugs, and most conversations on its message boards are warning other Reddit users about pink cocaine.

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Similar trends emerged with carfentanyl, a synthetic opioid 100 times more potent than its lethal sister-drug fentanyl. Nearly 80,000 Americans have died from poisonings linked to carfentanyl in the past two years, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

"Don't play with this stuff... It's a powerful substance."

One pink cocaine user, who takes the drug at least once a month, agreed to speak with CBS News without revealing her identity. She said she tests each batch for fentanyl but admits she doesn't otherwise know the contents of the drug mixtures she's buying.

"You don't know what is in it every time." she said. "You don't know what is inside ... there are the ingredients that make you dance. There are ingredients that can make you feel more chill. There are ingredients can make you feel more trippy."

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Those unknowns  about the substance and the high  pushed Frank Tarantino, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Agency in New York, to issue an urgent warning to CBS News New York.

"When people are seeking pink cocaine and they think they're buying pink cocaine, they're actually buying a drug that's laced with fentanyl and they have no idea and they're overdosing and dying," Tarantino said.

The anonymous user who spoke to CBS News said she has found fentanyl in her own supply.

"I gave it back," she said. "It's dangerous."

Pink cocaine is not cocaine

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Pink cocaine is often confused for real cocaine. Tusi, the other street name for the substance, is often confused for the synthetic psychedelic 2C-B. It's neither.

Pink cocaine is a combination of other drugs. It is pink in color due to the addition of food coloring, and sometimes strawberry or other flavoring, according to the National Capital Poison Center.

Officials said it is most commonly used by young people in the club scene. Pink cocaine is usually either ingested in pill form or snorted as a powder. Rarely, it is injected.

An analysis by CBS News found 99.5% of pink powder seized by the Drug Enforcement Agency is a mixture of ketamine and other drugs, which can include fentanyl, according to DEA data from nearly 1,000 seizures.

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Tennessee has above average rates of HIV infection and deaths compared with other parts of the U.S.

Currently, Memphis/Shelby County ranks number two in the country for highest HIV incidence, a trend that many in Tennessee are working tirelessly to reverse.

Given the impacts of HIV in the state, it was surprising when Gov. Bill Lee announced his rejection of $8 million in funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to prevent HIV  funding that fuels several prominent, on-the-ground community-based organizations in Tennessee.

Research shows how reallocation plan will make HIV crisis worse

The announced rationale for rejecting the funding was to re-prioritize HIV prevention efforts towards pregnant people, first responders, and survivors of sex trafficking. This re-prioritization was met with concern amongst those actively providing HIV prevention and care services in Tennessee. Several experts worried that shifting services away from Black communities, which have the highest rates of HIV in the state, would worsen the epidemic.

Hands On Nashville volunteers assemble care packages for Nashville CARES, a local nonprofit dedicated to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

At that time, a core group of community leaders, physicians, and researchers (ourselves included), set out to measure the potential impact the reallocation of funding would have on HIV transmission, deaths, and healthcare dollars in Tennessee.

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The resulting study, published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, confirmed what many in the community predicted: Reallocating HIV funding in Tennessee would increase the number of new HIV infections in the state. Specifically, this approach would lead to 166 more HIV transmissions and 190 more HIV deaths over a 10-year period. It would also lead to a 1,300% increase in the cost of averting HIV-associated deaths.

Opinion: Mpox is a global health emergency again. I got vaccinated in 2022 and urge others to do so

While the exact numbers of future adverse HIV outcomes are uncertain, these model-based results highlight how policy decisions can put lives of Tennesseans at risk.

Bill Lee's plan to replace HIV prevention fund is too little, too late

Perhaps in response to the widespread concern, the State of Tennessee announced it would replace the CDC funding with a similar amount of state funding. Yet there is lingering fear that these funds may not reach all affected organizations, particularly those in rural Tennessee and those serving the populations that need these services the most. Moreover, this funding hinges on annual renewal, making it vulnerable to shifting political tides.

Ethan Borre

The statewide requirement to reallocate HIV prevention resources may be diverting attention and crucial support from marginalized communities, including transgender individuals and people of color. Regardless of replacement funding, such an announcement risks discouraging those most vulnerable to HIV from accessing prevention services.

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With highly effective HIV treatment and prevention, along with decades of public health research, Tennessee and the United States are closer to ending the HIV epidemic. This is due in large part to the work of a statewide network of community-based organizations working alongside public health and clinical experts. Following evidence-based policies and partnering with community experts will continue to prove crucial in this effort moving forward.

We urge the Governor and state of Tennessee, as well as other states considering similar moves, to reconsider. We urge them to, instead, prioritize equitable and cost-effective distribution of HIV resources to safeguard the progress made and ensure that all affected communities have access to life-saving services.

Amna Osman

Ethan Borre, MD, PhD is an internal medicine resident at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Amna Osman, MPA is the chief executive officer of Nashville CARES, the premier HIV/AIDS service organization in Tennessee servicing more than 20,000 Tennesseans statewide.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: To fix HIV crisis, Tennessee can't abandon the most at-risk | Opinion
A crowd at the Alabama Statehouse listens to Corrin O'Brien of the Fight for Alabama Families Coalition speaker during a rally for protections for in vitro fertilization on Feb. 28, 2024 in Montgomery, Alabama. The rally took place prior to scheduled committee hearings in the Alabama Legislature on legislation to protect the procedure. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)

Anticipatory obedience, a term we will all be familiar with by Jan. 20, describes how major figures and institutions appease an authoritarian before he takes power.

Its hard to maintain a straight posture against threats and coercion, particularly if you think no one else will stand with you.

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So they bow and scrape, hoping it will spare them pain or punishment. They pull punches. They accommodate. They hope to maintain what used to be normal life.

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That doesnt buy peace or protection. If anything, it makes horrible things more likely to occur.

Take it from Alabama: a regime rooted in cruelty will never accept humility. It wants enemies. It seeks targets. Attacks are all it knows.

They always start with the marginalized. Like immigrants (less than 4% of the state population) and transgender people (less than 0.5% of Alabamas population).

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But the regime will go to war with anyone  educators, health care providers, you name it  believing the world is a battlefield and theyre about to be overrun.

This is why Alabama finds itself three years into a program of shoving transgender people out of public spaces. Thats why weve launched legalized harassment of anyone attempting to teach basic history.

Weve banned abortion care because Alabama infantilizes grown women. Weve got a state Supreme Court filled with allegedly pro-life people who signed off on six executions this year, the most in the state in over a decade. Three of them involved a new method of killing people which has repeatedly proved to be torturous. Eight of the nine justices on that august body threw fertility treatments into chaos, with the most cursory acknowledgment of what they had done.

And our leaders have greeted rampant violence in state prisons with a shrug and a hope that a bigger prison can set things right.

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This cruelty wins elections in Alabama. The powerful in this state know how to make their hateful obsessions and first-world problems into Horrifying Crises that white Alabamians  even those lacking the power  prioritize at the polling place.

We are ruled by grievance. And all we get from Montgomery is grief.

Now well see this play out on the federal level. The incoming administration will try to gut Medicaid, a foundation of Alabama health care, in 2025. That wont only affect the children, elderly and disabled Alabamians who make up the vast majority of Medicaid recipients. It will send many rural hospitals into tailspins. Its likely to force many pediatric offices to close.

You cant count on our state leaders to stop this. They surrendered to President-elect Donald Trump a long time ago. You may vote for them, but they view the president as their only constituent.

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And meekly submitting and hoping for the best  anticipatory obedience  wont help, either.

But five weeks before the start of 2025, Im thinking of something else. Call it anticipatory gratitude.

Im grateful for all who will defend our fellow Americans.

Im thankful for the parents of transgender children fighting to protect their kids. Attacks on gender-affirming care are attempts to make someones subjective values more important than the needs of an individual. Those parents standing up for their kids battle for us, working to prevent our medical system from operating entirely on dumb prejudice.

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Im grateful for the IVF patients and health care providers battling for access to fertility treatments. They stalled the Alabama Supreme Courts attack on those programs. Relentless litigation and Republican politicians need to drop everything to indulge the far-right voter (anticipatory obedience!) mean IVF isnt safe. But its still here because Alabama families and health care professionals did more than sigh at the ruling.

And how about the educators? I foresee more fights over telling the truth even when it inconveniences some online edgelord. The teachers who insist on sharing history as it happened and science as it works will throw a sandbag against the flood of propaganda.

Heres to the health care providers who have to defend public funding and access to vaccines.

This is already an unhealthy state, and those who fight for every Alabamian to have access to the best care possible call us to do better by our neighbors.

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And thank you to every single Alabamian who will stand up for the states immigrant communities. The person who extends a hand and raises a voice in the face of mass deportation connects us to a kinder future. Thats true patriotism.

Will these brave people stop whats coming? No. Were going to have to be ready. A fetal crouch wont protect us.

But if were still standing on Thanksgiving Day 2025, its because these people, and many more, stiffened their backs and made it hard to hurt our neighbors.

And on that day, we will owe them much more than our gratitude.

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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Whether youre headed home or to Aunt Madges for some of her scrumptious ribbon Jello, youre likely to run into many other travelers this week. Millions of them, in fact.

AAA reports about 80 million Americans will travel more than 50 miles from home for the Thanksgiving holiday, about 2 million more than in 2019.

Planes will be packed as 5.8 million people will fly this Thanksgiving holiday, a new record for this time of the year and exceeding pre-pandemic levels. The busiest times are the day before and the Sunday after Thanksgiving, but many are in the skies now.

Over this holiday about 114,000 Oregonians are expected to fly  including college students returning home.

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I booked a flight this morning, actually. We just got home, Sarah Teubner said at PDX. I was supposed to be (home for) Christmas, but just had to come home to the family.

This holiday season, AAA said travelers are paying about 12% less for domestic trips than a year ago.

Bret Dawson noticed the lower fares.

Thanksgiving weekend at PDX to see major increase in Alaska Airlines passengers

It wasnt expensive, actually, Dawson said. They upgraded (my wife) to first class. She got lucky there.

And Elliott Pierce said things in the airports were moving well.

Travelers at Portland International Airport, November 24, 2024 (KOIN)

My security line was about 20 minutes at the Chicago airport, and it seems pretty calm here, Pierce said. So, so far, its been great.

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But there are always delays, and theyre not always from the airline.

Tera Hurst, who described herself as a mother who couldnt be more excited, said her son slept through his first flight this morning. But they got him on the second flight, she said. and it didnt really even cost me anything.

Roads and rails

Flights are certainly not the only way people are getting from place to place for the Thanksgiving break.

Nearly 72 million Americans will hit the road by car, AAA said  and again, thats a new record. It doesnt hurt that gas prices are down noticeably from one year ago.

Overall, more than 1 million Oregonians are going somewhere for Thanksgiving  by car, by train or in the air.

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If youre one of those Oregonians driving someplace, be aware the worst times are Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday afternoons beginning at 1 p.m. The return trip will be bad Friday morning, Saturday late afternoon, Sunday afternoon and throughout the day on Monday.

And specifically in the Portland-to-Eugene corridor, AAA said a trip on Tuesday afternoon will take about 2 hours 16 minutes along I-5.

Traveling by bus or train will also be busy, as AAA said they expect about a 9% increase from a year ago, which is an 18% jump since 2018.

Regardless of how you take your trip, seeing loved ones is the reason we do it.

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Ammon Teubner, one of Sarahs relatives, summed it up: Were just super happy shes back.

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WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  Just days before Thanksgiving, airports are already seeing the holiday rush. This Thanksgiving travel period is expected to be one of the busiest on record, and many are trying to beat the rush at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) estimates more than 18 million people will be traveling this Thanksgiving, and they said theyre prepared. This is a 6% increase compared to 2023.

Its a lot busier than it was a few years ago, but its still easy, said Lexi Sehildknechd.

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Frying a turkey for Thanksgiving? Prince William County officials share ways to stay safe, avoid fire

While many are looking forward to spending time with loved ones, others are excited about something else.

Not having school, said Zoey and her mother Crystal Miller.

Although Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday are expected to be the busiest travel days, the airport was packed with travelers. On Monday morning, several passengers at Reagan National were on the way to board their flights ahead of the holiday.

I know Orlando is really bad for the lines right now, so Im a little concerned, said Sehildknechd.

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DMV Chef highlights importance of side dishes for Thanksgiving

Many flyers were trying to get ahead of the long lines including passenger Tom Sherman.

Thats why Im here at 6 in the morning to get up to Boston early, said Sherman.

[I left today so] we can get out today and hopefully beat the rush and save some money, said passenger Crystal Miller.

On the roads, AAA says the best time to hit the road over the next few days is before 10 a.m. The worst time is expected to be between 1 and 5 p.m.

Im thinking about hitting the road, its much easier than flying. I dont want any delays, I have major plans this week and would rather just drive. I know I can rely on gas, said driver Elias Kassa, filling up his tank in Sterling Monday afternoon.

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One thing drivers are happy about is that pump prices are lower this year overall than last, at around $3.05 a gallon nationwide. Some stations in the DMV have prices that are even lower than that.

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I know it sounds sort of hokey, but it really is. You feel the weight and the privilege of what you're doing here. And you know, when you just walk around, you think of the history, and somebody will point out this is where Abraham Lincoln's desk was, and it just really brings home what a profound thing this is. So, I really do come at it with a sense of humility and awe, and these first two weeks have really brought that home.

Pull Quote
COLUMBUS (WCMH)  The short week before Thanksgiving are the busiest travel days, and the weather will be bumpy in some parts of the country.

A modest low-pressure area will travel from the mid-Mississippi Valley across the Great Lakes to start the week, bringing showers and mild weather.

A trailing cold front crossing Ohio Monday night will cause readings to fall back into the chilly low 40s on Tuesday. The Eastern Seaboard will be dealing with widespread rain much of the day that will impact air travel.

Swirling storms lined up in the Northeast Pacific fed by an atmospheric rivera ribbon of tropical moisture. (NOAA/NESDIS)

Ohio travelers will have dry roads Tuesday and much of Wednesday, before the last in a series of Pacific storms takes a southerly path across the southern Plains to the Ohio Valley region. Heavy snow will blanket the central Rockies, including the Denver area, while rain develops over the Midwest and Mid-South.

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Rain will break out over Indiana and western Kentucky Wednesday afternoon, mostly staying west of the Interstate 75 in Ohio until sunset. A band of wet snow will develop on the northern edge of the precipitation shield that will overspread northern parts of the Buckeye State.

The eventual storm track on Thanksgiving morning will determine where the rain-snow line will sets up, likely near or northwest Interstates 70/71. Some accumulating snow will likely fall over northern portions of Ohio, with several inches, while the southern half of Ohio deals with mainly rain and wet roads on the holiday.

A wintry mix will diminish later on Thanksgiving, before a surge of arctic air is pulled southward Friday behind the departing storm, resulting in windy and cold weather for holiday shopping, along with lake-effect snow showers. Frigid conditions are expected during the OSU-Xichigan game Saturday, when temperatures will hover in the 20s, just touching 30 in the mid-afternoon.

Thanksgiving Snowfall

In 140 years of Columbus weather records, measurable snow has fallen a dozen times on Thanksgiving Day. The last time a dusting occurred was on Nov. 27, 2014. The previous year was an actual white Thanksgiving after 3.5 inches of snow fell on the two travel days leading up to Thanksgiving (Nov. 28, 2013).

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The greatest snowfall came on Nov. 23, 1950, when Columbus received 1.1 inches of snow. This was only a precursor to the infamous Blizzard Bowl game on Nov. 25, when Michigan edged Ohio State 9-3 in a raging snowstorm. By the end of the month, a November record snowfall of 15.2 inches piled up in the city, and two to three feet in eastern Ohio.

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Fred Harris died Saturday. All of the news articles that Ive seen about he and his death generally say the same thing  that he was 94, that he was Oklahomas senator for eight years, that he was on the Kerner Commission that investigated 1967s riots, and that he had left the Senate because he had become too liberal for Oklahoma.

This is all true, but there was also much, much more to Fred Harris.

To me, whose childhood was spent in Oklahoma City during the time Harris was senator, who, when I was in college, discovered that Harris had been considered as Hubert Humphreys running mate, and who many years later got to talk extensively with him about his time in the Senate and on the Kerner Commission, Fred Harris was someone I was proud of and what I thought an Oklahoman was and should be.

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Fred Harris was a smart man, but he was not an intellectual snob. He was folksy and proud of his family and Walters, the town where he grew up. He was genuine and was nice to people, not because he thought they could help him somewhere down the road, but because he liked people.

He did not demonize or isolate himself from those who disagreed with him. He had no problem with being friends with people who had significantly different views from him on important issues. It was said that during the turbulent spring of 1968 when Vietnam was tearing the nation apart, he was the only person in Washington who could, in the same day, have breakfast with LBJ, lunch with Hubert Humphrey, and dinner with Bobby Kennedy.

Yes, he was a liberal, but it was because he had personally seen how hard it often was for people in places like Walters. As he once explained, in terms not too different from what many Oklahomans say today, The fundamental problem is that too few people have all the money and power, and everybody else has too little of either. He also took the positions that he did, not because he was following some individual or trend that would help him get reelected, but because he believed in them.

Even though he was 84 when I first met him, his ability to recall events and conversations was remarkable. He was also far from being the angry old man telling people to stay out of his yard. He was not the person who wistfully longed for the good old days or bitterly talked about what might have been either, although one could perhaps understand why he might have been since one of his closest friends (Bobby Kennedy) had been murdered, a president that he admired (LBJ) had cut him off, and his efforts to become president had been so unsuccessful. Instead, he was always graciously engaging and positive, even joking that one of his presidential campaigns was so brief, that he didnt run for president, he jogged.

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For those generations who have come after he was senator and maybe are glad that he was never their senator, that is most unfortunate. There was much to appreciate about Fred Harris, the person, and while he may no longer be with us, it is not too late to begin to understand that. For someone who cared deeply about making the world a better place for everyone, this might be his greatest contribution.

Rick Loessberg

Rick Loessberg conducted the interviews with Fred Harris for the LBJ Librarys oral history program and is also the author of the book, Two Societies: The Rioting of 1967 and the Writing of the Kerner Report.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahomans should learn about the importance of Fred Harris | Opinion
KILLEEN  The line began forming before sunrise Thursday, filled with moms pushing strollers and soldiers wearing camouflage fatigues. By 7:30 a.m., a long trail of Fort Cavazos families and veterans wrapped around a city block of single-story brick storefronts, all searching for help affording a Thanksgiving feast.

Several wooden pallets were piled high with black, reusable bags holding boxed mashed potatoes, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, and some canned goods, plus a gift card good for one turkey. I wondered aloud whether the stockpile of 500 meal kits would be enough.

It never is. It wont be, said Sheri Yerrington, executive director of the Armed Services YMCA of Killeen, which provides the annual holiday meal distribution outside one of our nations largest military installations. Last year we had 400 (holiday meal packages), and we turned away a bunch of families.

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The outdoor speakers blared Andy Williams Its the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, but this is a trying season for the distressingly high percentage of active-duty military personnel  25%  who struggle to put food on the table. We rely on these men and women in uniform to protect our nation, yet we dont pay many of them enough to cover their basic needs. About 40% of the children in military families qualify for free or reduced-price meals at school.

Military family member Arianna Munoz shares a moment with her daughter, Alayah, during the opening of the Armed Services YMCA's second food pantry near Fort Cavazos on Thursday. This pantry is designed to assist military families and veterans in need of food. For its Thanksgiving meal distribution, the organization handed out 500 bags of food with gift cards for turkeys.

This means a lot, Army wife Courtney Kezer told me, picking up a Thanksgiving meal kit with two of her four children in tow. Being in the military, were pretty much paycheck to paycheck.

Two years ago, I visited the then-newly opened weekly food pantry for active duty and veteran families in nearby Harker Heights, a robust response to a hunger problem that shouldnt exist in the most powerful military built by the worlds richest country.

Last year, that pantry gave away 1.25 million pounds of food, serving hundreds of families each week. Yet the demand has been so great that the Armed Services YMCA and the Central Texas Food Bank this past week launched a second weekly food pantry for military families  this one from a brick storefront in downtown Killeen, the same location as the Thanksgiving meal giveaway.

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It can be hard to make ends meet, said Chantelle Mccloud, an Army wife and mother raising three children, ages 1, 10 and 14. We've always had to get creative for our groceries, but with the recent rise in (prices for) groceries and other items like gas, it's been harder than ever.

The original food pantry in Harker Heights, known as the Five-Star Food Market, has been a blessing and a relief for my family and others, said Mccloud, who has used it for the past year and a half.

And while its disheartening that we need another one, she said, I am happy that it will open and be able to service more families.

Maria Vasquez and JC Vasquez walk through the Armed Services YMCA's second food pantry near Fort Cavazos on Thursday.

The second pantry, where people can browse from 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays and pick out food they want, is about a mile from the east gate of Fort Cavazos, formerly called Fort Hood. The Saturday hours will make that pantry more accessible to families with only one car or both spouses working.

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No doubt rising food costs have squeezed many of us. Across the 21 counties served by the Central Texas Food Bank, we went from serving about 60,000 people a week last year to about 93,000 people per week this year, president and CEO Sari Vatske said at Thursdays event.

But food insecurity is more prevalent among military service members (25%) than civilian adults (10%), according to a study this year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Military pay isnt enough to support a young family.

The pay rate is fine if youre a single adult, said Thom Skelley, training candidate for national commander for the Sons of The American Legion, which raised the money to buy the turkeys for Thursdays event. You cant expect that any longer. You have 22-year-olds who have families. Theyre at that level where they need assistance.

And its often hard for military spouses to land or keep jobs, between the upheaval of moving, the responsibility of being the familys sole caregiver when the service member is deployed, and the high cost of child care wiping out the earnings of that second job.

Louie Reyes, center, hands out a bag of food called "Packs of Hope" to an Army member Thursday at the food pantry near Fort Cavazos.

I keep hoping members of Congress will step up and do something about the shocking fact that cash-strapped soldiers sometimes skip meals or go to food pantries. The federal government should not count on charity to ensure that service members and their families are properly fed.

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But as long as that is the case, Army wives like Christina Escalona will find help from the Armed Services YMCA, if they dont mind waiting in line. She arrived midmorning Thursday to pick up her Thanksgiving meal kit with little wait at the downtown Killeen pantry, after finding the line at the first food pantry in Harker Heights reached the back of the building.

The last time the line was like that, I waited two hours, she told me. But with a family of four and another baby on the way, Escalona added, Our budget is kind of tight, so we appreciate the help.

Grumet is the Statesmans Metro columnist. Her column, ATX in Context, contains her opinions. Share yours via email at bgrumet@statesman.com, or via X or Bluesky at @bgrumet. Find her previous work at statesman.com/opinion/columns.

How to help

To support the two food pantries for military families in the Fort Cavazos area, visit https://fortcavazos.asymca.org/donate to make a donation; put "Five-Star Food Market" in the comment field.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Second Fort Cavazos food pantry opens to serve military families
A whole bunch of Oculus VR headsets were allegedly stolen by a group of men who would wait for truck drivers to leave their vehicles to get some food or go to the bathroom and then would hop in and drive them away.

As recently reported by 404 Media and Court Watch, six men have been indicted after allegedly stealing semi-trucks carrying pricey items like underwear, ATVs, and high-end tech hardware. According to court documents, the men reportedly committed these crimes across the United States, including in place like Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and Indiana.

The thieves would stake out distribution facilities and then follow semi-trucks to a gas station or truck stop. Once the driver left to refuel, rest, or use the bathroom, the men would steal the entire semi-truck, driving off with the goods, trailer and all. The men then allegedly hooked up the stolen trailer to their own tractor truck and would leave the stolen one behind.

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On May 6, 2022, two of the six co-conspirators located a truck in Louisville, Kentucky that was filled with Meta Oculus virtual reality headsets valued at approximately $1.5 million. The two men allegedly stole the valuable truck from a truck stop in Indiana and then drove it to Vanderburgh County, where they ditched the tractor truck and left with the trailer.

According to the indictment, the men would often paint over any logos and/or identifying numbers on the stolen trailer, and use different license plates in an effort to conceal the identity of the trailer and evade law enforcement detection. The group didnt just target Meta. Its claimed they stole trucks containing hundreds of thousands of dollars of product from various companies, including Microsoft, Sony, Logitech, JBL, and Bose.

The indictment says that the group mostly took their stolen goods and sold them to a buyer in Florida for a fraction of the stolen loads retail value.

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PALM BEACH, Fla. (WFLA)  The last surviving deputy who was hit by an SUV driver in Palm Beach County last Thursday has died, according to local officials.

The Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office said after days in the hospital, Deputy Ignacio Dan Diaz died at 12:42 p.m. Monday after battling critical injuries from the crash.

Flags being flown at half-staff for Florida deputies killed in major crash

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Despite his courageous fight, Deputy Diaz lost the battle due to the injuries sustained by the tragic crash that also claimed the lives of Cpl. Luis Paez and D/S Butch Waller, the sheriffs office wrote on social media. Once again, we find ourselves mourning the loss of another hero who dedicated his life to serving and protecting Palm Beach County.

The three motorcycle deputies were all hit by the SUV while stopped on the shoulder of Southern Boulevard in Loxahatchee on Nov. 21.

Deputy Ignacio Dan Diaz (Credit: Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office) Deputy Sheriff Ralph Butch Waller (Photo courtesy of Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office) Corporal Luis Paez (Photo courtesy of Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office)

Paez and Waller were pronounced dead at the scene.

We stand together, honoring their memory and supporting their families, friends, and colleagues through this time of immense sorrow, the sheriffs office wrote. Let us remember their courage and commitment to duty as we pledge to continue their legacy of service. To serve and protect was their oath  honoring them is our duty,

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Off the Edge

Three men in India died after Google Maps reportedly told them to drive off an incomplete bridge spanning the Ramganga River.

Portions of the bridge were washed away during a flood months earlier, and a construction company had only begun to rebuild it.

As Indian newspaper The Economic Times reports, the men were traveling from Gurugram to Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh and seemingly didn't see the end of the bridge ahead of them in time as they drove at night, causing them to plummet to their deaths.

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Footage circulating online shows a group of onlookers examining the grisly scene from the edge of the abruptly ending structure, tens of feet above the ground.

According to local officials, mobile records indicated the group was using Google Maps right up until the accident occurred.

The victims' families have since criticized the absence of safety measures and called for accountability.

"They were checking the route using Google Maps and fell from the incomplete bridge," one of the victim's brother-in-law Pramod Kumar told The Economic Times. "The road should have been blocked, but it wasnt. The maps shouldnt have shown that the bridge was complete."

Green Light

It's not the first time Google Maps directions have been implicated in an automotive death. Last year, the family of a tragically deceased North Carolina driver sued Google for negligence, claiming the app told him to drive off a collapsed bridge in 2022.

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At the time, the family claimed the accident could've easily been avoided with a navigation systems update. The bridge had collapsed nine years ago and had remained unrepaired ever since.

As for the latest tragedy, plenty of questions remain. While it's clear that negligence on the part of the construction company, which allowed cars onto the incomplete bridge, played a major role, should Google also be held liable for the deaths?

"Our deepest sympathies go out to the families," a Google spokesperson told Futurism in a statement. "We're working closely with the authorities and providing our support to investigate the issue."

It's not just incomplete or collapsed bridges  experts have since pointed out that GPS navigation services including Google Maps could lead hikers onto "potentially fatal" trails in remote areas.

Updated with comment from Google.

More on Google Maps: Google Street View Is Showing Strange "Businesses" in the Middle of the Ocean
TikTok has become a hotbed of birth control misinformation, with videos accumulating millions of views in which women blame their IUDs for pelvic floor dysfunction, autoimmune conditions, liver failure, and other conditions. In one video, the text reads: I cannot believe my 'for you' page today. Every video is of a girl getting autoimmune/cancer from her IUD. Why did we pop birth control like candy because doctors told us to?

Virtually all American women have used some form of birth control at some point in their lives, most commonly female sterilization, oral contraceptive pills, and long-acting reversible contraceptives like intrauterine devices (IUDs). These forms of birth control each carry risks, but doctors say they are sometimes taken out of context on social media. In some cases, users have falsely said that birth control can lead to infertility or cause abortions.

Misinformation for various medical treatments circulates far and wide on the internet, and some doctors are concerned that the true risks of birth control are being misconstrued and might make women get off it when there are fewer options available for unintended pregnancies as states move to restrict abortion access after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022 with the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision.

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We want to respect our patients and not make decisions for them, said Dr. Jenny Wu, an OB-GYN resident at Duke University who studies how birth control is discussed on social media. We are really having to address these questions around mistrust and distrust with hormonal birth control while living in a state where we have much more limited access to abortion care.

Some videos negatively discuss hormone therapies and prioritize natural new-age therapies instead. But this can also make patients more hesitant to get an IUD for conditions that they are sometimes recommended to treat, like endometriosis, heavy periods, fibroids or menopause, Wu said.

IUDs have so many other benefits besides just contraception, Wu told Salon in a phone interview. Yet I worry that with all this negative content online, it's hard to talk about those other things that are beneficial about an IUD.

In a study Wu published earlier this year in Obstetrics and Gynecology, videos on TikTok tagged with #IUD were more often negative than positive, with nearly all of them discussing pain or other side effects. In updated 2022 guidelines, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) said that misperceptions and exaggerated concerns about the safety of contraceptive methods are major barriers to contraceptive use.

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Whether social media is causing a significant portion of the population to get off birth control is unclear. In another study published in Health Communications in September, researchers found that women who interacted with these posts reported intentions to stop using birth control, suggesting posts do have an influence on viewers, said study author Emily Pfender, an associate fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics who studies womens health and social media.

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My experimental research shows that when people perceive an influencer to be more credible, both with having greater expertise and trustworthiness, they're more likely to intend to use a less effective, nonhormonal method, Pfender told Salon in a phone interview.

According to a study in JAMA Network Open, the use of all contraceptive types except vasectomies declined among the U.S. population between 2019 and 2022 before increasing post-Dobbs. Reports since then have shown more women are choosing to get sterilizations, use birth control pills, or IUDs. And an analysis by The New York Times earlier this year found the number of women who picked up prescriptions for birth control pills increased by roughly 7% nationwide between 2018 and 2023.

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Nevertheless, misinformation is affecting some women, even if not the majority, and doctors anecdotally told Salon they are increasingly seeing women who are concerned about the side effects of their birth control pills. In a study by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, more women reported side effects like weight gain and headaches from hormonal birth control methods in recent years, and these side effects often led to discontinuation. In the study, one-quarter of women who discontinued hormonal birth control methods stopped using birth control completely instead of switching to another method.

The top reasons people are discontinuing hormonal contraception is because they are saying that it negatively impacts mental health, they want to be more 'natural' and use less synthetic hormones, and because of a whole host of side effects, Pfender said.

Online, many of the women sharing their experience getting off birth control promote the natural rhythm method, which involves timing sex to align with the non-ovulating part of the menstrual cycle. However, data suggests this method is far less effective in preventing pregnancy compared to birth control methods like the IUD or the pill, which each are close to 99% effective.

Planning is hard because it requires tracking your cycles, and not everyone has regular cycles, Wu said. And there are all those privacy concerns with period tracking apps.

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Despite their dark origins of being tested in low-income Puerto Rican women, birth control pills have been credited as being key players in the womens liberation movement because they helped women take their fertility into their own hands. They have only gotten safer since they were first marketed in the 1960s. Today, 14% of women between ages 15 and 49 are on the pill and about 10% have an implant or IUD, according to national data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Yet, according to a review published in 2021, many women reported wanting to regain control over their bodies as the reason for getting off birth control, indicating the pendulum of personal choice that began in the 1960s with the introduction of the pill might be showing signs of swinging in the other direction, at least for some.

Today, many women report not being informed of the risks of birth control pills or the IUD, which can lead to mistrust in the medical system when some of these risks are realized. In a 2022 study by KFF, just 30% of women reported that they were adequately informed of all of the risks and information they needed to know about their birth control method before getting on it.

Birth control pills with estrogen do carry a slightly elevated risk for blood clots and stroke. While some studies have also linked hormonal birth control pills and IUDs to an elevated risk of breast cancer, other studies have shown these methods can actually reduce the risk of endometrial or ovarian cancers. These nuanced discussions of risks should always occur between patient and provider before selecting a birth control method.

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Even though the risks for most birth control pills are low, they can seem more common when they happen to someone a patient knows. Its unclear how much information circulating on social media plays into decisions about birth control, but generally, stories can sometimes move people more than a statistic can, said Dr. Jonas Swartz, an OB-GYN at Duke University. Yet it's important to keep in mind that people who post about their experience online are also more likely to have an extreme experience, either positive or negative, he said.

When I was a resident, people were more often getting this information from friends and relatives, and oftentimes you talked about how effective a particular contraception type was or what the bleeding profile was and someone would say, Well, I dont want that one because my cousins friend had a bad experience with that, Swartz told Salon in a phone interview. I think the difference now is that people see these anecdotal bad experiences on social media and those play heavily into their decision-making.

In some cases, increased visibility online has helped shed a light on underrecognized women's health issues. In recent years, women have posted videos of their faces contorting in pain during an IUD removal or insertion to demonstrate how painful they are. As a result of this increased attention, the CDC recently updated its guidelines to recommend offering women more pain management options during the procedure.

Social media can be negative because there's not necessarily vetting of the quality information, but it can also be really positive because it democratizes who can provide perspectives on different types of contraception, Swartz said.

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Regardless, people are increasingly turning online for information as distrust in public health increases. After all, it took a flood of videos showing painful IUD insertion procedures for professional organizations to change their guidelines and take women's pain seriously. In general, women's health research is underfunded and U.S. mothers, particularly Black mothers, die at a higher rate in the U.S. than they do in any other high-income country.

Health disparities create a vicious cycle of medical mistrust that can prevent people from seeking help in medical establishments. Without that support, it makes sense that many would do their own research online. But for more than just birth control, it is becoming increasingly difficult to disentangle the truth from the deluge of information one comes across on the internet every day.

We're attuned to this balance between respecting our patients' wishes but also keeping them safe, Wu said. I'm really hopeful that our generation of gynecologists are really thinking about these topics, and hopefully will change the conversation. Hopefully, we will be able to rebuild the trust that has been lost with a lot of our patients.
One of the many commitments that the incoming Trump administration made on the campaign trail this past year was a promise to find new ways to weaponize the federal government against the GOPs opponents. But if Republicans get their way, we wont have to wait until Inauguration Day for Trump to earn broad new powers to crush his enemies. Worming its way through the legislature at the moment is H.R. 9495, a bill that would give the executive branch the power to unilaterally declare any nonprofit organization in America to be a terrorist organization. Outfits so deemed would be stripped of their tax-exempt status and subject to what amounts to a financial death penalty, as banks would no longer be permitted to service them. Whats more, these organizations would have no legal recourse to fight back.

Its not hard to see why Trump might covet these powers. With the wave of a pen, hed have the capacity to eliminate all manner of civil society organizations and liberal nonprofits, permanently damaging the electoral and policymaking infrastructure on which Democrats rely. Whats harder to understand is why a Democrat might vote for what is, essentially, the Destroy the Center for American Progress Act of 2024. Last week, more than 50 Democratic representatives did just that, joining the GOP in a vote that failed to advance the bill out of the House. (That vote was taken during a suspension of the rules in the House, requiring a two-thirds majority for passage.)

In the week since that vote was taken, enormous pressure was applied to those Democrats who, in a fit of what was either ignorance or insanity, voted to give Trump the power to lay waste to the Democratic Party. On Thursday, the House took another vote on the bill, this time passing it by a vote of 219184. The full-court press to get Democrats to change their vote had some limited impact. Its still disheartening to see that 15 Democrats backed a plan to give the incoming president these dangerous new powers. The tendency of some Democrats to seek common ground is a habit that they must begin to unlearn as they face the prospect of a second Trump term. Instead, they should steal whats been a highly successful move from the Republicans: Dont provide any votes for the things that the GOP majority wants to do, no matter what they are.

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This would be a great way for Democrats to honor the outgoing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who made the denial of bipartisanship a singular demand of his caucus during the Obama era, correctly understanding that whenever the president earned GOP votes for his agenda, these became more resounding wins than bills passed under party-line votes. Democrats need to approach the next Congress with the same zeal: If the GOP wants to claim a mandate, good for them. But theyll have to shift the millstone of governance on their own, which is something that many Republicans arent sure theyre good at doing. If they come looking for Democrats to help, the message should be consistent: KMAGYOYO.

The fact that H.R. 9495, a bill whose sponsors are essentially asking Democrats to be the brilliant ally of their own gravediggers, even exists should be sufficient to steel the party to the task ahead. Democrats should reflect on just how difficult the GOP has made it to do the nations urgent business over the yearsfrom pandemic mitigation to confirming routine appointmentsand on the incoming presidents plan for mayhem, and be willing to challenge the GOP to run the country on their own. In fact, the Democrats baseline assumption should be that they dont want their fingerprints anywhere near the things that Trump plans to do.

Obviously, there might be some moments when bigger disasters unfold. Take the next debt ceiling fiasco. Its likely that most of the members of the GOP will simply rubber-stamp a rise in the debt ceiling, if only because Trumps plans to deport tens of millions of people is estimated to cost more than $300 billion (and an additional $46.8 billion budget shortfall tacked on). But if things stay true to form and Trump doesnt want the destroy economy button to get pushed, theres still a decent-sized rump of wack-ass QAnon headcases in the GOP caucus who are itching to meet the Great Debt Default Jesus in the sky by whatever means. As weve seen in numerous instances during Mike Johnsons speakership tenure, these members often break from the herd and pick their own (crazy) paths. And tight margins in the House make it easy for a handful of weirdos to threaten to drive the train off the rails.

Will Johnson need Democrats to help him out of this potential jam? He has, in the past, been heavily dependent on the charity of the opposition. It could be that there might be extraordinary moments where Democratic participation is needed to save the day. On those occasions, Democrats need to keep a list of demands close at handto my mind, Johnson would have to make new committee power-sharing arrangements, as well as a slew of policy commitments attached to any must-pass legislation. The price of the bipartisan bag is going up, folks! Barring that, Johnson will simply have to prove his mettle as a majority leader. (The next time he demonstrates that will be the first time.)

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Obviously, there is going to be a lot of pressure placed on Democrats to bail the GOP out of the various messes they get into. As Ive mentioned before, this is the role that the media has assigned to Democrats: They exist solely to be the helpmates to Republicans, and to curb their excesses. Theres never been a better time to shuck off this fake obligation and step aside from a role that has served their partys constituents poorly. The voters handed Republicans full control of the presidency and Congress. That means Republicans are now obligated to advance a comprehensive agenda on their own and answer to the American people.

Think of it this way: What sense does it make for Democrats to dilute this accountability by lending their votes to this effort? This is the GOPs moment to deliver the goods. If they cant figure out how to do that, we deserve an unobscured view of their dysfunction and corruption. Perhaps theyll rise to the occasion. More likely, theyll unleash chaos and shitand theres no need for that to become the Democrats burden. Democrats arent going to get any credit if things go well, so why volunteer to take a share of the blame when things go badly?

The fact that there are 15 Democrats willing to hand Trump the insane power to wish a nonprofit off to La-La Land illustrates how hard it will be to discipline this party into a fighting force. Between the naive norms-respecters, the Trump-curious, and the genuine dullards in the party who voted for this bill, Id expect to see far too many Democrats make the incorrect choice over the next few years. But thats where we come in: Our obligation will be to name and shame, give the Democrats who support and enable the Trump agenda hell, and maybe primary a few of them into their next career. We can begin with some encouragement on the next vote on H.R. 9495: If youre in the liberal nonprofit world, Id be in contact with the Democrats who voted to let Trump destroy you, and let them know that youll be canceling any work youd planned to do on their behalf.

This article first appeared in Power Mad, a weekly TNR newsletter authored by deputy editor Jason Linkins. Sign up here.
(NewsNation)  The House recently passed a Social Security bill that would expand benefits for public-sector workers and their families but the Senate is running out of time to get it over the finish line.

The Social Security Fairness Act  which won bipartisan support  would revoke two federal policies that limit retirement payments for certain retirees who also receive government pensions.

If passed, the change would impact nearly 2.5 million retirees, increasing Social Security payments for many, including firefighters, police officers, and teachers.

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Heres what a Trump presidency could mean for Social Security

For more than 40 years, the Social Security trust funds have been artificially propped up by stolen benefits that millions of Americans paid for and that their families deserve, the bills sponsors, Republican Rep. Garrett Graves of Louisiana and Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia said in a statement.

The legislation has strong support in the Senate but the upper chamber has to vote on the bill before the end of the year otherwise it expires. That could be a tall order with a jam-packed schedule and just weeks before a new Congress begins.

Heres what to know about the Social Security Fairness Act and what could happen next.

What is the Social Security Fairness Act?

The bill would eliminate two policies: the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset.

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Those two provisions reduce Social Security benefits for workers and their family members if the worker receives a pension based on employment not covered by Social Security.

For example: teachers who do not earn Social Security in public schools but work part-time during the summer at another job covered by Social Security have reduced benefits. Thats true even if they pay into the system long enough to receive benefits.

One study found that households affected by either provision take a 20% hit in the present value of their lifetime Social Security benefits, reducing their total wealth by around 5 to 6%.

Social Securitys short-term solvency should not be propped up by the stolen benefits of these retirees  benefits they have long been owed and will never get back, Spanberger and Graves wrote in a letter to Senate leaders, urging them to pass the bill.

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Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, and Maine Senator Susan Collins, a Republican, also signed onto the letter, calling for a vote as swiftly as possible.

The bill passed the House with an overwhelming majority: 327-75.

How much would it cost?

The biggest downside to the bill is the cost.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the changes would add an estimated $196 billion to the federal deficit over ten years. The bill would also bump up Social Securitys looming insolvency by about six months, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which opposes the legislation.

They should call this bill the Social Security UnFairness Act; it creates a Windfall Expansion Provision for a small number of beneficiaries who would get to double-dip their retirement benefits, Maya MacGuineas, the committees president, said in a statement.

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In roughly a decade, retirees could see their Social Security benefits slashed by hundreds of dollars a month if Congress doesnt shore up the programs finances.

MacGuineas said repealing the two provisions in the bill would increase the size of the benefit cut and make Social Securitys financial problem worse.

A recent Urban Institute report echoed those concerns and found that eliminating the two policies would disproportionately benefit people with higher incomes.

Ultimately, getting rid of pension offsets for teachers and other government employees would do more harm than good, favoring people with the most resources and pushing the burden of fixing Social Securitys long-term financing onto everyone else, the report said.

What happens next?

The bill has 63 sponsors in the Senate which is important because 60 votes are needed to pass most legislation in the chamber.

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If the Social Security Fairness Act does get over the finish line in the Senate, it would head to President Joe Bidens desk. The changes would be effective for benefits payable after December 2023.

Brown and Collins are pushing their colleagues to take up the bill but other legislation could take priority before the balance of power changes in the new year.

Government funding, disaster relief, and an annual must-pass defense bill are all likely to take up considerable floor time.

The act could still be passed another way, by linking it to a larger legislative package but it remains to be seen whether that will happen. Graves and Spanberger ultimately had to force a vote to get the House to vote on the bill.

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If the bill doesnt get passed before the end of the year, it would expire and lawmakers would have to start over.

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 Queen City News.
The top U.S. counterterrorism official is warning that the Islamic State terror group has set its sights on Africa as its new frontier  and that its activities there are increasingly dangerous for the U.S.

The ISIS threat in Africa, in our view, is potentially one of the greatest long-term threats to U.S. interests, Brett Holmgren, the head of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, or NCTC, said in an interview. They've clearly prioritized Africa as a growth opportunity.

ISIS in Africa is nothing new, but most top administration officials have rarely talked about it in their public addresses on national security. Holmgrens assessments offer a stark warning to a Washington that is eager to move on from the war on terror era and focus on great power competition against rivals like China and Russia  a priority for both the outgoing Biden administration and incoming Trump administration.

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For now, Holmgren says, ISIS branches in Africa constitute mostly local threats focused on spreading their ideology, exploiting ethnic and social divisions in poorly governed territories to gain more power and overthrowing local governments But he warned that left unchecked, these groups can and do over time pursue greater ambitions.

That could include going after U.S. interests and targets in Africa, or if they bring in foreign fighters, as we've seen in other conflicts, at that point it could become more of an external threat to the United States, he said.

Islamist militants are sowing chaos across regions of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali and are setting their sights farther south in coastal West Africa. It includes branches of ISIS and al Qaeda affiliates such as Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, based in Mali. ISIS also has branches in Nigeria and the Lake Chad basin, Congo, Mozambique and Somalia  some formed out of offshoots and splits from existing al Qaeda-affiliated groups.

Yet some other counterterrorism officials say its a tall order to get enough U.S. resources to focus on the terror threats emanating from the Sahel, given how slammed Washingtons national security leaders are with other global crises  to say nothing of a transition between two administrations with vastly different worldviews and priorities.

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I hate to use this cliche, but it really is a ticking time bomb, said another senior U.S. counterterrorism official, who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters. The CT world gets it, but most of Washington is consumed by Ukraine or China or the Israel crisis. If we let this threat in the Sahel metastasize, well really come to regret it. Trump's transition team declined to respond to a question on its counterterrorism priorities, saying only as it has in response to other questions about foreign policy that Trump will "restore peace through strength around the world. Trump on Friday announced Sebastian Gorka, a prominent firebrand conservative media commentator and former White House national security official during his first term, would serve as his senior director for counterterrorism once he takes office.

Holmgren and other Western security officials and analysts have drawn comparisons between how ISIS groups have amassed territory in the Sahel region of Africa with the groups prominent rise in the Middle East around a decade ago.

The scale and the threat of ISIS operations in Africa right now remind me, eerily so, of what we saw in Iraq and Syria in 2013 and 2014, said Charles Lister, a counterrorism expert at the Middle East Institute. I mean, an army of ISIS is basically marching at will through the Sahel and taking over military bases.

The Sahel region of Africa has become one of the worlds most volatile places, made more complex by geopolitical power plays from U.S. rivals like Russia. Coups toppled Western-leaning governments in Mali and Niger in recent years. The juntas who took power in those coups booted out U.S. and French troops in a high-profile setback for the West, opting to instead bring in Russian-aligned mercenaries to back their governments.

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All told, fatalities linked to militant Islamist groups in Africa have surged by some 60 percent from 2021 to 2024, according to data from the Africa Center for Strategic Studies.

J. Peter Pham, the former U.S. special envoy for the Sahel region in the first Trump administration. criticized the Biden administrations track record on the issue. "For all of its boasting about 'diplomacy is back,' the Biden administration's record in the Sahel has been pitiful. It never appointed a successor to me as special envoy for the Sahel, he said.

Asked about the threat from ISIS in Africa, Pham said, I have no doubt that, in time, they will realize their ambition to strike targets farther afield, including Europe and even America.

In response, a spokesperson for the National Security Council said: We are clear to West African partners: the U.S. is committed to regional security and to address the terrorist threats emanating from the Sahel.

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Since the beginning of the administration, President Biden has led a process to refocus U.S. counterterrorism efforts and promote civilian-led development and good governance approaches to counter insecurity, the spokesperson added.

After being kicked out of Niger, the United States has moved some of its military assets to other countries, including Chad and the deployment of special forces to coastal African countries like Cote dIvoire and Benin to train and advise their forces, the senior U.S. counterterrorism official said.

Lt. Col. Bryon McGarry, a Pentagon spokesperson, declined to comment on specifics, saying adjustments to the U.S. military footprint in the region requires careful consideration as well as detailed and confidential discussions with prospective host nations. He added: There have been no final decisions on adjusting the disposition of DOD forces in West Africa.

The top general heading U.S. Africa Command, Gen. Michael Langley, visited Gabon, Liberia and Nigeria earlier this month to discuss security threats from these extremist groups with officials from those countries.

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The Russian mercenary groups in the Sahel have faced significant setbacks since replacing Western counterterrorism forces, including a group of Wagner mercenaries being routed in a deadly ambush in northern Mali in July.

In the areas where Wagner has operated most significantly  and I think Mali is a fairly good example, Burkina Faso is another  as it turns out, the terrorist threats are growing, Holmgren said.

But for the Kremlin, Holmgren said, it was never about counterterrorism.

This was about propping up local governments, but also about pursuing Russia's kind of strategic economic and security interests in the region. Maybe under the guise of counterterrorism.



A version of this story previously appeared in POLITICOs National Security Daily newsletter. Like this content? Sign up below!


The federal prosecutor who has overseen the convictions of Sen. Robert Menendez, Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell and disgraced cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried said Monday that he will step down as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York next month.

"It has been an honor to serve the American people, Damian Williams, who has also been overseeing the prosecutions of New York City Mayor Eric Adams and rap artist Sean Diddy Combs, said in a statement announcing his intention to resign effective at 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 13.

Williams, the first Black man to hold the prestigious and powerful post, was a veteran of the office and was nominated by President Joe Biden in 2021. President-elect Donald Trump had already announced his intention to replace him.

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Once headed by Rudy Giuliani, the Manhattan U.S. attorneys office handles some of the most complex and high-profile criminal cases in the country, including public corruption, securities fraud and terrorism cases.

During his tenure, Williams secured convictions against Menendez, the longtime Democratic senator from New Jersey, on bribery charges; FTX CEO Bankman-Fried on fraud charges; and Maxwell on sex trafficking charges.

Those awaiting trial include Adams on bribery and wire fraud charges and Combs on an array of charges that include sex trafficking and racketeering. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Williams was also overseeing a case involving an Iranian man who was charged in a plot to assassinate then-candidate Trump earlier this year.

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In his statement, Williams called his decision to step down "bittersweet."

It is bitter in the sense that I am leaving my dream job, leading an institution I love that is filled with the finest public servants in the world. It is sweet in that I am confident I am leaving at a time when the Office is functioning at an incredibly high level  upholding and exceeding its already high standard of excellence, integrity, and independence," he said.

Williams' deputy, Edward Y. Kim, will become acting U.S. attorney after his departure.

Trump announced earlier this month he would be nominating his former Securities and Exchange Commission head Jay Clayton to head the office.

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Trump initially nominated Clayton for the post in 2020, but his nomination was scuttled amid opposition from New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, both Democrats, and the circumstances of then-U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman's departure from the office. Berman was fired by Trump after resisting efforts to force him to resign to make way for Clayton.

Berman's deputy Audrey Strauss took over as acting U.S. attorney and was later formally appointed to the post, which she held until October 2021.

Trump also fired Berman's predecessor, Preet Bharara, after initially asking him to remain in the post.

In his statement announcing Clayton's nomination, Trump called him "a highly respected business leader, counsel, and public servant."

"Jay is going to be a strong Fighter for the Truth as we Make America Great Again," Trump wrote.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Context: The above video first aired on the morning of Thursday, Nov. 21.

TOPEKA (KSNT)  A City of Topeka spokeswoman said law enforcement is working hard to release an update on a recent deadly crash that claimed the life of a pedestrian while also investigating the Capital Citys latest homicide case.

27 News reached out to City of Topeka staff and the Topeka Police Department on Monday, Nov. 25 for more information regarding the deadly vehicle vs. pedestrian crash last week. City spokeswoman Rosie Nichols said investigators are working around the clock to investigate a deadly north Topeka shooting that occurred on Nov. 24 and claimed the life of one individual. The identity of the shooting victim, the citys 19th homicide case of 2024, has yet to be released.

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Nichols explained that some investigators who are working on the fatal crash are now having to shift focus to the deadly shooting case. The identity of the victim was released on Nov. 25 five days after the crash occurred.

(Photo by: Joshua Irsik) (Photo by: Joshua Irsik) (Photo by: Joshua Irsik) (Photo by: Joshua Irsik)

Rollover crash reported in southwest Topeka

Topeka police were called around 6 p.m. on Nov. 20 to the 1900 block of Southeast Adams regarding reports of an injury crash involving a vehicle and a pedestrian. The man was taken to a local hospital where he later died of his injuries.

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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Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MatthewLeoSelf

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Rescuers in Egypt are searching for 17 people who are reported missing after a luxury yacht with 31 tourists and 14 crew members aboard sank in the Red Sea early Monday.

The 144-foot-long vessel, named the Sea Story, had departed from a port near Marsa Alam on Sunday to embark on a five-day diving trip, the BBC reports. Marsa Alam is a popular tourist destination on the southern coast of Egypt known for its diving and famous coral reefs. However, authorities received a distress signal from the boat just before dawn on Monday.

It's unknown how many of those missing were tourists or part of the crew, who were all Egyptian. But two British citizens are reportedly among the unaccounted for, as well as one Finland national. There were also five Spanish, four British, four Germans, and two U.S. citizens aboard the yacht. Polish foreign ministry spokesman Pawel Wronski also said that two Polish citizens may have been part of the sailing.

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The exact cause of the sinking is likewise unclear, however the Egyptian Meteorological Authority had forecast turbulent weather for Sunday and Monday, with winds between 37 to 43 mph and waves of up to 10 to 13 feet high. As such, authorities had advised against marine activities through Monday.

According to The Telegraph, a manager at a diving resort nearby the rescue operations reported that a rescued crew member said the Sea Story was "hit by a wave in the middle of the night, throwing the vessel on its side." The yacht, which has four decks and 18 cabins, can accommodate up to 36 passengers.

Maj-Gen Amr Hanafi, governor of the Red Sea region, said that 28 people had been rescued from the shipwreck site, south of Marsa Alam, and had been airlifted to receive medical treatment. Hanafi also noted that rescue efforts were still very much ongoing, with the Egyptian Navy warship El Fateh and military aircraft assisting in the search.

"Intensive search operations are underway in co-ordination with the navy and the armed forces," Hanafi added.

Back in August, weather was also partly to blame for the sinking of another luxury ship, the 184-foot-long Bayesian superyacht that capsized after getting caught in violent storms off the coast of Sicily. A total of seven people were killed in that incident, including British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch.
NEW YORK (PIX11)  Another random knife attack on a tourist in less than a week. The latest one happened Saturday morning on bustling Madison Avenue in Manhattan.

According to authorities, the victim received medical attention on location by EMS. The woman who allegedly cut him fled right after.

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As we get closer to the Thanksgiving Holiday, Madison Avenue in Midtown gets busier and busier with visitors from all over the world.

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Police are looking for a woman who allegedly slashed in the right hand a 42-year-old tourist from Italy in what they say, was a random attack.

New York City is a big city there are a lot of tourists and expect to be safe for the police to manage, said Cosmin who is visiting from Romania.

According to authorities, the assault happened Saturday morning at around 10:40 when the man was walking near 38th Street and Madison. The perpetrator, out of nowhere, pulled out a knife and swung it at him.

I am a little bit afraid, but I feel safer in New York as an example, in Rome, we have been attacked twice, said Cristina, also from Romania.

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16-year-old stabbed multiple times in Queens subway station: NYPD

This is the second reported attack on a tourist this week. A man on the Upper West Side, visiting from Denmark was slashed in the face on Wednesday morning. 25-year-old Joshua Zinberg was charged with attempted murder and assault.

These things should not happen necessarily for tourist, by to tourist, just to any human being, added Cosmin.

But most people visiting the Big Apple say, these incidents as awful as they are, will not hinder their stay.

We feel perfectly safe, its a bit worrying, said Gary from England.

I think you have to be aware of what you are doing and where you are going. I wouldnt say it is any more dangerous than any big city, stated Sharon, also from England.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
Toyota Motor Corporation recently invested $500 million to help support the future of electric air taxi travel.

In a recent funding round, Toyota pledged a half-billion to Joby Aviation, a leading aviation startup specializing in electric vertical takeoff and landing  or eVTOL  aircraft. The massive funding boost will help Joby Aviation "secure flight certification and begin commercial production of its sustainable aerial technology," according to an Electrek report.

Joby Aviation launched in 2009 out of Marina, California, quickly rising as a leader in the future of commercial air taxi travel. The company has developed an air taxi powered by six electric motors, which produces no air pollution when operated. Each air taxi can hold one pilot and four passengers and reaches speeds up to 200 miles per hour.

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"Flying with us might feel more like getting into an SUV than boarding a plane," the company's website says of its aircraft.

A Joby aircraft is similar in appearance to a helicopter, but exceedingly more planet-friendly. Joby's electric air taxis produce significantly less pollution than all currently approved forms of air travel  especially gas-powered helicopters. Aside from cruise ships, helicopters cause more environmental damage per passenger than any other form of transportation.

According to the New York Times, the Airbus AS350, one popular type of passenger helicopter, produces 950 pounds of polluting carbon per hour. A standard gas-powered car produces 22 pounds per hour.

With their electric motors, an eVTOL with three passengers produces 52% less harmful carbon pollution than a car, even when charging its batteries with a dirty energy source like methane gas.

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Toyota Motor Corporation has a longstanding relationship with Joby Aviation dating back to 2019. So far, Toyota has invested $894 million in the aviation startup throughout various funding rounds, according to a press release.

In addition to monetary investments, Toyota has also invested time and labor into Joby Aviation. The auto giant has helped the startup with process planning, manufacturing method development, and tooling design. In 2023, the two companies signed a long-term agreement for Toyota to aid in manufacturing key components of Joby's air taxis.

Would you be more likely to use a rideshare service that offers EV rides?

Click your choice to see results and speak your mind

Joby Aviation says this new half-billion in funding will help realize "the two companies' shared vision of air mobility."

"Today's investment builds on nearly seven years of collaboration between our companies," Joby Aviation founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt said in the release. "The knowledge and support shared by Toyota has been instrumental in Joby's success and we look forward to deepening our relationship as we deliver on our shared vision for the future of air travel."

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Earlier this year, Joby Aviation flew its aircraft in New York City in a pioneering flight. The company recently finished production on its third aircraft. Joby also recently broke ground on an expanded facility in California that will more than double the company's manufacturing impact.

Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
When Zakira Porter was arrested in May 2022 as a suspect in a gas station shooting, cops noticed marks all over her 8-year-old daughters body.

That led to a second criminal case.

For the childs injuries, she is charged with aggravated battery, neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury, battery resulting in serious bodily injury and battery on a person less than 14 years old.

Porter, 38, of Crown Point, formerly of Gary, pleaded not guilty.

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However, when the trial started Monday, she again refused to leave her jail cell and is being tried in absentia.

Deputy Prosecutors Chris Bruno and Michelle Jatkiewicz allege Porter whipped the girl, now 11, repeatedly with an extension cord in an empty room when she didnt get the right answers as she was homeschooled.

A medical doctor estimated the girl was hurt head to toe with marks, scars and bruises, Bruno said in opening arguments.

At the home in Gary, cops found red and brown stains, plus splatter marks. An extension cord had the girls DNA on it, the prosecutor said.

Defense lawyer Sonya Scott-Dix told the jury it was only allegations and Porter doesnt legally have to prove anything at trial. She said prosecutors couldnt prove the case.

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The girl testified Monday that only Porter hit her with the cord.

Hi, she told Jatkiewicz after she was sworn in by a bailiff. The child pointed out her Minnie Mouse backpack in pictures of her former room.

The girl said Porter would throw her across a room, put her on the floor and hit her, and deny her food or permission to go to the bathroom.

Porter would use the cord, belt or a hairbrush to beat her, or periodically choke her against the wall, the girl said.

What would you say to her, Jatkiewicz asked.

Im sorry, the child replied.

On cross-examination, the girl told Scott-Dix that she didnt trip and fall over toys. When asked about falling other times, the girl said she couldnt remember. She denied telling an officer at the Hobart Police Station that she felt safe with Porter.

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When asked if her father whooped her just before her injuries were discovered, the child claimed he beat her later, when she was 10.

Who hit you, Jatkiewicz later asked.

Just my mom, the girl replied.

The trial continues Tuesday.

Porter refused to get dressed in her jail cell last week for a pretrial hearing, filings show.

While Hobart Police were investigating Porter for the shooting, an Indiana Department of Child Services caseworker set to meet with her 8-year-old daughter at the police station on May 27, 2022, saw extensive evidence of child abuse all over her body, charges state.

The child told the caseworker Porter hit her regularly with an extension cord, including the day before, documents allege. She first noticed the childs hands, but other wounds were covered by clothing. The girl was taken to the hospital for treatment.

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A nurse told police the child limped at the hospital, telling her Porter hit her with cords when mad, documents state. She had wounds that were at different points in healing.

A doctor told officers the child had an old clavicular fracture  between the shoulder and breastbone  likely from being beaten previously with an extension cord. When police photographed the girl for evidence, they saw extensive scarring and likely permanent disfigurement all over her body, charges state.

Porter had a prior DCS case file opened against her in October 2019 in Marion County after the child went to school with a swollen and bruised eye, documents state. The girl told caseworkers her mother beat her after she urinated on the floor.

Porter declined to cooperate with caseworkers, saying the child fell and hurt herself, documents show.

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The caseworker told police the child only attended school for two weeks before she was pulled out of the school, the affidavit states.

Hobart Police were called just after 5:30 p.m. on May 27, 2022, to a Luke Oil gas station, 3211 W. 37th Ave.

A man told police he went inside at the same time as Porter and jokingly said that she almost hit him with the door.

Once they left, Porter began to yell expletives at him.

Have a blessed day, he replied.

She said she had a gun and would shoot him, documents state. He responded there wasnt a need to shoot over something so small, the affidavit states.

Porter then pulled out a pink and silver revolver, firing two to three shots at him while he waited for his kids to exit the gas station, documents state. A couple of witnesses and security video appeared to corroborate the mans story, who appeared to duck at one point, the affidavit states.

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Police did not find any bullet holes in the mans vehicle.

A woman in a jean jacket and grey sweatpants  later identified as Porter  fled in a red GMC van. She was pulled over and arrested on W. 39th Street with her daughter in the van, documents state.

She faces a trial in February for the shooting.

mcolias@post-trib.com
DALLAS COUNTY, Iowa  The results of a recount in Dallas County are complete for Iowa Senate District 14 and Democrat Sarah Trone Garriott has won the seat, beating Republican Mark Hanson.

Dallas County Auditor Julia Helm confirmed the results of the recount Monday, with Trone Garriott gaining a handful of votes since the original canvas bringing her total to 20,467. Hanson had 20,438 votes and there were 59 write-ins.

Ames Police Department recruiting for 5 more officers

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Trone Garriott released the following statement Monday morning about the recount results:

The recount results have once again reaffirmed what we saw on Election Night, and following the official County Canvas of votes; our campaign has won and I am honored to have earned the votes to serve in the Iowa Senate for the next four years. I am grateful to my volunteers and team for their incredible work through a very long election. Thank you to the Dallas County Auditors Office and the recount committee for their diligence to election integrity and a fair recount process. The election is over and Dallas County residents have spoken. My constituents have re-elected me to preserve our freedoms, make the cost of living more affordable, and fight for our public schools. Im ready to get back to work. Sarah Trone-Garriott

Helm said the final results will be re-canvassed at Tuesdays Dallas County Board of Supervisors meeting.

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Are you craving a comforting Italian meal as the winter weather sets in? We've got you covered!

After hearing from our readers on the Best of the Springs website, we compiled a list of the 9 top-rated Italian restaurants here that offer perfect cozy ambiance and delicious dishes to warm you through the winter.

Whether you're looking for traditional pasta dishes, fresh pizza or delicious desserts, these eateries serve up the city's best.

Here's where you will find authentic Italian cuisine around Colorado Springs:

Note: Click on the restaurant's name to view their website.

Sopra Restaurant Sopra Restaurant (Located at: 4 South 28th St.) Malfda con Manzo Brasato Tuesday February 27, 2024. Photo by Jeff Kearney.

Founded in 2017, Ristorante Di Sopra is owned by Chef Franco Pisani who also owns Paravicini's. Their extensive menu offers dishes like Braised Beef Bruschetta, Shrimp Scampi and Chicken Cacciatore. Also be sure to check out their Chef's Choice Featured Wines list.

Luigi's has been a staple in the Colorado Springs Italian food scene for over 60 years. They serve pizza, pasta, soup, salad, desserts and much more. Don't forget their dedicated Casserole Menu complete with Manicotti and Tortellacci.

Dining review: Roman Villa an oldie but a goodie Roman Villa "Sausage Pizza" prepared with Homemade Sausage and Mozzarella Cheese. Thursday November 6, 2014. Photo by Jeff Kearney

Roman Villa has also been a long-time Italian restaurant in Colorado Springs since 1959. They offer many types of pizza including "The 'Gallina'" which has mozzarella, chicken, artichoke hearts and tomatoes on top.

Dining review: Downtown restaurant offers traditional Italian fare, creative spins Paninos Restaurant Combination of Plates featuring the Sausage and Peppers Sub, The 2x4 Panino, Pesto Chicken Panino and Pepperoni Cheese St

Paninos has two locations in Colorado Springs, the first one having opened in downtown in 1974. Their menu revolves around the panino  a warm, savory Italian sandwich. Some other highlights of their menu include create-your-own pasta and calzones.

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This family-owned and operated Italian eatery was founded in 1987. According to Mollica's website, some popular menu items are the Hot Pastrami Sandwich, Italian Salad and Grilled Chicken Alfredo.

Red Gravy Restaurant Red Gravy Restaurant (Located at: 23 S. Tejon St.) Campanelle Stroganoff Wednesday May 11, 2022. Photo by Jeff Kearney.

Chef Eric Brenner opened Red Gravy in 2016, which is located on Tejon Street. Red Gravy offers a wide array of entrees such as Sea Scallops Puttanesca and Salmon Picatta. Looking for dessert? Red Gravy has a great dessert selection with two liquid dessert options.

Biaggi's has locations across the country, with one location in Colorado Springs and one in Denver. They have a special November Chef's Features section on their menu right now. For a limited time, customers can order Pumpkin Creme Brulee, Creamy Chicken Meatball Soup, French Onion Bruschetta and more.

La Bella Vita Ristorante Italiano La Bella Vita Ristorante Italiano (Located at: 4475 Northpark Dr.) Rigatoni alla Carre Sunday July 31, 2022. Photo by Jeff Kearney.

Chef Giuliano Casulli, hailing from Bari, Italy, opened La Bella Vita Ristorante Italiano in 2012, bringing a blend of classic and contemporary Italian flavors. Highlights of the menu include the rich Lasagna Bolognese and flavorful Gamberi Scampi. The restaurant serves both lunch and dinner, offering a variety of dishes for any occasion.

#6: Paravicini's Italian Bistro "From our 1st visit 8 years ago, to every visit since, the food and service has been above par, top notch. Always consistent. Best ITALIAN me

Paravicini's in Old Colorado City comes in at No. 1, solidifying its reputation as an award-winning staple in Colorado Springs. Founded in 2003, Paravicini's is Chef Franco Pisani's first restaurant in the city. Their menu includes delicious Italian dishes, an after-dinner Italian coffee bar, dessert selection and comprehensive wine list.
Olivia Troye, who served as an adviser to then-Vice President Mike Pence during Donald Trumps first term, has published a survival guide for those who will staff the White House upon Trumps return to the Oval Office.

In the latest issue of Troyes email newsletter, We Lived It, the now fierce Trump critic acknowledged the excitement that probably super-MAGA incoming staffers will have, just like she did during Trump 1.0, about working for the current president-elect.

But she warned they will at some point bear witness to something that changes your mind that will let them see Trump for who and what he truly is. She then offered advice on how to deal with the quandary  from remembering who they serve to expecting the unexpected and being brave.

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Troye also issued further strategies for women working in the Trump White House who will face an extra set of challenges, she wrote, amid what she described as its chauvinisticmale-dominated culture.

Im not going to lie to you. No matter who you are, you are entering a hostile environment, she wrote. I was fortunateMike Pence was a decent, respectful island in Trumps sea of contempt. It will be much, much worse this time. Read the full email here.

Related...
TALLAHASSEE, Florida  President-elect Donald Trump is throwing his support behind Floridas chief financial officer as his choice to succeed former Rep. Matt Gaetz in Congress, a move that could increase pressure on Gov. Ron DeSantis to pick allies to the president-elect for other posts.

Trump on Monday said on social media that he would support Republican Jimmy Patronis for the now-vacant northwest Florida congressional seat that Gaetz gave up during his truncated bid for attorney general. Gaetz withdrew from consideration amid an outcry over investigations into his conduct. The Department of Justice conducted its own investigation as part of a sex trafficking probe and, according to Gaetzs lawyers and DOJ officials, decided not to bring criminal charges.

Trump said that Patronis had been a wonderful friend to me, even though Patronis did not endorse Trump in this years presidential race until after DeSantis withdrew from the primary.

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Should he decide to enter this Race, Jimmy Patronis has my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, JIMMY, RUN! Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Patronis appeared ready to take that advice. He put out his own social media post on Monday afternoon that said Put me to work, Mr. President!  I am here to serve.

Trumps decision to back Patronis follows his public support of state Sen. Randy Fine for the congressional seat of another one of his picks in a second administration, Rep. Mike Waltz.

It comes at a key moment. Elected officials interested in running in the special election to pick Gaetzs successor are required on Monday to submit their resign-to-run letters if they want to hold on to their seats while campaigning. Two state legislators had already said they planned to jump into the race, as has one local elected official.

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Patronis' decision to run for Congress means it would fall to DeSantis to pick someone to fill his job until the 2026 elections. State Sen. Joe Gruters, a long-time ally of Trump who has clashed with DeSantis, has already said he is running for chief financial officer. The question is whether DeSantis will fill the job with someone who would be able to run against Gruters in two years.

Additionally, Lara Trump, Trumps daughter-in-law, has expressed interest in being appointed to the Senate seat now held by Marco Rubio. Trump has nominated Rubio for secretary of state, and it will be up to DeSantis to decide who will hold that seat until the next round of elections in two years.

Patronis, whose family runs a famous restaurant in Panama City, has been the states chief financial officer, a statewide elected post, since being appointed to it in 2017 by then-Gov. Rick Scott. Patronis, who had been a legislator, had been a strong ally to Scott going back to his first run as governor when Patronis supported him over the GOP candidate backed by most of Floridas Republican establishment.

Patronis does not live in Gaetzs congressional district, but he is well known throughout the region.

This marks the second Florida congressional race that Trump has made his preference known. Over the weekend he put out a social media post urging Fine, the state senator, to run for the congressional seat in northeast Florida held by Waltz. Trump picked Waltz as his national security adviser.
Donald Trumps pick for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, once wrote about how Israel is key to a necessary American crusadeand the Geneva Conventions should be thrown out the window.

The Guardian has reported that in his most recent work, The War on Warriors, Hegseth wrote that the U.S. military should completely disregard the international human rights treaties, which outline rules for how to treat civilians during war time.



The key question of our generationof the wars in Iraq and Afghanistanis way more complicated: what do you do if your enemy does not honor the Geneva conventions. We never got an answer. Only more war. More casualties, Hegseth wrote. If our warriors are forced to follow rules arbitrarily and asked to sacrifice more lives so that international tribunals feel better about themselves, arent we just better off winning our wars according to our own rules?!  Who cares what other countries think?

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In his 2024 book, American Crusade: Our Fight to Stay Free, he wrote, If you love America, you should love Israel.

He goes on to liken his support for Israel to the Crusades, writing, Our present moment is much like the 11th Century. We dont want to fight, but, like our fellow Christians one thousand years ago, we must. Arm yourselfmetaphorically, intellectually, physically. Our fight is not with guns. Yet.

Hegseths nomination aligns perfectly with President-elect Trumps right-wing makeover of the federal government. And it doesnt hurt that, like Trump, Hegseth has a serious allegation of sexual assault from 2017 hanging over his head.
Donald Trumps picks for a second term Cabinet were supposed to illuminate what a MAGA presidency free of guardrails would look like.

Many of his picks have been surprising, some controversial. His initial announcements were giveaways to his base  Matt Gaetz, then Pam Bondi for AG; Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence; RFK Jr at HHS. But as the process continues, one familiar theme has emerged: the willingness of the incoming president to spurn committed right-wing ideologues within his party.

The first clue was his selection of Marco Rubio to lead the State Department. A relatively centrist Republican senator who is a supporter of military aid to Ukraine and Israel, Rubios pick was seen as a blow to the isolationist wing of the party, which Trump has long been seen as championing.

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The Florida senator is facing accusations of being a neocon from the likes of Alex Jones, Ron Paul, and even RFK Jr, who The Hill reports is lobbying Trump to select someone else for the job.

Rubio is just one nominee. But several of Trumps other Cabinet-level picks are also rankling people who were hoping that a Trump victory would mean a return to power for a vision of the American right wing that never took into account the realities of MAGA-world and Trump himself. The Republican Party still struggles to wrestle with how Trump-style populism  sometimes isolationist, sometimes pro-labor, and infrequently consistent  fits in to the GOPs overall ideology. And vice versa.

If Marco Rubio becomes Donald Trumps secretary of State, hell do so despite one of his potential colleagues, RFK Jr, lobbying against his selection (AP)

Scott Bessents nomination for Treasury is another key example. His selection on Friday came despite public lobbying against him specifically carried out by Elon Musk and murmurs about his connections to Democrat-supporting billionaire George Soros on the right. Other Republican figures have sounded off over his pick to run the Labor Department, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, over her support for the union-boosting Pro Act.

But maybe Trumps worst transgression against the far-right: his pick for Surgeon General. Yes: what is typically an apolitical appointment is now provoking rage among two key groups of voters who backed the incoming president in 2024, the anti-mask, anti-lockdown Covid-skeptic crowd (in all its various shades), and the anti-abortion evangelical and Catholic right. Many of the former crowd in particular gravitated towards Ron DeSantis in the 2024 GOP primary after he emerged as a vocal opponent of mask mandates and other public health guidelines while serving as Floridas governor in 2020 and 2021.

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Dr Janette Nesheiwats nomination enrages both camps.

Dr Janette Nesheiwat, a medical contributor on Fox News, is facing skepticism from Covid skeptics and anti-abortion groups alike. (Getty Images)

A clip of Nesheiwat appearing on the Fox Business Network is spreading in right-wing circles; in the video, she expresses support for Facebooks efforts to tamp down on vaccine and Covid conspiracies  a huge no-no for a segment of the population which adamantly refused to comply with mask mandates, social distancing requirements and protested the closure of schools when the virus was killing hundreds of thousands of Americans.

Her Twitter/X post serving as the announcement of her intended appointment was immediately besieged by Trump supporters demanding that she refuse the position.

Watch your step, Janette. We dont trust you, wrote The Blaze host Sara Gonzales.

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If this feels familiar, its because Donald Trump has spent the past year making various decisions and statements which similarly enraged or otherwise spun up various groups of voters that make up the right flank of the GOP.

That same willingness to disappoint hardline conservative Republicans  at least, the ones who pay attention to the day-to-day of the political news cycle  was evident throughout the 2024 campaign. The anti-abortion right frequently takes the brunt of it; Trump spurned them, and former rival DeSantis, when he refused to endorse Floridas six-week abortion ban. His stance against legislation to ban abortion at the federal level angered that group, too.

But the comparatively uncontroversial selections for Cabinet positions following a few initial outliers raises another question: is the president-elect attempting to build political capital with the Senate? And for what purpose?

With the Trump administration reportedly plotting a massive day-one push on immigration, one that will likely rely on Congress in some form for changes to law and funding which can only be provided through the Legislative Branch, we may have that answer in the weeks ahead.
Opinion. Across the federal bureaucracy, Indian Country engages with numerous departments and agencies, such as the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of Justice, and Department of Health and Human Services. Approximately 20 federal agencies directly impact Indian Country on an ongoing basis.

As the incoming administration transition team announces President-elect Donald Trumps nominees, it is crucial to scrutinize the nominees because of the vast authority they have leading the federal departments.

Several cabinet secretary nominees have raised concerns, including Matt Gaetz and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Matt Gaetz

Matt Gaetz, initially nominated by Trump to be Attorney General, has already withdrawn his name from the processa development that many view as good news for the country. His nomination announced on Nov. 13, 204, he withdrew eight days later.

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Given the Justice Departments critical role in Indian Country, I closely followed Gaetzs nomination and withdrawal. From the outset, I found his selection by President-elect Trump absurd because I have been following the accusations of his improper sexual relations with a minor female that have been under investigation.

Media reports suggested that Gaetz, a staunch Trump loyalist, would prioritize retribution against Trumps perceived adversaries. However, my concerns went beyond potential partisan retaliation. The Justice Department has substantial responsibilities in addressing the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) crisis. Native Americansboth women and mengo missing at epidemic rates, often due to human trafficking.

Gaetzs alleged history of misconduct, including accusations of paying minors for sex and providing drugs, made him an unsuitable candidate to address human trafficking and other serious issues affecting Native communities.

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The medias persistent coverage of Gaetzs controversies was instrumental in holding him accountable. Come January 20, 2025, with Republicans controlling the presidency, Congress, and the Supreme Court, the medias role as a watchdog has become even more vital in maintaining democratic guardrails.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Trumps selection of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.) to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has alarmed many. HHS, which oversees the Indian Health Service (IHS) and the Administration for Native Americans (ANA), has over 80,000 employees and a projected budget of $1.7 trillion for 2025.

RFK Jr.s lack of a healthcare background and managerial experience raises significant concerns. His controversial stance against vaccines, unsupported by medical science, has made his nomination especially troubling.

Experts have highlighted the life-saving impact of vaccines, with research published in The Lancet estimating that vaccines have saved 154 million lives over the past half-centuryan average of six lives every minute. RFK Jr.s baseless claims about vaccines undermine public health efforts.

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Additionally, Kennedys opposition to fluoride in drinking water, based on dubious assertions about its effects on childrens IQ, contradicts established scientific evidence. While most approvals for water fluoridaton are made at state and local levels of governments, his assertion is still troubliing because of the lack of scientific backing.

Doug Burgum

Among the nominees, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Trumps choice to replace outgoing Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo), appears to be a more balanced selection. Burgum, who has governed North Dakota since 2016, appears to be a capable leader.

The Interior Department is critical for Indian Country, housing agencies like the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Indian Education, Office of Special Trustee, and Bureau of Land Management.

Trumps campaign rhetoric often emphasized economic solutions through increased tariffs and domestic oil production, epitomized by the slogan Drill, baby, drill. Burgum is expected to carry out this agenda as Interior Secretary.

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In the previous Trump administration, officials told Native leaders that 20% of untapped U.S. energy reserves are on tribal lands. If confirmed, Burgums approach to tribal energy resources must be carefully monitored to prevent exploitation and adverse health impacts, such as those caused by uranium mining on Navajo lands, which led to a rise in cancer cases.

Contrary to Trumps claims, domestic oil production under the Biden-Harris administration has exceeded that of the first Trump administration, undermining criticisms of the current administrations energy policies.

Conclusion

I am relieved that Gaetz is no longer under consideration for Attorney General. RFK Jr., however, remains an alarming choice for HHS due to his lack of qualifications and promotion of harmful misinformation.

As for Burgum, I hope he recognizes the importance of protecting sacred tribal sites and maintaining the enhanced tribal consultations established under the Biden-Harris administration. The Interior Secretary must balance energy exploration and development with the preservation of Indian Countrys cultural and environmental integrity.

Thayek gde nwendemen - We are all related.

About the Author: "Levi \"Calm Before the Storm\" Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert was awarded Best Column 2021 Native Media Award for the print\/online category by the Native American Journalists Association. He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at levi@nativenewsonline.net."

Contact: levi@nativenewsonline.net
(Bloomberg) -- The controversial China-born crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun has invested $30 million in President-elect Donald Trumps World Liberty Financial, making him the largest investor in the decentralized finance project.

Most Read from Bloomberg

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The U.S. is becoming the blockchain hub, and Bitcoin owes it to @realDonaldTrump!, Sun, the founder of the cryptocurrency firm Tron, announced in a post on X Monday. TRON is committed to making America great again and leading innovation.

The investment is not related to any political purpose but is based on the projects potential to provide innovative solutions for decentralized lending and governance, Sun said in a response to questions from Bloomberg News.

Were excited about the momentum experienced by World Liberty Financial, and this sizable purchase of WLF tokens underscores the early success of this project, a spokesperson for World Liberty said in a statement. Indeed, there have been several significant purchases in recent weeks, and we are confident in our future success as we build a platform that promotes freer and fairer finance. We expect more such developments to happen in the coming weeks and months.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission sued Sun in March 2023 for allegedly violating securities rules. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York, claims that Sun worked with companies he owns and controls to engineer the offer and sale of the unregistered securities. It also accuses the crypto entrepreneur of breaking antifraud and market manipulation rules. Sun has said in the past that he believes that an SEC court filing accusing him and several of his firms of violating securities rules lacks merit.

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Earlier this year, USDC stablecoin issuer Circle axed their support for the Tron blockchain  attributing the decision to a risk management framework that continually assesses the suitability of all blockchains for the stablecoin.

Trump-backed World Liberty Financial, launched a day after the former president emerged from a second apparent assassination attempt, is being promoted by Trump and his sons as part of the DeFi movement, which seeks to democratize access to financial services though the elimination of intermediaries. During World Libertys initial launch, the Wilmington, Delaware-based project planned to raise $300 million at a $1.5 billion valuation. However, it recently disclosed that its $300 million offering of tokens is primarily being marketed offshore.

World Liberty filed a notice with American regulators on the offering, stating that it currently only plans to sell $30 million of tokens in the US. After reaching the $30 million threshold, World Liberty will terminate the US offering, even though the company has some $288.5 million of tokens available for sale, according to the document.

Trump has been a recent and vocal proponent of digital assets like Bitcoin. Last week, Bloomberg News reported that Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. is in talks to buy the digital-asset marketplace Bakkt Holdings Inc., citing people familiar with the discussions who asked not to be named sharing private information. Trump owns more than 50% of TMTG, which operates Truth Social, a social media site.

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Donald Trump is listed as World Liberty Financials chief crypto advocate, while his sons, Eric, Donald Jr. and Barron Trump are named as its web3 ambassadors. The project also includes Paxos co-founder Rich Teo as its stablecoin and payment lead, as well as Luke Pearson, a senior research cryptographer for Polychain.

Just two days ago, Sun announced that he paid $6.2 million for a banana duct-taped to a wall, as part of a piece of work by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan.

The price of Trons TRX token dropped about 5% to around 20 cents on Monday. It has climbed about 87% this year.

--With assistance from Suvashree Ghosh.

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(Adds comment from Justin Sun, World Liberty in second and third paragraph.)

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2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Pete Hegseth, a Sumner County, Tenn. resident, is President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense. (Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images)

(This story was originally published by the Idaho Capital Sun.)

Pete Hegseth, president-elect Donald Trumps nominee for secretary of Defense, has close ties to an Idaho-based Christian nationalist church that aims to turn America into a theocracy.

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Hegseth is a member of a Tennessee congregation affiliated with Christ Church, a controversial congregation in Moscow, Idaho, that has become a leader in the movement to get more Christianity in the public sphere.

In an appearance last year on the Christ Church-connected streaming show Crosspolitic, Hegseth talked about how building up fundamentalist Christian education systems is important in what he sees as a spiritual battle with the secular world. He sees Christian students as foot soldiers in that war and refers to Christian schools as boot camp.

Were in middle phase one right now, which is effectively a tactical retreat where you regroup, consolidate and reorganize and as you do so, you build your army underground with the opportunity later on of taking offensive operations  and obviously all of this is metaphorical and all that good stuff, he said on the show.

Hegseth did not immediately respond to requests for an interview.

Hegseth has spoken positively about Christ Church Pastor Doug Wilsons writings

Christ Church is led by Pastor Doug Wilson, who founded the Calvinist group of churches called the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, or CREC. CREC has congregations in nearly all 50 states and several foreign countries. Hegseths church is a member of CREC, and Hegseth has spoken positively of Wilsons writings.

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Wilson and his allies have a rigid patriarchal belief system and dont believe in the separation of church and state. They support taking away the right to vote from most women, barring non-Christians from holding office and criminalizing the LGBTQ+ community.

Recently, Wilson has increased his influence nationally as hes built a religious, educational and media empire. His Association of Classical Christian Schools has hundreds of fundamentalist schools around the country, and his publishing outfit Canon Press churns out dozens of titles a year as well as popular streaming shows that highlight unyielding socially conservative ideals.

In the recently released podcast, Extremely American (created by this reporter), Wilson says one of his goals is to get like-minded people into positions of influence. In an emailed response for this story, he said hes closer to that post-election and that he supports Hegseths nomination, though he downplayed any influence he has on him.

I was grateful for Trumps win, and believe that it is much more likely that Christians with views similar to mine will receive positions in the new administration, he said.

Hegseth nomination could threaten cohesion, diversity of U.S. military, experts say

Thats what worries Air Force veteran Mikey Weinstein, who is the president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Weinstein says Hegseth, if confirmed as secretary of Defense, would threaten the cohesion of a religiously and racially diverse U.S. military.

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Pete Hegseth is a poster child for literally everything that would be the opposite of what you would want to have for someone whos controlling the technologically most lethal organization in the history of this country, he said.

Weinstein sees Hegseths nomination as an example of the dangers of Project 2025, a 900-page policy paper written by far-right political activists. It lays out a plan to gut the federal government and install Christian nationalist ideals.

Christian nationalism is an absolute fatal cancer metastasizing at light speed (for) the national security of this country, he said. It is a Christian version of the Taliban.

Matthew D. Taylor, senior scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies, said Hegseth is one of the most extreme far right figures ever nominated to a cabinet post, at least in modern memory.

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Taylor said hes broadly concerned about Christian nationalists, who tend to take a dim view of democracy, potentially having a lot of sway in this administration.

I think we should expect a profound degradation of our democratic norms of the rule of law, and I think we are edging closer to a de facto Anglo Protestant establishment, of the kind where Anglo Protestant Christianity as the de facto official religion in the United States, he said.

Hegseth faces some headwinds in his nomination process due to multiple marital sex scandals and the recent revelation that he paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault in exchange for her not speaking about it. He denies he assaulted her but admits he paid her. Hes also gotten criticism for tattoos that are symbols of the Crusades and wrote a book titled American Crusade, where he derides Muslims.

Before becoming a TV personality, Hegseth led the conservative veterans group Concerned Veterans for America, which advocated for increased privatization of veterans health care.

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He has also said that women should not be allowed to serve in combat roles in the military, and has complained about what he terms woke policies in the military.

(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.)
By Qabil Ashirov



After the restoration of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, the first insurance companies to open branches in Khankendi were Mega Insurance OJSC and Mega Hayat Insurance OJSC.

Azernews reports that last week, the management board of Mega Insurance and Mega Life Insurance companies inaugurated the "Karabagh" branch in Khankendi city. The new branch, which will serve legal entities and individual clients operating in the Karabakh economic region, will provide both life and non-life insurance products.

The New Karabakh branch is provided with all the necessary conditions and opportunities to ensure the availability of mandatory and voluntary insurance products to customers, as well as to provide high-quality service.

The leadership of the special representation of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Khankendi City also participated in the opening ceremony.

It should be noted that "Mega Insurance" OJSC has been operating since 2010 and provides 37 types of voluntary and compulsory insurance products to legal and natural persons, as well as life insurance services through "Mega Life Insurance" OJSC, of ??which it is a 100% shareholder. The company is at the service of customers with a network of 16 branches and representatives and *8778 Call Center in Baku and different regions of Azerbaijan. The company is one of the leading companies in the insurance market in terms of the volume of insurance collections, insurance payments, and total capital.

The charter capital is 11 mln. "Mega Life Insurance" OJSC with AZN in 2021 began operating on the basis of a license to provide life insurance services issued by the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The company offers compulsory life insurance, credit life insurance, mortgage life insurance, life life insurance, corporate life insurance, and terminal illness insurance services to individuals and legal entities in terms of life insurance.
Space Delta 15 Commander Col. Stephen Lyon provided a mission brief during the 38th Space Symposium at the Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, Colo., April 18, 2023. Lyon discussed Delta 15s mission to provide service command-and-control (C2) capability, mission ready crew forces, skills training, certifications, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), and support and cyber mission defense. (US. Space Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jose A. Rodriguez Jr)
Attorneys for Donald Trump conducted an internal investigation into allegations that one of his top aides, Boris Epshteyn, has sought to gain financially from his influence with Trump and others in the president-elects orbit, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

The internal investigation, which was confirmed by half a dozen sources and is not criminal in nature, has probed multiple instances of Epshteyn allegedly requesting payment in exchange for promoting candidates for administration positions or offering to connect individuals with people in the upcoming administration relevant to their industries, sources said.

In one instance he requested as much as $100,000 per month in exchange for his services, according to sources familiar with the matter.

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Epshteyns alleged activities prompted those looking into the matter to make an initial recommendation that Epshteyn should be removed from Trumps proximity and that he should not be employed or paid by Trump entities, according to two sources.

As of Monday afternoon, it does not appear the transition team will heed that recommendation.

I am honored to work for President Trump and with his team, Epshteyn said in a statement to CNN. These fake claims are false and defamatory and will not distract us from Making America Great Again.

The alleged behavior by one of Trumps closest advisers hints at some of the turmoil and strife behind the scenes of the transition process as the president-elect and his team staff the incoming administration.

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Epshteyn, long seen as one of Trumps most loyal advisers, has played a significant role in the transition, sitting in on key meetings and candidate briefings at the president-elects Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. But his presence has often been a divisive one.

A notorious Trump-world infighter, Epshteyn is known for his combative and loud personality, and often boasts about his close relationship with Trump, according to sources in and around the president-elects orbit.

In recent years, Epshteyn has acted as both an attorney and an adviser to Trump and  much to the chagrin of some more experienced lawyers in Trumps inner circle played an influential role in organizing his criminal defense strategy after the former president was indicted four times.

While Epshteyn has not been accused of illegal behavior, the decision to launch an internal investigation reflects the Trump teams cautiousness around activity that could appear unsavory.

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As is standard practice, a broad review of the campaigns consulting agreements has been conducted and completed, including as to Boris, among others, Trump transition spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement to CNN. We are now moving ahead together as a team to help President Trump Make America Great Again.

In an interview with conservative outlet Just the News that published Monday afternoon, Trump said he did not condone the practice of staffers soliciting consulting fees from people seeking jobs in the administration.

No one can promise any endorsement or nomination except me, Trump said. I make these decisions on my own, period.

Source: Very much pay-for-play

Part of that investigation focused on claims that Epshteyn proposed that Scott Bessent, Trumps pick for Treasury secretary, pay him to promote his name with Trump and others at Mar-a-Lago. Bessent did not make payments to Epshteyn.

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CNN has reached out to representatives of Bessent for comment.

The back-and-forth between Epshteyn and Bessent resulted in a heated confrontation last week in the lobby of Mar-a-Lago, where Epshteyn raised his voice at Bessent, according to two sources briefed on the matter.

Scott Bessent speaks at a campaign event for Donald Trump in Asheville, North Carolina, in August 2024. - Jonathan Drake/Reuters

In at least one other instance, Epshteyn asked for payment in exchange for introductions and influence with the incoming Trump administration, according to two sources. Trumps legal team was investigating several other similar alleged incidents, according to sources familiar with the situation.

The allegations concerning Epshteyn were brought to incoming White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. It is unclear whether the allegations have been presented to Trump directly.

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At times, Epshteyn has described the services he is trying to sell as a type of consulting, but the legal team investigating the issue has struggled to pinpoint any legitimate consulting work Epshteyn has provided, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The way I see it is its very much a pay-for-play, said one person who spoke to the legal team that investigated Epshteyn. This person described a separate incident in which Epshteyn allegedly tried to request payment for questionable consulting services, offering to connect the person with incoming administration officials relevant to their industry or lobbying firms that will be the most well-connected to the new administration.

The investigator assured the person that their interaction with Epshteyn wasnt an isolated incident.

It was like, Hey, youre not the only one, the person who spoke to investigators said. Hes gone to everybody for it.

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One person close to Epshteyn brushed off the notion that this was pay-for-play.

This is how Washington works, the person said.

Allies of Epshteyn described the internal review as the product of newer associates not understanding the dynamic between Trump and Epshteyn as well as a disdain for the power Epshteyn wields with the President-elect. Epshteyn was a constant presence on Trumps plane through the end of the 2024 campaign, often insisting on being present for conversations and briefings that had nothing to do with legal matters, a source close to Trump told CNN.

Boris is a Trump originalloyal and effective from the very beginning, a Trump transition official told CNN. He works for President Trump, and nobody else, and has helped defeat the most vicious lawfare campaign in history. Boris has seen these petty skirmishes before, but he always perseveres.

Lobbied for Gaetz

As the legal teams investigation got underway, Epshteyn sent cease-and-desist-style messages to associates, claiming he had never demanded payment and threatening legal action, according to two people familiar with the matter.

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Epshteyn has long been a fixture of the president-elects inner circle and has been part of key meetings with Trump at Mar-a-Lago during the transition period. He is often spotted at Mar-a-Lago eating dinner with the president-elect on the patio and has sat in on several transition meetings and candidate briefings, particularly related to Trumps choices for the Department of Justice.

Rep. Matt Gaetz arrives with President-elect Donald Trump's motorcade in Washington, DC, on November 13. - Nathan Howard/Reuters

Sources described Epshteyn as responsible for pushing former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetzs name amid discussions about who Trump should pick as his attorney general. Epshteyn lobbied for Gaetz directly to Trump on a flight just hours before Gaetz was named as the pick.

The former Florida congressman later withdrew after it became clear he didnt have the votes in the Senate amid the potential disclosure of a House Ethics Committee report detailing an investigation into Gaetz, including over allegations of sexual misconduct and other alleged crimes.

Confrontation with Musk

Despite a seemingly more orderly and quick process than in 2016, Trumps transition this time around is still rife with the infighting that is typically on display in Trumps orbit, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CNN. Sources on the transition team have expressed frustration at how many people have Trumps ear and how quickly a days progress can be undone.

Elon Musk speaks with President-elect Donald Trump at a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket in Brownsville, Texas, on November 19. - Brandon Bell/Pool/Reuters

Tensions between Epshteyn and some other members of Trumps inner circle have escalated in recent weeks. Elon Musk, who has been by Trumps side regularly since the election and has a growing influence on the president-elect, has questioned Epshteyns sway over Trump. The two also had a confrontation at Mar-a-Lago, with Musk leveling a number of accusations at Epshteyn, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

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This year, the Trump campaign paid Epshteyns firm, Georgetown Advisory, $53,500 each month for communications and legal consulting, according to campaign finance records through October, the most recent month available.

Epshteyn briefly served in the first Trump administration as a special assistant to the president in 2017, but he has not been offered a formal role in the incoming administration.

Epshteyn stood alongside Trump during his arraignment in his New York hush money case and traveled with him for his arraignments in Georgia and Washington, DC.

Epshteyn himself faces criminal charges in a case in Arizona related to efforts to upend the results of the 2020 presidential election. He has pleaded not guilty.

This story has been updated.

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After special counsel Jack Smith moved to dismiss his case against Donald Trump for attempting to overturn the 2020 election Monday, Trump decided to gloat on X and attack everyone who tried to prosecute him.

Trump made a rare post on his old stomping ground late Monday afternoon blasting Democrats and prosecutors, specifically naming Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, former Fulton County prosecutor Nathan Wade, New York state Attorney General Letitia James, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. He called every case against him a political hijacking, and a low point in the History of our Country that such a thing could have happened, and yet, I persevered, against all odds, and WON. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

X screenshot Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump: These cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought. Over $100 Million Dollars of Taxpayer Dollars has been wasted in the Democrat Partys fight against their Political Opponent, ME. Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before. They have also used State Prosecutors and District Attorneys, such as Fani Willis and her lover, Nathan Wade (who had absolutely zero experience in cases such as this, but was paid MILLIONS, enough for them to take numerous trips and cruises around the globe!), Letitia James, who inappropriately, unethically, and probably illegally, campaigned on GETTING TRUMP in order to win Political Office, and Alvin Bragg, who himself never wanted to bring this case against me, but was forced to do so by the Justice Department and the Democrat Party. It was a political hijacking, and a low point in the History of our Country that such a thing could have happened, and yet, I persevered, against all odds, and WON. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! 3:41 PM  Nov 25, 2024  4.5M Views

At least while hes president, Trump no longer has to worry about facing any charges for his role in the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection or mishandling classified documents. His sentence for his felony conviction in his hush-money case has been indefinitely canceled, and his Georgia election interference case was already in limbo.

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But now that hes in the clear, Trump wants revenge. His attacks have an ominous tone, as he repeatedly made threats to take retribution against his enemies while campaigning for his second term as president. Hes promised to take on the enemy within, meaning Democrats who have opposed him, and he just put James, Willis, and Bragg firmly in his crosshairs.

Trump will have plenty of help from right-wing foot soldiers in the Justice Department, led by his new handpicked attorney general nominee, Pam Bondi. She already has a record of helping the president-elect with whatever he wants, whether its serving as his lawyer during his impeachment or opting not to press charges against his phony university while she was Florida attorney general in exchange for (illegal) campaign donations.

Bondi and the right-wing legal establishment probably will not have any qualms going after whoever Trump has a grudge against, even if they are elected officials and prosecutors. The question is whether any laws or courts will be enough to withstand Trumps desire for revenge.
Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Oregon) lost her congressional seat in a close election this month to Democratic state Rep. Janelle Bynum. (Julia Shumway | Oregon Capital Chronicle)

Oregon Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who cultivated a closer relationship with some labor unions than most Republicans and narrowly lost her bid for a second term in Congress earlier this month, is President-elect Donald Trumps pick to lead the U.S. Labor Department.

Trump on Friday praised Chavez-DeRemer, the daughter of a Teamster who sought endorsements from unions in her unsuccessful reelection campaign, for building relationships with business and labor.

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I look forward to working with her to create tremendous opportunity for American Workers, to expand Training and Apprenticeships, to grow wages and improve working conditions, to bring back our Manufacturing jobs, Trump said in a statement. Together, we will achieve historic cooperation between Business and Labor that will restore the American Dream for Working Families.

Chavez-DeRemer thanked him in a social media post, writing Working-class Americans finally have a lifeline with you in the White House. Its time to bring our economy to new heights and secure a prosperous future for all hardworking Americans.

She narrowly won election in 2022 in Oregons 5th Congressional District, which stretches from Bend across the Cascades to the suburbs of Portland. Democratic President Joe Biden won the district by 9 points in 2020, and Democratic state Rep. Janelle Bynum  who twice beat Chavez-DeRemer in state legislative races and will be Oregons first Black member of Congress  defeated Chavez-DeRemer by 2.4 points this year.

Chavez-DeRemer operated as a moderate Republican during her nearly two years in federal office, frequently citing an analysis that rated her the second-most bipartisan member of Congress.

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She also sought support from unions, garnering endorsements from more than 20 of them. Most of those endorsements came from small local unions, though she received the sole endorsement of Teamsters Joint Council No. 37, which represents roughly 20,000 workers in various industries across Oregon, Idaho and southwest Washington.

National Teamsters President Sean OBrien, who spoke at the Republican National Convention this summer, supported Chavez-DeRemer for labor secretary. He posted a photo Friday evening of himself with Trump and Chavez-DeRemer, thanking Trump in the caption for putting American workers first by nominating Chavez-DeRemer.

North Americas strongest union is ready to work with you every step of the way to expand good union jobs and rebuild our nations middle class, he wrote.

Oregons largest private-sector union, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, gave both Chavez-DeRemer and Bynum its greenlight stamp, indicating that both candidates values align with the unions. The states other large unions  Service Employees International Union Local 503, with 72,000 members; the Oregon Education Association, with 41,000 members; and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, with 300,000 Oregon members  exclusively backed Bynum.

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Chavez-DeRemer rarely mentioned Trump on the campaign trail, though she publicly endorsed him ahead of the May primary in Oregon. One of her final campaign stops, an October rally with House Speaker Mike Johnson, was to an audience decked out in pro-Trump merchandise.

The business manager of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 701 introduced Chavez-DeRemer at that event, and Johnson commented on her support for unions.

Shes got more labor union endorsements than any Republican Ive ever seen in my life, Johnson said. She understands the plight of working people.

Since losing her election, Chavez-DeRemer has vocally praised Trump, writing on X earlier this week that he expanded on his Working Class coalition by speaking directly to hardworking Americans. This is a true political realignment. We must continue to be the party of the American Worker, with President Trump leading the way!

Democrats criticize record

Democrats criticized Chavez-DeRemer for endorsing Trump and voting for Johnson as speaker, as well as for inconsistent statements and actions on issues including abortion rights, protections for LGBTQ+ individuals and the Biden administrations infrastructure law.

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Both liberals and conservatives have criticized her labor record  Democrats say she hasnt proven that shes a friend of the labor movement despite seeking endorsements, while conservative organizations including the Competitive Enterprise Institute faulted her for backing the Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act, or PRO Act, a Democratic priority which would weaken state right-to-work laws to allow unions to collect dues from all employees, increase penalties for employers who violate labor law and strengthen employees legal rights to join a union.

Before running for Congress in 2022, Chavez-DeRemer served on the Happy Valley City Council and as mayor of the 28,000-population Portland suburb. She ran unsuccessfully for the state House in 2016 and 2018, losing both times to Bynum.

Some of her colleagues in Oregons congressional delegation were surprised by rumors Trump was considering Chavez-DeRemer.

U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas, a Democrat who along with Chavez-DeRemer was one of Oregons first Latinas in Congress, called discussion about it interesting during a Thursday interview.

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If the Trump administration thinks that she would be a reasonable pick for Department of Labor, I think that could be interesting, Salinas said. I dont know how much background she actually has in labor and workforce issues, I think she served on the committee, but yeah, it could be interesting.

Retiring U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, the Democratic dean of Oregons congressional delegation, said he didnt know what to make of Trumps appointments, who he said were manifestly polarizing and unqualified.

I wish Lori luck, he told the Capital Chronicle. I hope they treat her better than they treated the others by not doing their homework. Thats a brutal situation to be in, and I wish her well if she decides to wade into it.

U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, who will return to being the only Republican member of Oregons congressional delegation after Chavez-DeRemers loss, praised her nomination.

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She is an excellent choice by president-elect Trump to serve as labor secretary and she will be a credit to our great state of Oregon. Congratulations again to you, Lori, soon to be Madam Secretary!! Bentz wrote on X.

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. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Lynne Terry for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on Facebook and X.

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MIAMI  President-elect Donald Trump has raided Floridas political leadership for top roles in his administration. Now hes shaping Floridas congressional delegation in his own image.

Trump over the last few days endorsed Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and Republican state Sen. Randy Fine for the House, both before either man made a congressional run official. The endorsements are widely considered to be the coveted golden ticket to getting elected in Districts 1 and 6, respectively, given their deep-red electoral makeup.

If someone wants to run against the president-elect of the United States, who is the first Republican since 2004 to win the popular vote, good luck  Ive seen the ending to this movie, said Miami Commissioner Kevin Cabrera, who was Trumps Florida state director for his 2020 presidential campaign.

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Trump won Florida by 13 points this month and has been picking politicians from his adopted home state to fill out his Cabinet. His butting into the race early is expected to all but anoint two new House members and ensure the picks will be loyal to his agenda.

It also sets up a potential collision course with Gov. Ron DeSantis, who unsuccessfully challenged Trump in the 2024 GOP primary. DeSantis himself won Florida by 19 points two years ago, and this election cycle he defeated amendments on abortion and pot legalization  the latter of which Trump supported.

DeSantis has already been tasked with appointing a new senator given that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is expected to be confirmed easily as the next secretary of State. Lately, DeSantis has come under increasing pressure from MAGA world to pick Trump daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who co-chaired the Republican National Committee, but DeSantis has said hes interviewing multiple people for the job and is likely to announce a decision in January.

Spokespeople for the governor did not respond to requests for comment. Trumps endorsement of Fine was expected given how the then-state representatives support marked a turning point in the Republican presidential primary.



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Fine had initially endorsed DeSantis but then, a couple of weeks after Hamas attack on Israel, he penned a scathing op-ed in the Washington Times that accused the governor of not doing enough to fight antisemitism in Florida. As part of the piece, Fine flipped to Trump, and several other state lawmakers soon followed.

Fine would run in House District 6 to replace Rep. Mike Waltz, who Trump tapped to be national security adviser, while Patronis would run in House District 1, which was former Rep. Matt Gaetzs seat before he resigned to be considered for attorney general but ultimately withdrew.

For Patronis, the question of Trumps endorsement was more open ended. Patronis stayed neutral in the Republican presidential primary until DeSantis dropped out and also has made several overtures to Trump and his supporters in his current job. In January, for instance, he tried to endorse a plan to have the state pay $5 million toward Trumps legal bills  though DeSantis quickly shut it down.

Patronis indicated on Monday that he would run, and doing so would likely take him out of the running for governor in 2026, another race where Trump has shown keen interest in playing kingmaker.

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The primary for both races is Jan. 28, and the general election is April 1. The moves by Trump have already led to a dizzying flurry of activity for Florida Republicans with predictions that more could possibly be in store. There may be more pieces of this puzzle we dont see yet, said one senior Florida Republican official who was granted anonymity to discuss the ongoing intrigue.

Before Trump made his favorite known, other Republicans who wanted to run for Gaetzs seat were jockeying for Trumps attention through calling people they knew on the campaign or getting endorsements from Trump allies. At least eight had announced theyd planned to jump in.

Fighter pilot Jeff Witt, for instance, made his run official on Monday by going on Trump-favorite Fox News and got the immediate backing of Students for Trump. The campaign for state Rep. Joel Rudman put out a release on Friday that highlighted how supportive he was of Trumps agenda. State Rep. Michelle Salzman, who filed her candidacy last week but withdrew Monday, made it clear for days that she would not stand in the way of any candidate Trump wanted.

Politics is an ever-changing chessboard, she said in a text after Trump endorsed Patronis. Our first priority as elected officials should be our constituents. If we put them first, we all win! Jimmy has been endorsed by the leader of our party and that should be enough for us to get behind him.



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Like most members of the Florida Legislature, Salzman and Rudman had endorsed DeSantis during the GOP presidential primary.

Should Patronis make a run official, then DeSantis would get to select his replacement for CFO. He could appoint someone as a caretaker for the job. But at least eight Tallahassee insiders that includes operatives, granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss private conversations, have floated state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, a DeSantis loyalist. Ingoglia recently acknowledged to POLITICO that he was seriously considering running for the seat anyway in 2026.

Appointing someone like Ingoglia would help line up a challenge in 2026 to state Sen. Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota), who has already filed to run for the position and has the Trump endorsement  but is a longtime DeSantis foe.

Gruters stated he wasnt going anywhere, whether appointed to the job of CFO or elected to it in 2026. Gaetz chimed in over social media Monday, saying he too was behind Gruters.

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Jamie Miller, a GOP political strategist for Gruters, predicted that Trumps endorsement would carry the most weight in the 2026 CFO contest regardless of who enters the race. If the governor were to ask him for advice he would tell him to practice the politics of addition by appointing Gruters to CFO.

Gov. DeSantis has to figure out his path past 2026, and in some ways thats going to be in the shadow of Donald Trump, he said. I would suggest he pick up the phone and call the president and work together with him on it.

Gary Fineout contributed to this report from Tallahassee, Florida.
Donald Trump is planning an immediate blanket ban on transgender servicemen and women when he shuffles back into the White House on January 20.

One of his first tasks as President 2.0 will be to fire off an executive order removing transgender people from all ranks of the U.S. military, according to an exclusive report in the The Times.

His move harks back to a controversial order in his first administration when he banned the transgender community from entering the military but allowed existing trans members to stay.

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President Joe Biden reversed Trumps ban at the beginning of his term.

This time, even loyal service personal with decades of service will be given the chop, sources told The Times of London.

The order could come on Trumps first day back in the White House.

About 2,200 service members had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria in 2021, when Trumps first ban was lifted. There are about 1.3 million active duty personnel in the military.

There are believed to be about 15,000 active service personnel who are transgender. Under Trumps reported move, they would be medically discharged, which would determine that they were unfit to serve.

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Trump, 78, has railed against woke practices in the military, saying that some high-ranking officers are often more interested in diversity, equity and inclusion than planning to fight.

Trump spoke of transgender craziness and transgender fanatics at a campaign rally in Virginia in on November 2.

He has nominated Pete Hegseth, 44, the Fox News personality who is facing sexual assault allegations, to run the Pentagon.

Hegseth is a former major in the U.S. National Guard and has bemoaned weak and effeminate leadership in the military and asserted that the the next commander in chief will need to clean house.

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He has also spoken of trans lunacy.

Should a trans ban be implemented from day one of the Trump administration it would undermine the readiness of the military and create an even greater recruitment and retention crisis, not to mention signalling vulnerability to Americas adversaries, Rachel Branaman, executive director of Modern Military Association of America, which campaigns on behalf of LGBTQ+ military personnel and veterans, told The Times.

Abruptly discharging 15,000-plus service members, especially given that the militarys recruiting targets fell short by 41,000 recruits last year, adds administrative burdens to war fighting units, harms unit cohesion, and aggravates critical skill gaps.

There would be a significant financial cost, as well as a loss of experience and leadership that will take possibly 20 years and billions of dollars to replace.

The newspaper also quoted Paulo Batista, a transgender analyst in the U.S. Navy. They told the outlet that Trumps proposed ban would end their careerand would do the same for thousands more.

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I have four years left on my contract, Batista told the paper. But you take 15,000 of us out  theres more but thats the number that is always mentioned  thats 15,000 leadership positions, every one of us play a vital role."

Karoline Leavitt, Trump-Vance Transition Spokeswoman tells Daily Beast, These unnamed sources are speculating and have no idea what they are actually talking about.

No decisions on this issue have been made. No policy should ever be deemed official unless it comes directly from President Trump or his authorized spokespeople.
When conservative commentators began suggesting earlier this year that then-candidate Donald Trump would use the U.S. military to attack Mexicos drug cartels if he won the presidential election, the most common response was disbelief. Dropping bombs on fentanyl labs and sending special operations forces to assassinate cartel leaders seemed too far-fetched to debate. This was especially true given Trumps stances on U.S. military support for Ukraine and other hot spots in the world, which seemed to indicate a reduced global security role for the United States.

Yet, the fact that many reasonable analysts think military attacks on cartels are a bad idea and contradictory to Trumps foreign policy positions elsewhere does not mean that he wont launch them. In fact, when asked about it by Fox News in July, Trump replied, Mexico is gonna have to straighten it out really fast, or the answer is absolutely. One of Trumps defense secretaries during his first term, Mark Esper, says Trump asked for lists of military options for countering the Mexican drug cartels back then and was barely dissuaded from going that route.

Having now won re-election, Trump appears to be moving toward a more aggressive use of the U.S. military at the border to combat migration, and his advisers are also building a case for cross-border military operations into Mexico. In other words, the signs are that the incoming Trump administration is preparing for an actual war against the drug cartels in 2025 that goes well beyond the War on Drugs of the past. That means that whether or not we think this is a debate worth having, it is a debate we must now have.

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The first challenge for the militarized approach under consideration is diplomatic. Mexican President Sheinbaum has so far rejected U.S. security assistance and reduced already limited intelligence-sharing and other cooperation since taking office in October. At the same time, Sheinbaum appears to have taken a more aggressive approach herself toward the cartels, using Mexicos military to do so. As a product of Mexicos political left, Sheinbaum was shaped by an ideological environment that harbors longstanding concerns about U.S. meddling and even intervention in Mexico; given that the U.S. invaded Mexico multiple times and annexed half of its territory in the 19th century, the skepticism about U.S. intentions is far from unfounded. Sheinbaums leftist predecessor and mentor, former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, also reduced security cooperation with the U.S. in his first year in office for similar reasons. But so too did AMLOs centrist predecessor and ideological foe, former President Enrique Pena Nieto, underscoring the deeply rooted nature of these concerns in Mexico.

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To the extent there is a division within the incoming Trump administration on the issue of using the military against the cartels, it is not between those who are for and against the idea. Every top adviser seems to be on board with greater use of the military to combat cartels in some way. Instead, the big question internally is whether the Mexican government should be asked to be a partner in these offensive operations or if the U.S. should launch them unilaterally without consulting Mexico first. It is not clear if Sheinbaum would be willing to negotiate some sort of agreement for a limited operation if she gets something in return, but if the U.S. launches attacks without coordination, the diplomatic fallout will be intense.

Second, whether coordinated or not, there are strategic and tactical challenges to targeting the cartel operations. The U.S. needs to locate the cartel leaders and the fentanyl labs if they want to hit them. On one hand, a military operation in a neighboring country should be relatively easy, given how close all the U.S. assets are. On the other hand, every military operation comes with the risk of failure; the potential for a Blackhawk Down scenarioin which U.S. troops end up pinned down in a violent standoff with criminal forces or even Mexican troops defending the countrys sovereignty from U.S. interventionis real. A simple operation could rapidly escalate into something more complex and deadly.

The big question among Trumps advisers is whether the Mexican government should be asked to be a partner in military operations against cartels or if the U.S. should launch them unilaterally.

The U.S. must also consider potential responses by the cartels, which are businesses that want to make money, not terrorist groups interested in creating fear for the sake of a political or ideological goal. They would prefer to not be targeted by U.S. military strikes, and some may simply lie low in an attempt to get back to business-as-usual as quickly as possible. But some Mexican criminal groups may decide to fight back and even escalate violence by targeting U.S. interests, businesses and citizens. They can do plenty of damage to U.S. forces operating in Mexico, and they have the capabilities, weapons and personnel to take the fight into U.S. territory in a way that al-Qaida and the Islamic State could only dream of. So if Trump and his team are seriously considering contingency plans, they should be giving some thought to what happens if the cartels choose to fight back.

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Third, and perhaps most importantly, tactical military strikes mean nothing is if there is no overarching political strategy to defeat the cartels. Assume for the sake of argument that all the concerns listed aboveand there are plenty more I havent listedend up being manageable or dont come to pass. So the U.S. successfully kills all the cartel leaders it has identified for targeting and bombs all the fentanyl labs it has located, while facing no diplomatic or security problems in doing so. What will it accomplish? What does victory look like? In fact, the drugs will continue to be produced by new or reconstituted cartels that will traffic them into the U.S. using new routes, because the market forces driving the drug cartels are too profitable to defeat with military might.

We know this because Mexico has already tried. When Pena Nieto entered office in 2012, Mexican security forces had a list of 122 top cartel leaders they wanted to target. They managed to capture or kill over 100 of the people on that list. The result was more homicides and more violence, as the bigger cartels split apart into smaller and more violent organizations. More recently, the arrests by U.S. law enforcement agencies of key Sinaloa Cartel leadersone of whom alleges he was abducted and forcibly brought to the U.S. by the other as part of a deal with those U.S. agencieshas led to a surge of violence in Sinaloa, with various factions now fighting over succession and revenge.

Finally, even if the U.S. successfully dismantles one or two top criminal groups and slows the flow of drugsand migrants, which the cartels also trafficwhat will that victory cost? The answer is a politically divided North America, where the U.S.-Mexico border is closed, U.S. supply chains have broken down and the U.S. must manage renewed tensions with a neighboring country with which it should instead be forming an alliance to counter China.

Nevertheless, the Trump administration appears on course to launch a military operation into Mexico next year. Diplomatic, tactical and strategic concerns do not appear likely to dissuade it. Businesses and analysts wondering how U.S.-Mexico relations will fare under the second Trump administration are currently focused on tariff and trade issues. They need to start factoring these military scenarios into their equations.

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James Bosworth is the founder of Hxagon, a firm that does political risk analysis and bespoke research in emerging and frontier markets, as well as a global fellow at the Wilson Centers Latin America Program. He has two decades of experience analyzing politics, economics and security in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The post Take Trumps Threats of U.S. Military Action in Mexico Seriously appeared first on World Politics Review.
(NewsNation)  Lawmakers and leaders have been making their case for and against some of the people President-elect Donald Trump is picking for his incoming administration.

A CBS News/YouGov poll, meanwhile, shows that 59% of the people surveyed approve of the way Trump is handling his transition back to the White House.

For instance, 44% of those asked thought Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio would be a good choice for Secretary of State. There were 47% who felt that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was a good choice to be Secretary for Health and Human Services, and 33% thought the same of Fox News host Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense. Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence was thought of as a good choice by 36% of people.

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What did Brendan Carr, Trumps FCC chair pick, say in Project 2025?

Although Trumps current selections for agency heads and cabinet picks were rated as a net-positive by those who took CBS poll, the news outlet notes many had not heard enough about the nominees to rate them yet. There was also a clear partisan divide  however, fewer than half of Democrats polled say theyre feeling motivated to actively oppose Trump at this stage.

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Along with the new administration, Americans are also feeling optimistic about Trumps policies.

According to the poll, 44% of people thought that Trumps actions would make food and grocery prices drop, and 35% thought they would cause them to go up. On immigration, 57% are in favor of Trumps planned mass deportations of migrants in the country illegally. When it comes to who should carry those deportations out, 82% said immigration and border patrol agencies should do it; 64% want to leave it to federal law enforcement, and 40% think it should be the U.S. military.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
President-elect Donald Trump is considering nominating Jim ONeill, an associate of billionaire investor and early Trump backer Peter Thiel, as HHS deputy secretary, three people familiar with the deliberation granted anonymity to discuss transition planning told POLITICO.

ONeill held several roles at HHS during the George W. Bush administration including principal associate deputy secretary  but he does not have formal medical training.

The former acting CEO of The Thiel Foundation and former CEO of anti-aging nonprofit SENS Research Foundation, ONeill has advocated for people to be able to take medicines once their safety, but not effectiveness, is reviewed by the FDA.

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We should reform FDA so that it is approving drugs after their sponsors have demonstrated safety ... let's prove efficacy after they've been legalized, ONeill said in a 2014 talk.

Trumps team considered ONeill to lead the FDA in his first term before picking Scott Gottlieb. Eric Hargan, a Bush-era health official who Trump then nominated to fill the HHS deputy secretary role, won Senate confirmation by a 57-38 vote.

A longtime close adviser to Thiel with ties across Silicon Valley, O'Neill reentered the mix in recent days for the No. 2 HHS job, as transition officials race to fill out the remaining senior health roles.

One former administration official granted anonymity to discuss the transition argued that HHS Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. should enlist a deputy that knows how to navigate the sprawling health department and implement administration policy priorities. They pointed to Paul Mango, who served as HHS deputy chief of staff during Trumps first term, who has also been floated as a potential deputy secretary.

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With a new cabinet secretary who has never had a managerial role in running a large organization, its even more important to have someone like Paul Mango as deputy secretary  one of the most important positions that most people have never even heard of, the former official said.

It remains unclear how O'Neill would fit in with a Kennedy-led HHS team already stocked at key positions with senior officials who have expressed deep skepticism of mainstream health experts and those with ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Trump on Friday named Johns Hopkins surgeon Marty Makary to lead the FDA, former Florida Rep. Dave Weldon to lead the CDC and Fox News contributor Dr. Janette Nesheiwat to be surgeon general.

The people familiar with the deliberations cautioned that the debate remains ongoing and that Trump could always take it in a sharply different direction.

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President-elect Trump has made brilliant decisions on who will serve in his second Administration at lightning pace, said Trump transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt. Remaining decisions will continue to be announced by him when they are made."

In recent weeks, ONeill posted support for RFK Jr.s Make America Healthy Again priorities on X. He recently described Stanford professor and Covid lockdown critic Jay Bhattacharya as a courageous scientist who would be an excellent NIH director.

But ONeill has a pharmaceutical background, which is likely to count against him. ONeill worked as a managing director at Thiels Mithril Capital and sits on the board of directors of ADvantage Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company developing treatments for neurodegenerative conditions, according to his LinkedIn.

He also retweeted a post from Nov. 13  a day before RFK Jr. was nominated  that stated There is a clear choice for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services: Jim O'Neill.
Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. election revived discussion among European allies on sending military personnel or private defense contractors to Ukraine, Le Monde reported on Nov. 25, citing undisclosed sources.

The topic was reportedly brought up during British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's visit to France on Nov. 11, as London and Paris do not rule out taking the lead in the pro-Kyiv coalition, the outlet writes.

There are fears that Trump's victory might lead to the U.S. withdrawing its support for Ukraine, leaving it up to European allies to help Kyiv resist Russian aggression.

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French President Emmanuel Macron previously suggested deploying military trainers to Ukraine, but the idea has met strong opposition among several key allies, namely Germany.

According to Le Monde, discussions on the deployment of Western troops are still ongoing, but the details remain classified.

One proposal reportedly involved allowing the Defense Conseil International (DCI), a 55%-state-held defense contractor, to help train Ukrainian troops directly in Ukraine, as it already does in Poland and France.

Talking to the media on Nov. 23, France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that the West should "not set and express red lines" on providing Ukraine with military support.

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When asked by the BBC whether sending French troops would constitute a so-called red line, Barrot said that France would "not discard any option."

Read also: Ukraine aid key to battling Russian invasion  Can Europe fill the gap if Trump pulls the plug?

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The Colorado Springs Police Department has asked for community assistance in locating a missing at-risk 13-year-old. Demetrius Foster was last seen today in the 3100 Block of Harpy Grove, close to the Chelton Road and Hancock Expressway intersection in the southeast portion of the city.

He was last seen wearing a brown short-sleeved T-shirt and black jeans.

If you have seen or know of Foster's whereabouts, call CSPD at 719-444-7000.
A Republican lawmaker has said that the Senate Intelligence Committee has a lot of questions for Tulsi Gabbard about a visit to Syria where she met with President Bashar al-Assad.

Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma, who sits on the committee, said he wants to know the context and purpose of her meeting with the Syrian dictator in 2017 before he backs her as Donald Trumps director of national intelligence.

Well have lots of questions. She met with Bashar Assad, well wanna know what the purpose was and what the direction for that was, as a member of Congress, Lankford told CNNs Dana Bash on State of the Union.

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Well wanna get a chance to talk about past comments that shes made and get them into full context.

Lankford said the committee would get everything out about Gabbard, and referred to her being outspoken in the past.

Gabbard has previously made statements and comments that have been supportive of Russia and has denied crimes were committed by the Syrian regime. In 2017, as a Democratic House member from Hawaii, she flew to Syria for a meeting with Assad.

Tulsi Gabbard will face questions from the Senate over her 2017 meeting with the Syrian dictator (AFP via Getty Images)

Were gonna go through hearings. Were gonna get everything out. Were gonna get facts and information and get the entire story, Lankford said.

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She is somebody who has been very outspoken. Shes obviously a past member of the military. Shes a veteran herself.

Despite Lankfords remarks, several other Republicans have been quick to defend Gabbard after her nomination by Trump sparked renewed concerns about her past comments and ties to foreign governments.

Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat and veteran of combat missions in Iraq, warned on Sunday that Gabbard is compromised over her statements about Russia and the trip to Syria.

The U.S. intelligence community has identified her as having troubling relationships with Americas foes. And so my worry is that she couldnt pass a background check, Duckworth also told State of the Union.

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But Republican Senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri said it was a slur to say that Gabbard is compromised.

I think its  its really interesting that anybody that has a different political view now is being cast as a Russian asset. Its totally ridiculous, he told told NBC Newss Kristen Welker on Meet the Press.

US Senator James Lankford from Oklahoma said the Senate Intelligence Committee has a lot of questions for Trumps intel pick (EPA)

Tulsi Gabbard has served in our military. She served as a congresswoman from Hawaii, as a Democrat, I might add, part of this unique coalition that President Trump has put together and won and got that mandate. But I think its insulting. Its a slur, quite frankly, he added.

Gabbard, a veteran and former Democratic House member, has promoted conspiracy theories about the U.S.s involvement in Ukraine.

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The former Hawaii congresswoman left Congress to embark on an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2020. She joined the Republican Party earlier this year, endorsed Trump and joined his presidential transition team.

Gabbard joined an Army reserve unit after serving 17 years in the Hawaii National Guard, and she points to her deployment experience to explain her skepticism towards U.S. military interventions.

Trump praised Gabbard for fighting for our Country and the freedoms of all Americans, when he tapped her for the position.

As a former Candidate for the Democrat Presidential Nomination, she has broad support in both Parties  she is now a proud Republican! Trump said. I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace through Strength.
Members of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans inner circle could hardly hide their glee over the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. Despite some notable breakthroughs in U.S.-Turkey relations during the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, key points of tension remain. Erdogan and his team are optimistic that with President-elect Donald Trump back in the White House, Washington will be an easier partner. Erdogan has some reasons for short-term optimism, but he may find himself disappointed over the longer term.

Ankaras Selective Memory

In part, Ankaras reaction to Trumps victory is the result of selective memory. It was Trump, after all, who responded to Turkeys continued detention of Andrew Brunsona U.S. evangelical pastor arrested on espionage charges in 2016with a threat to remove all U.S. diplomats from the country and impose large sanctions. It was Trump, too, who promised to totally destroy and obliterate Turkeys economy in 2019 when tensions arose over both sides conflicting military agendas in Syria. In both cases, Turkey backed down. Trump also banned Turkey from purchasing the F-35 multi-role fifth-generation combat aircraft in July 2019 and imposed sanctions on Ankara in December 2020, both measures due to Turkeys purchase of Russian-made S400 surface-to-air missiles.

Moreover, it was under Biden that, after lengthy wrangling, bilateral relations began to thaw, with Ankara dropping its hold on admitting Sweden and Finland into NATO in a tacit quid pro quo for U.S. approval of a sale of upgraded F-16s to Turkey.

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Nonetheless, in many other ways, Erdogan has been tremendously frustrated with the Biden administration, beginning with Bidens tendency to deprioritize U.S.-Turkish relations and his refusal to grant Erdogan the face-to-face meetings that the Turkish president thrives on. Under Biden, too, the U.S. has moved to develop more extensive military cooperation with Greece and Cyprus; officially recognized the Armenian Genocide; continued to freeze Turkey out of the F-35 program; and retained U.S. troops in Syria in alliance with the YPG, the Syrian Kurdish militia that Turkey quite rightly sees as linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, a Turkish Kurdish insurgency with which Ankara has been at war since 1978. Moreover, Turkish citizensincluding Erdogan himselfare absolutely outraged by U.S. support for Israels ongoing military actions in Gaza and Lebanon.

Hopes for a Breakthrough

One reason that Erdogan might be particularly optimistic about the incoming administration in Washington is that he and Trump seemed to have enjoyed a generally warm relationship during Trumps first term in office, and they share compatible approaches to how diplomacy should work. During the first Trump administration, Erdogan and Trump held multiple in-person meetings and had frequent phone conversations, according to some reports as often as twice a week. It helps that, according to these same reports, Erdogan found Trump easy to manipulate: As one anonymous source put it to reporter Carl Bernstein, Erdogan took him to the cleaners. Trump and Erdogan both believe in narrow transactionalism and the value of close personal relations between leaders. Moreover, Trump has a clear record of being enthralled by strongmen. Little wonder, then, that Erdogan is optimistic about bilateral relations going forward.

There are several areas in which Turkey can reasonably hope for improvements. One longstanding irritant in bilateral relations had been the presence in the U.S. of Fethullah Gulen, the leader of an Islamic movement whom Turkey holds primarily responsible for the attempted coup against Erdogan in 2016. Turkey had long been pressing Washington for Gulens extradition, at one point offering to exchange Brunsonthe evangelical pastorfor Gulen. But Gulen died in October, so the question of his extradition is now moot.

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Turkey also lobbied the first Trump administration over the ongoing case against Halkbank, a Turkish bank that continues to face federal charges for breaching U.S. sanctions against Iran, and Trump previously seemed sympathetic to Erdogans pleas in this regard. Trump has also been sympathetic to Erdogans efforts to negotiate a U.S. military withdrawal from northern Syria. During Trumps first term, his staff repeatedly intervened to ensure that U.S. troops remained. There is no guarantee such efforts would be successful this time around. If anything, the incoming administration seems determined to limit this kind of friction between Trumps decision-making and actual policy outcomes going forward. Trump is also likely to look sympathetically at further arms deals, including possibly F-35s, should Erdogan convince him that doing so would enhance U.S. influenceand boost the U.S. economy.

While Turkey will likely see some improvements in its relations with the U.S. under Trump on at least some fronts, it is by no means certain that a second Trump-Erdogan honeymoon will be in the offing.

Turkey might also profit from an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia, which Trump stated during the campaign he would accomplish once in office, if not before. Ankara publicly maintains its support for full Ukrainian sovereignty and has successfully portrayed itself as an invaluable ally to Kyiv, particularly through sales of Turkish armed drones, but also through the closure to Russian naval vessels of the maritime straits controlling access to the Black Sea. But the reality is less clearcut. Turkey, alone among its NATO allies, has maintained extensive trade ties with Russia and has both supported and profited from helping Russia evade sanctions. This policy has only been constrained by repeated warnings from the U.S. Treasury Department, which Ankara has typically been quick to address.

That said, it seems clear that if Trump ends U.S. support for Ukraine and a peace deal is in the offing, Erdogan will be happy once again to insert himself as a potential intermediary. It is equally certain that Turkey would be happy to play a leading role in rebuilding Ukraines damaged infrastructure and seeking additional economic opportunities as soon as the war is over. With its proximity and relatively low-cost labor, combined with the technical knowhow of its construction sector, Turkey would be well-placed to aid in Ukraines reconstruction, just as it did after the U.S. war in Iraq.

Potential for Trouble Ahead

While it seems likely that Turkey will see some improvements in its relations with the U.S. under Trump on at least some of these fronts, it is by no means certain that a second Trump-Erdogan honeymoon will be in the offing.

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First, there is the question of Trumps Cabinet picks, which so far have not been noteworthy for their warmth toward Ankara. To the contrary, Sen. Marco Rubio, who has been nominated as Trumps secretary of state, has long been a vocal critic of Turkey. Rep. Michael Walz, who will step in as national security adviser, is seen as friendly to the Kurdish YPG in Syria and has co-sponsored bills aimed at sanctioning Turkey. More generally, the Christian right, which is well-represented in Trumps new team, has generally been distrustful of Turkey under Erdogan. Whether any of this will matter in the end is anyones guess. But there will certainly be some doubting voices when it comes to Turkey in Trumps new Cabinet.

The question of the Israel-Palestine conflict will also exacerbate tensions between the two governments, especially when it comes to Gaza. There is a good case to be made that Erdogan has been louder in his criticism of Israels war crimes there than his actual policies suggest. Turkey has cut bilateral economic ties, for instance, but continues to serve as a hub for Azerbaijani oil destined for Israel. Nonetheless, his public denunciations of Israels conduct of the war in Gaza are almost certain to raise hackles in the incoming Trump White House, which, if anything, is likely to be even more fulsome in its support for Israel than the Biden administration has been. Turkeys continued relations with Hamas will be another cause of friction. Erdogan, for his part, is unlikely to rein in his criticism of Israel, particularly if Israel moves forward with plans for the annexation of Gaza and the West Bank, as appears increasingly possible.

Will these sticking points cause relations between Turkey and the U.S. to break down? Possibly not. Both Trump and Erdogan have demonstrated a tremendous capacity for compartmentalization. Nonetheless, the Israel-Palestine crisis is likely to remain a sore point between the two allies going forward. And depending on domestic political considerations on both sides, it could become a serious issue in bilateral relations.

Further on the horizon is a much larger risk for Ankara, and it is one that few Turkish analysts seem to have considered yet: the question of NATOs future. Turkeys membership in the alliance is one of the keys to its international prestige. The fact that it is both a critic of the West and part of the Wests premier security bloc gives it greater heft in the global arena. Its capacity to veto NATO decisions in particular is a potent arrow in its diplomatic quiver. Without the NATO alliance, Turkey would lose the star status it now enjoys and become just another middle power. Moreover, losing the security guarantee of the U.S. nuclear umbrella that comes with NATO membership would fundamentally change Turkeys position vis-a-vis Russia, making Ankara immediately more vulnerable and significantly raising the risks of any potential tensions with Moscow.

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We do not know what Trumps plans for NATO are. He has threatened to withdraw the U.S. completely, but it is hard to know how much of that is bark and how much bite. But he clearly does not feel that the alliance should dominate U.S. security considerations in the way his predecessors have. Nor is it absolutely certain that, if push came to shove, Trump would risk war on behalf of the alliance. Of course, this is a concern for all of Washingtons allies, but Turkeywhose relations with the European Union have become increasingly difficult and which remains, as the saying goes, in a tough neighborhoodis particularly vulnerable.

Ankara may indeed find the incoming Trump administration an easier partner to work with than the Biden team has been. But with Trump nothing is ever certain, and the risks facing Turkey under his leadership may end up being far greater than the officials currently rejoicing in Ankara ever expected.

Howard Eissenstat is Laurentian Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of History at St. Lawrence University and a nonresident scholar at the Middle East Institute.

The post Turkeys Glee Over Trumps Victory May Be Short-Lived appeared first on World Politics Review.
In one of the remaining public acts of his presidency, Joe Biden ceremoniously pardoned two turkeys named Peach and Blossom on Monday. The intendedly lighthearted tradition comes into stark relief this year, with serious questions looming about how Biden will use his clemency power before he leaves office and how Donald Trump will use it when he takes office.

One question for Biden is whether hell commute the sentences of federal death row prisoners to life in prison, as he suggested he would during his 2020 campaign. If he declines to do so, then that will help streamline a continuation of executions that Trumps administration started in his first term.

Beyond death row, Jan. 6 looms large for defendants charged in the Capitol attack as well as for Trump himself.

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The president-elect has vowed clemency for Jan. 6 defendants, and that prospect has already led judges to postpone trials so as not to waste time if the cases ultimately vanish. The potential for these sweeping blanket pardons across the board prompted one of those judges (a Trump appointee) to say that would be beyond frustrating and disappointing.

But a judges feelings have nothing to do with it. The pardon power rests entirely with the president, whom the Constitution plainly says shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States. As the saying goes, elections have consequences.

President Joe Biden pardons a turkey named Peach on the South Lawn of the White House on Monday in Washington.

Those consequences are stark for one criminal defendant in particular: the president-elect. His political victory ensured that his two federal cases would go away one way or the other. Special counsel Jack Smith is due to update the courts on Dec. 2 with how he wants to proceed (or not) in those cases. If theyre still around on Inauguration Day, Trumps new Justice Department could withdraw them, and DOJ policy against charging and prosecuting sitting presidents would likely pause them either way.

So Trump wont likely need to attempt a legally untested self-pardon to get rid of his federal cases. But whether he tries to do so remains to be seen. (Presidents cant pardon state cases, and its unclear what will happen with his New York and Georgia prosecutions.)

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And while Trump has said he would pardon Jan. 6 defendants, Biden has said he wont pardon his son Hunter, whos awaiting sentencing. The two situations are different, partly because Biden doesnt face criminal charges from the same events that led to Hunters charges like Trump does in the federal election interference case.

The two situations are different, partly because Biden doesnt face any criminal charges overlapping with Hunters, whereas Trump faced criminal charges overlapping with those against Jan. 6 defendants.

But Trumps and Bidens different approaches to those scenarios in which theyre personally connected could be said to illustrate their clemency approaches more broadly. (A Washington Post opinion piece argues that Biden should pardon Trump, which seems unlikely to happen for multiple reasons, including because Trumps federal cases are basically gone already.)

Ultimately, whatever one thinks of the turkey pardon tradition, it reminds us that there are important open clemency questions in real cases.

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This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
RUSSELL, Mass. (WWLP)  A man and woman were arrested for trespassing inside the old Strathmore Mill #2 building in Russell on Sunday afternoon.

VIDEO: Enfield police capture suspect in woods

According to the Russell-Montgomery Police Department, officers received reports of individuals trespassing in the vacant mill building. Upon arrival, police, with assistance from state police, discovered a man and woman inside the structure.

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The suspects, identified as Thomas Menard of Danielson, CT, and Deborah Fisk of Guilford, CT, were taken into custody on charges of criminal trespass. Both individuals were arraigned Monday morning in Westfield District Court.

Just two weeks ago, three construction workers were injured after a building partially collapsed at the same building. Residents are being asked to avoid the area for safety purposes. Woronoco Road is closed to through traffic until further notice and unauthorized individuals in the area are subject to arrest.

About Strathmore Mill

The former Strathmore Paper Company dates back to 1914, but the history of the company and its founder begins in the 1800s. Horace A. Moses founded the Mittineague Paper Mill in West Springfield, which eventually, after many changes, merged with Woronoco Paper Company and formed the Strathmore Paper Company.International Paper closed the Strathmore Paper Companys mill complex in the 1990s after a change of owners.The mill complex has been vacant for around 30 years, but in the past four years, there were two separate fires. In 2020, mill number two burned for days after the paper left behind caught fire, and in 2022, there was another fire in the complex impacting mill number three and one.

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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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Two people have died in the West Bank during an Israeli army operation, Palestinian officials reported on Monday.

The incident took place in Jabad near the city of Jenin, according to the Health Ministry in Ramallah.

The two people killed were said to be 13 and 20 years old, although Palestinian media put the younger man's age at 16.

According to local reports, Israeli soldiers entered the town late on Sunday evening. Youths threw stones at them, whereupon the Israeli soldiers opened fire. Both casualties were hit in the upper body.

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According to Israeli army sources, the two Palestinians fired explosive devices at the soldiers, who responded with shots that hit some people.

It was not initially possible to independently verify the statements from both sides.

The already tense situation in the West Bank has worsened significantly since the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7 last year and the resulting Gaza war.

According to the Health Ministry in Ramallah, at least 761 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military operations, armed clashes and attacks by extremists since then.
BOLLINGER COUNTY, Mo.  A southeast Missouri man and woman were sentenced to prison last week for the 2021 murder of a missing Illinois woman.

According to Bollinger County Sheriff Casey A. Graham, Eric Nanney (age not provided) and Kaitlyn Morgan (age not provided) were sentenced on Thursday for the murder of 21-year-old Brianna Roberts of Illinois.

Second man arrested in womans St. Louis death after Clayton abduction

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Reportedly, Bollinger County had received the report of Roberts missing on Oct. 14, 2021. Nanney and Morgan were taken into custody the following day after an interview with authorities revealed they had been the last people known to contact Roberts.

Investigators later found human remains on Nanney and Morgans property.

Nanney received a guilty verdict from a Bollinger County jury on October 25 and a four-day trial. A judge sentenced him to two life sentences without the possibility of parole plus an additional 23 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.

Nanney was charged with a life sentence for first-degree murder, another life sentence for unlawful use of a weapon, 15 years for armed criminal action, four years for tampering with physical evidence, and four years for abandonment of a corpse.

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Morgan entered a guilty plea on Thursday, and a judge sentenced her to 30 years in prison for second-degree murder, four years for tampering with physical evidence, and four years for abandonment of a corpse.

Please continue to pray for the family and friends of Brianna. My hope is that these above convictions and sentences will help bring closure to Briannas family and friends, Graham said 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 FOX 2.
JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV)  Jackson police arrested two teenagers in connection to the shooting death of a 19-year-old at an apartment complex.

Detective Tommie Brown said Jaylon Pearson, 17, and Jabari McClendon, 18, were both arrested and charged with murder.

Retrial for William Polo Edwards set for December

Brown said the victim, Lamar Washington, 19, left his mothers home around 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 17 to wash her vehicle. His body was found around 1:30 p.m. at the Trails at Northpointe near the passenger side of a silver Mitsubishi Outlander.

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Police said Washington had been shot multiple times.

Jaylon Pearson (Courtesy: JPD) Jabari McClendon (Courtesy: JPD)

Anyone with additional information about the shooting can contact the Jackson Police Department (JPD) at 601-960-1234 or Crime Stoppers at 601-355-TIPS(8477).

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Two toddlers were killed Sunday night when a speeding drunk driver ran a red light, causing a three-car collision, police allege.

Just after 11 p.m. the Rialto Police Department responded to a multivehicle collision at the intersection of Riverside and Walnut avenues.

A white Honda Accord with four occupants, including two toddlers ages 3 and 4, was turning left onto Walnut Avenue when a speeding blue Dodge Ram pickup going south on Riverside Avenue ran a red light and T-boned the Honda, sending it crashing into a tow truck, said Rusty Lamm, public information officer for the Police Department.

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The driver of the Dodge Ram, whom police identified as 28-year-old Alexis Garcia of San Bernardino, fled the scene, officials alleged.

The two toddlers were in their car seats, but one was ejected from the car and declared dead at the scene, police said.

The 24-year-old female driver and a 25 year-old male passenger in the Honda Accord were transported to a local trauma center with minor to moderate injuries, Lamm said. Officials have not released their names.

Officials said the driver of the tow truck was not injured.

Read more: 2 dead after collisions involving school buses in Los Angeles County

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Photos of the incident shared on the Police Department's Instagram showed children's clothing and toys scattered in the intersection in the aftermath of the collision.

According to the Rialto police, officers later discovered the Dodge Ram and Garcia a quarter of a mile away from the incident, where it appears the truck became disabled. He was arrested by police officers on suspicion of murder, driving under the influence of alcohol and felony hit and run and booked into the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

Garcia had a passenger in his vehicle at the time of the collision who was not injured, according to police.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
One year on from the last Gaza hostage deal, Venetia Rainey speaks with Sharone Lifschitz, whose father was kidnapped on October 7th and is still being held hostage by Hamas. We also hear from Amani Ahmed, a Palestinian academic from Gaza, who was at the University of Edinburgh when the war began and after a long ordeal managed to be reunited with her family. Plus: an update of the last weeks big news stories from the Middle East, including the ICC arrest warrants, Israels attempt to assassinate another senior Hezbollah official, and Lebanon ceasefire talks.

Battle Lines, a podcast from The Telegraph, combines on-the-ground reporting with analytical expertise to help the listener to better understand the course of world politics, wars and tensions, as fault lines grind and slip in an increasingly dangerous and confusing multipolar world.

Listen to Battle Lines using the audio player in this article or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or your favourite podcast app.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
A Miami-Yoder student faces multiple charges after a handgun was found at the eastern El Paso County school last week.

At about 12:45 p.m. Thursday, the El Paso County Sheriffs Office received a phone call from a school employee who said a school security officer detained a student after finding a handgun in the student's backpack, according to a news release from the Sheriff's Office.

The 12-year-old student had shown another student the weapon on a school bus the previous day, the Sheriff's Office said in its news release. After being notified, school security and staff searched the students locker and found the handgun in the student's backpack. The gun was not loaded.

The students parents were notified and took the student home after meeting with school administration, the release stated.

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Deputies responded to the students home address and met with the student and family. They learned the student had found the unloaded weapon in the house before taking it to school.

This situation highlights why it's crucial for parents to regularly check their children's belongings before and after school, El Paso County Sheriff Joseph Roybal said in a statement. It is crucial to stay informed about your childs communications, whereabouts, friendships, and any potential access to contraband or weapons.

The student faces charges of unlawfully carrying a concealed weapon, illegal possession of a handgun by a juvenile and unlawfully carrying a weapon on school grounds.
I'm a private chef, and I buy all of my family's weekly staples at Trader Joe's for about $60.

I took that same budget to Whole Foods to see how the grocer compared.

I wasn't able to get nearly as much at Whole Foods, so I'll stick to Trader Joe's.

As a private chef, I get Whole Foods delivered for my clients a lot. But the total can often seem too high, so I've stayed away from shopping there for my family of three.

Plus, there's a Trader Joe's just down the street from me, and I can get all our weekly staples for about $60.

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After seeing and hearing about the interesting, high-quality brands Whole Foods carries, however, my curiosity got the best of me.

I decided to take my Trader Joe's budget to Whole Foods. Here's a dollar-by-dollar breakdown from my trip.

Milk: $4.39

I buy only organic milk. Fatima Khawaja

I always get milk for the house, and no matter where I shop, it has to be organic.

A half-gallon carton was $4.39 at Whole Foods, which isn't too far off from the $4.29 I usually spend at Trader Joe's.

Mandarin oranges: $4.99

Mandarin oranges are one of my go-to fruits. Fatima Khawaja

Some sort of fruit makes it into my basket on every grocery trip, and when the weather cools off, it's usually citrus.

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A bag of mandarins at Whole Foods cost a whopping $6.49, but luckily, I got it on sale for $4.99.

Unfortunately, that's still quite a bit more than the $3.49 bags I usually get at Trader Joe's. I balked at the $3 difference of the regularly priced oranges.

Avocados: $4.99

I buy lots of avocados every week. Fatima Khawaja

Avocados go quickly in my house, which is tough because they can be pricey.

At Trader Joe's, a bag of six organic avocados costs me $4.49, or about $0.75 apiece. At Whole Foods, however, they were $4.99 for four, or $1.25 each.

I can't justify that price difference, especially considering that the fruit tends to go bad quickly, making it hard to use it all up.

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Seaweed packs: $2.99

I can find much cheaper dried seaweed at Trader Joe's. Fatima Khawaja

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Seaweed packs are an essential part of our snack arsenal.

I get individual packs for $0.99 at Trader Joe's, so I was shocked to see the same-sized packs go for $2.99 at Whole Foods.

Gluten-free pasta: $3.19

Whole Foods' boxes of pasta are much smaller. Fatima Khawaja

I like buying the 1-pound bags of organic brown rice and quinoa fusilli at Trader Joe's for $3.49. They're a great gluten-free starch option for any given week.

The only gluten-free pasta option I found at Whole Foods was a half-pound box of organic chickpea shells for $3.19. That's almost double the price I pay at Trader Joe's.

Truffle cheese: $8.51

I love a good truffle cheese. Fatima Khawaja

I love picking up a block of cheese for the week for snacking, grilled-cheese sandwiches, and eggs.

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My block of choice is the Trader Joe's store-brand truffle cheese. It comes from Italy, isn't too truffley, and costs $13.99 a pound.

I found a similar store-brand truffle option at Whole Foods. Though the block I picked up was similarly priced to what I tend to get at Trader Joe's, this one went for $22.99 a pound, so it was quite a bit smaller than I'm used to.

Plus, I like the taste of the Trader Joe's brand more.

Tofu: $2.29

I use tofu on a weekly basis. Fatima Khawaja

I make stir-fried tofu at least once a week. It's a reliable protein source I know the whole family will eat.

A block of Whole Foods organic firm tofu cost me $2.29  a jump from the $1.99 pack I typically get at Trader Joe's.

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Chicken tenders: $11.99

The fancier brands at Whole Foods come at a cost. Fatima Khawaja

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I buy breaded chicken cutlets when I don't have time to prepare them at home. It's easy to crisp them up in my air fryer for lunchboxes and salads, so I'm happy to spend $8.99 for nearly 2 pounds of frozen tenders at Trader Joe's.

At Whole Foods, all I could find was a less-than-1-pound bag for $11.99.

It was a name-brand offering made with a cauliflower coating, so I'm not that surprised it was pricier than a standard store-brand option. I also enjoyed that it was gluten-free, and the meat was a little juicier than my usual Trader Joe's bag.

Still, I'm not sure I'd spend that much again.

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Garbanzo beans: $1.39

Even simple canned goods were more expensive at Whole Foods. Fatima Khawaja

Garbanzo beans are another trusted source of protein in my house  my daughter will eat them just rinsed out of the can. I also like to get them crispy in a pan with seasonings and some oil.

The $1.39 can of organic chickpeas at Whole Foods was more expensive than I expected, especially since I get the same thing for $1.09 at Trader Joe's.

Tortillas: $4.59

I could probably find cheaper store-brand tortillas at Whole Foods, but the name-brand ones are good. Fatima Khawaja

I like having tortillas on hand so I can quickly make cheese quesadillas or breakfast tacos.

Trader Joe's sells a store-brand pack of eight tortillas for $1.99, or $0.24 a tortilla.

The 10-pack I found at Whole Foods from the Vista Hermosa brand was staggeringly more expensive at $4.59, or about $2 apiece. But the quality of the name-brand bag was noticeably better, and I'd buy them again if I had room to splurge.

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Butter: $7.39

Whole Foods' generic butter was pricey. Fatima Khawaja

I stock up on butter each week because I love baking and spreading it on toast.

A pound of unsalted organic was $6.29 at Trader Joe's and $7.39 at Whole Foods. I found them to taste virtually the same, so the $1.10 difference isn't worth it for me.

Cucumbers: $2.99

I like buying packs of mini cucumbers. Fatima Khawaja

Mini cucumbers are another must-have in our fridge. My daughter loves snacking on them, and I like them as an addition to any meal.

At Trader Joe's, a pack is usually $2.49, and the same size pack at Whole Foods was $2.99.

The $0.50 jump isn't that much, but again, Whole Foods' consistently higher prices add up.

I'll stick to shopping at Trader Joe's.

I couldn't get as many things for $60 at Whole Foods, and what I did get was way more expensive. Fatima Khawaja

I couldn't help chuckling as I walked out of Whole Foods with my $60 haul  the price differences were that staggering.

The same list of groceries would cost me only $48 at Trader Joe's, and I would've been able to grab the frozen dumplings and chocolate-covered pretzels I like without breaking my budget (those items at Whole Foods were too expensive for me to include on this trip).

Plus, that price difference doesn't even take value into account. I got considerably less food at Whole Foods, largely because many of my items cost more for noticeably less product.

To be fair, some basic items were fairly close in price, and this was ultimately only comparing one list on one specific shopping trip. The things you buy every week may be a different story.

There are even a couple of higher-quality items I'd go back to Whole Foods for every once in a while. For a casual essentials run, however, Trader Joe's is still much more economical for my family.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Nov. 24 (UPI) -- The United States and Mexico will strengthen partnerships in astronomy and astrophysics research, and look for opportunities to cooperate on economic, educational, and science, technology, engineering, and math initiatives, NASA announced.

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy and Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, were in Mexico City Sunday, the start of a multi-day trip designed to further previous collaborative efforts and "advance scientific and technological collaboration between the United States and Mexico," NASA said in a statement.

Melroy is scheduled to meet with Mexican government officials, including the secretariat-designate for Science, Technology, Humanities, and Innovation. She and Fox plan to meet with academic, industry, and scientific institutional leaders.

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"These discussions will emphasize expanding cooperation in space science, with particular focus on Mexico's growing astronomy programs," NASA said.

The administration said this visit is part of NASA's commitment to advancing international cooperation in space and science globally, part of the efforts of its Office of International and Interagency Relations Mission.
U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., addresses supporters outside of his west Omaha campaign office after claiming victory. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

OMAHA  Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon in 2024 defied the blue dot for a second straight presidential election. He won Nebraskas Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District in another year in which the districts voters backed a Democrat over former President Donald Trump.

National results show how unusual that is, based on district-level House and presidential results compiled by elections data expert Drew Savicki and former Democratic pollster Adam Carlson. Carlson shared his overperformance rankings last week.

Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, left, campaigns on Nov. 2, 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina, while the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, speaks to a crowd in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Nov. 4, 2024. (Getty photos, of Harris by Justin Sullivan and of Trump by Chip Somodevilla)

With some states still counting, Carlsons tally showed that Bacon outperformed his partys presidential candidate by 6.46 percentage points. That was the largest of any 2024 GOP candidate in the 43 House races that Cook Political Report identified as a toss-up or leaning toward one party.

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Carlsons overperformance measurement essentially combines the percentage margins from the presidential race and local House races in each congressional district to show performance above or below the districts vote in the presidential race.

In Nebraskas 2nd District, which Cook rated this year as a Democratic lean, but historically tilts slightly Republican downballot, Bacon beat Democratic State Sen. Tony Vargas by 1.8 points. Vice President Kamala Harris beat Trump by 4.66 points, which adds up to the 6.46-point overperformance score.

Bacon credits campaign discipline

Bacon said he was proud that his bid overcame Trumps lack of campaign spending on 2nd District political ads, a primary election centered on GOP loyalty to Trump, party division about incumbents and a nonpartisan challengers closer-than-expected first-time U.S. Senate bid.

He credited his campaign staff for executing a disciplined message about getting results in Congress. He emphasized how he works with people from both parties and said his team knocked on tens of thousands of doors. He said that is how they reached persuadable voters.

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We knew we needed some crossover voters, he said. If Trump was down 10, as some polls showed, we knew it would be tough. Our internals showed Trump down 6 and me in a dead heat two weeks out. Then, the last two weeks, we thought wed win.

State Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha speaks to a crowd of supporters at Big Mamas Kitchen in North Omaha on Sunday. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

Bacons overperformance score was not the best overall. At least eight Democratic House candidates outpaced Harris by more than Bacon outpaced Trump. And other Republicans could post a better number once counting ends in California, New York and Pennsylvania.

Nationally, Democratic House candidates outperformed Harris in more competitive districts than Republicans outperformed Trump. At least a dozen Democrats won in districts Trump won or led by late last week. Thats because Trump performed better than Harris in swing states.

But Bacon was the first House Republican to notch a conclusive win in a district backing Harris, said Erin Covey, Cook Political Reports editor for House races. Bacon will likely be joined in that feat by GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and up to three others.

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Bacon was also the only GOP winner so far among 16 GOP-held districts that President Joe Biden carried in 2020 and that backed Harris, Covey said. In neighboring Iowa, the two swing district House Republicans  Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn  underperformed Trump although they still won their races narrowly.

Its fair to say that its becoming more and more unusual, Covey said of Bacon representing a Harris-won district. I believe that after the 2020 presidential election  the number of people in the same position as Bacon has shrunk.

Covey said Bacon was also helped by voter self-sorting by geography  people moving where neighbors align with their political views  and state gerrymandering, along with redistricting moves like swapping a large portion of the 2nd Districts purpling Sarpy County suburbs for redder rural Saunders County.

Democrats can win 2nd District

The 2nd District has elected a Republican to Congress in all but a dozen years since 1970. Democrats last won the seat in 2014, when Brad Ashford beat Republican U.S. Rep. Lee Terry. Bacon defeated Ashford in 2016  but later secured the endorsement of Ashfords widow, Ann.

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District-level presidential results matter more in Nebraska, because Nebraska and Maine award a single Electoral College vote to the winner of the popular vote for president in each of its congressional districts, in addition to giving two votes to the statewide winner.

Blue dot signs and red state signs are popping up in the 2nd Congressional District, sometimes with both signs dueling in neighboring yards. (Cate Folsom/Nebraska Examiner)

That leads to more spending in the districts by the top presidential campaigns. This year, Trumps team tried and failed to change the rules to push the state to winner-take-all. Harris team and her backers outspent Trumps more than 20 to 1 on campaign advertising in the 2nd District.

But Bacon had help swimming against the presidential tide. His campaign and outside groups spent about $18 million on his behalf, according to OpenSecrets.org, which tracks federal campaign spending. Vargas had about $14.2 million spent on his behalf.

That was unusual nationally in a year when both Harris and efforts backing congressional Democrats fared better than Republicans in fundraising, Covey said. The 2nd District was one of the few competitive races nationally where the GOP outspent Democrats, she said, particularly on the super PAC side.

District fit matters

Bacons campaign and a number of political observers contacted say part of the incumbents secret sauce was his Air Force experience, including commanding the 55th Wing at Offutt Air Force Base. One consultant described him as designed in a lab to fit a center-right district.

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Jessica Flanagain, one of the states top GOP consultants, described Bacon as a common-sense conservative who gets things done. She said his office is well-run. It serves constituents efficiently. And Bacon never rests. He attends events everywhere.

Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon listens as former Democratic congressional candidate Ann Ashford endorses him. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

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What he has that you cant quantify in a political report is a genuine likability and a very uncommon authenticity, Flanagain said. Don Bacon is always going to tell you straight to your face what he believes and why he believes it.

Democrat Kara Eastman, who lost to Bacon in 2018 and 2020, said Bacon has an uncanny ability to get people to support him who wouldnt typically support a Republican. She remembers him as a candidate who was more conservative than his district.

She pointed to endorsements from Democrats like Ann Ashford, who ran for Bacons seat in 2020, and former Husker Johnny Rodgers as effective in signaling to centrist Democrats that its OK not to change. Eastman said hes probably still that conservative, but she said he has shifted how he talks and sometimes how he votes.

When we started in 2017-18, he was one of the far right, Eastman said. Now the headlines are Moderate Don Bacon wins. I believe our campaign pushed him. Bacon has become one of the most moderate members of Congress. Im proud of that.

Trump relationship complicated

Covey said the definition of moderate has evolved, particularly on the Republican side. She said members of Congress are now considered moderate in the GOP if they are willing to criticize Trump, which Bacon is, though he has also endorsed Trump three times.

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Trump and his political team at one point actively tried to recruit a primary challenger for Bacon, but in the end Trump endorsed him. Trump was particularly upset about Bacons vote in support of the bipartisan infrastructure bill  and about some of Bacons comments after Jan. 6, 2021.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally for Nebraska gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster in Greenwood, Nebraska in 2022. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb said the results show that Bacon has gotten very good at persuading people that he is moderate, when he is not. She said he is more conservative than a slightly right-leaning district.



He is not who he says he is, Kleeb said.

Randall Adkins, a political scientist at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, attributes much of Bacons resiliency to the advantages of incumbency. Since World War II, Adkins said, research shows about 90% of congressional incumbents get re-elected.

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The other side of it is, I do think that Bacon has done what he needs to do to try to stay in touch with the district, Adkins said. He doesnt really deviate, except probably on abortion. Hes very pro-life. Hes not an extremist.  Hes sort of figured out.

Nebraska House incumbents popular

J. Miles Coleman of The Center for Politics at the University of Virginia said Nebraskans seem to like their three House GOP incumbents. Each ran ahead of Trump, Bacon most of all. They also outpaced Nebraskas GOP Senate incumbents in their districts.

They seem to be popular in their seats, Coleman said.

Coleman said Bacon did a little better than Trump in Douglas County, particularly in an area south of Dodge Street but north of Ralston. That includes Regency, a wealthier area that is home to some of the states most moderate Republicans and Democrats.

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One of the few areas where Bacon trailed Trump was in South Omaha, Vargas home district.

Complaints about ad accuracy

Vargas campaign staff had no immediate comment on Bacons overperformance score. They have argued that Bacon benefits from a combination of a district lean, name ID and the other advantages of incumbency.

Overall, Vargas won Douglas County, but by a narrow enough margin  52%-48%  that Bacon was able to overcome the gap by winning the districts slice of Sarpy County 66%-34% and by swamping Vargas in Saunders County, 76%-24%.

U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., right, speaks during a debate on KETV Omaha with State Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha, a Democrat. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

Vargas spent much of his campaign focused on the need to protect reproductive rights, to help workers more easily organize into unions and to help protect and secure the future of Social Security, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act.

His campaign had discussed the difficulties of pushing back against ads painting him as someone who wanted to double his salary and blaming him for serving on a school board that approved hiring employees who later ended up abusing students.

Vargas has criticized Bacon as saying or doing anything to be re-elected.

Bacons campaign similarly complained about ads that he said miscast him as more extreme than he is, particularly on abortion. He said he has always supported exceptions for the life of the mother. Vargas highlighted legislation Bacon cosponsored that contained no exceptions.

Retired UNO political scientist Paul Landow, who worked in Democratic politics for years in Nebraska and the 2nd District, said Bacon is going to be hard for any Democrat to dislodge because he fits the district like the pieces of a puzzle.

There are a lot of people who want to vote for him and do, Landow said. And when you wake up in the morning and do, hes got a victory.
The News

Emirati authorities arrested three people over an Israeli rabbis death, an incident that threatened gradually improving relations between the Gulf and Israel.

Zvi Kogan  who ran a kosher grocery store in Dubai  was confirmed dead on Sunday in what Israel labeled an antisemitic act of terror. On Monday UAE authorities said the three alleged perpetrators were from Uzbekistan.

The UAE and Israel have seen ties deepen since establishing full diplomatic relations in 2020, but Israels response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks has had an impact: Though the two countries have maintained ties, the UAE has upped its calls for a Palestinian state while a long-discussed deal for Israel and regional behemoth Saudi Arabia has largely stalled.
The United Arab Emirates has arrested three men from Uzbekistan suspected of killing an Israeli rabbi last week.

Zvi Kogan, who ran a kosher supermarket in Dubai, was reported missing on Thursday. The 28-year-olds body was found in his abandoned car in the city of Al Ain, about an hour from his home, on Sunday.

The UAEs interior minister announced on Monday that the authorities had arrested in record time the three perpetrators involved in Mr Kogans murder, naming them as Olimpi Toirovich, 28, Makhmudjon Abdurakhim, 28, and Azizbek Kamlovich, 33.

Zvi Kogan had served in the elite Givati unit of the Israel Defense Forces and was an emissary from the Orthodox Jewish group Chabad - @dudikepler/Reuters

Mr Kogan, an Israeli-Moldovan citizen, was an emissary from Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish group that works to expand the Jewish presence in the Arab Gulf nation following the normalisation of relations with Israel in 2020.

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The young rabbi, a public face of Israels growing footprint in the UAE, had also served in the elite Givati unit of the Israel Defense Forces. His funeral is due to take place at 11pm on Monday at the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

His killing triggered outrage in Israel, with Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, calling it a heinous anti-Semitic terrorist act.

Mourners gathered on Monday for Zvi Kogans funeral - Mahmoud Illean

Ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered in the rain during the funeral ceremony in Kfar Chabad, near Tel Aviv - ABIR SULTAN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

On Sunday, Mr Netanyahu vowed that Israel will use all means, and will deal with these murderers, and those who dispatched them, to the fullest extent of the law. None of them will get away.

Sir Ephraim Mirvis, the UKs chief rabbi, called the senseless murder of Mr Kogan not only a devastating blow to his family and the Jewish community in the UAE, but to all who cherish the values of peace, respect, and coexistence.

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Israeli media, citing Israeli official sources, reported that the men from Uzbekistan, a Central Asian nation and former Soviet republic, could have been acting on behalf of Iran as part of its attack against Israel.

Channel 12, an Israeli broadcaster, also said the suspects were arrested outside the UAE in a police operation that spanned several countries.

The kosher supermarket that Zvi Kogan ran in Dubai - Alexander Cornwell/Reuters

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Israel has thwarted numerous attempts by Iran and its proxy forces, Hezbollah and Hamas, to attack Israelis and Jews abroad in recent years.

Iran is suspected of kidnapping and later killing Abbas Yazdi, a British-Iranian national, in Dubai in 2013. Iran also kidnapped Jamshid Sharmahd, an Iranian-German national, from Dubai in 2020, taking him back to Tehran, where he was executed last month.

On Sunday, Tehran said that it categorically rejects the allegations of Irans involvement in the murder of this individual.

Yousef Al Otaiba, UAEs ambassador to the US, said the killing of Mr Kogan was a crime against the UAE. It was an attack on our homeland, on our values and on our vision. He added: In the UAE, we welcome everyone. We embrace peaceful coexistence. We reject extremism and fanaticism of every kind.

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Israel has warned Jews and Israelis around the world that they face a significant increase in hostility in the wake of Hamass Oct 7 attacks on Israel and the subsequent conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon.

Israels National Security Council said: Terrorist cells are motivated to harm Israelis/Jews anywhere. We advise that those staying in this country exercise increased precaution.

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The News

The murder of Zvi Kogan, an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi who lived in Abu Dhabi, has shocked the UAEs small Jewish community, which has been maintaining a low profile since the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and the subsequent wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

After Kogan was reported missing by the Israeli government on Thursday, the UAE confirmed on Sunday that three perpetrators involved in the murder were arrested. The statement didnt provide a motive, and stressed that the country is committed to protecting social harmony and peaceful coexistence.

Kogan, 28, managed a kosher grocery store in Dubai and was a member of the Chabad branch of Orthodox Judaism. He worked with Rabbi Levi Duchman  the UAEs most prominent Jewish leader  to establish a community for Jews in the country following the normalization with Israel under the Abraham Accords in 2020. The community established a nursery, Hebrew school, education and welfare programs, facilities for gatherings and religious services, as well as Kosher compliance.

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Though relations between the two countries have persisted since the Oct. 7 attacks, UAE officials had advised the community to avoid large gatherings and provided additional security for events and holiday celebrations, according to a community member.

The measures were both reassuring and unsettling for Jewish residents in the UAE: The effort to ensure their safety also heightened their sense of vulnerability. Outward signs of Judaism  head coverings, facial hair on men, certain kinds of conservative dress  became less commonplace, and Mezuzahs, the doorpost markers of Jewish homes, came down.

Meanwhile, the Abraham Accords have endured: Trade between the UAE and Israel is growing. At a weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to strengthen ties with the UAE.

Kogan  who was married to US citizen Rivky Kogan  had a background in recruiting and went by Steve, according to his LinkedIn. Friends of the couple in the UAE who spoke to Semafor described the crime as shocking and scary. One friend said that they lived a normal life, and that Rivky is known for bringing back snacks from Trader Joes on her trips home to the US.

Know More

Murder is exceedingly rare in the UAE, with a rate of 0.7 per 100,000 people, comparable to Spain, Norway, and Switzerland, according to the World Health Organization, and far lower than the 5.8 rate in the US. The Gulf hasnt been an arena for the regions proxy wars, and high-profile killings are rare and memorable.

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Two earlier murders in Dubai showcase the surveillance and advanced investigative tools available to UAE authorities. In 2008, Egyptian billionaire Hisham Talaat Moustafa sent a bodyguard to kill his girlfriend, Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim, in her apartment. Police were quickly able to identify the suspect using CCTV footage. And in 2010, a group of 11 foreign assassins tracked Hamas militant Mahmoud al-Mabhouh from his Dubai airport arrival to his hotel room, where he was killed within hours. Police were able to recreate the entire operation, but the hit squad left the country shortly after and havent been apprehended. Israel is widely suspected of ordering the killing.

Mohammeds view

Next week, the UAE will celebrate the anniversary of its founding and its success in making the country  where citizens are a minority  a beacon of stability and prosperity in a region often marked by turmoil. This achievement is a delicate balancing act that requires statecraft, geopolitical savvy, strong security, and wealth.

The UAEs efforts to foster coexistence face great challenges: Normalizing ties with Israel while navigating the fallout from the war in Gaza, managing tensions between India and Pakistan  whose citizens are its biggest minorities  and keeping political Islam and extremism at bay. These pressures are constant, making the UAEs relative harmony surprising.

Kogans murder is more than a crime in the UAE  it was a crime against the UAE, UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba posted on X. It was an attack on our homeland, our values, and our vision. In the UAE, we welcome everyone.

Jews in the UAE are understandably afraid. They are pioneers, believing in the possibility of a peaceful, fulfilling life in a region that has been welcoming to millions of other foreigners. But no one is ever fully protected from humanitys darkness. Kogans tragic murder is the latest reminder.
DUBAI (Reuters) -Three suspects arrested in the United Arab Emirates and accused of murdering an Israeli rabbi in the UAE are citizens of Uzbekistan, the UAE ministry of interior said on Monday.

The ministry released a statement identifying the three men, two of whom it said were aged 28 and the third 33, and released images showing each of the three men blindfolded and handcuffed.

The investigation by Emirati authorities is continuing, the statement said, without saying whether the men had been charged.

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The embassy of Uzbekistan in Abu Dhabi did not immediately respond to an emailed Reuters request for comment.

The body of the rabbi, Zvi Kogan, 28, was discovered on Sunday. He had been reported missing on Thursday and an Israeli official has said it is believed Kogan was last seen in Dubai.

Emirati authorities have not said if they have established a motive. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said it was an "antisemitic terrorist act", and the Israeli official had said it is believed Kogan was targeted because he was Jewish.

Former Israeli Druze politician Ayoob Kara, speaking to Reuters in Dubai on Sunday, accused Iran of being involved. Iran's embassy in Abu Dhabi has rejected the accusation.

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Kogan's death has shaken the UAE's Jewish community, which Jewish groups estimate to number in the several thousand.

Kogan was a resident of the UAE and also a Moldovan national, according to local authorities. He lived in the UAE for several years, working with the New York-based Orthodox Jewish Chabad movement, involved in Jewish community outreach.

Israeli agencies are taking part in the investigation, the Israeli official told Reuters on Sunday. The Moldovan foreign ministry has said that it is contact with UAE authorities.

UAE Ambassador to Washington Yousef Al Otaiba has said that Kogan's murder was a crime against the Gulf Arab country, which sits on the Arabian Peninsula and across the Gulf from Iran.

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The Israeli and Jewish community in the UAE has grown more visible since 2020, when the Gulf Arab country established official ties with Israel under a U.S.-brokered agreement.

The UAE has maintained ties with Israel amid the 13-month-old Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. But Israelis and Jews have been less evident in public since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the war, which sparked protests worldwide.

(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah and Alexander CornwellEditing by Bernadette Baum, William Maclean)
The UK government has announced the introduction of what it described as the largest sanctions package, targeting 30 ships from Russia's shadow fleet.

Source: a report by the UK government, as reported by European Pravda

On Monday, the UK imposed sanctions on 30 ships from Russias shadow fleet, which are responsible for transporting oil and oil products worth billions of pounds over the past year.

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Quote: "With half of the ships targeted today transporting more than $4.3bn worth of oil and oil products like gasoline in the last year alone, today is the largest UK package of its kind," the British government explained.

This move, they added, will further limit the Kremlin's ability to fund its illegal war in Ukraine and its global malicious activities. It will also increase the total number of oil tankers sanctioned by the UK to 73, more than any other country.

The announcement came as UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy used a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Italy to urge other nations to continue exerting pressure on Russia's military apparatus, alongside efforts to strengthen military and financial support for Ukraine.

Oil revenues are a key source of funding for Russia's illegal war in Ukraine.

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"Russias oil revenues are fuelling the fires of war and destruction in Ukraine. I will work with our G7 partners and beyond to exert relentless pressure on the Kremlin, disrupt the flow of money into its war chest, erode its military machine, and constrain its malign behaviour worldwide," Lammy said.

The official added that UK sanctions are working, with Russia becoming increasingly reliant on countries like North Korea and Iran for military supplies, and even resorting to sending North Korean troops to support its illegal invasion.

Background:

Media reports indicate that the next European Union sanctions package against Russia will target the shadow fleet used to circumvent Western oil sanctions.

The European Parliament recently called for tougher sanctions against Russia's shadow fleet.

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A British national fighting for Ukraine has been captured by Russian forces in Kursk Oblast, according to multiple reports from Nov. 24.

A video of a man in military fatigues, who identifies himself as former British army signalman James Scott Rhys Anderson, 22, began circulating on Russian Telegram channels on Nov. 24.

In the video, the man  who spoke with an English accent  says he signed up for Ukraine's International Legion, a unit made up of foreign volunteers, after serving in the British military from 2019 to 2023. When the footage was taken remains unclear, and its authenticity could not be independently verified.

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The man cannot speak freely as he was recorded while captured and apparently in the presence of Russian soldiers.

The Russian state news agency TASS quoted a military source claiming that a "U.K. mercenary" has been detained in Kursk Oblast, an embattled region on the border with Ukraine. Russia often presents foreign volunteers fighting for Ukraine as "mercenaries" and claims they are not entitled to protection as prisoners of war.

The U.K. Foreign Office told the media it was "supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention."

Scott Anderson, the 22-year-old's father, told the Daily Mail that he "was in complete shock and in tears" when the fighter's commander sent him the video.

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"I could see straight away it was him. He looks frightened, scared, and worried," Scott Anderson said.

Two other Britons, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, were captured by Russian forces in Mariupol in 2022 and sentenced to death before being released in a prisoner exchange.

Russia has ramped up pressure in Kursk Oblast to dislodge Ukrainian troops holding positions there since early August. Reuters reported on Nov. 23 that Ukraine had lost over 40% of territory previously captured during the incursion.

Read also: Ukraine has lost over 40% of territory previously gained in Kursk incursion, Reuters reports

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Law enforcement officers in Colorado Springs and Albuquerque seized about 670,000 fentanyl pills earlier this month, according to a Monday news release from the Drug Enforcement Administration.

One man was arrested in connection with the drugs, which were being transported by bus from Albuquerque to Denver, the federal agency said.

The number of fentanyl pills seized in this case is almost enough to give every resident in the city of Denver one fake pill, said Jonathan Pullen, DEA Rocky Mountain Field Division special agent in charge.

The DEA designation nationwide for the seized tablets is fake pills, otherwise known as counterfeit Oxycodone M30s  fakes.

A bystander at an Albuquerque bus depot saw two suspicious men carrying two suitcases each on a bus bound for Denver and called police, according to the release. One man ran, leaving the luggage behind. Police seized the two suitcases and, after obtaining a search warrant, found about 330,000 pills and two ounces of heroin.

The second man, who stayed on the bus, was later arrested in Colorado Springs with two suitcases and a backpack, officials said. A Colorado Springs K-9 detected narcotics in all three bags, which reportedly held about 340,000 tablets with fentanyl and several thousand dollars in cash.

Seizures of this size are only possible with the collaborative work with our partner agencies on the DEA Task Force and community members who are courageous enough to do something about it, said Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez.

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The arrested suspect, whose name was not released, has been identified as a Denver resident with outstanding arrest warrants for drug trafficking. A second suspect remains on the loose.

This is a prime example of see something, say something, Pullen said. As a result, 670,000 fake pills are now off the streets of Colorado and New Mexico.

The 670,000 pills amount to about 25% of Colorados entire pill seizures in 2023, officials said. About 2.61 million fentanyl tablets pills were recovered in Colorado last year.
(Bloomberg) -- The UK government is in danger of losing the trust of corporate leaders if it fails to mitigate the impact of last months budget, the chair of the countrys most powerful business lobby said.

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Rupert Soames, who joined the Confederation of British Industry in February, said businesses were caught unawares by increased employment costs being introduced by the Labour government, and could turn against it in the next six to 12 months. That jelly, once it sets, will be really hard to shift, Soames said in an interview at the CBIs annual conference in London.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves increased taxes by more than 40 billion ($50 billion) last month, most of which will come from a rise in national insurance, a payroll levy. Businesses were disappointed by the increase, but this could be mitigated by changes to other measures, such as the employment bill, apprenticeship levy, and rates reform.

The trust isnt lost yet, but Labour has now clearly got some ground to regain, Soames said. When in opposition, the government did a really good job of convincing people they do understand.

The government cant get companies to grow by decree, Soames said. It can cajole, it can encourage, but it cant force people to do it.

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Damage Control

His comments followed speeches by and discussions with business leaders and politicians including the leader of the opposition, Kemi Badenoch.

Salman Amin, chief executive officer of snacks company Pladis Foods Ltd., said Britain had become a less attractive place to do business. Its becoming harder to understand what the case for investment is, said Amin, whose company makes McVities biscuits and Jacobs crackers.

Earlier on Monday, the CBI released the results of a survey that showed British companies are in damage control, with nearly half planning to cut jobs after the tax-rising budget.

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The United Kingdom sanctioned 30 oil tankers of Russia's "shadow fleet" that carried billions of dollars worth of oil and oil products last year, the government said on Nov. 25.

"Oil revenues are a crucial source of funding for the Kremlins illegal war in Ukraine," the Foreign Office said in a statement.

The latest sanctions follow Moscows efforts to evade the West's attempts to stifle its oil revenues through the $60-per-barrel price cap imposed two years ago.

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"Constraining these revenues, including by cracking down on the companies that insure these vessels, is vital for maintaining our shared security: degrading the Kremlins war machine, clearing our shipping lanes of unsafe traffic, and protecting our international trade to make room for growth. the statement added.

The sanctions expand the number of U.K.-sanctioned Russian vessels to 73, the biggest batch of sanctioned ships by a single Western country. The EU and U.S. have also targeted Russia's shadow fleet in previous rounds of sanctions, applying restrictions to individual tankers and shipping services.

Russia has invested $10 billion to expand its shadow fleet since 2022, according to the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) Insititute. The fleet consists of old and poorly insured tankers that carried two-thirds of Russia's seaborne crude oil exports last year, the report showed.

Read also: 70% of Russian oil shipped by shadow fleet, posing environment risk, report says

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OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) analysts have found that Ukraine has, for the first time, fired US-made ATACMS ballistic missiles with cluster warheads at a military airfield in Russias Kursk Oblast.

Source: Militarnyi web portal with reference to the Ukrainian project Kiberboroshno (CyberFlour)

Details: According to analysts, on the night of 24-25 November, Ukrainian missile forces struck the Russian tactical aviation airfield Kursk-Vostochny with ATACMS missiles.

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The project showed photos of the detonation of submunitions, which are parts of two M39 missiles with cluster warheads, on the territory of the airfield.

The identified geolocation shows that the missiles attacked a parking lot of aircraft, including combat aircraft. It is currently unknown whether they were there at the time of the strike.

Approximate areas where ATACMS missiles hit the Kursk-Vostochny airfield

Photo: Maxar Technologies satellite imagery from August 2022, as cited by Militarnyi

One of Russia's military bloggers, who has ties with the Air Force, also confirmed the ballistic missile strike. He claims that Ukraine has launched eight missiles, and the Russians performed combat efforts against seven. However, this term only means an attempt to intercept, not shoot down.

Background:

On 17 November, The New York Times reported that current US President Joe Biden had, for the first time, allowed the Ukrainian military to use long-range ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory. Depending on the modification, ATACMS can have a range of 140 to 300 kilometres.

On the night of 18-19 November, Ukraines defence forces launched their first long-range ATACMS missile strike on Russias territory

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Ukraine said on Monday that it found Western-made parts inside North Korean ballistic missiles.

Russia has used the KN-23 and KN-24 missiles in attacks that have killed Ukrainian civilians.

It marks the latest discovery of American and European technology inside weaponry used by Russia.

The Ukrainian military said on Monday that it found Western-made parts inside North Korean ballistic missiles, marking the latest discovery for Kyiv as it continues to find technology from Europe and the US inside weapons used by the Russian military.

Ukraine's military intelligence agency said that it found Western-made parts inside North Korea's KN-23 and KN-24 short-range ballistic missiles. These solid-fueled munitions are similar in certain respects to the Russian Iskander missile and can carry payloads in excess of 1,000 pounds.

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North Korea sent dozens of these missiles, as well as military personnel to help operate the launchers, to Russia, which has been firing them at Ukraine for nearly a year. KN-23 and KN-24 strikes have killed multiple civilians in recent months.

Ukraine's military intelligence agency, also known as the HUR, said these weapon systems contain parts made by companies in China, Japan, Switzerland, the UK, and the US. Kyiv also said it found a voltage converter made in February 2023  a year after the full-scale invasion  by British manufacturer XP Power inside a missile.

The company has not yet responded to Business Insider's request for comment.

A crater caused by a North Korean ballistic missile attack is seen near Kyiv in August. Anadolu/Anadolu via Getty Images

The HUR called for tighter controls, writing a statement that "in order to obtain technologies for their weapons programs, the aggressor state Russia and its allies  the DPRK and Iran  use joint schemes to circumvent international sanctions, which requires an appropriate response, in particular  the strengthening of export control mechanisms."

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Ukraine uploaded what it said was evidence of the Western-made parts to a government portal, which lists the names of several companies and identifies the technology found in the missiles. Kyiv said that it had previously found Western technology in the North Korean missiles.

The Monday statement marks Ukraine's latest announcement on the finding of Western-made parts inside weapons used by Russia in this war. Kyiv has discovered technology of American and European origin in Moscow's missiles and drones, as well as Iranian-made drones.

The continued discovery of Western components in systems made by sanctioned countries highlights the challenge of creating airtight controls.

Beyond missiles, Pyongyang has also provided Moscow with artillery pieces, shells, and troops in support of its invasion. Over 11,000 North Korean forces have been moved into Russia's western Kursk region, where the Kremlin is trying to push out Ukrainian forces who control territory there following a surprise invasion in early August.

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NATO said the introduction of North Korean troops into the war marked a "significant escalation" in the grinding conflict. The development has triggered several major policy shifts from the West, including in the US and UK, which finally authorized Ukraine's use of powerful, longer-range missiles to strike military targets in Russia.

Over the past week, Ukraine has used its US-provided ATACMS ballistic missiles and British-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles to carry out cross-border strikes for the first time.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Ukraine is tracking threats from Russian troops in southern Zaporizhzhia Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Nov. 25 following a report by Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.

"We see the existing threats," Zelensky said.

In early October, Russian troops reportedly renewed their attack in the Zaporizhzhia sector. Kyiv warned of a potential Russian push in the southern region, saying Moscow was deploying trained assault groups to front-line positions in mid-November.

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Russia is also carrying out intense attacks in multiple sections of the eastern front, with attempts to break through Ukraine's defenses in Donetsk Oblast toward the towns of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove, attempting to encircle the latter one.

The president described the situation near the town of Kurakhove in Donetsk Oblast as "the most difficult."

"We are working to strengthen our positions," he added.

According to the president, Ukrainian soldiers also continue to hold positions in Kursk Oblast amid an ongoing nearly four-months-long incursion.

Last week, Reuters reported that Kyiv had lost over 40% of captured territory in the Russian region due to Moscow's counterattacks. To aid Moscow's war effort, North Korea has dispatched 10,000 troops to Russia, with most of them deployed in Kursk Oblast.

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"Our task is to destroy the Russian potential in the border area as much as possible," Zelensky said.

Read also: Opinion: Nuclear escalation fears cant override Ukraines right to defend itself

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Ukraine used U.S.-supplied longe-range ATACMS missile to strike targets inside Russia, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told journalists on Nov. 25.

The confirmation by Washington came days after reports that Kyiv launched ATACMS missiles at a military facility in Karachev, Bryansk Oblast. The strikes with Western-made missiles were also reported in Kursk Oblast.

"Right now, they (Ukrainian soldiers) have the ability to use ATACMS to defend themselves in an immediate-need basis. Understandably, that's taken place in and around Kursk Oblast," Kirby said.

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"We did change the guidance and gave them guidance that they can use them to strike these particular types of targets."

Several media outlets reported on Nov. 17 that U.S. President Joe Biden permitted Ukraine to use its ATACMS missiles to strike against targets on Russian soil. According to some reports, this so far concerns only Russian and North Korean forces amassing in Russia's Kursk Oblast.

The policy change follows Biden's previous hesitance to provide such weapons out of concern for escalating tensions with Russia.

Biden first eased the restrictions in May to allow Ukraine to use certain weaponry like HIMARS to strike at Russian troops just across the border in the wake of the Kharkiv offensive. Restrictions on ATACMS, tactical ballistic missiles with a range of 300 kilometers (190 miles), remained in place at the time.

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Bloomberg reported on Nov. 20, citing a Western official familiar with the matter, that Ukraine has also struck targets inside Russia with British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles for the first time.

Read also: ATACMS, Trump, and the increasing importance of Kursk Oblast for Ukraine

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Telegram / kiber_boroshno

Ukraine appears to have hit Russia with cluster Atacms missiles for the first time since Joe Biden lifted a ban on long-range weapons.

Kyiv hit Khalino airfield near Kursk city overnight, Ukrainian military bloggers said, sharing geolocated photos of the site.

The airfield is no longer used by Russian aviation, but they said the facility still contained a command headquarters, ammunition depots and a drone launching area.

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A video of the strike showed hundreds of small explosions typical of cluster munitions hitting the airport. Atacms come in two forms: as cluster munitions or a unitary warhead that hits a more specific target.

It was the second time Ukraine has fired Atacms into Russia since the US lifted its ban, and the first time the cluster version of the weapons have been known to be used.

03:24 PM GMT

Todays live coverage has ended

Todays live coverage has ended. Heres a roundup of the days events:

Ukraine hit Russia with US-supplied Atacms cluster munitions, days after Putins nuclear threat to the West.

David Lammy said the UK would provide support to a British man detained by Russian forces fighting for Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had launched nearly 150 air strikes on Ukraine in the last 24 hours.

A Russian oil refinery near the Moscow region was hit by an overnight long-range Ukrainian drone strike.

The Kremlin said it had noted that incoming US president Donald Trumps circle was talking about a peace plan in Ukraine

02:19 PM GMT

Russian oil refinery near Moscow hit by long-range Ukrainian drone strike

A Russian missile factory and oil refinery near the Moscow region were hit in an overnight long-range Ukrainian drone strike, Kyiv has said.

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Footage showed buildings on fire and a large black smoke plume rising over the skyline of the city of Kaluga, around 220 miles from the Ukrainian border.

Open source intelligence analysts said that Ukrainian drones hit a fuel storage facility operated by Kremlin-run energy company Rosneft.

A complex that builds hi-tech components for missiles was also hit, according to the head of Ukraines national security and defence council centre for countering disinformation.

Andriy Kovalenko said the complex is known as the Typhoon plant and produces communication systems, guidance systems and radar equipment for Russian missiles.

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He added that the facility also refurbishes old Russian military equipment to make it suitable for the battlefield in Ukraine.

Ukraine has ramped up production of its long-range drone program in recent months, with Volodymyr Zelensky last week saying that Kyiv aims to produce at least 30,000 next year.

01:43 PM GMT

Government will offer support to British man detained by Russia

The Government will offer support to a British man detained by Russian forces while fighting for Ukraine, David Lammy said at G7 talks on Monday.

When asked about reports of a UK national being detained in the Russian border region of Kursk, Lammy said he had been updated about that development and would offer this UK national all the support we can.

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In a video widely circulated on Sunday, a man dressed in combat fatigues and speaking with an English accent identifies himself as James Scott Rhys Anderson, aged 22, from the UK.

I was in the British Army before, from 2019 to 2023, 22 Signal Regiment. Just a private, I was a signalman. One Signal Brigade, 22 Signal Regiment, 252 Squadron, he said to the camera.

01:40 PM GMT

David Lammy: We are confident Ukraine can get through 2025

David Lammy has said that he is confident that Ukraine can have the funds and the military equipment and kit to get through 2025.

The Foreign Secretary was addressing a meeting of the G7 in Italy and urged the group of nations to to stand with Ukraine for as long as it lasts.

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He announced new sanctions on vessels of Russias shadow fleet of ships, which Moscow uses to evade sanctions on its oil exports.

01:15 PM GMT

Pictured: Civilians in Kyiv take part in military training

Civilians take part in military training in Kyiv, Nov 23 - TETIANA DZHAFAROVA/AFP

12:03 PM GMT

Zelensky: Russia has launched nearly 150 air strikes on Ukraine since yesterday

Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia has launched over 150 air strikes on Ukraine since Sunday evening.

The Ukrainian president said that these attacks were carried out by strike drones, aerial bombs, and missiles and targeted ten Ukrainian regions.

A rescue operation is underway in Kharkiv for a strike that injured at least 19 people, Mr Zelensky said.

He added that a child was injured in Zaporizhzhia after Russia attacked the city with dozens of drones and that Odesa was damaged by missile fragments.

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And this is just one day of Russian terror against Ukraine, Mr Zelensky said.

Aftermath of a Russian strike on Odesa, November 25 - VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY VIA TELEGRAM/REUTERS

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A damaged Lenin bust among debris at the site of a Russian missile strike on Kharkiv, November 25 - SERGEY KOZLOV/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock/Shutterstock

11:16 AM GMT

Watch: Aftermath of Russian strike on Kharkiv

A Russian strike on Kharkiv on Thursday morning injured at least 19 people (see our post at 08.36am).

Credit: X / Volodymyr Zelenskyy

10:16 AM GMT

Pictured: Ukrainian medic treats a wounded soldier near frontline town of Pokrovsk

A Ukrainian medic of the ULF medic group treat Ukrainian soldiers wounded in combat near Pokrovsk, November 20 - Anadolu/Anadolu

10:11 AM GMT

Kremlin: Trump talks of peace, while Biden looks for escalation

Russia has noted that Donald Trumps team is speaking about a potential peace plan for Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Monday.

Indeed, from the circle of Trump supporters and those who have been nominated for future positions in the future administration, the word peace or peace plan is being heard, spokesman Dmitry Peskov added.

No such words are being heard from the current administration while provocative escalatory actions continue. That is the reality that we face, he added.

09:44 AM GMT

War no longer a stalemate as Russia makes rapid advances, says ISW

Recent Russian advances mean the war is no longer a stalemate and the frontline is becoming increasingly fluid, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

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The Washington-based think tank said Moscows troops were advancing at a significantly quicker rate than they did in the entirety of 2023.

In the Pokrovsk, Kurakhove, Vuhledar and Velyka Novosilka areas, the ISW said Russia has captured at least 426 sq miles of territory since September 1.

In contrast, Russia gained only 149 sq miles in the whole of 2023 in these areas.

It said that Russia has succeeded in taking advantage of their capture of Vuhledar in October to launch attacks further west.

09:27 AM GMT

Kursk attacked with foreign-made missiles overnight, Russia says

Russias Kursk region was attacked with foreign made missiles overnight, authorities said.

Kursk was subjected to a massive attack by foreign-made missiles, said Roman Alyokhin, a military analyst who serves as an adviser to Kursks governor.

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The Kursk governor had earlier said that Russia downed seven missiles fired at the region from Ukraine.

Our air defence fighters repelled the attack of the Ukrainian Armed Forces last night, Alexei Smirnov said without providing further details.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

Kyiv launched US Atacms missiles and British Storm Shadow cruise missiles into Russia last week after Joe Biden removed restrictions on their use earlier this month.

08:37 AM GMT

Former British soldier fighting for Ukraine captured by Russia in Kursk

A former British Army soldier fighting for Ukraine has been captured by Russias forces in the Kursk region, writes James Kilner.

In a video widely circulated on Sunday, a man dressed in combat fatigues and speaking with an English accent identifies himself as James Scott Rhys Anderson, aged 22, from the UK.

You can read the full story here.

08:36 AM GMT

Russian strike on Kharkiv injures 19, authorities say

At least 19 people were injured in a Russian missile strike on Kharkiv on Monday, local authorities have said.

The attack hit residential buildings in the centre of the city and set several cars and outbuildings on fire, Kharkivs mayor said

He added that at least 13 of the injured were taken to hospital.

It is not clear if the damage was caused by debris from an air defence missile or by the Russian strike directly.

A Ukrainian inspects a crater following a Russian missile attack on Kharkiv, Nov 25 - SERGEY BOBOK/AFP

Experts inspect the damage at the site of a missile strike that hit central Kharkiv, Nov 25 - ditSERGEY KOZLOV/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock/Shutterstock

08:35 AM GMT

Welcome to our live coverage

Welcome to our live coverage. Well be keeping you up to date with the days events as they happen.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Ukraine plans to significantly increase the capacity of its western border.

Source: Serhii Derkach, Deputy Minister for Communities and Territories Development

Details: This is envisaged by the draft Strategy for the Development of Border Infrastructure with the European Union and Moldova until 2030.

"Due to the full-scale invasion, the load on the checkpoints has increased significantly, so we need to adapt the border to the needs at hand", Derkach explained.

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The border infrastructure capacity will be increased by reconstructing existing checkpoints and building new ones, including access roads.

For example, the plan is to reconstruct six border crossing points with Poland, three on the border with Slovakia, five with Romania, three with Hungary, and 11 with Moldova.

There are also plans to build new checkpoints, including Bila Tserkva-Sighetu Marmatiei, Bila Krynytsia-Klimeuts, Ruska-Ulma, and Shepit- Izvoarele Sucevei on the border with Romania; Velyka Palad-Nagyhodos, and Dyida- Beregdaroc with Hungary.

The goals also include the introduction of joint control with neighbouring countries, the reduction of queuing time and the creation of a network of service zones.

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Ukraine has already received approval from the European Commission, Derkach added. Representatives of the Ministry held separate meetings with each oblast military administration to agree on priorities and joint plans for border development.

Background:

On the evening of Sunday, 24 November, Polish farmers stopped blocking the Medyka-Shehyni checkpoint.

The cessation of the blockade of checkpoints on the border with Ukraine by Polish farmers is temporary: the protests may resume in December and will be much larger.

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Key developments on Nov. 25:

Ukrainian drones hit oil depot in western Russia's Kaluga Oblast, source says

Ukraine can strike Russian territory with ATACMS missiles, White House confirms

Russian missile attacks on central Kharkiv, Odesa injures dozens

Ukraine's 3rd Brigade says it liberated Kharkiv Oblast village, took POWs

Ukraine developing guided aerial bombs domestically, Chief of Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff says

Drones operated by Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) hit an oil depot in the western Russian city of Kaluga, a source in the agency told the Kyiv Independent on Nov. 25.

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The Kaluganefteprodukt oil facility, which is used to support Russian aggression against Ukraine, was struck by drones at 0:30 a.m. on Nov. 25, leading to a fire, the source claimed.

The successful attack was later confirmed by the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces.

Kaluga, a city of roughly 340,000 people, lies approximately 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of the Ukrainian border.

Videos shared on local Telegram channels showed a fire and active air defenses in the city.

Kaluga Oblast Governor Vladislav Shapsha claimed that eight drones were shot down overnight, resulting in a fire at an industrial facility that was later extinguished.

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The official did not provide further details on possible damage and said there had been no casualties.

According to Andrii Kovalenko, head of the counter-disinformation department at Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, drones also targeted Kaluga's Taifun (Typhoon) factory, which produces radio-electronic equipment, missile and aviation components, and other military supplies.

It remains unclear whether the Taifun factory suffered damage, as the target was not mentioned by the HUR source.

Ukrainian forces also struck Russian targets in the Bryansk and Kursk oblasts overnight on Nov. 25, the General Staff reported.

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The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the claims.

Read also: Ukrainian drones hit oil depot in western Russias Kaluga Oblast, source says

Ukraine can hit targets in Russia with ATACMS missiles, White House confirms

Ukraine used U.S.-supplied longe-range ATACMS missile to strike targets inside Russia, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told journalists on Nov. 25.

The confirmation by Washington came days after reports that Kyiv launched ATACMS missiles at a military facility in Karachev, Bryansk Oblast. The strikes with Western-made missiles were also reported in Kursk Oblast.

"Right now, they (Ukrainian soldiers) have the ability to use ATACMS to defend themselves in an immediate-need basis. Understandably, that's taken place in and around Kursk Oblast," Kirby said.

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"We did change the guidance and gave them guidance that they can use them to strike these particular types of targets."

Read also: ATACMS, Trump, and the increasing importance of Kursk Oblast for Ukraine

Russian missile attacks on central Kharkiv, Odesa injures dozens

Russia launched an attack against the central part of Kharkiv on the morning of Nov. 25, injuring at least 23 people, officials reported.

Thirteen people have been hospitalized, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov wrote on his Telegram channel.

The victims were at work or walking down the street, Spartak Borysenko, head of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office, told the Suspilne broadcaster.

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The Russian military likely struck a densely populated residential area in central Kharkiv with an S-400 missile, Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported on his Telegram channel.

"(The missile) landed in a yard surrounded by multi-story buildings. Buildings and cars caught fire," he wrote. According to Borysenko, at least five cars were damaged, while the number of damaged buildings is still being determined.

Later in a day, Russia also launched a missile attack against downtown Odesa, injuring at least 11 people, Governor Oleh Kiper reported.

The aftermath of a Russian attack on the city of Odesa on Nov. 25, 2024. (State Emergency Service)

Ukraine's 3rd Brigade liberated Kharkiv Oblast village, took POWs

Ukraines Third Assault Brigade said on Nov. 25 that it pushed Russian troops out of the Kopanky village in Kharkiv Oblast, taking several prisoners of war (POW) from Russias First Tank Army.

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Russian forces were reportedly pushed out after they attempted to break into Kopanky, a village in eastern Kharkiv Oblast close to the administrative border with Luhansk Oblast.

The settlement lies around 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of Kupiansk, a key logistics hub under increasing pressure from Russian troops.

In a video published by the unit, seven POWs are seen in a basement-like room during a filmed interrogation. According to the unit, the POWs' positions came under artillery fire from the Russian military after their capture.

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the units claims or where the video was recorded.

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Read also: Ukraine sees existing threats from Russia in Zaporizhzhia sector, Zelensky says

Ukraine developing guided aerial bombs domestically, military says

Ukraine is actively working on developing its own guided aerial bombs, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Anatolii Barhylevych reported on Nov. 24.

"We are actively working on it. I think we will achieve such success," he said on national television.

According to Barhylevych, Russia holds the largest stockpile of aerial bombs inherited from the Soviet Union.

Guided aerial bombs are precision-guided munitions that have a shorter range than missiles but are far cheaper to produce.

When launched from aircraft within Russian territory or Russian-occupied territories, they are beyond the reach of Ukrainian air defense.

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Read also: Drone coalition to gather $1.8 billion by end of 2024, defense minister says

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Ukraines Third Assault Brigade said on Nov. 25 that it had cleared out Russian troops from the Kopanky village in Kharkiv Oblast, taking several prisoners of war (POW) from Russias First Tank Army.

Russian forces were reportedly pushed out after they attempted to break into Kopanky, a village in eastern Kharkiv Oblast close to the administrative border with Luhansk Oblast.

The settlement lies around 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of Kupiansk, a key logistics hub under increasing pressure from Russian troops.

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In a video published by the unit, seven POWs are seen in a basement-like room during a filmed interrogation. According to the unit, the POWs' positions came under artillery fire from the Russian military after their capture.

Russia has been recruiting prisoners for high-risk assault operations in Ukraine to offset its staggering losses during the full-scale war.

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the units claims or where the video was recorded.

The Third Separate Assault Brigade is known to have been operating around the village of Borova in Kharkiv Oblast. They launched a successful counterattack in the region in August, advancing almost 2 square kilometers deep into the front line area.

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Read also: Ukraine war latest: Ukraine has lost over 40% of territory previously gained in Kursk incursion, Reuters reports

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Ukraine's Defence Ministry has signed the first state-guaranteed contracts with a Ukrainian private company.

Source: press service for Ukraine's Defence Ministry

Details: The contracts, valued at UAH 4.4 billion (about US$106 million), will see the company produce and deliver 100 specialised armoured combat vehicles and 100 armoured evacuation vehicles.

The agreements stipulate that the manufacturer will raise loan funds to fulfil the contract, and the state will provide appropriate guarantees for loan repayment from the state budget.

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For security reasons, the details of the contracts are not disclosed.

"These contracts open a new page in cooperation between the Ministry of Defence and the private sector. The conclusion of contracts involving state guarantees is an important signal to businesses: the state is ready to support responsible manufacturers capable of providing the military with modern solutions and quality products," commented Dmytro Klimenkov, Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister.

Hlib Kanievskyi, Director of the Defence Ministry's Procurement Policy Department, noted that the state budget for 2024 provides up to UAH 30 billion (about US$724 million) for state guarantees for contracts aimed at improving the defence and security of the state.

"State guarantees are an additional financial instrument for the procurement of military equipment for the Armed Forces with a long production cycle. With the help of such guarantees, the Ministry of Defence is scaling up the capabilities of the domestic defence industry," Kanievskyi added.

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Contracts under state guarantees are a separate area of defence procurement reform and provide for new conditions for partnership with businesses, which is critical to meeting the needs of Ukraine's Armed Forces, the Defence Ministry said.

Background: In 10 months of 2024, the Ministry of Defence signed contracts for Ukrainian-made robotic systems worth UAH 300 million (about US$7.2 million).

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Ukraines Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha will visit Italy from 25 to 26 November to participate in the G7 ministerial meeting.

Source: press service for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The ministry noted that Sybiha will attend the G7 ministerial meeting in Italy on 25-26 November on President Zelenskyy's behalf.

He is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and foreign ministers from Global South countries on Monday, 25 November.

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Sybiha will join a special session of the G7 ministerial meeting dedicated to Ukraine on Tuesday, 26 November,.

He will also hold bilateral talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

As the foreign ministry noted, the discussions will focus on strengthening support for Ukraine amidst recent Russian escalations, including the involvement of North Korean forces, the use of medium-range ballistic missiles against Ukraine and continued aerial terror targeting civilians, critical infrastructure and the energy system.

Background:

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On 22 November, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Kyiv had requested assistance from allies in strengthening air defence to protect against ballistic missiles such as the one fired at the city of Dnipro the previous day.

On 24 November, Ukraines Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged foreign partners to improve Ukrainian air defence with weapons capable of intercepting Russian medium-range ballistic missiles.

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Ukraine's defence forces struck a number of Russian critical infrastructure facilities in Russia on the night of 24-25 November.

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Telegram

Quote: "We can confirm that an attack on an oil depot in Kaluga Oblast has been successful. The results of attacks on other facilities are being verified."

Details: Reports indicate that Ukraine's Armed Forces struck Russian key targets in Bryansk, Kaluga and Kursk oblasts of Russia.

Background:

Earlier, Russian Telegram channels reported that drones had been shot down in Kaluga on the night of 24-25 November. The governor of Kaluga Oblast said that the wreckage of one of the drones fell on premises belonging to an industrial firm, causing a fire.

Later, Andrii Kovalenko, Head of Ukraines National Security and Defence Council's Center for Countering Disinformation, said that drones had attacked the Typhoon plant, part of the Russian defence industrial base, in the city of Kaluga.

Subsequently, a Ukrainska Pravda source in Ukraines defence forces said that Ukrainian drones had struck a fuel and energy infrastructure facility in Kaluga Oblast.

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DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company, will receive $112 million from the EU and the U.S. to restore facilities damaged in Russian attacks and prepare them for winter, the company said on Nov. 25.

Russian attacks have destroyed 90% of DTEK's generation capacity during an aerial campaign in the spring and summer earlier this year, which aimed to knock out Ukraine's power grid.

Moscow's forces launched another massive attack on Nov. 17, again targeting DTEK's power plants.

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The U.S. government is providing $46.1 million to purchase control systems and dozens of new transformers, while the European Commission pledged 62.8 million euros ($66 million) to restore 1.8GW of generating capacity and to protect power plant equipment from elements during the winter.

"The work will ensure a stable and reliable energy supply to more than 2 million Ukrainians," the company said in a press release.

"The United States is proud to support Ukraine's energy resilience with this critical aid package," said Geoffrey Pyatt, the assistant secretary of state for energy resources.

"By providing $46.1 million for control systems and new transformers, we are helping to rebuild and fortify Ukraine's energy infrastructure against Russias unprovoked attacks."

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DTEK's CEO, Maksym Timchenko, said the company is "deeply grateful for the unwavering support of the United States and the European Commission, and the leadership of the Ministry of Energy in delivering this vital aid."

In turn, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), one of Ukraine's largest institutional investors, said it would not provide funds to DTEK due to its ownership by oligarch Rinat Akhmetov.

"The objective of freeing the economy from the influence of oligarchs is absolutely fundamental," EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso said, according to the Italian publication Corriere della Sera.

Akhmetov is Ukraine's wealthiest man, with vast holdings in mining and metallurgy. Formerly a lawmaker of the pro-Russian Party of Regions, the business tycoon saw a large part of his assets lost during Russia's invasion.

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Read also: Deputy energy minister: How Ukraines energy infrastructure has endured over 1,000 attacks in 1,000 days of full-scale war

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Editor's note: The article was updated with a statement by the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces.

Drones operated by Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) hit an oil depot in the western Russian city of Kaluga, a source in the agency told the Kyiv Independent on Nov. 25.

The Kaluganefteprodukt oil facility, which is used to support Russian aggression in Ukraine, was struck by the drones at 0:30 a.m. on Nov. 25, leading to a series of blasts and a fire, the source claimed.

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The successful attack was later confirmed by the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces.

Kaluga, a city of roughly 340,000 people, lies approximately 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of the Ukrainian border.

Videos shared on local Telegram channels show a fire and active air defenses in the city.

0:00

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Kaluga Oblast Governor Vladislav Shapsha claimed that eight drones were shot down overnight, resulting in a fire at an industrial facility that was later extinguished.

The official did not provide further details on possible damage and said there had been no casualties.

According to Andrii Kovalenko, the counter-disinformation chief at Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, drones also targeted Kaluga's Taifun (Typhoon) factory, which produces radio-electronic equipment, missile and aviation components, and other military supplies.

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It remains unclear whether the Taifun factory suffered damage, as the target was not mentioned by the HUR source.

Ukrainian forces also struck Russian targets in the Bryansk and Kursk oblasts overnight on Nov. 25, the General Staff reported.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify all the claims.

Kyiv launches regular drone strikes against Russian territory, targeting military and industrial facilities to undermine Russia's war effort in Ukraine.

Read also: Dont overreact  Oreshnik missile isnt as new as Russia claims, experts say

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Maksym Tkachenko, a Ukrainian MP from Servant of the People party, has described his own recent statement about the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) returning to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine as his own assumption.

Source: Maksym Tkachenko in a comment to Ukrinform news agency

Quote from Maksym Tkachenko: "I made an incorrect statement, so I want to refute my words. There is no such data. It was my unfounded and emotional assumption."

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Details: MP says there are some cases when Ukrainians are forced to travel to the temporarily occupied territories for various reasons, but we are not talking about hundreds or even tens of thousands, and there can be no general-verified statistics, even theoretically.

Background: Earlier, Tkachenko said in an interview with Ukrinform news agency that about 150,000 IDPs had returned to the temporarily occupied territories, including up to 70,000 who came back to temporarily occupied Mariupol.

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This years UN climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan kicked off with a fulsome celebration of fossil fuels, praised by the countrys president Ilham Aliyev as a gift of God. It ended with a climate finance deal developing countries called an insult, a joke and a betrayal.

The question at COP29 was how much wealthy countries, most responsible for the climate crisis, owe poor countries facing the worst impacts. The answer: $300 billion a year by 2035. Rich countries said it was the best they could do. Poorer countries called it abysmal, falling far below the $1.3 trillion economists say they need to cope with a crisis they have not caused.

In the wake of a chaotic, bitter summit and heavily criticized final deal, some experts are asking whether the whole COP process is now so lacking in ambition as to be almost worthless.

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Amid geopolitical upheaval, including the election of a climate denier in the US, Baku might be remembered as the beginning of the end of multilateral climate action.

The dismal outcomes of COP29  have raised serious concerns about the integrity of the global climate negotiation process, said Harjeet Singh, of the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative.

Fossil fuel interests unleashed

COP climate summits are always painstaking and fraught. But they have had major successes, most notably the 2015 Paris climate agreement, under which countries committed to keeping global warming to well under 2 degrees Celsius, and preferably to 1.5.

And yet, nearly a decade later, the world is on track for the hottest year on record and levels of planet-heating pollution are projected to reach an all-time high.

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We are sleepwalking into a dystopian future, said Payam Akhavan, an attorney for the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law.

The COP process has thus far failed, because it depends on the good faith of the major polluters, and instead of doing what is necessary for our common survival, they are literally adding fuel to the flames, he told CNN.

In many ways, COP29 was set up to fail from the start: Russia ensured the summit was held in a fossil fuel-reliant nation by using its United Nations veto to prevent any European Union country from hosting.

So it fell to Azerbaijan, a petrostate with little experience leading high level climate talks, to wrangle negotiations on money, the thorniest of climate issues.

COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev in a plenary session at the COP29 United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Baku, Azerbaijan November 23, 2024. - Maxim Shemetov/Reuters

It was a conference of chaos. Many wealthy country leaders failed to show up, Argentina pulled out its negotiators, and some developing country groups grew so frustrated in the final throes of talks, they walked out.

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COPs have been held in petrostates before. But fossil fuel interests appeared truly unleashed in Baku  potentially emboldened by the imminent arrival of Donald Trump in the White House, a man who has vowed to drill, baby, drill and pull the US out of the Paris climate agreement.

More than 1,700 fossil fuel industry players and lobbyists registered to attend the summit, heavily outnumbering most country delegations.

And Saudi Arabia, a constant thorn in the side of those pushing ambitious climate action, said the quiet bit out loud at this summit, publicly and explicitly rejecting any mention of fossil fuels in the final agreement.

Climate groups compared the final deal to a band-aid on a bullet wound, and developing countries reacted with fury.

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This is not just a failure; it is a betrayal, the Least Developed Countries Group on Climate Change said in a statement, adding that the outright dismissal of developing countries needs erodes the fragile trust that underpins these negotiations and mocks the spirit of global solidarity.

The least-bad option

For all its flaws, most climate advocates and scientists acknowledge the UN climate process remains the best mechanism the world currently has for global climate action.

Its the only forum where nearly every country has a seat at the table, said Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, an international lawyer representing the small island country of Vanuatu in climate litigation. The real question, she told CNN, is whether the momentum can be reclaimed, and the integrity of the process restored.

Attention now turns to COP30 in Brazil next year. Billed as the most important climate summit since Paris, its here countries will set out their climate plans for the next 10 years. Ambition will be a uphill battle.

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To succeed, the whole system needs reorienting, Singh said, to serve the interests of the most vulnerable, rather than those of fossil fuel lobbyists and polluters.

This is likely to be tough as the geopolitical terrain changes, and right-wing politicians who embrace fossil fuels and deride climate action see electoral success.

There is still some hope, Akhavan said. Even if in the short-term there might be a regression because of populists and petro-states, there is ultimately no choice but to return to a bigger and better COP 2.0.

Its a sentiment echoed by Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London. By lamenting on the broken process, we just add to the stalling and delay, she told CNN. We need to save the institutions we have. If we throw them in the gutter, Trump, Putin and Co. have won already.

CNNs Ella Nilsen contributed to this report.

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A total of 376 cases of sexual violence have been documented during Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) reported on Nov. 25.

The figure includes 262 men, most of whom were tortured in captivity on occupied territories or in Russia, 104 women, as well as children  10 girls and two boys, according to the report.

"War-related sexual violence is a violation of international human rights, humanitarian and criminal law," the mission said.

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"Preventing this kind of violence and bringing perpetrators to justice is a shared responsibility based on states' human rights obligations."

In April, Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Sergiy Kyslytsya told the U.N. Security Council that Russia uses sexual violence as a weapon against civilians and prisoners of war.

Citing testimonies from people released from Russian captivity, Kyslytsya said that over 50 percent of detainees suffered torture, rape, or other forms of sexual violence.

The Kyiv Independent in June identified two Russian soldiers who were involved in the rape of two women during the occupation of Kyiv and Kherson oblasts in March 2022. Subsequently, Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office charged one of them, Mykola Senenko, with raping a woman in Kherson Oblast.

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Read also: Ukrainian women shared their accounts of rape by Russian forces. We found their assailants

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The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon denounced the attacks by Israel on the Lebanese army during its ongoing war on the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia.

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said 45 Lebanese army soldiers have been killed so far in Israeli attacks on targets in Lebanon.

"UNIFIL is seriously concerned by numerous strikes on the Lebanese Armed Forces inside the Lebanese territories, despite their declared non-involvement in the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel," a statement said.

Such attacks constitute a flagrant violation" of international humanitarian law, UNIFIL said.

The Lebanese army is not an active party in the war between Hezbollah and the Israeli military.
Workers sort peaches at a packing house after they were harvested from the trees of a Georgia farm in July 2023. Georgia has work requirements under its partial expansion of Medicaid, but its program has fallen far short of enrollment projections and has cost more than $26 million. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Trevor Hawkins, an attorney at Legal Aid of Arkansas, remembers how busy his job got when the state for a time imposed work requirements on Medicaid recipients: His office was swamped with frantic phone calls from people who said they couldnt comply with the new rule because they werent healthy enough to work or had to care for sick relatives.

A whole heap of folks, after a month or two, started getting notices saying, Hey, youre out of compliance, and youre going to lose your coverage, Hawkins told Stateline. For many people, he said, keeping their coverage was absolutely vital to maintaining their health or getting better so they might work again.

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In June 2018, Arkansas became the first state to require some Medicaid recipients to work, volunteer, go to school or participate in job training to receive benefits. By the time a federal judge halted the policy in April 2019, 18,000 adults had lost coverage.

Arkansas was one of 13 states that received permission to impose work rules on at least some Medicaid recipients during the last Trump administration. Nine additional states requested permission to enact Medicaid work requirements during Trumps term but had not won approval by the time it ended.

When the Biden administration came into office, it rescinded all the approvals. But now that Trump is coming back, many of those states will try again  and theyll have a supportive U.S. Congress in their corner.

Republicans on Capitol Hill are eager to find ways to pay for extending tax cuts enacted during Trumps first term in office, and Medicaid  funded jointly by the federal government and the states  is in their sights. Requiring states to establish Medicaid work rules, as many Republicans would like to do, would cut federal spending by an estimated $109 billion over a decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Thats because the cost for about 900,000 people would shift entirely to states, while another 600,000 people would become uninsured, CBO estimated. About 72.4 million people are enrolled in Medicaid.

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Arkansas renewed its efforts even before Trumps victory. Last year, Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders requested federal approval from the Biden administration to apply work rules to able-bodied adults who are covered through the states expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and who are enrolled in health plans that Arkansas Medicaid purchases for them on the states health insurance exchange. That application is pending.

Georgia, after prevailing in a legal fight with the Biden administration, already has work requirements in place for people covered by its partial expansion of Medicaid. And Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Tennessee have pending requests to require at least some of their Medicaid recipients to work.

Meeting requirements

Supporters say requiring Medicaid recipients to work, study or train for a career gives them a boost toward self-sufficiency and financial stability. Kristi Putnam, the secretary of the Arkansas Department of Human Services, said in a statement announcing her states latest request that it would challenge people to embrace economic opportunities that can lead to true job advancement.

Meaningful work connects people to purpose  and through the pandemic we have seen negative mental health impacts from people feeling disconnected, Putnam said.

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Critics, however, say such rules end up hurting far more people than they help. In a 2020 study examining how the Arkansas work requirements played out, researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found no evidence that the policy succeeded in its stated goal of promoting work and instead found substantial evidence of harm to health care coverage and access.

More than 95% of the Arkansas beneficiaries the researchers surveyed already met the work requirement or should have qualified for an exemption. The main reason people lost coverage, the researchers found, was because they had trouble verifying that they were complying with the rules. Many of those who lost their coverage stopped taking their medications, delayed care and fell into medical debt.

Our results should provide a strong note of caution for federal and state policy makers considering work requirement policies in the future, the researchers concluded.

Under the rules Arkansas put in place during the first Trump administration, Medicaid participants under age 50 had to report that they spent at least 80 hours each month working, attending school, in job training or volunteering. The rule only applied to people who became eligible after Arkansas expanded Medicaid under the ACA to cover adults making up to 138% of the federal poverty level. And people were exempt if they were pregnant, had a child under 18 at home, were disabled, had to care for a person unable to care for him or herself, were in alcohol or drug treatment, or were in school or job training full time.

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About 70,000 of the roughly 270,000 Arkansans on Medicaid were subject to the new rules, and about 1 in 4 of those lost coverage.

Unlike Arkansas, Georgia has not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. But its Pathways to Coverage program, launched in July 2023, allows people with household incomes up to 100% of the federal poverty level who arent already eligible for Medicaid to enroll in the program if they fulfill work requirements. Georgias qualifying activities and exemptions are similar to the ones Arkansas had.

Fiona Roberts, a spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Community Health, told Stateline that as of Nov. 15, there were 5,548 people enrolled in the program and that a total of 7,518 people had been enrolled at some point  evidence, she said, that the program is helping people move from Medicaid to private insurance.

Even eligible people can't keep up with it.

 Leah Chan, director of health justice at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute

But in its first year, Pathways to Coverage only enrolled about 4,200 people  many fewer than the 25,000 the state had predicted. The cost of the program as of the end of 2023 was $26.6 million, and more than 90% of that went toward administrative and consulting costs, according to KFF, a nonprofit health research group. If Georgia had opted for a full expansion under the ACA, the federal government would have picked up 90% of the tab and the state would have covered about 359,000 people.

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Leah Chan, director of health justice at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, said work requirements are particularly challenging for people living in rural areas.

If you dont have broadband internet at your house, youre not going to be able to upload the documentation and your pay stubs, Chan told Stateline. Even eligible people cant keep up with it, particularly in rural areas where there are additional barriers to participation.

Learning from mistakes

Benjamin Sommers, a professor of health care economics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and one of the authors of the Arkansas study, said the experience with work requirements there and in Georgia should give other states pause.

All that ended up happening was people lost coverage due to red tape, became uninsured, and in some cases, we saw that they had worse access to health care, Sommers said.

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But Arkansas Republican state Rep. Aaron Pilkington, who serves on the health committee in his chamber, said Medicaid work rules are 100% on the table and something well look to ask for from the Trump administration.

They can find work and get better health insurance through their employer, said Pilkington. He said the volunteering and education options make the rules even more attractive.

Meanwhile, in some of the 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid under the ACA, the inclusion of work requirements might be the only way politically to get expansion over the finish line.

Most of the Democrats Ive spoken to did not want the work requirements, but to get it passed through the Mississippi legislature its most likely going to have one, Mississippi Republican state Rep. Sam Creekmore told Stateline.

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Weve looked at Georgias plan. We recognize the pitfalls and are hopefully learning from mistakes.

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.

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(File/Getty Images)

Trevor Hawkins, an attorney at Legal Aid of Arkansas, remembers how busy his job was while the state imposed work-or-school requirements on Medicaid recipients: His office was swamped with frantic phone calls from people who said they couldnt comply with the new rule because they werent healthy enough to work or had to care for sick relatives.

A whole heap of folks, after a month or two, started getting notices saying, Hey, youre out of compliance, and youre going to lose your coverage, Hawkins told Stateline. For many people, he said, keeping their coverage was absolutely vital to maintaining their health or getting better so they might work again.

Advertisement Advertisement

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In June 2018, Arkansas became the first state to require some Medicaid recipients to work, volunteer, go to school or participate in job training to receive benefits. By the time a federal judge halted the policy in April 2019, 18,000 adults had lost coverage.

Arkansas was one of 13 states, including South Carolina, that received permission to impose work rules on at least some Medicaid recipients during the last Trump administration. Due to the pandemic, South Carolinas approved rules were never implemented.

Nine additional states requested permission to enact Medicaid work requirements during Trumps term but had not won approval by the time it ended.

When the Biden administration came into office, it rescinded all the approvals. But now that Trump is coming back, many of those states will try again  and theyll have a supportive U.S. Congress in their corner.

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What about South Carolina?

South Carolina will be one of those states.

Officials are working on an application they intend to submit in January, Brandon Charochak, spokesman for Gov. Henry McMaster, told the SC Daily Gazette. (The state Department of Health and Human Services is a Cabinet agency. Its director reports to the governor.)

The last time South Carolinas Medicaid agency applied in 2018, the rules would have required so-called able-bodied adults younger than 65 to work or volunteer for 80 hours a month, prove theyre looking for work, go to school, or take a job-training course.

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At the time, the proposed rules were expected to apply to about 180,000 adults, since most South Carolinians covered by Medicaid are children, people with disabilities or the elderly. Others exempted would have included single parents, two-parent households where one parent is disabled, and people in a drug-abuse treatment program.

SNAP rules

Food benefits for poor adults under 55 are limited to three months over a three-year period unless they meet work requirements. For so-called able-bodied adults without dependents to continue receiving aid for groceries, they must work, volunteer, attend a job training program or some combination thereof for at least 80 hours a month.

The rules used to apply to people under 50, but a law Congress passed in June 2023 gradually increased the ages. They began applying to people ages 53 and 54 on Oct. 1, completing the phase-in period.

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People are exempt from those rules if they:

Have a mental or physical disability

Have children under 18 at home

Are pregnant

Are a veteran

Are homeless

Are 24 or younger and lived in foster care at 18

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture

The state-proposed requirements for Medicaid are similar to federal rules for poor people to stay on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, commonly referred to as food stamps.

A clause in the state budget forbids South Carolinas Department of Social Services, which oversees SNAP, from seeking a waiver to the federal work requirements.

GOP support

Republicans on Capitol Hill are eager to find ways to pay for extending tax cuts enacted during Trumps first term in office, and Medicaid  funded jointly by the federal government and the states  is in their sights.

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Requiring states to establish Medicaid work rules, as many Republicans would like to do, would cut federal spending by an estimated $109 billion over a decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Thats because the cost for about 900,000 people would shift entirely to states, while another 600,000 people would become uninsured, CBO estimated.

About 72.4 million people are enrolled in Medicaid.

Arkansas renewed its efforts even before Trumps victory. Last year, Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders requested federal approval from the Biden administration to apply work rules to able-bodied adults who are covered through the states expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and who are enrolled in health plans that Arkansas Medicaid purchases for them on the states health insurance exchange. That application is pending.

Georgia, after prevailing in a legal fight with the Biden administration, already has work requirements in place for people covered by its partial expansion of Medicaid. And Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Tennessee have pending requests to require at least some of their Medicaid recipients to work.

Meeting requirements

Supporters say requiring Medicaid recipients to work, study or train for a career gives them a boost toward self-sufficiency and financial stability.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement

Kristi Putnam, the secretary of the Arkansas Department of Human Services, said in a statement announcing her states latest request that it would challenge people to embrace economic opportunities that can lead to true job advancement.

Meaningful work connects people to purpose  and through the pandemic we have seen negative mental health impacts from people feeling disconnected, Putnam said.

Critics, however, say such rules end up hurting far more people than they help. In a 2020 study examining how the Arkansas work requirements played out, researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found no evidence that the policy succeeded in its stated goal of promoting work and instead found substantial evidence of harm to health care coverage and access.

More than 95% of the Arkansas beneficiaries the researchers surveyed already met the work requirement or should have qualified for an exemption. The main reason people lost coverage, the researchers found, was because they had trouble verifying that they were complying with the rules. Many of those who lost their coverage stopped taking their medications, delayed care and fell into medical debt.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement

Our results should provide a strong note of caution for federal and state policy makers considering work requirement policies in the future, the researchers concluded.

Under the rules Arkansas put in place during the first Trump administration, Medicaid participants under age 50 had to report that they spent at least 80 hours each month working, attending school, in job training or volunteering.

The rule applied only to people who became eligible after Arkansas expanded Medicaid under the ACA to cover adults making up to 138% of the federal poverty level. And people were exempt if they were pregnant, had a child under 18 at home, were disabled, had to care for a person unable to care for him or herself, were in alcohol or drug treatment, or were in school or job training full time.

Advertisement Advertisement

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About 70,000 of the roughly 270,000 Arkansans on Medicaid were subject to the new rules, and about 1 in 4 of those lost coverage.

Unlike Arkansas, Georgia has not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. But its Pathways to Coverage program, launched in July 2023, allows people with household incomes up to 100% of the federal poverty level who arent already eligible for Medicaid to enroll in the program if they fulfill work requirements. Georgias qualifying activities and exemptions are similar to the ones Arkansas had.

Fiona Roberts, a spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Community Health, told Stateline that as of Nov. 15, there were 5,548 people enrolled in the program and that a total of 7,518 people had been enrolled at some point  evidence, she said, that the program is helping people move from Medicaid to private insurance.

But in its first year, Pathways to Coverage only enrolled about 4,200 people  many fewer than the 25,000 the state had predicted. The cost of the program as of the end of 2023 was $26.6 million, and more than 90% of that went toward administrative and consulting costs, according to KFF, a nonprofit health research group. If Georgia had opted for a full expansion under the ACA, the federal government would have picked up 90% of the tab and the state would have covered about 359,000 people.

Advertisement Advertisement

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Leah Chan, director of health justice at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, said work requirements are particularly challenging for people living in rural areas.

If you dont have broadband internet at your house, youre not going to be able to upload the documentation and your pay stubs, Chan told Stateline. Even eligible people cant keep up with it, particularly in rural areas where there are additional barriers to participation.

Learning from mistakes

Benjamin Sommers, a professor of health care economics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and one of the authors of the Arkansas study, said the experience with work requirements there and in Georgia should give other states pause.

All that ended up happening was people lost coverage due to red tape, became uninsured, and in some cases, we saw that they had worse access to health care, Sommers said.

But Arkansas Republican state Rep. Aaron Pilkington, who serves on the health committee in his chamber, said Medicaid work rules are 100% on the table and something well look to ask for from the Trump administration.

They can find work and get better health insurance through their employer, said Pilkington. He said the volunteering and education options make the rules even more attractive.

Meanwhile, in some of the 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid under the ACA, which includes South Carolina, the inclusion of work requirements might be the only way politically to get expansion over the finish line.

Most of the Democrats Ive spoken to did not want the work requirements, but to get it passed through the Mississippi legislature its most likely going to have one, Mississippi Republican state Rep. Sam Creekmore told Stateline.

Weve looked at Georgias plan. We recognize the pitfalls and are hopefully learning from mistakes.

SC Daily Gazette Editor Seanna Adcox contributed to this report.

Like SC Daily Gazette, Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Follow Stateline on Facebook and X.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is expanding its support for vulnerable categories of Ukrainians.

Source: representatives of the Fund during a meeting with Iryna Vereshchuk, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine

Quote: "Specifically, assistance will continue for families with children living within a 30-kilometre zone of the front line in seven [oblasts]. These families will receive 21,800 UAH [about US$525] to prepare for winter," the press service of the Presidents Office reports.

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It is noted that more than 103,000 people have already received payments, including 44,000 children. In addition, almost 5,000 families have received household fuel.

Another programme will continue as well. Under it, families with children will receive a one-time assistance of UAH 10,800 (about US$260) after leaving hromadas of Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts where mandatory evacuation has been announced [a hromada is an administrative unit designating a town, village or several villages and their adjacent territories  ed.].

In addition, the number of schools in the frontline areas that will receive cash grants from UNICEF to modernise their cafeterias and prepare for winter will increase from 350 to 800.

Background: Numerous humanitarian organisations have provided at least one type of assistance to 7.2 million Ukrainians between January and September 2024.

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(Bloomberg) -- UniCredit SpAs surprise bid for Banco BPM SpA has left Prime Minister Giorgia Melonis government struggling to work out if its plans to create Italys third major banking group are now defunct.

Most Read from Bloomberg

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Several officials contacted by Bloomberg expressed bafflement at Chief Executive Officer Andrea Orcels unexpected move to offer 10 billion ($10.5 billion) in an all-share bid for its smaller domestic rival, questioning what his motives for such a transaction might be.

Most perplexing for them is why the UniCredit boss wants to launch another hostile takeover battle while he is also pursuing an acquisition of Commerzbank AG, Germanys second-biggest lender.

Considering Melonis muscular and engaged approach until now toward interactions with Italys major companies, Orcels audacity could be perceived as a challenge to that authority.

For officials in Rome, the most pressing issue raised by his move is that such a takeover may scuttle their strategy to create Italys third-biggest bank after UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo SpA. Banco BPM is buying a stake in lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA from the government as part of that deal.

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I wouldnt want to think that someone is trying to stop that union, Deputy Prime Minister and League party leader Matteo Salvini said on Monday. I never liked concentrations and monopolies, as far as I knew UniCredit wanted to grow in Germany. I dont know why theyve changed their mind, he added.

UniCredit informed officials about its takeover bid shortly before announcing it, according to Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, who added that the offer wasnt made in agreement with the government.

Italy can wield special vetoes on deals, he observed in remarks to reporters. So-called golden-power rules give the government options, but it will only make any assessments about a transaction when UniCredit requests the go-ahead, Giorgetti said.

Officials are puzzling over the implications. One person, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the creation of a third banking group is still possible, with Monte Paschi and Unipol Gruppo SpA at its core instead of Banco BPM.

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Another person noted that its not a negative for the government if Orcel wants to create a stronger Italian group together with Banco BPM.

In a call with analysts, Orcel said his banks interest in Banco BPM shouldnt come as a surprise and that his bank couldnt be absent from national consolidation in the sector. He used similar language in September with regard to building up a stake in Commerzbank.

Banco BPM, which has almost 200 billion of assets, has long been seen as a target for UniCredit to expand in the rich Lombardy region and add lucrative segments to its business, according to analysts.

UniCredit has built up its Commerzbank holding with a view to making a full acquisition of that German rival. Politicians there have reacted with dismay, while the bank itself is resisting any takeover. That situation has now been put on hold pending the outcome of federal elections early next year.

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(Updates with Giorgetti in seventh paragraph)

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TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)  Union Health said Monday that the company has withdrawn their current paperwork for the proposed merger with Terre Haute Regional Hospital but added that they will continue working on the plan.

Union Health signed an agreement to acquire Terre Haute Regional Hospital in September 2023. Both companies are working on the proposal with the Indiana Department of Health.

Recognizing the COPA (Certificate of Public Advantage) process is a very complex, innovative approach to improving access and quality health care for area residents, we believe it is best to withdraw the current application to allow time for Union Health and Terre Haute Regional to continue to work with IDOH, to ensure the benefits, including improved access, quality, prevention and early intervention, are outlined in the new application, Union Hospital officials wrote in a news release. Union Health and Terre Haute Regional recognize the significance of a final approval, and the ongoing review process will continue to align with the principles of accountability and thoroughness as outlined by the COPA.

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The company added that they are committed to the process.

With the same steadfast commitment of more than 130 years, Union Health remains dedicated to enhancing public health programming and improving health outcomes. We remain focused on developing innovative solutions to overcome the persistent health disparities and challenges plaguing our communities for decades.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyWabashValley.com.
Community members rally outside Howell City Hall in response to recent white supremacist demonstrations. Nov. 23, 2024. Photo by Jon King

On a cloudy, blustery Saturday, approximately 100 people turned out for a Community and Unity Rally in Howell, a response to a demonstration by masked white supremacists waving Nazi flags earlier this month.

Were hoping that we can put some pressure on local state officials to start taking the increased hate and bias incidents that are happening around the state at a higher frequency more seriously, said Julie Ohashi, with Stand Against Extremism (SAGE) Livingston County, which organized the event. Specifically, Livingston County, weve had three incidents in the last four months, and theyre escalating.

Community members rally outside Howell City Hall at Unity Rally in response to recent white supremacist demonstrations. Nov. 23, 2024. Photo by Jon King

Ohashi told Michigan Advance that SAGE members were frustrated that there was a lack of an official response to the Nov. 9 incident when a small group of white supremacists with Nazi flags protested outside of a production of the play The Diary of Anne Frank, being put on at the American Legion post in Howell Township.

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Ohashi said they had invited many elected officials, including all nine members of the Livingston County Board of Commissioners, to attend Saturdays rally as a show of support in opposing the recent spate of open displays of white supremacy which included a similar protest that took place in Howell in July, and then about a month later in downtown Brighton. However, she said none of them responded.

We think that thats a little concerning that leadership in Livingston County are choosing to not only not take action, but stay away, she said. So, we are organizing on a more of a grassroots level, and were hoping that it can help inspire other communities that when they see this, that they can take action themselves, and they dont have to wait for the officials to do anything.

The only official who did attend was Howell Mayor Bob Ellis, who acknowledged that Livingston County, and Howell in particular, had been targeted by what he called a group of small people that want to make an outsized impression.

Howell Mayor Bob Ellis speaks to community members at a rally outside Howell City Hall in response to recent white supremacist demonstrations. Nov. 23, 2024. Photo by Jon King

Ellis said demonstrations like the one outside the production of the Diary of Anne Frank, managed to get headlines, sometimes even on an international basis.

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I have a Spanish teacher in Colombia from a video chat, and he even heard about these things, so it just has a severe adverse effect on our whole community, and it doesnt reflect the views of the vast majority of people who live here, said Ellis. So, we really do need a way to counter that message and let everyone know that Livingston County is inclusive and welcoming and we want to do anything we can to do that.

Ohashi said Saturdays rally was a necessary first step toward countering the message of hate and division that the previous protests have tried to spread. A similar effort was made back in July when SAGE led a symbolic scrubbing of the steps of the historic Livingston County Courthouse.

We will continue to show that weve got way more numbers, and were way more proud, said Ohashi. Were not hiding our faces and were not scared. They dont intimidate us. Theyre just a small, tiny nothing. Theyre nothings, but unfortunately they get a lot of that press. So we want to show that theres actually way, way more of us.

Also speaking was Pamela Ortner of South Lyon who said the protests may have been motivated by white supremacy, but were a danger beyond simply race.

Pamela Ortner of South Lyon speaks at a rally outside Howell City Hall held in response to recent white supremacist demonstrations. Nov. 23, 2024. Photo by Jon King

You dont have to be a Christian to know right from wrong, she said. Its not only against Blacks. Its not only against Jews. Its against anyone who is different. Its LGBTQ. Its people who are trans, who are killed. Its kids who are afraid to go to school and afraid to use the bathroom of their choice. So its not just one or two groups. Its anyone whos [considered] other that is banned.

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Ortner told the Advance that she firmly believed the campaign and reelection of President-elect Donald Trump had emboldened extremists and that while many of his supporters were essentially ignoring the danger, they did so at their own peril.

Theyre coming for you, baby. If youre other or youre not well off, and if you dont sit at the table, where its going to impact all of us. And Im here today just to say that. Im here because I need community. I mean, Im heartbroken. Ive been crying almost every day since [the election], but I need to be around community, and I need to resist, she said.

While the two-hour rally mostly drew honks and shouts of support from passersby, at least twice pickup trucks purposely accelerated as they drove past, releasing black smoke into the crowd of attendees, a practice known as rolling coal which has become a form of counterprotest.

A pickup truck lats down thick exhaust as it passes a rally outside Howell City Hall held in response to recent white supremacist demonstrations. Nov. 23, 2024. Photo by Jon King

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Regardless, Ohashi says the rally was just a first step toward combating white supremacy in the community. The next step is to provide Livingston County residents information on successful strategies they can use to fight fascism in the community.

That will be accomplished with a two-part virtual training session set for Dec. 10 and 12 that she says will include information on how to defend against white supremacy on a longer term basis as opposed to reacting to each individual protest.

Ohashi also noted that a community response manual disseminated by the Michigan Department of Civil Rights was another useful tool.

Its literally a road map for any community in Michigan to be taking, actionable realistic steps that we can be working towards to have a more comprehensive plan when hate does erupt and to take to keep our marginalized neighbors safe because right now, our marginalized neighbors do not feel safe, she said.
Originally appeared on E! Online

On the morning of Dec. 26, 1996, John Ramsey was shaving when he heard his wife scream.

Patsy Ramsey had gone to put the coffee on, but instead found pieces of paper lying at the bottom of the staircase in their Boulder, Colo., home.

"Mr. Ramsey, Listen carefully!" began the letter which ultimately alerted Patsy to the fact that her and John's 6-year-old daughter JonBenet Ramsey was not asleep in her bedas her mother assumed she was at 5:45 a.m. on the day after Christmas.

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At 5:52 a.m., Patsy called 911 to report that her daughter had been kidnapped and there was a ransom note.

"It was just unbelievable," John, now 80, said in Netflix's new Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey. He recalled feeling "this horrible in-your-gut trauma," comparing it to when a child wanders out of her parent's sight for a minute at the mall.

Only he never saw his child alive again.

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Instead, John found JonBenet's body almost eight hours later in what used to be an old coal room in the basement.

John recalled in the series ripping off a piece of duct tape that was covering his daughter's mouth and carrying her directly upstairs, where officers checked for a pulse and swiftly informed him that she was dead.

She had been strangled with a cord used as a garotte, according to the autopsy report, and her skull was fractured from blunt head trauma. Microscopic fibers from a wooden paintbrush handle found on her body indicated she had been sexually assaulted with the item, retired Boulder Police Detective Bob Whitson, one of the first investigators on the scene that day, recalled in the series.

Paula Woodward, an investigative reporter for KUSA Denver who covered the JonBenet case, recalled being told that a group of investigators had gathered at the Boulder Police Department that morning. And, when word came in that JonBenet had been found dead, Woodward said she was told that one of the investigators "hissed in kind of an undertone and a whisper to another one, 'I knew it, they killed their daughter.'"

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And that pretty much set the tone for the police investigation into JonBenet's death, according to John, journalists and several law enforcement veterans who participated in the three-part series, the latest addition to the ever-growing canon of morbid work dedicated to unpacking what really happened to the child.

Netflix

John and Patsy, who died of ovarian cancer in 2006 when she was 49, were never arrested or charged in connection with their daughter's death, but they remained under a cloud of suspicion for years. Which, in Patsy's case, was for the rest of her life.

"We could have the killer arrested, convicted, in prison," John reflected in the series, "and there'd still be 5 to 10 percent of the population that thinks we're guilty."

In the Netflix series, directed by Joe Berlinger, John details the ways the copsand subsequently the media and the court of public opinionseized on him and his wife as villains and never let go of that theory. But he also remains hopeful that JonBenet's murder will be solved, alleging that there's evidence in police custody that still hasn't been subjected to the most modern DNA analysis methods.

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DNA testing over the years has so far only resulted in clearing several persons of interest who were questioned in connection with the case.

Boulder PD said in a Nov. 9 statement on the county government's website that they will not be commenting on any specifics of the Ramsey case "because this is an ongoing and active investigation."

Police Chief Steve Redfearn called the killing of JonBent an "unspeakable crime" that has never left their hearts.

We are committed to following up on every lead and we are continuing to work with DNA experts and our law enforcement partners around the country until this tragic case is solved," he said in a statement. "This investigation will always be a priority for the Boulder Police Department."

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Added Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty, "The murder of JonBenet Ramsey is a terrible tragedy and sparked years of unanswered questions and theories. Our office has successfully prosecuted other cold case homicides and many murder cases. "In every one of those cases, it was the evidence that proved the defendant(s) guilty. Whether it is DNA or other evidence, more is needed to solve this murder."

If those who've been saying the DNA "isn't as valuable or significant as we think" are taken at face value, "then we've been ruling people out for the wrong reasons," JonBenet's older half-brother John Andrew Ramsey, one of John's three kids from his first marriage, said in the series. "Everybody should be back on the table...You have to go deeper, you have to sort the DNA we have today and make more sense of it."

John said in the series that "the whole purpose of engaging with the media was to put pressure on the police," he explained. "We're not going away. I'm going to be hammering on you till I die if you don't find this creature that did this to our daughter."

Douglas Keister/Corbis via Getty Images

Boulder PD said in a Nov. 9 statement on the county government's website that they will not be commenting on any specifics of the Ramsey case "because this is an ongoing and active investigation."

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Police Chief Steve Redfearn called the killing of JonBenet an "unspeakable crime" that has never left their hearts.

We are committed to following up on every lead and we are continuing to work with DNA experts and our law enforcement partners around the country until this tragic case is solved," he said in a statement. "This investigation will always be a priority for the Boulder Police Department."

Added Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty, "The murder of JonBenet Ramsey is a terrible tragedy and sparked years of unanswered questions and theories. Our office has successfully prosecuted other cold case homicides and many murder cases. "In every one of those cases, it was the evidence that proved the defendant(s) guilty. Whether it is DNA or other evidence, more is needed to solve this murder."

But in the meantime this nearly 28-year-old case grows ever colder.

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According to Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey, here is how the initial investigation went off course:

A Contaminated Scene

After Patsy Ramsey called 911 at 5:52 a.m. on Dec. 26, 1996, to report that her daughter JonBenet Ramsey had been kidnapped, she and husband John Ramsey also reached out to a number of their friends, who came right over to support the couple. In turn, in addition to responding officers, there were people milling around the Ramseys' 5,000-square-foot home all day before John found JonBenet's body in the basement shortly after 1:30 p.m. "I should have removed all those people from the scene, that was a crime scene mistake," retired Boulder Police Detective Bob Whitson recalled in the Netflix docuseries Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey. "But, at the time, it looked like a legitimate kidnapping. So, I thought, Well, these are the support system for the Ramseys, and I let 'em stay." Not knowing she was dead when he found her, John said in the series he at first tried to untie the cord that bound her hands. The knots were too tight, he said, but he did remove a piece of duct tape that was covering her mouth and tossed it onto a blanket that had been with the body. He then carried her upstairs, which, according to investigators, ensured that the evidence collected from her body, the pajamas she was wearing, the tape, etc., was contaminated. "There may have been some evidence on the duct tape if that wasn't removed," Whitson said in the series.





Two Faulty Searches

Police who responded to Patsy's 911 call searched the three upper levels of the Ramseys' home, and the basement, but it wasn't until a detective suggested that John do another sweep of the house nearly eight hours later that her body was found in a part of the basement that used to be a coal room. "One of the cops did not open the door where JonBenet was lying," Fox News' Carol McKinley, who covered the case at the time, said in the Netflix series. "Major mistake, and I believe he lives with that to this day." Retired Boulder PD Commander John San Agustin noted in the series, "You never have someone outside of law enforcement doing a search." However, when John looked in the coal room, he said, "Her body was right there in front of me."

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JonBenet Ramsey's Pageant History

In a pre-Toddlers and Tiaras world, the media incredulously spotlighted JonBenet's participation in children's beauty pageants, with most of the commentary being of the what-sort-of-mother-lets-her-child-parade-around-like-that variety. Having competed and performed at local events since she was 4, there were myriad photos of JonBenet wearing a full face of makeup and videos that became Rorschach tests for critics of the Ramseys who were looking for signs of sexual abuse or other trauma behind the child's precocious poise. And people who claimed to have diagnosed as much had no qualms saying it on TV, the Netflix series including a clip from Geraldo in which a woman identified as a "well-known expert in child abuse" described one of JonBenet's performances as masturbatory. (Host Geraldo Rivera was staging a mock trial on his show, during which a six-person "jury" found Patsy liable for her daughter's death. "I went to bed for about two days," she said in the 1998 documentary The Ramseys vs. The Media, "because I just was mortified.") Reflecting on his enthusiastic coverage of the case, Rivera told the Chicago Tribune in 2006, "Everyone I came in contact with was talking about the Ramsey case, whether it was my nanny or the people in the neighborhood or the guy that takes care of my koi pond." Even his mom wanted the details, he added, so "when it gets to that level, you know it has an interest thats almost universal."





The pageant commentary painted the Ramseys as "delinquent parents," recalled Paula Woodward, an investigative reporter for KUSA Denver who covered the case from the beginning. She interviewed JonBenet's pediatrician at the time, the journalist said, "He told me, no, she's never had any sexual abuse in her life. He would have lost his medical license if he ever lied about that." In a 1997 interview, the doctor said there was "never any hint whatsoever of sexual abuse. I didn't see any hint of emotional abuse, or physical abuse. She was a very much-loved child." But, as seen on tabloid covers shown in the series, there was plenty of speculation that the child may have been abused in lieu of evidence to allege that she really was. "Let me address it very directly: I did not kill my daughter JonBenet," John told reporters during a May 1, 1997, news conference. "There have been innuendos that she had been or was sexually molested. I can tell you that those were the most hurtful innuendos to us as a family. They are totally false. JonBenet and I had a very close relationship. I will miss her dearly the rest of my life." Added Patsy, "I'm appalled that anyone would think that John or I would be involved in such a hideous, heinous crime. But let me assure you that I did not kill JonBenet and did not have anything to do with it. I loved that child with the whole of my heart and soul."





The Ramseys' Questionable Silence

JonBenet was laid to rest in Atlanta next to her half-sister Beth Ramsey (one of John's three grown children from his first marriage, she died in a car accident in 1992) on Dec. 31, 1996. By then, the family had a spokesperson releasing statements to the media and had hired a lawyer. Which, at the time, "smelled a little funny," Fox News' McKinley said in the series. "And we were like, 'What is going on?'" John said in the series, however, that their attorneys had advised them to be careful about anything they said or did. "But we gave the police everything they asked for," John said. "Blood samples, DNA samples, whatever they asked for. Records, all our credit card [records], anything they asked for, we gave it to them." Meanwhile, he added, "I would've been happy to die, quite frankly, to relieve the pain." But with the media filling in the blanks so long as the Ramseys remained silent, soon enough friends in Boulder advised them to grant an interview ASAP, John recalled. So he and Patsy sat down with CNN on Jan. 1, 1997.





"There is a killer on the loose," Patsy memorably said at the time. "I don't know who it is, I don't know if it's a he or a she. But if I were a resident of Boulder, I would tell my friends to keep your babies close to you. There's someone out there." Following the Ramseys' interview, then-Boulder Mayor Leslie Durgin said on TV that there was no visible sign of forced entry at the Ramsey residence and the cops were saying, based on where JonBenet's body was found, that "someone had to know the house. So, there isn't a crazed killer on the loose wandering the streets of Boulder." Listening to Durgin, "You would assume that she had information from the police that led her to feel comfortable saying that," recalled KMGH Denver investigative reporter Julie Hayden in the Netflix series, explaining why authorities' behavior in those early days also contributed to the cloud of suspicion growing around John and Patsy. The "implication from that clearly would be that it was somebody connected with the family."

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Accusations That the Ramseys' Grieving Was Staged

Journalist McKinley recalled in the series thinking that the Ramseys made "an orchestrated appearance" at a Jan. 5, 1997, memorial for their daughter in Boulder. "It didn't seem sincere to me and it was almost like a performance," she added, singling out Patsy's big black sunglasses and all-black attire as a particularly notable touch. John barely remembered that day "'cause we were in shock, frankly," he said in the series, but any accusation that aspects of it were staged was "absolutely false."





Information Run Amok

Local media were getting a lot of information from law enforcement sources, often crediting just one source if that's all they could get, several journalists noted in the series. And not all of it was factual. Charlie Brennan of the Rocky Mountain News admitted getting it wrong when he reported for the paper that John, a licensed pilot, had flown JonBenet's coffin to Atlanta in his own plane. "That was inaccurate," he said in the Netflix series. "It came from a source that I thoroughly trusted and had given me other solid information. That information was wrong, my source was wrong in that case, and that was a mistake."





DNA Results Go Unreported

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation's report stating that unidentified male DNA found on JonBenet's underwear and under her fingernails did not match her father or her then-10-year-old brother Burke Ramsey came back on Jan. 15, 1997. But police didn't share the findings right awaynot even with prosecutors. Police "were told that in January," John said in the series. "They kept that secret from the media and from the District Attorney for months." Stranger still, investigative reporter Woodward observed in the series, was that the info didn't leak to the media. "DNA results often leak in murder cases," she said, "yet when the one piece of evidence that clears them, or at least clears their DNA, comes back, there's not a leak about it." But, Woodward noted, early in the investiation there was "massive police leaking that Patsy Ramsey had written the ransom note." (The theory was duly reported on; multiple handwriting experts determined her writing and the letter did not match, retired Det. Whitson recalled in the series.) "They kept that secret," John said of the DNA findings, "because it conflicted with their conclusion that we were the killers."





Police vs. Prosecutors

Boulder Police Det. Steve Thomas took over leading the investigation into JonBenet's death in early 1997 and he zeroed in on her parents. In his 2000 book, JonBenet: Inside the Ramsey Murder Investigation, he detailed his theory that Patsy killed her daughter in a rage after the 6-year-old wet the bed, staged the scene in the basement and wrote the ransom note. He also said this to Patsy and John's faces on an episode of CNN's Larry King Live. They vehemently pushed back, Patsy ultimately saying, "God knows [what happened], and the truth is going to prevail." (The Ramseys filed an $80 million defamation lawsuit against Thomas and his publisher in 2001; it was settled for an undisclosed sum.) In the Netflix series, John said that Steve's theory "didn't pass the sanity test." "Patsy had just recovered from stage 4 ovarian cancer," John said. "She was grateful to be alive. Do you think that her child wetting her bed would be a big deal? No. She was happy to be alive and to have some more time with her children." Steve Thomas resigned from the case in protest in August 1998, accusing the district attorney's office of mishandling the Ramsey case. In a 2004 interview, Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter reflected on "a split" between his office and Boulder PD, noting, "Some Boulder Police people thought they knew who did it. And some of my people were convinced that it was an intruder that did it."





The Ramseys' New Champion

In 1997, the DA's office brought in retired detective Lou Smit to consult on the case. Smit died in 2010, but he detailed in video and audio diaries sampled in the Netflix series why he believed the Ramseys were innocent. There was "no motive, no evidence of bad character," he said in a 1998 recording, per the series. "There is evidence of an intruder. I say this over and over and over again. Nobody wants to listen." So when prosecutors opted to take their case against the Ramseys to the grand jury in September 1998, Smit tendered his resignation from the case. "He would have no part in trying to convict an innocent couple," Colorado Springs Police Department Investigations Commander Kurt Pillar, who considered Smit a mentor, said in the Netflix series. "That's how strongly he felt about this case." John recalled in the series, "We fully expected and were prepared to be indicted. 'Cause they were saying, 'You can indict a ham sandwich in front a grand jury,' it's a one-sided argument."





More than a year later, District Attorney Hunter announced on Oct. 13, 1999, that his office didn't have the evidence to file charges against the Ramseysor anyoneat that time. He did not share the grand jury's recommendation with the public. "I feel at peace and to some extent proud of the fact that I weathered the storm and did the right thing," Hunter said in 2004, "based on the evidence." In 2008, his successor Mary Lacy publicly exonerated John, Patsy and Burke, citing the results of new touch DNA analysis. "To the extent that we may have contributed in any way to the public perception that you might have been involved in this crime, I am deeply sorry," the DA wrote in a letter to John, per NBC News. It wasn't until 2013 that the indictment was unsealed, revealing that the grand jury chose to indict John and Patsy on two counts each of child abuse resulting in death. Per the Denver Post, the document didn't accuse them of killing their daughter, but rather of permitting her to be placed in a dangerous situation that led to her death and of assisting a person who "committed and was suspected of the crime of murder in the first degree and child abuse resulting in death."





"We didn't know who did what," a member of the grand jury told the Boulder Daily Camera in January 2013. "But we felt the adults in the house may have done something that they certainly could have prevented, or they could have helped her, and they didn't." After the 1999 indictment was revealed, Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner said in a statement that it proved "the investigation pursued by the Boulder Police Department was, in fact, based on the information and evidence available." "There are no new leads," the statement continued. "While we believe at this point it is unlikely there will ever be a prosecution, the Boulder Police Department still holds out some hope that one day the district attorney and the Boulder Police Department will be able to put together a case worthy of presenting to a jury." The Ramseys' attorney Lin Wood said in 2013, per the Post, that the grand jury's decision in 1999 was "based on incomplete evidence." Its subject to the impression that criminal charges were warranted against the Ramseys," he said. "A full examination of the evidence unquestionably exonerates the Ramseys. This is inflicting a terrible miscarriage of justice."





Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey is streaming on Netflix.
The News

Uruguays center-left opposition candidate Yamandu Orsi won the countrys presidential election.

The relatively tension-free vote contrasts with heated recent ones in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico that ramped up polarization among voters, Reuters reported. In Uruguay the ruling party vowed to work with Orsi to ease his transition to power.

However, the result in Montevideo does follow a regional trend of victories for anti-incumbency candidates, as well as the regions recent leftward turn.

The country of freedom, equality and also fraternity triumphs once again Lets continue on that path, Orsi said after his victory.
Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Uruguay's left-wing opposition Broad Front candidate, Yamandu Orsi, claimed victory in Sunday's presidential runoff, besting Alvaro Delgado of the conservative ruling National Party.

"I will be the president of national growth, the president of a country that moves forward," Orsi said, according to a statement from the Broad Front.

"Let us embrace the idea that Uruguay is one."

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Delgado also conceded defeat Sunday night, issuing a statement congratulating Orsi on the win.

"Count on us in building the agreements that Uruguay needs to continue moving toward development," he said on Facebook.

With 99% of votes counted, Orsi secured 49.8% of the ballot share, compared to Delgado's 45.9%, El Pais reported, adding that more than 90,000 votes separated the candidates.

With the victory, the Broad Front, which ran the country for three consecutive terms from 2005 to 2020, returns to helm of Uruguay.

President Luis Lacalle Pou of the National Party had called Orsi to congratulate him before the race had even been called.

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In a statement, Lacalle Pou said he called the president-elect "to put myself at his service and begin the transition as soon as I deem it appropriate."

Under Uruguay law, a president cannot run for consecutive five-year terms.

Orsi had campaigned on improving the economic situation of the South American nation, where the public ranked the economy and public safety among their most important concerns, according to Cifra consulting firm.

The president-elect's party had run focused on macroeconomic stability while improving income distribution, El Pais reported. It will seek to promote investment and increase productivity in a country where economic growth over the last decade has averaged about 1% annually.

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"I will be the president who calls for national dialogue again and again," Orsi told his supports Sunday night in a victory speech. "The message cannot be other than to embrace the debate of ideas."

Later on Monday, U.S. President Joe Biden also congratulated Orsi and "the people of Uruguay for their unyielding commitment to democracy as they successfully exercised the fundamental right to vote."

Citing 150 years of diplomatic relations between Uruguay and the United States, Biden praised what he called "an enduring partnership based on our peoples' shared values" and noted that it has been Uruguay that has been at the vanguard of promoting democracy in the Americas.

Biden particularly noted Uruguay's leadership in the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity and its aim of more investment in innovations that create opportunities for the middle class throughout the hemisphere.
The US Justice Department on Monday moved to drop the two major federal criminal cases against Donald Trump, marking a major success for the former president shortly before he returns to the White House.

The US special counsel Jack Smith, who has been leading the two federal cases against the president-elect, filed a motion to dismiss the case against Trump in Washington over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Smith also withdrew his appeal against the dismissal of the criminal case in Florida in which Trump was accused of illegally storing classified documents from his term in office at his private Mar-a-Lago resort.

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In justification, Smith cited Justice Department policy that the United States does not investigate sitting presidents.

Trump's spokesman Steven Cheung called the end of the proceedings "a major victory for the rule of law" in a statement, again describing the cases as "unconstitutional."

"The American People and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system," Cheung wrote.

Smith had already revised the indictment for the election interference case over the summer, following the Supreme Court's ruling to grant US presidents broad immunity for official acts.

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If convicted in that case, the former president would have faced decades in prison.

However, as the proceedings were at federal level, Trump would have likely halted them after taking office.

It is initially unclear whether the proceedings are to be resumed after his second term, but experts consider it possible that the Republican could pardon himself once in office.

In the motion to dismiss the case, Smith wrote: "The Governments position on the merits of the defendant's prosecution has not changed. But the circumstances have."

He emphasized that the decision was not based on the merits of the prosecution, which he said "the Government stands fully behind."

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Smith still intends to proceed with the cases against two of Trump's co-defendants in the documents case - the former president's assistant Walt Nauta and lawyer Carlos De Oliveira.

Trump was criminally charged several times after his first term in office. In addition to the proceedings in Washington and Florida, he was found guilty in a hush money trial at the state level in New York, but sentencing in that case was postponed indefinitely last week.

Further proceedings in Georgia are also currently paralysed due to legal manoeuvring.

Trump is scheduled to be inaugurated on January 20 after winning the presidential election again Democrat Kamala Harris at the beginning of November.
Boom Supersonic is taking significant steps toward bringing commercial supersonic travel back to the skies. The companys XB-1 demonstrator aircraft recently completed its eighth flight, setting a new altitude record and matching its top speed.

This milestone is part of Boom's ongoing effort to reintroduce supersonic flights, a concept that faded after the Concordes final flight in 2003 due to high costs and noise concerns.

A new record for altitude and speed

The XB-1s eighth flight took place on November 16. During this flight, the aircraft reached an impressive altitude of 25,040 feet (7,632 meters), its highest yet. The flight lasted 54 minutes, during which the aircraft reached a top speed of Mach 0.82, tying its previous speed record.

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Boom Supersonics plans include a few more subsonic flights before the aircraft attempts to break the sound barrier. The company aims to reach Mach 1, the speed of sound, which is around 767 miles per hour (1,234 km/h).

Earlier on November 5, XB-1 completed its seventh subsonic test flight. The flight tested flutter envelope expansion and cockpit pressure, reaching a new top speed of Mach 0.82 (499 knots). The team also tested the flutter excitation system (FES) at speeds up to Mach 0.8 to ensure stable performance at transonic speeds.

Supersonic speeds produce a sonic booma loud, thunderous noise caused by breaking the sound barrier. While supersonic flights were once standard, the sonic booms created by such speeds led the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ban civil supersonic flights over land in 1973.

Competing with NASAs supersonic efforts

Boom Supersonics work on the XB-1 is closely aligned with NASAs efforts to reduce the impact of sonic booms.

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NASA is developing the X-59 supersonic aircraft, which is designed to create a much quieter sonic boom, referred to as a sonic thump. The X-59s unique shapea long, sleek design with a narrow wingspanhelps minimize noise.

NASAs goal is for the X-59s sonic boom to sound like the closing of a car door, a far less disruptive noise compared to the traditional sonic boom. Once the X-59 is tested in flight, NASA will fly it over several U.S. cities to measure how the sonic thump affects people on the ground.

If the test results show that the sonic thump does not disturb daily life, the FAA may reconsider its rules about supersonic travel over land. However, any regulatory changes are unlikely before 2027.

The road ahead for Boom Supersonic

Boom Supersonic aims to bring its Overture jet into commercial service, offering passengers supersonic flights.

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While the XB-1 demonstrator will be capable of exceeding Mach 1, Boom plans to fly the Overture jet at Mach 0.94 over landabout 20% faster than conventional subsonic flights. By keeping the aircraft below the speed of sound, Boom hopes to avoid the disruptive noise caused by sonic booms.

As Boom continues its demonstration flights, the company is moving closer to its goal of making supersonic commercial travel a reality. The success of the XB-1s recent flight brings the dream of faster, more efficient air travel one step closer to becoming a part of aviation's future.
ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR)  The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded the Southwest Virginia Produce Prescription Program (SWPRx) with almost 500,000 dollars.

The program was awarded a total of $479,918 to the SWPRx, which is led by regional collaborations including the Local Environmental Agriculture Project (LEAP), Carilion Clinic, Radford University, Virginia Fresh Match, and Feeding Southwest Virginia.

This funding is to increase community resources to increase fruit and vegetable consumption to help improve food security and health outcomes.

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Feeding Southwest celebrates partnership with key speakers

11 other nationwide projects were selected by the USDA for the produce prescription program funding along with the SWPRx.

Prescriptions will be available for patients of Medicaid over the next three years in Roanoke, Floyd, Franklin County, and Radford.

Patients with high blood pressure, prediabetes, or diabetes will be referred to the program through Carilions Community Health and Outreach Department. The patients will be in the program for 6 months where they will be attending nutrition classes and trading in their prescriptions s for free fruits and vegetables onsite through Feeding Southwest Virginia.

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This USDA grant is a transformative opportunity to address some of the most pressing health challenges in our region, said Beth Polk, M.D., Family and Community Medicine physician at Carilion. By connecting patients to fresh, nutritious foods and empowering them with education, we aim to improve chronic disease outcomes and enhance food security. This program demonstrates the power of community partnerships in creating meaningful, sustainable health improvements.

Back in 2015, findings from the Carilions Community Health Assessments, which was a 10-year project, implemented small-scale produce prescription programs in the Roanoke City community.

Local insurance agency competes in Drumstick Dash to help give back to the community

Research efforts by Radford University will allow the SWPRx project to improve over some time. Further research will strengthen the program to improve health equity and patient outcomes by integrating food systems in the community.

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By integrating community food systems into the SWPRx project, we also support local farmers and community-based food retailers and connect participants to programs like food pantries and Virginia Fresh Match outlets that provide ongoing and affordable access to produce, said Maureen McNamara Best, executive director at LEAP and project director for SWPRx.

For more information about the USDA grant recipients visit, www.usda.gov

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv.
The aircraft carrier George Washington is now back in Japan operating as the Navys only forward-deployed carrier.

The ship arrived at Yokosuka Naval Base on Friday after operating in South America as part of a Southern Seas deployment to boost maritime partnerships and counter threats in the region. The deployment marked the first for the carrier in nearly a decade.

A U.S. carrier represents the most advanced maritime capability we have, and its the most advanced investment we can make in the security of Japan and of the Western Pacific, Vice Adm. Fred Kacher, commander of U.S. 7th Fleet, said in a statement. The George Washington returns with modernized, cutting-edge technology that represents our investment in deterrence and security in this region.

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USS George Washington to deploy to South America

The carrier is outfitted with Carrier Air Wing 5, which includes the first F-35C Lightning II squadron to join forward-deployed naval forces in Japan.

Yokosuka previously served as the homeport for the George Washington from 2008 to 2015. The ship kicked off its midlife refueling and complex overhaul maintenance, known as an RCOH, in 2017 in Virginia.

Maintenance originally was slated to wrap up in 2021 under a four-year timeline, but delays postponed it until May 2023.

The GW replaced the carrier Ronald Reagan in Japan so the latter can undergo maintenance work in Bremerton, Washington.
TYLER, Texas (KETK)  On Saturday, the UT Tyler University Academy Tyler and their Department of Technology teamed up to hold the schools first ever VEX Robotics meet.

A robot retrieves the first melted fuel from Fukushima nuclear reactor

A VEX Robotics meet is an opportunity for high schoolers and middle schoolers to compete by building robots that will sharpen their STEM skills while having fun in the process.

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100 East Texas students came out on Saturday to participate in the scientific showdown. They were tasked with building and designing robots to complete the various tasks in the competition.

Having these kind of activities that it really gives them a real world, authentic experience and a challenge, something that they really value, something that draws them in. You dont have to explain to them, why do I have to learn calculus? When am I ever going to use that in real life? And you just show them all robotics kit, and for some of them, thats really a huge driving and motivating factor for them, En-Tze Chong, science teacher at the UT Tyler University Academy Tyler

The top three teams from Saturdays meet will advance to an upcoming VEX Robotics state meet in Dallas. To learn more, visit VEX Robotics online.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com.
RIVER FALLS  National recognition has come to the Chippewa Valley thanks to the agricultural programs at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

According to College Raptor, an online site that aids its users in comparing prospective post-secondary schooling, the dairy science program at UWRF was placed as the top of its kind, and the university was also placed as second nationally as the Best Colleges for Animal Science.

One of the emphases that we have at the college is high-impact experiential learning experiences, said Mike Orth, dean of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Science. Beyond the classroom, we have just added a wildflower farm which is a conservation area about 20 minutes from campus A big thing for us are farms and getting our students there, whether it is in a class setting out at the farms, working at the farms, doing undergraduate research at the farms or other conservation areas  that is really a point of emphasis for us.

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Orth said recognition of their agricultural programming and their impact is significant, as agriculture is a very large industry to the state of Wisconsin and the surrounding areas of River Falls.

I think it really is a big part of the River Falls area and within a radius of it, he said. There are a lot of industries related, one way shape or form, to many of the types of agricultural programs we have.

With farms, resources and a connection to local and state industry, Orth said that another part of the equation is the instructors who help bring passion to fields like the dairy industry and animal science fields.

A lot of the faculty who are here at River Falls could be faculty at larger institutions, but they choose to be here, he said. They choose to be here because first and foremost they are educators, they love the interaction with the students, they like working with them and helping them. They have a passion for agriculture, whatever field or environmental sciences, they have a passion for that, but they want to pass that passion on to the students.

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My colleagues have a strong and genuine interest in the students who we work with every day, Steve Kelm, chair of UWRFs Animal and Food Science Department and a professor of animal and dairy science, said in a press release from the university. Our faculty and staff put a lot of time and effort into teaching and preparing students for their next stage in life, wherever that may be.

For the future of programming, Orth said the aim is to continue focusing on research, upgrading those student opportunities and putting focus on potential facility developments for the future.
The Laura Street Trio is again top mind in Downtown Jacksonville as city council is now directly negotiating with the developer of the historic cluster.

A meeting is set for Monday to review the deals on the table. It comes after Action News Jax reported the mayors office is halted negotiations.

Action News Jax Shanila Kabir spoke to several people who said it is time to make a decision and if the trio cannot be restored, they would rather see it torn down. After being notified about Mondays meeting, they said they hope the City of Jacksonville will choose a fresh start for the corner.

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Longtime Downtown Jax resident Laura House said she has lived right across from the Laura Street Trio for more than a decade.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

Its done. I dont even think theres anything pretty about it. Its just junk, said Houser.

She said it is time for the eyesore to be taken down.

Even if you made an apartment complex out of it, it wouldve been something, but theyve done absolutely nothing. There could have been doctors offices or lawyers offices, just something, said Houser.

Another Jax resident Joe Town agrees the buildings should be demolished altogether and built from scratch.

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We have to be flexible with old buildings, especially in a town that were trying to recruit some folks down to live in and try to bring some capital improvements into downtown, said Town.

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Downtown Visions 2024 State of Downtown Report said tourism has increased since the height of the pandemic well below pre-pandemic levels. It translates to a difference of almost 5,000,000 visitors in 2019 compared to last year.

Jake Gordon from Downtown Vision said more residential buildings could change that.

I think downtown needs to be a neighborhood. We have a bunch of amazing neighborhoods in Jacksonville, but we really want to have more of those amenities, said Gordon.

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Mondays meeting is to discuss the future of the Laura Street Trio and to review deals and seek the resolution residents and activists have waited so long for.

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Two people were taken to the hospital after a vehicle they were inside plunged into the harbor Sunday night in Marina Del Rey, officials confirmed to KTLA.

Details are limited and Its unclear exactly how the incident occurred, but authorities with the Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to 4675 Admiralty Way just after 6 p.m. on reports of the vehicle in the water.

L.A. County Fire Department Public Information Officer Marco Rodriguez said the two occupants were able to get themselves out of the vehicle after it went into the water.

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Both were examined by medical personnel with the fire department and taken to a nearby hospital in unknown condition.

Rodriguez said that two L.A. County Lifeguard divers were deployed to ensure there were no other occupants trapped in the vehicle.

Crews with L.A. County Fire work to pull a vehicle out of the harbor in Marina del Rey. (KTLA) Crews with L.A. County Fire work to pull a vehicle out of the harbor in Marina del Rey. (KTLA) Crews with L.A. County Fire work to pull a vehicle out of the harbor in Marina del Rey. (KTLA) Crews with L.A. County Fire work to pull a vehicle out of the harbor in Marina del Rey. (KTLA) Crews with L.A. County Fire work to pull a vehicle out of the harbor in Marina del Rey. (KTLA) Crews with L.A. County Fire work to pull a vehicle out of the harbor in Marina del Rey. (KTLA) Crews with L.A. County Fire work to pull a vehicle out of the harbor in Marina del Rey. (KTLA) Crews with L.A. County Fire work to pull a vehicle out of the harbor in Marina del Rey. (KTLA)

A witness, Johnny Hamcheck, told KTLA that a third person, a woman, exited the vehicle before it went into water, though officials did not confirm that detail.

Driver in Los Angeles allegedly targeted teen, 16, in deadly hit-and-run

Footage of the recovery effort showed crews attaching large yellow floating devices to the vehicle as it was anchored to a crane and eventually pulled out of the water and loaded onto a tow truck.

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The vehicle showed heavy front-end damage, presumably from crashing through the steel railing and into the water.

An investigation into the crash is ongoing and no further details were provided.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Tren de Aragua is recruiting child gang members from migrant shelters, New York police have warned.

The violent Venezuelan gang has reportedly built a small army of children as young as 11 years old, known as the Little Devils of 42nd Street, who have stolen valuables at gunpoint and attacked police officers.

Parents have been warned that Tren de Aragua, which recently came to national prominence amid claims it had taken over the city of Aurora, Colorado, had infiltrated the taxpayer-funded shelter system and are enticing children into a life of crime.

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Joseph Kenny, the New York Police Department (NYPD) chief of detectives, said they had identified dozens of members of the gang who were attempting to blend in with asylum seekers in shelters.

We have 39 members of TdA that have been identified and we have an additional four members that have been identified of a subgroup called Little Devils of 42nd Street. Those are much younger kids, he said.

Mr Kenny claimed that children had robbed shops, stolen jewellery, watches and smartphones from members of the public using guns and knives, and even shot at police officers.

More than 800 of these crimes have taken place this year, more than doubling since 2023.

Soldiers raid the Venezuelan prison in which the gang was originated - AP/Ariana Cubillos

Mr Kenny added that migrants in the shelters were being preyed upon by the gangs but were reluctant to report this to the authorities over fears of deportation.

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Parents told the broadcaster that they fear their children will be forced into crime by gang members who have infiltrated the shelters.

Airada Pereira, who lives in a Manhattan refuge and arrived from Colombia last year, said she had been warned to be careful with her son because they are recruiting younger children.

We are afraid he will get recruited and they will force and manipulate him to do bad things. Things that will get him into trouble, she added.

Power Malu, a community organiser, said that migrant children in New York were easy targets for the gangs because of the lack of social programmes for young people.

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PLAINS TOWNSHIP, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)  Veterans and their families are being honored in northeastern Pennsylvania for their service and sacrifices.

Nearly 300 veterans from Luzerne County and some as far away as 100 miles gathered on Sunday at the Woodlands.

The Second Annual District Attorneys Veterans Brunch featured a continental brunch, keynote speakers, and prayer.

Weinburg CEO completes 45th Annual Thanksgiving Food Distribution

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The event honors Veterans Day and the memory of 84-year-old army veteran Steve Giza of Kingston who passed away in 2023.

The brunch also shares a vital message.

Its very important that they know that the people in the people in the community support them, and thank them for their sacrifices, and not just their sacrifices but their whole family makes a sacrifice when they get sent overseas, or fight to protect our country. And I think they need to know that we understand that without them we wouldnt have the freedom that we have today, said Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce.

The district attorney says they plan to continue to hold a veterans brunch yearly and hope to see attendance continue to grow.

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Vincent O. Leggett, a historian and conservationist of black culture along the Chesapeake Bay, has died, according to Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman.

I was shocked and deeply saddened to find out this morning that our beloved Admiral of the Chesapeake, and Blacks of the Chesapeake founder, Vincent Omar Leggett has passed away, Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman said on social media Sunday. All of us must now come together and carry on his great work.

Leggett, 71, was born in Baltimore in 1953 to Charlie Leggett, a labor union representative, and Willie Mae Leggett, an elementary school teacher, according to a biography published by Yale University. He graduated from Morgan State University with a bachelors degree in urban planning in 1975. A former president of the Anne Arundel County Board of Education, Leggett also worked for Baltimore City Schools, the Anne Arundel County housing authority and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. He died Saturday.

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In 2010, Leggett told The Baltimore Sun that in 1984 he started a mission to visit as many of the bays port towns and villages as possible to start piecing together a collective story of black life on the Chesapeake. Through his nonprofit, Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation, he started lecturing about how the bay and its tributaries served as part of the Underground Railroad.

Id read of all the shipbuilders, boat captains and shipping magnates who supposedly made bay history, most of them members of the majority community, Leggett said. Every book would have a picture of a black crab picker or oyster shucker. The caption would simply say crab picker or oyster shucker. Thered never be a name. These people worked, Leggett says. They must have had families, raised children, lived lives. Who were they? What did they do?

He published his first book, Blacks of the Chesapeake: An Integral Part of Maritime History, in 1997, followed by his second, The Chesapeake Bay through Ebony Eyes, in 1999.

In 2000, through the Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation, Leggett worked with the Smithsonian and U.S. Library of Congress on a collection of more 40,000 images portraying Black families and their lifestyles, tradition and work keeping Marylands seafood and maritime industries thriving. The core of the collection is from 1980 onward, according to the state archives.

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This irreplaceable, extensive collection began as a labor of love 35 years ago for [Black of the Chesapeake Foundation] founder Vincent Leggett. He sought to capture, document, and chronicle African American life along the reaches of the Chesapeake Bay, before time and evolving generations allowed it to float away, the Maryland State Archives says of the collection.

Leggett and his foundation were also integral in the creation of Elktonia-Carrs Beach Heritage Park, a public park project launched in 2022 on the site of two popular Chesapeake Bay resorts, Carrs and Sparrows Beaches, that were a haven to the Black community during segregation. Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington all performed there.

This is a dream come true, Leggett told The Sun about the project in 2022.

He illuminated untold stories and ensured that future generations would know and honor the vital role that Blacks played in shaping the Bays heritage, Chesapeake Conservancy President and CEO Joel Dunn said in a statement Sunday. Vinces work transcended the archives and pages of history books.

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Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly reported the date of Leggetts death. The Sun regrets the error.

Have a news tip? Contact Dillon Mullan at dmullan@baltsun.com, 302-842-3818 or @DillonMullan on X.
A homeless man sits on Broad Street in Richmond, Va., March 18, 2020. (Parker Michels-Boyce for the Virginia Mercury)

The number of Virginians who are unhoused has been on the rise, according to various data sources. A report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development showed that in 2023, roughly 7.8 per 10,000 people in Virginia were experiencing homelessness. Recent point-in-time counts in the greater Richmond area showed an increase in unhoused citizens over the past year.

While localized data can point to particular spikes in unhoused populations it doesnt encompass all types of housing crises people can face, or truly capture how many people experience homelessness over time.

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Laura Dobbs, a policy analyst with Housing Opportunities Made Equal, noted that someone might technically be homeless for only a few months, as opposed to someone more permanently unhoused who lives on streets, in parks or in shelters. But their temporary status is still traumatic, she stressed, and can still take time to financially and emotionally recover from.

Theres a lot of people that whether they live in a hotel or theyre couch surfing or splitting their kids between different family members  they may only be homeless for three months, but its still an unstable three months, Dobbs said. Those people might not get captured in a point-in-time count, but they still need services to help them regain stability.

Its why her organization and others support state legislation aimed at helping to reduce or prevent evictions as well as broader efforts to increase housing stock and affordability. And of course, continued funding for organizations that work directly with those who are experiencing homelessness is a continuing need, she said.

Solving the housing crisis is primarily local through things like zoning and planning, but the state can incentivize things, said Homeward executive director Kelly King Horne. Her organization is part of the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care  a consortium of groups working to prevent and reduce homelessness. Various organizations around Virginia coordinate on this work as well.

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A report published last month found that Greater Richmond Continuum of Care agencies encountered over 7,500 people seeking assistance within fiscal year 2024, ranging from emergency shelter requests to needing assistance to stay in their homes.

Other Richmond-area efforts have been underway over the last year as well. This past June, people were able to move into Cool Lane Commons, an 86-unit supportive housing apartment in Henrico County. The project stemmed from collaboration of local governments and organizations.

With a new (Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority) policy approved by HUD, the GRCoC Coordinated Entry System can make referrals directly to projects like this, the continuums latest report stated.

This past October the City of Richmond also opened its Office of Homeless Services on Chamberlayne Avenue. For people who lack a phone or computer, the center is a face-to-face option for connections to various regional housing resources.

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For those in need of shelter, however, a mens and veterans shelter on Grace St. plans to close by the end of the year due to funding challenges. This knowledge, paired with a recent Richmond city council vote to allocate $2 million to a new animal shelter, inspired Virginias NAACP housing chair Tracey Hardney-Scott to voice concern.

We cant be saying that animals would take precedence over people, she said.

Hardney-Scott hopes to see a boost in funding that can be earmarked specifically for shelters.

Legislative proposals

Isabel McLain with the Virginia Housing Alliance said that her organization will press lawmakers on funding for housing efforts in their next revision of the state budget. Examples include funding that can go towards rapid rehousing efforts and operational funding for organizations that work with unhoused or vulnerable residents. It will also support efforts to assist people before they experience homelessness.

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Virginia Housing Alliance will also be supportive of programs that can help prevent displacement, such as a proposal called 5,000 Families.

Carried last year by Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Chesterfield and Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, the initiative failed to make it into the most recent state budget. If implemented, the program would provide rental relief to certain families with school-age children to prevent displacement during academic years.

Something Dobbs said shell be watching for is anti-rent gouging legislation. Earlier this year, Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax carried a bill that would allow localities to set their own provisions that would require landlords to give two months written notice ahead of rent increases. It would also set certain parameters of what the increases could be.

Hardney-Scott said that her organization is in conversation with legislators about which specific bills may be introduced or reintroduced next year. Like McLain, a revival of Boyskos bill is something she plans to keep watch for.

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A bill that could get another shot at becoming law may be one the legislature already approved: Senate Bill 597 from Sen. Jeremy McPike, D-Prince William, would have allowed more Virginia localities to craft zoning ordinances to encourage affordable housing by using special federal tax credits. Despite House and Senate approval, Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed the bill.

While Hardney-Scott engages with legal and nonprofit organizations and lawmakers, she hopes to see more widespread discussion of the role housing plays in peoples lives and communities.

Were not having enough conversations about how (housing struggles) affect health and education or contribute to crime, Hardney-Scott said. Housing is the one thing that everybody needs.

Federal housing changes may be on the horizon

Horne, of Homeward noted how some housing solutions may be out of any states hands.

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Funding is always going to be number one, especially if theres cuts at the federal level, she said.

Dobbs concurred.

Its hard to predict just how much (funding is) going to be cut from HUD, she said. A lot of local governments rely on funding from HUD to do things that come with services and prevention efforts, and without that federal funding, were really going to rely on the state even more to help support localities.

Though President-elect Donald Trump has shied away from the Project 2025 playbook from conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, he has been praised by the organization for utilizing their guidance in his previous term. Several of its authors are former Trump officials, including former HUD secretary Dr. Ben Carson.

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In Chapter 15 of Project 2025 Carsonhe suggested that Congress should consider a wholesale overhaul of HUD that contemplates devolving many HUD functions to states and localities with any remaining federal functions consolidated to other federal agencies.

Its both unclear how long such a downsizing of the federal agency would take and if it would happen, but Virginia housing advocates stress that the state legislature continues to empower and support local governments and organizations that work with them.

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Nov. 25CUMBERLAND  A Stephens City, Virginia, man is awaiting extradition after he was arrested on a fugitive warrant during investigation of an alleged assault early Sunday in the 900 block of Bedford Street, according to Cumberland Police.

Ben Richard Metheny was taken into custody without incident at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday when officers investigated the assault incident, which was followed by a second report of a suspicious person at the same address.

Metheny, 45, was charged with hindering and obstructing and fraud per identification to avoid prosecution before he was jailed on $1,000 bond set by a district court commissioner.

Metheny was also jailed on a detainer issued on the arrest warrant from Indiana, police said.
PFAS, often used in water-resistant gear, also find their way into drinking water and human bodies. (Photo by CasarsaGuru via Getty Images)

Following a law the legislature passed this year, Virginias water regulators are beginning a process to identify sources of chemicals known as PFAS or forever chemicals, which were found above regulatory limits in drinking water in 28 water systems across the state.

The systems include eight from Fauquier and Loudoun Counties, with a smattering of results from the rest of the state, including Fairfax County, the Hampton Roads region and Roanoke County in Southwest Virginia.

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Combined, the systems serve about 2.29 million people, with the Loudoun and Faquier counties systems serving about 360,000. Six systems, consisting of the Loudoun Water Central System, and one in Newport News, Norfolk, Stafford County and Fairfax County, serve about 2.2 million people.

A lot of this data has been publicly available for some time so there werent any big surprises, said Carroll Courtenay, a staff attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. Im glad to see that some water systems took advantage of self-reporting data to DEQ to make sure the PFAS assessment process is as comprehensive as possible.

PFAS chemicals are found in several household items, including clothing and cookware. Theyre used in firefighting foam because of their tight chemical bond that repels liquid and quells heat. That bond also makes them incredibly difficult to break down once theyre in the environment.

Identification

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality became aware of the drinking water results following a transfer of reporting data from the Virginia Department of Health, as required by legislation from Sen. Jeremy McPike, D-Prince William, and Sen. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke.

The water systems the Department of Environmental Quality will be conducting assessments on to identify sources of PFAS. (Data courtesy of DEQ)

The transfer included results from past testing by VDH and results from a test called the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, or UCMR 5, and self reporting from Loudoun and Fauquier counties.

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Those results found the level of PFAS to be above the maximum contaminant levels to prevent death and reduce exposure for certain types of PFAS, which is 4 or 10 parts per trillion. One part per trillion is the equivalent of 1 drop of water in 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Voluntary reporting

The findings from Fauquier County and Loudun were self-reported, which DEQ spokesperson Irina Calos said, is the result of their proactive approach to sampling and voluntarily sharing the data.

Ben Shoemaker, executive Director at Fauquier County Water and Sanitation Authority, said they conducted sampling at their 48 groundwater wells supplying their system to correct a lab issue with contamination.

The testing method for PFAS is similar to other water sampling methods, but since the chemicals are pervasive, its easy for them to transfer from clothing and infiltrate samples, creating false positives.

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You always have to be careful sampling drinking water, for PFAS you have to be even more careful, said Shoemaker. Theres a whole set of guidelines out there.

The sampling was also done to meet requirements for funding from class action lawsuits to deal with PFAS, Shoemaker said. It cost about $500 per test, meaning it cost about $25,000 to test all their wells.

Let's just go sample everything we have. That way we're not guessing, there's no questions. We can find out what we got and we can deal with it.

 Ben Shoemaker, executive director Fauquier County Water and Sanitation Authority

Lets just go sample everything we have, Shoemaker said of his agencys reasoning. That way were not guessing, theres no questions. We can find out what we got and we can deal with it.

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In a similar sense, Loudoun Water, the provider for the Loudoun Water Central System, Beacon Hill-LCSA and Creighton Farms systems, has worked to understand their situation and provide information on their website for customers.

We value coordination with our regional water community to improve our collective understanding of PFAS occurrence, identify sources and how to mitigate it, said Sue Crosby, executive director of communications for Loudoun Water.

Assessment

Now that the results have been revealed, the law from McPike and Rasoul now requires DEQ to evaluate potential sources and notify them to either self-report, self-report and monitor, or just monitor, Calos said, which could be done by relying on past information.

Sources of PFAS are typically thought to be manufacturing facilities that discharge them in their wastewater and landfills, from which the chemicals can leak without protections like liners.

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DEQ could use a past voluntary survey they sent out in 2022 to identify PFAS sources, Calos acknowledged, but the 10% response rate, was low, and the informationis dated. Another potential source is the Danville Northside Wastewater Treatment plant, which the SELC and environmental advisory group Wild Virginia said is known to discharge PFAS.

If in surface water, the sources could be anywhere upstream in the watershed, including discharges permitted by DEQ under the VPDES program and/or places where DEQ allows land application for sludge, said David Sligh, conservation director of Wild Virginia. If in groundwater, as is the case for the majority in this list, the source could be anything that happens on the land.

A screenshot of sites sampled for PFAS by the Virginia Department of Health (Courtesy of Virginia Department of Health)

The difficulty for groundwater wells, Shoemaker said, is that the source could be biosolids spread on agricultural land as fertilizers or other activity.

For example, an explosive car crash could have occurred on a property a decade ago and firefighting foam couldve been used to squelch the fire. PFAS could leak into one well but not another on the same property.

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The short answer (is) we dont know, Shoemaker said about where the PFAS came from in Fauquier County water. He was surprised the initial results showed exceedances of the chemicals, since the area doesnt have much industrial activity and is pretty rural.

The ubiquitous nature of PFAS chemicals is one reason lawmakers crafted the law to require DEQ to identify potential sources, and then prioritize requirements for reporting and monitoring.

PFAS advisory committee

The PFAS Advisory Committee, created by the law and seen as a way to provide oversight of DEQs actions to address PFAS, is now determining the prioritization process for identifying sources. But environmental groups are concerned about their lack of participation so far in that process.

The committee is evaluating how other states like Arizona, North Carolina and Maryland have made assessments, and the public health impacts, drinking water system characteristics, and environmental considerations, for potential sources, Calos said.

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Surface waters are looking at the entire watershed upstream of the water treatment plant, Calos said. For groundwater (GW) sources we are looking at a three (mile) radius from the well.

The prioritization process is expected to be put into a draft plan and shared with the Committee at a Dec. 16 meeting and finalized in January.

The members of the PFAS Advisory Committee. (Screenshot courtesy of minutes from the meeting)

But absent from the committee is an environmental group, as required by law. DEQ Director Mike Rolband is in charge of making appointments, according to the measure.

It is absolutely unacceptable that DEQ has failed to include conservation group representatives on the committee well before the first meeting was held on November 8th, said Sligh, who added that he notified DEQ of his qualifications, which include being a former employee for the State Water Control Board and DEQ who oversaw pollution permits.

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By that failure, Director Rolband is violating the express command of the statute and I hope legislators will insist that he correct it immediately, Sligh said.

In response to the claim, Calos said DEQ consulted with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, James River Association and SELC, which led them to offer the position to a Duke University professor whom the groups recommended, but she declined the invitation.

DEQ has reached back out to these environmental groups to obtain additional recommendations that will be considered, Calos said. DEQ will evaluate the credentials of those individuals recommended and appoint additional members to the committee as needed.

The agency has hired two of three additional staff to carry out the legislations goals, and will continue its rotating fish tissue sampling to support the identification process, which has already happened in the basins of Tennessee/Big Sandy, Chowan, James, Potomac/Shenandoah, Rappahannock, and Roanoke Rivers. The New River basin, the York River basin, and the small coastal basin remain to be sampled.

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(WKBN)  The Ohio Department of Transportations Paint-the-Plow contest is back.

Students from school districts in Ashtabula, Mahoning, Portage, Stark, Summit and Trumbull counties painted their designs on ODOT plows.

People can vote on their favorite designs on ODOT District 4s Facebook page. Each like counts as one vote, and the plow that receives the most likes will be the winner.

Voting continues through 3 p.m. Monday, Dec. 9.

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The local entries are pictured below, or see all of the entries on ODOTs Facebook page:

Austintown Fitch (Courtesy: ODOT) Jackson-Milton (Courtesy ODOT) Bloomfield High School (Courtesy: ODOT) Champion High School (Courtesy: ODOT) Howland High School (Courtesy: ODOT) Hubbard High School (Courtesy: ODOT) Warren John F. Kennedy Catholic High School (Courtesy: ODOT) LaBrae High School (Courtesy: ODOT) Lakeview High School (Courtesy: ODOT) Lordstown High School (Courtesy: ODOT) Mineral Ridge High School (Courtesy: ODOT) Southington Local School (Courtesy: ODOT) Warren G. Harding High School (Courtesy: ODOT)

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com.
Louisiana voters will decide whether state lawmakers should have the power to set up new state-level specialty courts, like a business court. (Getty Images)

Louisiana voters will decide whether to empower state lawmakers to establish new state-run specialty courts, such as a statewide business court, that operate alongside the traditional judiciary.



The Louisiana Legislature on Friday voted 73-25 in the House of Representatives and 29-6 in the Senate in favor of a constitutional amendment giving legislators more power to reshape Louisianas court system.

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The measure will appear before voters on a March 29 ballot that will also feature an overhaul of Louisianas tax and financial operations and a proposal to make it easier to send more minors to adult prisons.

Currently, lawmakers can only establish trial courts of limited jurisdiction within the boundaries of an existing state judicial district. For example, they can set up specialty courts that focus on drug users, veterans and people with mental health challenges.

The constitutional amendment, if passed, would newly allow state lawmakers to create regional or statewide courts with a two-thirds vote of each chamber of the Legislature.

The sponsor of the legislation, Sen. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe, said he brought the bill primarily to set up a specialty business court.



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Complex business matters should be handled by judges with a certain level of expertise in those subjects, he said. A statewide business court would also allow the corporate community to resolve their disputes faster because they would no longer have to compete with divorces and other civil matters for district judges time.



Other supporters of the amendment said it would also allow regional specialty courts focused on drug abusers, veterans and mental health issues to be established in rural areas.

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These types of specialty courts already exist in many urban and suburban court systems. But many of the smaller judicial district courts in the state dont have the resources to create them under the current system, said Speaker Pro Tempore Mike Johnson, R-Pineville, last week.

Still, Morris and the legislations other sponsor, Rep. Dixon McMakin, R-Baton Rouge, have been vague about how a business court or other new regional courts might operate. The details of how the news courts would function would have to be outlined in legislation that hasnt been drafted yet, they said.

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To be determined in a future bill, McMakin replied when asked by his House colleagues Friday about how the new courts might work.

Critics of the amendment said it could allow big business to work around locally elected judges who arent sympathetic to the corporate communitys arguments.



For example, if a statewide business court was established, lawsuits such as those brought by local parishes against oil and gas interests could end up in a statewide business court controlled by judges who dont live where the coastal damage took place, said state Rep. Mandie Landry, D-New Orleans.

Other lawsuits over environmental pollution caused by industrial users could also end up in a statewide court where the judges arent elected by the residents most affected by the damage, she said.

I really question who is behind this. It really seems that the business community wants this to circumvent local courts, Landry said during the House floor debate on the bill.

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There are also concerns that the proposal would allow the legislators to create new, state-controlled criminal courts in Louisianas left-leaning cities of New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Shreveport. Conservative officials in Mississippi have already done something similar in their state capital of Jackson.

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In Jackson, a majority-Black city, Mississippi state lawmakers established a Capitol Complex Improvement District Court where the prosecutor and judge are picked by white, conservative elected officials. The judge over the new court is appointed, even though Mississippi residents typically get to elect judges.



Im pretty sure this is designed to do the same in [Louisianas] three major cities, Landry said Friday.

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Outside of the statewide court proposal, the constitutional amendment would also allow the Louisiana Supreme Court to reprimand out-of-state attorneys for unethical behavior while working in the state. Under the current law, justices only have the power to discipline lawyers who are members of the Louisiana bar.

The impetus behind broadening the supreme courts disciplinary authority is to prevent fraud like that allegedly committed by MMA Law Firm in Houston. The firm is accused of misrepresenting their services and mishandling thousands of Louisiana residents insurance claims after hurricanes Laura, Delta and Ida in 2020 and 2021.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU)  Its time to start voting for your favorite decorated storefront downtown!

According to a release, voting opened on Monday and can be submitted by clicking here. Votes will be accepted until December 23 and are limited to one vote per day.

AAA offering holiday Tow to Go service Thanksgiving weekend

21 downtown businesses and nonprofit organizations are competing for a chance to win $500 to be donated to a nonprofit organization of their choice, selected by the community electronic voting.

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A map of all participating storefronts can be found on the Downtown Sioux City website.

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WACO, Texas (FOX 44)  Waco Police are asking the public for information in relation to a hit-and-run case.

Waco Police officers were called to the 3600 Block of Franklin Avenue at approximately 5:27 a.m. Monday. When they arrived on scene, they found a 45-year-old man who was hit by a vehicle and is in critical condition. He is receiving treatment at a local hospital.

The unidentified suspect was driving a white Ford SUV and did not stop to render aid. The vehicle has possible damage to the passenger side resulting from the crash.

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Suspect in Bell County vehicle pursuit apprehended

Police say any information about the identity of the suspect or location of the suspect vehicle is

needed to help solve this case. If you have any information, you can call the Waco Police Department at 254-750-7500 or send a tip anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 254-753-HELP(4357).

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LISBON, Ohio (WKBN)  An Akron-area doctor was sentenced Monday following his September arrest during a task force sex sting operation in Salem.

Hang Yin pleaded guilty to an amended charge of disorderly conduct. He was sentenced to a 30-day suspended jail sentence, fined $250 and will have to serve one year of probation.

Yin was arrested by the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force after they said he responded to an online ad to pay $100 for sex acts. Yin was arrested when he showed up in Salem to meet the person from the ad.

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Investigators said during the online chat for the ad, Yin said he worked for the Summa Health System in Akron and admitted to meeting with prostitutes in the past.

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Labour is poised to introduce a European-style tourist tax in Wales, despite warnings it could backfire and deter visitors.

The levy could see tourists, including those living in the UK, pay 1.25 per night on overnight accommodation bills from 2027.

Ministers hope the money raised will help fund improvements to transport links and promotion of the Welsh language.

The plans would require that legislation published today be passed by the Welsh Parliament. A lower fee of 75p would apply to hostels and campsites.

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Accommodation providers have warned the levy could be detrimental to businesses. It comes amid a looming National Insurance tax raid on employers.

In a consultation, which ran in 2022 and received more than 2,000 responses, self-catering firms said that a policy similar to tourism taxes in Spain, Greece and Germany, could damage local economies  particularly after successive tax raids on holiday let landlords.

They added that imposing a tourist tax while local businesses were still recovering from the pandemic was unwise.

One provider told ministers: To impose this tax now or in the near future will be detrimental to our business [and the] self catering industry.

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But those in favour of a tourist tax said the money raised could provide a much-needed cash injection to strained local services. Money raised could be funnelled into improving transport networks, ecosystem management, and destination marketing.

Respondents also suggested cash raised through the levy could be used to promote the Welsh language.

It comes amid a row over local authorities raising tax on tourists to fund ailing local services. In October, Pembrokeshire Council was forced to lower a council tax premium on second homeowners amid concerns it was killing tourism.

Highland Council, which is controlled by an SNP and Independent coalition, is also consulting on a 5pc tourist tax from 2026. The levy would apply to all visits with no exemptions for local people, including reasons such as hospital visits.

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Ministers in Wales have yet to decide how a tourism tax would work in practice. Most respondents agreed that a tax proportional to the room was the fairest option, rather than a flat rate.

An industry trade gave the example of a 2 levy on a 30 B&B room, which would be nearly 7pc, whereas a 2 levy on a 250 room is under 0.8pc, so a fixed amount would be regressive taxation and would impact the less affluent consumer much harder.

Respondents were also concerned there could be competition between local authorities if councils were allowed to administer the levy independently.

A bill will first have to be approved by the Senedd, and it could be years before councils are able to introduce a tax.

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Former Labour leader and current finance secretary, Mark Drakeford, said: This is a bill designed to protect and promote tourism.

Its a power for those local authorities that wish to use it that will collect a small amount of money from visitors coming to that area for re-investment in the things that make tourism a success in that area.

The Welsh government was approached for comment.

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This article may contain affiliate links that Yahoo and/or the publisher may receive a commission from if you buy a product or service through those links.

Thanksgiving is officially on the horizon, which means that its time to start making all the usual holiday preparations. Still, there are some things you cant prepare for, from sustaining an injury (looking at you, potato peelers) to unexpectedly running out of a key dinner ingredient. If this happens, you might find yourself wondering the following question: Is Walgreens open on Thanksgiving 2024?

Unfortunately, youll most likely have to stock up on last-minute holiday gear somewhere else, because most Walgreens stores will be closed Thanksgiving Day. In the past, Walgreens stores have remained open on Thanksgiving, which falls on November 28 this year. However, starting last year, the company opted to close most of its locations on the holiday itself in order to give employees time off with their loved ones.

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This is just one of the ways were acknowledging the dedication of our store team members, pharmacists, and pharmacy techs who tirelessly deliver incredible service and patient care every single day, EVP and President of Walgreens Retail & Chief Customer Officer, Tracey D. Brown, said in a September 16 press release. We heard incredible feedback from team members about their Thanksgiving holiday last year, so we are excited to extend that tradition once again for them to take a much-deserved break.

However, there are some exceptions. According to Walgreens press release, 500 Walgreens 24-hour locations, as well as the 300 pharmacies within those locations, will remain open on Thanksgiving Day. So if you need any prescription refills or urgent pharmacist advice, you still have options! You can check whether any Walgreens locations near you will be open in some capacity on Thanksgiving by checking Walgreens official store locator.



Walgreens locations will be open during normal business hours the day before, November 27, in addition to the next day, Black Friday, for all of your health and everyday essentials needs.

Further Reading

We Tested (and Rated!) All the Living Room Seating at Burrow to Determine the Best for Every Space and Need

I Tried the 90/90 Rule and My Closet Is Now Fully Decluttered

Everything Youve Ever Wanted To Know About Articles DTC Furniture

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Boaters off San Diego on Saturday witnessed a rarely seen spectacle involving killer whales, or orcas, that are more comonly encountered much farther south in Mexico.

Who needs SeaWorld when the greatest Orca show in the world is in the WILD! Domenic Biagini, owner of Gone Whale Watching San Diego, exclaimed via Instagram.

The accomapnying footage, captured by the companys Erica Sackrison, shows one orca ambushing a dolphin from below, sending the stunned mammal flying while launching at least 20 feet above the surface.

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The Eastern Tropical Pacific orcas (ETPs), only show a few times a year off San Diego and its almost always to hunt common dolphins, which are abundant off Southern California.

Biagini explained that the day's excitement began with the sighting of a surface-feeding humpback whale and hundreds of dolphins.

Then, in the distance, dolphins began to stampede in a panic. A crewman noticed a splash from a larger mammal, indicating that a killer whale hunting party was present.

Our initial thought was that a Humpback had done something surface active; when suddenly the unmistakeable shape of a Killer Whale exploded into the air! Biagini wrote.

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The orca in the footage is a previous visitor nicknamed Top Notch, because of distinctive markings. Biagini joked that Top Notch was "channeling his inner Top Gun by rocketing 20-plus feet into the air in pursuit of a common dolphin breakfast.

The ETPs were not encountered Sunday.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Watch: Orca launches 20 feet high while pursuing prey off San Diego
The Met Office has been criticised for failing to issue sufficient weather warnings in flood-hit parts of Wales.

Cllr Andrew Morgan, the leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf county borough council, said he was amazed that only a yellow weather warning had been issued by the Met Office.

A major incident was declared in the Rhondda Cynon Taf region on Sunday, as flooding brought by Storm Bert left up to 300 properties inundated by water.

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The region was one of the worst hit by flooding brought by Storm Bert over the weekend, with up to 300 properties inundated by water.

I am surprised there wasnt a red warning issued, Mr Morgan said. During Storm Dennis we saw an amber warning in advance and a red warning issued in the early hours. I do think that will need to be reviewed shortly.

More than 200 flood alerts remain in place for England and Wales and travel issues are set to continue into the new week.

People pour water out of the front gardens of their properties - MATTHEW HORWOOD/GETTY

Eluned Morgan, the Welsh First Minister, said it had been a really difficult weekend.

She said: I think this is the second time that many of those have suffered as a result of the storm.

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Theres been huge investments since the last storm hit, so weve managed to protect lots more properties than last time.

But obviously this is absolutely devastating just before Christmas for those people who have been impacted.

In North Wales, a body was found in the search for 75-year-old Brian Perry, who went missing while walking his dog during the storm on Saturday near the Afon Conwy river.

Another man, who was in his 80s, died after his car entered water at a ford on Cockhill Lane in Foulridge, Colne, Lancashire, on Saturday afternoon. It is unclear if the incident was directly related to Storm Bert.

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Some 350,000 homes in England lost power during the storm, though most have since been reconnected.

More than 300 flights set to depart from UK airports were cancelled during Storm Bert, Cirium, an aviation analytics firm, said.

Heathrow Airport was worst affected, with crosswinds of up to 40mph causing disruption to departures and arrivals on Sunday.

Residents of Abercarn attempt to clear the drains to allow the water to subside - HUW FAIRCLOUGH/GETTY

Simon Brown, the services director at the Met Office, said: Our thoughts are with those who are currently affected with the impacts caused by Storm Bert in South Wales, as well as the rest of the country.

As always with a named storm, a full assessment of the forecast and warning strategy will take place with our partners.

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But this assessment is carried out post-event, therefore I would expect this to take place over the coming days.

Storm Bert was well forecast, 48 hours in advance, with a number of warnings in place ahead of the system reaching the UK.

We work closely with partners to assess the potential risks of extreme weather and the warnings covering Wales highlighted the potential for homes and businesses to flood with fast-flowing or deep floodwater possible, causing a danger to life.

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BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD)  Louisiana lawmakers have passed Governor Jeff Landrys tax reform package. After the governor signs the legislation into law, Louisianans will see their income tax rate drop to 3% for all tax brackets making over $12,500 annually.

East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore is proposing a property tax for the spring 2025 ballot to support his office.

This Thanksgiving we could see the busiest travel numbers on record. The transportation department is coordinating with federal agencies and airlines to ensure the holiday season goes smoothly despite the uptick in travelers.

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This and more on Your Local Election Headquarters.

Louisiana GOP lawmakers want to make it easier to try juveniles as adults

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WBOY)  The TSA and AAA are predicting the busiest Thanksgiving ever, with nearly 80 million Americans expected to travel at least 50 mile this week, and West Virginia is no different.

According to the West Virginia Parkways Authority, an estimated 715,000 transactions will be made on the West Virginia Turnpike between Nov. 26 and Dec. 1, but there are two days drivers should avoid if they want to miss the worst of the traffic.

A press release from the West Virginia Department of Transportation said that Wednesday, Nov. 27 and Sunday, Dec. 1 will be the busiest, with about 50% more vehicles than usual expected to be traveling. Although the data is only for the West Virginia Turnpike because its the only tolled highway in the state, other major highways can expect to see more traffic on the same days.

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West Virginias favorite Thanksgiving side, according to Campbells

If you plan to travel this week and want to avoid traffic, the West Virginia Parkways Authority recommends traveling on Thanksgiving Day or the day after (Nov. 28-29). Those days will see far less traffic than usual, with only about 70% of the usual daily traffic on Thursday and about 80% on Friday, based on WV Turnpike data.

Tuesday, Nov. 26 and Saturday, Nov. 30 will have higher than usual traffic but not as high as Wednesday and Sunday.

Thanksgiving Travel Forecast: West Virginia Turnpike

For drivers that will be using the WV Turnpike, West Virginia Parkways Authority officials recommend that motorists without an E-ZPass be prepared with the $4.25 per plaza toll for passenger vehicles.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com.
When a large marine mammal like a whale dies, its body drifts to the ocean floor in a process known as whale fall.

For more than a decade, a succession of sea creatures will live off of the whales body by stripping it and burrowing into the bones to find nutrients.

In a video by the Ocean Exploration Trust, scientists return to a whale fall off the coast of British Columbia for the third time in a decade to glimpse the life still clinging to a whales decomposing skeleton.

We all know about the circle of life (cue The Lion King music), but understanding the life-and-death engine that fuels the Earth and actually seeing it in action are two very different things.

In 2009, researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute discovered (what is likely) the 16-foot-long carcass of a gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) decomposing at the bottom of the Clayoquot Slope off the coast of British Columbia. The biological journey of a dead whales body to its deep sea resting placea process known as whale fallis vital for the survival of the creatures who live in these food-poor regions of the ocean.

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The whales decomposing body is located at what is called the Clayoquot Slope Bullseye site, where Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) scientists monitor methane gas escaping the seafloor. In 2012 and 2020, ONC scientists took brief detours to revisited the sitelocated some 4,100 feet below the oceans surfaceto document the growing sea community living among the whales skeleton.

ONC, along with Ocean Exploration Trusts (OET) EV Nautilus, returned to the site in 2023 to find the skeleton still teeming with life nearly 15 years after the carcass was discovered on the seafloor. Thankfully, they uploaded footage of their incredible discovery to YouTube.

The skeleton supports a rich benthic fauna (organisms that live near the seafloor), including many invertebrates and a few fish species, such as Cocculina craigsmithi (gastropod), Mitrella (Astyris) permodesta (bucinoid gastropod), Ilyarachna profunda (isopod), Paralomis multispina (crab), Coryphaenoides acrolepis (rattail fish), and Lamellibrachia cf. barhami (tube worms), OET writes in a blog post about the expedition. These tube worms, likely the same individuals seen in 2009, are still making a home on the left jaw bone of the whale, which is remarkable.

A whales body decomposes in three stages Mobile Scavenger, Enrichment Opportunist, and Sulfophilicand each stage provides its own benefits to a succession of deep sea creatures.

In 2019, for example, scientists from Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary discovered a fresh whale fall containing eelpouts stripping the skeleton of blubber while also providing sustenance for deep sea octopuses during the Mobile Scavenger stage. Eventually, burrowing creatures will move in during the Enrichment Opportunist stage until bacteria break down the bones and converts the embedded lipids into sulfur during the final Sulfophilic stage.

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Last years expedition, which also conducted a photogrammetry survey, will add to the existing data from previous journeys to the site and provide marine biologists with an incredible dataset detailing the entire life-supporting cycle of whale falls.

In the depths of the ocean, as well as in every other ecosystem across the world, death is a beginning. After all, a circle has no end.

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Ed. Note: This story was updated to better reflect which dogs destroyed the dinner.

FARMERSBURG, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)  You might remember the scene from A Christmas Story when a pack of dogs tear through the Parker family kitchen, destroying Ralphie and his familys dinner, including their turkey. Thats when the family heads to a Chinese restaurant and is serenaded with Christmas music and a meal.

Whether your dog destroys dinner, your Aunt accidentally burns the Thanksgiving turkey, or you dont feel like cooking, there is no need to fret, several restaurants will be open on Thanksgiving.

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Honey Creek Fire Dept. gives Turkey cooking tips

Weve compiled a list of some of those establishments. We recommended double-checking store hours before you go as they are subject to change and vary by location.

Please note that this is not an exhaustive list and may be updated as we learn of more openings.

Wabash Valley Restaurants open on Thanksgiving:

Bob Evans  Terre Haute 8:00 a.m.  7 p.m. Bob Evans is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every Thanksgiving. This year, theyll offer breakfast or a special homestyle Thanksgiving holiday meal.

Cracker Barrel  Terre Haute 7:00 a.m.  10 p.m. Cracker Barrel will serve a traditional Thanksgiving meal that includes turkey, dressing, gravy, cranberry relish, sweet potato casserole, and pumpkin pie. For those who prefer to celebrate at home, Cracker Barrel offers Heat n Serve meals, which can be pre-ordered and picked up before Thanksgiving.

Dennys  Terre Haute 6:00 a.m.  1:00 a.m Dennys in Terre Haute confirmed theyll be open their usual hours. They will serve their regular menu as well as special Thanksgiving meals, including the Turkey & Dressing Dinner. They will have traditional Thanksgiving sides and desserts to choose from. In addition, they will offer a turkey sandwich served on artisan bread.

Dunkin  Terre Haute 6:00 a.m.  2:00 p.m. Dunkin of Terre Haute confirmed theyd be open with their regular menu.

Golden Corral The website shows theyll be open regular hours, but check your store before you go. In addition to regular buffet items, Golden Corral will also offer a special Thanksgiving buffet; including roasted turkey and holiday-glazed ham, plus traditional sides and desserts.

IHOP  Terre Haute Open 24-hours IHOP of Terre Haute confirmed they will have their regular menu on Thanksgiving 2024.

McDonalds McDonalds restaurants are independently operated, meaning hours vary depending on the franchise owner. WTWO checked with five Terre Haute locations that confirmed their stores would be open overnight on Wednesday and close at 11:00 a.m. Thanksgiving Day. The Sullivan, Linton, and Brazil locations all confirmed they will be closed on Thanksgiving.

Metro Diner  Terre Haute 8:00 a.m.  2:30 p.m. Regular menu available

Starbucks We called around to three Starbucks locations in Terre Haute all stated theyd be open on Thanksgiving The Southpointe Location at 4900 S. U.S. HWY 41 will be open from 6:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. 2500 Wabash Ave. will be open 6:00 a.m.  4:00 p.m. 3017 S. U.S. HWY 41 will be open 4:30 a.m.  4:00 p.m.



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The question is inevitably asked every year will we see a white Christmas this year?. The cold, hard truth is, the answer is almost certainly not. Climatology suggests the odds of seeing snow on the ground in Christmas Day is near zero percent across all of Alabama.

If you want snow on Christmas Day, your best bets in the US are Alaska, Minnesota, Maine, Upstate New York, the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania and West Virginia Idaho, and of course, the Rockies or the Sierra Nevada Mountains. As far Central Alabama is concerned, the chances are next to zero historically.

Birmingham has never officially reported measurable snow on the ground on Christmas day. Weve certainly come close though! In 2010, snow fell across North and Central Alabama on Christmas, and many spots got some snow to stick. That just wasnt the case at the airport where the climate record is kept. The Urban Heat Island effect kept it warmer around the city, and that led to the city, at least, to miss out on measurable snowfall. For many outside Birmingham city limits, it was a special, and incredibly rare, Alabama white Christmas.

Trace amounts of snow were also recorded in Birmingham on Christmas in 1993, 1989, and 1899. In 1929, 5.5 inches of snow fell at the city office in Birmingham on December 22, with 2.5 inches left Christmas Eve, but it melted before measurement was taken Christmas Day. Close, but no cigar.

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Anniston had measurable snow on Christmas Day 2010, recording an inch at the airport. Trace amounts of snow were recorded in Anniston in 1993,1989, and 1970.

Tuscaloosa has only reported trace amounts of snow once on Christmas Day, during the 2010 event.

So what about this year? I cannot technically say with absolute certainty that it wont snow on Christmas in Alabama. Theres no way to make that kind of prediction with certainty a full month out.

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Id say youve got a better chance of Jim Carrey showing up to your house on Christmas Day dressed as Lloyd Christmas from Dumb and Dumber than you do seeing snow on the ground on Christmas Day. While its not technically outside the realm of possibility, the odds are very, very strongly against it. But for snow lovers in Alabama, keep up with the forecast and dont lose all hope. You never know when a Christmas miracle might be around the corner.

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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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42.
OCALA, Fla. (AP)  White Florida woman is sentenced to 25 years in prison for shooting a Black neighbor amid a lengthy dispute.
John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House, confirmed during a briefing on Monday, 25 November, that Ukraine had received authorisation to launch long-range ATACMS missiles on targets in Russia.

Source: European Pravda, citing Turkish news agency Anadolu

Details: Kirby stated that the US "did change the guidance" on the use of ATACMS missiles, allowing Ukrainians to "use them to strike these particular types of targets".

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Quote from Kirby: "Right now, they are able to use ATACMS to defend themselves in an immediate-need basis. And right now, understandably, that's taken place in around Kursk, in the Kursk Oblast."

Details: Kirby indicated that he would "let the Ukrainians speak to their use of ATACMS, and their targeting procedures, and what they're using them for, and how well they're doing".

Kirby's comments marked the first official confirmation that Ukraine had been authorised to use US long-range weapons against Russia. The first reported use of ATACMS in Russia's Bryansk Oblast was made unofficially last week.

Following this, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin threatened Western powers that allowed Kyiv to strike Russia with their weapons, warning of retaliatory strikes.

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NBC News has been reporting on how Donald Trump has declined to sign an ethics agreement that would force him to disclose who is funding his transition, in exchange for federal matching funds. Now, the New York Times explains that by refusing to sign, Trump's team is raising untraceable sums of money from unknown sources, both domestic and foreign. MSNBC's Ayman Mohyeldin spoke to Seneca Project CEO Tara Setmayer and former Obama campaign adviser Ameshia Cross about the open corruption at play a
A white Florida woman who fatally shot a Black neighbor through her front door during an ongoing dispute over the neighbors boisterous children faces sentencing Monday for her manslaughter conviction.

Susan Lorincz, 60, was convicted in August of killing 35-year-old Ajike A.J. Owens by firing a single shot from her .380-caliber handgun in June 2023. Lorincz faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in state prison because a firearm was used.

The shooting was the culmination of a long-running argument between the two neighbors over Owens children playing in a grassy area at both of their houses in Ocala, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of Orlando.

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Prosecutors said Owens had come to Lorinczs home after her children complained that she had thrown roller skates and an umbrella at them, which Lorincz denied. Trial testimony showed Owens, a mother of four young children, was pounding on Lorinczs door and yelling, leading Lorincz to claim self-defense in shooting her neighbor.

Lorincz told detectives in a videotaped interview that she feared for her life. She also said she had been harassed for most of the three years she lived in the neighborhood.

I thought I was in imminent danger, she said.

But jurors did not agree with her self-defense claim.

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Owens family pushed for the maximum prison sentence after Lorincz was convicted by an all-white jury.

While the pain of losing Ajike, we are hopeful that justice will prevail and that the court will give Susan Lorincz the maximum penalty for her actions, said Owens mother, Pamela Dias, in an email statement before Mondays sentencing. Ajikes legacy will live on through her children, and we will continue to fight for justice.

Lorinczs attorney, Assistant Public Defender Amanda Sizemore, sought a more lenient sentence, an unspecified term below the 11.5 years in prison that is the lowest for her crime under state guidelines. Sizemore said in court documents that there are several reasons to justify a downward departure, including a mental disorder and claims that Owens was the aggressor and under extreme durses during the confrontation.

There were protests in the Black community in Ocala when prosecutors took weeks to charge Lorincz with manslaughter, a lesser count than second-degree murder, which carries a potential life prison sentence. Marion County, which includes Ocala, has a Black population of about 12%, according to census figures.

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A white woman in Florida was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison for fatally shooting her neighbor, a Black mother of four, in a case that sparked outrage and yet another national reckoning over gun violence and racism.

A jury convicted Susan Lorincz, 60, of manslaughter in August for killing Ajike Owens outside of her home in Ocala on June 2, 2023. Owens, who went by the name A.J., was 35. Ocala is a small city located about 80 miles northwest of Orlando.

Lorincz faced a maximum sentence of 30 years imprisonment on the charges originally brought against her after the shooting  one count of manslaughter with a firearm and one count of assault  Bill Gladson, the state attorney for Florida's fifth judicial district, announced later in June that year. In Florida, the lead prosecutor in each district is called a state attorney.

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On Monday, Judge Robert Hodges said Lorincz had ample time to call law enforcement and that there was no real risk that Owens was trying to break into her home. "The shooting was based, I find, more in anger than in fear," Hodges said before the sentencing.

The authorities and prosecutors involved came under scrutiny in the wake of Owens' death, in part because of the choice to charge Lorincz with manslaughter instead of second-degree murder, as well as the fact that Lorincz was not immediately taken into custody after the shooting occurred.

Florida's "stand your ground" law, a controversial doctrine adopted in multiple U.S. states that allows individuals to use force in self-defense scenarios, played a role in those decisions. The law has come up in similar cases in Missouri and elsewhere in recent years, after first entering mainstream public consciousness in connection with the deadly shooting of Trayvon Martin, a Black teenager, near Orlando in 2012.

Ajike

"In making the filing decision on this case, my office carefully examined the viability of both second degree murder and manslaughter with a firearm, both first degree felonies," Gladson's office said in a statement once Lorincz's charges were revealed. A second-degree murder charge required "evidence of hatred, spite, ill will or evil intent toward the victim at the time of the killing," which the Marion County sheriff's criminal investigation did not sufficiently find, according to the state attorney.

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"As deplorable as the defendant's actions were in this case, there is insufficient evidence to prove this specific and required element of second degree murder," that statement continued. It noted charges for second-degree murder and manslaughter with a firearm are both first-degree felonies.

Lorincz shot Owens during an ongoing dispute between them over children in the neighborhood, including Owens' children, apparently playing in the area around Lorincz's residence, according to trial testimony and the arrest affidavit for Lorincz.

Authorities said Owens approached the door of Lorincz's home the day of the shooting to confront her, after learning the older woman had engaged in an argument with the children outside, shouted, and threw a roller skate at one of them.

Owens' 10-year-old son accompanied her to Lorincz's residence, where she knocked on Lorincz's door and demanded she come outside. Lorincz proceeded to fire a .380-caliber handgun through the door, striking Owens in the upper chest. Owens was unresponsive by the time authorities arrived at the scene and later pronounced dead at a hospital.

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The door to Lorincz's home was locked when she fired the shot and Owens was unarmed.

Owens' mother, Pamela Dias, told "CBS Mornings" the week after her death that her grandson witnessed the shooting and felt guilty he could not save his mother. He was the 10-year-old child hit by the roller skate.

"I still can't believe this happened," Dias said. "When does a person get shot for knocking on a door?"

Susan Lorincz takes notes during her trial Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Ocala, Florida. / Credit: Doug Engle/Ocala Star-Banner via AP, Pool

Attorneys for Lorincz claimed throughout her trial that the woman fired her gun in self-defense, the same stance she took in interviews with law enforcement after Owens' death. Lorincz told authorities she feared for her life when Owens approached her home, and just "fired the gun" because she felt she was in "mortal danger," according to the arrest affidavit.

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She also said a prior altercation with Owens was the reason she purchased the handgun, which Lorincz said she had used only a handful of times at a shooting range, the previous year. Witnesses told law enforcement investigating the shooting that Lorincz was known to harass children in the neighborhood and call them, including Owens' children, horrendous racist slurs. Lorincz admitted to some of those allegations in conversations with detectives but denied she intentionally threw a roller skate at a child before the shooting.

Following a weeklong trial, a jury, which consisted solely of white jurors, according to the Associated Press, found Lorincz guilty of manslaughter with a firearm on Aug. 16.

"This case is undoubtedly a tragic reminder of the devastating consequences of gun violence. The defendant's choices have left four young children without their mother, a loss that will be felt for the rest of their lives," said Gladson, whose assistant attorneys prosecuted the case, in a statement. "While today's verdict can't bring AJ back, we hope it brings some measure of justice and peace to her family and friends."

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who famously represented the families of Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, and others in high-profile litigation over racial violence, also represented Owens' family in this case. Crump called Lorincz's conviction "a critical step in securing justice" for Owens and her family in a separate statement after the verdict came down.

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"We are profoundly grateful that the jury has delivered a guilty verdict in this heartbreaking case. AJ Owens was a devoted mother whose life was tragically cut short, leaving her children, including a young son who witnessed this horrific act, to carry the burden of her loss," his statement said. "While nothing can erase the pain they've endured, today's decision sends a clear message that senseless violence will be met with accountability. We will continue to stand by AJ's family as they heal and fight for a future where no family has to experience such devastating loss."

Editor's note: A previous version of this story incorrectly said Trayvon Martin was fatally shot near Miami in 2012. Martin was from Miami, but the shooting happened in Sanford, which is a city in central Florida near Orlando.

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WHITNEY POINT, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH)  A Whitney Point High School guidance counselor was selected to a professional network run by New York State that aims to inspire excellent educators.

Beth Konicki was selected as a New York State Master Counselor through the State University of New York Master Teacher and Master Counselor program. The Master Program consists of outstanding teachers who are recognized for their dedication to providing the most innovation STEM education to their students.

Konicki is one of just two NYS Master Counselors announced this year for the Southern Tier region. She joins four others who were selected as the first cohort of Master Counselors in November 2023 after Governor Hochul expanded the program.

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Konicki has been a school counselor at Whitney Point High School for nine years. While attending SUNY Brockport, she realized how much she enjoyed learning about different careers as she had the opportunity to work in the schools Career Development Center. There, she also found that she loved helping other students discover what they were excited about doing in the future.

I love working in the high school because I feel like I have just as much to learn from the students as they do from me, said Konicki.

Konicki says she hopes that being a Master Counselor will help her to come up with new and

innovative ideas for helping students find their passions and achieve their goals. She says she is

also excited about the benefits of networking and collaborating with other counseling professionals.

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ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC)  The U.S. has seen an increase in whooping cough cases this year, with five times more cases being reported compared to this time last year.

New York State has the second highest number of cases in the nation currently. Ontario County issued an advisory Monday indicating cases on the rise, primarily in college-aged students.

Although cases in Monroe County have not jumped dramatically, local health experts are urging the community to be cautious of it.

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Pertussis, known commonly as whooping cough, is a bacterial disease that spreads quickly and is frequently long-lasting. Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at URMC Golisano Childrens Hospital Dr. Geoffrey Weinberg said this wave of Pertussis is not unexpected.

It seems to come around in waves every three to five years, with this being a wave year, Weinberg said.

When someone contracts the illness initially, they commonly experience cold-like symptoms such as a low-grade fever, runny nose and congestion. In later stages, the symptoms can progress, and the person may gain an aggressive cough. The cough can come in paroxysms  or spasms  and can be difficult to control.

The cough can be especially worrying if young children contract the disease.

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The biggest concern for me as a pediatrician actually is the young infant, Weinberg said. Infants can experience other complications from the cough such as pneumonia, breathing pauses and rarely death.

Vaccines that protect against Pertussis continue to be the most effective method of preventing the disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it can be administered as part of the DTaP vaccine (for young children) or the Tdap vaccine (for preteens and adults.)

During wave years, taking extra steps in preventing whooping cough remains important, according to health officials. This includes hand washing, covering the nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing and maintaining distance from people who have the disease.

The CDC offers recent data on Pertussis surveillance and trends on their website.

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Decades later, the murder of JonBenet Ramsey is the subject of Netflix's 'Cold Case'

Zuma Press JonBenet Ramsey

Its been almost 30 years since JonBenet Ramsey was found murdered in the basement of her familys Colorado home.

On the morning of Dec. 26, 1996, Patsy Ramsey found a ransom note demanding $118,000 in exchange for the return of her 6-year-old daughter, JonBenet. Hours later  after reporting her missing to the police and having detectives search the house  John Bennett Ramsey found his daughter dead in their basement with a garrote (a type of handheld ligature) tied around her neck.

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An autopsy report revealed that she had been sexually assaulted, and her cause of death was strangulation and a blow to the skull.

No one has ever been charged in JonBenet's death but her parents spent years under an "umbrella of suspicion" by the police and intense media scrutiny, partly because the toddler had a small public profile competing in beauty pageants.

Related: Did JonBenet Ramseys Parents Take a Lie Detector Test? How the Boulder Police Investigated the Child Pageant Queens Death  and Why a Netflix Doc Is Alleging They Didnt Do Enough

Whether or not the focus on John and Patsy, who died in 2006, detracted from solving the case is the subject of Netflix's Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey?. The three-part docuseries premiered on Nov. 25 and analyzes the alleged missteps police took when the toddler was first reported missing. It also highlights other potential suspects investigators have questioned and DNA evidence that John claims has yet to be tested.

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We're begging the police to engage, he told PEOPLE in November. There are cutting-edge DNA labs that want to help and who believe they can move the case forward.

So, what happened to JonBenet Ramsey? Here's everything to know about the toddler's unsolved murder and why police have yet to find her killer.



What happened to JonBenet Ramsey?

Courtesy of Netflix JonBenet Ramsey JonBenet Ramsey

On Dec. 26, 1996, at 5:52 a.m., Patsy called the Boulder Police Department to report her daughter missing. She had found a ransom note on the staircase leading to their kitchen written by an alleged kidnapper who demanded $118,000 by 10 a.m., or JonBenet would die. The amount demanded was near the amount John had previously received in a bonus.

Two officers were immediately dispatched to the scene. They didn't find the toddler during the initial search of the Ramsey house and only sealed off JonBenet's room. Police also allowed Patsy and John to invite friends over  a decision that Cold Case alleges may have contaminated the crime scene.

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Related: Who Is John Bennett Ramseys Wife? All About Jan Rousseaux Ramsey and Her Relationship with JonBenet Ramsey's Father

When no one called at 10 a.m. to collect the ransom, former detective Linda Arndt told John to search the house and see if he noticed anything "unusual."



Who found JonBenet Ramsey's body?

Courtesy of Netflix JonBenet Ramsey and John Ramsey in 'Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey' JonBenet Ramsey and John Ramsey in 'Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey'

In Cold Case, John claimed that when he and a friend searched the basement, they noticed an open and broken window, along with a suitcase placed underneath it. He maintained that the item "shouldn't have been there."

Soon after, John discovered JonBenet's body in a room where the kids kept their train sets. She was tied up and had duct tape across her mouth. John hurriedly took off the tape and carried her upstairs, where officers confirmed that she was dead.

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Related: Where Are JonBenet Ramsey's Parents and Siblings Now? All About the Family's Ongoing Quest for Answers to Her Unsolved Murder

Allowing the father of the missing child to search the house on his own  which led to him potentially tampering with would-be evidence when he found her body  is another alleged error Cold Case claims the Boulder Police Department made.

Who were the suspects in JonBenet Ramsey's murder?

SAEED KHAN/AFP via Getty Thai police officials escort away US teacher John Mark Karr (C) at the Thai Immigration Department in Bangkok, 17 August 2006. Police said 17 August that Karr, arrested in Thailand 16 August, confessed to killing six-year-old "beauty queen" JonBenet Ramsey a decade ago in the United States but said her death was unintentional Thai police officials escort away US teacher John Mark Karr (C) at the Thai Immigration Department in Bangkok, 17 August 2006. Police said 17 August that Karr, arrested in Thailand 16 August, confessed to killing six-year-old "beauty queen" JonBenet Ramsey a decade ago in the United States but said her death was unintentional

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The existence of a ransom note seemed to lend credence to the theory that an intruder was responsible for JonBenets murder (even though some investigators believed the note was fake). Over the years, several names have been considered.

One potential intruder was Michael Helgoth, who owned a pair of boots that appeared to match a print found at the scene. Helgoth was initially looked at by police, but he died by suicide in 1997, and investigators started looking elsewhere.

Ollie Gray, a private investigator hired by John and Patsy, believed Helgoths family possibly possessed a taped confession to the crime.

In 2006, John Mark Karr, who has also gone by Alexis Reich, confessed to the murder, saying that he was with JonBenet when she died and that "her death was an accident. But the claim was refuted when Karr's family said they had been with him during the Christmas of 1996. His DNA also did not match what was found on JonBenet's clothes.

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Another potential intruder was a man who had worked as Santa Claus, Bill McReynolds, and recently visited the Ramsey home. The mans daughter had also been abducted decades before, however, he was never formally considered a suspect.

Cold Case also highlights another former suspect, Gary Howard Oliva, who was named as a person of interest on 48 Hours Investigates. He never confessed to the crime, but he did spend eight years in prison on child pornography charges and had a photo of JonBenet with him when he was arrested in 2000.

John told PEOPLE in November 2024 that he thinks police should look into a masked intruder who raped a 12-year-old girl in Boulder nine months after JonBenet was killed. The girl's mother scared off the attacker, and he was never found  but John believes he could "easily have been the same person" who murdered his daughter. The girl also attended the same dance studio as JonBenet.

"The police blew it off as, No, it's not the same, " John said. I think the method of operation was exactly the same. I believe the killer was in the house when we came home, waited til we went to sleep.

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DNA evidence found on JonBenet's clothes has yet to match with anyone the police have questioned.



Were JonBenet Ramsey's parents suspects in her murder?

Helen H. Richardson/ The Denver Post John and Patsy Ramsey, the parents of JonBenet Ramsey John and Patsy Ramsey, the parents of JonBenet Ramsey

Early in the investigation, John and Patsy were described as being under "an umbrella of suspicion" by police. Patsy was accused of allegedly killing her daughter over a bedwetting incident in a 2000 book written by former detective Steve Thomas, and Arndt claimed on Good Morning America in 1999 that she had a nonverbal exchange with John after he found JonBenet that made her believe he was the killer.

In the aftermath of their daughters murder, the former couple hired lawyers, later saying they felt unfairly targeted by the police and the media. In 1999, a grand jury decided that John and Patsy had unlawfully, knowingly, recklessly and feloniously permit[ted] a child to be unreasonably placed in a situation which posed a threat of injury to the childs life or health," but the prosecutor declined to continue pursuing a case against JonBenets parents, citing a lack of evidence.

In 2008, two years after Patsy died of ovarian cancer, the district attorney at the time, Mary Lacy, wrote John to tell him he, Patsy and Burke were all cleared of involvement by DNA. However, subsequent District Attorney Stan Garnett later told PEOPLE, I didnt feel the exoneration was warranted based on the state of the evidence and the complexity of the case.

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Burke, who was 9 at the time of JonBenet's murder, was never considered a suspect by Boulder police. However, a 2016 CBS docuseries put forth a theory that he hit his sister in the head with a flashlight. Burke filed a $750 million lawsuit against CBS to redress the permanent damage to his reputation resulting from defendants false accusation that he killed his sister."

NPR reported in 2019 that the defamation suit had been settled.

Why is JonBenet Ramsey's murder still unsolved?

Chris Rank/Sygma via Getty The grave of JonBenet Ramsey The grave of JonBenet Ramsey

JonBenets murder has yet to be solved  but her father thinks it can be.

John told PEOPLE that there are "six or seven" evidence items that have yet to be tested for DNA, including the garrote that was used to strangle the toddler. He wants the Boulder Police Department to send the evidence to labs that use genetic genealogy and other advanced DNA technology, which he believes will lead to answers.

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If it stays in the hands of the Boulder Police, it will not be solved, period, John claimed. If they accept help, all the help that's out there, that's available and offered, it will be solved. Yes, I believe it will be solved.

He continued, We're not asking them to do anything weird. Just do your job. Test the DNA.
Laman Ismayilova

Magnificent concert has been organized at International Mugham Center with participation of Jahangir Jahangirov Choir (artistic director - honored educator Tarana Yusifova), Azernews reports.

The concert program titled "Music Without Borders" was held as part of the cultural events associated with the 29th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29).

The concer program featured choral works by Azerbaijani and world composers, which left no one indifferent.

The audience enjoyed an array of mesmerizing performances, each reflecting the unique styles and traditions of their respective composers.

As the concert concluded, attendees expressed their appreciation for the beautiful performances and the meaningful message behind the event.

The International Mugham Center was established on the initiative of the First Vice-President of Azerbaijan and President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Mehriban Aliyeva, in accordance with the presidential decree dated April 6, 2005.

The center, which laid its foundation that same year and is known as one of Baku's unique architectural projects, opened its doors in 2008.

The design of the building was based on the elements and shapes of the tar, an Azerbaijani musical instrument used in performing mugham. The center was built with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

In 2024, the Mugham Center is the first cultural institution in Azerbaijan to be awarded "international" status by legislation.

The Center regularly organises large-scale music festivals and concerts by highly acclaimed cultural figures.

It also takes important steps towards bolstering cultural ties with Turkiye, Poland, Brazil, Uzbekistan, Morocco, and other countries.

The International Mugham Center is determined to further expand its work and promote Azerbaijani musical culture.

Numerous projects are being carried out by the center in the direction of studying and promoting mugham art.
Originally appeared on E! Online

Lyle Menendez and Erik Menendez won't be home for Christmas.

One month after Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon formally recommended the brothers be resentenced to add the possibility of parole, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic has rescheduled the hearing to Jan. 30 and Jan. 31, per NBC News.

Jesic ruled that the resentencing hearingoriginally scheduled for Dec. 11will be delayed to review 17 boxes of files and partly to give District Attorney-elect Nathan Hochman to review the case, the outlet reported.

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Per NBC News, while the brothers were set to join the hearing virtually, a technical "snafu" prevented them from appearing onscreen.

Lyle and Erikwho are currently serving life sentences without parole for the 1989 murders of their parents Jose Menendez and Mary Louise "Kitty" Menendezmade their first public appearance in years. Erik and Lyle were scheduled to appear virtually from the San Diego prison, though there were technical issues with the feed.

However, since Gascon recently lost his re-election to former U.S. Assistant Attorney General Hochman earlier this month, the transfer of power may reshape the offices decision to move forward with the case since California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a press release that he would not review their request until after the incoming D.A. makes the recommendation.

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Hochman hasn't shared whether he would support the October recommendation but did emphasize that he will look at all the facts when he's in office.

"Was it a just decision or was it just a political ploy?" Hochman told NBC News Nov. 19. "That's why I have to do this thorough review of the facts and the law to make sure that there's no credibility problems with my decision."

"We will look at all the facts of the underlying crimes and what created those crimes," Hochman said. "But as far as whether or not there's a cultural shift or not, that's in some ways irrelevant for whether or not the facts in the law in the Menendez case justify a resentencing and, if so, what that resentencing should be."

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Meanwhile, Gascon asserted that his re-election bid didn't play any role in his support for resentencing. The release of Ryan Murphy's series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Storystarring Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Cooper Koch, Chloe Sevigny and Javier Bardemand Netflix's subsequent doc renewed public interest surrounding the case.

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However, he revealed during the L.A. Times October debate against Hochman that the publicity simply expedited their hearing, initially set for Nov. 29.

"When a recent Netflix documentary came out, we immediately started getting bombarded with media requests and calls because the case came back again to the surface," he explained of the hearing, which stemmed from a habeas petition filed by the brothers in 2023. "The decision was made that rather than answer one media request at a time, we would actually just come out and very clearly say where we are."

Los Angeles Times / Getty Images

And Gascon emphasized that the decision was not made lightly.

"There are people in the office that strongly believe that the Menendez brothers should stay in prison the rest of their life, and they do not believe that they were molested," he shared during the Oct. 24 press conference. "And there are people in the office that strongly believe that they should be released immediately, and that they were, in fact, molested."

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Ultimately, his office recommended that the brothers, who were convicted in 1996, be sentenced to 50 years in prison with the possibility of parole. While Eriks wife Tammi Menendez commended the decision, it was still bittersweet for their loved ones, including Lyles wife Rebecca Sneed as they hoped for more leniency.

VINCE BUCCI/AFP via Getty Images

"Yesterday was a difficult and emotional day," Tammi wrote on X following the news. "I am Grateful to DA Gascon for his courage to seek re-sentencing for Erik. I am naturally disappointed he did not go further and act on his own belief that Erik and Lyle have served enough time in prison."

Read on to learn more about the brothers' personal lives, including their relationships.

(E! News and NBC News are part of the NBCUniversal family.)

Anna Eriksson

Lyle Menendez, then 28, married model and salon receptionist Anna Eriksson on July 2, 1996, the day he and brother Erik Menendez were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 1989 double murder of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. Anna started writing to Lyle in 1993 during his first trial, which ended in a mistrial, and then moved to California to be near him the following year. She became a reliable presence at the months-long retrial that began in 1995 and resulted in convictions in March 1996, according to the Los Angeles Times. They couldn't take their vows in person, however, Lyle instead taking the plunge over speaker phone, the groom in custody and the bride in the office of defense attorney Leslie Abramson. He seemingly hoped to be able to wed Anna in person, once he knew where he'd end up. "We do have a marriage proceeding," California Correctional Institution spokesman Lt. Jack Pitko told the LA Times in September 1996 once Lyle and Erik had been ordered to separate prisons. "There's a waiting list...But I don't see why he shouldn't be able to get married if he follows all the rules." Anna filed for divorce in 2001 after, according to multiple reports from the time, she allegedly found out Lyle was exchanging letters with other women.

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Rebecca Sneed

Lyle didn't rush into anything when he married journalist Rebecca Sneed, reportedly 33 at the time, in November 2003: He had known her for 10 years, first through letters and eventually from in-person visits, a prison spokesperson told the Associated Press in confirming the nuptials. The ceremony took place at Mule Creek State Prison near Sacramento, where Lyle resided until he was reunited with Erik in 2018 at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in southern San Diego County. "Our interaction tends to be very free of distractions and we probably have more intimate conversations than most married spouses do, who are distracted by life's events," Lyle told People in 2017. At the time, Rebecca was living in Sacramento and was said to visit weekly. "We try and talk on the phone every day, sometimes several times a day," Lyle added. "I have a very steady, involved marriage and that helps sustain me and brings a lot of peace and joy. It's a counter to the unpredictable, very stressful environment here." Rebecca "put up with a lot," he acknowledged. "But she has the courage to deal with the obstacles. It would be easier to leave, but I'm profoundly grateful that she doesn't."





The bloom has since come off the rose, however: Ahead of a decision on whether Lyle and Erik should be resentenced and possibly set free in the near future, Rebecca confirmed that she and Lyle are separated. "Lyle and I have been separated for a while now but remain best friends and family," she wrote Nov. 22 on her official Facebook page. "I continue to run his Facebook pages, with input from him, and I am forever committed to the enduring fight for Lyle and Eriks freedom, as has been so evident over the years." She added, "I'll continue to update you all on the progress of the case because I believe we all have the common goal of seeing the guys walk free! I will never stop fighting for them." And because tabloid rumors don't stop outside the prison gates, the post also noted, "This is NOT a cheating scandal."





Tammi Saccoman

Erik's wife Tammi Menendez, now 62, was married to Chuck Saccoman when she first spied the younger Menendez brother on TV in 1993 and felt a special place in her heart for the 22-year-old murder defendant. As she later told People, she informed her husband she was going to write to Erik and Chuck gave her his blessing. "I saw Tammi's letter and I felt something. I received thousands of letters, but I set this one aside. I got a feeling," Erik told the publication. "And I wrote her back. Tammi and I continued to correspond. I enjoyed writing to her. It was a slow friendship. It was special to me because it was not associated with the trial and the media. Tammi was someone not in the craziness." However, as Tammi detailed in her 2005 book They Said We'd Never Make It: My Life With Erik Menendez, she doubted the brothers' abuse defense at first. (And she told MSNBC that Erik mentioned having a girlfriend of several years early on.) But in 1996, as Tammi has detailed in her book and interviews, she found out that Chuck had abused her teenage daughter from a previous relationship. (They also shared a then-9-month-old daughter.) Chuck turned himself into police and died by suicide two days later, according to People.





After Chuck died, "I reached out to Erik," she told the publication in 2005. "He comforted me. Our letters started taking on a more serious tone." Tammi admitted she was "really nervous" when she finally met Erik in person at Folsom State Prison in August 1997. "Erik had no idea what I looked like; I'd only sent him a tiny, 1-by-1 picture," she explained. "But when he walked into the room, he was so full of life, he hopped down the stairs. It was like I was meeting an old friend." They married in 1999, a Twinkie serving as their wedding cake.

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And they've been together ever since, though Tammi has acknowledged that the lack of conjugal visits can be tough. "A kiss when you come in, a kiss when you leave," she described the routine on MSNBC in December 2005. 'You can hold hands and that part of it is very difficult, and people don't understand." Erik said he tried not to think about what was then the likelihood that he would never get out of prison. Tammi is what gets me through," he told People in 2005. "I can't think about the sentence. When I do, I do it with a great sadness and a primal fear. I break into a cold sweat. It's so frightening I just haven't come to terms with it." But on a more optimistic note, Tammi had also taught him "how to be a good husband," Erik said. "There is no makeup sex, only a 15-minute phone call, so you really have to try to make things work."



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Turkey Day is right around the corner.

The holiday, which falls on Thursday, Nov. 28, this year, is filled with traditions, including when the president of the United States "pardons" one or two turkeys ahead of Thanksgiving.

President Joe Biden pardoned two turkeys, Peach and Blossom, Monday. The Minnesota-born turkeys weighed 40 and 41 pounds, respectively. They were raised on a farm by John Zimmerman, chairman of the National Turkey Federation, and his 9-year-old son, Grant. The pardons marked the 77th anniversary of the National Thanksgiving Turkey Celebration.

What is turkey pardoning?

When a president pardons a turkey, it essentially means the animal will be spared from its Thanksgiving Day fate at the dinner table. Each year, two birds (the official Thanksgiving turkey and an alternate) are chosen and sent to the White House for the formal ceremony.

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Ahead of the pardoning, the turkeys receive celebrity treatment, such as staying in the capital's luxury Willard InterContinental Washington Hotel. Afterward, the turkeys are relocated to a farm and left to live out the rest of their days unharmed.

Corn was selected as the 2020 National Thanksgiving Turkey!



Both he and Cob, the runner-up and first alternate, are heading for a well-deserved retirement at Iowa State University. pic.twitter.com/ifrv6wLym2  The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) November 24, 2020

Have any Ohio turkeys been pardoned by a president?

On Nov. 26, 2014, President Barack Obama pardoned two turkeys, Virgil and Homer, from Cooper Farms in Fort Recovery, Ohio. The near-50-pound turkeys were spared from a Thanksgiving Day feast and sent to retire at Morven Park in Virginia.

They were eventually renamed "Mac" and "Cheese" by participants in a social media campaign.

"Let's face it: If you're a turkey, and you're named after a side dish your chances of being spared from Thanksgiving dinner, is pretty low. They're way ahead of the curve," Obama said during the ceremony. "I know some will call this amnesty, but don't worry there is plenty of turkey to go around."

Cole and Luke Cooper, of Ohios Cooper Farms, take presidential turkeys Virgil and Homer to Washington, D.C. in 2014.

At the time, Cheese had a larger wingspan (4.5 feet vs. 4 feet) and had a gobble that was "loud, romantic, with a country ring to it," according to the White House blog. He was two pounds heavier than Mac, at 49 pounds.

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Mac sported a strut style called the "feather shaker," and his gobble was described as "rhythmic, melodious, with a touch of bluegrass."

Who was the first president to pardon a turkey? Why do they pardon a turkey?

It has long been theorized that President Abraham Lincoln's 1863 clemency to a turkey recorded in an 1865 dispatch by White House reporter Noah Brooks was the origin of the pardoning ceremony. However, the White House Historical Association states this is "likely apocryphal."

Reports of turkeys being gifted to presidents can be traced back to the 1870s, when Rhode Island man Horace Vose sent well-fed birds to the White House. The First Families didn't always eat Vose's turkeys, but the annual offering gained his farm "widespread publicity and became a veritable institution at the White House."

Former U.S. President Barack Obama stands after he pardoned Cheese and his alternate Mac (not shown).

In 1947, the National Turkey Federation took over as the official turkey supplier, delivering a 47-pound bird in time for Christmas to President Harry S. Truman, but he reportedly ate the bird.

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Then, in 1963, President John F. Kennedy tried to bore a new tradition, giving the turkey back and declaring: "We'll just let this one grow." However, when Lyndon Johnson was president, the First Family ate the bird.

President Richard Nixon began the tradition of sending the presidential turkey to a local petting zoo, but it wasn't until the George H.W. Bush administration that pardoning a turkey became a tradition.

On Nov. 14, 1989, Bush became the first president to "pardon" a bird, declaring that year's turkey had been "granted a Presidential pardon as of right now  and allow him to live out his days on a children's farm not far from here."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Why do they pardon a turkey? Remembering Ohio's presidential birds
ASHEBORO, N.C. (WGHP)  Police are continuing their search for the suspects responsible for the fatal shooting of a Navy veteran during an armed robbery earlier this month.

On Saturday night, the Asheboro Police Department announced they had found the getaway car used in the robbery, a 2013 gray Toyota Avalon, abandoned in Durham. Surveillance footage from the scene shows two suspects wearing all black, but they remain on the run.

David Matthew Davis, 39, a U.S. Navy veteran and father of three children with special needs, was killed during the robbery at 64 Skillz, a gaming business in Asheboro, on Veterans Day. His wife, Megan Davis, is now left to cope with the unimaginable pain of losing her husband.

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Killers of Asheboro dad dump getaway car in Durham, are still on the run, police say

I didnt just lose a husband. We lost a daddy to three children with special needs. I lost a caregiver because of my own chronic illnesses. A mother lost a son. A father lost his son. Siblings lost a brother. The community lost a friend, Megan Davis said.

David and Megan, married for 17 years, were raising three children together. As the familys sole provider, David worked the night shift to ensure they had everything they needed. Megan now faces the challenge of providing for their family while dealing with the loss.

Not only are we navigating grief and the loss of David, as a mother I am also worried about how Im going to provide for my children, how Im going to keep the roof over our heads, the lights on, Megan said. The most basic of needs met. Let alone Christmas this time of year.

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The suspects, who have not yet been found, are seen in the surveillance footage wearing dark clothing.

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Not knowing where they are, I have a fear as to where they find my location. I have a fear they are going to go to another store and upend someone elses life this way, Megan said.

Asheboro Police Crime Stoppers is offering a $2,500 reward for information that leads to an arrest. 64 Skillz, where David Davis worked, is also offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the suspects capture.

A GoFundMe link has been set up to support the Davis 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 FOX8 WGHP.
Surachat Chanprasit of Lop Buri - Thailand's famous "monkey town" about two hours north of Bangkok - considers monkeys to be not only cute but also incredibly clever, cheeky, and curious, with traits strikingly similar to humans.

However, he is less fond of them when he is wearing his other hat as deputy managing director of the Pingya Shopping Centre.

Whole troops of long-tailed macaques are causing chaos and destruction throughout the town. So while tourists are enamoured by the primates, residents are less enthused.

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"They invade our mall through the rooftop and some weak points in the wall," Surachat told dpa. "When they are inside, they will destroy our merchandise and our electrical equipment which causes massive damage to our inventory."

Gangs of primates have repeatedly caused short circuits by tampering with the high-voltage transformer on the roof.

Worse still, the monkeys keep demolishing the entrance sign. "They always try to rip off the sign every time we had just fixed it," Surachat says.

The Javan monkeys are increasingly aggressive, damaging customers' cars and motorbikes and snatching their shopping. It is putting people off, causing a decline in mall attendance, and even driving away shop owners and investors.

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The monkeys were first a blessing for the town of Lop Buri before they became a curse.

People once flocked from all over the world to capture photos of the animals hanging from electricity pylons and lounging in front of Khmer ruins at the renowned temple Phra Prang Sam Yot.

Nut the aggression and destruction is pushing residents to their breaking point. Clashes between humans and macaques are escalating, resulting in injuries, which has prompted authorities to find a solution that satisfies everyone.

One woman recently twisted her knee when a macaque pulled her to the ground. Another man got hurt when a hungry monkey jumped onto the his scooter as he drove past near the monkey temple, shopping bags hooked onto his handlebars. The driver fell and injured his foot, while more animals rushed over and dove into his bags.

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"I don't want humans to have to hurt monkeys and I don't want monkeys to have to hurt people," Athapol Charoenshunsa, director general of the Thai National Parks authority, recently told journalists. In late March, a special police unit was deployed, kitted out with slingshots to keep the primates in check.

The results have so far been mixed.

"Because the provincial authority cannot do anything to the monkeys - such as catching or sterilizing them - without the approval of the Department of National Wildlife. Its illegal," says Surachat.

The officials were tasked with capturing the boldest and most brazen monkey leaders. They also caught a few dozen more to take to other provinces or zoos. That was not enough to fix the situation.

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Last year, the city alone had more than 2,200 animals, a high number for an area that is home to fewer than 60,000 people. Meanwhile, some 5,700 macaques live in the province as a whole.

When Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin visited Lop Buri a few weeks ago, some citizens saw an opportunity to make a personal appeal to him for help. "In fact, monkeys are one of Lop Buris unique features. But public safety is also important," he said, promising to look into the issue.

But the situation is complicated. People have been feeding the monkeys for years, so they automatically associate humans with food.

The animals, known formally as Macaca fascicularis, live almost exclusively in South-East Asia and are listed as "critically endangered" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, are protected in Thailand.

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The animals are already extinct in Bangladesh and it is not certain whether there are still any left in Laos. But some still live in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Some local residents, including Surachat Chanprasit, want the monkeys to be removed from the list of protected animals in Thailand.

Catching or relocating macaques without approval from Bangkok is illegal. While many animal rights activists advocate for protecting the monkeys, they often overlook the concerns of local residents.

Bangkok's latest plan is to move most of the monkeys into large enclosures, leaving a smaller group in the city.

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However, as The Nation newspaper points out, the enclosures must be spacious enough for the monkeys to live comfortably and stress-freeand these areas still need to be built.

For now, the city is setting up a macaque control centre, as announced recently by Environment Minister Phatcharavat Wongsuwan. Most of the monkeys will be sterilized there before being relocated.

However, until that happens, the monkeys remain free in Lop Burimuch to the delight of many tourists.

A macaque monkey eating a piece of fruit at the renowned temple Phra Prang Sam Yot. People once flocked from all over the world to capture photos of the animals hanging from electricity pylons and lounging in front of the temple. The monkeys were first a blessing for the town of Lop Buri before they became a curse. Adryel Talamantes/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
The fall election season has barely wrapped up, but Wisconsinites will soon start hearing about upcoming races in the spring.

Wisconsin's spring election is April 1, 2025. If a primary is needed, it'll be Feb. 18.

In the spring elections, voters will elect the next state Supreme Court justice, state schools superintendent and other nonpartisan local and judicial positions.

Here's what to know about Wisconsin's spring elections:

What races are on the spring 2025 ballot in Wisconsin?

The two statewide races on the spring 2025 ballot are for a seat on the state Supreme Court and the state superintendent of public instruction. Everyone in the state will vote on those races.

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Other local and judicial offices may be on your ballot, such as county supervisors, circuit court judges and school board members. Not all nonpartisan, local positions are up for reelection in 2025.

Once it gets closer to the election, you can see what local races and candidates are on your ballot by visiting myvote.wi.gov. If more than two candidates are running for an office on your ballot, the Feb. 18 primary will apply to you.

Who is running for Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2025?

There's an open race for a seat on the state Supreme Court after Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, a liberal justice, announced earlier this year that she would not seek another 10-year term.

Two candidates have launched campaigns: Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford and former Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel.

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Crawford was previously a partner with the Pines Bach law firm, where she worked on cases related to voting rights and represented Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin in a case that sought to expand abortion access. She was also a prosecutor and legal counsel in state government.

Schimel is a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge and led the state Department of Justice from 2015 to 2019. He previously served as the Waukesha County district attorney.

It's possible that other names will jump in the race  candidates have until Jan. 7 to declare their candidacy and file nomination papers.

More: Ann Walsh Bradley's retirement sets the stage for another high stakes Wisconsin Supreme Court race

Who is running for Wisconsin state schools superintendent in 2025?

Two candidates have also launched campaigns for state superintendent, the state's top education official and leader of the state Department of Public Instruction.

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Jill Underly, the incumbent who has been in the position since 2021, is running for a second term. She was previously the superintendent of the Pecatonica School District and has held roles as a principal, teacher and academic advisor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Jeff Wright, the Sauk Prairie School District superintendent, is Underly's only declared challenger. He was named the 2024 Administrator of the Year by the Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance and was previously a principal on the south side of Chicago.

Other candidates could enter the race.

More: Wisconsin's 'chief public school champion' Jill Underly, state Department of Public Instruction superintendent, is raising her profile

Are Wisconsin's spring elections nonpartisan?

Races for state Supreme Court and state schools superintendent are technically nonpartisan but attract heavy spending from partisan groups and donors. The state Supreme Court election will again be a high-profile race because it will determine whether the court has a liberal or conservative majority.

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The 2023 state Supreme Court race, which flipped the court to a liberal majority with the election of Justice Janet Protasiewicz, shattered records for the most expensive judicial race in the country's history. Protasiewicz was outspoken on her support for abortion rights during the campaign.

The state superintendent is also a nonpartisan position, but typically candidates receive support from teachers unions and Democrats or voucher-school advocates and Republicans.

Underly was backed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin in her first race. Wright ran for state Assembly as a Democrat in 2016 and 2018, narrowly losing to Republican Rep. Todd Novak.

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin endorsed both Crawford and Underly in November.

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More: After an intense election season, the political focus shifts to state races in Wisconsin

When is the next election for Wisconsin governor?

Wisconsin won't vote for governor in 2025. The next race for governor takes place in 2026, during the fall partisan elections.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers hasn't announced if he'll run for a third term. If he decides not to run, possible Democratic candidates include Attorney General Josh Kaul, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski and Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez.

On the Republican side, potential contenders include U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann and businessman Bill Berrien.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin elections 2025: What's on the ballot in February, April?
SOMERSET, Ky. (FOX 56)  A woman is in the hospital after an explosion on Sunday in Pulaski County.

In a Facebook post, the Parkers Mill Fire Department said multiple agencies in Pulaski County responded to an explosion Sunday night.

LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS:

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First responders arrived at Lake Ridge Road when they heard a woman screaming, but no smoke or flames were visible from the roadside, per a news release.

Reportedly, the woman had severe burns, and a garage door had been blown off the house.

The woman was airlifted to the Louisville Burn Center, and her current condition is unknown.

The fire department said the explosion appeared to have happened when the woman tried to light a cigarette, not knowing an open gas can inside the garage was filling the room with fumes.

LATEST KENTUCKY LISTS AND RANKINGS:

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Authorities said the home was still intact and was turned over to the homeowner.

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA)  A woman is accused of attacking a law enforcement officer at a St. Petersburg Walmart after eating cookies and stealing undergarments.

Ashley Gnau, 39, was inside the Walmart, located at 201 34th Street North on Saturday afternoon when Walmarts Loss Prevention had asked her to leave after suspecting she was concealing merchandise.

Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield seeks $12M in lawsuit against his fathers company

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As Gnau was escorted toward the exit, she began yelling and cursing, before pushing a responding St. Pete police officers arm away while trying to aggressively approach a store employee to fight her, according to an affidavit.

Store surveillance cameras captured Gnau in the store eating cookies while concealing press-on nails, two bras, and a pair of panties.

The affidavit said Gnau did not pay for the items and passed by all the checkouts. The value of the items totaled $35.75.

Study finds this Florida city among Most Sinful Cities in America

Gnau was taken into custody and escorted to the loss prevention office. She is facing charges of battery on a law enforcement officer, petit theft under $100, and disorderly conduct.

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The video cannot be obtained at this time because it is considered evidence in her case. WFLA.com will access the video once Gnau reaches the discovery phase in court proceedings.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
A woman is facing charges after she allegedly assaulted a man and a state trooper during a road rage incident on the Fort Duquesne Bridge.

According to a criminal complaint, a two-vehicle crash happened on the bridge at around 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 21. The responding trooper said he had been spit on.

One of the drivers told police that he was going south in the right lane of the bridge. He had to take the Oakland exit so he slowly changed lanes, but another car was fast approaching in stop-and-go traffic.

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After a few stops, the second driver, identified as Sophia Duffy, crashed into the back of the first drivers car, the complaint said. He got out to talk to her, to which she was dismissive.

The complaint said he took a picture of Duffys license plate, which prompted her to get out of her car and swat at his phone. She also grabbed him by the chest and pushed him, at which time a trooper arrived.

Responding troopers saw a half-empty bottle of whiskey in Duffys drivers door compartment. She was told to get out of the vehicle for a Standardized Field Sobriety Test, but she hit and pushed a trooper in his neck and chest area, the complaint said.

The complaint also said that Duffy struggled while troopers tried to handcuff her. She was taken into custody and put in the back of the patrol car, which was when she spit in a troopers face.

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Duffy is charged with assault of a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault, resisting arrest, DUI, harassment and various traffic violations.

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Editors Note: The video above is previous coverage on this story.

PLAIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WJW)  A woman charged in connection to the death of a 7-year-old boy fatally shot at a motel pleaded guilty this week in Stark County, according to court documents.

In mid-August, Brittany Franko was indicted on a charge of obstructing official business.

2 dead in Shaker Heights: Police

Kamarion Dolch was shot inside a room at the Knights Inn Canton on Convenience Drive in Plain Township on June 21. The child died at the hospital.

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Indictments were returned for three people in the case including Franko and the boys father, William Dolch, who faces the most serious charges.

Dolch, 37, was indicted on charges of reckless homicide with a firearm specification, endangering children, tampering with evidence, having weapons under disability and obstructing official business.

William Dolch

Franko made the 911 call from the motel room, according to the sheriffs office and 911 recordings.

Franko said the child had been shot in the back.

I dont know what happened, she told the dispatcher.

You dont know where it came from? the dispatcher asked.

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Original Swensons in Akron temporarily closed

No, I have no idea. We just heard a pop, said Franko.

Joseph Edwin King was also arrested one day after the shooting. Hes been charged with tampering with evidence.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
AKRON, Ohio (WJW)  The woman accused of crashing into the original Swensons restaurant in Akron has been cited by police for failure to control.

The popular burger joints Facebook page shared pictures of the damage left behind to their West Akron location on South Hawkins Avenue and said there were no major injuries to any of their team members.

Baker Mayfield seeks $12M in lawsuit against his fathers company, alleges breach of contract

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According to police, the crash happened just after 1:35 a.m. on Sunday when a vehicle traveling southbound on S. Hawkins Avenue at a high rate of speed went off the road. Police said the vehicle hit a curb, traveled through the parking lot, and then struck the building.

FOX 8 photo FOX 8 photo FOX 8 photo

Police said the driver was a 23-year-old female.

According to a Monday morning press release from police, the driver sustained minor injuries. An employee who was inside the business at the time of the crash also sustained a minor injury.

Employee hid $154 million in expenses: Macys

Swensons said on Facebook that until the building can reopen, their food truck will be on-site starting Monday and available for service from 11 a.m.  11 p.m. daily.

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Theres also no word yet on how much repairs to the building will cost.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
When his daughter disappeared in Los Angeles after missing her connecting flight for a bucket list trip to New York, Ryan Kobayashi immediately travelled to California to help search for his Hannah.

The pair had not been in contact for a while, but he was determined to find his daughter and make up for lost time.

I miss her, Mr Kobayashi told reporters as he continued to scour the streets for his wonderful daughter.

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Just want her to know that, and just want her to reach out  anything, he told KTLA.

But 13 days after he began tirelessly searching for his daughter, Mr Kobayashi was found dead after jumping from a parking structure in an apparent suicide, NBC Los Angeles reported.

The 58-year-olds death is the latest development in the vanishing of Ms Kobayashi.

The concerning case has confused her loved ones and the authorities searching for her.

Ryan Kobayashi, centre, at a campaign to find his daughter in Los Angeles on Nov 21 - Damian Dovarganes/AP

It started on Nov 8 when Ms Kobayashi boarded a flight from Maui to Los Angeles.

CCTV footage shows the 30-year-old strolling through LAX dressed in bright, multi-coloured tie-dye leggings and a dark baggy top after landing in California.

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Ms Kobayashi had planned out a busy itinerary for her trip which would see her bucket list dreams become reality.

Scrawling the plan in Biro on an Amazon basics notepad, she had planned to attend a folk festival, a gig at events venue Brooklyn Steel and spend time with her aunt.

When she landed at LAX, Ms Kobayashi had 42 minutes to catch her connecting flight to the Empire State. She never boarded the plane.

The last known image of Ms Kobayashi leaving LAX

Her ex-boyfriend, however, did make the connecting flight. The pair booked the trip when they were still together and planned to go their separate ways once they reached John F Kennedy airport.

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In the coming days Ms Kobayashi was seen in different parts of Los Angeles.

CCTV footage showed her at the Taschen bookstore at the Grove shopping centre in the Fairfax District of the city on Nov 9.

A video posted on YouTube on Sunday, Nov 10, appeared to show Ms Kobayashi at the LeBron XXII Trial Experience, an event held at the Nike store, at the same shopping centre.

Sydni Kobayashi said her sister then sent two payments to people the family does not know.

On Nov 11 Ms Kobayashi was seen on CCTV with an unknown person in a downtown Los Angeles Metro station near the Crypto.com arena.

Her family said she does not appear to be in good condition in the footage.

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She didnt look her normal self, Larie Pigeon, her aunt, told Mail Online.

She was with someone but we dont know who it was at this point. She didnt look like she was safe.

Frantic messages sent to family

That day, Ms Kobayashi sent a string of odd, frantic messages to her friends and family.

When her mother texted her asking whether she made it to New York, Ms Kobayashi replied: No.

She later messaged a friend, saying: Deep Hackers wiped my identity, stole all of my funds, and have had me on a mind fk since Friday.

Hannah Kobayashi has been missing for days

Another message said, I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds, followed by one saying, For someone I thought I loved.

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Her sister said the messages did not sound like Ms Kobayashi.

Its weird to me because it doesnt sound like her, like theres just something off about it, Syndi told Hawaii News Now.

So I wasnt too sure. I dont know if its her or if someone else was texting.

She mentioned feeling scared, and that someone might be trying to steal her money and identity, said Larie Pidgeon, her aunt.

In another message to her aunt in New York Ms Kobayashi said: I just finished a very intense spiritual awakening. Im heading back to the airport to get to NYC. I might need some help getting there.

Her phones last recorded location was LAX.

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Her phone has been off since Nov 11.

Im trying to get her back

The family filed a missing persons report with the Los Angeles Police Department, LAX authorities and the FBI and the family has spent the days since Ms Kobayashis disappearance searching for her themselves.

Mr Kobayashi was among them. He was seen handing out missing posters for his daughter on Friday.

Were just trying to get us as much information as we can, he previously told Hawaii News Now. [I] want to get the word out... has anyone seen my daughter?

Hannah Kobayashi went missing after boarding a flight to Los Angeles on Nov 8

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Shes a wonderful person who brings joy to so many people, he added.

Hannah loved to travel. She loved photography, art, music. I wasnt too close with her  growing up. We hadnt had contact for a while, Mr Kobayashi told CNN in an interview last week. Im just trying to make up. Im trying to get her back. Thats my main focus.

Days later, on Sunday, Nov 24, at around 4am, Mr Kobayashi died after jumping from a parking garage near LAX.

A coroner has not yet ruled on the official cause of death, but Mr Kobayashis family said it was suicide.

Profound trauma

After tirelessly searching throughout Los Angeles for 13 days, Hannahs father, Ryan Kobayashi, tragically took his own life, a nonprofit believed to be helping the family with the search said in a statement.

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They added: This loss has compounded the familys suffering immeasurably.

The trauma they are enduring is profound, and they now face the additional burden of grieving the loss of their familys pillar and navigating next steps.

A GoFundMe page created by Mr Kobayashis niece to help Mr Kobayashis fiancee Li Jaena described him as a truly remarkable person who lit up every room with his positivity and kind heart.

It added: He has been living his absolute worst nightmare, since Hannahs disappearance, and now, with his passing, our family is grappling with unimaginable grief.

Amid this devastating tragedy, the Kobayashi family urged the public to maintain focus on the search.

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Hannah is still actively missing and is believed to be in imminent danger. It is crucial for everyone to remain vigilant in their efforts to locate Hannah, the statement read.

The Telegraph has contacted the LAPD for comment.

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Nov. 25ROCHESTER  Police responded to a report of gunshots in northwest Rochester early Sunday morning.

According to a release from Rochester Police Department, dispatch received reports of gunshots in northwest Rochester at 3:10 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 25.

Officers arrived at a residence on the 5100 block of 51st Street Northwest, where they located an adult female with a non-life-threatening bullet wound, according to a release from RPD. The release said no suspects are in custody.

"This does not appear to be a random incident," the release said.

Rochester police are investigating the shooting. No other information has been released at this time.
Bestselling novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford has died at the age of 91, it has been announced.

The author, who wrote A Woman of Substance, died peacefully at her home on Sunday following a short illness and was surrounded by loved ones to the very end, a spokesman said.

She wrote 40 novels during her career, with her most recent, The Wonder of It All, published last year.

Often labelled the grand dame of blockbusters, her books have sold more than 91 million copies and have been published in more than 40 languages and 90 countries.

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She was born in Leeds in May 1933, the only child of Winston and Freda Taylor.

Bradford began work as a typist for the Yorkshire Evening Post before she was promoted to reporter and then went on to become the papers first womans editor.

At the age of 20, she moved to London and worked in Fleet Street for Womans Own and the London Evening News.

She met her husband, Robert Bradford, the American film producer, in 1961 and they fell in love at first sight, marrying in London on Christmas Eve in 1963.

The following year she moved to New York to live with him.

The couple were married for 55 years until he died from a stroke in 2019.

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Bradford started and scrapped several novels while pursuing her journalistic career until she found success when A Woman of Substance was published in 1979, making her an overnight sensation.

The story followed Emma Hartes journey from life as a servant in rural Yorkshire to heading a business empire, despite numerous personal tragedies along the way.

It became a bestseller and was followed by many other successful books.

Barbara Taylor Bradford wrote a total of 40 novels during her career - Caroll Taveras/Bradford Enterprises/PA

A TV adaptation of A Woman of Substance followed in 1985 and starred Liam Neeson with Jenny Seagrove playing Emma Harte. It aired on Channel 4 and went on to garner two Emmy nominations.

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Seagrove said: Its 1984 and I am about to meet the world-famous legend that is Barbara Taylor Bradford. I have starred in a mini-series made of her bestselling novel A Woman of Substance and it really matters to me that she is pleased. I am a young actress and very nervous.

The door opens and all I can say is that a powerhouse of glamour and warmth heads towards me, grabs me, hugs me, and says... You are my Emma Harte. And that was the start of a long friendship with the force of nature that I am proud to call my friend  Barbara Taylor Bradford.

She added: We saw each other whenever she and her beloved Bob were in London. I did Hold the Dream for them as another mini-series.

We shared dog stories  we are both besotted  and talked about everything under the sun. She never changed. Success never diluted her warmth and humour or her ability to relate to everyone she met, whether a cleaner or a princess. She never, ever forgot that she was just a girl from Yorkshire that worked hard and made good. RIP dear friend.

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The author later published A Man of Honour, the prequel to A Woman of Substance, which starts five years before the original and follows the fortunes of Blackie ONeill, who leaves County Kerry for Leeds to build a better life and meets kitchen maid Emma Harte.

Bradford was awarded an OBE in 2007 for services to literature.

Barbara Taylor Bradford receives her OBE from the Queen in October 2007 - PA

Charlie Redmayne, the chief executive of publisher HarperCollins, said: Barbara Taylor Bradford was a truly exceptional writer whose first book, the international bestseller A Woman of Substance, changed the lives of so many who read it  and still does to this day.

She was a natural storyteller, deeply proud of her Yorkshire roots  she would regale us of her time working on the Yorkshire Evening Post with fellow reporter Keith Waterhouse and trainee photographer Peter OToole, the dawn of the Soho cafe society, and the many happy years shared with the love of her life, her husband, Bob.

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For 45 years, she was a huge part of our company and a great, great friend  we will miss her so much  but there is some solace in the knowledge that she is now, once again, alongside her beloved Bob. A life well-lived.

Following a private funeral in New York, the author will be buried alongside her late husband at the citys Westchester Hills Cemetery.

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BOLTON, Conn. (WTNH)  A woman wanted on an intimidation charge in Colorado was found Sunday morning when state police conducted a welfare check on a vehicle parked in a commuter lot in Bolton.

Cynthia Corant, 26, of Newington, is being held on a $500,000 bond and will be extradited to Colorado.

She was found at 10:30 a.m. Sunday in the lot along Route 44 in Bolton, according to state police. She was in a vehicle that had a sunshade on the windshield and blankets covering the windows.

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Corant told troopers she had been sleeping in the lot, according to state police.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com.
Britain is not merely stuck in a doom loop; it is approaching the point of freefall. Such is the conclusion that I have come to after spending time in the Red Wall town of Hartlepool to investigate the nations worklessness crisis.

Like many places across the country, determination and despair battle for supremacy in Hartlepool. The former shipbuilding centres marina, which is being revamped, is a beacon of sparkling hope, yet the high street is like something out of a film set during the apocalypse. As you walk around the deprived estates, the houses have tulips in the windows and rubbish-strewn lawns. In a town where breakdowns amid rising rents and debt have become common, the bookies is symbolically sandwiched between the estate agent and Santander.

The most serious of the vicious cycles that Hartlepool is battling is mass worklessness. It has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. Many locals are on the dole, a situation that demolishes their self-esteem and sense of agency. The national framing of everyday struggles as a mental illness appears to be feeding their sense of impotence.

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This has rendered many borderline incapable of seeking and holding down work. Many, though cruelly disparaged as shameless, are trapped in a pride paradox. While they have few qualms about depending on the impersonal state, which processes them as numbers in a system, they are too proud to tap their communities to get their lives together; as queues snake for the Citizens Advice Bureau, charity workers are dismayed at the low take-up for free cooked meals.

A culture of inactivity is seeping down to the next generation; children on the estates are growing up in households that in the words of one resident dont understand the concept that if you work hard, then you can get on.

Britain has been dysfunctional for so long that weve almost grown complacent. But we are now approaching a tipping point. The country has no choice but to force people in places like Hartlepool into work. As the economy stagnates, we cannot afford to pay for people to stay at home. Nor can Westminster absorb the political cost any longer. In the wake of the immigration backlash, if Labour fails to get Britons to fill roles in sectors like social care, it will simply be ejected from power.

And yet the political class lacks the guts and ideas to grasp the nettle. This week, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Liz Kendall, will unveil a White Paper to get places like Hartlepool out of their benefits rut. Her interventions, from revamping Jobcentres to boosting mental health support, seem hopelessly flimsy.

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This is because they dont confront the elephant in the room: namely that, for many, a life on benefits is a logical, if cynical, decision. One welfare support charity worker confessed to me: People think, if Im only getting another 5 a week whats the point?

More might be willing to overlook weak initial incentives if the jobs on offer had good prospects. In reality, options are often limited to bar work and care jobs. News that Kendall will push the NHS to enlist inactive people to fill non-clinical health roles has gone down like a lead balloon.

This lack of motivation to work has fused with the increasing medicalisation of ordinary human emotions. The number of mental health benefits claims has tripled since Covid. Yet Kendall isnt reforming disability benefits. Instead, she has pledged targeted help to young people diagnosed with the likes of anxiety and ADHD.

Attempts to push more people into work, by making it slightly tougher to claim, wont work. Worklessness is now so entrenched that when the system is tightened, recipients simply deteriorate physically and mentally to the point where they qualify for unconditional support; some might fake, or exaggerate, their illness. The last clampdown led to an explosion of disability claims.

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Britain needs to get to the bottom of the issue. Clearly, deprived areas are crying out for better jobs. Several years into the levelling up experiment, we are beginning to understand how underrated towns with strong universities and a crop of good schools can blossom. Down the road from Hartlepool, Middlesbrough is thriving as a tech hub, helped by the talent graduating from Teesside Universitys tech programmes. But were not allowing nearby areas, which are less dynamic, to share in that success. It is not a simple case of replication; there is no point babbling about science clusters in a town like Hartlepool where the education and skills simply arent there.

Dauntingly, Britain may also need to overturn 30 years of accumulated professional wisdom in the field of mental health. While the movement to tackle stigma has done untold good, it has overreached; too many people who find life difficult are being classed as mentally unwell.

A small, brave movement is galvanising itself against the status quo. Disturbed by what they see as the pathologising of everyday struggles, a group of GPs and psychologists are organising in the Tees Valley area to reframe the mental health epidemic as a crisis of human distress, in order to shift the emphasis from expert medical solutions that reduce agency to preparing people to deal with ups and downs.

They have their work cut out. As one of its champions, Dr Iain Caldwell, chief executive of the mental health charity Lets Connect, said to me: Any time I try to raise this type of conversation, [Im told] it isnt appropriate for this meeting.

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Still, a quiet revolution may be possible. A recent shift in the World Health Organisations position on mental health against the perverse incentives of pharmacology and a Western reductionist approach to mental wellbeing hints that it is feasible to take on the system in compassionate, liberal-friendly terms. Nor do reformers necessarily need to go to war with the experts. Encouraging a shift in research within the field of psychiatry, from managing medication to understanding the functions of the brain in different environments, could go a long way.

Yet there is little prospect of Labour addressing any of this. Its White Paper is a sticking plaster. The country, then, is heading either for a populist revolt or an economic meltdown. What will follow is anyones guess.

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Twas the week of Thanksgiving and Microsoft users are having a problem ... and aren't happy about it.

Around 8 a.m. Monday, Nov. 25, DownDetector, an online service that tracks tech outages, started seeing problems with Microsoft365 platforms around the world. Issues with Microsoft platforms also were reported in Florida.

By noon, the number of complaints had grown to more than 5,000, according to DownDetector.

Is there a Microsoft outage?

Weve identified a recent change which we believe has resulted in impact. We've started to revert the change and are investigating what additional actions are required to mitigate the issue. For more information, please refer to MO941162 in the admin center.  Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) November 25, 2024

Yes. Microsoft said it had "identified a recent change which we believe has resulted in impact. We've started to revert the change and are investigating what additional actions are required to mitigate the issue," the software company wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

How much longer before Microsoft365 problems are fixed?

Our fix has reached approximately 98% of the affected environments and our targeted restarts required for mitigation are being performed as quickly as possible. Additional details can be found in the admin center under MO941162.  Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) November 25, 2024

Shortly before noon, Microsoft said, "Our fix has reached approximately 98% of the affected environments and our targeted restarts required for mitigation are being performed as quickly as possible."

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That was followed by another tweet about 30 minutes later saying, "Our targeted restarts are progressing slower than anticipated for the majority of affected users. An ETA for resolution will be provided as soon as available."

Microsoft365 outage affecting Outlook

Most of the complaints about the outage were from Outlook customers, according to DownDetector.

Other services affected by Microsoft outage today

The problems also could affect:

Outlook

Exchange

Sharepoint

Teams

What caused the Microsoft outages?

"We've identified a recent change which we believe has resulted in impact. We've started to revert the change and are investigating what additional actions are required to mitigate the issue," the software company tweeted.

Microsoft customers take to social media to vent about outages

Microsoft outage on a Monday morning of a holiday weekend has us like... pic.twitter.com/RyUYRVYiGu  Colony Square (@ColonySquareATL) November 25, 2024

Microsoft outage, just send me home please pic.twitter.com/BYz2I7TQZG  ant (@anttonekneeuh) November 25, 2024

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#Microsoft outages to my planned productive work day... Phone calls and handwriting may yet restore some order. pic.twitter.com/b3eIKHT8lo  Hannah Graham (@DrHannahGraham) November 25, 2024

Complaints on DownDetector included:

"This situation is unacceptable and requires immediate attention. There are recurring issues that need to be resolved promptly to ensure efficiency and effectiveness."

"Time for a coffee break lol."

"we have missing emails & now the exchange admin center is hanging or not loading when attempting to view our email traffic. I wish Microsoft would get their stuff together over there."

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Microsoft outlook outage, 365 platforms affected. What to know
Above: The Wreaths Across America Mobile Education Exhibit visits York County on Sunday

FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. (WHTM)  In a few weeks, thousands will take time to remember those who served and you can help.

National Wreaths Across America Day is recognized at midday on Dec. 14, and the mission of Wreaths Across America is to Remember the fallen, honor those who serve, and teach our children the value of freedom, according to their website.

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The wreaths theyre not Christmas wreaths theyre veterans wreath, Richard Schneider, driver ambassador for Wreaths Across America, told abc27 News. And every wreath and we lay on a veterans grave as a way to just to honor them. When you lay the wreath down, you say their name and that way their names are never forgotten.

Dozens of ceremonies are planned at Midstate communities.

At the Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, a free ceremony is planned for noon with wreath laying at 1 p.m.

Volunteers should park at 80 Micro Drive or at 100 MSC Drive and a shuttle will be provided.

The event there will remember 60,000 heroes buried at the cemetery.

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So far, 20,289 wreaths have been sponsored, which is 45.1% of their goal. You can sponsor a wreath by visiting the Wreaths Across America website.

In Dauphin County, a ceremony is planned for 11 a.m. Dec. 14 at the Grand View Cemetery in Pillow. That ceremony has reached their wreath sponsorship goal.

Get daily news, weather, breaking news and alerts straight to your inbox! Sign up for the abc27 newsletters here

In Mifflin County, volunteers are hoping to honor 300 veterans at the Church Hill Cemetery in Reedsville. A ceremony is set for noon with wreath placement immediately following.

Ceremonies are scheduled across central Pennsylvania. For information on volunteering, attending, or sponsoring an event near you, visit WAAs website.

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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 ABC27.
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH)  A Hartford woman was arrested and charged after driving the wrong way on Interstate 84 East near Exit 62 in Hartford.

Tierra Christina Turner, 24, from Hartford, was arrested and charged with reckless driving, engaging police in pursuit, failure to drive in the proper lane, driving the wrong way on a divided highway, interfering with an officer/resisting, reckless endangerment in the first degree and other similar charges.

Motorcyclist suffers serious injuries after crash while eluding police in Colchester

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According to state police, at around 1:22 p.m. on Sunday, Troop H received calls about a person driving erratically the wrong way on I-84 East near Exit 62.

State police said it was reported that Turner, who was driving a 2012 white Honda Accord, stopped on the left shoulder but then continued to drive eastbound in the right lane.

State police said Turner then turned around on the highway and was traveling west in the eastbound HOV lane.

Turner engaged police in a pursuit, which was terminated, according to state police.

Turner was located in East Windsor and was charged. She was released from state police custody on a $25,000 bond, state police said.

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According to state police, she remains in East Windsor police custody on separate charges from East Windsor.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
WYTHE COUNTY, Va. (WFXR)  Wythe County Officials are advising residents and travelers to prepare for the increased traffic volume over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Wythe County serves the community as a regional and national travel hub, and after Hurricane Helene, Wythe County roads will serve as detours for drivers.

Our county serves as a crossroads for thousands of holiday travelers. This is always one of our busiest weekends, said Chuck Parnell, Director of Emergency Services for Wythe County. With the additional detour traffic from North Carolina, were asking everyone to remain patient, drive cautiously, and plan ahead for longer travel times.

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TSA packing tips for Thanksgiving travel

Wythe Countys Department of Emergency Services will increase staffing due to the influx of traveling over the holiday. Residents should use separate roads such as Lee Highway and Chapman Road instead of major interstates.

The safety of everyone traveling through Wythe County is our top priority this Thanksgiving, Parnell added. Whether youre a local resident or just passing through, please take precautions, stay alert, and help ensure a safe and smooth holiday for everyone.

Travelers are reminded to remember the following:

Follow posted speed limits and stay alert.

Fuel up your vehicle in advance.

Perform routine maintenance checks, including windshield wipers, fluids, and lights.

Avoid distracted driving, especially in high-traffic areas.

Use alternate routes if delays become significant.

Carry an emergency kit with blankets, water, jumper cables, and other essentials.

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For more information about real-time traffic, VDOT offers updates at 511Virginia.org or through their mobile app for potential delays.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv.
Yemeni men may have been tricked into fighting in Ukraine after promises of Russian citizenship.

Russia is increasingly bringing in soldiers from other countries to help it fight in Ukraine.

Analysts see this as part of growing Russia-Houthi cooperation.

Yemeni men were duped into fighting in the Ukraine war after traveling to Russia on the promise of high salaries and citizenship, according to a report in the Financial Times.

One recruit, who traveled to Russia with the help of a Houthi-linked company, told the FT that he was promised a $2,000-a-month job with a $10,000 bonus.

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However, he said when he arrived in Russia, he was forced to sign an enlistment contract that he could not read before being sent to a military base near Rostov, near the Ukrainian border.

Another recruit told the publication that he was promised work in engineering and security, but ended up fighting for Russia in a forest in Ukraine.

The FT estimated that hundreds of Yemenis men are fighting for Russia.

Analysts believe this latest development with the Houthis is a sign of the growing cooperation between Russia and the Iran-backed military group.

"It makes a lot of sense for the Houthis because Russia has been known to provide them with intelligence on Israeli targets," Bashir Abbas, a fellow at the Stimson Center, told BI. "So there is very clearly an avenue of cooperation between the two."

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The full extent of Russian cooperation with the Houthis is unclear. However, last week, a US State Department official told BI that Putin is engaging with the Iran-backed rebels at a "serious level."

Tim Lenderking, US Special Envoy to Yemen, told the FT that Russia is actively discussing weapons transfers with the Houthis, who have been targeting ships in the Red Sea for more than a year.

"The kinds of weapons that are being discussed are very alarming, and would enable the Houthis to better target ships in the Red Sea and possibly beyond," said Lenderking.

Abbas said that it's further proof that Iran is actively helping Russia in the war in Ukraine. "It's almost a symbiotic relationship, especially when Russia is fighting an active war in Europe, draining its coffers every single day," he said.

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This isn't the first report of men being coerced to fight in Ukraine. In March, The Guardian reported that countless Indian and Nepalese men have been duped into joining Russia in its fight against Ukraine.

Indian and Nepalese men told the publication t hat they had been pressured into signing military contracts written in Russian and that they couldn't leave because their passports had been taken.

North Korea has also sent thousands of soldiers to Russia to fight against Ukraine. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank said last week that the influx of fresh troops gives Putin a way to, at least temporarily, avoid a second involuntary mobilization.

Spokespeople for the Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request by BI for comment.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Amazon employees around the world are preparing for protests and strikes on Black Friday.

The global effort has been organized by UNI Global Union, which represents service industry workers, and activist group Progressive International.

Amazon workers in more than 20 countries plan to strike and take part in protests starting on Black Friday, one of the biggest annual shopping days for retailers. The protest efforts will go on into Cyber Monday, one of the biggest online shopping days of the year.

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Organizers say strikes will be taking place in major cities in countries such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan and Brazil. Specific protests include thousands of warehouse workers across Germany going on strike, garment workers in Bangladesh striking, and workers in New Delhi will rally to demand fair treatment after heatwave-related issues from this past summer.

Protesters want to 'Make Amazon Pay'

The protest campaign is being organized under the banner of "Make Amazon Pay." The effort will put a spotlight on what organizers say is Amazon's "anti-worker and anti-democratic" practices.

Workers will focus on highlighting Amazon's "labor abuses, environmental degradation and threats to democracy" such as the company's role in corporate power.

Amazons relentless pursuit of profit comes at a cost to workers, the environment and democracy, said General Secretary of UNI Global Union Christy Hoffman. Bezoss company has spent untold millions to stop workers from organizing, but the strikes and protests happening around the world show that workers desire for justice  for union representation  cant be stopped."

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"We stand united in demanding that Amazon treat its workers fairly, respect fundamental rights, and stop undermining the systems meant to protect us all," Hoffman continued. "Make Amazon Pay Day is becoming a global act of resistance against Amazons abuse of power.

According to organizers, Make Amazon Pay will include participants from more than 80 unions, environmental groups, and activist organizations such as Greenpeace, 350.org, and Amazon Workers International.

During the protests, workers will demand that Amazon pay fair wages to employees and commit to environmental sustainability efforts. Workers will also call on the company to pay their fair share of taxes as well as respect employees' rights to unionize.

An Amazon spokesperson released a statement regarding the coming Black Friday protest events saying, "these groups represent a variety of interests, and while we're always listening and looking at ways to improve, we remain proud of the competitive pay, comprehensive benefits, and engaging, safe work experience we provide our teams."

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In 2022, Amazon warehouse workers in Staten Island became the first and, so far, only company unit to vote to form a union . Amazon spent millions of dollars in union busting campaigns to fight the efforts from workers to unionize. A documentary on the Amazon Labor Union campaign was released this year. The filmmakers had to self-distribute the film as they had difficulty finding a distributor due to Amazon and its Prime Video streaming service's growing influence in Hollywood.

Make Amazon Pay's upcoming protests will be the fifth year that Amazon workers have gone on strike on Black Friday.

By uniting our movements across borders, we can not only force Amazon to change its ways but lay the foundations of a world that prioritizes human dignity, not Jeff Bezos bank balance. said Progressive Internationals Co-General Coordinator Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla. "Amazon is everywhere, but so are we."
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Credit: MSI

MSI launches two business laptops powered by Intels Core i7-13620H CPU

Includes Microsoft Office 2024 and Microsoft 365 Basic software

Both models have limited battery life

MSI has released two new business-oriented notebooks in Japan, the Modern 15 H B13M 5039JP and Modern 14 H D13MG 5029JP. These laptops, designed with productivity in mind, are powered by Intels Core i7-13620H.

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Both models come pre-installed with Microsoft Office Home & Business 2024 and a year's subscription to Microsoft 365 Basic, giving business users access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, along with 100GB of OneDrive storage.

This offer is currently only available in Japan, and MSI isnt the only company providing it; Dynabook has included the same software package with two of its new laptops, suggesting a possible trend. Its certainly something wed like to see rolled out globally.

Why Windows 11 Home?

The Modern 15 H B13M 5039JP offers a 15.6-inch full HD (1920 x 1080) non-glare LCD, 32GB of memory, a 512GB NVMe SSD, and runs Windows 11 Home.

Connectivity options include USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with video output and USB PD compatibility, three USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, HDMI, a 920,000-pixel webcam, an audio combo jack, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3. It measures 359 x 241 x 19.9 mm, weighs about 1.9 kg, and its 53.8Whr battery lasts just four hours during video playback (up to eight hours when idle), so you wont want to stray too far from a power outlet.

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The Modern 14 H D13MG 5029JP is the smaller counterpart, featuring a 14-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200) non-glare LCD, with the same memory and storage configuration as the 15.6-inch model.

It includes Thunderbolt 4, three USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, a 920,000-pixel webcam, HDMI, an audio combo jack, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3. It measures 313.7 x 236 x 18.6 mm, weighs approximately 1.6 kg, and has the same battery but with a longer life - up to six hours during video playback and 14 hours when idle.

Interestingly, although Microsofts productivity software is included for free with these two laptops, they ship with Windows 11 Home. MSI recommends Windows 11 Pro for business, so its surprising the firm didnt upgrade the default OS to suit the productivity package. Both laptops come In any color you like, so long as its Classic Black. No word on pricing or availability yet.
The News

Huawei is set to launch its latest smartphone this week, complete with a new, made-in-China operating system  a first for a Chinese company and an indication of the progress the countrys tech companies have made, despite US sanctions.

Unlike previous Huawei phones, which used an operating system built on Googles Android, the new Mate 70 smartphone will run entirely on the companys own HarmonyOS Next. Huawei hopes the system will be able to compete with the dominant incumbents, Apples iOS and Android, which together power around 98% of all smartphones globally, The Economist noted.

This is a significant turning point for China, its being driven by the fear that the US could cut off everything, a tech expert at a consulting firm told the Financial Times.

SIGNALS

Huaweis fully independent operating system no mean feat

Sources: The Economist, South China Morning Post, Financial Times

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Building a fully independent operating system is no mean feat, The Economist noted, because it requires persuading enough developers to spend time creating apps specifically for the new system: Shifting its devices to the new system risks hurting Huaweis smartphone sales. Android offers users several million apps; if Chinese people cannot find their favourite ones, they may opt for another phone. When Huaweis last smartphone was released in 2023, only about 100 apps had been developed for HarmonyOS. As of October this year, that number was about 15,000, the South China Morning Post reported. Yet beta testers and developers said the system still has some way to go to be fully functional, the Financial Times reported.

Huawei remains resilient to US sanctions

Sources: Reuters, Merics, Bloomberg

As Chinas top domestic telecom company, Huawei has been a focus of the US crackdown on Chinese tech: Washington blacklisted the company in 2012, and has severely restricted how much US businesses can deal with it. Yet Huawei has cemented itself as a tech juggernaut, albeit with the help of Beijing, which has reportedly provided it $30 billion in subsidies. US tensions may also aid it: Huaweis sales have recently surged in China while Apples have dropped. Huawei has developed its own high-performance chips, and a $1.4 billion research and development center in Shanghai. The company was also rumored to be building a secret network of semiconductor factories to further skirt US sanctions, Bloomberg reported.

Second Trump administration unlikely to depart from previous stance

Sources: Light Reading, Miami Herald, The Diplomat

Huawei was an explosive topic during US President-elect Donald Trumps first term, tech outlet Light Reading noted, with the Chinese company becoming emblematic of Chinas perceived sins. With the president-elects recent nomination of China hawk Marco Rubio as secretary of state, Huawei could become a focal point once more: In October, Rubio claimed in an opinion essay that Huaweis goal was global domination. Yet while Trump campaigned on anti-China proposals, the priorities could shift: His lifelong business background reveals an inherently opportunistic nature, a political scientist wrote in The Diplomat, adding that Trumps approach will depend on what happens between Beijing and Washington once he is in office, including, potentially, a temporary detente if business interests exert sufficient pressure.
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Credit: Mint/YouTube

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently said he doesn't think the industry can solve the AI hallucination issue, wherein an AI makes up information to fill in its knowledge gaps, for several more years. Huang also outlined how he had wooed his wife by promising he would be a CEO by the age of 30. Huang discussed these and other topics, like how much computing needs increased in the past 10 years, during an interview at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

The host said the demand for AI computing power jumps four times annually. In 10 years, its [an] enormous number, actually a million. He also added thats why Nvidias stock went up 300x. The computing needs are a million times more, so then it explains the stock probably is not that expensive. He then asked Huang, As you look into the future with your crystal ball, are we going to see that a million times more needs increase for the next 10 years?

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Huang did not give a direct answer, but he first explained how artificial intelligence is being developed today. The first area is pre-training, which the Nvidia CEO compared to going to college. Here, the AI takes in all the data in the world and discovers knowledge through it. Huang says this is a very important milestone, but its not enough. The second area in the AI development process is post-training, where it dives deep into a particular skill via reinforcement learning [through] human feedback, reinforcement learning [through] AI feedback, synthetic data generation, multipath learning, reinforcement learning [sic]theres a whole bunch of techniques.

Finally, the third area of AI development is Test Time Scaling, which he also referred to as thinking. This is much more complicated, as the AI now breaks the problem down step by step to find a solution. It might have to iterate and sometimes simulate various outcomes, especially if the answer is not predictive. He says, We call that thinking, and the longer you think, maybe the higher quality the answer would become.

But despite all these areas of development, Huang says that we still cant fully trust the best answers that AI can deliver. Today, the answers that we have are the best that we can, but we need to get to a point where the answer that you get is not the best that we can provide, and somewhat you still have to decide whether is this hallucinated or not hallucinated, does this make sense, is it sensible or not sensible? We have to get to a point where the answer that you get, you largely trust. He also added, I think that were several years away from being able to do that, and in the meantime, we have to keep increasing our computation.

Despite this, he also pointed out what Nvidia has done for AI, What Nvidia has contributed is that weve taken the marginal cost of computing and reduced it by a million times. He said, When the cost of something reduces by a million times, your habits fundamentally changethat is the single greatest contribution Nvidia ever made, that we made it so that using a machine to learn exhaustively an enormous amount of data is something that researchers wouldnt even think twice to do. Thats why machine learning has taken off.

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When someone pointed out that Nvidias AI GPUs are still expensive, Huang said that itd be a million times more expensive if Nvidia didnt exist. I gave you a million times discount in the last 10 years. Its practically free! said Jensen.

Jensen Huang promised his wife hell be CEO by 30

One other interesting tidbit that came up during the interview was when they asked Huang for advice on when and why they should start their own thing [company]. The interviewer added, Besides, you did promise your wife Lori that by the age of 30, you will do a company, and Huang responded, That was my pickup line; I didnt mean it.

Jensen was 17 when he met his wife, Lori, who was 19 then. He was the youngest kid in his class, and there were only three women among the students. Huang said, You have to learn how to have a good pickup line. So, Jensen approached her and asked, Do you want to see my homework? She eventually agreed since he promised that if she did homework with him every Sunday, shed get straight Asresulting in a weekly Sunday date for Huang.

Just to make sure that eventually she marries me, I told her that by the time Im 30, I just wanted you [to] know Im only 20 right now. But by the time Im 30, Im going to be a CEOI have no idea what I was talking aboutand then we got married. Jensen said. Thats all the advice Im going to give all the entrepreneurs. Thats it.
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Credit: Technizo Concept

Next to the release of a new iPhone, the Samsung Galaxy S25 release date is arguably one of the biggest in the smartphone release calendar. Even if youre not interested in buying Samsungs next flagship, youll probably be interested in seeing whats on offer and how it compares to the other best Android phones.

Moreso than previous generations, the Samsung Galaxy S25 may draw extra interest, not just because of Samsung's ongoing efforts with Galaxy AI, but also thanks to the fact the entire lineup is expected to run on a Samsung-exclusive version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. Considering early benchmarking scores show the chip will offer an incredible performance boost, we cant wait to see what the overclocked for Galaxy variant can accomplish.

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On top of that, the Galaxy S25 series is expected to adopt an iPhone-inspired design, with curved edges instead of harsh right angles, and possibly even satellite connectivity so you can stay in touch with your contacts (or emergency services) regardless of whether you have cell service or not.

The Galaxy S25 likely wont be arriving until the early part of 2025. And while we dont have a guaranteed release date yet, there are a few factors we can utilize to guess when the phone will be on sale and in the hands of Galaxy users. So we can make a pretty good guess.

Heres our best guess as to when the Samsung Galaxy S25 release date will be. That way you can decide whether you want to upgrade your existing phone now, or if you can hold out for a little longer to pick up something brand new.

Samsung Galaxy S25 release date: When does Samsung release new phones?

Galaxy Unpacked 2024

Samsung is a creature of habit, and while some of the specific dates have changed over the years, it still manages to release its flagship phones on a pretty consistent schedule. The first Galaxy Unpacked of the year happens either at the end of January or early-to-mid February, and this focuses on the new Galaxy S series phones.

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Meanwhile a second Galaxy Unpacked usually takes place in late summer, though the specific dates and windows tend to bounce around a lot more from year to year. These were previously reserved for new Galaxy Note phablets, but have since been co-opted by the Samsung Galaxy Z series of foldables. In this case, though, were more focussed on the first Galaxy Unpacked of the year.

If we look at Samsungs Galaxy S release date schedule going back the last five generations, things are a little bit inconsistent. But we can get an idea of what Samsung likes to do from this data, and try to figure out the launch date from there.

The first thing to note is that Samsung typically takes just over two weeks between the Galaxy Unpacked launch event and the official release day  preferring to release those phones on a Friday. There are some discrepancies to that trend: The Galaxy S20 took almost a month to be released, though it still stuck with the Friday release day.

The good news is that Samsung rarely, if ever, separates the release of the core Galaxy S range. The cheaper Fan Edition phones typically arrive much later, but we should still see the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus and Galaxy S25 Ultra land on the same day. The rumored Galaxy S25 Slim might be a different story, but well have to wait and see how that plays out.

Samsung Galaxy S25 release date: What the rumors say

Galaxy Unpacked 2024

With the Galaxy S24 we heard a bunch of rumors claiming that Samsung would be launching the phone early, in an attempt to steal some attention away from iPhone 15. Aside from Galaxy Unpacked happening in mid-January, which had already happened with Galaxy S21, there wasnt anything particularly unusual about the S24s release.

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So far Samsung hasnt confirmed when Galaxy Unpacked 2025 will be happening, but reports out of South Korea claim the event is scheduled to take place on January 23. That lands right in the middle of the last few launch windows, and while not particularly early in the year its not like we have to wait very long to see the Galaxy S25 in person. Assuming those reports are accurate, of course.

Samsung Galaxy S25 release date: What we think

Galaxy s25 Ultra concept design by Technizo Concept on YouTube

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Were inclined to believe that the January 23 date is accurate. Not just because it matches up with Unpacked events of the past, but also because it gives an ample amount of breathing room between Unpacked and CES 2025, which ends on January 10.

In the past Samsung has used big tech shows as a launchpad for new smartphones, but the last time this happened was the launch of the Galaxy S9 in 2018  which took place at MWC in Barcelona. Since then, Samsung has used Unpacked events for launching new hardware, likely to avoid having to share the spotlight with other companies and products.

January 23 is far enough away from CES and MWC that Samsung can more or less claim the spotlight for itself. If this date ends up being the correct one then the Galaxy S25 release date will likely follow around 2 weeks later  on February 6 of 7. Which day it is will likely depend on whether Samsung wants to adopt a 2 week launch-to-release timeline going forwards, or if it wants to shift back to releasing new Galaxy flagships on Fridays.

Honestly, it could easily be either of those days, but its not like the single days difference will matter too much. It still gives people plenty of time to pre-order the Galaxy S25 after Unpacked and take advantage of any pre-order bonuses that Samsung and phone carriers may be offering.

Samsung Galaxy S25 release date: Outlook

Until we hear otherwise, it seems pretty likely that Galaxy Unpacked is scheduled to take place on January 23. While that is a guess, it definitely fits with what Samsung has done the past few years  and that means the Galaxy S25 should be arriving two weeks later.

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Things could still change, especially if Samsung either reschedules or announces a totally different date for Galaxy Unpacked. But for the time being, we expect that the Galaxy S25 should be in your hands on either February 6 or February 7.
A teenager has developed a solution that could revolutionize water purification in Bangladesh, per reports by the Business Standard.

Seventeen-year-old Zabeer Zarif Akhter has created a sustainable water purifying system that uses electronic waste. The first-of-its-kind method uses the power of plasma technology to purify water.

Akhter developed a prototype that turns contaminated water into a plasma stream. Using both ultraviolet radiation and plasma sterilization, Akhter can successfully remove pathogens, such as E. coli, TC, and FD, from the water.

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Thanks to an advanced automatic flow and pressure control system for industrial design, Akhter also improved the method's efficiency and reliability.

"This breakthrough represents a significant stride towards sustainable, environment-friendly and cost effective water management practices, heralding a new era in the fight against water pollution," Tanvir Ahmed, a professor of civil engineering at Buet and jury board member for Stockholm Junior Water Prize Bangladesh, told the Business Standard.

For remote areas especially, Akhter's prototype offers a viable solution for effectively removing harmful pathogens from water sources. The design is simple  it only requires two carbon electrodes and a circuit, making it easily adaptable.

Water pollution is a major crisis in Bangladesh with unregulated industrial and domestic waste contaminating drinking water. Akhter's e-waste water purification system is an affordable solution for supplying communities with clean drinking water.

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Titled "High Voltage Plasma Water Purifier from E-waste," Akhter's project and amazing discovery earned him the Bangladesh Stockholm Junior Water Prize 2024.

According to the Embassy of Sweden in Dhaka, Akhter will be representing Bangladesh at this year's Stockholm Junior Water Prize competition at World Water Week in Sweden.

How often do you worry about the quality of your drinking water?

Click your choice to see results and speak your mind

"This young visionary has triumphed with his groundbreaking water innovation, inspiring us all with his commitment to a sustainable future," the Bangladesh Stockholm Junior Water Prize authority told the Business Standard.

Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
New close-up photos of star WOH G64 have been released thanks to observations taken by the European Southern Observatorys Very Large Telescope Interferometer (ESOs VLTI).

An image of the star WOH G64, taken by the GRAVITY instrument on the European Southern Observatorys Very Large Telescope Interferometer (ESOs VLTI). The bright oval at the centre is a dusty cocoon that enshrouds the star. A fainter elliptical ring around it could be the inner rim of a dusty torus, but more observations are needed to confirm this feature. Credit: ESO/K. Ohnaka et al.

For the first time, we have succeeded in taking a zoomed-in image of a dying star in a galaxy outside our own Milky Way, said Keiichi Ohnaka, an astrophysicist from Universidad Andres Bello in Chile. The star is 160,000 light-years away from Earth and has been photographed closely using the European Southern Observatorys Very Large Telescope Interferometer (ESOs VLTI). The new observations have revealed a star releasing gas and dust, as it is in its last stages before becoming a supernova.

We discovered an egg-shaped cocoon closely surrounding the star, said Ohnaka, lead author of the study published in the journal, Astronomy & Astrophysics. We are excited because this may be related to the drastic ejection of material from the dying star before a supernova explosion.

Zoomed-in image of a star outside of our galaxy

Astronomers have previously been able to take zoomed-in pictures of stars within our galaxy, but some stars are so far away that capturing their details can be very challenging. WOH G64, the star captured in the new images, is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small galaxy that orbits the Milky Way. Astronomers have been aware of this tar for decades and have dubbed it the behemoth star, and is around 2000 times larger than our Sun  classifying it as a red supergiant.

The team have been interested in the star for some time and in 2005 and 2007 used ESOs VLTI in Chiles Atacama Desert to learn more about it. They have studied the star in the years since then but capturing an image of the star had remained out of reach. To be able to take the picture they wanted, the team had to wait for the development of one of the VLTIs second-generation instruments GRAVITY. They then compared their new findings with previous observations of WHO G64 and discovered the star has become dimmer over the last decade.

We have found that the star has been experiencing a significant change in the last 10 years, providing us with a rare opportunity to witness a stars life in real time, said Gerd Weigelt, an astronomy professor from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany and co-author of the study. In their final life stages, red supergiants will shed their outer layers of gas and dust in a process that can take thousands of years.

"This star is one of the most extreme of its kind, and any drastic change may bring it closer to an explosive end," said co-author Jacco van Loon, Keele Observatory Director at Keele University, UK, who has been observing this star since the 1990s.

What is the cause of the star becoming dimmer?

The team thinks that the shedding of the materials could be why the star has become dimmer and because of the shape of the dust cocoon surrounding the star. The images show that the cocoon is stretched, and the scientists expected it to be a different shape based on previous observations. The team believe that the gg shape of the cocoon is because of the stars shedding or because of an undiscovered companion star.

Taking more close-up pictures of the star is becoming more difficult due to it becoming dimmer. However, planned updates to the telescopes instrumentation could change this. Similar follow-up observations with ESO instruments will be important for understanding what is going on in the star, concluded Ohnaka.

Source of the news:

Ohnaka, K., Hofmann, K.-H. ., Weigelt, G., van Loon, J.Th., Schertl, D. and Goldman, S.R. (2024). Imaging the innermost circumstellar environment of the red supergiant WOH G64 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Astronomy & Astrophysics, [online] 691, p.L15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202451820
New York: Automakers Hyundai and Kia are recalling nearly 208,000 electric vehicles (EVs) in the US owing to an issue that could cause the vehicles to suddenly lose power. As per filings with the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the issue is with the Integrated Charging Control Unit (ICCU) that may become damaged and stop charging the 12-volt battery, which can result in a loss of drive power.

Dealers will inspect and replace the ICCU and its fuse, as necessary. In addition, dealers will update the ICCU software. All repairs will be performed free of charge, said the recall notification on NHTSA website.

Hyundai is recalling over 145,000 Ioniq and Genesis vehicles, which includes some Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 vehicles. The recall also covers three electrified variants from its luxury brand Genesis, including the Genesis GV60, Genesis GV70, and Genesis G80 from model years 2022-2025.

Nearly 62,872 Kia EV6 vehicles have also been recalled. Dealers will fix the issue for free. After the failure of the ICCU, a series of driver warnings appear, and the vehicle activates a fail-safe driving mode that slowly reduces drive power over the course of 20 to 40 minutes.

A loss of drive power increases the risk of a crash, according to the recall notification. In 2021, over 80,000 Kona EVs were recalled due to a fire risk caused by an LG battery defect after reports of a dozen battery fires.

Earlier this year, Elon Musk-run Tesla recalled more than two million vehicles -- almost all of the cars it sold in the US -- due to incorrect font size on warning lights. The recall of almost 2.2 million vehicles included nearly all Tesla EV models, including Model S, Model X, 2017-2023 Model 3, Model Y, and 2024 Cybertruck vehicles.

The NHTSA also noted that warning lights with a smaller font size can make critical safety information on the instrument panel difficult to read, increasing the risk of a crash.
New Delhi: In a surprising turn of events, a department manager in Jiangsu province, China was fired for sleeping on the job. However, he has been awarded 350,000 yuan (around Rs 41 lakh) in compensation by the court. The employee dedicated over 20 years of service to a chemical company in Taixing. He was dismissed after surveillance footage captured him napping for an hour at work earlier this year.

As reported by the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the case emerged after Zhang signed a report from the companys HR department. This explained that he was caught sleeping at work due to exhaustion. In a WeChat group that leaked, Zhang also stated that he once slept at work for an hour or so", when asked by some HR staff.

In a leaked WeChat group, Zhang also mentioned that he had once napped for an hour or so" during work when asked by HR staff. The company issued a dismissal notice to Zhang, stating that his actions were a serious violation of company discipline and conduct, justifying his termination.

The notice recognised Zhang's long service, stating, "Comrade Zhang, you joined the company in 2004 and signed an open-ended employment contract. However, your behavior of sleeping on the job is a serious breach of the companys zero-tolerance discipline policy. As a result, with the union's approval, the company has decided to terminate your employment, ending all labor relations between you and the company," according to SCMP.

Why did the company compensate Zhang with Rs 41.6 lakh?

Zhang challenged his dismissal and claimed that it was unfair. He argued that the night before he was caught sleeping at work as he has been involved in a work-related task that lasted until midnight.

The court noted that employers can only terminate contracts under specific conditions such as causing substantial harm to the company. It ruled that sleeping on the job was a first-time offence and had not caused significant damage to the company. The court also took into account the employees long service, promotions and salary increases.

The court determined that firing the employee for a single incident was too harsh and not justified. As a result, the company was ordered to pay him a compensation of 350,000 yuan (Rs 41.6 lakh).
Assembly Election Results 2024: Almost one and a half months back when the Haryana election result was announced, Shiv Sena-UBT MP Priyanka Chaturvedi made a big statement saying that Congress gets weakened when in a direct fight with the BJP. Her statement holds even two months later. The Congress is staring at one of its worst performances in Maharashtra's political history, finding solace from its win in Jharkhand that too it got by riding on the back of Jharkhand.

The Strike Rate

In Maharashtra, the BJP contested 148 seats while the Congress contested 101 seats. The BJP has won 132 of them while the Congress bagged 16 seats. The BJP's strike rate is around 90 per cent, that of Congress is around 16 per cent.

The Maharashtra Math

In the recently announced Maharashtra elections, the Congress was locked in a direct contest with the BJP on 75 seats. Of these 75 seats, the Congress could win only 10 seats. What is even more concerning for the grand old party is that out of these 75 seatsaround 10% of the total seats with direct conteststhe Congress failed to secure even the second position in six of them.

The BJP garnered nearly 27% of the overall vote share, whereas the Congress achieved approximately 12%. However, when focusing solely on the constituencies where each party fielded candidates, the BJP averaged 51.5% of the votes in its contested seats, while the Congress obtained an average of 34.7% per seat.

The Haryana Setback

In the Haryana assembly elections, the BJP secured a simple majority while locked in a direct contest against Congress. The BJP and the Congress were locked in a direct contest on 89 seats. As per the Election Commission's results, the BJP secured 48 seats, while the Congress won 37. Here again, the BJP retained an upper hand.

The Jharkhand Exception

In Jharkhand, the Congress was contesting 30 seats while the BJP was contesting 68 seats. Of this, the two parties were locked in a direct contest on 24 seats. Interestingly, since the JMM led the fight, the Congress won 13 of these 24 while BJP got 11. However, the Congress party's strike rate was lowest among its allies - JMM and RJD.

Call For Reforms

There has been a constant call for reforms within the Congress party. With these election defeats, the Congress leaders have said that they will analyse the poll results. Many Congress allies have also called upon the Congress leadership to take measures to rectify shortcomings.
Washington: Jan Suraaj leader Prashant Kishor has said Bihar is literally a failed state which is in 'deep shit' and tremendous efforts are required for its all-round development.

In a virtual interaction with the Bihari diaspora community after the launch of the US chapter of the Jan Suraaj, the former poll strategist exuded confidence that his party would win the 2025 Bihar Assembly polls and said that he would lift the ban on alcohol and use the revenue to improve school education.

"We have to realise that this (Bihar) is a state which is in deep shit. If Bihar were a country, it would be the 11th largest country in terms of population in the world. We have just overtaken Japan in terms of population," Kishor told the gathering.

He said the biggest challenge is that society has become "hopeless" about improving the situation of Bihar.

"When you become hopeless, the immediate survival needs become so overpowering that nothing (else) matters," he said.

However, Kishor said, not all is lost.

"Some hope is definitely there because of what we have been doing in the last two and a half years. But to convert this into a tangible electoral outcome and further into a governance outcome (will take time). Anyone who wants to be part of it has to be committed for at least five-six years," he said.

"Even if the government (of the Jan Suraaj) is formed in 2025 and we continue to work hard with this intensity, it would be a big thing if Bihar becomes a middle-income state by 2029-2030. It is literally a failed state as it stands today on all developmental parameters," Kishor said.

"The characteristics of failed states are visible in the population here. For example... sometimes we think... why are people in Sudan fighting for 20 years in the civil war. Because when you are in that failed state, then people are not worried about how our children will study in Sudan. They are worried about who to shoot and where to capture. So that is the situation in Bihar too. And we must be aware of it," he added.

Kishor told the Bihari diaspora community that he was "not trying to scare them" but making them aware of the ground realities and the long road ahead.

"The Jan Suraaj will win in 2025 (Bihar Assembly elections). There is no doubt about it. (Based on my) electoral understanding, I can clearly see that we will win," he said.

He said if the Jan Suraaj is voted to power, his top priority would be improving school education and this would be funded by the revenue generated after lifting the statewide ban on alcohol.

He urged members of the Bihari diaspora in the US to start calling their friends and relatives to support and vote for the Jan Suraaj.

The Jan Suraaj, which was floated in October with much fanfare, failed to make an impact in the recent Bihar Assembly bypolls. The party's candidates lost deposits in all but one seat.

The ruling NDA swept the bypolls, winning all four seats.

Kishor further said the Bihari diaspora has not done much for the development of Bihar.

"I have not seen anything very tangible on the ground. Beyond sessions, I have not seen anything tangible on the ground. Let me be blunt about it. Ultimately, you don't do anything. Don't take it otherwise. But you don't do anything," he told the gathering.
Bhubaneswar: Odisha Police arrested a couple in Cuttack for allegedly forcing a minor girl from Bangladesh into prostitution, an officer said on Monday.

The police on Sunday detained the couple identified as Veera Gujur Choudhary (55) of Rajasthan and Jasmine (36) of Keonjhar in Odisha. They were arrested based on the allegation made by the 16-year-old-Bangladeshi girl who was rescued by police from the Link Road area under the jurisdiction of Madhupatna police station area on November 9.

The girl was later handed over to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Cuttack, said Cuttack DCP Jagmohan Meena.

Meena said the police started an investigation into the case based on the information provided by the rescued girl who was illegally brought from Bangladesh. The mobile phone call records of the couple "indicate" their involvement in the crime, he said.

Police sources said that the couple ran the racket from a rented house and the role of the house owner is also under investigation. Police are exploring possible links to other people in the network.

The minor girl had named five agents, including two women, involved in the flesh trade. She had also mentioned their addresses and contact numbers in her statement earlier recorded by the police.

As per information provided by her, she was brought to Kolkata from Dhaka around August-September and then taken to Bhubaneswar. She is a Bangladeshi but has no identity proof or any travel documents. It is yet to be ascertained how she landed in Cuttack, CWC chairman Pramod Kumar Acharya told reporters.

Meanwhile, Madhupatna Police Station in Cuttack have registered a case under various sections of BNS, POCSO Act and IT Act. The allegations were framed based on the report of the CWC which counselled the girl.

The DCP said necessary steps are being taken to inform the Bangladesh High Commission about the incident.
The Israeli cabinet will meet to discuss a ceasefire deal with Lebanon at the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Kirya headquarters in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Times of Israel reported citing a minister's office.

The meeting is scheduled to take place between 5:30 pm to 9 pm (local time).

This comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave his "in principle" approval to the plan, CNN reported citing sources.

Netanyahu signalled his potential approval for the emerging ceasefire with Hezbollah during a security consultation with Israeli officials Sunday night.

Netanyahu's spokesperson said the Israeli cabinet will vote on the proposed deal on Tuesday and it is expected to pass.

The report, however, stated that Israel still has reservations over some details of the agreement, which were expected to be transmitted to the Lebanese government on Monday, adding that "those and other details are still being negotiated and multiple sources stressed that the agreement will not be final until all issues are resolved."

CNN reported citing sources familiar with the negotiations that the talks appear to be moving positively toward an agreement but acknowledged that as Israel and Hezbollah continue to trade fire, one misstep could upend the talks.

Israel's National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, has expressed strong opposition to the deal, calling it a "big mistake" and a "historic missed opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah". Ben Gvir has also long worked to thwart potential ceasefire deals between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Benny Gantz, who resigned from Israel's war cabinet in June over Netanyahu's handling of the war in Gaza, called on the prime minister to make the details of the ceasefire deal public.

"It is the right of the residents of the north, the fighters and the citizens of Israel to know," Gantz said.

Last week, United States envoy Amos Hochstein said in Beirut that a ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon was "within our grasp," but that it was ultimately "the decision of the parties."

Notably, Israel and Lebanon have been engaged in a prolonged conflict that began on October 8 last year, when Hezbollah attacked Israeli-controlled territory in solidarity with Hamas and Palestinians in Gaza, as reported by CNN.

This incident sparked a series of tit-for-tat border attacks, which eventually escalated into a major military offensive launched by Israel in mid-September.

The conflict has seen a ground invasion by Israel, resulting in the deaths of several Hezbollah leaders, including one of its founders, Hassan Nasrallah, and thousands of injuries from an attack involving exploding pagers. The situation remains volatile, with ongoing efforts to negotiate a ceasefire.
Maharasthra CM Face Update: The political dynamics in the ruling Mahayuti are becoming more clear, days after the thumping victory of the alliance that bagged 231 seats of the total 288. While the NCP MLAs elected Ajit Pawar as their house minister, they reportedly supported Devendra Fadnavis' name for the Maharashtra Chief Minister post. Similarly, Shiv Sena MLAs elected Eknath Shinde as the leader of the legislative party. While Shinde has not spoken about his CM ambition, some Sena MLAs have demanded that he be allowed to continue as the state CM.

Shinde Or Fadnavis?

Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Deepak Kesarkar has said his party legislators feel Eknath Shinde should continue as the chief minister of the state. He, however, added that Shinde and Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis (BJP) and Ajit Pawar (NCP) will take a unanimous decision on the CM issue. However, he maintained that the decision of the alliance will be acceptable to all the MLAs.

Speculation regarding the chief minister's post started doing rounds after the BJP led by Fadnavis won the highest 132 out of 288 seats in the state elections. The Shiv Sena led by Shinde bagged 57 seats while the NCP got 41 seats.

However, both - NCP and Shiv Sena, do consider the fact that the BJP displayed a big heart by making Shinde CM despite the Sena having 40 MLAs in the outgoing government. According to a TOI report, NCP leaders are of the view that since the BJP has 132 seats, it should get the CM post.

Who Will Be Mahayuti CM?

Fadnavis as a CM may appear the common choice of the Mahayuti as it will solve the possible clash and factionalism as not only Sena cadre but even the NCP cadre want CM from their party. When Pawar won the Baramati seat, NCP workers raised slogans demanding Ajit Pawar to be made the CM. Even Pawar had in past expressed a desire to get the top post, having served as Deputy CM five times. Fadnavis getting the CM post will be the midway path for both Sena and the NCP.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday emphasized the need for constructive discussions as the Parliament's Winter Session commenced. Speaking to the media before the session, Modi called for healthy debates on pressing national issues. He also targeted the Congress, accusing the party of undermining parliamentary traditions and democracy, stating that those "rejected 80-90 times by the people" show disrespect towards democratic institutions.

The Prime Minister Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the significance of the ongoing parliamentary session, marking the beginning of the 75th year of India's Constitution. He stated, "The last phase of 2024 is underway, and the country is preparing for 2025. This Session of Parliament is special in several ways and the most important thing is the beginning of the 75th year of the Constitution. Tomorrow, in the Samvidhan Sadan, everyone will celebrate the 75th year of our Constitution."

Taking jab at the opposition and Congress, PM Modi stated, "Some people who have been rejected by the people are constantly trying to control the Parliament through hooliganism by a handful of people.

"The most important thing is that the new members of parliament who come with new ideas and energy are usurped by some people. They do not even get the opportunity to speak in the Parliament," PM added.

He further said that the people of the country take note of all actions and, when the time comes, they also deliver punishment.

Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha proceedings on the first day of the Winter Session were adjourned until 12 noon on Monday after paying homage to deceased members, including two MPs who had won parliamentary elections earlier this year.

Speaker Om Birla, addressing the House, mourned the passing of Vasantrao Balwantrao Chavan, the MP from Maharashtra's Nanded constituency, and SK Nurul Islam, the representative from West Bengal's Basirhat seat.

The Winter Session of Parliament begin on Monday and is scheduled to continue till December 20.
Parliament Winter Session LIVE: Opposition and government set for clash in Parliament's winter session as Congress demands debate on latest Adani Group charges, while the NDA says it's open to discussing any issue. Some other hot-button issues on the agenda will be the Waqf laws amendements, Manipur violence, and removal of SEBI chief Madhabi Buch.

Eying to chalk out Parliament strategy, Leaders of opposition parties in the INDIA bloc will meet on Monday morning to finalise their approach for the upcoming winter session of Parliament. The meeting, scheduled for 10 AM, will take place at the office of Rajya Sabha Opposition Leader Mallikarjun Kharge, with Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi expected to join.

Earlier, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chaired an all-party meeting on Sunday to discuss the tentative agenda for the winter session of Parliament. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju clarified that that he would consult Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on issues raised during the meeting to decide which ones will be taken up.

The Opposition has demanded an extension for the panel reviewing the Waqf bill to allow detailed analysis.

The INDIA bloc has also called for the arrest of Gautam Adani and a probe into the allegations against him. Additionally, the Opposition is pushing for the formation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to examine the charges against the Adani Group.

Notably, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi will reportedly make her Lok Sabha debut on Monday after the Wayanad bypoll victory. Her entry is expected to strengthen Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's support system, improve coordination with INDIA bloc allies, and enhance the party's floor strategy. With its recent bypoll win in Nanded, Congress has increased its tally to 99 MPs in the Lok Sabha.

The session will continue until December 20. The government has listed several new bills for introduction, consideration, and passing. This includes the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Goa Assembly Bill, Bills of Lading Bill, Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, Railways (Amendment) Bill, Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, and Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill.

The Boilers Bill, Rashtriya Sahkari Vishwavidyalaya Bill, Punjab Courts (Amendment) Bill, Merchant Shipping Bill, Coastal Shipping Bill, and Indian Ports Bill are also part of the agenda.

(With agency inputs)
Tensions ran high in the base camp for the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir as protests against a proposed ropeway project escalated into violent clashes here on Monday. The protesters - shopkeepers, pony owners, porters, and palki wallahs - clashed with police and resorted to stone-pelting, officials said.

The protesters, who began their agitation on November 22, extended their initial 72-hour strike by another 24 hours, voicing fears that the 250-crore ropeway project would leave many of them jobless. The project, planned between Tarakote Marg and Sanji Chhat along the 12-km trek to the shrine, is expected to be completed in two years.

STORY | Protesters clash with police during anti-ropeway agitation in J-K's Katra



READ: https://t.co/TCArog9Mfm



VIDEO |



(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/dv5TRAShcC) pic.twitter.com/aGowmkiQqa  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 25, 2024

Clashes with Security Forces

On Monday, the situation turned volatile when a CRPF vehicle attempted to pass through the town while there was a sit-in protest going on. Protesters attacked the vehicle, smashing the windshield, and pelted stones at security personnel. The vehicle had to be moved back with the help of police.

SSP Reasi, Paramvir Singh, described the law and order situation as "challenging." He said the administration is actively engaging with the protesters to address their concerns and defuse the tension.

"We are trying to hold talks with the protesters to allay their fears and restore peace. The situation remains under control, but it is critical to resolve this amicably," Singh said.

Strike Over the Ropeway Project

The agitation has emerged from fears among the local laborers and business owners as the pilgrims are their primary source of income. Over 1.5 crore devotees visit the shrine every year, and the ropeway would be considered, in the eyes of most of the locals, as a direct threat to their livelihood.

The ropeway project might make it easier for pilgrims, but what about us? Thousands of families survive on this route, and this project will destroy our livelihoods," said Ramesh Gupta, a local shopkeeper protesting.

Pony and palanquin owners shared these concerns, arguing that the project would drastically reduce foot traffic along the traditional trek, which would affect their earnings.

Protesters' Demands

Protestors have demanded that the project be put on hold immediately and alternative arrangements for employment be sought for those whose livelihoods are adversely affected. With placards and slogans like "Bharat Mata ki Jai," hundreds of demonstrators marched through the streets of Katra and had sit-ins, intent on calling attention to their plight.

While the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board has defended the ropeway project as a step toward improving infrastructure and enhancing the pilgrim experience, the board has been under pressure to abate the concerns by the protesters.

The 250-crore project, designed to provide safer and faster access for the pilgrim, especially during peak seasons and adverse weather conditions, is aimed at addressing the concerns of local stakeholders, and we are open to discussions," a Shrine Board official said.

The administration is in a tight spot as protests go into their fifth day. The Katra situation remains charged, where heavy police deployment has ensured that the situation remains under control and doesn't go out of hand.
Sambhal violence: Three people were and several others, including 24 police and administrative personnels were injured in Uttar Pradeshs Sambhal district on Sunday. The situation near the Mughal-era Mosque area escalated out of control amid the court-ordered archeological survey with cases of arson and stone pelting reported across region. The police employed tear gas and batons to break up the crowd.

Tensions flared in Sambhal on Sunday during a court-mandated survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid. Violent clashes broke out between locals and the police. The mosque is the subject of a legal dispute, with claims it was built over a Hindu temple called Harihar temple.

"Miscreants opened fire, injuring the PRO of the SP in the leg," said Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh. "A police circle officer was hit by pellets, and 15-20 security personnel were injured in the violence," he added. A constable sustained a severe head injury, and the deputy collector fractured his leg, he noted.

The Sambhal District Magistrate has issued a directive barring outsiders, social organisations, and public representatives from entering the district without official permission.

Internet services in Sambhal tehsil have been suspended for 24 hours. The district administration has also declared November 25 as a holiday for students up to Class 12.

Images circulating on social media depicted protesters hurling stones at police from rooftops and in front of the Shahi Jama Masjid. One image showed a lane littered with slippers, bricks, and stones. Another video, allegedly from the scene, captured police in riot gear firing shots down a lane, with flames rising and thick smoke billowing in the background.

Three dead have been identified as Naeem, Bilal and Nauman, police official said.

Moradabad Divisional Commissioner addressed reports of videos circulating online claiming police opened fire. Denying the allegations, he stated, "Police used pellet guns. No lethal weapons were deployed. So far, 21 people have been detained, and various weapons have been seized from them." He added that multiple shell casings of different bores were recovered from the scene of the firing.

The official confirmed that 21 people, including two women, have been detained, and an investigation is underway. He added that those involved in the violence will be charged under the strict National Security Act (NSA).

Tensions had been rising in Sambhal since November 19, when a court-ordered survey of the Jama Masjid began, following a petition alleging that the site was once home to a Harihar temple. The situation escalated early on Sunday when a large crowd gathered near the mosque, chanting slogans as the survey team commenced its work.
Violence broke out in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal on Sunday when locals clashed with police over a court-ordered survey of the Mughal-era Jama Masjid. The clashes took four lives and have left the city on the edge of a trigger point, opening up a heated political exchange.

This response was followed by the administration of Uttar Pradesh clamping down strictly on security measures to prevent any further unrest. The schools and colleges were shut, internet services suspended and prohibitory orders enforced under Section 144. Streets in Sambhal continued to be eerily empty, with patrolling law enforcement troops attempting to maintain order.

The police have since filed cases against Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq, Nawab Suhail Iqbal (son of SP MLA Iqbal Mehmood), and over 400 others accused in the case. Still, SP leaders fired back at them, accusing the BJP-led state government of deliberately fanning communal tension for political mileage.

SP Blames BJP Led Govt

SP MP Awadhesh Prasad termed the incident "heartbreaking and painful", blaming the ruling BJP for orchestrating unrest to divert attention from pressing electoral issues. "This violence was not a coincidence; it was carefully planned to suppress dissent and distract from election outcomes," Prasad said at a press briefing today.

Prasad also defended his party colleague, Zia Ur Rehman Barq, saying that the allegations against him were false. "Barq was with us during the incident. These fabricated cases aim to silence him and stop him from raising his voice in Parliament," he added.

The SP chief, Akhilesh Yadav, weighed in by accusing the government of sending the survey team to the mosque with a "very deliberate motive" to provoke unrest. "It was deliberately done in the morning to derail discussions on election results. The BJP is using these incidents to polarize voters and maintain its grip on power," Yadav said.

SP MP Afzal Ansari shared similar opinion terms the violence "well-planned provocation" by the state government. "Innocent people are being falsely implicated to divert focus from real issues. This is not governance; it is intimidation," he remarked.

Congress Adds To The Criticism

The Congress party attacked the Yogi Adityanath government also with a growing trend of communal incidents in the state. Senior leaders in the Congress addressed the administration for not keeping the peace and demanded accountability.

"This is not the first time Uttar Pradesh has witnessed such deliberate disruptions. The government must take responsibility for the rising lawlessness," said a Congress spokesperson.

UP Government Vows Action

The Uttar Pradesh government assured that strict actions will be taken against the perpetrators of violence. Officials said that efforts were made to restore normalcy in the Sambhal district as investigations into the incidents are being carried out to bring the perpetrators to justice.

"The state will not tolerate any disruption of peace. Those involved in the violence, irrespective of party affiliations, will face legal consequences," an official from the administration stated.

The Jama Masjid survey and the subsequent unrest have become a flashpoint in the states already charged political atmosphere, with opposition parties accusing the BJP of weaponizing communal issues for electoral advantage. As investigations continue, Sambhal remains under heavy security, with residents hoping for a swift resolution to restore peace.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday today asked the Commission for Air Quality Management, CAQM, to reconsider its decision to keep schools and colleges shut in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad, concerned about the deprivation of mid-day meals to students and their lack of access to virtual learning tools.

The court's ruling was made at a time when several restrictions were in place due to the draconian Stage 4 (severe plus) measures of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in view of hazardous air quality.

Noting that too many students lacked air purifiers at home and that their living conditions were not very different from those in the schools, a bench comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Augustine George Masih said, "Students are missing mid-day meals, and many don't have the means to attend virtual classes. This cannot continue."

Senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, appearing for the parents, said such a large number of students rely on mid-day meals and urged the court to take a decision immediately.

The bench asked CAQM to consider the matter and give a response by Tuesday morning so that the physical classes could open up from Wednesday.

Action On Malfunctions in GRAP Implementation

The Supreme Court pulled up the Delhi government and police for the lapses in enforcing GRAP Stage 4 restrictions, particularly concerning the ban on truck entries into the capital. "It is apparent that authorities under GRAP-IV clauses 1 to 3 have not made earnest efforts for strict implementation," the court remarked.

It directed the CAQM to take immediate action against officials for failing to place police teams at checkpoints, as required. "This grave lapse has to be dealt with immediately," it asserted, on the grounds of Section 14 of the CAQM Act, 2021, for accountability.

Air Quality and GRAP Enforcement

Even as the AQI readings marginally softened, the court did not show any leeway to GRAP-4 curbs, the reasons being that the air quality indices hovered between "severe" to 318-419 AQI levels from November 20 to November 24.

The senior advocate and amicus curiae Aparajita Singh argued before the bench that there were inconsistencies in the enforcement of a truck ban and unclear police deployment at 113 entry points.

The bench had previously flagged Delhis failure to enforce GRAP-4 curbs, including the restriction on non-essential goods trucks entering the capital.

Relief for Labourers and Daily Wagers

Conscious of the economic loss thus caused to the daily wage earners and laborers, the court asked the state governments to use the labor cess money for the subsistence of the workers affected. It has also reminded the CAQM that it has eminent authority under Section 12(1) of the CAQM Act to look into the welfare of such vulnerable groups suffering due to the curtailment of pollution.

Court-Appointed Oversight

The bench reaffirmed the role of 13 court-appointed commissioners, who have been tasked with inspecting entry points to monitor GRAP compliance. The reports have brought to light enforcement gaps and specifically police deployment, for which the bench insisted must be corrected forthwith.

The matter is scheduled to come up again on November 28. Meanwhile, the world waits with bated breath as CAQM decides whether or not to open up schools and colleges keeping the general public's health and education needs in mind.

The GRAP, introduced for the first time in 2017, breaks down air quality into four stages- "poor," "very poor," "severe," and "severe plus" -and each successive stage progressively more stringent in its measures. Stage 4 restrictions currently in place include halting construction activities and restricting entry of non-essential goods trucks into Delhi.
NEW DELHI: A day after violence rocked Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal, the Congress on Monday accused the BJP of creating a rift between Hindus and Muslims and urged the Supreme Court to intervene in the matter as soon as possible. Three people were killed and scores of others, including security personnel and administration officials, injured on Sunday as protesters opposing a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal clashed with police. A fourth injured person died on Monday.

In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, "The biased and hasty attitude of the state government on the recent dispute in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, is extremely unfortunate. I express my deepest condolences to those who have lost their loved ones in the violence and firing." The administration, without listening to all the parties, insensitively took action that vitiated the atmosphere further and led to the deaths of people -- for which the BJP government is directly responsible, he charged.

"The BJP's use of power to create a rift and discrimination between Hindu-Muslim communities is neither in the interest of the state nor the country. I request the Supreme Court to intervene in the matter as soon as possible and do justice," Gandhi said. The former Congress chief also appealed for peace and mutual harmony.

"We all have to join together to ensure that India moves forward on the path of unity and constitution, not communalism and hatred," Gandhi asserted.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused the Yogi Adityanath government of creating divisions while sitting in power and urged the Supreme Court to take cognisance of the matter and deliver justice.

In a post in Hindi on X, Priyanka Gandhi said, "The attitude of the state government regarding the sudden dispute in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, is very unfortunate. The way the administration acted in haste in such a sensitive matter without listening to the other side, without taking both the parties into confidence, shows that the government itself spoiled the atmosphere there." The administration did not even consider it necessary to follow the necessary procedure and duty, the Congress general secretary said.

"Trying to spread discrimination, oppression and division while sitting in power is neither in the interest of the people nor in the interest of the country. The honourable Supreme Court should take cognisance of the matter and do justice," Priyanka Gandhi said. "My appeal to the people of the state is to maintain peace in all circumstances," she asserted.

The police have lodged seven FIRs in connection with the violence, naming Samajwadi Party MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq and local Samajwadi Party MLA Iqbal Mehmood's son Sohail Iqbal as accused, officials said on Monday. The district administration has already imposed prohibitory orders and barred the entry of outsiders into Sambhal till November 30.

The Congress on Sunday alleged that the Adityanath administration was squarely responsible for killing innocents and only the BJP-RSS was guilty of "setting fire" to peace and harmony in Sambhal. The opposition party had said the videos of direct firing on the protesters depicted the horrifying result of a "well-planned conspiracy" by Adityanath and the BJP-RSS.
A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stormed to power in Maharashtra with a thumping victory, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has again reiterated 'unity of existence' among diversity. The RSS is believed to have played a major role in the BJP's victory as it held thousands of local meetings across Maharashtra.

Speaking during 'Lokmanthan Bhagyanagar 2024' in Hyderabad, Bhagwat said, "Our ancestors knew the truth of the unity of existence, they understood that it's everything...that's why there is diversity and it goes for some time, then there is only oneness. Unity is eternal and diversity also has unity if we try to explore it."

The RSS Chief further called for taking the Lokmanthan initiative to rural Bharat, urging smaller gatherings in villages to engage with grassroots voices. "Our inner feeling tells us that we are not enemies to anyone in this world and no one is an enemy to us. It's ok that someone is aggressive and has done something to us, so we will not tolerate it, but we will also respond to it...we don't engage in a fight with anyone," he said.

Bhagwat drew parallels from Puranic symbolism, stating, "Just as Halahala emerged during the churning of the ocean, challenges will arise. But we are prepared to bear them and serve Amrit for the welfare of all."

Mohan Bhagwat concluded his remarks with gratitude, noting that the deliberations at Lokmanthan Bhagyanagar 2024 had broadened even his own understanding. The RSS has been calling for Hyderabad to be renamed Bhagyanagar.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Minister Kishan Reddy have voiced support for renaming the city to Bhagyanagar on multiple occasions. The event was also attended by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy. (With PTI inputs)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with his counterparts from France, Ukraine, Lebanon, and Croatia at the sidelines of the MED Mediterranean Dialogues Conference in Rome, Italy on Monday.

The Foreign Minister discussed Indo-Pacific, Ukraine and global issues with his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot.

"A useful stock-taking of our bilateral partnership. Also discussed Indo-Pacific, Ukraine and global issues," Jaishankar stated in a post.

He also interacted with Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib and his Croatian counterpart Gordan Grlic Radman.

"Glad to interact with Lebanese FM Abdallah Bou Habib at the @RomeMEDialogues. Look forward to remaining in touch," he stated.

"Appreciate seeing FM @grlicradman of Croatia at the@RomeMEDialogues.His sentiments for our ties are always positive," Jaishakar said in a subsequent post.

Further during his meeting with Ukrainian FM Andrii Sybiha, Jaishankar reiterated India's support for "dialogue and diplomacy."

"Good to meet FM of Ukraine @andrii_sybihain Rome today. Useful exchange on advancing our bilateral cooperation. Reiterated India's support for dialogue and diplomacy," he stated.

Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar addressed the Rome Mediterranean Dialogue where he said that the new element of the relationship between India and the Mediterranean would be connectivity, and called the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor "can be a game changer."

In his opening remarks at the MED Mediterranean Dialogues Conference in Rome, the EAM highlighted the growing significance of connectivity in global relations, especially in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and its impact on the region.

He noted that while the conflict has complicated the situation, progress on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) continues on the eastern side, particularly between India, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Jaishankar pointed out the importance of the I2U2 grouping, which consists of India, Israel, the UAE, and the US, and is expected to become more active in the future.

He also expressed concerns over the escalating situation in West Asia and mentioned that India has been in regular touch with both Israel and Iran to "advocate constraints" and "enhance communication" in an attempt to resolve the conflict between both countries.

The Foreign Minister reiterated India's strong condemnation of terrorism, and the abduction of hostages by Hamas, and affirmed support for reaching a ceasefire.

Jaishankar, however, also emphasised the need to abide by international humanitarian law and called large-scale civilian casualties "unacceptable."

"Today I focus my remarks on the conflicts. The situation in the Middle East is obviously deeply concerning, both for what has happened and what may still come. India unequivocally condemns terrorism and hostage-taking.

It also regards large-scale civilian casualties in military operations to be unacceptable. International humanitarian law cannot be disregarded in immediate terms. We should all support a ceasefire," EAM Jaishankar said.
Rome: Foreign ministers from the world's leading industrialized nations are meeting Monday, with the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East entering decisive phases and a certain pressure to advance diplomatic efforts ahead of the new US administration taking over.

Hopes for brokering a cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon are foremost on the agenda of the Group of Seven meeting outside Rome that is gathering ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

On the first day of the two-day gathering Monday, the G7 will be joined by ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as well as the Secretary General of the Arab League.

With partners will be discussed ways to support efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, initiatives to support the population and the promotion of a credible political horizon for stability in the region, the Italian foreign ministry said.

The so-called Quint grouping of the US, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and the UAE has been working to finalise a day after plan for Gaza, and there is some urgency to make progress before the Trump administration takes over in January. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to pursue a policy that strongly favours Israel over the aspirations of the Palestinians.

Host Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani added another item to the G7 agenda last week after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas' military chief.

Italy is a founding member of the court and hosted the 1998 Rome conference that gave birth to it. But Italy's right-wing government has been a strong supporter of Israel after the October 7 Hamas attacks, while also providing humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza.

The Italian government has taken a cautious line, reaffirming its support and respect for the court but expressing concern that the warrants were politically motivated.

There can be no equivalence between the responsibilities of the state of Israel and the terrorist organization of Hamas, Premier Giorgia Meloni said, echoing the statement from U.S. President Joe Biden.

Nathalie Tocci, director of the Rome-based Institute for International Affairs think tank, said Italy would be seeking to forge a united front on the ICC warrants, at least among the six G7 countries that are signatories of the court: everyone but the U.S.

But in an essay this weekend in La Stampa newspaper, Tocci warned it was a risky move, since the U.S. Tends to dictate the G7 line and has blasted the ICC warrants against Netanyahu as outrageous. If Italy and the other (five G7) signatories of the ICC are unable to maintain the line on international law, they will not only erode it anyway but will be acting against our interests, Tocci wrote, recalling Italy's recourse to international law in demanding protection for Italian UN peacekeeepers who have come under fire in southern Lebanon.

The other major talking point of the G7 meeting is Ukraine, and tensions have only heightened since Russia attacked Ukraine last week with an experimental, hypersonic ballistic missile that escalated the nearly 33-month-old war.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha is expected at the G7 in Fiuggi on Tuesday, and NATO and Ukraine are to hold emergency talks the same day in Brussels.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the strike was retaliation for Kyiv's use of US and British longer-range missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory.

The G7 has been at the forefront of providing military and economic support for Ukraine since Russia's invasion in February 2022 and G7 members are particularly concerned about how a Trump administration will change the US approach.

Trump has criticized the billions of dollars that the Biden administration has poured into Ukraine and has said he could end the war in 24 hours, comments that appear to suggest he would press Ukraine to surrender territory that Russia now occupies.

Italy is a strong supporter of Ukraine and has backed the U.S. Decision to allow Ukraine to strike Russia with US-made, longer-range missiles. But Italy has invoked the country's constitutional repudiation of war in declining to provide Ukraine with offensive weaponry to strike inside Russia and limiting its aid to anti-air defense systems to protect Ukrainian civilians.

The G7 foreign ministers' meeting, the second of the Italian presidency after ministers gathered in Capri in April, is being held in the medieval town of Fiuggi southeast of Rome, best known for its thermal spas.

On Monday, which coincides with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, ministers will attend the inauguration of a red bench meant to symbolise Italy's focus on fighting gender-based violence.

Over the weekend, tens of thousands of people marched in Rome to protest gender-based violence, which in Italy so far this year has claimed the lives of 99 women, according to a report last week by the Eures think tank.
Beirut, Lebanon: Dozens of people have been killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon, including 29 deaths from a devastating attack that flattened a multi-story residential building in central Beirut's densely populated Basta area.

According to the IDF, 12 Hezbollah command centers were struck by the Israel Air Force in Dahieh, Beirut, including sites used by Hezbollah's Intelligence Unit, coast-to-sea missile unit, and Unit 4400--responsible for smuggling weapons from Iran through Syria into Lebanon. The IDF said, these command centers were used to plan, command, and execute terrorist attacks against Israel and monitor terrorist activity against IDF troops operating in southern Lebanon.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Ministry of Health revised the death toll upward on Sunday, initially reporting 20 deaths before confirming the higher number. Rescue teams continued working late into the weekend as the tragic aftermath of the Israeli airstrike became clear.

The Beirut airstrike is just one of several across the country as Israel continues its aggressive military campaign against Hezbollah, despite efforts to establish a ceasefire. The IDF confirmed that its strikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut targeted Hezbollah positions.

The Israeli military issued evacuation orders for several buildings in the area to reduce civilian harm, but those affected reported heavy bombings. The strike in Basta, among others, marks an escalation of Israeli air raids on central Beirut, following a similar airstrike last Sunday that killed a Hezbollah spokesperson, reported CNN.

Outside Beirut, Israeli airstrikes have also struck the Baalbek-Hermel region in eastern Lebanon, where at least 13 people, including four children, were killed in an attack on Shmistar. Another 13 were wounded in that strike, while additional airstrikes in surrounding towns resulted in at least 11 deaths and 32 injuries. In southern Lebanon, the city of Tyre was also targeted, with five people killed and 19 others injured in the Israeli bombardment.

Since September, Israeli airstrikes have killed numerous Hezbollah commanders and targeted key infrastructure, leading to widespread devastation in southern Lebanon. The toll of this conflict has been heavy on Lebanon, with more than 3,000 killed and over a million displaced, according to the United Nations.
Kyiv: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasised the role of sanctions in weakening Russia's war efforts, lauding the US's recent introduction of "highly effective" sanctions targeting Russia's banking sector.

Zelenskyy said further that while these measures significantly weaken Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime, more needs to be done.

The United States on November 21 imposed sanctions to curtail Russia's use of international financial system.

Sharing a post on X on Monday, Zelenskyy wrote, "Sanctions are equally vital. This week, the US introduced new, highly effective sanctions targeting Russia's banking sector. These measures significantly weaken Putin's regime."

He added, "However, more is needed--Russia must lose its capacity to fund the war every single week. No matter how extensively Russia resorts to blackmail, the world must remain resolute. Only by maintaining pressure can we bring true peace closer."

The Ukrainian President also spoke about the defence packages provided by Denmark, the United States, Germany, Canada and expressed his gratitude for the aid.

He said, "This week brought several new defence aid packages for Ukraine. Denmark has allocated approximately 1 billion kroner, and the funds will be directed toward supporting our defence industry. Norway has prepared an initial tranche following the Danish model to bolster weapons production in Ukraine. Similarly, Sweden is joining the financing efforts under this model."

"The United States has provided a USD 275 million package, which includes HIMARS ammunition, Javelins, drones, and mines--critical supplies for defending positions, particularly in the Donetsk region. Additionally, there is a new package from Germany and a NASAMS system from Canada. We are deeply grateful for each such step," the post added.

Notably, a press statement issued by US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller on November 21 said, "The United States is today imposing sanctions on 118 individuals and entities that operate in Russia's financial services sector and support the Kremlin's war effort. These targets include Gazprombank, Russia's largest remaining bank not previously blocked by the United States, dozens of additional Russian banks still maintaining ties to the international financial system, and individual Russian banking officials. The Department of the Treasury is also issuing an alert describing sanctions risks related to joining Russia's System for Transfer of Financial Messages, which the Kremlin created and uses to evade sanctions."

The statement further said that the action reaffirmed the US commitment to curtail Russia's ability to use the international financial system to conduct its war against Ukraine and disrupt Russia's attempts to make cross-border payments for dual-use goods and military materiel.

"We will continue to take all appropriate actions to promote accountability for those who enable or profit from Russia's illegal war," the statement added.
Rachel Gabel writes about agriculture and rural issues. She is assistant editor of The Fence Post Magazine, the regions preeminent agriculture publication.
The French ambassador to Armenia, Decottigny, has become utterly insolent  and this is no longer a matter of politics or diplomacy, but of sheer rudeness. Apparently, he considers himself the new Talleyrand, commenting on everything in the Dashnak spirit of the First World War.

A French salad would do well to remember how it all ended. Those who, at the beginning of the twentieth century, incited the Armenian population to rebellion and defiance quickly packed their bags and fled to the far West, from where they loudly lamented the bitter fate of their "Armenian brothers," sipping champagne in expensive restaurants.

Meanwhile, ordinary Armenians who were left behind paid a heavy price for their mistakes and misplaced faith in their "older brothers." They paid for the crimes of others.

"Older brothers" have a habit of being arrogant first and disappearing later. Oliveshechka is still in the first stage.
Supporters of the Rockrimmon Library react to comments Tuesday from county commissioners about the Pikes Peak Library Districts plan to close the library branch at the El Paso County Commissioners meeting at Centennial Hall.
The National Weather Service and the Colorado Department of Transportation are warning motorists to be aware of potentially hazardous driving conditions in the days leading up to Thanksgiving. Colorado Springs is expected to see a mixture of rain and snow throughout Tuesday, with snow showers likely Wednesday. Snow activity is expected to pick up late Monday and remain steady for most of the week, with Leadville expected to see 8-11 inches, according to the weather agency. Motorists are advised to take winter precautions and drive carefully, with snowplows on the roads and drivers giving them room to do their job.
When Judy Simmons heard her name called Friday night as the winner of the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award during a NASCAR awards banquet in Charlotte, North Carolina, she was in shock.

Then she started crying.

The tears flowed into the next day.

Simmons  one of four finalists  won the 14th annual honor that comes with a $100,000 donation to Gods Pit Crew, the Danville-based disaster relief organization where she volunteers four days a week.

My heart is children, Simmons told the Register & Bee via phone Saturday afternoon.

God just used me as a vessel to bless these children, she said. I was just so excited for these children.

Gods Pit Crew nominated Simmons for the award thats named after Betty Jane France, the late founder and chair of the NASCAR Foundation. It recognizes a NASCAR fan who volunteers for childrens causes in their local community.

Votes from online fans secured the win for Simmons.

Gods Pit Crew sends aid to victims of Mother Natures wrath throughout the nation and also deploys volunteers to storm-ravaged areas. One avenue of help is whats known as Blessing Buckets, something thats become a signature item for Gods Pit Crew. Those 5-gallon buckets have things like food, first-aid supplies, hygiene items, a Bible and a hand-written note of encouragement.

However, its lesser-known cousin designed for children is called Play Pails. During a tour earlier this year, Gods Pit Crew spokesperson Carly Brashears explained those are geared toward helping children in the midst of trauma.

The smaller 3-gallon white pails come with a customized colorful and somewhat whimsical scene on each. Volunteers are the ones responsible for bringing those plain buckets to life with lively creations.

We give the adults something, Simmons explained of the iconic Blessing Buckets.

The children were just standing there, she continued. They had nothing.

Simmons, who said she started volunteering at Gods Pit Crew in 2017, remembers discussing the Play Pails as a way to help the youngest ones. Those pails contain things like toys, crayons, blankets, a toothbrush and other necessities a child may need.

Something thats their own thing to hold onto, Simmons said.

Love of racing and children

Simmons has been a NASCAR fan for about 45 years. It started when she was growing up.

I had seven brothers and we used to race up and down the dirt road so that started the NASCAR thing for me, she told the newspaper.

Then she saw racing on TV and started going to the nearby South Boston Speedway.

She was hooked.

Bill Elliott is one of her favorite drivers and she vividly remembers in 1985 when he won $1 million.

I was at Martinsville Speedway and I gave him his water in the pits up there, she said.

However, Richard Petty is her all-time favorite.

Another perk of the Charlotte trip was getting to see some of those famous race car drivers, she said.

I just love racing and I love helping kids, Simmons explained.

When I was a kid, I didnt have anything, she told the newspaper. And I couldnt have children.

One of 10 children, the siblings didnt have toys and such.

Path to Gods Pit Crew

Simmons, who grew up in Danville but now lives in the Axton area, started teaching Sunday school at her church but had to give it up when she had cancer.

So when I got to where I was able to help and do something, Gods Pit Crew was my organization that I wanted to help, she said. We help the children and their families to help restore their lives back.

Simmons can be found at Gods Pit Crew all four days a week, the standard operation time for the organization thats marking its 25th anniversary this year.

This is going to help these children in the future, Simmons said. Its a miracle.

The $100,000 grant from the NASCAR Foundation will go toward the Play Pail program, Brashears confirmed to the Register & Bee.

This gracious donation will make an incredible impact on children recovering from unexpected disaster, as it will allow Gods Pit Crew to build more Play Pails filled with relief supplies, hygiene items, toys, encouraging activities and books to help provide hope in times of chaos, she wrote in an email.

Children are a special part of Simmons heart.

I just want each child to have something thats their own, she said. I want no children to do without like I did when I was a child.

She said the money and help would come in especially handy to the children in the mountains of North Carolina who lost everything. After an initial round of helping out near Asheville, North Carolina, volunteers with Gods Pit Crew left again this week on what it calls a Holiday Relief Mission.

They will stay through Dec. 7, putting an added emphasis on sharing hope in what is traditionally a more joyful time of year.

Judy is an incredible person doing impactful work for families that have experienced hardship due to natural disasters, especially during the difficult times faced in Western North Carolina this year, Nichole Krieger, NASCAR Foundation vice president and executive director, said in a Friday statement. Both Judy and her organization are very deserving of this award.

In addition to helping at Gods Pit Crews headquarters in Danville, Simmons also deploys to disaster areas where she can hand out the Play Pails.

When you take the top off of it and give them a toy, a mirror, a little car, a bear or something that they can hold onto thats their own, its a blessing, she said. It just brings tears to my eyes to see the joy in their face.
The Azerbaijan Air Force successfully carried out training flights as part of its annual training plan, Azernews reports via the Ministry of Defense.

Before the flights, pilots underwent checks on their theoretical knowledge of flight conditions and safety regulations. The personnel were also briefed on safety protocols, and the health of the flight crews was assessed. A thorough inspection of the Su-25 and Su-25 ML attack aircraft was conducted by the military pilots.

The training included take-off and landing exercises, complex piloting maneuvers at various altitudes, locating ground targets of a mock enemy, air reconnaissance missions, and other operational tasks.

The Ministry of Defense emphasized that the primary aim of the exercises was to enhance the combat skills and operational readiness of the personnel. The military pilots executed the assigned tasks with precision and professionalism, demonstrating their high level of preparedness.
In supporting Singapores Green Plan 20301, Equinix, the world's digital infrastructure company, today announced the companys sixth International Business Exchange (IBX) in Singapore, to be named SG6. With an initial investment of $260 million, this new facility will be covered by renewable energy and provide liquid cooling capability to support compute-intensive workloads, including AI.

SG6 will be added to Equinix's global network of interconnected data centres, facilitating low-latency, high-bandwidth connections between AI resources and data sources, enabling efficient AI workflows across different geographic locations. This capability is particularly valuable for organisations with stringent latency requirements or those seeking to leverage AI at scale across diverse infrastructures.

Singapore aims to leverage AI to drive innovation and economic growth and be one of the first in the world to launch an AI governance framework. The drive for technology leadership in the region also sees the nation making significant investments in quantum technology, blockchain, and edge computing. These technologies require substantial computing power and data processing resources, which has prompted the island-state to boost data centre capacity with trusted and environmentally responsible suppliers to achieve these technology aspirations sustainably.

Equinix is taking significant steps towards sustainability, including the adoption of a renewable energy power purchase agreement (PPA) in Singapore with Sembcorp Industries. Other sustainability innovations include using lower carbon building materials, energy-efficient water-cooled chiller and cooling towers, rainwater harvesting capabilities and more.

Equinix will offer liquid cooling technology in SG6, which is able to transfer heat more efficiently than air, to ensure effective cooling for high-power applications. The addition of this new data centre will allow Equinix to support Singaporean businesses and the nation to handle AI and other high computational needs in a more sustainable manner.

Equinix is dedicated to driving private-public sector partnerships across Singapore and the APAC region, with the aim of paving the way for the long-term sustainability of data centres. For instance, Equinix collaborated with College of Design and Engineering at the National University of Singapore to assess various types of alternative power supplies and their reliability, cost, operating conditions and environmental impact, to help data centre companies make an informed decision when implementing alternate fuel supply systems. The company also collaborated with IMDA and Dell Technologies to provide guidance and recommendations to modernise digital infrastructure deployment sustainably and to optimise the integration and utilisation between hardware and software interfaces.

Aileen Chia, Deputy Chief Executive (Connectivity Development & Regulation), Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), said, We welcome Equinixs addition of SG6 to its data centre (DC) investments. As we sustain the momentum of Singapores digital economy which today contributes almost 18% to Singapores GDP, data centres are a foundational digital infrastructure supporting our Smart Nation 2.0 efforts. Equinixs strong commitment to sustainability is aligned with our Green DC Roadmap, where we seek to accelerate DC energy efficiency and use of green energy to support the sustainable growth of Singapores digital economy. Singapore will continue to foster collaborations across the industry ecosystem to pioneer solutions for sustainable DC growth.

Pei Sheng Goh, Vice President, Digital Industry Singapore (DISG), said, Southeast Asias digital economy is expected to continue on its growth trajectory placing Singapore well for sectors such as finance, healthcare, and e-commerce. This presents immense opportunity for Generative AI advancement. We welcome Equinixs continued commitment to Singapore as it will strengthen our capabilities to handle AI computational needs, and enhance data connectivity for both local and regional businesses to drive economic value in the region.

Yee May Leong, Managing Director, Singapore, Equinix, said, SG6 sets a new benchmark in our approach to driving digital and AI transformation. As compute-intensive workloads continue to grow, the demand for capacity will also rise, and Equinix is equipped to support these next-generation workloads. By integrating the latest sustainability innovations, our new AI-ready data centre enables businesses to establish their digital infrastructure both responsibly and sustainably. We have always been a strong proponent of Singapores Green Plan 2030 and Smart Nation journeys, and grateful for the support from the government and our industry partners.

Highlights/Key Facts

Expected to open in Q1 2027, the 9-story facility is awarded as part of Singapore's pilot Data Centre - Call for Application ("DC-CFA") and will provide 20MW when fully built.

Equinix data centres in Singapore have achieved 100% renewables coverage since 2020. Equinix is on track to achieve climate neutrality by 2030, with a strong focus on investing in clean and renewable energy sources throughout its worldwide operations. This initiative extends to all facilities, whether newly constructed or recently incorporated into the companys portfolio.

Today, the global footprint of Platform Equinix spans 268 data centres across 73 metros and 34 countries. In Asia-Pacific, Equinix currently operates 59 data centres in 15 key metros across Australia, China*, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. The company also announced its market entry in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.

*Equinix operates four data centers in Shanghai through a strategic partnership
COMPANY NEWS: Boomi , the intelligent integration and automation leader, announced today the winners of its 2024 Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) Customer Innovation Awards, recognized at its 2024 Boomi World Tour stop in Sydney .

The winners were honored for pioneering innovative solutions by integrating applications and data into transformative, business-enhancing systems using the Boomi Enterprise Platform. This years recipients were chosen for their outstanding performance in the following criteria: demonstrating business impact through exceptional, quantifiable results; digital transformation; innovative projects; social impact; modernization; integration excellence; and automation excellence.

This years winners include:

Norths Collective - APJ Customer of the Year Award  Norths Collective powered its digital transformation strategy with Boomi, connecting its siloed systems and centralising operational and member data. This has helped the NSW-based hospitality group bolster business decision-making and deliver hyper-personalized member experiences, which has shown tangible results, including an 8X jump in email click-throughs.

HEB Construction (HEB) - Business Excellence Award  HEB extended its use of the Boomi platform to maximise the effectiveness of an existing third party AI-powered road monitoring tool. Using Boomi to integrate the AI tool with its Geographic Information System (GIS) and central and local government Work and Asset Management (WAM) platform, HEB delivers more timely, accurate insights to its maintenance team and clients. This follows the organizations successful introduction of Boomi to form system alignment between its local New Zealand operations and global parent company.

Uniting Care Queensland (UCQ) - Healthcare Excellence Award  Uniting Care Queensland delivered a reliable and scalable service across its four hospitals with Boomi. From radiology, pathology, and maternity wards to government claim services, statutory reporting, and food services, UCQs decision to replace its legacy integration platform with Boomi has enabled an uplift and further reuse across its sites. Among its 110 integrations, the Boomi Enterprise Platform also supports the financial processing across billing, claims, and recoveries.

Toyota Motors Corporation Australia (TMCA) - Innovation Award  TMCA used the Boomi platform to enhance connectivity across its corporate business systems, including integrations with certain systems at TMCA franchise network here in Australia, and also enabled certain digital products for Toyota customers. This helped the automotive group to establish a unified view of customer information and supports accurate record keeping for better governance and customer experience outcomes while promoting back-end reusability in integrations and API and async driven development.

Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) - Social Impact Award  TRC implemented Boomi to streamline its digital services delivery to residents, including maintenance requests, water payments, and residential development applications. With service forms integrated into the councils many systems, residents now benefit from a mobile-friendly, pre-populated application process, which reduces their time to complete requests and streamlines previously tedious administrative processes for council staff.

Over the past year, integration and automation have been the driving forces behind digital transformation, where our customers have taken the spotlight, said Thomas Lai, Vice President and General Manager of APJ at Boomi. The 2024 APJ award winners exemplify companies committed to a variety of business outcomes, from smarter decision-making to enhanced stakeholder engagement, and boosting productivity. We are immensely proud to be involved in driving transformative change within the innovative projects recognized this year.

In response to the overwhelming number of highly qualified submissions for this year's APJ Customer Innovation Awards, Boomi is pleased to also recognize and honor all nominees. Each of the submitting customers demonstrated excellence and exceptional work using the Boomi Enterprise Platform.

"By connecting their digital investments with Boomi and improving their data visibility, our customers are making a notable impact in their industries, delivering tangible benefits in productivity and enhancing the experiences of stakeholders and their communities, said Lai.
Parkable may well be one of the best stories you have never heard of. Founded in 2015 in New Zealand, Parkable is a platform which takes unused parking spots and puts them in the hands of consumers.

Need to find a regular parking spot the Parkable App will ensure you are allocated a spot at one of its participating car parks.

It not only alleviates this major pain point for consumers in finding a parking spot but provides a regular income for the parking spot owner.

Parkable also is a management software tool used for workplaces and commercial properties making parking admin, access, sharing and revenue simpler ensuring their car parks are fully utilised.

The company is growing quickly not only in New Zealand but Australia and more recently the UK and US. Covid stymied growth and despite working from home becoming the norm, the business is growing at 20% year-on-year.

Parkables Head of Sales Operations, Hamish Cadigan, told ITWire at the start of todays Salesforces Agentforce World Tour event in Melbourne that the company is entering a major growth phase.

We have automated many disparate processes which is enabling our sales staff to increase our conversion rate by 38% and a 50% reduction in time to convert. We have Slack notifications that tell us when there is a potential new customer in the system and we know that if we answer within two hours our conversion rate is considerably higher, he said.

Parkable has used Slack since its inception nine years ago and moved to Salesforces Sales Cloud and Service Cloud in 2022.

As Cadigan explains, as the company expanded, particularly overseas, the sales process became increasingly laborious and time consuming.

With Slack so ingrained into Parkable as our communications tool, the move to Salesforces Sales Cloud enabled employees to get a clearer picture of our sales pipeline. In fact, without it, growth would have been so much slower.

And the benefit for us is the connectivity between the products. That was really important as we moved into the US and UK markets as it gives us a great opportunity to look at the referral process where we are constantly testing, learning and adapting.

Cadigan said the company is now able to track a building  like Google maps  inside Salesforce. We can click on a building/site and see who manages it, who owns it and how many parking space there are. I can also search how many assets are owned by a certain business and go through and see where they are in the sales process. Asset mapping has opened a huge road to success for us.

Cadigan admitted that he was excited by the opportunity to access Salesforces AI capabilities  and that is one of the main reasons why I am here. We really want to automate some basic processes so there is a no human touch approach. For example, we have three sites on St Kilda Road and all will be at 100% capacity. But what if someone has parked in your spot, we need to find them another parking space. This is currently done manually but to have it automated would save us many hours a week.
Sextortion attacks are on the rise globally, with hackers using victims addresses and photos of their homes to personalise the attacks and increase the pressure to pay, according to new research by Barracuda .

Sextortion scams are a type of blackmail where criminals attempt to extort money from victims by threatening to release explicit images or videos taken from the victims computer unless their demands are met.

The research found cyber criminals are now including their victims full names, telephone numbers and residential addresses, as well as images taken from Google Maps of their home to make the attacks more threatening and convincing. Victims are then left with a difficult conundrum  do they ignore the demands and risk potential exposure, or pay the price for peace of mind?

Furthermore, the research shows extortion demands are increasing - rising from a few hundred dollars initially, to thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency, with criminals even making it easier for victims to pay with QR codes. Australians are being warned to stay vigilant against the rising tide of sextortion scams, given the personal and monetary consequences can be devastating.

Two men in Nigeria were just recently arrested over the sextortion of an Australian teenager who took his own life after being threatened online, so its a critical issue for Australian police right now.

Examples of real sextortion emails
NICE has announced that AUSIEX has implemented the NICE CXone cloud-native contact centre platform to enhance its operational capabilities and customer engagement strategies. AUSIEX is one of Australia's leading providers of wholesale trading solutions for financial institutions, intermediaries, advisers, and industry participants. AUSIEX uses its scale, expertise, and heritage to deliver value for hundreds of thousands of clients by seamlessly connecting them to markets.

AUSIEX embarked on a transformative journey to become a standalone entity following its acquisition by multi-national technology solutions provider Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. (NRI) in 2020. This required a robust and versatile CX solution that could cater to its evolving needs. After a thorough discovery phase evaluating various providers, AUSIEX selected CXone for its comprehensive functionality and ease of integration. The implementation was executed in stageswith the support of implementation Generation-eto minimize disruption and the integration of old and new technologies was managed meticulously.

Brett Grant, head of product, CX and marketing, AUSIEX, said, Adopting CXone has empowered AUSIEX to expand its customer interaction capabilities significantly. The company has moved from a primarily inbound call setup to a dynamic, artificial intelligence (AI) driven omnichannel approach that includes webchat, and call-back features, enhancing both service levels and operational efficiency and flexibility. This transition has been a game-changer for the business that not only signifies a pivotal shift in AUSIEXs technological infrastructure, but also aligns with the companys strategic objective to provide superior service to and on behalf of our clients in an increasingly competitive market.

One of the most significant upgrades has been in data analytics and reporting. AUSIEX has transitioned from relatively manually intensive processes to automated, real-time reporting and analytics through CXone. This has streamlined operations and provided deeper insights into customer behaviours and preferences. Since the introduction of CXone, AUSIEX has also introduced additional touchpoints for customer feedback and engagement, including phone-based surveys, which has seen its customer engagement increase by 33 per cent. These initiatives are part of AUSIEX's broader strategy to harness technology for better customer insights and service delivery.

The CXone implementation has also delivered a strong foundation from which AUSIEX can continue to evolve its operations through continuous improvement and innovation, including through the planned integration of workforce management capabilities. As AUSIEX continues to navigate its growth trajectory and expand its service offerings, the successful integration of NICE CXone stands as a cornerstone of its commitment to excellence in customer service and innovation.

Darren Rushworth, president, NICE international, said, NICE is thrilled to see the impact CXone has had on AUSIEX and its operations. NICE is dedicated to empowering innovative and customer-centric businesses like AUSIEX with cutting-edge solutions that position them at the forefront of innovation and CXone is specifically designed to meet the evolving expectations of customers in todays dynamic market. With CXone, AUSIEX can enhance its customer engagement with an agile and responsive service that adapts to changing needs while ensuring consistent CX."

About AUSIEX

With over 25 years of experience in the local market and the backing of Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. (NRI), a multinational trading technology powerhouse, AUSIEX combines deep expertise with trusted technology to deliver solutions that seamlessly connect our clients to markets. Supporting organisations of all sizes, we work across all segments of the wholesale market, specialising in equities execution, clearing and settlement services, equities administration, and fully supported B2B platforms. Our scale and experience as one of Australias leading providers of trading solutions for financial institutions, intermediaries, advisers and industry participants means we can provide access to a wide range of products and services which can be tailored to help our clients manage and grow their business. Our vision is bold and ambitious as we strive to be the trusted partner behind every trade and transaction.

About NRI

Founded in 1965, NRI is a leading global provider of consulting services and system solutions, including management consulting, system integration, and IT management and solutions for the financial, manufacturing, retail and service industries. Clients from all layers of these individual industries partner with NRI to tap NRIs research expertise and innovative solutions across the organisation to expand businesses, design corporate structures and create new business strategies. NRI has more than 17,000 employees in 16 countries and regions including New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia. NRI reports annual sales above $4.9 billion. NRI is rated A by S&P Global Ratings Japan.

About NICE

With NICE (Nasdaq: NICE), its never been easier for organisations of all sizes around the globe to create extraordinary customer experiences while meeting key business metrics. Featuring the worlds #1 cloud native customer experience platform, CXone, NICE is a worldwide leader in AI-powered self-service and agent-assisted CX software for the contact centre  and beyond. Over 25,000 organisations in more than 150 countries, including over 85 of the Fortune 100 companies, partner with NICE to transform - and elevate - every customer interaction. www.nice.com
Dynatrace (NYSE: DT) has become a member of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA) to provide customers with enhanced cloud security solutions through continuous innovation and collaboration with Microsoft and other MISA members. MISA is an ecosystem of independent software vendors (ISVs) and managed security service providers (MSSPs) that have integrated their solutions with Microsoft security technology to better defend mutual customers against cyber threats, which are rapidly increasing. According to recent Dynatrace research, nearly 72% of CISOs have faced application security incidents in the past two years.

Dynatrace was nominated to MISA because of its powerful integration with Microsofts SIEM solution, Microsoft Sentinel. Dynatrace delivers comprehensive observability and security, offering vital insights that simplify cloud complexity and empower organisations to proactively combat evolving cyber threats. By merging the insights from Dynatrace with Microsoft Sentinel, organisations gain a more holistic understanding of their security posture. As a result, SecOps teams can detect application attack attempts more effectively, streamline incident management, and proactively mitigate issues as part of their efforts to keep their cloud-native environments secure and their business operations resilient.

As cyber threats become increasingly sophisticated and frequent, its imperative for organisations to proactively defend their IT environments, said Jay Snyder, SVP, Global Partner and Alliances at Dynatrace. With Dynatrace, teams gain end-to-end observability and security across all workloads. They can automatically identify vulnerabilities, measure risks, and leverage advanced analytics and automation to mitigate issues. As a MISA member, we look forward to collaborating with Microsoft and other members to develop best practices, share insights, and drive innovation in cloud-native security. We are excited to deepen our relationship with Microsoft, reaffirming our commitment to helping organisations innovate securely.

The Microsoft Intelligent Security Association has grown into a vibrant ecosystem comprised of the most reliable and trusted security software vendors across the globe, said Maria Thomson, Director, Microsoft Intelligent Security Association. Our members, like Dynatrace, share Microsofts commitment to collaboration within the cybersecurity community to improve our customers ability to predict, detect, and respond to security threats faster.

Established in 2018 to bring together Microsoft leaders, ISVs, and MSSPs, MISA focuses on collaborating to combat security threats and create a safer environment for all. Its mission is to provide intelligent, industry-leading security solutions that work together to help protect organisations at the speed and scale of AI in an ever-increasing threat landscape.
100 years ago,

Nov. 25, 1924

CENTRALIA  Edward Harvey, restaurant proprietor, is near death, and five buildings, valued with their contents at $20,000 are destroyed as the result of a fire that today swept the village of Kell, fifteen miles east of here. The origin of the flames is not known ... TUSCOLA  The case of Lee Roy Benskin, Harley Campbell and Leonard Campbell, charged with the murder of Sherman Denny, and now being conducted in the Douglas County Circuit Court, with Judge Franklin F. Boggs of Urbana presiding, has a good start into the second week of its hearing. The case seems to be gaining in interest. Monday afternoon, for the first time, the large courtroom was filled to capacity, all the seats being taken and rows of people were standing around the inner walls. A deputy sheriff was placed at the door and perhaps a hundred or more people were turned away ... MATTOON  Employees of the Coles County Telephone and Telegraph Company will be busily engaged during the next several days in the distribution to each and every telephone user in the territory served by the company out of its Mattoon exchange copies of the new telephone directory have been made in the new directory, which was printed by The Gazette Printing Company. The suburban list has been discontinued and the list of rural subscribers distributed in alphabetical order throughout the Mattoon list proper. This will avoid the confusion formerly caused by having to look in a separate list for the numbers of subscribers' phones outside the city limits. Another important addition to the directory is that the list of Humboldt subscribers is included, the entire list being printed in the back of the book...MATTOON  In Justice Abel's court this morning the case of the state against Preston Beard, arrested on Nov. 19 on a warrant sworn out by his former wife, Mrs. Cory Meek, was dismissed as the complainant failed to appear against him. The complaint charged Beard with having forcibly taken a bracelet and watch from his former wife and refusing to return it to her when the couple were driving to Effingham, Beard furnished a $500 appearance bond after his arrest for the trial today. He has been discharged.

50 years ago, 1974

MATTOON  Eight members of the Coles County Board are in favor of getting rid of the county's new voting machines. However, only six of voting machine opponents are expected to attend the special county board meeting Tuesday in Charleston. Expected to miss the meeting are Frank Annis, R-Mattoon; and Charles Bates, D-rural Mattoon. Annis has been hospitalized. Bates said today he would probably be unable to attend because of a death in his family. The board is also scheduled to consider a resolution asking the Illinois Board of Elections to overturn the Nov. 5 Coles County election. The call for the special meeting came in the wake of widespread reports of voting machine malfunctions throughout the county during the Nov. 5th election. Coles County Clerk Harry F. Grafton stated after the election that between 275 and 300 votes may have been lost due to voting machine malfunctions. Grafton and Richard McKay, president of the Thornber Co., have stated that they believe most of the malfunctions resulted from human error ... CHARLESTON  Any attempt by Coles County to break their voting machine contract with the Frank Thornber Co. might bring legal action from the Chicago firm. The board is scheduled to consider a resolution to void the contract at 10 a.m. Tuesday. The resolution would also attempt to reclaim the $120,000 down payment the county has already paid on the "Video Voter" machines. Richard McKay, Thornber president, said last last week he would turn over any challenge to the contract by Coles County to his legal staff. "I have no idea what the legal ramifications of the action might be," McKay said, "But I would turn the matter over to our legal department."

25 years ago, 1999

OAKLAND  Forget about Y2K - in Oakland, the big concern is H2O. Only four to seven weeks' worth of water is left in Lake Oakland, forcing residents to cut down on their water usage while local and state officials scramble for alternative sources before the supply runs out or freezes. Oakland is the only community in the state that is facing such a situation, said Don Vonnahme, director of the state Office of Water Resources, part of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. One possible solution is pumping one foot of water from the Walnut Point State Park lake, which would boost Lake Oakland by two feet and provide an estimated 100 days' worth of water. "It would at least put us through the winter," said Oakland Water Superintendent Dale Hanner. "It might be a viable solution. Right now, it's just in the preliminary planning stages. This isn't a done deal." ... CHARLESTON  Dry weather during the last few months has caused the water level at the Charleston Side Channel Reservoir to drop 33 inches below normal, but city officials report that is not unusual this time of year. Director of Public Works Dean Barber stated in a press release that the dry period the Charleston area has been experiencing since August has affected how much water the city can pump into the reservoir from the Embarras River. Barber stated that, at the present time, the river pumps are off due to the low flow in the Embarras. The water level in the reservoir has dropped to 31 inches below normal pool as a result of this dry period, Barber stated. This drop in water level is not unusual for this time of year, he stated.
Forsyth County commissioners will eventually decide whether or not to rezone a warehouse property on the Idols Road corridor in Clemmons into a cement production facility that would store unknown chemical materials close to a neighborhood, after the city and county planning board recommended the rezoning on Nov. 14.

The 5.49-acre location, 6220 Clementine Drive, is already used as a warehouse property within an existing industrial business park close to the intersection of Idols and Hampton Roads. Although the proposed new uses should be mostly fine for the location, the new business is planning to build a 320 square foot chemical storage container on the edge of the site, which could generate unanticipated off-site impacts for the nearby Peppertree neighborhood, according to a planning staff report.

Two Peppertree residents spoke against the proposal at the planning board meeting and said that the chemical storage container, which would be placed about 500 feet away from their houses, made them concerned about potential impacts to environmental quality and their home values.

Marsh Prause, an attorney for the warehouse owners trying to rezone their property, said they are not at liberty to identify the tenant who would be moving into the space or the kind of chemicals stored on the site, because they consider it proprietary information in the middle of an active lease negotiation. The three buildings have been vacant for over a year now, Prause said, and it has been challenging for the warehouse owners to find a tenant.

Im one of the residents thats closest, said Marianne Vaje of Orchard Path Drive. My main concern is that they say theyre going to be manufacturing things inside of the building. I would like to know how that is going to impact our air.

I cant imagine you mixing anything and not venting it somehow, Vaje added.

Ryan Murphy, who also lives on Orchard Path Drive, said that he is concerned that the rezoning decision could set a precedent and encourage other manufacturing and production facilities to move into the area, lessening home values.

My main concern is what else, if we rezone it, could move in this, and the property of our home go down. You know, air quality, noise, dust, vibration, Murphy said.

Prause couldnt be reached for comment by the Journal after repeated attempts but at the Nov. 14 meeting he explained that the chemicals were additives for concrete to improve its cure time and workability.

Theyre a vital part of the building industry, Prause said. This particular company ... they operate at a dozen other locations, they have similar facilities at a dozen other locations in North America. Theyve also been doing this for over a hundred years so theyre experts in their field.

Prause said there is no chemical reactions taking place in the companys production process, but that it is instead a physical mixing of liquids with no temperature increases like at petrochemical facilities or refineries. The chemicals that would be stored would be water-based, Prause said, and include acetic acid.

It is basically a single shipping container and the reason it is being done that way is because one substance being stored in it is technically a combustible substance, which doesnt mean it can blow up, it just means if theres a fire, it can support the fire, Prause said. The fire marshal likes that stuff outside [of the building].

Prause said that the business assured him the chemicals are so low-level that they could not hurt neighbors 500 feet away even if they tried.

In their report, planning staff recommended denying the rezoning, because they did not see any evidence suggesting that the petitioners had taken sufficient safeguards to prevent potential off-site impacts, and because they were concerned that the rezoning could lead to additional requests for general industrial zoning on other properties in the business park.

There are other areas in the city that are already appropriately zoned for this, planning director Chris Murphy pointed out. This is a light industrial area and the introduction of [general industrial] here could set it up for future requests.

Ultimately, the planning board approved a recommendation for Forsyth commissioners in a 5-2 vote with the stipulation that the chemical uses at the site be narrowed to a designation for all other miscellaneous chemical products and preparations manufacturing rather than broader designations for chemical manufacturing and nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing.

Lindsey Schwab, a zoning board member who voted against the rezoning, said that she felt what was presented felt like murky waters.

While were being shared that this is all very innocuous, it does open doors on either side of the parcel, and Im just not comfortable with this many unknowns this close to a residential neighborhood, Schwab said.

I feel like were kind of writing it as we go, and I dont know that I feel comfortable making a decision doing that, said Brenda Smith, the other member who voted against the proposal. Smith said it would have been better to have known the information about the chemicals before considering the proposal.

Jason Grubbs, vice chair of the board, said that this kind of proposal might be something that the planning board will deal with more often.

Unfortunately this is something were going to deal with time and time again on this board, Im afraid, more often as we continue to quote unquote run out of land in Forsyth county, and also continue to hear cries for more housing, Grubbs said. Id love to find a way to make this work because I think this is an economic development opportunity for the county, but Im also hearing what residents are saying about, What exactly is this?

Forsyth County commissioners will consider the rezoning proposal in early 2025 and will vote on whether or not to grant the rezoning request.
The Triads three primary hospitals are failing to fully meet federal standards for transparency pricing, according to the seventh semiannual report produced by public health advocacy group Patient Rights Advocate.org.

The parent systems of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, Moses Cone and Forsyth Medical Center have disputed the findings in various degrees of opposition.

The November analysis, released last week, reviews whether 2,000 hospitals nationwide are complying with pricing requirements set in January 2021 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is responsible for determining overall compliance in 15 different categories that include: complete standard charge file; codes (of any type); gross charge; discounted cash price; negotiated minimum; negotiated maximum; negotiated rates; all payers and plans; 300 most common shoppable list; price estimate tool; and price estimate tool provides cash price.

The determination is that just 33% of hospitals in North Carolina, and 21% nationally, are fully complying.

Listed as not fully compliant are Baptist, Cone and Forsyth, along with Baptist-affiliated Davie, High Point, Lexington and Wilkes medical centers. Those were the lone Triad hospitals included in the report.

By keeping their prices hidden, hospitals continue to block American consumers from their right to compare prices and protect themselves from overcharges, Cynthia Fisher, founder and chairwoman of PRA, said in a statement.

Advocate Health, parent of Atrium Health and its Baptist affiliates, said in a statement that since the inception of the federal hospital transparency requirements, we have been diligent in our efforts to meet both the spirit and the letter of the law.

The findings in this report are merely subjective based on the interests of Patient Rights Advocate.

Cone Health said that we believe we are compliant with CMS requirements and will work to correct the minor technical issues identified by PRA. Providing consumers with pricing information is important.

Novant Health Inc. said that we take compliance with these federal regulations seriously, and our teams have been committed to staying up-to-date and in compliance with the various iterations of the CMS Price Transparency Rule since it launched in 2021.

Shopping healthcare costs

A major sticking point with hospital transparency pricing efforts remains that you can lead healthcare consumers to comparative details, but can you get them to shop?

The federal rule requires hospitals to post all prices online, easily accessible and searchable, in the form of a single machine-readable standard charges file pricing for all items, services and drugs by all payers and all plans.

The advocacy group said the Hospital Price Transparency Rule is intended to empower healthcare consumers  patients, employers and unions as purchasers  with ease of access to compare prices.

All purchasers can then use prices to benefit from competition and be protected from overcharges, ultimately to drive down their costs of care and coverage.

The group said it is disappointed CMS recently lowered transparency standards, which created the illusion that many hospitals made strides in consumer protections.

However, the new standards included the option to omit actual dollars-and-cents prices. Because of this, in this new report, PRA also assessed each hospitals Pricing Data Sufficiency based on the availability of actual prices found in the files.

This is essentially a commonsense evaluation, since consumers need real prices to determine actual costs.

Baptist findings

The report provides a breakdown of how the hospitals are performing in the 15 transparency categories.

For Baptist and its four Triad affiliates, the main non-compliance issue is failure to include all payor and plan names.

Wilkes was found noncompliant in just one of the 15 categories, while Baptist, High Point and Lexington were found noncompliant in two. Davie was noncompliant in two of the seven categories in which it was measured.

Advocate cited in its statement a November 2023 ruling from CMS that only CMS can make a determination as to a hospitals compliance with the hospital price transparency requirements.

To publish ad hoc lists of this nature fundamentally misrepresents the existing rules and serves only to advance misinformation  often solely to further the publishing organizations preferred narrative, Advocate said.

Advocate added that we have made compliance with federal hospital price transparency a priority and have made a good faith effort to publish information that meets CMSs current regulations.

Novant, Cone findings

The three Novant hospitals included in the report are Forsyth, Presbyterian in Charlotte and New Hanover in Wilmington.

Each hospital was determined to be noncompliant in three of the seven categories in which they were rated.

The common non-compliance issues were does not conform to the required form and manner requirements and hospital website homepage footer omits required price transparency link.

Novant said in its statement that the footer on each page of our website has linked directly to the price transparency webpage for several years, with labels ranging from cost estimates to price transparency.

This link is still in place today, so patients can easily access our online price estimator tool, standard charges and dedicated financial navigators to make the most informed healthcare choices possible.

Moses Cone was the only Cone-affiliated hospitals included in the report.

Cone was determined to be noncompliant in three of the 15 categories, foremost failure to provide payor and plan names for all negotiated charges ... and filename does not confirm to naming convention.

State Health Plan report

The majority of the states 140 hospitals are being accused of massive price markups of up to 1,120% on routine care and basic services, along with a lack of pricing transparency, in a State Health Plan-sponsored report on healthcare systems released in September 2023.

The report leads with too many North Carolina hospitals are violating federal rules to hide their prices from patients. The anticompetitive infractions thwart patients ability to make informed decisions about their health care.

The study was commissioned by state Treasurer Dale Folwell as part of his push against the states not-for-profit healthcare systems.

The state treasurer has oversight authority of the SHP, which covers more than 727,000 participants that include current and retired state employees, teachers and legislators. It is North Carolinas largest purchaser of medical and pharmaceutical services.

Patients are under siege in North Carolina, Folwell said last week. Too many hospitals continue to give the middle finger to presidential executive orders.
Deals totaling 2.7 billion USD inked at World Forestry Industry Conference

Xinhua) 08:31, November 25, 2024

An aerial drone photo taken on Aug. 31, 2023 shows the scenery of Arxan Tianchi (Heavenly Lake) in the Arxan National Forest Park, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Lian Zhen)

NANNING, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- The 2024 World Forestry Industry Conference kicked off on Saturday in Nanning, the capital city of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, witnessing the signature of 35 contracts with a total value of 19.4 billion yuan (about 2.7 billion U.S. dollars).

The two-day conference focuses on innovation as a driver of high-quality development in the forestry industry. It has brought together representatives of forestry authorities, international forestry organizations and renowned global companies, and attracted the participation of nearly 1,100 companies.

By 2023, China's forest coverage rate had exceeded 25 percent, with a forest stock volume of over 20 billion cubic meters, Guan Zhi'ou, head of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, said during the opening ceremony.

The total output value of the Chinese forestry industry exceeded 9 trillion yuan last year, making China the world's leading country in forestry production, trade and consumption, Guan said.

An exhibition showcasing global forest products has been held as part of the conference, spanning an area of 50,000 square meters and attracting 1,075 companies to participate.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
(Korea Tip of the Day)

Whether for a TDY or a vacation, visiting Korea offers delightful experiences. To make the most of your journey and enjoy convenience along the way, here are 10 important tips you need to know to kickstart your adventure!

1. Download Naver Map

(Naver Map)

In Korea, Naver Map and Kakao Map provide accurate GPS navigation. Google Maps does not work in Korea. Naver Map is especially efficient, offering detailed maps, directions, transportation options, estimated trip costs, and real-time traffic updates. It also helps discover nearby attractions, great restaurants, and stores, similar to Google Maps. The app features filters to refine searches for places with high ratings or parking facilities.

2. Get your transportation card

Tmoney Card (Photo by Tmoney Card Shop)

There are several options for transportation cards: Tmoney, Cashbee, NAMANE, and WOWPASS. Each offer similar functions but with different benefits depending on your travel plans. If you want the simplest option for using the mass transit system, just get a Tmoney card at a nearby convenience store to start your journey.

Tmoney cards can be used for buses, taxis, the metro, and in convenience stores. It offers a 100-won discount for every ride, and also allows you to transfer between buses and subways almost for free if done within 30 minutes (limited to 4 times a day).

Price: Starts from 3,000 won (price varies depending on design and type)

Top-up locations: Convenience stores (GS25, CU, 7-Eleven, MINISTOP, Story Way, Emart24, 365PLUS) and subway stations

How to use: Purchase a card at any top-up location and load it with between 1,000 won to 90,000 won. Scan the card upon entering a bus or metro. Be sure to scan it again when exiting to receive the transfer discount. When you leave Korea, you can also request a refund for any remaining balance at designated top-up locations or Tmoney Town at Seoul Station (a 500-won service fee applies).

3. Know how to book train tickets

(KorailTalk) (SRT)

When traveling to different cities, using the Korail or SRT railway systems is recommended if you dont have a car. Check schedules and book tickets in English through their websites and apps, which also accept foreign credit cards. For Korail trains, use the KorailTalk app, and for SRT tickets, use their website. If tickets are sold out, standing tickets can be purchased on-site.

4. Use a translation app

(Papago)

For translation, Google Translate works well, but for more accurate Korean translations, Naver Papago app can be a good option, too. Developed by a local company, this app understands the variances of the Korean language. The app offers real-time translation for conversations, menus, signs, and more. You can type, speak, or take a photo of text for translation.

5. Figure out your data plan

(Klook)

When traveling to a new country, your phone becomes your GPS, translator, tour guide, and the easiest way to find necessary resources. Having internet connection or data on your phone will make a world of difference.

First, make sure your mobile device is unlocked and whether you need a SIM card or can use an eSIM card before your trip.

To find suitable data options in Korea, browse online travel shops like Klook and Trazy or mobile operator website (KT, LG U+, SKT). Purchase SIM cards online first, then pick up at any of the South Korean airports you fly into. Another option is to simply purchase directly when you arrive at the airport, at convenience stores, or mobile carrier shops around Korea. There are several options to consider depending on your plan.

SIM cards: Choose a plan to suit your data/voice usage and decide whether you only need data (a cheaper option) or also want to have a phone number for calling and texting. The new SIM card will temporarily replace your original SIM, so make sure to store the original in a safe place to put back when your trip is over.

eSIM cards: They have the same function of a physical SIM card but are digital. This option is more convenient as it doesnt require picking up and swapping SIM cards. Its available for compatible phones, so make sure your phone accepts eSIMs. These can be purchased online or through mobile operator websites.

Pocket WiFi: Renting a pocket WiFi device can be cost-effective when traveling with a group of people as it allows you to share data with multiple devices. However, theres a distance limit so everyone must stay close to the person carrying the device to be connected. Remember, its a rental service, so youll need to return it before leaving Korea.

6. Use Public Wi-Fi

(WiFi)

When youre disconnected to the internet due to not having a Korean SIM card or lacking data, no worries. You can find free Wi-Fi networks almost anywhere in Korea, including cafes, restaurants, public spaces, and on public transportation. While many dining spots and shopping centers offer their own Wi-Fi, the local government and major telecom companies like LG U+ and KT provide a service called Public Wi-Fi. This service is available on trains, buses, inside traditional markets, community centers, beaches, and most public areas.

How to find Public Wi-Fi

Visit their website or download the app. Then set the location and search a list of available Wi-Fi networks in the area. If youre already in a public area, check your phone for Wi-Fi connections.

How to connect to Public Wi-Fi

Go to your devices Wi-Fi settings and look for the Public Wi-Fi network. If it doesnt connect automatically, open your web browser and click the button to connect to the internet. For Secured Public Wi-Fi networks, youll need to enter a username and password.

Username: wifi

Password: wifi

Learn more about Public Wi-Fi

7. Free 24-hour travel assistance

If youre new to Korea, you may have questions about traveling or need immediate help with interpretation. Simply dial 1330 to connect with a 24-hour travel helpline operated by the Korea Tourism Organization. The agency also has live chat support in English and other languages via their website, mobile apps, and Facebook Messenger. The helpline offers tourist information and assistance completely free of charge.

8. Monitor daily air pollution

(Air pollution)

As a resident in Korea, my daily routine begins with checking the air quality reports before opening windows or heading outside. Air pollution in Korea is a serious concern that can cause significant health risks, including respiratory problems, eye irritation, and skin irritation, depending on individual sensitivity. To effectively manage air pollution in Korea, its important to follow these essential steps to safeguard your health:

1) Monitor air quality daily

Stay updated by using your phones weather widget, which provides not only weather forecasts but also details on fine dust and ultra-fine dust levels. You can also check the Air Quality Index (AQI) through the following websites:

2) Adhere to guidelines for high-pollution days

Avoid going out if possible and minimize outdoor activities. Wear a protective mask (KF80, KF94, KF99) outside. When outside, avoid areas with heavy air pollution, such as roadsides and construction sites. Dont open the window for natural ventilation. Your room can become polluted with fine dust. When indoors, use air purifiers, mop the floor with water, and use wet wipes. Wash thoroughly after going out, especially your hands, feet, eyes, and nose with running water, and brush your teeth. Consume plenty of water and vitamin C-rich fruits and vegetables. Its recommended to refrain from activities that contribute to air pollution such as using private vehicles instead of public transportation.

9. Things to know for dining out at restaurants

Restaurant cultures vary across countries, and Korea also has its own unique ways. To navigate your best restaurant experience, check out these 5 helpful tips about Korean restaurant culture.

No tipping: Unlike some countries, tipping is not customary in Korea. When youre ready to pay, walk up to the cashier or counter to pay your bill. Simply say:  (Gyesan-halgeyo), which means I will pay in Korean. Calling the server: Many Korean restaurants have a small bell on the table to summon servers. The bell is usually placed at a corner or under the table. If you dont find a bell, you can raise your hand and say  (Jeogiyo), which means Excuse me in Korean. Check business hours: Some restaurants close for a break from 2 or 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Make sure to check the restaurants hours on Naver Map before heading out, especially if you plan to dine during these hours. Unlimited side dishes: One of the beauties of Korean dining is the variety of free, refillable side dishes served with meals. Feel free to ask the server for refills if you want more side dishes. Many restaurants also feature a self-service bar where you can help yourself with the side dishes and refill them without needing to call the server. Ask for a phone charger: Most restaurants offer a free phone charging station. Even if they dont provide a specific charging service, its very common in Korea to ask to charge your phone at the restaurant if needed. Feel free to ask the staff to charge your phone while enjoying your meal.

10. Things to know about public restrooms

(Toilet search in Naver Map)

If youre looking for a restroom outside and cant find one nearby, subway stations are usually good places to find accessible public restrooms. In Korea, convenience stores and regular stores typically dont offer restrooms for customers.

You can also use Naver Map to locate nearby public restrooms by searching for toilet or  (Hwajangsil), meaning restroom in Korean. Note that Naver Map will show you many of public restrooms located inside buildings such as post offices or gas stations, so they may not be accessible outside of their business hours. Additionally, some restrooms may not provide toilet paper and soap, so carry your own tissues and hand sanitizer for convenience.
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For those stationed at Camp Humphreys, various public transportation options are available when traveling to Seoul, including subway, trains, and buses. Depending on your destination within Seoul, choosing the right option can significantly ease your journey.

For instance, if your destination is Seoul Station, trains such as Mugunghwa or ITX might be the most efficient choice among public transportation. On the other hand, if youre headed to Southeast Seoul (Gangnam-Jamsil areas), taking the SRT or express buses can be great options.

Personally, I prefer express buses over SRT when going to Jamsil or Gangnam for several reasons. First, SRT tickets often sell out quickly. And taking the subway to Pyeongtaek Jije Station, where the SRT stops, requires a 20 minute trip from Pyeongtaek Station. After getting off the SRT at Suseo Station, it takes another 20-30 minutes to reach Jamsil or Gangnam by subway. In contrast, express buses can take you directly from Pyeongtaek to Jamsil with a similar travel time and less walking or complexity.

Getting tickets on the day of the trip is usually not difficult, but during holidays and weekends, its strongly recommended to buy tickets in advance.

There are three different bus routes to Seoul at two different express bus terminals near Pyeongtaek Stations Exit 1, so please check the following information carefully.

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1. Pyeongtaek Express Bus Terminal

Located right in front of Pyeongtaek Station Exit 1, these buses go to Seoul Gyeongbu Bus Terminal. This bus route is available for a round-trip, allowing you to return to Pyeongtaek from the same bus terminal.

Pyeongtaek to Seoul Gyeongbu Express Bus Terminal (Line3,7,9. Express Bus Terminal Station)

Duration: 55 minutes

Ticket: 6,100 won

Schedule: Buses depart every 10-20 minutes from 6 a.m. to 10:40 p.m.

Pyeongtaek Express Bus Terminal ()

2. Pyeongtaek Bus Terminal (Intercity Bus)

A three-minute walk from the Pyeongtaek Express Bus Terminal, this terminal in front of Daiso offers various destination options in Seoul. They have two travel routes to Seoul from Pyeongtaek. Booking through an app or website may be difficult with a foreign credit card, but you can check available spots and schedules with the app and website. Additionally, you can travel to numerous destinations all over Korea through this terminal, including Incheon Airport.

Pyeongtaek Intercity Bus Terminal () Pyeongtaek Express Bus Terminal () Pyeongtaek Express Bus Terminal ()

1) East Seoul Bus Terminal (Subway line 2)

This bus stops at several terminals in Seoul: Jangji Station, Garak Market Station, Jamsil Station and East Seoul Terminal, which is the final destination. This route is the easiest way to get to Jamsil Station. If you want to return to Pyeongtaek, only East Seoul has buses available for a round-trip.

Duration: 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes

Ticket: 5,600 won  6,800 won

Schedule: Buses depart every 30 minutes to an hour from 6:20 a.m. to 9:10 p.m.

2) South Seoul Bus Terminal (Subway line 3) This terminal is a seven minutes away from Gangnam Station and the route is available for round trip.
Scientists say a fossil found in Germany is providing new details about flying reptiles that lived on Earth about 147 million years ago.

The fossil was discovered in 2015 in the southeastern German state of Bavaria. It contains the remains of a newly identified species called Skiphosoura bavarica.

Skiphosoura is considered a pterosaur, an ancient flying reptile. It lived toward the end of the Jurassic Period. Researchers say the creature played an important part in the development of ecosystems during the age of the dinosaurs.

The reptile had a wing reach of about 2 meters for traveling and a set of sharp teeth to help capture and eat other animals. Skiphosoura would have been one of the largest fliers in its ecosystem. Researchers say the discovered fossil was in good shape, with nearly every bone remaining in the skeleton. This has permitted the team to learn new details about this pterosaur.

One of the leaders of the fossil examinations is David Hone of Queen Mary University of London. He told Reuters news agency he thinks the fossil find was "of huge importance."

Hone was the lead writer of a study describing the teams work in the publication Current Biology. He added that Skiphosoura has provided new information about the evolution of pterosaurs. "It also brings other pterosaur finds we had already made into focus, Hone said.

He added that the discovery also helps better explain where they go in the family tree of pterosaurs and permits scientists to show this development from early to later forms.

"The teeth are quite long and sharp. They are for puncturing and holding," Hone said. He noted these were likely used to catch smaller animals such as lizards, small mammals, insects and possibly fish.

Pterosaurs are considered ancestors of the dinosaurs. They were the first of three groups of vertebrates  animals with a backbone  to enjoy powered flight. Pterosaurs disappeared about 66 million years ago in the mass extinction that also took out most of the dinosaurs after an asteroid struck Earth.

Scientists divide pterosaurs into two major groups - the early non-pterodactyloids and the later pterodactyloids. The early group's members had a short head, short neck, long tail and a long fifth toe on the foot. The later ones had a large head, long neck, short tail, long wrist and short fifth toe.

The team says the discovery of Skiphosoura  along with another species that lived 170 million years ago in Scotland  have helped shape important events in pterosaur development.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Reuters reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English.

_________________________________________

Words in This Story

fossil  n. something (such as a leaf, skeleton, or footprint) from a plant or animal that lived in ancient times and that you can see in old rocks

species  n. a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants

ecosystem  n. all the living things in a particular area, as well as the ways the things affect each other and the environment

focus  n. special attention you give something

puncture  v. to make a hole in something

extinct  adj. not existing anymore

asteroid  n. a rocky object that goes around the sun like a planet
A Scottish dairy, or milk cow farm, is offering what it calls Britains costliest coffee: one cup for $344.

It is a huge price for a little cup of coffee, but the man selling it offers a deal sweetener: a share of a dairy farm.

For that price, they also receive 34 shares in Mossgiel Organic Dairy. The company offers the deal in a crowdfunding campaign it opened. It hopes to raise enough money to enlarge its sustainable operation and produce more milk.

Investors who buy 34 shares get a certificate for a special coffee drink called a flat white. Holders can present their certificate and get their flat white at one of 13 coffee shops in Scotland that use the dairy's milk.

The dairys owner, Bryce Cunningham, notes his coffee costs 80 times the usual price. "We know it sounds crazy, but when you break it down, its a pretty good deal. How much is the future of farming worth, he asked.

The price tops the $320 for a flat white at Shot London, a coffee bar in the wealthy Mayfair and Marylebone neighborhoods. That flat white was made with rare coffee beans from Okinawa, Japan. The Telegraph newspaper reported in April that it was the most costly coffee in Britain.

Cunningham is seeking about $375,000 from small investors in order to secure a much larger bank loan. He had already raised more than a third of his goal when he offered the flat white farm shares deal.

The loan he is seeking is worth more than $1.1 million. He says that financing will help him double operations and expand out of Scotland all the way to London.

Shareholders receive other rewards, too, such as farm visits, milk transport deals and invitations to special events. But investors are also given a standard warning that they could lose some or all of the money they invest.

The dairy farm in Mauchline, about 40 kilometers south of Glasgow, is historic. The famous 18th-century Scottish poet Robert Burns once worked at the farm. Burns, considered the national poet of Scotland, wrote while working in the fields there for two years. An image of his face is on each glass container of Mossgiel milk.

Todd Whiteford is an owner of The Good Coffee Cartel in Glasgow, that is serving the costly cups. He said the store has been using Mossgiel's milk for several years. He said other milk producers cannot meet the quality of Mossgiels milk. He said it makes rounder, smoother and sweeter drinks.

Theirs is the best. Ill argue with anyone about that, Whiteford said.

Im Mario Ritter Jr.

The Associated Press reported this story. Caty Weaver adapted it for VOA Learning English.

_________________________________________

Words in This Story

cohesive  n. exhibiting or producing the act or state of sticking together tightly

previously  adv. before; in the past

giant  n. huge

dissipate  n. to break up and scatter or vanish

diameter  adj. the length of a straight line through the center of an object or space

spin  v. to turn in a circular motion

warp - to be turned or twisted out of, or as if out of, shape
The funeral of the assassinated President, John F Kennedy, has taken place in Washington.

An estimated 800,000 Americans lined the streets to watch the coffins procession from the Capitol, where the presidents body had lain in state since yesterday.

The crowd stood in silence, punctuated only by the sound of weeping, as the funeral procession made its way towards St Matthews Cathedral in central Washington.

The coffin, draped with the Stars and Stripes, lay on a gun carriage drawn by six grey horses. A black riderless horse pranced along behind.

Mr Kennedys widow, Jacqueline Kennedy, and her two children, three-year-old John Kennedy junior, and five-year-old Caroline, rode behind in a black car, accompanied by his brothers, Robert and Edward.

Then came the long procession of guests, representing every continent in the world in one of the most distinguished gathering of foreign dignitaries ever assembled in the history of the United States.

They included, for Britain, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prime Minister, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, and the Leader of the Opposition, Harold Wilson.

President de Gaulle of France was among them, as was President de Valera of Ireland, Chancellor Erhard of West Germany, and the Ethiopian Emperor, Haile Selassie.

Also among the mourners, in a poignant recognition of the dead presidents efforts to foster peace around the world, was the Soviet first deputy Prime Minister, Anastas Mikoyan, representing Nikolai Khrushchev.

The requiem mass at St Matthews was led by Cardinal Cushing of Boston.

It included a reading of the entire inaugural address, delivered by John F Kennedy in January 1961, with perhaps his most famous words: Ask not what your country can do for you  ask what you can do for your country.

As the coffin left the church after the ceremony, three-year-old John Kennedy Junior was seen to step forward for a moment and put his hand to his forehead in what appeared to be a childish salute.

Courtesy BBC News

In context

John F Kennedy was assassinated on 22 November in Dallas, Texas.

The man accused of his murder, Lee Harvey Oswald, was himself shot dead by nightclub owner Jack Ruby, on the day before the presidents funeral.

The circumstances around the presidents death remain controversial to this day.

Jacqueline Kennedy was re-married in 1968, to the Greek shipping magnate, Aristotle Onassis. She died of cancer in 1994.

The Kennedys were to suffer so many tragedies in the years which followed that the family was said to be cursed.

John F Kennedys brother, Robert Kennedy, was shot dead in June 1968, while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination.

His other brother, Ted Kennedy, ruined his chances of running for president after he was involved in a car accident in which he apparently left his passenger to die.

John Kennedy Junior, the boy who saluted his dead father, was also to die young, when the light aircraft he was piloting plunged into the Atlantic in 1999. His wife and sister-in-law also died.
The Public Security Police Force and the Labour Affairs Bureau conducted operations against illegal workers in October, inspecting 177 locations. The inspections included construction sites, private buildings and commercial establishments. These efforts resulted in the detection of 79 suspected illegal workers and reflect collaboration between law enforcement and labor authorities to address illegal employment effectively.

Related
China is willing to further consolidate cooperation with Portugal on the platform of Macau and score more cooperation results, said Chinas top legislator Zhao Leji.

Last week, Zhao made an official visit to Portugal, where he expressed a willingness to strengthen bilateral cooperation. He also emphasized the hope that Portugal would collaborate with China through Macau to contribute positively to the development of China-EU relations.

Zhao, chairman of the National Peoples Congress Standing Committee, met with Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, and held talks with Portuguese Parliament Speaker Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco during the three-day visit.

The official said that in recent years, under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, the China-Portugal comprehensive strategic partnership has been deepening and making solid progress, featuring steady progress in Belt and Road cooperation, as well as rich cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

China appreciates Portugals long adherence to the one-China principle and is willing to engage with Portugal based on mutual respect and equality, strengthening their bonds as good friends who respect and trust each other, reliable partners for common development, and close companions in mutual learning between civilizations, Zhao said.

It is hoped that Portugal will continue to play an active role within the European Union (EU) and inject more positive energy into the development of China-EU relations, said Zhao.

Highlighting that this year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the 25th anniversary of Macaus return to the motherland of China, the Portuguese president, Rebelo de Sousa, said Portugal is willing to enhance high-level exchanges with China, deepen friendly exchanges and strengthen cooperation in such areas as trade, new energy, marine economy and digital economy. LV/Xinhua


China announced Friday that it would expand visa-free entry to nine more countries as it seeks to boost tourism and business travel to help revive a sluggish economy.

Starting Nov. 30, travelers from Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia and Japan will be able to enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.

That will bring to 38 the number of countries that have been granted visa-free access since last year. Only three countries had visa-free access previously, and theirs had been eliminated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The addition of Japan appears to reflect a recent willingness on Chinas part to improve ties, which have soured in part over more strident talk from Tokyo on the Taiwan issue. The two countries reached a deal in September in their dispute over the release into the sea of treated but still radioactive water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Japan was one of the three countries with visa-free entry before the pandemic, and the government had repeatedly requested an early resumption, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo.

We hope the visa exemption measure announced by the Chinese side will contribute to further smooth our exchanges between Japan and China, he said.

The permitted length of stay for visa-free entry is being increased from the previous 15 days, Lin said, and people participating in exchanges will be eligible for the first time. China has been pushing people-to-people exchange between students, academics and others to try to improve its sometimes strained relations with other countries.

China strictly restricted entry during the pandemic and ended its restrictions much later than most other countries. It restored the previous visa-free access for citizens of Brunei and Singapore in July 2023, and then expanded visa-free entry to six more countries  France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia  on Dec. 1 of last year.

The program has since been expanded in tranches. Some countries have announced visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, notably Thailand, which wants to bring back Chinese tourists.

For the three months from July through September this year, China recorded 8.2 million entries by foreigners, of which 4.9 million were visa-free, the official Xinhua News Agency said, quoting a Foreign Ministry consular official. MDT/AP
In the aftermath of a series of fake academic credentials cases, the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) has announced its plan to coordinate with local higher education institutions and international exam bodies to prevent similar cases in the future.

The director of DSEDJ, Kong Chi Meng, shared the bureaus measures on preventing students from applying to local tertiary education institutions with fraudulent documents, as aired on the Chinese radio show from Teledifusao de Macau (TDM) last week.

This concern is mainly due to the recent discovery of 24 students submitting fraudulent Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE) results in their application for admission at the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST).

Kong said that after a similar series of cases in Hong Kong were discovered in May, the DSEDJ met local higher education institutions at once to discuss the improvement of verification rules as well as the thorough inspection of academic qualifications.

The director said unlicensed education agencies have been employing new methods to carry out fraudulent operations.

They counterfeit certificates, exam results, academic qualifications, and others. The Macau University of Science and Technology found these cases by conducting spot checks following our guidelines. They proactively verified with the relevant Hong Kong exam body. The organization responded that these academic qualifications were fraudulent, he said.

The DSEDJ said it will coordinate with mainland and international exam bodies to create an official verification channel to prevent similar situations.

Representatives from the University of Macau (UM), the Macau University of Tourism (UTM), and the Macau Polytechnic University (MPU) were also present on the radio show, emphasizing that they would revoke the degrees of those who enroll with fake academic credentials. Staff Reporter
The Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) is set to implement new guidelines next year aimed at safeguarding children affected by domestic violence.

IAS deputy director Tang Yuk Wa announced the initiative during an interview with TDM Chinese radio, highlighting the importance of expert collaboration in drafting these guidelines.

The proposed framework seeks to enhance the response to domestic violence cases involving minors, ensuring they receive the necessary support and protection.

Tang noted the guidelines will help caregivers manage childrens emotional well-being following traumatic experiences.

Additionally, the document will outline procedures for medical personnel when children require hospital visits due to domestic violence.

Recent statistics reveal a concerning trend in domestic violence cases in Macau.

The bureau recorded 42 suspected cases in the first nine months of this year, a figure that has remained relatively stable over recent years, fluctuating between 38 and 46 cases annually since 2019. Notably, there was a significant spike in 2021, with 81 reported cases. However, the overall monthly average of suspected incidents has decreased from 10.3 at the onset of the domestic violence law in 2016 to just 3.3 last year.

Despite these encouraging trends, challenges remain.

IAS collaborates with various community organizations to deliver family services across different districts. This localized approach aims to ensure families receive timely and appropriate assistance based on their unique circumstances. Nadia Shaw
Over 40 team members of Sands China recently completed the annual advanced responsible gaming training program from October 21 to October 22 at The Londoner Macao. This initiative supports the Macau governments Seeking Help for Winning the Future responsible gaming efforts.

Participants were trained to become Responsible Gaming Ambassadors, enhancing their understanding of problem gambling and responsible gaming practices. Since 2013, Sands China has offered this specialized training in addition to its comprehensive responsible gaming program for its 26,000 team members.

Led by expert Professor Bo J. Bernhard from UNLV, the training covered the history of problem gambling, recognition of gambling disorders, and intervention techniques. Professor Davis Fong from the University of Macau provided insights into local policies, while senior counselors from Sheng Kung Hui shared practical support strategies.

The 46 participants received certificates and Responsible Gaming Ambassador pins, equipping them to promote responsible gaming across their departments.
A man has been sentenced to 22 years and six months in prison for the premeditated murder of a sex worker in a case that has drawn significant attention from legal experts and the local public.

The ruling was announced by the Office of the President of the Court of Final Appeal (TUI) Nov. 21, following a thorough examination of the evidence presented in court.

The convicted individual, referred to as A, meticulously planned the murder of B, a sex worker, beginning preparations as early as Jan. 29, 2023. Evidence revealed A researched vital points of the human body online and developed a detailed strategy to execute his crime.

On March 10, 2023, he arrived at Bs hotel room armed with an iron hammer. After engaging in sexual activity, A attacked B from behind while she was in the bathroom, striking her multiple times and causing fatal injuries.

He caught her off guard and struck her head several times from behind with the hammer, thus breaking the victims left parietal bone, according to the TUI statement.

Following the brutal act, A tried to conceal his crime by disposing of evidence, including Bs personal belongings. The court found As actions were not impulsive but rather calculated and malicious, warranting severe punishment under Article 129 of the Criminal Code.

Despite his conviction, A appealed the sentence, arguing it was excessive and claiming legal guidelines had been disregarded. However, the court upheld the original ruling, emphasizing that As premeditation and intent demonstrated a profound disregard for human life. Nadia Shaw
Russia has supplied air defense missile systems to North Korea in exchange for sending its troops to support Russias war efforts against Ukraine, a top South Korean official said Friday.

The U.S., South Korea and Ukraine say North Korea sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia in October, some of whom have recently begun engaging in combat on the front lines. North Koreas troop deployment threatens to escalate the war, and what Russia could give to the North in return has been a source of rampant international speculation.

The most alarming development for South Korea and the U.S. would be Russia transferring sophisticated weapons technology that can enhance North Koreas nuclear-capable missiles targeting its rivals. Many experts say, though, that it is unlikely Russia would do this in the initial stage of the Norths troop deployment.

Shin Wonsik, national security adviser for South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, told an SBS TV program Friday that South Korea has found Russia provided missiles and other equipment to help it reinforce its air defense network for Pyongyang, the capital. Shin didnt say what specific missiles Russia gave to North Korea.

Lee Illwoo, an expert with the Korea Defense Network in South Korea, said that Russia has likely sent S-400 long-range surface-to-air missiles, launchers and ground-based radar systems. He said that North Korea is capable of building shorter-range surface-to-air missiles on its own.

The S-400 missile, with a range of 400 kilometers, is considered one of Russias most advanced anti-aircraft weapons. But Lee questioned how significantly it can boost Pyongyangs air defense, saying Russian air defense systems have failed to effectively deal with Ukrainian drone assaults.

Many observers say North Korea has likely felt the urgent need to boost its air defense capabilities after it last month accused South Korea of flying drones to scatter propaganda leaflets over Pyongyang. North Korea threatened to take military action if leaflets were again dropped. South Koreas military has refused to confirm whether or not it was behind the alleged drone flights.

Kim Dae Young, a military expert at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy, said its possible that the air defense systems North Korea acquired from Russia could include counter-drone equipment.

Kim said that Pyongyangs outdated air defense system would need years of improvement and potentially huge external help to cope with the superior air forces of South Korea and the United States.

Shin said Russia has also appeared to have given economic assistance to North Korea and various military technologies, including those needed for the Norths efforts to build a reliable space-based surveillance system. Shin didnt say whether Russia has already transferred sensitive nuclear and missile technologies to North Korea.

During a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin already said that Moscow was willing to help the North build satellites. North Korea put its first spy satellite into orbit in November last year, but foreign experts question whether that satellite can produce militarily meaningful imagery. The Norths attempt to launch a second spy satellite failed in May.

North Korea and Russia have been sharply boosting their military and other cooperation in the face of separate confrontations with the U.S. and its allies. Last month, South Koreas spy agency said that North Korea had sent more than 13,000 containers of artillery, missiles and other conventional arms to Russia since August 2023 to replenish its dwindling weapons stockpiles. The National Intelligence Service said last week that North Korea had recently sent additional artillery systems to Russia.

Earlier this week, North Korea and Russia reached a new agreement for expanding economic cooperation following high-level talks in Pyongyang this week, according to the countries state-run media. HYUNG-JIN KIM & KIM TONG-HYUNG, SEOUL, MDT/AP
Taiwanese leader Lai Ching-te will visit the self-governing islands allies in the South Pacific, where rival China has been seeking diplomatic inroads.

The Foreign Ministry announced Friday that Lai would travel from Nov. 30 to Dec. 6 to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau.

The trip comes against the background of Chinese loans, grants and security cooperation treaties with Pacific island nations that have aroused major concern in the U.S., New Zealand, Australia and others over Beijings moves to assert military, political and economic control over the region.

Taiwan has yet to confirm whether Lai will make a stop in Hawaii, although such visits are routine and unconfirmed Taiwanese media reports say he will stay for more than one day.

Under pressure from China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and threatens to annex it by force if needed, Taiwan has just 12 formal diplomatic allies. However, it retains strong contacts with dozens of other nations, including the U.S., its main source of diplomatic and military support.

China has sought to whittle away traditional alliances in the South Pacific, signing a security agreement with the Solomon Islands shortly after it broke ties with Taiwan and winning over Nauru just weeks after Lais election in January. Since then, China has been pouring money into infrastructure projects in its South Pacific allies, as it has around the world, in exchange for political support. MDT/AP
A jury convicted two men on Friday of charges related to human smuggling for their roles in an international operation that led to the deaths of a family of Indian migrants who froze while trying to cross the Canada-U.S. border during a 2022 blizzard.

Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 29, an Indian national who prosecutors say went by the alias Dirty Harry, and Steve Shand, 50, an American from Florida, were part of a sophisticated illegal operation that has brought increasing numbers of Indians into the U.S., prosecutors said.

They were each convicted on four counts related to human smuggling, including conspiracy to bring migrants into the country illegally.

This trial exposed the unthinkable cruelty of human smuggling and of those criminal organizations that value profit and greed over humanity, Minnesota U.S. Attorney Andy Luger said.

To earn a few thousand dollars, these traffickers put men, women and children in extraordinary peril leading to the horrific and tragic deaths of an entire family. Because of this unimaginable greed, a father, a mother and two children froze to death in sub-zero temperatures on the Minnesota-Canadian border, Luger added.

The most serious counts carry maximum sentences of up to 20 years in prison, the U.S. Attorneys Office told The Associated Press before the trial. But federal sentencing guidelines rely on complicated formulas. Luger said Friday that various factors will be considered in determining what sentences prosecutors will recommend. MDT/AP
Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte said Saturday she has contracted an assassin to kill the president, his wife and the House of Representatives speaker if she herself is killed, in a brazen public threat that she warned was not a joke.

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin referred the active threat against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to an elite presidential guards force for immediate proper action. It was not immediately clear what actions would be taken against the vice president.

The Presidential Security Command boosted Marcos security and said it considered the vice presidents threat, which was made so brazenly in public, a national security issue.

The presidential security force said it was coordinating with law enforcement agencies to detect, deter, and defend against any and all threats to the president and the first family.

Duterte, a lawyer, later tried to walk back her remarks and said they were not an actual threat but only an expression of concern over an unspecified threat to her own life.

If I expressed the concern, they will say thats a threat to the life of the president? she said.

Why would I kill him if not for revenge from the grave? There is no reason for me to kill him. Whats the benefit for me? Duterte told journalists.

Under the Philippine penal code, such public remarks may constitute a crime of threatening to inflict a wrong on a person or his family and is punishable by a jail term and fine.

The Philippine Constitution says that if a president dies, sustains a permanent disability, is removed from office or resigns, the vice president takes over and serves the rest of the term.

Marcos ran with Duterte as his vice-presidential running mate in the May 2022 elections and both won with landslide victories on a campaign call of national unity. JIM GOMEZ, MANILA, MDT/AP
Macau authorities have arrested a 37-year-old Hong Kong woman on suspicion of drug trafficking, seizing cocaine and methamphetamine worth over MOP91,000. The arrest followed intelligence about someone smuggling drugs from Hong Kong to Macau for nightclub patrons. Further investigation led to the discovery of more drugs in the suspects rented hotel room with 24.26 grams of cocaine and 1.43 grams of methamphetamine seized. The police are now tracing the source and investigating the extent of the suspects involvement in the illicit trade.

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If youve ever used an over-the-counter nasal spray, theres a good chance it contained methamphetamine.

Its not the illicit kind. The type of methamphetamine used in nasal sprays is chemically different, and its used in small doses and for therapeutic purposes.

No one really knows, though, if human bodies respond similarly to both types of methamphetamine. The kind in nasal sprays hasnt been extensively studied, in part because the sprays came on the market in the 1950s, before the Food and Drug Administration started regulating over-the-counter medications, and they were grandfathered in.

But a pair of researchers at UW-Madison hope to close that decades-old knowledge gap through a study in which theyll inject 17 people with small doses of both kinds of methamphetamine to see how the D isomer present in illicit meth metabolizes in the body and whether that changes when the L isomer, the kind in nasal sprays, is present.

Since the late 1950s, fewer than 100 participants have taken part in studies of L-methamphetamine and the research settings varied widely, pharmaceutical sciences professor Heather Barkholtz said.

The UW research is heavily regulated: Funded by a $1.04 million National Institute of Justice grant, Barkholtz first needed to convince an internal board that the benefits outweigh the risks of a study in which drugs are given to people.

Inspired by dilemma in local criminal case

Beyond advancing human understanding, the study has potential ramifications for criminal prosecutions and for treating meth addiction.

It was, in fact, a criminal case catching Barkholtzs eye that led her to embark on this research in the first place: A woman tested positive for meth during a traffic stop in Dane County in September 2020, but her defense attorney claimed she had been using an over-the-counter nasal spray, which contains methamphetamine with the same atoms but in a different molecular arrangement from the illicit drug.

The case remains open in Dane County Judge John Hylands courtroom. The defense attorney has argued that theres a gap in state law: Methamphetamine is listed as a controlled substance without making any distinctions between which isomer is considered illegal. Some nasal sprays have been using the L isomer for more than 65 years, before FDA regulation, Barkholtz said.

Its an artifact of the shift of how much information you need before things can be sold over the counter, she said. In the last 50 years, weve made tremendous progress in that space and making sure that consumer products are safe and effective, but also, the technology available to analytical chemists like myself has increased significantly recently in allowing us to separate these molecules.

The case caught Barkholtzs attention in part because nasal spray, when used as directed, should only impact the sinuses. Medication ingredients that are targeted for a specific location of the body should not show up in a persons bloodstream, she said.

Barkholtz and Dr. David Leinweber, who works in the UW-Madison School of Medicine and is interested in addiction medicine, are tag-teaming on the research study to understand how the body reacts to a specific types of methamphetamine and, with it, methamphetamine addiction.

Once its understood how methamphetamine is metabolized, Leinweber said, clinicians can work toward creating better treatments for addiction.

Substance use in general has a strong stigma and a lot of bias to do the research and towards that population, he said. (By) understanding those pharmacokinetics, hopefully (it) will be like a branching point in the future to have more research to understand how to treat methamphetamine use disorder. Because if we dont understand how its interacting within the body itself, I think we have a difficulty treating the disorder.

Differentiating can be difficult, costly

The researchers also are looking to find a cheaper and more reliable way for forensic labs, which often just look generally for the presence of methamphetamines, to differentiate between types of the drug as part of criminal cases.

Currently, the technology needed to analyze drug chemistry at the molecular level is expensive and out of reach for most labs, but the results can have high-stakes consequences during the criminal justice process. The question is if molecular differences can be found through blood, saliva or urine tests.

The difference between the L and D isomers is like the difference in a pair of hands, Barkholtz said: When palms are faced together, they mirror each other; when laid on top of one another, a persons corresponding fingers like thumbs and pinkies are on opposite sides. Its the same concept with molecular chemistry  the same ingredients might all be there, but where theyre placed in the molecule  also referred to as an isomer  could affect how the human body reacts to it.

Research will result in public benefit

Participants in the UW-Madison study must be healthy and not be on any medications. During a 48-hour stay, they will be closely monitored following a dose of methamphetamine for side effects such as heart rate or body temperature and have biological samples such as blood and urine taken. Any adverse effects, such as anxiety or illness, would be documented with medical intervention if necessary.

The FDA and the Drug Enforcement Administration also are involved in overseeing the study.

Barkholtz, who has spent her career working in research that has tangible, real-world impacts, said regardless of what they find with the methamphetamine study, there will be a public health benefit. If its found that both methamphetamines have intoxicating effects, then that supports Wisconsins non-differentiating law, she said. If one version isnt intoxicating, that can lead to further research on why.

We want to have a better understanding of the nuances in methamphetamine consumption, because from a public health perspective, our goal is to make sure that roadways are safe, she said. Nobody likes an impaired driver, and to have better data about the isomers and methamphetamine, and if and how they impair, that can inform public health practice.
An Indonesian who was among the 42 foreigners arrested by the Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) in Bagac, Bataan was deported to his own country, according to the Bureau of Immigration.

Handoyo Salman was ordered deported for being wanted in Indonesia for violating information and electronic transactions, money laundering crimes, and for being a fugitive from justice.

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Meanwhile, BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado clarified that 41 other foreign nationals arrested in Bataan are still undergoing deportation proceedings.

Viado issued this clarification following reports that the foreigners were freed without proper immigration receipts.

However, Viado emphasized that the cases remain active, with the BI committed to pursuing due process in compliance with the directive from Malacanang.

These individuals are still facing deportation cases on grounds of undesirability. However, their physical custody has been transferred under recognizance to Bataan Representative Albert Garcia and their legal counsel, he explained.

Viado said that Garcia, as the public official overseeing the area where the foreigners were arrested, offered the necessary legal guarantee within his jurisdiction.
While fighting between criminal groups in Haiti decreased during 2024, attacks on civilians have risen, including an expanded use of horrific sexual abuse, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch.

Criminal groups have often used sexual violence to instill fear in rival territories, the New York-based group says.

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The rule of law in Haiti is so broken that members of criminal groups rape girls or women without fearing any consequences, according to HRW researcher Nathalye Cotrino.

HRW said it conducted scores of in-person and remote interviews with survivors of sexual abuse in the impoverished Caribbean nation, as well as with officials and rights and humanitarian workers.

It said that from January to October of this year, nearly 4,000 girls and women reported sexual violence, including gang rape.

And it cited UN research showing cases involving children were up 1,000 percent from the 2023 period.

The bandits dont care about their age, one aid worker said. They rape because they have the power. Sometimes they do it for days or weeks, leaving some survivors pregnant  in a country that bans abortion  or injured without access to care.

One 25-year-old mother said she was gang-raped by four men while looking for water for her children.

They didnt used to do this, but now they do whatever they want, she said.

Rape has become so normalized that most women who come to us say, They raped me, but at least they didnt kill me, one humanitarian worker is quoted as saying.

The escalating violence has left the health system on the brink of collapse.

Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF and which long provided free emergency care across Haitis capital city Port-au-Prince, suspended service there following attacks on its personnel as well as death and rape threats against MSF staff from members of the Haitian National Police.
BUSAN  A final round of talks on a treaty to end plastic pollution opened on Monday, with deep differences between nations emerging almost immediately.

The meeting opened just hours after a chaotic end to the COP29 climate talks in Baku, which agreed to a boost in climate funding that developing countries slammed as insufficient.

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Opening the meeting, the Ecuadorian diplomat chairing the talks warned nations that the conference was about far more than drafting an international treaty.

It is about humanity rising to meet an existential challenge, Luis Vayas Valdivieso told an opening plenary in South Koreas Busan.

Plastic pollution is so ubiquitous that it has been found in clouds, the deepest ocean trenches and even human breastmilk.

And while almost everyone agrees it is a problem, there is less consensus on how to solve it.

Among the most contentious issues are whether the treaty should cap plastic production, a possible ban on chemicals feared toxic to human health, and how to pay for implementation.

The deep differences have dogged four previous rounds of talks over the last two years, resulting in a lengthy and contradictory draft treaty running over 70 pages.

Valdivieso has produced an alternative document intended to synthesise the views of delegations and move negotiations forward.

But several countries, including Russia and India, warned Monday that they were not willing to use it as a basis for negotiations.

The reality is that many countries do not see themselves represented in this paper, warned Saudi Arabias delegation head Eyad Aljubran, speaking on behalf of the Arab group.

In 2019, the world produced around 460 million tonnes of plastic, a figure that has doubled since 2000, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Plastic production is expected to triple by 2060.

More than 90 percent of plastic is not recycled, with over 20 million tonnes leaking into the environment, often after just a few minutes of use.

Plastic also accounts for around three percent of global emissions, mostly linked to its production from fossil fuels.
BANGKOK  Thirty-nine foreigners have fled an online scam centre in Myanmar across the border to Thailand, where officials are working to identify potential trafficking victims, police told AFP on Monday.

Scam compounds have mushroomed in Myanmars borderlands and are staffed by foreigners who are often trafficked and forced to work, swindling their compatriots in an industry analysts say is worth billions.

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The group from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Malaysia and Russia crossed into Thailands Tak province, according to the police chief in the city of Mae Sot.

They had fled from Myawaddy just across the border, Colonel Pittayakorn Petcharat told AFP.

Myawaddy is controlled by a military-aligned militia and is a hotbed of drug production and online scam outfits, according to observers.

Sri Lankas embassy in Bangkok had asked Thai authorities for help after it was informed that 32 of its citizens were trapped in Myanmar, said Petcharat.

Five Nepalis, one Malaysian and one Russian were also in the group that escaped and arrived in Thailand.

AFP has contacted the embassies of the four countries for comment.

The group crossed into Thailand on Sunday night, said a member of the security forces in Mae Sot, who asked for anonymity to talk to the media.

Immigration officials were working to identify potential victims of human trafficking, Petcharat said.

Thai local media reported the group had responded to adverts on social media promising well-paid work but were then subjected to gruelling conditions in a scam centre.

Some of the Sri Lankan workers later successfully contacted the embassy.

Myanmars northern border with China was previously a hotbed for online scam centres, often run by militias aligned with the ruling junta.

But a sweeping offensive by an alliance of ethnic rebels last year cleared many of the scam centres out.

More than 40,000 people suspected of taking part in cyber scams in Myanmar were handed over to China in 2023, Beijing state media said this year.

Local Myanmar media have reported that scam bosses who escaped the offensive have since set up shop further south along the border with Thailand.

Last December Myanmar junta chief and Thai military officials agreed to jointly eradicate online gambling and online scams near Myawaddy, according to Myanmar state media.
Raging orange flames and thick black smoke billowed into the sky Sunday as fire ripped through hundreds of houses in a closely built slum area in Tondo, Manila.

The Manila Fire District said around 1,000 houses were burned in the blaze that is thought to have started on the second floor of one of the homes.

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There were no immediate reports of casualties.

A young man saves religious items from a blazing residential fire that hit Isla Puting Bato in Tondo, Manila on November 24, 2024. (Photo by Norman Cruz)

Drone footage shared online by the citys disaster agency showed houses in Isla Puting Bato village of Manila razed to the ground.

The structures housed around 2,000 families, according to the fire department.

Village resident Leonila Abiertas, 65, lost almost all her possessions, but managed to save her late husbands ashes.

Responders from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) work to put out a rapidly spreading fire, destroying homes made of light materials in the coastal town. (Photo by Norman Cruz)

I only got the urn with the ashes of my husband, a crying Abiertas told Agence France Presse (AFP).

I really dont know how I can start my life again after this fire.

Fire and disaster services deployed 36 trucks and four fire boats while the countrys air force sent in two helicopters to help extinguish the fire.

Residents of Isla Puting Bato flee on boats to escape the huge fire engulfing their neighborhood. (Photo by Norman Cruz)

That area is fire-prone since most of the houses there are made of light materials, firefighter Geanelli Nunez said.

Editors note: This story has been updated. Originally posted with the headline Fire hits Isla Puting Bato in Tondo.
Starmer has followed his American masters and allowed Ukraine to fire British-French missiles into Russian territory. This reckless move will have no bearing on the outcome of the war, other than prompting greater retaliation from Russia. We say, down with the warmongers!

[Originally published at communist.red]

Following on cue from his master on the other side of the Atlantic, it seems that warmonger Starmer has given permission to Ukraine to fire British-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles at targets inside Russian territory.

This is obviously nothing but a brazen act of provocation, which will make no real difference to the course of the war in Ukraine but will certainly elicit a response on Russias part.

The Starmer-Lammy warmongering duo have been raring to take this decision for months. Lammy accompanied Blinken to Kyiv and Starmer travelled all the way to Washington, only to be told off by the US president.

This humiliating treatment clearly reflected the real character of the so-called special relationship between the US and Britain: that of a master and his poodle.

Finally, Biden overcame resistance from the Pentagon to a move which clearly had no military value in itself. Motivated mainly by his desire to make things difficult for his successor in the White House, he decided to allow the Ukrainian army to use US-made ATACM ballistic missiles to strike targets within Russia.

Of course, Starmer had not been told in advance, the decision caught him on a plane over the Atlantic. Not to be left behind, however, he privately decided to also allow the Ukrainians to do the same with the British-French Storm Shadow cruise missiles.

In any case, they still need the assistance of US guidance systems to reach their targets.

Playing with fire

As we have pointed out, this decision will not have any real impact on the course of the conflict. All military experts agree on this point. Russia is advancing decisively at an increasing pace on the eastern front and Ukraine is struggling to draft enough men to stop it.

Putin modified Russias nuclear doctrine to include a response to a conventional weapons attack on Russian territory carried out by a country in collaboration with a nuclear power / Image: Council.gov.ru, Wikimedia Commons

The amount of medium and long range missiles Ukraine has been given by the West is extremely limited, as these countries are averse to depleting their own stockpiles.

So what could be the aim of this latest decision by Starmer? Bidens intentions are clear: to put a finger in Putins eye, thus complicating Trumps ability to fulfil his election promise to put an end to the Ukraine war.

But Starmer? Well, his intentions are anybodys guess. To follow his masters voice. To show off in the international arena, as a way to compensate for the ever decreasing role UK imperialism plays in the world. To demonstrate to the British ruling class that he is someone to be trusted to follow the same imperialist policy of his Tory predecessor.

Whatever the reasons, this decision is completely reckless and irresponsible. Russia had already warned in advance that, since these missile systems require British personnel to actually operate them, their use to attack Russian territory would be interpreted as putting the two countries in a state of conflict.

Furthermore, Putin modified Russias nuclear doctrine to include a response to a conventional weapons attack on Russian territory carried out by a country in collaboration with a nuclear power.

In a press statement after the Ukrainian army had used the British missiles, Putin reiterated that the decision meant that military installations of the countries supplying Ukraine with such weapons would be considered legitimate targets.

This is a serious threat, which should not be taken lightly. To underline the point, Russia used a hypersonic medium range ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear weapons to attack missile manufacturing installations in Dnipro, Ukraine.

Down with the warmongers

The decision to put Britain in a state of conflict with the worlds largest nuclear power was taken by Starmer without any semblance of democratic oversight. Not even as much as a discussion in Parliament. There was not even an official announcement by Starmer explaining his rationale for taking it!

The decision to put Britain in a state of conflict with the worlds largest nuclear power was taken by Starmer without any semblance of democratic oversight / Image: own work

These missiles cost up to 2 million each, an enormous waste of money by the same government which has decided to cut the winter fuel allowance to old age pensioners, a decision which is likely to cause thousands to die.

While inflicting austerity cuts at home, under the refrain that the cupboard is bare, millions of pounds are found to continue funding imperialist wars abroad.

What about the argument that Ukraine is under attack by Russia which has illegally invaded it? Leaving aside that the war in Ukraine is the result of constant provocations by Western imperialism over the years, this is a justification that holds no water.

If Britain is really interested in the defence of national sovereignty, international law and other such niceties, why is the Starmer government fully supportive of the Israeli genocide in Gaza, its invasion of Lebanon (a sovereign country), and its bombing of Iran, Syria, Gaza, and Yemen?

Should Britain not be supplying Challenger tanks, Storm Shadows, air defences, ammunition, and money to the Palestinians and Lebanese to defend themselves from Israeli aggression?

To ask the question is to answer it. We have seen graphically in the last year how the rules based order really means one rule for the friends of US-UK imperialism and another one for our foes.

For all these reasons, we say:

Books, not bombs!

Healthcare not warfare!

No imperialist adventures abroad, no austerity at home!
US President Joe Biden will travel to Angola in the first week of December, the White House confirmed on Thursday November 21. The trip to Angola was initially scheduled for October 2024, but Biden postponed it to oversee Hurricane Miltons passage through the United States.

In Angola, Biden will be received by the countrys President, Joao Lourenco, according to White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre. Biden, Jean-Pierre noted, will recognize Angolas role as a regional leader and highlight the significant transformation in the relationship between the United States and Angola. The White House also indicated that both countries are working on several urgent challenges, including closing the infrastructure gap in Africa, strengthening peace and security, and improving food security. The US head of state will also take advantage of the trip to meet with representatives of the private sector.

The trip to Angola was initially scheduled for October, but Biden postponed it to oversee Hurricane Miltons passage through the United States.
Cape Verdean President Jose Maria Neves has called for dialogue among political parties and candidates in Mozambique to address escalating post-election violence. Speaking on Thursday, November 21, Neves expressed hope that the Courts would resolve disputes, clarify doubts, and foster understanding among the conflicting sides.

The situation is very tense, with daily protests, approximately 50 deaths, nearly 200 arrests, and close to 800 injuries, Neves said at an event at the Presidential Palace in Praia. He urged calm and emphasized the importance of prioritizing peace through dialogue.

Assuring that the Cape Verdean community in Mozambique remains unaffected, Neves advised them to avoid protests and adhere to authorities guidelines to ensure safety. He also highlighted the recurring issue of post-election crises in Africa, stressing the need for electoral integrity, respect for results, and investment in robust democratic institutions to uphold fair and transparent processes.

The remarks come amid unrest in Mozambique, where opposition leader Venancio Mondlane disputes the October 24 election results declaring Daniel Chapo of the ruling Frelimo party the winner. President Filipe Nyusi has called for calm, warning that ongoing violence threatens national stability.

In a parallel development, Mondlane announced he would attend a meeting requested by President Nyusi with the four presidential candidates from the October 9 elections to address the conflict. Mondlane, who has spearheaded protests for electoral truth, stated that the meeting would have a clear agenda and plans to submit a proposal containing 20 points representing the aspirations of the Mozambican people.

Meanwhile, protests continued in Maputo for a second consecutive day on Thursday. Participants in a horn honking demonstration stopped their vehicles for 15 minutes at midday, honking their horns while dressed in black to mourn those killed in the unrest. Protesters also displayed signs contesting the election results. The action, called by Mondlane, began Wednesday and is expected to continue through Friday in tribute to the 50 people he claims were shot by authorities meant to protect them.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) announced substantial progress in its discussions with the Egyptian Government regarding the countrys airport privatization program. During a meeting on November 24, 2024, Sergio Pimenta, IFC Vice-President for Africa, confirmed that both parties had reached agreement on most of the critical elements of the plan.

Pimenta highlighted the fruitful collaboration with Egypts Ministries of Civil Aviation and Planning, emphasizing that this alignment underscores a mutual commitment to advancing the privatization process. He noted that the program aims to enhance operational efficiency and attract substantial private investment into Egypts aviation sector, a critical gateway for trade and tourism.

The airport privatization initiative forms a cornerstone of Egypts broader economic reform strategy, designed to modernize infrastructure, improve service delivery, and foster a more robust role for the private sector in driving growth. By leveraging private investment and expertise, the program aims to bolster the aviation sectors capacity to meet rising demand, improve passenger experiences, and contribute significantly to the national economy.

Egypts efforts to involve international financial institutions like the IFC in such transformative projects reflect its commitment to creating a favorable investment climate. This move aligns with the governments vision of achieving sustainable development through public-private partnerships in key industries, including transportation and logistics. Further announcements regarding the implementation timeline and selected partners are anticipated in the coming months.
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

A California agency charged with slowing health costs has set a lofty goal for insurers to direct 15% of their spending to primary care by 2034, part of the state's effort to expand the primary care workforce and give more people access to preventive care services.

The board of the state Office of Health Care Affordability in October set its benchmark well above the industry's current 7% primary care spending rate, in hopes of improving Californians' health and reducing the need for costlier care down the road.

"It's ambitious but achievable," said Elizabeth Landsberg, director of the state's Department of Health Care Access and Information, which oversees the affordability agency. "Plans and health systems need time to build the infrastructure to really change the way they're providing care."

But California's target comes just six months after the affordability board set an annual cap of 3.5% for overall growth in health care spending, potentially squeezing insurers from two sides.

"How these two policies will interact is unclear and we believe it is important to not lose sight of our overall goal of reducing the growth of health care costs," Mary Ellen Grant, a spokesperson for the California Association of Health Plans, said in a statement.

The affordability agency argues health plans are best positioned to promote more spending on preventive care services, since insurers are the ones that negotiate payment with providers. Landsberg said health plans could dangle incentives, such as offering higher reimbursement rates for primary care providers or paying for comprehensive care instead of for individual visits.

If successful, the agency says, the spending target could expand the primary care workforce through the hiring of staff and lead to better health management, disease prevention, and early diagnosis and treatment for more patients across the state.

California faces a shortage of primary care providers, which has limited people's access to preventive care. Approximately 6 million Californians live in parts of the state where there aren't enough doctors to meet people's needs, according to a data analysis by KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News.

A 2021 report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found that while more than 35% of health care visits in the U.S. are to primary care physicians, only about 5% of health spending is on primary care. That's compared with about 13% for some other developed nations.

"People have high regard for primary care, understand how important it is," said Kevin Grumbach, a professor of family and community medicine at the University of California-San Francisco who helped develop the state's primary care target. "They way overestimate how much of their tax dollars are actually going to support primary care."

Beginning next year, the affordability agency will start collecting data on how much health plans spend annually on primary care, particularly in settings such as community-based clinics, schools, and homeless shelters.

Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists are among the providers whose services can be counted toward the goal. But the agency is excluding obstetricians, who sometimes serve as primary care providers for pregnant women, to focus on those offering "coordinated, comprehensive care" for patients.

Health plans will be expected to increase primary care spending from 0.5% to 1% of their total medical expenses each year until 15% is reached in 2034.

At least six statesColorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washingtonhave already implemented primary care targets with some success. Rhode Island, which set a 10.7% goal, more than doubled its primary care spending from 2008 to 2018, while also reducing overall health spending.

The Biden administration has launched initiatives to improve primary care, but it has not set a primary care target for Medicare.

In California, the affordability agency collects health care spending data that captures nearly 33 million of the state's 39 million residents. The agency said it will begin to collect primary care spending data in fall 2025, but that information may not be released for two more years.

The state agency lacks enforcement authority in primary care spending, so to get health plans to hit the target, the agency is dangling financial incentives. At a primary care summit at the University of California-Davis in October, Landsberg said the agency could allow insurers to exceed the 3.5% overall growth cap if they show their spending went to boost primary care.

Efrain Talamantes, chief operating officer for AltaMed Health Services, one of the state's largest federally qualified community health centers, said these payments could help the health center expand services by training and hiring staff.

If health plans comply, the policy should lead to more primary care providers, timelier appointments, and better health outcomes, especially for disadvantaged communities that historically haven't had good access to care, Talamantes said.

"We should see an improvement where people are able to access their primary care the same day," he said.

As discussions continue, the state is working on targets to increase spending on behavioral health, another underinvested service. A vote on that measure could come next summer.

2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Wayne State University's Center for Emerging and Infectious Diseases (CEID) is launching its participation in World AMR Awareness Week with an urgent message: the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance requires immediate community action, so it is critical to educate, advocate, and act now.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial agents. Because of drug resistance, antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents become ineffective and infections become difficult or impossible to treat, increasing the risk of spreading various diseases that may lead to severe illness or even death.

"Antimicrobial resistance isn't just a future threatit's a present crisis affecting our Detroit community right now," said Marcus Zervos, M.D., co-director of CEID. "When common infections become resistant to treatment, routine medical procedures become increasingly dangerous. We're seeing this challenge firsthand in our hospitals."

World AMR Awareness Week is a global campaign to raise awareness and understanding of AMR and promote best practices to address it. It goes from Monday, Nov. 18 to Sunday, Nov. 24. CEID will lead initiatives highlighting this year's theme, "Educate, Advocate, Act Now."

CEID officials say that Detroit has become an important community in the observation and response to AMR, with several new types of resistant microorganisms first being observed in the southeast Michigan area.

"In Detroit's health care facilities, we're encountering more cases where standard antibiotics are failing," said Teena Chopra, M.D., M.P.H., an infectious diseases expert and co-director at CEID. "This puts our most vulnerable populations at heightened risk."

Increased use and misuse of antimicrobials across sectors and other microbial stressors, such as pollution, create favorable conditions for microorganisms to develop resistance. Bacteria in water, soil and air, for example, can become resistant to common antibiotics following contact with resistant microorganisms.

Human exposure to AMR in the environment can occur through contact with polluted waters, contaminated food, inhalation of fungal spores, and other pathways that contain antimicrobial resistant microorganisms.

Health experts have several suggestions to help prevent AMR: only use antibiotics when prescribed by health care professionals, complete the full course of prescribed antibiotics, practice regular hand hygiene, keep vaccinations up to date, properly dispose of unused medications, and learn about infection prevention.

CEID experts want the public to understand that antibiotics are not just another medication; they're a precious resource that must be protected through informed usage.

"The public needs to be aware of the potential presence of drug-resistant bacteria in our food supply," said Paul Kilgore, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.P, a professor and director of research for the Department of Pharmacy Practice in Wayne State University and co-director of CEID.

"As antimicrobial resistance increases globally, some bacteria are becoming resistant to multiple antibiotics, creating dangerous 'superbugs' that pose significant risks to public health.

"It is important that people adopt responsible practices in their daily lives for using antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents. Important steps include using antibiotics only when prescribed, avoid sharing antibiotics or using them for non-infectious conditions, vaccinate to prevent disease, use good hygiene by washing your hands regularly, practice safe food handling, and educate others about the importance of using antibiotics responsibly and the risks of antimicrobial resistance."
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Credit: Murdoch University

Revealing research has found many people living with a disability feel unsupported and unprepared to face a crisisbut vital new tools have been created to help.

Associate Professor Yvonne Learmonth from Murdoch University's School of Allied Health, who led the research, said crisis planning is crucial for everyone, but individuals living with a disability or a chronic health condition face extra challenges. The paper is published in the journal International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction.

"People with disabilities are disproportionally at risk for short and long-term consequences when disasters such as fires, floods or pandemics hit," Associate Professor Learmonth said.

"Emergencies can disrupt access to critical health care services and treatments. Without a plan, these disruptions may impact safety, health behaviors and outcomes, increase stress, and result in difficulty managing daily needs.

"Our recent study focused on the impact of crisis events in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). Our findings led us to publish six articles and submit information to the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. Only 17.4% of people with MS that we surveyed had a crisis plan that met their needs.

"We quickly understood that there was a need for greater resources to help people with MS to improve their individual preparedness for crises and to have assistance to do so, and that this would also benefit others living with a disability."

The research involved survey data, a series of workshops with the MS community andin collaboration with Australian Red Cross and nurses at MSWA and MS Plustesting the feasibility of a crisis toolkit for people with a disability or a chronic health condition.

Responses to "Do you believe it would be useful to prepare a crisis response plan?" by geographic classifications. The number (%) of participants for each geographic classification are shown in each box. Credit: International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2024.104586

As a result, a new interactive Crisis Toolkit has now been developed and released, consisting of Australian Red Cross RediPlan and resources specifically designed to assist people living with a disability or a chronic health condition in the areas of preparedness, evacuation, heat wave and isolation, in various crises situations.

Initial evaluations have shown that use of the Crisis Toolkit made individuals feel more resilient, knowledgeable about emergency response, and better equipped to maintain contact with their health care providers.

Jenni Vanyai, who lives with MS, said the plan does a really good job of asking people to reflect on their own well-being and of considering barriers they may experience.

"It gets down to the nitty gritty of things like, are you able to manage your daily routine without assistance or do you require the support of some medical equipment, or do you require the support of a caregiver or multiple caregivers," Vanyai said.

"Don't underestimate how much peace of mind it might bring you to complete it and have it done. And I'd say, don't look at the plan and think, oh, it's overwhelming, there's too much there to do, because you might be tempted to put it aside and do it another day. But I think the key is just start."

MS Australia Deputy Head of Research Dr. Tennille Luker said MS Australia sees great value in the new resource and will be encouraging people to access the tools and put the planning into place.

"With summer fast approaching, it's more important than ever to talk about crisis planning," Dr. Luker said. "The Crisis Toolkit will improve outcomes for people living with MS when disaster strikes, and we encourage people with MS or other chronic health conditions to find out more and to create a plan as soon as they can.

"Our podcast The Raw Nerve, available on the MS Australia website, has dedicated an episode to the Crisis Toolkit, why to use it and how to use it."

More information: C.H. Marck et al, Crisis preparation for people with multiple sclerosis in Australia: A cross-sectional survey of needs, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2024.104586
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Signs and symptoms of leptospirosis. Credit: Wikimedia Commons Cerevisae Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

A cluster of workers at Ventura County berry farms have been diagnosed with a rare disease often transmitted through sick animals' urine, according to a public health advisory distributed to local doctors by county health officials.

The bacterial infection, leptospirosis, has resulted in severe symptoms for some workers, including meningitis, an inflammation of the brain lining and spinal cord. Symptoms for mild cases include headaches and fevers.

The disease, which can be fatal, rarely spreads from human to human, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ventura County Public Health has not given an official case count, but said it had not identified any known danger to the public. The county's agriculture commissioner was aware of 18 cases, the Ventura County Star reported.

Patients experienced an onset of symptoms between September and November, coming from multiple parts of the county. Symptom onset typically occurs between two and 30 days after exposure, and symptoms can last for months if untreated, according to the CDC.

Officials are still working to identify a common exposure but have noted many patients worked with caneberry hoop housesgreenhouse structures to shelter the cropsand recommended health care providers consider a leptospirosis diagnosis for agricultural workers, particularly berry harvesters.

Rodents are a common source and transmitter of disease, though other mammalsincluding livestock, cats and dogscan transmit it as well.

The disease is spread through bodily fluids, such as urine, and is often contracted through cuts and abrasions that contact contaminated water and soil, where the bacteria can survive for months. Humans can also contract the illness through contaminated food.

Symptoms often begin mild, with fevers, chills, vomiting and headaches. Some cases can then enter a second, more severe phase that can result in kidney or liver failure.

Ventura County Public Health recommends agriculture and berry harvesters regularly rinse any cuts with soap and water and cover them with bandages. They also recommend wearing waterproof clothing and protection while working outdoors, including gloves and long-sleeve shirts and pants.

While there is no evidence of spread to the larger community, according to the department, residents should wash their hands frequently and work to control rodents around their property if possible.

Pet owners can consult a veterinarian about leptospirosis vaccinations and should keep pets away from ponds, lakes and other natural bodies of water.

2024 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Indiana residents and federal officials are urging state health regulators to stop two rival hospitals in Terre Haute from merging. The deal, if approved, would leave residents with a hospital monopoly.

Union Health, a nonprofit whose main hospital is licensed as a 341-bed facility, would buy the county's only other acute care hospital, the 278-bed Terre Haute Regional Hospital, owned by for-profit chain HCA Health care and located 5 miles south across the city's downtown area. Union says the merger to create one larger nonprofit health system would improve the area's poor public health rankings.

The Indiana Department of Health received hundreds of comments on the proposed merger, according to documents KFF Health News obtained through a state public records request. Most people expressed opposition to the deal, citing concerns about longer travel times to get emergency care, higher prices, and fewer choices for Terre Haute's 58,000 residents and those in Vigo County's nearby rural communities.

"Monopoly should be just a board game. Not a health care system," a commenter listed as H. Osborne wrote to the state health agency.

Doctors, health economists, and the Federal Trade Commission called on the Indiana Department of Health to deny Union Hospital's merger application. Such mergers became possible after Indiana enacted a Certificate of Public Advantage law, or COPA, in 2021, shielding the deals from federal anti-monopoly laws.

Two dozen states have had COPA laws on their books at some point, despite FTC warnings that such mergers can become difficult to control and may decrease the overall quality of care. The trend has come amid a broader wave of hospital consolidation, which research shows fuels price hikes and health care spending, driving up costs for families, employers, and taxpayers who foot the bill for Medicare and Medicaid.

Union Health said its proposed deal would improve care and increase access to services while "maintaining cost efficiency" for patients.

"This is not merely a business transaction; it is a strategic effort to improve health care delivery in our community," Union said in a statement.

John Collett, an executive with Garmong Construction who also serves on the board of the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce, wrote that the deal would help the region achieve its goal of boosting population and income levels. (Garmong Construction served as construction manager for Union on multiple projects, including one worth hundreds of millions of dollars, according to an online brochure of its past projects.)

"I firmly believe this to be a step in the right direction," Collett wrote.

But the FTCusing italics for emphasissaid the deal is "unlikely to result in improved quality and access" and "would not lead to a healthier workforce or a stronger local economy," according to comments the agency submitted to Indiana regulators.

Zack Cooper, a health economist and associate professor at Yale University, said the merger would probably damage the local economy and squeeze residents' wallets. Cooper's analysis estimates the price of care would rise by at least 10% for area residents and lead to 500 lost jobs, while nurses' pay would drop by at least 7%. His research predicts the deal also would lead to unnecessary deaths from suicide or overdose, stemming from those job losses.

"I firmly believe this merger would harm members of the public in Terre Haute and Vigo County," Cooper wrote.

As a condition of these types of mergers, state agencies typically agree to monitor hospital quality and prices to make up for the loss of competition. Union said monitoring would hold it accountable, according to its response to the FTC's public comments opposing the deal.

The FTC pushed back, saying the oversight mechanism "would be insufficient to contain costs" and is a "poor substitute" for competition. Even though Union would face limits on raising prices in Vigo County, the FTC said, the system might be able to hike them elsewhere, including at its hospital in neighboring Vermillion County to the north.

Indiana has some of the highest hospital prices in the nation, according to studies by Rand Corp., a research organization.

In Terre Haute, some doctors worry the deal would exacerbate existing problems. Kathleen Stienstra, a physician in private practice, voiced her concerns about Union's management style, saying it has led to an exodus of doctors.

"A monopoly will lead to further deterioration in services," she wrote.

Separately, the FTC referenced KFF Health News' reporting on Tennessee's Ballad Health, a 20-hospital monopoly in Appalachia, as a cautionary tale against such mergers.

COPAs, such as the one that Ballad operates under, "have proven unwieldy," are "difficult to manage," and "have failed to protect local communities from the harmful effects of anticompetitive hospital mergers," the FTC said in its comments on the Union-Regional merger.

Since Ballad launched in 2018 and became the nation's largest state-approved hospital monopoly, it has not lived up to some of its promises, KFF Health News reported. It has fallen short on meeting quality and charity care goals, according to annual reports from Ballad and the Tennessee Department of Health. After years of problems and complaints from patients, the state is now trying to hold Ballad more accountable for its quality of care.

Ballad declined to respond to KFF Health News inquiries regarding the FTC's comments.

Now the Indiana Department of Health must consider the comments and decide by early December whether the proposed merger would improve health outcomes, access to services, and quality of care. Under the department's standards, those benefits must "outweigh any potential disadvantages."

2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Proposed role of BTNL8 in MIS-C. Credit: Journal of Experimental Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1084/jem.20240699

Scientists have uncovered genetic variants that help to explain why some children with mild COVID-19 go on to develop a severe inflammatory condition weeks after their infection.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, severe SARS-CoV-2 infections in children and infants were rare. But an estimated 1 in 10,000 children went on to develop multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), presenting with a range of symptoms including rash, swelling and nausea and vomiting.

Now, an international team of researchers led by Imperial College London has identified a gene that may explain why some children were at greater risk of developing this rare condition. The study is published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

In an analysis including more than 150 cases of MIS-C from Europe and the United States, they found that rare variations of a gene that helps regulate the lining of the gut made children four-times more likely to develop systemic inflammation and an array of symptoms.

According to the researchers, understanding the genetic basis of MIS-C provides new insights into how the condition develops, who is at risk, and how patients and those with related conditions might be better treated.

Senior author Dr. Vanessa Sancho-Shimizu, from the Department of Infectious Disease at Imperial College London and The Francis Crick Institute, said, "MIS-C was a very worrying condition for children and their families as well as the clinical teams treating them. Thankfully, the majority of patients recovered, but the underlying mechanisms that drive this condition have been difficult to pin down.

"Working with colleagues around the world, we've been able to pinpoint rare genetic variants that we think are likely driving the systemic inflammation we've seen, making children more susceptible to MIS-C. We hope these findings will not only enable us to better understand the condition but to improve how we care for children with these types of conditions."

Genetic analysis

During the COVID-19 pandemic, evidence suggested children were generally at very low risk of severe disease. But reports emerged of a new condition that affected a small proportion of children several weeks after their infection with SARS-CoV-2.

These children generally had mild or no symptoms at the time of their initial infection. But within six weeks they went on to develop a range of symptoms, including abdominal pains and vomiting, fever, rash and more. Clinicians initially reported the symptoms as resembling Kawasaki disease, but it was found to be a new condition call MIS-C .

In the latest analysis, 154 patients aged 019 with MIS-C were recruited in Europe and through a research center in the United States, with blood samples used to sequence patients' genomes. Researchers then developed a technique to search for genetic variants that might be associated with the condition.

Dr. Evangelos Bellos, first author of the paper and a Research Fellow in Imperial's Department of Infectious Disease, said, "Our new computational technique, which we call burdenMC, gives us the power to identify links between genes and diseases that were previously elusive. It is particularly useful for shedding light on small, diverse groups of patients with rare conditions such as MIS-C."

Using this approach, the researchers found that small changes in one gene, called BTNL8, were a common factor in children with the condition. Typically, this gene helps to regulate the immune cells in the gut lining, but in patients with MIS-C, rare variants of BTNL8 are believed to have made the gut more sensitive to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and increased inflammation throughout the body, leading to an array of symptoms.

The team worked with the Immunosurveillance Laboratory at the Crick, led by Professor Adrian Hayday, that first identified a function for BTNL8 in the human gut as a regulator of localized T-cells that seemed to contribute to maintaining gut barrier integrity.

Professor Adrian Hayday, Principal Group Leader at the Crick and Professor of Immunobiology at King's College London, said, "The discoveries implicating BTNL8 were wholly unexpected, and potentially offer entirely new insights into mechanisms that ordinarily prevent virus infections from leading to life-threatening disease."

Compared with matched healthy controls, patients with rare BTNL8 variants had a four-fold increase in the risk of developing MIS-C symptoms. The analysis also found that children with European and Hispanic ancestry were more likely to have the variants, and so were at greater risk of the condition.

The researchers say they are now working on understanding the exact mechanisms by which these rare variants promote MIS-C. They are also exploring if the gut also plays an important role in the development of other similar childhood inflammatory conditions like Kawasaki disease.

More information: Evangelos Bellos et al, Heterozygous BTNL8 variants in individuals with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), Journal of Experimental Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1084/jem.20240699 Journal information: Journal of Experimental Medicine
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Theoretical predictive plane of network effects on health, disease, and health care. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2402194121

As public health challenges like suicide and rising chronic illness rates continue to strain health care systems, new research from Indiana University suggests that the solution might lie in a more connected understanding of human health.

The publication, by Bernice Pescosolido, Distinguished Professor of Sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University Bloomington in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has introduced an innovative approach called the Network Embedded Symbiome (NES) framework, which emphasizes the importance of collaborative network structuresfamily, friends, and communityand other relational systems in determining health outcomes.

Professor Pescosolido, who is also the founding director of IU's Irsay Institute for Sociomedical Sciences, proposes that understanding health requires not only looking at individual factors, like genetics and lifestyle, but also at the interactions across multiple networks that influence health in powerful ways. This shift could reshape how researchers approach diseases, policy, and interventions.

"Human health is not just biological, it's deeply social and connected," Pescosolido said. "This framework could help us understand why some communities thrive while others struggle with crises like suicide. The NES framework serves to identify problems, while also mapping out pathways that can lead to better health through network-based interventions."

Why networks matter

Pescosolido's framework builds on decades of research into the social determinants of health, which recognizes that factors like socioeconomic status and social relationships impact human well-being. NES adds a new layer, suggesting that the structure of a person's networkboth supportive and stress-inducingcan dictate health outcomes. Rather than simply adding social factors to health data, NES analyzes how networks at various levels, from close-knit family circles to broad social influences, work together, for better or worse.

For example, the NES model illustrates how a community with strong social connections can act as a buffer during times of stress, potentially lowering suicide rates. Conversely, isolated individuals or communities with fractured relationships may experience higher health risks.

Suicide prevention provides a compelling case for the NES framework. The study draws on historical research linking social ties to mental health and shows that individuals embedded in supportive family, friend, or community networks may be more resilient in the face of suicidal thoughts. Conversely, people with limited or toxic networks may be at higher risk.

In her work, Pescosolido also points to recent research showing that connecting individuals with healthy networks has significantly reduced suicide risk, revealing the feasibility, safety and promise of this approach. When scientists simulated the simple addition of social connections to people's networks, overall suicide risk was reduced and previously health individuals were not negatively affected.

According to the NES model, suicide prevention strategies should focus on fostering connections and counteracting isolation among individuals at different levels. This approach aligns with findings from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, for example, that recommend connectedness as a preventive strategy for suicide. The NES model moves beyond individual therapy and medication, advocating for community-building initiatives as part of a more holistic approach to mental health.

Pescosolido learned much about what schools need from a recently published work by colleagues Anna Mueller, the Luther Dana Waterman Associate Professor of Sociology in the College at IU Bloomington, and Seth Abrutyn of the University of British Columbia, authors of Life under Pressure: The Social Roots of Suicide and What to Do About Them.

The book focuses on a community that experienced a rash of suicides; the authors found that while the connectedness among the students mattered, the social structure and climate of the school, including the intense expectations of teachers, staff, and parents set a tone that mattered.

Currently, Pescosolido is working with Mueller in doing research on school staff in Indiana to assist the State in suicide prevention.

In addition, the NES model's implications extend beyond mental health. From chronic illness to infectious disease, the framework shows that network dynamics can accelerate or hinder health outcomes. By accounting for social and relational factors, policymakers and health providers could design interventions that are more effective and socially tailored.

For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, communities with robust social networks managed better mental health outcomes despite physical isolation measures. In this light, the NES model could help public health officials identify communities at higher risk in future crises, based on their network structure and support levels.

Although this framework marks a significant step forward, Pescosolido acknowledges that implementing it will require a new way of collecting and interpreting health data. "Bringing collaborative community network data into mainstream health research is challenging, but the benefits could be transformative," she said.

As the NES model gains traction, it could redefine how health professionals approach complex health problems. By fostering more connected communities, this innovative framework might provide a new tool for improving health outcomesone that is both scientific and rooted in the basic human need for connection.

More information: Bernice A. Pescosolido, A network frame offers a promising transdisciplinary tool for understanding complex health and health care system problems like suicide, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2402194121 Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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Credit: JAMA Network Open (2024). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.46890

After the COVID-19 pandemic struck, online reviews of health care facilities dropped significantly, and they have not yet fully recovered, according to a new analysis led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. More than half of reviews on the online platform, Yelp, now are negative, flipping the pre-COVID picture. The findings are published today in JAMA Network Open.

"Online reviews can tell us information about the patient experience that traditional reporting metrics, like hospital-administered patient experience surveys, might miss," said the study's lead author, Neil Sehgal, ME, an associate fellow in the Penn Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. "These reviews can help hospitals understand what matters most to patients and their support networks in near real time."

By analyzing all reviews of health care facilities in the United States on the online platform Yelp dated from 2014 through 2023, Sehgal, co-author Anish Agarwal, MD, an assistant professor of Emergency Medicine, and their team saw that the percentage of positivefour- and five-starreviews dropped from 54.3% before March 2020 (marked as the beginning of the COVID pandemic in the United States) to 47.9% after.

In fact, from the latter half of 2021 on, the researchers found that positive reviews were never more than 50%.

"We analyzed Yelp reviews of health facilities nationwidewhich includes hospitals, urgent care centers, doctors' offices, and more," said Sehgal. "Our analysis shows how public perception of health care changed after COVID-19. And with this information, hopefully, health care professionals can work to improve upon what's been driving these opinions."

Feedback ups and downs

In analyzing the reviews, the researchers used a language processing technique to tease out the most common topics from the reviews, organized them into themes, and measured how they changed over time.

The themes that saw the greatest change in mentions between the pre- and post-COVID periods were "insurance and billing issues" and "customer service and staff behavior."

One theme mentioned less in negative reviews after the arrival of COVIDand a renewed, supercharged focus on hygiene: Facility cleanliness.

Trends emerge along ethnic and geographic lines

While positive reviews of health care facilities on Yelp, as a whole, declined over time, health care facilities in rural areas already had lower ratings at the start of the time period examined, and the differences became more significant after COVID struck. Post-COVID, rural facilities were 23% less likely to have positive reviews, compared to health facilities in urban areas, which were 7% less likely to have positive reviews.

Looking at data on race, researchers found that health facilities in the sample of neighborhoods that they analyzed that had higher proportions of Black or white residents were more likely to have significant declines in positive reviews.

But when it came to areas with higher-than-average Hispanic populations, facilities still saw a decline in positive ratings, though the dips were not as pronounced.

"At the moment, we cannot understand what is driving these changes among different populations," Agarwal said. "But this could help us think critically on what questions to ask next and how to better deliver care around the nation in the future."

Researchers also identified ethnic correlations around the most mentioned complaints. Reviews for facilities in areas with higher Black and/or Hispanic populations criticized "insurance and billing issues" more often, while the facilities in areas with higher white populations found fault with "wait times" more often.

"Many of the themes have clear overlap but are distinct across geographic areas, which is interesting and begins to highlight a growing need for health systems and facilities to be more intentional and tailored to their local communities' needsand opinions," said Agarwal.

Moving forward, the researchers hope to look deeper into the content of the reviews to better understand how attitudes and opinions break down along socio-ethnographic lines, giving health care professionals better tools for discussing issues that are important to individuals and assuaging concerns.

More information: Neil K. R. Sehgal et al, Disparities by Race and Urbanicity in Online Health Care Facility Reviews, JAMA Network Open (2024). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.46890 Journal information: JAMA Network Open
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K. pneumoniaefrom Ukraine are resistant to antibiotic. A) Heatmap of the antibiotic resistance in K. pneumoniae based on antibiograms. B) Percentage of K. pneumoniae isolates resistant to the tested antimicrobials. Credit: Journal of Infection (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.jinf.2024.106312

It has been a year ago since bacteria from war-wounded at hospitals in Ukraine were analyzed. The study, which attracted a lot of attention, showed that some of the bacteria types had total resistance to antibiotics. Now, the same researchers have examined the infectiousness of the bacteria.

"The bacterium 'Klebsiella pneumoniae,' which is resistant to all antibiotics, is also particularly aggressive and dangerous," says Kristian Riesbeck, who led the study.

Lund University in Sweden has previously reported on Riesbeck, professor of clinical bacteriology at Lund University and senior consultant, who was contacted by the Ukrainian microbiologist Oleksandr Nazarchuk for assistance in examining the degree of antibiotic resistance in bacteria from severely war-wounded and infected patients being treated in hospital.

Using samples from 141 war-wounded (133 adults wounded in the war and eight new-born babies with pneumonia), it could be shown that several bacteria types were resistant to broad-spectrum antibiotics and that six percent of all samples were resistant to all the antibiotics that the researchers tested on them.

Now, the researchers have published an article in the Journal of Infection, in which the researchers have gone on to examine whether Klebsiella pneumoniae has the ability to cause disease in a wider context. Klebsiella can cause urinary tract infections, pneumonia, skin infections in wounds, and sepsis.

The researchers used samples from 37 of the patients who had been previously shown to have resistant bacteria. The entire genome of the bacteria was sequenced to examine whether there were genes that can cause resistance.

"All the bacteria were shown to carry the genes that we know are associated with resistance. We saw that one quarter of them were resistant to all the available antimicrobial drugs on the market, these bacteria are said to have total resistance (pandrug-resistant). Infections caused by these bacteria become very difficult, or in some cases impossible, to treat with the medicines we have today," says Riesbeck.

Pandrug-resistant bacteria are an extreme form of antibiotic resistance and a growing concern within health care.

The researchers were interested in finding out whether infection could be spread further via the bacteria taken from patients in Ukraine. To examine this, experiments were carried out in mice and insect larvae.

Riesbeck explains, "It was shown that the bacteria types most resistant to antibiotics were also the ones that survived best in mice in connection with pneumonia. Similarly, these bacteria types were so aggressive that they killed the insect larvae considerably faster than the bacteria that were less resistant to antibiotics."

Genetic sequencing showed that all Klebsiella bacteria with total resistance examined by the researchers carried the genes that make them more virulent.

"In many cases, bacteria lose their ability to infect and cause disease because all their energy is spent on being resistant to antibiotics. But we have perhaps underestimated bacteria: we saw that many of these bacteria types from Ukraine are equipped with genes that make them both resistant and virulent," says Riesbeck.

According to Riesbeck, this means the bacteria that spread among the wounded in Ukraine will most likely continue to survive and cause problems. "This is something that will not disappear over time. As long as the patients cannot be isolated and treated properly, the spread of infection will continue."

Riesbeck considers the results to be frightening, but not unexpected. This is what happens when the infrastructure of a health care system collapses. And it applies to Ukraine and other war-torn areas around the world.

"Even though these pandrug-resistant bacteria are fighting to survive our antibiotic treatments, they still have a complete set of genes that make them capable of causing disease. This is surprising for us all and unfortunately a worrying sign for the future," adds Riesbeck.

More information: Oskar Ljungquist et al, Pandrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from Ukrainian war victims are hypervirulent, Journal of Infection (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.jinf.2024.106312
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A burgeoning number of studies are examining pediatric health equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). But if not done right, health equity research can do a disservice, perpetuating biases and wrong assumptions that actually exacerbate inequities.

To guide EDI-related studies, the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Boston Children's Hospital (through Tina Young Poussaint, MD, and Susan Kornetsky, MPH) asked the hospital's Office of Health Equity and Inclusion to develop a review process.

In 2022, a group led by Snehal Shah, MD, MPH, Sabra Katz-Wise, Ph.D., and Valerie Ward, MD, MPH, launched an EDI research review process in collaboration with the Boston Children's Sandra L. Fenwick Institute for Pediatric Health Equity and Inclusion.

This led to the formation of an EDI Research Review Committee. This group includes subject matter experts in health equity, health equity research, community-engaged research, research engaging underrepresented and medically underserved populations, health services research, data analysis, and legal expertise.

Over a 20-month period, the committee reviewed 78 protocols for EDI-related studies and went on to establish a standardized EDI review process, which was published recently in Pediatrics.

Reviewing proposed research through an equity lens

The committee considered all phases of each proposed study, from design to dissemination of the results. Ahead of each review, it asked research teams to consider EDI-related questions such as: "What underlying biases or assumptions about the identified population might you be bringing to this research project?"

Research teams were also asked to submit a form answering additional EDI-related questions such as:

How do you plan to engage the patient population, study participants, and/or community?

What patient-centered barriers and/or health system-barriers might exist for recruitment or participation in your project, and how do you plan to address these barriers?

What is your plan for disseminating your research findings back to the patient population, study participants, and/or community?

The committee then discussed each project. For protocols that included primary data collection, the committee gave the research team constructive feedback and suggestions on study methodology, both verbally and in a letter detailing the committee's recommendations and requirements.

Incorporating EDI principles into research

Of the 78 protocols, 11 already incorporated health equity principles and were approved without recommendations. The other 67 received recommendations to ensure application of health equity principles. These included:

Acknowledge structural and social determinants of health in the study questions and design: Without considering structural and social factors that can create inequity, investigators may incorrectly attribute health differences to biology. Or they may reach conclusions that seem to blame patients for their own health outcomes.

Housing insecurity is one example of a health-related social need. "A child with asthma may have multiple emergency department visits, for example, not because they're not taking their medicine, or because their mom hasn't brought them for checkups, but because they live in a home with mold that can trigger their asthma," says Shah.

Problems accessing careincluding transportation, childcare, and insurance coveragecan also drive inequities in clinical outcomes.

Bring the community voice into the research: Members of the group, population, or community being studied should have input into the study's design, interpretation, and dissemination of the findings. Committee reviewers often advised investigators to get input from Community Advisory Boards and patient/family groups. As the saying goes, "Nothing about us without us."

Ideally, some of the staff who enroll or engage with study participants should belong to the group being studied. This can increase participants' comfort, build trust, and likely yield a stronger study. In some cases, community members can be co-authors of the published paper, says Katz-Wise.

Use language that conforms to current health equity standards: Using outdated terms that participants find offensive may discourage them from participating in health equity studies and may affect how study findings are interpreted. Such language can also be inaccurate, lack precision, and further stigmatize study participants, populations, or communities.

Develop an analytic plan to handle missing data on EDI variables: Missing sociodemographic data (especially data on race and ethnicity) was a concern in one third of the protocols the committee reviewed. The study's data analysis should account for this. To get adequate sample sizes, the review committee often provided guidance on recruiting diverse populations.

A roadmap for academic medical centers

Overall, investigators were receptive to the EDI Research Review Committee's feedback. Some expressed frustration about the added layer of review. However, many saw a benefit to engaging in this process.

Shah, Katz-Wise, and their co-authors suggest getting buy-in from hospital leadership before introducing an EDI research review process. "It has to be a priority for the institution," says Katz-Wise. "Committee members need protected time to conduct reviews." They also advise communicating with researchers in advance about the EDI review process so they can plan ahead.

The authors also recommend that review committees include diverse perspectives, including those of people from groups historically underrepresented in biomedical research.

"The input from experts in health equity and EDI is helping the IRB consider the risk and benefits of the research and how the principle of justice applies to each protocol," says Kornetsky, senior director of Clinical Research Compliance at Boston Children's. "Many other IRBs look to this review process as a model for consideration at their own institutions. "

The work of Boston Children's EDI Research Review Committee has been dynamic, evolving over time. "As we do the work, we learn more," says Shah.

More information: Sabra L. Katz-Wise et al, Establishing a Pediatric Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Research Review Process, Pediatrics (2024). DOI: 10.1542/peds.2023-062946 Journal information: Pediatrics
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Professor Dr. Britta Eiz-Vesper and Professor Dr. Thomas Skripuletz and their team have developed an innovative therapy using foreign defence cells to combat the deadly brain infection PML. Credit: Karin Kaiser

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a rare but serious brain infection. It gradually destroys brain tissue and often leads to death within a few weeks. It is caused by the human polyomavirus 2also known as the John Cunningham (JC) virus.

In 2021, an interdisciplinary team at the Hannover Medical School (MHH) led by Professor Dr. Thomas Skripuletz, senior physician at the Clinic for Neurology with Clinical Neurophysiology, found a novel way to stop the virus from spreading. Since then, the clinic has been offering a treatment with new immune cells that can suppress the virus in the body of those affected.

These directly isolated allogeneic virus-specific DIAVIS T cells come from the blood of healthy people who were infected with the virus. They have precisely fitting defense cells from a group of white blood cells. The T-lymphocytes recognize the attacking JC viruses as foreign to the body and initiate an immune response.

The DIAVIS-T cells are isolated directly from donor blood at the Institute for Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering and are available for therapy within 24 hours. In a scientific evaluation of 28 patients, the researchers have now analyzed the effectiveness of their therapy.

"We found that the majority of our patients respond to the treatment, recover from their symptoms and survive the virus infection thanks to the therapy," states Professor Skripuletz. The results have been published in the journal JAMA Neurology.

Dormant virus is reactivated

The virus infects about 70% to 90% of people worldwide, without most of them even noticing. But once it enters the body, the genetic material of the pathogen remains dormant there. If the immune system is weakened or shut down by a serious illness or immunosuppressive medication, the virus can undergo a genetic mutation. This mutation enables the virus to migrate via the blood into the central nervous system and infect cells there.

Until the development of the new treatment method, there was only one option for patients taking drugs to suppress their immune system: The immunosuppressants were discontinued. Since the discovery of the therapeutic option with DIAVIS T cells, PML patients from Germany and abroad have been coming to the MHH for treatment. However, so far it has been a case-by-case decision for this treatment option.

Unique T-cell donor registry

The transfer of DIAVIS T cells only works if the tissue markers of the donor cells match those of the recipient by at least 50%, i.e., they are HLA partially matched. The virus-specific T cells usually come from family donors or from the unique T cell donor register alloCELL at the MHH.

"There, we not only register the HLA characteristics of the blood cells, but also determine the number of specific T cells against different viruses at the same time," says Professor Dr. Britta Eiz-Vesper, an immunologist at the MHH Institute for Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering.

Because the institute is also one of Germany's leading manufacturers of virus-specific T cells, the scientists can quickly find suitable individuals for a T cell donation and then provide the T cell products within a few days of the patient's request. This short time frame is crucial for people with PML. Because only a low dose of cells is required, the likelihood of complications such as graft-versus-host disease, in which the donor's immune cells attack the recipient's body, is low because only a low dose of cells is required.

The method can also be applied to other viral diseases

In order to scientifically confirm the results, the researchers are now preparing a phase 2 clinical trial. If the clinical trial provides general proof of the effectiveness of the treatment method, it could become an approved therapy for all PML sufferers. And this may affect more people than previously assumed.

"PML is probably not often enough on the radar of treating physicians, also because there has been no cure for it so far," says the neurologist. And in the long term, the therapeutic principle could also be extended to other neurological viral diseases. "We are convinced that our method will revolutionize the treatment of infectious diseases."

More information: Nora Mohn et al, Directly Isolated Allogeneic VirusSpecific T Cells in Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy, JAMA Neurology (2024). DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2024.3324 Journal information: Archives of Neurology

Provided by Medizinische Hochschule Hannover
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has defended both President William Ruto and Raila Odinga for approving the Adani Groups multibillion-dollar deals in Kenya, asserting that they made the right decision based on available information at the time.

Mbadi clarified that President Ruto did not contradict Raila Odinga, who had earlier supported the Adani Group due to its global reputation and proven ability to manage large-scale projects, particularly citing the upgrade of Mumbai Airport.

The Treasury CS also commended President Ruto for swiftly canceling the deals after new information surfaced refarding the Indian conglomerates suspected involvement in bribery.

Mbadi emphasized that the Kenyan government was unaware of Adani Groups alleged corrupt activities until the United States government uncovered them.

If someone does not disclose material facts about themselves, how would we know theyve been involved in bribery elsewhere? Mbadi posed.

He continued, stating, When the US government conducted a special investigation and revealed the bribery, the best course of action for any responsible government is to terminate dealings with such an entity.

Mbadi reiterated that the government would take similar actions with any individual or company, including Kenyans, found to be involved in corruption.

It is not just Adani Group, any other person even if it is a Kenyan and you are found to have been corrupt, you can no longer be allowed to carry on with the said transaction, he added.

The CS also clarified that Odingas comments about Adani Group had been limited to the companys other international projects, with a focus on the well-publicized Mumbai Airport upgrade.

Furthermore, Mbadi announced that the Kenyan government is now ready to engage private developers for the upgrade of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). He stressed the importance of expediting this process to benefit Kenyans while maintaining transparency.

Private entities worldwide now know that JKIA requires development, and the Kenyan government is ready to engage a private investor, said Mbadi.

He added, We must embrace Public Private Partnerships (PPP), but it doesnt have to be Adani. If we have doubts about a companys integrity during evaluation, we cannot proceed with the contract.
Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi has called on the Kenyan government to ban the American childrens book series Diary of a Wimpy Kid, arguing that it contains themes unsuitable for children.

In a statement, Wanyonyi questioned why the series remains in circulation in Kenya despite concerns over its content.

The MP urged Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba to clarify why the book series has not been banned and to outline the steps being taken to prevent such materials from reaching young readers in Kenya.

In response, Ogamba explained that Diary of a Wimpy Kid is not on the list of books approved by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development for use in schools. He also highlighted that the regulation of books in Kenya falls under the Ministry of Information, Communications, and Digital Economy, under the legal framework of the Books and Newspapers Act Cap 111.

We have brought the matter to the relevant ministry for appropriate action, and we will follow up to ensure that the particular offending book is deregistered from approval, Ogamba stated.

The series, written by Jeff Kinney, has faced criticism globally. Last year, the Tanzanian government banned Diary of a Wimpy Kid from schools, claiming it violated local cultural norms and good practices for raising children.

Tanzanian authorities also argued that the books promote foreign behaviors, particularly concerning topics like transgender issues, LGBTQ+ rights, and asexuality.

In the United States, the Florida State Legislature also banned the series, expressing concerns over its woke undertones. Legislators claimed the books contain hidden messages that threaten to undermine societal values and disrupt moral norms.

The controversy surrounding Diary of a Wimpy Kid continues to spark debate on its impact on childrens development and the influence of foreign literature.
Modern African enterprises adopt solutions similar to online casino turnkey systems for business automation. Nairobi emerges as a technology hub for East Africa with innovative digital implementations. Local companies integrate international standards with regional business practices.

Technical infrastructure development creates opportunities for digital transformation. Regional entrepreneurs implement new solutions for traditional business challenges.

The growth of digital solutions mirrors global technology trends, with systems similar to casino software leading innovation. Regional businesses adapt international platforms to local requirements.

Market demands drive technical advancement across sectors. Local developers create solutions for specific regional needs.

Digital Infrastructure Requirements

East African businesses require specific technical elements for successful digital transformation.

Regional conditions influence implementation strategies. Local expertise guides solution development and adaptation.

Stable power supply systems;

High-speed internet connectivity;

Data security protocols;

Mobile payment integration;

Multi-language support;

Offline operation capabilities;

Local compliance features.

Infrastructure requirements shape technology implementation, much like crypto casino software adapts to different regulatory frameworks.

Regional businesses focus on practical solutions for local challenges. Technical teams adapt international standards to local conditions.

Implementation Strategies

Business digitalization follows specific regional patterns:

Local market analysis;

Infrastructure assessment;

Solution customization;

Staff training programs;

Phased implementation;

Performance monitoring;

System optimization.

Strategy development considers local business practices. Teams focus on practical solutions for regional challenges. Implementation success depends on local adaptation and support. Market research identifies specific regional requirements and user preferences.

Local partnerships enhance implementation effectiveness. Technical teams adapt solutions to available infrastructure.

Community engagement supports successful platform adoption. Training programs address specific regional needs. Local support teams provide assistance in regional languages. Implementation timelines consider seasonal business patterns.

Success metrics reflect regional business objectives. Regular feedback sessions guide system improvements.

Regional Technology Adoption

East African markets demonstrate unique technology requirements. Local businesses combine traditional methods with digital solutions.

Regional preferences influence platform development. Mobile technology leads digital transformation efforts.

Mobile-first approach priorities;

Local payment system integration;

Multi-platform accessibility;

Regional language support;

Cultural adaptation requirements;

Local security compliance;

Community engagement features.

Technology adoption patterns reflect regional needs. Local businesses prioritize practical solutions. Development teams focus on user experience optimization. Mobile money solutions like M-Pesa demonstrate successful regional adaptation.

Technical teams consider internet accessibility challenges in rural areas.

Platform designs accommodate varying connectivity levels. Local payment preferences guide feature development. Regional language options ensure broad market accessibility.

Cultural considerations influence interface design and user interactions. Success metrics focus on practical user benefits and accessibility.

Digital Security Measures

Regional security requirements combine international standards with local needs. Teams implement comprehensive protection systems. Regular updates maintain security effectiveness.

Data encryption protocols;

Access control systems;

Transaction security measures;

User verification methods;

Anti-fraud protection;

Backup solution implementation;

Compliance monitoring tools.

Security measures address specific regional challenges. Local teams maintain system protection standards. Regular audits verify security effectiveness.

Digital transformation continues across Eastern Africa. Regional businesses adapt international solutions to local needs.

Technology implementation follows practical requirements. Local teams develop expertise in system optimization. Market demands drive continuous improvement efforts.

African digital solutions demonstrate unique regional characteristics. Implementation success depends on local adaptation. Regional businesses benefit from technical advancement. Development teams focus on practical solutions. Market growth drives continuous innovation efforts.

Technical infrastructure supports regional business development. Local teams maintain system effectiveness and security.

Regular updates ensure continuous improvement. Market demands guide development priorities. Regional success stories demonstrate transformation benefits.
Ezekiel Mutua, the CEO of the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK), has strongly criticized the viral Mapangale Dance Challenge and suggested banning it.

Mutua condemned the challenge for promoting violence and misogyny, revealing that he had received numerous complaints from the public.

I am inundated with complaints about the Mapangale dance challenge on TikTok. I have reviewed the clips, and I agree that this kind of content normalises violence and is misogynistic, Mutua wrote in a Twitter post.

Mutua also emphasized his efforts to prevent content that could threaten national security. He revealed that he is in contact with the Ministry of Interior to ensure such content does not compromise safety.

Additionally, he urged content creators to use their platforms to inspire hope rather than glorify criminal behavior.

I am liaising with the relevant authorities, particularly the Ministry of Interior, to ensure that such content does not jeopardize national security. In the meantime, we advise content creators to use their creativity to inspire hope and not promote or glorify criminal behavior, he added.

Mutua further stated that MCSK would issue a formal statement after consulting with the relevant parties. We will issue a comprehensive statement on the matter once we have aligned our corrective actions with the relevant parties, he said.

The Mapangale Dance is believed to have been created by popular Reggae MC Zendiambo. The term Mapangale refers to a machete, and the dance mimics swinging machetes.
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has announced that he will reveal significant political plans in January 2025.

Speaking during a church service on Sunday, Gachagua stated that he has been consulting various leaders and will disclose the details to Kenyans early next year.

Viongozi wetu wa kanisa tunaongea, wanafanyi biashara wetu tunaongea.. wale viongozi ambao wakona akili na wanapenda watu wetu tunaongea. January hii nitamueleza vile tumesikilizana., he said.

Loosely translated: (I am continuing discussions with peopleour church leaders, businesspeople, professionals, and intelligent leaders who care about our people. In January, I will explain the agreements we have reached)

Gachagua further took a swipe at President William Ruto, admitting that he made a big political blunder for believing him fully because he was carrying a Bible.

Na rais alifanya vizuri sana kuleta hii vita na watu wa mulima kwa sababu tumemjua. Hapo mbeleni hatukuwa tunamjua vizuri, si sasa tumejua?

Sasa tunazungumza na wewe vile uko. Tumekusoma na tumejua wewe ni mtu aina gani. Tuliongea na wewe bila kukujua vizuri.. ulikuwa na Biblia.

Ni vizuri umetoa hii vita mapema kwa sababu ungetoa baada ya second term ungetusumbua, Gachagua said.

Translated: (And the President did very well to bring this fight to the people of the mountain because we have come to know him. Before, we did not know him well, but now we do, dont we? Now we are speaking to you as you are. We have studied you and understand the kind of person you are. We spoke with you before really knowing you well you even had a Bible. It is good that you brought this fight early because if you had done it after the second term, it would have been difficult for us) Gachagua said.

The former Mathira MP mentioned that a new political movement emerging from the Mt Kenya region would surpass the impact of the 2002 realignment, which propelled former President Mwai Kibaki to power and ended Daniel Mois 24-year rule.

The political movement that would start in this mountain, 2002 will look like a joke. We shall join other Kenyans to get on the right trajectory and define our destiny, he stated.

Gachaguas statement comes amid speculation about the formation of a new political coalition. Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka recently confirmed ongoing discussions with the former Deputy President to create a fresh alliance.

We will talk to everyone going forward to build a strong coalition. What I can say is that there will come a time when we will ask everyone to validate their membership in Azimio and expand, Kalonzo said.

Makueni MP Daniel Maanzo, a close ally of Kalonzo, revealed that plans for the coalition are progressing rapidly. He hinted that the new political outfit could take shape by Christmas, with efforts focused on bringing like-minded parties together.

We are working on the new coalition and looking for new partners, the coalition should be in place by Christmas. We are first making sure we have as many like-minded parties as possible, Maanzo said.

If finalized, this coalition could redefine Kenyas political dynamics ahead of the 2027 Election.
The National Job Recruitment Program will take place today, Monday, November 25, in Nakuru City.

The exercise will be held at the Rift Valley National Polytechnic in Nakuru County from 8 am to 5 pm, prioritizing the first individuals who arrive. This follows successful recruitments in Machakos, Makueni, and Kitui counties.

We have secured over 1,000 job opportunities for Nakuru residents in countries such as Australia, Qatar, Poland, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and Germany, said Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua.

Applicants are instructed to bring their National ID, relevant academic certificates, an updated CV, and a passport (if available). Mutua reassured those without a passport that they would still be considered and added, Well assist you in acquiring one quickly.

The program offers an incredible opportunity to secure jobs abroad. For some positions, successful candidates could fly out before Christmas and start earning immediately, Mutua explained.

CS Mutua also announced upcoming recruitment sessions at Baringo National Polytechnic on Tuesday and Nyandarua National Polytechnic on Wednesday.

See you tomorrow in Nakuru! The earlier you arrive, the better! There are plenty of job opportunities, and the future looks bright, he encouraged on Sunday.

The National Job Recruitment Program, which began last week, will cover all 47 counties. Mutua highlighted that this initiative follows the successful completion of job recruitments for positions in Qatar.

In the first phase, 3,247 Kenyans were selected from 8,000 available positions, with nearly 1,500 already receiving offer letters and preparing to travel.

We expect all those recruited to depart within the next few weeks to begin their careers, Mutua added.

The Qatari company behind the openings is set to return to Kenya to finalize the hiring process for the remaining 5,000 positions.
President William Ruto has pledged to continue his culture of giving, a week after his generous donation to a Catholic church in Soweto, Nairobi East, was rejected.

Speaking on Sunday, November 24, 2024, during an interdenominational service at Kapsitet Primary School in Kericho County, Ruto emphasized that the government would not apologize for supporting the church and reaffirmed his dedication to spreading the word of God.

The President explained that his donations reflect his commitment to serving God, highlighting his 30-year history of building churches. Ruto pointed out that his acts of kindness have benefited him, reinforcing his belief in the importance of giving.

We have absolutely no apologies to make as we give to God. Because God gave first, Ruto stated.

Despite facing criticism from some Kenyans, Ruto expressed his deep understanding of the word of God and the significance of giving. He reiterated that he was a product of giving and vowed that any negative feedback would not deter his efforts to continue building churches across the country.

We understand the word of God enough to know that it is more blessed to give than to receive and thats what we are going to do. Do not be worried we are going to build churches. We will cooperate because I have built churches for over 30 years and I have never lacked because I know the secret of giving and I know what it does, he said.

Ruto also committed to teaching others the importance of giving without ulterior political or competitive motives, ensuring that his mission remains centered on faith and service to God.

I, William Ruto, am a product of giving, and I know what I should do, he added.
Category Investor  Deputy General Director Date of birth 7/28/69 Place of birth Moscow, RSFSR, USSR Sex Male Nationality Russian First name Valery  VALERY  Valeriy        Valeri  Valerii  Valerij  Valerii  Walerij Last name Miroshnikov      MIROSHNIKOV    Mirochnykov  Mirosschnykov  Mirosschnykov  Miroshnykov  Mirosnikov  Mirosnykov  Mirosnikov Patronymic Aleksandrovich    Alexandrovich  Oleksandrovytch  Oleksandrowytsch  Oleksandrovich  Olexandrovich  Olexandrovych  Oleksandrovych  Aleksandrovic  Oleksandrovic Specialty Economics and Investment Career Expert of the Main Department of Commercial Banks Inspection at the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (1993-1996)  Deputy Head of the Department for Work with Troubled Credit Organizations and Deputy Director of the Department for Organizing Bank Bailouts of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (1996-1999)  Deputy Director General of the State Corporation Agency for Restructuring of Credit Organizations (ARCO) (1999-2004)  Deputy Director General of the State Corporation Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) (February 2004-March 2005)  First Deputy General Director of the State Corporation Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) (March 2005-July 22, 2019) Current activities Private investment, focus on real estate Languages spoken Russian  English Source of Wealth Investments Industries Real estate  Deposit insurance  Bank rehabilitation

Biography

Valery Miroshnikov, during his 15 years as a top manager at the DIA, not only helped reduce the number of incidences of bankruptcy among credit organizations and return millions of rubles to Russian account holders, but also participated in creating key legislative initiatives aimed at improving the mechanisms of the state structures operations.

Contents:

Name

The Path That Led to the DIA

Valery Miroshnikov, DIA: The Beginning

DIA and Anti-Crisis Policy During Global Economic Stagnation

Valery Miroshnikov, DIA: Overcoming the Problem of the Mass Bankruptcy of Banks

DIA and Legislative Initiatives

Key Takeaways About Miroshnikov Valery

Qs and As

Name

Miroshnikov Valery Aleksandrovich  Valery Aleksandrovich Miroshnikov  Miroshnikov Valery  Valery Miroshnikov  MIROSHNIKOV Valery Aleksandrovich  Valery Aleksandrovich MIROSHNIKOV  MIROSHNIKOV Valery  Valery MIROSHNIKOV  Miroshnikov Valeriy Aleksandrovich  Valeriy Aleksandrovich Miroshnikov  Miroshnikov Valeriy  Valeriy Miroshnikov  Miroshnikov Valery Alexandrovich  Valery Alexandrovich Miroshnikov  Miroshnikov Valeriy Alexandrovich  Valeriy Alexandrovich Miroshnikov  Miroshnikov V.  V. Miroshnikov  Miroshnikov V.A.  V.A. Miroshnikov          ,        ..  .. 

The Path That Led to the DIA

Valery Miroshnikov, born on the 28th of July, 1969, in Moscow, has contributed to significant developments in Russias banking sector. His educational path was unconventional for a future banking executive.

In 1992, he graduated from Moscows leading automobile and road construction institute, specializing in road construction. Recognizing the need for financial expertise, he pursued a second degree at the All-Russian Distance Learning Financial and Economic Institute, graduating with honors in 1996 with an economics qualification.

In 2004, he defended his dissertation at Plekhanov Russian Economic Academy, focusing on public deposit insurance during the banking system restructuring.

The collapse of the Soviet Union forced Valery Miroshnikov to adapt quickly. Instead of pursuing road construction, he briefly worked at Strategy, a firm selling electronics and industrial equipment. He invested his earnings in additional education, including advanced accounting courses.

1993 marked the start of the banking career of Miroshnikov Valery, at the Central Bank of Russias department in charge of inspecting troubled banks. Starting as a second-category expert, the lowest position, he progressively advanced through various roles. His knowledge of accounting, though self-taught, proved valuable during this period of banking sector transformation.

A pivotal moment came when Valery Miroshnikov was appointed supervisor of the temporary administration of a bank in the Samara Oblast, spending 7-8 months in the city Togliatti. This experience made him one of the few specialists with practical knowledge in handling troubled banks, leading to his involvement in similar cases later.

From 1996 to 1999, he held the second highest position in two different departments at the Central Bank, that together worked to improve bank health. In 1999, he accepted the position of Deputy Director General at the Agency for the Restructuring of Credit Organizations (ARCO), created to address the aftermath of the 1998 crisis.

At ARCO, Miroshnikov Valery helped implement a local deposit insurance system for controlled banks, which proved effective in maintaining depositor confidence. He served on the boards of several of these banks.

His pragmatic approach to banking rehabilitation and deposit insurance helped strengthen Russias banking sector during critical periods. However, Valery Miroshnikov always emphasizes that the systems success resulted from collective efforts.

Valery Miroshnikov, DIA: The Beginning

Year Company Position 1993-1996 Main Department of Commercial Banks Inspection at the Central Bank of the Russian Federation Expert 1996-1999 Department for Work with Troubled Credit Organizations and Deputy Director of the Department for Organizing Bank Bailouts of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation Deputy Head 1999-2004 State Corporation Agency for Restructuring of Credit Organizations (ARCO) Deputy Director General 2004-2005 State Corporation Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) Deputy Director General 2005-July 2019 State Corporation Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) First Deputy General Director 2024- Real estate business Investment

In 2004, the state corporation DIA (Valery Miroshnikov initially held the position of Deputy Director General) began fulfilling the function of guarantor of the protection of account holders funds.

The DIA based its work on the experience of ARCO, which was created after the 1998 financial crisis to restore the payment capacity of the most important banks. Valery Miroshnikov was also part of the organizations leadership.

The Agency for the Restructuring of Credit Organizations helped rehabilitate or establish several banks. In total, Miroshnikov Valery and the Agency helped transform and adapt 21 financial organizations to the new market circumstances.

In 2005, at the DIA, Valery Miroshnikov took on the position of First Deputy.

In the same year, a number of financial market giants joined the new insurance system. Thus, 90 percent of all public deposits were already insured with the participation of the DIA.

At that time, Miroshnikov Valery Aleksandrovich facilitated the addition of about 930 more banks to this deposit protection mechanism. The DIA actively replenished its resources, which allowed it to initiate an increase in the amount of insurance compensation by the end of the year.

In 2006, Valery Miroshnikov, DIA, and its team of professionals helped return lost money to over 480 depositors and almost doubled the amount of compensation.

In its first three years of operation, the Deposit Insurance Agency joined the international association of deposit insurers.

Also, thanks to the work of the agencys team of specialists  including Miroshnikov Valery  the average cost of liquidating a single bank was significantly reduced.

The DIA also engaged in scientific and analytical education to strengthen citizens trust in the Russian Federations banking system, becoming a co-founder of the Banking Business journal.

DIA and Anti-Crisis Policy During Global Economic Stagnation

In 2007-2008, the DIA actively participated in actions aimed at eliminating the negative consequences of the global economic crisis. According to Valery Miroshnikov, the stagnation in the real sector of the economy resulted in budget deficits for numerous countries.

As banks were largely involved in global processes, noted Miroshnikov Valery Aleksandrovich, the number of bankruptcies of credit and financial institutions increased during this time.

Consequently, the number of insurance cases requiring compensation from the Deposit Insurance Agency also increased.

Decisive actions were required to overcome these difficulties. In particular, thanks to the new law on auxiliary measures for stabilizing the countrys financial system, the DIAs operational capabilities were significantly expanded.

The agencys leadership, including Valery Miroshnikov, could now seek investors independently. The DIA also received additional financial support from the state amounting to 200 billion rubles. All this helped the agency operate more effectively.

In just the first half of 2009, as Miroshnikov Valery Aleksandrovich explained, the state structure took control of 35 banks. Meanwhile, public trust grew  by mid-year, the total volume of public deposits exceeded 6 trillion rubles.

One of the most successful examples of bringing a bank out of financial crisis, recalls Miroshnikov Valery, was a major bank based in Siberia.

In 2010, reported Valery Miroshnikov, DIA completed the rehabilitation of this bank. As of October that year, its profit was 187 million rubles, and assets were 6.192 billion rubles, whereas a year earlier their total volume was only 2.2 billion rubles.

Of this sum, according to DIA information, 1.3 billion rubles were problematic.

Also, thanks in part to the competent work of Valery Miroshnikov, in July 2010, a major investor was found for the then-unprofitable Sverdlovsk Provincial Bank. Many other banks also received a second life, whose rehabilitation during the crisis was handled by the DIA.

Valery Miroshnikov also contributed to these processes.

Valery Miroshnikov, DIA: Overcoming the Problem of the Mass Bankruptcy of Banks

In 2009, Miroshnikov Valery told journalists from a financial publication about the main causes of bank bankruptcies. At that time, the DIA was managing 85 financial organizations. Valery Miroshnikov identified investments in non-core business as one of the factors causing banks crisis situations.

Unlike the early 2000s, when the Agency mainly encountered deliberate asset withdrawal, by 2009, bankers were more likely to take actions aimed at quick enrichment, noted Miroshnikov Valery Aleksandrovich.

The fraudulent scheme involved creating front companies. In such situations, Valery Miroshnikov, DIA, and its team collected debts most often through negotiations about voluntary damage compensation.

But the state structure also actively cooperated with law enforcement agencies.

Back in 2006, with the assistance of Valery Miroshnikov, DIA and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation signed an agreement on joint work in detecting and investigating cases of deliberate bankruptcy in banks where the agency was the bankruptcy trustee.

In 2012, Miroshnikov Valery, speaking at a professional conference, stated that 80 percent of Russian bank bankruptcies were linked to criminal activity. At that time, the DIA had filed 177 complaints regarding economic crimes.

Thanks to the managements policy, including the efforts of Valery Miroshnikov, they managed to recover almost 2 billion rubles.

The fight against unscrupulous bankers was also aided by new legal norms, whose adoption was made possible by the work of the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA).

DIA and Legislative Initiatives

Tax laws that Valery Miroshnikov helped modernize:

In 2012, the career of Valery Miroshnikov was enriched by a number of legislative initiatives that were developed jointly with agency specialists. The Deposit Insurance Agency proposed, in particular, improvements related to strengthening the banking sector of the economy.

For example, in October 2012, with the participation of Miroshnikov Valery Aleksandrovich, a legal norm came into force that required banks to duplicate their databases and send them to the Central Bank.

Also, as noted by Miroshnikov Valery, during the same period, the association proposed creating a special working group in the Russian government to review the most high-profile economic crimes.

In 2017, the Deposit Insurance Agency initiated amendments to Russian legislation that would allow the agency to assess a banks assets immediately after license revocation and prepare them for sale.

This would help reduce the time needed to liquidate financial structures by half.

In the same year, the organizations leadership, which included Valery Miroshnikov, recommended that deputies consider the possibility of adopting amendments allowing the seizure of bank property even before the liquidation process began, which would help preserve assets.

Miroshnikov Valery: Results of Many Years of Work

In 2019, Miroshnikov Valery Aleksandrovich left his position at the Deposit Insurance Agency. During his fifteen years at the DIA, he helped the structure achieve high economic performance indicators and improve the mechanism for protecting Russian residents deposits.

In 2014 alone, Miroshnikov Valery contributed to the adoption of initiatives such as extending the deposit insurance system to individual entrepreneurs funds and doubling the maximum insurance compensation.

Also, thanks to the competent actions taken by Valery Miroshnikov, the agencys profile was supplemented with the new function of increasing the capitalization of Russian banks. The Deposit Insurance Agency was also permanently granted the right to conduct bank rehabilitation.

In 2015, the Agency where Valery Aleksandrovich Miroshnikov was among the top managers was honored with the title of Worlds Best Deposit Insurer by the International Association of Deposit Insurers.

From 2016 to 2019, Valery Miroshnikov contributed to expanding the Agencys powers and implementing high-tech services.

On July 10, 2019, it was reported that Valery Aleksandrovich Miroshnikov was voluntarily stepping down from his post as First Deputy Head of the Deposit Insurance Agency. Reflecting on his tenure, he highlighted one of the main achievements: when he first joined the DIA, the depositor satisfaction rate averaged just 3-5%.

By the time of the departure of Miroshnikov Valery, this figure had soared to approximately 64%, primarily due to improved money recovery rates during bank liquidations.

As of 2024, Miroshnikov Valery has redirected his expertise to the real estate sector, where he actively pursues investment opportunities.

This career shift marks a new direction for the financial expert who spent years contributing to the safeguarding of Russias banking system through his work at the Deposit Insurance Agency.

Key Takeaways About Miroshnikov Valery:

Instead of letting his unrelated road construction degree limit him, he turned his outsider status into an advantage by investing in continued education while already working

He helped establish a local deposit insurance system for a small group of controlled banks before implementing it nationwide  using a test-and-learn approach

His involvement in establishing the Banking Business journal indicates he understood the importance of industry education and transparency

Despite working with troubled banks, he preferred negotiation over legal action when recovering assets  suggesting a pragmatic approach to problem-solving

His support for database duplication requirements shows he recognized the importance of data security before it became mainstream

Qs and As

Where did Valery Aleksandrovich Miroshnikov invest his early earnings from Strategy company?

Valery Aleksandrovich Miroshnikov invested his earnings from selling electronics and industrial equipment into advanced accounting courses and additional education at Plekhanov Academy.

How did Miroshnikov Valery describe the banking situation in 2009 compared to the early 2000s?

Miroshnikov Valery noted that while the early 2000s saw deliberate asset withdrawal, by 2009 bankers had shifted to schemes aimed at quick enrichment.

What technological requirement did Valery Aleksandrovich Miroshnikov help implement in 2012?

Valery Aleksandrovich Miroshnikov helped implement a requirement for banks to duplicate their databases and submit them to the Central Bank.

How did Miroshnikov Valery handle debt recovery from troubled banks?

Miroshnikov Valery primarily used negotiations for voluntary damage compensation before resorting to law enforcement involvement.

What percentage of Russian bank bankruptcies did Valery Miroshnikov link to criminal activity in 2012?

Valery Miroshnikov reported at a professional conference that 80% of Russian bank bankruptcies were connected to criminal activity.
Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba has called on Muranga Governor Irungu Kangata to write a letter to President William Ruto, highlighting pressing issues affecting the nation.

Speaking on Sunday, November 24, 2024, Wamuchomba praised Kangatas history of drafting impactful letters, including his bold communication to former President Uhuru Kenyatta during his time as senator. She emphasized that his experience positioned him to effectively convey public concerns to the president.

Wamuchomba urged Kangata to address the growing hostility toward Kenya Kwanza in Muranga and Embu. She noted that goodwill messages shared during the recent Mashujaa Day celebrations were rejected by locals who once supported Ruto.

Dear Governor Irungu Kangata, you have a way of writing letters to presidents. Please write to our president and notify him of various issues since he may be unaware that his messages of goodwill during the recent Mashujaa Day were rejected by the people he once called Andu Aitu. In Juja they told the DC aaachane nayo, Wamuchomba stated.

The MP also alleged that clergy in Mt. Kenya are increasingly avoiding mentioning Rutos name during prayers, breaking a long-standing tradition.

Some clergy are struggling to include his name in prayers. Even mourners in Muranga refused to listen to his condolence message during a funeral you presided over, she added.

Additionally, Wamuchomba pointed to unresolved issues, including delays in HELB loan disbursements and farmers waiting for their bonuses and subsidized fertilizer, urging immediate action to address these concerns.
Truce agreed amid sectarian violence in Pakistan

People mourn over the graves of relatives on Friday, who were killed when gunmen opened fire on passenger vehicles in Kurram. Photo: Reuters

A Pakistani government team mediated a seven-day ceasefire deal between rival sectarian groups on Sunday, halting days of clashes that have killed some 70 people and injured dozens in the northwest of the country.



The violence began when gunmen attacked convoys of civilian vehicles on Thursday, killing at least 40 people, mostly Shi'ite Muslims.



That sparked retaliatory attacks against Sunni Muslim residents and there were pitched battles between armed groups from both sides.



Armed Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims have engaged in tribal and sectarian rivalry for decades over a land dispute in Kurram district near the Afghanistan border.



"Both sides have agreed to a week-long ceasefire which is expected to be extended," Muhammad Ali Saif, a member of the mediation team, told Reuters by phone, adding that major clashes had already stopped.



Saif, who is the information minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province - where Kurram is located - said both sides also agreed to exchange prisoners, including women and the bodies of those killed in the clashes.



The prisoners and bodies would be exchanged with assistance from Pakistani paramilitary forces.



The team flew into Parachinar, Kurram's main city, on Saturday and met Shi'ite and Sunni tribal leaders with the entire district under curfew and armed groups roaming the streets.



Saif said news of the ceasefire should also halt smaller skirmishes that had been reported in remote areas of the district.



Another member of the mediation team, Akhtar Hayat Gandapur, the police chief of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said Shi'ite leaders were demanding the immediate arrest of those involved in attacking passenger vehicles, as well as compensation for the victims and safety assurances for travelers.



The government is yet to identify or publicly name who the attackers were and no one has claimed responsibility. (Reuters)
Former king Juan Carlos sued for alleged tax offences

Juan Carlos, 86, went into self-imposed exile in the United Arab Emirates in 2020. File photo: AFP

Spain's disgraced former king Juan Carlos is being sued for alleged tax offences by a group of retired judges, one of the complainants said on Monday.



Spanish prosecutors in March 2022 closed three probes into his finances due to insufficient evidence and the statute of limitations, but said several irregularities had been found.



Among them were lucrative gifts from Gulf Arab monarchies and private trips funded by a foundation based in the tiny European state of Liechtenstein.



The complainants say a court rather than public prosecutors must decide if Juan Carlos fulfilled his tax obligations.



Juan Carlos, 86, has made two payments worth more than five million euros to the Spanish tax authorities to settle money owed on undeclared income, widely viewed as a bid to avoid charges.



His regularisation of income declarations from 2014 to 2018 "were not done in accordance with the law", former Spanish Supreme Court judge Jose Antonio Martin Pallin told public broadcaster TVE.



"We do not have the slightest interest in prison sentences being applied," but the harshest possible fine should be imposed, he added.



Legal experts, philosophers and journalists were also among the complainants, Pallin said, without specifying their number.



Juan Carlos enjoyed widespread admiration for his role in Spain's transition to democracy following the death of longtime dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.



But the revelations about the murky origins of his fortune since his abdication in 2014 have done irreparable damage to his reputation and harmed the Spanish monarchy.



He went into self-imposed exile in the United Arab Emirates in 2020. (AFP)
PNN New Delhi [India], November 25: Techmagnate, the top digital marketing agency for the healthcare industry, has released a new Search Trends Report about the online pharmacy landscape in India. As the leading digital marketing company for healthcare, Techmagnate has a deep understanding of the online pharmacy industry, having worked with leading brands in this space for several years. Using advanced analytics and almost two decades of expertise, the agency investigates how searches and customer behaviour in multiple industries across India are evolving, which corresponding brands can then use to establish a dominant digital presence. The Online Pharmacy Search Trends Report is their latest offering. To create this new report, Techmagnate analyzed more than 78,000 keywords spanning several key search categories - branded and non-branded keywords, types of queries, search volumes, and many more - in order to identify real opportunities for growth. The report also includes a list of the top brands that dominate the market and online searches, and hold the highest share of voice. Online pharmacies can use this report to understand changing consumer needs, identify revenue and growth opportunities and become industry leaders. Regarding the latest findings in the new trends report, Techmagnate's CEO Sarvesh Bagla said: "I found it interesting that awareness regarding online pharmacies and their related searches in Tier 2 cities are rising much faster than in Tier 1 cities. It's quite possible that Tier 2, Tier 3, and some rural towns may have fewer pharmacies as compared to Tier 1 cities, with limited stock available on hand. Online pharmacies in India can make life a lot more convenient for the population at large." The Online Pharmacy Search Trends Report is the first such report Techmagnate has published for the healthcare industry. Their report features other key findings related to top companies in the industry today, vernacular search volumes and the leading apps in the market, in terms of growth. Online Pharmacies in India: Key Highlights from the Industry Trends Report * The total search volume for online pharmacy related keywords increased by 22.54% in FY '24 and has largely been driven by the growth in Non-Brand queries. * Apollo Pharmacy leads the market with the largest brand search volume in FY'24 (9.84 L) and a significant 23.21% growth, capturing 27.66% of the branded market share. However, brand searches for Medplus, Wellness Forever, and Truemeds grew by well over 50%. * The "Medicine Name" keyword bucket dominated a 43.19% market share indicating a sharp increase in consumer awareness. * The Beauty & Personal Care category saw the highest growth rate at 50.02%, though it only represents 4.30% of the total searches, suggesting a growing interest in healthcare adjacent categories. * Delhi remains the top city by search volume, commanding the largest market share at 25.31%, but Mumbai is experiencing the fastest growth at 19.80%. Download the Online Pharmacy Search Trends Report to learn about the industries evolving customer behavior and trends. About Techmagnate Techmagnate is India's leading digital marketing agency, providing comprehensive digital marketing services. The agency frequently releases data on search trends for many other industries including healthcare and the BFSI industry; they have also worked with some of the largest brands in these sectors and have successfully optimized their online presence to drive business outcomes. Techmagnate is widely recognised for leveraging marketing technology and data analytics to deliver successful campaigns. (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], November 25: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research's (SPJIMR) Centre for Family Business & Entrepreneurship (CFBE) is pleased to announce the launch of Sashakt, a new community-focused initiative aimed at empowering small business entrepreneurs (SBEs) from underprivileged backgrounds in Mumbai's Andheri K-West Ward. Beginning in December 2024 and running through March 2025, this programme seeks to provide vital knowledge and skills to help these entrepreneurs build sustainable businesses and strengthen their economic resilience. - The community-focused initiative aims to provide underprivileged entrepreneurs with the skills to build sustainable businesses. Sashakt is tailored for local entrepreneurs aged 25-30 who are operating micro-enterprises. Selected from SPJIMR's Abhyudaya programme, participants will benefit from free education and mentorship aimed at youth from underserved communities. Over three months, the structured curriculum will provide practical, hands-on learning sessions in Hindi, ensuring accessibility and relevance. Each session will cover essential areas such as financial management, marketing, operations, and leadership, equipping participants with the tools necessary for success. Faculty and alumni from the SPJIMR network will offer personalised mentorship, supporting participants in overcoming their unique business challenges and taking actionable steps toward growth. Sashakt aims to: * Create a supportive learning environment for entrepreneurs from underprivileged communities * Provide access to resources and mentorship to help participants expand their businesses * Enhance participants' financial literacy, business acumen, and operational efficiency * Foster local economic resilience through community engagement and education "As a community-focused institution, SPJIMR believes in the power of education to uplift and transform lives," said Prof. Varun Nagaraj, Dean of SPJIMR. "With Sashakt, we are equipping local entrepreneurs with the knowledge and skills they need to grow their businesses and make meaningful contributions to their communities." "Each year, CFBE empowers hundreds of entrepreneurs and family business leaders across India through programmes that blend cutting-edge business education with practical mentorship. Sashakt extends our mission to the grassroots level, equipping local business owners with the skills and support needed to drive sustainable economic growth within their communities," said Prof. Tulsi Jayakumar, Executive Director of the CFBE at SPJIMR and Chairperson, Post Graduate Programme in Family Managed Business. Visit CFBE Sashakt for more information. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2566457/SPJIMR_Sashakt_Underprivileged_Entrepreneurs.jpgLogo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2566483/SPJIMR_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)
VMPL New Delhi [India], November 25: Easyrewardz, one of the leading industry players in CRM SaaS solutions, has raised USD 4 million funding led by Prachetas New India Growth Fund with participation from existing investors Ashish Kacholia (Lucky Investments), and IIFL Fintech Fund. This round, a prelude to Series C funding expected early next year, marks another significant milestone in Easyrewardz rapid growth journey. The company has been growing 2X YoY for the past two years and is on track to cross $10mn in revenue with profitability in FY'25 as it expands beyond India to APAC & MENA. Easyrewardz has established its market dominance through Zence, a comprehensive, end to end customer-focused CRM platform - with vertical offerings for Retail & BFSI. Easyrewardz solutions drive enhanced customer engagement and end-to-end customer lifecycle management for leading brands, banks & NBFCs. This funding will empower the company to accelerate its expansion strategy, optimize current market share, and capture new growth opportunities across diverse geographies. "Easyrewardz has consistently proven its mettle as a leading CRM solution provider with a clear vision and impressive results. We are excited to support their journey as they bring a highly scalable, innovative SaaS solution to markets across the globe," said Pradeep Bandivadekar, Managing Partner at Prachetas New India Growth Fund. "Their performance and commitment to market expansion make Easyrewardz a strong investment for growth and impact." "This endorsement from Prachetas New India Growth Fund and our existing investors, reinforces our mission to deliver next-generation CRM solutions on a global scale," said Soumya Chatterjee, Co-founder & CEO of Easyrewardz. "As we prepare for Series C, this round enables us to consolidate our position in MENA and APAC while setting the stage for new market entries. With a focus on vertical SaaS, we're excited to empower industries from retail to BFSI and beyond, creating value-driven, customer-focused experiences at every touchpoint." About Easyrewardz Easyrewardz is a leading, industry-agnostic CRM and loyalty solutions provider, empowering brands to deliver seamless omnichannel customer experiences. Its flagship product, Zence, is the world's first end-to-end, B2C-focused unified CRM stack, designed to create consistent and engaging brand interactions across every customer touchpoint. Over 180+ brands trust Easyrewardz to orchestrate holistic CX strategies that drive brand affinity, foster customer loyalty, and maximize growth. For more information, please visit www.Easyrewardz.com About Prachetas Prachetas New India Growth Fund (Prachetas NIGF) is a growth equity fund targeting investments in small and medium enterprises with robust operating metrics and technology-based competitive advantages. Prachetas NIGF's investment underscores a shared vision for transforming the CRM landscape through innovation and customer-centricity. This round of funding will fuel Easyrewardz' vertical-focused growth trajectory as it scales across industries and solidifies its position as an emerging leader in the global CRM SaaS space. For media queries, please contact: VivekvKumar@lexiconworld.co.in (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
China to upgrade 5G to 5G-A network

Xinhua) 08:34, November 25, 2024

Photo taken on Nov. 20, 2021 shows the venue of China 5G+ Industrial Internet Conference in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. (Photo by Wu Zhizun/Xinhua)

BEIJING, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- China has unveiled draft guidelines for the country's data infrastructure construction, including upgrading its 5G network to 5G-A-standard and promoting 6G-related research, development and innovation.

China will balance the deployment of international communication gateways across its eastern, central and western regions, and expand international submarine and land cable information channels. A satellite internet that integrates space and the ground facilities will also be established, according to the document released by the national data bureau on Friday.

The guidelines, which were released to solicit opinions, say that China will facilitate large-scale, low-cost, secure free flow of data, and encourage industries and regions to actively explore new technological infrastructure in such areas as blockchain and privacy-preserving computing, with the aim of providing a low-cost, efficient, reliable data delivery environment for both centralized and decentralized transactions.

China will also pursue a proper computing resources layout, and accelerate the green development and coordination of general-purpose computing power, intelligent computing power and super computing power, according to the guidelines.

The country plans to strengthen the innovative application of emerging network technologies, optimize network billing methods, and reduce the cost of data transmission between its eastern and western regions.

The 5G-A network surpasses the current 5G network in terms of speed, latency, connection scale and energy consumption, achieving a peak data rate level of 10 gigabits per second for downloads and 1 gigabit per second for uploads, as well as millisecond-level latency and low-cost connectivity for the Internet of Things.

Cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have already started offering 5G-A network services in some districts.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
SMPL New Delhi [India], November 25: WTC Noida Development Company Private Limited reaffirms its commitment to addressing stakeholder concerns and driving growth, following the recent press conference where key issues were comprehensively addressed. As the NCR real estate sector continues to navigate policy shifts and economic fluctuations, the company is steadfast in its resolve to protect the interests of its stakeholders while ensuring sustainable growth. Strengthening Through Strategic Collaborations To bolster its resilience and adaptability, WTC Noida Development Company has entered into strategic partnerships across key geographies. These collaborations have not only expedited ongoing projects but also unlocked new resources, enabling the company to offer investors diverse options such as OC-ready and fully delivered properties. These efforts align with its commitment to providing flexibility, value, and reassurance during challenging times. The company also acknowledges and appreciates the proactive role of RERA and other land authorities in facilitating project completion and safeguarding the interests of allottees. Focused Efforts in Faridabad In Faridabad, the company embarked on a mission to acquire land to develop projects in collaboration with investors. The company fulfilled its obligations towards purchase of land and has successfully acquired registries and agreements for approx. 100 acres of land. It further successfully procured two licenses from the Director General, Town & Country Planning Haryana, Chandigarh, vide licenses numbered 187/2022 (17.11.2022) and 19/2023 (03.02 2023). However, the suspension of the 'Deen Dayal Jan Awas Yojna' program, via notification Memo No. PF-27 (VOL-IV)/2023/11382, dated April 20, 2023, by the Haryana government in the districts of Faridabad and Gurugram caused a Force Majeure condition for the company. While the suspension posed a Force Majeure situation, the company has actively worked on solutions to address the concerns of its investors. Investor-Centric Measures To resolve issues and provide value to investors, the company has implemented the following measures: 1. Resolved concerns for 43% of investors through direct plot allotments or refunds. 2. Provided remaining investors (57%) with flexible options, including: o Alternate plots in third-party projects. * OC-ready and rent-generating properties. * Staggered refund plans. * Allotments in future projects under valid licensing policies. Simultaneously, the company is applying for new licenses under Haryana's New Integrated Licensing Policy, 2022 (NILP) and Affordable Group Housing Policy. Addressing Misinformation and Legal Action Despite maintaining transparency and an investor-friendly approach, the company has faced baseless allegations from malicious elements. These individuals, with criminal charges, have sought to derail the company's efforts. Legal action has been initiated to hold these parties accountable. Further, M.A. Sayyed, spokesperson for WTC Noida Development Company, stated: "We categorically deny the rumors about the resale of plots. The land acquired jointly with investors in Faridabad remains secure and will be utilized as per applicable DTCP policies. These recent strategic tie-ups are strengthening our ability to address stakeholder concerns effectively and driving long-term growth. We urge our stakeholders to remain confident and join us on this renewed journey toward success." Looking Ahead As it moves forward, WTC Noida Development Company remains dedicated to transparent communication, customer satisfaction, and sustainable development. These values, along with its proactive measures and strategic alliances, reinforce its position as a trusted partner in the real estate industry. (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)
NewsVoir Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 25: Maharashtra electorates have conferred a thumping absolute majority of 229 seats to the BJP led alliance in the recently held State Legislative Assembly elections. "As an entrepreneur, I feel that this result is encouraging and beneficial to the overall development of Maharashtra," said, Dr. Dhanjajay Datar, popularly known and revered as Masala King, CMD of Adil group of Superstores, Dubai & UAE. As per his observation the economic and industrial development of any state depends upon the stability of the government policies- and to ensure the consistency of such policies, the government should have a strong mandate. Since both the governments at the Centre and State level are from the same alliance, being stable, like-minded and pro-development, they will surely not face challenges like instability, compromise or fear of President's rule over the next five years. Also, the state will receive abundant funding from the Centre to carry out various crucial development projects, which is promising. As per Dr. Datar, the last regime of BJP led alliance in Maharashtra demonstrated comprehensive and fast development with its people-centric decisions. The same will be witnessed in the near future. Many vital infrastructure projects are in the final stage of completion and some of them- for example, Samruddhi Expressway, Metro Trains, Bullet Train, Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, Navi Mumbai International Airport, proposed Wadhwan Port etc. are also crucial for national progress. Dr. Datar expressed, "I am sure that there will be a great boost to investment, communication, import-export and industrial development in Maharashtra, which would result in the economic prosperity of the state. My best wishes to the new government and its visionary leadership." (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)
PNN Bangalore (Karnataka) [India], November 25: In the world of lights, camera, and action, creativity meets opportunity at JAIN (Deemed-to-be University)'s School of Design, Media, and Creative Arts (SDMCA). Offering a dynamic B.A. in Film and Media, this program is the perfect launchpad for aspiring storytellers and innovators eager to make their mark in the film and media industry. Why Choose JAIN's B.A. in Film and Media? Recognized among the best B.A. in Film and Media colleges in Bangalore, the program integrates theoretical learning with practical applications. Students are immersed in every aspect of filmmaking, from scriptwriting and direction to editing and production design. This ensures graduates are not only industry-ready but also equipped to redefine the boundaries of storytelling. "JAIN (Deemed-to-be University) has consistently set benchmarks in education, and our B.A. in Film and Media program is no exception," says Dr. Dinesh Nilkant, Director of Admissions. "Ranked among the best universities for film and media studies, our goal is to provide students with a transformative experience that cultivates their creativity and technical expertise." A Program Designed for Success As one of the best BA Film and Media courses in Bangalore, the curriculum is meticulously crafted to meet international standards, incorporating benchmarks from the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), United Kingdom. Students gain a comprehensive understanding of the principles and processes behind film production, giving them a competitive edge in the global marketplace. "Our program's unique blend of theoretical and practical components ensures students graduate with a holistic understanding of the art and craft of filmmaking," notes Mr. Mackey Agarwal, Head of Admissions & Marketing. "This distinct approach is why we stand out as a top college of film and media arts in the region." Course Highlights The Bachelor of Arts in Film and Media Studies degree offers an immersive educational experience, allowing students to explore diverse roles in filmmaking, including: * Scriptwriting and Direction: Learn the art of storytelling and bringing scripts to life. * Cinematography: Master visual storytelling with cutting-edge equipment and techniques. * Editing and Sound Design: Develop technical expertise in post-production. * Production Design: Create compelling visual narratives that captivate audiences. As one of the best B.A. Film and Media courses in Bangalore, the program enables students to build cross-media digital content informed by historical, visual, and contemporary media practices. This ensures they graduate with a skill set that aligns with current industry demands. Career Pathways Graduates from this program, ranked among the best universities for film and media studies, have a myriad of career opportunities awaiting them. Whether your goal is to work on blockbuster movies, groundbreaking documentaries, or innovative digital content, the possibilities are endless. Potential career paths include: * Film Director * Screenwriter * Cinematographer * Film Editor * Television Producer "Our graduates are shaping the future of storytelling across industries, proving the transformative power of a film and media degree," says Mr. Saurabh Kumar, Chief Manager of Admissions & Marketing. "Their success is a testament to the exceptional education offered at JAIN (Deemed-to-be University)." Eligibility and Admission To apply for this coveted program, candidates must: * Have completed a 10+2 examination with at least 50% marks. * Hold a passion for creativity, storytelling, and visual arts. Admissions are based on a transparent process, including portfolio reviews and personal interviews, ensuring only the most dedicated students join the ranks of this prestigious program. Exploring Opportunities in Film and Media JAIN's program is recognized among the top film and media courses in India for its innovative teaching methodology and commitment to excellence. From producing documentaries to designing content for digital platforms, graduates are equipped to excel in roles such as: * Motion Graphic Artist * Ad Filmmaker * Explainer Video Producer * Documentary Filmmaker The curriculum positions JAIN as one of the best B.A. in Film and Media colleges in Bangalore, fostering an environment where creativity flourishes, and innovation thrives. Contact Information * Website: https://www.jainuniversity.ac.in/sdmca * Email: sdmca@jainuniversity.ac.in Inspire, Create, Lead: Your Journey Starts Here Step into the exciting world of film and media with JAIN (Deemed-to-be University)'s B.A. in Film and Media program. Recognized as one of the best B.A. Film and Media courses in Bangalore, the program empowers you to master your craft and excel in a competitive industry. Whether you dream of directing films, producing groundbreaking digital content, or leading a team of creatives, this degree offers the tools and opportunities to make it happen. Start your cinematic journey today at one of the best universities for film and media studies and redefine the art of storytelling. (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)
SMPL Salem (Tamil Nadu) [India], November 25: Karthik Raja Karnan, the visionary founder of MADique Technologies, has been honoured with the prestigious Fast-Growing INDIA 500 CEO Award 2024. Simultaneously, MADique Technologies secured the Best Brand INDIA 500 Award 2024, solidifying its position as a leader in the food processing industry. The INDIA 5000 Business Awards, organized by Benchmark Trust, is the largest privately held platform in India celebrating excellence and innovation among Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). By recognizing trailblazers like Karthik and MADique Technologies, the awards spotlight businesses that are reshaping the future of Indian entrepreneurship. Empowering Food Entrepreneurs Through Innovation Under Karthik Raja Karnan's leadership, MADique Technologies is transforming the food processing landscape with next-generation, cost-effective machinery. The company has empowered over 3,000 food entrepreneurs, enabling them to scale their businesses with automation solutions that enhance productivity, reduce costs, and eliminate barriers to entry. Industry Leadership and Social Impact MADique's machines are tailored to streamline food production processes, reduce manual labor, and offer affordable automation for MSMEs. These solutions are particularly impactful in helping small and medium-sized businesses thrive in a competitive market without the burden of heavy capital investment. A Commitment to Excellence Winning the INDIA 5000 Business Awards underscores MADique's dedication to quality, innovation, and social impact. Speaking about the achievement, Karthik Raja Karnan stated: "Our dream is to make high-tech automation accessible to entrepreneurs, driving economic growth while empowering individuals to build sustainable businesses. This recognition motivates us to push the boundaries of innovation further." In addition to transforming the food industry, Karthik's journey has been marked by a series of prestigious awards that highlight his entrepreneurial excellence. In 2024 alone, he was honored with Tamil Nadu Business Icon Award, Outstanding Young Entrepreneur Award, Young scientist Award, Star Entrepreneur Award, Global excellence Award and The Best Innovative Entrepreneur Award. He is also a recipient of the Doctor. A.P. J. Abdul Kalam Award, recognizing his significant contributions to technology and social impact. A Legacy of Innovation and Empowerment Specializing in the manufacture of idiyappam-making machines, MADique Technologies offers solutions that simplify food production, ensuring speed, hygiene, and cost efficiency. Its flagship product--the world's smallest string hopper machine--is a game- changer for entrepreneurs. Compact and energy-efficient, it produces 400 idiyappams per hour while operating on household electricity. Priced at just Rs41,300, the machine makes automation accessible to small business owners, women entrepreneurs, and differently-abled individuals, with 10% discounts offered to the physically challenged people, with operations in over 30 countries, MADique is enabling businesses to scale while promoting economic growth and sustainability. MADique Technologies is globally certified with ISO 9001:2015, ISO 50001:2018, ISO 10002:2018, ISO 14001:2015, and the CE Mark, ensuring quality, energy efficiency, customer satisfaction, and environmental safety. These certifications demonstrate MADique's commitment to international standards. The company upholds excellence, sustainability, and reliability in all its practices. Commitment to Sustainability and Social Responsibility MADique Technologies stands out not only for its technological advancements but also for its commitment to social and environmental responsibility. Every customer receives seed balls to promote tree planting, along with inspirational books about Dr. Abdul Kalam, whose vision continues to inspire Karthik. The company also offers 10% discounts for differently-abled individuals, enabling inclusivity in entrepreneurship. Thousands of housewives and small-scale entrepreneurs have benefitted from MADique's machines, turning their investments into profits within 40 days, empowering them to achieve financial independence. Karthik Raja Karnan, inspired by Abdul Kalam's vision, stated: "Our mission is to bridge the gap between technology and small businesses, making high-tech solutions affordable and accessible. This is not just about machines--it's about empowering individuals to succeed and contribute to a better future." From its humble beginnings in a car shed in Salem, Tamil Nadu, MADique Technologies has become a global leader, shaping the future of food processing with its innovative products and commitment to community welfare. For Media Inquiries: Contact: MADique Technologies Email: ceo@madique.com Phone: +G1-GGG82GGG02 Website: www.madique.com, www.kuttymachine.in (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)
PRNewswire Solan (Himachal Pradesh) [India], November 25: Shoolini University has achieved a landmark accomplishment by securing an A+ grade from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with an impressive Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.33 on a 4-point scale. This milestone places the university among India's top educational institutions, highlighting its focus on delivering exceptional education and promoting innovation. Excels in 4 of NAAC's 7 criteria: Curriculum, Infrastructure, Governance & Values. The NAAC accreditation process evaluates institutions across seven rigorous criteria, with Shoolini University excelling in four key areas: Curricular Aspects, Infrastructure and Learning Resources, Governance and Leadership, and Institutional Values and Best Practices. Founder-Chancellor, Prof. PK Khosla, Shoolini University, said that the achievement reflected the hard work of the entire university community. "This recognition reflects the dedication, passion, and excellence of our Shoolini family, who consistently strive for higher standards. My heartfelt congratulations to our students, staff, and faculty," he said. Pro-Chancellor, Vishal Anand, Shoolini University, emphasised that the A+ accreditation is a significant milestone in the university's journey toward global recognition. "This validation of our efforts in quality education, research, and innovation brings us closer to our vision of establishing Shoolini University as one of the Top 100 Global Universities," he said. Vice Chancellor, Prof. Atul Khosla, Shoolini University, thanked the faculty, staff, and students for their contributions. He remarked, "This accomplishment highlights our commitment to providing world-class education and driving advancements in research. It demonstrates our dedication to creating a learning environment that equips students to excel in today's competitive world." The rigorous NAAC evaluation is recognised as a benchmark of quality in higher education. Institutions are graded based on their performance in key areas, and the CGPA is derived from an assessment of all seven criteria. Leading the accreditation efforts was Varsha Patil, Director of Rankings and Accreditations and Coordinator of the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC). Reflecting on the achievement, she said, "This milestone is the result of the collective hard work of our entire team. We worked diligently to showcase the university's strengths and ensure that every aspect met the highest standards. I am immensely proud of what we have achieved together and deeply grateful for the support from our faculty, staff, and leadership." The NAAC A+ grade cements Shoolini University's position as a frontrunner in higher education, setting a benchmark for academic and institutional excellence. About Shoolini University Founded in 2009, Shoolini University is a top private university located in the scenic lower Himalayas. Ranked in the Top 100 by NIRF, it is UGC-approved and NAAC A+ accredited. The university is known for its top-notch faculty, strong placements, and focus on research and innovation. Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/792680/4538720/Shoolini_University_Logo.jpg (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
PNN Bangalore (Karnataka) [India], November 25: Step into a world where imagination meets technology with the B.A. in Communication Design- Graphic Design at JAIN (Deemed-to-be University), School of Design, Media, and Creative Arts (SDMCA), Bangalore. This program is a hub for aspiring designers seeking the perfect balance of creativity, technical expertise, and practical exposure, making it one of the best graphic design colleges in Bangalore. Designed to provide students with an in-depth understanding of graphic design courses, this program equips them with the skills necessary to thrive in the dynamic creative industry. Whether you're passionate about digital art, branding, or interactive design, JAIN's Bachelor of Arts program in graphic design in Bangalore offers a comprehensive pathway to success. Why Choose JAIN for Your Graphic Design Journey? Ranked among the best graphic design courses in Bangalore, JAIN's B.A. in Communication Design program is meticulously structured to foster creativity and innovation. Students learn the fundamentals of design while honing their technical skills through hands-on projects. The thriving tech and creative ecosystem in Bangalore make JAIN a top choice for graphic design courses in Bangalore. B.A. program in Communication Design at JAIN is more than just a course; it's an immersive experience. "JAIN is proud to be among the best graphic design colleges in Bangalore, where students are nurtured to become industry leaders." The curriculum includes: * Comprehensive training in graphic design and animation courses in Bangalore, covering digital tools, design principles, and branding strategies.* Opportunities to work on real-world projects and internships that enhance employability.* A focus on developing skills in communication design, essential for careers in today's digital-first world. Program Highlights JAIN's B.A. in Communication Design offers: 1. Cutting-Edge Curriculum: Recognized as one of the best colleges for communication design, the program blends theory with practice, ensuring graduates are industry-ready.2. Expert Faculty: Learn from seasoned professionals and thought leaders in the field of graphic and communication design colleges.3. Industry Exposure: Real-world projects, internships, and portfolio development are integral to the program, providing students with a competitive edge.4. State-of-the-Art Facilities: As one of the premier communication design colleges in Bangalore, JAIN boasts world-class infrastructure designed to inspire creativity. "At JAIN, we empower students with the tools and confidence to bring their creative visions to life," notes Mr. Mackey Agarwal, Head of Admissions & Marketing, JAIN (Deemed-to-be University) and JAIN College. "Our program is a testament to why we are one of the best graphic design colleges in Bangalore." Eligibility and Admission To enrol in this prestigious program, students must meet the graphic design courses eligibility criteria: * Pass the 10+2 examination from a recognized board with at least 50% marks. * Showcase a passion for design and creativity during the admission process. "JAIN ensures a seamless admission process, making us the top choice for communication design courses in Bangalore," states Mr. Saurabh Kumar, Chief Manager, Admissions & Marketing, JAIN (Deemed-to-be University) and JAIN College. Career Opportunities Graduates of JAIN's B.A. in Communication Design are highly sought after by leading brands and agencies. The program is tailored to meet the demands of the industry, positioning students for roles such as: * Graphic Designer* Art Director* Branding Specialist* Web Designer* Multimedia Artist Ranked among the best colleges for communication design, JAIN ensures that students are equipped to excel in a variety of roles in the creative sector. Exploring Opportunities in Graphic Design In today's digital age, the demand for graphic design professionals has skyrocketed. Bangalore, a hub for technology and creativity, provides an ideal backdrop for studying graphic design in Bangalore. With hands-on learning and a focus on industry trends, JAIN emerges as a leading choice for graphic design courses in India. Whether you aspire to join a design agency, launch your own creative studio, or work in branding, JAIN's program offers unparalleled opportunities. The thriving creative scene and proximity to top companies make it the perfect place to pursue graphic design courses in Bangalore. Contact Information * Website: https://www.jainuniversity.ac.in/sdmca/* Email: sdmca@jainuniversity.ac.in Your Future in Graphic Design Starts Here Join JAIN (Deemed-to-be University), where creativity meets opportunity. As one of the best graphic design colleges in Bangalore, our program in Communication Design equips students with the skills, confidence, and vision to excel. Elevate your passion for design and make a mark in the creative industry with a B.A. in Communication Design at JAIN. Don't just learn--innovate, inspire, and lead with JAIN (Deemed-to-be University). (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)
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Sunday urged BJP workers to go beyond traditional programs and establish strong connections with the masses. He also mentioned that people have immense faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has implemented various innovative initiatives to inspire patriotism across the country. "There is a strong doubt whether such a Prime Minister will emerge in the future. The Prime Minister is the driving force behind the Bharatiya Janata Party's recent success in Maharashtra. Moreover, he has placed significant emphasis on the youth power of the nation. For the welfare of the people, Karyakartas must move beyond conventional approaches and work sincerely to build relationships," Saha said after listening to PM Modi's Mann Ki Baat program along with BJP Karyakartas at the Banakumari Bagala Mata Temple premises at Pratapgarh in West Tripura. "Nothing is achievable without knowledge. In the future, the country's progress will rest in the hands of those equipped with knowledge. Knowledge reveals the truth and enables the country to move forward. The youth should embrace innovation so that we can all take pride in their achievements," he added. Saha also highlighted that PM Modi, through his Mann Ki Baat program, brings attention to various lesser-known and innovative initiatives from across the country. "We must actively contribute to the development of the country and the state through our work. The people of this country have immense trust in Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The outcomes of the recently held assembly elections in various states have reaffirmed this trust. While the opposition may criticise, the Prime Minister remains steadfast in working for the overall welfare of the people," he said. The Chief Minister added that Prime Minister Modi consistently praises the youth power of the nation. "Even during his visits abroad, he frequently highlights the potential and strength of India's youth. He also reflects this in practice by seeking insights and experiences from young people," Saha said. (ANI)
As the Waqf (Amendment) Bill is on the agenda of the government among sixteen bills for the winter session of Parliament beginning on Monday, residents of Kochi have raised their concerns through a protest against the Act. According to the people protesting, the Munambam community is facing hardship due to the Waqf Act. One of the protestors stated that they have been protesting for the last 33 days, following a non-violent approach. Despite purchasing the property between 1988 and 1993 and residing there for over 150 years, the Waqf Board has now claimed ownership. The community has urged the government to review the Waqf Act and facilitate the return of their property. "We are on the 33rd day of our protest and this is a fasting protest following the method of non-violence. Today, we brought an effigy of the Waqf Act. We are not against any particular religion, we are only against the Waqf Act which has to be amended... We need to amend the laws because we have to address certain issues which are deeply rooted in today's India," he told ANI. "The Munambam people here are suffering due to this Act. In 1995, the act enabled the Waqf Board to claim this property. These fishermen have been living in this place for the last 150 years. They bought this property in 1988-1993. After 35 years of possessing this property, today they are asked to leave because the Waqf Board has entered this property into their registration. We expect that the Government will notice all these things and make the necessary changes to change the Waqf Act and enable us to reclaim this property," he added. Meanwhile, the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which is listed for consideration and passing, is being examined by a joint committee of both Houses of Parliament. The panel is scheduled to submit its report during the winter session. Opposition members are seeking an extension of time for the panel to provide its report. The winter session will begin on November 25 and will continue till December 20, with 19 sittings. Since August 22 of this year, the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2024, has held 25 meetings. The JPC has reviewed the work of six ministries and heard from 123 stakeholders, including representatives from six states, eight Waqf boards, and four minority commissions. It is worth noting that the Waqf Act of 1995, which was created to regulate waqf properties, has long faced allegations of mismanagement, corruption and encroachments. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 seeks to bring sweeping reforms, introducing digitisation, stricter audits, transparency and legal mechanisms to reclaim illegally occupied properties. The JPC is holding a series of meetings to gather input from government officials, legal experts, Waqf Board members and community representatives from different states and Union Territories, aiming for the most comprehensive reform possible. (ANI)
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has strongly criticised the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, calling it "anti-democratic" and "anti-constitutional." During its two-day conference, which began on Sunday in Bengaluru, the AIMPLB discussed various issues, including the controversial Waqf (Amendment) Bill and the Uniform Civil Code (UCC). "It is a normal conference and every three years we elect our new team. This time we also elected a new president, general secretary, secretary, treasury, and spokesperson. In the conference, we also discuss the various issues confronting our community. We discussed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 and why we oppose it and what we will do further. We also discussed the Uniform Civil Code which has already been enacted in Uttarakhand. We have decided to challenge the act in the high court," Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas, spokesperson of the AIMPLB told ANI. In addition, Rasool Ilyas expressed concern over the alleged hate speeches in the country and said that various leaders are making disturbing statements against Prophet Mohammad, stressing that such remarks are not acceptable to any Muslim worldwide. "Every day a new dispute starts in the (name) Mosque and then the court orders a survey. If the Worship Places Act is there it has to be implemented...Hate speeches are also going on in the country and various leaders are making disturbing statements against Prophet Muhammad which is not acceptable to any Muslim throughout the world," Rasool Ilyas added. Answering a query about the Waqf (Amendment) Bill which is likely to be brought up for discussions in the Winter session of the Parliament, scheduled to start on November 25, he said, "We will take all legal, constitutional provisions available against the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024... Today they are attacking Waqf, UCC, tomorrow they can attack Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, the Hindu Endowment Act... Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 is anti-democratic, anti-constitutional, illogical," he said. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 seeks to bring sweeping reforms, introducing digitisation, stricter audits, transparency and legal mechanisms to reclaim illegally occupied properties. The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) is holding a series of meetings to gather input from government officials, legal experts, Waqf Board members and community representatives from different states and Union Territories, aiming for the most comprehensive reform possible. (ANI)
Congress leader Pawan Khera on Sunday condemned the incidents of violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district, describing it as a "well-planned conspiracy". The violence, which erupted during a survey of a mosque on Sunday morning, resulted in three deaths and injuries to around two dozen people, including policemen and senior officials. In a statement, Khera, Chairman, Media & Publicity (Communications Dept), AICC, said, "No citizen in Uttar Pradesh is "SAFE" under CM Adityanath, who gave the reprehensible slogan of "Batenge toh Katenge". This is evident by the highly deplorable incidents of Sambhal today. The videos of direct firing on protesters in Sambhal depict the horrifying result of a well-planned conspiracy by CM Adityanath and the BJP-RSS. Western Uttar Pradesh, which has been a symbol of goodwill and harmony for years, has today witnessed three people killed and many injured under a well-planned conspiracy." "We say with full responsibility that the Adityanath administration is squarely responsible for killing innocents and only the BJP-RSS is guilty of setting fire to the peace and harmony of Sambhal. Modi-Yogi 'double assault' governments, which consider the minority community as second-class citizens, hurriedly got a petition filed in court. It is public knowledge that the court ordered an immediate survey without hearing the other side," Pawan Khera said in his statement. "The BJP neither wanted the survey to proceed nor to stop it; its sole objective was to destroy harmony. No action was taken against the rioters who accompanied the survey team. This makes it clear that after the by-elections in the state, the Yogi government has further intensified the politics of violence and hatred. Questions are being raised about the role of the police and the administration, because many innocent people have lost their lives in this violence, and more than two dozen people have been injured. Inciting communal hatred and driving a wedge between two communities - is the DNA of BJP-RSS!" he said. "On one hand, there is an empty slogan of "Ek Hai Toh SAFE Hain" - on the other hand, they divide communities ! On one hand, there is lie of "Sabka Saath- Sabka Vishwas" that has been going on for a decade, on the other hand, the minority community is constantly being targeted in Uttar Pradesh," the Congress leader said. "In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP government is destroying communal harmony and brotherhood for political gains, which is highly condemnable and objectionable. We appeal to the BJP to prioritize the nation's interests over their political ambitions," he added. "We want to ask Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Adityanath whether they will follow the statement of their own Mohan Bhagwat ji in June 2022 (even if it is pretentious!) in which he said that "History is something that we cannot change. Neither today's Hindus nor today's Muslims made it, it happened at that time.... Why see Shivling in every mosque?.... Now we do not have to do any agitation.." Khera said. Earlier, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP and the administration of orchestrating the incident to prevent any discussion on "election fraud." Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak reacted to the violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal, criticising SP chief for "not believing in judicial system." He demanded an apology from SP and alleged that they do not believe in the judiciary or the Constitution. "They raise finger on Election Commission, They raise finger on Judicial system, that what they did in Sambhal. The ASI team that went to Sambhal went on the orders of the court. The police have done their work in whatever has gone wrong there. What are you saying, aren't you ashamed? Whom do you stand with? You don't believe in the Judiciary, you don't believe in the Election Commission, you don't believe in the Constitution. This kind of statement will not be accepted by the state's public. SP should apologise to the public of the state," Pathak said. Meanwhile, around 20 people have been taken into custody in connection with the violence. The incident left three people dead and around two dozen others, including policemen and senior officials, injured. Those responsible for the violence will be charged under the National Security Act (NSA), said officials. As a precaution, internet services across the district have been suspended for a day, officials added. (ANI)
Congress MP Chamala Kiran Kumar on Sunday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured electoral victories in Maharashtra and Haryana through manipulation and the misuse of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). "Congress always wants to tell the people of the country that whenever BJP wins, whether it is in Haryana or today in Maharashtra, BJP has a habit of coming to power by any means... Even in Haryana, we got results that we did not expect, even in Maharashtra...Our leaders are suspicious of election processes... It is difficult to understand what our democracy is doing with EVMs...," he said. Kiran Kumar further added that conducting elections through the EVM is not trustworthy and suggested finding alternative methods for conducting elections using traditional ballot papers. "In the coming years, if any political party does not trust EVMs, we should discuss it and find an alternative way to increase the trust of all... Election Commission should think about it again, either we should adopt this technology or we should go like other countries who have changed their path from EVMs to normal ballot papers.," he added. Kiran Kumar's remarks came after various exit polls on Wednesday indicated that the ruling Mahayuti alliance, led by the BJP, was projected to retain power in Maharashtra. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) also appeared to have an edge in Jharkhand. Most exit polls also suggested that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance would put up a strong show in polls but is unlikely to cross the majority mark in the 288-member assembly. Mahayuti alliance includes BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance includes Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SCP). In Haryana, the BJP won 48 out of 90 seats in the state assembly, while the Congress managed to win 37 seats. Independents won 3 seats and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) secured 2 seats, according to Election Commission data. (ANI)
As the winter session of Parliament is set to start today, CPI (M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas has given zero-hour notice in the Rajya Sabha to discuss the issue of Wayanad landslides. He has also demanded Special Financial Assistance from the central government for the victims of Wayanad landslide in Kerala. The Parliament session is set to start today, with various issues slated to be discussed, including the Waqf Act (Amendment) Bill. The session will conclude on December 20. There will be no sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on November 26, to commemorate 'Constitution day'. Other bills that are listed for introduction, consideration and passing include the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, the Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, the Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, the Bills of Lading Bill, the Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, the Railways (Amendment) Bill, the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, and the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill. The Boilers Bill, the Rashtriya Sahkari Vishwavidyalaya Bill, the Punjab Courts (Amendment) Bill, the Merchant Shipping Bill, the Coastal Shipping Bill, and the Indian Ports Bill, are also included in the list. Earlier in October, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan claimed that he had hoped for significant support from the central government, but so far, no such substantial assistance has been provided. Pinarayi Vijayan said, "The state has suffered a huge loss due to the Wayanad disaster. We had hoped for significant support from the central government, but so far, no such substantial assistance has been provided. We requested an emergency relief fund of Rs 291 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund, in addition to the usual central share. Of the Rs 291 crore, Rs 145.6 crore had been previously sanctioned. However, this is a routine procedure and not specific disaster-related aid." A series of landslides in Wayanad were triggered by torrential rainfall that killed hundreds of people in the state. The landslides had occured in Punjirimattom, Mundakkai, Chooralmala, and Vellarimala villages in Meppadi panchayat, Vythiri taluk in Wayanad district. (ANI)
Preparing for the winter session of Parliament, Congress Lok Sabha MPs are planning to meet later today at 10:30 AM at the Congress Parliamentary Office to chalk out their strategy. INDIA bloc floor leaders of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are also meeting at 10 AM at Congress MP Mallikarjun Kharge's office, to discuss a unified opposition strategy for the winter session. The opposition is expected to raise the issues of violence in Manipur and the bribery charges against Adani group. The parliament session will kickstart today (November 25), and will conclude on December 20, subject to exigencies of the government business. There will be no sitting of both the houses on November 26, to commemorate "Constitution Day." The house is set to introduce or consider more than 10 bills. The list of bills up for consideration, introduction and passing include the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, the Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, the Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, the Bills of Lading Bill, the Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, the Railways (Amendment) Bill, the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, and the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill. The Boilers Bill, the Rashtriya Sahkari Vishwavidyalaya Bill, the Punjab Courts (Amendment) Bill, the Merchant Shipping Bill, the Coastal Shipping Bill, and the Indian Ports Bill, are also included. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju has said that the government is "ready to discuss any topic," and calling for a peaceful session of Parliament. "Everyone has asked for discussion on some topics but we want that there should be a good discussion in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The government is ready to discuss any topic. Our only request is that the House should run well and there should be no ruckus. Every member wants to participate in the discussion but the House should run well. To run the winter session well, everyone's cooperation is needed and everyone's participation is necessary," Rijiju said. Ahead of the winter session, an all-party meeting was attended by all floor leaders of political parties in both the houses of Parliament. The meeting began at 11 AM in the Main Committee Room, at Parliament House Annexe in the national capital. The meeting was presided over by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. (ANI)
The Jaipur Police arrested several individuals, including 11 Bangladeshi nationals, after discovering that they were staying illegally near the Bhagora Police Station area without valid documentation. Amit Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Jaipur West, confirmed the arrests, stating that authorities had received information about the illegal stay of some Bangladeshi nationals in the Bhagora PS area. Following the tip-off, an investigation was launched, resulting in the apprehension of various individuals. Among those arrested, 11 Bangladeshi nationals have been sent to a detention center. DCP Kumar further added that the Bangladeshi administration has been informed about the arrests. "A few days ago, we got this information that some Bangladeshis are staying illegally near Bhagora PS area. Investigation was done and in connection with this various people were arrested.11 Bangladeshis were sent to detention centre. The Bangladesh administration has been briefed regarding this," said the official. "The police are continuing their efforts to ensure that there are no further illegal settlements in the area. The investigation into the matter is ongoing," DCP Kumar said. Further details on the matter is awaited. Earlier in Karnataka, as many as 6 Bangladeshi nationals were apprehended on November 18 near Holalkere Road of Chitradurga city for illegal infiltration and settlement. The individuals were identified as Shek Saifur Rohaman, Muhammed Suman Husen Ali, Majharul, Azizul Shaik, Muhammed SakibSikdar and Sanowar Hossain. According to an official release from the police, on November 18, while patrolling near Aravind Garments and White Wash Garments on Holalkere Road, Chitradurga City, six Bangladeshi nationals were apprehended in the second phase of Dhavalagiri Layout. "Upon interrogation and verification of documents found with them, it was discovered that the said individuals were citizens of Bangladesh. They had illegally infiltrated into India several years ago with the intention of settling here," said the release. It further added, "The fake Aadhaar cards, voter ID cards, labor cards, bank passbooks, PAN cards, and one passport found in their possession have been confiscated for further legal action. Legal proceedings will be initiated against the aforementioned individuals." (ANI)
After Manickam Tagore, Congress MP Manish Tewari also wrote a letter to the Secretary General of Lok Sabha ahead of the commencement of the winter session, making aware of his intentions to move an adjournment motion to discuss Guatam Adani's indictment in a alleged "bribery and fraud" case. Tewari, in the letter, requested the administrative head of the Lok Sabha secretariat to suspend zero hour and other business of the day, allowing him to raise the matter of two indictments in the US against the Adani conglomerate. "I hereby give notice of my intention to seek leave to move a motion for the adjournment of the business of the House in order to discuss a definite matter of urgent importance, namely: That this House do suspend Zero Hour, relevant rules related to Question Hour, and other businesses of the day to discuss the impact on India as a business destination and the robustness of our regulatory and oversight processes, following two indictments in the United States against the Adani conglomerate," the letter read. Meanwhile, Congress MP KC Venugopal on Monday gave an adjournment notice ahead of Parliament's winter session to discuss the indictment of the Adani group and to form a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to investigate the alleged bribery charges. Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh has also given a Suspension of Business Notice (under rule 267) to discuss the indictment by a US court. Similarly, Congress MP Hibi Eden gave an adjournment notice in Lok Sabha on the indictment. "The government must clarify its stance and ensure unbiased investigations to uphold India's democratic and economic integrity," read MP Eden's letter. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Asaduddin Owaisi is also set to move an adjournment motion, to discuss the matter of the killing of three youths in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal. "Three youth in Sambal, Uttar Pradesh were killed on 24-11-2024 in police firing. They were exercising their fundamental right to assembly and protest under Article 19(1). This issue is a matter of urgent public importance and the abuse of police powers against citizens should be discussed by Parliament," Owaisis letter to the Secretary General of Lok Sabha read. Earlier, Congress MP Manickam Tagore B also announced that he would also move for an adjournment motion in Lok Sabha to hold a discussion on the matter. In the letter, Tagore expressed his desire to discuss the matter related to the United States (US) indictment of Gautam Adani over the "bribery, securities, fraud, and wire fraud" charges against Adani Group. "The bribery scheme involves over 265 million dollars in bribes to bag lucrative solar power deals and defrauding global investors," Tagore, whip of Congress party in Lok Sabha wrote in a letter to the Secretary General of Lok Sabha. (ANI)
Amid ongoing tensions in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal, senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Ram Gopal Yadav on Monday held the local district administration responsible for the violence over a survey of Shahi Jama Masjid and said that he has given notice regarding a discussion on the issue in Parliament, which commenced its Winter Session today. If judges start giving such decision without notifying the other party the whole country would be under fire, the Rajya Sabha MP said, claiming that only three deaths are being reported in the violence in Sambhal when there were many more. "Many people have been killed, the district administration is completely responsible for this. The survey had already happened. But the District Magistrate again went at 6 in the morning. The judge didn't call the other party. This doesn't happen. Agar iss tarah se hoga, iss tarah se judge failse karne lage to saare desh main aag laga denge (If this happens and judges give such decisions, the entire country would be under fire)," the Samajwadi Party MP told ANI before attending the first winter session of Parliament. "I have given notice and will raise this issue in the House. The House must discuss this issue. Only three deaths are reported, there will be many more deaths than this. They were shooting directly; you must have seen it. The police were telling to shoot," Yadav said Earlier, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Asaduddin Owaisi informed that he was also set to move an adjournment motion, to discuss the matter of the killing of three youths in Sambhal. "Three youth in Sambal, Uttar Pradesh were killed on 24-11-2024 in police firing. They were exercising their fundamental right to assembly and protest under Article 19(1). This issue is a matter of urgent public importance and the abuse of police powers against citizens should be discussed by Parliament," Owaisis letter to the Secretary General of Lok Sabha read. A stone-pelting incident targetting a ASI survey team in Sambhal's Mughal-era mosque Shahi Jama Masjid and led to vehicles being set on fire and significant property damage in the area. The deceased have been identified as Nayeem, a resident of Court Karvi; Bilal, a resident of Sarai Tareen, Sambhal; and Noman, a resident of Hayatnagar Sarai Tareen. Meanwhile, Deputy Inspector General of police (DIG), Moradabad Range, Muniraj G on Monday said that the death toll in the Sambhal violence has risen to four. (ANI)
The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day on Monday. The house is set to meet on Wednesday, November 27. Earlier, the Lok Sabha was also adjourned till 12 noon, for nearly an hour right after the commencement of the winter session at 11 AM. On the first day of the session, the parliament also took up obituary references. The Opposition parties immediately demanded discussions on various issues before Speaker Om Birla adjourned the house till 12 noon. Before the separate session of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, a joint session of the Parliament was also held, with the Speaker of the house presiding over the session. The Parliament will also be commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Constitution tomorrow, on November 26. The house session concludes on December 20, having a total of 25 days since its commencement today to discuss and pass the upcoming bills. The Parliament is set to have 16 bills for introduction during its session. Notably, the Waqf (Amendement) bill is set to be tabled after a comprehensive Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) led by MP Jagdambika Pal collected witness accounts and testimonies from various stakeholders. Other bills that are listed for introduction, consideration and passing include the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, the Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, the Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, the Bills of Lading Bill, the Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, the Railways (Amendment) Bill, the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, and the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill. The Boilers Bill, the Rashtriya Sahkari Vishwavidyalaya Bill, the Punjab Courts (Amendment) Bill, the Merchant Shipping Bill, the Coastal Shipping Bill, and the Indian Ports Bill, are also included in the list. Earlier today, INDIA bloc leaders of both houses held a meeting at the office of Rajya Sabha leader of Opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge. In the meeting, the leaders decided on a unified opposition strategy to demand discussions on the Adani group allegations. (ANI)
Naseer Ahmed, Karnataka Chief Minister's political secretary, stated that the All India Muslim Personal Law Board along with scholars and leaders from the Muslim community would oppose the amendment to the Waqf Bill, which the central government was trying to introduce in the winter session of Parliament. He said that the Muslim community wasn't left with any other option but to fight against the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. "All India Muslim personal law board's meeting is being held in Karnataka. Scholars from Delhi Muslim Personal Law Board will also hold a two-day conference to discuss the bill which the central government is trying to enforce on the Muslim community in India," Naseer Ahmed told ANI. "We being the representatives of the minorities and Muslim community in India. We are all asking the Central Government to have a discussion over the Waqf Amendment Bill. Along with the government, the JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee) is also trying to impose instead of supporting the Muslim community in this legal barrier," Ahmed added. Ahmed, also a Congress MLC, stated that the central government have formed one JPC and it only includes leaders from their faction who are working against the interests of the Muslim community in India. "The central government which is adamant to bring this amendment to the working law is not considering the opinions and the issues which are related to the Muslim community," he said. "This is why today in Bengaluru the All India Muslim personal law Board members from Delhi have called an important meeting to discuss the future course of action if at all the Central government tries to impose and enforce the law on the minority community," the Congress leader added. He further said all the stakeholders of the minority community will participate in the meeting and discuss how we can force the central government to take back the decision instead of enforcing amendments on the Muslim community, the political secretary to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said. There are several other issues which will be discussed in the meeting including mosque survey, lynchings, religious freedom and uniform civil code he said. (ANI)
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, and party's General Secretary in-charge Communications said on Monday that the "Modani" issue rocked both the houses of Parliament today. "The Modani issue rocked both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha today. INDIA parties called for a Joint Parliamentary Committee investigation into the Modani scam - the case for which has been reinforced by the recent indictments of Adani's bribery and supression of information from Indian and American regulators," said Jairam Ramesh in a post on X. Earlier today, INDIA bloc leaders held a meeting before the commencement of the parliament session. The leaders demanded to hold discussions on the Adani indictment. "We do not need monopolies and cartels to run this country. We need healthy market-driven competition in the private sector, which facilitates equal opportunities, employment and equitable distribution of wealth, catering to the inherent entrepreneurial spirit of India," Mallikarjun Kharge said in a post on X. Both the houses of Parliament, the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned earlier today for the day. Both houses will be meeting on Wednesday (November 27). Earlier during his customary address to media persons this morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at the opposition, saying those who were rejected by people 80-90 times were trying to control Parliament by resorting to hooliganism for their own political gains. "Unfortunately, some people, who have been rejected by the public, are constantly trying to control the parliament for their own political interests through the hooliganism of the people. The public counts all their activities and punishes them when the time comes," PM Modi said. "In the democratic tradition, the job of every member is to prepare the next members, but those who have been rejected by the people 80-90 times, do not allow any discussion in the Parliament, do not respect the sentiments of democracy, do not understand the importance of people's expectations," the PM added. (ANI)
As the Congress leaders allege EVM hack conspiracy after the Mahayuti swept the 2024 general assembly elections in Maharashtra, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) or NCP SP MP Supriya Sule on Monday said that they would need evidence to prove the same. She said that she would discuss the issue with Congress. "I will speak with Congress. I am going to the INDIA alliance meeting now. We need some evidence for all this. We are working on it; we will do it," NCP SP Supriya Sule told ANI. Sule was in Delhi for the first winter session of Parliament. Meanwhile, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that he will also be going to Delhi in a few days to discuss the alleged Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) hack in Maharashtra assembly elections. "G Parameshwara also commented on that (EVM hack). Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders are also commented. I am also going to Delhi in a few days. We will also discuss this; it is a part of national importance. The world is also looking at it. Let us all examine," DK Shivakumar told ANI. This comes after Karnataka Home Minister and senior Congress leader G Parameshwara said his party leaders were surprised over the information they got about Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) being selectively "hacked." Parameshwara, who is also the All India Congress Committee observer of Maharashtra elections, said that party leaders including former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel discussed the EVM issues and are going to appeal to the Election Commission of India (ECI). Earlier, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday had expressed concerns over the trends emerging from the counting of votes in Maharashtra for the recently held assembly elections, saying that they have done 'gadbad' to steal Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) seats. He said that such results are being imposed because this cannot be the decision of the people of Maharashtra. "They have done some 'gadbad', they have stolen some of our seats. This cannot be the public's decision. Even the public does not agree with these results. Once the results are out, we will talk more. In every election seat, money-counting machines were installed. Is it possible that Shinde will get 60 seats, Ajit Pawar will get 40 seats and BJP will get 125 seats? The people of this state are not dishonest. We have their faith in the people of Maharashtra," Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut told mediapersons in Mumbai. The results of the General Elections to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly were declared on Saturday, November 23. In the recent Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections, Mahayuti secured 230 seats out of the total 288 constituencies. The BJP won 132 seats while its allies- the Shiv Sena, led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde won 57 seats, and the NCP, led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, won 41 seats. In contrast, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a rude jolt with Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray winning 20 seats, Congress securing 16, and NCP(SP) led by Sharad Pawar managing just 10 seats. (ANI)
Press Release

November 25, 2024 SENATOR IMEE CALLS FOR GREATER TRANSPARENCY IN BUDGET DELIBERATIONS "It is critical that we adopt a collaborative and transparent approach in crafting the General Appropriations Bill. This isn't just about numbers, it's about shaping the future of our country. All stakeholders must have the opportunity to weigh in on significant amendments to ensure we address the real needs of the Filipino people," Senator Imee R. Marcos emphasized as she called for a more inclusive and open process in the upcoming Bicameral Conference Committee (Bicam) deliberations on the 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB), scheduled for November 28-30. In a letter addressed to Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero coursed through the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Grace Poe, Marcos outlined her proposals to ensure collaboration and transparency in finalizing the national budget. She underscored the need to include all Vice-Chairpersons of the Sub-Committee on Finance as official members of the Bicam, enabling them to actively participate in discussions regarding proposed budget amendments. The senator pointed out that any major changes to the GAB should be openly discussed among Bicam members. She also recommended pre-Bicam coordination with counterparts from the House of Representatives to align priorities and address potential disagreements before formal deliberations. Senator Marcos reaffirmed her commitment to fiscal responsibility and urged her colleagues to prioritize openness and dialogue in the upcoming deliberations. "It's about time to change the bicam process. There should be transparency for the P6.532 trillion budget for 2025, and we must avoid at all costs, last minute insertions, and unpleasant surprises in our nation's budget."
DMK MP Tiruchi Siva on Monday said that the INDIA bloc will be forming the strategies on how to work on the floor ahead of the Winter Parliament session. Speaking to ANI, Seva said "The Winter session of the Parliament is commencing today. We have various issues to raise on the floor of the house. Yesterday in the all party floor leaders meeting by the government we had expressed our issues. We will be forming our strategies on how to work on the floor.." Earlier, BJD MP Sasmit Patra said that the party would be raising the Special Category status demand of Odisha in the Winter session of the Parliament. "We would be raising Special Category status demand of Odisha. The BJP in 2014 in their election manifesto had specified that if they would come to pwower, they would provide the Special Category state status to Odisha, however it hasn't been done. It is a double engine government but despite that they haven't done it.." Patra said while speaking to ANI. Further, he spoke on the Waqf Bill and said that BJD had very strong reservations for the same. "BJD has a very strong reservation on the Waqf Amendment. Yesterday itself, the BJD minority cell had held a massive protest in Bhubaneswar on the Waqf Amendment. We have provided certain specific recommendations and suggestions to the President of India through the Governor. We are hopeful that those issues will be taken up and nothing should be done that would affect the minorities of the country," he added. The Winter Parliament session is to start today with various issues slated to be discussed, including the Waqf Act (Amendment) Bill. The session will conclude on December 20.There will be no sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on November 26, to commemorate 'Constitution day'. Other bills that are listed for introduction, consideration and passing include the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, the Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, the Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, the Bills of Lading Bill, the Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, the Railways (Amendment) Bill, the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, and the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill. The Boilers Bill, the Rashtriya Sahkari Vishwavidyalaya Bill, the Punjab Courts (Amendment) Bill, the Merchant Shipping Bill, the Coastal Shipping Bill, and the Indian Ports Bill, are also included in the list. Moreover, the leaders of the INDIA bloc are also planning to meet today in the Parliament House, to discuss the strategy of the opposition. Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge is expected to decide the strategy, according to sources. The party is also expected to raise the issue of Manipur violence and bribery charges against the Adani group. (ANI)
Union Minister Chirag Paswan on Monday heaped praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that it is PM Modi's government that can take the country forward. "...If anyone can take the country forward, it is PM Modi's government and that is why the results are coming in our favour,'' Paswan said. He also hit out at the opposition over the allegations on Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill and said, ''First, they (opposition) demanded that it should be sent to the JPC and now you don't trust it, whom will they trust? Earlier, amid the demand of opposition members to extend the tenure of the Joint Parliament Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill, JPC chairman Jagdambika Pal said that their report is ready and they would hold clause-by-clause discussions on it. Pal said that Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has referred this bill to the JPC so whatever he would decide they would do the same. "Our report is ready and we will hold clause-by-clause discussions on it. The opposition here was also saying this (seeking an extension of tenure of JPC)... Any member or Opposition is free to meet the Speaker. They (opposition) have been trying to extend the tenure of the JPC. The Speaker has referred this bill to us, so whatever he decides, we'll do the same," he said. The JPC chairman informed that a meeting was held with the Ministry of Minority Affairs on Thursday for almost six hours in which they held clause-by-clause discussions. This comes after some opposition MPs approached Speaker Om Birla and asked him to extend the time of the Joint Committee alleging that Committee Chairman Jagdambika Pal is not ready to listen to their issues and is in very hurry to table the committee's report in Parliament. Since August 22 of this year, the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2024, has held several meetings. The JPC reviewed the work of six ministries and heard from 123 stakeholders, including representatives from six states, eight Waqf boards, and four minority commissions. It is pertinent to note that The Waqf Act, of 1995, which was created to regulate waqf properties, has long faced allegations of mismanagement, corruption and encroachments. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 seeks to bring sweeping reforms, introducing digitisation, stricter audits, transparency and legal mechanisms to reclaim illegally occupied properties. The JPC is holding a series of meetings to gather input from government officials, legal experts, Waqf Board members and community representatives from different states and Union Territories, aiming for the most comprehensive reform possible. (ANI)
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, said on Monday that the country should hold elections over ballot papers, expressing concerns over the integrity of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). His comments came after questions were raised by Karnataka's Home Minister G. Parameshwara regarding the security of the technological systems used in elections. Sukhu stated that if doubts persist about the reliability of electronic voting, it would be necessary to conduct elections through the traditional method of ballot papers to remove any skepticism surrounding the process. When asked about the Maharashtra poll results and how there was a lack of opposition leader, the Congress leader emphasized that such political dynamics are commonplace in a democracy. "All this happens in a democracy," Sukhu said. Sukhu also referenced the remarks made by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who has acknowledged the potential for technology to be hacked. "Even the guru of technology, Elon Musk, has accepted that technology can be hacked by anyone," Sukhu pointed out. He concluded by reiterating that the integrity of the electoral process is paramount, and addressing such concerns is necessary for maintaining public trust in the system. The Chief Minister was speaking after inaugurating the Zila Parishad Bhawan in Shimla, marking a significant event for the state's governance. In his address, Sukhu addressed multiple important issues, including the completion of the Himachal Pradesh government's two-year tenure and the ongoing development work in the state. The Chief Minister highlighted that December 11 would mark two years since the Congress Party came to power in Himachal Pradesh, and a special program is being planned in Bilaspur to commemorate this occasion. He further hit out at the previous Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state, saying that Congress had inherited several incomplete projects from the previous and was focused on finishing what was left undone. "Our government has decided that whatever half-finished work has been left by the BJP, it should be completed," he said. He further added that his government was determined to carry forward the unfinished tasks and ensure the progress of the state. (ANI)
Lok Sabha MP Abdul Rashid Sheikh, also known as Engineer Rashid moved an application in Patiala House Court, New Delhi seeking interim bail to attend the ongoing parliament session. He is an MP from Baramulla, Kashmir and President of Awami Ittehad Party (AIP). He is in judicial custody in an NIA case. Principal District and Sessions Judge of Patiala House Court issued notice and sought response from the NIA. The matter has been listed on November 27. Engineer Rashid also addressed the court through video conferencing and submitted he needs interim bail to attend the parliament session. Engineer Rashid submitted that he had been elected by his people. He was not allowed to attend last parliament session. "With folded hands I request that I may be granted interim bail," he submitted. Another accused also submitted through video conferencing that they are not aware what happens in hearing when they appear through video conferencing. He requested to appear physically before the court. Meanwhile, the Principal District and Sessions Judge Vimal Kumar Yadav of Patiala House Court has kept pending the jurisdiction for the purpose of hearing of an NIA case having public representatives (MP/MLA) as accused. The counsel for NIA and accused persons made submissions that the case should not be transferred to an MP/MLA court as there is no such provision in NIA Act. He also referred to a circular issued by the Central Government. The special public prosecutor for Enforcement Directorate (ED) also submitted that the case should be kept in the same court. Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra appeared for the NIA. Advocate Vikhyat Oberoi, appearing for Engineer Rashid submitted that the bail plea is pending for 2-3 months, also that all accused persons want an expeditious trial. The NIA special court, which is currently hearing the Jammu and Kashmir terror funding case, on November 21, recommended to transfer the case to a special court designated for MPs/MLAs, considering that one of the accused, Rashid Engineer, is now an MP. The court had urged District Judge of Patiala House Court that the case be sent to a special designated judge for MPs/MLAs. The court, while made recommendations for transfer, also sent all pending applications, including the regular bail plea of Rashid Engineer to the District Judge. Engineer Rashid, Lok Sabha MP from Baramulla, Jammu and Kashmir, has recently surrendered at Tihar Jail after his interim bail expired. This is related to the Jammu and Kashmir terror funding case currently being investigated by the NIA. In August 2019, Rashid was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). During his incarceration, he filed his nomination for the 2024 parliamentary elections from jail and won by a margin of 204,000 votes, defeating former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. In 2022, the NIA Court of Patiala House Court ordered the framing of charges against Rashid Engineer and several other key figures, including Hafiz Saeed, Syed Salahuddin, Yasin Malik, Shabbir Shah, Masrat Alam, Zahoor Ahmed Watali, Bitta Karate, Aftab Ahmed Shah, Avtar Ahmed Shah, Naeem Khan, and Bashir Ahmed Butt (also known as Peer Saifullah). The charges are part of an ongoing investigation into terror funding in Jammu and Kashmir, where the National Investigation Agency (NIA) alleges that various militant organizations, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizbul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and JKLF, collaborated with Pakistan's intelligence agency, ISI, to orchestrate attacks on civilians and security forces in the region. The NIA's investigation claims that in 1993, the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) was formed to further separatist activities, with funding channeled through hawala and other covert methods. Hafiz Saeed, along with Hurriyat leaders, is accused of using these illicit funds to fuel unrest in Jammu and Kashmir, targeting security forces, inciting violence, burning schools, and damaging public property. The agency contends that these operations were designed to destabilize the region and promote terrorism under the guise of political resistance. (ANI)
Hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's criticism of the opposition for "disturbing" the house, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said that they wanted to discuss the Adani group's alleged "bribery and fraud" case in Lok Sabha to save the country, not to disturb the house. Congress President alleged that public money was used to give bribery, and there are serious allegations of "corruption, bribery and financial irregularities." Addressing a press conference, Mallikarjun Kharge said, "In the Parliament, we wanted to raise the issue of Adani under rule 267. There are serious allegations of corruption, bribery and financial irregularities against the Adani Group. Gautam Adani's indictment in an alleged "bribery and fraud" case is a serious issue. We wanted to discuss this issue in Lok Sabha. Around Rs 2030 crores bribery was given. Public' money was used to give bribery." "We wanted to discuss this issue in the Parliament and present it before the Lok Sabha Speaker and ministers... The intelligence agencies of USA have all the reocrds. Before this, Adani group was also involved in the stock foul, accounting fraud, etc," he added. Attacking Prime Minister Modi further, Kharge alleged that wherever PM Modi goes, the Adani group gets contracts, adding that he has a "long list" of such instances. "We also want to explain this to the Rajya Sabha Chairman, PM and other ministers. We would have put these issues before them...Wherever PM Modi goes, this group gets contracts. I have a very long list of places where PM Modi has gone and which contracts they have got at which places. We wanted this should be discussed in the House... We raised this issue to save the country, not to disturb the house. Whatever PM Modi says about disturbing the house, creating hooliganism... Is this hooliganism? In June 2015, he went to Bangladesh and Adani's were allocated Jharkhand Electricity Export project...Kenya cancelled his projects after locals protested," Kharge said. The Winter Session of Parliament commenced on Monday morning but faced early disruptions, leading to the adjournment of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for the day. After the Lok Sabha began proceedings for the day, Speaker Om Birla read out obituary references before adjourning it to 12 noon. A short while later the Speaker adjourned the House for the day to meet again on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, PM Modi criticised the opposition, saying those who were rejected by people 80-90 times were trying to control Parliament by resorting to hooliganism for their own political gains. Delivering his customary address to media persons this morning ahead of commencement of proceedings of the Parliament, Prime Minister said that the main objective of the Opposition parties seems to be hindering the functioning of Parliament rather than contributing to its progress. Taking a jab at the opposition alliance, PM Modi said, "Unfortunately, some people, who have been rejected by the public, are constantly trying to control the parliament for their own political interests through the hooliganism of the people. The public counts all their activities and punishes them when the time comes." "The most important thing is that the new members of parliament who come with new ideas and energy are usurped by some people. They do not even get the opportunity to speak in the Parliament. In the democratic tradition, the job of every member is to prepare the next members, but those who have been rejected by the people 80-90 times, do not allow any discussion in the Parliament, do not respect the sentiments of democracy, do not understand the importance of people's expectations," he added. Earlier today, Congress MP and General Secretary Venugopal gave an adjournment notice ahead of Parliament's winter session to discuss the indictment of the Adani group and to form a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to investigate the alleged bribery charges. Congress MP Manish Tewari along with Manickam Tagore also wrote a letter to the Secretary General of Lok Sabha, making aware of their intentions to move an adjournment motion to discuss Gautam Adani's indictment in an alleged "bribery and fraud" case. Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh has also gave a Suspension of Business Notice (under rule 267) to discuss the indictment by a US court. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are set to attend the upcoming three-day 'DGP Conference' in Bhubaneswar, Odisha's Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan confirmed on Monday. Speaking to ANI, Harichandan said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are indeed expected to attend the three-day 'DGP Conference' in Bhubaneswar, scheduled from November 29 to December 1." The conference will focus on evaluating state performances, addressing law and order issues, and exploring measures to improve the country's law and order system. "The event will begin with Home Minister Amit Shah attending the inaugural ceremony on November 29. PM Modi will join the conference on November 30 and December 1," Harichandan added. Underlining the importance of the event, Harichandan stated, "This is a significant honour for Odisha, marking the first time the state will host the DGP and IG Conference in Bhubaneswar. It is evident that PM Modi is placing importance on Odisha, and this event will provide a platform for in-depth discussions on law and order and strategies for systemic improvement." The conference is expected to gather senior police officials from across the country. Meanwhile, on Sunday, Harichandan expressed disappointment over the BJP's performance in the Jharkhand Assembly elections, acknowledging potential shortcomings within the party. "We accept the people's mandate. I believe there were some flaws. The party will analyse them, identify the shortcomings, and understand why we lost in Jharkhand despite misrule in the state. Accordingly, we'll work to rectify our path," he said. Harichandan also highlighted the BJP's strong performance in Maharashtra, saying, "In Maharashtra, the performance was commendable. The people have lost faith in the Congress party and its allies. The results were positive due to good governance." In the Jharkhand elections, the Soren-led JMM, part of the INDIA alliance, secured victory with 56 seats in the 81-member assembly. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) won 34 seats, while its allies secured 22 seats. Among JMM's allies, the Congress won 16 seats, the RJD four seats, and the CPI-ML two seats. Meanwhile, the BJP-led NDA won just 24 seats, with the BJP securing 21 seats and its allies--AJSU, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), and JD-U--winning one seat each. (ANI)
The Delhi Police Crime Branch has arrested Lokesh Sharma, the former Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to ex-Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, in connection with a phone-tapping case. Sharma was arrested and later granted bail by the court. He had been summoned multiple times by the Delhi Police for questioning in the case. On March 25, 2021, the Delhi Police registered an FIR against Sharma on charges of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, and unlawful interception of telegraphic signals (telephonic conversations). The complaint was filed by Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the BJP MP from Jodhpur. Earlier this year, in a startling revelation, Sharma alleged that the purported audio clip of a phone conversation involving Union Minister Shekhawat and certain Congress figures, discussing the ousting of the Congress government in 2020, was provided to him by Gehlot. Sharma further claimed that Gehlot was involved in tapping the phones of rebel Congress leaders, including Sachin Pilot. He stated that the audio clips of rebel Congress leaders, which were shared with news organisations, had been given to him by the former Rajasthan Chief Minister. "Until now, I told everyone that I received those audio clips from social media. But that is not the truth. On July 16, 2020, some audio clips went viral through the media because I shared them using my phone number. In those audios, there was a conspiracy to topple the government by poaching MLAs," Sharma said during a press conference on April 25 in Jaipur. He elaborated, "On July 16, 2020, Ashok Gehlot came to Hotel Fairmont, where the rebel leaders were staying. An hour after the CM left, his PSO Ramniwas called me and asked me to come to the CM House as the CM wanted to meet me. When I arrived, the CM handed me a pen drive and a paper, which I circulated through the media. The paper allegedly referred to a conversation between Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Late MLA Bhanwarlal Sharma, and Sanjay Jain, and the pen drive contained their audio." Responding to these allegations, Ashok Gehlot dismissed them and emphasised focusing on the truth amid the political climate. "I do not know what revelations he has made. I don't delve into such matters. Given the political environment, people switching parties is quite common. It's more important to focus on the truth rather than getting caught up in who's saying what," Gehlot said. (ANI)
After the INDIA Bloc wrote to the Lok Sabha Speaker requesting the Leaders of the Opposition (LoPs) in both Houses be allowed to speak on Constitution Day, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju stated on Monday that the opposition had reacted without understanding the actual arrangements. Speaking at a press conference, Rijiju said, "The problem with some opposition parties is that they have started reacting without knowing the actual arrangements. The Prime Minister is not even speaking at the function tomorrow. Only the Lok Sabha Speaker, Vice President, and the President of India will speak. Secondly, we have made arrangements for the opposition leaders of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to sit on the dais. Without knowing anything, this kind of reaction on a very solemn occasion is itself condemnable." The INDIA Bloc has urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to allow the LoPs of both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha to speak during the Constitution Day event on November 26. Union Minister Rijiju also shared that President Droupadi Murmu would address members of both Houses of Parliament on Constitution Day. He emphasised that the event was a tribute to the makers of the Constitution. The celebration marks 75 years since the Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution on November 26, 1949. However, the Constitution officially came into effect on January 26, 1950. "I want to tell every citizen of the country that this is not just a celebration of the Parliament of India. This is a celebration of the country. In a way, we are honouring the Constitution of India and bringing its contents before the people. Secondly, we are paying tribute to the makers of the Constitution. This celebration will continue for a year. Tomorrow, when the President addresses the members of both Houses, I believe there will be no party politics or ideological differences. As Indians, we will celebrate Constitution Day. This evening, we will visit the President and formally invite her to tomorrow's programme," Rijiju said during the press conference. (ANI)
The Delhi High Court has recently granted bail to a Canadian citizen accused in an NDPS case. The court noted that he has no past criminal record and that recovery of contraband was not effective for him. He was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on February 6, 2024. Justice Amit Mahajan granted bail to accused Mandeep Singh Gill after considering the submissions and facts of the case. "Without commenting further on the merits of the case, I think that the applicant has prima facie established a case for grant of bail," Justice Amit Mahajan said. Justice Mahajan said, "I think that the applicant is not likely to commit any offence while on bail." The high court directed the accused to be released on bail on furnishing a personal bond for a sum of Rs 50,000 with two sureties of the like amount, subject to the satisfaction of the learned Trial Court. As per NCB, on 17.01.2024, based on secret information, recovery of 2.496 kgs of Methamphetamine was made on examination of one parcel at DHL Express Pvt. Ltd. in Najafgarh Industrial Area, which was destined for Adelaide, Australia. The applicant was arrested on 06.02.2024, based on the disclosure statements of co-accused persons. The prosecution alleged that the accused supplied contraband to co-accused Gaurav Singh Chauhan on 13.01.2024, which was later recovered at DHL Express Pvt. Ltd., Delhi. The contraband was allegedly transported in a car, as captured in CCTV footage. Additionally, it is alleged that the accused supplied contraband to co-accused Vikramjit Singh on 19.01.2024, who then delivered it to Gaurav Singh on 22.01.2024. The prosecution also alleged telephonic connections between the applicant and Vikramjit Singh The prosecution alleged that co-accused Gaurav Singh disclosed that a person in a car delivered the recovered contraband to him at DC Chowk, Rohini, Delhi, on 13.01.2024 between 7:30-8:30 AM. During the investigation, it was found that the applicant had rented the said car from Pritam Singh from 12.01.2024 to 13.01.2024. The prosecution claimed that CCTV footage showed the presence of two cars, one belonging to Gaurav Sing. Additionally, the applicant's presence at the location is allegedly corroborated by the IPDR of his mobile number. Lastly, the prosecution alleged that co-accused Vikramjit Singh disclosed the applicant's involvement in drug trafficking. It is further alleged that the applicant and Vikramjit Singh were in telephonic contact. Advocate Amit Shahni appeared for the accused and submitted that the applicant has been implicated in the present case merely based on the disclosure statement of the co-accused persons and no contraband is recovered from his possession or at his instance. It was also submitted that Section 37 of the NDPS Act is not attractive towards the applicant in the present case, and his bail application ought to be considered without applying the rigours thereof. He further submitted that the applicant is a Canadian citizen with no prior criminal record and was in India for his wedding. His wife, newlyborn child, and elderly parents are dependent on him financially and emotionally. On the other hand, Senior Standing Counsel (SSC) for the NCB opposes the grant of bail to the applicant. He submitted that the sequence of events prima facie establishes conspiracy on the part of the applicant. He submitted that the applicant is part of a drug syndicate indulged in the illegal business of drug trafficking and thus, is not entitled to bail. He also submitted that the applicant's association with co-accused individuals, who were arrested with commercial quantities of narcotics, is established through call detail records (CDRs) and monetary transactions. He further submitted that the recovered substances were supplied by the applicant as part of the drug trafficking operations. The CDR analysis reveals consistent communication between the applicant and the co-accused persons, NCB argued. The voluntary statements of the accused have been corroborated through further investigation, including CCTV footage and CDRs, which indicate the applicant's involvement in supplying the contraband, he added. After hearing the submissions the court noted that the applicant has been in judicial custody since 06.02.2024, with the allegations against him primarily based on the disclosure statements of co-accused persons. "It is a settled law that disclosure statement of a co-accused is of no evidentiary value in the absence of any corroborative piece of evidence," the bench said. The prosecution has contended that the car of the applicant, being visible in the CCTV at the time disclosed by the co-accused, and the CDR location of the applicant corroborates the disclosure statement of the co-accused that the applicant had supplied the contraband. The bench said, "Undisputedly, the CCTV footage does not show the exchange of contraband. It further does not show that the applicant had given any packet/contraband to the co-accused." The presence of the applicant at the alleged place where the co-accused had taken delivery of the contraband, in the opinion of this Court, does not indicate that the applicant was the one who had delivered the contraband, the court said. "The prosecution, thus, has failed to provide substantial evidence linking the applicant to the recovered contraband or to demonstrate his active involvement in the alleged offence," Justice Mahajan said. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed petitions seeking the removal of the words "secular" and "socialist" from the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar observed, "We do not find any legitimate cause or justification for challenging this constitutional amendment after nearly 44 years." "The circumstances do not warrant this Court's exercise of discretion to undertake an exhaustive examination, as the constitutional position remains unambiguous, negating the need for a detailed academic pronouncement. This being the clear position, we do not find any justification or need to issue notice in the present writ petitions, and the same are accordingly dismissed," the bench stated. The court highlighted that the petitions were filed in 2020, forty-four years after the words "socialist" and "secular" were introduced into the Preamble. It noted that such a delay rendered the petitions questionable. "This stems from the fact that these terms have achieved widespread acceptance, with their meanings understood by 'We, the people of India' without any semblance of doubt. The additions to the Preamble have not restricted or impeded legislations or policies pursued by elected governments, provided such actions did not infringe upon fundamental and constitutional rights or the basic structure of the Constitution," the court remarked. The petitions challenged the inclusion of the words "socialist" and "secular" through the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act of 1976, citing various grounds. These included the retrospective nature of the amendment, the fact that the Constitution was originally adopted on November 26, 1949, without these terms, and the argument that the word "socialist" limits economic policy options. The court clarified that Article 368 of the Constitution empowers Parliament to amend the Constitution, and this power is not curtailed by the date of its adoption. "The retrospectivity argument, if accepted, would equally apply to amendments made to any part of the Constitution," the court observed. Addressing the argument that the amendment was enacted during the Emergency and should be invalidated, the court referred to discussions surrounding the Constitution (Forty-Fifth Amendment Bill, 1978), which led to the renumbering of the bill. It noted that the term "secular" signifies equal respect for all religions, while "socialist" refers to a commitment to eliminating exploitation in all its forms--social, political, and economic. The court also cited the majority judgment in the 9-Judge Constitution Bench case of Property Owners Association v. State of Maharashtra, which affirmed that the Constitution permits elected governments to adopt economic governance structures suitable for the policies for which they are accountable to the electorate. "The Indian economy has transitioned from the dominance of public investment to the co-existence of public and private investment," the court stated. The petitions were filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and lawyers Balram Singh, Karunesh Kumar Shukla, and Ashwini Upadhyay. The bench had earlier noted that secularism has always been an integral part of the Constitution's basic structure and emphasised that the terms "secular" and "socialist" in the Preamble need not be viewed through a Western perspective. Subramanian Swamy argued that the inclusion of these words in 1976 conflicted with the original Preamble of 1949. He claimed that the insertion of these terms during the Emergency through the 42nd Constitutional Amendment violated the basic structure doctrine established in the Kesavananda Bharati case (1973), which prohibits Parliament from altering the Constitution's essential features. Swamy further contended that the framers of the Constitution had deliberately excluded these words, asserting that their inclusion imposed certain political ideologies on citizens, contrary to the framers' intent. He argued that the amendment exceeded Parliament's authority under Article 368, stating that Dr BR Ambedkar had explicitly rejected these terms, as the Constitution cannot impose political ideologies on citizens by curbing their right to choose. (ANI)
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami lauded the 'Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana' on Monday, and said the scheme is providing shelter to lakhs of homeless families, a press release stated. Pointing that thousands of people have got pucca houses under the scheme in Uttarakhand, CM Dhami said the state government is also providing assistance along with the Centre. Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Housing for All (Urban), more than 34 thousand houses have been built in Uttarakhand so far. The state government has also signed a contract with the Centre for the second phase of the scheme, in which the beneficiaries will be able to get more financial grants, the release stated. Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Housing for All (Urban), housing is provided to all the homeless families living in the urban area. A subsidy/grant is provided for housing construction under four components to homeless families with annual incomes ranging from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 18 lakh. Under the first phase of the scheme, a total of 64391 houses have been approved by the Government of India in the state. Out of the total 25976 houses approved under the beneficiary-based construction component, construction of 12222 houses has been completed till October, work on the remaining houses is in progress. In this, a grant of Rs 1.50 lakh per house (total Rs 263.71 crore approximately) has been provided by the Government of India, and a grant of Rs 50 thousand per house is provided by the State Government, stated the release. Under the other component of the scheme, affordable housing, approval has been received from the Government of India for 15960 houses, out of which 11384 houses have been allotted and construction of 1894 has been completed. In this category, a grant of Rs 161.96 crore has been provided by the Government of India at the rate of Rs 1.50 lakh per house. In this category, a grant of Rs 2 lakh per house is also provided by the State Government. In this way, the beneficiary contribution is only Rs 3 lakh per house. In the other component of the scheme, loan-based construction, all the 19919 houses approved by the Government of India have been completed, interest subsidy has also been provided through the bank in this category, the release added. Secretary Urban Development Nitesh Jha said that now the Government of India has announced Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana 2.0 in September this year. For this, the Uttarakhand government has signed a contract with the Government of India. For this, the Government of India has now increased the central share per house from Rs 1.50 lakh to Rs 2.25 lakh. In this way, now the beneficiaries will get more assistance under the scheme, added the release. (ANI)
Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Monday criticised the Opposition over the violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal, blaming them for instigating the incident. He further alleged that the Opposition aimed to create unrest in the country and turn Sambhal into a situation resembling Bangladesh. Speaking to reporters, Singh said, "This incident happened because of the Opposition. It is a pre-planned strategy, akin to the Godhra incident. This was not just an attack on the survey team but an attack on the Constitution of India and democracy. They want to burn the country... they want to turn Sambhal into Bangladesh." He added, "Those who died were shot by the attackers, not the police. This is evident from the post-mortem report. The country will not tolerate this." Violence erupted on Sunday during an ASI survey at a Mughal-era mosque in Sambhal. Following the incident, the district administration imposed restrictions on outsiders, social organisations, and public representatives from entering Sambhal without prior authorisation. Moradabad Police Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh confirmed that the accused in the Sambhal incident include Zia Ur Rehman Barq, a Samajwadi Party (SP) MP, and his son. He assured the public that the situation is under control and an investigation is in progress. "The situation in Sambhal is peaceful. An investigation is underway. FIRs have been registered, including one for instigation against Sambhal MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq and the local MLA's son. Four people have died, and the injured are receiving treatment. Strict action will be taken, and, if necessary, NSA will be imposed," the senior police official stated. Meanwhile, Zia Ur Rehman Barq denied the allegations and accused the Uttar Pradesh police administration of conspiring against him. He claimed the case filed against him was baseless, as he was not in the state when the violence occurred. "The incident orchestrated by the police administration in Sambhal has shaken humanity and tarnished the image of the state and the country. I was not even in Uttar Pradesh at the time. I had travelled to Bengaluru to attend a meeting of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board. Despite this, a case was filed against me," he told ANI. (ANI)
The Uttar Pradesh Congress on Monday raised concerns over the recent violence in Sambhal, accusing the state government of politicising the issue. Congress President Ajay Rai criticised the administration, describing its actions as part of a larger "politics of hate and oppression." Rai led a silent protest in front of the Gandhi statue at the party office in Lucknow and announced plans for a Congress delegation, including himself, to visit Sambhal. Speaking to ANI, Rai stated, "The government is trying to politicise the Sambhal incident... Politics of hate and oppression is being carried out in the state... A thorough investigation should be conducted... In the coming days, a Congress delegation, including myself, will visit Sambhal." Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Minister Narendra Kumar Kashyap appealed for calm, saying, "I appeal to the people of Sambhal to maintain peace and uphold law and order in the state." Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq, accused of inciting violence during a mosque survey in Sambhal, denied the allegations. Barq claimed the charges against him were baseless, asserting he was in Bengaluru attending a meeting of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board at the time of the violence. Speaking to ANI, Barq said, "The actions carried out by the police administration in Sambhal have shaken humanity and tarnished the state's image. I was not even present in the state. This is a conspiracy by the police administration. They have murdered five innocent people, injured many, and filed false charges. A murder case should be registered against the officers responsible, and they should be arrested." Moradabad Police Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh confirmed that an investigation is underway and assured that the situation in Sambhal is now under control. Singh stated, "The situation in Sambhal is peaceful. FIRs have been registered, including one against Sambhal MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq and the son of a local MLA for instigating violence. Four people have died, and the injured are receiving treatment. Strict action will be taken, and if necessary, the NSA will also be imposed." Sambhal SP Krishna Kumar Bishnoi reported that a complaint had been filed against 800 individuals allegedly involved in the violence. "Fifteen policemen were injured in the incident. So far, 23 people have been arrested, and legal action will follow," Bishnoi stated. Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak clarified that the mosque survey was conducted under court orders and assured a fair investigation into the violence. "The incident is very unfortunate. A fair investigation will be carried out," Pathak said. The violence in Sambhal has resulted in four deaths and left several others injured. (ANI)
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Delhi High Court challenging the Circular dated 11.11.2024 issued by the Director of Education, allegedly creating separate timelines for the admission of children from weaker sections, disadvantaged groups, and the general category. The PIL seeks to quash the circular and urges the Delhi Government to strictly comply with the binding guidelines issued on 26.10.2022 to prevent discrimination. The petition also calls for the implementation of a unified admission schedule in accordance with Section 15 of the RTE Act, 2009, and Clause 4(i) of the notification dated 7.1.2011 issued by the Lt. Governor of Delhi. A plea has been moved by Justice for All NGO, represented by Advocates Khagesh Jha and Shikha Sharma Bagga, addressing the concerns of over 1,50,000 prospective applicants for around 50,000 seats in various private schools across Delhi. The petition challenges the Director of Education's circular dated 11.11.2024, which the NGO argues undermines the principle of inclusiveness, a foundational element of the RTE Act. The circular, according to the plea, unlawfully exempts schools from the provisions of Section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act, along with the statutory rules for EWS (Economically Weaker Sections) admissions, as notified by the Lt. Governor of Delhi. The petition contends that this exemption, granted without legal authority, disproportionately affects children from weaker sections, who lack the means to voice their concerns or access constitutional protections. The plea further highlights that the circular segregates admission timelines for the EWS category from the general category and makes EWS/DG (Disadvantaged Group) admissions contingent on the general category schedule. This practice, the petition argues, conflicts with the core objectives of the RTE Act and violates the right to education guaranteed under Article 21A of the Constitution of India. (ANI)
Shiv Sena (UBT) elected two-time Worli MLA Aaditya Thackeray as legislature party leader on Monday. Party leader Bhaskar Jadhav has been elected as the party leader in the Maharashtra legislative assembly, and Sunil Prabhu has been appointed as the chief whip. The meeting of the newly-elected MLAs was presided over by former Chief Minister and pray chief, Uddhav Thackeray at his residence 'Matoshree'. Sharing details of the meeting Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Arvind Sawant said that Aaditya has been elected as the chief of both the houses (legislative assembly and legislative council). "Today, the elected members of Shiv Sena in Maharashtra assembly gathered. A meeting was conducted, under the chairmanship of Uddhav Thackery, the chief of the party. Bhaskar Jadhav has been elected as the leader of the party in the Legislative Assembly, as well as Sunil Prabhu, has been elected as the chief whip of the party. Aaditya Thackeray has been elected as chief of both the houses," he told reporters. Meanwhile, after getting elected Shiv Sena (UBT) leader in the legislative assembly, Bhaskar Jadhav said he wanted Aaditya Thackeray to take the post, but Uddhav wanted him to take this position. "I wanted that Aaditya Thackeray should be on this post but Uddhav Thackeray asked me to take this post as I have many years of experience and I can guide the party leaders...Looking at what has happened in the election, I can say 'Daal mein kuch kala hai'," he said. Party spokesperson Anand Dubey showed confidence in the leadership of Aaditya Thackeray and said, "I am confident that we will make a comeback in the leadership of Aaditya Thackeray." Earlier on Sunday, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut responded to the party's poor show in the assembly elections and said the party was not disappointed adding that they were the 'Shiv Sainiks' of BalaSaheb Thackeray who had seen several defeats and victories in his life. Speaking to media persons, Raut said "We are not disappointed, we are people who fight. We are Shiv Sainiks of Balasaheb Thackeray. Balasaheb Thackeray has also seen many defeats and victories in his life. We are not sad that we lost or lost power. We will fight against the injustice in Maharashtra." Taking a jibe at the Mahayuti alliance, Raut said that the swearing-in ceremony shouldn't happen in Maharashtra but at the Modi Stadium in Gujarat. "The swearing-in ceremony is going to take place tomorrow. I would say that it should not happen in Maharashtra. This government has been brought by the Gujarat lobby, by the traders' association, so the swearing-in ceremony should take place in Modi Stadium in Gujarat. If it is done in Shivaji Park, it will be an insult to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. If you do it in Wankhede Stadium, there is a memorial of the martyrs in front of it, they will be insulted. Therefore, the best place is Narendra Modi Stadium in Gujarat," Raut said. The ruling Mahayuti alliance won the Maharashtra assembly polls. BJP led the Mahayuti and registered a smashing victory, carrying its allies--Shiv Sena and NCP--with its momentum. In Maharashtra, BJP won 132 seats, Shiv Sena, led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, won 57 seats, and the NCP, led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, won 41 seats. The state has 288 assembly seats. The constituents of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a rude jolt with Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray winning 20 seats, Congress 16, and NCP (SCP) led by Sharad Pawar only 10 seats. The BJP saw a fabulous strike rate with the party winning 133 of the 148 seats it contested in Maharashtra. The party's allies Shiv Sena and NCP also saw a very good strike rate. The assembly elections in Maharashtra were held on November 20. (ANI)
Amid a tussle for the post of Maharashtra Chief Minister, Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis and NCP chief Ajit Pawar are likely to meet BJP National President JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah later tonight. The trio will be attending a private event in the national capital and later meet the BJP's top leadership to discuss the government formation in Maharashtra, sources said. Amid hectic parleys, two-time chief minister and current Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is being seen as a strong contender to occupy the top post for the third time, however, Shiv Sena leaders are stressing that Eknath Shinde should continue as the CM. NCP leaders are also voicing their support for the party chief and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. Earlier BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said that Mahayuti's victory will continue to "inspire our Maharashtra" to realize the dream of a developed India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "This victory of the Mahayuti has given a new direction only because of your support. This success will continue to inspire our Maharashtra to realize the dream of a developed India with a developed Maharashtra under the leadership of Hon. Modiji with a progressive and inclusive future," Devendra Fadnavis said in an open letter to the people of Maharashtra. Fadnavis thanked the people for their trust in the alliance. "The grand victory of the Mahayuti in the Maharashtra Assembly elections 2024 is not only of the BJP-Mahayuti but of the trust of every citizen of Maharashtra. I bow down to the people of Maharashtra for the trust you have shown and the love you have given," he said. "Hard work, unity, the blessings of my beloved sisters and the trust shown by the entire people of Maharashtra in the leadership of Hon. Prime Minister Narendra Modiji are the real architects of this victory. I will forever be indebted to the leaders, office bearers, friends and every dedicated worker of all the constituent parties of the Mahayuti, who have been working tirelessly to reach out to the voters over the past few days," he added. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a major setback. The Shiv Sena (UBT), led by Uddhav Thackeray, won only 20 seats, Congress managed 16, and the NCP(SP) led by Sharad Pawar won just 10 seats. The BJP demonstrated an impressive strike, winning 132 of the 148 seats it contested in Maharashtra. The Maharashtra assembly elections were held on November 20 and the results were declared on November 23. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned for four weeks a petition of death-row prisoner Balwant Singh Rajoana seeking commutation of the sentence given to him for assassination of the then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh in 1995. A bench of Justices BR Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra and KV Viswanathan adjourned the hearing after Centre government said that the matter is "sensitive" and more inputs from other agencies are required. The top court was hearing a plea relating to delay in deciding mercy petition of death-row prisoner Rajoana. He sought commutation on the ground of delay in considering the mercy petition filed by him. Earlier, the apex court had said that they would consider Rajoana's plea seeking release only after hearing the Union government and the state of Punjab. Rajoana, a sympathiser of the Babbar Khalsa militant group, sought the commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment in connection with his conviction in the assassination of Beant Singh. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Rajoana, had earlier urged the top court for his temporary release saying he has been in jail for almost 29 years. Rajoana sought commutation of the death sentence on the grounds of "extraordinary" and "inordinate delay" of one year and four months in deciding his mercy petition, which remains pending before the President of India. The petition sought consequential release on the grounds that he has undergone a total sentence of 28 years and eight months as of date, of which 17 years have been served as a death row convict in an 8" x 10" capital punishment cell, including 2.5 years in solitary confinement. The convict, Balwant Singh Rajoana, was sentenced to death for the murder of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh who died in a bomb explosion in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995. The Centre had decided on September 27, 2019 to commute the death penalty of Rajoana to a life sentence on the special occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. However, the decision is yet to be implemented. In 2020, Singh filed a petition seeking the commutation of the death penalty. The apex court had then asked Central government to take a call with respect to the mercy petition. In May 2024 the top court declined to commute the death penalty but directed that the mercy petition be decided by a competent authority in due course of time. It noted that stand of MHA to defer the decision on Rajoana's mercy petition on the ground of national security and law and order situation. A Chandigarh court had, on July 27, 2007, awarded death sentence to Rajoana which was upheld by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on October 12, 2010. Rajoana has not filed an appeal against the decision of the High Court. Rajoana was scheduled to be hanged on March 31, 2012, however, the execution was stayed on March 28, 2012, by the then Central government after Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) -- a Sikh religious body, filed a mercy petition with the President. (ANI)
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the launch of the National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF) as a standalone Centrally Sponsored Scheme under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare. The scheme has a total outlay of Rs2,481 crore, with the Government of India contributing Rs1,584 crore and the states providing Rs897 crore, for the duration of the 15th Finance Commission period (2025-26), according to a release from the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare. The NMNF aims to promote natural farming nationwide in a mission mode. Rooted in traditional knowledge, natural farming involves chemical-free methods, integrating local livestock and diverse cropping systems. This approach is tailored to local agro-ecological principles and leverages indigenous practices and technologies. The initiative seeks to provide safe, nutritious food for all, while supporting farmers in reducing cultivation costs and dependence on external inputs. Benefits of natural farming include healthier soil ecosystems, enhanced biodiversity, and climate resilience. The mission is part of a broader effort to revive and strengthen sustainable agricultural practices. Over the next two years, NMNF will be implemented in 15,000 clusters across Gram Panchayats, aiming to involve 1 crore farmers and cover 7.5 lakh hectares. Priority will be given to regions already practising natural farming and organisations like SRLMs, PACS, and FPOs. Additionally, 10,000 Bio-input Resource Centres (BRCs) will be established to ensure the availability of natural farming inputs. The scheme will establish around 2,000 NF Model Demonstration Farms at Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), Agricultural Universities, and farmers' fields. These farms will be supported by experienced Farmer Master Trainers. Willing farmers will be trained in preparing natural farming inputs, such as Jeevamrit and Beejamrit, either using their livestock or sourcing from BRCs. The programme aims to train 18.75 lakh farmers, while 30,000 Krishi Sakhis/Community Resource Persons will mobilise and support farmers in the clusters. Natural farming practices are expected to reduce input costs, rejuvenate soil health and fertility, and enhance resilience to climate risks such as waterlogging, floods, and droughts. They will also mitigate health risks associated with fertilisers and pesticides, providing healthier food for farmers' families. Furthermore, these practices contribute to a sustainable environment for future generations by improving soil carbon content, water use efficiency, and biodiversity. Farmers adopting natural farming will benefit from a simple certification process and a common branding initiative, enabling them to market their produce effectively. The implementation of NMNF will be monitored through a geo-tagged online portal. The mission will also explore convergence with existing schemes and support structures of the central and state governments, as well as national and international organisations. These efforts include enhancing livestock populations, developing NF Model Demonstration Farms, and providing market linkages at district and local levels through farmers' markets, APMC Mandis, and other avenues. Students will also be engaged in NMNF through the RAWE programme and dedicated academic courses on natural farming. (ANI)
Organised by the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), the three-day event aims to bolster Kerala's thriving startup ecosystem by fostering innovation and facilitating global partnerships.

Now in its sixth edition, the event will spotlight cutting-edge innovations from Deep Tech and R&D startups. It will also feature discussions and networking opportunities aimed at attracting investments, providing mentorship, and showcasing Kerala's advancements in the startup sector.

The conclave will host prominent speakers from various fields. Notable participants include Sridhar Vembu, Founder and CEO of Zoho Corporation; historian William Dalrymple; ISRO Chairman Dr. S. Somanath; and KSIDC Managing Director S. Harikishore.

Several roundtable discussions are planned, covering sectors such as agriculture, space defence, and Global Capability Centres (GCC). Industries Minister P. Rajeeve will lead the GCC-focused roundtable, designed to attract investment opportunities for businesses establishing operations in Kerala.

Panel discussions on the opening day will feature global dignitaries, including Erik af Hallstrom, Consul General of Finland; Jonas Brunschwig, Consul General of Switzerland; Richard McCallum, Group CEO of the UK-India Business Council; Silai Zaki, Consul General of Australia; and Jorge Loyola Castro, Trade Commissioner to India, ProChile.

A session on port-driven industrial clusters will explore the potential of the Vizhinjam International Seaport, with insights from Dr. Divya S. Iyer, Managing Director of the port; Pradeep Jayaraman, CEO of Adani Vizhinjam Port; and Anil Raj, Managing Director of Systrome Technologies.

The event will also feature tech talks on emerging topics such as green hydrogen, quantum technologies, and autonomous vehicles. Highlights include a session by K. R. Jyothilal, Additional Chief Secretary of Kerala, on green hydrogen and clean energy, and a discussion on graphene's transformative potential, led by Dr. Alex James of Digital University Kerala.

KSUM CEO Anoop Ambika highlighted that the event will strengthen Kerala's global connections, enabling startups to secure funding, scale their operations, and establish international collaborations. Chief Minister Vijayan will also engage with startup founders during the inauguration to better understand their needs and challenges. (ANI)
The Tamil Nadu BJP has strongly criticised the MK Stalin government over the alleged rise in "political violence" by DMK members, and demanded action from Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin. In a statement released on Monday, Tamil Nadu BJP Spokesperson ANS Prasad alleged that DMK members were targeting opposition leaders and engaging in violent activities, citing a recent attack on BJP Fishermen's Wing District President Thiru Jegatheesan by Vishnu, the son of DMK member Chetti Arumugam. According to the BJP, this attack occurred during a voter list verification campaign and was allegedly orchestrated by local DMK leader Kamaraaj and 116th Ward Secretary Sasi. Residents of the Chepauk-Thiruvallikkeni constituency have demanded immediate action from Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin to address alleged violent behaviour by members of the DMK, Tamil Nadu BJP Spokesperson ANS Prasad said in a statement. "The recent attacks on opposition party members and leaders are a clear indication of the DMK's goondaism and must be stopped immediately," he stated. "As the MLA of the Chepauk-Thiruvallikkeni constituency, Udhayanidhi Stalin has a responsibility to uphold democracy and ensure that his constituents are protected from violence and intimidation. The people of Tamil Nadu will not tolerate such violence, and it's time for the government to take a strong stance against it," the statement added. The BJP has demanded the perpetrators be arrested and a fair investigation be conducted. They also called for the filing of an FIR and measures to prevent further violence by DMK members. "The government must take concrete steps to address police bias and inaction and ensure that the police are impartial and effective in maintaining law and order. The government must ensure that citizens are protected from violence and intimidation and that their democratic rights are upheld. Last year, BJP leader Suman was brutally attacked by DMK's district secretary Sasi and Jayaprakash, Ranjith, and others while setting up a voter list correction desk with party flags. Despite BJP's strong protests and filing a case, no action has been taken yet," the statement added. The BJP also alleged "police bias," stating that DMK members recently threatened Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam, led by actor Vijay, against setting up voter list correction desks in Ayothikuppam. It accused the Marina police of favouring DMK members during conciliatory talks and refusing to register complaints from Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam. "The government must take concrete steps to address police bias and inaction and ensure that the police are impartial and effective in maintaining law and order. The government must ensure that citizens are protected from violence and intimidation and that their democratic rights are upheld," the statement stated. The Tamil Nadu BJP has further called on Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin to direct the Chennai Police Commissioner to take immediate action, arrest the accused DMK members, and ensure justice. (ANI)
The Himachal Pradesh government has initiated the land acquisition process for the expansion of Kangra Airport at Gaggal, but the necessary approval for forest land transfer from the Government of India is still pending, the Himachal Pradesh High Court observed on Monday. The issue was highlighted during a hearing of a petition filed in the Himachal Pradesh High Court by the Gaggal Airport Expansion Affected Social Welfare Committee. The petition challenges the land acquisition process, alleging that the state government has not fulfilled all required procedures and obtained the necessary permissions. An affidavit submitted by the Special Secretary of the Tourism and Civil Aviation Department stated that the land acquisition process is underway, and in some cases, the Land Acquisition Officer has already issued awards. However, approval for the transfer of forest land from the Government of India has not yet been secured. Justice Sandeep Sharma noted that the airport expansion proposal is still under consideration by the Project Screening Committee. Additionally, the Techno-Economic Feasibility Report (TEFR), which is essential for obtaining environmental clearances, has not been finalised. Without the TEFR, the Indian government cannot grant forest clearance. "The Court also finds that the proposal for the expansion of Kangra Airport at Gaggal is pending before the Project Screening Committee. The Techno-Economic Feasibility Report (TEFR), a prerequisite for environmental clearances, is yet to be received. Only after the receipt of this report can the Government of India consider granting permission for forest clearance. Furthermore, the Court observes that the Obstacle Limitation Surface survey, another prerequisite for the construction or development of any airport, is still awaiting review by the competent authority," the court stated. (ANI)
The Indian Coast Guard has apprehended a drug consignment of 5.5 tonnes (5,500 kgs) in the Andaman waters, an official said. The boat used for smuggling the drugs was first picked up by an Indian Coast Guard Dornier maritime surveillance aircraft after which the ICGS vessel apprehended it on the high seas, Indian Coast Guard officials said. The seizure is the largest-ever drug haul by the Indian Coast Guard in maritime history, the Indian Coast Guard stated in a release. "Indian Coast Guard (ICG) created history in the maritime domain in India by apprehending a Myanmarese Fishing boat named 'Soe Wai Yan Htoo' in Andaman seas which was carrying approx. 5500 kgs of prohibited drug Methamphetamine along with one portable Inmarsat Satellite phone," as per an official release. In the recent past, there has been a rise in detection/sighting of Rohingya boats/ Myanmarese poachers in the Andaman seas. The Andaman seas were kept under strict surveillance owing to recent inputs revealed during joint interrogation of apprehended poachers. "The Indian Coast Guard Dornier aircraft whilst on reconnaissance sortie detected a boat which was operating in a suspicious manner. The information was passed on to the Joint Operation Centre (JOC), which subsequently deployed an ICG Fast Patrol Vessel, ICG Ship Aruna Asaf Ali from Sri Vijaya Puram to intercept the suspicious Myanmarese boat," the release read. The ICG ship despite prevailing rough sea conditions proceeded with the best speed to intercept the suspicious Myanmarese boat. The ICG Ship intercepted one fishing boat which did not match the characteristics of a local Indian boat. As the boat was flying a Myanmar Flag, it was shadowed till the early morning of November 24. "ICG Ship Aruna Asaf Ali boarded the suspicious Myanmarese boat for investigation at 0630 hrs on 24 Nov 24 when the boat was 08 nm off Barren Island in Indian Territorial waters and the joint interrogation was carried out," the release read. Six crew onboard the boat were identified as Myanmarese nationals. During rummaging of the boat, the boarding party detected approx. 5500 kgs of white crystalline compound onboard along with one portable Inmarsat Satellite phone. The white crystalline compound was anticipated to be contraband and hence boat was apprehended. "Subsequently, the boat was brought to Sri Vijaya Puram for further investigation. ICG Ship Aruna Asaf Ali along with the apprehended boat entered Sri Vijaya Puram at 0500 hrs on Nov 25," the release read. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the Constitution Day celebrations on Tuesday, marking 75 years since the adoption of the Constitution of India. The event will be held at the Auditorium, Administrative Building Complex of the Supreme Court of India. During the ceremony, Prime Minister Modi will release the annual report of the Indian Judiciary (2023-24) and deliver an address to the gathering. The event is being organized by the Supreme Court of India, with the Chief Justice of India and other esteemed judges of the Supreme Court also in attendance. The central government on Monday also decided to observe Constitution Day throughout the year, focusing on educating citizens about the members of the Constitution drafting committee, the pivotal role of Dr BR Ambedkar, and the contributions of the 15 women involved in drafting the Constitution. During this period, initiatives will be organised in every village to promote awareness of constitutional values and the legacy of these significant figures, stated Arjun Ram Meghwal, Union Minister of State for Law & Justice, during a special press conference. Meghwal announced that tomorrow marks 75 years since the adoption of the Constitution. To commemorate this milestone, the year-long campaign 'Hamara Samvidhan, Hamara Swabhiman' will be launched. Efforts will be made to reach every district and village, with widespread recitation of the Preamble. Respect for the Constitution and Dr BR Ambedkar has always been a core principle of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision. Reflecting this commitment, Prime Minister Modi initiated the annual celebration of November 26 as Constitution Day, Meghwal added. This year marks 75 years since the adoption of the Constitution, and the milestone will be celebrated with year-long activities under the campaign 'Hamara Samvidhan, Hamara Swabhiman', aimed at highlighting the significant contributions of Dr BR Ambedkar in shaping the Constitution, Meghwal said. According to a Ministry of Law and Justice release, the year-long "Hamara Samvidhan, Hamara Swabhiman" campaign began with its first regional event in Bikaner, inaugurated by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud in March 2024. Subsequent regional events have been held in Bikaner, Prayagraj, and Guwahati, with a focus on engaging diverse communities, especially in the Northeast, to promote an understanding of the Constitution across India, According to a Ministry of Law and Justice release. The Indian Constitution, adopted on November 26, 1949, and coming into effect on January 26, 1950, serves as the foundational document defining India's democratic, secular, and egalitarian framework, the Ministry of Law and Justice release stated. Over the past seven decades, the Constitution has guided the nation through political, social, and economic transformations, upholding justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity--the core principles of India's governance. These values are celebrated annually on Samvidhan Diwas or Constitution Day, the Ministry of Law and Justice release added. (ANI)
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has greeted the people of the state on Constitution Day. In a message issued on the eve of Constitution Day, the Chief Minister said that the Constitution is the soul of the country. It is also the protector of the pride, rights and honour of every Indian. Paying homage to Babasaheb Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, the Chief Minister said that the Indian Constitution has a special role in creating India's unique identity in the world. Dhami said that the Constitution has mentioned fundamental rights as well as duties for every citizen. It is the duty of every citizen not only to use the rights granted by the Constitution but also to protect its values. The Chief Minister urged people to contribute to creation of 'Ek Bharat-Shrestha Bharat'. The Centre will observe Constitution Day events throughout the year, focusing on educating citizens about the members of the Constitution Drafting Committee, the pivotal role of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, and the contributions of the 15 women involved in drafting the Constitution. During this period, initiatives will be organised in every village to promote awareness of constitutional values and the legacy of these significant figures, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said. "Respect for the Constitution and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar has always been a core principle of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision. Reflecting this commitment, Prime Minister Modi initiated the annual celebration of November 26 as Constitution Day," Meghwal added. (ANI)
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Monday announced relaxations under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to mitigate educational disruptions caused by poor air quality in the National Capital Region (NCR). The measures include easing Clause 11 of GRAP Stage-III and Clauses 5 and 8 of GRAP Stage-IV, specifically for schools and colleges. The relaxation permits educational institutions to operate classes in a "hybrid" format, allowing students to attend either in person or online. The option for online education, wherever feasible, will be made available to students and their guardians in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, and Gautam Buddh Nagar. This decision follows the Supreme Court's order dated November 25 in the case of MC Mehta vs Union of India, directing the CAQM to review GRAP restrictions in light of their impact on education. The court emphasised the need to prioritise education while raising several concerns. Firstly, the court noted, "A large number of students are being deprived of the facility of Mid-Day Meals as schools and anganwadis are closed." It further stated, "A large number of students do not have the facilities to take advantage of online education. Many educational institutions do not have the facilities to provide online education." Additionally, the court observed, "The residences of many students do not have air purifiers, and therefore, there may not be any difference between children sitting at home and those attending school." In light of these issues, the court left it to the CAQM to determine the extent of relaxations for educational institutions. Following deliberations, the CAQM announced that all classes up to the 12th standard and college-level education can be conducted in a hybrid mode. The commission stated, "All classes up to 12th standard in schools and those in colleges/educational institutions are to be conducted in a 'Hybrid' mode, i.e., both in 'physical' and 'online' mode, wherever online mode is feasible." The CAQM also urged state governments to consider implementing the hybrid model in other parts of NCR and instructed authorities to ensure swift implementation. These measures aim to balance educational needs with the ongoing air quality challenges in the region. (ANI)
Assam Rifles organised multiple Mega Medical Camps to support communities grappling with conflict, displacement, and a fragile healthcare system. The initiative received an overwhelming response, directly benefiting approximately 6,750 people during the three-day camps held across various districts of the state. The Mega Medical Camps not only addressed the pressing medical needs of thousands but also provided hope, healing, and humanity to people in distress, according to an official press release. As part of this dynamic initiative, Assam Rifles collaborated with 19 specialist doctors from Maharashtra and Karnataka under the aegis of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to deliver much-needed medical aid beginning on 18 November 2024. In Lilong, Assam Rifles, accompanied by 18 specialist doctors from the IMA, organised a medical camp with the support of the Lilong United Club Association. This camp served over 1,200 residents, including women, children, and the elderly. The camp addressed diverse medical issues, offering free consultations, medicines, and life-saving diagnoses. From infants battling high fevers to elderly patients seeking relief from chronic ailments, the initiative proved to be a lifeline. It not only provided medical care but also strengthened the spirit of the community, which has long endured hardship, the release stated. The following day, Assam Rifles extended its humanitarian mission to Sora in Kakching District, where the camp catered to more than 2,400 individuals, including a significant number displaced by ongoing unrest. The focus remained on addressing maternal and paediatric health alongside general healthcare, the release added. In Chakpikarong, Chandel District, another Mega Medical Camp took place on 25 November 2024, attracting 1,050 individuals seeking medical assistance. Supported by 10 specialists from the IMA and the Assam Rifles Multi-Hospital, the camp offered services in paediatrics, dermatology, ENT, ophthalmology, and general medicine. Attendees expressed heartfelt gratitude for the initiative, which not only provided consultations but also distributed free medicines. Leaders like T.S. Berek, Chief of the Anal Naga Chief Association, praised the efforts of Assam Rifles, highlighting the importance of such programs in fostering trust and goodwill within the community, the release noted. Simultaneously, in Tengnoupal, the Mega Medical Camp 2024-25 provided medical counselling and treatment to the local populace. Led by the Assam Rifles Medical Officer (RMO) and supported by a team of 10 civil specialists, the camp delivered a wide range of healthcare services. A total of 1,095 villagers, including 385 men, 441 women, and 269 children, benefited from the initiative. The medical team ensured access to consultations and medication for various common ailments, addressing the community's healthcare needs effectively. (ANI)
These discussions aimed to explore investment opportunities, foster strategic partnerships, and strengthen Karnataka's position as a hub for innovation-driven industries.

Key industry participants included senior representatives from companies such as Swelect, Visteon, MacDermid Alpha, Syrma SGS, Salcomp, Amphenol, Nokia, Tube Investments of India Limited, EID Parry, TAFE, Rane Group, Sanmar Group, Ashok Leyland, and Wheels India Limited, according to an official release.

The meetings focused on attracting investment and expansion opportunities in Karnataka while inviting participation in the upcoming Invest Karnataka 2025 Global Investors' Meet.

Leaders from the Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) sector highlighted the need to create a robust ecosystem in Karnataka, particularly in PCB manufacturing and display technologies. The government showcased the ongoing development of the Kochenahalli ESDM cluster in Mysuru as an ideal location for such investments. Discussions also covered skill development initiatives tailored to the sector's rapid growth, the release stated.

Discussions with Ashok Leyland centred on investments in EV manufacturing, including battery production and alternative fuel research and development. Karnataka's EV-friendly policies and infrastructure support were emphasised as key enablers for the company's ambitious growth plans.

Companies such as TAFE and the Sanmar Group stressed the importance of innovation-driven collaboration in the automotive and aerospace sectors. The government proposed strategic locations such as Dharwad and Adhinarayanahosahalli for expansion, citing logistical and operational advantages, the release noted.

Several leaders underscored the need to create conducive environments for talent retention. Suggestions included developing industrial townships equipped with robust social amenities like schools and hospitals to attract and sustain a skilled workforce.

The meetings reaffirmed Karnataka's commitment to providing customised support to industries, including assistance with ideation, approvals, and infrastructure readiness. Companies such as Rane Group and Wheels India expressed strong interest in expanding their operations in Karnataka, with Rane proposing a substantial investment of over Rs1,000 crore, the release added.

Selvakumar S, IAS, Principal Secretary, Department of Commerce and Industries, and Gunjan Krishna, IAS, Commissioner for Industrial Development and Director, Department of Commerce and Industries, were also present during the discussions. (ANI)
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved an investment of Rs1,750 crore for the construction of the Tato-I Hydro Electric Project (HEP) in the Shi Yomi district of Arunachal Pradesh. According to an official release, the estimated completion period for the project is 50 months. The project, with an installed capacity of 186 MW (3 x 62 MW), is expected to generate 802 Million Units (MU) of energy. The power generated will improve the power supply in Arunachal Pradesh and contribute to balancing the national grid, the release stated. The project will be implemented through a joint venture between the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd. (NEEPCO) and the Government of Arunachal Pradesh. The Government of India will provide Rs77.37 crore as budgetary support for the construction of roads, bridges, and associated transmission lines under enabling infrastructure. Additionally, Central Financial Assistance of Rs120.43 crore will be extended towards the state's equity share. The state will benefit from 12% free power and an additional 1% towards the Local Area Development Fund (LADF), along with significant improvements in infrastructure and socio-economic development in the region, the release added. The project includes the development of approximately 10 kilometres of roads and bridges, which will largely be available for local use. The district will also gain essential infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, vocational training institutes like ITIs, marketplaces, and playgrounds, funded through a dedicated project allocation of Rs15 crore. The local population will further benefit from various forms of compensation, employment opportunities, and CSR activities, the release noted. (ANI)
Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Monday raised questions over the results of the assembly polls and said they were getting calls from all over the state in which people were expressing their apprehensions about the outcome. He alleged rigging in elections and said he had come to meet Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. "All of our leaders were in the elections field. Our party workers were also there with all their power. Everyone was hopeful that the election results would be in the favour of Maha Vikas Aghadi. For eg, our candidate for Nanded Lok Sabha bye-election won but all our Vidhan Sabha candidates lost. How can there be so much of a difference?" he asked. "The people on social media are also saying that their votes have not formed this government. This is our biggest concern. That is why I came to meet our National President Mallikarjun Kharge... We are also worried because we are getting phone calls from all over the state. People are saying that this is wrong and it is not good for a democracy," he added. The ruling Mahayuti won a landslide victory in the assembly polls with MVA not even able to get 50 of 288 seats in the assembly. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has said that he will also be going to Delhi in a few days to discuss the concerns regarding Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) in Maharashtra assembly elections. "G Parameshwara also commented on that. Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders are also commented. I am also going to Delhi in a few days. We will also discuss this; it is a part of national importance. The world is also looking at it. Let us all examine," DK Shivakumar told ANI. Parameshwara, who is also the All India Congress Committee observer of Maharashtra elections, said that party leaders including former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel discussed the EVM issues and are going to appeal to the Election Commission. The results of Maharashtra polls were declared on Saturday. (ANI)
Delhi Police has arrested two notorious members of the Saddam Gauri gang following a brief encounter, as per an official release. The two arrested people have been identified as Suraj alias Murdery and Faiz alias Pathan. Delhi Police has arrested two notorious gang members of Saddam Gauri gang namely, Suraj alias Murdery and Faiz alias Pathan after a brief encounter in the area of Police Station Dabri. The accused were planning to kill his rival gang member, the release stated. Accused Suraj alias Murdery sustained bullet injuries on his left leg in the exchange of fire. Suraj has been a desperate criminal, involved in 13 cases of murder, attempt to murder, robbery, dacoity, arms act, snatchings etc. "On November 17, team received specific information about the movement of some desperate criminals in the area of Talab Wala Park, JJ Colony Bindapur, Delhi who were about to commit the crime," the release read. "A trap was laid at and around Talab Wala park near place of information where two persons were spotted, sitting near the boundary wall. The duo were asked to surrender but one of them, whose name later came to known as Suraj alias Murdery whipped out his pistol and started firing upon members of police teams in order to escape on the instigation of co-accused Faiz alias Pathan," the release read. Members of police teams also fired in self-defence and accused Suraj alias Murdery sustained bullet injuries on his left leg and he fell down on the ground. Whereas, another accused Faiz alias Pathan was overpowered and disarmed. Suraj alias Murdery was immediately rushed to DDU Hospital, Delhi. "A total of five rounds were fired from both sides i.e., two rounds by accused Suraj alias Murdery and three rounds by the police team. Two pistols of .32 bore with two fired cartridges and two live cartridges were recovered from the possession of accused Suraj alias Murdery and Faiz alias Pathan," the release read. A case has been registered at Police Station Dabri in this regard under appropriate sections of law, which is pending investigation. "Accused Suraj alias Murdery, resident of Holi Chowk, Pochan Pur, Delhi, aged 19 years. He is an active member and shooter of the notorious Md Saddam Gauri Gang. He was recently released on bail in October 2024 in a murder case and started committing crime. He studied up to 8th class and started committing crimes with associates to earn easy money and also became addicted to drugs," the release read. Previously, he is involved in more than 10 cases of Murder, Attempt to Murder, Robbery, Snatchings etc. "Accused Faiz Khan alias Pathan had also been released on bail recently in October 2024. He studied till 7th class and started committing crimes with his associates to make easy money. Also, he had been irked as his parents had separated their ways in his childhood days only and he started living with his maternal uncle, who was again a desperate criminal of PS Dabri and was also involved in murder," the release read. He also became addicted to drugs. Previously, he was involved in more than two cases of Attempt to Murder and Arms Act. "A few days ago, he had bought an illegal country-made pistol and two live rounds for Rs. 4,500 from Noor-e-Ellai, Bhajan Pura, Delhi on the direction of Suraj alias Murdery to commit murder of his rival gang member Veera - a Bindapur resident," the release read. On November 17 at about 10.00 PM, he joined Suraj alias Murdery at Talab Wala Park, Bindapur, Dabri with pistol to commit murder of Veera resident of Bindapur, Delhi. But police came there and asked them to surrender. He asked Suraj to fire upon police party instead surrender, the release said. (ANI)
The German province of Schleswig-Holstein made history by celebrating Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in their parliament for the first time. The event was well-attended by the Indian community, led by Rakesh Veuli, a resident of the Arshan Berg area. Tobias and Deputy Commerce Minister Julia Carsten along with other CDU Leaders and local Party workers attended the event and praised the contribution of the Indian community. A large number of Indian students also participated in this inaugural Diwali celebration. The event featured a vibrant showcase of Indian culture, including energetic Bhangra performances. https://x.com/IndiainHamburg/status/1859261103815180378 Earlier, the Indian consulate in Hamburg shared a post on X and stated, "Together with @IndiaInHamburg, the Parliamentary group of CDU of Schleswig-Holstein invites you to celebrate the Festival of Lights, Diwali, at the CDU-Fraktion, Landeshaus Kiel. You are welcome to join and celebrate an evening full of lights, joy, and togetherness!." Meanwhile, on the occasion of India-Germany 25 years of strategic partnership, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday highlighted the significance of the strategic partnership and described Europe as a crucial strategic region for India in terms of trade and geopolitical ties. He also called Germany one of India's most important partners. The remarks by PM Modi came while addressing the News9 Global Summit."The theme of this summit is India-Germany: A Roadmap for sustainable growth. This theme is a symbol of the responsible partnership of both countries," the Prime Minister said. He added, "Europe is an important strategic region for India, both in terms of geopolitical relations and trade and investment and Germany is one of our most important partners. Indo-German strategic partnership completed 25 years in 2024 and this year has been historic and special for this partnership." Notably, Germany is India's largest trading partner in Europe. It has consistently been among India's top ten global partners and was the seventh-largest trading partner in FY 2020-21 (10th during FY 2021-22 up to October 2021), as per the Embassy of India in Berlin, Germany. (ANI)
Nepal's Former home minister and Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) chairperson Rabi Lamichhane has been granted a 15-day extension to the remand by the Kaski District Court as investigations into allegations of cooperative fraud, organised crime, and money laundering continue. Judge Himalal Belbase issued the decision on Sunday, applying the extension to Lamichhane and three co-accused, The Kathmandu Post reported. The three others include former Deputy Inspector General of Police Chhabilal Joshi, Leela Pachhai, and Ram Bahadur Khanal, all of whom are implicated in the same investigation. Lamichhane, who was arrested on October 18 by a Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) team from the RSP's central office in Kathmandu, has already undergone multiple remand extensions, bringing his total detention period to over 40 days. The allegations against Lamichhane stem from his tenure as managing director of the now-defunct Gorkha Media Network. Previous probes, including one by a parliamentary special committee, accused him of diverting cooperative funds into personal accounts, including NPR 30 million. These funds were reportedly siphoned off from multiple cooperatives, leading to the registration of a fraud case with the Kaski district police, reported The Kathmandu Post. Further complicating Lamichhane's legal troubles are allegations tied to his role at Galaxy 4K Television before he entered politics in 2022. The parliamentary probe earlier this year found financial irregularities during his management of the media company, adding weight to the ongoing investigation. On Sunday, government attorneys and victim representatives argued for extending Lamichhane's remand, stating that document analysis and evidence collection remained incomplete. Meanwhile, Lamichhane's legal team contended the accusations lacked substantial proof, strongly opposing the extension. Authorities have expanded the investigation to include Lamichhane's alleged misappropriation of funds from cooperatives beyond Kaski. Police have transported him to Butwal for inquiries into the diversion of funds from the Suryadarsan Cooperative, The Kathmandu Post reported. Additional arrest warrants have been issued against Lamichhane in Kathmandu and Chitwan for alleged financial misconduct involving the Swarnalaxmi Cooperative and Sahara Cooperative, respectively. Lamichhane's continued detention underscores the gravity of the charges and the ongoing efforts by authorities to unravel the full extent of his alleged financial misconduct. (ANI)
Supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan took to the streets to support their leader, with protests erupting not only in Pakistan but also globally. In the Canadian city of Mississauga, PTI supporters rallied in support of Imran Khan's #FinalCall, joining over 60 locations worldwide in simultaneous protests against "Pakistan's authoritarian regime." Sharing a post on X, the PTI wrote, "Diaspora in Mississauga, Canada also came out to show solidarity with Imran Khan's #FinalCall! Over 60 locations, all around the globe, witnessed simultaneous protests against Pakistan's authoritarian rogue regime." https://x.com/PTIofficial/status/1860864586167054746 In another post, the party wrote, "Overseas Pakistanis living in Canada have recorded protests in four cities on the call of their leader Imran Khan and demanded the immediate release of Imran Khan and other political prisoners!" https://x.com/PTIofficial/status/1860881824576114689 "Youth is a mindset! Picture from PTI Chicago Protest today!" PTI said in another post. https://x.com/PTIofficial/status/1860881696645697566 "Pakistani overseas students in Chicago, are participating in a protest and car rally to show their solidarity with Imran Khan. People from all generations, both in Pakistan and abroad, are expressing their support for Imran Khan. Time for his release!" the PTI wrote. https://x.com/PTIoffiChicago/status/1860878793532985653 The PTI also hailed Imran Khan, calling him a figure who continues to inspire and mobilise the nation despite being confined to a prison cell. PTI's praise came as the party's supporters gathered for a massive protest in Islamabad, demanding Khan's release. Sharing a post on X, the PTI wrote, "The captain, the leader, the philanthropist, the educationist, the mentor, the idol, and the legend who while being confined in a 6x8 prison cell, has not only gotten the rogue, fascist regime petrified enough into shutting down an entire country, but also massively mobilized an entire nation, not only inside the country, but all around the globe! Such is the power of the man, such is the power of his words, such is the power of his ideology! His name is Imran Khan Niazi and he has won." Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has started advancing towards Islamabad. On X, the PTI party wrote, "As early as the morning, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur started advancing with the convoy, destination only Islamabad." https://x.com/PTIofficial/status/1860883792098967949 All educational institutions in Islamabad will remain closed today due to the PTI protest at D-Chowk, with police personnel standing alert near D-Chowk, Geo News reported. Earlier, a large convoy of PTI supporters, led by Gandapur and opposition leader Omar Ayub, encountered heavy resistance from law enforcement as it made its way from Swabi to Islamabad via Punjab. The convoys encountered intense tear gas shelling near the Attock Bridge, Chach Interchange, and Ghazi Barotha Canal as police attempted to disperse the PTI supporters marching towards the capital, The Express Tribune reported. Starting from Swabi, the PTI convoys were initially met with calm progress as they entered Punjab territory. However, police deployed heavy tear gas near key checkpoints to impede their passage. At these sites, law enforcement aimed to halt the convoys, forcing the PTI supporters to face resistance before they could continue their journey. In his address to the crowd, Gandapur emphasised that the march would not stop until Imran Khan, the PTI founder, was released. "We must advance and not turn back until Imran Khan is released," he declared, rallying the supporters to press on despite the delays caused by police intervention. Later, addressing the group again at Ghazi, he urged them to prepare for further resistance. "Prepare, as we will need to confront further resistance ahead," Gandapur said, reinforcing the commitment to the cause. The convoy, temporarily halted at Ghazi Bridge, faced mixed reactions from party members, as Chief Minister Gandapur advised them to rest before further confrontations. Bushra Bibi, the wife of Imran Khan, expressed frustration at the delays, urging the convoy to move forward without further pause. Speaking from her vehicle, she emphasised, "Time is being wasted," calling on supporters to stay in their vehicles and continue swiftly."Stay in your vehicles so we can reach there quickly," she urged, reiterating the necessity to press on without delay. "We are here to bring Khan back. Let's move without delay," she directed, reinforcing the singular focus on securing her husband's release. The PTI, led by Imran Khan, has been organising the march towards Islamabad, with plans to hold a protest at D-Chowk. The protest, which PTI describes as a movement for freedom and justice, has stirred political tensions, with party members and their supporters increasingly vocal about the arrest of Imran Khan, reported The Express Tribune. PTI's call to action is to gather at D-Chowk, despite government attempts to prevent the rally. The Interior Ministry has emphasised that no protests will be permitted in Islamabad, citing court orders, and warned of legal action against any violation. In a related development, PTI leaders Aamir Dogar and Zain Qureshi were arrested by Punjab Police at the Qadirpurra Toll Plaza in Multan. The arrests only heightened tensions as PTI proceeded with its plans for the protest. Despite the government's efforts, which include sealing key roads and setting up barriers around Islamabad, PTI leadership has remained firm in their stance. Gandapur declared, "We will bring our private machinery to remove obstacles and reach Islamabad," emphasising that nothing would deter their efforts to stage the protest at D-Chowk. The government prepared for the protest by heavily fortifying Islamabad, sealing key roads and setting up barriers across the city. Security forces, including Rangers and Frontier Constabulary, were deployed to sensitive areas, especially the Red Zone. Authorities have restricted access to critical locations such as D-Chowk and Islamabad Airport, with containers placed along the routes leading into the capital. The measures have caused widespread disruption, with public transit halted and major roads blocked, leaving citizens unable to move freely across the region. Hospitals have been placed on high alert in anticipation of potential unrest, and terrorism warnings have been issued due to the threat of militants infiltrating the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. In preparation for the demonstration, PTI workers have been subjected to pre-emptive arrests. Several PTI members, including former MNA Nafisa Khattak, were detained late Friday night, while additional arrests occurred in Lahore and other parts of Punjab, The Express Tribune reported. To counteract potential disturbances, the Ministry of Interior has confirmed that internet and mobile data services may be suspended in high-risk zones. This is aimed at ensuring the security of key areas and preventing the spread of information that could fuel unrest. The government's security measures have, however, led to significant frustration among the public, as transportation systems and daily routines have been severely impacted by the widespread roadblocks. (ANI)
The US condemned the murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan in the United Arab Emirates after his body was discovered on Sunday. He had been reported missing since Thursday in the Arab nations. The spokesperson of the US's National Security Council, in a statement, expressed condolences to Rabbi Kogan's family, the Chabad-Lubavitch community, the Jewish community, and all those mourning his death. The US described the killing as a crime against peace, tolerance, and coexistence, emphasizing that it was an attack on the UAE's stance against violent extremism. The statement further stated that the government confirmed that it is working with Israeli and UAE authorities and has extended assistance where needed. "We condemn in the strongest terms the murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan in the UAE, and our prayers are with his family, the Chabad-Lubavitch community, the broader Jewish community, and all who are mourning his loss. This was a horrific crime against all those who stand for peace, tolerance, and coexistence. It was an assault as well on UAE and its rejection of violent extremism across the board. The United States is working in close coordination with Israeli and UAE authorities, and we have offered all appropriate forms of support. We commend the rapid efforts of UAE authorities, who now have suspects in custody. Those who carried out this crime, and anyone supporting them, must be held fully accountable," the statement read. Kogan, an outreach rabbi with the Chabad movement, worked in Abu Dhabi. In addition to his outreach, the 28-year-old Kogan also ran a kosher grocery store. He is survived by his wife, who is a US national. Following the discovery of the body of the missing Israeli-Moldovan rabbi on Sunday, Israel warned its citizens to avoid non-essential travel to the UAE. Israel's National Security Council (NSC) had already designated the UAE's threat level to Israeli citizens as "moderate." The NSC urged Israelis to avoid businesses and venues associated with Israelis or Jews, not to overtly display Israeli or Jewish symbols or share travel details on social media, and to be vigilant in public areas. "This vile antisemitic attack is a reminder of the inhumanity of the enemies of the Jewish people," Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on social media platform X. "It will not deter us from continuing to grow flourishing communities in the UAE or anywhere--especially with the help of the dedicated commitment and work of the Chabad emissaries all over the world...I thank the UAE authorities for their swift action and trust they will work tirelessly to bring the perpetrators to justice," he added. According to Israeli media reports, the killers are thought to be Uzbek nationals working on behalf of Iran who fled to Turkey. Amid a major spike in attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets worldwide since Hamas's October 7 massacres, Israel has issued travel warnings for countries across the Middle East. (ANI)
Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) reported an increase in Chinese military activity around the island, detecting 12 People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, and seven PLAN vessels operating in the vicinity of Taiwan as of 6 am today. Eight of the detected aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, entering Taiwan's southwestern Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ). Sharing a post on X, the Taiwan MND wrote, "12 PLA aircraft, 7 PLAN vessels and 1 official ship operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today." "8 of the aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's southwestern ADIZ. We have monitored the situation and responded accordingly," the post added. https://x.com/MoNDefense/status/1860850899435868349 Earlier on Sunday, Taiwan's MND detected eight PLA aircraft and seven PLAN vessels. Notably, four of the detected aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, entering Taiwan's ADIZ in both the northern and southwestern regions. The MND assured that the situation is being closely monitored and responded to accordingly. Sharing a post on X, the Taiwan MND wrote, "8 PLA aircraft, 7 PLAN vessels and 1 official ship operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 4 of the aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's northern and southwestern ADIZ. We have monitored the situation and responded accordingly." In recent times, Chinese incursion has increased in Taiwan. In response, Taiwan has stepped up security on its maritime borders. On Friday, Taiwanese President, Lai Ching-te attended the completion ceremony for the #ROCN Shuei-Sing Barracks. This base will serve as the new home for the Taiwanese Navy Underwater Operations Unit and enhance its training capabilities. Earlier on Tuesday, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed gratitude towards the US, Japan, and Australia for their joint statement calling for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan News reported. This statement followed the 14th Trilateral Defence Ministers' Meeting (TDMM) in Darwin, Australia, where defence ministers from the three nations, Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, Japanese Minister of Defense Nakatani Gen, and US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin III reaffirmed their commitment to regional security. (ANI)
With 98 per cent of ballots counted, 62-year-old Calin Georgescu held nearly 23 per cent of the vote, slightly ahead of centre-left Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, who had around 20 per cent. Centre-right candidate Elena Lasconi trailed in third with nearly 19 per cent, followed by far-right leader George Simion with 14 per cent, Al Jazeera reported.

The partial results indicate that Georgescu, who had gotten 5 per cent of the votes in the opinion polls prior to the election, is set to face Ciolacu in a run-off vote on December 8.

Earlier, exit polls had indicated that Ciolacu, leader of the Social Democratic Party, was leading, with Lasconi in second place, in an election focused on economic issues and the increasing cost of living.

Despite his relatively low profile, Georgescu, running as an independent, capitalized on social media platforms like TikTok to connect with voters, while mainstream media largely ignored him.

Georgescu, a former member of the right-wing Alliance for Uniting Romanians party, has called for an end to aid for Ukraine and criticized Romania's participation in NATO's missile defence shield, which he previously labelled a "shame of diplomacy" during an interview in 2021, Al Jazeera reported.

His controversial remarks also include support for Romania's World War II-era leader Ion Antonescu, who allied with Adolf Hitler, as reported by Al Jazeera.

Georgescu on Sunday described the election results as a "cry for peace" from the people.

"And they shouted very loudly, extremely loudly," he said, Al Jazeera reported.

Meanwhile, Romania, which shares a border with Ukraine, has been a strong supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia, providing military aid and hosting NATO defence systems. (ANI)
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party's convoy has reached a critical juncture, with the Southern Districts convoy currently stationed at Hakla Interchange, awaiting the arrival of Ali Amin Gandapur's convoy. As per Shahid Khattak, the PTI President of the South region KP, the convoy will proceed towards Islamabad as soon as Gandapur's convoy crosses the Kati Pahari. In a post on X the PTI party said, "At present, our Southern Districts convoy is at Hakla Interchange and we are waiting for Ali Amin Gandapur's convoy. As soon as they cross the Kati Pahari we will join them and proceed towards Islamabad." https://x.com/PTIofficial/status/1860896491289690558 Notably, Hakla Interchange is near Fateh Jang in Punjab. In a video shared by PTI on X, Barrister Umair Niazi said, "We are a few kilometres away from Islamabad. The three demands that Imran Khan has made will be fulfilled inshallah. The people from other cities are also requested to reach Islamabad." https://x.com/PTIofficial/status/1860900295275884566 The PTI in another post said, "...Opposition Leader Umar Ayub Khan and MNA Ali Khan Jadoon were on the front line with their workers and Hazara convoy in Burhan early morning." Meanwhile, Geo News reported that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur's convoy crossed the Hazara interchange. The Hazara interchange links Burhan Interchange near Hasan Abdal in Punjab to Thakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. In a post on X, the PTI shared latest information about Gandapur's convoy and said, "Latest scenes of Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur's convoy, worst shelling continues." https://x.com/PTIofficial/status/1860904486346121405 Notably, supporters of PTI founder Imran Khan took to the streets to support their leader, with protests erupting not only in Pakistan but also globally. In the Canadian city of Mississauga, PTI supporters rallied in support of Imran Khan's #FinalCall, joining over 60 locations worldwide in simultaneous protests against "Pakistan's authoritarian regime." Sharing a post on X, the PTI wrote, "Diaspora in Mississauga, Canada also came out to show solidarity with Imran Khan's #FinalCall! Over 60 locations, all around the globe, witnessed simultaneous protests against Pakistan's authoritarian rogue regime." In another post, the party wrote, "Overseas Pakistanis living in Canada have recorded protests in four cities on the call of their leader Imran Khan and demanded the immediate release of Imran Khan and other political prisoners!" The PTI also hailed Imran Khan, calling him a figure who continues to inspire and mobilise the nation despite being confined to a prison cell. PTI's praise came as the party's supporters gathered for a massive protest in Islamabad, demanding Khan's release. Sharing a post on X, the PTI wrote, "The captain, the leader, the philanthropist, the educationist, the mentor, the idol, and the legend who while being confined in a 6x8 prison cell, has not only gotten the rogue, fascist regime petrified enough into shutting down an entire country, but also massively mobilized an entire nation, not only inside the country, but all around the globe! Such is the power of the man, such is the power of his words, such is the power of his ideology! His name is Imran Khan Niazi and he has won." Early in the morning, Gandapur started advancing towards Islamabad. On X, the PTI party wrote, "As early as the morning, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur started advancing with the convoy, destination only Islamabad." Earlier, a large convoy of PTI supporters, led by Gandapur and opposition leader Omar Ayub, encountered heavy resistance from law enforcement as it made its way from Swabi to Islamabad via Punjab. The convoys encountered intense tear gas shelling near the Attock Bridge, Chach Interchange, and Ghazi Barotha Canal as police attempted to disperse the PTI supporters marching towards the capital, The Express Tribune reported. (ANI)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasised the role of sanctions in weakening Russia's war efforts, lauding the US's recent introduction of "highly effective" sanctions targeting Russia's banking sector. Zelenskyy said further that while these measures significantly weaken Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime, more needs to be done. The United States on November 21 imposed sanctions to curtail Russia's use of international financial system. Sharing a post on X on Monday, Zelenskyy wrote, "Sanctions are equally vital. This week, the US introduced new, highly effective sanctions targeting Russia's banking sector. These measures significantly weaken Putin's regime." He added, "However, more is needed--Russia must lose its capacity to fund the war every single week. No matter how extensively Russia resorts to blackmail, the world must remain resolute. Only by maintaining pressure can we bring true peace closer." The Ukrainian President also spoke about the defence packages provided by Denmark, the United States, Germany, Canada and expressed his gratitude for the aid. He said, "This week brought several new defence aid packages for Ukraine. Denmark has allocated approximately 1 billion kroner, and the funds will be directed toward supporting our defence industry. Norway has prepared an initial tranche following the Danish model to bolster weapons production in Ukraine. Similarly, Sweden is joining the financing efforts under this model." "The United States has provided a USD 275 million package, which includes HIMARS ammunition, Javelins, drones, and mines--critical supplies for defending positions, particularly in the Donetsk region. Additionally, there is a new package from Germany and a NASAMS system from Canada. We are deeply grateful for each such step," the post added. Notably, a press statement issued by US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller on November 21 said, "The United States is today imposing sanctions on 118 individuals and entities that operate in Russia's financial services sector and support the Kremlin's war effort. These targets include Gazprombank, Russia's largest remaining bank not previously blocked by the United States, dozens of additional Russian banks still maintaining ties to the international financial system, and individual Russian banking officials. The Department of the Treasury is also issuing an alert describing sanctions risks related to joining Russia's System for Transfer of Financial Messages, which the Kremlin created and uses to evade sanctions." The statement further said that the action reaffirmed the US commitment to curtail Russia's ability to use the international financial system to conduct its war against Ukraine and disrupt Russia's attempts to make cross-border payments for dual-use goods and military materiel. "We will continue to take all appropriate actions to promote accountability for those who enable or profit from Russia's illegal war," the statement added. (ANI)
The Pakistani government has decided to implement a phased approach for the ongoing Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) over three years, aiming to ensure the timely completion of high-priority projects and meet the International Monetary Fund (IMF) requirements, the Dawn reported on Monday. This decision is part of a broader strategy to reduce the current Rs 9 trillion development portfolio under the USD 7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) provided by the IMF. A meeting chaired by Pakistan's Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal last week outlined a path forward, stating that at the current pace, the PSDP would take over 14 years to complete, the Dawn reported, citing sources. It was agreed that the IMF-imposed conditions would be the starting point for a "one-time review" of all technically approved projects, with the goal of narrowing down the active projects to high-priority ones that can be finished promptly. Additionally, it was decided to increase the frequency of reviews from biannual to quarterly for this year's PSDP, and a strategy will be developed to introduce new projects in the upcoming fiscal year aligned with the current government's priorities, the Dawn reported. As part of the IMF agreement, the government is required to submit a report detailing the results of the PSDP review. The meeting revealed that 1,071 development projects are included in this year's federal PSDP, but only 105 of them are nearing completion, with 80 per cent or more progress. These projects have been allocated Rs 37 billion this year. The portfolio also includes 85 foreign-funded projects totaling Rs 260 billion. The meeting noted that the PSDP for the current year required Rs 2.053 trillion based on demand from various ministries, but only Rs 1.4 trillion was initially allocated in the budget, later reduced to Rs 1.1 trillion to meet IMF requirements. The demand for the next fiscal year is estimated at Rs 2.1 trillion, with Rs 1.5 trillion expected in fiscal year 2027. So far, spending has been slow, with only 9 ministries using between 11 per cent and 18 per cent of their allocated funds in the first five months, while some ministries reported zero spending. As of November 20, the PSDP utilization stood at Rs 92 billion, or 8 per cent of the revised budget allocation of Rs 1.1 trillion, significantly lower than last year's Rs 117 billion (13 per cent of the annual allocation). To improve spending, the Ministry of Finance has established a release mechanism, recommending that 15 per cent of the allocation be released in the first quarter, followed by 20 per cent in the second quarter, 25 per cent in the third, and the remaining 40 per cent in the final quarter, as reported by Dawn. This year's utilization is considerably lower than the expected 26 per cent release by November 20. As part of the IMF program, the Planning Commission has introduced criteria for selecting and financing future projects. These projects must be economically and financially viable, considering the current balance of payments challenges. The IMF has also set a structural benchmark for January 2025, requiring the government to publish criteria for project selection and introduce a limit on the size of new projects entering the PSDP. The IMF's recommendations also include significant public financial management reforms to improve budget discipline, enhance transparency, and build confidence in the spending process. This includes producing quarterly reports comparing budget projections with actual spending and conducting a one-time review to prioritize ongoing and approved PSDP projects. (ANI)
Myanmar has become the world's deadliest country for landmine casualties, with a staggering 1,052 civilian casualties recorded in 2023 alone, surpassing all other nations. The situation is particularly dire for children, who account for over 20 per cent of the casualties. In a post on X on Monday, the United Nations News Service wrote, "Myanmar is now the deadliest country for landmine casualties, with over 1,000 victims in 2023. Independent experts warn this grim milestone highlights a deeper crisis, as the military escalates attacks on civilians, including those with disabilities." https://x.com/UN_News_Centre/status/1860881093383086326 Notably, Myanmar has become the world's deadliest country for landmine and unexploded ordnance casualties, with over 1,000 victims in 2023 alone, surpassing all other nations, according to separate studies by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, the United Nations said in a report on Friday. "The junta is doubling the impact of its extensive use of landmines to crush nationwide resistance," said Tom Andrews, Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, and Heba Hagrass Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities. Andrews and Hagrass highlighted the egregious violations, including forcing civilians to walk through minefields ahead of military units and systematically denying victims access to life-saving aid such as medical care and prosthetics. These actions, they emphasised, are "absolutely contrary" to international laws, including Article 11 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and UN Security Council resolution 2475 on protecting persons with disabilities in war. The impact of landmines and unexploded ordnance is particularly severe on Myanmar's children, with UNICEF data released earlier this year revealing that over 20 per cent of the 1,052 verified civilian casualties from such incidents in 2023 were children. This was a significant rise from 2022 when 390 incidents were recorded. Children are particularly vulnerable to landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), often unable to recognise their dangers, the UN said. In addition, the indiscriminate placement of these deadly weapons in and around homes, schools, playgrounds, and farming areas, puts children at constant risk. (ANI)
The families of two abducted individuals by the Pakistan security forces staged a protest on Sunday for the immediate and safe release of their loved ones. The Baloch Yakjehti Committee has identified the victims as Dil Jan Baloch and Naseeb Ullah Badini. Naseeb Ullah Badini was abducted from the Nushki district of Balochistan on November 24, 2014. On the 10th anniversary of his disappearance, his family held a protest and set up a sit-in at the Quetta Press Club. The family is continuously advocating for his safe return. They also took part in protests against the Baloch genocide. However, according to the BYC, the government made no efforts to curb the oppression. According to the BYC, Dil Jan Baloch was forcibly disappeared on June 22, 2024. The families have been staging a protest in Awaran for more than a week. The military forces and administration have been harassing the family to curb the protest. In a post on X on Sunday, the BYC stated, "The family members of Dil Jan Baloch and Naseeb Ullah Badini are protesting for the safe recovery of their loved ones, as state violence and genocide intensify daily. Genocide and oppression are escalating with an increasing number of killings. Yesterday, Abdul Gaffar Baloch, a fisherman, was shot dead by the Coast Guard paramilitary forces. And destroyed their fishing boat." The BYC further lamented that earlier, the family held a three-day protest in Awaran, during which the district administration promised that Dil Jan would be released if they ended their demonstration. Believing these assurances, the family called off the protest. Unfortunately, the authorities did not honour their commitment, and Dil Jan is still missing. Recently, a Baloch fisherman was killed by Pakistani coastguards in the Gwadar district of Balochistan. Paank, the human rights wing of the Baloch National Movement (BNM) condemned the act of violence and highlighted, "Abdul Ghaffar Baloch was brutally killed, and Abdul Sadiq was injured after Pakistani Coastguard Major Ahmed ordered an attack, crushing their fishing boat. This blatant misuse of power and violence against civilians must be investigated, and those responsible must be held accountable." (ANI)
A Tibetan parliamentary delegation, led by Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel and accompanied by MPs Dawa Tsering and Ratsa Sonam Norbu, visited the Office of Tibet in London on November 22, 2024, marking the conclusion of their four-day London Study Mission. According to a press release by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the delegation was received by Tsering Yangkyi, the representative of Tibet in the UK, and the staff of the Office of Tibet, in what was a significant step in advancing the Tibetan cause in the global political arena. According to CTA, the day's most pivotal event was a roundtable discussion with members of the Tibet Support Group (TSG), during which Speaker Tenphel shared the outcomes of the delegation's meetings with prominent UK parliamentary leaders, experts, and advocates for Tibet. A central theme of the discussion was the revitalization of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Tibet, a key platform for advancing Tibet's cause within the UK Parliament. Speaker Tenphel highlighted the importance of greater cooperation between Tibet, Hong Kong, and Uyghur advocacy groups, all of which are united in their fight against oppressive regimes and their efforts to draw attention to human rights violations. During the meeting, Speaker Tenphel emphasised the necessity of strengthening Tibet's presence on the UK's legislative agenda. He called for a coordinated push to ensure that Tibet is addressed more prominently within international forums, with a focus on securing policy reforms similar to the US Resolve Tibet Act, which would advocate for concrete actions on Tibet's behalf globally. The discussions also centred on enhancing international advocacy, challenging the Chinese government's portrayal of Tibet as a thriving region under its rule, and pushing for a more accurate depiction of Tibet's reality. The China-Tibet issue centres on a complex political, cultural, and religious conflict between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Tibet. Tibet, a historically distinct region with its own unique culture, language, and religious traditions, was incorporated into China in the early 1950s. While the Chinese government asserts that Tibet is an inseparable part of China, citing historical ties, many Tibetans, particularly those led by the Dalai Lama, have long called for greater autonomy or even full independence. The situation took a dramatic turn in 1959 when a Tibetan uprising was violently suppressed by Chinese forces, leading to the Dalai Lama's exile in India. Since then, China has imposed strict control over Tibet, enacting policies aimed at integrating Tibetans into broader Chinese society. These measures include the promotion of the Chinese language, large-scale resettlement programs, and restrictions on religious practices, particularly Tibetan Buddhism. These actions have sparked widespread international condemnation, with critics accusing China of cultural suppression, religious persecution, and the marginalization of Tibetans in their own homeland. (ANI)
Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1992 batch, Dinesh Bhatia has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Brazil, as per a press release by the Ministry of External Affairs on Monday. Bhatia is currently serving as the ambassador of India to Argentina, having assumed this role on August 21, 2019, and his accreditation also extended to Uruguay and Paraguay until February 2022. Before this, he served as the Consul General of India in Toronto and Ambassador to Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, and Liberia. Additionally, he has held various positions in Indian missions abroad, including in Madrid, Kathmandu, and Kuwait. Bhatia was seconded by the government to the Department of Atomic Energy in Mumbai and served as private secretary to the tourism minister of India. He has also worked in different divisions of the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi. Bhatia joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1992 and received training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie, and the Foreign Service Institute, New Delhi. He is an alumnus of the National Defence College (NDC) and participated in the 4th Joint Civil Military Course on National Security at LBSNAA. Bhatia holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Delhi College of Engineering with a specialization in Electronics and Communication. Before joining the Civil Service, he worked in the private sector. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers and a member of the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers. Bhatia has authored "Devi Purana--A Rendition of Srimad Devi Bhagavatam," published by Bloomsbury in 2023, and "Physics for Civil Services Prelims," published in 1994. He is married to Seema Bhatia, an Ayurvedic practitioner, psychologist, and hypnotherapist, and they have a daughter and a son. (ANI)
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) condemned the ongoing state-sponsored violence that has been oppressing the Baloch people for over seven decades. The state has transformed the region into a war zone, where the Baloch people face daily repression, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and the destruction of entire communities. The BYC further added that despite the international call for justice, Baloch people continue to suffer the brutalities by the Pakistan security forces. In a post on X on Saturday, the BYC stated, "What we see today is not new, but the continuation of decades-old policies designed to oppress the Baloch people, exploit their resources and perpetuate their genocide. These actions are carried out under the pretence of national security, but their real purpose is to maintain dominance and deny the people of Balochistan their rightful say over their land and future." The BYC further highlighted that the children in Balochistan grew up with fear and insecurities. They have limited access to education and facilities. The young individuals are deprived of jobs and livelihood and therefore they protest against the state. Entire communities are caught in a cycle of poverty, grief, and survival, with little hope for change. The state's actions, reminiscent of colonial control, treat the Baloch people not as citizens with rights but as obstacles to be subdued. The BYC lamented, "This is not just a military operation; it is an attack on the very existence of the Baloch nation. By targeting its economy, destroying its social fabric, and silencing its voices, the state is effectively waging a war to erase the Baloch identity." The BYC further appealed to resist the intensified military operation against the people and would do everything to protect the identity of the Baloch nation. "We urge the global community, United Nations and all the organizations worldwide working for humanity to intervene on a humanitarian basis and prevent the Baloch nation from genocide," stated the BYC. (ANI)
Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) is facing a severe ecological crisis, driven largely by widespread deforestation. Local residents report that timber mafias, often operating with the complicity of government officials, are ravaging the region's forests. This unchecked destruction is causing severe environmental and public health consequences. Despite a recent government ban on deforestation, locals argue that the real issue lies in the lack of enforcement and the widespread corruption that enables illegal logging to continue unabated. Waqar Hussain Qazmi, a resident of PoJK, expressed concern over the drastic changes to the region's natural water systems, attributing it directly to deforestation. Waqar said, "The small tributaries here are changing their course. The natural water streams are vanishing. And subsequently, diseases are spreading. Heart attacks have become so common." He further accused government officials of complicity in the destruction, stating, "The government officials who are supposed to protect the forests, they only are involved. Under their will and watch, the forest wood is being smuggled. When there is a public outcry, they do not smuggle in normal vehicles, but in government vehicles" While the authorities claim to have implemented a ban on deforestation, the situation on the ground remains grim. Locals contend that timber mafias continue to operate with the tacit approval of officials, with large-scale smuggling of timber still occurring, often using government vehicles. This lack of accountability has led to widespread distrust in the government's ability to protect PoJK's fragile environment. Environmental experts have long criticised Pakistan's policies in PoJK, describing them as both destructive and unsustainable. Experts warn that the ongoing deforestation is having far-reaching consequences, not only destroying the region's ecosystems but also contributing to worsening energy shortages and public health crises. The region is facing a dual threat: the depletion of natural resources and the rise of diseases linked to environmental degradation. The situation in PoJK is a complex one, with corruption, ineffective law enforcement, and poor environmental management at the core of the crisis. Experts agree that urgent action is required to halt the ongoing deforestation, restore natural habitats, and improve governance. Without immediate intervention, the future of PoJK remains uncertain, with both the natural environment and the well-being of its people at serious risk. (ANI)
The External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with his British counterpart, Foreign Secretary of the UK David Lammy, in Rome on the sidelines of his three-day official visit to Italy on Monday. During his meeting, the EAM appreciated the steady momentum in the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and also discussed the cooperation between the two nations in terms of technology, green energy, trade, and mobility. They also discussed the developments in the Indo-Pacific and West Asia regions. "Started the day by meeting FS David Lammy of UK, in Rome today. Appreciate the steady momentum in India UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Discussed deepening cooperation in technology, green energy, trade, mobility, as well as ongoing developments in Indo-Pacific and West Asia," the EAM said on the social media platform X. https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1860959532903768471 EAM Jaishankar is on his three-day official visit to Italy, and during his trip, he will be participating in the Outreach Session of the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Fiuggi, Italy, where India has been invited as a guest country. Jaishankar will also participate in the 10th edition of the MED Mediterranean Dialogue in Rome, being organised by the Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy. Earlier on Sunday, the EAM inaugurated the new Chancery of the Indian Embassy in Rome, Italy, and hailed the historical India-Italy ties, saying the two maritime countries give a different perspective to the world. The foreign minister further emphasised that a lot of India's historical connection with Europe was with Italy. "Our historical connect is actually very deep, and I would not be exaggerating if I said that a lot of India's historical interface with Europe was actually with Italy. This was almost the landing point for anything coming to India or going out of India. So for us, Italians have been producers, they have been customers, they have been financiers, and they have been carriers in our commerce. Our countries are also maritime nations. I think that gives a very different perspective to the world," he said during the occasion. Jaishankar said that the Chancery of the Indian Embassy in Rome will help serve better the Indian community in Italy. (ANI)
According to the Voice of America, it was the first such incident since April. The balloon was spotted on Sunday. approximately 111 kilometres from Keelung City, reaching an altitude of 10,058 meters.

It entered Taiwan's Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) before disappearing at 8:15 pm (local time), as reported by Taiwan's defence ministry.

Earlier, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND) detected a rapid increase in military activity of China around the island. The ministry spotted 12 People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, and seven PLAN vessels operating around the island in the 24 hours leading up to 6 am.

The Chinese military presence on the island remains a point of contention as Beijing continues its pressure on Taiwan, which it claims sovereignty over.

Earlier, during Taiwan's presidential elections in January, the balloons were spotted around the sensitive waters separating Taiwan and China, the VOA reported.

The VOA has reported that Taiwan has described the Chinese balloons as a form of "grey zone" harassment -- a strategy designed to undermine Taiwan's security without crossing the threshold of outright military conflict.

The authorities in Taiwan view such balloons as part of Beijing's strategy of coercion aimed at pressuring Taiwan to accept Chinese claims of sovereignty. But on the other hand, China denied all the allegations and accused Taiwan of creating chaos in the region.

The issue of Chinese balloons became a topic of concern when a high-altitude balloon, later confirmed to be from China, was shot down by the United States in early 2023. The United States claimed it was a spy balloon after it was spotted around sensitive US sites.

In recent times, Chinese military aggression has increased near the island due to which Taiwan has maintained tight security around the borders. (ANI)
Jailed Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's wife Bushra Bibi on Monday demanded her husband's release as his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party's convoys head toward the capital, Islamabad in the wake of 'Final Call' protests, Dawn reported. PTI, founded by Imran Khan, has lauched a nationwide protest, demanding the release of its leader. As per Dawn, Bushra Bibi told the supporters that the march would not end till Khan was free. "My brothers, we will not end this march till Imran is not with us," she said while addressing supporters at a stop near the Hazara Interchange. "I will stay there till my last breath, and all of you have to support me. This is not just about my husband but about the country and its leader." Bushra Bibi is a part of the convoy being led by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Amin Ali Gandapur. Earlier it was reported that Gandapur's convoy reached a critical juncture, with the Southern Districts convoy currently stationed at Hakla Interchange near Fateh Jang in Punjab. As per Shahid Khattak, the PTI President of the South region KP, the convoy will proceed towards Islamabad as soon as Gandapur's convoy crosses the Kati Pahari. In a post on X, the PTI said, "At present, our Southern Districts convoy is at Hakla Interchange and we are waiting for Ali Amin Gandapur's convoy. As soon as they cross the Kati Pahari we will join them and proceed towards Islamabad." Meanwhile, Pakistan's Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Attaullah Tarar claimed that many leaders and members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) are voluntarily seeking arrest to avoid taking part in the planned protest that was called for the release of PTI founder Imran Khan from prison, ARY News reported on Monday. Tarar alleged that PTI leadership is not interested in securing the release of their leader, Imran Khan, from prison and noted reports from Punjab and Islamabad indicating that numerous PTI leaders, both senior and junior, are surrendering to the police. He pointed to internal divisions within the party, particularly between Bushra Bibi, Imran Khan's wife, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur. Tarar suggested that the PTI protest was primarily aimed at obtaining an NRO-like concession for Khan's release, a demand the government cannot fulfil as it lies within the jurisdiction of the courts, as reported by ARY News. He urged PTI to pursue the matter through the legal system, as Khan faces multiple charges. (ANI)
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister received a prestigious reception at the British Parliament on Monday, as he engaged in productive discussions about strengthening economic ties between Madhya Pradesh and the United Kingdom. CM Mohan Yadav is on a six-day visit to the United Kingdom and Germany to elevate industrial development in the state and attract foreign investment. The visit highlights the growing strategic partnership between Madhya Pradesh and the United Kingdom, an official press release stated. Baroness Verma, President of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on India (Trade & Investment), welcomed the Chief Minister and his delegation to Westminster. The visit included a comprehensive tour of the historic Parliament building, where the delegation was given exclusive access to both the House of Lords and the House of Commons. During the tour, CM Mohan Yadav engaged in productive discussions with Baroness Verma about strengthening economic ties between Madhya Pradesh and the UK. The parliamentary visit symbolizes the deep-rooted democratic values shared by both nations and sets a positive tone for future collaboration in trade and investment, the release stated. Speaking about his visit, Yadav said, "I visited the British Parliament today. In the Upper House of the British Parliament, the members have life-long tenure, unlike fixed tenure in the Rajya Sabha. In our Parliament, a minister can make statements in both houses, but that is not so in UK Parliament...I saw here that till around 100 years ago, women were not given a place in Parliament. The Prime Minister's decision to give 33 per cent reservation is a visionary one." This parliamentary engagement follows the Chief Minister's arrival in London, where he was welcomed by the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram K Doraiswami. The visit continues to build momentum for exploring substantial investment opportunities between Madhya Pradesh and British businesses. The delegation's presence in the British Parliament underscores the importance of state-level diplomacy in strengthening the broader India-UK partnership, the release added. During his visit, CM Yadav aims to highlight Madhya Pradesh's potential in key sectors such as renewable energy, electric vehicles, and food processing while fostering partnerships with global leaders, industrialists, and representatives. The visit underscores the Madhya Pradesh government's commitment to advancing industrial development and seeking not just investment but meaningful collaboration. A significant highlight of the visit is a breakfast meeting with the High Commission of India in London on November 26, followed by a session on investment opportunities in Madhya Pradesh with over 120 participants. The discussions will focus on areas such as electric vehicles, automotive, renewable energy, and food processing. The CM has sought the High Commission's support for the Global Investors Summit, scheduled in Bhopal in February 2025, requesting them to "help us establish Madhya Pradesh as a preferred destination for British investors." Following three days in the UK, CM Yadav will travel to Germany on November 27. In Munich and Stuttgart, he will engage with Bavarian state government leaders, industry representatives, and Indian consular officials. (ANI)
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav paid heartfelt floral tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Parliament Square in London on Monday and reflected on his values of "peace, unity, and non-violence." CM Mohan Yadav is on a six-day visit to the United Kingdom and Germany to elevate industrial development in the state and attract foreign investment. Speaking with ANI, Yadav said, "I am gratified to offer flowers at Mahatma Gandhi. The whole country is proud of Mahatma Gandhi's valour during the Independence struggle. Mahatma Gandhi played a very important role in the country's freedom. We have been developing the nation on his ideas of 'Ahinsa'." Mohan Yadav's visit to the United Kingdom focuses on enhancing investment opportunities in Madhya Pradesh by engaging with industrialists, business leaders, and government representatives. Mohan Yadav highlighted that the state of Madhya Pradesh has great possibilities for investment in Industrial, tourism, education health and other sectors. "Madhya Pradesh has all the possibilities to attract investors in the country and world. We have great possibilities for investment in Industrial, tourism, education health and other sectors. In countries like Britain and Germany, there are many investors who want to invest in MP. We have organised the global summit in Bhopal to provide a better platform for investors. Under the leadership of PM Modi we are constantly working to increase the investment," Yadav said. The Chief Minister is scheduled to meet with representatives of industrial organizations and industrialists to increase investment and industrial cooperation in the state. He will also attend a dinner program organized by the NRI group "Friends of Madhya Pradesh" in London, which will be attended by over 400 members of the Indian diaspora. During his visit, CM Yadav will interact with industrialists and the High Commissioner of India to the UK, Vikram K. Doraiswami, at breakfast on November 26. Following this, a session will be held to discuss investment opportunities in Madhya Pradesh, with over 120 participants. The discussion will focus on sectors such as electric vehicles, automotive, renewable energy, and food processing in roundtable meetings after the lunch break. CM Yadav will visit BR Ambedkar House and pay his respects tomorrow on Tuesday. He will visit Warwick University on Wednesday, where he will interact with the dean, faculty members, and researchers of the Warwick Manufacturing Group. Later, he will travel from Birmingham Airport to Munich, Germany. After his three-day visit to the UK, CM Yadav will spend November 28 and 29 in Germany, attending several events in Munich and Stuttgart. (ANI)
India and Germany are strengthening their partnership for green and sustainable development and working to find new ways to reduce carbon emissions, German Ambassador to India, Philipp Ackermann said on Monday. He further said the two countries are celebrating 50 years of Indo-German scientific operation, adding that they are proud of it. Speaking to ANI, the German envoy stated, "There's the partnership for green and sustainable development between India and Germany which is a well-funded partnership where we spend more than a billion Euros a year on projects on common projects in India." "Tonight we are talking about scientific cooperation, how Germany and India can scientifically cooperate and try to find new ways and means to invest in renewables to find new techniques and new ways of reducing carbon emissions. And that's very important. We will celebrate tonight 50 years of Indo-German scientific operation which is a huge achievement we are very proud of," he added. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was on a visit to India last month. This was Scholz's third visit to India since he became Chancellor in 2021. Last year, he visited India twice - for a bilateral state visit in February and to attend the G20 Leaders' Summit in September. During his visit, Prime Minister Modi highlighted the growing cooperation between India and Germany in the defence and security sectors, citing it as a symbol of their deep mutual trust. After meeting with PM Modi, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called India an "anchor of peace and stability" in South Asia, adding that Berlin supports New Delhi's stand on peace and stability in the region. Recently, on the completion of 25 years of the India-Germany strategic partnership, Prime Minister Modi described Europe as a "crucial strategic region" for India in terms of trade and geopolitical ties. He also called Germany one of India's most important partners. The remarks by PM Modi came while addressing the News9 Global Summit. "The theme of this summit is India-Germany: A Roadmap for sustainable growth. This theme is a symbol of the responsible partnership of both countries," the Prime Minister said. He added, "Europe is an important strategic region for India, both in terms of geopolitical relations and trade and investment and Germany is one of our most important partners. Indo-German strategic partnership completed 25 years in 2024 and this year has been historic and special for this partnership." Notably, Germany is India's largest trading partner in Europe. It has consistently been among India's top ten global partners and was the seventh-largest trading partner in FY 2020-21 (10th during FY 2021-22 up to October 2021), as per the Embassy of India in Berlin, Germany. (ANI)
The Madhya Pradesh government hosted a distinguished lunch for UK Parliamentarians on Monday, wherein Chief Minister Mohan Yadav shared the state's vision for growth and sustainability. He highlighted the state's commitment towards green energy, emphasising its leadership in India's renewable energy revolution. With a focus on ease of doing business, the state is creating an environment ripe for growth, offering unparalleled opportunities in sectors such as tourism, agri-business, and agri-tech. The Chief Minister also highlighted the importance of the Indo-British partnership and its potential to drive growth in both nations. In his opening remarks at a lunch meeting with UK parliamentarians, CM Yadav said, "As Prime Minister Narendra Modi often emphasises, this India-Britain partnership is not just rooted in history but is vital for our future." "Madhya Pradesh is at the forefront of India's development, combining sustainable growth with immense potential across sectors like agriculture, renewable energy, and tourism." CM Yadav, currently in London to promote industrial development in Madhya Pradesh and attract foreign investment, underlined the immense potential for collaboration between the two countries in emerging sectors. "Vision for Tomorrow: Our relationship, aptly described by PM Modi as a 'Living Bridge,' has evolved into a dynamic partnership centred on technology, innovation, and knowledge exchange. This collaboration holds immense potential for both nations, particularly in emerging sectors," Yadav said. He further highlighted key sectors in Madhya Pradesh that have consistently achieved double-digit economic growth, making them attractive to investors. "Madhya Pradesh has emerged as a key hub in India's growth story, consistently achieving double-digit economic growth. The state offers exceptional opportunities across multiple sectors, including agri-business and food processing, automobiles and auto components, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, information technology and digital services. With a significant focus on technology exchange, higher education, and skill development, the state has introduced progressive policy reforms under the 'Make in MP' initiative, particularly in renewable energy, textiles, pharmaceuticals, and automotive sectors," Yadav stated. The Chief Minister emphasised the state's intent to build long-term partnerships in skill development, research collaboration, and education. The MP Chief Minister also extended a warm invitation to the United Kingdom to join Madhya Pradesh as a Partner Country for the upcoming Global Investors Summit in February 2025 in Bhopal. The summit will serve as a platform for international collaboration, showcasing the state's vast potential for investment and innovation. "This summit will showcase not only investment opportunities but also the rich cultural heritage of Madhya Pradesh," Yadav added. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav is on a week-long visit to the United Kingdom (UK) and Germany from November 24 to November 30 to attract investment to the state. The visit underscores the Madhya Pradesh government's commitment to advancing industrial development and fostering meaningful collaborations beyond investments. (ANI)
Over 10 Taiwanese civil rights activist groups gathered outside the legislature on Monday demanding the immediate release of the 47 pro-democracy activists from Hong Kong who were jailed under China's national security law. According to reports by Radio Taiwan International, the national broadcaster and international radio service of Taiwan, the groups, in a press conference, condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for its actions and called for the immediate release of the activists. They demanded the dropping of all political charges, the withdrawal of the controversial national security law, and the restoration of Hong Kong's democracy through universal suffrage. The 47 activists were charged with "conspiracy to subvert state power" after participating in the 2020 Legislative Council primaries, a move widely seen as an effort to challenge Beijing's increasing control over Hong Kong's political landscape. According to Radio Taiwan International, Lo Chun-xuan, Director of the Peng Foundation for Culture and Education, described the verdict as a "death knell" for Hong Kong's democracy. He criticized the CCP's actions as evidence of its anti-democracy and anti-human rights stance. Sang Pu, Director-General of the Taiwan Hong Kong Association, echoed these concerns, warning that Taiwan should learn from Hong Kong's experience and not trust promises made by the CCP. He stressed the importance of resisting China's attempts to annex Taiwan and avoiding the same fate as Hong Kong. Yang Huang Maysing, Chairwoman of the Asia-Pacific Liberal Women Association, called on the international community to impose economic sanctions on China in response to the crackdown. She also urged Hong Kong and Chinese citizens to continue their fight for their rights, stating that while the cost of freedom may be high, their struggle would be supported by the democratic world. Sky Fung, Secretary-General of the Hongkongers Outlanders, added that Hong Kong's people do not stand with China as much as the Chinese government claims. He called for continued global attention on Hong Kong's fight for democracy and urged international solidarity in supporting their cause. The press conference highlighted the growing concern over Hong Kong's future and the broader implications of China's tightening grip on the region. Hong Kong was a British colony from 1842 until 1997 when it was handed back to China under a "one country, two systems" arrangement. This framework allowed Hong Kong to maintain a high degree of autonomy, including freedoms of speech, press, and assembly, along with an independent judiciary and a capitalist economy, while recognizing Chinese sovereignty. The 1997 handover was meant to ensure that Hong Kong would retain these freedoms for 50 years, until 2047. However, over the past two decades, China's increasing political and economic power has led to growing concerns about the erosion of Hong Kong's autonomy. Under President Xi Jinping's leadership, the CCP has gradually tightened its control over Hong Kong, leading to widespread protests and civil unrest. (ANI)
https://x.com/rashtrapatibhvn/status/1861027703551660462

"President Droupadi Murmu received credentials from Sena Latif, Ambassador of Romania; and Pasupuleti Gita Kishore Kumar, High Commissioner of Grenada, at Rashtrapati Bhavan," a post by Rashtrapati Bhavan stated.

https://x.com/rashtrapatibhvn/status/1861019089868861886

"President Droupadi Murmu received credentials from Mr Fesseha Shawel Gebre, Ambassador of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia; Mr Ono Keiichi, Ambassador of Japan; and Mr Lee Seong Ho, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea, at Rashtrapati Bhavan," another post read.

Meanwhile, President Murmu will address the members of both Houses of Parliament in the Central Hall on the occasion of 'Samvidhan Divas' (Constitution Day) tomorrow.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, along with Union Ministers, Members of Parliament, Heads of Missions based in Delhi, and other dignitaries will attend the event.

Vice President Dhankhar will also address the members of both Houses during the occasion, while Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will deliver the welcome address.

A commemorative coin and stamp marking the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of India will be released during the event. Additionally, two books, titled "Making of the Constitution of India: A Glimpse" and "Making of the Constitution of India and Its Glorious Journey", will also be unveiled.

A booklet focusing on the art of the Constitution of India, as well as versions of the Constitution in Sanskrit and Maithili languages, will be released. A short film showcasing the making, historical significance, and journey of the Indian Constitution will also be screened for the distinguished gathering.

The event commemorates the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution by the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949. The Constitution formally came into effect on January 26, 1950. (ANI)
Tel Aviv [Israel], November 25 (ANI/TPS): Israel's Kiryat Shmona Mayor Avichai Stern denounced an emerging ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, warning it could lead to "another October 7th" in Israel's northern region. Questioning the wisdom of easing military pressure on Hezbollah, Stern said in a statement, "I don't understand how we went from total victory to total surrender. Why aren't we finishing what we started?! We managed to destabilize Hezbollah, and instead of continuing to crush the organization and demolish it to dust, we're giving it oxygen and performing resuscitation?" He also warned that the agreement would mean the city's 22,000 residents would get back "a destroyed city without security and without a future." The emerging agreement is believed to include a ceasefire, Hezbollah's withdrawal from southern Lebanon followed by the departure of Israeli troops from Lebanese territory. It is believed that the US will lead an international team to monitor the ceasefire while Israeli military would maintain the right to respond with force if Hezbollah violates the agreement. According to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War, Hezbollah is forbidden from operating in southern Lebanon south of the Litani River. On Sunday, Hezbollah launched 250 rockets and drones at northern and central Israel and the Israeli Air Force stepped up its airstrikes on Beirut. After the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, Hezbollah began launching rockets and launching drones at northern Israel communities daily. More than 68,000 residents of northern Israel are displaced from their homes. Hezbollah leaders have repeatedly said they would continue the attacks to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes. At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas's attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 97 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014. (ANI/TPS)
Manama [Bahrain], November 25 (ANI/WAM): King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of the Kingdom of Bahrain, received today at Al Safriya Palace, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, during his official visit to Bahrain to participate in 12th session of the UAE-Bahrain Joint Higher Committee, which was held yesterday. Sheikh Abdullah conveyed the greetings of President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his best wishes for the prosperity and progress of the Kingdom of Bahrain and its people. King Hamad asked Sheikh Abdullah to convey his greetings to President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his best wishes for the continued progress and prosperity of the UAE and its people. He expressed his pride in the close and well-established fraternal relations between the two countries, their leaderships, and their peoples. He emphasised the mutual keenness to further strengthen and develop them in various fields based on the strong historical ties that bind them together. He praised the deep-rooted Bahrain-UAE relations, which serve as a distinguished model and an example of relations between brothers who share common values, visions, positions, and a united future. He also commended the positive and fruitful outcomes of the Joint Higher Committee meeting and the achievements made in enhancing the strategic partnership, supporting bilateral cooperation, and strengthening coordination and integration in various areas that meet the aspirations of both nations and their peoples, achieving their shared interests. He expressed his appreciation for the continuous support of the UAE and its honourable positions toward the Kingdom of Bahrain and its people in various stages and circumstances. For his part, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed affirmed that the UAE and Bahrain share a long-standing and strong brotherly relationship, and both countries continue to work together to seize all available opportunities to strengthen and deepen their cooperation in all fields, benefiting the people of both nations. He expressed his happiness to be in the Kingdom of Bahrain and to participate in the 12th session of the UAE-Bahrain Joint Higher Committee between the two countries, which plays a significant role in supporting and enhancing the cooperation and joint action between them in various vital areas that support their developmental goals. He also praised the progress, prosperity, and developmental renaissance witnessed by the Kingdom of Bahrain across all sectors under the leadership of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and expressed his best wishes for the continued prosperity and well-being of the Bahraini people. The meeting was attended by Abdullah bin Touq Al Mari, Minister of Economy; Noura Al Kaabi, Minister of State Sultan bin Saif Al Neyadi, Minister of State for Youth Affairs; Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar, Minister of State; Saeed Mubarak Al Hajeri, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic and Trade Affairs; Fahad Mohammed Salem bin Kardous Al Ameri, UAE Ambassador to Bahrain; and several senior officials from both countries. (ANI/WAM)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with his counterparts from France, Ukraine, Lebanon, and Croatia at the sidelines of the MED Mediterranean Dialogues Conference in Rome, Italy on Monday. The Foreign Minister discussed Indo-Pacific, Ukraine and global issues with his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot. "A useful stock-taking of our bilateral partnership. Also discussed Indo-Pacific, Ukraine and global issues," Jaishankar stated in a post. https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1861009721550856674 He also interacted with Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib and his Croatian counterpart Gordan Grlic Radman. "Glad to interact with Lebanese FM Abdallah Bou Habib at the @RomeMEDialogues. Look forward to remaining in touch," he stated. "Appreciate seeing FM @grlicradman of Croatia at the@RomeMEDialogues.His sentiments for our ties are always positive," Jaishakar said in a subsequent post. https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1861009173762207780 https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1861006011936436303 Further during his meeting with Ukrainian FM Andrii Sybiha, Jaishankar reiterated India's support for "dialogue and diplomacy." "Good to meet FM of Ukraine @andrii_sybihain Rome today. Useful exchange on advancing our bilateral cooperation. Reiterated India's support for dialogue and diplomacy," he stated. https://x.com/drsjaishankar/status/1861038217790652757?s=46 Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar addressed the Rome Mediterranean Dialogue where he said that the new element of the relationship between India and the Mediterranean would be connectivity, and called the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor "can be a game changer." In his opening remarks at the MED Mediterranean Dialogues Conference in Rome, the EAM highlighted the growing significance of connectivity in global relations, especially in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and its impact on the region. He noted that while the conflict has complicated the situation, progress on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) continues on the eastern side, particularly between India, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Jaishankar pointed out the importance of the I2U2 grouping, which consists of India, Israel, the UAE, and the US, and is expected to become more active in the future. He also expressed concerns over the escalating situation in West Asia and mentioned that India has been in regular touch with both Israel and Iran to "advocate constraints" and "enhance communication" in an attempt to resolve the conflict between both countries. The Foreign Minister reiterated India's strong condemnation of terrorism, and the abduction of hostages by Hamas, and affirmed support for reaching a ceasefire. Jaishankar, however, also emphasised the need to abide by international humanitarian law and called large-scale civilian casualties "unacceptable." "Today I focus my remarks on the conflicts. The situation in the Middle East is obviously deeply concerning, both for what has happened and what may still come. India unequivocally condemns terrorism and hostage-taking. It also regards large-scale civilian casualties in military operations to be unacceptable. International humanitarian law cannot be disregarded in immediate terms. We should all support a ceasefire," EAM Jaishankar said. (ANI)
Air pollution is a serious concern, especially for those who spend time outdoors, said German Ambassador Philipp Ackermann on Delhi's air pollution on Monday. He spoke to ANI on the sidelines of an event at the German Embassy here organised on the occasion of 50 years of Indo-German science and technology cooperation. "Everybody who lives here, I am very concerned about the air quality. I think we have to be very honest that it's unacceptable... less for us because we sit in offices with filtered air and more for the people who spend their days in the street, the rickshapullers or street vendors, I mean, they have really the big problem and they will suffer from air pollution," he said. "In cities like Nagpur and Surat, Germany is trying to build up capacity and training and development for the municipal administration to improve the air," he added. He said Delhi faces a severe air pollution problem due to various sources such as garbage burning, thermal power plants, and stubble burning. "The government acknowledges the challenge and is working to address it. Collective efforts are necessary to combat this complex issue," he added. India and Germany are strengthening their partnership for green and sustainable development and working to find new ways to reduce carbon emissions, the German envoy noted on Monday. "There's the partnership for green and sustainable development between India and Germany which is a well-funded partnership where we spend more than a billion Euros a year on common projects in India. Tonight we are talking about scientific cooperation, how Germany and India can scientifically cooperate and try to find new ways and means to invest in renewables to find new techniques and new ways of reducing carbon emissions. And that's very important. We will celebrate tonight 50 years of Indo-German scientific operation, which is a huge achievement we are very proud of," he said. Notably, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was on a visit to India last month. This was Scholz's third visit to India since he became Chancellor in 2021. Last year, he visited India twice - for a bilateral state visit in February and to attend the G20 Leaders' Summit in September. During his visit, Prime Minister Modi highlighted the growing cooperation between India and Germany in the defence and security sectors, citing it as a symbol of their deep mutual trust. After meeting with PM Modi, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called India an "anchor of peace and stability" in South Asia, adding that Berlin supports New Delhi's stand on peace and stability in the region. (ANI)
Pakistanis in large numbers are marching towards the capital city of Islamabad in response to the protest call issued by the party of incarcerated former Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). In a post on X, PTI shared that "Thousands and thousands of Pakistanis are peacefully marching in Islamabad." PTI noted that the demands of the rallying citizens include three agendas. These are, "Revocation of the 26th Amendment and restoration of the Constitution, return of the stolen mandate, release of political prisoners". https://x.com/PTIofficial/status/1861099655972389052 As per Dawn, the protest was originally scheduled to be staged on November 24, but the convoys took a breather the previous night. PTI leaders said they were in "no hurry" to reach the federal capital for their "do or die" protest, as workers and supporters from across the country attempted to defy arrests, baton charges and tear gas to participate in the agitation. Dawn reported that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) last week ruled that PTI's planned protest was unlawful and directed the federal government to take all necessary measures to maintain law and order in Islamabad while ensuring public life was not disrupted. The Pakistan Punjab government extended the imposition of Section 144 across the province for three more days, until Thursday. Dawn noted that the provincial government had originally imposed Section 144 from Saturday to Monday (today) due to the "law and order situation" in the province. It was also reported that the Islamabad administration issued a notification on Tuesday about all public and private educational institutions remaining closed. Senior leaders from the PTI are on their way and some have already entered into Pakistan ahead of the protests. These include the sisters of Imran Khan, Aleema Khan and Uzma Khan. The details were shared on X by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). "Imran Khan's sisters, Aleema Khan & Uzma Khan have reached Islamabad, where hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis are converging to demand the release of political prisoners, restoration of stolen mandate, upholding of the law & constitution, and an end to the fascist reign of terror by the illegitimate, authoritarian, military-backed regime", the post by PTI noted on X. https://x.com/PTIofficial/status/1861127690939781448 Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan has been detained for over 470 days now, PTI noted. On Monday, Imran Khan's wife Bushra Bibi demanded her husband's release as his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party's convoys moved toward the capital, Islamabad in the wake of 'Final Call' protests, Dawn reported. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), founded by Imran Khan, has launched a nationwide protest, demanding the release of its leader. As per Dawn, Bushra Bibi told the supporters that the march would not end till Khan was freed. (ANI)
The Chief Minister was accompanied by a state delegation, and CM Mohan Yadav engaged with Tom Goodall of Related Argent, gaining insights into sustainable urban renewal, heritage preservation, and modern infrastructure development.

This visit provided valuable lessons for Madhya Pradesh as it explores opportunities to transform underutilised spaces, such as the Hukumchand Mill Land in Indore, into vibrant hubs of economic growth, cultural significance, and community engagement. Collaborative efforts and global expertise will guide the state's vision for sustainable and inclusive urban development.

CM Yadav, currently in London to promote industrial development in Madhya Pradesh and attract foreign investment, underlined the immense potential for collaboration between the two countries in emerging sectors.

Earlier in the day, during a lunch meeting, the Madhya Pradesh CM also extended a warm invitation to the United Kingdom to join Madhya Pradesh as a Partner Country for the upcoming Global Investors Summit in February 2025, which will be held in Bhopal. The summit will serve as a platform for international collaboration, highlighting the state's vast potential for investment and innovation.

"This summit will showcase not only investment opportunities but also the rich cultural heritage of Madhya Pradesh," Mohan Yadav added.

"Vision for Tomorrow: Our relationship, aptly described by PM Modi as a 'Living Bridge,' has evolved into a dynamic partnership centred on technology, innovation, and knowledge exchange. This collaboration holds immense potential for both nations, particularly in emerging sectors," Yadav said.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav is on a week-long visit to the United Kingdom (UK) and Germany from November 24 to November 30 to attract investment to the state.

The visit underscores the Madhya Pradesh government's commitment to fostering industrial development and building meaningful international partnerships beyond investments. (ANI)
A massive, 836lb emerald thought to be worth as much as $1bn, and rumored to be cursed, will return to its home soil of Brazil, a US court ruled this week.

Were very happy with the decision, federal prosecutor Boni de Moraes Soares told The Washington Post of the decision. Were closer than ever to bringing the Bahia emerald back to the Brazilian people.

Kit Morrison, an Idaho trader whos part of a group that claimed ownership over the gem, told the paper he accepted the ruling.

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I dont have any feeling of defeat or loss, he said. When you are an investor and entrepreneur, you do everything you can to protect, preserve and improve the investment and opportunity. However, you cannot control the things that are out of your control.

The Bahia Emerald, which was mined in Brazil in 2001 and smuggled to the US, has long been the subject of competing claims of ownership.

The ruling likely brings an end to its chaotic journey through the Americas.

Brazil argued that the emerald had been illegally mined and taken out of country (AP)

The gem was carried out of the Brazilian rainforest by a team of mules, one of which was attacked by a panther. In the US, Hurricane Katrina hit one warehouse where it was stored, and the gem was stolen from another facility in Los Angeles. It also almost became a part of a transaction involving fraudster Bernie Madoff.

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The emerald was eventually seized in Las Vegas and came to the attention of the Brazilian government when a dispute between gem dealers landed in a Los Angeles court. Under the countrys constitution, all mining assets in the country belong to Brazil, and a permit would be required to remove the emerald.

In 2015, a California court declared Morrison and his consortium had the rightful and good faith ownership of the emerald. However, that same year, the US Department of Justice initiated a federal court action to seize the rock, pending the completion of a case in Brazil alleging it was illegally mined.

In the intervening years, the emerald was held for safekeeping with the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department.

By 2021, the Brazilian court ordered the forfeiture of the emerald. The following year, the Justice Department filed a motion in court seeking to return the emerald to Brazil under a mutual legal assistance treaty.
A staunch ally of Donald Trump has warned Sir Keir Starmer that the UK will face severe economic consequences if it helps to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu.

Senator Lindsey Graham said the US should crush the economies of all those who comply with the warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The prime minister of Israel faces arrest if he enters Britain, Downing Street has said. On Friday No 10 refused to explicitly comment on the case, saying it was a hypothetical situation, but added that the UK would follow its legal obligations.

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The ICC has also issued an arrest warrant for Yoav Gallant, Israels former defence minister, over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

But the move has provoked fury among Republicans in the US.

In response, Mr Graham tweeted: Any nation or organization that aids or abets this outrage should expect to meet firm resistance from the United States, and I look forward to working with President Trump, his team, and my colleagues in Congress to come up with a powerful response.

Senator Lindsey Graham threatens allies who assist the ICC (Getty)

The South Carolina senator later told Fox News: If you are going to help the ICC as a nation and force the arrest warrant against Bibi and GallantI will put sanctions on you as a nation.

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Youre gonna have to pick the rogue ICC versus America. Im working with [another US senator] Tom Cotton to have legislation passed as soon as we can to sanction any country that aids and abets the arrest of any politician in Israel. What theyre doing in Israel is trying to prevent a second Holocaust. So, to any ally, Canada, Britain, Germany, France, if you try to help the ICC, were gonna sanction you.

Asked what the penalty should be, he added: We should crush your economy because were nextWhy cant they go after Trump or any other American president?

In March 2023, Mr Lindsey supported the ICC arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin, praising the organisation. He said: The decision by the ICC to issue an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin is a giant step in the right direction for the international community. It is more than justified by the evidence. I hope the international community will continue to support the ICC in their endeavors to hold Putin accountable for the brutal invasion of Ukraine.

The aftermath of an Israeli airstrike in Beit Lahya, northern Gaza, last week (AFP)

No 10 backed the ICC on Thursday after it issued the arrest warrants, saying the government respected the independence of the court.

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But shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel described the move as concerning and provocative and called on the government to condemn them.

Before Julys general election, Conservative ministers had been considering a legal challenge to the issuing of arrest warrants, but the new Labour administration dropped the idea saying that it was a matter for the court.

The ICC said there are reasonable grounds to believe that both Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant were responsible for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.

Neither Israel nor the USA are members of the ICC.
A DHL cargo plane crashed into a house near Lithuania's Vilnius airport.

The plane was a Boeing 737 aircraft en route from Leipzig, Germany.

At least one person was killed in the crash, according to reports.

A DHL cargo plane crashed into a house near Lithuania's Vilnius airport, killing at least one person and injuring three others.

The plane, a Boeing 737 aircraft en route from Germany, crashed outside Vilnius International Airport at around 5:30 a.m. local time, the airport said on Facebook.

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"We can confirm that today at around 4:30 am CET an aircraft of Swift Air, a third-party carrier operating under contract for DHL, which was on its way from LEJ Airport (Leipzig, Germany) to VNO Airport (Vilnius, Lithuania), made a forced landing about one kilometer from VNO Airport," a DHL spokesperson told BI.

The spokesperson added that four people were onboard and that the cause of the incident was not known.

At least one crew death resulted from the crash, the Associated Press and Reuters reported.

According to surveillance video seen by AP, the plane descended normally as it approached the airport, but then exploded in a huge ball of fire out of sight behind a building.

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The mayor of Vilnius, Valdas Benkunskas, told Business Insider that as of Monday morning, three crew members were still being treated in a hospital.

All 12 residents of the house that was crashed into are safe and have been evacuated, Reuters reported, citing information from a police press conference.

Benkunskas told BI that the residents, including two children, have been accommodated in a hotel and are "completely safe."

Benkuskas told BI that the crash narrowly avoided being more deadly.

"Very near that place, we have another block of houses with many people," he said. "And 300 meters away, we have a logistical center, which is full of employees, so I believe that we could have had much more consequences in that case."

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The mayor said the city is safe, adding that a "good illustration of this is that even after such a tragic event, flights from the airport were only suspended for about an hour."

Renatas Pozela, the head of Lithuania's firefighting and emergency services unit, said the plane fell a few kilometers before the airport. "It just skidded for a few hundred meters, its debris somewhat caught a residential house," he said, per AP.

"Residential infrastructure around the house was on fire, and the house was slightly damaged, but we managed to evacuate people," he added.

On Monday, Lithuania's police chief, Arunas Paulauskas, told reporters that a terrorist attack could not be ruled out.

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"This is one of the versions that needs to be investigated and verified. There is still much work ahead of us," Paulauskas said, according to German press agency DPA.

However, according to CNN, Paulauskas noted that a "technical fault or a human error" was more likely.

The police chief said the fact-finding mission could take a week or even longer, per DPA, adding: "These answers will not come so quickly."

Benkuskas, the mayor, told BI that "it's important to follow the reliable information sources and not to give into the panic."

He added, "We need an investigation. I believe we will find out why we have this tragedy very soon."

Read the original article on Business Insider
PANAMA CITY BEACH  A man convicted of murdering his friend while vacationing in Panama City Beach in 2021 has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Three Arizona residents visited PCB in October of 2021: Scottie Jay Black, 43; his friend Tyrell James Sagg, 41; and Sagg's girlfriend. She isn't named in the release from the State Attorney's Office; however, reporting from other outlets have identified her as Didda Johnson, 34.

Both men lived in parts of Arizona that are part of the Navajo Nation, which is where Black eventually was picked up for questioning, according to the news release.

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According to the release, Black and the victim's girlfriend reported they found him dead on the floor of their hotel room. Previous reporting points to the location as the Marriot Townplace Suites in PCB. The reporting goes on to say suspects told investigators that Sagg had a heart condition and believe he died in the night.

Although there were no visible injuries on the victim, an autopsy later revealed internal injuries consistent with strangulation, the release from the State Attorney's Office says.

A Panama City Beach Police Department investigation found that Black used Sagg's ATM card after his death and then fled the state.

Black stood trial last month and was found guilty as charged of second-degree murder.

A photo collage of the sentencing of Scottie Jay Black for the 2021 murder of his friend in Panama City Beach.

During the sentencing, prosecutor Peter Overstreet told Circuit Judge Brantley Clark that the defendant declined to take responsibility for his actions. He also noted that death by strangulation is painful, and that the defendant was indifferent after the fact.

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This is despite Black not being a typical repeat offender and having done "some good things in his life."

Overstreet pointed to the fact that Black had sex with a woman in the adjacent bed after the murder.

And then he just went on living life as if nothing had happened, Overstreet told the court, according to the release. Those are pretty aggravating circumstances after someones dead."

Black apologized to Sagg's family for his actions, but Overstreet made it clear he took something from the family they won't get back.

But I think Mr. Saggs family is right: The defendants family can pick up the phone and call him in prison, they can have visitations, maybe one day hell get out, but theyll always have a connection, Overstreet said in court, according to the release. Mr. Saggs family wont. Theyre left with memories, with his children not having their father to see their accomplishments."

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The defendant and prosecutor agreed on a 40-year sentence, which Overstreet says is sufficient based on the defendant's age of 43.

State Attorney Larry Basford thanked the PCBPD for its work, which involved travel to the Navajo Nation in Arizona.

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Tourist convicted of killing friend while on vacation in PCB gets 40 years
A Georgia mother who believed she was pouring evil into her baby when breastfeeding her has been convicted of killing the child.

Chloe Driver, 24, brutally stabbed her 13-month-old daughter Hannah to death. Prosecutors alleged throughout her trial that Driver was motivated to kill Hannah because she wanted her husband, the babys father, all to herself.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Katie Gropper told the court that Drivers husband had two other wives and that their polygamist group had radical views and lived a lifestyle of alternative healing practices that included drinking their own urine.

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A jury heard how Driver struggled with an unstable childhood, a history of mental illness and was enduring an abusive and oppressive marriage when she said she finally snapped and stabbed her baby and herself in December 2020.

Defense attorneys attempted to paint a picture of a woman who was abused and coerced by her alleged cult leader husband. They claimed a combination of her mental illness and extreme beliefs resulted in the babys death.

Driver had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of malice murder, felony murder, first-degree cruelty to children, and aggravated assault.

But at the end of a six-day trial, and just three hours of deliberation, a jury found her found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt but mentally ill on all charges  which means they rejected Drivers insanity plea and found her criminally responsible for her actions.

Chloe Driver pictured at the time of her arrest for murder in 2020. Her neck was bandaged up from where she had stabbed herself in the throat (Cherokee County Sheriff's Office)

The murder of baby Hannnah

Police responded to a home in Canton, Georgia on December 8, 2020, to find a mother and her baby daughter with stab wounds inside a bedroom.

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Driver was lying on a mattress next to blood covered baby Hannah, holding her hand. Both were rushed to the hospital where the baby died from her injuries.

Police said Driver had taken a knife from the butcher block in the kitchen, locked herself and her baby in the bedroom and stabbed her repeatedly.

They were found by the babys father, Benyamin Ben Michael, also known as Brian Joyce or Z  who allegedly let out a blood-curdling scream as he cried to Driver, what did you do?

Driver was married to the man who also had two other wives.

Dr. Carli Blomquist, an emergency room doctor who tended to Hannah, told the court during Drivers trial that the baby was empty of blood when she was brought in.

She wanted him to herself

A letter allegedly written by Driver was shared in court during her trial that revealed her chilling confession about the murder.

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He didnt do it. I did it, she had written, referring to her husband, Ben Michael. I was going insane and no longer wanted to be with his friends but kept coming back for him. I only wanted my baby and husband but he refused.

The prosecution told the court that, she wanted to be with him and he was never going to give up his polygamist cult lifestyle that they had adopted.

Driver watches from the defense table as a video of her police interview is played in court (Court TV)

But the defense said the claim that Driver killed the child to get Ben Michael all to herself defies logic because she would have also killed the other wives.

If she wanted him to herself, wouldnt she have gotten rid of the competition? the defense pointed out.

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Before the jury was sent out to make a decision, the defense urged them to find her guilty by reason of insanity, arguing that Driver was in a delusional state at the time of the babys death and that she was not able to distinguish right from wrong.

Justice for Hannah in this case is getting her mother the treatment she needs, they said.

Did a polygamist cult drive Chloe Driver to murder?

In the months leading up to the murder of baby Hannah, Driver said she was seeing signs that convinced her Ben Michael and the other wives wanted her to kill herself and her child, according to Dr. McLendon Garrett.

Dr. Garrett, a forensic psychologist who conducted an interview with Driver following the murder, testified for the defense, arguing that the mother suffered from paranoia and had experienced delusions before her babys death.

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Driver was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, borderline personality disorder, and cannabis use disorder. She attributed Drivers mental health struggles to a traumatic childhood and abusive relationships.

She had a very unstable childhood, Dr. Garrett said. "Her family was cold, and she left them multiple timesliving with boys, even leaving the state to move in with one. She experienced suicidal ideation early on and engaged in self-harm, including cutting and attempting to overdose on sleeping pills.

Driver then met her husband when she was just 17 years old and he was 38, and then became part of a nomadic religious group led by her husband, who Dr. Garrett said she believed played a pivotal role in her mental state.

She was incredibly isolated, Dr. Garrett said. She wasnt allowed to speak to others unless it was for recruitment purposes. She couldnt go to stores, use money, or have a phone without supervision. Her only jobs lasted about two weeks, and those were out of necessity.

Driver appeared emotionless as a jury found her guilty of murder (Court TV)

The group are strict vegans who followed unorthodox health practices that included drinking their own urine, according to witness testimony.

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Driver also told the doctor about the control she was under and how she would face punishment, which included dark therapy, where she was confined to a bed, the windows covered, denied bathroom access, and forced to urinate on herself.

After Driver gave birth to Hannah, she began to question the groups teachings, specifically about the lack of the childs care, including vaccinations, and simply - a birth certificate.

She was concerned her baby wouldnt have a normal life, Dr. Garrett said. But realized she wasnt going to get that with Ben Michael.

Drivers paranoia and delusions intensified, but when she asked the other wives for help, they reportedly gave her CBD oil, which allegedly only intensified the tendencies, Dr. Garrett said.

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She felt like the wives ganged up on her and made her believe that she and the baby were sinful.

She believed she was downloading her sin  all the bad parts about her  into her child through breastfeeding, Dr. Garrett said. She also talked about pouring her sin into the child.

There was a lot of evidence that she really believed by having a child with somebody who was married -- by having the child in this sort of open relationship -- that it was a sin and that she passed that sin on to her daughter, Dr. Garrett added. And so they shared that -- that they were both embodiments of sin.

When asked what Dr. Garrett believed to be the specific trigger that pushed her over the edge, she said Driver told her she was upset when Ben Michael threw a dirty shirt at her when she said she needed something clean so she could change Hannah.

Baby Hannah was just 13 months old when her mother stabbed her to death in December 2020 (Cherokee County Sheriffs Office)

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That incident was potentially the straw that broke the camels back after months of delusions, Dr. Garrett said.

"She was incredibly isolated and mentally unwell," she added. "Her relationship with the group and its dynamics created a perfect storm."

A perfect storm that eventually led to Hannahs tragic death.

From that moment on, I snapped, Driver told Dr. Jacquelyn Zahm, who also evaluated her after the murder.

Disturbing claims of dark therapy and urine drinking

In a bizarre portion of testimony, Drivers friend took the stand in an orange prison jumpsuit and told the court of Drivers polygamous lifestyle and their unorthodox health rituals.

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Jason Spillars, who faces charges in a separate case in North Carolina, painted the household of Ben Michael as harmonious and supportive, but a patriarchal one with the man in charge because men are better decision-makers, they can regulate their emotions in a way that women cannot, and theyre just better leaders, he said.

Spillars gave an inside look at the groups polygamous lifestyle, with shocking claims that they participated in rituals such as drinking urine and the isolating dark therapy.

Despite this, he said all three women who were married to Ben Michael were content in their roles and that Drivers involvement was voluntary and based on shared beliefs, not coercion.

Jason Spillars gave an inside look at the groups polygamous lifestyle, with shocking claims they participated in rituals such as drinking urine and isolating dark therapy (Court TV)

Spillars testified that his friend had previously gone through cycles of mental distress, and that in the months leading up to Hannahs murder, her delusion and paranoia had increased.

He then became emotional on the stand as he recounted what he witnessed on the day of the babys murder. He recalled walking into the room to find Ben Michael doing CPR on Hannah and seeing blood everywhere.

As he applied pressure to Drivers stab wounds, he said he remembered his friend telling him, Stop, Im supposed to die. Spillars then broke down in sobs as he insisted that Driver was a good mother who loved her daughter.

Her mom begged her to come home

Drivers mother Renee said she and other family members tried desperately to convince her to leave Ben Michael, but nothing could sway her.

I did everything I could to get her to stay with me, but it didnt work, Renee told the court as she became emotional.

After baby Hannah was born, their contact was minimal, but Renee said she knew Driver was a very good mother and she loved her daughter.

Driver wiped away tears and her lips trembled as her mother testified.

After Hannah was born, Renee said shed reiterated that her daughter and granddaughter could move in, but Ben Michael was not welcome because Renee didnt want anything to do with him.

Renee said in July 2020 she started noticing changes in her daughter, describing her as being in a zombie-like state and not herself.

Nothing really changed with Hannah -- just her, Renee said. She was just falling apart. I mean, she was literally just falling apart, but at that time, I wasnt so much paying attention to her because, I mean, I had Hannah, too, and I was just so excited every time I got to see Hannah.

The verdict

For six days, jurors listened to testimony from 21 witnesses and viewed graphic crime scene photos before being sent out to decide Drivers fate.

The young mother appeared emotionless as the verdict was read in court on Wednesday.

She was found guilty, but mentally ill, of murdering her baby girl.

The guilty but mentally ill verdict means that the jury rejected her insanity plea and found her criminally responsible for her actions.

Driver will be sentenced on December 12. Until then, Driver will be in the custody of the Georgia Department of Corrections, which will be responsible for addressing her mental health needs.
According to Israels former national security advisor, Giora Eiland, Regarding Gaza  In warfare, the aim is to engage as little as possible. The ideal outcome is to win without prolonged fighting.

But can you end a war when your adversary is unwilling to concede defeat and release its hostages, demanding Israel permanently leave the Gaza strip to begin the reemergence of Hamas? That is a Hamas victory and a recipe for recurrent disaster.

Israel has dismantled Hamas military infrastructure, leaving behind thousands of terrorists emerging to ambush from tens of miles of undiscovered tunnels. At the same time, the jihadists continue to survive and thrive by reselling hundreds of millions of dollars of stolen humanitarian aid.

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In Lebanon, Israel has recaptured a narrow strip along the Lebanese-Israeli border from which Hezbollah long planned Oct. 7-like assaults to kidnap and terrorize the Israeli population. I visited one of those assault tunnels in 2019, twenty stories deep, nearly a half mile into Israeli territory, where the group could have massed hundreds of terrorists in a short time.

In this war, Hezbollah has lost a significant portion of its launching pads and missile arsenal. However, it is still a very formidable foe that seems to be inviting Israel into a trap to try to conquer the rest of southern Lebanon up to the Litani River. UNSCR 1701 demanded after the 2006 Second Lebanon War, the disarmament of Hezbollah south of the river, 30 kilometers from the western Galilee Israel-Lebanese border.

The impotent, unwilling and complicit Lebanese Armed Forces, along with United Nations peacekeepers, have allowed Hezbollah under Iranian control to thrive and grow for 17 years, amassing the worlds largest missile arsenal for a non-state actor.

According to the State Department, from 2006-2022, the U.S. provided more than $2.5 billion of American taxpayer money to a failed states military without tangible metrics to advance our foreign policy interests. This will not sit well with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who are now tasked with the fiduciary responsibility of protecting the American taxpayer.

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Iran  the master puppeteer of Hamas, Hezbollah, Iraqi and Syrian militias, and the Houthis  are now in direct conflict with Israel. The Iranian emperor has no clothes. Regime change and a vulnerable nuclear program are within reach if the U.S. were to agree its time to act.

I am not sure why we are afraid of saying the obvious: We stand with the Iranian people against their repressive regime. There is nothing ambiguous about regimes standard mantra for decades, Death to America.

According to Iran expert Ray Takeyh, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, The core of the problem remains Iran  only an America that stands with its allies and makes its red lines clear can deter a mushroom cloud over an already turbulent Middle East.

A new administration will be pulled between two groups. The first comprises those with a clear-eyed perspective of the region  Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Steve Witkoff, Pete Hegseth, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Mike Huckabee and Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), the nominees for secretary of State, Middle East envoy, Defense secretary, UN ambassador, ambassador to Israel and national security advisor. The second group is of those who follow the Tucker Carlson school of neo-isolationism. These have not learned lessons of Americas past, when we turned inward and caused more wars than stability.

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The caveat is that in too many wars, Americas failure to choose unapologetic victory handicapped realistic goals in reasonable timeframes.

President-elect Trump wants Israel to win, for the sake of our national security interests. But how do he and his administration define victory? Diplomatic achievements and enforceable ceasefires flow from strength.

The short time course the president-elect has given Israel to wrap up its wars before he takes office is a gift to patient adversaries, who are more than willing to wait out Americas impatience, as best evidenced by the catastrophe of President Bidens complete American withdrawal from Afghanistan or former President Obamas premature withdrawal from Iraq, which led to the emergence of ISIS.

Israel has remained restrained in its Lebanese campaign, as Hezbollah has employed the jihadist strategy of using civilian structures as human shields. Several years ago, I was in Jordan during the Syrian civil war and met with the Greek physician in charge of Syrian refugees who had flooded into southern Lebanon. He told me that in every town, city, or village he had visited in south Lebanon, missiles were being stored in peoples homes.

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If we want Israel to achieve quicker victories, we need to give it a freer hand in Lebanon. That does not mean violating international law. For example, we should support Israel if it calls for the complete evacuation of civilian areas that are being used as terrorist bases, like the Dahiyeh neighborhood in Beirut. This is the path to victory and ending the war sooner under advantageous diplomatic terms. The failed state of Lebanon can regain its former independence only by profoundly degrading Hezbollah, which currently controls the country.

That is the path toward sustainable diplomatic achievements; Israel is perceived as the victor and setting the stage for the long-awaited Israeli-Saudi normalization. Strength, not Western conciliation and appeasement, the strategy of previous administrations, is the path to long-term quiet.

As for Gaza, the goal must be no Hamas governance or military presence, with Israels ability to act daily when terrorists emerge, as they have done in the West Bank since 2003 when they reentered Judea and Samaria during the Second Intifada. If America is resolute, our diplomatic leverage will be substantial.

For Iran, the key to regional instability is that diplomacy will best be achieved with the return of maximum sanctions to starve the regime and its proxies financially, with serious consideration of allowing Israel to target their nuclear facilities as they race to obtain a nuclear weapon.

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Lets begin by training Israeli pilots on B-52 bombers that can deliver the bunker buster missiles to hit deeply embedded nuclear targets. The threat will force Iran to the negotiating table with a diplomatic outcome in our interests, unlike the Iran nuclear deal of 2015, which allowed the leading state sponsor of terror the right to enrich uranium with ineffective inspections and no restraints on their ballistic missile production.

When does diplomacy work in the Middle East? When there is no daylight between the U.S. and Israel, and Israel is perceived as the victor. Israel and the new administration must coordinate a strategy for American interests to leverage Israeli tactical military achievements into definitive strategic diplomatic victories.

Eric R. Mandel is the director of the Middle East Political Information Network and senior security editor for the Jerusalem Posts Jerusalem 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 The Hill.
Israel has pledged to bring to justice those responsible for the murder of a prominent rabbi in the United Arab Emirates, denouncing his killing as a heinous antisemitic terrorist act.

Zvi Kogan, who ran a Kosher shop in Dubai and worked for the Orthodox Jewish group Chabad, vanished in Dubai on Thursday.

The 28-year-olds body was found in the city of Al Ain, which borders Oman, though it is not clear if he was killed there or elsewhere.

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The UAEs interior ministry said three suspects had been arrested, but gave no details.

His disappearance came as Iran, which supports Hamas and Hezbollah, had been threatening to retaliate after a wave of airstrikes Israel carried out in October in response to an Iranian ballistic missile attack.

The Iranian embassy in the UAE said it categorically rejects the allegations of Irans involvement in the murder of this individual.

A statement from Benjamin Netanyahus office called Kogans death a heinous antisemitic terror incident and said Israel will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death.

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Kogan had entered the UAE on his Moldovan passport and was a resident in Dubai, said the UAE statement. His wife, Rivky, is a US citizen who lived with him in the UAE. She is the niece of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, who was killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu (EPA)

The Chabad movement, a prominent and highly observant branch of Orthodox Judaism, is based in Brooklyns Crown Heights neighbourhood in New York.

Jews have grown more visible in the UAE since 2020 when the country became the most prominent Arab state in 30 years to establish formal ties with Israel under a US-brokered agreement dubbed the Abraham Accords. Ties have been maintained during the 13-month Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

However, informal synagogues in Dubai were closed after Hamas 7 October assault, with Jews instead gathering to pray at home amid heightened security concerns. A single government-approved synagogue remains open, in Abu Dhabi.

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Kogans shop was shuttered on Sunday. Outside, Israeli Druze politician Ayoob Kara said the UAE's Jewish community was in shock at the news of Kogan's murder, but that Israelis and Jews would still visit and build ties in the Gulf country.

I am sure that lots of Jewish [people] will continue to invest here. No way to stop this relationship and this cooperation, said Mr Kara.

Ayoob Kara outside the Rimon Market kosher store which was managed by Zvi Kogan (Reuters)

Kogans body will be repatriated to Israel hopefully on Monday, an Israeli foreign ministry official said.

Although Israels public statements on Sunday did not mention Iran, western officials believe Iran runs intelligence operations in the UAE and keeps tabs on the hundreds of thousands of Iranians living across the country.

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Iran is suspected of kidnapping and later killing British Iranian national Abbas Yazdi in Dubai in 2013, although Tehran has denied involvement. Iran also kidnapped Iranian German national Jamshid Sharmahd in 2020 from Dubai, taking him back to Tehran, where he was executed in October.

Additional reporting from Associated Press and Reuters
This is a file photo of Ye Jiaying. Chinese classical poetry doyenne Ye Jiaying died on Sunday at the age of 100, according to Nankai University where she held a teaching post. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese classical poetry doyenne Ye Jiaying died on Sunday at the age of 100, according to Nankai University where she held a teaching post.

The university said Ye died of illness at around 3:23 p.m. in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin.

Ye dedicated seven decades to the research, teaching and promotion of classical Chinese poetry in China and beyond. She was the teacher of many renowned Chinese literary masters.

Born to a literary family in Beijing in 1924, Ye held teaching posts in American and Canadian universities. Starting in 1979, she returned to the Chinese mainland every year to give lectures on Chinese literature and poetry, and lived in Nankai University during her final decades.

This is a file photo of Ye Jiaying. Chinese classical poetry doyenne Ye Jiaying died on Sunday at the age of 100, according to Nankai University where she held a teaching post. [Photo/Xinhua]

This is a file photo of Ye Jiaying. Chinese classical poetry doyenne Ye Jiaying died on Sunday at the age of 100, according to Nankai University where she held a teaching post. [Photo/Xinhua]

This is a file photo of Ye Jiaying. Chinese classical poetry doyenne Ye Jiaying died on Sunday at the age of 100, according to Nankai University where she held a teaching post. [Photo/Xinhua]
Incoming Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del., called some Republican lawmakers' push to block transgender people from using restrooms that align with their gender an "attempt to misdirect" from issues Americans care about.

McBride was elected in November as the first openly transgender person to Congress.

"Every single time we hear them say the word 'trans,' look what they're doing with their right hand. Look at what they're doing to pick the pocket of American workers, to fleece seniors by privatizing Social Security and Medicare," she said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

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"Every bit of time and energy that is used to divert the attention of federal government to go after trans people is time and energy that is not focused on addressing the cost of living for our constituents. And we have to be clear that there is a real cost for the American worker every time they focus on this."

Sen. Sarah McBride speaks during an interview outside her home in Wilmington, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. Sen. McBride is running for the U.S. House of representatives.

New policy

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced a policy last week banning transgender people from using some Capitol restrooms that correspond with their gender. Johnson announced the policy two days after Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., introduced a resolution that would bar transgender women from using women's restrooms at the Capitol. She also filed broader legislation that would apply to every federal building and federally funded school.

Transgender rights was a prominent GOP campaign issue, and President-elect Donald Trump increasingly ran anti-transgender ads close to Election Day. About 0.5 percent of adults in the U.S. identify as transgender.

McBride told CBS Friday that she never planned to use multi-stall bathrooms at the Capitol, something she would have shared with new colleagues if they had asked.

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It was unclear how the policy would be enforced for transgender tourists or staff. Thousands of people work on the Capitol grounds, and millions visit each year.

Congresswoman-elect Sarah McBride delivers her victory speech to a room full of supporters at the Chase Center on the Riverfront on election night, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.

McBride has been criticized by some, including some in the LGBTQ community, for complying with Johnson's new policy and not taking a stand on the issue. McBride has urged her new Democratic colleagues to push back on dehumanizing language but not to let Congress or the media's focus be on culture fights.

"I didn't run for the United States House of Representatives to talk about what bathroom I use. I didn't run to talk about myself. I ran to deliver for Delawareans. And while Republicans in Congress seem focused on bathrooms and trans people, and specifically me, I'm focused on rolling up my sleeves, diving into the details, setting up my office, and beginning the hard work of delivering for Delawareans on the issues that I know keep them up at night," she said Sunday.

"At the end of the day, how I'm being treated does not matter. What matters is how the American people are being treated and whether we're actually focused on the issues that matter to them."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sarah McBride criticizes transgender bathroom ban at Capitol
ST. LOUIS  Authorities are asking for the publics help with locating a St. Louis homicide suspect wanted on several at-large warrants.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department says John Phillips, 45, is accused in the murder of Mack Wagner, 62, on July 29, 2024. Wagner was fatally shot inside a gas station in St. Louis Dutchtown neighborhood.

Whats behind the doors of this Festus, Missouri cave?

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As of Friday, the St. Louis Circuit Attorneys Office has charged Phillips with at-large warrants for first-degree murder, armed criminal action, first-degree robbery, and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Investigators say Phillips was previously arrested and charged in connection with a stealing case in 2023.

If you have any information on Phillips whereabouts, police urge you not to approach him, but call CrimeStoppers at 866-371-TIPS (8477) or 911 immediately.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Forty-one bodies have been found inside a Buddhist monastery in Thailand where they were allegedly being used in meditation practices.

Police are now trying to identify the cadavers discovered on Saturday and whether they were obtained legally by the Pa Nakhon Chaibovorn monastery in the lower north province of Phichit.

Maj Gen Tadej Klomkliang, chief of Phichit provincial police, told the Bangkok Post he was investigating how the deceased had died.

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The monastery claimed the bodies, which police said were accompanied with death and body donation certificates, were willingly donated by devoted followers.

Phra Ajarn Saifon Phandito, head of the monastery, said that the use of corpses was part of a meditation technique he developed.

Many of the people who come to learn are abbots and all these monks... pass on the knowledge, he told Thai PBS, the state broadcaster. I dont know how many have adopted my technique.

The police raid came days after 12 mummified bodies were discovered at another remote monastery, in neighbouring Kamphaeng Phet province, on Wednesday.

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Officers found the bodies, including that of a child, being used in meditation practices at the Siri Chan Forest Monastery. Followers believed dead bodies could provide supernatural powers, according to local media reports.

Ancient ritual

Corpse meditation is an ancient Buddhist ritual, largely limited to Thailand, where practitioners meditate next to cadavers at different stages of decomposition in order to increase awareness that death can strike at any time.

The corpse is often a child or young adult who died unexpectedly and whose body was donated to a temple by their family.

Thailands population is overwhelmingly Buddhist, but many hold beliefs outside the religion that include the worship of spirits and ghosts.

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Phichit police said they were working with authorities in other provinces to investigate how widespread the practice of corpse meditation was.

Thailands National Office of Buddhism was also looking into whether the monasterys corpse meditation practices conflict with Buddhist principles.

In May 2022, Thai police arrested Thawee Nanra, a 75-year-old suspected cult leader, whose followers worshipped corpses and consumed bodily fluids in an attempt to cure illnesses.

Police found 11 corpses inside the secret forest encampment, allegedly the bodies of former followers of Mr Thawee, who was later charged with illegally transporting corpses.

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MIE, Nov 25 (News On Japan) - The prestigious Matsusaka Beef Competition, a showcase of premium cattle from Mie Prefecture, was held Sunday, where the top-ranked cow was auctioned for almost $200,000 (30.32 million yen).

The event in Matsusaka City brought together 50 cows selected through preliminary rounds, featuring female cattle raised for over 900 days in the Matsusaka area that had never given birth. Judges evaluated factors such as body structure and meat quality balance.

As a result, "Tomomi 7," raised by 63-year-old Nao Noriaki from Meiwa Town, was awarded the top prize for its well-balanced meat quality and smooth coat.

Nao expressed his joy, saying, "I'm truly happy to win first place. The cow endured the summer heat, ate well, slept well, and grew into a magnificent specimen."

In the subsequent auction, Tomomi 7 was purchased for 30.32 million yen by Asahiya, a meat retailer based in Tsu City, drawing cheers and applause from the crowd.

Asahiya President Yoshihisa Koda commented, "I imagine it was a tough summer for the producers, given the extreme heat. I come every year intending to buy the No.1 cow."

Source: MBS
KYOTO, Nov 25 (News On Japan) - Touchless harassment, a form of obscene behavior that does not involve physical contact, is drawing increasing attention in Japan. Last month, Kyoto Prefectural Police arrested a man for persistently sniffing a girl's hair.

The arrest stemmed from an incident on a Kintetsu train, where a 48-year-old man followed a high school girl, stood closely behind her, and repeatedly sniffed her hair. The man was identified through security footage after an anonymous tip-off to the police reported his suspicious actions. While he was initially warned, his repeated offenses led to his eventual arrest. The court later fined him 400,000 yen through a summary indictment.

When interviewed, the man revealed his motive, stating, The smell excites me more than physical contact. He admitted he did not consider his actions a crime and thought he would not be caught. Reflecting on his behavior, he expressed remorse, saying, I am sorry for what I did.

Touchless harassment can include acts such as blowing air on a victims neck or ears, sniffing their hair, staring intently, or sending inappropriate images via smartphone data-sharing features like AirDrop. Even sitting unnecessarily close to someone on public transport or whispering obscene words can fall under this category. Despite the lack of physical contact, these actions cause victims significant distress and discomfort.

A recent survey targeting university students found that one in five women had experienced touchless harassment. However, recognizing and reporting such behavior remains challenging. Without clear physical evidence, victims often hesitate to come forward, fearing judgment or disbelief.

Experts stress the importance of staying vigilant, particularly in crowded spaces like trains. Preventative measures include observing suspicious behavior and making eye contact with potential offenders, which can deter further actions. Authorities also recommend discreetly capturing evidence, such as video footage, to strengthen claims.

Advocates for victims argue that increasing public awareness of touchless harassment is crucial. They urge society to view it as a serious crime, emphasizing that its non-physical nature should not undermine the gravity of the offense. Expanding the installation of surveillance cameras and encouraging victims to report incidents are also key steps to curbing this growing problem.

While the mans arrest sheds light on this hidden issue, many cases go unreported due to the difficulty of gathering evidence. Law enforcement officials acknowledge the hurdles in prosecuting such cases, underscoring the need for both institutional and societal efforts to address touchless harassment effectively.

Source: KTV NEWS
TOKYO, Nov 25 (News On Japan) - A wake for Princess Yuriko of Mikasa was held at her residence within the Akasaka Estate, attended by members of the Imperial family, including Princess Aiko, the eldest daughter of the Emperor and Empress.

The wake began on the evening of November 24th at 6 p.m., with the coffin placed in the Mikasa residence. Offerings, such as sacred Shinto branches from the Emperor and Empress and the Emperor Emeritus and Empress Emerita, were placed in front of the coffin. Prime Minister Ishiba, House of Representatives Speaker Nukaga, Liberal Democratic Party Advisor Aso, Defense Minister Nakatani, cabinet members, and relatives were among those who attended the ceremony.

The wake was led by Princess Akiko, granddaughter of the late princess and the chief mourner. Following her entry into the room, Prince and Princess Akishino entered to pay their respects before the coffin. The rooms lights were dimmed, and attendees observed a moment of silent prayer in solemnity. Princess Aiko, Princess Kako, and Prince Hisahito also attended the wake, joining other Imperial family members in offering their condolences.

Earlier, around 3:30 p.m., the Emperor and Empress, who do not attend funeral ceremonies due to Imperial customs, visited the residence to express their condolences. The Emperor Emeritus, accompanied by Empress Emerita Michiko using a walking stick, also paid their respects before the coffin.

The wake is being held over two days, November 24th and 25th. The main funeral ceremony, known as the "Renso no Gi," is scheduled to take place on November 26th.

Source: FNN
Nov 26 (NHK) - The Governor of Hyogo Prefecture in western Japan has expressed his view that there were no illegalities in his election campaign. The remark came as some are accusing him of violating the public offices election law over the use of a PR company in the campaign.

Saito Motohiko was re-elected as governor earlier this month after he lost his post amid power harassment and other accusations.

After the election, the representative of a PR company in the prefecture said online that the firm was involved in strategic planning of the campaign's social media management.

The statement also said the company was entrusted with overall public relations for the campaign and that the representative was responsible for strategic planning and setting up accounts, as the supervisor.

The public offices election law prohibits payment of compensation to individuals who conduct an election campaign online.

The internal affairs ministry says on its website that, in general, if a business entity plans an election campaign independently and in a discretionary manner, paying compensation to that entity could be considered bribery.

The prefectural election committee says it has received opinions that, if the content of the company representative's statement is true, the acts outlined could be deemed illegal.

In response, Saito told reporters in Tokyo on Monday that he had commissioned the company to produce materials such as posters, and paid about 700,000 yen, or around 4,500 dollars, for the cost.

He said his office and other entities were primarily responsible for the management of social media in the campaign.

He said he understands that the representative of the PR company took part in campaigning as an individual volunteer. He added that doesn't see any facts suggesting any violation of the public office election law.

When asked for details, Saito said his lawyer is dealing with the matter, and he will provide responses later.

Experts say social media had a huge impact on the gubernatorial election campaign.
Xi's LatAm trip promotes friendship, solidarity, cooperation, development: Chinese FM

Xinhua) 08:52, November 25, 2024

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers an important speech under the title "Shouldering Responsibility to Our Times And Jointly Promoting Asia-Pacific Development" at the 31st APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting at the Lima Convention Center in Lima, Peru, Nov. 16, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

BEIJING, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's just-concluded visit to Latin America is a journey of friendship across mountains and seas, a journey of solidarity to jointly promote development, and a journey of cooperation to expand partnership, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

From Nov. 13 to 23, Xi was invited to attend the 31st APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting and pay a state visit to Peru, and to attend the 19th G20 Summit and pay a state visit to Brazil.

During the 11 days, Xi attended nearly 40 bilateral and multilateral events and reached more than 60 cooperation documents, said Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

From Lima to Rio de Janeiro, Xi once again sent a clear message of firmly upholding multilateralism at the crossroads of human history, illuminated the "Latin American moment" of global governance with Chinese wisdom, and demonstrated China's image as a responsible major country with fairness, justice, courage, openness and inclusiveness, Wang said.

Xi attended the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima and delivered a written speech to the CEO summit, calling on Asia-Pacific economies to continuously adhere to true multilateralism, build an open and interconnected paradigm for Asia-Pacific cooperation, make green innovation a catalyst for the Asia-Pacific, and uphold a universally beneficial and inclusive vision for Asia-Pacific development, Wang said.

Wang said that Xi has always attached great importance to the issue of development. At the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Xi elaborated on China's concept of global governance in a comprehensive and systematic way, stressing the need to make global development more inclusive, beneficial to all, and more resilient, and build a just world of common development, Wang said.

Xi called for building a world economy characterized by cooperation, stability, openness, innovation and eco-friendliness, and announced China's eight actions for global development, including joining the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, Wang said.

The important initiatives have responded to the strong will of the Global South to seek equality and promote change, and have defined the right direction for improving global governance, Wang said.

Wang noted that the key highlight of Xi's visit to Peru was the Chinese president and his Peruvian counterpart, Dina Boluarte, jointly attending the opening ceremony of the Chancay Port via video link. Chancay Port is the first smart port and the first green port in South America, Wang said, adding that once completed, it will bring huge revenues to Peru and contribute to establishing a new Asia-Latin America land-sea corridor with the Chancay Port as a starting point.

In Brazil, Xi and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva engaged in in-depth and amicable strategic communication, agreeing that the China-Brazil relationship is at its best in history, said Wang.

The two countries announced an elevation of their ties to the community with a shared future for a more just world and a more sustainable planet and decided to establish synergies between the Belt and Road Initiative and Brazil's development strategies, said Wang, adding that Xi's visit is an important milestone in the history of China-Brazil relations.

Wang said that Xi held more than 10 bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the multilateral gatherings. In Xi's meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, the two heads of state stressed the extreme importance of China-U.S. relations, noting that a stable China-U.S. relationship is critical not only to the interests of the two peoples, but also to the future and destiny of the entire humanity, Wang said.

Xi reiterated China's principles and positions on such major issues as Taiwan, urging the two sides to shoulder the responsibilities of major countries and keep exploring the right way for two major countries to get along well with each other and inject more certainty and positive energy into the world, Wang said.

Xi also met with leaders of France, Germany, Britain and other major European countries respectively, stressing that China and Europe should view each other from a long-term and strategic perspective, adhere to partnership, commit to properly resolving differences through dialogue and consultation, and continue to write cooperative stories of mutual achievement, said Wang.

During his trip, Xi elaborated on China's important measures to promote high-quality development and high-level opening-up through talks and meetings, public addresses, written speeches, and signed articles, Wang said, adding that the Chinese president welcomed all parties to grow together with the Chinese economy and work together for the modernization of all countries featuring peaceful development, mutually beneficial cooperation and common prosperity.

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers an important speech entitled "Working Together for a Fair and Equitable Global Governance System" at the Session II of the 19th G20 Summit on Reform of the Institutions of Global Governance in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Nov. 18, 2024. Xi attended the G20 Summit here on Monday. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a grand welcome ceremony hosted by Peruvian President Dina Boluarte in Lima, Peru, Nov. 14, 2024. Xi on Thursday held talks with Boluarte in Lima. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Peruvian counterpart, Dina Boluarte, attend the opening ceremony of the Chancay Port via video link in Lima, Peru, Nov. 14, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brasilia, Brazil, Nov. 20, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva sign and issue a joint statement on jointly building the China-Brazil community with a shared future for a more just world and a more sustainable planet in Brasilia, Brazil, Nov. 20, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders and representatives from APEC member economies pose for a group photo in Lima, Peru, Nov. 16, 2024. Xi on Saturday delivered an important speech at the 31st APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting under the title "Shouldering Responsibility to Our Times And Jointly Promoting Asia-Pacific Development." (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

Chinese President Xi Jinping poses for a group photo with other participating leaders after the closing session of the 19th G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Nov. 19, 2024. Xi attended the closing session of the 19th G20 Summit on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
The lotus petals fell.

Doyenne of Chinese classical poetry Ye Jiaying died on Sunday at the age of 100, according to Nankai University, where she held a teaching post.

The university said in an obituary that Ye died of illness at 3:23 p.m. in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin.

Ye dedicated seven decades to the research, teaching and promotion of classical Chinese poetry in China and beyond. She was the teacher of many renowned Chinese literary masters.

She famously said, "My lotus petals will fall, so I must make sure the lotus seeds live on."

Born into a literary family in Beijing in 1924, Ye moved to Taiwan with her husband in 1948 and had since been parted from her hometown on the Chinese mainland for decades.

In the 1960s, Ye started teaching at American and Canadian universities.

Starting in 1979, Ye returned to the Chinese mainland every year to give lectures on Chinese literature and poetry, after learning about the scarcity of teachers in schools. She lived in Nankai University during her final years.

The university said Ye has donated almost all her assets to several funds for the research and promotion of Chinese classical literature.

Even in her final years, she was active on the podium carrying on her "lifelong ambition to pass on beautiful poems to the next generation."

In 2020, a biographical documentary on her life, "Like the Dyer's Hand," hit the screen, inspiring many literature lovers.

On China's popular social media Sina Weibo, news of her death has garnered thousands of comments, with many netizens expressing grief at the death of the "daughter of poetry."

"You lit my path to the world of classical poetry when I was a student. May you rest in peace!" a netizen commented.
TOKYO, Nov 26 (News On Japan) - Kozo Iizuka, a former senior official convicted in a 2019 car crash in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, that killed two people and injured nine others, has died at the age of 93. Iizuka passed away in October, reportedly due to natural causes.

The crash occurred in April 2019 when a car driven by Iizuka went out of control, killing a mother and her young daughter and causing injuries ranging from minor to serious for nine others. Iizuka was found guilty of negligence resulting in death and injury, as he was deemed to have mistaken the accelerator for the brake. Following his conviction, Iizuka was sentenced to five years in prison and had been serving his sentence.

Takuya Matsunaga, who lost his wife and daughter in the incident, commented on X: "I extend my heartfelt prayers for his repose. What we as a society must do is not to continue criticizing him but to learn from this tragedy and work together to prevent such incidents in the future."

Source: BIZ
By Oladipo Abiola

The Bayelsa State Governor, Duoye Diri, has proceeded on annual leave with effect from Monday, 25th November, 2024.

The Governor, in a personally signed statement on Monday, disclosed that in his absence, the State Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, would take over all official functions.

He also assured that his absence would not in any way affect governance or cause delays in the execution of all ongoing projects and programmes by various ministries, agencies and departments.

Governor Diri hinted that he had not taken a break since he was inaugurated for a second term in office in February this year.

With effect from today, November 25, 2024, I am proceeding on my annual leave.

It has been a very busy year for me since our inauguration for the 2nd term in February this year.

My absence will not in anyway affect governance in the State as the Deputy Governor, His Excellency, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, has the mandate to take charge of all state functions.

Also, my absence shall not in anyway cause delay in the execution of all ongoing projects and programmes by various ministries, agencies and departments, he submitted.

On the blackout in the state, caused by the damaged Ahoada-Yenagoa 132kV line, which has lasted several months, Governor Diri said repair works are still ongoing and expressed optimism that power would soon be restored to the state.

He acknowledged the personal and economic hardships brought about by the development and appealed to the people to exercise a little more patience.

On the prolonged blackout in the State, I am happy that our intervention in the repairs of the vandalised towers is yielding result with the completion of restringing of the damaged Ahoada-Yenagoa 132kV line.

In as much as the transmission line does not belong to the Bayelsa State Government, our intervention was purely in the interest of the people.

I understand the pains and the economic loss our people have been subjected to due to the blackout. The business owners are the worst hit!

With the comprehensive repair works done so far, I am hopeful power will soon be restored once the recently vandalised conductor at towers 29 to 31 is replaced.

I have also been reliably informed that both conventional and local security have been engaged at Ula Ikata and Ihuike communities in Ahoada-East LGA of Rivers State to secure the site until other repair works are completed.

While we battle to restore public power, our government has commenced a process to develop our own Independent Power Plant through the procurement and installation of new Gas Turbines.

We are committed to ensuring steady electricity supply in the State in line with our ASSURED Prosperity Agenda, he said.
By Kingsley Omonobi

The Nigerian Air Force said on Monday that fighter aircraft of its air component, Operation Hadin Kai, in a decisive operation on November 23, 2024, delivered a crushing blow to terrorist elements in Jubillaram, a notorious enclave in the Tumbuns area of the Lake Chad Basin.

Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Olusola Akinboyewa, said, This strategic location, identified through meticulous intelligence efforts, served as a critical food storage site and a sanctuary for terrorist commanders and fighters.

Intelligence had previously linked terrorists in this location to recent attacks, including the assault on troops in Kareto on 16 November 2024.

In response, Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets launched a robust air interdiction mission, destroying identified structures used as storage facilities and neutralising terrorists on-site.

Mop-up operations using cannons ensured the complete elimination of fleeing hostile elements.

The operations success was made possible by extensive intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions conducted over several days, confirming the presence of active terrorist structures camouflaged under dense vegetation.

The destruction of the terrorist enclave, including food storage facilities, severely disrupted their logistical operations.

The neutralisation of a significant number of fighters diminished their capacity to launch future attacks.

This mission demonstrates the NAFs unwavering commitment to defending our nation and people, acting singly and supporting surface forces in counterterrorism operations.

The NAF will sustain these robust independent and joint operations until all enemies of Nigerias prosperity and wellbeing are brought to justice.
For those interested in starting a business, Brandon Struebing has a definition of business that sounds interesting.

Business is solving problems profitably, he said.

Struebing is a business management professor at Iowa Western Community College. He also, one might say, practices what he preaches, as he has two businesses of his own.

I enjoy solving problems and doing it in a way to make money, he said. I recommend to my students that instead of focusing on making a lot of money, they should focus on solving a problem for people or companies.

One needs to be good in running a business or end up out of business, Struebing said.

The market rewards those who are efficient and effective in solving problems, he said. Thats the thing to think about first.

'Figure it out as you go'

Struebing offers other tips for prospective entrepreneurs that he learned along the way.

You just need to get started and figure it out as you go, he said. You wont be fully prepared for starting your own business, but you need to trust that with hard work and some luck, you will figure it out.

Entrepreneurship is about showing up every day and putting in the work, even when its tough or things arent going the right way, Struebing said.

That consistency is what builds success over time, he said.

Another tip he learned early on is the importance of having access to capital (money).

If you run out of money before you make money, its over, even if it would be great business in the long run, he said.

Its also important to have involvement with other people or business partners who share the same values and can offer help if theres a struggle in solving a problem, Struebing said.

A business partner needs to offer at least one of the following: capital/money, knowledge or expertise in an area that you arent familiar with, a network of people who can help your business, and the ability to share the workload and provide emotional support during tough times, he said.

There are other tips specifically for younger people wanting to get going, Struebing said.

They should go to work for someone else for a few years to learn as much as possible about life or the industry they may want to get into, he said.

Also, you can save money, because starting a business requires a lot of capital, Struebing said. Thats ultimately how I got to where I am now. I got into banking, saved enough for one real estate investment property and now I have two other businesses.

On average, most people starting a business are in their 30s, he said.

They are more mature, have expertise and hopefully some money, Struebing said.

He has taught numerous business classes at Iowa Western since early 2018. These include introductory to business, personal finances, and workplace empowerment and preparedness.

About one third of my students are interested in becoming business owners, one third are interested in working for a business and one third are not sure what they want to do yet, Struebing said.

Another resource on campus

Theres additional help at Iowa Western for those interested in starting a business: the Small Business Development Center, one of 19 such centers across the state and part of a national network.

The center provides no-cost technical assistance for small businesses and start-ups in southwest Iowa.

We all provide basic services at no cost and its always confidential, said Elizabeth Christensen, regional director. We do one-on-one counseling, we provide census and demographic information, and we can create a financial plan and projection.

To have such a plan and projection is important when it comes to seeking funds from lenders, Christensen said.

Most lenders want a business plan and projection and we can help in that regard, she said.

Another service is helping new owners how to register their businesses.

Our center also helps companies who want to do business overseas, Christensen said.

The center also offers help in public policy and government relations, business planning, management issues and training, financial resources and assistance, import assistance, legal services, marketing/sales, networking organizations, information on patenting, and much more.

The center is also able to provide assistance in securing grants for new companies.

Thats a huge help, Christensen said.

Struebing began his venture into the business world by working as a commercial banker.

I started buying rental properties, he said. That was my first business venture and I had a partner.

Eventually, he sold most of his properties for other things, he said.

I used some money for a personal residence, but also to start two other businesses, Struebing said.

His first business was a pet supply company.

We chose to bring Pet Supplies Plus to Omaha because we saw an opportunity to provide pet owners here with better service and affordability, while supporting the local economy with new jobs, he said.

His most recent business is called GigWorx, located at 14th and Jones streets in downtown Omaha.

GigWorx is an on-demand workforce solutions company that utilizes technology to connect business partners with an underutilized labor force, he said.

The company uses an app that help companies find needed general laborers, while also helping those seeking work, he said.

Both use our technology to book gigs and accept gig work through an app, Struebing said.
The fourth edition of the Katutura Fashion Week (KFW) concluded in Namibia's capital, Windhoek, on Saturday evening, with innovation and inclusivity taking center stage.

Katutura, once lacking a platform for designers to showcase their talents and create opportunities, saw a change with the launch of KFW in 2019.

Dennis Hendriks, founder of the Katutura Fashion Week, said that the two-day event, held under the theme "Inventing Fashion Today," celebrates the fusion of fashion, culture and local tourism.

"The show is thus an inclusive platform for all emerging and seasoned fashion designers, models and artists to showcase items that highlight the rich diversity that defines our fashion landscape," he said Sunday.

The show attracted local participants and fashion designers from other countries, including South Africa, Botswana and Angola. Models walked a straight runway, showcasing traditional, contemporary and crochet outfits. Jewelry designs, featuring necklaces, bracelets and rings, added a finishing touch, while handbags and accessories crafted from repurposed materials complemented the various fashion pieces.

Participants laud the platform for creating opportunities for local designers. Naha Neumbo, a local fashion designer who is showcasing her collection for the third year, said that the KFW has catapulted her fashion enterprise.

Before the event, Neumbo, a fashion designer since 2011, worked from home, making outfits for friends and close relatives. However, her first showcase with the KFW marked a turning point, leading to a growing client base and an expanded range of services for a broader audience.

Since then, she has also designed attire for the country's official national pageantry, Miss Namibia. "It is really a marketing avenue for lesser-known fashion designers seeking to grow," she said.

This year's event placed a strong emphasis on sustainable practices and cultural preservation within the fashion industry. Neumbo's summer collection demonstrated her commitment to environmental protection.

"I used old offcuts from materials from old clients and patched them to create good summer attire. By not throwing this into the environment, one protects it," she said.

Meanwhile, the event's impact extended far beyond the runway, centering around inclusivity. It featured designs from participants aged 65 and 55, marking their first time showcasing work on such a stage.

Emgard Gaweses has been a tailor in Katutura since moving to Windhoek in 2008. She specializes in making local indigenous Nama tribe clothing, scarves with different pieces patched and traditional bags.

"When I moved to Windhoek, I hoped to earn money, so I started sewing by hand, a skill I learned from my mother while growing up," she said. With the income generated, she bought a sewing machine in 2011.

In spite of her passion and skills, she has never had models showcase her attire on a ramp or at an event. On Saturday evening, at the age of 65, Gaweses' designs were showcased at the KFW.

"This is my first time seeing my designs paraded to many people and myself getting on a stage. I had never imagined that this would be possible. I am happy," she said. Meanwhile, she hopes that the showcase will aid her business growth.

Similarly, 55-year-old Leentjie Gereses described her feature at the KFW as "a proud moment that seemed farfetched."

In early 2014, Gereses turned to her passion for fashion to fulfill her childhood dream. She wanted to supplement her income as a domestic worker and turned to her love for sewing.

"I used my aunt's sewing machine and eventually got my own. I started taking more orders," she said. As luck would have it for her, she got a call to apply to participate in the KFW.

"Whoever thought that such a moment could come at 55? It shows how one should never give up," Gereses said. With the showcase, she plans to expand her business of dresses, shirts, trousers and bags.

In the meantime, for the designers, participation in the event also fostered a sense of unity and collaboration with other designers, models and fashion enthusiasts.

"It was a good platform for networking and forming partnerships that elevate our enterprises," Neumbo said.
The Algerian regime has confirmed through its news agency the arbitrary arrest of Boualem Sansal, a renowned novelist with a critic of the military regime in Algiers.

In a diatribe on the national news agency APS, the military regime showed its contempt for free writers such as Sansal whom it called pseudo writer, while describing the voices that call for his release as pro-zionist and pro-Moroccan.

Sansal, who has dual French and Algerian nationality, disappeared a few days ago upon his arrival in Algiers airport, coming from France where his wife lives.

His arrest outraged writers from across the globe, including Nobel prize winners and the most recent recipient of the Goncourt award Kamal Daoud, who expressed deep concern at the persecution of Sansal.

Freedom of expression is nothing but a memory in the face of repression, imprisonments, and the surveillance of the entire society, wrote Kamal Daoud in Le Point after the arrest of his colleague Sansal.

The French political class is also alerting to the erratic nature of the Algerian regime who does not shy away from persecuting free thinkers who derail from the regimes rhetoric. Some French intellectuals see in the arrest of Sansal a reprisal against France, given Sansals stands in support of normal ties with France.

Sansal is an outspoken critic of the military regime in Algiers. His books and interviews offer a critical perspective into post-independence Algeria in which he blames the regime for installing a Soviet-like regime.

In an interview recently, he criticized the regimes tactics in using France as a scapegoat to pin all Algerias woes on.

He irked the military rulers when he mentioned the colonial origins of Algerias current borders at the expense of historical Moroccan territories.

Sansal also revisited the Algerian civil war, known as the black decade, opposing Islamists to the state, when some 200,000 civilians died. The Algerian state imposes a blackout on that bloody era.

Sansals case highlights the regimes targeting of renowned figures, including artists like Cheb Khaled who is facing a fomented espionage case.
Morocco has attached particular importance to health cooperation in Africa, as part of a larger south-south cooperation approach, that aims at addressing the continents pressing human development needs.

The launch of the African Academy of Health Sciences, to promote research and training and enhance the continents health sovereignty is another brick in the edifice of Moroccos African foreign policy.

The academy thus plans to fill in the research gap between African experts with a view of creating synergies to find African solutions to African challenges, while fostering networks with global research centers.

Morocco has made steady efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in critical medicine and medical equipment. With lessons learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic, the North African country, under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, has set the goal of strengthening its health sovereignty by giving investments in the medical and pharmaceutical sector a strategic character eligible to state aid.

Africa took center stage in this strategy with the country dedicating a part of its production of vaccines and medicine to the continent.

Faithful to its south-south cooperation paradigm, Morocco is also leading by example. During the Covid-19 pandemic, when access to medical equipment was complicated amid export restrictions and rarity in the international market, Morocco sent masks, visors, hygiene caps, gowns, hydroalcoholic gel, and medications like chloroquine and azithromycin to 15 African countries.

Morocco is also working to become a major vaccine producer with a focus to export to Africa. In October last year, Moroccan health minister had told a summit of African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Marrakech, that the Kingdom was forging public-private partnerships to develop the entire value chain of the local manufacturing of vaccines and biotechnologies products, in order to achieve the Moroccan and continental vaccine sovereignty.

Under the leadership of His Majesty, the King Mohammed VI, the kingdom of Morocco is strongly committed to collaborate and support the Africa CDC efforts, in order to achieve the goal of 60% of Africas vaccine needs produced on the continent by 2040, he had said.
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Beijings recent decision to eliminate tariffs for goods from least developed countries (LDCs) with diplomatic relations with China, including 33 in Africa, has been met with a great deal of skepticism among experts.

The decision, announced by President Xi Jinping at the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) that was held in Beijing in early September, aims to boost African exports to China. However, many experts have expressed their skepticism, arguing that past China-Africa trade agreements have favored the Asian economic powerhouse more than the continent, often leading to local market disruptions. In fact, analysts see it as part of Beijings long-term strategy to expand Chinas influence in Africa without bringing much benefit to the LDCs. This move has not generated the excitement it should, due to well-known structural difficulties in Africa, Emmanuel Owusu-Sekyere from the Accra-based African Center for Economic Transformation.

These significant structural challenges faced by Africa in turn hinder its ability to capitalize on such offers, experts point out. As a result, the cooperation has benefitted China much more than it has Africa, Owusu-Sekyere said, adding that Africa has given China unbridled access to its markets, which has crippled local production capacity in several aspects of the manufacturing sector e.g., textiles. The policy to reduce tariffs for goods from the LDCs is also widely perceived as Beijings attempt to rival US influence in Africa, particularly amid dissatisfaction with the rigid US policies underlying the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Consequently, China sees this as an opportunity to undermine the US-led world order and promote its own narrow interests, said Samir Bhattacharya from the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.
Namibia approaches a pivotal election that could result in its first female president, as Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah leads early polls. With 1.4 million registered voters and 15 political parties competing, the election represents a crucial test for the ruling SWAPO partys continued dominance.

SWAPO, which has governed since independence in 1990, faces declining support after losing its two-thirds parliamentary majority in 2019 amid corruption scandals in the fishing industry. Political analysts suggest this erosion of support, particularly among younger voters disconnected from liberation struggle narratives, may signal permanent changes in Namibian politics.

Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, campaigns on promises to address youth unemployment through an ambitious $4.7 billion job creation program targeting 500,000 positions. Her potential victory would follow other female African leaders like Liberias Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Malawis Joyce Banda.

The election occurs amid regional political shifts, including recent changes in South Africa and Botswanas long-standing ruling parties. Main opposition comes from the Independent Patriots for Change and the Affirmative Repositioning party.

Key campaign issues include womens rights, reproductive healthcare, and equal pay. Political experts emphasize the importance of transparent governance and increased female political participation should Nandi-Ndaitwah win. The election reflects broader regional trends of political transformation, as demonstrated by recent developments in neighboring countries.
The Mauritanian authorities have announced the steps taken to address the situation of a group of Pakistani nationals who had entered the country illegally a few weeks ago via the border with Mali. A press release issued on Saturday, detained the measures, including arrest and impending deportation.

The press release noted that the individuals were detained by the appropriate authorities shortly after their unauthorized entry. A decision was subsequently made to expel them and facilitate their return to Pakistan, their country of origin.

Efforts to transfer the detainees back to Mali were unsuccessful, as Malian authorities declined to admit them, citing the lack of identity or travel documents proving their entry through Malian territory.

Faced with this complication, Mauritanian authorities decided to transport the individuals to Nouakchott to arrange their deportation directly to Pakistan. The deportation process is being carried out in accordance with Mauritanian law and in coordination with the Pakistani consular services in Nouakchott.

The Pakistani consulate confirmed its involvement in the matter, stating that it had communicated with the families of the detained individuals in Pakistan. According to the consulate, the families have agreed to cover the costs associated with repatriating their relatives.

This incident underscores the challenges faced by countries in managing cross-border movements, particularly in regions with porous borders and limited documentation. Mauritanias swift coordination with consular services highlights its commitment to adhering to legal protocols while ensuring humane handling of such cases.
The Sudanese Army says it has regained control of Sinja, a key town to the south of the capital Khartoum. Sinja, a regional capital, had been in the hands of General Hemedtis paramilitaries for five months.

Sinja has returned to the arms of the nation: this is how the Sudanese governments information minister announced the news.

Sinja has been liberated, the Sudanese regular army, said Saturday November 23, posting on social networks images filmed, according to it, inside the main base of the city.

Sinja, capital of the State of Sennar, is an important city in the ongoing conflict, because it is located on a strategic road which, when it is not occupied, allows to connect the areas controlled by the army in the east and in the center of the country.

General Burhan went on Saturday to the city of Sennar, 60 km further north, to celebrate this liberation. The two cities, Sennar and Sinja, fell into the hands of the paramilitaries in June after a lightning offensive. This led to the flight of more than 700,000 Sudanese, according to the UN.

As for those who remained, they have reportedly suffered abuses by the paramilitaries in recent months, according to testimonies collected by several NGOs.
The African Unions Peace and Security Council (PSC) has reasserted the relevance of the Skhirat and Bouznika processes to resolve the Libyan crisis.

In a communique issued at the end of its 1244th meeting, held on November 12, the AU PSC reiterated that the Skhirat Agreement, signed on December 17, 2015, resulting from the reconciliation process between the Libyan parties, under the auspices of the UN, remains one of the foundations and credible frameworks for a lasting political solution to the Libyan crisis.

The AU PSC also took note of the considerable progress achieved in the preparations to conduct the electoral process in Libya during the meetings of the Joint Commission between the House of Representatives and the High Council of State, held from May 22 to June 6, 2023 in Bouznika, Morocco. The meetings resolved disagreements and formulated the laws governing the forthcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in Libya, the PSC said in the communique.

During the AU PSC meeting, the Kingdoms Permanent Representative to the AU and UNECA, Mohamed Arrouchi, stressed the importance of dialogue and consultation between the various Libyan stakeholders as the only way out of the crisis.

He also recalled Moroccos crucial role in resolving the Libyan conflict, mainly by hosting the negotiations that culminated into the Skhirat Agreement in December 2015.

Arrouchi had highlighted the importance of the results achieved at the Bouznika meetings of the Joint Commission between the House of Representatives and the High Council of State. These discussions helped forge a consensus on the electoral laws and resolve the points of divergence essential to the organization of presidential and parliamentary elections in Libya.

The meetings hosted by Morocco between the Libyan parties since the outbreak of political conflict in this brotherly country are part of the Kingdoms sincere efforts to resolve the crisis peacefully and without foreign interference, he said.

The Moroccan diplomat stressed that the conditions are currently ripe in Libya for progress in the political process, and that the only way to resolve the issue of legitimacy is through a transparent and inclusive electoral process.


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And I definitely helped. Ice On My Teeth has been in my head pretty much everyday. I dont want to call myself an Atiny butperhapsperhaps they are my favorite boy band, okay??



Speaking of kpop, I managed to get tickets to see Stray Kids in LA! There was over 68k people before me in the queue so I thought it was pointless. I was clueless and didnt know they were that big. My friend says theyre biggest in the 4th gen group? Anyway, couldnt find anyone to go with so Im going alone.



Edited at 2024-11-25 08:31 pm (UTC)

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Some girl groups are bigger than skz from the 4th gen. Some get around 500k in queues lol

Ateez gets over 70k though their biggest one night crowd was 150k



Edited at 2024-11-25 09:59 pm (UTC)

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Oh shitIm scared for Ateez. Them I will try my hardest. I need to save up in advance.

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Congrats on getting tickets! All the venues were a bloodbath with the queue to get tickets on Ticketmaster. I was number 56000+ for NYC and just gave up, but did better for the DC venue and scored seated seats in the stadium.



SKZ is my ult group and I'm glad to see more people support them and see them live! They are wonderful.





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There was over 68k people before me in the queue so I thought it was pointless.



I will be trying to get tickets on Wednesday for their London gig and this is making my hopes drop 

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thats crazy because i was eyeing some stray kids tickets when they came down to australi and like it was about 70-80% sold out up until like a week before the concert started

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I was 55k in queue for NY lol

We ended up getting tickets for day 2 since they dropped it immediately no warning and i was still 8k for that

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Selfish Waltz is so good!! I got tickets for the London concert so looking forward to it

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Jealous. I got into them after they left L.A so I was screwed lol.

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I've got tickets to Manchester! so glad they had a non London date lmao

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I'm in Nottingham so I could have gone to either but tickets were easier to get for London lol

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their title tracks are hit and miss for me, but they kill their live performances. i'm listening to izna's debut mini-album and it's surprisingly good.

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also got number 4 in uk charts! which I definitely contributed to 

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Yay congrats to them. Their live performances are always great. I do like when artists from not the big 3 do well.

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I am so happy for them!! ATEEZ is one of my favorite groups, and they deserve all their success and more.

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4th gen leaders! Im so proud of them. Their performance are truly unbeatable.

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This album made me a fan and an Atiny. I've been avoiding Ateez because I reached my personal limit for bgs at 3 but then the Ice on my Teeth M/v happened...I saw the visuals AND then I listened to the whole album and was like "Excuse me, sirs".



Now I'm consuming all their candid company and find them very charming and adorable.



I will say that my favorite groups who come from smaller companies have a unique quality about them, that I can't really explain.

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not surprised selfish waltz is winning on the poll, it is good!!

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yayyyyy congrats to them



also selfish waltz is soooooooooo good. i love the whole ep but that one is just !!!!!

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Selfish waltz is that bitch.

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Congrats to them but the single and the album continue to be subpar, literally only liked Selfish Waltz this time around. It's a shame because the video and the styling for their music show appearances are flawless for this era.

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i'm sorry to hear you haven't enjoyed the last few releases, personally i think they're some of their most consistent in terms of quality and replay value

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glad we are all in agreement selfish waltz is the best song lol



also I wasn't sold on ice on my teeth when I saw the performance but it does sound better in headphones

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I came back into this post to show off the new user pic I made.



Now back to listening to "Enough" on repeat.

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i need an ateez icon!

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Chinese Ambassador to Tunisia Wan Li (C, back row) poses for photo with the artists of Star-Returning in Tunis, Tunisia, Nov. 23, 2024. The 25th Carthage Theater Days (JTC) festival kicked off on Saturday evening in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, and will run until Nov. 30. After the opening ceremony, the guests attended a show entitled "Star-Returning," which was performed by artists from Southwest China's Liangshan at the Opera Theatre in the City of Culture. (Photo by Adel Ezzine/Xinhua)



The 25th Carthage Theater Days (JTC) festival kicked off on Saturday evening in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, and will run until Nov. 30.

Under the theme "Theatre is Resistance and Art is Life," the opening ceremony was held at the Municipal Theater of Tunis, attended by Tunisia's Minister of Culture Amina Srarfi, alongside numerous diplomatic representatives, theater professionals, cultural figures, and media personnel from different countries.

Mohamed Mounir Argui, director of the 25th JTC, highlighted in his opening remarks that this year marks the silver jubilee of the festival, now recognized as one of the oldest theatre festivals in the Arab world and Africa.

After the opening ceremony, the guests attended a show entitled "Star-Returning," which was performed by artists from Southwest China's Liangshan at the Opera Theatre in the City of Culture.

A total of 32 countries are participating in the JTC, during which 125 theatrical performances from the participating countries will be presented.
North Korea has sent troops to support Russia's war efforts in Ukraine in exchange for missiles and other military equipment.

South Korea has said that in return for sending thousands of troops to assist Russia in fighting Ukraine, North Korea has received missiles from Moscow, along with other defense equipment.

South Koreas national security adviser Shin Won-sik was asked by a reporter Friday what Pyongyang stands to gain from deploying an estimated 10,000 troops to Russia, to which he responded: "It is understood that North Korea has been provided with related equipment and anti-aircraft missiles to strengthen Pyongyang's weak air defense system."

Central Pyongyang, via Reuters

This appears based on the defense pact signed between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un this summer. It requires both nations to provide military assistance to the other "without delay" if their territory comes under attack.

North Korean troops are reported to already be dispatched to Kursk region to assist Russian forces in repelling the Ukrainian cross-border offensive which stretches back to early August.

South Koreas National Intelligence Service has briefed lawmakers this week, describing that DPRK troops in Russia were likely attached to an airborne brigade and marine unit. Intelligence officials have further alleged that the north has transferred 3,000 containers of artillery, missiles and other arms to Moscow throughout the Ukraine conflict. Russian oil has also been transferred.

A new, Friday BBC report says both countries are also colluding to break US-led sanctions:

Russia is estimated to have supplied North Korea with more than a million barrels of oil since March this year, according to satellite imagery analysis from the Open Source Centre, a non-profit research group based in the UK.

The oil is payment for the weapons and troops Pyongyang has sent Moscow to fuel its war in Ukraine, leading experts and UK Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, have told the BBC.

North Korea is barred from UN and Western sanctions from buying oil on the open market. New satellite images purport to show sanctions-busting in progress with the help of Moscow:

The satellite images, shared exclusively with the BBC, show more than a dozen different North Korean oil tankers arriving at an oil terminal in Russias Far East a total of 43 times over the past eight months.

Further pictures, taken of the ships at sea, appear to show the tankers arriving empty, and leaving almost full.

BBC/Planet Labs images:

The US and UK governments have meanwhile cited the North Korean troop presence in Russia and Ukraine as justification for authorizing Kiev's attacks on Russian territory using long-range missiles. Putin has in turn blamed the West and this policy in particular for turning the conflict into a "global" one.

By Zerohedge.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
For most of this year, the geopolitical premium in oil prices was coming from the Middle East flare-ups amid the Israel-Iran escalation. At the end of 2024, the other major conflict, between Russia and Ukraine, is grabbing headlines with an escalation of hostilities, Ukraines first use of long-range missiles provided by Western powers for strikes within Russia, a new missile type Moscow is using to hit Ukraine, and Putins new nuclear doctrine.

The end of this year is set to see wild swings in oil prices amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Russia-Ukraine war and the renewed saber-rattling from Vladimir Putin about the potential use of nuclear weapons.

Last week, Ukraine fired long-range missiles supplied by the United States and the UK into Russian territory. Russia, for its part, deployed a new type of medium-range missile to strike the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

Russia also lowered its threshold of scenarios in which it could use nuclear weapons, in yet another warning from Moscow to the West since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The last week alone in the Ukraine war developments raised geopolitical tensions beyond levels seen during the year-long conflict between Israel and Iran-backed militants, according to Ole Hansen, Head of Commodity Strategy at Saxo Bank.

Overall, last week commodities had their best week since April, pushed up by rising geopolitical tensions and adverse weather, Hansen wrote in a weekly commentary.

Related: U.S. Drilling Activity Slips Further As Market Volatility Remains

The Russia vs. Ukraine/West escalation raised the geopolitical premium in all commodities. The U.S. dollar responded with its eighth weekly gain, while gold saw fresh haven demand, injecting momentum back into the market after an early November correction. Crude oil also benefited, despite forecasts for ample supply and sluggish demand through 2025, Hansen said.

Overall commodities gains last week were led by energy and precious metals, including WTI and Brent crude, the heavyweights in the Bloomberg Commodity Index tracking 24 major futures markets, the strategist noted.

Crude oil prices booked a weekly gain last week, supported by rising refinery margins for distillate products amid an incoming cold snap driving US natural gas prices to a one-year high, heightened RussiaUkraine tensions, and doubts about OPEC+ unwinding voluntary production cuts in 2025 due to market oversupply, Hansen said.

Yet, the expected oversupply in 2025 is capping the war premium gains. Despite the heightened tensions between Russia and the Western powers, the fundamentals remain unsupportive as they currently point to an oversupplied market next year.

Weak fundamentals could prompt the OPEC+ group at the December 1 meeting to delay  once again  the output increase currently planned to begin in January, according to recent market speculation.

Despite weak fundamentals, oil prices could be boosted by geopolitics at the end of this year and early next year.

In another escalation from an antagonist of the U.S. and its Western allies, Iran said at the end of last week that it would launch new and advanced centrifuges in response to a resolution of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that censures Tehran for what the agency described as a lack of cooperation.

Irans most recent nuclear activities raise the already high probability that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump would adopt a tougher stance against Tehran and enforce stricter sanctions on Iranian oil exports.

Reduced supply from Iran, which sells most of its sanctioned oil at below-market prices in China, would push oil prices higher.

Significantly lower Iranian oil supply is a key upside risk to oil prices in the near term, alongside the rising geopolitical and war premium.

Global demand is holding weaker than previously thought, the high spare capacity in several OPEC producers, and the increasing non-OPEC+ supply are key downside drivers.

As the year ends, geopolitical tensions could result in increased volatility in the oil markets.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Back in September, we reported that Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) signaled a willingness to raise its informal offer to 60 euros per share for a valuation of $12.6 billion for German plastics and chemicals maker Covestro. The latest offer would represent a premium of nearly 30% to Covestro's share price. ADNOC last raised its informal offer to 57 euros per share in July, although no final decision has yet been made.

ADNOC is going on a real M&A spree: Abu Dhabis national oil company is also looking to acquire Austria's integrated energy company OMV (OTCPK:OMVJF) in a potential merger of the two companies that could form an entity worth $30 billion.

At first glance, one deal makes plenty of sense while the other looks like a bummer. Last week, OMV announced a major natural gas discovery in the Norwegian Sea.

In a statement released on Friday, OMV said it had found preliminary estimated total recoverable natural gas volumes of up to 140 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) after completing a drilling operation in the Norwegian Sea targeting its Haydn/Monn exploration prospects. The deepwater prospect is located 300 km west of the Norwegian mainland at a water depth of 1,064m.

Morgan Stanely recently predicted that natural gas markets are poised to enter a new cycle of demand growth thanks to surging LNG exports and rising electricity demand. Natural gas is currently enjoying a strong rally with prices jumping nearly 30% over the past two weeks on expectations of higher demand as production continues to slow down. Meanwhile, colder weather at the end of November is expected to boost heating demand, with European natural gas futures jumped above 48.2 per megawatt-hour on Monday, approaching the one-year high of 48.7 as the outlook of higher demand magnified the impact of uncertain supply.

Related: Russia-Ukraine Escalation Reignites Oils War Premium



In sharp contrast, petrochemicals are going through a huge bust cycle. Earlier in August, Covestro reported a 21%Y/Y fall in second quarter revenues to 3.7 billion euros. Covestro is hardly alone, with U.S. oil and gas giants facing a similar fate. Sluggish consumer demand as well as a deluge of new factories coming online over the past few years means petrochemical margins face a protracted downturn. The situation is so dire that Cologne-based Lanxness AG has called it a Lehman 2 moment for the chemicals industry.

Its been a pretty dramatic downturn. With chemicals oversupplied right now, large oil companies will find other areas to invest in, Joseph Chang, a New York-based analyst at ICIS, has told Bloomberg.

But Big Oil has chosen to play the long game here, and these companies are investing heavily in petrochemicals as a long-term hedge against an uncertain future for fossil fuels. Petrochemicals, which go into plastics, polyester and many other cheap and lightweight commodities that underpin modern life, could help oil companies stay afloat long after demand for transport fuels has peaked.

A 2023 review of the major oil and gas and chemicals companies found that over the next three years, Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) plans to invest over $20 billion in expanding plastic production; CPChem will spend $14.5 billion and Dow Inc. (NYSE:DOW) plans to invest USD 10 billion.

A lot of those petrollars are flowing into the Chinese market. According to Ciaran Healy, oil market analyst at the IEA, ~6.7mn bpd, or 6.5 per cent of all global oil use, currently goes to supply China with petrochemicals. The International Energy Agency has reported that 90% of Chinas increased oil demand from 2021 to 2024 comes from chemical feedstocks like LPG, ethane, and naphtha. IEA notes that between 2019 and 2024, additional Chinese production capacity for ethylene and propylene will exceed the combined current capacities of Europe, Japan, and South Korea. Between 2018 and 2023, Chinas output of synthetic fibers alone rose by 21 million metric tons--enough to spin more than 100 billion T-shirts a year. A new breed of private refiners such as Hengli Petrochemical and Rongsheng Petrochemical has emerged in China whereby they are spending billions of dollars building plants specializing in chemicals, rather than gasoline and diesel.

Ironically, petrochemicals are crucial for the green energy transition, with EVs typically using more thermoplastics, foams, fibers and rubber pads than ICE vehicles. Indeed, U.S. chemical practice leader at Deloitte David Yankovitz has told the Financial Times that EV makers are substituting plastic resins for metal parts to make lighter cars. Yankovitz says that roughly three-quarters of all emissions-reduction technologies require chemicals, most of which are oil-derived. China has met much of that demand through domestic processing of imported crude. But the US shale oil boom has also formed a mutually reinforcing symbiosis with growing Chinese demand for petrochemicals. According to ICIS data, between 2019 and 2023, the U.S. was the only major producer to boost its polymer exports into China,

Exxon is currently building a petrochemical complex in southern Chinas Guangdong province, as well as expanding its own chemical production at existing facilities on the U.S. Gulf Coast. According to Exxon, the chemical complex will produce performance polymers used in packaging, automotive, agricultural, and consumer products for hygiene and personal care.

Demand for performance polymers will continue to increase in China, and were well positioned to meet the needs of that growing market, We look forward to progressing this exciting project as we work to build a competitive growth platform in Dayawan, said Karen McKee, president of ExxonMobil Chemical Company, at the unveiling of the project in 2021.

Meanwhile, last year, Saudi Aramco acquired a 10% stake in Shenzhen-listed Rongsheng Petrochemical for $3.6bn, and has entered talks to buy a stake in Hengli Petrochemical, a top Chinese producer of chemicals for plastics. Last year, Aramco-owned S-Oil broke ground on a $7bn petrochemical factory in South Korea.



By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
The Azerbaijani hosts had hoped at the outset of COP29 that it would go down as one of the more successful meetings in the annals of the annual UN climate conference. Instead, the early view is that COP29 will go down as one of the more disappointing COPs to date.

Environmentalists are departing Baku feeling underwhelmed with the outcome, as COP29 negotiators backed away from an ambitious climate financing target and continued to bicker among themselves even over the significantly scaled back dollar goal.

On November 22, the last scheduled day of COP29, the latest iteration of a draft agreement set a target of $250 billion annually in contributions from developed nations to combat the consequences of global warming, significantly less than the $1.3 trillion goal specified in the first draft agreement. Some participants also indicated the drafts lack important details, such as which countries are expected to contribute how much. One significant stumbling block: EU representatives were reported to be calling for a significant increase in contributions from China, which had sought to garner admiration from developing countries by arguing for the $1.3 trillion goal.

The backtracking on the contribution amount has left representatives of the developing world outraged. Our expectations were low, but this is a slap in the face, the DW news agency quoted Mohamed Adow from Power Shift Africa as saying. No developing country will fall for this. They have angered and offended the developing world.

Many environmental activists at COP29 said they were exasperated by the circular nature of negotiations. If COP29 were a movie, itd be Groundhog Day: The Climate Sequel, one activist quipped.

A procedure, called Rule 16, has been used to effectively suspend discussion on many critical issues, seemingly kicking stalemated talks forward to next years COP gathering in Brazil. Lets face it, we need a laugh amid the madness, the NGO activist participant said.

One environmental group took aim at COP29s ostensible host, Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev, alleging that he set the wrong tone for the gathering with his opening remarks. He did not invite world nations to adopt more ambitious emissions reduction commitments or take on greater climate finance obligations, said environmental activist Javid Gara for the regional Climate Action Network (CAN), an association of NGOs that has been tracking developments at the conference. A more positive and collaborative speech would have been more helpful than a defensive tone and blame shifting.

Beyond COP29s tangled negotiations, the gathering opened a window onto the Caucasus complex geopolitics and its environmental challenges.

Prior to the gatherings start, CAN released a report breaking down the regions climate-change vulnerabilities, as well as what countries are doing to reduce emissions. Climate change raises the risk of natural disasters and harmful precipitation trends in the region, the report said, including landslides in Georgia and Armenia, and water shortages and a higher likelihood of droughts in Azerbaijan.

The report also indicated that the three regional states are making progress on meeting greenhouse gas emissions targets. But determined action still needs to be taken to address numerous challenges. Key insights reveal weak and inconsistent ambitions for mitigation and adaptation, along with a continued heavy reliance on fossil fuels and modest targets for energy efficiency and renewable energy, a summary of the report states. This is set against a backdrop of increasing natural disasters, water scarcity, and sectoral risks  particularly in agriculture and energy.

Azerbaijani officials, while leveraging the event to advance trade deals, tolerated no criticism of its troubling human rights record. A report released during the conference by Washington-based watchdog Crude Accountability detailed how Western investments are propping up Azerbaijans authoritarian system.

Armenia, which is locked in prolonged peace negotiations with Azerbaijan to end more than 35 years of conflict, did not send a delegation to Baku. Georgian officials were in attendance, including Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and Economics Minister Levan Davitashvili. The Georgian delegation played a relatively low-profile role at COP29, opting to use the conference as an opportunity to promote regional trade connectivity potentially beneficial to Georgia.

At a Middle Corridor roundtable discussion on November 20, Davitashvili acknowledged that bolstering trade through Georgia would increase greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, adding that the development of a green trade corridor would be a priority for regional states. It is important to note that the transportation sector is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, highlighting the need for continued efforts aimed at greening the sector, Davitashvili said.

Environmental activists voiced frustration that there was little interest among officials in hearing their input at COP29, or for staging public actions calling attention to particular issues. The frustration overflowed in the form of a silent protest. Activists at one point formed a human chain, not making any noise except humming and snapping fingers. Think of it as a mime protest, climate-style, a participant in the protest said.

By Brawley Benson via Eurasianet.org

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
The UK on Monday sanctioned as many as 30 tankers identified as belonging to Russias shadow fleet that circumvents the Western oil sanctions, in the single largest sanctions package aimed at Russias dark fleet and at stifling Putins oil revenues.

The UK imposed sanctions on 30 ships in Russias shadow fleet today. These vessels have been responsible for transporting billions of UK pounds worth of oil and oil products in the last year alone.

With half of the ships targeted today transporting more than $4.3 billion worth of oil and oil products like gasoline in the last year alone, today is the largest UK package of its kind, the UK government said.

The UK hopes that the latest sanctions package will further constrain the Kremlins ability to fund their illegal war in Ukraine and their malign activity worldwide, the government noted.

The sanctions announced today bring the total number of oil tankers sanctioned by the UK to 73, more than any other nation, demonstrating the UKs leadership in tackling the shadow fleet, according to the cabinet.

To date, the UK has sanctioned 73 oil tankers in the shadow fleet, compared to 39 sanctioned by the United States and 19 by the European Union (EU).

Alongside the 30 oil tankers of the shadow fleet used by Russia, the UK is also sanctioning two Russian insurance companies, AlfaStrakhovanie and VSK, for enabling the shadow fleet.

The UKs announcement comes as Foreign Secretary David Lammy is at the G7 Foreign Ministers meeting in Italy, where he is pushing other countries to maintain pressure on Russias war machine, in parallel with efforts to step up military and financial support for Ukraine.

Last month, Russia appeared to continue to find ways to circumvent Western sanctions and was defying one of the latest measures, the blacklisting of dozens of oil tankers for carrying Russian oil, by putting around one-third of these back to work to deliver its oil.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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Austrias energy firm OMV has seized $241 million (230 million euros) of Gazprom natural gas deliveries for October as a means to recover the arbitration award, which prompted Gazprom to cut off supply, sources close to OMV and Gazprom have told Reuters.

Earlier this month, OMV said that it had been awarded 230 million euros, plus interest and costs, in an arbitration case against Gazproms irregular German gas supplies and would take the necessary next steps to enforce the arbitral award with immediate effect.

In light of the arbitration award, OMV warned that It is expected that there may be a deterioration of the contractual relationship under the Austrian supply contract of OGMT with Gazprom Export, including a potential halt of gas supply.

Indeed, Gazprom halted supply to OMV on November 16.

OMV had impounded 230 million euros worth of gas deliveries from Gazprom for October in lieu of the arbitration award, sources close to the two companies told Reuters.

The Austrian firm saw the seizure of the gas as its last chance to recover the arbitration award, in light of uncertainties about the future of remaining Russian supply to Europe after the gas transit deal via Ukraine ends on December 31, 2024, an OMV source told Reuters.

Gazprom, for its part, considered the impounding of the gas supply as a failure to pay for its gas and therefore it halted deliveries, according to a source close to Gazprom.

It was the first time an EU customer had failed to pay for Gazproms gas supply, the source told Reuters.

Yet, Russian natural gas flows to Europe via Ukraine have remained stable despite the fact that Gazprom cut off supply to OMV.

Gazprom has been sending about 42 million cubic meters of gas to Europe via Ukraine since it cut off supply to OMV, as supply to the remaining buyers in Austria, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic continues.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Global oil demand continues to surprise on the upside, BP Plc (NYSE:BP) Chief Executive Murray Auchincloss told the Energy Intelligence forum in London on Monday, saying that oil demand kept rising on average by more or less 1% each year, with BP predicting robust oil consumption for the next 5-10 years.

Commodity analysts at Standard Chartered have reported that global oil demand hit an all-time high of 103.79 million barrels per day (mb/d) in August, marking the third successive month in which a new all-time demand high has been set. According to StanChart, global oil demand growth clocked in at a healthy 1.32 mb/d in August. Well, it appears that oil markets are poised to finish the year on a bullish note.

Last week, the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI) released its latest oil market report. Following the release, stanChart worked out that global oil demand in September clocked in at 103.012 million barrels per day (mb/d), the fourth consecutive month global demand has exceeded 103 mb/d. The y/y increase in demand in September was 1.136 mb/d, slightly below the average of 1.332 mb/d YTD but an improvement on August, when growth clocked in at just 0.631 mb/d.

Previously, StanChart pointed out that oil demand growth, not absolute oil demand, has been slowing down from earlier post-pandemic years. Indeed, StanChart has noted that global oil demand has been setting a series of new all-time highs in the current year. StanChart points out that traders continue to ignore the fact that non-OPEC supply has slowed more than demand so far in 2024. According to estimates by the IEA, non-OPEC supply growth slowed down from 2.40 mb/d in 2023 to 0.93 mb/d in 2024, while demand growth slowed down from 1.99 mb/d in 2023 to 0.86 mb/d in 2024.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

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Chinas crude oil imports could rise at the end of this year and early next year as independent refiners have just been issued additional crude import quotas for end-2024.

Chinese authorities have issued additional quotas to the private refiners, the so-called teapots, to import at least another 5.84 million metric tons of crude by the end of the year or early next year, sources with knowledge of the developments told Reuters on Monday.

This additional import quota, equal to about 116,800 barrels per day (bpd) of crude, could boost Chinese imports at the end of a disappointing year for oil purchases and consumption.

The quota is expected to be used by the end of the year, trade sources told Reuters.

China is already on track to have boosted its crude oil imports in Novemberthanks to low oil prices, not high demand.

The uptick in imports currently estimated by commodity-tracking firms is likely due to the low oil prices in the first half of September, when concerns about demand  especially Chinese consumption  dragged down international crude oil prices, with Brent Crude settling below $70 per barrel on September 10.

The market has yet to see actual signs of a recovery in Chinese oil demand, which has trended lower than forecasts for most of the year.

October marked the sixth consecutive month in which crude cargo arrivals have lagged behind the imports in the same months of 2023, official Chinese data showed in early November.

Last month, China imported a total of 10.53 million bpd of crude oil, per data from the General Administration of Customs. Thats 9% lower compared to October 2023 and 2% below the import level of 11.07 million bpd in September 2024.

The November and December crude oil imports are likely to be higher.

Last month, China raised by 6% the total import quota for private refiners for 2025, to about 5.14 million bpd.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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EQT Corporation has agreed to sell minority interests in two of its pipelines, plus transmission and storage assets, to funds managed by Blackstone Credit & Insurance in a $3.5 billion cash deal to form a midstream joint venture.

Under the terms of the transaction, Blackstone will provide EQT $3.5 billion of cash consideration in exchange for a non-controlling common equity interest in the joint venture, the U.S. natural gas giant said on Monday, in the latest midstream deal in the U.S. energy sector.

The joint venture will consist of EQTs ownership interest in contracted infrastructure assets: the Mountain Valley Pipeline, the Hammerhead Pipeline, and FERC-regulated transmission and storage assets.

Since June 2024, the Mountain Valley Pipeline project has carried natural gas from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia and has a planned extension to North Carolina.

The Hammerhead Pipeline is a 1.6 billion cubic feet per day gathering header pipeline primarily designed to connect natural gas produced in Pennsylvania and West Virginia to the Mountain Valley Pipeline, Texas Eastern Transmission, and Eastern Gas Transmission.

The joint venture with Blackstone provides EQT with a large-scale equity capital solution at an accretive cost of capital. Additionally, EQT will retain the rights to growth projects associated with the assets contributed to the JV, including the planned Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) expansion and the MVP Southgate project, the company said.

This transaction underscores the ultra-high-quality nature of EQTs regulated midstream assets, which service one of the strongest power demand growth regions in the United States underpinned by long-term contracts with the regions leading utilities, said EQT President and CEO Toby Z. Rice.

The deal is yet another transaction in the U.S. midstream, which earlier this year saw EQT entering into a merger agreement to buy Equitrans Midstream Corporation.

Most recently, pipeline owner and operator DT Midstream last week agreed to buy three interstate natural gas pipeline systems from ONEOK for $1.2 billion in cash, while ONEOK announced a deal with EnLink Midstream to buy its remaining assets in the Permian for $4.3 billion in stock.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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Kazakhstan could sharply increase its crude oil exports out of Turkey's port of Ceyhan, and dramatically reduce the more than 80% share of flows it currently sends via Russia, Reuters has reported.

According to Kazakhstan Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliyev, exports via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline could increase to 20 million metric tons a year from the current 1.5 million as the country increases oil production.

"There is interest in developing and gradually increasing the volume of Kazakh oil shipments in this direction both on our side and from the Azerbaijani partners," Satkaliyev told parliament.

Kazakhstan aims to produce 88.4 million metric tons of crude in the current year (1.82 million barrels per day), down from an original plan of more than 90 million tons reflecting Kazakhstan's OPEC+ output reduction commitments.

Earlier in the year, Russia, Iraq and Kazakhstan submitted their compensation plans to the OPEC Secretariat for overproduced crude volumes for the first six months of 2024. According to OPEC, the entire over-produced volumes will be fully compensated for over the next 15 months through September 2025, with Russia paying back a cumulative 480 kb/d, Iraq 1,184 kb/d and Kazakhstan 620 kb/d.

According to commodity experts at Standard Chartered, much of the negative sentiment that has dominated oil markets over the past three months can be chalked up to misapprehensions about the tapering mechanism for the voluntary cuts made by eight OPEC+ countries.

Many traders are worried that the balance of oil demand growth and non-OPEC+ supply growth might not offset the scale of restored OPEC+output, leaving oil markets oversupplied. However, this view ignores repeated assurances from OPEC+ that the tapering would be fully dependent on market conditions.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

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This photo taken on Aug. 14, 2024 shows the new energy vehicles production line of a smart factory of Seres Group in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's tax revenue growth returned to positive territory in October for the first time this year, suggesting that the country's economic activity is picking up pace and gaining stronger momentum, analysts said.



The incremental policy package introduced recently by the world's second-largest economy, which includes measures to revitalize the capital market and stabilize the real estate sector, has played a pivotal role in driving positive changes in the country's tax revenue, they added.

According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Finance, China's general public budget revenue, which is the sum total of tax and nontax revenues, grew 5.5 percent year-on-year in October, marking a continued rebound in growth momentum.

In particular, the data showed that tax revenue recorded a year-on-year increase of 1.8 percent in October, the first positive growth so far this year, pointing to encouraging signs of improvement.

Yang Zhiyong, president of the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences, said the return to positive territory in terms of tax revenue is a clear indication that economic recovery is gaining traction. This provides a solid basis for the continuation of the current growth trajectory in the coming period, Yang said.

Meanwhile, the recent policy package has been crucial in bolstering business confidence and economic activity, ultimately translating into increased tax collection, Yang added.

According to the Ministry of Finance, one key development was October's significant increase in revenue from securities transaction stamp duty, which was 2.52 times the figure of October last year, driven by a notable improvement in market sentiment and a substantial expansion in stock trading volume.

The year-on-year decline in value-added tax revenue narrowed to 1.2 percent in October, a significant improvement over the minus 5.6 percent recorded in the first nine months of the year. The ministry added that personal income tax collection registered 5.5 percent year-on-year growth, marking the first positive increase since April.

An analysis by Galaxy Securities shows that the changes observed in last month's tax revenue data are broadly consistent with the optimizing supply-demand structure of the economy.

The increase in consumption tax and real estate tax revenues indicates that the demand side of the economy is steadily improving. Moreover, the moderation in the decline of corporate income tax and personal income tax is primarily attributed to the improvement in corporate profitability and cash flow, the institution said.

In addition to the developments in the tax revenue performance, the country's nontax revenue has also exhibited a strong surge.

Nontax revenue includes a wide range of sources such as administrative fees, fines and confiscations, income from the use of State-owned assets, and returns on State-owned capital.

The market is closely monitoring the growth in nontax revenue, because of the potential risks it poses to the business climate and market sentiment.

China's nontax revenue reached 3.42 trillion yuan ($472 billion) in the first 10 months of this year, up 15.3 percent year-on-year. The figure accounted for around 18.5 percent of the total public budget revenue during that period, compared with the 13.5 percent recorded in the first three quarters.

In October alone, the nontax revenue growth rate was 39.6 percent year-on-year, based on calculations made by GF Securities.

China's nontax revenue growth accelerated significantly in the first 10 months of the year, substantially outpacing the 1.8 percent annual target set at the beginning of the year, according to the analysis by Galaxy Securities.

The analysis showed that current nontax revenue has already exceeded the budgeted amount by around 400 billion yuan. Extrapolating from the total nontax revenue of 3.65 trillion yuan recorded last year, the full-year surplus in nontax revenue in 2024 could potentially reach close to 500 billion yuan.

At a news conference held in late October, the Ministry of Finance said the government has been proactive in utilizing various channels to activate and maximize the value of State-owned resources and assets, which has been a key driver behind the robust growth in nontax revenue in the first three quarters.

The ministry pledged to closely monitor the changes in nontax revenue and firmly refrain from imposing any excessive fees or charges, in order to further alleviate the burden on businesses.
Crude oil prices started the week with a dip after booking a gain of 6% last week, fueled mostly by geopolitical factors as the war between Russia and Ukraine escalated. At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $74.58 per barrel, with WTI at $70.65 per barrel.

At the same time, Iran changed its tune on enriched uranium in anticipation of tighter sanction enforcement by Washington after Donald Trump takes office in January. Bloomberg reported Tehran had said it would boost its capacity to enrich uranium after it received a censure from the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The IAEA censure and Irans response heightens the likelihood that Trump will look to enforce sanctions against Irans oil exports when he comes into power, Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Vivek Dhar told Bloomberg, adding some 1 million barrels daily in Iranian supply could be at risk of disruption.

The International Atomic Energy Agency last Thursday passed a resolution that ordered Iran to step up cooperation with the regulator, after the UK, France, Germany, and the United States dismissed Tehrans recent pledge to cap its enriched uranium stocks as insufficient and insincere, according to Reuters.

It appears the resolution of the IAEA has had the exact opposite effect of the one intended, with Iran ordering a step-up in uranium enrichment following the resolutions passing by the watchdog.

Markets are concerned not only about damage to oil ports and infrastructure, but also the possibility of war contagion and involvement of more countries, Phillip Nova analyst Priyanka Sachdeva told Reuters.

Tehran said yesterday it will hold talks with the UK, France, and Germany next Friday, to discuss its nuclear power program and likely the IAEA resolution.

Oil prices are starting the new week with some slight cool-off as market participants await more cues from geopolitical developments and the Feds policy outlook to set the tone, IG analyst Yeap Jun Rong told the publication.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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Oil prices fell more $2 per barrel on Monday after reports emerged that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to the terms of a deal to end the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. Brent crude for January delivery fell 2.75% to trade at $73.10 per barrel at 11.45 am ET while WTI crude fell 2.70% to $69.36 per barrel. Reuters reported on Monday that a senior Israeli official said the countrys cabinet would meet on Tuesday to approve a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah, while a Lebanese official said Beirut had been told by Washington that an accord could be announced "within hours".

"It seems the news of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon is behind the price drop, though no supply has been disrupted due to the conflict between the two countries and the risk premium in oil has been low already before the latest price decline," said Giovanni Staunovo of UBS.

Earlier in the year, Israeli officials had said earlier that a deal to end the war was getting closer though some issues remained. However, Lebanese officials have voiced guarded optimism, saying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not to be trusted.

Last week, oil prices notched their biggest weekly gains since late September after Russia fired a hypersonic missile at Ukraine in what appears to be a warning following strikes by Kyiv on Russia using U.S. and British weapons. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia would keep testing the hypersonic Oreshnik missile it fired at Ukraine with plans to start producing the weapon in large quantities.

"I will add that there is no countermeasure to such a missile, no means of intercepting it, in the world today. And I will emphasise once again that we will continue testing this newest system. It is necessary to establish serial production," Putin said in televised comments.

Russias new weapon is an intermediate-range, nuclear-capable ballistic missile that had not been previously mentioned in public. According to Putin, air defences cannot intercept the Oreshnik, which attacks at a speed of Mach 10. Hypersonic missiles can manoeuvre mid-flight, making them harder to track and intercept.



By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

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Last week the United States authorized the use of American-made long-range missiles by Ukraine against Russia which the Russian government says risks escalation to a nuclear conflict in the almost three-year-old war. The Russian government reacted by announcing an unnerving shift in nuclear doctrine. It also announced reductions in uranium exports to the United States. By how much and for how long, the government did not say.

In light of what can only be seen as a proxy war in Ukraine between the United States along with its NATO allies and the Russian Federation, it is passing strange that the United States still relies on Russia for 27 percent of its enriched uranium. Oddly, the reaction in the spot market for uranium was a 4 percent slump in prices. Most customers for uraniumprimarily nuclear power plantshave stockpiles and long-term contracts, so an immediate effect on spot prices was unlikely. But the price of uranium mining stocks soared in anticipation of greater pressure on mine supply outside Russia, the world's sixth largest producer.

This development highlights a vulnerability among metal importers across the globe. When relations between a large exporter of minerals and a large importer of them goes south, the consequences can be significant. While it's true that the exporter loses some revenue, critical material and energy shortages can have large effects. Inadequate uranium fuel for nuclear power stations could eventually lead to loss of generating capacity.

The United States is uniquely vulnerable to such cutoffs as I explained in a 2022 piece about the federal government's efforts to increase U.S. self-sufficiency. The United States has a long list of mineral import dependencies that include nickel, copper, tungsten, cadmium, palladium, aluminum and silicon. None of those dependencies are going away anytime soon.

When it comes to overall mineral production, China leads and Russia is third. Down in 10th place is Iran. All three countries are increasingly problematic sources of minerals for the United States and its allies as trade sanctions now weigh heavily on Russia and Iran, and a trade war with China appears to be brewing under the newly elected Trump administration.

While the United States is second in overall mineral production, it consumes so much of its own production that it remains a large importer as noted above.

With the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, it was thought that a unified global market would henceforth operate uninterrupted and under peaceful conditions. That lasted until the COVID-19 pandemic led to snarled supply chains and subsequent rising tensions with Russia and the invasion of Ukraine led to trade sanctions. The result was a broad and ongoing shift in trade patterns as well as an increasing drive for domestic production, both to bolster domestic job growth and reduce vulnerability to loss of imports.

A move toward domestic production can work if you have a large endowment of the resources needed to supply manufacturing and service industries. But, as I've pointed out previously, many Western economies have become focused on finance over production. Here is the problem in a nutshell as I explained in the context of what I believe is an ongoing trend toward deglobalization:

Integration of the world economy favors those who control finance and can therefore extract ever larger payments from centralized systems under their ownership or authority. Deglobalizationwhich was already underway due to the effects of the pandemic on supply lines and is now speeding up due to the [Ukraine-Russia] warwill increasingly favor those who control stuff. And, it turns out that stuff is far more important to supporting our daily lives than the manipulations of the titans of finance.

Extracting stuff and the financial rewards that spring from it from faraway countries can be a highly profitable approach to maximizing one's share of the world's wealthuntil it isn't. Russia's restrictions on uranium exports to the United States are just one more indication that the trend toward deglobalization is ascendant. Pretending otherwise is a recipe for failure and increasingly, impoverishment. Just ask the Germans who lost access to cheap supplies of pipeline Russian natural gas in the wake of the Ukraine-Russia war and have now faced two years of economic contraction.

By Kurt Cobb via Resource Insights

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China's Ministry of Justice has urged judicial administrative bodies at all levels to integrate their actual work in their efforts to dissolve disputes and risks and safeguard social stability.

The instructions were laid out at a recent meeting of the ministry's leading Party members group at the backdrop of a number of high-profile public security cases across the country.

The meeting stressed the importance of enhancing mediation work by the people, such as guiding mediators to carry out in-depth investigations into common disputes involving marriages, neighbors, inheritance of property and other matters. This approach aims to make mediation more targeted and effective.

Mediators should also work more closely with relevant authorities to dissolve disputes at the primary level and at an earlier stage, according to the meeting.

Underscoring the absolute security at prisons and drug rehabilitation centers, the meeting called for better resettlement, assistance and education of those released after serving their sentences, in order to reduce the likelihood of reoffending.

It also stressed further coordination of resources regarding lawyers, notarization, judicial authentication, arbitration and legal aid to provide more accurate, sound and efficient legal services for people's quest for dissolving disputes and protecting their rights and interests.
 Flash

Representatives celebrate the adoption of an important rule during the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 24, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

A package of climate agreements was reached early Sunday at the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan.



The agreements included decisions on the New Collective Quantified Goal for climate financing and issues relating to the global carbon market mechanism under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

The agreements set the post-2025 climate finance targets, including an annual funding of at least 300 billion U.S. dollars from developed countries and a broader climate financing goal of at least 1.3 trillion dollars per year by 2035 to support the climate actions of developing countries.

A base on which to build

"Reaching an agreement at COP29 was essential to keep the 1.5 degrees Celsius global warming limit alive," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a post on X. "I had hoped for a more ambitious outcome -- on both finance & mitigation -- to meet the scale of the great challenge we face, but the agreement reached provides a base on which to build."

Guterres added that the agreement "must be honoured in full and on time. I appeal to governments to do so urgently."

The arrangements are expected to lay the groundwork for developing countries to undertake climate action and submit a new round of nationally determined contributions next year.

Nearly 200 parties broke years of deadlock in multilateral negotiations, finally reaching a consensus on the international carbon market mechanism under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. It marked the completion of the implementation rules for the market mechanism under Article 6 and resolved the last pending issue within the Paris Agreement.

In addition, the conference also reached decisions on various issues, including the carbon trading mechanism, the implementation of the Global Stocktake results, the mitigation work program, and the global adaptation goal.

In his speech at the closing plenary session, Zhao Yingmin, head of the Chinese delegation and vice minister of ecology and environment, highlighted that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the entry into force of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Over the past 30 years, the process of climate governance under the convention has faced challenges but has consistently moved forward.

Zhao emphasized that humanity is a community with a shared future, and in the face of the climate crisis, unity and collaboration are the only viable paths.

Zhao noted that the outcome document on the New Collective Quantified Goal revealed that developed countries' financial commitments still fall far short of meeting the needs of developing nations, and their financial obligations must be further clarified.

He added that addressing the global climate crisis requires adhering to the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities," upholding multilateralism, and working together for mutual benefit.

Zhao reaffirmed that China, as a responsible major developing country, will steadfastly promote the multilateral process and international cooperation on climate change, regardless of how the global landscape evolves.

China will continue to implement its national strategy for actively addressing climate change, pursue its carbon peaking and neutrality goals, and engage extensively in South-South climate cooperation to contribute to global green, low-carbon, climate-resilient and sustainable development, said Zhao.

"I commend everyone who worked hard to build consensus. You have shown that multilateralism -- centered on the Paris Agreement -- can find a path through the most difficult issues," said UN chief Guterres in his COP29 closing statement.

Chinese contribution

During COP29, Liu Zhenmin, China's special envoy for climate change, noted that over the past decade, China has become one of the world's fastest reducers of energy intensity, saving approximately 1.4 billion tonnes of standard coal.

Liu said China's renewable energy capacity accounts for over one-third of the global total, and cumulative investments in renewable energy rank first worldwide. The country is also a leading international supplier of wind power, photovoltaic equipment and battery technologies.

In an interview with Xinhua, former UN Under-Secretary-General Erik Solheim noted that China is now an indispensable nation for global climate efforts.

He affirmed China's important role in the global green energy transition, which accounts for 60 percent or more of global production in key green sectors, including solar, wind and hydropower, as well as electric cars and batteries.

Jeffrey Sachs, president of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, told Xinhua that China is making energy structure transformation possible around the globe by exporting green technologies through good partnerships worldwide, which is a vital part of the solution to climate change.

Zhao noted China has supported South-South countries in low-carbon demonstration projects, mitigation and adaptation efforts, and talent training.

Official statistics showed that China has signed 54 cooperation agreements with 42 developing countries on climate change cooperation. Since 2016, the country has provided and mobilized over 24 billion dollars for projects to assist other developing nations in tackling climate challenges.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Science of The Total Environment (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176115

Pollutants known as "contaminants of emerging concern" or chemicals that could potentially harm human health and have been found in the environment, including pesticides, ingredients from personal care products, pharmaceuticals and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), are increasingly found in streams and lakes.

A team led by researchers at Penn State recently demonstrated the accuracy and utility of a new method to find even very low levels of these substances in surface waters. They reported their findings in Science of the Total Environment.

Emerging contaminants, which flow into streams from wastewater treatment plants, agricultural runoff and industrial discharges, as well as from septic tanks, pose serious threats, according to team leader Heather Preisendanz, professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Penn State.

Among them are risks for human health, including potential effects on the endocrine, immune and reproductive systems. For example, bisphenol-A (BPA), phthalates and certain pharmaceuticals have been linked to hormonal disruptions and developmental abnormalities, while antibiotics may contribute to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

"Aquatic species are at risk, as well, including effects on growth, reproduction and behavior," she said. "For instance, PFAS have been linked to developmental abnormalities in fish and exposure to antidepressants has been shown to alter the behavior of fish and other aquatic organisms."

The researchers reported that their new methodwhich employs cell-based bioassays that measure the concentration or potency of substances by their effect on living cellsdetected potential ecological hazards in water samples that conventional tests that target and measure concentrations of specific chemicals did not. Using samples collected from nine sites in three central Pennsylvania streams, the researchers compared the results of the two methods.

With the conventional targeted chemical concentration analysis, the team evaluated water samples for 47 contaminants of emerging concern, including pesticides, ingredients in personal care products, and veterinary and human pharmaceuticals. The contaminants examined were based on previous research in the studied watershed and included 21 pharmaceuticals, 15 pesticides and 11 personal care products.

The researchers used an exposure-activity ratio for each chemical, which indicates chemical concentrations that might cause cellular damage, and a toxicological prioritization index, which is a tool that helps assess the threat posed to aquatic life from chemicals by integrating data from multiple sources and displaying it in a visual profile.

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With this data, the researchers determined that the pharmaceutical carbamazepine, typically used to treat seizure disorders; the pesticide carbaryl, used to control ticks, fleas and more; and the herbicide atrazine, used to kill and prevent weeds, posed the greatest concerns.

However, the alternate method, using cell-based bioassays, indicated the presence of contaminants beyond the 47 evaluated with the conventional analysis at all nine sampling sites. Because there is such a wide range of chemicals present in the stream water comprising a complex mixture, chemical analysis alone is insufficient to monitor potentially impacted ecosystems, according to first author Jack Vanden Heuvel, professor of molecular toxicology in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State.

Instead, he explained, the researchers applied alternate methods: bioassays designed to be predictive of potential adverse events caused by contaminants to assess the cumulative chemical activity in stream waters. The bioassays, he said, allowed the team to assess the threat posed by complex mixtures of chemicals.

"Predicted activity based on individual chemical analysis and calculated exposure-activity ratio were different than those measured by bioassays, indicating that biologically active chemicals are present in the samples that were not included in the targeted analyses," said Vanden Heuvel.

"Taken together, these data show that chemical analysis and exposure activity ratio analysis are beneficial for prioritization of chemicals and pollution sites, whereas cell-based bioassays are more inclusive of known and unknown chemical contaminants, making them more useful for overall water quality analysis."

More information: John P. Vanden Heuvel et al, Priority screening of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in surface water: Comparing cell-based bioassays and exposure-activity ratios (EARs), Science of The Total Environment (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176115 Journal information: Science of the Total Environment
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Beech trees are in danger of dying in France's south, where the climate is growing increasingly dry.

An assisted migration of beech trees in need of protection from climate change is bearing its first fruits in France after 13 years, with saplings now gracing the former World War I battlefield of Verdun.

Some of the beeches, planted in 2013 after two years in the nursery, now stand three meters (10 feet) tall as they loom out of the fog in their reddish-brown autumn colors on what 100 years ago was a shell-blasted hellscape.

"What's crucial is the survival rate, which here we've got up to more than 90 percent"a big improvement on the 80 percent usually considered the marker of a successful plantation, said geneticist Brigitte Musch.

"We shouldn't get ahead of ourselves, they're only about 10 years old", she addeda harsh frost or overgrowth with clematis is still capable of wiping out the young trees.

Experts from the French forestry authority (ONF) check up on the saplings regularly to ensure they are growing, healthy and holding up against local wildlife.

The plot of beeches less than one hectare (2.5 acres) in size is part of a scheme to "migrate the genes" of trees in danger of dying in France's south, where the climate is growing increasingly dry and unable to support them.

Musch, head of genetic resources at the ONF, remembers how the project emerged at a 2011 meeting from the idea of climate analogs.

Using UN climate experts' data and knowledge about where seeds can best grow, the method allows forestry experts to plot on a map which areas will have a hospitable climate in future for different types of trees.

The map of France for 2050 is alarming for lovers of the majestic beech, which can live for several centuries and spread their shady crowns as high as 40 meters.

Other traditionally widespread trees like oak are also in danger of disappearing from many French regions as the climate changes.

Massive bombardment

In Verdun, the beeches have made it through the first trials of their new home, taking root in chalky soil long ago packed hard and filled with metals and toxic substances by the intense bombardments of WWI.

"On average, six shells fell on every square meter (11 square feet) here. This was right on the front line in 1916. It was so rough that it had to be leveled with diggers just so we could get around," said Milene Mahut, a local ONF official.

After 1918, the forest was replanted with resinous trees like pinesin part thanks to seeds sent as war reparations by Germanyand later by deciduous trees, especially beech and sessile oak.

Now the new lines of beeches fleeing the south are arriving, outpacing the usual rate of tree migration.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that oak and beech naturally migrate about 100 kilometers (60 miles) in 500 years.

That is around 10 times slower than the pace at which the climate is changing, according to the ONFhighlighting the need to give the trees a helping hand.

Musch, who wrote her thesis on oak and beech recolonisation of Europe after the last ice age around 10,000 years ago, has dug into her research to mimic the natural process.

The beech fascinates her for its ability to "grow on rocks battered by the wind, bring in biodiversity, and even be invasive" as a species.

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'Promise of rebirth'

The ONF project has been baptized Giono after French author Jean Giono, whose book "L'Homme qui Plantait des Arbres" ("The Man who Planted Trees") tells the story of a shepherd bringing a mountain back to life with thousands of new trees.

Giono himself fought in the battle of Verdun, in which hundreds of thousands of men were killed and wounded on both the French and German sides over the course of 10 months.

Oak acorns and beechnuts from remarkable specimens have been collected in France's Provence, Sarthe, Allier and Deux-Sevres regions since 2011.

The Meuse region that is home to Verdun has been chosen for the new plantings for its less dry climate and relatively mild winters.

Climate change has also meant that some local species like spruce are suffering, including from attack by bark beetles.

"There's no single solution to climate changeassisted migration is just one of them," Musch said.

Mahut, caring for the new beeches on their little plot, sees the growing trees as "a promise of rebirth" for the grievously mistreated land.

 2024 AFP
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Kasei Valles is the largest outflow channel on Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University, R. Luk

Water is ubiquitous on Earthabout 70% of Earth's surface is covered by the stuff. Water is in the air, on the surface and inside rocks. Geologic evidence suggests water has been stable on Earth since about 4.3 billion years ago.

The history of water on early Mars is less certain. Determining when water first appeared, where and for how long, are all burning questions that drive Mars exploration. If Mars was once habitable, some amount of water was required.

We studied the mineral zircon in a meteorite from Mars and found evidence that water was present when the zircon crystal formed 4.45 billion years ago. Our results, published in the journal Science Advances Nov. 22, may represent the oldest evidence for water on Mars.

A wet red planet

Water has long been recognized to have played an important role in early Martian history. To place our results in a broader context, let's first consider what "early Mars" means in terms of the Martian geological timescale, and then consider the different ways to look for water on Mars.

Like Earth, Mars formed about 4.5 billion years ago. The history of Mars has four geological periods. These are the Amazonian (from today back to 3 billion years), the Hesperian (3 billion to 3.7 billion years ago), the Noachian (3.7 billion to 4.1 billion years ago) and the Pre-Noachian (4.1 billion to about 4.5 billion years ago).

Evidence for water on Mars was first reported in the 1970s when NASA's Mariner 9 spacecraft captured images of river valleys on the Martian surface. Later orbital missions, including Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Express, detected the widespread presence of hydrated clay minerals on the surface. These would have needed water.

The Martian river valleys and clay minerals are mainly found in Noachian terrains, which cover about 45% of Mars. In addition, orbiters also found large flood channelscalled outflow channelsin Hesperian terrains. These suggest the short-lived presence of water on the surface, perhaps from groundwater release.

Most reports of water on Mars are in materials or terrains older than 3 billion years. More recently than that, there isn't much evidence for stable liquid water on Mars.

But what about during the Pre-Noachian? When did water first show up on Mars?

A window to Pre-Noachian Mars

There are three ways to hunt for water on Mars. The first is using observations of the surface made by orbiting spacecraft. The second is using ground-based observations such as those taken by Mars rovers.

The third way is to study Martian meteorites that have landed on Earth, which is what we did.

In fact, the only Pre-Noachian material we have available to study directly is found in meteorites from Mars. A small number of all meteorites that have landed on Earth have come from our neighboring planet.

An even smaller subset of those meteorites, believed to have been ejected from Mars during a single asteroid impact, contain Pre-Noachian material.

The "poster child" of this group is an extraordinary rock called NWA7034, or Black Beauty.

Black Beauty is a famous Martian meteorite made up of broken-up surface material, or regolith. In addition to rock fragments, it contains zircons that formed from 4.48 billion to 4.43 billion years ago. These are the oldest pieces of Mars known.

While studying trace elements in one of these ancient zircons we found evidence of hydrothermal processesmeaning they were exposed to hot water when they formed in the distant past.

Trace elements, water and a connection to ore deposits

The zircon we studied is 4.45 billion years old. Within it, iron, aluminum and sodium are preserved in abundance patterns like concentric layers, similar to an onion.

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This pattern, called oscillatory zoning, indicates that incorporation of these elements into the zircon occurred during its igneous history, in magma.

The problem is that iron, aluminum and sodium aren't normally found in crystalline igneous zirconso how did these elements end up in the Martian zircon?

The answer is hot water.

In Earth rocks, finding zircon with growth zoning patterns for elements like iron, aluminum and sodium is rare. One of the only places where it has been described is from Olympic Dam in South Australia, a giant copper, uranium and gold deposit.

The metals in places like Olympic Dam were concentrated by hydrothermal (hot water) systems moving through rocks during magmatism.

Hydrothermal systems form anywhere that hot water, heated by volcanic plumbing systems, moves through rocks. Spectacular geysers at places like Yellowstone National Park in the United States form when hydrothermal water erupts at Earth's surface.

Finding a hydrothermal Martian zircon raises the intriguing possibility of ore deposits forming on early Mars.

Previous studies have proposed a wet Pre-Noachian Mars. Unusual oxygen isotope ratios in a 4.43 billion-year-old Martian zircon were previously interpreted as evidence for an early hydrosphere. It has even been suggested that Mars may have had an early global ocean 4.45 billion years ago.

The big picture from our study is that magmatic hydrothermal systems were active during the early formation of Mars' crust 4.45 billion years ago.

It's not clear whether this means surface water was stable at this time, but we think it's possible. What is clear is that the crust of Mars, like Earth, had water shortly after it formeda necessary ingredient for habitability.

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Credit: CC0 Public Domain

The dead zone in the Chesapeake Bay, where there's low oxygen for underwater life, was near its average size in 2024, according to new data from the Chesapeake Bay Program.

The dead zone is the area in which there is a relatively low amount of oxygen, a condition known as hypoxia. Typically, this means that polluted runoff has brought in phosphorus and nitrogen, which feeds the growth of algal blooms. These blooms eventually die and decompose, removing oxygen from the surrounding waters faster than it can be replenished. Animals such as crabs, oysters and fish need healthy levels of oxygen in the water to survive.

Earlier this year, forecasts of the dead zone predicted it would remain near the long-term average taken from 1985 to 2023. Last year, the dead zone in the Chesapeake Bay was the smallest it has been since recording began in the 80s.

"The past few years of near or below average bay-wide hypoxia levels are a good sign that Chesapeake Bay nutrient management actions are working, but these must be continued if we are to outpace water quality degradation due to climate change," said Marjy Friedrichs, research professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

The zones happen every year and are often weather-dependent, with primary drivers being nutrient inputs, wind and temperature. Heavy rainfall can wash more pollution into the bay as runoff. Higher summer air and water temperatures, driven by climate change, and light winds can also induce the right conditions for excessive algae growth.

In addition to the Chesapeake Bay Program, VIMS also released its own report card for the bay's dead zone. According to the institute, hypoxia increased in May and was higher than average in the first half of June, following a period of calm winds.

Faster winds in the second half of June "likely resulted in a decrease in hypoxia," VIMS reports, from the early-June peak. Hypoxia decreased substantially after Hurricane Debby, until cooler temperatures helped end it for the year in early October. This means the duration of hypoxia in 2024, or about 96 days, was shorter than average.

Despite progress, environmental groups still warn that the bay will not meet 2025 goals for restoration.

The region's governors, and other state, local and federal leaders will meet in December for the Chesapeake Executive Council meeting to discuss progress, and Alison Prost, vice president for environmental protection and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said more needs to be done in order to complete restoration.

This means accountability and more cross-state partnerships across the watershed, she said in a statement.

"The only way to shrink the Chesapeake Bay's dead zone is by working across state lines," Prost said.

"Too much pollution from six states and Washington, D.C., still flows into the bay and fuels this degrading phenomenon that chokes underwater life. Thankfully, bay restoration science continues to evolve, highlighting ways we can be more efficient and targeted in our pollution reduction efforts.

"For decades, the bay restoration partnership has brought federal, state, and local efforts together around common goals for a healthier Chesapeake Bay. As the 2025 deadline approaches, we're at a crossroads."

2024 The Virginian-Pilot. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Observers said COP29 in Baku made virtually no progress on tackling the source of global warming.

The failure of UN climate negotiations to double down on a global pledge to move away from planet-heating fossil fuels on Sunday was decried by experts as a "worrying" setback to global progress on curbing warming.

Nearly 200 nations spent much of COP29 in Azerbaijan locking horns over a tough-fought finance pact that was finally approved in the early hours of Sunday.

But countries also clashed bitterly over how to build on a landmark pledge at last year's climate talks to "transition away" from fossil fuels.

A text that was supposed to push for ways to put that promise into practice was ultimately not adopted at the close of COP29, with countries lamenting that it had been emptied of substance.

Observers said this meant the meeting in Baku, held in what is expected to be the world's hottest year on record, made virtually no progress on tackling the source of global warming.

Laurence Tubiana, the architect of the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord said the Baku deal was "not as ambitious as the moment demands".

"The impacts of the climate crisis are becoming ever more visible, ever more devastating in both human and economic terms, all over the world, with no region spared," she told AFP.

"The culprits are well known, yet once again fossil fuels have been defended by an ill-prepared COP presidency."

Azerbaijan, an authoritarian state that relies on oil and gas exports, has been accused of lacking the experience and bandwidth to steer such complex negotiations.

Its leader Ilham Aliyev opened the conference by hailing fossil fuels as a "gift of God".

Fossil fight

The European Union and other countries tussled with Saudi Arabia over including strong language on the energy transition during the UN talks.

Countries had also discussed ways to measure action, such as tracking progress on the move away from oil, gas and coal.

But a Saudi official told delegates on Thursday that the 22-nation Arab Group would reject any UN climate deal that targeted fossil fuels.

As negotiations wrapped up in the early hours of Sunday, countries and negotiating blocs including vulnerable small island states and Latin American and Caribbean nations said the text had been watered down so much that they could not support it.

"We made historic commitments a year ago, including to transition away from fossil fuels. We came here to translate that commitment into meaningful action and quite simply, we have fallen short," said the delegate from Canada.

The Fiji representative said a failure to agree a strong outcome was "an affront to this process".

Given the objections, the Azerbaijan presidency decided not to adopt the text, which will now be discussed again when negotiators meet next year in June.

Francois Gemenne, a specialist in environmental geopolitics, said the lack of follow up to the fossil fuel pledge was "very worrying" and showed the impact that producers and industry lobbyists can have on climate negotiations.

"We could have expected at least a return to the terms of COP28, but we didn't even get that," he said.

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'Backward step'

The international community has agreed that the world should aim to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial times.

Scientists say carbon dioxide pollution needs to be slashed this decade.

But preliminary research by scientists at the the Global Carbon Project, released during the COP29, found that fossil fuel CO 2 emissions continued to rise this year to a new record high.

The failure to progress on emissions at the Baku meeting meant that the 1.5C limit is "very much on life support", said Natalie Jones, a policy advisor at the International Institute for Sustainable Development, a think tank.

"I think it's a backward step," she told AFP, citing concerns that a year of potential progress will be lost and that next year will see "less ambitious leadership" on climate.

Donald Trump, a skeptic of both climate change and foreign assistance, was elected just days before COP29 began and will take office early next year.

With talks mired in acrimony over funding from richer countries, observers said it was difficult for nations to push for more ambition on emissions.

Ultimately, a $300 billion a year pledge from wealthy historic polluters was approved, even as poorer vulnerable countries slammed it as insultingly low.

"The result of this COP is that we haven't really made any new progress on reducing greenhouse gases, but we have saved the process of the Paris Agreement, and we can still hope for better results next year," a European negotiator told AFP.

 2024 AFP
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Billed as the "finance COP," the 29th UN climate change summit (otherwise known as COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, was expected to provide the money to enable the transition away from fossil fuels announced at last year's COP28.

Negotiations were focused on increasing the US$100 billion (79.4 billion) promised per year by developed countries to help the least developed countries build up their renewable energy capacity. Many demanded a ten-fold increase, as at least US$1 trillion is needed per year. Discussions also centered on who should finance the loss and damage fund agreed at COP27, which would compensate developing countries for the impacts of climate change.

The conference was a mixed bag. Here are our five takeaways:

1. Where is the money?

We urgently need to invest trillions of dollars in climate mitigation and adaptationyet even though this was the finance COP, very little money was put on the table.

Developing countries asked for US$1.3 trillion from developed countries by 2035, with added voluntary contributions from better-off countries still classed as developing, such as China. What they got in the early hours of Sunday, after the summit had overrun by 33 hours, was a much lower pledge of US$300 billion by 2035 from governments and the private sector.

The loss and damage fund is now up and running, and aims to help vulnerable nations pay for climate-related natural disasters. But it remains woefully underfunded, like many of these financial mechanisms, and no agreement was reached on who pays in and who can claim. There were other calls to action at the summit, for instance on zero-emission fuels in shipping and other transport sectors. However, these will all require substantial sums of climate finance, and little or no progress was made.

2. China steps up, US says goodbye, and India stays at home

China means business when it comes to carbon neutrality and investment in green technologies. That much was evident from strong engagement at COP29 from its ministries, private sector and experts.

However, it wants to stick to the definitions of "developing nations" used when the UN's climate framework was devised back in 1992. Under that definition, Chinanow the world's second largest economyis still developing, and needs only make voluntary contributions to climate finance.

India, on the other hand, dismissed COP29 as a "technical COP" with the senior leadership staying at home in part due to elections in the state of Maharashtra. India's delegation said that the US$1.3 trillion investment should come from developed nations (which do not include India). India did express its disappointment in a strong statement once the COP agreement was ratified.

The US said goodbye to serious action on climate change the very day Donald Trump got elected as president, which led to a subdued mood at the country's pavilion and quite a few hotel room cancellations in Baku. Many have suggested the lack of financial ambition is in part because the US will not be contributing to the funds during a Trump presidency.

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3. Saudi Arabia tries to wreck the party

Last year's climate summit agreed a historic resolution to "transition away from fossil fuels." Yet from the beginning of COP29, the Saudis tried to ensure that it was not restated this year, much to the annoyance of the UK, the EU and many other countriesincluding even fellow petrostate (and COP28 host) the UAE.

At the final hour, the resolution was included in this year's COP agreement, but only by referring to it by paragraph and document number, so the words "fossil fuels" do not appear in this year's agreement. However, the text does include "transitional fuels can play a role in facilitating the energy transition." This is largely a reference to natural gas, which is considered a transitional fuel. So another win for the fossil fuel lobby.

4. Methane commitments

There were some more positive outcomes from the summit, such as a pledge on methane. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and can be emitted by decomposing food and other organic waste, often in landfills. After agriculture and fossil fuels, this is the third-largest source of methane emissions from human activity.

At COP29, 30 countries representing nearly 50% of global methane emissions from organic waste signed up to reduce those emissions as part of their future climate action plans. This pledge will pave the way to develop methane capture technologies, especially in landfill sites, and to use some of that methane as bio-gas for heat or electricity.

5. Youth focus

At COP29, the UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, addressed youth representatives: "You have every right to be angry. I am angry too."

The UK was the first out of 196 countries to sign up to the universal youth clause designed to be integrated into the pledges countries make to cut their carbon emissions (known as NDCs). If adopted by other nations, this clause would put children and young people center stage both as stakeholders affected by climate change, but also as agents of change. Given the political backlash in many countries against climate action, this empowerment of the youth is essential, as they will take the reins to secure the future for themselves and generations to come.

Did COP29 make any groundbreaking decisions? No. But many see this summit as the stepping stone to COP30 in Brazil next year. That summit will mark the ten-year anniversary of the Paris agreement, and the next submissions of national emissions reduction plans are due in February 2025.

In fact, even in the final week of this summit, the focus had already shifted to COP30, which has been billed as the "Youth COP." This was evident at COP29 with strong youth voices and presence campaigning for youth-centric NDCs.

A more realistic interpretation is that COP29 was a collective failure to provide the investment needed to shift the world away from fossil fuels. This was supposed to be the finance COP, so where is the money? All this means we are still looking at a future with global warming above 3C.

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This photo taken on Oct. 13, 2024 shows the destruction caused by Israeli airstrikes in Nabatieh, Lebanon. [Photo/Xinhua]

Hezbollah launched approximately 200 rockets into Israel on Sunday as Israel prepared to initiate a new wave of airstrikes on Beirut.

The Israeli military said in a statement that the rockets, fired by Hezbollah militants, targeted northern and central Israel and included three drones. It added that the country's aerial defense systems intercepted only some of the rockets. A launcher from which projectiles were fired toward the Haifa Bay area was struck by the military.

At least eight people were injured by the afternoon. In Kfar Blum, close to the Israel-Lebanon border, first responders with the Magen David Adom rescue service said they treated a man who sustained serious wounds.

A five-story residential building in Haifa, the largest city on Israel's northern coast, was evacuated due to fears of collapse after it was struck by a rocket, the Fire and National Rescue Authority reported. Additional damage was reported in the northern cities of Kiryat Shmona and Ma'alot, as well as near Petah Tikvah in central Israel.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for missile and drone strikes on a military target in Tel Aviv, in retaliation for Israel's recent airstrikes on Beirut.

The attacks were carried out at 06:30 a.m. local time (0430 GMT) "with a salvo of high-quality missiles and a squadron of attack drones," and "the operation achieved its goals," Hezbollah said in a statement, without specifying its target and the precise location.

The group said in other separate statements that it also launched for the first time "an air attack with a squadron of suicide drones on the Ashdod naval base, 150 km from the Lebanese-Palestinian border."

The group also claimed launching drone attacks on a newly-established operations room for the Israeli army in the settlement of Metula in northern Israel, and missile attacks on other northern cities including Hatzor Haglilit, Ma'alot, and Kfar Blum.

Lebanese military sources, who spoke anonymously, told Xinhua that violent clashes have been ongoing since the early hours of Sunday between Hezbollah members and Israeli forces that had advanced in Lebanon's southeastern town of Khiam, the village of Yaroun in the central sector, and the village of Chamaa in the western sector of the border area.

The Israeli army blew up about 18 houses on the eastern edge of Khiam, including the municipality building, they said.

Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes carried out seven raids on towns and villages in eastern Lebanon and 10 on those in the south, and the Israeli artillery shelled 11 border towns and villages in southern Lebanon with about 50 shells, they added.

The Israeli military also announced plans to renew airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburb, urging residents to evacuate the area in a post on social media platform X. On Saturday, Israel carried out at least three waves of strikes on the Lebanese capital, killing at least 20 individuals and injuring 66 others, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.

Since Sept. 23, the Israeli army has intensified its air attack on Lebanon in an escalation of conflict with Hezbollah. Israel further initiated a ground operation across its northern border into Lebanon in early October.
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The gravitational deflection angle   for a light beam coming from Mercury, passing near the Sun and reaching the Earth, versus the observation angle  (please, see again Fig. 2). The numerical computation of equation (11) and the PPN formula up to first order, equation (12), differ for higher values of  . Moreover, the MMA equation (17) based on elliptical integrals fits precisely our numerical calculations. For completeness, the deflection angle results derived via Darwin's formula, equation (18), are also depicted. The inset shows the situation for a sun-grazing beam, where now the error between both schemes reduces to 0.38%. Credit: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2024). DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stae2277

Identifying asteroids on a potential collision course with Earth could be made easier thanks to an advancement in how to track their orbits more precisely.

Taking into account a phenomenon first identified by Sir Isaac Newton and later confirmed by Albert Einstein, researchers have come up with a way to pinpoint the precise positions of minor objects in the solar system.

They include those in the Kuiper Belta region of icy objects including Pluto and other dwarf planets beyond the orbit of Neptuneand a vast, frozen, spherical shell called the Oort Cloud, which is the most distant region in our solar system and home to many long-period comets.

In a new paper published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, researchers have put forward an accurate calculation of the gravitational bending of light (GBL) angle by a static massive object, such as the sun or slowly-moving planets.

Newton was the first to propose the bending of light by gravity, although it was Einstein who went further and deeper when he published his theory of general relativity in 1915. This successfully predicted the deflection angle for distant starlight grazing the solar limb.

Now, Professor Oscar del Barco Novillo, of the University of Murcia in Spain, has proposed an exact equation for the GBL angle when both source and observer are placed at any distance from the static gravitational mass.

This is significant because it could allow astronomers to establish the exact locations of asteroids and minor objects in the solar systemthereby enabling a more accurate calculation of their orbits around the sun and making it easier to spot objects potentially hazardous to Earth.

The hope is that it could even give a more precise location of the nearest star to our planet after the sun, called Proxima Centauri, which is 4.25 light-years away and is thought to have three exoplanets orbiting around it. If its exact whereabouts can be determined, this would also help to accurately estimate the orbits of its planets.

"Our study, which is based on a geometric optics model, provides an exact equation for the most accurate calculation to date of the GBL angle by a static massive objectsuch as the sun or solar system planets," Professor Novillo said.

"This could have implications on the precise positioning of distant stars, as well as the correct location of solar system minor objects like asteroids, to a better estimation of their exact orbits. As a consequence, different branches of astronomy and astrophysics, such as celestial mechanics or stellar dynamics, might benefit from this new result."

The calculation may also help to more precisely locate distant galaxies which are distorted and magnified by large amounts of intervening mass, such as galaxy clusters, due to weak gravitational lensing. Such a breakthrough is important in the field of astrometrya branch of astronomy that involves precise measurements of the positions and movements of stars and other celestial bodies.

It could even spark more precise maps of mass distribution in galaxy clusters, particularly in the era of the European Space Agency's Euclid mission, which revealed its first images last year. The spacecraft is tasked with investigating how dark matter and dark energy have made our universe look like it does today.

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Over the next six years, Euclid will observe the shapes, distances and motions of billions of galaxies out to 10 billion light-yearswith the goal of creating the largest cosmic 3D map ever made.

Professor Novillo said, "The fundamental significance of our new equation is its high accurateness for the GBL angle calculation due to a static gravitational mass, in comparison with previous approximate equations based on the post-Newtonian formalism.

"As a result, it might be instrumental in finding a precise location of minor celestial objects in our solar system and, consequently, a better determination of their orbits around the sun. The new research should therefore be important for astronomers and astrophysicists working on ultra-precise astrometry measurements, particularly in gravitational lensing studies."

More information: Oscar del Barco, An accurate equation for the gravitational bending of light by a static massive object, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2024). DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stae2277 Journal information: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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A supermoon with a partial lunar eclipse rises over Lake Michigan in Chicago, Sept. 17, 2024. Credit: AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File

Planet Earth is parting company with an asteroid that's been tagging along as a "mini moon" for the past two months.

The harmless space rock will peel away on Monday, overcome by the stronger tug of the sun's gravity. But it will zip closer for a quick visit in January.

NASA will use a radar antenna to observe the 33-foot (10-meter) asteroid then. That should deepen scientists' understanding of the object known as 2024 PT5, quite possibly a boulder that was blasted off the moon by an impacting, crater-forming asteroid.

While not technically a moonNASA stresses it was never captured by Earth's gravity and fully in orbitit's "an interesting object" worthy of study.

The astrophysicist brothers who identified the asteroid's "mini moon behavior," Raul and Carlos de la Fuente Marcos of Complutense University of Madrid, have collaborated with telescopes in the Canary Islands for hundreds of observations so far.

Currently more than 2 million miles (3.5 million kilometers) away, the object is too small and faint to see without a powerful telescope. It will pass as close as 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers) of Earth in January, maintaining a safe distance before it zooms farther into the solar system while orbiting the sun, not to return until 2055. That's almost five times farther than the moon.

First spotted in August, the asteroid began its semi jog around Earth in late September, after coming under the grips of Earth's gravity and following a horseshoe-shaped path. By the time it returns next year, it will be moving too fastmore than double its speed from Septemberto hang around, said Raul de la Fuente Marcos.

NASA will track the asteroid for more than a week in January using the Goldstone solar system radar antenna in California's Mojave Desert, part of the Deep Space Network.

Current data suggest that during its 2055 visit, the sun-circling asteroid will once again make a temporary and partial lap around Earth.

 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Thailand produces two million tons of plastic waste a year but started limiting single-use plastic before the pandemic, asking major retailers to stop handing out bags for free.

Each year the world produces around 400 million tonnes of plastic waste, much of it discarded after just a few minutes of use.

Negotiators hope to reach the world's first treaty on plastic pollution this year, but across five very different countries, AFP found single-use plastic remains hugely popular as a cheap and convenient choice, illustrating the challenges ahead:

Bangkok

On a Bangkok street lined with food vendors, customers line up for Maliwan's famed traditional sweets.

Steamed layer cakesgreen with pandan leaf or blue with butterfly peasit in clear plastic bags alongside rows of taro pudding in plastic boxes.

Each day, the 40-year-old business uses at least two kilos of single-use plastic.

"Plastic is easy, convenient and cheap," said 44-year-old owner Watchararas Tamrongpattarakit.

Banana leaves used to be standard, but they are increasingly expensive and hard to source.

They are also onerous to use because each one must be cleaned and checked for tears.

It "isn't practical for our pace of sales", said Watchararas.

Thailand started limiting single-use plastic before the pandemic, asking major retailers to stop handing out bags for free.

But the policy has largely fallen by the wayside, with little uptake among the country's street food vendors.

Thailand produces two million tons of plastic waste a year, according to the country's Pollution Control Department.

The World Bank estimates 11 percent goes uncollected, and is burned, disposed of on land or leaks into rivers and the ocean.

Watchararas tries to consolidate purchases into fewer bags and said some customers bring their own reusable containers and totes.

But Radeerut Sakulpongpaisal, a Maliwan customer for 30 years, said she finds plastic "convenient".

"I also understand the environmental impact," the bank worker said.

But "it's probably easier for both the shop and the customers".

Lagos

In the Obalende market at the heart of Nigeria's economic capital Lagos, emptied water sachets litter the ground.

Each day, Lisebeth Ajayi watches dozens of customers use their teeth to tear open the bags of "pure water" and drink.

"They don't have the money to buy the bottle water, that's why they do the pure water," said the 58-year-old, who sells bottles and bags of water, soap and sponges.

Two 500-milliliter sachets sell for between 50 to 250 naira (3-15 US cents), compared to 250-300 naira for a 750-ml bottle.

Since they appeared in the 1990s, water sachets have become a major pollutant across much of Africa, but they remain popular for drinking, cooking and even washing.

Some 200 firms produce the sachets in Lagos, and several hundred more recycle plastic, but supply vastly outstrips capacity in a country with few public wastebins and little environmental education.

Lagos banned single-use plastic in January, but with little impact so far.

The United Nations estimates up to 60 million water sachets are discarded across Nigeria every day.

Rio

Each day, vendors walk the sands of some of Rio de Janeiro's most beautiful beaches, lugging metal containers filled with the tea-like drink mate.

The iced beverage, infused with fruit juice, is dispensed into plastic cups for eager sun worshippers dotted along the seafront.

The World Bank estimates 11 percent of Thailand's annual plastic waste goes uncollected, and is burned, disposed of on land or leaks into rivers and the ocean.

"Drinking mate is part of Rio de Janeiro's culture," explained Arthur Jorge da Silva, 47, as he scouted for customers.

He acknowledged the environmental impacts of his towers of plastic cups, in a country ranked the fourth-biggest producer of plastic waste in 2019.

But "it's complicated" to find affordable alternatives, he told AFP.

The tanned salesman said mate vendors on the beach had used plastic for as long as he could remember.

He pays a dollar for a tower of 20 cups and charges customers $1.80 for each drink.

Bins along Rio's beaches receive about 130 tons of waste a day, but plastic is not separated, and just three percent of Brazil's waste is recycled annually.

Evelyn Talavera, 24, said she does her best to clean up when leaving the beach.

"We have to take care of our planet, throw the garbage away, keep the environment clean."

Plastic straws have been banned in Rio's restaurants and bars since 2018, and shops are no longer required to offer free plastic bagsthough many still do.

Congress is also considering legislation that would ban all single-use plastic.

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Paris

In France, single-use plastic has been banned since 2016, but while items like straws and plastic cutlery have disappeared, plastic bags remain stubbornly common.

At Paris' Aligre market, stalls are piled with fruit, vegetables and stacks of bags ready to be handed out.

Most are stamped "reusable and 100-percent recyclable", and some are described as compostable or produced from natural materials.

But experts have cast doubt on the environmental relevance of some of these claims.

Vendor Laurent Benacer gets through a 24-euro ($26) box of 2,000 bags each week.

"In Paris, everyone asks for a bag," he told AFP.

"I'd stopped, but my neighbors continued, so I had to restart."

There are alternatives like paper bags, but some customers are simply not convinced.

"Plastic bags remain practical, so everything doesn't spill everywhere," insisted 80-year-old customer Catherine Sale.

Dubai

At the Allo Beirut restaurant in Dubai, plastic containers are piled high, waiting to be filled and delivered across the city.

"We receive more than 1,200 orders a day," said delivery manager Mohammed Chanane.

"We use plastic boxes because they are more airtight, and better preserve the food," he said.

With few pedestrians and an often-scorching climate, many of Dubai's 3.7 million residents rely on delivery for everything from petrol to coffee.

Residents of the United Arab Emirates have one of the highest volumes of waste per capita in the world.

And single-use plastic accounts for 40 percent of all plastic used in the country.

Since June, single-use plastic bags and several similar items have been banned. Polystyrene containers will follow next year.

Allo Beirut is considering using cardboard containers, a move customer Youmna Asmar would welcome.

She admitted horror at the build-up of plastic in her bins after a weekend of family orders.

"I say to myself, if all of us are doing this, it's a lot."

 2024 AFP
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The EcoCommons Australia teamXiang Zhao, Dr. Ryan Newis, Dr. Sebastian Lopez Marcano and Dr. Jenna Wraith. Credit: Marc Grimwade / ARDC

The ecological modeling platform EcoCommons Australia is transforming biodiversity protection and deepening our understanding of how environmental policies advance international biodiversity goals.

A new article published in Environmental Modelling & Software outlines how EcoCommons was created to help researchers and policy decision-makers conduct trusted ecological modeling more efficiently than ever before.

One of the experts behind EcoCommons is Professor Brendan Mackey, Director of the Griffith Climate Action Beacon at Griffith University, and a Coordinating Lead Author on the 2022 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report.

Prof Mackey said, "The EcoCommons platform provides seamless and accessible access to advanced modeling tools and trusted data for biodiversity and climate, with results that can be relied upon by researchers, practitioners and decision makers in academia, business and government."

Ecological modeling, at speed

Dr. Jenna Wraith, senior data scientist for EcoCommons at the Queensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation (QCIF), explains, "EcoCommons streamlines the labor-intensive aspects of ecological modeling. Instead, researchers may concentrate on choosing, testing and interpreting models to inform decisions about restoring, protecting, and conserving vital habitats for a biodiverse future.

"For example, coding and data preparation previously took days to support analysis and mapping of habitats for Australia's rare Purple Copper Butterfly, found only in New South Wales' Central Tablelands. Now, with EcoCommons, this process can be completed in minutes.

"EcoCommons also enables researchers to easily reproduce and 'tweak' the analyses shared by others, promoting democratized research and ensuring transparency and best practices in science and decision-making," said Dr. Wraith.

Scalable technology for environmental decision-making

EcoCommons leverages years of development from legacy laboratories and programs, such as ecocloud and BCCVL, supported by research infrastructure providers and universities. This technology underpins the success of both EcoCommons and Biosecurity Commons, enhancing capabilities in environmental and biosecurity modeling, respectively.

Together, these platforms provide one of the most comprehensive spaces in Australian digital research technology for researchers to use trusted datasets and models that can directly impact research and policymaking.

End-user needs have always been a paramount concern. The recent article describes how the EcoCommons team adopted a user-centred design approach to redevelop the platform.

They analyzed nearly 400 survey responses from approximately 150 organizations to prioritize improvements and expand functionality, continuing to reduce barriers to using ecological models. Crucial updates ensure the platform adheres to internationally-recognized scientific standards for species distribution modeling.

The re-invigorated platform features close to 60,000 datasets, a direct portal to a further 100,000,and more than 30 integrated algorithmsall freely available to researchers and policymakers thanks to collaborative efforts with its partners.

More information: Elisa Bayraktarov et al, EcoCommons Australia virtual laboratories with cloud computing: Meeting diverse user needs for ecological modeling and decision-making, Environmental Modelling & Software (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2024.106255

Provided by Australian Research Data Commons
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Credit: Water Research (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.122717

A new study has revealed there may be a significant underestimation of a specific type of PFAS "forever chemical" in the environment.

Researchers from UNSW Sydney found that branched perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was more prevalent than expected in firefighting foam. PFOA is classified as a human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Firefighting foams have historically been composed of Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, known collectively as PFAS, which have been linked to environmental and health issues because they can take hundreds or even thousands of years to naturally break down.

Low traces of PFAS are believed to now be present in more than 99% of the global population and there are growing concerns about the level of contamination in water supplies, including drinking water.

In a paper published in Water Research, the UNSW team led by Professor Denis O'Carroll, Professor Naresh Kumar, Professor Michael Manefield and Dr. Matthew Lee, showed that concentrations of branched PFOA in firefighting foam would double after time in the environment.

The researchers conducted what is known as a TOPAa total oxidizable precursor assaywhich simulates the oxidation process that helps create regulated PFAS naturally in the environment, but at a much faster speed.

"[We took] the firefighting foam and put it through a test to mimic what would happen to those chemical compounds in the environment. And we found that this branched PFOA was actually an important product of that process," said Prof. O'Carroll, from UNSW's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

"PFOA also exists in a linear form, but people have not really been looking or analyzing the amount of branched PFOA. But in our samples we found that about 50% was linear and 50% was branched after TOPA."

Safe drinking limits

The Australian government recently proposed updating its drinking water guideline, suggesting an acceptable level of 200 nanograms per liter for PFOA. However, in April 2024, the United States Environmental Protection Agency set its drinking water concentration limits for PFOA at just 4 nanograms per liter.

In April, a UNSW-led international study assessed the levels of PFAS contamination in surface and ground water around the globe and found that much of our global source water exceeded PFAS safe drinking limits.

Forever chemicals have been linked in some studies to adverse health outcomes, such as lower birth weight in babies, higher levels of cholesterol, reduced kidney function, thyroid disease, altered sex hormone levels, reduced vaccine response, and liver, kidney, and testicular cancers.

While PFAS have been linked to many of these health outcomes, they haven't necessarily been shown to cause them.

But Prof. O'Carroll says the research from UNSW, which also included work by Dr. Jun Sun, shows that more studies need to be done to properly identify the levels of as many potentially dangerous chemicals as possible.

"PFAS is actually a group of nearly 14,000 synthetic chemicals, but in Australia the authorities measure, monitor and advise on just three of them," he said.

"We can identify in this paper that branched PFOA is likely to be more pervasive in the environment than currently anticipated. But then there are 14,000 other ones we could also be measuring.

"What I think this research shows, more broadly, is that we should be analyzing for more than just a few of these PFAS that are out there and compiling a more holistic picture to help address the problems."

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Decreasing toxicity of PFAS

The researchers have simultaneously been working on developing new catalysts that are able to break down PFAS chemicals.

This novel process is a form of reductive defluorination using a type of eco-friendly chemical reducing agent called zero-valent metals (ZVMs) in conjunction with vitamin B12 and its analogs.

Promisingly, a number of the various branched PFOA chemicals identified in the analysis of the firefighting foam degraded within 10 days when treated with zero-valent zinc and vitamin B12.

"We already know the linear PFOA is very difficult to break down using traditional methods, but we have shown with this new process that the branch PFOA more easily degrades using the new process we have developed," said Prof. Kumar, from UNSW's School of Chemistry.

"So if we are showing that 50% of the PFAS chemicals are actually branch PFOA then that is potentially positive.

"According to some models, the estimated initial step in the reductive defluorination of PFOA would take eight years just with zero-valent zinc, but in our tests the majority of the branched isomers degraded within 10 days using a system including vitamin B12.

"But it's important to understand there is not just one single PFAS in the firefighting foam, or other sources such as non-stick frying pans, clothing, cosmetics, insecticides.

"There is a mixture of things, but the branch version of PFOA is formed from PFAS precursors via environmental conditions.

"It is essential to recognize that effective remediation of PFAS will necessitate treatment combinations, as it is improbable for any single technology to produce environmentally benign products."

More information: Jun Sun et al, Characterization of PFOA isomers from PFAS precursors and their reductive defluorination, Water Research (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.122717 Journal information: Water Research
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"Focaccia" with animal fat experimentally baked in a replica husking tray inside a domed oven. Credit: Sergio Taranto

A study led by researchers from the UAB and the University La Sapienza in Rome indicates that during the Late Neolithic, between 7000 and 5000 BCE, the fully agricultural communities in the Fertile Crescent region of the Near East, developed a complex culinary tradition that included the baking of large loaves of bread and "focaccias" with different flavors on special trays known to archaeologists as husking trays.

The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports and also involved staff from the Mila i Fontanals Institution (IMF-CSIC) and the University of Lyon (France).

The husking trays were containers with a large oval base and low walls, made of coarse clay. They differed from common trays on their internal surface, marked with rough impressions or incisions arranged repetitively and regularly. Previous experiments using replicas of these trays and cooking structures similar to those found at archaeological sites from the studied period had already allowed researchers to hypothesize their function.

These investigations suggested that large loaves made with water and flour might have been baked on these trays, placed in domed ovens for about two hours at an initial temperature of 420C. The grooves on the internal surface would have facilitated the removal of the bread once baked. Moreover, the large size of the loaves, approximately 3 kg, suggested they were likely intended for communal consumption.

The research team analyzed ceramic fragments of husking trays from between 6400 and 5900 BCE to identify their use as specialized containers for baking cereal-based doughs and whether these doughs could have been seasoned with products such as animal fat or vegetable oil. The analyzed remains come from the archaeological sites of Mezraa Teleilat, Akarcay Tepe, and Tell Sabi Abyad, located in the area between Syria and Turkey. The analyses were carried out at the Universities of Istanbul and the Koc (Turkey).

The study, based on various types of analyses from an integrated perspective, provides clear evidence regarding both the uses of these artifacts and the nature of the foods processed in them. In particular, the analysis of phytoliths (silica residues from plants) suggests that cereals such as wheat (Triticum sp.) or barley (Hordeum sp.), reduced to flour, were processed in these trays.

Furthermore, the analysis of organic residues indicates that some of the trays were used to cook foods containing animal-derived ingredients, such as animal fat, and in one case, plant-based seasonings. The degradation state of the residues suggests that, in at least two cases, the trays reached temperatures compatible with those experimentally verified for baking dough in domed ovens.

Finally, the use-alterations analysis of the ceramic surface allowed the identification of use-wear specifically associated with bread residues and others linked to seasoned focaccia residues.

"Our study offers a vivid picture of communities using the cereals they cultivated to prepare breads and 'focaccias' enriched with various ingredients and consumed in groups," explains Sergio Taranto, lead author of the study, part of a doctoral thesis carried out at the UAB and La Sapienza.

"The use of the husking trays we identified leads us to consider that this Late Neolithic culinary tradition developed over approximately six centuries and was practiced in a wide area of the Near East," the researcher concludes.

More information: Sergio Taranto et al, Unveiling the culinary tradition of 'focaccia' in Late Neolithic Mesopotamia by way of the integration of use-wear, phytolith & organic-residue analyses, Scientific Reports (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-78019-9 Journal information: Scientific Reports
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Top view of the rings after compression and lateral deformation. The contrast has been increased to highlight the orange parts underlying the image analysis. Credit: Poincloux and Takeuchi 2024

Researchers Samuel Poincloux (currently at Aoyama Gakuin University) and Kazumasa A. Takeuchi of the University of Tokyo have clarified the conditions under which large numbers of "squishy" grains, which can change their shape in response to external forces, transition from acting like a solid to acting like a liquid.

Similar transitions occur in many biological processes, including the development of an embryo: cells are "squishy" biological "grains" that form solid tissues and sometimes flow to form different organs.

Thus, the experimental and theoretical framework will help separate the roles of mechanical and biochemical processes, a critical challenge in biology. The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The top row depicts the fluid-like behavior of the rings at low density. The bottom row depicts the solid-like behavior of the rings at a higher density. Credit: Poincloux and Takeuchi 2024

Imagine a pile of sand on a table. As we slowly raise one end of the table, it first sits undisturbed and acts like a solid. However, at a critical angle, the forces keeping the sandpile together yield to gravity: the pile breaks down and starts flowing, acting like a liquid.

This is a yielding transition, a widely studied phenomenon with "grains" that do not change shape, such as sand or rocks. However, "grains" in biology are often "squishy," adapting their shape to external forces.

"Although our research revisits a well-studied problem," says Poincloux, the first author, "it hits the sweet spot of being complicated enough to be interesting and simple enough to develop various approaches. We incorporated interdisciplinary components, such as using a biomechanical tool that helped differentiate if the "grains" were changing shapes or positions."

A snippet of the geometric computer analysis done on individual rings. Credit: Poincloux and Takeuchi 2024

Indeed, the researchers approached the challenge through experiments, computer modeling, and geometrical description. They used slender rubber rings as their "squishy" grains and stacked them in a container. They varied the number of rings, the density of "grains," and the strength of lateral forces applied to the rings.

Then, using pictures, the researchers measured the rings' positions, shapes, and points of contact with each other as the batch of rings deformed. These measures allowed them to quantify how much the rings changed position (liquid-like behavior) or shape (solid-like behavior). Lastly, they performed computer simulations and geometric analyses to understand the role of friction and interactions between rings.

"We found the main surprise at the very end of the project," says Poincloux. "Surprisingly, a simple geometrical description underlies the yielding transition observed, despite involving large and complex shape changes coupled with frictional interactions."

Top-side view of the cylindric rings before compression. Credit: Poincloux and Takeuchi 2024

These findings are the first steps toward understanding how "squishy" biological grains interact in living organisms, and Poincloux is already thinking of what to do next.

"To get closer to biological tissues, we could, for instance, modify the interactions and add ring adhesion to emulate linking proteins between cells. For those intending to use these squishy rings for experiments: do not forget to put a cover lid on top of the container to prevent the explosion of hundreds of rings across the laboratory I will not disclose the number of times this incident happened."
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Fuji apples growing in a sustainable orchard. Credit: Yuri Arcurs

Apples rank among the world's most valuable fruit crops, with production spanning more than 100 countries. Some apple trees naturally develop into what farmers call "spur-type" varietiescompact trees that are more productive and easier to maintain. But the genetic mechanisms underlying this coveted trait have remained elusiveuntil now.

An international team of researchers began by creating the first "fully phased" genome of the popular Fuji appleessentially a complete genetic blueprint that clearly distinguishes between genes inherited from each of the two parents. The study was recently published in the journal Nature Communications.

With this new blueprint in hand, the team studied 74 Fuji clonal varieties and identified significant somatic variationsmutations that occur during the plant's lifetime rather than being inherited. Somatic variations can lead to new traits, and in apples, they are the reason we see trees with unique characteristics like early maturation or the spur-type growth habit.

"Farmers prize spur-type apple trees," explained Zhangjun Fei, professor at the Boyce Thompson Institute and one of the study's lead authors. "They exhibit more concentrated flower bud formation and increased fruit yield while requiring less pruning. This makes them ideal for modern orchards, especially in challenging growing conditions."

The Fuji apple, which originated in 1939 as a cross between the Red Delicious and Ralls Janet varieties, is known for its sweet flavor and crisp texture. In countries like China, where over 70% of apple cultivars are based on Fuji clones, spur-type varieties have boosted productivity and adapted well to areas with poor soil and frequent drought.

The study's key discovery centers around a gene called MdTCP11, which acts like a growth control switch. The researchers found that compact apple trees have a small but significant deletion in the DNA near this gene, which causes it to become more active and results in shorter branches and a more compact tree structure.

But the story doesn't end there. The researchers also discovered that the DNA methylation levelsa process that can turn genes on or offwere lower in spur-type varieties compared to standard types. This lower methylation level allows MdTCP11 to be more active, further enhancing the spur-type characteristics.

This research could have significant implications for apple breeding. Understanding these genetic traits could help breeders develop apple varieties that combine compact growth with other valuable characteristics, such as disease resistance.

It could also lead to more sustainable apple production, as compact trees require fewer resources to maintain and can produce more fruit in a smaller space. It's a perfect example of how understanding the genetic code of our food crops can lead to more efficient and sustainable farming practices.

More information: Yudong Cai et al, Genome sequencing of 'Fuji' apple clonal varieties reveals genetic mechanism of the spur-type morphology, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-54428-2 Journal information: Nature Communications
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The landscape on the Faroe Islands today. Credit: Eyfinn Magnussen

Geneticists have studied the distribution of Y-chromosome haplogroups on the Faroe Islands, known to have been colonized by Vikings around the year 900 CE, and compared these to distributions of haplogroups in today's Scandinavia.

They showed with novel analysis methods that the haplotype distribution in the Faroe Islands most closely resembled that in Norway and Denmark, and to a lesser extent that in Sweden, but differed from that in Iceland. They concluded that a band of Viking men from all over Scandinavia colonized the Faroe Islands, which differed in their geographical origin and genetic make-up from those who settled Iceland.

The ancient Vikings certainly had the travel bug. Between the late eighth century and approximately 1050 CE, they roamed the Atlantic in their longships all the way to Newfoundland, Labrador, and Greenland, as well as exploring the Mediterranean and continental Eurasia.

Among the places the Vikings are known to have settled were the Faroe Islands, an archipelago of 18 islands in the North Atlantic. They probably weren't the first to do so: Archaeologists have found evidence that these islands had been inhabited since approximately 300 CE, possibly by Celtic monks or others from the British Isles. But according to the Freyinga Saga, written about 1200, a Viking chief called Grimur Kamban settled in the Faroe Islands between approximately 872 and 930 CE.

But where in Scandinavia did Grimur and his followers come from?

"Here we provide strong evidence that the Faroe Islands were colonized by a diverse group of male settlers from multiple Scandinavian populations," said Dr. Christopher Tillquist, an associate professor at the University of Louisville in Kentucky and the lead author of a new study published in Frontiers in Genetics.

Tillquist's co-authors were Dr. Allison Mann from the University of Wyoming and Dr. Eyfinn Magnussen from the University of the Faroe Islands.

The scientists determined the genotype at 12 "short tandem repeat" (STR) loci on the Y-chromosome of 139 men from the Faroese islands of Boroy, Streymoy, and Suuroy. They assigned each man to the most likely haplogroup, each of which has different known distribution across today's Europe.

The researchers compared the distribution of genotypes to those found in 412 men from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, and Ireland. This allowed them to reconstruct the source population of the Viking population founders.

Advanced analyses showed that the range of Faroese samples resembled the range of genotypes from broader Scandinavian, whereas the Icelandic genotypes were distinct.

The authors also developed a powerful innovative genetic method, called "Mutational Distance from Modal Haplotype" to analyze variation in SNPs (single-nucleotide polymorphisms) within the STRs. This allowed them to reveal a "founder effect"traces of random loss of diversity during historical colonization by a small number of peoplepersisting in the genetic make-up of today's Faroese and Icelandic male populations.

"Scientists have long assumed that the Faroe Islands and Iceland were both settled by similar Norse people. Yet our novel analysis has shown that these islands were founded by men from different gene pools within Scandinavia," said Tillquist.

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"One group, diverse in their Scandinavian origins, established themselves in the Faroe Islands, while another and more genetically divergent band of Vikings colonized Iceland. They have separate genetic signatures that persist to this day."

"There doesn't seem to have been any interbreeding afterwards between these two populations, despite their geographic proximity. Our results demonstrate that Viking expansion into the North Atlantic was more complex than previously thought."

"Each longship that set sail for these distant islands carried not just Vikings, but distinct genetic legacies. We can now trace these separate journeys of conquest and settlement, revealing a more nuanced story of Viking exploration than told by the history books."

More information: Allison E. Mann et al, Genetic evidence points to distinct paternal settlers of the Faroe Islands and Iceland, Frontiers in Genetics (2024). DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1462736

Provided by Frontiers
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Maps showing Armenia with the locations of ancient and whole-genome modern individuals, along with a proposed route of Armenian migration according to the Balkan theory. Credit: The American Journal of Human Genetics (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2024.10.022

Armenians, a population in Western Asia historically inhabiting the Armenian highlands, were long believed to be descendants of Phrygian settlers from the Balkans. This theory originated largely from the accounts of the Greek historian Herodotus, who observed that Armenians were armed in Phrygian fashion when serving in the Persian army. Linguists further supported this theory, suggesting that the Armenian language shares ties with the Thraco-Phrygian subgroup of Indo-European languages.

But the first whole-genome study challenges this long-held belief, revealing no significant genetic link between Armenians and the populations in the Balkan region. The study compares newly generated modern Armenian genomes and published genetic data of ancient individuals from the Armenian highlands with both modern and ancient genomes from the Balkans.

"For centuries, historical beliefs have shaped our understanding of the past, often leading us to accept theories as truth," said Dr. Anahit Hovhannisyan, Marie Curie Fellow in Trinity College Dublin's School of Genetics and Microbiology, and first author of the just-published study in The American Journal of Human Genetics.

"However, with the availability of whole genome sequencing and the advancement of ancient DNA research, we can now question and reframe these long-held ideas, revealing a much more nuanced and scientifically grounded view of the history of human populations."

The researchers behind the new study also disproved another beliefclaims of an Assyrian ancestry for the Sasun, an Armenian population that inhabited the southern part of the Armenian highlands (modern-day southeastern Turkey). This connection had been referenced in many historical sources, including the Bible, in cuneiform texts, and local traditional stories. Instead, they found that the Sasun had experienced a significant contraction in size in the recent past, which sets them apart from other populations.

"While checking for genetic continuity in the Armenian highlands, we found a genetic input into the region from a source linked to Neolithic Levantine farmers at some point after the Early Bronze Age. In terms of timing and genetic ancestry, this aligns with previous findings in adjacent regions, thus allowing us to conclude that there was a large-scale post-Early Bronze Age movement across the Middle East.

"The questions of exactly where and when it came from, as well as what triggered such a widespread migration wave, remain unanswered and yet to be studied," said Andrea Manica, Professor at the University of Cambridge, who is the last and co-senior author in the publication.

Researchers also shed light on the population structure and genetic variation of different Armenian groups, finding that populations from the eastern, western, and central parts of the Armenian highlands show a relatively high level of similarity.

"This is the first study attempting to draw the genetic atlas of the Armenian highlands," said Levon Yepiskoposyan, Professor at the Institute of Molecular Biology, NAS RA, and co-senior author of the publication.

More information: Anahit Hovhannisyan et al, Demographic history and genetic variation of the Armenian population, The American Journal of Human Genetics (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2024.10.022 Journal information: American Journal of Human Genetics
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United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen (L) meets with Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh in Damascus, Syria, Nov. 24, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen called here on Sunday for boosting funding for Syria, as more than 400,000 Syrian refugees have returned from Lebanon, placing a significant burden on the nation's resources.

Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh, Pedersen said that the government needs to continue "to do what it has done best so far, and to provide protection and security for those who are returning."

"We need to see that the international community lives up to its responsibility and increases its funding to Syria in this very critical situation," he added.

Highlighting the broader challenges facing Syria, Pedersen said "it's obvious we need to address the political situation, the security situation, the restoration of Syria's sovereignty and independence."

"We need to address the issues of the economy, the sanctions and reconstruction, the file of the detainees, and ... the file of the refugees," he said, adding that these issues are all interconnected.

Urging a revival of the political process in Syria, Pedersen said "the first thing we can start with when it comes to the political process is ... to receive the work of the Constitution Committee."

Syria has been embroiled in a civil war since March 2011, leading to the displacement of millions of people. The return of refugees from neighboring countries like Lebanon adds pressure on the country's already struggling infrastructure.
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Credit: University of Exeter

A historical document written by one of early medieval Europe's most important rulers to his beloved English queen has been re-dated following analysis by an Exeter historian.

The testimony of King Otto I of Germany, in which he donates a large estate to his church in Fallersleben for the "salvation of the soul" of his Queen Edith, has, for more than a century been thought to be dated A.D. 942.

But this date and the reference to his queen's soul has been the subject of historical speculation because Queen Edithdaughter of King Edward the Elder, and granddaughter of Alfred the Greatwas still alive at that time.

In the same document, King Otto, who would later become the founder of the Holy Roman Empire, also dedicated the offering of land to the "well-being of his son," Liudolf, clearly differentiating his family through his choice of two well-recognized expressions.

But now a historian in the University of Exeter's Department of Archaeology and History has studied the original document and found evidence that it was written in A.D.950, four years after the sudden death of Queen Edith.

Professor Levi Roach, an expert in Western European history of the Middle Ages, has been researching a corpus of documents relating to King Otto, including this one held by the State Archives of Saxony-Anhalt.

"Dating documents in the Middle Ages presents challenges to historians because they were not yet done according to the Gregorian calendar as is widely used today," said Professor Roach. "When I began to examine this piece, I had a 'Eureka moment' because within minutes, it was clear that modern scholars had mis-dated it, and it was, in effect, a tribute to the king's late wife and their surviving son."

The document, one of more than 540 from Germany that Professor Roach is studying and editing, would have been drafted by a high-level notary during Otto's rule, and bears a purported date of 966. In his analysis, published in the German journal Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Professor Roach said several discrepancies with this dateincluding the fact that Otto would have been the emperor at this time, and not a kinghad initially convinced many early historians that it was a forgery. That was until the great Prussian scholar Theodor Sickel re-examined it and dated it to 942.

"It is by no means a standard royal document," says Professor Roach. "The passage on the salvation of souls, with its strong emphasis on caring for the ruler's first wife and their son Liudolf, is clearly out of the ordinary and was already noticed by 20th century historians, who thought that it might hint at some form of undocumented crisis or illness, such as Edith suffering a miscarriage."

Edith was a member of the House of Wessex and married Ottothe son and heir to King Henry the Fowlerin 929/30 to seal an alliance between the two Saxon kingdoms. When Otto succeeded Henry to the throne six years later, Edith was anointed queen and they had two children, before she passed away suddenly around 946. And despite remarrying, and the succession line changing, when Otto himself died, he was buried next to Edith at Magdeburg Cathedral.

In studying the document, Professor Roach found several typographic and punctuation consistencies with another that had been written by the same notary in Magdeburg, and which also bears the year of 966. However, this latter document bears a secondary date (known as a regnal date) relating to the years of the king's reign, which pinpoints it to 950. It is almost inconceivable, Professor Roach concluded, that one notary could have made the exact same mistake eight years apart; and therefore, in all likelihood, he drafted them at the same timein the year 950.

"First and foremost, this redating deepens our understanding of this important but difficult to interpret document, which can now be counted among a series issued after 946 for the eternal memory of Edith," Professor Roach adds. "It also underlines how important it is to ask fundamental questions about the origins of our documentary sources and not to tacitly accept previously valid knowledge.

"Above all, it provides further insight into the relationship between Otto and Edith. Although they were married for a much shorter period than Otto was with his second wife, it is next to Edith that he would be buried. This was clearly a love that lasted through the ages."
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Polarized optical microscopy images show, from left to right: rac-BINAP, TBT and spiro-TAD crystallized as platelets, an ideal shape for future device applications. Credit: Carnegie Mellon University

Organic semiconductors represent a transformative technology that bridges traditional electronics with the versatility of organic materials. They make flexible, wearable devices and next-generation displays possible.

Crystallizable organic semiconductors (COS) represent a subset of organic electronic materials that have garnered substantial attention in recent years due to their unique properties and potential applications. Certain COS can form well-ordered crystalline structures, which are crucial for enhancing charge transport properties. In COS, molecules are arranged in a regular, periodic pattern, facilitating more efficient charge carrier movement through the material.

In collaboration with scientists at Princeton University, Carnegie Mellon University researchers Filipp Gusev and Olexandr Isayev, the Carl and Amy Jones Professor of Interdisciplinary Science, devised a way to use machine learning (ML) to rapidly identify potential COS materials.

"This novel approach combines machine learning modeling of thermal properties of molecules with high throughput virtual screening," said Gusev, a doctoral student in Isayev's group.

"As a result, we identified three novel crystallizable molecules in platelet form. Molecules that form large-area single crystals, known as platelets, are favorable for use in electronic devices. These three molecules build upon a pool of six that our collaborators at Princeton have seen previously to form platelets when fabricated through post-deposition annealing."

Gusev is a first co-author with Princeton University's Holly Johnson and Jordan Dull on a paper titled "Discovery of Crystallizable Organic Semiconductors with Machine Learning," published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Gusev presented the work at the ACS Fall 2024 meeting in Denver.

The team conducted a virtual screening of almost half a million commercially available molecules. Gusev built two ML models, one predicting melting temperature and a second predicting the enthalpy of melting. These two properties were important for narrowing down the pool of candidate COS materials by estimating a third key property: crystallization driving force.

Together with a material's melting point, the crystallization driving force can act as a metric for anticipating crystal growth morphologyor resistance to thin film crystallizationin organic semiconductors. Hence, the ML model helped to prioritize a small number of candidates that collaborators at Princeton could efficiently experimentally analyze.

The Carnegie Mellon researchers trained the predictive models to screen the candidates in multiple stages. They used Bridges-2 at Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) with support from the NSF Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem: Services & Support (ACCESS) program.

"Rather than going into a lab and doing thousands of experiments to search for COS materials, we trained ML models that would guide us on what molecules to pick," Isayev said. "Essentially, you start with a haystack and end up with a few needles you were looking for."

Machine learning rapidly narrowed the pool of candidates from several hundred thousand to 44.

"From these 44 candidates, we further narrowed it to 13 molecules based on our experience in crystallization," said Johnson, a doctoral student on the team at Princeton University.

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The use of ML predictions and expert knowledge worked in tandem to identify platelet-forming candidate materials.

Team members from Professor Barry Rand's lab at Princeton then conducted experimental work to verify ML predictions and formulated the importance of the crystallization driving force in COS. The team selected six molecules for experimental validation based on price and commercial availability. Johnson said they used differential scanning calorimetry, or DSC, to test the candidates for their thermal properties and compared them with ML predictions.

In addition to checking the accuracy of the ML predictions, this experiment reveals to the researchers a range of temperatures for the annealing process: above the glass transition temperature but below the melting point.

"We start with DSC to get the thermal values of each material, and then we go into the fabrication and optimization phase where we're able to narrow down the conditions that work best to support crystal growth and analyze the resultant morphologies," Johnson said. "Our fabrication process is straightforward, but it requires a lot of finesse.

"You begin by depositing the material you're trying to crystallize onto a substrate under vacuum, then you abruptly anneal the samples in an inert environment. Suppose the experimental conditions, such as the film thickness, the annealing temperature, and the annealing time, are correct. In that case, there is a potential to create a film of long-range, highly ordered crystalline domains."

The Princeton collaborators conducted crystallization experiments to evaluate the six molecules over several months. Half of the molecules tested experimentally crystallized as platelets, which is the ideal morphology for future device building.

COS materials offer a platform for studying the fundamental physics of charge transport in organic systems. By examining the relationship between molecular packing, crystal structure and electronic properties, researchers can gain insight into these mechanisms to support the design of new, high-performance organic electronic materials.

Gusev said that this project is one of the directions of his graduate work. He develops methods that combine ML with experiments. "The whole idea of my research is ... to provide effective data-driven guidance for experiments across different disciplines," Gusev said.

Gusev and Isayev, along with Carnegie Mellon graduate students Evgeny Gutkin and Ben Koby and Professor of Chemistry Maria Kurnikova, were part of a collaborative team with the University of British Columbia that tied for first place on the Critical Assessment of Computational Hit-Finding Experiments (CACHE) Drug Discovery Challenge #1.

The challenge involved using novel computational methods in the search for potential targets to treat Parkinson's disease, specifically to find inhibitors for the WD40 repeat (WDR) domain of leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2), a common genetic cause of the disease.

"Both projectsCOS materials and LRRK2 kinase inhibitorsdemonstrated that well-trained ML models can predict challenging properties and reliably guide experimental work," Gusev said. "This represents an opportunity for a significant shift in decision-making authority from human experts to algorithms. These capabilities mark a crucial advancement toward self-driving laboratories like CMU Cloud Lab, illustrating the collaborative potential of machine and human intelligence."

More information: Holly M. Johnson et al, Discovery of Crystallizable Organic Semiconductors with Machine Learning, Journal of the American Chemical Society (2024). DOI: 10.1021/jacs.4c05245 Journal information: Journal of the American Chemical Society
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Recent photo showing Montreal's tiny islands almost flooded by the Saint-Lawrence (or the Prairies river, its side-arm) because of heavy rainfall. Credit: Agnes Vari

A new University of British Columbia-led study shows that safeguarding key natural ecosystems across Canada can help reduce flood risks for more than half of the country's urban areas at high risk for flooding.

The work is published in the journal Ecosystem Services. It offers a global roadmap for integrating nature-based solutions into urban planning and flood management.

The research reveals that preserving the most important 5% of watershedsabout 201,000 square kilometers, or 2% of Canada's landcan significantly reduce rainwater runoff, protect homes and livelihoods, and safeguard croplands.

"This is the first national study to assess the role of Canadian ecosystems in flood prevention and to identify where conservation could have the greatest impact," said Dr. Matthew Mitchell, an assistant professor in the faculty of forestry and the faculty of land and food systems.

Nature: The flood shield

Upstream watersheds near cities such as Vancouver and Toronto play an important role in protecting 3.7 million people living in floodplains and another 20.1 million nearbymore than half of Canada's population.

Using global data, Dr. Mitchell and his colleagues analyzed how land types like forests, wetlands and riparian zones absorb water and reduce runoff.

These natural systems prevent downstream flooding, improve water quality and support wildlife, while reducing reliance on costly infrastructure like dams.

"Nature-based solutions are highly effective for managing flood risks, and this study shows exactly where conservation can make the biggest impact," said Dr. Mitchell.

Conservation priorities across Canada

The study identified key ecosystems in British Columbia that are critical for flood prevention:

Alpine and subalpine ecosystems in the Coast and Columbia Mountains, which help regulate water flow and prevent downstream flooding.

Wetlands in the Fraser River Delta, including Burns Bog and other peatlands, which are crucial for flood protection in the Lower Mainland.

Forests and wetlands in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys, which protect key agricultural areas and growing population centers.

Beyond British Columbia, the researchers recommend the following conservation priorities:

Prairie Provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba): Protect grasslands and wetlands in key river watersheds, such as the Red and Saskatchewan Rivers.

Northern Regions: Prioritize conservation in northern wetlands and other ecosystems, including those in the Yukon and Northwest Territories.

Southern Ontario: Safeguard wetlands around the Great Lakes and major rivers to reduce flood risks in cities like Toronto, Ottawa, and Hamilton.

Canada has committed to protecting 30% of its land by 2030, yet only 8% of the most flood-critical ecosystems are currently protected. The researchers call for stronger conservation policies and funding to prioritize these high-impact areas.

"This research makes it clear that conserving nature isn't just about biodiversityit's also about protecting communities and making cities more resilient to climate change," said Dr. Mitchell.

More information: Gabriela T. Duarte et al, Flood prevention benefits provided by Canadian natural ecosystems, Ecosystem Services (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2024.101670
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(a) A bronze medieval-style wall or rampart gun was found at this Coronado expedition site in southern Arizona. It is 42 in (106.7 cm) long and weighs about 40 lb. The diameter of the bore is .95 in (24.7 mm) or 5 gauge. It could be fired with a solid round projectile or with buckshot. (b) The wall gun was resting on the floor of a Spanish structure. This figure shows it while under excavation, held firmly in place by roots. Credit: International Journal of Historical Archaeology (2024). DOI: 10.1007/s10761-024-00761-7

Independent researchers in Arizona have unearthed a bronze cannon linked to the Vazquez de Coronado expedition, making it the oldest firearm ever found in the continental United States. The discovery sheds new light on the artillery used during the 15391542 expedition into the American Southwest.

In the early 16th century, reports of wealthy cities north of Mexico sparked Spanish interest in further exploration. Inspired by the accounts of past conquistador raids and tales of the Seven Cities of Cibola relayed by Fray Marcos de Niza, Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza organized an expedition led by Francisco Vazquez de Coronado in 1539.

Coronado, who mortgaged his wife's possessions and borrowed heavily for the excursion, went in search of these legendary cities in hopes of stealing gold and precious stones, claiming land and enslaving large populations for forced labor.

With 150 mounted soldiers, 200 infantrymen, and hundreds of native recruits, the expedition would ultimately face disappointment when the cities did not match the grandeur described. Instead of finding riches or large populations to enslave, the armed force mostly looted blankets and pottery from small Pueblo communities in the Southwest before turning back when they reached the Great Plains of Kansas.

In the study, "Coronado's Cannon: A 153942 Coronado Expedition Cannon Discovered in Arizona," published in the International Journal of Historical Archaeology, the team details a bronze cannon found at an excavation site in the Santa Cruz Valley of Arizona and how they connect it to Francisco Vazquez de Coronado.

The cannon was found on the floor of a Spanish stone-and-adobe structure, dated to the Coronado era using radiocarbon dating and optically stimulated luminescence techniques. Other artifacts recovered from the site align with the expedition, including European pottery and olive jar sherds, glass shards, and weapon parts.

Sometimes referred to as a wall gun, the unearthed cannon was an early type of firearm requiring two people to operate. Designed primarily for use along fortification walls, the expedition reportedly utilized them as an offensive weapon to breach wooden or light adobe walls of domestic dwellings in the cities they encountered.

Measuring 42 inches in length and weighing about 40 pounds, the cannon type would typically make use of a large wooden tripod. It shows evidence of being sand-cast with three sprue marks along the bottom axis and four iron pins used in the casting process. The plain and unadorned casting design suggests it may have been cast in Mexico or the Caribbean rather than Spain, where a more decorative approach was common.

It is also suggested that the cannon could have been purchased from a previous Spanish expedition, possibly even from Ponce de Leon. The cannon was found unloaded and shows no evidence of use in the battle, raising questions about why it was left behind.

Historical accounts indicate that the local Sobaipuri O'odham people attacked the settlement, leading to the Spaniards retreating from the area. Clusters of lead shot and distinctive Sobaipuri arrowheads at the site reinforce the narrative of a confrontation.

This discovery provides the first known firearm from the Coronado expedition and offers insights into early Spanish-Native American interactions in the Southwest. Further analyses are planned to determine the gun's exact origins and study other site artifacts.

More information: Deni J. Seymour et al, Coronado's Cannon: A 1539-42 Coronado Expedition Cannon Discovered in Arizona, International Journal of Historical Archaeology (2024). DOI: 10.1007/s10761-024-00761-7

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Models for the interior structures of the ice-giant planets Uranus and Neptune have two distinct, intermediate layers: an upper, water-rich convecting layer where disorganized magnetic fields are generated, and a lower, non-convecting hydrocarbon-rich layer. New computer simulations show that icy materials naturally separate at high pressure and temperature into these two layers. Credit: Burkhard Militzer, UC Berkeley

Diamond rain? Super-ionic water? These are just two proposals that planetary scientists have come up with for what lies beneath the thick, bluish, hydrogen-and-helium atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune, our solar system's unique, but superficially bland, ice giants.

A planetary scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, now proposes an alternative theorythat the interiors of both these planets are layered, and that the two layers, like oil and water, don't mix. That configuration neatly explains the planets' unusual magnetic fields and implies that earlier theories of the interiors are unlikely to be true.

In a paper appearing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Burkhard Militzer argues that a deep ocean of water lies just below the cloud layers and, below that, a highly compressed fluid of carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen.

Computer simulations show that under the temperatures and pressures of the planets' interiors, a combination of water (H 2 O), methane (CH 3 ) and ammonia (NH 3 ) would naturally separate into two layers, primarily because hydrogen would be squeezed out of the methane and ammonia that comprise much of the deep interior.

These immiscible layers would explain why neither Uranus nor Neptune has a magnetic field like Earth's. That was one of the surprising discoveries about our solar system's ice giants made by the Voyager 2 mission in the late 1980s.

"We now have, I would say, a good theory why Uranus and Neptune have really different fields, and it's very different from Earth, Jupiter and Saturn," said Militzer, a UC Berkeley professor of Earth and planetary science. "We didn't know this before. It's like oil and water, except the oil goes below because hydrogen is lost."

If other star systems have similar compositions to ours, Militzer said, ice giants around those stars could well have similar internal structures. Planets about the size of Uranus and Neptuneso-called sub-Neptune planetsare among the most common exoplanets discovered to date.

Convection leads to magnetic fields

As a planet cools from its surface downward, cold and denser material sinks, while blobs of hotter fluid rise like boiling watera process called convection. If the interior is electrically conducting, a thick layer of convecting material will generate a dipole magnetic field similar to that of a bar magnet.

Earth's dipole field, created by its liquid outer iron core, produces a magnetic field that loops from the North Pole to the South Pole and is the reason compasses point toward the poles.

But Voyager 2 discovered that neither of the two ice giants has such a dipole field, only disorganized magnetic fields. This implies that there's no convective movement of material in a thick layer in the planets' deep interiors.

To explain these observations, two separate research groups proposed more than 20 years ago that the planets must have layers that can't mix, thus preventing large-scale convection and a global dipolar magnetic field. Convection in one of the layers could produce a disorganized magnetic field, however. But neither group could explain what these non-mixing layers were made of.

Ten years ago, Militzer tried repeatedly to solve the problem, using computer simulations of about 100 atoms with the proportions of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen reflecting the known composition of elements in the early solar system.

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At the pressures and temperatures predicted for the planets' interiors3.4 million times Earth's atmospheric pressure and 4,750 Kelvin (~8,000F), respectivelyhe could not find a way for layers to form.

Last year, however, with the help of machine learning, he was able to run a computer model simulating the behavior of 540 atoms and, to his surprise, found that layers naturally form as the atoms are heated and compressed.

"One day, I looked at the model, and the water had separated from the carbon and nitrogen. What I couldn't do 10 years ago was now happening," he said. "I thought, 'Wow! Now I know why the layers form: One is water-rich and the other is carbon-rich, and in Uranus and Neptune, it's the carbon-rich system that is below. The heavy part stays in the bottom, and the lighter part stays on top and it cannot do any convecting.'"

"I couldn't discover this without having a large system of atoms, and the large system I couldn't simulate 10 years ago," he added.

The amount of hydrogen squeezed out increases with pressure and depth, forming a stably stratified carbon-nitrogen-hydrogen layer, almost like a plastic polymer, he said. While the upper, water-rich layer likely convects to produce the observed disorganized magnetic field, the deeper, stratified hydrocarbon-rich layer cannot.

When he modeled the gravity produced by a layered Uranus and Neptune, the gravity fields matched those measured by Voyager 2 nearly 40 years ago.

"If you ask my colleagues, 'What do you think explains the fields of Uranus and Neptune?' they may say, 'Well, maybe it's this diamond rain, but maybe it's this water property which we call superionic,'" he said. "From my perspective, this is not plausible. But if we have this separation into two separate layers, that should explain it."

Militzer predicts that below Uranus' 3,000-mile-thick atmosphere lies a water-rich layer about 5,000 miles thick and below that a hydrocarbon-rich layer also about 5,000 miles thick. Its rocky core is about the size of the planet Mercury.

Though Neptune is more massive than Uranus, it is smaller in diameter, with a thinner atmosphere, but similarly thick water-rich and hydrocarbon-rich layers. Its rocky core is slightly larger than that of Uranus, approximately the size of Mars.

He hopes to work with colleagues who can test with laboratory experiments under extremely high temperatures and pressures whether layers form in fluids with the proportions of elements found in the protosolar system.

A proposed NASA mission to Uranus could also provide confirmation, if the spacecraft has on board a Doppler imager to measure the planet's vibrations. A layered planet would vibrate at different frequencies than a convecting planet, Militzere said.

His next project is to use his computational model to calculate how the planetary vibrations would differ.

More information: Burkhard Militzer et al, Phase separation of planetary ices explains nondipolar magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2403981121 Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

When academics and other researchers need to recruit people for large-scale surveys, they often rely upon crowdsourcing sites like Prolific or Amazon Mechanical Turk. Participants sign up to provide demographic information and opinions in exchange for money or gift cards. Prolific currently has about 200,000 active users, who it promises have been vetted "to prove that they are who they say they are."

However, even if the users are real people, there are signs that many of them use AI to answer survey questions.

Janet Xu, an assistant professor of organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business, says she first heard about this from a colleague who'd noticed some answers to open-ended survey questions seemed  nonhuman. The replies contained fewer typos. They were longer. (Even the most opinionated people will write four or five sentences max.) And they were suspiciously nice. "When you do a survey and people write back, there's usually some amount of snark," Xu says.

In a new paper posted to the preprint server SocArXiv, Xu, Simone Zhang of New York University, and AJ Alvero of Cornell University examine how, when, and why academic research participants turn to AI. Nearly one-third of Prolific users who took part in the study reported using large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT in some of their survey work.

Looking for the right words

The authors surveyed about 800 participants on Prolific to learn how they engage with LLMs. All had taken surveys on Prolific at least once; 40% had taken seven surveys or more in the last 24 hours. They were promised that admitting to LLM use would not influence their eligibility to participate in future studies.

About two-thirds said they had never used LLMs to help them answer open-ended survey questions. About one-quarter reported that they sometimes used AI assistants or chatbots for help with writing, and less than 10% reported using LLMs very frequently, suggesting that AI tools have not (so far) been widely adopted. The most common reason given for using AI was needing help expressing one's thoughts.

Those respondents who said they never use LLMs on surveys tended to cite concerns about authenticity and validity. "So many of their answers had this moral inflection where it seems like [using AI] would be doing the research a disservice; it would be cheating. AI use has probably caused scholars and researchers and editors to pay increased scrutiny to the quality of their data," Xu says.

Some groups of participants, such as those that were newer to Prolific or identified as male, Black, Republican, or college-educated, were more likely to say they'd used AI writing assistance. Xu emphasizes that this is just a snapshot; these patterns may change as the technology diffuses or users churn on the platform. But she says they are worth noting because differences in AI use could cause bias in public opinion data.

To see how human-crafted answers differ from AI-generated ones, the authors looked at data from three studies fielded on gold-standard samples before the public release of ChatGPT in November 2022. The human responses in these studies tended to contain more concrete, emotionally charged language.

The authors also noted that these responses included more "dehumanizing" language when describing Black Americans, Democrats, and Republicans. In contrast, LLMs consistently used more neutral, abstract language, suggesting that they may approach race, politics, and other sensitive topics with more detachment.

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Diluting diversity

Xu says that while it is likely studies that received AI-generated responses have already been published, she doesn't think that LLM use is widespread enough to require researchers to issue corrections or retractions. Instead, she says, "I would say that it has probably caused scholars and researchers and editors to pay increased scrutiny to the quality of their data."

"We don't want to make the case that AI usage is unilaterally bad or wrong," she says, adding that it depends on how it's being used. Someone may use an LLM to help them express their opinion on a social issue, or they may borrow an LLM's description of other people's ideas about a topic.

In the first scenario, AI is helping someone sharpen an existing idea, Xu says. The second scenario is more concerning "because it's basically asking to generate a common tendency rather than reflecting the specific viewpoint of somebody who already knows what they think."

If too many people use AI in that way, it could lead to the flattening or dilution of human responses. "What it means for diversity, what it means in terms of expressions of beliefs, ideas, identitiesit's a warning sign about the potential for homogenization," Xu says.

This has implications beyond academia. If people use AI to fill out workplace surveys about diversity, for example, it could create a false sense of acceptance. "People could draw conclusions like, 'Oh, discrimination's not a problem at all, because people only have nice things to say about groups that we have historically thought were under threat of being discriminated against,' or 'Everybody just gets along and loves each other.'"

The authors note that directly asking survey participants to refrain from using AI can reduce its use. There are also higher-tech ways to discourage LLM use, such as code that blocks copying and pasting text. "One popular form of survey software has this function where you can ask to upload a voice recording instead of written text," Xu says.

The paper's results are instructive to survey creators as a call to create concise, clear questions. "Many of the subjects in our study who reported using AI say that they do it when they don't think that the instructions are clear," Xu says. "When the participant gets confused or gets frustrated, or it's just a lot of information to take in, they start to not pay full attention."

Designing studies with humans in mind may be the best way to prevent the boredom or burnout that could tempt someone to fire up ChatGPT. "A lot of the same general principles of good survey design still apply," Xu says, "and if anything, they are more important than ever."

More information: Simone Zhang et al, Generative AI Meets Open-Ended Survey Responses: Participant Use of AI and Homogenization, SocArXiv (2024). DOI: 10.31235/osf.io/4esdp
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Credit: Dongdilac from Pexels

For the first time, anyone in England can now access real-time information of where combined sewer overflows (CSOs) are discharging untreated wastewater into our waterways. This week, all water companies published details of how anyone can access the status of thousands of "event duration monitors", devices that are placed on CSO outlets to record whether they are discharging sewage.

This recent data release is not, however, driven by some inspired act of transparency by water companies. An impending new law is forcing them to. Section 81 of The Environment Act comes into force in January, obligating them to make event duration monitor data "readily accessible to the public."

As a scientist studying river pollution, this data release is incredibly welcome. Since early 2024, water companies have been sharing maps of where sewage spills are happening but restricting access to the underlying data. As a result, members of the public have had to rely on the data visualization choices made by the water companies. Unfortunately, the resulting maps may not be showing exactly what people want to see.

It seems obvious that people concerned about the safety of bathing water would want a map that highlights active sewage spills. Several water companies, however, seemed to disagree with this logic, producing maps where spills were obscured by non-spill icons unless you zoomed in, making it challenging for the public to quickly identify discharges.

But now, with raw data publicly available, it will be possible for other organizations to generate visualizations more centered on the public interest.

With geospatial developer Jonathan Dawe, I created such a tool, SewageMapan open-source, free website which shows where spills are occurring in the Thames basin and, crucially, highlights which rivers are downstream of an active discharge. While the limited information provided by current overflow monitors means this map cannot provide risk information, it still provides useful, clear insights to swimmers, academics and citizen scientists.

The SewageMap website shows river sections downstream of CSO discharges after heavy rainfall in September 2024.

Open data has been essential to its success. Thames Water, to its credit, opted to release its CSO data in January 2023, almost two years before other water companies and the legal deadline to do so (January 2025).

This open data enabled us to build our visualization for the Thames, and the data was rapidly and widely used by other people too. The volunteer-led site Top of the Poops rapidly incorporated live information into its data dashboards. Environmental charities such as the Rivers Trust and Surfers Against Sewage, as well as journalists, now routinely use this data to communicate with the public.

Academics have also benefitted from access to overflow monitoring data. Nick Voulvoulis, a professor of environmental technology, and collaborators used this data to diagnose capacity limitations with the UK's sewerage network.

This clear demand and capacity for open environmental data stands in stark contrast to the view of a senior lawyer for South West Water's parent company, who claimed that "it is the regulators and not the press or the public" which should have access to data on sewage spills. We have a long way to go to change this attitude.

Notably, most companies are now only releasing the current status of CSO monitors which the Environment Act requires them to do, and no more. Take information about historical sewage spills. Let's imagine there is a CSO in your local riverif you'd like to know if it is discharging today, you can, now, easily find out.

However, if you'd like to know when it discharged in the last year, it is harder, if not impossible, to find out. This seems surprising as this historical data is automatically gathered by the same monitors used for the recent release. It would be trivially easy to make this historical data public at the same time. Indeed, Thames and Southern Water have voluntarily opted to do so (again, to their credit). If they can do it, why can't other water companies?

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A trickle of transparency

Equally as important as open data is transparency over the scientific models used to make decisions off the back of it. Unfortunately, many models used by the water industry are "closed source," meaning that the underlying code and data cannot be publicly accessed or scrutinized.

This means that from the public's perspective, the models operate as a "black box" where it is unclear how they reach decisions. For instance, Southern Water operates an online tool, Rivers and Seas Watch (previously known as BeachBuoy), that uses a model to determine if a spill alert is "genuine" and "impacts" bathing water.

In an independent review of this tool, lack of transparency of how the model made decisions was cited as a key reason users didn't trust its outputs. And in a recent study, Alex Ford, professor of biology at the University of Portsmouth, and his citizen scientist collaborators queried the validity of some of the outputs.

Southern Water has now taken steps to improve the model's transparency, including publishing the independent review in full. However, the tool still relies on a proprietary closed-source hydrodynamic model to make decisions.

Worryingly, government regulators are also using closed-source software to make decisions about our rivers. Sagis is a model used to predict the sources of pollution into rivers, and self-describes as "the regulatory agencies' (Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency) primary catchment planning tool until at least 2027."

However, a colleague and I recently raised concerns that Sagis, which was developed by the water industry, is proprietary, closed source, and challenging to scrutinize. Notably, this seems to be againstw the government's own guidance to use open-source software.

The growing availability of overflow monitoring data is positive, and I am excited to see what great things citizen scientists, academics and environmental charities can do with it.

However, there is still so much environmental data about our rivers that is far too hard to access, and proprietary, closed-source models are the norm. We need to rebuild public trust in our riverand sewernetworks. Greater transparency would be a good place to start.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Ariel, Uranus's fourth largest moon, is thought to be made of equal parts rock and ice. A new computer model developed at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics could be used to detect liquid water oceans beneath Ariel's icy surface. Credit: NASA/JPL

When NASA's Voyager 2 flew by Uranus in 1986, it captured grainy photographs of large ice-covered moons. Now nearly 40 years later, NASA plans to send another spacecraft to Uranus, this time equipped to see if those icy moons are hiding liquid water oceans.

The mission is still in an early planning stage. But researchers at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG) are preparing for it by building a new computer model that could be used to detect oceans beneath the ice using just the spacecraft's cameras.

The research is important because scientists don't know which ocean detection method will work best on Uranus. Scientists want to know if there's liquid water there because it's a key ingredient for life.

The new computer model works by analyzing small oscillationsor wobblesin the way a moon spins as it orbits its parent planet. From there, it can calculate how much water, ice and rock there is inside. Less wobble means a moon is mostly solid, while a large wobble means the icy surface is floating on a liquid water ocean. When combined with gravity data, the model computes the ocean's depth as well as the thickness of the overlying ice.

Uranus, along with Neptune, is in a class of planets called ice giants. Astronomers have detected more ice giant-sized bodies outside of our solar system than any other kind of exoplanet. If Uranus's moons are found to have interior oceans, that could mean there are vast numbers of potentially life-harboring worlds throughout the galaxy, said UTIG planetary scientist Doug Hemingway, who developed the model.

"Discovering liquid water oceans inside the moons of Uranus would transform our thinking about the range of possibilities for where life could exist," he said.

The UTIG research, which was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, will help mission scientists and engineers improve their chances of detecting oceans. UTIG is a research unit of the Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin.

All large moons in the solar system, including Uranus's, are tidally locked. This means that gravity has matched their spin so that the same side always faces their parent planet while they orbit. This doesn't mean their spin is completely fixed, however, and all tidally locked moons oscillate back and forth as they orbit. Determining the extent of the wobbles will be key to knowing if Uranus's moons contain oceans, and if so, how large they might be.

Moons with a liquid water ocean sloshing about on the inside will wobble more than those that are solid all the way through. However, even the largest oceans will generate only a slight wobble: A moon's rotation might deviate only a few hundred feet as it travels through its orbit.

Credit: University of Texas at Austin

That's still enough for passing spacecraft to detect. In fact, the technique was previously used to confirm that Saturn's moon Enceladus has an interior global ocean.

To find out if the same technique would work on Uranus, Hemingway made theoretical calculations for five of its moons and came up with a range of plausible scenarios. For example, if Uranus's moon Ariel wobbles 300 feet, then it's likely to have an ocean 100 miles deep surrounded by a 20-mile-thick ice shell.

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Detecting smaller oceans will mean a spacecraft will have to get closer or pack extra powerful cameras. But the model gives mission designers a slide rule to know what will work, said UTIG Research Associate Professor Krista Soderlund.

"It could be the difference between discovering an ocean or finding we don't have that capability when we arrive," said Soderlund, who was not involved in the current research.

Soderlund has worked with NASA on Uranus mission concepts. She is also part of the science team for NASA's Europa Clipper mission, which recently launched and carries an ice penetrating radar imager developed by UTIG.

The next step, Hemingway said, is to extend the model to include measurements by other instruments to see how they improve the picture of the moons' interiors.

The journal article was coauthored by Francis Nimmo at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

More information: D. J. Hemingway et al, Looking for Subsurface Oceans Within the Moons of Uranus Using Librations and Gravity, Geophysical Research Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1029/2024GL110409 Journal information: Geophysical Research Letters
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:

Illustration shows series of events after a woman's image photographed by a camera trap was circulated on local whatsapp and Facebook groups. Credit: Trishant Simlai

Remotely operated camera traps, sound recorders and drones are increasingly being used in conservation science to monitor wildlife and natural habitats, and to keep watch on protected natural areas. But Cambridge researchers studying a forest in northern India have found that the technologies are being deliberately misused by local governments and male villagers to keep watch on women without their consent.

Cambridge researcher Dr. Trishant Simlai spent 14 months interviewing 270 locals living around the Corbett Tiger Reserve, a national park in northern India, including many women from nearby villages.

His report, published in the journal Environment and Planning F, reveals how forest rangers in the national park deliberately fly drones over local women to frighten them out of the forest, and stop them from collecting natural resources despite it being their legal right to do so.

The women, who previously found sanctuary in the forest away from their male-dominated villages, told Simlai they feel watched and inhibited by camera traps, so they talk and sing much more quietly. This increases the chance of surprise encounters with potentially dangerous wildlife like elephants and tigers. One woman he interviewed has since been killed in a tiger attack.

Local women sing while collecting firewood in the forest, to deter attacks by elephants and tigers. When they see camera traps they feel inhibited because they don't know who's watching or listening to them  and as a result they behave differently - often being much quieter, which puts them in danger. Credit: University of Cambridge

The study reveals a worst-case scenario of deliberate human monitoring and intimidation. But the researchers say people are being unintentionally recorded by wildlife monitoring devices without their knowledge in many other placeseven national parks in the U.K.

"Nobody could have realized that camera traps put in the Indian forest to monitor mammals actually have a profoundly negative impact on the mental health of local women who use these spaces," said Dr. Simlai, a researcher in the University of Cambridge's Department of Sociology and lead author of the report.

"These findings have caused quite a stir among the conservation community. It's very common for projects to use these technologies to monitor wildlife, but this highlights that we really need to be sure they're not causing unintended harm," said Professor Chris Sandbrook, Director of the University of Cambridge's Masters in Conservation Leadership program, who was also involved in the report.

Cambridge researcher Dr. Trishant Simlai spent 14 months interviewing 270 locals living around the Corbett Tiger Reserve, a national park in northern India, including many women from nearby villages. Credit: University of Cambridge

Credit: University of Cambridge

He added, "Surveillance technologies that are supposed to be tracking animals can easily be used to watch people insteadinvading their privacy and altering the way they behave."

Many areas of conservation importance overlap with areas of human use. The researchers call for conservationists to think carefully about the social implications of using remote monitoring technologiesand whether less invasive methods like surveys could provide the information they need instead.

Intimidation and deliberate humiliation

The women living near India's Corbett Tiger Reserve use the forest daily in ways that are central to their lives: from gathering firewood and herbs to sharing life's difficulties through traditional songs.

Domestic violence and alcoholism are widespread problems in this rural region and many women spend long hours in forest spaces to escape difficult home situations.

Trishant Simlai conducting a focus group discussion with local women living near Corbett Tiger Reserve, a national park in northern India. The women told Simlai that new technologies, deployed under the guise of wildlife monitoring projects, are being used to intimidate and exert power over themby monitoring them too. Credit: University of Cambridge

Women behave differently when they see camera trapsoften putting themselves in danger of wild animal attacks as a result by being quieter, or going deeper into the forest. Credit: Trishant Simlai

The women told Simlai that new technologies, deployed under the guise of wildlife monitoring projects, are being used to intimidate and exert power over themby monitoring them too.

"A photograph of a woman going to the toilet in the forestcaptured on a camera trap supposedly for wildlife monitoringwas circulated on local Facebook and WhatsApp groups as a means of deliberate harassment," said Simlai.

He added, "I discovered that local women form strong bonds while working together in the forest, and they sing while collecting firewood to deter attacks by elephants and tigers. When they see camera traps they feel inhibited because they don't know who's watching or listening to themand as a result they behave differentlyoften being much quieter, which puts them in danger."

In places like northern India, the identity of local women is closely linked to their daily activities and social roles within the forest. The researchers say that understanding the various ways local women use forests is vital for effective forest management strategies.

More information: Trishant Simlai et al, The Gendered Forest: Digital Surveillance Technologies for Conservation and Gender-Environment relationships, Environment and Planning F (2024). DOI: 10.17863/cam.111664
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:

Cygnus X-3 is a high-mass binary consisting of a compact object (likely a black hole) and a hot Wolf-Rayet star. This artist's concept shows one interpretation of the system. High-resolution X-ray spectroscopy indicates two gas components: a heavy background outflow, or wind, emanating from the massive star and a turbulent structureperhaps a wake carved into the windlocated close to the orbiting companion. As shown here, a black hole's gravity captures some of the wind into an accretion disk around it, and the disk's orbital motion sculpts a path (yellow arc) through the streaming gas. During strong outbursts, the companion emits jets of particles moving near the speed of light, seen here extending above and below the black hole. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

The Japan-led XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) observatory has captured the most detailed portrait yet of gases flowing within Cygnus X-3, one of the most studied sources in the X-ray sky.

Cygnus X-3 is a binary that pairs a rare type of high-mass star with a compact companionlikely a black hole.

"The nature of the massive star is one factor that makes Cygnus X-3 so intriguing," said Ralf Ballhausen, a postdoctoral associate at the University of Maryland, College Park, and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

"It's a Wolf-Rayet star, a type that has evolved to the point where strong outflows called stellar winds strip gas from the star's surface and drive it outward. The compact object sweeps up and heats some of this gas, causing it to emit X-rays."

A paper describing the findings, led by Ballhausen, will appear in a future edition of The Astrophysical Journal and is currently available on the arXiv preprint server.

"For XRISM, Cygnus X-3 is a Goldilocks targetits brightness is 'just right' in the energy range where XRISM is especially sensitive," said co-author Timothy Kallman, an astrophysicist at NASA Goddard. "This unusual source has been studied by every X-ray satellite ever flown, so observing it is a kind of rite of passage for new X-ray missions."

XRISM (pronounced "crism") is led by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) in collaboration with NASA, along with contributions from ESA (European Space Agency). NASA and JAXA developed the mission's microcalorimeter spectrometer instrument, named Resolve.

Observing Cygnus X-3 for 18 hours in late March, Resolve acquired a high-resolution spectrum that allows astronomers to better understand the complex gas dynamics operating there. These include outflowing gas produced by a hot, massive star, its interaction with the compact companion, and a turbulent region that may represent a wake produced by the companion as it orbits through the outrushing gas.

XRISMs Resolve instrument has captured the most detailed X-ray spectrum yet acquired of Cygnus X-3. Peaks indicate X-rays emitted by ionized gases, and valleys form where the gases absorb X-rays; many lines are also shifted to both higher and lower energies by gas motions. Credit: JAXA/NASA/XRISM Collaboration

In Cygnus X-3, the star and compact object are so close they complete an orbit in just 4.8 hours. The binary is thought to lie about 32,000 light-years away in the direction of the northern constellation Cygnus.

While thick dust clouds in our galaxy's central plane obscure any visible light from Cygnus X-3, the binary has been studied in radio, infrared, and gamma-ray light, as well as in X-rays.

The system is immersed in the star's streaming gas, which is illuminated and ionized by X-rays from the compact companion. The gas both emits and absorbs X-rays, and many of the spectrum's prominent peaks and valleys incorporate both aspects. Yet a simple attempt at understanding the spectrum comes up short because some of the features appear to be in the wrong place.

That's because the rapid motion of the gas displaces these features from their normal laboratory energies due to the Doppler effect. Absorption valleys typically shift up to higher energies, indicating gas moving toward us at speeds of up to 930,000 mph (1.5 million kph). Emission peaks shift down to lower energies, indicating gas moving away from us at slower speeds.

Some spectral features displayed much stronger absorption valleys than emission peaks. The reason for this imbalance, the team concludes, is that the dynamics of the stellar wind allow the moving gas to absorb a broader range of X-ray energies emitted by the companion. The detail of the XRISM spectrum, particularly at higher energies rich in features produced by ionized iron atoms, allowed the scientists to disentangle these effects.

"A key to acquiring this detail was XRISM's ability to monitor the system over the course of several orbits," said Brian Williams, NASA's project scientist for the mission at Goddard. "There's much more to explore in this spectrum, and ultimately we hope it will help us determine if Cygnus X-3's compact object is indeed a black hole."

XRISM is a collaborative mission between JAXA and NASA, with participation by ESA. NASA's contribution includes science participation from CSA (Canadian Space Agency).

Provided by NASA
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Representatives of Asian political parties have welcomed China-proposed Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) to promote a culture of peace, said a declaration released in Phnom Penh on Saturday.

The Phnom Penh Declaration on Peace and Reconciliation was issued at the conclusion of the 12th General Assembly of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), which was hosted by the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and attended by representatives of 49 political parties from 28 countries.

"We shared the view that tolerance of cultural, ethnic, racial and religious diversities is essential for lasting peace, and agreed that we will endeavor to promote cultural and religious tolerance, inter-faith harmony, traditional values and peaceful coexistence among nations and ethnicities as well as the Asian tradition of mutual respect," the declaration said.

"In this regard, we welcomed the Global Civilization Initiative that will be pursued on the notion of harmony without uniformity rather than a coercive insistence on uniformity," it added.

Proposed by China in March 2023, the GCI advocates respect for the diversity of civilizations, the common values of humanity, the importance of inheritance and innovation of civilizations, as well as robust international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation.

Chea Munyrith, president of the Cambodian Chinese Evolution Researcher Association, said the GCI is another important public good China has shared with the world in the new era after the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative.

"The GCI inspires countries to uphold the principles of equality, mutual learning, dialogue and inclusiveness among civilizations, and let cultural exchanges transcend estrangement, mutual learning transcend clashes, and coexistence transcend feelings of superiority," he told Xinhua.

"The GCI has inspired countries to keep an open mind in appreciating the perceptions of values by different civilizations, and to refrain from imposing their own values or models on others and from stoking ideological confrontation," Munyrith added.

According to the declaration, the representatives of Asian political parties also welcomed and supported the United Nations initiatives and the Global Development Initiative in promoting multilateralism and inclusive development.
WARNING This story contains disturbing details about residential and boarding schools. If you feel triggered, here is a resource list for trauma responses from the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition in the U.S. In Canada, the National Indian Residential School Crisis Hotline can be reached at 1-866-925-4419.

Investigation into Immaculate Conception Mission School ICT and the Rapid City Journals Amelia Schafer spent over five months researching life at the Immaculate Conception Mission School on the Crow Creek Reservation. Key findings: Over 1,000 students attended the school from 1887-1975 from tribes across the Midwest.

Students reported experiencing physical and emotional abuse in the school dorms.

Students as young as 7 were forced to complete manual labor jobs often leading to life-long back and neck issues.

Catholic agencies refuse to turn over documents to the tribe that would help identify the 38 graves recently found in a hidden school cemetery and three previously-found graves.

STEPHAN, S.D.  Nestled amongst miles of prairie on the northern part of the Crow Creek Reservation in central South Dakota sits a remnant of a dark period in American history.

Disheveled, abandoned buildings  dormitories and churches  that once housed hundreds of children each year now lie crumbling, awaiting demolition.

Special Report: Problems persist within federal schools for Native Americans The federal government has begun to reckon with the ugly history of its system for educating Native American children, but that system never e

In mid-November 2023, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Chairman Peter Lengkeek and several others stood at the site of a former Catholic boarding school, the Immaculate Conception Mission, digging around in the earth searching for the location of a main water line break, trying to find the shut-off point.

Lengkeek had the idea to try and find the original blueprint for the nearly 74-year-old waterline. Searching through the blueprint records, a small piece of paper sticking out of a pile caught their attention. The paper, a hand-drawn schematic of the waterline and street, identified something strange  a gravesite.

The map was from the early 1900s, during the early years of the school, and on the left-hand corner, ever so lightly, someone had written the word graveyard. In 1900, the school received utilities identified as water works and a gasoline engine, which may be when the map was created.

No one had noticed it before, Lengkeek said. At first we thought these must be the wrong plans because our cemetery is across campus but it all lined up.

Later, a member of the tribes historic preservation office visited the site and walked around in a clockwise circle. Odell Muggs St. John, Lengkeeks first cousin, told Lengkeek to grab some utility flags lying around from the waterline break and whenever St. John would stop, Lengkeek was to place a flag where he stood.

Muggs has a gift, Lengkeek said. Hes able to heal children and we rely on him to fix things for us. We rely on him to find sacred places like graves, altars, those kinds of things.

When they finished the two men stepped back and looked at the site. The flags were lined up perfectly, 6-foot rows, 8 feet apart.

We knew right then and there that these were graves, Lengkeek said.

Tribe members later found a photo depicting 38 little white crosses, matching what Lenkeeks cousin had found and confirming suspicions of a hidden gravesite separate from the school cemetery.

Indigenous children from across the United States came to the school, like other boarding schools, seeking an education. But many faced abuse and neglect, and all were forced to give up their culture and heritage in favor of an education guided by the partnership between the Catholic Church and Bureau of Indian Affairs.

These 38 graves are likely those of children who attended the school during its nearly 100-year run in the Stephan community on the Crow Creek Reservation in central South Dakota, Tribe members said.

From 1887 to 1975, more than 1,000 children were taken, many by force, to the Immaculate Conception Boarding School. While many students came from the Crow Creek and Lower Brule Sioux Tribes, children were taken from tribes across South Dakota and even as far as Wisconsin, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, North Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa.

This was part of a larger initiative to assimilate Indigenous children into white, American culture. The Bureau of Indian Affairs allowed Christian missionaries to help spread efforts out into the United States, establishing the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions.

A time of turmoil and expansion

Around 1880, Chief Drifting Goose, leader of a band of lower Yanktoni Dakota people, reached out to the black robe missionaries to try and establish a school on the Crow Creek Reservation, much like Chief Red Cloud did in creating the Holy Rosary Mission on Pine Ridge.

Drifting Goose and famous missionary Father Pierre-Jean De Smet met along the banks of the Missouri River and formulated a plan to create a Catholic Mission School on some of Drifting Gooses land in the northern part of the reservation.

Thus, Immaculate Conception was born  the name was chosen by a wealthy donor named Katherine Drexel who supplied $20,000, roughly equivalent toy $660,000 today, in memory of her mother.

Initially, Immaculate Conception was to receive the equivalent of about $850 in todays money per Lower Burle child boarding at the school and $1,600 per Crow Creek child from the government. With time, the school began accepting children from other tribes in the United States, despite not receiving additional compensation for it. The amount grew over time, as did the schools attendance, beyond maximum capacity.

In 1929, financial records indicate the school was ordered to build an addition as constant overcrowding was causing health and safety concerns for children. In some school records, children are noted as having to share single beds with each other due to overcrowding.

What originally began as an elementary school in 1887 soon grew into a full K-12 facility, with two students, Aurelia LaRoche and Martina LaFraomboise, graduating in 1938 after spending their entire education careers at the school.

Throughout the school's history, illness spread rapidly in the schools overcrowded conditions  in 1957, nearly all of the student and staff populations were infected with the flu.

The school frequently ran out of food and needed to supplement from wherever workers could find supplies. The clothing sent by the government for students, brown heavy suits and brown brogan shoes, was usually too small.

Everything at the mission was exceedingly primitive, a book on the schools history by former nun Sister Marmion Maiers said.

Aside from illness, the school was set on fire six different times (only burning down twice) and was destroyed by a tornado twice. The second tornado in 1938 is noted to have torn up the cemetery but it isnt clear which one, and injured 29 people. Extreme cold led to the deaths of some staff members, most notably one nun in the early years of the school who was unable to find her way back inside during a blizzard.

Marquette University in Milwaukee hosts a majority of records pertaining to the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions. Amy Cooper Cary, head of the Marquette Archival Collections and Institutional Repository, said the university could not provide enrollment information that would contain private information such as student names and blood quantum, but was able to provide microfilm from the school.

The Marquette website contains digitized correspondence letters between the mission and the Bureau of Indian Affairs from 1926-1932, excluding 1929, which was recently removed. These documents provide a glimpse into life at the school, including multiple strange incidents.

Records from 1928 feature correspondence regarding a 4-year-old Hunkpati Dakota boy named Clarence Little Eagle who was seemingly taken by the mission from his mother to a Sioux Falls orphanage, following a request for help his mother made with the mission. The childs mother and a mission priest fought for his return, but subsequent financial records make no mention of Little Eagles whereabouts.

In later years, financial documents contained letters from multiple community members calling for a mission doctor to be removed from the reservation over concerns of racism and malpractice, specifically that the doctor treated Indians like dogs.

The mission also seemingly took in children under the age of 7 at random. Per its contract with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the school was only meant to house children ages 7 and up.

Life in Stephan

The 1950s were a turbulent time for the Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Nation in North Dakota. The creation of the Garrison Dam led to a major flood in 1953, consuming a quarter of the reservation and ruining homes, the tribal office and the hospital.

Susan Paulsons family, like many other MHA families, made the tough decision to send their children off to boarding schools in South Dakota along the Missouri River.

They (the U.S. government) made life so difficult that people thought, Well, this way theyll be going to a place where theyll be fed, Paulson said.

In 1957, Paulson and her cousins traveled over 400 miles south to South Dakota. Her cousins enrolled at St. Josephs Indian School in Chamberlain and Paulson enrolled 35 miles north at Immaculate Conception.

For many students, life at the school was completely different than life in the dormitories. While the school provided a good education, the dorms were a place of work, fear and physical abuse.

I learned a lot, and I had good grades, we had good teachers, and nuns were over there, you know. But it was dorm life that was terrible, said Roberta Kay Bird Crows Breast, a Mandan Hidatsa Arikara elder who attended the school starting in 1963. When we went back to the dorm, all we did was work, all we did was work.

Zachary King, of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, said the manual labor and abuse at the schools led to his mother Alta Marie Bruce experiencing lifelong back problems.

Bruce, also a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, was sent 400 miles from her reservation in northern North Dakota to Stephan, where she attended high school until her graduation in 1971.

When I was a kid I remember her talking about having to clean the bathrooms, scrubbing the floors down on her hands and knees, and one time she was kicked in the back (by a nun) really hard, King said. That lingered on and in her old age she really struggled with arthritis in her hands from being hit with rulers so much.

Paulson, now 72, was around 7 years old when she enrolled in 1958. At the school, she and around 100 girls her age lived in the dorms with one nun, called a matron, responsible for their care.

A free spirit, Paulson has always moved to the beat of her own drum, something she said may have bothered the nuns.

One of the nuns, Sister Damien, began locking Paulson in a storage room alone during mealtime, occasionally leaving her there until 2 or 3 in the morning.

When they punished her they really went overboard, Crows Breast, 71, said.

Crows Breast, an elder from the three affiliated tribes, came to Immaculate Conception in 1963 seeking reprieve from the rampant racism shed experienced at the public schools in Parshall, N.D., a town on Fort Berthold Reservation with a significant non-Native population.

The racism was horrible, they made fun of Indians, and if they brushed past us theyd have to wipe us off of them, Crows Breast said.

But at Immaculate Conception, Crows Breast witnessed abuse and neglect perpetrated on Indigenous children, including Paulson, by mission nuns.

Paulson and Crows Breast would go on to form a lifelong friendship.

A lot of people have no memories (of the school), but Kay Bird, she helps me to remember the details, Paulson said.

The two women recounted hearing stories of the belt line, where male students were forced to punish each other. Boys would be lined up in rows of two and the boy being punished would run through the line as both sides hit him with belts.

I never witnessed it but I heard of it, Paulson said. They would talk about it in whispers.

Paulson remembered seeing a little boy from Mandaree, a community on her home Fort Berthold Reservation, who was bullied for sores on his face.

A nun's treatment of Paulson eventually escalated into physical violence.

When she was 9, Paulson and a few other students decided to try to run away from the school. It was winter, bitterly cold on the Great Plains, but the girls were determined to escape the abuse theyd been living in.

Dressed in brown denim dresses with big clunky shoes and brown stockings, the girls made a break for it, but it wouldnt be long before they realized their goal was unattainable.

Paulson was over 400 miles away from home and one of her fellow runaways was 740 miles away from Chicago, from where shed been sent. With no hats, gloves or winter clothes and no way out, the girls turned back.

We were so far away from home it wasnt even funny, Paulson said. If we didnt turn back, wed probably have been frozen kids lying on the prairie somewhere; they wouldnt have found us until spring.

When they came back, the girls were beaten and reprimanded for trying to escape.

For a while, life went back to the way it had been. Paulson was responsible for laundering student bedding, and had several other chores around the school.

One day in 1964, when Paulson was 13, she was walking down the stairs when Damien jumped on top of her in front of Paulsons friend, Crows Breast. Damien attacked Paulson, and Paulson fought back.

Following the fight, Paulson was expelled from the school after standing up to Damien, who had been abusing her for seven years. After Paulson left, Crows Breast remained at the school, coming back every year for the friends shed made.

My mom asked me why I didnt say anything to her about how bad it was, but I went back for my friends, she said. We became like family.

Many students never came home, and their stories and names are yet to be revealed to tribal leaders whove begun the search for students.

A broader struggle to identify graves

From 1872 until the present day, over 32 Indian Boarding Schools have operated across South Dakota, bringing students from across the country for an assimilative education. Most are closed, but a mix of tribal, religious and federal-controlled Indian boarding school facilities remain around South Dakota including Mahpiya Luta (formerly Holy Rosary Mission), Flandreau Indian School, St. Josephs Indian School, Crow Creek Tribal Schools and the Pierre Learning Center.

So far only roughly 50 graves have been identified in the state, though this number is expected to change as more past and present schools begin their searches.

In 2008, Canada established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which operated until 2015, and was organized by the parties of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.

The search for truth and healing picked up steam in 2021 when more than 215 childrens graves were discovered in Canada at the Kamloops Indian School, sparking an international trend of grave searches and wider education on the existence of boarding schools in Canada and the United States.

Around this time, Zachary King said his mother, Alta Marie Bruce, began speaking to him and his siblings about what shed experienced at Immaculate Conception.

People just didnt talk about it, King said. There were people around here that had a good experience, and I think thats why maybe my mom didnt talk about it as much.

King said he felt his mom, who passed away in 2020, was afraid to speak about what happened to her because of the positive experiences she heard from others.

Some of the people that live around here, theyve got big families, around 13 kids, and sometimes they werent able to feed them. So going to a place (like a boarding school) with three meals a day was huge, King said.

The search for graves continued to spread, reaching South Dakota. Schools such as Mahpiya Luta and the former Rapid City Indian School have begun searching for and identifying graves. And while the Rapid City search has made great progress, work at the Immaculate Conception school is just starting.

For tribal leaders, the search for answers is complicated. The Immaculate Conception church is no longer in operation and the Sioux Falls Diocese and Bureau of Indian Affairs have provided little to no answers as to who the children are or how they died. With the church and mission gone, death records have become even harder to find. According to the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, in a situation like this, death records should be housed in the diocese.

Someone, somewhere, has these records, said Lengkeek, the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe chairman.

We were told that half of the archives went to the University of South Dakota in Vermillion and half went to Augustana in Sioux Falls, Lengkeek said. But they wont let us in there to look.

The University of South Dakota was able to provide The History of Immaculate Conception by Sister Marmion Maiers to ICT and The Journal through an interlibrary loan. The dissertation contains a detailed timeline of the mission but does not contain any information on student deaths.

The Sioux Falls Catholic Diocese, which oversaw the church, did not respond to numerous requests for information.

Working to heal a nation

One year after the discovery on the Immaculate Conception grounds, on Nov. 9, survivors from North Dakota and South Dakota gathered in Stephan  about 227 miles east of Rapid City  to honor the children who died at the school and share their own stories. In near-freezing temperatures and drizzling rain, elders and youth gathered at the newly discovered gravesite fenced off near the intersection of BIA-23 and Crow Creek Loop.

For decades, community members and former boarding school students had traversed this land unaware of the secrets lying beneath.

Paulson, Crows Breast and Paulsons daughter, Jennifer YoungBear, traveled four hours from Bismarck, North Dakota to Stephan for the ceremony, joining a handful of other survivors who made the journey. It was an emotional reunion  many hadnt seen each other for decades since their time at the school.

I think that everybody that was supposed to be here was here, Lengkeek said. This is a step closer for my people to heal, and thats what Im really excited about.

Excavating the site will be difficult, Lengkeek said. Much of the land is now private property with trees overgrown on the site, but the tribe and the people havent forgotten about the children.

On Oct. 25, President Joe Biden delivered the first formal presidential apology for the federal boarding school era while visiting the Gila River Indian Community just south of Phoenix.

In his apology, Biden referred to the period as a sin on our soul.

After 150 years, the government eventually stopped the program (of boarding schools) but never formally apologized, Biden told the crowd. I formally apologize today as President of the United States of America for what we did. I apologize, apologize, apologize!

In July, a final investigative report from the Department of the Interior on Indian Boarding Schools called for the formal apology from the United States, among other recommendations, including Congressional approval of a proposed Truth and Healing Commission to further investigate boarding schools, a national memorial to acknowledge the painful history and financial support for tribal programs that include repatriation, education, mental health support and community rebuilding.

Bruce, King said, coped with her trauma through her Anishinaabe culture.

She led a really remarkable life, King said. The culture was her outlet. She attended sweats, she sundanced. The culture is what got her through it.

In addition to providing avenues for healing, the Truth and Healing Commission bill would grant the authority to subpoena records from church-run schools, ICT reported in October. The bill is currently pending in Congress.

This would greatly aid the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe in their years-long struggle to obtain death records from the school and work towards identifying graves.

These children are ready now, theyre going to start showing up all over the United States because they want to go home, Lengkeek said. Theyve been here long enough and if theyre here any longer they wont be able to make it home, at least thats what we believe.

The most recent 38 graves arent the first time the school has discovered unmarked graves, Lengkeek said.

In 2011, during the construction of the Crow Creek Tribal School, Lengkeek said three child-size caskets and bone fragments were found under the grounds which formerly belonged to Immaculate Conception.

(The children) theyre ready now, theyre ready to go home, Lengkeek said. We need to help them, we need to reunite them with their moms and dads, their siblings and their people.
Cool temperatures forecast to stick around for remainder of week

Riviera Maya, Q.R.  Cool temperatures are forecast to stick around for the remainder of the week. According to State Civil Protection, the influx of humid air from the Caribbean Sea towards the Yucatan Peninsula will keep the sky over the state of Quintana Roo partially cloudy with increasing cloudiness during the day, rain with intervals of showers.

A hot environment will continue during the day and mild to cool at night and dawn. Wind with gusts of 40 kms/h mainly on the coasts of the state, they reported Monday.

The municipality of Tulum continues to be the cold spot in the state with the arrival of Cold Front 10. The front, which arrived in northern Mexico Tuesday, reached the Yucatan Peninsula Wednesday afternoon.

The front, a mass of U.S. arctic air, caused a significant temperature drop around the Peninsula especially during the nighttime hours. Residents around the state continue to wake up to below normal temperatures due to the cold air, which according to the SMN (Servicio Meteorologico Nacional), was forecast to move off by last weekend.

While there has been a slight recovery in temperatures, the cold air continues to linger. Since the cold air arrived last week, wakeup temperatures have only improved by about four degrees.

The municipality of Tulum, who recorded 13C, 14C and 15C (59F) Thursday morning, the coldest in the state, have only increased their wakeup temperature to a humid 19C (66F).

More cool air is in store for the region. According to Direccion General de Proteccion Civil Tulum, start of the week is with a cool morning, heat in the afternoon, and again cool nighttime, especially at dawn tomorrow.

The cool nighttime and dawn environment is expected to continue this week, so it is recommended to continue taking the necessary precautions with the temperature changes between day and night.

On Monday, the SNM reported for the Yucatan Peninsula, partly cloudy skies and a mild atmosphere are forecast for the morning. In the afternoon, a warm atmosphere with partly cloudy to cloudy skies, as well as easterly and northeasterly winds of 10 to 25 kms/h in the region, and with gusts of up to 45 kms/h in coastal areas.

State Civil Protection (Coordinacion Estatal de Proteccion Civil QRoo) has issued a continued cool air advisory, warning residents to dress warm since it is the winter season.
Carilion Clinic is trying to bring kidney transplant services to its Roanoke Memorial Hospital, and if it succeeds, it would be the only hospital in Southwest Virginia with such a program.

This could benefit thousands of patients in the region. As it stands today, around 79% of kidney transplant patients in Southwest Virginia have to drive two to four hours to access the services they need, according to data provided by Carilion.

Carilion filed a Certificate of Public Need for the program in January. In addition to the regions immediate need, medical professionals in Southwest Virginia expect to see the need for kidney transplants in the region to increase by almost 35% over the next five years.

For patients with end-stage renal disease like Tom Langheim, having a transplant center closer to home would make a huge difference.

Langheim, 58, lives in Cave Spring and works full-time at Precision Fabrics in Vinton. Four days a week, when Langheim gets home from work, he starts the six-hour process of home dialysis.

He was diagnosed with a rare form of kidney disease in 1994. He started peritoneal dialysis four and a half years ago, but eventually had to switch to a different type of dialysis. In April of this year, he began doing dialysis in his home.

He compared the process to taking a flight from Maine to Miami four times a week.

With home dialysis, Langheim has to set everything up himself. The prep takes him about an hour and once dialysis actually begins, hes pretty much confined to his recliner for almost four hours. After hes done with dialysis, it takes him about one hour to clean up and get things in order for the next day.

Its a lot of work, but Langheim said he prefers this as opposed to going to the dialysis center a few times a week.

I much prefer having control over the process and being able to stick myself, as opposed to having someone else do it, he said.

Langheim is on the transplant list at University of Virginia Medical Center and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, both of which are at least two hours away from his home. Hes been on the waitlist for over four years. Hes one of more than 2,300 people on the Virginia kidney transplant recipient wait list.

When the time comes, patients on the transplant list need to have someone who can drop everything at a moments notice to take them to the hospital. His mother was this person  his transplant buddy  up until recently, when his father had a stroke. Luckily, Langheim has a strong support system and was able to find another transplant buddy, but he said that it would make it much easier on him and his loved ones if there was a closer transplant center.

If I could do that in the valley, that would be a load better, just so much easier, not only just for me, but for the people that I depend on to get me back and forth to those places, he said. Theyre taking days off of work, or if its not a work day its one of their days off of work. Its taking up the whole day so they cant do stuff at their homes.

Dr. David Salzberg, a surgeon at Carilion, mostly performs oncological, hepatobiliary and bariatric surgeries, in addition to general and minimally invasive surgeries. Hes also trained in abdominal organ transplant surgery, which is why he said he was approached a couple of years ago about leading the program if its approved.

Southwest Virginias population has a number of obstacles when it comes to accessing care, he said. Patients tend to see their physicians less because theyre too far away or because physicians in rural areas sometimes serve a larger area than normal. In rural areas, when patients do make it to the doctor, they may be sicker than they could have been if they lived in a city or an area with easier access to health care, he said.

Chronic disease compounds and when that happens, the patients get sicker and sicker, and their health gets more and more and more complex, he said. Over time and over generations, that remains true.

Tens of thousands of patients in the region have renal disease; thousands of them have end-stage renal disease and are on dialysis, he said. That, paired with the fact that medical conditions like renal disease increase exponentially, accounts for why the need for kidney transplants in the region is expected to increase so dramatically over the next five years.

Renal disease is something that is prevalent in all medical communities and demographics, but sometimes we see it being more prevalent than others, he said. In an area like were in now, in Southwest Virginia, its exceedingly present. It begs the question: why dont we have this kind of thing already? And the answer is, Well, lets get to work.

Salzberg called it a no-brainer. A hospital systems purpose is to treat the diseases that are most prevalent in its community, and it would do the system no good to ignore such a large issue, he said.

A hospitals purpose is to support its community. We are this communitys hospital, he said.

Dialysis is a type of care for end-stage renal patients, but a kidney transplant is the final treatment, Salzberg said. For end-stage renal patients that need a transplant, the biggest barrier is distance. Many patients in Southwest Virginia miss out on transplants because of the difficulty of travel, he said. Its hard enough for some of these patients to make it to a nearby hospital, such as Roanoke Memorial, so expecting them to make a trip to UVa in Charlottesville is out of the question, Salzberg said.

So were asking them to pick up in the middle of the night and make a six-hour round trip for a transplant? Come on, thats not going to work  unless that transplant center is here locally, he said.

Carilion has to receive approval from the Virginia Department of Health before it can move forward with the program. The hospital system created a website where people can learn more about the program and write a letter of support if they wish to do so. So far, Carilion has received more than 1,400 letters of support from community members and 17 from elected officials in the region, according to spokeswoman Hannah Curtis. Additionally, 15 localities, including Rocky Mount, Roanoke County and the city of Roanoke, have written letters or adopted resolutions to show support for Carilions application.

In 2022, UVa performed 66 kidney transplants for residents in Southwest Virginia. UVa has outpatient clinics in Roanoke, Martinsville and Lynchburg in which patients receive 90% of their transplant care, said Eric Swensen, spokesman for UVA Health.

In April, UVA Health submitted an opposition letter to the Carilion request.

Eleven letters of support for the program were submitted to the Division of Certificate of Public Need, according to a DCOPN staff report from May 2024. Marlon Levy, chief executive officer of VCU Health System Authority, and David Bruno, interim chairman for the division of transplantation at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, wrote letters of support.

For patients such as Langheim, the issue has nothing to do with the quality of care they receive at other facilities and everything to do with the distance they have to travel to receive that care.

I would be delighted to be able to do the stuff I have to do here in the valley, if Carilion does do a transplant program, he said. It would just be so much easier to do it here, especially with the rides back and forth.

Of course, travel isnt the only difficulty that patients with end-stage renal failure face. Availability of organs, for example, is another problem. In its opposition letter to the program, UVa asserts that the largest barrier to patients is the availability of compatible organs, not the distance they have to travel. In the May 2024 staff report, the DCOPN recommended denial of the program at Carilion Roanoke Memorial, citing some of the reasons for which being issues with financial feasibility, staffing and negative impacts on existing kidney transplant providers.

Following the DCOPNs recommendation, Carilion requested an Informal Fact Finding Conference, which is an administrative proceeding which witnesses, documents and arguments are presented to an adjudication officer. This proceeding will take place in January, and after that, the adjudication officer will make a recommendation to the state health commissioner, who makes the ultimate decision of whether or not to approve the program.

Fresenius Kidney Care provided Langheim with the equipment and training he needed for home dialysis, and Medicare covers his equipment and treatment costs. The bill for three months of his treatment comes in at around a quarter of a million dollars, he said, and without Medicare, he wouldnt be able to swing it.

We have to keep Medicare funded at its current rate, he said. If not, I lose my house, I die. Theres no way I could afford this.

Still, though, Langheim describes himself as a glass half-full kind of person. Sarah Hill, a nephrology social worker at Fresenius, explained that they like to encourage the patients to work and stay active while on dialysis. For home dialysis patients especially, a good support system is crucial, she said. Langheim checks all of those boxes: he loves to go hiking and camping with his friends, and each week, he cooks them dinner and hosts a movie night.

Id rather just tell jokes, have a good time and be with friends I love, he said.
More Chinese people maintain health painlessly, efficiently with AI

Xinhua) 09:03, November 25, 2024

HANGZHOU, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- In Wuzhen, a small town in east China's Zhejiang Province, a hospital utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) technology to upgrade services related to medical examinations, chronic disease management and rehabilitation.

Local resident Zhu Weibin experienced an AI-based liver function test recently. An automatically generated report diagnosed him with a fatty liver.

Zhu was very pleased as this diagnosis is much more efficient and accurate -- with AI helping to reduce the indicator threshold for determining fatty liver from 30 percent to just 5 percent.

"It enables me to intervene in the disease process at an earlier stage," Zhu said.

This smart medical service gives a glimpse into the trend of China's health industry as it shifts towards tapping digital technologies to make it easier for people to maintain their health.

On the sidelines of the 2024 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit, which closed in Zhejiang on Friday, many industry insiders agreed that Chinese people are now placing greater emphasis on improving their quality of life. This is even more so given the pressure resulting from population aging and the increasing incidences of chronic disease.

Nevertheless, facing challenges such as inaccessibility of health services in rural areas and insufficient health literacy, some people still find it difficult to manage their health effectively and efficiently -- with insiders suggesting that AI applications are a solution to such obstacles.

In a drugstore in the metropolis of Shanghai, an AI-empowered application ensures that pain sufferers have accurate and timely access to the medicines they need.

The application, named Fenbid AI Pain Management Assistant, leverages natural language processing and knowledge graph technologies to provide professional and personalized solutions, according to developer Haleon, a health product manufacturer headquartered in Britain. Fenbid is a common painkiller in China.

"Many drugstores don't have pharmacists, while today's consumers pay increasing attention to the safety of taking medicines," said Liu Bing, an executive with Haleon responsible for digitalization in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

She added that the AI-empowered application, by suggesting optimum ways to reduce pain based on evaluation and consideration of allergic history and drug-using risks, benefits both patients and drugstores.

China has seen steady growth of its health industry. According to the National Health Commission (NHC), the sector is projected to reach 16 trillion yuan (about 2.21 trillion U.S. dollars) in terms of scale by 2030, heralding huge opportunities for AI applications.

Nie Zaiqing, a professor at Tsinghua University, believes that AI technology will transform many industries, particularly the medical and manufacturing sectors.

At an exhibition during the Wuzhen summit, an AI-driven platform designed for early screening of multiple tumors and chronic diseases captured much attention.

Developed by a research institute under Alibaba Group, this platform enabled an early-stage pancreatic cancer patient, a woman surnamed Huang in Jiangsu Province, to receive timely treatment. Huang was not diagnosed with cancer following a traditional CT examination. The AI-driven platform, however, did detect the presence of cancer.

This AI solution to cancer screening also has an economic advantage. According to its developer, it only costs about 200 yuan to check for as many as seven prevalent cancers, such as lung and stomach cancers, all at once -- compared with an accumulated 3,000 yuan previously.

The Chinese government has voiced support for the presence of AI in the health sector. This year's government work report proposed an "AI plus" initiative, while the NHC and other authorities earlier this month issued a reference concerning the application of AI scenarios in the medical and health industries.

Optimistic about the prospects of using AI to improve health products and services, Liu said her company's pain management service is currently being piloted in both Shanghai and Chongqing, and is expected to be expanded to other areas across China next year.

"It coincides with the Healthy China Initiative. We hope that our solution will also serve as an assistant for pharmacists and doctors at grassroots medical and health institutions in the near future," Liu said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
Detective shows are often full of cliches. Arguably, thats one of the things fans like about them, the comfy predictability only occasionally laced with something new. One popular device: Set your murder mystery in a sunny vacation destinationa Caribbean island, the south of Franceand slather on the scenery for a combination of whodunit and armchair travel. (The rain-plagued Brits are especially keen on this sort of thing.) But HBOs Get Millie Black, set in Jamaica, is not that kind of show. Created and written by the novelist Marlon James, the five-episode series features no sun-drenched beaches or umbrella-ed cocktails. Instead, the action takes place in the grittiest streets of Kingston, where survival requires every shred of wit, strength, and ruthlessness the citys underclass denizens can summon.

The title character (Tamara Lawrance)inspired by James own mother, a Jamaican detective inspectorcarries some of the usual TV-cop baggage. As a girl, Millie tried to defend her little brother Orville (Chyna McQueen) from their abusive mother and as a result got shipped off to England, where she eventually joined the police. Believing Orville to be dead, she returns to Kingston 18 years later after discovering that hes not. Or, rather, that only the name is dead. Orville is now Hibiscus, a transgender sex worker who lives in the Gully, a dry paved canal bed running through the city, and Get Millie Blacks emblem of Jamaicas paradoxes. The Gully is a dangerous place, especially in a city rife with homophobic violence, where same-sex activities are still illegal. But in the Gully Hibiscus also finds a community that means more to her than the suburban house Millie inherits when their mother dies.

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Millies guilt over being forced to abandon Orville makes her a compulsive crusader, intent on saving the lost and vulnerable, particularly children. She and her partner Curtis (Gershwyn Eustache Jnr), a semicloseted gay man, catch a missing persons casea teenage girl named Janet (Shernet Swearine)and Millie is instantly hooked. They discover that Janet had been involved with the neer-do-well scion of one of Kingstons rich white families, so their investigation takes them on a tour of Jamaicas racial and class caste system. Interfering with their search for the girl is another white man, a Scotland Yard superintendent, Luke Holborn (Joe Dempsie), who wants to turn the rich kid into a witness against the criminal outfits with which he has been dabbling. Here to colonize our investigation? Millie quips when introduced to Holborn.

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Theres a sturdy detective story running through Get Millie Black, but what makes the series stand out is how James uses the form to achieve something similar to his 2014 masterpiece, the Booker Prizewinning A Brief History of Seven Killings. That novel offered a polyphonic portrait of Bob Marleys Jamaica, also enriched with a complex, fraught relationship between two sisters. (No man has any business writing about how sisters talk to and feel about each other as accurately as James does.) Get Millie Black uses voice-over, a device that critics of hard-boiled crime fiction often dismiss as a narrative crutch. In this series, however, a different character voices each episode, revealing aspects of themselves they conceal from one another and the world. Hardly anyone in Millies orbit is exactly what they seem to be, but their hidden reserves contain much more than ulterior motives and secret agendas. Janet in particular becomes a new girl in almost every scene, yet thanks to Swearines fierce performance, each new facet remains utterly convincing.

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Then theres Millie herself, splendidly played by Lawrance as a mercurial obsessive forever treading on the brink of disaster. The driven detective who pursues truth and justice in defiance of protocol and municipal politics is yet another crime-fiction cliche. As Millie cajoles information out of her former partner back in London, alienates the rich and influential with her blunt questions, and neglects the relationships that ostensibly mean the most to her, shes in familiar TV-cop territory. But viewers used to getting exasperated with the long-suffering wives and dementia-addled parents of TV detectivescharacters with the annoying habit of interfering with the unfolding of the plotmay be surprised to find themselves siding with Millies loved ones for a change.

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Related From Slate The Great New Netflix Show From the Creator of The Good Place Looks Like a Sitcom, but Is Something Else Read More

James writes Millie as a kind of addict. Butter wouldnt melt in her mouth as she adeptly coaxes the sweet bartender shes been dating into sheltering a witness even though they both know shes putting him in danger. The director of the first two episodes, Tanya Hamilton, takes the time to linger on the faces of the people in Millies life as the realization lands that she wont hesitate to use them.* She fails to visit her partner in the hospital after he gets shot because shes so intent on proving that their missing-person case leads to a human-trafficking ring. She tries to stash Hibiscusher reason for returning to Jamaica in the first placein their late mothers house as if her sister were a precious object to be stored instead of a person desperate to live her own life. Millie has a habit of staring at videos of the trafficking victim shes trying to find whenever her zeal starts to flagagain, typical TV-detective behavior, but Lawrance also conveys that for Millie, the compulsion to rescue is truly a fix.

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So much of Get Millie Black is familiar, but what makes the series fresh is the conviction it brings to the genres pro forma tropes. TV detectives are forever wrecking their personal lives in their single-minded service to the plot, and rarely does the audience really care. We dont switch on an episode of Law & Order to see detectives eating dinner with their families at a reasonable hour, after all. But most TV detectives private lives seem well worth sacrificing to feed our appetite for the puzzles they solve. Get Millie Blackwith its indelible characters and vivid performancesactually makes you feel how much Millie stands to lose.
The six-page filing that special counsel Jack Smith submitted Monday is surely one of the strangest requests a federal prosecutor has ever had to make. Smith moved to dismiss charges against Donald Trump for election subversion, asking Judge Tanya Chutkan to toss out the case due to an unprecedented circumstance: The defendant has, of course, been reelected president. In the filing, he assures the judge (and the public) that the government stands fully behind the gravity of the crimes charged, the merits of the prosecution, and the strength of the governments proof. The one teeny problem is that the defendant is about to reenter the office that he is accused of criminally abusing just four years ago (the exact subject of the doomed indictment). So, according to Smith, Trump is clearly guilty of multiple feloniesand constitutionally immune from prosecution for those felonies, in the view of the Justice Department.

It is not Smiths fault that his investigation has reached such a premature and inglorious end. His hand was forced by a series of decisions outside his control, including the Supreme Courts aggressive intervention in its immunity decision in July, which helped pave the defendants path back to the White House. Moreover, while Smiths move is undoubtedly a surrender, its a tactical one that theoretically gives the special counsel time to produce a comprehensive public report detailing Trumps alleged crimes. The filing even leaves the door open to restarting the prosecution after Trump leaves office, though its now nearly impossible to imagine 2029 Trump facing real consequences for his attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

None of this was inevitable: Shortly after Jan. 6, it felt eminently plausible, even likely, that the once and future president would face accountability for his misconduct. After the 2024 election, this notion seems almost laughable. As a practical matter, it is past time to put to bed the idea that no man is above the law. Trump is; who could deny it? The Supreme Court has put him there, depriving the public of a trialwhich will now almost certainly never happena trial that could have placed Trumps assault on democracy at the center of the election. As Rick Hasen explained in Slate, the courts decision, in tandem with the election results, heightens the risk of criminal election subversion in the future, sending the message to aspiring autocrats down the road that they, too, can lawlessly obstruct democracy and get away with it.

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Smiths filing gestures toward these realities with more than a hint of incredulity about the novel situation. He is, he explained, irrevocably boxed in by a series of opinions issued by the Justice Departments Office of Legal Counsel, which provides advice to the executive branch. In 1973, the OLC declared that the prosecution of a sitting president would violate the Constitutions separation of powers. In 2000, the office announced a categorical rule against the indictment or prosecution of a sitting president, asserting that criminal charges would burden the exercise of his constitutional duties. But neither opinion explained what should happen when a private citizen is indicted, and then elected president. The filing reveals that Smith posed this question to the OLC after Election Day, and the office responded that the case must be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated.

The OLC did throw Smith one bone: It affirmed that the Constitution does not require dismissal with prejudice, which would preclude charging Trump again after his term is over or he is otherwise removed from office by resignation or impeachment. So at least in theory, Judge Chutkan can dismiss the case without prejudice, leaving the (vanishingly slim) possibility of a redo in four years. By that point, though, the statute of limitations will have long passed. A future court would thus have to equitably toll (that is, suspend) them, which is no guarantee. In short, the whole idea of a do-over is borderline fantastical. This case is dead. Not to mention that Donald Trump has suggested on more than one occasion that he intends to run for a third term, and he has surely proven beyond a reasonable doubt that even if he loses a future election he does not believe in the peaceful transfer of power. In short, the very conduct for which Trump will never stand trial is the conduct that may keep him from ever standing trial.

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Where to place the blame? Attorney General Merrick Garland is partly at fault for waiting so long to commence the investigation into Jan. 6; his institutionalist instincts paralyzed the Justice Department for nearly two years, giving Trump a chance to run out the clock by the time Smith finally indicted him. Judge Aileen Cannon is guilty of sabotaging Smiths other prosecution, over the theft of classified documents, a prosecution which should have been a slam-dunk. In a simplistic sense, the voting public also bears culpability for putting Trump back in the Oval Office despite his egregious attempts to steal the previous election. But that victory could not have happened without the Supreme Court, which essentially nullified the constitutional bar against insurrectionists returning to office, then awarded Trump sweeping immunity in Smiths Jan. 6 case. The courts immunity decision guaranteed that the former president would not face trial before the election, which in turn prevented the public from hearing the full range of evidence against him.

Perhaps the most stunning aspect of the Jack Smith filing is that if you squint at it just so, it reads not all that unlike the majority opinion in the Trump immunity case, as penned by Chief Justice John Roberts: Its a dispassionate reading of the scope of presidential power and highlights the necessity that a sitting president be able to carry out his duties in a robust and fearless manner. Like Roberts reasoning in the immunity case, the Smith pleading is rooted more in institutional vibes than constitutional commands. After all, the separation of powers principles cited by the OLC were not written down in the Constitutionfrom which theyre entirely absentbut made up by lawyers seeking to grant more power to the president. Smiths decision to adhere to the letter and spirit of the OLC guidance is  a choice, a norm, not a constitutional command. The need to punish criminality ultimately sags under the policy preference that a president be able to fulfill his constitutionally contemplated leadership role and the constitutional interest in the Presidents unfettered performance of his duties. In both instances, the abstractions that animate this constitutional discussion about executive authority exist in a Trump-free vacuum. Here we have the courts and the Office of Legal Counsel in substantial agreement on a maximalist view of unfettered presidential power.

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The lesson here seems to be that whether you are a Merrick Garland or a Pam Bondi, a Juan Merchan or an Aileen Cannon, a Jack Smith or a John Roberts, when the institutionalist rubber meets the temporal road, the Donald Trump character wins every single time. While one side doesnt feel any compunction about ignoring the law, the other is hesitant to upend a nonbinding institutional norm. Lawlessness appears to be an agreed-upon outcome, a literal get-out-of-jail-free card, for whichever entity evinces the most contempt for the law.

With the American public having now witnessed an impeachment hearing, a Jan. 6 Select Committee investigation, and the real-time coverage of the events of Jan. 6, one can surely make the case that this Trump prosecution in federal court might have made little difference and that a final special counsel report on what might have someday been presented at that trial will make even less. But as we slog ever nearer to this vanishing point at which no consequences exist, we should be perfectly sober about which victories Trump seized for himself, and which were simply gifted to him.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20241125/almost-60-of-americans-happy-with-trumps-performance-in-us-transfer-of-power---survey-1120993486.html

Almost 60% of Americans Happy With Trump's Performance in US Transfer of Power - Survey

Almost 60% of Americans Happy With Trump's Performance in US Transfer of Power - Survey

Sputnik International

Almost 60% of Americans positively assess the performance of US President-elect Donald Trump in the process of transferring power in the US, according to a survey by CBS News and research organization YouGov.

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According to the survey, 59% of respondents said they approve of the way Trump is handling the process of transferring power from the outgoing head of state Joe Biden. At the same time, 41% of Americans admitted that they did not support Trump's actions. The poll also showed that 95% of Republican Party supporters were inspired or optimistic about Trump's presidency, and 5% were worried or scared. Among Democratic Party supporters, the share of worried or scared was 85%, and just 15% were inspired or optimistic. The survey was conducted from November 19 to November 22 among 2,232 adult US citizens. The margin of error for the results was plus or minus 2.3 percentage points.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20241125/cyprus-developed-plan-to-join-nato---reports-1120993128.html

Cyprus Developed Plan to Join NATO

Cyprus Developed Plan to Join NATO

Sputnik International

Cyprus plans to join NATO, the strategy of gradual rapprochement of the Republic of Cyprus with the alliance was the focus of the meeting of the island state's President Nikos Christodoulides with US President Joe Biden in late October, Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported.

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joe biden

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Cyprus was one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement, but in 2004, in connection with its accession to the European Union, it left it. Christodoulides visited Washington on October 30. This was the first official visit of the President of Cyprus to the American capital since 1996. Christodoulides, elected president in February 2022, fully supported anti-Russian sanctions. He advocates strengthening the island's ties with the United States. At the same time, the Cypriot authorities previously stated that there were serious obstacles to joining NATO, since Turkiye would object to it, and Cyprus did not meet the conditions for NATO membership. Nicosia has developed a plan, the ultimate goal of which will be joining NATO, realizing what serious obstacles it will inevitably encounter, the publication said. This is a detailed, well-thought-out, long-term plan, consisting of many interdependent stages, which has already been adopted by Washington, it said, adding that White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan called it a "win-win option." The starting point of the plan is the positive development of the Cyprus settlement and progress in relations between Cyprus and Turkiye. According to the newspaper, after Washington, Christodoulides also discussed his plan with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Bucharest. Cyprus has been de facto divided between the Greek and Turkish communities since 1974, following an armed invasion by Turkiye provoked by a coup in Cyprus and an attempt to annex the island to Greece. Thirty-seven percent of the island's territory, where the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was proclaimed in 1983, was occupied. Only Turkiye has recognized the TRNC. UN-mediated talks between the Greek and Turkish communities on the reunification of Cyprus were interrupted after the failure of another round held in the Swiss city of Crans-Montana in 2017. Attempts are currently being made to resume negotiations. Greek Cypriots believe that the Cyprus problem can only be resolved on the basis of UN decisions within the framework of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation. Turkish Cypriots advocated a confederation of Cyprus. The leader of the Turkish community, Ersin Tatar, stated that he would not return to the negotiating table until the equal sovereignty and international status of Turkish Cypriots was recognized.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240716/natos-military-expansion-into-asia-pacific-aims-to-disrupt-asean-structure---lavrov-1119392320.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20241125/iran-set-to-hold-nuclear-talks-with-european-nations--1120996672.html

Iran Set to Hold Nuclear Talks with European Nations

Iran Set to Hold Nuclear Talks with European Nations

Sputnik International

Iran will hold nuclear talks with officials from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom on November 29.

2024-11-25T10:12+0000

2024-11-25T10:12+0000

2024-11-25T10:12+0000

world

iran

iran nuclear deal

international atomic energy agency (iaea)

tehran

majid takht ravanchi

middle east

atomic energy organization of iran

united nations general assembly

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Iran is set to hold nuclear discussions with officials from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom on November 29. A range of regional and international issues, including the issues of Palestine and Lebanon, as well as the nuclear issue, will be discussed, stated Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei. This upcoming meeting will continue the dialogue that took place with these countries during the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last September. While the specific venue has not been confirmed, media reports suggest that Geneva is expected to host the talks. "Tehran has always believed that the nuclear issue should be resolved through diplomacy. Iran has never left the talks," a senior Iranian official was cited by Reuters as saying. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht Ravanchi is expected to lead Tehran's delegation. These discussions come in the wake of a resolution adopted on November 21 by the 35-nation board of governors of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which criticized Iran for what it deemed a lack of cooperation. The resolution, submitted by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States, was approved by 19 out of 35 countries. Russia, China, and Burkina Faso voted against it, while 12 countries abstained. In response to the resolution, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) announced on November 22 that it would begin using advanced centrifuges to accelerate uranium enrichment. The AEOI condemned the resolution as "politically motivated, unrealistic, and counterproductive," while affirming that technical and safety cooperation with the IAEA would continue as in the past.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20241122/us-wont-recognize-its-mistake-uses-iaea-as-tool-against-iran--iranian-professor--1120969390.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20241125/israeli-reservists-increasingly-dodge-military-duty-amid-war-fatigue-1120994900.html

Israeli Reservists Increasingly Dodge Military Duty Amid War Fatigue

Israeli Reservists Increasingly Dodge Military Duty Amid War Fatigue

Sputnik International

War fatigue is starting to erode Israels military as the countrys reservists are increasingly unwilling to report for duty, reported The Washington Post.

2024-11-25T07:20+0000

2024-11-25T07:20+0000

2024-11-25T07:20+0000

world

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lebanon

middle east

tel aviv

hamas

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israel defense forces (idf)

reservists

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War fatigue is starting to erode Israels military as it ploughs on with its relentless war on Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Burnout is making the countrys reservists increasingly unwilling to report for duty, according to Israeli media reports. Enlistment numbers have dropped by about 15% since the period after Hamas incursion of October 7, 2023, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a briefing.Immediately after the Palestinian-Israeli conflict escalated, about 350,000 Israelis were called up. However, after participating in battles for months, many are now refusing to comply with orders to be deployed for a new round of fighting. The resource of reservists is not unlimited, and it is very difficult for people to be so absent in the midst of daily life. That is why there is a silent refusal to report for service, without protests or in a public way. They cannot be argued with, or demanded by force to come, army sources told Yedioth Ahronoth.There is also anger over a controversial draft bill that seeks to exempt approximately 60,000 ultra-Orthodox Haredi men from military service. Many of the reservists have lost their businesses and income while being away for extended periods of time. Yet the IDF is seeking to further increase the amount of time conscripts and reservists serve. Lawmakers will be asked to approve making mandatory military service for men three years long, as it had been until 2015.Currently, male recruits serve 32 months, while women serve for two years. The amount of time required by reservists to serve per year will also change.Besides its war on Hamas in the Gaza strip, Israel has been conducting a ground operation against Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon since October 1, while also continuing airstrikes. Tel Aviv says its main objective is to create conditions for the return of 60,000 residents who fled shelling in the north.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20241125/us-envoy-threatens-to-withdraw-from-israel-lebanon-talks---reports-1120994210.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20241125/lithuanian-police-consider-various-versions-of-dhl-plane-crash---report-1120997044.html

Lithuanian Police Weigh Multiple Versions Behind DHL Plane Crash - Report

Lithuanian Police Weigh Multiple Versions Behind DHL Plane Crash - Report

Sputnik International

Lithuanian police are considering various versions of a DHL plane crash near the Vilnius airport, including a terrorist attack, media reported on Monday, citing Lithuanian Police Head Arunas Paulauskas.

2024-11-25T09:59+0000

2024-11-25T09:59+0000

2024-11-25T10:27+0000

world

europe

vilnius

dhl

plane crash

plane crash

leipzig

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The crash took place "most likely due to a technical fault or a human error," the police head said, adding that collecting evidence can take a week. Paulauskas also said that two injured pilots had been rescued from the cockpit, and the body of another crew members had also been found. The plane was completely disintegrated, and the cargo has been scattered over a wide area, damaging warehouses and a car, the official added. Paulauskas also said that there were four crew members, meaning that one more person is considered missing. A local news agency reported later in the day that the dead pilot had been of Spanish origin, the other crew members were German, Lithuanian and Spanish. Director of the Lithuanian State Security Department Darius Jauniskis said later on Monday that there was no information to suggest that this accident had been a terrorist attack. The media have earlier reported that a cargo plane belonging to German DHL logistics company had crashed near the Vilnius airport. According to the FlightAware portal, the aircraft reportedly departed from Leipzig.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240809/passenger-plane-crashes-in-brazil---reports-1119696791.html

vilnius

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20241125/polish-farmers-lift-border-blockade-with-ukraine-for-2-weeks---reports-1120994732.html

Polish Farmers Lift Border Blockade With Ukraine for 2 Weeks - Reports

Polish Farmers Lift Border Blockade With Ukraine for 2 Weeks - Reports

Sputnik International

Polish farmers have suspended the blockade of the border with Ukraine for two weeks, media station reported on Sunday.

2024-11-25T04:50+0000

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2024-11-25T04:50+0000

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On Saturday, farmers blocked the road leading to the Medyka-Shehyni border crossing between the two countries, resulting in long truck queues. The blockade was lifted after an agreement was reached with Polish Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski, who will have two weeks to respond to the farmers' demands. The protest will reportedly be suspended until December 10, but in the event that the agreement cannot be reached, the farmers plan to hold a large-scale protest along the entire eastern border. One of their main demands includes the termination of talks on an EU-proposed trade deal with South American trade bloc Mercosur and the abandonment of tax increases for agricultural producers. This is already the second wave of protests by Polish farmers. In February, they started a nationwide protest, blocking roads and access to border checkpoints with Ukraine. They demand an end to the duty-free import of Ukrainian agricultural products and the rejection of the European Green Deal, which aims for zero emissions by 2050.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20241123/polish-farmers-block-border-crossing-with-ukraine-in-ongoing-protest-against-duty-free-imports-1120979530.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20241125/right-wing-candidate-georgescu-leads-in-romania-presidential-election-why-is-the-west-trembling--1120998650.html

Right-Wing Candidate Georgescu Leads in Romania Presidential Election: Why is the West Trembling?

Right-Wing Candidate Georgescu Leads in Romania Presidential Election: Why is the West Trembling?

Sputnik International

Right-wing independent candidate Calin Georgescu has pulled off a shock victory in the first round of Romania's presidential election. What are his political views?

2024-11-25T13:40+0000

2024-11-25T13:40+0000

2024-11-25T13:40+0000

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romania

presidential elections

right-wing

ukraine

european union (eu)

peter pellegrini

russia

vladimir putin

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Little-known candidate Calin Georgescu, who was shown running at around 5% in pre-election polls, upended all predictions and is now set to face off against center-right contender Elena Lasconi in the second round on December 8.What Are His Views? On NATO: A professed champion of national sovereignty, Georgescu has often criticized what he called his countrys subservience to the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In interviews and public appearances he, has questioned the benefits of Romanias membership in NATO, arguing that the alliance will not protect any of its members should they be attacked. He criticized the presence of an American missile defense facility at a NATO-controlled base in the village of Deveselu, calling Romanias agreement to host it a diplomatic shame. He has also called NATO's ballistic missile defense shield in Romania a confrontational measure. On Ukraine: Georgescu has questioned military aid being pumped by Romania to Ukraine. The social media-savvy candidate recently launched a viral TikTok campaign calling for an end to supporting the Kiev regime that appeared to have struck a chord with voters. Tonight, the Romanian people cried out for peace. And they shouted very loudly, extremely loudly, Georgescu said after his win.On Russia: Georgescu has described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a genuinely great leader who loves his country in a 2020 interview. Romanias best chance lay with "Russian wisdom," media reports cite him as saying in another interview. On Moldova: Georgescu started out as a member of the right-wing Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) party, which advocates for the integration of Moldova into Romania, but eventually broke with it to campaign as an independent. Georgescus success feeds into the barometer of right-wing political successes across Europe amid dissatisfaction with Brussels policy and eroding public support for Ukraine. Similar sentiments fueled Ukraine critic Peter Pellegrinis win in the presidential election in Slovakia this summer, and the success of the right-wing Freedom Party (FPO) in Austrias parliamentary elections.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240615/nato-hawks-plans-for-new-bases-in-poland-romania-slovakia-wont-transpire-any-time-soon---analyst-1118968257.html

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right-wing independent candidate calin georgescu wins first round of romania's presidential election, what are calin georgescu's political views, does calin georgescu support ukraine aid,
https://sputnikglobe.com/20241125/slumping-intel-likely-to-have-grant-funds-slashed-as-bidens-plan-to-rev-up-us-chip-making-falters-1120997205.html

Slumping Intel May Face Cuts in Grant Money as Biden's Bid to Boost US Chipmakers Struggles

Slumping Intel May Face Cuts in Grant Money as Biden's Bid to Boost US Chipmakers Struggles

Sputnik International

The Biden administration plans to slash American chip giant Intels funding under a preliminary federal grant, The New York Times reported.

2024-11-25T10:38+0000

2024-11-25T10:38+0000

2024-11-25T13:53+0000

world

joe biden

intel

chips

chipmaker

semiconductors

taiwan semiconductor manufacturing company (tsmc)

china

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The Biden administration plans to slash American chip giant Intels funding under a preliminary federal grant, The New York Times reported. Trouble-plagued Intel will get $8 billion instead of the estimated $8.5 billion incentive package of grants it was awarded earlier under the CHIPS and Science Act, insiders told the outlet. Washington has bet heavily on Intel to achieve a "chip-making renaissance" in the country. Hefty subsidies were offered to US-based chipmakers amid Washingtons semiconductor trade war with China. Intel, however, was offered the largest single subsidy package. Besides the federal grant, the Biden administration offered Intel up to $11 billion in federal loans and a 25% tax credit for its investments in new factories.Intel, however, is failing to meet benchmark Commerce Department requirements to get the funds. Seizing on Intels woes, Qualcomm executives have reportedly asked if it would consider a sale. Chips for the Military The reported funding cut is said to take into account a $3 billion contract that Intel has been offered for national security-related chip production. Chips with military and intelligence applications would be produced by the US tech giant under the secret Pentagon program, Bloomberg reported in September. Dubbed Secure Enclave, the program will reportedly span several US states where Intel has manufacturing facilities. Washington launched the semiconductor trade spat with Beijing in 2022, with the US Commerce Department prohibiting companies from supplying advanced chips and chip-making equipment to China. The restrictions, along with the CHIPS and Science Act, were portrayed as limiting China's technological prowess, with the US government citing national security concerns. Washington claimed it was restricting the export of cutting-edge technologies that China could use for military purposes or to enhance its domestic semiconductor capabilities. China, the largest global semiconductors market, checkmated by rolling out its own export restrictions. It accused the US of violating market rules and leading to fragmentation in the global semiconductors market.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240914/chip-maker-intel-to-get-billions-worth-of-us-grants-for-secret-pentagon-program-1120152350.html

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american microchips, american chips, trade war, restrictions on chips export, chips export, chipmaker, semiconductors, ai development, chinese ai, us hegemony, semiconductor chips, american semiconductors, semiconductor technology, semiconductor industry, chip race, chips race, semiconductor race, is intel going out of business, will intel sell its chip manufacturing, how and why did intel fall,
https://sputnikglobe.com/20241125/trump-may-appoint-businessman-as-pentagon-deputy-chief---reports-1120993279.html

Trump May Appoint Businessman as Pentagon Deputy Chief - Reports

Trump May Appoint Businessman as Pentagon Deputy Chief - Reports

Sputnik International

Donald Trump, who won the US presidential election, may appoint entrepreneur Trae Stephens or billionaire investor Stephen Feinberg as the deputy secretary of defense, the Wall Street Journal reported citing sources.

2024-11-25T04:43+0000

2024-11-25T04:43+0000

2024-11-25T04:43+0000

americas

us

donald trump

pentagon

funds

china

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The newspaper recalls that Stephens is a co-founder of the defense technology company Anduril Industries and a partner at billionaire Peter Thiel's venture capital firm Founders Fund. Feinberg founded one of the world's largest private equity funds, Cerberus Capital Management. The publication suggests that the appointment of one of them will serve as a good sign for startups that have emerged in the defense sector in recent years. Feinberg previously chaired the presidential intelligence advisory board during Trump's first term, the publication recalled. The newspaper noted that both Stephens and Feinberg had pushed for investing in areas where they believe the US government had not acted quickly enough. Feinberg decided to invest in hypersonic technologies, concerned that the US was lagging behind competitors like China. According to the publication, Stephens also warned that US defense companies had lost their advantage, while China was innovating faster. In addition to Stephens and Feinberg, other candidates are also being considered, including from the Pentagon, the publication said. Trump's inauguration is set to take place on January 20.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20241124/trump-taps-sebastian-gorka-as-senior-director-for-counterterrorism-whats-his-stance-on-ukraine---1120989182.html

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donald trump, entrepreneur trae stephens or billionaire investor stephen feinberg, deputy secretary of defense
https://sputnikglobe.com/20241125/trump-may-dismiss-15000-transgenders-from-us-army-under-new-law-1120995882.html

Trump May Dismiss 15,000 Transgenders From US Army Under New Law

Trump May Dismiss 15,000 Transgenders From US Army Under New Law

Sputnik International

US President-elect Donald Trump plans to issue a decree that will lead to the dismissal of all transgender* soldiers; about 15,000 people may leave the service, the Times newspaper reported citing military sources.

2024-11-25T07:37+0000

2024-11-25T07:37+0000

2024-11-25T07:37+0000

americas

donald trump

russia

us army

transgender

transgender people

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The decree may be issued on the very first day of Trump's return to the White House, the publication said. Transgender persons will be demobilized for health reasons, which will mean they are unfit for service, the newspaper noted. The publication emphasized, citing an unnamed source familiar with Trump's plans, that the US Army was currently experiencing problems with recruiting new servicemen. According to the newspaper, Trump's new order will also not allow transgender people to enlist in the military.*LGBT is an extremist movement banned in Russia.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20241125/almost-60-of-americans-happy-with-trumps-performance-in-us-transfer-of-power---survey-1120993486.html

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us president-elect donald trump, dismissal of all transgender, us army under new law
https://sputnikglobe.com/20241125/ukraine-fulfilled-mobilization-plan-only-by-two-thirds-1120995364.html

Ukraine Fulfilled Mobilization Plan Only by Two-Thirds

Ukraine Fulfilled Mobilization Plan Only by Two-Thirds

Sputnik International

The Ukrainian authorities fulfilled the mobilization plan only by two-thirds of the targe, the situation is aggravated by the shortage and "quality" of recruits, The Economist reported.

2024-11-25T07:30+0000

2024-11-25T07:30+0000

2024-11-25T07:30+0000

world

volodymyr zelensky

ukraine

russia

mobilization

forced mobilization

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As an unnamed Ukrainian official told the magazine that the situation with military recruitment could become catastrophic by the spring of 2025. The publication noted that many of the military were already too old or lacking the motivation to participate in military operations. Ukraine's "systematic weakness" clearly affects the morale of the military on the front lines, it said. It is noted that some of the troops were already leaning toward the idea that the only way to end the conflict in Ukraine could be negotiations with Russia. As a brigade headquarters officer with the call sign "Chechen" told the publication, 70% of the military were already ready to make territorial concessions. On November 19, Volodymyr Zelensky announced a system of military service contracts for Ukrainian citizens under 25 years of age, as well as a simplification of personnel promotion without linking ranks to positions. The law on strengthening mobilization in Ukraine came into force on May 18. The document obligates all conscripts to update their data at the military registration and enlistment office within 60 days from the date of entry into force. To do this, you need to come to the military registration and enlistment office in person or register in the "conscript's electronic account". The summons will be considered delivered even if the conscript has not seen it in person: the date of "delivery" of the summons will be considered the date when the document was stamped with a stamp indicating the impossibility of personal delivery. The law stipulates that conscripts must always carry their military ID with them and present it at the first request of military registration and enlistment office employees or the police. Dodgers may be deprived of the right to drive a car. The terms of demobilization are not specified in the document. This provision was removed from the document, which caused indignation among a number of llawmakers.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20241123/media-reveals-number-of-men-ukraine-may-mobilize-1120972217.html

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mobilization plan, ukrainian authorities, aggravated by the shortage and "quality" of recruits
https://sputnikglobe.com/20241125/ukrainian-military-base-lodging-nato-led-training-hit-by-explosion---resistance-network-1120995260.html

Ukrainian Military Base Lodging NATO-Led Training Hit by Explosion - Resistance Network

Ukrainian Military Base Lodging NATO-Led Training Hit by Explosion - Resistance Network

Sputnik International

DONETSK (Sputnik) - An explosion occurred near a military base in the suburbs of the Ukrainian town of Chuguev where NATO instructors have been training... 25.11.2024, Sputnik International

2024-11-25T07:27+0000

2024-11-25T07:27+0000

2024-11-25T07:27+0000

russia's special operation in ukraine

sergey lavrov

ukraine

nato

russia

russian armed forces

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"At 9:30 p.m. [19:30 GMT] another explosion was heard near Chuguev in the direction of the A-1310 military base... After the blast, several emergency ambulances rushed to the site. We are still trying to gather more information. It is known that Western-style gun training has been conducted by NATO instructors, but it is not yet clear whether they have been involved in the incident or not," Lebedev said. Russia has been conducting a special military operation in Ukraine since February 24, 2022. President Vladimir Putin has said that the operation aims to "protect people subjected to genocide by the Kiev regime" for years. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that NATO member states are directly involved in the conflict not only by providing weapons to Ukraine, but also by training Ukrainian troops on their soil.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240803/russian-forces-destroy-ukrainian-targets-including-mercenary-bases-and-air-defenses-1119622907.html

ukraine

russia

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sergey lavrov, ukraine, nato, russia, russian armed forces
https://sputnikglobe.com/20241125/us-envoy-threatens-to-withdraw-from-israel-lebanon-talks---reports-1120994210.html

US Envoy Threatens to Withdraw From Israel-Lebanon Talks

US Envoy Threatens to Withdraw From Israel-Lebanon Talks

Sputnik International

US Special Presidential Envoy to the Middle East Amos Hochstein told Israeli Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter on Saturday that if the Israeli authorities did not support a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon in the coming days, he would stop mediating in the talks, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said on X citing a source.

2024-11-25T04:52+0000

2024-11-25T04:52+0000

2024-11-25T04:51+0000

world

israel-lebanon tensions

amos hochstein

lebanon

israel

beirut

hezbollah

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The journalist added, citing an unnamed senior Israeli official, that Israel was "moving closer" to accepting a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon. Unnamed US officials confirmed that the parties were close to accepting the agreement, but there was still "some work to do." Last Tuesday, Hochstein arrived in Beirut on an official visit to hear the position of Lebanon and Hezbollah on the points of the agreement proposed by the US side for a ceasefire with Israel. Hochstein said on Wednesday that some progress had been made in talks with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. After his visit to Beirut, Hochstein held talks in Tel Aviv. Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem said on November 20 that the movement had agreed to continue indirect ceasefire talks with Israel based on the US proposal and mediated by Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, on the condition that there was a complete cessation of hostilities by the Israeli army and the preservation of Lebanon's sovereignty without the Israeli side being able to invade the country's airspace or cross land or sea borders. Qassem also noted the resistance's decision to continue hostilities against the Israeli army in parallel with the ongoing ceasefire talks.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20241114/israel-informs-trump-of-intention-to-speed-up-lebanon-ceasefire-deal---reports-1120882062.html

lebanon

israel

beirut

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us envoy, us special presidential envoy to the middle east amos hochstein, ceasefire agreement with lebanon
https://sputnikglobe.com/20241125/why-cyprus-nato-aspirations-risk-exacerbating-tensions-within-alliance-1120999352.html

Why Cyprus NATO Aspirations Risk Exacerbating Tensions Within Alliance

Why Cyprus NATO Aspirations Risk Exacerbating Tensions Within Alliance

Sputnik International

Greek media have reported on Cypruss desire to join NATO, with the White House considering the scenario a win-win proposition. Regional politics experts told Sputnik why Washington's exuberance may turn into a geopolitical and geostrategic nightmare for the US, NATO, and the European Union if the Western bloc ever moves forward with the idea.

2024-11-25T16:45+0000

2024-11-25T16:45+0000

2024-11-25T16:45+0000

analysis

turkiye

greece

nato

european union (eu)

cyprus

north cyprus

donald trump

nikos christodoulides

military & intelligence

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Biden National Security Advisor Jack Sullivan is excited about the prospect of Cyprus joining NATO, reportedly suggesting that "the prospects that such a development" presents "would be enormous," echoing the conclusions of US lawmakers who recently visited the island, describing its military facilities as being "of enormous strategic importance" to Washington.Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides is said to have outlined his vision for his country's gradual integration into the Western military bloc during his visit to Washington on October 30, having previously shared the idea with the Pentagon, and with former deputy secretary of state Victoria Nuland.Christodoulides is reportedly also interested in expanding US arms deliveries to Cyprus, ramping up the training of Cyprus' National Guard servicemen at American military academies, upgrading Nicosia's military capabilities along NATO lines, and negotiating with Washington on a possible permanent military presence on the island, in exchange for financial assistance to upgrade military facilities, and perhaps free equipment.For the US, Cyprus joining NATO could enhance Western influence in the eastern Mediterranean and provide strategic access to counterbalance Russias presence in the region. However, these benefits must be weighed against the risks of exacerbating tensions within NATO itself, particularly given Turkiyes longstanding disputes with Cyprus, Venice-based international affairs analyst Dr. Marco Marsili told Sputnik.Cyprus membership could escalate tensions between Turkiye and other NATO members, undermining alliance cohesion at a time when unity is critical, he said.At the same time, Brussels is in a strategic bind in its desire to harmonize EU policy with NATOs, the observer explained, with Cypruss exclusion from the Western bloc challenging such harmonization efforts.On top of that, considering the changing balances in the Middle East, Cyprus stands at a juncture of geopolitical importance, and hence may be trying to get something more from the American administration via the Greek lobby in Washington before Donald Trump's return to the White House, Ozertem said.Cyprus: Generations of Ethnic Strife With British RootsSituated in the northeastern Mediterranean about 550 km east of the Greek island of Crete and about 65 km south of Turkiye, Cyprus was settled by Greeks in 1100 BC, with large-scale Turkish settlement starting in 1571 after the islands conquest by the Ottoman Empire.Greek Cypriots burning desire for reunification with Greece, inspired by the heavy hand of British rule, combined with the conflict-rife administrative system introduced by the British before their departure, became a recipe for an inter-ethnic conflict that turned violent in 1963, after a routine traffic stop by Greek Cypriot police near the Turkish quarter in Nicosia turned deadly, with two Turkish Cypriots killed. The incident sparked a wave of intercommunal violence across the island.The crisis came to a head in July 1974, when Turkiye invaded northeastern Cyprus several days after the Cypriot National Guard staged a coup with the aim of reunifying with Greece.Unification talks aimed at ending the generations-old conflict and reunifying Cyprus were held from 2015-2017, but broke down amid mutual recriminations by both local residents and their big brothers Greece and Turkiye.Tensions have also been exacerbated by Cypruss discovery of offshore gas deposits in 2011. The gas dispute escalated in 2018, when Turkiye rejected a 2003 Cyprus-Egypt maritime border deal, and blockaded the drilling ship of a European energy company contracted to search for gas. The dispute led both sides to ramp up efforts to ink competing diplomatic and security deals, and prompted Cyprus to increase security cooperation with France and the US, to Turkiyes fury.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20241125/cyprus-developed-plan-to-join-nato---reports-1120993128.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240928/turkish-cypriot-leader-says-will-raise-issue-of-cyprus-militarization-with-guterres-1120326799.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240925/us-deploys-troops-to-cyprus-amid-middle-east-conflict-concerns---reports-1120286179.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240723/syprus-as-a-hub-for-military-bases--1119470888.html

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is cyprus going to join nato, can cyprus join nato, will turkey stop cyprus from joining nato, is cyprus in nato
Following tremendous interest, Catherine Willson will be returning for her second Equine Law Webinar, offered through Equine Guelph, which takes place today (Nov. 25) at 4 p.m. EST.

Learn from Canadas leading equine lawyer about stable owner/occupier liability, avoid legal claims, waivers and releases, boarding agreements, employment advice, and other legal tips necessary for running a well-managed and safe stable.

Catherine Willson, BA, LLB has practiced equine law in Canada for more than three decades. Willson is the author of Canadian Equine Law, a concise guide written for the layperson in the horse industry. The book covers information and case studies, in plain language, to help you understand the rights and obligations of anyone working with horses in any capacity.

Willson is an Honourary Governor of The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair (RAWF) and chair of the RAWF Risk Management Committee. She has written many articles for Horse Sport and other publications, is a guest lecturer at the University of Guelph and at conferences across Canada, and is the go-to on horse law in Canada.

Farmers, racehorse owners, horse professionals and enthusiasts, veterinarians and anyone else working in or around the equine industry will benefit from joining this session to learn more.

If you cant make the webinar, register and you will receive a recorded zoom link to watch on your time.

Click here to register for the Equine Law Webinar.

This virtual workshop uses Zoom, an online video conferencing application. Once you register to participate, youll receive an email with the event details, including the link and password to access the workshop.

The webinar replay from Part 1 of Equine Guelph's Equine Law Webinars from August 2024 is available by clicking here.

(With files from Equine Guelph)
The Prince Edward Island Harness Racing Industry Association (PEIHRIA) would like to remind Island breeders of important notices regarding the breeding sector.

Canada Post Strike: Until the Canada Post strike is resolved, the Island Breeders Awards and the Maritime Breeders Awards will be available for pickup at the PEIHRIA office. Office hours are Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you are receiving an award and reside off Island, direct deposit is available. Contact Julie Jamieson at 902-569-1682 or [email protected] to receive a direct deposit form or schedule a pickup time. Remaining breeders awards will be sent by mail as soon as mail is back in circulation.

The PEIHRIA would also like to remind Island breeders of the following deadlines for submission of breeding forms:

Resident Mare Forms: Off Island residents who are boarding a mare on Prince Edward Island that foaled on P.E.I. in 2024 and remained on the Island for 183 days during the foaling year are reminded that they must submit a resident mare form by Dec. 1, 2024 to ensure the mares offspring are eligible to be nominated to the Joe OBrien Stakes and/or the Lady Slipper Stakes in 2025 as yearlings. Resident mare forms are an affidavit and must be filled out and signed by the farm manager where the mare resides on the Island. The link to the form is available here: PEIHRIA Resident Mare Form.

Foal Incentive: The PEIHRIA is once again offering a foal incentive payment made possible through P.E.I. provincial government funding for foals born on P.E.I. in 2024. The complete list of eligibility criteria and the form for application is available online at the following link: PEIHRIA Foal Incentive 2024. The deadline for application is Dec. 31, 2024.

Island Broodmare Registry: The PEIHRIA has paired with the Prince Edward Island Standardbred Breeders Association to create a form for Island breeders to register broodmares at their Standardbred breeding operation annually. This will assist the PEIHRIA with obtaining accurate broodmare population numbers on P.E.I. Island breeders are asked to fill out the form at the following link and list all broodmares they have onsite that are either in foal or barren: 2024 Island Broodmare Registry.

Transfer Of Island Breeders Awards: The PEIHRIA has created a form for Island breeders that purchase a mare in foal prior to the mare foaling. The previous breeder of record may sign breeding rights over to the new owner provided the new owner purchases the mare prior to foaling, the mare is 100 per cent Island owned at the time of foaling and the mare is foaled out by the Island resident that purchased the mare. To complete a transfer, fill out the form at the following link: Transfer of Island Breeders Award.

If you require a paper copy of any of the above forms, contact the PEIHRIA at 902-569-1682 or [email protected].

(PEIHRIA)
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A new Gold Rush is taking shape on a quiet stretch of Kansas prairie. There, a clutch of startups backed by the likes of Bill Gates are searching below the surface for naturally occurring hydrogen, a fuel that can generate power without adding to climate change.

Finding it in vast quantities would revolutionize the energy transition. But the hunt is clean energy wildcatting, with a real possibility of failureand the added risk of diverting limited climate venture capital at a time when the world needs proven emissions-cutting technologies.

Kansas sits atop a geological quirk: The Midcontinent Rift is a subterranean scar a billion years old created when North America started to split down the middle and then stopped. Iron-rich rocks within the rift can produce hydrogen when exposed to water, pressure and heat. And records left over from several old oil exploration wells in the area decades ago show the gas isor at least waspresent.

Other sites around the world also offer tantalizing hints of housing the lightest element in the universe, and the search is starting to attract money. One company, Koloma, has raised more than $300 million, including from Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Mining giant Fortescue Ltd. recently spent $22 million to buy a 40% stake in Australia-based HyTerra, one of the startups looking in Kansas.

All told, approximately 50 geologic hydrogen companies are in operation, including explorers, equipment makers, and oil and gas conglomerates funding research, according to BNEF.

Naturally occurring hydrogen holds the potential for what Wood Mackenzie analyst Richard Hood calls a "Spindletop moment," referring to the 1901 Texas oil gusher that helped create the modern world. If it exists in commercial quantities, pumping hydrogen from the ground would be cheaper than stripping it from water using electricity and cleaner than making it from natural gas, the most common method.

"No question, there's risk," said Bruce Nurse, co-founder of PureWave Hydrogen, which has leased sites in three Kansas counties for exploration. "But it's an energy source we need to go after here in the U.S., because manufactured hydrogen is not going to cut it."

Recently, scientists have begun earnestly attempting to answer how much hydrogen is under the Earth's surface.

Geoffrey Ellis is at the forefront of that work. A research geologist for the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Ellis spent two decades researching petroleum geochemistry. About five years ago, Ellis pivoted to hydrogen when he heard about Mali.

Mali is the great origin story of the quest for geologic hydrogen, which industry refers to as "white" and sometimes "gold."

In the late 1980s, residents of a village drilling for water in the West African country stumbled upon a pocket of gas. Not knowing what it was, they plugged it back up. Decades later, workers heard of this discovery and drilled a new well to uncover what they had hoped was natural gas, only to find nearly pure hydrogen.

Ellis's group has been modeling the subsurface globally, drawing on oil and gas industry tools and methods.

His estimate is wide-ranging: anywhere from billions of tons on the conservative end to trillions of tons. Tapping even a fraction of the estimated hydrogen would meet hundreds of years of demand, Ellis said.

He ascribes the several orders of magnitude of uncertainty to the nature of the model he and his team built, based on what is known about hydrogen and better-understood resources like petroleum. The question for himand investors and companiesisn't whether it exists, but how much of it is accessible and accumulated in large, pure quantities. The only way to know for sure is to start drilling.

"You have to operate in uncertainty," said Koloma's Chief Business Officer Paul Harraka.

To maximize their chances of success, prospectors are leaning on paper records in dusty archives and oil and gas documents that have mentioned accidental hydrogen discoveries. But they're also using tech like sophisticated machine learning to identify what are known as "fairy circles" in satellite images. These circular depressions on the Earth's surface sometimes emit hydrogen and could point to subsurface reservoirs.

Viacheslav Zgonnik is the co-founder and former chief executive officer of Denver-based Natural Hydrogen Energy, which went prospecting in 2023 near Geneva, Nebraska. Drilling more than 11,000 feet into the ground, they found hydrogen, though Zgonnik declined to say how much. But he left the company this year to create a startup to provide software to companies looking for hydrogen deposits.

"When there is a gold rush, you sell picks and shovels," Zgonnik said.

Most of the exploration happening today is in the U.S. and Australia, not just because there's evidence hydrogen could exist underground but because of the two countries' supportive regulatory environments. In the U.S., landowners have the rights to exploration permits rather than the state, a stark contrast to other countries where government-controlled licenses can result in long delays.

As a result of all these factors, many wildcatters are concentrated in Kansas and other states along the Midcontinent Rift.

"It's expensive, and you can't just go digging random holes in the ground," said Mark Gudiksen, a managing partner at venture firm Piva Capital, which invested in Koloma. "So you have to be thoughtful about using all of the tricks of the trade."

Even if prospectors hit hydrogen, its commercial prospects are highly uncertain. The reason green hydrogen produced by renewable energy hasn't taken off yet is because of its high cost. The Department of Energy has set a goal for hydrogen producers and prospectors to get costs down to $1 per kilogram. That would unlock a wave of demand critical to growing the hydrogen industry, which is currently lacking.

The world currently uses about 94 million metric tons of hydrogen per year, according to BloombergNEF. The research firm forecasts that for the global economy to reach net-zero emissions by mid-century, hydrogen use will rise slowly, hitting 118 million metric tons in 2030, before entering a period of rapid growth.

Worldwide use could reach 234 million metric tons in 2040 and 390 million metric tons in 2050, according to BNEF's New Energy Outlook 2024.

"The market is really, really, really big if the unit economics work," said Mark Daly, head of technology and innovation at BloombergNEF. But that's a big "if."

One critical cost factor: purity. The well in Mali is nearly 100% pure hydrogen. But hydrogen is often co-located with other gases, including helium.

Australian company Gold Hydrogen, for example, said it found hydrogen as well as high levels of helium in initial drill tests conducted in 2023 on South Australia's Yorke Peninsula and is now working to drill its first new wells. While helium is a valuable product, separating the two gases adds expense.

One of the biggest complications to bringing down costs is transport, which involves compressing the gas into a liquid and trucking it or moving it through underground pipelines. Both are expensive and in the case of pipelines, closer to fantasy than reality. At high pressure, hydrogen can react with steel pipes, causing them to become brittle and crack.

There's also the potential for hydrogen leakage, an issue that scientists and startups haven't yet properly confronted.

Hydrogen "is a very promiscuous gas. It diffuses all over the place," said Douglas Wicks, a program director at the Energy Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPAE) who's in charge of two geologic hydrogen research programs.

Transporting hydrogen makes sense economically within a 100-kilometer radius, said Daly. He pointed out that raising enough money to build a pipeline requires evidence that the resource it's transporting will exist for 20 to 40 years.

Many startups exploring in Kansas and Nebraska could overcome transportation issues by selling it locally. The states are two top agricultural producers, and companies see farmers as their biggest potential customers. Hydrogen discovered in the region could be converted to ammonia, which is widely used to make fertilizer.

"There's absolutely a chance we may lose all our money."

The myriad unknowns are not stopping wildcatters. They're also not stopping venture capitalists and large corporate investors alike from placing big bets.

One of the industry's biggest boosters is also one of the most influential climate tech investors in Breakthrough Energy Ventures.

"The discovery of geologic hydrogen could be one of the single most important events in our lifetimes, and perhaps the lifetimes of our children," said the firm's technical lead Eric Toone in a speech at the Breakthrough Energy Summit in London in June. "It offers the possibility of limitless zero-carbon reactive chemical energy."

That's part of the reason the firm participated in Koloma's $245 million Series B round, making it one of the biggest startups on the hydrogen frontier. Still, investors acknowledge that the territory still comes with many unanswered questions, enough to give many others pause.

If Koloma succeeds, "that changes the cost structure of hydrogen," said Gudiksen. But he also sounded a cautionary note: "There's absolutely a chance we may lose all our money."

2024 Bloomberg News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

The US government wants Google to divest parts of its ad tech business.

Google and the US government faced off in a federal court on Monday, as each side delivered closing arguments in a case revolving around the technology giant's alleged unfair domination of online advertising.

The trial in a Virginia federal court is Google's second US antitrust case now under way as the US government tries to rein in the power of big tech.

In a separate trial, a Washington judge ruled that Google's search business is an illegal monopoly, and the US Justice Department is asking that Google sell its Chrome browser business to resolve the case.

The latest case, also brought by the Justice Department, focuses on ad technology for the open webthe complex system determining which online ads people see when they surf the internet.

The vast majority of websites use a trio of Google ad software products that together, leave no way for publishers to escape Google's advertising technology, the plaintiffs allege.

Publishersincluding News Corp and Gannett publishing complain that they are locked into Google's advertising technology in order to run ads on their websites.

"Google is once, twice, three times a monopolist," DOJ lawyer Aaron Teitelbaum told the court in closing arguments.

Presiding judge Leonie Brinkema has said that she would deliver her opinion swiftly, as early as next month.

Whatever Brinkema's judgment, the outcome will almost certainly be appealed, prolonging a process that could go all the way to the US Supreme Court.

'Winners and losers'

The government alleges that Google controls the auction-style system that advertisers use to purchase advertising space online.

The US lawyers argue that this approach allows Google to charge higher prices to advertisers while sending less revenue to publishers such as news websites, many of which are struggling to stay in business.

The US argues that Google used its financial power to acquire potential rivals and corner the ad tech market, leaving advertisers and publishers with no choice but to use its technology.

The government wants Google to divest parts of its ad tech business.

Google dismissed the allegations as an attempt by the government to pick "winners and losers" in a diverse market.

The company argues that the display ads at issue are just a small share of today's ad tech business.

TikTok not question

Google says the plaintiffs' definition of the market ignores ads that are also placed in search results, apps and social media platforms and where, taken as a whole, Google does not dominate.

"The law simply does not support what the plaintiffs are arguing in this case," said Google's lawyer Karen Dunn.

She warned that if Google were to lose the case, the winners would be rival tech giants such as Microsoft, Meta or Amazon, whose market share in online advertising is ascendant as Google's share is falling.

The DOJ countered that it simply "does not matter" that Google is competing in the broader market for online ads.

"That is a different question" than the market for ads on websites that is the target of the case, said Teitelbaum.

Google also points to US legal precedent, saying arguments similar to the government's have been refuted in previous antitrust cases.

Dunn also warned that forcing Google to work with rivals in its ad products would amount to government central planning that the court should reject.

If the judge finds Google to be at fault, a new phase of the trial would decide how the company should comply with that conclusion.

And all that could be moot if the incoming Trump administration decides to drop the case.

The president-elect has been a critic of Google's, but he warned earlier this month that breaking it up could be "a very dangerous thing."

 2024 AFP
Gia vang the gioi sang nay ap sat moc 3.000 USD/ounce  muc ky luc chua tung co trong lich su. Trong nuoc cung khong ngoai le, khi lan luot tang tu 700 en 1 trieu ong/luong. "Vang ang trong thi truong tang gia dai han. Chung toi du bao gia se giao dich trong khoang 3.000-3.200 USD trong nam nay", Alex Ebkarian, giam oc ieu hanh tai Allegiance Gold cho biet.
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Saudi-based Nice One Beauty Digital Marketing Company has announced its decision to proceed with an initial public offering (IPO) and the listing of its ordinary shares on the main Saudi Exchange (Tadawul). It will be done through the sale of a combination of existing and newly issued shares.

A leading beauty and care e-commerce platform in the kingdom, Nice One Beauty's product range includes cosmetics, body care items, lenses, perfumes, skincare and haircare products, as well as nutritional supplements.

These offerings feature more than 1,200 leading international and local brands, along with Nice Ones own exclusive brands.

Unveiling the IPO plan, the Saudi beauty brand said the move comes following the go-ahead from Capital Market Authority in September this year for the IPO. A total of 34.6 million shares (around 25.24% of the company's stake) will be on offer.

This will be done through sale of 29.1 million ordinary shares of the existing stake by the company's existing shareholders on a pro-rata basis, and the issuance of new shares totalling 5.5 million shares (4.76% of the companys capital) through a capital hike.

Upon completion of the Offering, the entire stake will total 30% of the issued share capital (after issuance of the New Shares and the Companys capital increase).

Nice One Beauty said the Offerings net proceeds will be distributed to selling shareholders on a pro-rata based on their shareholding in the sale shares, with the remaining proceeds to be distributed to the company to be used to finance working capital, develop and market its own brands and sales channels, enhance logistic and technical capabilities, and achieve its general business objectives.

According to the Saudi firm, shares will be offered to individual subscribers and participating parties (as defined below).

A maximum of 34,650,000 ordinary shares, representing 100% of the offer shares, will be allocated to the Participating Parties initially, with the final allocation determined after the end of the retail subscription period.

In the event of sufficient demand from retail investors, they will be allocated a maximum of 3,465,000 Ordinary Shares representing 10% of the offer shares.

Nice One Beauty said the final Offering price will be determined at the end of the book-building process.

The IPO shares will be listed and traded on the Saudi Exchanges Main Market following the completion of the Offering and listing formalities with both the CMA and the Saudi Exchange, it added.-TradeArabia News Service
Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has enacted amendments to DIFC Law on the Application of Civil and Commercial Laws in DIFC (Application Law).

The amendments provide statutory certainty to the source of DIFC Law and how it may be interpreted. In addition, certain amendments have been made to the DIFC Real Property Law and Real Property Regulations.

Jacques Visser, Chief Legal Officer at DIFC Authority, said: These amendments reinforce DIFCs status as an international common law jurisdiction and as the leading financial centre in the MEASA region. The amendments confirm that DIFC laws are supplemented with reference to English Common Law and the laws of other common law jurisdictions. These important amendments provide statutory confirmation, for practitioners and the Courts, regarding the source of law in DIFC and the way in which DIFC legislation may be interpreted.

Law of Application

Source of Law

Since the inception of DIFC, it has been understood by practitioners that DIFC Laws are supplemented, or backstopped, by common law. DIFCA believes that it is necessary to provide statutory certainty as to the source and interpretation of DIFC law, especially as DIFC often looks at global best practice on a much broader basis than simply English statutory law. Hence the proposed amendments.

Amendments

To address the Source of Law issue, and further to public consultation, a new Article 8A has been added to the Application Law. In summary, this establishes that DIFC Law is to be determined first by reference to DIFC statute, and DIFC Court judgments interpreting and applying DIFC statute. Then, as DIFC law is not intended to be strictly statutory, Article 8A provides that DIFC Statute is supplemented by the common law (including the principles and rules of equity). The DIFC Courts in determining the common law for DIFC may have reference to the common law of England and Wales and other common law jurisdictions.

The enacted version of Article 8A has been modified from the consultation proposal, which made reference to importing specific common law doctrines, causes of action, defences and remedies, where appropriate, into DIFC Law. These changes clarify that the DIFC Courts, like any leading common law courts, have the power to consider comparative jurisprudence from a variety of jurisdictions in developing or modifying common law rules and principles of equity on a case by case basis, but that they do not have broader legislative or policy making powers.

A new Article 8B of the Law of Application confirms that interpretation of DIFC statute may be guided by principles developed in respect of analogous laws in established common law jurisdictions. Additionally, if a DIFC Statute is based on an international model law, its interpretation may also be guided by international jurisprudence interpreting and applying the international model law, as well as interpretative aids and commentary published by international bodies regarding the international model law.

The amendments are intended to ensure that both English Common Law, and developments in other established common law jurisdictions, continue to remain a central feature of DIFCs legal system.

Real Property Law and Regulations

DIFC has introduced a Mortgage Registration fee of 0.25 per cent of the value of a Mortgage being registered by a purchaser of Real Property. This is in line with current onshore practice and will cover the administration required by the office of the Registrar of Real Property to review the documents and process registration.

In addition, DIFC has extended the period of registration of Off Plan Sales from the current 30-day period to 60 days, to better accommodate the timetable for Off Plan Unit purchases, from launch stage to production of a final Off Plan Sales Agreement. The extension provides purchasers of Off Plan Units more time to register such transactions and pay the Freehold Transfer Fee.

These amendments are intended to enhance the regulatory framework within DIFC, in line with best practice. The Amendment Laws were enacted on November 14, 2024 and came into effect on November 21, 2024.--TradeArabia News Service
The 45th edition of Big 5 Global, the largest construction event in the region, opens tomorrow (November 26) in Dubai, featuring more than 2,700 exhibitors from over 60 countries and more than 100,000 attendees who are gearing up to explore a plethora of innovations, cutting-edge technologies, products, services and networking opportunities as the event.

Running until November 29 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, the event will host key events such as LiveableCitiesX, Future FM and GeoWorld driving advancements in the urban development and construction sector.

"As Big 5 Global opens its doors this year, attendees will experience first-hand how cutting-edge technologies are reshaping the way cities are built globally and in the MEASA, making them liveable, more resilient and sustainable. From automation to advanced data analytics, BIM for seamless collaboration to drones for real-time data and AI insights, these innovations are not only enhancing processes but also creating the cities of tomorrow, where urban development and construction advancements improve quality of life for all," said Josine Heijmans, Senior Vice President  Construction, dmg events.

Building on this momentum, Big 5 Global will feature its largest-ever representation of construction technology, underscoring the growing influence of digital transformation in urban development, she stated.

Renowned global brands such as Autodesk, Trimble, Oracle, and Premier Construction Software will showcase solutions driving efficiencies, improving collaboration and enabling liveable city planning.

From Building Information Modelling (BIM) to cloud-based construction management systems, these technologies are set to transform how projects are designed, executed and delivered.

The Dubai Municipality Pavilion at Big 5 Global will serve as a hub for innovation and sustainability, spotlighting Desert Board, a UAE-grown business debuting sustainable construction materials this year, alongside Avenco Robotics and Generation 3D, offering live demonstrations of advanced 3D printing technologies for construction applications.

Complementing these technological advancements, the Future Cities Showcase at LiveableCitiesX will spotlight cutting-edge urban projects and sustainability initiatives, featuring the Abu Dhabi Projects & Infrastructure Centre unveiling innovative strategies for sustainable city-building, DLR Group with forward-thinking urban design concepts, Knowledge Economic City highlighting transformative developments in Saudi Arabia, Egis showcasing integrated urban and infrastructure solutions and Deyaar Development showcasing its developments.

Building on its focus on innovation and digital advancements, Big 5 Global will be a launchpad for several prominent companies who will showcase new projects and products, including Arabian Gulf Steel Industries (AGSI) which will announce regional expansion projects and Zamil Steel will unveil its new initiatives focused on Saudi Arabia.

Mitsubishi Elevators, which is participating for the first time, will debut its 2025 line of elevator products and Naffco will present its latest line of fire-resistant doors as Alusol launches its shutter roll-up doors in the UAE market.

Trimble will share insights into their lidar scanners and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) systems.

In addition to these major industry players, Big 5 Global will also spotlight the next wave of innovation disrupting the world of construction through Start-up City.

This year, 72 start-ups from 17 countries will showcase innovations spanning virtual reality, smart city technologies, 3D printing, IoT, AI, concrete technologies, smart energy management systems and sustainable construction materials.

Some of the participating start-ups include Cemvision AB, reinventing cement for sustainable construction; CONXAI, using AI to enhance construction workflows; Vertliner, offering autonomous drone technologies for vertical inspections; AC3D, Inc., advancing scalable 3D printing for large structures; and Trubuild, streamlining modular construction for faster project delivery.

"These start-ups represent the next generation of technology transforming construction and urban development," noted Heijmans, emphasizing how these innovative solutions are paving the way for more efficient, sustainable and technologically advanced approaches in urban development and construction.

The event, now in its 45th year, aligns with the regions ambitious national visions, such as the UAEs We the UAE 2031 and Saudi Arabias Vision 2030, according to Heijmans. By introducing new events like LiveableCitiesX, GeoWorld, and Future FM, Big 5 Global aims to address the growing demand for sustainable, resilient, and future-ready cities, she said.

Among the highlights of the technologies on show at Big 5 Global are green building materials, energy-efficient systems and technologies reducing carbon footprints, which align with net-zero and sustainable construction practices, Heijmans stated.

Attendees can explore geospatial solutions, climate-resilient FM services, start-up innovations and scalable modular and 3D printing technologies, she added.

Excerpts of the interview with Josine Heijmans:

How has Big 5 Global evolved this year to meet the regions urban development goals, especially as new events like LiveableCitiesX, GeoWorld and Future FM are introduced?

Big 5 Globals 45th edition directly supports the regions $9 trillion urban development and construction pipeline of projects, aligning with national visions like We the UAE 2031 and Saudi Vision 2030 by driving sustainable and innovative practices. The introduction of new events such as LiveableCitiesX, GeoWorld and Future FM, alongside Big 5 Global, address urban liveability, geospatial advancements and future-ready facilities management, providing tailored platforms for each sector's unique growth and innovation needs, as the region continues to expand.

How is Big 5 Global uniquely positioned to address the urbanisation needs of this rapidly growing region?

The World Bank projects that 80% of the global population will live in cities by 2080, with MEASA playing a major role in this growth. With urbanisation and the demand for resilient, future-ready cities, Big 5 Global for over 44 years has served as a hub for high-level partnerships and collaborations, creating opportunities for public and private sector to work together on sustainable urban solutions for MEASAs unique demographic needs.

What, according to you, are the standout innovations and technologies showcased this year that attendees should look forward to?

Aligning with net-zero and sustainable construction practices, Big 5 Global showcases green building materials, energy-efficient systems and technologies reducing carbon footprints. Attendees can explore geospatial solutions, climate-resilient FM services, start-up innovations and scalable modular and 3D printing technologies.

How do the summits at Big 5 Global drive collaboration and innovation across industries to create sustainable and resilient cities?

Big 5 Global unites 2,700 exhibitors across urban planning, facilities management, geospatial intelligence and construction to tackle urban challenges. Additionally, Big 5 Global Leaders Summit, LiveableCitiesX Summit, Big 5 FutureTech Summit, GeoWorld Summit, and IFMA Global | Middle East Summit promote collaboration among visionaries and policymakers, showcasing how leadership, connective technology and geospatial data drive sustainable, resilient cities.-TradeArabia News Service
The Saudi Red Sea Authority (SRSA), an independent Saudi government authority responsible for regulating navigational and marine tourism activities, has awarded its first two licences for operating marinas in the cities of Yanbu and Al Lith to Al Ahlam Marine.

This step supports its mission to advance the coastal tourism sector by creating an attractive environment for tourists, investors, and marina operators in the Red Sea region, said SRSA in a statement.

This is rooted in its core mandates, which include issuing licenses and permits, enhancing marina infrastructure, and encouraging investment in marine and navigational tourism activities, it stated.

According to SRSA, the new licenses enhance tourism infrastructure by providing mooring areas for boats and yachts, adhering to the highest safety standards, and facilitating hospitality services, while enriching experiences, regulating tourism activities, and preserving the marine environment.

By licensing these new marinas, SRSA aims to improve infrastructure and promote sustainable tourism along the Red Sea coast, complementing existing licensed operations, which include Red Sea Marina in Jeddah, and Al Ahlam Marina in Jeddah and Jazan, it added.-TradeArabia News Service
Leading global firms in the real estate, PropTech, development, and sustainability sectors will be in Dubai from December 9 to 13 for a landmark event, World Realty Congress 2024, which will consist of a conference and then an award ceremony.

It is set to establish critical dialogues around the role of the real estate sector in supporting the UAEs Vision 2033, which emphasizes innovation, sustainability, and long-term economic growth.

As the UAE continues its transformation into a hub for cutting-edge urban development, this congress will serve as a key platform to discuss the integration of green building practices, and focus on delivering actionable outcomes, PropTech advancements, and present sustainable frameworks to foster a collaborative movement within the industry. Industry experts will share insights on the pressing issues and opportunities reshaping real estate, said the organisers.

"The UAEs Vision 2033 lays out an ambitious blueprint for sustainability and innovation in real estate," said Jatin Deepchandani, CEO of Plan3 Media, the events organizer.

"The World Realty Congress will not only highlight current trends but also catalyze discussions that will help shape the future of real estate development in the region. Real estate isnt just an industry - its a driver of economic growth, community development, and environmental responsibility. And thats exactly what this event is going to showcase," he noted.

The event will feature panel discussions, masterclasses, and roundtable sessions on pivotal topics such as smart city development, energy efficiency, and investment strategies. PropTech innovations will also be a major focus, offering attendees insights into the tools and technologies redefining real estate practices globally.

It has already lined up key speakers, including Michael Belton, CEO of Mered, Madhav Dhar, Co-founder and COO of ZaZEN Properties, Stuart Harrison, CEO of Emrill Services, Hamdan Mohamed Al Kaitob, Head of Property & Community Development at Deeyar, Francis Giani, Chief Community Management Officer at Dubai Holding Community Management, and Imran Farooq, CEO of Samana Group.

Sustainability will be woven throughout the five-day event reflecting the UAEs broader push toward an environmentally responsible future.

"Its no longer just about adopting sustainable practices - its about embedding them into every facet of development," stated Deepchandani.

"Well be addressing how developers, investors, and governments can work together to implement sustainable practices that ensure long-term growth, in line with the UAEs vision for the future," he added.

The event will culminate on December 13 with the Awards Gala, where over 312 nominees will compete for recognition across categories celebrating innovation, leadership, and the adoption of future-forward real estate practices, said he organisers.

These awards will honor not just individual achievements but the wider contributions to economic development and community building, they added.-TradeArabia News Service
Inspiring UAE teachers have been urged to apply for the ninth Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize, organised in collaboration with UNESCO and in partnership with GEMS Education. The $1 million award is the biggest prize of its kind.

Sister Zeph, the winner of the last edition of the Global Teacher Prize, encouraged inspiring UAE teachers to apply for the prize. She founded her own school for underprivileged children in the courtyard of her home at just 13. Sister Zeph received her trophy during a ceremony at UNESCOs headquarters in Paris.

Sister Zeph, the most recent winner of the Global Teacher Prize, said: Throughout the UAE, inspiring teachers have dedicated their lives to empowering their students and helping them reach their full potential. This is a monumental task, and it is why teachers will always matter.

Incredible educators

I encourage them to apply for the Global Teacher Prize, and urge parents and pupils to nominate the incredible educators who have made such a difference to the lives of so many. Their stories deserve to be told, and the world should know about all their achievements.

Lisa Crausby, Chief Education Officer at GEMS Education, said: At GEMS Education, we see first-hand the transformative impact that teachers have on the lives of young people worldwide. Every day, they inspire, uplift, and nurture the minds of future generations. We are deeply honored to partner with the Global Teacher Prize, a remarkable initiative that recognises the dedication, passion, and resilience of teachers everywhere who are working tirelessly to build a brighter, more hopeful world.

Sunny Varkey, Founder of the Global Teacher Prize and Chairman of the Varkey Foundation: The Global Teacher Prize was created to spotlight the critical role of education in addressing the major challenges of our time  from combating climate change to reducing inequality and navigating technological change. I encourage all inspiring teachers in the UAE to step forward and apply for this years prize, joining a global community of educators leading the way to build a better future.

Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, said: UNESCO is proud to support the Global Teacher Prize, which honours the dedication and impact of teachers worldwide. In a time of global teacher shortages, challenging conditions and technological advances, recognising and investing in teachers is essential to building a just, inclusive, and sustainable future. Teachers matter as they shape not only the next generation but the future of our societies.

Track record

The UAE has an incredible track record when it comes to the Global Teacher Prize. In 2021, Riadh Zammali, a PE teacher at the Ghayathi Centre for Special Needs in Abu Dhabi, was among the top 50 finalists. In 2020, Mohamed Mohtady, a sixth to twelfth-grade teacher at Anas Bin Al Nadr School in Fujairah, was named in the top 50. Rashed Hashem, a Physical Education and Health teacher at Al Moatasem Public School for boys in Baniyas, Abu Dhabi, made the top 50 in 2019. Two UAE teachers reached the top 50 in 2017: Shaikha Al Shehhi, an English teacher from Al Dhait Girls Secondary School, Ras Al Khaimah, and Rohan Roberts, a teacher of the GEMS Honours Programme and Astronomy at the GEMS Wellington Academy Silicon Oasis in Dubai.

The prize is open to working teachers who teach children who are in compulsory schooling or are between the ages of five and eighteen. Teachers who teach children age 4+ in an Early Years government-recognised curriculum are also eligible, as are teachers who teach on a part-time basis, and teachers of online courses.

Teachers must spend at least 10 hours per week teaching and plan to remain in the profession for the next five years. It is open to teachers in every kind of school and, subject to local laws, in every country in the world.

Teachers applying for the Global Teacher Prize will be assessed on teaching practices, how they innovate to address local challenges, achieve demonstrable learning outcomes, impact the community beyond the classroom, help children become global citizens, improve the teaching profession and gain recognition from external bodies.--TradeArabia News Service
Boehringer Ingelheim has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Health (MoH) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to expand its Angels Initiative telestroke services through Seha Virtual Hospital.

The MoU was signed during the Global Health Exhibition in Riyadh, an annual event that brings together healthcare professionals, innovators, and policymakers to highlight advancements in healthcare technology, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and health services.

The collaboration between the two parties aims to address the prevalence of stroke in KSA which stands at 43.8 per 100,000, largely influenced by low public awareness and knowledge.

Partnership expansion

The two parties entered an agreement in 2022 to incorporate telestroke services in 11 hospitals across the kingdom through the Boehringer Ingelheims Angels Initiative which aims to help hospitals around the world become stroke-ready so that patients can be treated as quickly and effectively as possible. In line with Saudi Arabias Vision 2030, the partnership will involve the expansion of Boehringer Ingelheims telestroke services through the Seha Virtual Hospital, further enhancing the publics accessibility to stroke care.

The partnership will also focus on key areas such as educational and training programmes for healthcare professionals, public awareness initiatives to educate the community on stroke risk factors and early warning signs, and the creation of a comprehensive Stroke Registry in KSA to ensure data-driven improvements in patient care.

The MoU was signed by Khaled bin Nayef Al-Obaiwi, Operations Manager of Secondary and Tertiary Command Centre at MoH Saudi Arabia, and Abdallah Hamed, General Manager & Head of Human Pharma Saudi Arabia, Gulf and East Africa (SAGEA) at Boehringer Ingelheim, during an official ceremony attended by Dr Sattam Al-Otaibi, Assistant General Director of Hospitals at the Ministry of Health, and Dr. Mohammed Aljohani, Consultant in Neurology & Vascular Neurology (Stroke) and Neuro-interventions Specialist, and President of Saudi Stroke Society.

Stroke incidences

Al-Obaiwi said: Stroke incidences and related deaths have risen across KSA in relation to multiple factors, including the aging population, and low public awareness of stroke risk factors, causes and symptoms. Timely intervention is of utmost importance for stroke patients as it can minimise the long-term effects of a stroke and save patients lives. We are very pleased to build on our collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim to leverage their world-class telestroke services further through our Seha Virtual Hospital, ensuring more patients have timely access to stroke support across the kingdom.

Hamed added: Our growing partnership with the MoH in Saudi Arabia is a testament to our ongoing commitment to working alongside the public sector to create patient-oriented healthcare solutions that improve patient outcomes in support of the kingdoms Vision 2030.

Boehringer Ingelheims Angels Initiative seeks to reduce the burden of stroke for patients by working with hospitals to build an innovative network of stroke-ready hospitals worldwide to reduce treatment delays and provide patients with optimal standards of acute stroke care. The initiative works with doctors, nurses, and ambulance crews to build acute stroke networks, optimise treatment and diagnosis, and implement best practices enabling multidisciplinary stroke teams to act faster to minimise the burden of stroke on patients lives.--TradeArabia News Service
Cisco is collaborating with the UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) to support Industry 4.0 (I4.0) adoption and development in manufacturing. The partners will also launch initiatives with national and international technology and manufacturing champions and lighthouses. The initiative is aimed at driving productivity, efficiency and sustainability in the manufacturing sector in the UAE.

This collaboration, in line with the National Strategy for Industry and Advanced Technology, Operation 300bn, is part of the Champions Network which aims to accelerate the UAEs digital transformation and adoption of Industry 4.0 solutions in the manufacturing sector. Cisco is a member of MoIATs Champions Network, which also includes a group of pioneering national industrial companies that use I4.0 technologies and solutions in their operations. Through this network, the Ministry seeks to enhance the UAEs industrial competitiveness  reducing costs, increasing productivity, and enhancing quality and safety.

Omar Al Suwaidi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, said: The Ministry emphases on strengthening the local industrial companies capabilities, enabling them to adopt Industry 4.0 in alignment with the National Strategy for Industry and Advanced Technology (Operation 300bn). This initiative aims to enhance industrial efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness, while supporting supply chain resilience. The technological transformation also encourages and attracts advanced industrial investments, reinforcing the UAEs position as a regional and global industrial hub and a prime destination for future industries, further boosting the industrial sectors contribution to the GDP and the national economy.

Data-driven solutions

Through Ciscos Country Digital Acceleration programme in the UAE, we are proud to have collaborated on this initiative with the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology  providing data-driven solutions for the manufacturing sector. As the industrial community develops, the UAE will continue to play an integral role in supporting businesses ambitions and their ability to contribute to global value chains with increased competitiveness and productivity, said Abdelilah Nejjari, Managing Director, Cisco Gulf & Levant Region.

As part of this initiative overseen by MoIAT, Cisco has been working with a leading manufacturing company in the UAE. Cisco has provided its Real-Time Location Services (RTLS) solution, powered by IoT technology, to the companys manufacturing facility in Dubai.

The solution has significantly boosted operational efficiency and productivity by enabling real-time facility mapping, asset monitoring, process digitisation, and compliance management. The blueprint project created a strong integration between the IT and OT operations of the manufacturing facility, and it can be also reused in other SME factories, setting a standard for innovation in the UAE's industrial sector.--TradeArabia News Service
Gulf Warehousing Company, a leading logistics group in the region, has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, GWC Energy Services, has signed a deal with Saudi Offshore Fabrication Company (OFC) to develop 100,000 sq m of Grade A logistics facilities at Ras Al Khair Industrial Port in the Kingdom.

Under this agreement, GWC Energy Services will develop OFCs storage and logistics facilities, leveraging its expertise in logistics and energy supply chain solutions to ensure the facilities are optimized to serve the clients needs.

"This collaboration represents a significant step in our expansion strategy and reinforces our commitment to strengthening our footprint in the Saudi market. Recently, GWC has also signed a head of Terms with GFH Financial Group (GFH) to develop 200,000 sq m of Grade A logistics facilities across key locations in Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam," stated Matthew Kearns, Deputy CEO of GWC, after signing the deal with Engineer Fahhad Alharbi, the Chief Executive Officer of OFC.

"Combining the expertise of GWC Energy Services with the capabilities of OFC will drive operational excellence and efficiency," noted Kearns.

"This collaboration also underscores our dedication to strengthening our regional presence through strategic partnerships with leading companies, further cementing our position as a leading logistics and supply chain solutions provider across the region," he added.

Established in 2022, OFC emerged as the first Saudi company specializing in manufacturing offshore rigs and providing comprehensive offshore logistics support to drilling contractors, offshore platforms, and subsea pipeline projects for Saudi Aramco and other key players in the Gulf region.

Funded by Aramcos Waed Ventures and the Saudi Social Development Bank, OFC is strategically positioned at Ras Al-Khair Port, proximate to the worlds largest offshore field Safaniyah, and the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services, the largest full-service marine yard in the Middle East.

Alharbi said its partnership with GWC Energy Services was a strategic move that aligns with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, which seeks to establish the Kingdom as a global logistics hub connecting Asia, Africa, and Europe together.

It also paves the way for delivering world-class supply chain solutions and services within the energy sector, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Businesses must adopt cloud-native infrastructure, which includes powerful computing, high-performance network and storage, container and data management systems, to meet the growing demands of AI.

Cloud-native infrastructure provides the flexibility and scalability needed to support AIs increasing computational and storage requirements, writes Eric Wan, General Manager of the Middle East, Turkey and Africa, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence.

Traditional infrastructures struggle to manage the massive data flows and high-performance needs of modern AI applications. Cloud-native architecture, however, allows businesses to rapidly scale their infrastructure to accommodate fluctuating demands, ensuring that they have the computing power necessary for GenAI models and other data-heavy AI processes.

Cloud-native environments not only support the compute-heavy operations required by AI but also provide essential agility. This allows businesses to deploy, manage, and update AI applications more efficiently. Importantly, cloud-native platforms are designed to seamlessly integrate with AI development workflows, which means businesses can innovate faster without being held back by infrastructural limitations.

$150 billion in real value for GCC

Research indicates that AI could create $150 billion in real value for GCC countries, equivalent to 9 percent of the countries combined GDP. In fact, Generative AI alone could be worth 1.7% to 2.8% of annual non-oil GDP in the GCC economies today, according to McKinsey.

Companies in the GCC are hungry to adopt AI with around three quarters of businesses reporting using Gen AI in at least one area of operations, while 57% of GCC companies already allocate over 5% of their digital budgets to AI. The investment case for businesses is a no-brainer, with the region forecast to realise approximately $9.9 of economic growth for every $1 invested in Gen AI.

Yet, as appetite for AI surges, the infrastructure needed to support this appetite is straining under the weight. And this could have an impact on how quickly organisations can benefit from AI.

GenAI requires immense computing power, vast data storage and advanced algorithms. This has a huge impact in terms of energy consumption, costs, sustainability and performance. Traditional infrastructures are ill-suited to support these demands, so any progress has to happen hand-in-hand with infrastructure modernisation. Transformations are needed to ensure that any investments in AI are maximised.

Spending on AI infrastructure, which includes hardware such as servers and cloud infrastructure to support AI applications, is substantial but growing at a slower pace than GenAI adoption. Globally, AI infrastructure will see a 14.7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2028 (according to IDC research), reflecting earlier investments by cloud service providers.

In the Middle East, the data centre market is projected to grow from $5.6 billion in 2023 to $9.6 billion by 2029, according to a Turner & Townsend report. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has plans to spend $100 billion on AI, with a focus on infrastructure. Even so, data centres across the region are virtually full, and AI adoption rates ultimately remain chained to the pace of infrastructure development.

So, what does that AI infrastructure look like? What specifically does AI need and how can businesses transform accordingly?

Security and compliance capabilities as standard

AI models process vast amounts of data. Ensuring data security and maintaining compliance with regulatory standards is essential for businesses throughout the entire process of deploying AI solutions. Secure infrastructure that includes encryption, robust access controls, and compliance with global data protection regulations (such as GDPR) will be needed to safeguard both the models themselves and the data they process.

In this regard, AI infrastructure must be designed not only for performance and scalability but also for security. It should be a standard consideration as failing to secure AI applications or the infrastructure supporting them can result in data breaches, regulatory fines, and loss of customer trust. Once trust has gone it is almost impossible to regain.

Scalable, reliable and cost-efficient infrastructure for data management

As AI use cases multiply, the need for scalable and cost-efficient cloud infrastructure for data management and analytics becomes increasingly critical. Scalable Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) offerings guarantee that data can be stored, processed and accessed seamlessly, enabling faster and more accurate model training. Efficient data pipelines, robust storage solutions, and streamlined retrieval systems are crucial for managing these large volumes of data before they can be used for model training. An innovative infrastructure also provides the ability to customise and fine-tune models for specific use cases, improving the quality and relevance of AI applications and simplifying AI model development.

For AI applications to provide a consistent and trustworthy user experience, they must be built on reliable infrastructure. Downtime and crashes can erode user trust and disrupt operations. A solid infrastructure minimises the risk of disruptions by ensuring that resources are always available, thus maintaining high availability and uptime.

Efficient AI infrastructure not only supports performance but also helps manage costs. By optimising computing resources through distributed systems, containerisation, and serverless architectures, businesses can avoid over-spending on cloud or hardware resources. This cost efficiency is vital for scaling GenAI applications without breaking the budget.

Energy efficiency and sustainability increasingly key

As AI workloads increase, so does energy consumption and costs. AI models, particularly GenAI, are power-hungry and this has led to concerns about the environmental impact of AI growth. Businesses are increasingly aware of the need for energy-efficient infrastructure to support their AI initiatives without significantly raising their carbon footprints. Green data centres, renewable energy sources, and energy-efficient hardware are becoming essential components of AI infrastructure strategies.

By optimising power consumption and investing in sustainable practices, businesses can reduce operational costs while meeting their sustainability goals. As AI adoption accelerates globally, the focus on energy-efficient infrastructure will become a key differentiator for businesses looking to align innovation with corporate social responsibility and a need to manage costs more closely.

So, as AI continues to evolve, businesses must not only address current infrastructure challenges but also anticipate future shifts in the AI landscape. This should include security and regulatory compliance as well as technical and sustainable needs. The convergence of real-time decision-making, augmented working environments and the rising demand for sustainability means that businesses must be proactive in their infrastructure strategies.

The risk of falling behind is real but so is the opportunity to lead in this transformative era of AI. The question is no longer whether to invest in cloud infrastructure modernisation but how quickly organisations can make the leap to stay competitive.--TradeArabia News Service
Middle Eastern mergers and acquisitions (M&A) continue to forge ahead with deal volume rising 7% in the first nine months of 2024, contrasting with a global decline of 13%.

According to BCGs 2024 M&A Report, Middle Eastern investors are expanding into crucial sectors like logistics, energy, and advanced technology, reflecting the regions commitment to a diverse, future-ready economy.

Despite a cautious global outlook, energy, financial services, and technology companies are pushing forward with strategic deals that promise to reshape industries. At the same time, increased transactions in consumer sectors reflect a rising appetite for transformative deals. Sectors such as healthcare, technology, and energy are expected to drive M&A activity in the months ahead.

Strategic growth across key sectors in Middle East M&A

Middle Eastern dealmakers focus on high-value acquisitions across critical sectors, aligning with regional economic diversification strategies. Noteworthy sector investments include:

Industrial and Logistics: The logistics sector is seeing continued growth, with a recent $1 billion acquisition by a UAE-based energy player, enhancing supply chain infrastructure. The industrial sector also saw a $3.2 billion bid in engineering, indicating sustained interest in expanding industrial capacities.

Technology and Telecommunications: Technology assets are increasingly central to Middle Eastern M&A. Prominent transactions include a $2.6 billion acquisition in satellite communications and a $250 million investment in telecommunications in Africa. Additionally, a $350 million investment in energy-focused AI demonstrates the regions commitment to digital and AI-driven transformation.

Energy and Renewables: The regions traditional strength in energy is evolving to include renewables, with a significant $2.7 billion renewable energy transaction reflecting this shift. Middle Eastern oil companies, including national oil players, remain actively engaged in monetising and optimising downstream assets, further diversifying their energy portfolios.

The Middle Easts M&A landscape demonstrates intentional growth and resilience, said Samuele Bellani, Managing Director & Partner at BCG. Investors in the region are strategically targeting sectors such as technology, logistics, and renewable energy to align with the regions goals for economic diversification. By making strategic, high-impact acquisitions, Middle Eastern firms are well-positioned to support the long-term transformation of the regional economy.

Outlook for M&A in the Middle East

The Middle Easts M&A activity is shaped by a strategic focus on outbound investment, economic diversification, and resilience amid global shifts. With backing from sovereign wealth funds and strong capital reserves, investors in the region are targeting acquisitions in sectors like AI, telecommunications, and logistics, supporting a move beyond oil and gas dependencies. As geopolitical complexities and regulatory scrutiny intensify, Middle Eastern firms carefully select M&A opportunities that align with their growth objectives, balancing expansion with a measured approach to risk.

AI-enabled tools enhance M&A processes

Advances in AI-enabled tools are now integral to M&A, streamlining the entire deal lifecycle, from target identification to due diligence and integration. AI-based solutions improve productivity and accuracy, rapidly analysing structured and unstructured data to support quicker decision-making in an increasingly complex landscape. Virtual data rooms equipped with AI-driven contract redaction and information extraction capabilities enhance documentation workflows, a critical factor during complex M&A negotiations. These digital advancements are essential as Middle Eastern firms position themselves to navigate todays evolving M&A landscape effectively.

As the next wave of M&A builds, Middle Eastern investors are demonstrating their preparedness with strategic investments in technology and talent, added Samuele Bellani, Managing Director & Partner at BCG. In this period of relative calm, proactive preparation will separate successful dealmakers from those caught off guard. With AI-powered tools transforming the M&A process, the most prepared firms will shape the future of M&A by combining digital efficiencies with bold, forward-thinking acquisitions.

The Middle Easts M&A landscape is set for steady growth, driven by strategic investments and diversification efforts that respond to evolving global dynamics. As regulatory changes alter the playing field, dealmakers will need to adapt their approaches, from building pipelines to planning execution, to navigate longer closing periods and increased scrutiny. In this rapidly changing environment, successful dealmakers will stand out by effectively pitching deals, managing complexities, and staying agile in the face of new challenges.--TradeArabia News Service
Adnoc Logistics and Services (Adnoc L&S), a global energy maritime logistics leader, has taken delivery of Al Shelila, the first of six newbuild liquified natural gas (LNG) carriers from Jiangnan Shipyard in China.

The vessel has been delivered two months ahead of schedule, with the remaining five expected to be delivered in 2025 and 2026. Immediately after delivery "Al Shelila" will go on hire with a top-tier, global energy trader.

Al Shelilas naming and delivery ceremony will be attended by Muhannad Sulaiman Al Naqbi, Consul General of the UAE in Shanghai, Captain Abdulkareem Al Masabi, CEO of Adnoc L&S, Lin Ou, Chairman of Jiangnan Shipyard, Tony Liang, General Manager, Wanhua Chemical Group, Rong Yao of CSTC, Norbert Kray of DNV and Sebastien Fatet of GTT.

Captain Abdulkareem Al Masabi, CEO of Adnoc L&S, said: We are proud to take delivery of Al Shelila, from Jiangnan Shipyard. In Arabic, Shelila represents strength and grace, qualities that reflect the legacy of our forefathers vessels. As we expand our fleet to meet rising global demand for natural gas, our deepening partnership with Jiangnan Shipyard underscores the strong industrial ties between the UAE and China, reinforcing our shared commitment to powering global economic growth.

Adnoc L&S awarded shipbuilding contracts to Jiangnan Shipyard in 2022 for the six LNG carriers as part of the Companys strategic fleet expansion to meet the growing global demand for natural gas as a lower-carbon energy source. During 2024, the Company further strengthened and modernized its asset base with new build contracts for up to 23 new energy-efficient vessels, including 8-10 LNG carriers, nine Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLECs) and four Very Large Ammonia Carriers (VLACs), adding in excess of 340 years of contracted income year-to-date.

In addition, the Navig8 acquisition is progressing well through regulatory approvals with completion anticipated by 31 March 2025 at the latest. The expected contribution of the acquisition will further boost Adnoc L&S profile as a global energy maritime logistics leader. With its strong balance sheet, Adnoc L&S remains focused on executing its transformative growth strategy and on delivering strong shareholder value.

Lin Ou, Chairman of Jiangnan Shipyard, said: Under the great trust and support of Adnoc L&S, DNV, GTT and all relevant parties, Jiangnan has completed the construction of the first Mark III type large LNG carrier two months ahead of schedule. As a global leading shipbuilding company specialized in the full series of gas carriers, Jiangnan has demonstrated its comprehensive shipbuilding ability again. We are committed to delivering the remaining LNG carriers, VLECs and VLACs on time to support Adnoc L&S in its ambitious fleet expansion, and further strengthen our strategic cooperation.

Al Shelila has a capacity of 175,000m3, significantly larger than the 137,000m3 capacity of Adnoc L&S current LNG carriers. Equipped with advanced energy-efficient technologies, including two new-generation LNG dual-fuel main engines, the vessel is designed to reduce methane emissions by up to 50% compared to older-generation technology.

The partnership between Adnoc L&S and Jiangnan Shipyard continues to strengthen. In 2020, AW Shipping, the strategic venture between Adnoc L&S and Wanhua Chemical, awarded Jiangnan Shipyard shipbuilding contracts for five Very Large Gas Carriers. This collaboration expanded in 2024 with further contracts for nine VLECs and four VLACs. -TardeArabia News Service
Part-time pastor and politician, Venancio Mondlane, urged his supporters to participate in peaceful nationwide demonstrations from November 13th to 15th to protest against alleged vote rigging. Mondlane, who ran as an independent candidate after the main opposition backed another candidate in the October 9th general elections, maintains that the elections did not reflect the wishes of the people.

Mondlane has served as a pastor with the Igreja Ministerio Divina Esperanca (Divine Hope Ministry Church) in Maputo whose leader Luis Fole, met outgoing President, Filipe Nyusi, on November 8th. Mondlane has been on record saying that Fole is his spiritual leader. President Nyusi posted on Facebook that the talks centered on how the church and the government can work together for the stability and the development of the country.

The 50-year-old part-time pastor who started his career as an engineer was seeking to unseat the independence party FRELIMO which has been in power since 1975. Mozambiques National Electoral Commission on October 24 announced Daniel Chapo as the winner of the presidential election with 70% of the votes cast going to the FRELIMO candidate.

Mondlane contested the results and escaped the country after his lawyer and friend, Elvino Dias, was killed while preparing an election petition. He posted on his Facebook profile that he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt while in asylum in South Africa weeks after the elections. Mondlane said he left the continent fearing for his life and that of his family but has continued to call for peaceful protests, which have grounded the country to a halt.

The street protests have been met with force by the police. At least 30 people have been killed, scores injured and over 400 arrested since October 19th according to human rights organizations. On November 4th, residents of the capital, Maputo, and other cities started banging pots from their balconies and in different neighborhoods as a form of alternative protest mobilized on social media.

The European Union questioned the transparency of the elections and condemned the killing of Dias, and that of Paulo Guambe, one of the leaders of the Podemos Party, which was supporting Mondlane. The US embassy and the African Union also condemned the killing of the two Mondlane allies who were shot by assailants in Maputo.

Catholic Bishops, in a terse letter, claimed that there was rampant irregularities in the polls such as ballot box stuffing, altered results sheets and many other ways of hiding the truth.

The irregularities and frauds, by and large committed with impunity, increase the lack of trust in the election bodies, and in leaders who abdicate from their dignity, and despise the truth and sense of service which should guide those whom the people trust with their votes, said the bishops.

Other independent poll observers also raised irregularities, fraud and vote tampering.

Mondlane, who is also a former radio presenter, galvanized the significant youth population under the banner Save Mozambique - this country is ours. The youth population, under 35 years, is estimated to be 80% of the population.

Mondlane used his widespread social media presence to mobilize supporters who have expressed frustration with the governance of the country, noted the non-profit, International Crisis Group. This sentiment is particularly intense among young people living in towns who are active on social media and make up the core of Mondlanes support base, said the Crisis Group.

The protests are expected to exert pressure on the Constitutional Council which has the powers to audit and annul the election results. Before his shot at the presidency, Mondlane ran for other elective posts including the mayoral seat in Maputo in 2018 and 2023 and was an MP between 2020 and 2024.

At the same time, Botswana, considered Africas most stable democracy, voted overwhelmingly to eject the independence party, the Botswana Democratic Party, which has been in power for 58 years. Outgoing President Mokgweetsi Masisi handed power to Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) Duma Boko in a peaceful and smooth transition.
Wyoming is poised to become the first state to see a Freedom Caucus take the statehouse reins after Republican lawmakers on Saturday selected four members of the hard-line group for House leadership, several legislators told WyoFile.

Saturdays vote at the GOP caucus in Casper was not entirely a surprise since all but one of the races were uncontested. The results, however, are significant  the national Freedom Caucus movement hopes to recreate its Wyoming success in other states.

Between the primary and the general election, the Freedom Caucus gained enough seats to win control of the lower chamber. Securing leadership positions was the last piece to fall into place for the group of hard-line Republicans that were once a small group in the House.

Gov. Gordon's budget pushes for funds to address fire recovery, Medicaid rates in Wyoming Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon released his proposed $692 million supplemental budget ahead of the Legislative session in January. Funds would address fire recovery, Medicaid rates and construction of schools.

Rep. Chip Neiman (R-Hulett) was nominated for speaker, while Republicans chose Rep. Jeremy Haroldson (R-Wheatland) as speaker pro tempore, Rep. Scott Heiner (R-Green River) as majority floor leader and Rep. Ocean Andrew (R-Laramie) as majority whip.

Meantime, Republicans in the Senate rejected a leadership slate that publicly pledged to deliver on a conservative agenda, opting instead for a mix of traditional and hard-line lawmakers to lead the upper chamber.

The selections for some positions are only nominations at this point, since the entire body  Democrats included  must vote to affirm them. But with just two Democrats in the Senate and six in the House, the nominations will likely win approval when the session kicks off in January in Cheyenne.

Sen. Bo Biteman (R-Ranchester) was selected as the next Senate president, with Sen. Tim Salazar (R-Riverton) as Senate vice president and Sen. Tara Nethercott (R-Cheyenne) as majority floor leader.

Leadership positions hold significant power in both chambers, particularly the speaker and the president. They decide the makeup and chair of each committee as well as what legislation goes to which of those committees, and in what order. Leadership also has the tools to kill legislation before its even considered by the larger body.

The House

Neiman ran unopposed for the speakership, and made his plans to pursue the top position known after the primary election.

The state of Wyoming through this last election obviously has got an agenda or a mind involved here that they want to see things moved in a more conservative direction, Neiman said in September.

He currently serves as House majority floor leader  a second-in-command post that has long been a stepping stone to the speakership.

Neiman did not return WyoFiles request for comment.

Taking up Neimans post, Heiner will serve as majority floor leader, which comes with the responsibility of deciding the order of bills lawmakers work on the floor, among other things.

The one contested leadership race in the House came down to two Freedom Caucus members  Haroldson and Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams (R-Cody).

One of the beauties about the Freedom Caucus is we dont tell anyone how to think, Haroldson, who won, told WyoFile. We dont want to do that. Were all independent thinkers. We all have our own voice and our own constituents.

Haroldson said he had the utmost respect for Rodriguez-Williams, and at the end of the day, its way bigger than one of us.

Moving forward, Haroldson said theres a unity thats very much visible and palatable. You can feel it.

I believe that theres an anticipation for a unified Legislature moving forward and addressing a lot of issues that need to be taken care of, he said.

The Senate

Headed into this weekends vote, lawmakers were tight-lipped about what to expect in the Senate, but one slate of Republicans had made their plans known.

In September, Sens. Larry Hicks (R-Baggs), Cheri Steinmetz (R-Lingle) and Brian Boner (R-Douglas) joined together to announce their bids for president, vice president and majority floor leader respectively.

Collectively we have over 34 years of experience in the Wyoming Legislature with significant experience in every aspect of the Legislature, the three lawmakers wrote in a press release at the time.

Meanwhile, other lawmakers kept their ambitions from the public and maneuvered behind the scenes.

I congratulate our winning slate of new leadership for the 68th Senate, Boner told WyoFile. I wish them the best of luck.

Steinmetz declined WyoFiles request for comment. Hicks did not return a phone call.

As President, my mission is to empower every member to rise to their full potential, fostering collaboration and mutual respect, Biteman said in a press release circulated by the Sheridan County GOP.

Incoming leadership in the Senate has its work cut out for itself following the 2024 session when the upper chamber struggled with dysfunction, including a day-one leadership shakeup, tense budget negotiations and accusations of bad-faith decisions.

Sen. Cale Case (R-Lander), the Senates second-most senior member, said Saturdays vote was a rejection of that turmoil and a turn toward a more cordial and collaborative body.

Biteman, when he called me [to ask for my support], he was just a nice man. He wanted to work this out. He wants to work together, Case said. I never did hear from Larry Hicks or anybody else on his team.

Case also characterized the Senates incoming leadership as a coalition with Nethercott representing more of the moderate side.

Im really proud of the Senate, Case said. Its supposed to be cooperative and effective.

Biteman now serves as chairman of the Senate Revenue Committee and was first elected to the Legislature in 2017. He and Salazar typically vote alongside the further-right members of the upper chamber.

Neither Biteman, Nethercott nor Salazar returned WyoFiles request for comment by publication time Saturday.
WHITE candles were yesterday placed on the side of the road in Sennon Village Number Three, Siparia, where the severed head of 59-year-old Joanne Estick was found in a bag on Thursday.

Estick, a mother of one and grandmother of three, was last seen in the village earlier this week.

A senior police officer of the South Western Police Division said they are yet to officially confirm that the head is that of Estick without the rest of the human remains.
In February 1963, internationally known preacher William Branham was living in Tucson when, he said, God told him to take a hike.

One morning, the Lord woke me up and said, Get up there in Sabino Canyon, Branham recalled in a 1965 sermon in Indiana. I took a piece of paper and my Bible.

The wife said, Where you going? Branham recalled. I said, I dont know. Ill tell you when I come back.

What happened next made Sabino Canyon a place of pilgrimage for those who consider Branham Gods prophet. Millions of people worldwide are part of the non-denominational religious sect that follows Branham, according to a rough estimate from an organization called Voice of God Recordings. The sect is known as The Message of the Hour, or more simply, The Message.

More than 1,200 of Branhams sermons are recorded and available online, so many believers continue to listen to them, including his amazing tales from his 1963 treks to the canyon.

People show up in Tucson regularly to retrace Branhams steps. Some post videos on YouTube commemorating their pilgrimages. One video explains, Soon after Brother Branhams arrival in Tucson, events began to unfold, the likes of which had no precedent. Local landmarks would take on special meanings and other, as yet unnoticed physical attributes would attest in remarkable ways to William Branhams Ministry.

At the time he said God told him to go up in the canyon, Branham was in a persistent state of anxiety, he explained in later sermons. He visited the canyon over a period of months that year and said he had a series of visions:

Leaning bare-chested against a rock, Branham heard God tell him to look at the rock and saw the word white eagle written into it  a vision confirmed by photograph later.

He saw a squirrel-like creature  significant from earlier visions of Branhams involving squirrels  impaled on a cholla cactus.

A white dove appeared near the trail, in fulfillment of an earlier vision of white doves.

Most important, though, was what happened on that first day God told him to go to the canyon.

I knelt down to pray, and raised up my hands, and a sword struck my hand, Branham said in a famous 1965 sermon. I looked around. I thought Whats that? Im not beside myself. Here is that sword in my hand; bright, shiny, glistening in the sun.

I heard a voice, said, Thats the kings sword.

I said, A king knights a man with a sword.

He, the voice, come back, said, Not a kings sword, but the kings sword, the Word of the Lord.

William Branham describes supernatural Sabino Canyon experiences

Since then, the vision of Branham on a hilltop high in Sabino Canyon, holding a sword, has been an abiding symbol of his ministry, and has made the canyon an attractive destination for Message believers.

Arne Peterson, a member of Tucson Tabernacle, took two reporters and a photographer up to these sites in October 2023. Thunder rolled through the canyon as they reached the place known as Eagle Rock. More lightning flashed and rain poured down when they reached the site of the sword vision.

For Peterson, though, the place isnt so important as a place of Branhams visions but rather as a place to connect with God, as Branham said he did while there.

What this does, this lets me know that Im not alone, Peterson said, standing above the canyon on his way to Eagle Rock. This is really happening not just to me and not even just to William Branham, but to anybody that wants friendship with their Father.
The United Methodist Church has garnered criticism for a plan to possibly cut funding to the 1-million-member Cote d'Ivoire Conference, which voted to leave the denomination earlier this year before the original deadline to do so.

The UMC Council of Bishops recently asked the UMC General Council on Finance and Administration to cut funds for the Ivory Coast church immediately and is also looking into securing control of denominational properties in the West African nation.

At issue is the alleged failure of the Cote d'Ivoire Conference to properly exit the global denomination. Had it followed the process, the conference would be given denominational funding until 2028, reported UM News.

The UMC bishops also want to secure control of assorted United Methodist properties in the African country, citing the denominations trust clause as justification for retaining control.

Mark Tooley, president of the theologically conservative Institute on Religion & Democracy, told The Christian Post that he believes these proposed measures looked very punitive and vindictive.

They can successfully cut off funding from the United Methodist Church based in the U.S., said Tooley. I dont know how successful they will be in seizing property based in Ivory Coast. I would guess Ivory Coast will not be very sympathetic to United Methodist officials in the U.S.

Tooley thinks the bishops' action communicates to other United Methodist churches around the world that the UMC USA will be punitive and vindictive.

This might intimidate some from trying to quit the UMC. But it also might motivate others to get out as quickly as they can, Tooley continued.

Regarding the claims to the denominational properties, Tooley said it's unclear what this action means about UMC property in Ivory Coast.

Are they talking about the church buildings or other denominational property? he added. Local church buildings are held in trust not by the global denomination but by the local annual conference, which in this case is the Ivory Coast church, and which has now become independent.

The Christian Post reached out to The United Methodist Church Council of Bishops for this story. A spokesperson was unable to return comment by press time.

A previously independent Methodist church that affiliated with the UMC in 2004, the Cote d'Ivoire Conference was one of the largest regional bodies in the denomination.

Earlier this year, at the UMC General Conference, delegates voted to remove the denominations ban on the blessing of same-sex unions, the ordination of people in same-sex relationships and the funding of LGBT advocacy groups.

In response to this decision, the Cote d'Ivoire Conference voted in May to disaffiliate from the UMC, with their approved decision stating that the UMC has preferred to sacrifice its honorability and integrity to honor the LGBT" and that "the new United Methodist Church is now based on sociocultural and contextual values which have consumed its doctrinal and disciplinary integrity."

UMC Council of Bishops President Tracy Malone said in a statement in June that the denominational leadership was working with the conference as it became an autonomous body.

While we grieve Cote d'Ivoire Conferences decision to separate from The United Methodist Church, we commit to work with them through the process of becoming an Autonomous Methodist Church, stated Malone.

While we are not all of one mind in all things, the strength of our connection is love, respect, compassion and a shared commitment to faith in Jesus Christ.

Originally published by The Christian Post
Randy Krehbiel Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Randy Krehbiel Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

Gov. Kevin Stitt says he wants Oklahoma first in line when President-elect Donald Trump launches his mass-deportation plan.

But he has clarified the state will not try to deport foreign nationals on its own, and apparently has backed off suggestions he would immediately send home illegal immigrants imprisoned for serious crimes.

U.S. Sen. James Lankford, probably the Oklahoma congressional delegations most persistent critic of Biden administration immigration policies, did not directly answer last week about the efficiency of spending up to $1 trillion to remove an estimated 11 million undocumented residents.

In essence, Lankford seemed to say he doesnt think it will come to that.

There are a little over a million people that a court has ordered removed (from the U.S.), he said. That is, they came over, requested asylum, went through the entire process, and at the end of it and the court said, You dont qualify. You illegally crossed, you need to leave.

Thats a top priority for the Trump team. Theyve already said, Hey, a court has already ordered them removed. Lets actually remove them. Second group are criminal aliens.

A second tier are individuals charged or convicted, usually of lesser offenses, who have jumped bail. Under previous administrations, many of those were turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Resuming that practice, many argue, would remove many thousands more.

Deporting imprisoned criminals, however, is another matter. Many in law enforcement oppose that because it means many of the offenders will return home as free men and women  often to just return to the U.S. again, no matter how strictly Trump or anyone else tries to control the border.

If theyve been convicted, theyre going to serve time, Lankford said. If theyre (accused or convicted) of a low, low level property crime, often, they will be arrested and deported before they even get to the prison.

But Trump has at times promised to deport every undocumented person in the United States. In one speech he accused immigrants of poisoning our blood. His chief advisor on immigration, Stephen Miller, shouted America is for Americans only at a rally days before the Nov. 5 election.

Among Millers ideas are revoking the status of some naturalized citizens and building large detention camps, possibly using the military, to hold those to be deported.

Tom Homan, tabbed as Trumps ICE director, also advocates setting up what he calls temporary detention camps.

Lankford was asked whether he thought that the best use of military resources, and what would become of the detention camps if the Trump administration meets its promise to stop or greatly curtail illegal border crossings.

Biden has stood up temporary facilities to transition people into the country, Lankford said. Holman is saying, lets switch those, and theyre going to be transition out facilities.

Some immigration observers say Trumps stated immigration policies are unlikely to ever be fully implemented because of their cost and complexity, and because of the potential effect on the nations economy.

They note Trump promised much the same prior to his first presidency but never fully followed through.

Whatever the policies turn out to be this time, Stitt wants Oklahoma to be ready.

On Nov. 15, he issued a press release saying Oklahoma will lead the charge with a comprehensive plan to deport those who have committed crimes in Oklahoma while in the country illegally.

He assigned Public Safety Commissioner Tim Tipton to develop the plan, known as Operation Guardian.

Right now, Oklahoma taxpayers are paying to keep illegal immigrants incarcerated because the Biden administration has refused to enforce the law, Tipton said in the same press release. This must end now. I look forward to working with law enforcement throughout the state as well as the Department of Corrections to enforce a zero-tolerance policy for crimes committed by illegal immigrants.

Last week, in response to questions from the Tulsa World, Stitt spokeswoman Abegail Cave clarified that the state will not be deporting anyone.

Operation Guardian is a plan to work with federal officials to facilitate the deportation of those who are here illegally and are incarcerated for criminal activity, she said.

Part of the process is evaluating each incarcerated individual who is here illegally and considering the severity of the crime.

Cave included a fact sheet for an existing ICE program currently in seven states that facilitates the removal of undocumented offenders imprisoned pursuant to a final conviction of an eligible non-violent offense.

Cave said the program will be the foundation for formulating the plan to be submitted to Stitt by Jan. 15.
Vietnam's e-reader market is experiencing rapid growth, with over 300,000 users nationwide and an annual increase of approximately 15 percent, according to data from Akishop, a leading e-reader distributor.

Nguyen Thu Huong, deputy sales director at Alpha Books, said that while global demand for e-books grows 8-10 percent each year, Vietnam stands out with a remarkable 15-percent growth rate, reflecting the country's rising interest in digital reading.

In the last two decades, Alpha Books has published more than 4,000 titles and observed significant changes in Vietnamese reading habits, specifically the shift toward e-books.

With technological advancements and the accelerated pace of modern life, the number of e-reader users in Vietnam will continue to rise, signaling the expansion of various products and services.

On Saturday, Akishop hosted the 'Inknovation Day' event in Ho Chi Minh City, introducing advanced e-ink display technologies and showcasing top e-reader models from brands such as Kindle, Onyx Boox, PocketBook, and Remarkable.

This first-of-its-kind event in Vietnam drew significant attention from the tech community and book enthusiasts.

In Vietnam, four e-reader brands dominate the market: Kindle, Onyx Boox, Rakuten Kobo, and PocketBook, with Kindle and Onyx Boox capturing the lion's share.

Tung Anh, product development manager at Akishop, briefs on the advancements of e-ink screen technology and how it is applied in modern e-reader lines. Photo: Kim Thoa / Tuoi Tre News

According to Tung Anh, product development manager at Akishop, the e-ink screen serves as the 'heart' of e-readers.

Cutting-edge technologies such as Carta 1300, Kaleido 3, and Gallery 3 not only replicate the feel of reading on paper but they are also environmentally friendly, thanks to their energy efficiency and reduced carbon emissions.

Globally, e-ink is emerging as a preferred solution for creating smart, sustainable surfaces.

Although e-readers do not evolve as rapidly as smartphones or laptops, major manufacturers continue to invest in enhancing these devices.

Recently, Amazon launched the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition, the companys first color-screen e-reader, while Onyx Boox has introduced successive updates, including the Note Air 4C.

Now in its fourth generation, the Note Air series has cemented its position in the market, underscoring global demand for reading and note-taking devices, particularly in Vietnam.

These innovations indicate how e-readers can transform simple reading tools into modern, environmentally friendly lifestyle choices.

Everyone eagerly explores and selects the ideal e-reader to match their needs at the 'Innovation Day' event in Ho Chi Minh City, November 23, 2024. Photo: Supplied

E-book licensing improvements

A key highlight of Inknovation Day was the unveiling of the Savi app, a licensed e-book distribution platform co-developed by Akishop and Alpha Books.

Akishops CEO Nguyen The Hung explained that customer feedback has consistently pointed to a major frustration which is the difficulty of accessing e-books released at the same time as their print counterparts.

The Savi app addresses this by enabling users to purchase individual books or subscribe to an unlimited library with flexible payment options.

The latest titles can be delivered to users e-readers in under 30 seconds, regardless of whether they use Kindle, Onyx Boox, Rakuten Kobo, or PocketBook.

Notably, Savi also allows personalized e-books with features such as custom forewords or cover designs.

Nguyen The Hung, CEO of Akishop, discusses the upcoming official launch of the Savi application at the 'Innovation Day' event in Ho Chi Minh City, November 23, 2024. Photo: Kim Thoa / Tuoi Tre News

Beyond Vietnam, the app is meant to also serve the overseas Vietnamese community, offering quick and convenient access to domestically published tomes.

Set to launch officially in early December on Android, with iOS support coming in 2025, Savi is intended to promote a digital reading culture and raise public awareness of copyright issues in Vietnam through its diverse library of high-quality, licensed titles.

A multi-billion dollar market

According to the 'E-Reader Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2024-29)' report by Mordor Intelligence, the global e-reader market is experiencing robust growth.

It is projected to swell to US$10.62 billion by 2029 from $7.82 billion in 2024, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 6.31 percent.

The rising popularity of e-books and the demand for glare-free reading devices are key drivers of this expansion.

North America leads the global market, followed by Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

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Thua Thien-Hue in central Vietnam has urgently instructed 291,000 students across the province to stay home on Monday due to heavy rain and rapidly rising river levels.

Early on Monday morning, schools and teachers quickly asked parents not to send their children -- over 291,000 in total -- to school.

The Thua Thien-Hue Peoples Committee has directed grassroots authorities to closely monitor flooding and remain ready to evacuate residents from high-risk areas.

Nearly 100 households have already been relocated from landslide-prone zones, as heavy rains fueled by a lingering cold front are expected to persist in the province until Thursday.

Pedestrians wade through the flooded Ha Huy Tap Street to buy food in Hue City, Thua Thien-Hue Province, central Vietnam, November 25, 2024. Photo: Cong Ngo

As of 5:00 am on Monday, the water level of the Huong River at the Kim Long station was recorded at 2.88 meters, while that of the Bo River at the Phu Oc station was at 3.65 meters.

Hue, the provincial capital city, has experienced heavy to extremely heavy rainfall over the past 24 hours, with average precipitation ranging between 500 and 800mm, According to the provincial hydro-meteorological station.

Some areas saw excessively heavy rainfall, including Bach Ma Mountain in Phu Loc District, which recorded 2,997mm.

A motorcycle wades through the flooded Hung Vuong Street in Hue City, Thua Thien-Hue Province, central Vietnam, November 25, 2024. Photo: Nhat Linh / Tuoi Tre

It is forecast that river levels will continue to rise for the rest of Monday, with the flood peaks on both the Huong and Bo Rivers expected to reach or surpass the highest warning levels.

On Monday morning, many roads in Hue City were severely flooded.

Streets along the river, such as Phan Chu Trinh and Phan Dinh Phung, were inundated and impassable.

Men push a stalled mini truck through the flooded Truong Chinh Street in Hue City, Thua Thien-Hue Province, central Vietnam, November 25, 2024. Photo: Bao Phu

Several low-lying areas, including Hoang Lanh and To Huu Streets, were also submerged, forcing many motorcyclists to push their stalled vehicles through the water.

On the same morning, many residents in Hue rushed to move their cars to higher ground in anticipation of widespread flooding.

Earlier on Sunday evening, downpours had caused a house to collapse in A Luoi District, injuring two people.

A car wades through a flooded street in Hue City, Thua Thien-Hue Province, central Vietnam, November 25, 2024. Photo: Cong Ngo

Bach Dang Street in Hue City, Thua Thien-Hue Province, central Vietnam, is heavily flooded following heavy rain on the morning of November 25, 2024. Photo: Nguyen Quy

Motorcycles wade through a flooded street in Thua Thien-Hue Province, central Vietnam, November 25, 2024. Photo: Nhat Linh / Tuoi Tre

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Nguyen Hung, a 53-year-old former successful businessman from Da Nang's Hoa Minh Ward, has turned a devastating stroke into a story of resilience, defying physical and mental challenges to rebuild his life.

Rather than patiently waiting to recover through routine therapies, Hung chose to redefine his life by pursuing music and English, rediscovering himself in the process.

"It's been a long time since we've welcomed an older student, let alone one who has recently suffered a stroke, like Nguyen Hung," said Nguyen Le Thuc Khanh, director of EMMA English School in Da Nang, a tourist hub along the central coast of Vietnam.

A craving for life

Every weekday evening, Hung attends English classes taught by young teachers, many close in age to his children or grandchildren.

According to Khanh, Hung is diligent, attends classes regularly, and is not shy about asking questions when he does not understand.

Hung once approached Khanh to express his concerns, feeling that his slow comprehension might hinder the class' progress.

Khanh encouraged him to persevere, saying, Given your circumstances, just showing up to class is an incredible achievement. Keep trying -- youll see results. Its natural to progress slower than others, but this is also an opportunity to challenge yourself.

Hung's story left a deep impression on both his teachers and classmates.

In 2019, Hungs life changed overnight while he was living with his family in Binh Dinh Province, southern Vietnam and working in the welding and turning industry.

I was asleep when my entire body suddenly jolted and spasmed uncontrollably, as if someone had pushed me," he recalled.

"It was midnight. My wife thought I was sleepwalking, but my mouth stiffened and I could only mumble incoherently.

Hung and his wife did not recognize the symptoms as a stroke, a condition that can be fatal if untreated.

By morning, as his limbs stiffened and speech slurred further, his family rushed him to the hospital where doctors confirmed he had had a stroke.

That moment broke me. My wife and children feared the worst, Hung narrated.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, his family endured countless hospital visits and treatments, doing everything possible to keep him alive.

I lay in bed feeling like my body wasnt mine anymore," he recounted.

"I thought it was the end of my life -- all my plans, my career, my three children, my parents, siblings, and relatives.

"I begged my family to do whatever it took to help me recover, no matter the cost.

"My wife was deeply moved. We went through what felt like a miracle."

Rebuilding life through education

After the stroke, Hung and his wife left their home and possessions in Binh Dinh Province, south-central Vietnam and moved to Da Nang.

They chose to start afresh, focusing on his recovery through physical therapy, acupuncture, and functional rehabilitation.

It took three years of consistent effort, from 2021 to 2024, before Hung could stand, walk, and regain some sense of normalcy.

Learning, including foreign languages, is a lifelong pursuit for all ages. Photo: B.D. / Tuoi Tre

The journey was fraught with setbacks; there were moments when he broke down in tears, feeling helpless in his body.

Despite these struggles, Hung discovered a surprising passion: learning, with his first step being the bamboo flute, which he learned through one-on-one online lessons.

His teacher was skeptical when seeing an older student with stiff limbs and slurred speech.

Yet, Hung persisted, mastering basic music theory and flute techniques. Over time, his movements became smoother, his breathing steadier, and his flute playing a source of joy.

By mid-2024, he boldly proposed to his wife that he wanted to enroll in an English course.

Initially, his wife doubted his ability to study a foreign language, especially after years of working in a field unrelated to English and still recovering from his stroke.

But when Hung requested tuition fees and started carrying books to the classroom, she realized he was serious.

Facing challenges at 53

Every evening, Hung, with a noticeable limp, arrives at an English center on Hoang Thi Loan Street in Da Nang. His slow, frail movements initially made others mistake him for a guardian.

In class, however, Hung commands attention. I hadnt held a pen or read a book for decades.

"Even sitting upright for 90 minutes is challenging, he admitted.

Nevertheless, he diligently attends classes, completes assignments, and practices pronunciation clips at night.

His classmates are mostly young students, but another middle-aged learner also attends.

Despite differences in age, thinking speed, and comprehension, Hung is determined. He often asks for repeated explanations, sharing with teachers, This old mans brain isnt what it used to be. If I ask too many questions, please dont mind!

These remarks, tinged with both humor and humility, endeared him to his classmates and teachers alike. Over time, their encouragement motivated Hung to persist.

Reflecting on his return to education, Hung said, I never imagined Id be a student again at this age.

"But life leaves us no choice but to move forward.

"After the stroke, my arms and legs are still stiff, my speech is slurred, and my memory comes and goes.

"But Im determined to learn -- not for a degree, but for myself. This is my way of challenging my limits and refreshing my mind.

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As the rate of overweight and obesity among children in the 5-19 age range in Vietnam more than doubled within just 10 years to 19 percent in 2020, the draft Law on Excise Tax has suggested that a special consumption duty, or excise tax, of 10 percent be imposed on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs).

The increasing obesity among Vietnamese children and related recommendations to address the problem were presented at a consultation workshop held in Hanoi on Sunday, focusing on an excise tax on SSB as part of the draft Law on Excise Tax.

Jointly organized by UNICEF Vietnam and the National Assembly Committee for Culture and Education, the event was aimed at providing participants with updated information on childrens obesity, as a reference for them to give opinions on the draft law.

Do Hong Phuong, a nutrition policy specialist at UNICEF Vietnam, warned that the rate of overweight and obesity among school-age children, from five to 19, increased to 19 percent in 2020 from 8.5 percent in 2010, which is 1.7 percentage points higher than the average across Southeast Asia.

Vietnam's rate exceeds those of other low- and middle-income countries in the region, including Cambodia (13.4 percent), Laos (16.6 percent), Myanmar (14.1 percent), the Philippines (14.5 percent), and Indonesia (18 percent).

If there is no action taken to limit the consumption of SSBs, it is estimated that nearly two million Vietnamese children aged five and up will become overweight or obese by 2030, Phuong warned.

In East Asia and the Pacific, overweight and obesity affect 90 million children and adolescents, including 11 million under five, while the global rate of overweight children is 26 percent.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Truong Tuyet Mai, deputy director of the National Institute of Nutrition, under the Ministry of Health, warned that prolonged SSB consumption could increase the risk of obesity, cancer, high blood pressure, digestive problems, and urinary and kidney diseases, among others.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Truong Tuyet Mai, deputy director of the National Institute of Nutrition, speaks at a workshop in Hanoi on November 24, 2024, focusing on overweight and obesity among Vietnamese children and the proposition on levying an excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages in Vietnam. Photo: Gia Han / Tuoi Tre

She cited several studies as showing that an adult who drinks one SSB can a day for one year will gain 6.75kg in weight.

As for children who recurrently drink SSBs, their body mass index (BMI) increases 0.24 compared to those who do not, Dr. Mai stated, adding that kids aged two to five who frequently drink SSBs face a 43-percent higher risk of obesity.

The expert warned that excessive consumption of SSBs during childhood is linked to a higher risk of being overweight or obese by age five.

Drinking an additional 100ml of SSBs per day is associated with a BMI spike and a 1.2-fold greater risk of being overweight or obese by age six.

Emphasizing that childhood obesity is a global issue that requires urgent action, Dr. Mai recommended limiting the consumption of SSBs in kids.

According to UNICEF's recommendations, children under two should not consume any food or drink with added sugar.

Children aged 2-18 should limit sugar consumption to less than 25 grams per day, and should not drink more than 235ml of SSBs weekly, Dr. Mai said.

Data released at the workshop showed that total soft drink consumption in Vietnam rose rapidly to 6.67 billion liters in 2023 from 1.59 billion liters in 2009.

Many other health experts emphasized that synchronous measures should be taken to prevent excessive weight and obesity in children, including taxing SSBs and reducing consumption.

Nutritionist Phuong said that the World Health Organization advises applying tax and price measures to lower SSB consumption.

A workshop held in Hanoi on November 24, 2024 focuses on overweight and obesity among Vietnamese children and the proposition on levying an excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages in Vietnam. Photo: Gia Han / Tuoi Tre

According to the draft Law on Excise Tax, an excise tax rate of 10 percent is proposed on SSBs with a sugar content of over five grams per 100ml.

Citing a 2022 study by the Hanoi University of Public Health, the specialist said that imposing an excise duty on SSBs in Vietnam would have several benefits, including obesity rate reduction and the risk of related diseases, as well as saving future healthcare costs.

Phuong also urged relevant authorities to launch media campaigns to curb SSB consumption.

Many workshop participants agreed with the proposed tax rate, with a few suggesting clarifying if sugar is the main cause of obesity and others asking why the ratio of five grams per 100ml has been chosen as the threshold for taxation.

Dr. Nguyen Huy Quang, former head of the health ministrys Legal Department, said that an excise tax on SBBs was first mooted 12 years ago but it failed to move forward due to limited scientific evidence.

Now with obvious proof, the proposal should be implemented to protect the health of children and the public in general, Dr. Quang recommended.

Currently, 104 countries around the world have slapped an excise tax on SSBs nationwide, whereas three other nations are applying the duty to some of their states and localities.

In the ASEAN grouping, six countries have adopted the same tax on SSBs, he added.

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Traffic police in Da Nang City, central Vietnam fined two trailer truck drivers and their employers almost US$6,000 for carrying massive objects which were much longer and larger than the size of their vehicles without a permit, officers said on Sunday.

Police said they detected a trailer truck operated by a transport cooperative in Tien Giang Province, southern Vietnam and another managed by a company in Ho Chi Minh City showing signs of violations when traveling on a National Highway 1 section in Da Nang.

They stopped the vehicles for a check and found that one of them was carrying oversized cargo without a permit.

The driver of the other trailer truck presented a valid permit for transporting oversized cargo; however, the specific goods on the vehicle were not listed in the documentation.

As a result, police officers seized the two vehicles and fined the drivers and their employers VND148 million (US$5,821).

The two truckers also had their drivers licenses suspended for three months.

They were required to unload the cargo from the vehicles.

A local police officer stated that the two drivers exploited the rainy weather to operate their trucks within the city, despite a ban on such activity.

Police foresaw the situation, so they sent plainclothes officers to follow the trucks and cooperated with another group of police officers to intercept the vehicles.

Police catch two trailer truck drivers red-handed carrying oversized cargo without a permit in Da Nang City, central Vietnam.

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More than 250 additional sets of human remains were unearthed during drainage system upgrades beneath an alley in downtown Hanoi, taking the total number recorded since last week past 400, a local official told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Monday.

The remains were buried nearly one meter below the surface of Alley 167 on Tay Son Street in Quang Trung Ward, Dong Da District.

This is not the final figure yet. The ward will direct workers to continue digging deeper into the alley to find more funerary jars, said the official from the ward.

If no more human remains are found, the drainage system renovation project will proceed."

Over 400 sets of human remains have been uncovered beneath Alley 167 on Tay Son Street in Quang Trung Ward, Dong Da District, Hanoi since last week. Photo: Anh Hung / Tuoi Tre

Phung Hung Funeral Home has relocated 138 sets to Yen Ky Cemetery in Hanois Ba Vi District for reburial, according to the Quang Trung Ward administration.

The rest will be transported to the cemetery from December 1 to 3.

Over 400 sets of human remains have been uncovered beneath Alley 167 on Tay Son Street in Quang Trung Ward, Dong Da District, Hanoi since last week. Photo: Anh Hung / Tuoi Tre

An official confirmed to Tuoi Tre on Thursday last week that nearly 150 sets had been discovered during drainage system renovations in the alley.

This was not the first time human remains had been found in the area, said the official.

Human remains had previously been detected during infrastructure and housing construction projects there.

A representative from the Quang Trung Ward administration provided the clarifications on Friday last week, saying that those remains belonged to ordinary people who died and were buried up to 70 years ago.

The representative rejected a hypothesis spreading on social media that they came from soldiers of Chinas Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), who died and were buried there after Vietnamese Emperor Quang Trung defeated the invading Qing troops in 1789.

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A pastor in Russia could face six years in jail or a fine of 1 million rubles ($9,583USD) for preaching on the basis of Holy Scripture that the invasion of Ukraine was wrong and Christians should not fight in it, a religious rights outlet reported.

Authorities on Oct. 18 arrested the Rev. Nikolay Romanyuk, senior presbyter of Holy Trinity Church in the Moscow Region town of Balashikha, according to Forum 18. It was not clear which investigative agency was involved.

Romanyuk, a father of nine children, was accused of publicly calling for actions against state security during a sermon in September 2022. Russian authorities objected to him condemning the invasion of Ukraine from a religious perspective, Forum 18 reported.

Romanyuks sermon in 2022 had been livestreamed and uploaded to his churchs YouTube channel. YouTube footage headlined, For this sermon they arrested a pastor, records Romanyuk comparing being called to combat to drinking alcohol, according to Forum 18.

When you are offered a hit, when you are offered a bottle of alcohol or you are given a summons to send you to combat  this is the same sin, and the same drug, and the same Satan, Romanyuk said, translated from Russian. Find me in the Old Testament even a hint that we could somehow participate. And it does not matter which tsar calls for this  [whether] the Ukrainian tsar, the American tsar, or our tsar calls for this. I would like this to be a vaccination, at least in some way. This is not our war.

In the sermon, Romanyuk reminded listeners that Russian Federation doctrine notes that Russians are pacifists, and cannot participate in this.

It is our right to profess this on the basis of Holy Scripture, he added. We do not bless those who go there [to war]. [Those] who are taken by force, we do not bless them, but we pray that they are rescued from there. There are different legal ways to do this.

Romanyuks arrest happened as part of a series of early morning armed raids on the homes of church members the same day.

The Rev. Roman Zhukov, another pastor at Holy Trinity Church, described the early morning house raids on his Telegram channel on Oct. 24.

Special forces soldiers arrived at 6:20 a.m. on Oct. 18 in Romanyuks family home, and the home of another church family identified as the Repins. The church building was also searched, as was land in Volokolamsk District used for childrens camps, the rights group reported.

Armed men broke into the house of Romanyuks adult sons Sergey and Ilya, Forum 18 reported, noting, [They] broke in and put the guys on the floor, where they lay for 12 hours, one-and-a-half of which they spent in light indoor clothes and barefoot on the ground outside. At gunpoint.

The raiders used armored shields for the other raids, breaking door frames and forcing other men to lie on the floor with hands behind their heads, according to Forum 18. They seized digital devices and documents, including Maksim Repins bank cards, his mothers pension card, and foreign travel passports.

Romanyuk refused to give a statement on camera. The raiders took him away for interrogation at 6 p.m.

The entire family has gone through great psychological trauma today, but such searches and arrests in modern Russia are predictable and expected  to our great regret, wrote a Ukrainian pastor, the Rev. Vladimir Franchuk, in a blog post on Oct. 20. One of the main accusations against Pastor Nikolay Romanyuk is that he expressed his disagreement with the bandit-like and cruel war that the Russian Federation is waging on the territory of Ukraine. Honorable and just people in Russia (believers and non-believers) suffer  and will suffer!  for their position as an honest person, which is deeply and consistently based on biblical truth and the Christian worldview.

On the same day as the blog post, just two days after the raid, a closed court ruled that Romanyuk be kept detained for two months. The unnamed judge at Balashikha City Court ordered custody until Dec. 16. Romanyuk tried to appeal on Nov. 12 but was unsuccessful.

Romanyuk is jailed in Investigation Prison No. 11 in Noginsk, 50 kilometers (31 miles) east of Moscow.

It is unknown whether Romanyuk has yet been formally charged or when his case is likely to come to trial, reported Forum 18.

Romanyuk remains under investigation under Criminal Code Article 280.4, Part 2, Paragraph V  Public calls to implement activities directed against the security of the Russian Federation, or to obstruct the exercise by government bodies and their officials of their powers to ensure the security of the Russian Federation using mass media or electronic or information and telecommunications networks, including the Internet.

He is the first religious figure to be charged under this criminal code, according to Forum 18.

The rights group pressed authorities to answer in what way Romanyuks sermon threatened state security, why he had been placed in detention, whether any criminal or administrative cases had been opened against any other church members, and why it had been deemed necessary to carry out armed raids on their homes.

No response was known at this writing.

A small number of other Russian Christians opposing the war for faith reasons were being prosecuted under Administrative Code Article 20.3.3, Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

They also face charges under Criminal Code Article 280.3, Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in order to protect the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, [and] maintain international peace and security, and Criminal Code Article 207.3, dissemination of false information about the Armed Forces, according to Forum 18.

Romanyuks brother, Vasily Romanyuk, had been pastor of the Holy Trinity Pentecostal Church before his death in 2015. Moscow city authorities bulldozed the building in 2012, but the church built again on a new site in 2016.
A plastic bag containing 1,517 drug pills was found drifting to the Quang Ngai coast in central Vietnam on Saturday, bringing the total to over 3,000 drug pills discovered there in just one day.

Border guards in Quang Ngai Province reported on Sunday that a 74-year-old local man, Pham An, discovered a plastic bag containing white pills with a strong odor while collecting scrap along a beach in Binh Chau Commune, Binh Son District the day before.

The bag was found inside a plastic box. After inspecting it, An left the bag on the beach and continued his activities.

On Saturday evening, An heard his neighbors dicussing the discovery of thousands of drug pills in Binh Tri Commune, also in Binh Son, so he reported his findings to the Binh Hai Border Guard Station.

The border guard station later cooperated with local police to collect the drug pills, numbering 1,517.

The drugs were later identified as MDMA following a quick test.

Border guards go to the scene where a local man found thousands of drug pills in Quang Ngai Province, central Vietnam, November 23, 2024. Photo: Van Tanh / Tuoi Tre

On Saturday morning, residents in Binh Tri had already discovered a plastic bag containing 1,500 white pills of suspected drugs, so they informed the Binh Thanh Border Guard Station of their findings.

The pills were later found to be MDMA and THC.

Within only 14 days in January this year, residents and authorities in Binh Hai Commune, Binh Son District found and collected 292 bags of drugs weighing nearly 300 kilograms on a local beach.

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While relevant agencies are accelerating work on Long Thanh International Airport in Dong Nai Province, southern Vietnam to complete it on time or even ahead of schedule, projects to build roads leading to the airport are moving at a snails pace out of slow site clearance and a shortage of capital.

According to the Ministry of Transport, the first phase of the Long Thanh International Airport project commenced in early 2021, with three out of four components being developed as scheduled.

Only the progress of the fourth component, including 17 ground service items, such as a logistics area, an express cargo terminal, warehouses, a solar power system, an aviation city, and an aviation industrial park, is slower than planned.

The Ministry of Transport has approved eight items, while the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam is completing paperwork to choose investors for seven of them.

The first component, comprising headquarters for management agencies such as the airport authority, customs, immigration, and local police, is being constructed on schedule.

The second, overseen by the Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation, reports that progress on the air traffic control tower is ahead of schedule by two months.

The third and most complex component, which includes the passenger terminal and runways, is meeting its planned progress.

The Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) aims to complete the runways and make them operational by April 30, 2025.

Slow pace in expressway projects

The ACV asked Ho Chi Minh City and relevant ministries and agencies to speed up the expansion of the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway.

The expansion is an important solution to meet forecast travel demand once Long Thanh International Airport is on stream.

The volume of vehicles traveling on the expressway increases 10.8 percent annually.

The Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh expressway, prior to any expansion, will exceed capacity by 2025. The route is often congested, especially during holidays, although Long Thanh International Airport has yet to be put into operation.

The Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises claimed that the expressway expansion is an urgent task and a necessity to meet the transport and socio-economic development demands, especially after Long Thanh International Airport opens in 2026.

In particular, the 22-kilometer Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh section will be enlarged to 8-10 lanes with a price tag of nearly VND15 trillion (US$590 million).

The Vietnam Expressway Corporation was proposed to be the primary investor. It signed a contract with state-run lender Vietcombank to source capital for the project in mid-2024.

According to experts, preparations for building an expressway normally take about a year. If procedures are simplified, construction on the project can begin in 2025 and be completed after two years.

The passenger terminal of the Long Thanh International Airport project is set for completion at the end of 2026. Photo: A Loc / Tuoi Tre

Meanwhile, the An Phu Intersection project at the beginning of the expressway is under construction and may finish at the end of next year.

The Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Council has approved a project to broaden a road leading to the expressway from the intersection to eight lanes from the current two, which requires an estimated investment of VND938.9 billion ($36.9 million). This project will start in the third quarter of 2025 and finish in the last quarter of 2026.

The Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway project, connecting Dong Nai Province and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, is expected to be a crucial route for connecting southeastern localities and Long Thanh International Airport. However, some sections have lagged behind schedule.

Nearly VND1.19 trillion ($46.9 million) from the state budget has been allocated to the project in 2024, with VND796 billion ($31.4 million) already disbursed.

Contractors are employing more than 220 pieces of equipment and 415 workers to complete the project, which is now halfway complete. They are committed to making the expressway open to traffic before April 30, 2025.

However, the section in Dong Nai is facing multiple obstacles, specifically only 88 hectares of the 137 hectares needed have been handed over for a segment passing through Bien Hoa City and Long Thanh District in Dong Nai.

The project faces a shortfall of four million cubic meters of soil for leveling.

According to the ACV, after Long Thanh International Airport is completed, it will receive 80 percent of Ho Chi Minh City-based Tan Son Nhat International Airport's international passengers, adding pressure to complete the work on time.

Another important project is the 207-kilometer Beltway No. 4 with an estimated cost of VND136 trillion ($5.4 billion).

Five localities, namely Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong Province, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, Dong Nai Province, and Long An Province, are preparing dossiers for the project for submission to the law-making National Assembly early next year.

The beltway will further connect Binh Duong to the airport, besides the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway and the Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway.

The Dong Nai administration has proposed a road linking the airport with the Phan Thiet-Dau Giay Expressway in the north of the airport.

In particular, the first phase of the eight-kilometer 769E road project with an estimated investment of over VND1.4 trillion ($55 million) will stretch from the airport to Beltway No. 4 and the Phan Thiet-Dau Giay Expressway.

The first phase of the Long Thanh International Airport project is expected to cost VND110 trillion (US$4.3 billion).

The entire airport project is designed to span 5,000 hectares and carry a VND336.63 trillion ($13.3 billion) price tag.

Once complete, the airport will be the largest in Vietnam with an annual capacity of 100 million passengers and five million metric tons of cargo.

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An ex-Scotland Yard detective returns to Jamaica and encounters a case that will blow her world apart. Binge / 8.30pm on Showcase

Taskmaster Australia

Headliners

Who Do You Think You Are? U.K

Outback Truckers

Love Island Australia
Seven News has been cleared by an ACMA investigation following an imparttiality complaint around a May 2023 story.

What Perth will look like by 2050 focused on a City of Perth Council proposal to provide financial incentives and reduce regulations to increase residential development in the Perth CBD.

A complainant told ACMA the report around a decision made by the City of South Perth Council not to progress a Recreation and Aquatic Facility, contained inaccurate statements and lacked impartiality.

Amongst their complaints, were statements that the City of South Perth Council was hopelessly divided and officially killed off a major development, years after it was promised. They also maintained a Council decision to not appoint a project manager did not trigger a loss of $20 million of Federal funding.

But ACMA found phrases such as killed off, promised, sinking and closed its chequebook to an ordinary reasonable viewer would have been received in a broad way rather than literal.

The ACMA also concluded that the ordinary reasonable viewer would have understood that the division within the Council on the RAF project was not limited to the decision the night before the broadcast but referred to division more generally.

The assertion that Council voted to not progress the RAF project due to a lack of funding was accurate.

Seven Perth did not breach the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice.
Satish Bhartiya, TwoCircles.net

Bhopal: A heart-wrenching incident from the Madhya Pradesh capital of Bhopal has gone viral. It sheds light on alleged medical negligence and disturbing behaviour at a private hospital. An elderly Muslim patient was allegedly denied treatment and tragically passed away while being transferred to another facility.

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The incident was captured in a viral video showing a woman, presumably a hospital staff member, speaking aggressively. In the purported video, she can be seen threatening the patients son. She says, Yahin gaadh dungi (I will bury you here only), and demands that another person stop recording. She orders security to seize the phone and accuses the patients son of trying to coerce her into a religious conversion. This Maulana is telling me that you are a Hindu girl, you will have to change your religion, she can be heard saying in the viral video.

The patients son in response calmly explains, We came here for the treatment of our father. But this madam refused to provide any information and instead started threatening me with false accusations of religious conversion. I asked her for the phone number of the hospital owner, to which she replied, I am the owner of the hospital.

The video captures the tense exchange between the man and the woman, with another individual urging the patients son to leave.

Familys Account of the Incident

Muhammad Basit, the son of the deceased, Nasir Miyan (also known as Baadshah Miyan), recounted the horror. This is a clear case of negligence by the hospital staff and the doctor, he said. They became aggressive when we asked for information about my fathers treatment. We were threatened with being framed for religious conversion, which is a complete lie. We never said anything of the sort.

Basit further explained that on November 18, his younger brother brought their father to the ABM Hospital in Bhopal, where an ECG was performed. The family was then allegedly told to seek treatment elsewhere. In response, they attempted to transfer Nasir Miyan to Chirayu Hospital, but during the journey, he passed away due to an attack.

Basit continued, On November 20, when I went to ABM to inquire why my father was not treated, Dr Sonali Chouksey raised her voice and yelled at me. I asked if at least an ambulance could have been arranged since they could not provide treatment. My father would have still been alive if they had given us an ambulance.

He claims that instead of providing a response, Dr Chouksey falsely accused him of harassing her and threatened to file a case against him.

Lack of Govt Support

When asked if the family had received any assistance from government authorities, Basit expressed frustration, No one from the health department has contacted us. We have no hope of receiving any help or justice from the authorities.

In the wake of the incident, efforts to contact doctors at ABM Hospital went unanswered, and the available phone numbers were either switched off or ignored.

The family remains in mourning, while questions about the hospitals alleged negligence and the treatment of patients remain unanswered.

(Satish Bharatiya is an independent journalist)
Currently, BM Windows' factories are operating at full capacity to simultaneously fulfill various export consignments.

In Canada, the company supplied over 7,000 facade systems for The One Toronto, Canadas tallest skyscraper, followed by the Marriott Hotel project in Vancouver. All BM Windows products for the Canadian market meet international standards set by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), the strictest technical standards for facades in North America.\

In Australia, BM Windows has maintained a competitive edge thanks to early market penetration and the execution of several significant projects. The company is in the final production stages of panels for the 15 Sydney Avenue office building in Canberra, the capital city of Australia and has recently signed a contract for a new project, Atlassian Central in Sydney. All products for the Australian market are tested to AS4284 standards, ensuring compliance with local regulations.

In mid-year, BM Windows formed a strategic partnership with Starke Facade to export facades to New Zealand and expand into the Pacific Islands, covering nine countries in the region. The company has also developed a product system for the U.S. market, meeting local AAMA and ASTM international standards. Recently, it successfully exported aluminum-glass products for the Marriott Courtyard Hotel project in Hawaii.

With steady progress and a strategy focused on conquering challenging markets, BM Windows represented Vietnam at the Zak World of Facades conference in Toronto, Canada, in May. At the event, company representatives discussed global procurement trends in the aluminum-glass facade industry with international experts.

Thanks to its efforts in bringing made-in-Vietnam aluminum-glass facades to the global stage, BM Windows was honored with the Asian Export Award 2024 in the Building Materials category. The awards ceremony took place on November 19 in Singapore.

According to the organizers, nominees were required to demonstrate economic efficiency in export activities over the past 24 months. Companies also had to show innovation, continuous improvement, and strong competitive advantages. Evaluation criteria were based on BM Windows' impressive business achievements in exports. The companys products have met the stringent standards of North American markets, aligned with sustainability trends, and been widely embraced by major project developers across various countries.

In recent years, BM Windows has steadily strengthened its position domestically, becoming one of Vietnams leading companies in aluminum-glass facades. The company is currently executing numerous large-scale projects, including the Long Thanh International Airport expansion, the Marina Central Tower in Ho Chi Minh City, The Global City mixed-use urban complex, The Rivus, The Grand in Hanoi, and the Royal Boutique Hotel in Da Nang, among others, totaling over 600 domestic and international projects./.
Towards a green learning environment

Sustainable development has become a key goal in global education. UNESCO has set a target that, by 2030, 50% of schools in each country worldwide will become "green schools"  educational spaces that promote sustainability across various aspects such as curricula, infrastructure, and campus environments. In particular, countries most affected by climate change are increasingly recognising the importance of adopting green, efficient, and environmentally friendly educational standards.

In this context, the presence of reputable international green building certification organisations such as EDGE, LEED, and BREEAM plays a guiding role by providing accurate assessments of sustainability goals for various entities. Certifications like EDGE are often prioritised by developing countries, as the evaluation criteria are designed to focus on the benefits they bring to these markets.

Developed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), EDGE evaluates building sustainability through various resource-related metrics. With support from the UK government and other development partners, EDGE certification is applied in 170 countries, with a strong presence in Asia.

On November 21, 2024, British University Vietnam (BUV) officially became the first university in Vietnam to achieve EDGE Advanced Certification, level 2 equivalent in the three-tier certification system. To attain EDGE Advanced Certification, buildings must ensure a minimum of 40% energy savings, double the basic EDGE-certified level, which is the benchmark for most EDGE-certified buildings in Vietnam.

According to the latest data, BUV has achieved impressive metrics, surpassing the EDGE Advanced Certification requirements. EDGE's evaluation recognises a 41% reduction in energy consumption at BUV, alongside a 22% saving in water use and 37% less embodied carbon in materials.

Pioneering sustainable development and carbon neutrality

To achieve impressive EDGE-certified resource-efficiency targets, the university has implemented numerous energy management solutions from the design intent through to actual construction. The campus master plan harmoniously combines building elements (which make up under 20%) with a regulating pond and green spaces to create environments that maximise natural energy use. The honeycomb-style exterior design allows natural light to penetrate communal areas while functioning as a natural cooling system, providing fresh air and reducing electricity consumption by approximately 20%. In common areas, BUV takes advantage of natural airflow by using ceiling fans instead of air conditioning.

The shading design for the building's hottest-facing sides, oriented towards the west and east, has been carefully considered for effective insulation. In addition, the lighting system at BUV uses only LED bulbs, saving 75% of energy compared to traditional incandescent bulbs.

According to EDGE's evaluation, the university has lowered its carbon footprint by approximately 196.27 tonnes of CO each year, equivalent to nearly a 53% reduction in total annual emissions. BUV plans to install solar panels in 2026 to enhance sustainable energy use over the next 25 years.

The entire water system at BUV is designed for circulation, efficiently allocating water for varying needs  from drinking and domestic use to sanitation and irrigation  while minimising waste and ensuring hygiene. The university's wastewater and waste management systems are managed by leading sustainable solutions providers in Ecopark, ensuring minimal waste and chemical discharge into the environment.

In particular, BUV is one of the few universities in Hanoi and Vietnam that focuses on creating a space that is friendly to people with disabilities. From the parking lot and elevators with accessible control panels to restrooms and separate pathways, all are designed to ensure easy wheelchair access. The classrooms are also equipped with movable desks for students with disabilities.

Creating an inspirational model

Overall, BUV's Green Strategy has been carefully planned and implemented systematically before, during, and after the major investment in the training project in Vietnam. As a result, the university has made significant strides towards sustainability by integrating green principles into its architectural infrastructure, new developments, educational foundations, curricula, and extracurricular activities for students.

At BUV, sustainability is emphasised in every student activity, such as the celebration of Value Week in terms of sustainability and responsibility, and is also a core element of BUVs exclusive Personal and Social Growth programme (PSG). Additionally, a sustainability mindset is one of the seven key attributes that graduates must acquire and master. This mindset is deeply embedded in the curriculum and every programme throughout students time at BUV.

Professor Rick Bennett, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice President of BUV, said:

"Beyond being a place for the transmission of knowledge, a university is also an environment that shapes the awareness and responsibility of the youth. BUV, with our vision for a sustainable future for education in Vietnam, aims to create the most practical and positive model to inspire generations of students  talented young people who will play a leading role in the future environmental protection efforts of Vietnam. This is the latest step taken by BUV towards its goal of becoming one of the pioneering universities in Vietnam in 'carbon neutrality,' spreading the sustainability message to the wider community."

IFC Country Manager for Vietnam, Laos PDR, and Cambodia, Thomas James Jacobs, congratulated BUV for achieving a remarkable milestone in integrating green principles into its campus design and operations:

"This has created an environmentally friendly learning space, raised awareness, and encouraged green practices among BUV students and the wider community. For the past ten years, the IFCs EDGE programme has actively engaged with both the public and private sectors in Vietnam to create an enabling environment and facilitate the adoption of green building standards. With the EDGE Advanced Certification for its Ecopark Campus Phase 1, BUV joins other climate leaders promoting green buildings in Vietnam, saving millions of kWh of energy and cubic metres of water annually and cutting down 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. We look forward to continuing our green and sustainability work with BUV in the upcoming phases.
HA NOI As Viet Nam's natural sand deposits deplete rapidly, more efforts should be made to encourage the use of crushed sand, said industry experts and scientists.

Director of the Building Materials Department under the Ministry of Construction, Le Trung Thanh, said construction companies typically use two types of sand. The first type is used for concrete and mortar, with a consumption capacity of over 100 million cubic metres per year. The second type is sand used in construction and transport projects, which accounts for a significantly larger volume of consumption.

In Viet Nam there are over 330 river sand mines with a combined reserve of nearly 2,100 million cubic metres, however, they can only meet around 40 per cent of demand.

He said crushed sand can replace natural sand in concrete and mortar. It can be produced from several source materials, including waste and by-products from other industries. Given that natural sand deposits have been quickly depleted, replacing natural sand with crush sand seems only logical. Crushed sand offers numerous advantages over natural sand thanks to its uniformity in size, purity and strength.

However, consumers have yet to embrace the new material. The costs to set up a production line, typically around half a million to a million dollars, also discourage companies from investing.

Deputy director of Nghi Son 36 Joint Stock Company Trinh inh Sang said the company's crushed sand production line was designed with a capacity of 90-120 cubic metres per hour. They are currently only able to run their lines for eight hours a day, mainly for their consumption. Due to low demand, longer production hours will likely result in excess inventory.

He said large sand buyers such as brick makers have yet to switch to crushed sand, largely because of the current preference for natural sand. Ironically, Nghi Son 36's fresh concrete products, made using crushed sand, are generally considered good quality. Several companies have been developing alternatives to natural sand in recent years, offering cheaper and more environmentally friendly materials.

Industry insiders and economists have long voiced concerns over a lack of support policies, including financial support in helping crushed sand gain popularity.

Vice President and secretary-general of the Vietnam Association for Building Materials Thai Duy Sam, said governmental agencies could play a crucial role in encouraging businesses and the public to use crushed sand.

Meanwhile, stronger law-enforcement efforts are required to limit and stop the illegal exploitation of Viet Nam's natural sand deposits, preferably with stricter penalties for offers, he said. VNS
HCM CITY  A roundtable discussion titled 'Strategic Cooperation to Promote Gender Equality' was held by the Consulate General of Canada in HCM City late last week.

The event attracted participants included Senior Advisor to the Canadian Minister of International Trade, Sara Wilshaw, Vice President of the Canada Centre, Christine Nakamura and over 20 women leaders from Vietnamese and Canadian companies, along with representatives from 20 other businesses led by women.

In her speech, CEO Forbes Vietnam, ang Minh Phuong, emphasised her unwavering support for women in leadership positions and expressed confidence in delegating responsibilities to them.

She noted that during recruitment interviews, she often prioritises female candidates, understanding the unique challenges they face throughout their careers.

Reflecting on her own journey, she recounted how, at a young age, she closely followed the CEO and learned over two decades how women must strive to occupy positions traditionally held by men.

Meanwhile, Ho Ngoc Yen Phuong, Member of the BOD cum CFO of Vietjet, shared her insights on the significance of female leadership in todays rapidly changing geopolitical landscape, entering the digital age and developing information technology.

She highlighted the urgent need for training programs aimed at increasing womens awareness of technology and called for international partnerships and networks among women leaders to positively impact their communities.

Phuong pointed out that Vietjet is among the few airlines worldwide with a significant female leadership representation, boasting 36 per cent of its workforce as women - 2,246 out of 6,500 employees - with nearly 30 per cent holding leadership roles. This data sends a strong message that women can excel in all fields.

She added that womens flexibility and perseverance are key to navigating crises successfully. Vietjet implements numerous supportive policies for female employees, including investments in yoga facilities, makeup subsidies for cabin crews and service training programmes that promote a friendly and positive culture.

Furthermore, flexible working policies through things such as Zoom meetings and adaptable working hours enable women to balance their professional and familial responsibilities. The airline also encourages female staff to retain their positions and recognition after maternity leave, facilitating their career progression.

The contributions of women leaders, such as Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Chairwoman of Vietjet, showcase exceptional leadership that has helped the airline maintain operations and recover swiftly from crises.

Thao has consistently infused her compassion into charitable works and support for women, ensuring that Vietjet provided minimum income levels for employees during the pandemic, while developing many technological projects that facilitated new sales and customer service applications.

When the pandemic was over, the aviation industry faced a workforce crisis with pilot shortages, but Vietjet continued its growth, becoming one of the top two carriers in Viet Nam.

Thaos journey serves as an inspiration for young women

According to Phuong, organisations led by women create ideal environments for developing talent and empowering young female workers, thus contributing to sustainable business development.

Todays female leaders not only contend with work pressures but also bear family responsibilities. Their success is heavily reliant on the support of their families and loved ones, which provides vital emotional strength that enhances their leadership roles.

Feedback from Vietjets leadership was applauded by attendees, reinforcing confidence in the companys future with outstanding female leaders.

Viet Nam is entering a phase of promoting gender equality by expanding relationships with organisations advocating for womens progress, raising awareness among young women to pursue technology careers, mastering AI and applying it in daily life, all contributing to the gender equality agenda and supporting womens leadership to elevate living standards.  VNS
Spark Europe", a missional network of Christians started 10 years ago, has launched a cash prize award to recognize innovative and impactful mission projects throughout mainland Europe. The Spark Award, intended to be held every four years, was inspired by technology awards in California rewarding innovators for their pioneering spirit and shedding light on their endeavors to inspire others to do the same and more.

The winner will be announced at a special ceremony in a coworking event space in East Baden, Germany, receiving a prize of 20,000 Euros ($21,600 USD).

An official statement for the award says that judging criteria includes balancing leading measures (input and design) with lagging measures (results and outcomes).

Key areas of assessment include: impact beyond church walls with Kingdom-minded goals; initiatives rooted in innovative listening to culture, God, and people; and innovative approaches to faith engagement.

The award also considers a project's inspirational quality and scalability, its ability to reach broad audiences and unique stakeholders, and its positive reception in secular contexts. This multifaceted approach ensures that recognized projects truly exemplify cutting-edge, impactful missional work in the European context, adds the statement.

We believe that while the message of Jesus remains unchanging, the methods of embodying and communicating that message must evolve to meet the challenges of post-Christian Europe. By highlighting projects that offer a foretaste of God's kingdom on earth, we aim to inspire and catalyze a movement of creative, missional engagement across the continent.

Marlin Watling, overseer of Spark Europe and the related Spark Award, told Christian Daily International that the award focused on projects advancing the Great Commission with fresh and groundbreaking methods, which are different to predictable Sunday morning church models.

Based in Heidelberg, Germany, Watling is a psychologist by trade and worked as a human resources director for several multinational companies, from SAP [Software] to Roche pharmaceuticals, where he says he carried responsibility for the welfare of 4,000 workers. He now works as a consultant for strategy and organizational change throughout Germany and southern Europe.

Watling began planting churches 20 years ago and for 15 years had a tentmaking role as the non professional pastor of a 250-member Vineyard network church in Heidelberg. The church moved away from Vineyard about 10 years ago because he and others had a vision for realizing a need to build a missional network in Germany and central Europe. Watling sums up the vision as not inviting people to church but bringing the church to people.

He defines missional as bringing the church to peoples needs. For a mentee of Spark Europe, the project leaders who have joined the network, that means being culturally engaged whilst motivated by faith and wanting to see change from their worldview of following Jesus.

A business leader, for example, may have a vision to bring gospel values to their occupational setting and Spark Europe doesnt define that, but we help them and there needs to be a push to leave something of substance in that setting, says Watling.

Spark Europe involves 30 groups of Christians spread across Europe, including 20 groups in Germany, three in Switzerland, one in Austria, two in Portugal, one in Spain and two in France. All are involved in a lifecycle where church meetings are a part, but not the whole, of kingdom living, he says.

A third of the groups utilize a type of church formality but in some cultural contexts it may take different shapes. In Lisbon, Portugal, for example, Spark Europe supports a Christian missionary who belongs to a local church but for ministry, they have created a coworking business space, which has an expression of faith but its not church.

This is more driven by a Kingdom of God mindset, and the Kingdom is the main theme and church is one of the instances. So we are involved in businesses, social spaces and creative endeavors. Wherever we are, the kingdom of God happens, and that sometimes leans to forms of church or church collaborations, and sometimes it is spiritual communities and those setting in and of themselves, he says.

Watling leads Spark Europe alongside five other leaders, some with ongoing Vineyard connections or membership of Protestant churches. As a network, and less as a denomination, these leaders aim to resource, support and mentor anyone with a leadership gift, who are entrepreneurial by nature but with a view for the kingdom of God, whether that be church planting or other activities, and with the aim of connecting them to kindred leaders.

During the last five years, the Spark leaders ran innovation strategies looking at where in mainland Europe they could find projects that are finding new ways to generate impact, which means fresh expressions of faith: good relationships with local newspapers or cultural venues, for example and typically not only Sunday morning based.

Their goal is not just to gather people but to embody presence, says Watling.

Living communities are a key tenet for Spark Europe, being expressions in local towns of community and friendship, and social dimensions living together, often connected to a business. Watling recalls a particular group of 14 people who came together in such a way, and went on to also set up a hospitality business.

Its not a cafe, more an events space where weddings happen and so forth but the combination with the Christian living community thats overtly stated is a distinct flavor from a church cafe where you try to offer hospitality, explains Watling. Its more holistic and they also put their values front and center.

The last five years has been about moving from scaling the network to finding the pioneers and innovative projects in Europe to support, and I think we were successful in that, as an internal strategy identifying some we can nominate for the prize. This means 20 projects that were nominated for the award in November, which Watling terms a pleasant surprise.

Watling says there is a regular ranking system evaluating the maturity of the projects, with three to four ultimately recommended to show people that in regards to missional focus, it works. He emphasizes that the network didnt create these projects: We just found them and support them.

There has been some impact with conversions, baptisms and growth from those supported by Spark Europe but Watling admits the outcome is relatively slow and defining a long-term measurement of success is not yet so appropriate, considering the network is still maturing.

Spark Europe is looking for maturity in Kingdom projects where Christians seek the best for their neighborhood, and to play their own part as mere tools for the transformation of towns through innovation in their cultural environment. They want to see towns succeed, adds Watling.

The Spark Award Jury

Tobias Faix, a German Protestant theologian and author, specializing in practical theology at the YMCA University of Applied Sciences in Kassel

Evi Rodemann, a German theologian and event professional with expertise in European missions and leadership development

Christian Kuhn, Secretary-General of the Swiss Evangelical Alliance in Switzerland, bringing pastoral, church planting, and leadership training experience

Martin Robinson, experienced in cross-cultural mission, church planting, and theological education, offering insights on missional challenges in various contexts

Christian Nowatzky, Co-founder of Berlinprojekt and organizational consultant, with experience in growing innovative urban ministries in post-Christian settings

Duncan McFadzean, Investment banker and co-founder of Creo, offering perspective on the intersection of faith, business, and social impact.

Spark Award serves three key purposes:

1. To showcase inspirational projects that further God's mission in mainland Europe, demonstrating how the Gospel can be lived out in culturally relevant and transformative ways.

2. To applaud initiatives and innovation outside of mainstream models, recognizing that in our rapidly changing European context, new approaches to faith engagement are crucial.

3. To encourage a new generation of leaders to step forward with bold, Spirit-led ideas for reaching their communities with the love of Christ. The Spark Award stems from a conviction that our current time calls for initiatives and innovation in how we express and share our faith.
HA NOI  According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), global export turnover in 2023 reached US$23.8 trillion, a 5 per cent decrease compared to the previous year.

With an export turnover of $354 billion, Viet Nam ranks 23rd out of the 30 largest export economies in the world, accounting for 1.5 per cent of the global total.

However, Viet Nam's export value in 2023 dropped by 4.6 per cent (about $17.04 billion) compared to 2022.

The country's export performance saw significant declines across several product categories, including phones and components experiencing the largest drop, down by $5.61 billion. Following are textiles and garments, which decreased by $4.27 billion. Footwear exports declined by $3.66 billion, while machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts fell by $2.62 billion. Timber and wood products also dropped by $2.54 billion, seafood by $1.95 billion, and chemicals and chemical products by $750 million.

Conversely, certain product groups achieved notable growth compared to the previous year. Exports of fruits and vegetables rose by $2.24 billion, vehicles and parts increased by $2.17 billion, rice exports grew by $1.22 billion, and cashew nuts saw a gain of $558 million.

Despite the rise in protectionism and global trade barriers, China continues to assert its position as the worlds largest exporting nation.

In 2023, China exported $3.4 trillion worth of goods, surpassing the US by nearly $1.4 trillion. Notably, its exports to the US reached $500 billion.

Even with an average 10 per cent decline in export value, China maintained production levels close to all-time highs. This large-scale manufacturing economy demonstrated resilience in navigating tariff waves and supply chain uncertainties.

About 20 of the worlds top 30 exporting nations recorded a decline in export value over the past year. The number of global trade restrictions has nearly quintupled since 2015, reaching almost 3,000 restrictive measures in 2023.

The US remains a powerhouse in trade, showing positive shifts in energy exports. In 2023, the US achieved a net energy surplus of $65 billion, partly due to increased domestic energy production. The US is the second-largest goods exporter globally, with a total export value of nearly $2 trillion.  VNS
BAC GIANG  Bac Giang is focusing on creating breakthroughs in regional and inter-regional economic development by 2025, said acting Chairman of Peoples Committee of Bac Giang Province, Mai Son.

The provincial government aims to boost economic growth and ensure long-term sustainability by restructuring the economy, focusing on the digital economy, green growth and the circular economy, while promoting emerging sectors like e-commerce to drive further development.

Bac Giang aims to restructure its industry by attracting sustainable foreign direct investment (FDI) using the '1 no, 2 few, 3 high' model, which prioritises non-polluting, land-efficient, labour-saving and high-tech industries.

Additionally, the province will adopt the '5 readiness' approach  ensuring land availability, skilled labour, a better investment environment, investor support and effective pandemic management  to develop an industrial ecosystem model.

Son said the local government is actively supporting businesses, addressing issues and ensuring a steady electricity supply for production.

By 2025, Bac Giang aims to fast-track industrial park development with modern infrastructure, attracting investment in manufacturing and processing while reducing reliance on assembly and outsourcing.

Along with industrial growth, the province is focusing on expanding its service sector, especially logistics, dry ports and tourism, leveraging its strategic location. The province plans to develop three large-scale tourist zones to boost regional tourism and attract both domestic and international visitors. It will also enhance tourism infrastructure and maintain four core tourism products to meet international standards.

Since the Politburo's Resolution No. 11-NQ/TW in February 2022, Bac Giang has made significant progress, with its GDP growth reaching 13.1 per cent in 2023, the highest in the country and projections of 14.5 per cent in 2024. This impressive performance has been driven by a strong focus on inter-regional cooperation, particularly with neighbouring provinces.

By aligning its development with surrounding areas, Bac Giang has unlocked its full potential, effectively tapping into resources and capabilities that support mutual growth and regional development.

Regional cooperation has been crucial to Bac Giang's success and this focus is reflected in the province's long-term planning, including the 2021-2030 provincial plan with vision to 2050.

The province has strengthened partnerships with neighbouring areas like Quang Ninh, Hai Duong, Bac Ninh, Thai Nguyen and Lang Son, and signed agreements with international partners such as South Korea's Chungcheongnam. These collaborations aim to address regional challenges and maximise shared strengths.

A critical infrastructure project that will further strengthen the provinces economic ties is the ong Viet Bridge, which is set to be completed by the end of 2024. With an investment of nearly VN1.5 trillion ($59 million), the bridge will provide a vital link between Bac Giang and Hai Duong, improving transportation and trade across the region.

Bac Giang has made notable progress in infrastructure, with 14 approved industrial zones and six more in the planning phase. The Ngoc Ly Industrial Park is also preparing for development.

In the first nine months of 2024, four new and expanded zones  Phuc Son, Chau Minh-Bac Ly- Huong Lam, Viet-Han and Yen Lu  received approval, boosting the province's industrial capacity to 2,474.8 hectares. The occupancy rate is currently 63.97 per cent.

By the end of September 2024, Bac Giang had attracted over US$1.7 billion in investments, placing it among the top 10 provinces for FDI in the country.

The industrial production index (IIP) rose by 27.69 per cent, with industrial output reaching nearly VN500 trillion, a 28.5 per cent increase from the previous year.

Foreign-invested companies, especially in electronics and manufacturing, like Luxshare Van Trung, Hana Micron and the Fukang Technology company, are experiencing strong growth, driving the province's economic development.

Bac Giang is also supporting businesses like Blueway Vina, a Chinese-invested company in Van Trung Industrial Park. By September 2024, its sales reached over $70 million, a 40 per cent increase.

Blueway Vinas business director, Tang Cam Xuan, said: "During our operations in Bac Giang, the business has received support with land, labour recruitment and assistance with administrative procedures from local authorities. In the future, we plan to lease more factories to expand our scale and hope to continue connecting with and recruiting skilled workers for the company."  VNS
Compiled by Mai Huong

The National Assembly (NA) has introduced a draft amendment to the Value-Added Tax (VAT) Law that has drawn significant attention due to a proposal to impose VAT on fertiliser products.

This regulation is expected to impact the fertiliser market, fertiliser manufacturing and trading businesses, and especially farmers.

Viet Nam's agricultural sector has long been considered a vital pillar of the nation's economy. Despite global economic fluctuations and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Viet Nam's agricultural exports have demonstrated impressive resilience, contributing significantly to economic growth.

In 2021, while most sectors suffered, agricultural exports reached US$42.5 billion, growing by 2.74 per cent and contributing 23.54 per cent to the national GDP. The sector's upward trajectory continued in 2022 and 2023, with exports exceeding $53 billion. In the first ten months of this year, agricultural exports hit over $51.7 billion, marking a 20.2 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.

However, a contentious debate has emerged around applying VAT to fertilisers, an essential input in agricultural production. The question at the heart of the discussion is whether Viet Nam should impose a 5 per cent VAT on fertilisers to enhance local production capabilities or maintain the current tax exemption to support farmers.

Since the NA passed Tax Law 71 in 2014, fertilisers have been exempt from VAT in Viet Nam. The intention behind this exemption was to reduce production costs and support farmers by making fertilisers more affordable. However, this policy has led to several unintended consequences that have sparked calls for reconsideration.

Without the ability to claim input tax refund, domestic fertiliser manufacturers face higher production costs. This situation has led to increased prices for locally produced fertilisers, making them less competitive against cheaper imported alternatives.

Data from the Viet Nam Fertiliser Association has revealed that since the exemption of VAT on fertilisers, import volumes have fluctuated between 3.3 and 5.6 million tonnes, with a total value ranging from $952 million to $1.6 billion. Meanwhile, domestic production capacity has drastically shrunk, falling from 3.5 million tonnes per year before 2014 to a mere 380,000 tonnes per year since 2015. This dependency on imported fertilisers threatens Viet Nam's agricultural self-sufficiency and poses risks to food security, especially if global supply chains are disrupted.

Arguments in favour of imposing VAT on fertilisers

Proponents of applying a 5 per cent VAT argue that such a move could benefit both the agricultural sector and the broader economy.

Pham Van Hoa, a member of the NA's Legal Committee, said that a report from the NA Standing Committee indicates that the 2014 VAT exemption for fertiliser has significantly disadvantaged domestic fertiliser manufacturers.

Since these companies cannot deduct VAT on input materials, it gets added to their costs, including taxes. This raises production costs for local fertilisers, making them less competitive with imported ones, which is unfair to domestic producers.

I agree with the Standing Committees proposal to reinstate a 5 per cent VAT on fertiliser. Currently, fertiliser is a price-stabilised product, and the State will regulate prices to ensure they do not rise too sharply, Hoa said in a recent seminar on this issue.

According to tax expert Nguyen Van Phung, introducing VAT on fertilisers could lead to more competitive pricing, benefitting not just farmers but also enhancing Viet Nams agricultural exports.

Furthermore, by levying VAT on fertilisers, the Government could encourage manufacturers to invest in eco-friendly production technologies, aligning with the national goal of sustainable agricultural development. There is also the potential for a positive impact on the State budget, Phung said.

Viet Nam applying a 5 per cent VAT on fertilisers aligns with international trends and is lower than the VAT rates in many countries. International experience shows that countries like China, Brazil and Russia impose VAT on fertilisers, usually at lower rates than other goods. This approach helps reduce fertiliser costs, supports the growth of the domestic fertiliser industry, encourages investment in advanced, eco-friendly fertiliser technologies and promotes sustainable agricultural development.

Hoang Trong Thuy, an agricultural expert, supports this perspective, arguing that VAT could drive innovation in the fertiliser industry. He highlights that applying VAT would incentivise domestic producers to improve product quality, thereby reducing the reliance on imports and boosting Viet Nams agricultural competitiveness.

Thuy also suggests that the additional tax revenue could be channelled into training programmes for farmers, helping them adopt sustainable farming techniques and access higher-quality, environmentally friendly fertilisers.

On the other side of the debate, some argue that imposing VAT on fertilisers could increase the financial burden on farmers. Opponents of the fertiliser tax argue that it would increase costs for farmers, who are already facing low profit margins. They believe these higher costs would be passed down to farmers, reducing agricultural output, potentially threatening food security and raising food prices.

Critics also highlight that the current VAT exemption helps keep farming costs low and supports Viet Nams rural economy. They warn that the added complexity of VAT implementation could burden small-scale farmers and cooperatives, making compliance challenging.

To cope with this issue, Phung suggests a phased approach in which VAT is gradually introduced, allowing time for farmers and manufacturers to adjust.

Although farmers may have to 'endure some pain' in the short term, ensuring a balance of interests and creating a stronger foundation for the agricultural sector means that, in the long run, farmers will not suffer, Phung said.

He also advocates for clear communication and educational campaigns to explain how VAT could ultimately benefit farmers through reduced production costs and better-quality fertilisers.

The debate around VAT on fertilisers is not just about economics, but also encompasses environmental concerns. Most fertilisers currently used in Viet Nam are chemical-based, which can have detrimental effects on soil health and ecosystems. By applying VAT, the Government could indirectly promote the use of organic fertilisers and sustainable agricultural practices. This shift would align with Viet Nams commitment to sustainable development and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Agriculture expert Thuy emphasises that a VAT-inclusive policy could be part of a broader strategy to modernise Viet Nams agricultural sector. By incentivising the production and use of eco-friendly fertilisers, the country could achieve its long-term goals of agricultural sustainability, environmental protection and enhanced food security.  VNS
HA NOI  Unique and captivating culinary delights from different countries will be showcased at the 2024 International Food Festival in Ha Noi next month.

The two-day event, taking place on December 7 and 8 at the Van Phuc Diplomatic Compound, will feature more than 70 booths presenting distinctive and enticing dishes from 60 territories.

More than 40 embassies, international organisations, cultural centres, provincial Departments of Foreign Affairs, units under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and businesses will participate in this annual festival, which is held by the Service Department for Diplomatic Corps under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, aimed at boosting cultural and culinary exchanges.

Themed Gastronomy of Unity, the 2024 International Food Festival not only showcases the culinary delights of various nations but also honours Vietnamese cultural values. This event aims to enhance cultural diplomacy, strengthen the nation's image and expand international cooperation, said deputy head of the festivals organising board Hoang Thai Ha.

He said that with the participation of many nations, the festival not only celebrates the diversity of global cuisine but also highlights food as a universal language, where people from different cultures find harmony.

Through each dish, we not only convey the essence of culinary flavours but also share stories of history and traditions of each nation, Ha said.

The officer added that for the first time in its 11 year history, the event will span over two days. Festival-goers will have a chance to explore the diversity of Vietnamese cuisine through dozens of tempting dishes, including iconic favorites like pho (noodle soup) and nem (spring rolls).

Specialty dishes of each of the country's geographic regions, together with a diversified collection of traditional cakes and ethnic delights will be on show.

In addition, various cooking spices will also be presented to international visitors, providing them a chance to explore the culinary flavours of Vietnamese cuisine.

Chairwoman of the Nam inh Association of Gastronomic Culture Le Thi Thiet, a member of the 2024 International Food Festival's organising board, said that this year's event will offer both local and international guests the chance to enjoy a diverse range of pho dishes, including pho nuoc (pho noodle soup), pho cuon (rolled pho), pho tron (mixed pho), and pho xao (stir-fried pho).

When asked which version, Nam inh pho or Ha Noi pho (two places believed to be the birthplace of pho) will be served at the event, Thiet explained that both varieties share cultural similarities in their craftsmanship.

Our aim is to capture the essence of Vietnamese pho, helping everyone gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for this iconic dish," she said.

The organiser expects to welcome up to 50,000 visitors over the two days. VNS
TOKYO  The northern province of Ninh Binh, home to the ancient capital of Hoa Lu (968-1009), showcased its stunning natural landscapes and people to the Japanese market through a recent tourism promotion conference called the splendour of the ancient capital in Tokyo.

The event, jointly organised by the provincial People's Committee and the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan, drew the attendance of travel industry representatives, government officials, and Japanese who love Viet Nam.

Vice Chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee Tran Song Tung laid stress on the significance of the event, which aimed to raise awareness of the localitys tourism potential among Japanese tourists and travel firms.

He said the conference serves not only as a platform to comprehensively introduce the provinces natural, cultural and heritage values but also a bridge to strengthen collaboration between tourism organisations and businesses of both nations.

Vietnamese Ambassador Pham Quang Hieu stressed that Ninh Binh is one of Viet Nam's pioneering localities in organising tourism promotion events in Japan, reflecting the province's innovative spirit and strong determination in tourism development, focusing on targeted cultural promotion so as to enhance its position in the national tourism strategy.

He described the conference as an important move in connecting Ninh Binh with international markets, particularly Japan  a potential and crucial market for the Vietnamese tourism sector.

The embassy pledges to accompany the province and many other localities in tourism promotion as well as support them to expand international cooperation, he added.

Mayor of Saiki City Tanaka Toshiaki, who had previously visited Trang An, shared his positive impressions of the destination.

There is an increasing number of tourists from Saiki City, Oita Prefecture visiting Ninh Binh, he said, expressing his hope for deeper relations between the two countries in both natural and historical aspects.

Looking ahead, director of the provincial department of tourism Bui Manh Ha said the province has identified Japan as a priority market in its international tourism strategy.

The delegation's visit has already resulted in numerous partnerships with Japanese partners, with plans to enhance service quality and professionalism through collaborative efforts in travel, accommodation, and hospitality services.

In framework of the conference, several cooperation agreements were signed between tourism agencies of both countries, laying the groundwork for more intensive collaboration in the future. VNA/VNS
With a history spanning more than a millennium, the intricate art of mother-of-pearl inlay in Chuon Ngo Village, Chuyen My Commune, Phu Xuyen District (Hanoi) continues to thrive. Despite the passage of time, local artisans have meticulously preserved and elevated this traditional craft. Their exquisite creations have gone beyond national borders, reaching the continents and the world.

According to the village shrine's genealogy and local legends, mother-of-pearl inlay craftsmanship has existed in Chuyen My since as early as the 11th century. The people of Chuon Ngo revere General Truong Cong Thanh (1053-1099), who played a crucial role in Ly Thuong Kiet's conquest of Ung and Lam provinces, as the founder and patron saint of mother-of-pearl inlay.

In the past, Chuon Ngo Village's mother-of-pearl inlay products were primarily used for ornate panels, couplets in temples and communal houses, and decorative motifs on rosewood beds and tea cabinets. Traditional themes such as  The Three Kingdoms, the "Four Gentlemen" (the plum blossom for winter, the orchid for spring, the bamboo for summer, and the chrysanthemum for autumn) or  The Anecdote of Liu Bei's three visits to Zhuge Liang's thatched cottage" were popular choices.

However, to keep up with the evolving demands of modern society, Chuon Ngoi's mother-of-pearl inlay products have diversified significantly. Today, artisans create a wide range of decorative and souvenir items, including boxes, betel nut trays, teapots, couplets, landscapes, and portraits. They have also begun to incorporate embossed shells and mother-of-pearl carvings that combine high-tech techniques with traditional craftsmanship.

The creation of a mother-of-pearl inlay is a testament to the artisan's skill and creativity. The artisan undergoes a meticulous process, from sketching the design, cutting the mother-of-pearl pieces according to the pattern, adhering them to the wooden surface, and carving out the details, to gluing the mother-of-pearl pieces, sanding them flat, and using a steel knife to delicately separate and refine the small patterns. The final touches, including polishing and varnishing, bring the artwork to life with vibrant colors and depth.

With decades of passionate dedication to preserving traditional craftsmanship, artisan Nguyen Dinh Hai was honored with the title of Artisan by the Vietnam Craft Villages Association in 2016 and recognized as a National Artisan in 2017. His significant contributions have propelled the development of Chuon Ngo Village's traditional inlay craft. As artisan Nguyen Dinh Hai shares that portrait inlay is considered the pinnacle of inlay techniques, demanding artisans not only possess exceptional carving skills but also a deep understanding of their subjects. This enables them to transform inanimate materials into lifelike portraits that capture the personality, spirit, and depth of thought of their subjects. Due to the complexity of this art form, the number of true 'artisan-craftsmen' in Chuon Ngo Village can now be counted on one hand.

Despite experiencing numerous ups and downs, the artisans of Chuon Ngo village have tirelessly preserved and promoted the essence of this traditional craft. Today, more than 70 per cent of households in the village are involved in mother-of-pearl inlay or related services, contributing to the craft's growth. Chuon Ngo's mother-of-pearl inlay products have transcended national borders, reaching demanding markets such as the UK, the Netherlands, the US, and Japan, thanks to their exquisite craftsmanship, harmonious color schemes, and lifelike depictions.

With calloused hands shaped by years of dedication and an unwavering passion for their craft, the artisans of Chuon Ngo have continuously innovated, ensuring that this traditional craft, deeply rooted in the thousand-year-old history of Thang Long, endures through time. VNS

This article was written with coordination from the Ha Noi Rural Development Department.
HA NOI  Ha Noi-based La Duy Long was awarded special prize at a story writing contest oa Hoa ong Thoai (Bouquet of Children's Stories Contest) with his short story about donating hair to a cancer patient.

Eleven-year-old Long, from Van Phuc Primary School in Ha Noi's suburban Thanh Tri District, also took the first prize in primary school category.

Other first prizes went to Le Minh Hai Trieu from the southern province of An Giang, in the high school category and ao Thi Mai from the northern city of Hai Phong.

"I observe the things I love the most and suddenly I realised how beautiful my mothers hair is," Long said at a special ceremony held on November 23 at the Museum of Viet Nam Literature.

"I have to stand on a chair to comb her shiny hair. It inspired me to write a story with a message about sharing love.

Besides the special and first prizes, the organisers also awarded six-second prizes, nine third prizes and several consolation prizes.

Launched in March the contest received 3,687 entries from more than 2,500 contestants of all ages from 63 provinces and cities throughout the country. This is also the first year that the organisational board received entries from outside Viet Nam, such as Italy, Finland and Sweden.

The contest is held annually in Japan and has been running since 1970. It was brought to Viet Nam in 2018 as an event commemorating the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Viet Nam by ENEOS Viet Nam and More Production Viet Nam, sponsored by the Embassy of Japan in Viet Nam.

"I believe that through this contest, Vietnamese children living from the north to the south, with different circumstances, can nurture their imagination to explore new worlds and experience the joy of writing stories," said Japanese Ambassador to Viet Nam, Naoki Ito.

The contest jurors included childrens writer Le Phuong Lien, Doctorate in Education and Chairwoman of Reading Books With Children Club, Nguyen Thuy Anh.

A book of the award-winning stories was also launched at the ceremony with all proceeds from being donated to fund picture book promotion activities and scholarships.  VNS
Country Representative of UN Women Viet Nam Caroline Nyamayemombe speaks to Viet Nam News reporter Thu Trang about the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.

Over the past 30 years, Viet Nam has made significant achievement in advancing gender equality, as highlighted in the Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs speech at the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference. In your view, what have been the most impressive achievements of Viet Nam and what urgent challenges remain?

I was deeply impressed by the Deputy Ministers statement and overall, the National Beijing+30 Review Report. What I see as the most significant achievement has been Viet Nam's ability to put in place a strong legal framework. The Gender Equality Law and the subsequent 10-year National Gender Equality Strategies have provided a strong foundation for integrating gender perspectives into legislation across various sectors.

The Gender Equality Law mandates gender impact assessments for every law, ensuring that gender perspectives are effectively integrated into legislation. This approach has enabled Viet Nam to address the Beijing Platform for Actions 12 critical areas of concern through a systemic, cross-sectoral lens. For instance, as highlighted by the Deputy Minister, the amendments to the Labour Code and Social Insurance Law over the past five years exemplify how a strong legal foundation can drive progress.

Now, in terms of some of the challenges that I think Viet Nam still needs to resolve is the allocation of resources. While policies and laws are commendable, their successful implementation requires sufficient financing and an enhanced workforce capacity. Another critical gap is the availability of data to monitor and evaluate the impact of these laws and policies. Reliable data allows the government to assess outcomes, make necessary adjustments and ensure that equality efforts benefit both women and men. Strengthening data systems and investing in monitoring mechanisms are urgent priorities to sustain and expand the progress made. So, I think those are the areas that Viet Nam needs to urgently attend to.

Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs emphasised the importance of cooperation between the Government and organisations, especially the UN, to push up gender equality. How has the UN Women worked with Viet Nam to resolve issues such as gender-based violence, unpaid work and discrimination. What more can be done?

UN Women has been actively collaborating with the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and other Government agencies, such as the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, to promote gender equality. To strengthen these partnerships, it is essential to establish clear objectives and targets aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Viet Nam has demonstrated a strong commitment to achieving the SDGs, particularly SDG 5 on gender equality. The country recognises that achieving these goals requires collaboration across Government agencies, the private sector, along with mass and community-based organisations. Partnerships with concrete and well-defined targets linked to SDG priorities can enhance focus, drive greater commitment and ensure meaningful impact.

For example, UN Women has worked extensively on addressing violence against women. We have seen significant progress when provinces allocate resources to support essential services, such as shelters for survivors of violence and invest in prevention measures, including awareness-raising campaigns. These targeted investments have a tangible impact in reducing incidents of violence.

Recently, UN Women partnered with Vietnam Airlines to explore how its corporate social responsibility efforts could contribute to ending violence against women. This partnership resulted in donations to shelters, one of the critical services needed by survivors of violence. By clearly outlining the roles and contributions of Vietnam Airlines, we strengthened a practical and impactful collaboration model.

Similar approaches can be applied to areas such as climate action, where addressing gender equality requires coordinated efforts from diverse stakeholders. Clearly defining the roles and contributions of each partner is crucial for aligning efforts with SDG targets, ensuring better coordination and holding partners accountable. This clarity enhances collective impact and fosters stronger, more effective partnerships.

With such challenges of climate change, digital transformation and their gendered impacts, how do you see Viet Nam positioning itself to address the issues while implementing the Beijing Platform for Action?

I believe Viet Nam recognises that gender equality and the empowerment of women are central to the success of both the green and digital transitions. It is also well acknowledged across government documents that women disproportionately bear the impacts of climate change. The countrys policies consistently emphasise gender equality as a core principle. However, as highlighted in the National Beijing+30 review report, it is now essential to translate these commitments into clear, measurable programmes, including targeted initiatives that enable women to actively participate in the digital transition.

Significant gaps remain, particularly in digital skills, cybersecurity awareness and information technology infrastructure. Addressing these challenges will require women-focused and women-friendly approaches, engaging partners with expertise in addressing these specific issues and paying special attention to ethnic minority women and other marginalised groups, recognising that women are not a homogeneous group. Developing targeted programmes to support women in the digital transition, similar to those needed for climate action, is vital.

Currently, we are collaborating with women-owned businesses, the MPI and the Viet Nam Women Entrepreneurs Council to help transform businesses through the adoption of renewable energy. However, a recurring challenge raised by women is the lack of access to financing. Establishing financing mechanisms that enable women to participate and contribute effectively is critical to overcoming this barrier.

At the same time, the green transition is poised to create new jobs and opportunities. To ensure women benefit equally, we must address existing gender gaps in STEM education and employment. This will require targeted investments, prioritisation and robust tracking mechanisms to close these gaps.

By focusing on these targeted interventions, Viet Nam can ensure that women are not left behind in the green and digital transitions. With its demonstrated determination and resilience, I believe the country is well-positioned to achieve sustainable development that is inclusive and equitable for all.  VNS
HA NOI  As one of the first countries to participate in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Viet Nam has made significant efforts to fulfill its national commitments through various measures aimed at ensuring gender equality in all areas of social life, bringing in many encouraging achievements.

To meet its responsibilities as a CEDAW member state, Viet Nam has developed policies and established legal regulations to enhance the status of women in all aspects of society and to ensure women's rights are equal to those of men.

The promulgation of the Gender Equality Law in 2006 and the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control in 2007 (amended in 2022) provides important legal foundations to protect the rights and interests of family members, especially vulnerable groups such as the elderly, women, and children, who are at higher risk of becoming victims of domestic violence.

Viet Nam has intensified efforts to disseminate and promote legal regulations on gender equality and the prevention of gender-based violence. The country has mobilised the entire population to actively participate in implementing effective policies and programmes related to gender equality and the prevention of gender-based violence. This includes enhancing education on self-protection and prevention skills for women and children.

Through these activities, Viet Nam aims to raise awareness among officials, civil servants, workers, and community members about the fundamental issues and significance of preventing domestic violence and promoting gender equality within families. The goal is to effectively implement the Marriage and Family Law, the Gender Equality Law, and the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control, helping to build happy families, enhance traditional family values, strengthen cohesive communities, and create sustainable family development.

Ha Noi - bright spot in combating violence against women

In Ha Noi, the municipal Womens Union plays a pivotal role in promoting gender equality and has established many innovative models in preventing domestic violence and protecting women and children. These include initiatives such as "Safe and Friendly City for Women and Girls," "Safe Lodgings," "Safe Apartments," and "Families Saying No to Violence."

There are also creative models like the "Men's Club Against Domestic Violence" and the "Men's Club Pioneering in Preventing Domestic Violence." As of July 2024, the Ha Noi Womens Union has set up 98 advisory teams with 885 members in 18 districts and 80 communes, wards, and towns to help resolve cases that protect the legal rights and interests of women and children.

Particularly, among the effective operational models in Ha Noi, one that cannot be overlooked is the "Trusted Address - Community Shelter" model. This initiative provides emergency shelter for victims of domestic violence and gender-based violence and has been piloted since August 2018 at 360 Phuc Tan street, Phuc Tan ward, Hoan Kiem district. Another effective model is the "Safe House" shelter operated by the Viet Nam Women's Union. It serves as a temporary refuge for women and children affected by gender-based violence, offering comprehensive and free emergency support services.

According to Nguyen Thuy An, a social worker at the Social Assistance Centre of the "Safe House," from 2007 to June 2024, the "Safe House" has received and supported over 1,700 women and children who are victims or suspected victims of gender-based violence, providing consultancy for more than 17,500 cases involving over 21,000 individuals.

Eliminating violence against women: Call for greater community involvement

Despite significant efforts from both the political system and a growing awareness among the public, the issue of violence against women in Viet Nam has not decreased as expected. According to the Government's 2023 report on implementing the national gender equality goals, there were 3,193 victims of domestic violence in Viet Nam in 2023, of which 2,628 were female, accounting for 82.3 per cent, while 565 were male, making up 17.7 per cent. A national study on violence against women conducted by the General Statistics Office in 2019 revealed that this issue remains hidden in society, as over 90 per cent of victims do not seek help from authorities, half of them have never told anyone about their experiences of violence.

"Victims of domestic violence are often women because many believe that household matters should be 'kept behind closed doors' or that discussing them is shameful... so they compromise and hide their abuse. More dangerously, many women believe it is their fault, that they are not good enough, lack value, and do not deserve respect and love," shared a victim of spousal abuse who requested to remain anonymous.

The United Nations has designated November 25 as a day against gender-based violence since 1981. This date was selected to honour the Mirabal sisters, three political activists from the Dominican Republic who were brutally murdered in 1960 by order of the country's ruler, Rafael Trujillo (1930-1961).

This is also an opportunity for individuals and organisations advocating women's rights around the world, regardless of languages, skin colours, or ethnicities, to launch campaigns that ignite the struggle to eliminate violence against women.

With the support of the international community and the United Nations (UN) - the agency that initiated these efforts, significant progress has been made in recent years towards enhancing the status of women's equality. Notable events include the UN General Assembly's adoption of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in 1979 - an important document that provides a framework for implementing women's rights, ratified by 189 countries, including Viet Nam; the declaration to eliminate violence against women in 1998; and the designation of November 25 each year as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women in 1999.  VNS
After three major rounds of government restructuring across three terms since 2007, as noted by Party General Secretary To Lam, Viet Nams organisational reform efforts still has not hit the mark.

Tran Anh Tuan, Chairman of the Vietnam Association for Administrative Sciences and former Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, told Vietnam News Agency's reporter about the persistent barriers and the possible solutions.

The General Secretary has highlighted the shortcomings in the political system's organisational structure. As someone participating in structural reforms, what are your thoughts on the major restructuring efforts over the past years?

The General Secretarys observations are accurate and reflect the current situation.

In my view, restructuring must begin with a shift in mindset and perception. Once we approach the issue correctly, we can identify and implement solutions effectively.

Previous reforms have achieved significant results, such as reducing the number of ministries from over 30 to 22 and consolidating subordinate government agencies to just eight since 2011. The multi-sector, multi-field organisational model of the government has also evolved positively.

The reforms have coincided with efforts to reduce staff, improve the quality of civil servants and transition to a merit-based public service system.

These steps have supported the nation's economic and social development goals. However, calling these efforts 'major surgeries' might be overstating their scope - they are more accurately described as foundational steps toward streamlining the system.

That said, limitations remain. The organisational apparatus is still unwieldy, with overlapping functions and unclear delegation of authority. While decentralisation has been promoted, the self-governance capabilities of local governments have not been sufficiently enhanced.

Currently, we are implementing Resolution 18 to address these challenges comprehensively and scientifically. The goal is to reform the apparatus once and for all, avoiding the frequent reshuffling or legal revisions that have occurred in the past, which waste time and resources. Stability and durability in regulatory frameworks are critical for success.

What lessons can we draw from past organisational reform efforts?

The first lesson is the importance of reforming our mindset. The current approach to organisational structure, public service systems, and decentralisation is still influenced by centralised planning and is incompatible with a market economy, a socialist rule-of-law state, and the principles of socialist democracy under Party leadership.

A paradigm shift is necessary to adapt to the realities of the market economy and emerging technologies like digital transformation and artificial intelligence. Correct thinking leads to accurate understanding and effective action.

The second lesson is to avoid mechanical mergers of organisations. While reducing the number of agencies might appear effective, it often leads to increased bureaucracy within the merged entities. Without reducing the number of staff or improving their quality, restructuring becomes superficial and adds to budget burdens.

The next lesson pertains to decentralisation. Although we advocate for it, its implementation is often superficial. Local authorities frequently defer decisions to central agencies, reflecting a lack of mutual trust and autonomy. This inefficiency hampers governance and development opportunities.

The fourth lesson underlines the need to move beyond mechanical mergers to create entirely new organisations by dissolving redundant ones. This approach avoids simply combining multiple entities under a new name without addressing inefficiencies.

Finally, reforms must ensure lasting changes. Avoid the cycle of merging and splitting agencies, which causes resource wastage. This inefficiency underscores the need for careful, science-based planning to ensure reforms are meaningful and sustainable.

Given the revolutionary nature of this round of restructuring, how can we ensure its success?

This reform effort is indeed revolutionary. To succeed, it must be comprehensive, thorough and synchronised across the political system. Success will be amplified if administrative unit reforms at the provincial level are also implemented in tandem.

The process must avoid mechanical restructuring. New organisations should be designed with clear functions and aligned with the needs of national governance, market economy development and digital transformation. A proper restructuring is not merely merging existing units but establishing entirely new frameworks tailored to contemporary requirements.

Following the General Secretarys directive, we must maintain a unified mindset, political determination, and bold action. While we may need to 'build the plane while flying it,' this does not mean acting rashly. A scientific and holistic approach is essential.

What are the biggest challenges in this reform?

The greatest challenge lies in changing mindsets and achieving consensus in perception. It also requires couragethe willingness to prioritise national and public interests over personal or group benefits.

Without objectivity, fairness and selflessness, we risk falling into old patterns of half-hearted reforms that fail to achieve meaningful results.VNS